March 20, 2011

    I've been getting thinner recetly, and it finally occurred to me to tighten the belt-string on my pajamas!

    Went to an Art Meetup at the Spence Gallery in Mirvish Village where we met South American artist Marcelo Suasquabar.  He's a pretty outre surrealist who likes checkerboard surfaces.

    Afterward I went to Book City nearby and bought a few books, including Ken McGoogan's How the Scots Invented Canada. (Mother will probably want to read that one.)

    Dinner was Chinese food. (My fortune cookie said "Use your charm and personality to your advantage.")

    Saw the DVD of the World War I silent The Unbeliever, which was pretty shameless (especially the scenes with Beastly Hun Erich Von Stroheim). I'm annoyed by movies that conflate patriotism with religion.  Were women prettier 100 years ago?

March 19, 2011

"How are things?"

"Sticky!"

--The Man in the White Suit

"I'd never dream of letting you marry me in the heat of the moment, before you can do it in cold blood"--ibid.

    Dreamed of a slapstick comedy where someone gets attacked by five guys at once but made short work of them; visiting the old Arthur Murray dance studio [where I took lessons at age 40] and pretending I was interested in buying more lessons.

    Dinner was stir-fry, which Moira made the way our Chinese friend Puitak makes it!

    Finally saw the DVD of Alexander MacKendrick's The Man in the White Suit (for the second time), after zip.ca sent us a new copy.  Classic Ealing Studios Alec Guiness vehicle.

March 18, 2011

    Dinner was roast pork (undercooked in the middle).

    Went to an Art Meetup at the Gardiner Ceramics Museum.  They had a special exhibit of Sarah Woodman's work.  I bought Mother a guide to the museum. [She was interested in antiques.]

    I finally got a fifth cohort in the computer game Glory of Rome, so now I can build a second city.

March 17, 2011

    Dreamed of "waking up" in a car as we were driving from my old home in Sackville, N.B., back to Toronto; wondering how far we'd gone; seeing that the car was floating on water.

    Baked raisin bread.

    Dinner was fish.

    Captain Video is closing down so I went out without a sweater (first time this year!) and bought some cheap DVDs, including Troy, American History X (which I still haven't seen!) and the first season of Miami Vice.

    Saw the DVD of Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo.  It was another masterpiece from animation's greatest auteur since Walt Disney. (The story involves an eerily prophetic tsunami.) Looks like that creepy American practice of kids calling parents by their first name has spread to Japan too.

March 16, 2011

"You talk in the language of the violets, Miss Shirley"--Anne of Windy Poplars

"Hearts will never be practicable until they invent one that's unbreakable"--The Wizard of Oz

    Dreamed of meeting a famous Argentinian writer; trying to tell him how much I resented Britain's New Labour government for passively accepting even the worst privatizations.

    Went shopping. (I'm now wearing my spring cap!)

    I had to have dinner early and Moira had to have it late, so I ate on my own (McDonald's, of course).

    Saw The Wizard of Oz (for the fifth time) at the Paramount with the Movie Meetup group.  It's a classic despite all the cheesy touches (especially the scenes involving the Witch). My favourite part has always been the tornado sequence.

March 15, 2011

    Dreamed of accidentally pushing a car out of a snowbank.

    Tried to watch The Man in the White Suit, but the DVD proved to be unplayable.

    Finished our used-book business accounts.

    Dinner was the rest of the Indian food.

    Saw the DVD of the movie of Carson McCullers' The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.  Nicely atmospheric, with Alan Arkin in fine form.

March 14, 2011

    Dreamed of going on vacation and packing far more luggage than I needed.

    Dinner was McCain's pizza. (Moira was going to make pizza herself, but couldn't find where they sell pizza dough.)

    At choir practice we did a run-through of most of Rigoletto. (When we voiced the wind in the storm scene, Giuseppe said "What kind of wind is that?  It's more like a fart!"