"We drank, we fought, he did his ancestors proud!"--Thor
Saw the comic-book movie Thor at the Revue. Directed by a slumming Kenneth Branagh, it's pretty fun in a goofy way.
Dinner was KFC.
Friday, July 10, 2026
July 3, 2011
July 2, 2011
Homer: "Taking stupid risks is what makes life worth living!"--The Simpsons
Dinner was steak.
Went to a karaoke event organized by Anthony Ng at Twister Karaoke. (It was a birthday party for another Anthony.)
Headache.
July 1, 2011
Dreamed of our old house in Sackville, N.B., being in Nazi-occupied Russia near smouldering ruins still hot; a new rival subway system in London (with a commercial sponsor for each station).
Baked cheese bread.
Went to an Aspie Meetup at Harbourfront. (Big Canada Day crowds!) Tonia brought her King Charles dog Scrappy.
Dinner was Burger King.
June 30, 2011
Dinner was pizza.
Went on a Queen Street art walk. We visited BYOB (a "cocktail emporium") and Artscape Gallery, and spoke to artists Morley Shayuk and Michael Toke. Someone bought us soup from Ravi Soups, but I didn't have any.
Monday, July 6, 2026
June 29, 2011
Father and I got up early, drove to Whittamore Farm and picked some strawberries. (I also bought some Jonagold apples at their store.) The weather was unusually cool.
After we got home, I went back to bed for over three hours.
Dinner was sausages.
My choir performed Nabucco for the second time. (This time the family came. Father drove Mother home during the intermission because she had a cramp.) Giuseppe said the opera group might perform Norma or A Masked Ball next year.
I'll soon be taking another break from the online game Frontierville. (And I'm not sure about Kingdoms of Camelot and Glory of Rome.)
June 28, 2011
On a body found on a beach: "Was she drowned?"
(sarcastically) "No, she's a mermaid."
--Young and Innocent
Dreamed of wanting to play an arcade video game where you're a caveman attacking a mammoth; looking through a big pile of change but failing to find a quarter.
Finally bought my new Metropass. (They didn't mail them this month because of the postal strike.)
Dinner was more pork chops. (Moira also made some risotto with onions and barley, but I can't stand onions.)
Saw the DVD of Alfred Hitchcock's Young and Innocent (for the second time). It's one of his early British movies, a well-written romantic comedy-mystery. My favourite scene is the one with the suspicious aunt.
Thursday, July 2, 2026
June 27, 2011
Dreamed of the James Bond movie You Only Live Twice.
Went to Toronto East General Hospital and got a CT scan. They injected me with a dye and I felt a bit dizzy afterward.
Dinner was pork chops
Coro Verdi had one more rehearsal before our final show. (I considered skipping it, but decided my head was clear enough.) Just before we started there was a brief delay when a fire alarm went off: we all went out to the front of the building and saw a fire engine arrive, but it was a false alarm.
John George usually gives me a lift to the subway, but we ended early and his wife hadn't yet brought their car. Instead Giovanni gave me a lift to St. Clair Avenue. When I mentioned that I'm 49, Giovanni was really surprised, and said I look twenty years younger!
June 26, 2011
Dreamed of a non-existent film of animated toys made back in the 19th century; trying to figure out who owned a legendary Los Angeles cinema.
Went to a Games Meetup at the Yellow Griffin. I played Fireball Island (which I won, to my surprise) and Ticket to Ride (which I also won).
Dinner was salmon.
June 25, 2011
Dreamed of a British family that spent part of their time in London and part out in the country.
Dinner was McDonald's.
Went to Karaoke Meetup at Barplus. I sang Simple Minds' "Don't You Forget About Me" for the first time.
Tuesday, June 30, 2026
June 24, 2011
Dreamed of recalling how when I was a kid I couldn't deal with the pain from going to the dentist, and ended up not going for ten years.
I weakened and ended up playing the new Facebook game Empires and Allies.
Started reading Daniel Boorstin's The Creators, a history of the arts.
Dinner was lobster rolls.
We performed the first of the two Nabucco concerts. (Just before showtime I felt a bit sleepy.) The audience was pretty enthusiastic.
June 23, 2011
"Fucking is fucking, but music--that's personal!"--Treme
"Some of the fights worth fighting are ones you know you're going to lose"--ibid.
With the water main fixed, our water pressure is now stronger than before. (The bathtub fills up quicker.)
Baked whole wheat bread.
Finished the Lapham's Quarterly work issue.
Dinner was chicken with apple juice and mushrooms, from a recipe Moira made from a book about running (which included champion runners' favourite recipes).
Moira caught up with me and we saw the last two episodes of Treme together. Can't wait for the next season! (The flashback from just before Katrina was a bit confusing.)
Saturday, June 27, 2026
June 22, 2001
Went shopping.
Dinner was spaghetti.
The choir dress-rehearsed Nabucco. (Carrie substituted for Sinead.) I must say we sound rather good now.
June 21, 2011
"You're famous!"
"I'm noticed. There's a difference."
--Treme
Today the water did get turned off for a few hours. The water main people are now finished.
Dinner was KFC.
Went to a seminar at the Water Company office on Eglinton east of Mt. Pleasant. (They have a Meetup group.)
June 20, 2011
Yesterday Donald came over for dinner and we had Indian food.
Stayed up even later than usual following a Huffington Post forum about "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. (One of my posts was "One nation under the Mighty Thor!")
Dreamed of the 1982 movie 48 Hours; a slapstick movie scene where someone was carrying a load of bees and they escaped into a crowd!
The water main people arrived today. (Water service hasn't been interrupted yet.)
Dinner was McDonald's.
Choir practice was at the Villa Colombo today. It's Giuseppe's birthday and someone brought a cake!
Friday, June 26, 2026
June 18, 2011
Brunnhilde (to Wotan): "Who am I if not your will?"--ibid.
"I dated your sister for three months."
"She says you were a total asshole!"
"Yeah, I can see why she'd say that."
--Treme
Saw the cinemacast of the Met production of Wagner's Die Walkure at the Sheppard Grande. Another excellent Robert Lepage production: over four hours long (plus intermissions), but it didn't seem protracted. As Brunnhilde, Deborah Voight was youthful as a bobby-soxer!
Dinner was the rest of the fettucine.
June 17, 2011
"Cold beer!"
"Nice to see you too."
--Treme
"I was married to a musician. Ain't no possible way you're going to make that shit right!"--ibid.
"It's N.P.R. They get it. The "N" is for nuance"--ibid.
Dreamed of a non-existent Brazilian movie titled Cinque Oras. ("Cinco horas" is Portuguese for "five hours," "cinque ore" is the Italian.)
Dinner was sausage and mash.
Finally planted the potatoes. (Some of the onion sprouts are already visible!)
I've started a new Facebook game called Hero City. (It's like Cityville, but with rather kid-sized superheroes.)
Saw the DVD of the first episode of the New Orleans ensemble series Treme. Very promising! (It rhymes with the soap brand Camay.)
Wednesday, June 24, 2026
June 16, 2011
Biff: "I've always made a point of not wasting my life, and every time I come back here, I know that all I've done is to waste my life"--Death of a Salesman
I was a long time getting to sleep again. (Didn't wake up till about 14:00!)
Dreamed of doing an acting exercise where I played Stalin on his deathbed; telling my shrink about it.
The pipe workers were going to come to our house today, but got delayed by a leak in the water main.
Dinner was fettucine alfredo.
We couldn't find any seed potatoes, so I'm going to plant regular spuds.
Went to a Toronto Social Group Meetup at Scallywag's. We had a Scrabble tournament, with everyone playing three games. In the first game my first letters included both blanks, so I used up all seven letters and got the 50-point bonus on my first move! I owned the first game, finished last in the second, and narrowly won the third.
Wrote a customer review of Stephen E. Ambrose's To America at amazon.com . I didn't think much of it. [Ambrose let his patriotism cloud his judgement...]
June 15, 2011
Dreamed of the song "Cockles and Mussels."
Father and I went to Scotiabank again for more financial business.
Dinner was chicken curry.
Went to the Games Meetup at 401 Games for the first time in a while. I played the U.S. version of Powergrid for the first time, and finished last. (I know what my big mistake was...)
Monday, June 22, 2026
June 14, 2011
Younger woman: "I felt sorry for him. He's an old man."
Michael Caine: "With an old bank account."
--Pulp
"His name was Di Nuccio. That was the nicest thing about him"--ibid.
Dreamed of travelling across Canada with John; taking the train to Gaspe, then proceeding on foot; seeing a horse as large as a camel; actress Jayne Mansfield.
John and Kathrine came over and bought dinner, but it was vegan again.
Went to a party at Boccone's for the volunteers who'd worked on the St. Paul's NDP campaign. (The provincial election is coming soon.)
Afterward I ate a Wendy's hamburger and it immediately disagreed with me. (Serves me right!)
Saw the DVD of Mike Hodges' Pulp. It's a witty film noir spoof, with Michael Caine and Mickey Rooney in fine form.
June 13, 2011
Baked rye bread.
They're going to change our water pipes soon, so Father and I cleared space in the basement. There was a bag of cement that had gone hard in the damp, but when I brought it upstairs and put it down, it split into pieces. (Dust galore!)
Dinner was sausages and quinoa.
At choir practice we rehearsed Nabucco from start to finish, including the soloists' numbers. (Paradoxically, it seemed shorter.) I flirted with Carmen, asking what music she was playing in the car on the way here.
Sunday, June 21, 2026
June 12, 2011
Quint: "Here's to Swimmin' with bow-legged women!"--Jaws
Dreamed of meeting Desiree McGraw, whom I knew at my Goodenough College stay in London in 1995.
In the morning I went on a Walking Meetup in the Forest Hill area.
Because I'd woken up early, I napped after getting back home.
Dinner was beef stroganoff.
Saw Steven Spielberg's Jaws (for the second time) at the Underground. It's best to ignore the fact that a real shark does not lurk around a beach waiting for hunters to chase him. Quint does a lot for the movie: Robert Shaw plays him with just the right degree of ham. If they were making it today, they'd show the shark a lot more and it wouldn't be as good.
June 11, 2011
Went shopping.
Dinner was pork steak.
Moira and I got most of the seeds planted. (Only the potatoes are left.)
Saw the DVD of Raoul Walsh's They Drive by Night (for the second time). It's a realistic Warner Brothers trucking melodrama, which happily costars Humphrey Bogart. The second half, with Ida Lupino as the boss' dangerous wife, got pretty silly.
Saw Dion Conflict's Trailer Trash show (for the second time) at the Underground.
Friday, June 19, 2026
June 9, 2011
Dreamed of the song of the William Butler Yeats poem "Down by the Sally Gardens."
Visited my shrink Dr. Hassan.
I'm ready to start planting the garden, but just don't have the energy!
Dinner was spaghetti.
Saw the DVD of the TV play Bang the Drum Slowly. Compared to the movie, it did more with less.
The city turned off our water for a short time in the evening because they're replacing the ancient pipes that connect us to the water main.
June 8, 2011
Dreamed of the children's book Heidi; an episode of the comic strip Alley Oop with a cameo appearance by characters from other comic strips (including the Phantom) concerned about Oop's fate; getting teary-eyed.
I now have a fifth Kingdoms of Camelot city, which I called Sandby.
Got my hair cut, then went to the Tim Horton's doughnut shop near St. Patrick station and met some of the people in the Aspergers Meetup group.
Dinner was chicken curry.
Saw the DVD of Rod Serling's TV play Requiem for a Heavyweight (the version with Jack Palance).
Wednesday, June 17, 2026
June 7, 2011
Dreamed of writing a test that asked how I'd organize a protest against car dependency for maximum impact; wanting to write that I'd stage the protests near places with high traffic, but writing erratically, skipping to different pages of the test paper, changing pens and crossing out many words; driving in southwestern Ontario and seeing an explosion that seemed to be an A-bomb but turned out to be a space shuttle launch; stopping in a town called Jughead; gathering large piles of leaves.
Baked multigrain bread.
We went to Fiesta Gardens and bought some more seeds.
Dinner was stir-fry (using the leftover pork).
Moira and I bought some more seeds at Canadian Tire, near St. Clair & Keele. (She wants to plant kale this year, and we finally found some kale seeds.)
Saw the DVD of the first episode of the Kevin Brownlow series D.W. Griffiths: Father of Film.
June 6, 2011
Dreamed of trying to explain the cleverness of the script for the murder mystery The Last of Sheila.
Father and I walked to the nearby No Frills and bought some seeds for the garden.
Finished the ditch, and started evening the garden surface with the hoe.
Dinner was McDonald's.
At choir practice Giuseppe was saying that we should sculpt our words, and that even when you throw your chisel it'll leave a mark!
Sunday, June 14, 2026
June 5, 2011
Dreamed of "waking up" at about 08:30, in plenty of time for today's concert. (I actually woke up at around 10:00, still in enough time.)
Took part in a Coro Verdi concert as part of the festivities marking the sesquicentennial of Italian unification. We sang several folk songs, along with a few opera classics.
Dinner was pork roast.
I've been posting a lot in a Huffington Post forum about Pentagon whistle-blower Bradley Manning. (I was this active three years ago in a form about Proposition 8 and the African-American victimology.) Some of the posters are really full of hate! But there was one who said that the question wasn't whether Manning had the right to leak the information but whether the U.S. government had the right to keep it secret! I fanned him and added "Couldn't have said it better."
June 4, 2011
Dreamed of the Bergman movie Fanny and Alexander (which I have seen).
Went to a Games Meetup at Jeffrey's townhouse. I played 7 Wonders, Incan Gold and a new game called Betrayal at House on the Hill. The last is a game where we're all exploring a haunted house and after a while someone goes insane and tries to kill the others with some supernatural help. I managed to kill the traitor because I was the one with a spear and a suit of armor.
Dinner was stir-fry.
Saw the DVD of the first episodes of 500 Nations, a documentary series about North American Indians.
Then I saw the DVD of the uneven Concert for Bangladesh. Goodness knows it isn't as fun as Monterey Pop or Woodstock, but Billy Preston has a show-stopping number. (And you can't get too much of Ravi Shankar...)
Friday, June 12, 2026
June 3, 2011
"Jan, what will it be like if we can't talk to each other any more?"
"The boat is here now."
--Shame
Dreamed of being called on to join a high school play at the last minute; riding a bicycle without a safety chain and with only one brake around the streets of my hometown Sackville, N.B.; opening a bag of jelly beans.
Yesterday Father and I went to Scotiabank and I got an interest cheque they'd failed to send me.
I've been redigging the ditch around the garden.
Finished the DVD documentary series Monarchy. (Moira missed half the episodes because she can only watch for a while in the early evening before getting sleepy.)
Dinner was shrimp curry.
Saw the DVD of Ingmar Bergman's Shame. A curious meditation on the debasement of humanity in wartime, it feels pretty real.
June 1, 2011
Baked raisin bread.
Went shopping. (We bought ice for the hot weather.)
Dinner was KFC.
Started the work issue of Lapham's Quarterly.
We had an extra choir rehearsal for Sunday's concert.
May 31, 2011
Dreamed of a non-existent Australian movie about a family leaving on an airplane, a story retold with the adults played by children, then by pet animals.
Finished the book Empires of the World.
Dinner was spaghetti (which I cooked).
Finally finished forking the garden. (Rainy weather delayed me.)
Thursday, June 11, 2026
May 30, 2011
Dreamed of being introduced to scuba diving in the Pacific Ocean; walking on a semi-outdoor trail south of Amherst, N.S.; waking up in a car driving eastward on the Trans-Canada Highway in western New Brunswick toward dawn.
Dinner was pork steak.
At choir practice we went through all of Nabucco.
May 29, 2011
Dreamed of a squadron of cavalry horses on the Titanic.
Went to a Games Meetup at the Yellow Griffin. I played Guillotine and Seven Wonders. (Still can't figure Seven Wonders out...)
Dinner was sausage and mashed potatoes.
May 28, 2011
Open Doors Toronto weekend! I visited the St. James Cathedral bell tower (I was hoping to meet some of the Classical Music Meetup people, but didn't); the King Edward Hotel's unrestored but historic top-floor ballroom; Hotel Victoria; the Church of the Holy Trinity (I walked along the nearby Trinity Square maze); and the Gilbert Studio (where I saw a darkroom demonstration).
Dinner was the rest of the Chinese food.
We started looking at the DVD of David Starkey's documentary Monarchy, about the kings of England. The first disc wouldn't play, so we started with the second. (It's sixteen hours long, and it's due back at the library in a week.)
Went to a Karaoke Meetup at TKO's, near Coxwell Station. I sang "Hold Me Now" and "Sway."
Tuesday, June 9, 2026
May 27, 2011
Dreamed of showering in the back yard of my old home in Sackville, N.B. through a hole in the garden hose; the cuff on my pants getting undone; visiting a junior high school locker room; looking off a cliff to some nearby islands that turned out to be a lot closer than I thought.
Sent an email to Henson Trust Associates inquiring about propert arrangements before applying to the Ontario Disability Supports Program.
Dinner was Chinese food.
Went to the Trash Palace's latest classroom film show. Their longest film was a 1979 evangelical production Cult Explosion. I won a free DVD of classroom films in a raffle. At the end they said the Trash Palace in its current form is ending after this summer.
May 26, 2011
Dreamed of Father getting a bank loan to open a bakery in a New York City neighbourhood called Truro.
Went shopping.
Dinner was roast chicken.
Saw the Vietnam War documentary Sir No Sir! (for the second time) on DVD.
The Huffington Post has a new Canadian section! They were interviewing Arianna Huffington on CBC Newsworld.
Headache!
Tuesday, June 2, 2026
May 25, 2011
At choir practice last night we did the Nabucco finale. (I was going to compliment Carmen on how well-dressed she was, but didn't get the chance to speak to her.)
Suffered cramps in both my legs when I woke up in the morning. (Maybe it resulted from a sleeping pill.)
Dreamed of a non-existent 1950s movie with Laurence Olivier and Grace Kelly; beggars approaching us for food at my old home in Sackville, N.B.; reflecting on the strange feelings caused by changes in life, where even old things seem new.
Started forking the garden.
Dinner was salmon.
Saw a DVD documentary about Marco Polo.
May 23, 2011
Mae West (responding to a marriage proposal with dice): "I'll roll you whether I do or not!"
MW to a Russian gigolo: "Cigarette me, cossack!"
--Goin' to Town
Dreamed of visiting Mexico [which I've never done]; a family business with goods to sell; the song "You'll Never Walk Alone."
Saw the DVD of Goin' to Town, another Mae West vehicle. This one came out under the Production Code and was a bit milder than her earlier movies.
John and Kathrine came over for dinner, which was vegan pizza. (I sneaked out to KFC afterward.)
In the computer game Glory of Rome, in addition to Megalopolis and Basilopolis, I've started a third city called Drudunum (Celtic for "oak hill.")
Sunday, May 31, 2026
May 22, 2011
Mae West: "You stick with me, dearie, and you'll be platinum blond!"--Night After Night
Dreamed of the Beatles song "She's Leaving Home" (which I sang at karaoke last night); living an RPG about people going from the rural Deep South to Minneapolis; a cinema showing Ben-Hur with a soundtrack commentary like on a DVD.
Dinner was lasagna and a recipe with lentils, spinach and couscous.
Finished spading the garden.
Started a DVD of early anvant-garde films involving dance.
Saw the DVD of Night After Night, a gangster romance lucky enough to have Mae West in a supporting role. (You can have the rest of the movie...)
May 21, 2011
Long time getting to sleep.
Dreamed of visiting London briefly; "waking up" in a standing position; being unable to open my eyes.
Baked whole wheat bread.
Joined some of the Aspergers Meetup people for dinner at the Golden Griddle. (Evghenia organized it through Facebook.) I met Anthony, who's going to be baptized for the second time. I had spaghetti and meatballs.
Afterward I went to Bar Plus for a Karaoke Meetup, where we rented a room again. I sang "Limbo Rock" for the first time.
The world hasn't ended so far. [Some people were predicting the Rapture would take place on that day.]
Friday, May 29, 2026
May 20, 2011
Mae West: "Of course you can--thousands of men have!"
--I'm No Angel
Dreamed of a non-existent Warner Brothers cartoon about animals in the luggage compartment of a train; a non-existent episode of Hogan's Heroes about a POW who was Colonel Hogan's cousin; extra scenes from Barry Lyndon involving money.
Finally got a start on preparing the garden! (But it didn't last long, what with the rain.)
Dinner was lamb stew.
Saw the DVD of I'm No Angel. Mae West was ahead of her time!
Got sick in the evening. (I think it was the calamari from the Portuguese restaurant last night.)
May 19, 2011
Dreamed of meeting a supermodel.
Went to a Dining Meetup at the Portucale restaurant, just around the corner from this house. We had a six-course Portuguese dinner, with soup, sardines, calamari, risotto and marinated pork. (I skipped the dessert.) It was pretty oily and salty. [But they were very friendly. It closed a few months later.]
May 18, 2011
Dreamed of getting a non-existent letter to the editor published in The New Yorker 20 years ago.
Went shopping.
Dinner was chili.
Went to the Open Minds Cafe. This time I didn't suggest any new subjects.
Wednesday, May 27, 2026
May 17, 2011
Homer: "Look at those idiots! I paid my taxes a year ago"--The Simpsons
"Homer, you're like the son I never had!"
"And you're like the fathe I never visit!"
--ibid.
Went to see an ear, nose & throat specialist at a clinic near Main Street station. (I've been having a slightly sore throat since last summer.) I seemed normal, but they'll give me a CT scan anyway.
On the way back, I got two new tickets for the opera cinemacasts in July, to replace the ones that got misplaced.
Dinner was sausages and mashed potatoes.
Saw the DVD of the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 version of Ring of Terror. Lots of jokes about the actors clearly being too old to play college students.
May 16, 2011
Dreamed of actress Demi Moore in bondage.
Baked white bread.
David Kiang came to visit. A retired Dalhousie math professor, he was one of Father's early students back in the 1950s. (He was babysitting at our house and left behind the Chinese novel Wandering Youth, which I've been translating in recent years.)
Dinner was McDonald's.
At choir practice we did most of the rest of Nabucco, except for the finale. (When we got to the Slave's Chorus it turned out it wasn't in the score copy we'd received, and we had to scramble for our older copy.)
Monday, May 25, 2026
May 15, 2011
--The Simpsons
Dreamed of coming onto a game show; the MC saying that my job was dancing the bossa nova, and insisting that I dance with him.
Saw Kelly Reichardt's western Meek's Cutoff at the Lightbox, the first time I've seen a movie there. Pretty good, despite the elliptical ending. (I also looked at a Mary Pickford exhibit on display in the same building.)
Dinner was roast chicken.
Finished the DVD series America: The Story of Us. The last two episodes, dealing with the post-1945 era, were especially weak. No mention of the Korean War or the Gulf Wars, and the Energy Crisis was only mentioned in passing!
May 14, 2011
Moe: "It's been four years since I had a date with a whatchamacallit?-- a woman."
The Simpsons
Dreamed of joining Prince Andrew on a hike from Moncton to my hometown Sackville, N.B., through a forest path; sweat on my lower back; non-existent piano pieces that I didn't quite master.
It turned out that the internet connection on the side of the house somehow got yanked off. (John came and fixed it in the morning.)
Went to a Fair Vote rally in Queen's Park. The speakers included Judy Rebick, Carolyn Bennett and William Molls. Pretty good turnout considering the rain. (I also saw a demonstration by a group of Libyans.)
John and Kathrine brought dinner over, which was vegan lasagna.
Sunday, May 24, 2026
May 13, 2011
Child: "Psychiatrists are easy to fool"--Mad Men
Dreamed of reflecting that the expression "One of the two or three most" bugs me. (You could just as well say "one of the three most" or "one of the most.")
Dinner was the rest of the lasagna.
Went to Mary's games night. I played Alhambra and Say Anything.
The internet connection is off!
May 12, 2011
"I'm not the solution to your problems. I'm another problem"--Mad Men
"I don't want to believe it."
"So don't."
--Weeds
Dreamed of visiting a public library in Brooklyn.
Dinner was lasagna.
May 11, 2011
Young son: "Stop pretending to be a mother!"--Weeds
"Less talk, more eat!"--ibid.
Dreamed of a western about a woman successfully investing in mines; a non-existent article in The New Yorker about the Unsinkable Molly Brown's husband (who didn't really reunite with her after the Titanic sinking--the musical ended with an audience-pleasing lie!).
Went shopping.
We ate out at Red Lobster, and Donald came with us.
Headache!
Thursday, May 21, 2026
May 10, 2011
"I'll take the train--water doesn't agree with me!"
--She Done Him Wrong
"One of the finest women who ever walked the streets!"--ibid.
"He's the kind of man a woman has to marry to get rid of!"--ibid.
Dreamed of reflecting that the neoliberal magazine The New Republic isn't worth the worms to eat it!
Baked multigrain bread.
Dinner was ham quiche.
Went to the Toronto City Opera board's annual meeting (for the first time) at Barbara's house in the Annex. We managed to make a profit! Seems that our ticket sales vary with the size of the chorus. [A big chorus means lots of friends and relatives coming to see the show.]
Saw the DVD of the Mae West vehicle She Done Him Wrong (for the second time). I have a feeling some of the off-colour jokes went over my head.
May 9, 2011
"This country has a religion, and it's business"--Mad Men
Dreamed of taking a music course in a place in the American west; missing a whole morning class because I'd taken a sleeping pill and overslept. [I'd just started taking sleeping pills in real life.]
Went to see Dr. Ang, and after a long wait it turned out that last Monday's tests were unclear. (The heartscan turned out to be negative.)
Dinner was the rest of the scalloped potatoes.
At choir practice we basically just review everything we've learned in Nabucco. (There wasn't much time for learning new stuff.)
Wednesday, May 20, 2026
May 8, 2011
"I sent you some messages."
"And I ignored them. That's my message to you."
--Mad Men
"You've crossed the line from lubricated into morose"--ibid.
Dreamed of one of the lenses in my glasses being cracked and not fitting in its frame; reflecting on the tragedy of President Ulysses Grant being forced to abandon black civil rights at the end of Reconstruction; the Nik Kershaw song "Wouldn't It Be Good" (which I've never liked).
I've lost my opera screening tickets! (Or rather, Moira misplaced them when she cleared my room without me asking her. I'd known exactly where they were before.)
Dinner was scalloped potatoes and ham.
May 7, 2011
Dreamed of the song "Beyond the Sea."
I've started using sleeping pills again.
Went on an art walk on Queen Street. We met at Analogue Gallery, where some actors performing in The 21st Annual Puttnam County Spelling Bee did a number for us. (They also did an audience participation thing, and I spelled the whaling slang word "caterjunes" correctly.) I left the walk early.
Dinner was spaghettini.
Had a games night with Nepeta's Fun & Boardgames group. (She's off meetup.com now.) We played The Amazeing Labyrinth, Ticket to Ride and a new Scrabble-like card game called Do I Have to Spell It Out For You? (It was pretty fun.)
Monday, May 11, 2026
May 5, 2011
"It was all going great, until it wasn't"--ibid.
Dreamed of a non-existent story in the comic strip Mary Perkins on Stage set in rural Canada and culminating in a barn being set on fire; the scene in the Fiddler on the Roof movie where the Fiddler comes down to the ground.
Dinner was roast chicken.
Went to Blockbuster and rented the DVD of the first episodes of the fourth season of Mad Men.
May 4, 2011
"Dan is the only man I know who had the guts not to commit suicide"--The High and the Mighty
Drug cartel man: "Either you eat the bear, or the bear eats you"--Weeds
Went shopping.
Dinner was sausage and mashed potatoes.
Saw the DVD of William Wellman's The High and the Mighty. Entertaining '50s hokum with John Wayne in his element.
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