Perspective

Posted on 11/13/2007 by cheesefairy

I am sleeping lightly on the bus home, opening my eyes periodically to check where we are. A young woman with heavy eyebrows and a long ponytail sits across from me. She is accompanied by a young man with massive headphones. Think the size ear muffs you’d wear to Antarctica. That big.

She: …I just realized – I don’t know who I AM when I’m with him
He: Hmm
She: …anyway…it’s fine…we’re growing
He: Yeah

The man sitting to my right smells of work-site dust and stale cigarettes. He spends a few minutes telling the guy across the isle about the site where he’s foreman. He’s so desperate for workers, he’s got to keep junkies on the payroll.

She: Lookit her, talking to herself. That’s crazy.
He: Hmm
She: Is it crazy? I talk to myself all the time. Does it really mean you’re crazy? I don’t feel crazy.
He: There was this really crazy woman on the skytrain the other day
She: Yeah?
He: Yeah, she was, like, talking about university students and how we should go into the military…
She: That’s not crazy
He: …and me and my friend didn’t even know she was talking to us but then she started doing, like, military call signs into her hand alpha, bravo right? And she’s all, young people should join up and serve their countries..
She: It’s not really much of a stretch for university students to go to war..
He: I guess not. She was, like, feral
She: What is that, feral? Is it –
He: It means wild
She: I’ve only heard it used about children. I should look it up.

We pass the second to last major intersection before my stop and 80% of the bus disembarks, including the man next to me.

She: Let me ask you a question
He: OK
She: Is there a difference between perspective and perception?
He: …
She: I was thinking about this last night. There really isn’t much difference, right?
He: …
She: Because perspective is, like, where you’re standing when you see something, right? It’s like your viewpoint. But perception is the same thing. It’s like,how you see. And how you see and where you’re seeing it from, those are the same thing, right?
He: Yeah, it’s both about seeing…
She: Damn, I need a dictionary.

The bus inches down 12th Street. The sky is darkening and people are moving quickly along the sidewalk, hurrying home. I am thinking about the jar of Biryani sauce I am going to cook with rice and meat when I get home. I suddenly remember the apple pie in my fridge and smile broadly on the inside.

He: There’s that new store…man, I’m gonna waste a lot of money in there.
She: It’s not a waste if you end up with something you want
He: It is if you don’t have the money
She: No! If it’s something you want, it’s all right to spend the money
He: Well, I need a new TV
She: Why?
He: I want one of those flat screen –
She: You don’t NEED a new TV then, you WANT one, there’s a difference
He: …
She: You have to know the difference. There’s a difference. You NEED food and water and shelter. You WANT a new TV.
He: Yeah, I guess so. I want one.
She: And you shouldn’t just expect to get everything you want.

I get off the bus a stop early because they show no signs of leaving and while I am, at points, amused by the conversation, I am also starting to want to punch her in the nose.

I look up as I am leaving the bus and she is staring at her knees, making this sour face, her eyebrows furrowed and her mouth mean. I can tell she is just waiting for him to say something so she can shoot it down, or correct it, or argue.

He still has the headphones on. He looks happy.

Posted in funny, public transit | 2 Comments

Needed: One Helmet, Large Toddler Size

Posted on 11/12/2007 by cheesefairy

The floor is so beautiful; the exact colour I wanted it to be. It has the effect on the room I wanted most – warmth. It works well to offset the floor-to-ceiling eggshell paint. But perhaps best of all, one less room in this house has inch-deep very-off-white pile carpet. No More Spores on This Floor!

I checked the receipt to see what kind of wood it is but it doesn’t tell me. I am pretty sure it’s maple or red oak; I do remember that it’s stained a colour called “Bourbon.” We bought it from a distributor in Surrey but the company that manufactures it is in Ontario.

It’s engineered hardwood rather than laminate because 1. we like real wood and laminate is not real wood but 2. real hardwood (the solid board kind) has to be nailed down and we have concrete beneath our feet. Ah! A compromise! We chose the Canadian company because we know where the wood comes from (yes, even if we can’t remember what kind of wood it is. shut up) and that it’s grown in a sustainable fashion and because they had the nicest product. Also, it was on sale back in August.

Trombone spent the weekend working on his walking speed. He is full-on toddling around, sneaking up behind you and biting your thigh (hopefully a short-lived, teething-related stage). He has also developed serious dependencies on his “Papa” and “Wannanonna” (my father and mother, respectively.) We suck; they rule; the end.

He dropped onto the new floor and set off immediately for the nest of cables and cords at the back of the room. He hasn’t tumbled yet but there’s also nothing on the floor for him to tumble over yet. All the interesting stuff is still upstairs.

The catt is very much undecided.

We watched Ratatouille last night. I recall reading a lot of seriously glowing reviews of this movie and now that I’ve checked out the user comments at IMDb, I see I am in the minority – I thought it was the worst Pixar offering I have ever seen.

As always, the animation was gorgeous. Breathtaking. I loved the music. I loved the concept. But then the story just didn’t pan out. It felt really contrived and predictable. Worse – the characters didn’t appeal to me. What? I know! I usually love the characters in a Pixar film. Even (especially?) the shorts – they make the bird or the alien or whatever just reach out and grab you by the heart. But the rats? I did not love any of the rats. I did not care what happened to anybody in this movie. I felt like I was watching (pretty good, for Disney) shlock.

Anyone else? Was I just tired and cranky and I should watch it again in a year? What did I miss? IMDb says it’s “a film-lover’s film” so maybe I don’t love films?

Oh and here are some pictures.



Posted in home, movies, trombone | 13 Comments

…and, We’re Done!

Posted on 11/12/2007 by cheesefairy

edited to add: This was meant to be posted yesterday, nov 11, but the Internet at my folks’ house is a capricious beastie so you get it today. Strangely, now that there is a WIND STORM 2007 OMG PONIES! the Internet works fine.

So yeah, lamest long weekend of blogging ever.

Partly it’s because the computer is in the baby’s room. Partly it’s because the internet out in North Burnaby is as sporadic as the bus service in New Westminster. Partly, of course, it is because I am a big slacker. Oh and did I mention molars? I meant to. Trombone woke up at 4:05 this morning, cried on and off for an hour – I think there was some sleeping in there, too – and then was up for the day at 5. 5. 5 am. Jammin’ on the 5. Gordon Campbell on a pogo stick. I am beginning to actively fear stat holidays where once I anticipated them with Christmas-like glee. Don’t have time to link to all my posts about holiday hell at the moment but trust me when I say I should have known something was going awry in my life when I got strep throat every year for my birthday as a kid. In grade 9 English we called that Foreshadowing.

Enough about me and my whiny badself! SA just called and said the floors are done. He got up the same time as me this morning and then spent the day doing manual labour (as opposed to listening to Baby Einstein’s Greatest Hits 14 times, which is mental labour of a special kind) and he is a goddamn hero. Tomorrow we get to go home and admire fondly our new 250 square feet of maple? Or oak? Flooring? We ordered it the last week of August, the same day I found out I was pregnant, so I don’t actually remember what it is. All I remember is, that day was hot and we drove to Surrey.

Don’t worry, we will take pictures before we start scratching the hell out of it.

Posted in home, trombone | 2 Comments

Take It on the Run

Posted on 11/10/2007 by cheesefairy

Trombone has rediscovered his baby swing. He got this look on his face when he saw it tucked in the corner of the room, all, “Hey, you guys have been holding out on me! There’s a swing INSIDE!” I kind of feel the same way. It’s cold out there for twice-daily swing sessions.

The carpet is gone. Underlay is in place (I am assuming). Menfolk are coming back (T & I are in Burnaby, being women and children)(pesh!) and pizza has been ordered.

If you leave this post with REO Speedwagon in your head, I will have done my job.

Posted in home, trombone | 5 Comments

Before

Posted on 11/9/2007 by cheesefairy

I’ve spent the day moving things upstairs in preparation for The Great Carpet Removal 2007. Took a brief break to buy some secondhand maternity clothes from the friend of a friend and am now the proud owner of jeans that don’t fall down every time I bend over. Stopped for a coffee and box of mojo potatoes and am preparing to do my 5th load of laundry of the day before packing up the essentials and heading over to my parents’ place for the weekend.

I moved all the things a pregnant woman should move (and a couple I maybe shouldn’t have) and now the living room looks like the below photo. That’s our new floor in boxes on the left. Stay tuned for the sweet, thrilling after.

Posted in home | 1 Comment