My Ramblings – Page 82 – Bookish Butch

May the Wind be at your back

It’s a New Year and all the possibilities exist.

I am an optimist and a romantic at New Year’s.

I see a freshly fallen, pristine path of snow,

not too deep,

awaiting my tracks.

I may slip and tire but,

the lessons of Winters past will help me make it.

I’m looking ahead with hope and wonder.

I’ll need good boots and a soft back wind to carry me through.

I have them, I just have to believe,

and I do.

This year I want and need someone to walk the path with me,

I haven’t met her but,

I will,

she’s there.

… and so my friends…

May you have good traction,

may the wind be at your back,

and may a soft and strong hand keep you steady.

Happy New Year

Lots of luck,

Lots of love,

Later girls,

***Leave it to a Canadian to use snow imagery, what can I say,… it is what I know:-)***

What I want for 2011

I made it through Christmas,

now it’s on to New Year’s.

I have never been a big lover of New Year’s,

not being,

a party animal.

But, this year I am really looking forward to it.

Not to party but,

to move forward.

2010 had it’s moments but,

I’ve had better years.

I have some ambitions for 2011,

I’m going to work hard at realising them.

I want to spend more time with my friends,

quality time.

I want to stop whinning about my lack of a love life,

and start working towards acquiring one.

If anyone knows any nice, quirky women in their late thirties to late forties they would like to introduce, I’m down with that:-) Just keep in mind, they must be bookish and, like butches-smile and wink.

I want to read more and participate in a few challenges,

both collective and personal.

I want to eat more fruit and drink more water.

I want to spend time with my nephews,

teach them to love hockey and books.

Because, these things are important.

I want to write more and better.

I want to go back to Toronto.

I want to meet a woman who takes my breath away,

and thinks my quirks are cute.

I want to be taller and younger and slimmer,

I’ll settle for slimmer.

I want my family to know how much I love and appreciate them.

In the realm of the kind of tough,

I want The Habs to win the Cup.

I want an end to Harper rule.

Mostly, I want to be happy and healthy and prosperous,

and I want that for all of you as well.

Later girls

***…and of course I want world PEACE***

Christmas Update

Good morning , all.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

Mine was pretty darn nice.

On Friday, Christmas Eve,

mom and I,

went to visit my dad’s side of the family.

We don’t get to visit with them that much,

everyone is spread out over two very large provinces.

But, at Christmas we manage to meet,

some years one or two can’t make it,

this year everyone did,

and all were on their best behaviors.

Good food, good conversation and lots of laughing.

On Christmas day, we went to my ex’s mother’s,

we go at Christmas and they come over on New Year’s,

it’s tradition and has been for many years.

The thing with going there is that my ex has a brother who is,

kind of a jerk,

most families have one.

So, you never know if this is the year,

he’ll make a scene.

This year, Goddess be praised:-),

he was sweet and funny.

When we go there it’s all about presents,

too many.

This year it was more manageable,

everyone seemed to like their stuff.

I didn’t get any books, I like to pick my own.

I got a new comforter from mom,

a great backpack from my ex,

a really nice warm sweater,

and some new leather gloves.

Bonus, I got Lost and Delirious,

a movie I have been wanting to see for ages.

Mom also renewed my Chapters IReward card.

I’m very happy.

Today, Boxing Day we are going to my aunt’s,

this is all about the kids.

I hope they like their loot:-)

We are going to have take out Chinese,

which is fun, we are all so sick of turkey.

I haven’t had much time for reading,

but, I am working my way through, The Bookshop.

I’m enjoying it, a nice quiet British read.

I’ll let you know what I think when I finish.

I hope you all had fun and ate lots of yummy stuff.

Later girls

…and so Happy Christmas

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
Ans so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear- John Lennon-Happy Christmas(War Is Over)

This song to me is the perfect Christmas song,

for reflection and planning the coming year.

No matter who many times I hear it, it brings wet to my eyes.

Another year over and what have you done.

I have tried to grow, to follow my dreams.

I have tried to be a shoulder and an ear, to those who need it.

I have tried through my bookstore,

to be a haven of peace and a little bit of culture in a noisy world.

I have tried to love and not sit back.

I have tried to be good to the near and the dear ones.

All these had various levels of success, but…

I have tried.

For the New Year, I’ll keep on,

trying.

It’s Christmas,

hold the ones you love close,

remember those who are no more.

Have fun.

Dance, sing, eat and be merry.

The time for reflection is over.

Party in whatever way works for you.

I will.

All the best,

I wish you all peace, happiness and— good loot:-)

Later girls

**Let’s hope one day we can say, War Is Over**

2010, quite a year, My top ten reads

The trees look like they have been painted white.

Beautiful.

It’s the time of year,

where you look back on your year.

What was amazing, what sucked.

Every year has it’s ups and downs.

But, 2010 was really,

a hell of a roller coaster ride.

The winter was quiet,

although as I recall,

I started 2010 with a terrible cold.

Business was slow all winter,

and then in late April we had a snow storm,

April 27 Th,

on the same day,

my mom had a heart attack.

It was one of the scariest things,

I have ever lived through.

She’s fine.

They unclogged her artery,

and she seems better than ever.

The whole procedure took forty minutes,

she was hospitalised for a few days.

Puts perspective, on what’s important.

In March, I started this blog,

I started really working on it in May.

It has been instrumental in,

helping me voice what I feel about things,

sure mostly books,

but,

also,

life.

Mine in particular but also,

life in general.

Through the blog,

I have met many like minded people,

people who care about,

what I care about.

Book bloggers are an interesting bunch.

Those of you who have been with me a while,

know that I dubbed this summer,

the summer of hell.

I learned a few things about myself,

and I will not dwell on them.

Life goes on…

I met some amazing people this year,

and solidified some relationships, as well.

I read some fantastic and,

not so fantastic books this year.

Here are my most memorable 2010 reads:

1- Stone Butch Blues-Leslie Feinberg- A book everyone should read- About pain, suffering, difference but, mostly about resilience and being true to yourself-Wow.

2-Bastard Out Of Carolina-Dorothy Allison- For it’s voice and it’s truth- Both ugly and beautiful.

3-Last Night in Twisted River-John Irving-Because he is now, and will always be, my favorite.

4.Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress-Dai Sijie-It made me laugh, it made me cry. I wanted to start all over again once I had finished. A book about people surviving insanity, with the help of books. Stupendous.

5-Aquamarine-Carol Anshaw- Quiet, original, and smart- What if?

6-Small Island-Andrea Levy-Strong female characters-An unforgettable story- The Second World War, one of the most interesting settings.

7-Julie and Julia-Julie Powell-It made me feel better about my life, and made me want to follow my dreams.

8-A Death In the Family-James Agee-How unfair life can be-How much love and family, mean.

9-Coffee Will Make You Black-April Sinclair-Coming of Age at it’s best.

10-The Millennium Trilogy-Stieg Larsson-Because Lisebeth Salander is a complex beautiful character-She has more layers than an onion.

Well that’s mine.

All over the place as usual:-)

What’s yours?

Did you read any of these?

Do you agree?

Disagree?

I’d love to hear what you think.

I read less this year.

Slower and better.

Later girls

Of Grinches and Beagles and Tradition.

It is unbelievably cold outside.

Frigid, windy.

I went Christmas shopping yesterday,

I only had the one person left on my list,

my ex’s mother.

She’s a lovely woman but,

she is hell to shop for.

You ask her what she would like and she says,

hand cream,

all she ever wants is hand cream.

It’s enough to drive a butch to drink:-)

I am sure you all have someone like her on your list.

Last night,

I watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas,

on television.

I have probably seen it 35 times,

been watching it since I was a little kid.

Along, with a Charlie Brown Christmas,

wouldn’t feel like Christmas without them.

We always watched them as a family,

all three of us,

giggling.

Whenever I see it,

The Grinch,

I hear my dad saying along with the Grinch,

Roast beast is a feast I can’t stand in the least.

He always said that when we had roast beef,

it never got tired.

You miss those things at Christmas,

reminds you of all you have and all you’ve lost.

Don’t mind me,

Christmas makes me nostalgic,

or it could be that Grinches, Beagles and,

Idealists like my man Linus,

are irresistible.

I’m not quite sure:-)

Tomorrow a review of The International.

Later girls

Clouds? Sure but, blessings more.

It’s cold, damn cold!!

I guess my blood hasn’t thickened, yet.

Today was the kind of day,

where you think,

Why did I get up?

One good thing,

it’s over.

Next.

So, the holiday season being upon us,

I have been pondering and reflecting,

I can hear you thinking,

BB don’t ponder so much,

chill.

You know you’re right,

but,

this is positive pondering,

I promise.

The bookstore was practically deserted today,

on the radio,

White Christmas.

It reminded me of this song from the movie

When I’m worried and I can’t sleep
I count my blessings instead of sheep
And I fall asleep counting my blessings

Sometimes, I forget to count my blessings.

In no particular order these are things, people, that I’m grateful for:

mom,

the dude,

my ex… friend extraordinaire,

the Habs,

good hair,

straight teeth,

being bi-cultural,

gift of gab,

my blog,

books,

my Blundstones,

beautiful women,

Quentin Tarantino,

beer,

my godson,

his brothers and sister,

a wise owl confidant,

hot showers,

pickles,

a hot writer with espresso eyes,

friends with an inflatable bed,

plaid,

coffee,

being born in the 20th century,

my grandparents,

bagels,

John Coltrane,

moleskin notebooks,

Autumn,

duvets,

The New Yorker,

Linus Van Pelt,

baseball caps,

Broadway musicals,

Emma Goldman,

boxer shorts,

Bruce Sprinsteen,

Ste-Catherine Street,

Coca-cola,

2B pencils,

greasy Chinese,

self-deprecation,

thundershowers,

John Donne,

Bach,

Apple pie,

Kate Winslett,

the St-Lawrence,

blue skies,

fig newtons,

jeans,

Julia Roberts,

glasses.

And on and on.

When I feel rotten,

I remember the world has and or had these wonderful things or people in it.

Later girls,

keep your chin up

In Memory of Fourteen Women

This is the first blog post I wrote, about the polytechnique massacre, I wrote this,in 2010.

December 6 th,

is the anniversary of one of the worst events in Montreal history,

the massacre at Polytechnique.

Fourteen young women were murdered,

by a young man who hated feminists.

I remember that early december evening in 1989,

like it was yesterday.

They were gunned down for wanting to be engineers.

In a place of higher learning.

The city was shocked and stunned and numb.

Twenty one years later,

we are still coming to terms with these events.

How could this happen in our city,

in our province,

in our country.

Canada,

not a fundamentalist country.

Canada,

not a country where you can buy guns,

at Walmart.

Canada, the True North Strong and Free.

In the last few years,

the Harper government,

has neutered gun registration laws,

in an attempt to placate it’s base.

You want to own guns,

fine,

Registered guns save lives.

This is not my opinion nor that of feminist groups,

it is the opinion of law enforcement throughout the country.

When police arrive at the scene of domestic violence,

if they can check beforehand on registered guns in the house,

they can prevent deaths,

of the women who are the victims of this domestic situation,

and of the policemen who intervene.

Gun control and gun registration help.

Those women who were slaughtered would be in their forties today,

like me.

I remember them,

and long for the day when we will all be equal,

all over the world.

African little girls becoming doctors or nurses,

Chinese daughters cherished.

We, all of us,

must do better.

For all our sons and daughters.

Later girls

Save The Words, Please

Good morning all.

I’m off to work, wish me luck,

I need a good day.

Anyway, just poped in briefly,

to tell you about this outstanding and not in the least affictitious site.

http://www.savethewords.org/

The objective of this site,

is to have you adopt and thus keep in use,

words that are about to removed from the Oxford English Dictionary.

What a hoot!!

In my usual overdoing it manner,

I adopted three.

Affictitious: artificial,fake,counterfeit.

Diloricate: to rip open a sewn piece of clothing

Boreism: someone who suffers from being boring.

I will be using these liberally but, appropriately,

I hope.

Come to think of it,

don’t words also stay alive through improper usage?

Food for thought.

Well gotta go.

Later girls

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Lots of rain right now.

The Canadiens lost.

The Alouettes our football team,

won the Grey Cup.

Back to back wins,

they rock.

The rain even stopped today for their parade,

cool.

I’m reading the Daphne Du Maurier,

My Cousin Rachel.

I’m liking it but, it’s early going

My cold is still hanging around,

and making me kind of morose,

will it never end.

I’ve taken to rubbing my chest with Vicks vapor rub,

not an attractive smell but,

The Dude loves it.

Cats are weird.

I’m starting to think about Christmas,

I like Christmas,

although I find the fact,

that it now seems to last 6 weeks,

a little bit disconcerting.

Some of the things I love about Christmas,

spending time with family,

especially my dad’s family that I seldom see,

I like them they are smart and argumentative.

I love watching my cousin’s kids OD on candy.

Christmas carols,

love them.

My favorites are either the very hokie,

Blue Christmas or Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,

or the sacred O Holy Night( The French Version Minuit Chrétien)

or Adeste Fideles.

I suppose Christmas brings out,

both the hokie and the sacred,

in me.

I love to find the perfect Christmas gifts for those I love .

I’m getting my mom this courier bag she has been lusting after.

She doesn’t know about it.

Shh it’s a surprise.

I love to watch It’s a Wonderful Life,

and The Bells Of St-Mary’s,

The Santa Clause, The Grinch and,

of course,

Charlie Brown.

Wouldn’t be Christmas without them.

What I want for Christmas?

Peace, Love and maybe,

a woman who thinks I’m the Cat’s Meow.

It’s Christmas you have to believe in magic.

Later girls

this is the first post on Christmas, expect more.