Category: My Ramblings

Ladies, may I present The Dude.

A big thank you to my good friend in Toronto for the picture.

It was a dark day and The Dude was not in one of his better moods.

But, you can see what a pretty beast he is,

 right?

I can’t find a single thing to read in my piles of books,

it makes no sense.

I always feel off quilter when I can’t read.

I’ll try tomorrow to finish My Year Of Meats.

Meantime I wanted you all to meet, The Dude.

He is named after The Dude in The Big Lebowski,

one of my favourite films.

About a lovable bum in a series of insane situations.

If you haven’t seen it,

watch it next time you are in the mood for the absurd.

Later girls

BB

It’s raining.

I told you all yesterday,

 that I was feeling wonky,

yes,

that is the technical term.

So, in an effort to beat the doldrums,

I thought I would write about,

 some of my favourite things.

Some of my likes and loves,

 you are familiar with,

Blundstones, Swatches, L.L. Bean shirts …

Others are memories of things long gone.

A lot,

 have to do with smells and sounds.

My Grandmaman Lydia,

used to make cake,

this cake was known as gateau blanc,

which literally translates as,

 white cake.

This was a vanilla cake, moist but,

not too moist,

the perfect combination of air and texture.

My cousin,

an admirable baker,

makes grandmaman’s chocolate cake.

It is most people’s favourite and delicious,

but,

I’m not most people and,

the white is still my favourite.

I miss her and the cake.

My Granny Grace,

the anglo side of the family,

died when I was just a kid,

and I remember her big belly laugh,

some people say I inherited it,

genetics also gave me the belly.

Life isn’t always fair.

When my godson, Jerome,

was just a baby,

 I used to smell his hair while he slept.

A perfect smell,

 which I can’t possibly hope to describe.

He’s a big boy of eight now,

sensitive and sweet.

My ex and I had a cat, Bud,

he was a talker and a pacifist.

That cat refused to kill anything.

He would talk and talk,

 probably telling us to join,

 Greenpeace or Ducks unlimited.

My dad and I watching Looney Tunes,

waiting for the day,

 the coyote would fnally catch the roadrunner.

Some of my favourite things are sill around,

mom’s meatloaf, cold on tap beer, espresso coffee.

Some I haven’t seen in a while,

 a Julia Roberts movie,

the post coital shine in a woman’s eyes.

But, hey hope springs eternal.

I still haven’t seen Eat, Pray, Love,

so that hope is afloat:-)

My grandpa always carried peppermints,

 in a baggie in his pocket,

and when you were feeling low,

 he would say “want a peppermint?”

It was a cure all.

I can’t walk by Kerr’s Scotch Mints at the grocery store,

 without thinking of him.

Not all my favourite things involve dead people.

It’s just as you get older you “know” a lot of  dead people.

I love to go for greasy Chinese food,

 and my heart swells when I hear Pavarotti,

sing Nessun Dorma.

Lady Gaga, PBS, Joan Baez.

Flannel sheets, autumn leaves, crusty bread.

The Dude, Tom Yum soup, bookshelves.

Hot showers, cheddar cheese, long kisses.

These are a few of my favourite things.

What can I say,

 I’m a sentimental old flake.

Next post Books,

I promise.

Later girls

Thanks for putting up with me.

BB

It’s a beautiful sunny, crisp day.

I have to go to the laundromat today and wash the blankets for winter,

they don’t fit in the regular washer.

I used to love Mondays,

 they were ride around town,

 go for Chinese food,

 kind of days.

Unfortunately, that is now a thing of the past.

Oh well ’tis life.

The summer of hell has rescinded,

 and now I’m getting ready for winter.

I’m not a big fan of cold but,

 I love the silence that winter brings.

I have all kinds of reading and writing projects.

My other blog bookishinmtl has been sorely neglected,

I don’t think I have written anything since July.

Anyway, I have an idea for it.

I’m going to attempt to read my way through parts of,

 The Library Of America.

I will also be taking on classics I have been putting off for years,

 Memoirs Of Casanova, which I have in French,

 Les Liaisons Dangereuses and stuff like that.

I will also be doing some reviewing for kissedbyvenus.

I’m still not over my ego stomping summer disaster but,

I’m trying.

I thank the Goddess for this blog and,

 how it allows me to “talk” about my thoughts and feelings.

Also,  my friends and readers have been very supportive.

I started Cadillac Jack last night and,

I have also been reading My Year Of Meats for my book club.

Cadillac Jack seems like it’s going to be fun.

My Year Of Meats is strange,

good strange,

 I think.

I’m glad I picked it for the October installment of Book Club,

it’s a challenge and,

 I can’t give up on it because of my commitment.

So, come hell or highwater,

a review will appear November 1st.

Over the weekend,

 many of the bloggers I follow Cass at Bonjour, Cass and Buried in Print etc

participated in a read-a-thon.

I believe I wil give it a go next year.

I love this blogging thing,

but,

I still have a lot to learn,

like life,

 it is a work in progress.

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Canucks,

and a good Monday to the rest of you.

Later girls

BB

It’s kind of gray and nippy this morning.

In Canada, this is Thanksgiving weekend ,

so most people get three days off.

It doesn’t apply to me,

 I always work Saturdays and have Mondays free.

In my family, Thanksgiving was never a big deal,

mom would roast a bird and,

 we would eat too much and sleep in on Monday.

Things haven’t changed much,

except for the size and the kind of bird,

these days we do chicken rather than turkey.

Turkeys are too big for two people.

As all of us get older,

 I find myself being more and more grateful for what we have.

I don’t know if I ever mentioned but,

I’m an only child.

Although, I have an extended family to whom I am close,

 and friends who are like family,

my tribe consists of my mom and I.

A couple of years ago,

 circumstances were such,

 that my mom and I moved in together.

I sort of saw it as a failure on my part,

a middle aged woman living with her mother,

 kind of lame,

I have since reconsidered.

Mom and I,

 take care of each other,

 and keep each other company,

 we ward off loneliness and,

 share chores and responsibilities.

I worry about her health,

 she worries about my happiness.

I guess we are each other’s port in a storm.

When I look around and see,

 how many people are estranged from their families,

or just plain lonely and unloved,

I know that I am loved and always have been,

I have much to be thankfull for,

thanks mom.

Later girls

BB

Still raining.

Going to Toronto for the weekend.                                              

The weather will hopefully be better there.

I’m looking forward to spending some time with friends,

 and meeting new people.

I won’t be taking my laptop,

 so, no posts for a few days.

I will be reading Wilde,

 on the train so,

 will blog about him upon return.

I will also be letting you all know my impressions of Toronto.

I don’t suppose you really get to know a city in two and a half days.

So, it will be strictly impressions.

I have never been to Toronto.

I’m not one of those people who has a bias against Toronto,

I’m ready to learn and explore.

One thing a have a pre-judgement about,

 The Maple Leafs,

they suck 🙂

In their defense,

 they have nice jerseys.               

Later girls

Have a nice weekend

Reading, or whatever.

BB

I’m from Montreal,                                            

 it’s my home.

I have lived in this city my whole life.

I love it,

and, 

sometimes I hate it.

When I’m hating it, I think anywhere would be better.

This usually happens when I read about,

 the corrupt municipal administration,

and the lack of political will.

I often despair of our future,

 crumbling infrastructures and ever increasing taxes.

It’s easy to find things I dislike,

garbage, noise, slippery sidewalks, idiot disputes about language.

But, then I walk down Ste-Catherine and feel the wind in my hair.

I hear people speaking French and English and Russian and Arab and Spanish

and many which I could not possibly identify.

The smell of grease and Szechuan pepper and hot dogs and donuts and coffee,

and I feel happy and hungry and home.

In an ever changing world,    

 it’s nice to have our spots,                      

 places that never seem to change.

You get older and places disappear, no more Eaton’s or Ben’s or St-Lawrence Bakery.

But, Schwartz’s is still there and Steer Burger and for years I have been eating falafel from Basha’s

and Tum yum soup from Soupes et Nouilles(Soups and Noodles).

When it’s sweltering hot,

 I like to sit in Dominion Square and look up at the Sun Life building,

Montreal’s first skyscraper and feel the slight breeze caused by the large buildings.

This is not a good spot in November.

I love my city and it’s Five Roses Farine sign and it’s graffitied ugly silos.

Urban rust and patina have always been charming and familiar to my eye.

Beautiful churches and ugly snack bars with orange Formica.

The old port and the Molson brewery.

East/West.

The Main.        

The croonch sound of  footsteps on snow on a really cold night.      

I love them all.

The view from the mountain and the view from the Bonaventure autoroute.

You drink beer in any bar until 3 sometimes 4 in the morning,

 and buy beer at the Dépanneur (corner store) until 11 pm.

I have never seen a Moose or a Mountie dressed in red serge ridding a horse.

I live in  a modern and decrepit North American city.

A French and multicultural city.

It’s home.

What else can I say?

Later girls

BB