By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept

"And in the end all that we can do is to sit at the table over which our hands cross, listening to tunes from the wurlitzer, with love huge and simple between us, and nothing more to be said."

Elizabeth Smart (1913-1086)

As many before us have, we entered Grand Central Station our first night in New York. I was awed, goosebumped and emotional. At that moment I believed New York City was the greatest city on earth and that I would do anything to stay.

Start Spreading the News -- I'm Leaving Today

Well my lovlies, the boyfriend and I are eastern bound. We're getting on the red eye tonight and heading to Ottawa, our beloved capital. Not for the tulip festival, though I'm sure it's all the rage, but to visit the boyfriend's family.

And once our familial responsibilities are done, we are getting on another plane -- to NYC. I've never been to New York. Once, years ago I got as close as Laguardia Airport. Needless to say I have not been to New York. I am finally going, and I may not come back. Summer, Gary, I will look for you in the crowds.

“They say life's what happens when you're busy making other plans. But sometimes in New York, life is what happens when you're waiting for a table.” (Carrie Bradshaw -- Sex and the City)

New Neighbour

I was out on the balcony last night enjoying the feel of summer when I saw a new neighbour moving in. She's nesting under the garage and I'm not telling anyone. I'm waiting to see the babies. OMG -- nothing cuter than baby animals even if they are a wee bit smelly (and let's be realist -- what baby doesn't smell a wee bit?)

I've Met Someone New

I have been working on my certificate in Business Communication and Professional Writing and just finished what I hope is my last course -- Ethics and Legal Issues in Writing and Publishing. It was a four week core course and on the first night 20 of us crammed into a small lecture room. It was very awkward as there weren't enough seats to leave any empty, so we had to actually sit beside each other. Horrors!

We were all pretty well behaved on that first night, though it didn't take long to pick up on some unique personalities. There was the one who had an agenda that had nothing to do with the course. There was the one who kept his head down hoping the teacher wouldn't ask him a question. There was the know-it-all. There was the one with the metal pencil case, with little puppies on it, that held her pen, small ruler, pencil, eraser and correction tape (yes, this was a course for adults). And then there was the one, that after a couple of under-the-breath comments I turned to and said "I think I like you".

Alex and I were separated at birth. Red wine? Check. Savory, not sweet? Check. Love Seattle? Check. Run with a similar crowd? Check. Not suffering fools gladly? Check. We made a point of sitting beside each other in the next class and by the third class we had exchanged emails, PINs (oh yeah, both Blackberry users) and blog info.

I told the boyfriend about Alex and our similarities, but you know boyfriends? Kind of in one ear and out the other (mind you mentioning this during what turned out to be the final game between the Vancouver Canucks and the LA Kings might have been poor timing on my part).

On the last day of class Alex presented me with the beautiful bouquet of tulips above, to thank me for the inspiration to start blogging and I joked that we seemed to be in the midst of a whirlwind romance.

When I walked through the front door that night and greeted the boyfriend the first words out of his mouth were "Where did you get the flowers?"

"Alex gave them to me".

Needless to say his response, said with steely eyes (always wanted to write that) was "Who's Alex?"

"Alex is the one that I met in my class. Tonight was our last night and she wanted to thank me for writing my blog and inspiring her to start one of her own. I think it's sweet."

"Who?"

"Alex. Alexandra. I told you about her."

There comes a point in our lives when we don't make new friends readily. We may meet people that we like and think we should make the effort. But more often than not, that's what it is. Effort. So we never get around to it. We justify this by saying we have enough friends, and besides we're too busy to really put the necessary time into nurturing a new relationship. Next thing you know you are scanning through your Outlook Contacts wondering who the hell Emily is.

Alex and I may not ride off into the sunset together (hmmm -- don't know how she feels about motorbikes yet) but I think we've both decided that this time a new friendship is just what we want -- and it's effortless.

(Oh and by the way for those of you who noticed, the fact that the tulips are in a martini shaker is no reflection on the giver -- just the receiver -- though I think she'd approve.)

Here's Looking at You Rick Mercer

I don't blog about work but today I'm making an exception. We finally moved.

Back in July 2009 we moved from the 13th floor with a view of the mountains and ocean to this lovely space in the CBC Building (Canadian Broadcasting Corp for my non-Canadian readers -- kinda like the BBC but with commercials).







We fondly call it The Bunker. Apparently the floors below street level are lead-lined -- something to do with the Cold War and a mushroom cloud. I guess they thought they would move broadcasting to the basement and continue to bring doom and gloom to any Canadians that were left. There are no windows, the walls are cinder blocks and there is limited cell phone reception. We were supposed to be here until October 2009 when we would move up to the 2nd floor.

As we all know, things move slowly when government corporations are involved (no matter which government, I'm pretty sure they are all the same). Well on April 30th we finally got the word that we could move upstairs.

I have my own office again -- a room with a view:


For those of you who don't know who Rick Mercer is, he's one of the funniest political satirist out there. Certainly on par with the best of the U.S -- Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Bill Maher. (Check out his blog.) So while I no longer have a view of the mountains and ocean, I can content myself with the fact that I am greeted every morning with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

I think that pretty much says it all.

Potato Salad Anyone?

I've never been a big fan of potato salad -- at picnics I gravitate towards the macaroni salad. But I think it's important to be flexible. Don't you?