Also known as: This is not a Top Ten List
(I lost the bet so here we are.)
JANUARY
~New Years Day-a classic Caesar, filet mignon w/ blue cheese crust, fennel salad, sticky toffee pudding and a bottle of Amerone
~gardening in January-very mild; periwinkle and creeping phlox in bloom
~Sandra Sharma and Nicki Payne comedy
~Sam Sanberg interview
~chocolate chip cookies from the Widget Maker's daughter
~French paintings at the AGH
~Shafia guilty verdict
~Julian Barnes' Amsterdam
~walnut cake from Chef & Wife
~Feast Bazaar, Syria-before the uprising
~snow storm went Northeast
FEBRUARY
~Thai night-there's Pad Thai and then there's Pad Thai
~Julian Barnes' The Lemon Table short stories-in particular, Love Unspoken, Vigilance and Appetite
~an orchid, before it's had a chance to die in my care
~Bellinis & Tequonics(tequila/tonic water/maraschino)
~snow storm went Northeast
~Barney's Version-the movie
~Barchester Chronicles w/ Nigel Hawthorne
MARCH
~bucatina pasta w/ tomatoes, butter, olive oil, pecorino, black pepper, parsley
~Jeanette Winterson's Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?
~Jones New York bargains-why shop retail?
~ordering a small, medium, large at Starbucks
~Strombo interview with Pogues front man, Shane McGowan-I thought he'd died years ago!
~Julian Barnes' Flaubert's Parrot -stay with this because it may prove challenging, at first
(side note: Flaubert never got over his first love and wrote, "Each of us possesses in his heart a Royal chamber and I have bricked mine up")
~15C then 25C weather, then daffodils-it's the change in mindset-winter doldrums to Spring
APRIL
~first in a series of great workouts
~flourless chocolate cake sandwiched with layers of chocolate mousse, dressed with 35% cream; hence the exercise
~welsh rarebit(rabbit to some)
~Garbo's Laugh by Elizabeth Hay-because some movies are a pleasure to watch over and over again
~Henry the Cat
~tulips!
MAY
~Jann Arden & Rick Mercer at the CN Tower
~Werner Herzog's Stroszek (great movie)
~finally re-landscaping the front garden; landscaping a bit too strong a word, perhaps?
~Alone In the Classroom by Elizabeth Hay ("The bucket inside me overturned its contents with a swoosh.")
~ice wine and cake in the bathtub after my "going postal" moment; cake & wine courtesy of the neighbours who agreed with me, but are far too polite and have more self control than I do
~Sean Cullen & Scott Thompson-The Debaters
~Doors Open Hamilton-the pale, blonde Christ at the Catholic church and the dark skinned, raven haired Christ of the Orthodox church down the street
~Rob Ford Watch begins
~salad Nicoise with a fresh tuna steak
~Adam Gopnick's emails to Elizabeth Parnell
~salmon with creme fraiche, orzo w/ goats cheese and spinach (Gopnick included champagne with his salmon)
~vinyl Cafe's Mr. Harmen; Mr. H. appreciates good food
JUNE
~Kiss/Queen concert with Jeans & Classics
~the sticky rice dish
~perfectly cooked asparagus-more about this later
~The Frenchie-gin/pernod/vermouth/grenadine float
~Shaw Fest's Come Back, Little Sheba
~Cumbrae butchers
~Early summer dinner of borscht w/sherry, tarragon crusted scallops, brandied chicken & morels and Jamie Oliver's chocolate pots
~big, leisurely dinners in general; see also movie dinners-Remains of the Day, Big Night or Gosford Park
~42C weather
JULY
~Tom Allen-please come back to the morning show
~gazpacho, when its done right
~finding refuge in Wine Country from the Canada day hordes
~Konzleman rose & roast duck
~Soulpepper theatre-everything
~onion & mint chutney on goats cheese, chilled melon & mint soup, Biff's fish
~Scorned As Lumber- Carr at the AGH
~Douglas Coupland interviews
~finally, Williams' Harbourfront location expanded
AUGUST
~roast beef dinners & leftover roast beef; the Pater's Cobb salad
~Farm Country and the mindset that comes with it
~the Jamaican Victory Lap
~Lemon Tiramisu without the watered down Lemoncello
~fresh tomatoes roasted in the office toaster oven; you can eat well on the lunch hour; move over PB & J
~"Memories are not solace." Joan Didion
~Life on a Kibbutz by humorist extraordinaire, David Rackoff
~Andrew Pocock(British High Commissioner)-w/Michael Enright on The Sunday Edition-The Cornish Pasty lesson
~people who still bring doughnuts in when visiting-dying art of guilt free eating; because sometimes the granola and fruit just aren't enough
SEPTEMBER
~38C
~"lost in translation" conversations with my neighbours
~Fall in Perth County; road trip with the Pater
~Jann Arden, again-on the Calgary Stampede and I'm paraphrasing here-"We should take back Putin's hat (free Pussy Riot!)"
~Stratford Fest-Best Brothers
~Shaw Fest-everything
~Garlic Fest
~noon hour walking
~afternoon teas and espresso in appropriately sized cups(finally)
OCTOBER
~Michael Coulton's Romney Watch-on the Ohio debacle, "...and with no new ammunition, Romney stuck with same, stale stuff" and "...the gift that keeps on giving."
~Opera Hamilton
~gardening, still, under clear blue skies
~experimental cooking
~single malt as cold remedy
~fine moments in the blogosphere; people on the same wavelength in the blogosphere because there is no greater challenge than trying to explain to someone why something's funny
NOVEMBER
~radio silence when Pat Barker was asked if the Great War was worth it
~big story on the Australian town that recently installed a toilet in the local graveyard-in the shape of a coffin; bypassing red tape at its finest
~curried scallops; a simple salad sandwich; homemade samosas
~Emma Donaghue's Astray
~the Ballet
~Robbie Coltrane's pickup lines (as told by Stephen Fry)
~Men with Movember moustaches~proof that looking like a stereotypical child molester is good for no one
DECEMBER
~Xmas Dinner, naturally
~listening to the owls in the woods
~watching members of the Instant Gratification Club in action
~a well made sushi roll; shrimp cocktail done right; venison
~earning my merit badge for "enduring yet another year listening to the 'twelve dogs chorus' in the neighbourhood"; why do people need so many dogs? and why don't they ever walk them?
~Rob Ford watch continues
[editor's note: let's not forget about Hamilton city council]
~in the Ripley's Believe It Or Not category-a fresh Harvey's hamburger and hot, crispy fries
~if you need more proof that they're just like us: an Xmas repeat of Lethal Weapon which is so much harder to appreciate in the aftermath of Gibson's breakdown
