Beginning of the week:
Minus 20
Felt like Minus 40
Of course, there was a wind chill as well.
It was one of those days when you inhaled through your nose, you could feel your lungs freeze.
When it's cold like that, people feel conflicted... well... apparently when coffee is involved.
Can you believe that line up at the Bloor and Bedford Tim Hortons? What are those people doing? Is this really necessary?
Really now?
Is it?
I'm doing it! *sigh*
Latte, Macchiatto, Dolce's and Fraps.
Why is it when I fall in love with a new drink it gets discontinued?
I'm like the Jessica Fletcher in a Barrista's bad dream.
I tried the Cinnamon Dolce today.
It's no Maple Macchiatto.
This was THE MOST pointless post in a long time. I just needed to vent.
BTW, Beck's Update. Successfully 3 weeks and not one Beck's taxi later.
3 weeks and still no work from Gail Beck.
She's afraid of The Cake.
I would be too.
If I was avoiding being accountable for a taxi service that blows.
1. I don't know how to steal cable.
2. I don't know much about hockey
3. If you ask for fries at the Red Room they give you 8 homefries wedge things that taste like left over hash browns. I'm serious. It's very disappointing.
I figure that number two on the list I can do something about. I have this philosophy that you should be introduced to something new by someone who really enjoys it. And, while I think I might have found someone willing to take on that task, I thought the least I could do was to learn some basics on the sport.
So I hit the interweb and found bumpkiss.
Literally.
Reading about hockey online is about as much fun as playing trivia alone.
Canada has over 500,000 registered hockey players, and you're telling me, not one of them can publish an entertaining overview on how to play hockey?
I just want to be entertained, and considering it's one of the most popular sports in my country, I should at least make an effort to understand it.
Right?
So here's the KC's rudementary guide to hockey, as I understand it, for all the ladies out there.
1. A mix of hot and not so hot guys hit the ice. About 6 of them. 5 and the goalie. Sometimes there are fights. Violence never is a solution to problems, but, when the gloves come off, feel free to fantasize that the shirts do too!
2. Two Players share one on one time with the puck. It's a chance to see who wants the puck more. It's a very special moment.
3. They skate around trying to steal the puck from each other to ultimately get it into a net barely larger than the gent guarding it. It's so important to keep the puck out, a man is willing to put himself in between a speeding projectile and the net.
Yes, Hockey is much more dramatic than I ever realized.
4. There are rewards for "Act of God" occurances. Should the tiny puck make it's way from one end of the rink directly into the net, the team gets a point. If it hits the wall instead... Well, you're gonna get in trouble.
"Dude, you may be skatin' on ice, but, you don't have a stick like Jesus."
5. They skate around for 3 periods that are 20 minutes each. Important, not so thrilling fact: They also switch sides. So don't cheer when it appears the visiting team scored accidentally for the home team.
Mistakes like that rarely happen.
There are few "Act of God" occurances during modern day hockey.
6. Junk food just tastes good when you're at an event. I recommend eating a lot, because, when it gets boring then you can always eat.
7. Sex in public. Hell, let's add this one in. Why not?
The End.
While in the middle of writing a post about Toronto Arts & Culture my telephone rang.
"Hello?"
"Hi, it's Fang." Fang= The woman whose mat leave I'm covering.
It's been a week since Fang gave birth to her first child Max and I've been itching to ring her up. However, the fear of disturbing her while she might be getting some well deserved rest or even worse, disturbing the baby!
I was so excited to hear from her, to hear about the birth and to hear her overwhelming happiness transcend through the telephone wires and touch me into smiling.
"You know when you wonder if it's all worthwhile (Giving birth to a child). It is. Believe me, KC when I tell you, it is." Yes, my eyes welled up. I'm a sucker for magic, and this is so beautiful it's the magic I want to believe in.
Fang is a genuine soul. An honest person with an inherit wisdom I've drawn audience to on more than one occasion since we first met in January. On our first day together she took my hand and put it on her belly so I could feel Max wriggle about. "He's unhappy with something" She told me. "How do you know?", I asked. "Because, when he's happy he does something quite different". Yeah, my eyes got teary then as well.
"Frank's been staring at him in awe. He's amazed that Max is his."
I could hear Little Max bubble and squeak on the other end of the line. And, I wished with all my heart I could reach out, pick him up and hold him. Max is so lucky to have parents like Fang and Frank. I couldn't be happier for two of the kindest people.
The older the get the more I wonder if I'm ever going to truly feel what Fang is lucky to feel. It's a privilege to find someone who values you enough to want you to be their partner and the eventual mother of their child. That is flattery, that has substance and meaning. That is being placed on a pedestal higher above any other honour.
It's easy to be a girlfriend.
It's hard to be a partner.
And, I am neither.