This piece of paper is a treasure for two reasons – the event and the location. Cru Restaurant was a favourite for several years and for even more reasons. The ambiance – comfortable, intimate, not too loud, not too large – made it a treat to go for dinner. The menu and wine list were,... Continue Reading →
The President’s Hat, by Antoine Laurain. Book report extra #7 (2022)
The President's Hat, by Antoine Laurain. Pub 2012. Translation by Gallic Books, 2013. This is a wonderful semi-modern fable of the power of talismans over fate, luck, and confidence. The titular president is François Mitterand, President of France from 1981-1995, and he was well known for his sartorial elegance, especially his scarf and the also-titular... Continue Reading →
Item #29: Salt Rock
Today brought a few reminders that I’m way behind on my 100 objects project. The second occurred when I looked back at my list so far and saw that it seemed that I’d missed a number in my inventory, resulting in a review of all items and several trips down memory lanes, cul-de-sacs, and back... Continue Reading →
My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
Annual #tellastory day and Pop’s birthday, and so another pop tale. I don’t recall exactly when it arrived in our home, but at some point when I was young, Pop acquired a banjo. He would spend hours in the evenings and weekends plinking and plunking away, often playing along with something on the stereo or... Continue Reading →
Good riddance, 2020
Like most people I'm sure, I'll be glad to flip the calendar from 2020. I started this blog in 2010, at the end of (for me) a tumultuous year. 2020 has been less personally challenging but still no picnic. I tried for a few years doing a year-end sum-up of things that made me laugh/cry/get... Continue Reading →
The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt. Book report #15 (2020)
The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt. Pub 2013. I've had this book for a while now, a recommendation from a friend. It has been avoided due to its size - >700 pages - and that it is a "check-out" book (as in, one that I frequently see amongst the pulp fiction collections at the grocery store).... Continue Reading →
Item #27: Grapefruit spoons
Prior to 2007, I had never seen such a thing before, didn’t even know they existed. These quirky little things are grapefruit spoons, designed for citrus aficionados who like to scoop their fruit with ease. My grampa was such a one. He was a man who took care with his appearance – almost always appearing... Continue Reading →
Item #26: Phone collection
This is a set of items, but I'm considering it one because of what the collection represents: my cell phone history. I remember first seeing a cell phone in 1992. At work, the three guys who owned the company each got a cell phone - one of those giant brick size ones with the big... Continue Reading →
Item #25: Église De Stains, by Maurice Utrillo
This weary nicotine-stained lithograph-on-board has pride-of-place in my living room not because it is valuable (certainly not) or noteworthy. This print occupied a similar position in my grandparents' home for as long as I can remember and likely before that, so it is a piece of my own history. This was my pop's parents’ home,... Continue Reading →
Item #24: Painted Rocks
Nearly 30 years ago, my mom began painting - first with watercolours but then in a variety of media that, in the mid-nineties, included painting on rock. She collects rocks of appropriate size and texture from the local beaches on Vancouver Island, as well as other locations that she visits in Canada and elsewhere. The... Continue Reading →
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