The Taming of the Shrew

***Blonde moment alert*** The Taming of the Shrew: A Shakespeare play NOT about a small woodland creature but rather about the gender politics of marriage starring a bitter and angry young woman who's transformation we see in the context of a play within a play. Apparently not unusual for the time but a novel and interesting idea for me! Having studied a number of Shakespeare plays in high school I was familiar with the genre but not at all familiar with this play in particular. I had never been to the world famous Stratford Festival and I was lucky enough to be invited this weekend by some good friends with connections! Our complementary seats were in the lower area of the theatre which made for a good and close view of the stage. The costumes were phenomenal... talk about boot-ay on the women! On their rear ends one could easily put a doily and a vase or a few books and a pair of nice book ends. I guess Shakespearean men preferred their women with some junk in the trunk. My how times have changed... but that's a topic for another day. Back to the play- the singing was fantastic and once my fellow play watchers explained to me what the heck was going on during the intermission I was able to follow the second half very nicely. Subtitles wouldn't have gone unappreciated though... In any case the whole day was fantastic, culminating nicely with a dinner at a real farm! In fact I enjoyed myself so much that I am going back this week to see Romeo and Juliet. Thankfully this is one of the plays I studied in high school so I'm anticipating not feeling so lost this time. 



Musicians play the fanfare to let folks know that intermission is over. One of my favourite parts of live theatre is the live music... so captivating!

Ready for the Gun Show?

Happy Halloween! I know it's a week early but I wanted to share these pics from last night. A good friend helped host a fundraiser for her Weekend to End Breast Cancer team, and I of course was much obliged to have been invited. Pulled together in about 5 minutes, I admit my costume may have bordered on more fit for the boudoir than the Bronte Legion Hall; however, upon arrival my costume proved positively nun-like in comparison to my fellow party-goers!!
Glancing furtively around the room I couldn't help but rest my eyes on one risque costume after another.

Sexy Superman, lusty angel and the finest (or most shocking) specimen, depending on your point of view, some sort of Sargent army dude...minus one uniform and plus one Mr. Potato head on his ahem, package.

My dignified sensibilities set aside for the evening, I enjoyed the festivities and the considerable amount of food included in our ticket. The music was your standard but enjoyable DJ set and the $3.75 cocktail price was easy on the wallet. Back from 6 feet under, Steve Irwin even made an appearance and to my delight, really was from Down Under! As my upcoming trip (move?) to Australia is always (if not right in the front of,) in the back of my mind, I was thrilled to meet a real Aussie in Oakville. It was my first encounter with an Australian in Oakville, and if I'm not mistaken, t'was what he hopes will be his last... Apparently Banff is much more alluring. I guess our concrete jungle doesn't amuse? All in all a great evening of costumes, yummy food, booty-shakin on the dance floor and a cocktail (or 5)...hey anything for a good cause right?

Student Loans

Has anyone out there ever applied for educational funding? I feel like I'm the last person on earth to realize that you can actually GET THE GOVERNMENT TO PAY for a large chunk of university fees! I feel really really annoyed right now that I never bothered to look into this as an undergrad. Grrrrr.... hopefully by eschewing the loan world until now I will have a better chance of being granted enough money to eat while I'm at school in Sydney. I guess there is a bright side of not being approved; achieving my ideal surfer girl weight will be that much easier if I can't actually afford food. 

So, to acquaint myself of all things Aussie, I've been reading Australian travel books (see sidebar) and revisiting my photographs from when I was there in 2005. This particular photo reminded me of the myriad complexities of what one might expect to be an ordinary straight-forward venture - ordering a coffee. In any regular Tim Horton's type coffee shop, conveying one's order requires careful attention to a certain vocabulary. This puzzled me and it often resulted in the level of confusion and bewilderment among us tourists that I am used to seeing in novice Starbucks patrons. In contrast though, it wasn't pretentious, or unique to one chain of shops... to me it was just... peculiar...

 I must quote Bill Bryson on this as I couldn't say it better myself:

"....It appeared you had to specify a length (principally long or short), a color (black or white), and even an angle of orientation to the perpendicular (flat or not), and these could be put together in a multitude of permutations- "long black, "short black," even 

"long short black.""

This, I can assure you is not an exaggeration in the slightest. 

My Owie

Ouch! Who knew that catching a floor hockey ball between one's legs could leave such a painful and grotesque reminder of one's unfortunate reflexive reaction? It's a good thing that shorts/ skirt season is all but over here in crispy cool Ontario. Speaking of which, I love fall! The other day I was reminded of this while walking through a cute little area of Toronto known as Liberty Village. The condos there are those "industrial chic loft" types and have names like Toy Factory Lofts and Chocolate Factory Lofts etc. (I'm not clear as to whether or not these buildings used to actually be what they are named for...) Anywho, the ground was covered with these deep red round leaves the exact shape and colour of rose petals! It was like the cliched romantic petal-covered bed had exploded outside to pave the way for every fashionably dressed hand-holding Torontonian couple to glide over. Fall or "Autumn" (in fact seasons in general) will be one of the things I will definitely miss the most while I'm in Australia. There's nothing better than taking a brisk fall walk with friends and then ducking inside a warm cafe for a frothy cup of hot coco and lively conversation. Ah well I'm sure I'll get over it while I'm surfing the waves in January!

 

Well Pho Hung

I'm In Love. There... I said it. The affair started five weeks ago when I, along with a dear friend (whom I will refer to as, J) joined a Sunday afternoon floor hockey league. Since then J and I have maintained a weekly apres game date of dining at a Vietnamese restaurant called Pho Hung. I am absolutely In Love with their rare beef soup known as Pho Tai, and each week I order the bathtub sized dish for the low price of only $5.00! I must admit I was skeptical at first:"Rare" is actually meant to be, and is "raw" beef that "cooks" at the table while it's floating in the hot broth. Setting aside my food-safety paranoia (or as some may see it, better judgement) I decided to try this new dish. It was love at first taste! I became instantly hooked on this sumptuous dish...the broth made tangy by the plate of fresh bean sprouts, cilantro and lime wedges served on the side; the delicious noodles, and the tender beef all with a dash of heat from a liberal squirting of srirscha hot chili sauce. Mmmmm heaven in a bowl. It is without a doubt, one of the highlights of my week, made that much sweeter by the company of my fabulous, funny, fantastic friend J!

PS As I live a prohibitively far distance from my object of affection I thought I might try a homemade version. Stay tuned for how this turns out.

Good News

Breaking News: I was accepted into law school at the University of Sydney! As of sometime late January I will be Down Under to (finally) begin my life-long dream of becoming a lawyer. Hopefully this blog will be a good way for friends and family in Canada to stay abreast of my new life in Sydney!

Cheers mate!

 

Re: my poor blogger etiquette

Apologies for my lack of posting of late. I've been so busy livin life I haven't had time to write about it! (Oooh sorry, that sounded so pretentious, can you tell I'm back in Oakville?) Having been been sucked back into the black hole, I've been living my life as a yuppy impostor. Sleeping in, reading the paper, and taking Bailey on long leisurely walks. Luckily all is not lost: today I joined in on a fab mid-morning pilates class...for most participants it's post offspring-drop-off at private school, pre-shopping trip to Whole Foods, but at least I feel like my rear isn't so close to the floor anymore. Last night I baked (!) what turned out to be a quite tasty pie made with only 8 ingredients! It was my contribution to a gathering of wii enthusiasts at a friend's house. Thanks to Jess, (to avoid the confusion with yours truly we quickly gave her a nickname-Dingo) my new friend from the Aussie Footie game for coming out tonight. She was witness to what is sure to be a wii bowling game that will go down in the annals of wiii bowling history. Tenleigh and James  duked it out each bowling an almost perfect game. Congrats to James who's 9 Strikes won him the game and a free beverage!

I've been tagged!

Anne Sage, my best friend and author of one of the blogosphere's most fabulous style and design blogs, The City Sage... has tagged me! I have to list 6 details about moi but first the rules...

1. Link to the person who tagged me

2. List the rules

3. Tag 6 fellow bloggers

4. Leave them a comment so they know they've been tagged

So here it goes...

1. I'm somewhat of a shopaholic, currently in forced recovery due to (what the parentals refer to as) my champagne taste on a beer budget. I LOVE to shop and am especially vulnerable to the wiley and dangerous impulse purchase. When going on, what the Oprah crowd would call, an "emotional shopping spree" this tendency has resulted in quite a number of purchases that fall somewhere between the categories of could-have-survived-without, and downright frivolous. One of the most memorable and expensive examples (and yet one that I love the best) is my puppy, Bailey. Like most infants, she's cutest when asleep but I just adore her! I'm sure I'm not the first person to decide that having a dog would be a big improvement over a boyfriend but looking back, I still can't believe I bought one on a whim!

2. One of my favourite hobbies has to be photography. I would take pictures all day if I could (to which my travel mates can definitely attest!) I have been known to get a bit carried away with the camera and I realized things were out of control after taking about 100 pictures of an Australian sunset. It was spectacular but one does not need 100 pictures of one thing... Alas, I am currently satisfied by my amateur status and get my fix happy-snapping (but not too much!) my way through my many adventures, which brings me to...

3. Travelling! I adore getting the heck outta dodge (Oakville) and exploring the world outside the kingdom of the Stepford Wives. This past year I've been lucky enough to get to New York and San Francisco, Brazil, Cuba and British Columbia. I think I got the travel bug when, as a baby, my parents who are both British ex-pats would take us to visit our Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins across the pond.

4. Despite being first generation, I am a tried and true Canadian. I love to ski and snowboard, I think the Americans are the ones who sound funny saying "house" and "about," and I much prefer watching hockey to any other professional sport. Maple syrup (real, not the fake "table" variety) is definitely a diet staple (try it on plain yogurt, mmmm) and for crying out loud it's a toque not a beanie!!! Oh and Canadian beer? Also a food staple. 

5. The cliche "a fish out of water" could apply to any number of facets of my life (high school in its entirety?) However, it's especially apropos when it comes to my love of water. If not born an actual sea-dwelling creature, at the very least I should have been raised near the water (Lake Ontario circa 1986 doesn't count...ew). I learned to swim at a very young age and have been employed as a swimming instructor, lifeguard, and water polo referee.  Swimming, playing water polo, surfing, sailing, snorkeling, kayaking, fishing and kitesurfing are all on my top 10 list of fav activities and I can't think of anything better than falling asleep to the sound of ocean waves crashing onto rocks or breathing in crisp, salty air on the way out for a morning surf... 

6. I've erroneously convinced myself not to go to Starbucks with anyone but my closest friends. My logic: You only get one chance for a first impression and my Starbucks order has an extreme scaring-off-potential-suitor factor. I consider myself a down-to-earth, tee shirt and jeans lovin' girl-next-door type, but lo! my high maintenance Starbucks order smacks of the exact opposite! On those unfortunate occasions when a first date suggests Starbucks, I've denied myself the pleasure of that deliciously, addictively, scrumptious Grande, Extra-hot, Non-fat, Three-pump, No water, Tazo Chai...but why should I? I'd probably enjoy the latte more than the guy anyway. 

I'm going to tag: the other 4 to be added soon! (Having only been doing this a week, I don't know anyone else yet.)

Elsja

Paul