frivolities for a Friday

Today was one of my favourite days of the month... Magazine Shop Day. Left to my own devices, I would spend as much on magazines as I spend on yarn... and this, as those who know me have gathered, is no small feat.

However, this month, I did attempt to exercise some restraint, given the continued reminder of last month's pile, mocking me every evening from my living room table:

However, as usual my generosity knows no bounds... so rest assured that the other denizens of the Brouhaha household were regaled with treats.

Three guesses who this lot is for, and the first two don't count:

Gotta love these British tabloids, with words like "yobs" featuring every week in the headlines! JJ is off tomorrow, lucky wee bugger. This should just about see him through until I make it home from work, don't you think?

And never let it be said, by the way, that I am not a permissive spouse. One of these mags features... a centrefold!!!



And I foresee yet another mail order session by JJ in future...



(See? In case ye thought ah made it up... they actually dae speak like tha'!!)

So, JJ's all set for hours of amusement and entertainment. Ah'm so guid tae him, no?

Now for the rest of our little family... I know that every time I buy Toronto Life, that increasingly irritating chronicle of gentrification and excess in the Big City, I say that I will never, ever, ever spend my hard-earned pinko dollars on it again. However, Daisy "Bling" Brouhaha made a demand for it last evening, and I just can't say no to Daisy.

At any rate, this issue should be good for a rant or two next week. For example, as you might well imagine I have some thoughts on the "Baby Invasion". None of them, shall we say, constructive.

But I digress. For the intellectual in the house, I also brought in the Walrus. Generous of me, considering how frustrated I get when I can't even get one clue in the cryptic crossword...damn and blast Fraser Simpson!!!


But hark... what's this???

The answers!!! Don't you just love the internet? And Quack, genius that he is, hasn't yet cracked my computer password. Heh heh.

But, despite the pile, I couldn't leave myself out, of course. So, while Quack figures out what exactly is ailing the Nation's Capital...

...I'll be tee-heeing at my version for dummies.

Oh, and of course I couldn't pass up the requisite knitting pattern mag:
Not sure quite why I continue to buy this, but if the past few issues are any indication, at least I won't add to my project queue...

I also picked up a copy of one of the local weekly leftie-ish entertainment mags:


The photo makes me feel rather lazy. I don't even own a bike, which makes me a bad, bad Torontonian. Since I moved to Toronto, I've had one bike which lasted approximately 3 months before it was stolen right out of the entranceway of the building I lived in then - an old Victorian house with three flats. It had a wooden stairwell with thick banisters and I had locked the bike to that. The thief sawed through the bannister and took the bike, expensive Krypton lock and all.

(Don't feel too sorry for me, though. I managed to get Stan the landlord to waive a month's rent in exchange. Stan was an old Polish guy who was going through some problems at the time, and I took shameless advantage. One day, I'll post the sorry story of my tenancy at 12 Maynard... it's quite funny, actually).

Anyway, why the hell should I feel lazy? I think I should actually feel quite intelligent... if I were to write the Commuter Cyclist's Handbook it would have one sentence only:

Don't cycle to work in Toronto, unless you enjoy taking your life in your hands.

And I wonder why Now Magazine never publishes my submissions!!!

Happy Friday to all...!

Mr. Postman brought me a dream...

...and not the cutest boy that I've ever seen!

(Which would be impossible, I hasten to say, given that the cutest boy I've ever seen already lives with me...



... er, well, he doesn't look like that anymore. But still a cutie!

Daniel Craig, if you are reading this, worry not - because you are still the cutest man I've ever seen.

Having said that... I do have my very own James Bond at home:


Running and smoking! Sexy!!!

Phew.... where was I again? Oh yeah.

Instead, this is what the postman brought me today!


Fancy, sparkly beads for knitting!


I don't know when I will ever get around to using them all... but stay tuned!

For now, I'm happy working on coworker/friend W's Vegan Tuscany:


This is the progress so far. The yarn is Rosarios Bio Bamboo from Portugal. Isn't it fabulous?

Now, I would have said that, although these colours are perfect for W (and after all, they should be - she picked them!!) they would not be my ordinary choice. In fact, I did make this very statement earlier to JJ. His response? He gestured to my Fiesta Chair:
... raised his eyebrows and said nothing at all.

He had a point.

Anyway, so that's my amusement at present. Tonight, I look forward to the Patrick Week outing with the Tenant Advocates. (That's this week's excuse, anyway). This is a special meeting of the Toronto Tenant Duty Counsel, who are scattered throughout the city. Location undisclosed - I'd love to invite you all, but don't want a rush of clients showing up and saying "Just one question..."!

In parting, for a pre-long-weekend chuckle, I wanted to share some signage that Susie sent me all the way from the land of OZ! (where it is probably 30 degrees C and sunny right now. Grr.) Apparently they are Canadian so she thought I would like them. And I did.


This one is definetely Canadian... let's check the next one:
Hmm. Probably American, but also Canadian in its beer drinker sentiment. So - 50 out 100 for now in CanCon*, Susie!

* We have these Canadian content (or CanCon) rules up here for broadcasting. Basically, 30 per cent or so of everything that is broadcasted here has to fall within some esoteric "Canadian content" rules. This is apparently to avoid becoming overly Americanised - how does the rest of the world handle this, anyway? (apologies to Murcan friends reading this!). Anyway, the end result is lots of cheesy Canadian produced murder mysteries and subtitled Quebec films usually aired in the middle of the night - not to mention that channels like BBC Canada now display cheesy Canadian DIY shows in addition to cheesy DIY British shows.

This sure adds to my sense of Canadian identity, I can tell you! I wish they would just send us a voucher for a free Tim Horton's coffee and doughnut or five once a week, frankly.

Where was I? Oh yes.

Hmm. Most likely American. We don't allow guns up here, except illegal ones. So, 50 out of 75 for CanCon, Susie...

And finally...
Well, definetely American unless there is some outpost up here called "Galveston-Houston" that I don't know about (and Susie, FYI, this sign would be located somewhere within the home state of George W. Bush). However, I can't complain about the sign - it should be Canadian.

So, end score for CanCon - 65 per cent. And, to be fair to Susie, the Email she sent had originally been headed "signs from Canada" - and, she's a long way from here. But there's time to learn...

Happy Thursday!