The year that has been

The year is drawing to a close. Christmas is Tuesday; and there's less than a week and a half left to 2007.

I wish I could say it's been a great year. To be honest, moments of joy have been sparse, at best. On the CBC program "Q" last night, Jian Ghomeshi was talking about how the British have a small obsession with the "Christmas Day single"; it seems the single holding the No. 1 spot on Christmas Day is a big deal. If you've seen the movie "Love Actually", this is a subplot of that movie.

My end-of-year music obsession is somewhat different. I usually try to find a song that sums up the year's events, or the overall feeling I have when looking back over the year.

This year, the award goes to a beautiful song by Semisonic's Dan Wilson; it's from the "Maybe This Christmas" compilation and it's called, "What a Year for a New Year":

What a year for a new year
We need it like we needed life I guess
Last one left us lying in a mess
What a year for a new year

What a night for a sunrise
And we thought the dark would never end
Reaching out to try to find a friend
What a night for a sunrise
Sunrise

What a day for new day
And our star shines like a miracle
And our world is almost beautiful again
What a day for a new day
New day

What a year for a new year

What a night for a sunrise
And we thought the dark would never end
Reaching out to try to find a friend
What a night for a sunrise
Sunrise

Soon we’ll be lying in our beds
And new dreams will fill our heads
And the old ones will be ended
Hope we’ll forget about this place
Let it go without a trace
Wipe the teardrops from our faces
Oh! What a year for a new year!

I'm not a total Scrooge, of course; I'm looking forward to Christmas with B and the kids, and I think it will be a "rewarding" one for us all, in terms of the superficial. I'm just finding it difficult, these days, to keep a good perspective and look to the future with much optimism. Rather than my usual (or former) "This'll get better soon", my mindset is more, "Good grief. This is never going to change, is it?"

...Hope we’ll forget about this place
Let it go without a trace...

Weather warnings with flair

A colleague and I chuckle over the writing style of the weather warnings issued in our area. Even when the weather itself is nothing to laugh at, someone is clearly a big fan of the old thesaurus and does his/her best to avoid the dry, matter-of-fact reporting style of years past.

We are expecting a really nasty winter storm starting overnight tonight and into tomorrow. Here's our current weather warning, italics mine (sorry for the all-caps; apparently Mr. Thesaurus isn't familiar with Mr. Internet Etiquette):

A NEAR-CRIPPLING SNOW STORM WITH HEAVY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW AS WELL AS SOME ICE PELLETS TONIGHT AND SUNDAY. THIS IS A WARNING THAT DANGEROUS WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE IMMINENT OR OCCURRING IN THESE REGIONS. MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS..LISTEN FOR UPDATED STATEMENTS.

A MASSIVE WINTER STORM IS ABOUT TO STRIKE MUCH OF SOUTHERN AND EASTERN ONTARIO WITH NEAR RECORD SNOWFALL AMOUNTS. LATEST ANALYSES INDICATES (should be "indicate", there's no "s" when the subject is plural, as "analyses" is) THAT THE DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS MOVING INTO WESTERN TENNESEE PRECEEDED BY A BURGEONING AREA OF MODERATE SNOW WITH SOME FREEZING PRECIPITATION EXTENDING NORTH TO LAKE ERIE. THE LOW WILL MOVE NORTHEAST TOWARDS THE LOWER GREAT LAKES AND INTENSIFY RAPIDLY AS IT REACHES OHIO SUNDAY MORNING THEN TRACK ACROSS NEW YORK STATE INTO NEW ENGLAND SUNDAY NIGHT. THIS STORM TRACK WILL PLACE MUCH OF SOUTHERN AND EASTERN ONTARIO DIRECTLY UNDER THE BRUNT OF HEAVY SNOW. A FEW CLAPS OF THUNDER ALONG WITH BURSTS OF VERY HEAVY SNOW ARE ALSO LIKELY. PATCHY AREAS OF SNOW HAVE AFFECTED PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ONTARIO TODAY AS WELL AS A LAKE SNOW BAND MEANDERING ACROSS TORONTO. THERE IS A CHANCE THAT THIS BAND MAY INTENSIFY THIS EVENING OVER TORONTO GIVING LOCALLY 5 CM OR MORE. THE BRUNT OF THE MAIN SNOW EVENT WILL BEGIN THIS EVENING IN THE SOUTHWEST AND RAPIDLY ENVELOP ALL REGIONS EAST TO OTTAWA IN THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF SNOW AS WELL AS STRONG WINDS CAUSING BLOWING SNOW ARE EXPECTED. FREEZING RAIN IS ALSO POSSIBLE NEAR LAKE ERIE. WIDESPREAD SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 20 TO 30 CM ARE EXPECTED IN MOST AREAS TONIGHT AND SUNDAY. SOME LOCAL AMOUNTS OF 40 CM OR MORE ARE QUITE LIKELY IN A FEW AREAS BY SUNDAY NIGHT..ESPECIALLY FROM THE WEST END OF LAKE ONTARIO AND EASTWARDS INTO FAR EASTERN ONTARIO. SIGNIFICANT BLOWING SNOW IS EXPECTED TO ACCOMPANY THE HEAVY SNOW DUE TO STRONG NORTHEAST WINDS GUSTING TO 60 KM/H WHIPPING UP THE FRESHLY FALLEN SNOW AND CAUSING WHITEOUT CONDITIONS. IN ADDITION FREEZING RAIN IS POSSIBLE ESPECIALLY NEAR LAKE ERIE FOR A FEW HOURS OVERNIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING AS MILDER AIR PAYS A BRIEF VISIT ALOFT. ICE PELLETS ARE ALSO QUITE POSSIBLE GENERALLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM GRAND BEND TO NEAR TORONTO AND EAST TO CORNWALL. THE PUBLIC SHOULD BE PREPARED TO CHANGE PLANS ACCORDINGLY TO AVOID UNNECESSARY TRAVEL DURING THIS STORM. THIS MASSIVE SNOW STORM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO CAUSE NEAR-PARALYZING CONDITIONS AS ROAD TRAVEL ON ANY UNPLOWED STREETS MAY BECOME NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE ON SUNDAY. ALL MOTORISTS WHO MUST TRAVEL ARE URGENTLY ADVISED TO USE EXTREME CAUTION AND PLAN FOR MUCH EXTRA TIME TO REACH THEIR DESTINATION. THERE IS A HIGH DEGREE OF CERTAINTY WITH THIS STORM AS THE CONCENSUS OF WEATHER MODEL DATA IS VIRTUALLY UNANIMOUSLY FORECASTING THIS EVENT. ENVIRONMENT CANADA CONTINUES TO CLOSELY MONITOR THIS SITUATION. THE WINTER STORM WARNINGS WILL LIKELY BE EXPANDED NORTHEAST ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE REGIONS THIS AFTERNOON.

PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST PUBLIC FORECASTS FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

Cat owners will understand...

I can't have a cat anymore. I developed an allergy to them when I was pregnant with J. Sometimes I wish I could have one. Watching something like this makes me remember why I'm mostly glad I can't.




'Wake Up Cat' is by an English animator called Simon Tofield and it is actually called 'Cat Man Do'. He works for an animation company called Tandem Films.

Pride & Prejudice continued

So I've finished watching the mini-series, and partway through hour two, it struck me who Alison Steadman's Mrs. Bennet reminded me of:

That's right, Miss Piggy. All she was missing was a "Hi-ya!" after each line. Imagine The Pig saying, "Oh, Mr. Bennet!" instead of "Oh, Kermie!!" and you've more or less got the gist.

Despite that, I loved it.

Becoming Jane

Ah, to have lived in the Regency era. When men were chivalrous, women wore always-flattering empire waistlines, and every love story was just as though it was written by Jane Austen herself.

Okay, maybe not. But I do love Jane Austen, and a good empire waistline. Emma is and will always be my favourite Jane Austen novel; and I love the movie with Gwenneth Paltrow and Jeremy Northam.

This year I decided to read some of the classics, and as I've enjoyed Emma many times, started with some of Jane Austen's other novels. First was Sense and Sensibility. It was...okay. Certainly nothing like Emma; nowhere near as enjoyable, in my opinion. I have yet to watch the movie.

Next was Pride and Prejudice. LOVED IT. And as great as it was on the first read, the second was even more enjoyable as I picked up on a number of things I had missed on the first go-round. Mr. Darcy's letter to Lizzie is so strong. Their conversations in the last several chapters are full of the real love and respect and admiration that can only develop over time. Mr. Bennet's admonition to Lizzie, "Do any thing but marry without love". And I wince along with Lizzie every time her mother opens her mouth.
The 2005 movie made with Keira Knightley, Donald Sutherland, Brenda Blethyn and Matthew McFadyen was fantastic. The casting was spot-on, with the exception of Jena Malone who was just entirely wrong for the role of Lydia. The only real complaint I have with the movie is that it galloped through the story. It clocked in at just under two hours; it could have been extended by thirty or forty minutes and it would have added so much to the telling of the story. The part about Mr. Darcy having paid off Wickham's debts and paying for him to marry Lydia, was skipped entirely; to the story's detriment, I feel. Elizabeth's line during Darcy's original proposal, "If you had behaved in a more gentleman-like manner", is a pivotal point in the story and in Mr. Darcy's growth; again, it was ignored. And - just a tiny quibble - no kiss at the end?

I am now in the process of watching the 1995 BBC mini-series with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. As it is a six-part series, I am hoping that the story will keep more of the integrity of the novel. I have watched Part 1 so far. I'm not nearly as happy with the actors, with the exception of Colin and Jennifer, and the women playing the younger Bennet daughters, Kitty and Lydia. I'm particularly unimpressed with Alison Steadman as Mrs. Bennet, who does little but shriek her way through the part. Mrs. Bennet should be unrefined and obnoxious, but one must imagine that she couldn't conceivably have kept up such a tone without losing her voice. The other unforgivably-cast character is Caroline Bingley, played by Anna Chancellor's nose. Seriously. However, many of the lines in the movie are taken directly from the book; and that part, I am enjoying. Besides, it's really mostly about Darcy and Lizzie anyways, right?

My next "conquest", after finishing the remaining five hours of the mini-series, will be the biopic "Becoming Jane". I'm not wild about Anne Hathaway but it may be an interesting film, as it is based on the book of the same name by historian Jon Spence.

Forging Ahead

You know how you get a song stuck in your head...my head is currently playing "Guantanamera" from Ry Cooder's Buena Vista Social Club album. I don't even know why - I haven't heard it in a few months at least.

So tomorrow my new boss (due to the acquisition - see my previous post) will be visiting the office with a couple of administrator-type people. We'll have an opportunity to ask some questions about how their day-to-day stuff works, like paydays and other nitty-gritties. I am the kind of person who would rather know the worst possible news, than sit and wonder what's going on. Not that I am expecting bad news; but you know what I mean.

Also had a bit of a tete-a-tete with a company rep today, who has dealt with our new employer. The conversation went a long way to put our minds (mine and my colleague's) at ease about working for this particular company.

So, all that being said, I am feeling encouraged!

Direct your feet to the sunny side of the street...

For the past couple of months I've been pursuing a job with a different brokerage - I had a couple of different leads, each in the Ottawa area. The first place didn't pan out; they couldn't decide what they wanted to hire for. The second seemed really promising. I had a great interview and got good feedback from both the recruiter, and from my references. All signs were pointing to an offer coming my way - and then they hired someone else. Apparently the other candidate was someone they liked just as well, but who had more commercial lines experience. So for that I can't blame them, but I'm definitely disappointed; feel like someone took the wind out of my sails. They mentioned they'd consider hiring me for personal lines but there's no way. I am not at all looking to go back to personal lines; talk about regressing in my career!

So, I had hoped my update would be a bit more exciting; but it is what it is. At my current office, my employers of 13 years are retiring and the business has now been acquired by a brokerage based in Campbellford. My job is not in danger; if anything, this will open up a lot of new commercial markets to me, and for that I'm excited - it'll be a learning opportunity for me, as well as a chance to provide even better service to my clients.

In other news, we're living in the country now, about 25 minutes north of the city. The kids love it. My sister-in-law's dog lives with us (they live in a house that isn't suitable for the dog) and the kids love her too. B is enjoying being in the country again. This is the house he grew up in (we're living with his dad). I can't say that I *love* it. I like the city. If I was single with no kids, I'd live in the city in a heartbeat. It suits my lifestyle. But having a yard, having a lot of privacy, not having a ton of people around - it's good for the kids. I'm grateful that my father-in-law had the space available for us when we needed it. And the local grocery store has a combination LCBO/The Beer Store attached. I will say that, the two days a week I get to commute by myself, I enjoy the drive. And J likes his new school and his teacher seems good. Trying really hard to find all the positives.

We're over, Prison Break

Jesus Christ on toast.

The FUCKING FUCKING FUCKING FUCKING BASTARDS at FOX have killed one of the best drama series of my adult life, when they decided to decapitate Sara Tancredi.

I can't even go into it. Michael and Sara no sooner expressed their love for each other, than they were ripped apart, and now they've killed her off. I'm done with the show. I am LIVID.