Is there an hourly rate?

It may surprise those of you who know me well that I've never belonged to a book club. Until now, that is. In the past I've rebelled against reading books chosen by others when there are so many books that I want to read. But I recently had an invite and I decided it was high time to read good books and discuss them. Perhaps I will actually remember books this way. (Generally I can just tell you if I liked them or didn't like them. Otherwise I can remember nothing. That's why I reread so much!)

The first selection for the club is Love in the Time of Cholera, which I've often thought I should read. I felt that way long before Oprah told everyone to read it, by the way. I tried to read A Hundred Years of Solitude many years ago, to impress a very literate boy with blue eyes that were so sparkly they looked like sunshine on water. Alas, so many of the characters in the book had the same names that I couldn't keep anyone straight. And the blue-eyed boy ceased to matter in the world of me, so I abandoned ship.

I'm doing much better with this Marquez. The first 50 pages nearly did me in. It was soooo dense and not actually interesting, but then it took a sharp turn towards entertaining and now I only have 40-ish pages to go. Which is how I found myself loitering in the lobby of the fancy King Eddy hotel today. You see, I wanted to get some more reading in during lunch, because our first book club meeting is Thursday evening, but I didn't think an uncomfortable seat in the noisy underground mall was going to be conducive to comprehension. One of my colleagues had long ago suggested that hotel lobbies are a good place to hang out.

Turns out, she was right! I just sauntered on in with my coffee in hand (I had to resort to coffee today, because daylight savings is causing severe fatigue.), plopped myself down on a cushy couch, pulled out my book and lost myself in the love story.

Okay, not exactly true. I tried to lose myself in the love story, but I was actually worried the whole time that someone was going to come over and accuse me of being there under false pretenses. Why am I such a guilty person!? I must have been Catholic in another life. I did manage to hang out and read for about a half hour, but then my guilt got the better of me and I went to Winners. Where I charged some sheets.

Does anyone else hang out in hotel lobbies?

Tax goal: $2000
Current balance: $1900
Spent today: $2.43 (there was a cookie with that coffee)

Lovely glossy mags - twice as nice

So, I have lots of magazine subscriptions. Lots. Enough that our mail carrier may have a hate on for me and the stack on my bedside table never seems to get any lower. Sometimes I worry that one won't come and I won't even notice, which is pretty bad. But the opposite has happened.

Suddenly I'm getting two of some of them!

Twice in the past week I've arrived home to get the mail (I heart mail!) and had a flutter of excitement to see a small pile of magazines, only to find that they're duplicates. How disappointing!

But another thing that happens when you have copious magazine subscriptions is that you're constantly getting renewal notices. So perhaps it's possible that I renewed one too many times?

Must keep a closer eye on these things.

By the way, I can claim all those magazines on my taxes. It's one of the perks of freelancing! If only I could find a way to claim spa visits...

Tax goal: $2000
Current balance: $1900
Spent today: $0 cash, but I did charge a little trip to Shoppers...

Start spreading the news...

Guess what today is? It's the ".5" in "33.5." That's right, it's my half-birthday! I really wish I could celebrate by eating a large piece of cake. Or even half of a large piece of cake. But I did so much indulging last week that I have to put some serious reins on my intake of treats this week. Which is why I probably shouldn't go and check out the new location of my favourite cafe, even though it's but a hop, skip and a jump away from home. And I have a gift certificate for it...

Anyway, enough dreaming of pastries. I have better news to share.

After putting it off for a year, the DP and I have booked a trip to NYC for the end of April!

I hear they have good bakeries in New York...

We got a great deal on the flight (I even found a discount code online for an extra 15% off!) and I booked a 4-star hotel for less than the I paid for the super crappy hotel I stayed in last time. And while the hotel was still pricey, we get a complimentary upgrade based on availability. All in all, I'm extremely happy.

We're going ridiculously early on a Friday morning and then coming back Monday evening. Even though it's still something like 45 days away, I've already started making plans. This will be the first time we've been to the Big Apple together!

The DP has only gone to NYC for work, so he's never been to Central Park.



I want to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.



He's never been to the Metropolitan Museum and I want to go to the MoMa. We're also going to do the Empire State Building, since he's never gone up and I've only been up at night. And we'll do a little cruise to get a good look at lady liberty.

The hardest thing to decide on, thus far, is what show to see. I mean, normally I plan all other New York events around the shows I will see. And I usually try to squeeze in as many as possible. But the DP isn't exactly a fan of the musical theatre genre. However, I maintain that he should see at least one show on Broadway in his lifetime and he agrees.

But which show?

I feel it should be something classic. A true representation of the genre. But the pickings are kind of slim this year. There are LOTS of shows based on movies, including Shrek, Billy Elliot, The Little Mermaid, 9 to 5 and Mary Poppins. On my own, I would perhaps see some of them, but they're not quite right for him. There are a couple of revivals currently, but I"m not a South Pacific fan and Guys and Dolls didn't get great reviews. I'm leaning towards West Side Story, which is opening soon. I'd love to see it! Now I have to convince the DP...

So that's the news. We're going to wake up in the city that never sleeps. Soon.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to make the DP sing half of the birthday song to me.

Tax goal: $2000
Current balance: $1900
Spent Friday: $1.45
Spent Saturday: $83

Lights, camera, edit!

It was a particularly insane day at work, because they rented out our main conference room and beautiful atrium for a film shoot. So when we all arrived there were a zillion extra people, oodles of equipment and cables running every which way. My desk is right beside the atrium, so I also got to see a little off-stage action and hear all the director's...well... directions. Oh, and the writer was set up in the kitchen tweaking the script, which was kind of amusing.

I was immediately brought back to my days on set in the late 90s and early 2000s. One might even think that it caused me to feel some nostalgia for that time.

Truth is, I was reminded how much I DON'T miss it!

Oh sure, it was sort of exciting to have it happening around me. Especially because my actual work today involved dealing with some really un-fun stuff. But in the end I was sort of ridiculously happy to have my own little desk rather than be one of the extras hanging out, bored, by reception. I used to feel like my soul was dying on set. I know that sounds dramatic, but sitting around doing nothing for hours upon hours upon hours... it's just not for me. I need to be active and productive, which isn't possible in those situations.

Plus, everything smells like the bottom of an ashtray on sets. I guess the whole crew smokes to pass the time, so all their clothes and equipment are constantly bathed in the stench. Gross.

It was a good day for the universe to remind me that I chose the right path. Because the un-fun part of the job I love really got to me. However, I'm now reminding myself that it's all a tiny speck in the grand scheme of the world and I shall let all the worry melt away. Actually, I'm heading to the gym where my trainer will make me forget by trying to kill me.

Should be fun!

The learnin' is free

I may be a little late in embracing this new form of entertainment, but I am all over free podcasts these days. I finally took the time to peruse the podcast section of iTunes and discovered some very fun things. My personal faves: the Flight of the Conchords video podcasts (I love, love, love them! We have tickets to see them live at Massey Hall in April. Can't wait!), Masterworks Broadway (I can listen to Sondheim talking about how he collaborates with people. That's my idea of a good time.) and This American Life (Always fascinating stories.).

These podcasts are helping to distract me from the horror that is the subway of late. The time passes so quickly and I learn something along the way. For example, when they were mounting Sweeney Todd the first time, they actually bought a factory in Vermont, took it apart and transported it to New York to create the set. That's crazy!

And those are just my interests. I know people who have learned to run using podcasts. And I'm often tempted to learn how to meditate with those podcasts.

Do you have any favourite podcasts to share with me?

Jello legs

Having a trainer isn't conducive to regular blogging, because I come home completely wrung out. I actually think my trainer is trying to kill me. But I kind of love it. When it's over, which will be way too soon, I won't want to stop. I will want to give them all my money, so I can keep getting my ass kicked twice a week.

Obviously, I won't do that. I will keep my money and go back to kicking my own ass. But I won't like it!

Okay, since I don't have the energy for a more elaborate post, I will steal a link from this blog and share an awesome website of book cover archives that I love.

Enjoy.

In like a lion

Um, hi there. In case you didn't notice, I totally just stopped blogging for almost an entire week. Long enough that my own dad emailed me to find out if everything is okay. Everything is okay - no worries. I just sort of lost my blogging mojo. Probably because I've been busy spending money.

Yup. I've been on a spending spree of late. Here's a run down of the major purchases:

- A new iron (Almost entirely paid for by a gift card, but while in the store I also purchased...)
- A wok
- A set of sheets (We're down to only one set that fits our bed, so we need a second set. Sadly, the ones I bought, which said Queen/Full on the package, don't fit our bed at all. They do, however, fit the guest futon. Our guests last night said they were very nice sheets. So I still need to buy another set.)
- New running shoes (For my health.)
- Lots of groceries (Party supplies. We had a reunion of my old roommates here last night.)
- Lots of liquor (Also for the party. But we didn't buy enough. We ran out of red wine. Scandal.)
- A very pretty and pretty expensive dress (For the fancy wedding we will be attending in a month. It's red. I love it.)

So, clearly the credit card has been getting a workout. And clearly I am not on track with my budget, at all. And clearly the recession freak out I had last week did not stop me from spending, as I'd hoped, but drove me to spend recklessly lest the money stop rolling in.

Clearly I have a problem with logic.

Anyway, here I am. I will attempt to blog more regularly once again. I will have to wait until Friday to reset my budget, as I've already been spendy this week. And I'm still going to need to buy a set of sheets.

Tax goal: $2000
Current balance: $1700 (and holding...)