Kimmy's Garden

OK, I have always wanted to take this course but have dreaded actually doing it, thinking that it would ruin every possible movie watching experience from here on. I was wrong: this course is only improving my ability to discuss films. Wrong again: to give up the dread as I realized
[... ... ... CLOSE UP on blue paper of course syllabus in my hand
[... ... ... Zoom in to XCU "essay every week, to be handed IN CLASS every Friday" (everything else s/b out of focus)
[dissolve to...
[... ... ... XCU to my open screaming mouth]

I was tricked. This is an English course disguised as a film studies course. OMG. We are talking 13 essays, plus a shot by shot, plus a close analysis. Whew. Oh well. I shall survice and expect my writing to be 10fold better after this semester. Well, ok maybe not 10 fold but definitely better. Everyone should take this course! I am not regretting it yet!

M and I went to the Starlight Room for the first time for a concert on Wednesday, Jan 19/11, to attend the Sarah Harmer concert. All I can say: magical. Pros: What a fabulous intimate venue with really good acoustics! Cons: If you are not one of the first 22 people in there, you will not get a seat. Meaning: You will be standing all night. This explains why when you see pictures of the Starlight Room events everyone is standing. Anyway, the food looked good, and the Bartendresses were very helpful & the beer was really cold.

I am talking about concerts being standing room only. For any normal drink-and-play-pool-chat-with-friends night, the seating is great: padded booths & tall chairs everywhere. We are going back for Yann Tiersen (yes, the Amelie accordeon guy).

Watch out for the east stairs on the way to the dance floor. The first one down is a shorty so when you expecting a normal step down your cadence is thrown off and you end up tripping all the way down the other 6 normal stairs. A bit of a death trap, but there are usually people against the stairs who will catch you. Usually.

M and I went out tonight for a visiting Taiwanse elementary school (Wu Fu) diabolo group. After, we went out to seek a fine dinner before a movie.

And I was sort of hungry, so we searched out some sort of sit down place (not Hooters!!) in Bourbon Street, WEM. Et voila, we found D-Lux Burger Bar. Immediately, the Hostesses were friendly while we waited for a table. Honestly, I was a bit worried at first about paying $12-15 for just the burger, I have to say that the sides were generous for $3 more. We had beer battered onion rings (ah! great!!) and sweet potato fries (they were a bit over cooked though!). The beer was served with frosty mugs, I cannot tell you how much I love that, and a B-52 milkshake. OMG. It was thick, creamy and delicious. It was actually my husband’s, uh, drink, but I drank most of it. Let this be a warning to all to never let me try your drink or your food.

At the end of the meal, we did not finish the fries, nor had we room for the desserts. I didn’t even look at the list! But they served us something as a nice salutation with the bill. I won’t ruin the surprise. Cooler than a mint I can tell you.

Then the movie we went to was Scott Pilgrim vs the World, and that made for a really great night.

OK, so I don’t blog regularly. I just have nothing to say unless my muses inspire me to write poetry. But I do eat, and I eat out a lot! So, witness the birth of my food opinions around the city.

My first experience worth commenting on is: The Hat. I met four colleagues downtown for drinks after work tonight. Service was great, the atmosphere was appropriate for the TGIF. The water droplet wall paper was very cool. I had everything to look forward to, and then the beer came. Delicious, now I am just fine! And a bit hungry… My colleagues ordered wraps, burgers, and some kind of dip with chips. DE-licious. And I ordered the spinach salad.

The food smelled great, as all sizzling and creamy things do, and as I was bringing the first forkful to my drooling mouth, one second later, all my tongue hopes were dashed: tasted like, um, spinach. Thsi may seem silly, but a spinach salad should not actually taste like spinach. If I wanted just spinach, I would have stayed home with my big box of “washed and ready to eat” and a fork.

Let’s review before we get into the constructive criticism: spinach, while often the main ingredient in a simple or complex salad, consisting of spinach and at least two (2) other things – salty & sweet, maybe a third of chewy – is pretty easy. This has always been a favorite, and not since 2001 have I ever had a bad spinach salad! And that one was only a let down because spinach was out of season and so not available and so I had to have the ceasar. This year alone I have had at least 10 spinach salads out, from a fruity orange segment with raspberry vinaigrette topped with almond slices to a spicy beet with goat cheese rendition drizzled with apple cider vinegar…honestly, a restaurant spinach salad has never disappointed. Until today.

The salad, while generous in portion size, had no cheese (need a salty!), the onions were cut far too large to give the proper sweet, and their bacon dressing was basically oil with little bits in it – I gave them the benefit of the doubt that perhaps the chef did not SHAKE the bottle before dispensing. After speaking discretely with the kind waitress, she brought me another oyster dish with more dressing, no charge, because it looked like there was no dressing on it! Ah, perhaps that was it. But then the oyster dish was filled with, well, oil that looked like bacon grease but lacked the characteristic saltiness. Eggs, mushrooms were there? What else can I say, it was dark where we were sitting. And, BTW, the other food was fab.

So, an almost perfect night. So, hopefully they will fix that before you go there next time.

After reading the CBC article on the new task force on mammograms not being recommended until 40, and after reading so many books on breast cancer for my project a few years ago, I can agree that the trouble of worrying is not worth the preventative effort of possible early detection.
However, I do not like the short statement about them also NOT recommending the breast self-exam. What? If women did the self-exam more often and taught how to do it properly, they would be more familiar with their body and how it changes depending on where they are in their cycles and be less afraid after the first “lump” experience. Be aware, ignorance is not bliss. Don’t even get me started on the new legislation that lets Parents pull their children out of sexual education classes at school. Hmm.