The strike is finally over and garbage collection resumes this week. We were just starting to consider alternatives to get rid of waste piled up over the three months. Hopefully this experience will lead to better recycling practices for all.
travel
I read about a place in Chile called Punta Pite and it has finally given me an definite answer to the question I always ask others: “if you could leave on a trip tomorrow anywhere in the world, where would it be?” It’s likely my next big trip will not be for another year or so but in the meantime, I will read up on Chile with a possible side of Easter Island salad.
news
日本語
From my Japanese language exchange over an ever-delicious Elysian cappuccino on Saturday: you know how we say that we want to “brush up on …”, for example, brush up on my Japanese? You can use the same expression in Japanese: 日本語を磨く (nihongo o migaku) - brush my japanese. The same verb (and kanji) is used for brushing ones teeth brushing. We also discussed 不器用 (bukiyoh) and a translation - clumsy; both the physical and mental uses of the word. Then I inquired into a Japanese version of quote / unquote fingers but my conclusion for the night was that it doesn’t quite exist. If you know other please let me know.
food
On Friday after drinks at Koerner’s a few of us went to Topanga Cafe on W 4th for some dinner. I had been inhaling cider for the few hours previous thus this was the most incredible thing to eat:
the chicken burrito. On reflection, I might have preferred beef or bean but…it was good. Can you believe that cheese and the sauce…? On further reflection, or after getting this picture of my camera, I realized that I had eaten something that spent half its plate-life staring at me.
pets
I was also cat sitting this weekend which was good given my limited interaction with pets. Seven months old, she was quite the active cat and I played with her; tossing mice around and animating string. I wondered if I was entertaining her and then I wondered how much she perceived these things in motion as being moved by my hand. Was I creating an illusion or did she need to use her own imagination? How do cats play?
movies
I saw The Darjeeling Limited last night and while it may disappoint those expecting a new favourite Wes Anderson movie, I enjoyed the faces and expressions of all the actors, with all their flaws, made beautiful.
mobile phone
I am still without mobile phone but it’s hard to want to spend the money on the ones available here when I had Orange Juice in Japan. I sort of want to wait until I have a (more) highly paying job and then I can invest in one of them fancy phones. But moments like coordinating meeting at a movie theatre and saving seats could have been made easier if I was connected. We could have made the balcony!
