Friday, January 15, 2010

Ennui, and links to help you escape it.

Here's where it gets hard: when the excitement of the new year wears off, when friends & family leave town and the money is stretched tight with no end in sight, when the fiery resolve of a fresh year burns down to smoldering embers. How to keep ennui (and bad habits) at bay? Not sure I have the answer to this question totally figured out yet. Mundane as it may seem, a To-Do list actually helps a bit. Crossing off things as I do them makes me feel as though I'm accomplishing something even though it's small. Baby steps. I know. Rome wasn't built in a day, and all that. Embrace the ennui. Or not. Actually, here are some things that are rocking my world and keeping a smile on my face even through the frustration:
  • my brand-new, super-awesome (and gag-me expensive) Bogs. Get some. Especially any of you who live in remote areas with, like, snow. And mud. They're waterproof, they'll keep your tootsies warm down to minus 30 degrees, and they look great, too. Bonus feature: buying them guarantees that the sun will immediately come out. It happened to me today, true story.
  • The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Terry Gilliam redeems himself after "Tideland", which in my opinion was one of the worst movies I ever saw. "Dr. P" is bizarre, rambling, and looks fantastic, like all of his movies. Is it me, or does Gilliam have a thing for giant flying heads and saucer-eyed young ingenues? Who cares? One day I will write a song or create a show that puts people in a world like the one in Terry Gilliam's head. And then I will die happy.
  • Food. Ok, I feel conflicted about this one, because I really want to lose some weight this year, and soon. But... J made some killer Eggs Benny the other day, with a Hollandaise sauce to die for. And I ate some amazing risotto at a tiny little East Van restaurant yesterday night that tasted as though a hundred chickens died to make the stock it was cooked in. And Waves makes the best hot chocolate of all the coffee bars, and I slurped up some of that last night before seeing "Debt: the Musical". Which also rocked my world. Go see it, even if you're in debt yourself. Especially then.
  • House-sitting at my brother's place in a week: exercise room, pool, laundry, dog... need I say more?
  • The Cross of East Van. I haven't made up my mind on this new piece of art yet. Eyesore, or proud community badge? Creepy Christian undertones or righteous ex-gang logo? You be the judge:
Yep, pretty strange, isn't it? (thanks to vancitybuzz.com for the picture). I may have to add an image of The Cross to my title bar, since this is East Van Chronicles after all.
  • And finally... the last thing that's rocking my world is THE BEST PICTURE I'VE EVER TAKEN OF MY CITY. SO GOOD, I HAVE TO WRITE IN ALL CAPS. Drumroll please.

Thank you Vancouver, for reminding me why I love you. And thank you blog for cheering me up on this january night.

2 comments:

Jenny said...

OK AJ, now I really want some Bogs (thanks alot)
That Cross is way strange...but it is kinda bad ass in a cultish way. I say embrace it ;)

Tania Katherine Conley said...

THe EAST VAN cross-i just saw it for the first time last night! I thought 'cool' then on closer observation-wow-cross....is it a warning by Vanoc-that they are entering the 'zone' beware!!! haha who made it? Translink? VCC? VANOC? I'm too lazy at the moment to find out...