September 2004
Monthly Archive
Mon 13 Sep 2004
Posted by Matthew under
LiveToExploreNo Comments
I am off to the Toronto International Film Festival in 7 hours. Yikes – I need some sleep!
This has become an annual tradition with my folks and I and we just love it!
It is just such an amazing experience. It’s Toronto so it is classy, yet low key. Stylish, hip, jazzy, and jeans and t-shirt attendance (you try 4 movies in one day – what do you want to wear in the dark for 10 hours with 500 people you dont’ know. hmm.)
Queuing for the next film is actually some of the best experiences. You chat with your neighbors about what you have already seen and what you are seeing next. Sometimes new friends are made, other times we agree to dis-agree.
Sometimes you see the stars – sometimes you sit right behind them. No paparazzi. And if it the film’s premier you have the opportunity to chat with the director and the cast in a talk back session. So much fun!
I go for the food, the fun, the family and the films.
If I get the opportunity I will type up quick reviews of the films I see.
Mon 13 Sep 2004
Posted by Matthew under
MusingsNo Comments
Had a very peculiar day today.
Starting with the MCA Board meeting where numerous members of the board had a rough night around 2:15 hmm. So we were all kind of fuzzy for our Monday Morning Moving Right Along call.
Then a slew of phone calls in prep for my departure tomorrow for the film festival.
Several loads of wash.
Updating calendars, spreadsheets and working on a business proposal when
*POP*
Power is out!
I call it in and they say it may take 6 hours to repair. OK – most of the tasks I needed to get done are handled.
Well I can answer email – oops no power, no dsl modem, battery power only on laptop.
Well I can do some banking stuff – umm. similar problem.
I’ll make some phone calls – no power to transmitter for cordless set. corded phone – sucks and has no ringer. hmm. That is going to make client calls interesting.
Well I can finnish up . . . Oh.
How about lunch – I have some fresh corn from the Farmers Market.
Put the water on the stove – turn on the gas – hey! where is the click click click – hello – no electricity. Oh yeah, old fashioned way – Flame, match. Voila I have boiling water.
As I waited for the water to boil I had this strange notion.
What does it mean when what you do is so dependent on electricity?
How would I explain to someone who lives in say Guatemala who has never been on a computer, much less the internet, what it is that you do.
How much of your life and work revolve around computers and the internet.
I felt terribly adrift – not knowing what to do. I eventually ate my corn. played with the kitties and then sat down to read Harry Potter. Hmm. Now there is an interesting work day.
Sun 12 Sep 2004
How often to do you listen to what your body is telling you about going to bed? waking up? Take a rest? Get outside? Look Up?
Last evening I was watching a movie and found myself super uncomfortable and all I wanted to do was go to bed. How often do I feel this and just ignor it? Watch the end of the movie? see the end of the show?
Well last night I listened and went to bed at 10. This morning at 5:45 the crickets were chirping, the geese were far off honking, and I knew I had to get up.
The lake was placid. Not a ripple. Seemed for a while I was the only one out around the lake. The lake was waking up. What an awesome thing to watch. Kind of like watching a child wake up but on a grand scale.
It was very remeniscent of BSA Camp Oljato where I spent 7? consecutive summers as a youth. We had this program called Sunrise Service that was held before sunrise on the top of the granite hillside overlooking Huntington Lake to the East and we would listen to guitar and rub our eyes to watch the sun peek its rays and then its head over the Sierra Nevada and bring forth the new day. One of the most magical experiences of my life.
Thu 9 Sep 2004
This little doo-hickey has just put to rest a toleration that I have been dealing with for a year now.
Fresh Flow Fountain by Petmate $19.99 @ 
PetsMart.com online. This is a quiet running fountain, which provides filtered water whenever my kitties want it. It holds 50 oz of water.
My Toleration:
Soggy Feet!
You see for the past year K.C., my 22lbs Tonkinese, has had this fun little habit with his bowl of water. For some reason when I fill the bowl of water for him, he just stares at it until I leave. Then, sometime in the next few hours he returns and steps on the side of the bowl – in theory to see the water move. Well, with his mass, few bowls even when ceramic survive, the water sloshes out of the bowl onto the floor. Towels soak up some, however, with my kitchen being slightly sloped the water runs slowly across the tile grooves to the other side of the kitchen. A minor stream has been formed in my kitchen.
In I walk, usually in my socks, and step right into the cold stream. YUCK!. ~ A sensation strangely similar to my worst icky sensation – stepping on snails in socks. icky!.
Ginko & K.C. LOVE THIS THING – they think a wonderful alien has landed and blessed today kitty day. Its like drinking out of the sink or the toilet with water smoothly running and swirling around, which truly fascinates them.
Where did I find this doo-hickey? – Last week when I was prowling around the web I found PetsMart.com and saw their spend $50 and shipping is free offer. I had gone in looking to bust up one toleration, running out of "the right" catfood (because Sam’s and Costco have both changed their catfoods to ones my kitties can’t stand), AND I walked away with three tolerations busted.
- Supply of the "right" catfood, according to my finicky eaters
- No MORE SOGGY FEET – from kitty bowl dumping
- Enzyme stain&smell removal solution – my local store always seems to be out.
I think PetsMart.com has become my new pet supply deliverer. When was the last time your kitty cats got a package in the mail – just for them! It was a really easy service to use. Everything was packed well (big pet peeve of mine), delivered on time, and as represented.
