The sailing may be smooth; the swivels need some work

Earlier this year I pledged -- at least, I thought I pledged; my comment seems to have been eaten -- to make two vintage items: the Wearing History Smooth Sailing 1930s-style trousers and a dress from a pattern I bought in the 1980s. It's extremely unlikely I'll get around to making the dress before the end of the year, but these trousers have been on my wish list for a long time. I tried to kickstart them by including them on my FESA15 list, but life intervened and I never got around to buying the fabric.

Lucky number thirteen, and there's an end: Errandonnées #12 - 13

I was not planning to be finished the Errandonnée yesterday. Today was warm, and I thought I would go out and wash my bike, which it desperately needs, and go to the library, but the lure of the jammies was too great and I actually sewed some stuff and ran some internal errands. So here are my final entries.

Warmer... warmer... oops! colder... warmer...: Errandonnées #5 - 8

This week, it was all one errand per day; in the past I would did individual daily posts, but I'm going to lump them all together.

This post is a bit picture-heavy. You're welcome.

Monday on the way home from school, I realized I had just enough time to go renew my library card. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was actually too warm to wear my earwarmers. Delightful!

Frozen

It's been a wee bit nippy here. Starting with the ice storm shortly before Christmas and continuing on practically non-stop since then it's been... more like the winters I was used to than the ones we've been having lately.

Of architcture and art: Coffeeneuring #2

Monday was Thanksgiving, and since my family usually celebrates on the Sunday, I had the day free to get some marking done and test one of the routes for the Tweed Rally (Come! It will be fun!).

First I biked out to the Dundas Street East bridge over the Don River to take pictures of my cherry Sorbetto, but then I headed off to visit some of the 19th century gems we've got on our manifest. I don't want to spoil the surprise, so here are a few architectural hints:

Bustin' makes me feel swe-e-e-t!

Some music for your reading pleasure:


When I did the LGRAB Summer Games, I had planned to go to Sugar Beach on a Bixi bike but due to time constraints, I turned that into a visit to Harbourfront instead. I also meant to use it as a location for one of my Me-Made-May photos, but didn't. It's taken me two years, but I have finally managed to hang out at Sugar Beach. How?

Macarondonnée

Wednesday was the first day of Spring, and while the weather wasn't very spring-like, that didn't stop me from taking part in my third Jour du Macaron! Two years ago, only Nadège participated, but last year more bakeries got on board and I did a little tour. You know, for Science. Oh, and Charity.

I planned a slightly different bike tour this year. 10 bakeries, mostly different ones from before, including a few I tried but failed to hit the last time. All of the bakeries except Nadège were again donating 25% of the proceeds to the Red Door Shelter. The 20 degree drop from last year's temperature might did not daunt me, and I actually managed to follow the Google maps instructions without putting myself in peril. I did plan to buy three macarons (plus the free one) at each bakery, but as you will see that plan fell apart early on. On the whole...

Hi-ho, hi-ho: Errandonnée #5

I've been biking to work every day this week, and while the bike lanes along Harbord aren't totally clear, there's enough free space to keep me out of the car traffic. And after the warmth Monday and Tuesday, I was hoping they would be even more usable.

So yesterday? They were worse.

The bike lane was completely blocked by hard-packed snow. ARGH! I tried to take a picture of it, but it didn't save on my camera, so I took some more this morning. The edges had mostly melted so they were rideable, but you can still see the spread of the stupidity.

I'm not sure what the heck they were thinking when they did this. I actually saw them do it last year. One truck cuts into the snow bank, and then another truck drives over the snow, packing it down! !!! !! What purpose does it serve? Except to force me out into the other lane of car traffic. And add 7 minutes to my commute.

So that was fun.

But then I got to Queen's Park, and after negotiating the choppy frozen puddle at the corner, I grew less cranky. The sun was out for a change, and I reflected on all the neat things I get to see on my commute. Last week, a hawk (I think) crossed my path and posed in a tree. Today, I got a little random encouragement:

And I realized that I should celebrate, because the snow is pretty, I was able to bike to a job I love, with students I like working with, even though at times it can be like pulling teeth, which I do not love. So I'm glad I didn't become a dentist.^*

By the end of the day, the sun had melted the edges of the snow pack enough that I could sort of use the bike lane again, although I had to make several incursions into the car traffic to clear errant snow patches.

Errandonnée tally

Work: to Jarvis and back (10.4 km/6.1 mi)

Mileage left: 14.6 km/9.5 mi

^*Would that observation count, MG?

Distillery Christmas Market

I foolishly decided to make all my Christmas gifts this year, so I have been really busy crocheting hats and scarves since October. Which means that I have been avoiding almost all stores except the yarn store, which means that I haven't been getting my seasonal dose of Christmas carols. I also haven't been watching any TV, which means I haven't seen any Christmas commercials. All of which means I haven't been getting very much into the Christmas spirit.

The DC and I took care of this by going to the Christmas Market at the Distillery. Pro tip: it's much more fun to go with someone else than by yourself, at least from a mulled wine aspect. Although I always feel guilty about taking someone shopping with me; the DC has a great deal of forbearance.

Side note: when we came here for the staff lunch in June, I noticed a pair of earrings for $100 that I really liked but couldn't justify spending money on before my trip to Europe. I said that if they were still there when I came back from Paris, I would buy them. I didn't see them when we came for brunch in August, but they're there now. When I have completely wiped out my clothes budget for the next month or so. Argh. Somebody please buy those earrings and remove them from temptation!

Ahem. The Distillery certainly gives you a lot of pretty for free:

Our ultimate goal was mulled wine and sitting by the fireside. The first was easily acquired, the second required some patience. We finally grabbed two seats, only to find that they were vacant because they were in the direct path of the smoke. Oh well.



We lingered over our mulled wine and eye-watering fire, then it was time to go. We almost stayed even longer; the furniture store we popped into was showing Christmas specials. We caught the end of Charlie Brown and the beginning of the Grinch, until it became clear that I was reciting along with the video and we didn't really need to stay and watch it.^*

More pictures, as usual, by clicking on the name and scrolling forever:

From Rambling Through Toronto

^*I do have it on CD. And also on vinyl. Boris Karloff is all very well, but Zero Mostel is probably my favourite Grinch.

In which PhysicsGirl dines in white

Last night I went with my friend D to Dîner en Blanc, a top-secret (except for all the publicity about it ahead of time), impromptu (except for the weeks of planning and making of things that went into it) flash mob dinner, where 1400 of my closest friends dressed all in white descended on a secret location for an elegant dinner. And now you know the purpose of the white dress.

In which PhysicsGirl, though jet-lagged, tries to find a cream tea

So here I am in London, again. I was very happy, this time, to not be lugging around a huge 26-kg suitcase. I managed to fit everything I need for the next two weeks into a small suitcase. In fact, if it weren't for Air Transat's bizarre carry-on limits to the UK^*, I would have been out of Gatwick in about 10 minutes. As it was, I had to wait about half an hour to claim my oddly-blue bag^** . As soon as I did, I was off to navigate the tube to my hotel.

Tour du macaron

Every macaron must have its day, and this past Tuesday was it. The Jour du Macaron is the second happiest day of the year.^* In France for the past seven years, March 20 has been the day when the patisseries give away free macarons and donate part of their profits to charity. Other cities like London and New York have since gotten involved, but Toronto's only participant has been Nadège.

Until now.

My darling cousin, who used to work for Payard in New York and was the one who told me about Macaron Day last year, contacted Michel Firanski of La Bamboche about doing something this year. And they did! Participants gave away a free macaron, and 25% of the profits of the rest went to the Red Door Family Shelter. Since I am queen of overkill, I decided to do a whole tour. The plan: visit 9 patisseries by bike, buy 3 macarons from each in addition to the free one, die happy.

The result was mostly successful. It was a gorgeous day for riding a bike. Some bakeries had a special macaron they gave away for free, and some let you pick whichever flavour you wanted. Two of the bakeries were sold out of macarons (or, at least, sold out of the ones I wanted) and one was confusingly closed. And I nearly died of fright at one point. But in the end...

Let's just say that my prep periods this week have been delightfully tasty, as have my after-school snacks.

The route was mostly a loop up Yonge to Manor, over to Bayview, through Mount Pleasant cemetery, back to Yonge, to Yorkville, and then home.

Fair warning: I am not a food reviewer, nor am I particularly expert on macarons. I just love them to death. I tried to choose unusual (to me) flavours, or at least ones I don't usually get. As far as I can tell, all the macarons were nice and fresh and therefore the texture was great. They all tasted terrifc. Even the smushed ones.

What does Google know, anyway: Utilitaire-12 #12

Utilitaire-12 task #12: Bike to work... again (via College)

I mentioned a few weeks ago that Google thinks it's faster for me to go along College/Carlton to Jarvis. Filming the commute was the best way for me to time it, or at least I choose to believe that I want the precision I can get from looking at the video as opposed to a stopwatch that I'd probably forget to turn off anyway, even though it's really that I want the fun of editing the movies.

I re-filmed the Harbord St. trip on Tuesday to include the Queen's Park leg and get a true sense of the timing. I admit to some shenanigans with the College video: I filmed it on Wednesday, but it wasn't until I reached Clinton St. that I noticed that I hadn't manged to actually start the camera. Oops. I was going to redo it Thursday, but it was raining. Friday I was running late and couldn't take the time to set up the camera^*. I did follow the College route those days to confirm my results, though. I refilmed it this morning on my way to buy tulips^**. Saturday morning on College is not exactly the same as a weekday morning, but it's good enough for my purposes. Except that I mucked it up again. I'll redo it... next week, perhaps^***.

I've trimmed the video to start where the two routes diverge at Ossington and sped it up 8x.

Result?

Google says it's not the most efficient route, but at least there were pancakes: Utilitaire-12 #7

Utilitaire-12 task #7: Bike to work = my usual day. With a twist.

[Having finally caught up with my write-ups and tweeted about them, MG of chasing mailboxes gave me extra credit for going to the museum in the snow. Other people are doing very cool things. And riding very long distances. And I'm starting to feel like I'm the only one not getting her hair cut. I have big plans to finish those pictures, though, let me tell you!]

On to the commute.

Hamlet Distilled

Sunday I went with my friend A to see Raoul Bhaneja in his solo Hamlet show. He played 17 parts. His characterization of Polonius was hilarious, and for the first time I didn't want to slap Hamlet.

It was phenomenal. Breath-taking. As A said: "I have trouble memorizing songs!" If you ever get the chance to see it, run, don't walk.

It played at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts in the Distillery. You may recall back in August I had planned to take a Bixi to the Distillery as part of the LGRAB Summer Games, and how that plan was foiled by the fact that Bixi didn't put a dock at the Distillery^*. To my shame, I had never gone. I finally got my first taste of it on Sunday.

Pretty, no?

Brick-lined streets, Victorian architecture. And with the Christmas lights up, very Charles Dickens. Nothing was open, of course, but we could peek in through the windows at the shops. And I'm a bit of a Grinch when it comes to early Christmas trees, but I'll forgive them if they look like this:

The Christmas market starts on Friday. The Distillery is not far from school, so I think I'll pop on over one evening after work and get a real feel for it. In the meantime, I'm glad I finally got to see the place.

^*Not anymore! Bixi is moving a station to the Distillery for the winter.

Veni, vidi, Bixi (LGRAB #5)

I was hoping to space out the LGRAB activities a bit more over the two weeks, but it seems that I am maintaining my long-standing tradition of getting everything done at the last second.

The Bixi bike-share program works this way: there are a number of bike stations with bikes and free docks. You pay $5/day (or buy a 3-, 30-day, or yearly subscription) and you can take an unlimited number of trips within that period. The first 30 minutes are free. It gets really expensive after that, but the idea is that you bike someplace within 30 minutes, dock the bike, do whatever you need to do, then take another bike out for 30 minutes, etc., all for only $5. It's quite a bargain.

While I have always thought that it was a great idea, I was originally not going to subscribe. Why should I? I already have a bike. But then, Matt Galloway on CBC's Metro Morning gave some reasons why it would be useful to have a subscription. Say I don't bike in to work in the morning for some reason, but want to bike home in the evening. Or, I want to bike downtown to meet up with friends, who do not have bikes. I don't want to be encumbered by mine, especially if we decide to move around a bit. I was sold. At $95/year, it's a great deal. I'd only need to use it 20 days out of the year to make it worth while. No sweat.

Except that the Bixis have been in Toronto for a few months now, and I haven't used them yet.

In which PhysicsGirl bikes Round the City (LGRAB #1)

I joined the Toronto Bike Meetup at the same time I joined the French conversation Meetup groups, and for pretty much the same reasons: to get me out of the apartment, meet new people, and to improve my French conversation skills. Okay, maybe not that last one.

Sadly, since I've joined I've been on only one group ride due to rain, snow, and apathy timing. However, the LGRAB Summer Games gave me the impetus to not only sign up but actually go on Sunday's group ride. Especially since the Round the City ride would take me to the West Humber trail, which I'd never ridden but have wanted to for a few years.

Just over a dozen cyclists met late Sunday morning at Coronation Park on the lake shore and rode along the Martin Goodman trail to the beautiful Humber bridge. I'll gloss over how irritating those stupid gates are near Ontario Place and focus instead on how beautiful the day was. And it was beautiful. Saturday night's rain seemed to have cooled the cranky heat wave a bit and the air wasn't as oppressive as it has been. The sun was shining on the sea, shining with all its might, which was cool, because it was midday.

And so we, finally, bid farewell to the City of Lights...

My Paris pictures. Are. Done.

Yes.

Again, to my Facebook peeps, click on "View Original Post" below to come over to actually see the pictures. If you're reading this on the actual blog site, ignore the previous statement. Everyone click the title below the pics to see more than just the one. Or click on the link at right to see all the albums in their glory.

I took pictures of Luxembourg Gardens, the St-Martin Canal, the Eiffel Tower, back to the Jardin des Plantes, and Père-Lachaise cemetery. Twice.

From Paris 2010: Cityscapes and Walking Tours

I finally went inside Notre Dame for more than a few minutes.

From Paris 2010: Look Ma, Culture!

I also did a bike tour to Giverny.

Giverny 2010

I've also uploaded pictures into my daily life and oddities albums.

Paris 2010: La Vie en Rose

Paris 2010: Ça m'amuse beaucoup!

Wahoo! Only the rest of Provence, the Greek Cruise, Athens, Delphi, London, Oxford, Bath... Salisbury... QM2... NYC...

Suddenly? I feel a little tired.

But, she said, brightening, I have these to look forward to, as I promised myself two months ago:


I may have cheated a wee bit and bought them on Sunday in anticipation, since I only had a few dozen pictures left to go. I did take them to my brother and sister-in-law's, and I did hold back while they took first choice. But they might not have eaten all of them. And Aged P may have bought me a macaron recipe book. And I may have bought a few extra to come home to...

In knee news, the scab has fallen off, and I've got a rather angry red scar bisecting my kneecap. It's still quite sore, especially when I've been sitting for a while. Perhaps it will be back to normal just in time for summer's end.

In which more pictures are posted...

My week 4 Paris photos are online! This quickness is entirely due to several facts. First, I posted my annotated pictures of Mont St-Michel the day after I got back. Second, I had renamed the rest of the photos, which is a way lengthy process, sometime last summer. Third, I spent most of that week vegging out since I had been on the go every day the previous week.

However, I did manage to grab some cards and tour a new part of the city: Palais Royale and the Opera quarter.

From Paris 2010: Cityscapes and Walking Tours

I also took a trip to Brussels and Mons to visit two old friends from my exchange days: Magritte and Laurent.

Brussels/Mons 2010

And just for good measure, even though they've been online for over a year, my pictures of the trip to Mont St-Michel.

Mont St-Michel 2010

I am nearly done renaming the pictures from my last week in Paris, which included the bike trip to Giverny. I can nearly taste those macarons...

And she sighed in relief...

It's not quite the end of the school year, but, despite being laid low last weekend by the flu, I finally got my marks in. I can now turn my attention to trying to get my pictures done. I am pleased to say that I've finally finished winnowing the nearly 1300 pictures from my Paris museum week down to just over 1000, and then further down to about 800, all with somewhat pithy commentary. It was a major mental hurdle. I still have two more weeks of Paris to go, but fortunately I took far fewer pictures since I spent much more time hanging out in cafes and less in museums.

Sunday of museum week was spent revisiting Arts & Métiers, the Louvre, and the Pompidou Centre, while also going to the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Nifty design stuff there.

The pictures are uploaded. Click on the album title to see all the photos.

From Paris 2010: Look Ma, Culture!

From Paris 2010: Cityscapes and Walking Tours

Off to do week 4, which fortunately has already been renamed and resized. And the pictures from Mont St-Michel are already dealt with.