Monday, August 20, 2012

In which I sing the praises of the Toronto Public Library, and I am a little surprised

I went to the library this evening, in anticipation of going sailing and having time to read for the next couple of weeks.  That would also mean that my currently extremely sporadic blog posts will not be happening at all for the next little while!

The Toronto Public Library is simply fantastic.  Best I have ever been to.  A delight and a treasure that I do wish I could use and visit more.

While I was there looking for books to read (I got 14, here's hoping)  a girl went by shelving books.  Now, she was fairly young, but hard to say exactly how young, so I asked her if she had any recommendations as I am a little out of date as to what the latest books are.  Comes from living away so long!

Turns out she doesn't read much, and I should ask one of the librarians.  This leads me to believe that she may be doing some of her community hours that are required for high school graduation, though she looked a little old for that, and I do have high school aged kids, or something similar.

I do wonder how she ended up there though.  I mean, for me, it would be a kind of dream summer job, better even than a book store as I would be able to take some money home at the end of the month.  How do you end up working in a library if you 'don't read much'?  How does that make you feel when surrounded by passionate readers?  Superior?  Inferior?  Nothing at all?  I felt a tremendous urge to grill her and try to find the perfect book that would draw her into a lifetime of reading.  Really, I do think that is possible.  But, I didn't.  She gave this kind of half shrug and slipped away hurriedly.

Weird and odd.

Still a fantastic library though.

Truly.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

We were in Philadelphia with friends!

We went down to Philadelphia for the weekend, to see friends and one of the things we did, in that frankly incredible city.  Honestly, the part they live in_  Parks parks long beautiful parks.....and then downtown, it´s lovely, but this stuff was amazing.  Down on South St, there are amazing murals, mosaic murals, made by Isaiah Zagar ...see?












Amazing, no?

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Olympic fever!

We're back in TO house sitting for a friend, and dog sitting too.  Chuck and Jazz are basically doing OK, though Chuck is afraid of Jazz, a Jack Russel with LOTS of character!

I am getting to finally see a bit of the Olympics which is great.  I do love the games.  We were at dinner with some folks last week and they were pointing out a lot of the financial controversies that are swirling around these games (and probably most of them), but I have to say that I love the games, I really do adore them.  So nice to get to watch them a bit.

OMG!  I didn't know this before this minute, but there are NO women in canoe racing in the Olympics!  HOW can that have happened????  There are women in boxing, and no women in canoe?  What are they thinking?????

On another note, while I am enjoying all the running, I am really looking forward to some walking again.....REALLY.  We're going to be getting on the boat in a while (oh, how I am looking forward to THAT) and I am hoping to get some hiking, and running and swimming in!

Here's the question we keep looking at, to bring the bike to BCN or no?  Buy one there????

Hmmmmm.

GO EVERYONE!!!!

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Good lord! Time and access! Deu n'hi do! Temps i internet!

It has been so long I don´t know where to start.  Work is work and going fine, I've been to a funeral, for the dad of a friend of mine, but I spent a lot of time with him too and it was sad.  We've shuffled around a bit, and suddenly it seems like summer is about to end, starting to count down the weekends!
Ha passat tant temps que tinc ni idea a on començo.  El meu treball va bé.  Vaig anar al enterament del pare d'un amiga.  Vaig passat molt de temps amb el i era trist.  Estem vivint en unes quantes llocs i de seguida sembla com el final d'estiu!  Estem comptant els caps de setmana!!!


Right now we've done a road trip...to Philadelphia to visit friends from our sailing days....they have the most spectacular place, right on a giant park with trails and next to a swimming hole!!!!!  Good dinner last night (and the night before when we were invited over to someone's place....the Spanish teacher where we are mostly staying!)
Ara mateix estem a Philadelphia amb amics dels temps a la barca.....tenen un lloc fantàstic literalment a costat d'un parc enorme amb camirols i tot i un lloc per nadar en un riu!!!!  Vam sopar molt bé ahir (i aband d'ahir també ens van convidar a sopar, el mestre d'espanyol a on quedem)

We went for a VERY long drive to get here...two kids and a dog.....then a walk and a swim and dinner in Chapel Hill, very swish neighbourhood.  All to bed early after the 3:30am alarm went off.....
Aquí a Philadelphia vam conduir per MOLTES hores, dos nenes i un gos.....llavors vam anar a passejar i sopavem a Chapel Hill, un barri molt maca.  Tots vam anar a dormir molt aviat, amb el despertador sonant a les tres i mig de la matinada!!!

Today?  A run, some touristing.....we'll have to see....  Avui, anim a còrrer, fem guirres...hem de mirar.

Hope you're having a great long weekend!!!!  Espero que tingueu un molt bon pont!

Cheers,

O

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Mosquitos!

I actually have both a signal and access at the same time, and am now hit by such stage fright, I don't know what to write...not stage fright really, as blog posting idea death.  I do miss it though.  OMG the mosquitos are ridiculous....I have to go!!!!!