Somebody send help! I can’t stop watching Fascinating Horror episodes on Youtube. I hope it’s not what will consume the rest of my retired life, but only a brief period of extreme laziness brought on by a short night and a slight hangover, and continued by momentum. But seriously, has anybody else gotten addicted to watching short disaster documentaries? No? Just me? I’m not sure why I’m so interested in watching people die in myriad fascinating and obscure ways. Do you realize there are many deaths from people jumping or falling into the boiling pools at Yellowstone park? A...
Auditions, from the other side of the screen
November 23, 2021June 5, 2023By Vivian Lee
My friend, Lauren DeRoller, recently wrote a post on her blog that hit a chord with a lot of people, including me. You can read the post here, but to sum up, she points out a lot of the problems with orchestral auditions, from a candidate’s perspective. I won’t rehash Lauren’s whole post, because it’s well worth a separate read, but I want to write about my own perspective as an OSM retiree. I was unhappy with the audition process for many years, mostly once I found myself on the opposite side of the curtain. I haven’t taken an audition since...
Solstice Lights
November 12, 2021June 5, 2023By Vivian Lee
Ours was the first house on the block to get its holiday lights up and running this year, on or about November 7th. Before you report me to the Grinch committee, let me defend myself. I usually try to get the lights up early because I hate doing it in the freezing cold. It’s just more practical. However, oftentimes in the past I’ve been too busy so I often ended up doing it with numb fingers as I swore at the stiff wires which refused to do my bidding. This year, because retirement, I had lots of time and...
Autumn in the dog parks of Montreal
November 10, 2021June 5, 2023By Vivian Lee
We’ve been enjoying some heavenly weather here in Montreal. I guess it’s a little #TBT summer and will end soon, but it’s great while it lasts. There are still colourful leaves on the trees, the air is balmy and Buster can go to the dog park without his new sweater. Talking about the dog park, there seems to be some controversy in the dog world about whether dog parks are good for your dog or not. If you watch TikTok (as I do) and follow a bunch of dog trainers (as I do!) you’ll often hear them say that...
This week: a toothache and a knitting challenge
November 7, 2021June 5, 2023By Vivian Lee
This week I had to have a root canal redone. I know, right? Ugh! It’s adding insult to injury it seems to me, since it was already painful and expensive the first time! But it’s an old one and I guess some bacteria crept in under there and an infection set in. It wasn’t bothering me but after a few years of being bugged by my dentist, I finally got it fixed. The procedure itself was long, uncomfortable and boring, but not painful thanks to the wonders of modern anesthesia. Once the freezing wore off, then it started to hurt...
Thrown Together Apple Pie
October 29, 2021June 5, 2023By Vivian Lee
I have made (another) commitment to myself to blog 3 times per week. Okay, the other times I may have made other frequency promises, but the point is, I’ve never stuck to them. I’m not sure making these promises is such a great idea, but blogging is something I want to do regularly, and I don’t know how else to keep trying to get there. I was very touched by how many people gave me sympathy for my post about sleeping issues. Some of you have similar problems, some of you have no trouble sleeping, but you all see it...
The Elusive ARms of Morpheus
October 26, 2021June 5, 2023By Vivian Lee
After three lousy nights in a row, I had three good sleeps in a row, which is almost unheard of. Of course, I’m looking back thinking, what made the difference? The first night is easily explained, first by having had three lousy nights, as I said, culminating in a 3 hr 30 minute night, then by having taken a pill (an anti-anxiety medication called Clonazepam) , which is a sure-fire way to get to sleep, for me, at least. Night two I had a few drinks and took a CBD oil pill, so I don’t know whether it was the...
Which hill would you die on?
October 25, 2021June 5, 2023By Vivian Lee
I find it overwhelming how many options there are. The hill of social injustice, the hill of veganism, the hill of plastic, the hills of avocados or almonds, the hill of endangered animals, of world hunger, of animal cruelty, abortion rights, and climate change, to name a few. For Dave and I, it’s veal. I’ve eaten veal maybe twice during the length of our marriage. Even before we were married I didn’t have much occasion to eat veal, but when we found out how milk-fed calves were treated, it didn’t make sense to eat it. It’s not much of...
Thoughts on Truth and Reconciliation
October 9, 2021June 5, 2023By Vivian Lee
Since the first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation has just passed here in Canada, the topic of Residential Schools has been on my mind. Coincidentally, my book club met on September 30th, the very day. Our book choice was “The Splendid and the Vile” by Eric Larsson. It’s a historical book describing the years 1940-1941 in London and Berlin and in between. Mostly the book centres on Churchill but it does a good job of giving the reader an overview of the Blitz and all the interested parties in the war. You’re probably wondering what a book about...
Retirement ruminations
September 24, 2021June 5, 2023By Vivian Lee
Retirement is a big milestone for most people, whether you’re a musician, an engineer, or a bricklayer. It signals the start of the last leg and I can see why a lot of people put it off. Who wants to think about that last leg too much? And when you’re retired, you have a lot of time to contemplate it. On the flip side, if you’re eager to contemplate life and to get on with new or favourite things while you’re still relatively young, retiring early is a smart option. Whether 60 is “early” is debatable, but most people I...