the pomegranate tiger

(An Encyclopedia of Me blog.) I grew up in a time when girls were named Linda, Mary, Barbara, Patricia, Kathleen, Carol, Janet and Susan. Through my school years, I knew at least a half dozen of each. I even knew a few Sharons. But Ellen? Not so much. I've personally known only two other Ellens in my entire life. Ellen always seemed like such an old-fashioned name. I could imagine an Aunt Ellen sitting in her Victorian parlour serving tea to respectful visitors and offering them an assortment of dainty biscuits neatly and precisely placed on doily-lined serving plates. Conversation would hover around the weather and the latest gossip in the society pages. She would discreetly give advice about which eligible bachelor would be suitable for which young lady and everyone would nod in agreement and marvel at her great and kindly wisdom. Not that I knew anyone even remotely resembling this Aunt Ellen – but it satisfied my more romantic tendencies. There didn't seem to b...

(A Sunday Scribblings prompt) My life is made up of miscellanea. The subtitle of my blog sums up much of what drives me and my life. I'm inquisitive. Eclectic is the word I use to describe myself. I love gathering information, following every trail, sniffing out odd words and associations, looking up birthdates, birthplaces and schools of people I see in the news and online. A place I've never heard of? I'll be looking it up. A new book I haven't read? I'll be searching for a review. There isn't a sport that I won't watch at least once, a musical genre I won't give a listen, an author I won't try. When asked about "favourites", I have a hard time coming up with an answer. For example, if someone was to ask me what my favourite sport is, I'd, first of all, have to ask spectator or participation? If spectator; I'd say I like hockey, figure skating, basketball when Phoenix (Steve Nash) is playing, some football (depending on...

One of my sons recently introduced me to Dexter . It's a Showtime Cable TV series based on the novel, Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay. The title character works for the Miami Metro Police Department as a blood splatter expert and also happens to be a serial killer. (Warning: If you're the least bit squeamish or don't like black humour, this is probably not for you.) It's told in a first-person narrative. I won't give away too much of the plot, but in short; Dexter suffered a childhood trauma that caused him to become disconnected with others and have a compulsion to kill. He was raised by an adopted father who understood what Dexter was and who instilled in Dexter a certain warped code by which Dexter lives - and kills - by. His father also taught him how to behave in a way that would allow him to seem "normal". Dexter doesn't kill randomly and his victims are only those who have killed others and who have eluded the justice system. On ...

I spent the better part of last week and all of the weekend at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships held in Vancouver. I've been a figure skating fan for over forty years and this was the first time I've been able to attend a national championship from start to finish. There were many highlights, but the biggest and best was Patrick Chan's long program that won him the men's title. It was one of the most thrilling, goose-bump inducing live programs I've seen. By the time he got to his final footwork sequence with about a minute to go, the crowd was cheering and clapping. By his final spin, everyone stood in a great surge. He's barely seventeen (his birthday was on December 31st), but doesn't skate like it. It's the first time I've seen him skate live and I was blown away by the quality of his skating, his musicality and maturity. I hope he joins the ranks of other Canadian men like Donald Jackson, Brian Orser, Kurt Browning and Elvis St...

What I'm listening to on a rainy Saturday afternoon: Raising Sand - by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss You can listen to the entire album on the official website (click on the above title). This collaboration by former Led Zeppelin front man, Robert Plant, and bluegrass country fiddle player and singer Alison Krauss, on the surface, seems unusual, but it really works. The more I listen to it, the more I like it. Always a good sign. I received this CD from one of my sons for Christmas. J, knowing I'm too cheap to buy CDs for myself, is always trying to expand my music library. I have very eclectic tastes that cross pretty much all musical genres with the exception of rap (to me, rap is a form of spoken poetry, but that's an entirely different discussion). My opinion is that I won't know if I like or dislike something until I've actually heard it. In the past couple of years, besides the Plant and Krauss, he's bought me Ryan Adams (Cold Roses); Neko Case (...

After reading The Boomer Chronicles and her blog about 60s memories , I rummaged around to find some old ticket stubs. This is what I was doing in August of 1964: Addendum: In case you can't see it clearly, the concert ticket was $4.75 and the movie ticket was $1.25. Of the two, I only had to pay for the movie ticket. At the time, I was waiting tables at my uncle's restaurant. One of the regulars was a local concert promoter. He gave me two tickets to the Beatles concert as a tip. I was ecstatic!

As I was doing the final post-Christmas clean up, I realized just how much the trend of using gift bags has overtaken the use of gift wrap around here. I took this picture of bags from this year. I'd say 80% to 90% of our gifts came in bags rather than the traditional box and wrap this Christmas. We probably gifted with bags in about the same proportion. I don't know if this is true elsewhere. Maybe someone out there can enlighten me. Personally, I think it's great. Our family has been using gift bags for a number of years and I'm glad it's catching on. It appeals to my sense of not wasting things and recycling whenever possible. Besides being recyclable, gift bags are reusable. It's fun to receive a gift in a bag that you gave someone else. There is one bag that's been making the rounds in our family for about three or four years. We have a joke that you're not really a member of the family until you've received this bag at least once. It's...

I am getting so tired of self-help books and TV shows that go on and on about looking younger; in essence, saying young is good and old is bad. I discussed this earlier in my little rant about Oprah and some of her programs. Just when I think I can let it go, Crabby Old Lady at Time Goes By posted this article and YouTube video by Charla Krupp. Ms Krupp has written a book titled How Not To Look Old . She gives tips that she claims will make us older women look ten years younger, ten pounds thinner and ten times better. Why? Is ten the magic number that's going to make us happier, more fulfilled and content? She is delusional if she thinks minus ten pounds and ten years is the cure-all for what she admittedly calls a youth-obsessed culture. Let's do the math: at forty, we'll look thirty; at fifty, we'll look forty; at sixty, we'll look fifty; at seventy, we'll look sixty; at eighty, we'll look seventy; and at ninety, we'll look eighty. At some ...

Happy New Year! I know. It's a little late, but every time I thought about posting something, stuff got in the way. We had a warm family Christmas with all the important people in my life around. The turkey and trimmings were a hit; as was the Fruit In Snow dessert. I ate too much shortbread and chocolates, but it's all gone now and I can get back to a more normal eating pattern. This morning, I watched the World Junior Hockey Championships on TV and saw Team Canada win the gold medal for the fourth year in a row. This afternoon, I've been procrastinating over putting away the decorations and taking down the tree. I'm always a bit reluctant to take the Christmas decorations down. It's a bit sad. I like my tree. I love the smell, the lights, the special ornaments gathered over the years, and all the memories it evokes. I've felt the same about every tree we've had over the years. This year, my older son and his g.f. bought their first tree for their ...