The Giving Tree
When was the last time you read Shel Siverstein's classic, The Giving Tree?
I recently picked it up and could barely get through it, my eyes too full of tears by the fifth page.
Something else that only gets better with age...
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When was the last time you read Shel Siverstein's classic, The Giving Tree?
I recently picked it up and could barely get through it, my eyes too full of tears by the fifth page.
Something else that only gets better with age...
Springtime at the base of Mount Royal
Faithful readers will recall that I have in fact quoted these lines before, but there seems no more apt a description of Montreal in spring than the one penned by Leonard Cohen in Beautiful Losers.
"In Montreal spring is like an autopsy. Everyone wants to see the inside of the frozen mammoth. Girls rip off their sleeves and the flesh is sweet and white, like wood under green bark. From the streets a sexual manifesto rises like an inflating tire, 'The winter has not killed us again!'"
I notice that one of my favourite local confreres has the same excerpt posted this week at http://lesplanade.blogspot.com/.
Though good points are raised about the strewn garbage that peeks out from the cracks in the sidewalks once the snow has melted, Cohen nails the gusto with which Montrealers greet the first warming rays of spring sun.
I walked east along Sherbrooke Street this morning, in the heart of the downtown core, where the pedestrian traffic was, at times, virtual gridlock. Everyone is outside offering praise to the helios and stripping off the layers.
And yes, the mountain too looks bare this morning. From my balcony perch I see exposed branches and soil - YES, soil! - and sparingly few patches of white.
The bass from the speakers of a topless convertible just boomed from the street below.
It's true, the winter has not killed us again.
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Faithful readers will recall that I have in fact quoted these lines before, but there seems no more apt a description of Montreal in spring than the one penned by Leonard Cohen in Beautiful Losers.
"In Montreal spring is like an autopsy. Everyone wants to see the inside of the frozen mammoth. Girls rip off their sleeves and the flesh is sweet and white, like wood under green bark. From the streets a sexual manifesto rises like an inflating tire, 'The winter has not killed us again!'"
I notice that one of my favourite local confreres has the same excerpt posted this week at http://lesplanade.blogspot.com/.
Though good points are raised about the strewn garbage that peeks out from the cracks in the sidewalks once the snow has melted, Cohen nails the gusto with which Montrealers greet the first warming rays of spring sun.
I walked east along Sherbrooke Street this morning, in the heart of the downtown core, where the pedestrian traffic was, at times, virtual gridlock. Everyone is outside offering praise to the helios and stripping off the layers.
And yes, the mountain too looks bare this morning. From my balcony perch I see exposed branches and soil - YES, soil! - and sparingly few patches of white.
The bass from the speakers of a topless convertible just boomed from the street below.
It's true, the winter has not killed us again.
"On the Brink"...
But, seriously, what will it take to admit that Iraq IS in a state of civil war?
Enough of this "on the brink" rhetoric.
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But, seriously, what will it take to admit that Iraq IS in a state of civil war?
Enough of this "on the brink" rhetoric.
Arthur Murray Update
Unfortunately, the sweet introductory offer of 5 intensive dance lessons is a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of a full ballroom regime registration. So after a quickstart tutorial in the waltz, the merengue, the fox-trot, west coast swing and the tango, my partner and I had to agree to hang up our leather soled shoes, at least until we have a little more disposable income.
That said, with our basic box and rock steps, we are ready to take on. Sorta. Well, we look pretty good when we're practicing in my apartment. We think.
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Unfortunately, the sweet introductory offer of 5 intensive dance lessons is a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of a full ballroom regime registration. So after a quickstart tutorial in the waltz, the merengue, the fox-trot, west coast swing and the tango, my partner and I had to agree to hang up our leather soled shoes, at least until we have a little more disposable income.
That said, with our basic box and rock steps, we are ready to take on. Sorta. Well, we look pretty good when we're practicing in my apartment. We think.
Another Classic Montreal Missed Connection
(http://montreal.craigslist.org)
To FRED, who always honks at me on Sherbrooke in NDG - w4m - 32
Reply to: pers-138922938@craigslist.org
Date: 2006-03-04, 11:26AM EST
I'm looking for the guy who had me confused for months every time he drove by and honked, because I thought it was someone I knew.
I didn't know you - but thanks for clearing that up for me.
I should have taken you up on your offer for a lift, it was bloody cold outside.
I'll probably never see you again cause I'm moving soon, but it was nice meeting you finally!
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(http://montreal.craigslist.org)
To FRED, who always honks at me on Sherbrooke in NDG - w4m - 32
Reply to: pers-138922938@craigslist.org
Date: 2006-03-04, 11:26AM EST
I'm looking for the guy who had me confused for months every time he drove by and honked, because I thought it was someone I knew.
I didn't know you - but thanks for clearing that up for me.
I should have taken you up on your offer for a lift, it was bloody cold outside.
I'll probably never see you again cause I'm moving soon, but it was nice meeting you finally!
![[Click for official biography]](http://ansuz.sooke.bc.ca/justices/photo-De.jpg?1299748013-0.1-974446364)