Thursday, May 14, 2009
The Sort of Thing Movie Girl and Mr. Liberty Would Enjoy IMMENSELY But Neither One Is Here
I'm sorry Movie Girl, I keep going to pick up the phone to call you but it always seems to be 1am. And I could call you right now but I have a sneaking suspicion that you would enjoy this more. I'll see what I can do after I return the paint thinner to my brother-in-law.
Two posts in two days? What is this, NaBloPoMoWriMo or something? Let's start with established facts. Somehow when you do something really stupid it feels a lot better when you can own it and laugh about it yourself and with those you love (and who presumably love you). It is a ridiculously windy day today. One should never undertake home improvement projects on a deck the size of an army cot.
That said, I'd like to tell you a story about the time I decided to stain a wooden table on our deck that is the size of an army cot. We'll also be so good as to tie in how this is related to Poutini's... since this is a day in the life of a Chip Girl, after all. It is a truth universally acknowledged that every good herb pot is in need of a fine table to sit on. And that said table must needs be matching the other outdoor accoutrements. (see Exhibit A) And since we happen to be renting a contruction site, said table and wood stain are a piece of cake, right?
Now turn your eyes to Exhibit B. Despite the necessary precautions, (rubber gloves, plastic bags for everything to sit on...) in the very moment I set down the small canister of custom "Poutini's Stain #5" a gust of the aforementioned very strong wind lifted it up and sent it flying across our deck the size of an army cot, effectively re-staining several chairs, our barbecue and the entire floor.
So thinking on her feet, Lady Liberty acts quickly and responsibly... she calls her brother-in-law. He provides her with paint thinner and she spends the next hour on her hands and knees scrubbing "Poutini's Stain #5" out of the outdoor linoleum. Meanwhile neighbors walking past are thinking, What smells nauseatingly of paint thinner? Hmm... Couldn't possibly be that girl on her hands and knees with holes in her pants scrubbing poop-coloured stain off her deck... No way. Home improvement? Smells like paint thinner to me.
In other news, I did have one shining accomplishment today and that was our "coming soon" sign in the window at the store! Now Poutini's is on the lips of every passer-by. Timing was perfect, our website www.poutini.com is also now live. I'm quite pleased. Ok, you have exactly 30 seconds to laugh with me about our schmutzen-covered deck and then we're not talking about it ever again. Yay Poutini's!
Two posts in two days? What is this, NaBloPoMoWriMo or something? Let's start with established facts. Somehow when you do something really stupid it feels a lot better when you can own it and laugh about it yourself and with those you love (and who presumably love you). It is a ridiculously windy day today. One should never undertake home improvement projects on a deck the size of an army cot.
That said, I'd like to tell you a story about the time I decided to stain a wooden table on our deck that is the size of an army cot. We'll also be so good as to tie in how this is related to Poutini's... since this is a day in the life of a Chip Girl, after all. It is a truth universally acknowledged that every good herb pot is in need of a fine table to sit on. And that said table must needs be matching the other outdoor accoutrements. (see Exhibit A) And since we happen to be renting a contruction site, said table and wood stain are a piece of cake, right?Now turn your eyes to Exhibit B. Despite the necessary precautions, (rubber gloves, plastic bags for everything to sit on...) in the very moment I set down the small canister of custom "Poutini's Stain #5" a gust of the aforementioned very strong wind lifted it up and sent it flying across our deck the size of an army cot, effectively re-staining several chairs, our barbecue and the entire floor.
So thinking on her feet, Lady Liberty acts quickly and responsibly... she calls her brother-in-law. He provides her with paint thinner and she spends the next hour on her hands and knees scrubbing "Poutini's Stain #5" out of the outdoor linoleum. Meanwhile neighbors walking past are thinking, What smells nauseatingly of paint thinner? Hmm... Couldn't possibly be that girl on her hands and knees with holes in her pants scrubbing poop-coloured stain off her deck... No way. Home improvement? Smells like paint thinner to me.
In other news, I did have one shining accomplishment today and that was our "coming soon" sign in the window at the store! Now Poutini's is on the lips of every passer-by. Timing was perfect, our website www.poutini.com is also now live. I'm quite pleased. Ok, you have exactly 30 seconds to laugh with me about our schmutzen-covered deck and then we're not talking about it ever again. Yay Poutini's!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
The 36-Hour Vacation... and a return to blogging.
36 hours, 5 poutines, 12 hours of driving, 15 cups of tea and 1 crappy hotel all in the name of poutine research.
I have been troubled for a long time thinking, "What do I have to blog about?" Movie Girl has movies/books, but I have... a screenplay? I can tell you that would have gotten old pretty quick... ("Day 231: Completed 5 pages today... onward and upward. Day 310: At page 110, nearly succumbed to diet coke cravings.") Mr. Liberty suggested writing an immigration blog but that wasn't much more interesting. ("Who knew you need a background check from France AND the United States... application pushed back another four weeks.") So I didn't write. But now, I have a new-found profession/reason for living: Poutine.
Yes, in just a few short weeks Lady Liberty will add another (volunteer) profession to the long string that has come before: Chip Girl. Mr. Liberty and his brother are opening Poutini's House of Poutine and I will be their first (unpaid) employee. Naturally, opening up a restaurant requires research so we decided to travel to the mecca of poutine. Montreal, of course. We left Toronto at 1 in the afternoon on Monday and got back at 1 in the morning last night. In that time we managed to eat poutine from five of Montreal's staple poutineries. Honestly? Not terribly impressed. While tasty, (until you've already had three) the poutine was made with questionable fries, packaged gravy and often-unsatisfying cheese curds. Yes, Montreal invented it, might Toronto perfect it? Remains to be seen. But we're more excited than ever about our endeavour... even if by the end we were cursing the very invention. And we might have done better to roll home to Toronto.
The trip itself was wonderful. Our hotel was on the rue St. Denis, a lively area of Montreal that gave us pretty easy access to the poutineries but also to a great number of tea shops! (My other love...) So in between "courses" we had Moroccan mint teas and pu-erh cleansing teas and matcha teas and "wulong" teas as they call them in French (Wu-tang's brother... ha!) and straight-from-the-Indian-tea-farm darjeeling teas. We'd like to think that it helped balance us out. All I know is that I am cured of carbs for life.
In other news, I have a print-out of the infamous Black Sash screenplay and it's thick enough to knock out a boisterous bear. Cletis, the 6-burner gas range, and Debbie, the double-door commercial fridge, have joined the family. (As my mother informed everyone she knows in the most obtuse of ways possible... "Katie and Fred are expecting... A FRIDGE!" minor heart attacks all-around, myself included) The "coming soon" website (www.poutini.com) will go up this week and EVERYONE needs to join the Poutine Lovers of Toronto facebook group, if you don't yet love poutine, we promise you will!
So that, friends, is a day in the life of Lady Liberty... chip-girl.
I have been troubled for a long time thinking, "What do I have to blog about?" Movie Girl has movies/books, but I have... a screenplay? I can tell you that would have gotten old pretty quick... ("Day 231: Completed 5 pages today... onward and upward. Day 310: At page 110, nearly succumbed to diet coke cravings.") Mr. Liberty suggested writing an immigration blog but that wasn't much more interesting. ("Who knew you need a background check from France AND the United States... application pushed back another four weeks.") So I didn't write. But now, I have a new-found profession/reason for living: Poutine.
Yes, in just a few short weeks Lady Liberty will add another (volunteer) profession to the long string that has come before: Chip Girl. Mr. Liberty and his brother are opening Poutini's House of Poutine and I will be their first (unpaid) employee. Naturally, opening up a restaurant requires research so we decided to travel to the mecca of poutine. Montreal, of course. We left Toronto at 1 in the afternoon on Monday and got back at 1 in the morning last night. In that time we managed to eat poutine from five of Montreal's staple poutineries. Honestly? Not terribly impressed. While tasty, (until you've already had three) the poutine was made with questionable fries, packaged gravy and often-unsatisfying cheese curds. Yes, Montreal invented it, might Toronto perfect it? Remains to be seen. But we're more excited than ever about our endeavour... even if by the end we were cursing the very invention. And we might have done better to roll home to Toronto.
The trip itself was wonderful. Our hotel was on the rue St. Denis, a lively area of Montreal that gave us pretty easy access to the poutineries but also to a great number of tea shops! (My other love...) So in between "courses" we had Moroccan mint teas and pu-erh cleansing teas and matcha teas and "wulong" teas as they call them in French (Wu-tang's brother... ha!) and straight-from-the-Indian-tea-farm darjeeling teas. We'd like to think that it helped balance us out. All I know is that I am cured of carbs for life.
In other news, I have a print-out of the infamous Black Sash screenplay and it's thick enough to knock out a boisterous bear. Cletis, the 6-burner gas range, and Debbie, the double-door commercial fridge, have joined the family. (As my mother informed everyone she knows in the most obtuse of ways possible... "Katie and Fred are expecting... A FRIDGE!" minor heart attacks all-around, myself included) The "coming soon" website (www.poutini.com) will go up this week and EVERYONE needs to join the Poutine Lovers of Toronto facebook group, if you don't yet love poutine, we promise you will!
So that, friends, is a day in the life of Lady Liberty... chip-girl.
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