old, but not old enough (yet)?

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!! I just pulled a silvery white (almost pretty, if not thinking of everything connected to it) hair from my head. It might be my old mutation though, it was superthick and totally different from other strands of hair, but STILL. So, all the signs of age hit me like an anvil falling down from the ceiling onto my approximate location in the chair. Not pretty. My only consolation is this: I went to Il Divo for free (NO, that is not the consolation!). They sang at the MTS centre in Winnipeg last Monday and my very good friend J, her little inhabitant in its large swimming pool (she's very pregnant) and I got tickets for free from some friends who couldn't go (well, the baby came in for free). I had barely heard this group, even though I have a bunch of friends who are really into them. And how much I didn't understand until afterwards... but that's another story. Anyways, so I was quite excited to visit the MTS centre, since I'd never been there, and was prepared to meet a whole bunch of cheese. It started very nicely with an awesome pianist, and then i divas came on stage, and the centre immediately transformed into a giant cheese fondue, and most people there were VERY open to every kind of cheese that was served (while I'm a bit more picky about my cheese) I kind of got used to the style though, after gulping down an enormous portion of american cheddar (the inoculation?), and surviving. Now and then, a little piece of excellent gruyere or scottish glenphilly cheddar was noticed, among the songs that to my knowledge not were covers of original cheese productions (celine dion, mariah carey, etc etc) (?), but it was often pretty soon drowned in the major divo of the quartett, who seemed to enjoy setting his intestines in resonance, and whose inbetween-songs-chatting was rather excessively.... well, I wouldn't want to overuse the expression here, but I guess "cheesy" is the most accurate adjective. And hereby I'm also able to deliver my own piece of Edam or Gouda (keeping with the theme, nationality of said cheeses of course totally intentional) - being in love is probably a prerequisite for enjoying much of the music, and I did enjoy some of the lyrics rather well. It's like cheesy poetry.. all of a sudden you don't go "EWWW" anymore, but your pupils turn heartshaped and pink, and you need a good friend to hit you on the head before you become unbearable as company. Anyways. I met one of those we got the tickets from a few days ago, a very wonderful lady, who wondered how we had enjoyed the concert. Might be one of the occasions when one gracefully keeps the totally honest sentiments to oneself, and expresses gratitude for the experience. Which I did, and the gratitude was totally honest, because it was a superfun experience, and I loved being able to spend some time with J (luckily she had the exact same opinion as myself, which made it all so much more enjoyable).

Back to the topic though. Looking at average age of audience at the concert, perhaps I'm not as old as my silvery strand of hair implies. It's gone btw. I.e. not attached to head. Instead I attached it to the wall. It's probably a vain attempt into making me more serious about time passing and work needing to be done.

ear and throat pain

My throat hurts. And my left ear. I wonder if that is bad. It seems to be residue from the flu I had 3 weeks ago. D and I bought tickets for Sweden in August a few days ago :) And today it was 18 degrees. About time!

I was leading a choir practice today. Not as nervous as last time a few year ago... I seem to like to be in the dictator position. Scary. At least the population of my choir seemed to be happy. And on saturday I played chamber music (Bach and Mozart) in a quartett with a violin, viola and cello. Amazingly fun. Tomorrow is monday, and I have to finish off grading the last lab reports. And a thousand over things. Argh. Also going to see Il Divo with Jessica, she had an extra ticket. That could be fun.

Gggg

I don't seem to have anything to write lately. Waiting for spring, still, and it seems to be here, now and then. Got a cold, and felt like garbage today so stayed home despite lots to work on. Slept, worked, saw a stargate episode, and redid the cycle. Twice or so, but in the afternoon I got an amazing migraine, so that was the end of that day. Yodeloo. I think I have to go and see this film btw.

Calgary, and it feels like spring...

It's above zero here! Yummmm... +5 right now. Conference is done, and I'm sitting in the lobby waiting for Candia. It's pretty nice to just rest for a bit. Of course, as soon as I left Winnipeg, temperatures skyrocketed (well, went from -inf to -8). I bought a shoe shelf at ikea. And some flat bread and lingonberries. Walked a snowy walk up in the hills sothwest of Calgary and then was able to breathe outside air without pain. Visited Ed and Meg in their cute house in Strathmore, and then the LTS-conference started. It's kind of interesting to meet up with people you see every 6 months and it feels like meeting old friends. A weird sensation has occurred within me though - I'm longing to get back to Winnipeg...!

-40, and kazaap!

This morning we hit the temperature where it doesn't matter if you use F or C. I haven't had this cold since I arrived here 3 years ago, and apparently I've adjusted, because it didn't bother me so much. Of course 3 layers on legs, and 5 underneath the jacket as well as 2 layers mittens and toques, helps a bit. Only toes and nose were a bit chilly. It's so cold that the last amount of humidity has frozen onto trees, and looks pretty much like sweden a chilly -4 -day in sunshine. haha.
The driness makes for some fun. Cats these days can't have an easy time. One of the astronomers at the faculty here told about how his cat Chaos approached their entertainment unit, and a big SPARK went from nose to unit, totally frying the hard drive. In general, winnipeg cats tend to pull away if someone threatens to pet them this time of the year. And when walking on top of a blanket in darkness, there's little sparks accompanying the cat with each step (this statement set me off in an unending attack of laughter at a dinner a few days ago). Wearing fleece and wool in combination is perfect, turn off the lights, touch someone's nose and there's your own indoors lightning. Haha! Sadly this also means really bad hair days... but it's funny, you get electric shocks even from plants! Slide out of a car seat and you're pretty close to electricuting yourself.
If it can only get a little bit warmer, I intend to go out skating on the river. There's a skating path and a walking/biking path along Assiniboine, going by outside my house and all the way to the Forks (via river skating rink and curling) onto Red river. D and I went for a walk there a few sundays ago, and it was supercool. As for inquiries to last post: Yes, of course Sweden too, as soon as I can get tickets for a good deal. Ideally in the end of summer, or latest at Christmas again.