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2004 Year in Review: Highlights

In no particular order, and by no means all-inclusive, some highlights of the last year.  Which I may edit if other thoughts pop into mind.

• Joining the running club: hitting the Canal trail for long runs is much more fun when there are people to talk to.  We learned to love the JuneMoon course in Colonial Park and once the JuneMoon run was done, we enjoyed NEVER having to run that road again. 
• Two trips to Ohio: got some first-hand looks at factory life and the joys of steel-toes shoes. 
• The animal in the Wall: It came, it crawled around, it died, it was removed.  I've never been so happy to see fresh drywall in my life.
• Crafts: enjoyed making some things for friends this year, cross-stitches and scarves.  An attempt at a Sit-and-Stitch club at work manifested in a single lunchtime meeting with two of us, but I'm going to try to get the enthusiasts back together in the New Year.  Pastries will be used as bait.
• Trips to Canada, July: Saw a lady being carried down the Grouse Grind by medics and then just about puked up a lung myself on the hike up.  Blamed it on jetlag and rebounded nicely the next day by making it up the trail without being near-death.  Had a blast catching up with all of my friends.
• Trips to Canada, November: Snuck into town and cruised over to Tofino.  Rain, rain and more rain just made me more nostalgic for the West Coast.  The hot tub in the trees helped get rid of the rainy cold.  Skied at Whistler, crappy conditions but hey, I skied in November.
• Trips to Canada, Christmas: More skiing, more family, more friends.  Two whole weeks means plenty of time to chill out and really enjoy everyone.  No rushing around, just relaxing. 
• Friends with CutieBabies: So many friends, so many adorable babies, either crawling around or on-the-way.  Ayden, Jake, Kayleigh, Paige, Lily, Clara. 
• The Turkey Swamp: The Bane of my Running Existence this year.  I signed up for a 20-miler in the heat of August and bailed after 12.5 miles.  I tried to go back for another training run before the marathon and pulled a hammy.  Nice park to visit, hate running there.
• West Coasters visiting the East Coast: the whole point of me renting the apartment with the extra loft bedroom upstairs was for people to come hang out: Casa del Jenn is always open for visits.  This year, I hosted Joe, Pam and Mom, Mom and Dad, and Michelle and Wayne.  Joe discovered that there are a million golf courses in the area.  Michelle and Wayne hit NYC every day.  Pam and Mom cased out the merino wool farms of NY state.  Mom and Dad pulled off visits to 6 states in a single week: Illinois, NJ, NY, PA, Delaware and Maryland. 
• Tour de Baseball 2004: Yankees Game with Michelle & Wayne.  Then with Joe, saw home games for the other "local teams": the Mets, the Phillies and the Orioles.  Phillies and Orioles, totally best new stadiums.
• Chicago Marathon: Top Three Life-Changing Moment of 2004.  Total blast.  I loved everything about Chicago, taking the train, checking out the Magnificent Mile, Millenium Park.  But the run was the absolute best part, after psyching myself up for pain, it was easier than I expected and the miles flew by.  The crowds were great and the course was excellent.
• My One Day as a Rutgers Student: in January, after extensive applications and registration for a part-time MBA, I was told on my first day of school that I had to pay non-resident tuition since I'm Canadian (even though I had fulfilled Rutgers' own residency stipulations by having lived at my present NJ address for over a year).  Hello huge tuition bills, goodbye savings.  I thought about it overnight and decided to drop it until I get the Green Card. 
• The Peppermint Patty: after 6 months of hemming and hawing and price comparing and research, I took the plunge and got the cheapest, small, white iBook laptop.  As with every purchase I ever make in which I think about it for half a year, now I can't imagine not having the laptop, I love it.
• The Atkins Experiment: I admit that I tried the Atkins Diet this year, just to see what it was all about.  It lasted two days.  Because on day 2, I had a dinner party and every single dish, though healthy (fruit salad, potatoes and vegetables, etc), was forbidden.  Rather than ask if the host had any salami slices or bacon for me to snack on, I dropped Dr Atkins pronto. 
• The Decaf Experiment: One small habit that I continued, however, was the Atkins ban on caffeine.  This was actually really easy, decaf coffee in the morning, and I found myself feeling energized throughout the day, no afternoon slumps, full nights of sleep and waking refreshed.  Sadly, however, my metabolism also went to sleep.  After 5 months of decaf, I found that when it was time to energize for long training runs, I needed the cup of caffeine to pep me up. 
• Ira Glass: Saw Ira in Princeton, host of This American Life, my favourite radio program of the year. 
• The Election: Voted in Canada, the Liberals won. Observed the shenanigans in the US, the Liberals did not win. 
• Work: After two years, I still love love love my job.  Lots of good challenges this year and very rewarding overall, definitely another Top Three Life-Changing Moment of 2004.  Feel like I'm coming into my own around there, no longer the new girl, but someone whom other people count on to get the job down.  Also got to hire my own new technician, a lovely woman who has made my job even more fun because she takes such great pride in a job-well-done.  And mentored a summer intern who turned out to be a marvel in efficiency; I knew she was good when she had finished the first experiment in a day and a half, after I had mentally calculated a week for her to complete it.
• Whole Foods Grand Opening: I could count this as a Top Three Life-Changing Moment of 2004 because I was TOTALLY elated about Whole Foods opening in Princeton.  But I can't make organic burritos and quinoa salad a life-changing moment, even though the quality of my groceries has improved remarkably.
• The Side Mirror: Had my first fender bender ever.  The girl took the side mirror off.  Things I learned: a) if I'm going to file an insurance claim, call the cops, even if it's just a side mirror; b) having a no-frills car with a plain, non-heated, non-electronic-adjusting mirror means it's cheap to fix; and c) look out for girls named Zippy.  Now I know.
• The Dog Parade: This was a funny event, spur-of-the-moment, go see the crazy dog parade in Brooklyn.  Highly entertaining.  Part of my new initiative to start doing more spur-of-the-moment stuff.
• Home Improvements: created the Dutchified corner, put Mom's quilt up on the wall, got a cool new Ikea carpet and "cozified" the bedroom.
• US Open: One of those moments when I realized I live in NYC, wow, the city where all this cool stuff happens that I've always heard about and now I can go check it out.  The view from Arthur Ashe stadium was amazing.
• Favourite Guilty Pleasure of the Year: After my Sunday morning run, buying a latte and thick NY Times and reading it.  All afternoon.
• Second Favourite Guilty Pleasure of the Year: Reality TV and trashy magazines.  Because life is all about balance, and sometimes I need the latest pop culture news to balance out NPR. 
• MIT Moments in 2004: After two years, enough time to recover from the thesis process, I was ready to drop in to see the old advisor and it was actually very friendly.  And it only took 5 minutes for the chem talk to begin.  And then I asked a dumb question, "is that zirconium or molybdenum" to which the answer was a resounding duh, "umm... OBVIOUSLY it would be zirconium" and felt like an idiot again.  Ah well. 
  Had a couple trips up that way, enjoyed the new sites on campus.  Starbucks.  New Chem building.  Stata Centre. 
• Curse Reversed: Red Sox won.  I love underdogs, come-from-behind wins and teams with good work ethic. 
• Adventures in Air Travel: On a trip to Vancouver via Montreal, my Newark departure was late and I had my first experience with being the LAST person to board, as in the gate was EMPTY and they shut the door behind me.  Thanks Air Canada! 
  Coming back from Christmas holidays last December, I got stuck connecting in Montreal due to snow.  It turned into the best New Year's Eve in a hotel, drinking a room service huge goblet of Chardonnay and eating a cheeseburger, watching the Sex and the City marathon on HBO.
  Heading home to Christmas holidays this December, my Chicago-bound flight was delayed several hours due to mechanical probs (discovered only everyone had crammed in and then had to get off the plane).  Facing the line of angry Americans yelling at gate agents, I dialed Air Canada on a payphone and was rebooked via Toronto.  Thanks Air Canada!  Then the Toronto flight was delayed.  For the inevitable overnight in a Toronto hotel, I promised myself another goblet of wine and cheeseburger until the plan was foiled by room service not being available at 11:30 pm (aside from cold sandwiches, did I want a ham and cheese?).  It's okay Air Canada, I still love you.
• Olympics: Saw the marathoner get tackled by the leprechaun on live TV.  Saw Michael Phelps and the Thorpedo win medals.  Was inspired to volunteer for Vancouver 2010 Winter Games, only to be told that openings for volunteers were filled essentially the moment the bid was announced.
• New NJ Friends: My final Top Three Life-Changing Events of 2004 were all the cool new people I've hung out with this year.  It was my New Year's resolution for 2004 to make more friends in NJ so that I could have more of a support network and feel more at home.  Mission accomplished so far, though I'm keeping this resolution to keep getting out there for 2005.

2004 Year in Review: Favourite Books

So many books, so little time.  With the proliferation of "Year's Best" lists in magazines and newspapers and the New York Times posting their Ten Best Books of the Year (none of which I have read... yet), why not add my own Favourite Books Read in 2004 List.  These aren't all books published this year and they're in no particular order; they just represent the variety of topics that I enjoy, fiction, science, art, design, memoirs, history, culture. 

Snowflake: Beautiful magnified photos of snowflakes, and an interesting discussion of the science of snow; for example, shows how the best snowflakes (most detailed, prettiest) can only grow when the temperature and relative humidity in the air are just right. 

Cantor's Dilemma: I found this book in a secondhand store on Amwell Road.  This is the story of a chemistry prof, Cantor, who makes a groundbreaking discovery and gets his talented post-doc to prove his idea in the lab; the results are so stunning that Cantor and post-doc are quickly awarded the Nobel Prize.  However, the suspense begins when the prof's main rival says he can't repeat the experiment, and when Cantor goes back to find the details in the post-doc's notebook... the notebook is a mess.  Maybe he faked the results?

Oryx and Crake: Margaret Atwood is one of my favourite writers, her words are like gems. This story warns of what could happen if we take bioengineering too far and come to rely on it too much.  Some weird ideas, like breeding chickens with lots of drumsticks for fastfood outlets, and then a plot twist in which a supervirus is unleashed on the planet (done before: see "The Hot Zone", "The Andromeda Strain", "Girlfriend in a Coma", etc), leaving a lone survivor to contemplate how he got there/where humanity veered off in a wrong direction.  While not my favourite Atwood book of all time, I found it very thought-provoking, especially when the SARS outbreak happened shortly after I read it.

Hard News: The sign of a great book: I finished this one in three days flat. NY Times plagiarism scandal of 2002, written as one part suspenseful detective story (reporters on the trail of deception), one part analysis of management styles as they affect workplace culture (how the bullish editor-in-chief created an atmosphere where people weren't allowed to question/debate/second-guess him), one part history of a media institution.  Favourite quote: when the publisher asked the frustrated Washington bureau chief what he could do to make her happier at the Times, she replied something along the lines of, "get the editor's boot off my ass". 

Truth and Beauty: The author, Ann Patchett, was best friends with another writer, Lucy Grealy and they shared the kind of friendship that we all wish we could find.  Like Lucy's own memoir, "Autobiography of a Face", this book makes you think about society's concepts of beauty; Lucy is forever trying one last procedure to reconstruct her jaw which was disfigured by childhood cancer, hoping that her life will change if she looks "normal". 

City of Glass and Souvenir of Canada 2: Perfection.  Douglas Coupland is an observer, he notices little details in the things that we see every day of our lives (the yellow sulphur piles in Burrard Inlet, a box of Nanaimo bar mix on his Mom's shelf, Canadian health care, polar fleece), and then he's able to write about it all in a way that taps into our pride, our connection, our devotion. Reading Coupland always feels like you're having coffee with one of your smartest friends, not show-offy smart, but more like "wow, that is so true, I never thought of that before... wow".  Afterwards, you always think about his stories and observations and you find yourself looking for your own unique details in the world around you. 

Vitamin P: A book about contemporary painting, nice variety of artists, beautiful and inspiring.  Some of the artists who are featured became big news in the last year, such as Takashi Murakami (creator of the "it" Louis Vuitton bag) and Elizabeth Peyton (painted John Kerry-as-youth portrait).  Ummm... I also like how the cover with the little vitamin pills feels smooth and neat while I'm reading it.

Persepolis 2: The story of the author's return to her native Iran after having fled to Europe following the revolution.  This and the first Persepolis were my first graphic novel/comic-book-style readings, and these books really pulled me in.  The story flies along and the pictures highlight the story, sometimes funny, sometimes sad. 

Little Children: This is a story about adults who are behaving like little children.  The characters are intriguing and they are all trapped in a suburban malaise, going to playgrounds with their toddlers, wondering if this is really all that life was meant to be.  To shake things up, the characters start to take small immoral risks in their lives, and these decisions then gather momentum and lead to imminently bigger consequences (of the home-wrecking variety).  The story is well-written and suspenseful, in a "how long can this go on before they are caught?" kind of way.

Skin: Surface, Substance and Design: Everything about this book is aesthetically pleasing, from the feel of the puffy cover, to the photos and write-ups inside. The ideas are inspiringly creative (new uses for fabrics, woods, metals; a bowl made of porcelain-dipped sponge, that looks like a piece of coral reef) and for the scientist in me, there's also an index of packaging materials at the back.

The Weight of It: The author tells the story of her sister who underwent gastric bypass surgery.  What I like about this book is that it takes an honest look at how radical weight loss affects the person and their relationships with other people.  Other people treat the newly skinny sister much differently, even though it's the same person, just a different body.  But then the author discusses how maybe it is a different person now filling this skinny body and she has to find ways to relate to this bolder person who is so different from the sibling she has known her whole life.

The Substance of Style: Examines effect of aesthetics on product development and consumer habits. Why is a cappuccino from Starbucks more luxuriously satisfying than Dunkin Donuts?  Why does the sleek, stylish iMac inspire more purchases than a (supposedly) more powerful PC?  How come a jar of expensive mustard with a minimalist label is more popular than the same product in a yellow bottle? 

The Perfect Mile: Runners quest to finish a mile in less than four minutes. Inspiring stories of amateur athletes.  Good Vancouver angle on the story, for those who have seen the statue of the two runners, one of whom is looking over his shoulder as the other runner passes him on the other side.  This book tells the whole story of this event as it occurred at the Empire Games. 

The Nanny Diaries: A late addition to my list, I finished this book while sitting in Newark airport waiting for my delayed flight to Toronto.  I read a whole bunch of crappy-lite books this year, the type that are the trendy chicklit style, and I would have included them on this list if I had thought they were excellent.  They weren't.  I have to admit that I kind of thought the Nanny Diaries would fall into this category, quick breeze-through, characters who were annoying rather than sympathetic, overall lame writing (I read one book this year about a girl tracking down a kidnapped roommate who, while trying to raise ransom money, still seems to be able to meet friends for cosmopolitans in Greenwich Village and talk about expensive shoes... oh yeah, and the big movie star she bumps into while chasing down her friend becomes her insta-boyfriend at the end).  BIG surprise, this Nanny book was excellent.  Totally hilarious, totally engrossing, totally shocking.  Want to read about the supposed crazy shenanigans of a rich, ignorant New York City mother, as observed by her abused nanny?  Read this juicy book.  Could not put it down.

2004 Year in Review: Movies

This is mostly a list for myself so that I can remember back to all the movies that I saw this year.  Obviously, I love going to the movies, eating popcorn, catching the latest widespread pop culture film hit and sneaking in little bits of obscure and/or foreign cinema (Montgomery Cinema House - the day I found you, a mere 15 minutes from my place in NJ, full of obscure and/or foreign films, was a highlight of my NJ life).  Here's a list of movies that I saw this year, starting with my personal favourites and then listing all the rest, some of which I still think to myself, "Jenn... why?!" (Connie & Carla, I'm looking at you).

Loved These Movies This Year
In America - January 4
Something's Gotta Give- January 6
Lost in Translation - January 28
Supersize Me - May 30
Garden State - August 28
Motorcycle Diaries - October 30
Closer - December 5

Liked These Movies This Year
Mona Lisa Smile - January 14
The Dreamers - Feb 14
Girl With A Pearl Earring - Feb 16, Feb 21
Les Triplettes de Belleville - Feb 20
50 First Dates - March 12
Secret Window - March 17
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - March 27
Connie and Carla - April 18
Mean Girls - May 29
Fahrenheit 911 - June 25
Intolerable Cruelty - July 6
Anchorman - July 9
The Door in the Floor - July 23
Spiderman 2 - July 24
The Village - July 30
Movern Callar - July 31
Brown Bunny - August 29
Bourne Supremacy - November 19
I Robot - November 27
Ocean's Twelve - December 26
Lemony Snickets - December 27

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Home for the Holidays

As I pack tonight for my two weeks at home for the holidays, I have paused to reread a few passages from the Douglas Coupland book City of Glass and I am daydreaming of cozy Christmas at home, the fireplace, the dogs, and the comforts of my home city. Wandering the streets in the chilly weather with a polar fleece zip-up ("Vancouver's official fabric"). It's been a great year, a long year, a tumultuous year, an exciting year, a happy year and, most definitely, a satisfying year. And I am ready to rest and reflect.

YVR
For many people, YVR is where Vancouver begins and ends...Vancouver is one of the few cities going that are bucking the trend toward homogenization and pasteurized global taste. It's a fractal city - a city of no repeats. It's unique, and it's my home. So if you're arriving, welcome, and if you're on your way out, return again soon, and just think of how good the rain was for your complexion and how green the world truly is.

Brisk Cold, Brisk Pace

It is COLD outside! Not Siberia, but brrrrrrrr. Woolie sock weather.

Countdown to holiday is on. I've said it once, I'll say it again, the gods know when a holiday is coming up and they really make you earn it. There is no coasting in eastcoastwestcoast. Work is cranking along, as it has been since last Monday. I'm reacting as opposed to dictating the chemistry. It's jittery. It's an adrenaline rush, all day long. And then I come home and crash.

Santa, I have few wants and needs, but here is my wishlist:
- time to relax with my good friends
- time to hold the cute babies of my good friends
- time to spot the neighbourhood garbage-eating bear as it gets chased up the tree by our dogs
- time to ski on perfect snow
- time to run on the seawall
- time to sleep
- time to read
- time to laugh, talk, share stories
- time to reflect as 2005 approaches

My New Hero

This is Stephanie and her classmate Jessica, acting students extraordinaire. Steph is my new hero. At the age of 18, she moved from BC to NYC to start acting school - a goal that so many people *wish* they could accomplish, but so few actually GO FOR IT. She found a place in the Bronx. She's made a whole crew of friends. She's been within arm's reach of Lindsay Lohan and provoked Ms Lohan to tell her publicist to "get those girls out of here". She's got plans, goals, dreams. We sat at the long communal table at Le Pain Quotidien, drinking lattes out of bowls and eating Belgian pastries. The girls told me all of their stories about boys, acting classes, nightlife, dorms and friends; I found myself inspired by their unshakable self-confidence and "seize the city" attitude, living the dream, nineteen-years-old and living in New York!

NYC in December

Empire State.

Water Towers.

Washington Square.

Farmers Market, Union Square

Day 2 of my "Have to Use up Vacation Days" Long Weekend found me presenting Anna with a cranberry bliss bar and latte at the New Brunswick train station at 9 in the morning, before we hopped in her car to cruise up to Millburn. Ah yes, Millburn and I have quite a history: I drove up the Parkway to Millburn on my second day of NJ residency, to find a familiar set of surroundings at, of all places, Whole Foods. We were heading there so that Anna could try on her bridal veil with her dress, which involved many tiaras and layers of frothy tulle (as well as one massively bitchy salesclerk). After an hour of veils, we got onto NJ Transit and headed into the city to meet Claire and her hubby for lunch near NYU. It was a chilly day, lots of walking from Penn Station down to 14th, so the pad thai at Spice was just what the doctor ordered. After lunch, Anna and I cruised the Farmers' Market at Union Square, with lots of fragrant Christmas trees and wreaths for sale.

Apples at Green Market.

Bright Winter Woolies at Green Market.

Christmas Greens for Sale.

Different Colours of Corn - for popping in the microwave. Note the puppy accessory.

Sweet Memories

There is a woman at work who has a distinctive Dutch name, and so we have bonded over our common ancestries (my Mom born there, her husband born there). What makes this next story so fascinating is that I don't know Donna well enough to have revealed too many personal things, aside from a few Dutch traditions and family stories. And yet today was one of those very rare moments in life when someone will commit a surprisingly random act of kindness on my behalf, an act that for them was a simple gift or word, but which to me was deeply, profoundly meaningful. When I arrived at work this morning, Donna had left a gift on my desk from her recent trip to Holland.

It was a chocolate J from the Hema. And the attached note read, beautifully:

Your Oma would have wanted you to have this. Enjoy!