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Oct.3.05
So my computer died this morning. It was very sudden, very tragic, and definitely very poor timing. Still jobless and homeless in Toronto, I need access to my computer... but alas, the poor machine could not be resucitated. Oh dear.
Thank goodness I have hotmail as a back-up; I can, at least, get a few things done. I'm writing to you now from the "communal" computer of my temporary home, SafeHomestay.com, situated in the lovely burrough of Don Mills, just north of Toronto. Although this sounds like a pretty ghetto situation, don't feel sorry for me at all!! Life is great and every day is an adventure!
Today I navigated as my new Nigerian friend drove us through the suburbs in search of Wal-Mart. Yeserday, I was at a BBQ, with about twenty other people from around the world. My first few days of my TO experience were in the core of downtown, where I stayed with fellow-displaced Vancouverites, Bernice and Ada (good friends from home).
In between all of this excitement, I've managed to meet a couple of great publishing contacts, and apply to a couple of jobs. I've also seen about half a dozen apartments, because although the homestay life is pretty great, I think I need a bit of my own "space". But as I've said, as of today, I'm still unemployed and living the life of a vagabond.
Hopefully my homestay "father" can fix my computer (he's a former e-commerce techie) and I'll get myself back on track. When I do, you'll be sure to hear from me! Until then, please stay in touch by emailing me at my hotmail account
Thanks and much love to all of you,
GLORIA
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Oct.18.05
So I think a 2-year-old boy is in love me. (No, that is not a typo, I did say TWO year old.) Alas, he is the son of my newest roommate, a young mom who moved in just a couple of days ago. He’s totally adorable, and affectionately chatty. However, he tends to follow me around everywhere, and when I try to leave (even just to go downstairs to do my laundry), he starts to cry. What can I say, I guess I have a thing with kids (Note: to all of you with kids, this is NOT an open invitation for free babysitting!)
It is the nature of my vagabond’s house that I have a new roommate (or roommates as the case may be) every week or so. My first roommate, my lovely Nigerian friend, has already left. In fact, she and another roommate, my Bengali friend, moved in together and now live down the street. Thank goodness that they still invite me over on occasion and feed me; otherwise I’d have to start cooking on my own!
This weekend, I went on a four-day trip to Ottawa, our nation’s capital. I stayed with and spent time with the ever-delightful Erika Nahm. Together, we went on a whirlwind tour of the Parliament buildings, the Royal Canadian Mint, the Canadian pavilion, the prime minister’s house, and Rideau Hall. Yes, we covered quite a bit of the fair city, and we did it all by public transit.
And although I don’t really have a choice in the matter, I’d have to say there are some great qualities about taking public transit. All those bussers out there would probably agree with me that bussing can be kind of self-rewarding... for instance, when you time it perfectly so that you get to the bus stop just as the bus is pulling up, or you get out of the subway to transfer, and your bus is sitting right there waiting. Ah yes, I wear my bus pass with pride as I am a full-fledged busser now...
On the job market, things are still positive, but I have no major news yet. I’m just ending week three of my adventure, and things are moving along. Of course I’ll keep you posted.
Overall, life on.the.go is still full of adventure and, with my 2-year-old friend, full of Dora-the-Explorer fun (until Friday, anyway, when the next new roommate moves in).
Still living out of my suitcase,GLORIA
PS> my computer is still on the fritz, but i can still happily check emails, so keep sending if you can!
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Oct.28.05
So my affair with the 2-year-old ended last week. He moved out and was replaced by a big, long-haired, professional hockey player from Austria. A self-described "goon", this guy plays third line defense on Austria's number one team. Although he looks tough, he's actually really nice. His girlfriend is a professional hockey player too and he is buddies with Eric Lindros and a few other famous Leafs (sorry I don't know their names; what do I know about hockey?!). He promises to take me to a game one day too... though I worry I might lose touch with him when I move out.
That's right; I'm moving out from my temporary homestay to a new home... well, at least temporarily :P. I've found a great apartment in downtown Toronto. Fully-furnished and all-utilities included, this will be my home for the next two months. It'll be my own place too, so no more bathroom-sharing with hairy hockey players...
I'm happy to make this announcement today, my one-month anniversary in Toronto. Yup, it seems like it was only yesterday that I boarded that plane at YVR, but it's been a whole month. A couple of Vancouver people have come to town since my last email (Kostya and Vie) and I've been keeping busy with job-searching and more Toronto-exploration. Things on the job-front are going well... I'm in various stages of interviews and discussions with five different companies. I'm still not sure about where I'll settle, but I'm making progress.
The weather is holding, but I swear I saw a bit of hail mixed with the rain the other day. I'm nervously anticipating snow piles that are taller than me. I think I should go sweater-shopping soon!
Okay, anyway... to all of you who are in school, good luck with mid-terms; to you at work, I'm envious of you; to you planning weddings, I hope plans are going well; to you with babies and kids, please give them hugs and kisses from "auntie Gloria"; and to all you others (ie. lucky ones who are unemployed with no responsibilities), come visit me! you can stay with me now cuz I actually have a home!!!
Take care all,
GLORIA
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Jan.04.06
So 2006 started out with a power drill—literally—because that’s what I had to use to break into my own home. After travelling on the red-eye cross country, I arrived at the doorstep of my new Toronto home, lugging my suitcases and half-dozen bags, and realized that I was locked out. My landlord had erroneously given me only one key to open the double-lock to my apartment entrance. And because I’m cursed with bad luck, my landlord, of course, was away in Banff for 10 days.
A whole team of superheroes came to my rescue, including my new next-door neighbour, who happened to notice me from her front porch. She let me leave all of my bags and things at her place, so that I wouldn’t be burdened with lugging them around. My friend Ada, who had come with me that day, was my shoulder to lean on, and let me stay at her house for the night. And then there was Imouta the locksmith, with power drill in hand, who buzz-cut through the door lock with enough noise to wake the neighbourhood, but not enough that anyone bothered to check on a little Chinese girl and a burly Mediterranean man breaking into the basement suite of a million-dollar house.
So after much fanfare, I’m now (almost) settled into my new home-sweet-home. I unpacked my suitcases and a box of fun kitchen stuff that my friend Nelson gave me, which included, among other things, a toaster, a star-shaped cookie cutter, cutlery and even a garlic press. Next on my shopping list is a dish rack and some dish towels… and then I can start cooking once again. Oh... and I guess I need to figure out where the grocery store is too, because I’m going to need some food too.
Come over to my new place for dinner any time,
GLORIA
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Feb.24.06
So this was a big week for me. First, I killed a bug. Not just any bug, but a hideously creepy Torontonian-basement mutant bug that I probably shouldn’t go into too much detail about because I have visitors who are coming to stay with me this spring... (and besides, I’m sure long-time readers of my emails have heard enough of my bug stories)!
My second big accomplishment (which hopefully makes my house more inviting to would-be visitors) is I got a microwave! Not just any microwave, but a FREE microwave! Hand-delivered to my house, accompanied with dining room table, laundry basket, paper towels and other assorted goodies, the microwave is now sitting happily on my kitchen counter. Oh how I have waited for the day I could reheat my rice without burning it on the stovetop...
But the biggest accomplishment was throwing a successful launch party for our new magazine Design Edge Canada. (You know a party is a success when people are still talking about it two days later!) Held at a pool hall, the party was well-attended, the guests were well-fed, and (to my boss’ delight), the party came in well under budget. Greeted with accolades from my coworkers this morning, I felt pretty good about running a seamless event, possibly due to all those years of practice with CVC. (Yes, kids, there is a little good that can come out of that club!)
So now the party is over, the microwave is plugged in, the bug is dead and I guess life goes on as usual…
Until the next bug update,
GLORIA
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Mar.29.06
So I have a problem with food. My problem is not that I don't eat good food (in fact, I do) nor that I'm eating too much (well, in fact, I MIGHT). My problem is with eggs, and how they always come in cartons of twelve.
I found myself last week with a two-thirds full carton of eggs nearly past the expiry date. I'm sure that all my single-living-on-their-own friends can totally relate. It's that constant problem of only being able to buy things in family-size portions (ie. a dozen) and then trying to eat it all before it spoils. The extra twist is that I'm frugal (okay, I'm cheap) and I just couldn't bear to throw out all those eggs. So I did what my smarts told me to do--I made an eight-egg omelet.
Now I know that sounds absurdly large, but let me tell you, that omelet was rediculously HUMONGOUS. I put in veggies, and peppers, and cheese so it grew to a size far beyond the size that would naturally result from the contents of eight average-sized chicken eggs. The first night I ate about an eighth of that omelet and it was pretty damn good. But after having an eighth of an omelet for lunch AND dinner for TWO DAYS, I was getting pretty tired of it. Then yesterday, as I walked pass one of those pretentious little bistros in my neighbourhood, I noticed a placard advertising their "new mocha lava chocolate cake". Well you know exactly what I ate for dinner last night... that’s right, omelet. :(
Four half-eaten loaves of bread in my freezer (and wishing eggs could be frozen too),
Gloria
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