Larocque and Roll

Getting tired of writing the word “lullaby” May 13, 2008

It’s not really cool to admit it, but right now I’m listening to Yo-Yo Ma’s Bach Cello Suites, one of my all time favourite CDs - a desert island one, no less [1]. Right now, it’s the perfect music to listen to while I compose blog posts, edit and email pictures from a conference last week, and try and figure out where I’m staying when I go to Halifax this summer [2].

Speaking of music, this weekend while I was shopping for an appropriate gift for my nephew’s pirate-themed birthtism [3],[4] I came across a display for the Rockabye Baby CDs. To save you the trouble of opening the link, it’s a series of CDs for children featuring lullabies versions of popular songs from bands you might not expect to have great bedtime-appropriate music. I bought The Beatles Rockabye Baby for the library, and the general consensus was that we were disappointed they chose songs that lent themselves well to lullabies in the first place. Where’s Lullaby Helter Skelter? Lullaby I Am The Walrus? Lullaby Lovely Rita? Sheesh!

I was going to write about how when I saw the Rockabye Baby versions of the music of The Cure, I almost choked on my coffee - seriously? Lullaby Cure songs? [5] Is that kind of… depressing? And then I was going to mention that if I were going to get one for The Neph, it was between this and Lullaby Led Zepplin.

However, then I looked at the complete list of bands they cover - Metallica? U2? The Pixies? Nine Inch Nails? Tool? The Ramones? Queens of the Stone Age? DUDE. I’m not sure whether to run out and buy them all for The Neph or despair that some of the most hardcore bands of our times have been turned into sleepy-time music for babies [6].

What do you think?

[1] Someday, I may enumerate the other four in my top 5 desert island CDs, and how I got almost everyone in my office at the time to write down their top 5 desert island CDs on post-it notes, which I stuck on my monitor. That I got into trouble for “wasting time” goes without saying, and is one of the top 10 reasons I left that place - having fun and doing team building was strictly verboten.
[2] Now, if I were doing taxes, chatting online with my sister and cousin, and sending a Facebook message to The Furious Redhead about my day and how I suck at everything, I’d be listening to Arcade Fire or The New Pornographers because THAT’S HOW I ROLL.
[3] I only found out at almost the last minute that there was a theme, and it was pirates. For a one-year old.
[4] This weekend was not only his first birthday but also his baptism. Hence, birthday + baptism = birthtism. Let it never be said that we’re not creative in this family.
[5] I am sort of tickled by the fact they’ve turned The Cure’s Lullaby into a lullaby. It’s so self-referential!
[6] It’s not listed, but Lullaby Henry Rollins can’t be far off.

Merry Fourth Day After Christmas, and a Happy Two Days Until New Year’s Eve! December 29, 2007

Woo!

I just spent the Christmas holiday at the home of my parents, mostly eating, sitting around and eating and oohing and awwing over the antics of my nephew [1]. It was a good visit, and everyone made out well in the gift department. The weather was distinctly un-winter like - up here, it’s well below zero, and there’s so much snow it’s getting out of control [2]. Down there? Barely any snow and hardly any need for mittens.

Today started out pretty ambitious - I got the house cleaned and washed a few floors [3]. Now I can barely gather up the ambition to waddle over to the couch to knit and watch TV.

Coming soon: the books of 2007! [4]

[1] He’s teething, which means there’s lots of funny faces and an ocean of drool.
[2] Last night, we got another 10cm. Insane!
[3] Blissful domesticity.
[4] I know I said I was going to do this a week or two ago, but I’m sort of glad I didn’t have a chance to. There was still plenty of year left for me to read a whole bunch more books, which is what I did over the holidays.

I’m an auntie! May 17, 2007

This is Carl James, my brand new nephew. He is adorable, isn’t he?

Your crappy blog won’t write itself* April 10, 2007

*Special thanks to the Shout Out Out Out Out song “Your Shitty Record Won’t Mix Itself” for providing me with an inspiring title to get off my tush and blog about something. Anything. (And it’s kind of an awesome song, too.)

I owe you stuff. Like,

~ What I read in March. Hey, last month I was early, so if I’m a few days late this one it all balances out on the big karma scale.
~ Why I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook.
~ Where I was this weekend.

Well, I’ll answer the last one first. I went home for Easter to see the folks and the siblings and the cats. And maybe some green grass and buds on the trees; alas, they had as much snow there as there was in North Bay. Don’t colour me shocked about snow at this time of year - yes, it was unfortunate that it fell around this particular religious holiday when you would expect to see flowers blooming and grass growing and various animals frolicking. When my sister had her First Communion many moons ago, there was a freak snowfall - in mid-May. And from credible sources, I’ve heard tell of near-freezing temps in Timmins in July. A little snow early in April? Pshaw. I sneer at it.

(An aside - you know what I miss the most about Southern Ontario, besides jokes about Dunnville and Wainfleet? The fact that there are no less than fifteen classic rock stations, and that at any given moment, at least one of them is guaranteed to be playing Led Zeppelin. So! Awesome!)

Anyway, it was a great weekend of reading, watching hockey (we are die-hard Hab fans in our family) and curling, and, as the kids say, chillaxing. We also played a lot of Heroes of Might and Magic III, because we’re old school like that.

A little bit of this and that March 26, 2007

Lots of things to update, and not much time in which to do it. Between the thunderstorms and the whole “getting ready for work” thing, let’s see what I can tell you about.

~ Last Thursday was the only day of the year where you could legitimately say, “Go Rebecca! It’s your birthday! We’re going to party like it’s your birthday!” and have it be accurate. For those of you keeping score at home, it’s the 31st time this has happened.

~ Most of the time I experiment with cooking, it turns out okay. Occasionally, it turns out badly. And on rare, shining occasions, it turns out better than expected, which was the case with the spinach sauce I made to go on some leftover penne noodles at the beginning of the month.

It’s a carton of baby spinach, tossed into the food processor and chopped until it’s all shredded into tiny little pieces. Then you make a white sauce (two tablespoons butter, two tablespoons flour, one cup of milk; melt the butter, stir in the flour until smooth, and then slowly add the milk in parts) and dump in the spinach. Pour on cooked noodles, stir, and serve. Tasty! And a pretty colour!

~ I’ve been experimenting with knitting multiple projects at the same time. Normally, it’s all I can do to finish one project, yet I’m finding I like having several things on the needles, so I can switch projects when I get bored. One of my recently completed projects is a tea cozy for my little teapot.

My teapot - it is both short and stout. And now it has a sweater!

~ This past weekend was my sister and b-i-l’s annual ball hockey tournament. At first, it looked like this would be the first year the weather wouldn’t co-operate and we’d have to play in the rain. In the end, we played in the mist [1] and the mud, and no one got injured. Also, a good time was had by all. My photos are here.

~ Had I more time, I’d post the playlist I listened to on the drive from here to Guelph and back. It’s dope, yo.

[1] Isn’t that a Sigourney Weaver movie - “Ball Hockey Players in the Mist”?

Definitely not auditioning for the high wire act at the circus October 20, 2006

Last weekend, my dad and grandfather came up to do some handyman work around the place, which included installing a ceiling fan in the living room. It was the most stressed out I’ve been in a long time, watching my 78-year-old grandfather with vision issues and my father who’s slowly recovering from knee surgury stand on a 6″ wide beam while trying to hang this somewhat heavy fan. But it’s done, with minimal swearing and consumption of rum.

Woo-hoo! Saved! November 17, 2004

A big thanks to my sister who helped me solve my Christmas knitting dilemma. Whew! I’m so relieved! I now only have one Christmas present to knit! Plenty o’ time!

We Remember November 11, 2004

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada and other parts of the Commonwealth, and Veteran’s Day in the U.S.

Today is the day I remember my Pepere, James Larocque, who fought in the Second World War. He never spoke about his experience, but he talked about some of it just before he passed away. He was stationed in London, which was difficult for him since he didn’t speak any English at the time. Eventually, he learned English, and was in fact engaged to an Englishwoman for a while. In the end, he couldn’t bring her back to Canada. The village he was from and where my Dad was born is in an isloated corner of Northeastern New Brunswick. It’s not so bad now, but sixty years ago it would have been much harder to travel there.

He didn’t say much about the fighting, except that he was at Normandy on D-Day, in the second wave. When they saw what was happening, they turned back.

To my Pepere and all the other vetrans of all the other wars - thank you.

S.E.X. and Drugs and Rock and Roll October 12, 2004

So, this past weekend was Thanksgiving, and naturally, I made the trek south for the holidays, with a few detours here and there. I came home through Guelph via Waterloo via Fergus, so Friday was a huge travel day. Saturday marked the beginning of PMS, so I was not my usual cheery self (note to siblings: Not. One. Word.). Thus, I spent the bulk of my weekend home socializing even though I would have been happier hiding under my bed with a chocolate bar and a bodice-ripper.

But! All is not lost! I got lots of yarn, lots of leftovers and other assorted goodies, and a microwave out of the deal!

S.E.X. - stands for Stash Enhancement eXpedition. I made several stops for yarn on the way home. The first was in Barrie, when I stopped for coffee; there’s a Michael’s across the parking lot from the Second Cup where I was, so I wandered over. I came out with four balls of Lion Brand Incredible in City Lights and Autumn Leaves. Then I stopped in Fergus, where my sister had purchased a couple of hanks of Manos de Uruguay for her birthday. Upon seeing the yarn up close and in person, I also succumbed to the yarn and bought a hank. I couldn’t remember what colour Denise got, so I went with Jungle, because I love green and I knew hers wasn’t green. Also purchased was Christmas present yarn, so I can’t talk about it.

When I left Fergus, I picked up Rachelle in Waterloo and we went to Guelph. Len’s Mills has a serious overabundance of cool yarn, and the rest of us (sort of) jokingly refer to it as Denise’s stash, since she’s there at least once a week. It was decided that we needed to “visit” the stash, and we all came away with stuff. I got four balls of Alafoss Lopi in various shades of green to match the Manos, a ball of Patons Divine in grey, and for some reason, a ball of Red Heart Cozy in white. So, I’m going to be good and busy for the next little while.

Drugs - I finally found my migraine medication at home - yay! The prescription is about six years out of date, and it does very little good, but it was my first line of defense if my head started to hurt. Of course, when I was unpacking tonight, I realized that even though I’d found it, I hadn’t thought to pack it. *sigh*

Rock - my music selection various from trip to trip. Sometimes I listen to a CD once, then I switch it; other times I listen to one or two over and over. On the way down, it was sort of mixed, going from Fleetwood Mac’s rumors, to Modest Mouse’s Good News for People Who Love Bad News, to a mixed CD I made for a road trip to PEI, to Buck 65’s Talkin’ Honky Blues. When I picked up Rachelle in Waterloo, we added Ray Charles and Medeski, Martin and Wood to the mix. However, my trip home was all about one CD - and for once, it wasn’t The Trews House of Ill Fame (which, after nine months, I can still listen to constantly). No, this time it was all about the Rolling Stones, and a compilation CD of the best of Forty Licks (which is a “best of” CD).

Roll - I was quite pleased with myself that I managed not to overeat at any point this weekend. For me, it’s an impressive feat. However, I did manage to score big on the leftovers front, something which I don’t usually manage because I either lived at home or too far away to bring home food. In addition to stewed chicken and dumplings and turkey, gravy, potatoes and turnip for a soup, I also scored two jars of jam (loganberry and an extra large strawberry), a pumpkin pie of my very own, and a box of Land o’ Lakes raspberry hot chocolate. Thanks Mom!

(I also somehow managed to get Rachelle’s leftover turkey and cheesy broccoli and cauliflower. Seriously - I don’t know how that happened! *burp*)

Oh - and the microwave. My b-i-l decided that they needed a new one, so they had to do something with the old one. Since I’m microwaveless (and wasn’t minding it) it was decided that I should get it. Initially, I was resistant. But when I got it home, found it a place on my counter, and heated up a piece of pie, I realized it was worth it. Thanks Denise and Mike!

Insane Larocque Posse October 6, 2004

Every night, I sit in front of my computer and try and think of something witty and clever to post about. Usually, I have an idea - something I’ve thought about during the day or at least since the last time I posted. Like, last night I wanted to mention the Dare thread in the NaNoWriMo forums - where people dare other people to use the dares in their novel (i.e. “Start your novel with the sentence, “This day was just like all the other days– wet, cold, slimy, and covered with alligators.”)

However, I usually end up participating in the family chat that has become our nighttime ritual. Its origins are lost in the fog of time (in other words, I forget), but at roughly 9pm every evening, my mother, my sisters and I all log into MSN and join the conversation. Any stray family members (like my cousin or my b-i-l) who happen to wander through are also invited to join. They’re fun, although some nights I’m tired and creatively drained, so I just sit there and watch the conversation.

Last night I posted the link to here, and all were suitably impressed (Mom: “Cool!”), jealous (Denise: “I want one!”), and nitpicky (Rachelle: “Smitten was a girl!”). Hee!

Welcome back, guys!