I would kill for -10C

Oh, come on.







You know, if Britons would only figure out central heating, this wouldn't be such a big deal. (That's right. Brits don't have central heating. Even in some newly built houses. Why? I don't know!)

Fine lines

Preparing to teach Pride and Prejudice this week and thinking about the careful ways that we define our social relationships. For example, this is how I recently explained to a friend of mine my relationship with another acquaintance:

"Let's put it this way: She knows I'm on Facebook. I know she's on Facebook. But neither of us has friended the other."

I'd like to see Facebook come up with a status for that.

Boots!

All I wanted was a pair of snow boots that satisfied the following conditions:

1. Warm
2. Dry
3. Rubber or rubberized sole to avoid slipping
4. With at least a one inch heel
5. Somewhat fashionable

I searched through two malls in Edmonton (including the Big One), wearing, incidentally, the damaged boots that had a hole in the right sole (thus, with a damp right foot). Finally, in another city, in a store where I'd never had much luck, I found:

YAY!

And it only took two weeks, lots of frustration, and many pretty pennies. But at least my feet will be warm and dry this winter.

P.S. Did you know there are thermal in-soles now? Technology is a marvelous thing.

It's a deep freeze—let's make them go outside

Western Canada experiences an unseasonably early cold snap and what happens? News channels send their meteorologists and reporters outside to somehow prove how cold is it. At the least the Saskatoon guy on the right is wearing a hat, but the poor woman in Winnipeg (who moved there from Vancouver last year) is visibly shivering!

As she noted, "minus 39 on exposed skin, like my face? It's numb."

Yes, it would be numb. So why don't you go inside!? Do Canadians not think it gets cold in Winnipeg? Will we doubt reporters unless we can see their breath on air? GAH!

Lament to size five; in which I curse my small feet.

I love footwear. Shoes. Boots. Shoe stores. Wedges. Heels. Pointy toes (do not get me started on rounded toes). I've even come around to the ballet flat (semi-square toe), though you'll never catch me in a pair of Crocs.

I hate my feet. They are a difficult-to-find size five (US). It took me three years to find strappy black dress shoes that fit properly and rather than look for new pair of black knee boots I'm getting mine resoled for the second time. I also hate my calves, which are unproportionally fat for size five feet and therefore are sometimes too big for boots that fit otherwise.

Today I went shopping for snow boots because my current pair, having undergone two long Edmonton winters, are dying (there is a hole in the bottom of the right sole). I tried on many pairs, including some lovely ones from La Canadienne (warm and grippy!), but alas. Only one store had anything smaller than a 6 (a 5 and 1/2), and even when I tried these on in a six with insoles, there was still too much space in the ankle.

I'm contemplating going back to Gravity Pope and getting these (even if they are Uggs), but the heel doesn't really inspire confidence for icy Edmonton sidewalks.

I suppose it's too much to ask for a size 5–5.5 black fashion snow boot with a moderate 2" heel (or wedge) that's warm, waterproof, and has good grip.

Le sigh.

Onion's long form joke?

Is there something going on at The Onion? Ever since Obama was elected, it's run a series of short articles about terrible, painful, violent things that have happened to President Bush, including:

Tumbling down the entire staircase of the Washington Monument
Having his arm bitten off by a crocodile
Passing a three-pound kidney stone
Getting dragged behind the presidential motorcade

It's a dark turn for the satirical website, and I wonder if it's leading up to something, or just a way for writers to take out their frustrations over a long, dubious eight-year rule.

Edited Dec. 10 to add:
.... and another particularly gross one.

List: Parliament meltdown firsts

In times of "crisis", historic firsts on a personal level:

1. Visiting the C-PAC website, delighting in the fact that there is one and that it plays video on demand! (though not on my computer!)

2. Reading the third joke about proroguing in 2 days, two of which involved perogies.

3. Learning something about the current Canadian parliamentary meltdown from a knitting blog. And a darn good one at that. (It was the fact that though the Bloc support the coalition, they are not official members, which is why they don't get any cabinet positions.)

4. Reading a blog post in which the Governor General is referred to as a "local distributed queenship node".

5. Being informed that despite the media silence in the States, the story is getting some attention in Israel.