Friday, January 25, 2008

happy new year

with the new year has come some real Ontarian winter weather.
the kind my mom used to tell me about when i would dare to complain that it was ever cold in Vancouver, where I grew up.

I thought I would list here my top 10 favourite ways to pull myself out of my inevitable winter rut. Here we go...

10. Hot chocolate. I know it sounds like not a big deal, but around my house it is. I take the darkest cocoa, make a paste with some soymilk in a pot, add the sugar, slowly add milk with the heat on ( all of this prevents lumps), then add a bit of rum, a touch of mint extract, some cayenne pepper and cinnamon -- what have you. It is a truly wintery drink that is even better when it is shizzy out.

9. Music. I write more, record more and listen to music more when it is cold out. This is the perfect time to make mix CDs for your friends or sweetheart, to bust out that guitar and write a new song or go to your local indie record store and stock up on new music (right now I am listening to a copious amount of Amy Winehouse and Sufjan Stevens.)

8. Whole grains. I am a grain nerd. This time of year, I am all about the brown rice, the millet, the oats. Mmmm. Make a huge pot all for you, throw some tamari and spicy sesame oil on it and stare out the window contemplating climate change.

7. Movies. For some reason I like old movies during the winter. Maybe because many of them were made when people were looking for an momentary glance away from the pains of war or poverty or oppression of various sorts, so they are lighter, dancier, music-y-er. Perfect to come into after freezing your ass off at the streetcar stop because you just had to wear your new shiny royal blue nylon tights today, dammit.

6. Baking. This one needs no explanation.

5. Feigned denial. I KNOW it is winter out. Stop asking me if I am cold in what I am wearing. It makes me colder. I am trying to make God feel sorry for me, and to remind people of warmer times to come.

4. Clean air. Any time I feel bisquey about the cold, I remind myself that I can go out almost every day in the winter if I am willing to pile the clothes on, and put Kai through getting dressed for it. Not so in the smoggy summer here in Toronto.

3. Baths. This one also needs no explanation.

2. Blankets. They seem kind of useless in the summer, but wrapping myself up in one all womb-like in January saves me thousands of dollars in bad therapy.

1. CBC Radio One. Perfectly imperfectly perfect.

xo