TV Star

Yesterday I stood (or sat) in front of no fewer than 3 tv cameras and (I think) refrained from babbling for the most part. No doubt when I actually see the tapes I will revise this opinion. The day began at the ungodly hour of 5am as I got myself gussied up for a 6:50 AM interview with the Global morning show. They wanted to talk about a writing workshop project we did with 400 inner city kids yesterday. My friend Michael is taking media studies (or something like that - I always forget the exact name) at Macewan and was excited enough to see their studios that he volunteered to drive me. His moral support was also appreciated as I was pretty nervous.

The rest of the morning was full of more media stuff - we had the Journal and Examiner both send reporters and photographers, Shaw TV came to interview me, a student, and one of the presenters as well as to film a session, and then Global came back again to do a short interview with me and catch a session. It was a whirlwind of media and quite a new experience but I think it went well. I have yet to see any of the tv coverage and suspect I'll cringe and squirm my way through it when I do.

Hopefully this will have some positive effects on our profile, though!!

Really? Is that all?

You Are 40% Nerdy

You're a little nerdy, but no one would ever call you a nerd. You sometimes get into nerdy things, but only after they've become a part of mainstream culture.

How Nerdy Are You?

Feeling Famous

I was just leafing through my work's copy of Quill and Quire - Canada's literary world magazine - and was delighted to find a two page article on Glen Huser, one of my authors. Better yet, the article mentions our organization AND our festival (old name, but still), calling it a "moveable feast" AND threw in a quote I'd given the interviewer about Glen's work. I feel very famous now. He even spelled my name right!

Speedy Appreciation?

I snagged a (snow-covered) property highlights sheet from one of the realtor signs outside our building yesterday. Apparently a second floor suite of the same size and layout as our place is listed for $248 900! Yes, it's on the second floor, but that's still a $38 000 increase from what we paid! This market is crazy.

Home Sweet Home

We're moved! Thanks to 13 friends and family members and their vehicles, we are now completely moved out of Newton and into our very own condo. The whole operation took less than three hours, involved two pickups, one SUV and a handful of cars. Great gratitude and future moving karma go to Andria, Anne, Chris, Dave, Jono, Kirsten, Lana, Malcolm, Michael, Na, Rhys, Simon, and my Mother.

In even better news, we're unpacked and ready to host Friday Feast again this week. Come to our housewarming feast!

Moving Day!

I just received that much-anticipated call from the lawyer telling me that the mortgage paperwork has finally arrived and we can go in this week to sign things - hurrah! It looks like we should be able to move this weekend as planned. I started packing last week and have become a boxhound, checking recycle dumpsters everywhere I go. We've packed up most of the living room (including a dozen or so boxes of books) but have been dithering on the kitchen and bedroom lest the moving day had to be pushed back. Several friends (some of whom have vehicles!) have kindly offered their services and we have happily taken them up on it. I think we will be owing moving favours until the cows come home. Anyone else want to help? Just call! Operators are standing by.

2006

I've been inspired by Anne's post to cast my wandering eye back over 2006 in search of accomplishments. Here's what I've got:
-recruited some terrific board members, got new grants, started some new programs and increased some old ones at work. (Much credit must be given to the terrific board members too.)
-became a commuter cyclist - at least, from April to October. November's ice has scared me off but I may be out again soon.
-biked from Edmonton to Camrose and back in one weekend.
-bought a condo.
-spent lots of time with lots of people I missed while in Europe.

All in all, pretty good. Perhaps not so spectacular a list as all the countries I visited in 2005, but rather more productive, and honestly, more enjoyable. Here's to an even better 2007...

Oh, and I almost forgot: I do have a new year's resolution this time around: swear off the regular consumption of donuts. My doc says my cholesterol is too high.