Snowboarding with no snow

Well, it is the winter that never was. Well, not exactly true since we do seem to have snow today. It was not fun driving to Cambridge on Saturday.

Last week (well, when I started this post it was last week) Bryan allowed me to take him snowboarding for the first time. In my quest to convert everyone to snowboarding I decided Bryan would be my next victim. (For those of you not in the know, Bryan and I have been dating since December. He's an engineer from Cambridge. He thinks I read too much and that I should go back to eating meat. Yet, I still keep him around.)

It was an absolutely gorgeous day. The sun was shining and after getting bruised and battered we both sat on the outdoor patio for a couple of beers. Ah, winter in Canada!

Bryan is probably going to be kicking my butt on the slopes after two more trips to the hill. I am still such a cautious boarder. But, we had a great time and Bryan went back out this past week. I guess that means he enjoyed it. We planning on going again at the end of February. He's in Florida right now, so I figure the best thing for him when he gets back is to go play in the snow.

We went to see a play this past weekend, 'The Boyfriend'. It was okay. It wasn't one where I would tell everyone that you have to see it (like Les Mis) and it also isn't one where I would say don't see this (like Cats). It was cute. My friend Karen couldn't use her tickets so she was nice enough to let us use them. We had to walk past the theatre with 'Lord of the Rings'. I'm waiting for my dad to tell me how it is (hint hint).

I need to send out some congratulations: my friend Karen is pregnant. And I believe, congratulations need to also go out to my friend Tanya. I hear she got engaged. But, since I never get any emails from her I can't confirm that :).

Since I finally finished the John Nash book I am now on to another non-fiction, but one that I am really enjoying reading. I'm reading 'Under the Banner of Heaven'. It's by the same author that wrote 'Into Thin Air' about the Everest Disaster, Jon Karakauer. I really like his writing style. This book is about Mormon Fundamentalism. It is extremely interesting. I also read some trash this past week, a book called 'Basket Case'. It was written by the same guy that wrote 'Skinny Dip'. His books are okay, but they go on a little too long. It's like he is making up extra scenarios that are unnecessary for the plot to the book. But, a fun read.

I have two books from the library as well. Lisa has joined a book club in Toronto and I am going to attempt to read the book list as well. One of the books is called Blue Gold. It is about the theft of the world's water supply. (I'm sure Bryan is cringing at the mention of another book that will put me in a bad mood about how corporate america is destroying our world.)

Well, that appears to be it for now. Oh, of course, the Olympics. I have been sucked in to the coverage. How about our awesome women's hockey team (which reminds me I scored a goal in my game last night - first one this season)? Hope everyone tunes in to watch them against the Americans.

Books, Movies and Whirly Ball

In going back over my last couple of blogs I realized that I have been remiss in listing books that I have read. And I was hoping to use this blog to keep track. I am so happy that I finally finished 'A Beautiful Mind'. This is the story of John Nash (mathematician that Russell Crowe played in the movie). It was interesting, but so difficult to read. I started reading it back in the middle of December and only finished it a couple of days ago. Not very well written from my point of view.

Before that I read a book of short stories called 'Lady Killer'. The problem was that I didn't realize it was a book of short stories at first. This caused mass confusion to my brain when I started reading the second story and the characters seemed completely different from the first chapter. Then I read the cover of the book: Lady Killer short stories. It helps if I know what I am getting myself into.

While on my trip I read the Steve Jobs biography 'The Second Coming of Steve Jobs'. This was a great read. It is the story of Steve Jobs after he was kicked out of Apple until his triumphant return back to Apple. It contains the story of Pixar. Very cool. I highly recommend it.

This weekend I went to see Brokeback Mountain and Capote (in my quest to see the Oscar nominated movies - except Munich, I really don't care). I loved Brokeback. Jake is so damn sexy! Philip Seymore Hoffman was excellent in Capote and now I can't wait to read 'In Cold Blood'.

On the Wednesday after I returned from my trip, our team had a team event. We went to Toronto to play 'Whirly Ball'. Oh my goodness, so much fun. It's kind of difficult to explain Whirly Ball. It involves bumper cars and attempting to throw a ball at a target. Our team came in 2nd place. Can't wait to go play again.