Hungry Ghost's Daily Diet (TM)

Living Out Loud: But first. Today. Sunny and clear, albeit a tad cold. Biked to work and had a most delightful moment of synchronicity. There I was, crossing Granville St., the lights were green and another cyclist was just ahead of me. As we reached the other side of the intersection, a pedestrian stepped out into our path, even though the lights were against her. Completely oblivious, not looking left nor right. Both of us shouted out "LOOK OUT!", and she jumped and scurried away, her false eyelashes partly falling off making her look deranged. Once we passed her, the other cyclist looked back at me, and we both laughed saying almost at the same time "I live for that!"

Ahhhh. What a lovely start to the morning.


Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh: Friday evening, I rushed home on my bike while CA rushed home from work in his car, (all the while cussing at the drivers getting in his way). Why? Because we had planned to activate our ski passes, hit the slopes and swoosh our way down the fresh snow that had been falling all day. Oh okay, a few days ago. Oh alright, so it was a bit icy. Details, details, details. Sheesh. Anyway, we set off at 6:30pm and became entangled immediately in the traffic on the bridge. Then the traffic on Burrard St., then more traffic on Georgia, on the Lions Gate Bridge and so it went...Normally a 40 minute journey, it took us almost an hour to get to Cypress. But then things moved much faster after that. Take pickture, activate pass. Both look like we have mumps in our pictures. For some reason, the pictures that came out on our passes were squished so we look chubby (but much better than puffy - I have a long memory). Then rushed up to the slopes and took Collins down....Aaaah..the first run of the year, of the season, of the winter. Can't be beat. We eventually met up with the others - DW² (who was already complaining of the cold), ML and et al. Can't be bothered with initials tonight. Two hours on the slopes, about 8 or so runs and no falls. Legs a little bit achey (but as it turned out, this was only the beginning). Then dinner at some Yahooey pub (filled with loud, obnoxious skanky types trying to recapture their dissolute and wasted youth when they should really have been following the example of ageing gracefully we were setting) in West Vancouver. Home by midnight and into bed promptly. Exhausted.

HIF1-alpha Woke up early the next morning, downed a quick bowl of oatmeal (made with milk, bananas and blueberries - so nutritious and so full of antioxidants) and rushed out into the sleet and rain to catch a bus. Keystone meeting still on and an abstract with my name on it had been submitted (without my knowledge), and was scheduled to be presented at 8am, so had to be there to see what was being said in my name. Hrumph. Sheesh. Unintelligible presentation, at least to me. But other talks were most excellent. Met up with KL too to plan some new hexperiments which we hope will bring us great fame - no fortune involved unfortunately, just ephemeral fame. Finally got home, napped, stretched luxuriously then buzzed around cleaning, vacuuming and so forth. Rounded off the afternoon at the movies (what better place to hide in dreary, rainy, sleety weather?). Biked down and met MB who was laded down with a pair of new shoes, apparently of very sleek and sinuous design although he refused to show me.

Slash, Spurt, Splat: Sweeney Todd with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter, she who normally speaks with glass-cut vowels. It was very gory, lots of blood and razors slashing about. Whereas in the original stage production, the slashing and bloodletting was done almost in a good-natured way, in this version, the two principals Mr. Todd and Mrs. Lovett brought out the darkness inherent in the story. Cor, it was sad to see how Mr. Todd became so bitter with life, and to witness the anguish of Mrs. Lovett's despairing hope for love and family. Oh my. It was quite good really. And all this despair and lust for vengeance set against Mr. Tim Burton's dark, grey and grimy vision of London Town splattered with red, red, red blood. Quite enjoyed it.

Raise the Red Lantern Chandelier: Dinner at the Shanghai Bistro after(all red and black, and quite frankly rather boudoirish) where I succumbed to temptation and had a hearty meal rather than a light one to counteract the double deep-fried roll I had on Thursday, or whatever day it was. Ah well. What can one do when faced with pan-fried ribs all crispy and laced with a sharp vinegary sauce that is apparently a specialty of Shanghai. And Chilli Green Beans! And Beef with broccoli! Enjoy it, I say. Also saw MH (not Kuching MH, but Chandelier MH) out on the street with a potted ivy which he'd just bought to replace a dying ivy (I had to bite my lip hard to not exclaim "Killed an ivy?! You killed Kudzu?! It's impossible to kill them!). Blood everywhere, just like in Sweeney, from my bitten lip. Killed Kudzu. Who knew this could happen?

Crunch-Thworp! Sunday morning dawned, bright and relatively early. Then the phone rang, I answered languidly and MEA's voice boomed loud and clear in my ear.

"Coffee place at 10am. Be ready! Layer up!"

"But, but..but...no, no run today! No run...", I sputtered, at a partial loss for words (highly unusual this, but it does happen).

"JUST be there!", this ground out through gritted teeth.

Well. You don't cross MEA without good reason. At the coffee place, I looked at the adenoidal person behind the till and said, quite clearly and without thinking,

"Two tall dark Italians please. Fresh ones."

The adenoidal person looked back at me and blinked.

"Italian dark roast coffee!", I quickly amended although on second thought, maybe I should have stuck to my guns.

MEA arrived and off we went. (At this point, you go back to the Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh paragraph and re-read the bit about the traffic). Eventually we did get to Cypress (twice in a weekend!), parked, rented snowshoes and got onto the trails. Yesh. Snowshoeing in the snow (Crunch-Thworp! Crunch-Thworp! Crunch-Thworp!)and sun, for the sun was out and not a cloud was in the sky. It was a beautiful day out in the snow and trees, a bit crowded on the lower slopes, but once up on the higher slopes, the crowds thinned out (not as elite as us, one suspects. Ahem). Hard to describe - the first sunny day in about two weeks and being out in the open air, in the snow, the wind blowing gently and surrounded by bowed over trees covered in snow....why it was just like the winter scenes in Stephen King's "The Shining", but better. Less frightening.

Anyway, we hiked up the trails, faced the sun, tripped over the shoes and fell into snow banks and generally had a good time. Even got most of the way up to the peak, but became hungry so turned around, leaving the peak for another day. Tried to run in the snowshoes up the snow-covered trails, and let me tell you, it wasn't easy (talk about lungs going 'splode! 'splode! 'splode!), but I think I'll be out in the snow again. As MEA said, nodding his wise head sagely:

"It will build strenght! This effort will make us strong runners!"

It was good to do something different, especially when it makes you take advantage of what's around you and embrace the snow (hmmmm, never thought I'd say that). Built up a huge appetite which was sated, more than sated really, at the Tomahawk (I can hear the yips of disgust from DW² and PJ already), which makes fresh, homemade pies including Banana Cream Pie (BCP). Delish. And so full of potassium which is good for cramps and tired muscles from Crunch-Thworping in the snow for two hours. So medicinal really.

Yes, a good day out in the sun and snow. Exercise and much gossip profound talk of events and people of global and local interest, which could have an impact on our respective lives. Followed by a massive meal and BCP. Who could ask for more really?