Why my round peg doesn't fit into this rectangular form? I'm one of those smarty-pants artsies whose work was their life until they needed... more. I like: film, literature, architecture, art, design, heritage homes, food/wine, live music, making things with my hands... Aspirations: to have more time to stop and smell all of the above. Yes, really. SMELL! ;)

I am a bundle of polar opposites: I like to use power tools AND embroider. I listen to Frank Sinatra AND Joy Division. Wear rubber boots AND french silk... but not in a Stevie Nicks kinda way. My friends say I'm sensitive, intense, witty, and love a challenge. I say it's likely true... just not all at once. I'm a sucker for romance but will not cry in public. I write lists but don't carry them with me. Ricky Gervais makes me laugh but not Benny Hill. David Lynch over David Copperfield. Dessert kicks salad. Pierre Elliot Trudeau crushes Mick Jagger. Iggy Pop licks... well... anyone in the room. :)

Where are all the cool, hip guys my age who fell through the cracks and are too sarcastic, sardonic, ironic but not too "ick" to enjoy a game of drunk Scrabble? Or foie gras and chess? Or Kool-Aid and Ker-Plunk? (Um, I should admit that I don't actually know how to play chess but I'd love to learn... the horses move like an L, right?)

Guilty pleasures: men with... cologne in an Avon bottle shaped like a clipper ship, a easy way with a hand planer, a knowledge of wild mushrooms, a James Bond tuxedo ready to go in a Haliburton or Pelican case, a love of heart-attack cuisine (perogies, poutine, and parfaits), innate politeness enabling them to give up their seats to the elderly, women, and folks who look like they might go postal.

Is this too much to ask?

Before you answer that, please be aware that this month (Dec 09) I am not able to reply to messages on a daily basis. I'll do my best but it might take me a little while to get back to you. Happy holidays! :)

Coffee, lunch... car wash?

Other fun stuff: checking out a new show at the Art Gallery, grabbing a beer and watching a hockey game (yes, I like hockey. at least when we make the playoffs:), building a Tim Burton bird house, cross-border Value Villaging, checking out a film festival, figuring out how to build a croquembouche without eating it first, riding crappy bikes, taking a ferry somewhere, taking a bus, taking a train, and watching Hitchcock's North by Northwest, Greenaway's Belly of an Architect, or Antonioni's The Passenger.

Then... taking a well-deserved nap on a blanket in the park.