Schmap Montreal

I got a nice email yesterday informing me that this picture would be included in the Schmap Montreal Seventh Edition!

I find this very cool that one of my fave pics of one of my favorite places would get chosen to appear in this guide about my hometown!

This very retro sign is of the Wing's chinese noodles company on Cote and dela Gauchetiere street.

The Wing Building may be the oldest building in Chinatown. It was built in 1826 by James O'Donnel, the architect of Notre Dame Basilica in Old Montreal. The Wing Building has been a military school, a paper boxfactory, and warehouse. Wing Hing Lung is a Chinese expression for "a long life" and Wing's is known for its fortune cookies and noodles. The company was founded by Arthur Lee who was born in Chinatown over seventy years ago.( courtesy of Montreal walking tours www.vehiculepress.com/montreal/chinatown )

Well now you know just as much about that building as I do (lol). I couldn't find anything more in the web. But one thing is for sure, the next time I walk by I will look at it differently!!!

Problem fixed!

Well I fixed my guitar problem! I'm not to follow the 'advanced' class just yet, I will wait for September.

I stopped my check and slept like a baby. I will practice from now on, so I can play the !@#$%^&* bar codes. Then I'll probably feel ready for the next step.

I always had music fantasies growing up, but it never was within budget (as per Mom). I did get to figure skate for 4 years until the private lessons were inevitable and not within budget...

I was an only child and things had to be just so (as per Mom). It was all I knew. If something was not in my Mom's vision I could forget about it!!! Dad worked most of the time so he probably was never aware of this. I had a great childhood, but oh so different from all my friends and of course I wanted to be like them!

I wanted roast beef and mashed potatoes and I got shrimp tempura! Now I see the luck I had that my parents were so different, it definitely broadened my horizon!

The first time I had a hot chicken sandwich I was 24, and I found it soooo good that I had the same thing for supper the next day!!! LOL

Also nothing, I say NOTHING at the Salvation Army...It was as if someone made all the cool stuff disappear! Weird....

I also did 2 church basements and NOTHING...ok not true I found a weird looking little beaker of sorts...definitely not Pyrex, but interesting. After a good cleaning, I'll take a picture for your viewing enjoyment!

Be good and Happy Easter!

Guitar angst

I couldn't find the picture with Yoda in the guitar case...So instead I give you Yoda in the laundry basket! Look at that 'You are bothering me!' face!

Priceless!

I started take guitar lessons in January and it's going ok. But I have a couple of problems....lol First I'm lazy so I don't practice everyday, second my hands are not really bendy and last I can't always understands what the teacher says. The teacher speaks english and I speak english and he even does part of the course in french (for my benefit I'm sure) but sometimes I don't understand and since nobody really asks questions....I feel I'm the only yahoo who doesn't compute so I do panic a lot of the time. Lots and lots of weird conversations in my mind!!! On the last course of the session ( 2 weeks ago) I took a lot of notes but I still can't figure which strings I'm supposed to play...And I surely had a brain fart because I plopped down more of my hard saved cash to take guitar advanced. The first course is tonight and I'm fighting panic big time!

Well, spazzing in my blog was a good idea, because I feel better! What I can't understand is that I'm very artistic and I learn very fast, so why am I struggling??? I have a very good grasp of the english language, I could hold a telecom conversation about broadband no problem back in the day. Maybe the key is the laziness....Probably!!! LOL

I'll ask one of the cats to give me a swift kick in the pants!

I went to the church basement today and found 2 pillowcases that I will use in my living room, because I have bed pillows on my sofa (as you can tell it's very informal). It was SO formal at my parents place, I think I went to the living room 5 times a year. I also found a weird Xmas tablecloth, vintage but from the 80's I think. After I went to the hairdresser and got a haircut (as per Dan I was in danger of looking like a welfare recipient that we see on Jerry Springer-with a Mullet).

Tomorrow a big day! Downtown Montreal...I will be at the Salvation Army for the opening, then lunch with girlfriends and a good tune up at the chiropractor! Delicious :)

Pay it forward

Last week, while watching delicious pictures of Pyrex on Flickr, I noticed that one of my Flickr contacts had bought a 502 refrigerator dish without the lid. This is quite common because the lids get separated or broken…

A couple of hours later, I remembered that I had a stand alone lid and so I thought why not offer it to her and bring a smile to her face? So I wrote her and she happily took it.

Same afternoon, I wrote an ebay seller to inquire about shipping charges for a Pyrex butter dish (snowflake blue), got my answer but forgot about the auction and didn’t bid and the auction closed (no one got the butter dish)….So I wrote the seller asking if I could purchase the dish in a Buy it now mode-staying legit with Ebay rules.

Well the seller answered: Are you the same Vonlipi from the Pyrex Love flickr group? I really enjoy your pictures! Why don’t you give me your mailing address and I’ll send it to you! It’s on me.

Okay how nice is that? I nearly cried. I was so touched by this gesture. Touched that this nice stranger not only liked my photos, but she would out of the goodness of her heart send me this beautiful piece of Pyrex!

It certainly solidifies my faith in mankind especially in these tough times. It is great that you spread love and good vibes around. It will come back to you for sure. Gallons and buckets and oodles of good karma.

Thank you Lori

I will never forget your kindness

Damages

I just love Damages!

I watch it on Showcase (Canada)... But i missed the first season :(

The story is sooo deliciously complicated, I'm glad I don't live in that reality! Lol

Everybody has a contract on somebody and most have slept with somebody they have a contract on!

My life is sure simple compared to that!

And if Glenn Close gets more Botox she will officialy be mummyfied!

Quick update

Last post I wrote about the HUGE quantity of Chinese restaurants in Cornwall, Ont. It seems I was exaggerating....Really you say? You ? Vonlipi ,exaggerating??? How could it be???

So for a population of 46,000 there are only 9 Chinese restaurants in Cornwall....Well it seems a lot because on Ile Perrot we are 40,000-50,000 with only 2 Chinese restaurants.....

It might be because of the locations, I don't know! anyways here's another pic of a different place where they serve canadian foods...Now what is canadian foods? I have no idea!!! Beans? Steaks? What exactly qualifies as a canadian food? If you know please leave a comment!!!

On a totally different subject: Fox has decided to produce another show with the Osbournes. You got that right Ozzy and the whole circus....I decided to give it a try and I could only watch it for 10 minutes. It was horrible and lame and like having acid thrown in my eyes!!!

I'm finishing season 6 of Buffy the vampire slayer- very hard season for the Buffy, very depressing...In my opinion she should have stayed with Spike! But I digress! I'm still hunting for Angel seasons 4 and 5 and I'm certainly not loosing hope!

Later faithful readers :)

Cornwall re-loaded

I was lucky enough to go to Cornwall this week.

We first stopped at Rob Mcintosh in Lancaster (gift shop extraordinaire). I very seldom buy stuff there (because of the price and besides I'm in the whole vintage thing...) But if you want to see tons of dishes,glasses,gifts,jewelry and other knick-knacks, by all means go! After back on the 401 until exit 789 and a quick stop at Value Village. There was nothing interesting for us....Then a pit stop at Dollarama for some gum and Scharffen Berger chocolate- yes a buck a bar!!! That is a GOOD deal considering that I see that brand for 4.99$ at regular stores.

We were famished so it was time for Pat's home cooking on Pitt street. You can't miss it the decor is froggy country and of course yellow and green...But Pat has some of the best homemade fresh never frozen french fries...and the coconut cream pie is to DIE for...sigh!

To burn calories, we took a troll on Pitt St, and stopped at Riley's bakery for some Almond tarts and 7 grain bread. Then we thrifted in a couple of secret spots....hehehe! I can't reveal all my sources! LOL

Also everytime I go I'm fascinated by the number of chinese restaurants....I googled the population of Cornwall and it's around 46,000 (a lot more than I thought!) but there's a lot of chinese restaurants nevertheless. I will have to count them someday.

Regarding the pictures: First picture is of a Pyrex 443 Friendship bowl that I found in Cornwall,in a closed flea market (the door was opened) the owner was nice enough to let us browse.

The second picture id of one of my all time favorite restaurant signs: The Jade Garden. It is sooooo retro! I love the colors. I have never been to that place, but we never know...I might try it on another visit....