31 December 12

It was a fairly quiet NYE, just a smallish party at the house. I didn't even drink much, just a couple of beers and of course the Orofino sparkling we opened at midnight. Mostly we chatted & ate snacks, while watching disaster movies on mute with ambient music in the background (which was surprisingly interesting and epic).

30 December 12

29 December 12

I went to the Gogol Bordello show with Sarah, Steph, Tamara, and Valerie. Also ran into Kayla and Laryssa while we were there. It was my fourth or fifth time seeing them and they were just as incredible as ever. There's something about the energy at their shows that just feels totally different from any other concert I've been to.
I got home not too late, around 1:30, but I stayed up until 3am reading a book and eating Smartfood.

28 December 12

After work I met up with Iain and we had a beer and some food at Six Acres (and in doing my portrait I accidentally photographed this stranger at the next table). Afterwards we were going to go to the Alibi Room for another round, but when we got there they were closed for the holidays. Instead we bought beer at the liquor store by my house and drank it while watching Super Troopers and Cannibal! The Musical with Steph.

27 December 12

26 December 12

Freezing cold all evening and then crawling into icy sheets.

25 December 12

I love my family. Christmas is one of my favourite days of the year because it's not too often I get to see everyone all at once. This year was a bit hard to face, with Alex gone and Alice still in Florida. But we're all still here for each other. Plus, you know, all-day drinking.

24 December 12

I spent the day baking cookies and wrapping gifts. Tony and Joanne stopped by with presents for Jeff and me, including a chocolate tree from Thomas Haas, a negative scanner, and most extravagantly, a Nikon D600 (I'm trying to actually learn its mysteries before using it regularly, so my recent pictures will still be from the D5000).
In the evening we had dinner at Yvonne's as usual, and it was quite nice and we stayed so late that we didn't make it to my parents' until after 11:30. It was strange, without Alice, but we still managed to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas! with the appropriate amount of questioning its physics, noticing bizarre bits of animation, and quoting our favourite lines.

23 December 12

Jeff, Iain, & I had to go downtown. Two days before Christmas. Thankfully we got there fairly early, 10:30ish, and parked under the library with lots of empty spaces. We finished after not terribly long (and the daunting lineup at Chapters actually moved surprisingly quickly) and then treated ourselves to Japadog for lunch.

22 December 12

I was trying to photograph myself blowing smoke rings, but it didn't really show up too well and I just looked like I was making weird faces.