Year in review

2011 was not without its challenges.  There's the perpetual job drama, which has been going on for five years over the same point of contention.  I had some concerns about my health.  While I waited longer than I should have to get them checked out, my fears were basically overblown.  I felt pinched for time quite often, but in most cases it was because I was making time to exercise, which has made me feel better, and doing things I enjoyed.

All in all, it was a pretty good year that saw it's share of firsts.  I visited New York City not once but twice and couldn't have had a better time.  I finally attended the Toronto International Film Festival and managed to see a film from one of my favorite filmmakers several months before I would have been able to otherwise.  Plus, he and the main cast were in attendance.  Although my favorite team wasn't playing, I attended a World Series game.  I saw Paul McCartney in concert


On top of that I went to my fair share of ballgames and made my annual trips to film festivals in Cleveland and Champaign-Urbana, Illinois.  On two occasions I got to see my favorite singer, who doesn't play in this part of the country regularly.  I even meet her and her husband, who she was performing with, after one of their shows.  I met and renewed acquaintances with several folks I've known online.  My parents moved to a home that is unquestionably the nicest place they've ever lived and are a solid ninety minutes closer, which makes visiting, especially at the holidays, easier to do. 

I know it is often easier to complain and focus on how things are not how one wishes for them to be.  I'm certainly susceptible to dwelling on what I'm dissatisfied with and worrying about stuff I can and can't control.  So it's important for me to look at last year and appreciate the ridiculous amount of treasured experiences it gave me.  I didn't expect a significant number of those things to come to pass.  Whether 2012 can equal or surpass 2011 is irrelevant.  I had a very good year.  Now let's see what this new one will bring.

Bushed

Flew back from Dallas today. Boy are my arms tired.

Yes, it's an old, predictable joke.  It doesn't ignore the fact that I'm bushed.

See you tomorrow.

Pit stop

On my last full day in Texas for this trip, what else could I do but get some barbecue?  My brother vouched for the excellence of Hard Eight BBQ in Coppell, and he was dead on.  With the way I've eaten down here, it's a good thing I'm leaving on Tuesday.

For the meat you order by the pound.  Be careful.

The chicken poppers--mesquite smoked chicken wrapped with green pepper, onion, and bacon--were unbelievably good.  I may regret having to work off this meal, but it was delicious.
 

Even the taxidermied animals are excited about the Rangers and their bid to win the World Series.

Game 4

As a lifelong baseball fan, what a thrill it was to be at a World Series game. My team wasn't playing, and the seat, while certainly satisfactory, was not exactly close. It didn't matter. Here I was at one of only six or seven of these games that will be played, and I'm there with one of my brothers and my eleven-month-old nephew. (I know that sounds like a bad idea for the little one to be there. I said as much. Nevertheless, the little guy was really well behaved.)

Although a Dallas Cowboys regular season game was taking place across the parking lot, the ballpark was predictably packed with folks eager to see the Texas Rangers even the series with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Zooey Deschanel was there to sing the National Anthem (and promote her sitcom on the game's network broadcaster).

There were flags, including this big one on the field during pre-game...

...and a former baseball great (Nolan Ryan) and former President (George W. Bush).

The sellout crowd went nuts when Mike Napoli hit a three run home run to put the Rangers ahead 4-0.

All in all, it was a beautiful night in the mid to upper 60s. I'm sure there's more I can say, but it's been plenty of work to get this posted after tonight's game.

Baby, water gardens, birds, tacos

Babies are shameless, especially ones who are related.

The Fort Worth Water Gardens seems like a lawsuit waiting to happen.  Pretty though.

Especially in a secluded spot like this one.

Looking out at downtown Fort Worth, Texas.

I could not believe how loud these birds (grackles?) were, let alone the number of them.

Yeah, I had to eat here. That logo!

Last minute trip

And with this result, it means I'm headed to Dallas next weekend.  Crazy.

It started with me thinking, "Huh, I wonder if my brother might be able to scrounge up tickets to a World Series game down there and if flights are reasonable."  Both rhetorical questions could be answered in the affirmative, although the latter took a little bit more looking--and buying blindly from Hotwire--since the airline I was going to fly on doubled their round trip rates between Tuesday and tonight.  Raised costs in the intervening days had been my big concern, but I wasn't going to book until the game was a certainty.  Even when the Rangers led by a likely insurmountable number of runs, I avoided booking.  Ultimately I paid less than I expected, although I'm getting back a bit later than I had hoped.

It'll be fun to go to the game and see my nephew, who will have nearly doubled his age since I saw him last.  I expect it will also be nice simply to get away for a few days too.  What a year of unexpected activities and travels. 

Making the unlikely likely

I'm not sure what it is about this year, but if there's a recurring theme, it is that the unlikely has become likely.  To be sure, none of these things are necessarily unusual.  I suppose I just didn't foresee them happening even if I made explicit plans at some point in the process.

For instance, until this year I hadn't been to New York City and didn't exactly see it as somewhere I'd be going anytime soon.  Driving there, not to mention the cost, intimidated me.  Having a brother who was conveniently (and temporarily) located in that area for a spell made it feasible.  I had a great time, figured out how to "do" NYC, and went back a second time this year.

For awhile I'd also wanted to go to the Toronto International Film Festival but thought the price was probably too steep.  When the circumstances around a closer fest led me to cut back on how much of it I attended, I started thinking about how to divert some of what I would have spent toward going to the big international event.  Looking ahead allowed me to determine if it was doable and find someone to split the costs.  And so I went to TIFF and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Today I thought about the possibility of going to a World Series game in Texas.  My Dallas-Fort Worth-dwelling brother and sister-in-law went to one last year.  At least before tonight's game the Rangers were looking like good bets to advance to this fall's World Series, so I shot my brother an e-mail to see if he might have access to tickets.  If the Rangers host games, two of the three are during the weekend, so I could make a quick trip down there, see a game, and be back at work with missing little or no time.  Some reasonably priced flights are out there.  So, if the Rangers make it to the World Series, there's a good chance I may go to a game.  (I might even drive, if that's what it takes.)

As a lifelong baseball fan, the idea of going to a World Series game is pretty exciting even if I'd have no vested interest in who's playing.  (I will certainly be a good citizen and root for the home team if I end up there.)  I would have thought attending one of these was unlikely, yet there I was today working out a plan that should click.

The lesson in all this, if there is one other than "plan", is that I am in charge of making the unlikely likely, at least to a certain degree.  (Obviously there are things that are out of everyone's control.)  I'll be the first to admit that it is easier for me to sit back, let things happen as they do, and wait for something to occur, even if the results (or lack of them) aren't always what I might prefer.  In the things I've listed above there was no real risk in deciding to put plans in motion to achieve them, yet it took a smidgen of initiative to make them possible.  The challenge, I suppose, is applying that in other scenarios.

Backposting

I've gone back and posted photos and a few words on my trip that I didn't have time for when I was actually in Toronto.  So, you can scroll down or use this handy list of links:

-September 8
-September 9
-September 10
-September 11
-September 12
-September 13

I still have two other days of backposting to do--those would be the days where I essentially came home and slept--but these posts should give you a taste of my time at the movies in Canada.

Zonked

I'm getting backlogged on the currently unblogged days.  Blame Canada.

Undoubtedly the lack of sleep and go, go, go nature of my time up north caught up with me since I've returned.  Thursday night I came home from a long day of work and proceeded to doze for a couple hours before getting up and going to bed.  Friday followed the same pattern.

I'm usually a light sleeper, but on both of these occasions and during my time in Toronto, when I was out, I was out.  I did feel better during the day than I have since Tuesday, and I haven't really napped tonight.  I'll take that as a sign that I'm mostly back to normal.

Let's face it. I was overdue to crash like this.  I felt remarkably good during the six days in Toronto, especially since I was getting around five or six hours of sleep a night.  If this post-trip weariness is the price to be paid, I'll take that every time.

But it is taking some time to get back into the swing of things.

Bonus day

The original plan was to return home this morning, but neither of us really wanted to leave.  So, I ended up being able to stick around for four more films, including the one I most wanted to see at the festival.  That also meant leaving around 8:45 p.m. and arriving home at 4:00 a.m. on September 14th.  Was it worth it?  Absolutely.

Up top you see the TIFF Bell Lightbox and the two restaurants--the O&B Canteen on ground level, Luma on the second floor--attached to it.

 Here's a look at the swanky VISA Screening Room at the Elgin Theatre.

And here's Damsels in Distress director Whit Stillman and cast members Carrie MacLemore, Greta Gerwig, Adam Brody, and Analeigh Tipton.

With that, I bid Toronto adieu.  I had a wonderful time and hated to go.  Hopefully I'll be back no later than a year from now.

Eat and run

If there's only one time for one meal a day while I'm at the film festival, make it count, right?  Big Smoke Burger on King St. E. fit the bill today.

Business as usual

I'd like to be sampling Toronto's cuisine more than I've had time for.  Basically it's been a donut and one meal, but I was able to sit and enjoy my lunch today at the O&B Canteen, which is next to the festival's hub, the TIFF Bell Lightbox.

There's really no reason for posting another view of my lunch other than to give you a little bit better sense of the surroundings.

And then I saw the new film starring Val Kilmer and directed by that guy who made The Godfather.

If this all seems frivolous on the tenth anniversary of 9/11, well, that's how I spent the day.  I'll admit that it was kind of a relief not to be around what I imagine was inescapable reflecting on the tragedy.  The festival acknowledged it with a well-intended but ultimately misguided short that preceded each film.  September 11 falls during the festival every year and affected the tenor of it in 2001, not that I was at it then.  So bringing it up made sense, even if the piece about it was, umm, awkward.

Off the red carpet

The film festival up here has its share of glitz and glamour.  I've seen a few filmmakers on the streets but haven't walked by any stars in the normal course of attending films.  I happened to be near the Moneyball red carpet on Friday and tried to peek through the throng to see if I could see anyone I may have caught a glimpse of Brad Pitt, but I couldn't tell you for sure if it was him.  That was kind of a crazy scene.

I am getting to see directors, actors, and actresses on a pretty regular basis when they introduce films and talk about them after they've played.  Up above you see the director and star of Trishna.  I don't expect you to know who Michael Winterbottom is, but you may recognize Freida Pinto from Slumdog Millionaire, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, or L'Oreal ads.

The screening for Melancholia had a red carpet, although for those of us lined up to get inside, there wasn't much gawking we could do as we were ushered inside.  For us the star power was reserved for the stage.  Showing up for the premiere were Kirsten Dunst, Alexander Skarsgård, Kiefer Sutherland, and Udo Kier.

I'm not up here for the celebrity spotting, but it is kind of exciting to see these folks.  Coming out of Melancholia I was about ten feet from the red carpet for the next film and caught good looks of Ryan Gosling and Albert Brooks.  Yep, I guess I'm at a big, international event.

Say what?

I know a fair number of people who are up here at the festival, although some of them I've never met.  I have an iPhone to keep me connected with people, but while I'm in the city (or in this country, period) I'm at the mercy of those places pumping out free wi-fi to try and arrange meet-ups.

Crazily enough, I've attended six films so far and not sat by myself for any of them.  Today I had lunch with a local at C'est What, met someone else at another film by virtue of each of us describing our clothing on Twitter, and ran into someone I know from home at the last one.

On King Street W. on the walk back to the hotel I passed by a promotional trailer--literally!--that's pictured at the top of this post.  It was a bit strange to see someone in a hazmat suit attending to someone having a seizure on a gurney, but Contagion doesn't just promote itself.

Quite a start

I knew I'd have to wait in a line of some sort to pick up my tickets, and I calculated at least an hour when backtiming for my arrival in Toronto.  With my first film at 6:00 p.m. at a theater that is approximately a twenty to thirty minute walk from the festival box office and calculating that I want to be in line there by 5:15, then I figured I ought to get into town by 3:00 or 3:30.

The plan was to leave at 6:30 a.m.  I slept maybe four restless hours before finally giving up and getting up at 4:45.  It's not the way to start what would prove to be a long day--I was up about 22 straight hours--but the extra time gave me the comfort of knowing I had everything ready to go and not being in a hurry.


Because neither my friend nor I were hungry and we went through a stretch where there wasn't anywhere compelling to stop to eat, we made fantastic time with just one bathroom stop and another one for gas and its weird Canadian pricing.  Cents per liter?!

Arriving at the downtown hotel at 2:00 p.m. would then seem to give me time to breathe.  The room wasn't ready, so I figured the best bet was to get the tickets and then figure things out from there.  As it turned out, the extra time was essential.  After walking to the festival box office and picking up the ticket package with ease, I then found one of those quirks of the system.  Picking up the individual tickets I ordered meant getting into a different line.  (I could also turn in my vouchers and do any exchanges in this line.)  That line only took, oh, about 90 minutes to get through.

Since I was not going to be heading back to the hotel--and would not be there until about 2:30 a.m.--I began heading to the first theater.  At this point I realized I had no Canadian currency.  I popped into a Hilton on the way and got money changed at an absurd rate.  (Nice little racket there with the fee everyone charges.  It was the same changing money at a bank.)

And then I saw three movies.

Did I mention all I'd had to eat all day was a cinnamon roll and a decaf coffee?  After the third movie I did get a slice of pizza at 2:00 a.m. and ate it while walking the twenty minutes or so to the hotel...where the room was not in my name and I did not have a key.

Luckily I didn't have any problems at the hotel and finally collapsed into bed by 2:45.  Quite a start to the festival.

In mind

Various things occupying my head space right now:

-I'm deliberating over some vacation plans in August and trying to determine if I can swing a few night in the greater New York City area. Staying in New Jersey definitely takes the bite out of hotel expenses, especially if I go just a little farther west than when I visited my brother. Going to New York City really captured my imagination, and I'm dying to get back there less than four months removed from my first time there. (Staying with my brother will not be an option as he's back home in Indiana...although perhaps not for long. He has a job offer in South Carolina and is leaning strongly toward accepting it last I knew.)

-I'm thinking that I might have turned a corner when it comes to exercise. I ran in the 5K race on Monday and had some pretty sore legs to show for it the next couple days as I hobbled around. In spite of the pain, on Tuesday I went to the gym to put in my standard hour on the recumbent bike. Not only did I complete my typical routine, I crushed it with some hard work. I took off the last two days, in part because I figured I needed the recovery, and then cruised through the workout this evening. Maybe this is an indication that I need to increase the level. Anyway, it's the best I've felt in awhile after working out this hard.

-The summer so far has been a relatively mild one in these parts. No complaints.

-Periodically I get the feeling like I ought to sign up for a Facebook account. That feeling has returned. Although I'm on Twitter and use it quite happily (and publicly), I've never had a Facebook profile and haven't felt compelled to join everyone else. I have some big reservations about the site, but I'm slightly favoring signing up before the summer is out. What's changed? Nothing, really. Then again, I'm still not on that social network.

Noteworthy

During my visit to New York City last month I purchased a weekly pass for taking the train from Secaucus, New Jersey to Manhattan. By my calculation, it would be worth the expense due to the number of trips I'd be making.

The problem was that I made the decision based on faulty data. I'd been a little confused by the purchase--and shocked by the amount it cost me--to go from Penn Station to three stops into New Jersey. It turns out that I messed up and purchased the same trip twice, with one good enough to get me as far as Seacaucus, the first New Jersey stop, and another to go two stops more. I thought I'd bought a ticket to Seacaucus and another ticket from that hub to my destination. (In other words, I thought I bought a ticket from A to B and another from B to C. Instead I bought a tickets from A to B and A to C.)

I bought the weekly pass on a Saturday, the first day one could use it, but almost immediately after doing this I wondered if it would be good for rides not originating from or ending at Secaucus. (My train trips would begin and end two stops down the line on Monday and Tuesday.) I stopped into the station's office to see if I would be OK using this weekly pass or if there would be an additional cost for catching and taking the train farther. I assumed so, as that's how New Jersey's system worked, but I wasn't sure in this case.

The transit employee didn't seem all too certain but ultimately said that I would be fine. As the weekend went along, and the more my brother and I thought about it, this didn't seem correct. So, on Sunday night we popped into the office again and asked a different transit worker. She said that it couldn't be used the way I needed to use it and went about filling out the forms and making the copies necessary to request a refund.

She also told me that the weekly pass didn't start losing prorated value until a weekday passed, so she thought I'd be refunded for the entire thing. I had used it four times over the weekend--twice going into NYC, twice returning--and was happy to pay for the trips I'd taken, yet if the refund went through, I would end up benefiting from my obliviousness and a loophole.

It was kind of a time-consuming process to get everything ready to request the refund, not that I minded, as I was otherwise going to have wasted around $20. The transit employee was patient and very helpful--she knew the ins and outs much better than the person I previously spoke with--and I made a point of writing her name down in the event that I got some or all of my money back.

A month after the request was made, a full refund was credited in my bank account. Now I have a letter to write. That employee gave terrific customer service, and I feel like she ought to be recognized for it. Where one of her co-worker's provided me with bad information that would have cost me even more--I would have had to make up the difference and pay a penalty to the conductor--she fixed a mistake I made. Although it was a nice victory to come out ahead--a fact that won't go in the letter--that wasn't what I was looking for. For that, the least I can do is let her superiors know how much I appreciated her efforts.

Break time

Spring break was supposed to be a time to recharge after a very hectic academic term at work. So what did I do? I went to Dayton for two days and two sessions of NCAA Tournament basketball games, the greater New York City area for five nights, and a film festival in Cleveland for two full days. And now it's time for the next quarter to begin.

Or, to look at it another way, the thirteen days were filled with this:

-25 train/subway rides (New York City MTA & New Jersey Transit)
-22 movies (1 in Dayton, 2 in New York City, 5 in Columbus, 14 in Cleveland)
-8 nights away from home (5 in New Jersey), 3 nights in a hotel (1 in Dayton, 2 in Cleveland metro area)
-4 college basketball games (Dayton)
-2 art museums (Museum of Modern Art and Guggenheim)
-1 Broadway play (New York City)
-1 NHL hockey game (Columbus)
-1 round trip flight (Columbus to New York City)

Err, this was slowing down?

Wipeout

I made it back home safe and sound from my time in New York City. I loved the trip and the city. And I'm very tired.

Empire state of mind

I've never been to New York City. It's a place I've been interested in visiting, but the time or two that I've been in the general region, I've elected not to go there. I haven't had the desire to drive into what I envision is a traffic nightmare, and let's face it, the city is surely expensive for someone traveling solo.

One of my brothers has been working temporarily in New Jersey, just across from Manhattan, since the fall. I mentioned that if the timing worked out, I might fly out to visit and see the city. (I knew it was unlikely that he'd go exploring on his own.) He's being housed in an apartment while out east, so I'd have a place to stay. I've been checking in on a regular basis to see if his company was going to have him out there when spring break rolls around. It's been probable but not confirmed, or at least not confirmed enough for me to purchase plane tickets.

I've been getting antsy about it as I figure the cost of flights is due to go up any day. The plan's been to go out there in about three weeks, assuming the price of hopping on a plane doesn't double or triple. After e-mail exchanges today I finally booked the trip.

I'm really excited. I have no idea what we might do (or what I might do when on my own), but there won't be a lack of options. Here's a city that I've seen countless times on my TV and on the movie screen, but now I'll be able to get a taste of it myself. How cool will this be?

I'm also kind of terrified. I'm going to arrive at JFK in mid-morning and will then need to get on a train to get on the train that will take me to Penn Station. Then I'll probably have six hours or so to wile away in Manhattan until I need to get on a train to New Jersey and have my brother pick me up. WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH THIS FREE TIME?

It would be one thing not to have any possessions weighing me down, but I'll have a carry-on suitcase and a messenger bag with my laptop. Those things will slow me down and may limit where I can go. (A quick check of the MOMA website looks like I can rule it out.) Did I mention that I'll also be arriving on St. Patrick's Day, which didn't occur to me until I made the flight reservations? What sort of madness am I going to be walking into? I'll face some of the same issues when I'm departing--my flight isn't until mid-afternoon--but by then I figure I'll be more comfortable with getting around.

So, it's sure to be an adventure. That's thrilling and frightening at the same time.