The movie last night was excellent. I love going to shows at the Garneau - they've retained an old-school theater feel. My trip to the concession made me giggle a bit though. There was a cute girl serving me and my inner bitch was laughing at her cluelessness. I thought she looked vaguely familiar, but couldn't place her face. Just before I turned to walk away I noticed her nametag. She has a very unique name and I remembered where I knew her from. Turns out she was a volunteer on a show I worked on at Walterdale a few years ago. Sweet girl but dumb as a rock. Was it wrong for me to pretend I didn't recognize her?

Anyway, I really enjoyed the movie and having my popcorn and nibs all to myself.

Sent from my iPhone

Solo Date

I am dying to see Slumdog Millionaire. So much so that I'm willing to go alone. My schedule doesn't leave me with very many free nights so I've decided to take myself to the movies tonight. I used to go to movies alone all the time when I worked early mornings across the parking lot from a movie theater. I would finish work by 1:30pm and hit a matinée. Not only did I not go with anyone, I was also one of only a handful of viewers in the theater. I always enjoyed myself. There's something to be said for being able to enjoy one's own company.

Sent from my iPhone

Bus ride

I am now a slave to ETS. It's certainly not ideal, but I'm starting to get the hang of it. My iPhone helps tremendously with its fantastic maps app that includes bus routes and times in the directions. I can't explain just how thrilled I was to figure this out. I am mainly working nights, with the odd lunch shift (like today) thrown in to keep things interesting.

Sent from my iPhone

Test Post

I wonder if I'll blog more if I can do it on the go? One thing I know for sure is that I've got to get better at typing on my iPhone. Practice makes perfect!

Sent from my iPhone

musing again

I have left (and continue to leave) a number of things unfinished.

Some things I leave open-ended with the vague intentions of returning to them. This blog is one of those things.

I am no longer "ABroad in Korea" But I am still Marsha, and I continue to Muse.

Things change. Isn't that the only certainty in life (besides death and
taxes, of course)? So I am back: literally, physically, figuratively
and whatever other adverbs you might like to come up with.

My hometown is cold. My job is mildly entertaining, and fruitful enough. I want to go back to school, if only to get out of the rat race and put off having to make career decisions. My personal life is a wild and crazy roller coaster ride.

I had a terrible Christmas holiday this year. It has put me in a bit of a funk. Some of the highlights:

• My b/f's dad threw a roll at me (one that I had baked fresh that afternoon) - I didn't like him much before that
• My b/f's brother is a total dick (but I already knew that)
• B/f busted his knee on the last day of skiing
• My aunt died
• I had to drive the whole way home from Sun Peaks and I managed to slide into the ditch

I'm trying to shake it off. No sense letting a few mishaps cloud the year
ahead. It could be a great year. Although, I'm not getting my hopes
up...

big changes

I am a few weeks away from a huge lifestyle change. I am moving to Busan, South Korea for a year to teach English. It's really happening, and I'm still trying to get used to the idea. I am excited, scared, nervous... let's just say I'm feeling a lot of things right now. One thing I'm sure of: this is the right thing to do.

I have done a terrible job of keeping up this blog, but as I am starting on a new journey, I really plan to make an effort to document my travels. Not just so my friends and family can keep up with my goings-on, but also for myself. In that spirit, I am starting a new blog, journal, whatever you want to call it.

If you'd like to follow me to Korea, you can find my new musings at a broad in korea. Wish me luck!

latest news

I'm re-reading one of my favorite books of all time. It's my pick for our book club too, so I'll have an intelligent group of people to discuss it with afterwards, which is nice. I'm sure not everyone will like it as much as I do (some may even dislike it), but that's all part of a good discussion. The book is Not Wanted on the Voyage by Timothy Findley. It was also one of the 3 finalists in Canada Reads this year (although it lost to a book about hockey - go figure).

I've been busy with application stuff for Korea. I've finally made a decision on who I want to go with. I've decided to apply with EPIK, and I'll be working directly in the school system (rather than a private, after-school program). I should have more info in a month or so, but if all goes well I will be leaving mid-August! I am excited, but also a bit nervous and sad: Dan won't be coming with me. He's going to stay in Edmonton working on his Master's at U of A.

I've also started rehearsals for the one-act that I am directing. Not too intense yet, but still taking up a fair chunk of my time...

date night

Last night Dan and I had a wonderful date. It was an evening inspired by our recent birthdays. Dan's mom and b/f gave us their tickets to the Opera because they ended up going out of town.

We started off at the Strathcona Keg (where Dan works) for an early dinner at about 5:30. We decided to wait in the bar and have a drink while we waited for a good table. I had a martini (vodka, dirty, extra olives) and Dan had a caesar. We ordered escargot for an appetizer. It was delicious. In almost perfect time our table was ready and we cleared up with the bartender and moved into the dining room.

Since we were celebrating, we decided to go with a more expensive bottle of wine. We had the Masi Amarone. It was wonderful. Typically when we go out for steak I have a sirloin or the prime rib, but I decided that I wanted to have a filet, the blue cheese filet to be specific. Oh my god, it was amazing. The best steak I have had in a long time. Cooked to perfection, the blue cheese and garlic topping was a fantastic complement - delicious, but not too overpowering. I had a baked potato and Dan and I shared a side order of mushrooms. Everything was very good, and thankfully I was hungry enough to clean my plate. Dan had a filet as well, but he ordered his with an "Oscar" topping (seafood in a bearnaise sauce) which he enjoyed very much. We were both quite full after our meals, but wanted to finish off with something sweet. They took our favourite dessert (the chocolate pyramid) off of the menu, and nothing else really appealed that much so we asked for the chocolate mousse (part of the chocolate heaven dessert combo) on its own. Very nice.

In just about perfect time we finished, paid our bill (thankful for the generous staff discount that Dan gets), and set off for the Jubilee Auditorium.

Mozart's Requiem was incredible! I am so glad that we got to go. It had a little bit of everything. The evening started off with an opera singer on stage alone, accompanied by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Beautiful singing. Then the stage was taken over by the Alberta Ballet, and I'm not ashamed to admit that the dancing actually made me cry, it was that beautiful. Then there was a short intermission and the second half was Mozart's Requiem. It was incredible. Mozart in all white, conducting, and dancing throughout, the AB Ballet with incredible dancing, and the Richard Eaton singers (over 100 of them on stage!) provided the vocal accompaniment to the ESO. It was a wonderful performance.

And today I rest.

time for change

I can't leave that stupid post about being able to post to my blog with my cell phone at the top of the page any longer! That is the real reason for this post. Not that this is that much better.

I've been playing with some new toys on the internet. Twitter rocks. It's kind of like facebook status updates, but not. I'm not sure what the difference is, but there is one. I think. Well, I put different stuff on each. So maybe there's only a difference for me. You can subscribe to twitter posts. You can have them show up on your blog (or your facebook profile). You can post to twitter on line, via im, or with your cell phone. OK, they're pretty much the same. But I like it anyway.

It snowed last night and this morning. April in Edmonton. Pfft!

Dan and I are going to the Opera tonight (Mozart's Requiem). Can't wait. It's going to be awesome.