I found Dan Gilbert's lecture on "synthesizing happiness" particularly fascinating and, in a way, uplifting. Happiness in the face of not getting what we want doesn't come from positive thinking, or "bucking up", but instead is a product of what he calls our "psychological immune system". It's not a conscious defense mechanism to make people think we are all right when we're truly miserable, but instead a subconscious synthesis of happiness that is indiscernible from the "natural happiness" that comes from getting what we want. Interestingly he notes:
From field studies to laboratory studies, we see that winning or losing an election, gaining or losing a romantic partner, getting or not getting a promotion, passing or not passing a college test, on and on, have far less impact, less intensity and much less duration than people expect them to have. In fact, a recent study -- this almost floors me -- a recent study showing how major life traumas affect people suggests that if it happened over three months ago, with only a few exceptions, it has no impact whatsoever on your happiness.030. Try 25 new foods - (03/10)
J was home from Hong Kong again last week, and this time I convinced her to have dinner at my favorite.restaurant.ev-ar, Good Luck. We didn't have a reservation, so in the meantime we bellied up to the bar and caught up over cocktails. I indulged in a Legerdemain (Sriracha in a cocktail? Oh, I couldn't say no...), while J opted for the Paper Tiger. It didn't feel like we waited too long to be seated, even though it was likely over an hour, but once we took a look at the menu we had our hearts set on three dishes (as we always, always overindulge when eating together). The asparagus gratin was great, although as carb-addicts we both agreed it might have benefited from more crutony-bits. The grilled Merguez sausage with eggplant, zucchini, squash, and cilantro chutney was rich, flavorful, and succlent... and most likely would have stolen the show entirely, were it not for the most delicious thing I've tasted in my (admittedly short) memory. J and I could not stop gushing about the board noodles with rabbit, green olives, lentils, and consommé. I'd never had rabbit before, and it was un-flippin'-believable. The olives tasted more fresh than cured, the pasta was perfectly cooked (slightly al dente, not gummy in the least), and the lentils provided the perfect vehicle for sopping up every.last.bit of mouth-watering sauce left on my plate. And, even though we were pretty stuffed by the end of it all (too delicious to leave a hint of a morsel on our plates...), we ordered a tearfully good dessert of profiteroles stuffed with frozen hazelnut custard, glazed with a rich, chocolate ganache. I still get a little tingly thinking about it now.
049. Refresh my conversational German skills before November 2010
My vocabulary is growing, although I really feel like I could use an instructor to provide feedback on sentence structure, grammar, etc. I've also queued up all of those German films I've meant to see over the years, as well as some Wim Wenders to re-watch. Maybe that will provide a small amount of "immersion" and help with pronunciation and spoken language. I've been toying with the notion of looking into getting a job with my company's German operation, but these are just idle daydreams im Moment.018. Take a day trip to Toronto - (Completed 05/01/10)
Yesterday I tried to remember the last time I was in Toronto and, excluding runs to the airport, I'm pretty sure it was c. 1993, when I attended a taping of the final season of "The Kids in the Hall." Seventeen years is quite a long time, and I'm not sure that I fully remembered how very urban central Toronto is. I also remembered it being cleaner, and certainly less smelly, but that could have just been the innocent, awe-clouded lens of youth.
I also remembered the Canadian border guards being considerably more polite than their American counterparts, but this was definitely not the case as I tried to cross the line around 9am. The officer was aggressively interrogative, and I spent what felt like 5 minutes providing him with every small detail of my life and reasons for ever-so-boldly crossing the border from America to Canada. Of course, being the big nervous Nellie that I am, the more he got in my face the more nervous I became, and even the easy answers ("Where do you live!?") came out stuttering and unsure ("Um, I... I mean, I'm American. You know, New York... Rochester, I... I mean, do you mean my address? I...").
One of my first hurdles was surviving without my iPhone, as I've come to rely very heavily on its GPS capabilities, and the Google Maps directions I e-mailed myself didn't quite get me to the part of Toronto I'd been aiming for. Still, I muddled my way to a decently-priced garage down by Queen's Quay, and hoofed it up Yongue Street to scope out the venue where Eddie would be performing. Once I'd got a grip on my bearings I grabbed a coffee at one of the 50 Starbucks within a mile (did you know that Starbucks gift cards work in Canada? True!) and strolled to the Royal Ontario Museum, soaking in all the hustle and bustle, gorgeous buildings, and good-looking Canadians.
There was some sort of ridiculous pot-based festival going on in the park down the street from the ROM, so I had to barge my way through lolling groups of toasted hippie teens on my way. I find it oddly comforting that Canadian youth are, apparently, no less obnoxious than their American counterparts. Whippersnappers! But anyway, I was about a block from the ROM when the sky opened completely and dumped a sheet of rain on me. My hair did not fare well, and by the time I made it through the door all the hard work I'd done with the straightening iron that morning was entirely undone. Even so, I couldn't bring myself to care as I weaved my way among dinosaur skeletons, medieval armor, and art nouveau furniture. Plus, when I made my way back to the lobby and plopped into a supple leather chair, I found an unsecured WiFi signal, which chirped my iPhone back to life. I used this golden opportunity to map out some potential lunch and dinner destinations, and spent the remainder of the afternoon eating and wandering.
Eddie Izzard was worth every penny and every mile. The venue was intimate, for sure... even though the photo below makes it look like I was on the other side of the world, I could actually see the color of his eyes from my front-row balcony seat. His material was, on the whole, very funny. My only quibbles were a) he seemed a little... loose. It certainly wasn't as tight a performance as you might see on one of his DVDs, but I attribute that to the fact that this was the first stop on his tour. And b) his material has become a little overtly political and anti-religious. Not that I am in disagreement with his politics, or even remotely religious, but something about him seems somehow more... aggressive? I don't know. That's not to say that I didn't soak in and swallow whole every minute and every joke, but perhaps it wasn't entirely what I was expecting. Nonetheless, he remains in my personal trifecta of the most awesome people alive.
The show ended late, and the walk back to my car and the subsequent drive home were... rough. To say the least. When I was about 20 miles from home I seriously considered pulling over to nap, but I managed to keep my eyes open just long enough to swing my car into the lot and shuffle my way, zombie-like, upstairs to bed, barely mustering the energy to strip off my clothes and climb under the covers (dramatic, non?). My legs and feet were aching, considering I spent 12 hours walking all over central Toronto in a pair of holey, crêpe-flat, 7-year old Converse, but I fell asleep almost immediately and didn't wake up again until after lunchtime.
008. Eat alone at a restaurant 10 times - (05/10)
After roaming wide-eyed through the ROM in Toronto, I scooted over to a side street and had a nice, hearty meal of bangers and mash in the Artful Dodger while sipping a pint and reading more of A Brief History of Nearly Everything. After 45 minutes I was the only person in the room, which was lovely and tranquil, even if it did tend to cause my server to forget about me at times...
044. Post 365 photos - (026/365)
Teeny-tiny Eddie Izzard, thanks to the fact that I forgot my camera and only had my phone available...I swear, he was miles closer than he looks in this photo.
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