Back in the 450 area and here is what I have to report:

The snow has forced me to stay inside all day. When I finally went out to shovel my parents driveway it was mild enough to be outside but the winds kept blowing snow in my face. By the time my brother and I were finished shoveling the driveway enough snow had accumulated for us to shovel again! Curses!

Last night I met up with my best friend Nat and we checked out a private screening for a documentary about the history of Rocksteady music in Jamaica called Get Ready to Rocksteady. The cinematography was crisp and vivid. The artists featured in the doc were full of great anecdotes and memories which made up for the little archival footage they presented. I loved that they only had the people involved in the actual movement discussing Rocksteady instead of having newer artists that have no idea what they’re talking about. For some reason I was half expecting Bono of U2 to start talking about the magic of Rocksteady.

• Read Like Water for Chocolate voraciously but did not like the ending.
• The Wrestler is the first movie in a long time to really shake me.
• Watching CNN’s coverage of the Inauguration… people have been there since 3am! Apparently someone went to the event wearing diapers, since they don’t want to miss a thing. INSANE!
• I’ve been in Gloucester for almost 3 weeks now and it has been amazing spending all this time with T-man.
• Visiting Portsmouth, NH was great even though everything closes early. Highlights: SecondRun Used Books, Bullmoose Music and the delicious food at The Friendly Toast (all independently owned!).
• Visiting Providence, RI was a mix of emotions
  - Thayer street’s Nice Slice really impressed me with their vast array of vegan pizza slices (one      called “Earth Crisis”).
  - Tealuxe has one of the most extensive tea menus I’ve ever seen. I think I could visit that tea bar for over 2 months and still not try the same thing twice. Thank goodness they have a location in Harvard Square (Shaun? you interersted?).
  - Luke’s Record Exchange in Pawtucket was not what I expected… it was more a music cemetery than a record store. It should be called “Where Casettes Go to Die”. For all you Montrealers it reminded me of the old Mars music store. When you walk in there are t-shirts hanging from the ceiling that have been up there since the early-mid 90′s (NKOTB, Green Day, Rage Against The Machine, No Doubt). I thought I had entered a time warp back to 1995.
  - Almost everything we tried to visit outside of Thayer St. closed early (even on a Friday).
• The Golden Girls are like a nice warm bowl of soup.
• Once I return to Montreal I am keeping myself as busy as possible until my fiance visa is approved.
  - I’ll immerse myself in books (best time for self-learning) at my local libraries
  - Volunteer at CKUT radio’s music library
  - Make Parisian Macarons, and Philly Soft Pretzels
  - Open Source Web design course at Studioxx
  - Draw, craft, photograph
  - Surround myself with family and friends

2009 will be a year full of new opportunities, patience, creativity, and great friends.

The one way to fulfill this prophecy is to maintain a positive attitude and not to let any setbacks bring me down (for too long).

I know that if I keep myself busy I’ll be able to really enjoy this year a lot more.

A To-Do list may seem anal and no-fun to many but it really helps me focus my boundless enthusiasm into activities that will actually be semi to fully accomplished.