Quest New Year Qe31
Once a year on March 17th (for ancient historical reasons) I like to look away from the horrid winter that I am currently stuck in and look forward to POSSIBILITY! Much of the thinking that I do is personal and comes out in lots of ways through my thoughts and actions over the year. But, part of it is about gathering with like-minded people who want to challenge themselves to believe in themselves, plan for a glorious (and sometimes frivolous) future. Talk, laugh, exchange reading ideas, talk about movies, and drink way too much coffee.
It feels like forever since I celebrated a proper QNY. I went full orange and even decorated my fingernails.
20:13 Dr. Exudu
Had a catch-up conversation with The Dr. for over an hour. It was the first time we spoke since 2019. It was good to reconnect, hear how he is doing, and tell him what I have been up to.
He selected a plain donut for me, followed by a cruller... probably should have stopped at 2...
20:20 Leo and Anwyn Plan the Future
Having secured a teaching job in Winnipeg for the fall, Leora Diakuw is beginning to put significant effort into understanding the housing market there and deciding which neighbourhood will be the best combination of walkable for work with good access to a good bakery and tea or coffee shop.
...I had a chocolate glazed donut...
Anwyn is making plans to possibly come home to Saskatoon for a year while attending to her various health concerns. My guess would be that she will do this while holding down 3 or more jobs and crushing them all into powder.
...I had an apple pie filled square thing...
You see, I had what seemed like a "great idea" at the time... to purchase a dozen donuts for myself and to offer virtual Questers the opportunity to choose ones for me to eat. As a result, I ate far too many and am a tad on the queasy side, at the moment.
21:45 Vin and Matt Arrive
Vin gave Matt a ride over and I made coffee for all of us and had a sour cream glazed donut. I offered a toast:
"To a new year of discovery – self and otherwise. To the journey"
Touched on Narcissus and Goldmund, a book that I am currently reading while reminiscing about all the quest recommendations that I never read.
22:15 James Duo's In (and "hi" to V)
I was nervous about trying to have an good conversation with one person video calling in. James did a splendid job, so I needn't have worried.
We talked about what we think about as we fall asleep. James and I were of a type. He counts slow breaths–a trick learned from our grandmother, Minny. I do various physical relaxation and counting activities, which I learned from a book which I can't quite remember the name of... Mind Hacks, I think. Matt and Vin approach falling asleep very differently. They each visualize a place. A very particular place, crafted over time and then walk around in it until they drift off--Vin's is a post apocalypse survival bunker, in case you had any doubts.
What tactics do you employ for falling asleep?
This first conversation lead to discussing the nature of memory and Sleep. We discussed the historical sleep text, The Promise of Sleep, as well as Forgetting - The Benefits of Not Remembering. Also, with some irony, touched upon How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read.
James is involved in a nostalgia project to try and identify some very obscure parts of Prince Albert from the time when he was a teenager. This opened into a fun (for me) conversation about the original arcades we enjoyed growing up: Hooters (no not that gross resturant), Wizard's Castle, and Video-rama.
With the memories of childhood running free, we indulged in a lengthy chat about our favourite Colecovision games and the wild family road trips to Saskatoon to visit AJ's Video Game Exchange
James got Vin laughing by reminding him of his old blog, Little Scratches, unfortunately now only available in archived form.
James chose chocolate for me, but would have preferred a Walnut Crunch. Next year.
23:59 Saying Farewell...
We agreed to call the evening quits at Midnight. I was alone with my iPad by ten past midnight and made notes for half an hour so that I wouldn't forget everything by the time I awoke.
Happy QNY!
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