Switching Things Up

This weekend was a bit mixed up.  I had planned on going to the gym Friday, but it was still a bit on the chilly side.  I laid down for a bit, and before I knew it is was 9 pm.  (I think I am clearly more exhausted than I let on.)  It's not that I can't go to the gym that late, but it means I have to go around the long way in the back (which is slightly more dangerous if there are drivers rushing to get to Home Depot before it closes) and I wouldn't have been able to get any groceries on the way back.  I ultimately decided to go early to the gym on Sat. and then I would be able to squeeze in a second trip late on Sunday.  While I prefer giving myself a full two days to recover between lifting weights, I thought I would be going to SFYS on Monday evening (and my time travel piece was ultimately accepted! though I didn't hear until very late on Sunday) and then a movie at TIFF on Tuesday.

I think this probably was the earliest I've made it to the gym, starting just after 8 am.  It's not that I'm not a morning person, but that I just prefer going at the end of the day.  I grabbed a few groceries on the way back.  I did some cleaning up of my computer files and did a bit more work, then I had to head out and take care of some tasks.  I dropped material off at the library and bought some padded grips for my bike.  Then I took an extremely slow streetcar to the Ryerson Image Centre to see the new exhibit, True to the Eyes.

Irving Penn, Cuzco Children, 1948

Curiously, I thought this Irving Penn photo was one of the better photos, but it wasn't in the catalogue.  The catalogue is pretty good, though there are far too many early daguerreotypes for my taste.  At the moment, it isn't in any of the local libraries, but I'll keep an eye out.  After all this, it was about 4:45!  I probably should have just headed over to the AGO (it was actually open until 5:30 this weekend), but it was definitely a lot harder to get around downtown this weekend (the University side of the subway was closed for repairs, so I gave up my idea to check out Hart House and their Night of Ideas).

Sunday I did the rest of the grocery shopping.  I had been on the fence about going to see A Perfect Bowl of Pho and Fine China at Factory, but in the end I went.

As it happens, I ended up catching the Bathhurst replacement bus.  A couple of blocks away from Factory, I saw a Vietnamese restaurant with a huge mural.  It seemed fitting.

However, pho is virtually always made with beef broth and then has either beef or pork in it, so it isn't like I'll be eating any anytime soon.*  As I made my way over to Factory, I ran across one of the smallest Mean Bao restaurants in the city (basically a kitchen and one table for eating in), and I grabbed a quick bite.

A Perfect Bowl of Pho was pretty amusing (especially the song "Medium Pho") and I really liked the last song, "Coming Home."  It's a weird meta-theatrical musical, with at least a few nods to David Henry Hwang's Yellowface (and indeed a few of the cast members had been in that last season).  As it happens, I ended up sitting right behind the guy who had done the musical arrangements and written most of the songs.  I overheard him saying that this had been one of the tightest performances yet.  The double bill runs for one more week, and if you are interested in seeing up and coming Asian theatre types, you'll probably want to check it out.

I do wish they had tightened it up slightly or cut the intermission a bit more, since the whole thing took just under 2.5 hours.  I had really been hoping/counting on 2 hours, since I had wanted to get over to the AGO afterwards.  Again, I had trouble getting around, but did catch a crosstown bus.  I ended up getting to the doors of the AGO at 5:02.  While I probably could have seen the Mickalene Thomas exhibit in under 15 minutes and split, I just didn't want to deal with the guards hustling me out.  So I turned right around and walked back to the Spadina streetcar.  This took me to work, and I put in another hour or so there, mostly cleaning up my desk, which has become very cluttered lately.  (Not going to the AGO was a bit annoying, but the Mickalene exhibit runs through March, so I can definitely go another time, perhaps after checking out the Impressionist exhibit which opens next week.)

I got home just in time to see a minute of two of the very boring halftime show.  My whole goal was to avoid the Superbowl on Sunday, so I ate quickly, and then went off to the gym.  About halfway there, I realized that the grocery story attached to the mall had cut its Sunday hours back to about 8 pm, though the one across the bridge was still open until 10 pm.  That meant I did squeeze down my routine slightly (only 20 minutes of the stationary bike instead of 30), but I was able to run over to the other grocery story before it closed.  I made it home just as the last minutes of the game ticked down.  Not my very most productive weekend, but I got a fair bit done and am even about 2/3 of the way through the Odyssey.  I should wrap this up relatively soon and move on the Aeneid.

* The younger daughter in Fine China was vegetarian and, consequently, found it all but impossible to eat any of the food brought over for her father's funeral feast.  How true!