etc.

Cold, cold, cold to-day. So cold that I pulled out the mittens, so cold that we brought out our two little space heaters, one for the basement, where we spend most of our waking hours, and one for the bedroom, where we spend our non-waking hours. We usually wait until the Very Last Minute to turn our heating on (which came ten days ago) and it’s got to be pretty damn cold in here for us to pull out the space heaters. And guess who still hasn’t prepped her front garden for winter? Yay me, I win!

At the moment I am listening to a fabulous album by a group called Les Charbonniers de L’Enfer, which is, according to their website, “the only québécois a capella group specialising in the research and interpretation of the oral tradition repertoire.” I was supremely happy to see that cogent description on their website because I have no idea how to describe this band to you. I borrowed the CD from a colleague (who has the most brilliant and eclectic taste in music) and she described them as performing in the “call and response” tradition with some very experimental vocal arrangements. Again, pretty meaningless until you listen to them, but suffice it to say that they are absolutely ace and I can feel my musical horizons broadening as I type.