a day in the life of piano monkey

tis post-holiday. we all look into balance of life (generally shifted quite a bit after the christmas festivus)- yyz streets are lined thick with financial advertisement, urging people to get their hands into that pot of gold, 'get your RRSP here for the best-ever-super-duper rates!' the voice is loud enough that even i, the minimalist living being, has been convinced to make three bank appointments in last ten days! yikes. looking at the numbers on pages, in january, i often feel 'failed.'  how are my peers keep buying houses, pay for extravagant events and keep looking so happy and wealthy?  perhaps it's all of us who feels that way... anyway, sunday is often lunch with momdad. we often go to silly all-you-can eat and stuff ourselves- very much a blue-collar thing: now we have some time, eat up (instant gratification), along with family and friends (long-term happiness) and hope for better next week.  so amongst talk of tennis, international manufacturing ...

26 jan - 05 feb: banff! 22 march: tango concert. the best one of the year. 26 april: gabe anniv. i miss you. 02 may: third dental graft in two years. grrr. cost: 350. peanuts! yay! 13 may: verdict on citizenship application: wait and reply. yawn. june-july: el camino. still processing. st. jean to santiago... 01 september: depeche mode show. such energy and brilliance! 05 october: nuit blanche @ canadian music centre. was def a cool gig. 12 october: PO appendictomy. glad he's going to see 2014...! 14 november: phil nimmons 90th bday concert. glad to survive. 25 november: alison balsom masterclass. rockstar class! 06 december: first-hand hearing of north korean refugees' stories... i had a great year. i wonder what 2014 will bring. i can face anything, with my friends and family standing by me, with support, love, feisty opinions and above all, acceptance. thank you and happy new year. let us roll into another fine mess, after all, life is complicated, brillia...

http://www.bloomberg.com/image/iDyW0_87PQa4.jpg same book in the store, world's biggest (only copy in yyz): 18 bucks same book on web-order, deliver to manulife centre: 14 bucks same book, used, on web-order, deliver to home: 5 bucks same book, electronic version: 12 bucks tis a gift, so no electronic version, author is alive, so will buy a new book (royalty for writer!), i cant give my copy away, as i love it too much. the question is: if they ship stuff to downtown for 14 bucks, walking up to a shop to get it myself for 18 bucks makes no sense (extra whooping 21%), so i, once again, did not walked into the book shop. book shops now look like some sort of nightmare-ish mash of median-level cafe, glitzy gift shop with overbearing desire for intellect. not the greatest scene....?! so many genres but very little depth in the stores- of course, huge stacks of trendy books from best-seller list (which always includes a couple diet-life style books, which is also quite a...