Category Archives: 2011

So there’s an entertainment expo coming to Calgary called Calgary Expo (crazy, I know), dedicated to showcasing sci-fi, comics, fantasy, gaming, etc in the entertainment industry. In summary – a little down my alley, a little not, but mostly not. One of the entertainers visiting our fine city for the expo is the elusive William Shatner, who apparently has an affinity for steak sandwiches. I say elusive here because I wrote him a letter and it came back return to sender. I’m serious.

Someone, I don’t know who, was informed of this (in his rider, I assume), and wondered where to get the steak sandwich, with so many restaurants in Calgary to choose from. And thus, a competition to expose the best steak sandwich maker (or ssm) was born, titled YYC Steak Off. Hosted (and participated in) by Melrose Cafe and Bar (apparently where I spend nearly half my time these days), the other three “best ssm” contenders were Alloy, Avocado and Firewater, who hosted Calgary’s Twestival.

I don’t really like food that much, I eat my steak well done, and I’ve never even seen a steak sandwich in my life. I’m also about 10 lbs soaking wet and couldn’t eat a whole SS if I had to. I was the perfect candidate to be a judge. Or the worst one. Coincidentally, Melrose thought “Hey, Sarah does everything, and she’s here all the time anyway, maybe we should ask her to judge the steak sandwiches,” and so I got a tweet from them first asking if I was a vegetarian, and second asking if I wouldn’t mind chowing down on some steak and rating it. The event was also a fundraiser for Make a Wish, and whenever I hear ‘fundraiser’, I’m immediately on board.

The sammies were served to the 5 judges, we each cut a piece and passed it down the line. They were also paired with a certain Molson beer that had to be incorporated into their meal somehow. Melrose served up a delicious concoction topped with a delicious mushroom gravy. It was delicious. Mister YYC referenced it in a sentence ending with “I’ve had tougher ice cream.”

Avocado served up a towering, shaved steak sandwich topped with crispy onions and was forced to pair with Molson Canadian, which apparently “doesn’t pair well with anything. Well, maybe with day-old chips…” It was delicious.

Alloy served up a round (in shape) steak sam, cooked in a mouth watering sauce with peppery hints. It was delicious.  Firewater, who forgot part of their meal at the restaurant, was moved from third to last. Wait, I meant to say they forgot THEIR STEAK at their restaurant. Oops. “Ok, keys, check, wallet, check, phone, check, I’m sure someone else has the steak.”

Where's my steak?!

They  served up their onion featuring steak, aside a halved coconut holding a great fruit medley, and paired with Rickards White in a steak spice-rimmed sampler cup. Instead of a plate, they served it on a wooden Star Trek triangle insignia. It was delicious, and it was also very clear that they wanted to win this competition. Top marks for creativity for sure.

The sams were rated out of 5 on creativity, taste, presentation and pairing, and then we turned our votes in to be tabulated. The attendees of the event were also able to vote for their favorites, as they had small samples of each included with the price of their ticket.

In the end, it was Avocado who won both the judges’ vote and the audience’s vote. I guess that leaves no room for challenging the results, despite the fact that the meat on Avocado’s wasn’t a whole steak, which was a challenge I did hear. All in all, a great way to bring people together, raise some funds, and promote different restaurants in the city. I was honoured to be a part of it.

I love the end and beginning of the year, solely because reflecting on the past 12 months is always so much fun! Here is my personal 2010 roundup -

My year in numbers
5165 tweets sent
28 videos uploaded
27 years completed successfully
14 trapeze sessions taken
8   months spent with the love of my life
7  organizations volunteered at
6  events planned
5  weddings attended
3  events emceed
4  other countries visited
2  other Canadian cities visited
2  trips to the US

My 2011 goals in numbers
10 books to read
15 “AFI Top 100″ movies to watch (to complete my list!)
1+ events to emcee (I don’t have anything lined up yet though!)
4 trips to take (at least!)
1 course to take (which one? Who knows!)
1 new regular volunteering opportunity

My non-numerical 2011 goals
Film more videos with Michelle and others
Film more videos with Slacker
Learn more about love
Save more for retirement
Take more pictures
Write more – blog, journal and letters
Think long-term with decisions
Do everything in my power to have the best year of my life!!

I made a list like this last year, and it was pretty weak, but I managed to do ALL OF THEM!

Are you or have you ever had a relationship and kept it a secret from everyone? Why?

There is something I don’t understand about actual relationships (ie-not hookups): why are they a secret sometimes? Well, sometimes you work together, or you don’t want your family to know, or you don’t want to tell your friends until you’re “official.” Whatever the reason, do you think it will affect your relationship? With NDD, I pretty much want to shout from the rooftops (and almost did, let me tell you) about us being together. I wanted so badly to have a great picture of us so I could proudly display it and people would say “is that your boyfriend?” and I could tell them all about him.

So how do you keep your relationship a secret? And why? If they are awesome enough for you to be spending substantial time with and consider yourself “in a relationship,” shouldn’t they then come above all other things in your life? If you are afraid your family or friends won’t like him/her, then should you reassess who you have chosen to date? If you are so insecure with the relationship that you’re afraid to tell people about it for fear it jinxes it, then perhaps should you be with someone who makes you feel more secure?

What are your thoughts on secret relationships?

I have been thinking a lot about the dynamic in long distance relationships. The LDR, as the hip kids call it, is a huge challenge, and a tremendous commitment. I know people who have refused it; they have completely shut down all options of dating someone if they hear they’re moving away, or if they meet online and the other person lives in another city.

The thing about this situation is to make sure you communicate, and to focus on the positive.  By making sure you communicate, you will still build a relationship with each other, and it will be based more on communication than most face to face relationships. You know why that is (duh)? Because you can’t spend time at the zoo talking about the animals, or sitting along a busy pedestrian street, discussing the people walking by. You can’t go for a hike and discuss the scenery and wildlife, nor can you lie in the field together and find shapes in the sky. You are forced to come up with conversation topics each time you talk that have nothing to do with the activities you are doing together. You’ll get to know how they feel on a lot of topics that you wouldn’t have broached had you been making out on the couch together for hours. Of course, communication can be a challenge, as one of my favourite [now married] couples mentions.

It is very difficult to convey at times what you want to say on the phone/computer, and having those conversations face to face would have made things easier. That being said, having to communicate as much as we did made us great communicators with each other and also made us talk about issues that maybe we would not have talked about.- Rachel

Interestingly, her husband said pretty much the exact same thing.

The most difficult thing about long distance relationships is communicating feelings over the phone and avoiding potential misunderstandings that arise because of phone communication. – Warren

The LDR can be discouraging. It goes through stages. First, you see them in person and your life is whole and blissful. Then, they go away (or you do) and, for about a week and a half, you feel like a little piece of your heart is struggling for air. Then it takes deeper breaths as you settle back into being apart from each other. Consider this (limited, hopefully) time apart to be a blessing. It is forcing you to communicate on a deeper level and get to know this person you obviously feel very strongly about (because, if not, guess what? There are people in your city who you can feel lukewarm about if you want). It is important to spend your time getting to know your partner and not dwelling on the fact that it hurts right now. If you do this, you will have as good of a long distance relationship as one possibly can. If you don’t do this, you will focus on how much it hurts to be away from them, you will be miserable and eventually the relationship will end because the pain is constant and becomes too much to bear.

One thing you will always have to remember is that the LDR will suck sometimes. No matter how you play it, when you get into it you need to know “this will be great, but this will suck sometimes.”How do you know if it’s worth it? You just do. Think about the time you spend with them and ask yourself “does this time make up for the time that we’re apart?” and if the answer is yes, then hang on.

Do you have any LDR experiences to share?