Now that I’m starting to get into the groove of blogging and Facebooking and Flickring, it’s time to get into more serious stuff.

I was reading about the Government of Canada investing $691 million in VIA Rail over the next five years and it was a huge relief. Some people seem to think that trains are passé, that they belong in the 19th century, but I think the opposite may actually be happening.

Think about it… Cities are getting more and more clogged with cars. Airplanes are lovely and speedy modes of transportation, but how much longer can we sustain that need for fossil fuels? Trains don’t travel on roads. And they also don’t have the same negative amount of environmental impact that airplanes do.

So for all the naysayers who think it’s waste to invest in trains, I say, think again.

Improvements planned by VIA Rail:

• Refurbishing current train cars to extend their operations by 15-20 years
• Upgrading of the network infrastructure – literally, the rails!
• Improving signaling
• Renewing stations

Think of the service improvements that will come as a result of all this! But my burning question for you is – what would be your dream improvements to VIA Rail if you were in charge of spending that money?

How many good times can a girl take? Plenty!

To shake off the deep-February-winter-blues, me and my friends have done nothing but eat, dance, and party this past weekend. Seriously. I feel like Lindsay Lohan, but with better common sense and less gaudy earrings.

Last Friday was the ultimate – dinner at Keg Mansion (baked garlic shrimp!) and then dancing at Circa Night Club. Sunday brunch at Kalendar (French toast!) and then in the evening, drinks at Pravda Vodka Bar.

Saturday, evidently, was a day of rest.

This weekend, probably Panorama… there’s nothing like sipping cocktails at the top of the world!

By the way, this week’s musical selection: Vampire Weekend. I know I’m not supposed to fall for the hype, but I’m falling like a ton of bricks, baby!

I’m trying to improve my written French.

I do very well verbally – I took French classes all through school, still, have spoken it with my grandparents since I was little, and am now working in a bilingual environment. Sometimes I forget certain words, but travellers are pretty patient if I accidentally throw in an English word now and again to fill in the gap. (I never remember the French word for scrambled eggs – it only comes to me after three ‘ummm’s).

I’m depending on workbooks and my Franco friends on the trains to refresh my grammar skills. I even write short dictées, which my mother corrects. So maybe soon, I’ll be able to post in French, ooh la la!

Just don’t expect any posts about scrambled eggs.

PS. To improve my vocabulary, I am also listening to a great podcast I found on iTunes – “Learn French with daily podcasts”. More advanced French speakers might think it’s a little baby-ish, but it’s perfect for the intermediate French speaker comme moi.

You need time to do the Facebook profile thing, don’t you? I swear it took three hours just to find friends, send them requests, join some groups, figure out the whole privacy settings thing… I haven’t even started downloading applications or poking people yet.

If you suspect that this is a not-veiled attempt to solicit more Facebook friends, then you’re right… Please be my FB friend?

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And I’ve decided to make a Virtual Vivian mixed tape for your pleasure… Yes, every week I will introduce you to a new artist by recommending a must-hear song. If at the end of it all, record companies are banging down my door to make a compilation, then so be it. Fame will not change me.

This week: Laura Veirs “Pink Light”. Something light for V-Day… Does she sound a little like Liz Phair, or is that just me?

The title of this post should really read “Please visit our National Capital Commission parks,” but that is not nearly as snappy, and it wouldn’t reference my favourite Oxford Collapse song (I would post a link to the YouTube video, but it features a sheep in the process of being sheared, which doesn’t quite gel with my vegetarian sensibilities, even though I have been known to wear wool. Talk about conflicted!)

Anyway, my weekend in our nation’s capital was great. The skating couldn’t have been better, plus, I made it, across the river, for a moonlit ski in the Fortune Parkway, with my darling cousin, Pascale, who lives in Chelsea, the site of my all-time favourite veggie resto: Soup’Herbe. Their Pizza Florentine is divine! Didn’t have time for it this trip, though. Wanted to catch the 12:20 back to Toronto.

Now, I’m off to work, which luckily for me, means another train trip.

Bisous!

This week’s musical selection: Plants and Animals. A friend of mine saw them open for Wolf Parade last year and predicted great things for this Montreal band. She may indeed be a prophet. Their new album is soon to be released, and I like to support new acts. You should too. One easy way to do this is to tune into your local college radio stations, on the dial and online. Their weekly charts are the best way to find out what’s really happening in the world of music. I’m lucky because I get to listen to so many different campus stations: CISM 89.3 FM in Montreal (good for my French and for my soul), CIUT 89.5 FM here in T.O., and sometimes even the Mighty 93.1 CKCU in Ottawa, which, boys and girls, is where I’m headed right now. Rumour has it that the ice conditions are good on the Rideau Canal, and I have a craving for a Killaloe Sunrise beavertail, which, edited to add, Emily over at Midnight Poutine so eloquently describes as “melted butter, sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice atop a gloriously warm, soft slab of fried dough.” Yum.

To sample my favourite travel photos of Canada, visit my photostream on Flickr. There are some gorgeous snaps of winter scenes, so don’t be surprised if you get the urge to go skiing or snowboarding this weekend…

Where was I, you ask?

While you were all anxiously awaiting my triumphant return, the folks at VIA Rail were planning my travels for the next few weeks. And just as Punxsutawney Phil predicted, it looks like I’ll be travelling the Corridor for another six weeks.

YES!

I love being in the city during the winter – Toronto, Kingston, Montreal, wherever. It seems to me that there are only two options in the winter for most people: either (1) burrow into the couch cushions and eat potatoes until spring, or (2) hit the slopes at every possible occasion, gleefully tossing oneself down an icy slope with nothing but two slim planks of wood and a tuque for protection.

Why can’t there be a happy medium?

Like I loooove just walking around the city. Torontonians – haven’t you noticed? – High Park is so starkly beautiful with its banks of snow and naked, fragile trees. Hey Montrealers! Have you every tried snowshoeing on Mont Royal? And the festivals are not to be missed either – has anyone been to Winterlude yet?

So don’t be shy! Let me know about your winter adventures in the city… show me your pictures too.

Who knows? Your next winter thrill could be a short train ride away.