I was once told that I shouldn’t talk about the weather as much as I do. The person doing the telling was my husband Nick, and at the time he stated that Canadians in general talk about the weather too much, and that it was boring.
I should further explain why it was that he was concerned about me being boring. For years, we, along with various guest musicians, did a weekly hour-long live broadcast on-line. The purpose was primarily to perform music but since there shouldn’t be too much dead-air in broadcasting, we also had to do quite a bit of talking between songs.
Nick has a load of experience in this type of thing, and he felt that the chat and jokes would be much more interesting to an audience if they were spontaneous and unrehearsed. He is a risk-taker by nature and thrives on the element of surprise. These shows were not recorded therefore once something was said, it lasted only a moment on the airwaves, so in his opinion we could say anything, as long as we were being entertaining and not offending or hurting anyone. What I realize now is that the element of surprise probably played a large part in keeping people coming back to listen to us every week.
But I found being ready to speak live without rehearsing in advance pretty hard to do. I admit to cheating a bit, by keeping a notebook handy with a few notes jotted down on what might be interesting subjects to discuss.
I often found myself suddenly and unexpectedly having to do all of the talking for periods of time, while Nick tuned his guitar or adjusted the settings on our equipment. So, at such times, when I had to think fast, I was often tempted to turn to the weather as a topic. In Canada, with our dramatic weather extremes, there was always something to talk about.
But Nick was right in pointing out that this was boring subject matter and once he pointed out that I was doing it, I agreed to try to cut it out. Then my ‘not talking about the weather’ became an on-going joke.
As for it being a particularly Canadian thing to do, I thought he was making that part up. So I Googled the phrase “Canadians talk” and the top subject suggested by Google was indeed “about the weather”!
So, that all said, with this post, I shall not talk about the weather. Rather I’ll just show you these pictures which were taken over the past few days.
Thank you kindly for taking a look.
xo loulou
ps – I still do talk about the weather and by no means would think you were boring if you do too. It’s an interesting topic in the blogging world because it’s neat to hear about what things are like in different places around the world, or to commiserate with others in your area, when things are bad.
That’s so cool that you guys did a show. I would totally not be able to talk without notes,..or should I say a script actually. I don’t blame you for talking about the weather. I agree we Canadians talk about it too much. I think it’s because it fluctuates so dramatically sometimes from day to day. Like today…are you feeling this WIND? I think it is interesting in the blog world too,..but I am jealous of the Florida/California types.
I know Jo … what a flip from yesterday! I too am envious of those living in more stable climates. I follow Emily at Cupcakes and Cashmere who lives in LA, and today she is wearing a dress with bare legs! Can’t wait for that.
Your black squirrels always startle me. They look so fierce compared to the red ones we have. Not to mention that albino one!
On a different note, Those snowy house peaks are awesome! At first I thought it was some sort of strange reversal on a mountain lol
That’s interesting … my mother just sent me an article about Red Squirrels, which I rarely see. Apparently the reason is their diet. They eat the seeds in pine cones and we don’t have any pine trees nearby, but now that I know this, I’m going to keep a closer look-out with a park nearby that has lots of conifers.
Who knew? We must have a different kind of red squirrel because there aren’t many pines around here either
I don’t actually remember you talking about the weather much – unless it was extreme. I do remember your quirky news stories and your imfamous jokes… Maybe this was after my SL breakdown.
I do miss those shows. I remember the first time I saw you two at The Slaughtered Lamb with Zeeblebob – the start of our friendship :)
lol, you probably were spared my weather talk then … it was quite early in our time doing those shows that Nick suggested I find another subject :) Oh yes, The Slaughtered Lamb! I have such fond memories of those days. You are my oldest on-line friend with whom I’m still in touch today. Here’s to that!
That’s hilarious that you googled what Canadians talk about and that weather came up first. I’m a little scared to look up what we here in the States talk about – I’m sure it’s something like The Kardasians – ha! Anyhow – I’ve been talking…err…complaining a lot about the weather too lately, so no worries! Gorgeous snow photos and that little squirrel!!! How sweet :-) Happiest Friday! xo Marisa