Ageism.

Candyman writes about "coming of age". The italics are his post, the stuff underneath is my comments and the bold is my extra comments.

I turned 19 many moons ago...almost 88 in fact. That said, not being a drinker at all, and since I tend not to really celebrate my birthday, but that's another issue. So I'm trying to figure out whether or not there's a suitable passing of the torch, coming of age, or whatever you want to call it. You know for celebrating when the boy becomes a man. So this is a request for suggestions. What is a suitable celebration for this once in a lifetime event?


I think that the usual response these days is "strippers and booze". It's kind of sad though...we really DON'T have any specific cultural "coming of age" for boys, or girls for that matter. I mean, I suppose that girls have their monthly event, but there's really nothing public or official about growing up. No more hunting your first buffalo, etc. Maybe that's one of the reasons why our society has so many childish adults...they don't have something milestone-ish to aspire to, and therefore they don't.

I think that one of the issues of not having a cultural milestone is the blurring of the lines between adulthood and childhood. As you mentioned in a previous post, maturity is somehow bestowed based on a number of days that you exist on the planet, and there's something inherently wrong about that. I know some thirty year olds who I wouldn't trust with a sharp stick, and I know several teenagers or young adults who I would trust to deliver a baby...given that they had some medical training. :)

Now, seeing as this comment is longer than your post...I'm going to transcribe it into my blog. :)

Incidentally, something that I really hate is ageism...you know...where someone who's five or more years older is all like "Oh, you're so young...you'll get over it." or some other variation of that. I mean, sure you've got more experience time-wise than I do, but I've made some way better decisions than you did when you were my age, so looking back on your life I'm way farther ahead than you were at this time. Don't tear down my accomplishments because you fracked up your life. Ok, I'm done now.

I want my bathroom back!!!

I have the fixture for the shower curtain in my kitchen, my shower is full of drying shelving unit, my sink has paintbrushes in it, my toilet's seat isn't on yet, I have paint in my hair and under my fingernails, and there's painters tape all over EVERYthing.

I see the light at the end of the tunnel. It's almost over. At least until I paint my living room. :)

Doh

I'm going back to Ikea either today or tomorrow. I got scheduled for a lousy ten hours next week, so I can't afford my beautiful new medicine cabinet. *cry* I'll return it and then hopefully be able to buy it again next month or May, when I'm not paying as much rent. Either that or find another, cheaper, just as beautiful medicine cabinet someplace else. I'm also going to be calling the movie extras people today after I finish blogging. Hopefully they'll have some work for me for next week.

However, the walls in my bathroom look specTACular. The ceiling is a little dark though...I mixed up some lighter blue paint for my corner shelf unit and I think I'll do some sponge painting on the ceiling. I'm NOT going to repaint the entire thing...it just about drove me to drink last time, trying to catch all the little speckles of white. *shudder*

For the first time since I'd moved into the basement (when I was sixteen, so eight years ago...) I slept with a window open. The smell of paint was so overpowering that I could barely breathe the first time that I walked in there after clearing out my lungs with a trip upstairs for food. I need better ventilation in that place. :p

It feels MUCH later...

*cross my fingers* I think I've finally finished painting my bathroom. With any luck, this hatred of the colour will subside as the memories of painting the damned place and cleaning the paint off my face, hands, legs and hair fade away with time. :) Actually it's not that bad...but someone please shoot me if I ever even start talking about painting a ceiling ever again. Thank you.

So I decided, after trailing the bottom of my flannel into the paint and streaking my legs blue for the third time, to work topless. It's a very small room, and it gets very warm, very quickly. I highly recommend painting in just underwear. It makes the time go faster, and it's more likely to get you volunteers. Unfortunately, I didn't mention that I'd be mostly naked when asking for volunteers tonight or else I probably wouldn't have been painting alone. Heheh...

So, stuffs that I bought for the bathroom today. Justy and I went to Ikea, home of evil Swedish designers, and picked up a set of bathroom supplies (I don't even know what I'mgoing to use some of these for!), a corner shelf, which I started painting a lighter blue than the rest of the room, and a medicine cabinet. WITH mirrors on both sides of the door.

Justy is da man for colours...at Ikea he was matching blues left and right from memory while I was busy fumbling around trying to match the remaining paint on my fingers from the previous night. He's so getting dragged along with me to buy clothes next time. (Muahaha!! watch for a freaking out comment in the comments...)

Also, I found twenty dollars on the floor tonight. It made me feel that I was doing the right thing for spending money. ;)

Happy St. Patrick's Day. :p

I am sitting here in the midst of the worst set of cramps I've had in the last two years. Ook. Plus a migraine-like headache. (never had a migraine before that I'm aware of...) I've tried aromatherapy, sleeping, apple cider vinegar and honey in hot water (it actually tastes better than it sounds). The only things left are the painkillers (which I've been trying to wean myself off of) and a Coke slurpee.

I can't get up the inclination to go to 7-11, so painkillers it is! Hopefully that will help.

I've decided that since I'm just lying in bed being miserable, I might as well sit at my computer, try to eat something and be miserable that way.

Ten years ago.

Ten years ago, my mother woke me up to tell me that her elementary school was on fire.

This morning, Justy woke me up with a phone call that our elementary school is on fire.

[ed: Apparently the fire is now out, and the police have arrested a 12 year old boy]

Painting

Hokay, I'm gonna go paint my bathroom now. Is gonna be BLUE.

Incidentally

Since I haven't mentioned it yet...I would just like to say that so many of my guy friends, including Candyman, have insisted that I look so much better without makeup. :) And that I look generally good. *happy* That's all. I had a crappy day at work today and I'm very very tired. Going out with C/M tonight and that should make it all better.

Actually, I'm typing this in his room right now, and it's already gotten much better. (/mushy)

Anned...adanen...anened

Addendum ;)

I haven't looked at any comments yet on the previous post...I sort of ran out of time with this before I had to go to work. I wanted to add that I'm trying to be less obsessed with weight and food, but I'm still trying to be active and athletic. I'm just going to be using different measuring sticks...health and fitness rather than weight. In the past I've gone without eating, or only drinking juice, or various other nastyness and so while I'll be working on trying to limit my pop and other junk intake, I will be eating healthily and exercising.

Ok, I'm done now.

Reading a book

Or, "How to use variations of the word 'obsess' as many times in one post as possible"

Of course, this isn't unusual as most of the people who know me will realize. In fact, usually I'm reading about eight books at once. This book's a little different though. It's The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf. I'll be the first to admit that I can be a little obsessed with my looks. This is shown less with an obsession with clothes and high fashion, but comes out more with occasional runs to the mall which involve bloating my makeup bag with "expensive crayons" which I will use obsessively for about three days, and then will vanish into the cupboard under my bathroom sink for a year or so. This obsession also manifests itself in fixation about my weight. I'm a fairly healthy weight...usually between 160 and 165 lbs, not bad considering that I'm around 5'8 or so. This has never been enough for me.

Reading this book has taught me several things, as I jokingly pointed out to several people over the last several days. One, men are in control of everything and the only reason that women have such an obsession with their appearance is because of a false need that men created in order to maintain that control. Two, women are really dumb because we haven't figured this out yet. Three, lipstick is the tool of the devil known as "fashion". Tongue in cheek, but how much of that is real?

So, what have I really learned so far? All I know is that I've learned enough to take down the "Current weight/Ideal weight" goal on my sidebar. If being comfortable with myself enough to do that is all I take away from this book, it's worth the ten bucks I spent on it.

Unmotivated

I have laundry to do. I have fun things to do (a borrowed barcode scanner from Candyman to do some book cataloguing). Instead, I'm sitting here playing Crimson Room which I got from Donna (finished it with only a minor bit of cheating... :) ) and surfing websites for classes to speak Elven/Elvish (I'm not sure which is correct, so I'll leave it up to the forum of public opinion.)

That's pretty much it. I'm sore from karate yesterday, although I'm very happy that I went. I had a hellacious day at work. I can't wait to be back out on the floor. I'm almost hoping that I don't get many hours over the next couple weeks...I want to get back into doing background performing (aka "extras" work) for TV and movies. I did five days of work for four productions last year. It would be fun to get paid $10/hour to sit around, read and eat. :)

Bookworm

Most of these I'd like to read, so I'm not italisizing them

Bold: I've read it
Italics: I'd like to read it
*: Started reading, never finished.


*1.The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4.The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5.Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6.To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
*30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll (bought it today!)
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
*44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
*54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Skind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
*99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie
101. Three Men In A Boat, Jerome K. Jerome
102. Small Gods, Terry Pratchett
103. The Beach, Alex Garland
104. Dracula, Bram Stoker
105. Point Blanc, Anthony Horowitz
106. The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens
107. Stormbreaker, Anthony Horowitz
108. The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks
109. The Day Of The Jackal, Frederick Forsyth
110. The Illustrated Mum, Jacqueline Wilson
111. Jude The Obscure, Thomas Hardy
112. The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾, Sue Townsend
113. The Cruel Sea, Nicholas Monsarrat
*114. Les Misérables, Victor Hugo
115. The Mayor Of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy
116. The Dare Game, Jacqueline Wilson
117. Bad Girls, Jacqueline Wilson
118. The Picture Of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
119. Shogun, James Clavell
*120. The Day Of The Triffids, John Wyndham
121. Lola Rose, Jacqueline Wilson
122. Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray
123. The Forsyte Saga, John Galsworthy
124. House Of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski
125. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
126. Reaper Man, Terry Pratchett
127. Angus, Thongs And Full-Frontal Snogging, Louise Rennison
128. The Hound Of The Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle
129. Possession, A. S. Byatt
130. The Master And Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov
131. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
132. Danny The Champion Of The World, Roald Dahl
133. East Of Eden, John Steinbeck
134. George's Marvellous Medicine, Roald Dahl
135. Wyrd Sisters, Terry Pratchett
136. The Color Purple, Alice Walker
137. Hogfather, Terry Pratchett
138. The Thirty-Nine Steps, John Buchan
139. Girls In Tears, Jacqueline Wilson
140. Sleepovers, Jacqueline Wilson
141. All Quiet On The Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque
142. Behind The Scenes At The Museum, Kate Atkinson
143. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
144. It, Stephen King
145. James And The Giant Peach, Roald Dahl
146. The Green Mile, Stephen King
147. Papillon, Henri Charriere
148. Men At Arms, Terry Pratchett
149. Master And Commander, Patrick O'Brian
150. Skeleton Key, Anthony Horowitz
151. Soul Music, Terry Pratchett
152. Thief Of Time, Terry Pratchett
153. The Fifth Elephant, Terry Pratchett
154. Atonement, Ian McEwan
155. Secrets, Jacqueline Wilson
156. The Silver Sword, Ian Serraillier
157. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey
158. Heart Of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
159. Kim, Rudyard Kipling
160. Cross Stitch, Diana Gabaldon
*161. Moby Dick, Herman Melville
162. River God, Wilbur Smith
163. Sunset Song, Lewis Grassic Gibbon
164. The Shipping News, Annie Proulx
165. The World According To Garp, John Irving
166. Lorna Doone, R. D. Blackmore
167. Girls Out Late, Jacqueline Wilson
168. The Far Pavilions, M. M. Kaye
169. The Witches, Roald Dahl
170. Charlotte's Web, E. B. White
171. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
172. They Used To Play On Grass, Terry Venables and Gordon Williams
173. The Old Man And The Sea, Ernest Hemingway
174. The Name Of The Rose, Umberto Eco
175. Sophie's World, Jostein Gaarder
176. Dustbin Baby, Jacqueline Wilson
177. Fantastic Mr Fox, Roald Dahl
178. Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov
179. Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, Richard Bach
180. The Little Prince, Antoine De Saint-Exupery
181. The Suitcase Kid, Jacqueline Wilson
*182. Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens
183. The Power Of One, Bryce Courtenay
184. Silas Marner, George Eliot
185. American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis
186. The Diary Of A Nobody, George and Weedon Grossmith
*187. Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh
188. Goosebumps, R. L. Stine
189. Heidi, Johanna Spyri
190. Sons And Lovers, D. H. Lawrence
191. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera
192. Man And Boy, Tony Parsons
193. The Truth, Terry Pratchett
194. The War Of The Worlds, H. G. Wells
195. The Horse Whisperer, Nicholas Evans
196. A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry
197. Witches Abroad, Terry Pratchett
198. The Once And Future King, T. H. White
199. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle
200. Flowers In The Attic, Virginia Andrews

Ugh.

My tummy kind of hurts. That's not anything unusual, but it's still annoying.

What is it about people who are totally oblivious to the fact that a store is closed? We had someone come up to the cash register at 9:05 tonight, five minutes after the store was closed. She didn't leave the store until 9:18 because she was dithering over which ribbons she wanted to buy, and whether or not she had enough money to buy them! And she was using cash, so it wasn't like she didn't have the money right in front of her! I was getting really irritated. It wasn't as if it wasn't OBVIOUS that we were closed. I did the "Attention *store name* customers, the time is now 8:45 (8:50 and 9:00) and we will be closing in 15 (ten and we are currently closed) minutes. Please bring your final purchases to the front and we (read: me) will be happy to help you. Thank you for shopping with *store name* and have a great evening." announcements over the PA, and even made a "The time is now 9:15 and the store is closed" announcement under the guise of "hey guys, is there anyone left in the store" while she was standing there. ARGH!

The lights are off. There are people sweeping. The stuff from outside has been brought in. The doors have been locked. There have been announcements! THE STORE IS CLOSED!

I did wear my MJs for a five hour shift this evening...they held up well.

Linkies

Hokay. So, for those who don't know what Mary Janes are, here's a picture of some. Mine are slightly less shiny and have a more slender strap. Everyone happy now? :)

"There's no place like home."

Oh, Auntie Em!! I got myself some Mary Janes today. :D My mom bought them for me at Payless Shoes for back to school/work/Easter. :) I'm happy. I now have hooker boots, Mary Janes and platforms. Plus my standard fare of sneakers. Now I have work shoes that I will wear to work. Yeesss...that's right...only to "work"...not thinking of ANY naughty schoolgirl outfits with these... nooooooo...

I went to the fights last night...

...and a hockey game broke out.

What a joke last night. I didn't watch much of the game, but what I did watch was brutal. Todd Bertuzzi's hit on Steve Moore was terrible and frightening. Having taken a course on Canadian hockey and how complacent the fans and everyone are with the violence in it is not a good thing. I'm not really feeling like making a big deal out of this...just wanted to make a note.

School.

I decided a couple of days ago that I was going to go for my teaching certificate, partly as a way to stop having to pay rent on my suite. :p I was looking for a teachable minor that I could take, since every teacher in the world has an English degree and I need something that would give me a bit of an edge. Since I'd taken many classes, but over a stupidly broad range of disciplines, I didn't really have enough credits in anything except history to make a difference. And I'd still need to take at least a year to finish that minor. So I happened to see "Canadian Studies" on the list of teachable courses and decided to look it up. I knew I'd only taken two Canadian Studies courses, so I was prepared for a huge list of stuff I needed to do.

Turns out I only need to take four courses to get that minor. The basis of a CNS degree (major or minor) is Canadian CONTENT courses, many of which I'd already taken as part of my previous potential teacher training. This means that I'll have my minor by the end of December, hopefully meaning that I'll be able to get into the January teacher training and be fully certified by January 2006.

In other words, a mere 9 years after I started university I will be eligible to teach.

I signed up for my first two courses today. Things are all falling into place.

Some definitions

Courtesy of Dictionary.com

snuggle
v. snug·gled, snug·gling, snug·gles
v. intr.
To lie or press close together; cuddle.
To curl up closely or comfortably; nestle: snuggled happily under the covers.

cuddle
v. cud·dled, cud·dling, cud·dles
v. tr.
To fondle in the arms; hug tenderly

Okie. I'm going to go do another three hours of that with Candyman. Have a good night everyone.

Yaaaaawn...

So I wake up this morning not having had enough sleep. I feel myself getting a potential sore throat, and I stumble out of bed to get dressed and ready for work, trying to psych myself up for the eight hours of the job I hate that will be occuring today. I arrive at work with a couple minutes to spare.

"Hi Karin, what are you doing here? The other supervisor just showed up...aren't you closing?"

Wha? Crap. Check the schedule. Huh. Well...as it turns out, I'm not scheduled for today at all...as I'd know if I bothered to check my handy dandy schedule on the sidebar. Heheh...whoops.

So I bought a couple things at work that I needed, did the same at the dollar store and came home. Now suddenly I've got eight extra hours today. Huh. I have a huge list of things that I planned on getting done this weekend...I could start in on them now. I have a huge list of things that I've been meaning to do for the last couple weeks...some fun stuff, some other stuff. I've got some daily stuff that needs to be done. It's like having a whole bonus day!!

Screw that. I'm going back to bed.

Catty.

(Carmen Electra walks out from backstage at the Craig Kilborn show)
Me: Those. Are so. Fake.
My dad: What? Her shoes?
Me: Yeah...those shoes had some major uplift done to them.

The Cheat is now officially certified VirusFree(tm)

I was bad. I was expecting some pictures from a friend and opened up the Bagel virus on The Cheat. Whoops. I'm so used to running a Mac without much need for virus protection. Thanks to everyone who told me that I was infected, offered advice, the use of their computers and/or software to clean it up. *BIG HUGS*

That is all.

Of work and school

I got called into the office yesterday in regards to a very messy front end yesterday afternoon. I didn't think that it was completely my fault. In fact, I don't feel that a lot of what I get blamed for at work is actually my fault. I really don't think I'm cut out for this whole supervisor thing. The managers who were talking to me were quite nice about the whole thing...suggesting that it was a sign of maturity to decide that I would have more strengths in other areas, like working with customers. It's really a huge burden off my mind...I've been slowly hating this job and it's so much nicer to be out with customers on the floor, helping them with their purchases, rather than dealing with returns and bitchy people and nasty co-workers. This way at least, I can pretend to be busy and avoid the front end and all those poisonous people that show up there.

Also, I've decided to go back to school next semester. Supervising is something that I'm just not really cut out for, and with school being back in session, it's one less stress that I have to deal with.

I haven't really talked to many people about this besides my parents and Candyman. I didn't really give C/M a chance to offer any advice... ;) but my parents think that it would be a good idea to go back to doing what I love.

I really hated not loving what I was doing. Now's my chance to change that.

Ooh, naughty

Your Ultimate Purity Score Is...
Category	Your Score	Average
Self-Lovin'	31.7% When I think about you - or anyone - I touch myself	65%
Shamelessness	42.9% Puts 'em on the glass	79.4%
Sex Drive	55.3% A fool for love, but not always	77.7%
Straightness	1.8% Knows the other body type like a map	44.8%
Gayness	26.8% At least one weekend of ecstacy	83.6%
Fucking Sick	61.1% Dipped into depravity	89.9%
You are 37.34% pure Average Score: 72.6%
Take The Ultimate Purity Test and see how you match up!

I've been listening to this WAY too much

The original can be found here.

Hokay. So here's ma body...chillin'. Daymn. That is a sweet body you might say.

RAWNG!

All right. Ruling out collapsing in the karate dojo, discs becoming crashed into me, my overall fitness leaving and my ankle exploding, I am definitely going to blow maself up with junkfood.

HOKAY!

So basically we got my shoulder, neck, back, ankle, hip, jaw, wrist, butt, stomach and arm. With injury. I got about about twenty six hundred more than anybody else. Whatever.

Anyway, one day I decide that these various injuries and fat deposits are going down. So I launch an exercise attack. And those fat deposits are like "Sugar! Sugar! Who the fudge is shooting at us?"

Ok, so what does all this mean? It means that yesterday I started a (healthy and sane!!) diet and I'm starting an exercise program to help me get into shape for the Ultimate season in the summer. That's all. So I decided to write up this whole thing to put off the whole "going to the gym" or "going for a walk" thing.

I'd rather be She-Ra

Magister Mundi sum!
"I am the Master of the Universe!"
You are full of yourself, but you're so cool you
probably deserve to be. Rock on.


Which Weird Latin Phrase Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Music Meme

10 songs from my playlist in random order. I started with Leonard Cohen, Everybody Knows, but I guess that doesn't count.

500 Miles, The Proclaimers
These Dreams, Heart
Drive, Incubus
Cape, Guy Clark
Where the Streets Have No Name, U2
Sounds of Nature, Japanese Flute
Sayings, Ralph Wiggum
Frozen Puck to the Head, Arrogant Worms
Crooked Jack, Best of Irish Pub Songs
Come As You Are, Nirvana (MTV Unplugged)

It's pretty representative, actually. :)

Hardcore Vinyl

With a title like that, you'd think this is going to be a dirty post...but not so much. My brother, his two friends and I are listening to records including Leonard Cohen and "The Graduate" soundtrack. This pleases me.

In other news, the movie that should probably not be made is being made...at least that was my first impression. I remember the major kerfuffle that happened when Paul Reubens was caught doing something naughty, but I never knew what it was really was until I did a bit of research. So it was a big shock to me that all he was doing was jerking off in a porn theatre. Wow. What an innocent world we had in 1991.

I kind of miss it.

It's all about the numbers.

Today at work I was thinking about this blog entry. So here it is, in all it's "glory".

Number of...
...hours of sleep I got last night= 2-4
...managers on duty today= 3
...co-workers who should have been helping me this morning= 5
...people who actually were there= 2
...minutes late the other supervisor was= 134
...customers through my till today= 348
...customers who asked if the sale was on today (it starts tomorrow)= ~200
...customers who were POSITIVE that the coupon/sale started today (it starts TOMORROW)= 143
...customers who asked me to ring X, Y or Z through at the sale price anyway (sales start on certain days for a reason! Hello?!)= 87
...customers who decided that it was my fault and should damned well change the policy= 43
...customers who demanded to see the manager= 18
...customers who should go fuck themselves= 87 by the end of the day. :p
...minutes of time I was over my shift today= 58
...minutes of break that I didn't get= 27
...seconds that I'm going to regret not being at work tomorrow= ZERO

Heheh. I get the first Saturday of a huge sale off tomorrow. I am so incredibly happy...you have no idea.

Ooh...good stuff.

I got home tonight to discover that my mother made two kinds of cannelloni. And four loaves of banana bread...WITH chocolate chips, of course. See imood to the left. (sated)

Another great mystery of life

Okay. I like to think of myself as a relatively intelligent person who has a fairly good grasp on the kinesiology of my body. Not necessarily at the "Gray's Anatomy" level, but I play sports and have a pretty good idea as to how my body works (despite being a super-klutz). So, I pose this question, dear reader. Why is it that whenever I get out of the shower and go to get dressed I always find a big wet patch somewhere on my body that I didn't notice? It's not like my towels are small. My hair is fairly short, so it's not dripping. Am I simply in too much of a hurry? Does the water MOVE? Does anyone else have this problem?!

What's a girl to do?

Ok, I think I've discovered the conspiracy. The number one thing keeping me from doing the stuff I want to do boils down to a simple piece of cloth. A common item of clothing, which most of you also have in your closet, drawers or under the bed. It's a disgrace, I tell you! It's nothing less than a terrible fiendish plot, probably by the Bush administration, to prevent Canadians from thinking for themselves and getting things done.

Pajamas.

That's right, I said pajamas. That innocuous, seemingly innocent article of clothing which you...SLEEP in. I mean, how diabolical is that? Not only are you comfortable and warm, but you find yourself feeling as if it's still early in the morning, and therefore, that you don't have to actually do anything.

I discovered this early this morning, but since I was still in my jammies (ed: see, another fiendish part of the plot! Cutesy nicknames counteract the seriousness with which we should be taking this threat!) I didn't get this post written.

Personally, I think that pajama manufacturers are in league with free and cheap game manufacturers. Mostly what I did all day was sit around and play Yahoo Games. It wasn't until I was given a clear motivation to get out of the house that I actually ate anything, got dressed or did anything remotely productive.

DOWN WITH PAJAMAS!! Everyone should always sleep naked...except in the winter when we should all be hibernating anyway.

Huh...

Well, it's good to know that the Bush administration is all for promoting the same quality of life for deaf people.

*grumble*

Wishlist

I posted my Amazon.ca wishlist in the sidebar, not as a plea for gifts (although I won't turn 'em down if someone insists on buying something for me... :) ) but more as another "what is she interested in" list. Just wanted to call attention to it (without it looking like I'm scamming for presents). :)

Mint Hot Chocolate

Take one package of President's Choice hot chocolate mix and put into cup.
Fill cup with boiling water.
Add two "Andes" mint patties.
Stir like crazy or until the mints are melted.
Enjoy.

Woot, Ultimate is back!

*happy dance*

Played Ultimate this morning, in the absolutely GORGEOUS sunshine. What a mindblowing difference from the gale force winds and almost freezing rain last week. I got to run around in my sports bra for a lot of it, and didn't really feel it. One of the teams we played was completely stacked...it was weird! They had three girls playing for them who also play for "Prime", the Canadian women's championship team, and most of the guys were really good as well. One of them I knew from Fall league and he's been playing for 14 years...or since he was 10. However, we did manage to get the lead a couple of times and the final score was a respectable 13-8. The second game we won. It was close though. 14-12. :)

All in all it was a good day. Helped my brother out with a film project he's doing for his TV and Film class. I got to push a stuffed dog out of a moving car while I was hiding, so it looked like it fell out, and then I got to be a person walking past who finds it and gives it back to the owner. Heheh. :) It was amusing and killed a couple hours.

Oh. Great.

Figures. The one book that I've read that I simply cannot stand...the one that makes me want to vomit every time I think of it...

You're Lolita!

by Vladimir Nabokov

Considered by most to be depraved and immoral, you are obsessed with
sex. What really tantalizes you is that which deviates from societal standards in every
way, though you admit that this probably isn't the best and you're not sure what causes
this desire. Nonetheless, you've done some pretty nefarious things in your life, and
probably gotten caught for them. The names have been changed, but the problems are real.
Please stay away from children.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Friday night, and home alone.

Justy's out playing pool. Candyman's helping out G and K for their wedding tomorrow. I'm sitting here going back and forth between refreshing my blog roll and sewing a skirt.

Siiiiigh. I'm bored. Not in the "I have nothing to do" way, but in the "I don't feel like doing any of the things I should be doing" way.

Continuing the meme

Links upon links upon...

Donna wrote about Darren who wrote about someone collecting money for flowers for gay and lesbian couples getting married in San Francisco. Darren started Flowers for Al and Don and is collecting for the same thing. I think this is a really cool idea. I sent two bucks. HOWEVER! I would like to make the call out that you match whatever you give to this with a donation of the same amount to the food bank or something. While this is a great way of showing support, it seems a shame to be sending this money when it can be used for other purposes as well.

So, I'd like to call attention to your local food bank. The time after Christmas is tough for them, so please match your flower donation with one for the food bank. I'll be buying some baby food to donate tomorrow. (/me steps down off my soapbox)

A very good day

Today was one of those days where I was simply giddy with life.

Went to the mall with Justy this afternoon to buy him a pool cue. I sucessfully did not buy three DVD's for $6.88 each at Walmart. I am very proud of myself. Bought some material to try sewing a cloak. :) That should be fun. We came back here and knocked some quesadillas together and shot some pool.

Went to work and wound up randomly giggling out loud every so often just because my life rocked. My shift went well, the poison people were nice and I got a whole swack of stuff done. Not just a portion of a swack, but a whole swack. I am very happy.

Used books

I love used bookstores.

Some of my favourite online bookstores are Abe and Powells. I've been to the physical store in Portland for Powells and it's absolutely amazing. I would recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind spending some money.

Working...

Wow. Talking to my manager about needing more hours netted me another 16 this week. That's up from 15. This is good...I might be able to pay most of my bills next month. :) Although I need 31+ hours EVERY week...not just every so often. I'm scheduled for 21 hours next week...theoretically it should be easier to pick up nine hours than sixteen...so we'll see.

Can of worms: Open

From Donna

12 Reasons Same-Sex Marriages Will "Ruin" Society:

1. Homosexuality is not natural, much like eyeglasses, polyester, and birth control.

2. Heterosexual marriages are valid because they produce children. Infertile couples and old people can't legally get married because the world needs more children.

3. Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

4. Straight marriage will be less meaningful, since Britney Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage was meaningful.

5. Heterosexual marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are property, blacks can't marry whites, and divorce is illegal.

6. Gay marriage should be decided by people not the courts, because the majority-elected legislatures, not courts, have historically protected the rights of the minorities.

7. Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire counrty. That's why we have only one religion in America.

8. Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

9. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

10. Children can never suceed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why single parents are forbidden to raise children.

11. Gay marriage will change the foundation of society. Heterosexual marriage has been around for a long time, and we could never adapt to new social norms because we haven't adapted to cars or longer lifespans.

12. Civil unions, providing most of the same benefits as marriage with a different name are better, because a "separate but equal" institution is always constitutional. Separate schools for African-Americans worked just as well as separate marriages for gays and lesbians will.

Disgusted and saddened.

I used to love my job. I think I made about thirty gazillion posts about how much I love my job. I think I would still love it if I wasn't a supervisor. I don't really like being a supervisor. I don't make a very good supervisor. *sigh* I had a cashier shift tonight, and didn't really like it much either. I think part of that has to do with the fact that there are a couple of severely poisonous individuals working there. That can't help.

That's the sad part. Here's the disgusted part.

We carry magazines in this store. Every week we take those magazines that are old, rip the covers off and send the covers back to the publisher. We then proceed to throw away the rest of the magazine. Throw. Away. We cleaned out a bunch of old magazines today and there was more than an entire shopping cart filled with paper that no one had looked at and which was going to a landfill tomorrow. And this amount of paper gets pitched every month by my estimate. This is in one store. I felt like throwing up. There is so much stuff thrown away each day in this store...Justy can vouch for this. We compact the cardboard boxes and those allegedly get recycled, but Big Business has decreed that anything which is getting thrown away cannot be donated to charity or taken home by employees.

I can see their point.

No, I really can. I mean, many people would "break" something so that they could take it home. But this wholesale destruction and waste is truly mindboggling and I don't think I can deal with it. I've started looking for another job. This isn't the entire reason, but it's one of many...and I was questioning whether or not I wanted to be in this job when this was brought to my attention.

Another thing which made me feel sick was the attitude of one of the employees. I brought it to her attention that there were alternatives to just trashing this stuff. Her response: "You think they're going to care what one associate thinks?" Huh. Well, thanks for making me feel about this tall. One person might not be able to change the world, but maybe they can change three people's minds. Then each of them does the same. THAT'S how you change the world.

What a world.

I was driving home from Candyman's last night/this morning at around 2 am and I passed a woman who was hitchhiking in Port Moody. Now, I'm not sure, but I think the buses might have stopped running. It was raining. It was cold. I wanted to stop and give her a ride, but I was worried about doing so. All of the what-if's swirled through my mind. What if she was going to attack me? What if there was someone hiding in the bushes that's her accomplice? What if she was going to try and steal my car?

I feel guilty about it. I didn't stop.

Zzzzzz...

I need to wash dishes. Then I will take a hot hot shower and go to bed. I am exhausted.

And sad. My dad has said that we're putting Ceilidh (our dog) to sleep tomorrow. :(

Oogh.

I just got back from Ultimate. It's very wet out there.

I hurt. I am sleepy.

I have to be at work in half an hour.

"Friday Fourteen"-To my love

Fourteen reasons (of many) why I love you.

You care about my health, mental and physical.
You cook the most amazing meals...AND clean up after them.
You buy me lingerie without me asking and remember my size.
You encourage me to do what I love.
You help me with things I don't like doing (financial stuff...ewww...)
You introduced me to the aural delights that are Leonard Cohen and Pink Floyd.
You build my self esteem...not with empty compliments, but by helping me find my own inner strength.
You aren't threatened by me.
You are the perfect cuddler.
You give amazing backrubs.
You make me want to learn and improve myself.
You appreciate my quirks...or at least you don't complain about them.
You clean my room.
You are incredibly sexy, and smart, and loving, and...and...

Happy Valentine's, love.

Update

Dinner. Was. Phenomenal.

Just to get it stuck in everyone's heads...

I'm so SPOILED!!

*inhale*

o/~Prawns and prawns and prawns and prawns and prawns and prawns and prawns and prawns and
GARLIC GARLIC!
Prawns and prawns and prawns and prawns and prawns and prawns and prawns and prawns and
GARLIC GARLIC!
Ohhh, it's steak...oh, a steak...it's a steak...o/~

Etc. :)

Valentine's is coming early for me this year. Currently I am wearing this except it's in pleather and a gorgeous pair of silver Celtic knot earings and a matching necklace, all of which I received today from Candyman, while my wonderful amazing boyfriend is cooking the above. With garlic bread. And new potatoes. We'll be eating with Candyman's sister and one of our friends tonight. Roxxor.

If you don't hear from me in the next 48 hours, it's because I either ate so much that I'm in a coma for the next several days or I'm busy saying thank you for a fabulous day. I'm working tomorrow, so we aren't going to be doing Valentine-y stuff (as far as I know), except I'll be giving him his stuff.

And yes, I was singing that song on the way out from Costco. In my new top.

It's been a very good day.

And we'll be watching the hockey game at home tonight, cuddled up on the sofa...it will be getting even better.

:(

My dad just told me that we're probably going to be putting our dog down next week. I wasn't ever really close to her, but it still sucks. :( Poor puppy...getting old.

Yesterday...

I was having such a bad day at work yesterday. I was supposed to be at work at 330, but I thought it was supposed to be 430, so I wound up being almost 20 minutes late... (they called me.. whoops) Some other stuff happened too...my supervisor told me that she was going to be calling me that night to talk to me about something that "wasn't too bad" and "involved some other people" from work. Hmm. Thanks. No stress or pressure there. :p Then of course, there were the evil customers that always seem to come out when you're doing poorly...it's like they smell blood or something.

So I called Candyman on my break and was hoping to be comforted. I did get somewhat comforted, but then took offense at a rather innocuous thing that he said, so I started crying and broke off the phone call. I spent the rest of my break sobbing in the lunch room. :/ That really sucked.

So, I decided not to take on this "bad stuff" for myself and went out there with a big smile and gritted teeth and a "hell with you" attitude to take on the customers.

About two hours later, around two hours to the end of my shift, I looked up to see Justy and Candyman standing there! Apparently they'd been talking on ICQ and CM had told Justy that I was feeling like crap, so they came down to cheer me up! Thanks guys. :) They stuck around for a bit and then they left and "went to the mall. *wink wink*" (yeah, I'm not sure what that was all about either...they were denying that they did anything other than walk around the mall and discuss pool cues. I'm suspicious. :) )

We then went to Boston Pizza, (my choice, their treat) and I had a really really good meal. It was feta shrimp penne baked with mozzarella cheese in alfredo sauce. I finished it off tonight and it was still phenomenal. Justy had to motor after that, so CM and I went back to my place, and I got a two hour back rub. I was soooo relaxed. I could barely get up the stairs to let Candyman out. I was asleep before midnight.

So, all in all it was a really great day after all.

Whoops.

Looking back at the last two posts...they're a LOT nastier sounding then I intended. Hrm. I don't really know what else to say. :( I really didn't mean them to sound like that. That's the problem with writing stuff down...there's no tone of voice.

So, I'm sorry.

You know what?

Screw this. I'm going back to Oasis. I like it, so whoever doesn't can just keep their mouths shut when I use it.

Deal with it.

Coma of a "legend"

Well, I've finally bowed to the pressure and become "Karin" rather than "Oasis" on here. This is mostly due to pressure from certain quarters who can be real pains in the butts. I'll still be Oasis on some comments, but I'll be gradually phasing it out. *sigh* Personally, *I've* always liked the name, so I'm only doing this to please others. Which kind of stinks, but seeing as the name isn't something I particularly care about, it's a small sacrifice.

Besides...this way I will be in the right for a looong time. ;) I'll be bringing this up forever. :)

Fear...

Candyman wants to "play around with trying some stuff" while I'm at work. So he's now admin on this blog. I haven't done this for anyone before...I hope it works out. This is like...a drawer. (Alias reference...)

24

Just finished watching the second season of 24 with CM. Despite feeling really sick and dizzy the last half of the episode, I thoroughly enjoyed it. :) So, what's next for our intrepid hero, Jack Bauer? (slight spoiler ahead...)
































Well, with any luck the bitch goddesses Sherri and Carrie (huh...never made that rhyme connection before) and stupid girl of the year Kim will die. That'd be nice. Actually...I'd be satisfied if Kim got sent to boarding school or something...or got replaced by another brainy person. I can't see how anyone that dumb managed to not cut her throat while shaving her legs. *grumble* The actress is totally hot though.

Hmmm...

I've decided that instead of "I'm still living in my parents' house" I'm "renting the suite in my parents' basement". It sounds so much better that way. Since CM and I cleaned it up a bit, it's actually a pretty skookum place. All it needs is some sprucing up...hence the trip to Rona that Justy and I will be making as soon as he's ready. I need paint chips.

There are many amazing renovations I can do to that place...if I stay longer than a year. This decision will be based on a conversation I'll be having with my mother at some point this week. The basis of it is as follows ranging from "don't really care" to "deal breaker"...

1) Don't wake me up in the morning to ask me if I'm working. I don't tell you my schedule for that exact reason.
2) Lock on my door.
3) Either your stuff out of my fridge, or your fridge out of my room.
4) Boys can sleep over. No dirty looks...I'll keep them out of the upper floors until afternoon for plausible deniability.

Sluggy Quiz!

Which Sluggy Freelance Character Are You?

Ok, I didn't actually get Oasis...but she's who I named myself after, so I decided to post her instead of Riff...which is who I actually am, apparently. Probably because I'm tired. I'd be Kiki if I had more energy and didn't feel dizzy and sick to my stomach and exhausted. Ooh, hey, I ought to go to bed. There's a thought.

Movie Review

The Lady and the Highwayman

When you describe a movie, it probably isn't really a good thing if the description includes the following lines:
"It would make a great MST3K spoof."
"It's good in kind of a...Krull...kind of way."
"Well, at least the castles were cool."
"Hugh Grant is in tights."
"Hugh Grant is in tights...and a mullet."
"I'm glad I was drinking Bailey's because it killed some of the pain."
"There was sword fighting. It was BAD sword fighting, but there was indeed sword fighting."

It was kind of funny though. Hugh Grant and Lysette Anthony are the only two names I recognized...and they play exactly the same characters I've seen them play at other times. Hugh-man is the same smarmy upper class Brit that he always seems to be, and Lysette is the same ditzy blonde, needs-to-be-rescued-OH-save-me chiqua that she was in Krull. She's got better hair in Krull though. And I liked her as the Lucy in "Dracula: Dead and Loving It".

But Lysette, honey...fire your agent, baby. Don't be cast in anything called "Evil Beneath Loch Ness" or "Trilogy of Terror II". You KNOW that sequels are never gonna be as good as the first one.

Oogh.

Got an extra couple hours at work tonight...one of the other supervisors is pregnant and she was having contractions, so she went to the hospital. I was supposed to go out with Meesh tonight, but I'm just pasted. I'm not working tomorrow so we'll be heading down to the States for a couple hours in the evening. Tonight I plan to curl up with someone/something and watch a movie and eat popcorn. If C/M comes over I'll cuddle up with him, otherwise it'll be in a fuzzy blanket that he gave me for Christmas.

And hot chocolate. Oh yes, there will be hot chocolate.

Hurray!

Got to play a game of Ultimate today. God, I missed it. :) I'm playing on a winter hat team, so we all got our names pulled out of a hat and that's the team we play. :) We lost our first game 13-10, but we came back from a 12-6 deficit, so we aren't too bad. :) I had to leave early because of a massive brunch that my family had. We went to the Executive Inn in Coquitlam. There was a huge buffet there. Wow. That's all I can say. Wow.

My aunt and uncle are in from Calgary, so we got to visit with them. They own a rocking pet store out there. It's bigger than a Petcetera is. :) Many fish. Many tanks. I'll post a link later.

Couple of links.

Canadians with guns?
Greatest game ever (You'll need Flash)

Whoa.

Please to be noticing the room cleaning "x square meters unliveable" on the side bar. I'll wait.

...

...

Got that? Isn't it great? That's the lowest it's been in almost a year! Candyman came over last night and we spent over three hours cleaning...he organized stuff so it was all stacked and I sorted through boxes. I can walk from one end of my room to the other without tripping, slipping, breaking, kicking, or otherwise injuring myself or my stuff. I'm all impressed.

A really great benefit...the burning desire to move out has faded slightly. We were talking about all the wonderful amazing things I could do with the place, and I'm thinking "Wow. I'd never be able to pay the rent I'm paying here on a place like this." I think I need to write out a list of demands for my parents and then maybe I'll stick around for a while. Hee hee. I'm getting giddy again. I was very giddy last night looking around my room. :)

*happy*!!

Friday Five

1. What's the most daring thing you've ever done?
What I consider daring, many people wouldn't. Some people would find the fact that I've worked in adult bookstore daring. Me, not so much. I'v done some stuff that I can't relate on a PG13 blog. ;) Email me for details... ;) I think that telling C/M that I was in love with him was a pretty damned big risk for me.

2. What one thing would you like to try that your mother/friend/significant other would never approve of?
Being a stripper.

3. On a scale of 1-10, what's your risk factor? (1=never take risks, 10=it's a lifestyle)
Depends on your definition. I'll be taking a big risk if I wear that skirt I'm making out in public...If i do, I'll be bringing a change of clothes...just in case it falls apart.

4. What's the best thing that's ever happened to you as a result of being bold/risky?
I'm going out with Candyman right now. I took a chance on a part time/temporary job and am winding up with my dream job.

5. ... and what's the worst?
Can't think of anything. I think that there are very few things that I will wish I'd never taken that risk. Life's too short and most consequences are not far reaching. Anything that shortens my life or screws it up (ie: having a kid too young) is the only thing I can think of that will be terrible. Most mistakes can be overcome in time.

Whew.

Well, after a night where I got quite a bit of sleep...not good, but a lot...and a hellishly long-feeling day at work...

I feel much better.

Well, THAT was quick.

Every ounce of joy I was getting from sewing has been sucked out of me.

It just seems so...frivolous. And...unattainable. At least what I was wanting to do.

In fact, I can't seem to get excited about any of my craft things...or other hobbies. Or even writing here. It just seems so useless and an exercise in the illusion of my own self importance. A pretentiousness. I'm sure I'll be better later, but I just wanted to time stamp this:

Currently, I am not looking forward to anything. At all. A thought which quite frightens me, as I'm generally an upbeat individual who gets excited about way too many things at once.

Sad, so sad...

I'd like to do some community service here. Hence, I present to you:

How To Ruin Your Life In Four Easy Steps

1) Marry an illegal immigrant so that he can stay in the country.
2) Get pregnant.
3) Discover your husband is being deported regardless of marital status.
4) Do this while you're 19.

I don't really have much else to say. Wow.

Changes

Nothing major. I updated my sidebar a little. That's it.


...


You still here?

...

...


Hey, I'm going to bed now. I've gotta work. Lock the door when you leave, ok?

Quiz me!

YELLOW You are very perceptive and smart. You are clear and to the point and have a great sense of humor. You are always learning and searching for understanding. Find out your color at Quiz Me!

That's kind of neat...a group of friends and I called ourselves the "Smarties" for a while, and I was the yellow one. :)

Tales from Spam Filter

Gosh, I'd better get my credit card out! Gotta cancel this!

"Your credit card will be billed at $22.95 weekly and free 3 pack of child
porn CD is shipping to your billing address.
To cancel your membership and CD pack please email full credit card details to
cancel@shadowcrew.com. Ready to enjoy all types of underage porn?
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Click the secret link below and have fun...

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Me needs to travel more.

A couple of the blogs I've seen this on say the same thing. And why isn't there a province map for Canada? Not that I've been to many, but still!



create your own visited states map
or write about it on the open travel guide




create your own visited country map
or write about it on the open travel guide

I have a new project!

Y'know, because I don't have enough projects. :p It's kind of a secret right now, but it involves a sewing machine. I've always hated sewing and the last time I touched a sewing maching, other than to help move my mom's, was in grade eight. That would be roughly 12 years ago...half my lifetime. Justy has done more recent sewing then I have.

BUT!

Today I sewed. I created a scrunchie. It is ragged. It has visible threads. But, it is recognizably a scrunchie. And it is teal. I'm currently wearing it, and have been for the last twenty five minutes or so. As of yet, it is still in a recognizably "scrunchie"-like status.

This pleases and impresses me. Sewing is one of those things that people have tried to teach me over and over again but I simply have a massive mental block. Kind of like the rules for "Big Two". I can't seem to keep them in my head. I've wanted to learn how to sew for the last little while, mostly because I love medieval style outfits and they're very expensive. :p

So yeah. This was good. Although I'm incredibly tired...I was up until about 0530 this morning revisiting my A&W meal from several hours before. I don't like being sick.

I should go make a purple scrunchie with the other material I bought today. Incidentally, if people want small amounts of pretty material, check out my craft store. 22"x18" pieces for $2.29 And it's nice stuff, too.

The UberPost that was promised.

Candyman finally got my internet working...it um...wasn't just a single cord out of place? And I don't feel like a total technophobe? :p Ah well, that's why I'm dating a techie. ;)

So here's that post...written Tuesday Jan. 27, 2004 at 0309

Music, beauty, snow and spirit

A question of timing

This is a novelty to me. Since my internet connection seems to be malfunctioning, and since I don't want to troubleshoot at 0200 I'll be typing this up in WordPad complete with HTML tags and then posting it with the date fitted in when it posts. This irritates me to no end when certain people who will not be named (and if you think it's you, it isn't...this person KNOWS it's them. ;) ) do this, so I'm expecting some flack. [edit: I wound up not doing this because it took too long for me to get this up.]

This post has been brewing for a little while, and I think it's going to wind up being one of those "dream" posts where the content is totally meaningful to me, and me alone. I will reread this stuff, and I will be transported back to the state of mind that I wrote in but since no one else has the points of reference that I do it will only be words to them...you. It's funny that many people understand that no one will "get" their dream, or feeling that they have but it's so desperately important that it is shared with someone. I know that the contents of this post (which is rapidly becoming an essay) probably won't touch very many, if ANY of the readers that I have, but I know that it's important to me to do this. I cleaned out a box a couple days ago and found a torn out page of my diary from when 1991 when I was 11 or 12 describing a dream that I had. There was very little detail, but I was instantly transported back. Those feelings seem so fragile when they're being written, but truly they can last a very long time. This is a really raw and rough stream of consciousness writing, so...deal. ;)

NOTE: Candyman, if you're reading this...there's some stuff in here that might seem strange and worrisome. Please don't worry, there isn't anything wrong. I love you. :) And if you don't find anything worrisome, please disregard this notice.

Now that the "make the boyfriend freak out" addendum is finished, on with...

...the actual post

I'm so tired of being here.
Supressed by all my childish fears.
If you're to leave, why don't you just leave
But your presence still lingers here,
And it won't leave me alone.

These wounds won't seem to heal.
This pain is just too real.
There's just too much that time cannot erase.

When you cried, I wiped away all your tears.
When you screamed, I'd fight away all your fears.
I held your hand through all those years
You still have a hold on me.
Evanescence-"My Immortal"

I hate snow.

No, that isn't the entire post...you're not getting off that easy. :) It just helps to have a bit of background. Snow and I haven't gotten along since I first got my driver's licence, although I quite enjoyed it previously. Weather is something that I've often been attuned with...I think that having a minor case of SADS (Seasonal Affective Disorder Something) has helped (or not) with that. I've always had trouble with winter, often being more depressed, and snow, and cold. I hate the cold. I'm always cold, except when I'm too hot and then I get nauseated. I have a very narrow temperature range that I feel comfortable in. To me, snow has always been something which on the West Coast we endure personally for three days every six years and laugh about how Ontario is getting smacked with temperatures that we only see on TV.

Music has always been a major source of spirituality to me. When I go to church, it's one of the things that I look forward to the most. It was one of the ways I connected with God, and even now that I don't follow a mainstream religion, music is still one of the beautiful things in the world which connects me to the earth and sends me into the sky. Singing has always been very important to me. I sing to myself, often without realizing I'm doing it. I sing to the radio, I sing in the shower (as cliche as that sounds...) and I used to sing out my window when I was younger before I went to sleep.

Finding beauty is very important to me, and I unwittingly found beauty in snow several weeks ago. Unlike many of the other Wet (sic) Coast bloggers, I didn't mention the snowfall (I think) or the icy conditions. This was mostly because they and I were having an uneasy truce. I didn't acknowledge them other than driving very carefully, and they didn't acknowledge me. One evening, Candyman and I were hanging out when it began snowing heavily. We decided that since he had all wheel drive on his car, he would follow me home so that I could leave my car at home since I was working the next morning and then we could go back to his place. On the way back to his place, and on other subsequent drives that night we were listening to the Evanescence CD which I mentioned in my previous blog post.

One of the things that happens to me when I listen to music is that I will be mentally and emotionally transported back to the place where I most vividly remember hearing it. For Incubus's "Wish You Were Here", I'm brushing my hair, listening to the radio in a place that I was housesitting, experiencing true freedom for one of the first times. Madonna's "Lucky Star", I'm 9 or 10 years old at my friend Stephanie's house. It's only in the last year that I can stand to be in the same room as Amanda Marshall's "Dark Horse" or especially "Trust Me, This is Love". I have practically run out of stores when it was on the radio because of its emotional connection for me. The same for Alanis Morrisette's "Head Over Feet". I have several songs which are "flying" songs for me. Sting's "Desert Rose" and several others are on a playlist waiting for enough tracks to burn a CD.

In this case, we were listening to the Evanescence CD while we were driving along the Barnet Highway and it was snowing. I remember commenting that I would always remember this one song, track 4, in this context. This song was "My Immortal", a song which makes me want to cry and sing and love and die, all at once. (The dying part is small...I think it has to do with the strings...in any case, don't worry. It's not like I'm listening to Top Gun anymore.) Tonight I was driving home from C/M's house while it was snowing, and I began to go along the Barnet. It wasn't long before "My Immortal" came on the rotation. I turned it onto repeat and just listened to it and sang along the rest of the way home. When I got to my street, I just kept driving. The snow was falling and reflecting in the streetlights. The world was softening, the music was filling my senses and I felt that the world was in a perfect balance. A continuous cycle...I was in tune with everything. Beauty surrounded me and love seemed easy. Life was something precious and people were inherently good, despite what you might believe. I also came to some conclusions about some things that I'd been longing for, and not admitting to myself.

Things have been changing in my life lately...some stuff I've blogged about, other stuff I haven't even shared with my closest friends. Change, while it may be good, is scary. I've been scared, but as I drove around tonight the world seemed to be safer. Things may be changing, but I'm feeling more prepared for it than I have been in a long time. I tried to find Justy's spot overlooking the city, but I couldn't, so I just let myself drive for a while. I came down off the mountain and arrived at my house.

It was raining again.

You have just won one million dollars:

Whoa, really? Do I have to send you money for me to get mine? Oh...it's just this week's Friday Five. :)

1. Who do you call first?
The lottery corporation to make sure that it's really true.

2. What is the first thing you buy for yourself?
Put a serious downpayment on an apartment or condo or a reasonable house. This way, my monthly payments are fairly low.

3. What is the first thing you buy for someone else?
A first edition (1984) hardcover copy of "Neuromancer" for Justy.

4. Do you give any away? If yes, to whom?
Yeah. Some worthwhile charities, help pay off some bills for some friends, maybe give $500 to some people. Random acts of kindness.

5. Do you invest any? If so, how?
Most of it...I figure living off the interest is a good way to do it. I probably wouldn't even quit my job...I'd be able to work at a job I love and use all the money I made there for fun stuff. Use the interest for paying bills.

Flood, pestilence, fire, famine...

Well, I can't speak for the last two (unless you count the diet I was planning on starting as famine...) but we have a leak in our basement. Again. The last time this happened was about six years ago and it got a lot of stuff soaked. It got within a meter of my room last time. This time, it's only about half a meter from the wall it started at, so that's good. Unfortunately, the forecast (thanks Justy for looking it up for me) is typical January/February Vancouver weather. 'Tonight is "Rain, at times heavy". Tomorrow is "Rain". Saturday is "Chance of showers".' I got home from Candyman's and it was suggested to me that I move some of my books that were in cardboard shelves and boxes. Yeah...books and water, not a good thing.

The pestilence? Many, many spiderwebs surrounding said books. Ick.

I am so smart! S-M-R-T...

Just tried an IQ test. Don't know how accurate it is, but it says I'm smart, so it must be phenomenally clever itself. :)

My IQ is apparently 135, and Mensa accepts people with IQ's over 130.

Woot.

The rest of it: "We also compared your answers with others who have taken the test. According to the sorts of questions you got correct, we can tell your Intellectual Type is a Visionary Philosopher.

This means you are highly intelligent and have a powerful mix of skills and insight that can be applied in a variety of different ways. Like Plato, your exceptional math and verbal skills make you very adept at explaining things to others — and at anticipating and predicting patterns. And that's just some of what we know about you from your IQ results."

Now send us $15 and we'll tell you more about yourself. Erm, no thanks. :)

Try it out and tell me your score if you want.

Still broken

The Cheat is still not working. My brother apparently swapped some cords around, and now I don't know how to fix it. :(

I'm tired and grumpy. And cold. I should probably do something productive. Meh.

Watch this space

The Cheat isn't working right now. I have a massive post set up and written on him but his internet connection is farked.

That is all.

Friday Five

At this moment, what is your favorite...

1. ...song?
"My Immortal"-Evanescence

2. ...food?
Rice Krispy Squares. I just made a batch...WITH extra marshmallow, of course.

3. ...tv show?
Alias and 24. Candyman and I are watching them on DVD. Firefly. Again on DVD. I don't watch much TV straight from the TV.

4. ...scent?
Buttercream candle scent that I bought at a discount from work.

5. ...quote?
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." - Einstein

I'm not supposed to be awake yet...

I've been up for the last hour. This is weird...if I don't have to, I'm NEVER up before there are four numbers on the clock...or even three again. I'm a big fan of sleeping in until 1pm or so. Of course, I almost never go to bed before 2 am...so I guess it all works out.

I'm going to the Everything to do with Sex show tonight with Candyman. Anyone else going tonight?

At least it's not about a haircut...

My room smells like fresh laundry...something which occurs on a less than regular basis. I have a ridiculously huge amount of clothes, due to my penchant for hitting V.V. Boutique and stocking up a couple of years ago, and never getting rid of anything. I rarely do the Value Village thing anymore, but I still have an enormous amount of clothes. Hence, I rarely do laundry because I've always got lots of stuff to wear. By the time I get to the end of my pile of clean clothes, they don't smell like fresh laundry anymore. I just felt like posting this. Yeah.

Working tonight from 3:30-9:30, allegedly. I usually go about twenty minutes past the punch out time, which I have no problem with. I'm so tired though. I've been exhausted for the last couple of days, despite sleeping a lot. Not TOO much, which can also make one tired, but enough that I shouldn't be sleepy.

And I think I'm going to dye my hair burgandy tonight. I've had the dye for a week or so, but haven't had a chance to do anything with it.

Huh...I'll have to look into this...

According to the Belief-o-matic quiz I got from d, my belief system is as follows...

1. Hinduism (100%)
2. Neo-Pagan (99%)
3. Unitarian Universalism (97%)
4. Jainism (95%)
5. Mahayana Buddhism (91%)
6. Sikhism (87%)
7. Liberal Quakers (85%)
8. Reform Judaism (84%)
9. New Age (78%)
10. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (74%)
11. Orthodox Judaism (74%)
12. Bahá'í Faith (73%)
13. New Thought (70%)
14. Islam (68%)
15. Theravada Buddhism (67%)
16. Scientology (64%)
17. Secular Humanism (60%)
18. Taoism (60%)
19. Orthodox Quaker (56%)
20. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (51%)
21. Nontheist (45%)
22. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (42%)
23. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (41%)
24. Eastern Orthodox (39%)
25. Roman Catholic (39%)
26. Seventh Day Adventist (39%)
27. Jehovah's Witness (29%)

Insert title here

I was pretty grumpy Sunday when I did the Friday five. :p Oh well. I can tell...dunno if anyone else can.

Helped no name yet paint her apartment a little on Saturday. That was cool...I've never done any painting before. Got to meet a boy. :) Finally. :) It's strange...I read all these people's blogs and I'm meeting a bunch of them all at once.

I'm a little tired, so punctuation and flow of thought will be going out the window. I'm uncomfortably crampy. :( I slept a bunch today...day off. I wound up crashing at C/M's last night because I had what I believe to be a minor migraine. Sensitive to light, major headache, but no nausea (for ONCE in my fricking life...). He tried to wake me up around 4 am, but I was really unable to drive walk.

I don't have to work until 3:30 tomorrow afternoon, so I'll be sleeping in...since I slept through a lot of this afternoon and probably won't be able to get to sleep until around four. *grumble*

I did some rubber stamping today. It's the first time since I was about ten that I've done any and I'd forgotten how much fun it was. I'd bought a bunch of stamps and ink and embossing powder from work and was just playing with the stamps and ink. Maybe tomorrow I'll break out the iron and the embossing powder and get serious. :)

I'm planning on having a table at the Vancouver Flea Market in the next couple of weeks. Does anyone want to kick in some money for it and I'll sell some of your stuff? Research will be forthcoming and I'll get more details in the next little while. Allegedly.

Friday Five

1. What does it say in the signature line of your emails?
Nothing.

2. Did you have a senior quote in your high school yearbook? What was it? If you haven't graduated yet, what would you like your quote to be?
Nope, didn't get it in on time. Standard stuff, including "Ex-boyfriend's initials: we'll be together forever" etc. Something stupid about Magic in the cafeteria and RPG's.

3. If you had vanity plates on your car, what would they read? If you already have them, what do they say?
I don't really like vanity plates. Probably something profound in six letters or numbers or less.

4. Have you received any gifts with messages engraved upon them? What did the inscription say?
Name, birthday, Happy 21st Birthday etc. Nothing too exciting.

5. What would you like your epitaph to be?
I want to be cremated, no headstone. I'd like my headstone to be a tree or a rock or something.

Finally figured it out.

A couple of months ago the aerial antenna on my car vanished, leaving only the screw where it should have been. I didn't notice it for a while, so I'm not sure how long it had been missing because I rarely listen to the radio in my car...the novelty of having a CD player hasn't worn off yet. I told myself I'd head down to Lordco and pick up a replacement. Never did. Then, three weeks ago I noticed that the aerial was back! Like, had someone borrowed it?! Or had a random person decided to swap their old one and noticed that mine was missing?

So, I finally remembered to ask around and it turns out that my dad had replaced it about three months ago. :) Thanks Dad!

In other news:

I took my mom out for her birthday "Death by Chocolate" that I had never gotten around to doing with her. Her b-day is in March, BTW. We had a great time. :) Chatted about nothing for almost two hours. Happy. She and I tend to have really good talks when we actually get going. I enjoyed having a whole day off. :)

Tomorrow I will attempt to help no name yet and Mr. no name yet get their apartment painted before no name yet Jr. arrives. I've never painted walls before. I feel that I will probably be wearing an assortment of colours by the end of the day. This pleases me. I've always wanted to be various shades of greens and reds. Plus it will be practice for when I buy my own place, hopefully in May.

Finally, for those who missed my casual mention of it at the end of my "year in review", I got the supervisor position I was trying to get. Hurray! Came with a raise and guaranteed hours. Of course, next week I'm short of those hours. Siiiiigh. But it means I get to spend more time resting, crafting and seeing my wonderful, loving boyfriend. :) If he doesn't have too much homework... ;)

Crazy.

Check this out...this is truly art.

I am a Hippy



Which America Hating Minority Are You?

Take More Robert & Tim Quizzes
Watch Robert & Tim Cartoons

:(

My last Fishlet (tm) died a couple days ago. But I found two more this morning skittering around the tank. They're really well hidden in this amazing algae bloom I've got going...before work tomorrow, I need to get an algae killer...it bloomed in about three days. It was really freaky.

Yup, another one

You are Jubilee!

Though you may be young and inexperienced, you have
great potential and will someday become an
admirable figure. For that to happen, though,
you must overcome your juvenile belief system
and adopt a more mature view on life.


Which X-Men character are you most like?
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Quizzes!!

Congratulations! You're Elrond!


Which Lord of the Rings character and personality problem are you?
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My inner child is ten years old!

The adult world is pretty irrelevant to me. Whether
I'm off on my bicycle (or pony) exploring, lost
in a good book, or giggling with my best
friend, I live in a world apart, one full of
adventure and wonder and other stuff adults
don't understand.


How Old is Your Inner Child?
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You are Form 0, Phoenix: The Eternal.

"And The Phoenix's cycle had reached
zenith, so he consumed himself in fire. He
emerged from his own ashes, to be forever
immortal."

Some examples of the Phoenix Form are Quetzalcoatl
(Aztec), Shiva (Indian), and Ra-Atum
(Egyptian).
The Phoenix is associated with the concept of life,
the number 0, and the element of fire.
His sign is the eclipsed sun.

As a member of Form 0, you are a determined
individual. You tend to keep your sense of
optomism, even through tough times and have a
positive outlook on most situations. You have
a way of looking at going through life as a
journey that you can constantly learn from.
Phoenixes are the best friends to have because
they cheer people up easily.


Which Mythological Form Are You?
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Yay!

Much cool stuff ensued last night. I finally got to meet d last night at her Wicca study group. I feel very good about this. I'd never thought about trying to practice Wicca with a group before, thinking of myself more as a solitary, or with one other person to mentor me. This is looking good though. :) I'm happy with it.

And not only is d really nice and slightly crazy in the same way that I am, she's also a craft person. *giggle* Who knew?! Hopefully she and I will be able to do a craft day out in the suburbs where a bunch of the good shops are. She's also trying to arrange a day with a bunch of people..work permitting, I'm so there.

Sooooo, Friday Five!

Oh. It's just the same stuff from last week. :( Oh well!

Monday Five

What one thing are you most looking forward to . . .

1. ...today?
Hot chocolate and hanging out with Justy and Candyman tonight.

2. ...over the next week?
Payday on Friday, starting to do some landscape paintings and sketches

3. ...this year?
Getting my own business going and moving out

4. ...over the next five years?
Staying in touch with family and friends, growing up a little.

5. ...for the rest of your life?
Either finding, or finding out that I've got, someone to spend the rest of my life with. Having kids.

Oh, and chocolate. I'm definitely looking forward to a pseudo-chocolate which is good for me.

2003-Year in Review

Last updated: January 4th

January:
-nearly got broken up with by Candyman due to some stupid things I said, although I didn't learn this until later...like March or April.
-began what should have been my final semester of school. Three fun classes: hockey, archaeology and history.
-C/M's birthday gifts went over very well...Tenacious D CD and some other stuff.
-Thanks to the wonders of ICQ, began chatting lots with Bimkins and Justy
-Tutoring and teaching at the church are my sources of income
-Began taking "capoeira", a Brazilian martial art

February:
-Got to see Daredevil on opening day, Valentine's Day. Had an amazing Valentines, complete with pre-lunch cuddling, lunch at Milestones (our first date place) and Daredevil. Later in doghouse for forgetting we saw Daredevil on Valentines. Whoops. :/
-Play a little bit of T-Cup Ultimate, TriCities Ultimate League.

March:
-My mother's birthday. I STILL owe her her present...dessert and drinks at Death By Chocolate.
-St Patrick's Day. I completely forgot about it. Some Celt *I* am.
-Begin looking into Wicca as a religion again, rather than a strange hippy thing. Ditto for Zen Buddhism.

April:
-Kittens' birthday. Uh, I forget what I got her. I think it was nice though...
-Finished all my classes. Taking the summer off...w00t! My grades are pretty good.

May:
-Vegging out. That's pretty much it. Working some.
-Begin playing summer Ultimate. Sprain my ankle less than a week into the season and I'm gone for five weeks.

June:
-Herbie (my old car) pulls a "Hal 9000" and tries to kill me on my way back from tutoring. I have a new car at the end of the week.
-Rob's (little brother) 19th birthday. I got him a T-shirt with his driver's licence on it and Candyman, my cousin Erin and I take him out to the pub.
-Begin playing Ultimate again, and roll my ankle again. Off for three weeks.

July:
-still vegging out. It's good.
-Playing Ultimate, this time with a support brace. My GOD, it's the best support brace EVER!!!
-Start this blog, mainly to try and make myself change into the person I want me to be. It seems to be at least partly working. I'm much happier now than I have been in years. Is this because I'm changing first, or is this blog changing me? Who knows?

August:
-I fill in at Cat's work. I decide that I'm never EVER working in an evil office environment. Unless I get very very rich. More than they'd be willing to pay me, I think.
-I begin karate classes with Shintokukai Karate-do. It is wonderful. Happiness

September:
-I get the job of my dreams...craft store! Hurrah!
-I start unnecessary classes. Stupid, baka. They're scary classes. I worry.
-I get a promotion at the craft store and stop working at the church
-I begin assistant captaining my own Ultimate team. It's a lot of commitment! I think I might stick to being a player for a while.

October
-I finally get my wisdom teeth taken out. It sucks. Enough said.
-My birthday! Many good things, and lots of pictures of me with a swollen jaw.
-I dress up my brother as a hooker for Hallowe'en. My parents are so proud. ;) I also get to wear fishnets with my costume.

November
-Freaking out about classes. They're not doing well.
-Still love my job!
-Seriously looking into Wicca and Zen Buddhism as a spiritual path
-learn how to knit. Many scarves ensue.

December
-Finals. Flu. Bad combo.
-Grades=meh. I didn't fail anything...
-might start doing aromatherapy seminars
-starting a major project which is semi-going. It has to do with horses. :)
-Got a real promotion at work...raise and everything. This actually happened December 31. Happy new year to me!!

Quiz

I'll write a "year in review" thingie later.


You have strong domme tendencies. You are or could
be the prime orchestrator in the bedroom. You
are in control; consistent, straightforward and
respectful.I pity the worthless Miss Nobodys
who dare disobey your direct orders.


Are you Dominant or Submissive?
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Monday Five

1. What was your biggest accomplishment this year?
Losing almost twenty pounds. And getting a wicked cool job. (I'm permanent now by the way, and being considered for a supervisor position *hop* )

2. What was your biggest disappointment?
Didn't really have any. It was a decent year. Maybe spraining my ankle...

3. What do you hope the new year brings?
Beauty, surrounding me, and also spiritual beauty as I try to figure stuff out.

4. Will you be making any New Year's resolutions? If yes, what will they be?
Yes. Eat healthy, exercise more, continue to grow and mature, move out.

5. What are your plans for New Year's Eve?
Don't really have any. I'm thinking about inviting a bunch of people (friends and from work) over to my place to watch the Canucks game.