As promised, exciting things

Well, they're exciting to ME, anyway. :)

1) o/~ Should I rent, or should I buy now? If I rent there will be trouble...but if I buy there may be double... o/~

I'll be moving out in either February or March.

...

Shut up...stop laughing at me. I mean it this time.

Now I need to decide about renting vs buying. I'll be moving to North Burnaby, either near Skytrain or a major bus route, or near Commercial Drive. For the apartment/condo- two bedrooms minimum...but three would be even better. In-apartment laundry would be a major asset, in-building is necessary if there isn't anything in the apartment. Fireplace would be nice, same with balcony but neither of those are essential. I'm not adverse to renting/buying a house if the prices are right. (and to buy, it'd have to be VERY right.) Sooooo...talk to me. Where should I live?

2) Itsa ma birthday! Coming up October 10th...I'll be 25. Even better, it's the three months out of the year that I'm only a year younger than Dave, rather than two. So, if you feel like buying me a present...please donate some money to breast cancer research, the SPCA or the Children's Hospital instead. I've got lots of stuff.

3) This one is probably the one I'm most immediately excited about. Tomorrow I'm registering for NaNoWriMo...also known as National Novel Writing Month. This is the craziest thing I've ever committed to do solo. Basically it involves writing a 50,000 word novel (roughly 175 pages by their estimate) from the time of November 1 12:01 am to November 30 11:59 pm. That's about 1667 words per day. I've got a bit of an outline, a main character and the rough sketch of several other characters. I'm frightened, but in a good way. It's kind of scary, but I've been thinking about becoming a writer for a while now. This seems to be the best way to just write. Anyone else interested in going absolutely fricking nuts signing up?

*takes a deep breath*

Ok. I can do this. I have a paper due tomorrow I haven't started writing yet. However, I have researched it, and now all I have to do is spill out 4 pages of information in some kind of coherent order. No problem! *whimper*

*reaches around behind the computer to unplug the modem cord* See y'all on the flip flop. I'll be back later this evening or tomorrow.

Bzzzt... *black screen with a white dot fading in the centre*

I'm boring

Visiting with people, doing readings for a paper, working, going to class, knitting and finishing watching Queer as Folk season two. :p Oh well. More exciting things will be happening...stay tuned.

Visiting

So, my Oma's been here for the last couple of days. It's been nice. There's been a lot of desserts, she's come to watch me do karate and play Ultimate and there's been a bunch of "When I was your age, I already had two children." This leads to my mom quickly adding "But don't be in any hurry!" I'm inclined to agree with Momma on this one. :)

We have evidence of my occasional mad Ultimate skillz. My mom actually got a video of one of my points. :)

Exercise yesterday: 2 hours karate
Exercise today: 1.5 hours Ultimate (3)

Stunning realization

I was playing around with a hairstyle program, and I've realized something frightening. I look an awful lot like a boy. When I was trying those hairstyles on myself, I looked like a badly made up drag queen. Whoa.

I'm going to just assume that it was a lousy fit on the hairstyles, and a poor picture...because, as much as I like men...I don't particularly want to look like one.

Note: sorry about not being here...very busy week. Ye gods. And my grandmother's in town this weekend, so I might not be available for...well...anything. :p

This day is for the birds

Apparently Donna had the pleasure of dealing with a dead bird due to cat causes this morning. I had a similar experience...

I was tutoring and the cat brought a bird into the kitchen. THIS one was still alive. So I got to be the brave one, catch the stunned bird and let it go outside. Then I got to do the mental "ew ew ew, bird blood on my hands and FEATHERS STICKING TO MY HANDS OH DEAR GOD GETMETHECLEANERANDTHESOAPANDTHERUBBINGALCOHOL!" dance. Couldn't do a real one because I had to maintain decorum in front of the kid and the lady I tutor for.

Ar.

Exercise today: 2 hours Ultimate

Arrr!

Don't ye be forgettin' that today be Talk Like A Pirate Day mateys!! Tell someone that they be walkin' the plank today! Arr!

Exercise yesterday: 1.5 hours karate

Unsexy bruise. :p

Hmmm...how did Karin get this bruise? Was it diving headlong after a disc to score the winning point? Nope. A miscalculated karate movement? Nuh uh... How about saving a child or pet from a car. Not that either. Give up?

*cough* Doorknob. You may all proceed with laughing hysterically at me now. :p

You know...with my incredible ability to bruise in a stiff wind, coupled with my equally amazing ability to...well... walk into doorknobs with the least provocation, it's a really, really good thing I don't do things conducive to bruising...like say, Ultimate Frisbee...or karate...
 

ICQ post from someone who has way to much time on his/her hands

(Got a "hi" from this person a couple weeks ago, so I'm curious as to where I might know "him" from.)

Date : 9/18/2004 Time : 12:36 PM
LoverGirl: so, do I know you?

Date : 9/18/2004 Time : 1:09 PM
Flo: yes

Date : 9/18/2004 Time : 1:10 PM
Flo: you are a bitch

Date : 9/18/2004 Time : 1:12 PM
LoverGirl: Ah. :) You DO know me.

Date : 9/18/2004 Time : 1:13 PM
LoverGirl: Anything else?

Date : 9/18/2004 Time : 1:15 PM
LoverGirl: Did you get disconnected? I sent a couple of replies, but you might not have received them.

(note my concern here. What a pity that my fabulous and intelligent remarks might go unheard. *sigh* )

Date : 9/18/2004 Time : 1:20 PM
LoverGirl: All right, so are we finished then?

Date : 9/18/2004 Time : 1:23 PM
LoverGirl: Cool, thanks for playing, don't forget to pick up our home game.


So I'm not exactly sure what all this was about...Seems like since I changed my username to LoverGirl, I've been getting a lot more hits from random weird individuals.

NO! Nononono!!

Away with thee, scratchy throat! Cease pestering me, thou sneezing and stuffy nose! Headache and lack of energy begone! *poof?* *please poof?*

Yeah...so it looks like I might be getting something again...dammit! Unfair! And I got to have my "yearly female test" and checkup today. Bleah. At least I know that according to my blood pressure, I'm going to live forever. :D

It's that time of year again...hot chocolate at the computer!! 

I just said "wang" to my mother.

Actually, that's it.

Um...ok, I'm going to do the rest of my review stuff so I'm allowed to watch episode one of the second season of Queer as Folk. Yikes. Major cliffhanger, much?!

Ick.

I've got a wicked headache. I fell asleep on the couch and somehow knotted up my neck. Ouch. My calves feel much less agonizing from Ultimate on Sunday. I can walk again!! With much less pain! *glee*

SOMEONE PLEASE STOP ME!

*stares at the 3/4 eaten box of chocolate covered almonds.* Oh, dear god. What have I done?

Oh well...new feature here at Random Synapses...all the cool kids are doing it. :) Well...my mom says I'm cool. ;)

View My Webcam See me live on my webcam.

Swing by...check me out. :)

So very efficient

Unplugging my modem helps me get schoolwork done considerably. I've actually been doing work...colour me shocked. :) I had planned on going to a volunteer meeting for Out on Campus today, but I slept in. :p Oh well...there's a whole semester to become an activist.

What else? My room is starting to look like a war zone again. I need to get things organized. :/ Preferably before midterms and essay season happens again.

My classes are most interesting. I am pleased. I am even more pleased that I only have two assignments for the whole semester. :) One of my courses is based on class participation (10%) and two exams (45% each). Fortunately, exams are one of my strong suits.

Such a boring post. :p I have started a knitting blog so that I don't bore everyone here with tales of my knitting. :) Knitting Pretty (shamelessly cribbed from a couple of different sources. Ttthpt. I'm not original enough to come up with a knitting pun. Anyone got any ideas? Knit Happens has already been taken.)

GLEEEEEEEE

I'm starting class tomorrow...like in a real classroom. AND I'm taking the bus up. This happens so infrequently, it's worth a mention.

Freaky.

Well, I'M impressed.

Despite being sick...despite The Demon telling me that I shouldn't exercise...despite many other factors, I managed to go to both karate and Ultimate this weekend. I am pleased. I am feeling really good about myself, and *scuffs feet* I scored three points today... *blush* I'm REALLY happy about that. That ties my record for the first season I ever played.

I'm glad the season has started. I'm not glad that the trees are starting to change colours. I don't do well in winter...but winter's not here yet! And today was a beautiful summer day. I am happy.

Exercise today: 2 hours Ultimate, yesterday: 2 hours karate

Stripy toque...finished it last night. 

I should really eat better

Drinking orange juice instead of pop doesn't really do one much good when one's breakfast and lunch consist of several handfuls of Zesty Nacho Tortilla Chips and Salt 'n' Vinegar chips. Um...heh. :P

Luckily Dave took me out for dinner last night and I've got half a hamburger in my fridge.

Oh, man...not fair.

Being sick, I can handle...barely. Having really bad cramps? Hey, I've dealt with that for the last 11 years. No problem. Being sick, having really bad cramps at work while all the painkillers are at home in my bathroom? THAT feels like the universe is just kicking your ass for the hell of it.

On this day, seven years ago...

I also had a cold. My ears were plugged, I was hungover (well...actually, just very tired), and I was jet-lagged from being in Scotland the day before. It was my first day of university!! Seven years ago today I expected that I would presently...

...be finished school.
...be married. (YIKES!)
...have a career of some form.
...DEFINITELY be out of my parent's house.
...probably have at least one child.

Instead, I am...

...finished my degree, but taking courses that interest me.
...in a wonderful, long term relationship which is showing no signs of ending.
...er...well, we're working on this one. I'm fussy when it comes to careers.
...February or March, I'm outta here.
...enjoying NNY's child and knowing that I'll have one when I'm ready.

You know...when I put it that way, I'm not nearly as frighteningly behind as I thought I was.

Whew.

School's out forever!

Oh, wait, no it's not. Picked up my books and correspondence texts from university today and got to see Justy's new place. :)

Woo! Cough syrup!

I've never been high...but I imagine it's what today felt like. I don't actually really remember much about work today...I hope my till balances. :/

Woo.

I'm feeling about eighteen thousand percent better this morning. In fact, I'm off to work. I figured that a four hour shift wouldn't kill me, and since I'm getting time and a half (Happy Labour Day everyone) I decided to drag my butt out of bed. So, here we go!!

Stream of (un)consciousness

By popular demand...well, at least by one person. I haven't been watching tv because moving flickering lights make me unhappy. Neo-citrin is blessed by all the gods, spirits and ghosts of our ancestors. Buckley's cough syrup is from the foulest pits of hell (I haven't resorted to drinking it yet). Mr. Noodles, chicken flavour tastes really good going down. I hope I don't have to deal with it coming back up.

I'm a little nervous about going to lie down. When I woke up from my nap this afternoon and sat up, all the junk in my chest shifted around and made me cough. Yech. My throat is feeling a lot better.

I've been reading a lot of baby blogs lately. *grumble* And now I've stumbled onto several infertility blogs. *sigh* I'm such a hypochondriac... luckily it's controllable for me. However, I know more about IVF and mucous plugs and male factor and other methods of trying to have children on reduced fertility.

I think I'll need to buy for a new apartment: a dining room table and chairs, at least one easy chair, possibly a new couch, several strings of lights or other lighting type implements.

I think I should be going to bed. I am a terrible patient...I deal best with being left alone...unless I want something. Then it becomes "Get me juice", "No! I want grape juice", "What do you mean we don't have grape juice", "I don't care that no one in the house drinks grape juice?", "I want a blanket." "NO, not that blanket", "This blanket's too hot.", "This one's not warm enough".

Luckily, afterwards I'm very grateful.

Now to rummage through the "colds and flu" cabinet and pick out a nice flavour of medicinal syrup. (WHAT? No grape flavoured!! Damn you!)

Great green globs of greasy grimy gucky stuff.

Ooh...*incoherent moan of the bad sort* I feel so awful. I have this monstrous hybrid of stomach flu and "cold" flu. I decided at 3 am as I practically crawled to the bathroom (because I was too dizzy to stand upright) to throw up that I should probably stay home from work. This is also true because by 7am I had gotten a grand total of about two hours sleep.

*whiiiiiiiiiiiiine* I ache all over. I get chills. My throat is sore. I feel nauseated. My nose is plugged, unless it's leaking green shit. I'm dizzy. */whiiiiiiiiiiiine*

I think it's time for me to go back to bed. On the plus side...since I haven't felt like eating in three days, I've lost four pounds.

Meeting new people

Meeting people is good. Meeting people in the midst of food is good. Meeting people in the midst of food and funny movies is even better. Meeting people in the midst of food and funny movies, and armed with several bottles of wine...just in case...is awesome. Thank you peechie for a fun evening. :) We'll definitely have to do something, now that we both know that we don't put on our "crazy internet" faces the first time we meet. :) I got to my first destination safely...now to get home. Before 10 tomorrow morning. Ugh.

In other news, there is something in the air tonight...I'm in the middle of a strange, airborne allergy attack. Bleah.. :p

Good things in strange packages

I missed going to Playland yesterday with Devon and Donna...probably a good thing though...I feel really yucky now. I'm all dizzy and my stomach's doing weird gurgling things. I don't wanna know how I'd feel after eating all the Fair food, going on evil rides of ultimate doom, etc.

So I get into work today and I'm not working. Whoops. I guess it's better than the opposite...not going into work...and turning out to be working. This give me a chance to lie around and sleep or work on knitting clean my room or go up to the university and buy books.

What's that day again?

Today is Dave and my second year anniversary. I've already told him all the mushy stuff, so I don't need to inflict it on anyone else over the blog. Instead, I'll just do a "quick" synopsis of what we did recently. Oh, and stick some mushy stuff at the end. You have been warned.

The last few days have been great...I think we've spent pretty much 48 hours straight together and we don't want to kill each other. I think this bodes well for the long term strength of our relationship. :) Monday night we went to Ikea and in order to create a harmonious bedroom at some point, we both might get wardrobes which will enable us to create a blended furniture family.

Oh dear god(ess)(es)...this is way to grown up for me.

Tuesday we bummed around most of the day cuddling, went to visit NNY and family, and GAVE THEM THE FINISHED BABY BLANKET!!!! YAY!!!!!! I'm sure I'll post about it later in excruciating detail. Then we went downtown to do some shopping. We actually didn't wind up buying anything...shocking! There were some gorgeous inexpensive leather boots, but my calves are just too fat for them. Dammit. We went out for dinner at Anton's last night. There was so much food...it was incredible! Much pasta. In a shocking turn of events we actually rented a movie last night. Between Dave and my DVD collection, it rivals most video stores in sheer volume, but we rented "Twisted" with Ashley Judd. I think that the thriller genre has become tied with s/f and fantasy in my list of favourites.

Today we cuddled for a bunch of the day, then Dave surprised me with lunch at Milestones...this was where we went for our first date...and first Valentines, and first year anniversary... *big romantic sigh* Then we went shopping again...this time we (read: he) actually bought something. After this we went back to my place where I took a nap. Dave had planned an Ulti practice for this evening, so he went back to his place to prep. I went over and we went to practice. Happily, it was just the two of us, so we got to continue our together time. After practice we went and watched "Dead Poets Society"...a movie I'd never seen but have always wanted to. Now, I am home and trying to cope with the idea that I'm going to have to fall asleep tonight without a boyfriend in the room with me. How very bizarre.

I would just like to finish off by saying what an amazing two years (well, and four months since we met, but who's counting anyway? *looks innocent*) I've had. Warning: mush ahead. Also...poor grammar ahead.

Dave: it's hard for me to express how much you've helped to change me into the person I've been trying to be...the person I want to be. Thank you for all of the everything that you've done for me...from listening to me garble Old English translations at you over the phone for six hours at a time, to always making sure that I have a glass of juice or pop when I come over. For pushing me to work out, putting up with my whining, and taking my fingers out of my mouth, under the pretext of holding my hand, when I'm about to start biting my nails again. Thank you for putting up with my strange idiosyncracies in the kitchen (no, you can't boil pasta in water which has come out of the hot water tap!). Thank you for treating me with respect, listening to my ideas (even when you decide against them :) ) and coming over to visit me when I'm randomly angry...even when I take it out on you. Thank you for late night taquito runs and letting me drool over Adrian Paul's torso. Umm...figuratively speaking...and from a great distance.

Thank you for loving me.

(dammit...all that mushy stuff. :p)

Exercise today: 1 1/4 hours Ultimate practice

Game called on account of rain...financial rain, that is.

Dave and I were going to go away today, tomorrow and Wednesday since I've managed to finangle two days off in a row without tutoring or craft store. Unfortunately, the gods of finance suggested otherwise. :( Ah well. This gives us the opportunity to explore Vancouver and do some touristy things. On the possible schedule for tomorrow or the next day: Granville Island, Chinatown, the James Bond exhibit at Science World, Playland and the Vancouver Aquarium.

I'm feeling significantly better than yesterday. The random anger seems to have gone along on its merry way. I'm happy about that. Partly it was the idea that I wasn't going to be able to go anywhere...that kind of thing doesn't usually bother me...I am disgustingly Pollyanna-like a lot of the time. This time however, probably coupled with a lack of sleep, made me extremely anxious and upset. Things are much better now...I have two days off in a row and I'm still desperately in love with my man. Things are much better than they were yesterday. :)

Exercise today: walking around Ikea for four hours

So much anger

I don't really have any reason to be angry or upset, yet I am. Dammit. I was doing SO well! :p

Adventures in Retail

D has been writing about her experiences in retail, so I thought I'd comment with some suggestions of my own. However, as these things are wont to do...especially with retail complaints...I decided that it was getting too long for a comment.

Things that I find annoying and ways I deal with them...you might find some of this useful...and hopefully some of it amusing. :D

Complaints about the price of the bill: "Yes, I totally agree with you. I wish I could change it, but if I had THAT power, I wouldn't be standing here, now would I?"

Giving me a $100 bill for a $2 item first thing in the morning: "I'm sorry...we have to get change out of the safe." Wait a REALLY long time...paging people who aren't actually in the store is a great way to buy time.

Giving me a bill, letting me ring the whole thing through, then "Oh! I have 58 cents!": Oh, gee...thanks. Now I have to do the math in my head. I don't do math...especially early in the morning. Like we don't have an entire safe full of change...don't pretend you're doing ME the favour.

Handing me the basket full of items. Lady, you can pull them out of the basket yourself. How many times are you going to do that today? MAYBE five, if you're Christmas shopping? I'd have to do it over 100 times if everyone did it. Can you say "repetitive stress"? Generally, I just tip the basket over towards me and ignore any dirty looks. You probably don't have this problem because of the conveyer though.

Letting your children run amok in the store. Um, yeah. This happened a couple of weeks ago. A woman was taking a course (two hours long) in our store and let her three kids just be in the store. Alone. There was a 9 year old boy and 5 year old and 1 year old girls. After about an hour, she came out of the classroom and gave them lollipops. All of them. Including the year old. So, now instead of three unsupervised children, we now have three unsupervised, sugared up children...one of whom is likely to choke on their treat. Actually with the way that the other two were running around, they were fairly likely to choke as well.

Leaving your purchase at the front counter, either before or after you've paid for it. Please! Clutter up our counters with your crap. We've got nothing better to do with our space than babysit the shit you just bought...or are thinking about buying! We especially love it when you bring up six or seven big huge fake trees and stick them around us, because we work inside, and we definitely wouldn't want any LIGHT getting to us! No no no! We're SPECIAL people who work inside because we have an allergy to light. Thank you for being so considerate of our special needs!!

Ok...I think I'm done for now. :p

Learning something new...one day at a time

I learned today at karate that if Sensei says "This is quite difficult" and I find it quite easy...I really have no idea what I'm doing.

Exercise today: 2 hours of karate

Weirdest favour I've ever asked anyone...

So, I had this nightmare last night, leading me to ask Dave the following questions.

#1: "Do you have any kids that I don't know about?"

and

#2: "If we ever become part of an elite resistance team trying to free a country from an evil dictatorship, and we get betrayed and captured by members of our own team, and held in a rather nice country club-like commune, and you impregnate one of the women who is holding us prisoner (and who was one of those who betrayed us) as well as have a two or three year old with her, could you please make sure that I don't find all this out when I'm changing the new baby's diapers...on my birthday?

This then leads to one of the best lines I've ever remembered from a dream... "How many half siblings are my future children going to have?!"

LOL...wow. I guess I ought to cut back on the burritos before bedtime. And no, there are no children in the immediate future, or the not so immediate past. :)

Happy.

Ok, what's going on? I've been REALLY happy for the last week or so. Who's the joker? I just love EVERYbody and EVERYthing today.

Ohhhh...I figured it out. I've got tomorrow off. Well, that explains today, but what about the rest of the week?! Huh?! Huh?!

Miaow...

I'm BLOWN away. This is something BIG. HARD luck to those who haven't seen it. My mind is totally BLOWN. SUCK it up, folks. Why didn't anyone TURN ME ON to this before? Different STROKES I suppose, but I tell you, it's HUGE. It's been a LONG time since I've seen something like this.

What the hell is she talking about, you might ask? Why, I've just watched the first three episodes of Queer as Folk , I might answer. I borrowed the first three seasons on DVD from Bimkins when he came out. Ahem...pardon the pun. What an amazing show. I have got serious hots for the Justin character. Normally I don't go for blondes...or seventeen year olds...but ye flipping gods.

Scuze me, I have to go mop up the drool now.

(oh, I am SO going to get in trouble for this post.)

If you're looking for fantasy/sf books...

...here's a great website. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk

Pthbt...it's still raining. I hate driving in the rain. I will stay home and have a rare evening of "I don't have anything to do"...hopefully I will finish the major knitting project of Drew's blanket and clean out some drawers in my desk to fit craft stuff into them. :D

I am famous!!

In a Yahoo search for "karin" Random Synapses ranks #19. Damn...I know *I'm* impressed.

Groovy

Canada currently has five medals.

Required reading for all shoppers

How to not be a sh*tf*ck while shopping. Just replace "CD" or "movie" with anything else.

Rain rain, go away.

Actually, no...wait! Don't! We need you. It's really feeling like a hot chocolate day right now. :p So used to all the heat.

Very tired...I have a crick in my neck from all the unusual pillows I've been sleeping on for the last couple days.

So, Whistler: I really enjoyed it. There may be way too many details that no one really cares about, but oh well. I've never been to the village or anything before. It really caters to two groups of people...rich yuppies and extreme outdoors people. Neat that way. There's about eight coffee shops, fifteen boutiques, several spas, at least half a dozen sweet shops/ice cream shops, at least a dozen "extreme outdoors" (ski, snowboard, mountain biking) stores and about three chiropractors and massage therapists. They probably do a pretty good business. :)

Keegan and I arrived Thursday night. The drive up took us about 2 1/2 hours including a stop in Squamish for ice cream. We found where we were staying (Blackcomb Lodge, room 110) easily and dropped off our stuff in the room with Keegan's sister Breanne and her boyfriend Mike. Then we went exploring. Well, technically we went to the grocery store, but we got pointed towards the wrong grocery store and wound up exploring through half the village when the other one was about thirteen feet from our hotel. That night was really hot, and NOISY. We were right over a restaurant and right across the street from a bar. The a/c gave us all headaches, so we had to have the windows open for air instead. But we slept (poorly) until...

Friday: Bre and Mike were leaving, so even though they were pretty quiet, we got woken up around 0530. I couldn't get back to sleep so I went for a "run"...which was more of a walk, because like a dummy I'd forgotten my inhaler and I didn't really want to have an asthma attack 150 km from my inhaler. It was really weird walking around when there wasn't really that many other people around. I came back to the room and I knew that the world had moved on (10 life points to whoever gets the reference) because not only was I awake at 0645, I was baking cookies. Just English Bay out of the bucket White Chocolate Macadamia Nut dough, but STILL. Around 8 we crashed again until 0830 because there was some massive construction going on. Closing the windows helped. We did a lot of napping and snacking that weekend. I'll skip the rest of the details on that. Most of Friday was spent wandering around window shopping and regular shopping. The first two stores we went into were one of the bookstores and the rock and gem shop. Tee hee. :) I picked up a pair of charms for my Italian charm bracelet and a fabulous black yoga outfit...a black tank top with "Whistler" in gems on the front, black pants, a black thong and a black tote bag. VERY cute. We crashed a couple of times and did some craft stuff...I was working on some knitting and she was doing a gorgeous cross stitch dreamcatcher. Keegan's fiance Drew came up that night and we had some lasagne pies that he brought up.

Saturday: I was leaving that afternoon so I packed all my stuff up...hopefully I didn't leave anything behind. Keegan, Drew and I all went to the Whistler museum after sleeping in until noon despite the construction. I got some really nice hematite stones and some arroweheads. Then we went back to the art supply shop where I picked up a sumi-e kit (Chinese brush painting). It's really gorgeous. I have a book on it, and some brushes, but we don't sell the ink at work. I could get it downtown, but it was such a great buy. Besides, we didn't eat out at all, so I figure it all evened out. I didn't get any souveniers except for the rocks and the yoga stuff, so that evens out as well. The drive home took me just about 2 1/2 hours and it was raining just as I was leaving. Grand total spent: less than $150. Gas: 1/2 tank there and back. Distance: about 300 km.

With the trip to Seattle and now this, I think that my car is pretty much broken in.

Back from Whistler

Unfortunately too late to get to karate today. :( Resolution: must go. More.

The drive up and down were both nice, as was the actual "being in Whistler". I'll get into more detail later, I'm sure.

Meep meep.

Here I go...off to Whistler for the weekend. I'll be back Saturday.

Love.

Sleep? Pffft.

I don't sleep well when I'm in a place I don't know. :( However, I got to have not one, but TWO visits in two days with NNY and family. Dave and I hung out with everyone last night and then a couple of us went to see Supersize Me at the Movies for Mommies theatre today. It was great!! Really a good movie, and I loved the idea of all those moms being able to go to the movies with their babies. Very nice. :D

I haven't been exercising much...or eating healthy. This is about to change. Also, my room will remain clean. *happy* Loving all my space.

$

Today at work I got a $20 with this website stamped on it. www.wherehaveibeen.com It's interesting. I punched it into the system. :) Anyway, it's a neat idea.

Buh buh uh duh uh buh.

Articulate, aren't I? :p I really should take before and after pictures of some of the cleaning I do. Ye gods. Not to mention before and after pictures of my eyes and nose due to allergic sneezing due to dust. BLEAH!

Exercise today: cleaning for 4.5 hours

Much room cleaning

Today with Keegan (Kittens) I clean more. This is silly. I need to have a clean room. No more with this mess.

Ooh...

I got a B+ on my Canadian Culture course. :) Was hoping for an A-, but I think I can live with this.

Not much to say

While I've been doing a lot, there hasn't been much to write about. My room was measured last night by the wonderful Dave who also hung out with me for three hours while I cleaned more. My room is actually beginning to emerge. :D I am pleased. I've also decided that I need to start doing more craft stuff, if only to get rid of the mass quantities of STUFF in my room. Most of the stuff I've got is bulky as well...yarn, soap, paper etc. Bleah.

I haven't been exercising except with Ultimate and karate. Bad, bad. Especially since Ultimate is finished (third in our divison. :) ) until fall. I need to get myself motivated again. Must start running or something. Yuck.

My brother and dad are in Scotland right now. My brother plays in a pipe band and it came in second at the World Championships. Not too shabby. :) He's off to Italy in a couple days, the lucky little...Hmph. Ah well, I got to go to England two years ago.

Mostly I've been working. I got 20+ hours this week and I've got another 15 next week. It's nice, but I'd really like to have my brain shut off for a while. One of my students is on vacation and another is on shortened time (2 lessons/week instead of 3...and her mom wanted her to do 4 or 5, but changed her mind.)

I don't know if I mentioned it or not, but I've registered for classes. I'm doing two crim courses...one correspondence and one actually in class. *gasp of astonishment* I'm going to be attending REAL CLASSES in the fall!! I'll be at SFU all Monday. How bizarre.

Troubleshooting

Headache-still in effect

Possible causes include:
Sleep-or a lack thereof
Heat-much too hot

Possible conclusions:
Go into my cool basement and go to bed.

Huh. What a splendid idea.

Dreams

I had this dream last night...I was standing in a line up with Bimkins and the clerk called us dirty fags...or some variation...despite the fact that I'm female. There was some more stuff, but I don't remember it that much It became my duty to volunteer my time and energy to gay and kink associations all over the place...travelling, hosting support groups etc.

Y'know...if someone dreamed a true dream that they were told by their deity that they were to spread the word, they'd probably be doing it.

Hmm...

Darned heat wave.

Dave came over last night around 10 or 11 and stayed until 4:30 in the morning. He was helping me clean my room. Oh dear god. Did we ever clean... I have removed over a garbage bag of clothes, purses and bags from my closet and dresser, I have about 1/2 a garbage bag of paper to recycle and very little actual garbage. None of the clothing is really all that great...but if anyone wants to look through it, comment or email. I'm about a size 12-16, Large/XLarge. I actually had the space to do my kata inside my room. I am shocked. Also, I'm getting rid of a bunch of cheesy romance novels which will bring me no money at the used book store. Anyone want them? They're yours.

And I am more than slightly sneezy. I HATE having allergies to dust. Bloody flaming... >:(

Oh and I found a digital camera that someone loaned me...er...over two years ago now... They have never asked for it back...I need someone to tell me the correct and moral thing to do which allows me to keep the camera. ;) Comment on ways for me to justify keeping this camera!!

Things to do this week:
-finish cleaning my closet
-go through some boxes to get them out of my room
-visit NNY and Drew. (How's tomorrow evening for you guys?)
-Tutor and work
-clean off the couch
-clean off the desk if I have time
-go through my craft magazines and recycle most of them. Anyone want scrapbooking or rubber stamping magazines?

To recap the stuff I'm giving away...
-clothes sizes 12-16
-craft magazines
-romance novels

If you're embarassed about wanting any of it, you can always email me at kinkygrrl1701@yahoo.com

Excessive...

I think that having five baskets of clean clothes in my room is a little much. Not to mention the fact that I've managed to have most of those in my room for the last several months. They multiply! I swear!

(edit: I took out the picture because it messed with my sidebar.)

Category III - The Regular
Jo(e)

You are the quintessential standard conjured by the
word 'Friend'.


What Type of Social Entity are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

My layer quiz

LAYER ONE:

· Name: Karin
· Birth date: October 10
· Birthplace: Royal Columbian Hospital, New Westminster BC, Canada (my dad and grandad were born there too.)
· Current Location: Coquitlam, my parent's living room. Bleah.
· Eye Color: hazel
· Hair Color: currently dark red...often other colours
· Height: 5ft 8 inches
· Righty or Lefty: Righty
· Zodiac Sign: Libra


LAYER TWO:

· Your heritage: Scottish (3rd gen) on my dad's side, Austrian (1st gen) on my mom's.
· The shoes you wore today: awesome black leather goth-y ankle boots
· Your fears: water monsters, failing the people I love, never moving out of my parent's house.
· Your perfect pizza: tandoori chicken, prawns and bacon (had it in London at midnight in the common room of the hostel)
· Goal you'd like to achieve: see the world, start a family, run my own business


LAYER THREE:

· Your most overused phrase in an online messenger: ... or "hmmm"
· Your thoughts first waking up: I have to go to the bathroom.
· Your best physical feature: email me to find out. ;)
· Your bedtime: whenever I get so exhausted that I finally collapse.
· Your most missed memory: not really sure.


LAYER FOUR:

· Pepsi or Coke: Coke. Not that vanilla coke crap though. Bleah.
· McDonald's or Burger King: McD's...but I'm trying to quit.
· Single or group dates: never been on a group date before, I don't think
· Adidas or Nike: I'm against Nike.
· Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Raspberry nestea
· Chocolate or vanilla: chocolate...you get chocolate in rocky road and half baked ice cream. I also like chocolate cake better. Yum. Dark chocolate...droool.
· Cappuccino or coffee: frappacino.


LAYER FIVE:

· Smoke: Sometimes I'll have a puff, but only when I get way too drunk...then I have an asthma attack and don't do it again until the next time.
· Cuss: not usually, although I've been swearing more lately. I said "bullshit" in front of my mom today.
· Sing: Yup. I was in choir from grade 3-grade 7 and I've been in church musicals and I was in a play at school where i got to sing.
· Take a shower everyday: most of the time.
· Have a crush(es): Occasionally. I like having safe, unrequited crushes. It makes my life feel more interesting.
· Do you think you've been in love: I am right now. :)
· Want to go to college: In university right now.
· Like(d) high school: hated it. Despised it. EVERYTHING ABOUT IT. Almost.
· Want to get married: eventually.
· Believe in yourself: sometimes. depends on my mood
· Get motion sickness: Yup. Cars, trains, the world spinning a little two fast.
· Think you're attractive: depends on my mood.
· Think you're a health freak: HELL no. I'd like to be more health freakish.
· Get along with your parent(s): Yes and no.
· Like thunderstorms: Love love LOVE them.
· Play an instrument: I sort of play the piano, flute, saxaphone and penny whistle. I played tenor drum in a pipe band for seven years.


LAYER SIX:

In the past month...

· Drank alcohol: yes
· Smoked: no
· Done a drug: Vitamin "I"-ibuprofin
· Had Sex: yup
· Made Out: yup
· Gone on a date: Date night with Dave a couple times
· Gone to the mall?: Yup. bought the webcam, but that's about it
· Eaten an entire box of Oreos: No...but I've been tempted. I'm glad we don't have the mint oreos in the house. I've eaten almost a whole box of Girl Guide cookies before.
· Eaten sushi: love it, but I haven't had any this month. *pout*
· Been on stage: not this month but I want to again.
· Been dumped: not since grade eight.
· Gone skating: nope...too hot!!
· Made homemade cookies: I've been meaning to.
· Gone skinny dipping: tempted...but didn't.
· Dyed your hair: I think that it's been more than a month
· Stolen anything: nope.


LAYER SEVEN:

Ever...

· Played a game that required removal of clothing: yes. :)
· If so, was it mixed company: Of course.
· Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: Ugh. yes. Bleah.
· Been caught "doing something": Almost.
· Been called a tease: Yes...in jest. It's still annoying though
· Gotten beaten up: Only if working out in karate counts...and getting totally beaten down. :p
· Changed who you were to fit in: I think everyone does. I don't show many of my facets to my family for instance.


LAYER EIGHT:

· Age you hope to be married: Bwa? I would like to be married before I turn...um...80.
· Numbers and Names of Children: I have none. I would like two, probably.
· Describe your Dream Wedding: quiet, backyard kind of thing. Not having to invite people I don't want there.
· How do you want to die: Saving someone's life
· Where you want to go to college: SFU. That's where i am now.
· What do you want to be when you grow up: I'm not going to grow up. :)
· What country would you most like to visit: Scotland again, Japan, Russia, Austria


LAYER NINE:

In a guy..

· Best eye color? Doesn't matter
· Best hair color? Doesn't matter
· Short or long hair: I love long hair...but I'll accept short hair as well.
· Height: Doesn't matter
· Best weight: Whatever is healthy for them
· Best articles of clothing: jeans that show off the butt. Or nothing...
· Best first date location: Milestones...upstairs in the bar...third table from the right. (Gee...wonder who I went THERE with.)
· Best first kiss location: *cough* Um...neck...? ;)


LAYER TEN:

· Number of drugs taken illegally: zero
· Number of people I could trust with my life: 4
· Number of CDs that I own: Um...over 100, under 300...
· Number of piercings: seven-three in each ear, one in navel
· Number of tattoos: zero
· Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper?: Well, referring to ME, my name has appeared in the newspaper twice I can think of...obituaries for my Opa and Grannie. I don't know how many other Karins there are out there who've gotten my name in the paper. ;)
· Number of scars on my body: lots. I had nasty nasty chicken pox as a kid. Oh, and I used to scratch myself with needles and other sharp implements all the time...some of those left scars
· Number of things in my past that I regret: don't know. I try to leave them in the past. And not regret them.

Owies.

I have lots of hurting bits. :( I've had a headache since Pride (1 week ago) and my ankle and knee are sore-ish. *whine*

Although hanging out with people was fun last night. :D

Exercise yesterday: 1 hour karate

Dumbass...

So instead of going to bed early last night, I stay up and watch much Highlander with Dave, then work today, then tutor now, and I'll be going out tonight. At least I get to sleep in tomorrow. Yeesh. I'm such a dummy.

Incidentally...it's SO much easier to tell when Immortals die on Highlander... there's that whole head being chopped off thing, and the whole Quickening... I mean DAMN! It's really hard to tell when a MORTAL is being killed. Jeez.

Copious amounts of spare time.

For once I get to say that without it being sarcastic! So what do I do on my first evening of CAST? I tweak my ankle at Ulti. Yeah, the same one, dammit. And I had to say goodbye to Bimkins and Rini. :( Sadness. And I ate McD's again tonight. MUCH sadness. Blech.

BUT I am finished my exam. T-29 days of freedom. To do: send in many applications for a career type job, sleep, watch much Highlander, sleep some more.

Did I mention I'm a little tired?

Exercise today: 1 hour Ultimate

WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Rah rah rah! I'm finished my final! Yay! I did reasonably well, I think. Lowest mark I could possibly get in the course is a C+. It's nice going into a final with an A...means that if I get my name right, I pass the course. There were only three questions on there that I had no idea. I guessed correctly what the CLC was, BS'd enough about the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and can't find MFN in my textbook. It has something to do with the Canadian Political Economy...because, well, that's what my course is on. Anyone want to enlighten me? m0rph? ;)

Tonight is Ultimate. Tonight is also sleep-imate. Much sleeping. Very tired. More cola was consumed this semester than in many moons.

SUGAH!! SUGAH!!!

I have been eating craptacularly poorly over the last week or so. Chips, mini-donuts, other junk, pure sugar in the form of strawberry Mentos and cotton candy and Coke... Yuck.

No wonder I've got a headache. Although that probably has more to do with having a brutal kink in my neck all night. It kept me up, and I've got a migraine-esque headache now. Bleah.

Cotton candy: it's like crack, but blue. I know I've said it before, but dammit, it's true.

Now, back to my regularly schedule studying...and lunch. Something without mass quantities of sugar, caffiene or deep-fried evil.

And another thing:

GO! Run and help Peechie Save the Boobies. Warm and fuzzy feelings will abound. I mean, come on. Ladies...you like your breasts. Guys...you like our breasts. Help a courageous woman raise some money for breast cancer research! SOMEONE YOU KNOW WILL OR HAS HAD BREAST CANCER. Get your asses in gear and skip a day of Starbucks. Bring your coffee in a thermos for once and pass on that $5 to her.

Ugh

My tummy hurts. It always hurts. Or feels sick. Or feels generally icky. Maybe it's about time to mention this fact to my doctor. Oogh. I really think I ought to have stock in Tylenol, Gravol and Tums.

I'm so tired as well. I think that I'm worn out from this semester. I can't wait until Thursday 3pm because that will be my last final!

Things I plan to do during my almost-month off.
-spend some quality time with Dave.
-visit with friends I don't see enough of.
-visit with friends I NEVER get to see!!
-finish knitting Drew's baby blanket (40-50 more rows to go!!)
-work in my garden
-read a whole bunch
-CLEAN MY ROOM (remove roughly half the stuff that's in there and chuck, recycle and charity-ize it.)
-watch the three seasons of Queer as Folk I borrowed from Bimkins
-do the cross stitch hummingbirds on towels that was my mom's Mother's Day present.
-work out way more, especially training for karate.

Speaking of karate...I will hopefully be doing my first grading just before my 25th birthday. Yay!

So. Much. Walking.

Yesterday was the Vancouver Pride Parade and I must say, I have not done that much walking in a very long time. I don't know how far these distances are, but I walked from Granville skytrain to Davie Street for the parade, then back to Burrard Skytrain to drop off Bimkins and Rini, then back to Davie to visit with some of my friends two of whom had marched in the parade. Fortunately, on the way back I was with someone who actually had an inkling of how the downtown buses go. I still had to walk about half a kilometer to Dave's house afterwards though.

So, the parade itself: There was so much queer-positive energy...I've NEVER felt anything like that. Probably there were over 100 000 people turned out in support of the GLBT community. I loved it. Totally amazing. I wanted to cry at several points: seeing the family groups going by with kids of all ages (including teens) holding their parents hands, parents groups holding signs saying "I support my gay daughter" and "So proud of my gay son", seeing signs for people who have been married after being couples for 10, 20 or more years and the HIV positive and AIDS groups. While many people got sunburned, I was in the shade for most of the parade and was actually cold enough that I needed to drape one of my spare skirts around my shoulders in a denim half cape to try and warm up!!

Then there were after parade drinks over at Dw00 and Dev's house. They've got a nice view of the water! And I was introduced to the joy of gin and tonic (which reminds me...I really should replace that bottle I drank most of... :/ ) Best part of G and T...it glows under blacklights!! Tee hee. So, I have a slight headache today...most due to exhaustion, not alcohol. Much fun ensued! Had a great time for my first Pride parade. It won't be my last.

I need to start taking the bus more. I get less lost when other people are driving. :D I also need to move closer to downtown. I have WAY too many people I need to see more of.

Exercise yesterday: assloads of walking.

Answering Rhetorical Questions since 1979

Does a bear sh-t in the woods? Well, I can't answer that, but I can say with great authority that a bear will sh-t on my driveway. Lovely.

Tonight is the User Friendly meet at TGI-Friday's in Metrotown around 630. I will be attending with my out of town friends who organized it. Stop on by.

We went to the fireworks on Wednesday as well. Bar none: the best fireworks display I've ever seen. Plus, I've learned...Cotton candy: it's like crack, but BLUE!

Ulti last night was good. We won our first game towards the playoffs. :) Go us! Um...what else? Oh, my last paper is handed in (thank you Dave for editing and handing it in) which means I have one final on Thursday (boo...have to miss Ulti.)

I get to see the Drew and NNY tomorrow! Yayayayay!!

My student is finished his worksheet, so I must dash. Ciao...See you all at Pride!

Time Limit

Yikes! I promised myself that the end of July was going to be my deadline for getting my police application in...I'd better have it in on Monday... :/ Where the hell has the month gone?!

Proof... 

Be nice to me... 

Haaa...haaaaa....hot....

Ok, fine. I'll actually talk about the bloody heat. After a really nice cooling off day, it's back up to...21?! It feels soooo much hotter. Yeesh. Maybe because I had a nap? I tend to be warmer when I've just woken up. Maybe it has something to do with blood flow.

Speaking of blood (segue much?) I'm donating blood today. It's been a while. I had my navel pierced two years ago which made me ineligible for a year, then I was either sick, working or maybe being called in to work every time for the next year. So, here I go to the vampires...my appointment's at 2:50...let's see if I can drag anyone else along. :D

Exercise today: blah.

Naughtiest thing posted yet.

Not worksafe. May equate as "too much information". Um...yeah.

Click if you're not worried.

Quizzes

This site is really annoying to navigate, but there are some good quizzes on there. There's a semi-not worksafe one at the bottom. Is it severely obvious that I'm avoiding my paper? I think it is!


Awww...I only got 52/100 right

I am feeling so much better.

A couple good nights of good sleep will do that. I'm still sore in various odd places...my right ankle is bothering me currently. I think it got stiff after the drive to Bellevue. It's the one I sprained a year and a bit ago, so it's not that surprising, I suppose. Oh, incidentally, a/c doesn't work very well when you're sitting in a border lineup for over an hour and a half. Yeesh!

I'm gonna go have a mini nap now. Just finished tutoring and I'm at the craft store this afternoon, so I ought to chill for a bit.

Ow! My everything!

Quick update from the weekend of scary sleep deprivation...please to be forgiving of random stream of consciousness. Did Kata on the Beach with karate this morning. Beautiful...wonderful...we need to do it more often. Loved it. :D Very happy about fun. Stuff. :)

Bellevue today as well for Kit's wedding dress. Much driving ensued. I am so glad that I have air conditioning in my car, since we were stuck at the border for over an hour and a half. It was fun though. Got to hang out with Kit and her friend Lisa...nice person. Yay for Outback Steakhouse! Thanks Kit!!

Then there was more driving. I hate driving in the States. It's scary evil.

I am NOT going to the Ultimate Frisbee team barbeque right now. I will sleep and make myself not sick by sleeping in tomorrow...although since I've been getting up around six for the last four days in a row (NOT because I wanted to!) I don't know if I'll be able to. I will hopefully have a nice relaxing day tomorrow rereading my novels for my paper which is due on Friday.

FRIDAY?! EEK!! At least it's only 1000 words.

*glances at the size of the post* Wow, for what was supposed to be a really short post, this is quite a few words. Sleep happens....now. zzzzzz.

Exercise today: 1.5 hours karate (kata on the beach)

Just a list

What I did today:
0725-student #1
0815-student #2
0900-driving cars from Coquitlam dealership to Langley buyer and Richmond auction to Coquitlam dealership (total time=7 hours. Total pay=$99 :D )
1630-Kit and I cleaned out my car
1900-Bourne Supremacy

I still have to iron my gi because I am getting up tomorrow morning to do a beach workout for karate (at 0600), then drive to Bellevue to pick up Kit's wedding dress. Yeegah. I think I must sleep.

Exercise today: ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!

Emotions

I'm really not in a good place right now. I'm too emotional over stupid little things and it's moving me around from anger to sadness to "I want to hurt myself" to "I want to hurt something or someone else" and all over the map. I feel helpless and upset and I DON'T LIKE CRYING IN FRONT OF PEOPLE! Or alone for that matter.

Yeah, it's been kind of a sucky day, with occasional good bits thrown in. Good bits include: being told I was loved over and over, prawns/scallops and garlic, playing with the webcam and reconnecting with a friend.

Crappy bits: children at Ultimate, playing really badly and getting frustrated, being misunderstood, getting overly emotional about it all.

I'm feeling very psychically battered today...not like "I can read minds" battered like Deanna Troi, but just "I can't go on being in this place" smashed around. I'm feeling...resigned...and since this is not a happy thing...resigned is not a good thing. My chest hurts and I'm sniffling/semi-crying, my throat hurts and I feel as if I'm going to throw up.

Plus I get to wake up in six hours and deal with people. All. Day. Long.

*cries*

Exercise today: 1 hour Ultimate

My cam-girl pose. 

Mm...cookie... 

Gobbling up bandwidth. It's a bunny!! 

Flu or food?

Something that I've been unable to figure out is the difference between a flu and food poisoning. I know that food poisoning is supposed to last only one day, while flus (flues? flews? :p ) last longer. I'm thinking I have a flu of some description, since I've been feeling crappy for the last couple days, then everything kind of came to a head early (EARLY!) this morning...and I've felt like utter crap all day. My throat is sore, my stomach muscles feel like someone's stapling them to my stomach wall and I've got a piercing headache that comes and goes.

Could someone please send me a body transplant? Thanks. We can start with the gut.

It's weird though...I've always had stomach problems...nausea whenever I get overtired, cramps with my period, stitches when I run, nausea for various random reasons I haven't quite figured out yet. If the world is fair, if/when I have kids, my labour had better be amazingly easy...or else I'll be somewhat put out.

(this possible illness means I might not be going to visit NNY and Drew tomorrow...I'll call and let you know what's going on.)

My first photo!! Yeah!! 

I didn't know I scratched my nose so often...

Or that my posture was so bad. I've got a web cam now!! It's um... to video conference... uh... with...people...

Aw, who'm I kidding? We all know what it's gonna be used for. Anyway, I would like to set up the webcam on my blog...but until then, my MSN is on the sidebar...that's where I've learned to use it so far. :) Come visit me!

Rumour mongering

Or: the post that's probably going to get me in major trouble. :)

DISCLAIMER: I'm just being a goof...don't mind me.

Today I took a nap, then handed in my paper. Before going to the university, I called ahead to Dave's to see if I should stop by. Turns out he's not home, busy taking a friend (female) to the doctor's office at about noon, but I can stop by when I'm finished. This is about 2:00. Ok, fair enough. I dawdle a bit and head over after turning in the paper and arrive around 3:00. It's now 4:00...no sign of Dave or female friend and I'm bored of knitting for the time being. Hmmm... So now, it's time to postulate...soap opera style! *thumbs up*

Is she pregnant? Ooh! Cool!! Another baby in the circle of friends! But wait! Why isn't her husband going with her instead? Why...because it's not his child! So Dave's going because...ooh. I don't like the way this one's going. NEXT!

Hmmm...how about...they're actually an elite crime fighting team from CSIS and the whole doctor's thing is just a front...unless it's code for "We're going to go fight the evil Doctor of Ultimate DOOOOOM". That's not fair! I like costumes and beating people up! I wanna be an elite crime fighting team member.

Ok...what else? Maybe someone needs to be deprogrammed from a cult posing as a group of life insurance salesmen. Or one of them is possessed by demons...posing as a cult...posing as a group of insurance salesmen!

Or perhaps they are out buying me a stupendous present, one which requires both of them to move. OOH!! A PONY!!! YAY!!!

Perhaps the great Canadian novel is being written. Or the great Canadian symphony. Or the great Canadian beer recipe and hockey playbook. Not saying that they're the ones doing it, but perhaps they are witness to the great genius unfolding.

What if they got mugged by overzealous circus clowns. Or worse...MIMES! Because you know, a mime is a terrible thing to waste. (Don't kill me, it was from Robin Hood: Men in Tights)

It's possible that while driving, they ran into a protest over cruelty to banana slugs and joined in the march to Whistler. That could take a while...I think there's an accident on the Sea to Sky highway.

Anyway, there's my list of interesting excuses and suggestions.

Happy Birthday Random Synapses

Yes, we at Random Synapses have bringing people bloggity goodness for one year now. Something I didn't realize is that I started karate the same day I started doing the blog...interesting...

This blog was originally for me to try and do goal-type stuff...let's see how I've been doing:

This was the first series of goals I set for myself.

Online: blog three times a week
Financial:: Pay Candyman, get rid of my credit card bill
Physical I:: Weight down from 167 or so to 150 lbs
Physical II:: Exercise two or three times/week
Personal Space:: Clean my room.
Education:: Do some sort of readings on my own

Here are the first results

Online: blogged many times so far.
Financial:: Um, I haven't opened my credit card bill yet. I'm kind of scared, and I need to buy a gi for karate...
Physical I:: 165 lbs, baybeee! No junk food today either.
Physical II:: Went to karate tonight. Loving it.
Personal Space:: Roughly 350 square feet out of 400 are totally unlivable. The 50 feet equals my bed, some space beside it, my bathroom and a path to each place.
Education:: Currently reading "Power Herbs", and referencing other herbal and aromatherapy books. Tonight I will be researching blisters and how to cure them before my Monday night Ultimate Frisbee game.

Here are my current results

Online: blogged many times so far. :) I've done over 460 posts in 366 days.
Financial:: Still owe C/M some money, but not nearly as much. Credit card is paid off (over $600) and I have a small savings.
Physical I:: about 162 lbs. However, I've gone down two sizes in jeans.
Physical II:: I've been running, doing karate, doing Ultimate...I'm awesome.
Personal Space:: Hm...I think it's at about 150 square feet clean. I started crafting again this year, so that's a lot of stuff taking up a lot of space! (Damn you, clearance yarn! I will defeat you!!)
Education:: I've taken seven classes in the last year, plus done a bunch of research into starting my own business, herbal remedies, aromatherapy, Wicca and fitness.

Overall, I'm pretty happy about how things have gone. It's been just over two years with Candyman now.

Y'know, I think it's time I started calling him Dave. Y'know. Since that's his name and all. :)

(Post actually written at 9:23 PM July 17)

o/~It's Monday Morning...o/~

Just tightening up my paper, which is due today. Thank you to my lovely guy who came over to edit it, encourage me, and then distract me when I was finished so that I didn't beat my brains out over it. I'll be taking it up to the university in a half hour or so. :)

Doin' that sittin' 'nd eatin' thang.

That's about it. I'm about to unplug my LAN cable now, so if anyone wants me, I'll be at home...but I'm going to try and punch out another five pages on this paper tonight. The Diet Cokes I put in the fridge ought to be cold by now.

Exercise today: 2 hours karate (YEAH! Take THAT, Demon!)

Bear Scare

Holy crap. There's been a bear around our street for the last couple of weeks and there's been another sighting. What is WITH the wildlife the last couple days? Bit of a water shortage or something? So far there's been a rabbit (we needn't get into THAT) (I didn't even know that we had rabbits in this area.), a raccoon this morning, the bear, an eagle at Ulti last night and my brother saw a pair of deer. Yeesh.

Incidentally, *whine* I wanna be downtown with the boys right now. :( I think I should go to bed, get up early and work on my paper with a fresh brain. I'll bring my books with me so that I can shift gears into talking about staple economies (not office depot, hyuck..) rather than Canadian culture. I'm having issues.

I also need to stop reading mommyblogs. I think I felt my uterus go *TWINGE*. (Read the next five as well...it gets funnier.) Twinging is not a good way to stay focused on papers. Now, no one who reads this is allowed to panic. (I would say "you know who you are" but I'm not. :p Besides, there's a couple of you.) I'll be better in a little while. Weather is warm and sunny with occasional babycravings. It's all good.

Hmmm...just a thought. Maybe if I didn't blog so much...or read so many blogs...or webcomics...I might be able to join the guys when they get to go do fun things.

Crazy thoughts.

Exercise today: Just my brain.

YEEARGH!!!!

One more FREAKING quote to find...out of a mere THREE books that it could be in...and I'm SURE it's at the front of a chapter or essay...AND I CAN'T FIND IT! As soon as I find it, my paper is finished. WHERE THE HELL IS IT?!

*breathes again* Yup. Ok...it's definitely too hot in here.

***UPDATE*** 1:58 pm. Hmph. Fine. I can't find it, so I'm just changing around what I'm backing up in my conclusion. Just finishing off my bibliography. Now, barring my computer exploding and catching everything around it on fire, my paper is finished.

...

...

Um...I'm going to move my paper away from my computer. You know...just in case.

Time zones

It's sometimes lousy to be in the Wet coast time zone, especially when you get woken up at 0600 by Toronto people who think the time is the same all over the world, or when you realize at 2 pm that you need to call a bank...but head office is in Ontario, so they're already closed. However, sometimes it's a good thing, because you can get your news just that much faster.

This feels weird. Usually I don't talk about stuff in the news. I think the election was one of those few things. Huh. Well, back to the paper. Speaking of which...where's all those brilliant ideas from everyone? :)

:(

I hit a rabbit on the Lougheed Highway tonight on the way home from Ultimate. It was like:

*BLUR OF BROWN*
*gasp*
*mini-swerve toward median*
*thumpcrunch*

I'm kind of sad now. Not super much because I believe in the whole "natural selection" thing, and it wasn't like it was someone's pet. No splatter on my car though. I kind of feel like I should go back and check to see if it's dead or not, but I don't think I could deal with the gore factor. This is the biggest thing I've ever "directly" killed. Not even mice or frogs or anything.

Exercise today: 1 hour Ultimate. I was lazy tonight...lots of women to play.

Yipes

I REALLY don't like some of the stuff Blogger's doing. I want my default to be "edit in HTML" not WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get). *grumble* My stomach hurts. I think I'll go grab a coke slurpee (yup, THAT kind of hurts) before Ultimate tonight.

I'm almost finished my first paper. Thank Deities.

I saw Halle Berry on Leno just now cracking a single tail. Ye gods. Pretty lady. :) Despite the storyline not having anything to do with the comics, I'm looking forward to Catwoman. Any time I get to enjoy watching a woman kicking ass is good times for me. I get all inspired again. :) Short attention span requires that I get inspired frequently.

Sorry for the boring posts lately, but I've been mostly working on papers and avoiding working on papers. As soon as they're finished I plan on doing a bunch of knitting. I have a couple of projects going (Drew's blanket WILL be finished before she's one!) and enough yarn now to clothe a medium sized village. I truly have a sickness. I have decided that yarn is no longer allowed to go on clearance at work, and if it does, people are not allowed to draw my attention to it by bringing it through my till. :) Incidentally, if anyone is going to make...I don't know...a baby blanket...CHECK YOUR GAUGE!! This blanket is about three times as big as I thought it was going to be. Ah well. It'll be finished by the time it's cold enough for Drew to need it, plus it'll be big enough for her to use until she's in kindergarten. :)

So very haircut entry.

A very nice thing about having a boyfriend with long hair? I've been collecting elastics like crazy the last couple of weeks. Wearing my hair down, then getting sick of it after an hour and elastic-jacking a couple of his. :)

Went to see King Arthur the other night. It was pretty good. I know who I'm dressing up as for the next costume event. :) It shouldn't be too hard. The costume's all straps.

Lame: I think I miscounted how many laps I did on Monday. :( I did a LOT more jogging today and my time was exactly the same.

Exercise today: 1 lap each warmup/cool down, 6 laps (1.5 miles)-16 minutes

Ebay listing

Anyone a Princess Bride or WWF fan? Own a piece of it.

Wow.

Thank you everyone who's commented so far on my depression post. I've already been using some of it, especially the "baby steps" idea and "F.U. depression...I'm in charge" and *cross fingers, knock wood* I'm feeling a bit more in control. For example...look down just a little.

Exercise today: 400 m walking to warm up, 2.4 km walking and jogging (16 minutes...down 1 minute from last time)

Yay! I did that this morning after tutoring.

Essay Topics

For those of you who have expressed an interest in the papers that I'm writing, or would like to lend a hand, here are the topics:

Paper the First

(due July 16, 2000-2500 words)
Consider the following statistics: "97% of film distribution in Canada is controlled ouside the country; foreign-controlled publishers and agencies account for 75 percent of Canadian textbook sales; and fourteen foreign-controlled companies wer responsible for 66 percent of all new releases and 84 percent of total sales in the recording industry in Canada during 1993-4" (Borderlands: How we talk about Canada, W.H. New, 1998). This is the state of the national boundary-line: unstable. But, is it inevitable? Write an essay discussing Canada's cultural industries and its cultural survival.

Paper the Second

(due July 19, 10 pages/3000 words)
Many aspects of staples theory were developed to address particularities in Canada’s historical path of economic, social, and cultural development. As globalization proceeds apace, however, some would argue that the relevance of staples theory to Canada has declined at the same time that the circumstances described by staples theorists have increasingly come to characterize the situation of other countries in Latin America, Africa and elsewhere. Critically assess the merits of this position.

MY THESIS: The relevance of staples theory to Canada has declined at the same time that the circumstances described by staples theorists have increasingly come to characterize the situation of other countries in Latin America, Africa and elsewhere.

I have a bit more on the second one in the way of outline. Comment if you want my outline. :)

None of this is real.

Depression and hormones are a nasty combination. I need to keep reminding myself that I'm really not feeling this way...although really, I am feeling it. Confused yet? I know I am. Incidentally, this isn't a cry for help or anything. In fact, I'm feeling pretty good today, just a bit tired. So, feel free to give advice in the comments (as long as it isn't just "snap out of it" or "get over it") I mostly just want to write it down to get a perspective on it in a couple of days.

I haven't been officially diagnosed as clinically depressed or manic, but depression is as good a buzz word as any. In my case it manifests less as intense sadness, although that's been happening much more lately as well. Quite often, it's a little voice (I think I'll name it The Demon) who prods me with thoughts of failure, fears of failing and "what's the point?" and "we all just end up dead anyway" thoughts. He's a fun guy to have at parties. */sarcasm*

One result of this is that I need to force my body to do things. Most people think "Hmm...there's a piece of paper on the floor. I'll just grab it." and then they do it. For me, it's a huge effort. I get tired as soon as I think about doing housework, homework or physical activity. I will have a backpack, purse or shopping bag in my car on the passenger seat and I physically will NOT be able to reach over and grab it to take into the house, so I'll leave it there and be worried about getting broken into.

Anything with multiple steps in it is horribly difficult. If I need to get changed to go to the gym or the track, there's no way I can do it. Getting gas is an ordeal. I'll be too tired to stop and get gas for five minutes. I will miss things that I love, like karate, because the thought of ironing my uniform, getting in the car, driving there and changing into my uniform frightens me. Isn't that pathetic? :p

Then of course, when I miss doing exercise or going to karate or something, The Demon pops up and tells me what a failure I am for missing out on whatever it is. This makes me feel worse of course.

Another fun thing that happens is that I'll have intense worries spinning through my head as soon as I lie down to go to sleep. It's stupid things, usually, but that doesn't stop them from running around and around until I want to scream with frustration and lobotomize myself with a Q-tip.

I've been more emotional lately. I got very affected by a "You Damn Kid" comic and kept getting teary eyed whenever I thought of it. It's so incredibly annoying. When I get frustrated, I'll start crying. I hate that. I despise crying, especially in front of people, which frustrates me even more. I seem to remember being more intelligent. :p Maybe that'll be solved with more sleep.

I've been reading a couple of blogs from people who are on, have been on, or are trying to wean themselves off of anti-depressants, and I don't think that's the way to go for me yet. I've had some counselling at the university last year which seemed to help. Anyone have any suggestions?

La ti da di da.

I should be working on a paper right now. In fact, there are numerous things I should be doing right now. Instead, I'm at Candyman's house waiting for my lunch to be ready and blogging like a lady of leisure. I surprised him this morning and came over to visit after going to a martial arts casting call downtown. It was ok, I guess. I didn't have the right chromosomes for what they're looking for as a fighter, but I might get in as an extra. Who knows? So I came over and we watched an episode of Highlander and that's my day so far...how about yours?

Zzzzzzzzzz...

After pretty much not sleeping over the last three days, and having craptacular sleep the last two weeks, I am happy to report that the Random Synapses team received 9 SOLID HOURS of sleep last night. I am very very happy. I didn't realize how depressed I'd been over the last week or so. I do not understand how mothers of infants can push themselves through that. I am so impressed, and a little frightened of the thought of having a child of my own. I think I'll adopt one when they're...twenty or so. That way they can pay rent, and I won't have to feed them at night. They can make their own damn sandwiches. :)

Ouch.

Or: the post in which I muse about why it is that I seem to be ending upside down briefly during my recent workouts. And also landing on my head.

Ulti was fun tonight...after really sucking badly. We played a team which doesn't really know the meaning of "Spirit" or "sportsmanship" but then we played a game with an awesome team. In the first game I made a wicked bid for the disc, barely missing it as I dove for it and rolled...somehow landing on my head at one point... I got many cheers though. :) I got to score a point in the second game...perfect set play execution on everyone's part. :)

Exercise today: 2 hours Ultimate

Public Service Announcement

ATTENTION QUIZILLA PEOPLE:
Please note that none of the following; darkness, ice, light, shadow, nature, ELECTRICAL (yes, electrical...not electricity. Technically electricity might count...follow the dictionary.com link below) are ELEMENTS. Scientifically, elements are many things, but most commonly is "A substance that cannot be reduced to simpler substances by normal chemical means and that is composed of atoms having an identical number of protons in each nucleus." Metaphysically, it refers to earth, air, water and fire...possibly also spirit or soul. In Chinese astrology, the five elements are metal, water, wood, fire and earth. It could also refer to types of weather, ie: left out in the elements. However, that is not the way that it is being referred to. DARKNESS IS NOT AN ELEMENT!!! ICE IS NOT AN ELEMENT.
Thank you.

...

Ahem. I'm in kind of a bad mood today...not so that anyone would notice...or anything. Heh. Heh...I need to get some more sleep, methinks.

I do believe...

...someone should invent a way for people to eat peanut butter and jam/jelly without all that unnecessary bread to get in the way. A way besides scooping peanut butter out of the jar with a spoon, then following it with a chaser of honey or jam...

Not that I've ever done that. Nope...not me... :)

Stupid "falling asleep at 800 and having my brother come home and start playing records in the basement next to my room at midnight." Grrrr.

Good raspberry jam though. Too bad there's all that bread getting in the way.

Snagged from peanut

Karin Highway County Jail 6 Loony-Bin Lane 18 Bankruptcity 40 Mt. Happiness 133 Childbirth Hospital 224 Please Drive Carefully

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From Go-Quiz.com