early mornings

i am by no means a morning person. actually, i'm very much the opposite of a morning person. unfortunately, my work schedule doesn't always accept the fact that i'm not a morning person. yesterday morning was a prime example.

due to an unusually early start time yesterday, i had to get up early. unfortunately, i slept in. more unfortunately, i was in a daze as i got ready. then i made my big mistake. i decided to accessorize. cute earrings, yes?




because i was super late, i grabbed earrings and put them in as i searched for my umbrella, ran down the stairs, locked the door, put up my umbrella and rushed to the street car stop. it was truly miserable weather outside. i was running a little late - but not too late. it looked like everything would turn out all right.

half an hour, 2 street cars and 1 subway ride later (during rush hour, no less) - i arrived. i engaged in some early morning banter with a co-worker. while doing this, i started playing with my earrings. (i have a bad/nervous habit of playing with my earrings or necklace when talking to people.) it was then that i realized it. i was not wearing the earrings i thought i was wearing. sure my left ear held the above dangle ... but my right ear on the other hand ...

yep, that's right - i'm awesome. to make matters worse, i had my hair pulled back, so you could really see the difference.

serves me right for leaving the house without looking in the mirror first.

*hangs head in shame*

gst

yes, the goods and services tax. it's that lovely value added tax that mulroney introduced back in the day. a wonderful little consumption tax - the one we should be raising, rather than lowering (... but that's another rant, for a different day)

yes folks, that's right, i don't know if you heard the news - but the gst will be decreasing by one percentage point (from 7% to 6%) effective july 1, 2006.

now, i know this has been all over the news - but subsequent to a couple conversations i had this evening with rather intelligent, well-read individuals - apparently not everyone knows this!

kiddies, this is why you need to read the news! *just shakes her head*

sizes

we come in all sizes. it's been a pet peeve of mine for a while to see that sizes are changing. i'm a huge believer in standardized sizes. you should be able to go into any store and pick up a size and know it's going to fit you. an 8 should be an 8 should be an 8. it's easier in pants where we use waist sizes and it's measured in inches - then you know what size you should be.

as the population has been ballooning (thank you coke and french fries), stores have been adjusting sizes to make us women feel better about ourselves. they're trying to trick us. a couple years ago, if you were a size 8 - you suddenly became a 6 ... and so on and so forth (sorry, just wanted to use "so on and so forth", it seems ever so eloquent). as a result, the lower end sizes have basically fallen off the map. now instead of a size 2, there are size 0's and size 000's ... which seems just a little bit more than wrong. it seems as though teeny tiny ppl are no longer allowed to exist for the purpose of many clothing retailers. (which i think is sad - shouldn't shopping be accessible to all? it sucks to not be able to find clothes that fit properly - whether you're big or small, short or tall - we all have issues finding well fitting clothes. do we need to make it even harder?)

so the reason for this diatribe? i think that this upsizing is becoming a little ridiculous. sure, if you fit into a size smaller than usual, it's flattering. you feel as you might have actually gotten rid of those couple pesky pounds that just wouldn't go away. but when you suddenly need to go down 2 or 3 or 4 sizes smaller than usual - then i feel like the retailers are just insulting our intelligence.

however, we, the female masses, seem to fall for this trick. we feel somewhat reassured that we can fit into smaller sizes, while knowing that we have not in fact lost weight or even knowing that we have gained it. we're so easily manipulated. and now, i must admit, that i too have fallen for this manipulation. yesterday, i was out shopping and was trying on jeans. i fit into a size that i haven't fit into since i was probably 14. i'm unsure if they're the perfect jeans, great jeans, comfortable jeans - but i couldn't let them go b/c they fit.

while i try to be vigilant, i too have fallen for this marketing trick. and whenever the marketers' manipulations have an effect on my behaviour, i must applaud them.

so bravo, marketing minds, bravo.