my arizona adventure

so i've spent the past week down in the valley in arizona. it's strange that it is such a different world down here - while it's the same - it's also different. during my adventure (which mostly consisted of sleeping, shopping and eating out) i've wandered here and there and seen some amazing vistas and made some observations ... among them:

everyone drives here - i mean everyone - well, aside from the few migrant workers who are going to or from work. people kept looking at me funny seeing me walking along the sidewalk - all by myself. see - the sidewalk is bare!

and if you're going to drive - you might as well drive the largest vehicle possible. suv's are somehow bigger here - i swear there are supersized models for this market only - ones we wouldn't see at home. it's crazy!

oh yes, and from the relative comfort and anonymity of the giant suv and/or pick-up, the boys find the freedom to be quite vocal. the hooting and the hollering was something i've never experienced before - aside from the occasional walk by a construction site in the summer. it's a little unnerving.

oh yes - and for future reference - they don't call it old scottsdale because of its age - but more the age of the tourists .... man i feel young. but that's a good thing, right? maybe this is the way to get me through my quarter life crisis. who knew i'd be so scared of turning 26?

passing time

it keeps on going and going. tick tock, tick tock. it seems like i might be having something interesting or artful to say, but .... no, i'm just leading you astray. i've got nothin'

but, in odd things - i was just watching a hair club for men type commercial - one where they take your own hair and replant it to where you're balding (perhaps i should get this for my brother for christmas ... i think he's past the time where rogaine would be of any help).

anyway - the real hook for this campaign - if you call now, you get free gas!

now, i'm not sure if they were talking about gasoline or perhaps just ... like gastro-intestinal type gas as a side-effect of the surgery - but that's what they were advertising. i'm pretty sure that they were talking about the former though.

it was definitely one of those disconnects. how do hair and gasoline connect? the hold is tenuous at best - when you regain hair, you want to drive in a convertible with the top down and let the wind zip through your hair (and in this case, youc an be confident in doing something like that and your hair won't fall out) - and to drive a convertible, you need gas. but that's way too much thinking to make it make sense. we the ppl need things handed to us on a silver platter - how can you expect us to think? that's just way too demanding!

an open mind

i've been having quite the discussions lately about politics with people. and yet again i'm reminded that there is no political party out there that really speaks to me. in general, i think i have two issues with political parties:

1. they seem to be a little to idealistic and do things sometimes just to prove that they believe in x ideal; and

2. they are too afraid to admit that things change and the changing world can sometimes make a policy or idea that was good at one time not be good now.

politics, in general, fascinates and frustrates me. there are so many good things about it and so many bad. because the talk of politics is so entwined in an individual's personal views and morals, it becomes a topic that is difficult to talk about openly, fairly and without fear of being rebuked. it becomes too emotional and the emotion prevents us from having those discussions that we need to have.

it saddens me that these days we don't really have that visionary, that charismatic leader to get our blood pumping. even if i don't agree with what the leader says, i'd still like there to be someone out there like that. where have all the kings of rhetoric gone? is it because there's no longer the same glory there once was? or is it because there's more opportunity in the knowledge based economy for those individuals now - that they can excel elsewhere and make a prettier penny doing it? or ... are those visionaries so fed up with our society that they've turned their back on it?

maybe i'm asking too much - because how often does a great leader come along? and how often do we see past great leaders as great simply because of the situation that they were in? would they still be great if they hadn't had to deal with that situation? would we remember them at all? i much prefer that we live in non-descript times rather than to have driven these people from the public sector ... but, you never know.

freak out 2006

i can't believe that i freaked out that much. i really had no good reason to freak out. but there i was, and i couldn't stop myself. i thought i was having a good hair day, i thought i was looking cute - but then the self-doubt kick in. had i been simply living in a dream world and this was the pinch to bring me back to reality?

i couldn't even look! i had to avert my eyes. here i am, woman (hear me roar) - and i'm left breathless in the wrong way. i thought i was doing well - i was feeling strong, confident, ambitious - i was going places. and then, for a split second, i saw it all in a different light. much like the interrogation light - bright white - it highlighted every bump, every wrinkle, every imperfection.

god - i hate bathing suit shopping...

and i'm sure i'll feel even better when i get the whole bathing cap and suit ensemble going. the funniest part - i had to shop in the "competitive swimwear" section. anyone else find that thought funny, or is it just me?

new contest!

so - you might have noticed, i changed my template. i haven't decided if i like it yet and i still am a little bit embarassed that i'm using a template in the first place. but then - my design skills aren't nearly what they used to be.

so ... out of laze, i have decided to have a new contest. huzzah! are you excited yet?

what is the contest? well, to design me a lovely new blog. i'm open to most ideas (although - i tend to prefer ones that are pretty and not x-rated) - so go ahead and do it! if you win, you get to see your lovely design every time you come to read my witty and thought provoking posts.

(hmm ... i wonder if any suckers will bite on this one ... oops ... did i type that out loud?)

fears realized

everyone has those things that they're scared of for no real good reason. there may be an explanation (weird, i just wrote explication - that's not even a word! is it?) in their past, some logical progression from no fear/indifference to petrification. but then sometimes, the fear is inexplicable.

for me, this inexplicable fear surrounds falling. well, not really falling, per se. more - having the "ground" fall from beneath me. and when i say ground, i don't mean that actual earth - i mean the suspended floors we create for ourselves - i.e., sidewalk grates, the glass floor in the cn tower, bridges, etc.

luckily, this fear isn't as bad as it used to be. i remember a time when i was basically frozen if i had to step on a grate in the sidewalk - but these have become *almost* commonplace for me now walking around the city (of course, i still *try* to avoid them, although, this is only partially motivated by fear of the grate collapsing - the other part is for my heel slipping through the grate - it's no fun to be stuck AND ruin new shoes. it's very sad, really). however, i still have some issues with the rather large bridges - i was a little shocked when i discovered the large bridge i had to cross this spring when i made my way down to wine country. but i took some deep breaths, stared ahead and gripped the steering wheel tightly and i made it across.

when talking about this fear with people, i'm always told how silly i'm being. that the floor of the cn tower just wouldn't fall out, that bridges just don't collapse. but ... they do! and that's what the unfortunate events in laval this weekend have taught us. i'm not crazy (and this is definitely going to put my fear-dealing a few steps back).

it's sad that we have things like this happen - that we can't keep up with our infrastructure needs. there seems to be this grand idea that if we keep building new infrastructure we can keep growing and growing. but what do we do when our existing infrastructure can't even be maintained? sure - shovel-digging and ribbon cutting ceremonies get you a lot better press than filling in the ever worsening pothole. sure, people complain when they aren't able to use a road because it's being redone. but ... we've gotta do it. we depend on the safety of the infrastructure provided to us - being scared of bridges collapsing under you feet/car *should* be an inexplicable fear - not a reality.

a new place

so, as i alluded to in my last post - my room mate of many years (well, like 3 ... does 3 count as many? when it's over 10% of my life and like half the time of my life since i lived with my parents, i think it counts as many years) is moving far away. result? i moved in with another friend. this weekend was moving weekend. fun? well, it wasn't that bad since none of the heavy lifting was done by me. hooray for male friends! they didn't even grumble (that much).

my new room mate is out of town for a few days - which is kind of nice because i can have the place in a huge mess as i slowly put all my stuff together. however, at the same time - it's a little eerie. i'm moving into someone's place - someone that's been living in the place for quite some time. i don't want to be overstepping the lines or anything. i haven't done that much - although there is little in the way of decorating through the place so i have added some splashes of colour, plant life, etc. ... mostly i've just worked on my bedroom and what is pretty much my bathroom (although it's kind of like the main bathroom ... the other one is an en suite to the other bedroom - so that wouldn't be too practical for guests to use).

but tomorrow - or tuesday or wednesday - depending on my schedule, i've got to start integrating more of my stuff into the kitchen. i opened up the cupboards today and saw a huge mess. i'm a little bit particular about my kitchen. my bedroom can be the biggest mess - the other rooms need to be somewhat neat and organized - but the kitchen must be well organized and well cleaned. i'm not even sure where my stuff will fit. but i'm a little scared to move too much. just like i'm scared to put pictures on the wall. i don't want to do anything offensive in my first week!

it's weird feeling like an intruder though. it's also weird to have moved. i still don't think it's quite sunk in. but then - maybe that's part of the nomad in me. i'm a rather adaptable person - and sometimes i wonder, am i too adaptable and accepting of the circumstances that life gives me?

note to self

copious amounts of white wine on a tuesday night is not a good idea.

this continues melissa & melissa's research into wine on week nights. (my partner in crime, who's soon leaving me for another country *wipes tear* discovered that a bottle of red wine on a monday is not a good idea either).

so next week, should i try wednesday with a blush?

cold feet

hah - made you think i was getting married, didn't i? but no - the title actually refers to my literally cold feet.

you'd think that if this was such a problem, i'm put on some socks. i have a rather warm pair of fuzzy pink ones ... but instead, i sit with my bare feet elevated - further exacerbating the problem. gotta love how lazy i am.

the cold feet make me sad. they're quite representative of a change in seasons. the point in time when i actually have to start wearing socks and shoes. i rather like wearing sandals/open toed shoes. but now i'll have to start squeezing my feet back into confines of boots.

it's weird that i feel so opposed to this. i think my favourite article of clothing is socks (i'm currently in the process of packing up all my clothes and have discovered that my socks fill up a gym bag - do you think perhaps i have too many?). so why then, am i loathing the thought of having to wear them every day?

... and so continues the life of the walking contradiction ...

it does exist!

so, according to the latest (well, i guess seeing as thursday is publication day, the next to latest would be the better description) issue of the economist, global warming does exist! and just when i thought all that chatter about the hockey stick was make believe!

so one and all, it's time to batten down the hatches! the warming will come! it's the truth - despite it being a little inconvenient. of course, we do have to weigh the costs of fighting global warming with the potential unknown benefits. maybe it's already too late, maybe spending billions now won't really produce a real effect anyway ... there's a lot of risk and uncertainty there. but i guess the point is that we should spend something ... just because the impact of the threat is unknown, doesn't mean you should ignore it, right?

and most of all, remember to think responsibly.

the darkness

it's strange - i never realized how dark the night really is. when i was younger, i just took it for granted that when the sun goes down, it gets black outside. as a child, i lived in the country - far away from the light cast from the street lamps. at night, it was dark. it was comforting in a way to know that we were so far removed from the evils and dangers of society. the most dangerous thing hiding out there was the crickets chirping or the occasional skunk snuffling for some grubs to eat.

it was quite different for me then, when i moved into town and had a single street light right outside of my window. even with the blinds shut, the light filtered through. it never seemed like it was truly night, but i adjusted. and as i moved here and there, from the small town, to the small city to the bigger city (well, i guess this is kind of a big city seeing as it is in the top five in north america or something like that, in terms of population of course)

now it seems that everything's turned around. i find it somewhat comforting that the whole city glows at night - that i can see where people are and decipher whether or not they're threatening. i go back to the country every now and then to spend the night, and when i peer into the darkness ... it's all changed. it scares me. well, that's not exactly correct. it's not the dark that scares me so much - it's what might be hiding within it. it's weird how our perceptions change.

p.s. question of the week - if one part of a girl-guy friendship is attracted to the other, can they ever have a truly platonic relationship? is it too much to desire a truly platonic relationship? or is that just an oxy moron, a figment of our imaginations?

judgement

lately, it seems to be bugging me when people say something about another's appearance and then say, "not that looks matter" or something of that kind. what a load of crap.

i think i want to go on the record now (although, i may recant in the future) - but looks do matter.

we as humans have 5 senses ... we have to use these senses to make decisions, judgements, discriminate. depending on the situation, we are limited in which senses we can use to help guide our judgements. with people, we've got sight, sound and smell (and as long as you don't give the person the no feeling, touch). i guess you have taste too - but that's for a more, uh, intimiate type of judgement.

i guess it gets me that we have absolutely no problem with discriminating against people on their smell. if someone has bad b.o., it leads us to believe that they don't have good hygiene and perhaps they're someone that we want to stay away from. maybe we think this is an ok judgement to make because smell is something that a person can work on, can mask, can change.

so then why isn't it ok to judge based on appearances? appearances are something that one can change. i'm not talking about drastic changes that require surgery - but rather other things that are simple. clothes, hair style, cleanliness, posture, etc. it's weird, but if someone dresses well, holds himself well - that shines out despite the good (or bad) looks that god gave him. and is it really so bad to judge on that?

we are visual beings after all, right?

or maybe i'm reading too much rand :S

tv show heaven

i'm the type of person who finishes what she starts. in fact, i'm sort of anal about it. if i pick up a book, i'll slog through it - no matter how disinteresting i find it or how much i don't like it. it might take me a long time, but i finish it. heck, my first hemingway (for whome the bell tolls) took me numerous starts and five years to actually complete. but, the point is, i finished it.

so this is why i sometimes find tv so difficult. you start watching a new show, it's got a hook - a mystery. sure, it's not all that *great* - but you've put in your time, you've watched one, two ... maybe even four or five episodes. and then - just like kaiser soze - it's gone.

i feel cheated, incomplete. you can't just pull the story out from under me. sure, it wasn't getting the ratings the big execs had hoped (and the sad part is, sometimes it can still be getting great ratings, just not relatively so against other shows in the time slot - like when family guy was put up to compete with friends and survivor ... yes, that's definitely a good spot for a new show to grow and thrive ... ). sometimes these shows are even still out there, they've been filmed - just never aired. they hang in limbo where no one can get them. and i stay here, teetering, hanging on a cliff.

but maybe, with the advancement of technology and the morphing of consumer tastes and growth of comfort watching tv streamed or downloaded from the internet, this can change. maybe the shows that now go into tv limbo could go to tv heaven - people could download them at their leisure and not be left for such a lurch. heck, cult followings might even be created for shows. it will bring a whole new dimension, market for stories told in episode form.

alas, i'm afraid it's just all a pipe dream.

yay me!

i did it! finally!

i moved downtown almost two years ago - and since that time i've been telling myself that i should go to the carlton. i walk by it often enough. i figured it could be a test to see if i could handle going to a movie by myself. sure, going to a movie by myself is nothing like eating by myself (sans book) - but it's all about the baby steps (see the below post).

i can't say that my first experience at the carlton was something to write home about. the movie started late, there were technical difficulties so they had to stop it half way through and i think we kept missing a little bit of the footage. however, they did make up for it by giving me a free pass for next time.

and i'm sure you're wondering what i went to see - well, it was a showing of thank you for smoking, which i found rather amusing - i'm sure it would have been even better had i seen the film in its entirety and if there wasn't a break in the middle and if the vertical alignment wasn't messed up for a few minutes - better luck next time.

confession

what i'm about to tell you all is by no means a signal that i want to get married and have kids right now, as much as it may seem to be. i'm enjoying life right now - and in no way am i ready for that "next stage" of life. i think i still have a few commitment issues to be dealing with - but i assume those will dissipate when the time comes. however, i do feel that i've made a teeny weeny baby step closer towards it.

whenever i've pictured my future, i've assumed i would have 2 kids (except for a phase in high school where i decided i wouldn't have kids. apparently i told my mom about this plan at that time - and now she thinks that i never want to have kids, which works well for me b/c that means no pressure for grandkids - or not yet at least. but then again, i'm only 25 - who knows what the coming years will bring)

so back to my original assumption - i can see these two kids - a girl with long ringletty hair and a cute little boy. both of them had the blond(e) hair and the blue eyes. this works well for me, being blond(ish - more blonde as a child) and blue-ish eyed myself. however - i've always been attracted to dark eyed, dark haired guys - you know the type that would be unlikely to produce a little blond, blue-eyed children. and the blondish, blueish eyed men? well - i never found them all that pretty ...

until now. is this a sign? am i entering a new phase in my life? or am i just bored with the same old type of guy and want to taste a new colour in the rainbow?

wow this is pretty personal - i guess the real question is will i have the guts to publish this? and if i do ... how long will i let it stay up?

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.

ka-boom

a car exploded outside of my office yesterday! not just outside of my office building, i'm talking about outside of my individual office window! there was just the tree (where the squirrels play and provide me much afternoon entertainment) between the car and my office window! crazy!

ok, ok - i may exaggerate a little bit. but let me start from the very beginning (a very good place to start)

so i'm sweltering in my office yesterday (apparently the ventilation system broke ... plus they had to turn off the air conditioning anyway b/c the government thinks it must make a good conservation example and does this by turning off the air conditioning, non-essential lighting and 25% of the elevators when there's a smog day... the a/c doesn't come back on until the interior temp hits 27 degrees or something like that. i'm usually ok with this, except that they didn't have the ventilation system on yesterday - so as a result i was light-headed, dizzy, hallucinating ... but this story did actually happen! i swear!) ok ... so back to the start...

i was sweltering in my office yesterday. there's a sudden commotion down the hall. a bunch of ppl are gathering in a co-workers office and making exclamations. i ignore it and continue with my reading. the excitement seems to die down and then one of the group walks by my office and says "you shoudl check out your window - there's a car on fire)

so i look ... there's flames! lots of flames! i pause for a minute - then i think, "MY GOD! WHAT IF THE GAS TANK EXPLODES!" so i grab my purse and my keys and hightail it out of my office. by this time, most everyone with an eastern exposure has seen the car on fire. some are still wanting to watch yet torn because, what if the thing explodes ... the whole wall could be taken out. so we start heading outside ... i glance at the windows behind me and see billowing black smoke. there are some small booms (the tires popping?) our director decided at this point in time that perhaps we should all evacuate - but then, one of the ppl who just couldn't keep their noses away from the window noted that all the excitement was over. the firemens had come, they spayed the waters and the fire was out. still ... there was shattered glass on the sidewalk and even some melted aluminum or something like that.

from there on out, i just had to deal with the toxic fumes that made their way into the stagnant office air.

such an odd day.

AND ... it wasn't even the only car fire i saw yesterday. when i was walking after work, i saw another burnt out car in a puddle of water with firemens milling about.

apparently it was just *that* hot out yesterday. i don't know how many more days i can handle with it feeling like it's over 40 degrees ...

becoming the cat lady: step one

i've taken the first step, yes, yes i have.

back in the day, i believe i was voted "most likely to become a cat lady" in my high school graduating class. since that time, i've been resisting the urges, i've been analysing my actions, i've been trying to ensure that i don't become a cat lady.

but really, what is a cat lady? how many cats do you have to have? does one cat make you a cat lady? does two? and why aren't there cat men? that just doesn't seem fair! but this is all beside the point right now.

yesterday i took the first step - now i'm sure you're thinking that this means that i got a kitten (which would be fantabulous if i actually did) ... but no, i did not. however, i did get me one of those nifty shopping carts so i can easily wheel my purchases from the grocery store to my house.

maybe this is really just the first step on the way to me becoming a bag lady ... but i think it's more the cat lady route. you see, this little cart can make me more independent - i won't need to grab a taxi or even go on transit with the other pl in order to transport heavy purchases home. instead, i can do as i please, in my own little world. heck, i can even block out the real world with the music on the ipod (so if we step backwards, maybe that was the first step to becoming a cat lady. if i'm listening to music, i find i have an excuse to ignore ppl when they try to talk to me on the street)

and in the end, what's a cat lady but an independent, recluse who only has cats for friends?

bits and pieces

i keep thinking i should write in my blog and i have lots of things to write about. but when i think about writing them, i find i have not much to say - no expansion upon the original thought. so this could definitely be a post of random thoughts.

1. life jackets are important. especially in hypothermic type temperatures.
2. rain makes ppl wear funny things - like garbage bags as pretend ponchos. but my favourite outfit i saw during the downpours was the asian IT type guy was wheeling a little shopping cart thingy with a case of lakeport honey brown (or some such brand) in his too-short, tapered, pleated khakis and plaid shirt holding the lavendar umbrella with bows and flowers on it. wonderful!
3. the true love cafe has redone its signs! apparently you can stay in the true love castle - i wonder if they rent it by the hour?
4. do fireworks sound like gunfire? what does gunfire sound like? am i just being paranoid?
5. when you make an appointment, keep it. i'm not clingy - it's just that if i make a commitment to meet up with someone at some time, i respect that commitment and turn down other possible activities/rendezvoussss - so i'm annoyed when the appointment gets cancelled at the last minute.
6. will greg be the minister of finance again? when will dalton let us know? is it wrong to refer to elected officials by their first names?
7. am i being a baby if i refuse to try to make contact with someone if they have ignore my last attempt to make contact with them? should i swallow my pride and maybe open the window so i can escape my life as a recluse?
8. is it wrong to find compliments - no matter the source - even in the form of cat calls from construction workers or in the form of the homeless man on the bench in the park displaying his wealth by throwing a handful of change on the path in front of you and saying he'd like the pretty girl to spend some time with him - oddly flattering? is it wrong to be blushing and rolling your eyes/shuddering at the same time?
9. i thought may was supposed to be nice? why can't i wear my sandals yet?!? why why why?!?
10. is the mouse poo i found on my desk old or new? have the mice come back?
11. why do the IT guys lie? we got new computers at work and they make whiny/squealing noises (at first i thought there was a mouse torture chamber in my wall ... this goes back to my mouse paranoia). every 15 - 20 minutes it sounds like a mouse in horrible pain. apparently it's normal for computers to do this? well, it's normal for these computers to do this b/c they're small and there's not enough insulation to muffle that squealing noise? highly dubious!
12. (this is the last one, i swear) what's up with the da vinci code controversy? i can see why opus dei is mad b/c they are painted in a rather un-nice light ... however, i think it's great for the catholic church - faith is only strengthened when it's challenged, isn't it? it's kind of like how god tested moses in the desert ... right?

a case of mistaken identity

oh gmail ... oh gmail

so i have found it quite interesting that i tend to get a lot of mail for other ppl in my gmail account. for mike or for mildred or matt or martha ... (my gmail account is m.lastname@gmail.com) ... among these, was a flyer for some junkmail ... so i tried to unsubscribe. i put in my email address and it told me that it didn't even have me on record (it's apparently impossible to remove someone from a list when they're not on the list to begin with). this lead me to be a bit more of a detective.

i looked at the address that the email had been sent to - it was just mlastname@gmail.com ... no dot. i found this puzzling - the dot is the defining feature of my gmail address! it's cute, it's perky and it separates my first initial from my last! this lead me to go and look at other emails that i had received for other ppl ... again, the email address entered was just mlastname@gmail.com. (weird) there was a little link to "learn more" ... so being the curiouscat that i am, i double clicked. oh how i learned!

APPARENTLY, gmail does not recognize dots. it recognizes yourname@gmail.com the same as your.name@gmail.com the same as y.o.u.r.n.a.m.e@gmail.com . since when is a dot not a character? and does this mean that ALL my gmail has been going into someone else's inbox too? if there are two almost identical email sign-ins (aside from the dot) does the email get sent to all the accounts? or is it a random lottery to figure out who gets it each time? my two concerns are now that either i don't receive all emails that are sent to me ... or more distressing - all of the emails addressed to me are also being sent to mike (with the same email address as me). it makes me wonder ... i don't get *all* that many emails for mike (it is just usually mike that i get emails for) ... so either he's not a very popular guy, he doesn't use his gmail very much or i just randomly get sent some of his gmails.

i'm ever so confused.

do i change my email address? i was almost finally switched over from my hotmail to my gmail ... i almost had everyone trained! this is a definite oversight on google's part ... not necessarily the fact that the dot does not count as a character, but more in the fact that they did not really make it known/apparent that the dot did not count as a character when i signed up for this service 2 years ago!

oh i'm bitter - bitter and distressed (although, the distress is more a product of oliver being in critical care- but that's a story for another time. i don't want to assume the worst, until that assumption has been confirmed. p.s. just so you don't get overly worried, oliver is my laptop - but again, more on that later).

p.s. after some light tapping, jiggling and other good love, oliver has turned on again! YAY! but ... for how long?

hippity hop

so exciting!

the easter bunny visited me last night. that's all well and good - he usually does (if i'm with my parents for easter ... which i almost always am. gotta put in the good quality family time, right?) so i got my sugar and spice chocolate bunny (her name is daisy ... it says so on the box - i find it a little disconcerting that my chocolate bunny has a name. it makes it seem a little wrong that i will eventually have to eat her) and my mint smoothies and socks of course (i do love my socks). it almost made up for being woken up at 9 (by my father who has decided that the most effective way to wake up slumbering children early in the morning is with a spray bottle full of water) bearable. i was walking to the kitchen to get some caffeine when i noticed it - a chocolate egg hidden on the edge of the piano. then i looked at the cabinet - another egg! it was a real live easter egg hunt! i haven't had one of those in years!

i hurriedly ran around the house trying to grab all the eggs i could - elbows up of course (i had to make sure i got more than my little cousins - it's my competitive nature). you'll be glad to learn that i won. even better, i conned the youngest (just so i don't seem completely evil - the youngest cousin is 15) out of some of her eggs - i told her i didn't get any (she apparently didn't notice the giant bulge in the pocket of my sweater *snickers*) and she felt bad and gave me some. now that's what easter's all about! the spirit of giving (to me ... that is, hehehe).

hoppy easter!

the mr. men

the other day, my co-worker and i were talking about pac-man. for some rreason, whenever i think about pac-man, i start thinking about the mr. men. do you remember the mr. men? they were funny shapes (one did look like pac-man, just with legs and arms).

i could never get enough of the mr. men. unfortunately, we only had a select few mr. men books in my school library. and to make matters worse, there was only one little miss book! it was almost a tease to open up the back of the book and see the list of all the other mr. men and little miss books that existed, but that i would never be able to get my hands on.

so for a joke, i typed in "mr. men" in google (one of my best friends - google can find *almost* anything). and up pops http://www.mrmen.com - apparently it's their 35th anniversary! they're 10 years older than me! the site is all fun and interactive stuff. there's also an area where you can meet all of the mr. men and little misses. some of them look like they might be new and were probably created after my childhood, but most look like they've been around for quite some time.

so i began going through the list of little misses and began wondering which one was i. usually you don't get such a large and thorough list to play the "which one am i" game ... like the "which friend am i" or "which sex and the city girl am i" ... so i've narrowed it down to this list:

• little miss curious - spends her life saying: how? why? who? what? where? when?
• little miss brainy - knows a lot about a lot of things
• little miss dotty - is the dottiest person you'll ever meet. definitely.
• little miss shy - if anyone at any time says anything at all to little miss shy, she blushes like a beet root
• little miss splendid - thinks a lot of herself. in fact she thinks of little else (ok, i just want to be splendid .... i don't know how much this really fits ... )
• little miss stubborn - as you can imagine, is extremely stubborn
• little miss whoops - is simply one of those people who has accidents all the time.

so how about you, which one(s) are you?

taxi cabiquette

so last night i called a cab. i wait. i'm on a busy street so there were actually quite a few others ones that past me, but i continue to patiently wait for the cab that i called (i don't want my friends' address or my cell phone number to be blacklisted). finally, a cab from the company i called pulled up. so i got in. then another cab from the same company called up. on the radio i can hear the other cab driver yelling at dispatch saying that "the thief just stole my fare". i can see the driver in the other cab giving my cabbie the evil eye. i felt so guilty. should i get out at this time and go to the proper cab?

it's a question that i often wonder about. there's all this cab etiquette. some are easy - you take the first cab in the queue outside the station/restaurant/club ... whatever the location. but then there are other times i'm left wondering.

for example, i hail a cab. one starts pulling over and another one cuts him off and pulls in front. so, there are then two cabs at the side of the road for me. which one do i choose? the crazy one that sped in front. or the more patient one? if i don't go with the crazy one will he do something crazy? but if i do go with the crazy aggressive one, will he do something crazy?

i really do wonder about the blind faith we put in cabbies sometimes. b/c really, you never know what you're going to get.

playlist

here we go folks - feel free to point and laugh. i am now going to reveal the three most embarassing songs on ichapod (he's my ipod ... yes i named him) ... so drumroll please ...

3. run with us - i think that's the name of this song. it's the theme song from that old show the raccoons - i mostly liked the show because i shared a name with one of the raccoons - and no, it wasn't bert or ralph.

2. the last unicorn - this is the theme from the movie of the same name. oh how i loved that movie. but that was in my childish childhood days when i thought unicorns were real and i would grow up to be a princess... i dont' believe in them anymore, i swear ... santa claus on the other hand ...

1. how am i supposed to live without you - yes, that's right. it's the song that zack and kelly broke up to. yes, *the* zack and kelly. and this isn't a nice recorded version of the song - it's ripped straight from the show. while jessie and slater "sing" ... zack and kelly dance in the school yard and she tells him that she likes jeff. it's heart breaking really. *wipes a tear from her eye*

strange how all of my most embarassing songs are from tv/film ... oh, the memories!

activia

i think i watch too much tv. why? b/c i'm once again going to write about commercials.

has anyone seen this new activia commercial? they keep talking about the 14-day activia challenge. saying you should try activia and enjoy it for 14 days.

it doesn't really specify what the challenge is - so i can only assume that the challenge is the eating and actually enjoying activia for 14 days.

well, i'll tell you this much, i'm definitely sold!

.... or maybe not ...

ring ring... hello?

i think i may be starved for phone attention. this is really a funny predicament b/c i don't really even like talking on the phone. in fact, i rarely even phone people - just to check on meeting times and things like that. heck, my parents don't even phone me anymore now that they've discovered the beauty of instant messaging.

so there seems to be somewhat of a contradiction in there. i guess i only want the attention in as much as i feel special that someone calls and asks to speak to me. it means i'm like the chosen one! unfortunately, the only time i seem to be the chosen one on the phone that my room mate and i share is when someone's trying to solicit a donation from me or sell me something.

so this gets me to my original story. picture this - it's sunday night. 11:30. i'm sitting around minding my own business in my living room. suddenly i hear a loud, peppy sound - much to my surprise, it's my cell phone (surprise b/c i was hearing my phone ring - both b/c someone was calling and b/c the ringer was actually turned on).

alas, the sound is coming from far away. my phone is in the bedroom! i make the mad dash. i frantically search through my bag and the silver box that is my cell phone fell out onto my bed. i flipped it open. i didn't recognize the number. i put the phone to my ear just in time to hear "i don't think she's going to answer - click"

i now feel deprived. who is this mystery person trying to call me? why haven't they called back? was it ed mcmahon? did i miss my chance at a million dollars?

sure, it was probably a wrong number.

but ... what if?

puzzlements

do you ever notice that if you are in internet explorer, and you try to type in an address and go to a page, for example, www.cbc.ca, it tells you it can't find the page and then asks if you would like to go to the similarly named site www.cbc.ca

it seems silly, really it does!

but just an observation