98 in 976

Two more done! I love crossing things off lists, don't you?

6. Buy a digital SLR - Completed December 25th, 2005.

No, I did not go shopping on Christmas Day. Thanks to my incredible family, I don't have to! I am now the proud owner of a Nikon D50, and it is beautiful. Seriously, the amount of fun I'm having? Ridiculous.

47. Find a pair of heels I can wear all day - Completed December 26th, 2005.

Love Boxing Day this year; not only did I find several things I specifically wanted, but I didn't buy anything "just cause it's on sale". Take that, marketing fiends.

See 101 in 1001 for the full list.

The Haul

Anyone in Canada is well-versed in the custom of Boxing Day: basically, the day after Chrismas, all the stores put on massive sales. Some of them have such huge sales that people line up at the door starting at 9 pm Christmas day. Some of the stores you walk by on Boxing Day have line ups halfway around the block (hello, Coach). Basically, it's a ridiculous event of shopping, that was spawned of a holiday presumably given so everyone would have time to clean up after Christmas. Anyway, it used to be one day. Now it's become a full week. Generally, Boxing Day itself is pure retail insanity; stores packed with customers weaving their ways between the security guards who've been hired to contain the crowds. It's a spectacle to be sure, and the line ups for stores can be bizarre (why would you line up for Aritzia? Their sale is like $3 off the $245 jeans). And this year, J and I braved the storm.

On Boxing Day itself, I came out with 3 shirts from Buffalo (50% off everything) some body wash and moisturizer from the Body Shop, and some round-toed black pumps (tiny, tiny heel, which is perfect because it means I can walk, also, $55 at 50/5 off - wicked).

Today, I got a pair of Pumas ($50, 66% off - ie. $100. Whooo!), which is nice, because my shoe (non-)collection is severely lacking in any fields that don't include the words "flip flops".

All in all, not bad.

I still have a "last few days" entry in the works; I keep adding to it and never manage to finish it, but it's there, and it's coming.

Where Have I Been?

FINALLY I have a chance to post this. Everyone's back home! I don't know what to do with myself, there are so many people I love to see!

Girly's back! We went Christmas shopping together on the 22nd (less than twelve hours after my last exam was over. Yech), and managed to get some of the shopping under our belts, and some serious catching up, too. I also made these amazing mashed potatoes, with sour cream and cream cheese and parsley. Sooo good. They were for Kaisha's Christmas party, where we also had turkey, and then presents! I got pyjamas from T, a scarf from Mon, and a Lululemon headband and scrapbooking letter stamps from Kaisha!

On the 23rd I met up with Shakey, an old friend from the sorority who now lives in California. It was so great to see her, it's been over a year now! We always manage to cover everything that's happened since we last saw each other. And she gave me the cutest Christmas ornament! She told me she chose it for me, and that it was to convince me to visit. Upon opening it, I found a tiny palm tree, decorated for Christmas with presents under it and everything. It's very very cute, and a picture of it will be posted soon. Also, I'm definitely visiting.

After meeting with Shakey, it was off to West Van, because J had landed that morning, FINALLY. It was so great to actually see her, she still looks exactly the same, having left in September, all tanned, and returned in December, still tanned. Malaysia'll do that to ya.

Christmas Eve, I did some last-minute Christmas shopping, met up with J for a bit, and then headed to Girly's for our gift exchange and Christmas Eve dinner, which was a riot, as usual. I gave Niall these cool martini glasses that hold a deceptively high amount of actual martini, and Niall gave me a sparkly notepad and a necklace (when asked, I gave her the theme "pretty". Heh). Niall made little packages of cookies that were proclaimed "visual perfection" (as a joke), we downloaded and sang along to such Christmas classics as "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" "Six White Boomers" and "Dominic the Italian Donkey". It was awesome, and by the time I got home, it was technically Christmas Day.

Christmas Day was, as usual, great times. My dad, for the second year in a row, forwent the dreaded Christmas chart. Everyone liked their gifts, although I have to return the Bro's (he'd already bought it for himself, the brat. At least I know I have good taste). I have a pretty, pretty new camera named Pretty (from my parents and Santa, who've joined forces this year to bring me Pretty. I also received the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants DVD (yay!) and various edibles (mmm...edibles).

Boxing Day, as you know, I shopped with J. We also exchanged gifts; I gave her a shirt and a book about advertising (which is the field she works in, so it isn't entirely random. Also, it was an interesting book, that I may or may not have to quickly read before she flies off to Malaysia again), and she got me a shirt, a purse, a pendant and some earrings (I know, seriously got outmatched by her and her Malaysian purchases. Dammit).

Since then, I've bascailly been a blur of hanging out with J, partying at the Buffalo Club with my girls, chilling at Peek's post-Christmas party and, sadly for my visa, shopping. which must. stop. Luckily, today I'll be seeing the Kits crew, who I haven't seen in way too long, and I'm going back to work tomorrow, so wooo income! Just in time for tuition. Yeesh.

I love Christmas time. Everyone's home, and it's a whirlwind of fun.

Merry Christmas!

Hey y'all! I hope you're having a great break! So far, mine's been great! I'll write a full recap later, but just wanted to wish all a wonderful time!

Restaurant Review: Candia's

Candia's (Taverna?) is a small Greek-Italian restaurant on West 10th Avenue. Sekke and I decided to go for some food nearer to the end of the exam period, since we were both so sick of campus food that anything, ANYTHING would do, and it had the benefit of being quite affordable.

The decor of the place is...novel. Honestly, it's like being inside of a cuckoo clock. Dark, cabin-like wood everywhere, accented by out-of-place African-looking tapestries, apple topiaries and light in the shapes of vegetables. The table we were seated at was pretty small, and for some reason our seats lacked cushions. It was still pretty comfortable, though.

Our server was new, I presume, since she said she "didn't really know the menu", which...yeah. Anyway, we both got pasta, garlice bread and salad for 8.95. And it was okay, but not exceptional. The salad seemed like it was Kraft dressing poured over lettuce (wet lettuce. Candia? Salad spinner), which frankly is a little shabby. But the pasta was okay, and if they'd screwed up the garlic bread, I doubt they'd still be in business.

Basically, it's not bad, but with so many great, also affordable places along 10th (the pho noodle place, Burgoo, sushi) I'd head somewhere else any day.

Freedom!

I have finally, finally finished my last exam. Huge props for Sekke, who with an almost as crappy exam schedule, studied with me nearly the whole way. We were getting pretty punchy by the end of it, but seriously, who wouldn't? Especially last night, when the entire library was empty except for us two and the girl who, hilariously, got the hiccups and then said "excuse me" after each one. At leat with Sekke there, I wasn't completely alone. Of course, she still finished her exams like 7 hours before I did. Bitch.

Tomorrow, Christmas shopping and dinner at Kaisha's. Yay!

100 in 987

One down, one hundred to go!

77. Construct the “J-Bird and Sekke Family Tree” Spanning back a minimum of 3 generations. - Completed December 13th, 2005.

Made it as a card/gift for Sekke's birthday. We are the proud relations of such eminent world citizens as Gary Coleman, Dakota Fanning, Jackie Chan, and Mulan.

Definitely Christmas

This morning, I woke up feeling dessicated (my room is like an arid desert, and I have no idea why), and went downstairs to make some breakfast. I started singing Britney Spears' Christmas song (As Tessa knows, I seem to have some sort of pre-ordained love for pop star Christmas songs).

Santa can you hear me?
I have been so good this year

To which my lovely mother says "Yeah, you've been SORT OF good."

Thanks mom.

Halfway through my breakfast, and apparently after some thought on her part, she let a little bit of Christmas cheer in with "Okay, you've been pretty good this year."

One Under My Belt

Well, my inaugural exam is now over; that leaves me two to go. Yech. In better news, I successfully poached an egg today! Two eggs, actually, which leads me to believe that it wasn't a fluke. I'm excited because poached is one of the few ways I like eggs. AND I got them to perfect firmness (ie. not very). It was a beautiful moment, which I would have photographed, but that would have meant my breakfast would be cold. And do you really think I would let my first poached eggs get cold?

Tonight was also the viewing of the perennial Christmas classic, A Charlie Brown Christmas. My favourite non-sensical clip is when Charlie Brown pays Lucy for his therapy, and she raves over the sound of the moeny in her tin, and says "snickly snickle, snickle". What in the world is a snickle? I'm so going to say that from now on.

Well, back to the books; tomorrow I'm taking a break from studying to attend three (three!) Christmas parties. This means I have to study today, but it also means I can look forward to tomorrow!

A Well Deserved "YEAH ya Did!"

St. Andrew's Episcopal School, in Austin, Texas, was told by a donor that if they didn't remove the short story Brokeback Mountain (which the movie is based on, so...gay cowboys) from it's library, they could consider themselves out of the 3 million dollars he was going to donate.

And you know what they did? They decided to keep the book.

Which in itself blows my world, but it's also started a new collective of writers. So check out AS IF! (Authors Support Intellectual Freedom). And don't forget to send out mental props to the St. Andrew's Episcopal School.

Commercials I Enjoy

I agree that most tv ads are preposterous wastes of airspace. I mean, how many ads do you encounter that actually make you think "Wow, I should totally buy that Swiffer!" In fact, the only ads that really motivate me to buy something are infomercials, with their amazing demos and insanely over-enthused spokespeople. And even then I don't buy them.

However, some of them are funny. Funny in the way that I will watch them again and again. In fact, if I'm flipping channels idly, and come across one of these, I'll stop for the duration of the commercial. Robitussin, Swiffer? Not among these. Here's a brief list of some that are.

Febreze - The one with the baby toys/dog toys
If you haven't seen this ad, you need to. Basically, this lady cleans all these little toys off the floor, then sprays the carpet with Febreze. She puts the bottle back in the cupboard, and when she turns around, all the toys are face down on the floor, including this insane-looking money. In my mind, the crazy implication that the floor smells so good that stuffed animals love it is pretty inventive in itself, but the deal-clincher for me is the close-up shot of the monkey, who looks bat-shit crazy. Seriously, that is the cutest little homicidal monkey ever.

Trident - Did you say filing?
Basically, this guy working ina cubicle is given a stack of files to...file, and the whole office breaks out into a song and dance about filing. There are spirit fingers, dolphin dives, and theatrical faces. It's pure genius, and when it went off the air, I cried a little.

Fido - What if cell phones didn't exist? pigeon edition
There are no cell phones, and everyone is using carrier pigeons to communicate. Pigeons are everywhere, and there's this one hysterical moment with employees cooing to the pigeons, telling them to "fly home!"

There are more (there's a car ad in which a guy gets his blackberry thrown out the window by his jerk of a "friend", and then turns around and throws the guy's toupee out the window), but there's no hope of me ever remembering them all. Anyway, it's nice to know that in all that garbage, you can find the occasional gem.

Grumbles in the Tummy Area

This morning I woke up, and everything seemed fine. Then I got out of bed, and voila! My gastrointestinal system decided to vent its anger at...the state of the world? All I know is, when I got up this morning I felt green-at-the-gills kind of sick. Not to the point where I was going to throw up, it was more of a "Hello? Hi, this is your digestive system, giving you a friendly warning that any missteps on your part are very, very discouraged. And don't worry about forgetting, this is a constant reminder. We'd feel bad if you forgot."

Needless to say, my morning was excellent. I hate it when my organs get all self-important. Good thing I found some oatmeal for lunch, that shut it up good.

Girly

A few days ago, I was furiously looking for my Charlie Brown Christmas CD. I didn’t end up finding it; instead, I found a few of many remixes I burned at Girly’s house this summer. While I burned a lot of CD’s, it seems I didn’t label many of them, so I popped them into my CD-ROM drive one by one. After all, I was sure to encounter at least a few songs I wanted on my iPod. And I did; remember Breakfast at Tiffany’s? Gone til November? Blinded by the Light?

It’s funny how just flipping through the first 5 seconds of a song can still bring back memories; not eventful, big memories, either. Blinded by the Light recalls the scene of Girly and her brother (over)excitedly discussing the various remixes of the song they’d found, and then head-bopping and lip-syncing to the words. Not very epic, is it? And yet this is what my mind has selected to remember.

Just like any 98 Degrees song will always remind me of her house in high school. I used to spend a lot of time at Girly’s house, and she went through a phase of infatuation with the boys of 98 Degrees. I’m not joking; there were CD’s bought, posters hung up, specials watched, all to satisfy this obsession of hers. My most vivid memory involving the band doesn’t even have anything to do with their music. At a party, her brother’s friend untacked one of the 98 posters, and re-tacked it upside down as a joke. Girly freaked out. She walked in the room, noticed the drunken, mischievous look on his face, looked around suspiciously, sighted the poster, took a deep breath and reamed him out. She was mad. The guy would probably have been pretty intimidated; Girly has some pretty strong “intimidation” genes in her family. Unfortunately, when Girly gets mad, her voice rises three octaves (to what my brother likes to call “the Hamster”), and this was before her growth spurt, so instead of a scary creature of wrath, the guy was looking at a 5-foot tall cute little girl he’d known since she was three who was shrieking just barely within the range of human hearing.

Another one of the songs I found on the mix CD’s was Colin Hay’s Just Don’t Think I’ll Ever Get Over You. I’ll just give you a sampling of the lyrics, so you know what I’m talking about here:

I don't want you thinking I'm unhappy
What is closer to the truth
That if I lived till I was 102
I just don't think I'll ever get over you

Anyway, it’s a very pretty, if incredibly depressing, song. However, whenever I hear it it makes me smile, or if I’m feeling particularly reminiscent, giggle a little. See, the first time I heard this was the day after I was dumped a guy I was completely in love with; I left for Girly’s house the second I woke up that day, cried on a good portion of the bus ride (it was summer, thank goodness, so I was wearing sunglasses the entire time), and promptly climbed into her bed and bawled upon arrival. I’m guessing she decided to turn on iTunes so I (or more likely for her benefit) wouldn’t have to hear my crying as the soundtrack for the day. It was a good plan; iTunes has that handy “Shuffle” setting, so I could just lie there and cry while listened sympathetically, and the trusty computer would keep on playing.

At one point, though, the as-of-then-unheard-by-me strains of Colin Hay kicked in. I was in one of my crying lulls, and had retired into a period of quiet despair, so there was no crying to drown out the lyrics. I think Girly had zoned out a little, which is understandable, as I’d woken her up at 7 am or something equally unreasonable to cry all over her pillow and hog half of the (twin) bed. So I’m listening to what he’s saying, not wanting to move or ask Girly to change it, because I felt bad for being such a pain. So I sat there, just feeling more and more awful, until finally I said something.

“Um…Girly? Do you think you could change the song?”
“Huh? What are we-Oh my god! I’m so sorry!” She lunged to turn it off, yelping as she stubbed her toe and nearly tripping over the chair into a face plant.
“That’s okay” I said (I’m willing to bet I sounded pretty pitiful).

I spent the entire day at her house. She made me toast, which I didn’t eat. She later got mad at her brother for eating my (by then, cold) toast, at which point he carefully put it back on the plate and made a sad, apologetic face at me. Her mom came down and gave me a hug, and then her mom’s best friend came down and gave me a hug. Both these things made me cry. Her dad stayed away, except once in the morning to tell us it was beautiful outside, and ask if we would like to sit on the porch, to which I said “not yet”.

By afternoon, I went out on the porch, into the sun, and just watched the people walk by. Girly had been helping her mom with some of the guestrooms (her house is a Bed and Breakfast), and within about five minutes she came out to join me on the porch.

“Hey, you’re outside! …You know, you’re going to be fine. I promise.”
“I know.”
“What the hell is that lady wearing?”
“I know.”

So I Just Don’t Think I’ll Ever Get Over You, while sad and sweet, is like pressing play on the memory of Girly nearly killing herself to turn off what, if left alone, would have been just another love song. It’s a pretty funny image, as is the one of her brother’s realization that he was eating my toast, and the memory of the hideous outfit that lady was wearing. And considering how I felt, I think it’s pretty bloody amazing that I can laugh at the memory of anything at all from that day.

And even though I’m a Backstreet Boys girl at heart, always have been and always will be, I’m probably stuck with this soft spot for 98 Degrees forever.

Miscellany

Kaisha and I went to dim sum today, and let me tell you, there is no better way to start a study day than with dim sum. Mmmmm. Studying, on the other hand, was possibly more tedious than ever; I'm not sure if I just hit the wall early on, or if I really was reading the most boring material yet. Either way, here's praying it's better tomorrow.

This week I've been averaging four chapters a day, which I think is pretty good, but my god was today difficult. I only got three chapters in today, but I'm going to try to force myself through another one, since a chapter read now is a chapter that I don't need to read later.

In other news, I tried to go Christmas shopping today. I knew what I wanted to buy, but when I went to get it at a "discount" store, it was $5 more than at the normal retailer! What is that all about? Clearly, I didn't buy it. Sigh. Looks like all my Christmas shopping will be done on Christmas Eve after all.

You Can Tell I've Had a Big Day When...

Right now, as I type, the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is on TV. Anyone familiar with the geography of my house knows that since I'm writing this, I'm also not watching. Granted, I could probably watch it in the interests of research for the hot underwear I need to buy in the next 998 days or so. However, there are far more efficient ways to peruse underwear, and they don't involve hours on end of way too thin models walking (or, from what I've heard of past shows, floating on wires) down the runway. And god knows that the items being sashayed down the catwalk cost more than I'm willing to pay.

IToday I managed to read two chapters of clinical psychology, and two of memory. The clinical psychology book is awfully written. It's not just that it's boring; boring is somewhat expected in a textbook. It's the amazing violations of the rules of the English language that I find so irritating. Some sentences are so bad that I wonder if the editor was even fluent in English. I don't think it's too much to ask that an academic text be written in proper English, but it would seem this is just me.

In contrast, the "text" for my memory psychology class is really interesting; It's titled Searching for Memory, by Daniel Schacter, and is written in more of a "popular non-fiction" than academic format. It helps that I love this class, of course. But seriously, go read this book. There's some crazy stuff our brains will do. Also, this book? Completely grammatical!

Clinical, Memory, Relationships

That's the order of my exams. Which don't start until the 16th. You would think that this would mean that since I have so much time to study, I could just make myself a nice, leisurely study schedule, and follow it straight to A-ville. Alas, no such luck. What it means is that I've made myself a schedule, and what with the immense lack of urgency, I have to fight the urge to pracrastinate at every turn of the page. It doesn't help that as clinical is the first exam, it is what I'm studying first, and also the most boring.

Other than this, however, I've had a pretty good day. I got to see the almost-always-absent T, who was sick this morning and therefore got the day off, which was nice. And even further back in the day, my mummy made me breakfast! And I got to have diner with Peek. So not all bad. But I definitely need to get these exams over with - reading this text book makes me feel like my brain is being slowly transformed into cream of wheat. Ew, I can't believe I just made that up. I need to sleep.

If I dream about clinical psychology, you'll be hearing from me in the morning.

It's Begining to Look a Lot Like...

It was snowing all day today! I love seeing snow falling; it's beautiful and gets an automatic happy response out of me. Anyhow, in honour of it being December, the snow, and the general Christmasiness outside, I've made a Christmas playlist on my iPod of all my favourites:

All I Want for Christmas - Mariah Carey [my favourite Christmas song ever]
The Chipmunk Song - Alvin and the Chipmunks [obviously]
Christmas Song - Christina Aguilera [...yeah. I have no explanation]
Six White Boomers - Rolf Harris [If you don't know this song, you need to hear it. It is sheer genius]
Newfie Christmas - Great Big Sea [recommended by the lovely Tessa. Need you know more? I thought not.]
Christmas Medley - Sarah McLachlan and Barenaked Ladies [love both these musical units, and love the song]
Christmas Wrapping - Waitresses
Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt
Run Rudolph Run - Bryan Adams [because I thought I needed more Canadians. Heh.]
Baby Please Come Home - U2 [what's a holiday without a little Bono?]
Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time - Paul McCartney
Twelve Days of Christmas - Muppets [ah, Muppet Christmas Carol. Classic cinema.]
Christmas Song - Dave Matthews [not the same song as Aguilera's]
Silent Night - Enya [I think. What? I can't quite tell!]

Note: this list excludes the entire Charlie Brown Christmas CD, which, in its entirety, is tied with All I Want for Christmas as my all-time favourite

101 in 1001.

The idea is that these are 101 things I've set out for myself to achieve in 1001 days. In other words, I have to complete these by August 31st, 2008. I'll update as I progress - here we go!


1. Buy hot underwear I can wear every day. - Completed December 2007
2. Go to at least three new restaurants, and review on Never Reason.
3. Take a photography course. - Completed February-March 2006.
4. Take a cooking class/learn to cook at least 3 new entrees. - Completed God Knows When.
5. Learn to sew at least from a pattern.
6. Buy a digital SLR. - Completed December 25th, 2005.
7. Read Proust (not all his works, necessarily, but at least something).
8. Work in a psych lab, and identify at least three things I’d like to study. - Completed at some point.
9. Get my undergraduate degree. - Completed June 2006.
10. Write letters to all my babies, Peek, Kaisha, Sekke, and anyone else.
11. Get a physical.
12. Visit friends who live abroad. - I visited Jo in Malaysia and Ally in Singapore. I'm not done visiting everyone, but hey, it's a start.
13. Make a will, and write letters in case.
14. Finish my scarf.
15. Learn to make classy chicken
16. Write more, not just in journal; short story, mini essays, whatever.
17. Go to the chocolate buffet in Sutton Place.
18. Have high tea in Bacchus w/ Trina.
19. Finish at least 2 scrapbooks – ie. Up to the end of Uni.
20. Shoot one amazing photograph that I love. - Completed in India.
21. Go to Daiso, and buy something I can actually use.
22. Attend a professional (or World) sports event.
23. Buy something off an infomercial.
24. Go on a picnic, with a picnic basket and everything.
25. Skate on a frozen water-mass (lake, canal, whatever).
26. Go to Malaysia and climb the huge mountain with the sherpas. - Completed August 25th, 2006.
27. Find the biggest flower in the world, quickly take a picture, and then leave. Quickly.
28. Ride the London Eye.
29. Buy a pastry from Galerie Lafayette.
30. Build a website.
31. Make a list of places to see, eat and shop for when ppl visit Vancouver.
32. Take the SkyTrain through every station.
33. Get something I wrote published.
34. Learn to kayak.
35. Become unbroken. - Completed. As is the case with these things, there's no date of completion, it just happened.
36. Acquire the entire Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. - Completed January 2007.
37. Buy the following DVDs: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Scrubs. - Completed January 2007.
38. Learn to cook mum’s steamed trout.
39. Learn to cook mum’s moo shoo pork. - Completed September 2006.
40. Back up all digital photos and store the CDs in a safe place.
41. Bake three new kinds of dessert, and have them turn out the way they should.
42. Host a dinner party. - Completed September 2007.
43. Learn to do my own makeup (for both every day and going out).
44. Save $50 a month for one year continuously. - Completed. Thanks to TD Bank, this gets done for me automatically.
45. Buy myself some fabulous, classic jewelry.
46. Get a pet.
47. Find a pair of heels that
a) look really good
b) I can walk, run, dance in for hours. - Completed December 26th, 2005.
48. Get my tube top mended.
49. Go to a concert - Completed November 25th, 2006 - Rolling Stones
50. Take the GRE. - Completed May and July 2007.
51. Go on a real road trip.
52. Not use my credit card for three months (exception: tuition)
53. Visit K. - Completed May 2006, and May 2008.
54. Fall in love (again).
55. Get a queen-sized bed.
56. Get a really nice bedframe I can see myself having for the rest of my life.
57. Create and follow a budget for one month. - Completed May 2008.
58. Prior to and following the “budget month”, not go buy buy buy to “make up for it”. - Completed June 2008.
59. Go to the Art Gallery. - Completed May 2007.
60. Buy new glasses that don’t make me look twelve. - Completed July 2006, in Delhi.
61. Attend a taping of the Daily Show/Oprah.
62. Take surfing lessons.
63. Give blood.
64. Clean and purge my room, including all drawers, shelves and closets. And the hammock chair.
65. Learn to curl my own hair so it looks good. - Completed September 2007.
66. Ride a roller coaster.
67. Spend a day with mummy doing stuff we both find fun.
68. Buy a nice pair of pants that aren’t jeans. - Completed January 2007.
69. Learn (teach myself) to pipe icing.
70. Have one week where every day, I feel hot.
71. Figure out what my credit rating is.
72. Create an action plan to improve credit rating, and stick to it.
73. Make a pinata, fill it with candy, and bash it good.
74. Finish and develop the waterproof camera from Penticton 2005.
75. Redesign/upgrade Never Reason.
76. Send a parcel, wrapped up in brown paper and everything.
77. Construct the “J-Bird and Sekke Family Tree” Spanning back a minimum of 3 generations. - Completed December 13th, 2005.
78. Tell one person (other than Peek) “I’m busy that day”.
79. Learn to shoot a basketball again.
80. Watch My Neighbour the Totoro again, and figure out the plot beyond "Furry lumpy things”.
81. Practice cursive enough that it isn’t ugly and slow.
82. Take a luxurious bubble bath/bath bomb bath, and moisturize right after.
83. Cross-country ski.
84. Go for a decadent dinner with girlfriends, where we get dressed up and dine in style. - Completed January 2007.
85. Photograph a portrait and have it look great (they can look good, or the photo can be good). - Completed July 2006, in Jaisalmer.
86. Ride the seabus.
87. Ride the skytrain all the way around.
88. Finish my current journal and start a new one. - Completed December 2006.
89. Learn more about my mom’s youth.
90. Make and share a chocolate fondue.
91. Switch my old stereo for something more compact. - Deemed unnecessary, will replace stereo when it doesn't work anymore.
92. Read Wicked. - Completed May 2006.
93. Have a snowball fight.
94. Write 1 letter about good service.
95. Invest in the stock market. - Completed November 2006.
96. Get a good strapless bra.
97. Get a good tshirt bra. - Completed October 2006.
98. Have a “day at the spa”. - Completed December 2006.
99. Flirt with a cute stranger. - Completed May 2006.
100. Purge jewelry drawer and get a jewelry box. - Completed October 2007.
101. Make hot chocolate, and have it with tiny marshmallows and cheerios.

Last updated February 15th, 2008.

Crackle!

Crackle!, originally uploaded by Never Reason.

Tonight I made chocolate crackles. Not only do they look lovely, but they taste divine as well. And this, ladies and gentleman, is the first Martha Stewart recipe I've actually made. And they look just like the picture in the magazine! Well played, Martha. Well played.

Conversations Span the Globe

Jan and J - Vancouver to Kuala Lumpur

J-Bird: Why the hell don't you live in Vancouver and still work at Guess so I could get 50% off?! And also, when do you get home?
J: Um...I'm sorry? And on the 23rd.
J-Bird: I've fallen in love. And not with a guy.
J: ...With the jacket?
Jan: It's beautiful.



J: Uh, J-Bird?
J-Bird: Hey, how was your weekend?
J: I...spent $2300.
J-Bird: What!? How? It's $2300 dollars!
J: I got paid, and I needed work clothes, and a coat for when I get home.
J-Bird: Please tell me you bought more than that.
J: I got a cellphone. It's so cool!
J-Bird: Sweet jaisus.
J: Don't worry, I already got you your Christmas present.
J-Bird: That's not what I'm concerned about! Well, at least I don't feel bad for buying the jacket.
J: Wait, you bought the jacket!? I thought you said it was too expensive!
J-Bird: I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you over the sound of $2300 coming out of your bank account IN ONE DAY.
J: Whatever. You bought the jacket?!
J-Bird: It's SO pretty.



J-Bird and Girly - Vancouver to Montreal

Girly: So coffee; good idea, bad idea?
J-Bird: Well, only if coffee means "meet up while you're wearing your fantabulously hot shirt"
Girly: Haha. So what're you doing for Christmas shopping?
J-Bird: Oh god, I don't want to talk about it.
Girly: Why are parents so hard to buy for?
J-Bird: Oh I don't know. Maybe it's because they ask for things like tape measures, pruning shears and brooms.
Girly: No, that's why your parents are hard to buy for.
J-Bird: Thanks.
Girly: Whereas my parents want me to spend more time with them. While I'm living in Montreal.
J-Bird: We should just give them pinatas of our faces.
Girly: You're insane.
J-Bird: I prefer creative.