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.

Snow Love Hate

It snowed last night. Now, I love snow. I love the whiteness, and the hush it puts over everything, and the clothes people wear. It also makes me love my duvet more than ever.

What I do not love is how this city reacts to snow. We got 5 cm, people! That's 2 inches, for any Americans out there. So please, explain how it is that after 5 cm of snow, buses are sliding across intersections, delayed, disabled, and can't make it up hills? Have you never heard about snow tires? Chains? These are not new developments! And drivers: I understand that snow is not a common occurrence in this city, but it's not the apocalypse. Stop driving at 15 km/h. And the rest of you, stop driving at 70. Look behind you; there's no one there. Slow down.

Also, UBC, you know your drainage issues? Why do they get a frajillion times worse when it snows? And why, when Plant Operations shovels the walks, do they form snow walls around puddles, creating miniature lakes at every crosswalk? And why is it that instead of shoveling the snow in central places like the bus loop, you spend your time clearing Koerner library, and allow the rest of campus to become a huge slushball? Why don't you use your tiny snow plows more in the morning, instead of waiting until 5 pm like today?

Vancouver: why does UBC have more snow plows than you do?

And mom? Please stop stealing my pretty snow clothes - I know you have my hat. It's pretty and soft and warm and it has a bow and I want it back. Now. And also, remember that time you left my favourite shoes outside and racoons ate them? I've decided, since they no longer make those shoes, that you can replace them with warm, fuzzy boots. And they have to be cute.

Election, Anyone?

Rrring! Rrring!

J-Bird: Hello?
Campaigner: Hi, I'm calling from the office of Stephen [crackly sound], [crackly sound]rty candidate for your riding, we believe that soon the government will fall and wanted to know if we could count on your vote in the upcoming election?
J-Bird: I'm sorry, you're calling for Stephen who? (Note: both the conservative and liberal candidates for my riding have Stephen as their first name)
Campaigner: Stephen Rogers. Of the Conservative Party.
J-Bird: Oh. Uh...No. You can't.
Campaigner: ...Oh.
J-Bird: ...Yeah. Um, thanks for calling!

A Bunch of Little Stuff

I'm currently working on my 101 in 1001 list. It's taking me a bloody long time to find 101 things.

I'm addicted to Sudoku. Seriously.

I have Bombay Dreams songs in my head. (Shakalaka baby, shakalaka baby...)

I'm having another one of those phases where I feel all pensive and less bubbly than usual. But It's okay, cause I know it'll pass.

Less than a month til J and Girly are back! Yay!

I have a paper due on Thursday, and I haven't started.

I may, without even having read, have fallen in love with Queer Eye Carson Kressley's new book You're Different and That's Super!

It's almost Christmas! And I love Christmas!

Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing...

Marciano bag, originally uploaded by Never Reason.

It's not black, though. (If you hadn't guessed, I bought the jacket.)

I Need a Plumber!

My house is currently suffering from an odor problem. Namely, it smells like sewage. Not everywhere; my room, for example, is thankfully free of the stank. But the scent wafts throughout the main floor of the building, coming from the basement, into which I refuse to venture. I did it at the beginning of this whole mess (yesterday), and since I found nothing, I clearly shouldn't be in charge of the second sweep.

The problem is, nothing looks wrong down there; if it weren't for the obvious smell, and the fact that the toilets are tripping out and only half-flushing every once in a while, everything seems normal. Except that I'm now scared to use our toilets (what if, when I flush, it finally gets to be too much and our pipes explode into grossness all over the basement?). And scared to shower (do the toilets and the shpwers use separate pipes? Or the same ones? What if showering could cause the unhygienic explosion?). I figure at this point, a good portion of the perks of living in a house have been negated. I'm basically living in a heated, exceptionally-furnished but non-operational port-o-potty.

For the love of god, get me a plumber.

Fog Rolls In...

There's fog all over the city. Thick fog, like dry ice sublimating. I've always liked fog - walking through fog like this is like walking in a void, where you're hidden by a huge blanket. When you do see objects, they seem more significant for their cloaks. And the air is heavy and wet and feels thicker.

The fog is supposed to stay for a while; I'm going to try to take pictures of it.

I Keep on Falling

When I go shopping, I'm generally perfectly happy with the slightly-above-what-I-would-call-reasonably-priced stores such as Jacob, RW&Co, and the sales racks at Banana Republic and Guess. I'm told that I'm kind of cheap, when it comes to clothes, although I don't think I am at all; it seems to me the people telling me this are way too spendy ($300 on jeans? I don't care who made them, hell no). But lately, I've noticed that every once in a while I seem to fall in love with items I see when browsing with my less cost-conscious friends in pricier stores; falling in deep, obsessive, longing love.

Over the summer, it was a skirt; an oh-so-pretty skirt from Bebe, below the knee (they make things below the knee! The new Bebe: not all skanky), yards of cloth, a reddish pink, with embroidered detailing all over and a sash. I loved it. While T marveled at the bejeweled jeans (I admit it, a month before it was the new thing), I lamented to Kaisha about the price of my skirt - $135. Not including tax. My skirt and I bed a fond goodbye, and we parted ways.

In August, however, we returned to the store, and lo and behold, the skirt was on sale! I have to give Bebe its due; they know how to put things on sale. I walked out with my skirt for a mere $45, tax included. And wore it to a wedding later that month.

Friday, I went shopping with Kaisha and T again. Kaisha and I took a look through Guess before meeting up with T. Generally, I find a few things in the store to earmark for the sales rack later on. Friday I found nothing. The whole store was completely bleagh, until I got to the back where I found...this (but in all black).

I'm completely in love again.

Unexpected Guests

What lives in your sink?, originally uploaded by Never Reason.

So last night, I get home, go to the kitchen to fix myself a snack, and hear a scrabbling noise. Look in the sink, and behold! My mum has six live crabs chilling out in there. They weren't so impressed with my arrival however; got a little snappish when I came too close.

I love my family.

Damn, I'm Mouthy! (250!)

250, people! This is post number two hundred and fifty! Which means three things:

1) I type a lot.
2) There's a strong possibility I have far too much time on my hands.
3) It's time I introduced a new, exciting aspect to the blog, so behold...

(look to the right hand side of the page)

the Flickr badge! That's right, I have added photo (and what limited video you see in the badge) to NeverReason! If you can't see it, get Flash, people. Seriously. This is the 21st century we're in. Join the party. And to see all my pictures, in larger, less squinty format, click on the "what is this?" and then Never Reason.

I'll write more later today, I promise. However, it took me a long, long time to cajole my computer into letting this work, so I'm going to take a break and bask in the glory, and in the Oprah. See? Nothing's really changed.

Bruised

Ow. I am at my most battered in a long time. I generally live a fairly delicate life; no contact sports, no heavy lifting...you get the picture. Tonight, I type before you a wounded woman. Not as a result of impact sports; no, although the last few days have also been my most athletic in a long time, with the exception of a broken nail (which no, I do not include in my inventory of injuries), I emerged from them unscathed. No, these bruises have been inflicted by The Cafe.

Yeah, you heard me. A Cafe/family breakfast place has beaten me into submission. This is probably where some of you are starting to think I'm just using "beaten" as a metaphor for "exhausted", but I'm serious. I have bruises, people!

So how did I get them? Mopping. Not by me, mind you - peripheral character mopping. Basically, the boys in the back (ie the kitchen crew) were mopping the place. When the floors of the cafe are wet, they get very very slippery. We're talking slip'n'side here. And I bailed. Full on, landed horizontal on my left-side, bailed. On my iPod mini. Which, thank god, lives up to its claimed sturdiness. But my body? Does not. I am bruised to the bejeesus. And my ankle really hurts.

Ow.

Stay tuned for the 250th NeverReason post! That's right, 250! Right after the break.

Good News!

After three consecutive "passes", I now need only go in for pap smears once every two years! Oh, wonderful day!

Of course, that's assuming I'm a nun for the next two years. If otherwise, smear me up. I'm all for taking care of myself, people.

here's reminding you to go take care of yo'selves too

Muffin is the Word!

Tonight, I have completed a challenge; the A-Maze-ing Team Challenge. This is a time-honoured tradition of garbage-bag mazes, shooting adversaries with pingpong balls, and memorizing Mr. Potatohead configurations (among other things). And not only did we complete the challenge, we WON the challenge, baby! That's right, undefeated throughout the events, after head to head playoffs, we came out so on top!

As I mentioned, a garbage-bag maze is involved; a more detailed description is necessary, which will now be supplied (to you, my enthralled readers. Heh). The maze is made up of various wooden frames covered in orange plastic mesh (these make the walls). This entire structure is covered in garbage bags, making it basically pitch black inside, and then smoke machines pump smoke in the whole thing, making it even harder to see. The maze is only about four feet high, which means you have to run around in it hunched over. Objects are hidden throughout the maze (at least two teams are going at a time, the objects are colour-coded), that have to be retrieved by team members in the maze (armed with flashlights, thank goodness). In the preliminary round, each person must get one item, in a relay setup. We got the 2nd best time overall in the prelims, which should have warned us we were about to rock the whole thing; after completing the other stations (I'd describe them entirely too if I wasn't sure you'd all just get up and leave if I did), we advanced to semifinals, which were head to head against another team. We won handily, getting ourselves to finals.

Finals were a little different; three objects to retrieve, three flashlights, six people in the maze at once, everyone had to be outside the maze to win. The objects were as follows - a pingpong ball duct taped to the floor, a baton also taped to the floor, and a hockey bag weighing over 100 lbs. As another round was occuring, our team got together to strategize; we decided to stay in pairs (so no one was wandering in the dark). After some more discussion, I came up with the idea that we should have a safety word; if all the objects were found and outside the maze, but team members were still in the maze, those members outside would yell the safety word to let those inside know that they should just get the hell outside. We decided on the word "muffin", for it's distinguishability, and guarded our word closely, so the other team wouldn't hear and use it against us.

Finals start: we all enter the maze, and myself and my partner couldn't find a single one of our items. We found every item that belonged to the other team, but not one of ours. We're running frantically through the maze, trying to find these things, when we hear our team mates yelling "MUFFIN! MUUUUUFFFFFIIINNNN!!!" at the top of their lungs. We were a little lost at this point, but after some handy teamwork between myself and my partner, we were outside, and the CHAMPIONS!!!

Which is why, of course, muffin is the word.

Happy Halloween!

Not for parents here in Vancouver, though. It's the most miserable weather out that I can remember for a Halloween today. Gray and soggy. None of the kids will notice, of course; they'll be pumped so full of sugar and adrenaline that rain will likely be experienced as a fortunate cooling spray. The parents, however, will feel it. They'll feel it as they trudge after their prancing kids, as they grind leaves and mud and pumpkin brains to mush on the sidewalk. They feel it when they encounter the little herds of smart-mouthed pre-teens walking up and down the streets waving sticks of firecrackers. They'll feel it at home, while weeding through the loot with numb fingers to detect any tampering.

But that'll all fade once the kids are quiet again, too busy eating the candy to make any ruckus about it. And, finally, for once, there will be peace.

At least until the next dentist appointment.

Note: too old to trick or treat? Come out and collect canned food for the Food Bank with Trick or Eat! You know you want to!

Christmas Shopping with the Stars

So, for reasons unknown, my brother gets the Neiman Marcus catalog. We've been getting it (his mail still gets sent here, regardless of the fact that he's moved out) for a few months now, and I've always looked at it with a mixture of wonder and incredulity; the prices for some (hideous) items are nothing short of astounding. Although it did explain how the store stays open; if it sells a total of 3 items, their quarter is made.

And then, this week, we got the Christmas Book. Now some of the pages are filled with the usual fare; $500 crystal Buddhas, ugly dresses, Manolo Blahniks. In there somewhere is a Louis Vuitton Jewelry Box, for a whopping $44,200. But then there are the Fantasy Gifts.

Would you like a personal Photo Booth? Only $20,000 (I know, you can buy two photo booths and still save money compared to the jewelry box. It's like budgeting on a whole new level). How about a Grand Empire Railroad? Large enough that your son can ride it, it includes a locomotive, cars, caboose, station, and 1000 feet of track. I kid you not. For the steal of a deal of $200,000.

Not extravagant enough? How about a private concert with Sir Elton John (production costs and travel costs not included)? Yes, Sir Elton John himself will come to you, and play for you and your friends. As a special bonus gift, you will also receive an Elton John Signature Series Red Baby Grand Piano, yours to keep. Limited offer, only one will be sold! Yours for the low, low price of $1.5 million dollars. (To be entirely fair, the 1.5 million goes to the AIDS Foundation.)

And if you'd rather hold the concert away from your home, you can always fly there in your brand new Skycar. For only $3.5 million, you can own your very own, real-life, flying car. Because ground transportation? Is for the poor.

I wonder if that's where Bill Gates buys his Christmas gifts. I did notice there were no gold-plated monkey sock-puppets. Clearly, someone at Neiman Marcus is dropping the ball.

Amazing Thursday

Today was such a great day, and it's not even over. This morning, I got up and cleaned a little, as my parents got home later in the day, and pre-morning? It was not so pretty (what? I've been busy! At least I kept up with the dishes. Shut up!). And then at around 11:30 I left to head towards Chinatown, where I met up with Kaisha, with whom I had a whole fabulous day planned. We started by heading to dim sum (which is quickly becoming the best-documented event on my blog), which, as usual, was excellent. We then headed to Coquitlam, to go to this store; we went because I am quickly succumbing to the scrapbooking bug, and because this is where Kaisha, who makes incredible scrapbooks, goes all the time (she grew up in Coquitlam, so she's been going there for ages). And let me tell you, it was well worth the trip. We spent about an hour and a half in there (it's a big store, relative to any other scrapbooking store. That is, it's not huge), although a lot of that time was spent looking for various things (the layout is a little labyrinthine). We also asked the salespeople a lot of questions. I have to say though, the guy on shift was incredibly helpful. The two of us had been harrassing him for the past hour, and as he was ringing my purchases in, this conversation transpired:

Helpful Guy(As he rings in my paper trimmer - $35.99)
"You know, soon we'll have beginner's packs out"

Kaisha
"Oh, J-Bird, you should get that, it comes with a paper trimmer. When is soon?"

Helpful Guy
"Like later this week. But I can just put one together for you now if you want. It contains a paper trimmer, photo squares, a glue stick, scissors, a pencil, a pen, and 25% off another purchase of your choice for $50"

J-Bird
"Is...that a good deal?"

Kaisha
"Yeah, it totally is. You should get it"

J-Bird
"Okay, can I do that?"

Helpful Guy
"Sure! I'll just go grab everything for you."

He then proceeded to run around the store for ten minutes gathering my beginner's pack components, and then waited for another 5 minutes while Akaisha and I tried to decide what my "25% off" purchase should be. I was pretty impressed that after having to deal with us for that long, and having the opportunity to get rid of us quickly, he still took the time to offer me the better deal, and then put it all together. I mean, I know that's how salespeople are supposed to be, but let's be honest; how often does that actually happen? So go to Clipper Street, people. It's a good place.

After that, we headed for a quick stop to IKEA, where I purchased some bed linens. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep them, though. For one, I'm dubious about the colour; I love the colour itself, but it may have some problems coordinating with the rest of my room. Also, they're for my current bed, which is a twin, and I'm hoping to upgrade to something bigger soon.

And finally, we went to the Ronald McDonald House, and carved pumpkins with the kiddies there. So much fun! I love good days.

It's Been A While

So I've clearly fallen behind on the posting front. Anyway, here's a quick rundown of what's been going on...

I went to a formal at Science World, and thanks to J (for the dress) and Jason (for the fab hair) I looked amazing. Science World, people. It's good party times.

I turned 22. The day started off a little shaky; within 5 minutes of my being 22, I managed to fall and sprain my ankle (no, I was not drunk. I was leaving my house to drive my brother home). But ended quite well; I went to dim sum (yum!) with one of my babies, got nice phone calls from other babies and friends, and hung out with T for the first time in ages. I also received some very cute emails and ecards - Thanks!

My babies are no longer babies! It's was perfect and sweet and now I'm baby-less and sad. Except we all know they'll always be my babies. I love them.

And my parents get home on Thursday. Which means no more random food/starvation for me; I get mom food again! Quite excited.

Anyway, that about wraps it. Sorry this is so choppy; I spent the morning writing an essay, and now I'm all written out. I promise better quality next time.

Studying and Basketball

Phew. I'm in the middle of studying for a midterm, but as the textbook is so stultifyingly boring, this is a welcome break. So how is everyone? I think you should all leave a comment telling me about one exciting thing that's happened to you in the past week. In the spirit of getting it all started, I'm going to tell you all about the basketball game I played lately.

Yes, basketball. I knowm who actually plays basketball once they're finished high school? The last time I'd really played (beyond the PE teacher-mandated activities) was before then, in elementary school. But the sorority, for the first time in known history, has a basketball team. And after one of my babies quickly explained the rules (yes, we were that rusty; elementary school was ten years ago, people) we did quite well, routing the other team 40-16. Granted, the aforementioned new girl scored 20 of our 40 points, but still, it was a solid team effort. And hilarious. The refs clearly thought we were all morons, which we...can't really fault them for. Heh. Can't wait til the next game.

Alright, back to the studying. Anyone reading this, please, please avoid Clinical Psychology at UBC. The textbook alone is like paper boredom. Ugh. Back I go.

Thoughts

"I may not be where I want to be, but I'm sure as hell not where I was"

I totally stole that from someone (points if you can name who!), but it's something that lately, I think I need to remind myself of. I feel like right now I'm so busy trying to do everything that I'm losing myself. It's a confusing feeling, though, because all these things I'm trying to do are so closely identified with my sense of self that to not do them would make me worry about the same thing. And there's no one thing that's causing it all; I love my friends, and yet lately I feel like I'm not there for them enough, like there's something I'm not doing. I'm not taking a lot of classes; in fact, this is the lightest courseload I've ever had.

But my mind wanders, and in directions that I've spent the past year blocking off. I know that this is normal, I was half expecting it to come kick me in the ass at some point. I guess it's only to be expected that now, just when I think I may have finally gotten over it, it would come back out of the blue, and remind me that I'm not as strong as I may have hoped. It's a horrible feeling, having gotten so far, and fallen down. All there is in front of you is the awful knowledge of what it will take you to get back to where you were.

And so, I need to remember. Remember that I'm safe, that I have friends that will catch me when I can't catch myself. That there are so many amazing people out there that I love, and that don't believe for a second in all the things I'm scared of. I have to remember that as I know better than others the great things life holds for them, there are others that know the same of me. I have to remind myself that no matter how far I may slip, I'll still have come so far. That I'm here, with my family and friends. That every day I'm surrounded by beautiful, amazing girls that are just starting to discover things I now take for granted. I have to remember that some people can't be here anymore, and we have to make our lives big for them.

I'm not completely where I want to be, and lately I've felt lost as to where I want to go. But I know where I don't want to go, and if I can just keep off that road for long enough, I know I'll be fine.

I'm back!

This time, I'm even going to write you an actual post. Odd, no? Not so odd? That the subject is food. Thinking back, I've written more often about food than any other subject I can recall. Food is important. Especially to me.

Right now, however, food is irritating. Let me recount my day, to give you an idea of what I'm dealing with. I woke up this morning at 7 am. Not because I was so magnificently well-rested that I just couldn't wait to get a start to my day, no, but because my stomach hurt. A lot.

I can't quite explain the pain...it wasn't sharp, but it was very present. And as it moved me further through the stages of consciousness, it added on a vague sense of nausea. I didn't get sick, thank god, but I think that was mostly because the moment I realized what that gross feeling was, my head kicked in with "you can't get sick! You have too much to do!". So, in keeping with my solution for tummy aches back when I was a child, I lay in bed on my front, with my hand under my stomach (I don't know why, but the added pressure on my stomach always seems to help). I also tried grinning, which according to Sara on CSI, suppresses the gag reflex. I can't comment on the grinning, but the hand remedy did its job, and I drifted back to sleep.

However, upon getting up, that vague sense of flelch came back, and so I didn't eat anything for breakfast. This meant that by lunch time, I was starving. So when I got home, I ate. And while I don't feel sicker, I don't feel better either, AND I don't feel full. Which means that whatever it is my body is craving, I've yet to hit upon it. And trust me, I'm running out of options, espeically since I'm trying to avoid foods that might irritate grouchy Ms. Digestive System further. I feel like that guy from the greek myths, starving while surrounded by food. Except that I can eat it, it just doesn't help.

Right, back to the fridge.

I Have Babies!

14 of them, to be exact! Recruitment (aka "get involved UBC") is now over, and I have 14 amazing new girls in the sorority. So excited. Also so exhausted. But if you were wondering where I'd been, wonder no more; once again, recruitment sucks me into the abyss. Love it.

Funny story...

Hee. This is totally an aside, but I've been getting comment spam. I find it highly amusing. "Anonymous" thinks my blog is clear and useful! I'm not sure what "Anonymous" thinks is so useful about my blog, but hey, whatever rocks your cradle.

So...last Tuesday, I went with some of the girls to Celebrities, what is (to my knowledge) the most well-known gay bar in Vancouver. Now, apparently, Tuesday is "straight night", but we were basically going to have a fun girls night, unadulterated by drunk stupid sleazy guys trying to pick us up. Have to say, I generally can't get picked up if I want to, me even in the most meat market-y bars; I apparently have a very clear "stay the hell away from me" emission. It isn't on purpose, I just do.

So we go to this bar, and what happens? I get picked up. That's right, the girls who never gets picked up is picked up in a GAY BAR. And not by a gay guy, thank you. By a very nice, intelligent guy. Who also happens to be pretty hot. And likes books, and logic puzzles (what? oh whatever, I'm a dork, I don't want to hear it). We "talked" (read: yelled over incredibly loud music, and probably misunderstood each other completely) for 3 hours. And on Friday, we went on a date.

It was our first and last date, and it was fun; we went to dinner, and just talked and talked. There wasn't really any huge chemistry, which is weird, because he is really attractive. But he's also older (by enough to be weird for me, if not for others, yes Tessa, Girly, T, I know you think it's not that old!), and in a completely different place in his life. And aside from that, we have almost too much in common, which...was a little freaky. Heh.

But it's kind of neat; I've now gone out with someone I'd met only once prior, who had no connection whatsoever with my friends. And it wasn't awful.

Plus, it's amusing. I got picked up in a gay bar.

Here I am Again...

It's the first day of school. This is my 18th first day of school without breaks between, and that's not counting preschool. That...is insane. But yay! School! I mean, I don't love the midterms etc., but I can't wait to see everyone!

Sunday night I went out to The Royal. I'd actually never been there, which is kind of odd, since all my friends go with some regularity. I had a lot of fun, dancing and talking. But I was definitely tired yesterday. I'm getting old.

Yesterday I went shopping with Peek. It was fun, and I bought five (eek!) shirts. One weird trend in Labour Day shopping was...DJs. Seriously. Three stores we went into had live DJs. Now, while I can see why this may seem like a good idea, there are some serious flaws. First of all, the stores are packed. It's Labour Day! You can't just plant a DJ with full equipment in the middle of the floor! It ruins the traffic flow! One store did manage to circumvent this by putting the DJ in the display window. And second, when I'm shopping, generally I'm talking with my shopping buddy, as we bounce opinions off each other. If "Pon de Replay" is blasting out of the speakers so loud we can't hear each other, I have a problem.

So the moral of my unexpected rant is, "don't put DJs in clothing stores". Heh. Have a great day, all.

Hola

Hey y'all!

So lots has been going on lately, but I won't be writing about some of it until a bit later, just cause. So here's what I will write about.

I read the third Traveling Pants book. So good. But I only had a chance to read it once through, and it was in a rush, so I kinda want to go over my favourite parts again (really good books I never read only once. I go over and over the pages until I've sucked them dry, and then do it again. Obsessive? Quite likely). Sigh, I love those books.

I babysat tiny, two month old twin girls. They were adorable little mites, and it was the first time in a long long time that I took care of actual babies. I mean, I've taken care of toddlers aplenty lately, but babies are another story. But they are very, very cute. Now if only babies didn't spit so much. And scream. Two funny things;

At one point, I was holding one of them, and she got really hungry (the family was moving, which is why the feeding wasn't done right away; the parents weren't neglectful or anything). I was wearing a tank top, and she just started sucking on my shoulder. Hard. I turned to her, and said "Hey, you: y'aren't gonna get milk from me anywhere, let alone my shoulder". She didn't stop.

One of the babies had a darker complexion, and black hair - I was holding her, walking her around, and I went into the bathroom. I don't know where my head was, but when I looked in the mirror, I had a total twilight zone moment; yep, thought she was my baby. Have to say, quite terrifying. Heh.

T's bro got in some major trouble in Europe (that's what the last entry was about). He's okay, but shaken up, and so's everyone around him. But the important part is that he's home, and he's going to be fine.

School, and therefore recruitment, starts soon. Which means the madness continues! Whoooo! Love you all, and hopefully, I'll write a cohesive, non point-form entry sometime soon.

Hurry Up, Fall!

This has been an odd summer. too many bad things have happened for me to count. I don't know why my weird faith in life is still unshaken, but for the sake of those I love, I want this to stop. If I'm tired, I promise you that others I care about feel worse.

Why I'm Up so Early

I'm off to retreat! Be back soon!

Scrapbooking, Anyone?

So, since I last wrote, one of the things I've been doing is scrapbooking. And I loooove it. It's one drawback is that apparently, paper is incredibly expensive. It's also a bit of a problem that I'm a perfectionist; it takes me at least two hours to do a page, and people? These are not the elaborate, professional looking pages you see in art stores. But still, I like it, and it gives me something to do.

Otherwise, it's all been work. The full-time cafe coworker left for vacation, so we're all scarmbling to cover her shifts. It's a little wearing, I have to say. But c'est la vie, n'est ce pas?

Well, while today is my first day off from the cafe in some time, I'm due to babysit in an hour, so I'd better get ready. Goodbye, coffee and muffins, hello, two-month-old twins.

Goodbye Parties, Dim Sums, Birthdays, and a Wedding

Sorry it's been so long. I honestly have not had access to a computer since I last posted, which meant my email box today? Massive. In any case, I'll get back to the Penticton saga soon, but let's recount the past few days, shall we?

Last Monday (a whole week ago!) Tessa had her goodbye party. I wasn't able to stay for long, unfortunately, but what portion I did attend was good times. Although I don't quite understand why we're celebrating Tessa's abandonment of us. Stupid Edmonton. Hmpf.

Tuesday, I went to dim sum with some friends, where we ate much food, and drank much tea. Since I've described many a dim sum in this blog, I'll leave it at that.

I then met up with a friend in Holt Renfrew. I'd never really been inside the store, and I have to say, it's very fun, in a "I will never own any of this, ever" kind of way.

The next day, I went to dim sum again! (It was an excellent week, dim sum-wise) This time, however, it was birthday dim sum. We ate a lot. It was awesome. Later that day, we went to Cardero's for a double birthday dinner, which was very nice.

On Friday night, a bunch of us went out to the Buffalo Club, which the week before, had been a lot of fun. This time, it was just too crowded. You could barely breathe, let alone move, and people kept pushing and stepping on me. Was not a huge fan.

Yesterday was the wedding day for two friends of mine. It was a really sweet wedding; the bride was radiant, the groom ecstatic, and everyone cried. I'm so happy for them both; when they look at each other, you can tell there's no one else in their world. It was a beautiful wedding, a fun reception, and in general, a good time.

And now I have work to do. Hopefully I'll see you all in less than 10 days this time!

Congratulations C&L, all the best for your lives together.

Penticton, Part 1

It feels like it's been a loooong time since I updated this. There's been lots going on, but I'm going to tell you all about my trip to Penticton, because I feel like it.

So, we (me, T, Sekke, and Peek) left at about 2:30 Friday afternoon. Getting out of Vancouver took forever. On our drive up, we encountered bad smells (hello Chilliwack), an errant Lincoln Navigator (hello drug dealers), and a whole lot of cops (hello Peek, the amazing "slow down, there'll be a cop around the corner" machine. And thank you).

Upon arrival at the home of our hostess, the lovely S, we made some dinner, and met S's cousins. Cue hilarious Sekke moment number 1:

Peek: I'm Peek, what's your name?
Cousin: [Name]
T: My brother's called [Name], it's a good name.
Peek: I have a cousin named [Name]
Me: I don't have any relations named [Name], but it is a good name.
Sekke: I once hooked up with a Mormon named [Name]. (Pause) Inappropriate?
Me: He's eight!

The next day, we bought floaty lounging devices and floated down the canal, which, if you've never experienced it before, is awesome. I had a floating lounge chair, and drifted down the canal in style and comfort. We just drifted along, talking and drinking, and getting a lot of sun (thank god for sunscreen), and it was marvelous.

And, since I'm being picked up now, there ends installment 1.

Bzzzz

The kid I've been taking care of is terrified of bugs that bzzzz; flys, bees, wasps, the whole bit. It's a little inconvenient, but also kind of fascinating how such a small child (she's two) can already have such a hugely irrational fear (she hasn't been stung or anything; I asked).

The past few days have been hectic, to say the least. I haven't really had a second to breathe, it's always from one place to another. Thankfully, that should be settling down soon; one more day to go. A day packed with threading, dentistry, and working the fireworks beat. Should be fun.

Saw the Wedding Crashers tonight. Go see it. It's hilarious. No, seriously. Go now.

Just Want You to Know

Today was a good day for me to be single. And I don't mean that I had throngs of admirers throwing themselves at my feet, because I had pretty much zero contact with anybody of the male persuasion at all. I just mean that I went the whole day having fun with friends. We drove down the street with the windows open, singing at the top of our lungs to the Backstreet Boys (sorry Tessa). We talked about random nothingness, you know the conversations that are totally enjoyable at the time, but that don't stand up to recapping at all? We walked to starbucks and sat in the sun with our drinks. We watched "VH1's Top Ten Rock Beach Bodies", which was, in addition to stupid and moronic, very, very "whoooo! SKINNY!" Naturally, we had to add our own disparaging comments. It was good times.

Also good times? So You Think You Can Dance?, a ridiculous American-Idol style show, but for dance instead of song. There are some horrible dancers out there. Like really, really awful. It's a little upsetting, and yet...strangely amusing. That being said, there are also some very good dancers. I have to say though, I find the "judging" part of the show excruciating to watch; I kept changing the channel. But all in all, an entertaining show. Of course, it was no match for the show right after; my beloved Queer Eye. Sigh. I love you.

Zoomin' With Vroom

Vroom! is a soft drink that tastes like liquid fuzzy peaches. I had it at the beach today, with Tessa and Anna. The beach was nice (it was finally pretty out on a day off for me!), I mostly slept, and lay in the sun. I managed to get a little rosy on my (left) shoulder and (left) hip, which means that next time I go, I'll have to finnagle it so that my right side is getting more sun, because otherwise I'll end up resembling a "many colors of tan" palette.

Seeing Tessa and Anna again was lovely, especially since it'd been quite some time since I'd last seen them. We discussed the "We are young" song from the Telus ad, Anna's hair (layers sound hot, but the current hair is also hot, so I'd say it's a win-win, although for the love of god woman, go to a professional hairdresser, the stories you hear makes it like going to an interactive version of the funniest comedy you've ever seen), Harry Potter, sunburns, loud children, and the pros and cons of salty hair. I'd say I learned things, which means it was a productive afternoon, don't you think?

And I got to zoom with Vroom. So that makes it even more productive.

Home!

Montreal was amazing; I got to see a new city, see Girly, and go shopping, all at once. It was also ludicrously hot, plotting a convincing campaign against me ever living in the east. Humidity is not my friend. But I'll tell more about that another day, because I'm exhausted, and still haven't unpacked. So glad to have gone, but still happy to be home. I missed this city, even the rain.

One Sleep!

In one sleep, I'll be leaving for Montreal. And in what I hope will be two sleeps (depending on whether or not I can sleep on the plane), I'll arrive in Montreal!

Haven't been up to much lately, at least on paper. I've felt busy, though. Been hanging out with friends and working, basically.

Last night, with J and Tdot, I went to Granville Island to buy groceries. We then went back to Tdot's place, and mae the most amazing salad, with grilled peppers, goat cheese and stir-fried chicken. It was really, really good. Then for dessert, we had granola, yogurt and berry parfaits, granola and yogurt courtesy of the cafe. So. Good.

Anyway, I'm leaving tomorrow, after work, and I have yet to pack, so I've got to get going!

I'm going to Montreaaaaaallll!

Whoooo!

In SIX SLEEPS I will be on my way to Montreal! Whooo! And even better, another friend of mine is also going on the same day! Not on the same flight, since she doesn't have to work on Sunday, and therefore doesn't have to take the red-eye. Bitch. Totally kidding. But whooooo!

I don't have much else to say. Went out on Thursday night, had a great time, worked the weekend away, as usual.Not so much as usual, Evi and Amanda came and visited me at work, always nice. Stayed with a friend last night, and found that I am violently allergic to wither her cat, or her house as a whole, and am now completely and utterly exhausted, with a headache. Ugh. Other than that, nothing exciting. But whooooo! Six sleeps!

MEXICO!

Here, finally, are some pictures from my lovely trip to Mazatlan. Enjoy!

Costa De Oro

Costa De Oro, originally uploaded by Never Reason.

My hotel. Not bad, huh?

Insano-Kamikaze Dude

Diver, originally uploaded by Never Reason.

Seriously, this was the scariest thing I've seen anyone do on purpose. You'll be happy to know (I know I was) that he cme out unscathed, and promptly returned to land to ask for money, which, I have to say, was well earned. If the panhandlers around here were doing crazy stunts live, maybe people would be more willing to pay them.

Some Architecture...

Ceiling, originally uploaded by Never Reason.

This is the goregous ceiling of the Cathedral we visited in Mazatlan. The whole place was incredible, the way it was lit and laid out.

La Puntilla

sign, originally uploaded by Never Reason.

Where me, T and Mon shared a flaming boat of seafood, the legend of which will live on forever. Seriously, though, if you're in Mazatlan, check it out.

Before

boatbefore, originally uploaded by Never Reason.

The flaming boat of seafood. You can't tell right now, but the boat shot flame out of its sides. So. Cool.

After

boatafter, originally uploaded by Never Reason.

This is what the flaming boat of seafood looked like about 20 minutes later.

Puff! PUUUFFFF!

puff, originally uploaded by Never Reason.

This is a puffer fish, quite like the one in Finding Nemo. Granted, probably not the most exciting exhibit at the Mazatlan Aquarium, but I can't explain how long I stood there, trying to get any of the puffer fish to puff, simply by yelling "puff!" at increasing levels. Mon didn't help, but she didn't tell me to stop, either, so you know she wanted it to happen too.

Advertisement Analysis

Has anyone seen the new Kotex ads? They have nothing at all to do with the product. They seem to exist for the sole purpose of letting us, the consumers, know that the packaging has changed. You know, in case you walk into the store to pick some of your favorite feminine products (tm Girly's dad), and find yourself at a loss because...you can't read? Seriously.

Also, has anyone noticed one of the symbolic "flowers" on the new package that they're touting is an orchid? Isn't that a little...dirty, somehow?

Jamie's School Dinners

On Saturday night, while babysitting, I availed myself of the family's television, with their 60 channels (yes, the kids were asleep). Unfortunately, it was a Saturday, so there was pretty much nothing on, but I did manage to find one riveting program, called (as you may have guessed) Jamie's School Dinners. Basically, Jamie Oliver (The Naked Chef) decided to try to reform the repulsive school dinners that were being served to elementary schoolers in the UK. He made new menus (ones that didn't include "tater tots in the shape of happy faces" and "pretend pork chops") and trained kitchen staff, only to be confronted with kids who didn't want to try the new food. He found a solution to that (schools held a "food week"), and has even managed to convince the government to revise the situation, increasing funding to the school dinner program. It's all very impressive, except that now some schools are stuck in contracts with the crapfood suppliers, and can't get out for several years. Hey, suppliers, here's an idea: serve better food.

But if you ever get a chance, watch it. It's good, and honestly, schools around here could take a few pointers, too.

Whoo!

I have photo-posting capability! And without causing my computer to sink into a month-long coma! Whooo! I will be photoblogging up a storm, people! A STORM!

Heh, got a little overwrought there. But now that I know this works, I can post pictures from Mexico! And next time I do something crazy fun, I can post pictures from that, too!

Ah, flickr. You are my today's true love.

Photo Test, and a Turtle

turtle, originally uploaded by Never Reason.

Take in the View

Yesterday, at (well, close to) J's house, we went up to the top of the British Properties at J's mum's urging. We were a little skeptical, but man, the view was incredible. 180 degrees of Vancouver, on a clear sunny day, is gorgeous. You could see Mountains everywhere, and the amazing number of trees encompassed by Stanley and Pacific Spirit Parks are gorgeous. I highly recommend it, if you're in the area. Next time we're going after dark.

J's dad has a telescope, and since it was a full moon (or at least close to it) last night, we took it out to have a look. I've decided that should I ever be wealthy enough to afford one, and telescope will definitely be purchased. It was so cool! You could see the craters, and even the ripply edges of the moon, that weren't smooth anymore, because of craters and mountains! On a less accademic note, if you looked across the bay through the microscope, you can see the cars driving (I saw one run a red light. Grrrr), and if you look on the North Shore side of the bay? Yep, you can see into apartments. So, I'm getting blinds for my room. Cause that's creepy.

Moods, Expenses, and Father's Day

I've been in kind of a weird mood lately, that I'm going to assume is hormonal. I've also been working for what seems like an inordinate amount of time for someone who's only working part time. However, since I've gone from one to three jobs in the span of a week, I guess that's to be expected.

I'm happy to report that my spending has decreased from the crazy spree last described, which is good. Since I last wrote, I've bought a pair of pretty earrings for $10, three books for $3 from the library (which is a Good Deal, you have to admit), and spent $30 in the process of going out for a friend's birthday. Clubbing is costly.

Today we had a family get together for Father's Day, which was ultimately successful. It was nice to see everyone, although I wish I hadn't just gotten off work; I was too tired to really converse too much. Father's Day, while not as brunchy as Mother's Day, still ranks high on the brunchometer.

I have tomorrow off work (whoo!), so I will relax, go to UBC and chill with J, and then tutor, because having a day off work doesn't mean that I get to, you know, not work. Heh.

Time for bed.

It's A Good Thing I'm Working So Much Because...

In the past two (two!) days, I've bought...

A pair of running shoes
Three shirts
Socks
Lox pate
A laundry hamper
16 clothes hangers
Stickers
Fancy cheeses

Of that list, the socks and the runners were the only ones I could consider "necessary purchases" (apparently, I wear holes into footwear quite easily. I know, I know, holes in shoes are not normal. Stop judging). The laundry hamper and clothes hangers could be considered "practical spending" (didn't have a hamper, and my hangers are all wire. And Carson does say "never use wire hangers!"), and everything else, sadly, has to be put in the "frivolity" category.

After buying the three shirts, I was struck by a flash urge to organize, as happens on occasion. This time, as it does so often, at approximately 1 AM. This generally happens when something is so cluttered or crammed that (albeit after 3 months) I finally snap and have to clean it out.

One would wonder, this being a dresser, how messy can it be? Well, let me explain. I have one dresser, with three drawers. One drawer contains socks, underwear, and what could be called "little tops" - tees, tanks, that sort of thing. The next drawer holds my swimsuits, bottoms (pants, shorts, skirts) and pyjamas, as well as sweaters. The last drawer holds craft supplies.

Needless to say, drawer space is limited. This has never really been a problem; I don't have that much clothing. But lately it's been getting a little crowded, apparently enough so to push my "clean - NOW" button. So I took everything out of the drawers (the clothing ones, not the craft one), and went through it all. I managed to eliminate almost an entire drawer worth of clothing: things I never wear, or don't like. I also managed to rediscover a whole bunch of shirts I quite like but never wear, because I a) forget I have them, b) am scared I'll ruin them (which I've realized is stupid; they're clothes, the whole point is to wear them) or c) think that they're too dressy (and note that these are not formal dresses. It's like a shirt nicer than a beater). So, I ditched all the clothes I don't wear/like, and resolved to wear the clothes I do like more often.

I love being able to make resolutins like that; they cost me nothing, increase my enjoyment of life, and decrease clutter, all at once! So satisfying.

But no more buying. This is getting out of control.

Leaving, or Being Left

This morning, Girly left for Montreal, where she'll be living, at least for a few years. It's weird, her not being in Vancouver. I mean, she's left before, for months at a time, but this was always "home". Now when she comes here, it'll be a visit. Montreal will be home.

Before she left, I thought "It's not a huge deal; she's only going to be in Montreal. It's not that far. And we can still talk on the phone, and write letters and stuff." And I'm happy for her, because she gets to go to a school that's good at what she loves, and be in a city with a man that she loves, and just as importantly, loves her (Note to The Guy Formerly Known as Mohawk Boy: I'm watching, I'm listening, and you ever give me reason I can find out where you live). And I've had a really great time going to a big University, and I'm excited for her to have that too.

But I realized, hanging out with her all day yesterday, that I'm going to miss her, a lot. There aren't very many friends that you find, with whom you can sit in a room with them for 5 hours straight, talk or not talk, just be, and not get bored. I can think of maybe 3 friends that I have, with whom I can do that. It's not just about the comfort of not having to think about what you say; it's the knowledge that you don't always have to be saying something. And that when you do, if it's stupid, the other person will mock you mercilessly, and all you'll do is laugh because when she says it, it's funny, and not hurtful as it is from people you don't trust so well.

So I am upset, which I think was likely expected by everyone but me. But I know I'll be fine, and so will we. Every time one of us "goes away" for a while, when we finally see each other again it's just like it was before. I don't think you find that in many friends either.

And now I'm crying. Hard, Thanks for moving right while I'm PMSing, Girly.

Good vs. Bad

A friend and I were discussing the difference between good and bad customers when working in retail. An example of a good customer would be exemplified by a friendly, chatty customer that realizes that you can't be too chatty when it's insane in the store and people are yelling at you from every corner.

A bad customer could be characterized by someone who comes in at the busiest time of the week, criticizes the merchandise, the service, and the establishment, buys some of the merchandise, and then comes back the next week to do the same and also complain about the previous week. That is a bad customer.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants - The Movie

So on Tuesday night, I went to see The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants with Claire. There were some complications involving getting to the theater (apparently Richmond Centre movie theater wants its patrons to walk around the ENTIRE mall to see a movie), and then technical difficulties that managed to selectively obscure only the dialogue (this persisted for the previews, and then first 15 minutes of the film), but all in all I really liked it. Granted, I love the book. That may skew my perceptions. But the movie deviates from the book quite a lot, and is still really, really good. It doesn't hurt that the love interests are really cute (an area in which The Princess Diaries sorely missed target), and the casting of the four girls was excellent. And it had the type of happy ending that makes you feel all squishy inside.

And we got free passes to another movie, courtesy of the sound problems! Wooo free movie!

Summary
Type of movie - Teen, girl, romantic.
Hot love interests? - Yes.
Appropriate watching mood - Girly, romantic, hopeful.
Appropriate people to see with - Girlfriends, possibly Moms.
Incite body issues? - Three "sisters" will, one won't. Good for Hollywood, really.
Ending - Happy, squishy.

Kitty and Sugar

Saturday night, I babysat a little girl named Kitty. I used to babysit her every week, a couple of years ago, but then they stopped calling. I later found out that her parents had split up, and this last Saturday was the first time I'd seen her since. She's certainly grown, in the year and a half or so since I stopped seeing her; she's gone from tiny tot to first grader. And she's matured, too. We'd left off in the middle of her "let's test people" phase (a phase to which teens, in my opinion, should be exposed to as birth control), and is now quite pleasant. All in all, it went well; we checked out her treehouse, did some flashcards, and read some Robin Hood stories, at which point she went to bed.

But.

She has a hamster. A hamster named Sugar. I'm sure Sugar is very sweet, and she's definitely the most lithe hamster I've ever met, but she is the loudest hamster ever. She lives in a little Habitrail cage, and she seemed to be staging a Shawshank Redemption escape. She just sat in one of the little plastic boxes, and scraped at it with her teeth. I'm not going to lie, there were plastic shavings flying; she was making progress. But my god, the noise! It was the hamster version of nails on a chalkboard, without the hamster-sized volume. For three hours straight. Never again will I used hamsters as examples of short attention spans.

But at least Kitty was cool.

Bloody hamster.

Book Reviews and More

All right, people, these'll be short and sweet.

Tribes, by Arthur Slade
Synopsis can be found here

Pretty good book; I think I liked Slade's Dust better, but it was definitely worth the time spent reading it, which granted wasn't very long, as it's a pretty short book.

The Fifth Elephant, by Terry Pratchett
Synopsis can be found here

I know, I know, Pratchett again. This is one of the Discworld books, and involves the Nightwatch crew. It's far too complicated to explain, but suffice it to say that it involves werewolves, vampires, and dwarves. And I love Carrot.

Well, it's been a while, so quite a lot has happened. I went to Skybar for a friends birthday, where we had to pay an exorbitant $12 cover, but had enough fun so that I can consider it worthwhile. I bought jeans for $40.00 including tax, which these days is a huge bargain. I hung out with Girly, Tessa, and J, and ate ridiculous amounts of food (which has got to stop, as it is expensive to eat out).