Oh. My. God.
Oh my God.
Ohmygodohmygodohmygod.
I got a call.
It was for an interview.
For me.
At MCGRAW HILL RYERSON PUBLISHING.
To be a SUPERVISING EDITOR.
E-D-I-T-O-R.
Oh my god.
Friday, October 28, 2005
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Infinitely Simple
Today I graduated for the last time. It was a good day, one of those days that you expect in advance to be momentous, then get to the moment and think 'this is stupid', and then experience and realize that it's just a day. I don't mean that in a depressed way or anything. It's just that sometimes life gives you these moments when you're totally aware of being alive, and it's not biblical or earth-shattering, and it's not pointless biology or tiny-specs-in-space insignificance, it's just you, and the people around you, experiencing stuff, and making thoughts and decisions and other stuff out of it. And I like that. There is no quest for the meaning of life, but it's not just empty, either. On days like this everything is just infinitely simple.
It was cold and rainy all day. I wore my new blue shoes which got compliments and wet. The ceremony at Humber was uncomplicated, and the comedy class graduating with ours was funny, and I hate pantyhose. Some college guy I never saw before made an awful speech, and they handed me a certificate, and I was happy and had a headache.
The brother was there, and that made me pretty happy, too.
It was good to see my classmates again, and we all planned to get together and keep in touch, then Mom and the bro and I drove around for an hour before heading home and eating pizza and boston cream cake.
Tonight we went to see a Qubecois film called C.R.A.Z.Y., which is worth seeing, if you can deal with subtitles. I liked it, and was proud that I got the title before the end of the film. It had a cute actor and really good music.
Now I'm home and really tired, and I think I'll go to sleep. It really was a good day.
It was cold and rainy all day. I wore my new blue shoes which got compliments and wet. The ceremony at Humber was uncomplicated, and the comedy class graduating with ours was funny, and I hate pantyhose. Some college guy I never saw before made an awful speech, and they handed me a certificate, and I was happy and had a headache.
The brother was there, and that made me pretty happy, too.
It was good to see my classmates again, and we all planned to get together and keep in touch, then Mom and the bro and I drove around for an hour before heading home and eating pizza and boston cream cake.
Tonight we went to see a Qubecois film called C.R.A.Z.Y., which is worth seeing, if you can deal with subtitles. I liked it, and was proud that I got the title before the end of the film. It had a cute actor and really good music.
Now I'm home and really tired, and I think I'll go to sleep. It really was a good day.
Monday, October 17, 2005
Bethany's Praline Apple Bread
Well, it's autumn, and gorgeous, and apples are in season. I made this for my family last week, and it was a hit, so I'm passing it on. Try it out, trust me.
Bethany’s Apple Praline Bread
1 cup sugar
8 oz carton of sour cream
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups chopped, peeled tart apples
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
Beat together white sugar, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla on low speed, then beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir together the dry ingredients and add sour cream mix, beating on low until combined. Stir in apple and ½ cup pecans.
Turn into greased 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan. Sprinkle with remaining chopped pecans. Press lightly into batter.
Bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean. (Don't skip this step- mine regualrly takes over an hour to cook). If necessary, cover loosely with foil for the last ten minutes to prevent over-browning. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine butter and brown sugar and cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat and boil gently for 1 minute. Remove bread from pan, drizzle top with brown sugar mixture. Cool completely. Makes 1 loaf.
Some brief notes:
Feel free to add more apples than this calls for (I do).
Walnuts taste just as good as pecans.
Make sure the brown sugar is dissolved in the butter at the end, but don't burn it.
And something I discovered while making this again tonight: Do not touch the spoon you use to stir the boiling butter and sugar mixture. When this burns you, run cold water over said finger. While cold water is running, DO NOT assume spoon is now cool enough and attempt to LICK yummy sugar off it. Ow.
Bethany’s Apple Praline Bread
1 cup sugar
8 oz carton of sour cream
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups chopped, peeled tart apples
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
Beat together white sugar, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla on low speed, then beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Stir together the dry ingredients and add sour cream mix, beating on low until combined. Stir in apple and ½ cup pecans.
Turn into greased 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan. Sprinkle with remaining chopped pecans. Press lightly into batter.
Bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean. (Don't skip this step- mine regualrly takes over an hour to cook). If necessary, cover loosely with foil for the last ten minutes to prevent over-browning. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, combine butter and brown sugar and cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat and boil gently for 1 minute. Remove bread from pan, drizzle top with brown sugar mixture. Cool completely. Makes 1 loaf.
Some brief notes:
Feel free to add more apples than this calls for (I do).
Walnuts taste just as good as pecans.
Make sure the brown sugar is dissolved in the butter at the end, but don't burn it.
And something I discovered while making this again tonight: Do not touch the spoon you use to stir the boiling butter and sugar mixture. When this burns you, run cold water over said finger. While cold water is running, DO NOT assume spoon is now cool enough and attempt to LICK yummy sugar off it. Ow.
Monday, October 10, 2005
Happy happy thanksgiving
This is a wonderful day.
I went to Yonge and Eglinton to meet a friend, and the TTC was almost empty because of the holiday. It was almost...peaceful.
I met Lisa, and we went to the bookstore, had lunch, talked about publishing and school and things...
We went to see a movie (Serenity), which was very, very good, but don't go see it, because space cowboys takes a certain palate, and most don't have it. But it's a Joss Weedon film, which is awesome, I love his stuff, and it's about time someone gave him the funding to do it! (Or maybe he just saved up all his pennies from Buffy, who knows). Either way, I liked it.
But the best part was the Harry Potter trailer that came on before the flick. I stopped breathing for a minute. Lisa said she almost peed her pants. I swear, I'd pay just to see the trailer again! I can't wait till November 18th.
And seeing an old friend is always good, and it's finally really, really autumn here, which I love, and there's leaf colours and new sweaters and cold snaps in the air which is wonderful.
I took the subway home, and the city is running this "Live with Culture" ad campaign, and I love good ad campaigns, and Eglinton station is covered in these posters of art, and one series is a bunch of dancers by Cylla von Tiedemann which is utterly fantastic (seriously- go see Eglinton station). I was walking along, swingin my purse and looking at these fabulous contemporary dance stills, and this guy passes by me in baggy clothes with his hood up and dirty nails (the type of guy who you usually try not to look at), and as he passed he muttered, "Living is life, and life is worth living." He made me smile.
I skipped most of the way home, and there were happy people, and fathers running with their kids, and I love being in a good mood.
But there were supposed to be people here when I got home. Mom and the brother and the Egg, and (and I don't want to sound selfish or demanding here, but) dinner on the stove! Okay, so it's thanksgiving and we're cheating and having chicken, but still...
Where is everybody?!
I went to Yonge and Eglinton to meet a friend, and the TTC was almost empty because of the holiday. It was almost...peaceful.
I met Lisa, and we went to the bookstore, had lunch, talked about publishing and school and things...
We went to see a movie (Serenity), which was very, very good, but don't go see it, because space cowboys takes a certain palate, and most don't have it. But it's a Joss Weedon film, which is awesome, I love his stuff, and it's about time someone gave him the funding to do it! (Or maybe he just saved up all his pennies from Buffy, who knows). Either way, I liked it.
But the best part was the Harry Potter trailer that came on before the flick. I stopped breathing for a minute. Lisa said she almost peed her pants. I swear, I'd pay just to see the trailer again! I can't wait till November 18th.
And seeing an old friend is always good, and it's finally really, really autumn here, which I love, and there's leaf colours and new sweaters and cold snaps in the air which is wonderful.
I took the subway home, and the city is running this "Live with Culture" ad campaign, and I love good ad campaigns, and Eglinton station is covered in these posters of art, and one series is a bunch of dancers by Cylla von Tiedemann which is utterly fantastic (seriously- go see Eglinton station). I was walking along, swingin my purse and looking at these fabulous contemporary dance stills, and this guy passes by me in baggy clothes with his hood up and dirty nails (the type of guy who you usually try not to look at), and as he passed he muttered, "Living is life, and life is worth living." He made me smile.
I skipped most of the way home, and there were happy people, and fathers running with their kids, and I love being in a good mood.
But there were supposed to be people here when I got home. Mom and the brother and the Egg, and (and I don't want to sound selfish or demanding here, but) dinner on the stove! Okay, so it's thanksgiving and we're cheating and having chicken, but still...
Where is everybody?!
Friday, October 07, 2005
Sneaky ads
Minor housekeeping. I'm fed up with these stupid auto-comment ads that are showing up here, so I've turned on word verification for comments. This means that when you want to comment (and please don't let this discourage you- I love comments), a window with letters and numbers (odd-looking ones) will appear, and you'll be asked to type in what you see. Go with it, the function won't bite. But please tell me if this causes you grief (you can email me if you can't comment).
Hopefully this will keep me from pulling more of my hair out!
Hopefully this will keep me from pulling more of my hair out!
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Happy New Year!
Wow, I don't know why I keep putting off blogging for so long, cause things just keep piling up for me to write about, and I end up with these silly catch-up monster blogs. Well, here's another.
First, some general greetings. Happy New Year all those that apply, I wish you a healthy and productive 5756! (Let's party like it's 5699) (That was very lame)
And Happy Birthday Aunt Mer! Hope England's treating you right.
And one bit of housekeeping. My last blog, focussed on placating my mother, seems to have come out much more squicky than I intended it to. She read it and said 'it brought a tear to my eye'...I had to control the impluse to rush to the computer and delete said blog immediately. If you know me, you know how much I detest being wiggly. I wasn't being wiggly. There was no intended gooiness, I was stating facts. Learn it well, people, there ain't no jello here!
And now, on with the show.
For a girl who's unemployed, I'm deceptively busy. Sunday Mom and the brother and I went for a hike. A really, really long hike. It probably wouldn't have been so much except that no member of my family should be relied upon to:
1)know a direction...ever
2)be able to find a path
3)be willing to follow rules of most kinds.
The result? We spent two hours tromping through cross-country, totally uncharted territory (that led to someone's backyard, given, but I prefer to imagine us as true explorers). Apparently, I'm still the adventurous one in my family (who'da thunk it?). The brother and I scrambled up some rocks, and the entire time he muttered repeatedly in my ear 'Is this a good idea? This is not a good idea.' And when we went off-trail, Mom kept insisting we go back to find the path! Bah!
Anyways, it was gorgeous, even though it was too warm for fall (I love fall, and Mom's going to kick my ass for insisting, again, that it's time for the warm weather to vamoose.) (Yeah, that's right, I said 'vamoose', you wanna make something of it?)
Monday was dinner at my great aunt's house, which was very tasty. It's always good to see family, and I got to talk shop with my uncle (technically cousin) who teaches me all sorts of stuff about arts and craft. I've been carving this block of soapstone he gave me, and he promised to score me some super-fine drill bits so I can make what I'm carving suitable for my beadwork. I can't believe I'm actually reaching a point where having a room in my future house be a 'studio' would amount to more than just an empty desk with a selection of never-used pencils. I'm psyched about those drill bits!
(I KNOW I'm a geek, stop telling me old information.)
And then there's work, where we're training our new manager (yeah, that's right. I'm training my boss. What kind of messed-up system is that?) She's not bad, but there are always a few bugs to work out. I only worked a couple of shifts this week, but sales are good again, and I'm left with more time for job hunting, which goes on...and on...
And I think my social life is making up for lost time, or something. I go to Lauren's tomorrow, it's the holiday over the weekend (enjoy that turkey, folks), Monday I'm meeting an old Mac friend for a movie, tuesday and wednesday I work, thursday I was invited to lunch but that's Yom Kippur, so I'd suck as a luch date (no it's not a 'date'), which makes a week from tomorrow my first available day. Not to mention that a friend from pub. class has been trying to arrange a night for us to get together for dinner for, like, three weeks (which is reaching a state of rediculousness, this oughtn't be so hard). This is very odd for me.
Oh! And Mom and Aunt Laura (who's another not-my-aunt-Aunt, but who is also not a cousin) and I went out for Japanese and I totally ate sushi! It had no fish in it, but it was...well, not 'great', but edible, and certainly not bad. I figure if someone I need to impress wants to take me out for sushi ever, it's just easiest for me to become temporarily vegan. Chickens grow on trees, right?
Oh, and Mom and I ate Swiss Chard tonight. Kale was better.
And now it's late and I can't think of anything else, so I'll say goodnight folks.
Goodnight, floks.
First, some general greetings. Happy New Year all those that apply, I wish you a healthy and productive 5756! (Let's party like it's 5699) (That was very lame)
And Happy Birthday Aunt Mer! Hope England's treating you right.
And one bit of housekeeping. My last blog, focussed on placating my mother, seems to have come out much more squicky than I intended it to. She read it and said 'it brought a tear to my eye'...I had to control the impluse to rush to the computer and delete said blog immediately. If you know me, you know how much I detest being wiggly. I wasn't being wiggly. There was no intended gooiness, I was stating facts. Learn it well, people, there ain't no jello here!
And now, on with the show.
For a girl who's unemployed, I'm deceptively busy. Sunday Mom and the brother and I went for a hike. A really, really long hike. It probably wouldn't have been so much except that no member of my family should be relied upon to:
1)know a direction...ever
2)be able to find a path
3)be willing to follow rules of most kinds.
The result? We spent two hours tromping through cross-country, totally uncharted territory (that led to someone's backyard, given, but I prefer to imagine us as true explorers). Apparently, I'm still the adventurous one in my family (who'da thunk it?). The brother and I scrambled up some rocks, and the entire time he muttered repeatedly in my ear 'Is this a good idea? This is not a good idea.' And when we went off-trail, Mom kept insisting we go back to find the path! Bah!
Anyways, it was gorgeous, even though it was too warm for fall (I love fall, and Mom's going to kick my ass for insisting, again, that it's time for the warm weather to vamoose.) (Yeah, that's right, I said 'vamoose', you wanna make something of it?)
Monday was dinner at my great aunt's house, which was very tasty. It's always good to see family, and I got to talk shop with my uncle (technically cousin) who teaches me all sorts of stuff about arts and craft. I've been carving this block of soapstone he gave me, and he promised to score me some super-fine drill bits so I can make what I'm carving suitable for my beadwork. I can't believe I'm actually reaching a point where having a room in my future house be a 'studio' would amount to more than just an empty desk with a selection of never-used pencils. I'm psyched about those drill bits!
(I KNOW I'm a geek, stop telling me old information.)
And then there's work, where we're training our new manager (yeah, that's right. I'm training my boss. What kind of messed-up system is that?) She's not bad, but there are always a few bugs to work out. I only worked a couple of shifts this week, but sales are good again, and I'm left with more time for job hunting, which goes on...and on...
And I think my social life is making up for lost time, or something. I go to Lauren's tomorrow, it's the holiday over the weekend (enjoy that turkey, folks), Monday I'm meeting an old Mac friend for a movie, tuesday and wednesday I work, thursday I was invited to lunch but that's Yom Kippur, so I'd suck as a luch date (no it's not a 'date'), which makes a week from tomorrow my first available day. Not to mention that a friend from pub. class has been trying to arrange a night for us to get together for dinner for, like, three weeks (which is reaching a state of rediculousness, this oughtn't be so hard). This is very odd for me.
Oh! And Mom and Aunt Laura (who's another not-my-aunt-Aunt, but who is also not a cousin) and I went out for Japanese and I totally ate sushi! It had no fish in it, but it was...well, not 'great', but edible, and certainly not bad. I figure if someone I need to impress wants to take me out for sushi ever, it's just easiest for me to become temporarily vegan. Chickens grow on trees, right?
Oh, and Mom and I ate Swiss Chard tonight. Kale was better.
And now it's late and I can't think of anything else, so I'll say goodnight folks.
Goodnight, floks.
Monday, September 26, 2005
Teasing my mother
Okay, so I don't get how or why people buy jewelry. Last week, the store loved me. I swear, I was so on, I could have sold a thumb ring to a duck. This week (and I haven't changed anything about my selling style), I can't give this stuff away if it were sugar-coated. It's as if, last week, the collective unconsciousness was in a spending mood, and this week, the world is being frugal. I guess I'm just baffled by the trends.
Our manager, Melissa, was sick all last week, so I all but took over the store, working every day. It wasn't too hard to do, which I'm hoping lends credence to my idea of owning a bookstore someday. I could totally do that.
Nothing new to report on the job hunt. I didn't get much done last week cause I was stuck in the mall so much, but yesterday was good, productive, and I have a plan for today too. It's just hard to do, draining, and it's times like this when socialist communism starts to sounds appealing.
My socail life is starting to have a little 'life' again, though. Last weekend I got together with Laur, Kev, Mark, and Kristen. Kristen is Lauren's sister, and it was the first time I'd seen her and Mark together. He seemed really happy. Kev was sick but it was good to see him too- it sucks that we're all so spread out. It's been much too long since Laurie and I have spent any decent time together, and I think my wit and personality are suffering from the lack.
The five of us went to Playdium, which is a big dark room filled with video games (the kind you put quarters in, except they use cards). I suck at driving games, but I'm pretty good at shooting things. No real surprise!
This weekend I went with Laur and Kev to see Kev's place in Shelburne for the first time. Shelburne is...quiet. It was relaxing, but I get why Kevin spends so much time gaming. (Sorry, Laur.)
Also, Laur and I have been invited to dinner with David (a friend of mine from publishing class) and his girlfriend- it'll be fun if we can ever find a day when we're all free! I'm looking forward to it despite avoiding David's email because of the very very overdue article I still owe him for his website. I'm still working on it, I swear!
And I've (strangely) been invited to the Mac Humanities formal, which is on a boat in Toronto this year. It's probably too much money right now, plus there's my lack of a good accessory for my arm (which usually doesn't bother me, but it would help with my excuse for being there). Not to mention the fact that I no longer have a vaid connection to either McMaster or Humanities, and I'm left with very few good reasons to go. It would be nice to see Shesh and Lunchbox and Kat and all the rest again, though. But I really don't want to be one of those much-older-than-everybody losers who still hang around despite having graduated years before a la Dazed and Confused.
Then there's Rosh Hashonna next week, where it'll be good to see family, and I can wear my new skirt that hasn't gotten much play since I bought it. And I'll bake- I've got the best recipe for apple bread- I'll blog it later. I'd bake today (it's a good day for it) except Mom made chocolate banana bread the other day, and I have to wait until that's gone. (Which I kind of hope is soon.) (Sorry, Mom.)
I shouldn't have said that. I recently got reamed out by her for...well, I think the gist of her opinion is that I selectively blog things about her that, when read together, make her seem foolish. Which I totally take issue with. It was she who didn't want me to write about her life, so I keep my comments about my mother light, and it's not my fault that she's really funny sometimes. I don't blog untruths. And I don't really get how being over dramatic about kale vilifies my mother.
But, in an effort at peace offering, here;
My mother is clever. She's taught me more than any other person, ever. She's much cooler than a lot of other moms out there, probably most. She's one of my best friends, as well as being my Mom. I wish to hell I could have known her in the sixties and seventies, the wildchild. She's got more balls than most, and even though she's hilarious sometimes, she's never really foolish, and almost never foppish. (Mom, if you wanted to never have been foppish, than the rendition of 'We are family' should never have been 'jived' in the car. No, you will never live that down.)
But no matter what, she's still funny. Okay, so she doesn't even get some of her own hilarity (re: the coversation in Chapters), Oops, I didn't tell you about that, here it is:
I found her in the cookbook section, flipping through vegetarian recipies, looking for a mushroom stew recipe she 'remembered reading once'. No, she didn't know which book it was in. No, searching on the internet would not be easier, quicker, and more smart, stop teasing your mother.
Mom: (reading out recipe titles) "Autumn vegetable stew, served in a pumpkin"
B: (dubious) In a pumpkin?
Mom: Yeah, vegetarians do that. They like to serve things in other things, cause they think that makes them taste better.
I lost it at that. She doesn't get what was funny.
Oh, and I would like to make it clear that neither my mother nor I are in any way against vegetarians, or against 'putting stuff in other stuff'. Really. I had an uncle who was a vegetarian, for a while. Long story.
Anyways, I guess all I really wanted to cover here was that, she's not just a clown running around in my life, if that is the way that she has been (inadvertantly) portrayed in my writings. She's cool. Really.
Maybe now she won't be afraid to share the address with Jerry. ;)
Our manager, Melissa, was sick all last week, so I all but took over the store, working every day. It wasn't too hard to do, which I'm hoping lends credence to my idea of owning a bookstore someday. I could totally do that.
Nothing new to report on the job hunt. I didn't get much done last week cause I was stuck in the mall so much, but yesterday was good, productive, and I have a plan for today too. It's just hard to do, draining, and it's times like this when socialist communism starts to sounds appealing.
My socail life is starting to have a little 'life' again, though. Last weekend I got together with Laur, Kev, Mark, and Kristen. Kristen is Lauren's sister, and it was the first time I'd seen her and Mark together. He seemed really happy. Kev was sick but it was good to see him too- it sucks that we're all so spread out. It's been much too long since Laurie and I have spent any decent time together, and I think my wit and personality are suffering from the lack.
The five of us went to Playdium, which is a big dark room filled with video games (the kind you put quarters in, except they use cards). I suck at driving games, but I'm pretty good at shooting things. No real surprise!
This weekend I went with Laur and Kev to see Kev's place in Shelburne for the first time. Shelburne is...quiet. It was relaxing, but I get why Kevin spends so much time gaming. (Sorry, Laur.)
Also, Laur and I have been invited to dinner with David (a friend of mine from publishing class) and his girlfriend- it'll be fun if we can ever find a day when we're all free! I'm looking forward to it despite avoiding David's email because of the very very overdue article I still owe him for his website. I'm still working on it, I swear!
And I've (strangely) been invited to the Mac Humanities formal, which is on a boat in Toronto this year. It's probably too much money right now, plus there's my lack of a good accessory for my arm (which usually doesn't bother me, but it would help with my excuse for being there). Not to mention the fact that I no longer have a vaid connection to either McMaster or Humanities, and I'm left with very few good reasons to go. It would be nice to see Shesh and Lunchbox and Kat and all the rest again, though. But I really don't want to be one of those much-older-than-everybody losers who still hang around despite having graduated years before a la Dazed and Confused.
Then there's Rosh Hashonna next week, where it'll be good to see family, and I can wear my new skirt that hasn't gotten much play since I bought it. And I'll bake- I've got the best recipe for apple bread- I'll blog it later. I'd bake today (it's a good day for it) except Mom made chocolate banana bread the other day, and I have to wait until that's gone. (Which I kind of hope is soon.) (Sorry, Mom.)
I shouldn't have said that. I recently got reamed out by her for...well, I think the gist of her opinion is that I selectively blog things about her that, when read together, make her seem foolish. Which I totally take issue with. It was she who didn't want me to write about her life, so I keep my comments about my mother light, and it's not my fault that she's really funny sometimes. I don't blog untruths. And I don't really get how being over dramatic about kale vilifies my mother.
But, in an effort at peace offering, here;
My mother is clever. She's taught me more than any other person, ever. She's much cooler than a lot of other moms out there, probably most. She's one of my best friends, as well as being my Mom. I wish to hell I could have known her in the sixties and seventies, the wildchild. She's got more balls than most, and even though she's hilarious sometimes, she's never really foolish, and almost never foppish. (Mom, if you wanted to never have been foppish, than the rendition of 'We are family' should never have been 'jived' in the car. No, you will never live that down.)
But no matter what, she's still funny. Okay, so she doesn't even get some of her own hilarity (re: the coversation in Chapters), Oops, I didn't tell you about that, here it is:
I found her in the cookbook section, flipping through vegetarian recipies, looking for a mushroom stew recipe she 'remembered reading once'. No, she didn't know which book it was in. No, searching on the internet would not be easier, quicker, and more smart, stop teasing your mother.
Mom: (reading out recipe titles) "Autumn vegetable stew, served in a pumpkin"
B: (dubious) In a pumpkin?
Mom: Yeah, vegetarians do that. They like to serve things in other things, cause they think that makes them taste better.
I lost it at that. She doesn't get what was funny.
Oh, and I would like to make it clear that neither my mother nor I are in any way against vegetarians, or against 'putting stuff in other stuff'. Really. I had an uncle who was a vegetarian, for a while. Long story.
Anyways, I guess all I really wanted to cover here was that, she's not just a clown running around in my life, if that is the way that she has been (inadvertantly) portrayed in my writings. She's cool. Really.
Maybe now she won't be afraid to share the address with Jerry. ;)
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Help meeeeeeee!
The horror. The horror.
Mom went shopping...for dinner...and brought back...kale.
*shudder*
And that's not the end of it.
She's threatened...she's promised...after this, we're moving on to Swiss chard.
She's evil, man. Pure evil.
Mom went shopping...for dinner...and brought back...kale.
*shudder*
And that's not the end of it.
She's threatened...she's promised...after this, we're moving on to Swiss chard.
She's evil, man. Pure evil.
Meet Burning House
Look, I got pictures! And I'd like to introduce you to my group from the final project of my Humber class: Tracey, Fiona, Morgen, Allen, Chris and I.
A boring week
Well, I've been out of school just over a week, and things are still going okay. My resume has been overhauled (or more accurately, demolished and re-built from scratch, stronger and better- I have the technology), I've actually applied for something (kind of a feat for me. For some reason, I always hit a speedbump at this point), and even though I have neither interview or job on the horizon yet, I HAVE spent money I shouldn't be spending on outfits for them! Yeah, this past week has been a bit of a shopping spree (two skirts- and I barely ever wear skirts- some kick-ass shoes, a suit jacket, a poncho-ey thing that I had to fight my mom for, a new purse...this list goes on).
Friday was a party at Laur's new place- to warm it up- which was a fair success. I love Laurie's friends, they're hilarious, and I wish I could have stayed longer, but circumstances conspired against me. On the other hand, my driving record is getter better in leaps and bounds (I had the car that night, and my newest vendetta is a war against my mother's opinion on my driving skills. She thinks I suck, which I do not. My record is CLEAN, baby.) So yeah, I left the party early, but then I went driving downtown Toronto on a friday night, and took the HIGHWAY home. Who can't drive now, hun?
Other than that, life is boring. My room is clean, my sales at the jewelry store rock, and I have to make a foray soon back to the Ham, cause my bead supply has holes in it. (Heh, heh, I just realized what a very, very lame joke that was).
There wasn't much to say in here, but I'm making an effort to blog more. I hope your lives are more interresting, but only in the good way.
Friday was a party at Laur's new place- to warm it up- which was a fair success. I love Laurie's friends, they're hilarious, and I wish I could have stayed longer, but circumstances conspired against me. On the other hand, my driving record is getter better in leaps and bounds (I had the car that night, and my newest vendetta is a war against my mother's opinion on my driving skills. She thinks I suck, which I do not. My record is CLEAN, baby.) So yeah, I left the party early, but then I went driving downtown Toronto on a friday night, and took the HIGHWAY home. Who can't drive now, hun?
Other than that, life is boring. My room is clean, my sales at the jewelry store rock, and I have to make a foray soon back to the Ham, cause my bead supply has holes in it. (Heh, heh, I just realized what a very, very lame joke that was).
There wasn't much to say in here, but I'm making an effort to blog more. I hope your lives are more interresting, but only in the good way.
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Goodbye Humber, how I will miss thee...
Wow, so it's been, like, half a month since I last blogged and there's a lot to catch up on. I know that I haven't been the most reliable updater this summer, but that should soon change, seeing as how today is my second-last day of school. This news is kind of mixed good and bad, since I'll be blogging more thanks to free time (yay), but have free time thanks to no job waiting for me (boo). I shouldn't say that- there is a job waiting for me...I just have to find it. The prospect of doing so, however, is...terrifying is the word.
I keep waffling between this surreal sense of over confidence ("I just finished the best course out there, I have so many contacts, I did so well, blah blah my greatness blah...") and nail-biting paralysis fear ("Oh god it's so hard to find something and my resume isn't done and I suck at interviews and why would they ever even consider me for this they won't even look at me they'll see my cover letter and probably laugh, I suck suck suck...")
Thankfully these seem to balance each other out, so far, so I have not yet talked myself into a pile o' goo. The goo does loom, however. It's a thin line I walk.
I'm also aware that I'm one of about twenty people in my class feeling this way. Wow, how we all fit in one room together, I don't know.
But that's what's happening now, and you all have about a month in the Life of Bethany to catch up on. Ready? Go.
The final month of my program was us creating our own (fake) companies. By the end of the month, we were exhausted, the companies were way more real in our minds than we ever anticipated them becoming, and we were proud. My group, whom I love with all my heart, named our company Burning House, and we publish non fiction, socially relevant, controversial titles (both illustrated and not).
The final presentation, which included a panel of very distinguished judges bent on chossing a winner, picked...us! I'm still in shock.
Following that, there was about a year and a day of sleeping, one helluva party (monday), lots of picture-taking and even a cake with a story.
(You want the cake story? Fine. There was a long, drawn-out discussion over things to have written upon our cake. We didn't want it to say 'goodbye', and felt that 'good luck' was just as bad. 'Revolutionize the Industry' was suggested, but I think there was resistance about taking orders from baked goods, plus, we'd need a bigger cake for that. In the end, no decision had been made, as the only thing we could agree on was that we'd all be happy to eat it. With that in mind, my classmates got to the store and asked to have the cake read 'Yeah, cake!' Simple enough, right? Apparently, no. The lady writing down their order wrote 'Yay cake', and in a room full of now-editors, this was not good. But hey, it's only icing, right? When they picked up said cake, and opened the box, we ended up with a blue cake that said 'Yay'. Not even an exclamation point. It was the sardonic, final-day-of-publishing class, blue cake. It was tasty.)
...And that was the end of my class (yeah, I took two days to write this post). I got home, changed, and went to help Lauren move (goodbye ghetto, hello...well, I think it feels English there, mostly because of the roundabout att he end of her street, but I think Laur thinks I'm nuts). Then we drove for ever and ever looking for food. We found it, in the end, but it was a near miss.
Anyways, I have to go now- work to be done. Oh wait...no there isn't. But my room's a friggin mess.
I keep waffling between this surreal sense of over confidence ("I just finished the best course out there, I have so many contacts, I did so well, blah blah my greatness blah...") and nail-biting paralysis fear ("Oh god it's so hard to find something and my resume isn't done and I suck at interviews and why would they ever even consider me for this they won't even look at me they'll see my cover letter and probably laugh, I suck suck suck...")
Thankfully these seem to balance each other out, so far, so I have not yet talked myself into a pile o' goo. The goo does loom, however. It's a thin line I walk.
I'm also aware that I'm one of about twenty people in my class feeling this way. Wow, how we all fit in one room together, I don't know.
But that's what's happening now, and you all have about a month in the Life of Bethany to catch up on. Ready? Go.
The final month of my program was us creating our own (fake) companies. By the end of the month, we were exhausted, the companies were way more real in our minds than we ever anticipated them becoming, and we were proud. My group, whom I love with all my heart, named our company Burning House, and we publish non fiction, socially relevant, controversial titles (both illustrated and not).
The final presentation, which included a panel of very distinguished judges bent on chossing a winner, picked...us! I'm still in shock.
Following that, there was about a year and a day of sleeping, one helluva party (monday), lots of picture-taking and even a cake with a story.
(You want the cake story? Fine. There was a long, drawn-out discussion over things to have written upon our cake. We didn't want it to say 'goodbye', and felt that 'good luck' was just as bad. 'Revolutionize the Industry' was suggested, but I think there was resistance about taking orders from baked goods, plus, we'd need a bigger cake for that. In the end, no decision had been made, as the only thing we could agree on was that we'd all be happy to eat it. With that in mind, my classmates got to the store and asked to have the cake read 'Yeah, cake!' Simple enough, right? Apparently, no. The lady writing down their order wrote 'Yay cake', and in a room full of now-editors, this was not good. But hey, it's only icing, right? When they picked up said cake, and opened the box, we ended up with a blue cake that said 'Yay'. Not even an exclamation point. It was the sardonic, final-day-of-publishing class, blue cake. It was tasty.)
...And that was the end of my class (yeah, I took two days to write this post). I got home, changed, and went to help Lauren move (goodbye ghetto, hello...well, I think it feels English there, mostly because of the roundabout att he end of her street, but I think Laur thinks I'm nuts). Then we drove for ever and ever looking for food. We found it, in the end, but it was a near miss.
Anyways, I have to go now- work to be done. Oh wait...no there isn't. But my room's a friggin mess.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
My brain hurts
Hello all,
I'm at school right now, and ought to be working, though I'm finding that it's basically a useless attempt right now. Ironic, since the project I'm working on is titled "Useless Design", heh heh.
This month is completely devoted to one big project, where we divide into groups, create a company, a list of books, and all the financials, and then pitch it all to a panel at the end of the month.
I love my group. I really like our books. I'm having fun. But I'm also so freaking tired. Being creative all day is like cross-country skiing or something.
But now I gotta go- there's a grindstone waiting for my nose.
I'm at school right now, and ought to be working, though I'm finding that it's basically a useless attempt right now. Ironic, since the project I'm working on is titled "Useless Design", heh heh.
This month is completely devoted to one big project, where we divide into groups, create a company, a list of books, and all the financials, and then pitch it all to a panel at the end of the month.
I love my group. I really like our books. I'm having fun. But I'm also so freaking tired. Being creative all day is like cross-country skiing or something.
But now I gotta go- there's a grindstone waiting for my nose.
Saturday, July 30, 2005
The Best Bad Movies
Sometimes it’s the worst flicks that seem to speak to you. Not in those powerful, undeniable messages that you get from the very good films, not in the too-loud voices you get from the too-good films, and certainly not in the screeches that blast most commonly out of cinema doors. No, sometimes it’s the ones that are just bad- the teen flick that uses shampoo as a metaphor, the chick flick that was written entirely in clichés- that seem to get you. You can’t understand why you like them. Why is it that you seem to find it okay to watch them over and over again? You know that they aren’t good. You know that they are badly written, filled with heavy-handed symbolism, and that parts are so abashedly cheesy they make you cringe. But you always go back for more. The next day when it’s a rerun. The next month, when you spy it at the video store. The next year, when your best friend asks ‘what do you want to do tonight?’, and you know that, once again, it’s time. There must be something valid in them. Buried under the scrap, there must be something worthwile that pulls you back. The idea. The image. The concept. I like to think that, whatever it is, it's there, and instead of it being the driving force it was supposed to be, the message is hidden. It's been buried, often under a lot of crap, but it's there, and you go back to it over again. There are reasons to love those bad movies. It makes them valid. It makes us valid for watching them.
Do you know what I’m talking about, or am I totally out in left field? I’ll admit, I’m writing this in the afterglow of one such great bad movie.
Do you have one (or a few?) What are they?
Do you know what I’m talking about, or am I totally out in left field? I’ll admit, I’m writing this in the afterglow of one such great bad movie.
Do you have one (or a few?) What are they?
Friday, July 22, 2005
Pottermania
I love Pottermania.
In the US, more than 6.9 million copies were sold in the first 24 hours of the book's release. In Canada, somewhere in the vicinity of 700,000. At one release party in Britain, over 800 copies were sold in about 40 minutes- that's 20 copies a minute, and three copies every second.
And who's reading? Click the link!
In the US, more than 6.9 million copies were sold in the first 24 hours of the book's release. In Canada, somewhere in the vicinity of 700,000. At one release party in Britain, over 800 copies were sold in about 40 minutes- that's 20 copies a minute, and three copies every second.
And who's reading? Click the link!
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Running to catch up
First, no- I haven't died. I'm just very, very busy.
I know what you're thinking, and no, I wasn't forgetting about, or not intending to blog about my family reunion. I just got a little out of order, that's all.
First of all, the big news this year belonged to my cousin. A huge kudos to him for having the guts to walk into a room full of family and say “you all remember my wife, don't you?” (It should be pointed out that he got himself hitched about three weeks prior to then, under a veritable veil of secrecy.) I could NEVER have done that, but it was obviously what they both wanted, and they're both really happy with the way they did things, and so, props and congratulations to them for doing what made them happy. More people should do the same!
The rest of the weekend was pleasant and restful- there was shopping for art glass for one aunt, talking books with another. Mom even managed to stop being so manic…a little…near the end…(no, really, she had a good time). And there was plenty of food!
Honestly, though, my aunt looking for art glass ought to have stayed an extra week- the following weekend, I spent all of Sunday with Laur, walking around downtown Toronto (so much sun- such a good tan!) and there were two street festivals, one of which was an amazing art exhibition. They had great glass!
We went out for lunch at a fantastic place called 'Everest', on Queen street, that had food from all around Mount Everest. They had a clever 'Free Tibet' platter- Tibetan dumplings surrounded by Chinese Chow Mein. It was witty but I didn't order it, so I don't know if it's tasty- we'll have to go back.
Then we went bead shopping, had dinner, and went to see Batman Begins, which was not a total waste of time, but would have been if I hadn't been a comic book kid once-upon-a-time. At least it was dark and air conditioned. It was a good day!
That week following (wow, this is like, a month I'm catching you guys up on- sorry!), my class had a surprise guest speaker, and it was His Excellency Sir John Ralston Saul! (Famous Canadian, five-time author of international acclaim, political commenter and modern-day philosopher, and husband to Canada's Governor General.) He came to talk with us, which was pretty cool- he had a guard and everything- and then (after getting into a fight with one of my classmates in the washroom), called Cynthia (head of my program) to tell her that he was very impressed with us (and there might be a job with him for one of us)! I'm stoked. I just have to do some reading, and brush up on my French…
La visite de Moniseur Saul etait une evenement que je n'oublierais pas beintot. Il faut que je donne mes mercies a Cynthia pour cette cadeau!
Wow, yeah, my French sucks.
And then one of my classmates got hit by a bus. Okay, so I'm being dramatic. Morgen had bike accident that landed her in the hospital, but she's okay now (she actually typing beside me). I went to see her in the hospital. I'm glad she's better.
Work is the same as always. I got a bad evaluation that said I wasn't selling enough, and then, two days later, I made the top five sellers list in the GTA. It was satisfying at the time, but I'm getting sick of both the mall and the corporate stuff that goes with this job. Good thing I interviewed at a bookstore last week. It might be awhile before I start, but I can wait if I have that to look forward to!
Friday rocked. Mark and Kev came up for a visit (we've barely seen them all summer!), and we went to a K-Os concert (think folk rap, with morals. Good guy.), which was a great show! Immediately after which my friends dropped me at a bookstore, where I was in time to get in line for the midnight release of HARRY POTTER! I am overjoyed at the arrival of this book. I have read it twice, but have yet to finish formulating my opinion. As I told Laur last night, I'm still in 'process' mode. It was very…there was just so MUCH!
Mom wrestled it away from me his morning, but I'm getting it back (and reading it again) once she's done. Thankfully, soon I'll have more people to discuss it with.
And the blog just keeps going!
Last night I got a book in the mail from my aunt. Thank you aunt! (Yeah, I'm gonna write a better thanks soon, and a whole lot more privately than this). Its such a pretty book! I need some more time to look it over before I bring it to class and let these guys paw all over it (ha ha) though…working so much this week!
Also went to a friends' gig this week. Chris, a classmate of mine, is in a band called the Salingers, and I really like their music. I'm gonna have to go to more of their shows. Maybe I'll be a groupie…
Anyways, we've come to the (disjointed) end. I apologize profusely for my recent not-here-ness. I'll do better. At least we have something to look forward to- I'm (hoping to) go to Cedar Point next weekend. Hooray for roller coasters…
I know what you're thinking, and no, I wasn't forgetting about, or not intending to blog about my family reunion. I just got a little out of order, that's all.
First of all, the big news this year belonged to my cousin. A huge kudos to him for having the guts to walk into a room full of family and say “you all remember my wife, don't you?” (It should be pointed out that he got himself hitched about three weeks prior to then, under a veritable veil of secrecy.) I could NEVER have done that, but it was obviously what they both wanted, and they're both really happy with the way they did things, and so, props and congratulations to them for doing what made them happy. More people should do the same!
The rest of the weekend was pleasant and restful- there was shopping for art glass for one aunt, talking books with another. Mom even managed to stop being so manic…a little…near the end…(no, really, she had a good time). And there was plenty of food!
Honestly, though, my aunt looking for art glass ought to have stayed an extra week- the following weekend, I spent all of Sunday with Laur, walking around downtown Toronto (so much sun- such a good tan!) and there were two street festivals, one of which was an amazing art exhibition. They had great glass!
We went out for lunch at a fantastic place called 'Everest', on Queen street, that had food from all around Mount Everest. They had a clever 'Free Tibet' platter- Tibetan dumplings surrounded by Chinese Chow Mein. It was witty but I didn't order it, so I don't know if it's tasty- we'll have to go back.
Then we went bead shopping, had dinner, and went to see Batman Begins, which was not a total waste of time, but would have been if I hadn't been a comic book kid once-upon-a-time. At least it was dark and air conditioned. It was a good day!
That week following (wow, this is like, a month I'm catching you guys up on- sorry!), my class had a surprise guest speaker, and it was His Excellency Sir John Ralston Saul! (Famous Canadian, five-time author of international acclaim, political commenter and modern-day philosopher, and husband to Canada's Governor General.) He came to talk with us, which was pretty cool- he had a guard and everything- and then (after getting into a fight with one of my classmates in the washroom), called Cynthia (head of my program) to tell her that he was very impressed with us (and there might be a job with him for one of us)! I'm stoked. I just have to do some reading, and brush up on my French…
La visite de Moniseur Saul etait une evenement que je n'oublierais pas beintot. Il faut que je donne mes mercies a Cynthia pour cette cadeau!
Wow, yeah, my French sucks.
And then one of my classmates got hit by a bus. Okay, so I'm being dramatic. Morgen had bike accident that landed her in the hospital, but she's okay now (she actually typing beside me). I went to see her in the hospital. I'm glad she's better.
Work is the same as always. I got a bad evaluation that said I wasn't selling enough, and then, two days later, I made the top five sellers list in the GTA. It was satisfying at the time, but I'm getting sick of both the mall and the corporate stuff that goes with this job. Good thing I interviewed at a bookstore last week. It might be awhile before I start, but I can wait if I have that to look forward to!
Friday rocked. Mark and Kev came up for a visit (we've barely seen them all summer!), and we went to a K-Os concert (think folk rap, with morals. Good guy.), which was a great show! Immediately after which my friends dropped me at a bookstore, where I was in time to get in line for the midnight release of HARRY POTTER! I am overjoyed at the arrival of this book. I have read it twice, but have yet to finish formulating my opinion. As I told Laur last night, I'm still in 'process' mode. It was very…there was just so MUCH!
Mom wrestled it away from me his morning, but I'm getting it back (and reading it again) once she's done. Thankfully, soon I'll have more people to discuss it with.
And the blog just keeps going!
Last night I got a book in the mail from my aunt. Thank you aunt! (Yeah, I'm gonna write a better thanks soon, and a whole lot more privately than this). Its such a pretty book! I need some more time to look it over before I bring it to class and let these guys paw all over it (ha ha) though…working so much this week!
Also went to a friends' gig this week. Chris, a classmate of mine, is in a band called the Salingers, and I really like their music. I'm gonna have to go to more of their shows. Maybe I'll be a groupie…
Anyways, we've come to the (disjointed) end. I apologize profusely for my recent not-here-ness. I'll do better. At least we have something to look forward to- I'm (hoping to) go to Cedar Point next weekend. Hooray for roller coasters…
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Stolen Survey
TWELVE MOVIES (in no order):
12. Garden State
11. Hackers
10. Billy Elliott
09. Empire of the Sun
08. Harry Potter
07. Romeo & Juliet
06. Run Lola Run
05. Down to You
04. Amelie
03. Empire Records
02. American Beauty
01. The Royal Tenenbaums
ELEVEN GOOD BANDS/ARTISTS:
11. Coldplay
10. Anyone from the Garden State Soundtrack
09. The Clash
08. U2
07. Collective Soul
06. Moby
05. Prodigy (props to the past)
04. Our Lady Peace
03. Dido
02. T-Rex
01. Iron & Wine
TEN THINGS ABOUT YOU:
10. I have a dark sense of humour, and think a lot of disturbing stuff is funny.
09. I love just about all pets, but want a cat.
08. I consider changing my name on a regular basis.
07. I want to live in England.
06. My favourite colour is green.
05. I love my bad choices.
04. I love noticing things that others don't.
03. I can spend an entire day in bed with a book, not moving.
02. It bugs me if the volume on the tv (or similar thing) does not end in 5 or 0.
01. I'm odd, and I like it.
NINE BOOKS:
09. Harry Potter- JK Rowling
08. Motherless Brooklyn- Jonathan Lethem
07. The Time Traveler's Wife- Audrey Niffenegger
06. Jabberwocky- Lewis Carroll
05. Dragon's Blood- Patricia Briggs
04. The Gashleycrumb Tinies- Edward Gorey
03. A Complicated Kindness- Miriam Towes
02. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy- Douglas Adams
01. Good Omens- Terry pratchett and Neil Gaiman
EIGHT FAVOURITE FOODS/DRINKS:
08. Thai food
07. Apples
06. Mom's brisket
05. Mocha mocha frappaccinos from William's
04. Baguettes
03. Juice boxes
02. Balsamic dressing
01. Chocolate
SEVEN THINGS YOU WEAR DAILY:
07. Several rings
06. Bra
05. Deodorant
04. Underwear
03. Four earrings
02. Shirt
01. Cucumber Melon body lotion
SIX THINGS THAT YOU HATE:
06. Closed-mindedness
05. Sticking my foot in my mouth (and I do it often)
04. Drivers who don't make way for emergency vehicles
03. Judgement
02. Condensation on cold drinks
01. Intolerance
FIVE THINGS YOU DO DAILY:
05. Brush my hair
04. Read
03. Wash
02. Go on the internet
01. Feel guilty or worried about something
FOUR SHOWS YOU WATCH:
04. Gilmour Girls
03. CSI
02. Scrubs- at Laur and Hugh's
01. Six Feet Under
THREE PLACES YOU'VE LIVED:
03. Sarnia
02. Hamilton
01. Toronto - dear god, I need to improve that list before I die.
TWO THINGS YOU WANT:
02. Enough money to live a reasonable life (I'm willing to work for that- I'm not looking for it to fall from the sky)
01. More time
12. Garden State
11. Hackers
10. Billy Elliott
09. Empire of the Sun
08. Harry Potter
07. Romeo & Juliet
06. Run Lola Run
05. Down to You
04. Amelie
03. Empire Records
02. American Beauty
01. The Royal Tenenbaums
ELEVEN GOOD BANDS/ARTISTS:
11. Coldplay
10. Anyone from the Garden State Soundtrack
09. The Clash
08. U2
07. Collective Soul
06. Moby
05. Prodigy (props to the past)
04. Our Lady Peace
03. Dido
02. T-Rex
01. Iron & Wine
TEN THINGS ABOUT YOU:
10. I have a dark sense of humour, and think a lot of disturbing stuff is funny.
09. I love just about all pets, but want a cat.
08. I consider changing my name on a regular basis.
07. I want to live in England.
06. My favourite colour is green.
05. I love my bad choices.
04. I love noticing things that others don't.
03. I can spend an entire day in bed with a book, not moving.
02. It bugs me if the volume on the tv (or similar thing) does not end in 5 or 0.
01. I'm odd, and I like it.
NINE BOOKS:
09. Harry Potter- JK Rowling
08. Motherless Brooklyn- Jonathan Lethem
07. The Time Traveler's Wife- Audrey Niffenegger
06. Jabberwocky- Lewis Carroll
05. Dragon's Blood- Patricia Briggs
04. The Gashleycrumb Tinies- Edward Gorey
03. A Complicated Kindness- Miriam Towes
02. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy- Douglas Adams
01. Good Omens- Terry pratchett and Neil Gaiman
EIGHT FAVOURITE FOODS/DRINKS:
08. Thai food
07. Apples
06. Mom's brisket
05. Mocha mocha frappaccinos from William's
04. Baguettes
03. Juice boxes
02. Balsamic dressing
01. Chocolate
SEVEN THINGS YOU WEAR DAILY:
07. Several rings
06. Bra
05. Deodorant
04. Underwear
03. Four earrings
02. Shirt
01. Cucumber Melon body lotion
SIX THINGS THAT YOU HATE:
06. Closed-mindedness
05. Sticking my foot in my mouth (and I do it often)
04. Drivers who don't make way for emergency vehicles
03. Judgement
02. Condensation on cold drinks
01. Intolerance
FIVE THINGS YOU DO DAILY:
05. Brush my hair
04. Read
03. Wash
02. Go on the internet
01. Feel guilty or worried about something
FOUR SHOWS YOU WATCH:
04. Gilmour Girls
03. CSI
02. Scrubs- at Laur and Hugh's
01. Six Feet Under
THREE PLACES YOU'VE LIVED:
03. Sarnia
02. Hamilton
01. Toronto - dear god, I need to improve that list before I die.
TWO THINGS YOU WANT:
02. Enough money to live a reasonable life (I'm willing to work for that- I'm not looking for it to fall from the sky)
01. More time
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Summer storm strike
Today is one of those days when the air is thick with moisture, and the world is so humid it seems like the sky is pressing down on you. The sun is strong but looks watery, and also seems to be doing it’s best to lay itself directly on your shoulders.
When the afternoon is getting tired, the sky, in that strange way it has in summer, gets bluer and greyer by degrees, storm clouds gathering disguised as clear air, so the sky itself seems to be thickening.
Then comes that stretched-out moment, when the world gets still, when the wind dies down and even the plants seem to hold them selves stiff and ready, until the tension breaks, and the first, fat drops hurtle down.
Traveling along, the air gets thick with that smell particular to mid-summer; that sharp, hot smell of overheated asphalt sizzling in the rain. Then the rain pounds down into soft skin still warm from summer sun, instantly passing through layers of cloth, and clothes get heavy and clingy and seem so much a bother.
Ears ring from almost constant thunder, and laughter bubbles up in response, growling playfully back at the sky, trying to out-do each other.
Standing on the balcony above, looking down, goosebumps from unseen breaths of air ghosting across wet skin. There is so much rain beating the world that the air itself is dark with it, the treetops whipping through the wind like seaweed through rough waters.
Lightning strike, sudden and violent, breaks through the wind and rain and thick air of summer, hisses with power, heat and burning light like screaming, like rage, like prayer, pulses down, a fist pounding the earth, and the tree across the way shudders in its own weakness and succumbs, splitting jarringly, falls as though floating, struck and spent, to earth.
When the afternoon is getting tired, the sky, in that strange way it has in summer, gets bluer and greyer by degrees, storm clouds gathering disguised as clear air, so the sky itself seems to be thickening.
Then comes that stretched-out moment, when the world gets still, when the wind dies down and even the plants seem to hold them selves stiff and ready, until the tension breaks, and the first, fat drops hurtle down.
Traveling along, the air gets thick with that smell particular to mid-summer; that sharp, hot smell of overheated asphalt sizzling in the rain. Then the rain pounds down into soft skin still warm from summer sun, instantly passing through layers of cloth, and clothes get heavy and clingy and seem so much a bother.
Ears ring from almost constant thunder, and laughter bubbles up in response, growling playfully back at the sky, trying to out-do each other.
Standing on the balcony above, looking down, goosebumps from unseen breaths of air ghosting across wet skin. There is so much rain beating the world that the air itself is dark with it, the treetops whipping through the wind like seaweed through rough waters.
Lightning strike, sudden and violent, breaks through the wind and rain and thick air of summer, hisses with power, heat and burning light like screaming, like rage, like prayer, pulses down, a fist pounding the earth, and the tree across the way shudders in its own weakness and succumbs, splitting jarringly, falls as though floating, struck and spent, to earth.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
A long day
Hi all.
My class is spending the whole day in computers, so this might just turn itself into a monster blog.
Class is good, great, very challenging, and backbreaking in turns. This past month has been just as intense as the last one, and the upcoming week is going to be very busy. I think a lot of stress, frustration, and lack of sleep kind of came to a head yesterday. Basically, as much as we've been learning, and as great as it has been, a lot of us are still worrying about marks and working really hard on our assignments (a little too hard, we've been told, but it's hard to break the habit), and trying to juggle our time and our nerves is...hard. Yesterday a lot of people were feeling very frustrated and stressed, and I guess we kind of lost it a little.
Cynthia came in and we were talking about assignments and tests and things, and there was a lot of discussion about what we as the students need and what the teachers are doing and saying. Cynthia is really good at calming people down, and she's fantastic at explaining things, which I think helps a lot. The talk yesterday helped, but I think we maybe need more of those talks. I might suggest it to Cynthia, for the next class.
Part of what's taking up our time these days is extra stuff outside of class. Tonight is a wine and cheese for the Children's Writer's Class that we're invited to, and I want to go, but there is SO MUCH WORK to get home to (besides, I promised Mom I'd be home for dinner- she's making fish).
But you get the gist, with the busy and the crazy making.
There is one thing taking up my time this weekend that I'm so happy for, though. In I'm Telling You for the Last Time Jerry Seinfeld talks about hearing of Hallowe'en when he was a child;
"What? Someone's giving out candy, who is giving out candy?...EVERYONE WE KNOW is giving out candy?! Wah-I- I have got to be a part of this, I'll do anything they want- ...I can wear that!"
Now. Replace the word "candy" with "books", and you've got my EXACT attitude about the Canadian Book Expo, this sunday, to which I am most definitely going! (No, I don't have to dress up in costume, but if they wanted my left arm in payment, they could have it. (I need the right one- it's the one that writes and turns the pages).
I'm sure I'll have gushes to say about it after sunday.
Okay, and here's a little thing that will make you go "What?! Why in hell is this the first time I'm hearing about this?"
So, what happened? Well, I was at work last week, and there was about a half hour left until closing, and Melissa and I were getting antsy to go home, despite our low sales. So, when we got a 'high roller' in, who wanted to spend a pile, we were kind of stoked that our sales would go up. But these two guys came in, and they were all not-nice (to say the least), and they we're getting a very large pile together. The one guy kept wanting suggestions from me, saying "What do girls like, what do you like?" Everything I handed him just went in the pile- he didn't care what he was buying.
That was when Melissa and I started to get nervous. Those guys weren't acting right.
As soon as they were done, Melissa rang everything up, and it took her forever- they had over $1500 of stuff. When she told them their total, the guy pulled out a bunch of very obviously fake cards. She hesitated to take them, and the guy started muttering threats, so only we could hear. We were afraid, and there was no way to call security (there's no place hidden from view where I work, and no emergency button like there should be), so she ran the cards through. They were all accepted. Just before the guys took off, the one grabbed a handful of stuff from the bag and set it back on the desk, and said "Here, these are yours." so, what, we were getting paid off? Fat freaking chance! We locked the stuff in a drawer, closed ten minutes early, and ran home!
The next morning we'd calmed down and called head office and the police. Everyone said it wasn't our fault, and our jobs are safe and there's nothing for us to worry about. We still feel bad about it, but what can you do?
The only question is, what happens to the stuff they left behind? We're waiting for a decision from head office. I should find out saturday- I'll keep you all updated.
Meanwhile, I'm not as upset as I was. When it happened, I was like, "I don't like the big city anymore! I'm moving back to Sarnia!" Now...well, trust me, Sarnia is no an option. But I hate working in a freaking MALL! I'm fully looking forward to burying myself in the nice, safe world of publishing.
Oh! And I've recently confirmed that there is no more training or certification needed for publishing in other countries. When I finish this course I can get a job in Canada...or Britain, the States, Australia...ANYWHERE! Bah ha ha! World, you are my playground.
Yeah, this blog was a little random.
My class is spending the whole day in computers, so this might just turn itself into a monster blog.
Class is good, great, very challenging, and backbreaking in turns. This past month has been just as intense as the last one, and the upcoming week is going to be very busy. I think a lot of stress, frustration, and lack of sleep kind of came to a head yesterday. Basically, as much as we've been learning, and as great as it has been, a lot of us are still worrying about marks and working really hard on our assignments (a little too hard, we've been told, but it's hard to break the habit), and trying to juggle our time and our nerves is...hard. Yesterday a lot of people were feeling very frustrated and stressed, and I guess we kind of lost it a little.
Cynthia came in and we were talking about assignments and tests and things, and there was a lot of discussion about what we as the students need and what the teachers are doing and saying. Cynthia is really good at calming people down, and she's fantastic at explaining things, which I think helps a lot. The talk yesterday helped, but I think we maybe need more of those talks. I might suggest it to Cynthia, for the next class.
Part of what's taking up our time these days is extra stuff outside of class. Tonight is a wine and cheese for the Children's Writer's Class that we're invited to, and I want to go, but there is SO MUCH WORK to get home to (besides, I promised Mom I'd be home for dinner- she's making fish).
But you get the gist, with the busy and the crazy making.
There is one thing taking up my time this weekend that I'm so happy for, though. In I'm Telling You for the Last Time Jerry Seinfeld talks about hearing of Hallowe'en when he was a child;
"What? Someone's giving out candy, who is giving out candy?...EVERYONE WE KNOW is giving out candy?! Wah-I- I have got to be a part of this, I'll do anything they want- ...I can wear that!"
Now. Replace the word "candy" with "books", and you've got my EXACT attitude about the Canadian Book Expo, this sunday, to which I am most definitely going! (No, I don't have to dress up in costume, but if they wanted my left arm in payment, they could have it. (I need the right one- it's the one that writes and turns the pages).
I'm sure I'll have gushes to say about it after sunday.
Okay, and here's a little thing that will make you go "What?! Why in hell is this the first time I'm hearing about this?"
So, what happened? Well, I was at work last week, and there was about a half hour left until closing, and Melissa and I were getting antsy to go home, despite our low sales. So, when we got a 'high roller' in, who wanted to spend a pile, we were kind of stoked that our sales would go up. But these two guys came in, and they were all not-nice (to say the least), and they we're getting a very large pile together. The one guy kept wanting suggestions from me, saying "What do girls like, what do you like?" Everything I handed him just went in the pile- he didn't care what he was buying.
That was when Melissa and I started to get nervous. Those guys weren't acting right.
As soon as they were done, Melissa rang everything up, and it took her forever- they had over $1500 of stuff. When she told them their total, the guy pulled out a bunch of very obviously fake cards. She hesitated to take them, and the guy started muttering threats, so only we could hear. We were afraid, and there was no way to call security (there's no place hidden from view where I work, and no emergency button like there should be), so she ran the cards through. They were all accepted. Just before the guys took off, the one grabbed a handful of stuff from the bag and set it back on the desk, and said "Here, these are yours." so, what, we were getting paid off? Fat freaking chance! We locked the stuff in a drawer, closed ten minutes early, and ran home!
The next morning we'd calmed down and called head office and the police. Everyone said it wasn't our fault, and our jobs are safe and there's nothing for us to worry about. We still feel bad about it, but what can you do?
The only question is, what happens to the stuff they left behind? We're waiting for a decision from head office. I should find out saturday- I'll keep you all updated.
Meanwhile, I'm not as upset as I was. When it happened, I was like, "I don't like the big city anymore! I'm moving back to Sarnia!" Now...well, trust me, Sarnia is no an option. But I hate working in a freaking MALL! I'm fully looking forward to burying myself in the nice, safe world of publishing.
Oh! And I've recently confirmed that there is no more training or certification needed for publishing in other countries. When I finish this course I can get a job in Canada...or Britain, the States, Australia...ANYWHERE! Bah ha ha! World, you are my playground.
Yeah, this blog was a little random.
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
One thing I love
So, Laur's at my place and we're putting a frozen pizza in the oven, then going to turn on a movie. Mom's oven has no timer. Worried that we'll burn the place down, or at least be eating char for dinner, Laur asks how we'll remember that something's in the oven.
"I'll get Phil to let us know," I say, distracted with the putting of the pizza on the hot rack.
Laur is slient for a moment, then,
"How will a plant let us know when our pizza is ready?"
...
So, what do I love?
I love that my best friend not only knows that I have names for both my plant and the microwave, but that she knows which one is which.
"I'll get Phil to let us know," I say, distracted with the putting of the pizza on the hot rack.
Laur is slient for a moment, then,
"How will a plant let us know when our pizza is ready?"
...
So, what do I love?
I love that my best friend not only knows that I have names for both my plant and the microwave, but that she knows which one is which.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Revel in Gore
"The world is full of beautiful stories...you're not going to hear any of those tonight."
So began the fabulously disgusting reading I went to last night, featuring CHUCK PALAHNIUK! I can't believe that fate had him in Toronto and doing that same reading about which I've been reading just a few days after I discovered it. Destiny looks after me again! (And, I love living in the big city.)
Let me start by saying that no one fainted. Apparently, Torontonians are a tough bunch. But residents of Calgary aren't- his publicist told the crowd during his intro that they'd lost no less than five people at the last reading. I'm vaguely disappointed that no one went down, especially since the author was obviously doing his best.
Let me explain; the reading occurred in Indigo, which is a big place, but could barely contain the four hundred (at least) people who crowded in. It was hot and cramped and there weren't any seats unless you got there two hours in advance.
He handed out air fresheners. He handed out three hundred meat-scented, steak-shaped air 'fresheners' that he insisted we open and swing around. Eew. REALLY.
He was a fantastic speaker who was extremely talented at taking hilarious, disgusting, sad and sadistic stories and never allowing his audience to see them as abstract in any way; he was very good at keeping a human face on his characters. He spoke (even before he started reading) about the sick things people did, and told him about. He spoke about a guy finding out he had HIV, a guy who took pictures of dead people, and teenagers who commit suicide by accident.
Then he started reading. He told "Guts". This is the story about which the article I linked was about, the story, apparently, that he had 'retired' in view of the reactions he was getting. I was thrilled when he announced it.
The story was just as gross as the rest of his talk. It was great.
The crowd was good, too. It was a very young, kind of anti-establishment type crowd- very rock.
He took questions after, though he'd already made a point of talking about the rediculous comments and questions he usually got. For instance, those people (in the States), who ask him "Do you want to come to our fight club?" To which he sarcastically responds; "Yeah, like what I really want is to do this, and then go get punched."
He got some great questions, but was also a clever enough speaker that he made what would normally be mundane answers into interresting responses. For instance, the question "What do you aim to do with your writing?" to which he answered, "I aim to amuse myself. [These readings are] like sex; I want you to be there and be quiet until I'm done."
He was funny, and he gave out prizes (other than the air fresheners). He had us rolling when he spoke about being scheduled for readings following Erin Rolston, who wrote his true story about being caught in a rockslide and having to amputate his own arm with a swiss army knife. This was funny because the prizes Chuck had were rubber severed arms, which the bookstore workers kept unpacking beforehand, and thinking it was all a very distasteful joke. LOL!
All in all- man, was that a good night! He was a great speaker, and I'm glad I went. And, since I'm sure you're wondering, no, I did not even get woozy. In fact, I think I was one of the few who were laughing at the parts that few others were finding funny. What can I say? My mind has sick depths which boggle even me...
I'll leave you with a last memorable comment by the author;
"How we digest our lives is by making stories out of them, and retelling until we wear them out. We write to control our stories, and not be controlled by them."
So began the fabulously disgusting reading I went to last night, featuring CHUCK PALAHNIUK! I can't believe that fate had him in Toronto and doing that same reading about which I've been reading just a few days after I discovered it. Destiny looks after me again! (And, I love living in the big city.)
Let me start by saying that no one fainted. Apparently, Torontonians are a tough bunch. But residents of Calgary aren't- his publicist told the crowd during his intro that they'd lost no less than five people at the last reading. I'm vaguely disappointed that no one went down, especially since the author was obviously doing his best.
Let me explain; the reading occurred in Indigo, which is a big place, but could barely contain the four hundred (at least) people who crowded in. It was hot and cramped and there weren't any seats unless you got there two hours in advance.
He handed out air fresheners. He handed out three hundred meat-scented, steak-shaped air 'fresheners' that he insisted we open and swing around. Eew. REALLY.
He was a fantastic speaker who was extremely talented at taking hilarious, disgusting, sad and sadistic stories and never allowing his audience to see them as abstract in any way; he was very good at keeping a human face on his characters. He spoke (even before he started reading) about the sick things people did, and told him about. He spoke about a guy finding out he had HIV, a guy who took pictures of dead people, and teenagers who commit suicide by accident.
Then he started reading. He told "Guts". This is the story about which the article I linked was about, the story, apparently, that he had 'retired' in view of the reactions he was getting. I was thrilled when he announced it.
The story was just as gross as the rest of his talk. It was great.
The crowd was good, too. It was a very young, kind of anti-establishment type crowd- very rock.
He took questions after, though he'd already made a point of talking about the rediculous comments and questions he usually got. For instance, those people (in the States), who ask him "Do you want to come to our fight club?" To which he sarcastically responds; "Yeah, like what I really want is to do this, and then go get punched."
He got some great questions, but was also a clever enough speaker that he made what would normally be mundane answers into interresting responses. For instance, the question "What do you aim to do with your writing?" to which he answered, "I aim to amuse myself. [These readings are] like sex; I want you to be there and be quiet until I'm done."
He was funny, and he gave out prizes (other than the air fresheners). He had us rolling when he spoke about being scheduled for readings following Erin Rolston, who wrote his true story about being caught in a rockslide and having to amputate his own arm with a swiss army knife. This was funny because the prizes Chuck had were rubber severed arms, which the bookstore workers kept unpacking beforehand, and thinking it was all a very distasteful joke. LOL!
All in all- man, was that a good night! He was a great speaker, and I'm glad I went. And, since I'm sure you're wondering, no, I did not even get woozy. In fact, I think I was one of the few who were laughing at the parts that few others were finding funny. What can I say? My mind has sick depths which boggle even me...
I'll leave you with a last memorable comment by the author;
"How we digest our lives is by making stories out of them, and retelling until we wear them out. We write to control our stories, and not be controlled by them."
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