Friday, July 29, 2005

Live From Cambridge...

I have been sparse in my blogging but holidays make me stay away from computers. LOL Upon my return to Toronto, I may have to blog in all the delicious food I had though. Lots of good food and wine are always to be had when I go home for holidays!
I am currently sitting in my friend D.'s office at Harvard, enjoying the nice view of Boston. I have been here before but I always enjoy walking around the nice green Harvard campus.
I got to Boston last night. I truly enjoyed driving down. The day was sunny, and I was able to speed along quickly. My window was rolled down so I had the breeze in my hair, and I got a nice pine smell going through the Vermont greenery. I had good music blasting in the car. Driving like that is the epitome of freedom to me.
I'm getting to dine with Ms. Giovanna tonight. I'm sure we'll have a good time. :)
Next update: Probably Monday night when I return to my daily life.

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

The Art of Vacationing

I must say I'm having holidays where I've been able to truly let go of everyday hassles. I would venture to say that this doesn't happen to me very often. Well, it's either that or I just forget I know how to relax after a few months of being busy. LOL Anyway, I'm really enjoying my time off. I got to spend a lot of time with my friend E, whom I miss dearly when I'm in TO. We had tickets for the TDS show I had mentioned before. It was really too bad it kind of sucked. Well, it was certainly not worth 50$ for what ended up being a 1 hour and 15 minutes Q&A. Bah. At least I got to see Stephen Colbert somewhat up & close. LOL We redeemed the evening by going to see Charlie and The Chocolate Factory after the TDS show. That was funny and twisted, and we had a great time!
Then, I spent Sunday and Monday at E's dad's house up north in cottage country. The property has direct access to a lake where no motorized vehicles are allowed so it's peaceful and the water is very clear. It was lovely to sit by a lake where the only sounds we heard were made by a family of loons. E and I went swimming in the lake a few times. We also went kayaking. We also had nice meals with her dad and step mother so it was a lovely time all around. Maybe except for the fire alarm that went off at 3 am but hey. Fire is maybe the only thing that scares me to a near phobic level. I have gotten much better about it as I have gotten older but nevertheless, you can guess I didn't sleep too well for the rest of the night. When we came back to town last night, E and I had corn on the cob. It's very early in the corn season but it was just so sweet and yummy. :)
Oh yes, I had fun last Friday with my high school friends although many of them skipped out on the party at the last minute. :( Everyone has busy lives, I guess. It was too bad though. Nevertheless, we had a very fun party where awesome food was had (a 4-course meal!), funny stories were exchanged, and good wine was flowing. It was a nice night.
Today is my mom's birthday so I spent the day at home. Not that birthdays are big events in my family. You get up, say happy birthday, give her a nice card and a little gift, and that's pretty much it. LOL My mom really hates the fuss associated with birthdays. Case in point, my parents were painting the living room when I got up this morning. It's just a run-of-the-mill day. My parents are renovating the house right now so it's a bit chaotic here. It's shaping up though. My mom loves shopping for decoration so she is thrilled with having to find the perfect paint, drapes, valence, accessories to match the colour. It's funny though how I realized my parents tend to be terribly conservative and minimalist when it comes to decor. They need a house with very neutral colours. It's looking nice, if a little boring in my mind, but so it goes.
I have lunch and dinner with friends planned for tomorrow, and I'm heading out to Boston on Thursday. Should be a fun weekend there! :)

Thursday, July 21, 2005

High School Days

I'm leaving early tomorrow morning for my hometown. Hurrah! I can't wait to see my family and my friends. I have a gathering with my group of high school friends tomorrow night! It's been 10 years since I graduated high school, which seems so long ago, yet so close. It'll be nice to be reunited with almost everyone, something that doesn't happen often these days. The last time we were all together was for my farewell party 5 years ago when I left for Toronto. I do talk to many of them regularly and see them individually or in small groups when I'm home but we're never all together. I think at least 7 people out of our group of 10 shall be there. Many of my friends live in small apartments in the city (we're all suburbia kids) so one guy is hosting us at his parents' house. His parents are away on holidays so we'll have the place to ourselves. That house was the scene of many dramas, especially of the sentimental kind. I'm sure those will be revisited to everyone's embarrassement. LOL Well, I tended to be more a spectator/confidant than the centre of those love triangles. I had dubbed our group the 90210 crowd for the propensity for intra-dating & drama linked to it. There was some Brenda/Kelly/Dylan type of drama. Well, without the added bonus of the bad boy on motorcycle & the blonde bimbo. LOL

Regardless, I had my share of unrequited crushes, which these people know. LOL Basically, they know all my embarrassing growing-up stories. They've witnessed my inability to parallel park, my famous snorting laughter, my predilection for karaoke singing, my mediocrity at team sports, my love of trivia, my propensity to laugh at anything (which meant I was the one to tell a joke to to feel better about yourself! LOL)... They were there the time I tanned like a raccoon (I was red all over except my glasses had created a white stripe across my face! hee!), the time I went on stage & got rave reviews, the time my ex-boyfriend made a scene in front of a ton of people about getting back together,... And I know all their quirks and dumb moves. I love these people more than I could ever express. I really miss not seeing them on a daily basis so I can't wait to see them.

I've got the Keane CD in my player, and it's rocking. Actually, they have the early Coldplay sound in some ways but I like it even more than Coldplay. :)

Oh, and The Taming of The Shrew was a very interesting play. It was fairly easy to follow compared to other Shakespeare plays I've seen. Although, I knew the general story. I think I need to read it to appreciate it more. The actors were very good so it was enjoyable. :)

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Musicals Or Why I Think Life is More Fun When People Spontaneously Burst Into Song and Dance

After the date debacle on Friday, I decided to rent Bride & Prejudice. I wasn't exactly thrilled by the modernisation of the storyline of Pride & Prejudice especially since I don't think a line such as "All mothers think that any single guy with big bucks must be shopping for a wife" does justice to the brilliance of Jane Austen's novel. As an aside, some other brilliant filmmaker has decided to remake Pride & Prejudice. With Keira Knightley as Elizabeth. Ugh. I'm sure Judy Dench will make for a great Lady Catherine but still... The best adaptation of P&P was done merely 10 years ago. Colin Firth is Mr. Darcy, and Jennifer Ehle is Eliza Bennett. The whole cast was stellar in that production. Stop messing with that novel for a while! It is too wonderful to be triffled with.

Anyway, getting back to my original point, as much as I wasn't thrilled by the script of Bride & Prejudice, the music and dance got the better of me. I firmly believe that people bursting into song and dance make my day a whole lot better. I can be suckered into watching bad movies if it has good dancing and/or singing in it. My first ever movie obsession occurred when I was about 10, and manifested itself in form of the movie Dirty Dancing. There is no singing in it but the dancing! The dancing! And the awesome music! It is, hands down, the movie I've most watched in my life. Over the last 15 years, I think I must have seen it at least 50 times. I mostly rewatch the dance sequences. I never ever get tired of the choreographies. Okay, and I will confess that I like the love story in it too. ;) LOL
I have consumed a considerable amount of musicals of the years. The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Chicago, Moulin Rouge, Grease, A Star is Born (the Judy Garland version), Victor/Victoria, Singin' in The Rain, West Side Story, An American in Paris,... I'm sure I'm forgetting plenty of them. It always made me wish someone would start singing besides me while out walking in the street, and all passerbys would start dancing in unison. LOL I realize it's an insane dream! But hee, my dream could have been more out there as I also used to watch people burst in dance and song in the office bathroom on Ally McBeal. ;)
Anyway, enough dreaming of living in a musical. I need to get back to work. I'm going to see Taming of The Shrew tonight so I won't be able to work all evening.

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Sunday, 5:30 am: Breaking News

My roommate and I awoke at 4:30 am to the sounds of the cat behaving like a maniac in the living room. We were wondering what was up with her. We knew something had to be wrong. After a few minutes of this, I see she has something between her paws: a mouse! As much as a mouse doesn't thrill me, it scares me less than a roach. Stupid thing is fast even the cat couldn't keep up with it. The mouse went into my roommate's bedroom at one point. We tried to catch it for almost an hour. I looked very sophisticated with my yellow rubber gloves, my running shoes, my nightgown, and a plastic Tupperware running around after the mouse! LOL I got outsmarted (but mostly outspeeded) by a tiny furry thing. At the end of the chase sequence, the cat got the mouse in her mouth(!) but then let it go(!!!). We last saw it going to hide behind one of the bookcases in the living room. We closed our bedroom doors tightly & left the cat on mouse patrol. Good cat! First thing to do tomorrow morning: Buy mousetraps.

Saturday, July 16, 2005

Why Is My Blog Wonky All of A Sudden?

Why can't I fix it? I love you, pink background. I don't want to have to change you but you're being unruly, and I don't know how to fix your code. So this calls for a fresh new innovation in terms of format.

Worst. Date. Ever.

You had a date last night. You met and talked with this guy online a few times. You seemed to have quite a bit in common: you both liked TDS & politics, music, history... He seemed nice enough, not too boorish, and clever. He was overall the type of guy you usually like (i.e., geeky computer type) even though he was a bit younger than you. So when he asked you for coffee, you said sure. In hindsight, this was a most crucial mistake!

You shall try to trace all the clues that would explain the disastrous nature of this date. You get to the meeting place, and the first 2 clues that this will not go well for you are that 1) this perfect stranger gives you a tight hug despite your outstretched arm for a hand shake, and 2) he stares more at your boobs than your eyes! And you are not wearing a revealing neckline by any means. Anyway, you try to discount these as the awkward first moments of a meeting. Clue 3: As soon as you sit at a table in the coffee shop with this stranger, he leans into the table and puts his drink on your half of the table. There could be trouble brewing. So you sit and discuss generalities about your lives. He was more clever online but there have been worse conversations. Clue 4: In a very quiet coffee shop, date is incredibly and inappropriately loud. But you have been known to be loud yourself since you don't have the keenest hearing so you let this slide. An old man sitting in the coffee shop overhears your conversation, and joins in. Date is nice, and polite to him so it looks like he might not be a bad guy after all. Still, old man will be the highlight of your night. He was sweet, and had nice stories to tell.

After 10 minutes of chitchat with old man river, you decide to go walking for a bit. For those at home keeping score, you are probably on minute 20 of a first date. Clue 5: Date decides holding your hand on the street is a good plan. Doesn't ask, of course. Clue 6: You try to be evasive with your hand since you don't feel at a hand-holding stage but you don't want to be rude and make your date feel uncomfortable. Date takes evasive hand to mean that he should wrap his arm around your shoulders instead! Clue 7 you're on a bad date: You point out to date you are not comfortable with such gestures, and he looks puzzled. Clue 8 you're on the worst date ever: He goes back to holding your hand! After a bit, you start talking again, and as you are wont to talking with your hands, you free yourself from his clutch. You are never at ease on a first date, but to say you are flustered and uncomfortable at this point is an understatement. You try to get him to talk about what he does, but clearly, he leads a very boring life because he has little to say. Date wonders why you are quiet, and you explain you slept about 2 hours last night, and are tired. He says he lives on that much sleep, and it is not that bad. Clearly, there is something wrong with you.

Clue 9: You get to a street corner, waiting for the light to turn green, he takes this to mean he needs to hug you, and lean in for a kiss. 25 minutes in, people!!! Clue 10: You point out you're not exactly at the kissing stage, and he tells you you should relax, you're too tense. Clue 11: He says you will change your mind about the kiss later in the evening. You're figuring out you won't.

After a few more minutes of walking and meaningless chit-chat, you decide to give him a chance to redeem himself by taking him into a bookstore nearby. Said bookstore is having a big hoopla for the release of the most recent Harry Potter novel. Camera crews are even there. Clue 12 your night is not going well: Date decides to comment loudly for all to hear that he doesn't care about Harry Potter. He disrupts the camera crew's filming. Only 40 minutes into the date but you are seriously planning your escape. You start thinking you should distract the date for 2 minutes and try to sneak out the nearby exit. You're in your mid 20s so you think you need to deal with this like a real woman.

You continue browsing books, keeping a distance from date. Clue 13: Date brushes past you repeatedly, trying to touch your hand. You roll your eyes so much that you are worried they might fall into your skull. Date tries to make funny and smart comments about the books. Date is neither funny nor particularly smart. He is just overly confident about his sense of humour and intellect.

Watch indicates the one-hour mark. You decide you've put in a good effort. This evening is not going to get any better, and you can't take any more discomfort. You indicate to your date you are tired, need to get out of the noisy bookstore, and get some rest. Clue 14: He suggests going to hang out elsewhere. You decline. You are walking speedily in front of him. There is no pretense of talking anymore. You think the jig is up. You announce this is the subway entrance. Since he lives close by, you assume he'll walk home. Clue 15: He decides to take the subway too.
You get on the subway. Clue 16: He starts rubbing circles on your back. You tell yourself this is almost over. This is his stop so you bid him goodbye. Clue 17: He insists on riding the subway with you home! Really, you shouldn't be riding the subway alone at 9:35 pm. You firmly decline saying you don't need anyone to take you home. (Especially not him, you think). Clue 18: He hugs you, and tries to lean in for a goodnight kiss. You wonder if he has a borderline IQ.
You are upset with this moron, and wonder what you did to deserve this. You stop by to rent some girly movies to make you feel better. Then, you get home, and delete all his contact info. You call your best friend, and you laugh till you cry about the worst date in the history. Everything again is right with the world. One down, hmmmm...3 billion more to go? ;)

Friday, July 15, 2005

I'm A Drag Student

Props to the G-Woman for introducing me to the awesomeness that is Overheard in New York. I just had to copy 2 posts that have made my day...
HS girl #1: I have a question. No. She gotta question, but she makin' me ask you for her because she embarrassed. What's "drag school"? Thas where you go to learn howda be a drag queen?
Teacher guy: What? Drag school?

HS girl #2: Yeah, you said you was leavin' us because you gotta go to drag school.
Teacher guy: Grad school. I am leaving you because I am going to grad school.
--Prospect Park BBQ


Naked chick #1: I tried to call you Sunday, but your boyfriend said you were taking a nap.
Naked chick #2: Oh, why?
Naked chick #1: Well, I was reading Craigslist and this guy said he'd give someone $100 for 14 pills of tetrazepam and I was like, "Wait a minute, I have that!"
Naked chick #2: So you were calling to ask me if you should sell drugs over the internet?
Naked chick #1: Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Naked chick #2: Was there anyone on there offering money for a blowjob?
Naked chick #1: Um, no.
Naked chick #2: Because that's another career option I wouldn't recommend.
--14th Street Y sauna

That was some good comic relief for an otherwise uneventful Thursday.

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Karl Rove est un imbécile!

Because screaming insults goes more naturally to me in French, I had to express my indignation at the dumbass idiot that is Karl Rove. I had heard that it finally confirmed that Rove was the idiot who leaked the name of a CIA operative to get back at her husband . Now, he's claiming he didn't know she was an undercover operative. Nice try, Karl. We'll believe you especially since, in 2004, you claimed you didn't know who Wilson's wife was. Clearly, you knew she was working for the CIA. Ugh.

Anyway,
The Daily Show did an awesome of covering the whole affair tonight. Jon even mentioned the serious can of asswhooping the White House Press Corps magically opened on Scott "I suddenly can't talk of a 2 and a half years investigation I used to comment on"McClellan, the WH press secretary. I actually felt a bit bad for Scott since he is the spokesman taking the flack for an idiot. Anyway, the blog This Is Not Over has some of most interesting parts of the press conference. This is really the highlight of the day:

"MCCLELLAN: You can keep jumping in, but I’m going to try to keep going to other people in this room as well. And we can have a constructive dialogue here I think, but that’s not the way to do it.
QUESTION: It’s not my job to have a constructive dialogue, Scott. Sorry." Hee.

After this, I think I have to link something funny that came up when I googled the word
"idiot". Hee.

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

The Dangers of Blogging

I stumbled upon an interesting website and blog today called dooce.com. The woman who runs it, Heather Armstrong, got fired from herjob as a web designer for making negative comments about her job on her blog. The company or her co-workers' names were never mentioned by name on the blog either. Harsh. Hence was born the term "dooced", which means to lose one's job because of one's website. Anyway, I've read a few of her posts, and her blog is mighty entertaining. This is some blog entertainment if you're bored today...

Oh, and because I just had to...
Jude. My pretty Jude. Why?!?

Monday, July 11, 2005

Amazon Celebrates 10 Years, Heat & Terrorist Attacks

How is that for a post title? LOL I'm having varied things on my mind. I actually mostly have work things on my mind these days (I'm buried in books) but I need to talk/write about other things so here goes nothing...

I was browsing Amazon.com last night to see when the third season of NewsRadio would be released on DVD (soon, please, Mr. Simms!), and I saw that Amazon is celebrating its tenth anniversary, and having various activities to celebrate. One of the coolest things they are doing is the
Special Deliveries. A celebrity delivers a package containing a book he/she wrote, a DVD of a movie or TV series he/she appears in,... As far as publicity stunts to flaunt the wonderfulness of a company go, I thought it was pretty cool. I loved the clip of the girl whose Sex & The City DVDs were delivered by Chris Noth. Hee. The girl moved from Greece to NYC, and she said her cousin would tease her, asking if she had met Mr. Big yet. Her cousin is in for a big surprise, pardon the bad pun. LOL

Besides that, it's really hot in TO. We are under a smog advisory, a humidex advisory, and an extreme heat advisory. Yikes. We beat a heat record today; it was 34°C (93°F), 40°C (104°F) if you factor in humidity. It's supposed to be like that until Saturday. It was actually kind of funny how they kept reiterating on the news how hot it was, getting Joe Q. Public on the street to comment. Gee, I didn't notice it was boiling hot! It is kind of funny that they have created emergency cooling centres in a few points in the city, yet the province has asked us to turn off our ACs to conserve electricity. Apparently, the hydroelectric grid is at a breaking point. I'm all for turning off lights and non-necessary appliances but the AC? Is kind of crucial this week if I don't want to turn into a melted brain. We didn't have it on last night, and it was just unbelievably uncomfortable. We do turn our AC off when we're not home but that's kind of as much as we can muster for now.

Terrorist attacks... It's really terrible what happened in London. So, now, of course, they are saying Canada is probably next. That's not exactly a surprise to me. But according Public Safety minister, we're not psychologically ready for it.

My inquiries are three-fold:

1) How can you ever be ready to get the crap bombed out of you?

2) Is she suggesting we should now live in a constant state of paranoia to ensure readiness?

3) Should I buy more duct tape?

Of course, I am living in the Canadian city most likely to be bombed (we have earned this title 4 years running! How lucky are we?). Honestly, I don't really buy the idea that we can be ready for it. Sure, we have to protect ourselves against it but are we going to live our lives in constant fear that the other shoe is going to drop? What a terrible way to live. I think it's this powerlessness against these groups of extremists that is most frustrating. How can we stop them? The war of terror sure has done diddly squat.

The Daily Show was back tonight! In a new studio too! The studio looks nice but the only thing I'm not liking about it is the words constantly floating behind Jon's head. They were distracting me big time; I felt like it overloaded my attentional resources. It was nice to see him satirize the media sensationalization of the London attacks. Marci Hamilton, who was there to discuss her book God vs. The Gavel , was quite an eye-opener on the overprotection and exemption from the law religious groups receive in the US. She was talking about how the Catholic Church has been seeking protection under the First Amendement for keeping its eyes closed on cases of child abuse. And it seems to have been working. Truly disturbing.

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Sunday, July 10, 2005

Deep Thoughts on Another Silly Quiz

"What Disney Princess Are You?"

Belle
You love you family (what's left) dearly, and you're a bookworm. Get your head into the world darlin'.

Eh. I just like the idea that I am Belle because I always thought she was the coolest of the female Disney characters. She had more spine than the others. lol Disney has really sanitized fairytales. Originally, these stories were told orally to scare adults and children into behaving well. Not that I necessarily agree with that philosophy, seeing as children tend to be afraid of so many things as youngsters. Plus, of course, women were often demonized in those stories as they were in the literature in general. The women were the temptresses, the witches, the ones who would doom the soul of pure little children. Still, the stories served a purpose. Now, their main contribution is to selling movies, toys, stuffed dolls, t-shirts,... Plus, they project this idea that women need to be rescued by the men around them. We then spend our lives having to get those patterns out of our minds. There has got to be a way to tell fairytales that are empowering to children, especially girls. I realize that is a very feminist thing to say, but then again, there is
nothing wrong with that. I'm happy to try to make the world a little easier for the girls who will follow.
Books for older kids certainly portray many awesome girls but the fairytales, of the traditional kind anyway, seem to be lagging a bit in the feminist department. These magical tales should still be around since they are so much fun but could the girls sprout wings for once and fly on their own? I've got my first fairy tale right there...
"Camille and the Fairy Wings"
A long time ago, in a land far far away, lived a girl named Camille. Her parents were the King and the Queen of Terrabene, and the whole family lived in an enormous castle on the north side of the land. Camille could only see the dense Terrabene woods from her bedroom window. Camille would sit at her window for hours, wishing she was a bird who could fly over the forrest. She was sure the view from above would be breathtaking.
I need to get back to work. I shall continue the fairytale later on. :)

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Saturday, July 09, 2005

I Like Random Quizzes...

A Tom Cruise animation was linked at the Television Without Pity boards. It's all about joining the Church of Scientology, and is very funny. Anyway, they have a "quiz" to see if you're ready to join Scientology, and I am:



Hee. That made me laugh.

It's a beautiful day in Toronto. The sun is shining brightly, and it is not too hot. :)

I had a nice night out yesterday. Long walk, good company (Hi David, if you're reading :)), tasty coffee, it was very pleasant. We went to the first non-denominational cemetary in the city. Sadly, we got there not long before they were going to close. Who knew cemetaries close? Anyway, we need to go back to find the famous tombstones. I was thinking that I don't find cemetaries creepy at all. I did when I was a kid but somehow, death doesn't scare me as much as it used to. There is something oddly peaceful about it all. Mind you, it wouldn't have been exactly cool to be locked in there at night since that sounds like the beginning of a horror movie but still... LOL I love the history you find in cemetaries too, and I like reading tombstones. One of them said "She was a lot of fun." I think that's a very cool thing to have there for eternity.

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Thursday, July 07, 2005

Today Was A New Day...

The benefits of just getting out everything that bugs you about someone is that then, you feel better. Thus, my roommate seems to be hunky-dory today. I would like to think too that she realized that she was being a little bit absurb, and that she is trying to smooth things over with me. I'm not really upset anymore although I certainly still think she is a control freak who wants to run my life when she is not entitled to at all. I'm willing to accept some of the criticisms that she brought up as valid (namely when it comes to cleaning & to my alarm clock) although I think that part of cohabiting with someone is putting up with some of their not-always-top-notch habits. The rest though was just a total overreaction but I'll give her (fake) happiness if that's what is needed. I can be nice in that "talking about generalities which are not anything I really care about but that should make her think I care". She has said she'll be moving next spring anyway, at which time I shall take the apartment over, and so I'll just buy peace until then. I guess this is the best conclusion to this story as I could hope for.

I had time to work out today, which was nice. I feel good. The weather is nice here too. The humidity has disappeared, and it's actually comfortable. Thank God.

I got 2 CDs at this used CD store yesterday. I got Liz Phair's eponymous album, which rocks. I also got
a CD of Gershwin's songs produced by George Martin, the famous Beatles producer. My choir conducter mentioned it, and I just happened to stumble upon it at the store for less than 10$! It has Peter Gabriel singing Summertime (my choir is singing that this summer), Cher kicking ass on It Ain't Necessarily So (We're singing this too! Cher is so wonderful on this track!), Jon Bon Jovi singing How Long Has This Been Going On, Elton John & Someone To Watch Over Me/Our Love Is Here To Stay, Sting & Nice Work If You Can Get It,... The list of artists goes on: Elvis Costello, Sinead O'Connor, Chris De Burgh, Carly Simon, Kate Bush, Robert Palmer,... It's awesome.

My students' final grades are due tomorrow. They didn't too bad in the end. We have an average of about 67%, including some students who didn't complete all the work. The final was easy but we still only had an average of 69-70%. I actually thought I had made it too easy but I guess not! I loved teaching but I'm glad that stress is coming to a final close.

Okay, back to work for me!

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Wednesday, July 06, 2005

The Happiness Police

Well, my roommate is not moving after all. This led to us having a talk when I got up this morning. So basically, she said I should pay a bit more rent than her because I don't clean as much. In some ways, that's fine although I resent a bit the fact that because I'm not brushing the carpets every day to get ride of cat hair, I'm not clean enough but whatever. I had to apologize for the fact that my cat sheds but what can I do? I brush her all the time but she loses her fur. It's just a fact of life. Then, I suggested we should divide the tasks around the apartment and alternate. I did my chores much more easily that way but this was deemed too "residency". Sure. Fine. Whatever. I was not possessing all my mental faculties without having had a cup of coffee first so yeah, I got kind off blocked when it came to arguments.

She was worried though I was unhappy living here (projecting much?) because I always looked stressed out. What is she, the happiness police? I can't come home, and have to stop faking being on? Jesus. I didn't think of myself as a grouch but maybe I am. I try not to project my angst and stress upon others but I guess it's not enough. I'm stressed out because of work, and I've said as much many times. She looks half dead & grumpy when she comes home during the year, and I don't make a fuss. She says I don't say hi when I come in, and ask her how she is so she stopped asking me. First, in the past, my roommates kept to themselves, and we didn't do that so I got into that kind of habit. It's not being rude, it's just letting people come and go as they please. Secondly, she's not my good friend so no, I don't always really care to hear all about her day. Thirdly, I don't necessarily want to tell her all about my day. She was like: "I don't feel like I know you." First, I'm actually not particularly secretive, and she knows plenty about me. Well, I know plenty about her, anyway. Second, where does it say we have to bond like we're super friends? We're roommates, that's it. I know she lived for 5 years with her best friend, but I'm not her. She complained that last year's roommate was too much of a recluse (but was a clean freak so I guess that was okay). I'm not a recluse who never talks but yeah, I'm not the coolest best friend ever either. Why is that wrong? Maybe I don't care enough about her & her feelings but she certainly cares too much.

As I was saying to her, I felt she acted like I was always an imposition on her, which is often why I kept to myself. Apparently, she says I'm not, and she thinks I'm a nice person. It's not me but some of my behaviours that are problematic. The fact that I am a night owl is a problem. It makes it a chaotic environment for her. Come again? Even when I make no noise whatsoever since I'm usually either 1) reading, 2) typing at my computer or 3) watching TV with the headphones on. See, the fact that ALL the lights are on in the apartment at 3:00 am (if I'm up that late, it's only my bedroom light that is on but that translates to all the lights) is a problem. I was trying to explain, that unfortunately, I tend to have insomnia, and that I work better at night. (She suggested I take pills. Butt out of my life, will you?) But that is a problem for some reason. I will admit that it leads to me having difficulty in waking up in the morning, and that my alarm doesn't wake me and that is a pain. I have worked at being better about it, but really, I often just don't hear my alarm. I told her (and have told her before) that she can come knock on my door to wake me when she hears it and I don't get up. I don't have a problem with that at all. It's better than her screaming at me like she did the other morning (that was a nice way to wake up!). I only put my alarm on when I really need to get up anyway. So now, she says she has tried to regain territory in the apartment when it comes to time to sleep and getting up. Such drama!!! I'm sorry I don't sleep 9-10 hours like she does or that I don't go to bed at 10:30-11:00 but I still don't get how me being up in my bedroom sitting at my chair is a problem for her. My getting up later never ever prevents her from doing anything she likes to do (I don't complain ever, even if her hairdryer wakes me up), and when I go to bed earlier (say 11:00), I'm up earlier in the morning than her anyway. It's a no-win situation.

So I now feel even more terrible than I did before. She asks me if there was anything she could change so I'd be more comfortable. I can't say her personality, can I? LOL I mentioned the overreacting about the smells, which she will work on. Anyway, I don't feel like moving but I almost feel like I should. She said she didn't want me to move but clearly, she resents so many things I do that I'm not sure I should stay. I would basically need to be so many things different than from what I am (basically, I need to be her) that I'm not sure it's worth the hassle of staying there. She says I don't communicate enough, which is pretty ironic considering what I do for a living & how everyone has always said I was hyperverbal. I learned to control that, and it's still not enough. Anyway, I'll sleep on it, and see if I'm less upset about it tomorrow. Oh, how I hate this crap.

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Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Music & Sitcoms: Chicken Soup For The Soul

This blog is a funny thing. It allows me to be as neurotic as I want to be, a luxury not really afforded to me in the real world. Well, except when talking to my mom & my very close friends, who know the weird intracacies of my mind. I was rereading my recent posts, and some of it reminds me of the tortured teenager I used to be. I was a good girl as a teenager (except maybe for the heavyhanded sarcasm! LOL) but boy, was I an anxious mess. I used to have a lot of difficulty managing it. Everything was a crisis. I was succeeding, at least mildly, at most everything I did but I was always waiting for the impending failure or the other shoe to drop. Fortunately, I grew up, and things got better. I became more adept at managing stress, and I noticed that things have a way of working themselves out. At the same time, I've also learned that I'll never be happy in a job where I have too much stress. Having to repress the anxiety-filled side of me has had its consequences at time, especially in terms of my health.

Anyway, two of my surefire weapons against stress are music & sitcoms. I've termed them chicken soup for the soul because I was being so new age, and had to borrow the names of those books! LOL I'm listening to classical music at the moment, and it just made whatever knots in my stomach I may have had melt away. I think that's why I love singing in a choir so much. There is such a power in singing at the top of your lungs. This semester, we are singing Summertime by Gershwin! I love Gershwin as many of you know; I just wish we had also sung Someone To Watch Over Me, which is my favourite song. We're also singing some Rachamaninov & Dvořák pieces, and one badass Bach piece, Lobet Den Herrn, Motet #6. This Bach is so tough because it have no melodic line that repeats. The harmonies constantly change, and it is just so hard to count the beats because it goes so fast. Still, it is an entertaining challenge.

I have now changed my CD to classic 70s Quebec granola rock. LOL It's from one of the most popular bands of all time in Quebec called Beau Dommage. They've sold an incredible amount of records/CDs over the years considering only 8 million of people live in Quebec. It's urban poetry about love, friendship, city living (mostly in Montreal),... I feel home just listening to it. They wrote one of my favourite songs in French called La complainte du phoque en Alaska (literally The lament of the seal in Alaska). It's about a male seal who sits by itself on his iceberg in Alaska, missing his girlfriend who joined a travelling circus in the continental US. He ponders whether the ephemeral joy gained from exhibiting in the circus is really worth leaving loved ones behind. Anyway, it's a beautiful love song to which I could never do justice. I never tire of listening to it. Another balm to my soul.

Sitcoms are the comic relief in my life. You never get enough laughter in life. I love my NewsRadio and Friends DVDs. Oh, and they've been airing Cheers on the Comedy Network, which makes me happy. :) I got say, Cheers has aged well (unlike The Cosby Show) but the one thing that has not aged well about it are the clothes. Dear God, Sam wears horrifying sweaters, and Diane's clothing is plain scary.

Finally, I did forget one other stress relief in my life. Cute, ain't she? :) I need to scan even better pictures of her.

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Monday, July 04, 2005

I Was Stress-Free For a Full 48 Hours!

Incredible! Amazing! Out of this world! I had a pretty relaxing weekend. Watched a lot of TV, more than I wanted to but these things happen. I watched Live 8 yesterday, and then "Gone With The Wind" was on TV, and I had never seen it so I watched. It was a very good movie, and although it was long, I wouldn't have cut out much of it at all. Scarlett was annoying in her fickleness, and always longing for the things she couldn't have, but that was the point. The single most annoying character, however, was Prissy with her ridiculously high pitched voice, which would make Victoria Jackson (Alert: dated SNL reference!) sound like a bass. Oh, and Clark Gable was very charming as Rhett Butler.

Today, I rented "Shake Hands With The Devil", the documentary on Romeo Dallaire, the Canadian General who conducted the UN Mission in Rwanda in 1994. Such a tragic and disturbing story. Gave me shivers.

Well, we now come to the fact that I'm up at 3:30 am, all wired and stressed out. So what happened? Well, my roommate announced today she was moving out. This means I have the option of taking over the lease, which I think I will exercise because I am not moving for a third year in a row (!), but this means finding a new roommate. Thus, stress alert. Plus, it means reorganizing and readapting yet again to living with someone else. I mean, in some regards, I'm happy my roommate and I are parting ways but at the same time, it's such a pain in the butt. I thought I might have one year free from living-arrangement stress but clearly, it was not meant to be. I need to up use of relaxation techniques.

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Saturday, July 02, 2005

Live 8 Commentary

Sure, rock won't change the world but if it brings awareness to problems such as poverty, I'm all for it. It's one of those things I feel I can't be cynical about; every little step can hopefully help make things better. Today was all about kickass music to change the world.

I was glued to my TV, radio, and the Internet to catch the wonderful performances. CTV did a great job of covering the event. During the day, they broadcasted the Canadian concert, which was overall quite mellow although full of awesome Canadiana. I didn't see the whole thing but Simple Plan did a good job as did Bruce Cockburn and Our Lady Peace. During the evening, they broadcasted the best moments of the day across the world, and played U2 & Madonna's entire set. I *heart* you, CTV, even though you really need to get rid of Ben Mulroney and Tanya Kim, two of the most idiotic TV presenters.

The one thing that was a bit unsettling about the camera work were the extreme closeups of some stars. You got to see some dental fillings and nasal cavities like never before! LOL

Here are, in no particular order, some highlights of the various concerts for me...

1) U2, baby!!!!!!!! They opened the London concert with Paul McCartney by singing Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Very cool to see Bono and Sir. Paul singing together. Then, they sang Beautiful Day (they even released doves during the performance!) which morphed into Blackbird :), Vertigo, and then One. I got chills when he was singing One. Bono also spoke very eloquantly of the need for poverty relief. He looked kind of tired though. Regardless, it was awesome.

2) Like A Prayer! Madonna kicked major ass in London. Like A Prayer is my favourite song of hers ever, and it got to me as it always does. She also sang Ray of Light and Music, and she just got the crowd really excited.

3) Sarah McLachlan and Josh Groban sang a lovely version of Angel in Philadelphia. I've seen Sarah in concert, and she just has so much presence. Two thumbs way up.

4) Stevie Wonder in Philadelphia. I didn't see his whole set but I saw him performing Superstition, Living For The City, Higher Ground with Rob Thomas, Signed, Sealed, and Delivered with Maroon 5. Such a talented artist.

5) London: Bittersweet Symphony performed by Richard Ashcroft (ex-singer of The Verve) with Coldplay. That was a really interesting version.

6) London again: Sting performed a slightly modified version of Every Breath You Take that was talking about watching politicians as they make their choices. "This time we'll see if our democracy is just a game you play, no matter what we say." It was just great, and in the backdrop, there were the portraits of all G8 leaders. Kudos, Sting.

7) In Berlin, Green Day covered We Are The Champions. Me likey Queen, and I thought they did a great job.

8) London: Pink Floyd. I never got what the fuss was about Pink Floyd. I think I do now.

9) London: Mariah Carey. She actually did a good job singing Make It Happen & We Belong Together. The thing though is that she was wearing a really short and tight dress with 4-inch heels (what a surprise..not), and she was trying to run but she looked like a rabbit who was jumping around. I must say it made me laugh more than it should have. LOL

10) London: REM with Michael Stipe looking very odd (not exactly a rare occurrence either!) with a blue, superhero-like, mask over his eyes. They sang Everybody Hurts, and it was touching as always.

11) London: Robbie Williams. I've enjoyed some of his singles in the past but I was never a major fan. I must say he impressed me today with his charisma. At one point when he was singing Angels, he looked straight in the camera and smiled with a little nod of the head. i must say I melted a little.

12) London: Annie Lennox. She sang a piano version of Why with pictures of African children in the back, and I got a bit choked up.

13) I heard Neil Young's Rocking in The Free World which closed the Canadian show was awesome but I missed it! I missed The Barenaked Ladies as well! Here is to hoping I am able to catch those moments!

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Friday, July 01, 2005

Happy Birthday, Canada!

Canada is 138 years old today. Makes for a big cake with lots of candles. Yesterday, someone asked me if July 1st had a particular significance, and I just thought it had been picked arbitrarily as a day to celebrate the Confederation. It appears that, in fact, the British North America Act came into effect on July 1st, 1867, thereby making us a self-governing dominion operating under a type of constitution called a confederation (although, as I remember from high school history class, we are not technically exactly what a confederation should be.). We were still dependent upon Britain in many ways though, and although Britain's power over us diminished over time, our ties were not fully severed until 1982! In 1867, only 4 provinces joined the Confederation: Québec, Ontario, Nova Scotia & New Brunswick. Today, we have 10 provinces & 3 territories. Our first prime minister was John A. Macdonald, who is now also the face on the 10$ bill. Hee. Well, that's it for the history lesson for today!

In more personal news, one of my former roommates just got engaged! Thus, I'll be going to a wedding next summer! I keep hearing people getting engaged in the last few days, whether it be
Avril, Pink or friends of friends. I'm happy for all these people in love but I'm a bit sad I can't even get a date. The eternal "What is wrong with me?" dance has restarted in my mind. Then again, I do have potential as a cat lady so it will all work out in the end. ;)

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