Time Flies By When You're Having Fun...

Or are marking exams. Life has been pretty darn busy recently, which is why I have been so sparse in my presence.

My friend Eve was in TO last week. The weather was total crap but we had a great time. On Saturday, we went to Insomnia for some yummy brunch (I had a lovely mimosa with grapefruit juice and French toast with a citrus batter!), and then went shopping. On Sunday, we went to see Tristram Shandy, and then, vegged with my Office DVD. The rest of the time was spent with my marking and Eve playing videogames! Hee.

This weekend, I came to Montreal for a dentist appointment and to bid my parents farewell. The 'rents are gone to France for 3 weeks. I'm sure they will have a lovely time.

I had a nice time here. Saw lots of friends, ate good food, all that lovely stuff. I don't know if I mentioned this before though, but one of my friends who I have known forever seems to want nothing to do with me anymore. It just saddens me because I don't know why. It started last summer out of the blue. Either she is mad at something that I don't know I've done or she just decided we've moved on. She doesn't return my emails or ever makes the effort to come out with me when I'm in town but then, I've talked to her on her birthday (and today) and she was all: "We should try to meet up." without my prompting it. Talk about mixed messages. Anyway, as much as it saddens me, I'm also fed up to be doing some effort when she doesn't seem to care enough to say if there is something wrong or she doesn't want to see me anymore. So yeah, I guess I'm not going to write or call anymore. 15 years of friendship down the drain. Sad.

In other totally unrelated news, Stephen Colbert was hosting the White House Correspondants' Dinner last night. The man was fearless in his jokes. President Bush was sitting 20 feet from him, and let's just say he didn't exactly spare him or the press corps. Check it out.

Brain Matters

My friend Donna sent me a song about the brain. It had me laughing so much. I wanted to share my geekdom on this blog...



I also discovered a blog about neuropsychological matters. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one here. Hee. The blog even talks about the psychology of the Internet. I think I need to investigate this further because that is a topic I find fascinating. :)

Yay! New Episodes of The Colbert Report and The Daily Show Tonight!

Both shows were on holiday last week so yay for that.

On a less joyous topic, I was watching the news at dinner time, and they were reporting that the biggest food bank in Toronto did not have enough food to feed 170,000 people who use food banks every month (which is such a high number for a city of 5 million people, by the way). Anyway, it prompted me to get off my butt, which is a good thing. Went to the grocery store, filled a bag with food, and dropped it in the donation bin. I feel ashamed that I need to be prompted to remember to give to those in need.

Okay, I must got back to marking papers...

One more thing, if you missed SNL this weekend, you missed the awesome Laser Cats short film. So so funny. Go watch it.

Prolific, Aren't I?

Hee. Well, I was tagged by Jamie to do this questionnaire so I can't let her down... LOL

Four places you have lived:
1. Laval, QC
2. Mascouche, QC
3. Terrebonne, QC (for 16 years of my life)
4. Toronto, ON

Four TV shows you love to watch: (Just four? LOL)
1. The Colbert Report
2. Friends
3. The Office
4. NewsRadio

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Italy
2. Florida
3. Quebec City
4. New York City

Four websites I visit daily:
1. Television Without Pity
2. Merriam-Webster Dictionary
3. Tomato Nation
4. Radio-Canada

Four of my favorite foods:
1. chocolate
2. Thai food
3. peanut butter and banana toast
4. soup

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. In Terrebonne with my family
2. In Montreal, hanging out with my friend Eve
3. Walking outside instead of marking papers
4. Travelling around Europe

Four Hobbies you enjoy:
1. going to the movies
2. reading
3. watching TV
4. cooking

Four People you tag for this meme:
1. Gina
2. Bee
3. Eve. If she dares. ;) LOL
4. The always entertaining Kiddo.

If I can add a category...
The First Four Songs Coming Up When You Put Your Favourite Music Player On Shuffle:
1. Wild Honey by U2
2. Light In Your Eyes by Sheryl Crow
3. Come Together by The Beatles
4. Everybody's Changing by Keane

My New Icon...

Is courtesy of a LJer who seems to have the same sitcom obsessions that I have! LOL

This is from an episode of NewsRadio where they discover that Dave, the main character, is from Canada, not Wisconsin as he had told them. Dave explains that he moved to the US when he was five, and at the time, he withheld that information because he thought other kids would think they were spies.

Happy Easter, Everyone!

I need some serious Easter chocolate.

My roommate's mission this weekend is apparently to bitch at me. Things had been fairly good recently but she broke up with her boyfriend last week so clearly, I have to somehow suffer the consequences. That's the only reason I can think of why suddenly. she is all snippy.

Yesterday, it was a great diatribe regarding cleaning. Today, I was watching The Office DVDs (the British version) and having myself a giggle. (By the way, very funny show if you ever get the chance to see it.) She had to come into the living room, sit down to mark papers, and complain because I put down one crumpled Kleenex on the corner of the coffee table (to put in the trash after the episode). Her exact words: "Ewww, gross, ewwww. I can't believe you put that there. You can't do that. You have a Kleenex with boogers in it. That's disgusting. We put food on that table. If you were to ask 20 people, they'd all say the same. I'm not anal really. Ewww ewww ewww." First of all, it wasn't a snotty Kleenex or anything. Nothing on the outside. Two, couldn't she ask it in a normal manner, not the one employed by a 5-year-old. I never leave tissues around the house. I was sitting right there, and I was going to throw it out in 5 minutes because, yes, I couldn't get to the garbage can because I had my headphones on while watching TV not to disturb her. Oh, the tragedy.

I feel like leaving tissues everywhere around the house now. Yes, I am childish and evil. Why do you ask? Sadly, I am also peaceful and reasonable so I won't.

It Was A Good Day!

To say it was unexpected would be an understatement. I had a presentation today, and barely slept last night because I stayed up late to finish up, and then, I was worried and couldn't sleep. I had been feeling stressed for a while about it. I was feeling on edge all morning, travelled all the way to Scarborough, reaped a very heavy pile of marking, and it ended up being cancelled since it was undergrad thesis day as well as Passover so very few people showed up. (it's been postponed in two weeks.) Nevertheless, I got to have a great discussion with a bunch of faculty members, which was a great thing and a good turning point for my day. It just boosted my spirits about my life.

Then, I got home, hot and exhausted from carrying my piles of marking. But I changed into more summery clothes. I did some cleaning, got a bunch of errands done, got my haircut (looking fabulous, if I may say so!), and I finally got a 4 GB nano iPod!!! I had gotten a gift certificate from Future Shop with rewards from my credit card a while back, and I had time today to go cash it in. I love playing with my iPod. We shall be friends forever! LOL

I took a long walk from the Future Shop to the hairdresser. I had such a feeling of peace and joy. The weather was gorgeous, with a light warm breeze. I even got to wear my little ballerina-like flats without socks today! I hadn't felt this happy in a while. Walking is good for the soul. Anyway, I wanted to put positive feelings into this blog. I need not forget them.

I'm currently eating a caramel-flavoured rice cake. Mmmmm. Hee.

My New...

Passion isn't exactly the right term. At this point, it would be more like "something I recently discovered that makes me happy", "my new thing to bring a bit of sunshine in my life", "something light and delightful I can indulge in occasionally". Actually, it is something old made new again. Ah yes, fanfic. Since I know a number of my readers know about my dirty little fanfic-reading secret because they shared it too (LOL), I don't feel too ashamed. Yes, I am a little fangirl trapped inside of a body of a grown woman... who still goes to school... who has a roommate... who owns a lot of mismatched furniture and no car. Anyway, technically, I'm a grown woman. ;)

My undergrad years, particularly in the summer, were prime time X-Files fanfic reading. Since then, I lost a lot of my XF interest so I have read very few (none really in 3 years at least). But I have now started watching The Office, which has plenty of UST (Unresolved Sexual Tension for those uninitiated), which is the ultimate trap for me to read fanfic it seems. LOL Mulder and Scully got me the first time, and now, it's Pam and Jim. I stumbled upon a board where people made fic recommendations, and oh. I have only read 3 or 4 short stories but I have fallen in love with it a bit again. Of course, I sadly don't have much time to read this stuff but that's all the more motivation to graduate. ;) LOL

By the way, there is a Saturday Night Live TV Funhouse retrospective airing on April 29. Saturday TV Funhouse was often the best part of SNL. The Ambiguously Gay Duo and The Ex-Presidents were always my favourite cartoons on SNL so I'm hoping to see plenty of both. Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert, who were the voices of Ace and Gary, aka The Ambiguously Gay Duo, recorded new material for this special. I can't wait to hear that!

Catcalling

I was not aware this was an issue in the US. There is an interesting article about it in Montreal's Mirror.

The Mirror is a free newspaper that I used to read it every week (along with Voir) on the subway & the bus when I lived in Montreal. See, I used to spend an insane amount of time on public transit (on average, 10-15 hours a week) so I needed some distraction. LOL

The T-Shirt To End All T-Shirts

We Were On A Break! I am so totally getting this one. I can't wait to wear it! :)

IQ Is Related To Development of Prefrontal Cortex

This is the kind of news that gets me all excited! Using neuroimaging, researchers were able to observe that the development of the cortex (the outer layer of the cortex, and the seat of a lot of important cognitive functions) appeared to differ in its rate of maturation in children with different IQs. Very smart children have a comparatively thinner cortex around the age 7 but it peaks later in terms of thickness (aka number of neurons). It peaks at age 11 or 12 whereas brains in children of average intelligence peaks around age 8 in terms of thickness. It's as if the brain of children of superior intelligence is more efficient in its construction, and in determining what is necessary or not and pruning itself down. Fascinating. The brain is one fascinating organ. :)