Stairs: The Silent Killer

I was walking back to my office from a therapy session in another part of the hospital, and was a bit distracted. I took a lovely plunge in the staircase. Thank God I was on the level between two flights so I didn't fall down. I scuffed my hands and knees (and pants!), but mostly, I twisted my left ankle. I hope I haven't pulled anything because it does hurt a bit. I guess I'll see soon enough if it swells up. I also dropped my digital recorder and Palm Pilot. What better event for electronic equipment than hitting a cement floor? LOL

No Day But Today

I was leading a group at work with clients who have memory problems. I must say, they always inspire me so much by their determination, and their resourcefulness and ability to cope with their difficulties. It always reminds me that we owe it to ourselves to try to make our lives as best as we can despite the obstacles. Plus, they've shown me how important to enjoy yourself in the present moment. Many of them don't remember what they've done a few minutes or hours ago, yet they say that if they felt happy while they did an activity, then it was worth it. :)

On a more superficial note... I got new lipgloss at Sephora: CARGO's Purse Gloss. I got it in the Montreal colour. How appropriate. It's such lovely lip gloss because it is not sticky. CARGO even sells lipgloss in little bubbles! What a brilliant idea!

Movies, Movies, Movies!

I rented three movies in the last two weeks, which is some kind of record these days. How sad given that I used to watch that in one evening when I was a teen and my brother worked in a videostore (those were the days!). Anyway, I indulged in movies, which is always nice. I rented Music and Lyrics, Dreamgirls, and Catch & Release.

Music and Lyrics was cute, if very forgettable. I didn't feel much happened in the movie, which thinking back on it, is probably because the tension/conflict in the movie occurred with characters who we didn't see that much on screen like the writer ex-boyfriend or the pop singer. Still watching Hugh Grant sing cheesy 80s songs was fun and he had some good one-liners. I always enjoy Drew Barrymore so that was another plus for the movie. Would I rewatch it? Eh, wouldn't go out of my way to do so.

I always enjoy a musical so I liked Dreamgirls. The songs and music in it are fantastic and it is just an interesting storyline. I don't care much for Jamie Foxx and Beyonce though so I think that played into my not being over the moon about it. Jennifer Hudson though does a good job. Plus, my TV boyfriend pops in there for a scene so that is neat.

I really really enjoyed Catch & Release though. It is written and directed by the same screenwriter who did In Her Shoes. The movie is about copping with grief and discovering someone is not really who you thought he/she was. I am not sure how I felt about the ending, but as a whole, it just touched me a lot. I think it is worth seeing.

My friend Eve is coming to stay for the weekend to visit and find an apartment. Yay!

This Feels Like An April's Fool Joke...

but I guess it isn't: Falling in Love With Objects. My brain is broken by trying to understand this. How can you be in a sexual relationship with an iBook? I want to know. As much as they want to claim they're not fetishists, I beg to differ. Anyway, I am not going to judge too much because I was far too invested and happy on Thursday night, knowing two fictional characters were finally going on a date. ;) Well, you know though it is not a deep-abiding love for fictional characters and I'm not sleeping with Jim and Pam action figures as of yet. LOL Although I may as well come out and say it, I would date Jim Halpert if he were real. Ha!



How cute are they? Very cute.

Oh Boys!

I called home yesterday to wish my mom a Happy Mother's Day, and my brother was there so I chatted with him a bit. (Oh, by the way, my phone line was resurrected late yesterday afternoon.) So asking what was new in my brother's life, he said, "Oh there's this girl I've been on a few dates with." Nice, but I was sensing some kind of hesitation in his voice so being the big sister that I am, I probbed further. Well, turns out she is not quite broken up with her previous guy. Here is where I sigh in despair because this is not the first time my brother has done this to himself. He seems to have what I dubbed "the puppy dog complex". He falls for someone and follows them around. Last time, he was left with a broken heart for a long time because the girl did not in fact end up leaving her boyfriend despite months of promise to the contrary.

I cannot for the life of me figure out why he does this to himself. Now, I'm not an expert at relationships as my very pathetic love life will attest to. There is potentially something wrong with me for being unable to find and/or keep a boyfriend. LOL However, I do know that being single trumps dating someone who is still not quite broken up with their former partner. My brother says he won't wait around for months for her to break up, to which I said, "I hope not!". She might be a very lovely girl, but I am always a little suspicious of girls who don't think anything of dating two guys at once. It is just a really bad idea. Our parents have a very happy, very functional relationship so it is not like we are lacking a model for a good relationship. (In fact, I suspect that if my brother has mentioned this state of affairs to my mother, she probably shook her head and sighed in sadness!) I've always been protective of my brother so I just don't like the idea that a girl might mess around with his feelings, but I'll guess we'll see what happens.

Oh Yeah, In Case You Want to Call...

My phone is dead. :( I changed the batteries in the phone, and all the proper panels light up. I tried a different extension cord, nothing. I tried both outlets in my apartment, nothing. I have paid for line maintenance insurance so at least, that's something. Still, ugh. Then, I went on the phone company website, and all I could easily see to get in touch with them was a phone number. How ironic.

I've always had a love/hate (okay, mostly hate) relationship with the phone company. I remember having to get a phone line when I first moved to Toronto. I went with Bell, the biggest phone company in Canada. What a production, it was. First, they wouldn't sign you up unless you had a phone number to give them where they could reach you. I kind of laughed at the clerk. "If I had a phone number, trust me, I wouldn't call you." Then, I couldn't believe how long it took to sign me up for a freaking phone line. You would have thought I was asking to borrow 20,000$. I had to answer at least 15 minutes worth of questions, and they then do an extensive background check before you can get a phone line. Seriously, if I don't pay my bills, just pull the plug. You know where I live.

Then, when I moved to my current building, my former roommate (yes, the one you haven't heard me complain about for almost a full year! LOL) had the place wired for two lines because she spent so much time on the phone. So I called Bell to sign up for a number for my line. They didn't believe me that the apartment was wired for two phones (WTF! The second line was used for a couple of years!). So not only was I going to have to pay 60$ to activate my new line, but I will have to pay like 90$ to have a technician come into my home to rewire my perfectly good line. I said to the clerk, "This makes no sense. Can you go talk to your manager about this?" Manager had on the same position, so I went to another company not trying to rip me off. They activated the line within a week without sending anyone to drill any holes or rewire anything that didn't need rewiring.

So there is no lost love between me and the phone company. I still miss my phone though. Let's hope it gets resurrected soon.

Movie, Why Do You Make Cry?

I've seen 13 Going on 30 3 times, and every single time, the montage of Jenna going back home to her parents' home when her life is going all wrong makes me cry. It's such a fluffy movie, but that sequence manages to get to me. It's set to Vienna by Billy Joel, which is a song too beautiful for words. Plus, I think the 13-year-old in me can only empathize too much with the teenage self of the character feeling lost as a 30-year-old. It's the magic of movies.

Bon Jovi Night on American Idol

Okay, so mock me all you want, but I've been occasionally watching American Idol this season after a few seasons of never ever watching it. I'm usually watching while working so I'm not allocating it my full attention and would have a hard time really providing a detailed rundown of what happens on most nights, but nevertheless, it is somewhat entertaining. Anyway, Bon Jovi music last night. Awesome. Gina, did you watch? I thought of you, since I know how you like his music. I really do too, and it was just nice to have Jon Bon Jovi there. Melinda kicked ass as always with her performance of "Have a Nice Day", one of the more recent and not as awesome Bon Jovi songs. The judges called her a young Tina Turner, and I couldn't agree more. LaKisha was quite good for the first time in many weeks with her performance of "This Ain't A Love Song". Judges really liked Blake's "original" performance of "You Give Love a Bad Name", but I thought it should have been called "ridiculous". I don't really care for Blake. He seems very creative, however, so I probably would appreciate him more with original songs as opposed to his trying to rework songs too much to "make his own, dog". I missed Jordin's and Chris's performances, and Phil? Eh. Although he was better than usual.