detes

frig, when you guys want something, you really want eh?


the detes, for those of you into this sort of thing: white gold, 0.41ct Canadian Diamond. mmm, sparkly!


I had gone out to supper with some teacher friends Friday after our PD session, to recover from the marathon of PD and Parent Teacher interviews. We had fun, I had a virgin daquiri, which wasn't very good because at Don Cherry's they use mixes for nearly all their drinks. FYI, Mexi's and Boomerang's make superb non-alcoholic drinks. Anyway, so one of my teacher friends was not drinking the non-alcoholic drinks, so needed to walk around a bit before heading home. Fair enough, I want to go to WalMart, and she suggests we also go ring shopping. She's already engaged, and I don't really think I need to ring shop, but what the hell better do I have to do? So fine, we go to Charm, and they actually have a few nice rings. This is unusual, because ususally jewellery stores only have one or two nice rings and then a bunch of big gaudy ones. So fine, I buy nothing anywhere and come home, the boy gets home about 10 minutes later. We chat for a bit, then he's in the bedroom getting his stuff unpacked and such for the weekend. I mention, in telling about my day, that I went ring shopping, and that Charm had a few really nice rings. He's like, oh, really? Yes, weird eh? He's in the room for another couple of seconds, then comes out and is standing behind me, I'm sitting on the couch, and he says, but were they as nice as this? and is holding a box with The Ring in it. I have to say, my immediate reaction was like, 'what are you doing??' because I just wasn't expecting that. I laughed, we kissed, I put on the ring, blah blah blah. Then later the boy, henceforth to be referred to as the fiancé, says 'did I actually ask you?' I say no, I don't think you did. So he says 'ok then, do you want to get married?' I say hmmm, yeah ok. haha.

So, there's your story, it very much fits us, I think.

And now, today I go for my ultrasound to see if I'm having 4 babies. Wish me luck!

boo!

Happy Halloween!

That's basically all I have to say. Nothing new going on, still busy as heck. Oh, yeah, and I got engaged. wooh!

seriously though, that's it.

things I hate

waking up 5 minutes before the alarm.
parent teacher interviews when I'm not teaching art, and people are actually going to want to talk to me.
that my fish tank gets dirty so quickly. it's a trade-off, the algae eater keeps the sides clean, but produces an inordinate amount of poo.
realising only after I am all cosied up in my pjs that it is garbage night, and having to get all that shit together and take it outside before I can go to bed.

edit: also, when I put a banana in my lunch, and it makes everything not in good tupperware containers smell and taste like bananas. Why is that? What makes the banana so powerful?

phewf

so busy!

I have just been running around like the proverbial headless chicken, getting things going for the play, trying to get done the roughly 1 358 239 things I have to get done by Wednesday for parent teacher interviews. So much to mark, so little time! It's true, it's mainly my own fault. I hate marking, and thus tend to put it off as long as possible. It's now been as long as possible, so, here we go. The only good news in all this is that it's a short class week, only 3 days, with Thursday going half to P-T interviews and half to PD, and Friday entirely for 'curriculum support' PD. Works for me.

I've been up to not much otherwise, trying to find some new and not too expensive clothes to fit into and wondering why none of my students has said anything about my completely popped out belly. It's intriguing. I'm not sure that I would have said anything to a teacher either, but I thought that maybe one of my somewhat, shall we say 'lacking in social graces' 11s might comment, or one of my theatre / musical kids might notice. I think it's more fun for me just not to say anything. Most of them probably won't even notice for a while, even though it's really quite noticeable.

Went up to Freddy for the weekend to see the boy and my sister, had a lovely dinner with the boy on Friday night at Luna, consisting of enough food and garlic to feed and ward off an entire family of vampires, and then a homemade supper of some kind of tasty but unknown meat at my sister's place on Saturday night. It's fun to live dangerously. We also went to see 2, count 'em, 2 movies. We're wild, it's true. We saw Friday Night Lights on Friday, suitably enough, and it was pretty good. Better than say, Varsity Blues, but with no whipped cream bikini, so I guess 'better' depends on what you look for in a football movie. Billy Bob did a great job of playing a normal guy, which I have a feeling is a stretch for him. We also saw Team America: World Police . Really funny, yes. Horribly offensive, yes. Offensive to Canadians, no! Sweet. I'm wondering how the Americans are feeling about it though, and the actors portrayed as puppets non-too-favourably. Drop me a line if you fall in to either of those categories.

That's basically been all the excitement in my life since I last posted. More detail about the preggo stuff on the preggo blog, again, leave me a note if you want to read it, I'm not going to post the link for all on the main page here. I've also had a cold for about a month and a half. It keeps going away, sort of, and then coming back with a vengeance as something new and less fun. It's right now camped out in my throat / chest / nose. I can only take stuff for the coughing, so it's getting mighty old mighty fast to have symptoms that I would normally just blitz with some Advil Cold and Sinus or an extra strength NeoCitrin. mmm...lemony.

I'm off to make supper and mark. wooh!

gobble gobble gobble

happy return-from-gorging-yourself-with-turkey day! I know I ate my share, and also had good-sized helpings of side dishes (my dad's stuffing and my uncle's cream cheese mashed potatoes mostly, mmm) and of course, dessert. Desserts, who am I kidding. Blueberry cheesecake, pumpkin cheesecake with whipped cream, apple pie..drooly drooly. My whole (immediate) family was there - aunts, uncles, 1st cousins, grannie, except for one uncle who lives in the states. My whole family is composed almost entirely of people on my dad's side, since my mom has just my grannie and aforementioned US uncle, and there are only like, 18 of us, but it's always a nice time when we get together. We had some death-match ping pong and a pretty fierce game of Taboo. Much wine and beer was consumed, and I had my own creation of blueberry punch with Sprite deal going on, so I didn't feel too left out.

I had an extra half day off for an appointment this morning, so only had to teach 1 class today, which was fantastic. Also, apparently my morning classes went well, with the exception of a couple of kids, surprisingly from one of my 9 classes, not the 11s who I was a bit worried about. Those 2 9s will of course be spending their break with me, one practising silent reading, one practising sitting quietly and doing work, since those are the 'responsible skills' (as the admin puts it here) that they seem to have forgotten in my absence.

All in all, a great few days, and it's not so bad being back to the routine. How was your weekend?

news

well, most of you know, but for those of you who aren't close, personal, in-the-flesh friends, I figured I should keep you up to date...turns out I'm 15 weeks pregnant. Surprise! That was my reaction too. haha. It's all good though, after the initial, wait a minute...2 lines? what the... Everyone's being really supportive and the parents are pretty stoked to be grandparents, so there you go. I go for my first dr. appt on Tuesday, and then an ultrasound on the 4th, so it's becoming pretty real now. I've also heard the heartbeat, which was incredible, and really made things hit home. There's a tiny person in there. I find the whole process pretty amazing, really. I know how it works, obviously, but really, how the hell? 1 cell, 2 cells, 4 cells...heart, brain, person! Crazy. I've been keeping a preggo-journal too, but I don't really want to post the link on here, since it's a little more personal and has names and such, but if you'd like to read, let me know and I'll send you the link. Some fun stuff though...the heartbeat, wow, and the bump (that's not from too many french fries, folks). Some of my pants don't fit! I'm hoping nobody at work notices if I just don't do them up all the way for a while, until I'm big enough to justify actual maternity clothes.

a little quiz (I'm 2%)

I've spaced it out a lot, because you're supposed to answer each question before reading the next, so try not to cheat.


This test determines human thought patterns. Humans fall into 1 of 2 percentiles: 98% or 2%. 98% think alike, and the remaining 2% stray from the norm.


Here's the test:

Just follow the instructions as quickly as possible. Do not go to the next calculation before you have finished the previous one. You do not need to write or remember the answers, just do it using your mind. You'll be surprised by the results...

Ready, Go....


How much is:

15+6
















3+56













89+2















12+53
















75+26















25+52


















63+32






Come on, one more...























123+5
















QUICK! THINK ABOUT A TOOL AND A COLOR!











Scroll further to the bottom...

















A bit more...
















(highlight the next line to see the "normal" answer, hidden for you friggin cheaters!)

You have just thought about a red hammer, haven't you????

If this is not the case, you a re among 2% of people who have
a"different" if not "abnormal" mind. 98% of those tested would answer a "red
hammer" while doing this exercise. If you do not believe this, pass it
around and you'll see. Be sure to put in the subject line if you are among
the 98% or the 2% and send it to everyone, including the person that sent
it to you.

so long, birthday counter

the 361 days makes it seem a long way away, so I'll take it down for now. I had a great time at my partay though! We pot-lucked, and I've been suppering mainly on left overs from that all week. Mini pizzas and perogies are a perfectly acceptable dinner. Tonight I had mini pizzas and homemade salsa. I thought about the guacamole too, but it looked decidedly sketchy, so I decided against it. I have nearly made my way through all of my birthday cake, and just remembered that I also have frozen mini cheesecakes to deal with. mmmmm. I also got presents, which I honestly wasn't expecting, I think I'm past the point where I expect anyone other than family to do things like that. I'm a big fan of gifts though, so it was great. The Fantasia part of the evening was also pretty good, although I didn't get the feeling that this lady knew her stuff as well as say, Jenn, or previous presenters I've had. Also, she called me Dawn at the end of the night, and let my cat out, but really, it was fun.

Tomorrow I've arranged my classes so they're all writing a quiz, except the theatre kids, but I can always think of things to do with them, they're a great bunch, and I could, any day, say...ok kids, you're running the show, and they would, eagerly, and it would be good. I don't know that we'd learn a lot, but whatever. Today the girl who did the warmup (named Hyde, pronounced Heidi, why would her mother do that?) had us play a concentration game where we all sat around in a circle with our eyes closed, and we had to count to 20. Tricky! No, but the trick was, we had to take turns, in no particular order, and if anyone repeated a number or went at the same time as another person, we had to start over. We never did make it, but I'll try it again once we've done some more concentration excercises and see if it gets any better. Anyway, yeah, quizzes for everyone, whee! Also, I've gone from having my class of 24 students in 113 English (remedial, for those of you on different systems), 3 of whom are modified to the point of not being able to even remotely follow curriculum in *any* subjects, 1 of whom we don't really know what's going on, but he's really weak, and hasn't been in school for like 10 years, and all but 3 of whom are just the weakest readers / writers / students I have ever met, with no TA support, to having 2 TAs! I'm so excited. I went and talked to the resource teacher, just to see about possibly getting some support in that class, got someone the next day, then today I had 2! I'm not sure if they're both here to stay, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Anyway, I have to now go make up the quizzes that are going to keep my students busy for tomorrow. Luckily, there's nothing good on tv tonight, because of the GD presidential debate. Hey, I'll save you the trouble of watching: don't vote for Bush! Sure, Kerry's no gem, but, and this is the only time I've felt safe saying this, but it really can't get worse. The country is in an absolute mess, it can only get better, or it will just collapse on itself and get sucked into the centre of the earth, leaving the rest of us to say, hmm, that was weird, and carry on. Of course, all the cool people would get out of there before that happened. Not GeeDub though. He'd be the first to get sucked in.

blah

so, still not much to report, I'm afraid. Tomorrow is meet the teacher night, where we all get introduced on stage and then go to our classrooms, then parents come through their kids' class schedules for like 6-7 minutes per class, and we run through the outlines etc for them. Good times. I'm mostly annoyed because ER premieres tomorrow night, and this means I'll have to stay up until midnight to watch it. Boo-urns. I stayed up late last night watching Amazing Race, and I'm just so glad for who won. It wasn't who I was really rooting for, but it wasn't who I was really rooting against either. I'll not say who, because I know some people watch it Saturdays in the afternoon when it's rerun.

I'm still struggling a bit with my 113 class, just because even though they're mostly good kids, which is fantastic, they just don't really care about anything. All the stories in the anthologies I have for them are just lame, about broken homes and that kind of bullshit that we assume, or somebody assumes, that lower level kids must be able to relate to and want to read about. Maybe for a story, but not for the year, thanks. We read a pretty good one today that I found in another text, and thus had to photocopy for everyone, called "Of Missing Persons". Anyway, I think we'll do a bit of resume / cover letter building for a couple of days, some more short stories, once I find some good ones, and then the novel. We're going to do "Hunter in the Dark", which seems decent, but I don't have any kind of activities for it, other than chapter questions and tests, and there is a surprising lack of resources for the book online. I have found a pretty good site for short stories though, here, if you just like reading them, or can use them for something.

Things overall are going well though, so I'm pretty pleased. My big plan for tonight is go buy bagels and cream cheese, and watch CSI: NY. I don't normally watch Miami, but I caught the premiere the other night, and they killed off my favourite guy, Speed. I am superpissed. Now I will make a point to not watch it. He was on Dazed and Confused, how could he *not* be the best character? I also have to clean this damn apartment sometime before the weekend, and at least partly before Friday evening when my mom and sister arrive, so they won't know I live in a sty when I'm here by myself. shhh! The party is still on, of course, and you're still invited, if you're in the neighbourhood! and have boobs!

in honour of the impending b-day...

I'm having a party! I figured this is the best way to get the word out, although expect real-ish invitations shortly. Saturday night, and you're all invited. Well, those of you who know where I live, anyway. It's a birthday / potluck / Fantasia party, so there's something for everyone! Anyway, if you're interested, which you should be, then come on down.

I(heart) parties!

whee! presents!

so, unless you're, say...blind, you've probably noticed the giant birthday counter up yonder. If you're the kind of person who might buy me something for my birthday, I have continued the tradition of the gift blog from Christmas time. enjoy, kids! I also have a bit of an announcement that a lot of you have heard, but the rest of you will get around my birtday. Whee!

wow

longest delay between posts ever.

I survived week 1 of my new teaching job, which is quite something, I think. I'm pretty freaking tired, and have been all week, but it's Friday, so I have 2 days to sleep. And to figure out what the hell I'm going to do for the rest of the year. Wooh! Feel free to provide ideas. English 9, 113, and Theatre Arts. I have basic ideas, but new ideas are always fun.

This weekend, as most weekends, holds no really exciting plans. Last night I went out to supper with some teacher friends and had fajitas, they're damn tasty. We had planned to see a movie but we took too long eating and chatting, and missed all the starts, so we went to Chapters and Starbucks instead. Probably a better, although not a cheaper option. It's not possible to go to Chapters and not buy anything. I think we'll go see Garden State this weekend. It's written, directed by, and starring Zach Braff, the funny guy from Scrubs. I love him, and this looks like a great movie, I'm really surprised that Fox made it.

I'm afraid the posts are going to dwindle now that I'm not sitting home on my ass 24/7, teaching hasn't yet provided much interesting blogger fodder. One of my students did, yesterday, point to another student in the hall and ask me, quite seriously, if she was my daughter. I told him I'm 24, so...no. Thanks though, buddy. He's like, but she looks *exactly* like you! That may be, but no. Unless I had her when I was 7, which is unlikely at best. I think I had a better concept of people's ages when I was in high school.

I'm going to nap and think about supper.

I'm alive

but only barely! I'll post more soon. I'm super busy being back to work, the admin are very tricky and schedule meetings all day so you actually have no time during this prep week to prepare for your classes. Sneaky! I'm very tired, and my computer is pissing me off, so I'm going to bed. Grant took his computer to Freddy, so I'm using my older crappy one, which is infected with some sort of spyware thing which sets my browser to about:blank and gives me all kinds of nice popups. I've run adaware, I'm running browser hijack blaster (which helpfully lets me know every 30 seconds that my homepage has been changed, and would I like to change it back?), and I've run hijack this! several times, but the damn thing just won't go away. I'm not using IE anyway, I'm using Firefox, but I'm still pissed off and getting annoying popups, even when IE isn't running. I want to uninstall IE, but can't seem to figure that out either, and I do like to use Outlook, which apparently needs IE to work properly. Can I disable IE or something? I have Firefox as my default, but when I click links from my outlook mail or click '1 new message' in Messenger to get to my inbox, it opens IE automatically. If you have any ideas, please help. I've searched for help, but everything seems hopelessly complicated, and what I can do, I've done, with no good results. I'm willing to play with regedit even, but the files I'm supposed to delete aren't where the help pages say they will be. Dammit! I may end up formatting, I don't really care, but I can't find my windows cd, so that's not so much an option. My computer, for some reason, will not install winXP, so I'm stuck with 98, which is fine, but again, I can't find my cd.

somebody wasn't thinking here..

ok. Now, I'm a big fan and supporter of the Breast Cancer Site, go, click, every day. Also click on all the other sites, Child Health, Hunger, Animal Rescue, and Rainforest. Go. Now. Do notice, and see if you agree with me though, that it may be in poor taste to have an ad for WeightWatchers placed directly beside an ad to help a starving child. Really. Yikes. I'm sure it's all random, but those ads should be separate entities, not near eachother. One in the 'sponsors' section, one in the 'awareness raising' section.

that is all.

16 Things That Took Me Over 50 Years To Learn:

by Dave Barry, Nationally Syndicated Columnist

via D

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.


2. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will chieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."


3. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."


4. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.


5. You should not confuse your career with your life.


6. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.


7. Never lick a steak knife.


8. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.


9. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.


10. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.


11. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age eleven.


12. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.


13. A person who is nice to you, but rude to a waiter, is not a nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.)


14. Your friends love you anyway.


15. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.


16. Thought for the day: Men are like fine wine. They start out as grapes, and it's up to the women to stomp the crap out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.

Oh, Canada...

Medals! We're ranked 15th out of...a lot of countries. 200 or something? Sure, some of them only had 4 athletes, but still. Not too shabby. I'm pretty pissed off that the US is leading. No offence, my American faithfuls, but it's just nice to see the unexpected happen.

fun with cruise control

I got to drive Grant's new car back to Moncton from Fredericton for reasons I don't feel like going into. It works now, so everyone's happy. Especially me, who got the nice car with the full tank of gas, vs. Grant who has my newer but not really as cool car with no gas for the week. Haha. Anyway, his car has cruise control, which I didn't know existed for standards, but it does. And it works. For a while I had it set at about 130, driving behind this truck who was clearly in a hurry, but when he turned off I didn't want to be going that fast all by myself, so I slowed down to about 122, still on cruise. I'm still passing people, but not going so fast that I'm worried about getting pulled over. So, while passing this one truck, a woman in a Ford Focus comes up super fast behind me, rides my ass until I am able to pass the truck and move back over. Fine, you go. She boots off away. So about 3 minutes later, I see that I am catching up to a car...lo and behold, the same Focus. I pull out to pass her, because otherwise I will run into her, she has slowed significantly, and she sees me, and speeds up. Fine. I pull back in behind her, she starts to move away from me again. I lose her again for about 2 minutes, then catch up again. Please bear in mind that my speed is remaining perfectly constant during this little adventure. I pass her this time, stay ahead for a couple of minutes, then she passes me. Fine. Again, a few minutes later, she passes me, again, soon, I pass her. I am laughing my ass of at this point, but she fails to see the humour. She soon passes me one last time, never to be seen again.

I have some advice. Take a gander at the speedometer every now and then, it's quite handy. It's very conveniently located mid-dash for your viewing ease. Try to keep that needle in approximately the same spot while driving. This saves gas, and aggrivation toward and from other drivers. Use cruise control if you have it, it's fantastic! I think it's the one luxury I would spring for in my next car. CD players are standard issue now, so I don't have to spring for that.

That about sums it up. Last night we had a fantastic chicken dinner at my sister's place, and then we spent the night at Grant's aunt's place, on the squeakiest bed (seriously, just from sleeping, the noise!) and thinnest pillows in the world. I'm thinking weekends here rather than in Fredericton.

randomosity

2 fun sites. Site 1: Bacon and Eh's. A good read, with lots of good links. This is where I found Site 2: Disclosure.ca. I'm always up for a project; the goal of this site is to get pictures from all over Canada, eventually every town and city, that show something that represents Canada or being Canadian to the picture taker. Sounds pretty neat to me, get clicking!

Also, I've become somewhat obsessed with 2 songs. Avril's Happy Ending, and Maroon 5's She Will Be Loved. Here are the lyrics to the latter for your viewing pleasure.

She Will Be Loved

Beauty queen of only eighteen
She had some trouble with herself
He was always there to help her
She always belonged to someone else

I drove for miles and miles
And wound up at your door
I've had you so many times but somehow
I want more

I don't mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain
Look for the girl with the broken smile
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile
And she will be loved
She will be loved

Tap on my window knock on my door
I want to make you feel beautiful
I know I tend to get so insecure
It doesn't matter anymore

It's not always rainbows and butterflies
It's compromise that moves us along
My heart is full and my door's always open
You can come anytime you want

I don't mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain
Look for the girl with the broken smile
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile
And she will be loved
She will be loved

I know where you hide
Alone in your car
Know all of the things that make you who you are
I know that goodbye means nothing at all
Comes back and begs me to catch her every time she falls

Tap on my window knock on my door
I want to make you feel beautiful

I don't mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain
Look for the girl with the broken smile
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile
And she will be loved
And she will be loved
And she will be loved
And she will be loved

[in the background]
Please don't try so hard to say goodbye
Please don't try so hard to say goodbye

Yeah
[softly]
I don't mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain

Try so hard to say goodbye

technical difficulties

I'm supposed to get in touch with the vp at my new school, but I can't log in to my school email to find his email address or phone number. Not helpful.

I spent a nice weekend at the cottage with my parents, it was actually sunny for a good part of the time, which was a pleasant surprise. My dad and I also painted the bedroom in the little cottage, which was pretty funny. It had been wallpapered, so they took off most (but not all) of that. Dad had filled in most of the holes, but not the seams of the drywall and stuff, and we then bought paint at Loonieland and painted the room. Interesting. It's going to take about 4 coats, I think, and you can still see the wallpaper chunks through the paint at this point. Pretty nice. I love dollar stores though, they have the most interesting assortment of stuff.

Grant and I are going back-to-school shopping today, he starts work on Monday and needs some new stuff, and I might pick up a couple of things myself. My actual plan for teaching is still pretty rough. I don't know my schedule, but I do know that I'll have the English classes all year, so that's easy to figure out. I'm going to try to do a rough outline, but what I'd really like to do is to talk to the other grade 9 teacher and see what her plan is. I find it's helpful to be doing the same things at the same times, in case kids have to switch out or anything, and that way you know the kids are going to get the same things covered in the run of the year, so they're all equally prepared (or not, haha) for the next year. The 113 class, I don't know. I don't even know what books I have to work with, so that's interesting. They also re-arranged and cancelled some of the provincial testing, so I'm not entirely sure what I'm responsible for. I guess I'll find out! I keep looking for work in Freddy, but there just isn't any, and Grant keeps looking for work here, same deal, so it's looking like we'll be spending a few months apart. *sigh*. We did one semester last year, so this will just be...double that. Good times. He'll have a car too though, so can come visit me. He joked that I could come see him on snow days, but that's probably not the best plan at all.

T-13 days until back to school, yipes. I know those of you who aren't teachers have no sympathy for me whatsoever, but those of you who are or who know teachers understand. There's a reason we get summers off, and it's not just for the kids. There's a school district in the states where the kids go for 9 weeks, then get 4 weeks off, all year. That sounds pretty sweet to me, I'd definitely sign on. I'm off to get some breakfast and forget about the sadness that is returning to work. Thanksgiving is really early this year, wooh!

vacation is ending, and I'm so not ready

I was so traumatised by the Lenny post that I had to take a break. Also I've been feeling like ass lately.

I'm trying to get my head wrapped around my teaching assignment for the fall, because that's coming up pretty quickly and I don't have a concrete plan of action. I've thought of some fun projects, but not for right away. I've also had dreams of the sort that I show up on the first day of school, but unaware that it's the first day, and all my students are there like, what the hell? and my classroom is not set up, and then, generally, I'm naked. No good. I don't think I'm that nervous, but maybe I am subconsciously.

We finally got around to seeing the Village and Bourne Supremacy. I enjoyed both, although they're pretty different. For all who are debating the Village based on scariness / nightmare factor, go see it. I scare easily, and though there are some jumpy parts for sure, but overall it's a really good story, and the acting is fantastic. Also, and I may be completely retarded for not realising this, but Joaquin Phoenix is a Phoenix a la River. I did of course, know his last name, but I just never made the connection. Interesting. Anyway, he's a fine actor, as is pretty much everyone else in the movie. Adrian Brody did a great job too. Bourne was good, a bit fragmented, but that was on purpose, and I do agree with Tirex that they made the bad guy pretty obvious. I (heart) Matt Damon though, so whatever.

And I'm still looking forward to Harold and Kumar, so shut it.

Still on the topic of movies, both of our theatres here are now Empire, where one used to be Famous Players. This means nothing good, as far as I can tell. While both theatres now get the good movies, where Famous used to just basically have the Disney blockbusters, they now get the SAME good movies. There are currently 5 movies playing at both theatres. Which would be good, if we were in like, Toronto. But we're not. The theatres are about 6 minutes apart. Redundant, I think.

I might go to the beach this afternoon, but the possibilities are really endless here. This weekend is either for the cottage or to Halifax to see the Buskers. I could do either, really.

I signed up for gmail, but it wasn't working because IE sucks and messes with cookies. Anyway, it's working now, and apparently I can invite somebody (because you can't just sign up yet) so if anyone is interested, let me know. It kicks hotmail's ass, with like, 1G of server space and no annoying ads. If you're just looking for info, go check it out. I invited my sister, so I only have one invite, and I think everyone who uses Blogger got one, so only you non-bloggers need apply.

also, what the hell happened to Lenny Kravitz?

he used to be *super* hot. click and click.

now he looks like Prince / a dirty pimp. click and click.

Not happy.

short and sweet

Real hackers must have laughed their asses off when they saw the movie Hackers. Good cast though.

via Natters

Survey with a twist

YOU fill in the blanks about ME and send it back to me. Or leave answers to random ones in the comment box. Whichever. But first, send a blank one to all your friends including me (or post it on your website..), so they can return the favor to you.

1. My name:

2. Where did we meet?

3. Take a stab at my middle name:

4. How long have you known me?

5. When is the last time we saw each other?

6. Do I believe in God?

7. Month of my birthday: (Bonus points if you can give a date.)

8. Hair color:

9. Eye color:

10. Do I have any siblings?

11. What's one of my favorite things to do outdoors?

12. What's one of my favorite things to do indoors?

13. Do you remember one of the first things I said to you?

14. What's my favorite type of music?

15. What is my best feature?

16. Am I shy or outgoing?

17. Would you say I am funny ha-ha or funny sarcastic?

18. Am I a rebel or do I follow all the rules?

19. Would you consider me a friend, an acquaintance, or a good friend?

20. Would you call me hippie, glam, nerdy, snobby, or something else?

21. Have you ever seen me cry?

22. If there were one good nickname for me what would it be?

23. If I had broccoli stuck in my teeth would you tell me?

24. Is there anything you need to tell me?

they were indeed tall ships

We got to Halifax early enough so that there weren't a billion people and it wasn't too hot, which was nice. We had to park a bit of a walk away from the waterfront, but that was expected. The ships were pretty cool, very big. I like the older looking ones better than the new fancy ones. The new ones are more like, 'hey! look at me, I'm rich!' There were lots of vendors selling crap, nautical knot bracelets and the like, but the tourists just eat that stuff up. I'll post some pictures in a bit.

We went to play some blacklight mini golf, which was pretty fun. I think there should be a place like that here, because there is just so very little to do here that it has to do well. Supper was at a place called Jack Astor's, and it was pretty good too. They should also make one of those here, it would make a nice extra choice with ESM and Swiss Chalet. Moncton is lame.

The highlight of the weekend was definitely going to see Napoleon Dynamite. Naturally, it was playing in Halifax, but is not yet here. If it comes to your city, it's your duty to go see it. And to keep watching after the credits, there's more movie. The guy is just so hilarious. The movie is completely random, and you mostly don't know whether to laugh at the guy or feel really bad for him. I went with both. Go see it.

Yesterday, because it was absolutely gorgeous, Tirex and I went to Magic Mountain water park. The time we spent actually on the rides was pretty cool, but that only accounted for about 10 minutes of the 3 hours we were there. We decided the people who run the place need to learn to play Rollercoaster Tycoon, and then they would figure out that the park is in desperate need of expansion. The lines are just ridiculous, and I think they've built one new slide in the past 15 years. No good. But, again, there is nothing else like that around here, so it's an incredibly popular place for tourists. So, along with there not being enough slides and new / exciting things, there are just a foolish number of people there. We did get to go on *the* new slide, the Tornado, and it was fun. It's a tube slide, and it's all enclosed and dark with just pinholes of light coming in. Try not to scream or laugh, I dare you. Regardless of lines and the horrifying discovery that Beavertails are BAKED now, instead of deep fried (no good!), we had a pretty good time. It's all about the company, I suppose!

I'm feeling pretty boring, so I'm going to stop now!

holy boringness, Batman

You know what? I cannot think of anything *less* entertaining than watching Poker on tv. Really and truly. That's what my boyfriend and "roommate" are watching right now. We have literally...250 channels. We're getting them all as a preview, because I called to switch a couple of the 10 specialties we usually get, and they put me on hold twice, and both times I ended up back in the system, and had to re-explain myself again. The 3rd person was a very nice lady, who offered to give us all the specialties for a week since we haven't had them all for a long time, and the one we wanted to get only comes as part of a package. Very nice of her, and I hung up feeling happy rather than enraged, which is often the case when dealing with Rogers. So yeah, we have all kinds of channels, Outdoor Life, National Geographic, Biography, Discovery, SexTV, you name it. And we're watching Poker. Earlier this afternoon we watched boxing from the late 70s. Barf. This is one thing, and probably one of about 3 things, that I will enjoy about living alone come fall. No old boxing or card game-watching on my tv.

Because we put off seeing Bourne for so long, now there are 3 movies out that we both want to see, and the decision is proving tricky. If that's the hardest decision of my day though, I'd say I'm doing pretty well. I think maybe we'll actually end up seeing Bourne though, since it's been such a saga, and since it's been out the longest. I'm also excited for The Village and Harold and Kumar. I guess for that last one, they had the script and brought it to McD's, Wendy's, and a bunch of other, probably more well known places, but they all said they didn't want to be in the movie. Well whatever, folks, I think White Castle makes a funny title anyway. They have tiny burgers that look pretty tasty, but I don't think there are any restaurants here. In visiting the website, I see you can buy yourself a White Castle t-shirt. Nice.

Tomorrow we're heading to Halifax to see the Tall Ships. There are fireworks tomorrow night, whee! I've never been, so I'm not sure what to expect other than a bunch of, you guessed it, tall ships. Apparently it's pretty exciting though. I'll let you know, and of course, take lots of pictures.

some advice for phone-a-friends...

If ever I was playing Millionaire, I would have some words of wisdom for those chosen to be my phone-a-friends. You be ready, you be sitting at your computer, and you have Google loaded up. Most of the stuff they ask, you can easily and quickly find. People are stupid though, and they don't do this, for the most part anyway, and they sit there and humm, and haw...and give wrong answers. One guy just lost $15,000 because his friend is an idiot. They are both frat boys though, so hey.

mmm, summery

finally! It's warm and sunny, not a cloud in the sky, and it's supposed to get up to 32 degrees today. Nice. That's Celcius, obviously. I had planned to go to Magic Mountain yesterday with Tirex, but it rained. Of course. Now it is going to be nice for a whole week. It's good though, I'm a fan of summer. I think what might happen though is that we'll have a ridiculously warm fall now, since summer seems delayed. That's fantastic for teaching, let me tell you. Especially where my classroom is on the top floor, and has no windows. Sweet. Speaking of, I suppose I should really start to prepare in some way, especially for the history class, since I really don't know anything about what I'm supposed to teach. Ah well.

We still never made it to see my good friend Matt, but I have faith that we will. We're also very much looking forward to seeing Joaquin (I just had to look up how to spell that), which is how the whole, going to see Matt thing got started anyway. Also, I was watching a review of The Village, and the guy had the...ignorance, I suppose, to say that the cast had no big names headlining it, but looked very promising regardless. Pardonnez-moi? Joaquin Phoenix, Adrian Brody, Sigorney Weaver, William Hurt, Brendan Gleeson? Maybe they're only famous in Canada. Weird.

I've taken some really pretty pictures of lillies, which I present to you now.

Pink Lilly
Fuschia Lilly
Pink Lilly w/ purple

They're all from my garden, and they don't last long, so I've been taking pictures of all of them. My mom pointed out to me, very helpfully, that this is indeed why they are called "day lillies". See, that's why it's good to have moms that garden. Hehe. Anyway, enjoy. I sure am. I have one plant that hasn't bloomed yet, and I thought they were going to be all dark purple, so the suspense is quite intense. Or not. I'm hoping the middle one does bloom though, and that it's a different colour. I'm just happy they're growing. My vegetables are not. They're still green, and healthy looking, but there is no sign of growth and / or flowers and food sprouting off them. Ah well.

edit: the pictures are fairly big, so if you're on a slow connection I apologize, and also if you have your browser set to fit images to the window size, they'll be smaller for you than they really are.

movie thief!

lots of movie posting lately, no?

short and painful: I loaned 2 movies, Shrek and Homegrown (the latter, granted, I got in the WalMart bargain bin, but still), to a friend of my boyfriend. His good friend's brother, actually. Anyway, now said brother is denying ever having borrowed movies from me. I'm a seething ball of rage. What the fuck? I'm going to go to the friend's house and have a look myself, I think, because there's a very legitimate possibility that the brother was high either when borrowing, watching, or claiming to not have done either. Or all 3 times. Who knows. Anyway, I'm super pissed. I loaned Shrek out one time before, you think I would have learned, and the girl kept it for a year. a YEAR. Now, I've been known to be a little lax in my returning of borrowed goods, but I've never kept something that long, except maybe from Erin, but rules about sweaters are different...and I've never denied borrowing something.

fucker.

or not

so, turns out we still haven't gotten around to seeing the Bourne Supremacy, but we might go tonight. We ended up waiting for a couple of friends of the boy's, and then just didn't go. We did, however, go see The Notebook last night, and it was really good. A bit weepy, as is expected, (the guy who wrote the novel, Nicholas Sparks, is the one and the same guy who wrote Message in a Bottle and A Walk to Remember, whaddya expect?), but not overwhelmingly so, and I should know, I'm one to get overwhelmed by weepiness at movies.

Plans for today...going to Superstore to deposit a cheque and buy some healthy food. Eating healthy is hard, especially in the summer. I'm trying it though, because, among other reasons, it's just generally a good idea. I tend to get in this phase in summer time, when I'm not working, where I don't really eat meals, I just sort of eat whatever, whenever. Not the best plan. So I'm going to buy some fruit and stuff, so that at least if I do eat whatever, whenever, it'll be good eats. I think I'll go for a walk too, there's a really nice walking path by our place, far enough away from the road that you don't die of exhaust fumes most of the time. It does take me right past DQ, which is slightly problematic, but yesterday I brought a popsicle with me, and avoided temptation nicely. Even though the Moolatté had a lasting and unpleasant effect on my digestive tract, it was so tasty...maybe another one wouldn't be so bad? Or, it might kill me. Hmm. Worth considering.

whee! movies

or not.

We went to see the Bourne Supremacy last night, only after being disappointed to realize that The Village hasn't started yet. We got to the theatre, about 15 minutes before the show was supposed to start, and apparently everybody else in town waited until Sunday night to go see the movie too, because the place was packed. We hung out for a minute, waiting in line, but after being bumped and bashed around a few times by ignorant jackasses, we decided to try again tonight and rented The Butterfly Effect instead. It was really good! Definitely a bit disturbing, definitely some jumpy parts, but overall interesting. Who hasn't thought about what it would be like to go back and change that one thing? Well, apparently it can be like CRAP where your friends don't know you and / or are crackwhores. Careful, time travellers! Also, it's hard on your head to re-write your lifetime's memories in the span of like, 3 minutes. All good to know.

The weekend at the cottage was good, it was warm but not sunny all the time on Saturday, so we went swimming, which was nice, and I didn't get a sunburn, which was also nice. We watched the incredibly bad movie Heartbreakers on Friday night, and really, it was awful. The only good thing about it was Jason Lee, and I'm surprised he was in it. I made my mom a cheesecake for her birthday, with a topping made out of mixed berries that was quite tasty. We had lunch at the Chowder House on the way home, and all in all had a nice time. We also got to sleep on the AeroBed, which is pretty fun.

Big plans for today include sitting outside for a while to read, because it's sunny out. It's supposed to be nice all week, which is great news, but I'm going to wait until it happens before I get too excited. We're still planning on seeing the movie tonight, so I'll let you know how it is.

Canadians against the re-election of George W Bush

Nice. I'm very excited that someone has taken the initiative to do this. It might not do any good, but you just never know. Go, sign the petition, and tell your friends to as well.

also, apparently Jenn isn't the only interesting news in Macleans lately...more Canadians against W.. Can you blame them?

There will never be another tonight

or, I'm a way better singer than that girl.

The Bryan Adams concert was fantastic, as expected. Colin James was also great, but I just don't know as many of his songs, so it wasn't as good in the 'singing along' department. Bryan opened with the aforementioned 'There Will Never be Another Tonight', which was a good choice, although we all sort of thought it would be Summer of '69. Too predictable I guess. Anyway, he's just a great singer and performer, and as mom pointed out, one of the great things is that he actually sings the songs basically the way he does on the albums. Tiresa came down, and between the 2 of us, we got approximately 5 good photos, but it was fun trying. Bryan got a girl up on stage to sing 'When You're Gone' with him, and I was *super* bitter, because I know all the words and harmonies to that song, and it's really fun to sing, and he didn't pick me, even though I was waving my arms fanatically like everyone else. Ah well. The girl he picked was pretty funny, she couldn't sing at all, but she did remember most of the words, and she had a really good time on stage.

I'm heading to the cottage for the weekend, finally. It's my mom's birthday on Tuesday, so we'll have to have some cake. It's been super hot the past few days, but I'm not complaining too loud, because it was super crappy before that. My only complaint is that I was pefectly happy sitting around in my skirt and bra last night (too hot for even a tanktop, sadly), when my...summer roommate... came home with a friend to watch a movie. *sigh* I'm pretty laid back, but not quite that far.

I have been still having fun on the naughty blog, we have it set up so that the post-er is left anonymous, except to the fellow post-ers, who can see the author when they compose something themselves. I may just stick a link up here soon, but I want to wait until it gets going. So far, there are only...3 story posts. Come on folks, let's get on with it! I'm still waiting for people to get in touch with me, I've invited everyone who immediately came to mind as having an imagination and a sense of adventure, but please feel free to step up and join the fun!

know what I love?

When a new band comes out, and I like all of their songs. Maroon 5 is one of these bands. It's true, they get overplayed on the radio, but we can't really fault the band for that, can we? Anyway, they have a new song out called "She Will be Loved", that's really good. My other favourite band du moment, Train, has a new song out too, but there is no word of a new album on their website, so I'm a bit confused. What else is new, eh?

I'm off to see Bryan Adams tonight, and I'm still excited. The boy is not so much anymore, my dad can't come so Tiresa is coming down, so it's going to be him and a bunch of girls. Ah well! If any of you would like to come and relieve him of his boyfriendly duties, you're officially invited. You all work and/or don't live here though, so it could be tricky.

The 'erotic blog' is coming along nicely. Pun intended. Ha! It's surprisingly fun writing this kind of stuff. I think I should really look at a career change, it would be super sweet to just sit and think up steamy situations all day. I'm going to do some research and find out how one goes about becoming a bonafide writer. Again, leave a comment or fire off an email if you'd like to play along.

know what I hate?

when I answer the phone and it's a telemarketer, but even more than that, when they say, "hello, Mrs. Roach?". My response is either, no, she doesn't live here, or no, there's no such person. I could be his cousin, roommate, whatever. But no. Annoying.

new searching-love

I've found this new search engine, called IceRocket.com. It seems pretty good, you should all go check it out.

summer project

if photography isn't your thing, how about a bit of literature to spice up your summer?   Thanks to Jenn's brilliant idea, we're going to embark on a writing project.   It's going to be a collaborative online erotic novel, or at least novella.   All are welcome; if you're interested, leave a comment or drop me a line and I'll invite you to the new site.   If you're not interested, or you're a prude, keep your comments to yourself.   hehe.

as if you'll notice

but just in case you do, I've fixed up the archives so that each post gets its own page, making linking to old posts *much* easier. The pre-titled ones have completely random names though, which is pretty funny, but that's ok. I'm going to bed now.

I am all about the linky links...

ICONPLAZA.com. They have even more emoticons than I do!

as per Meesh's request

The link which allows you to make your own fantastic drawings, and send them to your friends. My original one was from January 2003, so it apparently saves them for a while.

I love my own archives

You can see why I got that job teaching art last year...

what do you call a fish with no eye?

fsh.

ha!

so, when it gets that hot in my apartment that my poor fishes are swimming around in 86 / 30 degree water and it should be 79 / 26 degree water, what's a girl to do? I put some ice-cold Brita water in there last night, I don't know if it really helped, since I didn't want to put a lot in, rapid temperature changes aren't good for the little guys. Who knew something so small could be so nerve-racking? If the power goes out when it's cold, they're screwed. If it gets too warm, they're screwed. If the apartment caught on fire...you get the idea.

My algae eater has been slacking off lately, he used to keep the tank so clean I had to feed him algae wafers. Now, there's not a ton of algae, but it's definitely noticeable on the tank walls. I think I'll cut back on the wafers and see if things clear up. He's really quite gi-normous, he should be able to get it clean in like a day. All my other fish are just tiny, then we have Cleatus, who's roughly a foot long nose to tail. The other fish don't seem to mind, except when he takes a psychotic episode and thrashes around the tank. He jumped out one time, and he was so vile to touch. I hope that never happens again, for both of our sakes. When I get a house, I will buy him a super-gi-normous tank, but not before then, because giant tanks are very hard to move.

edit: the link works now.

Timothy McSweeney's Internet Tendency: Lists

Go ahead. You might as well get comfortable, you could be here for a while.

sh1ft.org presents 26 Things : July 2004

go nuts! I did this last summer too, and I'm running a bit late this summer, but many people submitted their entries late last time, and since it's not an actual contest, it's all good. Have fun, go take pictures! You don't need a digital camera, I think all remotely decent photo developpers will put your film on a cd for you, (make sure you do this at the same time you get your photos developed!), but you do need some space. I could host some of you on here, I'm sure, if anyone is in need.

In case you're that lazy that you can't click a link, here is what you need pictures of. Use your imagination, take things as literally or as not as you want:

lines
mechanical
stretch
through
bottom
organised
different
far away
green
mug
dummy
at night
liquid
artificial
out of reach
switch
relief
blades
missing
underground
historic
button
popular
grand
exotic
delicious

guess who has 20/20!

It is me!  I got lasik surgery on my left eye, which pre-surgery was worse than 20/400, and now it's 20/20.  Pretty cool, no?  The procedure took about 10 minutes all together, but the consultation (which was free, so go for it) took about an hour and a half a couple of days previous, and I was at the clinic for about 2 hours the day of the surgery, just waiting around and filling out paperwork.  Anyway, it was a bit pricey, but most definitely worth it.  Plus, they give you a sweet ass pair of safety glasses-inspired sunglasses that you're forced to wear at all times when awake for 4 days.  I've opted for my own glasses since day 2, because the ones they gave me are, frankly, ridiculous looking, and not actually all that dark, but more designed to prevent me from sticking my fingers and whatnot in my eye accidentally.  I also have to wear an eye shield for 4 nights so I don't accidentally poke my cornea while sleeping.  Probably a good precaution.  Corneas are important.  Anyway,  I just got it done Thursday, and I went in for my next-day checkup to find I had 20/20 vision, and that my corneal flap was healing perfectly, so I'm pretty stoked.  I'll keep you posted on any new developments.  
 
We've seen a couple of movies lately, most notably Spiderman and Anchorman.  Spiderman 2 was better than 1, of course, and I did enjoy it.  I had hyped it up quite a bit for myself, because everyone I knew who saw it said it was absolutely fantastic, and I don't know if I'd go that far in describing it, but it was good, the characters were better developed, the bad guy was cool, and there will definitely be another movie.  I saw Anchorman last night, and I laughed my ass off the whole time.  I ran into a friend of my sister's, who also saw the movie, and she said she could hear me laughing above pretty much everyone else.  Sweet.  There were some completely random moments in the movie, like Pleasure Land, which made really no sense, but as a whole, freaking funny.  I think I'll see it again, because there were so many great lines that I've forgotten. 
 
In other news, I have no other news, so I'm going to do nothing again, maybe sit in the sun for a bit.  Going to see Bryan Adams on Wednesday, looking forward to that.  Colin James is opening, so it should be a great show.  
 
 "I ate a lot of fiberglass insulation.  It wasn't cotton candy like that guy said it was.  My stomach is itchy."

Catenema.com: Do NOT Try This at Home!

Hil-freaking-arious. via Jenn, via lyd. Enjoy.

Good to know, all of it

drink your face off! but not whiskey...

Buy me this

Please? It's so cute. It comes in loads of fun colours, but I think blue is the way to go.

helpme.moderatelyspicy.com

it's just that you are all so...useful. haha. Ok. You know when you're on MSN Messenger, and you have a minimized window and that person starts talking to you, and it flashes orange? Can you change that colour to something less gross / more fun? I can't find it in any options anywhere, I'm fairly sure it's not just a MSN thing, but it's not in the windows appearance options either. Any ideas? I'm thinking like green, or pink, or something would be nice.

vacation

what can I say, summer doesn't make for interesting posting material. The most exciting thing I have to pass along is that the new DQ Moolattés are really, really good. The bad news is, they're really, really bad for you. Here's the breakdown:
Tim's Ice Cappuccino (made with cream) - 230 calories, 11 grams of fat
Tim's Ice Capp (made with 2% milk (you have to ask for that) - 150 calories, 1.5 g fat
DQ Moolatté (made with ice cream, what do you expect) - 490 calories, 18 g fat. Ouch.

So, the moral of the story is, stay away from the DQ Moolatté diet, it's a bad idea. But once in a blue moon, can't be a bad thing.

once again, I call on you, loyal readers...

haha. No, seriously. Our friend Jenn is in need of a recipe. Who remembers those chocolate, peanut butter marshmallow squares? They didn't have rice crispies in them, they weren't baked...you might have cooked the chocolate part before throwing in the marshmallows, but then they're just cooled to set. I think there's not a lot to them, chocolate chips, peanut butter, margarine, mini marshmallows. My mom never made these, I'm pretty sure they're atrociously unhealthy, but soooo good. Does anyone have that recipe?

just don't call the FBI, and they come to my apartment while I'm taking a nap

That was definitely the funniest part of Farenheit 9/11. You all have to go see it, and tell all your friends to go see it. There are some very funny parts, but mostly you'll likely spend the 2+ hours with your mouth agape and a 'what. the. fuck.' look on your face. I was pretty upset at the end, but mostly because the whole thing is so utterly ridiculous and, well, upsetting. Grant made fun of me a little bit, but whatever. Anyway, go see it.

Now, on a lighter note:


Letterman's Top Ten List: Top Ten George W. Bush Complaints About "Fahrenheit 9/11":

10. That actor who played the President was totally unconvincing

9. It oversimplified the way I stole the election

8. Too many of them fancy college-boy words

7. If Michael Moore had waited a few months, he could have included the part where I get him deported

6. Didn't have one of them hilarious monkeys who smoke cigarettes and gives people the finger

5. Of all Michael Moore's accusations, only 97% are true

4. Not sure - - I passed out after a piece of popcorn lodged in my windpipe

3. Where the hell was Spider-man?

2. Couldn't hear most of the movie over Cheney's foul mouth

1. I thought this was supposed to be about dodgeball

isn't she lovely...

he's not so bad either. This is my dear friend Calleen and her husband(!) Travis; they got married on Saturday. I thought this picture was fantastic, so I thought I'd share it with you all. Congratulations, lovebirds! The wedding was great, the reception was super fun...I had planned on coming home that same night but Calleen's parents, being the wonderful people they are, invited me to stay with them, so I got to stay for the whole reception and the breakfast (mmm, blueberry pancakes!) and gift opening the next day. I cried about 13 times all told, but that's generally what happens at weddings. This was only my second wedding ever, so it's still pretty new to me.

please help!

ok. About a month ago, possibly longer, we saw a preview for a movie. What was it? ha. No, seriously. The movie is a comedy, that as far as I know hasn't been out in theatres yet. All I can really remember is that there is a super geeky guy in the hallway at school, and he sort of freaks out, but not directly at somebody. It looked really funny, and I'm driving myself crazy trying to think of what it's called. I've checked all the 'coming soon' listings and nothing there looks familiar, so I'm at a loss. I am, however, looking forward to seeing a couple of movies that I do know the names of: Saved! and Without a Paddle. Hopefully they'll come out soon, and maybe they'll have a preview for this other mystery movie. There are lots of movies out right now I want to see...Farenheit 9/11, The Notebook (even though I'm pretty sure it's not a happy movie), Spiderman 2 (I've heard it's really good, much better than the first), and The Terminal. On my 'would like to see, but the rental will probably suffice' list are The Day After Tomorrow, The Chronicles of Riddick (I know, but I (heart) Vin..), and Stepford Wives.

Now you know. Anybody want to go to any of those with me? I'm free...now.

long time no see

yeah, well, turns out I did have some plans for this summer. They're just about done though. I went to Boothbay Harbor, Maine, to visit my uncle and eat at his restaurant, and it was good, as always. I went down with my mom and my grannie, and we had a pretty good time. Went to Freeport, didn't buy much though. For outlet stores, they're still really expensive. Went out on the boat with my uncle and got thrown around a bit, but that's a good time too.

Tomorrow my good friend is getting married, so I'm pretty excited for that. The only wedding I've ever been to is Tiresa's, and it was a lovely, outdoors in the park, justice of the peace wedding. This is going to be equally lovely I'm sure, but inside in a church instead. It's not a Catholic church though, which is a good thing I think, I've heard Catholic weddings are quite long.

after my island adventure tomorrow though, things get significantly quieter. We might be going to a wedding on the 16th, and I'm going to see Bryan Adams on the 21st, and then my vacation will be half over. That's pretty sketchy. Although, I suppose vacation is designed for not really doing anything. Good thing.

inspired by Jenn

Let's see how the title bar digs links.

So, for no real reason other than Jenn sort of did it, and I have this notion that you want to know trivial things about me, here you go.

Things that annoy me:
1) bad drivers
2) people who stick their tongue out when they laugh / smile
3) when the person you're trying to argue with doesn't make sense
4) the fact that my 16lb cat always sits on my bladder first thing in the morning
5) that a lot of the best things in life are not free

Things I like:
1) human contact
2) flirting with cute boys
3) hot chocolate, warm brownies
4) nice surprises
5) making a new friend
6) reading books that make me laugh out loud
7) wearing skirts
8) relaxing in the sun
9) that one of my cats is always up for a cuddle
10) naps

whee, prom!

I think, for the first hour anyway, that I had more fun than the students. Prom is SUCH a huge deal there, it's really funny. They have this whole 'grand march' thing, then the parents all hang out for like an hour and take pictures outside and stuff. Small towns, gotta love them. Anyway, wow I was tired. I felt hungover all yesterday, but it was purely lack of sleep. Interesting. Tonight the big plan is to go see Dodgeball. We thought about going last night, but I was too freaking tired.

For now, I must eat something. I haven't eaten much home-cooked food lately, I'm feeling a bit malnourished.

kill me now

my god, if I have to sit in one more meeting, I'm going to kill somebody. Hopefully not myself, but pain will have to be inflicted on somebody. Again, I'm teaching art to all grades, so all of the grade promotion meetings (who knew there was such a thing?) I have to attend. My input is basically useless, naturally, but my presence is required. Unfortunate. I have made some super sketches and doodles, and made up some fantastic limericks about my coworkers and students, but really...how productive is that? I've got my classroom and supply room in fantastic condition, everything is put away on shelves in an orderly manner and even labelled. I'm really, really proud of myself. I know I won't even be there next year, but since I have a bad feeling that it will be somebody like me, who doesn't really know what they're doing, I figure this will help tremendously.

the prom is tomorrow, I'm chaperoning it and safegrad. I don't have anything to wear though. I think I'll head out tonight for a bit and see if I can find a nice sundress or something. I have lots of clothes here, but they're all either really formal or sort of business casual, not too good for promming. Plus, I like getting dressed up, so I can go get something new. Friday I have a meeting at my new school, which should be fun because I'll be good and tired after safegrad, and Saturday I'm invited to the staff party for my new school, which is pretty cool. It's looking like English 9, 10, Theatre Arts, and Social Studies 10. Should be fun.

almost better

after a week of pain and then disgustingness as my entire upper body peeled off, I think I'm just about back to normal. lesson learned: wear sunscreen on all exposed parts of your body, even if you don't think it's that hot out. wind is tricky. I bought myself some sunscreen, and was all set to buy the PC brand, because I love PC, but I gave it a sniff, and it's not offensive by any means, but it just doesn't smell like summer. So I ended up paying an extra $3 for the Coppertone stuff that smells like the beach.

School is officially over for students, we finished up exams on Friday. I've done really well, I marked all of my exams and bubbled in final marks and comments as I went, so all I have left to do is the set of essays from my 11/12 class, and their bubble sheets. I'm quite proud of myself, but anyone who's not a teacher won't really see why this is so fantastic. That said, I'm not going to mark those until tomorrow, because I'm really enjoying this day of nothing. I've also started bringing my things home from school and un-decorating my classroom. It was so nice and bright all year with the artist posters and student work and things all over the place, it's pretty dreary now. My big plans for today include cleaning the inside of my car. I like to let the rain take care of the outside. That's about it. I did venture out to the Salisbury Big Stop to see the aforementioned bobbing lobster, and damn, it's the most hilarious and horrifying thing I've ever seen. So, obviously I bought one. Bargain price too, $3.19. Odd price. Pictures to follow.

I went to see Raising Helen on Thursday night with my camping buddy. Let's call her Anna. Anyway, the movie was really, surprisingly, good. There's a lot more to it than just the funny bits they show you in the preview, so I'd recommend it. Kate Hudson, whose hair I envy, Joan Cusack, who's just funny, and John Corbett, who's pretty sexy, but who I can only ever see as Chris, from Northern Exposure. I'm browsing the site for the movie, and I see that he is also 'the voice of General Electric'. Interesting. The girl who plays the eldest daughter is the same girl, grown up considerably, who played in Remember the Titans. The son is played by the kid from 'The Kid', very funny, and the littlest girl is played by his sister in real life, she's the little one from 'Signs', who would never drink the water, and she's just adorable. She made me cry at least once, but I found myself sniffling through a few parts of the film. Lots of funny parts too though; Anna and I were sitting there and enjoying our Garfield kids meal-sized popcorn buckets, and there was one part where you're just waiting for Kate Hudson to kiss John Corbett, but she just wouldn't, so I said 'oh, come ON!' a little louder than I meant to. Everybody laughed at me. haha.

Ok, off to vaccuum the car. Wooh!

mmm, sunburney

that's what you get for being blonde on the first hot day or 2 of the year. Ah well, that's what aloe vera gel is for, right?

I managed to get through my last term of the year unscathed, as did most of my students. I got a little sad Friday when I was telling everyone that I won't be back, but was very careful to tell them all that it wasn't my choice whether I got to come back or not. I most likely wouldn't have chosen to come back, given the option, but that's not the point. I'm waiting now to see what courses I'll be teaching for sure, and when I can get into my new classroom to see what I'm working with and maybe start to set up a bit. Since I didn't get my current job until about a week before teachers were to go back to school, I didn't get to do much of anything in advance.

This coming week is just for exams, tomorrow I don't have an exam so I'm going to do my damndest to get all the projects marked that came in last week, so that I'll be able to use the rest of my afternoons to mark tests and clean the freaking art room. It was such a disaster when I got there in the fall, I can't possibly leave it in total disarray for the next person, whomever that may be. I'm thinking it'll be somebody like me, just looking for a job who falls into it again. I enjoyed my time there for the most part, once I just accepted that some things are the way they are, and that there's nothing I can or even should try to do to change them, and also that I'd most likely only be there for a year.

On a completely unrelated topic, have any of you borrowed either my Romeo and Juliet DVD, my DMB Busted Stuff cd, or my To Kill a Mockingbird unit plan? I'm missing all of them and can't for the life of me figure out where any of them have gone. Also, I'm in the market for a new bobbing dog and / or a dancing hula girl for my car. I can't find either anywhere, so if anyone spots some fine car decorations such as these, pass it along!

never again

so, hiking. good times. camping with a bunch of 17-year olds. again, good times. Let me just tell you about my weekend. I have made some interesting discoveries.

discovery #1: the outdoor pursuits teacher is a dink. he's the one who put this whole trip together, and I swear to God, if I had not had another teacher friend with me on this trip, I would have left in the middle of the night without a second thought. I don't want to bore you with the details, but suffice to say it turned into my friend and I chaperoning the whole gd trip, including *leading* the pack of kids up the mountain, while the teacher enjoyed a leisurely stroll up the mountain with his girlfriend and another couple friend of theirs. We sat with the kids, played games with them and stuff, yelled at them to shut the hell up when it got to be about 2am and we had to drive for 5 hours today to get back here. The teacher...was either in the cooking cabin or the tent with his friends for the whole weekend. Good times. Most oft' heard comment in the tent with my friend, "I fucking hate camping." and / or "I fucking hate *insert teacher's name here*."

discovery #2: excercising does not help cramps, as I had previously read / been told. Not even a little bit. I'll also spare you details on this one, but as you can well imagine, this discovery went along with some other unpleasantness.

discovery #3: apparently, I have exercise-induced asthma. I was not aware of this, but I have also not ever tried to climb a mountain. I've been out of breath lots of times, I'm not exactly in peak physical condition, but this was completely different and really frightening; my throat closed up so I was all wheezy, at one point I could barely get any air in, so naturally I freaked out a bit and started crying, which was very helpful to my calming down and being able to breathe normally. I felt like a complete tit, especially for having been crying in front of Mr. Dink, and didn't get to go up to the top of the mountain. I made it just over halfway up, and I wasn't tired at all, and I was just generally pissed off to have to go back to the bottom, but I never would have made it.

discovery #4: kids, when left unattended, will throw just about anything in the campfire, including, but not limited to, giant plastic bags which held wood, water bottles full of water, and styrofoam cups. I'm sure they would have thrown more in, but we had limited ammunition for them, being at a camp site. Along with this, kids are really sort of stupid. They can all hear each other in their tents, but they were remarkably, and repeatedly, surprised when my friend or I would yell at them from our tent to shut up and go to sleep. I got "I thought they were asleep!" and "how did they hear us??" and my friend got one "oh, fuck off" when the kid didn't realize it was a teacher telling him to quiet down. That was pretty funny. She was like, "Pardon me?" The kid was like, "oh, shit, ah....sorry Madame.."

discovery #5: camping in the rain and cold is really, really unpleasant. I didn't have a sleeping bag, so the outdoor pursuits teacher lent me one of his. It was the size of a very small pillow, when in the bag. I was assured it was good, but it really wasn't. It was Thinsulate, but I'm sure designed only for summer camping. It was easily 0 both nights, and damper than damp since it literally didn't stop raining for more than 10 minutes the whole time we were there, and I froze my ass off. I was sleeping in flannel pj bottoms, sweat pants, 2 pairs of socks, a t-shirt, hooded sweatshirt, and winter hat. I was still cold. I was warm for like 20 minutes, and sooooo blissfully happy for those 20 minutes, but then it got damp and cold and I was like, "I fucking hate camping." again. I think I will go though, this summer, when it's not raining and freezing, and there are no people I don't like, and no students, and I can drink. Those things will all make the experience much more enjoyable, I think. Anyway, I'm home now, and clean and dry and relatively warm, but in dire need of some sleep. I was supposed to go on a weekend canoe trip with the same bunch, but without my friend, and there is just no way in hell I'm going. I've given my notice, so I don't feel bad at all.

I hate camping.

whee, find out about me!

Brought to me by D

1. Your name spelled backwards - Haras
   
2. Where were your parents born - Halifax and Saint John
   
3. What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer - porn. just kidding. mp3s.
   
4. What's your favorite restaurant - East Side Marios
   
5. Last time you swam in a pool - wow, a long time ago
   
6. Have you ever been in a school play - yep, I was the narrator in grade one for Sleeping Beauty, then had a bit of a dry spell until grade 11, I had a solo in the musical
   
7. How many kids do you want - 2 or 3
   
8. Type of music you dislike most - gangsta rap
   
9. Are you registered to vote - yes
   
10. Do you have a car - yes, a blue Dodge sx 2.0
    
11. Have you ever ridden on a moped - no
    
12. Ever prank call anybody - before the days of caller ID
    
13. Ever get a parking ticket - nope, no tickets, ever. 2 warnings.
    
14. Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving - yes, sky diving
    
15. Furthest place you ever traveled - Florida. Coolest - NY.
    
16. Do you have a garden - no, I have some plants I'm trying not to kill
    
17. What's the size of your bed - double
    
18. Do you really know all the words to your national anthem - yes, in French aussi
    
19. Bath or Shower, morning or night - morning, I can't wake up otherwise
    
20. Best movie you've seen in the past 4 months - Love Actually
    
21. What's the next movie you want to see - Shrek 2
    
22. Chips or popcorn - popcorn
    
23. Have you ever broken any hearts - yep, and I don't regret it at all
    
24. Premarital sex - yes please. I hope my mom's reading this!
    
25. Are you a good cook - getting there
    
26. Orange or Apple juice - orange, definitely
    
27. Who was the last person you went out to dinner with and where did you go - the boy and his family, to ESM last night
    
28. Favorite type of drink - non alcoholic = chocolate milk, alcoholic = daquiris, coladas, kahlua and milk
    
29. Best thing in the world - feeling loved
    
30. Have you ever broken a bone - yes, my arm, my first time on the rollerblades I got for my 12th birthday.
    
31. Have you ever won a trophy - trophy, no, but I got plaques for poetry and highest mark in grade 9 shop, and medals for highest score on math competitions in my school in grade 10 and 11. I'm multi talented.
    
32. What is your favorite board game - tie, Taboo or Cranium
    
33. What is your dream car - I don't really have one.
    
34. Ever order an article from an infomercial - no, but I was very tempted by the Ronco Food Dehydrator, Yogurt Maker and Jerky Machine. It makes jerky AND yogurt. very intriguing.
    
35. Coke or Pepsi - Coke, if only for the fact that they have orginal ads
    
36. Have you ever had to wear a uniform to work - yep, McDonald's and VIA
    
37. Last thing you bought at a pharmacy - nothing for a while
    
38. Who are you going to marry - hopefully the boy...
    
39. Who would you like to meet - I don't think I'd like to meet anybody famous, what would I say?
    
40. Do you believe in love at first sight - sure
    
41. What features do you find most attractive in the opposite sex - a nice smile and the ability to make me laugh
    
42. Where would you go for a romantic evening - I have no idea
    
43. How many pairs of shoes do you own - many
    
44. Last song stuck in your head - 'I Feel Pretty', I saw Anger Management recently
    
45. Any pets - 2 cats and a bunch of fish
    
46. What's your all time favorite Saturday Night Live Character - Land Shark right now
    
47. What is one thing you would like to learn to do - horseback ride
    
48. What do you do when you are bored - write to you fools
    
49. What is one thing you would want someone to appreciate about you - the little things
    
50. What is one thing you are grateful for today - acing the interview

phewf

as usual, just when I had convinced myself that I would either be a) jobless b) stuck teaching art or c) teaching small engine repair at a school in the boonies, I get a call from the school I really wanted to work at, that I had an interview at on Tuesday but didn't tell anyone about, telling me I have the job.

I nearly wet myself.

The combination of relief and just sheer excitement at getting to teach at this school, which is an excellent school, and getting to teach exactly what I'm *supposed* to be teaching just had me giddy for about half an hour. I called my mom, of course. I was to the point today with my worrying that I was actually feeling nauseaus. I worry, I can't help it.

So, I'm secure, I'll probably get my permanent contract there next year and be set and be there as long as I want, unless I get bumped (go unions!), I can not worry this summer, and I don't have to go to that ridiculous job fair next week. Which is good, because Mort has a vet appointment.

Grant is in Fredericton, or hopefully on hs way home by now, his graduation was today. I'm worn right out, I think I need to have a nap. My only remaining worry is that the boy won't get a job here, and then what do we do. If he gets a job reasonably close by, we can commute, but that won't work in like, Halifax. So, if you don't mind, keep the happy thoughts flowing for a bit to get things going for him too.

trying new things

so I've got some form mail happening over at McSeagull's, so as to minimize the spam action that's been happening. No, I don't want animated logos or millions of hits per day, nor do I want to enlarge my anything, thank you very much. I'll see how it goes over there, go give it a shot..then perhaps do it here as well. I had to do some searching though, I'm generally pretty happy with the way Dreamhost handles things and explains them, but I couldn't figure out how to get the form mail thing going. I think I've got it though, but there were a couple of things I couldn't quite get...the redirect error page if you don't fill in your stuff kept popping up whenever you hit submit, regardless of your having filled in all the fields, so I just took that option off.

Went to see Troy last night, and though there are plenty of eye candy shots, the movie just wasn't great. You all know I'm a big fan of Brad, but I just don't know. He did a good job, but he kept throwing in the odd word with an accent, where 95% of his dialogue had no discernable accent. A little odd. Eric Bana played Hector, and did a fantastic job; his was definitely the strongest character, and he looked mighty good. There was one part in the movie (sorry to spoil it if you haven't seen it, but you really should know the basic story anyway), where Paris (who's a bit of a tit, btw) tells Hector that he's smuggled Helen aboard the boat to Troy. Hector is understandably pissed, as this is going to start a war, and I was just waiting for him to go all Hulk on the guy. Didn't happen. Probably a wise directorial choice. Now I'm just excited to see Shrek 2, which started today. I'm just checking out the website, it's got games and stuff. Sweet.

Still waiting on my job prospects. I'll hear something by Friday...I'm really hoping to not have to go to the D job fair, which is basically just all the first year (D contract) teachers being herded around like a bunch of cattle, to pimp ourselves to principals in an effort to secure a position for next year. Hey, what about just having a normal application and interview process? Treating us like professional human beings, perhaps. I'm a little bitter. The more I think about my current situation, the more angry I become. I have no idea if I'm being told the whole truth, who this mystery person is that might be coming back, but I do know that my position was never her position, so I don't really understand why it's even an issue. It does make my decision to leave easier, but it also makes the whole deal a bit more shaky. 10 more class days. I thought I would be able to give my tests during classes, not exam period, but apparently the students have to come during exam period, so I may as well do it then. *sigh* I need to have everything marked and bubbled by that Friday, because I'm going on a freaking canoe trip with the outdoor pursuits class. Those of you who know me will find this a bit funny...I'm not particularly adept at canoeing, and I don't camp much. Which is why, obviously, I'm also going camping next weekend, with the class. They needed female chaperones, so one of my teacher buddies and I agreed to go, but only because we're both going. Should be interesting.

stress

so I've applied for 3 jobs, but I really only want one. Now the waiting begins. They have to get things going before Friday, as far as interviews go, so it shouldn't take too long. Cross your fingers, folks. I hate it though, this waiting. I'll keep you posted whenever I find stuff out.

I think we're going to see Troy tonight, I'm pretty excited. It's quite long, so we're hitting the early show.

More later, supper beckons.

ooh ooh

go and add McSeagull's to your favourites, I made a favourites / address bar icon, it's super cute.

fancy

I like change, this new blogger layout is pretty swank.

Job postings came out today, there are only a couple I think I want to apply for, because I know a lot of them don't actually exist. Very complicated, and I'm not going to explain it, it's all political and I don't really understand it at all myself. Things are not going extremely well with our houseguest and with the boy working 12 hour shifts every day, but I don't really feel like going into that either. I just vented at Tiresa, so I feel marginally better, but not really. Working at the group home, taking care of people who were dependent on me for literally everything, was not this stressful or aggrivating.

I'm going to go re-blonde my hair and watch a movie, by myself. Good times.

ticket line etiquette

I was waiting in line for Bryan Adams tickets this morning (go ahead, laugh, the show is going to be great). It's a good idea to strike up some smalltalk with the person or people around you in line. This is good for 2 reasons. Reason one, waiting in line is freaking boring, so it helps to chat a bit. Reason 2, if you have to pee, the person behind you is much more likely to save your place happily if you've been friendly to them. Now, as I write this, I wonder if anyone would say no, when asked to save your spot in line. That would be pretty mean. I can't see it happening here, but maybe in bigger cities or something. People are pretty friendly here. The other day, I was at WalMart, and any of you who have ever shopped at WalMart know that the parking lot is a very scary place. I've never seen such a collection of frightening drivers as I find regularly in that place. That said, I'm driving up and down the rows to find a spot, and I see one, but as I'm pulling in, another woman is doing a drive-through job from the other side. She paused, and then smiled and backed up so we could both have spots. We chatted a bit on the way to the door, and decided that not everyone would have backed up. My faith in WM shoppers/drivers has been somewhat restored, but I'm still always really nervous driving there and pulling out of spots. I always go for the drive through spots if possible.

I have absolutely no plans for this weekend, except to give Jenn a call and see what's going on. Maybe catch a movie or something. I also have to try out my giant daquiri glass. mmm. Strawberries are on sale for $1.97 at Superstore, so I can have some real berry action in my drink, which is bound to help. A friend of mine made some with a bit of lime juice concentrate and a banana, and they were delish. I may try that.

how about you just don't have sex with strangers

more on spermicides. seriously, stay away from that stuff, and just have sex with people whose sexual history you know. seems like a wise choice anyway.

Like having sex with a Ziploc bag

I love the Shopping Bags, on W network (formally WTN). Today they're doing a Valentine's Day special, a re-run of course. Anyhoo, they tested condoms, and I just had to share the results with you. Two things I found particularly interesting. One was the fact that the amount of spermicide on spermicidally lubricated isn't really enough to do any good, so you might as well skip that kind. Many women are allergic too, and you don't really want to find that out if you don't have to. The other thing I thought was crazy was the price difference. We have the old stand-bys, Trojan (regular) and Lifestyles (ribbed), which run about $0.50 each. But then they tested Avanti brand polyurethane, which are $3.20 each, and Ramseys (thin) which were $0.92 each. The Avanti ones got the votes, so I guess you get what you pay for, but the couples agreed that $3 was a bit much for one condom, if you're going to use them regularly at all. They tested a female condom, but it's like $6 a pop, and that's where the subject line came from, so I can't say as I'd recommend those either. It looks like Ramseys Thin is the best bet; the regular Trojans were just 'ok', and the ribbed Lifestyles didn't do anything fantastic.

almost 40% of pregnancies around the world are unplanned. Take your folic acid, just in case!

and now you know.

also, you get what you pay for with chocolate. The brand they tested, Valrona, costs around $6 for 100g, and it beat out Lindt chocolate by a long shot, so I'll have to find myself some to try. Also, better quality chocolate has more cocoa and cocoa butter, which is better for you.

A little while back, my cheap, plastic garlic press broke. This is what happens when you buy your kitchen utensils at Dollarama, I guess. Anyway, I bought a new one, and it's just fantastic. Works like a charm. It's almost medieval looking. I love it. On the topic of giant kitchen things...Grant went to a restaurant called Medieval Times while he was in Florida, and brought me back This bad boy, posed with a normal sized martini glass for comparison. The obvious question here is, who's going to help me break it in? I'm thinking it could hold pretty much a blender-full of daquiri itself. mmmmm.

dilemma

ok, folks, public opinion time. I've been growing my hair for quite some time now. I did cave a few months back and cut it a la Julia Stiles. That was the idea, anyway. It came relatively close. I have some relatively unflattering pictures of myself to show you now. Here is what my hair looks like long-ish. I don't really have a lot of hair, it's pretty fine, so I'm not sure I can even really get it to where I want it. Generally, I end up just putting my hair back mid-morning, because it's annoying. That said, I've had short hair lots of times, and am thinking of just kiboshing the growing thing and going back to that. Example 1, and example 2. Opinions? Pretend you care, I need input.