30 minutes west of paradise

My (sort-of) Ben Mulroney encounter

2005-05-10T10:26:00.000-03:00

Cough, cough! Is anybody here? Anyone? Cough, cough!

Sorry, please don't mind me. I'm just clearing away the cobwebs and dusting off this sadly-neglected place. It's such a shame I haven't updated lately, especially since (for once!) I actually have something semi-exciting to write about.

"Canadian Idol" auditions were held very close to where I work a few weeks ago. No, I didn't try out, but I had two good reasons. First of all, I'm just a little too old (although I'd still be young enough to be this year's "American Idol" if I lived on the other side of the border--LOL!) and second of all, I'm as musically-impaired as you can imagine. Yes, I know reason #2 hasn't stopped countless others from auditioning for "Idol" shows, but sadly, they all seem to have a much higher tolerance for getting embarassed on national TV than I do. :p

So no golden ticket to Toronto for me, but I did spot Ben Mulroney shooting a "Canadian Idol" promo with about a dozen other hopefuls outside my workplace window. Ben Mulroney is to "Canadian Idol" what Ryan Seacrest is to the US version, for those of you who may not know. ;)

Ben needed at least 10 retakes before getting his lines just right, but the funniest part was he pronounced the word "sesquicentennial" perfectly during every single take while screwing up much simpler words. Here are some other things I noticed about Mr. Mulroney:

He's much shorter in person (not a good thing!)

He wore a multicoloured leather jacket very reminiscent of the jackets worn by many of the guys who made my life a living Halifax back in the early 1990s. This, to me, is a sign Ben may be subconsciously nostalgic for his junior high/high school years (most definitely not a good thing, IMO!)

But OTOH, Ben's chin is also much smaller in person, and those of you who are familiar with his father know this is a very good thing! ;)

So that's the story of my semi-quasi-encounter with Ben Mulroney. The kiss Kurt Browning blew to me (and about 200 other fans sitting in my general direction) at the skating show I attended last winter will still bring me fonder memories as far as my quasi-celebrity encounters of the year go, but since this was the most exciting thing to happen at my workplace for quite some time (as sad as that may sound), I wanted to share it just the same. And if you see Ben Mulroney in an early 1990s multi-coloured leather jacket surrounded by "Canadian Idol" hopefuls and a few other random people in period costume, please think of me. :)

And now I'm off to catch up on certain other blogs I've sadly neglected over the past few weeks (blush!)

Geekiest. Online. Quiz. Ever.

2005-04-18T23:01:00.000-03:00

I do believe I have found the Geekiest. Online. Quiz. Ever.

Which File Extension are You?

I don't know which confession sounds geekier: Admitting I took 10 minutes out of my life to take this quiz or admitting I had a hard time choosing only one answer from the "What you hated the most from school was..." question.

In other news, I just saw a Tim Horton's commercial on a US TV station about an hour ago. I know Tim Horton's has existed in the States for at least a few years now, but I was still a little shocked to see that familiar brand name associated with a completely different commercial and (most shocking of all) a slightly different logo than the Tim's commercials I'm so used to seeing on Canadian stations over and over and over and over again.

I now know how my neighbours on the other side of the border must feel whenever they see McDonald's/Burger King/Subway/whatever fast-food chain commercials from other countries. :)

Does this look familiar to you?

2005-04-07T21:04:00.000-03:00

Yup, I can definitely relate to this! Not that this applies to any of my other regular visitors, mind you. :)

This is me, from A to Z...

2005-04-03T19:07:00.000-03:00

A nice, long A to Z survey shamelessly stolen from, well, at least four or five other people. I'm sure you all know who you are. :p

Accent? I personally don't think I have one, but I'm sure most people who could hear me talk would probably disagree. ;)

Bra size? 34B. No, I don't mind sharing this little fact with the world. After all, it's not as if I have much to hide in this department. ;)

Chore I hate? Vacumning. I have a teeny tiny vacumn which only comes up to my waist and I have to bend over really deep and get a backache every time I use it. Not to mention it never does pick up all the dirt on carpeted floors and it takes me a while to remember how to spell "vacumn" correctly. :p

Dad's name? Well, I usually prefer to call him "Dad." ;)

Essential make-up? Lipstick and concealer are the two makeup items I'd really consider essential. My lips are probably one of my best features and they get dry easily, so I almost always at least a bit of lipgloss even when no one else is around to see me. :)

Favorite perfume? I got out of the habit of wearing perfume after working at a couple of scent-free environments, but I used to love the Body Shop's White Musk and Oceanus fragrances.

Gold or Silver? Silver; it doesn't tarnish nearly as fast as gold.

Hometown? Somewhere in Eastern Canada

Interesting fact? I've tasted Raspberry Cordial, Anne of Green Gables chips and Anne of Green Gables coffee and found them all quite yummy. I'm also one of the few people in my neck of the woods who would actually admit to doing any of the above. :p

Job title? I don't feel comfortable posting my exact job title since there are only three or four of us in the entire province and I'm having a hard enough time finding permanent employment, but let's just say my job title sounds much more impressive than it actually is. :p

Kids? None yet, which is good since I'm barely able to support myself right now!

Living arrangements? Yup, I'm still alive. ;)

Mom's Birthplace? Smack dab in the middle of the middle of Eastern Canada

Number of apples eaten in last week? Not nearly as many as I should have eaten.

Overnight hospital stays? Well, there was that one time when I was born, but apart from that, none...and I'd prefer to keep it that way until/unless I have children of my own someday.

Phobias? Rejection, gravity-defying amusement park rides, hairdressers (if you've had the same amount of bad hair experiences I've had over the years, you'd understand why!), the fact anyone I know in real life might read this blog :p

Question you ask yourself a lot? Why is it so dang hard to find permanent employment around these parts? :(

Religious affiliation? You know, the one with all the well-meaning rules that don't work out in real life. Uh...Christianity. Or more specifically, non-practicing Catholic.

Siblings? One older sister.

Time I wake up? Around 5:30 a.m. when I have to get up early to go to work; between 10 and 11 a.m. when I don't. No, I'm definitely not a morning person!

Unnatural hair color? No, but that might change someday if I ever find a stylist I can trust enough to put any sort of permanent hair dye or highlights in my hair.

Vegetable I refuse to eat? Turnips and canned peas.

Worst habit? Procrastination...as you can plainly see by the number of times I've updated this blog lately. :blush:

X-rays? About once a year when I visit the dentist...and again, I'd prefer to keep it that way!

Yummy food I make? Veggie lasagna

Zodiac sign? Leo.

PS. Wow, I've gotten more than 100 hugs since my last entry! I never knew location would make that much of a difference! Thanks, everybody, for making me feel so loved. :)

Testing 1-2-3!

2005-03-31T22:55:00.000-04:00

Well, it only took me almost a week longer than originally promised to finally give this place a facelift! Although it's hard for me to tell from the view outside my window, spring is officially here and I wanted a new look to reflect that change. I'm sure most of you are no longer in the mood to look at snowdrifts this time of year anyway! ;)

Unfortunately, the original layout I wanted to use wouldn't work properly for me; all I received was a lovely "An error has occured on the script of this page" window over and over and over again every time I answered "yes" or "no" to the "Do you want to continue running scripts on this page?" question. I know nobody wants to see that every time they visit a site, so I had to scrap the whole thing and settle on this lovely "dewy blade of grass" layout instead. You'd be surprised at how few decent "spring-themed" layouts can be found on blogskins.com. Really, you would. :( One of these days I will buckle down and learn how to create a site layout from scratch. Really, I will. Or not.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the new look and I hope it won't be too much longer until it really feels like spring! :) More to come later...and this time, I really do mean it. :)

PS. Notice how much easier it is to see my hug counter with this new layout? (hint, hint!)

Just a couple of funny tidbits

2005-03-23T23:03:00.000-04:00

From an e-mail I received this morning about a job posting for which I'm hopelessly unqualified:

Candidates must be mature and have an extensive background in video game play.

Gee, and all this time, I thought those two qualifications were mutually exclusive. :p

I also caught the opening credits of an old Living Color--a show I've never watched in my life--episode today and it was strange to see a certain Canadian robbed-of-an-Oscar-nomination-for-Eternal-Sunshine-of-the-Spotless-Mind actor credited as "James Carrey." His face, OTOH, hasn't changed a bit. :)

Speaking of changes, I'm finally going to give this place a facelift sometime during the Easter weekend. A more spring-appropriate look, I hope. It'll be nice to have a new layout where readers won't have to scroll across the page to see all those big quiz result photos and I'd like to finally move my hug counter to a location where people can actually see it and (hint, hint!) give me some more hugs! ;)

I also have a few more updates in store, but I'll save those later. I'm sorry I've been neglecting this place so terribly lately--partly due to my crazy work hours and partly due to the fact I needed a little (okay, maybe more than a little!) break after blogging for 28 days straight last month--but I just want to say that even though I may be a little slow at keeping up with everyone on my "suggested reading material" list, you're always in my thoughts. :)

More about me than anyone ever wanted to know!

2005-03-21T22:26:00.000-04:00

Advanced Global Personality Test Results

Extraversion		23%
Stability		50%
Orderliness		56%
Empathy		63%
Interdependence		50%
Intellectual		76%
Mystical		56%
Artistic		76%
Religious		16%
Hedonism		10%
Materialism		30%
Narcissism		43%
Adventurousness		23%
Work ethic		70%
Self absorbed		56%
Conflict seeking		23%
Need to dominate		30%

Romantic		36%
Avoidant		70%
Anti-authority		43%
Wealth		23%
Dependency		30%
Change averse		50%
Cautiousness		63%
Individuality		70%
Sexuality		30%
Peter pan complex		50%
Physical security		63%
Food indulgent		16%
Histrionic		30%
Paranoia		70%
Vanity		50%
Hypersensitivity		70%
Female cliche		70%

Take Free Advanced Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

Stability results were medium which suggests you are moderately relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic.

Orderliness results were moderately high which suggests you are, at times, overly organized, reliable, neat, and hard working at the expense of flexibility, efficiency, spontaneity, and fun.

Extraversion results were low which suggests you are very reclusive, quiet, unassertive, and secretive.

Thanks, Jessica! These things are sometimes sooo accurate, they're downright scary!

All the hot and heavy details of last week's big date!

2005-03-20T11:23:00.000-04:00

As promised, here's my very belated review of my long-awaited date with Kurt, Elvis, Brian and company. I hope it's worth the wait...and I hope it makes up for me not updating this place in over a week. :blush:

The show wasn't completely sold out--I'd guess about 80% of the seats were filled--but I attribute that mainly to yesterday's less-than-stellar weather conditions. The morning began with freezing rain and I worried until almost literally the last minute that I wouldn't get to go, but fortunately it changed to rain by the afternoon, and well, a little bit of rain is nothing when it comes to seeing Kurt! I was also a little worried when I read reports Kurt was suffering from a cold and a groin injury. :(

But I'm happy to report if Kurt can perform like that when he's not feeling well, I'd love to see him skate live someday when he's 100% healthy!

Second of all, I'm happy to report there were absolutely no falls during the show! There were a few touchdowns and a few stepped-out landings (at least some of which can be due to the fact this particular rink was at least a little smaller than most of the others these skaters are used to performing in) but no out-and-out splats. Even most of the little CanSkate kids (there was one little guy in an oversized Toronto Maple Leafs jersey who couldn't quite keep up with the others who I thought was especially adorable!), the local syncronized skating team and both of our local soloists managed to stay on their feet. I was especially impressed with the one girl who had to skate after Kurt, Elvis, Brian and Shawn's number--now that was a tough act to follow! :)

Actually, I stand corrected. Kurt did splat once during the show. He did a Q&A segment with Elvis and Brian shortly after intermission (an idea I'd like to see at other skating shows someday, BTW!) A little girl asked Kurt if he'd ever fallen on the ice and Kurt replied, "No, never!"...and immediately fell flat on his back with his microphone (and possibly a box of Kleenex) in his hand. ;)

The next question was "What was your most embarrassing moment?" to which Kurt responded, "That's a very good question...and I'm glad I don't have to answer it!
Brian?" Brian said his most embarrasing moment was having to skate in a show wearing a one-piece jumpsuit which, ahem, didn't cover as much as he wanted. :p

The third and final question, for Elvis, was "How long have you been skating?" Elvis said he'd been skating for 27 years and Kurt replied, "What? You've been skating longer than I have!" Kurt said he'd only been skating 25 years--at least when it came to wearing skates with pointy things--and Elvis responded, "Hey, I'm only 25!" That last sentence sounds like sort of a private joke between Kurt and Elvis--Elvis said the same thing during a local radio interview he and Kurt gave this morning.

Most of my thoughts during Kurt's first number--to "The Feeling Begins" by Peter Gabriel--were along the lines of "Ouch!" (I couldn't help thinking about Kurt's groin injury whenever he did one of those awesome spirals or Middle Eastern-type moves), "OMG, that jump/footwork was sooo awesome!" and "OMG, I can't believe I'm seeing this awesome program in person." Kurt's only skated this program once before--at a team competition in Winnipeg last December--and it's even more effective in a show setting under full spotlights. The only disappointing thing about the program was Kurt didn't receive a standing ovation. I definitely thought he deserved one, but I didn't want to look like a dork standing up all by myself. :(

Don't worry; I (and everyone else in the audience) made up for it when Kurt received a standing ovation for his second number to "Time In A Bottle" by Jim Croce. :D

The three things that stood out for me during last night's program were (a) the 2-axel which almost flew over the heads of the on-ice seats, (b) Kurt fell flat on his back and pretended (maybe??) to pant from exhaustion after the final, solemn bended-on-one-knee pose (which I thought was a great way to lighten the mood up after such a slow, serious final solo number) and (c) Kurt blew me a kiss while taking his final bows. :D Well, okay, I had to share the kiss with the other 200 or so fans sitting in my section, but since that's the closest thing I have to an
up-close-and-personal Kurt encounter, that was fine with me! :D

I really, really hope the "cane" number with the four guys to K-OS
Crabbuckit will be performed in a televised event someday because I really, really want to get it on tape! I'm sorry I don't remember much about this number except:

(a) I loved the costumes!

(b) At one point in the number, the four guys stood their canes until they pointed up to the ceiling, but Shawn's stayed flat on the ice for some reason. I don't know whether that was a glitch or just part of the act, but either way, I thought it was "covered" very well!

(c) I thought Kurt did an awesome job with the choreography and I only wish I could remember most of it. :(

Actually, Shawn was the skater who impressed me most during this number, not only because he did such a great job keeping up with such illustrious company, but I'm not sure how easy it must be for a reverse jumper/spinner like Shawn (or Todd Eldredge) to move naturally in the same direction as the other three guys.

Shawn's solo numbers weren't bad, either. :p His first number was basically his competitive SP with a backflip thrown in. He also landed a couple of nice triple-triple combinations (the most difficult jumps landed by anyone that night!) and another backflip thrown in for good measure during his second number. :D

Lefevbre and Markov's first number was their exhibition skate to Madonna's "Music" and their second number was their competitive OD.

I don't know the music of Jennifer Robinson's first number, but I think it was a brand-new program. Her second number was "Murder She Said." She almost fell into the people sitting on the corner on-ice seats during both her lutz attempts (both were singled), but nailed all her other jumps. One thing I noticed about Jennifer is she looks much faster in person than on TV. :D

Brian's first number was to a slow Josh Groban song (sorry, I can't remember the title, but it's not one of Josh's English songs) and his second was to the Counting Crows' "Accidentally In Love." I'd already seen Brian in person at the last skating show I attended waayy back in 1996, but I certainly didn't mind seeing him again! The first number was "classic graceful slow Brian" while the second was "classic
upbeat happy Brian doing lots of great footwork and a backflip right at my section of the rink." :D Both were, as always, wonderful to watch.

Elvis' first number was, well, a classic Elvis exhibition--in other words, lots of jumping, hip shaking, gliding across the ice and pointing at the audience. There were also a couple of spins and three Arabians in a row thrown in towards the end, IIRC.

I really wish Elvis would be a little more creative in some of his exhibition numbers, but since this was the first time I've seen him in person and he was sooo "on," I'll forgive him. At least this time. ;-)

Elvis' second number was another brand-new program to a hard rock male ballad I couldn't identify. It sounded kind of like a Van Halen song, but please don't take my word on that. I admit this program wasn't much of a choreographic stretch for Elvis, either, but at least it was different from his first number and again, he was really "on." Lots of awesome jumps and an even more awesome scratch spin at the end of the program.

Elvis' second number and Kurt's "Time In A Bottle" were the only two programs to receive full standing ovations last night. :( The Russian acrobats received a partial standing O for their second program, but I preferred "the hockey player and the '80s spandex aerobics guy" number they skated in the first half.

Shae-Lynn's second solo ("All That Jazz" was her first) was probably my favourite non-Kurt performance of the night. She skated to "La Cumparsita" and used a chair as a prop. Shae and the chair lost control at one point and slipped off the ice towards the guy on the receiving end of her water pistol during "All That Jazz," but I'm not sure whether or not it was an accident. ;) It was wonderful to see Shae skate with a partner again, even if it is an inanimate object, and this is another program I'd really like to get on tape someday.

I'm afraid I can no longer hate the song "Let's Get It Started" by Black-Eyed Peas
since it's technically the first song I've ever seen Kurt skate to in person...in leather pants, no less. :) A couple of other songs were played during the opening number, but I can't remember what they were.

The closing number was a George Michael medley: "One More Try" featuring the pairs, ice dancers and ladies, "Killer" featuring the guys and "Faith" with the entire cast. I remember Kurt, Brian and Elvis did side-by-side-by-side 2-axels, Brian and Shawn did SBS backflips and a lot of choreography from Kurt, Brian and Elvis' segment was borrowed from the number they did together at Gotta Skate last fall.

As wonderful as both of Kurt's solos were, I kind of wish he had reversed the order in which he performed them--the audience grew louder as the show went on, so I'm sure he would have gotten a standing O for his first number then.

If Celebration on Ice comes back next year--and I certainly hope they do--I kind of hope they come in April or May instead of during the middle of winter (or at least not the week before Worlds!) That way, more of the top eligible skaters could take part and I wouldn't have to spend so much time worrying about the weather before the show. :p Including music information and order of skate in the program would be useful, too--since sooo many of the programs were brand-new ones I'd never seen before, I had a lot of difficulty identifying some of the music! :(

So yeah, I managed to enjoy myself quite a bit last night. :D Thanks for asking (and thanks for taking the time to read this very long review!)

My big date with Kurt, Elvis and Brian=Success!

2005-03-09T21:38:00.000-04:00

Tickets=$55 each
Tour program=$10
Amount of time spent driving in pouring rain to arena=one hour
Cost of successful first date with Kurt, Elvis, Brian and company=priceless

Everyone hopes to experience amazing things in their lives. For me, one of those amazing things was finally getting to see a dozen or so of my favourite skaters up-close and personal for the very first time last night. :)

A much longer review is on the way, but for now, I'd like to start by letting everyone know the show began with a children's choir singing "Ice Cream" and a few other songs I should know from the Anne of Green Gables musical, but have forgotten. I just thought some of you visitors who might not necessarily be skating fans might like to know that. ;)

I'd also like to share the good news that yes, there is at least one straight guy on the planet (or at least in my province) willing to voluntarily attend a figure skating event. He just happened to be sitting right above me. The bad news is his girlfriend/wife just happened to be sitting right next to him, but it's still reason to hope just the same. ;) Not that "must be a figure skating fan" is a hard-and-fast requirement on my "required qualities of my ideal man" list--I might as well join the "Eternal Spinsters For Life" club right now if it was--but it certainly would be a very nice bonus. If I ever found such a guy, I'd even be willing to sit through a few hockey games or monster truck rallies in return.

To be continued tomorrow...I hope!

Bye-bye Blog-O-Rama

2005-02-28T21:37:00.000-04:00

I survived 28 straight days of Blog-O-Rama and all I have to show for it is this measely questionnaire I stole from Robin.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 5:45 a.m. (Ahh, the joy of having to get up early for work!)

2. Diamonds or pearls? Between the two, I'd choose diamonds, but like a certain L.M. Montgomery heroine, I think amethysts are the most beautiful jewels of all.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? The third Harry Potter movie with the word at the end I can never spell properly. Yes, it was that long ago.

4. What is your favorite TV show? "Rick Mercer's Monday Report" and anything skating-related.

5. What did you have for breakfast? A bagel with peanut butter.

6. What is your middle name? An extremely common middle name spelled in an extremely uncommon fashion.

7. What is your favorite cuisine? Almost anything Chinese or Italian.

8. What foods do you dislike? Eggs (I'm allergic and I literally get nauseous whenever I'm in the same room with anyone eating or cooking them), almost all meat except for the occasional chicken, gravy and turnips. This list could be much longer since I'm a very picky eater, but those are the foods on top of my list.

9. What is your favorite potato chip flavor? Dill pickle and plain old Ruffles.

10. What is your favorite CD at the moment? One of my cheesy homemade '80s mixes.

11. What kind of car do you drive? The kind with four wheels, four doors and a non-convertible roof.

12. Favorite sandwich? Veggie wraps.

13. What characteristic do you despise? Hypocracy and intolerance of other people's beliefs.

14. Favorite item of clothing? Satiny pajama bottoms.

15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation where would you go? Australia, New Zealand or any other nice, warm place.

16. What color is your bathroom? Plain old white.

17. Favorite brand of clothing? Any brand I can afford.

18. Where would you retire to? A nice quiet beachfront home.

19. Favorite time of the day? Sunset. It's always been a quiet time of reflection for me.

20. What was your most memorable birthday? Any birthday where I was surrounded by friends and loved ones.

21. Where were you born? Eastern Canada

22. Favorite sport to watch? Figure skating (big shocker there, I know!)

23. What fabric detergent do you use? Whatever's on sale.

24. Coke or Pepsi? I've honestly never been able to tell the difference.

25. Are you a morning person or a night owl? Definitely a night owl (which is not good when you have to get up for work at 5:45 a.m. the next morning!)

26. What is your shoe size? 7 or 8, depending on the shoe.

27. Do you have any pets? No. Unfortunately most of them make me sneeze.

28. How old are you now? As old as the number at the beginning of this question. :)

29. What did you want to be when you were little? A teacher or a supermarket cashier...because I thought they were allowed to keep all the money in their cash registers! ;)

30. What are you meant to be doing today? Get up, go to work, eat, go home, go online, go to sleep--the usual.

And thus ends my attempt at Blog-O-Rama 2005. I did much better than I thought I could, especially since I didn't expect this thing called work to get in the way when I first took on this challenge! But considering I cheated on at least half my entries, I don't think I can pat myself on the back too hard. :p

And now I'm off to take a well-deserved break, but I'll be back at some point before my big date with Kurt Browning, Elvis Stojko and a few more of my favourite skaters only eight days from now...eek!

More useless quiz thingies

2005-02-27T21:11:00.000-04:00

Yet another day when I must turn to blogthings.com for inspiration and a couple of random quizzes:

You are

What Rejected Crayon Are You?

You Belong in the USA

Sweet!

People either love you or hate you

And you really don't care what anyone thinks

Big and bold, you do things your way

What English Speaking Country Do You Belong In?

Gee, I certainly didn't expect to get that answer! I guess I don't drink enough beer or watch enough hockey to be a real Canadian, eh? ;)

This weeks Friday...uh, Saturday Five

2005-02-26T23:03:00.000-04:00

Here are my answers to this week's Friday...um, I mean Saturday Five:

1.) If you were in a band (you know, a successful one...), and you HAD to remake an old song, what band/song would you choose and why? In an alternate universe where I actually had enough (or any!) musical talent for someone to want me to join their successful band, I'd pick Britney Spears' "Everytime." I know it's not that old and I'm definitely not a huge Britney fan, but I think the basic piano melody in that song is really pretty (please stop laughing!) and I'd love to hear it accompanied by a singer with actual talent someday. Of course, this means I would not be the lead singer in said band in the aforementioned alternate universe!

2.) If you were a Make-a-Wish child, what would you wish for (and why)? To meet Kurt Browning, just because he's my all-time favourite skater and unlike most other celebrities, I've yet to hear a single negative experience from anyone else fortunate enough to have met him!

3.) If you had the chance to learn when you were going to die, would you take it? Would you tell anyone if you knew (either your date of death or theirs)? Absolutely not to both questions. If I had to live the rest of my life with that news hanging over my head, the rest of my life wouldn't be worth living.

4.) If you couldn't die until you helped someone, would you rather live forever selfishly or die earlier? Wow, this is a tough one. How much earlier would I have to die again? Seriously, though, I couldn't imagine being selfish enough to live my life without at least trying to help people in little, everyday things, even though I hope I'll never have to face a life-or-death situation with someone else's life in my hands. I'm honestly not sure I'd have what it takes to help someone in that kind of situation, as awful as that may sound.

5.) If there's any goal you haven't accomplished yet, what is it and what is stopping you? Well, my immediate goal is finding a more permanent job and what's holding me back in that situation are the @#$% who haven't called me back yet! On a more serious note, there are many other goals I haven't accomplished yet, and the main things holding me back on reaching most of them are my lack of self-confidence and my fears of rejection and stepping out of my comfort zone. :(

Yet another useless way to waste my spare time

2005-02-25T23:15:00.000-04:00

Tonight, I discovered a link to yet another site where I'll likely spend wayy too much free time in the future:

The Baby Name Wizard Blog

Names have always fascinated me for some reason I've never been able to explain. Perhaps it's because I have such an unusual/unpronounceable name myself, but perhaps I'd have the same fascination if my name was Jennifer or Lisa and I desperately yearned for something a little more unusual or unique. I definitely know it's not because I'm ready to have a child of my own anytime soon, that's for sure! :p Besides, looking at some of the doozies posted at these kinds of name sites (Texaco? Xexzie? Slytherin Sauron?) makes me realize no matter how much I may complain when people constantly mispell/mispronounce my own name, I know I could have been stuck with worse. A lot worse!

Good night, everyone!

Mr. and Mrs. Britney Spears

2005-02-24T21:06:00.000-04:00

I swear I don't usually spend my free time on Britney Spears forums, but this link to the happy couple's first joint interview is just too hilarious not to share:

Mr. and Mrs. Britney Spears Details interview

I can't decide which is sadder; the interview itself or the fact someone actually took time to transcribe the whole thing! Don't worry; most of the profanity has been edited out for those of you who may be offended by such things. Most of it.

And here's a photo of whatshisname holding the family dog

I don't know which scares me more, the mustache or the size of that dog. That mustache really, really creeps me out for some reason I can't explain. I only hope it won't give me nightmares tonight (shudder!)

Some things just need no further explanation, and this interview just happens to be one of them. If you have someone special in your life, say a silent prayer of gratitude over finding a much better mate than Britney Spears. If you're still looking for that special someone, please take consolation in the fact you can still find (and deserve!) someone much, much better than Mr. Britney Spears.

Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Britney Spears, for making females of all shapes, sizes, nationalities and relationship status feel so much better about ourselves. I hope your marriage lasts, well, at least a little longer than your last one for that reason alone!

Worst. Song. Ever.

2005-02-23T21:23:00.000-04:00

The year may still be young, but I still feel comfortable in awarding the "Worst Song of 2005" award to..."La La" by Ashlee Simpson!

Seriously, I can't remember the last time I've heard a song which was truly this bad on the radio: The melody (or lack thereof!), the lyrics (You can dress me up in diamonds/You can dress me up in dirt--oookkkaaayyy), the, ahem, singing talent--all bad, bad, bad.

I admit I've never heard Ashlee's singing before her infamous SNL microphone malfunction and my first thought was, "Gee, she may not be talented enough to score a record deal if not for her famous sister, but she can't be that much worse than Britney Spears, can she?" Oooh, yes, she can.

I may not be a huge Britney fan, but at least most of her songs have a decent melody and a catchy beat (I'd actually love to see someone with actual singing talent perform a Britney song at American/Canadian/whatever country Idol someday), if nothing else. Most of Ashlee's songs--and especially not "La La"--don't even have that in their favour.

If Ashlee sounds this bad on her album with all the Pro-Tooling and other recording equipment avaliable nowadays to make awful singers sound, well, slightly less awful, I shudder to think at how much worse Ashlee's voice must sound when she's really singing live! Which apparently she did at one of the New Year's Bowl games. Which resulted in her getting booed. While singing "La La." Shocking, I know.

And might I add "You make me want to la la" is the cheesiest expression for well, you know since...well, you know. At least those lyrics are more original than the song I heard Ashlee try to record (yes, the word "try" is there for a reason) when I caught a bit of her reality show while, um, flipping channels (yeah, that'll work!) a few weeks ago: "Come on, come on, come on. Let's go. Come on, come on, come on. Let's go." Over and over and over again. The sad thing is this song isn't even one of Ashlee's singles, I only heard about 10 seconds of it and I still can't get it out of my head...but at least it's still better than "La La."

Come on, come on, Ashlee, please realize you're down to your last 15 seconds of your 15 minutes of fame and just go away. Don't forget to take your big sister, brother-in-law, creepy dad and the rest of your overexposed family with you. Please.

Dang! I knew I forgot something last night!

2005-02-22T20:40:00.000-04:00

As I began to fall asleep last night, I suddenly remembered the 10th news story I never want to see again which I forgot to post in my last entry. Don't you just hate it when that happens? Anyway, the tenth news story I never want to see again is:

Charles' and Camilla's upcoming nuptials: Yay, they've finally decided to make it official (or the Queen finally decided to let them make it official, whichever you prefer!) Camilla gets a royal title, but she won't be queen. The Queen won't attend the wedding because they want the ceremony to be as low-key as possible. Congratulations. Good for them. I hope they can make their marriage last at least as long as their courtship. Now please let them go away and tie the knot in peace. Thank you.

And even though I'm sure you're all tired of reading my rants about the endless news coverage here in Canada about the NHL season cancellation, here's one hockey story I'd definitely support:

Governor-General wants women to compete for Stanley Cup

Sadly, this will likely never happen since if the guys can't play for the Stanley Cup this year, apparently that means the women can't play for it, either. Poor Canadian women's hockey team; first their 2002 Olympics victory was overshadowed when the men's team won their gold medal, now this. :(

Top 9 things I never want to see on the news again

2005-02-21T20:43:00.000-04:00

In no particular order, here are the top 10 things I wish would just hurry up and disappear from the news forever:

The 2004/05 NHL hockey season has been cancelled. No, wait, maybe it's not! No, sorry, I'm afraid it is. Sorry to get your hopes up. Wait a second, the players and owners have decided to hold yet another peace summit...um, meeting in a big boardroom. No, sorry. The meeting has been cancelled. No, wait, the meeting was never arranged in the first place: I've already done more than my fair share of ranting about this particular topic, but it deserves yet another mention. Let me explain this one more time. Hockey is a sport. It is not a life-or-death or war-or-peace situation along the lines of the Middle East peace process or the Sudanese civil war. Just bury this year's hockey season already, hope things improve by next year and please get. over. it. already.

Photos of empty hockey rinks on newspaper front pages accompanied by stories about how devastated hockey fans across the country are coping with the cancellation (or not) of this year's NHL season: Again, I've already done more than enough ranting on this subject, so I'll just direct you to the paragraph above instead of typing everything out again.

Wall-to-wall coverage of the Latest Potentially Deadly Blizzard Which May Or May Not Kill The Cities My US TV Channels Come From: Please scroll down to the beginning of February to read my slightly-more-than-$0.02 on this subject.

The Gomery Inquiry: Those of you who live outside Canada and have no idea what this topic is doing here--or even what this topic is--be grateful. Be very, very grateful.

George W. Bush giving a speech: Well, George W. Bush doing basically anything, but especially delivering a speech or appearing in any other situation requiring him to open his mouth and speak words. I usually can't even manage to make fun of him anymore, and that is not a good sign. :(

Brad and Jen, Jen and Ben, Marc and Jen, Nick and Jessica, and any other couples famous enough to use only first names: I think Brad Pitt is kind of cute. I think Jennifer Aniston seems down-to-earth. I'm sorry they weren't able to make their marriage work since I thought they stood a better-than-average chance than most celebrity couples at beating the odds. But does their breakup and possible new loves and possible reconcilation deserve at least five minutes of coverage on ET (or even worse, real news programs?) I think not. Ben, Jen, other Jen, Nick, Marc, the above applies to all of you as well.

Mr. and Mrs. Britney Spears, OTOH, may stick around since knowing I can catch myself a husband every bit as wonderful, classy and especially faithful as Britney's if I take a trip to the nearest bar/welfare office and try really hard always does wonders for my self-esteem. :p

Michael Jackson: If the jury selection and Michael climbing on top of his limo to wave to his devoted fans merits this much media coverage, I shudder to think what will happen once the actual trial begins. Regardless of whether you believe he's guilty or innocent, this saga will make OJ Simpson's trial look positively normal and low-key in comparison.

Same-sex marriage: I really don't want to offend any visitors on either side of the debate, so I'll just say I'm not sick of hearing about same-sex marriage itself, only the fact half my newspaper is literally covered with stories on the issue, both points of view have been debated ad nauseum, over 100 MPs plan to speak in the House of Commons about it (and trust me, those speeches can be long!) and well, I just think there are other important issues which deserve just as much--if not more--coverage and political attention. With that, please allow me to point you towards Rick Mercer's January 31 rant about this subject, where he stated my point of view in a much funnier--and hopefully less offensive--way than I ever could.

The latest death toll in Afghanistan, Iraq and every other country caught in the crossfires of war and turmoil: This one needs no further explanation whatsoever...and I'm sure everyone can agree with me here. :(

New Drugs For Women

2005-02-20T21:15:00.000-04:00

I thought this was just too funny not to share with all of you. :)

New Drugs For Women

D A M N I T O L
Take 2 and the rest of the world can go to hell for up to 8 full hours.

ST. M O M M A'S W O R T
Plant extract that treats mom's depression by rendering preschoolers unconscious for up to two days.

E M P T Y N E S T R O G E N
Suppository that eliminates melancholy and loneliness by reminding you of how awful they were as teenagers and how you couldn't wait till they moved out.

P E P T O B I M B O
Liquid silicone drink for single women. Two full cups swallowed before an evening out increases breast size, decreases intelligence, and prevents conception.

D U M B E R O L
When taken with Peptobimbo, can cause dangerously low IQ, resulting in enjoyment of country music and pickup trucks.

F L I P I T O R
Increases life expectancy of commuters by controlling road rage and the urge to flip off other drivers.

M E N I C I L L I N
Potent anti-boy-otic for older women. Increases resistance to such lethal lines as, "You make me want to be a better person...Can we get naked now?"

B U Y A G R A
Injectable stimulant taken prior to shopping Increases potency, duration, and credit limit of spending spree.

J A C K A S S P I R I N
Relieves headache caused by a man who can't remember your birthday, anniversary, phone number, or to lift the toilet seat.

A N T I-T A L K S I D E N T
A spray carried in a purse or wallet to be used on anyone too eager to share their life stories with total strangers in elevators.

N A G A M E N T
When administered to a boyfriend or husband, provides the same irritation level as nagging him.

Saturday six

2005-02-19T23:39:00.000-04:00

Thanks, Mary, for giving me something to fill this space with on a particularly uninspirational day for me:

1. If you could have anything you wanted to eat for a day, what would you choose for your meals and snacks? Breakfast: Chocolate chip pancakes, Lunch: Greek salad, Dinner: Veggie lasagna

2. Is there ever a dish/food or dessert you wanted to try but never had the opportunity, what is it? Thai food; it sounds sooo yummy and there are no Thai restaurants within at least 100 km of me. :(

3. What's a dish/food or dessert you've tried that you wish you hadn't? Harvey's French fries. Seriously. It's pretty hard for a restaurant to ruin French fries--and pretty hard for me to refuse to eat them--but that particular Harvey's managed it somehow. :(

4. Ever watch cooking shows? No. The recipe directions are too hard to follow and many of the ingredients are too obscure and/or expensive for me to buy.

5. Are you hungry yet? No. I haven't felt well or hungry all day. :( I hope that will change by tomorrow morning, though!

6. What food couldn't you live without? Pasta and chocolate...or maybe chocolate pasta.

Woo-hoo! I'm still employed

2005-02-18T23:19:00.000-04:00

Woo-hoo! It looks like I'll still be employed for at least another two weeks! :) One of my co-workers will also be back next week, which I'm really happy about since we've been really understaffed and overworked lately and now I won't feel quite as guilty about leaving this job if I hear back from Other, Hopefully-More-Permanent Job. Either way, it looks like I'll be gainfully employed until the end of the month, at least. :)

Just a quick update on my employment situation before I turn in for the night.

I'm more romantic than I thought

2005-02-17T21:06:00.000-04:00

It's too late to write a really long entry tonight, so here's another quiz result from blogthings.com:

You Are A Romantic Realist

You are more romantic than 50% of the population.

You tend to be grounded when it comes to romance.
Sure, you can fall hard... but only for someone you've gotten to know.
And once you're in love, you can be a total romantic goofball...
But you'd never admit it to your friends!

Are You Romantic or Realistic?

Gee, I'm more romantic than I thought! The rest sounds fairly accurate, though. :)

In other news, I noticed Debbie Gibson ranked #2 on Netscape's "Hot Searches" list, right between "American Idol" and "IRS." Gee, I wonder how that happened? ;)

RIP, 2004/2005 NHL season

2005-02-16T20:55:00.000-04:00

Well, it's now official. This year's NHL season has officially and finally been cancelled, and all I can say is...about freaking time! No disrespect meant towards any hockey fans reading these words, but did anyone honestly and seriously believe any sort of agreement could have been hammered out before the players would need to learn to skate on water to win this year's Stanley Cup? :p

Maybe now that hockey fans must move on to basketball or baseball or curling or, well, anything else, the media can also move on and stop covering stories about the latest disagreement-of-the-day between the owners and players and how fans have been coping with the tragedy of not being able to (sniff!) watch hockey this winter every. single. day.

Before I get flamed too badly from any visiting hockey fans, I do sincerely hope the NHL players and owners can work out their differences before the next hockey season...even if it means they might have to take a (gasp!) pay cut. Hey, everyone has to make some sacrifices, eh? ;)

2005-02-15T19:49:00.000-04:00

Since I can't think of anything else to write about tonight, I'll just fill out last week's Friday Five survey four days late:

1) Would you rather live in a world with or without technology such as computers, cars, airplanes, bombs? I could live in a world without cars, airplanes and especially bombs, but a world without my computer? Uh-uh. Not to mention all the other modern convieniences (electricity, women's rights) I'd miss too much. And as much as I despise bombs (especially the nuclear variety), wars have been fought for centuries long before their invention...and many of the weapons used back then sounded like a much more painful way to die than the weapons used today.

2) If you had to live without either heating in your house or air conditioning, which one would you keep? I think I speak for about 90% of my fellow Canadians when I say heating. :p Believe it or not, my family and I have never lived in a home or owned a car with air conditioning! Even in the middle of summer, fans in the house and open windows in the car have suited us just fine...and yes, we do get a "real" summer!

3) If you had to own five dogs, what kind would you get? I'm not really a dog person, but if I had no choice, I'd just take five of whichever breed would be least likely to bite, bark loudly or make me sneeze...and then hire a dog nanny (if there is such a thing--LOL!) to take care of them. ;)

4) If the world had a front porch, what would you do on it? The same things I'd do if I had a front porch at home and weather warm enough to relax on it: Read, write, dream, and recline in a hammock or porch swing with a glass of lemonade or iced tea at my side.

5) Would you rather live in a neighborhood where you know all of your neighbors by name, or where everyone sticks to their own business? I've experienced both, and while knowing most of your neighbours does have its drawbacks (mainly pointless gossip and people trying to stick their noses into things that are none of their business), it's still preferable to the alternative, IMO!

PS. Erin, I can't believe it's taken me this long to visit and link back to your blog! :blushing and hanging head in shame: My deepest apologies and thanks for stopping by. :)

An unusual Valentine's Day sight

2005-02-14T19:49:00.000-04:00

Today, I saw something few people would ever expect to see on a Canadian highway: A big black Hummer with a Bush/Cheney license plate on its front bumper. I have no idea where the vehicle came from since I couldn't check the back license plate, and it's a little too early for tourist season, so I guess this mystery shall remain unsolved for now.

Actually, I don't know what shocked me more--spotting that Hummer in the first place or noticing it was free of broken windows or egged chrome or any number of things some people might do to a vehicle sporting a Bush/Cheney license plant around these parts. I'd never do a thing like that, of course--I may not be a huge Bush supporter (huge understatement, BTW!) but I do try to be tolerant of other people's beliefs. Sadly, I'm afraid far too many people might not feel the same way.

Now off to enjoy my hot Valentine's Day date with Rick Mercer and a box of Lindt chocolate. :)

Good and bad things to do before Valentine's Day

2005-02-13T20:45:00.000-04:00

Really good song for singletons to listen to during Valentine's Day: "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morissette. Today, I listened to this song for the first time in at least two or three years, and seriously, it is the ultimate anti-Valentine's Day song! The fact Joey from "Full House" is rumoured to be the object of Alanis' non-affection in this song can either be the icing on the cake or make you lose your appetite completely, whichever you prefer.

As I continue yesterday's stroll down memory lane, I remember the days when Alanis looked and sounded like a dead ringer for Tiffany, and went by only one name, just like, um, Tiffany. If I, or any other Canadian in my age group, had been told back in the early 1990s that Alanis would grow up to be such an angry alternative-rock chick, we would have laughed our heads off for days. No, weeks.

When "You Oughta Know" was released, my first impression was, "Great song, and gee, that voice sounds kind of familiar." I almost passed out in shock when I was told the song was performed by the same Alanis who gave Canada such hit dance tunes as "Too Hot" and "Feel Your Love." :p

I also remember the high school classmate who joked about shoplifting a tape (gee, am I dating myself here or what?) of Alanis' real debut album (released four or five years before "Jagged Little Pill") while drunk one weekend. I wonder whether he still has that tape or he sold or auctioned it off Ebay to some unsuspecting non-Canadian fan completely unaware of Alanis' teen-pop star past while drunk some weekend. Ahh, high school memories...

Really bad movie for singletons to watch just before Valentine's Day: "Never Been Kissed." This is a movie I actually enjoy during most of the rest of the year, when I can just sit back and enjoy a nice romantic comedy, nice 1980s flashbacks and nice Michael Vartan. Watching it the day before Valentine's Day, though, just seems to exasperbate the completely unrealistic plot and the particularily unrealistic ending. I don't want to spoil things too much for those of you who've never seen the movie, but let's just say I relate entirely too much to Drew Barrymore's character and if I ever find a guy I feel comfortable enough to watch that movie with and thank him for giving me the same treatment as Drew received from Michael Vartan, that guy would stand an excellent chance of being the person with whom I want to spend the rest of my life. Any other positive qualities said guy might have would just be the cherry on the top of a big old Valentine's Day chocolate sundae for me. If said guy actually looked like Michael Vartan, that would be an even bigger cherry, but let's not get too unrealistic here! ;)

And finally, if you can't spend this Valentine's Day with someone special, at least spend it with some sort of chocolate or other favourite high-calorie treat by your side. :)

Things that just seem wrong somehow...

2005-02-12T16:03:00.000-04:00

I saw the strangest thing in the dollar store today. From a distance, it just looked like a regular box of Valentines, but at a closer glance, I saw the card was a nice, sappy message along the lines of "A Special Message For The One I Love." You know, the kind of romantic, gushy Valentine anyone would be thrilled to receive from their significant other.

Now what's wrong with that, you may ask? The thing is, though, these Valentines came in boxes of 12, and each and every one contained the exact same romantic, gushy photo and message. I don't know about the rest of you, but if someone ever gave a nice, sappy Valentine like that to me, and then I found out he gave the exact same nice, sappy Valentine to 10 or 11 other people, let's just say that would be the last Valentine I'd ever accept from him!

Oh, yeah, did I mention I found these boxes of identical romantic, sappy, gushy Valentines in a bin marked "Children's Valentines?" Somebody at that store must have a strange sense of humour....

Speaking of things that just seem wrong somehow, Debbie--sorry, I mean Deborah--Gibson appears in Playboy magazine this month. I admit I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I know she's all grown up now, it's her body, her own decision and if she feels comfortable enough to bare all in front of potentially millions of readers (or viewers, whichever you may prefer), more power to her.

On the other hand, Deborah--or Debbie, as she was known back then--was one of my major role models back in the day. I admired the fact that unlike certain other female singers who shall remain nameless right now, she wrote her own songs, actually knew how to play piano and sing live, and didn't need to dress or act overtly sexy, despite how much pressure she felt from much-older male music executives to push her in that direction. Deborah has also criticized (justifially, IMO) certain other female singers who followed in her teen singing star footsteps for growing up too fast and acting too sexy for their age.

Deborah was asked to pose for Playboy before, but she always refused for one reason or another. I'd be interested to know what made her change her mind this time around. If she believes it might help her sell more CDs and revitalize her career, all I can say is I hope she'll do much better in that aspect than Tiffany (another teen singer I adored back in the day who posed for Playboy last year). I'd also love to read the accompanying article. Hey, I'm a heterosexual female; I think I can say that last sentence with a straight face. :p

That being said, I thought the least Playboy could do was put Deborah on the cover of her big issue (as they did for Tiffany), but nooo, they had to dig up an old photo of Paris Hilton (now there's a "celebrity" you don't want to get me started on!) instead. :(

I received another blast from the past when I saw Mitsou pop up on my TV screen while watching CBC Newsworld this weekend. For those of you for whom that name doesn't ring a bell, Mitsou was a teen Quebecois singer from the late 80s-early 90s who...let's just say some of her videos make even Britney and Christina look like convent material in comparison.

Muchmusic even banned one of Mitsou's videos because she briefly appeared topless in one scene, which lasted about as long as Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction at last year's Super Bowl. I remember one guy made a request at Musiqueplus' (the French equivalent of Muchmusic which did not ban the video) Speaker's Corner which was something along the lines of, "Umm, bonjour. Umm, I don't know much French, but I'd just like you to play that one Mitsou video they won't let me see in English." And yes, they played it for him. :p

Now Mitsou's fully clothed and hosting a weekly CBC Newsworld show while Debbie--sorry, Deborah--is posing in Playboy. The world truly has turned upside down.

BTW, I still can't believe Deborah's appearing in Playboy before Britney or Christina! Hey, someone had to say it!

Okay, for sures on that, eh?

2005-02-11T23:38:00.000-04:00

As far as I'm concerned, the best thing about the Canadian sponsorship scandal is having Jean Chretien back on Air Farce again. Now that was a hilarious skit which brought back wonderful memories of old-school Air Farce. The rest of the show, OTOH...not so much. The only thing which stood out to me among the other skits was Jessica Holmes' frightening resemblance to Michael Jackson.

I feel guilty about having to skip work today due to the icy roads resulting from last night's freezing rain/snowstorm. That's another thing I hate about temp work; there's no such thing as sick days (at least not during any of the temp jobs I've had) and if you have to miss a day, no matter what the reason, you have to just make it up somehow or miss out on a day's pay.

Fortunately, the people at work were understanding about this, but considering we're a lot busier than we originally anticipated and we're currently shortstaffed--one of my co-workers has to help her husband on their farm for the next few weeks and another co-worker is taking care of her mother, who became very ill shortly after Christmas--that only makes me feel worse.

Wow, two posts in one day! I haven't done that in a long time!

Stupid tourist questions

2005-02-11T16:13:00.000-04:00

Now that Vancouver has won the 2010 Winter Olympics, these are some questions that people the world over are asking. These questions about Canada were REALLY posted on an International Tourism Website!

Q: I have never seen it warm on Canadian TV, so how do the plants grow? (UK)
A: We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around and watch them die.

Q: Will I be able to see polar bears in the street? (USA)
A: Depends on how much you've been drinking.

Q: I want to walk from Vancouver to Toronto - can I follow the railroad tracks? (Sweden)
A: Sure, it's only four thousand miles; take lots of water.

Q: Is it safe to run around in the bushes in Canada? (Sweden)
A: So it's true what they say about Swedes.

Q: It is imperative that I find the names and addresses of places to contact for a stuffed beaver. (Italy)
A: Let's not touch this one.

Q: Are there any ATMs in Canada? Can you send me list of them in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton & Halifax? (UK)
A: What did your last slave die of?

Q: Can you give me some information about hippo racing in Canada? (USA)
A: A-fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe. Ca-na-da is that big country to your north. Oh, forget it. Sure, the hippo racing is every Tuesday night in Calgary. Come naked.

Q: Which direction is north in Canada? (USA)
A: Face south and then turn 180 degrees. Contact us when you get here and we'll send the rest of the directions.

Q: Can you send me the Vienna Boys' Choir schedule? (USA)
A: Aus-tri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y, which is...Oh, forget it. Sure, the Vienna Boys' Choir plays every Tuesday night in Calgary just after the hippo races. Come naked.

Q: Do you have perfume in Canada? (Germany)
A: No, we don't stink.

Q: I have developed a new product that is the fountain of youth. Can you tell me where I can sell it in Canada? (USA)
A: Anywhere significant numbers of Americans gather.

Q: Can you tell me the regions in British Columbia where the female population is smaller than the male population? (Italy)
A: Yes, gay nightclubs.

Q: Do you celebrate Thanksgiving in Canada? (USA)
A: Only at Thanksgiving.

Q: Are there supermarkets in Toronto and is milk available all year round? (Germany)
A: No, we are a peaceful civilization of vegan hunter/gatherers. Milk is illegal.

Q: I have a question about a famous animal in Canada, but I forget its name. It's a kind of big horse with horns. (USA)
A: It's called a moose. They are tall and very violent, eating the brains of anyone walking close to them. You can scare them off by spraying yourself with human urine before you go out walking.

Q: I was in Canada in 1969 on R & R and I want to contact the girl I dated while I was staying in Surrey, B.C. Can you help? (USA)
A: Yes, and you will still have to pay her by the hour.

Q: Will I be able to speak English most places I go? (USA)
A: Yes, but you will have to learn it first.

Some of these I've seen on other websites before, others are brand-new. Either way, I hope you enjoyed! :)

Geekiest. Addiction. Ever.

2005-02-10T20:27:00.000-04:00

A few hours ago, I became hooked on what may perhaps be the geekiest addiction in history. It all began when I got depressed over forgetting to watch the Stars on Ice cast on "Family Feud" like I have done faithfully all week long. As if that little confession isn't geeky enough in itself, I decided to wander over to Rinkside to see whether I could download that episode from one of my fellow skating fans...and stuck around for longer than I care to admit.

Rinkside is to skating fans what Napster/WinMX/Kazaa is to music fans. The only difference is skating fans just can't make a run to our nearest video store and buy a CD or a video/DVD of our favourite skating performances if we happen to miss them on TV, so we don't have to worry about our favourite skaters losing money whenever we download their programs. :p

So if there are any fellow skating fans lurking around and missing performances you'd love to see again--or never got to see at all--Rinkside is definitely the place for you. Okay, it's a little more complicated than Napster or Kazaa and may seem a little intimidating at first (I signed up for it about two months ago, but never summoned up the courage to download anything until tonight), but once you've got the hang of it, it'll be very, very hard for you to turn away.

Now that I've got that geeky confession out of the way, here's an update on my job situation. It looks like my current temp job will last at least another week and if things continue to be as busy as they are now, I could stay there until the end of May. Hopefully I'll get a clear answer one way from the other from Other, More Permanent Job I Applied For by then, but right now, I'm just grateful to have a job of some sort that I'm good at and that I enjoy (well, at least some of the time!) Being useful is a nice feeling, indeed...and making money doesn't feel too badly, either. :)

50 questions and a bit of good news

2005-02-09T19:36:00.000-04:00

Thank you, Robin, for giving me the ability to play 50 questions on a day when I can't think of anything else to write about:

1. Your name spelled backwards. Easier to spell and pronounce than my name spelled forwards (and sounds like a very good name for an upscale dot.com company to boot!)

2. Where were your parents born? Somewhere in Canada

3. What is the last thing you downloaded onto your computer? A MP3 clip of Debbie...oops, I mean Deborah Gibson's latest single. Please. Stop. Laughing. Now.

4. What's your favorite restaurant? East Side Mario's and a local Chinese restaurant.

5. Last time you swam in a pool? At least five years ago--I've never been much of a swimmer!

6. Have you ever been in a school play? Every year in elementary school, and I would have kept it up if any of the junior high/high schools I attended had a drama club. :(

7. How many kids do you want? I used to dream about having five or six in my younger years, but now, definitely no more than two!

8. Type of music you dislike most? Rap or country.

9. Are you registered to vote? I didn't have to; all I had to do was show up at the polls and they checked my name off a list.

10. Do you have cable? Yes, but I hardly ever watch it other than figure skating and a few other programs.

11. Have you ever ridden on a moped? No, and I don't think that will ever change until they invent a moped with training wheels. ;)

12. Ever prank call anybody? No, I was usually on the receiving end of prank calls.

13. Ever get a parking ticket? No.

14. Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving? Not in this or any other lifetime!

15. Farthest place you ever traveled. California.

16. Do you have a garden? I'd like to have one as soon as I can afford a place with a backyard of my own.

17. What's your favorite comic strip? Peanuts and For Better and For Worse.

18. Do you really know all the words to your national anthem? Yes, in English, French and "Talking To Americans" versions! Just don't ask me to actually sing it!

19. Bath or Shower, morning or night? Showers during the week; at least one nice, hot bath during the weekend.

20. Best movie you've seen in the past month? "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"

21. Favorite pizza topping? Mushrooms, green peppers and extra tomatoes!

22. Chips or popcorn? Popcorn is healthier, but chips are still tastier! They're both still good, though. :)

23. What color lipstick do you usually wear? Some pinkish red stuff.

24. Have you ever smoked peanut shells? HOw do you smoke peanut shells?

25. Have you ever been in a beauty pageant? Only in a past life.

26. Orange Juice or apple? Orange, although I've never been a big fan of either.

27. Who was the last person you went out to dinner with and where did you dine? My dad. Sad, I know.

28. Favorite type chocolate bar? The kind with chocolate in it; I'm not too fussy when it comes to chocolate-flavoured things. ;)

29. When was the last time you voted at the polls? Last June, and I pray to God I won't have to vote again for at least another three years (dang Canadian minority government which could collapse and force us to have another election at any given momemt!)

30. Last time you ate a homegrown tomato? Longer than I care to remember.

31. Have you ever won a trophy? No. My childhood activities usually involved ribbons, medals and certificates instead.

32. Are you a good cook? I could be better.

33. Do you know how to pump your own gas? No, although I know I really should learn someday!

34. Ever order an article from an infomercial? Not in this lifetime.

35. Sprite or 7-up? I've honestly never been able to tell the difference.

36. Have you ever had to wear a uniform to work? No, only a nametag. ;)

37. Last thing you bought at a pharmacy? Cough drops.

38. Ever throw up in public? Yes, at school, but I've managed to painfully block most of it out of my memory.

39. Would you prefer being a millionaire or find true love? You mean I can't find true love with a millionaire? Dang it! Right now, I think I'll take the money and hope true love will follow later...but I might change my mind tomorrow. ;)

40. Do you believe in love at first sight? I believe love at first sight can happen for some people, but considering I usually take weeks or months to even develop a crush on someone, I don't envision it happening that way for me.

41. Ever call a 1-900 number? Please, I'm not that desperate.

42. Can ex's be friends? Only after both parties have comfortably established themselves in other relationships...preferably with rings on their fingers. :)

43. Who was the last person you visited in a hospital? My grandmother, who passed away about five years ago.

44. Did you have a lot of hair when you were a baby? Yup.

45. What message is on your answering machine? I'm one of the few people left on the planet who doesn't even own an answering machine.

46. What's your all time favorite Saturday Night Live Character? Wayne and Garth. Party time! Excellent! Woo-woo-woo!

47. What was the name of your first pet? Socks.

48. What is in your purse? Wallet, gum, makeup bag, keys, business cards, brochure of current workplace, glasses case, Kleenex, two pens which probably don't work.

49. Favorite thing to do before bedtime? Catch up with my online life or curl up with a good book.

50. What is one thing you are grateful for today? Finally getting a letter in the mail telling me I qualified for a job I applied for last September. They're still working on my security clearance (don't worry; I don't have a criminal record or anything like that!) and still don't know when (or if) they'll call me in to do actual work, but the fact I might have at least a semi-permanent non-temp job in my near future is still the best news I've received in a very long time! :)

Good news and bad news

2005-02-08T21:19:00.000-04:00

I just found out my temporary job might last until July. The chances of that happening are pretty slim, mind you, and I admit I have mixed emotions about this. This job is enjoyable in small doses, but it's not exactly the kind of thing I'd like to do five days a week for 50-odd weeks...and definitely not for the rest of my life. I'm also getting really sick of temp work and the lack of security which comes with it.

OTOH, the people at Other Hopefully-More-Permanent Job I applied for aren't exactly rushing to call me back and Current Temp Job does pay good money while it lasts. Besides, the odds of me winding up unemployed again after this week are much higher than staying here until July, so I'm not too stressed out over this right now.

I just thought I'd post a long-overdue update on my oh-so-exciting personal life here for a change, even if it is short but sweet! :)

My pathetic Internet celebrity love life

2005-02-07T21:04:00.000-04:00

Today, I thought I'd share the results from an Internet online celebrity dating site I checked out. Unfortunately, the results were just as disappointing as my real-life non-existent love life:

Nick Wechsler 99%
Wes Bentley 98%
Fernando Alonso 98%
JC Chasez 97%
Drew Lachey 97%

My first reactions upon seeing the results were "Who?", "Who?", "Who?", "Not my type" and "Definitely not my type"...at least as far as the last two guys' music is concerned, anyway! Oh well, if I absolutely must end up a near-perfect match of two boy-band members, at least neither one of them happens to be Justin Timberlake. :p

Purely out of curiosity, mind you, I also tried the same-sex version of this test and here's who I ended up with:

Soleil Moon Frye 100%
Melissa George 100%
Jessica Capshaw 100%
Megan Gale 99%
Kirsty Hume 98%

Again, Soleil Moon Frye is the only one of these names I'm familiar with, but how sad is it I think winding up as Punky Brewster's perfect match was the most exciting part of this survey for me?

Please feel free to visit http://www.celebmatch.com/ to hook up with your own perfect celebrity Internet dream date. I hope your results won't be quite as disappointing as mine! :)

This is funny, 'cause it's true!

2005-02-06T21:32:00.000-04:00

Thanks, Robin, for sharing this link to yet another quiz good for filling blog space:

You Are a Snarky Blogger!

You've got a razor sharp wit that bloggers are secretly scared of.
And that's why they read your posts as often as they can!

What kind of blogger are you?

This is sooo close to the truth, it's scary. :p

I also came across another funny joke about a certain halftime show taking place during a certain football game I'm not watching tonight because I can't stand football. I can sit through a hockey game, a baseball game or a basketball game even though I'm not particularily a huge fan of any of those sports, but football? Uh, uh. I just can't do it.

BTW, I just found out I've got a job starting tomorrow! Granted, it's only for about a week, but at least it's a way to earn a little extra $$$ while I'm still waiting to hear back from another job I originally applied for last September. Unfortunately, it also means I won't have as much free time to devote to blogging and other useful things. I'll still try to keep up this "post a day" challenge until the end of the month, even if it means I might have to cheat a little bit by devoting some entries solely to online quizzes and other time-killing things. Oh, wait, I'm doing that already. So things won't change that much after all. Woo-hoo!

Interesting self-portrait

2005-02-05T21:13:00.001-04:00

Interesting self-portrait quiz:

Your World (Part One): What is your world made of? [girls]
brought to you by Quizilla

The description is fairly accurate, even though the photo most definitely is not. :p

I was planning to write a nice, long, ranty post about a certain overrated holiday coming up just over a week from now, but after reading this beautiful post from Dovie (guaranteed to make even the most cynical of us single folk fight tears from our eyes!), I'm afraid I'll only sound like Grinchy McScrooge in comparison. :p

So for now, I'll try to only post positive things about other holidays taking place this month, most of which I just learned about today after visiting this site. For instance, today is Weatherperson's Day, celebrating the work of all meteorologists around the world. And my birthday just happens to be Halfway Day, which marks the official halfway point of summer. Woot, woot!

I don't know how many of these holidays are legitimate and how many are just "let's make up random holidays for every day of the year so nobody feels left out" days, but please give your local weatherperson a hug today if you can. They do so, so much for us all year long and receive so, so little in return.

PS. Dodgeball is the most overrated movie I've seen since, well, Lost in Translation. I feel safe in saying this even though I've yet to see the last 10 minutes. I think I can guess the ending, though. :p I'm just glad I didn't waste almost $10 to see this on the big screen--or $3.50 to rent it at full price when it first came out on DVD in the "New Releases" section of the video store. You know a movie has got to be bad when you have to fight the urge to march up and demand your $1 standard not-so-new-release rental fee back from said video store. But I guess it's my own fault for not realizing the special introduction by Pauly Shore could not be a good sign.

PPS. I just finished watching Dodgeball and gee, I never would have predicted that ending in a million years. [/sarcasm] At least Lost in Translation had an unexpected ending and some cool shots of Tokyo in the opening and closing credits. I should have just watched Babe on CBC tonight and saved myself $1.

So in short, if you're looking for an original, intelligent, thought-provoking movie with Oscar-calibre acting and a completely unpredictable ending, stay as far, far away from Dodgeball as humanly possible and devote two hours of your spare time to watching something else--anything else (except perhaps Freddy Got Fingered or Jackass: The Movie)--instead.

PPPS: I can't believe a DVD this bad has sooo many special features on it while sooo many other much-more-deserving movies on DVD have none. Thanks, but I think I'll skip watching the deleted scenes, blooper reel, director's commentary, alternate ending, and special behind-the-scenes documentary this time.

Gee, who needs to rant about Valentine's Day? Picking on bad movies is sooo much more fun!

From Lupin to Denethor

2005-02-04T22:20:00.000-04:00

Since I shared my Harry Potter alter-ego yesterday, I thought it was only fair to do the same for Lord of the Rings today:

Denethor

If I were a character in The Lord of the Rings, I would be Denethor, Man of Gondor, Ruling Steward of proud Gondor and father of Boromir and Faramir.

In the movie, I am played by John Noble.

Who would you be?
Zovakware Lord of the Rings Test with Perseus Web Survey Software

Denethor

If I were a character in The Return of the King, I would be Denethor, a Man of Gondor and Ruling Steward of proud Gondor, father of Boromir and Faramir.

In the movie, I am played by John Noble.

Who would you be?
The Return of the King Test with Perseus Web Survey Software

Hmm, I received the same answer for two separate LOTR surveys. Go figure!

And one more personality quiz for the night:

How to make a astimegoesby

Ingredients:

3 parts competitiveness

1 part courage

3 parts leadership

Method:
Layer ingredients in a shot glass. Add curiosity to taste! Do not overindulge!

Personality cocktail
From Go-Quiz.com

I took the same quiz using my real name and came out 3 parts mercy, 3 parts courage and 3 parts energy combined in a tall glass half filled with crushed ice with a little cocktail umbrella and a dash of fitness. I think that description is a little more accurate. :)

Today, I noticed something very cool on somebody else's blog. It's called a HitMap and it's basically a map of the world with little red dots highlighting where various website visitors (or their ISPs) come from. I thought it would be interesting to see where all my hugs (hint, hint) and other visitors are from, so I clicked on the HitMaps site to download one for myself...only to discover they suspended registration to new users two weeks ago. :( I'm crossing my fingers this is just a temporary thing because those maps do look very cool. Check out the HitMaps site for yourself and see if you don't agree.

BTW, thanks to Jessica and Call Me Cordelia for giving me two more fun ways to kill time and fill up blog space! Until tomorrow...

Harry Potter and other classes for men

2005-02-03T22:16:00.000-04:00

Just because I'm sure you all wanted to know:

You scored as Remus Lupin. You are a wise and caring wizard and a good, loyal friend to boot. However sometimes in an effort to be liked by others you can let things slide by, which ordinarily you would protest about.

Remus Lupin

80%

Hermione Granger

65%

Ginny Weasley

65%

Albus Dumbledore

60%

Severus Snape

60%

Ron Weasley

55%

Sirius Black

45%

Draco Malfoy

45%

Harry Potter

40%

Lord Voldemort

10%

Your Harry Potter Alter Ego Is...?
created with QuizFarm.com

I also found this on another board I visit and thought it was too funny not to share here:

CLASSES FOR MEN AT THE LOCAL LEARNING CENTER FOR ADULTS - REGISTRATION MUST BE COMPLETED BY February 28th.
NOTE: DUE TO THE COMPLEXITY AND DIFFICULTY LEVEL OF THEIR CONTENTS, CLASS SIZE WILL BE LIMITED TO 8 PARTICIPANTS MAXIMUM.

Class 1: How to Fill Up the Ice Cube Trays. Step-by-step, with slide presentation. Meets 4 weeks, Monday and Wednesday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM

Class 2: The Toilet Paper Roll: Does it Change Itself?
Round Table Discussion. Meets 2 weeks, Saturday at 12:00 for 2 hours.

Class 3: Is It Possible to Urinate Using the Technique of Lifting the Seat and Avoiding the Floor/Walls and Nearby Bathtub? Group Practice. Meets 4 weeks, Saturday 10:00 PM for 2 hours.
(Note: this class meets at Irish's Brew Pub on 16th Street)

Class 4: Fundamental Differences Between the Laundry Hamper and the Floor. Pictures and Explanatory Graphics. Meeting are Saturdays at 2:00 PM for 3 weeks.

Class 5: Dirty Dishes: Can They Levitate and Fly Into the Kitchen Sink? Video. Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM

Class 6: Loss of Identity - Losing the Remote to Your Significant Other.
Help Line Support and Support Groups. Meets 4 Weeks, Friday and Sunday 7:00 PM.

Class 7: Learning How to Find Things - Starting with looking in the right places instead of turning the house upside down while screaming.
Open Forum. Monday at 8:00 PM, 2 hours.

Class 8: Health Watch - Bringing her flowers is not harmful to your health.
Graphics and Audio Tapes. Three nights; Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 9: Real Men ask for Directions When Lost. Real-Life Testimonials.
Tuesdays at 6:00 PM, location to be determined.

Class 10: Is it genetically impossible to sit quietly while she parallel parks?
Driving Simulations. 4 weeks, Saturday's noon, 2 hours.

Class 11: Learning to Live - Basic Differences Between Mother and Wife.
Online Classes and role-playing.

Class 12: How to be the Ideal Shopping Companion. Relaxation Exercises, Meditation and Breathing techniques. Proper techniques for holding her purse. Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM

Class 13: How to Fight Cerebral Atrophy - Remembering Birthdays, Anniversaries and Other Important Dates and Calling When You're Going to be Late. Cerebral Shock Therapy Sessions and Full Lobotomies Offered.
Three nights; Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 14: The Stove/Oven - What it is and How it is Used? Live Demonstration. Tuesdays at 6:00 PM, location to be determined.

I hope this puts a smile on some of your faces, especially those of you who will be spending Valentine's Day alone this year. :)

Happy Groundhog Day!

2005-02-02T20:28:00.000-04:00

Happy Groundhog Day, everybody! I regret to inform you that yes, the groundhog in my neck of the woods did see his shadow and that, of course, means we can look forward to six more weeks of winter. Considering how much snow we (and everyone else in Eastern North America) have been dumped with since the New Year began, that's not really surprising news.

I remember we had a green Christmas a few years ago and were hit by snowstorms for seemingly every single week between New Year's and oh, sometime in the middle of March or April. I was afraid the same thing would happen after having another green Christmas this year, and lo and behold, it looks like one of my predictions is actually coming true.

But as long as the snow stays far, far away by March 8, that's the most important thing. :)

I suppose this is a good time to share some winter-related rants I've kept bottled up inside for far too long:

First of all, the news coverage. I'm talking specifically about the news coverage our southern neighbours choose to broadcast whenever a snowstorm is expected to hit anywhere within a 100-mile radius.

I remember Michael Moore mentioned the difference between Canadian and US news programs in Bowling For Columbine. Canadian news broadcasts typically report such exciting stories as new traffic bylaws or sponsorship scandals while American news broadcasts are filled with crime, disasters and other scary stuff...and when there's nothing really scary to report, they exaggerate the non-scary stories to make them sound even scarier.

I realize that's a big generalization to make and Michael Moore can exaggerate quite a bit, at least during that segment of the movie (I'm sorry to say, no, not all Canadians feel safe enough to leave our doors unlocked at all times), but there's nothing like a big old snowstorm to really emphasize the differences between Canadian and US broadcast news.

Canadian news broadcast during a snowstorm: Well, it looks like we got hit with yet another 20 cm of snow today. Meh. Another 10 or 20 cm is expected to fall tomorrow. Meh. Please go about your business as usual unless you literally can't leave your house because your front door is frozen shut. Meh. It might be a good idea to leave your car at home and take the dogsled/snowplow to work/school this week since that's how long it'll take to clear all the streets in the city. Meh.

Okay, so maybe I made up the part about the dogsled/snowplow and added a few extra "mehs," but you get the general idea.

American news broadcast during a snowstorm: OMG, a huge blizzard is scheduled to hit our area within the next couple of days! Better get out and stock up on groceries, warm clothing and emergency supplies ASAP because who knows when it'll be safe to leave the house again! Please drive safely on your way to and from work because we don't want you to get into an accident like this one (cut to really serious-looking snow-related car accident). Now stay tuned because our Local Snowstorm Safety Expert will stop by after the commercial to share tips on how to stay safe during a great big potentially-dangerous blizzard like the one scheduled to hit our area within the next couple of days!

The news broadcast will also inevitably be interrupted every five seconds by the local weatherperson tracking the storm's progress while standing next to a big map depicting where the storm is projected to hit. This will also happen during every five minutes of regular programming, in case you missed the regular news and might not otherwise be aware you're in the path of a huge. deadly. blizzard.

There will also be lists of every single school, business or religious institution which will be closed the following day in anticipation of the huge. deadly. blizzard. It will take at least an hour to list every single building if you live (or get most of your US TV stations) from a big city like Boston or Detroit. And of course, every single building in the city will be closed. If you're really lucky, you'll also get a list of every single county where the big deadly blizzard is expected to strike. You know, just in case you might have to evacuate your house in case of an emergency even though it's too dangerous to drive more than 100 ft outside your front door.

I could understand overdramatic reporting like this if the aforementioned snowstorm was headed for Florida or Arizona or Hawaii or anywhere else where people aren't used to seeing snow on an annual basis. But Boston? Toledo? Buffalo? Detroit? Bangor? Um, last time I checked, all of the above cities and the states which include them get just as much snow as we do on this side of the border. I'm sure most people living in the abovementioned snow-plagued cities have grown accustomed to dealing with cold white stuff on the ground and wouldn't place more white stuff which might be on the way in the "life-or-death" category. Apparently most of the local broadcasters in the area are unaware of this fact.

You will also never hear a Canadian reporter (or any Canadian, for that matter) use the word "blizzard" to describe a huge amount of cold white stuff falling on the ground. Ever. I honestly did not realize this fact until I finished typing my above rant and remembered just how many more times that word is used south of the border.

Yes, I sat through about five of these huge-life-or-death-snowstorm-on-the-way news warnings in the middle of a TV a few weeks ago. Why do you ask?

Which brings me to my next rant-worthy topic: Hockey. It looks like there won't be an NHL hockey season this year.

I have three words for everyone experiencing hockey withdrawal this winter: Get. Over. It. This includes the owners, the managers, the already-overpaid players, and all the reporters who insist on keeping us updated on the progress (or lack thereof) of the talks between the NHL bigwigs every. single. night. (See, I can pick on Canadian media, too!)

A special note to my own local news program: Please forgive me if I can't share your grief about the injury Local NHL Hockey Star suffered which forced him to drop out of Russian Hockey Team he had to sign up with this year since (sniff!) he lost his Regular Job Playing For Stanley Cup-Winning NHL Team And Making Lots Of Money. This. Is. Not. News. At least not in my opinion.

If you're still experiencing hockey withdrawal, please feel free to still tune into any of the other sports on TV featuring overpaid pro athletes, watch a game featuring your local junior hockey team (whose players could, unlike their NHL counterparts, probably use a little extra money and support) or step away from the TV altogether and play a game or two yourself--or partake in some other form of exercise or ways to spend more time with your loved ones. Assuming you were able to survive all the big, deadly snowstorms we've been bombarded with lately.

PS. The above hockey-related rant was written by a figure skating fan, in case anyone was wondering. :p

PPS. Dear National News Broadcasts. Please stop airing stories about how poor hockey-deprived Canadian fans are coping with hockey withdrawal. This. Is. Not. News. Either. But as long as those stories keep that big speech from that dude in that white house south of the border off Canadian TV tonight, I will temporarily forgive you. Just for tonight, though.

PPPS. I have a few more things to rant about, but since this post is already getting too long and there's still 26 days left in Blogorama Month. I'll save the rest for tomorrow.

Rick Mercer, how I love thee!

2005-02-01T21:58:00.000-04:00

Today, I'm going to join a few people on my suggested reading list and attempt to update this place at least once for the next 28 days. I realize I've been neglectful in this department lately, so I'd like to try to make up for it this month. Only time will tell whether or not I shall succeed, so wish me luck!

I also came across a wonderful discovery today; Rick Mercer's Monday Report has an official website.

Okay, that website has existed for at least a year, but they've got clips from every Monday Report since the show's first episode now. Why, just yesterday I was disappointed CBC doesn't rebroadcast Monday Report like they do Air Farce and This Hour Has 22 Minutes, but now I can go get my Rick fix whenever I want and all my Rick-deprived non-Canadian visitors can check out what the fuss is all about. Woo-hoo!

Yes, I live such an exciting life, don't I? :p

In other news, the Canadian Parliament started debating their same-sex marriage bill today. I don't want to offend any of my visitors on either side of the issue, so all I have to say is visit the abovementioned Monday Report site and click on the "Rick's Rant for this week" video in the middle of the page. Thank you, Rick, for summing up my POV on this issue much better (and in a much funnier and hopefully less-offensive way) than I ever could! :) But do I have to choose between Stephen Harper and Paul Martin? I may be single, but I'm not that desperate! :p Too bad I'm too late to vote in favour keeping the traditional definition of "survey," though.

So how was that for my first February blogathon post? I hope you won't be too harsh on me.

Thoughts for the day

2005-01-30T23:50:00.000-04:00

Fine print on the bottom of the TV screen during a Taco Bell commercial tonight:

"100% white meat only avaliable in the US."

Which, of course, leads to the question, "What kind of meat is avaliable to Taco Bell customers in the rest of the world?"

And on a similar note, does anyone else remember the "Now made with 100% white meat!" McDonald's chicken nuggets commercials from a few months ago? Which, of course, led us to the question, "What were the old McDonald's chicken nuggets made from?" (If the taste is any indication, my guess would be cardboard)

And let's not forget the "our hamburgers are made with pure Alberta beef" McDonald's commercials which aired twice here in Canada...and were twice yanked off the air after those Alberta mad cow scares.

Just a few things to think about...or make you consider a more serious look at vegetarianism. ;)

I am a retrospective soul

2005-01-27T23:47:00.000-04:00

You Are a Retrospective Soul

The most misunderstood of all the soul signs.
Sometimes you even have difficulty seeing yourself as who you are.
You are intense and desire perfection in every facet of your life.
You're best described as extremely idealistic, hardworking, and a survivor.

Great moments of insight and sensitivity come to you easily.
But if you aren't careful, you'll ignore these moments and repeat past mistakes.
For you, it is difficult to seperate the past from the present.
You will suceed once you overcome the disappoinments in life.

Souls you are most compatible with: Traveler Soul and Prophet Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

Yeah, this sounds like a pretty accurate description, right down to the "sometimes you even have difficulty seeing yourself as who you are" quote. There were at least two or three other answers to every question which could have applied equally to me. Too bad this poll doesn't allow more than one answer to each question!

BTW, I've discovered blogthings.com is a wonderful site to visit for those days when you just can't think of interesting ways to update your blog. Unfortunately, I've experienced far too many of those days recently. :( I can't wait to take the "80s Theme Song Generator Test," though! I know you'll all be anxiously awaiting the results. :)

Overly long survey #694

2005-01-22T16:29:00.000-04:00

Shamelessly stolen from almost half the blogs on my "suggested reading list":

What color is most reflective of you? Purple; it's not quite as cheery as red and not quite as blue as, um, blue. So I guess that makes it someplace in between...just like me right now. If the following explanation makes no sense, let's just say it's because purple's my favourite colour and leave it like that.

How did you get the idea for your journal name? "astimegoesby" is my screen name on various message boards I belong to, but someone else on Blogspot already had that name when I originally signed up last summer. I tried to add the current year to the end of my screen name, but it turns out I was a year off. I guess that must be a sign of growing older. :blush:

What time were you born? Somewhere between 8 and 9 a.m.

What song are you playing now, or wish you were playing? Right now, I'm watching the original dance competition from the Canadian National Figure Skating Championships, so that means lots and lots of swing music. :)

Has the death of a celebrity ever made you cry? Pierre Trudeau (because he was the first Canadian Prime Minister I was old enough to remember and it just seemed to me like he would live forever), Princess Diana (for obvious reasons) and Russian Olympic pairs champion Sergei Grinkov (because he was so young, his death was so unexpected, and he left behind his young wife/skating partner and their daughter). :(

What color underwear are you wearing? Blue

Do you want a baby? Depends on what kind of father I'd be able to give him/her.

What does your dad do for a living? Retired military/security personnel.

What does your mom do for a living? Domestic engineer. ;)

What is/are your pet's name? Don't have any.

What color are your bedsheets? Pink

What are the last 3 digits of your phone number? 1-800-YOU-WISH! Okay, that's seven digits, but you get the general idea. :p

What was the last concert you attended? Great Big Sea

Who was with you? Over half the population of my province, from the looks of it.

What was the last movie you saw? Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Who do you dislike most at this moment? Rod Black (CTV/TSN skating commentator) because he's sooo cheesy and insists on jinxing certain up-and-coming skaters I really like. :p

What food are you craving right now? Anything...it's almost suppertime!

Did you dream last night? Probably, but as usual, I can't remember the details.

What was the last tv show you watched? Right now, I'm watching the Canadian National Figure Skating Championships.

What is your fave piece of jewelry? My watch, my hoop earrings and a necklace which originally belonged to my grandmother.

What is to the left of you? My TV and VCR/DVD player.

What was the last thing you ate? A bagel for breakfast.

Who is your best friend of the opposite sex? I don't know; some guy who happens to be of the opposite sex. :p

Write a song lyric that's in your head? "Steppin' out with my baby" (thanks to all that swing music played during the aforementioned Canadian national original dance competition I just watched!)

Who last IMed you? Nobody; I'm probably the last person on Earth who doesn't have IM installed on my computer.

Where is your significant other right now? I don't know, but I wish he'd let me know some time before I die. :p

Do you have a crush? No.

What is his name? N/A

What shampoo do you use? Brilliant Brunette.

When was the last time you cut your hair? Last November, but I'm overdue for another appointment.

Are you on any meds? Do the pills I'm taking for my cold/sore throat right now count?

What shirt are you wearing? A brown sweater.

What time is it? 4:52 PM

What color is your razor? Pink.

What is your fave frozen treat? Mint chocolate chip or cookie dough ice cream.

Are you sexy? I don't know; it's been far too long since anyone's bothered to tell me! :(

Whats your favorite shopping store? Chapters or Future Shop.

Are you thirsty? Yes, I have a sore/dry throat right now.

Can you imagine yourself ever getting married? Not in the immediate future, but hopefully that will change someday before I die. :p

Not a nerd, not yet a loser

2005-01-15T22:13:00.000-04:00

Courtesy of Jessica

Gee, it's nice to know I'm not as big a nerd or loser as I thought, although my low score on the first test may be due in large part to the amount of math and science questions...and math never was my best subject!

Insert creative title here...

2005-01-14T22:40:00.000-04:00

Just a few online quizzes to occupy blog space until I can think of something a little more creative to write about:

Friday Fives:

1) What's the smallest amount of money you've ever had in your checking account? Uhh, $0.00?

2) What's one non-basic-need item (not things like toilet paper and deodorant) that you absolutely must have no matter how broke you are? Internet access. ;)

3) What's your favorite cheap meal to make at home? Does microwave popcorn count as a cheap meal?

4) What's the first thing you treat yourself to on payday? A nice sweet coffee-like drink with all the trimmings when I can get one; a nice book or magazine when I'm not near a coffee place.

5) What are your favorite free activities to do when you're completely broke? Browse through the offerings at my local bookstore/library until I feel guilty about not buying anything/reading books at the library instead of signing them out. ;)

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Which Beatles Album Are You?
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You're Mary Anne Spier! Though you're a bit shy, you are very sweet and everyone loves you.

Which member of the Baby-sitters Club are you? (with pictures!)
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take the "what's your dark secret?" quiz
courtesy of mewing.net. where darkness and secrecy abound.

Please don't ask me what that last answer was all about. I haven't got a clue!

I'm afraid. I'm very afraid.

2005-01-13T22:32:00.000-04:00

I read a story a few days ago saying a major tsunami is projected to hit the east coast of North America due to a Canary Islands volcano somewhere between 50 and 10,000 years. Here's the path the tsunami is expected to take:

Yup, my region is smack dab in the middle of the path. Granted, I (and the vast majority of people reading this) will likely be long gone before this thing hits, but it's still a scary thought just the same.

I also read some very sad news about US figure skater Angela Nikodinov last night:

http://www.usfsa.org/event_story.asp?id=28486

When I first read a thread title about this on one of the skating forums I visit, I thought it was a cruel joke (sadly, it wouldn't be the first time) and my mouth dropped open in shock when I learned it was all too true. Nobody deserves to experience a tragedy like this, of course, but this news is even more heartbreaking considering everything else Angela's been through during the past few years: Losing her old coach--with whom she was extremely close--to cancer, injuries, inconsistent competitive results, etc.

You can leave Angela a condolence note here:

http://skatinginc.com/Skaters/Nikodinov/

I never expected my first 2005 entry to be so depressing, but I'd like to believe beginning the year on such a low note means things will only improve as the year progresses. ;) Besides, these kinds of stories really make you stop and think about the important things in life, don't they?

My disappointing hot New Year's Eve date...

2004-12-31T23:31:00.000-04:00

...with the guys on Royal Canadian Air Farce, that is! Sorry if I fooled anybody into believing there's actually something interesting going on in my life to write about for a change, but for those of you who may not know, CBC broadcasts an hour-long Air Farce special on New Year's Eve where they make fun of, well, pretty much everything. Usually, it's pretty funny and not at all a bad way to spend New Year's Eve, but this year...not so much.

I'm sorry to say Air Farce has now officially jumped the shark, IMO. I haven't found the regular Air Farce show quite as funny since John Morgan retired and was replaced by a rotating series of guest stars a few years ago, but I still kept watching and still thought the New Year's Eve show was usually pretty funny. But this year...not so much.

I think I laughed maybe four or five times during tonight's broadcast. I mean, beaver combs? Liz Taylor and Liza Minelli? Céline Dion in a catfight with, um, that wrestler chick whose name I can't remember since I don't even watch wrestling? Some guy playing Ben Mulroney and the real Ben Mulroney in two separate skits? Not to mentione that Judy Scro stripper skit which was just, um, tacky, IMO.

This was not the Air Farce I remember watching and enjoying for over a decade. I still think John Morgan's death was one of the final nails in the coffin (no pun intended there) for this show. Not only was he one of the original actors, he was also continued to be one of the head writers even after retiring from the show. When even George W. Bush jokes (and there were at least five of them!) can make me laugh, that's a pretty bad sign. :( I wish This Hour Has 22 Minutes also had a New Year's Eve special this year, but sadly, that doesn't appear to be the case.

Anyway, by the time this entry is finished and uploaded, it should be midnight around my neck of the woods, so I'd like to wish all of my visitors a very happy New Year...especially all 92 of you who have left me hugs so far. Thank you all for making me feel so loved. :)

Hopefully by this time next year, I'll have a brand new hot date and a few more real-life hugs! Even if that doesn't happen, I have a feeling 2005 will be a much happier year for me than 2004. And even if I don't keep any of my New Year's resolutions this year, I'll still be able to cross off at least one item on my "things I really want to do before I die someday" list (see my last entry for more information on that) and that is always a wonderful feeling.

I hope 2005 ends on a much happier note than 2004 for everyone affected by the Asian tsunami tragedy, everyone I know who've experienced tough times lately (both in real life and online) and for the world in general.

Merry (belated) white Christmas to me!

2004-12-27T23:00:00.000-04:00

It never fails. This year, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were as green (or as brownish and depressing!) as green could be, then boom! The first major snowstorm of the year arrives the day after Boxing Day (ie. the first day I'd be able to go out and spend some of my Christmas money if it wasn't for those blindingly white snowdrifts outside!)

The last green Christmas we had was about two or three years ago, when the ground was completely bare for Christmas, but we were buried in white stuff just a day or two afterwards...and it didn't melt away until at least mid-April. Now that's what I call a typical Canadian winter, but I certainly hope we won't get a repeat performance this year!

I especially hope the snow and wind stay far, far away on March 8. You see, I have a hot date scheduled that night...with Kurt Browning, Elvis Stojko, Brian Orser and a few other skaters I happen to enjoy! I've never seen most of these skaters live before (and have literally waited over half my lifetime to see Kurt in person for the first time!), so getting tickets to this show is definitely the best Christmas gift I've received in a very long time! The last time a live skating show came to this province (two and a half years ago), tickets literally sold out in less than an hour, so getting good seats to this show is the biggest Christmas miracle I've gotten in a long time, too. :D

Let's see, what else was left under the tree for me this year:

...a complete Blue Willow dish set (my one big gift from my parents this year)
...a nice, warm sweater
...enough bath and beauty products to last me at least until spring
...a couple of necklaces
...beaucoup du chocolat
...Three's Company Season 3 DVD
...money from various relatives who don't know what else to give me (not that I'm complaining one little bit, mind you!)
...and last, but certainly not least, tickets to the aforementioned skating show :D

I hope everyone else had a happy holiday season and I wish all of you a happy new year!

P.S. Any thoughts/prayers/whatever you'd like to send to keep all snow and wind far, far away from here on March 9 would be greatly appreciated. Considering how much bad luck I've had with trying to see live skating over the years, I could use all the help I can get in this department!

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...

2004-12-24T19:56:00.000-04:00

I feel guilty complaining about this considering how many people are stranded in airports because of the snowstorm blanketing most of the rest of the continent, but it looks like my part of the world is getting a (blech!) green Christmas this year after all. I can't remember the last time we've gotten such warm weather during the holiday season. Last night's local newscast even showed footage of people golfing yesterday, some of whom were wearing short-sleeved shirts. I'm sorry, but during this time of the year on this part of the planet, that's just wrong. The rain which fell all day long today managed to wash away every remaining bit of snow on the ground. I kept hoping for the rain to magically turn into snow, but no luck so far.

While flipping back and forth between various channels showing vintage Christmas cartoon marathons over the past few days, I came across many specials I haven't seen in years, some of which I hadn't seen since childhood and had started to believe were only figments of my imagination:

Chipmunks Christmas Special: I'm not sure what the proper name of this special was, but this was the show featuring the famous "Christmas, Christmas time is here" song where Alvin keeps pestering Dave for a hula hoop. ;) The main plot involved Alvin giving his harmonica to a sick little boy and trying to raise money to buy a new one after the Chipmunks receive an invitation to Carnegie Hall (and a special request for Alvin to perform a harmonica solo). The funniest part of the special would probably be Dave lecturing the Chipmunks about the true meaning of Christmas after overhearing Alvin talking about "needing money." After the boys go to bed, Dave walks past their bedroom and says something along the lines of, "Maybe I was too hard on Alvin." At that moment, he overhears Alvin talking in his sleep about "Money, money. I need money." The sad part is I don't even remember how this special ended even though I only watched it yesterday, but I'm pretty sure Alvin got his harmonica back, the Chipmunks got a standing ovation at Carnegie Hall, and the sick boy made a full recovery...because all Christmas specials end happily ever after, don't they? :)

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town: I used to love this one as a child, but haven't watched it all the way through in years. It's basically the story of Santa Claus (or Kris Kringle) as a child, how he grew up to deliver toys to children around the world and how he met and married Mrs. (Jessica) Claus.

The Life and Times of Santa Claus: Another special I used to love, but it wasn't until this year that I realized this special and Santa Claus Is Coming To Town are not one and the same. Both are Rankin-Bass stop-animation specials (the same company which gave us Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer), both featured Santa abandoned in a forest as a baby, being raised by animals and elves, and growing up to deliver toys and both featured evil bad guys trying to stop Santa from delivering those toys. The main difference is young Santa has blond hair in this special while young Santa was a redhead in Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. The elves also had to ask special permission to make Santa immortal in this special while in Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, both he and Mrs. Claus just seem to live forever for no reason. I also stumbled across an animated version of this special and, well, let's just say I much prefer the original! This special was also based on a story by L. Frank Baum (yes, the same person who wrote "The Wizard Of Oz"). There's actually a copy of this story online, and yes, I do eventually plan to read it.

The Smurfs Christmas Special: Two children are traveling somewhere with their uncle or grandfather (sorry, it's been awhile, so I can't remember which), their uncle/grandfather gets trapped under the wagon, the Smurfs are able to rescue him somehow, but not before they have to stop yet another one of Gargamel's evil plans (the details of which, again, escape me right now) and the whole thing ends with the children, the Smurfs, and even Gargamel singing a song featuring the words "Goodness makes the badness go away."

'Twas The Night Before Christmas: The plot of this one involved a family of talking mice and a clock which had to be fixed somehow before Santa would come to visit their town.

A Muppet Family Christmas: I was sooo happy to stumble across this one early this morning. Even though I bought the DVD last year (shut up, Wal-Mart had it on sale for $7!), I haven't seen it on TV since sometime in the 80s. I was not happy to discover Miss Piggy slipping on the icy patch and a few other scenes were not included on the DVD, though! Remind me to tape this one next time I see it since it's another of my all-time favourites and I really want a copy of the whole thing.

BTW, isn't it funny that no matter how many actual plot details from these specials disappear from one's memory, the song lyrics automatically resurface from one's subconscious no matter how many years since you've actually heard them? ;)

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and please feel free to send some of that excess snow in my direction if you've got any to spare. It would most definitely be appreciated! :)

Which literature classic am I?

2004-12-23T23:41:00.000-04:00

Go figure; I've never even heard of my literature classic (the author, yes; the actual book title, no), let alone read it:

Virginia Woolf: Orlando. You are a challenge, for outer events, the outside world, the time etc. play no importance to you. Your focus is in writing, in gender issues, and inside your own head. Self-analysis and exploration of yourself as well as the outer world hold great importance to you.

Which literature classic are you?
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The description certainly sounds interesting (and eerily accurate), though! I just might try to tackle this book someday.

I'll try to write a more detailed post sometime before Christmas, but if that doesn't happen, I'd just like to wish Season's Greetings to one and all! :)

Most. Frivolous. Rant. Ever.

2004-12-12T20:25:00.000-04:00

I watched "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer," "Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas," and a few old Disney cartoons on CBC tonight. What a pleasant surprise it was to see the two cartoons traditionally included at the beginning of "Mickey's Christmas Carol" (the one where Donald Duck goes skating with his nephews and the one where Chip and Dale hide in Mickey's Christmas tree).

But what a disappointment to find out CBC is broadcasting the main "Mickey's Christmas Carol" story on Tuesday night--the one night I have to work! As much as I love Frosty, Rudolph and Charlie Brown's abandoned little Christmas tree, all of those specials are broadcast at least half a dozen times during the holiday season.

"Mickey's Christmas Carol," OTOH, is the one cartoon Christmas special which brings back more warm, fuzzy childhood memories for me than any other, mainly because the teachers at my old elementary school used to play it for my class every single year. Being escorted into one of the vacant junior high school classrooms (I attended a combined elementary/junior high school) where we younger kids normally never would have been allowed to venture, our teacher dimming the lights and popping "Mickey's Christmas Carol" into the VCR, and being allowed to eat Christmas candy and watch cartoons instead of doing worksheets was always a special treat to look forward to just before Christmas vacation.

Actually, now that I look back a little further, I remember the teachers breaking out the old-fashioned filmstrip projector to show us "Mickey's Christmas Carol." I can't entirely remember whether there was even a VCR in my elementary school during the early to mid-'80s, but this old-fashioned way of showing cartoons was even better. It was almost like being in a movie theatre, only more intimate...and somehow, more special.

It was also the first version of "A Christmas Carol" I ever saw that didn't give me nightmares afterwards. To this day, "A Christmas Carol" is my all-time favourite Christmas story and I've loved every version I've ever seen since then, but Scrooge McDuck will always hold a special place in my heart...and this year, I probably won't get the chance to relive those warm, fuzzy childhood memories since "Mickey's Christmas Carol" isn't broadcast nearly as often as Rudolph, Frosty and company.

I know this probably isn't worth complaining about in the grand scheme of things. I know there are much more important issues in the world today (and even things in my own life more worthy of ranting treatment than this), but I'm still kind of sad just the same.

At least I can stay home during CBC's "Holiday Festival On Ice" on Wednesday night and I can watch the Muppets Christmas Carol next Sunday...and hopefully I can catch Scrooge McDuck and company during one of the endless Christmas cartoon marathons on two or three cartoon channels sometime before New Year's. :)

P.S. My apologies to anyone who has trouble deciphering light-grey text on a white background. I know there's a way to make the font a little darker and easier to read, but I haven't gotten around to figuring it out yet. At least I figured out how to change the colour of my own blog entries, so hopefully that helps!

P.P.S. Sniff, nobody's given me any hugs since the last time I updated over a week ago, but I guess it's my own fault for placing my hug counter so far down on the page where it's virtually impossible to see. ;)

Overly-long survey #254

2004-12-12T19:37:00.000-04:00

When you haven't updated your blog in over a week and you're too tired to write any coherent thoughts of your own, shamelessly stealing an overly-long survey from someone else always seems like the perfect solution. This one is courtesy of Robin

ABOUT YOURSELF:

Known as: astimegoesby and other variations of my real name
Gender: The one that's sugar and spice and everything nice (at least most of the time!)
Age: Twenty-something
Location: Eastern Canada
Birthday: On a hot summer day somewhere in Eastern Canada about twenty-something years ago
Ethnicity: Scottish/Acadian/English-Canadian
Religion: You know, the one with all the well-meaning rules that don't work out in real life. Uh...Christianity. Yeah, I think that's it. :)
Shoe size: 7 or 8 (depending on the shoe)
Hair color: auburn.
Eye color: hazel
Fears: Rejection, loneliness, gravity-defying amusement park rides, anyone I know in real life discovering this blog :)

HAVE YOU EVER:

Cheated on someone?: No.
Fallen off the bed?: I probably did as a kid, but I guess I just blocked out the injury because it was so painful. ;)
Had your heart broken?: Yes.
Had a dream come true?: Yes.
Done something you regret? Far too often. :(

CURRENTLY:

Wearing?: Pajamas
Listening to?: "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" on CBC
Eating?: Ruffles
Feeling?: Tired.
Located?: My bedroom.
Chatting with?: No one.
Watching?: "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer."

DO YOU:

Brush your teeth?: After every meal.
Like anybody: I like all kinds of people...except for 75% of the people I encountered Christmas shopping at Wal-Mart this afternoon!
Have any piercings?: One in each ear (and I'm embarassed to admit how long it took me to gather up the courage to get those done!)
Smoke: No.
Drink?: Yes, I enjoy drinking all kinds of beverages: Water, milk, coffee, tea, pop, hot chocolate, etc. :)
Have a cellphone?: No, and I seem to be one of the few people of my generation who doesn't like them...mainly because of all those people who insist on using them while driving and the fact the last time I had a cellphone (two or three years ago), I could never get the @#$% thing to work properly. I know I'll probably have to eventually get another cellphone, but I'm not looking forward to it!
Have a pager?: No.
Like to walk in the rain?: It depends on the amount of rain and the distance of the walk.
Prefer black or blue pens?: I prefer pens that can write in both...and 10 other colours as well!
Like to travel?: Yes.
Sleep on your side, tummy or back?: All of the above
Have a goldfish?: No, but they are one of the few pets that don't make me sneeze.
Ever have the falling dream?: I've had all kinds of dreams involving all kinds of falling.
Have stuffed animals?: Yes.

THE LAST PERSON YOU:

Hugged?: My uncle.
Kissed?: My mom.
Talked to on the phone with?: My boss.
Yelled at?: Right now, I feel like yelling at myself since the other three entries to this part of the survey are so depressing. :)

FAVORITE:

Movie: An American In Paris, Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, The Wedding Singer and many more. I'd also have to add "Muppets Christmas Carol" to the list this time of year.
Store: Chapters/Indigo
Ice Cream Flavor: Mint chocolate chip or cookie dough
Fruit: Apples, raspberries and blueberries.
Candy: Gummi bears and anything involving chocolate.
Car: Anything with four tires, a steering wheel, working brakes and cannot be classified as a gas-guzzling SUV.
Holiday: Christmas.
Day of the Week: Friday because you have the whole weekend to look forward to.
Quote: "You can do a lot if you put your mind to it, but sometimes your mind is somewhere else." (Kurt Browning) In the words of Homer Simpson, "It's funny 'cause it's true." ;)

THIS OR THAT:

Pierced nose or tongue?: I already said I'm embarrased to admit how long it took me to get the courage to get my ears pierced. ;)
Single or taken?: Single.
MTV or BET?: MuchMoreMusic
7th Heaven or Dawson's Creek?: I can't really answer this one since I've only ever watched less than one full episode of both.
Sugar or salt?: Sugar.
Silver or gold?: Silver.
Chocolate or flowers?: Is there such a thing as a bouquet of a dozen chocolate-flavoured red roses? ;)
M&M's or Skittles?: M & M's
Stay up late or sleep in?: Is it possible to have one without the other?
Hot or cold?: This time of year? Definitely cold!
Sun or moon?: Moon.
Mustard or ketchup?: Ketchup.
Spring or Fall?: Spring.
Give or receive? Give.
Happy or sad?: Happy.
McDonald's or Burger King?: Wendy's
Mexican or Italian food?: Italian
Candy or soda?: Those Gummi-type candies shaped like Coke bottles taste pretty good. ;)
Pepsi or Coke?: I've honestly never been able to tell the difference. :)

A new look for the holidays!

2004-12-04T20:02:00.000-04:00

Hi, everybody! Long time, no post. ;)

I finally got tired of seeing an error message every time I visited my own blog, so I decided to unveil yet another new layout. I think it's not only appropriate for the upcoming season, but it'll also be suitable for the rest of winter...or until I get bored with it and decide to replace it with yet another new layout. Whichever comes first. I also notice the "next blog" taskbar is back. Yay! I actually did miss the ability to surf across random people's blogs. I guess I'm just strange like that.

I'm sorry I haven't had much time to post here lately between getting ready for the holidays and that thing where you leave your home to go do stuff somewhere else for eight hours and receive money for it...what's it called again? Oh, yeah, work. Don't worry, though; the work thing will only last until Christmas and I'll have lots more free time on my hands until I find another work thing sometime in the (hopefully) near future. Hey, Santa, you wouldn't happen to be reading this, by any chance? ;)

I'd also like to thank all 44 visitors who've left me hugs so far. I feel so loved. :)

RIP Mike from Canmore

2004-11-22T22:58:00.000-04:00

Wow, my third post in one night! Just think of it as my way of making up for my first update to this place in over a week.

Last week, John Morgan, one of the original members of Royal Canadian Air Farce, unexpectedly died of a heart attack last week. I was surprised to learn he was 74 years old; I would have easily mistaken him for at least 10 or 20 years younger.

I've missed seeing John (and his various "personalities") on Air Farce ever since he retired from the show a few years ago. I still faithfully watch Air Farce every week, but none of the rotating "special guest stars" which appeared on the show since John's retirement have ever been able to take his place...and I don't imagine anyone ever could.

After watching this week's "regular" Air Farce broadcast and then watching CBC's special tribute to John (featuring many of his funniest Air Farce moments) tonight, I felt like I was watching two completely different shows. I have nothing against Jessica Holmes (the new regular on Air Farce), but Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and her "What-ever!" fast food teenager character are pale replacements for Jock McBile and Mike from Canmore, IMO. I can easily tune into "Saturday Night Live" or "MAD TV" if I want to see people making fun of Britney, Paris, Avril or any other "teen Hollywood celebrity of the week. But only on Air Farce could I see Jock McBile tell us to "get stuffed" or Mike from Canmore tell his dog Norm to roll over in the middle of one of his thought-provoking monologues...and now, those characters will only live on in repeats.

RIP John Morgan, Jock McBile, Mike from Canmore, Russian President Still-Not-Dead Boris Yeltsin and everyone else I may have missed. You--and all your other "personalities"--will always be remembered...and will always be irreplaceable.

Funniest. Blog. Ever.

2004-11-22T22:51:00.000-04:00

If you enjoy checking out unflattering papparazzi photos and reading snarky blog entries about various Hollywood celebs (and who doesn't?), I highly recommend you pay a visit to Snarkywood.

Once again, I must quote Homer Simpson and say, "It's funny, 'cause it's true." :p

Men are just happier people...

2004-11-22T22:46:00.000-04:00

Hee. As Homer Simpson would say, "It's funny, 'cause it's true." :)

Men Are Just Happier People

Your last name stays put.
The garage is all yours.
Wedding plans take care of themselves.
Chocolate is just another snack.
You can never be pregnant.
You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park.
You can wear NO T-shirt to a water park.
Car mechanics tell you the truth.
The world is your urinal.
You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt.
Same work, more pay.
Wrinkles add character.
Wedding dress $5000. Tux rental $100.
People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them.
The occasional well-rendered belch is practically expected.
New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet .
One mood -- all the time.
Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat.
You know stuff about tanks.
A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase.
You can open all your own jars.
You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness.
If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend.
Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack.
Three pairs of shoes are more than enough.
You almost never have strap problems in public.
You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes.
Everything on your face stays its original color.
The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades.
You only have to shave your face and neck.
You can play with toys all your life.
Your belly usually hides your big hips.
One wallet and one pair of shoes one color for all seasons.
You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look.
You can "do" your nails with a pocketknife.
You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache.
You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 45 minutes.

No wonder men are happier! :)

Someone please give me some hugs?

2004-11-13T10:54:00.000-04:00

I've been meaning to install a counter on this thing for a while, but never got around to doing it until a few days ago. Well, it's not a "real" counter, but something even neater: A hug counter.

It's right over there on the right side of the screen below my archives list. Just click on the link, give me a "hug," and the counter will go up. It's been up for a couple of days now, but only person who's "hugged" me so far is myself (just to test and make sure it's working!) So either nobody likes me, nobody visits me anymore, or the counter's just too far down on the screen for anyone to see it. :) Needless to say, I hope it's the last one!

So next time you stop by, please take the time to scroll down and leave me a hug (unless you accidentally stumbled across this place while searching for foreign porn blogs--I'm an old-fashioned girl who doesn't believe in going further than hugging after the first visit). I'd really appreciate it, and I really would like to know how many people actually visit this place on a regular basis. Thanks!

Overly-long survey #59

2004-11-10T23:12:00.000-04:00

Yet another overly-long survey stolen from another random Blogspot location:

First Name: Unpronouncible :)

Were you named after anyone? Someone from a part of the world where my name is slightly more pronouncible than where I live.

Do you wish on stars? Whenever I can see them.

When did you last cry? While watching Paul Gross explain why Lester Pearson deserves to be the greatest Canadian tonight. Yes, I often cry at strange things.

Do you like your handwriting? Yes.

What is your favorite lunch meat? When I was young, bologna. Nowadays, I don't like any of them.

What is your birth date? An early morning some 20-odd years ago.

What is your most embarrassing CD? Debbie Gibson's Greatest Hits (blush!)

If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you? Yes, I'd like to think I'd be more tolerant and accepting of me than most of my past schoolmates.

Are you a daredevil? You have got to be kidding!

Have you ever told a secret you swore not to tell? Yes...but please don't tell anybody! :)

Do looks matter? Not nearly as much as what's inside the package (and I mean that in a totally G-related way!)

How do you release anger? I don't release anger nearly as often as I hold it in and cry in the privacy of my own room.

Where is your second home? My local bookstore.

Do you trust others easily? Far too easily, I'm afraid!

What was your favorite toy as a child? Anything Sesame Street-related

What class in high school do you think was totally useless? Gym class. It was my worst subject, I've never used it since I graduated, and the only thing I learned is the worse you are at sports, the more you'll get picked on. :(

Do you have a journal? This blog is the only journal of any kind I've had since I was about 10 years old.

Do you use sarcasm a lot? Yes, but not as much in real life as I do behind the privacy of my own keyboard.

What are your nicknames? Nobody can make too many nicknames out of my real name.

Would you bungee jump? You have got to be kidding!

Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Nope, then I'd just have to tie them up again the next time I put them on.

Do you think that you are strong? Only when I have no other alternative.

What's your favorite ice cream flavor? Chocolate cookie dough or mint chocolate chip.

Shoe Size? 7 or 8, depending on the shoe.

Red/Pink? Red

What is your least favorite thing about yourself? My employment status...but thankfully that will change next week!

Who do you miss most? Any old friends I've lost touch with over the years.

Do you want everyone to fill this out? Sure. You learn a lot of interesting things about people - including yourself - while reading these things.

What color pants and shoes are you wearing? Wearing pajamas and barefoot.

What are you listening to right now? "How Soon Is Now?" by the Smiths.

Last thing you ate? A bowl of popcorn

If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Purple

What is the weather like right now? Cold, crisp and clear...but alas, no sight of those northern lights we were supposed to get tonight. :(

Last person you talked to on the phone? My boss, asking me if I could go back to work next week. :)

The first thing you notice about the opposite sex? Even though I know a lot of people will think, "Yeah, riiight!" I honestly do notice a guy's personality first. I'm not the least bit attracted by his outward appearance if he comes off as a jerk on the inside. OTOH, if a guy has a nice personality, that usually makes his outward features much more attractive to me.

Do you like the person who sent this to you? I don't know; I only stumbled across her blog randomly...but she seems like a nice, cool person.

Favorite Drink? Water or any kind of sweet coffee-like drink with whipped cream and some sort of sprinkles on top.

Favorite Sport? Figure skating (now there's a shocking answer, I know!)

Hair Color? Brownish-reddish

Eye Color? Hazel

Do you wear contacts? No, but hopefully that will change after my next eye appointment.

Favorite Food? Vegetarian lasagna

Last Movie You Watched? "Cold Mountain" (for the second time)

Favorite Day of the Year? Christmas

Scary Movies Or Happy Endings? Happy endings all the way!

Summer Or Winter? Summer

Hugs Or Kisses? Hugs (mainly because of the new counter-type thing I just installed...check it out!)

What Is Your Favorite Dessert? Chocolate Oreo cake

Who Is Most Likely To Respond? Any one of the half a dozen people I think actually visit this place regularly.

Who Is Least Likely To Respond? Anyone who accidentally stumbled across this place while looking for foreign-language porn blogs...they would most definitely be disappointed!

Living Arrangements? Someplace with a roof, a bed and four walls.

What Books Are You Reading? "The Story Of My Life" by Helen Keller

What's On Your Mouse Pad? Some frog-type creature

What did you watch last night? "Making The Cut" (ie. the most sounds-promising-but-is-really-quite-boring reality show ever!)

Favorite Smells? Home cooking, white musk, the smell in the air on a misty morning, and fresh pine (especially during a certain time of year soon to be upon us!)

Rolling Stones or Beatles? Beatles

Do You Believe in Evolution or Creations? A bit of both - I have a very free interpretation of the first chapter of the Bible.

What's the furthest you've been from home? Los Angeles, California

I know a few of my answers are a bit ambiguous due to my whole "someone I know in real life might be able to find this place" phobia, but I'm sure most of my regular visitors can easily find more detailed answers if you look closely enough. :)

Proposed new Canada/US border

2004-11-07T14:36:00.000-04:00

It looks like the newly re-elected US President is finally going to pay a visit to Canada sometime in the future. Among the things he plans to discuss with our Prime Minister might be a proposed change to our international border:

Hmm, doesn't look too bad to me. Disgruntled voters in the "blue states" get free health care and a more progressive government (if Canadians don't have to vote in another election of our own within the next year--LOL!) and we get a nice warm place to spend our winters without having to leave the country. :p Sounds like a good deal for both sides!

But wait a second! I think I like this "New Canada" map even better:

New improved Canada/US border

You see, according to this map, California and Hawaii are part of "New Canada," so this way, we get two nice warm places within our own country. I'll even overlook the fact the illustrator apparently believes PEI and New Brunswick are the same province. ;) Too bad Kerry didn't take Florida, though; that state's already full of Canadians during at least half the year anyway.

OTOH, The new USA may feel free to keep Ahh-nold, Britney Spears and those two bimbos from "The Simple Life." ;)

Things I don't understand about the US election...

2004-11-06T22:47:00.000-04:00

After watching and listening to endless debates about last week's US election, there are still a few things I don't understand about the political process down there. Of course, the first thing I don't understand is how the Halifax could over 50% of American voters send You Know Who back to the White House for another four years. I guess we "foreigners" can't say, "It's not as if the majority of you actually voted for the guy," anymore. Too bad; I enjoyed making that comment to my neighbours during the last four years. :p

Other things I don't understand are:

1. First and foremost, why were there still so many vote-counting problems this time around and still sooo many different voting methods across the US? Coming from a country where all you have to do is mark an "X" next to your desired candidate, I've wondered why the voting system isn't exactly the same in every single state ever since the 2000 election fiasco, and I'm very surprised nothing's been done to change that. That would be the very first piece of legislation I'd try to pass if I were US president. It wouldn't prevent extremely close election results from occuring, but at least it would make recounts much easier...and any attempts at fixing elections much harder!

2. The amount of time - and obscene amount of money spent - during the US campaign. I've always wondered how any sitting US president is able to constantly campaign for re-election for almost a year and still find enough time to govern the country. Maybe it might be a good idea to drastically shorten the length of the campaign and place a limit on how much money parties can spend during an election (like in many other countries). I'm sure there are many other ways that extra money could be spent. Health care. Education. Paying off that humungous deficit. Any of those would be an improvement over those negative campaign ads. Which leads me to the next thing I don't understand...

3. How anyone's vote could be influenced by negative campaign ads. I admit I haven't seen most of the negative US campaign ads because (a) I haven't watched much American TV lately and (b) the American channels I do get are from Boston and New York, which were fairly Kerry-safe states and therefore weren't subjected to nearly as many campaign commercials as the "swing states." But most of last spring's Canadian election campaign ads were pretty nasty, too. I can't think of a single ad on either side of the border explaining why X is the best party/person to vote for as opposed to constantly insulting Party Y. It's been said many people are influenced by these kinds of ads. I most certainly am not one of them.

4. The constant emphasis on Kerry's military record (and Bush's lack thereof). Yes, we know Kerry's a Purple Heart winner, and yes, it's true he won it thrice...and that's a wonderful accomplishment. But coming from a country where the vast majority of citizens don't know - or care - whether or not our leaders have a military record, I don't really know how much that matters when it comes to what kind of President Kerry would have been now. Maybe it's because your leaders have access to nuclear weapons and ours have access to...a few secondhand British subs. ;) I don't know. What I do think is if Kerry had repeated the words "Saddam Hussein is not connected with bin Laden and al-Quieda" as often as the word "Vietnam" throughout his campaign, he might be packing his bags for the White House today. As much as I completely disagree with the way Bush is handling the war on terrorism, I have to admit Kerry never explained well enough how he'd handle things differently. How Kerry would have handled the war we're involved in now mattered much more to me than how many medals he won in some other war over 30 years ago.

5. Why abortion, gay marriage and other "moral issues" which directly affect only a small percentage of the population seem to matter more in the US than (IMO) issues such as health care, education and the economy - which affect everybody. I realize most people have strong opinions about these issues, but regardless of what your opinions on abortion and gay marriage are, the percentage of people directly affected by these issues is very slim. Almost 50% of the population are biologically incapable of being in a position to choose abortion at all. Among the other 50%, the percentage of women who have abortions versus those who choose to keep their babies (or never become pregnant at all) is comparitively slim. Most people who oppose gay marriage will likely never attend a same-sex wedding in their lifetime. I guess I'm confused because in my country, religion, abortion and gay marriage rank very far down on the priority list during election campaign...and if any politician expresses an opinion about those issues, he or she loses far more votes from it than he gains. Which leads me to the next thing I don't understand...

6. How could anyone vote for someone who says gays and single mothers shouldn't be allowed to teach? No matter whether you think someone's behavior is morally wrong, isn't it illegal to ask someone "Are you gay?" or "Do you have kids, and if so, are you a single parent?" during a job interview.

7. Why didn't Kerry include the words "Saddam Hussein is not connected to bin Laden or Al Qeida" a few more thousand times in his speeches? Yes, I know I already made that point, but it deserves to be repeated. Over and over and over and over again. And I believe if Kerry had done just that, the results of the election would have been very different.

8. How one party can claim to be closer to God than another party. Frankly, from where I'm sitting, none of the major political parties - on either side of the border - have engaged in much Christian behavior lately, and that's just from watching their aforementioned extremely negative campaign ads. :p Who knows how many more ungodly things they do behind closed doors.

9. What's taking you so long to follow our lead and rename your two major parties "Liberal" and "Conservative" already? Supporters of each party refer to each other by those words (which, BTW, have very different meanings up here!) often enough anyway, so why not just make it official. Plus, "Liberal" and "Conservative" are a little easier to spell than "Democrat" and "Republican." :)

Do not adjust your computer monitor...

2004-11-06T22:09:00.000-04:00

No, you're not seeing things. Since I have to give this place a new look because the pretty photo on my old layout keeps refusing to load, I might as well have some fun with it. ;)

Apparently I've also made the "Next Blog" bar disapppear in the process...

One more day...one more day (I hope!)

2004-11-02T16:40:00.000-04:00

Unless you've spent the past four years in a cave with Osama bin Laden (or perhaps even if you have!), you're probably aware there's some sort of important election going on south of the border today. In case you haven't figured out from most of my recent posts, I can't actually vote in that election since I live on the other side of the border, but I'm very anxious about the results just the same.

Last week, I dreamed I was watching the news and a major riot broke out somewhere in the US after the results of today's election. I don't know which presidential candidate won in my dream. I don't know where the riot occured. All I remember is thousands of furious protestors, lots of policemen carrying clubs and wearing bullet-proof vests, and there was fire involved. And it was very, very scary. And if I'm this anxious and scared on this side of the border, I can only imagine the feelings those of you living in the US must be experiencing right now.

I've debated whether or not to share my feelings about this election for a while now, but since today's the big day, if I don't post them now, it may be too late by tomorrow. I'm not writing this to attempt to tell my southern neighbours how to vote (from everything I've heard, most of you have pretty much made up your mind one way or the other, anyway!) I just want to try to give a Canadian perspective about the whole thing...especially about why most of us don't want four more years of George W. Bush in the White House.

Last summer, there was an interesting thread on one of the forums I visit asking non-American posters to share their opinions about Bush and Americans in general. The general consensus: Americans good, Bush bad. Please keep in mind I, and most other Canadians, know how to separate American people from the leader they have to live with. ;)

Yes, it's true most Canadians don't like GWB...and that feeling started long before the war on Iraq, the Sept. 11 attacks or even before the last election he "won." It all began when Bush said something about then-Canadian Prime Minister Jean Poutine (instead of his real last name, Chrétien) during an interview before the 2000 election. Needless to say, the Canadian media had a field day with that remark!

Although, to be fair, I have to admit Gore made a similar dumb comment about looking forward to visiting the Canadian capital of Toronto after becoming President...although that mistake didn't receive nearly as much publicity as Bush's "Poutine" comment. Not exactly the greatest first impression either candidate could have made to their northern neighbours.

I don't expect a US president to be an expert on Canada, but I don't think finding out (a) the capital city of their northern neighbour or (b) the name of our current Prime Minister would be too much to ask. I only hope Kerry's better-educated on these things than either of his predecesors. Kerry does speak French, though. That's a good start. ;)

Canada is also traditionally the first foreign country US presidents visit after being elected, and a lot of Canadians were insulted when Bush chose Mexico as his first foreign visit instead. Come to think of it, I don't think Bush has ever visited Canada since he's been in office...but then again, I don't think he'd get a very warm welcome up here, either.

And then there was the speech Bush delivered shortly after the terrorist attacked where he omitted Canada from a list of countries he thanked for lending their support to the US during that sad time. I realize he couldn't have possibly mentioned every single country by name, but when you remember the fact it was Canada who offered refuge to all the planes in the air after US airspace was closed down at great personal risk to the safety of our own country (there could very well have been other terrorists aboard those planes, ready to attack Canada as well as the States, for all we knew at the time), the fact that the US president couldn't take a few seconds to say, "Thank you, Canada, for taking in our planes and giving comfort and support to our stranded citizens during this difficult time," seemed like a slap in the face to many of us.

When Canada decided not to send our troops to Iraq, Bush cancelled yet another planned visit to our country and basically came across as saying, "Okay, Canada, since you don't want to join our war, we're not going to be your friend anymore. Britain and Australia said they'd join our war, so we're going to be best friends with them instead."

Nobody likes a friend who will only play nice with you if you go along with everything they say...especially when that friend is bigger, stronger, has more powerful weapons and lives right next door to you. :p That's also a big part of the reason why Canada decided not to go to Iraq after the UN didn't support the invasion.

I know these reasons may sound petty to a lot of non-Canadians, but these little snubs towards our own country are just the icing on the cake on top of all the other perfectly good reasons (IMO) why 50% of Americans and virtually everyone else on the planet do not support Bush.

And last, but certainly not least, to me, Bush is a living embodiment of every negative stereotype Canadians have about America:

...the ignorant and grammatically incorrect statements
...love for guns and war
...the bullying attitude towards other countries who dare to disagree with his decisions (ie. becoming closer to Britain and Australia rather than Canada because those countries have more Bush-friendly governments than ours, the whole "freedom fries" thing with France, statements like, "You're either with us or with the terrorists.")
...the insistence on pushing his own opinions and beliefs down other people's throats
...the attitude of "America is the greatest nation in the world and everyone should want to be just like us."
...the attitude of "America is the most powerful nation in the world; therefore, we have the right to invade anyone we want without approval from most of the rest of the world."
...and last, but certainly not least (at least among Canadians) the attitude of not knowing--or caring--much about his northern neighbours.

I know most Americans do not fit this ugly stereotype. I know not even all Bush supporters fit this stereotype, but Bush certainly hasn't made a good impression on your country to other nations during the last four years.

I remember Tony Blair gave a speech a few weeks ago where he said there was no evidence Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (ugh, how I hate that phrase!) and apologized for how deeply the war divided his country. He still supported the Iraq invasion, but at least he admitted the reason for going in there in the first place was a mistake, and I respect him for that.

Bush, as much as I disagree with almost everything he stands for, had the perfect opportunity to win my respect in a similar way when someone asked him about the biggest mistake he made during his presidency. Instead of saying, "We should have thought a little more about how to deal with things in Iraq after capturing Saddam," or "We should have spent more time in Afghanistan looking for the guy who actually caused the Sept. 11 attacks before invading a completely different country," or even, "Gee, it's taking us a little longer to find those Iraqi weapons of mass destruction than we originally thought," Bush basically said nothing at all. Standing up for your convictions is one thing; refusing to admit you've made at least one teeny, tiny mistake in your war against terrorism is another. And, that, more than anything else, is why I cannot respect GWB.

I guess that's one of the main differences between our two countries. In case you haven't noticed, we Canadians really like to apologize. Including most our politicians. ;)

Sadly, most people seem to have forgotten Sept. 11 was not only an attack on America, but an attack on the entire Western world. Yes, the attacks took place on American soil. Yes, most of the people who lost their lives on that tragic day were American. But so did many British, Australians, Canadians, French, Germans, Brazilians and people from dozens of other countries. All democratic countries should have agreed on the best way to fight the war on terrorism together, not be divided because one group of leaders decided to invade Iraq without UN approval while another group of leaders didn't exactly agree with that idea.

Even the Canadian networks are broadcasting nothing but wall-to-wall US election coverage now, and one story in particular really stuck out to me. It was about a city in Texas where Democrats all lived and worked together in one neighbourhood, while the neighbourhood right next door was exclusively Republican. It saddened me that people with different political beliefs aren't even able to live side-by-side anymore, and I hope that city is the exception, not the rule in the US.

The entire world was united in grief on Sept. 11, 2001. Back then, everyone wanted the same thing; to stop terrorism and prevent a tragedy like this from ever happening again. Three years, two wars, and a few more global terrorist attacks, I think most people still share that belief. The trouble is there are now at least two very different opinions on the best way to acheive that goal (if the war on terrorism ever can be truly won at all), and people on both sides believe if the US chooses the wrong path, it could truly be a matter of life or death. I believe that's why this election is so different, and that's why people are so divided and nervous about the outcome, and (in some cases) much more hostile than usual towards people on the other side. I now realize there's more than one meaning to the phrase "war on terror." :(

Regardless of who wins tonight (and I hope the winner can be decided tonight!), all I can do is hope everyone's worst fears on both sides will not be realized if the "other guy" gets in! If the division between both sides isn't resolved (or gets even worse) after the election, that scares me almost as much as any future terrorist attack from the Middle East. Well, that and the fact Osama bin Laden is still alive and well with apparent access to a TV, video camera, VCR/DVD player and a copy of "Fahrenheit 9/11."

When Americans choose their president, they're not only voting for the leader of their own country, but the leader of the free world. That's a huge responsibility, and one I hope all my American visitors take advantage of, no matter which side they support. To quote one Canadian living in the States and trying to convince her American friends to vote: "If you don't want to vote for yourself, at least vote for the Canadians (and other "foreigners" in the world) who can't."

May the best man win fair and square tonight...and may God help America.

PS: I originally typed this entry on WordPad and saved it under the name "George W. Bush." I must admit I smiled when I answered "Yes" to the question, "Are you sure you want to delete George W. Bush?" :p Hey, it's as close as I'll ever be able to get to actually being able to cast a ballot (or pull a lever or touch a computer screen or however you vote in whichever state you live in) in today's election! :) I only wish I could answer the question, "Save changes to George W. Bush?" too. Not that I'm trying to tell my American visitors how to vote or anything like that...

My name is astimegoesby and...I'm not quite as Canadian as I thought!

2004-10-31T22:50:00.000-04:00

This is the toughest Canadiana quiz I've ever come across. Please feel free to take it, copy and paste it to your own blog and/or pass it along to all your Canadian and wannabe-Canadian friends. Have fun!

1. Which Canadian actor wrote himself a cheque for 20 million dollars and carried it around in his pocket until he earned that amount in one film? Jim Carrey? I'm just guessing here, but that sounds like the kind of thing he'd do. :)

2. What Canadian actor designed a stopwatch that ran backwards to aid radio announcers in gauging the time available? Sorry, I have no clue about this one!

3. Foster Hewitt was famous for coining which familiar sports phrase? "He shoots, he scores!"

4. According to a 1996 Angus Reid poll, what is it that 70% of Canadians believe? That Kerry will make a better US president (or at least treat our country with more respect) than Bush. :p Oops, sorry, I got the date wrong by a few years. (blush) In that case, I'm sorry I don't know this one, either.

5. Where is the oldest walled city north of Mexico? Quebec City. Well, this is a quiz about Canada and it is the only walled Canadian city I can think of...

6. What purpose does the Rideau Canal serve during winter months? It's the world's largest outdoor skating rink.

7. Where was the first Molson Brewery located? Montreal? Again, just guessing on this one...

8. What Canadian figure skater performed the first 'quad' during competition? Hmm, I'll have to think about that one for a minute. Let's see, could it possibly be...Kurt Browning?? ;)

9. If someone offers you Mr. Big or a Flake - what are they offering? I know Mr. Big is a chocolate bar, but I've never heard of Flake.

10. What Canadian beer commercial actor had his own tv show? Neil Young? No, wait, he's a singer. The "My name is Joe and I. Am. Canadian." guy? Nahh, I've only ever seen him on talk shows. Sorry, those are the only two guys I can think of right now.

And here are the answers (No peeking, please!)

1. Jim Carrey made his first $20 million dollar film with Cable Guy. Woo-hoo! At least one of my guesses was right!

2. Lorne Greene - Lorne had initially been a chemical engineering student at Queen's University in Kingston Ontario. He went on to become "the voice of Canada" for the CBC. It was while he was there he invented the stopwatch. I never could have guessed this one in a million years!

3. "He shoots, He scores!" Foster Hewitt was a sports broadcaster in Canada from 1923 - 1981. Hockey Night in Canada became a Canadian cultural event. Yay, I got this one right, too!

4. That intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe. Well, some non-Bush supporters might say I was half-right on this one, anyway. :p

5. Quebec City - The fortification walls were first built in 1695 and reconstructed in 1720 to protect the French from British invasion. Yay, another right answer!

6. It's the World's Longest Skating Rink! Residents are known to lace on their skates and use it as a mode of transportation to and from work during the winter months. And another...

7. Montréal. Yay, I got another lucky guess right!

8. Kurt Browning. I might as well surrender my right to exist as a skating fan right now if I couldn't get this one right! ;)

9. Chocolate bar. At least I got this one half-right.

10. That would be Tom Cavanaugh of ED on NBC. "If I wanted water, I'd ask for water." Again, I never would have guessed this one in a million years!

Hmm, 7 1/2 (or 8, depending on which candidate you support in the US election--LOL!) out of 10 isn't too bad, I suppose! :)

What happened to my pretty picture?

2004-10-24T23:26:00.000-03:00

When I updated this place last night, I was disappointed to find out the pretty picture on top of my layout had been replaced by an oversized "Photobucket.com bandwidth exceeded" button. :( I'm either more popular than I thought or more people decided to use this particular layout than I thought. Either way, I'll probably have to look for a new layout a little sooner than I thought if the problem isn't fixed by the end of the month...but I really liked this layout. :(

And as if one blog I don't update nearly as often as I should isn't enough, I now have a brand new LiveJournal (not that there's much there to look at right now). I admit the main reason I joined was to subscribe to a Kurt Browning LJ community, but now that I have one, I'll probably use it mainly for posting all my figure skating-related rants and raves which would bore most of my "regular" visitors to death. I'm sure you're all happy to hear that. :)

I'll still keep this space for everything else, though. Whether or not you're happy to hear that is up to you. ;)

Canadian Headlines for 2025

2004-10-23T23:49:00.000-03:00

Since there's absolutely nothing worth writing about in my own life right now, here's some more Canadian humour shamelessly stolen from yet another anonymous blog:

1. Paul Martin the Third announces intention to run for leader of the Liberal Party. Sheila Copps: "Will it ever be my turn?"

2. Hockey Night in Canada theme song declared the co-anthem of Canada as part of memorial services for the NHL.

3. Duceppeland (once known as Québec) having another referendum to seperate from Canada.

4. Canadian submarine has leak. Fixed with duct tape just in time. Tories ask for the government to form another gratuitous Royal Commision on How Much The Canadian Military Sucks.

5. Almost-Progessive Conservative Party, New Reform Party and Belinda Stronach Party enter into talks to unite the Right again.

6. The reincarnated Ed Broadbent announces his intention to return to the House of Commons.

7. Tory turned Liberal turned Green Party turned NDP MP Scott Brison walks the floor to the Bloc Québécois.

8. Brian Mulroney: "I'm not dead yet!"

9. Prime Minister Guy A. Lepage invokes War Measures Act to remove Pierre Pettigrew's hair.

10. Controversial interview with Mary Walsh: "Actually, the hour had 21 minutes."

11. Canadian Oxford finally recognizes a new language of Canada: Chrétienish

12. CBC begins a new search for the Greatest Canadian. Nominations thus far: Trudeau, Trudeau and Trudeau.

13. Colonel Stacey promoted to Admiral. Theresa, we love you!

14. Auditor General uncovers scandal: Governor General Steve Smith once used clear duct tape.

15. Jean Chrétien announces plans to buy the city of Shawinigan and turn it into a giant golf resort...but he is not the owner!

16. The Society of Canadians Who Have Seen UFO's has recently reported the witnessing of Adrienne Clarkson wearing normal clothes.

17. The popular CBC Comedy Rick Mercer's Monday Report moves back to Wednesday from its Friday timeslot.

18. Alberta Premier Ralph Klein hints at retirement. Albertans stunned at the notion of King Ralph leaving them.

19. Atlantic cod officially declared an extinct species. Maritimers blame the goverenment. Government blames the Maritimers. This is not news.

I realize most non-Canadians (and perhaps a few Canadians) will read this entry and wonder "Who the Halifax are most of these people and how is this supposed to be funny?" but I thought I'd share it anyway. :)

Yet another overly-long survey

2004-10-18T10:44:00.000-03:00

Shamelessly stolen from Dovie

THE YOU SIDE
Full name: Unpronouncable
Birth date: Sometime in August
Age: 20-something
Location: Somewhere in Eastern Canada
Your zodiac sign: Leo.
Email: astimegoesby76@yahoo.ca
Height: Around 5'8 or 5'9
Eye color: Hazel
Hair color: Reddish-brownish
Are you a righty or a lefty or ambidextrous: Righty
Favorite TV shows: The Simpsons, Royal Canadian Air Farce (although this season has been very disappointing so far!), This Hour Has 22 Minutes and Rick Mercer's Monday Report (Woo-hoo, the season premiere finally starts tonight!)
Favorite movie you have seen: Anne of Green Gables, An American In Paris, The Wedding Singer, Dead Poets Society and far too many more to mention here!
What's your favorite flav of snapple: Lemonade
Favorite board game: Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary or Balderdash, although it's been years since I've played any of them!
Favorite magazine: Macleans and Jane (the grown-up version of my all-time favourite teen magazine, Sassy)
Favorite food: Vegetarian lasagna, any kind of pasta, french fries and anything chocolate!
Least favorite food: Eggs, gravy and ground beef
Favorite ice cream: Mint chocolate or cookies and cream
Favorite kind of perfume/cologne: It's been ages since I've worn either of them, but I've always liked Healing Gardens stuff
Favorite subject in school: English, French and history, not necessarily in that order
Least favorite: Math and gym. In that order.
Favorite thing to drink: Tim Horton's Iced Cappuchino in summer, Tim Horton's Café Mocha in winter, and good old water all year 'round!
Favorite CDs: U2, Coldplay, Moby, Tori Amos, Sting, various cheesy homemade '80s mix CDs and many, many more
Favorite thing to do on the weekend: Sleep in and watch skating!
Best advice: "Never worry about what other people think of you, because most people are too busy worrying about what you think of them." Not always the easiest advice to follow, but great advice just the same!
Your favorite artist/group: If I was forced at gunpoint to choose just one, I'd have to go with U2
Your favorite holiday: Christmas
What's your favorite color? Purple
Favorite shampoo/conditioner: Brilliant Brunette
(deleted a few questions about real-life friends since I don't want any of them acccidentally stumbling across this blog--LOL!)
If you could meet one person in the world, it would be: Kurt Browning :p
If you could meet any dead person, it would be: Pierre Trudeau
The Nicest Guy you've ever met: My dad
The Nicest Girl you've ever met: Too many to narrow it down
Who's the person you admire most: My parents, and anyone who's been able to overcome insecurity or tragedy to improve their lives for the better.
What do you feel about the Ouija board: It's a piece of junk that never worked for me the one time I tried to use one.
Do you believe in yourself: Depends far too much on how much others believe in me
Worst feeling in the world: Rejection, loneliness and feeling like you're the only person in the world who's ever experienced feelings of worthlessness.
Best feeling in the world: Being with someone you love and trust unconditionally...and truly knowing in your heart they feel exactly the same way about you. :)
Do you get motion sickness: Not since I was a kid.
Are you for world Peace: Um, if anyone's ever filled out this survey who doesn't believe in world peace, I don't want to know about it. ;)
What religion are you: You know, the one with all the well-meaning rules that don't work in real life--uh, non-practicing Catholic.
One thing you want to change about yourself: My employment status
Are you a health freak: When it comes to eating, most of the time (except for the odd chocolate/potato chip binge). When it comes to exercise, far less than I know I should be!

THE CRUSH SIDE
Do you have a crush: Not on anyone who would actually care I exist.
Do you have a Boyfriend/Girlfriend: No.
If you could go out with anyone in the world, who: Jude Law (because he's one of the few celebrity crushes I have who's single at the moment!)
When you meet a person of the opposite sex, you first notice: As hard as I know it may be for some people to believe, I notice personality first. I've met far too many good-looking guys with horrible personalities on the outside that when I meet a guy with a nice personality, that makes any attractive external features even more beautiful to me.
Who was your first crush: Bryan Adams and Michael J. Fox
Have you ever been in love: Not with anyone who's ever truly loved me back. :(
What do you remember most about this year: The incredibly beautiful fall weather we've had lately.
What's the first thing you thought of when you woke up this morning: Gee, I hope the weather's nicer than it was yesterday!
Were you "cool" 5 years ago: You have got to be kidding!
Does it make you sad to know that you can never go back in time: Sometimes.
If you could go back in time, would you? Depends on the time period I'd have to return to.
What would you change: I wouldn't worry nearly so much about how my peers thought of me and make much more effort to keep in touch with all the friends I've lost touch with over the years.

THE FUTURE SIDE
Where do you see yourself in 10 Years: Hopefully better off (in more ways than one) than I am right now!
Future Sons names: Evan, Gavin, Sebastian, Owen
Future Daughters names: Serena, Zara, Katherine, Alexandra
If you could have any occupation when you get older, what would it be? Any permanent, steady job involving writing.
What is your dream car/truck: Something with four tires, a steering wheel, brakes that actually work...gee, I've put about as much thought into my dream car as into my dream house! :p I've always been partial to red vehicles, though.
Do you sleep with a stuffed animal: Not in over a decade
What do you wear to bed: Pajamas.
If you could dye your hair one color what color would it be: I've always wanted to see how I'd look as a blonde, but I know it likely wouldn't be a good look on me. :p
On a scale from 1-10 (1 lowest) how romantic are you?: Depends on how much potential romance is in my own life at the moment.
If you could have a tattoo, what and where would it be: I honestly can't picture myself with any kind of tattoo; I'm the world's biggest wimp when it comes to needles!
Any piercings....where: Only one in each ear.
What's on your walls in your room: Posters, wall hangings, a mirror
What type of deodorant do you use: Mitchum's gel stuff
Have you ever been skinny-dipping: Only in the bathtub. ;)
Do you type with your fingers on the right keys: Yes
Have you ever been convicted of a crime: No.

THE LEFT OVER CRAZY SIDE
What's on your mouse pad: Some kind of frog.
How many rings before you answer the phone: Usually just one or two
Have you ever been attacked by a big dog: More than once when I was younger, which explains how long it's taken me to get over my fear of big dogs. ;)
Is the glass half empty or half full: Usually half-full.
Do you eat chicken with fingers or with a fork: I usually eat KFC with my fingers and homemade chicken with a knife and fork.
Which do you prefer, mud wrestling or Jell-O wrestling: Neither, please.
Would you rather give or receive: Depends.
How many homes have you lived in: Six or seven.
How many schools have you went to: Two elementary schools, two junior highs, one high school and two post-secondary institutions.
Do you play any instruments: In Grade 7, I played the flute for one year...which is about the same amount of time it took for me to get a sound out of the @#&$ thing! I've always wanted to take piano lessons, though.
Words or phrases you overuse: Eh?
Toothpaste: That stuff I use to clean my teeth three times a day.
Do you get along with your parents: Most of the time
Thunderstorms- cool or scary: Both at the same time
Roller coasters-cool or scary: The only roller coaster I've ever had the guts to ride is Big Thunder Railroad at Disney World. All the others are scary, especially the gravity-defying kind.
Do you like to drive: In the country, yes. In the city, no.
Chocolate or vanilla cake: Chocolate all the way!
Drinks, with or without ice cube: With.
What's the first thing you'd do if you won the lottery: Buy a big house, invite everyone who's always wanted to see my province over for a visit, and hopefully have a bit left over to give to charity and buy a few more frivolous things.
Favorite commercial: I love the "I never wanted a Prince Charming...one of his drinking buddies was fine by me" milk ad, too!
Favorite cereal: Special K or Corn Flakes, although I haven't eaten either for years.
Something you'd like to try: Take figure skating lessons again
Any hobbies: Reading, writing, web design, and spending entirely too much time online. :)

Canada's terror alert system

2004-10-17T15:39:00.000-03:00

You can't get more Canadian than this...except for perhaps the other "Canadian terror alert system" spoof I saw on Air Farce a year or two ago. Or was it "22 Minutes?" Well, anyway, the ratings were based on various ways to order Tim Horton's coffee, and I wish I could remember more about it, but I do know "double-double" was in there somewhere. Now that's Canadian! :)

Saturday survey

2004-10-16T23:36:00.000-03:00

It's been a while since I filled out one of these things, so here it is:

What is your favorite Sunday afternoon pastime and why? Watching skating (when it's on) and catching up on all the forum posts and e-mail I haven't had time to answer during most of the week. :)

What hobby did you enjoy most in your teen years? Writing and curling up with a good book. Yes, I was pretty much a nerd in high school. :p

What is the one thing that gives you the most satisfaction? Knowing I've been able to find employment in what I love to do, which helps a lot when it comes to looking for a job in the same field in the future!

What is one thing you are good at doing? Being able to understand another person's point of view, even when it's completely different from my own...most of the time, anyway!

When you are 35 what do you hope to be doing? First of all, I hope to have a more permanent, better-paying job than what I have right now! A husband and kids would be nice, too, but right now, I'd settle for a more exciting personal life than what I have right now. Plus, I'm still not sure I'd be ready for kids even at 35! ;)

What is the most frightening experience you’ve ever had? I can't really narrow it down to just one, but I'd say my entire junior high career was a frightening experience!

When did God become more than a word to you? Unfortunately, I still haven't really found the answer to this question yet. I do believe in God, but thanks in part to some really negative experiences with organized religion in the past, I've never had a "Hallelulah, at last I have found the Lord!" experience yet. I guess I'm still searching for that one "true" faith...or at least a church which doesn't contradict some of my own personal beliefs, doesn't feel like a cult and/or makes me feel like I'm still back in high school. :(

Describe your ideal house and how you would furnish it. My ideal house would have four walls, a roof, a place to sleep, at least one bathroom...umm, gee, can you tell I've never really given this much thought before? :) I've always wanted to live near a body of water (ocean, lake, or even a small brook--I'm not too fussy!), have lots of trees around my house and a nice garden with both beautiful flowers and tasty vegetables. The only specifics I can think of for the home itself is that it be not too big or too small and have at least one unique feature (I've always hated subdivisions where all the houses looked exactly alike!) Oh, yeah, and no plastic furniture, either! ;)

If you knew you could not fail and money were no problem, what one thing would you like to do in the next five or ten years? Start my own publishing company and write a few novels.

When and how did you first meet your spouse? I'm still waiting for the answer to this question. ;)

What is one thing you worried about this past week? Finding a job (so what else is new--LOL!)

What is one thing you are proud of about yourself? Going back to school a few years ago

Leave some cents here, please

2004-10-11T13:56:00.000-03:00

After testing out three different "blog comments" programs this weekend, it looks like I finally found one that actually works for me! I'm not usually one to beg people to comment on my ramblings, but if you'd leave your $0.02 here just to let me know that, yes, this thing does actually work, I'd appreciate it.

If you only comment on one post I ever make in your lifetime, please make it this one...especially since all the old comments people made when I had my old layout appear to be deleted. :( Thank you and happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Because the world needs more figure skating-related online quizzes

2004-10-08T23:02:00.000-03:00

Woo-hoo! At last, I have found an online quiz related to figure skating:

What Jamie Salé & David Pelletier program are you?

I'm satisfied with this result--not only do I love this program by Jamie and David, my two all-time favourite skaters (Kurt Browning and Josée Chouinard) also performed a duet to this exact same piece of music during my all-time favourite skating-related TV special (Kurt's "You Must Remember This"). So I'd say this result is appropriate enough!

Anxiously counting down the days until this season's first televised skating competition (some USFSA cheesefest event on ABC this weekend). The weather may be cooler and the leaves may change colour, but for me, fall really begins when figure skating is back on TV again. Don't worry; this definitely won't be the last post I make on the subject. And don't worry; I promise to give ample warning so those of you with no interest whatsoever in figure skating may feel free to stop reading and surf somewhere else. :)

At least figure skating is a little less controversial than politics...until the newest judging scandal rolls around, that is!

John Kerry's secret weapon

2004-10-08T22:06:00.000-03:00

As I watch the second Bush/Kerry debate tonight, I just have to share the secret weapon Kerry used to win the first debate:

And while I'm on the subject, here's a list of phrases I never want to hear a politician (or anyone else, for that matter) say again:

"the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time" (Okay, the first time I heard this one was during the first Bush/Kerry debate, but I'm already tired of hearing it!)

"9/11" (Yes, I know it's easier than saying "the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks" over and over again, but am I the only one who thinks it's a little tacky to sum up such a horrible tragedy with such a handy little--and way too overused--catchphrase...over and over and over and over again)

"war on terror" (as opposed to "war on peacefulness?" Am I the only one who considers "terror"--as in fear--and "terrorism" to be two different things? I know it's not always easy to add that extra syllable at the end of a word, but please try a little harder in the future, okay?)

"weapons of mass destruction" (I guess they needed some way to differentiate between all those weapons of only slightly minor destruction floating around the planet, but I still miss the days when people simply called them "really dangerous weapons.")

"homeland security"

"sponsorship scandal"

"two-tier health care"

"minority government" (I'm sure most of my fellow Canadians would agree the last three need no further explanation!)

"with regards to" (Because why use just one word--about--when it's just as easy to cram in three words meaning exactly the same thing?)

Back to tonight's debate: Bush and Kerry have finally stopped talking about the war on terrorism and moved on to the subject of letting Americans buy prescription drugs in Canada. Apparently not only did Canada commit the unforgivable sin of not sending our troops to Iraq, we're also trying to kill poor innocent Americans with our cheap prescriptions and free health care. At least according to Bush. And people wonder why the current US President is so unpopular on this side of the border. :p

Not that our own government has been much better lately. Our minority government camethisclose to collapsing last night only to be saved at the last minute by a few phone calls to the Prime Minister. At least there's one thing every single MP in Parliament can agree on: One election per year is enough for any country to endure! Let's hope things can stay that way at least until the US election is over and done with...and let's hope that happens much sooner than last time!

BTW, I'm sorry I haven't gotten around to fixing the "comments" feature yet (or updated this place much at all lately), but things have been pretty busy lately. I'll try to fix a few things sometime during the long weekend...if my above political rantings haven't offended anybody, that is!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians and Happy Columbus Day to everyone on the other side of the border!

A few slight changes...

2004-09-26T23:43:00.000-03:00

Yay! I [b]finally[/b] got around to moving the tagboard up where people can actually see it! I'm still not sure how to go about changing the "comments" format, though. I'm worried I might erase all the comments people have already left if I install a new program, and I'd like to avoid that if I can. Hopefully soon. :)

The test I wrote Saturday morning wasn't too hard. At least this time I was actually able to answer all the questions before time ran out. Being able to use a calculator this time really helped, too. I'd sure like to have the results of my first test back soon, though!

In other news, I found a Canadian equivalent to the Onion and added it to my "good for a laugh" links. It's not quite as hilarious as the Onion, IMO, but it's still fairly funny and hopefully it will only improve as time goes by.

An important public service announcement

2004-09-26T23:33:00.000-03:00

Saw this somewhere, thought I'd share it, hope it'll put a smile on your face:

Police warn all clubbers, partygoers, and unsuspecting bar regulars to be alert and stay cautious when offered a drink from any woman. A new date rape drug on the market called "beer" is used by many females to target unsuspecting men.

The drug is generally found in liquid form and is now available almost anywhere. It comes in bottles, cans, from taps and in large "kegs."

"Beer" is used by female sexual predators at parties and bars to persuade their male victims to go home and have sex with them. Typically, a woman needs only to persuade a guy to consume a few units of "beer" and then simply ask him home for no strings attached sex. Men are rendered helpless against this approach.

After several "beers" men will often succumb to desires to perform sexual acts on women. After drinking "beer," men often awaken with only hazy memories of exactly what happened to them the night before, often with just a vague feeling that something bad occurred.

At other times these unfortunate men are swindled out of their life's savings in a familiar scam known as "a relationship." It has been reported that in extreme cases, the female may even be shrewd enough to entrap the unsuspecting male into a longer term form of servitude and punishment referred to as "marriage."

Apparently, men are much more susceptible to this scam after "beer" is administered and sex is offered by the predatory female.

Please! Forward this warning to every male you know. However, if you fall victim to this insidious "beer" and the predatory women administering it, there are male support groups with venues in every town where you can discuss the details of your shocking encounter in an open and frank manner with similarly affected, like-minded guys.

Fortunately, I don't even like the taste of "beer" and avoid it whenever I can. Then again, that's probably one of the reasons why I'm still "single." ;)

Another weekend, another test day...

2004-09-24T11:03:00.000-03:00

I'm sorry I haven't updated this place (or had much of an Internet presence at all) lately, but right after I finally recovered from the cold I caught at my last job-placement test, I received another letter inviting me to write another test for the same company. I've been busy cramming ever since.

I haven't gotten the results back from my last job-placement test (written almost two weeks ago) yet, but I guess being invited to write a second test must be a fairly good sign. Unfortunately, there will be math on this test, too, but at least this time I can bring a calculator and if the online practice test is any indication, very few of the math questions will involve percentages or fractions.

The bad part is the test will take place at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning. Sigh, why can't they ever schedule these things at, say, 1 p.m. or so? But it'll be worth it if I end up with an actual job at the end of all this. I just hope I won't come home with another cold this time.

If all these tests are in lieu of an actual interview, that would be great. If the position I originally applied for starts earlier than next February (as stated in the original job advertisement), that would be even better.

After the test is over, I'm going to fix this place up a little bit. First, I'm going to move my tagboard up so more people can actually see it (thanks for the suggestion, Jessica!) and then I'd like to mess around with one of those "pop-up" comments boxes so non-Blogspot users can leave me comments, too. My current "comments" feature is kind of screwed up--I don't think anybody can leave comments here right now (at least I couldn't when I tried to comment on one of my own posts!) Or maybe people are just bored of reading about me and my fun-filled test adventures. If it's the latter, I can't say I blame you. ;)

Someday, I'd like to write something a little more exciting in here. Someday...

In honour of the NHL lockout...

2004-09-21T15:38:00.000-03:00

Please help the members of the NHL

Hundreds of Professional hockey players in our very own nation are going to be locked out, living at well below the seven-figure salary level. And as if that weren't bad enough they could be deprived of their life-giving pay for several months, possibly longer, as a result of the coming lockout situation.

But you can help!

For only $20,835 a month, about $694.50 a day (that's less than the cost of a large screen projection TV) you can help an NHL player remain economically viable during his time of need. This contribution by no means solves the problem as it barely covers the annual minimum salary, but it's a start, and every little bit will help!

Although $700 may not seem like a lot of money to you, to a hockey player it could mean the difference between spending the lockout golfing in Florida or on a Mediterranean cruise. For you, seven hundred dollars is nothing more than a month's rent, half a mortgage payment, or a month of medical insurance, but to a hockey player, $700 will partially replace his daily salary.

Your commitment of less than $700 a day will enable a player to buy that home entertainment center, trade in the year-old Lexus for a new Ferrari, or enjoy a weekend in Rio.

HOW WILL I KNOW THAT I'M HELPING?

Each month, you will receive a complete financial report on the player you sponsor. Detailed information about his stocks, bonds, 401(k), real estate, and other investment holdings will be mailed to your home. Plus upon signing up for this program, you will receive an unsigned photo of the player lounging during the lockout on a beach somewhere in the Caribbean (for a signed photo, please include an additional $150). Put the photo on your refrigerator to remind you of other peoples'
suffering.

HOW WILL HE KNOW I'M HELPING?

Your NHL player will be told that he has a SPECIAL FRIEND who just wants to help in a time of need. Although the player won't know your name, he will be able to make collect calls to your home via a special operator in case additional funds are needed for unforeseen expenses.

YES, I WANT TO HELP!

I would like to sponsor a locked out NHL player!

My preference is (check below):
[ ] Forward
[ ] Defenseman
[ ] Goaltender
[ ] Entire team (Please call our 900 number to ask for the cost of a specific team - $10 per minute)
[ ] Jaromir Jagr (Higher cost: $32,000 per day)

Please charge the account listed below $694.50 per day for the duration of the lockout. Please send me a picture of the player I have sponsored, along with an Jaromir Jagr 2001 Income Statement and my very own Bob Goodenow (Executive Director of the NHLPA player's Union) pin to wear proudly on my hat (include $80 for hat).

Your Name: _______________________
Telephone Number: _______________________
Account Number: _______________________ Exp.Date:_______
[ ] MasterCard [ ] Visa [ ] American Express [ ] Other
Signature: _______________________

Alternate card (when the primary card exceeds its credit limit):

Account Number: _______________________ Exp.Date:_______
[ ] MasterCard [ ] Visa [ ] American Express [ ] Other
Signature: ____________

It's scary to think some people out there might actually take the above seriously. ;)

It never rains, but it pours...

2004-09-16T23:29:00.000-03:00

As you can see, I decided to give this place a facelift. I thought this layout was cheerful and "autumny" looking enough to suit this type of year. Plus, the accompanying illustration kinda-sorta looks like me in real life (well, the same eye colour and hairstyle, anyway--LOL!) for anyone who may be curious. :) I'll play around with a few more little things once I start feeling a little better.

Well, the worst part of last weekend's big test turned out to be the sore throat and cold one of the approximately 200 people writing the test with me so kindly gave to me. Tonight is the first time I've felt human enough to venture outside and do much of anything since then.

I'm just grateful the job interview I had yesterday was conducted by phone. I'm sure I would have made a wonderful impression on a potential employer in person in the condition I was in yesterday. I still didn't get the job, but that might have been a blessing in disguise. The job paid a little less than I expected and it would have been nearly impossible to live on those wages in the city I would have had to move to. Plus, it was only a nine-month position and I've been trying very hard not to take any more temporary/contract jobs (I've had far too many of those during the past few years!) But it still sounded like a job I would have very much enjoyed, and it would have been heartbreaking to have to turn it down if I had been chosen for the position. So like I said, it was probably a blessing in disguise someone else was given the job instead.

And last, but certainly not least, I missed out on another Kurt Browning Sighting during tonight's Canadian Idol broadcast (and the only excuse I have this time was I simply forgot to watch). I remembered to tune in just in time to see the kid who looks (and sounds kind of) like a blond Josh Groban (or Clay Aiken with a perm, whichever you prefer) win the thing, but missed out on that five-second glance of Kurt. Which is sad. In more ways than one.

So, yeah, this hasn't exactly been the greatest week of my life.

In slightly happier news, the math section of the abovementioned test I wrote last weekend wasn't nearly as hard as I feared. I was only able to answer five or six problems (out of 10) before my time ran out, but I didn't have to tackle any challenging (at least for me) percentage questions, either (because, um, I ran out of time before I could even read them). The rest of the test (the math portion was only one of five different section) was fairly easy, so hopefully I won't be too disappointed with the results. And even more hopefully, those results will be good enough for me to secure steady, decent-paying employment of some sort. :)

Exactly 12 hours before my big test tomorrow!

2004-09-10T22:40:00.000-03:00

To determine the percent of a number do the following steps:

Multiply the number by the percent (e.g. 87 * 68 = 5916)
Divide the answer by 100 (Move decimal point two places to the left) (e.g. 5916/100 = 59.16)
Round to the desired precision (e.g. 59.16 rounded to the nearest whole number = 59)

Determining Percentage

Example: 68 is what percent of 87?
Divide the first number by the second (e.g. 68 ÷ 87 = 0.7816)
Multiply the answer by 100 (Move decimal point two places to the right) (e.g. 0.7816*100 = 78.16)
Round to the desired precision (e.g. 78.16 rounded to the nearest whole number = 78)
Follow the answer with the % sign (e.g. 68 is 78% of 87)

Converting a Fraction to a Percent

Do the following steps to convert a fraction to a percent:
For example: Convert 4/5 to a percent.
Divide the numerator of the fraction by the denominator (e.g. 4 ÷ 5=0.80)
Multiply by 100 (Move the decimal point two places to the right) (e.g. 0.80*100 = 80)
Round the answer to the desired precision.
Follow the answer with the % sign (e.g. 80%)

Converting a Percent to a Fraction

Do the following steps to convert a percent to a fraction:
For example: Convert 83% to a fraction.
Remove the Percent sign
Make a fraction with the percent as the numerator and 100 as the denominator (e.g. 83/100)
Reduce the fraction if needed

Don't mind me; I just need a place where I can take a last-minute glance at my math notes before my big test tomorrow. BTW, I found the rest of the practice test obscenely easy (basically just choosing the closest meanings for words and putting names and numbers in the proper order) compared to the math portion. If any non-mathematically-challenged folks feel the same way about the above-mentioned problems, please keep your overwhelming urge to laugh to yourselves. I'm nervous enough about this test as it is. Thank you for your consideration.

Remind me to pay more attention to Canadian Idol 2...and Grade 5 math

2004-09-09T23:44:00.000-03:00

Today started out on a disappointing note for me. This morning, I discovered I missed out on a Kurt Browning Sighting in the audience during last night's Canadian Idol broadcast. The broadcast also included Brian Orser and Mr. and Mrs. Brian Mulroney (those would be Ben's parents for you younger visitors out there) Sightings. Okay, so I'm not that disappointed over missing out on seeing those last two individuals, but missing out on a Kurt Browning Sighting makes me just a little depressed for the rest of the day.

I know I haven't paid too much attention to Canadian Idol this year, but since my TV was permanently tuned into the Olympics during the last few weeks and I had company who just had to watch last night's World Cup of Hockey game instead, it's been hard to keep up lately. Not that it wasn't enjoyable to see Team Canada kick Slovakia's butt 5-0, but I still would have liked to see Kurt, even if just for a few seconds. Sad, I know.

In happier news, I received a letter requesting my presence at a test for a job I applied for, oh, about two or three weeks ago. I took some online practice tests, and while I'm not worried about most of them, the math section was very, very humbling. It's shocking how much Grade 5 and 6 math you can forget when you haven't used it in, oh, over a decade...and have made every effort to avoid math with a passion since then. I've got a day and a half to cram how to calculate fractions, decimals, and percentages back into my head again. Oh, and did I mention calculators are not allowed during the test?

Any job I get out of this test isn't scheduled to start until next February, but considering the company just went on strike today, that might very well change. I guess I'll have to wait and see whether any changes will be for better or for worse.

Good night.

A few more online quizzes and stuff...

2004-09-06T23:42:00.000-03:00

Because this place just needs a little more decoration (or at least random graphics) don't you think?

You're a Narrative writer!

What kind of writer are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

At least "long, descriptive passages" sounds much better than "long, pointless ramblings." ;)

Take the quiz: "WHAT RELIGION BESTS SUITS YOU?"

Average Christian
You're not going to become a minister anytime soon, but you do your best to live your life in a Christian way. This means that although you probably don't attend church every Sunday, you do your best to follow the Ten Commandments, help the needy and generally be an all around good person. Who needs to follow the entire bible anyways? It was written ages ago, and Christ transmuted it by giving his life.

Well, it sounds better than "non-practicing Catholic," anyway...

In other random news, I clicked on the "Next Blog" button on the top of this page a few times and stumbled across two blogs in a row with this exact same layout (one by an English-as-a-second-language teacher in Japan and one by some guy in a language I can't identify). I know this layout is just a Blogspot template, but still, interesting...

Dang, I need a job. And a life. Not necessarily in that order.

Yes, I definitely have too much time on my hands!

2004-09-06T23:15:00.000-03:00

Found this somewhere, got curious, and decided to try it out for myself:

1. take your username and replace each letter with the corresponding number (A=1, B=2, etc...).

a = 1
s = 19
t = 20
i = 9
m = 13
e = 5
g = 7
o = 15
e = 5
s = 19
b = 2
y = 25

2. add all of the numbers together to create a kind of super number.
140

3. add the digits of the number together.
5

4. find the post of this number in your LJ. If you don't have that many posts, add the digits together again. Well, this isn't a LiveJournal, but hopefully it'll work anyway...

5. take the digit you noted in step 3, and count that many words into the post.
"near"

6. use the resulting word in a google image search, and select a picture from the first page and post the results.

Time it took me to fill all of this out=5 minutes
Time it took me to figure out how to resize this image so it wouldn't mess up my whole layout=10 minutes

I guess I should be grateful the word I had to enter for step #5 wasn't "porn." ;)

Happy birthday, Muchmusic!

2004-08-31T23:28:00.000-03:00

While channel-surfing tonight, I stumbled across a program on Muchmusic (Canadian equivalent of MTV) where they celebrated their 20th anniversary. Now that made me feel very old all of a sudden!

The late '80s and early-to-mid '90s were my prime Much-watching years. The last time I remember sitting down and watching more than two minutes of Much was over two years ago (Gee, about time they finally gave Rick the Temp a last name!) Since then, every time I flipped past the station, they're either playing some video from a song I can't stand to listen to or imported MTV "reality" programming such as "Newlyweds" or "Making The Band," which led me to believe Much was following in the footsteps of its southern neighbour (ie. showing more and more pointless non-video programs and playing far less actual music).

But for at least one hour, Much did everything right. It was a wonderfully nostalgic look back to its glory days (which were, IMO, any time before the turn of the millenium). Britney Spears in her natural hair colour and an (almost) fully clothed body. Latoya and Janet Jackson looking comparitively normal. Barenaked Ladies and Backstreet Boys years before they hit it big south of the border. Alanis Morissette in her big Tiffany hair, lip-synching dance-pop, only-using-one-name days.

They even showed clips from (be still my heart) Test Pattern! I'm embarrassed to admit how addicted I was to this show in my junior-high years (and I hope I'm not the only one who still remembers it!) "Congratulations, you just won a two-slice toaster!" RIP Dan Gallagher.

I could have done without the "bleeper" reel (was this a Much retrospective or an "Osbournes" episode?), the close up of Avril Lavigne's derriere and all the Ricky Martin clips, but the "Enrique Iglasias' mike screws up in the middle of his 'live' performance" and "fire alarm goes off in the middle of LaToya Jackson's appearance sometime in the '80s" moments made up for it.

All and all, a wonderfully nostalgic tribute for those of us old enough to remember when MuchMusic played French videos alongside the English-language superstars, Steve and Erica were the coolest VJs on the block, and you could win a two-slice toaster on one of the few non-video programs on its schedule.

Then you realize at least half of the artists in Much's current video rotation were still in diapers (or not even born yet!) during those glory days and you really feel old!

Random Olympic thoughts, Part 3

2004-08-26T22:04:00.000-03:00

Wow, it's taken me over a week to come up with enough random Olympic thoughts to fill an entire entry? I must be losing my touch. Anyway, let the random snarking begin:

Poor Perdita Felicien. Not only did she lose her chance at winning an Olympic medal by tripping over the first hurdle in her race, CBC just had to rebroadcast her fall over and over and over again. From half a dozen different camera angles. Set to cheesy video montages. Just in case there were still four or five people in this country who missed seeing it the first 326 times CBC replayed it. Yes, she fell. Yes, it was a heartbreaking disappointment. But did you have to keep reminding us of those two facts over and over again? Especially when two other Canadian athletes (Alexandre Despatie in diving and Lori-Ann Muenzer) did win medals that day.

Speaking of Perdita, that was probably the most heartbreaking post-competition interview I've seen since Kurt Browning after his 1994 Olympics short program (and from me, that's saying a lot!) I kept having flashbacks of Kurt during Perdita's whole ordeal: They both fell out of medal contention by making mistakes on things they could normally do in their sleep. They both apologized to their country during their respectively heartbreaking post-competition interviews (and received tons of support in return). Both their falls were rebroadcast over and over and over again on national TV, etc.

But Perdita's still young enough to try again in 2008, and she wasn't the only hurdler who stumbled at this Olympics. Gail Devers and Allen Johnson made very similar mistakes, and they didn't even advance to the finals. I hope Perdita will have her Hicham Al-Guerrogh (sp?) moment at a future Olympics someday--his reaction to finally winning gold in his event was one of the most emotional moments of this Olympics for me so far--but no matter what her future may hold, she's already proven herself to be a champion this country can be proud of.

Ugh, I was not impressed with how the audience reacted just before the men's 200 m event. I know the Greek sprinter expelled for skipping out on that drug test was the defending champion in that event, and I can only imagine how a Canadian audience would react if the Ben Johnson drug scandal had happened in our own backyard--and having to sit through the same event without our own champion--but that behaviour was, IMO, disgraceful. :(

That being said, congratulations to the Greek women who won gold in the 400 m hurdles and the racewalking event! After everything they went through with those two sprinters before the opening ceremonies even begun and the Greek weightlifter who tested positive after winning a bronze medal, it's wonderful for the host country to have such a great victory in their own backyard!

And in case I forgot to mention it in my last Olympics-related entry, congratulations to Kyle Shewfelt for winning Canada's first-ever Olympic medal (and a gold medal to boot!) in gymnastics on the floor exercise! Too bad he had to experience that controversy over being robbed of a second medal on the vault, though. Sigh, all I wanted was just one Olympics without a doping or a judging scandal involving a Canadian athlete, but I guess that's just too much to ask. :( I can't recall the last time there were this many judging controversies at a gymnastics event--where did they think they were, a figure skating competition? :6 I don't know enough about the sport to comment on whether Alexei Nemov should have placed higher in the high bar event, but I thought it was really classy how he told the crowd to quiet down before Paul Hamm (I think) begun his routine.

If any more Canadian athletes win gold medals at these Olympics, is there any chance someone can find a different recording of our national anthem to play at the ceremony? That was truly the worst version of "O Canada" I've ever heard in my life! The first time I heard it, I thought the tape must have been warped or something. The second time I heard it, I thought they might have dug up the original recording from the 1896 Athens Games. I wonder if one of the reasons why Canada hasn't won more gold medals at these Olympics is because they don't want to suffer through two minutes of listening to that thing (shudder!)

That being said, go Alexandre Despatie! :D

You never know who might be reading these words...

2004-08-20T00:05:00.000-03:00

Has anyone else gotten a chance to play around with Blogspot's "Next Blog" feature yet? So far, the most interesting sites I've stumbled across are a guy using the exact same layout as me, someone who appears to have an odd fascination for Japanese food (she had about 20 different photos of Japanese dishes on her blog) and, I kid you not, a porn blog. The text was in Italian or Portuguese, but you could easily figure out the subject matter by the list of links and the, ahem, very intimate photos.

Just a warning for anyone who may be underaged or easily offended by such things...it does make you wonder how closely Blogspot pays attention to some of the sites accessible with this feature (the porn blog had its own domain name, so I don't know how that got in there!)

As if I needed another pointless way to waste my spare time...

Something I hope you'll all enjoy

2004-08-18T12:38:00.000-03:00

I got a kick out of this and thought everyone else might enjoy it, too.

I'm sure every blogger (or everyone who's ever posted on a message board, for that matter) can relate. ;)

Shut up, Al, and other random Olympic thoughts

2004-08-18T10:08:00.000-03:00

I originally planned to post a daily recap of my thoughts about the Olympics here, but obviously, plans have changed. It looks like you'll have to settle for a once-every-three-or-four-days recap, so here goes:

One of the CBC boxing commentators is my local news anchor.

I'm still less-than-impressed with CBC's (lack of) gymnastics coverage. During the team competition, they basically just showed the Canadians with a few other gymnasts from other countries thrown in. I'm glad to see Canadian gymnasts, of course, but it would have been nice to see a few other countries, too. I know Canada has never been really strong in gymnastics, but it's still a very popular sport and I'm sure it would have received ratings at least as high as water polo, weightlifting and most of the other sports they chose to broadcast instead.

I usually prefer CBC coverage to NBC, but when it comes to gymnastics, I have to admit NBC's done a better job so far, at least in terms of how many gymnasts they actually showed.

Congratulations to Emilie Heymans and Blythe Hartley for winning Canada's first medal (a bronze in syncronized diving) in these Olympics. Hopefully it won't be the last.

Congratulations to Canadian gymnast Kate Richardson for making the floor exercise final! This is the first time I remember seeing a Canadian female gymnast advance to an Olympic final since, well, ever, and that alone is something to be very proud of!

Why do female beach volleyball players wear skimpier outfits than swimmers and divers, while the men are in baggy shorts and tank tops? Unfair double standard, I tell you! ;)

I can't believe the guy who jumped from the stands onto the ice just before Michelle Kwan skated her long program at the World Figure Skating Championships pulled the same stunt again at these Olympics. He jumped into the pool in the middle of the men's synchronized diving competition, and rattled pretty much all the competitors in the event (especially the one Chinese guy who missed his dive completely and scored a zero). I'm happy the host Greek team won the gold, but I would have liked to see more of their victory celebration (they all jumped into the pool afterward). I'm even happier the idiot who interrupted their event won't get off scot-free this time (he basically just received a slap on the wrist after Worlds, but it looks like he'll be prosecuted this time). I'd love to know how this guy managed to get past all the supposedly very tight security at these Olympics. I just hope the next time something like this happens, it won't turn into something much more serious.

The "Around The World" segments on CBC, where they replay clips of certain events using other countries' commentary, are fun to watch. I especially loved the Australian commentary of Ian Thorpe's last race and how excited the Japanese commentator sounded after they won the men's team gymnastics gold. Fun stuff.

Another highlight for me was seeing the South African men's swimming relay team upset the Americans and the Australians (although I know many people from those countries would probably disagree!) I love a great "underdog" story, and this victory certainly qualifies. The South Africans even had to recruit a water polo player just to have enough guys to form a relay team. And the interview they gave to CBC shortly after their victory. Pass me the Kleenex now, please.

I really dislike the way some people are disappointed in Michael Phelps just because he won't take home eight gold medals after these Olympics. Any athlete who's already won two gold medals (one in which he literally blew everyone else out of the water), two more medals, and who will likely be able to add more medals (gold or otherwise) to his collection before he's through should not be considered a failure. Period. I'm sure all of the athletes who never won a gold medal (or a medal of any colour) at the Olympics and all of the athletes who've never even gotten a chance to go to the Olympics would agree. :)

And last, but certainly not least, someone please tell Al Dorkwig...sorry, I mean Trautwig to shut. up. already. I haven't seen much of him since the last time NBC covered a skating event a few years ago, so I'd completely forgotten how thoroughly annoying he can be. The one moment that particularily stands out for me was his babble during Annia Hatch's first vault at the preliminary team finals:

Al: Annia Hatch is getting ready to make her first vault now. This is the only event she'll compete in during these Olympics.
Me: Shut up, Al.
Al: The only reason why she was chosen for this team was because of her strength in this event.
Me: Shut up, Al.
Al: How must it feel to come such a long way to compete in the Olympics for only two seconds? These two seconds could very well make or break Team USA's chances of winning gold. Annia's Olympic competition can be summed up in a matter of...
Me (doing my best Apu imitation): Arrgh! I can't believe you don't shut up!

Okay, maybe not an exact transcript, but you get the general idea. I swear, if this guy ends up doing the skating commentary at the 2006 Winter Olympics, I might as well start stocking up earplugs now!

Well, enough Olympic ranting and raving for now. More to come later, I promise.

We interrupt our scheduled Olympics commentary with another long survey

2004-08-15T17:43:00.000-03:00

I found this somewhere. Please feel free to shamelessly steal this for your own use if you like. My own comments after some of the answers are in italics.

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Copy this whole list into your journal.
2. Bold the things that are true about you.
3. Whatever you don't bold are false

When I was younger I made some bad decisions.
I don't watch much TV these days. (Well, except for when I glue myself to the TV for the next few weeks during the Olympics!)
I love psychadelic mushrooms.
I love sleeping.
I have loads of books.
I once slept in a toilet.
I love playing video games.
I like marijuana.
I watch porn movies.
I watch them with my father.
I like sharks.
I love spiders, I think they're adorable, especially the ones with bright colours on their backs.
I was born without hair and I still have no hair.
I like George W. Bush.
People are cool.
I have changed a lot mentally over the last year.
I have a lot to learn.
I carry my knife everywhere with myself.
I'm really, really smart.
I've never broken someone's bones.
I have a secret.
I hate snow.
I drink only milk.
I drink too much water.
I hate Microsoft.
I love Chinese food.
I would hate to be famous.
I am not a morning person.
I wear glasses.
I don't need glasses, except sunglasses.
I have potential.
I'm pure Japanese.
My legs are two different sizes.
I have a twin.
I'm wearing a padded bra.
I can ramble on about absolutely nothing.
I'm left-handed.
I hate llamas, but I'm one of them. (Whaat?)
I don't like horror movies.
I suck at climbing, but I love it anyway.
People hate me usually.
I love pop music. (I love cheesy '80s pop music. I loathe most cheesy 21st century pop music)
I hardly ever go to bed before midnight.
I hate parking fines.
I know the national anthem of my country by heart. (English, French and "Talking To Americans" versions!)
I know more than two languages.
I spend too much time on the computer.
I often want to throw the computer out a window.
I live on a ground floor.
I don't like chocolate. (Gasp! There are people in this world who don't like chocolate!)
I'd like to be more original.
I've lied.
Cocks are my favorite birds.
I want to conquer the world.
I wonder what happens when you die.
Eat your dog! (Why?)
I love to exercise. (I only wish this one was true!)
I hate chemistry with a passion. (Well, I did back in high school!)
I love to write.
I like changes.
I hate going to class---only English.
I am afraid to die.
I hate dish washing.
My hair is long, brown, and incredibly curly.
My nails are nine inches long.
My favorite color is black.
I like to sleep on the floor.
I am hopeless at cooking.
I sucked my thumb when I was little.
I should be doing somehting else rather than writing this (coughjobhuntingcough!)
I am online a lot, but not in MSN
I hate government. (Well, the current provincial, federal and American governments, anyway!)
I don't have a girlfriend/boyfriend
I'm too nice for my own good.
I love to read, I read as much as I can.
I don't trust newspapers.
I like debating.
I live in a vagon. (Uhh, what's a "vagon?")
I clean my room once a month.
I'm scared of American fast food. (Thanks to "Fast Food Nation!")
I have a third eye.
I love Mozambique.
I don't trust any religion.
I used to play with Barbies because all the other girls were doing it.
I wanted to be a super hero when I was little.
I like listening to wind chimes sometimes.
I'm very disorganized.
My hair is long and straight.
I earn a lot. (Again, how I wish this one was true!)
I don't like spicy food.
I keep a diary.
I can't do cartwheels. (Not since I was 10, anyway!)
I am very lazy sometimes.
I'm sarcastic.
I think my hair is annoying.
I'm very sensitive.
I love being "ab-normal." (Well, most of the time!)
My left eye is violet and my right eye is a light blue.
I love broccoli. (Well, "love" may be too strong a word, but I like broccoli, at least)
I watch "One Tree Hill."
I have a pool.
I hate rain. (Well, I hate it this time of year, anyway!)
I drink health juice.
Punk rock rules
I hate Bill Gates.
I love Vietnamese food.
I have long hair.
I have short hair. (For the record, I have shoulder-length hair)
I'm pure Afghan. (The dog or the nationality? Either way, the answer is "no.")
I wear those long ass socks.
I can roll my tongue.
I like the way that I look.
I'm obsessed with Italian food.
I know how to French braid.
I can be pessimistic or optimistic whenever I want.
I have a lot of mood swings.
I skateboard/snowboard.
I think that skateboarders are HOT.
I'm in a band.
I have talent.
I'm always hyper no matter how much sugar I have.
I think that I'm popular.
I am currently single.
I can't swim.
My favorite color is either pink, black, or white.
I practically live in sweatshirts.
I love to shop.
I would classify myself as either punk or goth.
I would classify myself as ghetto.
I shop at Abercrombie.
I'm obsessed with my xanga. (Uhh, what's a "xanga?")
I don't hate anyone. (Nobody that I know personally, anyway!)
I know how to square dance. (If you count those square-dancing lessons I had to endure in Grade 8 gym class, I guess the answer would be "yes.")
I have a unibrow.
I'm completely embarrassed to be seen with my mom.
I have a cell phone.
I believe in God.
I watch MTV on a daily basis.
I know how to play the tuba.
I need coffee to live. (I like coffee, but I don't think I'd need it to live)
I have had a boyfriend before.
I've rejected someone before. (Trust me, I had a very good reason!)
I currently like someone and they have no idea that I like them.
I have no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life.
I want to have kids when I'm older. (If I'm able to find a good potential father for them, that is!)
I have changed a diaper before.
I've called the cops on a friend before.
I bite my nails.
I am a member of the Hilary Duff club.
I'm not allergic to anything.
I love Broadway plays, and have been to at least 3. (Love Broadway plays, yes. Ever attended one in person, no--unless you count the Anne of Green Gables musical, that is!)
I have no idea who the 38th president was. (But I'm Canadian, so at least I have a good excuse!)
I plan on seeing Mary Kate and Ashley's new movie.
I am completely shy around the opposite sex.
I'm online 24/7. (Hey, you've got to spare a little time for eating and sleeping!)
I have at least 25 away messages saved.
I have tried alcohol or drugs at a party. Drugs, no. Alcohol, yes (but I was already old enough to drink at the time, so I'm not sure that counts!)
I loved Rush Hour.
I've read all of the Harry Potter trilogy. (Trilogy? Aren't there five Harry Potter books now? How long has this thing been making the rounds anyway?)
If I were a dwarf, I would be dopey.
When I was a kid, I played with G.I. Joe. (No, but that's probably because I don't have any brothers!)
I don't mind country music.
I would die for my friends.
I think that Juicy Fruit is the best type of gum. (I like Juicy Fruit, but I'm not sure that it's the best kind of gum)
I watch soap operas whenever I can.
I'm obsessive and paranoid and extremely jumpy.
I would love to be Demi Moore because Ashton Kutcher is a major hottie.
I love the Beatles...they're classic.
I know all the words to "I'm a Barbie Girl." (I'll just go hang my head in shame now)
Halloween is awesome because you get free candy.
I watch Spongebob Squarepants and I like it.
I want this damned thing to be over.
I'm happy.

BTW, thanks for all the nice compliments about my blog layout (even though I don't really deserve them since it's just one of Blogspot's free templates!) I was thinking about changing the layout since I thought this one looked just a little too Christmasy (especially with the red-and-white "Go Canada Go" graphic in the background!) for this time of year, but after reading all your nice comments, I've decided to stick with it for a little while longer.

I've also linked back to all the blogs belonging to everyone who's left comments and/or signed my tagboard thingy so far. If you'd like me to add your blog to the list, just let me know! Of course, if you'd like me to remove your link for one reason or another, feel free to let me know that, too. I'm flexible. :)

Day 1 of the Olympics: The good, the bad and the ugly

2004-08-15T15:47:00.000-03:00

Woo-hoo! I don't have to retype my last entry after all! Blogspot wouldn't load at all for me last night, so I was afraid I'd have to start from scratch today, but when I logged back in today, lo and behold, there was my last post waiting to greet me. One less thing I have to worry about, anyway. :)

Now that I've officially declared myself an Olympicsaholic, I might as well post a few of my thoughts about the competition each day, both good and bad, starting with the opening ceremonies:

The Good:

The Parade of Nations: This has always been my favourite part of the opening ceremonies, and the 2004 opening ceremonies were no exception. At least for a few hours, Carribean and South Pacific nations smaller than my own province (which, believe me, is pretty darn small!) are on an equal footing with countries like China, Russia and the USA. This year, it was fun to anticipate exactly which country was coming next since they entered in the order of the Greek alphabet instead of "our" alphabet. This was the first time I can remember the American team marching into the stadium before the Canadian team (other than the 1988 Calgary Olympics, where the host Canadian team marched in last, of course!) I got a kick out of all those small island nations like St. Lucia and St. Kitts getting to march first in the ceremony (because "Saint" begins with the first letter of the Greek alphabet).

Peter Mansbridge and Brian Williams hosting the ceremonies on CBC. Enough said.

The Afghani flagbearer was a woman. How cool was that?

The American, Iraqi and Afghan teams receiving such a warm welcome from the audience. Of course, I have to add Team Canada received a pretty warm reception, too. ;)

The American and Iraqi teams embracing each other during the ceremonies.

North and South Korea marching under a single flag carried by two flagbearers (someone pass me the Kleenex now!)

The torchbearer who ran around the stadium breaking through all those finish line tapes representing past Olympics...and collapsing when the Olympics were halted during World War 1. I'm not sure whether the collapse was deliberate (when the Olympics were cancelled again during World War II, he just came to a standing stop in the middle of the stadium), but either way, it was a really nice bit of symbolism.

The swearing of the Olympic oath, the raising of the Olympic flag, and, of course, the lighting of the Olympic flame. :D

Michael Phelps and Ian Thorpe's victories in their respective races yesterday. Michael, in particular, was very impressive to watch. I knew he was heavily favoured to win, but I had no idea he was that far ahead of all the other competitors! He won by at least two body lengths and I'm sure if he had decided to take a 10-second rest in the middle of the race, he still would have won gold.

The talent of the Canadian men's gymnastics team. Gymnastics is my favourite Olympic sport, but it's been a long time since I followed it very closely (mainly because of the TV coverage has been so pathetic in recent years). Therefore, I had no idea just how good our guys were until yesterday! One gymnast, Kyle Shewfelt, even qualified for two event finals (vault and floor) and coughmightevenhaveashotatamedal. I can't remember the last time a Canadian gymnast won an Olympic medal, so that would be a huge accomplishment and one of my major Olympic highlights if it does happen...provided I didn't just jinx the poor guy like virtually every other athlete I've ever rooted for at an Olympics. :(

Fewer swimmers are wearing the full-bodysuit look than I originally anticipated. :p

The Bad:

No medals for Team Canada yet (but hey, it's only the first day!)

CBC's gymnastics coverage. They only showed the Canadian guys yesterday and I had to tune into NBC to see everybody else. I usually prefer CBC Olympic coverage over NBC, but in this event, I admit NBC did a better job. BTW, the American, Chinese, Japanese and Romanian guys are looking pretty good, too. :)

Flipping through three different channels (CBC, NBC and SRC) and seeing the exact same swim races three or four times. It was hard to remember which races were heats, which ones were semi-finals and which ones were finals...not to mention trying to keep all the different strokes and distances straight!

The Greek sprinters who got suspended for failing to show up for drug tests (one of whom was a defending Olympic champion and one of the original contenders to light the flame). I remember how devastated Canadians were after Ben Johnson lost his Olympic gold after testing positive for drugs in 1988, so I imagine the Greeks must feel even worse about a similar scandal taking place in the Olympic host country before the opening ceremonies even begun! :(

The fact American Olympic viewers have to wait hours after everyone else in the world to see the competition. :(

The Ugly:

The wheelchair athletes not getting to march with their teammates during the opening ceremonies (something most fans wouldn't have known about if Peter and Brian hadn't pointed it out yesterday).

The Olympic cauldron itself--who came up with the bright idea to design it like a cigarette lighter (or even worse, as one person on one of the forums I visit pointed out, "an oversized joint?")

Bob Costas' commentary during the opening ceremonies in general. Did he have to go on and on about Nicolas Gill's separatist past (it really wasn't that big of a deal up here...really!) and doping scandals during Team Canada's walk into the stadium? At least he didn't mention any Canadian doping scandals during that little monologue, but I'm just grateful they cut to another team walking into the stadium before they could rehash Ben Johnson yet again.

I also found his commentary a little too snarky and disrespectful in general for my taste...and when the IOC and Athens Olympic committee gave their speeches in Greek, French and English, he apparently said something along the lines of, "They've switched over to English now. I think we can be grateful for that." Ick. I can't imagine any Canadian broadcaster ever getting away with making a remark like that (considering French is our other official language and all the controversies between French/English relations in this country over the years). The more Bob babbled on, the more grateful I was for Peter and Brian!

And I'm really unimpressed NBC didn't show the Olympic oaths during their opening ceremonies coverage. True, this part of the ceremony was in Greek, but how difficult would it have been to find an interpreter to translate it into English (as CBC and I'm assuming almost every other non-Greek speaking country did?) It's one of the most important parts of the ceremony and it would have taken only a few minutes of broadcast time. Considering all the doping controversies surrounding this Olympics already, I think the words "In the name of all competitors, I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules that govern them, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honor of our teams," deserve to be heard by TV viewers now more than ever. Very bad move indeed, IMO.

Well, enough Olympic ranting for today. CBC is starting their women's gymnastics coverage now. Hopefully they'll show a little more--especially non-Canadian gymnasts---than they did of the guys yesterday

Let the Games begin!

2004-08-14T23:42:00.000-03:00

My once-every-two-years ritual of camping out in front of the TV set for the next few weeks to watch the Olympics has now officially begun. I've been an Olympicsaholic for as long as I can remember, but I've never been able to figure out exactly why. I'm definitely not an athletic person (the day I was no longer required to take gym class in high school was literally one of the happiest days of my life). I don't follow pro sports very often (except for the occasional NHL game when there's nothing else on TV). Of course, I am a tad obsessed with figure skating, but I'm not sure that really counts since many people don't consider that a sport anyway. Needless to say, I am not one of those people. ;)

So why am I so drawn to the Olympics? Well, I do enjoy watching most of the sports, even the ones I normally wouldn't take time to watch such as cycling, table tennis or weightlifting. And I do enjoy cheering for the Canadian athletes (along with various other non-Canadian athletes I happen to like).

But despite all the fun of watching all the sports and rooting for my favourite athletes, the Olympics also has a few less tangible attractions. Discovering a young athlete for the first time and watching his/her career progress through the years. The unpredictability of never knowing exactly which sport your Olympic network will cut to next. Seeing people accomplish their lifelong dreams to the background of their country's national anthem.

It may sound like a cliche, but the Olympics is a model of what the world should be (well, except for the bribery, the doping scandals, and the annoying commentators). Where else can you see a woman from Afganistan proudly carry her country's flag into Olympic stadium, handshakes and embraces between Iraqi and American athletes, North and South Korea put aside their political differences to march together under one flag...and the potential to make dreams come true.

Oh, and last, but certainly not least, before I turn in for the night:

What's in a name?

2004-08-14T22:38:00.000-03:00

I stumbled across this site, entered my real name, and this is what I got:

The Progressive, Innovative, Imaginative Humanitarian

This name should be avoided by individuals who are naturally hyperactive or reactive. Take a look at how Maryanna "grades" this name, but do keep in mind that your Full Name also plays an important role in overall influence, thus this component of your name does not alone offer a complete picture of your moniker's effect on your life.

Health: B-
Financial Potential: A-
Professional/Job Success: B+
Relationship/Compatibility: C
Charisma/Sex Appeal: B+
Communication Ability: B+
The influence is primarily masculine whether this name is used for a female or male.

Others who share this first name frequency include Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire, Kenny Rogers, Peggy Lee and Sheryl Crow.

This is what I got after entering my middle name:

The Charming, High-Strung, Imaginative Diplomat

Health: C-
Financial Potential: D
Professional/Job Success: C
Relationship/Compatibility: D+
Charisma/Sex Appeal: A
Communication Ability: B+
The influence is a mix between feminine and masculine energies.

Others who share this first name vibration include Dennis Quaid, Ted Kennedy, Brett Favre and Dennis Rodman.

And this is what you get after typing in the name of the site owner (Maryanna):

Maryanna,
The Growth-Oriented, Reliable, Sensitive Communicator

Health: A
Financial Potential: A-
Professional/Job Success: A
Relationship/Compatibility: A
Charisma/Sex Appeal: A
Communication Ability: A

The influence equally supports both masculine and feminine expression with a little edge toward the masculine. Others who share your first name vibration include Abraham Lincoln, Geraldo Rivera and Dusty Springfield.

For a low, low price, you can also schedule a personal phone consultation with Maryanna, purchase her book, request a bound, personalized Name Owner's Manual profile...and help her boost that "Financial Potential" rating to an A+! Or you can just legally change your name like she did (from Mary Ann).

I guess I should consider changing my middle name, then!

As if I needed another place to waste my spare time...

2004-08-13T23:27:00.000-03:00

Despite all the rave reviews I've heard, I've never paid too much attention to the Television Without Pity site...mainly because I rarely watch television anymore and most of the shows I do watch aren't listed on the site. But earlier today, I went to the site in search of a 2004 Olympics forum, and not only did I find one, I also stumbled across a forum entitled "Cartoons and Kid Shows." Since I happen to be an '80s nostalgia geek, I browsed through some of the topics out of curiosity and spent entirely too much time at the 14-page thread on Jem and reading insightful quotes such as:

"Stormer was always my favorite. She reminded me of me a little bit-she just wanted to make everybody happy, even if that meant throwing other peoples' band equipment out the window of a moving vehicle."

I think that description could apply just as easily to a lot of people. :) Now where's a "blush" smiley on this blog when you need one?)

In other useless pop-culture news, Brick House Boy (AKA Jacob) did not get the boot on Canadian Idol last night; the Kaleb guy got kicked off instead. But considering Kaleb was the guy who completely massacred "Everything I Do" a few weeks ago, I can't complain too much.

Woo-hoo! My tagboard thingy is back! It refused to load for the past couple of days, but looks like it's up and running again now. Thanks to everyone who's visited and/or left comments so far; I'll be adding more links sometime over the weekend. I guess the 218-page Degrassi: The Next Generation thread at TWOP can wait for another day. ;)

Tornados, hurricanes and other disasters

2004-08-11T23:25:00.000-03:00

The official Confederation Bridge site has some huge photos of the tornado--oops, I mean waterspout--of the century (scroll down to the very bottom of the page:

http://www.confederationbridge.com/bridge/morepics.aspx?pageid=71&lang=en

In other natural disaster-related news, we're also expected to receive the remnants from a couple of hurricanes this weekend. Ironically enough, guess what our local news chose to broadcast tonight? A retrospective about Hurricane Juan (the only hurricane I can remember which was actually large enough to cause real damage by the time it came this far north). On one of the hottest, sunniest days of the year.

I tuned into "Canadian Idol 2" tonight. Last summer, I was hopelessly addicted to the first "Canadian Idol" series (the first "Idol" show of any kind I actually watched on a regular basis), but this year, I just keep forgetting to watch half the time. Maybe it's because they moved the time (it's on Wednesdays and Thursdays instead of Tuesdays and Wednesdays like last summer), maybe it's because I don't have a clear favourite like I did last year (when I was rooting for Audrey), but it just doesn't seem as interesting to me this time. Since most of the Canadian Idol topics on any of the forums I visit don't have nearly as many posts as during this time last year, I guess a lot of other people feel the same way. But considering over 2 million people are tuning into each episode, someone out there must still be watching.

Anyway, tonight was Lionel Ritchie night, and I thought most of the contestants did a fairly good job. The one exception was the guy who sang "Brick House." Even Sass Jordan had to strain to think of something positive to say about his performance, and that's saying a lot. Maybe it's the skating fan coming out in me, but I guess all those years of watching Kurt Browning skate to that song wearing much better clothing and demonstrating vastly superior dancing ability have spoiled me. Oh, yeah, the guy's singing wasn't that great, either. BTW, I'm having a very hard time keeping track of all the Top 10 guys' names (Kalen, Kaleb, Jacob, Jason). Maybe I'd be a little less confused if I actually remembered to watch more than once every two or three weeks?

Sending hurricane-be-gone vibes to everyone on the Eastern Seaboard...and a few extra all-forms-of-rain-be-gone vibes in the direction of a certain wedding scheduled to take place on the other side of the bridge this weekend. ;)

So who am I and what am I doing here?

2004-08-09T22:00:00.000-03:00

Okay, now that I just posted the link to this thing and I know actual people are now reading it (eek!), I suppose now is as good a time as any to write my "who am I, what am I doing here, and why did I decide to start a blog in the first place?" post.

I'll be honest. When I first learned about the concept of blogging about a year ago, my first thought was, "Why would anyone want to post a journal of their lives for all the world to see?" I'm a very private person and it takes a very long time for me to trust and feel comfortable enough to share my feelings, even with the people closest to me. Sometimes, I'm not even comfortable admitting my most intimate feelings to myself, so if someone told me just a few months ago that I'd be starting a blog of my own, I would have thought they were insane.

So what made me change my mind? A number of things, actually. Up until now, the main reasons why I've never started a blog of my own were:

1. People I know in real life might read it (which I definitely don't want!) Since I live in such a small province and have such an unusual first name, it wouldn't take much for certain people to figure out exactly who is writing these words. I probably wouldn't be so worried about this if my name was Jennifer and I lived in Toronto, but for now, I prefer to remain more or less anonymous.

2. Frankly, there is very little in my personal life exciting enough to write about right now.

But the more I started reading other people's blogs, the more I started thinking about reasons to join the club:

1. Peer pressure; almost everyone else has one, so why can't I?

2. I wanted to take all those online quizzes, fill out all those very long surveys and have one of those cool tagboard thingies like the ones on other people's blogs.

3. I already have very basic HTML skills, but I'd really like to learn more. Hopefully I'll be able to accomplish more with this blog than I have with my already-existing, hasn't-been-updated-for-longer-than-I-care-to-remember website.

4. Even though I still don't plan to post much about my personal life (trust me, you're not missing out on much!), I've discovered I have a lot of things to say on certain issues lately--more than any forum post or that little space under "comment" on other blogs can handle. I do tend to get a little long-winded at times, in case you haven't noticed. ;)

5. I posted this link on an L.M. Montgomery fan forum. Many people on that forum would like to visit my province someday. Perhaps I could share some stories which might interest them (and which definitely won't be found in any tourist brochure!)

6. I'm currently looking for a job, preferably one which involves writing for a living. Perhaps some potential employer might stumble across this site and be impressed enough to offer me a job...or maybe they'll just roll their eyes at my one glance at my long-winded ramblings.

Since my birthday was a few days ago, I figured that was as good a time as any to take the plunge into the wonderful world of blogging. I hope you enjoy your visit to my little corner on the web (and if you'd like me to add a link to your own blog, feel free to let me know!)

First Hurricane Juan, now this...

2004-08-09T21:34:00.000-03:00

A tornado was spotted near the Confederation Bridge today:

Waterspout closes Confederation Bridge

Well, technically it's called a "waterspout," but I certainly wouldn't be able to tell the difference from the photo in the corner of the link:

What I don't understand is all the people who actually got out of their cars, stood on the bridge and took photos of this thing (something you're not allowed to do in even in perfect weather conditions). If I was on that bridge and I saw a tornado-like thing headed in my direction, it would take all of my strength just to prevent passing out inside the car.

This is the first tornado (over water or otherwise) I've ever seen in PEI (or anywhere else in Atlantic Canada, for that matter). I think I can live just fine without seeing another one for awhile. First last fall's hurricane (something else we don't usually get up here), now this. I certainly hope an earthquake won't be next!

BTW, I just realized I typed in the wrong year ("03" instead of "04") when I registered the address for this blog. I guess finding out astimegoesby-without-any-additional-numbers was already taken threw me off a little further than I thought!

A case of mistaken identity?

2004-08-09T16:09:00.000-03:00

I orginally tried to register this place as "astimegoesby.blogspot.com," but imagine my surprise when Blogspot told me that URL was already taken (hence the "03" at the end of my address).

I decided to visit my "namesake's" blog out of curiosity only to discover just two entries were posted on it between September 2002 and May 2004. The first entry is a movie quote; the second appears to be poetry or lyrics from a song I can't identify. The dates are written in Portuguese and the owner's e-mail address originates from Brazil.

It's interesting--and scary--to share my URL address, screen name and at least one common interest with someone else so far away. But at least nobody will ever confuse the two of us (and at least it's not a porn site!)

I might check that blog out again someday. Who knows? Maybe the owner might decide to make another post within the next two years--or stumble across this blog and say, "How dare some Eastern Canadian chick steal my blog/screen name! I thought of it first!" Now that's a scary thought!

Whee! My first online quiz results!

2004-08-08T11:01:00.000-03:00

Just because I'm sure you'd all like to know:

Take the quiz: "What type of music are you?"

Soft Rock
You rock! You're not as hardcore as heavy metal, but you're getting there!

Take the quiz: "Which American City Are You?"

Seattle
Your dark exterior masks a caffeine driven activism. You'll take up a cause and you'll get ugly to advance it.

These are a few of my favourite things

2004-08-07T20:50:00.000-03:00

Now that I've entered the wonderful world of blogdom, I thought I should tell you a little about myself courtesy of this survey I shamelessly stole from http://alasmylove20.blogspot.com, who stole it from someplace else:

5 words that describe you
1.: Sensitive
2.: Creative
3.: Optimistic
4.: Intelligent
5.: Unique

5 websites you visit daily
1.: The Avonlea Forum
2.: skatingforums.com
3.: The notwithoutmyhandbag.com forum
4.: The Onion
5.: various job-hunting sites

5 CDs you couldn't live without
1.: U2: Best of 1980-1990
2.: Elton John - Greatest Hits 1970-2002
3.: Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting 1984-1994
4.: Sarah McLachlan - Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
5.: Roch Voisine - Kissing Rain

5 favorite books
1.: A Tree Grows In Brooklyn--Betty Smith
2.: The Blue Castle--L.M. Montgomery
3.: Roots--Alex Haley
4.: The Diviners--Margaret Lawrence
5.: The Kitchen God's Wife--Amy Tan

5 favorite songs
1.: "In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel
2.: "Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Brothers
3.: "All I Want Is You" by U2
4.: "With These Eyes" by Roch Voisine
5.: "In Your Room" by Depeche Mode

5 random facts about you
1.: I've visited every Canadian province except Manitoba, Newfoundland and the territories
2.: There's another blog with the URL "astimegoesby.blogspot.com" owned by someone in Brazil.
3.: I'm not really a vegetarian (I still eat chicken), but after trying vegetarian pizza, lasagna and hot dogs, I've never been able to eat them with meat again.
4.: I'm probably one of the few people in my province who will openly admit to being an L.M. Montgomery fan.
5.: I'm desperately seeking meaningful employment.

5 countries you would like to visit
1.: Australia
2.: Great Britain
3.: New Zealand
4.: France
5.: Switzerland

5 words or phrases you always use
1.: "Cool!"
2.: "D-oh!"
3.: "Woo-hoo!"
4.: "Eh?"
5.: "Whoa!"

5 articles of clothing that are your favorite
1.: The $10 jeans I bought two weeks ago.
2.: My off-white blazer with black pinstripes.
3.: My beige capri pants.
4.: My black sleeveless tank top-like thingy.
5.: My satiny pajama bottoms.

5 favorite movies
1.: An American In Paris.
2.: The Wedding Singer.
3.: Pretty In Pink.
4.: Little Women (most recent version with Winona Ryder and Susan Sarandon.
5.: Dead Poets Society.

5 things you are obsessed with
1.: Figure skating.
2.: The Olympics (well, in another week or so, anyway!)
3.: Canadian history.
4.: '80s nostalgia.
5.: Finding a job.

5 girls names you like (even if you never want children)
1.: Katherine.
2.: Alexandra.
3.: Zara.
4.: Serena.
5.: Julia.

5 boys name you like (even if you never want children)
1.: Nicholas.
2.: Gavin.
3.: Owen.
4.: Evan.
5.: Sebastian.

5 hobbies you have
1.: Reading.
2.: Writing.
3.: Web design.
4.: Foreign languages.
5.: Travelling.

5 foods that are your favorite
1.: Pizza.
2.: Lasagna.
3.: Chinese food.
4.: French fries.
5.: Chocolate.

5 boardgames you like to play
1.: Trivial Pursuit.
2.: Scrabble.
3.: Pictionary.
4.: Balderdash.
5.: Monopoly.

Three things I realized after filling out this survey: I have even geekier taste in music/books/movies than I thought, it's been years since I've played any of the abovementioned board games, and I really need some new hobbies!

Testing, testing 1-2-3...

2004-08-07T12:52:00.000-03:00

Hello, is anyone out there? Is this thing working properly? Just checking...