But baby I don't need your cash, Mama got it all in hand now.

I went for a really long walk in the cemetary today, and made all kinds of amusing observations that I thought would make a great blog post, but alas, I forget most of them (other than the fact that magnolia trees in bloom are very pretty). I came across this survey on Claire's blog, so I figured I'd steal it.

1. Does anyone know your password to your MySpace besides yourself?
I refused to join MySpace so the answer is no. But no one knows any of my other passwords either.

2. What was the last thing you ordered at McDonalds?
Probably fries and a strawberry sundae.

3. Are you an emotional person?
In public, no; I think I have a calm, easy-going demeanor. I can get very emo in private though.

4. Do you like your middle name?
Yes I do. Alexandra is a fabulous name, as other bloggers will attest.

5. Do you believe in love at first sight?
For shoes, yes. For people, I'm not sure. If I ever experience it, I'll let you know.

6. Does the person you like, know that you like them?
No.

7. What was the last thing you did?
I checked all of my fave blogs and commented. But before that, I went grocery shopping.

9. Who was the last person you ate with?
Probably my roommate. I think we had dinner together at some point this week. I've been too busy at lunch this week to actually eat lunch, so I don't think I haven't even eaten with any colleagues lately.

10. What song are you listening to right now?
Bouncing Off Clouds by Tori Amos. Love it.

11. How's the weather right now?
It was sunny today, but right now the sun is setting. A nice day; temperature of about 17 degrees Celsius.

12. Last person who called you?
My pal Becca T.

13. Last lie you told?
Hmmmm.... I don't remember. I rarely actually tell lies, although I think up a lot of lies.

14. Last song you sang?
1234 by Feist.

15. Do you love anyone?
Family and friends of course.

16. Lost a friendship over something stupid?
Not since elementary school.

17. Last thing you drank?
Diet Coke.

18. Last thing you ate?
A Frosty from Wendy's. Mmm.

19. Where do you wish you were?
I'd love to be back in the UK.

20. Faked being sick to miss school?
I try to do that once per semester for my mental health. :)

21. What time did you wake up today?
About 10 am.

22. Last person you talked to in person?
My roommate.

23. last person who made you laugh?
My roommate.

24. What are you wearing right now?
My fave jeans, a green t-shirt, and a corduroy jacket. And a Christie subway station button on my jacket.

25. What’s the first thing you notice about the opposite sex?
Eyes.

27. Where are you right now?
My bedroom in my apartment. Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Planet Earth.

28. What day and date is it?
Saturday May 5th.

29. Did you go anywhere today?
Walked around the cemetary and to the grocery store.

30. What did you do there?
I think it's self evident.

31. What else are you doing today?
I'm not sure. Perhaps going for a latte.

32. Are you watching TV?
No.

33. Are you mature or immature?
A bit of both, I think.

34. Who are you closer to, your mum or your dad?
I'm pretty close to both, but in different ways. I talk to mom about emotional stuff, whereas I joke around with Dad more.

36. What school(s) did you go to?
St. Al's elem school, St. Mike's high school, U of T (SMC) and U of T (OISE).

37. What's the most annoying thing people say to you?
Coming from students "I'm not late" when they walk into class late. I'm trying to train them to say "Sorry Miss, I am late because..."

38. Do you like music?
I love it. I don't know what I'd do without it.

39. Do you want to get married?
Yes, if I come across the right person. And hopefully that won't happen 'til I 30, because I'd enjoy a few more years of being single.

41. Where did you go on vacation last summer?
England, Wales, Ireland.

42. Would you bungee jump?
Good Lord no.

43. Do you like rollercoasters?
Not anymore.

44. Is there anything you wish for every summer?
That summer would not end. :)

45. Do you use chopsticks?
Yup. Took me awhile to master them though.

46. What's your favorite meal of the day?
Dinner - I can take my time eating and I get dessert.

47. Thinking of someone right now?
Nope.

48. Concerned about life right now?
No more than usual.

49. Have you ever tripped going up the stairs?
Oh yeah.

50. What are you looking forward to this spring?
The end of spring because it means summer.

Gonna turn that whiskey into rain.

Happy May Day! I was looking forward to this day because firstly, I think May is going to be less busy work-wise than April (or so I hope) and secondly, it's two-CD Tuesday! I love looking foward to a Tuesday when one highly-anticipated CD comes out, but when there are two, what more can I say than fantabulous. Today was the release day for the new Tori Amos CD American Doll Posse and Feist's The Reminder. Of course, the first thing that I did when I was done work was to head straight to a music store to pick up both CDs, including the deluxe limited-edition version where applicable (Tori).

I also took a bit of a detour on my way home after that. On Sunday, I browsed around the shoe department at the Bay. I came across a pair of Converse All-Stars that could only be described using one word: emo-licious. They had little pink broken hearts on them for crying out loud. But, on Sunday, I was well-behaved. I said "No Christielli, you do not need new shoes. Why, just yesterday, you purchased yourself a nice pair of grown-up shoes with pretty understated gold-flowers on them, fun straps, and heels that make you sound like a grown-up as you walk down the halls in them. " However, the running shoes have been in the back of my mind since Sunday, and especially today at school when it was dress down day and they would have looked oh-so-cool with my jeans. Since the Bay was just by where I picked up my new CDs, I had to give in.

Here's a picture of them, in all of their emo-liciousness.


I look forward to wearing them to many rock concerts. Their first show will be Joel Plaskett. I also picked up those tickets today while getting my CDs, and had an enjoyable Joel Plaskett conversation with the record store clerk who was sort-of-kind-of-cute in a geeky way, but probably too young. (He said he'll be at the Plaskett show.)

Now that I'm done with my shoe babbling, I'll move onto other new topics.

In I-don't-know-what-I've-got-'til-it's-gone news, the beginning of May is a bit sad despite new CDs. I own an Office calendar, and April was Jim Halpert month. I don't feel that I took enough advantage of enjoying Jim's picture during April. May is The Temp month. I have nothing against the Temp, but he's no Jim. Not even close. Maybe I should just leave the calendar at April forever.

In I'm-really-not-completely-vapid-despite-this-post-being-mostly-about-shoes news, I bought a great book recently: Ecoholic by Adria Vasil. Vasil writes a column of the same name in Now magazine. She dispenses advice for greener-living for those of us who are addicted to the planet. (Hi, my name is Christielli and I'm a total Ecoholic.) Anyhow, I'm going to try and green myself up one step at a time. I recently got a grocery bag made from old water bottles so that I can end my dependence on evil one-time plastic bags. Note: remembering to bring the bag with me is the hard part. My second step is to try and buy more locally-grown food. There's a farmer's market every Thursday in the community centre by my school. This Thursday, I'm going to go for the first time ever and see what I can score. And I'll remember my grocery bag.

Anyhow, I must go listen to my new CDs. So far Tori's 6 for 6 of the songs I've listened to. Happy humpday tomorrow.

Take by the hand and tell me you would take my anywhere.

Another weekend done. Another Monday on the horizon. I find that I'm always a tad nervous before another week starts. I feel like there is so much I have to do over the course of the upcoming week, and I honestly don't know if I'll get it done. However, by the time Monday finishes, I always feel so much better. If Mondays could somehow be eliminated, I'd feel so much better.

I feel like I had an overall productive weekend. After getting my taxes done on Friday, I spent Saturday sleeping in, shopping (new shoes!), and doing laundry. Today, I got some more shopping in, including food shopping and some organizing done.

I feel like my belongings are such a mess. I have so much useless crap that I have to go through. While doing laundry, I was able to go through my closet and get rid of a huge garbage bag full of clothes that I don't want any more. The scary thing is that I know there is probably more clothing in there that I could get rid of. How is it possible that something I liked enough to buy two years ago now looks so ugly to me?

I also bought the paper shredder that I've been meaning to buy for, well, forever. I have a bad habit of shoving papers into a shopping bag under my desk, or a couple of shoes boxes on my desk, as opposed to dealing with them. Most of them are just bank statements and those stupid cheques that come with your credit card. Anyway, tonight I spent about half an hour shredding, so I'm feeling likeI fought the paper war, and I'm winning right now.

Anyway, I feel that I'm on my way to organizing my life so that I'll be able to uproot it easily come the end of July when I'll be moving.

Happy Monday everyone.

ps This may be the most boring blog post in the history of blogging, so I'd better liven it up with by revealing some secrets:

a) I cannot focus on The Hour with George Strombolopolous because he's too attractive. He could be talking about a very important issue that I'm interested in but I don't hear the words he speaks. It's a problem because I think it's a good show.
b) I like P!nk. Total guilty pleasure.

You cannot fight me, you don't have to like me...

I just noticed that this is my 400th post. I'm always amazed at how long I've kept this thing up.

Anyhow, woo-hoo for weekends. Especially weekends that feel just a tad longer. Yesterday was a PD day, and it was one that was held away from school - actually, at a beautiful botannical garden.

Yesterday was dragonboat practice #2. It was quite a bit colder out than the first time we practiced. However, I felt that it was a much better practice because the coach made us do more drills this time. We had a different coach, a 22 year old guy who was even't a coach, and he was much better than last week's "I've been coaching for 10 years" guy. I actually felt like I'd had a good workout by the end of practice and really enjoyed myself this week.

Last night I also did my taxes, which I'd put off for a while. This year I owe money for the first time ever in my life ($29!). Aren't I supposed to pay fewer taxes when there's a Conservative government??? Stupid Stephen Harper... Although, at least my transit passes saved me from paying more. I know, I can't really complain about $29, but it's the first time in my life I've had to send them money.

After paddling and doing taxes, I was too tired to do something fun, so I went to bed early. I could have watched a movie with my roommate and her friend but I didn't feel that I even had the capacity to focus on a movie.

Today, once I get out of my pajamas, I plan to do a little bit of shopping, then start doing some cleaning, organizing, and laundry. Oh, and I also plan to take some time to read. I haven't been able to get into a book since March Break. I've started a few, but gotten nowhere. I don't know if that's indicative of the books, or my mental state. Whichever, maybe a latte will help me read. Lattes fix everything.

The only thing on my mind was the light years between our own kind.

Tonight was parent-teacher interview night. It was a good night overall. I was busy, but not so busy that I didn't have time to chat with some of the teachers around me.

I am a girl of routine. One of my coworkers knows this very well. She makes fun of me because whenever we walk to the subway together, I insist upon crossing the street to use the west entrance of the subway station, as opposed to directly using the east entrance. I do this because it allows me to be outside as long as possible, even though I have to wait for an extra set of traffic lights. I hate not following my routine.

Anyhow, at lunch today she suggested that we should go to a restaurant a couple blocks away for dinnner before interviews. I looked at her with a strained looked and said "Yeah, that would be nice, but I always go to the mall for dinner before interviews." She could tell that not going to the mall before interviews would be the equivalent of using the wrong subway station entrance, so she agreed to keep with my routine. Plus, I pointed out to her that we could look at shoes at the mall - an advantage that the other restaurant clearly didn't have.

After interviews, a few of us went out for drinks. I had a great time which made me realize how lucky I am to have made some great friends within my staff. We pledged that we must always do the post-interview drink thing, which makes me happy, since I love having a routine to follow. :)

ps Tomorrow is a PD day - no planning! It's so nice waking up without thinking "what am I going to do with those kids today?" every once and awhile.

Well don't fear, it's just the bullets bouncing off my helmet.

I actually went searching for post ideas today, because I really have nothing going on to post about. I can across a suggestion to list your favourite bands/artists from A to Z. Who knew that some letters would be so hard to fill??

A - Alanis Morrisette
B - Ben Folds (Five)
C - Christine Fellows
D - Death Cab for Cutie
E - Esthero
F - Feist
G - Great Lake Swimmers
H - Hawksley Workman
I - I don't have any special letter I bands.
J - Joel Plaskett Emergency
K - Kathleen Edwards
L - Lowest of the Low
M - Matthew Good (Band)
N - Neko Case
O - Oasis
P - Postal Service
Q - Quite frankly, I have no Q artists on my iPod
R - R.E.M
S - Such a hard decision - Sloan? Stars? Sarah Harmer? I cannot choose between those three.
T - Tori Amos
U - U2 (I guess... I'm not a big U2 fan, but they're better than The Used, who have one song I like)
V - Veruca Salt
W - Weakerthans!!!
X - I have X-actly zero X artists.
Y - Yellowcard is my only Y band. Eep.
Z - Zwan

Tomorrow we can drive around this town...

*Sigh* Here I sit at the unhappy end of a weekend once again. I really should be trying to sleep right now, but falling asleep on a Sunday night is such a hard chore, don't you find? Especially when you're facing another very busy week at work.

I had my first dragonboat practice on Friday night. The weather was fabulous. Honestly, I think being on the lake was the perfect place to be that evening. We spent most of our practice going slow and practicing our technique (which I suspect I suck at), so the hour wasn't as strenuous as I feared it would be. I thought we were doing okay, despite some older woman heckling us from ashore. "Are you rowing or are you paddling?" she yelled. -10 karma points for her, I say. At least -10.

I raced home, changed out of my fashionable rowing clothes (now wet and smelly with Lake Ontario water), had some dinner, then packed up to catch the late train to St. Ratford. Thank goodness, I was travelling west and not east, as the VIA tracks east of Toronto were blocked due to a Mohawk protest.

On Saturday, I ran a bunch of errands and then headed off for the karaoke party. All I have to say, is that if I've been indulging in spirits, and I'm around people I'm comfortable with, keep microphones the heck away from me. Especially if I have my iPod handy and can bust out 90s classics like Basket Case, Hey Jealousy, and Ironic. I apologize to people in the room who were sober. And those who were not. Although, I'm thinking that I should maybe invest in a karaoke device to have at home, because there's something therapudic about singing into a microphone. Sure beats a hairbrush.

Sunday was a sleepy day spent relaxing with the 'rents and having a coffee with a friend. Gotta love those lazy Sundays.

Have a happy week!

I think she said "it's like a kiss from God"...

Do you ever have those times when weepy rock songs make you really weepy?

I do. It kind of sucks.

The city or the country we just want to make some noise.

It's nice to be getting ever closer to the end of the week. This week has been crazy-busy at work, and so will be next week, but I think once those weeks are finished, things will calm down a bit. That's what I say now, but I'm sure when the first week of May does roll around, I'll be singing a different story.

Today I picked up the new album "Ashtray Rock" by the Joel Plaskett Emergency. I've listened to it all the way through, and it's definitely one of those albums that you can listen to all of the way through and love the whole thing. It's a concept album that revolves around a love triangle that breaks up a young band, and it totally works. It's got a lot of super-fun, fist-pumping songs that make me feel long for summer. Plus, I think it will be great to hear live, which I'll be doing on May 26th; I just bought my tickets today. Woo! All is well in life, as long as I have a concert to look forward to.

Speaking of summer, I think we're finally getting some spring weather. Thank goodness.

I'm especially glad that it is warming up, because I have my first practice for the rowing team that I signed up for while, ummm, a little under the influence. I've never done any sort of rowing in my life, but it should be fun. I might be sore on Saturday (or should I say I will most definitely be sore), but whatever doesn't kill you will make you stronger, right?? This weekend, I had to buy some non-cotton type pants to wear, and I ended up getting a matching tank top and jacket, so at least I'll be fashionable, right? The only sad thing is that my new clothes will get Lake Ontario water on them, ew.

Well, I think that's it. Hope that Friday gets here fast. :)

I will never see the sun. Spadina, St. George, Bay, and Yonge.

Tonight was the Great Lake Swimmers concert. My verdict: fabulously beautiful. First of all, the concert was in a church, and I now am of the belief that more concerts should be in churches because of the great acoustics. The music was absolutely gorgeous. All of the musical arrangements were stunning. All kinds of interesting instruments were used: banjo, pedal steel, xylophone, upright bass, violin, mandolin, and yes, even a harmonium. Wonderful.

Now, I am quite new to the band. I'd heard of them before, but never listened to anything until I read glowing reviews of their new album Ongiara. I love that album. Tonight I heard some of their older stuff, which is gorgeous too. The title of this post is from a song from their first album, which is self-titled, that is about taking the TTC to work every day and going past the same stops. Of course, I had to make sure that I owned that song, so I picked up the album. Something to listen to on the way home from work, since every day I also pass through those stops. And, even in that order (on the way home).

Also, Owen Pallet, aka Final Fantasy, played violin at the show. I'm not sure if Final Fantasy stuff is for me, since it's classified as electronic, but he's a great violin player.

Well, that makes for two fabulous concerts too weekends in a row. Next weekend is a girls' karaoke night in St. Ratford area. Girls - you have a lot to live up to. I expect Ben Folds/Great Lake Swimmers calibre performances. If not, I will bust out my worst Simon Cowell on you. No pressure. ;)

I've also been watching a lot of that new Feist video that I posted last night. It's my new addiction, I suppose. I soooooo wish I could do that song for karaoke. And, I've watched the video so much that I could probably accompany it with a lot of dance moves. It's probably best for all involved that my friend's karaoke device will surely not have that song.

Well, tomorrow, or I guess it's now today, involves me doing report cards. Oh what fun. I hope the rest of you have enjoyable Sundays that are not work-related. :)

1-2-3-4 tell me that you love me more.

When all else is sucking in your life, at least there's always great music out there.
(Note: not all else is sucking in my life right now, but work politics are making me say "grrr".)

Here's a list of musical happenings that are subsiding the inner growl inside of me today.

1) Great Lake Swimmers. As I've mentioned a couple of times (redundancy is a fault of my, I'll admit), I'm seeing them tomorrow. Less than 24 hrs 'til show time!

2) Feist - I came across this video today and realized that I'm super-excited for her new CD (out May 1st).



3) Tori Amos - Oh, will I be one over-stimulated girl on May 1st, when two great CDs are released. I've been getting all of the teaser emails for this new album, and I gotta hand it to Tori for being such a creative person. She's taking over the personae of 5 women for the CD (hence the title American Doll Posse), complete with blogs for each of them. Anyhow, I'd read the lyrics to the first song, "Yo George" online and I fell in love with it just from the lyrics. I got to listen to the song this week, and I love it. Listen to it here!

4) Even though I've not heard anything from it yet, I'm sure the new Joel Plaskett Emergency CD will very awesome. And it's out on Tuesday!!

Hope you all have fantabulous weekends!

Just a ying and a yang or a couple of pints, please.

My four-day weekend totally mellowed me out, so it was pretty hard getting back into the groove today. I did it, but every cell in my body, espeically those in my brain, protested.

I had a pleasant trip home to St. Ratford. I haven't posted much about my parents' health lately, but both of them are doing much better. They're not perfect by any means, but improving a lot so I have been able to cut back on my trips home. I look forward to spending many more lazy weekends in Toronto.

Oh my, I'm experiencing huge blogger's block right now. I'm having a hard time even thinking of anything else to say.

Ummm, here's a list of some things I'm looking forward to:
- Great Lake Swimmers concert on Saturday
- New Joel Plasket Emergency CD next Tuesday
- New Tori Amos CD on May 1st

Here's a list of things that I'm not looking forward to:
- The huge pile of stuff I have to get done at work this month. I feel that April is a freight train that could run me down.
- The eventuality that in a couple of months I have to go apartment hunting, pack, and then move.

C'est la vie, I suppose. Hmmm, I promise a more creative post next time.

Number one song after number one song.

First concert of 2007 has finally happened, and boy, has it set the bar high for the rest of the concerts of 2007.

If I lived in some sort of state where I could only go to one concert a year, I might very well pick Ben Folds as that concert. He puts on an incredible show. No one rocks a piano like that man.

The highlights of the show was his Canadian version of "Rock this Bitch" (it's a huge inside-joke song for Ben Folds fans), his cover of Dr. Dre/Snoop Dogg's "Bitches Ain't Shit" (go to iTunes and buy that cover now if you want a good laugh, albeit it with a lot of swearing), and his cover of The Postal Service's "Such Great Heights". On top of all this, he played 22 other Ben Folds classics. (I'm a nerd who writes down the set list when she gets home from a show and then makes it into a playlist on her iPod. That's how I know the exact number.) I think the two unexpected songs that I was very excited to hear were "Emaline" and "Evaporated".

That was the fifth time I've seen Ben. I hope number six isn't too far away.

All right, time for bed. Early train to catch tomorrow morning.

Update: Posting setlist as requested by Megan. (Not in order by any means. I have a good memory, but not that good.)

Miserlou, Trusted, All You Can Eat, Jesusland, Annie Waits, Rock This Bitch, Bastard, Still Fighting It, There's Always Someone Cooler Than You, Bitches Ain't Shit, Losing Lisa, Gone, Lullabye, Emaline, Evaporated, Narcolepsy, Kate, Such Great Heights, Gracie, Landed, Army, You to Thank, Underground, Zak and Sara, Not the Same.

I think I got all 25 songs there. :D

Update #2: I just booked concert #2 for '07: Great Lake Swimmers!!! Woo! It's next Saturday...

Clever disguise but it won't work this time.

I had one of those days where I thought about how some people bring out the best in me, and others the worst in me. Thankfully, my life is full of 99% of the former and 1% of the latter. But, gee, that 1% can be trying. Anyhow, even though I did have to put up with some of the 1% today, I had enough of the 99% to make my day pretty swell.

Ach. There is a huge pile of dishes by my sink. Anyone wanna come over and wash them for me? Don't all run now.

A cold snap started today. It's pretty darned chilly out there right now. I went for a walk in the cemetary today after school, and it started to snow on me. Snow. Apparently the forecast for tomorrow is below zero, as is the forecast for Friday. Which sucks, because I was planning on wearing a light jacket to my Ben Folds concert on Friday, and now I'm going to have to dress more warmly and rethink my whole outfit. Boo.

Yes! Ben Folds is on Friday! Finally, my first concert of 2007. The concert offerings in Toronto had better pick up so I can improve this.

In other-things-to-be-excited-about news, there is finally a new episode of the Office tomorrow night. I am way more excited about the new episode than I am about the fact that it's a four-day weekend coming up. Don't get me wrong: I am excited for the long weekend, but I would work two extra days for a new Office episode.

Saturday morning I'm taking the train to St. Ratford for Easter. I predict a relaxing weekend. Which I will need because when I'm back, report card insanity starts. Not to mention about a dozen other types of insanity. Oh summer, where are you??

These are the days when you wish your bed was already made.

Or, how not to start a Monday.

After hitting the snooze button thrice, I drag myself out of bed and head to the bathroom to hop in the shower. As I'm just about to step in the shower, I hear a big crash. "Not my laptop!" is the first thing that comes to mind and then I realize it sounded like the noise came from the kitchen, and my beloved computer is probably safe.

I throw my pjs back on and head into the kitchen which now looks like a grisly crime scene. The shelf above the chopping block in the kitchen had decided it was no longer happy be securely adhered to the wall and gave way. On said shelf was, among other things, a jar of (expensive) fire-roasted pepper tomato sauce that I'd given my roommate for Christmas. It had hit the floor, and its contents were now on the floor, on the door of the fridge, all over the cupboards, and yes, even on the table, chairs and wall in the dining room. My roomate's cookbooks were scattered amongst the tomato-y mess, along with the contents of a jar of grape jelly that a friend had made for me. Sadly, I will never eat said jelly. (Note: jelly doesn't splatter spectacularly like tomato sauce. So, if at one point in your life, you get really really angry at a person and decide to hurl a jar of condiment inside of their kitchen, go for the tomato sauce, not the jelly.)

I look at the mess, and decide that I'd deal with it after my shower. After the shower, I surveyed the mess, which I really really really just wanted to leave for later and realized that it would be 100 times worse to clean once it had dried, and decided to go wake up my roommate. I knock on her door explaining that there was an unfortunate situation in the kitchen. She had totally slept through the loud crash.

Anyhow, it was the most quality time I'd ever spent with my roommate at that hour of the morning.

I am never, ever, putting a jar of foodstuff or anything breakable on a wall-mounted shelf again. In fact, I may just steer away from this type of shelf if at all possible. A grisly scene like that scars you for life.

Pay attention to me, I don't talk for my health.

I make a point of watching two awards shows every year (even though I end up watching more, these are my two must-sees). The first is the Oscars which I watch for the glamour and glitz, and the second is the Junos (The Canadian music awards) which I watch for the Canadian music.

Well, tonight is Juno night, and after a big kerfuffle (CTV originally wasn't going to air them until like 11 pm here in Ontario as to not interfere with the Amazing Race. Thankfully, enough people got angry about that), I'm sitting here watching them. And like any good science-minded person, I like to make observations about what ever is happening around me, so here are my 2007 Juno Awards observations.

- Most things Canadian do have some sort of aspect of hokeyness to them. Could it be because hokey is one letter away from hockey? Maybe…
- Honestly, get Jann Arden to host these things every year. Then, we could do away with the hokey skits that are supposed to be funny, because that woman actually is very funny. But maybe that will never happen (see above).
-There is something strangely sexy about Gord Downie. Especially when he is performing or reading poetry.
- A string section makes Three Days Grace a little bit less worse. A little bit. Note: I did not use the word better, because I feel that implies that they have some sort of goodness.
- I figured out what awaits me if I am faced with eternal damnation. I will be locked away in a room with Ben Mulroney and Nickelback, hearing him ask inane questions like “Have you guys thought about running for office?”
- I hope Wes isn’t watching this, not because he hates awards shows, but because all of these commercials for Saskatchewan might make him homesick.
- I honestly do like Nelly Furtado. Even though her previous Folklore incarnation was more up my alley, her new stuff’s fun. And, I have nothing against her hosting, but really just get Jann Arden every year, please. Or even the Barenaked Ladies. They’re naturally funny too. Hosts with natural funniness will eliminate the need for hokey skits featuring Michael Buble.
- Sloan sooooo should have won Rock Album of the Year. Not only was Never Hear the End of It brilliant, it had the most tracks. If not Sloan, I would have liked to see The Hip win, but they don't give the old bands the awards.
- Awwww shucks, but Ben of Billy Talent (who won the above award) just shouted out Sloan and the Hip in their thank-you speech, so it's okay that they won the above award.
- The City & Colour/Alexisonfire performance was too short. Especially the City & Colour part.

Overall, this year's Junos were okay. I can't be too critical, because no matter what, it is a celebration of Canadian music, and there are always excellent performances in there with the bands I may not love so much.

I hope that next year there will be performances by two of my favourite bands, Stars and the Weakerthans, since their new albums are supposed to be released this fall.

Fight off the lethargy. Don't go quietly.

Dirty Little Secrets – swiped from MyUtopia.

1. The phone rings; who do you want it to be? Hmmmm, maybe that doctor/brilliant scientist that Sandee is convinced I’m going to meet someday… or, some rock star. If not those, I’d take any friend. I like talking to all my friends.

2. When shopping at the grocery store, do you return your cart? Yes. I follow the rules in most situations.

3. In a social setting, are you more of a talker or a listener? How much have I had to drink? But honestly, I’m chatty as long as I’m comfortable with the people.

4. Do you take compliments well? I think so.

5. Do you play Sudoku? Yes… always good when I’m bored or on the train.

6. If abandoned alone in the wilderness, would you survive? I would be so dead.

7. Do you like to ride horses? Never been on a horse. (Joanna, have this fixed.)

8. Did you ever go to camp as a kid? Just day-camps. Oh, and then once I decided that I wasn’t a wilderness girl, I went to art camp… despite my lack of artistic skills.

9. What was your favorite game as a kid? Monopoly.

10. If a person was pursuing you, but you knew he/she was married, would you go for it? Probably not, since I follow the rules in most situations.

11. Have you lied to get out of a date? I'm more of a creative half-truth teller. Or I try really hard to remember something else I have to do.

12. Could you date someone with different religious beliefs than you? Probably as long as they were tolerant of my beliefs.

13. Do you like to pursue or be pursued? I don’t pursue.

14. Use three words to describe yourself? Funny, personable, and loyal.

15. Do any songs make you cry? Yeah, different songs at different times. I would say “Magic” by Ben Folds Five is the winner though.

16. Are you continuing your education? There are a bunch of teaching courses that I need to take. I always say some day I might get my Master’s, but I don’t know if I could actually go through with it.

17. Do you know how to shoot a gun? Goodness no.

18. If your house was on fire, what would be the first thing you grabbed? My iPod, my laptop, and artwork from my trips.

19. How often do you read books? I’ve always got a book or two on the go.

20. Do you think more about the past, present or future? I think about past and future more than I do present. I need to learn to live in the present.

21. What is your favorite children's book? From my childhood: Matilda by Roald Dahl. But, as you know, I love Harry Potter.

22. What color are your eyes? Brown

23. How tall are you? 5 feet 6 inches

24. Where is your dream house located? The Annex neighbourhood in Toronto.

25. Have you tried sushi? Yes..

26. Have you ever taken pictures in a photo booth? Yes… many times when I was a teenager.

27. When was the last time you were at Olive Garden? Not since I was probably like 11, and that was with my parents.

28. When was the last time you were at Church? Sunday

29. Where was the furthest place you traveled today?
Work – 25 minute Subway ride each way.

30. What was your favorite job? Teaching.

31. Do you look like your mom or dad? I think I look like both.

32. How long does it take you in the shower? 10 minutes.

33. Can you do the splits? No.

34. If you could fast forward your life, would you? Can I rewind back? If I could rewind, I’d fast forward out of curiosity. But I would like to live each moment.

35. What did you do for New Year's? Saw a movie with Christa and Heather, and then celebrated “Texas New Year” (we were late) with a drink.

36. Do you think The Grudge was scary? Didn’t see it.

37. Could you relate to a character in Mean Girls? Saw it, but don’t remember it clearly enough.

38. Do you own a camera phone? Yeah, but it’s pretty crappy.

39. What do you buy at the movies? Mmmm, normally I smuggle in a drink. I might buy an ice cream bar though.

40. Do you wear your seatbelt? Always. I follow the rules.

41. What do you wear to sleep? PJs.

42. Anything big ever happen in your hometown? Well, the Festival, I suppose… Oh and then there was the time that a swan cheated on his mate and then tried to kill his cygnets. That saga made the paper for weeks. Then there was that time a swan was killed. They thought it might have been a person, but it turned out an owl did it. Another hot story in the paper.

43. Ever been to L.A.? Only the airport.

44. Do you steal or pay for your music downloads? I typically pay, but I have stolen a few.

45. Are you a gullible person? Maybe once and awhile, but usually not.

46. If you could have any job what would it be? Hmmm, music journalist?

47. Are you easy to get along with? I think I’m very easy to get along with.

48. What is your favorite time of day? Whenever I have time to chill.

Got nowhere but home to go; got Ben Folds on my radio right now.

So far it's been one of those weeks where it seems like work rules, and everything else is just a small side dish.

On the upside, I enjoy my job and most of the busyness has been fun, but it's been pretty tiring. Yesterday at about 7:30 pm, I lay down on my bed thinking "I'll close my eyes for a minute" and slept for three hours. I woke up at 10:30, shuffled into the kitchen to make my lunch for the next day and then went back to bed.

Today was a beautiful day - sunny, but chilly - so I decided to walk home from work. I've never done this before and I've always been curious as to how long it would actually take me to make the trek. The answer is about 85 minutes. It was a good walk though since I got to spend quite a bit of quality time with my iPod.

Ummm, I don't really have much else to say, so I'll leave you with a cartoon that I used to have hanging on my fridge. It makes me laugh hard. The look on the cow's face is priceless.

Floating over your rocky spine.

Some bits and bites from this weekend:

* I decided that I wanted the new Great Lake Swimmers album Ongiara and went on a search for said CD. Turns out I couldn't find it because it's not in stores (well, except one store had it as a pre-release on vinyl) until March 27th. However, it is available digitally on iTunes and Zunior. In my need of immediate gratification, I bought it from the latter. And oh. My. God. It's beautiful. (If you're into folk/alt.country/indie rock stuff. Which I totally and decidely am.) My girl Sarah Harmer adds vocals to the track I Became Awake which is my favourite on the CD. Oh, I suppose I should say album instead of CD since I actually do not own the CD.

*I went to a birthday party on Friday night at a lounge/club place. I had a great time, got a little tipsy, and took part in many shenanigans including getting into a heated but friendly debate about Kraft Dinner on the street with a random stranger. He started it. I was looking for a pizza place by saying "I know it's over by where my friend used to live. He used to cook for me becasue he was appalled by how much Kraft Dinner was in my diet." (This was in university. I can't remember the last time I had KD. I think I killed it.) I stayed out much later than I have in a long time, so I feel young and cool again.

*The aftermath of the party was that I think I'm even with my roommate now. She confessed to me that she forgot to tell me that there was a message from the library saying that a book that I'd put on hold had come in. I'd put the book on hold not so much that I wanted to read it, but because it had 1000+ holds on it, and I wanted to see how long I'd have to wait to get it (only two months - they must have tonnes of copies). Now I have no book, just a fine.

Now, I didn't really care about the forgotten message thing. The only thing I've gotten mad at a roommate about was leaving something of mine on the balcony during a rainstorm; but even that was probably due to the fact that I was in teachers' college and grumpy about everything since I hated the coursework. But I did a bad thing too now and we're even for the whole message thing.

After stumbling in quite late after a few too many vodkas and sprites, I fell asleep really quickly and did not realize that my alarm clock was still set for 6:30 am from the week. Well, I got up at about 11:30 am and go get a drink since I was a bit dehydrated (quelle suprise). As I'm drinking my glass of water my alarm starts to go off which puzzled me. I go and check my clock and see that it was set to 6:30 am and that would mean it had most likely been going off every 9 minutes for the past five hours, totally unbeknownest to me. Apparently, I must have been hitting the snooze button, but again, totally unaware of it.

I wander into the living room, where my roommate and her fiance were having breakfast. After commenting that it smelled good (I thought it smelled like banana bread, but it was actually western omellette, but I really wished someone would make banana bread for me in my hungover state), I was told all about my alarm clock. It went off at 6:30 am, went off for 15 minutes straight, after which point it stopped. They had thought at first, perhaps I didn't come home last night, but checked to see that the light was turned off in the entry way which would have meant that I had returned home. They figured that I was probably in a very deep sleep and perhaps it wouldn't be wise to wake me up since I might get confused or panicked. Quite thoughtful. I would have been banging on my door yelling "turn off your freaking clock!!" Apparently, they were able to fall back asleep and ignore the clock going off every nine minutes for the rest of the morning. And that's why I love my roommate, even though she forgets to tell me about my library messages. :)

*I love the Toronto Star's Sunday columne My Name Is URL. This week's column has a lot of good stuff in it (hipster karaoke and "She's Condilicious" among others), but this is my favourite. Watch it if you're an Office fan.

Allright, I'm off. I hear a latte calling my name.

Your science is breaking my heart.

Thursday nights with no new Office episodes really suck. Boo NBC! Boo!

Tomorrow is my blog's second birthday. Oh no - it's entering the terrible twos. Run! Anyhow, since the party I thought that I was going to on Saturday night is actually on Friday night (thank goodness I ran into the host today at work; I would have showed up at her place on Saturday looking like a fool), I doubt I'll get around to posting tomorrow, so this is the blogoversary post.

Before I started this post, I went back and read my first month of posting. One of the many things I love about blogging is the fact that I actually have kept a journal for two years of my life. In the past, I'd journal for one, maybe two, months of my life and then stop for a couple years. It's fun reading the little snippets I have going back to when I was much younger, but I love that I have a full two years of life on record. I wish I had that kind of record of other times of my life, especially my university years and my crazy year of teaching in Northern Ontario, but having the past two years is pretty great.

What I noticed from my March 2005 posts is that at that time I was:

• digging the CD "Back to Me" by Kathleen Edwards
• really looking forward to my summer 2005 Australia trip
• watching the very first episode of the American Office.
• figuring out how to add links and pictures to my blog
• excited to get Weezer tickets and then whining about the fact they sold out very fast and I lost out
• looking forward to a Weakerthans concert (which was the last time I saw them!!! Sob!!! Oh the pain of it all. )

The thing that strikes me is that my life isn't much different from then. I'm living in the same place, working at the same school (although I'm permanent now - yay!), and more or less into the same stuff. However, I feel like the phase of my life that started a few months before I started blogging will be ending this summer when I move to a new apartment somewhere. I will be living on my own for the first time in my life, and I'm nervous in some ways and excited in others. It will be nice to have a place that's all my own, and have everything thing in it be a reflection of me. Also, I'm going to get a cat, and I've missed having a pet (my roommate's allergic to furry things). But, I'm really going to miss this apartment and my roommate and my time here. And... I do NOT look forward to packing and moving the stuff. Yuck.

Anyhow, it's been a great two years and it will be interesting to see what I say next blogoversary and where my life will be.

Oh, and the other part of blogging I've enjoyed is keeping up with all the other people that I've come to know through blogging. :)

ps My post title comes from the song "Science" on David Usher's great new CD "Strange Birds".

I've grown accustomed to rose-coloured glasses.

Alright, I've been in a majorly random mood today, so here goes a super-rambling random post.

1) The song "Tears Dry on Their Own" by Amy Winehouse is groove-tastic.

2) I've rediscovered an artist that just the other day I wondered "what ever happened to". Waaaaaay back in 2001 (good God I'm old), I went to see my dear Hawksley play in London Ontario and his opener was Martina Sorbara. My friends and I all really liked her, and I caught her at the Rivoli in Toronto a couple of times after that and picked up her CD "The Cure for Bad Deeds". I hadn't heard anything about her in a long long time and yesterday I ended up reading an article about her new band Dragonette. I'd actually come across their name in a celebrity gossip band of all things because apparently they're the next big thing in Britain. I love their song "I Get Around". It's not normally the kind of thing I'd go for, but it's really fun. I think it's cool that an artist I used to watch in tiny Toronto bars may be the next big thing (although very different from what I used to love - but still fantastic).

3) Today I realized that I'm getting very old because it is 2007 and I graduated from university (the first time) in June 2002, which is almost 5 years ago and 5 years is a long time.

4) Oh yeah, March Break is over: boo. I've returned to slightly calmer kids and a well-rested me. And a pile of work, so you might not see me much in blogland for the next few days.

5) I finished my March Break project of reading a 1177 page historical fiction trilogy on Josephine Bonaparte. It was really good. Does anyone else end up with a bittersweet feeling after you've finished a really good book and you end up missing the characters?

6) Last night, I attended a book club meeting. The selection was a graphic -i.e. comic book style- memoir called Persepolis. I highly recommend it. Anyhow, my friend ended up showing me a book about birth order and it was pretty interesting and explains a lot about my issues with perfectionism since I'm a "Lonely Only". Anyhow, I think I'm going to look for it next time I'm in the library because it was pretty entertaining.

7) I thought of more random things to say today while I was running around on some annoying errands and now I forget what those were. I hate that.

Boo-urns!

I was expecting a brand-spanking-new episode of The Office tonight (that's what they advertised after last week's episode, right? Or am I going senile??) and what do I get? Two back-to-back "newpeats"... Two old episodes, with about 45 seconds of deleted scenes thrown in.

Ides of March indeed. Stabbed in the back by my favourite show.

And our families can't agree; I'm your brother's sworn enemy.

Well, mission cheap-kids'-movie was aborted today. I set on my merry way driving from St. Ratford to Kitchener down ol' highway 7/8 and realized that I could barely see 2 metres in front of me due to the incredibly thick fog. Realizing that it probably wasn't the best idea to risk life in limb to see a $2 movie, I decided to turn around, but actually had to drive to the nearest town (named Shakespeare, I kid you not) in order to turn around because I could not see across the road to safely turn into a driveway.

After making a safe return home, I spent the afternoon napping, and playing cribbage with my dad. He won 2 games out of 3, the fiend!

I had dinner with some friends tonight, hung out, chatted, watched part of a movie and made a late night trip to Shoppers' for nail polish and such. Good times.

I went for another of my late night walks and ended up passing by the St. Ratford jail, which has a sign reading "Perth County Gaol" which makes me happy because I find gaol a pleasing alternative.

On tap for tomorrow: ONE HOUR episode of the Office baby!!!!

Oh on that note, I drove by a road crew today, and one of the workers looked so much like Roy, I kid you not. I decided against looking like a crazy woman and screaming "You'd better not harm a head on Jim Halpert's head!!" out the window.

A brief American Office vs. British Office comparion: Roy is not detestable like Lee, his British counterpart. Even with his breakdown on last episode, I can't really hate him. He just seems rather simple, and not adorably cute and witty like Jim, whom we all love. Poor Roy. He's not bad - he's just not Jim.

You're supposed to have the answer, you're supposed to have living proof.

Why does time go so much faster when you're on vacation?

I've been laying low for my first couple of days in St. Ratford. Just hanging out with my family and doing a lot of reading. I'm almost halfway through my massive trilogy on Josephine Bonaparte. Between this book and my Marie Antoinette phase of late 2006, I've learned more about the French Revolution than I ever thought I would.

I've spent a bit of time going for long walks too. This warm weather is great for it, except for the massive puddles that I end up stepping in since I'm too busy daydreaming and listening to music to watch for them.

I've also been holding my breath when driving or walking across train tracks. It makes me nervous.

I downloaded a new Feist song that I came across on iTunes - "My Moon My Man". It's pretty good. I also bought the Amy Winehouse CD "Back In Black" today since I like the song Rehab and the thing was only $9.99.

Tomorrow I'm driving to Kitchener to catch a $2 kids' movie matinee with a friend, then having dinner with some friends here. I guess I'll be ending my anti-social couple of days, which is good. I get way too emo-y if I spend too much time alone.

Long Afternoon

Last night, I attended a friend's bday party, chatted and visited with people, had a couple drinks and played a murder mystery game.

This morning I woke up a bit earlier than I like to on March Break so that I could catch the morning train home to visit the parents.

Outside of Guelph, I was somewhere in between a state of sleep and wakefulness and staring out the window into the sunny, snow-covered countryside.

I was startled out of my reverie by the passengers ahead of me shouting "Oh my God. Did you see that?" and standing up in their seats, and turning their bodies so they could get a better view of what we were passing by. I shifted my gaze onto the crossroad that the train had just passed over and saw a mid-sized silver car, crumpled at one end, spinning into the ditch.

The train kept running for what seemed like an eternity. I thought that we had just witnessed an accident on the road that we had just passed, for I didn't feel a thing. The passengers ahead of me were saying "We just hit that car." Another passenger, a girl in her late teens, said "What? We just hit a cat?" and then learned that it was actually a car that was hit, and not a cat, although hittting a cat would almost make more sense since we did not feel a thing. Surely something as substantial as a car, carrying human lives, would have been noticeable.

The train finally came to a stop. After a bit of confusion, the conductor came over the PA and announced that we had hit a car and would likely be stopped for 2 hours.

After about 2 hours, passengers going on to Kitchener were taken to the train station by taxi. At some point, people from other cars walked onto my car and explained that they had heard that the car was trying to beat the train, it got nicked at the end, one passenger died and two others were taken to the hopsital. And, oh yes, hold onto your receipt because you'd get a discount next trip.

After about 3 hours, the conductor explained the OPP got permission to back the train up to the road so that we would not have to trudge through snowy countryside. Buses were on scene for passengers on their way to London and Sarnia; taxis were there for Stratford-bound passengers.

After piling into a taxi with some strangers, the driver explained that he'd already heard a lot of details about what had happened from the passengers he'd driven to Kitchener, and they were not pretty so he wouldn't be repeating them. There was a bit of silence, then some of the other passengers started talking again. I remember one woman saying at one point "We've been inconvenienced for a few hours, but in that same time some lives have been changed."

I thought about even though the three hours that I was delayed were insignificant to me, shorter amounts of time can be extremely significant. We had been delayed for about 2 minutes in Toronto because of track maintenance. I wondered about how if we hadn't been held back that two minutes, we would not have crossed paths with that mid-sized silver car that brilliantly reflected the sun's rays as it spun out of control.

(Read here for a report of the accident.)

Spring forward, fall back down.

Got my Ben Folds tickets! Woo-hoo!

And.... it's March Break!!!

That is all.

I might just get up and dance or buy some acid-wash pants...

I checked my email at lunch today, and look at what was there!!!!!!!

I was actually alone in science office, which was a good thing, because I got really really really excited and then accidentally hit my foot on the table and then swore. Rather embarrassing actually...

Anyhow, tickets are onsale tomorrow, and they actually do go on sale when I am on my prep period (5 mins before I have to go teach), so I will so be getting them ASAP. Ya gotta hate ticketmaster for their "convenience" charges (yeah, it's convenient for them to charge me $10 per ticket, sure) but I did enjoy their informative email today. Oh, yeah, not an attractive picture of Ben, but whatever.

As I've been grumbling, I have NOT been to a concert yet in 2007, and if I don't get to one before this one, seeing Ben Folds is quite a way to kick off a good season of concert going. Ben is one of my favourite musicians of all time and he doesn't play Toronto very often. In fact, he played here 4 times since I started university, and I've made a point of seeing him each of those times. Ahhh... number 5 will be fabulous I'm sure. If you ever get the chance to see him live, go, go, go! I think he is one of the most underrated musicians around and does not get nearly enough acclaim.

In other news, I had a colleague comment that she heard from other people that I was funny at the party I went to on Saturday night. Uh-oh. Well, good thing I've always been comfortable with the fact that I *am* an amusing drunk and I rarely do embarrass myself. (Quiet some of you. I hear snickers.) And, I did fork over the $120 today for the dragonboat racing team that I pledged to join as well as followed up on my offer to paint sets for the play.

Finally, in the most important news of all, 1 more school day 'til March Break. I've planned quizzes for a couple of my classes. I gotta keep them from tearing down the walls, and nothing's better for that than a quiz. Although I tell them "it's better than me giving you lots of homework during March Break" and there's no arguing with that.

Happy Friday to you all!

I've made it my dear face it.

I think the bloody cold is on its way out! Woo-hoo!

While on my subway ride home tonight, I finished reading Vincent Lam's "Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures" which won the Giller Prize this year. (Some other woman on the same car was reading it too. Kind of weird to be reading the same book as someone on the train.) The book was pretty interesting overall. I have to say that I liked his style of writing, but it made me glad to not be a doctor. The book is a series of short stories about some doctors, set in Toronto, but none of them seem to enjoy their profession very much. The author is a doctor, and it makes me wonder if he cares for his profession. I hope not all doctors are that unhappy.

I've started my March Break reading project. It's a trilogy of historical novels about Josephine Bonapart all together in one volume. The thing is huge: 1155 pages in total. I started it this evening and it's pretty good so far. The only problem is that its not very portable, so I think I'm going to have to carry a bigger bag as long as I'm reading this thing. However, it could make for a good weapon if someone tries to accost me on the street.

Today the song Lost Cause by Beck came up on my iPod. I love that song. Does anyone have the album Sea Change? I think I might like it. Feedback please!

Nothing unusual, nothing's changed...

I totally jinxed myself. On Friday night, I bragged to my roommate: "I haven't been sick at all this school year. Nothing. Not even a cold or a scratchy throat since September."

I should have kept my bloody mouth shut.

On Saturday, I woke up and the left side of my throat was scratchy. Of course, I didn't help matters with my truly heroic intake of alcohol on Saturday night. I've heard that it weakens the immune system. Anyhow, I woke up on Sunday morning somehow not all that much hungover, but very stuffed up. And stuffed up I've been for the past couple of days.

Anyhow, I think I'm going to have a warm bath, curl up with a book and go to bed early. More excitement later I hope.

ps 3 more school days 'til March Break!

Update: This makes me feel better:

Rely a bit too heavily on alcohol and irony...

Tonight I consumed:

2 pints of beer
2 shots of tequila
1 Sicillian Kiss shot
1 Bazooka Joe shot
2 Amaretto & Cranberry juice
Celery and Carrots
1 Mozzarella Stick
1 piece Vanilla Birthday Cake
1 glass Port (I walk into apartment after above debauchery and announce details of debauchery. Roommate and friend are drinking port. Before I know it, I have a glass of port in front of me. I love my roommate.)

Tonight I volunteered to:

1) Join a dragonboat racing team
2) Help paint sets for the school play
3) Take part in staff karaoke night

Tonight I pledged to:

Throw myself a kickass 30th birthday party in 2 years and 347 days from now. You're all invited. I will throw it in some sort of pub that has a floor I can take over. In Toronto, of course. I expect no excuses from my dear friends from high school for not attending. You've been warned. Blog buddies are welcome. Past roommates will be there, as will colleagues and friends from university. Oh, and maybe dragonboat racing friends too.

There are some grapes on my desk near my computer. They are quite tasty.

Last year's wishes are this year's apologies.

Things that made me happy today (as opposed to very annoyed which was yesterday's mood du jour):

1) A latte purchased with a gift card.

2) Books. Not one specifically, but I really do enjoy books as objects. They give me warm fuzzy feelings.

3) Going for an evening walk and finding out that it's not cold outside.

4) No snow on the sidewalks. I figured out today that I am not opposed to snow. As long as it is contained to areas that I do not have to walk on.

5) The song "I'm like a lawyer with the way I'm always trying to get you off" by Fall Out Boy. Bad titles and teeny bopper status aside, the damned thing is catchy. (Please don't mock me for liking it. It's a guilty pleasure, okay? Hee-hee. That's what I say about all the bad music that I listen too. I'm actually finding it rather unnerving that my list of guilty pleasures is growing quite quickly.)

6) A friend calling me just to let me know that John K Samson of the Weakerthans was on CBC Radio for Canada reads. Which lead me to talk on the phone instead of actually listening to the show...

7) The fact that there are 8 more school days until March Break.

Go, or go ahead, and surprise me.

Despite having to wake up at 6:30 am to buy my dad bday breakfast (it's his bday today - he shares it with George Harrison), and catch an early train, I've had quite the relaxing weekend. It was nice taking the train in the daylight; light does make scenery much more interesting that's for sure.

Now, to the important matters at hand: it's Oscar night! That's right, this is my superbowl! I love it. It's total escapism, and we all need to escape from time to time. And it's a perfect night to watch an awards show from sunny LA; the weather here is super raunch and perfect for hunkering down with the TV.

I'm hoping to score another win in my Oscar pool this year, or place at the very least. Last year I tanked. I'm not sure how I'll fare being that I haven't seen most of the movies yet, but I used the Golden Globes, and my gut, as my predictors. Below is a list of some of my predictions, with who I'd actually like to win in brackets, or parentheses, if you prefer.

Best Picture - Babel (I'd like Little Miss Sunshine to win since, well, it's the only best pic nom that I've seen.)

Best Actor - Forest Whitaker (I'd like Ryan Gosling to win since he's Canadian. And not only Canadian, from London ON which is very close to where I grew up.)

Best Actress- Helen Mirren (Although, I thought Meryl Streep was great. Howevs, it's time for Kate Winslet to win something...)

Best Supporting Actor - Eddie Murphy (I think I may have gone wrong in my prediction, I think there's now buzz over Alan Arkin, who would incidentally get my vote.)

Best Supporting Actress - Jennifer Hudson (I'd like her to win too. Firstly becasue she was really good, and secondly because I think that it's kind of a nyah nyah to American Idol that a cast-off who was put off by Simon has triumphed over any of their manufactured acts.)

Best Director- Martin Scorsese (He'd get my vote too because it's bloody well time to give the man a statuette.)

Best Documentary- An Inconvenient Truth (I'm totally cheering for Gore! Forget the presidency! An Oscar is 1 000 times better than that! Take that Republicans!)

Best Original Song- Listen from Dreamgirls (I just put in this category because I think it's TRAGIC that Ben Folds was not nominated for his songs from Over the Hedge! Boo! Boo! Boo! Talk about unappreciated genius is all I say. But... of the songs nominated, I'd like Melissa Etheridge to win.)

I'll include a post-show update to let you know how I did.

Post-Show Update - I got 12/24 correct for the entire show, including 5/7 of the awards I posted here. I wonder how I'll stack up according to the rest of my Oscar pool. Overall, I thought the show was OK. I liked the Dreamgirls number, the bit with Will Ferrell, Jack Black and John C. Reilly, the interpretive dancers, and I thought Ellen did a pretty good job. And, there were a few surprises so I was happy.

Sometimes I think this cycle never ends.

Do you ever feel that the pace of life is sometimes way too fast? Today as I was walking to the subway after going out for drinks with some colleagues, I was overcome by how fast everything moves and how, well, sometimes I wish the world would stop turning for a bit so I could catch my breath.

The weeks just keep on clicking by at a breakneck pace. How is it already the end of another week? How is it almost the end of another month? How did I get to be 27 already? Was I actually present when all this time rushed by?

I'm coming upon another weekend where I rush home after work, pack my bags, and run to Union station so that I have a little bit of time to grab some dinner before I board my train. I spend my weekend running around completing errands, catching up with friends and trying to maybe sleep in a little bit. Then before I know it, I've got another train to catch, and I'm rushing to get back home so I can get to sleep at a half decent time so that I can wake up early to run to school to get ready for another week.

I remember when I was a kid, and weekends seemed endless, and time went by much more slowly. Could I sign up for that plan again?

In other news, I am actually catching an earlier train back to Toronto this weekend so that I'll be home in time to watch the Oscars. The Oscars are my Superbowl, World Series, and Stanley Cup all in one. I suck this year since I haven't really had time to do my annual try-to-see-as-many-nomiated-pics-a-thon, but it's fun no less. I've gotta fill out my ballot for my work's Oscar pool and hope that I can pull I win just like I did in 2005 (Thank you Clint Eastwood for Million Dollar Baby).

In movies-that-I-have-seen news, I went to see Music & Lyrics last night. I liked it. I laughed. I have the Hugh Grant Pop song in my head now. It's the cinematic equivalent of orange pop, so if you want something sweet and bubbly, go for it.

Anyhow, I should be off to bed, so that I can finish another week.

All I know is I gotta be where my heart says I oughta be.

I am always quite relieved when Monday is over. Once I survive Monday, the rest of the week is a breeze.

Anyhow, I had quite an enjoyable weekend in St. Ratford. I had enough time to hang out with my parents, catch up on a bit of sleep and have an enjoyable evening of drinks with my friends from home. There was a lot of laughter; I laughed harder than I have in a long time when my pal Sandee described how she was kidnapped, tied up, and had small pumpkins fall on her head for her seventeenth birthday.

My dad hasn't started driving yet since his surgery. He figures he'll get used to driving with his "new" foot once the roads are better. This means that I've been taking cabs to and from the train station in St. Ratford, which means I've had far too many converstations like the following:

Cab Driver: "So, where are you coming from/going to?"
Me: "Toronto."
Cab Driver: "Oh... so were/are you visiting the big city or do you live there?"
Me: "I grew up here but now I live and work in Toronto."
Cab Driver: "Whoa... That city is crazy. Once I visited someone there and I looked out their window and their were cop cars everywhere and then was bad traffic on the way home and the parking was so expensive and people on the street are rude/smell funny/look funny/talk funny and everything is so expensive there. Why I know someone who has a condo there that is the size of my living room and cost half a million dollars and they don't even have a parking spot. But you need a car there since the subway is dangerous since all of the teenagers are gang members and you must see crime every day. What the heck are you doing living there?"
Me (after trying not to fall asleep during previous rant): "I enjoy the vibrance and excitement of city life."
Cab Driver: "Well, to each his own, I suppose... So what do you do for a living there?"
Me (anticipating reaction): "I teach high school."
Cab Driver: "What??? High School? In Toronto? That's crazy. Those kids must be so tough."
Me (thankful that the town is small, and I've arrived at my destination): "They're great... Oh gee, here we are. Gotta run. "

Confession: I used to be a small town girl afraid to death of the big city. I had a lot of the misconceptions about Toronto that the average non-Torontonian has. Deep down, I was fascinated by the fast-pace, rather glamourous appeal of big city living. I had many dreams that centred around me living in Toronto, but I never figured that I could actually do it. When looking at universities, U of T seemed to be the best fit for me academically, but I never dreamed that I'd make the leap to go there. I figured that I'd go to school in a nice little city like London or Waterloo. Well, thank heavens the scholarship gods at U of T made me an offer that I couldn't refuse and I chose U of T despite my small-town fears of the city.

My mom likes to tell the story about how when my 'rents were driving me to residence and we got there a bit early, so we drove around downtown for a bit and I started to more or less freak out in the back seat. Then I remember my first time walking downtown all by myself, surrounded by huge buildings and thinking that it was unbelievably cool that this was now home. Now I think it's so cool that I look out my bedroom window and see this:



Anyhow, I'm so thankful that I fell in love with this city and that it is now my home. Sure, I pay a lot in rent, and maybe I'll eventually tire of the pace of the so-called rat-race, but I love the fact that I live in the place that I would choose to above any other place in the world. Well, okay, London England would be cool too, but I don't know anyone there, so Toronto wins.

I remember you in Polaroid.

Okay, does my blog look totally plain now? Does my template not work anymore? All I see is blah whiteness and no more pink and black. Well, if it's broken, I'll have to fix it next week. I'll be on dial-up for the weekend since I'm at my parents' house. Boo. Dial-up. Don't laugh.

Firstly, I sparked nerd warz on Jono's Vision because I suggested that AlieMalie write haiku poetry next time she was looking for post material. I love it.

Anyhow, I'll point out that I was all over haiku poetry before any of this happened.

So, I had a fabulous birthday. It made me think about how blessed and lucky I am to have so many people, such as friends, family, colleauges, students, and blog buddies, sending me their wishes. Thanks to everyone.

Okay, I'm off to catch the train to St. Ratford to participate in some more celebration over the weekend. Hope you all have fabulous weekends too!

Woo-hoo when I feel heavy metal, woo-hoo and I'm pins and I'm needles...

I went through the archives to review what I was doing at this time last year. I read my post from last V-Day and I commented how my first period class was quite amused by using chemistry to blow up balloons.

Guess what I did today? (Except it was my period 2 class...)

Yeesh.

Anyhow, I've already gotten some really cool early bday presents. Including the postponement of a staff meeting we were supposed to have. Yee-ha!

Typically, I like to go out with a bunch of my TO friends on my bday evening. This year, however, I decided I just wanted to stay in with my roommate and my pal Becca T, order take out, drink wine, and enjoy the wonders of Thursday night TV. Simple is good.

On Friday, I'm making the trip to St. Ratford. I'll be hanging out with that set of friends on Saturday night, and I intend to indulge with a few beverages.

For VDay night, Becca T and I went out for a pint of Strongbow and discussed important issues such as music, iPods, how she should start blogging, and what the title of her blog should be.

As we parted, she said to me "Hope you have a nice walk home. Enjoy what's left of your youth."

Have happy weekends! I might not get to post... unless it's a drunk post-Office post. Hmmm, that could be interesting reading, eh?

Does anybody know how the story really goes? Or should we all just hum along?

I have a few topics of discussion for today.

1) Valentine's Day: is tomorrow. Meh. Like I did last year, I'll just listen to the song Waltz (Better than Fine) by Fiona Apple and reflect on the line "If you don't have a date, celebrate."

It's also my last day of being in my late-mid twenties.

2) The latest in ringtones: Apparently they've developed a ringtone that people over thirty aren't supposed to be able to hear. Today in one of my classes, I hear a high pitched buzz. I look around, probably with an annoyed look on my face since high pitched buzzes are never a good sign.

Kid: "Miss, can you hear that?"
Me: "Yes. What is that? It's annoying!"
Kid: "Are you over thirty?"
Hmmm... the classic do I admit to my youth quandry. I decide that I will, since they really should be aware that I am young and I am cool.
Kid: "It's a ringtone that people over thirty aren't supposed to be able to hear."
Me: "Huh. Well, I can hear it so make it stop."

Inside, I was actually pleased that my hearing is not damaged as much as much as I fear. I'm paranoid that frequent headphone use, loud concerts and loud teenagers has done a number on my auditory capabilities. I was telling older colleagues about it, and they have been appraised of the people-over-thirty-can't-hear-it ringtone by their students, and they actually cannot hear it.

Also, it kills me that the kids at my school can't keep quiet about a potential teacher-fooling device. They just have to test it on us.

3) Cover Songs - My music moods change so quickly. Yesterday it was all about those tens songs I blogged about. Today, I've been into Emm Gryner. She's fantabulous by the way. Anyhow, a couple of years ago she put out an album called "Girl Versions" where she does a bunch of covers. I downloaded a few today: STP's Big Bang Baby, Def Leppard's Pour Some Sugar On Me, DCFC's For What Reason (cough cough Wes), and Blur's Song 2. They're all super fun.

I have to say I enjoy a good cover song. My definition of a good cover is a song that I'm familiar with (I don't necessarily have to be a fan of it) done by an artist I enjoy. I especially love it when it's the double whammy: a song I already loved done by a different artist I enjoy. The combo of song that I'm unfamiliar with by artist I love works too. I find covers enjoyable because sometimes I feel that I learn something new about a song when some else sings it. Or, someone else puts an interesting spin on it. Anyhow, here are some of my other fave covers:

- Smells like Teen Spirit - Tori Amos
- Fast Car - David Usher
- Rattlesnakes - Tori Amos (she actually does lots of awesome covers, so I'll quit with the Tori)
- Landslide - The Dixie Chicks
- In Between Days - Ben Folds
- Hallelujah - Rufus Wainwright
- Will He Be Waiting for Me? - Sarah Harmer
- Handle with Care - Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins

I'm sure there are more that I can't think of at the moment. I'm also all over it when an artist sings a really cheesy song live. R Kelly's Ignition has a place in my heart because I once saw Joel Plaskett sing it.

What are your favourite covers?

Okay, I'm off to have supper. And a glass of red wine 'cuz it's good for my heart. ;)

ps Happy Valentine's Day to all of you!

Lost in the music, in the music...

Music that is making me happy right now:

1) The Music - David Usher: Oh the superior Usher had done it again. A great song.

2) We R in Need of A Musical Revolution - Esthero: "I'm so sick and tired of the shit on the radio. On MTV they only play the same video. No matter where I go I see Ashanti in the video. I want something more." I love this song. It's lain dormant for awhile on my iPod but it's been speaking to me a lot lately.

3) Grace Kelly - Mika: I really like this song. I can't sing the falsetto parts though.

4) You Wouln't Like Me - Tegan & Sara: Actually, the whole album, So Jealous, is pretty catchy.

5) A Million Dollars - The Joel Plaskett Emergency: I <3 Joel.

6) Blacking Out The Friction/Brand New Love - Death Cab for Cutie: This is a live version from "The John Byrd EP". Love it. Such a great wintery song.

7) Dog and Thunder - Weeping Tile: I was unaware of Weeping Tile when they were a band. I just know that they are Sarah Harmer's old band. This song is great. It's one of those songs that makes you feel rather wistful and melancholy. But in a good way, if you know what I mean.

8) Decatur, Or A Round Of Applause For Your Stepmother! - Sufjan Stevens: I got the Illinois CD for Christmas and this is my favourite song from said CD>

9) Sleeps with Butterflies - Tori Amos: This is a beautiful song. I can't wait for her new CD to come out this year.

10) The Needle Has Landed - Neko Case: My favourite song from my favourite CD of last year.

When I wake up in my makeup...

If you looked in my clothes closet, you would notice that there are very few skirts or dresses. If you looked in the hall closet at my shoe rack, you'd notice that there are mostly funky running type shoes, wedges and platform-y type shoes. There isn't much in the way of high heels. If you dug around my jewelry, you'd notice that most pieces are chunky and funky, not delicate and pretty.

If you looked around my room, you could not find an issue of Glamour, In Style, Elle, Cosmo, or any of that sort of women's magazine. You'd see some music magazines (I subscribe to Chart) and the odd celebrity-smut magazine (evidence of a cheap remedy for a bad day). If you were to look at my bookshelf you'd see a few chick lit books (The Devil Wears Prada, The Undomestic Goddess, Angry Housewives Eating Bonbons) but they're far outnumbered by contemporary fiction and an assortment of non-fiction from literary travel to memoirs to comedy to science.

If you poked around the living room, you'd notice that there's a Playstation (okay, it hasn't been used for video games since I started working... damned job). My DVD collection primarly consists of seasons of the Simpsons, comedies, and Tim Burton movies. Sure, there are a few romantic comedies - but they all star a former SNLer and Drew Barrymore.

Anyhow, from the evidence presented to you, you'd probably safely come to the conclusion that I am not much of a girlie girl, right?

Well, you haven't checked out the clutter counter and shelves in my bathroom.

Look around there and you'll find enough beauty products to last a normal person a decade.

I have shocked many a friend, including ones who have known me for years, with my affinity for all things cosmetic. As I said, I do not act like a girlie girl in any aspect of my life except for the purchasing of beauty products. Lip glosses, eyeshadows, lotions, perfumes, and shower gels are my favourite poisons. Why I need another body butter when I know I have probably 4 others at home is beyond me. Yes, I am well aware that I have 5 other sparkly pink eyeshadows, but this one has a gold tone to it and it's on sale. I don't really need new makeup, but if I spend $28 at Clinique, I get a bonus bag of goodies. How could I pass that up?

I started a tradition once I moved from the realm of student to working person with a bit of disposable income. Every year around my birthday, I go to the Eaton Centre and go on a beauty spree. I had to do that this weekend, before my birthday, since I'm going to St. Ratford next weekend and they don't have my favourite stores. Although, the Shopper's Drugmart there has been renovated and has a great cosmetics section. Did I mention that I have the freakin' Shopper's Visa so I can get extra Optimum points wherever I shop? I've gotten a lot of free shite outta that sucker.

So today's activities included a fun stop at Lush (my bath store), the Body Shop (I have the card where I get $10 of free stuff for my birthday there), Sephora (somehow I managed not to buy anything there), and the makeup counters at the Bay.

Okay, I'm off to have a yummy bath and then try out my new body butter, exfoliating scrub and mosturizer. And I'll finish off the crappy chick lit book that I am reading just to end my girlie girl day off on a particularly girlie girl note.

Got more faults than the state of California and the heart is a badly built bridge.

Today is cleaning/errands/laundry day so naturally I slept in and now I'm in the process fo procratinating. I stole this quiz from the blog of Wes.

YOU CAN'T LIE IN THIS QUIZ.BE 100% TRUTHFUL ABOUT EVERY QUESTION.
LAST PERSON.

1. You hung out with? My roommate.
2. You texted?I honestly can't remember. I don't text much.
3. You were in a car with? A colleague who gave me a ride home from school.
4. Went to the movies with?My roommate and Becca T
5. Went to the mall with?Maybe my friend Mel? I really can't remember becauseI normally go to the mall by myself. Tomorrow I am going to the mal with my friends Becca T and Flora.
6. You talked on the phone to?My roommate's mom.
7. Made you laugh? My dad.

WOULD YOU RATHER...?
1. Pierce your nose or tongue? Nose
2. Be serious or be funny? Funny. I avoid seriousness as much as possible.
3. Drink whole or skimmed milk? Skim for sure. Whole is yucky.
4. Die in a fire or get shot? Shooting is much faster, right?
5. Have sex with one person very well or four people at the same time poorly? I'd take quality over quantity for sure.

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY...
1. Sun or moon? Moon since I'm a night owl.
2. Winter or Fall? Fall is my fave out of all the seasons.
3. Left or right? If we're talking politcally, I'm such a lefty. I like to say that only turkeys have right wings. ;)
4. Sunny or rainy? Rain has a certain je ne sais quoi to it. I like it in small doses if it's a warm rain.
6. Where do you live? Toronto, Ontario.
7. How many kids do you want? I do not know the definitive answer to that questions. Somedays I lean on zero, but then other days I'll see a cute well-behaved child and I think "I wouldn't mind one of those." Probably if I did have kids, I'd have two, because I wouldn't want to make someone an only child since I'm not a fan of being one.
8. Do you want to get married?If I can find the right person, for sure. But... I am not settling for a jerk just for the sake of it.
9. Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it? Twirl it. I've never cut it in my life.
10. Have you ever eaten S.P.A.M? Never
12. How many kinds of cereal are in your cabinet? Currently two that are mine.
13. Do you cook? I try to avoid that activity as much as possible. I have a card posted on my fridge that says "All pots are no-stick if you no-cook in them."
14. Current mood? As one of my students likes to say a lot "I'm having a lazy day today."

IN THE LAST 48 HOURS HAVE YOU...
1. Kissed someone? No :(
2. Sang? Yeah, but not so that any poor soul would hear.
3. Been hugged? No :(
4. Missed someone? Yes
5. Danced Crazy? Yes. But not too crazy.
6. Cried? No.
7. Lied? I don't think so.
8. Loved someone you can't have? No.

All right that's done. Now I'm going to find other things to do to put off chores. Have a good weekend!

No matter which way you go, no mater which way you stay, you're out of my mind.

Global Warming Gripe #1 - Newspapers that have headlines such as "More like Global Cooling!" to accompany stories on cold snaps. That joke is so 1994. Global warming refers to the trend in global average surface temperature, not the temperature in Southern Ontario on a given day. Hence the word global, you eejits. Yeesh.

Global Warming Gripe #2 - Companies that use an environmental crisis to sell skank-ass clothes. On my way home from Union Station Sunday night, the subway station was all decked out in a Diesel advertising campaign. Picture many models dressed in barely anything with the slogan "Global Warming Ready". Boo. Boo. Boo. I miss my grade 11 science and society class from last semester, because they would have gotten all worked up over the ads for the grossness of the content and the unhealthy body image being portrayed.

I could continue with more global warming gripes aimed at George W Bush and Stephen W Harper, but I'll save that for another time. Actually, John Stewart did a good job taking on GWB last night on the Daily Show, as did Colbert. Bless them. Funny as hell and poignant.

I have another gripe. On Feb 18th, Jack's Mannequin, who I listen to a lot, are playing here in Toronto. As soon as I read this last month, I thought that would be an ab fab bday present from me to me. Anyhow, I went looking for tickets and it said that there weren't any available, but I scanned the side bar and it said that tickets went on sale on 02/12 which I took to mean Feb. 12th. Kind of close to the date but, whatever, thought I. Well, upon second look, it turns out that tickets went on sale December 12th, and are apparently sold out. Boo. Boo. Boo. I don't understand how that could be, because they are playing at a fairly large venue, and I don't think that Jack's Mannequin is very popular at all in Canada. Anyhow, that throws a nasty wrench in my plans to kickstart my concert-going in 2007. Boo.

Okay, maybe I'll go listen to some Jack's Mannequin now to ease the pain. Also, I have some early birthday money that I'll go blow with online shopping now. I plan to buy a season of 3rd Rock from the Sun (I loved that show back in the day) and the new Decemberists' CD. Ahhh... shopping... definitely eases the pain.

I wish we could open our eyes to see in all directions at the same time.

My weekend was cold, super windy, dreary, and uneventful. Blah. I didn't really do much except watch the Office with my Dad, play cribbage with my Dad and read a pretty crappy book (Everyone Worth Knowing by Lauren Weisberger). My dad's pretty funny - he makes fun of the Office when I watch it with him (comments like "This is what passes for comedy these days?" and "This what you find funny?") but then when I don't have the DVDs at home with me he asks me why I didn't bring it home. Yup, when my dad likes something he tends to insult it.

Today was the start of a new semester. I'm not a fan of change. Right now I miss my old classes, but I'm sure in a couple of weeks, I'll have grown to enjoy the current crop. At then beginning, I have to be a little bit strict and un-jokey, and well, I miss the jokiness. Oh well, once I teach the grade 9s some chemistry, I can start torturing them with bad chemistry jokes.

Well, I really don't have much else to say. Gosh, I'm never this quiet. See what happens when I have to deal with a slight bit of change? How am I going to handle having to move this summer?

All I know is I gotta be where my heart says I oughta be...

Okay, first of all, let me say that I was very excited to hear that there is finally a release date for the seventh Harry Potter book. Don't expect much posting in these parts on July 21st. Yes, I am a huge nerd who will pre-order her book so that I can pick it up at midnight. Yes, I will probably read the whole thing straight through, forsaking some sleep. Yes, I am thankful that it is coming out during summer vacay, so I don't have to worry about being in any condition to show up for work.

(Note: if you have not read the Harry Potter books, honestly, you should. They're great! I never expected that I would like them as much as I do when I picked up the first one.)

Okay, in other news, The Office was super funny tonight. Thank goodness it was new this week. Last week totally sucked due to the lack on new episode. (Note: My bday falls on a Thursday. If there is a new episode on that day, my plans are going to revolve around watching it and having drinks here. If there is no new episode, I think it will a good evening to go out for cheap Martinis... Or perhaps I could do both. Hmmmm....)

Speaking of bdays, I have two blog buddies who have birthdays tomorrow (Groundhog Day). So happy bday to Scott, and to Joanna, who is not only a blog buddy, but a long time pal from the GSA (Greater St. Ratford Area).

Well, it's almost the weekend. I'm going to visit the 'rents this weekend, and I don't have tonnes of plans, so I'm hoping to get some rest. Monday is the start of the new semester, which means that I have to get used to a new routine and new classes.

Happy weekend!