All the way from San Francisco, as I chased the end of your rope, 'cause I've still got miles to go.

So I'm back from trip #1 of the summer of fabulousity. And, well, it was a fabulous trip. It ended up costing me a fabulous amount of money, but it was worth it. I guess I'm learning that it's worth paying the price for a fabulous time.

I spent my first day back sleeping in, seeing "Kung Fu Panda" with my pal Mathew (it was really fun), catching up with friends, playing with pictures, and eventually stopping the procrastination, and settling down to do the assignment for my stupid online course that is due tomorrow (or today rather since it's now Sunday). Again, me completing this online course is going to result in a nice raise next year, which will pay off the trip I just went on, so it's worth staying in on a Saturday night to do school work, I guess.

Anyway, the purpose of this post is a trip rundown complete with photos, so here goes!

The first day, we did a lot of shopping. We took the bus to Haight-Ashbury (which passes through a sketchy area on its way... we lovingly nicknamed this area Crackton). In the Haight, there are so many funky shops, and I got some neat stuff like a Tshirt to wear next Earth Day and a sushi stapler for Becca T. I'll have to take pictures of it. Then, we returned to our posh-area (Union Square), did more shopping, and had dinner at a really good Asian-fusion restaurant.



On the second day, we went to the "literari" area near Chinatown. It was cool because there were all kinds of famous cafes where all of the beatnik writers drank and wrote at. At the end of Jack Kerouac Road is the really cool bar, Vesuvio, that he and other writers spent a lot of time at. I'd spend a lot of time there too because it was really funky inside. I would have *loved* to have a drink there, but it was still the morning at this point, so... Anyway, here is a picture of a really cool mural outside the bar.



We then walked through the North Beach area, which is San Fran's little Italy, and then walked up a huge hilly street to Coit Tower. Here's the beginning of the hill with Coit Tower in the background. Afterwards there was a bunch of stairs to climb and then another hill. A good workout for sure.



As we were climbing the hill, we saw some men brining a fridge up the stairs which made us feel, well, glad that we didn't have fridges with us. It made me think of one of my favourite books "Round Ireland With A Fridge" and I had a good laugh. It would be definitely much more difficult to get around San Fran with a fridge, with all of its crazy hills.



I also noticed that my name is all over the streets of San Fran. Here's my name with my feet.



We walked to Fisherman's Wharf for some pictures and lunch. Here are the seals.



After lunch, we went to Ghiradelli Square, where I had some *amazing* ice cream which I deserve after navigating so many hills by foot. After that, we waited in line for what seemed like 45 minutes for a cable car back to our hotel. It was worth it. Zipping up and down those hills in the open air is awesome. We also had a really funny driver who kept making quips like "sometimes when I brake I like to close my eyes". Definitely worth the wait. Here is a picture of one of the workers turning the cable car around before it was boarded. It's awesome to see something so incredibly old school.



On the third day, we headed back up to Fisherman's Wharf area, and stopped by Lombard Street (the crookedest street) on our way.



We then rented bikes to bike across the Golden Gate Bridge, which ended up being my absolute favourite part of the trip. We had to bike across town, through the Golden Gate Recreational Area, which includes Chrissy Beach (good name - my parents and family actually call me Chrissy). Thankfully there weren't too many hills. Here's a view of the bridge from the beach.



Then, it was across the Golden Gate Bridge. It was windy, but the views were spectacular.



After the bridge, we biked down a wicked hill to the little town of Sausalito. All in all our bike ride was about 15 km, which I think is good for a girl whose last bike ride was last summer in Stanley Park. I wish I had a good picture of Sausalito but I don't yet. My friend took some, so I'll have to get them from her. (She's a much better photographer than me anyway.)

We took the ferry back to the Wharf. Here's a view of Alcatraz along the way. I still think it looked extremely spooky. We didn't have time to do the tour, which made my inner goth a little bit sad.



On our last day, we rented a car, where my pal braved driving the hills of San Fran. (You didn't think I'd drive there, did you?) We drove out to Sonoma, where we did a little bit of wine tasting and winery tours in the morning, had a fabulous lunch at a restaurant called "The Girl and the Fig" (where we also had dinner because we wanted to try more of their menu). In the afternoon we went to a spa for manicures, pedicures, and much-needed massages, after the previous day's bike ride.

Here's a view of the hills behind the first winery we visited.



Here are some grapes.



Here is a picture of Sonoma City Hall.



Anyway, after dinner we headed back to San Fran, which was much chillier than Sonoma and dragged our heavy wine bottles back to our hotel from the rental place. We then decided to use our hotel gym to work off some of the calories we'd consumed during the day. Then there was the really ugly job of packing all of the stuff we bought. My friend, who'd packed heavy to begin with, had to cram a lot of her stuff into my luggage and we even ended up having to do some shuffling of objects in the airport the next day. She joked that I was her camel and bought me a bottle of water and a celebrity smut magazine to keep me happy.

So, it was a really really fabulous trip. I have to say I love San Fran. I've been to some really awesome US cities in the past year (Seattle, New York City, Austin, San Fran). So, ummm, congrats to all you Americans out there for having some really cool places. ;)

Less than a month and I'm off to explore the East Coast of my own country! :D However, there will be lots more fabulousity in the interim.

You think you're on your own just taking it slow, but something always happens whenever we're together, it shows.

I love travelling, but I hate packing. Can't a packing-elf come and do it for me?? (And while he's at it, hire me a marking-elf for the school year, and a cleaning-elf for all year too.) Anyway, hoping for elves isn't really going to get me anywhere, nor is blogging, but here I am, procrastinating away.

Oh, btw I am going to San Francisco to officially kick of the fabulous portion of the summer of fabulousity! This week was my first full week of vacay, but I laid low and did a lot of reading, and even did some work on my stupid online course. I did go to a wicked bachelorette party on Friday night, and that was pretty fabulous.

All right, while I'm psyching myself to pack my brand new suitcase (my old one got wrecked on its way home from Austin), I'll go all random.

For the past two days, I've been obsessively listening to Sloan. More specifically, I've been obsessively listening to Jay songs. (FYI - Sloan has 4 singer/songwriters. Jay's my fave.) I bought the new Sloan album when it was released in June, but have just started listening to it properly. The three Jay songs (Cheap Champaign, Witches Wand, and If I Could Change Your Mind) are the bestest, I think. Anyway, that's today's nugget of music geekdom.

What do you think the worst thing you can forget to pack is? Deodorant? Toothbrush? Nah, those are easy enough to buy. Passport would suck, obviously. Camera? I have to remember to bring the charger for my new camera's battery... that would suck to forget. The other thing I hate forgetting is the charger for my iPod. I hate having to be thrifty in my music listening. Also, it sucks if you forget a piece of clothing you really like. I'm all about the fashion.

All right, now that I've thought about what I should be careful not to forget, I suppose I should get to that packing. I'll see you post-San Fran. I'll leave with this video that I came across today that made me laugh really hard.

True Patriot Love, a la la la la...

Listening to this song/watching this video is my Canada Day tradition. I <3 Joel Plaskett.

Happy Canada Day!



ps This is my 500th blog post and it's terribly anti-climatic.

I'll knit you the nicest taxi cab to pick you up from the airport when you get in.

Welcome to real life kids! That's how I think of summer vacay: my real-life when every second is devoted to me, me, me! (Except the first day which was spend writing a paper for the stupid online course.) Oh the selfishness of it all! Oh the luxury of it all! Oh, how I kind of miss the kids who greeted me on Saturday with a loud, raucous "Miss it's YOU!" as I was crossing the street. In my carefully-chosen-far- from-school neighbourhood, where I've seen them before because they play basketball somewhere around here.

Anyway, I could write about the pub crawl (successful as usual, some new recruits, fewer stops that were farther apart this year, so it was a healthier crawl, only a slight hangover the next day), or about how I've spent my summer vacay so far (reading, social-butterflying, and a bit of shopping), but I just got the urge to write about something I love: knitting.

***

Why I Love To Knit
by: Christielli

Quite frankly, I love to knit because I find it highly pleasurable to turn a long string into something warm, fuzzy, and wearable. It's amazing to find a nifty ball of yarn in a store, and picture it and perhaps its sisters turned into a scarf, mittens, hat, or blanket. How I could turn something so useless (a long string) into something so useful. That's one reason why I love to knit. The other reason why I love to knit is because it connects me to my past.

My Nana (dad's mum) taught me to knit during a visit that I very vaguely remember. I was less than 12 I know for sure. My Nana was one of the world's greatest knitters, and one of the world's greatest women. My relationship with my Nana was one of the most special I will ever have in my life, and I am always so grateful to have had 19 years with her. I loved all of my family, of course, but my Nana was my favourite. Anyway, she was a knitter, and on that random visit before I was 12, I asked to teach to me knit, and she did. I learned the basic stitch, and ended up with a swatch that was big enough to be a scarf for my teddy bear.

Sometime when I was approximately 12, I started "The Scarf". I suppose I remembered my first knitting lesson, and wanted to embark on a larger project. My Nana cast on the required stitches, reviewed the basic stitch with me, and off I went. This scarf got longer, more holey, and for some reason, wider (scarves apparently aren't supposed to do this). It was really ugly, because I was just using my Nana's yarn leftovers, and I'd change colours when I felt like it, with no pattern whatsoever. I remember "The Scarf" starting off orange, and including some red, yellow and turquoise sections.

Around the same time I was working on "The Scarf", my Grandpa had a stroke and was in the hospital. We went up to hospital to visit him a lot, and one of the diversions I brought was "The Scarf". I remember working on it in between doing word searches and playing my old school Gameboy. My Nana, and you could imagine how she would feel at this time, used to always comment on my progress on "The Scarf" and asked me who it was for. I always said it was for my Dad.

I obviously didn't know what was going to happen then. My dad and his brother took time off work to be in the hospital and my mom and I would sometimes join them. It was November, I think, and my solace to myself was to repeat to myself "everything will be okay at Christmas". It's funny, because during times of trouble, I still repeat that mantra. I don't know why, but it calms me.

My grandfather died after two weeks in the hospital. It was the first time that I experienced death in my life. It was hard, of course, but also inevitable since loss is a part of life.

I kept sporadically working on "The Scarf" for a few years. It became a family joke, in part because it was so incredibly ugly, but also because I insisted I would finish it, and when I did, I was going to give it to my dad, and he was going to wear it with pride.

"The Scarf" is still unfinished. I didn't knit for a long time, until a few years ago (when I still lived in my old apartment), I came across a beginner's knitting kit, complete with booklet, pattern, yarn, and needles, that was on sale at Indigo. I bought it, and taught myself to cast-on (my Nana always did that part for me), relearned the basic stitch, and finished a hat. This was quick, so I ran back to Indigo for a similar kit with a pattern for a hat and baby booties, that I figured I'd save for when someone had a baby.

Since then, I've made more hats, lots of scarves, baby booties, and as you all know, I just recently managed to teach myself mittens. I'm probably at the advanced-beginner stage as a knitter, and I'm unsure if I'll progress, because, well, I like little projects because I can finish them quickly. However, I'm amazed at the fact that I no longer make mistakes, my stitches are even, and there are no holes in my work. I've gotten a lot of comments on quality of my creations.

I honestly think that somehow my Nana is at work through my hands. It's not genetic, it's something more than that. Often when I knit, I tend to think about all of the awesome people who've been in my life. I remember all of my grandparents, who I've lost. I think of my parents, and the fact that I need to dig up "The Scarf" which is somewhere in my parents' house, and finish it, and give it to my Dad for Christmas. I think of the person who I'm knitting for. I think of the people I might be knitting with, on the rare occasion that happens. I sometimes even think about myself and where I've come from, where I am, and where I'm going.

I've decided to devote some time this summer to knitting (hence this post), even though I used to consider October to April knitting season. I bought a bunch of wool for mittens (stocking up on bday/Christmas gifts). I went out a couple of weeks ago with my dear friend Eric who wants to go buy expensive alpaca wool and have me knit him a scarf. I am excited to do this, because I'm going to make it my own design, and when he hangs out with his fashionable crowd and they comment on his scarf, he'll say "oh, it's a Christielli original". I am also excited because I found out that someone is going to be getting baby booties, a hat, and maybe a baby blanket in a few months. Oh, and I'm going to make some beer cozies as jokes for some people. Beer cozies: the perfect summer knitting experience!

And what a perfect way to end a summer post about knitting. :) (An ambitious post at that...)

If there's one thing I learned in chemistry is that the gain of electrons is reduction obviously.

In the past two days, I've been told on two separate occasions that I'm really good at picking out greeting cards for people. This warms my heart.

I love the annual rhythm of the school year. Tonight is graduation, and then tomorrow is my last proper day of work for 2 months. Well, it's not proper; we just have meetings and then a luncheon, and then it's off for the 3rd annual pub crawl. Maybe I'll drunk post when I get home, or at least do a hungover post the next day.

I realized today that even though I'm looking forward very much to a break from work, I'm going to miss seeing my friends at work every day. Heck, I'm even going to slightly miss the dysfunctional people who at least give me something to gossip about/shake my head at. I'm also going to miss one teacher who is leaving our school this year. I think I've mentioned this before. I haven't cried, yet, because I think I'm still in the denial phase of the stages of loss.

In two weeks from today, I'll be halfway through my San Fran vacay. I can't believe it. I am really looking forward to it, because I really think that I just need a chance to get away from everything.

I don't like Wal-Mart, but only they carry this particular brand of wool with sparkles in it. I was there today with my work spouse, and I stocked up, because I think I'm going to use some downtime this summer to get a head start on some mitten-rific presents. I usually don't knit in the summer, because heat and wool usually don't mix, but I'm feeling a little bit agitated these days, I think some good knitting will soothe my soul.

I still need to organize my desk at work. I'll go in an hour early tomorrow morning and see what I can do.

I've got time for a 40 minute nap, then I have to get all spiffy for grad. I'm going to wear a fun skirt, and white top. Maybe I'll wear my fun new sandals to show off my red toenails. Hmmm. I think that is what I shall do.

That was a pretty random set of unconnected paragraphs, eh?

I seem to recognize your face, haunting, familiar yet, I can't seem to place it.

You can tell the school year is ending when my reading grows exponentially. I just finished a book that I ended up enjoying quite a bit called "Then We Came to the End" by Joshua Ferris. I went in hoping for the literary equivalent of The Office, and I'm not sure it delivered (but could that ever really happen anyway), but I did like it. I ended up getting attached to the characters, the dysfunction of their workplace, and I loved how the book ended.

I'm also halfway through a new book too that I just picked up at Indigo today when I was buying a gift for someone (isn't it funny how I always end up throwing in a gift for myself?). I can't believe that I haven't read this book before. It's called "Love is a Mix Tape" by Rob Sheffield. It basically tells the story of a rock journalist who unexpectedly loses his wife. It goes through his life, their relationship, etc. and links it to mix tapes he's made/had given to him throughout his life.

One of my goals this summer is to make some awesome mixes of my own for a select few friends and well-wishers. I love how in this book the author describes the different kinds of mix tapes there are. He brought up the radio tape, which is a compilations of songs from the radio. I used to be the queen of the radio tape in grades 6/7/8-ish. I remember making a mix tape where I would add Alanis' song "Too Hot" whenever it was played, and it made it at least 3 times per side. Radio tapes are fun for the unavoidable snippets of ads/chatter etc. that make it onto the tape. I actually have a bootleg copy of the Killers' "When You Were Young" that I downloaded way before the album came out. I love it because it is recorded from the radio and has the name of the station at the beginning of the song, during the song, and the DJ saying the name of the song at the end. It has always made me think of the days of the radio mix tape and thus, I've kept this version around, even though I'm sure I could get myself a "cleaner" version.

When making mix tapes for myself as a kid, I was always big into repeating songs on the tape (see Alanis example above). I remember a specific grunge tape that I made in about grade 9 that had Pearl Jam's "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town" multiple times on the tape. I've always been one to listen to songs a lot constantly. I can download some random song from iTunes, and notice that two days later, I've listened to it 80 times. I don't know if this just means I have a simple mind, but I do love repetition.

The other thing I'm enjoying about this book, is the author's appreciation for the 90s. I loved that decade. On my to-do list, is to throw a kick-ass nineties party where plaid shirts, bad jeans, and Doc Martens are required wear, and I make the best 90s playlist ever. In fact, I should even dig out mix tapes that I made in the 90s and play those suckers. I guess the drink of choice would have to be Mike's Hard Lemonade, which was my beverage in the 90s. I'm not sure if my elderly stomach could take it, but I'd try. Anyway, I gotta throw this party. Of course, when it comes to parties, I have a long list of parties that I need to throw: my blender party to use of the rum I bought in Cuba in 2006 (still gotta get a blender for this), oh and in September it's gonna be mine and Becca T's 10th anniversary, and a cheesy, corny party is required for this. Hmmm, maybe I could merge that with my 90s party since we *did* meet in the 90s.

The last thing I'm going to say about mix tapes, is that they were so cool because so much care and time had to go into making one. You had to sit there and listen to every song, unless you had one of those cool dubbing tape decks, which I did not. Sigh, okay, enough about mix tapes.

All right, I think I'm done blogging. I'd like to do more, but I spent like three hours tonight on the phone with various people, so I might have just used up my allotment of words for the day (or week). It kind of made me feel like a teenager again, talking on the phone so much. I remember talking on the phone for hours and hours with my friends, who I most likely had chatted with all freaking day at school. And I was probably making a mix tape while chatting.

Ahh, the 90s. That was a random post, eh?

Head straight, feel my arms, I know it's you, I know you're out there, surprising me...

I really did want to make a Friday the 13th post, but that didn't happen. However, you can't have Sunday the 15th (it's past midnight) if there wasn't a Friday the 13th so I guess it all works out. Nothing bad happened to me on Friday the 13th, actually, I got some good news following a little scare on Thursday the 12th (a friend had a health scare, but is A-OK now), so really, I guess Friday the 13th kicked some ass.

In exciting Friday the 13th news, I bought a new camera for myself since I figure now's a good time since I have two summer trips (San Fran, East Coast) planned. This is the camera I went for, and you better believe I opted for the pink model. I'm going to give my old camera to my aunt, so that assuages any guilt I have for buying a new camera when I have a perfectly good, albeit out-dated, camera. Anyway, I'll post some pics from the new toy, when I get around to taking some. Maybe having a new camera will make my blog more picture happy.

So far my weekend's been quiet, but I've been spending some time with friends. Last night I went on an impromptu shopping/coffee run with my pal Mathew which resulted in me getting some $10 jeans, a $15 pink short-sleeved hoodie with birds and hearts on it, and some cheap flip-flops. I didn't need any of the items, but who was I to say no with prices like that?

Today I started by getting my haircut at my new place in Kensington Market. As I was walked down Spadina, some sort of naked bicycle parade passed me by (and me without my new camera... yeesh... there were people stopping to take pictures of the spectacle). I have to say, that some people have real balls (no pun intended) to do like that. I was reminded of a Seinfeld episode where he discussed good-naked and bad-naked, and I think naked cycling is bad-naked for most people.

After I got my stylish new cut, I met up with my friend Flora for a manicure and pedicure. I went for a pretty racy red on my fingers and toes, and I love it. I don't want to chip my nails, so I can use that as an excuse not to do any strenuous cleaning for the next few days. :)

After sushi for dinner, Flora and I hung out here where we hammered out the planning aspect of our August trip out east. Being that we are both teachers, we're pretty effective planners, and I think we kicked some ass. Maybe should quit teaching and become travel agents? Hmmm, do travel agents get the summer off? No? Oh well, forget it then.

We were supposed to go to a wine and cheese party, but it was canceled, so we went for gelato instead. Again, the delightful gelato place down the street did not have my fave flavour (amaretto), so I guess I'll just have to eat gelato every day until they do!

So tomorrow I have an exciting day of cleaning, errands, and work planned. Boo. Hence, I don't really feel like going to bed, since I'll eventually have to wake up to that scenario, so I'm staying up and blogging. I also decided to download "A Great Stage" by Will Currie and the Country French, so I had to stay up for that to complete itself. I'm on my first listen, and I'm digging the piano and the xylophone. :)

If you believe everything has a reason...

Here's a happy thought post. I'm in the middle of marking furiously right now, but I'm taking a bit of an extended break:

1) My classes rock this semester, especially my grade 10s. I'm starting to get mushy on them since I have very few days left with them. I'm sick of marking and ready for a break from that, but I'm going to miss the kids a lot.

2) It's a long story, but I've been working on gardening with some students after school for the past month. (Luckily I have help from a professional gardener at the park near our school. If there's one thing I don't do, besides cooking, it's taking care of leafy green beings.) Anyway, today I was happily out in the sun, weeding, wearing my fabulous expensive sunglasses, and listening to horns honking furiously because Portugal won a soccer game today. It was one of those rare moments where life is just weird and funny (who gardens with teenagers?), and really enjoyable. I love when the little moments just make the other annoying aspects of life irrelevant.

3) REM was fantastic. Becca T said it was the best bday present ever. Yay!

4) This weekend I'm pampering myself. I'm getting my haircut by my new hairstylist (with whom I am seriously in love), and getting a manicure and pedicure. I'm going to go broke one of these days, but at least I'm going broke in style.

5) Did I mention that I teach the most fabulous students ever?? I'm taking a break from marking projects that show that they've learned stuff from me and even remember the stuff I say! Wow!

6) My online course sucks and is boring boring boring boring but it is now half over, and I'm getting As on stuff so that's all good.

7)All right, this happy thinking has motivated me to go to back to marking. Later!

I never understood the frequency, uh-huh...

So one of my last few weekends before the summer of fabulousity is bringing in the fabulousity itself.

On Friday, I went out for drinks with some friends and then we went to see the Sex and the City movie. I would probably give it 3.5 stars out of 5. I thought it was a bit on the long side. I actually would have only given it 3 stars, but I threw in the extra 0.5 star for all of the purses, shoes, and clothing in the movie. However, during the movie I did have a couple of *deep thoughts* about my life, but now I totally forget what those are. I blame the heat of this weekend for perhaps killing a couple of brain cells.

Speaking of heat, I really need to get an air-conditioner, I think. The only downside of not owning a car that I can identify is that it takes me *forever* to make a big purchase, because I tend to think "oh, I'll ask so and so to drive me next time he/she visits me" but then I never do ask. Hence it never gets done.

Anyway, yesterday I spend the day hanging out with friends who all had air conditioning so I was good. But, boy, did I eat. I went to a friend's bday breakfast where we had waffles, champagne, fresh-squeezed juice, chocolate croissants, scrambled eggs, and bacon. Yum. It made me feel like it should have been my bday.

In the afternoon I headed out to the suburbs for my friend's annual June dinner party with a bunch of her various teacher-friends (yes, a dinner party full of teachers). It was really fun with lots of great food and a chocolate fountain. Yum.

Today, I have to drag my sorry self to the gym to try and maybe work off some of yesterday's food. Then, I plan to mark for a bit at Starbucks with a frappucino. Then, it's Becca T's not-so-much of a surprise REM concert! I'm very excited. It was supposed to thunderstorm today, which would be bad news because all I could afford was uncovered lawn seats. However, the morning was sunny and there are a few clouds now, but nothing ominous looking. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather!

Honey won't you let your red heart show?

Note: If my dear real-life friends Mathew and Becca T are reading this (which I'm pretty sure you're not because I don't think you frequent my blog much), you should probably look away because I am going to blog about your birthday presents. You have been warned. Don't ruin it for yourselves!

It's hump day of the second last proper week of school before exams start and the pace slows down and I'll have time to breathe a bit more.
Anyway, yesterday I had like the best random shopping experience at Indigo (bookstore). I wandered in there on my way home from work to get some birthday cards and stuff for people (I like buying neat cards)and I scored some other cool stuff that I actually just had to take pictures of, and post on here (I haven't done that in a long while).

They had iPod gelaskins on sale for 75% off. I got a Kandinsky for mine, and also one to add to Becca T's 30th bday gift (her fave painting: The Great Wave Off Kanagawa by Hokusai).



Then I found the best thing ever: ticket stub diaries! Albums with slots for all of your tickets and spaces to write about your concerts. I am so going to take a day this summer to dig up all my old ticket stubs and organize them. I'm excited! I got one for my pals Becca T and Mathew, who enjoy concerts *almost* as much as me.



Then, when I got home yesterday, I noticed that a band that I discovered in March, Hey Rosetta! (they played on stage with Hawksley when I saw him in March) had come out with a new album, Into Your Lungs, and it was only $6.93 on Itunes! I downloaded it and it is brilliant! I am pretty sure it will make it onto my top 10 list for 2008. I love each and every song, but my favourite is Red Heart (see post title). I love the strings, the piano, and the way most of the songs start off rather calm and then crescendo into a frenzy. Love love love.

So those are some of the the current enjoyabilities in my life. Oh, and I had the best cookie today too. That was pretty sweet.

Things to complain about:
a) I seem to have lost my favourite school-teacher-y sweater. It was a pretty boring garment, but useful, and it's totally disappeared. Last time I remember seeing it was last week when I washed it, and I'm pretty sure I did not wear it since. Hmmm... Maybe I have a sweater-eating monster living in my apartment that I wasn't aware of.
b) Vast piles of marking. I still have about 8 sets of major assignments to mark before the end. Boo.
c) Making plans that I didn't really want to make, and then keeping them because I am not a plan-breaker. Maybe they won't be as bad as I fear.
d) Assignment time for my online course has crept up again. Boo-urns.

All right, enough of the complaining. It is highly unproductive, but I do find that there is some value in venting. Although it seems like I've been doing far too much venting these days. Oh well, c'est la vie.

ps Thanks for the finger crossing on Friday. I might need more of it next week. :)

Say hey, say hey, say how you doing?

Back with fuzzy ears from Matt Good at Massey Hall (that's what two days of rock and roll will do to a girl). It was a great show. This was my first time hearing material from "Hospital Music" live, and I really enjoyed those songs. That album will forever remind me of travelling out west last summer, especially listening to it while taking the train through the Rockies, and walking along the beach in White Rock, BC. I love how memories and music are linked.

I loved hearing the older material too, especially kickass versions of Giant and Everything is Automatic. I really became a Matt Good fan during my first year of university, which was almost 10 years ago, so that's a pretty long time. It's funny to think about how much I've changed since I first listened to some songs so long ago. For me, music can be a map that can show me where I've been, where I am now, and sometimes even point me in the right direction. I think I fell into a bit of a rut post-March Break, but I'm out of it. I think rock shows and upcoming trips help that.

Speaking of upcoming trips, I had dinner tonight with my friend who I'm going on the TBA July trip with. I think we're leaning towards San Francisco. This has totally been my year of exploring North America, so I think going to California will be appropriate. Next summer, I will have to get off the continent for sure. I'm excited. And, we had dinner on a patio of a Mexican restaurant and I had a mango margarita. Then we went to the Matt Good show. Oh, it's painful to think that it's not the weekend yet, because tonight really felt like a Friday. Hence I'm up waaaaaaay past my bedtime.

Oh, and Rilo Kiley last night was great. It was my first time seeing them live and I was really impressed. Jenny Lewis has an incredible voice and they are a great live band. *Sigh* I love concerts.

Anyway, I have a few fun things planned this weekend to space out in between the mounds of work to do. I have to catch up with the stupid online course, mark, and write exams. :(

ps Keep your fingers crossed for me Friday at 8 pm EST. Top secret, but finger-crossing would be muchly appreciated.

pps I can't believe I've not made plans to see the Sex and the City movie... yet... will go soon.

Because living well is the best revenge.

As the weather gets warmer, the hours of sunlight increase, and the number of days I have left to teach decreases, my thoughts inevitably drift to summer vacation. I am blessed to have a job that I completely loved. I am even more blessed that this job affords me two straight months of living stress-free with none of the entanglements of the daily grind. Again, I love my job, but the two months of summer feel like a different kind of life. Now, if my life was always summer vacation, then I wouldn't appreciate it, so I guess I'm trying to say is that the school year is extra good for allowing me to appreciate my time off.

So anyhow, I've decided to coin this summer the summer of fabulousity. I like making up words. So far, I think it's stacking up. I do have my online course to finish in July, however, I'm hoping that I'll buckle down and do the remainder of my assignments ahead of time the very first week of July, so that all I'll have to do is maintain an online presence after that. Anyway, the online course will be the only aspect of my summer that will be un-fabulous.

Yesterday I hung out with one of my good friends from university. We've decided that we're going to fly out to PEI, then rent a car and drive around the Maritimes. We also invited one of my friends from high school to join us. These are actually the same girls with whom I went to Australia in the summer of 2005, so it will be a fun reunion. I plan on eating lobster, sunning on some beaches, and having tonnes of fun.

Today was another beautiful sunny warm-ish day, and I spent some of it brunching on a patio with a couple of friends from work. Sitting on a patio, while wearing the new sunglasses that I totally splurged on yesterday (thank you income tax return), and sipping a mimosa, was pretty fabulous, and I hope to do more of it once the summer rolls around. Anyway, one of my coworkers and I are going to travel somewhere the first full week of July. We're not sure where yet. Both of us are open to going anywhere and we're going to sort out the details. Maybe we'll just wait until the last minute and see if we can get a good deal or something. I'm still leaning towards Paris, so we'll see.

Anyway, I can't wait for summer!!! At least I've got lots of fun stuff to keep me occupied until then. I will update you on my week with two concerts in a row. :)

I should have known with a boy like you your middle name is always...

Random musings from a Wednesday that was far too cold and rainy for my likings:

1) I feel like I've been attached at the hip to this computer for far too long with the assignments for my stupid online course. I just finished my *last* assignment that is due this week. That makes me approximately 25% finished the course, which pleases me. It went fast. I'll be finished before I know it. Oh, and I got an A on my discussion contribution for the first part. Woo-hoo! I'm so like Lisa Simpson; I love being graded. And quelle surprise I got a good mark for talking online...

2) In sadder news, I learned today that one of my favourite teachers at my school has accepted a position at another school. This man is a saint, and it will be a huge loss to our school community because he does so much for the school. I'm really sad for this. I'm happy for him that he has a new opportunity, but I'll miss him.

3) In happier news, I have exactly one week until I see Rilo Kiley, then the next day it's Matt Good. At Massey Hall. With a full band. Sweet. Yay for concert-going goodness. I haven't been to a show since March Break.

4) I'm ashamed to admit that I've been sort-of-kind-of watching American Idol this season (just in the background as I do coursework and marking and the like). Anyway, it was so boring tonight that it facilitated me getting that last assignment completed. But, I was pleasantly surprised that the cliche-grunge-rocker dude that I was rooting for won.

5) I love short weeks. I can't believe that tomorrow is already Thursday. I've got a full complement of social activities planned for the weekend, during which I'll also be bouncing off summer travel ideas off of travel buddies. Fabulous.

6) If you are in Canada, go download the iTunes free song of the week: "Surprise Me" by Will Currie and the Country French. Love it.

7) I also picked up the REM tickets that I bought for Becca T for her bday. She knew the date of her bday surprise, so in a moment of weakness, she looked up what it was. However, she has not specifically said what she suspects I'm brining her to, nor have I said anything. For all she knows, I could be bringing her to the Death Angel concert which is also on that date. (I have no idea who that band is, but they sound scary, and they're playing with another band called God Forbid. Sounds like scary metal stuff to me. Which would really make a kickass gift, eh?)

8) Becca T is currently on vacay in France. Lucky. I think one of my next travel goals will be to go to France, specifically to see Versailles. I have to since I went through a big Marie Antoinette/Josephine Bonaparte phase last year.

All right, random Wednesday musings out! :)

And I been burned and I been learned in the same city.

Aren't Mondays absolutely fabulous when you don't have to go to work? I love it. And to think, in a few short weeks I'll have two months worth of Mondays with no work. Yes, I know. I'll shut up about that.

Unfortunately I've had a huge cloud hanging over my head this long weekend: all of the first batch of assignments for my stupid online course are due at various times this week and I still haven't started any of them. So needless to say, that's what I'm procrastinating right now. Thankfully it's a a cold cloudy day today. That makes staying in and working all afternoon much easier.

The rest of my long weekend was pretty good. Friday was my mom's bday so I headed down to St. Ratford and got in some quality time watching a few episodes of Flight of the Conchords with the 'rents and hanging out with some of my friends, who constantly remind me what fabulous people they are and how lucky I am to have them in my life.

On my way back to Toronto last night, I read the book "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch, which a friend at work lent to me. It's a quick read, and I really enjoyed it. It's based on a lecture about really living your childhood dreams given by a computer science professor who has terminal cancer. I was able to finish it on the train and it gave me a lot to think about. There's a lot of great advice for living in the book; and it also made me reflect on my childhood dreams.

So what were my childhood dreams and how am I doing with living them?

Dream #1 - Living in Toronto
As a child, I was pretty certain that staying in St. Ratford was not for me. Visiting Toronto was always so exciting to me; driving in and seeing the skyline would take my breath away. I wanted more. As I got older, I started to fall into the Toronto-is-scary mentality that many small town people have, and I came to believe that city life might not be for me. Luckily, fate intervened, and it was U of T that had the programs that I wanted, and they offered me the largest scholarship of any of the schools to which I applied. I was really nervous to come here, but after a few weeks, I knew I was where I was meant to be. Ever since then, I've known Toronto is where I belong. All of the most positive events of the last 10 years of my life have happened in this city. And, I still get that same feeling of excitement when I enter the city; however it is now happily paired with feelings of familiarity and home.

Dream #2 - Becoming a Rock Star
Unsurprisingly, I was into music from a very young age. I listened to cheesy pop in the 80s/early 90s and in 1994, I bought Pearl Jam's Vs. album, and I began my journey through 90s grunge rock to the music snob you all know and love today. Anyhow, when I was young, I always dreamed of myself becoming a music star, despite the fact that I had no discernible musical talent. I played piano for years, but I was spectacularily mediocre.

However, I am living this dream the best way that I can by having music as my primary interest, and going to as many shows as possible. I can't be a rock star, but boy, I'm a pretty good fan. :)

Dream #3 - Writing

I wrote a lot of stories as a child and even though I went through a huge span of career dreams, writing was always there. I've always loved stories and books, and I dreamed of becoming a writer. I've always had ideas for books in my head, but unfortunately, I don't have a time to actually write them. Maybe one summer I'll buckle down and just write? I don't know if this will ever happen, but at least I do have my blog, which is my little corner of the universe in which I can write whatever I want, and that's something.

Dream #4 - Having a BFF

I'm not sure if this is a result of being an only child from a small family, but I spent a lot of time as a child imagining being an adult with an awesome best friend or best friends. People with siblings, or are close to cousins etc, have built-in friends to rely on, but I guess I always realized that I'd have to find these people on my own. And, I'm glad to say I have. As any reader knows, I have my BFF, my dear Becca T. And, on top of that, I have a lot of other close circles of friends: my high school friends, my university friends, and my friends from work. Whenever I'm going through a tough time, or a good time, I am always reminded how awesome these people are. They will be there to hold me up, or just to be happy for me.

Dream #5 - Having a job I love

As I said before, I dreamed of a variety of career possiblities when I was a child: paleontologist, novelist, journalist, pharmacist, doctor, rock star, teacher, business-type person, and I could go on. However, the commonality was that I always really truly loved whatever it was that I was doing. So even though I may not have ended up with the most glamourous of my many dreams, I do love what I do.

Anyway, those were the big five that came to my mind as I was reading the book. I had lots more dreams too: travelling (I'm doing well on that front) and getting married (it'll happen if it's meant to, I'm sure) come to mind as well.

What were your childhood dreams?

All in all was a pretty nice day.

I have had quite the productive Sunday, considering I faced a day-filled with a list of doing stuff that I don't so much care for. I cleaned my whole apartment, went to the gym, ran a bunch of errands, and did so work for my online course. The only thing I have not knocked off of my to-do list is some marking, but I figured that blogging while drinking hot chocolate was more important than that.

I had a great Saturday. I met up with my friends Flora and Becca T, and we did some hardcore shopping (I didn't spend too much money either!), then went out for a yummy dinner followed by gelato. There is a gelato place near my apartment that I've passed by millions of times (ironically I pass it usually on my way to the gym), but I've never actually gone to the place. Oh, my goodness. Yum. It was excellent. I think my goal for the summer will be to try every flavour in the place. I guess that means I'll have to go to the gym more often too...

Next weekend is the May long weekend (it's early this year), and after that it means that everyone in my workplace will be thinking of one thing: summer vacay. Quite honestly, I've already been thinking about it, and determining my plans. Trips to Newfoundland and Las Vegas may be on my plate, but I'll give more info when and if they're done deals. I also have one wedding to go to, which will be a mini-roadtrip in itself.

In addition, I'll have my silly online course to finish off in July (think of the money Christielli), and I might have gotten myself into cooking lessons from a friend from work. I don't know about that. If I learn to cook, maybe I'll then have to cook, and I'll have to take down my inspirational saying "Any pot is a no-stick pot if you no-cook in it" from my fridge. I'm not sure about that.

Anyhow, it's almost the start of a new week, but on the bright side, I'm one week closer to summer than I was at this time last week. :D

Compromise, just let it go, it's okay.

Stolen from Claire:

My roommate and I once: I don't have a roommate now, but I have had many in the day, but the first person who usually comes to mind when I read the word roommate is my dear friend Becca T, since we did live together for 5 years. So, anyway, my roommate and I once took the bus to Hamilton to see the Weakerthans play in a sketch bar there on the coldest day in January. Now, the last bus returning to TO would have brought us back too early to actually catch the band, and the first bus back in the morning was at 5 am. So, our plan was to loiter at a Tim Horton's between the concert and the morning bus. Well, it turned out that the Timmy's that was closest to concert actually closed at 1 am, as did everything else in the area. We were totally afraid we were going to freeze to death on the street, but we made a right turn after the concert and found a 24-hour Timmy's and survived the night.

Never in my life have I: been able to finish a Jane Austen book.

High school was: apparently so much fun that I decided to go back. Ha-ha. Not really. I like it better now.

When I am nervous I: talk more or less, depending on the situation.

My hair is: frizzy because of today's weather. Yet stylishly cut, thanks to my new hair-stylist, whom I love.

When I was 5: I was obsessed with dinosaurs.

By this time next year: I'll be closer to thirty. Boo.

I have a hard time understanding: why some people seem to like to be difficult and unreasonable.

You know I like you if: I don't make my patented "I-don't-like-you-face" that I'm known for. I'm not so good at covering up emotions. Apparently, when someone I don't like is talking, I look really bored. My friends can always tell. I feel rude. I hope the people who I don't like don't notice, because I even though I don't like them, I don't want to make them feel bad. And usually it's not that I don't like the person, it's that I only like them in very small doses.

My ideal breakfast is: Cereal. I'm in love with cereal these days.

If you visit my hometown: you'd would say it's pretty and charming.

If you spend the night at my house: you'd be having cereal for breakfast. :)

My favorite blonde is: Becca T's kind of blonde. So I'll say her.

My favorite brunette is: me. Why not?

The animal I would like to see flying is: a pig. Because then maybe a lot of people would have to cough up some stuff. Oh, and it reminds me of the episode of the Simpsons when Mr. Burns says "Smithers, I think I'll donate one million dollars to the orphanage... when pigs fly" and then a pig goes flying by, and Smithers says "should I make the donation?" and Mr. Burns says "no, I'd still rather not." That kills me.

I shouldn’t: procrastinate because it leads to stress.

Last night I: watched a new episode of The Office and 30 Rock. :D

If I could have any car it would be: a hybrid.

I’ve been told I look like: a cousin/friend/etc. of many people. I get it all the time. Apparently I'm a popular style or something.

Won't sell an apple to a kiwi.

Note: sitting at my computer looking through pictures from random vacations and fun events do not help me get caught up with the pile of marking I keep bringing home and not doing. It's getting worn out. The students are getting crabby at me. I might be building up muscles in my arms from constantly carrying this pile of papers around though.

Yesterday I sneaked away from work a little bit early (shhh). Now I remember *why* I never do anything "bad". My karma is touchy. Since I left a little bit early, I missed the reminder that today was dress down day so I did not turn up to work in jeans, which made me crabby all day. Perhaps my karma is also taking a beating because I'm neglecting my job.

The course that I have now registered in three times, and has been cancelled twice, is set to start on Thursday. I'm hoping that third time is the charm and that it does not get cancelled. It's an online course and I'm taking it for one reason and one reason alone: to get paid more. I can't wait 'til it's over.

All right two blog posts in two days and both have had a negative slant to them, or at least I feel that they have. But really, life is pretty fun. I really enjoy my classes this semester. My period 2 class are rather my favourites. They are a pretty spirited bunch, and they know me and my dorkiness and tend to laugh at my same old jokes. Like every time I make a mistake on the board, I say "I did that to make sure you were paying attention". I apologized for doing that all the time and thanked them for being kind enough for laughing, so now it's required that I say that line when I do make my inevitable mistakes. Anyway, yesterday half of them were away , so I chatted with those who were there about music which was fun. I was quite kind and did not tear apart any of their favourite bands (Simple Plan). But I was impressed that some of them were into Green Day and the White Stripes.

Anyhow, I really should go to bed so I can drag myself early and avoid harrassment by my grade 9s who really want their lab reports back. Maybe I should bring them candy instead. That'll make them happy. Yeah, I rather like that solution. I'm off to buy candy now. Ciao!

Everybody here comes from somewhere that they would just as soon forget and disguise.

The above line comes from "Supernatural Superserious" from the new REM album. Yeah, it kind of sums up my weekend. I was in a crabby mood for most of it, and was not digging being in the Ratford, and I think I need an extended break from there. Maybe I'll get over it all in a week, but right now I'm slightly irritated that I let some stuff get the better of me this weekend.

It wasn't all bad though. I had a latte on a funky patio in the sun, a yummy dinner, and saw my friend who was an extra in Hamlet (they even made her wear an outift that made her look like Mary Poppins). And, I ended up missing the surprise TTC strike that hit on Friday night at midnight. By the time I was back in town, the subway was up and running again to take me home from the train station.

Now that the craziness of report cards/interviews and the like is over, I thought I'd feel like there wasn't a tonne of stuff on my plate, but alas, it still feels that way. Oh well, there are only 7 more weeks of regular classes. Then maybe my plate will be empty.

Hmmm, maybe my recent malaise is caused by too much caffeine consumption. I should try to get off of that, as well as sugar and preservatives and yucky chemicals. I vow this pretty much every week.

In exciting news, I might begin the summer by joining a friend on a roadtrip to a wedding in Newfoundland. I haven't decided yet, but I really can't see why I wouldn't go...

All right, think I'm going to curl up in bed with a book. Sounds like a plan.

I went to the country to escape the noise and lights.

Firstly, happy Earth Day tomorrow everyone! Hug a tree! ;) I'm taking some kids to plant a garden, and I'm looking forward to their reactions when they find out it will involve working with manure. They're such city slickers. Heck, I grew up in a far more rural environment, and when I was a teenager, I would have been all "ewwwwww" too, so I can't judge too much. But I can laugh.

The other way I'm going to celebrate Earth Day is by wearing my new green high top Chucks that I bought at the Converse outlet in Austin. Fun!

Yah, so I survived last week's busy busy week at work, and this week is pretty busy too, but we do have a PD day on Friday, which means no planning for me at least.

Hmmmm, what else is new... Oh, I got quite a bit of my hair cut off on Saturday. And, I went to a new salon that Becca T recommended to me, and I really liked it. Have I finally found a permanent hair place in Toronto after all these years? I think so.

The weather has been fabulous lately! I'm talking evening beers on patios, T-shirt weather, and frappucinos in the park. I love it.

I just made plans to spend the coming weekend in St. Ratford. I scored $10 to Hamlet. I have a friend who is involved with this production, hence the incentive to see it (and the fact that it's so cheap).

I had about 4 or so good blog posts going on in my head earlier in the week, but now that I've had a chance to sit down at the computer, they've all left my head. Perhaps another day they'll come to me...

It's like a book elegantly bound, but in a language that you can't read just yet.

A bunch of randomness on this sunny Monday that has the unfortunate misfortune (okay, maybe that was redundant but I'm leaving it) of being the start of a yucky week because I am very behind at work, and I have some deadlines coming up. Hence the blogging. Great procrastination tool.

1) Yesterday I was really crabby. It could have been due to a number of reasons, such as the looming hell of this upcoming week; buyer's remorse after I purchased a something very extravagant whilst shopping in Buffalo (I won't say what it is so that I can cover up how shallow I really am); the fact that everyone in my book club, except for the ever faithful Becca T, canceled on Sunday's meeting *after* I woke up early and went grocery shopping and cleaned my apartment; the fact that last week's cold is still lingering; or the fact that I did not have any caffeine. After a bit of thought, I realized that it was most likely the caffeine issue, and I went for a latte post haste and cheered up. I can't believe that I've gotten this addicted to caffeine. I used to just be a social drinker of coffee beverages, but now I have to have two a day, or else I'm a bit emotionally unstable. Goodness.

2) I love the new Death Cab for Cutie song "I Will Possess Your Heart". Emolicious I declare. I'm really looking forward to their new album.

3) Guilty pleasure = "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis. Shhh.

4) I bought tickets to a top secret event for Becca T's 30th bday in June. I'm pretty sure she never reads my blog, so I'm safe talk about it here. But, just in case, I've cleverly hidden what it is in this sentence, so the rest of you can figure it out, but she will remain in the dark, if she reads this, which she won't.

5) I just discovered that eating a cinnamon Altoid whilst drinking hot chocolate is extremely tasty. It reminds me of the taste of a Hagan Daas flavour of ice cream called Mayan Chocolate or something. I've only had that ice cream once, but decided that would be it, because I could get extremely addicted to it, since I do have an addictive personality, I think.

6) Whoa that sentence about about ice cream was extremely run-on. I would totally take marks off if I was an English teacher. But I'm leaving it.

7) When I go shopping in the US with friends, we will always eat at a chain restaurant that we don't have here like Chili's, or the Olive Garden (at least we don't have those in Ontario anymore). This weekend it was TGIFriday's, and I got one of their massive margaritas, which was tasty and rendered this lightweight a little bit tipsy. I totally entertained my friend when we went to a grocery store afterwards to stock up on junk food that we don't have here. I ended up buying chocolate-covered Altoids, which further strengthens my hypothesis that I do sometimes make some pretty good decisions under the influence of alcohol.

8) Oh look, since I just spent the past 30 minutes blogging and facebook-ing, it's time for bed and I don't have time to work on report card comments, and marking, etc. What a shame.

Foux Da Fa Fa

The Office tonight was so hilarious. Yay for new TV finally!! 30 Rock was also awesome.

I'm getting over my yucky beginning-of-spring cold. I would have totally taken a sick day, but I had too many commitments in the way. I had my staff book club meeting this week, and after buying and reading the book, there was no way that I was going to miss that.

The song "Foux Da Fa Fa" from Flight of the Conchords is constantly in my head. Constantly.

Today I had a couple of students who were so sweet they made me get a little bit teary. Those little incidents make it all totally worthwhile.

This weekend I'm going shopping in Buffalo with a friend on Saturday. On Sunday, I'm hosting my uni-friends book club meeting (100 pages left to read of that book). This means that I'm going to spend a wicked-ass Friday night of: a) doing laundry; b) cleaning my apartment; and c) food shopping for Sunday. Hopefully I'll also be able to go to bed at an appropriately lamely early time so that I can be rested for some power cross-border shopping on Saturday. I'm glad that any significantly deep moments that I have in life can be totally countered by the vapid-ness of a day of shopping.

Some of my friends at work and I meet up every Friday for lunch at various locations in the school. This Friday tradition was in danger of dying out a couple of weeks ago, so I brought it upon myself to make a schedule for our lunches for the rest of the school year. Due to this activity, I now know that only 10 more Fridays remain until exam time.

Wowsers.

But I would love it if you were here.

I've been complaining on here about the late arrival of spring *forever* on here. Well, now it's here, and I've been felled this weekend by a scratchy throat which has kind of made me want to hibernate inside of my apartment. However, I able to motivate myself to go outside this weekend by allowing myself to shop and do some updating of the spring wardrobe. So I did get some much needed sunshine and fresh air and vitamin D, but it did cost me. However, I'll be looking fabulous for the next couple of days!

The warm-ish (13 degrees Celsius) sunny weather didn't hit until yesterday though. I did have a fun dreary Friday, before the scratchy throat hit. I left work pronto with my work spouse (I should do a work spouse post one day explaining this concept), and we went out for Dim Sum. Then, I met up with my BFF Becca T and we had a great girls' night. After nixing Leatherheads due to meh reviews, we went to an enjoyable chick flick called Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day. Then we hung out at my apartment drinking beer and watching Flight of the Conchords and gossiping. I love a good girls' night.

In concert news, I'm booked to see Rilo Kiley in May with my friend Mathew. It's the day before the Matt Good concert, so that's two shows in two days. (Still nowhere close to the record 4 days of shows that I set during SXSW.) Yay!

Today's sunny weather made me want to listen to one of my all-time favourite albums: "You Were Here" by Sarah Harmer. Snowy weather also makes me want to listen to that album too. It's pretty all-purpose due to its brilliance.

I think my current mood these days is impatience. I was impatient for spring, and now that it seems to be here, I'm impatient for my scratchy throat to go away. I'm impatient for it to be the weekend again. I'm impatient for a lot of things these days. Not living in the moment is a fault of mine. I have to work on enjoying the here and now, instead of always looking to the future. I'm impatient for myself to get better at this skill.

I have the Juno awards (Cdn music awards) on the background. I used to get really excited for the Junos, since I'd see so many Cdn artists that I love. I'm still seeing quite a few being interviewed on the red carpet right now. I just saw poor Joel Plaskett being interviewed by Ben Mulroney. That Ben Mulroney is the most annoying human being on the planet, I do believe. Gah. Anyway, I don't get so excited for the Junos anymore; it's too hyped up now and they keep nominating artists who've been around forever as "Best New Artist". Egads. And indie bands don't get enough love. They get some, but less Avril, more indie would make me happy. But, it's still miles better than the Grammies and will be good background for an evening of catching up on marking on my couch. *sigh* The Sunday night blues hit me like clockwork.

Kick it out on the dancefloor like you just don't care.

Random list post today.

1) I love love love the new R.E.M. album. Would I love it even if it didn't bring back awesome seeing-them-live-at-SXSW memories? Yes.

2) I am the queen of weird quirks. Today I admitted that one weird thing I do is that when I'm buying milk and I check the expiry date, I think about what will be going on in my life when the milk expires (although I always finish it before then).

3) I am so addicted to caffeine these days. I need to stop but... it feels so good.

4) I am also addicted to hot chocolate. I honestly have three cups a day. Hoping warm weather, if it ever comes, helps me with both of these addictions. However, I feel that new addictions (frappucinos and ice cream) will take place of these.

5) One more week until a new Office episode!

6) Time is weird. It goes so fast sometimes, like during the weekend when you want to last, but very slowly during a long week, or when you're waiting for a concert, or when you miss someone, or when it's Friday's last class. Can't it quit being less difficult and reverse itself?

7) Low key weekend planned. Might go see Leatherheads with Becca T, although a quick check of the tomatometer only gives it 53% and we decided only to see it if it was certified fresh. Other than that, I'm going to catch up on work, and clean my apartment, and read my book for next weekend's book club meeting.

8) Yesterday, I had a really really deep thought as I was almost home, just approaching my apartment building. I now forget this revelation and it's bothering me. Too bad I couldn't remember it, because it might improve this post, which I think I'm going to end now, because I feel the urge to curl up in bed with a book and *another* hot chocolate and fall asleep insanely early.

You know with love come strange currencies.

Gargh. I'm going through a period of high levels of unmotivation. This insane amount of inactivity has lead to me even being unmotivated for the weekend. Why? Because I'm going to spend most of the weekend catching up on work because I'm so behind because of my unmotivated stated. Hence, I become even more unmotivated. It's so circular.

I blame the weather. Hello? Spring? Where are you? I'm not feeling you yet. I've got a snazzy new red coat that I'd like to wear, but I'm still stuck wearing my black down jacket with the faux fur around the hood. I mean, I loved it when I broke it out in November, but 5 months later, it's getting old and tired and ready to be put away for the season. It's time for new outerwear.

In happier news, I redeemed a free coffee today at Tim Horton's and won another on my next cup. Of course, I forgot my winning tab on my desk at work, so I guess I'll be paying for tomorrow's coffee, but still, at least I have something to look forward to this weekend, I guess. I think whoever at Tim Horton's decided to have "Roll Up the Rim to Win" at this time of year was brilliant. They know that spring never comes early in this country, no matter what the stupid groundhog says, and that we all need some sort of ray of hope at this time of year.

Okay, but in things to look forward to news, April 1st is the release day for the new REM album, and it's getting some good reviews. Of course, I did see most of it performed lived at SXSW (yeah, I know, shut up, you lucky duck Christielli, you), but still, I like when albums I'm excited for are getting good reviews. Also, Sweeny Todd comes out on DVD that day too, so I can buy it and see if I can desensitize myself to the gory parts. (Likely not since I'll keep my eyes closed during them.)

All right, well happy weekend. Hope everyone has more fun and does less work than I'll be doing! :D

Are you restless like me?

Yesterday was my blog's third birthday.

I'd known the bday was coming up for awhile, and I didn't feel like navigating the slowness of dial-up at the 'rents house, so I decided that I'd do the post today. I think that I would have forgotten about it, but this morning as I was on the train back to Toronto, I was listening to all of my Kathleen Edwards stuff on shuffle on my iPod, which included the album "Back To Me" which I always associate with the time period during which I started blogging.

I went back and read last year's blogoversary post to see what was going on last year. As I skimmed through last March's archives, I was amazed by the number of posts; I was blogging every 2 days! How did I find so much to say? I find these days I'm usually hurting to find something to blog about, or actually finding the time to blog.

I also noticed that I had complained about not having seen the Weakerthans in two years. Well, since then, I've see them *four times* (one being at SXSW, of course)! Yeah, baby!

Also, I was nervous/excited about having to move to my own place during the summer. Well, here I sit in said apartment now. I really feel like I lucked out. I love this apartment and I am digging the whole being on my own thing. I had thought that I'd get a cat when I had my own place. That hasn't happened. I think that an insane amount of running around (trips out West, Montreal, New York, Texas) has delayed me in that venture. I dunno about the cat thing. I'd still like a pet, but I enjoy the freedom, and lack of hair, brought about by not having a cat.

Lastly, in last year's blogoversary post, I'd commented that I'd enjoyed the social networking of blogging. Since then, I've actually met bloggers in real life, and I feel that my blog-life has totally overlapped with my real life. I've visited some bloggers, have had others visit me, participated in many blogger-CD exchanges, and just totally made friends for life through this thing. That was a totally unexpected, but very pleasant side effect of blogging that materialized in the past year of blogging.

So yeah, even though I feel that my posting mojo has perhaps waned in the past year, my blog is still an integral facet of my life, and it'll be interesting to see what will have happened in life come the next blogoversary.

I'll leave you with an awesome SXSW picture taken by my blog buddy AlieMalie ('cuz she's got mad camera skills) during the Weakerthans show. :)

I am just a speck of dust inside a giant's eye.

Things that I currently find enjoyable:

a) Found luggage! (My bag made it back from being stuck in Kansas City last night.)

b) Kimya Dawson's song "I Like Giants"

c) The free new REM video for the song "Living Well is the best Revenge" on iTunes (at least in the Cdn Itunes store)

d) Long hot showers (not environmentally friendly, I know, but enjoyable nevertheless)

e) Blue shampoo and conditioner - it's just fun putting something blue on my hair for some reason... makes getting up in the morning and getting ready for work a little less distasteful

f) The colour red (I got a new red coat for spring... if it ever comes, and a new red summer dress when I was in Texas... we do have summer here, right? I forget.)

g) Getting a Tim Horton's Half-Coffee-Half-Hot-Chocolate concoction in the morning. I still enjoy it even though my cup is never a winner.

h) Knitting mittens with sparkly wool; the pair I'm working on now are actually going to be for myself. Probably by the time I finish them, it will no longer be mitten weather... wait, do we even have non-mitten weather here? I forget what it's like.

i) The fact that I saw lots of signs like the one below in Austin.



j)Upcoming four day weekends!

k) The above weekend means that Lent will be over. I lented from celebrity gossip blogs, and I'll be able to go back to them I guess. Somedays I miss this guilty pleasure which I find appalling, so I'm hoping that 40 days without will have broken my habit.

k)Going out for coffee with Becca T to exchange little presents and stories from our recent travels (she to NYC, me to Texas).

And, since the girl just called, I'm off to meet up with her, thus ending this trifle of a post. I'm thinking I'm due for a deep post one of these days, but wait, have I ever had a deep post?? I'm unsure of that.

Anyhow, happy Easter and eat a lot of chocolate! :D

There ain't no party in the sad, sad city...

...is the Ghostland Observatory quote that came to mind as I sit here in my apartment thinking about how I have to go back to work tomorrow after a fantastic March Break.

I saw Ghostland Observatory play during my very brief post-SXSW jaunt to Dallas at the end of my trip. They are a super fun electro-rock band from Austin, and I think the above song is totally becoming my new party anthem. Dallas was fun, and I got to see a little bit extra of it this morning when I flew out. Turns out there are *two* Dallas airports, and I of course went to the wrong one to fly home. Thank goodness I tend to arrive for flights at crazy-early times, and had just enough time to call AlieMalie and say "I'm at the wrong airport" and have her get me and deposit me at the correct airport.

The fact that the Dallas airport snafu sorted itself out, gives me hope that the Air-Canada-"delaying"-my-bag snafu will also sort itself out. Yup. Hate when that happens. Mostly because it makes me think of all of the money I have tied up in the clothing/beauty products/shoes that I shove into my bag in order to cover all possible fashion bases while on vacay. It seemed like the bags of a lot of people on my flight also didn't make it to Toronto, so I don't feel so worried. But, the worst this is that my new green hi-top Chucks will not be able to be worn on St. Patrick's Day! Gah!!!!

Anyway, let's check off the things that were accomplished during this trip:

a) Fulfilled life-long dream of going to SXSW
b) Saw REM in a small venue
c) Fulfilled life-long dream of seeing The Weakerthans at SXSW. Now I just have to see them play *in Winnipeg* and maybe all of my life-long Weakerthans related dreams will be fulfilled.
d) Saw the Alamo. My mother says that my father will be pleased of this.
e) Scored three new Starbucks City Mugs (Austin, San Antonio, Dallas). All of them are validated by spending time in each city.
f) Fell in love with Austin Texas. Great food. Cupcake-mobiles. Bats. Bands. Great indie shopping. Music everywhere. What's not to love?
g) Got to spend time with an awesome blog buddy. :) Who'd have ever thought that starting this thing almost three years ago would ultimately result in me going to SXSW, and making awesome friends?
h) Saw Kimya Dawson perform "Loose Lips", my 2nd fave song from the Juno soundtrack.
i) Got to see a really small, really awesome Blue Rodeo concert with lots of random Canadians (and others) hopping up on stage.
j) Got a sunburn while participating in St. Patrick's day activities. Can't do that here.

Okay, however, sadly, March Break is at an end. *sigh* I have to wake up for work in 5 hours. Oh, there ain't no party in the sad, sad city for sure.

How I don't know how to sing...

Okay, here's a quick SXSW post.

First I LOVE SXSW!!!!!!! But, Was there any doubt that was going to happen?

Okay, after a smooth flight with a stopover in Dallas (I was also thoroughly impressed with the Dallas airport - there was the coolest shuttle between terminals), I arrived in Austin to BEAUTIFUL weather. I probably owe AlieMalie $10 'cuz I told her that I should pay her a quarter for every time I said "I'm in love with this weather".

Anyway, our first stop was food at the Magnolia Cafe, where we ran into none other but Michael Stipe. Of course, I insisted on being cool and not talking to him, but it was cool passing him as we were entering the restaurant.

Then, we wandered around Austin for a bit. In the evening, we bought our SXSW bracelets that let us into all of the shows. We made a game plan of shows that we wanted to see, and had our plan of attack. We figured we'd first start with where REM was playing that night, but I assumed that there was no way that we'd get in, hence we had several backup plans. Anyhow, apparently the Michael Stipe sighting earlier in the day had been a good omen and we got in! We were so close to the front that I could see Michael Stipe's facial expressions as he performed. It was such a great show. They mainly played new material, and from the sounds of it, the new album is going to be great. Anyhow, I can't believe that I saw REM in such a small venue!

Today, we did some shopping in the afternoon where I purchased a few of my favourite things: new Chucks, an Austin Starbucks mug, and a new hoodie. Then we headed back downtown to see more shows. Today I got to see Martha Wainwright, The Islands, Priscilla Aun, a crazy band called Man Man, and *drumroll* The Weakerthans!!!! We were three rows from the front and it was amazing. I can't believe that I got to fulfill my dream of going to SXSW. (I think I've wanted to go ever since I developed my current level of musical geekiness sometime in university.) But, not only that, I saw my favourite band perform!!!

Anyhow, I should get off this hotel computer, but suffice to say I have one more day of musical fun planned. Tomorrow I'm hoping to see Yo La Tengo, Kimya Dawson, Oh Susannah, and Blue Rodeo. Then it's off to Dallas for a day, and then *sob* back home.

Sooo, I suppose I'll blog again from the sad part of when the trip is done. But I'll add some great pictures then! Okay, but honest to goodness, if you are a fellow music geek, and I know most of you who read this are, you need need need need to go to SXSW someday. Just being here is awesome. You hear music everywhere you go. Ahhh! :D

F is my favourite letter as you know.

In a week from this moment, I'll probably be in super-excited overdrive mode since I'll be leaving for Austin and SXSW-fun at 7:15 the next morning. If there is one thing that I like about the fact that time flies much faster as you are older, it's that things that you are super-excited about approach much more quickly than they used to. I remember when I'd look forward to a concert or something when I was a teenager, and it would take *forever* to approach.

Anyhow, life is going swimmingly right now, especially since there are only 3 more teaching days until March Break. I'm totally in the mood right now to do a music post, since I love how certain songs become the soundtrack of times in my life, and how a year from now these songs will remind me of now, and bring back found memories, I'm sure. So here are 10 fabulous songs that are on heavy rotation on my iPod these days.

1) Get Home - Sarah Slean: This song was a free iTunes download a few weeks ago and it's absolutely gorgeous. It's one of those songs that although is a little bit sad, it just makes me happy because it makes my heart skip a beat because it's so pretty.

2) The Cheapest Key - Kathleen Edwards: She is totally one of my fave artists, and her new album came out today. I cheated by streaming songs from her website this week, so I know a lot of the songs already. This one totally rocks, and I walked by a record store today where they were blasting this song and it sounded so good. So much fun, and I think her album will be one of my faves from 2008.

3) Piano Blink (los manlicious mix) - Hawksley Workman: This song is quickly creeping its way up on my most played list. There are two mixes of this song on Hawksley's new album, and this one is incredibly awesome (the other one is only awesome). I'm seeing Hawksley on Saturday, and I hope he plays the song in the style of this mix.

4) Under the Blacklight - Rilo Kiley: I'd downloaded a couple tracks from this album months ago, and then as I was playing around with iTunes this weekend, I saw that I could complete my album for $5. So glad I did because I came across some really awesome tracks, like this one.

5) Not Tonight - Tegan and Sara: I love Tegan and Sara, but I only really know their last two albums. This came up on my friend's iPod while we were driving to NYC and I loved it and had to get it. It reminds me of the trip, and I just love singing along to it. As a result, getting into older Tegan and Sara is on my to-do list.

6) New York, New York - Ryan Adams: Someone sent this song to me post-NYC and it makes me think of NYC and makes me happy. I really liked NYC.

7) Fools Like Me - Lisa Loeb: Another song that came up on someone's iPod during the long drive to NYC that I have been listening to a lot since the trip. I like girly stuff like this.

8) My Favourite Game - The Cardigans: I've been listening a lot to old Cardigans singles for some reason lately. This song makes for a great workout song.

9) Nolita Fairytale - Vanessa Carleton: I always have a few guilty pleasures on the go, and I've been listening to this song a lot since I heard it one day while shopping in American Eagle Outfitters (another guilty pleasure). I pretty much like any song with the word fairytale in the title (see Tori Amos's A Sorta Fairytale), and I really like this. Something else girly to go with song #7 I suppose.

10) Trying to Pull Myself Away - Glen Hansard: I really like the Once soundtrack, and I especially like this song since it rocks. It might just be the least girly song on this list now that I scan the rest of the titles...

So, I guess my current listening habits are all about things that are girly and/or remind me of NYC. Hmmm, interesting. I guess even my watching habits fit with this theme. I just watched the first season of 30 Rock, which I now officially love, and it makes me happy with its NYC setting, and it is girly (TGS does stand for The Girlie Show). Anyway, 30 Rock is another addiction of mine these days. I think I'm going to rewatch the whole first season. :)

Raise your hand if you do what you're told.

One of my coworkers has organized an after-work yoga class on Tuesdays, and I got myself talked into joining. Last week was our first session, and I really enjoyed it despite the fact that before the class I was a slightly-skeptical yoga virgin. I'll admit that I felt the effects of the yoga in my weak shoulders and arms the day after, but I still really enjoyed it and felt super relaxed after the class. (Note: my favourite part is the last pose, called the corpse pose, where you just lie there on the mat. I like it because I like lying around, and the word corpse makes me think of my favourite movie: Tim Burton's Corpse Bride.)

Anyway, yesterday I missed the second class because I had gone on a field trip. I still brought my fashionable yoga gear to school just in case I made back in time, but I didn't. Today I heard that everyone was really sore from yesterday's class, so I'm a little bit scared of next week's class.

Since I had my clothes with me, I headed to the gym right after work. I walked home at about 6:30 pm, dreaming of making myself a warm and tasty dinner. As I approached my building, I noticed it was strangely dark, as were the buildings around it. I stumbled up the darkened stairs to my apartment, used the backlight on my iPod to help me locate candles, and gave my parents a call. Since they always watch the 6 pm Toronto news, I figured they would be a good substitute for the internet to find out what was up. They did not disappoint me, and it turns out that there was some sort of underground explosion that lead to a good portion of my street being without power.

Since making a nice warm dinner was out of the question, I decided to take myself out for some sushi, and to buy a flashlight. My sushi was delicious, and on my way to get a flashlight I stumbled across a super cute pair of black wedge heels that were on sale that I just had to buy. They'll forever be known to me as my power failure shoes. I was so excited by them that I *almost* forgot about the flashlight.

I love (note a little bit of sarcasm) that the power went out on a night where the temperature was dropping quickly, and I spent the night in my warmest pjs, huddled under blankets and using up the last battery power on my cell phone. I'm really enjoying my electricity this evening: I love that I can comfortably sit in my apartment wearing my favourite red tank top and think about how in two weeks from today, I'll be on March Break and I'll be in Texas where the weather will be much, much warmer. :)

On tap for this weekend: not leaving Toronto (after going to St.Ratford last weekend for my dad's bday and a packed social calendar, and of course NYC the weekend before), a bday dinner at a Moroccan restaurant with belly dancers, and a whole lot of relaxing or so I hope. Yay!

Hey world, you've been travelling far, I've been waiting by my guitar...

Holla for me now being in my mid-late-twenties. Man how those years creep up on you.

But... if my bday weekend is any indication of how my year of 28 is going to be, well, it's going to be fan-freaking-tastic. My weekend trip to New York was by far the best birthday I've ever had, and I'm a girl who had bowling and skating parties back in the day too. ;)

I'll be cliche and say I <3 NY. Going to New York City, and seeing a Broadway show, had always been a dream of mine since I was 10 years old or so, hence that made the trip even a little bit more exciting.

Anyhow, I went with three of my friends from work. I think I'm so lucky to have made such awesome friends at work. I honestly feel the kind of fun kindredness with my pals at work that I feel with my friends back from high school, and I find this amazing. I think I get this feeling because we have a penchant for partying, getting into a bit of trouble, gossiping, and taking fun road trips. That was my high school girlfriend experience, and it's cool to have that again with people in Toronto.

We had a boring pd day, and we high-tailed it out of school as fast as we could. The worst traffic we faced was actually getting out of Toronto; after that it was pretty smooth-sailing although the drive was long and pretty monotonous since it was at night. We stopped a couple of times along the way. We actually celebrated my bday at a McDonald's with a giant cookie that one of my pals baked for me. Again, that made me remember high school more, since we had more than a few birthday celebrations at McDonald's.

We finally got into the city at about 1 am, and arrived at our very very awesome hotel. We so scored on that one. It had a great location, and had just been newly renovated and decorated. Actually, the renovations were not quite finished, hence the fact we could afford such a great hotel.

The following days were filled with lots of walking around the city, shopping, exploring neat neighbourhoods, eating great food, and just laughing about crazy things. I loved just being in the city. It so felt like you were walking into any number of TV shows or movies. I guess since New York City is the setting for so many things, it has such a familiarity to anyone even if you've never visited before.

Probably my favourite part of the trip was when we took the F-Train over to Brooklyn and explored a neighbourhood called DUMBO (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass). There is the best view of the skyline from a boardwalk here, and the neighbourhood itself was so cool. I'm such a neighbourhood girl; I have lots of faves here in Toronto too. I also loved Greenwich Village, which we explored a lot on the first day.

We saw the show Spring Awakening (which won the 2007 Tony Award for best musical). The music, performers, and production were all excellent, but I felt the show was lacking a storyline that I cared about. However, just seeing a Broadway show was fabulous. After the show, we walked around Times Square in the rain, and I scored an awesome new pair of Converse All-Stars. That was a great souvenir purchase, along with my traditional city Starbucks mug (which was actually the first purchase of the first day).

Anyway, the bday weekend in NYC was a great success. Now, it's only 3 more weeks 'til March Break and SXSW in Austin. Such awesomeness. Life is so great these days. :)

Falling slowly, eyes that know me, and I can't go back.

It had been snowing here for what seemed like forever, but today is sunny and beautiful; albeit windy and cold. I'll take the windy and the cold if I can have sun, thanks very much. Although really, the snow wasn't that bad; it made for some very picturesque scenes in the past few days. I don't mind waiting for the bus so much in the morning if there are big snowflakes falling down. However, my bus waits are never that long; I live on an awesome route. Anyhow, the sun makes me happy, and the cold keeps the snow from melting so that it's not all gross and slushy out and my feet stay dry.

Anyhow, the sunny morning actually turned me into a morning person today. Here it is before noon and I've already been to the gym and back and have run other errands. I'm so productive this morning that in fact, I could not buy the new knitting needles required to make my dad's birthday hat since the store wasn't open while I was going by on my way home from the gym.

I had a fabulous week. It was the start of the a new semester and I think I've got some good classes yet again. I had the worst classes in the world my first year at my school, so I think I've paid my dues and the gods of class composition have smiled upon me yet again. Since that first year, I have had some rather eccentric classes who have driven me crazy at times, but nothing like those first year classes. You could argue that perhaps that it is my teaching that has improved, which it has, but I still think if I got those classes from back in the day, they would drive me to use up all of my sick days for my mental health despite the experience I've gained.

In areas other than work, life's going well too. Becca T and I went to see the filming of The Hour with George Strombolopous one day this week, and that was cool. She was a bit worried that I might have a melt down since I've stated on occasion that I seldomly watch that show because I cannot focus during it due to the immense attractiveness of the host, but I averted any embarassing displays of affection and kept my cool.

Also this week, my Montreal/NYC buddies from work and I scored a really good deal on a hotel for next weekend. I am *so* excited for this trip; I can't believe it's only five days away!

I've been having a fairly low-key weekend. I went to see the movie Persoplis with a book club friend. We'd read the graphic novel that this movie is based upon a couple years ago. It's a really good movie; I'd definitely recommend it, as well as the book. I haven't read Persepolis II yet (which is covered in the movie), but I'll get to it someday.

Other than that, this weekend has been spent catching up on sleep (I never get enough during the week), getting some stuff organized, reading, and relaxing. I have no homework this weekend for the first weekend in what feels like forever and I love it. Usually by this time on Sunday, I'm mopey because I know my evening will be filled with planning, and marking, but not this weekend. It's fabulous not having that. I will enjoy it while I can.

So yay for low-key weekends. And yay for super-exciting weekends with trips!

It was like seeing the starry night for the very first time.

It's crazy how a week can make a huge difference in your life.

The week before the one that just passed, I was feeling like I was in a huge rut, hence the fact I was listening to Stars' song "Today Will Be Better, I swear" quite a bit.

The week that just passed gave me a reprieve from the rut I felt that I'd fallen into. It helped that it was exam week; during exam week, there are no regular classes, the kids just come in the morning to write their exams and then leave and I've got the rest of the afternoon to work. The pace of exam week is so much less hectic than a regular week, and that makes a girl have to listen to "Today Will Be Better, I Wwear" less often than she usually would.

One evening of last week involved me staying out far too late with some friends from work. It was a really really fun night, but I slept in as a result of it, and showed up to work a bit late. If there's one thing that I am, it's punctual, and this is the first time in the 13 or so years that I have been employed that I have actually made it to work late. Luckily, one of my friends covered for me, and I was able to sneak in with no one the wiser. And my friend who covered for me is so awesome that there was a cappuccino waiting for me on my desk. I got a really fun rush of irresponsibility (or was that just a hangover?) as I sneaked into the building.

And, I got to see the Weakerthans for free last night. It was fabulous.

And, I also started planning my March Break SXSW trip to Austin TX this weekend. I have my flights booked and it looks like I'll get to explore both Austin and Dallas while I'm in Texas.

And I found out tonight that the Weakerthans are playing a showcase while I'm in Austin, and I so hope that I'll be able to go to that!

And, the new Hawksley Workman CD is awesome.

And, my birthday trip to NYC is coming up quickly, and we've bought tickets to a broadway show.

And, I got to see the movie "Once", which was really good, and I'm going to borrow the soundtrack from a friend to put on my iPod.

And, there was a kickass snowstorm on Friday, which was OK because I did not have to make it to work at a specific time and a lot of people didn't even both to come in, so I got to hog the photocopier and get ready for the new semester.

And, I've had lots of time to spend with various enjoyable people in my life.

And, things are just awesome right now. Hmmmm, maybe I could almost delete "Today Will Be Better, I Swear" from my iPod, but it's always good to have it there on backup, and it's a great song even when it's not needed for therapeutic reasons.