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. :)