Me in a Nutshell

Things that make my day:

1. Unexpected visits.
2. Trips to the T&T supermarket.
3. Lychee jelly shooters.
4. Parks in the fall with people I enjoy at all times of day.
5. Aladdin on the CBC’s Sunday night movie.

Things that break my day:

1. The TTC, on more than one occasion in recent history.
2. People who drive Hummers in the city—seriously?!
3. Bad dreams.
4. Bad rehearsals.
5. Lactose.

Things that do both on the same day:

1. The US presidential elections.

But still, I love the whole world, it’s such a brilliant place!

Koka

It’s true. That’s what every girl really wants…a boy who’ll bring her a koka. Now, join me in the dance.

The (Self Appointed) Queen of Non-Sequitor

It takes a special sort of ad (or product) to make me care enough to remember what they were. I’d like to draw your attention to two such instances.

The Shamwow. Wow. I know it’s probably a scam but every cleaning cloth I’ve tried so far is a waste of time and I just can’t justify cutting down trees so my counters will get cleaned (so I use them guiltily). Isn’t it fantastic the way it draws moisture out of carpet?! Unfortunately, there’s no video for product number two, which is probably a good thing because if I see that commercial one more time I’ll be forced to find and then kick the person who thought it would be a good idea. What am I talking about? What I am talking about is the insidious perversion of the tried and tested for the sake of being “with the times”. Why does monopoly need debit cards?! You play monopoly with your kids to teach them how to add and subtract in their heads and to learn the value of money…apparently now, it’s more important that you teach the kiddies how to swipe some plastic. It’s a symptom of the crapulence that is the world today!

Our House is a Very Very Very Fine House

This summer has been the summer of home improvements. This summer, I’ve planted a garden and painted the deck which may not sound like a lot of work, but doing it solo is very time consuming–more so than I would’ve imagined. These are my first forays into home improvements. I think I finally feel like I can make executive decisions without having to defer them to someone older than me. Anyway, for the most part, I’ve enjoyed doing it. The big exception to this has been the curtains. The old owners of our house left their curtains for the living room with us. To put it nicely, they were plastic, valanced monstrosities and I’ve wanted to change them ever since we moved in but we just didn’t get the time to do it. So finally my mom bought curtains and as a surprise for her I decided to install them while she was away on a trip. But lo and behold, my mom bought curtains of different lengths! So after unscrewing the old valence and runners that the old curtains ran on, and installing the new rod, I realized the project wouldn’t be done any time soon. This is where I turn into a 13 year old, I got annoyed, thought that the curtains looked fine just as they were (there were 2 of equal length) and quit. What followed was weeks of discussion on how the curtains should be hung: should we use two curtains or four? Should we use another layer of curtains behind the nice red ones we bought? What length should the curtains be? After all that, this what we ended up with:

Taking The Low Road? Be Prepared for the Muck

All my (brief) adult life, I’ve shied away from confrontation. I was far too unsure of myself, and far too shy to tell someone that I thought that they were wrong or that they wronged me. It sounds horrible, but I’ve gotten by. Sure, I get annoyed and I whine to my near and dear about it, but I would quickly forget about whatever happened. I’m sure it helped that I earnestly believed that it wouldn’t happen again. I wasn’t taking the high road for moral reasons–it was just because I didn’t believe I had a choice.

I’m Just So Awesome (Part 3)

This will be in point form, I apologize in advance. I’m so awesome because:

1. I hit myself in the face with my bedroom door (I was trying to open it) and gave myself a swollen lip.

2. I burnt 24 cookies all the while asking my sister-in-law why there was smoke coming from the oven.

3. (This one doesn’t hurt my self-esteem) I finally said what I meant to say to someone!

VOGUE!

I have a pretty mundane sense of style. Plain tees and jeans every day of the week. While this has served me well until now, it has occurred to me that maybe I should start putting some effort in to looking presentable when I leave the house in the morning, not because I particularly care what I look like, but it’s becoming painfully obvious that I can’t hide behind being young anymore. And yes kids, it’s not just the inside that counts. I hate that I’m saying this. It totally runs contrary to my philosophy de vetements! What was my philosophy? If it covers all the important areas, doesn’t make me feel huge and isn’t a matching velour sweat pant set, it’s good enough for me. This relatively low maintenance philosophy was helped by my ridiculously cheap sense of style; $20 for pants and probably a little less for tops. In my defense, I only got paid a paltry sum once a year. No money plus no style equals:

You’re Leaving On A Jet Plane

There’s been a lot of seriousness going on in here, and unfortunately this post isn’t the end of it. This year has seen people coming in and out of my life and I don’t mean that in a bad way. I’ve seen more family in the last year then I have in the 4 years before that put together and it was (for the most part) great! My family is good people! Couple that with the end of university, the tiny semi-circle of people I love and the divergence of life paths that previously allowed those near and dear to me to live in the same city, and you’ve got a year full of good byes. (I promise the wordy sentences end here).

I wasn’t averse to goodbyes before. Before I turned ten, I had already been through seven schools so i got used to it. I think a combination of 13 years of uninterrupted time spent in one city and unforgiving maturity has made me soft. Now I blubber like a baby when I have to say bye to those I love. It’s actually quite embarrassing, but in my own dorky way, it just shows how much I’ll miss the person leaving.