12/20/10

Music Monday Seis

I am making full use of my last semester (fingers crossed) as a student for a while - making some christmas presents.  Like corkboards.  And cookies.  And cds por mi madre.  And I came across an old friend = heart

12/2/10

Word of the Day: Bumblebeetuna

I seem to have this recurring condition.  It's like a hangover.  But it's not.  And it happens almost every day.

I think it's because coffee has replaced water in my diet.  Pretty much because it's free at work, although so is water but it's free everywhere.  Except the cinema.  They charge you $3.50 and your first child.

Hypothesis: Increasing my daily water consumption will decrease or eliminate the what-the-fuck-happened-last-night feeling from my daily wake up routine (exception: Roadhouse nights, Rusty Cage nights, drinking undetermined litres of wine with Debbie nights, etc).



It's going to be hard; like I mentioned, coffee is free at work.  Ya, "free" - my third favourite word [next to "button" (not "buddon") and "irregardless"].

Just kidding on that last one.  It's not a word.  Seriously, next time you say it, you should punch yourself in the mouth for lackadaisically following your peers.  It's just simply not a word.  You should just save yourself the one tenth of a second it takes to say the "ir" and use "regardless".  Think about it.... "anyways"?? Ya, not a word either.  It really makes no sense.  Like, it's nonsense (see, that one works, it's a word).  No one can go any ways.  That is just a ridiculous concept.  Use the forgotten sibling, "anyway".  It's one less letter.  It's like that one last drink everyone has to slam before leaving the club - no one needs it, but it's socially unacceptable not to do it because everyone else is.  Take a stand my friends, drop the S and stop adding to the issues the english language already has.

And..... break.


11/15/10

Music Monday

Fact: I have a lot of free time.  Most of which I spend on youtube and such.
Fact: I find cool shit.
Fact: My treasures should be shared.

Thus, New Music Monday was born.  Monday is one lucky guy to get this new job.  If his name didn't start with an M, I doubt he would have been given this prestigious role.  But he has.  And vows to follow it through weekly.

Number One:

8/17/10

Coco Chanel

"How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something but to be someone.”

8/3/10

Oh Dear

Thought of the day (in light of my new hobby of learning about an animal every day):

Do mama deer hide out in the bushes with their newly acquired yung'uns, waiting for a vehicle to approach, so that they can jump out in front of the fast-approaching vehicle and lead their offspring across the road at near-lightening speed??

I think so.  How else do they master the darting-to-freak-the-bejeezus-out-of-me moves they are so well known for?  Clearly the lazy douche-bag moose who thinks he's the shit and mosies across the road at his own leisure.  Nor the illusive caribou because I am beginning to doubt it's existence, or at least I will until I see one in the wild for reals.


7/13/10

Taking

My past few summers have taught me to enjoy the little things that make life so wonderful.
I like rain.  I like corn.  I like my new bicycle.  Scratch that, love my new bicycle.  I like splashing in the puddles and getting others soaked - who doesn't?? It reminds me of my childhood when spring and summer rains meant riding my bike as fast as I could through puddles with Jennifer M then going home and warming up with grilled cheeses and hot chocolate.  I like reading the classic novels I never did in school, like To Kill A Mockingbird.  I like an afternoon on the couch with red curtains.  I like me a good crossword - Will Shortz, should you be young, strapping and handsome will you marry me?
I also really really love love love to a million and one pieces, the perfect Little LJ.  I cannot wait to see him smile.  I think he likes me.  I bet he will even more when I give him his first pair of Chuck Taylors.


Something to chill to on a dreary day.

Vampire Ponderings

Last summer I was taken in by the Twilight saga train.  It took some convincing by Mar to get me to read the first book.

Hook line and sinker.  I was obsessed.  Not in an unhealthy-I-dream-of-Edward-Cullen-and-think-he-will-rescue-me-and-make-me-a-vampire-so-we-can-spend-eternity-together.  No, this was just a hunger to find out the story of our dear Edward and Bella.

Truth: I read the last 10-15 pages of the second in the series before I read the first page.  I had to make sure Edward wasn't a dickwad.

In the next few months, I began wondering a lot about vampires and werewolves.  What they were capable of and such.  The book leaves a lot to the imagination.  And I had a lot of free time to think of whatever I wanted while I "managed vegetation" for four months.

I began keeping notepads (hotel complimentary, obviously) at my side at all times.  Each titled "Vampire Ponderings."  I needed a system to keep track of what I well, pondered.  Here is a conglomeration of afore mentioned notepads (recently discovered in another notebook):

1. Can vampires be poisoned?
2. How long would it take Edward to cool my coffee? Or turn milk to ice cream?
3. How long would it take Edward to kill oh, 2 hectares of trees?
4..... or a rainforest?
5. How long would it take Edward to turn a bath into a hot tub?
6. How long would it take a vampire to race across the world? Or Canada?
7. Could Edward walk across water, like Jesus? (disclaimer: I am in NO way claiming a vampire nor Edward are comparable to Jesus).  Just saying.
8. Werewolves vs. vampires: could they have a baby together? (I HAD thought early on if vampires could have babies, and I was ill-timely informed that they could, alluding to the plot of the fourth book.  I was distraught only briefly.  More Edward Cullens make the world a happier place.)
9. Can vampires eat food at all?  Does it digest? Do they have to use the washroom or does it just, like, disappear in their system if they do consume it?  Do they taste it?  Do they enjoy it, or is it like eating wind?
10. Do they sweat?
11. Do vampires daydream?
12. Do they need to shower?  Or does it make them loose their sparkle?
13. Do they have nerves and feel/enjoy things like showering?
14. Can vampires grow fingernails?  Does their hair grow?
15. Is there one super-smart vampire that has been around for ages and makes fake identities for all the other vampires so they can live undetected for so long??

These next few were titled "Kirsten's Vampire Theories."  After much debate between Amy and I, certain issues and questions regarding the two mythical humans were resolved, and a conclusion was drawn:

15. Vampires cannot be inebriated or tipsy in any way, really.  The logic here being that they do not have blood therefore cannot have alcohol or similar substances enter the bloodstream therefore not affecting them.  Plus, Edward is perfect and there is no need to get him hammered - how can he fly you to perfect meadows at a moments notice safely under the influence??
16. Related to the previous: Vampires cannot fail a Blood Alcohol Level test.  Although they may not even register.  (Disclaimer, again: Obviously, this is not to condone drunk driving.)
17. Vampires cannot reproduce.  Because they just cannot.  However, as previously mentioned, this thought was shattered.
18. Vampires cannot gain weight.  You ever seen a fat vampire???  I really do not think they can get enough blood, so not matter how much they consume they never put on the pounds.  They can lose it, however, when starved.  Boo yah.
19.  Vampires cannot enjoy Reese Puffs cereal.  Because they are immune to the side effects of eating copious amounts (ie. massive caloric intake = weight gain), they cannot understand the satisfaction one needs to derive from eating a small portion of them.  It is just not fair if they could eat them.

Besides vampires, little else is new and worthy of mentioning at the moment.  Plus, it is hard to type with a cast on so I'd really rather not bother.  Well, I did break my wrist.  And it was my lovely 26th birthday last week.  I celebrated with pizza and beer.  Best birthday in a year :)

7/9/10

an interupted summer

Summer. It's supposed to be filled with trips down the river on rafts lugging Palm Beach coolers and Lucky behind it, excursions to the Seebe cliffs for jumping and amazing photos, jaunts to the waterpark with Little LJ.... not overcast with a broken wrist. Sad.

Apparently, falling off the truck equals a bad idea.

Given my new situation, I have come to realize how useful two wrists are.
It is hard to put my hair in a ponytail, wash dishes (hair, anything really), type and text, flip through a book and/or read (summer reading list is suffering), open jars, cut toast and eggs, scoop ice cream, you get the idea.

Thank your wrists every now and then - even your non-dominant one. it might save your ass (or arm and entire left half of your body).

In other news, we had perogies for dinnah tonight and they were fantastic and delicious. thank you, Annie, from the Hinton farmers market. You are my hero.

5/31/10

*Edited Summer Reading List

It only took one short trip to the bookstore to alter my list.  In one hand, a list of books and authors.  In the other hand, a gift card from my dad.  There was no way the afternoon trip on a rainy day could turn out unfavorably.

A brief distraction by the war and history books on sale and a near $9 steal for Gordon Kerr's Leaders Who Changed the World (final verdict: far more wanted books on my list, and not as big as this fat little book).... and it was the fiction section for me.  Who won me over?

The new additions are:
*Lord of the Flies (William Golding) - Never read it (obviously), just like To Kill a Mockingbird.  Cannot hardly wait to read it.
*A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (Dave Eggers) - I've heard mixed reviews of this autobiography (which I am often wary about because often they are an embellishment of the truth and frustrate me as to why they were therefore written), nonetheless, I broke down and am taking a gamble that I will be amused by it and hopefully not be bored by the middle.
*On the Road (Jack Kerouac) - Originally it was his novel Big Sur that caught my attention, but I've found this one to have better reviews and more-so the best of his Beat generation novels.  Here's hoping (note my crossed fingers...)
*Shakedown: How Our Government is Undermining Democracy in the Name of Human Rights (Ezra Levant) - Stoked on this one ever since I saw him open for Anne Coulter (please, keep the boo-ing to a minimum, she's not that bad).
*Book of Negroes (Lawrence Hill) - Since Uncle Tom's Cabin is on my fall reading list (once I find a used copy, it only seems right to buy an old copy that smells like, well, like a book should), this topic is in the back of my mind.  I have heard many great things about this book and far too many people have suggested it to me for me to ignore.  It's in the list, baby.

So, there's my new updated list.  In no particular order.  In between long periods of reading today, I will be making my nephew smile at me and try to get him laughing more (he gets confused when he tries and ends up crying instead, cute little man).
I may also attempt to make some muffins for work this week, although it will be a short one, so perhaps I will make some in Calgs over the weekend.  Zucchini is on my mind so hopefully the Farmer's Market pleases me and I barter for some good wares and produce.
xox

5/8/10

Another Love/Hate Relationship

The Rubik's Cube.

Photo credits: Invader

5/6/10

SAM!! (thanks to Leona for the pic)

Update One:
Proof that Sam was in the condo.  BIG NEWS should have actually been the introduction:
Update two: There is no update two.  I just didn't want to become the Crazy Cat Lady Who Doesn't Even Own A Cat But Rather Takes Enjoyment And Credit For Her Neighbor's Awesome Cat And His Shinannigans.

5/4/10

Summer Reading List, First Draft

Hooookay, here's the thing: my attempts to read during the Christmas break failed miserably.  I have no particular reason in mind, but I assume it is because I tend to procrastinate far more than I should.  Other possible reasons to fall extremely (read: 100%) short of my goal are lack of time due to poor time management, rewatching season 4 disc 2 of One Tree Hill more than once because I was too put out to take it out of my DVD player, the temptation of doing nearly nothing for a few weeks, snowboarding and Whitefish.... the list really does go on.  But in the end, it's sheer procrastination.  Boourns.

Therefore, I propose a new reading list for the summer.  A better, well thought out reading list.  It will contain books I will read for guilty pleasure, to challenge my intellect, and/or because I thought the title or front page were fantastic.  Given the last criterion, I should add Vampirates to the roster, but I may have trouble tracking it down, the tweens will be all over it for a good summer read.  I may be forced to replace it with the Twilight-mockery series.  Tempting, so tempting.  Seriously, they look good (fulfilling the first criterion).

Without further ado and babbling, my first reading list:
1. Finish The Picture of Dorian Gray.  Seriously, it is becoming my Everest, bigger than Guns, Germs and Steel
2. A Swiftly Turning Planet ( a book in Madeleine L'Engle's series, like A Wrinkle in Time)
3. Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse
4. Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut
5. The Wayfinders - Wade Davis (part of the Massey Lectures series.  A Race Against Time was an assigned book for a class last year, and I absolutely loved it.  The way it is written, oh! It is as if you are in a lecture hall listening to the most captivating speech you have ever heard. I highly recommend it, although I give you fair warning that it may slightly depress you.  Nonetheless, amazing.)
6. A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
7. Gods Behaving Badly - Marie Phillips

I will stop there.  Odd numbers are the best to end a list.  As is the number 7.  It is not too high like 9 or 10 (which is even, so clearly out of the picture all together, despite the attraction most feel towards lists being this length) nor is it too simple and well-planned like 5 seems (considering 10 is too large and even, many people find it makes sense to half 10 to 5, but it seems all-too-convenient so I am not a fan of 5-itemed lists).

On a side note, the neighbor's cat, (Sam) has decided to take a liking to the Condo.  It has made two recent treks through the open door and up the stairs, peeking around the corner to jingle his bell and give a quick 'hello' before jaunting off to scratch himself on the sidewalk.  This new step in our relationship pleases me.

4/1/10

"Hello, Summer. Please come in, I've been waiting for you"



Side note: These dudes are playing Saturday. I hope to win free tickets, because I love free things. If not, I still may go. Come with meeeeeeeeeeee!

3/30/10

Word of the Day: Hitlarian.

The word has nothing to do with this piece of heaven I found.  I just thought it was wonderful and am going to see if I can use it astutely once a week in a conversation.  It could become "my" word.  I have been told repeatedly in the past I use "nonetheless" often.  I like to correct when people say "irregardless" so I suppose "regardless" could be another alternative, too.  Or, bacchanalian.

3/10/10

Inabilities

Here is a list of things I am not able to do:
1. snap my fingers
2. whistle (I am getting closer, though)
3. play the guitar (exception: whatever I played after the IPE in Armstrong)
4. draw a near-perfect to perfect circle free hand
5. 1260s in the halfpipe
6. text and talk at the same time.  You could have Edward Cullen propose to me, but so long as I am texting, I will mutter something alike to "yuh-huh" or "yah..." or even "oh... so then what...?".  It's a curse, really.

I cannot end a list with an even number but today I make an exception.  I cannot be bothered to think of more - this list will do for now.

I like things.  Here are two of them, selected for their awesomeness.  I will buy you a bunny if you know who is the original band that sings the first video, without cheating, and within the first 15 seconds of it.  The bunny has to be white, though.  I like white, too.

AND this:

2/21/10

The usual love/love-to-hate relationship

It is that time of year again, the time that I start realizing how much I procrastinate.  I really thought I was on top of things this semester, but this past reading week has proven me very wrong on that assumption.  The Week of Hell starts tomorrow: a 10 page position paper due tomorrow, a tough-ass midterm, a very detailed paper proposal, and another midterm awaits me this week.  I have been tempted far too many times this past week to go purchase a glass coffee table and re-enact last April's accident, in hopes of getting a medical note so I can get extensions on everything.  Yet that would seem to just pile things up more and more, so a 6 hour night/early am of paper editing and editing and editing awaits me.

Despite this pressure to punch out an amazing position on Argentina and the NPT in a quickly decreasing amount of time, I have found time to write this and share three things:
1. I made delicious biscuits at 10 a.m. while everyone slept off their hangovers - we had a full house and it felt like summer, so nice!  So I have decided that cooking is my therapy for almost anything in my life - late night, stress, boredom.
2. I frackin' love Bruce.  Still.  Forever.  How can anyone not just want to lay on the floor (or cook) and just listen???  Beautiful everything about his music.  This is my current song on repeat by him (mixed in with some Tik Tok and T Swift, of course), only on his Live 1975-85 album.  Bittersweet.

3. I own a coffee table from Value Village.  It was $10, has tacky brass edging that I love (obviously), and it came already named!!!  "My name is Jack" was Sharpie-enscribed on the bottom.  Naturally, we added to that today and Jack has new tattoos of a Rom-Nom Dinosaur that is about to devour an Awesome Kitchen Whore with Ho Heels, a mariposa, a picture of Paradise (with no food or Bruce though, that might need to change), and a poorly-depicted New Years Jack in the Box.

2/11/10

Kitty Goes to Vancouver (2010).

Here are pictures of my trip to Vancouver, a long overdue visit to see Andrea and her beau.

In Sum: I love Vancouver but I would miss the snow.  I pretended I was camping when the air mattress deflated mid-sleep one night, it was fun.  Red-walled condos scare me.  It is too warm in Van for outdoor skating rinks - sadness.  I did not meet my soulmate there, that is ok though because I discovered the magic of Glee.  It took up my life for two days after I returned home.  I have an obsessive personality to some significant degree.  Neat.


P.S. Thank you, Dad, for buying my ticket  <3








2/10/10

I hope this works.....

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!