7/17/2010
Ooooh! Aaaah!
I am making this post from the iPad that my mom got for her birthday today. People have been asking for demonstrations on how to use this thing, so I'm doing this to show them stuff. This is the 64GB version with 3G capability, which is pretty impressive. Typing is pretty easy on it, too. Taadaa!
3/22/2010
Return of Blog
Wow. It's been so long since I used this blog that I tried to sign into my account with the wrong e-mail address. o.O I used my gmail account by mistake, and it told me I wasn't the author of any blogs, and for half a second I wondered if I'd just let this thing languish for so long that it had disappeared into the ether. I should find a way to back up the entirety of my blog. This is the 433rd post, according to Blogger, so backing up each one individually would be a pain. Anybody know if it's possible to save your enitre blog at once? I am so out of touch with what can be done with Blogger...
In any case, I'm feeling the urge to talk about myself and my non-interesting life right now, so have a post:
Got a haircut today for the first time in freaking forever. It's only a few inches shorter than before, but I got layers added, so I actually have a lot less hair now. Hopefully this means it'll dry faster. The hair around my face doesn't fit into a ponytail, though. =/ My hair is no longer "Eve in Eden" long, but it's still to my mid-back. And this cut got rid of the last of the frazzled part from when I bleached out the red streaks I had a few years ago.
Updated Firefox and discovered that there's an entire category of Foxkeh "personas" (read: themes). I have a love of foxes, so I went and browsed through them. I actually found one that's both awesome and subtle enough for my tastes, so I'm now using it. I even changed my display options to always show the tabs bar so that I can see the entire picture of the little foxkeh in the corner. ^_^ I tend to hate tabs, but maybe always having the tabs bar displayed will encourage me to use them. So far, though, my opinion of them has been that I prefer seeing how many webpages I'm looking at by looking at the Windows Task Bar, because I often have different Firefox windows open relating to different tasks I'm working on, so having two Firefox windows and two other programs open makes more visual sense to me than having to look at Firefox specifically and then relate my tabs back to the other programs. It's a small thing, but I've always figured that if it's just a matter of preference, then it doesn't particularly matter, so I might as well do it the way I like. Hmm. That logic may be circular. I might have to rethink my defense of separate browser windows for separate webpages/tasks. Bah.
You know what? That's all I feel like talking about right now. Everything else in my life has been discussed to death lately. I just need the internet so that I can ramble about things nobody cares about. ^_^
In any case, I'm feeling the urge to talk about myself and my non-interesting life right now, so have a post:
Got a haircut today for the first time in freaking forever. It's only a few inches shorter than before, but I got layers added, so I actually have a lot less hair now. Hopefully this means it'll dry faster. The hair around my face doesn't fit into a ponytail, though. =/ My hair is no longer "Eve in Eden" long, but it's still to my mid-back. And this cut got rid of the last of the frazzled part from when I bleached out the red streaks I had a few years ago.
Updated Firefox and discovered that there's an entire category of Foxkeh "personas" (read: themes). I have a love of foxes, so I went and browsed through them. I actually found one that's both awesome and subtle enough for my tastes, so I'm now using it. I even changed my display options to always show the tabs bar so that I can see the entire picture of the little foxkeh in the corner. ^_^ I tend to hate tabs, but maybe always having the tabs bar displayed will encourage me to use them. So far, though, my opinion of them has been that I prefer seeing how many webpages I'm looking at by looking at the Windows Task Bar, because I often have different Firefox windows open relating to different tasks I'm working on, so having two Firefox windows and two other programs open makes more visual sense to me than having to look at Firefox specifically and then relate my tabs back to the other programs. It's a small thing, but I've always figured that if it's just a matter of preference, then it doesn't particularly matter, so I might as well do it the way I like. Hmm. That logic may be circular. I might have to rethink my defense of separate browser windows for separate webpages/tasks. Bah.
You know what? That's all I feel like talking about right now. Everything else in my life has been discussed to death lately. I just need the internet so that I can ramble about things nobody cares about. ^_^
1/21/2010
25 Things About Me
So a couple people have tagged me to do this. If I've tagged you, it means I want you to write a similar blog post/facebook note. Because I think you're cool. (Or, if you're one of the people who tagged me, I've tagged you to show off the fact that I've finally done this!)
So, yeah, the idea is to list 25 facts/quriks/habits/etc. pertaining to me. Here they are.
1) I am verbose. I try to be concise, but I like to talk about things. This will likely be relevant throughout the rest of this post.
2) I have had my janitablog.blogspot blog/account for four and a half years now. I loved it and used it constantly at first. I still love it, but I barely use it anymore. I feel kind of bad about that. =(
3) I semi-recently acquired a Dreamwidth blog account, which you can find at http://janita.dreamwidth.org. A site invitation fell into my lap, so I decided to get my name while it was available. I think there are three posts on that blog, two of which are about the layout. Layouts on Dreamwidth are much more complicated than on Blogger. Actually, a lot of things on Dreamwidth are much more complicated than on Blogger. I'm starting to wonder why I bothered getting the account...
4) My vision is really horrid. I wear contact lenses for sever myopia, and I put glasses overtop of those for my mild astigmatism when I need them and remember them. My optometrist and I tried really hard to find a brand of torric contact lenses that worked for me so that I could correct both problems with just contacts, but we were unsuccessful. I have a pair of glasses that corrects both my myopia and my astigmatism, but I lose so much peripheral vision when I don't wear my contacts that it annoys me. Come to think of it, my optometrist recently had a stroke and is no longer working, so I have to find a new one. Dang...
5) I'm no good at playing the piano. I took lessons as a kid, and I could probably improve with considerable effort, but my piano profficiency course in first year university was like torture for me. Completing it supposedly gives me grade 3 on the RCM scale, but it was a mandatory pass/fail course, so it's not worth much.
6) I was a very literal child. I didn't understand the concept "figure of speech." The example I give most often of this is that, when I was very young, I thought that "making love" consisted of two people sitting around, cutting hearts out of construction paper. They were literally *making* love. It was therefore a shock to discover that you were supposed to be naked while making love--I didn't see why, and I thought it was rather inappropriate.
7) I've always thought that, if anybody could read my mind, I'd sound like a broken jukebox. I live with constant "earworms." And, for the most part, I don't mind. The only times it bothers me is if I don't like what's stuck in my heaad. Very seldom do I get annoyed with a song or something simply because it's been repeated too many times. Right now I have the music from the Finish diswasher detergent commercial stuck in my head. It's relatively inoffensive.
8) I am a night owl. I enjoy doing things at night because there aren't any deadlines or appointments. Nothing gets in my way. Well, except the morning. I do not suffer from insomnia. I did briefly, actually, but it was because I kept waking up early, not because I couldn't get to sleep. But, anyway, yeah, I'm productive at night, just like a lot of my friends, with whom I hang out online on IM and whatnot. ^_^
9) I work alone. This is related to number eight. I focus best when I don't have to worry about other people, so at night, when everybody else is in bed, I'm in my element. I'm happy to be social with other people while I'm working, so long as I don't have to deal with them in relation to my work. I find it really difficult to co-ordinate my thought process with other people, so group work just doesn't go well for me. It was always my least favourite part of school. If I wasn't a musician, I'd get myself a t-shirt that says "Does not play well with others."
10) I am a very private person. This is related to number nine, in that I work alone because I don't like other people knowing what I'm doing. It's rather stupid, really. For no good reason that I've ever really been able to articulate, I don't like other people knowing much about me or messing with my stuff. Obviously, there are many exceptions to this, such as friends and Peter, but my default setting is to just not tell people things and to keep my stuff away from people who might go through it or even move it around. I do think it's simpler in some ways because a lot of people just don't need to know some stuff, but I can't shake the feeling that this means I'm screwed up in some way.
11) I still cringe at gaffes I made 20 years ago. I am 25 years old. Nothing I did at the age of 5 should embarrass me, but some of it still does. I'm surprised I even remember any of it... ^_^
12) I eat a lot of cold cereal. It is my go-to food. If I'm hungry and I don't feel like making anything, I'll have cereal. This happens remarkably often. Raisin Bran and Mini Wheats are the most common kinds I'll eat, but I also like Just Right, Honey Nut Cornflakes, and Oatmeal Crisp. Occasionally, I'll eat my mom's Life cereal, though, ironically, I don't much like it. My cereal-eating habit makes Peter shake his head.
13) I have a partially eidetic memory. My father and siblings are the same way. I can usually be counted on to remember things. I have to actually take something in in order to remember it, though, so stuff like history, which I never really studied, I just don't know about. It makes an interesting contrast with stuff I have studied. And by "interesting," I mean it makes me look like an idiot. ^_^
14) I watched Sailor Moon when I was a kid. Like, 11-13 years old. It's where I picked up the ^_^ emoticon that I've been using occasionally in this post. It's pretty much the only anime I ever watched, but a lot of people who see me use that emoticon assume I watch all kinds of anime. I had Sailor Moon trading cards and everything. It was Pokemon for girls, but before Pokemon really came onto the scene. Ah, my awkward adolescence. ^_^
15) My mom tried to force me to take Home Economics in junior high school. I wanted to take Drama instead. I have never been in the habit of letting my parents force me to do anything, so I fought tooth and nail against taking Home Ec. My mom made me pass a test of what she thought I should learn from the course before she let me take Drama. The test included how to make baking powder biscuits. Because there's no such thing as recipes. My mother is a strange woman in some ways...
16) I love pickles, but I avoid any other pickled foods. The thing I love about pickles is the texture of the pickled cucumber flesh. Because of this, I prefer to eat pickles whole, rather than sliced. Other foods just aren't the same when pickled. I'm not a huge salt fan (I prefer sweet things), so the brine doesn't appeal to me all that much. It took me a long time to develop any kind of a taste for pickles. When I was a kid, Jenilee used to eat my pickles because I didn't like them. Jenilee would eat anything, though, so I'm not sure that anecdote is evidence of her more developed palate.
17) When I started university, I discovered an unexpected love for music theory. Though my favourite part of music was and still is conducting, I would have been interested in doing a degree in music theory. Sadly, though, that was only possible at the U of A if I did Theory and Composition, and I didn't want to compose. A lot of junior/senior high kids think of theory as that annoying bookwork they get punished with when they keep goofing around, but it's actually quite wonderful. I am toally a geek...
18) When I was on vacation in Mexico the summer I turned 12, there was a hurricane a ways down the coast that was causing large waves where we were in Cancun. My parents and I were wading in the surf on our way back to our room one day when, seemingly out of nowhere, a huge wave hit us (well, mostly me), and washed away my glasses. This was before I started wearing contact lenses, and it was only halfway through our two-week vacation, so I was blind for about a week.
19) In high school, a lot of people knew who I was. I went to a pretty big high school (over 2000 students in three grades), and I had no idea who most people were. It was always weird to have somebody say they'd seen me perform in band at some school function, or in the play or something. It was like being popular, except I was a keener instead of being cool. ^_^
20) Something else that happened in high school is that my school had a lockdown drill after 9/11. I thought this was bullshit, so I decided to protest it. I had Drama class at the time the drill was scheduled, which was a largely unsupervised class, so when the announcement for the lockdown was made, I went into the "rotunda" (big open space in the middle of the school) in front of the office. One of the teachers came out and told me to go to class, and I yelled at him for a bit about how stupid the whole thing was before I sat myself down and refused to move. I was alone for this. My Drama teacher knew where I was, mind. I don't think he made any of his students stop whatever they were doing for the lockdown. When the drill was over, I went back to class. I didn't have to go talk to the principal or anything like that (probably because they were busy at the time), but one of the administration cornered my Drama teacher later to ask him why I wasn't in class for the lockdown drill. He defended me, saying that my ancestors had had enough experience with fascism. He had no idea who any of my family members were, of course. He told me all of this after school that day when he was tweaking my costume for the play. Looking back, I can't believe I got worked up enough to do that, but I love my Drama teacher so much. =)
21) My favourite TV show of all time is ReBoot, one of the earliest CGI series. My favourite character from the show is AndrAIa. The show started airing when I was 10, but it still rocks my socks.
22) For my current job, I had to learn how to drive a standard transmission. I'm a school liason/sales rep for a musical instrument repair shop, so I drive around to schools all day. The company has a car for this purpose, but it's a standard. I was taught mostly by the guy I took over from, who was 21 or 22. It made me feel rather silly to be taking driving lessons from a guy who was younger than me.
23) I have read the Twilight books, and I didn't hate them. Actually, I kind of like them. Please note that this is a moderate opinion. I bought the first one when I was living in England and my computer was sent in for repairs, so I was bored stiff. I read it twice, then bought the other books as I went through them. They have their issues, certainly, but there's some neat stuff in there. The movies are vastly inferior to the books, of course.
24) I haven't bothered to get a haircut in over a year. I've been meaning to since the summer, but I've always been wanting to get a salon dye job to make my hair silvery-gray, so I've been postponing getting it cut until I dye it, which I have been postponing for various reasons. Currently, it's because I'm post-Christmas broke, so I think I'll cave and just get a cut without getting it dyed. My hair is almost down to my waist now, which is kind of crazy.
25) My drink of choice at Starbucks is a triple grande non-fat latte. If I'm in the mood for something sweet, I get a grande non-fat caramel macchiato. On the rare occasion that I'm looking for something low in caffeine, I get a grande non-fat earl gray tea misto with vanilla syrup. The Starbucks giftcard I got for Christmas has already been used up. ^_^
That's all! I hope you've enjoyed this extremely long entry! I don't even want to guess at how long it took me to write. =)
So, yeah, the idea is to list 25 facts/quriks/habits/etc. pertaining to me. Here they are.
1) I am verbose. I try to be concise, but I like to talk about things. This will likely be relevant throughout the rest of this post.
2) I have had my janitablog.blogspot blog/account for four and a half years now. I loved it and used it constantly at first. I still love it, but I barely use it anymore. I feel kind of bad about that. =(
3) I semi-recently acquired a Dreamwidth blog account, which you can find at http://janita.dreamwidth.org. A site invitation fell into my lap, so I decided to get my name while it was available. I think there are three posts on that blog, two of which are about the layout. Layouts on Dreamwidth are much more complicated than on Blogger. Actually, a lot of things on Dreamwidth are much more complicated than on Blogger. I'm starting to wonder why I bothered getting the account...
4) My vision is really horrid. I wear contact lenses for sever myopia, and I put glasses overtop of those for my mild astigmatism when I need them and remember them. My optometrist and I tried really hard to find a brand of torric contact lenses that worked for me so that I could correct both problems with just contacts, but we were unsuccessful. I have a pair of glasses that corrects both my myopia and my astigmatism, but I lose so much peripheral vision when I don't wear my contacts that it annoys me. Come to think of it, my optometrist recently had a stroke and is no longer working, so I have to find a new one. Dang...
5) I'm no good at playing the piano. I took lessons as a kid, and I could probably improve with considerable effort, but my piano profficiency course in first year university was like torture for me. Completing it supposedly gives me grade 3 on the RCM scale, but it was a mandatory pass/fail course, so it's not worth much.
6) I was a very literal child. I didn't understand the concept "figure of speech." The example I give most often of this is that, when I was very young, I thought that "making love" consisted of two people sitting around, cutting hearts out of construction paper. They were literally *making* love. It was therefore a shock to discover that you were supposed to be naked while making love--I didn't see why, and I thought it was rather inappropriate.
7) I've always thought that, if anybody could read my mind, I'd sound like a broken jukebox. I live with constant "earworms." And, for the most part, I don't mind. The only times it bothers me is if I don't like what's stuck in my heaad. Very seldom do I get annoyed with a song or something simply because it's been repeated too many times. Right now I have the music from the Finish diswasher detergent commercial stuck in my head. It's relatively inoffensive.
8) I am a night owl. I enjoy doing things at night because there aren't any deadlines or appointments. Nothing gets in my way. Well, except the morning. I do not suffer from insomnia. I did briefly, actually, but it was because I kept waking up early, not because I couldn't get to sleep. But, anyway, yeah, I'm productive at night, just like a lot of my friends, with whom I hang out online on IM and whatnot. ^_^
9) I work alone. This is related to number eight. I focus best when I don't have to worry about other people, so at night, when everybody else is in bed, I'm in my element. I'm happy to be social with other people while I'm working, so long as I don't have to deal with them in relation to my work. I find it really difficult to co-ordinate my thought process with other people, so group work just doesn't go well for me. It was always my least favourite part of school. If I wasn't a musician, I'd get myself a t-shirt that says "Does not play well with others."
10) I am a very private person. This is related to number nine, in that I work alone because I don't like other people knowing what I'm doing. It's rather stupid, really. For no good reason that I've ever really been able to articulate, I don't like other people knowing much about me or messing with my stuff. Obviously, there are many exceptions to this, such as friends and Peter, but my default setting is to just not tell people things and to keep my stuff away from people who might go through it or even move it around. I do think it's simpler in some ways because a lot of people just don't need to know some stuff, but I can't shake the feeling that this means I'm screwed up in some way.
11) I still cringe at gaffes I made 20 years ago. I am 25 years old. Nothing I did at the age of 5 should embarrass me, but some of it still does. I'm surprised I even remember any of it... ^_^
12) I eat a lot of cold cereal. It is my go-to food. If I'm hungry and I don't feel like making anything, I'll have cereal. This happens remarkably often. Raisin Bran and Mini Wheats are the most common kinds I'll eat, but I also like Just Right, Honey Nut Cornflakes, and Oatmeal Crisp. Occasionally, I'll eat my mom's Life cereal, though, ironically, I don't much like it. My cereal-eating habit makes Peter shake his head.
13) I have a partially eidetic memory. My father and siblings are the same way. I can usually be counted on to remember things. I have to actually take something in in order to remember it, though, so stuff like history, which I never really studied, I just don't know about. It makes an interesting contrast with stuff I have studied. And by "interesting," I mean it makes me look like an idiot. ^_^
14) I watched Sailor Moon when I was a kid. Like, 11-13 years old. It's where I picked up the ^_^ emoticon that I've been using occasionally in this post. It's pretty much the only anime I ever watched, but a lot of people who see me use that emoticon assume I watch all kinds of anime. I had Sailor Moon trading cards and everything. It was Pokemon for girls, but before Pokemon really came onto the scene. Ah, my awkward adolescence. ^_^
15) My mom tried to force me to take Home Economics in junior high school. I wanted to take Drama instead. I have never been in the habit of letting my parents force me to do anything, so I fought tooth and nail against taking Home Ec. My mom made me pass a test of what she thought I should learn from the course before she let me take Drama. The test included how to make baking powder biscuits. Because there's no such thing as recipes. My mother is a strange woman in some ways...
16) I love pickles, but I avoid any other pickled foods. The thing I love about pickles is the texture of the pickled cucumber flesh. Because of this, I prefer to eat pickles whole, rather than sliced. Other foods just aren't the same when pickled. I'm not a huge salt fan (I prefer sweet things), so the brine doesn't appeal to me all that much. It took me a long time to develop any kind of a taste for pickles. When I was a kid, Jenilee used to eat my pickles because I didn't like them. Jenilee would eat anything, though, so I'm not sure that anecdote is evidence of her more developed palate.
17) When I started university, I discovered an unexpected love for music theory. Though my favourite part of music was and still is conducting, I would have been interested in doing a degree in music theory. Sadly, though, that was only possible at the U of A if I did Theory and Composition, and I didn't want to compose. A lot of junior/senior high kids think of theory as that annoying bookwork they get punished with when they keep goofing around, but it's actually quite wonderful. I am toally a geek...
18) When I was on vacation in Mexico the summer I turned 12, there was a hurricane a ways down the coast that was causing large waves where we were in Cancun. My parents and I were wading in the surf on our way back to our room one day when, seemingly out of nowhere, a huge wave hit us (well, mostly me), and washed away my glasses. This was before I started wearing contact lenses, and it was only halfway through our two-week vacation, so I was blind for about a week.
19) In high school, a lot of people knew who I was. I went to a pretty big high school (over 2000 students in three grades), and I had no idea who most people were. It was always weird to have somebody say they'd seen me perform in band at some school function, or in the play or something. It was like being popular, except I was a keener instead of being cool. ^_^
20) Something else that happened in high school is that my school had a lockdown drill after 9/11. I thought this was bullshit, so I decided to protest it. I had Drama class at the time the drill was scheduled, which was a largely unsupervised class, so when the announcement for the lockdown was made, I went into the "rotunda" (big open space in the middle of the school) in front of the office. One of the teachers came out and told me to go to class, and I yelled at him for a bit about how stupid the whole thing was before I sat myself down and refused to move. I was alone for this. My Drama teacher knew where I was, mind. I don't think he made any of his students stop whatever they were doing for the lockdown. When the drill was over, I went back to class. I didn't have to go talk to the principal or anything like that (probably because they were busy at the time), but one of the administration cornered my Drama teacher later to ask him why I wasn't in class for the lockdown drill. He defended me, saying that my ancestors had had enough experience with fascism. He had no idea who any of my family members were, of course. He told me all of this after school that day when he was tweaking my costume for the play. Looking back, I can't believe I got worked up enough to do that, but I love my Drama teacher so much. =)
21) My favourite TV show of all time is ReBoot, one of the earliest CGI series. My favourite character from the show is AndrAIa. The show started airing when I was 10, but it still rocks my socks.
22) For my current job, I had to learn how to drive a standard transmission. I'm a school liason/sales rep for a musical instrument repair shop, so I drive around to schools all day. The company has a car for this purpose, but it's a standard. I was taught mostly by the guy I took over from, who was 21 or 22. It made me feel rather silly to be taking driving lessons from a guy who was younger than me.
23) I have read the Twilight books, and I didn't hate them. Actually, I kind of like them. Please note that this is a moderate opinion. I bought the first one when I was living in England and my computer was sent in for repairs, so I was bored stiff. I read it twice, then bought the other books as I went through them. They have their issues, certainly, but there's some neat stuff in there. The movies are vastly inferior to the books, of course.
24) I haven't bothered to get a haircut in over a year. I've been meaning to since the summer, but I've always been wanting to get a salon dye job to make my hair silvery-gray, so I've been postponing getting it cut until I dye it, which I have been postponing for various reasons. Currently, it's because I'm post-Christmas broke, so I think I'll cave and just get a cut without getting it dyed. My hair is almost down to my waist now, which is kind of crazy.
25) My drink of choice at Starbucks is a triple grande non-fat latte. If I'm in the mood for something sweet, I get a grande non-fat caramel macchiato. On the rare occasion that I'm looking for something low in caffeine, I get a grande non-fat earl gray tea misto with vanilla syrup. The Starbucks giftcard I got for Christmas has already been used up. ^_^
That's all! I hope you've enjoyed this extremely long entry! I don't even want to guess at how long it took me to write. =)
10/01/2009
Meditative Blogging
There was frost this morning, and, though it wasn't really that cold, my car had trouble starting.
Things have not gotten better since then.
And, of course, I'm blogging about it, because the world totally wants to hear about my headdesk-inducing day. Except not. Moving along, then...
I have a plastic sleeve that contains my birth certificate, my health care card, and my social insurance card. This sleeve usually lives inside my passport. Throw in my driver's license and my bank card, and that's basically the official me. Not all of those documents would be needed for identity theft, but it's kind of odd to have such a dense handful of official identity.
In a related incident, I discovered today that you can't sign up for Alberta Blue Cross online. You can, however, fill out a form and have them contact you with a recommended plan. I did not do this. I'll have to call them tomorrow. The plan I'm getting pays out $15,000 if I die accidentally. That surprised me.
Looking at all these documents with my name on them makes me think of how much of a pain it would be if I changed my name for whatever reason. It's enough to tempt me to keep my current last name when I get married. Well, that and the fact that I like my last name. I don't want to hyphenate my name, and, really, if I got married to Peter, I'd be Mrs. B-S if I hyphenated, which I obviously don't want. I wouldn't necessarily mind taking my husband's name, though, and I like the idea of the whole family having the same last name (especially me having the same last name as my kids). I think it mostly comes down to the sense of identity I've attached to my name. My first name is uncommon enough around here that I think of it more or less as belonging to me. My middle name, the rather common Helen, I wouldn't particularly mourn the loss of, though. My last name is somewhere in between. *ponder*
There's music coming from the next room that sounds like Burl Ives, and it's making me think of Christmas. ^_^
Things have not gotten better since then.
And, of course, I'm blogging about it, because the world totally wants to hear about my headdesk-inducing day. Except not. Moving along, then...
I have a plastic sleeve that contains my birth certificate, my health care card, and my social insurance card. This sleeve usually lives inside my passport. Throw in my driver's license and my bank card, and that's basically the official me. Not all of those documents would be needed for identity theft, but it's kind of odd to have such a dense handful of official identity.
In a related incident, I discovered today that you can't sign up for Alberta Blue Cross online. You can, however, fill out a form and have them contact you with a recommended plan. I did not do this. I'll have to call them tomorrow. The plan I'm getting pays out $15,000 if I die accidentally. That surprised me.
Looking at all these documents with my name on them makes me think of how much of a pain it would be if I changed my name for whatever reason. It's enough to tempt me to keep my current last name when I get married. Well, that and the fact that I like my last name. I don't want to hyphenate my name, and, really, if I got married to Peter, I'd be Mrs. B-S if I hyphenated, which I obviously don't want. I wouldn't necessarily mind taking my husband's name, though, and I like the idea of the whole family having the same last name (especially me having the same last name as my kids). I think it mostly comes down to the sense of identity I've attached to my name. My first name is uncommon enough around here that I think of it more or less as belonging to me. My middle name, the rather common Helen, I wouldn't particularly mourn the loss of, though. My last name is somewhere in between. *ponder*
There's music coming from the next room that sounds like Burl Ives, and it's making me think of Christmas. ^_^
9/13/2009
Have Blog, Will Write (Occasionally)
Time for my monthly blog post. I actually went and poked at all of the settings for this blog, which I hadn't done in years. I didn't really change anything--I just set it to e-mail me when somebody comments on my blog, and to send me a copy of my blog when I publish it, which I did so that I can easily back it up. As I've mentioned before, Blogger is nice and simple to use, so the fact that I haven't looked "under the hood" in so long hasn't had any kind of negative effect.
Tomorrow I start my school rounds at work, which means I start at 8am. Blah. Oh, well. I wouldn't be terribly thrilled to just sit around in the shop all day with nothing to do, so I guess this is a good thing. So I'll go gather up my promotional materials bright and early tomorrow morning and head off to introduce myself to teachers. It'll be shiny.
I've joined Festival City Winds this year. It looks like it's exactly what I've been wanting to do, and I know lots of people in the ensemble (I'm in the advanced band). Our first rehearsal was on Wednesday, and it went well.
Peter leaves London on the 19th. He'll be in Uruguay until he comes home for Christmas, I believe, getting the lay of the land in terms of what resources are available to him. This means he likely won't have regular access to WiFi internet, so our methods of communication will have to change somewhat. I will greatly miss actually talking to him every day. Sad.
Ok, now that I've totally depressed myself, I'm gonna end this entry and go plug in my laptop, because it's showing me the yellow triangle of plug-in-your-laptop-right-now. Hopefully you people who read this from around the world are doing well. =)
Tomorrow I start my school rounds at work, which means I start at 8am. Blah. Oh, well. I wouldn't be terribly thrilled to just sit around in the shop all day with nothing to do, so I guess this is a good thing. So I'll go gather up my promotional materials bright and early tomorrow morning and head off to introduce myself to teachers. It'll be shiny.
I've joined Festival City Winds this year. It looks like it's exactly what I've been wanting to do, and I know lots of people in the ensemble (I'm in the advanced band). Our first rehearsal was on Wednesday, and it went well.
Peter leaves London on the 19th. He'll be in Uruguay until he comes home for Christmas, I believe, getting the lay of the land in terms of what resources are available to him. This means he likely won't have regular access to WiFi internet, so our methods of communication will have to change somewhat. I will greatly miss actually talking to him every day. Sad.
Ok, now that I've totally depressed myself, I'm gonna end this entry and go plug in my laptop, because it's showing me the yellow triangle of plug-in-your-laptop-right-now. Hopefully you people who read this from around the world are doing well. =)
8/08/2009
Still Alive
I'm bored, so I'm writing a blog post. That's how these things work, right?
Peter was in town for pretty much all of July. That was really nice, but now I don't get to see him until Christmas. :-( He's spending the next several months flitting around Europe and South America. While he was here, I was ridiculously busy. We had a joint birthday party (which I still need to post pictures of on Facebook) and many, many other social obligations. What with working full-time during all of this, I was left exhausted most of the time. Getting to spend time with Peter was worth it, though. I miss him. And I'm going to stop writing about this now because it's making me sad.
Life in general is good. Work is going well. All of the instruments that are in for summer maintenance and repair are done (except for a few tubas, which I've cleaned, but my boss hasn't un-dented). This means I don't have much to do for the next couple of weeks. We'll be returning the instruments during the last week of August because there's much less chance that teachers will be around before then. My boss has suggested that we trade half days so that neither of us has to sit around for 7 hours while the shop is open.
My dad is going out of town for a few days tomorrow, and my mother and I have made plans for activities in his absence. She wanted to go see Harry Potter for her birthday, and we're finally going to get to that. We're also going to go look at the new Sephora in Southgate. The new section of that place looks pretty spiffy. I have no idea why there would be two Coach stores in Edmonton, though, but whatever.
Oh, and for my birthday I was given a Blackberry Curve. It's red, and I love it. It lets me be much more connected than I was, which is good because I'm rarely at a computer during the day. I still have to do things like enter stuff into the address book, but maybe I'll do that one of the days I'm stuck at work with nothing to do. :-)
And... that's it, more or less. You'd think that, with how busy it feels like I've been, I would have more to say. I guess the verbose tendancies of my youth have faded--after all, I'm now 25. Gasp! A quarter of a century! Shouldn't I be having some sort of crisis about now? Meh, whatever. ^_^
Peter was in town for pretty much all of July. That was really nice, but now I don't get to see him until Christmas. :-( He's spending the next several months flitting around Europe and South America. While he was here, I was ridiculously busy. We had a joint birthday party (which I still need to post pictures of on Facebook) and many, many other social obligations. What with working full-time during all of this, I was left exhausted most of the time. Getting to spend time with Peter was worth it, though. I miss him. And I'm going to stop writing about this now because it's making me sad.
Life in general is good. Work is going well. All of the instruments that are in for summer maintenance and repair are done (except for a few tubas, which I've cleaned, but my boss hasn't un-dented). This means I don't have much to do for the next couple of weeks. We'll be returning the instruments during the last week of August because there's much less chance that teachers will be around before then. My boss has suggested that we trade half days so that neither of us has to sit around for 7 hours while the shop is open.
My dad is going out of town for a few days tomorrow, and my mother and I have made plans for activities in his absence. She wanted to go see Harry Potter for her birthday, and we're finally going to get to that. We're also going to go look at the new Sephora in Southgate. The new section of that place looks pretty spiffy. I have no idea why there would be two Coach stores in Edmonton, though, but whatever.
Oh, and for my birthday I was given a Blackberry Curve. It's red, and I love it. It lets me be much more connected than I was, which is good because I'm rarely at a computer during the day. I still have to do things like enter stuff into the address book, but maybe I'll do that one of the days I'm stuck at work with nothing to do. :-)
And... that's it, more or less. You'd think that, with how busy it feels like I've been, I would have more to say. I guess the verbose tendancies of my youth have faded--after all, I'm now 25. Gasp! A quarter of a century! Shouldn't I be having some sort of crisis about now? Meh, whatever. ^_^
6/27/2009
Post 427
Five weeks to the day since I last posted anything here. Not much is going on. Peter gets back Tuesday evening, which I'm looking forward to. I'm glad I have Wednesday off for Canada Day. =) There should be some people coming over to watch the fireworks. I'm not sure where they'll be coming to--I think it mostly has to do with how jetlagged Peter is. The weather forecast said it might rain that day, actually, which would not be fun.
Work is good, I guess. I quite like my job, generally speaking, but cleaning out so many instruments with acid has given me a rash on my arms (where they touch the edge of the counter by the sink because the gloves aren't long enough). Oh, well. I found a really good hand cream yesterday (a variety of Aveeno), and it was on sale, too, so that made me happy. =)
My parents returned last weekend from their 5-week European vacation. They were both glad to get home. My mom bought herself a real Hermes scarf, something she's wanted for a while. My dad looked at buying this nice corkscrew, but he didn't want to spend the money it cost, so my mom sneakily bought it and gave it to him for Father's Day. My dog is happy that he's back to having three people to beg for food.
I'm very much enjoying the summer weather we're having, even if both my work and home have the AC cranked to the point where I have to wear sweaters. I prefer warm weather, I guess. ^_^
And, yeah, that's about all I have to say for now. =)
Work is good, I guess. I quite like my job, generally speaking, but cleaning out so many instruments with acid has given me a rash on my arms (where they touch the edge of the counter by the sink because the gloves aren't long enough). Oh, well. I found a really good hand cream yesterday (a variety of Aveeno), and it was on sale, too, so that made me happy. =)
My parents returned last weekend from their 5-week European vacation. They were both glad to get home. My mom bought herself a real Hermes scarf, something she's wanted for a while. My dad looked at buying this nice corkscrew, but he didn't want to spend the money it cost, so my mom sneakily bought it and gave it to him for Father's Day. My dog is happy that he's back to having three people to beg for food.
I'm very much enjoying the summer weather we're having, even if both my work and home have the AC cranked to the point where I have to wear sweaters. I prefer warm weather, I guess. ^_^
And, yeah, that's about all I have to say for now. =)
5/23/2009
Saturday Fail
It is 10pm on Saturday night and I am at home, not quite sure what to do with myself. I took both Thursday and Friday off work because I was sick, but I'm doing a lot better now. I even offered to go into work today, but my boss told me not to worry about it. I made brownies earlier and ate some for dinner. I'm actually kind of disappointed in my brownie eating abilities--my stomach gave up on me long before I expected it to. Stupid stomach.
My dog also seems uncertain of what to do with himself. For about 24 hours, his treatball was lost, and he was heartbroken. It turned out to be behind my dad's recliner, where I looked at least twice before (but whatever, as long as I found it), and now it's almost as if Farley is bored. He begged for brownies earlier, but I'm not about to give chocolate to my 13-year-old dog who has digestive problems already. So right now he's asleep on the area rug in the upstairs sitting area, where I am also sitting. We make quite a pair.
My parents are in Europe for five weeks, and being by myself so much is kind of disorienting. But the internet will affirm my existence! Right? Right?! ...Damn.
Nothing much is new with me. I miss Peter. He'll be back in Canada in a little over a month. He'll only be in town for a month, of course, but I'm trying to focus on the positives. I finally turned off the AC in the house, so it's not freezing cold anymore. When I finally went to poke at the thermostat, it was 63 degrees in here and set to Cool instead of Heat. Brr.
On a random note, I love the mug Jenilee gave me for Christmas. It is very large and holds an excellent amount of tea. And honey. Tea and honey. Mmm. Actually, I went outside a few minutes ago to let my dog out, and the weather was nice enough that tea seemed almost unseasonable. This was a great contrast to earlier in the week, when it was frekaing SNOWING! Actually, come to think of it, I made iced tea earlier today, too. My beverage moods seem to be fickle.
On Wednesday, I was getting gas, and I had a thought that should not cross one's mind in late May: "Holly hell, those trees have leaves on them!" I've noticed more trees with leaves since, but, really, spring is running late this year. Did I mention the snow on Victoria Day? Oh, wait, yes, I did. Usually, it rains in May. The whole "April showers bring May flowers" expression has always been about a month off for Edmonton, but this May has not seen much in the way of actual rain. I'd make some demand about getting a particularly hot July, or maybe a nice warm September in exchange for this, but I know I'll just be disappointed.
Ok, I'm talking about the weather. A lot. This limits my "Blog Post Interest Rating" to no more than a 4 out of 10. So I'm gonna stop while I'm behind. Later, all.
My dog also seems uncertain of what to do with himself. For about 24 hours, his treatball was lost, and he was heartbroken. It turned out to be behind my dad's recliner, where I looked at least twice before (but whatever, as long as I found it), and now it's almost as if Farley is bored. He begged for brownies earlier, but I'm not about to give chocolate to my 13-year-old dog who has digestive problems already. So right now he's asleep on the area rug in the upstairs sitting area, where I am also sitting. We make quite a pair.
My parents are in Europe for five weeks, and being by myself so much is kind of disorienting. But the internet will affirm my existence! Right? Right?! ...Damn.
Nothing much is new with me. I miss Peter. He'll be back in Canada in a little over a month. He'll only be in town for a month, of course, but I'm trying to focus on the positives. I finally turned off the AC in the house, so it's not freezing cold anymore. When I finally went to poke at the thermostat, it was 63 degrees in here and set to Cool instead of Heat. Brr.
On a random note, I love the mug Jenilee gave me for Christmas. It is very large and holds an excellent amount of tea. And honey. Tea and honey. Mmm. Actually, I went outside a few minutes ago to let my dog out, and the weather was nice enough that tea seemed almost unseasonable. This was a great contrast to earlier in the week, when it was frekaing SNOWING! Actually, come to think of it, I made iced tea earlier today, too. My beverage moods seem to be fickle.
On Wednesday, I was getting gas, and I had a thought that should not cross one's mind in late May: "Holly hell, those trees have leaves on them!" I've noticed more trees with leaves since, but, really, spring is running late this year. Did I mention the snow on Victoria Day? Oh, wait, yes, I did. Usually, it rains in May. The whole "April showers bring May flowers" expression has always been about a month off for Edmonton, but this May has not seen much in the way of actual rain. I'd make some demand about getting a particularly hot July, or maybe a nice warm September in exchange for this, but I know I'll just be disappointed.
Ok, I'm talking about the weather. A lot. This limits my "Blog Post Interest Rating" to no more than a 4 out of 10. So I'm gonna stop while I'm behind. Later, all.
5/08/2009
Hello!
I have a blog? Really? Oh, yeah... So, in honour of this rememberance, have a real update about my life:
I have been back in Edmonton/Canada for one month and ten days. I miss Peter. =( If Peter is to be believed, he misses me as well. I've settled back in comfortably with my parents. It's cheaper and easier this way, plus, I get to be with my dog. =) Perhaps, eventually, I'll move out. We'll see.
I gave myself a week to get things together before I started looking for a job. The search was going so-so when I got a call from Frankenhorn, the musical instrument repair place. I'd been around to talk to people at those kinds of places and leave resumes. Robert (the guy who owns/runs Frankenhorn), had told me that he wasn't hiring, and, if he was, it wouldn't be until the end of June, when the summer rush would hit. But, yeah, then I got a call from him the next week. Turned out that the "sales" guy wanted to be gone by the end of June, so Robert had decided to train me to do his job and to cover for the woodwind repair girl, Frauka (I may not be spelling that correctly) during August, when she'll be in Germany getting married. I started on Tuesday.
So far, it's seems quite excellent. I'm refurbishing a couple of clarinets to familiarize myself with their mechanics and basic repairs, then I'll move on to flutes, I think. Frauka, who is training me in this, is only in three days a week, though, so the other two days I've spent with Louis, the "sales" guy I'll officially be replacing. I put "sales" in quotation marks because this job isn't like any other sales-type job I've ever had. Basically, it involves dealing with schools to get them to send their instruments to Frankenhorn for repair, instead of elesewhere. It does involve "cold calling" some places every day, but it's not like telemarketing--the teachers know who we are, and we call every week or so to tell them we'll be in their area and ask if they need anything fixed. There are also flyers to hand out sometimes that we just leave with the office for most teachers. Basically, it's a lot of driving and picking up and dropping off of instruments.
Speaking of the driving, the "company car" (*snerk*) is a standard. I never learned how to drive a standard, so Louis has been teaching me. I drove from the shop to St. Albert today. There were three stalling-related incidents, but, overall, I don't think I'm doing too poorly. It really helps that I know how to drive to start with. I have no idea how people first learn to drive on a standard--it seems like it would be a great deal to learn about at once.
This is the kind of job I would have gotten in London if I'd had my pick of jobs. I'd probably have wanted to work with Phil Parker, which deals only in brass instruments, but I have no problem fixing woodwinds. The thing is, though, that this job isn't in London, and it's not just a summer job, either--Louis' position won't really need to be filled until the fall, when school gets back in session. I've decided to stay at the job for a full schoolyear, so until next summer or fall. Peter, obviously, will have to be in London for at least a couple more years. We've decided to give the long-distance thing a try. This is hardly ideal, and, like I said, I miss him a great deal already, but this is the best thing to do, we think. A good job in a field I like will allow me to save up some money and get some experience that I can put on my resume for when/if I go to London or elsewhere with Peter. Robert knows that there's a chance I might go back next year, and he's fine with that. Honestly, I think I lucked out in getting this job, so I'm not going to just assume that I can go anywhere and do the same thing.
But, yeah, after being together for five years (nearly five and a half, now), being away from Peter for so long is sad and difficult. =(
Other than that, life is pretty normal. I've been hanging out with friends, something I missed desperately in London. Even before I was working, I had much more of a sense of purpose after coming back to Canada. It's nice to have more things to do and people to interact with. I asked my psychiatrist to lower my dose of meds so that I only had to take them twice a day instead of three times a day, and that's going well. Actually, I feel good and fine in that department. I have an appointment with the specialist who deals with they myriad of things that have been wrong with my ear over the course of my lifetime. Not too long before I left London, I started feeling pressure in my left ear, and it was... leaking, for lack of a better word, this sweet-smelling stuff. I went and talked to my GP about it, and she said that she couldn't see anything wrong, but that what I was describing warrented going back to my specialist. I doubt it's the cholesteatoma again--after the second surgery, I was doing remarkably well, and even if it was growing back, there's a large enough cavity in my inner ear from all the little organs they removed that a cholesteatoma cyst wouldn't be causing pressure yet. That appointment's in a little over a month, so I'll know then what's going on, hopefully.
So, yeah, that's what's new with me. What's new with whomever reads this blog?
I have been back in Edmonton/Canada for one month and ten days. I miss Peter. =( If Peter is to be believed, he misses me as well. I've settled back in comfortably with my parents. It's cheaper and easier this way, plus, I get to be with my dog. =) Perhaps, eventually, I'll move out. We'll see.
I gave myself a week to get things together before I started looking for a job. The search was going so-so when I got a call from Frankenhorn, the musical instrument repair place. I'd been around to talk to people at those kinds of places and leave resumes. Robert (the guy who owns/runs Frankenhorn), had told me that he wasn't hiring, and, if he was, it wouldn't be until the end of June, when the summer rush would hit. But, yeah, then I got a call from him the next week. Turned out that the "sales" guy wanted to be gone by the end of June, so Robert had decided to train me to do his job and to cover for the woodwind repair girl, Frauka (I may not be spelling that correctly) during August, when she'll be in Germany getting married. I started on Tuesday.
So far, it's seems quite excellent. I'm refurbishing a couple of clarinets to familiarize myself with their mechanics and basic repairs, then I'll move on to flutes, I think. Frauka, who is training me in this, is only in three days a week, though, so the other two days I've spent with Louis, the "sales" guy I'll officially be replacing. I put "sales" in quotation marks because this job isn't like any other sales-type job I've ever had. Basically, it involves dealing with schools to get them to send their instruments to Frankenhorn for repair, instead of elesewhere. It does involve "cold calling" some places every day, but it's not like telemarketing--the teachers know who we are, and we call every week or so to tell them we'll be in their area and ask if they need anything fixed. There are also flyers to hand out sometimes that we just leave with the office for most teachers. Basically, it's a lot of driving and picking up and dropping off of instruments.
Speaking of the driving, the "company car" (*snerk*) is a standard. I never learned how to drive a standard, so Louis has been teaching me. I drove from the shop to St. Albert today. There were three stalling-related incidents, but, overall, I don't think I'm doing too poorly. It really helps that I know how to drive to start with. I have no idea how people first learn to drive on a standard--it seems like it would be a great deal to learn about at once.
This is the kind of job I would have gotten in London if I'd had my pick of jobs. I'd probably have wanted to work with Phil Parker, which deals only in brass instruments, but I have no problem fixing woodwinds. The thing is, though, that this job isn't in London, and it's not just a summer job, either--Louis' position won't really need to be filled until the fall, when school gets back in session. I've decided to stay at the job for a full schoolyear, so until next summer or fall. Peter, obviously, will have to be in London for at least a couple more years. We've decided to give the long-distance thing a try. This is hardly ideal, and, like I said, I miss him a great deal already, but this is the best thing to do, we think. A good job in a field I like will allow me to save up some money and get some experience that I can put on my resume for when/if I go to London or elsewhere with Peter. Robert knows that there's a chance I might go back next year, and he's fine with that. Honestly, I think I lucked out in getting this job, so I'm not going to just assume that I can go anywhere and do the same thing.
But, yeah, after being together for five years (nearly five and a half, now), being away from Peter for so long is sad and difficult. =(
Other than that, life is pretty normal. I've been hanging out with friends, something I missed desperately in London. Even before I was working, I had much more of a sense of purpose after coming back to Canada. It's nice to have more things to do and people to interact with. I asked my psychiatrist to lower my dose of meds so that I only had to take them twice a day instead of three times a day, and that's going well. Actually, I feel good and fine in that department. I have an appointment with the specialist who deals with they myriad of things that have been wrong with my ear over the course of my lifetime. Not too long before I left London, I started feeling pressure in my left ear, and it was... leaking, for lack of a better word, this sweet-smelling stuff. I went and talked to my GP about it, and she said that she couldn't see anything wrong, but that what I was describing warrented going back to my specialist. I doubt it's the cholesteatoma again--after the second surgery, I was doing remarkably well, and even if it was growing back, there's a large enough cavity in my inner ear from all the little organs they removed that a cholesteatoma cyst wouldn't be causing pressure yet. That appointment's in a little over a month, so I'll know then what's going on, hopefully.
So, yeah, that's what's new with me. What's new with whomever reads this blog?
4/06/2009
Good Lord
Yeah, yeah, I haven't updated in a long time, go back into Canada a little over a week ago, all that jazz. I just really need to tell someone (or just cyberspace), what I just witnessed.
There's a new Edo near my house. My parents have taken a liking to it. We decided to get takeout from there for dinner. As my mom was writing down what I wanted (sukiyaki beef with sauce--I have no idea why she wrote it down), my dad pulls some money out of his pocket and asks if forty dollars will be enough to cover dinner for the three of us.
To be fair, he had asked for beef, chicken and shrimp (which he apparently usually gets sumo-sized, though not today), and my mom said she only needed thirty dollars, but still. I went and thunked my head against the front door and left it there for a minute after that happened.
o.O
There's a new Edo near my house. My parents have taken a liking to it. We decided to get takeout from there for dinner. As my mom was writing down what I wanted (sukiyaki beef with sauce--I have no idea why she wrote it down), my dad pulls some money out of his pocket and asks if forty dollars will be enough to cover dinner for the three of us.
To be fair, he had asked for beef, chicken and shrimp (which he apparently usually gets sumo-sized, though not today), and my mom said she only needed thirty dollars, but still. I went and thunked my head against the front door and left it there for a minute after that happened.
o.O
2/22/2009
Yawn Count: Six
I should really go to bed. It's 1:30am on Sunday night/Monday morning. Unfortunately, I slept in until after noon today, so I'm not the least bit tired right now. Wait, I just yawned. I think I'm just warm, though. I've been uncomfortably warm while trying to sleep lately. I have no idea why, but my bedroom gets really warm. And there's mould growing on the window. Just on the glass, though, so it's easy enough to clean off, but, still, ew. It was noted on the forms when we moved in, so we're not going to get charged for it, regardless, which is good, but, yeah, I don't like mould.
Wait. I was saying something about how I should go to sleep. Heh, and I just yawned again. Maybe if I write that I should go to bed enough times, I'll actually fall asleep. Well, that'd probably happen eventually, anyway, since the time I'd spend writing would be time spent awake, so I would get tired at some point. And there's another yawn.
I have grand plans for tomorrow. They include getting lost while trying to find that brass shop I went to last fall. They may also include getting coffee, but I broke down and bought some Nescafe freeze-dried stuff the other day, which I can stomach, unlike Peter, so that's been feeding my cravings/addiction. Maybe I'll go to sleep if I have a cup of coffee. This guy I went to high school with claimed that coffee put him to sleep, but I suspect that's because he drank lattes, which are mostly warm milk. And there's another yawn. I should start keeping count. That was what, my fourth one so far?
I'm itching to read another Chuck Palahniuk book. I was thinking aout Survivor the other day and that kick-started the urge. I'm kind of interested in Rant, just because of the name. Unfortunately, Chuck Palahniuk books are bad for me. I know this, yet I continue to read them. And then they take over my brain for a while, and I hate that. Actually, I think that, first, I'll re-read Breaking Dawn, the last book in the Twilight series. I had some serious problems with that book, and I want to see if I can reconcile them by reading through it when I'm familiar with the whole thing. Hmm, I haven't yawned in a while. And typing that didn't make me yawn. I fail at yawn psychology.
Okay, with some persistence, I've managed yawn number five. In other news, my headset is broken, so I need a new one. I bought the one I did because it was the cheapest, and it seems that I got what I paid for. Not that I can afford to buy a better one right now, mind you. And yawn number six has come unprovoked; this is a good sign. I don't remember if there's a Curry's (electronics store) in the mall at Stratford, but I think I'll go there tomorrow, anyway, since it's the closest Sainsbury's (grocery store) to my place, I think, and I hate lugging groceries all the way back from central London, where I usually am, and, therefore, where I usually shop. I'm out of cereal. This saddens me, so I must rectify it as soon as possible. Looking at my water bottle on the coffee table in front of me, I realize that I haven't had any Ribena this weekend, and I want some. Mmm, Ribena.
Yawn seven seems unforthcoming, so I think I'll go mix myself some black currant deliciousness and see where life takes me from there.
Wait. I was saying something about how I should go to sleep. Heh, and I just yawned again. Maybe if I write that I should go to bed enough times, I'll actually fall asleep. Well, that'd probably happen eventually, anyway, since the time I'd spend writing would be time spent awake, so I would get tired at some point. And there's another yawn.
I have grand plans for tomorrow. They include getting lost while trying to find that brass shop I went to last fall. They may also include getting coffee, but I broke down and bought some Nescafe freeze-dried stuff the other day, which I can stomach, unlike Peter, so that's been feeding my cravings/addiction. Maybe I'll go to sleep if I have a cup of coffee. This guy I went to high school with claimed that coffee put him to sleep, but I suspect that's because he drank lattes, which are mostly warm milk. And there's another yawn. I should start keeping count. That was what, my fourth one so far?
I'm itching to read another Chuck Palahniuk book. I was thinking aout Survivor the other day and that kick-started the urge. I'm kind of interested in Rant, just because of the name. Unfortunately, Chuck Palahniuk books are bad for me. I know this, yet I continue to read them. And then they take over my brain for a while, and I hate that. Actually, I think that, first, I'll re-read Breaking Dawn, the last book in the Twilight series. I had some serious problems with that book, and I want to see if I can reconcile them by reading through it when I'm familiar with the whole thing. Hmm, I haven't yawned in a while. And typing that didn't make me yawn. I fail at yawn psychology.
Okay, with some persistence, I've managed yawn number five. In other news, my headset is broken, so I need a new one. I bought the one I did because it was the cheapest, and it seems that I got what I paid for. Not that I can afford to buy a better one right now, mind you. And yawn number six has come unprovoked; this is a good sign. I don't remember if there's a Curry's (electronics store) in the mall at Stratford, but I think I'll go there tomorrow, anyway, since it's the closest Sainsbury's (grocery store) to my place, I think, and I hate lugging groceries all the way back from central London, where I usually am, and, therefore, where I usually shop. I'm out of cereal. This saddens me, so I must rectify it as soon as possible. Looking at my water bottle on the coffee table in front of me, I realize that I haven't had any Ribena this weekend, and I want some. Mmm, Ribena.
Yawn seven seems unforthcoming, so I think I'll go mix myself some black currant deliciousness and see where life takes me from there.
2/19/2009
Random Blathering
The world is failing miserably at any attempt it might be making to entertain me today. I feel resentful. In the other room, my brother is watching something that sounds like it could be an episode of the new 90210 on his computer. Today's lesson is about intellectual property. It's Thursday, so Peter's at school late for his departmental seminar. I have some uncooked tortellini sitting next to me, leftover from my late lunch, but I'm not sure if I really feel like eating that for dinner, too. I've been drinking a lot of Ribena lately, since it's tasty and you can mix it so that it's not disgustingly sweet. I've been using my waterbottle for mixing is, so I drink half a leter a a time. This may not be the best idea, given that I then spend the next few hours having to go to the bathroom frequently. We need food, but by the time I rememered what time Peter was going to be back, it wasn't worth heading out myself, so I'll just wait to see what he brings back. Then again, maybe I should go down to the supermarket I can walk to and get som milk and cereal. Mmm, cereal. I should clean off the coffee table--there's a lot of clutter on it. An umbrella, my broken headset, DVD-ROMs, manicure stuff, and lots of books, among other flotsam and jetsam. There's also the shipping box my computer was returned in sitting under the coffee table. Definitely need to tidy up.
2/04/2009
Post 420
Hello, fine people! Welcome to my Wednesday afternoon! I would say that all's quiet, but it's really not--Chris is watching some sort of action movie in his room, and I don't know how he can stand it so loud, since it's too loud for me and I'm in the next room and am hard of hearing.
In good news, for those of you who haven't heard, my computer has been returned to me, and it's happy. This makes me happy. We have much catching up to do. =)
I've found a job at the Canadian Embassy/High Commission to apply for. Writing cover letters is never something I've been good at. But it's a neccessary evil. The whole application process has been a fair amount of trouble. I have to submit this form detailing what kind of UK work status I have, but it can't be submitting online, so I have to print it off and then scan it so that I can submit it as a PDF with my resume and cover letter (one of two formats they're willing to accept, the other being .doc(x)). Thankfully, Peter has access to both a printer and a scanner at the LSE, neither of which we have here.
Speaking of Peter and computers, he managed to spill wine all over the keyboard of his laptop the other day. The keyboard no longer works, but I half suspect that that's because he took it apart to let it dry. It's not too much of a big deal, though, since it works fine if he just plugs in a USB keyboard. It's British keyboard, though, so the keys are different, but the computer is set to a North American layout, so not all of the keys type the symbol that's on them. Its kind of amusing. It's also a very loud, clacky thing. I was teasing him about that yesterday. ^_^
In an embarrassing development, while my computer was away, I bought the book Twilight to read. While I wouldn't call it good literature, it's kind of addictive, and now I want to buy the others. I'm trying to tell myself that I shouldn't spend the money, but I don't think that argument will be sufficient. Silly teenage vampire romance. I remember I actually had a book of teenage romance short stories when I was younger. I read them, but it was never something I was into. The picture on the cover was a close-up of two hands clasped as a young couple walked into a sunset. It was horribly cliched.
Onto more relevant and happy things. Peter and I ordered an espresso machine over the weekend. It uses pods, but it seems that most machines over here do, so oh, well. It was cheap. Normally 165 pounds, we got it on special--the machine and a box of pods for 100 pounds. And it's new, not refurbished like the other ones we were looking at for that price. And the reviews sounded alright, plus it comes with a warranty of one or two years, I can't remember which, so if there's anything particularly wrong with it, we can get it fixed. I am so very looking forward to having a source of coffee at home. =D
I think that's about all that's new right now. I hope everything's going all right with everybody else. Keep in touch and all that. =)
In good news, for those of you who haven't heard, my computer has been returned to me, and it's happy. This makes me happy. We have much catching up to do. =)
I've found a job at the Canadian Embassy/High Commission to apply for. Writing cover letters is never something I've been good at. But it's a neccessary evil. The whole application process has been a fair amount of trouble. I have to submit this form detailing what kind of UK work status I have, but it can't be submitting online, so I have to print it off and then scan it so that I can submit it as a PDF with my resume and cover letter (one of two formats they're willing to accept, the other being .doc(x)). Thankfully, Peter has access to both a printer and a scanner at the LSE, neither of which we have here.
Speaking of Peter and computers, he managed to spill wine all over the keyboard of his laptop the other day. The keyboard no longer works, but I half suspect that that's because he took it apart to let it dry. It's not too much of a big deal, though, since it works fine if he just plugs in a USB keyboard. It's British keyboard, though, so the keys are different, but the computer is set to a North American layout, so not all of the keys type the symbol that's on them. Its kind of amusing. It's also a very loud, clacky thing. I was teasing him about that yesterday. ^_^
In an embarrassing development, while my computer was away, I bought the book Twilight to read. While I wouldn't call it good literature, it's kind of addictive, and now I want to buy the others. I'm trying to tell myself that I shouldn't spend the money, but I don't think that argument will be sufficient. Silly teenage vampire romance. I remember I actually had a book of teenage romance short stories when I was younger. I read them, but it was never something I was into. The picture on the cover was a close-up of two hands clasped as a young couple walked into a sunset. It was horribly cliched.
Onto more relevant and happy things. Peter and I ordered an espresso machine over the weekend. It uses pods, but it seems that most machines over here do, so oh, well. It was cheap. Normally 165 pounds, we got it on special--the machine and a box of pods for 100 pounds. And it's new, not refurbished like the other ones we were looking at for that price. And the reviews sounded alright, plus it comes with a warranty of one or two years, I can't remember which, so if there's anything particularly wrong with it, we can get it fixed. I am so very looking forward to having a source of coffee at home. =D
I think that's about all that's new right now. I hope everything's going all right with everybody else. Keep in touch and all that. =)
1/29/2009
I Am Becoming Nocturnal
It's about quarter to three in the morning, and I am not even entertaining the notion of sleeping just yet. My sleep patterns have been all weird lately, and I think I've been sleeping too much, anyway, so I don't feel terribly bad about this.
I miss my computer. I should have it back early next week, I believe. That's still far too long of a wait, in my opinion, but it will be happy and healthy upon its return, so I suppose I can put up with a few more days of using Peter's. It's a perfectly good machine, but, understandably, he uses it for schoolwork, leaving me with little to do around the flat. I actually bought a book the other day, which I've almost finished. It's called Chasing Harry Winston, and it's by the same author who wrote The Devil Wears Prada. It's kind of a beach read, chick lit sort of thing. The characters are all insufferable, of course, and they weigh 95 pounds each despite the copious amounts of alcohol they consume. I bought it because I wanted an easy read--I was getting tired of Borges and essays. I actually went to the store hoping to buy the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books, but I couldn't find them. I wonder if they're sold in Britain, and, if so, if they're called the Sisterhood of the Traveling Trousers, or possibly the Traveling Jeans. I'm not sure what I'll do after I finish Chasing Harry Winston. There's always my Bescherelle...
I am still in a kind of limbo here in London. Basically, I had the good old fashioned plan of "Go to London --> ????? --> Profit!" and I think I'm stuck on step two. I've been looking at job postings, but I haven't applied to any yet. I hate job hunting. I wish there was some sort of Job Fairy that would magically appear and tell me that I start Monday. It doesn't have to be my dream job, just one that's tolerable and pays the bills. I'm certain such a job exists even though everybody and their dog seems terrified of the Credit Crunch over here. I actually kind of wish that newspapers would shut up about it already. I have no debt, no assets, no investments, and I'm not concerned about job security. In other words, I am outside the realm of people affected by the Credit Crunch. All I need is 900 pounds per month for the next five or six months. Hell, I could probably live off of 800 if I was careful. Unfortunately, the British media doesn't really seem to care, so it continues to publish stories about record losses for businesses and ways to celeb watch on the cheap.
Also, baby carrots in England require to be washed, peeled and trimmed. To me, that just totally defeats the purpose of baby carrots.
I miss my computer. I should have it back early next week, I believe. That's still far too long of a wait, in my opinion, but it will be happy and healthy upon its return, so I suppose I can put up with a few more days of using Peter's. It's a perfectly good machine, but, understandably, he uses it for schoolwork, leaving me with little to do around the flat. I actually bought a book the other day, which I've almost finished. It's called Chasing Harry Winston, and it's by the same author who wrote The Devil Wears Prada. It's kind of a beach read, chick lit sort of thing. The characters are all insufferable, of course, and they weigh 95 pounds each despite the copious amounts of alcohol they consume. I bought it because I wanted an easy read--I was getting tired of Borges and essays. I actually went to the store hoping to buy the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants books, but I couldn't find them. I wonder if they're sold in Britain, and, if so, if they're called the Sisterhood of the Traveling Trousers, or possibly the Traveling Jeans. I'm not sure what I'll do after I finish Chasing Harry Winston. There's always my Bescherelle...
I am still in a kind of limbo here in London. Basically, I had the good old fashioned plan of "Go to London --> ????? --> Profit!" and I think I'm stuck on step two. I've been looking at job postings, but I haven't applied to any yet. I hate job hunting. I wish there was some sort of Job Fairy that would magically appear and tell me that I start Monday. It doesn't have to be my dream job, just one that's tolerable and pays the bills. I'm certain such a job exists even though everybody and their dog seems terrified of the Credit Crunch over here. I actually kind of wish that newspapers would shut up about it already. I have no debt, no assets, no investments, and I'm not concerned about job security. In other words, I am outside the realm of people affected by the Credit Crunch. All I need is 900 pounds per month for the next five or six months. Hell, I could probably live off of 800 if I was careful. Unfortunately, the British media doesn't really seem to care, so it continues to publish stories about record losses for businesses and ways to celeb watch on the cheap.
Also, baby carrots in England require to be washed, peeled and trimmed. To me, that just totally defeats the purpose of baby carrots.
1/17/2009
20 Things About MeMeMe
I was tagged by Sheryl to do this a while ago, so I thought that I'd actually, you know, do it.
“Here are the rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 20 random things, facts, habits or goals about you. At the end choose 20 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.”
1. MySpace scares me. Just... because.
2. I can cook, but I'm not terribly fond of doing so. I much prefer food that can be eaten as-is.
3. On Monday, I'm going to walk into the Canadian Embassy and ask for a job. I have no idea how successful I will be.
4. It was a life goal of mine to never be arrested so that my fingerprints/DNA/etc. would never go "on file." Then I applied for my UK visa and they had to take my fingerprints, so I'm now considering a life of crime.
5. I eat a lot of foods with my hands if it's an option. It's just so much easier to pick things up and tear or bite then than it is to deal with cutlery.For instance, I'm currently eating lamb chops with my hands so that I don't have to fuss with cutting around the fat.
6. I'm almost deaf in my left ear because I had a disease called cholesteatoma when I was a teenager. At Peter's suggestion, I am elaborating on this point to mention that I had a hole drilled through my skull for the first surgery to remove the cholesteatoma cyst. It hurt, so they gave me morphine.
7. I have a partially eidetic memory. Not that I've ever heard of somebody with a completely eidetic memory, but mine's not good enough to go around calling it eidetic without the "partially" attached to it. My father and my brother (and I assume my sister, as well) also have eidetic memories. Peter calls mine my "crazy prodigious memory."
8. I am learning little bits and pieces of advanced economic theory from Peter. It makes me want to read more Dickens. And then it makes me want to not read Dickens.
9. I have an astigmatism that my contact lenses can't fix. I've tried several brands of torric lenses to no avail, so my optometrist and I eventually decided that I would just get glasses to wear over my contacts, since I only really needed the astigmatism correction for reading and looking at screens.
10. Despite living in England, I don't much care for going to the pub. It doesn't stop my brother from suggesting it, though. He likes it, and I feel like a wet blanket for not wanting to.
11. I want to be a conductor. Of wind bands, preferably, rather than choirs. And definitely not of electrical currents. Silly Peter, suggesting silly things.
12. I don't blink when I play Rock Band. Or when I look at any screen, really. I'm too focused on watching. After every song in Rock Band, I close my eyes tight and rub them to make up for their lack of hydration.
13. Despite the fact that I have online pseudonyms, like etoile du nord and Blayllis, I rarely am referred to by them. Instead, people just call me Janita, or 'Nita.
14. Despite the fact that there are very many things that I would like to study, I'm not going anywhere near school again for at least a couple of years. 19 years is enough for now.
15. I enjoy dramaturgy. I glibly say that it is a dramaturge's job to be right. There has been a variety of responses to this statement.
16. I brought my Bescherelle with me to England. I have an inexplicable fondness for it. Plus, it could be useful if I get a job where I need to use a lot of French.
17. I bit my nails until I was 14, at which point I discovered that long fingernails drive me crazy. Now I just keep them short.
18. I hate writing lesson plans. This isn't the biggest reason I had for deciding not to teach, but it's certainly near the top of the list. I didn't write lesson plans for a large chunk of my APT. My mentor teacher said he might have been worried if he didn't feel that I knew what I was doing.
19. My favourite food is yougurt. Mmmm.
20. There are 2079 songs on my iPod. This is meagre, I know, but I haven't bought CDs in a long time.
I'm not tagging anybody because Peter needs his computer back and thinking of people to tag would take a while. If you want to do this, then please do! =)
“Here are the rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 20 random things, facts, habits or goals about you. At the end choose 20 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.”
1. MySpace scares me. Just... because.
2. I can cook, but I'm not terribly fond of doing so. I much prefer food that can be eaten as-is.
3. On Monday, I'm going to walk into the Canadian Embassy and ask for a job. I have no idea how successful I will be.
4. It was a life goal of mine to never be arrested so that my fingerprints/DNA/etc. would never go "on file." Then I applied for my UK visa and they had to take my fingerprints, so I'm now considering a life of crime.
5. I eat a lot of foods with my hands if it's an option. It's just so much easier to pick things up and tear or bite then than it is to deal with cutlery.For instance, I'm currently eating lamb chops with my hands so that I don't have to fuss with cutting around the fat.
6. I'm almost deaf in my left ear because I had a disease called cholesteatoma when I was a teenager. At Peter's suggestion, I am elaborating on this point to mention that I had a hole drilled through my skull for the first surgery to remove the cholesteatoma cyst. It hurt, so they gave me morphine.
7. I have a partially eidetic memory. Not that I've ever heard of somebody with a completely eidetic memory, but mine's not good enough to go around calling it eidetic without the "partially" attached to it. My father and my brother (and I assume my sister, as well) also have eidetic memories. Peter calls mine my "crazy prodigious memory."
8. I am learning little bits and pieces of advanced economic theory from Peter. It makes me want to read more Dickens. And then it makes me want to not read Dickens.
9. I have an astigmatism that my contact lenses can't fix. I've tried several brands of torric lenses to no avail, so my optometrist and I eventually decided that I would just get glasses to wear over my contacts, since I only really needed the astigmatism correction for reading and looking at screens.
10. Despite living in England, I don't much care for going to the pub. It doesn't stop my brother from suggesting it, though. He likes it, and I feel like a wet blanket for not wanting to.
11. I want to be a conductor. Of wind bands, preferably, rather than choirs. And definitely not of electrical currents. Silly Peter, suggesting silly things.
12. I don't blink when I play Rock Band. Or when I look at any screen, really. I'm too focused on watching. After every song in Rock Band, I close my eyes tight and rub them to make up for their lack of hydration.
13. Despite the fact that I have online pseudonyms, like etoile du nord and Blayllis, I rarely am referred to by them. Instead, people just call me Janita, or 'Nita.
14. Despite the fact that there are very many things that I would like to study, I'm not going anywhere near school again for at least a couple of years. 19 years is enough for now.
15. I enjoy dramaturgy. I glibly say that it is a dramaturge's job to be right. There has been a variety of responses to this statement.
16. I brought my Bescherelle with me to England. I have an inexplicable fondness for it. Plus, it could be useful if I get a job where I need to use a lot of French.
17. I bit my nails until I was 14, at which point I discovered that long fingernails drive me crazy. Now I just keep them short.
18. I hate writing lesson plans. This isn't the biggest reason I had for deciding not to teach, but it's certainly near the top of the list. I didn't write lesson plans for a large chunk of my APT. My mentor teacher said he might have been worried if he didn't feel that I knew what I was doing.
19. My favourite food is yougurt. Mmmm.
20. There are 2079 songs on my iPod. This is meagre, I know, but I haven't bought CDs in a long time.
I'm not tagging anybody because Peter needs his computer back and thinking of people to tag would take a while. If you want to do this, then please do! =)
1/14/2009
Hunger and Procrastination
It is one o'clock in the afternoon, and I'm hungry, but I don't know what to have for lunch. I seem to be hopeless without HUB mall nearby. Pasticcio from La Pasta actually sounds damn good right now. Or a tuna melt from Bar Tecca. Mmm...
In any case, I'm leaving to go back to England tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it. More than anything, I'm looking forward to getting a job. Even sitting around here with no job is kind of blah. I know a guy who has no job, lives with his parents, is in his late 20s and is flat broke, and I have no idea how he does it. He says he likes it, too. He confuses me. And now I'm hoping he doesn't read this entry. He wouldn't be offended by it, but he would make a joke about blonde female Canadians. >.<
I'm trying to think of something to write about that isn't either a to do list or vaguely angsty ramblings about how I'm going to miss my dog. Maybe if I have a to do list pressing enough that I'm considering writing it in my blog, I should stop blogging and go do things that are on said list. But I'm hungry, and I don't know what I want to eat (chicken parmesan!), and since I can't get work done while I'm hungry, and I can't eat until I know what I want, I'll just have to sit here an procrastinate until I come up with something to eat. Yep, that's totally sound logic.
My mom's laptop, which I'm using because mine's dead, has Office 2000 on it. This is because my mom "borrowed" a copy from work. For some reason, she doesn't want the "borrowed" copies of Office 2003 or 2007 that I have. Now, I prefer 2003 to 2007 in a lot of ways, but I don't know how somebody can use 2000. It need copious amounts of updating so that it can read 2007 documents. But, oh, well. My mom doesn't really use this computer for much other than e-mail and card games. She can't even watch YouTube videos in Firefox. Some people just have small, sad lives.
Ok, now that I'm done being ironic, I'm going to go find food.
In any case, I'm leaving to go back to England tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it. More than anything, I'm looking forward to getting a job. Even sitting around here with no job is kind of blah. I know a guy who has no job, lives with his parents, is in his late 20s and is flat broke, and I have no idea how he does it. He says he likes it, too. He confuses me. And now I'm hoping he doesn't read this entry. He wouldn't be offended by it, but he would make a joke about blonde female Canadians. >.<
I'm trying to think of something to write about that isn't either a to do list or vaguely angsty ramblings about how I'm going to miss my dog. Maybe if I have a to do list pressing enough that I'm considering writing it in my blog, I should stop blogging and go do things that are on said list. But I'm hungry, and I don't know what I want to eat (chicken parmesan!), and since I can't get work done while I'm hungry, and I can't eat until I know what I want, I'll just have to sit here an procrastinate until I come up with something to eat. Yep, that's totally sound logic.
My mom's laptop, which I'm using because mine's dead, has Office 2000 on it. This is because my mom "borrowed" a copy from work. For some reason, she doesn't want the "borrowed" copies of Office 2003 or 2007 that I have. Now, I prefer 2003 to 2007 in a lot of ways, but I don't know how somebody can use 2000. It need copious amounts of updating so that it can read 2007 documents. But, oh, well. My mom doesn't really use this computer for much other than e-mail and card games. She can't even watch YouTube videos in Firefox. Some people just have small, sad lives.
Ok, now that I'm done being ironic, I'm going to go find food.
1/08/2009
In Which I Complain
It is one in the morning. I am using my parents' computer. I have been running tests on mine all evening, trying to figure out what exactly is wrong with it. It keeps crashing, and the tests are telling me there's something wrong with the memory, but that's not helpful. I called tech support yesterday, and they told me to run more tests. I think I've run damn near every test I can on the drivers/diagnostics CD, the system restore/repair CD, and the startup repair menu thing. The most helpful thing I've been told is to call tech support. My computer's still under warranty (because it's only nine bloody months old!), but I leave for England a week from tomorrow, so I don't exactly want to be sending it out for repairs right now. Using my parents' computer involved sitting in an unpleasant chair that forces me to be abnormally far away from the monitor. It also forces me to be at a desk, as opposed to being able to curl up on the couch or in bed, like my laptop has allowed me to become accustomed to. When I decided to write this blog post, I was sitting in said unpleasant chair, turning semi-circles back and forth, listening to the way the noises of the hard drive tower changed as I spun. It was decidedly less pleasant than being in bed doing something fun with my laptop...
Also, I am sick with a nasty cold. Today is day seven. The nasal congestion is more or less the same as it started out, but the dry cough is getting worse. I'm considering seeing a doctor tomorrow to make sure that it hasn't morphed into something worse. The entire upper half of my body hurts from coughing. I'm waiting for the cold medicine I took a minute ago to kick in before I go to bed, because attempting to lay down and breath calmly is a considerable challenge without medication right now. I'm probably keeping my parents awake with my coughing--I have been for the past couple of nights. I've been scratching my throat and chest so much that the skin is getting irritated. Peter wondered if the scratching actually helped, since the itch is on the inside, but it does, at least a little. I'm not entirely certain how it does, though.
Speaking of Peter, he leaves the day after tomorrow. Chris leaves tomorrow. I leave a week from tomorrow, but I already mentioned that. And now I'm giving up and going to bed, regardless of how I'm breathing.
Also, I am sick with a nasty cold. Today is day seven. The nasal congestion is more or less the same as it started out, but the dry cough is getting worse. I'm considering seeing a doctor tomorrow to make sure that it hasn't morphed into something worse. The entire upper half of my body hurts from coughing. I'm waiting for the cold medicine I took a minute ago to kick in before I go to bed, because attempting to lay down and breath calmly is a considerable challenge without medication right now. I'm probably keeping my parents awake with my coughing--I have been for the past couple of nights. I've been scratching my throat and chest so much that the skin is getting irritated. Peter wondered if the scratching actually helped, since the itch is on the inside, but it does, at least a little. I'm not entirely certain how it does, though.
Speaking of Peter, he leaves the day after tomorrow. Chris leaves tomorrow. I leave a week from tomorrow, but I already mentioned that. And now I'm giving up and going to bed, regardless of how I'm breathing.
1/01/2009
Happy New Year!
It's not quite 8am on January 1st, 2009. No, I'm not still awake. Rather, I woke up almost an hour ago because a cold was preventing me from breathing properly. I think I was snoring. It was making me dream that I couldn't talk properly. I seem to have been very prone to colds since returning to Canada. A pile of used Kleenex is slowly but steadily accumulating next to me. Blah.
It's still dark, as is typical for this hour at this time of year in this part of the world. If it wasn't for the plethora of clocks telling me it's 8am, I would have guessed it was a few hours earlier. I guess I haven't been getting up early enough this winter to really remember what time it gets light out. I can't say that I really mind that, personally. ^_^
New Year's Eve was good. Peter, Jenilee, and this guy Jenilee's started seeing were all over at my place. We watched Ratatouille and played Trivial Pursuit. I actually won Trivial Pursuit. I was rather surprised. Jenilee brought over cookies (and brownies that didn't turn out so well), and between those and the spinach dip I bought (and the pizza), I ate waaaaay too much. The pizza had a lot of cheese on it, which I think made me more full than I expected pizza to.
I'm not making any New Year's Resolutions, even though there are a few I could. I could resolve to get a job, but that's something that's going to happen anyway. And I don't want to think about it right now. I hate job hunting with a passion. I could resolve to be more diligent with taking my medication on time, but that's like resolving to worry more. I could resolve to get into better shape, but I don't know if human beings are physiologically/psychologically capable of taking that resolution seriously.
As for the whole deal of 2008 in review, it was good. Finishing school (finally) was nice. Moving to London has been an experience. Nothing much else happened.
Yeesh. My mom just opened the front door, and I could feel the rush of cold air all the way down here in the basement. It's freezing out there. I think that's my cue to go back to bed, even if it is starting to get light out.
It's still dark, as is typical for this hour at this time of year in this part of the world. If it wasn't for the plethora of clocks telling me it's 8am, I would have guessed it was a few hours earlier. I guess I haven't been getting up early enough this winter to really remember what time it gets light out. I can't say that I really mind that, personally. ^_^
New Year's Eve was good. Peter, Jenilee, and this guy Jenilee's started seeing were all over at my place. We watched Ratatouille and played Trivial Pursuit. I actually won Trivial Pursuit. I was rather surprised. Jenilee brought over cookies (and brownies that didn't turn out so well), and between those and the spinach dip I bought (and the pizza), I ate waaaaay too much. The pizza had a lot of cheese on it, which I think made me more full than I expected pizza to.
I'm not making any New Year's Resolutions, even though there are a few I could. I could resolve to get a job, but that's something that's going to happen anyway. And I don't want to think about it right now. I hate job hunting with a passion. I could resolve to be more diligent with taking my medication on time, but that's like resolving to worry more. I could resolve to get into better shape, but I don't know if human beings are physiologically/psychologically capable of taking that resolution seriously.
As for the whole deal of 2008 in review, it was good. Finishing school (finally) was nice. Moving to London has been an experience. Nothing much else happened.
Yeesh. My mom just opened the front door, and I could feel the rush of cold air all the way down here in the basement. It's freezing out there. I think that's my cue to go back to bed, even if it is starting to get light out.
11/27/2008
Back in Edmonton
Ok, so I promised that I'd write a blog post explaining my being back in Edmonton almost a month sooner than planned. There really isn't much to explain, but here you go:
I was going stir crazy. Not having a job or much else to do was getting to me. I tried to go out every day, but there wasn't always something for me to do. Plus, if there was maintenance work being done at the train station near my house, it was a long walk to the next one, which was less than pleasant when carrying things like groceries, so I just went to the supermarket down the street instead of going out into civilization. There was no point in me getting a job a month before leaving for Christmas, so I just kind of sat around not doing much. It was boring and depressing. Coming back to Canada, where there are people I know and I have more mobility, thanks to cars, was the best thing for me to do for now, I think. My grumpiness was starting to make me difficult to get along with, and the last thing I wanted was to strain the relationships I had over there. Plus, my dog was at home, and I missed him.
I fully plan to go back in January and get a job. I'm not entirely certain what kind of job, but having something to do and a way to meet people (plus earning money) should make things much easier for me. I took only a little bit of my stuff home with me, since I have to go back to England with all the stuff my mom couldn't ship. I'm sad to be away from Peter for our five-year anniversary, but the date's not the important thing, so it'll be okay. He and Chris are both coming home for Christmas, so I'll get to see him then.
So, yeah, nobody died or got seriously sick or injured. I just came home for the sake of my own sanity, and I'll be going back in the new year. =)
I was going stir crazy. Not having a job or much else to do was getting to me. I tried to go out every day, but there wasn't always something for me to do. Plus, if there was maintenance work being done at the train station near my house, it was a long walk to the next one, which was less than pleasant when carrying things like groceries, so I just went to the supermarket down the street instead of going out into civilization. There was no point in me getting a job a month before leaving for Christmas, so I just kind of sat around not doing much. It was boring and depressing. Coming back to Canada, where there are people I know and I have more mobility, thanks to cars, was the best thing for me to do for now, I think. My grumpiness was starting to make me difficult to get along with, and the last thing I wanted was to strain the relationships I had over there. Plus, my dog was at home, and I missed him.
I fully plan to go back in January and get a job. I'm not entirely certain what kind of job, but having something to do and a way to meet people (plus earning money) should make things much easier for me. I took only a little bit of my stuff home with me, since I have to go back to England with all the stuff my mom couldn't ship. I'm sad to be away from Peter for our five-year anniversary, but the date's not the important thing, so it'll be okay. He and Chris are both coming home for Christmas, so I'll get to see him then.
So, yeah, nobody died or got seriously sick or injured. I just came home for the sake of my own sanity, and I'll be going back in the new year. =)
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