Odditude

I am exhausted. I went to work this morning and after an hour, gave up and came back home. My feet hurt, my shoulder hurts, my head hurts and my stomach is not happy with my food choices as of late. However, on that note, despite some hijinx, last night was great!

After all the thinking and planning, it was decided that we would go to the Weird Al concert. It was Ndies’ bday so we dragged him along and we joined by A&J, Milady & S! and Kintair. It was a rocky start and as I talked with Ndie, we determined that the problem was that sometimes we let D take the initiative for planning and really, it doesn’t often work out, so we just gotta smack ourselves and we know better. I found a new Fairy artist to keep in touch with and I bought some really cool postcards with Amy Brown and another new artist (for me) Myka. I thought I did really good all night. I had my bottle of water and a large corn dog. And that was it. And because the lineups were long on the way home, we didn’t even stop at a drive thru. Whoohoo!

Weird Al rocked. Despite the lack of seating (which has strongly encouraged me to not want to go to the other two concerts I wanted to go to), I was still able to actually see him on stage despite my far away position. He also had a screen up which showed clips, him on stage and videos. He came back for an encore, which was fabulous. It was 2+ hours long and I stood the whole time. My feet were killing me by the end and it took a lot of willpower just to keep walking. This morning they were still a little sore and I definitely do not want to go for a long walk today…

I am not sure why my shoulder is hurting though. I wasn’t even carrying my backpack on that shoulder unless I hurt it in the morning when I was carrying all the stuff for the pot luck. Which is why I didn’t eat much on the grounds last night. I was stuffed from lunch. It was so good and it was worse than usual for leftovers. The fridge was literally filled with leftovers. It was a lunch to say goodbye to two of our staff who are left this week. So sad too since these were the hard working staff that did little things that really helped out. This morning we were reminded of them as people were like ‘where’s this, why is this locked’ etc because it was all stuff that is usually done by them. Sighhh. I will miss them.

I read the last Harry Potter this weekend. Supposedly 8 out of 10 people have either read Harry Potter or seen the movie. I am very glad that I am part of the majority. On Friday, I headed to the mall at 11:45 pm and picked up the book at midnight. Read some until 1:30, then got sleep, read some more, had lunch with a wonderful friend, talked with D and finished the book by Saturday night. Wow. I loved the ending and I am glad that she remembered that it is a kid’s book. The ending could have gone either way and the last few chapters kept varying back and forth, but the ultimate ending pleases me. While I was reading I could even imagine the movie and I am so excited for the final two movies to come out.

Ndie, D and I all saw the movie last Tuesday and it rocked as well. It could have been better if the original director had done it, but it was a good movie. I enjoyed seeing it and because of the movie, I cared a little more about Sirius dying (which I was one of the rare people who didn’t care one way or the other about his death in the book).

I am so glad that the temperature let up for a few days and that a breeze has returned. It was so nice to fall asleep the last two nights and yesterday I didn’t even put on the fan so it was a quiet night too.

I am reading a book called ODDitude right now and it is one of those self-help books. It has a really good statement in it that I wanted to share.

Every time you meet someone, you always have a choice. You can either learn from them or judge them. But you can’t do both. When you choose one, you eliminate the possibility of the other.

I think this is very true. And I know I try very hard to choose to learn. I am not perfect and sometimes there is nothing better than a judgefest about thick ankles and such, but when I actually meet someone, I do try to learn about them and get to know their story. I have friends who are very different from me and from each other. Some are riskier, some live different lifestyles, some are on a different financial path, etc. My dear friend DS is definitely on a different and riskier path in life. Things she chooses to do are not things that I would do. But rather than judge her and declare her path a waste, I always try to listen to her and find out why she chose this path and what she wants from it. I admit it is not a path for me, but that doesn’t make it a wrong path. My good friend N has switched paths with me. When we met, I was the carefree one who was off doing odd things and such and she was tied to a house, a career, etc. Now I am the one with a house and a career and she is off traveling the world whenever she can. She works to travel, while often I work to live. I respect her way of life for her. I am not at a point in my path to join her (though I want to and I am saving up to do so with her someday), but her path isn’t wrong and every time we talk, I learn something.

Anyway, the point was just to recognize that I have many varied friends and I am proud that I call all of them friends. Each one teaches me something because I choose to have that relationship with them. I just want to say Thank you all for being my friend.

Anality Bites: The Major Motion Picture

A fave blogger of mine suggested that everyone try this question, so I thought – why not? And oh, how interesting. It starts with

If your life was a soundtrack, what would the music be?

Here’s how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, winamp, media player, iPod, etc.)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. press play
4. for every question, type the song that is playing
5. new question – press the next button
6. don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool

So here is one possible soundtrack for – Anality Bites

Opening Credits:
“Hell is Living without You” by Ozzy Ozbourne
What an interesting opener. It sets the movie as a possible chick flick with obviously a break-up to begin the tale that leaves the heroine feeling lost and confused.
I can't find your face in a thousand masqueraders
You're hidden in the colors of a million other lost charades
In life's big parade
I'm the loneliest spectator
Cuz you're gone without a trace in a sea of faceless imitators

Waking Up:
"Brave New Girl" by Britney Spears
She wants a good time, no need to rewind, she needs to really really find what she wants
An appropriate beginning song – suggesting that I have a lifetime to find myself, to have some fun and despite my innocent appearances, there is a underlying sexuality to me, a need to be just a little different. How true.

First Day at School:
"Unwell" by Matchbox 20
Wow does that capture school for me – always being a little different from any specific clique, having friends in every group, but not belonging.

Falling in Love:
"Call me When You’re Sober" by Evanescence
Okay – totally freaky. My first few lovers were – well not drunks, but they were not the best for me and while it took me awhile to let them go, but I did. I made the break and never looked back.
Just get your things.
I've made up your mind.

Breaking Up:
"Evening Rain" by Moby
I close my eyes
It doesn't work
I can hear tomorrow
Despite my experience with breaking up, I still find it the hardest thing to go through. And when I am sad, I like to play really sad music, preferable with haunting music. This song works well.

Prom:
"Walk Through the Fire" by Scooby Gang and Sweet (Once More, With Feeling)
I touch the fire and it freezes me.
I look into it and it’s black
I never went to prom in High School. I went in Jr. High and while I wore pink (shudder), it was okay. But High School was a different story. There were twins in my High School and naturally, I had a crush on one of them. They made my years there – well, let’s just say not pleasant. So when Prom came up, mom and I went searching for a dress. Oh and we found a beautiful dress – a black strapless dress with a white trim at the top, fitted, and it was gorgeous. Except I developed breasts in Grade 5 and by High School, they were…ample and so the dress didn’t fit over them. I was so in love with the dress and I raved about it, but mom knew how hard it would be to ‘add’ to the bust line. She and dad offered instead to take me out to dinner, just the three of us. I think we also did a movie. But I loved the offer (me and the parents alone) and took it instead. Have never regretted going. But obviously this song suggests that maybe I should have. (I should also note that I have never wanted to go to any reunions either – thankfully, my class is not organized to think of planning this).

Life’s Okay:
"Shadow" by Britney Spears
Wow, think my life is full of loneliness and lost love. Hmmmm. Maybe my life is only good when I am suffering tragedy...okay, let’s move on to something different.

Mental Breakdown:
"Take Me Home" by Phil Collins
A sing about just accepting what comes, letting it be and going home where things are comfortable and safe. Yeah, perfect for a breakdown.

After the Rain:
"Closing Time" by Leonard Cohen
All the women tear their blouses off
and the men they dance on the polka-dots
and it's partner found and it's partner lost
and it's hell to pay when the fiddler stops
It's closing time
Everytime it rains, I get the urge to run out and spin naked in the rain, letting the water wash away my worries. Must be my Scorpio nature.

Driving:
"A Different Kind of Love Song" by Cher
A rockin’ techno-beat, the goddess Cher’s often imitated voice and the not so mushy lyrics give you a perfect driving song. Her album Believe was often in my cd player when I was out tearing up the town.

Flashback:
"The Sad But True Story Of Ray Mingus, The Lumberjack Of Bulk Rock City, And His Never Slacking Stribe In Exploiting The So Far Undiscovered Areas Of The Intention To Bodily Intercourse From The Opposite Species Of His Kind, During Intake Of All The Mental Condition That Could Be Derived From Fermentation" by Rednex
This song often gets stuck in my head for days. Mind you, how could it not with lyrics such as:
You will be my lover, but not my tender wife
I'll be harder than your husband, I'll be harder than your man
I'll hit you with my twenty inch until you can not stand
Ahhh, I remember these times so well. Loved the song when I first heard, love it now. And look – it’s a flashback to sex. Story of my life here, remember?

Getting Back Together:
"Bootylicious" by Destiny’s Child
What exactly does this mean - According to Beyonce: "Beautiful, bountiful, and bounce-able." Sure, I guess that covers what it means to get back together – the sex is beautiful, bountiful and bounce-able. Yeah, that works. Heehee.

Wedding:
"Hips Don’t Lie" by Shakira
And I'm on tonight
You know my hips don't lie
And I'm starting to feel it's right
All the attraction, the tension
Don't you see baby, this is perfection
I love this song and video. It always gets me moving and would definitely be on a wedding soundtrack if I had the choice.

Birth of a Child:
"Nothing But You" by Kim Feron (Buffy Soundtrack)
Perhaps that is why I have chosen thus far to be childless and yet, often think should I or should I not?
Well I’ve got plenty of time
Time to figure it out
Time to think about you and me
Whatever that was all about
Got nothing to prove
Got nothing to say
No I’m guessing I never thought you were good for me anyway
Got nothing to lose
Nothing but you
Oooo, nothing but you
Yeah, n-n-nothing

Final Battle:
"Maneater" by Nelly Furtado
Trust me to have a Final Battle song about sex and the other person not being able to handle it. I have often been told that once you get past my natural shyness, I am an extremely intense person. Some people just can’t handle intense. Their loss.
And when she walks she walks with passion
when she talks, she talks like she can handle it
when she asks for something she means it
And the Final Battle should be something that you put your all into.

Death Scene:
"Riders on the Storm" by The Doors
And I follow the final battle with music from a man who died early because of his own intensity.
Into this house we're born,
Into this world we're thrown,
Like a dog without a bone,
An actor out on loan,
Riders on the storm.

Funeral Song:
"Insensitive" by Jann Arden
Isn’t that what is left after death - all the questions that never got answered?
How do you cool your lips after a summer's kiss?
How do you rid the sweat after the body bliss?
How do you turn your eyes from a romantic glare?
How do you block the sound of a voice you'd know anywhere?
…
How do you numb your skin after the warmest touch?
How do you slow your blood after the body rush?
How do you free your soul after you've found a friend?
How do you convince your heart it's a crime to fall in love again?

End Credits:
"One More Night" by Phil Collins
And despite all the pain and tragedy, at the end of it all, I beg for just one more night, one more chance to do all that I want, need to still do. At the end, what I have to show is a love that is uncertain, that is still seeking, that is still unrequited. Yes, sometimes I have often thought that this was the moral of my life.
One more night, one more night
I've been trying ooh so long
To let you know
Let you know how I feel
And if I stumble if I fall,
Just help me back
So I can make you see

Interesting. Guess it is true that you can tell alot about a person from what the music they listen to. And now that you all know some of my guilty secrets when it comes to music, good night.

Hell has risen

So I am borrowing D’s computer since it is in the cool basement. Of course, this means I am listening to strange music and using a non-ergonomic keyboard – ooh – I can feel my ears rebelling and my wrists aching already… heehee.

Anyway, Hot enough for you?!? I hate the heat. It very much makes me not want to move. If I just sit on the couch and do nothing then my body generates no heat and thus I will not get hot. Excellent theory, eh? Unfortunately, I am going nuts not being able to do anything. I walk through the house, mentally calculating all the things I could be doing but they all involve the above ground part of the house. The house below ground is kinda in a holding spell. We are getting an assessment of the house again to see what we can do to get the house a little more environmentally friendly and a little less consumptive (with rebates from the government). We are thus holding off on some stuff until the assessment is done. The other thing is that we are getting windows done this year and I already know which walls are going to involve lots of work afterwards. This will also affect what needs to be done. (Really Universe, I could use a little extra cash about now to assist with what needs to be – an influx of lottery winnings would help… heehee).

So L had her baby – whoohoo! A pretty baby girl – I am very happy for her and M. Hopefully, things are going well for them. I figured I would wait a couple of weeks before calling to see if I can intrude and see the little being in person. She looks cute in the pics.

Not much new at work – Beyotch is on holidays for 3 weeks, so life is good that way. The sucky thing is that once again we are going through periods of no air conditioning. The air conditioners are probably a decade old if not more and they fail almost every two days right now. It is so frustrating. When do they figure out that the air conditioners would cost less if you replaced them than they do right now just by ‘fixing’ them? I am not a heat person at all and it just makes me bitchy to have to work in that. Supposedly an Alberta government office has gone green and they took out the air conditioners. I can’t even imagine what that office must be like right now. I can only get so naked and look professional. One of my co-workers suggested we all stand naked in front of the office and refuse to work until they fix it. Can you imagine the scene – several women within 5 years or less of retirement, a few young’uns (such as myself) naked? Yeah – the image scared me too. Heehee.

It’s funny that in this heat all I am thinking about is how to lose some more weight. How do you exercise in this heat? I get so nauseous from the heat just walking to and from work. If I dedicated myself to actually working out, I would be very afraid of heat exhaustion. I haven’t had it this year and I am hoping to avoid it this year. I have had it before and it is not nice. But I am reading a very interesting book – 3 fat chicks on a diet. It goes through all the different diet plans (from Atkins and South Beach to Weight Watchers and Curves to Oprah’s men to surgery). Very informative and it is based on their website which has been established for several years and it talks about what the plans involves, what is good and bad, and who the plans would work best for. Plus there are recipes tailored for several of the diets that look sumptious. There are a few I want to try when I finally feel like cooking again.

Does anyone feel like cooking? I barely feel like eating, but I do cause I know mentally that I need to. But goodness knows I am sick of cooking food. The garden is looking fairly good – though very little lettuce can up this year, which is odd. I have swiss chard going – I have to ask A&J though what to do with it. I know you can cook it, but can it be eaten in a salad like beet leaves and such? And so many of my items have started going to seed already. Weird. So I have to get out there and start eating some more from the garden. And maybe figure out how to collect the seeds. That would be cool. Heehee.

I am having difficulty deciding when to go to K-days er –Capital Ex this year. Weird Al is on the 25, Great Big Sea in on the 26 and Thornley is on the 27. And all are free with admission. Rockin’. Tough decision. I am partial to 27 just cause we saw Thornley at the X and the concert totally rocked. And supposedly this year they are playing songs from their soon to be released second album. Arghhh. So can’t wait to hear that album. But then it’s Weird Al – I love Weird Al. He’s cool. And Great Big Sea – I love all their albums and it would be great to be able to see them too. Hmmmm, think anyone would notice if I call in sick for a few days – heehee.

Anyway, I should actually think about getting some chores done.

Happy Canada Day!

So what do y’all do on your Canada Day? So far, D and I have done the following:

Mowed front, back and alley lawns
Weeded both gardens
Set up rain catcher so it can actually be used without worrying about overflow
Washed dishes
Put away two loads of clothes
Cleaned interior of Fridge (I learned that the bottom shelf does come off – didn’t know that before – had the fridge almost 5 years – hmmm)Cleaned interior and behind compactor (was on D’s list for 3 years to do)
Cleaned interior of oven

Not bad eh? Tonight we have some people over for gaming. And that will be our Canada Day. I think it is very Canadian of us for doing what we do. After all, we are a humble folk… Heehee

And yesterday rocked – had a classic Saturday afternoon – I went to the library and took out 38 books (the limit is 40), stopped at 7-11 for a slurpee and some nachos with cheese and then back home to spread out across the floor, in front of the tv, and went through the books I got. And what a collection:
Fantasy/sci fi fiction
Organization
Decluttering
Home repair
Decorating
Being better at Work
Personality types
Punctuation
Self-help
Dieting
Well, you get the drift. It is a varied collection. Should keep me busy for a few weeks. And to that, the recent stop at Chapters where we picked up a few books and yeah, I think I am ready for a relaxing summer. Unfortunately, my holidays are over, which sucks, but there is nothing on tv anyway.

One more thing about facebook – I have been playing with D’s account some more and I really just don’t get the appeal. I must be missing something. Facebook just seems to be like a disconnected series of phrases and pictures and weird activities. At least with a blog, I get a story, well, most of the time. Facebook is like a certain friend’s blog of mine where there are these seemingly random phrases and nothing else. I don’t want the headlines or the punchlines.

A friend of mine is getting cell phones and she wants to ensure it has texting abilities. To me, a phone is a means to talk to a person. It shouldn’t force me to look at words in shorthand and try to discern a meaning. What is so hard about picking up the phone and using it to call someone? Isn’t that what it is for? D has a cell phone, but I do not. It is an ancient thing that despite all the rough abuse works like a dream. It doesn’t do texting. It costs $10 a month to hold the minutes. It is solely for calling when another phone is not convenient. Isn’t that the purpose of a cell phone? I had a client the other day whose phone kept beeping. And he said that he can’t believe how often his friends text him while they are at work – where do they find the time? And I totally get that.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not against technology - I love its convenience, but I really do think we are losing the human connection. I received an email that told me a person had a great time on their holidays and they would blog about it shortly. And all I could think was, but you are writing me now, why don’t you tell me now? I like blogging and telling y’all what exciting things happen in my life or what my latest rant is (like now), but I have no qualms about talking about it via email or in person with you too. Just because I blogged it doesn’t mean I didn’t leave things out or that I’m done with the situation/thought. Just like if you start telling me a story that was on your blog, I am not going to interrupt and say – oh yeah, like on your blog. No, I want to hear you tell me the story now – maybe you’ll add more, maybe your perspective is different now. I want that connection with people.

I love technology because it has opened the world to us. But let us not forget that we are human too and humans need connection. You can only connect so much online. Everyone needs to be touched, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Let’s not forget to be with people in person.

Anyway, that is my rant for today.

Happy Canada Day, everyone! Reach out and hug someone today and show them your love. And if you grope them while you do it, all the better. Hee hee.