July 18th, 1950 - August 22nd, 2011
There are no words. This man took the NDP (my political affiliation of choice) to heights I never imagined achievable. He will be missed terribly not only in politics, but Canada in general. Godspeed, Jack.
8.22.2011
8.12.2011
blah blah this that blah blah is this thing even on?
Yeah, so I pretty much never post here anymore. I don't care; it's my blog, and I will post here (or not post here) whenever the fuck I feel like it. Too much time between posts = I am busy or there just isn't anything really worthwhile to post about.
But today I would like to go on a tiny little rant about something. And that thing is people who fake stupidity/naivete to get people to feel sorry for them, resulting in them getting something they want. Here's how it is... 19-year-old me would've been all over that. Like, hard core all over that. I mean, what's better than people just handing shit to you on a gilded fucking platter, even if it's a total pity party?
34-year-old me? I just think it's wrong. And by wrong, I mean wrong enough to rat those lousy folks out to someone. Okay, so if it's someone who I've confirmed is truly dumb (or truly lives under a goddamned rock), then whatevs. I can live with it because those types of peeps need a leg up sometimes or they're just gonna get hit by a bus for nothing. But I'm pretty observant. Make that very observant. I'm the kind of gal who just quietly takes everything in under the pretence of not noticing, but then forms very strong judgements based on those observations. You do NOT want to get on the bad side of someone like me. But that aside, I notice when people are just pretending not to know what's what, and I notice when they use this particular tactic to take advantage of others. For example, people who pretend to be way more ESL than they actually are, thus, getting people to help them with things (read: actually do the work for them) more than is truly required. WTF is that? I know I'm going to hell when I die... but apparently so are you.
I don't know where I meant to go with this other than STOP DOING THIS. It does not go unnoticed. And just because I haven't done it yet does not mean you are safe from me NARCing you out at some point. Because I WILL do it.
That's the end of my rant. True story.
But today I would like to go on a tiny little rant about something. And that thing is people who fake stupidity/naivete to get people to feel sorry for them, resulting in them getting something they want. Here's how it is... 19-year-old me would've been all over that. Like, hard core all over that. I mean, what's better than people just handing shit to you on a gilded fucking platter, even if it's a total pity party?
34-year-old me? I just think it's wrong. And by wrong, I mean wrong enough to rat those lousy folks out to someone. Okay, so if it's someone who I've confirmed is truly dumb (or truly lives under a goddamned rock), then whatevs. I can live with it because those types of peeps need a leg up sometimes or they're just gonna get hit by a bus for nothing. But I'm pretty observant. Make that very observant. I'm the kind of gal who just quietly takes everything in under the pretence of not noticing, but then forms very strong judgements based on those observations. You do NOT want to get on the bad side of someone like me. But that aside, I notice when people are just pretending not to know what's what, and I notice when they use this particular tactic to take advantage of others. For example, people who pretend to be way more ESL than they actually are, thus, getting people to help them with things (read: actually do the work for them) more than is truly required. WTF is that? I know I'm going to hell when I die... but apparently so are you.
I don't know where I meant to go with this other than STOP DOING THIS. It does not go unnoticed. And just because I haven't done it yet does not mean you are safe from me NARCing you out at some point. Because I WILL do it.
That's the end of my rant. True story.
2.15.2011
the one that got away, post v-day edition.
Yeah, yeah, I should have posted this yesterday, but I was way too busy being single and awesome. Get over it. And just how did I spend my February 14th? Watching 'Terminator' and drinking hipster beer. What? I'm only pretentious about movies and beer when I'm in the presence of others. On my own, I am way less particular.
For the most part I've never been big into these pre-fab 'holidays', but I am certainly not against people celebrating them in the least; it just isn't really my cup of tea. Typically my Valentine's Days have been marred by the following: being in a terrible relationship, being just recently single, being hit on by people I have absolutely no interest in dating, and being in the company of overbearing male friends who insist on cock-blocking me. So really, it has nothing to do with the yearly love-in itself... it's all been circumstantial (and perhaps it also highlights my need to have less overbearing male friends).
ANYWAY. A long time ago when I was a super awkward, skinny, big-haired, giant early 90's glasses-wearing 14-year-old, I met this guy. 'Oh, 'this guy'', you say. Just understand that it was kind of a big deal at the time. I met him because I was taking swimming lessons (I've known how to swim since I was 4, but up until I was around 16 or 17 I took lessons every summer because my mom thought that if I didn't participate in some kind of activity during that time, I would begin running delinquent in the streets), and he was the instructor. Yeah. I know, right? He was 18 and had just graduated from high school. He drove this silly little white mini-pickup truck (I don't know the technical term for those... is there one?) with his name as the license plate. He was tall-ish, kind of skinny, with dark hair, and this cute, goofy smile. And I was seriously fucking head over heels for him. Like, retardedly so. Plus, he kinda liked me. At first my best friend told me that he HAD to like me because I was in his swimming class. Protocol or something. I knew better, though, because he laughed at my jokes extra hard, winked at me when the other kids weren't looking, and hung around after lessons to chat with me.
Of course, there was that pesky age difference which made it impossible for anything to really happen. So for the next 5 years, I spent my spare time volunteering and teaching lessons at the pool with him. I managed to procure a phone number and even an address (he gave it to me so I could send him a postcard from Japan one time). We flirted and made eyes at eachother, but it never progressed beyond that. By then, he had a girlfriend (someone he had met from the university rowing club), and it all seemed pretty hopeless. I ended up taking a year off after high school, and though we still saw one another around now and then, I figured that was that. By my 1st semester of university that fall, I'd pretty much forgotten about him entirely, and was in the process of trying to date a guy who I'd met over the summer. Then one day as I was on my way to my morning archaeology lecture (shut up... it totally seemed like a good idea at first), I heard someone calling my name. I looked around, and there he was standing by the doors of the science building, so I walked over to say hi. He asked how I was, how my classes were going (he mentioned that he was in the final year of his bachelor's degree), and lastly asked if I would like to go for coffee with him some time. This is the important part of the story (obviously) because, as I would much later realize, this was the very moment that I'd wanted all along. All of that innocent flirting had turned out to be legitimate, and he'd been waiting for me to turn 18 the whole time. He then scrawled his number onto a piece of paper ("Just in case you don't still have it"), and told me to call him.
But I didn't. I never did. I don't know why. Probably because I was young and stupid, and pursuing someone else (by the way, that turned out to be a complete and utter waste of time... but that's another blog post entirely). And the truth of the matter is that it's probably the single thing in life I fully regret; you know, if I could have one 'do over', what would it be? That kind of thing. I never got to have a first date with the guy who I spent all of my high school years adoring; the one guy who bothered to wait 5 years so I could actually go out with him. Shit, that's downright romantic, isn't it? But my fucking 18-year-old brain couldn't process it at the time. Man, do I ever wish that I'd been tuned in back then. I could've been all like, 'Holy shit, this is what every girl dreams about', and then who knows? It might have been one for the ages, but instead just turned into the classic 'one that got away' story.
And I've been sitting on this story until now. So, consider yourselves lucky to have heard it. Hopefully my 34-year-old self will never let anything like it happen again, or else I'm likely to become the crazy dog lady.
That would suck.
For the most part I've never been big into these pre-fab 'holidays', but I am certainly not against people celebrating them in the least; it just isn't really my cup of tea. Typically my Valentine's Days have been marred by the following: being in a terrible relationship, being just recently single, being hit on by people I have absolutely no interest in dating, and being in the company of overbearing male friends who insist on cock-blocking me. So really, it has nothing to do with the yearly love-in itself... it's all been circumstantial (and perhaps it also highlights my need to have less overbearing male friends).
ANYWAY. A long time ago when I was a super awkward, skinny, big-haired, giant early 90's glasses-wearing 14-year-old, I met this guy. 'Oh, 'this guy'', you say. Just understand that it was kind of a big deal at the time. I met him because I was taking swimming lessons (I've known how to swim since I was 4, but up until I was around 16 or 17 I took lessons every summer because my mom thought that if I didn't participate in some kind of activity during that time, I would begin running delinquent in the streets), and he was the instructor. Yeah. I know, right? He was 18 and had just graduated from high school. He drove this silly little white mini-pickup truck (I don't know the technical term for those... is there one?) with his name as the license plate. He was tall-ish, kind of skinny, with dark hair, and this cute, goofy smile. And I was seriously fucking head over heels for him. Like, retardedly so. Plus, he kinda liked me. At first my best friend told me that he HAD to like me because I was in his swimming class. Protocol or something. I knew better, though, because he laughed at my jokes extra hard, winked at me when the other kids weren't looking, and hung around after lessons to chat with me.
Of course, there was that pesky age difference which made it impossible for anything to really happen. So for the next 5 years, I spent my spare time volunteering and teaching lessons at the pool with him. I managed to procure a phone number and even an address (he gave it to me so I could send him a postcard from Japan one time). We flirted and made eyes at eachother, but it never progressed beyond that. By then, he had a girlfriend (someone he had met from the university rowing club), and it all seemed pretty hopeless. I ended up taking a year off after high school, and though we still saw one another around now and then, I figured that was that. By my 1st semester of university that fall, I'd pretty much forgotten about him entirely, and was in the process of trying to date a guy who I'd met over the summer. Then one day as I was on my way to my morning archaeology lecture (shut up... it totally seemed like a good idea at first), I heard someone calling my name. I looked around, and there he was standing by the doors of the science building, so I walked over to say hi. He asked how I was, how my classes were going (he mentioned that he was in the final year of his bachelor's degree), and lastly asked if I would like to go for coffee with him some time. This is the important part of the story (obviously) because, as I would much later realize, this was the very moment that I'd wanted all along. All of that innocent flirting had turned out to be legitimate, and he'd been waiting for me to turn 18 the whole time. He then scrawled his number onto a piece of paper ("Just in case you don't still have it"), and told me to call him.
But I didn't. I never did. I don't know why. Probably because I was young and stupid, and pursuing someone else (by the way, that turned out to be a complete and utter waste of time... but that's another blog post entirely). And the truth of the matter is that it's probably the single thing in life I fully regret; you know, if I could have one 'do over', what would it be? That kind of thing. I never got to have a first date with the guy who I spent all of my high school years adoring; the one guy who bothered to wait 5 years so I could actually go out with him. Shit, that's downright romantic, isn't it? But my fucking 18-year-old brain couldn't process it at the time. Man, do I ever wish that I'd been tuned in back then. I could've been all like, 'Holy shit, this is what every girl dreams about', and then who knows? It might have been one for the ages, but instead just turned into the classic 'one that got away' story.
And I've been sitting on this story until now. So, consider yourselves lucky to have heard it. Hopefully my 34-year-old self will never let anything like it happen again, or else I'm likely to become the crazy dog lady.
That would suck.
2.07.2011
where the f*** is our snowpocalypse?
I promise I'm still blogging. Sort of. I realize I haven't really posted anything since the beginning of December, but still here! I think I'll just revert back to list format for this update since it's just easier that way.
a) Bad hair. Like, all around. I thought I'd be awesome and grow my hair out. You may or may not recall that I spent all of last year rocking a pixie-ish cut in various colours (not at the same time... I just changed hair colours every time I went in for a trim). Verdict? All that toner and dye has left my hair super fried. So I'm giving it a break and not cutting or colouring it until possibly June. I know. I don't think I can last that long, either. But for one thing, I basically cannot afford my hair stylist right now; she is beyond fantastic, but her prices are high... and I have to pay all my bills somehow. So, I guess growing my hair out is half out of necessity, and half out of poverty. Or wait... aren't they essentially the same thing?
b) Running. Yeah, I am still training for my eventual half marathon. Thing is, it's now been pushed from spring, to summer, to fall, and finally to winter. Well, technically it's still fall, since the official date is December 4th. The race is the Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon. And... how exactly is training going? Kind of badly. My 10k running clinic started in the dead of winter, and I have discovered that I pretty much despise running in snow. So I tend to go on these shortened runs (like, 3-6k only), and of course hill training starts this week RIGHT after a 30cm + snowfall. Goddamnit. You know what? I have a lot of respect for seasoned athletes. They don't make all the excuses I make about why they can't train properly. They just do it. I guess, then, thank goodness no one is relying on me to do any of this but myself. And 'relying' is a pretty loose term in my case...
c) Interesting fact: I haven't purchased anything from Starbucks since the beginning of December. For true! It is part of my attempt to cut unnecessary spending. Is it helping? Um... not so much. I'm quite broke from Christmas, so I don't have a lot of extra cash lying around anyway. But I think it will help in the long run. I've been able to stretch $100 much further than if I was still buying Starbucks everyday. You'd be amazed how far $100 goes when you focus only on things you actually need. Which, in my case, is really not that much.
d) WTF, Superbowl? And I don't mean the game. My team, true to form, did not win... but I definitely think the better team won. Anyway, I'm actually speaking of the entertainment. BEP... really? So bad. And how about Lea Michele singing 'America the Beautiful'? I know people are raving about how great she was in comparison to Xtina (we'll get to that shortly), but that's just it. In COMPARISON. They must engineer the fuck out of her voice on 'Glee', because she sounds just awful live. And Xtina, dude... no amount of fancy vocal tricks can change the fact that you DON'T KNOW THE WORDS TO YOUR OWN NATIONAL ANTHEM! Oh man.
e) Don't you just hate creepy people with whom you have to share an apartment/condo complex? Ugh. Really, it's why I try my hardest NOT to associate with my neighbours unless I can't avoid it.
a) Bad hair. Like, all around. I thought I'd be awesome and grow my hair out. You may or may not recall that I spent all of last year rocking a pixie-ish cut in various colours (not at the same time... I just changed hair colours every time I went in for a trim). Verdict? All that toner and dye has left my hair super fried. So I'm giving it a break and not cutting or colouring it until possibly June. I know. I don't think I can last that long, either. But for one thing, I basically cannot afford my hair stylist right now; she is beyond fantastic, but her prices are high... and I have to pay all my bills somehow. So, I guess growing my hair out is half out of necessity, and half out of poverty. Or wait... aren't they essentially the same thing?
b) Running. Yeah, I am still training for my eventual half marathon. Thing is, it's now been pushed from spring, to summer, to fall, and finally to winter. Well, technically it's still fall, since the official date is December 4th. The race is the Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon. And... how exactly is training going? Kind of badly. My 10k running clinic started in the dead of winter, and I have discovered that I pretty much despise running in snow. So I tend to go on these shortened runs (like, 3-6k only), and of course hill training starts this week RIGHT after a 30cm + snowfall. Goddamnit. You know what? I have a lot of respect for seasoned athletes. They don't make all the excuses I make about why they can't train properly. They just do it. I guess, then, thank goodness no one is relying on me to do any of this but myself. And 'relying' is a pretty loose term in my case...
c) Interesting fact: I haven't purchased anything from Starbucks since the beginning of December. For true! It is part of my attempt to cut unnecessary spending. Is it helping? Um... not so much. I'm quite broke from Christmas, so I don't have a lot of extra cash lying around anyway. But I think it will help in the long run. I've been able to stretch $100 much further than if I was still buying Starbucks everyday. You'd be amazed how far $100 goes when you focus only on things you actually need. Which, in my case, is really not that much.
d) WTF, Superbowl? And I don't mean the game. My team, true to form, did not win... but I definitely think the better team won. Anyway, I'm actually speaking of the entertainment. BEP... really? So bad. And how about Lea Michele singing 'America the Beautiful'? I know people are raving about how great she was in comparison to Xtina (we'll get to that shortly), but that's just it. In COMPARISON. They must engineer the fuck out of her voice on 'Glee', because she sounds just awful live. And Xtina, dude... no amount of fancy vocal tricks can change the fact that you DON'T KNOW THE WORDS TO YOUR OWN NATIONAL ANTHEM! Oh man.
e) Don't you just hate creepy people with whom you have to share an apartment/condo complex? Ugh. Really, it's why I try my hardest NOT to associate with my neighbours unless I can't avoid it.
12.10.2010
oh hey.
So yeah, my updates are few and far between... pretty unlike my cousin. But that's how I roll, I guess. The death of AI last month had me making a last-minute decision to go to Hawaii. Not Kauai, mind you, but I went to Maui. I meant to surf more than the one time, but I'm pretty terrible (come on, there are no oceans where I live, so it's hard to get good), plus the waves were pretty tiny. The breaks are more cooperative from December onward. Next time.
I have been slacking off on my running, which is really bad. Diet-wise I am doing okay, and my pilates class is helping me keep my core-strength up, but I have only run ONCE in the past 2 weeks. May last run was in Maui, and was a mere 5k. So bad. But on the positive side, my pace was pretty fast. I probably did about 6:30-45, so that's unheard of for me. I have a fun run coming up next weekend (my running partner/friend and I are running in Santa suits), though, so it's all good. Then another couple weeks of sheer laziness before it's time to pick up the pace again for my 10k clinic (starting January 11th). After that, it's half marathon training. I had planned to do the half by late August... but now it's looking more like November in Seattle. Either way, at least I'm still more-or-less on schedule. Holiday season is a bad time of year for me, though, because I'm weak when it comes to all the delicious food available. Have you SEEN the Superstore flyers? The desserts are off the hook. Dude. Luckily I'm not much of a drinker anymore, or I'd be in some serious trouble. As it is, though it would appear that I am at my heaviest weight in at least a couple of years, a good portion of it is muscle rather than fat, so I'm happy with that. A few Christmas treats and libations probably won't hurt me, so long as I hit it hard in the new year.
A lot of people are bitching about the snow (I sort of did at first, but I was just in motherfucking Hawaii, so at least my excuse is valid), but I am stoked as all get out to hit the hills pretty quick. I hate how I ditched skiing for a few years due to my former level of inactivity. Living so close to top notch slopes, it's totally a shame when people don't shred or ride. Seriously, what is the point of living here if you don't do either of those things? Okay, so maybe your family is here and all that, and that's why... but then these people are the ones forever complaining about how cold it is, or how much it snows. I'm a traditionalist, so I never made the switch to snowboarding; I'm just more comfortable on sticks is all. Looks like it'll be a good season, though. I'm thinking of heading out sometime during the week off I have. Sweet times.
Well, that's kind of it for now. Oh yeah, year end at work got pushed ahead to February... might be able to hit up Hawaii again in the New Year. Here's hoping.
I have been slacking off on my running, which is really bad. Diet-wise I am doing okay, and my pilates class is helping me keep my core-strength up, but I have only run ONCE in the past 2 weeks. May last run was in Maui, and was a mere 5k. So bad. But on the positive side, my pace was pretty fast. I probably did about 6:30-45, so that's unheard of for me. I have a fun run coming up next weekend (my running partner/friend and I are running in Santa suits), though, so it's all good. Then another couple weeks of sheer laziness before it's time to pick up the pace again for my 10k clinic (starting January 11th). After that, it's half marathon training. I had planned to do the half by late August... but now it's looking more like November in Seattle. Either way, at least I'm still more-or-less on schedule. Holiday season is a bad time of year for me, though, because I'm weak when it comes to all the delicious food available. Have you SEEN the Superstore flyers? The desserts are off the hook. Dude. Luckily I'm not much of a drinker anymore, or I'd be in some serious trouble. As it is, though it would appear that I am at my heaviest weight in at least a couple of years, a good portion of it is muscle rather than fat, so I'm happy with that. A few Christmas treats and libations probably won't hurt me, so long as I hit it hard in the new year.
A lot of people are bitching about the snow (I sort of did at first, but I was just in motherfucking Hawaii, so at least my excuse is valid), but I am stoked as all get out to hit the hills pretty quick. I hate how I ditched skiing for a few years due to my former level of inactivity. Living so close to top notch slopes, it's totally a shame when people don't shred or ride. Seriously, what is the point of living here if you don't do either of those things? Okay, so maybe your family is here and all that, and that's why... but then these people are the ones forever complaining about how cold it is, or how much it snows. I'm a traditionalist, so I never made the switch to snowboarding; I'm just more comfortable on sticks is all. Looks like it'll be a good season, though. I'm thinking of heading out sometime during the week off I have. Sweet times.
Well, that's kind of it for now. Oh yeah, year end at work got pushed ahead to February... might be able to hit up Hawaii again in the New Year. Here's hoping.
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