A hollow weenie!
Get it? Har, har, har!
Thanks to Howard Cunningham of Happy Days - Season Two for that little gem.
I love Halloween. It's definitely my favourite holiday. Yep, even a lil' more than Christmas. I love the Christmas season, and especially Christmas Eve, but Christmas Day itself is always anticlimactic. Meanwhile, I've always enjoyed getting dressed up in costume, and I also have a healthy appreciation for the spooky side of life (or death, as the case may be).
When I was a little kid at summer camp, I was known for having all the best ghost stories or the creepiest tales -- most of which I stole from my Grandma's Reader's Digest's "Believe It or Not" column. I think one year, when I was only about 9 or 10, I had a bunch of girls in my cabin convinced that I was psychic. I have no idea how they even came to this conclusion? I must've made a few lucky guesses here n' there, and the next thing you know, everyone is asking me what I think they're going to be when they grow up.
Ha. I had almost completely forgotten about that memory. How random!
Anyhow, my point is I've always been in love with that kinda stuff. I'm sure if you checked any library records from my childhood, you'd find that I always frequented the supernatural sections. I totally became obsessed with this one book that encompassed everything from ghosts to big foot. I must've checked it out half a dozen times, yet for the life of me, I can't remember what the book was called.
I remember there were two "real" photos of ghosts. These two pictures must've really captivated my young mind, because I still remember those pictures today.
I also remember that there was a drawing of a man looking into a mirror, and his reflection was the back of his head. On that same page, I believe there was a story about how everyone in the world has a doppleganger and should you ever meet them, you will die instantly. And then it told a tale about a guy who was visiting some foreign country, when a man on a horse approached him, lifted his veil and said in Spanish, "Now you may die." And of course, it was the dude's dopplegagner. Imagine that!
Oh yeah... as you can clearly tell, I really was obsessed with this book.
Anyhow, with an innate flair for all things supernatural, trippy and bizarre, it would only be natural that Halloween would be my most favoritest holiday.
In anticipation, we usually fill the month of October with spooky or campy movies almost every night; however, this year it feels that October flew by way too fast, leaving us with a list of movies we had still intended to watch. Not to mention, I never pulled out any of our decorations, organized some plans or decided on a costume.
Sigh.
So, yesterday I figured that something is better than nothing, so I pulled all the decorations out of storage and raided the Dollar Store for a few more. If we're gonna spend our Halloween siting around the house watching scary movies, then I at least want some decent ambiance, dammit!
I've also decided that for a costume, I'm gonna just toss together a mishmash of clothes, scarves and jewelry and dress up as a gypsy. I was partially inspired by that wicked old woman in Drag Me to Hell. I even bought a skull-shaped eye patch at the Dollar Store yesterday, but unfortunately it sucks, so I'm not going to wear it.
Yes, I'm dressing up even if we just end up sitting around the house for the night. Although I think we if go to the effort of dressing up, then we might have to go out for a drink somewhere... most likely the pub next door... so at least we can pretend to look like we have real plans for the evening. Ha ha. Hmm... and then I think we should take photos of ourselves and text them to all our friends saying, "Wish you were here!" and make it seem like we're having the time of our lives.
Ah yes... so now you know what I'll be doing tonight. In fact, I think I'm gonna go treat myself to a bubble bath, maybe do a little meditating, and then start getting my costume together.
Happy haunting!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Living on Tortured Flesh
When it comes to my whole decision not to eat meat, I generally try to keep my mouth shut. Not that I can't defend my choice - nor should I have to - but honestly, it's really no one's business but my own. (Except today, it seems... ;)
Really, it's a personal choice that is part health-oriented (heart disease runs rampant in my family and I'm not stupid enough to take my chances with a diet of red meat) and part spiritual (which I'll get to later).
I don't judge others based on what they put on their plates. To each his own. Jim still orders chicken when we eat out, and I don't think twice about his decision to do so. He has however stopped eating both cow and pig on his own accord. But for me, my biggest beef, (pardon the pun), with the whole eating animals thing is in regards to those disgusting inhumane torture pits, also known as factory farms.
I hate to say it, but sometimes I lose sleep at night because I beat myself up for not being as hardcore as I should be. I'm sure I unintentionally consume more than my share of factory farmed animal bi-products without even realizing it. For instance, I always buy free range eggs, but I'm sure I purchase products that use factory-farmed eggs in their ingredients. Or, what about milk? I'll bet those cows aren't exactly living the high life, so why haven't I switched to soy yet? I have no defense for my ignorance.
Call me a Kitchen Witch if you will, but when I cook I like to invoke feelings of love in the dishes I create. A Holistic Nutritionist friend once told me to always prepare your food with love, because love makes everything taste better. I really believe this. In truth, I'll often actually sing or softly hum "love, love, love..." to the tune of the Beatles song, "All You Need is Love", meanwhile stirring in a clockwise direction with the intent to raise the positive healing energy of my ingredients as they mix together.
Sure, it might sound silly... but try it sometime. :)
I know it'll sound like that monolog in Sideways about wine, but when it comes to cooking, I really do like to take time to reflect on each ingredient and where it came from. Who planted the seeds and who harvested them. How many individual lives have touched each of those ingredients -- from the vegetables, to the spices, and even the manufactured faux chicken breasts -- thereby contributing to the dish I prepare for my meal.
Our lives are all connected... and much like what they say about it taking a village to raise a child, the next time you prepare a meal, perhaps consider how it takes a village (or province, country, or even world - depending on your spices/ingredients) to prepare a simple meal.
So keeping that in mind, without getting on a soapbox here, if all living things are composed of the same energy, then it just feels counterintuitive to try to nourish my life force by consuming the tortured flesh of a creature that has suffered a horrible sickly life filled with pain and fear. How can that possibly be good for you?
Anyhow, those are just my own personal thoughts which were provoked by the following article that I read this morning on CNN. Now, naturally the author takes a less spiritual and more scientific approach in regards to how factory farmed animals are not good for you. The article, "Eating Animals Is Making Us Sick ", explores how the overabundance of antibiotics used to try to keep these poor factory farmed animals healthy in such insufferable conditions ends up contributing to our antimicrobial resistance which can then contribute to the risk of a pandemic.
It's well worth the read, but in case you don't feel like reading the whole thing, here are a few interesting excerpts...
"....Why aren't more people aware of, and angry about, the rates of avoidable food-borne illness? Perhaps it doesn't seem obvious that something is amiss simply because anything that happens all the time -- like meat, especially poultry, becoming infected by pathogens -- tends to fade into the background.
Whatever the case, if you know what to look for, the pathogen problem comes into terrifying focus. For example, the next time a friend has a sudden "flu" -- what folks sometimes misdescribe as "the stomach flu" -- ask a few questions. Was your friend's illness one of those "24-hour flus" that come and go quickly: retch or crap, then relief? The diagnosis isn't quite so simple, but if the answer to this question is yes, your friend probably didn't have the flu at all.
He or she was probably suffering from one of the 76 million cases of food-borne illness the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated happen in America each year. Your friend didn't "catch a bug" so much as eat a bug. And in all likelihood, that bug was created by factory farming.
....In the United States, about 3 million pounds of antibiotics are given to humans each year, but a whopping 17.8 million pounds are fed to livestock -- at least, that is what the industry claims.
The Union of Concerned Scientists estimated that the industry underreported its antibiotic use by at least 40 percent.
The group calculated that 24.6 million pounds of antibiotics were fed to chickens, pigs and other farmed animals, counting only nontherapeutic uses. And that was in 2001. In other words, for every dose of antibiotics taken by a sick human, eight doses are given to a "healthy" animal.
The implications for creating drug-resistant pathogens are quite straightforward. Study after study has shown that antimicrobial resistance follows quickly on the heels of the introduction of new drugs on factory farms.
...Breeding genetically uniform and sickness-prone birds in the overcrowded, stressful, feces-infested and artificially lit conditions of factory farms promotes the growth and mutation of pathogens. The "cost of increased efficiency," the report concludes, is increased global risk for diseases. Our choice is simple: cheap chicken or our health.
...Perhaps in the back of our minds we already understand, without all the science, that something terribly wrong is happening. We know that it cannot possibly be healthy to raise such grotesque animals in such grossly unnatural conditions. We know that if someone offers to show us a film on how our meat is produced, it will be a horror film.
We perhaps know more than we care to admit, keeping it down in the dark places of our memory -- disavowed. When we eat factory-farmed meat, we live on tortured flesh. Increasingly, those sick animals are making us sick."
Really, it's a personal choice that is part health-oriented (heart disease runs rampant in my family and I'm not stupid enough to take my chances with a diet of red meat) and part spiritual (which I'll get to later).
I don't judge others based on what they put on their plates. To each his own. Jim still orders chicken when we eat out, and I don't think twice about his decision to do so. He has however stopped eating both cow and pig on his own accord. But for me, my biggest beef, (pardon the pun), with the whole eating animals thing is in regards to those disgusting inhumane torture pits, also known as factory farms.
I hate to say it, but sometimes I lose sleep at night because I beat myself up for not being as hardcore as I should be. I'm sure I unintentionally consume more than my share of factory farmed animal bi-products without even realizing it. For instance, I always buy free range eggs, but I'm sure I purchase products that use factory-farmed eggs in their ingredients. Or, what about milk? I'll bet those cows aren't exactly living the high life, so why haven't I switched to soy yet? I have no defense for my ignorance.
Call me a Kitchen Witch if you will, but when I cook I like to invoke feelings of love in the dishes I create. A Holistic Nutritionist friend once told me to always prepare your food with love, because love makes everything taste better. I really believe this. In truth, I'll often actually sing or softly hum "love, love, love..." to the tune of the Beatles song, "All You Need is Love", meanwhile stirring in a clockwise direction with the intent to raise the positive healing energy of my ingredients as they mix together.
Sure, it might sound silly... but try it sometime. :)
I know it'll sound like that monolog in Sideways about wine, but when it comes to cooking, I really do like to take time to reflect on each ingredient and where it came from. Who planted the seeds and who harvested them. How many individual lives have touched each of those ingredients -- from the vegetables, to the spices, and even the manufactured faux chicken breasts -- thereby contributing to the dish I prepare for my meal.
Our lives are all connected... and much like what they say about it taking a village to raise a child, the next time you prepare a meal, perhaps consider how it takes a village (or province, country, or even world - depending on your spices/ingredients) to prepare a simple meal.
So keeping that in mind, without getting on a soapbox here, if all living things are composed of the same energy, then it just feels counterintuitive to try to nourish my life force by consuming the tortured flesh of a creature that has suffered a horrible sickly life filled with pain and fear. How can that possibly be good for you?
Anyhow, those are just my own personal thoughts which were provoked by the following article that I read this morning on CNN. Now, naturally the author takes a less spiritual and more scientific approach in regards to how factory farmed animals are not good for you. The article, "Eating Animals Is Making Us Sick ", explores how the overabundance of antibiotics used to try to keep these poor factory farmed animals healthy in such insufferable conditions ends up contributing to our antimicrobial resistance which can then contribute to the risk of a pandemic.
It's well worth the read, but in case you don't feel like reading the whole thing, here are a few interesting excerpts...
"....Why aren't more people aware of, and angry about, the rates of avoidable food-borne illness? Perhaps it doesn't seem obvious that something is amiss simply because anything that happens all the time -- like meat, especially poultry, becoming infected by pathogens -- tends to fade into the background.
Whatever the case, if you know what to look for, the pathogen problem comes into terrifying focus. For example, the next time a friend has a sudden "flu" -- what folks sometimes misdescribe as "the stomach flu" -- ask a few questions. Was your friend's illness one of those "24-hour flus" that come and go quickly: retch or crap, then relief? The diagnosis isn't quite so simple, but if the answer to this question is yes, your friend probably didn't have the flu at all.
He or she was probably suffering from one of the 76 million cases of food-borne illness the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated happen in America each year. Your friend didn't "catch a bug" so much as eat a bug. And in all likelihood, that bug was created by factory farming.
....In the United States, about 3 million pounds of antibiotics are given to humans each year, but a whopping 17.8 million pounds are fed to livestock -- at least, that is what the industry claims.
The Union of Concerned Scientists estimated that the industry underreported its antibiotic use by at least 40 percent.
The group calculated that 24.6 million pounds of antibiotics were fed to chickens, pigs and other farmed animals, counting only nontherapeutic uses. And that was in 2001. In other words, for every dose of antibiotics taken by a sick human, eight doses are given to a "healthy" animal.
The implications for creating drug-resistant pathogens are quite straightforward. Study after study has shown that antimicrobial resistance follows quickly on the heels of the introduction of new drugs on factory farms.
...Breeding genetically uniform and sickness-prone birds in the overcrowded, stressful, feces-infested and artificially lit conditions of factory farms promotes the growth and mutation of pathogens. The "cost of increased efficiency," the report concludes, is increased global risk for diseases. Our choice is simple: cheap chicken or our health.
...Perhaps in the back of our minds we already understand, without all the science, that something terribly wrong is happening. We know that it cannot possibly be healthy to raise such grotesque animals in such grossly unnatural conditions. We know that if someone offers to show us a film on how our meat is produced, it will be a horror film.
We perhaps know more than we care to admit, keeping it down in the dark places of our memory -- disavowed. When we eat factory-farmed meat, we live on tortured flesh. Increasingly, those sick animals are making us sick."
I Knew It'd Be Bad, But...
I didn't expect the straight-to-video Lost Boys sequel to be so completely and totally unwatchable. Wow. And I thought my expectations were already flexed so far backwards that they were mere inches from the floor and winning the prize for lowest limbo while belting out a riveting round of the Banana Boat Song.
Unfortunately, I think I'd have to dig a trench to accommodate how low my expectations became after those first painful 24 minutes.
To summarize, the movie -- or at least what I managed to sit through -- was nothing more than a gratuitous buffet of f-bombs, over the top violence (and not in an interesting or fun Tarintino-like way), with the depth of plot rivaling that of an amateur porno. We soon gave up on the flick and instead just fast-forwarded to the Corey Feldman scenes.
But even ol' Feldman wasn't enough to sustain us. After only the second or third silly Feldman moment, we agreed to just fast-forwarded to the end of the credits were there was supposed to be a two minute clip with the other Corey.
Now, if you happened to catch a glimpse of that short-lived Two Corey's show a year or two ago, you'd know that Haim is still looking pretty strung out these days. Apparently, he had a meltdown on set and continually screwed up his lines so often that they removed his little part from the film and simply inserted it at the end of the credits instead.
So once we saw the infamous Corey Haim cameo, next we skipped to the special features to watch the two alternate endings. Both endings also included Corey Haim, but the funny thing was that the only difference between the two clips was that Haim was wearing sunglasses in one of them.
Huh? Normally alternate endings are well... alternate endings.
I guess in this case the director might've thought that Haim looked too scary without the shades on, (and he kinda did), that the audience might mistake him as a vampire. Of course, neither clip ended up being used as he was umm-ing a lot during the dialog, clearly stumbling his way through his lines. Pretty sad.
Gosh... Whatever happened to that kid with the promising future? Whatever happened to Lucas?
Jim was saying what a shame it is that they waited 20 years to do a sequel, and then do such a crap job with it. Based on the cult status of the first one, you'd think they would've given it a better budget, reworked the script, or I dunno... have just tried a little harder.
It was so very, very bad. Beyond bad, really. And believe me, I've seen some shitty movies.
I think that we should watch the first Lost Boys movie now just so we can wash the awful taste from our mouths. Maybe we can also find out if the video store will give us back our money. We're good customers there, so I'm sure all we'd have to say is "Lost Boys Two", and if they had seen it (or even if they hadn't), I'm confident they'd understand and offer a refund.
At the risk of being punny, in conclusion, this is one vampire movie that truly sucks!
Unfortunately, I think I'd have to dig a trench to accommodate how low my expectations became after those first painful 24 minutes.
To summarize, the movie -- or at least what I managed to sit through -- was nothing more than a gratuitous buffet of f-bombs, over the top violence (and not in an interesting or fun Tarintino-like way), with the depth of plot rivaling that of an amateur porno. We soon gave up on the flick and instead just fast-forwarded to the Corey Feldman scenes.
But even ol' Feldman wasn't enough to sustain us. After only the second or third silly Feldman moment, we agreed to just fast-forwarded to the end of the credits were there was supposed to be a two minute clip with the other Corey.
Now, if you happened to catch a glimpse of that short-lived Two Corey's show a year or two ago, you'd know that Haim is still looking pretty strung out these days. Apparently, he had a meltdown on set and continually screwed up his lines so often that they removed his little part from the film and simply inserted it at the end of the credits instead.
So once we saw the infamous Corey Haim cameo, next we skipped to the special features to watch the two alternate endings. Both endings also included Corey Haim, but the funny thing was that the only difference between the two clips was that Haim was wearing sunglasses in one of them.
Huh? Normally alternate endings are well... alternate endings.
I guess in this case the director might've thought that Haim looked too scary without the shades on, (and he kinda did), that the audience might mistake him as a vampire. Of course, neither clip ended up being used as he was umm-ing a lot during the dialog, clearly stumbling his way through his lines. Pretty sad.
Gosh... Whatever happened to that kid with the promising future? Whatever happened to Lucas?
Jim was saying what a shame it is that they waited 20 years to do a sequel, and then do such a crap job with it. Based on the cult status of the first one, you'd think they would've given it a better budget, reworked the script, or I dunno... have just tried a little harder.
It was so very, very bad. Beyond bad, really. And believe me, I've seen some shitty movies.
I think that we should watch the first Lost Boys movie now just so we can wash the awful taste from our mouths. Maybe we can also find out if the video store will give us back our money. We're good customers there, so I'm sure all we'd have to say is "Lost Boys Two", and if they had seen it (or even if they hadn't), I'm confident they'd understand and offer a refund.
At the risk of being punny, in conclusion, this is one vampire movie that truly sucks!
Monday, October 26, 2009
HTM-Hell, Sloppy Soup and the Baggie Burrito
I wish I knew HTML better.
I've been trying to replace my blegh blog template with something a little more aesthetically pleasing.
Should be easy right?
Well, apparently it is for everyone else in the world, 'cept me. Seems that if I update anything on the template, I'll lose all my archived posts and widgets, etc.
Lame.
I've looked up a few tutorials online, but for some reason the process appears a lil' more complicated than I had expected. *sigh* Actually, that should sound more like an *exasperated huff*.
I really don't know what I'm doing...
I need help.
I need Jim's html and web savvy.
But first, I need to get Jim to stop playing internet checkers!
Over the last few months he's improved from the most basic beginner level to expert. He's now winning about 60% of his games against other experts from all over the world. Quite an accomplishment, right? So, that being said, I think it's high time that he just retire champ and help me fancy up my blog. ;)
In other news, we did the big grocery shop today.
Ha. I love how I refer to grocery shopping as "news". Quite the exciting life I lead, no? But honestly, I always love the big shop. (I think I might've mentioned all this before?) I enjoy filling my cart with food, thinking about what I'd like to cook over the next few weeks, and trying out new recipes n' products... Fun stuff. Well, at least for me anyway.
So anyhow, while shopping today I experienced what could easily be considered the equivalent to a bird pooping on your shirt. Y'know, one of those unexpected gross situations that leaves you dirty and slightly embarrassed?
It all started when I was stocking up on those green boxes of Knorr soup. They're always cheaper if you buy 6 at a time, and because I love me some soup (for it's convenience, speed and taste), I decided to grab a dozen boxes.
See, I wasn't kidding when I referred to this as "the big shop."
Anyhow, as I reached out and grabbed a box of Autumn Vegetable, it suddenly vomited a bright orange trail right down my front. It squirted on to my nice black jacket, dribbled down my fresh-from-the-dryer jeans, and splashed onto my sock. Ugh. I guess the soup box must've been accidentally sliced whenever they cut open the pack it came in?
As I initially stood there frozen, absorbed in what is probably best described as a slo-mo 'WTF?' moment, my hero Jim jumped into action and tracked down a grocery dude for some paper towel. However, by the time he returned, I had made a resourceful recovery using items in my grocery cart -- tissues and Spray n' Wash. I swear it would've made for the perfect hidden camera commercial.
I'll also have you know that this is the first time I've ever purchased Spray n' Wash in my life.
Coincidence? I think not!
Actually, I bought it because I got some acrylic paint on my shirt the other day, and the Spray n' Wash says it can remove set-in stains, so I'm hoping it'll have some success.
So yeah, that was my fun at the grocery store.
Then after grocery shopping, we stopped in for a quick lunch at Taco Time. Don't ask me why I love Taco Time so damn much, but I do. You seriously couldn't pay me enough to step foot in a Taco Bell -- I have never eaten there and I never will. And yet, for some reason I take no issue with it's cousin. Probably because TT offers veggie options, and as far as fast food crap goes, it at least appears to be of slightly better quality.
Well, that is until today...
I was eating my usual veggie burrito. A tasty combo of refried beans, brown rice, fried peppers n' onions, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, sour cream, salsa, extra hot sauce and plastic bag.
Yep... plastic bag.
I thought it was lettuce, but it was just a little too chewy. I discretely pulled the small fingernail-sized piece from my mouth, and saw that it was actually the corner of a clear plastic bag. I assume that it probably fell in whenever they snipped open the salsa and poured it into its prep bowl... or at least something along those lines.
Now, how embarrassing is it that I should not only admit to you that Taco Time is my biggest fast food guilty pleasure, but also confess that a bite of baggie burrito won't stop me from going back.
Bet you never imagined that I could be so gross, huh?
Hey, they gave me a coupon for a free veggie burrito n' medium soft drink - of course I'm gonna go back. I love those veggie burritos... even if it means occasionally consuming a little plastic. :P
I've been trying to replace my blegh blog template with something a little more aesthetically pleasing.
Should be easy right?
Well, apparently it is for everyone else in the world, 'cept me. Seems that if I update anything on the template, I'll lose all my archived posts and widgets, etc.
Lame.
I've looked up a few tutorials online, but for some reason the process appears a lil' more complicated than I had expected. *sigh* Actually, that should sound more like an *exasperated huff*.
I really don't know what I'm doing...
I need help.
I need Jim's html and web savvy.
But first, I need to get Jim to stop playing internet checkers!
Over the last few months he's improved from the most basic beginner level to expert. He's now winning about 60% of his games against other experts from all over the world. Quite an accomplishment, right? So, that being said, I think it's high time that he just retire champ and help me fancy up my blog. ;)
In other news, we did the big grocery shop today.
Ha. I love how I refer to grocery shopping as "news". Quite the exciting life I lead, no? But honestly, I always love the big shop. (I think I might've mentioned all this before?) I enjoy filling my cart with food, thinking about what I'd like to cook over the next few weeks, and trying out new recipes n' products... Fun stuff. Well, at least for me anyway.
So anyhow, while shopping today I experienced what could easily be considered the equivalent to a bird pooping on your shirt. Y'know, one of those unexpected gross situations that leaves you dirty and slightly embarrassed?
It all started when I was stocking up on those green boxes of Knorr soup. They're always cheaper if you buy 6 at a time, and because I love me some soup (for it's convenience, speed and taste), I decided to grab a dozen boxes.
See, I wasn't kidding when I referred to this as "the big shop."
Anyhow, as I reached out and grabbed a box of Autumn Vegetable, it suddenly vomited a bright orange trail right down my front. It squirted on to my nice black jacket, dribbled down my fresh-from-the-dryer jeans, and splashed onto my sock. Ugh. I guess the soup box must've been accidentally sliced whenever they cut open the pack it came in?
As I initially stood there frozen, absorbed in what is probably best described as a slo-mo 'WTF?' moment, my hero Jim jumped into action and tracked down a grocery dude for some paper towel. However, by the time he returned, I had made a resourceful recovery using items in my grocery cart -- tissues and Spray n' Wash. I swear it would've made for the perfect hidden camera commercial.
I'll also have you know that this is the first time I've ever purchased Spray n' Wash in my life.
Coincidence? I think not!
Actually, I bought it because I got some acrylic paint on my shirt the other day, and the Spray n' Wash says it can remove set-in stains, so I'm hoping it'll have some success.
So yeah, that was my fun at the grocery store.
Then after grocery shopping, we stopped in for a quick lunch at Taco Time. Don't ask me why I love Taco Time so damn much, but I do. You seriously couldn't pay me enough to step foot in a Taco Bell -- I have never eaten there and I never will. And yet, for some reason I take no issue with it's cousin. Probably because TT offers veggie options, and as far as fast food crap goes, it at least appears to be of slightly better quality.
Well, that is until today...
I was eating my usual veggie burrito. A tasty combo of refried beans, brown rice, fried peppers n' onions, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, sour cream, salsa, extra hot sauce and plastic bag.
Yep... plastic bag.
I thought it was lettuce, but it was just a little too chewy. I discretely pulled the small fingernail-sized piece from my mouth, and saw that it was actually the corner of a clear plastic bag. I assume that it probably fell in whenever they snipped open the salsa and poured it into its prep bowl... or at least something along those lines.
Now, how embarrassing is it that I should not only admit to you that Taco Time is my biggest fast food guilty pleasure, but also confess that a bite of baggie burrito won't stop me from going back.
Bet you never imagined that I could be so gross, huh?
Hey, they gave me a coupon for a free veggie burrito n' medium soft drink - of course I'm gonna go back. I love those veggie burritos... even if it means occasionally consuming a little plastic. :P
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Rick and The Giant Pumpkins
Okay, so I don't watch the Rick Mercer report, nor have I ever taken an active interest in pumpkin growing - or rowing, for that matter. However, I felt compelled to share this video only because it features my quaint lil' hometown of Pembroke, Ontario.
Way to grow those pumpkins, Pemmytown! :)
(Also, is it just me, or does that woman in the navy pullover look like Shanda?)
Way to grow those pumpkins, Pemmytown! :)
(Also, is it just me, or does that woman in the navy pullover look like Shanda?)
Roses and Thorns Oct. 19-23
Well, at the risk of being redundant, it looks like I'm planting two rose gardens in a row this week, as there is no easier way to sum up our little trip to Vancouver.
So, to shake things up a bit, I brought in a couple special guest hosts to help me out:
Stepping in for Rose, I'd like to introduce, "It was the best of times..." Please join me in giving her a warm welcome.
And now taking Thorn's throne for the week, please give a big round of applause to "It was the worst of times..."
Thank you both for joining me here today.
So, let's begin...
It was the best of times...
The night before our trip, our producers sent us two very comprehensive essays written by professional script readers. Both were paid to thoroughly critique our screenplay scene by scene. While there was definitely a lot of very helpful constructive criticism, overall they both gave DE glowing reviews and felt that not much needed to be changed, except a handful of tweaks to ratchet up the tension, etc.
When we arrived in Van, our producers asked us how we felt about the essays. We both felt pretty good. That's when they shared that both of these readers used to work for Telefilm, and were the toughest they could find. One of them actually has the nickname,"She who hates everything" -- and her review was definitely the most glowy of the two. From that moment on, we went from feeling pretty good to pretty wonderful.
Our producers were thrilled the readers gave us such terrific feedback. T, a writer/director himself, spoke from personal experience saying that usually when one of these two read your script, they rip your material apart so ferociously that you're often left licking your wounds for a few days. We were all really excited that this time that just wasn't the case. :)
It was the worst of times...
About three times on our way to Vancouver, our car would do this crazy major jolt whenever it would kick into a new gear. Jim called the dealership who told us that if the "check engine" light wasn't coming on, then we'd be fine. The jolt was probably just an indication that something needed a little more tightening after all the work they recently did on it.
Once we arrived at our hotel, even though our valet parking was paid for, we chose to self-park, and I'm so thankful we did. One morning when we tried to start the car to drive to our meeting, it wouldn't turn over. It would've been much more embarrassing if a valet had to deal with all that nonsense. Although everyone at the hotel was super nice and sympathetic, for some reason they're not allowed to have the valet give you a jump start for liability reasons. Seems that something must've happened in the past.... They did however offer to call us a tow truck to give us a jump, but we declined for the time-being. We just grabbed a cab to get to our meeting, and decided to deal with it later.
Fortunately, we had been given a modest $150 travel budget to cover gas/cabs for the week anyway... Easy come. Easy go.
It was the best of times...
Our hotel suite was really something! We were perched on the 21st floor, just below the penthouse, so we had a really nice view of English Bay, where we got to watch the sunset over the water. Lovely.
It was like a small apartment, with two wide screen TVs, a phone in the bathroom (which I thought was kinda funny that people would do their business while doing their business, but that's just me), and a honour bar unlike anything I had ever seen. They even had a poker set, edible Kama Sutra products, and everything else you could possibly imagine (all at sky high prices which we avoided, of course). Our room was always immaculately cleaned and well-stocked by the friendly housekeeping staff, who even left us a nice little note wishing us a great day.
The hotel restaurant was really nice as well. Every night hotel guests were allowed two free glasses of wine (each!) between 5:30 and 6:30. Gourmet appies were only $2 or $5 between 5 - 7, and all regular priced items billed to your room received 25% off. It was a pretty awesome deal any way you looked at it. Needless to say, we ended up eating there a handful of times. And again, the restaurant staff was terrific
I really can't express that enough - everyone who worked at this hotel was absolutely great. Not your usual phony "how can I help you" friendly... but genuinely friendly and conversational. It was very nice.
It was the worst of times...
What's that loud noise? Is it a train? A plane? Traffic below? Shit. It's the friggin' elevators!
Yes, our bedroom was located right next to the elevator shafts, and being near the top of the building, we got to hear the loud moving of gears as the two elevators moved up and down, up and down all. night. long. I'm normally a very sound sleeper, but even I experienced broken sleep through most of the trip. It wasn't until after an extremely popular elevator rush hour on Wednesday morning between 3 - 4 a.m, on our last night we finally smartened up and bought some earplugs. Much bettah!!
It was the best of times...
Our 16 hours of meetings throughout the week were very, very productive. We worked on tightening the structure in order to chop off a good 10 - 15 more pages, as well as increase the conflict in some scenes and create a good flow of beats. It was quite a lot of fun, as four brains are always better than two.
And while I didn't think much about it at the time, I have to say, in retrospect, it is truly awesome to have others actively involved in bringing something you created to life. Our little evening 'hobby' of writing a screenplay is now an actual source of income, not only for us, but for our producers as well.
When I think of all the endless meetings I've sat through with the ol' day job, discussing my minor role in helping to market someone else's vision, it is a very exciting turn of events to now have other people working with us to help breath life into our product - DE.
It was the worst of times...
Speaking of working on other people's products, while the following is completely unrelated to our trip, it definitely put a big damper on my mood - and it still does whenever I think about it... which is probably more often than I should, considering how much it pisses me off.
As some of you know, one of our good friends lost his job this week, and I feel absolutely horrible for him. As everyone would agree, he is easily one of the most passionate people when it comes to putting his heart and soul into his work. He stays later than most and is one of the few who actually truly cares about what the company apparently stands for.
Why was he let go? No one knows. And those who do, aren't saying. Doesn't sound like he was even given all the answers himself to that million dollar question. Needless to say, he feels gut-wrenchingly betrayed and I don't blame him one bit! Because of someone's stupid fucking decision, (and no, I'm not going to censor myself here, because this is one of those angry, frustrating situations where 'fuck' deserves to be spelled out in full), there will now forever be a blemish on his employment record, which will obviously make it more challenging for him to find a new job. We all know that the poor guy didn't deserve it. And I'd love to challenge anyone who feels otherwise.
Man, I'm so pissed off... it just makes me sick to my stomach to see something awful like that happen.
It was the best of times...
Although we didn't get to enjoy as much of the city as we wanted to, our hotel was located on the corner of Robson and Jervais, so great shopping opportunities were within footsteps. We both had a small list of items we wanted to find, and I managed to check at least one thing off my list which was a funky new purse. Meanwhile, Jim managed to locate a season of Cheers that we cannot find anywhere in Kelowna.
Another thing I love about Vancouver is Charlie's Second Hand CD shop on Granville. There are no used CD shops in Kelowna, which makes me sad. Yes, I know that I'm stuck in the stone age and that everyone downloads their music these days... but ask me if I care. I still love musical treasure hunting! On this trip I managed to pick up one guilty pleasure from my teens (which, now after a partial listen, I must admit doesn't quite stand the test of time like I had hoped), and I also replaced another CD that I somehow lost a few years ago.
We also got to take in a show at the IMAX called Adrenaline which was about sky diving and base jumping, and we enjoyed a very nice walk along the waterfront.
Oh, a funny side note about the waterfront walk... Jim n' I were discussing our meetings and script stuff, when I noticed that this lady began walking just a little too closely right beside us, which I thought was kinda odd, given how wide the sidewalk was. It was like she was trying to listen in on us or something. Then she took a few steps ahead so she was walking directly in front of us, and that's when I started hearing this electronic clicking/buzzing sound. I looked down and noticed that she had her camera behind her back casually angled up at us. She seemed to take about 5 or 6 pictures of the two of us, so I motioned to Jim to stop walking so I could point it out to him without her hearing me. She kept on walking and soon put her camera away. Boy, is she going to be disappointed when she realizes that we aren't anyone famous. Unless she was only sneaking our pictures because she thought we were such a nice lookin' couple. Ha ha.
Anyhow, even though we didn't get to take the haunted Halloween train around Stanley Park, nor did we get to browse the groovy artsy shops on Granville Island... all n' all, we still managed to pack in a few fun things.
It was the worst of times...
Jim's cell phone fell out of his jacket pocket in a cab, and we didn't notice until about thirty seconds after the cabbie had pulled away. Even though it only took a few minutes to track it down, it was a very stressful few minutes... especially considering that we had been having car problems and were concerned that if he indeed lost his phone for good, it could pose serious problems if we ended up breaking down on the side of the Coq again.
It was the best of times...
Our producer offered to go out of his way to come to our hotel and give our car a jump so we wouldn't have to call a tow truck. He then suggested that he would follow us to the gas station to ensure that we didn't need another jump as we left town. So that was pretty thoughtful of him. It's the little things, y'know...
It was the worst of times...
Well, the ride home was very slow. First, traffic was barely moving for a while even though it wasn't rush hour and there wasn't any road construction ahead. Then we finally made our way to Chilliwack, and that's when the rain started. It just kept getting heavier and heavier, causing our car to slightly hydroplane a couple times. Fun!
We eventually made it up that long mountain hill that killed our car the last time we were on the Coq. On the bright side, we weren't getting those huge jolts we experienced three times on our ride to Vancouver. Whatever was causing them must've worked itself out. (Although we still may get the dealership to look at the car again early next week, just to be sure.)
Finally the rain stopped, the skies cleared around Merritt, and all was good with the world... for almost an hour anyway. That's when the fog set in. By now it was also starting to get dark, so we slowly rolled through the dense dark fog. Oh yeah, good times indeed.
To put it into perspective, it took us 4 hours to drive to Vancouver and it took us about 5.5 to get home. Awesome. Oh well, it could've been much worse, and at least we made it home without any car troubles, which is something to be hugely thankful for.
It's sure great to be back.
So, to shake things up a bit, I brought in a couple special guest hosts to help me out:
Stepping in for Rose, I'd like to introduce, "It was the best of times..." Please join me in giving her a warm welcome.
And now taking Thorn's throne for the week, please give a big round of applause to "It was the worst of times..."
Thank you both for joining me here today.
So, let's begin...
It was the best of times...
The night before our trip, our producers sent us two very comprehensive essays written by professional script readers. Both were paid to thoroughly critique our screenplay scene by scene. While there was definitely a lot of very helpful constructive criticism, overall they both gave DE glowing reviews and felt that not much needed to be changed, except a handful of tweaks to ratchet up the tension, etc.
When we arrived in Van, our producers asked us how we felt about the essays. We both felt pretty good. That's when they shared that both of these readers used to work for Telefilm, and were the toughest they could find. One of them actually has the nickname,"She who hates everything" -- and her review was definitely the most glowy of the two. From that moment on, we went from feeling pretty good to pretty wonderful.
Our producers were thrilled the readers gave us such terrific feedback. T, a writer/director himself, spoke from personal experience saying that usually when one of these two read your script, they rip your material apart so ferociously that you're often left licking your wounds for a few days. We were all really excited that this time that just wasn't the case. :)
It was the worst of times...
About three times on our way to Vancouver, our car would do this crazy major jolt whenever it would kick into a new gear. Jim called the dealership who told us that if the "check engine" light wasn't coming on, then we'd be fine. The jolt was probably just an indication that something needed a little more tightening after all the work they recently did on it.
Once we arrived at our hotel, even though our valet parking was paid for, we chose to self-park, and I'm so thankful we did. One morning when we tried to start the car to drive to our meeting, it wouldn't turn over. It would've been much more embarrassing if a valet had to deal with all that nonsense. Although everyone at the hotel was super nice and sympathetic, for some reason they're not allowed to have the valet give you a jump start for liability reasons. Seems that something must've happened in the past.... They did however offer to call us a tow truck to give us a jump, but we declined for the time-being. We just grabbed a cab to get to our meeting, and decided to deal with it later.
Fortunately, we had been given a modest $150 travel budget to cover gas/cabs for the week anyway... Easy come. Easy go.
It was the best of times...
Our hotel suite was really something! We were perched on the 21st floor, just below the penthouse, so we had a really nice view of English Bay, where we got to watch the sunset over the water. Lovely.
It was like a small apartment, with two wide screen TVs, a phone in the bathroom (which I thought was kinda funny that people would do their business while doing their business, but that's just me), and a honour bar unlike anything I had ever seen. They even had a poker set, edible Kama Sutra products, and everything else you could possibly imagine (all at sky high prices which we avoided, of course). Our room was always immaculately cleaned and well-stocked by the friendly housekeeping staff, who even left us a nice little note wishing us a great day.
The hotel restaurant was really nice as well. Every night hotel guests were allowed two free glasses of wine (each!) between 5:30 and 6:30. Gourmet appies were only $2 or $5 between 5 - 7, and all regular priced items billed to your room received 25% off. It was a pretty awesome deal any way you looked at it. Needless to say, we ended up eating there a handful of times. And again, the restaurant staff was terrific
I really can't express that enough - everyone who worked at this hotel was absolutely great. Not your usual phony "how can I help you" friendly... but genuinely friendly and conversational. It was very nice.
It was the worst of times...
What's that loud noise? Is it a train? A plane? Traffic below? Shit. It's the friggin' elevators!
Yes, our bedroom was located right next to the elevator shafts, and being near the top of the building, we got to hear the loud moving of gears as the two elevators moved up and down, up and down all. night. long. I'm normally a very sound sleeper, but even I experienced broken sleep through most of the trip. It wasn't until after an extremely popular elevator rush hour on Wednesday morning between 3 - 4 a.m, on our last night we finally smartened up and bought some earplugs. Much bettah!!
It was the best of times...
Our 16 hours of meetings throughout the week were very, very productive. We worked on tightening the structure in order to chop off a good 10 - 15 more pages, as well as increase the conflict in some scenes and create a good flow of beats. It was quite a lot of fun, as four brains are always better than two.
And while I didn't think much about it at the time, I have to say, in retrospect, it is truly awesome to have others actively involved in bringing something you created to life. Our little evening 'hobby' of writing a screenplay is now an actual source of income, not only for us, but for our producers as well.
When I think of all the endless meetings I've sat through with the ol' day job, discussing my minor role in helping to market someone else's vision, it is a very exciting turn of events to now have other people working with us to help breath life into our product - DE.
It was the worst of times...
Speaking of working on other people's products, while the following is completely unrelated to our trip, it definitely put a big damper on my mood - and it still does whenever I think about it... which is probably more often than I should, considering how much it pisses me off.
As some of you know, one of our good friends lost his job this week, and I feel absolutely horrible for him. As everyone would agree, he is easily one of the most passionate people when it comes to putting his heart and soul into his work. He stays later than most and is one of the few who actually truly cares about what the company apparently stands for.
Why was he let go? No one knows. And those who do, aren't saying. Doesn't sound like he was even given all the answers himself to that million dollar question. Needless to say, he feels gut-wrenchingly betrayed and I don't blame him one bit! Because of someone's stupid fucking decision, (and no, I'm not going to censor myself here, because this is one of those angry, frustrating situations where 'fuck' deserves to be spelled out in full), there will now forever be a blemish on his employment record, which will obviously make it more challenging for him to find a new job. We all know that the poor guy didn't deserve it. And I'd love to challenge anyone who feels otherwise.
Man, I'm so pissed off... it just makes me sick to my stomach to see something awful like that happen.
It was the best of times...
Although we didn't get to enjoy as much of the city as we wanted to, our hotel was located on the corner of Robson and Jervais, so great shopping opportunities were within footsteps. We both had a small list of items we wanted to find, and I managed to check at least one thing off my list which was a funky new purse. Meanwhile, Jim managed to locate a season of Cheers that we cannot find anywhere in Kelowna.
Another thing I love about Vancouver is Charlie's Second Hand CD shop on Granville. There are no used CD shops in Kelowna, which makes me sad. Yes, I know that I'm stuck in the stone age and that everyone downloads their music these days... but ask me if I care. I still love musical treasure hunting! On this trip I managed to pick up one guilty pleasure from my teens (which, now after a partial listen, I must admit doesn't quite stand the test of time like I had hoped), and I also replaced another CD that I somehow lost a few years ago.
We also got to take in a show at the IMAX called Adrenaline which was about sky diving and base jumping, and we enjoyed a very nice walk along the waterfront.
Oh, a funny side note about the waterfront walk... Jim n' I were discussing our meetings and script stuff, when I noticed that this lady began walking just a little too closely right beside us, which I thought was kinda odd, given how wide the sidewalk was. It was like she was trying to listen in on us or something. Then she took a few steps ahead so she was walking directly in front of us, and that's when I started hearing this electronic clicking/buzzing sound. I looked down and noticed that she had her camera behind her back casually angled up at us. She seemed to take about 5 or 6 pictures of the two of us, so I motioned to Jim to stop walking so I could point it out to him without her hearing me. She kept on walking and soon put her camera away. Boy, is she going to be disappointed when she realizes that we aren't anyone famous. Unless she was only sneaking our pictures because she thought we were such a nice lookin' couple. Ha ha.
Anyhow, even though we didn't get to take the haunted Halloween train around Stanley Park, nor did we get to browse the groovy artsy shops on Granville Island... all n' all, we still managed to pack in a few fun things.
It was the worst of times...
Jim's cell phone fell out of his jacket pocket in a cab, and we didn't notice until about thirty seconds after the cabbie had pulled away. Even though it only took a few minutes to track it down, it was a very stressful few minutes... especially considering that we had been having car problems and were concerned that if he indeed lost his phone for good, it could pose serious problems if we ended up breaking down on the side of the Coq again.
It was the best of times...
Our producer offered to go out of his way to come to our hotel and give our car a jump so we wouldn't have to call a tow truck. He then suggested that he would follow us to the gas station to ensure that we didn't need another jump as we left town. So that was pretty thoughtful of him. It's the little things, y'know...
It was the worst of times...
Well, the ride home was very slow. First, traffic was barely moving for a while even though it wasn't rush hour and there wasn't any road construction ahead. Then we finally made our way to Chilliwack, and that's when the rain started. It just kept getting heavier and heavier, causing our car to slightly hydroplane a couple times. Fun!
We eventually made it up that long mountain hill that killed our car the last time we were on the Coq. On the bright side, we weren't getting those huge jolts we experienced three times on our ride to Vancouver. Whatever was causing them must've worked itself out. (Although we still may get the dealership to look at the car again early next week, just to be sure.)
Finally the rain stopped, the skies cleared around Merritt, and all was good with the world... for almost an hour anyway. That's when the fog set in. By now it was also starting to get dark, so we slowly rolled through the dense dark fog. Oh yeah, good times indeed.
To put it into perspective, it took us 4 hours to drive to Vancouver and it took us about 5.5 to get home. Awesome. Oh well, it could've been much worse, and at least we made it home without any car troubles, which is something to be hugely thankful for.
It's sure great to be back.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Roses and Thorns Oct. 10 - 18
Okay, I started this the other day, but never got to finish it... so I'll try to wrap it up now.
Rose
I definitely got my workout last weekend. On Saturday, Laura and I hiked up Knox mountain again and over to Paul's Tomb. Then at the blink of dawn on Sunday morning, Lara and I ran the 10K. Although the weather started out at a balmy -9'C and neither of us had really trained - and I had been standing on my feet all night the evening before (please see next rose) - we survived just fine. Another metal to toss into the spare bedroom closet. Yay! Here's a pic that was taken of us crossing the finish line, which I don't plan on paying $30 for. Talk about a lame money grab! (Unless the fee goes to Sunshine Dreams for Kids of course? It didn't say...)
Thorn
My feet were really quite tired after the hike, the run and...
Rose
Thanksgiving dinner! I started as soon as I got up on Saturday morning, took a break to go for a hike, and then continued on until about 10:30 Saturday night, but it was well worth it. Jim's dad prepared the turkey on his BBQ rotisserie, while I made....
Whew. What a feast! I'm sooo happy that it all went over so well. :)
Thorn
With a week off, you'd think I would've been super productive doing a few of the things I've been slacking on - like finally finish writing about Paris and Amsterdam in my wedding travel journal. Yes, it's been a year and I still haven't wrapped it up! Fortunately, I have a pretty good memory and pictures n' video always help. I did manage to do a lot of cleaning and relaxing with my week... but I was disappointed that a couple things on my to-do list never really made the cut.
Rose
I had a lovely chat with my cousin Jodie early in the week. It's been forever since we gabbed on the phone, so it was very nice to spend some time catching up. It's so weird when you think about the people in your life who you used to see every single day, and now months n' months go by without much communication at all. I love how we're always able to pick right up where we last left off.
Thorn
Well, there's always stuff in the news that really annoys me... like that model being fired for being too fat... give me a break! But otherwise, there wasn't much that ticked me off last week. So maybe I'll make my last thorn into an extra rose.
Rose
The Log Barn! Every time we return from Jim's folks' house, we pass this place called "The Log Barn". You might've seen it - it's in between Enderby and Armstrong. It has a tall "goat walk" bridge that you can't miss from the highway.
I've always wanted to go there; however, farmer's markets, craft fairs and the like don't interest Jim at all. He finds them boring beyond belief. BUT, just before we zipped past as usual, he asked if I wanted to go in this time. I couldn't believe my ears. I thought he must be ill! Ha.
Anyhow, we got to pet and feed all kinds of cute goats. They have this contraption where you put some corn kernels in a tin can, and when the goats hear the clink-clink of the corn, they immediately start kicking this bicycle wheel at the top of the goat walk. This in turn, triggers a pully that yanks the can up to the top, where the corn spills out in all directions at their feet. Quite the neat thingamajig and so cute to watch them use it.
We also checked out a few little shacks and barns with trinkets and homemade stuff (some of which Jim actually liked). We looked at all the tasty homemade goods and pretended to eat a piece of sausage when a gentleman kindly offered us some. It was a delightful little detour on our way home, and Jim had to admit that he enjoyed it too.
Rose
Even though I have never played Mario Kart in my life, I could not help but simply fall in love with the sweet beauty of Mario Kart Love Song. It popped up this week while I was going about my usual fabulous business of washing dishes and sweeping floors. (Cinderella! Cinderella!) Tis so lovely I had to play it three times in a row.
I looked it up on YouTube, so I could share it with you. Ignore the video if you wish, but do check out the song:
Here are the very creative lyrics...
You be my princess
I'll be your toad
I'll follow behind you
On rainbow road
Protect you from red shells
Wherever we go
I promise.
Noone will touch us
If we pick up a star
If you spin out
You can ride in my car
When we slide together
We generate sparks
In our wheels and our hearts
The finish line
Is just around the bend
I'll pause this game
So our love will never end
Let's go again
The blue shell is coming
So I'll go ahead
If you hang behind
It'll hit me instead
But never look back
Cause I'm down but not dead
I'll catch up to you
Don't worry about
Bowser or DK
Eat this glowing mushroom
And they'll all fade away
The finish line
Is just around the bend
I'll pause this game
So our love will never end
Let's go again
To the mushroom cup
And the flower cup
And the star cup
And the reverse cup
Fun, right?
Thanks to thesixtyone, as usual.
Rose
I definitely got my workout last weekend. On Saturday, Laura and I hiked up Knox mountain again and over to Paul's Tomb. Then at the blink of dawn on Sunday morning, Lara and I ran the 10K. Although the weather started out at a balmy -9'C and neither of us had really trained - and I had been standing on my feet all night the evening before (please see next rose) - we survived just fine. Another metal to toss into the spare bedroom closet. Yay! Here's a pic that was taken of us crossing the finish line, which I don't plan on paying $30 for. Talk about a lame money grab! (Unless the fee goes to Sunshine Dreams for Kids of course? It didn't say...)Thorn
My feet were really quite tired after the hike, the run and...
Rose
Thanksgiving dinner! I started as soon as I got up on Saturday morning, took a break to go for a hike, and then continued on until about 10:30 Saturday night, but it was well worth it. Jim's dad prepared the turkey on his BBQ rotisserie, while I made....
- Roasted garlic mashed potatoes (and some of the non-garlic variety for Grandma)
- Veggie sausage, cranberry and apple stuffing (and some without veggie sausage & onion for Jim's Mom and Grandma)
- Mashed sweet potatoes with marshmallows
- Roasted/caramelized brussle sprouts
- Apple-cinnamon acorn squash
- Mandarin, grape, almond and avocado salad with homemade dressing
- Cheesy biscuits
- Two pumpkin pies and 20 lil' tarts from an actual pumpkin - not that canned stuff (although I think it didn't really taste much different.)
Whew. What a feast! I'm sooo happy that it all went over so well. :)
Thorn
With a week off, you'd think I would've been super productive doing a few of the things I've been slacking on - like finally finish writing about Paris and Amsterdam in my wedding travel journal. Yes, it's been a year and I still haven't wrapped it up! Fortunately, I have a pretty good memory and pictures n' video always help. I did manage to do a lot of cleaning and relaxing with my week... but I was disappointed that a couple things on my to-do list never really made the cut.
Rose
I had a lovely chat with my cousin Jodie early in the week. It's been forever since we gabbed on the phone, so it was very nice to spend some time catching up. It's so weird when you think about the people in your life who you used to see every single day, and now months n' months go by without much communication at all. I love how we're always able to pick right up where we last left off.
Thorn
Well, there's always stuff in the news that really annoys me... like that model being fired for being too fat... give me a break! But otherwise, there wasn't much that ticked me off last week. So maybe I'll make my last thorn into an extra rose.
Rose
The Log Barn! Every time we return from Jim's folks' house, we pass this place called "The Log Barn". You might've seen it - it's in between Enderby and Armstrong. It has a tall "goat walk" bridge that you can't miss from the highway.
I've always wanted to go there; however, farmer's markets, craft fairs and the like don't interest Jim at all. He finds them boring beyond belief. BUT, just before we zipped past as usual, he asked if I wanted to go in this time. I couldn't believe my ears. I thought he must be ill! Ha.
Anyhow, we got to pet and feed all kinds of cute goats. They have this contraption where you put some corn kernels in a tin can, and when the goats hear the clink-clink of the corn, they immediately start kicking this bicycle wheel at the top of the goat walk. This in turn, triggers a pully that yanks the can up to the top, where the corn spills out in all directions at their feet. Quite the neat thingamajig and so cute to watch them use it.
We also checked out a few little shacks and barns with trinkets and homemade stuff (some of which Jim actually liked). We looked at all the tasty homemade goods and pretended to eat a piece of sausage when a gentleman kindly offered us some. It was a delightful little detour on our way home, and Jim had to admit that he enjoyed it too.
Rose
Even though I have never played Mario Kart in my life, I could not help but simply fall in love with the sweet beauty of Mario Kart Love Song. It popped up this week while I was going about my usual fabulous business of washing dishes and sweeping floors. (Cinderella! Cinderella!) Tis so lovely I had to play it three times in a row.
I looked it up on YouTube, so I could share it with you. Ignore the video if you wish, but do check out the song:
Here are the very creative lyrics...
You be my princess
I'll be your toad
I'll follow behind you
On rainbow road
Protect you from red shells
Wherever we go
I promise.
Noone will touch us
If we pick up a star
If you spin out
You can ride in my car
When we slide together
We generate sparks
In our wheels and our hearts
The finish line
Is just around the bend
I'll pause this game
So our love will never end
Let's go again
The blue shell is coming
So I'll go ahead
If you hang behind
It'll hit me instead
But never look back
Cause I'm down but not dead
I'll catch up to you
Don't worry about
Bowser or DK
Eat this glowing mushroom
And they'll all fade away
The finish line
Is just around the bend
I'll pause this game
So our love will never end
Let's go again
To the mushroom cup
And the flower cup
And the star cup
And the reverse cup
Fun, right?
Thanks to thesixtyone, as usual.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Memoirs of a Lazy Day
Guess what world! We're being incredibly spontaneous this evening. Only about ten minutes ago, we decided that we should check out the late show for Zombie Land tonight. Gosh! Normally activities like this are planned hours in advance! (And even then, we always opt for the early show.) However, tonight's spontaneous feature doesn't begin until 9:50. Yes 9:50, people!
Boy, what has happened to us? I still remember a time when one didn't leave the house until at least 11:00, and now catching the late show is a big deal. We're so old. Or maybe just too lazy to be bothered leaving the house after dark. And it sure gets dark early now, doesn't it?
Today was a completely uneventful kind of day in the best way. It was grey n' drizzly out, so it felt perfectly acceptable to just cozy up inside and do absolutely nothing. Dare I say it, I almost felt bored at one point. Bored!! I haven't experienced boredom since.... I don't remember when! It was kinda nice.
Jim n' I started off our day of nothingness by watching the Secret Window this morning. We haven't seen it in years, since we were first courtin' and I lived in my little carriage house downtown (with the tiny T.V. that he always insisted on pulling up towards the coffee table because it was so small.)
On a side note, have you ever noticed how many Steven King books are about writers? I guess there's some truth in what they say about writing what you know. (Of course, I hope Steve King is not well versed in the practices of murder or being a psychopath, although some of his writings certainly might suggest otherwise.) So let's see... how about we count 'em off?
First, there's obviously Misery. Then The Shining. Remember, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"? Love that movie! Of course Secret Window, which we saw today. Then Jim tells me Stand By Me is another one, although I personally can't remember, but I'll take his word for it. And then there's also 1408, which had an awesome theatrical version, but the DVD director's cut ending doesn't do anything for me. I've never read the book to know which was the true ending. Hmm... am I missing any? Probably.
In the last scene of Secret Window, Johnny Depp is eating a cob of corn. Mmm... Johnny Depp. Oh wait, sorry. I meant, mmm... corn on the cob. It was making me salivate. The corn. Not Johnny Depp. (Although I'm sure it's been known to happen to some women.)
Anyhow, like I was saying, I could honestly taste the crisp buttery goodness in my mouth. Ah, the power of suggestion, I couldn't get it out of my head! I ended up pestering Jim to go out into the rain and pick some up cobs at IGA for lunch. And because he's a perfect husband, he obliged even though he doesn't care much for corn on the cob himself. We needed a jug of water anyway. So I had corn on the cob and mashed potatoes, (because nothing compliments corn better than potatoes - at least in my book), while Jim had tuna. Oh well... suit yourself.
The remainder of my afternoon was spend listening to Fiona Apple and Adele as I sketched out a plan for my next painting. I can't tell you what it is, because it's a gift... and I believe the recipient occasionally reads this blog. I'll have to tell you about it later.
Aside from drawing, I also found myself wrapped up in A Complicated Kindness which I finally started reading earlier this week. What a wonderful, wonderful book. Originally I would only allow myself to read a single chapter each night before bed. It was like candy - a special treat I would grant myself at the end of the day. I'm loving this book so much, I didn't want to tear through it too fast. But today, I allowed myself to wile away the hours exploring the musings of Nomi Nickel. What rich characters. I especially love how she describes certain points about her mother in the second or third chapter. Beautiful. Love it. Love it.
Anyhow, because I wanted to put an end to this delicious literary feast before I licked the plate clean, I lumbered out of the bedroom and suggested we stretch our legs and get out of the house. There are a lot of great movies out right now - Inglorious Basterds, Where the Wild Things Are, Capitalism: A Love Story, and of course, Zombie Land. I want to see them all, but keeping with our October 'spooky movie' tradition, Zombie Land won out. It's been getting some great reviews, (as all of the above are), so I'm really looking forward to it.
Speaking of spooky movies, last night we checked out the new Sam Raimi film, Drag Me to Hell. If you enjoyed all the campy fun found in Evil Dead trilogy back in da day, then you'll probably like this one too. At least I did... Although, I have to say that I never appreciate it when they crank the volume during the scary parts. Yes, we get it. It's intense. It's scary. Must you resort to such pathetic scare tactics, such as blasting my eardrums out, simply to evoke a duck and shudder from your audience? But hey, that's just me. Fortunately Jim kept his thumb on the volume button to control the frequent shrill blasts of noise. Aside from that, I thought the movie was a lot of silly-spooky fun.
Huh. Well, it looks like I've just wasted all my time blabbering on about my lazy day, and not writing about my roses and thorns for the week (which was my original intention), so maybe I'll leave that topic for tomorrow's post. In the meantime, here's the trailer for Drag Me to Hell. (Actually, it's the trailer and a quick news clip, because the actual trailer video has the embedding disabled.)
Boy, what has happened to us? I still remember a time when one didn't leave the house until at least 11:00, and now catching the late show is a big deal. We're so old. Or maybe just too lazy to be bothered leaving the house after dark. And it sure gets dark early now, doesn't it?
Today was a completely uneventful kind of day in the best way. It was grey n' drizzly out, so it felt perfectly acceptable to just cozy up inside and do absolutely nothing. Dare I say it, I almost felt bored at one point. Bored!! I haven't experienced boredom since.... I don't remember when! It was kinda nice.
Jim n' I started off our day of nothingness by watching the Secret Window this morning. We haven't seen it in years, since we were first courtin' and I lived in my little carriage house downtown (with the tiny T.V. that he always insisted on pulling up towards the coffee table because it was so small.)
On a side note, have you ever noticed how many Steven King books are about writers? I guess there's some truth in what they say about writing what you know. (Of course, I hope Steve King is not well versed in the practices of murder or being a psychopath, although some of his writings certainly might suggest otherwise.) So let's see... how about we count 'em off?
First, there's obviously Misery. Then The Shining. Remember, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"? Love that movie! Of course Secret Window, which we saw today. Then Jim tells me Stand By Me is another one, although I personally can't remember, but I'll take his word for it. And then there's also 1408, which had an awesome theatrical version, but the DVD director's cut ending doesn't do anything for me. I've never read the book to know which was the true ending. Hmm... am I missing any? Probably.
In the last scene of Secret Window, Johnny Depp is eating a cob of corn. Mmm... Johnny Depp. Oh wait, sorry. I meant, mmm... corn on the cob. It was making me salivate. The corn. Not Johnny Depp. (Although I'm sure it's been known to happen to some women.)
Anyhow, like I was saying, I could honestly taste the crisp buttery goodness in my mouth. Ah, the power of suggestion, I couldn't get it out of my head! I ended up pestering Jim to go out into the rain and pick some up cobs at IGA for lunch. And because he's a perfect husband, he obliged even though he doesn't care much for corn on the cob himself. We needed a jug of water anyway. So I had corn on the cob and mashed potatoes, (because nothing compliments corn better than potatoes - at least in my book), while Jim had tuna. Oh well... suit yourself.
The remainder of my afternoon was spend listening to Fiona Apple and Adele as I sketched out a plan for my next painting. I can't tell you what it is, because it's a gift... and I believe the recipient occasionally reads this blog. I'll have to tell you about it later.
Aside from drawing, I also found myself wrapped up in A Complicated Kindness which I finally started reading earlier this week. What a wonderful, wonderful book. Originally I would only allow myself to read a single chapter each night before bed. It was like candy - a special treat I would grant myself at the end of the day. I'm loving this book so much, I didn't want to tear through it too fast. But today, I allowed myself to wile away the hours exploring the musings of Nomi Nickel. What rich characters. I especially love how she describes certain points about her mother in the second or third chapter. Beautiful. Love it. Love it.
Anyhow, because I wanted to put an end to this delicious literary feast before I licked the plate clean, I lumbered out of the bedroom and suggested we stretch our legs and get out of the house. There are a lot of great movies out right now - Inglorious Basterds, Where the Wild Things Are, Capitalism: A Love Story, and of course, Zombie Land. I want to see them all, but keeping with our October 'spooky movie' tradition, Zombie Land won out. It's been getting some great reviews, (as all of the above are), so I'm really looking forward to it.
Speaking of spooky movies, last night we checked out the new Sam Raimi film, Drag Me to Hell. If you enjoyed all the campy fun found in Evil Dead trilogy back in da day, then you'll probably like this one too. At least I did... Although, I have to say that I never appreciate it when they crank the volume during the scary parts. Yes, we get it. It's intense. It's scary. Must you resort to such pathetic scare tactics, such as blasting my eardrums out, simply to evoke a duck and shudder from your audience? But hey, that's just me. Fortunately Jim kept his thumb on the volume button to control the frequent shrill blasts of noise. Aside from that, I thought the movie was a lot of silly-spooky fun.
Huh. Well, it looks like I've just wasted all my time blabbering on about my lazy day, and not writing about my roses and thorns for the week (which was my original intention), so maybe I'll leave that topic for tomorrow's post. In the meantime, here's the trailer for Drag Me to Hell. (Actually, it's the trailer and a quick news clip, because the actual trailer video has the embedding disabled.)
Friday, October 16, 2009
Model Fired By Ralph Lauren for Being Too Fat
Boy, this sure rubs me the wrong way! All I have to say is WTF?!?! Oh, how times have changed! Especially when you consider that only a few short decades ago, Marilyn Monroe was considered sexy at size 12. Unbelievable.
Some of these fashion industry assholes responsible for setting such unrealistic standards deserve to be shot - or perhaps more appropriately, starved - for all the psychological damage they've triggered in young women (and men) everywhere.
Model 'fired by Ralph Lauren for being too fat'
Filippa Hamilton, a former Ralph Lauren model whose body was digitally altered to appear thinner in an advertisment for the brand, has claimed that the company did not renew her contract because she was "too large."
Some of these fashion industry assholes responsible for setting such unrealistic standards deserve to be shot - or perhaps more appropriately, starved - for all the psychological damage they've triggered in young women (and men) everywhere.
Model 'fired by Ralph Lauren for being too fat'
Filippa Hamilton, a former Ralph Lauren model whose body was digitally altered to appear thinner in an advertisment for the brand, has claimed that the company did not renew her contract because she was "too large."
Polo Ralph Lauren Corp. is contending that it dismissed Hamilton, 23, because of a contract dispute and that the photo was mistakenly released.
"They fired me because they said I was overweight and I couldn't fit in their clothes anymore," Hamilton, who worked for the company since she was 15, told the Daily News. She said she considered Polo Ralph Lauren her second family.
The company acknowledged in a statement that the image of Hamilton that appeared last week in a Tokyo mall had been digitally altered.
She went public after the photo surfaced.
Hamilton, a New York resident who is half-Swedish and was raised in France, has been looking for another job since she was let go in April, said her spokesman Jesse Derris. She has not decided whether to sue, he said.
The photo's emaciated depiction of her, with hips about as narrow as her head, could make young women "think that it's normal to look like that and it's not," the 5-foot-10, 120-pound model told NBC's "Today" show.
"I saw my face on this super-extremely skinny girl, which is not me; it's not healthy, it's not right," she said.
Polo Ralph Lauren claimed she "was too large," she added, saying that she's a US size 4 and that her weight has remained constant during eight years as a model for the popular American brand.
In recent years, designers have typically sought models that fit into clothes that are a size 4, or even 2 or 0.
In a statement, the company said the "very distorted image of a woman's body" Hamilton's was "mistakenly released" and displayed in the Japanese department store.
On Tuesday, Polo Ralph Lauren released a statement that read: "We take full responsibility. This error has absolutely no connection to our relationship with Filippa Hamilton," who is a "beautiful and healthy" woman.
That relationship ended last April "as a result of her inability to meet the obligations under her contract with us," a contract whose terms are confidential, according to a Polo Ralph Lauren spokesman.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
All The Clothes I've Loved Before
I cleaned out my closet and drawers yesterday and purged a bunch of clothing that I never wear. I really forced myself to make some hard cuts. I tried on a lot of clothes that haven't seen the light of day in ages and then critiqued them in the mirror, asking myself "Will I ever wear this again? Or have I been hanging on to it for sentimental reasons?"
I don't know about you, but I find it's amazing the stuff I hang on to.
Here are a few of the things I'll be passing along to Value Village this week....
-- A groovy blue dress I purchased at a store aptly called "Everything $15" while on a high school art and photography trip to New York City. I was 17 and the dress fit like a glove - actually, surprisingly enough it still fits pretty well, despite the fact that it's become worn out and faded in places - mainly beneath the armpits. :P I still love its funky retro design of blue and brown boxes. However, even though Jim said that he thought it still looked cute on me, he felt that it kinda looks like something the maid on the Brady Bunch would wear.
Point taken.
The dress is my only remaining memento of that trip - which is probably why I've clung to it for so long. You see, I opted to go shopping with a couple other girls instead of watching Miss Saigon on Broadway with the rest of the class. I decided that I would see a Broadway play the next time I was in NYC, because I was sure I would return. (Thirteen years later and it has yet to happen...)
I still remember how the change room was humid and smelly, with only a curtain for a door that barely separated the communal sweat box from the rest of the store. Yes, I said "communal". I had to share the room with at least a dozen other women. Self-conscious gal that I was, I tried the dress on as modestly as I could manage. Yup, this is the path I chose - sharing a smelly change room in the "Everything $15" store, instead of watching a classic Broadway play.
Do I regret it?
Believe it or not, I don't. I'll get back to NYC someday, and besides, I really loved that dress and definitely got my $15 worth. Ha. Not to mention, a short while later the girls and I ran into Bruce Willis and his daughter Rumor taking a stroll through Times Square. That has to count for something, right?
-- A tan swede-like dress, which I wore to my college awards ceremony. That night I was awarded the Advertising Advisory Committee award, which was a pretty cool honour, and, the biggest award of the evening - the one I had my eye on since I first saw it sitting on the shelf in my Prof's office - the crystal Eagle Has Landed Award of Excellence.
It was such an exciting night for me, and at the time, it was easily one of the best nights of my life. Now the awards sit on a shelf collecting dust, as does the dress in my closet.
- A royal blue bridesmaid dress I wore at my friend Amanda's wedding about 8 years ago. I must admit, it's definitely one of the prettiest dresses I've worn - Thankfully! I'd be choked if I had to spend that kind of coin on something hideous. Of course, hideous or not, it wouldn't matter, I'd still only get to wear it once, aside from the million fittings I had to go to....
Y'see, Fairweather didn't make the dress in my size, (I guess I was pretty skinny that year - not eating disorder thin - but still kinda bony), so I had to visit a seamstress to get it custom-made. It was the first dress that I've ever had made to fit... and cost about half as much as my own wedding gown. Again, I think this is why I've hung on to it for so long. I couldn't bear to spend hundreds of dollars on a dress and never wear it again. But tis the short-lived fate of all bridesmaid dresses, and needless to say, it's obviously taking up valuable closet real estate. And of course, even if I wanted to wear it again, the zipper refuses to hike up that last inch or two... no matter how much I suck in. ;)
-- From the same era as the bridesmaid dress, I'm also purging a pair of shiny black dress pants. One year for Christmas, my boss at Words at Work Advertising gave me a gift certificate to the mall, so I bought a long blue nightgown and those shiny black pants. I loved them. Still do. Unfortunately, even though the pants continue to be in great shape, I am not.
Then again, like I was saying, that was the same year I was "too skinny"... at least according to my parents, anyway. But I was working at the ad agency during the day and waitressing at a pub at night - so maybe that's why I was too thin? Perhaps I was working too much? I also ate a LOT of junk food that year.... so maybe I was malnourished or somethin'? Honestly, my four basic food groups that year consisted of pizza, chips, chocolate and ice cream. *shudder*
-- A pair of fitted overalls. This was probably the first outfit I owned that required a little tender love n' care, because the inside was made of different material than the outside, and the girl at the store told me it would shrink if put in a dryer. While this fact is totally not a big deal to me these days, at the time (again, about 8 - 10 years ago?), I recoiled at the thought of something being that high maintenance. (Yes, separating laundry before tossing it into a dryer was very high maintenance to me.)
I've never been one to buy expensive brand name clothing, but I simply fell in looove with these nifty pants and so I waited until they were on sale. Then when I tried them on, one of the buttons fell off. The clerk said that's because you're supposed to adjust them yourself when you get home... but I didn't care for her explanation so I asked for a discount... and got one!
While I still think they look cute n' funky, I feel like I'm getting a little old to be wearing overalls that hug like a catsuit.
- A black and white striped dress shirt. I bought it at Fairweather, which is obviously a woman's store... but after only wearing it once or twice, one day I came to work and saw that Nick was wearing the exact. same. shirt. His was from a different store of course, but the print was identical. I've never worn it since. I mean, how embarrassing would that be if we had ever worn it on the same day! Ha ha. Plus, now any time I look at it, I can only see a man's shirt. Oh well, I've never been much of a button-up dress shirt kinda girl anyway.
- I used to shop in a store called "Balta" which brought in clothing and objects from all over the world. I purchased a few items there back in the day and actually still wear the orange summer dress I bought. However, I felt that it's finally time I surrender the handmade purple shirt with the elaborate embroidery around the collar of psychedelic-looking mushrooms blasting off into space. *sigh* It really is something to be seen (if not worn.)
Ah, but I could go on and on (and on and on) about all the different clothes I'm purging and the reasons I've hung on to them for so long, but instead of writing about them, I should stop boring you and finish my cleaning n' get on with my day.
I don't know about you, but I find it's amazing the stuff I hang on to.
Here are a few of the things I'll be passing along to Value Village this week....
-- A groovy blue dress I purchased at a store aptly called "Everything $15" while on a high school art and photography trip to New York City. I was 17 and the dress fit like a glove - actually, surprisingly enough it still fits pretty well, despite the fact that it's become worn out and faded in places - mainly beneath the armpits. :P I still love its funky retro design of blue and brown boxes. However, even though Jim said that he thought it still looked cute on me, he felt that it kinda looks like something the maid on the Brady Bunch would wear.
Point taken.
The dress is my only remaining memento of that trip - which is probably why I've clung to it for so long. You see, I opted to go shopping with a couple other girls instead of watching Miss Saigon on Broadway with the rest of the class. I decided that I would see a Broadway play the next time I was in NYC, because I was sure I would return. (Thirteen years later and it has yet to happen...)
I still remember how the change room was humid and smelly, with only a curtain for a door that barely separated the communal sweat box from the rest of the store. Yes, I said "communal". I had to share the room with at least a dozen other women. Self-conscious gal that I was, I tried the dress on as modestly as I could manage. Yup, this is the path I chose - sharing a smelly change room in the "Everything $15" store, instead of watching a classic Broadway play.
Do I regret it?
Believe it or not, I don't. I'll get back to NYC someday, and besides, I really loved that dress and definitely got my $15 worth. Ha. Not to mention, a short while later the girls and I ran into Bruce Willis and his daughter Rumor taking a stroll through Times Square. That has to count for something, right?
-- A tan swede-like dress, which I wore to my college awards ceremony. That night I was awarded the Advertising Advisory Committee award, which was a pretty cool honour, and, the biggest award of the evening - the one I had my eye on since I first saw it sitting on the shelf in my Prof's office - the crystal Eagle Has Landed Award of Excellence.
It was such an exciting night for me, and at the time, it was easily one of the best nights of my life. Now the awards sit on a shelf collecting dust, as does the dress in my closet.
- A royal blue bridesmaid dress I wore at my friend Amanda's wedding about 8 years ago. I must admit, it's definitely one of the prettiest dresses I've worn - Thankfully! I'd be choked if I had to spend that kind of coin on something hideous. Of course, hideous or not, it wouldn't matter, I'd still only get to wear it once, aside from the million fittings I had to go to....
Y'see, Fairweather didn't make the dress in my size, (I guess I was pretty skinny that year - not eating disorder thin - but still kinda bony), so I had to visit a seamstress to get it custom-made. It was the first dress that I've ever had made to fit... and cost about half as much as my own wedding gown. Again, I think this is why I've hung on to it for so long. I couldn't bear to spend hundreds of dollars on a dress and never wear it again. But tis the short-lived fate of all bridesmaid dresses, and needless to say, it's obviously taking up valuable closet real estate. And of course, even if I wanted to wear it again, the zipper refuses to hike up that last inch or two... no matter how much I suck in. ;)
-- From the same era as the bridesmaid dress, I'm also purging a pair of shiny black dress pants. One year for Christmas, my boss at Words at Work Advertising gave me a gift certificate to the mall, so I bought a long blue nightgown and those shiny black pants. I loved them. Still do. Unfortunately, even though the pants continue to be in great shape, I am not.
Then again, like I was saying, that was the same year I was "too skinny"... at least according to my parents, anyway. But I was working at the ad agency during the day and waitressing at a pub at night - so maybe that's why I was too thin? Perhaps I was working too much? I also ate a LOT of junk food that year.... so maybe I was malnourished or somethin'? Honestly, my four basic food groups that year consisted of pizza, chips, chocolate and ice cream. *shudder*
-- A pair of fitted overalls. This was probably the first outfit I owned that required a little tender love n' care, because the inside was made of different material than the outside, and the girl at the store told me it would shrink if put in a dryer. While this fact is totally not a big deal to me these days, at the time (again, about 8 - 10 years ago?), I recoiled at the thought of something being that high maintenance. (Yes, separating laundry before tossing it into a dryer was very high maintenance to me.)
I've never been one to buy expensive brand name clothing, but I simply fell in looove with these nifty pants and so I waited until they were on sale. Then when I tried them on, one of the buttons fell off. The clerk said that's because you're supposed to adjust them yourself when you get home... but I didn't care for her explanation so I asked for a discount... and got one!
While I still think they look cute n' funky, I feel like I'm getting a little old to be wearing overalls that hug like a catsuit.
- A black and white striped dress shirt. I bought it at Fairweather, which is obviously a woman's store... but after only wearing it once or twice, one day I came to work and saw that Nick was wearing the exact. same. shirt. His was from a different store of course, but the print was identical. I've never worn it since. I mean, how embarrassing would that be if we had ever worn it on the same day! Ha ha. Plus, now any time I look at it, I can only see a man's shirt. Oh well, I've never been much of a button-up dress shirt kinda girl anyway.
- I used to shop in a store called "Balta" which brought in clothing and objects from all over the world. I purchased a few items there back in the day and actually still wear the orange summer dress I bought. However, I felt that it's finally time I surrender the handmade purple shirt with the elaborate embroidery around the collar of psychedelic-looking mushrooms blasting off into space. *sigh* It really is something to be seen (if not worn.)
Ah, but I could go on and on (and on and on) about all the different clothes I'm purging and the reasons I've hung on to them for so long, but instead of writing about them, I should stop boring you and finish my cleaning n' get on with my day.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Sometimes I feel like writing in my blog, but I have nothing worth writing about. Meanwhile, today I could tell you all about how I have nothing going on this week - no contract work, no script stuff - and it feels very weird to be dipping my toes into such a lull and wondering, "What am I going to do with my day?" (For the record, I'll probably clean, write and paint.)
I could also talk about our lovely Thanksgiving dinner that I got the opportunity to co-host.
Or, I could even write about the 10K run on Sunday and how that went (and how cold it was!)
But no.... I'm gonna leave that stuff for later.
Instead, today I want to tell you about the best documentary I've seen in a very long time. It's called "Anvil! The Story of Anvil".
Ray rented it this weekend, but before returning it to the video store, last night he asked if he could share it with us and watch it again.
Now, since it's October, Jim n' I had already rented a few scary movies to get in a Halloweeny mood, (it's our Oct. tradition), so we weren't quite in the mood for a documentary -- but I'm so glad we agreed to give it a chance. I honestly think I want to buy it, just so I can enjoy it a few more times and listen to the commentary.
Really, it's *that* good it demands repeat viewings! It even has a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and 8.2 on IMDB.
But enough gushing about how great it is. Let me tell you what the movie is actually about.
In case you haven't heard of it yet, the documentary explores the rise and long, long fall of the Canadian metal band, Anvil. While they enjoyed a modest 15 minutes of fame in the early 80's, they never quite matched the success of their heavy metal peers.
The two core members of the band, Steve "Lips" Ludlow and Robb Reiner (not the one of Meathead fame), have been jamming together since they were 14 years old. Now in their 50's, the band members are still optomistic that their big break is just around the corner... despite the fact that their medieval tunes still sound like they're straight out of the early 80's.
As one critic put it, "Now THIS is Spinal Tap."
The film is a tight combination of hilarity and heartbreak. You really don't know if you should laugh or cry. I personally found myself laughing hard, followed by a heavy sigh, "Oh, those poor guys... They need a hug."
Then again, I suppose I shouldn't feel too bad for them. I mean, they did experience a moderate degree of short-lived fame, are still praised by a small handful of diehard fans, continue to occasionally rock out and travel the world, are blessed with very supportive families, and are the stars of this fabulous documentary. I think that should count for something, right? They may not be a household name like Guns and Roses or Jon Bon Jovi, but hopefully this film will bring them a little closer to kind of success they have been looking for over these last thirty years.
Anyhow, watch the trailer below, then rent the movie - seriously. IMHO, it's definitely a must-see.
I could also talk about our lovely Thanksgiving dinner that I got the opportunity to co-host.
Or, I could even write about the 10K run on Sunday and how that went (and how cold it was!)
But no.... I'm gonna leave that stuff for later.
Instead, today I want to tell you about the best documentary I've seen in a very long time. It's called "Anvil! The Story of Anvil".
Ray rented it this weekend, but before returning it to the video store, last night he asked if he could share it with us and watch it again.
Now, since it's October, Jim n' I had already rented a few scary movies to get in a Halloweeny mood, (it's our Oct. tradition), so we weren't quite in the mood for a documentary -- but I'm so glad we agreed to give it a chance. I honestly think I want to buy it, just so I can enjoy it a few more times and listen to the commentary.
Really, it's *that* good it demands repeat viewings! It even has a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and 8.2 on IMDB.
But enough gushing about how great it is. Let me tell you what the movie is actually about.
In case you haven't heard of it yet, the documentary explores the rise and long, long fall of the Canadian metal band, Anvil. While they enjoyed a modest 15 minutes of fame in the early 80's, they never quite matched the success of their heavy metal peers.
The two core members of the band, Steve "Lips" Ludlow and Robb Reiner (not the one of Meathead fame), have been jamming together since they were 14 years old. Now in their 50's, the band members are still optomistic that their big break is just around the corner... despite the fact that their medieval tunes still sound like they're straight out of the early 80's.
As one critic put it, "Now THIS is Spinal Tap."
The film is a tight combination of hilarity and heartbreak. You really don't know if you should laugh or cry. I personally found myself laughing hard, followed by a heavy sigh, "Oh, those poor guys... They need a hug."
Then again, I suppose I shouldn't feel too bad for them. I mean, they did experience a moderate degree of short-lived fame, are still praised by a small handful of diehard fans, continue to occasionally rock out and travel the world, are blessed with very supportive families, and are the stars of this fabulous documentary. I think that should count for something, right? They may not be a household name like Guns and Roses or Jon Bon Jovi, but hopefully this film will bring them a little closer to kind of success they have been looking for over these last thirty years.
Anyhow, watch the trailer below, then rent the movie - seriously. IMHO, it's definitely a must-see.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Roses and Thorns Oct. 4 - Oct. 9
Rose
A few people have actually sponsored me for the 10K run on Sunday. (I don't know why I'm surprised, but I am.) So, to those of you who have sponsored me, thank you!! And to those who haven't, it's not too late. ;)
Thorn
It looks like Sunday is gonna be chilly with a forecast of only 4'C! (With snow called for on Tuesday! Snow!! Let's hope they're only talking about the higher elevations.) I guess if I'm running Sunday morning, I won't notice the cold too much - hopefully.
Actually, I don't know if this should be counted as a thorn for this week, since it technically doesn't fall between Oct.4 - 9. Oh well...
Rose
We wrapped up our Telefilm proposal, further script tweaks, new synopsis, and bios yesterday. So next week is looking pretty free n' clear, until we head to Vancouver and dive into the next phase of rewrites. Seems that every week for the last two or three weeks we've been saying, "Next week is lookin' good..." But next week never comes. I'm really looking forward to a bit of a break instead of burning midnight (or at least late-evening) oil.
Thorn
I had a very anxious week. I don't know why, but it was one of those weeks where all my inner turmoil came to a head, and I was feeling very on edge... as demonstrated with my Big Oily Venti post. I really need to make more time to meditate on a regular basis and just learn to let go of these things that make me sooo very angry. Some days I feel like my blood is absolutely boiling and that my heart is going to pound right out of my chest. Like I said in my Venti post, I'm really doing myself more physical harm than anything else.
However, writing it out certainly felt good.
Rose
We received a letter from Abdul-Rahim this week, the little boy we sponsor in Ghana, which is always a nice surprise. He thanked us for the stickers we stapled to his birthday card. You're not allowed to send gifts because of shipping costs and whatnot, so we do what we can to try and get around that. It is his birthday after all, you kinda what to sent the lil' guy something!
On a related note, it's always very difficult to find a child's birthday card that doesn't talk about cake, ice cream and presents. (Because I'm pretty sure he didn't receive any of the above on his special day... a day he shares with yours truly, btw.)
Thorn
Umm... I can't think of any more thorns off the top of my head. That last one was my biggest beef ce semaine. So let's just continue on with the rest of my roses, shall we?
Rose
I just found out about a half hour ago that I can prepare Thanksgiving dinner this year... well, for the most part. I asked Jim's mom if I could make all the food for dinner on Sunday - 'cept for the turkey of course because I don't think anyone but Jim n' I would enjoy tofurky much. (Although I've never personally had it, so I can't really say for sure if I'd enjoy it much either...) Anyhow, my point is Jim's mom is making the turkey and "officially" hosting the dinner, but I'm gonna prepare all the trimmings on Saturday and then bring it out with us after the run on Sunday.
I haven't hosted Thanksgiving in about 9 years, when I invited a bunch of other stranded friends n' college students over for a fab dinner. I'm tres excited for this opportunity! :) Fun! Fun! Fun!
....I sure hope everyone enjoys my cooking.
Rose
My dad called me earlier this week and said that he's making pickles, and asked if I wanted him to ship me out some. (As if he needed to ask...) We made a bunch when he n' mom came out to house-sit for us while we were in Europe last year. Some were regular dills, some with garlic, some with hot peppers... But 6 little jars was hardly enough, and I went through them in a few short months. I told him to send me a BIG jar this time... maybe two. I sure hope they don't break in the mail!
I LOVE homemade dill pickles - and at least this time it won't be my kitchen that gets all stinked up. ;)
A few people have actually sponsored me for the 10K run on Sunday. (I don't know why I'm surprised, but I am.) So, to those of you who have sponsored me, thank you!! And to those who haven't, it's not too late. ;)
Thorn
It looks like Sunday is gonna be chilly with a forecast of only 4'C! (With snow called for on Tuesday! Snow!! Let's hope they're only talking about the higher elevations.) I guess if I'm running Sunday morning, I won't notice the cold too much - hopefully.
Actually, I don't know if this should be counted as a thorn for this week, since it technically doesn't fall between Oct.4 - 9. Oh well...
Rose
We wrapped up our Telefilm proposal, further script tweaks, new synopsis, and bios yesterday. So next week is looking pretty free n' clear, until we head to Vancouver and dive into the next phase of rewrites. Seems that every week for the last two or three weeks we've been saying, "Next week is lookin' good..." But next week never comes. I'm really looking forward to a bit of a break instead of burning midnight (or at least late-evening) oil.
Thorn
I had a very anxious week. I don't know why, but it was one of those weeks where all my inner turmoil came to a head, and I was feeling very on edge... as demonstrated with my Big Oily Venti post. I really need to make more time to meditate on a regular basis and just learn to let go of these things that make me sooo very angry. Some days I feel like my blood is absolutely boiling and that my heart is going to pound right out of my chest. Like I said in my Venti post, I'm really doing myself more physical harm than anything else.
However, writing it out certainly felt good.
Rose
We received a letter from Abdul-Rahim this week, the little boy we sponsor in Ghana, which is always a nice surprise. He thanked us for the stickers we stapled to his birthday card. You're not allowed to send gifts because of shipping costs and whatnot, so we do what we can to try and get around that. It is his birthday after all, you kinda what to sent the lil' guy something!
On a related note, it's always very difficult to find a child's birthday card that doesn't talk about cake, ice cream and presents. (Because I'm pretty sure he didn't receive any of the above on his special day... a day he shares with yours truly, btw.)
Thorn
Umm... I can't think of any more thorns off the top of my head. That last one was my biggest beef ce semaine. So let's just continue on with the rest of my roses, shall we?
Rose
I just found out about a half hour ago that I can prepare Thanksgiving dinner this year... well, for the most part. I asked Jim's mom if I could make all the food for dinner on Sunday - 'cept for the turkey of course because I don't think anyone but Jim n' I would enjoy tofurky much. (Although I've never personally had it, so I can't really say for sure if I'd enjoy it much either...) Anyhow, my point is Jim's mom is making the turkey and "officially" hosting the dinner, but I'm gonna prepare all the trimmings on Saturday and then bring it out with us after the run on Sunday.
I haven't hosted Thanksgiving in about 9 years, when I invited a bunch of other stranded friends n' college students over for a fab dinner. I'm tres excited for this opportunity! :) Fun! Fun! Fun!
....I sure hope everyone enjoys my cooking.
Rose
My dad called me earlier this week and said that he's making pickles, and asked if I wanted him to ship me out some. (As if he needed to ask...) We made a bunch when he n' mom came out to house-sit for us while we were in Europe last year. Some were regular dills, some with garlic, some with hot peppers... But 6 little jars was hardly enough, and I went through them in a few short months. I told him to send me a BIG jar this time... maybe two. I sure hope they don't break in the mail!
I LOVE homemade dill pickles - and at least this time it won't be my kitchen that gets all stinked up. ;)
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
On a Lighter Note...
I heard that they're planning on bringing back the Muppet show, so they're currently doing a trial run on YouTube, with videos like this first one...
Of course this song was always one of my favourites...
If they bring it back, I wonder what kind of guests they'll feature? Check out this blast from the past back when Elton John was a little more funky...
Of course this song was always one of my favourites...
Animal was one of my favourite characters, even though he kinda scared me a lil'...
If they bring it back, I wonder what kind of guests they'll feature? Check out this blast from the past back when Elton John was a little more funky...
Monday, October 5, 2009
Behind the Scenes
We had our conference call with les producers today and I like to think it went really well. They had a few very nice complements about our writing style and told us to give ourselves a big pat on the back for getting everything turned around so fast.
I said it before and I'll say it again, it's nice when stuff like that is recognized, because it really was a helluvalotta work. I think it helps too that our executive producer has written a few screenplays himself, so he certainly knows from experience how much work is involved.
Of course after all the niceties, we got down to business picking apart what can be improved upon in our next version. Nothing too drastic, but there are a few moments where les producers would like to see greater tension. Jim also came up with a neat idea to tie in the "bad guys" sooner. Another thing we all agreed on is that we want to hack out a good 15 - 20 pages, if at all possible. Because Jim n' I were so under the gun with this latest draft, we didn't have the time to really edit it down as much as we would've liked to. (It's currently a smidgen over 120 pages, which equals a two hour film.)
Now what we gotta do is whip up a two page rewrite proposal for Telefilm to tell them what we intend to improve in our next version. We also have to write a 15 line synopsis and our resumes/bios. Jim n' I are aiming to get that all done by Wednesday, so there's no rest for the wicked quite yet.
Depending on if TC & AS can shuffle their schedules around, we're planning a trip to Vancouver Oct. 19 - 23 for a week of story meetings. (And thankfully, it's their job as producers to cover the cost of our hotel, so we won't have to sleep in our car! Yay! ;) That way we can sit face-to-face and fine tune every little moment together in order to make the script pitch perfect.
And when I say "pitch perfect" I mean it in the literal sense, because the next phase after Development is Packaging, which involves pitching the script to distributers (as well as attaching cast, etc.).
Distributers are the folks who put the film in theaters. (Think Lionsgate or their CDN counterpart, Maple Pictures.) Basically they front up money based on pre-sales, which in turn goes towards the budget. We need to get a Canadian distributer attached before we can qualify for Telefilm Production funding. (The actual "filming" phase.)
The only issue is... well, actually, there are a couple of issues...
One is the economy. When it comes to shelling out for pre-sales, distributers are really holding onto their purse strings tightly these days. So, a movie staring a protagonist in his 60's will not be without it's challenges. Not that it's impossible... it's just a little more challenging.
The second obstacle is that the Packaging phase can take at least 3 - 6 months to pull distributers, cast, etc. together. And in our case, since we're still in Development, by that point, all of the 2010 Telefilm Production money might already be spoken for.
For example, people who are currently in the Packaging phase are already getting their pitches together for April, which is the new fiscal year when everyone applies for Production funding.
So, if all goes well and we manage to attach a distributer and cast right away, we still may not be able to apply for Production funding until July, which could be too late because all the cash might already be allocated to other projects by then. Of course TC says it really varies from year to year, depending on the quality of the projects that are applying. That's why some years you'll see some really crappy films get made because not a lot of people applied, and other years some great films spend another year sitting on the shelf because the competition is so tough.
'Kay, are you still following? It can get kinda confusing, I know.
So, all that being said, if we decide to take the National route with Telefilm, that means that we may not be able to enter Production until Fall 2011, which in turn means that the film won't be released until 2012.
Ugh. Crazy, huh?
BUT, there is an alternate approach.
There is also Regional funding. You do not need to have a distributer attached to qualify for Production funding via this route. This would likely allow us to shoot our film sooner (as in Fall 2010, which is our original goal). Then we would either pitch the final product to distributers, or we would show the movie at festivals (which I think would be loads of fun!), and find distributers that way.
Needless to say, I think we're both leaning towards the Regional route.
So yeah, that's where we're at.
And on a completely unrelated note, I was at the drug store today and saw that they have all their Christmas decorations out! CHRISTMAS!!! The first week of October!!! Okay, seriously, I know it seems they push Christmas on consumers earlier and earlier every year, but that's friggin' insane!
I said it before and I'll say it again, it's nice when stuff like that is recognized, because it really was a helluvalotta work. I think it helps too that our executive producer has written a few screenplays himself, so he certainly knows from experience how much work is involved.
Of course after all the niceties, we got down to business picking apart what can be improved upon in our next version. Nothing too drastic, but there are a few moments where les producers would like to see greater tension. Jim also came up with a neat idea to tie in the "bad guys" sooner. Another thing we all agreed on is that we want to hack out a good 15 - 20 pages, if at all possible. Because Jim n' I were so under the gun with this latest draft, we didn't have the time to really edit it down as much as we would've liked to. (It's currently a smidgen over 120 pages, which equals a two hour film.)
Now what we gotta do is whip up a two page rewrite proposal for Telefilm to tell them what we intend to improve in our next version. We also have to write a 15 line synopsis and our resumes/bios. Jim n' I are aiming to get that all done by Wednesday, so there's no rest for the wicked quite yet.
Depending on if TC & AS can shuffle their schedules around, we're planning a trip to Vancouver Oct. 19 - 23 for a week of story meetings. (And thankfully, it's their job as producers to cover the cost of our hotel, so we won't have to sleep in our car! Yay! ;) That way we can sit face-to-face and fine tune every little moment together in order to make the script pitch perfect.
And when I say "pitch perfect" I mean it in the literal sense, because the next phase after Development is Packaging, which involves pitching the script to distributers (as well as attaching cast, etc.).
Distributers are the folks who put the film in theaters. (Think Lionsgate or their CDN counterpart, Maple Pictures.) Basically they front up money based on pre-sales, which in turn goes towards the budget. We need to get a Canadian distributer attached before we can qualify for Telefilm Production funding. (The actual "filming" phase.)
The only issue is... well, actually, there are a couple of issues...
One is the economy. When it comes to shelling out for pre-sales, distributers are really holding onto their purse strings tightly these days. So, a movie staring a protagonist in his 60's will not be without it's challenges. Not that it's impossible... it's just a little more challenging.
The second obstacle is that the Packaging phase can take at least 3 - 6 months to pull distributers, cast, etc. together. And in our case, since we're still in Development, by that point, all of the 2010 Telefilm Production money might already be spoken for.
For example, people who are currently in the Packaging phase are already getting their pitches together for April, which is the new fiscal year when everyone applies for Production funding.
So, if all goes well and we manage to attach a distributer and cast right away, we still may not be able to apply for Production funding until July, which could be too late because all the cash might already be allocated to other projects by then. Of course TC says it really varies from year to year, depending on the quality of the projects that are applying. That's why some years you'll see some really crappy films get made because not a lot of people applied, and other years some great films spend another year sitting on the shelf because the competition is so tough.
'Kay, are you still following? It can get kinda confusing, I know.
So, all that being said, if we decide to take the National route with Telefilm, that means that we may not be able to enter Production until Fall 2011, which in turn means that the film won't be released until 2012.
Ugh. Crazy, huh?
BUT, there is an alternate approach.
There is also Regional funding. You do not need to have a distributer attached to qualify for Production funding via this route. This would likely allow us to shoot our film sooner (as in Fall 2010, which is our original goal). Then we would either pitch the final product to distributers, or we would show the movie at festivals (which I think would be loads of fun!), and find distributers that way.
Needless to say, I think we're both leaning towards the Regional route.
So yeah, that's where we're at.
And on a completely unrelated note, I was at the drug store today and saw that they have all their Christmas decorations out! CHRISTMAS!!! The first week of October!!! Okay, seriously, I know it seems they push Christmas on consumers earlier and earlier every year, but that's friggin' insane!
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Roses and Thorns Sept. 26 - Oct. 3
Rose
Okay, so even though I started last week's roses n' thorns with thesixtyone, it has again been one of the biggest highlights of my week. (Sheesh, what does that say about me? Clearly I don't get out much.) Anyhow, I've discovered some really, truly amazing tunes and new artists this week. Love, love, love that site.
Thorn
Still haven't quite shaken this cold. Unbelievable. I think I'm finally on the mend, but it really is ridiculous.
Rose
We finished our script... or at least our latest draft of our script... this week. So that's a huge weight temporarily off our shoulders. We still have to whip up a new synopsis n' stuff this weekend to include with our Telefilm package, but that's pretty minor. We have a conference call with our producers on Monday, so hopefully they'll like what we've come up with. (They're reading it this weekend.) We think it's pretty good. I mean, it could always be polished a lil' more, but that's what the next draft is for, right?
Thorn
I haven't been falling asleep right away at night lately. I think my mind has just been too wound up. Normally, I fall asleep within minutes of my head hitting the pillow; however, this week it's been taking me a good hour or two of tossing and turning before the sandman catches up with me. Kinda annoying.
Speaking of not sleeping well, here's something interesting and borderline disturbing... Today I picked up some multivitamins at that GNC store in the mall, and the guy behind the counter tossed in a free sample of four blue sleeping pills. WTF? Not even herbal supplements either... but actual sleeping pills. And I'm pretty sure I didn't look tired or anything, otherwise maaaaybe I could understand... well, maybe not even then. I just said something like, "Oh, how did you know?!"
Kinda weird, don't you think?
Rose
All the script paperwork is finally done! Between the Purchase Option Agreement and Rewrite Agreement, yesterday we trudged our way through a million pages of cumbersome legalize and signed our lives away. Yes, it's official, we no longer own the rights to DE. Don't worry, we're not scared or anything. It's merely a formality. It's the only way we'd qualify for funding - the script needs to be owned by an established producer. So now we can finally get paid. Thank gawd.
Thorn
When we signed our lives away we learned that we only get paid 25% now and the other 75% after the next rewrite is done. So much for my little "reward splurge" on a new fall wardrobe or any trips out to Ontariariario in the immediate future. Looks like we'll have to stick to our current budget for a while longer. Of course, we expect this next rewrite to be done rather quickly, as it'll only be a few tweaks n' polishing... not a complete overhaul like the massive rewrite we just finished. So it'll only be about 8 weeks max before we see the rest of our cash. Just in time for Christmas shopping.
Rose
I made a delicious vegetarian shepherd's pie this week. I was craving comfort food, and my gawd... It. Was. Awesome! Being the perfect husband he is, Jim always complements my cooking every single night, but I honestly lost count of how many times he said between chomps, "This is really, really good!" Even when I served it as leftovers the next day. I'm gonna have to make it more often.
Thorn
For the last month or so, I've been wanting to make this recipe from my Vegetarian Times Magazine called mango-avocado wrap. I love both mangos and avocados individually and I love mango avocado salsa... so it sounded like a winner, right?
Wrong.
Just to be different I suppose, the friggin' recipe called for Vietnamese rice paper to roll it up in, instead of using a regular wrap. Lower fat, fewer calories n' all that I guess? Well, let me tell you... it was effing DISGUSTING! Never again! The wrap was thin and sticky, because you have to wet the rice paper first to make it pliable. I used two wraps because it just seemed way too thin. But even so, when we held the wraps in our hands, we could feel the mushiness of the contents inside. Jim likened it to holding an organ. The texture of the damp rice paper felt like I was biting into skin. It was SO gross. I thought I was going to be sick for the rest of the afternoon. Honestly.
What a disappointment. I think if I ever make it again, I will not use the rice paper and will stick to regular whole wheat wraps.
Rose
We finally got our car back this week. Don't know if that should be a rose or not? The loaner was quite nice and spacious. I guess it's good to have things back to normal though. It's also nice that almost all the work was covered under warrantee, except for a few spark plugs n' whatnot. Sounds like the problem was a manufacturing defect and they basically had to rebuild the engine. So I'll say it again, thank gawd the car is still under warrantee!
Thorn
I started training again yesterday for the 10K . I guess I'm gonna have to go pretty hardcore this week if I want to build up my stamina and make up for my lack of training over this last month. Actually, this thorn should probably be a rose because while training yesterday I really surprised myself. I can run quite a distance without slowing down or stopping! Far more than I expected. I think I'll do okay come race day. Although, I feel like all that running yesterday aggravated my cold a little. Stupid cold.
And that's it!
Okay, so even though I started last week's roses n' thorns with thesixtyone, it has again been one of the biggest highlights of my week. (Sheesh, what does that say about me? Clearly I don't get out much.) Anyhow, I've discovered some really, truly amazing tunes and new artists this week. Love, love, love that site.
Thorn
Still haven't quite shaken this cold. Unbelievable. I think I'm finally on the mend, but it really is ridiculous.
Rose
We finished our script... or at least our latest draft of our script... this week. So that's a huge weight temporarily off our shoulders. We still have to whip up a new synopsis n' stuff this weekend to include with our Telefilm package, but that's pretty minor. We have a conference call with our producers on Monday, so hopefully they'll like what we've come up with. (They're reading it this weekend.) We think it's pretty good. I mean, it could always be polished a lil' more, but that's what the next draft is for, right?
Thorn
I haven't been falling asleep right away at night lately. I think my mind has just been too wound up. Normally, I fall asleep within minutes of my head hitting the pillow; however, this week it's been taking me a good hour or two of tossing and turning before the sandman catches up with me. Kinda annoying.
Speaking of not sleeping well, here's something interesting and borderline disturbing... Today I picked up some multivitamins at that GNC store in the mall, and the guy behind the counter tossed in a free sample of four blue sleeping pills. WTF? Not even herbal supplements either... but actual sleeping pills. And I'm pretty sure I didn't look tired or anything, otherwise maaaaybe I could understand... well, maybe not even then. I just said something like, "Oh, how did you know?!"
Kinda weird, don't you think?
Rose
All the script paperwork is finally done! Between the Purchase Option Agreement and Rewrite Agreement, yesterday we trudged our way through a million pages of cumbersome legalize and signed our lives away. Yes, it's official, we no longer own the rights to DE. Don't worry, we're not scared or anything. It's merely a formality. It's the only way we'd qualify for funding - the script needs to be owned by an established producer. So now we can finally get paid. Thank gawd.
Thorn
When we signed our lives away we learned that we only get paid 25% now and the other 75% after the next rewrite is done. So much for my little "reward splurge" on a new fall wardrobe or any trips out to Ontariariario in the immediate future. Looks like we'll have to stick to our current budget for a while longer. Of course, we expect this next rewrite to be done rather quickly, as it'll only be a few tweaks n' polishing... not a complete overhaul like the massive rewrite we just finished. So it'll only be about 8 weeks max before we see the rest of our cash. Just in time for Christmas shopping.
Rose
I made a delicious vegetarian shepherd's pie this week. I was craving comfort food, and my gawd... It. Was. Awesome! Being the perfect husband he is, Jim always complements my cooking every single night, but I honestly lost count of how many times he said between chomps, "This is really, really good!" Even when I served it as leftovers the next day. I'm gonna have to make it more often.
Thorn
For the last month or so, I've been wanting to make this recipe from my Vegetarian Times Magazine called mango-avocado wrap. I love both mangos and avocados individually and I love mango avocado salsa... so it sounded like a winner, right?
Wrong.
Just to be different I suppose, the friggin' recipe called for Vietnamese rice paper to roll it up in, instead of using a regular wrap. Lower fat, fewer calories n' all that I guess? Well, let me tell you... it was effing DISGUSTING! Never again! The wrap was thin and sticky, because you have to wet the rice paper first to make it pliable. I used two wraps because it just seemed way too thin. But even so, when we held the wraps in our hands, we could feel the mushiness of the contents inside. Jim likened it to holding an organ. The texture of the damp rice paper felt like I was biting into skin. It was SO gross. I thought I was going to be sick for the rest of the afternoon. Honestly.
What a disappointment. I think if I ever make it again, I will not use the rice paper and will stick to regular whole wheat wraps.
Rose
We finally got our car back this week. Don't know if that should be a rose or not? The loaner was quite nice and spacious. I guess it's good to have things back to normal though. It's also nice that almost all the work was covered under warrantee, except for a few spark plugs n' whatnot. Sounds like the problem was a manufacturing defect and they basically had to rebuild the engine. So I'll say it again, thank gawd the car is still under warrantee!
Thorn
I started training again yesterday for the 10K . I guess I'm gonna have to go pretty hardcore this week if I want to build up my stamina and make up for my lack of training over this last month. Actually, this thorn should probably be a rose because while training yesterday I really surprised myself. I can run quite a distance without slowing down or stopping! Far more than I expected. I think I'll do okay come race day. Although, I feel like all that running yesterday aggravated my cold a little. Stupid cold.
And that's it!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
On the Run
About two months ago, I agreed to run with my friend Lara in the Okanagan International Marathon on October 11th.
Just to be clear, we're not running the whole 42.2K. I'd kinda like to keep my toenails, thankyouverymuch. Instead we're just gonna do the 10K run. We did it two years ago, and it was a piece o' cake... then again, we had been training for a couple months. This year, however, not so much.
Okay, so Jim n' I have been going out for little 3K runs off n' on since the spring, so hopefully that should count for something. And yes, Lara and I did manage to fit in a run together a few weeks ago. But since then, the only running I've been doing is being run down with a cold, and running to the tissue box to blow my runny nose. Not to mention, I've barely had the opportunity to leave the house as every waking moment lately has been consumed with le script... which might explain why I haven't been able to shake this darn cold - I've been working too hard. (Or at least that's what non-medical sources have told me.)
Anyhoo, so now there's only about a week left before the 10K and I haven't been training at all. Although Lara tells me that she hasn't been training much either, so at least I'll be in comfortable company... or perhaps I should say uncomfortable company, as I'm sure we'll be hobbling along to the bitter end together.
Oh well, we're not in it to win it. I just want another one of those fancy medals to toss in the spare bedroom closet, to compensate for all those pathetic green participation ribbons I "earned" in grade school. Hey, I had asthma! Ha. Plus, I was always more of an artist, than an athlete. Nothing wrong with that, right? ;)
The other thing is, I haven't bothered to get any sponsors. I didn't solicit sponsors the last time I did it two years ago, because that year I also did the 5K Run for the Cure a couple weeks earlier, so I didn't want to be asking everyone to sponsor me for both.
So... (I'm sure you can see where this is going...), if you're feeing generous, it's for a wonderful cause -- the Sunshine Dreams for Kids Foundation.
In case the name isn't obvious, the Sunshine Dreams for Kids Foundation fulfills the dreams of children with severe physical disabilities or life-threatening illnesses.
And just to soften you up, I wanted to share some of the testimonials from their website, which nearly brought a tear to my eye...
"It was a trip of a lifetime for Dominic. The chance to visit his grandmother and experience her love first hand has made a world of a difference."
Doesn't that just break your heart? The little guy's dream was to visit his grandma!
Oh great... Now my eyes are starting to get watery.
Forget it. If you want to see the other testimonials, you can visit the site yourself. Otherwise, I'm just gonna be sitting here blubbering to myself on the couch.
Alright. So you can sponsor me here, and you'll be sent a tax receipt n' everything.
Of course there really is no pressure. Times are tough for a lot of people right now, and I totally understand. Besides, I've already sponsored myself on top of the fee to participate, and I'm sure a good chunk of that registration fee must go towards the cause.
So yeah... donate or don't. It's all good either way.
Just to be clear, we're not running the whole 42.2K. I'd kinda like to keep my toenails, thankyouverymuch. Instead we're just gonna do the 10K run. We did it two years ago, and it was a piece o' cake... then again, we had been training for a couple months. This year, however, not so much.
Okay, so Jim n' I have been going out for little 3K runs off n' on since the spring, so hopefully that should count for something. And yes, Lara and I did manage to fit in a run together a few weeks ago. But since then, the only running I've been doing is being run down with a cold, and running to the tissue box to blow my runny nose. Not to mention, I've barely had the opportunity to leave the house as every waking moment lately has been consumed with le script... which might explain why I haven't been able to shake this darn cold - I've been working too hard. (Or at least that's what non-medical sources have told me.)
Anyhoo, so now there's only about a week left before the 10K and I haven't been training at all. Although Lara tells me that she hasn't been training much either, so at least I'll be in comfortable company... or perhaps I should say uncomfortable company, as I'm sure we'll be hobbling along to the bitter end together.
Oh well, we're not in it to win it. I just want another one of those fancy medals to toss in the spare bedroom closet, to compensate for all those pathetic green participation ribbons I "earned" in grade school. Hey, I had asthma! Ha. Plus, I was always more of an artist, than an athlete. Nothing wrong with that, right? ;)
The other thing is, I haven't bothered to get any sponsors. I didn't solicit sponsors the last time I did it two years ago, because that year I also did the 5K Run for the Cure a couple weeks earlier, so I didn't want to be asking everyone to sponsor me for both.
So... (I'm sure you can see where this is going...), if you're feeing generous, it's for a wonderful cause -- the Sunshine Dreams for Kids Foundation.
In case the name isn't obvious, the Sunshine Dreams for Kids Foundation fulfills the dreams of children with severe physical disabilities or life-threatening illnesses.
And just to soften you up, I wanted to share some of the testimonials from their website, which nearly brought a tear to my eye...
Doesn't that just break your heart? The little guy's dream was to visit his grandma!
Oh great... Now my eyes are starting to get watery.
Forget it. If you want to see the other testimonials, you can visit the site yourself. Otherwise, I'm just gonna be sitting here blubbering to myself on the couch.
Alright. So you can sponsor me here, and you'll be sent a tax receipt n' everything.
Of course there really is no pressure. Times are tough for a lot of people right now, and I totally understand. Besides, I've already sponsored myself on top of the fee to participate, and I'm sure a good chunk of that registration fee must go towards the cause.
So yeah... donate or don't. It's all good either way.
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