Ho hum

I am so tired. I suppose I could go back to bed, eventually I will.

Today I have an appointment to get my car checked out. I was in a small accident a couple weeks ago. I was also a witness in a hit and run accident (my vehicle was not involved). It is a bit of a pain dealing with the cops and SGI this time of year (or any time of year).

Yesterday, we had a Christmas gathering with my mom's side of the family. It was a fun time and I ate lots. Highlights include:
* We continued our game of Sardines from Thanksgiving. It was my turn to hide and the younger cousins bugged me all through dinner when we were going to begin. I told them to keep an eye on me because when they realize that I am gone, the game had begun. I snuck off while they were playing. We had a good time.
* My 2 year old cousin started to get undressed in the middle of the living room when she opened a present of Dora the Explorer clothes. This will not be so cute when she is older.
* I got an indoor strawberry growing kit.
* Some of us went skating at a nearby lake. My jeans were long and got so wet walking there and back. I went to work straight from my Aunt's house and my jeans were still wet. At least I didn't fall on my butt.

Happy Boxing Day!

Hope everyone found some excellent post-Christmas bargains.

Just a warning: New Year's Day 2006: delayed by a second

As recommended by George Stroumboulopoulos

Warning: Excellent yet funny geopolitical statement but there is some bad language.

The End of the World by Fluid

God Jul
December 23rd: “Lille julaften” or “Little Christmas Eve”

For many Norwegians, the observance of Christmas begins on the evening of December 23. This is when most families decorate their Christmas trees and homes. It is traditional to decorate these trees with handmade Christmas baskets. These baskets are made out of red and green paper that is weaved together and then filled with fruits, candy, and nuts.
In my family we have a supper of rice porridge on Little Christmas Eve. At Christmas an almond hidden in the rice porridge. In my family, whoever finds the almond in their bowl will be the next to get married. I have no idea where this began because I cannot find anyone else who believes it.

Traditionally, the child who discovers it wins a prize of a marzipan pig. This is to remind people of the times when a peasant family’s wealth was determined by its pig.

December 24: “Julaften” or “Christmas Eve”

The next day is Christmas Eve, and the children of Norway often get up early and wait for the special Christmas programs to start on their televisions. Some people also go to church around 3 or 4 o'clock, and others visit the graves of friends and family. Also on this day, some families leave a bowl of porridge in their barns for the nisse, or gnome, who lives in and protects the barn and animals. For a long time, when most Norwegians were farmers, this “Nisse” was believed to be a secret helper in the barn. If the family on the farm was nice to him and left him a bowl of porridge every Christmas eve, he would be kind to them and help them the next year. If they didn’t, they could expect accidents, sick animals and mysterious noises.

A special Christmas meal is then served towards evening, and what is served at the meal varies depending up which part of Norway a family is from. Eastern Norwegians eat lye fish, or lutfisk, while western Norwegians enjoy steamed lamb ribs called pinnekjøtt. After the meal, it is time to open gifts. Sometimes Julenisse (similar to Santa Claus) even comes to the home to distribute the gifts himself.

After the opening of presents, all the brooms in the house are hidden. The Norwegians long ago believed that witches and mischievous spirits came out on Christmas Eve and would steal their brooms for riding.

December 25: “Første juledag” or “Christmas Day”

On Christmas Day, family Christmas parties are often held and some people attend church services. The next day there are more parties, but these are mostly parties with friends.

Sources:
Rick Steves' Europe: Norwegian Christmas
Norwegian Holidays

Me sleepy

I subbed for a new teacher today. Things went very well considering I had a grade 9 class I had never met before on the last period before the Christmas break.

I did not fall asleep until after 4am last night. Then my alarm went off at 6:50. That's right folks, less than 3 hours of sleep. I had a consumed caffeinated tea in large quantities today just to stay awake. Now I shall sleep.

On a sad note, I lost my copy of Vinnie Jones' autobiography. I had it in my purse and I took it out when I went to the ATM. Later that night it was gone (the branch was closed). I asked today at the front desk if anyone had turned it in. Sadly, no one had. I'll have to track down another copy. Fortunately my work sells it (not sure if they have a copy though). Today when I was subbing I started to reread Marin Amis' The Information

For the Rest of Us

Happy Festivus everyone!

Festivus: the website for the rest of us

Educational video on Festivus (I use educational loosely here).

Tomorrow: Little Christmas Eve

Boooooooooo

I was at work for 4 hours this evening at the bookstore. I am glad I went early or I would have been there until 2am. I did even do a super-duper good job. There was not enough time for that. I just tried to do the best I could. I am so sore and my feet are killing me. This could be interesting subbing tomorrow on 4 hours of sleep for the last day before Christmas break.

Webcam for a Penny

Woot! Woot! I am done tutoring for the semester. My last session was tonight before supper. I will be glad to have some free time in the evening.

I took a picture with my web cam tonight.


My one complaint about my web cam is the mic is built into the camera. The mic is o far away the other person has to turn their speakers way up just so they can hear me. I guess I won't complain too much about a web cam I got for a penny.

While I was away in Regina I received a letter that from a private school I applied to last year. The letter stated that my application was incomplete. Incomplete! I applied to that school in Fall 2004 I had not heard from them at all and they are tell me this now! I tried calling but there was no answer so I emailed them about it. I has been so long I don't remember what I could have left out.

Here We Come a Wassailing

Yesterday was a very long day. I was at my parents and I was supposed to get up at 8am so I could be on the road by 9:30. That did not happen at all. The alarm went off but I think I finally got out of bed around 9:50. I finally got on the road by 11am.

I finally got out the city and I realize I left my allergy serum in my mom's fridge. I was supposed to get my shot in Regina but a nurse at my doctor's office here in Saskatoon gave me a package with only one of the bottles. I would not be able to wait for my shot anymore so I had to turn back. I finally got back on the road on 11:40.

I was supposed to tutor at 2pm but since I left Regina the last time so late, I called and asked if we could change the time. I am so glad I did, I even had time for a 20 minute nap before tutoring! (Napping is extremely exciting to me).

I had promised my tutees that I was available for 3 hours. I am so glad that once we got to work they had enough after 2 hours. I had time to get my allergy shot before caroling with my youth group in the evening. Unfortunately because of how long I had to wait at the walk-in clinic I did not have time for supper.

I got to my church at little early so I could organize the food we were going to be distributing to the seniors. My follow leader helped me sort out what food was going where. He discovered a container with no label. I looked inside and it was left over food from the church Christmas dinner a couple weeks back. We did not have permission to distribute that so I put it back (more on that later). Slowly people started to arrive. We eventually we had 10. A decent number for caroling considering I thought we were only going to have 4.

The caroling went very well. I think we were a real blessing. I was only able to go to half of our stops since I had to work last night. I dropped off the passengers at a home near my work and was about to drive of when some of the fellow carolers stopped me. They needed to tell me that I had labeled a tub of margarine as macaroni and cheese. Since most of our food was put into old margarine and ice cream containers, the container of margarine got mixed up with the food. I had put it in the freezer with the rest of the food. How silly of me. I am just glad they caught my mistake before they gave it away.

I stopped at Subway on my way to work. It was 9pm and I had still not eaten yet. Unfortunately there was a trainee working on her first shift by herself. Oy. I was the 3rd person in line and I took me a half hour to get my food.

Work took forever last night. I was so tired and just wanted to go home. Due to Christmas shoppers, the store was a mess. I get paid for 3 hours and it took me 3.5 hours. I guess that makes up for all the times I finish early. I did not leave until 1:15am.

I feel bad for the security guard (aka Stoic Guy) who stayed a half hour later than he had to. Security guards cannot leave until all the booksellers cash out. So Stoic Guy was waiting for the last person to leave. He was content to search on the Internet thinking he was earning overtime. Little did he know that the bookseller left and did not tell him. Poor guy.

I got home and my roommate (the tiny blond one) was still not home. She was picking some people at the airport at 11:40 and their plane still had not arrived. She did not get home until after 2. I was still up when she got home. I was trying out my newly arrived webcam with microphone purchased for a penny on ebay (no one else bid).

Monopoly 70th Anniversary Edition

I wish I would have know about this earlier so I could have asked for it for Christmas. It is still not too late Mom (hint, hint).

To commemorate Monopoly's 70th anniversary Parker Brothers have created an art deco edition. What could be better? My favorite board game designed in my favorite style. I have seen editions with a wooden case on Ebay but I cannot find it anywhere else.

For any of you who have taken French class

Sol, the Hobo Clown, Dies at 76

Marc Favreau's Obituary on CBC.ca

New Re-Enactments by Bunnies!

30 Second Re-Enactment by Bunnies of A Christmas Story

30 Second Re-Enactment by Bunnies of Star Wars

Steve: My Treat

I was watching the Weather Network and the anchor looked familiar. I had to think for a bit where I recognized him from when I realized he was Chris from Student Bodies. Ross Hull is now a weather man.

Now that I got your attention.

Lyn got me Vinnie Jones' autobiography when she was in England. For those of you who do not know, Vinnie Jones used to be a professional soccer player (or if you are outside of North America footballer) and now is an actor. I finally started reading it recently (I had to get through about 6 other books I had not read yet first). It is a little difficult to understand sometimes because of all of the British slang but he is good story teller.

Well, yesterday when I was subbing there were two classes who wrote exams. There is intern who was teaching those classes so I was really just there to support her. These were her exams so I didn't really have to supervise. I sat at the front of the class and read my book. During the afternoon exam I was reading about Vinnie's first professional appearance as a footballer and the story behind the above picture. The other player is Paul "Gazza" Gascoigne. The students must have thought I was pretty strange. The class is dead silent except for the occasional giggle from the sub. I had a hard time not laughing and plus everything is funnier when you are supposed to be quiet.

The Quest for Mulletude

I was watching The Colbert Report where Dermot Mulroney was promoting The Family Stone. He is an incredibly witty and attractive man yet every time I look at him I think of his mullet in About Schmidt:

I believe that is a 3-11 (3 inches on top, 11 inches at the back).
Some mullet resources

Who are the Richest Fictional Characters?

Forbes Magazine complied a list of the richest fictional characters:
The Forbes Fictional Fifteen

A very long post (a recap of the last week)

I really want to forget most of last Thursday. Looking back it was not so bad but the combination of everything that happened and already being stress, it was just too much for me. I felt like lying on the floor and staying there for the rest of my life.

First off, early Thursday I found out that my cousin passed away from cancer. He had been sick for a long time and it was not much of a surprise but still sad nonetheless.

Earlier in the week I had asked my boss at the bookstore about someone else covering my shift on night. I already had checked with one person and another had not returned my call. My boss had not gotten back to me so I decided to talk to him in person about it. We managed to figure out a solution after talking to several people (what a difference it makes to talk to people in person). When I got home, I found out that I no longer needed my shift cover. All that work for nothing.

In the middle of the afternoon my errands were taking much longer than expected. I was supposed to tutor for 3 hours that evening and I knew there was no way I was going to be able to make it in time. I called and left a message that I would only be able to meet her for 2 hours. The problem occurred when she did not check her messages. This girl never home, never checks her messages and has a cell phone that is never on. How is a person expected to get hold of someone? She called me asked where I was when I explained the situation. When I got to the university she was not feeling well. We had only been working for a while and she suddenly ran off. She was throwing up in the bathroom. I ended up tutoring for a half hour instead of 3 hours.

I called a couple to see if they were free to go out for coffee. I did not feel like going home before working at the bookstore that night but no one I called was home. I was making all of my calls as I walked to my car. During one particular call I was trying to think how much cash I had on hand when I realized I had forgotten my wallet at home. The big problem was that I had parked at a parkade at the university and had no money to get out. There was no one at the booth so I could come back later. I had to call my roommate to bring it to me.

I was ready for the day to be over but I still had 3 hours of work ahead of me. Fortunately when I got to work the books were in pretty good order. The kids’ section always takes the longest and they were in the midst of restocking shelves when I got there. They told me to skip a large section. I did have a moment were I was a blathering idiot but I really don’t want to talk about it. Let us just say that it very typical of me.

There was a good thing about the day: I got to see my previous family doctor whom I adore. He was my doctor for 4 years then we both moved to Saskatoon on the same month. He didn’t like working in Saskatoon very well so he moved to B.C. Him and his wife are back in town for the month to try to sell their acreage. While he is here, he is working at the walk-in clinic at my doctor’s office. Since my doctor is away on vacation I get to see my previous doctor in the meantime for my allergy shots! Hooray!

The doctor and I did have an interesting conversation while we were catching up. He was telling me about his acreage when he asked, “Do you own a house? Do you want to buy my acreage? It’s perfect for horses.”
“I don’t have horses.”
“You could get horses.”
I just had to laugh. I hope he was joking (I’m pretty sure he was). He gave me a hug before leaving; I nearly started crying.


Friday was much better. I subbed for a teacher I had been in for before. She is the head of the math department at her school and I adore her classes. She has a group a grade 10s who have to repeat grade 9 Math that told me that they wish I was there regular teacher. We have a pretty good time and they get work done.

I also got a compliment from a teacher that I had subbed for earlier that week. She was impressed how I had handled a situation and generally how the day went. It felt good to here something myself for a change.

I actually have been back again to that same school yesterday and today. The teacher I subbed for on Friday has been super sick. I might be there tomorrow too but I don’t know yet.

Out of no where

So I keep on seeing this woman Kerry Washington's picture everywhere. She was even on the cover of a bridal magazine someone bought for my newly engaged cousin. Finally today I had enough, who is this woman? I looked her up. She is an actress and I don't think I have seen her in anything at all. I did find out however that she is engaged to David Moscow (aka David Jacobs from Newsies). That is totally bizarre.
A picture of the happy couple

I'd Rather Forget

I have had an insane week and I have not had much time to give an update. For the most part I just want to forget last week. However when I get the time, these are some topics to look forward to:
* pressures of being interesting
* catching up with old friends
* Cousin passed away and his funeral
* Chaos at the bookstore switching shifts then didn’t need to
* Tutoring for only a half hour due to puking tutee
* Forgetting my wallet at home
* Janny in the role of blathering idiot
* Old family doctor
* Lots of subbing
* Good feed back from a teacher I subbed for

Pretty

If anyone is willing to spend $500US on me for Christmas, they can get me these shoes:

Happy 25th Birthday Sister!

Today my baby sister turns 25 years old. Happy birthday Mary.

This Day in History from the History Channel:
General Interest
1542 Mary Queen of Scots born
1980 John Lennon shot
1987 Superpowers agree to reduce nuclear arsenals
1993 NAFTA signed into law

AMER. REVOLUTION
1775 Americans begin siege of Quebec

AUTOMOTIVE
1945 Japanese Auto Industry Starts Up Again

CIVIL WAR
1863 Lincoln issues Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction

COLD WAR
1949 Chinese Nationalists move capital to Taiwan

LITERARY
1894 James Thurber is born

OLD WEST
1941 Jeanette Rankin casts sole vote against WWII

VIETNAM WAR
1969 Nixon declares Vietnam War is ending

WALL STREET
1886 Birth of the AFL

WORLD WAR I
1914 The Battle of the Falkland Islands

WORLD WAR II
1941 The United States declares war on Japan

Also to celebrate my sister's milestone birthday, a random picture of a Maryanne:

I had a lonely day today. I did talk to my mom for a little while but that is not the same. I did not see anyone until prayer meeting at my church and that only last for little more than an hour. From there I went to the bookstore for work. I don't get to visit much with anyone there. I did not see my roommates at all today. The last time I had a hug was from my mom on Sunday. All this amounts to one sad Janny. I moved to Saskatoon because I was lonely. The irony is that I have less human contact now than when I lived alone in a northern community.

I hate this time of year. I think of money (and my lack there of) all the time. Plus I am lacking any sort of creativity for finding gifts.

The one good thing that happened today is I didn't have to stay too late at work. I was so tired and discouraged about life when I got there it is exactly what I needed. Prayer meeting ran a little late and with winter driving I did not get to work on time. Being late is not a big deal but the early I start the earlier I get done. When I got the the kids section (that always takes me the longest), it was in excellent condition. One of the ladies spent most of the evening restocking shelves. Last night that section took me over a half hour. Tonight it took me less than 10 minutes.

One strange thing about day is my hands smell like celery. I had to chop onions, garlic and celery for supper and yet my hands smell like celery. Not the outcome I was expecting. The last time I chopped garlic and onions the smell remained on my hands, in the kitchen and on the cutting board for days no matter how many times I cleaned them.

Some times cheaper is better

For all of those wannabe chefs on a budget:
Ever So Humble, Cast Iron Outshines the Fancy Pans - NY Times Online

What is a girl to do?

This morning my roommate(s) leaving the house woke me up way earlier than I needed to being getting up. I realize that had been dreaming about playing beach volleyball against my grandma who is 89. I also dreamt about an invention that is a volleyball net and it keeps the sun out of your eyes. Wait and see; it will be the new thing just like the Lemon Law for first dates.
Anyway, thinking about my dream made me wake up to a point where I could not get back to sleep. Do you know what does not help some get to sleep? Listening to Heart’s Barracuda. Trust me it does not help one bit but it is my own fault.

That is the story why there has been two posts before breakfast on Janny's blog.

Of Air Guitars and Christmas Trees

A conversation with my friend Shannon about the Charlie Brown Christmas tree:

Shannon: Once saw someone auctioning off an air guitar for $10 on E-bay. He had put a picture of himself "playing" it on there. The disclaimer under the picture said:

Please note: there is not actually anything in my hands

People were actually bidding on it. I have no doubt there will be many people purchasing the Charlie Brown Christmas tree for $24. Perhaps even the same people who just had to have their very own used air guitar."

Janny: That is totally awesome that a dude was trying to sell his air guitar on ebay. That sounds like something my friend Alex would do. Except Alex is all about showing the love to "his fans" so he would probably give away an autographed copy of his air guitar. But this is the boy who told me once he was trying to steal my loveliness to sell on the black market, so you never know.

Check out the results of the US Air Guitar Championship.

Good Grief

For a paltry $24 US you can purchase a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

Save your money people. If you want to cleverly replicate the tree for the movie buff in your life, spend less than $5 and do it yourself.

Ok, you don't have to say it. I know I am pathetic.

I just recognized the actor who plays Vincent "Butters" Clemmons from Veronica Mars in a commercial. It is pathetic when I can recognize a character that has had less than 5 minutes screen time over the course of 2 episodes. But how could I forget the shock of discovering he is the vice principal's son or that he is the co-host of a pirate radio show?

Feelin Good

I made a poor choice Saturday night. I guess in the scheme of things it was not that bad no one died. I was checking my email before bed and a friend I have not talked to for a couple months came online. Him and his wife moved overseas to teach this summer and I had spoken to him since they moved. I stayed up way too late chatting with him. The sad thing is most of the time was not spent catching up but dealing with technical difficulties. Oh well, something is better than nothing. I had a hard time getting up the next day.

Last night I had my final choir concert of the year. It was such a long day. I am still feeling sick (from a cold) and I was so tired. All I wanted to do was sleep. The concert went really well at least from my perspective.

When I got home, I was feeling absolutely rotten. I tried to stay up until 10 or until my roommates got home but was not able to make it. I went to bed shortly after 9. To some of you that is not a big deal but as I always say "you can tell when Janice is sick when she goes to bed before 11". I have to be pretty ill to go to bed that early. I was so glad I did, I woke up feeling much better.

I had such a good day. I subbed and the students were great. I could not have asked for a better day. I even had a teacher tell me that she has requested me for Friday. The day is looking to even better. There must be a blue moon outside because I have a free evening. I plan to veg in front of the TV. It shall be grand.

Sorry I don't have any thing clever or witty to say. I think I need to be a worse mood for that. It's a scientific fact that happy people do not dish out biting sarcasm. So in conclusion, happy people are not funny. It's science.

Welcome to the Blogosphere

My friend Shannon has started her own blog, Shannon Journies. Her job takes her many places and many weird and wonderful adventures. She is a good story teller, you should check her out.

Get Behind Me

There are no words to describe the awesomeness of what I just witnessed. Jack White was playing the Moog on The Daily Show. Just moments after on The Colbert Report, Rick Springfield sang a line from "Jessie's Girl". Meh, not so impressive.

I rule! (but you already knew that)

I made yogurt from scratch today. Our kitchen smells of cooked yogurt but it worked. I am going to put papayas in it tomorrow so beat that sister!

Work tonight I got a nose bleed a couple minutes after I arrived. That sucks. Work got better though. At first I thought it was going to a long night because the kid's section was a messy. The rest of the store was in good order. I was still done before midnight.

I noticed something this evening. Rosie the Riveter looks like Pat Benatar. Rosie came first so I guess Pat Benatar looks like Rosie. I've had "Love is a Battlefield" stuck in my head ever since.

Take a gander:

Chuck Klosterman would be proud

The IMDB poll asked today what people's favourite romantic-comedy was from a specific writer. This was one of the options "Sorry, I'm neither romantic nor comedic". Awesome.

The concert went fairly well yesterday. Ky and I missed the first little bit of dress rehearsal because they started it about 10 minutes early. We were some of the few people that did not go on the bus for the day. Since it appeared everyone was there and ready to go they started early. We missed about 3 movements of our first piece. We were shocked in concert how much faster we were singing one of them we had missed. I kept on zoning out during the concert and I messed up in a couple places. I don't think they were noticeable.

The real downer about the concert was no one we knew could see us. The ladies from the Saskatoon choir were in the balcony because there was not enough room on stage. All of our family and friends were sitting below the balcony we were sitting in. It is so strange to have a concert in the afternoon. I had to have a nap after supper. I could not bare to be awake for any longer.

I slept until my brother came over. We visited with the grandparents and parents for awhile until we decide upon a game of Animal Memory. You have the match the baby animals to their mothers. I was joking when I suggested because he gets annoyed when I ask but he agreed. I do not know why I love that game so because I lose ever single time I play. At least this match was close.

After Mike left, I went over to visit with Ky and her family. I enjoyed witnessing the love-hate relationship with them and their puppies. One minutes it is "the puppies have so much love" the next minute it is "they peed and pooped all over the place but they still have so much love".

Big night in the big city

[sarcasm] I am just exhausted from all the excitement of this evening [/sarcasm]

I ended up staying in this evening due to lack of options. The average age of the people in the house this evening was about 57 years. That included my grandparents, parents and myself. I was seriously skewing the average. The grandparents and parents spend most of the evening singing hymns. Not so appealing to me especially since I will be spending most of tomorrow singing at my dress rehearsal and concert.

I ended up napping, watching Numb3rs (with special guest star Lou Diamond Phillips) and a couple episodes of a Moving Up marathon on TLC. During the commercials I caught a couple minutes of Jimmy Kimmel Live. The glimpses I saw were rather strange and I am hoping can be explained in context which include:
- a cop and a midget fighting over a woman (the narration was sung)
- Sarah Silverman having to choose between Jimmy and Mike Tyson. Mike Tyson was wearing boxing gloves and holding a gun. They were all singing as well, obviously.
It was amusing but confusing.

What's the deal?

For a couple weeks, Wigan Athletics have been in second place of the English Premier League. Never heard of them before? That is because it is their first year EVER in the league. Three years ago they were at the bottom of the League One (used to be second division which is two tiers below premier league). That is truly amazing. They are ahead of Man Utd and Arsenal. This may change for them over the course of the season but it is remarkable that they are not at the bottom of the barrel.

Last night at work was a breeze. I finished before the cleaning crew and the cook. Booyah (sp?)

I am going to Regina this weekend for a choir concert. My mom's choir and my choir are doing two joint concerts. One this weekend in Regina and the other the following weekend in Saskatoon. I will possibly be traveling with Amanda and Ky. Hopefully me and the Hingston girls will be able to hit the last day of Agribition. Nonetheless good times will be had.

I think I'm in LoVe

with a website you freaks.

Mars Investigations: An (In)complete Guide to Veronica Mars

Tagline: Snarkily obsessive. Obsessively snarky.

I think they are trying to be modest by call it an incomplete guide. They have a characters section that has main, secondary and tertiary characters. They have a write up on any character that has been in more than 2 episodes. They even have a countdown to the next episode. These are my kind of people. The site says the contributors are a bunch of TWoPers so that would explain the snarkiness. I think I have met my match(es).

Earlier this week I emailed UPN about an error I found in a Veronica Mars quiz. It is pretty bad when you know more about the show than the channel that shows it.

Strange connections

Ok, I am still stunned by these people connections. Try to keep up with me...

Jenna Fischer who plays Pam on the American version of The Office is married to James Gunn. James Gunn (who bares a strange resemblance to Seth Meyers) is writer and producer of the cult classic Tromeo and Juliet and brother to Sean Gunn. Sean Gunn plays "Human Kirk" on Gilmore Girls. The character Gunn from Angel was named after the Gunn brothers. Sean was once a roommate with Judy Greer of Arrested Development. My brain is in a pop culture tizzy.

They said it would never happen...

I remembered another story about my trip last week. On the last morning, I was awoken at 7pm so I could pack. That did not happen at all. I managed to get out of bed 10 minutes before breakfast.

I decided that I was just going to throw everything into my sleeping bag and cinch it up. People thought I was joking. I was so lethargic Sunday morning I just didn't care. I hate packing to go home. I don't mind packing to go on a trip because you have the excitement of the trip to motivate you. Packing on the way home when I do not want to leave and are not looking forward to the long trip home.

I threw as much as I could into the suitcase and rest into the sleeping bag. I figured that walking up and down the stairs was more effort than I was willing to out forth. I just threw most of my luggage from the top of the stairs to the main floor. All my mom did was raise her eyebrows and said nothing.

I still miss my sister. :(

EW.com Lost Articles

These articles are a must for any Lost fan. Not only do they summarize the most recent episodes but also points out somethings you might have missed and proposes some interesting theories.

Rumble in the Jungle
"'Lost': Just when we start to like her, Shannon is killed when Ana Lucia mistakes her for one of the Others; meanwhile, Sawyer's wound gets worse and Locke gets closer to Claire" by Scott Brown

Rear Window
"On 'Lost,' we learn how the tail-end survivors went from 23 to 5 in 48 days" by Scott Brown

Trip Stories continued

At the camp, I shared a room with Bronwyn and Ky. We were in an upstairs room that the walls were the under part of the roof (I know there is a term for it but I can't think of it). The first night I kept on banging my feet on the ceiling/wall. I generally did not sleep well at camp.

The meetings were good. With the exception of Uno one afternoon, my activities were just visiting. I was very glad to see my sister and was very sad to leave my sister. The camp went by so fast, I felt our time was too short together. There were other people that wanted to visit with Chris and Maryanne so I had to share. I cried when I hugged her good bye (not a normal Janny thing).

On the last morning of camp the ground was covered in slush. It had started raining over night and turned to snow. It was rather messy for driving home the first day. I was driving right before we got to our motel. We might have been able to go farther but we were too tired and I had a headache. I crawled into bed the moment we got in the room. I took some pain killers then slept for 12 hours. Proof of how tired and sick Janny was:
* I went to my beloved Taco Bell and only ordered a drink (I did not get a single chicken burrito).
* went to bed at 8:45 pm
* did not change into pjs for bed. Slept in jeans all night. Yuck. I was too tired to care.
* took out my ear plugs and carefully placed them on the bedside table. I usually remember when I wake up. I wish I had not taken them out since later that night my mom was snoring.
* after sleeping 12 hours, I slept most of the next day in the van

The closer we got to home the next day the more slippery the roads were. The last leg of the trip normally takes 2.5 hours and it took us 4 hours (Swift Current to Regina for those of you familiar with the area). I had been planning to go back to Saskatoon on Monday but a combination of a late start and bad roads, I stayed over night in Regina.

I traveled back to Saskatoon Tuesday afternoon. the roads were still lousy. It took me about 45 minutes more than usual to get home. I had to call and cancel a tutoring session for that night.

I'm not sure where I can fit this last story but it needs to be told. We were stopping in Sparwood (home of the world biggest truck) to take a bathroom break. The visitors' centre had closed about 20 minutes before we got there. We decided we would try the Husky down the road. We pulled up and realized that it was pretty small so we didn't know what they had for washrooms. We decided to use the A&W bathrooms because as my father put it the Husky bathrooms "were pretty well arranged by midgets". I am not sure what that means and I don't think he knows either. I will never let him live it down. He is notorious for say ridiculous things.

Those are all of the stories I can think of for now.

People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive

Actor and Stetson Man Matthew McConaughey is People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive

Crazy but true

David Sutcliffe aka Rory's dad on Gilmore Girls was born in Saskatoon. (The actor not the character, silly).

In other GG news, I almost cried last night at the end of the episode.

Not yet home

This past weekend I was at a church retreat in the U.S. of A. I was planning to be back home yesterday but due to bad weather and not feeling well, I am at my parents' house.

On Wednesday morning, I traveled to Regina after I dropped my roommate off at school. Her bus arrived too early and she missed it. To repay me she bought me breakfast at MacDonald's. A good start to the day.

My parents and I stayed in historic Fort Macleod the first night. I had one of the worst sleeps of my life. The mattress was so hard I could not get comfortable.

When we got to the US border, my parents greatly annoyed the border crossing guard. They did not have their picture ID ready when he asked for it. They claimed they didn't know they needed to be ready even though we had passed three signs that said we did. I explained to him "parents just don't listen". He thought that was pretty funny.

We arrived at the camp before most others did. I was glad since I really needed to shower. I was able to look presentable before supper.

I need to be getting on the road to Saskatoon. I'll post the rest of my adventures later.

I am so upset I have no words

Arrested Development's season has been cut from 22 episodes to 13. They, along with Kitchen Confidential, have been pulled from the schedule until December. The cast doubts that they will be picked up for the 2006-2007 season.

Little Prince Musical

From Grown-Ups, a 'Little Prince' for Children - NY Times Online

Finally, memories from my sister's wedding

My mom found my notebook I had been recording pleasant memories from the day before my sister's wedding. Mary was not feeling well so I told her we were only going to remember the good times about the day. Sorry it took so long to post these stories.

Friday, July 15 Memories
- girls with nets catching butterflies
- old man at medical clinic. Has a Scottish hat with a big red pom pom and the short vest ever. Also has black socks with white sandals.
- Chris R. put a fake umbrella tree in a ceiling fan at the church
- Chris and Janice run up and down the aisles with tulle "Olympic Opening Ceremony" style
- Ky and Janice crawl under 6 rows of pews commando style to grab Derek's ankles. Janice almost lost her pants so she arrived late. We did not surprise him.

I need to meet these people...

I found this in the theatre in the Education building before choir. I am endlessly amused.

Front:


Back:

Baa Humbug

This morning I got a call for subbing for 3 days this week (today though to Wednesday). Unfortunately I had to turn it down because I was already booked for today for THE MORNING ONLY in a different school division. I had to turn down 3 days of work because I had already committed to a half a day of work. I hate being a professional sometimes.

Summary of the weekend

* Helped a young man's coolness points go up by like 1000 points by visiting him at work. You know it's true!

* Almost crashed a wedding dressed as servers. If I had black pants with me I would have.

* Crashed a business conference. I have the name tag to prove it. I am Val Wolbert from Winnipeg. Nice to meet you.

* Stayed up waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too late watching Veronica Mars

* Was on the verge of yelling at a mother for poor parenting choices. I should have. Grrr.

* bought an off-white shrug sweater. I wonder what the Manolo thinks of the shrug?

* Met a man too short for his voice.

* Did not pay for parking downtown, yet.

* Partook in a Photographic Scavenger Hunt. Good times ensued. I will try to include pictures from it at a later date.

* A relative told me (after church) a story about a woman who was too busy to clean her house because she was "too busy becoming with child". What? I hope he meant being with child.

* Tutored for 2 hours.

* Tried a lox bagel with cream cheese for the first time.

I need to get to bed. I sub out of town tomorrow morning.

Alright

Matthew McConaughey turns 36 today. Celebrate by watching his greatest movie Dazed and Confused.
I always secretly wished related to these other McConaugheys I know. Then maybe, just maybe I could meet him. I guess my secret is out.

whaaaa?

Why are Lindsay Lohan, Quincy Jones and Jeremy Piven together? I'm confused. This seems like one of the more random celebrity groupings I have seen.

Pi Man

From an internet phone service ad


I wonder what his super powers are. I imagine he can recite pi to 10 decimals places or something.

Creeped out

I had a lousy night at the bookstore. I was upset even before I got there. On top of that, the store was a complete mess and I was so tired. After the cleaning crew left and I was alone in the store. I cried for most of the rest of the shift.

I was still crying while organizing the Religion section when the elevator door opened. Oh my goodness, I think it took 47 years off my life. There was no one around to push the button and it just opened on its own. Either the elevator is broken or the ghost of McNally Robinson is haunting the store.

Insane day

I am in the midst of a very busy day. I subbed a full day and tutored for 3 hours. In about 2 minutes I leave to work at the bookstore until about 1 am. I woke up at 7 today. I figure out that I have spent 1.5 hours of non-sleeping, non-working time today since I woke up this morning.

Just 6 more sleeps...

The Colbert Report premieres on CTV after The Daily Show. Also the new season of The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos begins the same day on CBC News World. It will be an exciting day in news watching.

Rantings of an Occasional Insomniac

I found out this weekend that I am allergic to the adhesive in band-aids. I have to get a special kind of band-aid now but the problem is they don't stick so great.

I was watching Discovery Health last night and learned some interesting facts about PMS. First, a hug from the man you love will help your PMS symptoms more than any pain killers (including morphine). Allergies are worse during PMS.

I also was watching the National Spelling Bee finals from 1998 on Book TV. It was the last couple rounds and there were only about a dozen kids left so the words were pretty hard. There was only one word I knew how to spell or had even heard before (which was paraclete). I also learned that the letter "h" is spelled aitch. I am so using that in Scrabble.

I did not get enough sleep this weekend. Too much movie watching with Lynnie C, Ky, Just a Girl and the Sleeping Princess. Warning to all you princely suitors: the sleeping princess snores. But I digress...
Last night it was a movie watching extravaganza. First we watched This is Spinal Tap then we watched the perennial favourite, Newsies. As could be imagined, there was some serious silliness with a dash of witty banter. I cannot get High Times, Hard Times out of my head.

I have been tutor a lot lately. In the course of a week I have had 9 tutoring sessions. It should be fairly busy until the middle of December.

A Quick Review of Batman Begins

I had a sleepover last night with Lynnie C and Ky. I guess technically Gina was there to but she was sleeping most of the time. We watched Batman Begins. My quick review of the movie:
* not enough shirtless push ups
* Katie Holmes is a twit. How dare you break Dawson's heart!
* Nice to see Morgan Freeman reprising his role as God in Bruce Almighty 2: Batman Begins, although this sequel was much more somber than the original.

DON'T READ THIS PART IF YOU STILL WANT TO SEE THE MOVIE!
* there is this weapon that is basically is a giant microwave. This microwave evaporates water hundreds of feet away but the people standing right beside it are not effected. What? The human body is composed of 55-60% water. People would become jerky. Which reminds me you have to check out The Daily Show's story about Hufu (click on Flesh in a Pan).

Vandermeander

Anyone who remembers my distant cousin Dixie from U of R choir (female tenor), I discovered Dixie's blog today.

Good news and bad news

The good news is that I had a calling for subbing this morning. It was only for the morning which is better than nothing. I was glad it was for the morning only because it took forever for me to get to sleep last night. I get to the school and they only need me for one period! One hour of work for half a day of pay!

During my internship I lived with Bill and Chris, a couple who were retired teachers. The bad news is that Bill passed away expectantly. I will have to send a card to Chris.

Does that mean he has to stand behind Shakespeare?

Found on Eonline today at 12:50 pm (CST):

No mood for being witty

This morning I got a subbing call from the dispatch system. In the middle of the call, the system hung up on me. Then it just went onto the next person on the list. So I did not get the job placement. There is nothing I can do about it since there was no teacher specifically requested. It happened to me one time before but I was the requested teacher so the problem was able to be fixed.

I was feeling so discouraged last night at work. I just don't know what to do with my life.

Might be a little late...

I think I am suffering from a Quarter Life Crisis. I'm going through what many of my friends went through right after university. They have told me they are glad that I don't know what to do about my life. Seems like a strange thing to be glad about.

Laziness Abounds

The other shelf straightener at work is lazy. He better be getting yelled at on a regular basis by the inventory lady. Tuesday night shift is always the longest and I found out why tonight: the only shelf straightener only works for an hour. An hour? The fastest I have ever finished is in 2 hours (only because a section of the store was already done when I got there). It is not physically possible to clean that store in an hour and he leaves the proof behind every night he works.

Calling all word geeks

Fabulous Girl posted the responses to the Mensa Lexicon Challenge from the Washingston Post. The challenge is to "take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition."

Let's see if we can all come up with some more. We'll show those Mensa folk what clever really is.

Grrrrrrrrrr

I am beyond annoyed. People can be so inconsiderate. I was supposed to tutor 3 times today. This first session was two people at the same time. I got a call 15 minutes after it was supposed have begun that they would not be able to make it. For the second session the person did not show up at all (and could not be reached at home). So instead of 3 times, I tutored once today.

T-Shirt Transfer

I made a new t-shirt transfer. Hopefully I will be able to finish more soon.

T-shirt Preview


T-shirt transfer




Maryanne, Ky and what ever other British/Canadian spelling enthusiasts out there: I was trying to make the shirt universal. If you really want a shirt that has "favourite" instead, just ask.

The Chronicles of Janny

Something strange happened at work last night. There is this back room that at work we refer to as Narnia. It is mostly a storage room for displays and props but the safe is also in there. Last night I was working near the entrance of Narnia (does that mean I was working outside the wardrobe?) when one of the security guards went inside. This is not unusual but he left and then came back again this time leaving the door open (very unusual). He was in there for a long time (another unusual thing). I peaked in and he was just sitting there, in the middle of the room. This made me very curious and I kept on checking to see what he was doing. He appeared to be doing nothing at all. When I left the section about 20 minutes later he was still in there.

I made the mistake of making myself a London Fog before bed. I guess warm milk does not put you to sleep if it flavoured with caffeinated tea and sugar. (I didn't think it would, I was just craving one and it usually does not effect me).

While I was wide awake I thought I would catch up on some TV shows I had taped. I don't usually tape Survivor or the Apprentice but I was curious about what was going to happen after I saw a preview. I was so glad I did , Jon Favreau was promoting Zathura. The teams had a marketing project where they had to make a float for the movie. I adore Favs so I'm glad I didn't miss it . (Note to sister: Remember Monday Night Football style commentary?)

It is so exciting. I finished my work faster tonight than ever before. I finished in under 2 hours (and still get paid for 3). My previous record was 2 hours and 15 minutes. It helped that the store was in such good order already. Yesterday it was a mess so the first order today was for the booksellers to re-organize their sections.

In completely unrelated news, I have a strangely high pain threshold. Either that or I fall asleep easily. I got my legs waxes today and that is what the esthetician said. I was falling asleep while she was waxing my legs and I wasn't even super tired. It doesn't surprise me, I have fallen asleep standing up and another time walking to school. (My friend woke me up before I almost ran into a cyclist). The strangest place I fell asleep was head first into a suitcase while I was packing and slept there for 2 hours. I fell asleep only twice doing homework -- once it was when I had the chicken pox and I was colouring some ladybugs. The other time was when I had to read the Communist Manifesto for a university history class. This is the only time I have ever fallen asleep reading. The former because of pure exhaustion and the latter because of pure boredom.

Random Bits

I got disoriented last night on my way to tutoring. I parked my car, went out the wrong door and ended up walking for 20 minutes. No regrets. If I had not gotten lost I would not have seen a group re-enacting Thriller.

Last night at work I was wondering why is Raggedy Ann raggedy and Andy is not? They look equally raggedy to me.

I subbed at Dalmeny again yesterday. I'm back again Thursday. So far it has been the school that I have been to the most this past year. It is really strange since it has been nearly 2 weeks since I have had a call from the city school division. I usually have a minimum of couple calls a week. I might need to make a call to make sure the dispatch system is not skipping me.

I forgot to update about my roommate's computer. They told me they would call me before they did any work that was not covered under warranty. After a week I had not heard from them at all. I was convinced they couldn't fix the problem or blah, blah, blah. I was paranoid that it was going to cost lots.
I was in the area of the repair place so I decided to check up on the progress. It had been ready to be picked up for more than a week. No one called me to tell me so. The descriptions I had given them about the problems were very helpful. They immediately knew what to do. The motherboard needed to be replaced. It just so happened to go kaput while I was working on the computer. Since it was a hardware problem it was covered by warranty. What sweet relief!

Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Hollywood Franchise - SHARON WAXMAN, NY Times ONline

The producers Howard Deutsch and Ridley Scott have set in motion what they hope will be a lively auction of the movie rights to "Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective."

Happy Birthday 15th IMDB!

IMDB 15th Anniversary

I made my mom's kitchen table muddy. How, you ask? Gave my dad several cacti in one big pot. Some of them are recently dearly departed from root rot. Today we bought some replacements and this evening we planted them. We so happened to be doing our work on the kitchen table. Wow, my mom was not pleased. Of course, my mom never really gets upset. She just stood there staring at the mess with her eyebrows raised. She told me to clean up the mess then walked away.

I think a nap is in order.

I was doing yard work in my parents' backyard. I cut back the raspberry bushes and got rid of some unwanted baby elm trees. I need a chainsaw to do anymore work. There is more work I could do in the front yard but it is too windy. I have been taking a break, hoping the wind dies down but now I'm sleepy.

What's old is new?

So I was watching a taped show this afternoon. A girl finds out that she was working for an "off the books" division of CIA. She finds out that it is actually a criminal organization. She is asked to go on a mission to collect data about said criminal organization. Sounds just like the pilot episode of Alias? You're wrong, it was Wednesday night's new episode. I thought Archie comics recycled plot lines that often.

Lego Rory Cochrane

My sister just sent me this to go with the Lego Janny she made yesterday.

It's beginning to look a lot like Veronica Mars

I watched the newest episode of Veronica Mars this morning. I realized that it is like Christmas for me. without the dreadful comments from relatives about my lack of a full time job or boyfriend/husband. Thus I decided that Veronica Mars is better than Christmas. It has been decreed and so it shall be.

Cover Band

I just heard a cover of The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by The Dandy Warhols. Whaaa? What is a supposedly hip and happening band redoing a 70s Gordon Lightfoot song about a ship wreck? It is not as strange as the Pearl Jam and Tragically Hip instrumental cover of that song. Completely pointless exercise. Even more ridiculous than a dance remake of MacArthur Park I heard once.

So people, tell me what cover song bugs you, amuses you or you adore.

To redeem those Dandy Warhols, they do an awesome cover of Call Me.

He's just being modest

Check out Roger's blog at Marginally Clever. (He's the new Lyn like green is the new pink).

Oh great, another forensic show...

While I was on the phone with my sister this evening. She was creating a Lego Janny. She was disgusted that I had not done one myself yet. From her description, the first one she made was a little too much like someone from The Society for Creative Anachronism (complete with viking hat, trench coat and Batman shirt). She agreed. Amazing how I could tell that from a description over the phone.

On the second try, she told me I had short skirt, long jacket on the beach. I thought that sounded like I was on CSI:Miami (which I have not watched since Rory Cochrane left the show). She sent me the picture of Lego Janny and a story to go with it. Enjoy (I have a very silly sister).


"So. Lego Janny went to Miami one day. When she arrived at her hotel, the front desk lady said, 'Lego Janny? You already have a message.'

This perplexed Lego Janny. 'A message? But who even knows I'm here?' (She was on a top-secret mission, you see.)

The note read: 'Dearest Lego Janny. Meet me at the beach in five minutes. Love from your secret admirer. xo.' This maddened LJ even further. Was she in danger? Was it a trap?

Lego Janny threw all caution to the wind, and ran to the beach. In her rush, she forgot to change out of her long jacket that she was wearing over her short skirt. She picked through the sand in her high heels.

A child walked up to her and asked, 'Are you Lego Janny?'

'Yes...' she answered.

'Then this is for you.' The child handed her a red rose and walked away.

'I knew you'd like red, Lego Janny,' a familiar voice said behind her. She wheeled around, and there was famous film actor Rory Cochrane! 'I always knew of your love, and have always loved you back, but now you have come to me and we can be together forever!'

'But weren't you killed off on CSI: Miami?' Janny asked.

'Well, yes,' famous movie actor Rory Cochrane replied, 'but I'm planning a return and I need your help!'

Lego Janny's help, and her love, helped famous movie actor Rory Cochrane return to stardom. They also solved many crimes together, and you can now see them on their own show: CSI: Rory and Lego Janny.

Fin"

I just reread my entry and realized my speech is very parenthetical this evening. I even removed a few.

Politics Test

On viewing where my political views compared to famous people, I was amused that it was right on Mikhail Gorbachev's eye. To sum things up, I have the political ideologies of a communist that brought democracy to the USSR.

You are a Social Moderate (56% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (18% permissive) You are best described as a: Democrat Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid Free Online Dating Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Blogtastic!

There was a link for Fabulous Girl's Boudoir on The Manolo's Shoe Blog. It is similar to Manolo's Shoe Blog but with more topics than fashion.

I mention Boy meets World way too often....

There was an actor on the show My Name is Earl that plays Randy that I could not think where else I knew him from. His name is Ethan Suplee. I had to look him up and he was a recurring character on Boy Meets World, in Remember the Titans and in various Kevin Smith films. (For those of you who have seen Mallrats, he was the guy trying to see the picture in the Magic Eye image.)

I am start to wonder what was the point those of you out there realize that I watch way too much TV and movies. Trust me I fully aware of my vices.

Not for the faint of heart

Then of course there will be some of you that are faint of heart and will be overcome by curiosity. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I had a pretty lousy night at work. I had went straight from tutoring to the university. When I arrived I had a little bit of a headache but it was no big deal. I knew it had been a busy day because when I arrived the store was a mess. The headache got worse quickly. Soon on top of a headache I became nauseated. I was going to try to tough it out and at least finish the top floor. I couldn't even do that. I told the cleaning crew I was leaving and left a note on my bosses desk.

I am trying to be thankful that I didn't throw up until I go home. I was praying I would not throw up in my car (I was on a busy street where there was no where to pull over). Even though I was not sleepy I laid very still in my bed until I fell asleep. That is the only thing I can do until the pain relievers take effect.

I woke up before 5 am and I was wide awake. The headache was mostly gone. My neck was still sore and felt like I was vibrating (a common thing for me after a bad headache). I showered and put on my Supergirl jammies. Supergirl jammies always make me feel better. I was still wide awake so I watched the shows I taped when I was out last night. I laughed so hard watching My Name is Earl, I almost threw up. You may think that is pretty gross but I think that is pretty funny. After watching all of my shows I went back to sleep.

I am better now but still very weak. I am going to try to go to work tonight. Since I didn't do the main floor yesterday it will be a disaster tonight. I try to go early so I am not there too late.

Thanksgiving Weekend

I spent the last weekend at my grandparents' farm for Thanksgiving. My parents picked me up on Friday afternoon and brought me home this afternoon.

It was a pretty easy going weekend. Most of it was spent visiting friends and family. On Sunday after our big thanksgiving meal, me and some of my cousins went to P.A. National Park. Some of drove, some other rode horses there. We played poohsticks. On our way back, my cousin/roommate Ang got the van stuck in the mud. Thankfully some relatives were in a nearby field and saw us so we weren't there for too long.

We played Sardines (a variant of hide and go seek)this afternoon. Honourable mention to my cousin Jaclyn's dedication to the game: she hid in a dark, damp and possibly mouse infested cellar.

You too can play sardines with friends and family:
In the variant known as sardines, only one player hides while all the rest count. All the counting players then split up and each searches for the one player hiding. When a searcher find the hiding player, they join in hiding in the same hiding place. The game is over when the last player finds all the others. They are the loser of the game and generally the next one to hide (although sometimes this role is given to the first to have found the original hiding place). Often, "sardines" is played in the dark.
Hide and Seek from Wikipedia

My favourite sardine's memory is when my sister and cousin Corrine got stuck in a tree. If you knew either one of them, getting stuck in a tree would not be a surprise.

Bull in the Bowl

This picture was in the newspaper last week. The girl rode the Brahma bull to promote the Saskatoon Stampede. It just so happens that my cousins Ky and Saryn nearby when the picture was taken. My first reaction was "Classic Ky, she doesn't even noticed a bull 5 feet away."

A girl I tutor was tell me tonight she saw the bull at the university also. Her friend said to her "Look, the udders are leaking." She politely explained that it is a bull and they do not have udders. City kids. (You can't see it but I am shaking my head).

DiG!

I was watching the latest episode of Gilmore Girls. Our beloved townie Kirk compared two sides of a sibling rivalry to The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre rivalry. Talk about an obscure reference. I am proud to say a reference I understood. Just thank my musically greedy brother.

Big Surprise...

Even though the new contract has not been officially ratified there will be Hockey Night in Canada. Those who work on the broadcast will volunteer to do so.

Most CBC workers back by Tuesday, union says

Charles Schultz Philosophy

The following is the philosophy of Charles Schultz, the creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip. You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just
read straight through, and you'll get the point.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America.

4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.

5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winner for best actor and actress.

6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause
dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:
1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier?

The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care.

"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia." (Charles Schultz)

A terrible, no good day

I think I want to go to bed and forget this day. The whole day was not bad it was really the course of a couple hours.

First, I got tomato sauce all over my light pink shirt and I couldn't get it out. No amount of soaking helped.

Later, My roommate was having problems with her computer so she asked me to have a look at it. In the middle of the fix, the computer froze. When I tried to restart the computer the computer would not turn on. Oy. I was convinced that I had broke it.

I left the computer for awhile to deal with my laundry. I was running back upstairs to work on the computer again when my big feet tripped on a stair and I banged my knees hard. I went on my own computer to check so possible fixes for the other computer. I was sitting on my bed working for awhile. I felt something wet on the bottom of my foot which was on the floor. I realized my toe was bleeding all over the carpet (the carpet of my rented townhouse I may add). I rushed to clean the carpet while not spilling further blood. It cleaned up pretty well.

In tears, I called my Dad about the computer. He convinced me to call the manufacturer. I was hesitant because I did not know if it was still on warranty. It was and from my conversations with the tech and my roommate it sounds like it will be covered under the warranty. I am hoping it will be. I do not know where I would get the money if it wasn't.

For the sake of interest, my injured toe is on the same foot as the other two toes I injured. At least it wasn't one of them that already was injured. Those are stilled bruised (it takes toes forever to heal).

Babies and books

Last night, I had supper with my best friend Laurel and her daughter Kayce. They were in town to pick up Laurel's husband from the airport.

After supper, we went back to their hotel room to visit. I was playing with Kayce on the bed, she pulled on my belt and undid it. I was rather amazed at the dexterity of this 7 month old. Later, I was giving her a hug good bye and Kayce starting laughing. Laurel realized that when I picked Kayce up to hug her, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She saw herself and it made her glad. Silly little girl.
This is my little friend Kayce when she was 5 months old:


I beat my previous record of finishing cleaning the store last night by about 10 minutes. That is even including taking a break to write down from information for my sister from the Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan.

Hope in sight?

CBC, union reach tentative agreement

The union still has to vote on it. With 2 days before the hockey season begins, I am hoping we will have Hockey Night in Canada. (I'm sure that now after 7 weeks of the strike hockey is the main reason a deal was final made. The two sides know if it starts effecting their hockey, there will be riots.)

White November

We had our first snow fall last night. It was just starting to rain as I was getting home from work. It got colder and then turned to snow in the early morning. I'm glad I didn't have to be anywhere this morning. It is fairly pleasant outside so it is not a burden at all. I like winter.

Numb3rs and other math related topics

I have come to the conclusion that the L.A. branch of the F.B.I. is incapable of solving any cases without the help of math. Its fact. Or maybe I shouldn't base my research on a TV show.
Another thing I learned tonight after watching Numb3rs: you CAN discuss math on the first date as long as it is consensual.

Speaking of math I met two new tutees this evening. It is two friends (a girl and a boy) that are in a stats class together and have a terrible prof. They are fun people and things went really well. The girl said in frustration, "I hate math." My response: "Math loves you but you just have to learn how to love it back." How true. Later she decided she was going become a "math genius" like me and make a killing tutoring.

Me kneeing Sir John A. Macdonald

In February 2002, I made sure he would not be fathering any more confederations.

pae gah manni ah peun chuk haet ssuh yo.

Translation: I pretended that I had a serious stomach ache.

My friend Sharon is officially in Korea for a year. Everyone who knows her, make sure to write.

The Proust Questionnaire

As promised (albeit a long time ago),

Your most marked characteristic?
tenacity

The quality you most like in a man?
leadership

The quality you most like in a woman?
feminine wiles aka taking advantage of double standards

What do you most value in your friends?
Embracing their dorkiness

What is your principle defect?
procrastination and loving every minute of it.

What is your favourite occupation?
I am going to take this statement as my favourite way to occupy my time (not favourite job). I would have to say my favourite occupation is watching good TV and movies.

What is your dream of happiness?
Being at peace about where I am in life

What to your mind would be the greatest of misfortunes?
Being deceived especially in a religious sense

What would you like to be?
Movie director

In what country would you like to live?
Norway idyllically but Canada realistically

What is your favourite color?
red

What is your favourite flower?
Red lily

What is your favourite bird?
Hummingbirds are pretty awesome

Who are your favourite prose writers?
Chuck Klosterman

Who are your favourite poets?
Shakespeare

Who is your favourite hero of fiction?
Bilbo Baggins. Hobbits are awesome. For clarification The Hobbit has been one my favourite books since I read it in Grade 3. In university I even did a presentation for an English curriculum class on “My Favourite Fictional Character” on Bilbo. I don’t want people to think this opinion is just because of the recent movies.

Who are your favourite heroines of fiction?
I had a really hard time with this question since most of my reading over my life rarely has heroines. I will have to choose one from TV then it makes it easier. My favourite fictional heroine is Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Who are your favourite composers?
Usually classical music is associated with composers and songwriter or lyricist is associated with more “modern” music. My favourite classical music composer is Beethoven. If I had to choose from all the music I love one person who writes music professionally, I could not.

Who are your favourite painters?
Monet

Who are your heroes in real life?
Those people who make a difference in the lives of the people who other deem hopeless. They are making better lives for people by one small act of kindness at a time.

What is it you most dislike?
People who pretend to be someone they are not so people will “like” them. This is a fault particularly belonging to females. Some people cannot stand the thought of someone not liking them.

What natural gift would you most like to possess?
Sadly, I wish I was naturally gifted at everything. One irritating trait (?) of my brother is he is naturally gifted at so much. If he isn’t good at something the first time he tries it, he rarely tries it again. If I had to choose one I’d have to say writing.

How would you like to die?
Old and in my sleep.

What is your present state of mind?
Chaotic

To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
once again procrastination

What is your motto?
"The saddest thing is if at the end of your life you say 'I wish I did' or 'Why didn't I?' You have to go after it with full gusto in life, whatever it is, go after the stupidest whim, because you pass by once." - Gene Simmons

I miss you, Alan Titchmarsh

I went to Serenity last night. Very entertaining but there were some inconsistencies with the show. I think (hope) these for changes made for the sake of people who have never seen the show. I am trying to have the attitude of thankfulness that there was a Firefly movie where some questions are answered.

Last night I came home very late to our neighbour playing his music very loudly. His one saving grace is he has excellent taste in music. Last night it was Van Morrison. If it was crappy music I might actually ask him it turn it down.

I don't know if I am just paranoid but I think I'm getting sick too. My tummy hurts a bit -- might be a case of the hypochondria.

I am watching Ground Force and it is making me sad. The original host had such a soothing voice and made very thing seem so pastoral. Now we have the minions as co-hosts -- Tommy with sexist comments like "So easy even a girl can do it..." and Charlie who is "Famed for her lack of supportive underwear". Put a bra on woman!

The day has arrived

Joss Whedon's Interview with The NY Times about Serenity

Complete the sentence

"By our powers combined..."

My new favorite drink: London Fog

London Fog
Brew 2 cups of milk (we use skim) with 2 earl grey tea bags on high in microwave for 2 minutes. (Depending on your microwave you may need to do it for longer)
Take out tea bags, stir in 1/2 tsp of vanilla and 2-3 teaspoons of sugar. (You can use vanilla syrup if you have it).
Serves 2.

This London Fog recipe is not to be confused by the alcoholic London Fog. I had a difficult time trying to find the recipe since most of the results were for the alcoholic one.

Janny, a good source of your daily recommended dose of procrastination

A very long but awesome article about Conan O'Brien

30 Second Re-enactment of Highlander by Bunnies

"No day is so bad it can't be fixed with a nap." ~Carrie Snow

My sleeping schedule is completely messed up. For every night I worked late last night, I had to sub the next morning. On top of that I have been having a terrible time getting to bed recently. I mostly just worked last week.

I got a call today from a private school in a different city. They asked me if I was moving and if I could be put on their sub list. I'd move for a job not to be put a single school's sub list.

I have been cleaning my room. I am happy to report I can see the floor. It had gotten beyond ridiculous.

Tribond confusion

Yesterday there was some disagreement about an answer my team gave. The difference between a plastic surgeon and cosmetic surgeon is the amount of training the doctor has. To be called a plastic surgeon they must have 3 years experience as a general surgeon then followed by a plastic surgery fellowship. So in theory a plastic surgeon and a cosmetic surgeon can perform some of the same procedures. Plastic surgeons can do everything a cosmetic surgeon can do but more. Chemical peel is considered a cosmetic plastic surgery.

I did not go looking for the answers to this question. I just so happens in a weekly Q&A column I read on Eonline.com talked about it this week. I am just reassuring the other players my team won fair and square.