One of THOSE People

I realise I haven't written in a month but to be fair I've been sick. Yes, I've been sick for the last month. I can't believe that I've become one of THOSE people who seems to be sick all the time. It started with dizziness then about 5 days later my ears started to ache. Convinced it was an ear infection, I went to the doctor that informed me that it was only viral that it could last 2-4 weeks.

After 3.5 weeks of not doing much but watching TV and improving my Tetris skills, I started feeling much better. This was following by 3 consecutive nights of not being to sleep very well which was followed by 2 very busy days and then I ended up being sicker than before. Bleh. I returned to the doctor in which I was informed, it is still only viral and all I can do is rest. Double Bleh.

Don't get me wrong, I love watching TV and I really am a home-body by nature but I'm sick of being stuck in this house. Yesterday I was feeling that best I have in a very long time. I was feeling awfully restless so I decided to go on the treadmill. I don't know what I did to my neck but by afternoon I could barely hold it up. On top of that I've had tension headaches the last two days*.

As far as the immune system goes, it really isn't a surprise how sick I've been considering the amount of black mold I've been exposed to over the last 3 years. I had black mold in my classroom in Calgary after a flood. After I quit that job and as I prepared to move back to Regina to return to university, I discovered black mold under my bathroom sink. Upon returning to Regina, I experienced increasingly worse migraines, fatigue and various other ailments. My doctor and allergist were just convinced that my immune system just need some time to recover until I ended up in the hospital twice.

Blog posts that I've started in the last month but intend to finish someday:
- Crush of the Week: Whedonverse Edition
- Memorable moments of each year of my life

Sorry this wasn't terribly witty or well written. If I want to get back to writing, I figure I just need to start even if it is awkward.

*I have no idea why because the most stressful part of my day is trying to get past level 9 of Tetris. It really is my own fault since I'm not an ambi-turner.

The people in your neighbourhood

For the third night in a row, there were some strange noises outside keeping me awake at night. Finally figured out that the neighbour has been doing construction work in the middle of the night. I've been hearing hammering and the table saw all night. Blah. I wish I was brave enough to go over and tell them to stop.

I realise I finished 3 sentences in a row with the word night but I'm too tired to care about variety in my writing.

Spam or just a creepy person?

Comment left on my blog:

Hello Dearest,
My name is Judith, I found your contact today and I would like to start a good relationship with you, if you are interested please contact me through my e-mail for easy communication and from there I will scan my photo and send to you. thanks from Judy.
God bless you.

Who wants to be a princess?

Have Royal Wedding fever? Always wanted to be a princess? Try the princess maker.



Princess Janice

One Ticket

It has never been easy for me to make friends. The "get-to-know-you" stage has always been the most difficult because I'm complete rubbish at small talk and even worse at flirting. I've had many close friends move away and others starting families. Instead of complaining about how I don't get to see old friends as often, I became resolved last October to overcome my nature and meet new people. Easier said than done...

I've met a lot of interesting people in the last several months that I would love to get to know better. My greatest difficult now is asking "Hey, want to hang out?" I'm always looking for the perfect opportunity that never comes. Case in point: I have an extra ticket to a Salsa night this evening. I originally bought two because I figure that it force me to ask someone to go with me. I did ask someone but there was a miscommunication as to when it was so now I have an extra ticket again.

There will be other people there I can hang out with tonight and I know I will still have fun but that really isn't my point. I feel like the ticket is a symbol of my current inability to "put myself out there". Did I have time to ask someone else? Yes. Did I have people I wanted to ask? Yes. I'm not sure if anyone of them would have been able or interested in attending but I certainly didn't ask to find out.

Even though I'm not talking about romantic relationships specifically, my situation reminds me of the Herman's Hermits song "No Milk Today":

No milk today, my love has gone away
The bottle stands forlorn, a symbol of the dawn
No milk today, it seems a common sight
But people passing by don't know the reason why

How could they know just what this message means
The end of my hopes, the end of all my dreams
How could they know a palace there had been
Behind the door where my love reigned as queen

It isn't a symbol to anyone but me. It probably doesn't bother anyone but me.



PS This is my new dress that I will be wearing this evening

A Blogger's Dilemma

I'm having an online identity crisis. Things have changed so much in the 3 years since I have been out of teaching. I've been thinking about this for awhile but I am really feeling like a need a non-anonymous online presence. The braveness started with posting links to my blog on twitter then on Facebook. It was hard to admit to people I've known my whole life that I had a blog for years. I've done a pretty good job of keeping my professional and private life separate online.

If I started new blog but how often will I post to the old one? What would I post on the new blog? Do I take some old posts and put it on the new blog?

Should I just scrap my current blog? I like a place to share/vent my silliness and certainly think it would be unprofessional. About a year after I started my blog, I had hundreds of visitors a day but now on a good day I don't even have a tenth of that. Maybe it should just be contained to Facebook?
Even though I'm Facebook friends with most of my readers, you just don't have the same control. On the other hand some of my best writing on this blog was about the hockey playoffs last year. This writing is not related to education but certainly not unprofessional.


Would you (all three of my readers) be worried about being connected to me using my real name? So many bloggers I know have worked so hard to stay anonymous. What happens when one is anonymous no more? My dad and sister are anonymous bloggers but would be no more if I did not handle things carefully.

SO MUCH TO THINK ABOUT.

There's No Rest for You Here (a haiku)

Saw dust in the air
Jackhammers beneath my feet
When will they be done?

Sweet, Delicious Nitrates (a haiku)

"Have bacon for lunch"
Beyond doubt, I have no choice
Scrabble foretold it


Current Scrabble game between myself and May-B.

Glad she never became a teacher

While I was on a former student's Facebook profile, I noticed she had updated her education:

For those keeping track at home, this would be 3*

I woke up with such a fright, I couldn't get back to sleep for hours.

In my dream, my dad and I drive a school bus to a hospital to pick up twin boys who are friends of the family. Dad kept the bus running and I went inside to retrieve them. My sister met me inside but we couldn't find the boys anywhere. We looked down the atrium to the main floor and we could see Data from Star Trek fighting off zombies with a phaser. We jumped down three flights to help with only a barbed wire fence to break our fall. I'm not sure what Mary was using but I was fighting off the zombies with my mom's letter opener.

This morning after church I told the twins and their brother about my dream. They were super jealous that I have such awesome dreams.


*This is my third zombie related dream. Others include Zombie Grandma and Zombie Apocalypse. Technically my dream about the Count from Sesame Street attacking was a continuation of a dream about the Zombie Apocalypse but since there were no zombies in the dream I don't count that one.

Comfortable (or how I spent $50 on a pillow)

My RMT went to New Zealand for a couple months to train for the Ironman Triathlon. In his absence, I've been seeing May-B's RMT who works in the same office. Her diagnosis: "You have a great core but the rest of your body is a mess." Tell me something I don't know.* She recommended a new pillow since the one I've been using are a couple years old.

I have a hard time finding pillows that I like. Since I sometimes sleep on my side but mostly sleep on my back it is hard to find a pillow that will be comfortable for both situations. In the store I tried out all the pillows but the only one that seemed comfortable was $49.99. This might not be a big deal to you but I have never spent that much on a pillow before. I've been having so many neck problems lately it certainly didn't seem like the time to skimp.

So far so good. Most of the time my neck feels worse in the morning but now it either feels about the same or better.

Wow, that was a really boring post. I'll try to make it more awesome:








*A couple months ago my chiropractor gave me "as we age..." speech. Ouch.

My First Crush

I didn't even know his name. He was so cool the way he wore that yellow pail handle around his neck. We played in the sand that one afternoon but then never again. Years later when I was grade 1, I bemoaned to my friends what could have been. I certainly never went through a boy hating phase.

I've always loved winter

One of my favourite winter memories was the time my dad made a tiny ice rink in our backyard. By tiny, I mean it was probably less than a metre in diameter but despite the size I had so much fun skating on it.

We are the (bridesmaids) stereotypes

The new movie poster for Bridesmaids makes me feel so clichéd.




Been there, done that


Photo taken July 16, 2005

What Rough Beast

I realize the poem is about post-war Europe but I think it is very applicable in a post-9/11 world:

The Second Coming
W.B Yeats

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in the sands of the desert.

A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Student Logic

Yesterday I had to deal with two students who handed in the exact same lab report. The department has a very clear policy on the matter which they are informed about during the first lab.

The first argument was "I didn't know I couldn't copy off of him".

The second argument was "I did all the work so I should get full marks".

The third argument was "We live together and copying saved me a lot of time".

The argument degraded to "C'mon, you should give us a break".

I'm not sure how anyone of those arguments is supposed to help them. They fully admitted what happen but tried to justify it.

Dear Adobe Acrobat Pro,

You didn't do a very good job recognizing text. Smarten up!



Love,
Jsnny

I might have forgiven Jerry O'Connell

As a teenager I had a huge crush on Jerry O'Connell. First he was on My SEcret Identity then later on Sliders. I swear, every time something important happened on TV on Sliders, his character was in the shower so he's have to come running out in a towel.

The first time Jerry O'Connell was on Conan, I was disappointed to discover that he was uninteresting and a bit of a moron. [My sister can verify as she remembers watching it too]. I think he might have redeemed himself after the Golden Globes:


I love photobombing! I also found this awesome one of Michael Douglas.

Didn't know the old man had it in him.

My favourite photobombing of all time belongs to my mom's dog Prince:

Dear Firefox,

Don't be stupid, Scrabble is obviously not done loading.



Love Janny

Sundays as a child

Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches always remind me of Sunday evenings as a child. After church Sunday dinner was always the big meal of the week so my family would always have something simple for supper.

Like many of you, I spend Sunday evenings as a child watching The Wonderful World of Disney. If you were to ask me what was the first thing that popped into my mind when thinking of Sundays as a child, I would think of watching Wayne and Shuster. I take for granted sometimes that many people don't understand political humour because I was exposed to it from a very young age. I still get this song stuck in my head sometimes:


Several years ago, I had the idea for a funk musical about the political history of Canada called Parliament. Get it? Parliament? No? Well, never mind then.

I couldn't find a video of just the outro:

You can't always get what you want

Several years ago, I took part in an Internet meme where you put "[your name] needs" into Google and post the results. I was so amused by the first results, I thought I'd try it again.


Janice needs to get her head out her arse!

Janice needs a kidney.

Janice needs numbers.

I think Janice needs to shut up!

Robert feels he knows exactly what Janice needs—a new piece of equipment.

Janice needs to work on her posture, wow.

Janice needs to grow up.

Janice needs to crawl in a hole and die.

While Christopher may keep pushing her away, Janice needs to let him know she cares about him.

Janice needs to be licked.

Janice needs Bricks in order to complete a Boosted General Store

Janice needs more substance though

My New Years Resolution

I'm not really one to make New Years resolutions. If there is something in your life you think you need to change, you should do it when it comes to mind instead of waiting.

My only New Years resolution is to find/make this t-shirt because it is so fitting:

My Year Through Tweets

Inspired by Bronwyn, I decided to reflect on my past year through my tweets. The ones I found most amusing were conversations between myself and Lyn (further proof that we are the fun ones).


Jan 10
@LynmaraH Did I ever tell you about the remake I read called "Big Guy, Little Women"? I swear it isn't porn.

Jan 18
Finding the temperature of a light bulb is less fun than it sounds.

Jan 19
I find myself doing more dancing to Duran Duran this evening than homework.

Jan 24
@LynmaraH I don't care if you think I'm awful as long as you bring me cupcakes.

Jan 26
Overheard at the university: "The absence of pants ruins 90% of presentations."

Jan 31
Started hiccuping uncontrollably ever since I left @Bronwyn_MayB and @LynmaraH. Coincidence? I think yes.

Feb 12
Christopher said the flowers in bloom makes him want to puke. Mary said that was an inappropriate response to flowers.

Feb 23
Forgot the delight of Sebastian Bach singing "Holla Back Girl" #gilmoregirls

Feb 23
Note to self: y and t are different letters no matter the circumstance.

Feb 25
I made a careless mistake but at least I'm still adorable.

March 9
@LynmaraH Bacon will only make you feel better. Trust me, I'm a scientist.

March 12
Dear CBC Radio movie reviewer, Playing an audio clip does not prove that the director should not have used a steady cam. Love Janny

March 19
Most unfortunate abbrev at a physics seminar: rotator ass'y ** Most unfortunate collaborator of a physics seminar: P Wang

March 21
I think my brain broke. At the very least I sprained it.

March 23
Science is hard and makes me sleepy.

March 29
If you "procrastinate effectively", you're not doing it right

March 30
Dear juicer infomercial, KFed's 1st baby mama is not an impressive celebrity endorsement. Pls don't judge me that I knew who she is. - Janny

April 20
@LynmaraH Nitrates are my favourite.

April 30
I wish there was a way to get all my errands done while in the pajamas, watching TV from home.

May 19
Dear Neck, Don't be a hater: I need you to hold up my head and look over to the side. Love, Janny

July 16
Day 4 of no anti-histamines: I'm ready to die dead

Aug 9
@Bronwyn_MayB No such thing as too much hype for pickles and cheese

Aug 26
Yikes! Burly man in short shorts.

Sept 1
Just saw two wiener dogs leaping through a field of tall grass. Adorable.

Sept 10
Haven't eaten lunch yet and outside smells like donuts. #ohcruelfate

Sept 17
I'm so tired I'm starting to forget which letters make which sounds.

Sept 30
The blond Linda Evangelista is really the Kenneth Parcell.

Oct 7
Now realizing that yoga pants in front of the bus station at 10PM was a bad idea.

Oct 20
Apparently my true life goal is to be diabetic by Halloween

Nov 17
I'm thankful when my headphones blocks out the crazy.

Dec 8
((°J°))

Upon Several Viewings of Burn Notice

Throughout the school year, I have very little time to watch TV. As I explained to my parents, "A DVR is an investment in my education." Now that I am on holidays and actually have time to watch TV, all I want to do is re-watch Burn Notice.
Watching the entire series within a matter of weeks, I started to notice inconsistencies with the sets:

• From the exterior shots, Madeline Westen's house is clearly a large two story house. At one point, Madeline considers selling the house and shows a real estate agent the entrance to the stairs to a the second floor. By the next season, the door to the second floor suddenly is a closet. Madeline Westin's house is now a kitchen, living room and back porch with only exterior doors. Where does she sleep? Where does she go to the bathroom? Could explain why house guests always stay in the garage.


• Michael Westen's loft apartment has no interior doors so I'd assume he also has no bathroom.


• Mr Pyne (Ray Wise) and Jean Pierre Duman (James Black) live in the same house

Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy with Will Ferrell & John C. Reilly

David Bowie (Will Ferrell) visits Bing Crosby (John C. Reilly) during the holidays to sing a duet of two Christmas classics, Peace on Earth & The Little Drummer Boy.

Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy with Will Ferrell & John C. Reilly from Will Ferrell

The original:

Bing Crosby & David Bowie - The Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth - watch more funny videos

Happy Birthday Maryanne!

My baby sister turns 30 today and that makes me feel OLD.

Awesome Transformation Scene

Awesome Transformation Scene - watch more funny videos

Waste of a good hair day

I've been a little beat up by life lately. Even though I was feeling sort of shaky on Wednesday I did go to school in the afternoon. On Thursday, I felt so good that not only was I at school all day but I even went bowling in the evening with some friends.* I woke up early Friday morning with the flu and I've been sick ever since. Even through all my vomiting yesterday, I had my only good hair day in weeks.




*It was 10 pin bowling. Since my right arm still hurt from the IV on Tuesday I was bowling with my left arm. Each game I steadily got better and for one game I bowled an 88. Since my previous best score bowling 10 pin was 23, I might have to start bowling with my left arm all the time. That game where I bowled 88, I happen to tie a male friend. It was quite embarrassing for him to get the same score as a girl who had been in the hospital two days before and was bowling with her non-dominant arm.

Then there was the time I spent the day in the ER

As I last blogged about how my eyes were itchy, red and sore last Monday. Later in the morning my condition deteriorated to the point where my face, hands and legs were swollen. When my tongue got tingly and numb that is when we headed to the ER. Please don't be confused as is the time I spent the morning in the ER, not the day. Since my breathing wasn't obstructed in anyway and my throat was fine the ER doctor told me to take anti-histamines and prescribed a histamine blocker (I'm not sure the difference between the two) then sent me on my way. I went and saw my allergist and it was suggested that I wash my eyes every couple hours to clean away whatever I am reacting to.

Throughout the week my condition improved. I woke up from a nap Friday afternoon and my eyes were puffy and red again. The situation grew worse each day. This morning I woke up around 4:30 AM and was pleased to see that my eyes were much less puffy and red than the night before. I went back to bed for couple hours and when I woke up my face was swollen again. I took an antihistamine and an anti-inflammatory and put an ice pack on my eyes and laid down for awhile. As I was pondering whether I should go to school or not my throat started to swell up suddenly. I had problems swallowing but not breathing. Concerned that it would progress to problems breathing, I ask my mom to take me to the hospital.

Last Monday I only had 2 nurses tending to me when I came in, this time I had 3. I'm not sure if that is a reflection on my situation or the availability of staff at the time. I saw the doctor right away and they got me started on a hydrocortisone IV drip and gave me 20 mg of Prednisone. Since I had allergy testing coming up next week, the doctor last Monday shied away from giving me anything that could interfere with the testing. Today the doctor had no choice since my throat was swollen but this just means my allergy testing will have to be postponed. I had to stay at the hospital for several more hours after the IV was complete so they could monitor me.

Things that I am thankful for:

• when my very nice nurse unhooked me from the IV, gave me a robe so I could go to the bathroom. Fact: IVs really make you want to pee.


• when I was finally allowed to put my pants back on even though I was still waiting for the doctor to discharge me.


• my breathing was never hindered during the course of my reaction


• my mommy drove me to the hospital then stayed with me all day


• My right hand and arm are sore from the IV but fortunately I learned how to write with my left hand many years ago.


• my mommy bought me a delicious sandwich from Italian Star Deli

Things that don't help red, puffy, itchy eyes

How about crying for hours? That certainly doesn't help. Big surprise, lack of sleep seems to be a determent as well.

I woke at 3:30 AM with my eyes were so itchy and sore that I couldn't sleep anymore. I tried working on homework but the itchiness just got worse then the lack of sleep and frustration caught up to me and I haven't been able to stop crying since. On the plus side (?!?!) the constant crying seems to help the part of the skin nearest from eyes from being itchy.

People keep on tell me that it "isn't that bad". I know that I look at it more critically than others but it is bad. It is itchy and painful and it looks it. Last night I went to the casino show lounge to watch the CFL Western Final. I caught a friend of a friend staring at me more than once -- I felt like such a freak.

It is most likely contact dermatitis but since the skin around the eyes is so sensitive it really could be anything that comes in contact with my hair, face or hands. My papa jokes that I might be allergic to him.

Red, Puffy, Itchy Eyes

I don't know what is causing it but for more than 2 weeks the skin around my eyes has been swollen, red and itchy. I thought it might be a reaction to my makeup so I stopped wearing any and it only got worse. It started under my right eye, spread to under my left eye and now has appeared on both my eye lids. The itchiness is driving me crazy and I look terrible. It is to the point where I am embarrassed to go outside. Why does this garbage happen to me? I'm so frustrated with something always being wrong with me. I would like one day where I'm not plagued from some ailment. Is that too much to ask?

I wasn't expecting this but I'm a little emotional

I have admit that I got a little teary eyed when I read this headline:

Pat Burns, Stanley Cup winner, dies at 58, Friday, November 19, 2010, 6:29 PM, By NHL .com

You may be thinking "Who is Pat Burns and why would this upset Janice?" To make a long story short, he was the first Montreal Canadiens head coach that I remember. I was 10 years old when he started coaching them and he took them to the Stanley Cup finals. This coincided with a time that I was becoming much more aware of who the players were and understanding the game. I cried when they lost the finals.* He was a good man that always will have a special place in my heart.



* Interestingly, ever Habs fan that I've met that is around the same age as me has also admitted to crying as well. It is a tough time when your heroes fail.

Oh Yes, I Still Got It!: Eleven Years Later

Please forgive, I started this post 2 weeks ago and finally got around to finishing it.


You'd think I'd know better by now to catch the bus downtown on the block with the bus station and the police station.

After working late at the university, I missed my bus transfer downtown. My bag was heavy, a bit chilly and would be more than a half hour until the next bus came so I decided to sit in the bus shelter. A couple minutes before my bus was supposed to arrive, two very rough looking drunk natives came and joined me in the shelter. One with a broken and bruised lip came and sat beside me[will refer to him as Drunk Dude]. I apologized that my bag was in the way and I moved it so moved it to my lap.

Drunk Dude' Friend: Haha, maybe that's your hope purse.
Drunk dude: [Rolls eyes]
Drunk dude: What's your name?
Me: Janice
Drunk dude: My name is Darling, nice to meet you. [Shakes hand]
Drunk Drunk Dude' Friend: How old are you?
Me: 32
Drunk Drunk Dude' Friend: Aww, you're just a youngin'. I'm 40 and never thought I'd live this long [then nonsensical rambling about rough life]
Drunk dude: [Puts hand on my arm] You are a very pretty lady
Me: Umm, thank you
Drunk dude: Can I have your number?
Me: No thank you
Drunk dude: Why?
Me: I don't know you and I don't give out my number to strangers.
Drunk dude: But how can I not be a stranger if you don't give me a chance to get to know you? Give me you number.
Me: No thank you, I'm too busy with school for dating.
Drunk Drunk Dude' Friend: Hey, want buy a 40[oz] of Crown Royal for $20? [Proceeds to pull a large bottle out of his pants]
Me: no thank you, I'm just a poor student.
Drunk dude: C'mon
Drunk Drunk Dude' Friend: Leave her allow, she's poor like us.

Drunk dude's friend pulls another bottle out of his pants, he opens it and drinks from it. The two start fighting over the fact that Drunk dude's friend started drinking from a bottle they were suppose to sell. They were ready to start fighting in the bus shelter and they were blocking the entrance. They finally settle that they can drink one and sell one.


Drunk dude: I should push you under a bus because you won't give me your number
Me: You don't want to do that
Drunk dude: I'm just jokin'
Me: What bus are you waiting for? [At this point I was ready to catch the next bus that came along just to get away from them as long it wasn't the one they were getting on]
Drunk dude's friend starts telling a long rambling story about where they are headed but never reveals which bus they are waiting for. Fortunately my bus arrives and I can get away.

May-B and I had been texting plans to get together. Immediately when I got on the bus, I texted her to tell what happened. She didn't know how I could turn down "Pants Crown Royal" for $20.*

Read about the time May-B and I were hit on by drunk construction workers at a pool hall 11 years ago.

*For serious, how could he keep 2 40oz bottles of Crown Royal in his pants? How could someone walk like that? How are his pants not falling down?

"Whip My Hair" with Neil Young & Bruce Springsteen

A duet for the ages...

Best Batman Costume Ever

Source: Mason & Remy Blog, 93.7 The Bull

Peter Puck - How To Play The Game (episode 1)

Songs for Staying Inside

I made an ITunes playlist inspired by a blustery day. Some songs are pretty obvious choices while others you need to hear them to realize they are perfect for a quiet night staying in. I'm open for suggests for additions or subtractions to the list.

Snow (Hey Oh) - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Brian Wilson - Barenaked Ladies
Long Winter - Cuff The Duke
Parasite - Nick Drake
Karma Coma - Massive Attack & Tricky
Shades Of Gray - The Monkees
Who Needs Forever (Thievery Corporation Mix)- Astrud Gilberto
Space Oddity - David Bowie
One Million Miles Away - J Ralph
Song to Sing When I'm Lonely - John Frusciante
Norwegian Wood - The Beatles
Banana Pancakes - Jack Johnson
Starseed - Our Lady Peace
The Blower's Daughter - Damien Rice
Hurdy Gurdy Man - Donovan
Shh - Frou Frou
In My Room - The Beach Boys
I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
Caide Sin Don Te Sin - Altan
Stormy Weather - Billy Holiday
Zombie - The Cranberries
Last Kiss Goodbye - Jeff Buckley
Midnight Cowboy - Henry Mancini
Ordinary World - Duran Duran
Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles) - Arcade Fire
Wonderwall - Oasis
Possession - Sarah McLachlan
Two Step (acoustic) - Dave Matthews
Rocket Man - Elton John
Tell Me Something Good - Rufus featuring Chaka Khan
Agoraphobia - Incubus
Tales of Brave Ulysses - Cream
Tangerine - Led Zeppelin
At Last - Etta James
Snowsuit Sound - Sloan
Of the Girl - Pearl Jam
My Friends - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Hallelujah - Jeff Buckley
After The Goldrush - Prelude

Photoshop skills

This evening I was looking thorough some old teaching files when I came across the first image I edited in Photoshop 6:

Edited in Photoshop Friday, December 13, 2002 2:49 PM


Original Photo

It may not look like much of a change but the edited image probably took me over 5 hours to get right. I wish I had written down the steps I used to change the look of the water because I could never replicate it again. I used at least 2 filters and 3 or 4 lighting effects in a very specific order. I was so proud because it was the first time I created something of my very own.

Wow, it has almost been 8 years since I learned how to use Photoshop 6 using a copy of Photoshop 5 Classroom in a Book . Adobe had a special promotion that fall where schools and educators could get a copy of any Adobe program for $30 US. I got copies of Photoshop, Illustrator, Page Maker, Acrobat Pro and Live Motion.

I finished learning Photoshop well enough to teach it to my grade 10, 11 and 12 technology classes in the new semester in February 2003. It might seem strange to teach all the grades the same thing but it bought me sometime while I learned Illustrator. I justified what I was doing with a plan
Grade 10 - Photoshop
Grade 11 - Pagemaker
Grade 12 - Illustrator
and I needed to phase in the learning so the classes could get "in step".

The first year teaching Photoshop was dreadful. It is a very difficult program especially when you get into color correction, removing or replacing elements and creating your own brushes. Later in the semester some of the grade 11s were asked by a recruiter from a design college what programs they knew how to use. The recruiter was impressed by what they could already do in Photoshop and finally my students understood they knew how to use an industry standard program that people pay thousands of dollars to learn. Suddenly my job became much easier.

Magnetic Grapes

This evening Dad and I troubleshot my demonstration on the repulsion of grapes when exposed to a diamagnet (magnet with a north and South pole). The instructor for my science education class has never been able to get it work before but we did :)

TBS Promo: Conan Washes His Desk!

The Zach Galifianakis Swimsuit Calendar: vanityfair.com

The Zach Galifianakis Swimsuit Calendar: vanityfair.com

Kids Re-Enact Project Runway

Someone is on Ky's mindgrapes

Photos by Ky
Awesomeness by Janny

Thank a Teacher

I've heard suspect things about the documentary Waiting for Superman but this promo makes me smile:

I think someone misses Ky

Photos by Ky
Awesomeness by Janny

Kickin' it to you, Knitwear-style.

Kickin' it to you, Knitwear-style.
Originally uploaded by Kylee-Anne

Just remembering the awesomeness of this picture. Good work Ky.

Altweibersommer (a haiku)

warming in the sun
finally wearing flip flops
making my heart glad

My cerebral cortex brings all the boys to the yard (a haiku)

attracting the wrong type
need to decrease nerd bait ways
I’m out of your league

Irritation for the Body and Mind (a Haiku)

red, slight bump appears
feeling it pulse on my chin
I’m too old for zits

Unruly Tuft of Hair (a Haiku)

cow lick in my hair
taunting me behind my back
more stubborn than I

It is pigeon poop, do not eat it.

I retweeted a clever picture



and received the following response:

I didn't I could find Jon Hamm more attractive

A Man and His RC Helicopter

Look at how cute my daddy is flying his remote control helicopter!

Six years...

Today is my sixth blogoversary. Let's review the last six years in Janny history:

September 15, 2004
RTA, Failte and I moved into a townhouse in Saskatoon. I had just left my full time teaching position up north to become a substitute teacher in Saskatoon. Would you believe that I didn't know anyone else with a blog at the time?

September 2005
I was still subbing in Saskatoon but all tutoring and working part time at a book store. When I wasn't working I mostly spent my time being a source of procrastination for others and impatiently waiting the movie Serenity. Although it was depressing not to be working as a full time teacher, I did enjoy the time I had to reflect.


September 14, 2006
Fall 2006 was an exciting time for me. Not finding much work in Saskatoon, I move to Calgary to became an admin assistant while I looked for a full time teaching position. For the first time in two years, I was back doing what I love and getting paid for it.

September 2007
The school I was teaching at in Calgary turned out to be a flaming disaster. With little regret, I decided to move from Calgary back to Regina. My dad was in ICU during the winter and spring which made my horrible job situation that much more horrible. I always want to go back to school to finish my BSc and wanted to feel more qualified to teach science classes. So in January 2008 Teacher Lady became Student Lady.

September 2008
In the summer of 2008 I worked for an applied mathematician which really made me question my future plans. I decided against an Honours degree in Math and opted instead for a double major in Math & Physics. I invested in a DVR and immersed myself in academia. Mt life became Eat, Sleep, Physics. School work became my life and left room in my mind for little else.

I also learned about Spidergoat.

September 14, 2009
Eat, Sleep, Physics became a little less lonely and a lot more difficult. I love the collaborative nature of Physics students. You spend so much time in the lab together it translates into a community where everyone helps one another outside the lab as well. Fall 2009 marked the continuation of Janny spending way too much time with boys in their early 20s.

September 14, 2010
I have two semesters left of university! In addition to a couple science classes this marks the first time in 10 years that I will be taking any education classes. I will also be working part time as a physics lab instructor (getting paid while getting experience). I've already spoken to the local school board and it seems very likely that there will be a full time physics teaching position for me next fall!

This is a very exciting time for me right now. My classes and instructors are great. I will be learning so many interesting and useful things. I certainly hope this enthusiasm for my present and future life can continue.

I admit that I timed this post to also be the 1300th. Thanks for reading and hope you stay with me.

Question about Blogger comments

I'm not sure why but I have to log in every single time I leave a comment on my own blog. It used to just come up as "Teacher Lady" and have the other log in options below. Anyone know how I can change the settings?

Ceramic Billygoats 2010-2011

Here is my second fantasy hockey team:



This season will be an experiment of sorts. I have two teams every year but decided to have one in a competitive league and this one in the casual league. I picked my players in a live draft for the competitive team and choose an auto-draft based on my preferences for the casual team. A lot of the players are the same so we'll see which one does better.

One month and two days until the new season...

Dancing at the Movies

Sometimes Facebook Recommendations Scare Me A Lot

Mistaken Identity?

Something weird is going on with my Twitter account. I'm getting bizarre messages from people I don't know. Maybe someone is tweeting the wrong person? I need to coin a term to describe such a thing.

JC Power 2010-2011

The live draft for my fantasy hockey league occurred this afternoon:



I'm a little upset with myself because I broke my own rule of picking goalies first. I also accidentally chose Tomas Plekanec so he better have a really good year.

Here's my trophy from last season:


I'm in a more difficult league this year so I have lowered expectations for myself.

Am I the key to tween love?

At least according to Twitter I am:


(Picture is a link to the tweet)
I'm not even sure what this means.

Witchy Woman

I can't believe I never blogged about this dream that happened back when I lived up North:

I am driving on the highway between Saskatoon and Regina late at night. On either side of road is fields of wheat. The sky is clear and the moon is full. The radio is playing what sounds like two different songs at once. I turn down the radio and realize that there is very loud music coming from outside. I pull over on the shoulder and get out of the car. I can hear the song "Witchy Woman" coming from the wheat field to my left. I'm puzzled since there is only wheat fields and empty highway as far as I can see.

I start making my way through the chest height wheat towards the music. I notice the ground is aglow up ahead and realize there is a tunnel opening. I make my way down the tunnel to a cave and discover a surprise birthday party for Eric Clapton. There is a boxing ring in the centre of the cave where Queen is performing with a new teen-aged lead singer. Oh, I forgot the mention that the party was being thrown by Mexican Wrestlers. Suddenly we are all overcome with tiredness and fall asleep.

The end.

Howdy Stranger

Wow, almost a month since my last post. Uhhh, sorry about that. I really have talked about myself in a long time as well. Sorry about that as well.

I'm kind of lacking in stories these days. For the first time in about two months, I can't sleep. More often than not I'm inspired to blog when I can't sleep. I couldn't sleep because the fan in my room was overloading the power bar causing it to beep every couple minutes. I use the term my room loosely because it is only my room for now. My current room is also referred to the Yellow Room, Mary's old room or Grandma's old room. Technically, once upon a time I shared the room with my sister until she drove me nuts and I moved to the basement. As they say, that is neither here nor there.

I am staying in the yellow room because there was flooding in my room again. Last spring there was flooding in my room and we thought we had fixed the problem. Flooding isn't really the correct term but the carpet and bottom on the walls are soaking wet. We're not even sure what caused it since we only had a bit of rain the other night.

Fact: Janny is a high maintenance sleeper.

I'm too wound up now. It is hard enough to sleep in an unfamiliar room. I tried to just shut off the fan but I've gotten too used to the white noise from my air purifier. I had to get up and move the fan to a different plug in. With no where else to put it, I set the fan on the arm of a chair but it fell over almost as soon as I had the lights off. I had to go to the living room to get a TV tray to put the fan on.

My shoulder has been bugging me so I was having a hard time getting comfortable. My usually pillow arrangement does not cut it for a different bed. I just want to be in my own bed in my own room. I'm at the point of the night where I know it will be easier to stay awake and go to work early rather than struggle to wake up in 2 hours.

Fact: Mornings are for chumps.

Not even close

I found this in a study about women with breast cancer:

Someone was having problems with conversion.

Guess Who

Eerie

I feel think I've gone mad

Early rave reviews for the movie Inception. I feel like the rest of the world has collectively gone insane.

Inception Trailer 2 Transcript
Leonardo DiCaprio: There is one thing you should know about me: I specialize in a very specific type of security...subconscious security.
Cillian Murphy: You’re talking about dreams?

Michael Caine: Mr Karl has a job offer he’d like to discuss with you
Ellen Page: Like a work placement?
Leonardo DiCaprio: Not exactly. We create the world of the dream. We bring the subject into that dream and they fill it with their secrets
Ellen Page: Then you break in and steal it
Leonardo DiCaprio: Well, it is not strictly speaking legal. It’s called inception.

Leonardo DiCaprio: I’m ready. I think I found a way home. This last job is how I get there. Dreams feel real when we’re in them, it is only when we wake up that we realize that something is strange.

Title: Your mind

Leonardo DiCaprio: This is your responsibility. You are not prepared to

Title: is the scene of the crime

Unknown Dude: The dream is collapsing

Leonardo DiCaprio: I have it under control
Joseph Gordon-Levitt: I hate to see it out of control

Can't understand the dude: You mustn’t be afraid to jimmy the vegit* down


*I have no idea what he said

If Arrested Development was an action movie

For the world travellers in my life

Welcome back to Canada Bron & Ky:

Math programs giving me low self-esteem

In the program Mathematica, I'm learning how to make a scatter plot and then export it as a image file. This is the result of my first attempt:

Freaking out over snakes

Is it bad I find this hilarious? I'm not scared of snakes but I shouldn't judge since I actually did see how big this snake was.

Tricking myself to sleep

As it has been well documented on this blog, I do not sleep well. Starting when I was in high school, occasionally I would be wide awake at night and sleepy through out the day. This would happen to me about once every couple months until I moved to Calgary. The last couple months before I moved back to Regina, I could not fall asleep before 4:30 AM. I would force myself to stay awake all night and try to go to bed the following night. This would result in falling asleep for about an hour and then not getting tired again until 4:30 AM. After some research, I found success gradually getting back to a regular schedule by delaying sleep 2 hours each night.

For the last week, I've been having the same problems again. Essentially my body gets confused between day and night. I did not have the time or patience to gradually get my sleep schedule back to normal. With the attempt to be proactive to prevent this from happening again, I bought a light box and some melatonin. I took the melatonin at 10PM last night with the hope to get to sleep by 11PM. I've been so sleep deprived, I was in bed before 10:30. Amazingly, I slept until 3 AM and only woke because I was thirsty. I was able to sleep again from 4:30 to 6. At 6AM, I started using my light box for a half hour. Wow, did it ever help me to wake up. For the next little while, I'll have to be pretty strict with my sleep and waking time. Hopefully, all this will help.

Look out world

my wing(wo)man is back!

Wished I would have remembered 18 years ago

On Saturday, I was trying to figure out something I could kneel on while cleaning the shower floor. I (not so) suddenly remembered that I lent my volleyball knee pads to a girl in grade 8 and she never returned them. Why did I not remember this in 1992?

Simplification

For weeks, it has been bothering me how much stuff I have and have no place to put it. I'm partially frustrated because I have so few days where I feel good enough to do anything about it. The rest of the frustration comes from not knowing where to start. I know things could be much worse but I want everything I keep to have a place. I came across this article tonight that I think will be useful:

Deciding what to get rid of is hard, but it must be done.
Our teacher told us the story of a man she had helped on a big cleaning project. He was hanging on to things like a plastic bag from a bookstore in Paris that he felt reminded him of his college travels. The bag, he said, had a special place in his memory.
Fine, she said. Let's get a nice frame for it and hang it on the wall. The man looked at her like she was nuts. You don't frame and hang a plastic bag.
No? Well, let's take a picture of it, then frame that picture. Again, the man stared at her like she had lost it. It finally dawned on him that the bag wasn't the source of his memories, but merely a souvenir, and a junky one at that. Toss it, he said.
Our teacher recommended that we use this rule for each item that we hem and haw over:
1. Would you want to frame and display it?
• Yes = Keep.
• No = See step 2.
2. Would you want to take a picture of it?
• Yes = Take picture, get rid of item.
• No = Get rid of item.
If you can take a picture of something that you want to remember, but can't use, do so. Put it in an album with a label. But let it go if it's taking up too much space.

Are Our Children Learning Enough About Whales?

I was an adorable baby

Trouble from the start

I uploaded some old-timey family pictures to my Flickr account.

When A Shirt Is More Than Just A Shirt

Back in the day, my sister wore grandpa clothes. She would call it retro, I call it grandpa clothes. She even had a pair of pants that once belong to my deceased great-grandfather that Krissie referred to as Ommie* pants. Sorry, I'm getting a little off track here. Once at Value Village with Maryanne, I happened to see a Levi's work shirt at the end of the rack in the men's section. It was an extra-small men's, still had the tags on it, fit me perfectly and was only $5. Mary and the girl at the till were jealous of my awesome find.


Cutest sisters ever! and the famous shirt

At the time when I bought the shirt, I was really skinny due to my food allergies. Everything I ate made me sick so it was difficult to even maintain my weight let alone put on weight. Eventually I started feeling better and was able to gain weight. It was bittersweet when the work shirt was too small for me to wear: I was so thankful to be feeling well enough to put on weight but sad since this kind of shirt wasn't made anymore. From the original store tags, it was from the late 70s or early 80s when work shirts were supa tight. Since then I ever never found a button-up shirt that fits me so well.


Inspired by the article When A Coat Is More Than Just A Coat: How Certain Articles Of Clothing Take On A Special Meaning - Jezebel. I want to read your stories of your favourite article of clothing. Post the story (or the link to the story) in the comments. If you write a story on your own blog, I'd appreciate if you linked back to me!

* Great-grandfather's name was Omund. At least it wasn't Ommie gotch which another member of our family "inherited". Note to Krissie: Dodged that bullet, eh?

"Caution: Contents are Hot"

Sorry, embedding didn't work:
Jimmy and Ladysmith Snack Mambazo Sing About Their Love for Hot Pockets

Nike Football: "Write the Future"

Less than 3 weeks...

Mr T on procrastination

This one is going out to Ky who has her qualifying exams soon...

Error of her ways

By no means do I condone adultery but I do see the merit in this woman's lawsuit:

In documents filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Ms. Nagy seeks $600,000 for alleged invasion of privacy and breach of contract...Ms. Nagy's bill was being sent in her name until her husband signed up for Rogers Internet and home phone. Those services, along with Ms. Nagy's cellphone, were bundled into one bill, and that new invoice was addressed to her husband, the suit alleges. The invoice mailed to her then-husband contained details of her outgoing cellphone calls, the suit, filed in January, 2009, says. Ms. Nagy's husband figured out from the phone bill that she was having an affair. He left her and the children in August, 2007.
Woman sues Rogers over cellphone bill, says it ruined her marriage - The Globe & Mail

Ms Nagy fully admits that she had an extra-marital affair that lead to the termination of her marriage. Rogers had no right to bundle her cell phone plan with the other Rogers services and change the billing name without her permission. It could have been a business phone and that needed to be in her name, Rogers just doesn't know these things. The fact is that despite what the customer did, Rogers did break privacy laws.
I actually had to deal with a similar situation years ago that I blogged about:

I spent most of today calling customers to let them know when they can upgrade their cell phone. From as much as I remember, this is a VERY revealing conversation I had today. The names and places have been changed to protect the innocent (and not so innocent).

Teacherlady: Hi, is [Bob] there?
Wife: No, he's at work. Can I take a message?
TL: [Company preamble] Can you let [Bob] know that the cell phone he purchased from us about two years ago is eligible for an upgrade [later this month]?
W: You must have the wrong [Bob], we don't have a cell phone.
TL: Is this the [Bob Smith**] residence?
W: Yes, what address do you have?
TL: [Cherrytree Lane]
W: That's our house. When was the phone purchased?
TL: Two years ago.
W: Hmmm, When was the last call made?
TL: Sorry, I don't have access to that information. Only if [Bob] called directly could he find that out. If there has been some sort of mistake, tell [Bob] to call us directly so we can get this fixed.
W: Umm, [long pause] well thank you for telling me. [long pause]
TL: Well, [awkward pause] thank you for your time and hope you have a good day.

A couple minutes later I was on the phone when a co-worker told me there was a very angry woman on the phone who would talk to no one but me. By the time he tried transferring the call, she had hung up.

I explained to my co-workers and supervisor what had happened. Then I told them what I wanted to say the customer if he called in mad. "Number one: It's not my fault that you two have trust issues. Number two: It is not my fault that you are dumb enough to use your house number as your customer contact number for your secret cell phone."

** The real name is actually uncommon so it was no mistaking that I had the right house.

Ain't that the truth

Janny gets no satisfaction:

Dry mouth is the mother of invention

Last week, I was prescribed medication to reduce the frequency of my migraines. The pharmacist told me I could avoid the expected side effects of dry mouth and drowsiness by taking it right before bed. She told me that it could even help me sleep better.

Problem 1: Doesn't make me drowsy.

Problem 2: The dry mouth is so bad it wakes me up multiple times a night. A little sip of water won't do -- it feels more like dry mouth and dry esophagus. I've been drinking about a litre of water a night and it never seems to satisfy. It is like that episode of Angel where those parasite thingies* were sucking the moisture out of Fred.

Tonight it was so bad I can not get to sleep. Internet articles yielded no useful solutions for the middle of the night. I got the bright idea for a honey-lime concoction since I had heard that honey helps with sore throats. I figured the sourness of the lime juice and the sweetness of the honey should get the salvia going. I am not a fan of honey but I was willing to try anything. It works so much better than anything I have tried before (day or night). I'm seriously going to start drinking this all the time. It's a good thing I'm heading up north this weekend because I'm going to need more honey.

Sorry, this post is a little boring. Still not sleepy and trying to past the time.


* technical term

Please excuse my nerdiness

Changing Blogger Width

I finally found a useful article to change the width of my blog posts at Blogbulk.com. It annoyed me that Youtube videos were cut off at one side.