The Drop

Well, it was bound to happen. I dropped my motorcycle. Well, not exactly dropped, more of a lay down. So embarrassing! Outside of the theatre on a Friday night. The steering column was still locked when I went to ride away (apparently when I thought I unlocked it, I locked it). Well, not being able to straighten the handlebars out posed a problem and the bike went down. There are a few scrapes and a bent lever, but all in all not too much damage. But, it certainly doesn't look as pretty as it used to. The only good thing to come out of this: I learned that I can pick up a 500lb motorcycle all by myself. Yes, adrenaline is a wonderful thing.

I went to the movies with my friend Tara. I haven't been to a movie in forever. We went to see the new Jennifer Aniston flick, 'Friends With Money'. It was pretty good. An okay rental.

In the book department, I just finished reading 'Running With Scissors'. This is a crazy book and has just been made into a movie. Apparently, this is a memoir of the writers life. I wonder if actually escaped adolescence.

Work

Our office is going through a major move in the next couple of weeks. My team got a little too big for the number of desks we have so they are moving us to another floor. Luckily I got to move early. It is so nice and quiet on my new floor and no one knows where I am. It's great.

I just finished reading 'Reefer Madness'. Very interesting. Today in the news there was actual a district attorney from the US talking about how Canada should not adopt the drug laws that the US has. He made some very similar points to the book.

I'm currently reading 'Stardust' by Neil Gaiman. I've only ever read one of his books before, 'Neverwhere'. I highly recommend him as an author. My brother has also recommended 'Good Omens'. It will definitely be going on my list. Don't you just love it when you find a great author?

Portugal Boy

I had such a happy surprise at work yesterday. Ricardo was back online. I haven't chatted with the boy from Portugal for a long time and it was weird that I was so happy to hear from him. He just makes me smile.

Spring

I love spring! It was so beautiful outside this weekend. I didn't get out on the bike a great deal this weekend, but I think it will be out alot soon. The summer bike rides are almost upon us.

Insomnia

For the past three weeks I have not been sleeping well and when I finally do get to sleep I dream these very vivid dreams that I remember when I wake up which means I'm not getting any sleep. I hate insomnia. I even tried to take a sleeping aid, but that was even worse. My brain fought against it and so I had an even worse sleep.

The last time I had insomnia this bad was in university during finals (not a good time to be sleep deprived). I don't know what's going on but I must be stressed about something.

Unfortunately, I won't even have the option of sleeping in this weekend. I'm helping Karen and Kevin paint the baby's room.

On the book front I'm reading 'Reefer Madness' right now. I think I need to stop reading non fiction for awhile. It is making me very angry and depressed. The book is written by the same guy that wrote 'Fast Food Nation'. This one is about 'Sex, drugs and cheap labour in the american black market'. Very interesting, but so making me hate the government (American in this instance).

Not sure what I will read next, but David Suzuki's biography comes out this weekend. Which would mean more non fiction. I may have to hold off on that. Not sure I can handle reading about the internment camps at this point.

On a totally different note, my sports start again next week. Woo hoo! I'm so glad. I've been missing the physical activity. The gym just isn't the same. Next week lacrosse and baseball start and then hockey starts mid May. So, the end of my free nights is upon me.

I can't believe it is almost May. The days go by so fast.

Rogers

Today I hate Rogers!

The remote for my digital cable died. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to deal with your cable box without a remote? Apparently I have a defective remote. It has been defective since Friday night. I can not access anything that I taped to my PVR. So, I can't watch last night's Prison Break (I was at an aquafit class when it was on). I can't even tell if it actually taped. Luckily I was home to see 24 (how sad is that I am upset about the fact that I can't access my television shows - I will try not to think about how sad that is).

Really why I'm mad at Rogers is because of their technical support. I dislike their voice recognition system immensely. The guy's voice is so infuriating. I really just want to get through to technical support and it takes forever.

Suzuki

Please check out this article:
http://ca.entertainment.yahoo.com/s/22042006/2/entertain-suzuki-hopes-autobiography-inspire-canadians-become-environmentalists.html

I love David Suzuki! I can't wait to read his new book.

Currently, I'm reading 'Reefer Madness'. Yep, it's about drugs. Actually, it's about the American black market (including drugs). Oh the government makes me laugh and makes me cry.

This weekend I hung out with a recent grad from Waterloo. We walked around downtown in the rain and finally found a pool hall. Oh my pool game is so bad lately. I definitely need to get out there and practice.

Jacket

So, the motorcycle jacket I looked at on the weekend was quite nice. But, one major problem the inner lining was pink. Now, some of you may not know about my aversion to pink. It is quite the deep seated hatred. I don't know why I hate it so much, but I can't stand pink. Lisa has indicated that it really shouldn't matter that the 'inside' is pink since no one will see it. In theory that makes sense, but I will know it is there and when the jacket is not done up you can see it. It would clash with my motorcycle once the bike is painted orange.

Anyway, the same jacket also comes in black with cream. I'm going to ask today what colour the lining is on that one. Of course, then I have to locate the jacket in my size. The Canadian dealers don't appear to carry this jacket.

I finished my Christopher Moore book last night, 'A Dirty Job'. It was good, not great. It definitely had some excellent moments. It was very similar to some of his other books. Not his best, but not his worst.

I'm currently reading 'Nickel and Dimed'. A book that Lisa leant me about a writer that decides to find out if it is possible to survive on minimum wage. It's very interesting so far.

I've booked my flight to Vancouver to go see Jason and Megan in August. I can't wait! I actually found a direct flight using my Air Canada points. I was so surprised. Actually, I'm flying into the airport closest to them and not Vancouver. When I attempted to book a flight to Vancouver I was going to end up spending 6 hours in Saskatoon. Ah the joys of Aeroplan points. Not that I'm complaining about a free flight!

I've almost used up all of my points. One more trip I think and then I will look at switching to the Royal Bank Visa. I hear it has the best plan (of course, I think Sue might be biased :).

Happy Birthday Rachael

It's another sister's birthday today! Happy Birthday to Rachael. I believe she was spending her birthday weekend in Toronto and was going to the zoo.

I love the zoo. Especially in spring when all the babies have been born. Now, ethically I have issues with the zoo. But, I have so many happy memories of the zoo that it is hard to not still love going to the zoo. I love walking around that place (and really when I think of the zoo, it's the walk that I love - I'm such a freak).

This weekend I was supposed to head to Goderich, but the weather didn't seem to think that was a good idea. Considering how cold it was yesterday on the bike, I think I made the correct choice. Grandma, I promise to come visit soon!

Instead I did some work around the house, bought some new plants (I wonder how long they will last) and went out on the bike. I went shopping for a new motorcycle jacket and while at the store I lost my motorcycle key. Not fun! Cycle World has so many places to lose a key. After hunting around the store for about 45 mins and asking Lisa to come pick me up, the key was finally found at the counter (thankfully someone found it and turned it in). I can't have a keychain on the key because it scratches the paint / chrome (learned this the hard way), so, the key becomes very easy to lose (this is the second time).

I finished a Stephen King book this weekend. Really just a short story. It was okay, not great. Now, I'm reading 'A Dirty Job' by Christopher Moore.

I watched 'March of the Penguins' on the weekend. Soo cute (Jay, I'm trying out your new word). Nature is weird and wonderful.

Hope everyone had an excellent long weekend and is ready for the spring!

Brokeback

So, I just finished watching Brokeback Mountain. Again. It was even better the second time. I could watch Jake for hours. It is such a beautiful movie.

When I was at home last weekend I had brought the DVD with me so that my family could see it. But, I realized that it just wasn't a good idea. As much as I love this movie and I think they should see it, I realized that they were just going to upset me a great deal. When I brought up the idea of watching the movie I didn't receive a great reception to the idea. I have enough problems with some of the ideas they have (and them with mine) that I realized that it was probably going to cause more problems between us. I hope they watch it and see all the beauty that I do.

Outside of how amazing I thought the movie overall was I just can not get over how damn sexy Jake is in this movie. I have loved Jake since I saw him in October Sky (go see this movie), but this really just cemented how amazing I think he is (maybe even more than Viggo as Aragorn - which I did not think was possible). Yes, I am well aware of the fact that I seem to like movie / book characters more than real people (but have you seen Jake :)?)

Enough about Brokeback. I was supposed to go to Goderich this weekend to visit my grandma. But, the weather did not cooperate. I am back to only having a motorcycle so I need the good weather. (Sorry Grandma.) I am thinking of going out to find a leather motorcycle jacket this weekend.

I am very torn about the decision to get a motorcycle jacket. My kevlar Joe Rocket jacket is falling apart (the seems are torn) and doesn't appear to be that protective any more. The tests show that leather is the most protective. Of course, if I was to really stick to my guns I would say kevlar is the way for me to go. But, my new motorcycle really does scream leather. I hate that, but I also like it because riding the bike is also about looking cool :). Of course, I probably won't find the jacket I'm looking for. My body is just not built for the style of jackets out there. Somedays I wish I was just a little taller.

I talked to Lisa today and, of course, we were discussing the books we were reading. She reminded me that I have read 'Harriet the Spy' before and that I hated it. I don't understand how I could forget that I had read this before. Now, I did hate it again this time. I'm sorry, but a kids book with a 'moral' of lying is necessary? That's really not what I expect from a kids book.

Now I'm reading a new Stephen King. It's a pulp fiction thing and it is really quite boring. Luckily it is very short and I should be done tomorrow. Then I am on to the new Christopher Moore. I can't wait.

Prison Break

This television season is really harming my sleeping. Between Prison Break, 24, Lost and reading 'In Cold Blood' I am having the worst nightmares.

I finished 'In Cold Blood'. Excellent book, very well written. Of course, since seeing Capote, I probably visualized some of the scenes differently than I would have if I had never seen the movie. Now I'm reading 'Harriet the Spy'. I never read this as a kid, and every once in awhile I like to read those kids books. It's okay.

The biker murders in Ontario have freaked me out. So, I've been reading lots of different articles. My favourite was the one from the states that said 5 men had been arrested. Always good when the newspapers get their facts straight. The day after the murders the Toronto Star had a side bar of all the mass killings in Canada (not Ontario, Canada) and somehow Picton (the guy in BC) isn't in the list. Now, I'm not quite sure how they missed the biggest mass murder in Canada but hey I'm not a writer. My dad thought it might be because he was still on trial, but this weekends murder was in the list. Hmm, curious.

Trivia

While in London on the weekend, Dad, Sue, Rach and I were involved in a trivia tournament in Stratford. Sue signed us up as part of the Royal Bank team with some people from her work. It was a lot of fun, but wow, what was with those questions. I thought the trivia league I used to be in was tough. There were ten teams, I think, and ten rounds of ten questions. There were a couple of music questions that I knew (but not the John Lennon one - my dad couldn't believe it - hey, I'm a Beatles fan, not so much the solo stuff). I also answered two of the four literary questions correctly. There were a few questions where people were not happy with the answers. We thought a fight might break out and the quiz master looked very scared :)

After the tournament, we went over to Kelseys to see my cousin Ed (he's a bartender there). He brought us the most amazing dessert. And from the small world files, three guys at the bar were from Goderich.

Sunday was so beautiful! Wish I had of been out on the motorcycle (of course, with all the craziness of the murders in the London area this weekend that may be biker related, maybe not). Instead I helped Dad build a walkway around the side of the house. It looks really good. Dad and Sue really know how to put a house together! My arms hurt so much today from moving rocks. Of course, I think the game of catch that Dad, Rach and I might also have something to do with the pain.

I was just reading Jamie's blog (http://bloodyhyena.blogspot.com/) and was remembering the game of cranium we played on Friday night. Jamie and I made an awesome team. If there is ever a chance to play charades I want him as my partner. For some weird reason I could always figure out what he was acting out. I think his girlfriend might be wondering what is in the water in Goderich to make us so weird :)

Happy Birthday Dad

Today is my dad's birthday. I'm hanging out in London and tonight we are all heading to Stratford for a trivia tournament.

Last night a blast from the past came over to my dad's place. A friend of Jason's from high school is dating Rach's friend Steve's sister. Small world! So, Jamie (Jason's friend) and Christine (Steve's sister) live in London and came over for a visit. Jamie looks the same as ever and it was cool to do the Goderich reminiscing thing.

I hope my dad has a great birthday.

Happy Birthday Jaime

Today is my youngest sister's birthday. Happy Birthday Jaime!

I haven't seen her for so long and I miss her :(

Some of you may be wondering, sister? I thought you just had a brother. Silly, kids. Jason and I have three (step) sisters. Rachael, Lindsay and Jaime.

This weekend I am off to London to celebrate my dad's birthday. So many April birthdays for our family. Next week is Rachael's.

I'm currently reading 'In Cold Blood' by Truman Capote. After seeing the movie Capote I really wanted to read this book. It is so nice to be reading a well written book. I wonder how long it will take me to forget about the horror of 'The Historian'? I highly recommend 'In Cold Blood'. It so beautifully written.

Worst Book Ever

I finally finished the worst book ever. Well, that's not exactly true. I have probably read worse books in the past. 'The Historian' was so boring. It had a really good premise, but the writer just couldn't pull it off. I couldn't wait for it to be done. I complained about it all the time. Of course, Christi wondered why I didn't just stop reading it (novel concept). I just can't not finish a book. The ending also was a let down. Suzanne, if you are reading this, I'm not sure I can ever trust you to recommend a book to me again :). In Suzanne's defense I believe she had only heard of the book before she recommended it to me.

Now I'm reading 'Close Range' by Annie Proux. A collection of short stories about Wyoming that includes 'Brokeback Mountain'. It is very good. (Brokeback comes out on DVD tomorrow.)

This weekend I hit the One of a Kind Craft Show with Lisa and Dorie. I believe I spent the least amount of money ever at the craft show. I bought a couple of things and a couple of presents. Then we ordered Thai food (apparently my soup came with a staple, how fun), drank some wine and chatted. That was the best part of the day.

Last night (April 3) I was invited to a Rev launch party. Christi's husband, Mike, works at Bacardi and they have a new flavour of Rev out on the market. There was purple everywhere. It was fun, but I am too old to be drinking Rev on a Monday night downtown :) Wow is there ever a lot of sugar and caffeine in those. (And as many of you are aware I don't normally have caffeine in my diet so I am still wired this morning. Very difficult to sleep last night.)

Math March Madness

As many of you know I went to the University of Waterloo for Math. Every year there is a math alumni event in Toronto in March (it used to be every March 14th in celebration of Pi day, you know 3.14 - those crazy mathies). Well, last night was the annual event. I am so glad I took this morning off work.

As usual there was a pool tournament. A couple of years ago the event was held at Vinnie's and I made it to the final game after beating Dean Alan (the Dean of Math at Waterloo). Last year I was asked by our Alumni coordinator Pat if I would help run the tournament. Of course! Unfortunately, I was knocked out the first round. If I remember correctly it was by the Dean.

This year, I was once again asked to help with the tournament and of course I said yes again. And once again I was knocked out first round. This time by Ian (who won the tournament last year). Next year, I have to remember to write out the pool rules that we are going to use PRIOR to the event. Every year I forget that I will be asked this question and that the 'real' pool players will be upset with whatever 'easy' rules we choose. We need to choose a couple of easy rules so that the 'non' pool players always know what's going on.

Unfortunately, because I'm running around getting everyone playing I don't get to chat as much as I would like (and you know how much I like to chat). I did meet some great people and wish that I had of had longer to talk with them.

One of our rules was that if you scratch on the black you lose. Deidre (sp?) won her first game this way; then she won her second game this way; I believe the third win was the same to put her in the semi-final. But as you can see below she was doing quite well in the semi-final against Jamie:

My friend Tim was also doing quite well and then he was pitted against Tom (who is also Deirdre's friend). Apparently Tom was taking a page out of Deirdre's play book because he was trying to play the most defensive pool game ever. Tim actually sank more of Tom's balls because Tom was just trying to hook the eight every shot. It was very crazy.

Then the evening gets a little hazy. I know Tim ended up in the final. (Tom's tactic didn't quite work out for him). But, I can't remember if it was Jamie or Deirdre against Tim. You know they look so similar :) Either way, Tim won (yeah!).

Ian (our winner from last year) won a painting of the Waterloo campus that he really wanted to win last year. So, that was good.

Tim, Ian and I stuck around to play pool for awhile. There was a guy from Chicago, Kevin, at the bar that was wondering what was the deal with all the math and so I invited him to play pool with us (unfortunately, he ended up with me as a partner).

I played extremely badly last night and definitely need to get out and practice (the last time I played was probably back in December). I finally got myself home on the bus by around 2am. I just caught the last bus back to Mississauga. I think it took me over an hour and half at that time of night. I should really check the bus schedules before I head downtown.

A great time appeared to be had by all and I can't wait for next year! Note to self: write out the rules prior to going downtown.

Brother Blog

Jason now has a blog as well and I can keep track of his crazy day to day life. Please check it out: http://gollumullog.livejournal.com/

This weekend I cleaned up the motorcycle and had it out on the road. Saturday night was not so fun. It was cold and rainy, but I didn't have to beg for a ride. Which was very nice.

The reason for taking the motorcycle out in the cold and rain was because it was my friend Tim's birthday. I couldn't miss that. Actually, I had forgotten that I did need a rental car for one last weekend. I was putting away my hockey equipment and realized that I had one last hockey skating class. So, I called the rental company and they said they would call me back when they were on their way to pick me up. I waited and nothing. They didn't even call back on Monday to apologize for forgetting about me. I believe this was a fluke since they are normally very good about getting me a car every weekend. I am now carless until mid May when hockey starts again on Wednesdays.

Back to the party. Tim's birthday was alot of fun. Wow, I didn't recognize the house. There were actual curtains on the windows (I love you Tim, but your house had that crack house look to it), not a sheet in the window. His new girlfriend Jen is definitely a good influence.

Skating at the ACC

Okay, I went skating at the ACC. Do I remember to take my camera? Of course not! So, no pictures of me at centre ice. It was still alot of fun. I was amazed at how bad the ice is and how small the ice is.

Lisa hasn't been skating since she was around 15, so that was interesting. Actually, she did great and seemed to really enjoy it. I'm hoping she will join me at some public skates in the future. It's funny, when we were in university together I remember her telling me that her mom thought she should learn how to skate so that she could go skating with her friends. Lisa brought this up when we were out on the ice on Saturday. Well, it took awhile, but there was actually an event where it would have been good to have skating ability.

Our final playoff game was this past weekend as well. We lost 4-0. I still had fun and it was a great season. The summer season starts in a month and a half. I don't know what I'll do in the meantime :)

St. Paddy's Day

Well, another St. Patricks Day has come and gone. Another year to recover from drinking green beer. I may have my picture in one of the Toronto papers today. Some guy was taking pictures for the Sun (I believe, it was loud at the bar) while I was dancing. He wrote down my name and then another woman asked me some questions about why I chose to celebrate at Failte.

Julia and I met up with Tim, Jen and Jerome at around 12:30 at the bar and it was already packed. It was difficult getting a table! Julia and I left around 10:00pm. I am at work today (yes, Saturday) and boy do I feel rough. No more green beer!

The band (Kitchen Party) was excellent as always and the dancers were amazing. Failte has Irish dancers come in throughout the day, which is so cool.

Tonight I'm heading downtown to go skating with Lisa at the ACC. Some media promotion, I'm so excited.

On March 4th, my friend Annie got married. Congratulations! A good time was had by all. The reception was beautiful and the food was amazing. Annie's husband is Greek, so we actually got to do some Greek dancing, so much fun.

Single Girl

No more Bryan (and for those of you that were unsure - no more Ricardo, either). I'm dateless again, but used to it, so no biggy.

I've been watching the Olympics non stop and love how well the Women's Hockey team is doing.

I rented (well Zipped - zip.ca is awesome) Crash, the third movie up for best picture at the Oscars. It was really well done. Definitely makes you think, I highly recommend watching this one. It's not a happy movie and I think there was only one character I actually liked, but I think that was the point. I still want to see 'Good night and Good luck' and 'Walk the Line'. I'm really not fussy on seeing 'Munich'. Maybe this weekend.

(Okay, I'm back - I actually wrote all of that a couple of weeks ago. Probably around Valentine's Day since that is when Bryan and I broke up.)

I've seen Walk the Line now and wow, was it great. Joaquin is so damn hot. I definitely recommend this movie. In my opinion it should have been up for best picture over Capote. Philip Seymour Hoffman was amazing as Capote and the movie was good. But, I didn't think the overall movie was as good as Walk the Line.

Tonight I am off to see Good Night and Good Luck with Lisa. Then on Sunday I'll be all excited to find out who won. I will be at hockey during the beginning of the show. But, I just picked up my new PVR so I can start watching from the beginning as soon as I get home. I'm so excited.

I'm off to my friend Annie's wedding tomorrow. I'm sure she will look beautiful. And I suspect from all the planning I've heard that it will be a great reception.

Last weekend I headed to London to see my family (well part at least, Dad, Sue and Rach). And to check out their new hottub. Oh, I want one for my very own (but, will have to settle for the one at my gym). It was a really great, relaxing weekend. Lots of Olympics to watch and much sleeping on the couch!

Books for this week included Enchantment by Orson Scott Card. Everytime I read one of his books, they blow me away. If you get a chance I highly recommend this one. Especially if you have ever read any Russian Fairy Tales. Currently, I'm reading Blue Gold: The Battle Against Corporate Theft of the World's Water. This book is making me extremely depressed, but definitely opening my eyes. North Americans waste more water than any other group of people. Come on people conserve that water, it is not even close to unlimited. More on this book later, when I'm done.

So, before I sign off here are my Oscar picks:

Best Picture and Director: Brokeback Mountain
Best Actor: Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Best Actress: Reese Witherspoon
Best Supporting Actor: Jake Gyllenhal - but I don't think he will win :(
Best Supporting Actress: well, I don't really care. I only saw two of the performances and they were good, but didn't blow me away
Best Original Screenplay: Crash
Best Adapted Screenplay: Brokeback Mountain