Exciting Things to Look Forward To

1. Stef convinced me to go with her to the Sloan concert on Oct. 6th, which is awesome, since I had planned on seeing them in Bala this weekend before plans got changed. All I have to say about that is:

S-E-A-N-S-A-I-D!!!

P-L-A-Y Ya Ya Ya Ya!!!

2. Right after the concert, I'll be jetting home to Windsor for Thanksgiving weekend. I don't really like Windsor all that much, but I LOVE the small town of Maidstone, where my Dad and Stepmom live. It's a little hamlet about 20 minutes outside of Windsor (honestly, it's a hamlet!) It's the epitome of small town Ontario. Very peaceful... it's always a treat to go and spend time with the fam in the back yard (especially since it's nicely done up with a new deck!)

3. October 25th, I'm going to The Tragically Hip at the Phoenix. It's been four years since I've seen them; the last show I saw was at Pine Knob (what's it called now? The DTE Amphitheatre or something) in Detroit, on their In Violet Light tour. Awesome as always. I get butterflies in my stomach when I think about seeing them. And at the Phoenix- it's going to be a small crowd, and I've never seen them in a venue that sat less than 15 000 people!

** update... I may not be able to go... tickets are already sold out. Dammit!

posted by Unknown @ 12:09 p.m.

To The Man I Almost Ran Over This Morning at Yonge and Adelaide...

... WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!

You said you didn't get out of my way because my light was yellow? Well that means YOUR light was still RED, and you shouldn't have been standing in the middle of the road!!!

Imbecile.

posted by Unknown @ 12:44 p.m.

You Know What Sucks?

Being stood up. You know what sucks even more? Not knowing if you've been stood up, or if the guy's grandma or dog died, or if he's gone out of town, or if he's just forgotten about the date.

Here's what happened. I met a guy through MySpace (I know, *groan*)... and we'd been emailing back and forth for a couple weeks. We met up for lunch the day I left for my Vancouver trip, and it went well, I thought. Then, I email him when I get back, and he says he's busy for the next couple weeks, but that he'd love to see me again. Great, all is well in the world- I just have to wait until he contacts me, letting me know he's got some spare time.

A week goes by, and then finally we talk, via MSN Messenger (*groan*). We make plans to get together a week later, and I suggest Chino- a bar on Queen West where I kinda know the owner, and the possibility of a free shooter or two is a bonus. The date we set was yesterday- 8pm. I called him up at around 6:30pm, to confirm, and maybe to set a new meeting place, cause I realized that Chino was closed on Mondays. We also hadn't talked since we initially set the date the week before. I got his answering machine, so I left a message. I called again an hour later, and left another message. I called again- just after 8pm, and left another message. And I haven't heard from him yet. So- that's that.

I'm feeling kind of bummed out about it- but not really, since I don't know exactly what happened. Did he change his mind, and decide not to meet up with me, or to respond to my messages? Or did something happen to him? Or maybe he just got busy again with work? I dunno. Either way- he better have a damn good excuse.

It's hard not to be bitter about things like this. I see all of my friends, and they're all in relationships of some sort (be it blissfully common law, adventurous long-distance, casually attached at the hip, or booty call-iscious), and I keep thinking, "What the hell is wrong with me?" I'm 29, average height, average weight, average average average. Maybe that's what it is. I'm the girl that's extremely easy to forget about. I know this- it's been a recurring problem my whole life. So- wah wah wah... why can't I find an equally average man to complement me?

posted by Unknown @ 12:27 p.m.

New Furniture!!

I made a trip to Ikea on Saturday with James and Bex, and I bought a new bedroom set. The Malm bed, two matching bedside tables and a matching dresser. I sorely needed the furniture; I'd been sleeping on just a boxspring and mattress for over three years, and storing my clothes in an Ikea Gorm shelf (you know- the super cheap one). That, and a small dresser that somebody threw out at 550 Bathurst. No more sleeping in a college student room for me!

Anyways- here's what it looks like:



And the tables mount onto the side of the bed. Nice clean lines. Modern. Not shabby chic. I'm totally shabby chic, though... I think... I dunno. Ah well...

posted by Unknown @ 9:55 p.m.

Word on the Street Festival 2006

I hit the Word on the Street Festival yesterday, which, as always, was full of great things to see, read, watch, photograph, and listen to.

And HORDES of people to elbow my way through. I always forget about that. Because the festival is only one day, the crowds are pretty insane. It's near impossible to get through to any of the tables where they're selling books at a discounted price (and they're pretty much the bargain books you can get at Indigo or Chapters anyways). Still, the people were swarming around the tables... I wasn't in the mood to fight the masses, so I skipped the whole "bargain book shopping" experience.

I did take in the Blogging Toronto panel discussion in the WordShop Marquee tent, led by Spacing Magazine's Matt Blackett. The panel included Cheap Eats Alexa Clark, Photojunkie and friend Rannie Turingan, Unknown Toronto blogger Sarah Hood and BlogTO creator Tim Shore. The speakers answered questions like, "How did you get started in blogging? and "How has blogging changed your life?", as well as how their sites have progressed, how their significant others have suffered or benefited and chocolate eclairs!


Rannie talked a lot about how Toronto bloggers have formed a community for themselves, and how blogging has widened his resources. Toronto bloggers do have a community, and I think a big reason for this is that Rannie created one for us! With websites like gtabloggers.com and toronto.photobloggers.org, not to mention his Flickr groups... and just the inspiration he's given to aspiring photobloggers like myself... it really is a blogging phenomenon!

Sarah mentioned how once a person starts blogging, their perspective on things they experience, like events they attend, totally change. It goes from the usual, "I'm here, I'm seeing it, I'll forget about it no time," to "I'm here, I'm seeing it, now what can I photograph and write about, so that I can share my experience with everyone who reads my blog!" Kinda like how, before I went to school for photography, things seemed to look normal. Once I'd finished school- everything had a 24x36mm frame around it!

All in all, the discussion was very interesting, if a little bit too short. I think they started late, and ended a bit early, actually. I was disappointed that they didn't talk more about blogging technologies, like RSS feeds, etc., but it was great to hear how the simple desire to share some of their experiences took on a life of its own- in the form of a BLOG.

Besides the blogging talk, I renewed my subscription to Canadian Geographic for half price. I wasn't sure if I was going to, because I barely get enough time to sit down and read a magazine, but for $15? I couldn't resist. If anything, the pictures are cool to look at!

I also got to see an old friend from college, Lori A. May, who just recently had a book published. She signed the copy I bought, and although we didn't get to talk long, it was great to see how good she looked, and how successful she's becoming. She's a fantastic person, and I can't wait to see how smart her detective novel, The Profiler, will be!


See more of the pics I took at WOTS here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenswift/

posted by Unknown @ 2:06 p.m.

The Best Commercial On TV Right Now...

With the onset of cooler weather, and the lineup of new and returning fall TV shows, I'm finding that I'm watching a hell of a lot more TV. And as a direct result, I'm being exposed to more commercials. Normally, I hate commercials. But... sometimes, a company has a streak of advertising brilliance (or hires a more expensive marketing firm), and they come up with a new (or borrow and rework an old) catchy slogan and theme song.

That being said, the new Cadbury commercials tickle me to no end: "Wouldn't it be nice if the world was Cadbury". Especially the surf scene one, where the end of the song goes like this:

"And if a shark comes up and triiiiiiiies to bite you,
You can say, "I'm chocolate, IIIIIIIIIII invite you!" (surfer made of chocolate wiggles his cute little chocolate bum).

Too cute! As if Cadbury chocolate wasn't irresistible enough already! And I'm not the only one who thinks so!!

posted by Unknown @ 11:34 a.m.

TGIT

... or Thank God It's Thursday... since that's when all the awesome television programs are on. Honestly, when the new season starts for fall TV, I feel like my weekend starts a day earlier!

Survivor last night was a bust, though. The Latino team threw the challenge (I love seeing Jeff's reaction when someone's thrown a challenge, or wants to give up- he get's genuinely angry!)... because they wanted to vote off the lazy guy. I probably would've done the same thing, but I would've been honest and up front about it, and discussed the situation before the challenge. Doesn't make for very exciting television, unfortunately. On top of that- they sent the smartest guy in the whole game to Exile Island, where OF COURSE he found the hidden immunity idol. In a matter of minutes, I bet. Good for him though- smart, sexy, buff Asians deserve to go far in this game! LOL...

After that I watched CSI... which was crazy good. That show always freaks me out, and never fails to amaze me.

And after that, I watched the season premiere of ER. HOLY SHIT. That show... above all... gets my emotions all toiled up. It's a rare Thursday night that my eyes are dry at 11pm. Such a good story line, and the characters are all so likeable... I feel like I've known them, really known them, for years. You just want them to be happy, and wonder why so many bad things happen to this one particular ER. It's because it's in Chicago! No no... it's because it's a television show. I know that. Of course I know that. And pain and suffering make for good television. Make believe pain and suffering I can handle. Reality pain and suffering- I close my eyes. I can't even handle the school yard fights that have been video taped and posted online.

What can I say- I'm an all around sap.

posted by Unknown @ 11:05 a.m.

You Know What's Cool?

posted by Unknown @ 6:27 p.m.

Randomness

Firstly, Friday afternoon I stopped at Shopper's to pick up some face wash, shampoo, kleenex, toilet paper and chips, and as I was perusing the aisles, this lady with short dreads blew by me saying, "Excuse me, white bitch!" I was completely shocked. I told the cashier, and she said, "Oh yeah. She's like that to everyone. She must have a disorder, cause sometimes she's nice, and sometimes she lashes out." Woah.

Friday night, James came over to watch a movie- Kiss Kiss Bang Bang with Robert Downey Jr. (awesome, as always) and Val Kilmer (I thought he was dead?!?). The movie was really good... funny, exciting, sexy... Kilmer was hilarious as Gay Perry- which I didn't think was possible. James didn't stay awake for the entire film, which is normal, but he also said it was good. Ha!

After James left on Friday night (he had an early night, since he was heading up to the Harvest Festival Saturday morning), I watched a movie called Daltry Calhoun, starring Johnny Knoxville in his first serious role. I'll save you all the trouble, Knoxville is not a very good serious actor. What am I saying? He's not a good actor at all! But he is relatively nice to look at, and that's why I rented the movie. It lived up to my expectations, which weren't very high. A good movie night!

Saturday, I did jack shit. Absolutely nothing. No cleaning, no leaving the house, no shower, nothing. It was one of those days. I spent the entire day eating avocadoes and playing Baldur's Gate II (which I've been playing on and off for about- oh, I dunno- three years!) A nice relaxing day, and preparation for the big move on Sunday.

Not my big move- Julia and Kevin's. They moved away from Parkdale (Parkdale will miss them!!!) to Vaughn Road near St. Clair and Bathurst. Their new place is awesome! It's above ground! It's got nice big windows! And no bitchy land lady to deal with! Well, not that they've experienced, as of yet. I'm excited for them... they totally deserve a nice, peaceful place to live.

Sunday after the move I went home, played a bit more Baldur's Gate and then watched the series premiere of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, which was AWESOME. Matthew Perry is back! It's a great behind-the-scenes look at how a live sketch comedy program is run. SNL meets ER. It's very cool. Watch it!

posted by Unknown @ 12:36 p.m.

Another Season is Upon Us

I love the autumn. The smell, the cool nights, the colours of the changing leaves. And the TV. I know, it's horrible. But I can't help it! I love television, and all the good shows are starting up again this week.

Survivor premieres tonight. Ohhhh... it's gonna be a good season! I can just feel it! Everyone has their panties in a bunch because of the way the teams are separated... racially- I'm guessing (from the bios on the website) that the teams will be African American, Caucasian, Latino and Asian. Black, white, red and yellow- to put it even more offensively! LOL...

Don't worry, I'm not racist at all. And I think separating the teams this way will make for a very interesting start to the game. The team spirit will be even stronger! But I bet that within the first couple of weeks, the teams will be shuffled up. So everyone, just cool your damn jets and enjoy the show. It is a GAME after all.

I'm reading the first bio on the Survivor website- Adam. I find it funny that under the "Favourites" section, he's got "NA" under Books/Authors, but he lists Golden Grahams, Apple Jacks, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch as his fave cereal. This one is a real thinker. I wonder if there are some more intelligent people starring this year. Hopefully!

Among other shows I'm looking forward to are America's Next Top Model, The Office, My Name is Earl, ER. Thursday nights, baby. That's where it's at.

posted by Unknown @ 10:48 a.m.

Finally!

I was able to figure out a way to get the photos that I burnt to DVD in the middle of my trip onto my computer at work, where I was able to upload them to Flickr, letting me share them with all of you!! Phew!

I was worried there for a bit, cause neither my home computer nor my work computer have DVD drives. Time for a new computer, I think!

Anyways- lots of photos with stories about my trip can be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenswift/sets/72157594282725105/

posted by Unknown @ 4:35 p.m.

You Are Chocolat Orange Pocky

In Vancouver, Bex and I walked into this convenience store with rows upon rows of Pocky. I had no idea they came in so many different flavours! Even special edition Pocky! So in spirit of that . . . (hehe... cross blogged on Bex's site)

You Are Chocolat Orange Pocky

Your attitude: funky and flavorful Rich and deep - yet zingy and zesty You are the perfect partner in crime

It's funny, cause I can't stand the taste of orange chocolate! Ah well... one of the more interesting quizzes I've taken in a awhile!

posted by Unknown @ 11:24 p.m.

I'm BaaaAAAaaack!

After 10 days of flying, sailing, bussing, walking, cycling, climbing, shopping, eating, kayaking, more shopping, sleeping, more eating, laughing and taking photos, I'm home in Toronto. *sigh*

It feels like I've been gone for a month! 10 days is the perfect amount of time to be away, I think. I was missing my kitty cat and my bed. But I definitely had a lot of fun, and would love to go back. I think next summer I'm going to plan another visit to my friend Denise, and we can go camping. I've heard the camping out there is phenomenal.

Anyways- this is just a precursor to the rest of the posts I'll do about the trip. Later. And there will be countless photos up on Flickr soon. But for now- breakfast (erm, I mean lunch), and a shower.

posted by Unknown @ 1:48 p.m.