Rant on the Smoking Ban
So the province-wide smoking ban came into effect at midnight last night. As if it was some kind of Armageddon that needed a countdown. *hmpf*
I can't believe there are people out there complaining about this new by-law. The government is finally doing something to benefit Canadians, and all some people can do is bitch and moan about the infringement of their rights. COME ON. What about my rights, as a non-smoker, to not breathe in your disgusting second hand smoke?? "Go stand some place else," a smoker might respond. Well- consider yourself TOLD (to go stand somewhere else).
I caught a bit of the news this morning (I can't remember which channel), and a reporter was interviewing an elderly gentleman on a cafe patio...
"Why did you quit smoking, sir?" she asked.
"Massive heart attack, " the wrinkly old man replied.
"Wow, nothing like a massive heart attack to prompt you to quit, eh?" [insert my laughter here] "What do you think of the smoking ban, sir?" she asked.
"Well, that's a whole other, uh, story," he said, "I don't like that the government is messing with our rights."
WHAT?!?!? I was appalled to hear that someone who was so emphatically effected by smoking would have that point of view. He is first hand proof that smoking is a BAD BAD thing. I think the fact that the government is finally relinquishing their allegiance to the cigarette corporations is fabulous. Get some BALLS! Cigarettes kill people. So do a lot of other things. But if the government can do something about it, they should. And so they have.
All of the bar and restaurant owners who are pissing and moaning about how their business is going to suffer... do your research. We haven't been able to smoke indoors in Toronto for a year now, and I guarantee business hasn't suffered enough to warrant their worries. In fact, as far as as I can tell, there are way fewer smokers nowadays... so as Business 101 teaches- cater to the majority. I bet you a million bucks your patrons will enjoy your establishment more now, which will in turn prompt them to spend more time there (not to mention money). SO SUCK IT UP!
What's the next step in the fight against evil cancer sticks everywhere? In my opinion, the government should make the sale of cigarettes illegal (on par with marijuana), or at least regulating the sale of cigarettes more closely- with the NicBO (as opposed to the LCBO).
RIDE YOUR BIKE TO WORK!
I find it strangely ironic that the TTC folks decided to strike TODAY. The kick-off of Bike Week 2006 in Toronto. For good or bad, and for many different reasons, there were multitudes of cyclists on the streets this morning, swerving in and out of the increased number of motor vehicles that were begrudgingly driven downtown. To those of you who stayed at home today, even though you live within cycling, blading or walking distance to work, I say BOO to YOU. Hopefully there aren't too many of you out there!
For the past couple weeks I've been looking forward to eating some pancakes, courtesy of the City of Toronto. I showed up at City Hall this morning at 8:30am, met up with James on the west side of the "pond" and waited in line to get some yummy flatcakes... all the while being offered free water bottles, orange slices, croissants, buttons and pamphlets from organizations like Ontario Power Generation (who's down with OPG, ya you know me), CAN-BIKE, the Toronto Cycling Committee and Now Magazine. We enjoyed some early big band classics being played up on stage, a pleasant speech from Mayor Miller (who was probably gritting his teeth, trying his best not to blurt out "F**K the TTC!"), and some encouraging talks by councillors from around town and country (YAY for Peggy Nash and Olivia Chow!).
Who cares if I was 30 minutes late for work... it was for a good cause! I wanted pancakes dammit!
"I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike!"
If you're a cycler (and even if you're not, I guess), don't forget to check out the other
Bike Week 2006 events, happening all this week and next.
The Weekend of the Avocado
Last Wednesday I bought an avocado for the first time. I've liked avocados for a while; you might remember me talking about how good the guacamole is at Sneaky Dee's... I had just never purchased one before myself. I picked a nice ripe one, without too many spots on it (I really had no idea what to look for).
Thursday was
Becky and
Graham's birthday, so we went to Lot 16 and shared a few good laughs and drinks with 20 of her closest friends (see more pics
here). I called in sick to work the next day... I had a few too many... drinks that is, not laughs (as if that's even possible). Friday afternoon I finally made myself get out of bed at 2pm, and cut into the avocado, figuring I needed the protein (do avocados even have protein in them?) I put it on a sesame seed bagel, with some cheese and cucumbers, and had a nice messy, but yummy, sandwich.
Yesterday I met up with Bex for some Sushi Time. I had a set of Sushi Time Maki and some Dynamite Maki. It had avocado in it.
Yesterday for dinner, James, Ori, Amy and I went to Doug's By Day (I think it was Doug) in
The Village (Forest Hill, I know- how swanky are we?), and Amy ordered a veg sandwich that came with avocado on it. I was still content from the sushi, but I couldn't resist- it's like an addiction. Ori and I split a veg sandwich. We also went for a crazy long walk through the ravine.
This morning for breakfast, Bex and I went to The Beaver- this great little spot on Queen Street West, just east of the Gladstone. I had the Avocado and Tomato Sandwich, which came with perfect scrambled eggs.
And now I'm eating the rest of my avocado, mixed with some mashed chick peas, lemon juice, salt and pepper, with some cheddar cheese on Triscuits. YUM!
HOLY AVOCADOS BATMAN!
I know, I know... enough avocados already.
Wha???
Your 80s Heartthrob Is |
 John Stamos |
It's actually
Johnny Depp on 21 Jumpstreet!
The Fifth Sentence...
"His bald spot flared like the head of a match."
-- From Skinny Legs and All, Tom Robbins.
Now it's your turn! Grab the nearest book. Turn to page 123. Find the fifth sentence. Tell me what it is!
It's been a while...
Sorry to keep you hanging, if anyone was waiting for me to post something new. I'm afraid my life is just a bit drab right now. Not too much going on.
This holiday weekend didn't really feel like a holiday. It was cold, rainy, and I didn't get to spend nearly enough time outside. The goal for the weekend was to get the link to my photo blog working, and voila! It's done- no thanks to the PixelPost support team (if that's even what they are), and LOTS of thanks to my friend James.
Besides that, I watched a movie called
I Love Your Work, starring Giovanni Ribisi, Christina Ricci, Jason Lee, and a few others. It was disturbing, in the way that movies about real emotions and real reactions are disturbing. I enjoyed it, although it was a bit hard to follow. It's about a movie star that cannot handle the stress of being in the spotlight, all the while dealing with a Hollywood marriage, creepy fans and the loss of a love/innocence due to his escalating fame. I'd give it 3 1/2 stars out of 5.
New Photos on Flickr...
I finally got around to borrowing a film scanner from work, and I uploaded the cross-processed roll of film I shot in March. Ahhhh the film. Can't say I miss it. Here's my favourite:
Tell me what you think!
First Nations Dinner
Book club was last night, and we always try to make food related to the book. We read Three Day Road, by Joseph Boyden- it's about two young Native Canadians who join the army and become snipers in World War I. The book was excellent, and the food we made was pretty good too!
Maria brought some Canadian wild rice, and I made some Three Sisters Soup (the three sisters being Corn, Beans and Squash) and some bannock (flat bread-Native style). Gab brought the rum (which always plays a big role in WWI stories) and some Heinekin (not related at all, but it's damn good!).
I didn't get a chance to take any photos last night, so here's a shot of the leftovers, which I had for lunch today! YUM!
Isn't that something?
My japanese name is 川添 Kawazoe (riverside) 久美子 Kumiko (eternal beautiful child).
Take your real japanese name generator! today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator Generator.
Agitation
I'm agitated.
It started this morning when I woke up and the tupperware I washed last night was still not dry. Is tupperware some kind of crazy air-dry-resistant material? Honestly.
On the way to work, some guy passed me on his bike in an intersection. I find this completely dangerous and unnecessary. But I guess he doesn't.
I opened my email this morning, only to find five more comment spams on my photo blog. I bet if I go check again, there will be five more. I completely deleted the god damn picture that was being targeted from my photo blog all together, so I don't even know how the hell the spammers are doing it. When I get a chance, I'll try and contact PixelPost, but in my experience they aren't very helpful. Meh. This is the most aggravating thing of all.
Things are still tense at work, too. My co-worker is chilly to me, and I'm chilly to them. Whatever. It's not my problem they get upset when I tell them to do their job properly. And I think it's entirely unfair for them to make
me feel guilty for telling them. I wish I didn't have to correct them- believe me. If only my boss would say something, or better yet, mistakes are avoided in the first place. Whatev.
And now the scroll on my mouse is sticky. WILL IT EVER END?!?!?!?
Weekend Update
Not too much happened, really.
Friday was
Stef's bert-day, so we went to
7 Numbers on the Danforth for some authentic Italian goodness. MAN, was it good. We got the group dinner, and shared some appetizers- tomato slices with mozzarella balls on top (I'm talking the REAL mozzarella), fried calamari (not rubbery, so you know it's fresh), salad made with baby greens and house dressing and feta (I think?), green beans (so fresh, they reminded me of eating them out of my garden last summer), and breaded artichokes. Then we shared some pastas- linguini, big penne noodles and lasagna (I think, honestly I don't even remember, I just kept eating- the pasta was homemade and FRESH), and THEN we got our main course. I had striploin wrapped around asparagus with mozzarella, which came with some roasted red peppers, roasted zucchini and more salad, which was all fresh. Did I mention the food was FRESH? All the while, we were drinking sangria, which I didn't even know about but it's phenomenal! Anyways... the bill came to over $500, but it was well worth it!
Thanks to Stef for having a birthday!
Saturday I worked for 10 HOURS at the
Henry's Photographic and Digital Imaging Show... Imagine saying, "This ticket is good all weekend, so hold on to the stub and you can come and go!" 4000 times. I'm not kidding. It was ridiculous. But it was a good show (not that I had the chance to see any of it).
Sunday, I cleaned the bathroom. And watched
Little People, Big World for five straight hours. Woah.
I Wish...
... I wasn't so attracted to younger men.
... I didn't have to work all day tomorrow.
... my co-worker would stop fucking up all the time, so I wouldn't have to tell them to stop fucking up.
... my cat didn't shed her fur so much.
... I could go camping every weekend this summer.
Chatty Thursday
Yesterday was rainy. BOOOO! But, because I didn't ride my bike to work, I ran into a couple people on the streetcar, which is always nice.
On the way to work I spotted
Bex and
Graham's old friend from high school, Jim. He lives in the hood, but the last time I saw him was at
Becky's house warming party in March. It was good to see him, and I was surprised that he recognized me; we had only met a couple times. He told me he usually rides to work too, but last week he was HIT BY A CAR! It happened at Dundas and University- apparently he was riding through an amber light on the crosswalk... the car screeched to a stop, but not in time to save him from being bounced off the hood onto his ass. "I was like Wolverine though," he said while making slashing actions with his hands, "I don't have a bruise or cut on me!" Phew... he's way too cute to be injured! He wasn't wearing a helmet, so he's extremely lucky that he didn't smash his head on the concrete. I'm not really one to preach, since I don't wear a helmet either. I know, I know... I'm a fool.
On the way home from work,
Ken from the
TPMG sat down behind me. He didn't know it was me since I was wearing my winter
hat (keeps the rain from spotting up my glasses), but we had a good conversation about photography and the likes. Sad to say, though, in one foul swoop he completely discouraged me from ever attempting to become a professional photographer in Toronto. Not that that was my plan, or anything. His argument was truly valid- there are so many pro photog wannabe's, the talent pool is completely saturated.
He asked me if I had an exhibit in
Contact 2006, and I said no... I didn't think any of my images were good enough to show. After visiting a few of the exhibits on Sunday, though, I realized that all you need to be involved in Contact is a place to hang your photos, the motivation to do the work involved and $500 for the entrance fee. No talent necessary since there aren't any curators. This is not to say that those included in the Contact Festival are hack jobs, amateurs or unworthy. I'm not saying that at all. My biggest problem with getting a show together is the daunting task of picking images, getting them printed and framing them. Not to mention the cost involved. I
commend any and all who DID do the work; there is merit in effort, afterall.
Meh. Maybe next year I'll have a spare $500 kicking around. And the get up and go to actually do something with my work.
Randomness...
I'm watching
America's Next Top Model right now. I can't believe it. I feel bad for enjoying anything with the word "america" in the title. But I like seeing the photo shoots. It's very interesting to see what cameras the photographer's are using, how cool the locations are, and lets face it- I'm a sucker for reality television.
I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed right now. I think I've got too many online responsibilities. Between posting photos on my
photo blog everyday, reading the
Meetup.com message boards, posting on here, checking out
Flickr... not to mention that I'm on the internet all day at work! Then I've got the magazine and my own photos to shoot and edit. I'm going to write a list of everything I do on the internet, and maybe come up with a solid daily routine. Imagine that... I need a routine for my online activities... what's this world coming to?
Speaking of lists... I'm also going to start "My Life in Music".
Jerrold told me about this list you make- a musical timeline of your life. I think I can safely say the first on that list for me will be Dancing Queen (ABBA). I came out of my mother's womb knowing all the lyrics on that record... I think my Mom listened to it non-stop when she was pregnant with me. Skip ahead a few years, and next would probably be some nursery rhymes (Ring Around the Posey) and some Brownie campfire songs (Titanic). I'll post more of the list later on.
I'm a Dirty Girl...
... since I can't take a shower. See:
My bathroom is in destruction mode right now. But it will be nice and shiny with new tile, soon. Hopefully. LOL. And the holes in my bedroom ceiling are apparently getting fixed today. YAY!!
This is Queenie today, sitting in one of her favourite spots. On the kitchen table. I haven't the heart to kick her off, since that's one of only two windows that actually open in my place. I hardly ever eat at my kitchen table, anyways. Who does?
Renos and Renegs
I'm feeling a bit better now, thanks to my
personal hermetic advisor and a couple days put behind me. Phew. It happens every month, but this time round was a bit worse- I'm not sure why. Damn hormones.
Anyways- the big news right now is that I'm NOT moving in with my friends. Things got extremely complicated, and we figured it would be easiest for everyone if I just stayed put. Which I'm fine with. I think. The new landlord is fixing up our building- no more scary non-closing door in the basement, no more leaking holes in my bedroom ceiling, no more animals scurrying in the walls, etc. And they're re-tiling my bathroom, which is nice. Except that they're doing it this weekend, starting Saturday at 9am. I guess I'm won't be sleeping in!
I found this funny website when I typed "purple gum, tastes like soap" into Google:
http://emily.icomm.ca/thrills.htmlI was trying to remember the name of Thrills Gum (to comment
here), and I was directed to this site, built by an american, about Canada. It's pretty funny. I even learned a bit. My favourite was this, "When you step on someone's foot, he apologizes. (This really happened.)" It's TRUE! I find myself doing that all the time. It's inherent. I don't even think about it. Good ole' Canadians.
On the other hand, I'm a bit disconcerted about the
new budget, especially Canada's pull-out from the
Kyoto Accord. The climate problem we're experiencing on Earth is a world-wide dilemma, and Harper's decision (or whoever it is that's making that call) to nix the Kyoto Agreement in exchange for "made in Canada" solutions is missing the point. I always thought the Kyoto Agreement was a good thing; nations need to work together to come up with a global solution. Meh.
I'm am happy to hear that
personal environmentally-friendly decisions are being rewarded, with a tax credit for public transit passes. There's also an increase in funding for public transit and more money going to paper and pulp mills that support the use of "
black liquor". That's it. We're just a bunch of drunks!
Moons and Sails
I have a couple bad days every now and again. Actually, every month. Right around the same time. Know what I mean?
It's called PMS. And it sucks. The life right out of me. Along with any desire/inspiration/motivation to do anything. I don't feel like writing. I don't feel like taking photos. I don't feel like keeping my eyes open. It's ridiculous.
Not only that, but it's a huge reminder that my biological clock is indeed keeping the proper time; that my body has one essential purpose above all, and that is to procreate. Which is definitely not happening. Not even close. And I feel very badly about this... all because of the PMS. It's one vicious cycle.
What I don't understand is the reasoning behind why I'm not able to find a man. I've had plenty in the past, but it's been a long time since. I don't know if it's because of the way I look, or the way I act, or what I say or don't say... but it's frustrating as hell, and I don't know what to do about it.
I can usually make myself forget about all of this; I just go through each day, doing what I do... but when the moon is in its first quarter, I can't stop thinking about how empty I feel. It's horribly anti-feminist to say this, but I need a man to fill me up. I guess if I was a lesbian, I could say that I need a woman, and that wouldn't be so insulting to the female species. Anyways- you catch my drift.
I want a man to tell me that they like the "cut of my jib", and mean it.
This is fairly amazing...
http://postsecret.blogspot.com/It's a blog built by someone in Maryland, and it consists of homemade post cards revealing people's various secrets. From "I'm pregnant" to "I roll in dead things" (this last one is the confession of a super cute dawg, thankfully!) It's worth a read... brought a tear to my eye!
