Blurty Blurt Blurt

BSG and The Meaning Of Life

2009-07-24T14:21:00.002-04:00

I just wanted to jot down quickly how I've been obsessed with the television series Battlestar Galactica lately (it happens), and I want to impress on any reader how well the show is done, and how it's been reaffirming thoughts I'm having concerning why were all here on this big rock (I'm telling you, it's that kind of a show).

I kind of feel like an idiot, because when I pinpointed why I think we exist, it seemed like a no brainer. It's love, dammit. Finding those people out there who will reciprocate a passion, whom you can share your life with. Finding out who those people are is a whole other ball of wax.

Anyways, in the show there's a group of human-made robots (the Cylons) who have evolved to look exactly like their makers, and whose last battle for the complete humanitizing of their kind is the struggle to find (and keep) love. The meaning of life.

Walkerville Art Walk... Discovering The 'Hood

2009-07-19T15:10:00.007-04:00

I took a walk with Stace yesterday, around the neighbourhood, to check out the Art Walk. We got a bit of a late start; we went to check out the new Downtown Farmer's Market first, where I purchased a luscious cucumber melon hand cream puck from Harrow's Faerhaven. We also saw some of a busker act while we were down there. When we got back to Walkerville, the rain started, soooo... we didn't get to see as much I would've liked, but alas! It was a great opportunity to check out some of the shops around my new place, and to appreciate some work done by local artists.

We headed to The Yoga Loft first, since Stace teaches there and I'd never been up. What a beautiful space! Lots of long hallways to display lots of art, too.

The grand entrance to The Yoga Loft.

Then we headed west, and checked out Jones & Co., a great little vintage shop with lots and lots of interesting merchandise. It's owned by Stacey's boyfriend's sister's boyfriend's mom. LOL Stacey found a companion candle holder to one that her mom has had for years, and if I didn't need prescription glasses, I would've totally bought these sweet shades.

Some sweet vintage shades. I think my grandma had a pair like this.

The day was getting long, so we made one last quick stop into the Walkerville Tavern (Stacey's parent's neighbour's establishment, I'm sensing a theme here)... a cute little bar with a perfect "table" for displaying some art.

Art inside Walkerville Tavern.

Then we headed to the Kildare, to meet Mr. Stacey's soccer team, and because that's where we always end up. It's a good place to end up. :)

The gates to heaven. Errrrr... I mean, the Kildare.

Woo Hooooo!!! It's Finally Here!!

2009-07-15T14:16:00.003-04:00

I'm super stoked to see the 6th installment of the saga that is Harry Potter! I must admit that Half-Blood Prince was my least favourite book in the series, but I know the movie is going to blow me away. Can't wait for Harry and Ginny to hook up!

Happy Birthday Canada!!!

2009-07-01T00:07:00.005-04:00

Wow... 142.
That's pretty old. But not really... she doesn't look a day over 27 ;)

I Love Living In Walkerville

2009-06-23T15:49:00.004-04:00

I just read through an excellent "virtual tour" of Walkerville, and I learned so much about my new neighbourhood. I find the history of this area absolutely fascinating, and it makes me a bit giddy to look out the window and see century-old buildings, the foundation of the town of Walkerville. I'm a history nerd, I can't help it.

The Old Victoria Tavern was originally called the Walkerville Exchange, and was a rooming house for people traveling on the train from the Walkerville Train Station. The building that's there now was built in 1903, and was originally only two storeys. In 1906, a third storey was added. The house that sits just south of it was actually moved from the location of the tavern by the owner, Frank Laforet. That house was the original Exchange. The name of the tavern changed to the Victoria Hotel in 1930.

Like I said, fascinating! If it wasn't so hot, I'd go out and take more pics.

Here's a link to the virtual tour:
http://www.walkervilletimes.com/virtual-tour/virtual_tour.htm

A view of the tavern from my front window.

Unexpected Messages

2009-06-04T11:24:00.002-04:00

I just received an gmail chat message from someone I rarely speak to- someone I don't think I've ever even had a conversation with- saying he's thinking about me and sending a smile my way. Which is super nice! But strange.

And yesterday, I got a message via Facebook from an old boyfriend saying he's about to be a dad, and how intense is that, and remember when we hooked up blah blah blah? WTF?

Don't get me wrong, these messages of kindness are very nice to get, and I do appreciate them, but I can't help second guessing them. Did someone hack into their accounts and send a message on their behalf, without them knowing? Is it all part of a big conspiracy to make Kari feel worthy of attention, only to be shucked back down to size in the near future by some virtual slap in the face (the possibilities are endless).

Bah! It is what it is.

Stink Trees and Daisies

2009-06-03T23:23:00.006-04:00

This morning I get a call from my landlord, saying a tree cutting company is coming to get rid of the tree that's rubbing up against the house. If it got any bigger, it probably wouldn't be good for the house's foundation, either. I took a look at it and realized that it was a Stink Tree, or an Ailanthus Tree- just like the ones that are all over Toronto! I guess they're a problem for any city. Anyways, there were huge trucks all over, and it was a big ordeal. Lots of noise and men in hats.

And then, as I was looking through Sidereel.com, I noticed that there were new episodes of Pushing Daisies! I absolutely love this show; the writing is witty, the premise is unique (a guy can touch dead people and bring them back to life) and the main character is, IMHO, super cute. I just love his bushy eyebrows.

I also got to watch the Dead Like Me movie, which was good, but not great. It was cool to hear them all use cuss words... cause when you're a grim reaper, I'd imagine there'd be a lot of swear about.

So it seems that my day was taken up by a lot of death... the death of a tree, and some macabre creativity. A good day, I think!

*** It's also my sister-in-law's birthday, and my cousin stopped by for a visit, but I didn't want to mention those two things during my "death" themed blog. :) ***

Still Unemployed, But No Longer Overwhelmed

2009-06-02T12:36:00.003-04:00

It's been a while since I've written anything on here, and my blog is the one thing I wanted to keep up with after leaving Toronto. So here goes!

Things are much the same, but all together different, in my life right now. I still don't have a job, but I've moved to Windsor and I'm loving it here. My new neighbourhood is awesome, my apartment is almost twice the size of my place in Toronto, but over $100 less in rent, and my proximity to best friends and family is nourishing my spirit! I'm on a baseball team, I get to cheer my nephew on during his games, I have a sweet car now, and I get drunk with Ben entirely too often! Just kidding... or am I? LOL

Right now, I'm feeling good. The lack of job isn't such a big deal, since my EI payments are good and steady. I'm ok for money. The problem will be my sanity level, without having something to do everyday. Right now, I'm filling my time with setting up house (pics will come soon), visiting with friends and family, and playing NWN2 (it probably wasn't a good idea to buy that, but ah well).

And I have to get Ravenswift Images up and running. I left the branding up to my friend, but I think I'm going to have to do that on my own. She's got two babies (and a husband, tee hee), and just doesn't have the time!

Unemployed and Overwhelmed

2009-01-31T14:01:00.004-05:00

Ugh. I don't like the sound of that word. Unemployed. But that's the way the cookie crumbles.

I was "laid off" on Wednesday, due to restructuring in the department. This is total bullshit. Alas, I'm no longer working for Henry's, and like I've been telling people, I was shocked, but I'm not sorry. I've been humming and hawing over whether or not to move on from there, anyways. They made the decision for me, so really, I should thank them. I don't really like making decisions, especially life-altering ones like whether or not to quit a job. Not only did they make the choice for me, but they gave me a shit load of money. Well, the standard shit load, but I worked there for five bloody years.

Now I have to decide what to do with myself. This is the part that freaks me out. How do I know I'm making the right decision? And if I change my mind, would that make me look like even more of a loser? Say I take a job at, oh I don't know... Vistek. I've heard the employees there are none too content. So would I just be setting myself up for more hassle? Same shit, different pile? I know there will be shit in every pile.

Anyways- here are some options I have:

Three-week trip to Australia: (This one I'll probably do.) I haven't seen Stef in a couple months, and it seems like it's been at least six. I miss her, I'd love to go Down Under and shoot some photographs, and I think getting away will give me a better perspective on things. The other side of the globe is pretty extreme, but I have an opportunity, and I think I should take it. (I wonder what time it is there right now... I need to call Stef!)

Get a new job somewhere in Toronto, like Vistek or Indigo: Alright, I'll admit it. I've already applied for the job at Vistek. I freaked out the day of departure, and sent them my resume. Indigo- I looked for jobs on their website, but didn't find anything applicable for me.

Apply to a newspaper in some remote community: This has always been a dream of mine. To go off to a place like Sioux Lookout in northern Ontario and be a reporter/photographer. And there's an opportunity right now, however, this is not something I planned to do on my own. This is for when I have a partner/husband willing to re-locate, so I don't get lonely!

Move back to Windsor, and try to get a job/s there: This has been in the back of my mind for a few months now. I'm thinking the time is right to move out of Toronto, and for some reason, Windsor feels like a good direction. I don't know if I feel this way because Windsor is safe (in my mind, anyways- but I know it'll be difficult to get a job there), or if it really is the best move for me to make. This is what I struggle with. (The other issue with moving to Windsor is the fact that I'll need to get a car. This is not something I'm totally against, but it's another expense, making life in Windsor with a car, comparable to life in Toronto, without.) BUT- my family and my friends are there. So, this option is a really good contender.

Go back to school: I think the government would help me pay for this, if I were to choose to study something else in school. The only thing I could think of would be something like the Outdoor Education course at Humber (or something similar). But I have no idea what kind of a job I'd be able to get with a diploma from this program.

Concentrate 100% on my photography, and maybe work my way in to an assisting job: This could happen anywhere really, but I don't know if assisting would be enough to support me on it's own. I think I would have to find something to supplement this... I also always said I'd have a photo exhibit here in Toronto before I left the city. Well, it's crunch time. I'm not sure if that's going to be possible. Although, the Lens Factory is accepting proposals for March ($450 for the space, plus framing costs and advertising- this seems doable to me now). What would I show, though? I need a theme. Any theme. More to think about. But I think I should seriously consider this. I have the time to do the work involved, and the money to front. We'll see...

I have re-vamped my website though- check it out: http://www.karigignac.com/

Tell me what you think. About everything. I'm trying to gather wisdom so I can make the right decision.

An Ode...

2008-10-23T15:06:00.003-04:00

This post is dedicated to all of my best friends and my family...

Stef, because she asked for a copy of this...
James, because he's just had major surgery (successfully) and he's been in my thoughts...
Bex, because I feel like we've lost touch over the past couple of months, which sucks...
Roxanne, because she's missing her bro, and I'm missing her...
Ben, because he needs to be reminded of the simple things in life (and to not work so much!)...
Shirley, because she's the bestest step-mom a girl could ever have, and she takes excellent care of my dad...
Karie, because life for her is trying, but she's done, and will continue to do, the best job living her life (and taking care of my brother and nephew) of anyone I know... and
Stace, because, well... it's Stace! I think she gave this to me in the first place, actually...

Kiss the back of your hand and remember a moment in childhood when you felt the perfect joy of being at home in the world.

Give a gift to a river, lake or ocean.

Treasure the unique shape and contours of your beautiful face.

For just 48 hours, be inflamed with the hypothesis that your soul will live on forever.

Imagine that your place of power is where the tree joins the earth.

Playfully lower your expectations all the way down to the bottom and tune into the shattering sweetness of life exactly the way it is.

Put yourself under the protection of the raw elements.

Write an epic three-page autobiography while sitting in the pitch dark.

Seize the power to create magic that has always seemed impossible before.

A Post

2008-10-21T12:49:00.003-04:00

For postings sake. That's it. And I'm bored at work.

Today is "Parts Tuesday". We list cameras that need repair, or those that have been repaired but have been abandoned by the original owners. We have to be careful when wording the description for these parts cameras, even though in BOLD ORANGE LETTERS there is a disclaimer that says these cameras are being SOLD FOR PARTS. We get customers calling us after they've received their parts cameras, wanting a refund or an exchange because they don't work. WELL, DUH!

It's not just the parts listings, either. It happens all the time. Part of my job is answering the "QFS" (question for seller) emails. I get some of the stupidest queries in the world. I spend most of my morning typing out the words, "As stated in the description on eBay..." (that's a lie, actually- I've set up an auto-type function to write out those words immediately when I type "As st"). I can partly understand the situation if the querant doesn't speak English. But most of our questions come from North Americans.

What frustrates me even more is the fact that many buyers on eBay just skim through a listing, ignoring the pertinent information (like a refund policy, or shipping prices, or warranty info, or the CONDITION of the item they're buying). Seriously! If you're going to spend $400 on something online, would you not take the time and effort to read about what you're buying??!? The worst is when we get people saying, "this lens isn't compatible with my camera, so I want a refund". Sorry- we clearly state the compatibility of ALL of our items in the description. Bah!

I must say though, the most infuriating question I get is, "I live in the USA... does this North American warranty apply?" What the??!?

Photos of our eBay mascots (Squishy and Scrapey), taken with one of today's parts cameras. LOL!

BIKE RANT

2008-10-09T09:43:00.004-04:00

It's been a while... but this is a good one.

So there I was, riding north on Church, heading to work. All of a sudden I see this dark shadow out of the corner of my eye, and the slightest nudge against the rubber end of my handle bar. A shiny black Lincoln Continental just about tipped me over.

I caught up to her at the next light (which also happened to be my destination, so that was convenient). Her window was already rolled down, so I leaned over and said, "Hey." No reply. She had some ear buds in. Who wears headphones in a car?? Anyways- I said, a bit louder, "HEY." Still no reply. "HEEEEEEEEEEY!" Finally I got her attention.

"Do you realize you just about hit me back there?" I asked.
She had the gall to reply, "You should've moved over. I'm driving a big car."
"Just because you drive a big car, doesn't give you more right to be on the road," I explained.
"Well, as soon as you start paying taxes, and insurance, and blah blah blah..." she starts spewing out.
I kinda laugh under my breath. This is an easy argument to win. "As soon as you start paying the medical bills for all the people who have gotten sick from your carbon emissions, blah blah blah..."
She drives off. Typical reaction from a motorist. So I yell after her...

"POLLUTERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!1!!!11!!"

I apologized to the pedestrians on the street around me. They smiled.

End rant.
Stupid motorists.
.

Tired After A Busy Weekend...

2008-10-06T19:08:00.004-04:00

After complaining about doing too little last weekend, I decided to load up my calendar this time around. I had a busy weekend! I took a tonne of photos, which is always a good indication that I had a really good time...

Firstly, there was a movie being shot in my driveway. As annoying as it was that they were totally infringing on our property, it was cool to see all the cameras, the expensive car they were using in the shoot, and the actors running around in super hero tights. The movie is Kick-Ass, a comic book film that's supposed to come out next year.

Then it was off to Caroline's housewarming/birthday party. James' sister is just as cool as James. And she makes a wicked chocolate spice cake.

Saturday morning I woke up early to catch the sunrise with Stef and a couchsurfer from The Beaches named Rodney. I love sleeping in. Looooooooooove. But sometimes, I need to get up before the sun, and reconnect. Enjoy something visual that isn't digitally transmitted. You know? Plus, sunrises are the most beautiful things I can think of to take photographs of...

Saturday night was Nuit Blanche, an all-night art show across the city. It's cool. I think this year's was better than last year's, but not as good as the first year. That's my assessment, anyways. I haven't uploaded the pics from that night yet, but they'll be up in my Flickr stream soon... http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenswift/

I Say No More

2008-09-29T18:19:00.004-04:00

No more waking up weekends and not having a plan. I absolutely love lounging about the whole day long, but I'm beginning to think it's not good for my psyche. Once the weekend is over, I feel empty, unaccomplished, sloth-like. Why is this just starting now? I've never felt this way before.

There's an easy solution. Usually if I have a busy day ahead of me, I'll mentally go over the most efficient sequence of events, during the first few minutes before I open my eyes in the morning. I think that's what I've got to do, even if my day isn't busy. Or maybe doing this will create the feeling of a busy day, so I'll step out of bed in the morning already in second gear.

I also need to be more productive, creatively speaking. I've got this wicked awesome camera (the Canon EOS-1D Mark III) on loan from work, and I've barely used it. I'm supposed to be checking to see that everything on the camera is functional; I already know it is, but I should be using this opportunity more to my advantage. Here's a pic I've taken with it!

It's Queenie, of course!

What The Conservatives Are Offering...

2008-09-22T12:48:00.006-04:00

Federal Leader: Stephen Harper
Parkdale-High Park: Jillian Sawezcko
Female Candidates: 18%

What’s mentioned on their website:
1. Sovereignty
2. Leadership
3. Environment
4. Health Care
5. Lower Taxes
6. Child Care
7. Tackling Crime
8. Accountability

Interestingly, there’s a full page and a link under the “Leaders” category for Harper’s wife, Laureen, but there is no search function on the website. This makes things difficult.

Concerning the issues that are most important to me...

Afghanistan...
Harper recently, finally, committed to having Canadian troops out of Afghanistan by 2011. There’s nothing else about Afghanistan under the “Key Issues” section.

The Environment...
The Conservatives talk a lot about what they’ve done in the past, but there’s no mention of what they plan for the future, should Harper be re-elected. They have introduced what they claim to be a balanced and achievable plan to reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions 20% by 2020 and cut air pollution in half by 2015 (aren‘t GHGs part of air pollution?). The want to offer a lot of incentives for people making green choices, and they want to fund green technologies, but they don’t say where that money is going to come from. There’s absolutely no mention of green tax shifting, or even of a carbon market… nothing about how the economy and the environmental policies can work successfully together. Which I find strange.

The Federal Budget...
I admit, I like that the GST has been reduced twice since Harper’s been in office. And that’s the main bit of bravado on their webpage dedicated to the economy of Canada. I have no qualms with the budget the Conservatives have laid out, except that they neglected to factor in the environment. It’s not mentioned once.

Northern Sovereignty...
The Tories have sovereignty on the top of their list of “key issues”. TheY stress that a "four-pronged approach" is what’s needed. That’s pushing economic development (“unleashing“ the potential of our resource-rich north), national sovereignty (more protection), Northern input and control (ending the “paternalistic“ federal policies of past governments), and environmental protection (self-explanatory). These all sound like good things, but I’m wary of how much resource potential they see in the north, and how they‘d go about exploiting, I mean, "unleashing" it.

What The Green Party Says...

2008-09-19T18:54:00.004-04:00

Federal Leader: Elizabeth May
Parkdale-High Park: Rob Rishchynski
Female Candidates: 29%

What’s mentioned on their website:
1. Economy
2. Family
3. Health Care
4. Environment
5. Afghanistan

Concerning the issues that I feel are most important to me:

Afghanistan...
The Green Party’s stance on Afghanistan is similar to the NDP’s; get the troops out ASAP (no later than Feb. 2009), and work with the UN instead of following along with NATO/US plans. The great thing about the Green’s site, is the whack of information they provide, in concise language that makes it easy to understand. And they have many intentions, like aiding the Afghan police force with training, proposing a time-limited offer to have the Canadian military help with training the Afghan National Army, involving surrounding countries in a
large-region peace treaty, fighting the illegal poppy trade industry, promoting agriculture in Afghanistan, and protecting the personal rights of Afghanis.

The Environment...
You assume the Green Party's platform will be largely based on the environment. And it is, but it’s a mix of both the NDP and the Liberal thought processes. They mention how a shift to green power is fiscally possible, and their statement offers a general feeling of hope. They also recognize that environmental issues affect every aspect of life, and therefore they affect every aspect of government.

Their plan is the same as the Liberal’s, who want to tax the big polluters and give back to those holding themselves personally responsible (recyclers, cyclists, etc.). As for Kyoto, the Green Party doesn’t believe the targets are quite feasible, but because of international commitments made, and the importance of keeping those commitments, they’ll work to “reaffirm” Kyoto’s goals, through carbon taxes, caps and trades. An interesting addition to this platform is the mention of “adjusting to climate change”. See- this is what I’m looking for. A realistic look into the future, with plans for how to handle it.

The Federal Budget...
The Green Party’s website is comprehensive through and through, but here’s a good summary paragraph:
“We strive for stronger local economies with a small business focus, increased national and regional self-sufficiency, economic diversification, more “fair” trade, more value-added manufacturing of resources, more green-certified production and a rapid shift to more renewable energy to create local economic opportunities.”

They want to reduce income tax, reduce payroll tax, introduce a carbon tax and eliminate nonsense subsidies. What’s more, they’ve stressed that a government with the economic forethought concerning green power will benefit. And oh, they’re pushing for more vacation time and shorter work weeks.

Northern Sovereignty...
The Green Party wants to ask the UN to lay down the law concerning the sovereignty of the northern waters. They also want to develop a comprehensive pan-Arctic waste management strategy, and implement a strict watch over the arctic to catch any vessels not registered to be in any of the six passages through northern Canadian waters. They want to provide more funding for “indigenous food” protection, for the Northern Climate Exchange, for arctic science, and they also want to re-establish the Circumpolar Ambassador position.

One more party to look at. Tomorrow I'll post (unbiased, I promise) about the Conservatives.

What the Liberals Are Offering...

2008-09-18T14:58:00.003-04:00

Federal Leader: Stéphane Dion
Parkdale-High Park: Gerard Kennedy
Female Candidates: 37%

What’s mentioned on their website:
1. Economic prosperity
2. Social justice
3. Environmental sustainability

Concerning the issues that I feel are most important to me:

Afghanistan...
The first hit in a search for Afghanistan on the Liberal website brought up an article concerning the Conservative’s secrecy of its actions in Afghanistan, and an appeal for more communication between the Tories and the opposition. As of right now, the Liberals support the Canadian military mission in Afghanistan until 2011.

The Environment...
The Liberal’s have a nifty “Green Shift” plan, with a spiffy website to go along with it. It’s based mostly on tax cuts, using money as a motivator. While I see the merit of this approach, I try not to think of Canadians as such money-grubbers. The plan might just work, though, if put into place… money talks, or so they say. They talk about supporting a shift from fossil to renewable fuels and emphasizing conservation in Canadian households, but they also explicitly mention that corporate tax cuts will happen, to “attract investment and create jobs”, and at one point, abruptly discounts any suspicion that this is tax grab by the government.

The Federal Budget...
The Liberals are just trashing the Conservative’s economical progress (or lack thereof), which is normal, and warranted. But they do go on to say they want to work towards, “an economy based on knowledge, ingenuity and innovation. An economy that is economically and environmentally sustainable, spearheading new green technologies.”

Northern Sovereignty...
Liberal Northern Affairs critic Larry Bagnell says:
“Canada’s North means more than just resources to be exploited and good locations for military installations. There are very serious issues in the North that the federal government must address including literacy, the climate change crisis, and settling land claims. Only the Liberal Party has a strategy to deal with all of these issues.”
They want to give them some money and better education, make sure land claims settlement programs are played out, curb arctic waste dumpings and climate change, buy some search and rescue planes and station them in the north, complete northern seabed mapping, and re-instate a Circumpolar Ambassador. All good things! The Liberals have a clear plan for the north, I just hope they stick to their word, if elected.

Next, I'll be summing up what I think The Green Party can offer...

What The NDP Is Saying...

2008-09-17T16:02:00.004-04:00

Federal Leader: Jack Layton
Parkdale-High Park: Peggy Nash
Female Candidates: 39%

What’s mentioned first and foremost on their website:
1. More jobs, in a new energy sector.
2. “Protect and modernize” public health care- with environmental emphasis.

Concerning the issues that I feel are most important to me:

Afghanistan...
Sadly, a search for “Afghanistan” on the NDP website results in numerous (probably around 98) statements given by Layton, expressing his condolences. I say sadly, only because of how truly sad the war in Afghanistan is. The NDP are working to get our combat troops out of that country, and to emphasize peace-keeping. Here's the NDP response to the Tory/Lib Afghanistan mission extension, from Mar. 14, 2008:
“The NDP’s plan for peace includes pursuing a political solution delivered by the UN. The UN’s mandate to preserve and promote international peace and security and its longstanding experience in peace negotiations make it the appropriate international body to be in charge in Afghanistan – not NATO.”

The Environment...
We know that the environment is a big part of the NDP’s platform. They’ve already passed Bill C-377- Kyoto Plus, which sets scientifically based targets for lowering emissions (an 80% reduction from 1990 levels by 2050, with interim targets every five years). They’ve also re-worked the budget to put more money into the environment, rather than offer corporate tax cuts. What’s best, is that they incorporate the environment on almost every level of their platform. There aren’t many facts though, on what they plan to do if the NDP get the majority of votes.

The Federal Budget...
I’m finding the NDP website a bit frustrating. The others have categorized their platform into pertinent sub-sections, but the NDP site just lays out all of their past successes. Alas, I can gather from the site that the NDP believe the forestry industry workers (and the working person in general) are an important part of Canada, and that their jobs need to be protected. The NDP is also working for cheaper education, and diminishing the gap between the rich and everyone else.

Northern Sovereignty...
The last thing I wanted to research was the plan to protect our northern sovereignty. Layton actually went on an extensive tour of the Arctic last year, and came up with a few ideas. Mostly, he wants to invest in northern community infrastructure, such as a deep-water port in Iqaluit. I think this is a step in the right direction.

Stay tuned for my notes on what the Liberal Party is offering...

The Times, They Are A Changing

2008-09-16T19:28:00.005-04:00

With the election coming up in less than a month, I figured I should take some time out and read through the various party websites, and see what's what. I made some notes, cause I'm a geek like that, and I decided to post them on here. Maybe they'll help someone else decide who to vote for on October 14th.

The issues that are important to me are as follows:
- Stance on Afghanistan…
- Environmental action plan…
- Goals for federal budget…
- Protecting Canada’s north…
- Immigration…
- Aboriginal consideration…
- Cycling…

The problem with these websites sometimes, is their lack of future-oriented information. The reason these sites are up is to help us choose who our future leader will be. But what’s mentioned is often just past successes, and of course the failures of the opposition. I want to see cut and dry blueprints for what to expect when the Liberal, New Democrat, or Green parties take over (please, please, please).

A B C… Anything But Conservative.

Stay tuned for my summary of the NDP's offerings, concerning some of the issues that are important to me (and maybe you)...

Customer Service Woes

2008-09-12T14:41:00.003-04:00

In my world, anyways.

I'll start with Bell. I canceled my internet service with Bell at the beginning of July. Or so I thought. When I called, I was given no trouble about canceling my service, which I thought was strange. But hey, I don't work for Bell, and I figured maybe they'd decided to start treating their customers properly. I was wrong.

When I got back from NYC, I checked my bank statements, and found out that Bell DID NOT cancel my account. They continued to withdraw a monthly fee from me over the summer. I called on Friday, September 5th to cancel AGAIN, and boy, was I livid. The women I spoke with then gave me a cancellation confirmation number, and I figured things were finally settled. I take a look at my statements again on Wednesday the 10th, and they've withdrawn ANOTHER $40 out of my account the day before.

I called back and gave them an earful. They're refunding me the money they owe me, but WTF?!? Do they seriously think that ignoring their customer's requests are going to make them more money?? What's even worse... they tell me the "cheque is in the mail". Who the hell sends cheques in the mail anymore?? They told me it'll take 6-8 weeks for it to arrive. WHAT??!? No fuckin' way. I told them I wanted that refund cheque in my mailbox in five business days. Or else.

The second customer service debacle happened at Lenscrafters. When I was in New York, my glasses busted in half. I had no choice but to visit a Lenscrafters there and purchase new frames and lenses. They were extremely nice, very helpful, and I got a beautiful pair of Donna Karin frames for what I think is a fair price ($289.99 USD). They assured me the warranty was valid in Canada, and that if I had any problems with them in the next 30 days, I can bring them back to get them redone. Well, after wearing them for a few days, my eyes didn't adjust. Things were blurry, especially along the bottom edge of my vision.

I tried to bring them back to the Lenscrafters in the Eaton Centre. The women there told me they just needed to be adjusted, so I had them adjusted. I gave it a few more days... I know it takes time for the eye to adjust to a new pair of glasses. But things weren't any clearer after a week and a half with them. So I brought them back again. The customer service rep I spoke with had no idea what she was doing, so I asked to speak with her supervisor.

The retail manager came out, and convinced me that I should get an eye exam done. "That way, we won't have any choice but to replace the lenses." I made an appointment with the eye doctor for the next day, and asked Carlos (the manager) if he would be in at that time. He said no, but he'd make a note in my file, and he said he spoke with his boss, and she knew of the situation.

So, I go to my appointment the next day and get a new prescription. The doctor even said the astigmatism strength of the new glasses was too strong, and that's why things were blurry along the bottom edge of my vision. I bring the new scrip back to Lenscrafters, and the supervisor (a different one) refuses to replace the lenses under the warranty. She talks to the boss, and the boss says she knows nothing about it. What??!? Ugh. I explained the entire situation to her again, and she just keeps saying, "That's interesting." I wanted to pull her hair. But I did not. I said I'd be back tomorrow, when I knew Carlos (her boss) would be there. She said she could give me a 20% discount on new lenses, and I said that is NOT acceptable. Man! I went back the next day, and Carlos replaced the lenses with no more questions. Why couldn't that have happened the day before??

What's happening to our customer service level??!? Is the age of online shopping and the self-serve checkout making customer service training at retail stores obsolete? And Bell... well- that's just Bell. They suck. I urge everyone looking for any type of internet/phone/satellite service to STEER CLEAR OF BELL, if you want to save yourself a lot of hassle and frustration.

From The Big Smoke, To The Big Apple, And Back Again

2008-09-05T12:18:00.016-04:00

Good times in New York City!

Day One: Sweet flight with Porter Airlines from Toronto City Centre Airport to Newark International. Leather seats with lots of leg room, complimentary wine, cutest mascot ever. Porter rocks! We arrived in NYC at around 5pm, and hoofed it to our "hotel" - The Pod Hotel. Central location, swanky lobby, very comfortable rooms (me and Bex shared a bunk bed), and clean facilities. This is a great place to stay if you can't afford a hotel, but want something a bit better than a crowded hostel in Manhattan. We grabbed some Abatino's Pizza for our first meal in the city, and then headed to a CouchSurfing gathering at a bar called Revival, where we met up with tonnes of nice people, and Garry- a friend from Toronto who was also in the city for the weekend. I was surprised at how many Canadians were there, actually!

Day Two: On Friday, we walked down 2nd Avenue to John's Diner for some breakfast. Bex was attracted to the pink vinyl booths, and her instinct paid off. Eggs cooked to perfection, with some great potatoes, bacon and toast, and super efficient service! Oh, and great coffee, which was important, because we had a lot of museum-going to do! After breakfast, we headed to The American Museum of Natural History, which was amazing. Lots of stuff to see. I can see how a kid might appreciate it a bit more than us grown-ups, though. For lunch, we grabbed a (highly inferior) "sausage" from a street vendor in Central Park. It was a piddly sausage. No more than a slightly inflated, slightly spicy hot dog, really. Toronto street meat is WAY better! After seeing The Great Lawn, we made our way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which was even more amazing than the first museum. More than once I stood in absolute awe in front of some famous painting or other- Picasso, Renoir, Matisse, Monet. It was great. After the Met, we grabbed a clubhouse and a pint (or two) of cider at Murphy's Pub, around the corner from our hotel. The music on the jukebox was great, and we overheard some people talking about hockey and weed at the bar... more Canadians!

Day Three: Saturday we woke up early and decided to try out the subway. Sheesh! That's a confusing network, to say the least! We rode around in circles for a bit, and then finally got on the right train to take us downtown, all the way to Battery Park. We hopped on a ferry to Liberty Island, where we got to admire The Lady herself, in all her humongous glory. It was pretty humbling. Lunch consisted of more pizza on the island - surprisingly good for frozen, pre-packaged pie! Once back on the mainland (so to speak), we started walking north. We were humbled yet again by the bronze mural memorializing those who were lost in the attack on the Twin Towers. The site itself was underwhelming... just a huge construction site now. Which is a good thing, really- time to move on, progress, show the world that New Yorkers, Americans, can't be beat down. Next was a stop at Century 21, not the real estate firm, but the department store. I got a sweet pair of Blowfish booties. We continued to walk north to Union Square... man- that was a trek. For every 20 blocks, it's one mile. I think we walked about 150 blocks! We met up with Bex's godmom Suzanne, who is awesome by the way, and went to a place called the Chat n' Chew for some dinner. Great little diner, tucked away on a lower level on East 16th Street. After, we visited Suzanne's friend Hunter at the Borders (US version of Chapters), where they did NOT have Ondaatje's Divisadero available. Silly American bookstores. We rested for a couple hours at the hotel that night, and then cabbed it to Soho, where we parked ourselves at the bench of The Broome Street Bar. Lo and behold, we met another Canadian- the barkeep was born in Stratford. I got "pants-shitting drunk" off of White Russians (just as Becky predicted) and we pretty much closed the bar. At the end, two more drinks showed up with a basket of fries. Compliments of the kitchen staff! It pays to get cosy at the bar, sometimes. It was an excellent night!

Day Four: Sunday, however, was not so excellent. I would have to say it was the worst day for me, in a long long time. LOL... but I was in New York City! So, it really didn't get me down too much. I started the day at around 6:30am... when I had to climb out of my top bunk to vomit repeatedly. This lasted until about 1pm. Yeah. That's my typical hangover. Which is why I don't drink that much! Bex texted me letting me know she'd located the Fluevog store, and that got me right out of bed. I showered, and was about to do my makeup, when SHIT! My glasses broke in half! WTF! So, I donned my prescription sunglasses (thankfully I had those with me) and picked out a new pair at Lenscrafters. They're nice. Big and plastic and green. I like. Then, I ran out of minutes on my phone, and I'd forgotten how to reload directly from the handset. I spent a good hour looking for an internet cafe, but in the meantime got to see Brasilfest, Rockefeller Centre, Radio City Music Hall, a bit of Times Square, and I found out that the Broadway show Wicked does NOT have a Sunday evening performance (which was the third shitty thing that happened- these events do tend to come in threes). I met up again with Bex, and we visited Viva Pancho, a Mexican restaurant recommended to us. It was excellent, and reminded me of the authentic Mexican I used to get at Xoximocho's in Detroit. After dinner, we walked through Times Square and then to the Empire State Building. After waiting for about an hour and half, we finally made it to the top, where the view was SPECTACULAR. I think this was my most favourite part of the trip.

Day Five: Monday morning we awoke to another beautiful day (the weather was fabulous the entire time we were there). Today was supposed to be chock full of museums again, but we opted to take our time getting around, and wandered over to the Museum of Modern Art. I figured the MoMA was going to be alot like the Met, and there were many similarities (so much Picasso!), but the thing I liked about MoMA were the commonplace designer items, like chairs, and helmets, and camper vans! They also had a sweet Salvador Dali exhibit running, which was cool to see. After MoMA, we were supposed to hit the Guggenheim, but instead we decided to do more shopping. I finally got around to the Fluevog store, where I bought my third pair of Vogs. So good. We also got to try some of the infamous Pinkberry frozen yogurt, which was good, but nothing too special. Like Yogen-Fruz, but unstirred, and in New York. After a rest at the hotel, we met up again with Suzanne and Hunter, for a great meal at Serendipity3, home of the Frozen Hot Chocolate dessert. Basically, it's a huge bowl of hot chocolate powder mixed with icy cold milk, blended with ice to make it frothy. Simple, and delicious! We couldn't stay in on our last night in town, so we sought out a bar recommended to us by the guy at the wine and spirits store, a place called the Manchester Pub. He told us the bartenders there were Canadian, so that seemed like the place to go! It was a cute little pub, and the bartender, while not Canadian (the canucks had the night off), was super cute and super nice. He gave us a couple free drinks because it was our last night. And he liked my Shel Silverstein tattoo.

Day Six: Our last day in NYC, we hummed and hawed over whether we should go to the Guggenheim or not. See, we had the tickets already (we'd purchased these CitiPass booklets, which were a fantastic deal), but time was limited. We decided against, and went shopping instead. We walked into Bloomingdale's, and shortly thereafter walked out (it's DAMN expensive in that store)! I bought myself a cute "diamond" encrusted letter "K" necklace at an accessory shop called JFay, and we stopped into a sweet little pet shop where the cutest, smallest dogs in the world could be had for an astronomical price. We cabbed it over to Grand Central Station, where we caught our shuttle bus back to Newark. We boarded the plane at 4pm, and were back in Toronto by 6:30, home by 7pm (but not until I paid $30 tax on my purchases- damn customs!).

Phew. I think we spent the perfect amount of time in NYC... although, I'll definitely be going back to see more!

All of my photos from the trip can be seen here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenswift/sets/72157607085128075/

Another Year...

2008-08-23T12:08:00.004-04:00

I'm 31 now. I'm into my 30s. Ah well.

I had a great time yesterday for my birthday. I went to work for the morning, and we had a great potluck lunch (we have potlucks for all of our birthdays). After lunch, I took off to check out the Busker Fest near St. Lawrence Market, then came home to relax in the back yard with Stef and a Heinekin. Last night, me and my friends all went to The Rhino for some patio action. It's a good place. Except that the cigarette smoke was really starting to bug me. Which I didn't understand, because we were outside. Ah well. I did have a lot of fun though... and I got a new water bottle from Maria, and a webcam from Stef and James. Good times!

Git Yer Own Fire Escape!

2008-08-19T14:51:00.006-04:00

We have critters in our backyard. This is not news. They live up on the third level of the fire escape, behind the air conditioner. They defecate all over the stairs, creating an obstacle course for anyone brave enough to walk the metal slatted steps.

Last summer, we were sitting in the backyard barbecuing and we noticed this little coon carefully making it's way down the fire escape steps. It had smelled our food, and was coming to join us, to ask for handouts. We refused to feed it. Feeding the critters is just asking for trouble.

And once, Stef opened up the door to the fire escape from the second floor hallway and heard a loud THUD. She opened up the door carefully to see what she hit, and there was a big raccoon, standing her ground, hissing away. Normally animals run away when humans show up. Not this animal, though.

And then today, as I was leaving for work, I encountered five raccoons on the fire escape; a mother and her four babies (they were pretty big babies, still cute, but fairly hefty). I thought about going down the front and entering the backyard from the side gate, but I thought to myself, "Hey! This is my fire escape... I'm not backing down!" And so I took out my camera, snapped a few pics, and slowly, quietly walked down the steps. The animals stood there for a minute, the babies looking to their mom for direction, and mom staring at me, waiting for me to crumble. I didn't though, and after a couple minutes, the momma purred to her babies, telling them, "This bitch isn't going anywhere, we should split." And so they did. I win!

Rested. Relaxed.

2008-08-18T18:09:00.002-04:00

That's what I am. After a fantastic weekend up at Becky's cottage, I'm feeling young again, and more peaceful. There's just something about swimming in that lake. Lake Muskoka. It's so good.

This morning however, I was jolted out of my cottage country reverie when some stupid-ass cyclist came whipping out of an alley and caused me to crank on my brakes. I was like, 1cm away from hitting him. Stupid asshole.

Peace was restored yet again, though, when I had a successful trip to the DMV. License renewed! And in less then 15 minutes. They're pretty efficient!

When I got home from work, I found two birthday cards in my mail box. Early, but nonetheless appreciated. One from the ever-diligent Aunt Lucinda and Uncle Bill. And the other from my dad and Shirl, with a note to check my bank account. Those kind of notes are always good!

Five Years Ago Today...

2008-08-14T13:29:00.002-04:00

The eastern seaboard of the US and most of southwestern Ontario were plunged into darkness. I just realized that the Blackout of 2003 was a pivotal event in my life (as it surely was for many other people).

I was working at Exclusively Women's Fitness Centre at the time, which refused to shut down, even though the government had asked all non-essential services to close until the power grid could be repaired and rebooted. Morally-minded as I am, I refused to work that day and left. A couple days later, I was fired.

The firing was a good thing, though. I hated my job there (I was responsible for telling women they were fat and that they needed to join a gym- I really wasn't very good at it). I hated the city I was in (Windsor- the arm pit of Ontario). I hated my life (living at my parents). It was Beth that invited to visit her, indefinitely, in Toronto. I packed up my CRV (back then I drove a car, what was I thinking?!?) and headed for the Big Smoke.

This was five years ago. It seems like FOREVER ago... but man, does time fly. I've learned so much since then, experienced so much, and have made so many excellent friends. At the time, I was really upset about being fired. I didn't know what I was going to do. I still didn't know what I was going to do, even when I arrived in Toronto. My never-ending gratitude goes out to Beth, who gave me a place to stay, a shot at a job (which I still have now), and the WILL TO LIVE ON!

Lo and Behold

2008-07-28T18:28:00.005-04:00

This is why I keep all of my old notebooks.

Here's a poem I found in a notebook from 2006... I don't even remember writing it.

With a newcomer's eye
The city looks beautiful
And unclean
And Unseen
Looking up to see the tops of sky-coloured towers
and down to see homeless feet sticking out from beneath pavement-coloured blankets
The Attractions and Distractions
The city's full of them
The ride on the streetcar
Jolting and cramped
Wonderful
Not annoying as it is to all the regular riders
Getting a crick in the neck from looking out
But not a pain in the neck
The city remains interesting
No matter if seen with fresh or old, rotten eyes
And the inspiration (the gentleman one seat ahead)
Dismounts at Portland
Have a nice night

LOLOL... man, what a difference two years can make.

One Week Later...

2008-07-03T19:11:00.005-04:00

... and it feels like it's been a month! Seriously. This past week has been so busy, but I managed not to go to work for a full five days... which was nice! Not that I don't like my job... 'cause I do. But not working is nice, too.

Things kicked off with a trip to Lot 16 to celebrate James' good news (he's having surgery by the end of the summer, which will be absolutely, splenderifically, awesome) and Raul's birthday. I haven't been to Lot 16 in a while, and I always forget how much I like that place. The music is always good (albeit a bit loud for normal conversation), and it's got a chill feel to it. Raul says it's mostly overflow from The Drake, but I think it's just all the cooler cats that go to Lot 16.

Saturday I went to my first MLB game ever, with my brother Derek, his wife Karie, and my nephew Evan. I don't know why I've never been to a baseball game. I grew up half an hour from where the Tigers play, and I've been in Toronto for five years. Just never had the opportunity, I guess! It was cool. It was even cooler that I had a monster telephoto zoom lens to shoot the game with. See the pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenswift/sets/72157605878659400/

(Photo stolen from Bex's FB)

Stacey joined us for dinner after the game, and she stayed until Monday afternoon. There was a lot of chilling going on, PLUS we went to see Sex and The City. Finally! I love love loved it. Stacey said it was very satisfying, and I agree. Oh, and a fat sushi lunch at Sushi Island. MMMmmm.

Monday I was gearing up for the Canada Day BBQ Blowout, which was a huge success. A tonne of people showed up, and I'm pretty sure everyone had a good time. There are broken chairs to prove it. Yes, plural. Two chairs met their fate, as Gab put it. LOL. Craploads of photos can be seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenswift/sets/72157605937894858/

(Decorations)

After meats, salads, fuchsia-coloured cake (it was supposed to be red, with white icing of course) and sparklers, we headed down to the lake to watch the fireworks, which were good. Not amazing, like the Freedom Festival works in Windsor/Detroit, but good. It probably would've been better if there weren't so many trees in the way. Damn nature. LOL. You know I'm kidding. Maria's right... it's silly that you have to pay admission to Ontario Place to get a good view. Ah well.

(Here's a video I found of this year's finale at the Freedom Fest. It's nucking futs.)

And yesterday, my dad and his wife Shirley stopped here on their way home from Montreal, and we went for dinner (Elephant & Castle) and a show. We went to see Dirty Dancing, which was good, but not amazing. LOL. Do I hear an echo in here? I haven't been to a show since Miss Saigon back in high school, and I think it's one of those "things seemed bigger and better when you were smaller" kind of deals. I remember having my breathe taken away by Miss Saigon, Les Mis, Phantom... this was just, fun to watch. That being said, it was really fun to watch- the music was awesome (pretty much the soundtrack to the movie, but it was cool to know a live band was playing it all), fantastic dancing (especially the girl who played Penny), and excellent vocals. I say excellent, cause it was, but I think it could've been better. IMHO.

And that brings us to today. I went to work. And now I'm here. I'm glad things are starting to slow down a bit. And this has been a much longer entry than I intended to post. Sorry 'bout that.

Everyone And Their Dog

2008-06-26T11:51:00.004-04:00

So... crikey! I used to complain that my family never came to see me here in Toronto (they're mostly in Windsor), but this week, they've ALL decided to come up! I've booked some time off work, and am looking forward to a nice five-day weekend. It's not going to be all that relaxing! Lots of fun will be had, though.. I'm sure of it! Here's what my upcoming schedule looks like:

- Friday night, wash and vacuum floors in apartment, meet up with James, Oriana and everyone for drinks somewhere (James just got word that he's getting a hasty hip surgery, probably in September; and Oriana's is back from school in London, England).
- Saturday, my brother Derek, his wife Karie and my nephew Evan arrive in the early afternoon. We're going to a Jays game, which starts at 1pm. My first baseball game ever!
- My best friend Stacey arrives! We'll have dinner with Derek, Karie, and Evan.
- Saturday night, Derek and Co. may or may not be staying at my place. We'll maybe go to a movie or something, since the forecast is calling for stormy weather (surprise, surprise).
- Sunday, say goodbye to Derek and Co., and then chill with Stacey aaaaaallll daaaaay loooooooong. Oh, and we might have to do some yard work, to prepare the back yard for the BBQ. I should also try and get all the peeps together Sunday night on a patio so Stacey can see everyone. Kylie will also be coming over to bake a birthday cake for Canada.
- Monday, the world is at my doorstep (I just booked this day off work). I should take a trip to the grocery store and the liquor at some point, so we can stock up for the BBQ.
- Monday afternoon/evening, say goodbye to the lovely Stace.
- Tuesday morning, decorate for the BBQ. BBQ is from 3-10pm. And then it's the fireworks!
- Wednesday, Dad and Shirl arrive early afternoon. We're going to see Dirty Dancing the musical that night. I'm totally looking forward to this!
- Thursday morning, say goodbye to Dad and Shirl, and then it's back to work. Meh!

Phew!

The photo is from Derek, Karie and Evan's last trip to Toronto in March, when we went to visit our cousin Jen at the CTV television station.
See more pics from that here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenswift/sets/72157604157205711/
.

Throw Back with the Navigator

2008-06-23T14:28:00.007-04:00

So... I have to blog about this. It's the kind of thing where one particular song, or person, or... anything really (in this case, a movie) continues to pop up in random conversations. This time, it's the classic 80s sci-fi Disney flick, Flight of the Navigator.

I remembered watching the movie when I was a kid. I remembered loving it. I knew that it was similar to other movies of that era like *Batteries Not Included, Short Circuit and E.T.. Bex was telling me that she "stole" a few movies from her boyfriend, and Flight of the Navigator was one of them. I couldn't resist.

It was AWESOME. The best parts were the flying sequences, with the rad 80s electronic music pumping in the background. Think Neverending Story (Vaaaaaaaalkoooooooor!), but instead of a big white furry dragon, it's a svelte spacecraft kind of shaped like a Hershey's Kiss, and instead of the Neverending Story theme song, it's a boop-beep-boop filled electro-pop song (with violins)! So good.

And, I was testing out that W200 digital camera this weekend... Here's a pic from the memorial that's popped up at Richmond and Niagara, honouring the two guys that were shot and killed there on June 13th. They still haven't found the coward that did it.

And here's a pic of Ori (welcome home Ori!!!) with her beautiful hair:

The Perks Are Good

2008-06-19T18:44:00.004-04:00

Perk. An added bonus to one's employment. How and why did "perk" come to mean what it does? Apparently, it's short for the term "perquisite". Crazy English language and it's crazy evolution.

Anyways... back to the perks. I might be able to get this camera for cheap:
Supposedly, the battery doesn't charge, so we were going to sell it for parts. However, if I just procure another battery from somewhere... I can use it. We'll see how much my boss is willing to let it go for. It's a pretty sweet little camera. I've been wanting to get a point and shoot for a long time now. I've taken this Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W200 home, and I'll be testing it out all this weekend. That's a big perk, right there.

Oh, and we get free crappy coffee.

If I can walk there faster than the estimated shipping time, can I come pick it up?

2008-06-16T15:11:00.005-04:00

About a month ago now, I snagged a brand new copy of Wes Anderson's Rushmore (Criterion Collection) off of eBay. Some women in Oregon was selling it. Great price, quick and painless payment via PayPal (thanks blogTO), and only... what?? 2-4 weeks shipping time?? I couldn't believe that when I read it. Lo and behold, 29 days after the end of auction, the DVD finally shows up. Bah! I hope it works.

Now, I've got Rushmore and The Royal Tannenbaum's on Criterion Collection DVD. I have The Life Aquatic, somewhere, too... I just need to find out who I lent it to. Anyone??

Groceries, and How It Pertains To Dirty Dancing

2008-06-15T12:29:00.007-04:00

I'm finally doing a bit of preparation for this week's meals. I've always known this was a good idea, I just never thought of it at the right time (ex: directly before going to the grocery store). So, looking at what I have in my cupboards (which isn't much), I found a few recipes that will hopefully utilize the random things I already have, with minimal amount of extra purchases. We'll see what comes of it!

The first dish is crab quiche. I bought pie shells a few weeks ago, and have some imitation crab meat in the freezer that needs to be used up. So for this dish, I still have to buy eggs and milk (the recipe calls for cream, but I'm just going to use less milk and more... something else... I dunno).

Next will be some pita pizzas... I've got two pitas in my freezer that need eating. So I'm going to hit the deli and get a tiny amount of pepperoni and a couple mushrooms to make my favourite kind of pizza... uhh... that's pepperoni, mushroom and cheese.

Next on the list is some sandwiches. Again the deli will help me out here. I always forget how much I like sandwiches. I'll probably get some thinly sliced chicken breast, and maybe a couple slabs of bologna, so as to kick it old school style (one of my fave things to eat when I was young was bologna, cheese and mustard sandwiches at Lenora's place.... ahhh, good times). The photo above is of a delectable sandwich Eric made for Stef's birthday picnic. Soooo gooooood.

Last on the list is chili. I bought a crap load of beans for a salad that never got made, so I'll use them in a chili instead. I can freeze a bunch and it'll last longer- perfect for lunches.

Anyways... that's what I'm eating this week. Just so you know. LOL.

Another memory from Lenora's place back in Maidstone was watching Dirty Dancing over and over and over and over again. That movie pretty much taught me everything about boys and sex and whatnot. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not! Dad and Shirl are coming to Toronto on July 2nd, and we're going to take in the musical rendition of Dirty Dancing. I've heard the show is spectacular, and with all the good memories I have of the movie, I'm super excited to see it. Even though I've lived in Toronto for almost five years (five years!!?!), I haven't seen a musical since Les Mis, in grade 11 (I think it was 11...).

Television Worth Watching

2008-06-13T14:50:00.002-04:00

I'm a pretty big fan of television. There's nothing I like more than kicking back on the couch with a bag of chips and a can of pop, ready to waste a couple hours watching The Simpsons, That 70s Show, or Lost. With the lack of pertinent prime time recently, though, I've been a bit disappointed with TV's offerings. But this past Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, I was able to catch a mini-series corroboration between GlobalTV and the BBC called Burn Up.

The story is set in the not so distant future, when leaders from developing nations are meeting in Calgary for a summit on the new "Kyoto 2" agreement, concerning carbon trading and caps, among other things. The main characters are the CEO of a fictional oil company in Britain (Rupert Penry-Jones), the "minister of renewables" recently hired by said company (Neve Campbell), and the marketing spin doctor in charge of way too much (Bradley Whitford).

Throw in a dedicated and passionate aboriginal woman (Sandrine Holt) with a burning message for the oil tycoons and her attempt to grab attention by burning herself alive, and you've got the makings of a brilliant, relevant, thought-provoking four hours of television. Her suicide letter included hard facts on climate change affects to her people, and six simple and moving words. "Think of me when you lie."

The show was a fascinating look into government politics. At one point I said to myself, "Is that how summit meetings work?" I can only assume it is... and I was impressed. Much more organised than any House of Commons gathering in Ottawa. Even the way the US filibustered the new agreement was orderly, albeit frustrating as hell.

In the end, the good guys won, but the US still got their way. We saw dramatic changes of opinion from more than a couple characters, learned of the possibility of waning oil reserves in the Middle East, and were shocked by the fictional (or is it?) readiness of the US government to "eliminate" any high-profile opposition. Eye-opening, to be sure. If you can find it online, I highly recommend you watch it. (Or not, since watching streaming video of previously aired programs is now illegal, stupid mofos.)

Oh, and if you're American, don't expect to see this on the local airwaves anytime soon. I'm not surprised by this at all. And as a bonus, I found some pics on Flickr from the film set taken last November:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thivierr/sets/72157602894699044/

Nothing Doing, Nothing Saying

2008-05-27T19:17:00.002-04:00

Ah, blogging. Why does it seem so elusive to me? It's been a long time since I've posted on here. Reading up on some of my friends blogs have inspired me to write something up for Blurty Blurt Blurt. I'm not sure what's going to come of it.

I'm taking an unexpected trip to London this weekend, to visit some family; specifically, my grandmother. She was just put into a nursing home, and is not doing well, unfortunately. I have a feeling, and not a good one. So, I'm gonna go. Hopefully I can catch a rideshare, but if not, I'll get a car or take the bus or something.

My writing life has been fairly limp. I've been doing the lit event posts for blogTO for about a year, and I just passed the job along to a fellow contributor. Hopefully he can inject it with some energy, or something. I was also taking a novel writing class, but that ended up not working out. My story idea, while brilliant in my head, did not translate to paper very well. And the teacher was a bit batty, which made it hard for me to learn from her. Meh.

Photographically speaking, I've been taking the average amount of pics, documenting the events of my life. Looking at my Flickr set page is one of my favourite things to do... so much good times! And plenty more to come... camping this summer is gonna be wicked, and NYC over Labour Day weekend with Bex is gonna be even wickeder. I honestly don't have any other word for it right now. Oh wait. Fabulous. Extremely Entertaining. Mind-blowing? Maybe.

Bex started a list of shit to do in New York on her blog, so I guess I should start making one, too. Here goes:

- nerdy visit to the B&H Superstore (cameras)
- tryingonbutnotbuying visit to Manolo Blahnik
- exploratory (with camera) visit to the meat packing district
- educational visits to the Met, Guggenheim, MoMA, American Museum of Natural History... if we can hack it
- fabulous visits to some Sex and the City spots
- yummy visit to Serendipity
- honourable visit to the World Trade Centre Memorial Site

I don't know if we're going to be able to do everything we want in just four days. We'll see!

To My Dear, Ridiculous, MPs

2008-04-10T16:20:00.004-04:00

A letter to some of our hard-working government MPs:

Hello,
I was made aware of the current "filibuster" issue in the House of Commons, in regards to Bill C-377. Is it true that the MPs included in this email are purposely blocking the progress of Bill C-377 by preventing other members of the committee to speak on the topic? If so, this is a horrendous mistake, and not representative of our democratic system. Regardless of the fact that Bill C-377 is an extremely important step forward in the fight against climate change, this method of manipulative politicking is ridiculous, and should not be allowed.

Back to Bill C-377. I've read over the summary, interpretation, purpose, etc. (found here: http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=2453105&Language=e&Mode=1&File=), and I don't see why this bill can't be passed, without further delay.

I'm fairly certain any hangups have to do mostly with economics. What needs to be emphasized is this: if we don't take measures to diminish and reverse the effects of climate change, THERE WILL BE NO ECONOMY. I know this is quite a broad statement, but after all is said and done, it's the truth. I think you're also forgetting that changes made in an effort to battle climate change will generate NEW jobs for Canadians, not just take away jobs from those working in/benefiting from, for example, the oil industry and/or corporate agreements with these companies.

I'm hoping my voice is heard, and that you understand my voice represents many, many people within my community (Parkdale), my city (Toronto) and my country (the beautiful, and ever-influential CANADA).

Sincerely,
Kari Gignac

If you feel as strongly about our environment as I do, feel free to copy this letter and send it along to the following MPs (the one's responsible for the filibuster), as well as your own local MP. Thanks.

Luc Harvey, MP for Louis-Hebert, QC, Harvey.L@parl.gc.ca (418) 648-3244
Maurice Vellacott, MP for Saskatoon-Wanuskewin, SK, Vellacott.M@parl.gc.ca (306) 975-4725
Jeff Watson, MP for Essex, ON, Watson.J@parl.gc.ca (519) 776-4700
Mark Warawa, MP for Langley, BC, Warawa.M@parl.gc.ca (604) 534-5955
Hon. John Baird, MP for Ottawa-West Nepean, ON, Baird.J@parl.gc.ca (613) 990-7720
Right Hon. Stephen Harper, Prime Minister, AB, Harper.S@parl.gc.ca Tel (403) 253-7990

Solid End To An Era

2008-02-20T22:28:00.003-05:00

619A

The era in question ended a couple years ago, when we moved away from this part of town.
But the fire today sealed the deal.
Sigh.

Today Is A Sinead Kind Of Day

2008-01-26T12:33:00.000-05:00

George did an interview with Sinéad this last week, and it was great to see her. She is such an inspiring woman, and a phenomenal musician. I always forget how good she is. All-time favourite song is Black Boys On Mopeds, from I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got. Best line:

"These are dangerous days,
To say what you feel is to lay your own grave."

Everything she does is awesome, but that album... man. It's so good. I just sat singing along with the whole thing, doing nothing else. It was awesome.

Cuz Is In The House

2008-01-24T13:58:00.000-05:00

My cousin Allison's been staying at my house for the past few days, gearing up for her show tonight at the Cameron House. Check out the interview I did with for blogTO:

http://www.blogto.com/music/2008/01/spectacles_at_the_cameron_house_girls_with_glasses/

Looking for Something Sustainable to Watch??

2008-01-21T16:55:00.000-05:00

Check out the couple environmental film screenings that are starting up this week...
More details here:
http://www.blogto.com/environment/2008/01/
films_for_the_environmentally_aware/

eBay Anti-Cookie Swap!

2008-01-17T15:48:00.000-05:00

Every year (and sometimes twice a year), my fellow employees and I get together and swap some goodies. We had a "Christmas in July" swap this past summer, so we switched things up a bit and went for anti-cookies only. We also decided to push it back into January, since we were all so busy prior to the holiday. Plus, sweets in January just makes sense.I made holiday rice crispy treats. Holiday, because I was able to buy some red and green "jimmies" (sprinkles) for 75% off at Chapters (I always feel a bit weird buying edibles from a bookstore, but they're just compacted sugar, so I figured it'd be safe enough). I'd never made rice crispy squares before, and I was not prepared for the HUGE MESS it made of my kitchen, but they turned out well! Here are some pics for you to drool over...

You can see more photos and descriptions of what each goody is on my Flickr here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenswift/2203641767/

Cross Post Mania: Toronto Condo First To Convert To Interior LED Lights

2008-01-14T16:07:00.000-05:00

In an effort to maximize my online presence, I'm going to start cross posting my blogTO articles onto here. Just in case you don't know about blogTO!

Today, I wrote about how the Palace Pier Condo on Lakeshore West is the first large scale residential building to convert their interior lights to energy-efficient MR16 LED lamps. "A step in the right direction, that I hope will set a precedent for Toronto condos."

Here's the link:
http://www.blogto.com/environment/2008/01/toronto_condo_first_to_convert_to_interior_led_lights/

RESET

2008-01-12T13:04:00.001-05:00

This is me, reseting my blog. It's been too long, and I think I want to starting posting on here again, but I felt like something had to happen.
So, I'm hitting the reset button.

Monthly Update...

2007-10-11T19:53:00.000-04:00

LOL- Facebook totally cannibalized my Blogger blog... ah well. It is what it is.

Anywho- I uploaded some new pics, from when I went home last weekend... (and if you look deeper into my photostream, you can see some from the potluck at James' house last week). Here ya go:

http://www.flickr.com/gp/28407435@N00/880JSj

Virgin Festival Toronto 2007- Worth The Money!

2007-09-11T11:44:00.000-04:00

Back in- oh, I don't know- March? I purchased tickets online for Vfest, and I didn't pick them up until last week... I missed out on the anticipation having the tix in hand brings! Regardless, this weekend on the island was an awesome time. I got to hang out with Bex, who's become fairly sparse as of late (stupid Toronto FC calendar, stealing my Bex away)... the weather was beautiful on Saturday, and bearable on Sunday (it didn't rain on us at all, thank god!), and the music, obviously, kicked ass.

Saturday, we managed to catch the Arctic Monkeys, Interpol, a wicked sunset, some crazy Canadian Geese, and then Bjork with her outrageous gold lamé dress and mind-blowing reacTable...

Sunday, we headed over earlier (tried to, anyways), and caught a bit of Tokyo Police Club, Stars, some cow porn at the Centreville Petting Zoo, The Killers, Editors, and then the grand finale- the Smashing Pumpkins.

Man, I'm tired now. Still!

Check out the rest of the photos I took here:
http://www.flickr.com/gp/
28407435@N00/K6960A

Labor Day Fun

2007-09-03T20:04:00.000-04:00

Friday: Eric's Birthday Party and Stef's Back Deck.

Saturday: Breakfast at Freshwood Grill on Roncesvalles.

Sunday: Alexei and Joelle's new apartment for pre-drinks, then the The Mod Club, and the James' place.

Monday: Cadillac Lounge for breakfast, and relaxing in Cowan Park.

Phew!! Damn fun weekend! Good thing I've got tomorrow off too, to recover!

Check out the rest of the photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenswift/sets/72157601841906558/

I also uploaded photos from the Medicinal Plant workshop I'm taking at the Brickworks, from Maria's Free Party at the Duke of Richmond, and from My Real 30th BirthdayParty (you have to check out Stef's photos to see the surprise party my friends threw for the next night!)

Alright Already

2007-08-31T10:27:00.000-04:00

I think that last angry post has been up long enough to get my point across. Or has it? Either way, I'm sure you're all (however many of you still check this regularly to see if there's anything new in my life) sick of seeing that bold red lettering.

I haven't updated this blog in the past month, because I've been obsessing with non-blog related things. Like Harry Potter at the beginning of the summer, and crazy websites like tv-links.org and sidereel.com, where you can watch any television show at your own leisure (like Weeds, Lost, Dead Like Me, and Arrested Development- my personal favourites).

In the past month, a couple of momentous occasions took place. First off, we had the 10th anniversary of our annual Wheatley camping trip- which is always a good time. This year, we went back to the namesake park in Wheatley, and had a great time, as usual.

Click on the link below to see the rest of the photos from camping:
http://www.flickr.com/gp/28407435@N00/okY0d5

Secondly, I turned 30. And although I'm not entirely pleased with this, I did have a fabulous surprise birthday party planned by my friends. I was completely shocked- I had a small clue but didn't follow up on my hunch- I'm glad I didn't! They also bought me an effing dishwasher, which is probably the best birthday gift I've ever received. WOOT!

LISTEN TO ME

2007-07-31T09:38:00.000-04:00

WE WILL NEVER EARN THE RESPECT OF PEDESTRIANS OR MOTORISTS, IF WE CONTINUE TO IGNORE THE RULES OF THE ROAD.

COMMON SENSE, PEOPLE. COMMON SENSE.

CYCLISTS- PLEASE DO NOT RUN RED LIGHTS OR RIDE ON THE SIDEWALK.

To Ottawa For Canada Day and Back Again

2007-07-04T15:15:00.001-04:00

We went back up to Ottawa for Canada Day again this year, and it was awesome, as always! Check out the billions of photos I took (I'm officially out of the photo funk):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenswift/sets/72157600625385356/

Photo Funk

2007-06-24T20:04:00.000-04:00

I've been in a funk lately, and I haven't really shot anything new in the past couple weeks. I should've uploaded these photos a long time ago, too! Here's a link to the photos from Denise's visit to Sue's place in London:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenswift/
sets/72157600471016631/

It was awesome to party with Denise; I haven't seen her since last September when I went to Vancouver. And it was awesome of Sue to let us all stay at her house in London. It was perfect!

MMMMmmmmm, Tastes Like Campfire

2007-06-20T11:43:00.001-04:00

I'm posting this mostly as a reminder to myself, but I thought I'd share in the process!

Campfire Recipe - Fired Orange Blueberry Cakes

Cut several oranges in half and scoop out the pulp and seeds. Use the orange pulp for a fruit salad. Mix a package of store bought cake mix, any brand will do. Fill one half of the orange skin with the cake mix and wild blueberries.

Put the other half of the orange skin on top and wrap the whole thing in aluminum foil. Place in the hot embers of a campfire and wait half an hour to forty-five minutes.

Carefully remove the foil packages from the fire and unwrap. Let the oranges cool a bit before peeling. Open to behold and enjoy a beautiful orange blueberry cake dessert.

This is Effin' Awesome

2007-06-16T11:09:00.000-04:00

Google maps have updated their satellite imagery... Toronto included. The images are so much better than they used to be. And if you hit "link to this page" and change "Z19" near the end of the web address to "z20", you can make it zoom even closer. Ahhh! It's so cool! Next, we'll be getting the Street View function... that shit is crazy, man.

Check it out:
http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&om=1&ll=43.668147,-79.39487&spn=0.001114,0.00294&t=k&z=19

Madness, I Say!

2007-06-02T11:26:00.001-04:00

Take a look at this:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/28/book.burning.ap/index.html

A book store owner in Missouri is burning his unwanted books!

Tom Wayne, with the eloquence of an American book store owner, explains himself:
"After slogging through the tens of thousands of books we've slogged through and to accumulate that many and to have people turn you away when you take them somewhere, it's just kind of a knee-jerk reaction," he said. "And it's a good excuse for fun."

Yep. That's what I do for fun... burn some books. I find it extremely hard to believe he couldn't find anywhere to donate these books. What a waste. Not to mention the smoke being released into the atmosphere probably isn't good for the neighbours.

My Dream Vacation

2007-06-01T11:39:00.000-04:00

http://www.utracks.com/utca/index.php
?section=trips&id=29924

Scottish Highlands Self-Guided Cycle Tour! Only $1420.00 CAD. Plus airfare.

Man... I wish I had 10 extra days and a shit load of money right now. Quite the opposite actually, I'm totally broke, because of my new hair.

Weekend Update

2007-05-28T19:17:00.000-04:00

Bex's Champagne birthday was on Friday, so we celebrated on Saturday at the Rhino just up the street. Good times were had by all...

We started here at home, and then walked up the street, and then came back, and then some people left again, and then came back. Tyndall is where it's at.

Prior to the party, though, I spent the day getting my hair did. It's did alright!

Sunday we went to the Caddy for the breakfast again, except I asked for a lunch menu item. I just really can't stomach the breakfast there! Runny eggs and weird tasting potatoes. The regular french fries are awesome though, so it's all good.

The best part of the weekend, though, was the fact that Ben was here! Sweet Joseph of Aremethea, I love that man!

More photos from the Rhino and breakfast here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenswift/sets/72157600279161788/

And this morning, James, Stef and I met up for some free pancakes at Nathan Phillips Square. Bike Week officially kicked off!

See more photos from city hall here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenswift/518782912/

Biiiike Weee-eeeek!

2007-05-25T11:09:00.000-04:00

Starts tonight. Movies at Dundas Square (ROAM and An Inconvenient Truth), Mass Commute and Pancakes at NPS on Monday, Bike Clinic and BBQ at Bandshell Park on Wednesday, Bike Locker Preview at NPS and Party at Clinton's on Thursday, Ride the Don on Saturday, and a Bike Art Show at the Gladstone on Sunday.

Man, I LOVE Bike Week!!

Check here for more details:
http://www.toronto.ca/cycling/
bikeweek/bikeweek_2007.htm

I'll be there, will you?!?!
.

How Can They Be So Unconscionably in Denial?

2007-05-24T19:43:00.000-04:00

The US government is trying to get the UN to weaken their stance on global warming. They want strong, goal-oriented points on the agenda for the next G8 meeting removed, and replaced with one slack-jawed ignoramus of a sentence. See here:

http://environment.about.com/b/a/256899.htm
and
http://www.newscientist.com/blog/environment/2007/05/g8-pact-us-wants-to-cut-text-not.html?feedId=earth_rss20

Unfuckingbelievable. I know Canada isn't doing much better right now, when it comes to direct initiatives for battling climate change, but COME ON! The US needs to stop trying to bully everyone else around, stop whining about how much money they're going to lose, and GET ON BOARD. "Things" are much bigger than you, George Bush; bigger than even the White House, or Washington, or the US... we're talking about the future of the PLANET EARTH. As a whole.

Man, I sound like Peter Petrelli right now.
.

Back From the Cottage

2007-05-24T13:08:00.000-04:00

I went up to Becky's cottage again for May 2-4 this year... I think it's going to be a tradition. A damn good one! Chilling out, maxin', relaxin', all cool. We spent the weekend sitting in the sun, playing with Rosie the dog, reading (Goblet of Fire, and Annie Leibovitz 1990-2005), playing sudoko (for the first time ever- that game is maddening!), watching the chipmunks and chickadees, cranking radios, playing asshole (I'm reigning prez) and of course, eating the fabulous food Becky's mom prepared for us. It was amazing, as always. Oh, and we saw Blue Rodeo at the Kee to Bala on Friday. The year of the concert continues!

See more pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenswift/sets/72157600254371409/

Update Via Photos

2007-05-17T21:01:00.000-04:00

Last weekend was Stef's birthday. We woke up early for a photo shoot... like crack of dawn early. Got some cool shots, though... check 'em out:

More photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenswift/sets/72157600226524676/

That night we started the festivities at Stef's place, and the we partied it up at Toi Bar in Little Italy... it was pretty rockin':

More photos here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenswift/sets/72157600226154393/

We went for lunch at the Cadillac on Sunday, but for some reason, I didn't bring a camera! Weirrrrrrrd.

This Is The Best News Ever!!!

2007-05-13T11:33:00.000-04:00

I just found out that this summer, starting on June 5th, Trinity Bellwoods Park will be hosting a farmer's market every Tuesday!! I'm so stoked! And it runs from 3pm to 7pm which is so perfect. I can go and grab some fresh, local veggies on my way home after work (until I have my own fresh veggies, that is!)

Plus, the drum circle will happen there every other Tuesday. It's going to be a great summer!

Awesome Website... Check It Out!

2007-05-10T13:16:00.000-04:00

I stumbled upon this website when looking through my comments on blogTO (yes, I'm a comment-voyeur):

http://indexed.blogspot.com/

Super cool! Poignant, funny, timely. Everything a graph should be!

Oh No!! I'm Bex's Mortal Enemy!!!

2007-05-09T15:12:00.000-04:00

You Are a Grilled Cheese Sandwich

You are a traditional person with very simple tastes.
In your opinion, the best things in life are free, easy, and fun.
You totally go with the flow. And you enjoy every minute of it!

Your best friend: The Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

Your mortal enemy: The Ham Sandwich

What Kind of Sandwich Are You?

Becky's a Ham Sandwich!

Post for Posts Sake

2007-05-09T13:49:00.000-04:00

I realize it's been over a week since I've posted anything, so here ya go.

My online presence stretches much further than Blogger now (Facebook, blogTO, werkingtitle, Ravenswift Images, etc.), so I'm finding less and less things to write about on here!

Weekend Update

2007-05-01T21:30:00.000-04:00

This past weekend was fun and tiring all at the same time.

Friday night we started out by pre-drinking at James' place...

And then we went to celebrate Colin's 30th at Lot 16. It was awesome to see all of his old buddies there, and the whole bar sang to him when the cake was brought out (I think most people at the bar were there to see Colin spin anyways). It almost brought a tear to my eye!

Saturday morning Stef and I woke up early to go get some free compost from the city...

Saturday night the weather was crappy, so I watched movies all day. The Princess Bride, some Sex and the City episodes (season three)... and I rented The Last King of Scotland and The Queen. Both were just meh.

Sunday Stef came over and we worked on the garden some more...

Sunday night I vegged out in front of the TV. Gotta watch The Simpsons!

The weekend continued last night with a BBQ at Clark's place. There was lots of meat...

All in all, a weekend well spent. Here's a link to more photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenswift/

Ride for Climate to Oakville

2007-04-25T22:22:00.000-04:00

I finally got around to uploading the pics from the bike ride to Oakville we took this past weekend. It was awesome!

Here's a link to the set of Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenswift/sets/72157600130507755/

An Eventful Ride In

2007-04-24T10:06:00.000-04:00

This morning was full of action.

I was riding up King Street, when a silver Toyota 4Runner pulls up beside me and asks me where my helmet is... it was Bex's parents! I told them I don't have a helmet (I know, I'm stupid), but that not having a helmet isn't illegal. They just said to be careful. I bet you any money Bex's mom is going out to buy me a helmet today. Or not... but I wouldn't be surprised! She's the overly generous type of woman! Funny thing is, we were both heading to the same block (Church and Queen)... and I beat them here!

And then, in the business district, I noticed this guy on a too-small bike weaving on and off the sidewalk, passing me and cutting and me off. I caught up to him at the next stop light, and this is how the conversation went:

Me: "Hey... where'd you learn how to ride your bike?"
Him: "Wha?"
Me: "Where did you learn to ride your bike?"
Him: "Wha?" (I don't think English was his first language)
Me: "Man, you shouldn't ride on the sidewalks like that."
Him: "Yeah, but..."
Me: "Yeah, but, nothing. It's illegal. It's dangerous for everyone around you. And the more you break the rules, the less respect everyone else has for us cyclists. So just don't ride on the sidewalk!"

At this point, the light turns green. I say to him "Go!", but he just stands there. "Go, go!" I say. Finally, he gets off his bike, and pulls it up onto the sidewalk beside him, so I can go first. Now it was my turn to be confused. Wha?

Anyways- Neil says cyclists won't follow the rules until there are serious repercussions for breaking the biking laws. So, from now on, YOU BETTER FOLLOW THE RULES, OR I'LL MAKE YOU LOOK LIKE A DUMB ASS. So there.

HAPPY EARTH DAY!!!

2007-04-22T17:07:00.000-04:00

And now, a poem:

A Chorus of Forests
by Robyn Levy, 1993

Somewhere over the landfill...
a chorus of forests
surround our souls
it sings:
flush unbleached paper
down toilet bowls
write recycled letters
swap second-hand chairs
fax politicians
recite world peace prayers
eat organic
from a breeze-blown hammock
pedal your way across town
collect pine cones
volcanic stones
listen to nature's sounds
illuminate the dimly lit
plant some tulips in the T.V. set
ban clear cutting
protect water sheds
dream multi-cultural dreams
from benevolent beds
harmonize with the spruce and the pine
do it now, while there's still time!

(from a t-shirt my mom bought me back when I was 15-years-old)

This weekend, I definitely did my part for the Earth Day celebration. On Saturday, James, Stef and I biked to Oakville on the Waterfront Trail. It was awesome! I didn't think I could do it, but four hours of pedalling was easier than I thought.

And then today, Stef, Kylie, Bex and I started the garden. We raked away the stone layer and dug up the dirt beneath into four 4'x4' beds. That's as far as we got. There was SO MUCH TRASH to dig up. It was unbelievable. Someone must've buried their garbage there. Plastic bags mostly, because whatever was in them turned to rot... so fortunately, the soil in my back yard seems very rich and moist. With LOTS of worms. I was happy about that. A good start to the garden, I think.

If We All Follow The Rules, Cycling Will Be Safer... well, duh.

2007-04-19T12:23:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, on my way home, some courier wannabe passed me on the right, only to get stuck at a red light 30 feet in front of us. I pulled up casually beside him and said (loudly, since he had headphones on), "You should try to pass on the left." He said I was too far over to the left for him to pass (which is total BS), and so I told him he should have used his bell to let me know to squeeze right so he could pass. I looked down at his handle bars, and I don't even think he HAD a bell. WHAT?!? Insanity, riding in the city without a bell. Also, completely illegal!!!

I says to him I says, "I'm just telling you what I've read about proper cycling." He didn't respond. The light turned green and off he went. I yelled after him, "Have a nice day!" I think I heard him say thank you.

I should've said, "If we all follow the rules, cycling in the city will be much safer." Cause, really, that's the whole point of having rules!

Best Line on Television Right Now...

2007-04-18T22:22:00.000-04:00

"By the power of Grayscull!"

What The?!?

2007-04-14T15:02:00.000-04:00

I was fiddling around with my photo blog, Ravenswift Images, and I happened upon this:

http://www.aboutus.org/KariGignac.com

It's crazy!! I guess it's like a wiki directory of websites... but it's weird to be included in something unknowingly. Hmmm, I wonder if I should add stuff to it? I'll have to investigate further.

Photos Photos Photos!!!

2007-04-11T14:40:00.000-04:00

I finally uploaded all the photos I took while I was home... there's also some pics from pre-drinking at my place before Beth's birthday. Check 'em out:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenswift/sets/72157600063868824/

The theme of the weekend was photographs, actually. I pulled out a box full of loose pictures, tonnes of them from when I was a baby, and before that even. So many cute ones of me!! LOL... it was awesome looking through them with the whole family around. It ended up being a nice activity for us all before the Easter pizza arrived!

And I really couldn't believe the weather. We didn't have snow in Windsor for Christmas, but we had some for Easter? How ridiculous is that!

Back to Life, Back to unReality

2007-04-10T14:54:00.000-04:00

I've returned to Toronto after spending the Easter weekend in Windsor, and I have to say, I'm glad to be back. I knew the trip home would be fairly unpleasant, and I was right.

First, the drive home on Thursday evening was completely insane. Traffic slowed down to around 40km/h around Burlington, for like 40 minutes. ARGH! Then, just south of London, I ran into a white-out... it was snowing so heavily, I could barely see 20' in front of the car. And the roads were covered in snow, so driving more than 60km/h would've been completely suicidal. And of course there was construction along the 401 in Essex County. It ended up taking me an hour longer than normal to get home.

Secondly, my sister-in-law's mother (or, my brother's mother-in-law) is very ill. Very. It's extremely sad. She reminds me a lot of my own mother, and treated me like a daughter after my mom passed away 8 years ago. She's a strong lady, but has been sick for a while. Unfortunately, I think she'll soon lose her battle with cancer, and we'll all lose an extremely passionate and dedicated woman... Alas...

I also visited with some other friends who lost a family member back in February. It's sad seeing people you love so sad. So. Sad.

I ran into a friend from high school (not even through Facebook), and she showed me a picture of her beautiful daughter. When I asked her if she was married, she told me she was, but that her husband died of a heart attack last year. He was 40. Frick, man.

So, yes, I knew this weekend would be a melancholy one. And it was. Except for the time I spent with Stacey, and my Dad and Shirl!

And I didn't get to bring my canoe back with, as was planned. I need to find someplace to store it that has access to the lake. Somewhere CHEAP.

Busy-ness

2007-04-05T14:38:00.000-04:00

I can't believe how busy I've become. Writing for a regular news-type blog (and I'm not even writing that regularly) has monopolized much of my time... plus my day job keeps me busy, and I've got book club, and the photo club, etc. Phew. It really doesn't sound like much, but it feels like it is. Maybe I'm just getting old.
Anyways- one of my upcoming projects is going to be a series of articles about the garden I'm going to plant in my back yard. There will be lots of photos, and a time lapse series showing the progress of growth, if I can figure out how to do that. It should be cool!

Another thing I want to do is expand the book club; merge with blogTO somehow... still thinking on this. SO much to think about!

BAH! I think, with more sunlight, things will get easier for me. Plus, now that I'm riding my bike, I'll have more energy overall. I can't wait for this crazy weather to level off a bit!

New Biking Season, New Bike

2007-04-03T12:58:00.000-04:00

And not because my current bike got stolen, for once! I just decided I wanted a new bike. The bike I have now was purchased purely out of necessity (right after I was burgled outside of Salad King), and I didn't get a chance to shop around. I also don't like riding it. It just seems harder than normal to propel myself forward on it; I'm not sure if this is because it's a girl's bike, or if it's because it's a bit heavier. The seat is also extremely uncomfortable.

So, I bought a new bike from Can Tire. Here it is:

Pretty sweet, eh!? I like it. The colours are pretty. And it's bigger, better and faster. Nuf said.

Long Forgotten

2007-03-29T22:21:00.000-04:00

On the walk home last Friday, we happened upon this bike, locked to a street sign post on the sidewalk in front of some random house.

Attached to the cross bar was a yellow notice, warning the owners of the house that the bike would be taken away if they did not remove it from the post. I just think it's funny; I bet the owners of the house didn't even know the bike was there!

And I love how the bike is described as "red", but really, it was more of a "rust" colour. I bet the owner's of the house were grateful that the city took the bike away.

Anyways- I've always wondered what happened to your bike if you forgot where you locked it up... now I know!

Keepin' the Nostalgia Alive

2007-03-27T13:38:00.000-04:00

Continuing my tribute to my mom and her family, I decided to try out my hand at some Dutch cuisine.

About a year ago (could've been longer, actually), I purchased this spice/herb mix from the House of Spice in Kensington called Bahmi Goreng (directly translated, this means "fried noodles"). I'd seen the package before- in my mom's kitchen cupboard! My gram and my mom (and probably both of my aunts) make this dish, and just the thought of it makes my mouth water. It's a great Carribean/Dutch/Indonesian noodle dish with pork, onions, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, etc. So good!

The only problem with the spice mix? The cooking instructions were written in Dutch. I tried an online translator, but typing out those extremely long Dutch words with too many vowels took so long- and the translation was pretty confusing.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago. There's a new employee here in eBay named Michelle, who is VERY Dutch (you just have to look at her white blond hair and her rosy cheeks!) I asked her if she spoke the language, and she said that yes, she could understand it. I thought of the Bahmi spice mix, and asked her if she could translate the package for me. Well, she did me one better- she took it home and had her mom translate it, who also wrote down her own Bahmi recipe for me. On Sunday, I finally got around the making it. It was SO easy. I couldn't believe it.

And although I didn't follow either recipe exactly, it ended up tasting wonderful. The spices brought back memories of my grandparent's old place in Lambeth (near London, ON), of family gatherings, of other great dishes my gram makes (her trifle is to DIE for), of my dear dear grandpa, and of the happier times with my mom. I'll have to go and buy more of this Bahmi Goreng spice mix stuff- I wonder if I can get it anywhere else?

Advanced Apology to Myself

2007-03-23T15:13:00.000-04:00

Only because I'm not too sure who all reads this blog...

I'm writing for blogTO now, so I'll have less time to write things up for Blurty Blurt Blurt. This might mean, actually, that things on this blog get a bit more personal... since I've got a new outlet for my more informational posts.

Check me out on blogTO!

Birthday Wishes and Beyond

2007-03-20T22:47:00.000-04:00

Spring is officially here... and this time of year, I always think of my mom more than usual. Today would've been her 54th birthday.

Stef was saying how she'd never seen a pic of my mom, and I got to thinking- I hadn't seen one in a while either... so I dug up a photo. I kinda feel weird posting it online- after all, she didn't even get to know what a blog was, but I think a little tribute on Blurty Blurt Blurt will be fine.

This is my mom, Maria, and my brother Derek like, 15 years ago. One of three photos I have here in Toronto of my mom.

Split Needles by The Shins

2007-03-20T14:17:00.000-04:00

This is the song I can't get out of my head today:

I've done myself an impossible crime,
Had to paint myself a hole,
And fall inside,
If it's far enough in sight and rhyme,
I get to wear another dress,
And count in time,

Oh, won't you do me the favor, man,
Of a giving mind,
A polymorphing opinion here,
And your vague outline,

I'll find myself another burning gate,
A pretty face, a vague idea I can't relate,
And this is get what you get for pulling pins,
Out of the hole,
Inside the hole you're in,

It's like I'm posed on the handle bars,
Of a blind man's bike,
No straws to grab, just the rushing wind,
On the rolling mind,
La la la la la.

They want you to decide,
Eventually, it happens,
Some gather on one side,
With all their pearly snapping,
They close the basement door,
It sets our teeth to chatter,
You never saw it before,
But now that hardly matters,

You're old enough, boy,
Too many summers you've enjoyed,
So spin the wheel,
We'll set you up with some odd convictions,
Cause you're finally golden, boy.

It's like I'm posed on the handle bars,
Of a blind man's bike,
No straws to grab, just the rushing wind,
On the rolling mind.

So good.

The Year of the Concert

2007-03-18T11:37:00.000-04:00

I used to go see a lot of shows when I lived in Windsor... mostly because this one guy I used to go out with, Ryan, was a HUGE music fan with impeccable taste, so we'd slum it over to Detroit every few weeks to see a show at St. Andrew's Hall, Cobo, or the Palace (I don't even know if these places are still called these names). The one thing Detroit/Windsor has over us here in Toronto- more acts go there.

I've seen Elliot Smith, Stereolab, Sonic Youth, the Dandy Warhols, Grandaddy, Sloan, Violent Femmes, the Breeders, Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys, George Clinton, Pearl Jam, Coldplay, and of course, the Tragically Hip. Just to name a few. And I've got the concert tees to prove it!

this year, I think, I'll be seeing a bunch of shows. I just get the feeling. So far, I've seen The Shins (last night- awesome show) and Sloan, and next weekend I'm going to see The Rheostatics. And I'm definitely buying tickets to the Virgin Festival this fall. I'll get to see the Smashing Pumpkins again! And Bjork's gonna be there! I also need to see Sarah Harmer play live.

I can't wait- it's all gonna be so awesome. There's something about seeing a band play live; it shows us that the band members are real people- they make mistakes (like James Mercer forgetting the words last night- he so cute!), they interact candidly with each other and with the audience. You connect with them, even though they can't see you. I really dig it.

The one thing I've learned from all these year's of concert-going? The closer I am to the stage has a direct affect on how much I enjoy the show. If I can't feel the music in my chest and see the expressions on the musician's faces, it's hardly worth it. So who's up for some elbow action?

LEARN TO READ OR GET OFF OF EBAY

2007-03-16T10:50:00.000-04:00

I don't know why exactly, but today, I'm way less tolerant at my job than I normally am. I answer customer emails in the morning, and I understand that some people out there are as internet savvy as others, but today, it just seems like people out there (ebayers) are just plain moronic.

For example, someone asks:
"The camera is supposed to come with a cap to cover the lense opening. Do you have it?
How do you keep dust out if you don't?"

My response had to be:
As stated in the description, and as is visible in the photos on eBay, this camera does come with a body cap.

This happens ALL THE TIME. READ THE GODDAMN DESCRIPTION PEOPLE! That's why we take the time to WRITE the goddamn descriptions! YOU CAN READ, RIGHT?!?!

Here are some more...

Their Question: Hi is this a new strap?
My Answer: As stated in the description on eBay, this is a new strap.

Their Question: OK, one more quick question. Is this a Store demo camera, or one someone has owned for some time.
My Answer: This is a used camera, as is stated in the eBay auction title and description.

Their Question: Hi I just wanted to double check with you about a few things with regards to this item... 1. Is this item brand new? 2. What is your warranty policy on merchandise?
My Answer: As stated in the description on eBay, this is a new flash. Also, as stated in the description on eBay, the flash is covered by a one-year warranty from the manufacturer, which is Canon Canada.

Their Question: I hate bidding games. How much to buy this lens?
My Answer: Sorry- there's no Buy it Now option on this auction. (But in my head I'm thinking- this is EBAY! Which is an AUCTION site. Auctions are won by BIDDING on the item being AUCTIONED OFF).

Their Question: I'm really apologize! Could you please cancel my bid for this Item because I didn't relize that it is a used len.
My Answer: How could you not realize this was a used lens? It states so in the title, and again in the description. Please let me know how you failed to realize this was a used lens.

Yeah- so I lost it a bit on that last one. But I am genuinely curious as to how he could've missed the fact that this is a used lens. Meh.

Rant over. Day still has six and a half hours. FACK!

Hedgehogs Can Write?

2007-03-15T21:55:00.000-04:00

The porn industry's favourite rodent visited the Gladstone Hotel to promote his new book, Ron Jeremy: The Hardest (Working) Man in Showbiz. A couple friends and I decided to catch the interview with Eye Magazine's Sasha Van Bon Bon, but unfortunately we were too late. Ron was still there, though, signing books, boobs, booties and whatever else you wanted his Sharpie to stroke. What I found funny was the swarm of guys around him. Of course, Mr. Jeremy is a hero in the eyes of most men between the ages of 25 and 65.

We didn't get to hear the Hedgehog chatter, but we did see some strange woman's nipple being bitten by Ron. She was a bit flustered, but hey, it’s Ron Jeremy! With 70s being porn projected onto the big screen on stage, it was hard to steer the conversation away from fornication. My friends and I shared some of our more memorable porn experiences.

My very first porno movie encounter was at a friend's house when I was about 12. She had two older brothers, and the family was less than conservative. One afternoon, we happened upon her oldest brother watching a “video”. I tried not to look, but ended up getting an eyeful of sex- an extreme close up of penetration. This was my first visual proof, confirming what I'd read and been told about the act of lovemaking.

To my right, a friend told us about the first porno movie she saw. It involved fellatio between a man and a multi-tasking hermaphrodite. To my left, my friend told about how he once found a friend's father's porno mags. The dad was a gynecologist, and therefore, his fetish was with the opposite hole. Interesting first impressions! Makes me think, what kind of porn out there influenced you early on? Was it outrageous and scary? Or did you just browse the magazines to read the articles?

"It's actually only this big," he says.

Breakfast Review #7... Poor John's Cafe

2007-03-12T22:15:00.000-04:00

After a party with the ladies on Saturday night, a breakfast with James was called for. We met up at Stef's and headed over to Poor John's Cafe at 1610 Queen Street West.

We got there around 2pm (which was really 1pm in our minds), and got the last available table, conveniently for three. The bubbly waitress was there in a jiffy (really- I think she skipped over, she was so enthusiastic) to take our orders. I decided to go traditional with two eggs over easy, bacon, marble rye toast, and the maple homefries. Stef got a whole wheat bagel with cream cheese. James just had coffee (he'd already had breakfast over at Sneak's). The menu didn't seem to have too much to choose from, but it might have been just a brunch menu.

The food arrived a while later, enough time for an average Sunday morning after a party conversation. The eggs were perfect, the toast was pretty, the bacon was nice and lean- spread evenly over the potatoes, presumably to hide them. I think I got the last of the batch, because unfortunately, they were tough and dry. Not too mapley either, sadly. The coffee was good and strong, though, so that made up for it. And the place was nice- Formica tables and vinyl bound chairs- the sun shining in the big front window helped too!

SO- on a scale of 1 to 5. I'll give the service a 5. The food a 4. The atmosphere a 5. Cleanliness a 5. Cost a 4.5 (my eggs were $6.75). Overall- Poor John's Cafe gets a 23.5 out of 25!

Wear What You Love But Never Wear

2007-03-11T19:38:00.001-04:00

That was the theme of Stef's girl's night on Saturday, and everyone had a great time picking out their outfits and explaining why they wore them!

I wore an old gray wool skirt that I haven't worn since high school- I don't know why- I guess I just didn't really have the occasion to wear it. Perfect for the party! I got the skirt at Value Village in Windsor years ago. I wore a purple linen shirt that my friend Shannon brought back for me from Brazil about ten years ago, and I had my black jacket that now has some pesky detergent stains on it. I also wore the new necklace that Stacey got me for Christmas this year, and of course- my Fluevogs. Of course!

All the outfits were super... check out this link to see all the photos I took:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenswift/sets/72157594583006518/

Facebook Scares Me

2007-03-08T14:44:00.000-05:00

That's right. Facebook scares me.

It's a bit disconcerting how quickly it gained popularity (or so it seems to me). And it's unsettling how much information you can find out about anyone registered. Meh. I don't know. It LOOKS cool, nice and clean... but something so streamlined, and seemingly too good to be true? There must be a catch.

Anyways- I've got a trillion new messages in my email inbox from Facebook, so I'll talk at you later.

Breakfast Review #6... The Brown Cow Restaurant.

2007-03-05T22:16:00.000-05:00

It's been a while! But we went somewhere new for breakfast on Sunday, and I brought my camera along. We walked over to Roncesvalles, and up to The Brown Cow Restaurant. It was damn cold that day, and the quick service of never-ending coffee was more than welcome. It was around 11am on Sunday, prime breakfast real estate, yet the place was almost empty. I didn't really take note of that though, because I was admiring the simple, clean decor. Diner style booths and bar stools, with an industrial touch. I thought it was nice and utilitarian.

The menu was extensive... regular diner fare, with a bit of gourmet thrown in here and there with some flavoured aioli. I chose the chicken with avocado and brie on a triangle ciabatta and fries. First of all... the fries were amazing. Homemade, to be sure, and garlicky! They were awesome. The sandwich was good... but not as good as I'd hoped. I couldn't even taste the avocado- it was in the "aioli"- and the bun was a bit too crusty. But I ate it all!

James and Stef each had omelets, which looked really tasty, with yummy sauteed mushrooms and other veggies. They said it was a bit greasy though. The price was pretty good... $8 for my sandwich and fries, and I think the bottomless coffee was only $1.50. The waitress was very nice, saying, "Excuse me," before each question. There were flat screen TV's playing some obscure MuchMoreMusic show with Brandon from 90210 and the guy from Ed, and I couldn't decide if televisions in restaurants were a good idea.

SO- on a scale of 1 to 5. I'll give the service a 5. The food a 3.5. The atmosphere a 4. Cleanliness a 5. Cost a 4. Overall- The Brown Cow gets a 21.5 out of 25!

Lacking Inspiration?

2007-03-02T11:56:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple cool, free, things to do, if you're looking for some rallying spirit or creative musing:

Rally for Kyoto: With Keith Stewart, Dave Martin and more, plus performances. March 11th, 12 noon. Nathan Phillips Square. Free. www.canadiansforkyoto.com

Zoo: Last week to check out InterAccess's fantastic show about modern tech and nature. On until March 17th. Free. Read the NOW Magazine article.

I like FREE things.

Speaking of Maps...

2007-03-01T23:13:00.000-05:00

I just watched the ending of Marie Antoinette (beautiful film... I loved it), and so I decided to read up on Marie Antionette (beheaded in 1793, four years after the movie ends) herself and look up Versailles on Google Maps. All I can say, is holy extravagance! And the fact that you can zoom ALL the way in is pretty damn neat.

CLICK HERE to see the crazy grounds of the palace. It's Hu Mon Gous.

The Answer is Blowing in the Wind

2007-03-01T22:16:00.000-05:00

I honestly thought I was going to blow away on the way home from work today. It was insane! Ice pellets in my face, propelled by 60 km/h gusts of wind! Iiieeee!! It was great though... I felt so alive!! LOL

I'm terrified by the weather, but it fascinates me to no end. One of my favourite sites:

http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/full_loop.php

I could stare at that site forever.

GO! at CBC

2007-02-26T14:29:00.000-05:00

This Saturday, Stef and I went on an early morning adventure to see a live recording of the CBC radio show GO! with Brent Bambury. It was pretty cool! But is it worth getting up super early on a Saturday, you ask? Why yes! I think it is!

This Saturday's guests were Scott Thompson, Jean Yoon, Olivia Chow and GO! correspondent Dan Misener, who were all defending their favourite rags in a special episode of "Canada Skims... Magazines", a spoof on the popular Canada Reads series (which starts today/tonight on the CBC, catch it at 7:30pm on 99.1 FM).

Scott Thompson was his usual hilarious, cute self (I couldn't get over sweet his smile was... gap and all)! I'd never heard of Jean Yoon, but she did a commendable job of promoting the magazine Shameless... she ended up winning the debate. Scott was defending OK! Canada, Olivia was trying to get us to read Gardening Life, and Dan's favourite was the shopping magazine Lou Lou.

Musical guest was Spiral Beach, a great pop quartet from Toronto. We saw them a few months ago at the Gladstone, and their energy blew me away. They're the reason I wanted to go to the recording. And they didn't disappoint. Brent handed out ear plugs before the show, since the band was set up so close to the audience, but I said no thanks! They played awesome.

All in all, I think it was a great experience to see how a live audience radio show is put together. I wonder if anyone heard my cheers and clapping!

To see more photos from that day, click this link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravenswift/sets/72157594556301857/

Holy links, Batman!!

PARKDALE PRIDE!!

2007-02-25T15:49:00.000-05:00

I'm thinking of making a poster that says:

"PARDALE PRIDE!!
Do your part to keep the neighbourhood pretty!
Scoop that poop and pocket that litter!"

But I think the posters will just get ripped down and thrown into the wind.
It's getting out of hand though. I think I'm going to email these pictures to Gord Perks:

And We'll All Float On Okay

2007-02-21T22:41:00.000-05:00

In the spirit of lyrics, started by Stef's good day:

I backed my car into a cop car the other day
Well he just drove off sometimes life's ok
I ran my mouth off a bit too much oh what did i say
Well you just laughed it off it was all ok

And we'll all float on okay
And we'll all float on okay
And we'll all float on okay
And we'll all float on any way well

Well, a fake Jamaican took every last dime with that scam
It was worth it just to learn some sleight-of-hand
Bad news comes don't you worry even when it lands
Good news will work its way to all them plans
We both got fired on the exactly the same day
Well we'll float on good news is on the way

And we'll all float on okay
And we'll all float on okay
And we'll all float on okay
And we'll all float on alright
Already we'll all float on
Now don't worry we'll all float on
Alright already we'll all float on
Alright don't worry we'll all float on

And we'll all float on alright
Already we'll all float on
Alright don't worry even if things end up a bit too heavy
We'll all float on alright
Already we'll all float on
Alright already we'll all float on
Okay don't worry we'll all float on
Even if things get heavy we'll all float on
Alright already we'll all float on
Don't you worry we'll all float on
All float on

Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News

While we're on the topic of music, does anyone know a way to add a player on here, like they have on MySpace? So, instead of posting lyrics (or in addition to), I could make you actually listen to the song!?!

My Photos Are Being Seen

2007-02-21T12:32:00.000-05:00

Another one of my photos was featured on the BlogUT site... check it out!

http://www.blogut.ca/2007/02/21/cest-what-cest-a-beer-tasting/

They had one of my photos from skating on their site a couple weeks ago, too:

http://www.blogut.ca/2007/02/09/dj-skating-tonight-get-your-groove-on-on-ice/

Woot!

And now that I've got a kick ass photo printer, I'm totally going to work on exhibiting some prints, sometime, this year. Let's make the goal for... the summer? July? August? I need a space, too. And a theme. And some HELP!!!! Bah!

Book Club, Pancakes and Printer

2007-02-20T22:46:00.000-05:00

Last night was book club. It was good. We watched "The Big Sleep", and I was hoping the movie would make the plot a bit less confusing, but no. I enjoyed the book, because I like the writing of Chandler Raymond, but the storyline was very confusing, so many characters, murders, guns. But it was cool. The original cool.

My favourite are the metaphors: "Ohls looked at him silently, his pale eyebrows bristling and stiff and round like the little vegetable brushes the Fuller Brush man gives away." Tee hee!

And today was Shrove Tuesday... the best excuse to eat breakfast for dinner. I had some pancakes, but I burnt the first one cause it took me so long to get my camera ready. Probably for the best!

I also managed to get my new printer home last night (my muss-cles hurt), and hooked her up to the laptop. It's pretty sweet. And it was such a deal! The printer goes for close to $500 on ebay... with my employee referral for getting Kylie (the new lister) hired, it was free!

Synchronisities Indeed

2007-02-18T21:25:00.000-05:00

This morning we went to Sneaky Dee's for breakfast. At some point, I usually read out all of our horoscopes as seen in NOW Magazine. Stef's horoscope this week was eerily accurate. Mine was too, for that matter.

Stef's:
"46 is your lucky number, Taurus, and you're about to harvest about 46 tons of eerily delightful synchronicities." -- Honestly, I think there were 46 coincidences today. The timing of the TTC ride over to Sneak's was way to perfect, and we bumped into people we knew every time we turned around. More than usual. Surprise phone calls and a fruitful trip to Value Village rounded out the fortunate afternoon.

Mine:
"By the way, there's a lot more [water] over there," and he points to the river. Do you hear him? If you hear him, do you believe him? Or do you keep walking, hoping to find another man with another glass somewhere up ahead?" -- James really just made my horoscope come true by pointing at the bowl of creamers on the table next to us and saying this to me, right after I asked the waitress to bring more creamers. LOL. By the way- I took the best pic ever of James today. He wasn't goofing around or anything!

More Cool Things To Do

2007-02-16T13:19:00.000-05:00

Every Thursday, I get an email with NOW Magazine's Tip Sheet... and I think I'm just gonna copy and paste the events I'd like to attend on here, so I can keep track!

This week, I've chosen these things:

Youth for Action: A day-long set of workshops on green activism, reclaiming the media and re-designing the city. Masaryk-Cowan Community Resource Centre. Friday, February 16. Free. 519-767-9587.
(this is right around the corner from me... I wonder what they mean by "youth"? D'oh it's happening today! Ah well...)

Ontario Crafts Council: Catch the works of Ontario's most accomplished craftspeople at the Vital Mix group show, till Apr 1. Free. 416-925-4222.

Plug 'n Socket Art & Music Festival: 6 bands and 12 artists. Tranzac Theatre. Saturday, March 3rd, 6pm. $10 at the door or $8 in advance ($8 at the door with canned good).
(Julia's bro Jesse MacMillan will be singing some tunes that night, too, which is why I wanna go!)

The Day That Nothing Worked (except the printer)

2007-02-15T19:03:00.000-05:00

So, I just got home from walking all the way from Spadina. Stupid streetcar I was on kicked everyone off, so it could push the broken down streetcar in front of it off the road. Man. What the hell is wrong with the TTC today?

And at work, our inventory program SUCKED ASS. I only got three listings done, where normally, I should be getting about 14-15! But I did get a "lemon" printer up and running this afternoon, which I might be able to buy for cheap! Woot!

I Think I've Been Fairly Tolerant...

2007-02-15T11:42:00.000-05:00

... with the TTC, until now. I'm usually very logical and lenient with the flaws of the TTC, and I normally blame the other TTC riders for how miserable the ride can be now and then. However, this morning, I couldn't believe how bad the service was!

Bex and I arrived at the stop at our normal time, around 8:30am. Just as we were walking to the stop, a car went by. I had a sinking feeling that we should've run to catch the car, but alas. A few minutes later (more minutes than usual), another streetcar came along, but it was out of service.

A couple minutes later, another car came, with another car behind it. The first car was PACKED, but the second car was also out of service, so we tried to squeeze onto the back of the car in front. A tinny voice via intercom said, "Young lady, please step away from the back door of the streetcar." Apparently, I wasn't allowed on! Not sure why- it better have been because the car was already too full, because there are signs clearly posted saying the King car runs on a P.O.P. system- you can mount the car through the rear doors if you've got a valid pass or transfer.

The next car pulled up to the light, and everyone started to de-board. Apparently, this car was out of service as well. I asked the driver why and he pointed to some control panel that was opened up, and said it was too cold for it to operate. What??

Anyways- long story short, Bex and I scrambled around, trying to decide if we should just hop in a cab (except we couldn't find one available), or if we should just hop on one of the SIX streetcars piled up at King and Dufferin now. It was 8:54am by the time we finally got onto a streetcar, and 9:30 by the time we got to Church Street. The car we were on announced they were short turning on Church, too.

So- all in all, I saw FOUR streetcars this morning that were out of service! We live in Canada folks! It gets cold! Why do I pay $100 a month to ride on streetcars that break down as soon as it gets cold? And why were only some of the cars out of order? Don't they have like, a huge block heater or something?!?!?

Anyways- it was frustrating, to say the least. I was a half-hour late for work again today. Good thing no one keeps track!

Happy Wednesday

2007-02-14T15:06:00.000-05:00

Cameron, the chic on House, said it best last night:

"Valentine's Day is for people who are paired up. For every one else, it's just a Wednesday."

Also, for anyone who watched House last night, I WISH I could say (to anyone) what Cameron said to Chase at the end of the episode. Hmmm... now I've got you guessing, don't I?

THE SHINS ARE COMING THE SHINS ARE COMING!!!

2007-02-12T13:51:00.000-05:00

So yeah. The Shins are coming to Toronto, and I can't wait to go see them. Tickets go on sale starting on Thursday, but I signed up for their fan club, so I can get advanced tickets. That's how much I love them!!! WOOOOOOOT!!!

So, I'm looking through some Shins lyrics right now... I was going to post my favourite song. But honestly, I love ALL of their songs. I also don't really listen to the lyrics all that much- I'm more of a melody girl. I know, I'm missing out. Anyways... here are the lyrics for one my most favourite Shins songs... but you should listen to it, since the music is why I actually like it so much (also, I'm not sure how accurate these lyrics really are)! It's called Pressed in a Book.

Doted on like seeds planted in rows
The untied shoelaces of your life.
Nurtured all year, then pressed in a book
Or displayed in bad taste at the table.
Problems arise, and you fan the fire.
While there's a wild pack of dogs loose in your house tonight.
Cut from bad cloth or soiled like socks
Add it up and basically people never change.

They just talk and make plans in the dark.
Or make haste with ideas that can't help but creep good people out.
As you talk to me, too much you're assuming.
We don't always want what's right.

Did I strike the right set of chords? You're annoyed.
The goal is to ignite you then move on.
You feel ill at ease, you got no squeeze.
And the wise cracks won't make you more stable.
You've learned your lines, to scale and to time.
Why must I remind you that I'm only less able.
Cut from bad cloth or soiled like socks.
We're ordinary people, we can't help but to...

Change as we walk and make plans in the dark.
Or make haste with the boy who can't help but creep good people out.
As you talk to me, too much you're assuming.
We don't always want what's right.

Two fallen saplings in an open field.
Snow padding gently on an empty bench.
Old woman's jewelry lying unadorned.
Cold nesting robins allied for the first time.
I know when you hear these sappy lines, you'll roll your eyes and say, "nice try".

Cool Things I'd Like To See

2007-02-09T12:34:00.000-05:00

Stephen Lewis and David Suzuki: Monday, February 12th
Two Canuck heroes converse on the theme: If I were Prime Minister. $15/$20. Winter Garden Theatre. (Too bad the only seats left are nosebleeds.)

Evalyn Parry: Sunday, February 18th
Awesome multidisciplinary artist launches her new CD of folky witticisms at the Gladstone. $10.
(Evalyn is a friend of my cousin Allison, and I've seen her play before. She is awesome!)

Julie Doiron w/ Woolly Leaves: Tuesday, Feb. 20th
At the Drake Underground, $15
(Julie Doiron is the chic from Eric's Trip... talented, talented girl)

A Visual Legacy: The City of Toronto's Use of Photography, 1856-1997: on until September 22nd, 2007
The City of Toronto Archives, 255 Spadina Road, FREE
(the exhibition presents images that were commissioned by the City of Toronto or produced by the municipality’s official photographers between 1856 and 1997)

If anyone is interested in going to any of these events, let me know!!!