natashastuff

cake and skating and pirates!!

2007-04-16T19:54:00.000-07:00

So it was my birthday on Sunday, so the weekend was super-happy-fun time!

On Saturday, Sharon and Sarah organized a dinner at White Spot (aka. the Caucasian Stain) for a select few people. On the way there, me and Matt stopped to pick up an ice-cream cake from Dairy Queen, and Matt had it inscribed with, "Happy Birthday Fruit Bat!" We arrived at White Spot, where the best of the best were waiting for us. We got to order pirate paks, which was awesome, and Sarah came prepared with tinfoil hooks, bandannas, and a 'parrot' to sit on my shoulder, so we looked the part. During our meal we spoke with a pirate accent, punctuated by many an "Arrrr!", and "Me matey!" and the occasional "Ahoy!" After our meal, as we were leaving the restaurant, I was departing with Sarah, and I found out that walking semi-backwards and yelling across the parking lot is inadvisable when there are speed bumps right in front/behind you. I bailed gloriously, landing on my right hip and butt cheek. Good thing I have a lot of padding, but it still ouched! We adjourned to my place, where everyone got their first glimpse of the new digs, and then off we went to 8 Rinks for ice-skating! This is were you really find out how feeble you now are. After a few scary minutes where I was certain I was going to plummet forward and break something, I got a bit more acclimated to the skates, and got to go a bit faster. Man, you sure feel it when you use muscles you haven't used in a bit! Then a few of use went to Dave's to watch, "Lady in the Water," which I of course fell asleep for most of. I was all tuckered out!

On Sunday, Matt and I made breakfast, and watched,"Stranger than Fiction," starring Will Ferrell. Good movie, odd but good. Then I was off to meet my mom and grandma for dinner. We were going to go to Swiss Chalet, but my mom called me from outside and said there was no way in hell we were going there, as there were about 40 people in line waiting for tables, and the parking lot was chock full as well. So, we went where we go every year - White Spot. Instead of my usual hamburger, I went wild and had a Quesadilla. Yummy! My mom and grandma gave me some gifts, and me and my mom laughed at some of the things Baba said and heard. My mom proclaimed that she felt as if she was in a John Cleese skit. Ahhh, moms!

So, that was my 26th B-day.

Coming up next in my wild life: paying school tuition, and saving up for a new couch, since my armchair broke. Also, ongoing decorations to put up in my apartment. I put up star lights on my living room ceiling today, and it looks smashing! Just smashing!!

Money

2007-03-29T23:08:00.000-07:00

In preparation for me moving, I made myself a budget in excel, to make sure I didn't spend money on stuff I don't need with no recollection of where it went. Did you know that on average people spend $60 a week with no idea where it went? So, I have been allocating every dollar from my paycheques to a number of 'accounts', such as rent, RRSP, groceries, etc, all in all about 35 accounts. I have been doing good, except that I have been overspending on snacks/food when out. So, in order to rectify this, I am now unable to spend any money until my next paycheque. This is the time when you eat what you have in your cupboards, all that food that you would otherwise leave in favor for something else. Sigh...
Speaking of cupboards, I am going to make mine cowprint! I got some of that stuff that you roll and stick into the bottom of your drawers, or on shelves, and I'm going to cover my cupboard doors in it instead. Moooo! And I have to install these halogen lights that Matt got me a while ago, and then my kitchen projects will be complete, at least for the time being.

weird.....

2007-03-13T20:14:00.000-07:00

It is so weird living all by myself, but at the same time not that weird at all. It's just me and Alfalfa, and I am pretty much all unpacked now. I still need to get my dishes from Sharon's parents' house in Coquitlam so I can stop using my yellow plastic picnic plates, and I need a kitchen table, and I have maybe one more load of some things to get from the old place, but other than that, I'm done! I bought my very own vacuum, and am now the proud owner of a Dirt Devil! Score! Anyways, I now have to rearrange my bedroom, I have decided that a different configuration would be better. I believe some Eggies will help me... evil, evil chocolate eggies.....

FINALLY!!!!!!!!

2007-02-19T14:37:00.000-08:00

ON MOVING:
After searching since basically Christmas, I have finally found a place I like, in a great area, and they said I can have it! Yay! It's right by Highgate, at Kingsway and Edmonds-ish, so I'll be right at the Save-On-Foods, the 24-hr drugstore, the bakery, the porn store (totally wasted on me), the little produce store, Value Village, a dollar store, McDonald's (true test of will), Me-n-Ed's Pizza (maybe I'll actually try it out one of these days!), and.... a BINGO hall! Rock on! I can either take one of two 5-minute buses to the skytrain, or (if it isn't raining/snowing/boiling hot) walk to the skytrain (if I am not feeling ridiculously lazy or exhausted). There is a huge deck for Alfalfa (once I escape-proof it), and lots of good closet space for me to hide things from myself. Lots of light, and a digital thermostat thingy! Score! Now I'll just have to do the calling around to get my mailing address changed. That's one good thing about moving - you only have to let who you want to get mail from know what your new address is, and all the other stuff that you don't care about gets lost! Hahaha, stupid junk mail!
I will need to figure out who I want to get for my internet, phone, and cable services. Shaw is looking good for all 3, but if I get the phone and internet with Rogers, and bundle it with my cell phone, I save 10%. Hmmm! Torn! Or, Telus is offering a $100 AMX gift card with one year sign up, or a digital camera (which I don't need) for 2-3 year sign up. I don't know!
ON ALFALFA:
So cute!!! She will be a little confused for a little while when we move, but once furniture is in place so she can get used to it, and once she gets to go outside onto her porch, she'll be fine! She might be a little lonely in the day, but maybe someone will go visit her once in a while when I'm not there?
ON WEIGHT OFF SHOULDERS:
I am finally getting rid of this debt I had to Revenue Services of Canada for my MSP Premiums. It's amazing what doing your last 3 years of taxes gets accomplished! It's kind of annoying having to be on hold for so long, and the having to talk to two different places about the same thing, but it's all getting cleared up now! I love not having this thing hanging over my head, this black cloud of doom. It feels way better. Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!!...............
ON MONEY:
I have made myself a budget, allotting a certain amount every paycheck to different categories, such as rent, groceries, entertainment, dentist, basically everything I could think of that I would need to spend money on in a year. It will work really well, after this first month after moving. I have to pay a half months pet deposit in addition to the half months damage deposit, so it's going to gobble up a big chunk of my money this next little bit. Oh well, I'll be all good after! I want to actually save some money up, aside from my RRSP's. I don't want to end up poor and in debt when I am older!

Ok, that's enough for today! It's bathroom time!

mmmm, blood and penis

2007-01-16T13:57:00.001-08:00

So we went to Body Worlds 3 at Science World on Sunday morning at 4am. We bought the tickets in advance, since they were selling like hotcakes, and it's a good thing we did, because they were all sold out! It was so weird, being the middle of the night and so many people at science world. There were even little kids there, which we didn't understand, because why would you bring your 6 year old to see something like that? They wouldn't truly understand what they were looking at, for one thing, and I doubt they would even understand enough to be amused at the numerous penises and testicles, as younger kids would be. The cross section of the penis was not as interesting as I imagined it would be. They had ovaries too, with tumors, but not with cysts, which I would have loved to see, since I get them. There were some exhibits where there was only the blood vessels of a body part so you were looking at a kidney-shaped blood vessel bunch. They also had a rooster like that, which I liked but Matt found creepy. Then there was the embryo section, so you could see each week what a baby looked like inside, and some that were premature. There was the lung cancer section, which was sooo gross. There were healthy lungs, and then lungs that were black from all the smoking the owner of them did. Yick! Anyway, I am hungry, so I will be cutting this short.

PS. I think I had an ovarian cyst burst last night at 5am. I woke up to such pain in my abdomen, but nothing like the previous 2 times. Yay, cysts! I am always worried that the pain I feel could be my appendix filling up with poisonous fluids, readying to explode and kill me, and not a cysts. That'll be the day...

The search continues! And Salsa!

2007-01-12T15:31:00.000-08:00

Saw an apartment I didn't hate today. The only thing I am hesitant about is the rent, and that is only because I have never lived on my own before, and have always shared the rent with someone else. I realize that I will have to trade thriftiness for satisfactory living conditions, but whatever. I was initially thinking of getting a bachelor's suite, because I liked Sharon's place when she was living in one, and they are a bit cheaper. After giving it some thought, though, I do need at least a one-bedroom. If I lived in a bachelor's suite, I would become soooo lazy, since no matter what part of the room/apartment I went to, my bed would be right there, and look so inviting, and be so warm and comfy.... So, I have vetoed the idea of a bachelor suite. Also, I think Alfalfa would grow weary of me in a bachelor, never being able to get alone time.... or maybe she'd like someone always being there, I dunno! She is a freakishly needy cat some days. Speaking of which, I really have to clean her cat box today before I go to sleep....

P.S. Bought some sandwich pocket thingies, and shoved in some turkey, cheese, lettuce, green pepper, and salsa, and I have decided that salsa makes everything taste better. I approve of my new creation!

Holy!

2007-01-07T07:36:00.000-08:00

So, went looking at places for rent yesterday, and I must say that I don't understand how it is that landlords expect to actually find someone willing to pay money to live in some of the places we saw. Seriously, it boggles the mind. I wonder, would it be a good thing, an eye-opening experience, to list off all the atrocities you see? That way they can at least fix the things and not get fined by the health board.
-When you open the freezer to look at the size, it should not smell like rotting food.
-Outside the main entrance should not smell strongly of cat urine.
-Try actually cleaning the place before showing it!
-The unit should not smell of curry.
-People will not pay $850/mth for 2 bedrooms that together equal one normal size bedroom, and no discernible eating area or living room.
Oy! Back to searching.....

Better be a happy new year....

2007-01-02T04:15:00.000-08:00

-I am moving. Again. And this time I won't be moving into a crappy delapidated crack shack with a landlord that barely remembers he owns a house and only comes once a month for rent and doesn't return calls or answer his phone. And I hope I won't be moving into a place where the person(s) above/below choose to be assholes and purposefully wake me up in the middle of what is my night and then yell at the person who asks if the giant dentist drill noise can wait a few hours. Fucking ridiculous!
-I have decided to take the winter semester off, seing as how the last semester was such crap, not only schoolwise but homewise. I need to move, get organized, start making changes. Depending on a lot of things, I may take the summer semester off as well. I will be in school forever, so what's another semester?
-This year, I want to save up a couple hundred dollars at least, so I can be one of the crazies who line up outside Future Shop all night.
-I had an awful dream the night of New Year's morning, and it was so stupid at the same time, but still made me cry. That's not normal! I had an odd dream this last night, but can't really remember it.... I think there was a kitten in it? I don't know.
-I need to start hanging out with people again. Not-crap living conditions will help that. I don't like having people over to a house I hate. Takes the bloom off the rose, if you know what I mean.
-Need to start buying lottery tickets, so I can buy a house each for me and my mom. And cars. Cars that work. And a mini-house for all my moms 7 cats. And a maid to clean up after her and her cats. Yeah.
-Pineapple.

.........

2006-12-06T21:04:00.000-08:00

-Had to do a presentation Monday. I turned beet red, as usual. Didn't fart or pee myself, though.
-Tired of life. Need to make changes.
-Only have enough money to register in one class for next semester. Another computer course, Friday mornings 8:30-11:20am. Yay.
-Need to start budgeting better, need to save money.
-Love my cat.
-Tired of food....
-What happened to everybody? Miss the old days....
-If only I had a time machine!

So soon it ends..........

2006-11-01T19:33:00.000-08:00

I just had two weeks off from work, since I hadn't taken two weeks since January 2005 when Sharon and I went to Disneyland. And it's already over! I was sick for the first week, so I spent it on the couch watching TV and movies. Sooo exciting and productive! The rest of the time I managed to clean and unpack pretty much everything left. We also sent one gigantic box over to the Salvation Army, and have another one to send on over. It feels good to get rid of stuff that we have no use for! We still have to paint everything, but I hope it will get done by Christmas. We just can't start slapping paint on the walls, though, at least not in all the rooms. The bathroom needs to be mudded and sanded first, since the landlord did such a piss poor job, and I want to fill in little gaps in the walls in the other rooms as well, and all that stuff needs to be primed over again....so fun.... Such a pain in the ass! I wouldn't mind if it was my own house, but it''s just annoying here! Okay, that's the end of my whining....

fuck fuckity fuck fuck

2006-10-12T20:15:00.000-07:00

I am in a particularly foul mood right now, due to being woken up by my cat repeatedly ALL THE LIVE LONG DAY, because she has realized that she can simply push the bedroom door open, and why is that, do you ask?, because the bedroom door does not shut properly, it doesn't click shut, because the landlord simply ignores everything that needs to be done, including the fact that the heating vents need to be cleaned and checked and one of the vent lines needs to be repaired because there is a big gap in one of the seals, and seeing as we live in the basement it is colder than upstairs even, and until all this maintenance has been done we aren't using the heat, and no matter how many times the person whose name is actually on the lease and has any sort of legal recourse in regards to the arbitration board calls him and leaves him messages he doesn't answer of return any messages, and when he comes to pick up the rent once a month, which is the golden opportunity to point things out to him that need to be done, like fixing the fucking door, he says that he doesn't know how to do it, can we do it for him, and Matt always says sure he'll do it, but he doesn't know how to do it either, and it will never get done, and I am effectively trapped in this house until July 2007, so I can't do anything about anything!!! I hate this fucking house, and the lazy fucking landlord, and all the shit that has to be done and isn't done - I mean, we were here for a good three weeks without working lights in the bathroom before he bought a new fixture, and when he brought it here, he didn't have time to actually install it, so I did it, even thought I have never installed a light fixture, granted it isn't too complicated, but it isn't my job damnit!!! When you buy a house to rent out to other people, should you not enter into this with the understanding that you are responsible for maintenance in the house, and the safety of the tenants, such as possible fire hazards with plug outlets that don't work, and stairs that are dangerous to walk down?? Landlords should be part of some organization such as the BBB, with licensing so that if they don't do their FUCKING JOB they lose their license and are no longer allowed to be a landlord, and no more people need to be subjected to their laziness, and in some cases the deplorable conditions that I have seen on the news sometimes with slumlords.... while we're at it, why aren't people licensed to have a kid? you need a license to drive a car, but not to make and care for another human being, and sometimes it takes extreme circumstances for government to get involved if a child has been mistreated by their lifegivers, who I wouldn't necessarily call parents in some cases............... ARGHHHHHHHHHH!GHGHGHAGHGHRHGHGHGHGYARGHAYAYYAYWAAHHGHA!!!!

(this may have something to do with the fact that the other day Matt made me laugh, and I broke out in tears that were not simply tears of laughter or joy, but I suspect that it had more to do with stresses that I try to ignore since I am powerless to change them this year in this house, and the fact that in the past few days I have felt my ovaries engaging in cystlike activities, be it making them, or preparing to pop existing ones, and it hurts, and I am afraid of the pain that usually accompanies a bursting cyst, since I am effectively crippled with pain for 30-50 minutes when that happens..... I am a lame horse, someone shoot me)

Yes, I am alive

2006-09-28T19:45:00.000-07:00

I have internet again. I am rather sad that Sarah wasn't substitute-blogging for me more...snif!... Nothing thrilling to write. We moved. It sucks, I hate it. It feels like we're squatting, and I have lost the will to keep trying to clean it up myself. I don't want to be at home, and I don't want people coming here either, because it's so messy. If anyone is going away and needs a house sitter, let me know. I have the last half of October off of work, and I plan on being anywhere but here. I tried to clean it up, but when nobody is helping you, or when they do you get into stupid arguments about how to do things, you stop caring. So, whatever. I have my tv shows to occupy my mind now, and work. I'd rather be at work most days.

Natasha is sitting beside me. Cheering.

2006-08-04T21:56:00.000-07:00

This isn't Natasha writing. This is Sarah. Natasha's sitting beside me right now, "studying".

She's moved. She can't study at home. So she came here. And we ate crappy chinese food from the skytrain station, which strangely doesn't use MSG, even though the fancy dancy one by my place does. She's going to have her final tomorrow and pass with flying colours and become an office admin person EXTRAORDINAIRE.

If we're lucky, she might still pretend to like us. Maybe she'll even talk to us. If the aliens don't attack first.

Because right now, all those alien ships are closing in. All around the world, but most importantly, on AMERICA. Only Mr Hot President Man can save us now. Look at that calm exterior. Inside he's terrified. But he's so full of soothing words. "Then God help us," he says. What a good american. How odd that he looks like Bill Pullman. How fortunate that he can fly a plane. I wish he were my president. Then I could sleep easily at night, knowing that Mr Hot President Man will protect me from alien invasions.

In the meantime, Natasha will be "studying". Maybe she'll use her super secret super powers to protect me. And you. Kinda like Jesus does. Cuz he loves us. Each and every one of us. Just like Natasha. "If you feel compelled to shoot your neighbour," she says, "please do so in an orderly fashion." See? She cares.

But first she has to finish her final tomorrow morning. And then she has to buy carpet. And then she has to unpack. And then she has to check on her personal midgets that have been locked up in the cupboard since the big move. She left them with a bit of old bread and water, but we're nearing a week now and they still haven't seen the light of day. Maybe they've eaten the cat in the meantime. That'd be a shame. They might catch her blindness.

For the record, I don't really think Mr Pullman's all that hot. He ain't bad, it's true, but he's not my cup of tea. But I won't deny that he's a lovely looking fella. Much like most everyone else in the world. We all have our inner beauty. That's why Jesus loves us. Each and every one of us. Just like Natasha does.

stuff stuff stuff stuff stuff

2006-05-08T17:21:00.000-07:00

Well, it's busy time again. School, work, and meeting with my group for one class is gobbling all my time up! I have Sundays free of anything, though!! No school, no work, no coming home from work....FREE!! I spend it lounging around procrastinating. I mean, it is my only day to lounge and procrastinate! So really, I guess Sunday is busy....doing nothing at all.

My poor cat seems lonely sometimes. We were discussing getting another cat to keep her company. The only problem is that we would have to get permission from the landlord to get another cat. When we found this place, it was advertised for no pets, but my cat is so nice, he let us..... also I paid a pet deposit. Eh..........

bloody awesome!!

2006-04-21T22:21:00.000-07:00

Oh man, this is great!!! AJ posted it on his MySpace, and am I ever glad he did!! SO FUNNY!!!! Wakawakawakawakawakawakawakawakawakawaka!!!

(AJ's MySpace address is http://www.myspace.com/newandimprovedaj, and for some reason blogger won't let me insert it as a hyperlink above!! Does anyone know why? Kinda annoying! Makes me wonder if it'll do that with anything else!!)

Well, fuck you too!

2006-04-18T12:42:00.000-07:00

So, it was my birthday this past Saturday, yay me! Had a few people over, had a good night. Also, my work gives us our birthday off with pay. Score!
On Monday night I went out to dinner with my mom and her old linguistics professor, who my mom is friends with. A bit of background on this woman, before I continue...
-She's like 60-something years old.
-She attended and taught at SFU.
-I believe she is originally from New York. Her sister and son live there.
-She paid for my tuition at Douglas College for a few semesters, but then I decided I didn't want to have to call her all the time to arrange money, especially when she has no answering machine, and doesn't answer the phone when she's eating or listening to her radio shows. Worst game of phone tag ever. So I started paying for myself, especially since I could when I got my current job.
-Last time she brought me out to dinner for my birthday, probably 5 years ago, she took me to Horizons restaurant on SFU. I didn't like it. Too fancy, none of the food was normal! She loved it, though..........
Anyway, about a week ago me and my mom brought over some flowers for her birthday. When we were there, she said she'd take me out to dinner for my birthday, asked me where I wanted to go? I said White Spot, because that's about the fanciest place I'll go. She looked taken aback, asked if I was serious? Didn't I want her to take me somewhere nice? (White Spot is nice, what the hell's wrong with it? I mean, its a bit expensive, but what the hell.) Then she asks if I want her to choose the place? (Hellooo, did I not just choose a place?!?) Luckily her son was over at the time, and he says, "Mom, you asked the birthday girl where she wants to go, and she said White Spot." Thanks, man! So, arrangements were made.
DINNER: We are looking at menus, and my mom says one dish looks good. This woman poo-poo's it, says she can't see how it would be good. Urgh... So we order, and they both get the same thing, with this woman getting everything on the side, and telling the waiter that she can't imagine that the dish will taste good the way it is normally. (Then order something else that isn't too difficult for you to understand, how about that?) Throughout the whole time there, she kept making remarks about what a horrible waiter our server was, when he was so polite the whole time. Then, whenever she wanted something, she didn't just wait for him to float by and wave briefly to catch his attention, like most people do - she actually put her hand up and out, like she was in class or hailing a cab, and left it like that until someone came by. It was actually kind of embarrassing being with her, with her treating the servers like that. I started to realize that me and my mom were talking mostly to each other, so I tried to find ways of including this woman into the conversation. Difficult, when you are so completely different. She asks me what I want to do with my life, harping on the fact that I have no plans to go to University. (I am happy attending a College and working towards my Diploma; if I change my mind later, so be it.) She is a University snob. So, we are done eating, just sitting a bit before we leave, and she says to me, "I don't think it's been all that long since I last saw you, but you have put on quite a bit of weight. How does that happen?" Ok, I am not stupid, and I can come to the same conclusion myself that yes, I have put on weight, and I am slowly working to correct it. But to ask me a question like that? Holy mackerel! Everyone I have told about this so far agrees that she is quite rude. Matt told a friend, and friend says, "Does this woman not like Natasha?"
So, as we are leaving the restaurant, she gives me a birthday card, says, "Happy Birthday!" Yeah, whatever lady! I open it later, and she wrote me a cheque for $50. Nothing I like getting for a present more than money, but I don't think I want to keep this present. I think I will be sending it back to her, with a letter telling her that for someone so 'educated', she needs to learn some manners and tact! Maybe I'll ask her why she's so fat, as she isn't exactly 120lbs either. Or maybe I'll throw something out there like, "Hey, where's you get that wicked moustache?" Nah, that's too rude. See, I have manners! What are YOUR thoughts?

FREE!!!! .............temporarily, anyway........

2006-04-12T17:41:00.000-07:00

Yay! I just came home from my Payroll final exam!! I now have 3 weeks of freedom, until my new classes start!! Let's see, what to do with my time?..........
-Use the $50 gift card for BC Liquor for my uncle got me for christmas
-Do some much needed filing
-Figure out what to do for my last 3 years of taxes
-Fix my information with Equifax
-Pick my nose
-Possibly visit Playland
-Play with my cat
-Play with my boyfriend
-BBQ more

Personality Test

2006-04-09T00:32:00.000-07:00

Go here to take an easy personality test!!

Things that make you go, "Hmmmmmmmmmm....."

2006-03-11T05:59:00.000-08:00

Have you ever noticed that 'laughter' is only one letter away from 'slaughter'?

You know you're old when........

2006-03-10T17:41:00.000-08:00

So, I'm on the bus coming home from school. I'm tired because I've been up for 19 hours, I'm dejected because I am not understanding what we're doing in class, I have a little bit of my big headache from earlier leftover, and the sun shining right into my eyes isn't helping any. About 12 teenagers get on the bus, talking pretty loudly. I'm listening to them, and there's one conversation about how the pizza tastes at one place, and one conversation about a friend who is lucky to be alive after getting in a drunk-driving accident, and another conversation about who is more of a delinquent. This last conversation consisted of these two kids telling each other about fights they've been in, teachers they've threatened, a night spent in jail, etcetera and so forth. I'm sitting and listening, wondering if these kids think they sound cool, someone should tape record them and make them listen to themselves.......then I realized.......THIS IS WHAT WE SOUNDED LIKE 8 YEARS AGO!!!!

C'mon people!!

2006-03-02T09:11:00.000-08:00

There are still people out there who don't recycle!! Why? SO easy to do!! In Vancouver there is a limit to how many bags of garbage each house can put out. If this applied to all cities, some people would have some serious changes to make.
One to two people should produce no more than one small kitchen catcher bag of garbage a week. The rest of their tossables should be in recyclable form. There are only two of us, and we produce one small bag of garbage a week, as well as at least a quarter to a full blue bin of plastic/glass recyclables, and a fairly full yellow bag of paper recycling. The rest of the recyclables do have to be taken in somewhere. Save-on-Foods or Safeway will take everything else, such as soft plastics, returnable bottles and cans, and milk cartons. It's so easy to do! All the things that could be recycled, and instead are thrown out with the garbage, will end up sitting and being un-reused.
Did you know that they can make t-shirts out of plastic bottles? And that car companies are making a fairly large percentage of their cars out of recyclables? Think about it, man. I mean, I know the world is going to explode or something in however many hundreds of years, and there is really no way to fully take back the damage that we as a species have inflicted on the planet, but by recycling and reusing materials, we can knock a few years off that time. By recycling more, there is less need for fresh materials, and trees and other sources will last longer. And there will be less stuff just sitting around in the sun, or wherever garbage goes.

I am not a big tree-hugger or anything, I am not about to chain myself to a tree to keep it from being bulldozed over (not into bondage), but it really does boggle my mind how much stuff people throw out that could be recycled!

That is today's rant. Thank you for participating.

All men should attend

2006-02-28T07:17:00.000-08:00

WINTER CLASSES FOR MEN AT THE LEARNING CENTER FOR ADULTS
REGISTRATION MUST BE COMPLETED BY MONDAY

NOTE: DUE TO THE COMPLEXITY AND DIFFICULTY LEVEL OF THEIR CONTENTS, CLASS SIZES WILL BE LIMITED TO 8 PARTICIPANTS MAXIMUM.

Class 1: How To Fill Up The Ice Cube Trays - Step by Step, with Slide Presentation.
Meets 4 weeks, Monday and Wednesday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM.

Class 2: The Toilet Paper Roll - Does It Change Itself? Round Table Discussion.
Meets 2 weeks, Saturday 12:00 for 2 hours.

Class 3: Is It Possible To Urinate Using The Technique Of Lifting The Seat and Avoid the Floor, Walls and Nearby Bathtub? - Group Practice.
Meets 4 weeks, Saturday 10:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 4: Fundamental Differences Between The Laundry Hamper and The Floor - Pictures and Explanatory Graphics.
Meets Saturdays at 2:00 PM for 3 weeks.

Class 5: After Dinner Dishes - Can They Levitate and Fly Into The Kitchen Sink? Examples on Video.
Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM

Class 6: Loss Of Identity
Losing The Remote To Your Significant Other. Help Line Support and Support Groups.
Meets 4 Weeks, Friday and Sunday 7:00 PM

Class 7: Learning How To Find Things - Starting With Looking In The Right Places And Not Turning The House Upside Down While Screaming. Open Forum .
Monday at 8:00 PM, 2 hours.

Class 8: Health Watch - Bringing Her Flowers Is Not Harmful To Your Health. Graphics and Audio Tapes.
Three nights: Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 9: Real Men Ask For Directions When Lost - Real Life Testimonials.
Tuesdays at 6:00 PM Location to be determined.

Class 10: Is It Genetically Impossible To Sit Quietly While She Parallel Parks? - Driving Simulations.
4 weeks, Saturdays noon, 2 hours.

Class 11: Learning to Live - Basic Differences Between Mother and Wife. Online Classes and role-playing.
Tuesdays at 7:00 PM, location to be determined

Class 12: How to be the Ideal Shopping Companion Relaxation Exercises, Meditation and Breathing Techniques.
Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM.

Class 13: How to Fight Cerebral Atrophy - Remembering Birthdays, Anniversaries and Other Important Dates and Calling When You're Going To Be Late.
Cerebral Shock Therapy Sessions and Full Lobotomies Offered.
Three nights: Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 14: The Stove/Oven - What It Is and How It Is Used.
Live Demonstration. Tuesdays at 6:00 PM, location to be determined.

Upon completion of any of the above courses, diplomas will be issued to the survivors.

Attention: Drivers

2006-02-21T15:17:00.000-08:00

Okay, people. If you drive, I have some important information to share with you, so PAY ATTENTION!!!

Next to the steering wheel, there are, depending on what kind of car you drive, one or two of these little stick things protruding from the shaft.... hee hee, I said shaft...... They actually have uses! WOW! I know, total shocker! They do lots of nifty things, too. On some cars, the one stick on the right will put your car in park, reverse, drive, or other gears. Cool, eh? Those things may be on a different stick in between the seats, but you should know that already.
I am wanting to share one of the wonders that the other stick makes possible. Now, most of you have already discovered the wiper function, which comes in handy in rain. Good for you! What most people seem to have never learned, or forgotten all about, is the TURN SIGNALS!!! See, what these TURN SIGNALS do is make people not want to KILL YOU!!! They are meant to be used when you are about to do something other than drive in a straight line.
Example: You want to be in the lane to your right. Instead of just swerving your car into that lane with no indication of what you are planning to do, thereby making the driver of the car you just cut in front of very angry and/or nervous because of an almost-accident on your behalf, use the stick! When you push the stick up, it makes a light on the back and front of your car start to blink, and this tells everyone that you are going to switch lanes. This light is called a TURN SIGNAL! It works the same way if you wanted to go back to the lane on your left, except you push the stick down. WOW!!! AMAZING!!!
Example: You want to turn off onto the next street. Use the TURN SIGNAL!!
Example: You are at a red light, and will be turning left at a busy intersection. Use the TURN SIGNAL!! That way, all the people won't be all pissed off at you, wondering why you don't go when the light turns green!!

Please, pass on this valuable information to anybody you think needs it. It can save lives.... mainly because someone won't get road rage and kill the person who hasn't yet learned what that little stick does.

Ta-daaa!!! (guys may not want to read this)

2006-02-16T20:22:00.000-08:00

The magic of the ovaries has struck once again! My cysts have inexplicably disappeared! I went in for a check-up ultrasound on Monday, and the useless lumps have apparently vacated the premises. I am glad that they have vamanoosed, but now I have no excuse for feeling logy. I also have no excuse for other feelings, like the feeling of murderous rage I had about two weeks ago.
I normally don't get feelings of extreme anger/sadness/pain due to the curse of the reproductive system, or much else in the way of any side effects. I had, however, not been taking my birth control pills for the past two months, what with the uncertainty surrounding the stabbing abdominal pains that led to the discovery of the cysts in the first place. Apparently the lack thereof of said pills, and the existence of said cysts, combined to make my want to KILL EVERYONE. I actually thought I would go insane. Little things irked me to no end, and anything said the wrong way or in the wrong context drove me to dizzying new heights of stabby feelings. And then there were the cramps. They were by no means parallel to the aforementioned stabbing abdominal pains, but were on a pedestal all their own. It brought me back to the days when I was MUCH younger, and the birth control pill was as of yet unheard of by me, when every month all I wanted to do was reach through my belly button and rip out everything, throw it at the wall, and then blow up said wall.

Moral: The birth control pill is my idol, I will construct a shrine to these lovely little creators of sanity, light candles before it, and create songs illustrating my devotion to them. I will collect followers, and we shall form our own church, the 'No-baby Pill Adorators'. We shall travel the countryside spreading the gospel of the Pill. I shall write a book depicting the struggles women have had, and how the pill saved them, and name it the 'Pilly Scriptures'.

If you or anybody else you know would like to learn more about the 'No-baby Pill Adorators' please leave me a comment!

Ahhhh the insanity!!!

2006-02-07T06:26:00.000-08:00

RIDICULOUS!!!

That is the only word that describes the new season of '24'....... it is ridiculous how GREAT it is!!
I have watched the show since season one. One of my main motivator for starting to watch the show in the first place was Kiefer Sutherland, whom I have loved since 'Stand By Me' and 'The Lost Boys'. It was also nice watching, 'Phone Booth', being able to listen to his sexy voice for most of the time. Aside from the many gorgeous attributes of Kiefer, the premise of '24' is a good one. Showed in real time, each episode is one hour in length, covering one hour of our characters' time. 24 episodes in a season, and you have one damn exciting day!
In the first few seasons, there were some parts of the shows that, honestly, bored me, mainly those having to do with the White House, and all the government mumbo jumbo. I would wait through those parts, paying attention nonetheless in case any of those events would become pertinent later on. This season, there are NO boring parts! Even the scenes depicting political stuff are exciting! The first 30 mins of season 5 were mind-boggling by themselves! There is so much going on, and the suspense is unreal. I am sure that the music helps, as it seems to be even more suspense-making that the previous seasons, but the music alone is not responsible for the apparent genius that is this plot! Kiefer's character, Jack Bauer, has gone through so much in the past 5 seasons, and looking back on all of his accomplishments and ordeals, he really is the super-hero agent! I just watched the first 6 episodes of season 5 today, and I WANT MORE!!!! Why must I wait? Why am I forced to sit here, chomping at the bit, wondering and waiting to know what will happen next? AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!! And that's where the insanity comes in.... Me, waiting, becoming insane!!!

More not-so-happy news....

2006-01-24T10:16:00.000-08:00

Ok, I am a little late in posting about this, but hey!

I know some of you are already aware, but on Thursday night last week, Alfalfa had a seizure. I was at work, and I got a call at about 3am from Matt, saying that something was wrong with Alfalfa. I thought he meant the usual, that she is in general weird. Then he tells me he thinks she had a seizure. Apparently, Matt was playing with her, making her chase her favorite toy in the world, an old boot-lace, and she started chasing her tail around in a circle like she does sometimes. Then she started going around and around faster and faster, making weird noises. Then she started smashing her head into the walls really hard, and afterwards she lay down on the ground panting, not moving. I found a 24-hour animal hospital, and Matt took Alfalfa there. He says that the whole way to the hospital, she just lay there, panting. So, after a few hours at the emergency costing $720, and then a day at her usual vets for another $55-ish, she is back at home. She has been quieter than usual, and unusually affectionate.
The vet says that she may have epilepsy. If she does have epilepsy, depending on the frequency of the seizures, medication may or may not be the thing to do. So, basically, I know nothing, and it cost a lot to find that out!
At least Alfalfa is basically okay.

Un-happy news

2006-01-18T17:10:00.000-08:00

I was calling various people today to let them know that the voicemail on my phone is no more, and to give anyone who doesn't already have it my home number. I called my grandma, and she gave me some rather unfortunate news. Try and follow this - My mom's brother is Nick; his wife is Shirley; her sister is Vivian. (So, Vivian would be my second-aunt or something? I'm not sure how that works.) Vivian was a severe alcoholic. Well, she died yesterday. My uncle Serge (who is the brother to Nick and my mom) and two other guys would always go over there to take care of her, make sure she at least ate something, make sure she didn't fall down and break another bone, etc. They were last over there on Monday night. Apparently they were trying to phone her all day yesterday, and no answer. So Serge went over there last night, and found her deceased at the kitchen table.
This is very sad news. But, also, it is a relief to know that she won't be in any danger or pain any more. I know that is kind of an awful thing to say, that it is a relief that she is dead, but I'm sure you all understand what I mean by that.
I only saw her a few times over the last few years. I wish I had gone to visit her more often, but it is so hard to be around someone who is that separated from reality.
I have lately been more aware that every time you see someone it could be the LAST time you see them; this just solidifies that realization.
I know I sound like one of those sappy "pass this on" emails, but it's true - each time you see or speak to someone, don't leave each other unhappy, or angry. If you never get to see or speak to them again, you will be left with what could be feelings of guilt. I had that ten years ago when one of my friends committed suicide, and it took me a long while before I could accept that it wouldn't have mattered if I had done anything differently the last time I saw him, that he probably would have made the same decision. But there is always that shadow of doubt way in the back of my mind -- what if?
Over the years I have become more introverted, not going out as much as I used to, not seeing everyone as much as I'd like. And I always get people saying, "Gee, why don't you ever call me anymore? What are you, some kind of hermit?" And it's true! I am old, or at least I feel it, and my world has become one consisting mainly of work, school, sleep, and trying to organize things like bills and household detritus. The 'olden days' of trying to find a party every weekend where I know everyone there are long gone. This is due to many different factors, like people getting jobs, growing up, moving away, just generally not keeping the same friends forever. You can't revisit the good ol' days, no matter how much you want to. People change, not always for the better, and then it's today.
Sigh...........

ok, ok, time to post!

2006-01-11T16:47:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's about that time again, time for me to post something!

-School has started out again for the semester. I got one of my favorite teachers, so the class should go splendidly! It is Payroll, which I have done components of in my Accounting and Office Math classes already, so it shouldn't be too difficult.
-I will be scanning ALL the Disneyland pictures in the next bit, and I will be putting them in Flickr (by the way, feel free to sponsor me for a Pro Flickr account, anyone!)
-I got a raise at work! Sweet!
-For the past year, I have had free anytime minutes on my cell. That is ending next week. So, anyone who doesn't already have it, email me for my home number, and you can try me there. I was also planning on killing my voicemail on my cell at some point, so get used to leaving me messages on my home number.
-I was at work on New Years' eve until 8pm, and sometime during the day my eyes started to really bug me, feeling dry and painful. I took my contacts out for a bit, but over the next few days my eyes got increasingly redder and painful. Turns out I got pink eye from somewhere, could have been anywhere, maybe while I was christmas shopping. I was on the bus when it was really red, and trying to hide my eyes from people because I looked like a complete crackhead or something! I can't wear my contacts for the next 3 weeks or so! AGAIN! I just had 2 months of no contacts! It's things like these that make me actually consider getting laser eye surgery. I am so scared of being the one person out of a million or whatever that goes blind because of it, though. I have heard of Matt's friends who have gotten it, and love it. It has been so long since I have been able to see as soon as I wake up, or pass out watching TV or reading and not having to worry about taking my contacts out or take my glasses off. If only Hermoine or Harry Potter were here, they could just magic me back into sight! Actually, that is something I have wondered about... If they are wizards, why can't they just fix Harry's eyes so he doesn't need glasses? They know magic, for pete's sake! Someone explain that one to me! If I found out I was a witch/wizard, that would be one of the first things I would look into - magic eye surgery!

New Years 2005-2006

2006-01-03T10:27:00.000-08:00

So, I worked New Years' Eve until 8pm, then I met up with Matt and Dave. We stopped by our house to get our alcohol for the evening, and went to Port Moody. We stopped at a bar to get a quick bite to eat, and our waitress was someone I went to high school with! This ended up being the pattern for the evening, with me running into people from high school at the party in Port Moody, and also at my old house, where Sam and Steve were also having a party. We three ended the evening at Knight and Day, with me falling asleep waiting for the food, and Dave also falling asleep at some point. Good bacon, though....
As I expected, I woke up after a solid 4 hours sleep. This always seems to happen when I have been out drinking, at a party. I got back to sleep okay, but I kept waking up every 4 hours! So annoying!
I have been feeling generally crappy lately, getting frequent headaches and getting very fatigued. What with my lemon-sized cysts, I should be replaced with a newer model! I think I'm defective.

mango pepper cysts

2005-12-23T15:52:00.000-08:00

Beware the perils of christmas shopping! I went to Metrotown with Matt's mom, and we were in the hallway by the McDonald's/EB/Poster World, talking about mango juice and where to get some, and as I was inhaling to say something in response, my throat started to burn in a way I have never experienced before, causing uncontrollable coughing. Then Matt's mom started to cough and her eyes to water, and the surrounding people started to react in the same manner, causing a mass exodus of the area. Turns out, someone at the end of the hall outside the doors got pepper sprayed, and we got it wafted to us. It is strong, and extremely unpleasant. Being that I was inhaling at the second it hit me, I got it all in my throat and sinuses. Not knowing what was happening, my first thought at the time was somewhere along the lines of, "Oh my god, someone put anthrax (or something equally scary) in the ventilation system!" Thankfully, pepper spray is all it was... Also thankfully, I was only that morning permitted by my ophthalmologist to continue wearing my contacts. They protected my eyes from worse assault, like little force fields.
I have my laptop (aka. Betty) back! She came back all better from the computer hospital, and hopefully there will be no more incidences of spontaneous combustion.
I have ovarian cysts. Apparently the normal thing to do is just leave them there. Okay then...
Had my christmas shopping all done a week before christmas! First time ever!
Also first time ever, not having christmas dinner with my own family. My cousin's husband's parents invited everyone to their house for dinner this year. I loathe eating with strangers, and Matt's mom was wanting to know when I would be spending some christmas time with them, so I will be going to their house on christmas day. I will miss the rutarotts....
Alfalfa is still blind.
Matt is still hairy.
Lazily looking around for places to move to.
Bought a really nice, big CD/DVD/VHS shelving unit! I will be assembling it soon (I hope).
Got an A- in Office Math!
I love bacon. Honey maple flavored bacon especially.
My doctor said that if the annoying tender spot is still there in my side in January, he may send me for a CT scan, as my urine/blood tests, and ultrasound show nothing.

Field-trip to the hospital; broken computer

2005-12-03T23:05:00.000-08:00

So, I was sleeping Wednesday day, and got woken up at 2:30 by Matt's alarm so he would wake up for work. I went pee (as happens when I am woken up), and right after I got horrible pain in my abdomen. I thought it was just my bladder going into shock from being suddenly emptied, and hoped it would go away. A few minutes later and it got worse, and worse, and worse. It felt like my insides were melting, or eating each other. So I decided I should probably make a trip to the emergency room to see if I was going to die. Matt drove me there, and after waiting in the first waiting area, I got all checked in, and had to pee in a cup. I am so sick of peeing in cups! I am so bad at it, too. You guys sure have it lucky! So I placed my pee on the registration counter as I was told to do, and waited in the second waiting area to be called in. The stabbing pain had lessened by this point, and I was feeling better. Matt had to go to work, but his parents came and sat with me. Over the span of probably 15-20 minutes, while I was waiting, I watched my pee sitting there, and wondered when someone would take it away? It sat, and sat.... Finally, I was called in, and I told the nurse on my way in that my pee was still awaiting instructions. She said ok, and I went into my little exam room. Matt's mom came in with me, and we waited for the doctor. Lucky me, I got to wear the open-backed robe. So the doctor came in, and asks me if I have given a urine sample yet? I say, "yes, when I came in." She says "all right," and asks me all the diagnostic questions. Then she pokes at my sides and abdomen, and the same spot on my right that has been hurting me for a month or more now got annoyed by all the poking, and started to hurt again. So she says my awful gut-wrenching pain could be anything, but she hazarded a few guesses: gall stones; or possibly a cyst had burst in my ovary. Joy! She left, and I waited, and another girl came in and stole a lot of my blood. She was very nice about it, though. She also works at Riverview Mental Hospital. I thought they were all shut down, but apparently they are not totally shut down yet. Then I got to put my clothes back on, and go sit in the third wating area. We waited, and waited, and waited.... After like an hour and a half, the doctor comes up to me and says everything so far looks okay, but my pregnancy test (!) isn't done yet; apparently they misplaced my urine. Argh!!! Anyway, they found it (again), and all looks good. So, after 4.5 hours in the hospital, I know nothing.
On Friday I got to go for ultrasound. They made me drink a litre of water two hours before my appointment, and I had to hold it. As she's doing the ultrasound, she is of course pushing on my bladder. I am trying sooooo hard NOT to pee all over the table. Finally I get to go pee..... Ahhhhh, sweet relief! She does the rest of the test, further aggravating my tender area, and goes away. She comes back, says we're all done, nothing urgent, and the results will be at my doctor's in about 3 business days.
So, I still know nothing about why I suddenly got stabby pain in my abdomen, or why my side had been tender like a well-beaten steak for a month and a bit. Matt's dad says I'm faking (ha ha).
----------------------
After my ultrasound, I was farting around on my laptop. Now, for a few weeks the power cord has been wonky. The computer refuses to believe that it is in fact plugged in, and keeps telling me that my battery power will run out soon, I better plug it in. Stupid technology! Finally I found a way to angle the cord so it finds the power source, and as I'm sitting there I start to notice a.... plasticy smell. A minute later a small wisp of smoke comes from where the power cord plugs into my computer! I immediately turned it off. The female end of the cord has been singed on the inside! Good lord! That's not safe at all!
Luckily, when I bought the damn thing from Future Shop, after debating about getting the extra 3-year warranty, I decided to go for it. So I have to take it in, get any data I want to keep retreived by the people in-store, and then they will send it away to get fixed. I will be without computer for about 2 months. Cry! And I can't really use Matt's computer either; it has an STD from too much porn. So, if you don't see me on MSN for a while, that would be why...

Ew, ew, and more ew

2005-11-17T17:34:00.000-08:00

So, I'm at work last night, and Matt (my live-in bitch) calls me to tell me some freaky news. He was sitting on the toilet (as he is prone to do), and noticed some cobwebby bits near the toilet paper roll. He thinks, "Hey, spiders must be wandering over here. I wonder where from?" So he gets out the flashlight, and starts poking around the bathroom counter. There is a gap between the countertop and the cabinetry underneath, and he aimed the flashlight through this gap. The beam goes all the way through under the counter, and you can see through to the back wall. Under the counter at the rear wall is another gap between it and the cabinetry, and this is what he sees:

Yes, these are hypodermic needles. Perched on a ledge under my bathroom sink.
There are two of them here, at the rear wall, and there are two more on the right side of the cabinet, closer to the front.
Now, I had heard from the landlord, the upstairs tenants, and the cable company that the last tenants were not exactly model citizens. They left owing everyone money; when I called to get the cable hooked up, they made me fax over a copy of the tenancy agreement so they would know that it was new tenants, and not the old tenants. I am thinking that these items of paraphernalia belong to those same tenants.
We have to tell the landlord about this, and get someone like the needle exchange to come pick them up.
Now I am wondering where else in the house things like this might be hidden. I have already searched a few places, and so far nothing. It's like the worst, most awful Easter egg hunt ever! I am almost afraid to reach into storage areas now, storage areas that I have plunged blindly into many times before. It is rather creepy... Imagine all the other things that places could have hidden inside them. This is definitely a reason to buy a new house, as opposed to an old house.

Depeche Mode

2005-11-16T17:08:00.000-08:00

Ah yes! Concert time again! Last night was an excellent sound experience...
The Ravenettes were the opening band. I had never heard them before, and they were pretty good. They opened with "Everyday" by Buddy Holly, but a much slower, longer version that I am used to hearing. I was reminded of a lot of the bands of the 80's, with a modern edge. The vocals were a little bland for my tastes, not enough 'oomph!', in my opinion. The lights were not very well synced with the music, but I figure that isn't the bands' fault. All in all, pretty good.
Depeche Mode - awesome! I have seen them many a year ago, and they were great back then as well. Dave Gahan was twirling around the stage with the mic stand a lot, like a pretty ballerina! I jest, but he plays the throat pipes like a dream. The stage had a space-travel look to it, all silver and curvy bits. Giant television screens in the rear of the stage played live shots of the band playing, along with drawings and pictures. It was like a giant live music video!
The weird thing is that there was lots of Depeche Mode swag (t-shirts, bags, mugs), but there was no Ravenettes stuff that we could see. Don't know if we just didn't see it, if it was a different table or something... Eh!

MISSION: Accomplished!

2005-11-12T18:17:00.000-08:00

I finally went to go pee in a cup today! So hopefully sometime this week I will get a call from the doctor telling me what the results are. I was half-joking the other day that it would be good if I had ovarian cancer or something else that would render me barren, as I don't want children. I don't want to have anything quite that serious, though. I should start taking the pills that the doctor gave me... I haven't started taking them yet because I didn't want my pee test to be affected.
Now, I should really start to study, as I have a test on Monday, and seeing as I did none too stellar on the last one, studying is needed. They are open book tests, but I try not to open the text; it just feels like cheating to me! Silly, I know,...... But I feel the teacher looking around the room, watching us, and I imagine that he is watching, thinking,"She didn't actually learn anything! Tsk, tsk... Look at her, plodding through the text... CHEATER!" This is the way my mind works....

stuff & things, things & stuff.....

2005-11-10T11:21:00.000-08:00

Okay, its been a while. What's going on in the gloriously boring world of Natasha?...
So, I got to pee in a cup at the doctor, to see what the pain in my side was. The doctor thought it might be either a bruised rib, or a gall bladder or some other organ problem. The pee test said nothing. So I went back to the doc, and I get to go pee in a cup at the MDS Metro Lab, so they can do a more extensive examination of my pee. Fun fun fun! Good thing is, my cold is gone! I also go this awesome corticosteroid cream for the spot of really dry, itchy skin I get on my hands every year. The stuff is magic! I have become addicted to it.
I went to the ophthalmologist, and he put dye in my eye (hey, that rhymes!), and found that the surface of my eyes is uneven and a bit infected. So, I haven't been allowed to wear my contacts for about 10 days. I HATE wearing my glasses!! I also get to drop steroid drops into my eyes 3 times a day. This sux! I get to go back to him on Wednesday, so he can look at my eyes again and see if they are better yet or what. Hopefully I will be allowed to wear my contacts again soon. It's especially annoying when it's raining out...
On Tuesday I get to go to Depeche Mode! Yay!!
On Monday my schedule goes back to normal! I have been working 8pm-8am on my weekday shifts for about a month and a bit because we have been short a receptionist, and training two more. They will finally be done this week, so I get to go back to 12am-8am. FINALLY!!!
So, yeah. That's the scoop!!

saturdaysaturdaysaturday!!

2005-10-18T21:07:00.000-07:00

This Saturday, everyone head to the Cambie at 8:oopm!!! A bunch of us are going there, it will be awesome!! If you don't know what the Cambie is, you suck! Call me, or try and email me for info if you need anything more...

What the hell is wrong with me???

2005-10-07T16:46:00.000-07:00

I haven't been feeling well at all for the past 3 weeks. I was all dehydrated a few weeks ago, didn't want to eat anything. Then I got sick with a cold, sore throat and snot-factory, along with vomiting up foamy spit. Then last week I got an awful pain in my lower right side (which I found out yesterday is about where my gall bladder might be) which subsided, but is still always faintly there. Now, my cold is finally mostly gone, but still lingering is leftovers from the snot-factory, as well as this nagging itchiness in my throat. I keep feeling like I have to cough, and when I get a satisfactory one out, it hurts my trachia...trachea? however you spell that. As well, I have been having issues with my right eye; is it changing prescriptions? is it the fault of my contacts? I want to dig my eyeball out with my fingers half the time, the fogginess is so annoying!!
I normally avoid going to the doctor, for a variety of reasons.
1. By the time you go to the doctor and get any medicine, your body is usually getting itself better by that point anyway, and you waste money on medicine.
2. I am sure there are way sicker people than me out there, and I am taking up their time with the doctor by complaining about my piddly little cough.
3. My family doctor is on Broadway and Cambie, which is just annoying for me to get to.
I have finally surrendered, and made appointments with both my family doctor and my opthalmologist. Surprisingly, the appointments are sooner than I thought I would get, especially with my opthalmologist. Now I just get to live with my annoying issues until a professional can tell me what my problem is!!!

Audioslave and Seether

2005-09-30T16:20:00.000-07:00

I love winning stuff off the radio! I won tickets off the Fox to see Audioslave, Seether and 30 Seconds to Mars.

We missed 30 Seconds to Mars due to lateness due to laziness, which is unfortunate. I would have liked to see Jared Leto's band; I like him as an actor (My So-Called Life, Requiem For A Dream) and have never seen a double- or triple-threat in action (actor/singer/dancer, like Usher or Jennifer Lopez). One day my time will come!!
Seether was really good. I haven't heard much from them, but as always seems to happen with bands I think I am not all that familiar with, as they play I go, "Oh yeah! I know this song!" a few times during their set. They ended with their version of Nirvana's 'Drain You', dedicating it to Kurt Cobain and Layne Staley. Lead singer Shaun Morgan sounds very reminiscent of Cobain, especially when singing a Nirvana tune. I would definitely see them again next time they come to town.
Audioslave was awesome! I wasn't feeling the Audioslave before, but after seeing them live I have a new appreciation for them. Chris Cornell is still shiny and great, belting it out as well as he ever did in Soundgarden. Speaking of which, they did play a few Soundgarden songs. Chris played Black Hole Sun solo on acoustic guitar, with all of GM Place participating in a giant sing-along. I think the best moment was when they played Spoonman, and Artis the Spoonman himself came onstage and did a spoon-solo! Man, it brings goosebumps to my arms just remembering....

CONCLUSION: Free stuff is always good!!

NIN and Queens of the Stone Age

2005-09-27T16:00:00.000-07:00

Saw Nine Inch Nails last night, and man do they put on a fantastic show!! I saw them a few years ago at GM place, and it was beautiful; I was not disappointed this time either! The show was at the Pacific Colisuem, a smaller venue than the garage, but NIN made you forget about the size of the building. There was a transparent screen down in front of the stage to begin, making me think that they would open with 'Hurt', but I was wrong! They went right into the fast and heavy tunes, with fantastic lighting and stage props. They went straight from song to song with no breaks.....awesome! Too much to describe..... ecstasy!
Queens of the Stone Age went on before the NIN. I saw them in April of this year, and it was a good show, but this time the music seemed better somehow. I don't know why; I think because they played more off the old albums and didn't concentrate on songs from the new album. Frontman Fromme is always a chatterer with the crowd, being the strangely fun guy that he seems to be. Always a pleasure!!
Audiolux was the first opening band. I was rather disappointed, considering that their spot was supposed to be filled by Death From Above 1979. Audiolux is definitely an acquired taste... I didn't much like them, and judging from some of the catcallers surrouding our seats, I wasn't the only one. Ah, well....

Ugh!!...........

2005-09-26T17:06:00.000-07:00

I was sitting in the kitchen, doing my homework, at 10am last Thursday, and my throat started to get really sore! Did it get any better? NO! I went to class at 2pm that day, and my throat got progressively worse. All Friday I felt like poo, and I took a NyQuil to get to sleep Friday night, as I had to work at 8am Saturday. I don't know if it was the size of the pill, or just my flu or whatever, but after a few hours of trying to sleep, and trying to ignore the uneasy feeling in my stomach, I ended up getting up and vomiting up foamy spit. I didn't get much sleep that night, as I vomspitted a few more times throughout the night. Yay.... I went to work, supposed to work 8am-8pm, but thankfully one of my co-workers came in at 2:3opm so I could go home! Sunday was rest and sleep day, and this morning I woke up, barely able to speak without coughing. I went to class 2-4pm; I hate being in class and having to supress mad coughing fits, and leave every 20-30mins to go blow my nose. I had arranged to have someone else cover my 12am-8am shift at work tonight, but she wanted me to work Thurs 12am-8am for her. The problem with that is that on Thurs I get off work at 8am, have class 2-4pm, and then we are supposed to go to Audioslave that night, so I would get no sleep. Instead I have opted to work tonight, as I did sleep last night, and my throat is feeling better. Sigh.... I will be so tired by 4am... Thank God for Tim Horton's!

Party! and the aftermath

2005-09-14T19:19:00.000-07:00

So, we FINALLY had our very belated housewarming party on Saturday, September 10. We had Thomas bartending for us, and Casper and Matt DJ'ing. They were all awesome!
Thomas went non-stop all night, selling everything he could - $1-shot, $1-beer, free jello-shooters. I made the jello in the morning, and man were they strong!! There was Lime Vodka, Cherry Rum, and Fireball Raspberry. I liked the Fireball Raspberry the best. The lime was too strong for me.... then again, I don't like vodka. We had spent about $500 to stock the bar, and we figure we broke even. We also have a LOT of leftover booze! Score! Anyone looking for a bartender, you want Thomas!
Casper and Matt were great, playing an awesome mix of music for 5-7 hours. They were also very patient and helpful with getting wires run, and the system all hooked up. Anyone who needs DJ's - Get Casper and Matt! Ask me how!
MY Matt/Boots was BBQ-ing for 5 hours straight, from 4:3o-pm until about 9:30pm. We went through 84 hamburgers and 5-kg of chicken breasts. That is a lot of food! His mom and sister also made scrumptious Tex-Mex dip, which was all devoured! Mmmmm......... Yummy!
I had very little to eat all day, and combined with the amount I drank..... not good in the morning! I ended up staying in bed until 8pm Sunday. So relaxing! We didn't really get the house cleaned up until Tuesday-ish. We will have to get a carpet cleaner, as someone spilled something in the hallway. Other than that, we had nothing broken (other than a borrowed lawn chair), so it went pretty well. I don't think I knew even half the people here, but I did see some people that I hadn't seen in years!! Took a trip down memory lane, I tell you what....
I took pictures of the party, and Matt took some of the mess left in the morning. I will be posting them on Flickr in the next few days.

GIGANTOUR

2005-09-10T13:46:00.000-07:00

I am so deaf...

Last night we saw the last half of Vancouver's Gigantour date. We missed the opening Bobaflex, Nevermore, and Life of Agony, due to preparations for today's party, but I was mostly going to see the last three bands anyways. I would have liked to see the beginning as well, but it turns out that it's better for our ears that we missed them!
Fear Factory had just started when we got there, thank god! I haven't seen them since Ozzfest in '97 or '98, and I only caught one song then (I had to traipse through a few thousand people to get from one end of Thunderbird Stadium to the other, then up the stairs and across the upstairs field). We caught their full set this time, it was great! The signature Fear Factory guitars sounds and the vocal effects were fantastic! Burton Bell was belting the lyrics out with POWER, with both guitarists in full headbang mode. Burton also chatted to the audience, getting them geared up even more for the following bands.
Anthrax is a band I have wanted to see for almost ten years, and never thought I'd get the chance! Their original frontman, Joey Belladonna, has reunited with the band, as well as their old guitarist Daniel Spitz. It's Anthrax circa 1991 again! They put on an awesome show, the whole band playing as if they'd never been seperated from each other. Belladonna had terrific energy, bounding around the stage to interact with the other members, as well as the audience. At one point he went to stage right and down to floor level to get up close and personal with some fans, and ended up sharing the mike with one particular young gentleman. He went stage left afterwards to get closer to the fans on that side as well... I love it when bands do that! Get everyone involved on all sides! Ahhh...... Guitarist Scott Ian incited a mosh-circle which Boots (my boy) quite adequately named Hurricane Anthrax. It quickly grew to a span of roughly 15ft-square, of people just headbanging, running in a circle, going all out crazy! Anyone who didn't want to be caught in the whirl had to immediately take a few steps back to avoid being dragged in. It was good watching! Belladonna was superb in his vocals, wailing like nobody else can! I was disappointed when their set was over, but satiated in my need to see them RAWK!
Megadeth came onstage along with 20-ft high flames and a BANG! that startled. They went full-force into playing, went two or three songs before addressing the crowd. They started out with newer songs from recent albums before staring into the older music. Singer Dave Mustaine didn't move around too much in stage, but he played and sang heavy! They played hard, and I think that combined with their technical setup made for a lower sound quality than the previous bands. It was a little hard on our poor beaten ears, and we ended up leaving about 10 mins early. All in all a great show, and there are rumours of a Gigantour 2006! Sweeeeeet!

OASIS

2005-09-09T12:57:00.000-07:00

Well, we went and saw Oasis, Jet and Kasabian last night. Damn good show, I must say!
Kasabian were great, full of energy! They were running around the stage, jumping up and down, belting out the music. I highly recommend anyone seeing them next time they roll through town!
Jet was all right. I am slightly biased in my 'review' of them, as they are one of those bands that I don't turn the volume up for when they come on the radio. I don't try and rip my ears off my head or anything, I'm just not in love with them. They did put on a good live show, with the same quality as on the CD/radio. They had a pretty good stage presence as well, weren't standing like mannequins or anything. Anyone who is a fan of the band, go see them live, it'll make you happy!
Oasis was a pleasant surprise! We were a bit... concerned that they may not stay onstage for longer than 30 mins, as tends to be Liam Gallagher's habit... We were worried after the first or second song when he wandered offstage; we thought the concert was over, or they'd go on without him.... but he came back! He did wander off stage a few times throughout the show, presumably to get a refill of water or whatever... but he always came back! They even did two or three songs for an encore! Fantastic! They played all the big hits from their first studio album "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?", like 'Wonderwall', 'Champagne Supernova' and the title track, 'Morning Glory'. The whole of GM Place was singing along; it was like the biggest karaoke jam ever.

Tonight is Gigantour with Fear Factory, Anthrax and Megadeth!

Dooode!!

2005-09-02T09:35:00.000-07:00

So, this month is going to be a very busy one for me and my bitch!! We have 4 concerts in September!! On Sept 8 we have Oasis, Jet and Kasabian; on Sept 9 we have Gigantour, with Megadeth, Anthrax and more; on Sep 26 there's Nine Inch Nails; and now I just won tickets for Sept 29 to see Foxfest, featuring Audioslave!! Not to mention that I have a class starting in September, as well we are having a belated housewarming party on the 10th! (BIG SIGH!!) Life is just so hard....

Yes, I am alive

2005-08-29T12:13:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I haven't posted in a looooooong time. What can I say? I have barely touched my laptop since I moved, because I don't have a wireless router. We have a desktop as well, but I hate sitting at the desk and using the computer. I sit at a desk all night at work, why would I want to sit at a desk at home?? Plus, the desk at home isn't very comfortable.... The chair doesn't roll, isn't adjustable at all..... bah!

I have been keeping up with reading everyone else's blogs, though. What happens is I come in, say to myself that I am going to blog, but first I end up reading all the posts I have missed on other peoples' blogs. By the time I am done reading, I don't want to sit anymore! Sigh....

Speaking of the new house (bad segueway!), we are FINALLY having a housewarming party! I have been waiting to be able to get a Saturday off work!!! So, the party is on Saturday September 10th. Yay for much tomfoolery and shenanigans! I hope to see lots of people there, or I will be forced down into the deep dark depths in my brain where I go when I am feeling particularly depressed..... You don't want me going there, it's painful for everyone.....

Gas prices are stupid!
It's raining outside right now.....
I am hungry..... (rumbley in my tumbley)
Alfalfa is napping on the bed in front of me...
I have a home phone line! If you want the number, call my cell, email me, or comment here.....

Man vs. dog.....

2005-07-03T09:55:00.000-07:00

When you're walking down the street, and someone is coming towards you going the opposite way, do you look them in the eye as you pass? Do you even look them in the face? When you are on the bus, do you look around at the other people? If you do look at another person, do your eyes dart away when their gaze heads in your direction? I believe that this behaviour is typical of people everywhere. You want to look at other people, to see what they are doing, what they are wearing, what kind of facial structure they have.... but you don't want them to see you doing it. We all do it....

Dogs, on the other hand.... they see another dog, they run right up to each other and start sniffing each others' butts.

Do we humans have the wrong idea? Should we, when passing strangers, go up to them and start smelling each other's heads to see what kind of shampoo they use? Should we look them in the eye to try and gauge if they are a good people or a bad people? Should we say a few random words, to see if they respond in like fashion, so we can hear their voice? What if the world was like that?....

Alfalfa

2005-06-27T05:46:00.000-07:00

I'll be out somewhere, and think of something, or see something, and think, "I should write in my blog about that!" Then when I get online, I can't think of a damn thing to write...

My cat is so cute! She is also somewhat blind. The vet says there is a problem with her rods and cones. Whatever it is, it is quite amusing to watch sometimes. If you hold your hand above her, she'll look at it, but it looks like she's looking at the light around it more than at your actual hand. That's how she looks up at people as well: at the light around you, not at YOU.
When I am holding her, and she wants down, I try to bring her close to the ground before I let her go, but sometimes she leaps from my grasp, ending up flying headfirst into a wall, or the stove, or whatever is in her path. I try to keep the brain damage down to a minimum, but there's only so much I can do...
Whenever I am in the shower, she'll come and put her paws up on the edge up the tub, like she's trying to find out what the hell the crazy human is doing in that weird cubicle. It's as if she's debating climbing into the tub. Me and Matt were in the shower the other day, and she started to peer over the edge of the tub. So we picked her up and put her in the tub. She stood there for a minute, walked in a circle, and then when the water sprayed lightly on her, she started to kind of realize that she was getting wet. Out she went! Any other cat would go as far away as possible from the water, but she started to peer over the edge again! So we brought her in again, getting more water on her this time. She didn't screech and flail madly with her claws, like I half expected. She made a worried meowy noise, and then went for retreat. As she is pacing madly outside the tub, she's making a weird meowing noise that I've never heard her make before, like she was concerned that we were okay. I got out, and she pranced after me into my room, all the while inquiring with that meow. I don't know what she was thinking, or why she was meowing like that. She is a mystery!! And that's why I love her.

Yay for Sam's brain!

2005-06-20T20:01:00.000-07:00

FINALLY! My sidebar is back where it is supposed to be -- on the SIDE!! Sam tinkered with my template for a bit, and viola! He used a DOMinatrix inspector to examine it, and it told him why my blog was bad. A very BAD blog!! SO it looks like it is supposed to again! And then I rubbed his nipples............

stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid............

2005-06-16T21:57:00.000-07:00

Now I realize that there are all sorts of people in the world, but it's the stupid ones that really drive me nuts!
There is a new girl at my work, she is Chinese, she speaks pretty good English, but does the dumbest things!! I initially thought that it was just a language barrier, and thought that my co-worker was being a little mean by saying that she was just dumb and playing off the language difference.... But NO! I think that is right! She has had things explained to her numerous times, using visual aids, using different adjectives, anything you can think of (other than a translator), and she still doesn't understand! Then, when she has to go redo a credit card slip because it is almost the complete opposite of what is supposed to be done, she gets all pissed off. Well, maybe she will remember now how to do it properly!!
Sigh.... so many people in the world who just don't understand....

For additional Natasha fun-facts and information, go to http://spaces.msn.com/members/natashastuff/.

Argh!

2005-05-20T21:36:00.000-07:00

So, my old comments are gone for good. I have blogger comments now.... only problem is, now my sidebar is all down below! I have to fix it somehow!! So, you can rant and rave all you want again!

Damnit

2005-05-01T20:50:00.000-07:00

So my comments are all broken, and I don't know if I should get new ones, just in case all the old ones get deleted...... Which would suck. I am waiting to see if they will get un-broke. In the meantime, you can all rant and rave at me in my msn space.

Fucking Retarded

2005-04-20T21:57:00.000-07:00

Okay, I am confused as to how this is a logical choice!

UPN decided not to renew 'Enterprise' for another season, regardless of all the fan suport, and the money that was being raised to keep the show running. So, instead of continuing 'Enterprise', they have purchased 6 episodes of Britney Spears and Kevin Whateverline's courtship. In what world is that the better choice? Have we as a society been so imbued by all the stupidity of reality TV, and pop stars' lives that we need to see what they did while dating? Will watching them help us in some way that I am not seeing? Will it help us see how to NOT become them, at the least? I am so disgusted with the state of the world....

What HAVE I been up to?.....

2005-04-19T09:57:00.000-07:00

April 8th- Last day of classes for me! I had two tests, and that was that! So, no more skool for me until September. I will have to go down to skool sometime this summer and change my program to a more accounting-based one, but I have all summer to do that.
After my tests, me and two of my classmates (Colette and Wendy) went to Scruffy McGuire's Pub by skool to celebrate the end of the semester! Colette was saying how she is a creepy old men magnet, and they always talk to her in bars. Lo and behold! 3 old men had to come up and talk to us while we were there.... one of them came by like 5 times.... very funny!

April 13th - Saw 'Queens of the Stone Age', with opening band 'Throw Rag'. Now, 'Throw Rag' was an interesting band, I am not quite sure what to make of them. Watching them onstage was an experience all its own. The lead singer has his own special brand of dancing, involving shoes on hands, and humping the speakers that lined the front of the stage. One of the members of the band plays an old-fashioned washboard, rubbing it with metal spoons. At one point, he wen out into the audience and brought back one of the audience members with him a kid named Ezra, and he proceeded to play the washboard with the rest of the band. The lead singer was busy taking his clothes off in stages, ending wearing only his gonch, with his pants puddled around one ankle. Their music wasn't that bad, actually. I believe that it was the stage antics that caused all the booing..... Never have I heard such booing at a show! We were seated in the upper balconies, though, and I spoke to Luke, who was also at the show, but closer to the stage, and he was not aware of any booing. Perhaps everyone in the balconies was bitter because they were in the balcony and not down below, and therefore decided to express their rage? I know I would have preferred to be closer to the stage.
'Queens of the Stone Age' put on an excellent show, playing song after song, with minimal chatting. The stage was done up beautifully, with a backdrop of creepy trees, and ever changing lights. Very smooth! And even from my vantage point above, it was easy to see how gigantically tall Josh Homme is!

April 15th - My birthday. Woke up early, and my wonderful boy Boots took me to do some running around before the party that would commence later that day. Barbecued a lot of burgers, made some noise, ran away from the police........ good times! We now have an impressive row of dead soldiers lining the living room mantle-shelf-thing, and I will leave them there until the house starts to smell like a brewery.

April 17th - My mommy came to visit me, and gave me presents, even though I told her I didn't need anything... she never listens....

And now work.... again.... sigh......

So...............

2005-04-03T03:52:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I didn't have internet for a bit, so I wasn't online. Hence the lack of posts.
-Been busy with school. Luckily the semester is over on April 8th. Yay!
-Been busy with work. The stupidity of certain people is astounding! How many tmes can you say the same thing over and over and over again before you SnAp!
-Boots is now my bitch. Not yours, mine!
-Having a birthday party on Friday April 15th, so if you know me, come on down!
Not much else interesting to post right now...... I lead a very boring life sometimes.
The end.

People, what's wrong with you?

2005-03-15T15:24:00.000-08:00

Weird thoughts..............

2005-03-11T07:39:00.000-08:00

You know how some people say that the only person you can ever rely on is yourself? Like, other people will say they will do something and then they won't.... or people will lie to you, or steal from you, or whatever.... Well, you can't even rely on yourself. You wanna know why? Because, you could get alzheimer's and forget everything you ever knew. Or you could become schizophrenic and people will think you are crazy. Or you could develop tourette's and not be able to say what you want to say. Or you could be paralyzed and not be able to do anything on your own, like breathe. Or you could go into a coma, and hear and see everything around you, but nobody will know that, and think you are brain-dead, and pull the plug.... So really, there is not one single person on the face of the planet you can rely on utterly and completely. Your whole life is just a big unknown. Isn't that a bit freaky to think of? We really don't have complete control over our lives, much as some of us would like to think so. We could get hit by some weird disease at any time.... or hit by a truck.... or any number of things could happen to you at any time. So, since you never know when you'll die, or be incapable of it anymore, have fun! Drink beer! Learn! Do all the shit you could be incapable of doing at any time! And remember that you should be glad you can, when so many other people have it so much worse than you. And stop complaining how hard you have it just because your parents didn't buy you a car for your birthday. And don't take all your misery out on other people. And remember that you inhabit the world with millions of other people, so treat others how you would like to be treated... Be real.

For the love of dog!!

2005-03-05T09:51:00.000-08:00

Man....... Ok, when I was in Disneyland I bought this silver ring, for like $30 US. I like silver, and don't have any rings, so I bought it. Very happy that I did, wore it all the time.... Then I left it in the bathroom of Metrotown Silvercity. I always take rings off when I wash my hands, which is in retrospect a bad idea. I did get it back, though, when I checked if they had a lost and found the following week. Yay!!!
So, what do I do this past week? I lose it again! I am pretty sure I left it in the bathroom at school... I have checked the lost and found there, but I guess college kids are not as honest as the movie-going public. If I EVER get engaged, I damn well better not get a ring! I seem to be destined to never wear rings for a long period of time. Which sucks, because I do like them..... sigh....

Beer, beer, beer, ba-ba-ba-beer, beer, beer.........

2005-02-28T02:58:00.000-08:00

Another weekend of good 'ol drinking with Boots etc. He is such a bad influence, even though he denies it somewhat (something about him not sticking a gun to my head or some other bullshit).

I woke up at 6am, went to work 8am-8pm as usual on Saturdays. I came home after work, planning on bumming around and cleaning my room, doing some homework, nothing too exciting...... Then I get a phone call from Boots saying they would be at my house in two minutes so put my pants on and get ready! So Boots, Dave and Luke came, and I was shocked to see Boots is now bald! (Why is everyone shaving their head??)
We went to the Cambie (one of my favorite places to drink, if not the best place ever) and there was a line to get in. One of Luke's friends was in, and told us to follow her in cuz she knew one of the bouncers or something....so we went in, but the little bouncer dude said only one person was allowed to stay in, not all 4 of us (as if the extra three people would have been so horrible). So we left, and decided to try the Trap and Gill. It was pretty busy there, so we went to DV8 first. They sat us at a table that was reserved for someone else, and since they had to move us, we got a round of shots for free! Had some beer, some more shots, and decided to move on.
We went to the Roxy Burger, had some more beer and shots. I ordered wings, but they must feed the chickens steroids because they were like friggin' drumsticks. Awesome! I also discovered that the girls bathroom has hump handles in the stalls. There are padded handles in the stalls at about eye level. I would have said they are some weird handicap handle, but since the bathrooms are down two flights of stairs and around five corners, it doesn't seem likely. The guys bathroom doesn't have them, though....Boots says they don't want to be promoting gay sex in the mensroom, only sex in the girls room between girls and men or girls and girls....
We wandered down to the Railway Club, making a quick stop so me and Dave could go pee at my work (second week in a row I stopped in at work to pee after drinking; some of the girls must think I am a total lush). There was a live band at the Railway, and they played this song that only a few people knew, 'Runaway' by Del Shannon, performed by Elvis Presley. Both Luke and Boots went and got a round of beer, so we had two beers sitting in front of us each. Got some more shots, tried to finish my beer.... Only a certain amount of beer alone I can drink. We left there, and Dave dropped the rest of us off at my house. We drank more beer, and played Scrabble and hangman.... Then all passed out at about 7:30am. Luckily I have a queen size bed, fits 3 people all right...

Ah so GOOD!!!!!!!! I love concerts!

2005-02-21T09:10:00.000-08:00

Ah man.....on Saturday night Boots and I went to see Papa Roach with Skindred and The F'ups at the Commodore Ballroom. Such a good show!!!! I was mostly going for Skindred. I recently heard them, and was very excited when I found out they would be here opening for Papa Roach. They are like a Rasta-metal band (however on their website you hear softer versions of their songs), and I really like them. Papa Roach put on a pretty good show as well, with frontman Jacoby Shaddix bouncing all over the stage, full of energy. The F'ups were very young, in both music and attitude, but if given time I believe they can enhance their creativity and broaden their sound. It was a very loud show, which is always a bonus for me (!) and I left feeling that my money ($25.00 plus service charge) was very well spent....not to mention all the money spent on beer!

My next concert will be Queens of the Stone Age, at the Queen Elizabeth theatre on April 13, which is two days before my birthday! I hope I can get decent seats this late, but they are all only $32.50, so it will be worth it either way. ~~Anybody else who wants to go, please let me know as I will be getting tickets in the next few days (unless you wanna sit all by yourself, then be my guest and get them yourself!).~~ Never mind, couldn't wait, already got tickets. Row 29, but I will BE THERE!!!

I'm so cool....

2005-02-20T16:14:00.000-08:00

I always wanted to be a writer.....

2005-02-17T09:55:00.000-08:00

You are the Marquis Da Sade. Even stripped of
exaggerations, Your real life was as dramatic
and as tragic as a cautionary tale. Born to an
ancient and noble house, you were married
(against your wishes) to a middle-class heiress
for money, caused scandals with prostitutes and
with your sister-in-law, thus enraging your
mother-in-law, who had you imprisoned under a
lettre de cachet for 14 years until the
Revolution freed you. Amphibian, protean,
charming, you became a Revolutionary,
miraculously escaping the guillotine during the
Terror, only to be arrested later for
publishing your erotic novels. You spent your
final 12 years in the insane asylum at
Charenton, where you caused another scandal by
directing plays using inmates and professional
actors. You died there in 1814, virtually in
the arms of your teenage mistress.
You are a revolutionary deviant. I applaud you.

Which Imfamous criminal are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

DO IT! DO IT! DO IT! (or I will cry!)

2005-02-04T05:12:00.000-08:00

If you read this, even if I don't speak to you often, you must post a memory of me. It can be anything you want, it can be good or bad, just so long as it happened. Then post this to your blog/journal to see what people remember about you.

PS - I am holding out on new posts, hoping that more people will comment on this!

Reasons why Sam (my roommate) is blacklisted from parties at our house

2005-01-31T05:23:00.000-08:00

Before last night, if asked who would be more likely to behave in a rowdy and propery-damaging way between me and my roommate, most people would probably have said me. That has changed, due to last nights events. These are some of the things he did to warrant that change......

-Picking me up and carrying me over his shoulder, making people smack my ass.....and then dropping me in the yard
-Head-butting the walls and leaving dents (we rent)
-Breaking the fridge door, thereby breaking my bottle of chocolate-chip mint tequila all over the floor
-Leaving the tequila in a puddle in front of the fridge so people walked through it, then all over the floors
-Trying to give me a wedgie, subsequently ripping my favorite pair of pants
-Throwing fold-up chairs inside the house (for seemingly no reason)
-Picking up the dining room table and tipping it over, spilling its contents all over the floor (again for seemingly no reason)
-Almost having sex on the living room floor, while people are still here
-The full extent of the mess will likely be left for a number of days, as I am not cleaning it up

Thank god some of my friends were nice enough to kind of clean up after him along the way.
It is amazing what alcohol will do to some people.

...........and another one.........

2005-01-27T16:14:00.000-08:00

-There was this kid our first day in the park, he was wearing this Van Halen shirt. We passed by him twice, and both times when we walked by him I softly sang "Panama....". I don't know if he noticed or not, but it was fun!

other Disneyland tidbits........

2005-01-25T10:48:00.000-08:00

-Next to the teacups is a hat store, suitably called the 'Mad Hatter's' . They have all array of stupid, fun, dumb hats. I got all 5 employees together, each wearing their own hat, and went to take a picture. Of COURSE the camera was out of film, so I had to switch rolls! Finally they were all free again, so me and Sharon each got a picture with them. After they asked where we were from, we started talking in bad Canadian accents, and after hearing 'noo doobt aboot it!' they decided that that would be their new phrase for the week.
-Churros everywhere!! Never got to try with dipping sauce (chocolate of caramel)........
-Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, the Tiki Tiki room, and the Haunted Mansion were all closed!! And the Jurassic Park ride at Universal Studios as well..... One day I will go visit Loren, our new Anaheim friend, and finish seeing all the rides...
-I asked Donald Duck if I could take a picture of me grabbing his ass, and he put his hands over his mouth and shook his head "No!!"..... I was very sad.......

Ahhhh.............

2005-01-24T21:31:00.000-08:00

Well, SOOO much to write about trip......

Sunday Jan 16th: I was up late, as I was at the Slipknot concert (SOO good, btw)... I got to sleep at about 1:30am....
Monday Jan 17: ..........woke up at about 4:30am!! Ack!! Had to make sure I didn't fall asleep in the shower, put all my clothes on, and didn't forget anything, like the plane info (because that would really suck!!). Made coffee, and Sharon and her mom picked me up, and off to the airport we went!
Started taking pictures at the airport, when we exchanged our money (I took a LOT of pictures the whole trip). We got searched, and they made us take off our shoes. I felt so naked......... And I was SPECIALLY chosen for a random search of all my stuff! How exciting! At least we made the security people smile a bit.....
We got to sit and wait........... and wait........... and wait............... because they make you get there so damn early for international flights! Finally we got on the plane. Now, I haven't been on a plane since I went to Japan when I was 8 years old, so I was anqiously anticipating the liftoff from the runway. Liftoff is kinda weird when you either haven't experienced it ever or for a long while. I kept looking at the wing, and it wiggles a bit the whole time, which is very unnerving!!!
We got to LAX, found a shuttle, went to our hotel, dropped our stuff off, and went to Disneyland!!!! We were lucky that Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, because the park was open until 10pm that day! So we had 9 hrs that day. We saw Fantasmic, this fog and lights and laser and character show on the water. Kinda cool!
Tuesday Jan 18th: Woke up at 7:30am (ugh), got our free coffee from the hotel, got our shuttle to the park. We only had 10 hrs that day (!) so we wandered everywhere doing as much as possible. Went on pretty much all the rides we didn't get to the first day, I took more loads of pics, and when we were in line at the Hollywood Tower of Terror ride we met Tiffany and Loren. Tiffany lives in DC, and looks like my friend Sandra. Loren lives in Anaheim and looks like Steve Gutenberg. He is the US boy version of me..... kinda creepy!! So we followed these strangers to dinner, and our mothers would have panicked to see us get into a strangers car! (All those warnings about getting into a strangers car, and we go do it in another country...oh well!) After dinner they showed us the mall there (the stores are outdoors!! not indoors! so weird!) and we went to Krispy Creme and made some noise (as we tend to do). Then it was like 10pm, so we had to part ways for the evening... so sad!!
Wednesday Jan 19th: 7:30am wake up, free coffee....Universal Studios!!! We got to take an ever so exciting bus ride to the park, where I immediately resumed my touristy display of picture taking. We ate, and met Meg. She's from South Africa, very cool, and for the rest of the day we were a threesome. We went on rides, ate, and took more pics. At 5:45 we realized that we only had half an hour to check out the shops on the border of the psrk, as we had to be at the bus at 6:15 or they would leavs us there. We went in the general direction of 'out of park', and when we approached the fence ahead of us, we saw that there were three gates. The peripheral two had signs on then stating 'Caution: Gates alarmes, will sound when opened', and the middle one had a simple 'EXIT' sign above it. Directly on the other side is where we wanted to be, and we were tired of walking. So, I pushed the handle of the middle door down........... nothing happened. Pushed gate open, ............ sirens! WEE-WOO-WEE-WOO!!!! And we were running!!! We found sanctuary in becoming camouflaged with the rest of the crowd in the CityWalk area, and started to shop as much as we could in the small amount of time we had. I found some really cool shoes, and there wasn't time for much else before we had to run to the bus. Whoo! Back at the hotel, we said goodbye to Meg as she was picked up, and we ordered some food and watched Saw, which is such a good movie.... Had a dip in the pool and hot tub...goodness........... then sleep.
Thursday Jan 20th: Last day of waking up so early! Got to things we hadn't done yet, tried to finish up. Met Sharon's cousin Barbera for dinner, she took us to a little hole in the wall Mexican place, soo good! Barbera is cool, she better come visit.........
Friday Jan 21st: Slept in till 11:00pm, ahhh!!! Got packed, left our stuff at the hotel front desk, went to Downtown Disney District to get souvenirs/presents/use coupons. Bought some jewellery, then had to rush to get the shuttle back to the hotel so we wouldn't miss the shuttle from the hotel to the airport....whew! Made it to the airport entirely too early, ate, bought books, and sat and waited...... and waited...........and watched the fog surround the airport......... and waited......... and then 45 mins before our plane was supposed to take off, but there was no plane there (!), the announcement came over that our plane was cancelled due to the fog! Argh!!!! So we went to the airline desk, and they put us up in a hotel for the night, and got us a flight out in the morning. Nice hotel, but the air conditioner in the room was haunted, and kept me awake. At 2am I finally got up and shut it off, then it was too hot..... ArgH!!!! So, I had like 45 mins straight sleep, and we got to go to the airport AGAIN and wait for a plane AGAIN...... Luckily this one came, and I slept all the way home. To rain. Wet, wet rain.
While we were in sunny California, you suckers in Vancouver were in rainstorms and floods! HAHAAHAHAHAAAH!!!!

Oooohh! So xcited!!!!

2005-01-16T14:06:00.000-08:00

I will be going to Slipknot tonight!! I will be very deaf tomorrow! I used to go to roughly one concert a month, but over the last two years or so that number has dropped significantly. There are a few reasons for thsi:
-I don't listen to the radio as much, and that is where I used to get all my concert updates
-I am not often able to find people who want to go see the same concerts as me, as most of my friends listen to much different music
-Work and school are infringing on the amount of free time I have to go to such things
Luckily, I have Boots, who is the one person I know who listens to heavy music. He will be accompanying me to tonight's event. It also gives me a chance to hang out with him. That was another reason concerts were so fun back in the day, because there would be at least 15-20 people there who I knew. The times, they are a changing.....

.....And then I will be on a plane in the morning! And then I will be going to my hotel!! And THEN I will be going to DISNEYLAND!!! All with Sharon, my very bestest friend in the whole wide world by my side!!!! Oh joy!! Oh bliss!! Rapture!!!

M-I-C, K-E-Y, M-O-U-S-E!!

2005-01-15T01:14:00.000-08:00

I leave Monday morning for Disneyland!! Let's hope I don't get detained by Customs for something..........

PLANS FOR DISNEYLAND:
-Get a picture of me grabbing all Disney characters asses
-Go on every single ride in both Disneyland and California Adventure Park
-Get some really cool souvenirs
-Pee in all the bathrooms at least once
-Make out with Goofy
-Sing along to all the Disney songs I know the words to
-.........and anything else that crosses my mind

Then there is the plane trip:
(note to self: leave all weapons at home, and don't threaten any of the stewardesses)

I am so tempted to sing the song that Ben Stiller sings near the end of 'Meet the Parents' when he got kicked off the plane ...... watch it and find out!! However, I would like to be allowed to return to the US at some point in the future...

MacGyver and 80's TV shows

2005-01-12T23:21:00.000-08:00

I used to always watch MacGyver when I was younger. He was so cool, always making a bomb out of matchsticks and gum, or whatever was handy. (This a particularly funny example, written by a MacGyver fan, of what levels of genius MacGyver is capable of). Spike network plays episodes now, which is great. One time, I was with my mom as she was driving around (me asleep in the backseat, as usual) and she tried to wake me up to tell me that MacGyver was driving right next to us! Since it was undoubtably a very warm day, I was probably very groggy in my sleep, and refused to wake up. Later on, when I found out what I missed, I was SO upset! Anyway, the point of all this is that I was watching the beginning of an episode today, and who do I see as one of the characters? Jason Priestley! Yes, that's right, Jason Priestley of 90210 fame! Ever so young, very different looking. Almost didn't recogize him! (For anyone who may be curious, the episode is called "Blood Brothers".) Ah, Richard Dean Anderson, you are my hero.......... As well as Scott Bakula, both for Quantum Leap and Enterprise...... I wouldn't mind being the meat in that sandwich...... Mmmm.....

I'm Lois!

2005-01-11T21:58:00.000-08:00

Can you believe that I actually know someone who doesn't understand the appeal of the show?....

Which Family Guy character are you?

Snow n stuff

2005-01-07T10:02:00.000-08:00

So much goddamn snow. All it does is make cars careen out of control, and people insist on driving instead of taking transit. It does bring the hope that schools are going to be closed, but apparently the snow isn't bad enough to close schools yet. SO many accidents on so many hills, and my school (Douglas College) is on a very steep hill, but as far as I can see it is still open. Damnit! I wonder how long it will take for me to get to school today? It is just down the hill, but it's a slippery hill now.

On the plus side, I am feeling much better. I have started to eat food again, very exciting! I do believe I will try to have myself some coffee later..... soon.......

Grosss..............

2005-01-05T16:10:00.000-08:00

I was sitting here yesterday trying to get back to sleep after my landlady's funeral, and wasn't feeling too good. Felt like I wanted to vomit, but I have felt that before, so hoped it would go away as it has in the past. No such luck..... at about 8:45pm I ran to the bathroom, which is actually attached to my room, and didn't even make it across the threshold. It was as if a giant fist was holding my stomach, and at that very second SQUEEZED so everything was propelled upwards and outwards. All over the floor, the door, and splashed onto the walls. Then, as if that wasn't enough, I wasn't done, made it to the sink, and clogged it. I have never had that happen to me before, and it is ever so unpleasant. I am not eating salad for a long time now. I am feeling much better now, but am afraid to eat anything of real sustenance. I will be living primarily off of Gatorade, juice, and dry cereal or crackers.

16 days left..........

2005-01-01T22:32:00.000-08:00

Man oh man......... I can't wait until next Saturday...... I wish I could just hibernate for a while....... I'm glad it is January now, at any rate, no more goddamn holiday cheer............ I got to take the decorations down at work, so now it looks normal again......... bleagh..........

Disneyland Countdown:17 days to takeoff!

2004-12-31T16:25:00.000-08:00

Well, as shitty as the last few days have been, it's been cheerier due to Sharon coming over and hanging out. Last night her and Neal came over, and we watched movies (me napping a bit throughout) with Sam, and played Scrabble, with Neal compulsively verifying words in the online Scrabble dictionary. I stumbled off to bed at the early hour of 3:30am, and I had a great 6 hours of sleep. Woke up, had a smacking fight with the boys, who thankfully left not long after. Watched a movie while Sharon slept on and on, eventually waking her at about 2:30pm (my room is pitch black at all hours, so it's very easy to sleep and sleep). We made potato pancakes, and then my landlord's son (Costa) came by with a Fed-Ex package for me..... it was our Disneyland tickets and information! Happy with sad.... I got to talk to Costa a bit about things, he says they're most likely not going to sell the house (comforting news, at least), and of course there is still so much to be decided. So, me and Sharon opened the Disneyland package (which included our luggage tags!!) and quickly perused it all. There are so many confirmation sheets, and vouchers.........it's all so magical! And of course everything is labelled "The happiest place on Earth!", which I could really use.....

I can't wait until Jan 9th. My last day before my two week vacation is the 8th, then I will sit at home with my thumb up my butt for a week (other than going to classes), and then we leave for Anheim! I can't wait to have time off...........

another reason to abhor the holidays..................

2004-12-29T14:00:00.000-08:00

I was just going to sleep this morning, and Sam came in and told me that Cathy, our landlady, passed away last night. Like I can sleep now...... I was just getting to know her better, talk to her more..... she lent me her breadmaker yesterday. I asked her so many questions while I was baking stuff for my family, because she knew so much about baking and cooking. She was always a bit ill, since she had had a lot of ulcers removed about two-three (?) years ago, and was in the hospital for a year. While she was in the hospital, her husband had a stroke, so she has been taking care of him herself since then. She had good days, and a few bad ones, but mostly she was happy, very funny, very helpful.

This just completely sucks.

Stupid Christmas

2004-12-24T09:53:00.000-08:00

I don't like christmas. There's nothing special about it. I see my family one of the few times a year, even thought they live in Burnaby as well. There's turkey and mashed potatoes. And yeah.......... What most crosses my mind around November/December is the bad things that have happened this time of year.......... November: 1996 - one of my friends took is own life; 2004 - had Pooky, one of my cats of 12 years, put to sleep. December 2002 - I had my cat, Kitty, of 14 years put to sleep. One week later - was in a fairly bad car accident. One week after that - had my other cat, Ginger, of 14 years put to sleep. The two cats in December had cat AIDS, and the Ginger deteriorated much quicker than the first. Even though I was closer to Kitty than Ginger, seeing Ginger get so bad so fast was harder than watching Kitty get sicker and sicker. I also think that Kitty was a stubborn boy, and tried to kick his illness' ass before it could kick his. Sadly, it didn't work.... Also, my aunt's mom and/or grandma died on christmas eve or day one year, so that year was tainted as well. So, I don't go in for all the holiday cheer and garbage. There is nothing very cheery or happy about the end of the year for me, so don't wish me a happy anything!

Bah Humbug.........

2004-12-16T22:15:00.000-08:00

Christmas is always a depressing time of year. This letter is a good indication of how I would have written a letter to Santa when I was little, if I had written letters to Santa and if I had had the vast vocabulary that I do now. Click on it to enlarge.

SHARON IS ALIVE

2004-12-16T11:41:00.000-08:00

Sharon has made a new post! It has been months since she did, and I am glad. Hopefully I can make her post regularly, so I will have another blog to read through!!

Bring on the telemarketers!

2004-12-15T13:00:00.000-08:00

For the past few days I have had some 1-866 number calling me while I am sleeping, and of course no messages are ever left. Finally today I answered it (cause I was still awake), and it was Rogers Wireless (my cell phone people). This guy starts to tell me that since I am SUCH an important customer, and it is Christmas (almost), they are calling with a special offer. Great......... I am just getting ready to go to sleep, and this is what I have to deal with. I was all ready to say "NO!" to whatever 'special offer' they threw at me, but it actually turned out to be a good thing, since I wanted to switch it up anyways. As the guy is trying to tell me my options (free this, free that), I start asking stupid questions......

Him: So, the monthly bill will be $35 a month, plus the system access fee, plus the 911 fee.........
Me: What if I don't wanna pay the 911 fee?
Him: Everyone pays it, it's a government thing, like taxes.
Me: Well, what if I don't want to call 911? I don't plan on needing to call them.
Him: You say that now, but one day you'll need to call them and you'll be saying, 'Sure glad I have the 911 access on my cell phone!'
Me: But I could call the operator and have her call. Or I could call a friend and say, 'Hey, call 911 for me, would you?'
Him: (kinda laughing) Well, there's nothing I can do about that. Even I have to pay it, just like the system access fee.
Me: What?! You have to pay the system access fee? But you work there! It should be free, like a perk for working for Rogers.
Him: Well, I don't make the rules, that's the way it is, unfortunately.
Me: You know what it's like, it's like the graduated licencing thingy. They make you take another drivers test, just so they can get another $50 or whatever out of you.
Him: Oh, we don't have that here. See, I'm in Montreal.
Me: How come you don't get it? That's not fair.
Him: Well, I may have to do that if I move out there next year.
Me: Oh, you're moving here? Do you have a licence already?
Him: No, not yet.
Me: Not even a learner's?
Him: No, not even.
Me: Oh, well you are gonna get stuck with the graduated licencing!
Him: Well that's if I move out there.
Me: So you take the bus?
Him: Yeah.
Me: How much do you pay for the bus out there?
Him: $30 a month for the Metro.
Me: Oh, you should stay out there.
Him: Well, it's still a maybe....
Me: Why wouldn't you?
Him: Well, it depends if I get a job out there or not, I'm still young, so I don't know...
Me: How old are you?
Him: Well, you're older than me.
Me: How do you know?
Him: Well, is shows your birthdate in your file....
Me: What? You can see all that! That should be personal info!
Him: Well, it's .........
Me: How old are you?
Him: I'm almost nineteen.
Me: Wow, you are young. I mean, what if I had a credit card (even though I don't, but hypothetically speaking) and you decided to take that information and do illegal things with it? Maybe since you aren't yet 19 you could not be charged as a full adult.
Him: No, it' s different out here, the legal age is 18.
Me: So you can drink out there at 18?
Him: Yeah..
Me: Oh, that sux! How come all this stuff is different? We are one country, we should all be the same!
Him: Well,........
Me: So why would you get a different job?
Him: Oh man.........so off topic............
Me: Yeah I'm good at that, aren't I?
Him: Yeah......... SO your plan would be $35 a month plus free voicemail....
Me: Are they listening to us right now?
Him: I think Rogers is a great company to work for.
Me: They ARE listening to us right now aren't they!
Him: Rogers is a great company to work for.
Me: Oh man! So it's like in '1984', they're listening to you right now, recording our conversation.... do they have little monitors in front of you that show Rogers promotional videos all day?
Him: ....(laughing quietly in little gasps)....... So, the plan will be $35 a month........

And that was about the point where I could tell he was consciously trying not to get led astray again, no matter how much I tried. There was more earlier in the conversation, little things, but it is hard to recall that long a conversation in great detail. He was funny, trying to to his job, but there I was, asking dumb questions. I was so tired when he first called, it took a while to get details about the phone plans embedded in my mind, and I kept asking the same things over and over at first. Apparently I sound like his sister when I am mulling things over aloud! I managed to keep him on the phone for half an hour. Such a great victory! I love messing with the promotional people. I shouldn't, since I used to do door-to-door promotions and should remember how it feels to have time half wasted, but it is so much fun. When I get a land line, I will have fun with the telemarketers..........

So............tired...................

2004-12-14T21:51:00.000-08:00

I don't understand why my body is such a moron a lot of the time. I woke up at weird times yesterday, and couldn't get enough sleep. Surprisingly I wasn't that tired at work, but when I got home this morning, Sam asked me to help him with clearing out his storage crap, and it is amazing what people keep. I was guilty of that myself in the past, but then I got to the point where I realized that I was going to turn in to my mom if I didn't throw more stuff away. So now I take a certain amount of glee in throwing things out. The bigger the pile that leaves the house, the better. So we threw out a bunch of stuff, like his grade 10 homework (!!!), and boxes boxes boxes! Now I will actually have room to put some of MY stuff in the storage area!! Not like I have a lot of stuff...

The cleaning of the storage area, which is under the stairs, also presents me with a chance to do some filling up of holes that have been buried by boxes. There are long gaps that are running diagonal with the stairs, and I believe that I see a spot where mice could be entering our space. SO, I will be blocking it up! Yay! So much fun! If I get paid tonight I will go buy some drywall compund in the morning and do it properly; otherwise I will use the caulk, foam and cardboard that we planned on using while in the Revy. I prefer drywall, because I love drywall, but Sam was purchasing the supplies and didn't want to shell out that much money (it is under the stairs, who cares what it looks like?). I will be so tired by the end of this week, but I like to get rid of CRAP, and I have no school right now, so it's all good.

I'M GOING TO DISNEYLAND!!! YAAYYYY!!!!

School and Sharon, the essential S's

2004-12-08T22:08:00.000-08:00

Well, another semester is over! Thank god..... So until the start of January, I only have work to concentrate on. THEN, in January, I start one class, on Tuesdays and Fridays. The drag is that the class is noon to 2pm. So, on Tuesdays I will have 4 hours to kill from the time I finish work to the time my class starts. What the hell am I gonna do for 4 hours? I suppose I will have time to do homework, but I may take a nap on the couches in the student union some days, I guess..... THEN, from Feb 21-Apr 16, for the second half of the semester, I will also have another class on Tues-Wed-Thurs-Fri from 10am-noon. I will be so tired and unaccessible to the world once again. Ah, well, what must be done will be done.

Sharon, my best friend, was staying at my place for a while to take a break from family. She has gone home now....... Kinda sux not having her here a bunch. Even though I didn't get to spend a lot of quality time with her, it was nice to come home to Sharon, or be home and have Sharon walk in. One day I will have my own house, and I will demand that she take up residence in said house. Then, whenever I need a Sharon fix, I will go bang on the door. Hee hee!

I hate mice!!!

2004-12-05T17:49:00.000-08:00

So we have had mice in the house for a while, and though we haven't actually seen them downstairs, we have heard them, and our landlady has seen them upstairs. I bought some traps so I could catch them and release them far far away from the house. WELL, I went to start my car today, and it didn't start. Didn't think much of it, I know I have to replace a few parts and things. When me and Sam came home, he needed to borrow my tire pressure gauge thingy, so I go get it out of my glove box. Now, I had had a box of Reese's Peices in there, and it is blatantly obvious that mice have made their way into my car, and into my glove box, eaten the chocolate goodness, ripped up half the box for their own amusement, pooped, and then left. So, now the mice must die. If it turms out that they have chewed their way through some wire or made a nest somewhere in my engine, and that is why it won't start, I will put them in a box with some very hungry cats. I am no longer a friend of the mice. They have crossed me, and as certain people know, I do NOT react well to this!! If mice one day take over the planet, I will crush them and take over the world myself, and one of my main platforms will be a mouse-free world. The mice have incurred my wrath, and it shall be mighty!!!!

Clean=happy

2004-12-01T19:52:00.000-08:00

While I was looking up information for a class presenation recently, I came across a lot of interesting information regarding the relationship dynamic between men and women. It was mentioned in quite a few government articles, books, and web pages, like this one, that men and women derive their happiness and/or depression from the relationships they have within the family, which could also be applied to shared accomodations.
Each sex needs emotional support from a different place. Men seem to react strongly to the kind of emotional support that they receive from their spouse; women react to the amount of help they get around the house, ie. cleaning, organization, care of any children. This makes a lot of sense if you think about it in terms of common complaints from people living with the opposite sex. Males living with females have been known to complain that the females are irrational, crazy, unstable. If the male is not providing enough support with household chores and/or childcare, then this would cause the female to become aggravated, which would come out in interaction. Females have been known to complain that males they are living with are providing little to no participation in household chores, and this may not seem like an important issue to males, but it is important to females.
This explains quite a lot, if you think about how living relationships are portrayed in television and movies. It may not be just a stereotype that men are lazy and women are crazy. This could be based on actual circumstances. Men don't see the little things as mattering a lot of the time, but the little things are what make up the big picture, like puzzle pieces. If you throw out half the pieces, you don't get the satisfaction of the pretty picture at the end.

I can look at this information in reference to relationships that I have had in the past. The boyfriends that I miss, no matter how assholish they turned out to be in the end, are the ones that did the little things, like letting his bus go by so he could sit with me five minutes until mine arrived, and then waiting 25 minutes afterwards for his own bus. Or carrying my bag just because. Or any number of little things that seem like nothing, but when you add them all together they say a lot.

In regards to the help around the house bit, I can say for a certainty that when there is a prolonged period of lack of help, girls can tend to get progressively frustrated, leading to anger and stress levels that get to the point that sleep is lost, and comfort levels at ones own home go down. There is little that can be done, it seems, when a rift has been created by the situation. It's almost a catch-22. The badness wouldn't have been there in the first place if a discussion had taken place about such responsibilities, but now that the badness is there, talking about it may just lead to more badness. And the badness leads to more stress......... See the cyclicalness of it all?

What is to be done if someone is dead set against doing something?

DISNEYLAND, HERE I COME!!!!

2004-11-28T17:22:00.000-08:00

I'M GOING TO DISNEYLAND!!!!

It's not official until we get the tickets, but me and Sharon (my bestest friend, as you will see to your right) are planning to go together! I have never been to Disneyland, and I also have never taken my two week holidays from work since I started working out of high school. I haven't really been anywhere on holidays. I have been to Japan and Russia, but I was really young, like 8, and that doesn't count....

When I was eight, me, my mom and my grandma went to Russia to visit my grandma's sister, who she hadn't seen in 54 years. When we got to the train station, my grandma was running towards some lady and they were rattling away in Russian. There was actually a large group of people there to meet us; apparently they took the town bus to meet us (the town has a school bus to use to go into the city). We stayed on my grandma's family's farm, in a small two-room house, with an outhouse and a well that was shared with other farms in the area. I couldn't understand what anybody was saying, which is weird when you're eight. I got to hang out with some sort of relatives that were my age, some sort of cousins. We drank a lot of this yellow liquid, sort of a bubbly lemonade, but different. I never found out what it was exactly, but it was good.
Every morning I would wake up and vomit, no particular reason. I figure maybe it was something in the air? After that, I would go collect the eggs from the henhouse and bring them in. They would bake bread in an oven in the wall, and I would eat the bestest, freshest, warmest bread, with some tea. I didn't eat a lot while I was there at all. I didn't eat any of the chicken because I got to watch my grandma's sister with a headless chicken, yanking the feathers out and then sticking her hand down its neck to pull out it's innards and fill a bucket with them. Mmmmm! I didn't eat any pork because I saw another relative throw a pile of hay onto this huge pig and set it afire, and I wasn't sure if it was dead beforehand or not, but while it was aflame it was releasing its bowels. I didn't eat any fish because it looked gross, may have had the bones in it. I used to eat seafood, but I believe I had stopped before then. So I ate a lot of toast and tea and tomatoes and perogies. I went with my half-uncle (?) to town on his bike one day, and saw Coca Cola in the store, but it was too expensive for our family to buy. All the girls there wore dresses, and I guess they were agog that we wore pants. I was forced into wearing a dress when the local paper came to take our picture for their big story on long-lost sisters reunited. Damn dress........

When I went to Japan the last time was when I was in grade three. My mom went to go teach English at a school in Tokyo. We stayed in an apartment building a few blocks from the school she was teaching at, so I would go walk to meet her in the afternoon. We would go to the yakitori stand and get a few sticks, since they were ridiculously cheap. I remember going by the pachinko parlors and wondering why I couldn't go in.
Since I spent so much time by myself while my mom was teaching, I would go to the video store and rent movies. I had Labyrinth for a week, got addicted. I believe that was about the time I got stomach flu. I would go to the video store, and ask the guy working there if the movie was in English (of course I had to ask him in Japanese). I would watch movies and cartoons, and "The A-Team" in English! One time I guess I decided to walk further than I normally did, and I ended up getting lost in Tokyo. By the time I found my way back, my mom was so pissed off, she had almost called the cops. One time while she was teaching there was an earthquake. Very scary when young and alone!

There's also the first time we tried to visit my grandma's sister, but for some reason we weren't allowed in, and had to hide in the Canadian embassy, or the apartment of one of the guys who worked at the embassy. I dodn't know why, but they had to sneak us out of the country under cover of darkness. We got to go through London on our way back to Canada, went to a cool wax museum. Lotsa pigeons...........

SO, when I say I haven't been anywhere, I guess I mean anywhere without parental supervision, able to drink legally. And it's been so long, I don't remember what being on a plane is like anymore. I'm sure it's way different now anyways. Gotta remember to leave my nail scissors at home! Stupid terrorists...........

stuff

2004-11-21T21:44:00.000-08:00

Argh!!!! AGAIN I am missing Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation!!! That's............... I don't know how many years in a row!!! Stupid days go by so quick.....

Saw my mom in 'Bye Bye Birdie' earlier tonight. She didn't have as big a part in it as she did in 'Cinderella' or 'Fiddler on the Roof ', but she was still pretty loud. That's my mom!

It was my grandma's 80th birthday yesterday. That's old! I remember asking her stuff about when she came to Canada, way back in the day, kinda interesting. My grandpa died when my mom was 16, so all I have is my Baba!!

Today is the anniversary of Evon's passing. November is a sad month.

Fuck, fuckity fuck-fuck

2004-11-18T13:58:00.000-08:00

My fucking zipper on my fucking sweater broke. My fucking ovaries hurt. I have one cat. I am fucking hungry. My fucking car is scary and therefore undriveable at the moment. I am in a fucking piss and vinegar mood. I am going to see a movie about fucking tonight, funnily enough.... Sarah gave me movie passes to see Kinsey tonight. At leats somebody loves me. My laptop is making weird sounds. Good damn think I bought the fucking warranty. Burnaby recycling is fucking retarded, since they won't take most of our recycling. Why even bother having recycling pickup at all?? BASTARDS!! What, they want us to throw away things that could be recyled?? Make it easy for people to recycle. People are collectively stupid, and will not put forth the extra effort to take non-pickupable things to the depot. TAKE MY DAMN RECYCLING!!!!!

Goddamn planet.......

2004-11-15T08:58:00.000-08:00

I have to take Pooky, my kitty, to the vet today, to get put to sleep. I have waited so long because she was fine overall. All of a sudden she has no energy to eat, because it is too hard for her to breathe, because of the cancer in her lungs. So that is what I have to do today. I am not excited about it at all. But she will finally not have to labor for air, or worry that she can't make it all the way to the bathroom. I will miss her.....

2004-11-11T17:34:00.000-08:00

So this morning was planned, by Neal, to get some people together to go to IKEA for breakfast. It's really cheap, and pretty good. The plan was that I would meet Neal and Nick at Brentwood Mall after I got off work, and we would meet Sharon at IKEA. I met Nick at the planned time, but where was Neal? No answer on his phone, we tried a few times..... We went ahead anyway, and man was that good bacon! Have to have breakfast there more often... As we are in line getting the food, guess who calls? Neal! Seems he slept in for breakfast! Well, the rest of us ate, and then I went to pick up Neal's sorry ass up from the skytrain station. We walked around IKEA, causing generally silliness, great fun. Neal bought a futon, and while he was cramming it into the backseat, he knocked my rear-view mirror off! Luckily it just came off the mount, so I slid it back on.... So, went back to my place to get money and the address for the auto wrecker I planned to visit, to scavenge for parts for my Veronica. Neal wanted to drive, and since it was so sunny out, and I was starting to get a headache, I let him drive. After backtracking a few times, with Neal doing U-turns at ridiculous speeds, we finally found the wreckers, which was closed since it was a holiday. I had tried to call earlier, and kept getting put on hold, so assumed they were open. Gak! So we left, and stopped to get gas. When I came back to the car, I noticed that I was missing a hubcap!!! Somewhere when Neal was turning around he lost my hubcap!!!! SOMEONE (Neal) owes me a hubcap!! Honestly!
So after all that, I have now been awake for about 20 hours, and will be glad to sleep. I get to take my grandma to the doctor tomorrow, and then shopping. She takes a long time when shopping, so it will most likely be a lomg day...

2004-11-10T13:31:00.000-08:00

So, there have been a few things that have held my mind captive for some amount of time in the past few days....

Me Time
Some people don't take enough 'me' time. I'm sure everyone has been in a position, typically as a child or teenager, where they had to do something that they may not have been enthusiatic about. Example: when I finished high school, my mom was all, "Get a job!" I wanted to spend some time doing absolutely nothing, considering I had just finished 12 years straight of nothing but school, with the always too short two-months' vacation time between school years the only time to relax from school.
Me - "Ah, relaxation! No stupid, arrogant, self-centered people in halls and classrooms everyday!!" Joy!!"
Mom - "Get a job! Stop laying around collecting dust, and going out with your friends every day! Go to Superstore and get a job!"
Me - Not really caring about Superstore, went and filled out an application anyway to make mom be quiet.
Mom - Nagging me why I don't have a job at Superstore yet? Nag nag? Nag nag, nag nag nag? Nag!
Me - Asking mom how I am supposed to decide whether they hire me or not? I mean, really. That's like how she always tells me to be careful when I am in a car as a passenger. Beyond putting a seatbelt on and not covering the drivers eyes with your hands, how is a passenger supposed to be careful? Sheesh....
So, I get hired at Superstore. Great, a job. I realize that job=money=buying whatever the hell I want, which I have never had before!!! After a few months, mom starts to nag me to go to school, and stop working a dead-end job..... Gee, mom, did you not all but order me to work there in the first place? Now that I like working and having money, you want me to leave it right away? What do you want from me!! Anyway, I get a second job, so I work lots and money is fun. Meanwhile, nag nag nag to go to school. Finally I take some classes so she will stop nagging me to take something.
Mom - "Why are you still working at Superstore? What kind of job is that? You going to work there the rest of your life? Go to school!" (Remember, she made me apply there to begin with....!)
Me - "Well, mom, considering I have no idea what I want to go to school for, why waste the money on classes that won't do anything for me other than take money? Why not let me figure out what I want to do first?"
Mom - "Go to school!"
I did quit Superstore, because I was making enough at my other job, and Superstore kinda sucks. Enrolled in some classes to appease mom. Took a few semesters of random classes, since I still had no career plan. Tuition is paid for by a friend of my mom's (Dr. Harden), since my mom had no money for school.
Eventually I get asked by Dr. Harden what all these classes I have been taking for almost the past two years are leading to? I tell her that I was taking classes so the two of them would stop telling me to take classes, I had no idea what I wanted to do, and they both knew that. Then I get in trouble for wasting tuition money on go-nowhere classes. For fucks-sakes, what did I try to avoid in the first place? So not my fault that nobody listens to me!

It all worked itself out in the end, and now I have a pretty solid idea of what I want to do, so I am taking relevant classes. If I hadn't been pestered and pressured into going to school so early, when I had no idea what I wanted, I would have figured out what I wanted to take eventually, and not wasted money on classes that are not applicable to what I want to do now. This is one big long example that explains that people should be left to figure out what they want, and not shoved face first into decisions that will ultimately make them unhappy and/or unhealthy and stressed out.

Independence
In an MSN Messenger conversation with someone recently, I was talking about how I am trying to learn car stuff so I can do things myself. I mentioned that the tranny is possibly acting up, so she asks me if it is fixable. Of course it is, one way or another, everything is either fixable or replaceable. I am not one to throw something out if it isn't perfect anymore. I wanna learn how to do lots of things, like fix car problems, or even installing things so I don't have to pay someone else $80 to do something I could do myself. She says she is really useless when it comes to mechanical stuff. I tell her she should learn a bit, that way she won't be useless. I mean, I am sure I would be useless at surgery, but that is because I haven't learned it, and I can't envision a scenario where I will need to know how to remove someone's internal organs. I can, however, imagine instances where knowing some basic car stuff would be very useful. The person I was talking to (we'll call them Dee) tells me that it is not good to be too independent. I find this such a ridiculous statement! How is being independent ever a bad thing? So 'Dee' tells me that being too independent makes you unapproachable, you have to know your independence limits. I don't see how that works. I would much rather approach someone who has everything in order and can help themselves out, rather than approach a person who always asks for help with everything under the sun. I don't mind helping people, in fact I like helping people when I can, but when every time you speak to someone they need help with something, it can get aggravating! I like people who you can have a reciprocal conversation with, where you tell each other good things and bad things that happen to you, and get/give helpful advice on how to fix/solve things. I like not having to rely on people for everything, like driving places. Having a car is the freedom I always desired when I was younger, but couldn't fathom ever actually grasping. Now I have it, and even though it has its own problems that come along with it, all cars will have issues. I still have the option of driving wherever I want, at any hour, not having to rely on transportation or someone else to drive (unless I am drunk).

Anyway, that's too much writing for one day, and it's past my bedtime. I have planned to go to IKEA tomorrow, and then to the wreckers to scavenge for parts for my car. Hopefully I will find some goodies!!

2004-11-07T21:57:00.000-08:00

So I bled my brakes today, and it was fun! I got so gross, my hands were covered in oil and WD-40 and grease, and my ass, knees and shirt were filthy! I had streaks of grease all over my face (no Hitler moustache like last time, though), and I screwed up some of my nails, short as they are right now. I like it! I will be asking anybody who wants to get me christmas presents this year for car related stuff, like a good jack w/ lugwrench, and jack stands, and other nifty things....
Sad thing is that after spending the time bleeding them, my brakes aren't really any better, still squishy. So it could be a couple of things: they may just need to be tightened, or I have faulty braked line(s) somewhere, or a plethora of other things. I will find out eventually. But, at least I know how to bleed brakes now!
Since I have enough crap in my house, I don't need any more. For example, I have five dancing hampsters (you know the ones that sing and dance to different songs, like 'Kung Fu Fighting' and he swings nun-chuks around, and the one dressed like a doctor singing 'Bad Case of Loving You', etc), all 12 of the Furby toys that McDonald's had a few years ago, three smiley-face candles in all different sizes,....generally useless stuff. I don't need more! It took me a few years to free myself of the need to keep everything I ever owned or found, as I inherited this 'disease' from my mother, who is one of the best packrats ever. I slowly stopped agonizing over whether or not to throw something out, and stopped reading every word of every notebook of my writing before deciding if it was worth keeping or not (most of the writing is from classes like Grade 12 Creative Writing, and some math notes). So, that is why I try to ask for useful things for christmas. However, considering nobody called me or my mom up for Thanksgiving, I don't know if I want to go over to my aunt & uncle's this year anyway. Usuallt we go over there for Thanksgiving and X-mas, but maybe I can convince my mom to come here and we can make turkey dinner, so I can learn, and we can invite friends here instead. It would be nice to have my mom's food, with my mom and my friends all together. Stupid family.....
I am gonna try to go to the wrecker's a lot in the next while to search out parts for my car. There are a few Ford wreckers that aren't that far away from my place. If only I could register there for Christmas, like when people get married and they register at a department store or presents. Wouldn't that be ideal??!!

2004-11-01T13:08:00.000-08:00

Well, I haven't worn a costume for Hallowe'en for years, but I did this year. It was great fun! I was pregnant white trailer trash, and Sharon (my best friend) was Jethro, my baby's daddy. She was a pretty good guy, some guy actually mistook her for a guy! I had crappy lipstick on, with some on my teeth of course, big hoop earrings, rollers in my hair, hooker eyeshadow, a big robe, a nightshirt and sweatpants, and I carried a doll around as my little girl (her name was Betsy). Very fun! Carried around Budweiser tall boys all night since I was drinking for two.....
Being white trash is fun! I talked in a white trash accent all night long, even when I went to 7-11. Poor guy working there.... Me and Jethro fought a bit, he thought I was hitting on other men (I was) and I thought he was hitting on other women (not sure). Pretty much everyone was in a costume, which I haven't seen in a long time at a party. It was kinda fun, since I didn't know anyone there except the people who live there. Anywho, that was Hallowe'en!

2004-10-26T13:32:00.000-07:00

I have been awake for 28 hours at this point after being awake all day yesterday since 8:30am and then working all night and then going to skool where i got a parking ticket and then on the way i home i was driving with the windows open and yelling and it was fun and i think i am going to drop keyboarding class because i won't meet the speed and accuracy requirements so that sux cuz it is wasted money and i am typing in a mad frenzy but of course not with hands on home row cuz i was never taught that when i was younger and i am so broke because of the radiator and i don't get paid again until next week friday but i need to get gas before then and i also need to go to value village for stuff for my halloween costume and i have to pay rent which i saved so i may have to borrow some of that and my landlady is cool like that where she won't mind but i don't like doing that cuz it's my rent ya know and that's just weird to be doing with rent money but the old tenant did that a lot but considering he turned into a drug addict that doesn't say much for renters borrowing money so i don't wanna have that stigma associated with borrowing my own rent and speaking of old tenant i had a friend over here who she thought was the old tenant's dealer and i KNOW this person doesn't do drugs of any sort so i thought that was kinda funny and i hope she doesn't think that this person is a dealer and call the cops or something cuz that would be kinda embarassing for them and me and nobody wants that and i am hungry now..............

2004-10-25T19:04:00.000-07:00

OH MY GOD!!!! The greatest invention ever is Rain-x!!! I thought I needed to get new wipers, but NO! A bit of Rain-x and your windows repel water like Teflon! AWESOME!! I don't even need wipers anymore!!! The water just rolls off in beads....Ah, so good!

2004-10-25T10:12:00.000-07:00

As anybody who really knows me will know, my favorite bands must be Stone Temple Pilots and Metallica. I have seen Metallica four times in concert, and they are fucking awesome! Stone Temple pilots only twice, excellent both times. Scott Weiland, singer of STP, is now the singer for Velvet Revolver. I still love to listen to him sing, but every time I watch the newest video that he is in, I get sad. Why, you ask? He has been in and out of rehab for heroin addiction for the past few years, was clean for about a year and a bit, then jumped off the wagon again. And every time I see him, he looks worse. Skinnier, gaunter.......... I am reminded of Alice in Chains' Layne Staley, and his death due to overdose in April 2002. So sudden, but not at all shocking.

You can go through music history and in every generation find at least a few deaths due to drugs. There has been much said by artists that drugs have influenced them in their work, but it is still a blow when one of your favorite singers dies of their own hand. William S. Burroughs, author of Naked Lunch, was on a cocktail of drugs while writing many of his books. Everyone remembers when Kurt Cobain died, and his will be one of rhe most remembered deaths of a rock musician for this generation.

I wonder when we as a species will learn?

2004-10-24T21:57:00.000-07:00

Well, the hated class presentation is coming up this Thursday. Hopefully I come down with some weird exotic disease so I have a good excuse to be sick that day..... Why do they make us do these things? As students, we are already stressed out, so shouldn't they be helping us by easing our stress by NOT making us do these things?? I tell you, if I was queen of the world, things would be way different......
So, my car has nipples... I find that very funny! I got my friend to show me basic car stuff, like how to change a tire. Got hose to bleed brakes, so will do that next week. They are so squishy, is no good. He let me drive his Corvette, too! Such a penis car....

2004-10-20T13:28:00.000-07:00

Well........ Good thing I had a lot of money left from my last payday........ I just got to pay Minit Lube $678.02 for a new hose, radiator, clutch fan, and labor. My goodness!! Well, since I got the car for free, it's all good. Would need a new one at some point anyways. so whatever!! At least my car won't be overheating anymore...

I forgot how much I liked walking outside. I got to take the bus and skytrain to work last night, and it was nice. Fresh air, walking............ I really should do more walking... If anyone ever wants to go walking nowhere in particular, let me know!

2004-10-18T21:06:00.000-07:00

Ack! What a dumb day!
I had a doctor's appointment at West Broadway and Willow for 10:50am. I leave my house late, at about 10:25-10:30 am. I haul ass down there, and I am going to only be about five minutes late. I notice that my car is starting to smoke, like when it is raining out.....but it's not raining. Then the smoking gets worse, and my temp light goes on. Uh-oh! So I have to park in the Cactus Club parking lot, and when I lift my hood there is a crapload of smoke pouring out, and antifreeze has sprayed everywhere! Ok, whatever, I gotta go to the doctor's. I waited for like another hour, after the hour I was already at the doctor's office, and when I start the car it is still smoking. I manage to get my car to a Minit Lube that is six blocks away. There was a split in the radiator hose, so it was pouring antifreeze over the entire engine, as well as my old thermostat was stuck in open position. After the hose and thermostat are replaced, it's still overheating. So, turns out that half my rad is hot, half is cold, which means there is probably a block or something. Hopefully that is all it is, and it will be all fixed tomorrow......... I have been awake since 9am, it is 9pm now, and I work at midnight-8am, then to get my car. I am gonna be so tired.....

2004-10-17T19:44:00.000-07:00

Ugh........... so tired on Friday, I couldn't make it to Briana's party. And I love parties! Man, I miss the old days when Ronald's parents would go out of town and he would throw a damn good party. There would be so many people there, I sometimes didn't know a bunch of them. Once, Scarfo brought a party from PoCo up to Ron's, and we didn't know any of those people. I believe that was the same party where someone decided that we should get everyone to sign a guest list, so we could count how many people there were actually there, and we had like 120 people there. Ahhh, good times...... Then there was standing on the porch, looking in the big window and dubbing conversations that we couldn't hear, and since the people inside were doing stupid things because they were drunk, and we were making them say dumb things because we were drunk, it turned into the dumbest things they could possibly say. ....................All the empties to clean up the next day............All the naked people to wake up downstairs......................... All the cleaning up to do............. The tent that Willy or someone would inevitably bring to set up as a hotbox in the backyard........ Shotgunning pot through the shotgun that someone either brought or found in Ron's house..............
Why is it that I look upon those days with both such fondness and regret?

2004-10-14T23:46:00.000-07:00

Well, it's all Paul's fault....

Ask me 6 questions. Any six, no matter how personal, private or random, I have to answer them honestly. In turn you have to post this message in your own blog/journal. Go for it.
This is a horrible idea, by the way..... Whoever thought of it should be subjected to chinese water torture or something similar.... As fun as it is to ask these questions, it isn't always fun to have to answer them!!

2004-10-14T23:30:00.000-07:00

I can't see any of my posts that aren't from today! Or any of the links and crap on the side!! WHAT THE HELL DID I DO!!!???!!