So there, Lena!

Man, I just got so distracted by tetris that my cereal went soggy. That's not cool.

This post is a 'so-there' post, where I get to dance around giddily because I did something someone told me I couldn't. Lena said I was too shy to go and talk to the boys next door, and I said I wasn't and I just proved it by metting a bagillion engineers. And learning lots of things from all of them:

There was Jamal, and Andrew, and Cody, and Matt, and Mike, and Zu, and Gord, and Wally. (And I wrote all those down just so that I will know for later.) Jamal is from Pickering, and wears his pants verrrrrry low. Andrew is from Winnipeg and ~wants~ the snow to come early. Cody is from BC and threw a bottle of whisky through his front window one time while he was drunk. Matt comes from kitchener and like Brand New. Mike is... well actually, I don't know much about him other than his prof asked him why he wasn't chinese even though his last name is Lang. Zu is from Tanzania and likes to play frisbee. Gord was drunk off his ass and thinks my mom would be fun to take out. Wally was from Germany and had an accent.

Tah Dah! I'll show YOU shy!

^_^

Jesus H. Chriist!

Gas prices in Canada jump 20 cents overnight

CTV.ca News Staff

Motorists pulling up to the pumps this morning may be wishing they filled up yesterday, after prices jumped overnight by as much as 20 cents a litre.

In Toronto, the price of gasoline at some stations was about $1.24 a litre. And in Montreal, gas prices hit $1.15 a litre.

On the West Coast, prices hit $1.21 per litre in Vancouver. Even in oil-rich Alberta, gas prices in Edmonton hit $1.24 a litre.

Michael Kane of Report on Business Television said the higher prices at the pumps could be felt elsewhere, such as supermarkets.

"It has an inflationary effect in that so much of what we eat, for example, is transported by truck," Kane told Canada AM on Wednesday.

Large companies that use trucks to transport food will pass along the higher cost of gas to consumers.

"In your grocery stores, pretty soon you'll start seeing signs going up around the vegetable section saying 'Due to recent weather problems, there are very few shipments of' whatever we get from the United States."

And that ripple effect they're talking about? Yeah, well I live in THUNDER BAY, groceries already cost more here because all of them need to be trucked in from so far away. Oh man, oh man, my budget is in teh trouble. Shit. Over a dollar for 4 CUPS worth of gasoline? I mean, the Americans are whining about it ~almost~ being 3 dollars -- but they sell it by the GALLON. Dude -- this isn't even our friggin war! I'm going to go and cry now.

No Effing Way

Now is not a good time to be studying to become a teacher.

"U.K. school tailors policy to foul mouths

Students can use 'f-word' up to 5 times per lesson"

"According to a report in the U.K.’s Daily Mail, one school in the town of Wellingborough is allowing pupils to swear at teachers, providing they only do so no more than five times in a class. A tally of how many times the f-word is used will be kept and if the class exceeds the limit, they will be “spoken” to, the newspaper reported."

"Within each lesson the teacher will initially tolerate (although not condone) the use of the f-word (or derivatives) five times and these will be tallied on the board so all students can see the running score,"

"[They] also reported that the 1,130-pupil school plans to send “praise postcards” to the parents of children who do not swear and who turn up on time for lessons."

The whole thing is ludicrous! I'm speechless, it's just incredible. What are they going to do if students start swearing AT the teacher? That's abuse in the workplace -- teachers already take too much shit as it is. This is disgusting. I need some chocolate, and I also need to rethink my career. Or at least, go teach in some country where it's still legal to beat your pupils.... mouahahaha.

I suppose it's wrong of me to find this incredibly amusing, huh?

But they also have a point.....

Trendwhore Bracelets

Weird dreams and a cramped neck

OH boy. I was supposed to get up at 10, and its 12. blarg. I also had the most effed up dreams last night- its unbelievable. Now, whoever's heard me trying to explain a dream I've had to them will know that what comes next will be largely incoherent (whoa, like most of my writing! Only worse.) with large gaps that I can't remember or connect to different parts of the dream.

Now first of all, my dream begins in my grandmamman's house, which I haven't seen in a year and is 8 hours away from Guelph. There are a lot of people there, only it isn't family, like it usually is, but its alll sorts of people I know from Guelph and we're practicing for a play/musical which involves, in the first scene, a mad looking old lady coming in screaming "the fire's gone out, the fire's gone out!" So we all run down to the firepit or whatever (the den, and it has seen better days) and there are glowing coals ALL over the den floor, and there is this huge hearth taking up one wall. So I pick up a piece of flat board and start waving it at the coals in hopes that it will light again.

Then all the sudden I'm in the bathroom (having given up on the fire, apparently) and I'm having the worst hair day imaginable, and I'm just untangling and untangling my hair when my father calls from upstairs. So I go out and everyone is getting ready to leave. And they are all like "so you coming? We're going over to Ross (my old highschool) to play some somethingorother." I blink and go "play what?" and they're all like "oh, it's like soccer, but instead of a ball, there's a rock" So I say yeah, I want to go, but wait a minute, so I run down to the bathroom again and shove my hair up, go outside and yell that I only have enough room for 3 people in the truck (which is Martin's and clearly not Marc's so what its doing there, I don't know) and does everyone fit in Tory's Van and who-ever's car? They do, and Corey, Parker and some blank-faced person end up in the Truck with me, that Corey is driving for some reason. (which is made more weird by the fact that I have never been in a vehicle Corey has been driving.)

And then I forget something and have to run in again, and Marc is wearing mittens from like, the 2nd grade (you know, those red wool ones with the string in the middle to keep them from getting lost?) and he says grandmamman doesn't need them because she says they are too floppy. AND THEN HE HANDS ME A JOINT! And I was all like, "dad, what the hell am I supposed to do with this?" and he's like, "what, do you need another one?" and I'm just like "No!!" And I run back out to the truck and we drive away. Then I realize I forgot my camera, and Corey and I have this big debate to turn around or not, which we don't.

And that's the end of that. Except for this one random (I really do say that to excess..) part where I see a commercial for this new product that looks sortof like a smaller version of those jalapeno fairy lights, only these are blue, and they fit in your ears and vibrate and do some magical thing that makes you healthier for some reason.

The end.

So yeah..... what the fuck?

(And my neck REALLY hurts, so im going to try to beat it out with my shower-head.)

The Day after Hiroshima

Well, I seem to have survived.

I guess I'm stronger than I thought. I needed the day to grieve, and its not like i'm walking around in insipid contentment -- but im okay. Now I just need to do some shopping... and some binge eating.... haha, just kidding.

What I actually need to do is get off my ass and wash the dishes and sweep the floor. But I don't wanna. And, since my roomates are all AWOL for awhile, I don't feel so bad about putting it off - athough I might need to buy a clean bowl if I want cereal tomorrow morning...

No, its tea and a good book for me.

Confessions of a great big Loser

Ahh, pathetic fallacy, how I love thee.
I'm miserable, in case you couldn't tell.

It's a shame, after such a great couple of weeks, but then, I guess its all to be expected, isn't it? The Boy's been here for that long, you see. And for those of you who don't know -- The Boy is the guy who I'm very emotionally attached to right now. Also he is from Reno, Nevada -- exactly 2169.10 miles, 1 country and several states away (it varies depending on which way you go.) And yes, I met him on the internet. *gasp!*

Well, get over it, it happens, and I'm tired of apologizing or making excuses for it. If the cab driver from T.Bay Ontario can have a net girlfriend in Argentina (no jokes,) then I can have a boy from Reno. Now, its not like im saying that having a net boyfriend is a good idea either, because mostly, its not, and I'm lucky he wasn't an axe murderer or anything. Now, if you're realistic you'll know that long distance relationships don't work. And I know. All that's left to determine is whether 2 weeks of bliss (maybe that's the wrong word) is worth the subsequent pain of separation.


We had a blast, rented a car, did day trips, got lost, dropped car-keys down waterfalls, watched countless movies, played in the rain, shared stories, I cooked, he read to me, played table tennis, video games and real-life mortal combat (where I got slapped around a whole lot more than he did -- but he was ticklish: so I cheated.)


And now he's gone.


It's probably melodramatic of me to be wondering if it's my bad-karma from a past life that has me living so far away from a guy I could get very comfortable with, but that's the way my mind is leaning right now. He's been gone 11 hours now, and although I 'm no longer in tears I am wearing a shirt he forgot that still smells like him (how cliched) and thinking about him non-stop. And worse, I have no idea what to do with myself. I normally have no problems being alone - hell, usually I relish it. But the house is so empty, and I cant bring myself to do anything.

even finish this post...

How Evil are You??

It's weird, realizing, suddenly, that you are a vile bitch sometimes, just like everybody else. I realised this awhile ago, and I'm learning to revel in it, when I feel reveling is appropriate.

Yesterday though, an example came along where reveling was SO not called for. I'm laying in bed reading with The Boy when a plane roars overhead in a not-so-good-sounding type of way. I look over at The Boy with wide-eyes and go -- I hope that plane's not in trouble -- to which he replies "don't be ridiculous." Then when sirens start screaming down the road, one after another, after another, I look up again and ask "Are you sure? It sounded kind of bad" but he scoffs at me, saying: "those sirens were too delayed to be for something that serious, stop worrying about it."

Then, when I hear through the open window the ambulance chasers who live in my complex gossiping about a plane crash through the open window, I get up and start a VICTORY DANCE, trilling:"I was right, I was right, you were wrong!" before realising what I was doing and stopping mid-song to put my hand over my mouth in shock.

Talk about desensitization.

My only consolation is that no one was hurt, the pilot ejected in time. What's really odd though, is that for some reason, The Boy enjoyed my bout with evil -- he was in stitches laughing. Especially later, when I was moved near-to-tears by the death of a character in the book I am currently reading, showing just how in-touch with reality I really am. It's odd what some people find attractive...

current music: Prologue, Loreena McKennit from Book of Secrets

random update

Want to know what the most expensive hobby is?

You'd think it would be something like sky-diving, bungee-jumping or the collection of those tropical fish that cost like a trajillion dollars each. Really though - it's reading. You know, you can get 700 channels from Shaw for twenty bucks a month, but you go to a bookstore and pick up two books and you're out fifty bucks. No freaking wonder kids aren't reading, they're smart! -- I should have quit ages ago! Soon grandparents everywhere are going to be talking about books like they talk about cigarettes: You really shouldn't smoke/read you know, it's the little things, a pack/book a day will cost you a thousand dollars in no time, you really should just quit cold turkey.

Or you know, maybe its just me.

Things are going well right now, excellently well, actually. Nothing much is happening but that's okay -- all I have to complain about is the rain, and even that isn't so bad. It's weird being in Thunder Bay without Kate and Mriss, and it drives me nuts that Kate won't be here til mid-september. But, the cutie keeps sending me letters, so I can't realy figure I can complain. mm, I'm being distracted now.... people playing with my hair will do that. Gotta go!

That's it -- it's above a dollar, and it's never ever coming down. This is the end of the good old days that we will tell our grandkids about, while they stare at us with incredulous eyes...

The Boy and his Frog.

Something Positive does it again. See http://www.tomsmithonline.com/presskit/audio.htm
The song is titled "The Boy and his Frog"

Token work shot, so you can see me in the dorky costumes. tee hee

jonnie's ass, after an eventful race for shotgun (with yours truly) and an attempt to steal a catamaran.

Happy on TOP of Jonnie's ass, and Dr. Love, laughing at them. (Was having some issues aiming -- too dark)

Dr. Love, thinking very hard about the fan.

A very intense game of Cranium

Bissell and I. (Although it would probably be more helpful to say me and Bissell, since that's the order.)

Drunken and hardcore jonnie, ranting, as per usual.

Very drunk Happy, mildly drunk jonnie holding a purse, and Stripey Sam.

From left to right: Julia-goulia, Mary Christmas, Future Mrs. Potter, and Lisette.

Oh Joy

I just got fucked out of my spring break, because I have a winter placement instead of a fall one, and that will mean going to school for a for a week, instead of skipping my Ed classes which I usually do, (because the Education faculty feels we do not deserve a spring break.) LAME. They shouldn't be allowed to fuck their students out of winter breaks - its so wrong.

So if anyone wants to come and keep me company while I rot, alone, that would be lovely.

Weirdest day

Today was weird. I'm not sure I liked it, but that might just be the exhaustion talking. It went something like this:

- Wake up, 645am, with my entire right arm numb.
-Last minute packing
- Get in the car with my father (who i see approx 3x a year) and he hands me 1000 dollars in cash, completely out of the blue.
-Get to the airport, pay an exorbitant amount for a ticket to the Bay
-Go through security and get sexually assaulted by the effing security guard, who feels the need to make me keep my belt with metal parts ON and run their finger along the inside of the waistband of my pants, when I could clearly have just taking the freaking thing OFF.
-Had the shakes in the bathroom
-Sat next to Mr. Obnoxious on the plane
-Strangled Mr.Obnoxious (oh wait - that was a dream)
-Got to the house, unpacked, unpacked, and unpacked some more
-Went shopping
-Im unpacking again.

Blargh. All I want to do is go to sleep. But there's crap all over my bed.

The story of the summer

So, as previously posted, I am back in action, internets-wise, which means I am going to be madly posting again, and hoping I haven't lost my readership.

So -- let's see if we can summer-ise, that is to say, summarize (hahahaha) this summer in one post.

Lets first start off by saying that this was probably the best summer I've ever had in my life, bar none. Living with Martini was awesome, despite the fact that he's an older guy, and happens to be my mother's boyfriend, he is pretty freaking wonderful, if you will pardon my french. Also, I earned myself a whole truckload of new friends seeing as how there was a mutual recognition that we were absolutely great/intelligent/fun-loving people, whereas most people suck. Otherwise, I think the best plan would be to regale you with some funny Disco Island stories, as taken from the logbook, so that you all can have an idea of what it was like to be a tour guide on a historic site.

Friday July 1st

Today was a very interesting day at the warf. First of all I was below deck on the Tecumseth when Emma politely came down and said she needed to talk to me because a man had beached his boat behind the sawpit. By the time I got down there the gaggel of people on the boat had gotten off and were starting to explore behind the palisade wall of the theater. I was able to catch up with the driver of the boat who agreed to move it, but first asked me to go and tell the rest of the group that because they had beached their boat in the wrong place I would have to fine them 100.00$ per adult and 50.00$ per child. I did, and they believed me until the man burst out laughing. Then later this afternoon about 5 people in sailors slops who I had never seen before came down to the Tecum seth and took about 10 disposable cameras worth of pictures and said they were going to buy the boat. (which is owned by the governement and NOT for sale!)
-- Alex

July 11th 2005

This family came into Keating today and spent all of .5 seconds in the house and then, just as he is practically runnnig away from the historic site, the guy turns around and asks "Lisette and I "what do you guys do before you go to sleep?" So, secretly thinking that this man is perverted, I blink at him confusedly and ask him to repeat the question, as I do not understand. He repeats himself, in the exact same way, and I reply "I don't understand what you mean, could you be more specific? Are you asking about household bedtime routines in the 1800's?" and he answers "no, I mean do you guys get in trouble by your parents for talking before you ggo to bed?" Gross.
--Mireille
Some random day

The Theatre troupe was on site again today and they decided that it would be a good idea to suntan on the historic site. Happy and I are on the boats and Happy radios our supervisor to let him know about the colossal idiocy that is taking place down near the sawpit. Surf makes his way down to the dockyard area and proceeds to sit there are examine them suntan, muttering curses under his breath. After 10 minutes or so, Happy and I being very impatient, and being unable to figure out why Surf hasn't done anything to get them off the site, I get the clever idea of radioing surf and saying in my best little girl voice "Surf, the guy with his shirt off is making me... uncomfortable" Needless to say, hilarity ensued and I am only glad I did not get fired for misuse of the radios.

--Mireille


So one time I was in Keating and Alex had a tour of two ghost picture-takers (whatever the hell that means.) I returned from my break to find Alex telling them one of the many ghost stories to the folks. When I walked in the door there was a pause in the story as everyone looked up to see who had come in. I because I am an idiot stated clearly "you know, there are no such thing as ghosts...." (knowing as soon I had said it, that I probably should not have done so.) I ended the awkward silence by saying " oh ho ho, I am just kidding!" The moral of the story is that people hate to be told they are wrong.

--Jon, the ghost disbeliever

And so much other funny shit happened, it's hard to pick and choose which ones to tell you all about. So I will just post some pictures and let you guys try to invent stories to go with them. If there are any of you left, it could be loads of fun!

I'm Baaaaaaccccccccccckkk!

God bless the internets.


Will post for real when it isn't 80 bagillion degrees in my computer room.