Jul 24, 2010

Sweet Weekend

For the first time in weeks, I have a weekend off work. So far I have:

- Had Cousin Katelyn up for a visit. We went out to dinner, the Jacob Outlet store (I got a sweet pair of pants for $5.oo) and saw Inception in theatres. Inception was unbelievably awesome. It may have trumped Toy Story 3 in my books for favourite summer movies. We took a trip to Limeridge during the day. I re-vamped my wardrobe entirely, deciding that it was time to permanently be rid of my old clothes. Those Garage tank tops from 2005 have to go.

- Cleaned the House. Anticipating a group of friends coming over tonight, I had to clean the main floor and bathrooms of the house. Kait and I get pretty lazy when we come home from work. We clean all day, and so we really don't feel an overwhelming need or desire to clean when we come home. This afternoon, following Cousin Katelyn's departure, I took an hour and a half and cleaned the kitchen from top to bottom, the bathrooms on the main floor and upstairs, and the living room.

- Bought 3 new books. I know I said I wouldn't. But I recently finished the Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, and thoroughly enjoyed it. The problem was, in his well-readness, characters had names of other literary figures that I had heard of, but not interacted with, so I picked up a Charles Dickens novel in the hopes that it would fill in some of the blanks.

- Did laundry. I figured that before I started packing the old clothing up, I should wash it, so that when I send it to the second-hand store, it would clean. Next, I will need to start making piles in my room of new, old, Salvation Army, and Garbage. Time to clean out my drawers.

MCC: 51

Word of the Day: Sweet

Quote of the Day: "It's okay, I'm lumpyshmooface3." The guy at the Bluenotes. He was making fun of my email address.

Jul 21, 2010

Matters of July

Time to post.

Kait and I are currently in the process of baking. She has taken on the impressive task of butter tarts, and cupcakes. I am making apple-blueberry crumble. I don't know why, but we just felt the need to bake.

My movie collection is getting larger again. I want to own as many Disney movies as I possibly can. I realize that by the time I have kids that will watch them, DVDs will probably be non-existant, and I will have wasted money, but the use they will be this upcoming year as an RA...oh, they shall be loved.

So, this weekend, HMV had a sale. And I picked up 3 movies for $30 ($20 of that was Disney).

1) Pretty in Pink: Did you know that they were originally going to cast Charlie Sheen as the male lead, where Jon Cryer plays Duckie? Would the dynamics of Two and a Half Men be the same had that been the case?

2) [500] Days of Summer: A very well done break-up story told out of order. Loved this movie. Kait and I laughed our heads off when we watched it, and I feel like I will need to watch it again a few times to pick up all the clever lines.

3) Finding Nemo: a Disney-Pixar classic. Just keep swimming. It sits on the shelf beside Tarzan, Hercules and The Incredibles. I also have The Rescuers, but Mom is borrowing that one.

Now, for the Disney movies I am waiting for to come out of the vault (so I can buy them, obviously):

- Aladdin
- Mulan
- The Lion King
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame
- Pocohontas
- The Little Mermaid
- The Rescuers Down Under
- Wall-E
- The Princess and The Frog
- The Sword and the Stone
- Peter Pan
- Robin Hood

I can live without Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, The Black Cauldron and a few others...

But oh, I love Disney.

MCC: 51

Word of the Day: economical

Quote of the Day: "And later in the show, we'll find out why Toronto is angry at Niagara Falls..." Chum FM morning radio host

Jul 8, 2010

Northrop

So, I guess its been a while since I've updated the good ole BK spot here, eh?

I bought a fish. I wanted a guitar, I still want a guitar, but instead I bought a fish.

He is a Betta. His body is pink and purple, his fins start off blue and transition into a deep crimson red. I named him Northrop.

Believe me, there was much debate about the name. Suggestions were flying: it could be a Sheldon, it could be a Merlin, it could be a Steve. I think I even tossed around the name Alfred for a while. Then I remembered that I named the dead chipmunk Alfred, so I couldn't name my beautiful fish that. I finally settled for Northrop. I did, in fact, name my fish after Northrop Frye - everyone's favourite Canadian literary critic. His red fins also kind of reminded me of Winthrop from The Music Man (that, and I had the Wells Fargo Wagon song stuck in my head at the time).

Now, let me tell you a little about Bettas. They are supposed to be brightly coloured, and very mellow, and not very big on the whole swimming thing. To which I think: "Yay! Low maintenance!" Bettas are supposed to eat once daily. They don't have large appetites because, well, they aren't very large fish. They need to be able to breathe at the surface because they actually breathe oxygen from the air, not from the water itself (cool fact). They are native to small ponds and puddles in Japan. Males are very territorial and don't like seeing other male betta fish on their turf.

Northrop, however, is not your average Betta. He does the whole breathing at the surface thing really well, but everything else seems to be an issue. Northrop is smart. He knows when I feed him. He knows how to swim into the cup when the water needs to be changed. He also figured out that the little purple beads I have on the bottom of the bowl will float if he rams into them hard enough. Northrop is the least lazy Betta I have ever seen. He also has no interest in his reflection. Most Bettas will flare up if they see their reflection. He looks at it, and then decides he is hungry and stares at me (actually stares at me) until I give him some pellets.

On a completely unrelated note, isn't it good to know that Matthew Broderick went from this

to this?




MCC: 31

Word of the Day: Maid Service

Quote of the Day: "Get your butt out of my hands!" Angie to Deanna

Jul 2, 2010

Fireworks

Last night I went to the fireworks for the first time since I began my days at the BK Lounge. I think that one of the only benefits of this job is that I have evenings to enjoy.

I forgot how exciting fireworks are. The lines, the busy traffic circles, the people, the cheap hot dogs (which I didn't eat), and the getting out after the pretty colours have burnt out in the sky.

The whole night was just awesome! We went with the girls from work (and by we, I mean Kait and myself), to the Hamilton Bayfront. I have never been there before, which is kind of sad considering I have lived in Hamilton (Ancaster) for two years now. We left at like 7oclock, which is a ridiculous for 10pm fireworks, but the whole parking thing was a foreseen issue, and so leaving early had to happen. We got to the Bayfront at 7:30 and after a debate about ladies rooms (ie. port-a-potties) and positioning of fireworks versus lawnchairs and syncronized music and men on stilts, we settled for a spot with a perfect view of all possible firework launching areas. And then we waited.

We waited.

We waited.

We waited a little bit more.

At about 8 oclock I found out that my friend was working one of the Ice Cream trucks in the Bay. And by one of the Ice Cream trucks, I mean one out of about 5 trucks spread out over a park which could easily rival Central Park in NYC. But, the benefit of walking all over a crowded Bayfront trying to find the Ice Cream truck with the Ice Cream man I actually know is that I get a bigger Ice Cream cone.

And then we waited some more.

Then, we just about lost Heather. We all assumed that the cute, fictional, Australian had whisked her away with his accent. Eventually she was found though, and the truth was that the line for the ice cream was really long.

Sometime, after waiting some more, taking photos with our heads together on a blanket, and tackling Kaitlin out of a chair, the sky got dark and the national anthem played.

And then, the most amazing fireworks show I've seen since Disney World. It could rival Epcot Centre.

The show lasted 15 minutes. 15 glorious minutes. The sky lit up in colours and more colours and explosions that would put the German Blitz on Europe to shame.

And when the sky became dark and the masses awoke from their patriotic dream, the fight to exit the park began. There were people, and headlights, and one peculiar little white boy (okay, he wasn't little, he was a skinny little 16 year old dressed in rags -aka 'gangsta' clothing) rapping to someting black. Picture a skinny little white kid rapping to goodness knows what. After the amusement of that wore off, and several other members of the mob agreed with my speculations about the rap music, we found the car.

And waited to get out..

And waited.

And flashed our lights at some men peeing in the bushes (they were turned around, and we would have covered our eyes if they weren't).

Finally we left, and returned home.

Happy Birthday Canada!

MCC: unchanging, and sadly so.

Word of the Day: huskey

Quote of the Day: "We nicky nicky nine doored a VP meeting!" Jessica Marshall