The Queen's Meme - The Woodstock Meme - Scroll down for Wordless Wednesday

"The scene: You are at Woodstock. You go alone but meet up with a beautiful man/woman. You spend three days together.

Put yourself inside the peace & love vibe. You can choose to be stoned or straight. I put it in the story for the sake of reality. Just don't inhale in this meme.

This is the conversation you have upon meeting or you can make it into what you overhear others say.

It makes no sense and has no continuity by design.

You must fill in the familiar blanks to finish the story. Some are song lyrics. You may use more than one word to fill in the blanks.

Oh! I forgot to tell you (must be the smoke in here) You have a new name. It must be a combination of the first letter of your first name, the third letter of your middle name and the last letter of your last name.

Peace out! Somebody might wanna turn on a fan in here." - Mimi


1 - Me - "Hello. My groovy name? It's Jaramzah."

Him - "By the looks of those flowers in your hair, you must be my very own Flower Child. Didn't they tell you? No goddesses allowed!"

2 - Me - "Come on, Baby, light my fire, already."

**puff puff**

Him - "When I lay me down to sleep I pray the Flower Goddess Child my dreams to keep."

Me - "If I perish in your arms before I wake, I pray the Eternal Father my blissful soul to take."


3 - Him - "Because the first time ever I saw your face, I knew I wanted that song to play as you walk down the aisle someday...toward me. I realized that what the world needs now is your sweet kisses making me shut the heck up. Besides, I always feel guilty watching you turn every head when I should be fighting them off you. But I dig it!"

4 - Me - "Have I told you lately that I want to make a poem out of you? Hey! Don't step on that blanket - I think there's a couple getting it on in there... At least, I hope that's what they're doing *giggle* !! Dude. That guy is really weird but....."

5 - Him - "There's a party in my sleeping bag. And half a million of my magical massage-away-your-troubles friends are coming over tonight. And we're gonna set those massage friends free to play all over my baby. Off my mind!"

Me - "Darn the luck. It's raining manna and it's surely come from heaven."

Him - "Luckily, Papa was a rolling stone, in his way. He used to take us out here on the weekends and I'm on a first name basis with the cops."

**puff puff**

6 - Me - "I'm really digging your vibe. But that joint has got to go. *waving hand back and forth to clear the smoke*

Him - "Those flowers in your hair are beginning to smell like cotton candy." *giggle*

Me - "Have I told you lately that I'm so glad to have tripped over you?"


7 - Him - "I'm beginning to see a forest bed set up just for us in those trees over there. Do you see it?"

Me - "Out of all the millions of hippies here, you are the most adorable. And the most like an old-fashioned romantic. But I dig it, man."

8 - Him - "I'd use all my blood, sweat and salty tears just to get next to your skin. Just to lay my head on your chest and listen to your heartbeat."

Me - "Love is free. But... I'd really like to buy that guy's big poncho. It says 'Make love, not war.' "

Him - "Far out!"

9 - Me - "I'm grateful to be a bit farther away from the crowd. 'Cause there's a bad hum from the speakers rising in Jefferson's Airplane."

Him - "But that's okay. 'Cause Joe Cocker said I could get by with a little help from my friends." *leans over and kisses me*

10 - Me - "Oh, by the way, your passionate heart is on fire. But I dig it."


If you'd like to join in on the fun, visit Mimi at The Queen's Meme and sign up.

Forest photo by Michael Stanton

The Queen's Meme - What Is The Meaning of Thyme and Other Deep Questions

The Cooking Meme (What Is The Meaning of Thyme and Other Deep Questions)










1. If you could put thyme in a bottle, what is the first thing that you'd like to do?











I'd hand it over to my mom, with whom my husband and I live. She'd use it to make something incredibly divine, some kind of mushroom-y chicken-y thing. Mmm...I can taste it now...

2. Do eggs really crack or do they merely have a nervous breakdown?


















Eggs crack for the most part. They can withstand a lot, but in the right hands they fold like a souffle.

Photo by Ewing Galloway

3. Why are you whipping the butter? What did it ever do to you?













There's a lot about butter that most people don't understand. It doesn't want to be hard. It longs to reveal its softer side.


















But it needs the permission of a thorough whipping before it will succumb.

4. Do your spoons spoon in the drawer? Have you ever noticed? And more importantly, if wooden spoons spoon do they get splinters?














My spoons don't really make it as far as the drawer. To be honest, I've got most of my flatware still wrapped in newspaper from our move here 10 years ago. My husband and I dug out a knife, fork and spoon each when we first got settled in Cole Harbour. These utensils just keep moving from the sink to the dish rack to being used while we eat. Sink, dish rack, eat. It's minimalism at its best.

As for the wooden spoons - I used to have some when I lived in Toronto and used to cook. I've never unwrapped them, either. I pop in frozen dinners or eat my mom's exquisite creations. It's all part of my paring down on non-writing-activity in order to claim more writing time in a 24-hour-period.

5. You hear: "Dumpling, my Dumpling, come hither." The candles are lit, the fondue is dipping, the Godiva is pouring, the scallions are steaming and the music is playing.....but wait, the windows are open. Why did you close them?


















I don't want the fog to roll in and dampen our smoldering evening...

6. Do you need a recipe to cook or are you a bohemian chef? Show us your reckless and wild side in the kitchen. Don't have one? Here's a recipe I made just for you: You will need a spatula, a whisk, a gallon of Chardonnay, a banana and a rump roast. What is the name of your dish?

First of all - the roast goes up in my mom's freezer. I don't handle raw meat. Blech.

Here's what I cook up with the rest:


















Two glasses for the wine
Fill, sip, enjoy

One banana
Peel it
You and significant other each start from one end and eat toward a kiss in the middle

Chase partner with whisk
Change places
Run from partner with whisk
Laugh and drink more wine

Trade whisk for spatula
Repeat chasing, running and laughing
If caught, suffer the consequences
Trade places and repeat

Was there supposed to be a dinner in there somewhere?

Order in.

7. After dinner, the dishes are so dirty that the dishwasher refuses to wash them. What did they say to get in hot water?


















They said "Mercy! Mercy!" And the dishwasher relented. Because the dishwasher is me...

8. Is your pot black?













It's stainless steel. At least, that's what I remember...

9. What is the sexiest spice or condiment in your cabinet? What makes it so?



















Cajun spice mix. It connects me to any Cajun cousins I might have, and makes me wonder who they could be. And it gives a kick of joie de vivre to a wide range of recipes.

10. How much crock is really in your crock pot?



















My crock pot is all crock, all the time. A pot implies cooking, and I'm quite confident the only thing you'll find on the crock pot is a layer of dust from non-use.

Visit Mimi at The Queen's Meme if you'd like to play.

6 Unimportant Things That Make Me Happy Meme

Here is how it works. I mention the person who tagged me:

Akelamalu at Everything and Nothing

List 6 unimportant things that make me happy.

After that, tag 6 more bloggers. So without further ado:


6 Unimportant Things That Make Me Happy



1 - If I can get the back corner seat of the bus, where I can brace my feet on the little crossbar that supports the long sideways seats, I'm good.
























2 - Working two overtime hours and logging a page count that equals half an entire's day's regular page count. Time without interruptions = a heck of a lot more work getting done. Overtime. Gotta love it.




3 - Noticing how much faster I can type, and that I'm actually making typos because I don't always need to look at the keyboard. Thanks to my best friend Connie and her insistence on Mavis Beacon Typing Tutor.




4 - Getting an urge to watch something on YouTube and being able to do just that, now that my newly-souped-up computer has the upgraded Flashplayer.

Here's some video with no audio of the Russian tall ship Kruzenshtern. She first visited Halifax in 1984, and my sister and I made friends with several sailors aboard this awesome 4-masted barque. It was before the Iron Curtain fell, so that was not easy! But we were determined.

More about this romantic tale when the ships start arriving in the harbour, July 16th - 20th.

The Kruzenshtern returns to the port of Halifax in a few weeks for Tall Ships 2009!!! (I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it.)







5 - Gazing at the collages I've made for three of my WIP's.






This one is for my gardener-transported-to-Van-Diemen's-Land story.





6 - Realizing my next Earned Day Off from work is the day before my 17th wedding anniversary. Sweet.













Now - to tag six people.

Hmm...

A-tagging I will go, a-tagging I will go...

Dorte H
Jill
Kim
Lindsay
Sans Pantaloons
Susan

Akelamalu says Thanks for playing along and I like your six unimportant things. :)

Tikno says Sometime little things can makes us feel comfortable.

Sans says I shall do my best.

Summer Stock Sunday - 1

My blog buddy Robin at Around the Island is launching a brand new photo meme today. It's called Summer Stock Sunday.

"Each Sunday, beginning 31 May, Around the Island will be hosting a brand new summer photo project and you're invited!

Share your barbecues, your beaches, your cannonballing kids, that island sunset, an old pair of flip flops, anything that says summer to you." - Robin






































These are pictures taken in the 70's when both my uncle's family and our family would spend the day out at Polly Cove, Nova Scotia here on Canada's east coast while the men went scuba diving. The moms would set out the blankets and fix snacks and lunches, and of course hang out together, while the four of us kids - two sets of siblings, making four cousins - would run all over the rocks having a grand old time.

If you click on the link, scroll down ten rows and you will find slideshows for Polly Cove.

That's Uncle Charlie at top, and my dad below.

These are my happiest childhood memories.












Robin says Great choice for Summer Stock. Look at those wetsuits though - that water must have been FREEZING

Bim says Hello fellow (ex)film-person! I love this colour quality of prints from a time when I was a child, too.

Hip Chick says I love the 70's of it. That is one beautiful part of the world. I haven't been up there in about 20 years but I remember it as being very pretty.

7 More Things About Me

VaBookworm tagged me with 7 Things About Me.

The rules are as follows:

A) Link to your original tagger. Post the rules.

B) The rules are Zen-like in their simplicity. Share 7 things about yourself.

For any who might be sweating at this point about being tagged - worry not. I'm leaving this one open to all players.

*rubbing hands together*

Okay - let's get started, shall we?


1 - I'm currently deep in obsession mode with the Absolution CD by Muse. I go on these on a regular basis. I sit down at the computer, put my headphones on, put the CD in and jam to the music while I write. It's the only way.




2 - I am a serious Russophile. Huh? A what-o-phile? A Russophile - someone in love with Russia and Russians.

I always have been, as far back as I can remember. There's no Russian connection in my family history. We're 13th-generation Canadians of French descent - Acadians.

I grew up in Nova Scotia, a serious chip off the Aulde Scotia block. Not much of a Russian emigre community here. But still, I can never get enough of all things Russian.

So I can't wait to watch this DVD Brad brought home for us this weekend. 1612 tells the story of the rise of Andrei, a servant in Boris Godunov's court, who rises to heroic status during the wars between the Russians and Poles. Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait!




3 - I'm currently reading Year of Wonders - A Novel of The Plague by Geraldine Brooks.



























4 - Whatever happens during the week, I know I'll get to have lunch with my best friend on Thursdays. Sigh. Like yesterday. She's my oasis of sanity in the madhouse.


5 - Because this has been my week at work.







6 - My garden beckons...

Soon, dear one!








7 - I'm gaga for these Real Fruit Gummies. The yogurty ones and the tropical ones. Yummy.



Nikki says Nice. Thanks for sharing!

Susan Helene Gottfried says Ooh, I hope you love Year of Wonders as much as I did.

Deeptesh says Wonderful.

2009 Blog Improvement Project - 7 - Making Your Blog More Comment-able and the Keeping it Real Tag

Here's what's up for April's part of the year-long challenge:

"April is going to be focused on comments. The interaction between bloggers and readers via comments is, to me, one of the best things about blogging, so I think this month will be fun.

Week #7 is going to be all about making your blog more comment friendly. I think it’s vital that once you get a new reader at your blog, it’s easy for them to engage with you by commenting on your posts.

Take an inventory of your blog comments. Write down how many comments you have as of today, then track how many comments you get per day over the next two weeks.

Pick 3-4 of the techniques from the articles (on ways to improve commenting at your blog) to implement over the next two weeks.

Spend these weeks trying to make your posts more comment friendly."

- Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness

Here are several of the article ideas I'll be exploring in the coming weeks:

"Only 1 out of every 100 readers comment on your blog. Jakob Nielsen’s study finds that 90% of online community users are lurkers (read or observe without contributing) with only 9% of users contributing ‘a little’ and 1% actively contributing. The vast majority of readers leave a blog without leaving a comment or contributing to it in any way.

I find that when I include questions in my headings that it is a particularly effective way of getting a response from readers as you set a question in their mind from the first moments of your post. If someone leaves a comment interact with them. This gets harder as your blog grows but it’s particularly important in the early days of your blog as it shows your readers that their comments are valued."
- Darren Rowse, Problogger

"Berkeley Economist Brad DeLong was one of the first to use the term hoisting to describe highlighting user comments. His hoisted comments often inspire users to comment even more, and hoisting comments is another strong community building technique. Kent Fischer, education blogger for The Dallas Morning news, hoists comments to the level of their own posts. He looks for comments that deserve more attention, then makes a separate post for those strong comments that users can comment on, furthering the discussion."
- Patrick Thornton, BeatBlogging.org

In looking back at my two years of blogging, here are my highest-comments posts:

* the first time I received comments that went above 10 was my 3rd Thursday Thirteen post

* 30 comments for 13 Things For Which I Am Grateful

* 32 comments for 13 Favorite Things About Halifax

* 32 comments for 13 Reasons to Read Julianne MacLean

* 32 comments for 13 of My Favorite Peace Globes From Last Week's Blogblast For Peace

* 33 comments for 13 Works by Nova Scotia Artist Holly Carr

* 33 comments for 13 Ways to Enjoy Gerard Butler in Honor of His Birthday, Nov. 13th

* 36 comments for 13 Ways to Celebrate My Grandmother's 93rd Birthday

* 37 comments for 13 of Heath Ledger's Films

* 40 comments for 13 Paintings By My Sister-in-Law, Anna Baccin

* 42 comments for Introducing 13 of My Ancestors

* 43 comments for My Very First Contest

* 47 comments for 13 of My Mom's Paintings

* 56 comments for Rhian's Blogiversary

* 83 comments for My Second Contest

What can I see straight away?

2 of the highest amounts of comments came from contests.

1 came from a party, which generated a lot of back-and-forth conversation.

2 came from posts featuring actors - Gerard Butler and Heath Ledger.

4 came from art shows.

9 came from posts where the subject matter was very personal to me.

Nearly all of the highest-comment posts were Thursday Thirteen posts. The power of the popular meme!

All good to know. I have made it a basic part of my blogging routine to return the visit to everyone who comments here, and leave my own comment there. Recently I've begun responding to comments in my own comments section, which has been recommended for the April assignment.

Something new I'm going to do is the comment hoist. Claudia from On a Limb With Claudia does this regularly. Also, I'm going to try asking questions to stimulate discussion. This is what I love about the Blog Improvement Project - the constant pushing past my comfort levels.

And now - onto the Tag! You're it!

VaBookworm from Confessions of a Bookworm nabbed me for this one earlier in the week. Ever the honourable blogger, I answered her challenge - and had my husband immediately take my picture as-is, as soon as I read the tag.

Keepin' it Real

Here are the rules:

Take a picture of yourself right now.
No primping or preparing.
Just snap a picture.
Load the picture onto your blog.
Tag some people to play.
NO CHEATING!

Okay. Here's my picture, taken a few days ago after work, in my comfies ready for blogging.














And now, a-tagging I will go, a-tagging I will go...

Dorothy
Dorte H
Ryan Ashley
Sheila
Shelley

Ladies...I throw down the glove.

Leah Braemel is trying to read the titles on the spines of those books. *squinting*

Travis says before I started my own blog, I lurked quite a bit.

Ryan Ashley Scott is amazed at the 1 in 100 visitors percentage.

Akelamalu says if I comment on someone's blog a few times and get no response I stop visiting that blog as I feel I am just wasting my time. Definitely with you on that one.

Dorothy and Dorte H took up the challenge!

My First Saturday Six Meme - Workspace

I found this meme over at Patrick's Place, which seemed a fun thing to do, especially as I didn't manage my Friday evening post. I had a migraine this week, didn't make it to work on Wednesday or Thursday, and making any kind of sense was simply asking too much of my brain, frankly.

So in the spirit of branching out, a la the Blog Improvement Project, here goes Patrick's Workspace Meme:

1. What kind of workspace would you most prefer: a desk out in the open with your co-workers, a cubicle that’s part of a maze of cubicles, a small office just large enough to give you a little privacy when you need it, or a grandiose office with a big city view?

Well, the grandiose office with the big city view is obvious - to say the least. First of all, it incorporates the word grandiose, which is one of those words that is a lot more revealing of the inner me than many would suspect.

As one who is an Urban Gal through and through, I can think of nothing sweeter.

What is my actual workspace situation?

My day job desk is a very-well-designed cubicle affair with low dividers and lots of space, which gives me full view of the large window. It uses beige and buttery-yellow colors which is very soothing to look at all day. My bulletin board sections are a light brown fabric which holds a mixture of work-related notes and my own family-and-friends pictures.

My home desk is a dark wooden former bank exec desk which my mom and Gram bought for me. At the moment it's set up in the living room, since the room I'd intended as an office quickly turned into a storage room. This way I can hang out with my husband while I blog and write, watch TV out of the corner of my eye and generally feel like I'm in the center of the action. Because I am. I look toward a wall with a Japanese samurai hanging, a framed illustration of old fashioned shoes that my cousin gave me, a gilt-framed mirror and a faux street sign that reads 'Easy Street'.

2. Is your desk at work more organized or less organized than your workspace at home?

My day job desk is less cluttered than my home desk. But both have my signature piles of stuff. At work I have a foot-tall pile of files to be scanned. This never goes down, since I would be out of a job if there was nothing for me to scan. It just gets replaced by the next day's pile. Here at home the piles are made up of CD's which I listen to while I'm working. The current pile contains:

The Sweet Escape - Gwen Stefani
Classic Cash - Johnny Cash
Play - Moby
Synchronicity - The Police
Petrushka / Apollo (ballet scores) by Stravinsky - Georgian Festival Orchestra / St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street soundtrack - Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jamie Campbell Bower, Jayne Wisener and Ed Sanders
Greatest Hits - Sergio Mendes & Brazil 66
Zenyatta Mondatta - The Police
The Phantom of the Opera film soundtrack - Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, Patrick Wilson, Ciarán Hinds, Simon Callow and Miranda Richardson
Kill Bill Vol. 2 soundtrack - Shivaree, Ennio Morricone, Charlie Feathers, Lole Y Manuel, Luis Bacalov, Alan Reeves/Phil Steele/Philip Brigham, David Carradine & Uma Thurman, Johnny Cash, Malcolm McLaren, Chingon and Meiko Kaji
The Very Best of The Smiths - The Smiths
Fever - Kylie Minogue
Best of Bowie - David Bowie
The Very Best of The Doors - Jim Morrison and The Doors


















3. Which single office supply do you find that you use the most?

Staples. I have to pull apart documents to scan them, and afterwards staple them back together to put back in the file. I also handle mail as the main back-up, so I staple documents which later get passed back to me, the scanner, to pull apart. Good times.

4. You notice that a co-worker has taken one of your office supplies: a pair of scissors or a stapler, for example. You see that your name is on it when he opens his desk drawer. Shortly afterwards, he leaves for lunch. Do you retrieve your stuff or leave it there?

Luckily, in my office I would take it back, mention it to the person and we'd all laugh because we all lose our minds at various times. We tease each other mercilessly, but that's how it is here in Nova Scotia. The more fond people are of you, the more you get teased.

5. Take the quiz: What Office Supply Are You?


You Are a Post-it














You have a good memory. Your memory is so good, in fact, that it can be down right annoying at times.
You don't mean to nag, but you like to remind people what they're supposed to be doing.

You may be a bit of a pest, but you're awfully cute. So no one minds it all too much when you pop up.
You would make a good manger, salesperson or attorney. You can cram a lot of info into that head of yours.


6. Which of the following are you most likely to use the most at work: a cheap ballpoint, a felt-tip, a Sharpie marker, a dry erase marker, or a pencil?

A ballpoint pen. I often have to hand write a person's birth certificate information before I scan the photocopied document, because it will come through as a grey rectangle of gobbledygook.

Well, that was fun. I don't think I'll tag anyone, but feel free to play along if you so desire. Just make sure you link back to Patrick's Place.

25 Random Things About Meme

Heather at Random Wandering Thoughts tagged me for this a little while ago. I think some one else or even a few people may have tagged me for this on Facebook. I'm going to do any and all Facebook tags here on my blog, because it will show up on my Facebook page as well.

My apologies for forgetting who tagged me besides Heather. I've been in the grip of The Unending Migraine From the Deepest Depths of Hell. It's a wonder I even remember my name.















Photo by Ryan Remiorz

1 - Did I laugh my ass off Thursday when President Obama arrived at Parliament Hill, shook Prime Minister Harper's hand, then basically ushered the Canadian PM forward to wave to Obama's adoring crowd of cheering admirers?

Yes. I laughed with giddy glee. Stephen Harper has been prime minister for three long, excruxiating years. He has the social skillz of Napoleon Dynamite. Does anyone line Harper's route in the freezing cold, cheering as if he were a rock star? No?














Photo by Tom Hanson













Photo by Pam Snow

2 - Yesterday three trapped dolphins were rescued by the community of Seal Cove, Newfoundland. Thank God for 16-year-old Brandon Banks, who took a 17-foot fibreglass boat out to the dwindling open hole in the freezing-over cove to create a do-it-yourself icebreaker. Brandon plus four other men rocked the boat back and forth to carve a path through the ice so the dolphins could make it back to open water. The entire town had heard the dolphins calling out at night. When their request for an icebreaker was turned down, when it was pointed out that nature culls its population in the winter, they grouped together, gathered what resources they had and found a way for the dolphins to escape. I'm so grateful to them for showing such innovative determination and compassion.

Read more - Globe and Mail


















3 - I've been into serious Elvis gospel lately. Brad got me the Ultimate Gospel CD for Christmas last year. I've been listening to it over and over, the past few weeks. I get like that with music. My favorite tracks are So High, Milky White Way, I Believe In The Man In The Sky, Run On, I John and Take My Hand Precious Lord.













Photo by Glenn Meisner

4 - A few years ago, I temped for two weeks for the city of Halifax in accounts payable, and my manager was Joe Colley, who sings with a gospel choir in Preston, Nova Scotia. That's a town just a few minutes' drive from where I live (in Cole Harbour.) He told me his church was having a special prayer event with a visiting minister and Canadian Idol 2nd place winner Gary Beals, whom my mom and I just love. Plus Joe's choir, of course. My mom and I went out to St. Thomas Baptist Church in North Preston for what turned out to be an amazing, amazing night.

First of all, the small band that accompanied everyone (bass, drums and keyboard) just cooked. I mean cooked. They are the groovin-est band I've ever heard. The choir rocked the house. Gary made me cry, he was so emotional and passionate. And when the whole event started, when the congregation stood up and the church filled with song, my hands sizzled with electricity. I'm talking Science Centre Static Electricity Ball time. I kept staring at them, but the feeling did not go away until we left the church. Totally mind-blowing.

If you want a taste of what it was like, CLICK HERE and click on Track 6 - We Come to Praise the Lord in the right-hand sidebar.














Photo by Tom Hanson

5 - If I'm watching something on TV, like the news or a documentary, and someone mentions or shows the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, I start crying on the spot. Without fail.








6 - "The eight financial industry executives scheduled to testify before the House Financial Services Committee this past Wednesday learned a lesson from the Big Three auto makers: they flew commercial or took the train." - T.W. Farnam, The Wall Street Journal

*playing my pity violin*

7 - A guilty pleasure of mine is Rick Mercer's Talking to Americans. It used to be a regular feature on This Hour Has 22 Minutes, a political satire show on CBC.













Rick Mercer toured the United States, talking to Americans as if from a Canadian news program, asking them about 'Canadian issues.' The object was to see how little some Americans knew about their northern neighbours. The piece was so popular that the CBC had Mercer create a one-hour TV special based on the segment. It became the highest rated comedy special in Canadian television history when it aired on Canada Day, 2001. Mercer abandoned the concept after Sept. 11, 2001. - Wikipedia

I was just mentioning this bit to one of my co-workers yesterday:

Rick Mercer asked students and professors at Columbia University to sign a petition asking Canadians to discontinue the practice of abandoning the elderly on ice floes. - Wikipedia

Sadly, these man-on-the-street interviews showed tenured professors agreeing that yes, that was a horrible practise and should be stopped.













8 - I'm not a fan of the English-dubbed track on foreign films. *shudder* I need to hear the real actors emoting. So it's subtitles for me every time.














9 - I'm supposed to go get my breasts squished/screened sometime soon. Looking forward to that, of course...

















10 - I really, really dislike being in the position that mimics hyper-extension of the arms behind the back. Some stretches move the body into this position, and a few times I've tried to do it but basically got very panicky and had to immediately get out of it.


11 - So far my favorite whisky is Glenfiddich. Neat.
























12 - My favorite apple was Mackintosh, which I thought would be an unchanging feature of my life. But then my grocery store began stocking Pink Lady apples. And from that moment, there's been no turning back.


13 - One of my favorite stories as a kid was The Little Red Hen. Never liked that sense of entitlement the non-helpers had when they arrived to eat the hen's yummy bread. And how I loved it when she said, "Too bad. So sad." No bread for the ones who didn't help.















14 - There's a commercial on the air right now in Canada featuring a white shaggy dog outside on a chain through all sorts of scary, bad weather. It's encouraging dog owners to bring them inside when one would hope such a reminder isn't necessary. I can't watch this thing. I need a defibrilator...












Photo by Michael K. Harvey

15 - When herd mentality backfires... Thursday we had a bad winter storm, and most of downtown Halifax became an instantaneous gridlock of workers leaving early in slippery, unplowed snow. Meanwhile, I finished off my regular hours, got the ferry and bus, all the roads were plowed and salted by then and I actually got home ten minutes earlier than normal.


16 - Stewie Griffin makes me laugh. A lot.

Oh I know it hurts now Brian, but look at the bright side: you have some new material for that novel you've been writing. You know...the novel you've been workin' on? You know the the one, uh, you've been workin on for three years? You know the novel. Got somethin' new to write about now. You know? Maybe a, maybe a main character gets into a relationship and suffers a little heartbreak? Somethin' like what... what you've just been through? Draw from real life experience? Little, little heartbreak? You know? Work it into the story? Make the characters a little more three dimensional? Little, uh, richer experience for the reader? Make those second hundred pages really keep the reader guessing what's going to happen? Some twists and turns? A little epilogue? Everybody learns that the hero's journey isn't always a happy one? Oh, I look forward to reading it. - Family Guy Quotes














17 - I've had a lo-o-o-n-n-g week. All day I've been longing to get snuggled on the couch, curled up with Brad and my dog. Almost there...












18 - The book-blogging community I've encountered has an incredible rate of books they've read compared to me. I'm doing the Dewey Book Challenge, which gives me a year to read six books. I'm going to need that whole year. Meanwhile, some of the book bloggers have already ticked off their challenge books already. It's February, people.


19 - Brad asked me to check the waiting list at the library to see where we're at for the copy of Season 5 of MI-5. I checked. We're at 58.






20 - I'm very, very proud of Brad today. He walked home from his shift at Blockbuster. So what? you may ask. So - my husband has agoraphobia, which is an offshoot of his larger bipolar disorder. That's so what. Walking outside by himself is not one of his favorites. But he did it.

















21 - Michaëlle Jean, Canada's 27th Governor General, greeted President Barack Obama when he arrived on Air Force One in Ottawa yesterday. I get a huge rush of joy when I see how delighted they are to be in one another's company.





















22 - Brad and I recently watched the first season of HBO's True Blood and totally fell in love with it. Edgy TV, melancholic vampire, shapeshifters, quirky townsfolk and a heroine cursed with hearing everyone's thoughts - just can't get enough.










Photo by Jim Ross

23 - Wait...I'm having a flashback to Canada's reaction to George W. Bush's visit in November, 2004...



Photo by J.P. Moczulski
















24 - The good news is...we qualify for the GST cheque. The bad news is...we qualify for the GST cheque.



25 - If you're in the mood for a rollicking good gospel concert, join me, my mom and the rest of the Dartmouth Choral Society at Grace United Church, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia at 3:00 pm Sunday afternoon.

I won't tag anyone, but if you pick this one up, let me know so I can drop by.