rs

R	Rounded
A	Appealing
S	Slippery
P	Popular
B	Bold
E	Explosive
R	Relaxing
R	Rare
Y	Young
S	Sexy
U	Unreal
N	Noisy
D	Dirty
A	Appealing
E	Excellent

Name / Username:

Name Acronym Generator
From Go-Quiz.com

open apology

this is an open apology to those people in my life who i tend to shut out when i'm going through a bad patch. you know who you are...

just cause i am hiding or pretending like stuff's ok doesn't mean i don't love you or want you in my life. it just means that i am going through shit and i don't know how to cope with it any other way except ignore it and everyone and hope that it goes away. i refuse to talk about it, and the only way around it is to get in my face and find me at my most vulnerable and that is not easy. you could ask stacylicious how long it takes to get me to unturtle and to stop running, but she's not here right now, she's far away. and no,i'm not going to call her.

yes i am hiding. yes my life sucks right now. no i won't open up. no i can't talk about it. yes trying to make me might make me run away farther and faster. HOWEVER i do love to know that you are there, and i do KNOW you are there. and that means everything in the world to me, believe it or not.

so, thank you, and i am sorry for not being here, and not being the best friend i can be right now. it won't last, and raspberry sundae will be back up to her usual antics. that is a promise.

where does the time go?

ah raspberry, where have you been? and yes, by the way, my name *is* raspberry. it may not be the name my parents gave me, but that doesn't make it any less my name.

work, ladies and gentlemen, sucks. sucks ass. sucks royally. sucks the big one. any other variation on this theme are welcome at this juncture. i have adopted a 'put my head down, do my job, don't talk to anyone' approach to the day to day. not the best way to deal with life, but it seemed successful today. that is, until my two favourite ops gentlemen took me out for sushi in sympathy. then i perked up, but immediately returned to my spreadsheet slave state upon re-entering the building. it's hard, though, cause it's not me. i'm social - i fill the candy bowl - i'm friendly - i get people to do things for me cause i go speak with them and ask them face to face to do them... fuck.

last nite i actually investigated some entry level cooking school type situations. if i could save $3500 for tuition, i could become a basic patisserie chef. that, i believe, i would enjoy. then, of course, i'd have to move on to a higher end type school situation. or would i? hmm this deserves more pondering.

thank god *somebody* cleared that up!

You're a Spirograph!! You're pretty tripped out,
even though you've been known to be a bit
boring at times. You manage to serve your
purpose in life while expending hardly any
effort (and are probably stoned to the gills
all the while).


What childhood toy from the 80s are you?

live from victoria, it's saturday night

well, actually, saturday morning. but what the heck.

here i am in the lovely home of mox & mutt... this time, i'm happy to say, i'm not projectile vomitting. needless to say, i avoided having curried tofu for dinner.

i had a really nice time with my sister and brother yesterday evening.. my sis showed us around her boat (in my head her voice is saying "IT'S A SHIP". i know it's a ship, i just like calling it a boat), and we had some dinner and then i hooked up with moxeedelic for a few drinks. i wasn't in the mood to get crazy (saving that for tonite), so we went downtown just to have a drink or two and play it by ear...

we were standing in a line outside a club, and i'm in the middle of very animatedly describing the behemoth of a boat that my sister works on, when i get the sense that i'm being watched. i peek over my shoulder to either a)include whomever is staring in the conversation they are so interested in or b)poke someone's eye out when i realize that the person beside me is someone from WAY back in my past, whom i haven't seen in years. i was delighted, to say the least...

when i was younger (20-21), i had this fairly big, tight crew of friends who did tonnes of stuff together.. we all drifted apart, as will happen. this fellow was one of the best friends of 'the one that got away', whom i have referred to more than once in these pages. so, we were always pretty tight - i was one of the girls they looked after, totally respected etc. so, anyway, a few years after the lost one and i had split up, and he was off living elsewhere, this guy and i ran into each other again. we ended up having a brief summer fling, which ended sort of abruptly because, quite frankly, this guy was an ass. he basically flipped me over and started seeing someone else without even talking to me about it. i was pretty hurt by it, but i figured whatever, it was a summer fling, i got over it.

he's all married now, living here in town, pretty happy. as we were catching up, he was telling me about all the people we used to be connected to... i think that i am the last one who isn't married/solidly connected in a major long term relationship. i sort of jokingly expressed some dismay over this (i'm not that broken up over it, just bemused, really) and he said to me "i think guys are afraid of you". to which i laughed... he followed up with an explanation of how he knew when he was with me that he could have fallen really hard for me, and it was totally the wrong time, and so he was an asshole cause he had to get away. he said that i scare guys cause they know that with me they'd be lost... i'm not sure how much of this i buy... but it was nice to hear. also, i'm glad that he apologized to me.. the fact that, 5-6 years later, it is something he still thinks about, means that he's not really the cad he appeared to be at that time.

boys sure are weird.

ah well, i'm off to get ready and spend some serious girl time with ms. moxee. have a lovely saturday, all....

mmmcakemmmm

i made someone's day today... a woman i work with is *extremely* lactose intolerant, and never gets to eat cake, cause there is always dairy... so, me being me, volunteered to bring the birthday cake for our 'kid's birthday party theme' monthly potluck. i brought two - a chocolate with chocolate creamcheese icing and strawberries for the 'real' folks, and a vegan chocolate cake topped with a non-dairy strawberry creamcheese icing for her and i to try. it was actually super good, cause i used papaya puree for the liquid, so was really moist. she was delighted.. i gave her a couple of extra pieces to take home with her, and she was really happy cause she never gets to eat things like that; come to think of it, neither do i that often. was a good feeling...

on a less fun note... the kiddo left a middle-of-a-panic attack voicemail on my mobile this afternoon. he had gone to visit a friend in the hospital, and freaked out about being there. his message basically relayed how he didn't feel any better, how his meds weren't working, and that he was going to check himself in to the ward. so i got the message (was in meetings all day) and called him back - needless to say how upset i was... he had calmed down a bit by then, but i think he is seriously thinking about going back in. mr. married talked to me till i calmed down, then made me leave work (i am so unassertive when i am upset... i was prepared to go back to my meeting, convinced that there was no way i would be allowed to leave. completely ridiculous - my company is totally supportive of family needs). he "volunteered" to go tell my supervisor himself, if necessary, and gave me five minutes to leave the building.

mike b said some lovely things to me just now: "you are not a fuck up, Calvies gonna have hard things too, just like you and me, and its not gonna be your fault. I've seen you with him, you work hard, you set good boundaries, you listen and talk. Unfortunately some of this is gonna be beyond your control - and that does suck, but it doesn't mean you fucked up" He's a nice boy... i miss him a bunch.

which of the seven deadly sins are you?

You are Lust!
Sexy!! But they say that theres such a thing as too
much of a good thing. You have sex on the
brain, and it doesn't stay just there for long.
Passionate, Fiery - and most certainly
confident. You're a fun loving, spontaneous
person who is always up for a laugh. People
however, have trouble keeping up with you.
You're sex crazy, and perhaps need to tone it
down a bit! learn a little self control!
But, Hey, Congratulations on being the Sexiest Red
Hot deadly sin out of all the 7...


?? Which Of The Seven Deadly Sins Are You ??

mmm sundaes are for baking

i'm in a baking kind of mood, fo sho y'all. today i believe i shall create double chocolate cherry expresso muffins. i may also begin the cake baking spectacular - we are having our departmental potluck on wednesday, and the theme is "kid's birthday party" (don't go there, it wasn't my idea). i have volunteered to bring the cake. i am actually going to make two cakes: one vegan and one not. there is a girl in the department who is highly lactose intolerant, so i am going to make my little no eggs, no dairy chocolate cake, and experiment with a some dairy free cream cheese for the icing. i think, though, for the actual *birthday* cake, i'm going to do a multi layered chocolate and fruit sort of experience. i wish i had a webcam... i could do a little amateur gourmet sort of experience. acutally, now that i think about it, i may attempt some peanut butter cookies, as well. mmmm baking. why aren't i as big as a house? i have no idea, but two other people have asked that same question of me in the last month...

speaking of food, the next time you hear me say that having pizza for dinner would be a great idea, slap me, ok? you have my permission. for the second weekend in a row, i have attempted to have pizza (i really really really like pizza). for the second weekend in a row, i have puked my guts out almost immediately afterwards. so... since i know myself and i know that it will sound like a good idea (probably next weekend, even) just stop me before i place the order. please? for me? thanks.

mike b and i watched 'love, actually' last night. i really enjoyed it - laughed out loud on a couple of occasions. mike b was more restrained in his enjoyment, but i believe he liked it as well. um... i was going to say some stuff here about love etc, but really, i just want to go buy dried cherries so i can make muffins.

how hot is freddie ljungberg?

bronte parte deux (trois? neuf? cinqante?)

i've been struggling over what to write today, for some reason. i think that i'm feeling really disconnected from myself these past couple of weeks, and so there's all sorts of turgid thought and emotion roiling around in my head, but very little of it is making it to the surface. so, forgive me gentle readers.. i know not what i do.

i think that i need to go travel for a bit.. i need to fill my tank with gas and drive for about 3 hours, stop at a cool spot, get a room overlooking some water within walking distance of a good cafe that opens early, pull out my book and settle in for about a week. then, when i come out on the other side, i'll have a bit of clarity over who i am and where i want to be right now. that or i'll be so content that i'll just never leave - i'll get a job at the little cafe making muffins, soup and cinammon buns and be delighted my new small town life.

is it a bad thing that, really, all i want is a job where i bake and make soup for people in a small spot with tonnes of characters to talk to? where i can play cool music and have great magazines left about, where people come to hang out and have a good meal, where teenagers dressed in black come to scribble in their notebooks, drink espresso and chew on black painted fingernails?

mr. married looked at me over lunch in the cafeteria yesterday and said "you are so not right for this place... you are good at your job because, honestly, i think you would be good at anything you tried, but this isn't for you. you are going to quit, unless there is a major change in the structure of your department - it's just a matter of time." smart man, is mr. married. now i just have to find an alternative plan.

slow movement

this morning, while sitting on my deck in the sunshine, eating a home-baked chocolate croissant and sipping a large mug of cafe au lait, i perused a column in the vancouver sun about the slow living movement. this is a phenomenon that rose up out of the french-invented, italian driven food movement that focuses on in-season, locally available fresh ingredients and drinking lots of red wine (see, at this point moxee's today post for an interesting comment on the economics of food. actually, if you see the sidebar for the social issues research centre, there's a good article available for reading. but i digress). anyhoo. this whole thing made me stop and think about my lifestyle. i do work very hard during the week - i work long hours and my days are pretty packed with stress and activity. but my weekends are markedly different. the biggest decision i made this weekend was whether or not to buy bake-at-home chocolate croissants or purchase them prebaked for ease of consumption. i wandered in the sunshine, hit up my favourite vancouver grocery spots, drank iced tea and sunned myself in my bikini, spent time with my mom, and talked with friends. granted, my room is a mess, and i should have tidied. but really, on days this gorgeous, who cares?

part of this indulgence comes from, of course, the fact that my time is *really* my own. i have no partner nagging me to do chores or run errands. i can take as much time perusing baked goods at my favourite bakery as i want. my son spent most of the weekend with friends - we touched base yesterday to go to the beach to sit in the sun and eat greasy beach food stand burgers chat about life, and watch the bikini girls go by.

the downside to this is that i tend to go a little stir crazy when left to my own thoughts too much. i get lost inside my head and have trouble shaking the introspection. also, on saturday evening when the sun came out, all i really wanted to do was pack up the car and have an impromputu camping trip. this, however, is not much fun on your own.

i think that, as i get older, i'm going to become more and more comfortable living in my own skin, and being by myself. this is, in part, one of the reasons that i figure if i don't meet someone amazing in the next couple of years and "settle down" so to speak, it's never going to happen. which, given the past weekend, is a double edged sword. i've been kind of lonely, but at the same time, it's good for my soul.

pensive sundae

i was reading this and started to think about what certain songs remind me of... i just happened upon this post very shortly after someone told me that they would never be able to hear jane's addiction without thinking of me. it's super interesting to me how certain smells and sounds can tie you to a moment in time, or to a person, or to an emotion. for example, the gypsy kings will always make me a) hungry and b) think of a former boyfriend, who was the head chef in a tapas restaurant. when i hear them,i'm suddenly transported back to his restaurant, at the table in the back where i always sat, dipping crusty bread in roasted red pepper soup and drinking wine. loreena mckennitt and chet baker take me back to the bookstore i worked at; to summer saturday afternoons when the boss wasn't around and we were busy hanging with the customers planning our night out. there is a massive attack song that is forever owned by psychojeremy - but makes me think of him in a good way, believe it or not. the sound of rain on the roof of a car makes me think of camping: of lying in my sleeping bag listening to the drops of water hitting the thin ceiling above me, knowing that half of everything i own will be damp in the morning. woodsmoke is fall: warm sweaters and going back to school. roast beef and apple pie are sundays in my mom's kitchen.

are these normal things for most people? i guess the woodsmoke one for sure is... what else?

quiz du dae

I'm getting there. I don't suck, but I've got a ways to go.


how much of a militant feminist are you? my assessment:

"Not too bad, but you can do better. Keep working on it- maybe try kicking a few guys wherever you want to, then start lighting them on fire. Slow and steady wins the race, okay? You've got a long way to go, but I think you'll survive."

rainy saturdae

i was going to get up and go for a run in the rain... but after last night's dairy product debacle, i woke up with a seriously grumbly belly, and had my maple walnut bagel and very large cup of coffee half-consumed by the time i remembered my plan. ah well, maybe later. i don't think the rain is going to stop any time soon.

what shall i do today? mike b is still in whistler, so no brunch plans are panning out. maybe i could go down to main street and hit front & company.. i'm feeling a little out of sorts, though. part of it is my little internal dilemma that i still can't write about cause i'm still trying to sort out.. the other part of it is how much i miss mike b, and what that, ultimately, means.

mr married posed a situation to me the other day... a really interesting one that has been tossing around in my head with all the other stuff. what is going to happen to the friendship i have with mike when he gets into a serious relationship? i know that he's not ready for one yet, but last week's conversation hell was a sort of scary precursor - i know that our friendship is totally solid enough to deal with judge jody (sorry mike, i couldn't resist), but what happens if it comes to a point where mike has to choose between the woman he loves and me? how scary is that? i know we can all say that friends are important and that good relationships allow space for all kinds of friendships, but lets be serious for a minute - most of my guy friends' girlfriends dislike me. i'm cute, i'm a flirt, and i think like a guy. and what girl is going to want her man to have a *best* friend who is a girl? most women are territorial.

and, honestly, mike b is a catch. he's handsome, is super nice, has great values, a good job (are you listening, girls?). he's gonna meet someone amazing, fall in love, get married, and give his parents a few grandkids to lug around. where do i fit into that situation?

why the hell am i thinking about all of this today? i guess more and more i don't see myself fitting into that place with anyone, lately. and it's rainy, and i've been introspective, and i'm feeling a little lonely. ah fuck it. i'm going to shower and go shopping.

ouch

so my heart hurts a little, today... mike b left for whistler last nite and i miss him already. i know i know.. he'll be back on the weekends.. i know i know.. i rarely see him during the week anyway.. but that's not the *point* (she says whinging and stamping her foot, just a little). it's funny, the friendship that mike b and i have developed. we haven't known each other for that long, and we have some seriously fundamental differences in the way we view the world, but we have become pretty close in these past six or so months.

my finger also hurts - sure sign that i have not been cooking enough: i was cutting up papaya to take with my lunch and nearly sliced the tip of my left middle finger off. this would not be so bad if, not even a week ago, i hadn't done nearly the exact same thing to my left next-to-middle finger. that's seriously the first (and second) times i've cut myself with a cooking knife in YEARS. i am seriously out of practice.

speaking of cooking look here for some tempting and economical ways of feeding yourself and your loved ones. i am particularly entranced by the 'fluorescent foods' category. made myself a spam and cheese filled sandwich for lunch tomorrow...

moxeedelic came for a visit this weekend... we shared some fast paced girl moments as we ran through a mall in search of a pink camoflage bikini.. she laughed her ass off at me chatting up a taxi dispatcher, we had some drinks and did a little dancing. we also ended up in a fairly deep conversation that wasn't really as lighthearted as the evening sort of required... mike's friend jody had some pretty strong ideas about moxee's lifestyle choices and sort of let fly at both mox and me ('cause of some of the emotional issues i have been dealing with myself of late). neither the time nor the place, and i think everyone was a little uncomfortable with the turn of conversation. we went on to go dancing and the evening was definately fun, but there were some deep thoughts happening for most parties, i think. moxee and i talked about it for a bit the next morning - we continued our blonde giggly girl fest over a walk, a latte and brunch.. i think the thing that we were both concerned with and hurt by is that we were so harshly judged by someone who doesn't know us that well. the world isn't black and white and, while it is really easy to put things into categories of 'right' and 'wrong' or 'me' versus 'you', emotions almost always get in the way of such didactic categorizations.

ah well... i've thought about this way too much over the last couple of days.. chances are i'll think about it some more - this is where most of my thoughts have been for the past few weeks.

the other day

i was supposed to post my horoscope, but i forgot. however, i do think it's one of those good little life lessons that should be referred to on occasion, so i'm going to post wednesdae's 'scope today. ok?

"Have you been listening to pop songs for your descriptive oxymorons and rhyming words? All you can think about is elation and frustration, terrific and horrific, attraction and distraction. Opposites feel alarmingly interchangeable. Your plans require you to go north when actual events insist on heading south. Laughing at your misfortunes is okay for now, but if you keep that up for too long, you'll enter the same loop that traps you when you call yourself unlucky. Be open to the possibilities instead of instantly assuming that you know what it all means. Life is full of surprises."

actually, i get most of my life lessons and philosophies from lyrics... they're just thoughts an pieces of poetry set to song, right?

why haven't you been posting much, ms sundae? well cause there is stuff going on in my life that i'm reluctant to post. the horrible thing with the nasty anonymous commenter is that now i'm a little hesitant to write about some of the things that have been going on in my head. and i realize that with a public blog i have to sort of expect that people are reading and may have thoughts and opinions of their own... but i think that often people happen upon blogs and leave nasty comments purely with the intent of hurting people. to me they are the kids in the schoolyard who were always to cowardly to say what they think, do what they will and look how they want to look. they just hung at the back of the pack, acting the way they were expected to act, and basically did what they were told by the more dominant kids in the schoolyard. now they wander around the internet leaving drops of poison wherever they rest for a moment... trying to bring everyone down to their own insecure unhappy state...

hm i guess that was a bit of a rant, huh? i'm not sure where it came from... well, i think i do know, but that's something that i'm still rolling around my brain right now... i'll try and address it later on.

in case you were worried about who to vote for

in the upcoming american election...

this should answer all of your questions...

"what's for dinner mom?" "why, frankfurter spectacular!"

LOOK at this. no do it. seriously. i swear to god i had no ideas there were so many ways to serve mackeral. fluffy mackeral.. snappy mackeral... dieters in the '70s were SICK - SICK i say...

for research purposes only

people have recently stumbled across the sundae sanitarium by searching for:

• calgary flames fans on 17 ave nudity (voyeurs!)
  
• random blog (lazy!)
  
• "how do I know" that a coworker wants me to hit on them (cause they have sat in your lap and nibbled on your ear, all the while leaning over the budget reports in a seriously low cut blouse)
  
• calories Neo-citran (231)
  
• 'bob dylan's song hurricane and the stereotypes the song discusses (obviously a term paper subject. here's a friendly hint to current students from a former teacher - if you can google it, so can the cute girl at the front of the class. chances are, if she's *at* the front of the class, her brain is at least moderately adequate)
  
• sundae (what kind? how large? where would you like to consume it and with whom? enquiring minds want to know)
  
• in a place like this i'll get away with it (you are right - in a place like this you will)
  

welcome, fine googlers... i hope that the sundae experience is all you had hoped it would be.

tuesdae

todae's horoscope:

Yes, relationships are about romance, but there's so much more to them. Politics are a big factor, and therapy is a major benefit. When something is annoying but unavoidable, give it your full attention. Look your partner squarely in the face and appreciate his or her individuality. Compassion only seems expensive until it starts flowing naturally again. Then you'll feel simultaneously grown up and childlike. Welcome back to the world that you once knew. -

for the record, and for those who are interested, this sunshine sundae girl is a leo.... just in case you other leos wanted to keep track.

oh canada

all is right with the world...

team canada is the world champs in hockey (naturally) and calgary beat san jose in game one.

my mama and i spent the afternoon at a local organic herb greenhouse. i picked up some sunflowers, a tomato plant with an intriguing name, some ginger mint (cause god knows i need more mint) and a few staples... calvin ditched me for mothers day (i had really wanted to go see supersize me) so she felt sorry for me. i am quite down in the dumps about it, actually... i can't help but think back to last mother's day, when we were in 'loops for track, staying in the cool hotel, and he won me a gold medal for my gift. seems like six lifetimes ago...

canada book week

in honor of canada book week, history television has posted a timeline of great books. how many have you read? i've put a little (y) beside the ones that i've finished. mind you, my education is in english lit, so honestly i'd be fairly ashamed to say that i haven't read most of these. i'm curious to see if anyone has any they'd like to add? comment me the title, a brief synopsis, and why you think it belongs on the list.


The Epic of Gilgamesh (y)
c. 2000 BC, Mesopotamia, Anonymous
A work of about 3000 lines written on 12 stone tablets and found at the ruins of Nineveh. The stories revolve around Gilgamesh, a powerful king of Uruk, and his friend Enkidu.

The Iliad / The Odyssey (y)
c.700 BC, Homer, Greece
These two epic poems attributed to Homer became the models for all forthcoming Western epic poetry.

The Aeneid (y)
c.70-19 BC, Virgil, Italy
With the epic poem chronicling the adventures of Aeneas, Virgil took up his place as the greatest of all the Latin poets.

The Bible (y)
c.300
Since about the 4th century, the Bible is the term used to describe the Christian Scriptures. It is a well-known fact that the Bible is the top-selling book throughout history.

Beowulf (y)
c. 8th century, unknown, England
The oldest existing epic poem written in English tells the story of Beowulf, a warrior, who slays both Grendel (a water monster) and his mother. In the second part of the poem, Beowulf fights a dragon, wins, and then dies a glorious, celebrated death.

The Divine Comedy (y)
c.1300, Dante Alighieri, Italy
Divided into three parts, the vernacular poem recounts the poet's journey through Heaven, Hell and Purgatory.

The Canterbury Tales (y)
Begun 1386, Geoffrey Chaucer, England
From the brilliant and bawdy Wife of Bath to the idolized hero of "The Knight's Tale," Chaucer's work illustrates the stories of pilgrims on their way to Canterbury. It represents life in 14th century England.

The Faerie Queen (y)
1590, books 1-3, 1596, books 1-6, Edmund Spenser, b. England, lived in Ireland after 1580.
Written by the "poet's poet" Edmund Spenser, "The Faerie Queen" influenced English poetry for centuries. One part romantic epic, one part 'courtesy book,' one part allegory, the poem tells the story of the Faerie Queen and her subjects in Faeryland, the Faeries or Elves.

Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, and Macbeth (y)
c.1595-1608, William Shakespeare, England
Many believe Shakespeare the greatest writer ever to have lived. With a canon that includes 37 plays, 154 sonnets and two long poems, it's hard to choose the best, but you can't really go wrong with the great tragedies—encompassing some of the most beautiful language, structure, character and theme written in English. (**as an aside, bard on the beach is doing macbeth this year....)

Don Quixote
1605, Miguel de Cervantes, Spain
A hugely successful book often considered one of the first modern novels, Don Quixote's self-involved title character sets off adventures influenced by his own obsession with chivalric romance.

Paradise Lost (y)
1667, first edition, John Milton, England
The greatest epic poem ever written in English, "Paradise Lost" tells the story of Satan's fall from heaven, and Adam and Eve's expulsion from the Garden of Eden.

Robinson Crusoe (Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe) (y)
1719, Daniel Defoe, England
With the extraordinary tale of Robinson Crusoe's survival on a deserted island, Dafoe wrote what many critics consider to be the first novel in English.

Pamela
1740, Samuel Richardson, England
The story of a young maidservant who successfully defends her virtue by fighting off the advances of her lecherous employer, Pamela is the first novel to be written in epistolary form.

Tom Jones (y)
1749, Henry Fielding, England
Fielding's masterpiece brings middle-class English existence to life in fiction.
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy
1760, Laurence Sterne, England
Expanding the conception of a novel that's simply a reflection of outside events, Sterne writes himself into the story while recording thoughts, ideas and imaginings.

"Kubla Khan" (y)
1797-1798, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The closest thing to stream of consciousness the Romantic period can claim, Coleridge wrote this poetic fragment just as it had appeared to him in a dream hours earlier.

Pride and Prejudice (y)
1813, Jane Austen, England
One of the greatest female writers of the 19th century, Austen also wrote Emma, Persuasion and Mansfield Park.

Waverley (y)
1814, Sir Walter Scott, Scotland
The first example of the historical novel, Scott dramatizes the events surrounding the Jacobite uprising in Scotland in 1745.

Frankenstein (y)
1818, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, England
With the gothic tale of Dr. Frankenstein, who creates a monster that inevitably destroys him, Shelley created the horror genre.

"Don Juan" (y)
1819-1824, Lord Byron, England
The quintessential Romantic poet writing the quintessential Romantic poem, Byron was one of the most popular poets of his day, and Don Juan is his obvious masterpiece.

The Last of the Mohicans (y)
1826, James Fenimore Cooper, United States
A part of the Leatherstocking series, the novel, as with the others in the series, examines the conflict between wilderness and civilization.

"In Memoriam A.H.H." (y)
1833, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, England
The sudden death of his friend, Arthur Hallum, inspired Tennyson to write this glorious tribute to male friendship.

Jane Eyre (y)
1847, Charlotte Brontë, England
Mr. Rochester employs Jane Eyre, who falls passionately in love with him; only to find out he's married to the 'madwoman in the attic.'

Wuthering Heights (y)
1847, Emily Brontë, England
The passionate, troubled relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff has become archetypal, and Brontë's undeniably gifted prose essentially proves Wuthering Heights will remain a remarkable example of the novel.

David Copperfield (y)
1850, Charles Dickens, England
Of Dickens incredibly successful novels, David Copperfield remained his favourite, partially because of its slightly autobiographical nature. Other great novels include Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities and A Christmas Carol.

Scarlet Letter (y)
1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, United States
A portrait of Puritan society in Massachusetts, the Scarlet Letter tells Hester Prynne's tale of immorality and societal pressure towards love, relationships and the human consciousness.

Moby-Dick (y)
1851, Herman Melville, United States
The central characters from Melville's best-known work have become permanent figures in American mythology. Moby-Dick tells the story Ahab and his quest to find the great white whale.

Madame Bovary (y)
1856, Gustave Flaubert, France
A masterful example of realism, Madame Bovary tells the story of a young woman caught in an unhappy marriage.

War and Peace (y)
1862-1869, Leo Tolstoy, Russia
One of the world's greatest writers, writing what is considered by some to be the world's greatest novel, set during the Napoleonic invasion of 1812, the book exemplifies Tolstoy's own views on history—that is works inevitably for its own ends, and not for the betterment of humankind.

Crime and Punishment (y)
1866, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Russia
Emerging as a major talent from the 19th century, Dostoyevsky's masterpiece tells the story of Raskolnikov's crime and his subsequent self-imposed exile to Siberia.

Middlemarch (y)
1870-1871, George Eliot, England
While Middlemarch is considered Eliot's masterpiece, another of her novels, The Mill on the Floss should also be recognized as a magnificent example of the Victorian novel.

The Portrait of a Lady (y)
1881, Henry James, United States
James perfects his ability as an unabashed spectator of the upper classes, often bringing to light the conflicts between American and European societies in The Portrait of a Lady. Other notable books include: The Wings of the Dove (1902) and the Golden Bowl (1904).

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (y)
1884, Mark Twain, United States
Twain's classic coming-of-age tale that sees Huckleberry Finn traveling down the Mississippi on a raft portrayed American life during the 19th century.

Jude the Obscure (y)
1896, Thomas Hardy, England
Hardy's last novel—after the controversy Jude the Obscure inspired, he abandoned fiction altogether. It's a shame because the bittersweet tale of Jude and Susanna, their love, their tragedies, their convictions, truly makes for great fiction.

"The Awakening" (y)
1899, Kate Chopin, United States
The 'bird in the cage' metaphor that runs through Chopin's novel reflects the early feminist roots of this American novel.

Heart of Darkness (y)
1902, Joseph Conrad, b. Ukraine, England
Marlow's journey deep into Africa in search of Kurtz remains one of the greatest modern novels ever written.

Sons and Lovers (y)
1913, D.H. Lawrence, England
Along with The Rainbow and Women in Love, Lawrence's freedom in terms of sexual expression revolutionized the ideal of love within fiction.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man / Ulysses (y)
1916, 1922, James Joyce, Ireland
Joyce's monumental Ulysses reinvented fiction with its publication. His earlier work, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, remains a fascinating example of the bildingsroman, or coming of age tale.

The Age of Innocence (y)
1920, Edith Wharton, United States
Wharton won a Pulitzer Prize for this exceptional novel that examines the lives of men and women ensconced, for better or for worse, in the upper classes of New York Society.

Remembrance of Things Past (y)
1922-1932, Marcel Proust, France
Proust's cyclical novel series represents his monumental dedication to storytelling.

"The Waste Land" (y)
1922, T.S. Eliot, England / United States
Eliot's "The Waste Land," by reflecting the bareness of modern life, remains one of the greatest studies of the human condition ever written.

A Passage to India
1924, E.M. Forster, England
The novel reflects the situation in colonial India, both from the perspective of the colonists, and their relationship to the local population.

The Great Gatsby (y)
1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald, United States
As the quintessential voice of the Jazz Age, Fitzgerald's masterpiece tells the story of Jay Gatsby, a man destroyed by the very thing he craves—the American dream.

The Trial (y)
1925, Franz Kafka, Czech Republic
Along with The Castle and "Metamorphosis," Kafka's stories reflect the stark reality of the alienation found within human existence. As an interesting aside, most of his fiction was published posthumously.

Mrs. Dalloway / To the Lighthouse (y)
1925, 1927, Virginia Woolf, England
Woolf's most poignant books, both express her dedication to the new, developing form of the modern novel.

The Sun Also Rises (y)
1926, Ernest Hemingway, United States
A group of expatriates live in Paris during the difficult post-war era, disillusioned and desperate to find happiness. Hemingway became the voice of the "lost generation" with his often-simplistic prose style oddly capable of reflecting the complex psychological problems of his characters.

The Sound and the Fury
1929, William Faulkner, United States
Recipient of the Noble Prize in literature, Faulkner remains one of the greatest American writers of all times. His dedication to form, as seen in his near-perfect use of stream of consciousness both in this novel and in As I Lay Dying, is equaled only by his ability to characterize the gothic nature of the American south.

Brave New World (y)
1932, Aldous Huxley, England
The novel takes place in the 25th century, and it tells the story of a frightening yet utterly compelling utopian society.

The Grapes of Wrath (y - although i do prefer steinbeck's "little" books)
1939, John Steinbeck, United States
Steinbeck won a Pulitzer Prize for this incredibly sad story of the Joad family, whose westward journey in search of a better life only serves to reflect the desperate struggles of the American farmer.

The Stranger (y - in french, even)
1946, Albert Camus, France
This existential work of art solidifies Camus' place as one of the 20th century's greatest thinkers.

The Heart of the Matter
1948, Graham Greene, England
Greene's straightforward prose comes to its height with this novel about the experiences of a police officer serving in West Africa.

Nineteen Eighty-Four (y)
1949, George Orwell, England
Orwell's futuristic novel exploring the dehumanization of society—the creation of 'Big Brother' resonates to this day.

The Catcher in the Rye (y)
1951, J.D. Salinger, United States
Holden Caufield is the archetypal cynical teenager, immortalized forever in Salinger's most famous work.

Invisible Man (y)
1952, Ralph Ellison, United States
Ellison's nameless protagonist struggles to find acceptance as an African-American man living in America.

Lord of the Flies (y)
1954, William Golding, England
The bone-chilling story of a group of boys trapped on an island as their community quickly descends into savagery.

The Lord of the Rings (y)
1954-1955, J.R.R. Tolkien, England
Tolkien's masterful trilogy about the adventures of Frodo Baggins and the Fellowship of the Ring have thrilled children and adults for decades.

On the Road (y)
1957, Jack Kerouac, United States
The beat movement's most poignant voice, Kerouac's greatest novel was written in one sitting: a focused, adventurous testament to the power of creativity.

Doctor Zhivago
1958 (tr. English), Boris Pasternak, Russia
Pasternak won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958 for this novel about life in communist Russia.

Things Fall Apart (y)
1958, Chinua Achebe, Nigeria
Known as the father of African literature, Achebe's seminal work explores the affects of colonialism on Africa.

A House for Mr. Biswas
1961, V.S. Naipul, b. Trinidad, England
Naipul's poignant work about the anti-hero, Mr. Biswas, reflects the world of post-colonial Trinidad.

Rabbit Run
1961, John Updike, United States
Faced with the passing of his golden days as a star athlete, Harry Angstrom, Updike's protagonist, runs away from his wife and child in search of satisfaction outside suburban America.

A Clockwork Orange (y)
1962, Anthony Burgess, England
Imaginative and stylized, complete with it's own vocabulary, Burgess' masterpiece remains one of the most enigmatic works of fiction ever published.

Wide Sargasso Sea (y)
1966, Jean Rhys, b. Dominica, England
With her re-telling of Jane Eyre from the perspective of the 'madwoman in the attic,' Rhys re-invented the earlier novel, bringing the Caribbean to life.

One Hundred Years of Solitude (y)
1967, Gabriel García Márquez, Columbia
Márquez brought the world of magical realism to the world of fiction with all of his novels, the most successful of which is the one selected here.

Catch-22 (y)
1969, Joseph Heller, United States
Set during the Second World War, Heller's post-modern look at the conflict drips with humour and irony.

Slaughterhouse-Five (y)
1969, Kurt Vonnegut, United States
A fascinating social critic, Vonnegut plays with the genre in his most popular novel.

Gravity's Rainbow (y)
1979, Thomas Pynchon, United States
This novel is the post-modern writer's best-known work.

The Diviners (y)
1974, Margaret Laurence, Canada
The story of Morag Gunn resonates as one of the greatest novels ever to be published in Canada.

Midnight's Children (y)
1981, Salman Rushdie, b. Bombay, India, England
While Rushdie's Satanic Verses remains his most controversial novel, the glorious, engaging and delightful Midnight's Children better reflects the depth of his talent for fiction.

The Handmaid's Tale (y - i think oryx and crake will surpass this one)
1986, Margaret Atwood, Canada
Atwood has emerged as one of the world's most popular novelists. Her most-interesting work, The Handmaid's Tale, is a futuristic story about religious extremists.

In the Skin of the Lion (y - i don't enjoy ondaatje's fiction, but his poetry is superlative)
1987, Michael Ondaatje, b. Sri Lanka, Canada
While The English Patient is his most commercially successful novel, In the Skin of the Lion describes the experiences of immigrants in Canada, and therefore resonates for its honest portrayal of Canadian life.

all in all, i was glad to see a nice representation of women writers. however, i think that this list is pretty rooted in the western canon. more world books should be here for sure. now that i'm thinking about it, my mind is pretty much blank for additions, but off the top of my head i'd have to say:

• trainspotting by irvine welsh - his work with dialect, and his representations of thatcherite britain are evocative and moving. as well, he does an amazing job of writing the drug culture.
  
• the maltese falcon by dashiell hammet - that's the mystery junkie in me
  
• the women's room by marilyn french - that's the feminist fiction junkie in me
  
• harry potter and the philosopher's stone by jk rowling - got a generation of children (and not a few adults) to read again and to believe in magic
  
• famous last words by timothy findley - i was reminded by answering to maktaaq's comment. i think this is his finest work.
  

i'm sure there are more. actually i'm thinking of making it my summer project to read don quixote. that, of all the books on the list that i haven't read yet, is the one i'm ashamed to admit.

update

back in march i posted my list. the list to end all lists. the ultimate list.

here's an update. again, the bottom 4 of the top five are in no particular order. number one remains, as always, number one. but there have been some exciting changes!

5) freddie ljunberg
4) vin diesel
3) jude law
2) johnny depp

and...

1) dave grohl. i love to love dave grohl.


and the bottom top five...

6) john cusack
7) david beckham
8) mattias ohlund
9) david draiman (singer from disturbed)
10) jason statham

not too much has changed. just in case you were interested....

dr phil. -- i got 41

ok, i've never actually seen dr. phil, but someone felt like i should take his quiz. so here it is:
Here you go ... try this. Below is Dr. Phil's test. Dr. Phil scored 55 --he did this test on Oprah -- she got a 38. Some folks pay a lot of money to find this stuff out. It is pretty accurate and only takes 2 minutes. The person who sent it placed their score in the subject box. Please do the same before forwarding to your friends. Don't peek, but begin the test as you scroll down and answer. Answers are for who you are now...... not who you were in the past. This is a real test given by the Human Relations Dept. at many of the major corporations today. It helps them get better insight concerning their employees and prospective employees.


Make sure to put YOUR score in the subject box. Ready?? Begin...
==================================================

>>1. When do you feel your best?
>>a) in the morning
>>b) during the afternoon & and early evening
>>c) late at night

>>2. You usually walk...
>>a) fairly fast, with long steps
>>b) fairly fast, with little steps
>>c) less fast head up, looking the world in the face
>>d) less fast, head down
>>e) very slowly

>>3. When talking to people you...
>>a) stand with your arms folded
>>b) have your hands clasped
>>c) have one or both your hands on your hips
>>d) touch or push the person to whom you are talking
>>e) play with your ear, touch your chin, or smooth your hair

>>4. When relaxing, you sit with...
>>a) your knees bent with your legs neatly side by side
>>b) your legs crossed
>>c) your legs stretched out or straight
>>d) one leg curled under you

>>5. When something really amuses you react with...
>>a) big appreciated laugh
>>b) a laugh, but not a loud one
>>c) a quiet chuckle
>>d) a sheepish smile

>>6. When you go to a party or social gathering you...
>>a) make a loud entrance so everyone notices you
>>b) make a quiet entrance, looking around for someone you know
>>c) make the quietest entrance, trying to stay unnoticed

>>7. You're working very hard, concentrating hard, and you're
>>interrupted......
>>a) welcome the break
>>b) feel extremely irritated
>>c) vary between these two extremes

>>8. Which of the following colors do you like most?
>>a) Red or orange
>>b)black
>>c) yellow or light blue
>>d) green
>>e) dark blue or purple
>>f) white
>>g) brown or gray

> >>9. When you are in bed at night, in those last few moments before
>>going to
>>sleep...
>>a) stretched out on your back
>>b) stretched out face down on your stomach
>>c) on your side, slightly curled
>>d) with your head on one arm
>>e) with your head under the covers

>>10. You often dream that you are...
>>a) falling
>>b) fighting or struggling
>>c) searching for something or somebody
>>d) flying or floating
>>e) you usually have dreamless sleep
>>f) your dreams are always pleasant
>>
POINTS:
1. (a) 2 (b) 4 (c) 6
2. (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 7 (d) 2 (e) 1
3. (a) 4 (b) 2 (c) 5 (d) 7 (e) 6
4. (a) 4 (b) 6 (c) 2 (d) 1
5. (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 3 (d) 5 (e) 2
6. (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 2
7. (a) 6 (b) 2 (c) 4
8. (a) 6 (b) 7 (c) 5 (d) 4 (e) 3 (f) 2 (g) 1
9. (a) 7 (b) 6 (c) 4 (d) 2 (e) 1
10. (a) 4 (b) 2 (c) 3 (d) 5 (e) 6 (f) 1

Now add up the total number of points.

OVER 60 POINTS: Others see you as someone they should "handle with care." You're seen as vain, self-centered, and who is extremely dominant. Others may admire you, wishing they could be more like you, but don't always trust you, hesitating to become too deeply involved with you.

51 TO 60 POINTS: Others see you as an exciting, highly volatile, rather impulsive personality; a natural leader, who's quick to make decisions, though not always the right ones. They see you as bold and adventuresome, someone who will try anything once; someone who takes chances and enjoys an adventure. They enjoy being in your company because of the excitement you radiate

41 TO 50 POINTS: Others see you as fresh, lively, charming, amusing, practical, and always interesting; someone who's constantly in the center of attention, but sufficiently well-balanced not to let it go to their head. They also see you as kind, considerate, and understanding; someone who'll always cheer them up and help them out.

31 TO 40 POINTS: Others see you as sensible, cautious, careful &
practical. They see you as clever, gifted, or talented, but modest. Not a
person who makes friends too quickly or easily, but someone who's extremely
loyal to friends you do make and who expect the same loyalty in return.
Those who really get to know you realize it takes a lot to shake your trust
in your friends, but equally that it takes you a long time to get over if
that trust is ever broken.

21 TO 30 POINTS: Your friends see you as painstaking and fussy. They see you as very cautious, extremely careful, a slow and steady plodder. It would really surprise them if you ever did something impulsively or on the spur of the moment, expecting you to examine everything carefully from every angle
and then, usually decide against it. They think this reaction is caused partly by your careful nature.

UNDER 21 POINTS: People think you are shy, nervous, and indecisive, someone who needs looking after, who always wants someone else to make the decisions &who doesn't want to get involved with anyone or anything They see you as a worrier who always sees problems that don't exist. Some people think you're boring. Only those who know you well know that you aren't

book clubs

so we now have three hot smartchix in a book club. we need a cabana boy and a martini sponsor. any takers? mike b? mutt? mr. newly single? you know you want to...

i have had a weirdly exhausting week... i developed a headache very early on today, and i simply could not shake it. i threw drugs at it, i threw food at it, i tried shoe shopping, i drank water and mint tea till i thought i would float home.. believe it or not it's 9.30 at nite and i *still* have the headache. and, to make matters worse, it appears to be progressing down my arm. but that could just be due to the mammoth amounts of typing i have been doing. not here, obviously, but at work.

speaking of shoes.. i think that, assuming that when payday comes they are still available, i have found my kicky summer shoes.. quite to die for. i shan't discuss them here in case people run out and buy them all. needless to say, if my plan comes together, i can think of a certain ms. mox who shall be quite jealous.

man i have got to stop staying home on the weekends, or my blog entries will never get any spicier. i guess if i stopped blowing off dates with people i meet, i might get out of my house now and again. why am i so apathetic? i was speaking with bun earlier, and he was telling me about the hot chick he's been seeing. well, i'm not sure seeing is the correct word to describe what he's been doing with (to) her. anyhoo... i mourned the fact that all i really want is a decent booty call - i don't want to worry about going for dinner, being nice, making small talk. i just want to have fun and get laid. is that too much to ask? he figures that, eventually, one of the parties involved develops feelings. i figure that might be ok as a gradual thing... but right now i'm too selfish, i think.

or maybe it's just that i haven't found anyone who can compete with my kid, my job, and my friends recently. does this mean i'm going to grow old alone? probably not, but honestly i don't really care. well, that's a bit of a lie. but in reality, there are so many great people in the world that i feel like i could spend five minutes in the company of 1 1/100th of them and live a blessed life, you know?

world book day!

check this

i miss living in a book world... organizing readings, hanging with authors, talking about books, arguing about poetry.... i think that maybe i should join a book club, but i'm afraid of it being full of boring middle aged people (no offence ms mox, but i'm going on the kind of women who joined book clubs when i worked at the bookstore - if i lived in victoria, i'd join yours for sure!)

if anyone has an opening in their group, and doesn't mind a sassy, irreverant blonde who's smarter than she may seem at first glance joining, will you drop me a line?

would you do it?

so i was bustling about the kitchen (i've been in a cooking frame of mind the last few days) listening, as is my habit, to the cbc. as it happens did a brief article regarding a new push by the transplant society in bc - i guess what they are doing now is looking for living, healthy, kidney donors. you go in, they cut you open, they put it in someone else. you are in hospital for a week, and have about 6-8 weeks of recovery time. this is, of course, assuming that you can find a surgeon willing to perform the operation (sort of goes against that whole 'not knowingly causing harm' oath).

would you do it? would you do it for a family member? i'd actually cut out my heart if i thought it would save calvin's life, but then he's my son. would i give a kidney to a stranger? in theory, it's easy to be altruistic and say yes. in practice, however, there are deeper implications - the least of which being that you will only have one, which could, presumably, fail some day. what if, 30 years down the road, your spouse, sister or child needed that kidney? what if you suffered complications and ended up with a life threatening condition or even died?

it's a hard question. it's not like volunteering to serve christmas dinner to the homeless, or giving money to charity. this is seriously life-altering. would you do it?

after further investigation

if i'd gone to n²'s house on friday evening, i would have been the only girl in the company of 11 men. now, why don't they *tell* me these things?

where are all the good men dead..

in the heart or in the head?

ok i know that is from grosse pointe blank. but where is it originally from? does anyone know?

beasties

all rise and give thanks to our lord.

vancouver in the sunshine

i love this city when the sun is shining... had brunch with mike b and maktaaq at on my favourite patio overlooking the water (mmmchocolatecroissantmmmm), then went wandering from pottery sale to garage sales with mike b and a friend of his, then hit jericho beach for a picnic of yummy cheese made on vanisle by mike's cousins, fresh strawberries, black olive bread, hummus, avocado and miss vickies jalapeno chips. could life get any better?

finds -
(from the pottery sale)
a really cool blue bowl with a handle and pour spout ($4)
another beautiful bowl, aqua and purple shiny glaze for my mama (mom's day is next week, y'all) ($8)

(garage sailing)
a paperback copy of caligula & other plays by albert camus (50 cents)
the "magic maui" cookbook (50 cents)
and.. this really cool round box with 'camembert' written on it in deco style french writing... will blend superbly with my 'french bistro' style kitchen, should i ever get it. ($1 - kudos to mike b's friend for discovering it and giving it up to me la la la)

once upon a time

someone emailed this to me.. since i have been shaking my head in wonderment at the sacrament of marriage, of late, i thought i'd post it...

Once upon a time,
~~~~~~~~
in a land far away,
~~~~~~~~
a beautiful, independent,
~~~~~~~~
self-assured princess
~~~~~~~~
happened upon a frog as she sat,
~~~~~~~~
contemplating ecological issues
~~~~~~~~
on the shores of an unpolluted pond
~~~~~~~~
in a verdant meadow near her castle.
~~~~~~~~
The frog hopped into the princess' lap
~~~~~~~~
and said: Elegant Lady,
~~~~~~~~
I was once a handsome prince,
~~~~~~~~
until an evil witch cast a spell upon me.
~~~~~~~~
One kiss from you, however,
~~~~~~~~
and I will turn back
~~~~~~~~
into the dapper, young prince that I am
~~~~~~~~
and then, my sweet, we can marry
~~~~~~~~
and setup housekeeping in your castle
~~~~~~~~
with my mother,
~~~~~~~~
where you can prepare my meals,
~~~~~~~~
clean my clothes, bear my children,
~~~~~~~~
and forever
~~~~~~~~
feel grateful and happy doing so.
~~~~~~~~
That night,
~~~~~~~~
as the princess dined sumptuously
~~~~~~~~
on a repast of lightly sautéed frog legs
~~~~~~~~
seasoned in a white wine
~~~~~~~
and onion cream sauce,
~~~~~~~~
she chuckled and thought to herself:
~~~~~~~~


I don't fucking think so...

booty call?

so my msn started beeping in the middle of the nite (just before 3?). it was N2's friend, who added me one evening when we were hanging at the home of n² drinking whiskey. "come to n²'s place!" he said. "N2 wants me to tell you to get over here.."

so not only was it *fully* a booty call, it was a booty call by proxy. how funny is that?

todae's horoscope:
"You're going to be even more lethally charming than usual -- which is really saying something. Better get ready to attract all kinds of admirers, like it or not. If you're sure you're not interested, keep your head down. "

a brief update

so here is what is going on with mr. married. i successfully managed to stay away from him today. well, not including the couple of times he came up to visit me - one was when he first arrived at work, and one was a legitimate work concern. things have been.... there. i actually wish i could will them away, but i'm really bad with that sort of thing - if i see a limit i have to push it. if there's a rule in place, i have to, if not break, at least bend it a little. if there's something that someone tells me i absolutely shouldn't do, i have to have just a little taste. at least once.

things are at the point where we chat fairly regularly (if it weren't for this darn crush i'd be super stoked at the new friend i've made). actually, as an attachment to that thought, if it weren't for the crush would i have had the opportunity to develop a friendship with this person? i'm not sure.. and yesterday, he came upstairs and was showing me something on the computer and actually put his hand over mine to move the mouse. which would be ok if i didn't know how to use the mouse. or if he was really showing me something on the computer, not just showing me for show, you know?

though anonymous was vaguely out of line for offering advice, s/he is correct. 'doing it', in any sense of the phrase, is such a bad idea. i get myself convinced that i have nothing to lose. but i do - sleeping with or becoming involved with a man who is married, and happily married i might add, is so far away from how i define myself. i'd lose so much self respect. and since i'm just (finally) getting that back after 3.5 yrs with psychojeremy, that's not a position i want to be in. i'm just not sure how i a)get myself into such situations and b)get myself out of them without losing a friend and making life awkward round the watercooler.

today's bad joke (courtesy of maktaaq)

Ireland's worst plane disaster struck today when a two-seater plane crashed into a cemetery.

Irish rescue workers have recovered 828 bodies.

Digging continues...

so funny

On a tour of Florida, the Pope took a couple of days off to visit the
coast for some sightseeing. He was cruising along the beach in the
Pope Mobile when there was a frantic commotion just off shore. A
helpless man wearing a Calgary Flames jersey, was struggling
frantically to free himself from the jaws of a 25 foot shark.

As the Pope watched horrified, a speedboat came racing up with three
men wearing Vancouver Canucks jerseys on board. One quickly fired a
harpoon into the sharks' side. The other two reached out and pulled
the bleeding, semi-conscious Flames fan from the water. Then, using
hockey sticks the three heroes' in the Canucks jerseys beat the shark
to death and hauled it up into the boat.



Ø Immediately the Pope shouted and summoned them to the beach. "I give
you my blessing for your brave actions." he told them. "I heard that
there was some bitter hatred between the Flames and Canucks fans, but
now I have seen with my own eyes that this is not the truth."

As the Pope drove off, the harpooner asked his buddies "Who was
that?" It was the Pope, one replied. "He is in direct contact with
God and has access to all of Gods wisdom."

"Well," the harpooner said, "he may have Gods wisdom, but he doesn't
know shit about shark fishing.............how's the bait holding up?"

lazy

i'm really lazy this evening.. i blame the fact that i had spaghetti for lunch then a veggie burger for dinner. definately a carbohydrate overload. ooo but i did discover that if i crumble up tofu with italian seasonings into the spaghetti sauce when i heat it, the texture and consistency (and flavour, really) totally remind me of having big chunks of cheese in the pasta. my god how i've missed that... yum yum yum.

the boy has a computer game on autoplay or something in his room. emanating from beneath the door are sounds of murder, mayhem and machine guns. i think i should light a candle and play some soothing music, or else i shall most certainly have nightmares.

the new mike from friday nite called me this evening. actually we have been playing phone tag since sunday - it's been quite a marathon session. he invited me out, but since it's during the week and all i want to do is lounge about in my jammies and watch situation comedies, i could not bring myself to accept. hopefully he won't think me a lame ass for declining... i did sort of explain my herculean work hours so hopefully he shall be understanding.

there- that's it. i'm done for the nite. sleep tight, all. *kisses*

kick butt horoscope today

"Your intensity may be too much for certain people to handle. Oh well. It's their loss. You have no problems with being who you are. You'll do what makes you happy, and you'll live with the consequences, if any. This is how the right individuals find you. Take each other at face value, fully confident that what you see is what you get. Everybody wins in the games that you like to play. And if someone can guess what's most likely to turn you on, he or she will be your friend for life, or at least until the magic wears off."

things i like about me and things i don't

let it not be said that raspberry sundae is too much of any one thing. in an attempt to define myself, for myself, i am going to run through a string of words and phrases. if you don't care, please feel free to navigate away from the page. no one wants you to do something you don't want to do, or read something you don't want to read.

i am...

a flirt; a blonde (both natural and unnatural); fond of speeding; fond of laughing; more than fond of making people laugh; someone who kisses her friends in bars, just cause she loves them; the kind of girl who will smack you on the naked ass mere hours after meeting you; the kind of girl who will crawl into bed with her best friends first thing in the morning to chat and snuggle; a pillow hog; smarter than the average bear; book smart but street stupid; a pusher of limits, regardless of the consequences; a good cook; a caring and energetic parent; lover of books; lover of sunshine; lover of daisies and tulips and sunflowers; a slave to my allergies; addicted to chocolate and coffee; in love with roadtrips and the freedom of an empty highway; incurably in search of something new; very single, and quite pleased with that situation; a dancing fool; into electronica and metal and punk and new rock and classical music and opera and folk and radio pop; someone who wishes she had a green thumb and could play an instrument; someone who longs for something just beyond her reach but is in love with the quest for that thing; someone who can't stop moving and wonders why you would ever want to; someone who thinks that the years you are alive don't age you, it's fear of change that does; someone who really sincerely tries to accept people for who they are without judgment; someone who believes in the threefold law; enjoys her job most days; enjoys walking in all weather; enjoys meeting new people and reconnecting with old friends; an insomniac who has nightmares fairly regularly; a geek; a nerd; a 'cool kid'; a fashion victim; a thrift store junky; a lover of main street, commercial drive, fourth ave, cambie and broadway; a fiend for brunch; a dancer on tables and sidewalks and streetcorners; the easter bunny; a leo; sad that 'cabbages and kinx' burned down; into movies; addicted to mystery novels; occasionally consumed with regret that she left university; insistent that they are kitty ears, not devil horns, regardless of what N¹ says; not into video games, board games, or head games; very into shopping and eating out and hiking; trying to get back into running; close to my family; averse to cleaning, especially vacuuming; looking forward to the summer; missing my sister; in search of the perfect italian deli and the best used bookstore in vancouver...

wow,this is harder than i thought. which, i suppose, is a good thing. i'd probably be really upset if i could only come up with a few...

well, i guess i should reward you for still being here. try this.

this just in:

this from msnbc.com:

"Chocolate is one of America’s favorite treats. For most, the draw is the great aroma and taste. Others like the hint of it being an aphrodisiac. For some, it's all about the polyphenols!

Polyphenols?

As an antioxidant, polyphenols help the body's cells resist damage from free radicals, which damage cell structure and are formed in our normal body processes. Recent research indicates that polyphenols may even enhance the proliferation and activation of T-lymphocytes -- white blood cells that fight infections and regulate other immune responses. Polyphenols can also prevent cardiovascular disease as they minimize the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, which is a major factor in the promotion of coronary disease such as heart attack and stroke.

But not all chocolate is "super" — the amount varies by the type of chocolate. In 1.25 ounces you find these levels of the nutrient:

Cocoa powder: 1,300 mg
Dark chocolate: 700 mg
Milk chocolate: 300 mg
White chocolate: 0 mg (White chocolate is made just from the cocoa butter and technically is not a chocolate.)
The higher the amount of cocoa content, the higher the amount of antioxidant. Most high-quality chocolates now list the cocoa content on the label.

And what’s the latest on all that talk about chocolate as an aphrodisiac?

It turns out that chocolate is a mood-enhancer after all. Chocolate contains phenethylamine (PEA), which stimulates the nervous system, triggering the release of endorphins, opiate-like compounds that dull pain and give a sense of well-being. There are also chemicals in chocolate that increase the activity of dopamine, a neurotransmitter directly associated with feelings of sexual arousal and pleasure. Additionally, chocolate can also boost levels of serotonin, the happy neurotransmitter, especially in women (who tend to be more sensitive to chocolate than men). And yet another way chocolate can make us feel good: It inhibits the natural breakdown of anandamide, a neurotransmitter normally found small amounts in the brain, which can produce a feeling of euphoria.

That’s the good news. Chocolate, of course, is heavy in fat and sugar, with the general rule that the better the chocolate, the less harm it will do you. Good quality chocolates are made with a higher proportion of cocoa butter, a fat composed of approximately one-third proportions of oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat like in olive oil, and stearic acid and palmitic acid, which are saturated fats. Oleic acid has been shown to lower both total and LDL cholesterol. And interestingly, although stearic acid is a saturated fatty acid (SFA), unlike other SFAs, it does not seem to affect blood cholesterol. Palmitic acid, however, does raise blood cholesterol, so even good quality chocolate should be eaten in moderation. Remember, not all chocolate is made with cocoa butter, so be sure to read labels.

And don’t forget that chocolate contains caffeine. One 1.5-ounce bar of dark chocolate contains about 30 milligrams of caffeine, milk chocolate contains 10 mg, and an 8-ounce serving of hot cocoa contains 5 mg. In comparison, an 8-ounce serving of brewed coffee contains 135 mg of caffeine, 12 ounces of Mountain Dew contains about 56 mg, and cola contains about 35 mg."

off on a tangent (careful, may be considered shallow by some)

so i was sitting in a sunbeam this morning, sipping coffee while reading the globe and mail, when i came across yet another in the ever-increasing number of articles by a print artist regarding the validity/value/voraciousness of weblogs. i read it with interest, being a person who has a few opinions (which, by the way, are based in a fairly indepth education in new media theory) of her own.

as a rule, "print" columnists reject on-line writing, especially blogs, as superfluous. i think that this is because of any number of reasons but, to me, it seems that the first and foremost is the webs accessiblity to the masses. modern mainstream print culture is elitist by definition. please note that i have added the caveat 'mainstream'; 'zines and independent broadsheets circumvent this but are, i would wager, less accessible than a free on-line medium such as blogger. please note, as well, that i have added the caveat "modern". the origins of widespread print publication in western culture began as a grassroots phenomenon. the invention of the printing press offered to the masses a means of cheaply disseminating thoughts, opinions and, on occasion, pure bullshit, for lack of a better term. publication was no longer in the control of the monastaries or the ruling classes, who previously had commissioned or produced hand-reproductions of select texts and tomes. this, itself, posits a disturbing truth: when the ruling class control the information being produced and reproduced, they, essentially, control thought and history.

texts are repositories of social value - both product and producer of culture. history cannot be divided from literature, as literature cannot be separated from history: the two are symbiotically intertwined. this idea is informed by the work of stephen greenblatt, a new historicist thinker, who positions history within the commodities of art - the text, the performance, the image. he describes history as "enabling condition, shaping force, forger of meaning, censor, community of patronage and reception. and the work of art is not the passive surface on which this historical experience leaves its stamp, but one of the creative agents in the fashioning and re-fashioning of this experience" (from shakespearian negotiations; the circulation of social energy in renaissance england). it is impossible, therefore, to separate text from context - every work of literature is the product of the culture in which it was produced. the lines between fiction and the 'true' culture which it represents - and by which it was constructed - are blurred. so, too, it is difficult to identify the deliniation between author and reader. the text which unites them, which draws them together, also serves to obscure the boundaries between producer and consumer of the text.**

by resisting the value and importance of online publications, print journalists resist relinquishing the power to control thoughts and values. the article that inspired this entry, for me, was written by a regular globe columnist - lynn crosbie. she states: "the quality of the sandys' writing is not at issue: i am sure my own diary contains less penetrating insights, but that is the point. diaries, since the advent of the japanese pillow book, were designed as secret repositories for, largely, women's personal, inaccessible-to-others thoughts, hopes, fears, dreams and so on. while diary writing may be viewed as repressive, when examined as a virtually female practice... this same genre offers everyone the opportunity to create an importantly antagonistic position against surveillance, against unwanted invasions. if the blog offers diarists the opportunity to find thousands of like-minded friends, their value is clear. secrecy is a complex issue, one which is too often joined to loneliness and fear of disclosure. but the chaos of intimacy that blogs represent also speaks to a new generation's inability to grasp secrecy's greatest virtue, what uncensored autonomy it provides".

for me, ms crosby is missing the point in one central area. much of our knowledge of past cultures comes from private writings (i cite here the example of samuel pepys). archaeology is anchored by the examination of the garbage of everyday life - cracked pottery, shards of urns, scraps of weaving. the writing of the masses, not the elite, offer the deepest insights into the everyday culture of human life. as well, lynn crosbie's columns are printed validation of her thoughts and opinions; the fact that she is paid to produce them is her employer's tacit approval that her thoughts and opinions do not deviate to vastly from their own. she does, however, hit the nail on the head in one pertinant area: the blog phenomenon is a product of our cultures' deviated relationship with secrecy. we live in a 'reality tv' nation. the private has become the domain (indeed, the bread and butter) of public commodity culture, and even the least media savvy denizen has been affected by this. weblogs are, perhaps, just a natural outpouring of the average person's desire for their 15 minutes of fame (please see 'pamie' - who wrote a book based on writing a blog, or 'belle de jour' who is one of the latest to broker a book deal based directly on her on-line journal).

most weblogs are just the day to day meanderings of people who don't really have much to say - and i'm not discluding myself from this pot. however, i don't believe that ms crosby is more qualified to write about everyday culture than many of the people creating web journals (see my sidebar for 'tale of two cities', 'the amateur gourmet', 'belle de jour'). does anyone really care if a woman named sandy failed in her attempts to create pad thai for a party of ten? not really. however, the fact that she was compelled to record it does speak to the inherent nature of our culture - therein lies the value and validity of the blog.


**case in point - this very blog entry has been driven by anonymous commenting (which represents, in itself, a fracture between the traditional divisions between reader and writer), a series of articles in a variety of medium (print and electronic), and my own thoughts, feelings and education. am i a producer or a consumer?

gmail

ohh i have a gmail account now. how fun is that? i am easily accessible at raspberrysundae@gmail.com. in case you are interested.

there's quite the brouhaha brewing over the anonymous comment poster. a note was left on moxee's blog that her postings are shallow. i was under the impression that a blog was a personal thing that you share (or don't) with other people. as far as i know, i'm under no impetus to offer entertainment value, deep philosophical musings or anything else. if you don't care to read my thoughts, move on. you won't hurt my feelings by not reading me. i don't really check my stats that often, and when i do it's from curiosity, not from some kind of deep competitive drive. but please don't make judgemental personal comments or criticisms. i enjoy constructive criticism and invite differing opinions, but really, this is my space. if you insulted me in my home i'd ask you to leave - why would it be any different here?

anonymous

"don't do it!!!" anonymous says, o-so-emphatically. who are you, anonymous? and why do you get to give advice without sharing who you are? why would i trust you if you even give that much? come on now, step up!

i was speaking with monte last nite - well speaking via msn, where i am always much braver - and we talked a bit about the 'thing' (for lack of a better word) that lives between us. he's trying to give it a go with his girlfriend and i really respect that- he's not been so good with the faithfulness in the past, so i think it's awesome to see him happy with someone and trying to make it 'work'. i did ask for a moment of selfishness, which he granted. i told him that someday i'd like the opportunity to explore what there is between us - to give it the attention that it deserves, cause we are really good friends, and have an amazing time together, and lots in common and are completely attracted to each other. he replied that he's thought of this before, and having me say it gives him more to think about. this is fun, of course, but a little scary, too. the elder n gives me butterflies, and i'm totally drawn to him. i have a major crush on mr. married, but that's a crush and if i was distracted it would go away in about a nanosecond. monte... he's different. and bad for me. and so very far away. why am i thinking about this? hmm probably cause i worked way to much today, and i'm starting to wonder what the heck is going on with my life, as i do every month or so.

shit. i'm over thirty. you'd think that i'd have this figured out by now.

gak!

i followed a link from another blog to a 'daily leo' horoscope. this is what it said:

That coworker -- who just might be a supervisor -- isn't thinking about the position they'll be putting the two of you into if you become involved. They're only thinking about how nice it would be to enjoy your company.

oh-oh--ohlund

ok, so i'm doing a little 'psych me up' game prep at canucks.com and what do i find? this GREAT article about mattias ohlund. i'm going to paraphrase for you:

"He looks lighter than the 220 pounds of muscle he carries.... A silky smooth defender... "I'm at my best when I play physical ... hard ... focused," Ohlund said quietly...." and is then described by fellow canuck trevor linden: ""He's just a horse back there,"

so what we have is a muscular 220lb man who is best at playing physical and hard, who's a horse. oh my god i may never be the same.

fun things

today's thrift shop / jumble sale finds:

• 4 trashy mystery novels (they're like crack, but more addictive) - $5
  
• hardcover 'old' books (ulysses, crime and punisment, les mains sales (de sartre en francais), come live with me and be my love (a treasury of renaissance painting and poetry, and a superlative copy of milton's paradise lost that calvin confiscated before i even made it in the door. - $5
  
• a sheer short sleeved little black blouse to be worn with jeans - $1
  
• a very fun sixties mod style scarf in pale pinks and blues (almost pucci, but pucci done by the easter bunny) - 25 cents
  
• lemon chamomile and vietnamese coriander plants for my herb garden - $2.50 each.
  

not bad, huh?

alert!

at the tsswassen (how in god's name do you spell the ferry place) hospice thrift shop, there are a pair of vintage ladies slingbacks TO DIE FOR. size 5 1/2 or six; $4. go get them.

saturday morning

today: You're craving intensity, and you'll stop at nothing to get it. Before you dash off to try skydiving, consider this: Isn't there someone you've been thinking of inviting over? Sounds equally exciting -- and a whole lot safer.

what am i going to do today? my usual brunch partner is off doing culturally expansive things (i hate it when people get all self improving on me); my car has a flat that needs repair so that i'm not trapped here at home all weekend; i met no distractions last night, and it's not really very nice out. wah wah wah cry me a river ms raspberry..

why the pity party, she asks herself? not sure - may have something to do with the +40 hour work week, and the bottle of champagne i consumed last nite. i'm not hungover, but am definately feeling sluggish at best. i think i should put some cucumber slices on my eyes and kick my day in the ass....

how fun is this?

ok so i'm a little celebrity vain. but i had to check to see what celebrity i most resembled. apparently the answer is alyssa milano, jamie lee curtis, and / or debra messing. those of you who actually know what i look like can judge for yourselves.

hmm not sure this is good advice

todae's horoscope:

It's all about your instincts. Trust your gut to lead you in an exciting new direction. You may be disappointing someone who cares about you, but don't let their emotions suck you in.

shaking my head

ok so this crush on the coworker (the same coworker of the aforementioned dirty dreams and, by the way, WIFE) may be getting a little out of hand. it's bad enough that i have it, but now i know that it's reciprocated. in a big way. how do i know this, you may ask? well, cause we came very close to playing a little game of "i'll show you mine if you show me yours" in the stairwell. i don't know his situation - i don't know what kind of understanding he has with his family or anything. and, quite frankly, i'm sort of afraid to ask. regardless, it's bad karma all around, if there is anything less than an 'open' sort of arrangement. and, since the topic has never been mentioned, i don't imagine his wife considers it such.

i tried to get the younger n to come out with me tomorrow nite and sample some of the party favours so generously bestowed upon me by mr. monte last weekend. i thought that would be a highly effective way of distracting me. unfortunately, he's going off to the island again this weekend... so i shall have to find alternative methods of self-distraction. mike b. did mention a house party that may be worth checking out... hopefully there will be cute boys (other than mike b, who is cute as a button).

oh, by the way: for your viewing enjoyment here is a link to a crazy lady. her son is 8. that's EIGHT years old. she's still breastfeeding. check out the photos. read the caption of the one of her and her son kissing. blech.

todae's horoscope:

Desire shapes you. Impulse drives you. You're an acquired taste, but you knew that.

which britney spears song are you?

I'm A Slave 4 U - Sexy, horny, kinky - you're a
wild cat in bed. Just remember, no glove, no
love.


Which Britney Spears single are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

d'oh

ok... so i should have elaborated more, but i was tired and road-stoned..

why am i not dating monte? well, first off cause we live a long way apart. despite my fairly frequent grumblings, i probably am not moving back there anytime soon. and, despite his fairly frequent grumblings, he's probably staying there for a while. secondly, he's a bit of a dog. i don't think i'm strong enough to date someone who i *know* is sleeping with a lot of people who are generally a *lot* younger than i am.

that said, i'd probably do it if we did live closer together. we always have a tonne of fun.

i got to work this am to discover 98 new emails in my inbox. that's NINETY EIGHT. 9-8.

back in van

things i realized this weekend:

1) pg is still a pretty ugly place this time of year
2) vancouver may be the only place in the province where it is not only acceptable but expected that you drive 90kph on major city streets
3) people in pg stare. a lot.
4) my favourite italian deli is *still* my favourite italian deli
5) my grandma is one peppy lady for someone who is 84 and has been quite ill in the last few months
6) i still love mr and mrs palmer and they are still my absolute role model for marriage
7) the reason i have had so much trouble finding a man i 'click' with here in vancouver is cause i know monte.

i think this last point needs some elaboration. remember way back when (phew must be at least a week now) when i was pondering the fact that i may be looking for something in a man that doesn't exist, and that i may just have to give in to that fact? you know, it's not true. i'm looking for some pretty basic things - mostly, what i want is to get butterflies in my belly when i see the person, and know that they get them when they see me. when monte opened his door the other nite, i didn't get butterflies in my belly, i got them all the way to the tips of my fingers. and the crazy thing is that i *know* he gets them too. there's tangible electricity between us; we are in physical contact the whole time we are in each other's presence; we have great conversations and tonnes of fun together.... so really, if i can find that in someone who i've known for 5 years (they've been there since i first laid eyes on him, and sex didn't make them go away the way it usually does) theoretically i should be able to find them in someone else, right? right.

sundae's friday horoscope

how good is this one?

"You have so much to give. You can take a lot, too. This has to do with tolerance as well as good-natured larceny. You're just a ball of mischievous energy. Your plans are as big as your appetite. They're also subject to change at a moment's whim. If you're trying to make someone love you or be your friend, don't worry. You're irresistible right now. All of your victims are willing. All the same, try not to take too much advantage of them. For aesthetic reasons, the contest has to at least look like a fair game."

home again, home again, jiggity jog

it must be a sign - i stepped out to get timmys this morning (my brother is not a coffee drinker) and came away with a "free donut" roll-up-the-rim. what does this mean? is pg inherently better luck for me than lotusland? should i be looking for permanent employment and decent housing?

i always have such mixed feelings about this place. when i'm in van and am feeling particularly disconnected, i think back on pg and remember the bits and pieces of good things in my life when i lived here and really miss it. then i come back and look around and remember the things that frustrated me beyond belief and am glad to no longer be here.

i think that this spring will bring good changes in my life, though. moving closer to the city (hopefully within a short distance of a good italian deli and a used book store); making my home my own not just a place where i store my stuff; bringing friends into my home again - these things will all go a long way towards making me feel more at "home" in vancouver.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
on a completely different note, i have a bit of a personal dilemma. i have developed a crush on someone who is seriously married. now, karmically speaking, this is something that i sort of promised myself would never happen again. but, crushes are crushes and sometimes you can't do much about them, right? i really need to start getting out more - going to places where decent single straight men congregate. i wonder where that would be? maktaaq- perhaps you and moxee and i should go prowling? there is a serious girls nite out planned for the near future. i think that would be a fine opportunity for such conquests.

sleeping in

ok, so as testimony to exactly how tired i was this week: i fell asleep watching tv *before* ten o'clock last nite, and slept for almost 11 hours. straight through. it was one of those sleeps where you know you were solid 'cause you are in pretty much the same position you went to bed in, and your hair hasn't moved much...

the clouds are moving in from the victoria region. see, i blame victoria cause my brother went to uni there, and it was a constant 'thing' with him to brag about how beautiful the weather in that city was. i could be watching a live broadcast of torrential rain and wind or freak hailstorms in our fair capital city, and he'd be swearing up and down that it was sunny and 22degrees. so now, whenever the weather turns bad, i say that it's blowing in from victoria.

moxee played the alphabet game on her blog today, and i'm going to copy her - just for fun. i think everybody should do it at least once. the 'before the slash' words are things i really like; the 'after the slash' words are things i dislike.

A - avocados, applesauce, adventures / ambulances, angry people
B - black, buttery toast, boots, bagels, boys, buttons, bubble baths / babies, bandaids, bingo
C - Calvin, cheese, cats, chocolate, coffee, candy, cake, cooking, Canucks, cinnamon / cooked carrots, cavities, cranberry juice
D - dates, dancing, dares, dave grohl / dull
E - elbows, ears, eyes / eggs, enemies
F - friends, fights (the good ones), fellatio, fun, fiddleheads, fairy tails / fights (the bad ones), frustration, freaking out
G - ghost stories, gum, giggling, gingerale, gingersnaps, ginger in general, giddiness, guys in glasses / games, grime, garishness
H - hockey, happiness, hugs / hairy legs (on me), humility, hissy fits, haughty
I - indecency, innocence, indigo ink, imbibing, intellligence, ikea / industry, insecurity, indifference
J - junk food, juice, jingles, jammies, James Joyce / jumping to conclusions
K - kissing / kindergarten
L - lovers, limes, lemons, lingering, liberty / losing, lying, laundry
M - making out, moms, memories, mike b, moxee, mutt, maktaaq / missing someone, missing my marbles
N - N², nudity, naughtiness / nakedness, normality, near-misses
O - orgasms, oranges, ornateness, ohlund / opulence, oratories, obviousness
P - pink, peanuts, pastries, 'the palmers' / pain, peeing all the time, patience
Q - quiet moments / quitting
R - running, racing, raspberries, rhymes, rambling / running away, racism
S - sex, smiles, summer sundays, sundaes, sunny days / stuck in traffic
T - tanginess, tarts / temper tantrums
U - underwear, umbrellas / unhappiness
V - vodka! / vindictiveness
W - water, wanderlust, wine / whining, wasps
X - x-rated / the lack of x words
y - yams, yoga / yelling
z - zig zagging through life / zits

now you try!

mobility

did i mention that i have a new *pink* mobile phone? how cool is that? there are rumours afoot at work about favouritism, but i see no correlation....

i have worked 57 hours this week. i'm so tired it actually is requiring a great deal of effort to type. so forgive me for my sporadic posting of the past few days..

calvin and mike b. and i went to brunch at provence today... man what a gorgeous place for a sunny saturday breakfast. we sat on the patio overlooking the water, watched the world go by, drank coffee and ate pastries. it's days like today that remind you of all that is right with the world.

wow, what an uninspired post. the really scary thing is how long it actually took me to write it...

seriously funny

the exorcist in thirty seconds and reinacted by bunnies. what more can you ask for?