Day Three Hundred and Sixty-Six - A Day In The Life

Oooops. I really thought that I had posted this. And yet...I haven't. And by this point I'm sure that everyone has lost interest...like three months ago. Here we go anyway...

Since this post is going to be really picture heavy I'm going to try to limit the text. I actually started this ET one day in the summer...a day that ended up being one of the crappiest of the year, if not one of the worst days in recent history generally [some day - when this event becomes funny - I just might share it]. Needless to say, it had to be abandoned. So today - for my last thing ever and therefore the end of my life as extraordinary I took one photograph for each hour that I was awake. I thought this would be a good way to document me actually turning 30. Hopefully there is no huge visual disturbance.

8:30am

I woke up a bit late today because Joseph was out late last night working and he goes into work later the days after. As you can see the very first thing I do each and every morning is make coffee.

9:30am

It's computer time. Computer time happens a lot in these parts. Updating le blog and checking hot celeb gossip - I'm one busy gal.

10:30am

It was time to get packing for Montreal. I like to lay everything out for each day. Like, each complete outfit in its own pile. Then I pack in reverse order so that I can wear things in precise order. I'm a nutjob.

11:30am

Time to shower. Packing really works up a sweat.

12:30pm

Okay. At this time I was seriously freaking out thinking that I had lost the prescription meds that I had just got the other day. I couldn't find them anywhere. Much of the search was concentrated on this bookcase because that's where I generally keep meds and vitamins on the bookcase. Ultimately I found them already packed in my purse - I suppose I was uncharacteristically planning ahead. I'm an idiot.

Okay - please see continuing posts below for the rest of the day. There is a strict limit on how many photos you can post. Boo-urns.

Day Three Hundred and Sixty-Six - A Day In The Life [Part II]

1:30pm

It's time to have some classy pizza pockets. To keep things extra classy I call them pizza pochettes. I eat them while watching DOOL.

2:30pm

Joseph called from work to ask me about something. I can't remember what. It's pretty darn unusual - he never calls in the middle of the day.

3:30pm

I was trying to relax before rushing out the door by playing some good old fashioned Hearts. I win 28% of the time. Apparently I like those odds.

4:30pm

I arrived @ Joseph's workplace and his office is on the second floor. So I left my luggage downstairs. I felt this was somewhat of an artistic shot. I had to travel out to Joseph's office because I suddenly realized that we had to be @ the train station earlier than we thought.

5:30pm

The train station! I remember being very impressed with this place when I was a little kid. This isn't the greatest shot, but it's still this lovely huge building. As all train stations are. If anyone can tell me why that is I will be forever in your debt.

6:30pm

The first of many hours actually spent on the train. It was pitch dark by the time we left so there wasn't a lot to document.

Keep going...there's a few more below...

Day Three Hundred and Sixty-Six - A Day In The Life [Part III]

7:30pm

Yup. Riding the rails.

8:30pm

More train. I do enjoy the train and really it doesn't take longer than the plane if one factors in all of the airport waiting around business.

11:30pm

Yes, I fell asleep for a couple of hours. I woke up kinda cold and in need of tea.

12:30am

Finally @ the hotel. It was remarkably close to the train station [didn't have to go outside even]. I was able to get into my pajamas and cozy up on one of our big hotel beds to watch the CTV repeat of The Colbert Report. Shortly following I went to sleep so as to look extra rested and awesome for my birthday tomorrow.

Day Three Hundred and Sixty-Five - If You Don't Eat Your Meat, You Can't Have Any...

When the original new-thing-a-dayer, Jen, was wrapping up her year-long blog-riffic adventure she did some really impressive/intimidating/wonderful things. She's very clearly a gal with a plan and the means and motivation to make things happen. I admire that. She took a boxing class, she did stand-up comedy, she did ballet with a proper tutu, she rode around in a limo eating candy, she organized her own musical! Well, with me - you really get none of those things. Sorry about that. What you *do* get is this - tonight I attempted to eat an entire box of Jello Instant Pudding. I failed. I ate about 85% of it - right out of the bowl I prepared it in and using a large wooden spoon. I love Jello Instant Pudding and yes, I'm fully aware that it's not vegetarian, so please don't tell me that in an attempt to harsh my buzz. I have never "allowed" myself to consume the entire bowl and I was shocked a little [okay, a lot] dismayed that I couldn't manage to achieve this very key milestone.

It was quite simply - an ideal day to both make and eat large quantities of pudding. A perfect storm if you will. Today was my last day @ work before holiday. Joseph is out looking @ rubbish [not just a fun hobby, he gets paid to do this] so I felt okay in pigging it up [also, not that I would - but no pressure to share - as an only child I am very bad @ sharing - blame my parents please]. And TV...oh - the majesty of a perfect evening of television. It is so rare, so wonderful. Tonight's offerings included a World Series baseball game [damn you National League!], the Barack Obama informercial and some ass-kicking lineups on many of my favourite late night chat shows. So there I was - pantsless [don't you hate pants?] and happy as a clam eating my gigantic bowl of pudding. No photos for rather obvious and embarassing reasons.

Day Three Hundred and Sixty-Four - The Hangar

One of my previous ETs was watching a hockey game. In the comfort of my own home, with my remote control in hand in case things got too deadly boring. I ended up watching well over one period of "the hockey" and, although I found it quite confusing and dull - I was proud of myself for giving it a chance. Well, through the magic of my workplace, yesterday I was given some tickets to a Toronto Maple Leaf game and tonight I went to see a professional hockey game. I guess this is somewhat of a "big deal" as tickets are very hard to get and people in this city are hockey crazy, even though the Leafs do suck. A lot. This was also my first trip to the Air Canada Centre, the new-ish sports and entertainment complex where they play hockey, basketball and have concerts [I'm also not a fan of basketball or live music]. It was...not at all what I expected. But first - here's some photos of the hockey, the arena and, my favourite - the dueling zamboni [what is the plural of zamboni? zambonis? zambonii?]!




So, yeah. I'm from a hockey town in rural Ontario [seriously - they won this contest where they were declared THE Hockeyville in the whole of the country]. I've been to my share of Junior C hockey games and while I never really watched the game [why watch when you could instead ogle public school boys and be awesomely jealous of all the hip, fashionable public school girls]...the environment was so different. The main thing was everyone was *so* quiet. I felt like I had to whisper to Joseph [which, given my extremely limited hockey knowledge - was probably a good idea so as not to embarrass myself]. There were small bursts of excitement, but Blue Jays games are much more rowdy. The food selection was admirable - with lots of vegetarian choices - colour me shocked. There was some random lights that would flash a few times each minute, rendering us both temporarily blind for a few seconds each time. The best part were the long intermissions when they did goofy, non-hockey stuff on the ice [like racing RC cars - I swear people were more audibly into that than the hockey] and turned down the lights. As to the hockey? Yes, it was still largely incomprehensible and difficult to follow [lots of starting and stopping] and still - quite dull. We arrived a bit late and left early, which I'm pretty sure is absolute sacrilege in this city/country.

Day Three Hundred and Sixty-Three - Roasting The Unborn

Okay, so everyone saw the Barack O'Lantern [okay and the Bat O'Lantern] from the weekend...why stop now with the continuing pumpkin theme of my blog? I really regret not using the tag/label option...because I could easily prove my theory that pumpkins crop up in more ETs than anything else. They are so darn cute though...even their insides! I had a great time using the tools that god gave me [my hands - Joseph used a spoon] to scoop out the gooey insides of the pumpkins. The texture is quite something. And today I decided to do something with the insides - instead of just adding them to the continuing pile of foodstuffs rotting away in my fridge. I roasted my own pumpkin seeds! Instantly addictive. Even though they are a touch too salty [I have recently given up salt and I am a salt addict, so this is saying a lot]. And past experience tells me that if I continue to eat them @ this rate I will become incredibly sick.

The process to roast your own seeds is quite simple, although not as simple as one might think. Like, you can just rinse off the goo [though apparently some people keep it on], salt 'em and shove them into an oven. This will work, but apparently the method I used is better. After giving the seeds a good rinsing to make sure I removed all the goo I placed them in a huge pot of boiling, heavily salted water [there are a number of ratios out there for water/salt based upon how many cups of seeds you have]. While it was a huge pot of water, I used six tablespoons of salt. So yeah, boil them up and then thoroughly drain and rinse. Then coat the seeds in some extra virgin olive oil and put them in the oven for about 20 minutes, giving them a good shake every now and then. And then - chow down! I'm finding it rather impossible to stop, although I think the seeds will travel nicely to Montreal to serve as healthy, nibbly snacks. Oh - but I think this more intensive method works better because it infuses the salt without leaving actual salt on the seeds. I think you could substitute other seasonings if desired. Also, the double cooking method leaves the seeds incredibly crunchy, but also properly cooked in the middle, making things a bit easier on one's digestive tract. It's worth the extra effort!

Day Three Hundred and Sixty-Two - Scent Of A Migraine

On a recent discouraging visit to a new doctor [my real doctor just keeps having babies - she can't stop, apparently - I think it's because there are always dozens of pregnant women/little babies in their office - it might be contagious, I'm not sure] I got my migraine medication switched. My regular medication tends to make me into some sort of crazy person who exists in some very surreal world where I feel I am transformed into a snake. So yeah...there's that [what can I say? we are down to the final days here of le blog - all the secrets are coming out]. So today I went to the pharmacy to get my meds and they told me they had to be a special order. I was okay with this as I wasn't having a migraine episode and didn't think I would be that day as they tend to be with me when I wake up in the morning. But then my body decided - ah ah ah...not so fast...and bam - migraine episode. And nothing I could chemically do about it. So I turned my back on western medicine and I took an aromatherapy bath. [no picture. we're not quite on that level of disclosure.]

Though, in the interest of full disclosure - I have used aromatherapy as an ET on a previous day [I think last november or maybe december - it was when I was still working by whole foods], but a bath was not part of that day. And sometimes I do burn pure peppermint oil when I am experiencing any sort of head pain or stomach upset. So yes, I ran a typical bath with lavender epsom salt type stuff [though not pure lavender so not really aromatherapy] and also gardenia-scented bubbles [because i refuse to bathe without bubbles] and then I added a couple of drops of pure essential peppermint oil [peppermint and basil are supposed to be best for head pain]. These oils might seem really expensive but you really only use a couple tiny drops each time so they aren't pricey at all. The smell is incredible - I think made more intense by the hotness of the bath [I like to steam myself into a red lobster state]. Also, the effect of peppermint makes you tingly in a very attention-grabbing kinda way. It kinda energizes, stimulates and relaxes each muscle/area it touches.

While it didn't completely get rid of my migraine episode - it made things much more bearable. I mean - it's a nice, hot bath that smells fantastic and turns all your switches back on - that's not going to be a bad experience. But I know I will feel better once I have my meds in hand.

Day Three Hundred and Sixty-One - Yes We Carve

Okay, I can't vote in the upcoming US election [I've come to terms with this and accepted my consolation prize of voting in the lame-o Canadian federal election, which kinda soured me entirely on voting - but I digress]...but a website that I saw the other day on CNN showed me how Yes I Can have my voice heard...through the highly official medium of pumpkin carving. The website is www.yeswecarve.com - for those interested [in the interest of equal time CNN did show McCain pumpkins too - but of course the Obama supporters always have the catchiest rhetoric and ideas]. Anyway, earlier today we went out to locate some small-to-medium sized pumpkins for carving as I wanted to do multiple little ones as opposed to one big one. Also, we won't be here for Halloween so these are just pumpkins for the sake of pumpkins - not entirely seasonal. Then tonight I carved a Barack O'Lantern! Here it is! I haven't submitted this photo to the website yet, although I still might [though honestly it's nothing terribly original or even very good].


This was my first time ever carving a pumpkin. When I was younger I was more in charge of concept and design in terms of our pumpkins - but my dad always did the carving. I think my parents, not unlike Joseph, didn't really trust me with a big knife [for my safety and the safety of others - this is wise]. What I soon discovered is that all of our knives suck. A lot. Carving was basically impossible so I essentially had to keep sticking the knife in and out, but not cut across [it was like I was making it perforated and then eventually I could wiggle the piece out]. More fun was the amazing grossness of sticking my hand inside the pumpkins and pulling out their guts. Joseph is more fussy and used a utensil for this, but I'm impatient. Also, in the interest of full disclosure - Joseph did draw the design for this [and he did the bat-o'lantern also pictured, although I came up with the highly original concept - it's pretty cool...but still - Batman ain't the next President - so there!] and I feel I didn't carve nearly neatly enough.

[okay - election over - obama won - so completely psyched about that! on the morning of the election the barack o'lantern got toppled to the ground outside, even though we left the pumpkin on our indoor steps - someone moved it. in addition to being a bit smooshed, it was also partially eaten - possibly raccoons. i thought this was a dreadfully bad omen. apparently not.]

Day Three Hundred and Sixty - Chuckwagon

For the past three days I've pretty much been living @ the Metro Toronto Convention Centre due to the Symposium. It has got my body all screwed up in terms of sleep, physical exertion and eating [it doesn't take much]. And while I have been tempted by the heavenly scents of the food truck delights outside - I have [mostly] behaved myself foodwise. I don't really have time to exercise this week and if I start to binge out on junk then I will evolve into Captain Migraine and that's so the last thing I need. Today being the last day - I decided it was time to get my proper comfort food on and I ate food from a food truck. Unfortunately [and I mean this] no photo [the truck was quite something with all its pictures and slogans - it was called "Don Juan - lover...of good food!"] as I couldn't risk losing my camera in the confusion of my days @ the conference. Also, the food itself would have made a lovely photo - so hot and plentiful [and cheap].

For a price of $2.50 I got the most gigantic container of French fries [although there was a surprising amount of other vegetarian options - I love chips!]. I think if I worked around MTCC I would have food truck food...entirely too much. The container seemed small-ish when empty, but then the food truck guy just loaded and overloaded the chips - resplendent in their greasy, crispy, steaming goodness! Also available - mayonnaise [and a lack of judgement re: my using mayo on my fries]. I was so eager to eat them that I did burn the roof of my mouth [which due to my pizza love is almost always burned anyway], but it was well worth it. I can't believe that I went to university for four years [three of them living on campus] - surrounded by food trucks - and I never once gave in. Also, I was beyond starving *all* the time. I really should have gotten over my food truck prejudices earlier in life. And let that be a lesson to you.

[as we are well into October, my dream of getting ice cream from an ice cream truck is kinda dead in the water. this is my subsitute. i did continually run for the ice cream truck while shouting "ice cream man! ice cream man! ding ding ding ding!" and tripping out of my shoes...but i never caught the truck.]

Day Three Hundred and Fifty-Nine - She Works Hard For The Money

I was worried that I wouldn't have a lot to say and that finding ETs while I was working @ the Symposium would be a significant struggle [I don't like to overplan when I'm already overstressed]. Today I kinda doubled my efforts, although both of them happened somewhat by accident. The overriding thing for the day was that I worked a 15-hour day. Even at my old place of employment where we worked some cra-zay hours - I'm sure I never went 15 hours. I arrived @ the conference centre @ 6:30am and I left @ 9:30pm. I worked basically the entire time - stopping briefly to drink a tea and eat a gigantor cheese danish. I was so out of it by the time I returned home I could barely stand up in the shower and didn't really have the energy to eat roasted red pepper and tomato soup that was entirely drinkable [I can be confused by cutlery when exhausted - I guess that's Joseph's line of thinking]. And hooray - I will be back @ the convention centre @ 7:30am tomorrow [it's my sleep in day!]!

This evening there was a fundraiser event for our capital campaign as well as a donor recognition reception organized by yours truly. As I was cleaning up from the cocktail reception I was very late in heading in to the theatre for the event. In fact, I was just going to not go in until one of the convention centre staff told me that I could go up to the balcony [which had been locked]. So I sat alone in a balcony. I was so paranoid that everyone sitting below could see me and would be looking and wondering why I was the only psycho [or person of any kind] up in the balcony [my boss later told me that they couldn't see into the balcony at all]. Also, it was very cold up there being the lonely only body [and wearing a mini-dress too, I guess].

Day Three Hundred and Fifty-Eight - Talking To Americans

Apparently many people find many Canadians to be quite funny. And it's true - in the pantheon of mainstream comedians - a lot of them are Canadian - per capita it would seem that we are a much funnier lot than our neighbours to the south. I don't find many of them to be all that funny [Jim Carrey, Mike Myers, etc.], but generally speaking what's left up here is even worse. One of them, Rick Mercer, is kinda like the Canadian Jon Stewart...only, yeah...not so much. He had a show or a few specials called Talking to Americans, which was a bit like the Jay-Walking segments on Leno wherein he would approach Americans [in the USA] and ask them questions about Canada and other things and try to embarass them. While I don't have too much experience in watching this, it was spectacularly unfunny.

My ET today is also spectacularly unfunny, although not unlike that concept. Today I talked politics with an American. I'm reasonably sure this is the first time this has happened [in a face-to-face kinda way]. This came about as a result of our Symposium, which is an international conference on autism that is put on by the place where I work. Anyway, this guy stopped by our table and seemed a little sheepish about being an American, although his southern accent was a bit of a giveaway. He soon was voluntarily talking politics and his fellow Americans and his background. And while obviously we shy away from talking politics while @ work, he was so insistent @ sharing his beliefs that I was able to just smile and nod and not give too much away [though obviously I was dying to]. While I have obviously been actively following this election, it was a really different experience to be speaking with a regular American guy - as opposed to the normal conversations I have shouting @ the talking heads on CNN...

[also he challenged my stereotype of the "typical" white, middle-aged southern guy - so shame on me...]

Day Three Hundred and Fifty-Seven - Explicit Content

Please be warned. There are some hardcore swears ahead. Of the variety that are four letters and starting with F. You've been warned. Please don't take offense.

Okay, so a couple of things. I've mentioned Amy Sedaris' brilliant home entertaining/hospitality book, I Like You a few times before. It's brilliant! Go buy it! Well, she is a crafty sort and does all sorts of laidback crafts that are good for lazy and cheap/poor folk such as myself. One of my favourites [that doesn't involve googly eyes, although it easily could] is the Fuck It Bucket. I've been planning on making one for a long time, but I was waiting for the right moment. The right moment is defined as that magical time when Halloween candy is on sale and I'm under considerable stress. I'm happy to report that the day has arrived - I will be considerably stressed over the next three days wherein I will be working approximately 45 hours with early mornings and late nights and Zellers has a big pre-Halloween candy sale. This afternoon I made a Fuck It Bucket.


As you can see from the photo, a Fuck It Bucket is quite easy to construct, but allow me to guide you through the complicated stages. Step One: Obtain a bucket - you can write Fuck It on it, but since my bucket is black and I couldn't find any fancy metallic pens I have put a sign by it. Step Two: Obtain candy - I am using Hershey candy bars, Cadbury candy bars, little caramels and those powdery Rocket candies as well as I found some mini-bags of Halloween popcorn that pops up bright orange. Step Three: When life gets tough, say "fuck it" and eat some candy. This is the best possible advice I could give, so it's great that someone was able to sum it all up so succinctly for me. Words to live by kids!

Day Three Hundred and Fifty-Six - Suck It Ringo!

So, a few days ago Ringo Starr, my former favourite Beatle [okay, I'm not a huge Beatles fan] made the announcement that he would no longer be responding in any fashion to fan mail and that furthermore, everyone should stop sending it to him. And he said it in this truly dick-ish manner. I mean - I get it - you're a Beatle [but you *are* Ringo - I mean, for what that's worth you should be happy to have so many adoring fans] so you probably get a lot of fan mail and you have for decades and you're sick of dealing with it. So pay someone to deal with it for you. Certainly you still expect people to buy your music...so yeah - you've got to give a little. Or, yknow - not. You're rich and famous and your fans will love and defend you anyways - that's one of those things you get along with the money and fame. So good for you. But whatever happened to the Ringo from that infamous Simpsons episode?

Anyway, it got me thinking about the celebrities that I have such affection for - the ones who never seem to let me down. Well, I narrowed it down to just three and I wrote fan mail. I didn't ask for anything - like an autograph or whatever - that just doesn't do it for me. I just thought I would let these people know that they have played a role in my life and how much I appreciate that they do the things that they do. And kids - this is so hard to do. Without sounding like some weirdo stalker. Or a dorky little kid. I advise you to give it a shot and I think you will see why you don't write fan mail.

The three I chose will come as no surprise to anyone who reads my blog with regularity: Amy Sedaris, Bill Kurtis and David Letterman. I told Amy the story of how I took a huge stack of her entertaining books from the humour section of a large bookstore and moved it over to the cooking section [she was very insistent that it was not a humour book - that it was a real guide for home entertaining - I can attest that it is both] and about how much I enjoy her appearances on Letterman. I told Mr. Kurtis [he's too much of a cool old guy for me to call by his first name] how I have been watching him since I was a little one and how he inspired me to always dig deeper and to study journalism and that we share the whole turnaround on the whole capital punishment thing. And Dave - well, he's my TV dad so I told him that [in a highly senstive/non-creepy way], relating how I grew up watching him with my dad, eventually realizing that the three of us had the same zany sense of humour and also how I admired him for being such a grouchy bastard who never fails to give people the gears.

Seriously. This was difficult. Try it.

Day Three Hundred and Fifty-Five - Hippie

I'm not a huge fan of making from scatch things that can be easily obtained from a store or restaurant. Provided that the price is reasonable [my time is money too] and the taste is...tasty! Of course. And since the current granola bars that I've been eating since Junior Kindergarten have served me well I have never felt the need to look elsewhere for them. However, the cost would be much less if I made my own and perhaps there is some sort of hidden deliciousness so this afternoon I made my own granola bars. As you can see by the photo...things didn't exactly go as planned. That is - if my plan was to make the granola bars and have them actually cut and then placed into some sort of wrap and then taken with us on our daily travels...that plan will not come to fruition.


You see - the form that you currently see the granola "bars" in - that is the form they will remain. They have been quite resistant to bar form. So...hmmmm - while I'm not entirely sure what to do with them...my main thought is that I will use utensils to crumble it up and then mix it with yogurt. In fact, I quite often enjoy granola in this format. So, while I would say that these "granola bars" are easy enough to make...since I didn't actually succeed in making them - I don't really want to recommend this recipe to anyone. However, I will say that the oats and honey being roasted up in the oven - that was a sensational smell [and highly recommended].

Day Three Hundred and Fifty-Four - Tea For Two

It was just over a year ago that I decided to do this project, having been inspired by Jen [the originator], my own depression/mental issues and possibly a mid-life crisis. I sent around an original list of things that I wanted to do to some of my co-workers and friends to seek their input. Well...I never did get too much input. All of the things I have done over the past year have been either my own idea, the ideas of fellow thing-a-dayers and sometimes Joseph has a good one. Further - I don't think many of my real-life friends read the blog. However, friends/co-workers Kathryn and Sue gave me a gift certificate to the Royal York to use for a session of afternoon tea. Predictably I have sat on it for nearly a year. Today it had to happen - I had afternoon tea @ a posh hotel. Oh yes, and I have pictures [much to Joseph's delight]!


The above is the sweet things they bring over with the savoury little sandwiches. Although they appear tempting and delicious [and they are] - I couldn't manage to eat all of my share [again, to Joseph's delight]. The best thing was the just barely visible cupcake on the second level - it was kinda stuffed with a blueberry coulis and had the best icing ever [and was highly girlie] and was topped with a generous serving of shaved white chocolate. The swans [at the top] looked very impressive, but I didn't really like the taste...also eating them made me feel a bit sad as I care too much for inanimate objects. The scones were amazing and warm and served with really good butter and preserves.


The sandwiches! I was excited about this, even though two of them were not vegetarian. While the crab was very good, I don't like eating it [but I did...because I'm a flaming hypocrite]. The two vegetarian sandwiches were actually the best as they both featured a good quality blue cheese. One was egg and Roquefort and the other was a traditional cucumber sandwich with a blue cream cheese. I didn't know such a thing even existed, but I'm happy I do now.

Oh! And the tea! That part was really good too. All of the teas were loose teas with a fancy set-up used to drain them which was attached to your tea cup. Joseph got an amazingly dull Earl Grey, which our waitress said was a very masculine selection. I chose an ultimate girlie selection of Kyoto Cherry Rose. It was pink. And tasted like...Hello Kitty? Very tasty. So - cheers to Kathryn and Sue for their contribution to the cause! And a great belated happy birthday gift!

Interrupting Regularly Scheduled Programming

Hi, it's really me...as opposed to two weeks ago me which is what you have been getting in my sporadic and nutty updates over the past month. What can I say? Things broke down - but I ended up spending more time actually *doing* these ETs and obviously less time writing about them in a timely fashion. Also, last week I worked 45 hours over only three days so I've been sick-ish, exhausted and generally not a great person to be around.

However - I'm happy to say that this is my official last day of ETs [and also means that tomorrow is my birthday!]! Hooray - I made it! And while I will be doing the rest of my updates, unfortunately they will have to wait. In about 30 minutes I'm going to be off to Montreal for my birthday weekend extravaganza [yes, weekend starts on Thursday and ends with Barack Obama being the President!]. Because, you know what they say - there's no Canada like French Canada - it's the best Canada in the land! And I definitely want some of that action for my milestone birthday. Also, I've been told there will be lemurs. So - chances are updates will start on Tuesday, November 4th while pensively waiting for election results - so please come back, stay tuned...or read really old entries for evidence of how much of a split personality disorder I've developed over the year.

And please American readers - go vote! Of course everyone knows who I would vote for, but sadly I don't have a voice in this one - though you could consider it a birthday gift to me and vote the way I would? Any takers? Well, no matter who you favour - just make sure that you are heard - every vote counts and all that cheesy stuff! I'm sure this will come to an exciting conclusion...

Day Three Hundred and Fifty-Three - All Things Arianna

In truth I suppose that I am a bit of an aging liberal hippie douche. As much as I hate to admit it...though honestly I think it's because I'm not really one for labels. And some of my beliefs and methodologies are not very progressive at all. When it comes to the type of media I choose to pollute myself with I'm not @ all picky. This is mostly due to the fact that I read very quickly and therefore I can afford to waste my time reading a lot of rubbish [also, I don't have a real job - I highly recommend this]. For the most part though, my intake revolves around a steady stream of CBC Radio, CNN and the New York Times with a variety of other things peppered throughout, including all of my favourite talk shows. While I'm quite open minded in terms of what I read/watch I'm a bit ashamed that I don't really read a lot of blogs. Especially the fancy and uber-professional blogs. I'm not sure why other than the fact that bloggers don't even have to attempt to hide their affiliations and motivations. I like a bit of mystery I guess. On my Google taskbar thing [that I love] a story popped up from the Huffington Post and yes, despite my aging liberal hippie douche credentials I've never visited them so tonight I visited the Huffington Post. It was...curious and not @ all what I expected. The fonts are simplistic - the layout all jumbly...I dunno...it's certainly not the hip design that I expect from the elite liberal media.

Oh - the content? Yeah, it was fine I guess. I just feel like I'm not really learning anything, yknow? I mean, I learned that all sorts of hep people that I really dig write columns over @ ye old Huffington Post and there are lots of high-larious videos from The Daily Show and elsewhere...I generally don't find "true" liberals to be funny @ all, so that was a little surprising. But the thing is - I can't help but feel as though the Huffington Post [as well as right-wing blogs and etc.] are just preaching to the choir and therefore I'm not entirely sure of their purpose, other than as a gathering place for people to get together and be all King of the Hill [yup, uh-huh, yep, yo...take a drink]. And I guess people need to do that. Mostly I just do that by myself or while shouting @ various CNN personalities. But yeah, I just might re-fashion myself as a pundit [I find people in my demographic are sorely under-reprensented in today's media - yknow - us white, Canadian, 30-year-old, overeducated, underemployed elitist geeks]...so watch me eat my words once this blog is finished.

Day Three Hundred and Fifty-Two - Thunder Road

So...it had to happen sooner or later. And to be honest, I'm pretty proud that this ET is coming on day 352 and not earlier. That's right - it's all about vanity. Tonight as I was coming home from the museum I was listening to The Boss on my MP3 player and as inspirational and kick ass as I find his music the lyrics "so you're scared and you're thinking that maybe we ain't that young anymore" and then, perhaps more damaging "you ain't a beauty, but hey you're alright" drifted over my ears. And yeah, that combined with spending my time @ the museums surrounded by precious wee younglings who have their spunk and aren't all horrible and jaded...their lives stretched out before them...and yeah, something needed to be done. Something purely superficial. Tonight I used a series of anti-aging products.

I had actually bought the products last year before Xmas. Apparently when I'm buying health and beauty products my brain melts entirely and I buy completely the wrong things, no matter how much I read the packaging. Anyway, I thought it was a neat little set of Burt's Bees stuff - which I adore [in part because they feature bees and I love me some bees] and was going to give to my mum - but then I noticed it was all anti-aging stuff...and felt that my mum would be justifiably upset by the gift[my mum's skin still looks fantastic - she's a Mary Kay chick so it obviously works...I still want to know who is responsible for my terrible skin if not my parents]. Anyway, these treatments were mostly related to the eye area and a bit for the outer mouth/lip area. First there was an all-over face treatment that was all about evening primrose - smelled a bit too flowery for me and made me feel greasy, though I liked the waxiness of it. Then there was a serum with attar of rose for the eyes and mouth area - this was quite liquidy and smelled like an old ladies [note: old ladies - I'm on to you and your anti-aging scam]. Then there was an eye-specific treatment using royal jelly - I liked this very much and seemed to be the most bee-like of all the products.

And yeah, that's it for this subject matter. I promise - no more of this wistful/I wish I was younger bullcrap. I'm lucky to look as young as I do and I do still have much of my life ahead of me [and honestly - 90% of the women I look up to are crazy bitches who likely have super wrinkles - so, whatever].

Day Three Hundred and Fifty-One - Card Sharp

I was Googling index cards earlier today at work [ummm - don't ask - it really was for work] when I came across something called the Hipster PDA. The Hipster PDA is index cards attached by a bulldog clip and accompanied with a Space Pen and used in place of an electronic PDA. It's part of the whole "Getting Things Done" mindset - where you write everything down [like everything in your brain! write it down! right now!] and then you can work more freely. Apparently, this "device" has been around for years. I am not a hipster, so I had no clue. I often find myself adjacent to hipsters, but make no mistake - I'm not one of them. Anyway, on occasion I suppose that maybe hipsters have good ideas...although I think perhaps the Hipster PDA is called so ironically [is it? someone please tell me - I'm old and confused]. I think true hipsters have the newest of Blackberries or whatever is cooler than that - like an iPhone I guess. I felt this was calling my name so tonight I made a Hipster PDA. I think it might be the best device for me - the techophobe that I am.


So, yeah - thar she be. I did a bit of a twist on the traditional Hipster PDA, which is meant to be made with index cards [the Hipster PDA Nano is made with business cards] and used with a Space Pen. I don't have a Space Pen, so as you can see I have partnered my Hipster PDA with my carabiner pen [that also has my name on it] as that can niftily hook on to my mini bulldog clip. Also, obviously I didn't use index cards. In part because I couldn't find any and also because I think colour is more interesting and I enjoy the texture of writing on construction paper [durable, yet pulpy]. And yes, I custom tore all of the construction paper myself. I am looking into getting myself some custom upgrades, but until I have a printer to call my own, that will have to wait. Priority number one is finding a mini year-long calendar to affix to my nifty new gadget.

Day Three Hundred and Fifty - Thankful

A few months ago I compiled a list of 50 things that make me happy. Most of them were food and most of them were silly. In light of the recent holiday tonight I made a list of things I am thankful for. Again, this list is not really that deep for the most part. I was inspired because the other day I had a really bad one...and generally when something bad happens I think - wow, I didn't know things could get worse [obviously, they could be much, much worse - but I'm talking about little things]. It's kinda like...having things stripped away from you - it makes you appreciate all the things that make your life better and, quite simply, liveable. So, yes - here is my list - enjoy...but obviously it's lengthy and verbose so no one is expected or recommended to read it all. And yes, it's more a list of the things that if you took them away from me - things would be worse.

Things I'm Thankful For:

Joseph - for being such a good man and making me feel like there must be something so special about me and alternately making me feel woefully inadequate.

The Tampa Bay Rays - for demonstrating the triumph of exuberance over experience. Suck it Boston!

Laundry @ my door - I'm lazy and lack upper body strength. New machines, too.

A boss that defends me - I've been fortunate that most of my superior officers have been willing to go to bat for me. It's not that I'm perfect, but the alternatives are worse.

Hardwood flooring - carpet really grosses me out, but as renters we don't have a lot of choice. Also, I doubt Wii Fit would work as well on carpet.

Gas cooker - it's fast, even, poisonous, flammable - very exciting.

Migraine medication - my body is getting used to it and it works. No more days of pain.

MP3 player - without it I would simply be uninspired to leave the house in the morning.

Solitude - I like being left alone quite a bit. Most people who know me respect that. They also allow me to chat their faces off when the mood strikes [and it often does].

My cooking skills/love of - I feel bad for people who don't enjoy cooking - what hell their lives must be - food is so essential [and it never ends - you will always have to deal with it].

The frakking Price Chopper - surprised? Well, on Sunday I treated myself to shopping @ the new Sobeys in the Annex. It was hideously expensive. I couldn't bring myself to even buy everything I needed for Thanksgiving. The Price Chopper has 99 problems, but price ain't one.

Al - I like that the took the time to learn my name/story. I admire his work ethic. And he knows lots of stuff, but remains genuinely curious. He is the neighbourhood. Not quite Old Man Friend, but still nice.

Battlestar Galactica - I thought more of these things would be TV related. BSG is everything that TV should be. It makes you think, feel, pay attention...come back soon please.

The US Presidential election - The liveliness of it, really. Maybe just a credit to the normally dubious journalistic standards, but there is a new discussion each day. I can't wait to see how it finishes, but it's already changed the country, no?

The Canadian political scene - Darling, in it's own way. With its fuzzy blue sweaters, French speaking, meaningful [and lengthy] discussion of the arts - it's a bit of a different animal than our friends to the south. Shorter and to the point - I'm just thankful I can have my voice heard.

Amy Sedaris - she's simply a doll. Though I'd love to be her best friend, I'm just thankful for her existence.

David Letterman - one of my many TV dads. I love Conan and Jimmy too [and John and Stephen - see below] - but Dave is the original maverick - a true instigator. Subtly subversive, wonderfully wonky - Dave doesn't mind playing the fool. I hope he continues to give 'em hell for many years.

Daily Show/Colbert Report - If you took away this hour, I would be unspeakably sad. I'm not a fangirl, but both shows are great @ wht they do. I will say it again - The Colbert Report writers are consistently the most clever in the biz. And please, American friends - make their jobs even harder this year [as Jon begged in 2004].

Specialty TV channels - their existence means I rarey have to turn off the TV. So yay for the warm glow of TV! What did people do before syndication?

Holidays - I'm going on one in a little over two weeks. Can't wait. Can't afford it, don't deserve it, don't care. Haters to the left.

Internets - I still marvel over its creation. It's a-mazing. And I'm sure I couldn't live without it.

My bathroom - meaning, I'm glad that I have one to call my own and that I don't have to share it with anyone other than Joseph. I know this might sound really odd - but honestly, I appreciate my little bathroom. I can't imagine sharing it with strangers. This just strikes me as something I should really include in a list like this - lest I tempt fate and have my toilet explode tomorrow morning.

My job - yeah, it sucks to only work three days per week and as a result not really have any money. However, I'm getting by...and two days a week I could hypothetically spend the day in my jammie jams [I don't - but I could]. Also, this job has led me to make more important decisions about my career direction. Scary.

My appearance - I'm not saying this to be vain. However, for most of my life I have been extremely uncomfortable with how I look. Too fat, too skinny, too generally ugly, bummy-looking hair...there's always something. And really - there still is something. However, as I approach the big 3-0 and I get almost daily comments that I look like I'm still a hot young coed/undergrad...that's nice. Even if people are lying, I don't mind. Also, my skin is the best it's ever looked, my body is in okay shape, my hair is long and pretty...this all adds up to me being slightly less self-loathing than normal. It's a good thing.

The aging process - I guess this kinda goes against my vanity in the previous point...but I'm more talking about how you change mentally/intellectually as you age. I adore growing older and wiser. I even don't mind looking back and realizing what an idiot I was not just as a kid or teenager, but what an idiot I ws as a hot young coed undergrad. And beyond [I'm pretty sure I was a huger idiot last week in fact]. I like changing and continually learning and challenging myself. These days I'm working on questioning someone's judgement instead of their motive. It's difficult. As I get older, I'm learning to love planning, organizing, being responsible...it really makes the times when I frak up and throw off all of that maturity so much more delicious.

Day Three Hundred and Forty-Nine - You Can Call Me Al

So it seems that I can get quite a bit of mileage out of pumpkin this year. Last night we had our Thanksgiving dinner, which obviously did not involve turkey [I say obviously because I don't eat it and Joseph doesn't really like it], but did involve special dishes and time spent together [and together with the TV, obviously]. While I was preparing the meal, even though I had already been to two different grocery stores, I still found myself needing to "go to Al" - which is my way of saying that I needed to go to our local shop - the owner being Al. And there he was - he's always there. From 9am to 10pm everyday he's there. Alone. And apparently I'm a totally insensitive clod, but yesterday was the first day that I really noticed this.

So today I guess I decided to make myself feel better about the whole Al situation and I brought a piece of pie to Al. Yeah, I'm not quite sure how to categorize this ET at all - I couldn't really think of a snappy way to say it. It really is the first time that I've brought anything to a convenience store owner. Or really the first time that I've ever brought food to anyone who wasn't a friend, family member or co-worker. So...that's something? Anyway, I didn't stick around to watch him eat it since Joseph informs me it's creepy when I stare @ him while he eats my food creations...but he did seem to really appreciate it. And who wouldn't? Pie is delicious! As previously mentioned!

Day Three Hundred and Forty-Eight - The Great Pumpkin

So I had wanted to eat a pumpkin pie [okay, not the whole pie] for one of my ETs, but I got a little over eager on that front as I enjoyed my first slice of pumpkin pie about two weeks before le blog began. However, this being Thanksgiving weekend and all I sensed an opportunity to engage with pumpkin yet again. Today I baked a pumpkin pie. To be perfectly honest, the smell of it as I was preparing the filling and while it was cooking - that was almost better than the pie itself.

That is not to say that it was undelicious because it was. Delicious. I ate it while watching an informative program on Colossal Squid. I can't think of a more magical Thanksgiving than that. I don't really have anything else to say on this matter [I know - strangely unverbose of me - and yet...I am well over a week behind in posting, so perhaps it's for the best]. I don't have a photo, although the pie was indeed a thing of beauty. It's pumpkin-ness rising high and flecked with spicy spices...I was going to photograph it once we had removed a few of the slices so that one could view the inside...but I waited too long and the last three slices went moldy. A tragedy I know. However, I have all of the ingredients assembled and I think I am going to prepare another pie and possibly some pumpkin tarts in advance of my birthday. Yknow - to make people @ work like me and such.

Day Three Hundred and Forty-Seven - I Don't Know

I'm not sure I've mentioned my love for pho here before - but I do love me some pho. We used to go for it a lot more often when we were in school and/or generally more poverty-stricken. I guess we have kinda failed to notice the current economic crisis because we haven't gone back to a more routine pho consumption. But perhaps we should. So, pho is obviously nothing new - what is new is my developing taste for milkshakes. Joseph really enjoys them and I can see how, in theory, they are a good idea. In practice though, I find them too difficult to enjoy - too sweet, too icy, too thick, too filling - I've got a lot of problems with them obviously. But the pho place offers more than your standard McDo type milkshakes so tonight I drank an avocado milkshake. Yes, this was more like a meal than a drink - and perhaps not the best thing ever to combine with the carb-heavy pho.

No photo [due to me still trying to scrounge up the courage to actually take photos of food in restaurants without feeling like everyone is judging me for being a superdork], but it really looked like the slime they used on You Can't Do That On Television. Only thicker. It was really delicious though - lots of obvious avocado flavour, but also with lots of freshness and sweetness [but not too much of the latter]. Joseph was highly skeptical, but even he had to agree that this was a great drink. The only problem is that I also love the Vietnamese tea and coffee - so this results in a total of four drinks @ our table as well as two giant bowls of pho. That's a lot of liquid.

Day Three Hundred and Forty-Six - Drunk On A Beer

My love of beer is totally the fault of Joseph and my second year of university - therefore my beer tummy is also totally his fault. It's not to say that I was straightedge before my introduction to beer - but for 90% of my drinking I would just stick to spirits [the other 10% is champagne]. My dad was a beer guy [as was everyone really when I was growing up] and I could never get past the smell of beer [or the staleness of the cans/bottles sitting around waiting to be returned once the case was full again]. Even if desperate for a wild night out and beer was the only option - I really had to struggle with it [yknow - instead of just not drinking...not that I'm proud]. However, in second year Joseph arrived and as a group we all started actually going out and pitchers of beer were most plentiful and my bank account was rather...unplentiful. So, I grew accustomed. So much so that yes, I developed my amazing beer tummy and with it quite the taste for beer. And in recent years, beer has been elevated to a higher state in general - something I'm happy about as I don't drink wine. I wonder if beer snobs and beer sommeliers are far off? Anyway, having been thrwarted this morning from doing my original plans for the day [faulty alarm clock] today I arranged for a beer tasting. In my own house.


Most LCBO shops have a decent selection of beer, including some weirdo types of beer that are more expensive, but available by the bottle. Our closest LCBO isn't great on their selection [most people in this neighbourhood are most interested in getting as drunk as possible as cheaply as possible], but I selected three different beers, with the aim of sharing each with Joseph, so that we could discuss the flavours. Up first was the Smoked Oatmeal - our first impressions were the same - "this tastes like smoking!" because it really, really did. Surprisingly Joseph decided that this was perfectly acceptable [he has never smoked and really dislikes it - as do I]. For me though - it tasted too much like smoking...not enough smokey. Or oatmeal-y at all - although it was still an interesting flavour. Next up was the Chocolate Stout - we both agreed that in smell and appearance it was a lot like Guiness [which we both like]. Joseph thought that it did taste of chocolate. I thought that the description of chocolate referred only to the colour as I found this one pretty disappointing and unremarkable. Finally was the 666 Pale Ale. At 6% this is considered to be a strong beer, which I normally don't like as they taste too alcohol-y [if I want alcohol-y I will drink a martini or straight tequila]. It was shockingly good. A rich but mellow taste, it went down smooth [just like on a beer advert!] and didn't taste strong in alcohol at all. In the interest of full disclosure, I did start to develop a migraine soon after drinking this one though.

Day Three Hundred and Forty-Five - La Grande Bouffe

I believe that I am going through a rather unpleasant bout of food poisoning [brought on by unwisely choosing something too adventurous in a restaurant I knew full well could not handle this task]...so logically - what does one do when one is stricken with this ailment? Well, I made souffles. Four goat cheese souffles to be rather precise. I've learned a couple of things: 1. I don't think I like souffles and 2. souffles are deceptively simple to make. They definitely get a bad rap - but honestly if I can make them to great success [see below] while being sick and out of it - I think anyone can make them. It's all about obeying the rules, dude.


But yeah, I didn't love it. They are just so darn...eggy. I put in an entire thing [??? I dunno what it's called - the entire package? container? tube?] of peppercorn goat cheese and you could just barely taste it. So eggy. And for some reason I had a very hard time separating the eggs - which is so not me. I enlisted Joseph to whip them into soft peaks...but then we cheated out and used cream of tartar to speed up the process [this is amazing!]. I think he quite enjoyed the souffle [someone should - we have two more that are being frozen and then will become twice-baked souffles] - but it just made me feel like a little girl struggling to politely eat my lunch @ a strangers house. When I was about 8 years old one of my mum's slightly elderly, slightly eccentric clients [she has many of them even now] invited me and her out to her country house for lunch [I had a PD day from school and clearly this is the most fun way to spend it]. She served up crab souffle. And while I always loved to try "adult foods" - this was just not to my taste. I remember drinking glass after glass of water during the lunch - desperate to get the souffle down and not embarass my mum [and show how much of a little adult I was]. For well over a decade I thought I hated crab...but it turns out that it was the souffle to blame.

Day Three Hundred and Forty-Four - The Pledge Drive

I've actually had a few Seinfeld-inspired ETs and I hope to do one more [and for me, it's a doozy - time is ticking though]...but this one was a must. It all started yesterday @ the 7-11 [it is a magical place I tell you what] when I found something quite remarkable. Okay, not so much remarkable, but part of a marketing ploy. But still, I thought it was quite something.


And yes, it's totally Batman/Christian Bale approved [yes, I think that Batman and Christian Bale are kinda the same entity], so you know there is unlimited goodness inside. There are few things better than the combination of chocolate + peanut butter, no? And sometimes things like these should be savoured [yes, peanut butter cups are widely available, but not special Batman ones - I imagine this one was a bit past its prime, what with the film coming out in July and all]. What better way to savour this treat than by dining on it prim and proper. Surely, Batman peanut butter cups deserve the same respect as one gives to even the most mediocre of cheesecake or etc. so tonight I did just that I ate a candy bar with a knife and fork.


I didn't have Joseph take the picture of me actually doing this because to be perfectly honest I felt like a bit of a jackass. Okay, a lot of a jackass. And yet - I will say that most of the time I am more fulfilled by a meagre candy bar as opposed to overblown restaurant desserts. The chocolate in the North American variety might not be as fantastic as in its European counterparts...but there is still something about a candy bar when one has a craving. The bat-shaped peanut butter cup was a bit different than regular ones - thicker and more dense. Truthfully, it would have been difficult to eat the traditional hand to mouth way. I really think that I will do this again, given the opportunity [ie. not just eating a candy bar on the subway]. I tend to eat my food [all food] too fast and this really helped me to slow things down. You can mock me and my pretentious ass if you would like.

Day Three Hundred and Forty-Three - Kwik-E-Mart

I'm a big fan of viral marketing and such like and I thought that The Simpsons Movie did a great job @ working this new medium [as did TDK]. One of the coolest things they did was to transform a number of 7-11 shops into Kwik-E-Marts and they served some of the same things that Apu does in the show - things like Squishees! Anyway, even the existence of 7-11 is pretty darn new to me and I'm not sure how available they are outside of the GTA. That being said, I don't often go into one as they are pretty few and far between. I'm consistently amazed by their sterile environment...combined with a machine devoted entirely to nacho cheeze. Today I had a beyond trying day attending a full-day training workshop that ended up being entirely useless to me. Except for the fact that on the corner by the subway station there was a 7-11 and I finally indulged - I drank a Slurpee! In Canada @ Mac's convenience stores [also called the Kitty Store by me since I was a little dumbass] they had/have Frostees, which yes, are the same damn thing. And yet, it's still a bit of a bad cover version so I felt the need to try the real thing. Oh, it was pretty amazing [only could be more amazing if it was Coke Zero instead of Coke].


Yes, I didn't finish it. Initially it was so good and cold and also with lots of syrup because that's the way I pour [even though I haven't poured in well over 15 years]. However, the weather is also very cold and I was without gloves. I ended up drinking most of it on the subway and gulping it so it didn't touch my teeth [I do use Sensodyne, but this was beyond cold]. But then I got home and our house is roughly 150 degrees and all of the icey bits were instantly vapourized. The Slurpee then lost its appeal, obviously. And yes, this is actually a pretty small size. They had two sizes smaller, but the cups were not recyclable. And besides, I think that part of having a Slurpee is having it be ridiculously big so people stare @ you and think you're a bit strange. Right?

Day Three Hundred and Forty-Two - Break And Enter

When I was still living with my parents [due to me being a kid] one of the main things I used to get in trouble for was leaving the front door open. To be clear, I don't mean that I would leave the door unlocked, but I would leave our front door wide open [with a screen door in front, but not locked]. I would get into all sorts of trouble for this. However, in my defense I was extremely scatterbrained and also, it was a small town. Highly unlikely that anything would happen [though now it's like the meth capital of the county so it's entirely possible that bad things would happen]. Since moving to the big city though I've been pretty vigilant about locking up whenever I leave the apartment. When we lived in the dodgy high rise I would lock my door while taking rubbish down to the chute.

So today's thing is silly, but meaningful to me. Today I left our door unlocked as I went to the shops. Nothing happened, but I was freaked out the entire time I was away from the house and I checked the closet and stuff when I got home to be sure that no one got in while I was out. Of course, the queues @ the shops were extra long, too. So, you see - Michael Moore was wrong [as he frequently is - I really don't get his insane love of Canada] - Torontonians DO regularly lock their doors [even when in the house during the middle of the day]. Our door is always locked [windows too]...and this little experiment made me freak out too hard to consider changing our policies on this matter.

Day Three Hundred and Forty-One - D'oh!

A couple of weeks ago fellow thing-a-dayer [by the way, I'm going to miss all of the fellow thing-a-dayers when their years are up - I hope they do continue blogging] Jen did something amazing. As one of her good deed she MADE HER OWN PLAY-DOH! I was entranced. I wanted to make my own right away and I was delighted when I saw that the components were things that pretty much everyone would have in their pantries. Except for one thing - cream of tartar. I looked in many different grocery stores and I consulted Al [he seems to know everything], who told me that due to the short shelf life of cream of tartar it is not widely stocked. But yknow who stocks it? Of course, the frakking Price Chopper. I located it on Friday evening [yes, grocery shopping is what I do almost every Friday night - woo!] and today, ta-dah I made my own Play-Doh! I am so pleased!


I know, it kinda looks like a ball of blue bread dough. Well...it is non-toxic! And I was surprised to learn that Play-Doh was based upon bread dough. Interesting! And while the official ingredients to real Play-Doh are a trade secret, they are essentially the same things I used [which is to say that Play-Doh is kinda food]. Still, I wouldn't recommend baking it up and eating it. And yes, mine is slightly more of a tye-dye blue, not a pure blue. What can I say? I'm lazy [we all know this already]...and I do think it looks pretty cool this way. To say nothing of the fact that I totally "blue myself" a la Tobias on Arrested Development. The whole process was very easy, although since I cut the recipe in half it was a bit more of a process to balance wet and dry ingredients. I was worried for a while that it was just not going to happen - mostly due to the smell [as a kid I LOVED the smell of Play-Doh and it made me want to take a bite, which I never did]. Then, as if by magic [okay, the addition of more flour], that familiar Play-Doh smell emerged. And yes, I did take a [little] bit. It's extremely salty and I wouldn't recommend it as a snack. So now...I have to think of something to make with the Play-Doh - mostly I just like squishing it.

Day Three Hundred and Forty - Deja Vu All Over Again

In the small town where I grew up there is only one movie theatre and it plays only one film @ a time. There is also a totally amazing drive-in that is totally amazing [I love drive-ins - they are the only thing that is amazing about cars]. Anyway, the movie theatre is called the Paramount Theatre [not sure if they named it after the movie studio or not] and it was our main source of entertainment when between the ages of 11 years old and 15 years old [after that drinking was the main source of entertainment - don't get me wrong, some people drank AND went to the Paramount, but less so]. The movie would change on Friday...but not every Friday. If a film was particularly popular then it would be repeated for a second week [or sometimes even a third week!]. The fact that it was the same movie would not distract us from going to the Paramount each Friday night [unless it was hockey season, then we would go to the arena - both areas were prime sources of public school boys, who were, for obvious reasons, highly desirable]. And the movie wouldn't matter either. The ticket takers didn't seem to care about ages [oh, except for once when me and my cousin were busted for trying to see Child's Play]. So, we saw a lot of crap. Repeatedly.

I'm not sure if it's because I know what it's like to live without choice...but these days I never go see films in the cinema more than once. Oh, except for today when I saw a film for the second time in the cinema. The film was obviously The Dark Knight...because...duh. We originally saw it in a big box cinema and this weekend it was on @ the Bloor [where we were able to buy both tickets and a membership for me for less than what it would cost for one ticket @ a regular cinema]. The film definitely stands up well on repeat viewings [I actually like it even more now and I didn't think that would be possible] and while I plan to get it on DVD, I wanted one last chance to see it in a theatre with all the loudness and darkness and sticky floors. I have to say - it is definitely a better film than the one that I willingly saw numerous [yes, more than two times] times @ the Paramount - Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. For a span of two weeks, that film was my whole life.

Day Three Hundred and Thirty-Nine - Hide And Seek

I had visions of this ET being so much more fun than what it ended up being. Tonight I created my own word search. I used only words that mean something to me and represent some aspect that I like about Battlestar Galactica. Therefore, you will find no mention of "Quorum" or "Romo Lampkin" or "Leoben" as I do not care for any of those things. If you are interested in printing out and completing my word search [and I do recommend that you do this], you can find it here as I have decided to leave it online for any other BSG/word search fans. I'm sure thats a grandiose source of crossover.

Anyway, I thought that making my own word search would be neat-o because I thought I would be able to write my own clues, instead of including just a list of words. In the interest of full disclosure as a kid, I absolutely, positively *loathed* when I would get word searches like this. I guess I figured that I was working hard enough just finding the words in the jumble...I wasn't going to try to determine what words I was supposed to be searching for like some sucker. God knows that I would have spent many precious minutes...possibly even hours [lifetime total] searching for completely wrong words. I am not great @ puzzles of any sort. However, as the puzzlemaster I thought it would be fun to develop a list of clues to really bust the brains of the word searchers. But the websites that allow you to make your own word searches - they would like you to pay actual money for the privilige of creating clues instead of a list. Boo! I'm not about paying for anything on the internet.

Day Three Hundred and Thirty-Eight - Lacto-Ovo

So, it's entirely possible that I've done this thing before...maybe even more often than what I would think. And yet, I do love dairy products [even though they oh-so frequently *hate* me], so maybe it has never happened. Today I went vegan. And lived to tell the tale! Although, I did have to tuck away the honey-roasted peanuts of yesterday or else I would have been mightily tempted [although I also learned that apparently some vegans do eat honey]. For the most part I felt totally satisfied and didn't miss the animal by-products. I have been considering vegan-ism for a while, but I don't think I will ever fully commit. I am hoping to try to choose the vegan option more often though...mostly due to the aforementioned fact that it seems many animal by-products do hate me. So I've been trying to develop my tastebuds in that direction.

My main challenge for my day o'vegan came first thing in the morning. I love me some yogurt and I eat it by the bucketload [yum...buckets of...anything...so appetizing]. But, no yogurt for me today - instead I had rye bread toast with jam [I love jam almost as much as yogurt]. I wonder though - would being a yogurt-vegan really cause that much suffering to the wee animals? I ask mainly because a friend of a friend was a meatball sub sandwich vegetarian...and I found that high-larious. Then for lunch I wasn't feeling entirely hungry, but I knew I had to have something as I was heading out to the museum so I had some fruit and a couple of parathas and brought along with a few handfuls of those spicy asian rice snack things. Another semi-challenge arrived @ the museum as they were having a special event that was catered and free found was abounding. However, it was either meat-tastic or cheese-tastic so I couldn't try anything [aside from this tea that was called 'blood of the pigeon' - it was both melodramatic and delicious - I asked and though there was a secret ingredient, it was not blood]. Then I came home to dinner that had been a-cookin' in the slow cooker for hours. It was actually a meat recipe that I made vegan - a hearty chili macaroni dish [yes, I used fake meat - I don't usually eat it - except in tacos, which I love]. It was really good and comforting.

So, in honour of the big VP debate...suck it Sarah Palin! You moose killing, wolf shooting [from a helicopter!] psycho! Meatless is coolness...

Day Three Hundred and Thirty-Seven - Sometimes You Feel Like A Nut

It seems like everyone @ work for the past week and a bit has been eating lots and lots of almonds. Not the fun almonds like the over-priced chocolate covered ones you buy to support local youth hockey or whatever [it's seriously the best thing about hockey]...but just regular raw almonds. There is some new nutritionist/diet thing going on that I'm not a part of due to me not needing more people/things telling me what to eat or how to eat it. Regardless, I've been trying to develop a taste for almonds, nuts, legumes...etc. as I think it would be a good thing to snack on [okay, I know they are super fattening, but they are certainly better than Cheetos - which I have already developed quite a taste for, thanks muchly]. Today I found an entry on Wikihow that seemed especially appropriate and tonight I made honey-roasted peanuts. Here's a photo of some of them [the ones that have not been eaten].


As you can see - a good tip would be to follow instructions. The instructions said to continue stirring after they were roasted for TEN WHOLE MINUTES or else they would all stick together. See - I don't find standing in my kitchen to be all that thrilling so I didn't do that...now I think my baking sheet is properly frakked. I'm going to try reheating and melting them off. Anyway, they are super simple to make - just buy some non-raw peanuts, create a melty mix of butter [real butter please] and honey and combine with peanuts, roast peanuts for 10 minutes. Ta-dah! Honey-roasted peanuts! Success! They are super delicious and nice when warm, though a bit painful on ye olde fingers.