Day Two Hundred and Fifty-Four - Sunny Days

I have been working three days per week since April. I have tried to not let this stress me out too much as I have enough money to pay the bills and enough time to do volunteer work and also do some writing. And yet, the stress - she is inevitable. Joseph has been trying to encourage me to relax more and just enjoy my time off. I do try to do this [I swear] and I feel like if I do start having a good time I will likely be employed full-time in no time. Because life's like that. However, obviously there is a budget to my good timery. Today was a beautiful day and not the usual smog soup o' Toronto summer plus my hair takes a good three hours to dry inside so instead I relaxed in our backyard. See - I know it doesn't sound like much, but this is something I don't ever do. Also, I keep saying how I don't have outdoor space and I really don't. Kinda. I mean, there is outdoor space surrounding my door and here's the proof [this is taken from my back step].



And yet, I consistently do not go out there. We share the space with the other people that live in the house and I suppose I'm not very good @ sharing [okay, I know I'm not very good @ sharing - give me a break, I'm an only child]. If I can't have something to myself I find that I'm not very intersted. However I will admit that it was nice to just sit out there with a cool drink in the shade and it's something I'm more likely to do now that I've done it once. And yet, I totally scurried back inside when I heard approaching footsteps. A bit of sunshine apparently doesn't do much to warm up my social skills.

Day Two Hundred and Fifty-Three - SquarePants

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Absorbent and yellow and porous is he. If nautical nonsense is something you wish - then drop on the deck and flop like a fish. Okay - I think that kinda sums up my previous knowledge of sponges. And, I admit that is my knowledge of fictional talking sponges. Not mute dishwashing sponges. Anyway, I was cruising around Wikihow one day a while back when I came across an interesting article [please note: probably only interesting to me]. I decided to try it out. Here's the teaser:



What the heck do I have in that microwave? Could it be? Why yes, it's a sponge! Take a closer look:



Tonight after doing the dishes I microwaved a sponge. Why on earth would I do this? Well, it actually has some practical reasoning behind it - I'm not just the kinda person who takes a lot of drugs and shoves things into the microwave [like we all learned about in school]. Apparently the best way to clean a sponge is to microwave it. This won't get rid of icky sponge stains [mine has blueberry stains, but is otherwise a pleasant SpongeBob yellow], but it will get rid of over 99% of potentially harmful bacteria if microwaved for 2 minutes. You have to make sure that the sponge is not dry or rung out or else it could totally light on fire. Also, refrain from touching the sponge immediately after as it's wicked hot. I did the cleaning in two one-minute bursts as I was afraid of fire [and armed with a fire extinguisher], but our microwave is pretty crummy. It provided our kitchen with a rather interesting odour [not entirely unpleasant - just strange - it will not be a Febreeze scent anytime soon I don't think].

Day Two Hundred and Fifty-Two - Because Lisa Thinks I'm Cool

It all started with a box. Actually, that's not true. Things started with my day off and my frustration with loud music blasting for several hours in a row. I was about to storm out of the house in a righteous rage [to enjoy the awesome smog/humidity soup outside of course] when I discovered it. The box!



So - if I may borrow from Brad Pitt - what's in the box? what's in the box? tell me what's in the box? In the box is a little treat for me due to my obvious coolness [at least I hope it's obvious] - I got a free Zune! Thanks to my supercool friend Lisa who has a supercool job giving away cool things to cool people I have been tagged as a Zune Influencer. Here's how Lisa's company works: 1. Give away exciting products to exciting people; 2. ???; 3. Profit! I represent the ??? part. Obviously. Joseph really likes the packaging for the Zune, so here's a picture of everything so everyone can enjoy.



I am totally excited to be a part of all of this coolness [and not just because the fancy headphones might stop me from being annoyed @ future noisy house days]. I do have an MP3 player, but it's half the size [not physical size] and almost a year old. I sense that modern electronics don't last as long as their humble ancestors, so I'm pleased to have another option if my current one cacks out. Also, I couldn't be more delighted that it's not an iPod - the rebellion continues! It has a very sleek and futuristic design and also - it says in a tiny cute font "Hello from Seattle" on the back and I think that's just darling.

Day Two Hundred and Fifty-One - Handle First

Tonight I ran with scissors. Down the middle of the street [please note stalkers - this is not my street, but one around my house]. Children were present so I'm sure I set an appropriate example of what one can become later in life if one obeys the rules as a young 'un. Also present were lots of gawking yokels on porches in our neighbourhood. I'm posting a photo of me running down the middle of the street and one of me on the pavements. You can't see the scissors in either one. What I'm hoping is that what I lack in quality I make up for in quantity [in terms of photos]. You can't even see my sweet DBZ t-shirt. You can, however, see my gigantic fat ass - life's like that.





I'm sure that I never ran with scissors as a kid. I've had to be as safety conscious as possible my whole life as I'm the biggest dumbass klutz to ever live. I could probably injure myself sitting on the sofa [and yes, most of my worst injuries have occurred in the stupidest ways - not while engaging in any risk-taking behaviour]. Something I used to do with scissors as a kid...trim the shag carpeting. I didn't think my parents would notice and they never did. It was so thick and lustrous. And gold. Like a glorious mane...of carpetting.

Day Two Hundred and Fifty - Juice For Life

I love me some Juice For Life - that much is true. However, sometimes I get discouraged from going there because there is always some crazy queue like 95% of the day or because I know that when I go there I eat myself sick [one time literally] or because it's 11pm on a Sunday evening and JFL is closed. Tonight was one of those times. However, I was able to draw inspiration from them and I made my own fruit smoothie. I was unable to think of a clever name though - all of the drinks @ JFL have cute names. My new favourite is Dr. Tomato. For obvious reasons.



Joseph has been fighting off the last of his illness and I was optimistic that an antioxidant-packed drink could push him over the top. Therefore my smoothie was some bananas, a lot of blueberries, honey, a little bit of milk and a bit of vanilla yogurt. It's actually much more purple than what the photo would indicate. And much more appetizing in both taste and smell. I couldn't quite finish one cup - it was like a meal in liquid form. Enough to induce a decent and unprecedented smoothie coma.

[also - I cannot urge you enough...if you don't already have one you must get yourself an immersion blender. really, you must. they are inexpensive and endlessly useful and it will change your life - for the better.]

Day Two Hundred and Forty-Nine - New Coke

This is Sumol. Sumol is the Coca-Cola of Portugal. Actually, I strongly suspect that Coca-Cola is the Coca-Cola of Portugal, but it's fun to make sweeping generalizations about things that you don't know anything about. Though, living in a predominately Portugese neighbourhood for the past six years I guess I go know a bit about Portugal.



Since I do a lot of food-related things here on le blog I've decided to fully embrace it and attempt to find one new thing to eat @ our crummy grocery store or @ the local farmer's market each week. As our crummy grocery store is located in the same Portugese neighbourhood that we live in, they frequently do pages of specials on "Portugese Favourites" - I'm not sure of the authenticity of this claim, but apparently Sumol qualifies. I was thwarted in my attempt to purchase fava beans [another Portugese favourite apparently] so I drank Sumol instead. I was a little wary as it is an orange carbonated drink and as much as I love fizzy drinks the egg cream taught me an important lesson that fizzy can sometimes go so very wrong. Also, I loathe pulp. I was pleasantly surprised. It tastes quite a bit like Orangina, but with some extra zing. The more I drank the sweeter it got. Kinda ended up tasting like Baby Aspirins, but I love the taste of Baby Aspirins [or @ least I used to - this is probably why I'm so hooked on so many OTC meds], so that was a-okay with me. It's also supercute that it says "drink chilly cold" on the side of the glass bottle [I lurve glass bottled beverages]

Day Two Hundred and Forty-Eight - Yankee Doodle Dandy

It seems like it's been a while since one of my ETs has been a spectacular failure. I'm happy to report that today's really was. I attempted to celebrate the Fourth of July and not too much of it really went right. To be honest I have celebrated Independence Day before when actually in America - it was quite fun with BBQ and fireworks and such. Appropriately American. Today I wanted to celebrate with hot dogs, apple pie, fireworks [okay, sparklers - I have no backyard] and my favourite baseball-themed film, The Sandlot. Also, I did get some chips and ice cream and Coca-Cola which I felt were also appropriate.

However, today was not a great day. Joseph has been sick for a few days now and he was really very ill today. I woke up with a strange tension headache that would not quiet down and grew to epic proportions as the day wore on. I went to three different movie rental places to find The Sandlot and I was thrice denied [though the crummy Blockbuster has the second and third ones - boo!]. I went to our very local store to get the sparklers, but after Canada Day the dude was all sold out [yes, I call the store owner "the dude" whereas the guy @ the newsstand in Dufferin subway is "guy"] of any kind of small explode-able. Despite my hot dog buns getting dreadfully smushed - I was able to make hot dogs for dinner and we both managed to eat one [this was quite the effort though]. And then we watched baseball which is an okay compromise to the film, I guess. I was too sick feeling for the Coke and pie so it will have to wait for my glorious 5th of July celebration.

Sorry America - we're still friends though, right?

Day Two Hundred and Forty-Seven - Bonne Fete!

I didn't mention it yesterday - but when I was younger I spent a fair amount of time in the USA. I went to camp there and we spent about 99% of our holiday time there. My dad used to like to test Americans of their knowledge on Canada - kinda like Alex Trebek [seriously - there are always a healthy number of Canadiana questions on Jeopardy] and since he was a big American history buff he could always answer questions tossed back his way. One thing I discovered about Americans is that a lot of them assumed that every Canadian could speak French. I was suprised @ this because I didn't really know many Canadians [other than me] who could speak French and also - Quebec is just one province - why are they so popular in the USA? They must have some good PR people. So yes, my French language skills failed to impress Americans as they just thought - well, duh - you are Canadian so *of course* you speak French.

Anyway, lots of celebrations this week - Canada Day, Independence Day and also it's Quebec City's 400th anniversary. By North American standards they are positively ancient. I love Quebec City and find it to be the most magical/whimsical place in Canada [please note: I have not seen very much of Canada so if your corner of it can kick Quebec City's ass please let me know]. I was interested in seeing some of the coverage of the celebrations so I watched the nightly news in French. And - apparently this is where my ignorance shows up as while the broadcast was in French, it did not originate in Quebec. I kinda forgot that there are French-speaking Ontario residents as well - ooops. There was some coverage of the celebrations, but mostly it was just regular Ontario news [I couldn't determine where their origin was exactly] but in French. I failed to understand a lot of it as my French is beyond horrible @ the moment. I liked the entertainment news @ the end when they reviewed movies in French and also the sport report. It was interesting because when they interviewed someone [or yanked from another source] and they spoke English [like say Will Smith for Hancock] they just kept it in English, assuming their audience would understand. And while it's probably true that if you speak French in Canada you most likely do speak English - it's kinda offensive and not something that would fly the other way around.

So - bonne fete Quebec City! I do hope to visit again soon. I know - I have so many other Canadian places to visit, but Quebec is a guaranteed winner so why mess with that?

Day Two Hundred and Forty-Six - Born On The Fourth Of July

When I was very small I thought that I was American. This wasn't because I was particularly dim - but because of TV [I can blame a lot in my life on TV]. My dad watched Good Morning American every weekday morning and my mum watched Dallas every Thursday night. From watching various sporting events I heard the American national anthem a lot...and yeah...I just kinda assumed. As I got older I suffered through various bouts of America envy as they had so many of the things that my country lacked: the New York Yankees, New Kids on the Block and Gap stores everywhere [to name a few of the most important]. Eventually I learned to stop worrying and love my own country [even if I do envy America once again as I'm totally obsessed with their politics].

However, plenty of people still flock to the good olde US of A and when they decide to stay for good [after they get permission from Lou Dobbs of course] they have to take a citizenship test. Today I took a mini US citizenship test. I got 75% - which I was a little surprised with as I thought I would be more flawless than that. I know my American history better than Canadian [what can I say - we are polite and therefore a bit dull - just admit it fellow Canucks]. Joseph got his citizenship a few years ago and the study questions were quite difficult and certainly not things that I learned as part of general growing up Canadian. Of course, I probably should have paid more attention in history class instead of mentally drifting off and then being forced to write essays on "The War" [yes, just the war - with no further specifics as I never learned anything about WWI in high school].

If you want to take the test and score higher than me - you can do so here - good luck!

Day Two Hundred and Forty-Five - Herbal Enhancement

Those who read le blog with any regularity know that I suffer from migraine episodes. While these generally happen about once or twice per month [don't worry they sometimes last for multiple days so I'm really getting the most bang for my buck. However, perhaps I haven't mentioned that I also get a lot of other crummy little/medium/big headaches throughout the month [please note that a big headache is probably not a migraine]. Generally these are dispatched or lessened with some extra strength Tylenol or something akin to that. I take a lot of the stuff [I used to take a lot of extra strength Aspirin, but started getting big stomach problems and bruising like a peach] and I think this is not really the greatest thing.

Yesterday I was in one of those hippie drug stores [you know what I'm talking about], looking for teas that might make me sleepy but not taste revolting. Alas, such a thing does not exist [I take valerian to sleep and it smells so bad - I can't imagine drinking it]. Then, perhaps brought on by my headache I thought of feverfew and they had it so I bought it. In the process of doing this I learned that feverfew can be taken daily to potentially prevent headaches [including migraine]. Interesting. I'll try anything to lessen my head pain so tonight I started taking feverfew. I have no real faith that this will work. I was taking glucosamine for months and months and I thought - hey, this is really helping my knee. Then, my pills ran out and I forgot to buy more and amazingly enough my knee felt the exact same. When people get relief from questionable products - I'm kinda divided...I mean, it's great that they feel less pain and stuff...but you are kinda just tossing out your money. I'm not interested in doing that. But - we shall see. I'm a little put off by the fact that feverfew could cause stomach problems - I have enough of those. But still - down with head pain!

[PS - Happy Canada Day! It really is Canada Day - it really exists. I feel the need to clarify that Canada Day is a real thing as back when I was a youngster @ camp in the USA no one believed me.]