2 random sightings

1) This weekend at Safeway, at around 2pm, there was a man (white, 30 something) in line behind me in the checkout. He placed his basket on the turning thing in the checkout line and asked the cashier if she would like him to take his groceries out of the basket. Okay - I suppose he has maybe never been to supermarket before and didn't know the proper etiquette (seriously, like the cashier wants to take out your groceries!). But then I notice that under his grey overcoat he is wearing a tuxedo. A tuxedo wearing grocery store novice. RANDOM!

2) A man (30 something, asian) on the bus around 8am turning into the university. This mild mannered looking middle aged man was wearing a backpack with the playboy bunny logo on the back. Not like a pin, but that the maker of the backpack itself was playboy. Now either this man was unaware what the logo meant, or he was making a very strange and public statement about his personal porn preferences. RANDOM!

Seattle

1) Starbucks (original, square glass box, seattle centre)
2) keyrings
3) spaceneedle
4) EMP & Frank Gehry
5) guitar modern art
6) butterflies
7) knowing more about sciene science than Devin
8) walking past the bus parking lot, under the highway
9) watching a woman getting arrested in the Jack in the Box parking lot
10) Salmon Fillet, Salmon Fillet!
11) super practical showerhead
12) yummy thai food (cozy)
13) lots of skytrain monorail
14) there's a Betsy Johnson store!
15) and Fossil sells clothes!
16) not drinking coffee
17) blustery winds
18) ginger candies
19) being happy

Me Too!

Things involving Ovens

Last night I made an apple pie! I have never made an apple pie before. It turned out except that it was super sweet. This is because I used a recipe which called for a custard to be poured over the apples - and I chose this recipe because I was looking for one which did not require me to make my own crust for the top. So in conclusion - I was super pleased and yet still disappointed. Although I learned a new word: streusel!

And sometime this week Devin is going to make me dinner. We bet if Meredith was actually dead and I won! Now he claims that she was technically dead, but the spirit of the bet was will she stay dead or come back to life - I bet come to life so I win! Now to convince him of it....

GREY'S GOSSIP

while we're on the subject...

scene: the university of victoria health centre
L sitting in chair in doctor's office
enter doctor

Doctor: Hello, How are you today?
L: Good, yourself?
Doctor: Oh Fine (reading paper) hmmmm... when the nurse told me the test was positive, I thought it was a pregnancy test.
L: Oh!
Doctor: But I see here that it's not a pregnancy test.
L: No, it's not.
Doctor: So this test did not say you were pregnant.
L: Okay.
Doctor: It probably would have been a surprise to you if you were pregnant.
L: yes.
Doctor: especially since this was not a pregnancy test.
L: right
Doctor: So I guess you could still be pregnant...
L: I'm not.
Doctor: Okay then. Onto your actual test results....

So in conclusion, I spent the same amount of time discussing test results of a test I did not take with my doctor as I did discussing the test results of the test I did take.

And Congratulations to people out there who are actually pregnant (and by people I mean Kirsten - CONGRATULATIONS!!)

What's Goin' On...

1) My oldest friend (who I am no longer friends with) is getting married! She is the first of the people I went to grade school with (that I still get info about) to get married. I want to say "she is so young!" but she is not. She's not old. But engaged at 23, married at 24 is not too young.

2) The majority of people who wrote the midterm for the class I TA for did badly. So then I feel really badly - even though it is in no way my fault. If I was ever a teacher I would want everyone to do really well on everythig. which of course is not very practical. except for the kids that do not care at all about the class or about me or about doing well. In that case I still hope they do well, but I do not feel guilty if they don't.

3) The other day I was out shopping and the woman in the store pointed out a shirt to me that was made of soy. "Have you ever worn soy before?" she asked me. To which I replied in the negative - and sadly I also did not buy the shirt so I have still never worn soy. How 2004!

A baby story

There is a woman on TLC's "A baby story" who is having a home birth - and there will be 20 people (family and friends) present for the home birth (excluding the camera crew). 20 people is the number of people I want at my wedding!* And about 19 more than I want at the birth of my child. The woman (whose husband is in Iraq) is going to let her 3 year old daughter cut the cord (if the daughter wants). I've got to say, this seems pretty intense to me. But maybe I am just old fashioned. Now I am going to go get some work done and not spend my time anaylizing the birthing rituals of strangers.

*Note: the number I want is probably significantly less than the number I will actually have...

I myself have often wondered about the etiquette in this type of situation

"DEAR ABBY: Please help me. My lover and I have been disagreeing lately and are considering couples counseling. However, he keeps insisting that we see the marriage counselor he and his wife are currently seeing.

I want to make this relationship work, but I think it's inappropriate to receive counseling from the same one that they are currently seeing. What do you think? -- NEEDS THERAPY IN TEXAS"

I'm glad to see that she is able to correctly identify what about this whole situation is inappropriate.

Fast Car

You got a fast car
I want a ticket to anywhere
Maybe we make a deal
Maybe together we can get somewhere

Anyplace is better
Starting from zero got nothing to lose
Maybe we'll make something
But me myself I got nothing to prove

You got a fast car
And I got a plan to get us out of here
I been working at the convenience store
Managed to save just a little bit of money
We won't have to drive too far
Just 'cross the border and into the city
You and I can both get jobs
And finally see what it means to be living

You see my old man's got a problem
He live with the bottle that's the way it is
He says his body's too old for working
I say his body's too young to look like his
My mama went off and left him
She wanted more from life than he could give
I said somebody's got to take care of him
So I quit school and that's what I did

You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so we can fly away
We gotta make a decision
We leave tonight or live and die this way

I remember we were driving driving in your car
The speed so fast I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder
And I had a feeling that I belonged
And I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

You got a fast car
And we go cruising to entertain ourselves
You still ain't got a job
And I work in a market as a checkout girl
I know things will get better
You'll find work and I'll get promoted
We'll move out of the shelter
Buy a big house and live in the suburbs
You got a fast car
And I got a job that pays all our bills
You stay out drinking late at the bar
See more of your friends than you do of your kids
I'd always hoped for better
Thought maybe together you and me would find it
I got no plans I ain't going nowhere
So take your fast car and keep on driving

You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so you can fly away
You gotta make a decision
You leave tonight or live and die this way

-Tracy Chapman

from Nepal to Victoria

Last night Devin and I went out for Nepalese food - and it was fabulous. Usually I make a reservation before we go out for dinner, but the last couple times I have done that the restaurant has been fairly empty, so I decided not to this time (just because). When we arrived it was less than half full - but then the hostess informed us that every table was reserved except for two! We ended up sitting next to another non-reservation couple who arrived about five minutes after us. They seemed to be on a second date - and all I remember from the conversation was the guy asking the girl what her mother did, the girl saying "nothing" and when asked to elborate the girl replied "nothing, she sits around smoking pot all day". Which, while perhaps sad, was amusing in the context of a second date conversation.

Now, I have to admit that I don't really know what "Nepalese food" consists of - but based on what we ordered, there are curries and lamb and chicken and dumplings involved. The restaurant was also fabulous - I am very big on "ambiance and atmosphere" and so both of those score major restaurant points with me. The service could have been better - but it wasn't horrible. And I would definetly go back! Except now I start thinking about the future and wonder "well, will I ever have a chance to go back?" but then I stop thinking those thoughts and remember that if I don't finish my thesis I might very well live here for the rest of my life as a destitute MA student. Okay. So maybe that's a little unlikely, but still!

It's a gorgeous day outside and it's currently around 11am - so I think that the next order of the day will be going outside and enjoying the weather!

blueberry pancakes

This morning I went out for breakfast with my friend. I love going out for breakfast - but it's a special treat on a Tuesday, because I never go out for breakfast on a Tuesday. I had blueberry pancakes - but no coffee. A fact which I realized around 2pm when I almost fell asleep during lecture. My friend is going to Egypt for 5 months to learn Egypt. So then I started thinking "oh, why is my life so boring, I have never gone to live in Africa" but then I remember that, in fact, at this point in time I have no desire to live in Africa - and so I can just be super-happy for my friend, getting to embark on this fabulous adventure. And because she is leaving, I had an excuse to have blueberry pancakes on a Tuesday morning :)

Wagon Wheel Song

So rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Rock me mama anyway you feel
Hey mama rock me
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
Rock me mama like a south-bound train
Hey mama rock me
-Old Crow Medicine Show/Dylan

Grade 9

I've got a blue and red adidas bag and a humongous binder,
I'm trying my best not to look like a minor niner.
I went out for the football team to prove that I'm a man
I guess I shouldn't tell them that I like Duran Duran.
-Barenaked Ladies

Quote of the Day

Q: What is your biggest regret?
Sidney Poitier: I cannt recall what that might have been, but whatever it was, I survived it. And I have no regrets about that. Vanity Fair magazine, Feb 2007

so the other day I was thinking....

Everyone I know is getting older. I realize that every second of every day we all grow older, but in a more abstract sense of the word, I feel as though everyone I know is getting older. and so imagine my suprise when the other day it occured to me that within the next ten years I will probably have a child. That's right. Ten years is not a long time and a child is a really really big deal. So after my panic attack began to subside I thought about all the things I have done in the past ten years. I am not going to create a completely self-serving list of things - but I feel that since half-way through the 8th grade I've achomplished a fair number of things.

In grade 8 I wore black jeans pretty much everyday, still had my mom drive to me the mall (in fairness, we used to go to the across town mall to see movies with our across-town friends), did not think I was especialy beautiful, had never dated a boy, didn't know my parents as people, didn't really appreciate art and knew what I wanted out of life.

Since that time things have changed, I now wear blue jeans, take the bus all by myself, think I am beautiful, have dated a boy (a man even!), know and love my parents as the beautiful and imperfect people they are, love art and am no longer sure what I want out of life.

However, I still rarely wear skirts, I don't like to drive, I cannot do my own hair, I have never been married, I still don't know my sister as a person, I don't like ballet and I know very little about opera, and I cannot see my future.

My point is that ten years is a long time. In ten years I expect to be the person I am now, just with different priorities, a little more money, and more people to love. And at the end of my thought about having a child within ten years, I realized that when that happens I will be both ready (or as ready as one can be) and lucky, even if right now I couldn't begin to tell you where in the world I will be in ten years, or what I will be doing, or what I will think or believe. But see the thing is, in the last 10 years I have begun to trust myself. And that is why I know it will be all good.