Though yesterday was a rather quiet day, today is turning out to be a fair bit more exciting. Thought not by much. It's only 10:30 and I'm already bored out of my mind. At least I have a few things to do today to keep me busy which is nice.

I went to the movies with my GF Steph yesterday. The poor thing. She lost her job at the evil utility on Friday. I'll have to post about this hell hole at some point in the future, just to give you an idea of the place. She's doing much better than I thought. She's looking relaxed and happy. She's even talking about taking a few weeks off. I hope so. She could use the rest. We went to see Annapolis yesterday. Not exactly a WINNER of a movie but not so bad either. Entertaining enough and I can't argue with the handsome James Franco. Though I do like him with longer hair better....

Talking about movies, the Oscar Nominations were announced today. No huge surprises but there were a few movies that were flying under the radar that have caught the Academy's eye, particularly the Canadian directed Crash which, by the way, happens to be a fabulous film. A few years ago, I threw an Oscar party and invited a few friends. It was great fun and I think I might do that again. I'll have to go searching the party store for a "mini" oscar!

I've started reading Dragonfly in Amber, the second book in the adventures of Claire and Jamie, commonly refered to as the Outlander Series and named after the first book, Outlander. I waited a long time to read this series and I had no intention of ever getting into them until they came highly recommended by two of the ladies in my bookcrossing group. Good thing too. I love the story and the characters. Not to mention the blushing factor. Actually, all this talk bout movies has sparked my curiosity. I wonder if the film rights for "Outlander" have been sold. Has anyone read this? If you have, who would you cast as Claire and Jamie? Hmmmmmm. I need a minute to think about this....

On a completely unrelated yet interesting note, Robert Pickton was back on trial yesterday. For those of you who don't know who this guy is, he has been charged with 27 count of murder in the killings of prostitutes from the East Side, BC's and Canada's lowest income neighbourhood. Experts have found what appears to be human remains at the Pickton farm located just outside of Vancouver. It's more than a little disturbing but it makes for interesting reading. I particularly found the Crime Library's account of events leading up to the initial arrest. For further info, check out the CBC's backgrounder. I have a feeling this is going to be prominant news throught BC and perhaps even Canada over the next few months.

It's the last day of a miserable week full of rain and semi-depression. It's just not been a good week and as much as I don't want to, I still have to hold out for nearly five hours before it's all over. I can only hope that next week is better. There are some others out in blogger land who are having the same bad case of the "January's" so it's reassuring to know it's not just me.

No major plans for the weekend other than a budget review and some more reading. Who knows, maybe even bowling! It's wishful thinking but a girl can wish right?

Have a great weekend everyone! :)

I thought this was interesting. There was some discussion about going to the movies by ones self and I have to agree with Lisa, it does take a fair bit of self esteem to go the movies by yourself. But then, doesn't it take a lot of self esteem and maybe even self confort (or self knowledge) to do anything by yourself in today's society? I sometimes find that people look at you differently if you do things by yoursef. I'm not talking about general thing but commonly seen as social outings like the movies or dinner. This has lead me to wonder: Why is it that it's ok to do somethings by yourself and with other things, being alone is not an option? For example, I'll do almost anything alone, except go to a bar or night club. It just seems strange to me to be in a room full of people having a good time yet being totally alone. As sociable as I am, I'll be the first to admit that I'm a bit hardpressed to make the first approach. However, Jenn mentioned that she could even go to a bar by herself but refuses to either eat dinner or go to a movie on her own. Now I'm curious! What would you never do by yourself and what commonly seen as "sociable" things would you consider ok to do by yourself and why? Is there a different feeling for people who are single for a long period of time? I'd love to hear what you have to say!

WoooHOOO! I actually wish I was out enjoying the beautiful sunny day but instead, I'm inside for another day of boring work. Day's like this give going to school more meaning. To know that I'll one day be away from here doing something I *really* love. I can't wait!

AmyHCAlum had asked me yesterday if I always go to movies with people or if I go by myself. Before Dan, I went by myself a lot. My friends were few and far between and the few I had didn't really have the same tastes as me. Vernie, Steph and I go to movies quite often. Usually our weekly get togethers consist of dinner and a movie. The problem is that we don't always agree on what to see. Vernie is much more open to trying something new but Steph is set in her ways. She doesn't often step outside her element and, I think, misses a lot but I still love her. Dan and I go whenever there's something we both want to see, which isn't too often. So, if I really want to see a movie, I usually have to go by myself. And I do. I used to do that a lot more than I do now but with Dan working late and no classes, my latest weekday excursions are all by myself. I don't mind it. I've always liked spending time with myself so this is nothing new though if I had to choose, I'd always go with someone else. I like the unpacking afterwards.

As for Underworld: Evolutions, I saw it on Friday night with Vernie. I was surprised, she said it was the first Vampire movie she had seen. She's obviously been under a rock for a while! As for me, I was biased going in because I've been waiting for a sequel since the original. I had read the novelization some time back but I obviously didn't remember it because I couldn't remember any of it when the movie started! I really enjoyed it. The action was bigger and don't get me started on Scott Speedman. I loved him in Felicity and I was happy to see him in that role but with the second one, we got to see a whole lot more of him. OMG. It's not ladylike to drool but WOOOOOOW.

Except this one is full of boring, clearn up work and lots of daydreaming to help me avoid the numness of work Without classes, I've been keeping myself busy at the movies. Yesterday, I went and saw The New World. I'm not sure if it's fair to call a director 'prolific' because he's only done a movie every 4 decades (or something like that) but I will say this much: the movie was thoroughly enjoyable. I heard or read somewhere that one of the actors commented that Malick likes to film grass, a lot of grass. This is clearly apparent in the cinematography. In parts, this appears more like a National Geographic expiditaion caught on camera but it all adds to the peace and wonderment that the new arrivals to America must have felt. Not too much dialogue which is probably for the best considering that Colin Farrell doesn't usually act so well when he talks (at least in MHO). I enjoyed this more than I thought I would and I have to agree with the critics here, it really is an amazing and beautiful accomplishment. I'd have a hard time seeing this up for any acting Oscars for 2007 but it will definately fill the other categories.

I'm bored out of my mind at work. It's been excruciatingly quiet for the past couple of days and I'm trying to keep busy but I'm running out of things to keep myself busy with. I can't wait 'till things pick-up a bit more. I'd give almost anything to be busy at the moment. There's only so much I can look up on the net.

I'm still undecided about what to see tonight but I'm leaning towards Munich. It looks and sounds interesting. At this rate, I may actually get this year's Oscar favourites under my belt before the ceremony. Might have to have an Oscar party.....

I'm soooo glad it's already Friday afternoon. It's been a busy work at both work and home. Without classes, I've been keeping myself busy with lots of reading and many movies. I like a nice evening in a big empty theatre, it's peaceful.

Monday night I watched Glory Road which was, unsurprisingly entertaining. Though not a great film, it get the blood pumping and even left me a little teary eyed. And on Tuesday night, I met some of the girls from by Bookcrossing group for a little romance in the form of Tristan & Isolde. So it's wasn't the best of it's genre but it was darn good none the less. Highly recommended for the romantic and/or period piece afficionado.

As for yesterday, I met my little sis downtown for a hump day concert. It was a busy night in Vancouver with Bryan Adams at GM Place and INXS at the Queen Elizabeth but we saw a little band from San Diego at The Commodore Ballroom - by far the best place to see a show in town - Slightly Stoopid (yes folks, that's the name of the band - think of them as a new version of Sublime. Same sound). The show was great and though they played hard and sounded, surprisingly, a lot like they do on the albums, I still liked the second opening band the best. All reggae and soul reminiscent of Bob Marley. Really, really good. I didn't get home until very, very late (2am I fell into bed - on a work night!) but I was surprisingly awake this morning. At some point this weekend I have to watch The Audition which I rented last week and is due back on Sunday. Looks good!

That's about it for now. I hope everyone has a great weekend! :)

Here are the answers to the other few questions that have been trickling in:

bawdy asked:
When did you lose your virginity?
I was 19.

Biggest regret in life so far?
Listening to my mother and not going to Journalism school at UofT. I should have done it.

Ever had major surgery?
Not that I remember. I was very, very ill when I was a little girl of 2 but my mom has never mentioned surgery.

If you could legally kill one person who would it be and would you do it?
George W. Bush. And I don't think I could do it. I honestly don't think I could take another person's life.

minh asked:
If you could have any super-power, which one would you choose?
The power to divine numbers. Then I'd win me the lottery and open my bookstore/cafe and never have to "work" again!

The answers of course! Sorry it's taken so long but this is the first wee bit of time I've had since the last post. Here we go!

jenn asked:
What is your most embarrassing moment?
I was at a halloween party a few years ago. It was very 'alternative' (it was called the Exotic Erotic Halloween Ball). I was in a pink pollyester suit with a beehive which made me six feet tall. My girlfriend and I were sitting at a table with some other interesting fold and a very nice man who was not dressed up at all. He gives us this story that he was going to meet his date there but that she never showed up. Personally, I still thing he was there to pick up girls. Whatever. Towards the end of the night and after a few too many drinks, we were standing around watching the end of the fashion show and I was bugging him about how he wasnt dressed up. He said that if I was up for it, he would exchange his golf shirt for my melon pink sleeveless polyester suit jacket. I agreed. I was just putting his shirt on (yes in public) I happened to turn around because I heard my name. I turned to find myself smack dab in front of the late night news camera. Not so bad except that the next morning I had explain to my parents what I'd been doing walking around nearly topless in public. Not to mention that everyone apparently watched that news cast. I was living this one down for a while.

How did your honey pop the question?
This past christmas. We have a tradition that we stay up really late on Christmas eve and we open gifts very early on Christmas morning and then sleep in. So we'd just finished opening gifts and were starting to clean up when Dan casually said that santa might have one more gifts. I remember saying hurry up because we're going to start the movie soon. A few minutes later I start yelling down the hall that we're going to start without him. I was sitting on the floor in my pajamas when he came up the hallway and he had this look on his face like he was going to start crying and he asked me to get up. I told him that I would not get up because I was quite comfy and then he brought something from behind his back and that was it, I started crying. I don't know what he said because I was crying so hard. I didn't even say yes I was so overwelmed. I wish I had heard what he'd said...

If you could have one wish, what would it be?
I would wish for enough money so that I would never have to work ever again and I could just do what I wanted to.

Aside from your ring, what was the best present you ever got?
A few years ago my mother gave me some traditional Portuguese earrings that had belonged to my great grand mother. She said she thought I would appreciate them and I do.

Toilet paper over or under the roll?
Unter the roll!

wiccachicky asked:
What is your favourite work of literature?
To be honest, I don't think I've read it yet. But so far, I'd have to say....Lolita by Nobakov.

Who has been the most influencial person in your life and why?
My mom. Knowingly and unknowingly she's taugh me more than anyhone else. Ever.

What is the best science fiction film of all time (you can't pick a series, only one film!)?
Oh geez! This sucks! I have to admit this was a very, very close race by a few flicks but I would have to say Doctor Strangelove.

Lisa asked:
If you could live in any country in the world, where would it be, and why?
This was a hard one but I would say Canada and I'd even stay in Vancouver. It's so beautiful here and my family is here. I don't think I could go that far from them...

Rosie asked:
Have you ever read a book while taking a shower?
Ok. Honestly, I wouldn't call it reading but yes, I've taken a book into the shower with me (and no, I'm not confusing shower and bath).

And keep asking away. I'll keep answering!

So one of my *favourite* blogger budies, jennjr, came up with a brilliant little meme that is excellent and which I think would be great fun. So, here goes

The problem with blogs: we all think we are so close, but we really don't know as much as we'd like to think we do about each other. So I want you to ask me something you think you should know about me. Something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about: childhood particulars? physical traits? relationship stuff? education? Ask away. Then post this in your blog and find out what people don't know about you.

Yesterday was a quiet day too but I didn't manage to post before leaving for the day. Went off to my Bookcrossing meeting in the evening which went very, very well with lots of new faces and much discussion. I was impressed by the turnout and the longevity of the attendees. Some of us didn't leave until nearly 10 o'clock! That's what you get when you put a bunch of readers together over 3 tables full of books. Non-stop discussion. It was great.

It's been another quiet day. I'm getting lots of clean-up and catching up done which is great but I'm nearing the end of making things to do list. I'm going to keep myself busy surfin' until the boss lady comes back. Then I'll get back to the work....sneaky eh? It's my way of making up for all of the missed breaks and staying late evenings. It all works out in the end.

As for tonight, I'm going run a few errands after work and then head home for a quiet evening curled up with a book. Actually, I have a bunch of computer work to do tonight but after that, a book. I'm nearly finished "Outlander" and must say, I'm very, very glad that I was almost forced into reading it. It's well worth it.

And that, folks, is all for today! :)

Reading some of the comments from Friday's post, I got to thinking how much we rely on money. I don't consider myself as someone who puts too much weight on money but the truth is, we all need it. For one thing or another. I don't really care to amass large amounts of cash but bottom line is I still need it to buy the necessities and I like to have it so that I can enjoy myself (books, movies, music...). And while most of the people I went to school with are concerned about how much money they make, I'm more concerned abour being happy. Sure, money is nice and it facilitates other things but in the end, it's not nearly as imporant as family and love - things that are FREE.

I think that Gene Rodenberry (I hope I spelled that right...) had it right. His moneyless society of the future is (what I think) where people need to go before we become truly "enlightened" individuals. Could you imagine not *having* to work just to survive but working at what you love because you choose to? Some people get to do this today heck, it's the only reason I'm going back to school. I want to wake up every morning and LOVE going to work.

Sorry guys. I realize I've kind of repeated myself. I'm blaming it on the drugs. I woke up yesterday with a sore throat and this morning it hurt even more so I took some non-drowsy ContactC which is making me drowsy none the less. I'm feeling a bit high at the moment...and I only took one pill. I hate being sick.

I was reading jennjr's comment from yesterday about how she counted company literature yesterday. Well, if you think that's bad, you 'aint heard nothin' yet! My very first office job was at Fisheries and Oceans Canada as a 'Publications Clerk'. Essentially, my job was to mail out literature requests from the public. Sounds easy enough right? Well, not if you don't know what you have in stock. When I started that job, the department had a backroom with rows and rows of shelves chalk full of material and a basement room with overstock. However, no one knew what we had and what we didn't. I spent 3 months sorting through stock before finally being able to mail anything out. Now THAT ladies and gentlemen, was a crappy job. I counted boxes of posters, books, rulers, stickers etc for 3 LONG months. And that's all I have to say about that!

The day is going ok. I'm SOOOOO glad it's Friday! Honey went to work today. He was feeling much better. Weekend plans include a trip to the UBC Film Society's showing of "Serenity" on Saturday night and an all Portuguese language dinner on Sunday. Other than that, lot's of reading.

Well, between holiday spending, bills and pay problems with my employer, I'm going to have to withdraw from classes for the semester. I just can't get together enough money to pay for the classes and the books over the next week. I'm not tooo worried about it though. This just means that I get almost 3 months of rest before the summer semester. I was a bit upset about the whole thing yesterday but I'm pretty much over it now. I could use the break. I'm determined to finish this time around, even if I DO have to take a break.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! :)

The year started off well enough and then yesterday, the rain started at about 9ish and it hasn't stopped since. I'm not complaining. Actually, it's much warmer outside when it rains and I'm quite happy about that because I've been freezing on my morning comute. It's been much too cold!

My poor honey has been home sick with the flu since Tuesday. He was feeling a bit better today and he sure sounded and looked a bit better but he's still not all there. I encouraged him to stay home today as well. My fear is that if he went today, he'd only get himself worse and then he'd get sick again. So, he's at home, sleeping I'm sure.

It's been pretty quiet today. I'm going to keep busy by printing some promo packages. Oh Joy! *drip drip drip*

Another year has come to a close and a new year has now begun. I made no resolutions this year as this never seems to work for me but I do have some "action plans" to put into place. So in a way, I did make some resolutions.

I hope Santa was good to all of you. He was very, very good to me. He brought me this:


I'm getting HITCHED!

He proposed on Christmas eve after we'd opened all of our gifts. I don't know what he said since I cried like a baby through the whole thing. I didn't even say yes. I forgot to! It's not like in the movies where you listen and take it all in. I was sooooo overjoyed I couldn't control all the tears. My parents had known for a few days and my sister knew for over a month! Dan had showed her the ring when he bought it. I asked him where he stashed it. You'll never guess. In the computer. He figured it was the only place I'd never look. He was right. No plans for the wedding yet. We haven't even picked a date! We're thinking in two years or so. After all, it's not like anything has changed except now I can call him my fiance! :)

Other than that, the holidays were relatively uneventful. Lots of food and drink and a nice week of relaxation. I only turned on my computer twice and both times it was to play scrabble. I'm an addict. I can play for hours and not even realize it.

Back to work now. The place is starting to fall apart!