Somehow, I think they frown on this but....

Today, I went to a bookstore and ended up reading an entire book in one sitting. I hadn't intended to read the entire thing, especially since I wasn't planning to buy it, but I read one page and then another and then another and all of a sudden, it was three hours later and there were no more pages to turn. I want to actually buy the book at some point but it's only out in hardcover right now and I can't really justify the price of the book even to my own book-junky self. It also helped me assuage my curiousity of what happens next in the series since I was #187 on the holds list at the library and quite impatient. So now my curiousity is assuage but I feel quite guilty about not buying the book since I had read it anyway. Anyway, today's favourite thing is getting lost in a good book.

Isn't that a food?

The longer I have this blog, the more I notice tell-tale themes that run through it. One is TV, one is food and now that I have an actual job, one is work. So anyway, I was at work today, when a song I really enjoy came on the radio. It was "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" by Meatloaf. It is such a theatrical song. It is quite long but it has 3 or 4 acts in the song itself, like a miniature play in itself. You can see the video here.

One of the joys of summer....

This afternoon when I woke up there were fresh strawberries ready to be eaten. My sister went and picked them at a U-Pick after church this morning. There is just nothing like really fresh strawberries. She came home with a basketful. I believe, as of the time I started this post, there are not quite enough strawberries to cover the bottom of the basket. Luckily, it was both of us eating them and not just one of us. So today's favourite thing is fresh strawberries.

We're not satisfied until you're not satisfied.

Don't worry! That is not my attitude at work. It is, however, the slogan for a "Demotivator" at despair.com. They are basically parodies of the motivational posters that started coming out a few years ago with the picture and then a caption at the bottom. If you click on the link above, I have a feeling you will know exactly what I am talking about. Now, whenever I see an actual motivational poster I keep expecting a snarky caption at the bottom and it surprises me when the caption is actually sincere. Maybe it's just my dark sense of humour but the snarkiness of some of the demotivators really amuse me. Here are some of my favourites:

• CHALLENGES
• DARE TO SLACK
• HAZARDS
• LIMITATIONS
• MISTAKES
• MOTIVATION
• PERSPECTIVE
• TRADITION
• And my absolute favourite: WISHES

Desair.com also has amusing T-Shirts as well as other rather amusing products. I highly recommend looking through the website. So today's favourite things are the "Demotivators" at Despair.com.

What did they say about whistling while you work.

As I may have mentioned before, I tend to work overnight shifts on the weekend. I really don't mind them, mostly because depending on your coworkers, the manager and the customers, they tend to be generally more laid back than regular shifts. People visit, I sing along to the radio and I just feel less uptight (usually) than during some really crazy day shifts. Occasionally, you get annoying drunk people but they're usually pretty good. It helps when I get along with the otehr peolpe I work the shift with because when I don't, it makes for a long night. So today's favourite thing is the overnight shift. Another bonus is getting an extra dollar an hour and more of an employee discount.

All the things we hold near and dear to our hearts....

Today was quite the day. I really don't know what to say about it other than that I am still quite in shock. To have two celebrities die in the same day (and not just minor celebrities, but actual icons. ) is quite unnerving (for lack of a better word - there probably is a better word, but I can't think of it). It took a long time for me actually process the fact that Michael Jackson had died and I don't think I have yet. I had known that Farrah Fawcett was ill so it wasn't the same type of shock but it is still sad. My thoughts go out to their friends and families.

Now on to my favourite thing - which that soooooo isn't.

Tonight, as we had planned as of Saturday, my sister and I went to see the travelling production of the musical "Chicago". I love that musical. Of course, it is actually the only Broadway musical I have ever actually seen and I have now seen it three times. I saw it for the first time on Broadway seven years ago. I saw it again 2 and a half years ago back home in Regina, also through the touring production. It's quite funny and the songs are catchy and it is just so enjoyable. My sister and I managed to get box seats so it was nice not to have to climb over anyone to get in or out. I had never sat in a box so it was a new experience. My sister would have liked to have gotten a lower box and she didn't like how high it was. She also didn't like me pointing out how high it was. Anyway, today's favourite thing is the stage production of the musical "Chicago".

I knew that..

I had an interesting day at work. Not so much in terms of customers, but more to do with my hours. I got a call last night asking if I could work today from 2-10. I didn't mind doing that and got to work at a few minutes to two. Then I found out that I wasn't actually supposed to work today. That was rather annoying because I wasn't about to go home and come back for three, but I managed to occupy myself for an hour. So the end of the shift finally came and I was ready to go home, when one of the managers put me on somewhere else because she thought I was on until 11. I was pretty sure I was off at ten, I was ready to be off at 10 but I figured that they knew what they were talking about because they had the schedule. It sucks having to stay later when you get your mind set on leaving at a certain time, especially when you only find out when you thought you were able to go home. I got the manager to check the schedule again and lo and behold, I was right. I was off at 10. So I was able to leave and it was only fifteen minutes later and not one hour. So today's favourite thing is being right (especially when it means you get to go home earlier).

Life. Better.

A few months ago, I watched a few episodes of the show "Better Off Ted". The show is about a man named Ted (go figure!) who works at a big corporation (Veridian Dynamics) and the people and problems that come with the job. It's quite an amusing show and I am glad it was renewed for another season, no matter how bad it's ratings were. Right now, they are airing some of the episodes that they didn't air during the regular season and I quite enjoyed tonight's episode. My favourite thing about the show though is that there is some sort of commercial for the company. The commercials are very tongue-in-cheek and I get a kick out of them. I believe the following video is from the first episode:

This next video was made when the show was pre-empted for a speech from President Obama:

So today's favourite thing is the Veridian Dynamics commercials from "Better Off Ted".

Maybe it's because I haven't read Twilight yet....

So I stumbled across a video the other day that pitted Buffy up against Edward Cullen of "Twilight" fame. Basically, it mixed scenes from all seven scenes from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" against certain scenes from "Twilight" as well as one scene from the 4th Harry Potter movie (it took me awhile but I figured out which scene it was). Edward Cullen doesn't fair too well in the video, being that Buffy is a vampire slayer and all. It was quite entertaining, especially for the Buffy fan that I am. I don't if many "Twilight" fans will enjoy it so much. Aside from the obvious colour changes between the "Buffy" and "Twilight scenes", the video was quite well edited. Anyway, here it is:

So today's favourite thing is the Buffy vs Edward video by Rebellious Pixels.

Another post about food I didn't have to make...

My sister bought rhubarb the other day and spend lots of time trying to find the recipe for rhubarb pie amongst the myriad of recipes in her shelf. She couldn't find it so she got mom to email it to her. She made the pie today, despite a typo in the recipe where it asked for three cups of flour (chopped up) rather than three cups of rhubarb. It was a bit runny but it was still quite good, but then I really like rhubarb pie so I would say that. So today's favourite things is rhubarb pie.

What the heck was I going to write about?

I am pretty sure that before I went to work I knew exactly what my post for today was going to be about. Now that I am home again, I have absolutely no idea what it was. It wasn't a hugely eventful day for me. I pretty much slept, read, and various other non-extraordinary things. What I did read was quite enjoyable though. Since before I even started watching the series "True Blood", I've been trying to get into the books they're based on. I started reading the first one before I watched the season and finished it well after. I think part of my problem may have been trying to read/watch them both at the same time because while the series is based on the books, not everything is exactly the same so it was hard to separate the two. I have since read the second and am starting the third. Once I got into the books, they have been quite enjoyable. Provided, of course, that you like reading about vampire-type creatures. So anyway, unless an unlikely event occurs where I remember my intended topic for this post, today's favourite things is the Sookie Stackhouse mystery series by Charlaine Harris.

It should be it's own food group...

Ahh..chocolate..what would I do without you? Tonight, my sister really wanted those no-bake chocolate cookies - you know with the oatmeal. If you don't know what I am talking about, all you really need to know is that they are REALLY good. And addictive. She tried hinting at me to make them but I......didn't, so she made them herself. They were really good, as usual. Made even better by the fact that I did not in fact have to make them myself. Thanks Colette!!! So today's favourite thing is the chocolate oatmeal no-bake cookies..you know what I am talking about. They probably have a name but I honestly don't know what it is.

Money. money, money, money......monay!

Today, I got paid. It was less than usual but more than I expected given the amount of time I have not been working these past couple of weeks. With the money, I was able to pay off both of my credit cards and still have some money left over - hopefully, to last me another couple of weeks without putting anything (or very little) back on my credit cards. It's nice not having to worry about paying them off, and to have money left over. So today's favourite thing is being able to pay off the credit cards and still have money left over.

It's a good thing I have a job....

A few months ago, I wrote about the computer game, "Sims 2". A couple of weeks ago, the latest version "Sims 3" came out. I put off buying it but caved in and bought it today. It's quite interesting but it's going to take a while to get used to. I was finding that with the "Sims 2", I had kind of hit a wall so it's nice to be able to discover the new features in the latest version. There a bunch of things I really like about the "Sims 3" such as picking specific character traits for your sims such being a klepto or being very flirty. It's also really easy to customize your characters. Also, you have more freedom about where your sims go and don't have to save your game when you move from place to place. I haven't found everything out about the game but it's been interesting. So today's favourite thing is discovering the features of a new game.

Apparently, I am quite susceptible to suggestion....

Yesterday, one of the websites I go to all the time had a post about the webseries, "The Guild". I had heard about the series about a year ago but I hadn't checked it out until last night. I ran through both series between last night and today. That sounds bad but the episodes are less than 10 minutes each. The series itself is about a group of online gamers that meet in real life. It's quite amusing especially if you are a gamer yourself (which I am not) or spend a lot of time online (which I do). It stars Felicia Day who was also in the awesome "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog" as well as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". It had me giggling quite a bit. If you are interested in the series, you can watch it at their website. It is definitely something worth checking out. Some of the terms they use, I do have to look up because I am not an online gamer but it's pretty accessible.

Back to work...

At work, as I have mentioned previously, they are doing all sorts of renovations. This means that they are massively cutting the hours that people are getting. For the past couple of weeks the onkly hours I have been getting are weekend overnight shifts, so not a lot. Yester day Iwas able to pick up a shift, which was nice because it wasn't overnight and it was a bit of a shorter shift. For some reason, it just seemed less stressful. I was also luck that I was able to pick up that shift yesterday because the restaurant will be closed completely from Tuesday to Thursday, so unless I get hours at a different location, I don't have the option of picking up shifts on those days.So today's favourite thing is being able to pick up shifts.

Yay! Something for me!!!

My sister came home today. She brought me presents. That's was awesome! She wasn't sure what I would think of one of the things she got me, but I loved it even though I may never actually wear it for it's true purpose. It's a blue hat with coins on it and a veil like thingy that she bought in Turkey. I put it on when she first gave it to me three hours ago and haven't taken it off on purpose since. It's pretty awesome but I really don't know if I will be something I will be able to actually use. She also got me really nice fan, a small purse, and a ring/bracelet thing. She also gave me a really cool pillow covering. My other sister got me a woven bookmark which was pretty cool, a pendant and a magnet. I really enjoy getting things from different places in the world, although I am pretty sure I would enjoy seeing them up close and personal even more.

All by myself...

For the last couple of weeks, as I believe I've mentioned in previous posts, my sister has been gone so I've had the house to myself. It's quite nice having the house to myself but I will be glad when she returns. Have the house to myself lets me sort of relax in terms of having my stuff in the appropriate place, although no one can say I am ever particularly uptight about that. While I do enjoy having the house to myself, having someone nearby to tell me that doing something is stupid is nice too (not that she uses those terms, but it would have been good if I had had that buffer on Thursday night) . So today's favourite thing is having the house to myself (to a certain extent).

"This is the smallest amount of power to go to someone's head."

At work, they are doing some major renovations. It's crazy. So while they renovate, not only to I get practically zero hours, we also only have Drive-Thru open (which pretty much explains why I get zero hours). I don't know if they allow this during the day, but on my overnight shift, customers were allowed to walk through. Not quite so enjoyable, in fact it made my time as the person to hand out the orders h-e-double hockey sticks. Because not only were orders being inserted into random places in the queue, people seemed to less inhibited or something when there was just a window as opposed to a counter or a car. Now, normally, they would be the people to come into the store to order, so I would have to put up with them or get the security guards to do their thing. With the walk through, I could just close the window and lock it. It was pretty awesome. Especially for one guy (*shudder*). So todays favourite thing is being able to to just close and lock the window when people were being inappropriate or rude.

Why am I all of a sudden leaving things everywhere?

Last night, I realized that I had left my lock at the gym. After accidently leaving something else at the gym last week, I wasn't impressed. Especially since I couldn't find it last week. Today, I went back to that particular gym to retrieve the lock. It turns out that not only did I leave the lock there, but I left my gym shoes there as well. It's a good thing that I checked the locker room and not just the lost and found. I went to a different gym tonight and I hope that I didn't end up leaving anything there tonight. So today's favourite thing is finding stuff where you left it.

I so thought I could dance....

Tonight, I watched most of "So you think you can dance". I don't watch it often for a variety of reasons, but since I was home tonight and they were finally through the awkward pre-top 20 stage, I decided to watch. Those dancers are amazing. After watching them and seeing performance of Flamenco and amazing tribal dancers in various places, it really puts my own dancing in perspective. Specifically, the fact that I will never be at that level. It is a fact that I am perfectly okay with but it is still humbling to watch. So today's favourite thing is watching incredible dance performances.

Despite any evidence to the contrary, I am not in fact crazy.

I have mentioned before that I was not exactly impressed with one of my former doctors when he didn't even take off my tensor to look at my ankle when I sprained it a few years ago. Today, I went to the doctor to get the ankle checked out again, as well as ask him what's up with my knees being all gross and grinding all the time. The doctor actually looked at my ankle and told me what may actually be the problem. Apparently it's too loose or something and I need to strengthen it. As for my knees, he suggested strengthening my quads. For both, he suggested physio because it would be partially covered by OHIP (Ontario Health....yadda yadda yadda). So, I went to the place he recommended and apparently OHIP only covers part of the cost of the therapy if you are under 19 or over 65. So if anyone has any suggestions to strengthen the ankles, please let me know. I think that my BodyPump class is good enough right now for my quads/knees.
I was worried about going to the doctor today because when I asked for the referral to that doctor, my knee and ankle were somewhat hurting, while today they weren't. I had asked a previous doctor about my knee when it wasn't actually hurting, and he told me to come back when it was. I wasn't impressed. So today's favourite thing is doctors that recognize a problem even when you are not in actual pain.
Tomorrow, I am going to get an XRAY done of my wrist, because the doctor thinks I may have a ganglion cyst on it or something. I think I have been to more doctors in the last two months than I have been to in the last 5 years. You'd think I was falling apart.

I already know that...I read that in your blog!

The one thing that I don't enjoy so much about having a blog (aside from having to think of something to right about) is that whenever I try to talk to some of my family members, they tell be they know because they read about it in my blog. On the same note, I like the fact that two of my sisters have blogs because I can just read about their days. Currently both of my blog-having sisters are on a cruise of the Mediterranean and have been sporadically updating their blogs. So I do know that they are in fact still alive and enjoying their cruise. So today's favourite thing is being able read about my sisters' cruise on their blogs.

Kind of a misnomer, don't you think?

Today, I went to see a movie*. When I was younger and went to see movies, we never got any popcorn or anything. Now, I usually get some popcorn and a drink. Not just any popcorn. I tend to get the Kid's pack or combo at the movies. I like getting the kid's pack because there is not too much of any one thing. You get a small drink, a small popcorn and a small candy. It may look odd that someone my age gets the kid's pack but I don't really care. For me, they are just right.

* The movie I saw was "The Hangover". It was quite enjoyable, although I read too much about it beforehand, so I knew a bunch of what happened in the movie.

Oh what a beautiful morning..

I worked another overnight shift last night; so while everywhere else in the world it's Sunday (except in the odd places where it's Monday), in my head it's still Saturday. I enjoy doing overnight shifts occasionally - although occasionally is now turning into every weekend. They give me a chance to see morning. I enjoy seeing the morning hours - especially when I don't actually have to wake up for them. I love the air and the stillness. I cannot actually get myself to actually wake up to enjoy those first few hours of the day, but when I am awake anyway, they are quite enjoyable. So today's favourite thing is the early morning without actually having to wake up early.

Got there just in time.....

Tonight when I got to work (20 or so minutes early), one of the cashiers had just taken an order for literally a busload of people (they were a team). I started to work five minutes later, so I actually didn't have to serve them. Their order turned out to be nearly $200. I am so glad I got there when I did (and not any sooner) because I liked having as little to do with the order as I did (I just made the fries). So today's favourite thing is arriving in the nick of time to miss hellish orders.

"What a crazy random happenstance...."

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I've been watching DVD's of the tv show "True Blood". It is quite an enjoyable show. I finished the season today. Apparently the second season starts soon....on a channel we don't get. I am quite interested to see what happens next. Anyway, back to the point of the post.......after watching so many episodes, I've started speaking with an approximation of the accent they use on the show. When I was at work today, I couldn't stop speaking in some sort of Southern dialect. When I mentioned speaking in crazy accents after watching TV shows to one of my co-workers, she said she knew exactly what I meant. She said her boyfriend kept mentioned her accent after she started watching a certain TV show. I asked her which one and she said "True Blood". Apparently, she started watching the show yesterday. I thought that was so weird considering I had only started watching it on Tuesday. So today's favourite thing is odd coincidences.

"I don't trust you. You're a vampire. Or is that an offensive term? Should I say 'undead American'?"

I read a lot of books. They tend to be of the romantic variety. A few years ago, there were barely any books about vampires. Now, it seems like every second book has some vampirical element. It's madness, I tell you, madness. There are a few series of books about vampires that I enjoy but for every series I enjoy, there are at least ten more I have no desire to read. It seems like each series also has its own vampire mythology. Mixing of series will end up in mind-bottling circumstances (I read a series where slayers were bad/ Vamps were good and then I watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer soon after -- DID NOT COMPUTE*) I will admit that recently I bought "Twilight" to see what the hype was about. I haven't actually read more than a few pages in it yet, we'll see. I was going to just borrow it from the library, but I was 423rd on the waiting list and that just seemed absurd. I think I might just watch the movie and be done with it. I also tried getting into the Sookie Stackhouse series. I ended up renting the TV series instead ("True Blood") which has been quite enjoyable so far. I am on episode 7 now. I am hoping to actually get into the books soon, although it may be after I have watched all of season one (apparently season one encompasses most of the first book). So anyway, today's favourite thing is certain TV/ book series about vampires.

* I should also mention that I watched "Buffy" and "Angel" while I was watching "Bones" and it was really hard for me to separate David Boreanaz's characters of ANGEL and BOOTH in the two shows. Over the course of a couple episodes of "Bones", BOOTH a) refused to break down a door because it would hurt his shoulder (ANGEL always seemed to enter a room by breaking down a door) and b) got quite seriously shot - to the point where people believed it when he faked his own death (I was convinced that his vampirical healing powers would save him.....they may as well have --he was out and about in the next episode which was only set a couple weeks later)

Something in the air...

Tonight, when I parked my car to go to my dance class, I thought I smelled something familiar. It was such a good smell but I couldn't place it until I saw the lilacs. Lilacs are one of my favourite flowers. My grandparents had a huge lilac bush and our neighbours back home had one until recently. I love the purple flowers and the smell. It reminds me so much of home and my grandparents' farm.

Moving right along....

My sister left to go to Europe on Saturday. I have had the car all to myself for the past few days. I am quite thankful for that because I don't know if I would have made it on time for work today if I would have had to take the bus. After doing an overnight shift on Saturday night and then sleeping til four yesterday afternoon, I was so not able to get to bed when I should have to be awake in time to take my time before going to work. I started work at 2pm today, which isn't such a big deal but I still really wanted to sleep. So I was glad that having the car gave be twenty extra minutes I wouldn't have had if I would have taken the bus. So today's favourite thing is having a car to drive to work.