Frivolous and Vexatious

Simplify

2007-02-04T01:37:00.000-12:00

Our weekend has been simplified by the weather.

Whatever plans we had to leave the town of Seaforth after 4pm yesterday or today have been stopped by old man winter. Almost all the roads in Southwestern Ontario are closed. We kind of saw it coming on our way home from Goderich yesterday afternoon... but were a little astounded since it hasn't really snowed all weekend... apparently cold + 60km/h winds = whiteouts.

So before settling in for the night we went out to take video of the weather for our audience (insert standard joke about how audience = 4 people here)

Don't feel bad for us though, because soon we will be much, much, warmer. Here's hoping that Jamaica doesn't have a freak snowstorm.

"Lawyer-speak" for Don't Drive on the Wrong Side of the Road

2007-01-15T08:09:00.000-12:00

A little excerpt from the Highway Traffic Act, R.S.0. 1990, c.H.8.

Overtaking and passing rules

Passing meeting vehicles

148. (1) Every person in charge of a vehicle on a highway meeting another vehicle shall turn out to the right from the centre of the roadway, allowing the other vehicle one-half of the roadway free.

... because "Thou shalt not drive head-on into oncoming traffic" was way too simple.

Kittens: The Only Thing Tastier than Babies!

2007-01-09T14:40:00.000-12:00

Excerpts from Saturday Morning

2007-01-07T14:05:00.000-12:00

It's 9:15 am. Both Scott and I have been up for awhile, not being huge on the sleeping in thing. We're still lazing around in our jammies, contemplating breakfast. The phone rings, which is unusual given how early it is on a weekend.

Sara: Hello?

Telephone: (Pause)

Sara: Hello? (To Scott) It can't be a telemarketer, it's way too early for that. Hello?

Telephone: "Click"

Guy on phone: Hello. Can I speak to S. Wisking?

Sara: Uh yeah, that's me.

Guy on Phone: Hi! I'm calling from Capital One to inform you that you've been pre-selected for a credit card! We would love to have you as a Capital One customer! Our card has lots of great....

Sara: (interrupting) Umm. It's 9am on a Saturday and you're calling to talk to me about credit cards? 9am on a Saturday? Seriously?

Guy on Phone: Ummm... yes..

Sara: (laughing) Great way to sell credit cards.

Guy on Phone: I'm sorry, but really I don't want to be here either.

Sara: (Feeling bad for the guy with the crappy job) Yeah, I get that. Totally not your fault. But maybe you could pass a message along to your boss over there at Capital One? Calling me at 9am on the weekend is NOT a good marketing strategy. Seriously. SO not a good thing.

Guy on Phone: Yeah. I'll pass that on.

Sara: Alright, well good luck and have a good day.

Guy on Phone: Thanks, you too.

Shoplifting is a Victimless Crime... Like Punching Someone in the Dark

2006-12-20T23:20:00.000-12:00

So a pet peeve of mine: Signs that give BAD legal advice.

In Walmart, the little signs in the ladies room warn against shoplifting.

They say something to the effect of:

"Shoplifting is not a game, or a thrill. It is a crime, and even for a first offence you could get a criminal record that will haunt you for life, and even a lengthy jail term!"

This sign makes me mad every time.

Two things, first.

1. I am not pro shoplifting.
2. This is not legal advice.

I guess the sign is fairly well placed, and I'm sure it deters people... but what bugs me is that the sign is pretty much WRONG!

If you shoplift, for a first offence, will you get a criminal record? That's hit or miss. Definitely there is a possibility. It'd depend on the value of what the person stole, their age, their character, how they presented to the court.... and so on... but the reality is a whole lot of shoplifters probably end up with records and a whole lot don't.

But... the odds of someone going to jail on a first offence for shoplifting? Remote, at best. I'm not saying that shoplifting isn't a crime... or isn't wrong... all I'm saying is that here in Canada anyway, we don't typically throw first-time shoplifters in jail. No matter what Walmart has to say on the matter.

Again, I don't agree that stealing is right.... but if you're going to make signs about the topic make sure they're factually correct... but I guess a sign that says:

"Shoplifting is a crime. It is not a thrill, or a game. For a first offence, you may have to pay a fine to charity to have the charges withdrawn, or end up getting an absolute or conditional discharge with no criminal record, or maybe end up with a criminal record, for which you can be pardoned in 3 years. And if this is about your 6th offence or more? And you aren't under 18? There might be a likelihood you could end up in jail for a little while."

Guess that doesn't have the same ring to it, now does it?

Another Cop-Out

2006-12-19T23:23:00.000-12:00

A Meme from Stacey. I've been up since 4am, for no reason, and it feels wrong to go in to work so early... so since I've been tagged... here it is.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Hot chocolate for sure. Raw eggs do not make good juice. Egg nog= gross.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Santa most certainly wraps presents.

3. Coloured lights on the tree and house, or white?
Coloured everywhere. Blue LED outside, and multicoloured on the tree.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
Nope.

5. When do you put your decorations up?
The first or second week of December. Anything before my birthday is way too early for Christmas decorations.

6. What is your favourite holiday dish?
Every Christmas Eve we have fondue. I think that wins, but my Uncle Danny's Green Beans are a close runner up.

7. Favourite holiday memories from childhood?
Oh I have a ton...
- Playing on Christmas Eve with Terri to keep the excitement in check. One year we made a snowduck, one year a 6 hour Domino Rally marathon. Most years we ended up kicked out of our houses due to our hyperness.
- Talking to Terri on Christmas morning to tell each other about presents.
- Going to my grandparents house (I especially loved the Christmas Bear they had, and the bowl of Hershey's Miniatures and chocolate mint patties they had on their dining room hutch).
- The year that my aunt Jane got me a Pogo Ball AND a Groove Tube (both the toys I wanted. I was sure I was the luckiest kid ever)
- Christmas Eve with my Aunt Heather and Larry, having a fondue.
- Volunteering for Christmas dinner at the Salvation Army. I was always the one who served the gravy.
- The year we had an ice storm on Christmas, and we cooked breakfast on the wood stove downstairs cause we had no power.
- High School Christmas parties where we went toboganning and then ended up watching Muppets Christmas Carols, and then of course later on, Jon parties which were a little less wholesome.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I agree with Stacey on this one... really Santa just kind of faded out of the picture for me. There was no "big shocking moment".

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Yes, every year we open up a present from my Aunt Heather and Larry.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
KFC is the required tree decorating meal. I have a strong, unwavering belief that a Christmas tree should play host to as many tacky decorations as possible.

11. Snow... love it or dread it?
Mostly dread it, but if I've got no place to go... Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

12. Can you ice skate or ski?
I can skate, and if you call skiing right into the parking lot without the ability to stop skiing, then I'm your man.

13. Do you remember your favourite gift?
It'd have to be a tie between the Animator and the Atari... both in about Grade 5

14. What's the most important thing about the holidays for you?
Spending time with family and friends.

15. What is your favourite holiday dessert?
Ice Cream Yule Log

16. What is your favourite holiday tradition?
Christmas Eve having a fondue with Heather, Larry and the kids, while Heather and I quote the Grinch at every opportunity and we all wear Christmas cracker paper hats.

17. What tops your tree?
The tackiest star Zellers had for sale.

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?
Giving

19. What is your favourite Christmas Song?
The 80's Band-Aid song "Do they know its Christmas"

20. Do you go to church on Christmas eve?
Nope.

I tag Heather, Alley and Leslie

God Bless us, every one!

2006-12-11T14:34:00.000-12:00

See how many you can identify.

"Roast Beast is a feast I can't stand in the least"

"Nobody wants a CHARLIE in the Box"

"Happy Birthday!"

"I am a bank robber! I have come to rob your bank!"

"That's TWO! TWO worried Frogs!"

"It came without packages, boxes or bags."

"Don't forget the chocolate pot roast with smishmashio... With smiminish... With yogurt."

"It's not a bad little tree. All it needs is a little love!"

"Fog's as thick as peanut butter!"

-- "Santa doesn't leave presents under the bodhi tree!"
--"Do you think we can bribe her back with Christmas?"
-- "You can save more souls with roller skates and Easy Bake Ovens than you can with this 2000 page sleeping pill!"

"We evil magicians have to make a living too!"

"I heard there is no Christmas. In the silly Middle East. No trees, no snow, no Santa Claus. They have different religious beliefs..."

"Me I want a Hula Hoop!"

"Every Christmas it's all the same! I always end up playing a shepherd."

"Haven't I ever told you anything about Bumbles? BUMBLES Bounce!"

"Christmas. It's not the getting. It's not giving. It's the loving. There. I said it. Now get outta here!"

Christmas at the McWisking House

2006-12-03T14:13:00.000-12:00

Shamus lives in the tree for most of December.

The tree (note extra tacky Zellers star on top. Also, we have the only tree that wishes you Merry Christmas from Allison!)

Christmas is clearly for cats.

30 Days

2006-11-30T15:25:00.000-12:00

I must say that after 30 straight days of blogging, I feel nothing but bored.

Maybe this is an experience I will look back upon with fondness, but for right now it will be nice to have a Friday night where I don't have to worry about blogging early or coming home in time to write something, stealing internet access while out of town in order to blog, or coming up with something to say when really I would much rather spend my time on just about anything else but the computer.

Really, in retrospect, I probably should have blogged less from home and more from work (on my lunchbreak, of course. Hi FAC!)... instead of taking time away from my freetime.. of which there is never quite enough.

I've often said that anyone who says they don't have time/money for something just doesn't value the thing they aren't doing/buying... really saying "Oh I don't have time to go to the gym" or "I don't have money to buy " doesn't mean there isn't a free minute in your day to go work off the pudge, or that you don't really have a dollar to spend on that random luxury item, it is really just an excuse. A fancy way of saying "I don't place value on ". If the thing was REALLY valued, people make time or save/reallocate money (within reason, of course). So all of that being said, please clearly understand what I mean when I say:

I might not have time to blog in the next little while.

I'm not sure if my blogs in the future will be more frequent or more lacking, as a result of this exercise. Who knows, maybe it'll be about the same as before. On the positive side, I do feel a sense of accomplishment... having stuck to something for a whole 30 days. They say rehab is only 28!!!

End of NaBloPoMo

2006-11-29T13:59:00.000-12:00

We're nearing the end of this whole month.

I've noticed that every day, people stroll in through the randomizer. I've been getting hits from all kinds of fascinating places.

So, for lack of anything better to do.... I'd love to hear from anyone who's new. Anyone here who strolled in through the randomizer? Anyone here who has been lurking? Today is the day... unveil yourselves please! It'd really make my day.

Let's Talk Politics

2006-11-28T13:49:00.000-12:00

A Federal By-Election took place last night, in my old London riding of London North-Centre. Not much of a surprise that the Liberals won, having a strong candidate (after the retirement of Joe Fontana, former Liberal MP). The true shock, however, is that the Conservatives, who parachuted in what they must have felt was a strong candidate, a former London mayor who had moved to Washington, came in third. Still not the really shocking thing, as although the NDP will probably not form a government in the near future, their popularity is growing and it would make sense for the Tories to come in third to the NDP... but the real shock is that the NDP came in FOURTH... with third place going to... THE GREEN PARTY!

With 26% of the popular vote!

A small victory for the Green Party... despite not winning the election.

So, in two by-elections the Conservatives are 0 for 2. Is this a litmus test for Canada?

My non asked for advice: The Liberals need to get themselves a leader and move on with an election. Maybe the time is right.

Impending Doom

2006-11-27T13:45:00.000-12:00

This was exactly one year ago...

We were snowed in for a couple of days as all of the highways were closed. (link)

Now it is 10 degrees outside and the grass is still green. But not for long...

There must be a price to pay for such a nice November.

Better Late than Never...

2006-11-26T13:52:00.000-12:00

Since I'm running out of things to talk about on here, I'm taking this opportunity to post pictures from our honeymoon.

After thinking long and hard about what to do for our honeymoon, we decided that a local trip would be the way to go. We were fairly short on cash, we were planning to take a more international trip during the winter, we didn't want to waste the last few days of summer going somewhere tropical, and only had 4 or 5 days. Given all of this, and after it coming highly recommended, we decided to check out Montreal and Quebec City.

If anyone is thinking of going to Quebec City, let me tell you that I highly recommend it. Seriously, it is probably the most romantic place you can go without going to Europe. It far surpassed our expectations (although we're still pretty psyched about our trip somewhere warm). So... without further adieu, find pictures of the trip.

We arrived in town in the early afternoon, and after a tour of the aquarium we decided to check out the walled city and find something french to eat. We weren't disappointed when we found fondue for dinner, at a lovely little french restaurant on the patio.

We explored the city, which was absolutely breathtaking. We quickly realised that our trip was not long enough, and we cancelled our whitewater rafting and whalewatching plans, as we both were totally in love with the city and wanted to take in all of the history. I'd been to Quebec City in Grade 7, for a school trip, but apparently you can't appreciate Quebec City at age 12.

We took a ghost tour, a boat tour, a self guided walking tour, checked out the little boutiques, walked the Plains of Abraham, checked out local churches, and a horse drawn carriage tour around the town. We rode the furnicular, walked the Casse Cou staircase, ooohed and ahhed at the Chateau Frotenac, and generally checked out the sights.

We totally regretted spending a whole day in Montreal instead of coming straight to Quebec City.

Our last day was spent at the Montmency Falls, which are taller than Niagara Falls. Always a fan of falls, we had a great time. On the way up the Cable Car it rained, and it rained, and it rained. It was the first and only rain of the honeymoon, and lasted about 30 minutes. As we reached the top, the skies cleared and the sun came out again.

The outcome? A cable car to ourselves, very few tourists, and a lunch table overlooking the falls. After our wedding being rained on, we were graced with awesome weather karma. Definitely a fair trade off, although great weather for both would have certainly been better.

Because I like Bandwagons

2006-11-25T05:39:00.000-12:00

... and savage norsemen.

__________________________________
* Henly. Don't show this video to Jade. You might encourage a belief in Santa, as well as talking cucumbers and a sense of childlike wonder. Be warned.

NaBloPoMoFo!

2006-11-24T10:36:00.000-12:00

So. Sick. Of. Daily. Posting.

T minus 5 days and counting.

For today? Please enjoy a picture of my cottage, covered in snow. Feel free to discuss any deep meaning you may attribute to it, and how this particular picture makes you feel.

And We Call THIS Civilization?

2006-11-23T12:27:00.000-12:00

Most of the time, I sit back, feet up, and sigh in satisfaction at the home of the Maple Leaf and all my fine nation has to offer. I thank my lucky stars that I have a roof over my head, clean water, and live in relative opulence, unlike many other countries in the world. I thank my government for the subsidized education, free health care, social safety net, and generally awesome standard of living that hundreds of years of politicians and visionaries have created for us.

Aside from being glad that I wasn't born in a country full of poverty like Outer Uzbekistan (I'm not sure that is even a country, but you get my point), I am also happy that I've been born into a society that, while maybe not as wealthy as our neighbour to the south, seems to me to be more tolerant, more accepting, more peaceloving, less commercial, and more socially minded than many, America included.* But then some days, I sit back and wonder how we can call this civilization!?!?

My beef today?

Thanksgiving.

My understanding is that down there in the U S of A they get a lovely 4 day weekend!!! Of course, I don't understand the whole football obsession and how it plays some kind of central role in the holiday... but for an extra day off, I'd learn to love watching big stupid men crash into one another for hours on end. This Thanksgiving thing, of course, is on top of all those OTHER holidays that they get (some of which seem kind of not worthy of a day off)... like Columbus Day, Flag Day, Washington's Birthday and the like. It seems to me that every time you turn around, poof, its a holiday down there! And that's not a bad thing! Of course, "holiday" there doesn't necessarily mean the same it does up here**, where stores and businesses are shut tight.

I've always envied countries like France, who seem to get weeks upon weeks of paid holidays as a rule. Personally, I think that one thing all of us North Americans have in common, to our own detriment, is that in North American Society, we simply work too hard and don't take enough time out to play. This is even taking in to account all those extra holidays those folks down south get.

I think that much of how a society should be judged lies squarely on quality of life. Personally, I think time off is a huge factor in that.

So, Canadian Government... if you're listening. I thank you for all of the wonderful things you've done***, however WE. NEED. MORE. HOLIDAYS! Seriously, we need to keep up with the Jones' here! So, I'm proposing you add a few holidays to our schedule. Specifically, the following:

A 4 day weekend in November, corresponding with American Thanksgiving. We can call it Pierre Trudeau's Extravaganza, or possibly Thanksgiving 2.

A 3 day weekend in June. I suggest it be dedicated to Labatt Blue.

A 3 day weekend in late February, in honour of the Littlest Hobo.

Magnificent Beaver Wednesday, which would fall in March.

I look forward to your response.

_______________________
* Sorry Elaine, its just how I feel. No disrespect meant.
**ie David's Bridal was open on July 4th. Shouldn't there be fireworks or something?
*** No Mr. Harper, I wasn't talking about you.

Publication Ban Say What?

2006-11-22T12:25:00.000-12:00

A little hypothetical question for all of you out there:

Ever been in such a rush to get to a party/gathering/event that you didn't have time to put on your underwear?

Feeling older now.

2006-11-21T13:35:00.000-12:00

It's funny, getting married did not make me feel older. (If anything younger.) Having been out of school for years and working full time, and approaching the big "three oh" has also not made me feel older.
This month my employer started a new RRSP setup and I will finally be starting with my contributions. This makes me feel older, I am starting to prepare for my retirement. We both hope to retire by 40 having won the lottery but I guess we must accept the fact that this may not happen.
I am now learning more and more about RRSP's, investment options and such. These are the kind of things older people talk about. Older people and investment bankers. And I am not an investment banker.
Well I'm off to watch Pat Sajak and write a letter to the editor. Maybe then some kidney mush?

Scofo

Random Monday Thought

2006-11-20T14:09:00.000-12:00

Today (early this morning) the Royal Bank in Clinton was robbed.

The robbers were caught shortly thereafter at the Tim Hortons in Clinton.

Note to Bank Robbers: If I need to explain the flaw in your getaway plan, you need a new career path.

Thank you.

Shamus McWisking

2006-11-19T03:02:00.000-12:00

It occurred to me the other day (by the other day I probably mean March or so), that our household hasn't been properly introduced. You all know me, and once Scott and I merge blogs we'll properly introduce him, but that isn't what I meant. What I mean is that you haven't met the feline inhabitants of our house. So, since I'm blogging every day for the next 11 days, it seems like a good opportunity to give everyone a more formal introduction to the kitties.

First off, for no particular reason, is Shamus.

Let me start by saying that Shamus is officially Scott's cat. His cat picking philosophy? Go to the Humane Society (in Windsor), find the sickest, tiniest, most scraggly cat, make sure his meow is sufficiently annoying (to the point where your girlfriend says "God, WHO would want that cat), get him taken out of the cage, melt Sara's heart, pick that cat.

On Shamus' second day with us, we realized that he was very sick. He couldn't breathe, and was nothing but a little ball of fur that wanted to cuddle. After a sleepless night up with him, making sure he could breathe through the night, we took him in to the vet the next day. The news was pretty grim. Shamus had a level 4 heart murmur, and wasn't expected to live. The vet gave us the advice that we should probably bring him back to the shelter, and pick another cat, because Shamus wasn't expected to make it very far in life. If he made it through this bout of respiratory infection, which wasn't looking good, he had slim odds of living much past that, and if he made it that far the odds of him surviving anesthetic when he got neutered were not very good either.

"What will they do at the shelter?" I asked. "Can they fix him?"
"No, they will probably have to put him to sleep" the vet responded.

The vet already knew that this little pile of fur and bones had melted my heart, and there was no way he was going back to any shelter. My mind was set from that moment. We were going to take a shot on Shamus, because I couldn't bear to see him put down. If it meant he had 4 good months with us, then so be it.

The first week of Shamus' life with us was rough. It consisted of medication, trying to figure out some food he would eat, and Shamus spending his days cuddled up against my chest. But gradually, he gained spunk, his fur started to go from patchy and dishevelled to normal, and he turned from sad, sick little kitten into a normal, happy, healthy little guy.

And he grew. Like. A. WEED!

We continued to have bouts with Shamus' health, but they went from the serious and life threatening to the disgusting and room clearing. He went through some explosive diarrhea issues, and as a small kitten had the ability to clear a room with one indiscriminate passing of gas. Shamus was, without a doubt, the smelliest kitten on earth. Luckily, with a little help from Dr. Google and a vet, we got him on some food that agreed with his gastrointestinal system and were all thankful for the results.

Oh, and did I mention he grew???

Shamus soon showed us he had many quirks. He loved the water, and would come in to the shower with us each morning. We actually left the shower running a drip for him most days, until he developed a giant bald spot on his back, from sitting under the dripping water all day. He loved olives, hummus, vegetarian chili, dirt off the floor, tomato sauce, and pretty much any other food offered to him. He also showed us he was a biter, and when he's happy he'll start to lick you, only to take a big chunk out of whatever he's licking shortly thereafter. He can't understand why nobody enjoys the bites. He still loves to cuddle, and carried all of his kitten quirks with him into adulthood.

Shamus is perhaps the suckiest cat you'll ever meet, and loves to cuddle with "his people" more than anything else. He's far from soft when it comes to other cats, however. In fact, we're pretty sure he's the "jerk" of the cat world. When Scott and I first moved in together, our little bundle of fluff (who was still under a year old), met his new sister, Pacey.

It did not go well, and Shamus spent many a day harnessed to the window, to protect Pacey from his many, totally unprovoked, attacks. For nights we were woken up by a much displeased Pacey fighting for her life against jerky Shamus.

After we waited several months with very little improvement, his aggression prompted a visit to the vet, who proposed two solutions:

1. Let him be an outdoor cat, so he can get out some of his play aggression. 2. Get a third cat to try and occupy him. Being apartment dwellers, option one was a no go, and no matter how much we played with Shamus to tire him out he seemed intent on "playing" with Pacey. So for Pacey's sake...

... along came Oliver!

Shamus continues to have a heart murmur, continues his insistence on love bites, showers frequently and seems to have made an instant friend in Oliver... much to Pacey's relief.

Scott and I are both forever glad that we took a shot on a homeless kitten who didn't seem to have much of a shot, and continue to be amused on a daily basis by Shamus' antics. So far his anticipated few weeks have grown into more than 4 years, and we're hoping for many more.

I've Been Waiting a Long Time for Chinese Democracy

2006-11-18T08:28:00.000-12:00

A dirty little secret that most of my close friends know is that I have always had a mad crush on a certain dirty rock legend by the name of W. Axl Rose.

And yes, I have blogged about this before

In honour of Axl and Guns n' Roses playing the Palladium last night (Corel Centre? Scotiabank Place? You can both kiss my ass), and the rumour that the 15 year in the making, 15 million dollar, long anticipated album Chinese Democracy is being released THIS TUESDAY, I felt the need to tell you all about my love of Axl.

My love of Axl and all things Guns N Roses started young. In Grade 4 I managed to get my hands on a dubbed copy of Appetite for Destruction, from my across the street neighbour Craig, and it blew my little 8 year old mind. I had no idea that Mr. Brownstone was about heroin, or what heroin even WAS for that matter. I thought myself quite the comedic genius when I switched the lyrics to Paradise City, where the girls were green and the grass was pretty. My friends and I made fun of how soft all the kids who loved the New Kids on the Block, who were OBVIOUSLY not as sophisticated as us GnR fans. I quickly wore out my dubbed copy of Appetite, and asked for a new copy for my birthday. I burned through that copy too, and can proudly say that I'm on my third copy of Appetite... which still regularly gets airtime on my way to and from Court.

In Grade 7 and 8, my love of GnR spiraled quickly out of control with the release of the Use Your Illusions. My crush on neighbour Craig was quickly replaced by a mad love of Axl. I had Axl posters as far as the eye could see, dressed like a little groupie with my tight ripped jeans and my G n R shirts, and re-christened my goldfish "Axl". I was banned from naming the cat Axl, although I can tell you it was a close call. I drank only Coke, because that's what Axl liked, wore my watch on the wrong wrist, because that's what Axl did, and sought out anything I could do to make myself be more like Axl. Bandanas, black tshirts, plaid shirts, ripped jeans... all became my trademark. Somehow I thought that BEING like Axl would make Axl like me (because I was certainly going to meet him, our eyes would meet, and despite him being more than 15 years older than me, it would be love at first sight). My friends and I were constantly glued to Much Music, watched Don't Cry and November Rain and discussed their deep meaning, and of course which angle made Axl look best.

It has been almost 15 years since the Ilusions were released, and my Axl mania, but I must admit that I still think Axl is awesome.... despite that I've heard he's a puffier, haggard Axl.

I'm definitely sad that I missed their big show in Ottawa... something I never got to do in my youth. (we won't talk about 1992 in Montreal though, lest I be incriminated) But, until Tuesday, my fingers are crossed that the rumours are true, and it really is time for Chinese Democracy.

A Haiku for Day 17

2006-11-17T11:37:00.000-12:00

Feeling overwhelmed,
But it's Friday, Quinn's party;
No more law, just wine.

Beaujolais Noveau
Is French for almost grape juice
I'll drink it anyway.

PS3

2006-11-16T11:41:00.000-12:00

I used to be so in the loop when it came to video game systems. I remember being super hyped about the super nintendo's arrival, and the anticipation of some day owning one.

So I was looking around youtube when I came across some video of the ps3, whose arrival I believe is any time now. I must admit I was pretty impressed:

Not only can you hook your camera or memory cards to it, it can connect wirelessly to your network where you can surf the web and check out videos and music on your network drives. This would be handy for watching download movies on your TV. Not that I do that sort of thing. Will the PC and television eventually become one unit?
Oh yeah and its supposed to be a great gaming system too. :) Although the price is always ridiculous when they first come out.

Scofo

Must. Blog. Coherence. Less. Necessary.

2006-11-15T12:48:00.000-12:00

Strangely, inexplicably, sheep make me very happy.

Spooky

2006-11-14T10:18:00.000-12:00

So lately I've been having weird dreams. Dreams about people in my life, however with bizarre twists. For example, just recently I dreamt that a certain person would call me for legal advice, and in return, offer me basketball tickets to an Ottawa game* Well, the next day I get a message that this person wants to contact me about legal advice. Sadly, the request was lacking in basketball tickets. This has happened a few times lately, and I've chalked it up to mere coincidence.

Then today, I receive an email from a friend, Mac**

We have a psychic connection. About a week ago I had a really vivid dream that you were trafficking in third world children for adoption.* In the dream you had a website and it was starting to impact my professional life because the people I work with were demanding that I tell you to stop.

I read your blog today to learn that you are sponsoring a Nicaraguan child and contemplating international adoption. I thought you should know that we are connected on some other plane.

Please make an effort to keep your adoption plans ethical. If you don't it could get me fired.
Thank you.
*I have been taking melatonin pills that may be affecting my sleep patterns.

All very bizarre, because recently I had a dream about this person, and that he was angry at me because I did something to him that made him lose his job.

I'm not exactly sure what the universe is trying to tell me, but let me warn you all to watch out for pepperoni pizza slices running for office. They will turn out to be fascist dictators, mark my words. Consider yourselves warned.
______________
* Strange because Ottawa doesn't have a team, and also because they were going to be playing at the NAC, which leaves much to be desired as a basketball arena.
** Name changed to protect the innocent.

Art Appreciation -- Windsor Edition. Part 2.

2006-11-13T13:01:00.000-12:00

You might not be aware, and I don't want to alarm anyone, however it appears that
the Windsor riverfront has been invaded by aliens. Many, many aliens.

These alien men appear, among other things, to be running from something... or perhaps towards something? We can't quite figure out what exactly is going on... but we do know that the giant UFO is slightly upstream.

"But Sara! You're jumping to conclusions, you paranoid conspiracy theorist!" "Just nice men out for a stroll", some might say. But first, behold their giant flipper like feet! Who, other than aliens, have feet like that? (You know what they say about guys with big feet!)

Look more closely! He's after you!

The bug eyes? The giant nose? All clearly evidence they are not of this world!!!

These statues are clearly the nemesis of bugged out stoners everywhere... but more clearly they are angry, angry space men!

Still not convinced?

Take a close up look at what has lovingly been referred to as "the giant package".

It's enormous.

It almost seems to weigh down their entire torso!

And might I add, its made of SPACE AGE Titanium!

BIG PACKAGED ALIENS!

Gay men romping through the park, chasing lovingly after one another? Disoriented senior citizens forever immortalized in statue form? Blind weirdos playing Marco Polo? An artist with a clear case of little man syndrome, just trying to compensate with a GIANT STAINLESS STEEL wang? Or.. more sinister giant packaged aliens OUT TO GET YOU. I leave the choice to you, but Scott and I think its pretty clear.

Clearly this artist has some... issues of rather small proportions. I mean, check out the gratuitous close up:

And, as always. My advice. Art is not TRULY art unless it can be ridden and/or climbed upon. *

Stayed tuned next week to see what these guys play with on their off days, as well as 3 of my closest friends who are completely shocked by the entire display of alien porn at the river.

__________________________

*Yes, I rode the big packaged man and Scott snapped pictures :) Yuk it up.

A Little Premature

2006-11-12T12:46:00.000-12:00

Yesterday on TBS they showed "How the Grinch Stole Christmas".

Now I love Christmas as much as the next guy, I have the whole Grinch entirely memorized (It came without PACKAGES, BOXES or BAGS!), and I've probably seen each and every Christmas special eleventy billion times... but... NOVEMBER 11th??? Seriously.

So, in the spirit of celebrating holidays at completely random, assanine times... Scott and I celebrated Chinese New Year today.

Mmmm homemade Wonton Soup, Pot Stickers, Spring Rolls and Crispy Beef.

I'm off now, we're going to go try and find a Chinese Ball Drop with the Asian Dick Clarke equivalent on time shifting... or maybe some porn.

Lest We Forget

2006-11-11T12:09:00.000-12:00

As many of you know, this past year I lost my grandfather and grandmother in the span of less than a week; my grandmother to a massive stroke and my grandfather from what can only be said to be a broken heart from her passing. They were in their early nineties, and although you kind of foresee loss when people are of a certain age, when it comes you can't have entirely anticipated the sense of loss you will feel. It's taken me a really long time to write this post, but standing at the remembrance Day Ceremony in Seaforth today and hearing all of the names of veterans no longer in our midst, I knew today was the perfect time to write about him.

My grandfather, Lt. Col. Albert Edward Wisking, was in the Canadian Armed Forces, and served time overseas in Great Britain with the Canadian Army in World War II. He was a man of duty, and signed up for service as soon as he knew something was awry. He really wanted to be in the airforce, I was told, but apparently he signed up so early into things that the standards were higher than they eventually became. I'm pretty grateful for this twist of fate, and his over-eagerness, because if he had been a pilot the odds of me being here would be much slimmer.

Once rejected by the airforce, he went immediately to the army to try and join, and he met their requirements and more. He was accepted to the airforce about a week later, but he was already committed to the army, where he quickly raised in ranks, eventually to become a Lieutenant Colonel, the second highest rank of Senior Officer in the Army.

My grandfather didn't talk much about the war, despite my pestering questions about it. He always told me it was something that he wished he could forget. He instilled in me the steadfast belief that war was gruesome and tragic, and not something to be glorified or boasted about.

The few things I know are that once his base was bombed to smithereens by Americans (accidentally), he never killed anyone (or didn't want me to think he ever had, anyway), and his only serious injuries were when he slammed his finger in the hatch of a tank and when the army gave him an injection with eggs in it, (which he was allergic to; something we shared), and he almost died as a result. He would always humour me with stories when I would ask, always the obliging grandfather, but he never took much pleasure in the exercise... preferring much to tell me about Pierre Trudeau, the time my uncle Jimmy smashed up one car or another, or the silly things my father used to do (like watering the rug because it had flowers on it). He also had a kick ass army siren that we would take out into the street, and annoy the neighbours and judging by the volume, most of downtown Ottawa.

Being the eternal smartass, even from a young age, I would always remind him that in school we were taught to never forget. I one time asked him if he was not proud of the wonderful thing he did for his country during World War II? His answer will stay with me always. He told me no, he was not proud. He was not a hero, and being a soldier was not something someone should ever be proud of. What he did was his duty and nothing more. It was terrible, gruesome, and sad, and all he did was his job, the job that every young Canadian man at the time had thrust upon them. It was clear to me that he did this because of the love he had for me, and his children, my cousins, and all of our children, even though he'd never met any of us yet.

Again, my grandfather passed away in early March this year, dying the night of my grandmother's funeral. He was healthy and well at her funeral, surrounded at the wake by his children, his many grandchildren, and an endless stream of family and friends. He loved my grandmother very much, even well into their nineties. They were married over 65 years.

I've never seen someone so incredibly sad as he was at her wake, but yet every time some person would come in to pay their respects he would beam with pride as he introduced me to them. "This is my granddaughter, Sara. She's a lawyer", he would tell them all. I've been told by my older and wiser aunts that I was the favourite of my grandparents, but I could tell that despite not being proud of himself, he was certainly proud of all of his children, all of his grandchildren, and all of the accomplishments in their lives. The one comfort in his passing so closely to my grandmother is that he was surrounded by his entire family for the last few days, and never had to be alone.

He was a man of honour, a man of duty, a man with a deep sense of family, and a man who will never be forgotten. He was a veteran, a Senior Officer, and a man who fought so the rest of us would not have to. He was a smart man, a well spoken man, and a man with a memory that stayed sharp until his very last day. He was a man who drove too fast, a man who would always tell you how to do something right (even if he wasn't sure himself), a man who liked his grapefruit from Florida and his paint red brown, and a man who raged against the dying of the light. He was a man who could look past the outside of a person and see quickly what they were all about, and a man who knew that women could accomplish whatever men could, before anyone ever had to prove it to him. Above all, he was Grandpa Bert.

I've always looked up to my grandfather. Whenever my family says "You've got a bit of the Grandpa Bert in you", I take it as one of the best compliments I can receive (even though its not intended that way).

After my grandmother's funeral and burial, we all went back to my grandparent's apartment. We got some tea, and all cozied in to the seating that was too limited for the number of family members. "Well, its the end of an era", he told us all. Little did we know how right he was.

The last words I spoke to my grandfather were as Scott and I left his apartment. "When will I see you again?" he said to me. "I'll be back at Easter, Grandpa Bert", I responded. "Gee, that's an awful long time" he said back to me. I tried to reassure him that it was only about a month, and it'd come in no time. I don't think he knew how long a time it'd really be. I certainly didn't.

Just to make it less of a cop-out

2006-11-10T14:55:00.000-12:00

First off, if you're looking for a laugh and you like cats...check this site out. Careful, some might find it offensive.

I know most of you have read this, from Crystal... but it was worth a laugh so I'm republishing this story.

You got to love this guy... This is a true story about a recent wedding that took place at Clemson University. It was in the local newspaper and even Jay Leno mentioned it. It was a huge wedding with about 300 guests.

After the wedding, at the reception, the groom got up on stage with a microphone to talk to the crowd. He said he wanted to thank everyone for coming, many from long distances, to support them at their wedding.

He especially wanted to thank the bride's and hisfamily and to thank his new father-in-law for providing such a lavish reception.

As a token of his deep appreciation he said he wanted to give everyone a special gift just from him.

So taped to the bottom of everyone's chair,including the wedding party was an envelope. He said this was his gift to everyone, and asked them to open their envelope.

Inside each manila envelope was an 8x10 glossy of his bride having sex with the best man. The groom had gotten suspicious of them weeks earlier and had hired a private detective to tail them.

After just standing there, just watching the guests' reactions for a couple of minutes, he turned to the best man and said, "F--- you!"

Then he turned to his bride and said, "F--- you!"

Then he turned to the dumbfounded crowd and said, "I'm outta here"

He had the marriage annulled first thing in the morning.

While most people would have canceled the wedding immediately after finding out about the affair, this guy goes through with the charade, as if nothing were wrong.

His revenge--making the bride's parents pay over $32,000 for a 300 guest wedding and reception, and best of all, trashing the bride's and best man's reputations in front of 300 friends and family members.

This guy has balls the size of church bells.

Copout from Scofo

2006-11-10T11:21:00.000-12:00

1. If you were a muppet, and had to pick ANOTHER muppet to be your best friend, who would you pick?

Swedish Chef! of course! "Dos vern dee moose!"

2. Would you rather live on Sesame Street, with the Muppets on the Muppet Show, or down at Fraggle Rock?

Fraggle rock for sure.

3.If you were forced to date a Walt Disney Charcter (human or animal), who would it be?

Um, no Disney beastality fantasy's here. They're all hot.

4. If you could only eat one vegetable ever again, what would it be?

Mushrooms.

5. Do you have any recurring dreams?

Yes, about having the same dream over and over.

6. If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

To fly of course. I would pick travelling through time but back to the future taught me that can be dangerous.

7. Did you rename your Cabbage Patch Kids, or keep them with the name Xaiver Roberts gave them? What were they called?

Um I had G.I. joes with missle bases. They kept their I.D.'s.

8. First Concert you ever went to?

Bare naked ladies, I think.

9. Does it bother you that Sebastian Bach from Skid Row was acting in Gilmore Girls?

Especially now after seeing him on that new show.

10. What are the Best 3 Simpsons episodes?

1. Steamed Hams? The aurora borealis? Supernintendo Chalmers. Don't know the episode name.
2. Japan.
3. The Manatee Episode. (I would do anything to save a manatee. Except harm another manatee!)

12. Who do you tag?

Jon, James, and James' friend Matt.

Anybody who had soup for lunch.

Obscure Confessions

2006-11-09T12:06:00.000-12:00

I created this set of questions for all my friends doing NaBloPoMo! Please feel free to take it and use it, if you like.

The only rules are to answer these questions, then tag 4 people.

1. If you were a muppet, and had to pick ANOTHER muppet to be your best friend, who would you pick?

I would probably pick Oscar the Grouch. He seems like a challenge.

2. Would you rather live on Sesame Street, with the Muppets on the Muppet Show, or down at Fraggle Rock?

I wish I could live at Fraggle Rock.

3.If you were forced to date a Walt Disney Charcter (human or animal), who would it be?

I would TOTALLY pick Peter Pan. I've always had a crush on him.

4. If you could only eat one vegetable ever again, what would it be?

Mushrooms, if that counts. If not, tomato. (You think I could make it count, since I wrote the questions)

5. Do you have any recurring dreams?

I often have a dream about how I can go down stairs really fast by just sort of floating.

6. If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

I would want to be able to teleport.

7. Did you rename your Cabbage Patch Kids, or keep them with the name Xaiver Roberts gave them? What were they called?

Renamed them Mary and Crystal.

8. First Concert you ever went to?

Kim Mitchell on Canada Day when I was in 12, with Amber and Gretta

9. Does it bother you that Sebastian Bach from Skid Row was acting in Gilmore Girls?

More than you'll ever know...

10. What are the Best 3 Simpsons episodes?

1. Australia! (Yes Bart, in Rand McNally, Hamburgers eat people!)
2. Lord of the Flies/UN Club Trip (Go Banana!)
3. The Manatee Episode. (I would do anything to save a manatee. Except harm another manatee!)

12. Who do you tag?

Heather, Henly, Leslie, Alley.

Scofo Speaks

2006-11-08T12:18:00.000-12:00

Wow the first blog of my very own on this site. I must admit I feel slightly nervous writing on this blog as Sara's writing skills are far superior to mine, but I will try my best to keep up.

I had two ideas today as to what I could blog about.

First, they say the first step to recovering from an addiction is admitting you have the addiction. I think I may be addicted to youtube, as I seem to visit the site daily now and can spend a lot of time watching complete randomness. I actually find myself watching less tv and more youtube. Full episodes of South Park (the make love not warcraft had me laughing out lout), aircraft videos, PS3 promo's, Lost previews, love it. Guess there are worse things to be addicted to.

The seconded thing I wanted to mention is kind of dirty, okay well really dirty. At Rob's wedding this past weekend a conversation started at the table about dirty terms (ie dirty Sanchez). Lets say I learned a few new ones, but what is hilarious is that the terms are on wikipedia! Even the sources of the term be it movies or songs are referenced. I guess nothing is too dirty for wikipedia.

P.S. Rusty Trombone

Random Acts of Kindness

2006-11-07T12:25:00.000-12:00

Since I've started NaBloPoMo, I've noticed that blogging every day is hard. I sometimes wonder "Hmmm, does it really matter?"* I also sometimes wonder "Why am I doing this? Is anyone reading?"**

Then I check on my fancy pants new counter,*** which shows me that yes, in fact, people are coming. And they're coming from all sorts of exotic places like Malaysia; Israel; Switzerland; a faithful reader from Calgary; Norwich, England; Decatur, Alabama; and all kinds of wacky places in between. The counter makes me feel like I probably have an audience somewhere... This post is not about "Oh woe is me!!! Nobody loves Sara!". This is not a delurking post, although if you've been lurking please do feel free to come out from the cloak! Anyway, I really do have a point I'm getting to here... despite the tangents that seem to plague me today.

Some people are newer to blogging. I've been here for 4 years****. To some people, I expect, this is much harder than it is to me. I've looked through MANY blogs in the past 7 days, and MANY people have already given up this commitment to post daily. I bet if I'm feeling discouraged, having been at this so long and being as stubborn as a thousand goats, there must be some disheartened bloggers out there.

The way I see it, this NaBloPoMo thing is something that a bunch of us are all in together, whether we know each other or not... and doggone it, we need to support one another!! So, in that vein I decided to pay it forward*****, and have gone out to comment on the blogs of some people who were looking like they could use a little attention!

There's a randomizer, which randomly links you to the NaBloPoMo participants, or if you don't enjoy randomness you can go to http://www.fussy.org, and check out the list of over 1000 participants! So go out, and pay it forward!!!

I've also decided that I'm going to post a few links, sporadically, of blogs I've found that I will be returning to. Here are the first two:

Belgian Waffle

Her kids come up with some pretty funny stuff. And really, who can say no to waffles?

5 Cats Shy

She's 5 cats shy of being a crazy cat lady, which apparently requires you have 7 cats.

Go out and show some NaBloPoMoites some love... and pay it forward!

_________________________________________
* And yes, I do realise that in the grand scheme of things, it probably does not matter.. just like my insistance on spelling realise with an S and colour with a U.
** Aside from Heather and Henly, of course. Even Elaine seems to be lacking in the comments area as of late.
*** I see you on my counter, Elaine!!! I know you're there!!! And not to sound too much like the lady off Romper Room, but I see all of you, despite being lacking in the magic mirror department.
****Can you believe that? There's time I'll never get back!
***** Yes, that movie was sappy. Yes, I loved it.

Art Appreciation 101: Windsor Edition. Part 1.

2006-11-06T11:39:00.000-12:00

As most of you know, Scott and I spent the weekend in Windsor at the weddings of Rob and Denise, and then Dina and Will! This left us tired, as the picture confirms.

Having both spent time in Windsor, there were several things we wanted to do.... one of which was to take pictures of all our favourite old memories. As taking pictures of the lovely "art" along the riverfront, we continued to reminisce (and snapped a shot of us in front of the "Ass bridge") We were also saddened to learn that the piece of art that I lovingly referred to as "The Helmet of Doom", present in the University of Windsor Law School, has been deemed to be a firehazard and is being removed. It truly is a sad day for art.

Given that its Nanoblopomo, as we laughed, Scott and I hatched a plan. And Art Appreciation 101 was created!!

Each Monday from now until the end of November, we will be posting pictures of the art, along with our interpretation and peanut gallery comments about said "Art".

So... without further adieu... We give you:

The statue that Scott and I call "I like Big Butts and I cannot lie!"

I believe the artist has named it "Tembo", however Scott and I couldn't help but be struck by the obvious.

Scott's take on the statue:
Q. "Guess What?"
A. Elephant Butt!

If you appreciate big butts, especially of the pachyderm variety, this art is for you!

Sara's words of art appreciation wisdom:
"All good art is capable of being climbed and/or ridden".

Stay tuned next week when we visit with some men of large proportions.

A new addition

2006-11-05T02:36:00.000-12:00

So for a long time Scott and I have discussed bringing a new family member into our household....

We've long since known we were among the lucky people in this world. I've always had a strong commitment to volunteerism in my life, stemming back to elementary school, reaching through high school with my many Key Club volunteer hours (rivaled only in number by my many Key Club drinking hours), through to undergrad and my months living and working in Guyana to help build infrastructure, and stretching right through to Law School and beyond, with my clinic involvement. I've always had grand ambitions of effecting positive change in this world, by whatever means I can get my hands on. Normally this has meant a commitment in the form of hours and labour, but now that Scott and I are both gainfully employed and have gotten over the financial hurdle that comes with new home ownership, it also means that we have the resources to give more.

We've always talked about how we didn't want kids. We both LOVE kids, as long as they belong to someone else and we can send them home at the end of the evening, remaining largely unscathed by the antics that children bring with them. We aren't responsible enough to have a dog at this point, (What? Train it? Walk it? Every DAY? and Pick up its POOP? Yeah right!)let alone another dependant human being. We've also been told OVER and OVER that at some point, some kind of biological clock would take over and I. Would. Need. Children. Now. So far, that hasn't happened and frankly I don't believe it ever will, but Scott and I have discussed that should some kind of freakish biology usurp our selfish desire for freedom, disposable income, the ability to leave town on a whim, undisturbed sleep, quality time together (the list goes on, but you get the drift), we would adopt a child in need from overseas*. I do have some weird requirement to mother our cats to death, so it COULD conceivably happen.

Being not ready to adopt a real live child and bring it to our home, and taking into account that we can afford an extra cup of coffee each day in a world where some go hungry for days on end... we decided we'd add a child to our family.

So without further adieu... meet our new sponsored child, 4-year-old Jose Ramon, from Nicaragua.

_________________________________________________________

* We decided this PRE Branjelina/Madonna-overseas adoptions too, by the way. Yeah, we're so cool that Madonna and Branjelina steal our ideas, and make US look like posers trying to imitate the "stars".

Who IS watching Seaforth?

2006-11-04T04:31:00.000-12:00

A snippet of the dinner conversation from Table 22 at yesterday's wedding:

Scott: It's so weird that we ended up living in Seaforth and the first person I knew from Seaforth lives in Windsor.
Scott T: Yeah, not many people are from Seaforth.
Jared: Hmmm... well if all four of you guys are here at this wedding, WHO'S watching Seaforth??????

Sorry the post is content lacking, after getting in at 2:30 a.m (we wisely opted out of hitting the after hours club that goes to 5am) after last nights festivities, we are now off to wedding #2.

Blog Early, Blog Often

2006-11-03T00:36:00.000-12:00

So NaBloPoMo has started at a very bad time for Scott and I.

We are currently writing to you direct from the 17th floor of the Radisson, in Windsor, where we are quite enjoying our view. We are also stealing internet. Shhhh.

We luckily managed to book this lovely room for only $40 US a night on Priceline.com. I highly recommend it for those travellers who like to stay in fancy pants places but don't like to pay more than Motel 6 rates. In fact, I think even the Motel 4.5 charges more than $40 a night. But I digress.

We will be attending two weddings this weekend, of the four we were invited to. Yes. Four. I'm sure more will follow on this topic!

I've decided (unilaterally) that since its currently 12:36, and Scott and I are just getting in and getting ready for bed, this post TECHNICALLY is on November 3rd, 2006, and therefore counts as a Nov. 3 post. Hooray for technicalities.

Tonight consisted of the drive here, arrival at 9, a late dinner at the Iguana (oh Iguana sauce, how I missed you. Oh Spicy Shrimp Roll, how nice you feel in my tummy after all these months), a couple of hours at the Casino, a late night tour around, reminiscing of days of yore, and summarily missing BOTH OF MY THURSDAY NIGHT SHOWS! Oh well, who needs Must See TV when you're out on a date in your old haunts and get Tuna Roll to boot.

We noticed tonight that we've truly become small town folk. When standing in line at the bank machine, waiting to make a deposit, we politely told the guy behind us he could go ahead, cause we would take longer. The look of utter shock on his face was a reminder that toto, we aren't in Seaforth anymore.

Words from Scott:
Oh Windsor how I miss you sometimes.

NaNoBloPoMo

2006-11-02T01:15:00.000-12:00

So yeah.

I'm in. Scott's joining me.*

Its a spur of the minute decision only available to me as I happened to procrastinate on my Halloween post! Yay for procrastination. Yay for spurring!

But, I figure I'm going to give this whole post daily for a month thing a shot... much like Andrew did in his glory days.

I'm not sure I'll make the "official" fancy pants list... but look for Scott and I to be updating this blog once a day, from now until November 30th!

*Seeing as how we'd been tossing around the idea of blogmalgamating, this will be a good way to see if we can share not only a house, a bed, a phone, and a toothbrush (yes, kidding), but also a blog!

Q: Why did the Witch cross the street?

2006-11-01T01:59:00.000-12:00

A: To get to the McWisking house on Halloween! *

Halloween has always been a favourite holiday of mine.

Back when I was a kid it always took sooooooooo looooooong for it to get dark. I remember sitting at the kitchen table with dinner, barely able to take two bites I was so excited. When dinner was over it was time to put on costumes, and two bites of chili, although a proper meal it does not make, was normally about how far I could get into it before I was ready to just skip nutrious sustanence and go straight for the CANDY CANDY CANDY.

We never had store bought costumes. My mother had a big box of costumes that she kept down in the storage room. There were much outgrown clown suits, and for some reason I remember a Jolly Green Giant costume that came from the precambrian era. Every year my brother and I had creative costumes nonetheless... I remember being a bunny, a robot, a butterfly, a clown, a bag of jellybeans, and my brother being a Ghostbuster before I got to the age where it wasn't cool to dress up so much anymore.. and the lazy costumes like "Hobo", "Pyjama Person" and the ever popular "Cowboy" took centre stage.

I was always a schemer. I continue to be a schemer, but on Halloween it always came in handy. Normally there were 5-6 of us, Timmy, Peter, me, Patrick, Terri, Lisa and Mandy were the regulars, who would go out trick or treating together, sans parents and plus whoever the friends of the year were, in our lovely little neighbourhood.

We always knew which houses gave out the good loot: The can of pop and the WHOLE chocolate bar were always the ones we coveted most. We also knew which houses would give us extra candy because we were held in some kind of special regard for whatever reason... be it that we knew their dogs, knew their cats, or they knew our parents. We always made sure to hit our "favourites"; houses that were all decked out, the neighbourhood "haunted house" (news of which carried by word of mouth via other trick or treaters) and the old man on Aberfeldy Street who always went "BOOGEDY BOOGEDY BOO!" when you came to the door (and consistently gave out jellybeans, year after year).

We would have our route planned months ahead, and always made sure we didn't have costumes that would impede our progress. It was like some kind of hopped up game of "Capture the Flag" to us. Despite the route being practically the same every year, each year it seemed to need to be planned to the hilt regardless.

We made sure we went next door to Mrs. Jordan's house first. She was a lovely old woman who made us homemade donuts as a Halloween treat, and we knew if we went there first we would get them while they were still warm... and be able to head out on our long journey with bellies full of warm donut-y goodness. We skipped the houses that we knew handed out apples, and made sure the route allowed for a pit stop to change pillow-cases about 2/3 through the night when our arms were too tired to carry all the loot we'd amassed already. Every year we dreamed big about making it down to the "row houses", where we could move more quickly from house to house and therefore get more candy, but never had the transportation required.

The night always seemed to go on forever, although in retrospect we were probably out for three hours max. I remember the cold wind cutting through my costume, and the feeling of being absolutely frozen but needing to go on.

I'm not sure why Halloween was always such a great holiday. I think it's maybe because it was always the one holiday that was never a let down. There's no real build up, no obligations, and no real expectations to be met except mountains of candy... and that one is always fulfilled. Its pretty much impossible to end up disappointed on Halloween. There's no deeper meaning, you get to spend it with your friends, and its all about scaring yourself silly and eating lots of candy.

Ever since I was a kid I wanted to be the Boogedy Boo man, or the one who gave out the 2000's version of the can of pop when I grew up. Its not Cherrywood, but it has been Scott and my goal to create a house that the kids want to come to year after year... one of the houses they have fond memories of to blog about 20 years down the road*

So without further adieu, here's what we did this year at the McWisking household for our second Halloween as home owners:

(Photos coming soon... once Blogger co-operates)

* This year we had about 10 witches! Talk about boring.
* I think we might be on our way, because a little skeleton/pirate told us he liked our house!!! Double candy for him for the compliment, and extra for a wicked costume. All pirates get double loot! YAR! We also had a Mrs. Potato head... she got double loot too.

Wherein I Search Wildly for Flying Pigs

2006-10-26T11:45:00.000-12:00

The Conservative Government did something today that I actually agree with.
And the even bigger shock? It was Stockwell Day.
Read about it here

Quite frankly I'm waiting for the 4 horsemen or some kind of plague of locusts. I'm not sure what's going on, but the end may be near.

I am slowly going crazy, 123456 switch

2006-10-24T23:58:00.000-12:00

Black socks, they never get dirty,
The longer you wear them the stronger they get.
Sometimes I think I should wash them,
But something keeps telling me
No, no, not yet.
not yet
not yet
not yet

Sara's Baseball Predictions

2006-10-20T01:18:00.000-12:00

If a tiger and a cardinal met on a street and got into a fight, my money would be on the tiger.

Therefore, it's only logic that the Tigers will win.

Guilty or Not Guilty

2006-10-18T12:01:00.000-12:00

My blog has been sorely lacking in content lately... I'm not sure what's happened, I guess married life/pre-married life has just sort of left both Scott and I with little time to devote to the interweb. I'm sure as we settle in to winter there will be less to do and more time to devote to blogging...

Just by way of update, we've taken our house off the market and won't be selling... we got a great offer on our house but just couldn't manage to find a suitable place to move to... what with the turret guy not being willing to sell for a reasonable price.. so we're back on the renovations bandwagon. This fall we'll be doing windows, a new roof, install a gas fireplace, drywall the living room, put hardwood flooring in the living room... and of course the minor painting/redecorating that goes along with a newly redrywalled room. We've also taken out most of our old light fixtures and installed new ones since being married. We've half finished the bathroom, and plan on doing some painting. We're hoping to do most of the work by ourselves, and aim to have it complete before Christmas...

Aside from that we're planning a trip to Kingston and a trip to Windsor in the next month or so, have a couple of weddings coming up, spent Thanksgiving in Ottawa, and had a wonderful honeymoon in Quebec City, which Scott wants us to do a post about... despite it being almost 2 months late. Aside from this past weekend, we haven't really spent much time at home since the wedding... We're planning our real honeymoon over Christmastime, and are 90% sold on a trip to Panama. Any travel agents out there who have the ability to think outside of prepackaged vacations feel free to get in touch, cause so far nobody we've talked to understands how to think outside the box.

Scott and I have also both gotten the typical fall cooking bug, which has us both cooking in our spare time.. we both consider cooking to be a hobby of ours, but for some reason in the fall the urge really kicks in.

Work has been uber busy. I have two trials in the next two and a half weeks, but on the bright side I've gotten an assistant. She started Monday.

I'm also waiting for Blogger to allow me to update to Blogger Beta, as I'm planning a redesign someday in the new future. But, for now, I found this surfing the web tonight and felt like filling it out..

1. Dated outside your race?
Guilty. Three times.. more depending on what you mean by "race".

2. Singing in the shower?
Guilty... but badly.

3. Spit in someone's drink?
Ewww. So not guilty.

4. Played with Barbies?
Nopers... no Barbies in my house, and I refused to play Barbies with friends.

5. Made someone cry?
GUILTY

6. Opened your Christmas presents early?
GUILTY... we convinced my father to let us open a present Christmas Eve.

7. Lied to a friend?

Guilty, but I can't think of a specific incident.

8. Watched and cried while watching a soap opera?
Not Guilty. In fact, I've never watched a Soap Opera.

9. Played a computer game for more than 5 hours?
In a row? Not sure... I might be Guilty. In total, definitely guilty. The Sims is majorly addictive.

10. Ran through the sprinklers naked?
NOT GUILTY.. although maybe when I was a kid?

11. Ate food that fell on the floor?
GUILTY... 5 Second Rule is in full effect in this household.

12. Went outside naked?
Guilty.

13. Been on stage?
GUILTY.. I was in all my elementary school/middle school plays. I was a porcupine in elementary school (among other things), I was one of the 7 dwarves (Bashful, if you can believe that), I played the lead character in our Grade 7 play, and I was often a finalist in the public speaking contests in grade school.

14. Been on stage naked or close to it?
NOT GUILTY. Nobody wants to see that.

15. Been in a parade?
NOT GUILTY

16. Been in a school play?
GUILTY. See above.

17. Drank beer?
GUILTY.. although not a huge fan.

18. Gotten detention?
GUILTY. Several. Although once in high school they became less frequent once my friends and I achieved positions of power (Yay Key Club!)

19. Been on a plane?
GUILTY. Scott even let me fly one once.

20. Been on a cruise?

NOT GUILTY. Probably won't, either. Not our thing.

21. Broken into a house?

GUILTY.. my own house... as well as an abandoned house.

22. Gotten a tattoo?
NOT GUILTY. Although a few more drunken evenings with Dina could lead to it!

23. Gotten piercings?
GUILTY. My ears, which have since grown in, and a belly button ring, also grown in.

24. Gotten into a fist fight?
NOT GUILTY. Although I do threaten to punch a lot of people.

25. Gotten into a shouting match?
GUILTY... sort of, once. My friend Tara and I shouted and screamed at each other for about a minute, at which point we broke out laughing. I'm not a huge fan of shouting, as it doesn't accomplish much except upsetting people... but I have screamed at inanimate objects.

26. Swallowed sea/pool water?
GUILTY.. but not on purpose. I've spent about 1/3 of my existence in some kind of water... hard not to get a mouthful here or there.

27. Spun yourself in circles to get dizzy on purpose?
GUILTY. I've also done the same to small children, as Heather can testify to.

28. Laughed so hard it hurt?
GUILTY. Yes, and even when not taking illegal narcotics. Two words. Meat. Juice.

29. Tripped on your own feet?
GUILTY.

30. Cried yourself to sleep?
GUILTY. Not a huge crier.

31. Cried in public?
GUILTY

32. Thrown up in public?
NOT GUILTY.

33. Lied to your parents?
GUILTY

34. Skipped class?
GUILTY. Most specifically, 48 classes of OAC World Issues in one semester. I was among the more notorious school skippers.

35. Cried so hard you threw up?
NOT GUILTY. I have coughed so hard I thew up though.

Thanksgiving in Ottawa

2006-10-07T11:18:00.000-12:00

Personally, I'll be thankful if Henly doesn't hip check me into the pavement on our excursion tonight...

Oh, and some turkey would be nice too.

Pre-Dinner Conversation in the McWisking Home

2006-09-28T10:36:00.000-12:00

Scott: I'm so glad you're so pretty.
Sara: I'm so glad you're so lecherous.
Scott: Lecherous. Is that like Tetris?

Non-Sequitur

2006-09-28T02:13:00.000-12:00

This is the time of year when wasps get stupid.

I hate that.

One Question.

2006-09-26T11:57:00.000-12:00

What.

Was.

She.

THINKING!

International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

2006-09-19T10:58:00.000-12:00

In recognition of International Talk Like A Pirate Day... I bring you a wedding/pirate related picture.

2006-09-17T09:10:00.000-12:00

So... we're officially married :)

First off, thanks to everyone who was there for us on our wedding day!

Top 10 Wedding Weekend Highlights:

1. The Bachelor(ette) party could not have been more fun if I didn't get hipchecked into the ground!! (see the write up at http://henly.blogspot.com) Having it a few days BEFORE the wedding was maybe unwise, given the amount of shots that were poured into us... however it seems we all recovered in time. The bonus was, of course, that many people were already in town for the wedding, which meant extra time with those who we don't get to see so much due to distance

2. The Ushers!!! Scott and I were slightly concerned about how it would work out after the rehearsal dinner, at which (most) of the ushers were pretty... well.. rowdy... but in the end it was absolutely what we had both wanted. We were so happy that we could include all of the kids in our wedding day, after how we were both excluded from weddings growing up. We ended up having 8 kids between the ages of 4 and 13 attend, and they all looked absolutely adorable and had a great time. We heard from a bunch of our guests that the kids apparently took their jobs very seriously... and came out with some pretty funny lines. Apparently when Mel told them that she was a "friend of the bride", one usher informed her "OH, you're WAY at the back then!" Apparently Jacob refused to take off his jacket because it wouldn't be "professional." Hah! It was AWESOME looking towards the back of the room while getting married to see them cheering us on, giving us the thumbs up, and just generally having fun. Special mention has to go to the Head Usher, Julia Sparling, who kept the motley crew from hip checking anyone.

3. The dress! I'm not a huge fan of fancypants outfits... but you know, wedding dresses kick ass. I think it's impossible to look bad in one (although I have seen pictures that suggest otherwise). Mine was exactly what I had wanted. White, simple yet elegant, with straps and a little bit of glitter. And inexpensive... about $800 for dress, veil, alterations, crinolin and steaming. It was surprisingly comfortable all day, not too hot and not too cold, I had no wardrobe malfunctions, the bustle worked perfectly thanks to Dianne's bustle experience, and I actually felt like I was glowing. Best of all it made Scott get all teary coming down the aisle... which Tasha says means its the right dress. All in all, it was the perfect dress for me and I thank Bridal Elegance in Exeter, who sent it to me (via Frank's Smartcar) all steamed and pretty, with a beautiful little "wedding day" packet full of mints, scissors, tylenol and all those other bridely necessities.

4. The Ceremony itself. It was 100% us. Allison picked out the music and apparently read my mind, cause it was perfect. The Officiant, Kathleen Caught, performed our ceremony exactly how we had wanted. Scott and I wrote the ceremony ourselves, and everyone commented on how well it suited us, and how beautiful it was (although I think you have to say that at a wedding). We inserted a few jokes, which was totally our style, and the last minute suggestion by Kathleen that we throw in a few readings was perfect. We choked up both our readers.

5. The ENERGY! - I couldn't believe the energy of all the people at the wedding. I'm not really sure how to describe it, and I'm not really sure why it happened, but everyone just seemed so excited and happy and full of life. I've never seen anything like it before. Hearing everyone behind us yelling that they would support us in our marriage... having a bunch of friends dress up like pirates.. and the party on the dance floor was one of the rowdiest Sunday parties that the DJ had seen in awhile. So thanks to all of you, because the energy you sent out ROCKED. Seems like a good time was had by the guests, and that was our #1 goal.

(More in the next post)

2006-09-17T06:01:00.000-12:00

6. The Wedding Party!: (Picture minus the MCs) Don't they look hot? We were lucky to have a whack of family (3 brothers, 1 Nephew and 7 Cousins) in our wedding party, along with old friends (Terri I've had since I was 3, and Tara, Alli and Jon since early high school) round out our wedding party. We even had a bridesmaid (Heather!) who managed to come from Florida to Ottawa in a day to be there for the Bachelor(ette) party. There was a little bit of doubt about how the 5 different dress styles would work out on the bridesmaids/MC, however I think it was a sucess and they all looked great. It was great everyone was involved... I couldn't have picked a more fun group... and special props to our MC Allison... Al, you rock. We would have gotten married in a cardboard box naked if it wasn't for you.

7. The Venue: Scott and I were against the idea of getting married in a church, since we aren't regular participants in any organized religion. West Carleton fit the bill, as we could do both ceremony and reception there. I'm pretty sure its impossible to have a bad wedding at the West Carleton. The staff was great. Hurricane Ernesto crashed our party, but we hardly even noticed as the staff had everything ready to go. If rain at your wedding is good luck then I'm not sure what a Hurricane is!!! The staff had the interior set up wonderfully and didn't miss a beat despite the weather not being co-operative. They were even ready to bring me in to the hall with a giant umbrella. We were able to take our pictures between the ceremony and the meal, and had lots of time to visit with the guests. I think that was the best part of the all in one venue decision, was that we got to make the rounds and spoke to almost everyone a least a few times. We even ventured out to the waterfall by night and the set up allowed us to get lots of outdoors pictures despite the weather. In all, the West Carleton was very professional, had a great facility, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a venue in Ottawa.

8. The Trivia Kissing Game: This game was undeniably a good choice. Scott and I both love trivia, and although writing up the questions took some time... it ended up being a whole lot of laughs (which was our goal). Our friends, of course, picked the most humiliating questions to answer... and my family is probably wondering why I made someone drink Windex... but it got the stories flowing. My particular favourite was Pat's tale of federal crime, Will's long answer to the camera question, Amy and Barnesy answering questions they wrote themselves... and the competition that developped between tables 1 and 6.

9. The Slide Show: One thing we decided we loved about other weddings was the slideshow. We had decided early that we wanted to do a slideshow, and as soon as we did Allison (yep again!) jumped in and took the helm (yar!). It was awesome. Lots of laughs, lots of oooohs and ahhhs... and the guest appearance from our favourite two-year-old Jade Mills just made it perfect. It wasn't too long, and so I don't think anyone was bored by it... and if they were I don't think I care anyway cause I loved it! It was definitely one of the highlights of the night, and I don't think it would have been our wedding without it.

10. THE BUBBLE MACHINE!! (And the DJ): Jay from Quality Entertainment was our DJ, and the music was pretty kicking (aside from when someone requested MOON RIVER!!!). Jay gets two thumbs up from both Scott and I. The party slowed down around midnight, which according to Jay was pretty late.. with a few of us closing the place down and doing the giant drunken dance with Rob. But what totally took our breath away was when during our first dance, (to U2's "One"), the bubbles started pouring down on us. I'm a big 8 year old at heart, so it was just pure magic. If there's one moment I'll take away from the night, other than the whole "I do" part... it'll most certainly be the bubbles.

2006-09-17T03:18:00.000-12:00

Stupid Hurricanes

2006-08-29T23:43:00.000-12:00

Okay... looks like Ernesto is crashing our party this weekend.

Everyone think sunny thoughts for me!!! We've been hoping to get married in the cheap showy-ness of nature. Maybe we can use the power of positive thinking to ward off hurricanes?

Boycotting

2006-08-29T01:41:00.000-12:00

I'm boycotting this season of Survivor. What's the deal, pitting different races against each other? Well apparently that is the new rule of Survivor. Survivor, I'm ashamed I ever knew thee. Wonder if they'll make the black team drink out of different waterfountains from the white team, send the Hispanic team to a different school, and make the asian team ride on the back of the bus. Didn't we move past this sometime in the 50s-70s?

I'm sure I could come up with some way to spin it that really they aren't a bunch of idiots, and frankly I'm a little confused by their motives and who exactly thought this was a good "social experiment", but I'm not going to bother. They say "OH, we're just trying to show that all the groups are the same despite race". Frankly the fact that they even feel the need to demonstrate that should be offensive to us all. So yeah. Boycotting on Principle.

I'm also boycotting planetary discrimination. Seriously? Stripping Pluto of its Planet Status? Just mean. Leave poor Pluto alone, you eggheaded pocket protector wearing nerds!!! I'll give you a wedgie you'll never forget.

Randomness in Text Form

2006-08-22T11:59:00.000-12:00

Much like Heather, my brain is also mush.

Here are some random things.

I don't like those lion statues on the end of driveways, or anywhere else for that matter. What is the deal with those anyway?

Scott has started posting our lives on the internet in picture format: Go check it out http://members.fotki.com/wipeoutscott/

I'm getting over poison ivy. God I hate poison ivy. I think it has been brought here by the devil. Or maybe the poison ivy fairy. She sucks.

In breaking news, I witnessed Santa Claus get convicted of a criminal offence. He was charged with a stalker-like offence. I kept waiting for his counsel to tell the judge that he was just watching this random person's house (which just so happens to be the house we're looking to buy) because he needs to know if they've been naughty or nice. I swear I think it's a defence at law. Anyhow, poor Mr. Claus is now banned from the town of Seaforth. This might be good news if he was stalking my future house rather than its occupants.

The hearing I talked about earlier? The one I asked for good vibes? Well, we won. All is right in the world.

Did I mention the poison ivy? See that lovely picture of Falls Reserve? I think I caught it there.

The phrase 23 Skiddoo needs to be re-incorporated into our vernacular. I'm not sure what exactly it means, but that doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

Less than 2 weeks til the wedding!

My new favourite passtime: Diagnosing people's mental health issues with the help of my trusty friend Dr. Google. Need a diagnosis? Give me a call.

Best reason for not RSVPing to the wedding: Abdi: "Since I figured you already would know I was coming, I didn't open the envelope so I didn't know I had to RSVP." Abdi will be presented with the official award at the wedding.

Frank is away for 2 weeks, so I have been the boss. During my time as chief of operations I have actually PREVENTED the building from blowing up. Despite my obviously stellar leadership in NOT burning the place down, I have decided that I would like to quit the practice of law and become a penguin.

Would it be a really bad idea to play paintball two days or so before the wedding? Cause seriously, it sounds like lots of fun. I am, however, worried that I might end up with like, a bright blue eye. Or Scott might end up with green hair. But Henly, you've inspired me!

It looks like we won't be moving. Although we've sold our house, the owner of the place we want to buy is simply being completely unreasnable as to price. Oh well. Maybe next time. We're going to look at other places, but it doesn't seem particularly promising.

Worst reason for not coming to the wedding: Not going to be mentioned :)

Honeymoon plans are underway... But here's the dilemna... it appears we're going to be going to Quebec City for 4 or 5 days... we've found a whale watching tour to go on, plan to hit La Ronde in Montreal on our first day (an amusement park), the Biodome one day, as well as a whitewater rafting trip... which are pretty much the kind of high excitement/activity things that are right up our alley... also have a hot tip that Mt. Tremblant has great cottages for rent and might check that out for a night... however... we feel kind of silly when we've been pricing trips to Costa Rica, the Bahamas, Jamaica and Puerto Rico which are around the same price we'd pay for a trip to Quebec City. We could actually get a trip to The Vegas for about 2/3 of the price we'd spend on Quebec City. So that's the dilemna... do we leave the lovely weather of early September... definitely one of the top 4 months for weather in our lovely land of ice and snow... pretty much just for the sake of getting a stamp on our passport and seeing somewhere neither of us has seen before, or do we stay local, take advantage of the good weather and go for something less dramatic? Please feel free to weigh in.

Speaking of the wedding... Scott and I have a bit of a unique game that we'll be playing there with those of you coming. We've decided that instead of all those things that people do to make the bride and groom kiss like read a poem about love or clink glasses or ring a bell or whatever... we're making you all do trivia questions. Each table will have a list of trivia questions, and in orer to make us kiss you'll have to (as a table) send up a representative who will correctly answer the question. Answer right, we kiss. Answer wrong? YOU kiss :) So, if anyone has any trivia questions that they'd like to be included, feel free to pass them along.

I've had several happy clients the past few weeks. I really really really like helping children. Something I've discovered about myself.

This has been the summer of insanity. Each of the past weekends since oh, I dunno, May, has been taken up by wedding showers, parties, weddings, and the like. Seriously, since May Scott and I have had one free weekend. The upside, it's been great seeing all kinds of people, spending lots of time out, jet setting around the province (well, once to Toronto, once to Nigara Falls, twice to Cobourg, twice to Ottawa, once to Nine Mile Lake, once to Windsor, once to Wheatley, a few of times to London, once to Kincardine, a couple of times to Kitchener, Grand Bend and Exeter, and once to Barry's Bay, by the time the summer is over).. the down side... we've definitely gotten some jet-lag!

All the leaves have fallen off one of our trees. Anyone have any idea why that might happen? And seriously... lion statues? What. is . the. deal???

I am now the proud owner of a new laptop for work purposes (which I promptly installed the Sims 2 on. I need something to do at court!) However, word on the street is it might spontaneously combust. I find that slightly concerning.

And on that note (which I believe is a g-minor) I bid you adieu.

It's been a loooooooooong, long, time coming

2006-08-21T11:32:00.000-12:00

So.. left you all hanging a little long there...
After Caribana, Heather, Dave, Scott, myself, Amy, Damon, Dina and Will went out for a little evening on the town to celebrate Heather's upcoming nuptuals.

Beverages were had by all... some more than others.

Luckily (for Will) the night did not end in drunken tattoos.

What follows is photographic evidence:

Amy says "You are all crazy. And no Sara. I do NOT know your brother"

We were later joined by my good friend Cousin It.

Mmmm... boogers.

Dina frightened all onlookers.

Just in case we weren't drunk enough already...

Amy and Heather ward off SCURVY!!!! Yarrr!!!

And then... the next day... Scott and I discovered the beauty that is falls reserve:

Anyhow, now that I've finished what I started I'll move on to something a little more current.

Do You Know My Brother... pt 2.

2006-08-07T13:00:00.000-12:00

Saturday:

Bob Marley says it better than I do:

Sun is shining
Weather is sweet
Make you wanna move
Your dancing Feet

Saturday was CARIBANA!!! Scott and I headed downtown on an adventure to check out all of the wonderful sights, sounds and get a little taste of carnival. The beats were pumping, and the weather was absolutely perfect. The city was alive with lots of hot sweaty bodies dancing in the sun, with the lake in the backdrop, and a perfect soundtrack of soca, calypso, steel drums and a little bit of reggae for good measure.

When we stumbled in we were greeted by the Parade of bands, which really seemed to be a whole bunch of trucks with loud speakers and dancers busting out the tunes at top volume. We hung out for a few hours taking in all of the costumes, and the Caribbean culture (which I am a huge fan of after my time in Guyana. It's really too bad we can't live on just now time here too). Jamaica shot up a few notches in the list of destinations we're going to visit. Other than being sorely lacking a whistle, a Guyanese flag and a tan.. it was an experience.

After a debacle involving the giant windmill, too much loud music, a whole lot of walking, and 40 dollars, we met Heather and Dave to continue the evening.

To be continued when Blogger starts co-operating

Do You Know My Brother? (aka Yes Dina, you made the blog)

2006-08-07T12:10:00.000-12:00

Weekend Update:

Friday night, right after work, Scott and I packed all of our belongings into the trusty Sunfire and high tailed it for Toronto. We've managed to pack a month of fun into just a long weekend. Sweet, sweet, long weekends. How I love you.

Friday Night:

We attended at Amina and Amro's wedding. It was the first muslim/Pakistani wedding I've been to. In a lot of ways it was quite different than any wedding I've been to, but in a lot of ways it was no different than every wedding I've been to.

Differences: No alcohol, no dancing, fancy elaborate red dress for the bride, curvy shoes and headdress for the man, beautiful elaborate shoulder covering clothes for the women, the husband has to pay before he can enter, and a much bigger emphasis on family than I've seen at any wedding ever... there were at least 20 children in attendance.

Similarities: Reading from the "bible" (except this time, the Qur'an), slide show of pictures of the couple as children, kids at the wedding not liking the main meal and being brought pizza, a whole lot of pictures being taken, and the speeches designed to embarrass the couple.

Perhaps the biggest difference was that Muslim weddings go on for 4 days, and our attendance was only at the third day of the festivities, which is a dinner hosted by the bride's family for the couple. It happens after the signing of the paperwork, which is done only with the families and the Bashrati (groomsmen).

The meal was fabulous, with a wide selection of Pakistani favourites, followed by about 300 different varieties of cake. The food was, bar none, the best "wedding food" I've ever had.

Afterwards a few of us went outto have a few drinks before closing time, and headed off. Scott and I stayed at the Delta Toronto Airport West... and I have to say it was, hands down, the best hotel we've been at service wise. Ever. Highly recommended, and for 79$ a night it was fabulous.

Sara is Not Available...

2006-08-02T13:14:00.000-12:00

Please leave a message. Sara has turned into a puddle of goo. Mushy, drippy goo. Picture it. It's eleventy billion degrees outside. You're in a business suit.

Welcome to my life.
Thinking about moving makes me sweat.

Note to Mel Gibson:

2006-08-01T00:24:00.000-12:00

God is love, you anti-Semetic dumbass.

A Vocabulary Lesson

2006-07-31T04:30:00.000-12:00

The word "terrorism" pisses me off.

People these days seem to keep throwing around the line that "Israel has a right to defend itself from terrorist attacks". I've heard it on the news more times than I can count. This is much like the equally un-founded line that was thrown around to justify the war in Iraq or Afghanistan that "The US has a right to defend itself from terrorists".

Do states have the right to defend themselves from terrorism? Really, that's not what bothers me. Some say war begets war and we should try diplomacy, some say "Sure! Lets blow shit up instead of using diplomacy. Diplomacy doesn't work anyway". Really it depends which side of the fence you sit on... but that isn't my issue. My issue is purely one of labelling.

Then there's always the proportionality issue... ie does the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier justify killing a whole whack of children, a bunch of other Lebanese civilians, and 4 unarmed UN Observers in a post with 8 foot high letters saying "U.N".. again, I guess some people might argue "Oh there's fighting in the middle east, and they need to show those Hezbollah people who's boss. A country can't help protect terrorists. Those people just got in the way, and those 36 children should have taken a stand against those horrible TERRORISTS". And then there's the counter argument... there's a whole lot of terrorists in the Klu Klux Klan... and there's a whole lot of them intimidating black families down in the southern US to try and achieve their goals... but hey, nobody is going to allow the bombing of Alabama. Again, that's still not my issue with this whole thing.

Labelling. That's where I'm bothered. Terrorism is one of those new words that we're throwing around. Like Paradigm. Nobody seems to actually know what it means, but hey, lets throw it around. As soon as we call someone a "Terrorist", we can do whatever we want to them, no matter who gets in the way. If there's a terrorist in your town, who cares if you're a 6 year old girl, or an unarmed UN observer trying to help make the world a more peaceful place, you better damn well move out of the way otherwise... oh well, it was your choice to be there in the first place and we'll blame you for getting in the way. Civilian casualties, they just happen in wars, fact of life... who cares if you were someone's son, brother, father, mother, sister, family.

A state has a right to defend themselves against terrorists, dontchaknow.

But, like I said... it seems no-one seems to care what a "terrorist" really is. Terrorism these days seems to be just an impressive way of saying "They're the problem, not us". What bothers me is the little amount of thought behind it.

So, what is terrorism anyway:

Terrorism: the practice of the deliberate inflicting (either directly or indirectly) of harm, injury, death and/or destruction upon a civilian target sufficient to cause horror, revulsion or despair among civilian populations and/or their political leaders, with the goal of causing those populations or political leaders to act in a way desired by the terrorists.

or...

Terrorism: Any act including, but not limited to, the use of force or violence and/or threat thereof of any person or group(s) of persons whether acting alone or on behalf of, or in connection with, any organisation(s) or government(s) committed for political, religions, ideological or similar purposes, including the intention to influence any government and/or to put the public or any section of the public in fear.
or...

Terrorism: The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.

So... what I'm getting at is this. Right now, Hezbollah is a terrorist group who is inflicting violence on civilians to intimidate for political and religious ends. They fit the definition. Got it. They're terrorists. Not good. Baddddddd terrorists.

BUT...

By blowing up a sovereign state, or pieces thereof, with hundreds of civilian casualties, to try and intimidate a government into bending to its own will...

By that logic, Lebanon should be blowing up Israel (not that I'm encouraging that, but geez, do they not have a right to protect THEMSELVES from terrorists?)

Why is one a measured response, their right to defend themselves over the kidnapping of a soldier, one that allows them to bomb 36 children, and one that we don't have the balls to stand up and condemn.. yet the other is terrorism.

Do I think terrorism is wrong? Sure do. Do I think Hezbollah are terrorists? Sure do. Do I believe there can be terrorists on both side of the fence? Check.

It really bothers me that people with bad vocabulary have found a term to hide behind when trying to justify them doing the exact same thing that those they seek to destroy are doing to them. And what bothers me most is that it doesn't seem to me that most of the world can see through this....

A Political Interlude

2006-07-29T02:57:00.000-12:00

The following post has very little to do with pirates, although it has much to do with asshats.

This week is marked by another asshat move by our ill-chosen Prime Minister:

See the article here

Basically, the Coles notes version for those of you not paying attention to the world this week, is that a UN post manned by Observers (meaning unarmed people on peacekeeping missions) was bombed by the Isaraeli army this week. 4 Peacekeepers from around the world are missing, presumed dead. Harper's response was not to condemn the attack of unarmed UN peacekeepers, occupying a clearly marked and well established UN post, but to question why the victims were even there. Yep, lets blame the victims. Good job, Steve-o. If Hezbollah had done this, I'm sure his response would be exactly the same.

Being a Canadian on the international scene is getting more embarassing every day.

As we balance on the edge of what could very quickly develop into World War 3, it leaves me very little comfort to know that people like Harper and Bush are running the show. As Einstein said: "I don't know what World War 3 will be fought with, but World War 4 will be fought with sticks and stones". Between Bush, Blair and Harper I don't see much hope for an international climate that will foster much peace in the near future.

Inside Joke

2006-07-25T14:36:00.000-12:00

Why do pirates say "Yaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrr"?

On Death and Dying

2006-07-21T02:45:00.000-12:00

Scott and I were talking the other day, discussing our own mortality.
The idea of leaving a body really bothers me.

I'm hoping that when its my time, I die as a result of spontaneously combusting.

In Case I needed my Ego Crushed 2 months before the Wedding...

2006-07-21T00:09:00.000-12:00

Henly let me know last night that there isn't enough alcohol in the WORLD that could convince him to kiss me!

Not that I want to kiss Kissy McGee over there, but its still a total burn.

A (bumble) Bee in my Bonnet

2006-07-19T22:46:00.000-12:00

This morning I took the time to check outRobin (friend of Leslie Waghorn's) blog.

She's got me buzzing.
Hah.
So many bee jokes (almost as good as pirates, yar).

I found
this

Long and the short of it, apparently they're making a live action Transformers movie... which is slightly cool... I loved playing/watching Transformers (90% of my friends growing up were boys... probably 75% of my friends still are boys)..

The uncool part? BUMBLEBEE... who's name SCREAMS "I'm a Volkswagon" is going to be played by... wait for it... A CAMARO!

Wrong. Just Wrong.

Optimus Prime damn well better be a big orange truck, they better have that ghetto blaster transformer, and they better not let Eminem play the jive talking Porsche.

This is even more upsetting than Daisy Duke's dye job.

Balderdash

2006-07-15T15:23:00.000-12:00

A post for my family:

Preslene (prez-leen): noun 1. Water that looks like barf; 2. A city, job, or vegetable.

Because I'm a Masochist..

2006-07-12T13:09:00.000-12:00

So... news in the McWisking Household?

We've officially listed our house, and are inching towards the purchase of the dream house... it's 100 years old, has a turret and a big inground swimming pool, two car garage...on the plus side.. On the downside, needs LOTS of renovation.

Just in case we weren't ALREADY as busy as a one-armed paper hanger.. why not throw some extra craziness into the mix?

Cause really, the plan all along has been to buy a house, work like mad for 10 months fixing it up, not finish the job, and buy the exact house we wanted all along but that sold one day before my job offer... and it was always the plan to do it within less than 2 months of the wedding, while work is crazy busy, and a month AFTER we threw out all our moving boxes. And the nervous breakdown? Yeah, planned on that one too.

Yep, perfectly orchestrated if I do say so myself.

We're not sure if we can make it to the wedding anymore, but if we have to move that weekend we promise to attend by video-conference.

But... look...

Maybe it'll work out and it'll all be worth it.
I'll probably see things differently next summer, as I lounge by the pool with my frosty beverage.

Hiatus

2006-07-09T09:36:00.000-12:00

Normally you announce hiatuses before they happen...

I expect this summer will be marked with several of them, but we're now officially back from the first one.

I'll post some pictures of our whirlwind adventure in the near future.

Another Deep Thought

2006-06-26T05:51:00.000-12:00

Another one...

(And Elaine, this one might be an area in which you have some expertise).

If, hypothetically, your name was "Sara Cockburn" or "Sara Bagina" or "Sara Dick" or something similarly in that vein... and you were marrying a guy named, hypothetically, "Joe Smith"... and therefore you could be "Sara Smith"... would you seriously keep your own name?

Or, in the same vein... if your name was something nice and normal, such as "Sara Smith", and you were marrying "Mr. Cockburn" or another similarly embarassing name, would you really choose to be "Sara Cockburn"?

(Obviously far worse than being Elaine Lane... but you must have thought about the pros and cons of the old switcheroo)

Anyone care to weigh in?

Deep Thoughts, by Jack Hany

2006-06-25T23:47:00.000-12:00

if you write big, inflammatory, small-minded, jingoistic, blog posts calling people names and being an asshat, and no one responds, does it mean you're a complete moron and you're totally irrelevant?

If there are no flashing signs and balloons, why do they call it a bonus room?

if someone offers help, it's accepted, then nothing more is said, was the offer ever made?

A Post to Annoy My Dad

2006-06-25T01:51:00.000-12:00

Scott and I are going to get a pet goat. We figure that's more effective than a lawn mower. We are going to feed him tin cans. My understanding is goats really like tin cans.

Another Sad Sad Announcement

2006-06-20T13:51:00.000-12:00

Further to Henly's recent post... and my playing of the Hobo theme song at excessive volumes... I've come to realise that Scott never watched the Littlest Hobo!!! He is unaware of the Hobo's exploits helping people in need and stopping bad guys.. and how every stop he makes, he made a new friend. And then he just rides out of town, no need for thanks and passing up the many opportunities for a loving home to continue on his selfless journey. I credit the Littlest Hobo for my career choice, and the very moral fibre of our society. Thank you CTV.

Andthe song... who can forget the song?

I'm not sure what kind of horrible bizarre vortex of Un-Canadianness doesn't have the Littlest Hobo. I knew there was something wrong with Windsor. It's like growing up Canadian without having Kraft Dinner, playing road hockey, or watching the Friendly Giant and Today's Special. (Please tell me you all know what happens to Jeff when they take off his hat...)

If anyone knows some links for video, we're going to have to catch this poor boy up to speed.

And if there's anyone else out there who didn't have the Hobo growing up, I will pray for your souls as well.

So Overwhelmed...

2006-06-19T06:04:00.000-12:00

The house is a mess.
The office is a mess.
Too much to do, not enough hours in the day. (But we did spend the weekend camping, pictures to follow)

But, rather than focusing on something... I needed to let you all know my opinion on tailgating.

YOU WILL NOT GET THERE FASTER if you ride the guy in front of you's ass.
Don't.

Yep, that was urgent business and now I feel better.

Tickle Trunk

2006-06-13T23:11:00.000-12:00

It is with great sadness that I report to those of you who may not already know...

Yesterday the CBC announced that it will stop showing Mr. Dressup as of September.

Future generations of children will not know the joy of the Tickle Trunk, Casey and Finnegan, and the sheer fun that was the late Ernie Coombs. The world just won't be the same without Mr. Dressup.

Who's next? The Littlest Hobo?

Its the end of an era.

Taste the Love

2006-06-08T13:21:00.000-12:00

All of our gardening efforts have paid off... the result... our first strawberry! It's slightly deformed, and there have definitely been bigger strawberries grown in the world, but we did it ourselves! There are a bunch more on the plants, but this one is the first one that was ready for a picking. We're still debating whether this berry should be made into a pie, a tart, or jam. We were still debating right up until we ate it!!!! MMMMM.

I've noticed my past two posts are kinda downers, sorry about that! Stay tuned for a post about our weekend at Seths' cottage (which is entitled "Don't Pee on My Table and Tell me It's Raining"), which is coming soon! (The only benefit to this downness is that I think I've singlehandedly introduced the word "asshat" to the legal community in Huron County. Heather would be proud)

But, for proof that I'm less of a grouchy pants, here's a picture from Saturday of me swimming in beautiful nine mile lake... nothing cures grouchiness like the first swim of the season. Look, I'm even smiling (although I think the look of sheer exhaustion shines right through the smile).

2006-06-02T10:06:00.000-12:00

I should have known this morning that today might not be a day for my "Favourite Memories" photo album.

I should have known to expect the unexpected when I was getting ready for work, and accidently sucked up a pair of my underwear with the vaccuum cleaner, while attempting to use it to suck up a hornet.

I do thank you all for your well wishes, but today didn't go as planned. I didn't lose, but it looks like a win, which previously looked fairly easy, might now be harder to pull out. Oh what a change a day can make.

Anyhow, there will still be a hearing. We will argue. The outcome, big fat unknown. I'm still rooting for right, goodness and natural order to prevail. And for justice to act in accordance with those principles, with maybe a little bit of the karma bus thrown in for good measure.

There were some not so proud moments, the word asshat came out, things were heated... I was told to shut up (before the word asshat came out) but aside from those sketchy details I can't really share... we'll just sum it up by saying that it's been a long day, and a smash up derby and some beer is on tap next, and then a cottage party tomorrow morning. Thank god its Friday.

God and the Stars

2006-06-01T22:47:00.000-12:00

Normally I try not to blog about work... seeing as how most of what I deal with is confidential its pretty hard... but today need some help, in the form of good vibes.

I'm hoping that God, the Stars or both are on my side today... I have a hearing today that is sort of a "must win", in order that I can believe there is much goodness and light in this world. Today is one of those days where I actually am convinced there is a "right", a "wrong", no grey area, and that "right" should prevail. This is not normal for me, as although I am always a strong advocate for my client, whoever they are, I normally am capable of seeing the other side's point and a whole lot of grey area. This makes for a lot of pressure today.

So, if anyone has time and is feeling helpful, send some good vibes or positive thoughts out my way... I'm not sure if it does any good, but either way I'll appreciate it hugely.

Oh and for anyone out there who might decide to send me some bad vibes... well please don't, because I'll know, and may be forced to stab you with a fork... and the person you'd hurt the most wouldn't be me... so if you want to send me some bad vibes you can send em my way on the weekend, or I can advise you as to a day where you'd screw up my life without your bad vibes taking out someone innocent in the process.

Wish me luck.

Origin of Species

2006-05-31T13:44:00.000-12:00

So today in my web travels I've learned two things.

First off, I found this: http://www.confusednation.com/asshat/ , which is a site that discusses the origin of the word currently being thrown around liberally, "Asshat".

Further, after a discussion this weekend about the Maury Povich Show, and specifically half sibling twins and the possibility therof, I have discovered that not only did it happen on the Maury Povich show, it actually happens frequently enough that it has its own term...

Heteropaternal or dipaternal superfecundity. http://www.dnacenter.com/media/twins-different-fathers.html

I'm glad to see science has come up with a new term for what we have all come to know by more colourful terms. (Yes, I am so going to hell.. I know, the karma bus is after my ass I'm sure.)

Fork You!

2006-05-30T22:55:00.000-12:00

Thunderstorms have me awake since 5:30 this morning, and instead of deciding to get up, get dressed and do something productive (like, say, go to work?), I've decided "Hey, lets surf the internet". Oh so productive, I'm so proud of myself...

In my surfing, I went over to Paul's Blog and he had the "Who would you like to stab with a Fork list". Well lately I haven't been into the whole "complain and bitch" thing so much ... apparently summer has me in a good mood or something.. but I figured there are probably some people out there who deserve a good stab with a fork... so I figured that despite my generally good mood I would try to come up with some people who need it...

And, before you get concerned and are like "OH MY GOD! Sara is going to STAB people!"... this stabbing is purely as an attention getter, and would not cause death or injury... (but being that I'm a lawyer I feel I need a disclaimer to say that stabbing people with a fork, even just a little, probably constitutes assault and you shouldn't do it.)

1. Stephen Harper... for refusing to participate in a free and open media, for his alleged baby eating tendancies, and in general. (What an easy way to start the list).

2. Mean Lawyers. Do not snicker and pass notes about me during a discovery. I can see you, and I will blog about you later. Then I will take out the rest of my aggression on you in Court. Further, if you call and threaten to send my client to jail when the matter is withdrawn, I will curse your name and call you things like "Bitchy McBitcherson" behind your back. And my client will not go to jail. And I will make a mental note of your name, and you will rue the day. Further, do not send me letters full of lies. I will call you on it in a return letter, but use nice words to call you a liar. Oh and don't use the word "perfunctory" in a sentence... we know you went to law school, no need to prove it in your every day speaking.

3. Clingy manipulative girls who use sex as a weapon.. you give us normal girls a bad name.

4. People who wear their clothes too small... if it doesn't fit you, buy a different size. Further, just because they make certain clothes in certain sizes DOES NOT MEAN YOU SHOULD WEAR IT. If you're my size, and my age, there is NO good reason to wear a pair of spandex pants that say "Juicy" on the ass. And you don't need to wear them to Court. Ever.

5. Anyone named Josh.

6. People who abuse animals. Seriously. Why in the world would you want to hurt a kitten? You suck, and you're lucky all you'd get from me is a fork in the eye because the karma bus is coming for you someday, and you won't be so lucky then.

7. People who don't let you over in traffic. That one is for you Alli..

8. The Buffalo Sabres... each and every one of them.

9. People who feel the need to tell everyone how creative, artistic, smart, educated, rich, or just plain wonderful they are.

10. People who pee in the pool. I don't swim in your toilet. (Okay, so I ran out... I told you I wasn't feeling particularly stabby)

Lakeview Public School

2006-05-26T02:04:00.000-12:00

I'm a product of French Immersion.

I was lucky enough to go to a GREAT elementary school where I had the pleasure of being in a class with pretty much the same 27 kids for the first 6 years of my education. We then moved on, all together, to the big bad world of D.A Moodie Intermediate School, where we continued in the same class but were exposed to a whole bunch of other new faces..

I always considered myself lucky to have a feeling of community in my school. I always knew I would be last on the alphabetical order, and that normally that meant I was last to do class presentations (except on those dreaded days where they reversed the alphabetical order). I also knew that it meant Troy C. was going to likely go first, and that when it came time to do seating plans I would probably end up sitting next to Kim W., who became one of my closest elementary school friends.

I still remember how mad she was the day that Amber swung me around in the playground, I tripped on my shoelace, fell on my face, and I ended up looking like Elvis for a week.

I've always considered myself lucky that I spent my formative years with such a great bunch of kids, and even to this day the maid of honour in my wedding this year is someone I went to good old D.A Moodie together... yay Tara. I have a ton of fond memories from this whole time of my life.

Recently, Gretta, another person who I always considered a close friend growing up (I still remember the blue and green sweater you used to wear in Grade 4 Gretta!!!) decided it'd be nice to reunite our little Lakeview PS class. And so it went... and now, probably about 75% of the class is an email list, and a bunch of the DA Moodie crew too... and its been GREAT to hear what everyone is up to.

Despite elementary school being about 15 years ago, I still carry with me many memories from those days... so for my newly re-found Lakeview and Moodie friends, and for those of you I've kept in touch with... I thought I would share some of those fond memories.

I remember:

-- In Grade 5, helping the whole class to make about 5000 flowers out of Kleenex for our giant Kleenex Flower Heart decoration.

-- John C.'s cereal project, where he made a box of Exeruxilasics... based on Muslix only funnier.

-- Mike M. and John C. asking me in Grade 5 or 6 "Would you wear shoes if you didn't have feet? Well then why are you wearing a bra??"

-- The Doombolt Chase

-- Mr. Rajabalay and his recompenses... a bag full of ant-ridden chips and a candy so hard it pulled Laura S.'s tooth out.

-- Ryan H. and Stephen R. vandalizing a project that Julie L. and I did about fish... giving cartoon bubbles to the fish that say "Sex Me Mr. Bennett". Being really offended by "Sex me Mr. Bennett".

-- Mr. Bennett trading pirated computer games with students and telling us ghost stories.

-- Katimavik!

-- Mr. Wilson hitting students on the rear end with a deflated rubber glove (What was the deal with that, anyway?)

-- Our Grade 8 trip to the Stratford Festival and the Shaw Festival

-- Mr. Kirby, Mme. Cote, Mrs. Snarr, Mme. Raymond, Mme. Pugh (who could forget her?) and all the rest...

-- Walking to the far bus stop so I could play with Julie L.

-- Trying to beat Liisa, Leila, and Andree on walks to school.

-- Alpha in the summers

-- Our Kindergarten Graduation, getting diplomas from the Mayor and my big pink frilly dress

-- Sumi fainting in Grade 4.

-- Outlining red construction paper poppies with black permanent marker.

-- Some kid named Trevor and I drawing all over Sarah L.'s pants with black permanent marker in Grade 1.

-- Playing Logowriter, Stickybear, Carmen Sandiego and Kings Quest on those beat up old Apple Computers.

-- That teacher with the long black hair who brought us to the computer room, and smelled our hands to make sure they smelled like soap before we could play computer.

-- Enrichment, later renamed "Withdrawl".

-- Sitting at the back of the bus... Mrs. Lalonde's bus. Wishing I could be on Denny's bus, cause he had posters of the Honky Tonk Man and Ms. Elizabeth.

-- Getting in trouble on the bus because Julie L. held up a glove that gave the finger to a car behind us.. and being her acoomplice. Being summarily moved to the front of the bus, and not sitting with Julie anymore.

-- Going to Jen S.'s house for lunch.

-- Playing marbles.

-- Canada Fitness tests

-- Giving our Grade 7 teacher a nervous breakdown... or at least convincing her to move to France at Christmas break... I forget her name, but i feel kinda bad.

-- Andree H's pool party for graduation, and her blue treehouse.

-- A mooli with a cow!

-- Various school performances... being "Bashful" in, Snow White and the 7 Companions. Prudence Manners in Ride the Gooberville Stage and the giant production of "Emily Jolie".

-- Playing "le herisson" in Emilie Jolie... "Ah, c'est toujours pareil. On se pique toujours a ma page. Et moi, je suis un herisson, tout seul, tout seul, tout seul. Ah, c'est toujours pareil, les gens son toujours a la recherche d'un prince charmant, mais jaimais d'un herisson. Et moi, je suis un herisson tout seul, tout seul, tout seul."

-- Singing Christmas Carols in the gym at Lakeview... FIVE GOLDEN RINGS WITH FINGERS!

-- Roots the Russian Rootabaga

-- Craig O's ambition to be prime minister, but settling on winning School Pres over Rob D. with his famous line "Remember guys, you're voting for school president, not George Bush" Classic.

Feel free to add your own memories, but those are some of mine. And know, that to this day I have all kinds of fond memories of most of you, and the 9 years of growing up we all did together.

May, in Photo- Form

2006-05-25T12:35:00.000-12:00

So I realise I haven't blogged anything of substance in the past month... Scott and I have been busy enjoying each others company (and watching all the many season finales!!) and so I've neglected blogging much... sorry for the boringness. We've also neglected returning three Blockbuster Movies which are now 3 weeks late or something... oh well.

As for what we've been up to, we've recently taken a few mini trips... basicalyl just to get away from the humdrum and keep life different.. we took a trip to St. Jacobs/Guelph to see the Amish/Butterflies, a trip to Wonderland, spent the day checking out Toronto, A trip to Stratford to see my old University friend Trevor Tchir play at the Boar's Head, went London for dinner and a movie, a trip through the wilds of Hullett Marsh... and of course we've continued the war on weeds, been getting the garden in shape, and doing all that day to day life stuff you can't seem to avoid.. but anyhow, rather than all the boring details,I've posted a few pictures of the past 3 weeks.

I must, however, post briefly about Trevor Tchir. Trevor and I went to Ottawa U together, and he's one of those genuinely good guys. He's smart, easy to get along with, and one of those people who I'm really glad to have met... OH! And did I mention he's talented as hell? On Friday we went to check him and his buddy Pete Webb out in Stratford. Scott, a real music afficiando, was sufficiently impressed. The show was a great mix of Pete and Trevor, accoustic guitar, harmonic, a little bit of bass, and fun. It was great to see him again, and you should all go check out his music at http://www.trevortchir.com. It's worth a listen, as Trevor goes against my theory that nothin good ever came from Edmonton... oh and so do the Oilers. Go Oilers! I will post pictures, but I forgot my camera so I have to wait for Trevor to email them.

I also have no pictures of Wonderland, but you guys all know the drill... ride ride ride ride ride... sore feet, collapse into bed. It did not disappoint.

This weekend is off to Niagara Falls with Heather, Alli and Anna to finish off what re
mains as the last bridely-detail... the bridesmaids dresses. Details to follow, I'm sure! But, here are the pictures of the last three weeks.

A frog hiding in the reeds on a bike trip through the Hullett Marsh Wildlife Reserve just outside of Seaforth
Me and Scott at the ButterflyConservatory in Guelph.

If you look verrrrrrrrry closely, you can see our first wee little strawberry. Go Green Thumb!

A little cold on the May Long Weekend, but the plants must have homes. You can see our new veggie garden in the background

On our way through Amish Country, amidst the signs for "Danger, Amish", we ran into signs saying "Covered Bridge This way!" After much chasing, we found it!

Scott standing in front of the much sought after old covered bridge we found.

An artsy shot I made Scott stop the car so I could take... I call it "Windmill on the Way to St. Jacobs"

A Nesting Swan along the Avon River, a few weekends ago in Stratford

We lucked out and have discovered we have a lilac tree. I am completely impressed by the number of lilacs around our area.

A Second Open Letter to Stephen Harper

2006-05-24T12:26:00.000-12:00

Dear Mr. Harper,

I understand you have decided to stop taking questions from the national news media. Ironically enough, I read about it on the CBC. I have the following message for you:

Stop being such a crybaby and suck it up.

Sincerely,

Sara

2006-05-15T03:50:00.000-12:00

I was listening to the radio this morning, while getting ready for work... and APPARENTLY, it seems that Playdoh has come out with a new innovation... in fragrance.

Yep, you heard right. Eau de Playdoh.

I'm not sure who wants to smell like Play-Doh.. but gah!

Random stuff

2006-05-11T01:20:00.000-12:00

I haven't blogged in a long while.... so here is a random list.

1. More evidence relating to the issue of whether or not Stephen Harper eats babies can be found at James blog.

2. I won free tickets to the Park Theatre in Goderich!! How exciting.

3. I knew Libby was a goner. Poor Hurley.

4. On a related note, Mr. Eko is uber hot.

5. Ms. Jay, who most recently commented on my post re: Baby Eating is hilarious. Check out her blog. Guaranteed to make you laugh I will be adding a list to the sidebar.

6. We now have bikes and are enjoying biking. This fun has been dampened by the week of rain forecast.

7. We have several more unidentified flowers. One is giant, with purple wispys. I will post pictures, I'm at a loss.

8. The Sens... oh the Sens... Buffalo... stupid Buffalo.

9. Environment Canada if predicting a long hot summer. Yay for living by the beach.

10. Unsolicited advice to people everywhere: If you're in bail court, accused of an offence, sitting in the plexiglass box and the JP asks "How did you like jail"?... do not respond by saying "There are worse places". You might end up back there.

Subliminal Messages

2006-05-02T11:58:00.000-12:00

Apparently I am not alone...

Someone in Toronto has apparently hacked into the Transit System sign, and replaced the regularly scheduled programming with a message saying:

Stephen Harper Eats Babies!

Check here for the official story.
Toronto Star Story

I assure you all I had nothing to do with this, although I did find it amusing...

Apparently, a former co-worker of Mr. Harper says that Mr. Harper never ate a baby in the five years they worked together, however I direct all of your attention to this, before you make up your mind.

Still not convinced? Check this out.

Personally I'm not sure what to think, this so called electronic vandalism is very concerning... if it says it on a flashing sign it must be true, no?

Pictures, with Captions

2006-04-30T09:22:00.000-12:00

The End of Daffodil Season

Tulips

I call this one "A Garbage Can Full of Weeds". It's been a battle against the dandelions, and we're trying to be eco-cool and not use poison.. but we don't want to be "that neighbour who we blame for the dandelions in the neighbourhood." The war rages on.

Begonia. Pretty plant, not such a pretty name.

The Tulips are in full bloom in some parts of the garden. The Daffodils are starting in some other parts of the garden. In some other parts, they're already dead. I'm not sure whats up with our gardens.

Purdy tulips

The strawberries are still alive!! And have grown.

Can anyone identify this purple plant?

Buddha. Not to be confused with Budda, who is sold at Walmart.

Again, can anyone identify the pink flower? We have a few.

A week or two ago, just before the tulips opened.

My first Christmas Turkey!

Ollie says "It's a good thing this screen is in the way buddy."

Shamus says: "You certainly look tasty."

Yes, we are yuppies and this is our kitty-cat water fountain. Shamus seems to have been watching the commercials. As soon as it was plugged in he ran to it and drank as if he were a lost camel in the middle of the sahara.

Forever Young

2006-04-28T09:34:00.000-12:00

So its no secret that I'm not getting any younger...
but in the past few weeks I've kind of wondered:

Exhibit A:

Last week I was in Stratford Court, dealing with a client who is a young person. (The people previously known as young offenders, but now referred to with the much more politically correct term of young people. They will likely be young offenders again under our brilliant new government, but I digress)

As I was sitting waiting for Court to begin, and my client to arrive, in my suit with a briefcase no less, duty counsel approached me and asked if I needed to see him about my matter. For those of you not fluent in Court jargon, yes, he mistook me for a young person charged with a criminal offense. Half flattering, at least.

Exhibit B:

Today I was coming home from Goderich and noticed the Super 7 was at 30 million. Since I needed gas too, I stopped to get gas and a ticket. The girl at the counter carded me!

I'm not sure what's brought about the recent crowd of people thinking I'm under 18 (this is aside from the "Are you sure you're a lawyer? you look kind of young" comments)... but its amusing at least.

Sweet

2006-04-26T02:09:00.000-12:00

It might just be me...

but the bird on the Telus commercial looks like a Mango, which makes me want to eat it. Is that wrong?

Hypothetical Bob

2006-04-25T07:12:00.000-12:00

I have this friend.

Or maybe I don't.

His name isn't Bob. But, we'll call him Hypothetical Bob. For old times sake.

Hypothetical Bob has this problem. I think he has low self esteem... but that's the Dr. Phil in me. Hypothetical Bob has a problem with making bad choices. Bad choices in relationships. Lets just say that Hypothetical Bob lets his lips get him in trouble, even when Hypothetical Bob really doesn't mean to kiss people, he does. He's a kisser. He also has a problem where he pees on people. It's unfortunate for Hypothetical Bob, but yet the ladies flock to him.

Hypothetical Bob also seems to have a problem with attracting crazy women. There are a long line of crazies in Hypothetical Bob, one of whom we shall refer to as Hypothetical Gums. Hypothetical Bob and Hypothetical Gums love oral sex.

I'm a family lawyer. I see Hypothetical Bobs all day long who get themselves into trouble. Normally its as a result of crazy people. Hypothetically anyway. Or bad decisions sometimes. Sometimes bad luck. But not Hypothetical Bob. He has good luck. Just too many crazy people. And Hypothetical Skankerellas.

Do you know a Hypothetical Bob? I bet there are many.

Just to be like Dr. Phil a little more, I think Hypothetical Bob just wants to feel like an attractive man. Or woman. Whichever he (or she) may be.

Anyway, I'm starting a fund. Hypothetical Bob needs some kind of charity, to help pay to help bail him out when the next hypothetical crazy gets hooked on the Bob Lips and can't get enough. Maybe Hypothetical Bob will get stabbed. Maybe not.

Please donate generously.

Introspective, or a Big Fat Whatever, or My Karma Ran Over Your Dogma

2006-04-24T06:09:00.000-12:00

Okay, so here's some personal life stuff I feel like sharing. Introspective and personal, but similarly vapid to Heather's recent post about hair straightening...and its rare in life to find a friendship you would trade for a hair straightener, but today I think I'd prefer the hair straightener.

I want opinions, so if you have one, let me hear it. Whatever you think, pro, con, positive, negative, spew it out. And be warned this is likely going to be a long post, and some key details have been changed to protect the person I'm blogging about. Some of you who know me will know him too, so don't reveal too much in your comments.

A Little History:

When I was 13, I started chatting with strangers over the internet. In some cases this was a bad idea, in some cases it was a positive experience. When I was 14 or 15, I started chatting with a guy, we'll name him Joe for the simple fact that I know nobody named Joe who I would have dated. He was substantially older than I was, we'll say about 21 when I first started talking to him. He lived in a land far far away. A few years after we started talking online, he was taking a trip and decided he'd stop by and see me on his way through town. I was about 16, he was about 23. He was a nice guy, and we ended up liking each other when he came here. He stayed in town for a few days, and it was one of those times in life when everything just seemed perfect.

Well... as for long term, I was 16, he was 23... things didn't work out (needless to say). I have some regrets about how some of the stuff unfolded.. I was 16, he lived time zones away, I had no money, therefore no ability to travel or talk long distance (this was back in the day when LD was expensive), and basically I would say the relationship failed because I didn't make the right kind of effort... that's my perspective anyhow. I regret that, because if I wasn't into it for reasons of distance, I should have just owned up and broke it off... but I didn't. And now, with my hindsight tuned in and a little bit of maturity (although I have never once claimed to be mature, I am more mature than I was then), I realise all kinds of reasons the relationship was ultimately just doomed... the age difference, personality differences, interest differences, citizenship differences, location differences, value differences, two post secondary degrees that would have probably doomed the relationship if it had lasted that long... and of course Scott!!! There are probably about 15 reasons I've forgotten... but I guess really the person you fall for at 16 and the person you fall for at 26 are entirely different entities.

Anyhow, we stayed in touch, although I really can't remember if we always stayed in touch or if at some point we rekindled a friendship... but regardless, we were never enemies. Which, as an aside, is something I don't have many of. Well professionally I've had a few nemeses (is that the plural of nemesis?) as Heather can attest to, I've ticked off a few opposing parties (one of whom threatened to kill me in Arabic, that was fun), I have one ex-boyfriend who I'm fairly certain hates me, over my years on the planet I've had a permanent falling out with only one of my friends, and there is one person I wouldn't mind punching... but aside from that, I still have the same friends I have had in some cases since grade school (or in once case since I was 3), I keep in touch with most of my ex-boyfriends to a minor extent, I've never been on "non speaking terms" with a family member, I don't fight much with my friends, although of course it has happened, and those friends who have fallen out of my life are more instances of drifting apart and losing touch rather than some kind of feud... and if I did run into them it'd be a pleasant reunion. Generally I get along with people, and again, Heather will attest to the fact that I even have the ability to put on a shit eating grin and make nice with people who I think are complete idiots (or fucknuts). I'm not sure why Heather is my witness all the time, although really I think she'd make a damn fine witness... but I digress.

Bottom line, although I'm by no means perfect, I generally would probably get a "Usually Plays Nicely With Others" on my report card, unless my teacher could read my mind, in which case I'd get a "Shouldn't use so much cursing".

So back to the issue at hand... this guy, the one named Joe to protect the innocent. He and I had a fight. It was a little over 3 years ago, although it felt like longer. I won't go into the specifics, but its fair to say it got ugly. We didn't share the same point of view, and he felt that given my point of view, he could no longer be my friend. He felt that our conversations weren't enjoyable anymore, and I completely agreed. Anyway, he made the decision to terminate the friendship, and really given the discussion that was a-ok with me. I don't remember it being as civil as I've made it sound, but really he was right. If something isn't working out, why beat a dead horse?

Again, difference of opinion, difference of values. I'm not sure I would have made the decision, because there are LOTS of people I have differences of opinion with, sometimes even major, and we still manage to co-exist and even consider some close personal friends... obviously the dating thing wouldn't have worked out, but I would have thought the friendship thing would be do-able... but this clearly wasn't working out...at all.. and ended, from my memory, with him saying he never ever ever wanted to talk to me again, and me saying the feeling was more than mutual. So long. Deleted off MSN.

Well, a few weeks ago I was surfing the blogosphere, and POOF!!! There is Joe's blog. Completely random occurance, I might add.

Well, you all know me and the whole fate, karma, kismet... whatever you want to call it. I believe in a larger purpose, and always try and respond to the strange coincidences that seem to surround me. I truly believe they happen for a reason, although I don't ever know exactly what the reason is. So, I commented. It was a simple comment, about how small the world was, about how I almost didn't comment, and about how I hoped it was okay that I was commenting, and ended with a big "How Are You?" No response. 3 days later, still no response but a new blog posting. I took it as a hint, and posted a followup comment 4 or 5 days later saying (I'm paraphrasing, cause I erased it) "Hey, I guess you didn't want to hear from me, sorry for commenting. Glad to see everything is going well in your life, I'm happy for you, seems things are going really well and I wish you, and your wife and puppy all the best in the future".

Totally not meaning to be a smart ass, totally not meaning to be sarcastic, and totally not another example of my shit eating grin. Sincere.

So I get the following as a response from Joe:

sara,

i didnt see your comments until today, so please dont get all impatient on my blog..i am on a business trip with limited access..etc..so i wasnt giving you a hint that i dont want to talk to you.
i havent spoken with you for about 4 years..so needless to say, it was a surprise. i will write you more when i get back home this weekend. i left the same note on my blog in case u see that one first.

So I respond with the following:

Joe,

I wasn't impatient, just didn't want to go where I wasn't wanted... sorry. I took it as a hint, and I obviously shouldn't have. I'll erase my impatient comment if you like... I really just thought (since you had posted) that you were ignoring, but obviously I was wrong.
No rush, look forward to hearing from you whenever you end up getting the time :)

To which I get the following reply:

Hello Sara,

I was glad to read your first comment and not the second. So..while I would have been happy to talk with you and catch up, in my opinion, you were impatient or immature or both. Your comment was pretty rude and I was busy at work and did not have time to respond to previous comments, not to mention that my template is broken (edited in) "and therefore I didn't realise your comment was there"

So I have no idea where that leaves us. But I dont have a huge desire, at the moment, to catch up.
Take care

So given that I responded... in typical long drawn out Sara fashion, defending what I still don't feel was rude, wishing him the best, and assuming that where "we're left" is no worse than we were before, except I feel I got some closure. Here is the closing paragraph, which has been edited but the sentiment stays the same:

Apparently I offended you anyway, and I apologize...

So really, if you never do have the desire to catch up I'm happy with things between us exactly where they are. Maybe you're ticked off, maybe you hate my guts, maybe you think I'm rude and immature.. that gets a big fat whatever from me. (And we both know I am immature, always have been, always will be) We were there already, and on the scale of tickedoffness you're at the low end compared to a few. I'm cool with that.

All I've ever really wondered and cared about is how things with you are, and they seem to be good, and so I'm out....and I'm happy leaving things on this note if you are.

Finally, in response, Joe says:

Ok then. And as you said: whatever.

The Dilemma

Okay, so here are the questions, in no particular order:

1. Was I rude with my comments to Joe?
2. Was I impatient with my comments to Joe?
3. Was I immature with my comments to Joe?
4. Was I wrong for posting this on my blog?
5. Do I respond? He clearly just wants the last word, and I'm not uber mature. Maybe I WANT THE LAST WORD! And really, he thinks I'm the ass, but I think he's the ass so why SHOULDNT I respond?
6. Was my email response to Joe somehow inappropriate?
7. Anything else?

You all Need to See This!

2006-04-19T05:26:00.000-12:00

I'm at work, so I'll make it quick... but frankly you all have to check this site out.

Stuff + Cats = Awesome indeed.

Easter Weekend!

2006-04-17T05:43:00.000-12:00

With the smell of chocolate still on my breath, here's a recap of our mostly slow easter weekend, starting after our evening out with Frank and Anne and the close encounter with the squirrel... The main purpose of this blog is to show off the many pictures taken :)

Friday we got up early and headed to Leamington, to check out Colasantis. We bought a great tree for $5. The place was packed. We then headed over and had a little visit with the future inlaws... learned about how you shouldn't put soap in a koy pond. After that we jetted back to London for sushi dinner with some friends, and late back to Seaforth.

The rest of the weekend was mostly just chilling... but don't worry, its not a rut yet. We did lots of things that nobody wants to hear about... like groceries, laundry, walks around the neighbourhood, an easter egg hunt, and yard work. Basically we spent two days catching up on life... which needs to be done now and then but isn't largely exciting.

Without further adieu, here are the pictures:

A picture of the pond, before the landscaping is done

A picture of the first garden we built. Right now its just dirt, but it is the future home of our butterfly and hummingbird garden.

A few of the late bloomers of the daffodils we planted. Some are already dead, and the tulips are almost ready. (As you can see in the background)

A picture of our $5 Ficus Tree. A total steal!
Our other garden built so far (one more left to build). Right now it is the home of our strawberry plants, and once we build our patio arbour (not sure that's the right word), we can put our potted grape plant into the ground too, and it'll have a fan (as Tara calls it) to grow up.

The boys want back outside, after having a chance to play in the yard on their leashes. We hope to let them play out in hte yard lots.. They've got their shots, (well until they're due in June) so as long as they don't get fleas it'll be all good.

Our turkey bits brineing. My first experiment with Brine, after directions provided by Leslie Waghorn. It turned out delciously.

Easter Dinner for two

And a little homemade cake to finish it off... Anyway, its been a great Easter weekend even though we didn't make it back to Ottawa (mostly just because of our two trips there in March)... hope the Bunny was good to all of you too.

Great Equanimity

2006-04-14T13:10:00.000-12:00

When I moved to Huron County, on the roadtrip up, I noticed a sign. This particular sign proclaimed Exeter to be the "Home of the White Squirrel".

After noticing a variety of painted squirrels on various benches, garbage cans and fence posts, I thought nothing of it. Sudbury is the home of the giant nickel, Wawa is the home of the world's largest Canadian Goose, Goderich is Canada's prettiest little town, Notre Dame is the home of the Fighting Irish, Winnipeg is the home of Winnie the Pooh... I would never, however, expect to see a big yellow bear clad with red shorts running around downtown Winnipeg... I have never encountered a particularly belligerent Irish person.. and I don't run around jaw agape at the beauty that is Goderich...

Well last night it happened. Scott and Frank and I were leaving the Squash Club to head over to Frank's place for a little late evening refreshment, and there it was.

A white squirrel.

Much like this one:

Alright, I kid, not at all like that... more like this one:

So, having been pretty much all over this lovely province, and having never seen such a creature, I grabbed Scott in disbelief. He was just as shocked as I was... We had both seen the sign, but we weren't in Exeter, we were in Clinton... and much like the giant goose or the giant nickel, we expected the white squirrel was little more than lore.

BUT NO! There it was! In all its glory! (Ange informs me that her friend, also a resident of Clinton, has encountered a tulip eating white squirrel.. much to the dismay of Ange's friend and Ange's friend's tulips).

I felt the need to point out this shocking creature, in all of its albino splendour, to Frank. I ran to his Smart Car and said "FRANK!!! LOOK!", pointing feverishly at the squirrel and hoping around, trying to be quiet, but trying to get my point across through the glass. He rolled down the window, and looked at me as if I'd just grown some kind of trunk, or superfluous head, right before his eyes. "Yes Sara, its a squirrel". Unflappable I tells ya! Another thing to add to the list of reasons Frank thinks I'm a froot loop.. but seeing a white squirrel doesn't happen every day!

So, I must now develop a plan to bring these creatures to my birdfeeder (and no mom, I am not going to throw ice cubes at them). Right now I'm thinking peanut butter sandwiches might be the right bait, but I'm open to suggestions.

Keep it in your pants

2006-04-13T14:41:00.000-12:00

So its spring.

The temperature has been pretty decent... 15, 16, 17, even 18 degrees. It has been the kind of weather where you really want to get outside, soak up the spring sunshine, and just walk around the neighbourhood. So, we have been.

And I've noticed that some people need to chill... yes, its spring, but no, you do not need to be wearing shorts. It is not summer. Relax. (unless you're running, in which case it'd probably be hot... wear shorts)

So, to all those people who insist on wearing shorts in April.... KEEP IT IN YOUR PANTS.. summer will be here soon.

2006-04-09T18:24:00.000-12:00

We had decided that one of the things we really wanted to see during our trip to Curacao was the Seaquarium. There were tours that took you there, in a comfy bus driven by some white guy, but we figured hey... when in Rome, why not be a little daring... although really a trip to Willemstad is a little lacking for those looking for adventure.

After a quick morning swim, we left the hotel for downtown Willemstad. We boarded the ferry, armed with a fresh fruit smoothy for breakfast, and then headed up to the bus terminal. At the bus terminal we found a lovely red minibus that seemed to go to the Seaquarium, so we paid our dollar and we took our chances.

For those of you who maybe haven't been to the Carribean, minibuses are a quite normal occurrence... they're a cross between a taxi and a bus, normally being a van with room for 9 passengers. They go around the cities and towns, on no real fixed schedule, and pick you up and drop you off kind of wherever you'd like to go. Oh, and I forgot to mention, most of them drive with little or no regard for the rules of the road, oncoming traffic, or human life in general. After a harrowing drive, we ended up at the Seaquarium.

We watched the Dolphin show

and the Sea Lion show

Fed the nurse sharks...

And marvelled at the many other weird and wonderful creatures that call the Seaquarium home... including this dude, who had far too many teeth for my liking:

We tried to book a dolphin swim at the nearby Dolphin Academy for the afternoon, but apparently people had planned ahead and they were booked. We struggled briefly with the whole dilemna between a savings account and an experience, and chose to shell out the cash and book a dolphin swim for another day.

After checking out the various creatures, which included flamingos, pelicans, sea turtles of 3 or 4 different kinds (one of which I'm fairly certain is named Sheldon), we decided to continue by checking out somewhere which was also a little more touristy than had been the norm.. we went to a local hotspot for local bargoers and tourists alike, to the Seaquarium Beach Mambo Beach Club for a late lunch. We feasted on sandwiches on the beach, learned that lizards really like Crab Salad, and washed the whole experience down with an Amstel.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Seaquarium beach, which was totally beautiful. We did a little snorkelling, but were kind of disappointed, as most of the snorkelling we had done in the couple of days before was much nicer than what we saw at Seaquarium beach. The water was a little murky, and the fish were sort of drab... but I did manage to see a barracuda that day, which was a little less exciting than the seahorse we'd caught a glimpse of the day before.

We lounged, snorkelled, played in the water, and sunned ourselves. (I have posted this next part about 8 times, but the stupid blogger keeps crashing...) The sun started getting lower, and we figured it was about time to head back to downtown, and head back to the hotel. We ventured out to find a minibus, and after awhile hopped onto one. The bus took us all through one of the residential areas of Curacao, which up until that time we hadn't seen. We immediately fell in love with all the pretty houses on the hillside, and have decide we will be moving somewhere like that some day (Don't worry Frank, not for awhile).

We ended off our day tired and happy, having booked a car for our next day's adventure.

The rental car was supposed to arrive bright and early, but bright passed and still no sign of the car. Luckily it showed up about 30 minutes late, and we were whisked off to the Hilton to see how the rich folk live. It was very nice, a nice pool, lovely beach, but we quickly grabbed our new friend Yaris and set out to do a little more thorough exploration of the island.

Our first stop was Hato caves, which is on the north side of the island. We took the guided tour, and saw all the cave has to offer... basically consisting of bats, stalactites and stalagmites, a little history... as the caves were used by the slaves to flee from their oppressive masters.. there are still stains from the torches used by the slaves. There were also an impressive number of rock formation, but by far the most impressive to Scott and I was this one:

YAR Me Matey's!!

I'll post the rest of the trip later, but for now I'm just glad I made it this far without crashing!

What do you get?

2006-04-09T02:26:00.000-12:00

What do you get when Titanic meets Jurassic Park meets a giant monkey who obviously needs therapy?

KING BOMB! Sorry... King Kong!

As Scott and I remarked at the end of the movie... There's three hours of my life I'll never get back. Despite Heather's post a few months ago warning of the horribleness that is King Kong, I figured after its Oscar win maybe she was wrong... but, she wasn't. Normally I wouldn't feel like I've wasted money renting a movie... since here in Seaforth they only cost $2.00.. but it wasn't worth the $1.00 we each paid... and I'll blow $1.00 on all kinds of crazy stuff.

First off, I must say that setting your movie in the 1930's does not give it more credibility. Neither does mentioning Heart of Darkness. There weren't dinosaurs then, there aren't dinosaurs now... and frankly I don't think King Kong is one of those movies where it needs to be set in the 1930's to "suspend disbelief". And Heart of Darkness? Joseph Conrand would be rolling over in his grave. King Kong wasn't believable then, it isn't believable now, so at least maybe have your characters able to act like normal people instead of a bunch of bad actors playing bad actors from the 1930's.

And what the heck is with this Jimmy kid? Way to take a subplot, emphasize it and then go absolutely nowhere with it. Grade 4 English teachers everywhere are ready to smack you. Again, Joseph Conrad, rolling over in his grave.

Not often does a film have me bored within the first 10 minutes, to the point where Scott and I actually debate shutting it off... but King Kong was that kind of a movie (Closely rivalling Dukes of Hazzard, which we actually didn't finish)Apparently the movie received an Oscar for visual effects, but frankly, they just weren't that good... I'm guessing the Academy's eyesight is going in their old age... cause the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park 10 years ago were better...

And PLEASE! Someone! Get that monkey a shrink. He clearly has some issues, although each time those issues were depicted I felt the need to laugh. Oh Kong, so lonely, so misunderstood... you are truly a metaphor in this cruel 1930's world.

Not often is a movie bad enough I feel I have to comment on just how bad it is, but there you go... King Kong, receiving a lonely rotten banana on a scale of 10 bananas.

6 Degrees of Separation

2006-04-06T09:23:00.000-12:00

So... I was sick of work, needed a minute to catch my breath.

I figured "Hmmm, wonder who is 6 degrees from me?"

So, I clicked a random link on my blog (it was Andrew's), and then clicked through 5 more blogs... and I came up with:

http://www.dalesbigfatblog.blogspot.com/

Quite entertaining.

Totally Un-Vacation related post

2006-04-03T10:55:00.000-12:00

In response to the recent Juno controversy, frankly I'm surprised that Pamela Anderson HAS a political opinion to expound upon the world... well aside from covering boob jobs under OHIP or something maybe.

Mmmmmmmmm Goatly

2006-03-29T11:25:00.000-12:00

After our very Goatly lunch, we continued exploring the downtown of Willemstad.

Among the intersesting sights, perhaps the most interesting was the floating market, pictured on the left. You may not be able to tell from the picture, but yes, those are all boats. Basically, because the climate in Curacao is not very great from producing produce... a bunch of dudes load up their boats every morning with fruit and veggies (and by veggies, I mean lots of eggplant and okra) and make the trip by boat from Venezuala to Curacao to sell their produce.

They're very friendly, and as a souvenir we even got free apple bananas, which I haven't had the pleasure of having since being in Guyana... quite the treat.

I was almost tempted to hope a boat back to Venezuala, but my better judgment against being a hitchhiker on the high seas got the better (or worse maybe) of me.

Among the other sites to see, beautiful churches, a museum dedicated to the history of slavery and African heritage on the island, a historic synagogue built by those fleeing the Spanish Inquisition, and of course...

... more general marvelling at the brightly painted buildings with the pretty clay roofs that line the bay, and the city in general... from the patio no less...

We finished off our sightseeing in downtown for the day, with a frosty beverage... mmmmm Mango Daquiri's can never be a bad thing. We headed back to the hotel to catch a quick swim... feet aching from the 8 or so hours of walking we'd undertaken that day.. Upon a quick consult to our tour book, which was unfortunately written in Dutch, we decided to check out a local Thai restaurant I was sure I had seen on our trip in from the airport.

We caught a spectacular sunset first though...

We walked down the street a little, and lo and behold, there was the sign!! So we trekked to the restaurant, only to discover that the restaurant was surrounded by a fence, and a sign saying "Thai Restaurant: This way"... with an arrow pointing in what was logically the wrong direction. Well, Scott and I figured we'd follow the arrow, which led into some residential neighbourhood. Walking around aimlessly, we were approached by an old man security guard.
"Are you looking for the restaurant?" he says.
"Yes, we are"
"So then why didn't you ask! If I was in your country, and I didn't know where I was going, I would ASK!".. so sheepishly we admit to our moronocy... and he directs us to go down this little hill into the forest, turn right, walk between the fences and we can miss the restaurant... a little bit skeptical, we followed the directions and ended up at an awesome Thai restaurant..much beyond what we had expected... and again, we had the place to ourselves! The meal was great, and around 9:30, with full bellies, we headed back to the hotel for some drinks and then off to bed.

The next day was Sunday, which is apparently a day of rest on the island... so since most things were closed we decided it'd be the perfect day to give Scuba a try. We don't have any pictures, since the camera only goes to 4 feet and we went 10 metres +, but suffice to say we had a really good time. We both picked it up really quickly, and aside from a little bit of ear pressure discomfort, the experience was a total success. We didn't end up getting our PADI rating, opting to only spend about 4 hours on the diving thing, but saw lots of neat sea creatures. We've decided that Scuba is something we're going to continue as a couple, and are signing up for lessons in London for May... should be good times.

On Sunday we also decided to try Keshi Yena, an authentic Curacaon dish which consists of cheese, stuffed with seasoned chicken, olives, onions and spices. It was a little bit greasy for our tastes, seeing as how the temperature was between 35-40 with humidity (as it was for the entire trip), but as always we enjoyed the lizards who hang out at the open air restaurants on the island..

There were actually tons of lizards all over, and not just the typical little lizards, but bigger colourful guys like this guy, as well as iguanas all over the place. For more on Iguanas, check out Scott's blog.

We spent the part of the day we weren't Scuba diving hanging out at the local beach, which was soon to be overshadowed. It was very pretty, with a nice man made breakwater..

More to come later... stay tuned for next day's post...

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

2006-03-26T07:22:00.000-12:00

4 a.m is an ungodly hour to ever have to set your alarm clock for... even when you're leaving the cold, snowy, end of winter in Canada for the sun. But 4 a.m it was when Scott's cell phone, and our "just in case" wake up call at the Econo Lodge, Toronto Airport Location, woke us. Still full from last night's Lonestar Cafe fajitas (which I am pleasantly surprised have finally made their way from the Nation's Capital all the way to the big smoke of Toronto), we grabbed our bags, packed up our PJ's and toothbrushes and headed for the airport shuttle for our 8 a.m flight direct from Pearson International to Curacao International Airport.

For those of you who's geography may be a little sketchy on the area, Curacao is a small (960 sq km approx) island located about 30 miles north of the Venezualean coast. It has a population of roughly 145,000, made up of a vast mix of races and cultures, who live harmioniously side by side. The island was once the centre of the dutch slave trade, now being part of the Netherland Antilles, and has a rich but sad cultural history. The country's major industry, after the fall of slavery, was oil refineries to service the Venezualean oil industry. The tourism industry on the island is relatively new, with only one all inclusive resort even existing on the whole island. Most of the tourists we encountered were Dutch. The climate isn't great for agriculture on the island, so most goods have to be imported. The island is very well developped, safe, with good education, not much poverty, a highly developped infrastructure, and a population that is fluently trilingual in English, Dutch and Papiamento, a language spoken only on the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao) and started in Curacao in the 1500's by the slaves, which is really a mish-mash of about 42 languages, and is very similar to Spanish and Portuguese. It's an island which is apparently very similar to Aruba, although neither of us have ever been there... but I guess it makes sense since they're so closely linked with both Aruba and Bonaire, and practically a stones throw away.

We arrived the required 3 hours early (well more like 2.8), and the airport staff was commenting that it was a fairly quiet day at Pearson... likely as we were leaving on the last day of the March Break. We expected there would be few rugrats running around, however we were wrong. The airport was full of pint sized travellers, all wheeling around their minature sized Bob the Builder Luggage... one set of little girls were busy asking their dad if there were going to be tsunamis in Curacao... we're pleased to report that we saw none on our trip. We cleared customs with no problems, and after about 30 minutes we were ready to hurry up and wait the remaining 2.5 hours until our flight took off. After some Tim Hortons, consumed while sprawled out on the airport benches, we were ready to go!
And then, after 4 hours, a Harry Potter movie, some bad airplane food, and lots of ocean views, the Captain came on to tell us that if we looked out our window we would see Curacao...

When we arrived, the heat and humidity hit us all at once, as we had hoped it would. We got off the back stairs of the plane, and out into the 38 degree weather.

We headed off through Customs, wherein I completely disregarded the signs and I was directed that I needed to stand behind the yellow line, and then off to meet our bus driver, Oswaldo, who escorted us to our hotel. The majority of the plane-full of Canadians were off to the all inclusive "Breezes" on the island, but we had decided that, seeing as how we had no intention of eating at the "American style buffet" they offered, or the Italian or Japanese ala carte restaurants at that resort, and seeing as how really we had very little intention of being in the hotel for more than sleeping, we would opt for something a little more off the beaten path, despite the insistence of our travel agent that an all inclusive was "the way to go". We were both too keen on soaking up the local culture, cuisine, and exploring the entire island, that we didn't see much point in spending extra money on a resort we'd never be at for meals we wouldn't be around to eat.

We weren't disappointed by our room, which was pretty typical of hotels worldwide. It was a little musty smelling, but had a comfortable bed and a great view of the garden and pool, complete with a little outdoor patio. There was the constant sound of birds, the ocean, and the tradewinds blowing. It was a very quiet hotel, and it seemed that most people there were business travellers. The only oddity in the room was that there was no alarm clock in the room, no clock at all... but I guess when you're in the islands what need is there for time, really?

The hotel, however, had its own oddity. For some reason unbeknownst to Scott and I, Easter had apparently exploded all over the hotel lobby. There was even a Thanksgiving Turkey thrown into the mix for good measure. It was slightly frightening, and I'm no history major but I didn't realise the pilgrims took the Mayflower to Curacao for Easter. It wasn't until later that we realised that Easter had apparently exploded all over the island... and the pastel bunnies were multiplying.

We arrived at the hotel around 2:30, grabbed a snack, and quickly exlpored the rest of the hotel. It had a casino, apparently one of the biggest on the island, a restaurant, tennis courts, a beach, and a beautiful blue swimming pool surrounded by lush tropical foilage.

The only facility at the hotel we really used was the hotel pool. Every morning, before showering and heading off for the day, we'd change from our PJ's into our bathing suits and take a swim. We also swam pretty much every evening before packing it in for the night. The pool was pretty much universally deserted, although the past few days we were there we met a nice couple and their two cute daughters, Catherine and Anna, from Washington, D.C. It was great having a giant pool all to ourselves. We've definitely been convinced that a home pool is a must... although pretty much every trip we take we decide a pool is a must... we come back from Florida, we need a pool...we come back from the cottage, we need a pool.

After exploring our surroundings at the hotel a little, we decided it was important that we headed downtown and checked out the capital, Willemstad. We had chosen our hotel partially because of the proximity to the downtown, knowing that wherever the action was we wanted to be close.

After a short walk down the road we arrived at the brightly coloured buildings of the Otrobanda part of Curacao. Unfortunately, it was about 5:45 p.m., which is when the city shuts down for the evening. We took a quick look around, however most things were closed or closing. We scouted the area a little, snapped some shots of the absolutely beautifully coloured buildings that lined the harbour, and watched as everyone closed up shop for the evening. We stumbled onto some young guys who were in a bright green open air gazebo, showing off some dance moves, and after watching that briefly we decided we'd try some local cusine for dinner (we ended up trying Chicken Frinkandel, which is Dutch, and is basically long, skinny, tube shaped, breaded chicken strips), have a few frosty drinks at the hotel, and head to bed early. Not quite ready to sleep we tried out the casino, lost $10.00 on the slots, and were very ready for bed after our lovely 4 a.m. wake up calls.

The next morning, after our morning swim, we met with a local tour guide who gave us the lay of the land, and headed off to check out the city. The breakfast of choice of the trip soon became fruit smoothies from a local stand in the market.

We spent the day checking out both sides of downtown, Punda and Otrobanda, which are divided by a big bay that stretches into the ocean. Right at the mouth of the ocean is an old dutch fort, Riffort, which has been restored and is now used as an open air mall. We checked it out, heading up and down the maze of stairs and catwalks, until we eventually ran into a nice police officer who wanted to make it clear to us that we could enjoy ourselves, but there was to be no "romancing", as he diplomatically put it. Again, the interior of the fort was painted all shades of the rainbow.

On a tip from our tour guide, we went across the bay by ferry to Punda, and found a local market that the local people tend to get lunch at. A bunch of vendors bring in their home cooking, sell it until its gone, and then the market shuts down... sounded pretty authentic to us, so we decided we'd try some goat.

Scott says: "Mmmmm it's goatly"

More to come later...