Friday 30 November 2007

United Hollywood

This is a cool video in support of the writers strike.

Sunday 25 November 2007

Groovy Dancing Girl

I really love this video. Once she gets going, you kinda can't take your eyes off her. I gotta learn these moves!

Thursday 22 November 2007

Believe

Who said that every wish would be heard and answered
When wished on the morning star?
Somebody thought of that, and someone believed it,
And look what it's done so far.
What's so amazing that keeps us stargazing
And what do we think we might see?
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection,
The lovers, the dreamers, and me.
~Kermit the Frog

Tuesday 20 November 2007

I heart the rain!

So it's not green, like I was hoping for, but I love it anyways. This is my new umbrella and it makes me very happy to be wandering out in the rain underneath it.


Sunday 18 November 2007

Sundays and scary movies

I love days off.
I should qualify that.
I love days off after working a full week and being busy. Whenever I have lots of days off in a row I get bored and depressed. As it stands though, I am working crazy hours and have grown to adore my weekends and Sundays especially.

I have been up for about 2 hours now and I am still in my pyjamas. I am sitting at my computer, sipping some lovely tea and I've been watching movie trailers on apple.com for the past hour as well as catching up on Wil Wheaton's blog and Prairie Ox's blog too. I am thinking about making some breakfast and having a shower. I might go to a movie with J and T this afternoon, but I haven't actually decided whether or not I'm going to go yet. They are going to see No Country For Old Men and I can't decide if it's too violent and scary for me or if I'll be alright.

I used to like violent and scary but the older I get the more squeamish I've become. I terrify quite easily now. Plus after seeing The Ring, which was the last scary movie I saw in the theater, and it scared the bejesus out of me, I just decided that my imagination is active enough without introducing horror to it as well. I can scare myself pretty easily without the added help of gory, suspenseful and chilling images. Last spring when T and I went to Van Dusen Gardens, I walked around imagining dead bodies and trees coming to life, oozing blood and trying to snare me with their branches.

I can't walk through a forest without scaring myself. Or drive down an empty highway at night without imagining something dreadful happening. I even picture finding dead bodies when I walk along the beach. I have seen too many horror movies as it stands.

But here's the thing. No Country For Old Men, is a Coen brothers film. I've enjoyed pretty much every Coen brothers movie I've seen. Fargo, The Big Lebowski, Raising Arizona, Oh Brother Where Art Thou. I can always shield my eyes when the violence starts up or gets to be too much. I am curious about it and the one review I read of it, the reviewer was pretty much drooling over how much he loved the film. You can read it here if you're curious.

I guess I've got about an hour before I have to decide. I'll let you know what I do.

Update
Well I went to the movie. I was actually alright. It was violent but not gory. It was suspenseful but not scary. I'm withholding any review because I still need to think about it. As of right now, I liked it, but didn't love it. There were certain things and scenes though, that I loved. Javier Bardem did an incredible job of playing one of the scariest characters on film, ever!

Thursday 15 November 2007

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Can you feel it? Smell it? Taste it? Sense it?
There are big changes brewing. It's in the air.

I used to hate change. Change was scary and different and awful. I'm still a little afraid of change but I am probably more afraid now of staying the same. Jack Canfield wrote about change and I really loved what he had to say about it. It was something about - change is going to happen no matter what, so you can either fight it, roll with it or create it yourself.

Most things that happen in your life, you either allow or create. That is also from the success principles but I can't remember who said it. I love this one too. It forces you to take responsibility for everything in your life. I'm sure I've written about this before but it's on my mind, so I'm writing it again.

Taking responsibility for everything in your life is a really empowering exercise. It helps you see that you have been and always are in control of your own circumstances. You are where you are in life because of the choices you have made. The choices YOU have made. If someone else made choices for you and you went along with them, then you CHOSE to go along with them.

Of course, things happen in life that blindside you, but you still get to choose how you react to them. Do you make the best out of bad situations? Look for the positive? See how there is no point in sweating the small stuff? Realize that getting mad about things you have no control over is a choice? Sadness, anger and fear are realities of life and we have to allow for them. We can let them be though, without giving in to them. Let them exist, let them be. Acknowledge and accept them and then let them go.

Let's say you're mad. You're pissed off, upset, angry, hurt, scared. What are you going to do about it? I'm not calling the feelings a choice. I'm saying that how you answer that question, what are you going to do about it? That's your choice.

I have been thinking about who I am and how I got to be where I am in life. I am currently the result of my past choices. It is always that way. We are always living a little bit behind our choices. When you make big changes, they take time to catch up with you. I started making big changes to become who I am today, nearly 4 years ago. I am becoming who I want to be and I am in the bubble of who I want to be, but there is room to move around in this bubble and I am still waiting for my current behavior to become my past behaviour so that it catches up to me and helps to shape the future me.

Well, that was thoroughly confusing.

Wednesday 14 November 2007

Sit here or sit there

I am trying out something new this Wednesday. Instead of leaving a million hours early for work I am going to leave just a couple hours early. So instead of sitting out in Abbotsford with nothing to do, I can be at home longer doing things...writing blog posts for example. Yeah, I'll have to sit in traffic but I'll have Jen and Joe on the radio to keep me company.

Tuesday 13 November 2007

What the...

So this is what Cooper looked like last night before I went to bed.


And then, this is what he looked like when I got up this morning.


He even looks so sad in this picture. Kinda like he knows that he got caught doing something he shouldn't have done and now he's going to be in trouble. I figure it's pollen from a lovely bouquet that ST brought me. He was prolly sniffing around the flowers and there you go.

Monday 12 November 2007

Chasing bubbles

Wedding on the way!

I have had to figure out new ways to type lately. Cooper has learned that there is the perfect amount of space between the keyboard and the edge of the desk for him to lie down. It blocks most of my view of the keyboard and restricts my arm movements as he likes to use my forearms as pillows or as blockers for the sunlight. He will press his face into my arm and sleep away. He is actually here right now. My right arm is supporting his tail and my left arm is blocking the light for him. He is purring away and I've got no heart for shooing him away.

On to other news though, my sister LT got engaged! She and Jdub had the two families over for dinner on Friday night and announced to all of us that they are engaged. Yay! We love Jdub and I'm pretty confident his family loves LT....who I guess will become Ldub soon.

They have planned everything already too, which is pretty fun. They will be getting married next July in a very small, intimate ceremony with immediate family and closest friends. It's perfect.

Weddings are one of those crazy, hard events to plan because how do you figure out who to invite. I have always known that I want to have a small wedding but how do you exclude people you love without hurting their feelings. I have a pretty big extended family and with my parents being divorced and remarried, it just gets bigger. If I invited my whole family, that would be 39 people. That's just my side and not including dates for the single people. I want my entire wedding to be a max of 50 people which would leave my fiance only 11 people to invite, except that I still haven't added my friends to that list of 39. So actually my husband doesn't get to have anyone there.

Two of my closest friends got married recently and I wasn't a part of either wedding. They both opted to keep it small and intimate and I didn't mind at all. I was just so happy for both of them and I got to see them after the fact and hug them and congratulate them. My other best friend has been engaged for a while and is feeling the pressure of planning a wedding and dreading the stress that it will entail. I'm all for small or eloping.

Friday 9 November 2007

Meg

I met Megan on the first day of school in my grade twelve year. I walked into my Tourism class and there was just one other person in the room. She was a lovely blond girl that I recognized from around the school.

The room was scattered with tables and each table sat 4 students. She was sitting alone at a table in the middle of the room, writing in her notebook. Because I recognized her and because she looked nice, I went and sat down directly beside her.

Here's is some information that would be helpful and interesting to know now. It was actually Meg's first day at this school. I was completely mistaken in thinking I recognized her. She'd only moved to town days earlier. She had moved from a small northern town and while she was wild, in the way that small town girls are, she was also shy and quiet and sweet.

Meanwhile, I was fully in my 'alternative' phase and was decked out in fishnets, army boots and a black leather jacket complete with safety pins, buttons and a small stuffed cow wearing the same leather jacket. My hair was long and black with bright red tips and my makeup was extreme. Black eyes and bright red lips.

What I learned later, was that she had been writing a letter to her best friend up in that small northern town and when I walked into the room, she glanced up at me and started writing about the 'real-life punk girl' who just walked into the room and "oh my god, she is sitting down right beside me!"

We didn't talk and probably only stole glances at each other out of the corners of our eyes. The rest of the students trickled in as well as the teacher and we got started. First things first we had to partner up and get to know the other person, after which we would introduce them to the rest of the class.

We turned to finally look directly at one another and shrugged and nodded an agreement to be partners.

We introduced ourselves to each other and she asked me if I liked The Doors. I didn't. Neither did she. It is the only question I can specifically remember but I am sure I learned about how she had recently moved here and where she was from and how she felt being here. I probably confessed to thinking I recognized her. At some point we brought up Saturday Night Live and that was it. These were the times of Chris Farley, Adam Sandler and David Spade. We had found our common ground.

After class, we would head in the same direction to the end of the hall. We would walk together and say goodbye as we parted at the stairwell. As the weeks went on, we would walk slower and linger longer at the stairs. We had so much to say to each other but we both felt shy about exchanging numbers and calling each other. Part of this had to do with the fact that she had told me that she didn't like talking on the phone. I couldn't call her after she told me that.

Eventually though, we did exchange numbers and began our friendship outside of school. Our closeness happened slowly but it grew steadily. By the end of the school year we were inseparable. We were know as one entity in our circle of friends KarliandMegan/MeganandKarli.

We spent hours talking on the phone only to hang up and get together for beef dips at Boston Pizza, shopping at Guildford, driving around and singing. We would drive out to Coquitlam and sing at the top of our lungs just for the sake of doing it. We went to parties. We took road trips. We picked out Emerson at the SPCA. We drove across the line for gas and Mexican food. We went to Las Vegas. We hung out nearly every Thursday at the Ozone and danced til 2 in the morning. On Mondays we would go to Red Robin and drink double margaritas and then walk around the mall until we sobered up. "BLTA - hold the t & a". We would play catch at the park. We went to drive ins, Palm Springs, Vernon, movies, concerts (Bryan Adams, Bon Jovi - lol), luvafair. We had our portrait taken together at Sears (that was one of the times we were wandering around to sober up).

We had a million and one inside jokes and laughed until our sides hurt. Her family, to this day calls me family and her mom has my grade 12 school picture in her laundry room...it ended up there one day (probably the day I gave it to Meg) and has stayed there ever since. Even through a move into the big city.

She was there for me through my first broken heart. She was there when my parents split up and there for me when my grandma died. She knows more about me and how I work than most other people in my life.

While we live in different cities now and have suffered the waves of growing up and growing apart at times...I believe that we have grown together and our friendship now is stronger than ever. I can't imagine my life without her. We fill in the gaps of each other's memories...she remembers things that we've done and things I've said that I have nearly no recollection of until she reminds me.

We still get together and laugh until our sides hurt, in fact we are spending the day together tomorrow and I, for one, can't wait.

Happy Birthday Meg,
I love you!
Kar kar

Wednesday 7 November 2007

Argh!

On Wednesdays, I work in Abbotsford at 7pm. To avoid rush hour traffic, I often leave quite early and make my way out there in steps. I'll lunch with friends in Burnaby, have coffee or dinner with dad in Langley, shop and/or run errands in Langley or Abbotsford.

Today I had nothing planned. No lunches, no coffees, no errands, no dinners, no plans. I even forgot to bring a book. Because I had no plans, it was hard for me to leave my cozy apartment. I left too late and got caught in traffic. It took me nearly an hour and half just to get to Langley. I grabbed a sub and drove to the college. I ate my lonely dinner while flipping through the newspaper and listening to talk radio in my car. I looked at my watch. Two and a half hours until class starts.

I started my car and drove to Superstore. I wandered around. I tried on some clothes and a pair of boots. I looked much more seriously at Christmas ornaments than I ever need to. I checked out every book they carried and most of the childrens toys and clothes too. I looked at my watch. An hour and fifteen minutes until class starts.

I got in my car and headed back over to the college, stopping on the way to fill up my gas tank. I parked and went up to the 2nd floor study area. I flipped through the newspaper again and did the crossword puzzle. I looked at my watch. Half an hour until class starts.

I stared at the ceiling, made some lists in my notebook and doodled some Cooptown ideas. I looked at my watch. 15 minutes until class starts. I felt exhausted.

I packed up my bag and headed down to the classroom to set up the chairs and get ready. I walked into the room and the student and my teamer were already there and set up. I sat down and my teamer turned to me and said, "There's a test and it's the whole class. Do you want to go home?"

5 minutes later I was back in my car (oooh was I sick of being in that car) and started the long, wet, dark drive home. I listened to good sing along music and made the most of it.

I left home at 2:30 and got home at 8:00. I can't think too deeply about it because it would make me crazy. I'm just glad that this isn't a typical experience for me. Ususally, if I'm going to be quite early, I bring books or homework or something to do. I generally don't even mind the drive but today was tough. I'm glad it's over.

Wine Drive

I meant to write yesterday. Actually, I meant to write Monday as well. Even Sunday for that matter.

Sunday was a big day for me. The charity event I had organized came to it's conclusion. This was the wine drive for Cancer. I had people donate a bottle of wine and 10 bucks. The money is going to the Canadian Cancer Society and the wine got raffled off amongst those who entered. I hosted an open house at my place on Sunday to thank everyone who entered and to do the draw. I had just a small group of people show up and we had a lovely time. I ended up with 70 bottles of wine and $810, which was 20 more bottles and 310 more dollars than I was aiming for. And it's not even officially done yet. I am still waiting for the money to come in from the 'satellite' draw my friends are doing at their work.

It felt good though, picking a goal, creating an event and following through to achieve my goal. This is new territory for me. I need to review the rest of my goals to keep them fresh in my mind and to start working on another one.

Saturday 3 November 2007

A day late, a buck short

Ok so I clearly didn't track down another computer. Oh, except wait, I did but I ended up reading someone else's blog and then having to get back to work.

I have spent a lot of time this week cleaning, getting my apartment ready for my open house tomorrow. It feels really good to have a clean living space. And I found two spiders, who had taken up residence in my home. They were medium sized and tucked into corners of my apt, so way less traumatizing than if they had been living in my bed or couch.

ST and I went to see Lars and The Real Girl last night and we both really loved it. It's the story of Lars, a lonely and delusional young man, who fashions an imaginary friendship with a doll he finds on the Internet. That's the premise of the movie but you wouldn't know from reading that that it's really heartwarming and beautiful story.

I threw an old pair of runners in the garbage yesterday and when I looked out my window about an hour ago, they were sitting on display on top on my dumpster. I guess shoes, even old ones are a hot commodity in the homeless world. There is something though that makes you feel a little violated to find out that someone has looked through your garbage and put it out on display. You start wondering about what else you threw away that someone maybe looked at. On the flip side, I am also finding it heartwarming that some dumpster diver found them and didn't want them but put them out to make it easier for other divers who might like to take them.

Alright, well, back to cleaning and food prep for tomorrow. I haven't had many people rsvp so I could end up having anywhere between 6 and 40 people here tomorrow and I should probably be prepared for either.

Friday 2 November 2007

Gotta go

I am on a computer at school that has a wonky keyboard. I have to make sure that I deliberately type every letter or else it might not show up. So please forgive the spelling mistakes. Really all they are is dropped letters.

I'll type a sentance without being careful so you can see what I mean.

The quk rown fx jumps over the lazy dog.

Ok on to real things now. Wait I'm getting kicked out of this lab. There is a class in here in 8 minutes. Will try to track down another computer...

Thursday 1 November 2007

take one down and pass it around...67 bottles of wine on the wall

I have 67 bottles of wine in my apartment right now. Actually, I have 67.5 but that .5 doesn't count toward the rest of them. That .5 is presently being enjoyed by me as I type this post!

Earlier this year I wrote out my goals. Following the Success Principles, I needed to come up with 90 goals. These were 90 things I wanted to do, be and have before I die. On that list, I wrote down that I wanted to give a million dollars away to charity. I didn't have any idea at the time how I was going to make that happen. I kept the goal in my focus though and on a Sunday in September, I woke up with an idea. I didn't need to do it on my own, I could raise the money for charity. And my first charity event would be a wine drive.

We had done a wine drive through my professional association about a year ago. The idea was that you donate a bottle of wine and some money. The money goes to charity and the wine gets raffled off. This seemed like a great idea to me and I set forth planning how to adapt it to my goals. I sent out my first email on September 23rd announcing my plan. My goal was to collect 50 bottles of wine and $500 for The Canadian Cancer Society.

I got an immediate response from about 25 people letting me know they'd like in and more replies came in over the next week and a half. I was worried at times that I wouldn't reach my goal of 50 and 500. There was no need to ever worry. I surpassed 50 at least a week ago and still have a few more bottles coming to me in the next couple of days.

A couple of friends of mine work together and decided to promote the event within their company as well. The deal we cut was that they would keep the wine they receive within their company to raffle off and give the money to me to add to my donation.

He forwarded me this email that went to his co-workers... (I took out the company name to protect any privacy)

Wine & Dime
In the Marketing & Creative Services Department of Company name we’re not only in the business of making great marketing campaigns but we also enjoy making dreams come true.
A close friend of ours has a dream of raising $1 Million dollars for charity before she dies. Although, she is fortunate to be very healthy and has many years ahead of her to achieve this goal, we thought we would do our part to help make this very selfless dream come true, because as Margaret Mead once said:
“A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”

So here I am, 3 days away from the draw with 67 bottles of wine and a heart so full it might burst!