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.
Saturday, 3 November 2007
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...
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!
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!
Wednesday, 31 October 2007
Gigli was the most unbearable!
I just got home from attending a Worst Movie Ever Party.
The premise is that you bring a five minute clip from a bad movie. Everyone watches all the 5 minutes clips and then votes on the worst movie ever and you can't vote for your movie.
I brought two because I seriously couldn't decide between them and they let me play both. I ended up winning second and third place. Not too bad, if I say so myself.
First place winner was Black Sheep, a New Zealand horror flick about blood-thirsty sheep that terrorize the countryside. It was gory and stupid and totally worth winning the title of Worst Movie Ever. Although IMDb has given it 6.2 stars out of 10.
Here's the movie poster....
Next was a movie called Adam & Steve, that isn't actually terrible, but has a stellar 5 minutes at the beginning that are embarrassingly horrific and mesmerizing. It got a pretty big gross out reaction from the crowd and took home second place. IMDb gave Adam and Steve 5.7 stars out of 10.
Third place was a painful 5 minute ballad from The Pirate Movie (it's a musical) starring Kristy McNichol and Christopher Atkins. You could pick almost any 5 minutes from that movie and place in this contest. It's so terrible. IMDb gave this on 3.8 stars out of 10 and I think that might be generous.
Other contenders were Re-Animator (got my vote!) which IMDb oddly gives 7.2 stars. It was incredibly disturbing, The 5 minute clip we saw was a headless man groping a tied down naked girl while his head sat in a metal tray beside her leering at her. He then picked up his head and held it to her body to lick her. Ew!
White Chicks, which looked terrible but also slightly entertaining. 4.9 from IMDb
The Stepford Wives (remake) actually so bad it was hilarious. 5.1 from IMDb
Elephant Shoes, desperate to be indie and cool but just weird and annoying. 6.6 from IMDb
Gigli, Ben Affleck and J-Lo. This was the most painful and embarrassing one to sit through. An absolute mess. 2.3 stars. That was kind of IMDb to give it that much.
Honourable mention goes to Cabin Fever, which wasn't actually in the running but gets a shout out for being the inspiration behind this worst movie ever/halloween tradition that JDub and his friends started. We watched the worst (best) 5 minutes from that to start out the night. It got 5.3 from IMDb.
All in all, it was good fun and I've already picked out my movie for next year.
The premise is that you bring a five minute clip from a bad movie. Everyone watches all the 5 minutes clips and then votes on the worst movie ever and you can't vote for your movie.
I brought two because I seriously couldn't decide between them and they let me play both. I ended up winning second and third place. Not too bad, if I say so myself.
First place winner was Black Sheep, a New Zealand horror flick about blood-thirsty sheep that terrorize the countryside. It was gory and stupid and totally worth winning the title of Worst Movie Ever. Although IMDb has given it 6.2 stars out of 10.
Here's the movie poster....
Next was a movie called Adam & Steve, that isn't actually terrible, but has a stellar 5 minutes at the beginning that are embarrassingly horrific and mesmerizing. It got a pretty big gross out reaction from the crowd and took home second place. IMDb gave Adam and Steve 5.7 stars out of 10.
Third place was a painful 5 minute ballad from The Pirate Movie (it's a musical) starring Kristy McNichol and Christopher Atkins. You could pick almost any 5 minutes from that movie and place in this contest. It's so terrible. IMDb gave this on 3.8 stars out of 10 and I think that might be generous.
Other contenders were Re-Animator (got my vote!) which IMDb oddly gives 7.2 stars. It was incredibly disturbing, The 5 minute clip we saw was a headless man groping a tied down naked girl while his head sat in a metal tray beside her leering at her. He then picked up his head and held it to her body to lick her. Ew!
White Chicks, which looked terrible but also slightly entertaining. 4.9 from IMDb
The Stepford Wives (remake) actually so bad it was hilarious. 5.1 from IMDb
Elephant Shoes, desperate to be indie and cool but just weird and annoying. 6.6 from IMDb
Gigli, Ben Affleck and J-Lo. This was the most painful and embarrassing one to sit through. An absolute mess. 2.3 stars. That was kind of IMDb to give it that much.
Honourable mention goes to Cabin Fever, which wasn't actually in the running but gets a shout out for being the inspiration behind this worst movie ever/halloween tradition that JDub and his friends started. We watched the worst (best) 5 minutes from that to start out the night. It got 5.3 from IMDb.
All in all, it was good fun and I've already picked out my movie for next year.
Friday, 26 October 2007
Computer labs and b-ball
I am at work right now. I am sitting in a computer lab that I just discovered today and it's super nice. Someone told me that they are nearly brand new and they look pretty high tech. The monitors fold into the tops of the tables...tres cool.
It's very exciting to me though, because I get big long breaks on Fridays and I always want to check my email, write a post, surf the net and have never been able to figure how to do that here. I'm not a student so I don't get student numbers and passwords for getting online. I'm also not technically an employee so I don't have employee status and access to the web that way either. I'm the invisible interpreter who works without much of an identity.
I even asked at Student Services (which is where I might even pretend to have any territory while at work) if they could keep a bag for me for a couple of hours either behind their desk or in some other private or secure location. It was heavy and I didn't want to cart it all over the campus while I tried to track down a computer or for when I go get lunch...and I got shot down. Nope. I don't have an office, a locker, a cubicle or even a corner to call my own.
I must have looked...perplexed, annoyed, desperate (pick one) because the receptionist looked at me and said, "You're an interpreter, right?" I nodded and sagged further under my heavy load. "Well, then I guess I can do it. I will put in this office over here for you."
"Thanks so much. See you later." and I skipped lightly out of the office.
I am going to the basketball game tonight. It's an exhibition game between Seattle and (the Suns)? (I have no idea what I'm talking about) I feel a bit like a fraud though, since I don't really know anything about b-ball (except that cool people call it b-ball. Right? Right?)
JM and one of his friends bought tickets and then he got 2 more for free. So he is giving the extra tix to TT and I. I think it will be a lot of fun. LT and Jdub are also going to be there in a VIP box suite even, so hopefully we'll get to swing by and see them and get a glimpse of how the rich and/or lucky attend sporting events.
The only other time I've been to a basketball game is when the Grizzlies existed and my friend MR took me out for dinner and to a game for my birthday. We had a great time so I am anticipating another great time tonight. I think we'll be going for dinner and drinks first too so that will be fun.
I'll let y'all know how it goes.
It's very exciting to me though, because I get big long breaks on Fridays and I always want to check my email, write a post, surf the net and have never been able to figure how to do that here. I'm not a student so I don't get student numbers and passwords for getting online. I'm also not technically an employee so I don't have employee status and access to the web that way either. I'm the invisible interpreter who works without much of an identity.
I even asked at Student Services (which is where I might even pretend to have any territory while at work) if they could keep a bag for me for a couple of hours either behind their desk or in some other private or secure location. It was heavy and I didn't want to cart it all over the campus while I tried to track down a computer or for when I go get lunch...and I got shot down. Nope. I don't have an office, a locker, a cubicle or even a corner to call my own.
I must have looked...perplexed, annoyed, desperate (pick one) because the receptionist looked at me and said, "You're an interpreter, right?" I nodded and sagged further under my heavy load. "Well, then I guess I can do it. I will put in this office over here for you."
"Thanks so much. See you later." and I skipped lightly out of the office.
I am going to the basketball game tonight. It's an exhibition game between Seattle and (the Suns)? (I have no idea what I'm talking about) I feel a bit like a fraud though, since I don't really know anything about b-ball (except that cool people call it b-ball. Right? Right?)
JM and one of his friends bought tickets and then he got 2 more for free. So he is giving the extra tix to TT and I. I think it will be a lot of fun. LT and Jdub are also going to be there in a VIP box suite even, so hopefully we'll get to swing by and see them and get a glimpse of how the rich and/or lucky attend sporting events.
The only other time I've been to a basketball game is when the Grizzlies existed and my friend MR took me out for dinner and to a game for my birthday. We had a great time so I am anticipating another great time tonight. I think we'll be going for dinner and drinks first too so that will be fun.
I'll let y'all know how it goes.
Tuesday, 23 October 2007
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun
The reception for Kathleen was yesterday. Her family and closest friends had a funeral service earlier in the morning and then the reception was in the afternoon and open to all her friends and friends of the families.
It was a tough day but good....as good as anything like that can ever be, I suppose. How do you call it anything but tough. There were a lot of people there. It was so nice to see how many people came to show their love and grief. Her husband gave a really beautiful speech that was short and sweet and perfect. It breaks my heart to think of him without her.
Hug and kiss your loved ones! Tell them you love them. Be kind and generous and loving. Life is short but sweet for certain.
It was a tough day but good....as good as anything like that can ever be, I suppose. How do you call it anything but tough. There were a lot of people there. It was so nice to see how many people came to show their love and grief. Her husband gave a really beautiful speech that was short and sweet and perfect. It breaks my heart to think of him without her.
Hug and kiss your loved ones! Tell them you love them. Be kind and generous and loving. Life is short but sweet for certain.
Sunday, 21 October 2007
School and life
I dropped out of school yesterday. I'm a drop out!
On Friday night, I was gathering all my things for school together into my book bag so that I wouldn't have to do it Saturday morning. I just felt off. I sat and stared at my book bag and started to think as hard as I possibly could about what the hell I was doing and what the hell I wanted to be doing. I closed my eyes and meditated on it.
With Kathleen dying this week, I got a big reminder of how short life is and I decided that since I already knew I wasn't continuing on to the next level, it was time to gracefully bow out. I could spend 3 hours on Saturday morning listening to an instructor read from a book or I could sleep in, have a good breakfast, and head out early to gather wine for the wine drive and see my friends.
I made my decision that I was not going and went to bed feeling a little nervous about it. I felt like it was the right decision. It was just exactly the opposite of what I normally think would be the 'right' decision. I skipped a lot in high school but in my adult life, I'm actually sickly responsible. I don't call in sick to work even when I am sick. I had to miss two days of work once when it snowed and I couldn't get to the college and I felt total guilt about it.
I woke up Saturday morning at 10am and I felt great. I felt well rested and relieved. I felt rebellious and exciting.
The guilt for dropping out early is somewhere lurking in the distance behind me and I am doing my best to keep it at bay. It's far enough away that I am hoping it will give up and slink away. Jack Canfield has taught me that I need to have these 'failure' experiences and that they are equally as important to my success as successes are.
I spent my Saturday collecting wine and spending time with my friends who were also Kathleen's family. It was an emotionally charged day and I was grateful to be there. I love my friends dearly and was glad that I could offer some kind of support even if it was just being there.
On Friday night, I was gathering all my things for school together into my book bag so that I wouldn't have to do it Saturday morning. I just felt off. I sat and stared at my book bag and started to think as hard as I possibly could about what the hell I was doing and what the hell I wanted to be doing. I closed my eyes and meditated on it.
With Kathleen dying this week, I got a big reminder of how short life is and I decided that since I already knew I wasn't continuing on to the next level, it was time to gracefully bow out. I could spend 3 hours on Saturday morning listening to an instructor read from a book or I could sleep in, have a good breakfast, and head out early to gather wine for the wine drive and see my friends.
I made my decision that I was not going and went to bed feeling a little nervous about it. I felt like it was the right decision. It was just exactly the opposite of what I normally think would be the 'right' decision. I skipped a lot in high school but in my adult life, I'm actually sickly responsible. I don't call in sick to work even when I am sick. I had to miss two days of work once when it snowed and I couldn't get to the college and I felt total guilt about it.
I woke up Saturday morning at 10am and I felt great. I felt well rested and relieved. I felt rebellious and exciting.
The guilt for dropping out early is somewhere lurking in the distance behind me and I am doing my best to keep it at bay. It's far enough away that I am hoping it will give up and slink away. Jack Canfield has taught me that I need to have these 'failure' experiences and that they are equally as important to my success as successes are.
I spent my Saturday collecting wine and spending time with my friends who were also Kathleen's family. It was an emotionally charged day and I was grateful to be there. I love my friends dearly and was glad that I could offer some kind of support even if it was just being there.
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