Happy Birthday, Brad!!

No, this post isn't a day late...

Happy birthday to my biggest brother, Bradford Daniel! I'll follow his format for these birthday wishes.

Brad's the "cool one" in a family full of nerds. He showed me Jackie Chan in his early days, the X-Files, and music beyond Andrew Lloyd Webber. Brad was a mysterious brother who was sometimes there, and when he was, affection was something that could be detected in the small things that he did. As I got to know him, the brother that was so mysterious transformed into a brother who was generous and very caring.

So here's to my quiet brother out in LA. Happy birthday!!!!!

Mountains of Beef and a movie

It's hard to say what you've done in a day when you've done nothing. It's also hard to sleep in when all the rooms are as exposed as they are in this house. Almost as soon as one person wakes up, a chain reaction occurs, with the last person clinging stubbornly to their sleep. By the time I let go of my sleep today, it was only 8:30. Eight thirty!!!!

With all the people in the house, though, by the time I got my bath, it was one in the afternoon. :) Btw, something has happened with the well, so that water seems to be coming out....dirty. It keeps getting worse. Today, it was so dirty that I couldn't see my feet in the bottom of the tub. Yuck! Hopefully that will...fix itself...magically.

Dad was so determined to have a dinner of hamburgers and hot dogs. So tonight, in the cold dark, he went out to the grill with his little headlamp and coat on, and grilled them. We ended up with so many burgers, it was a mountain. As you see, above, the mountain of burgers.

We took the usual family Christmas photo, which was a funny event. Children running everywhere, camera timers going off at unexpected moments.

We watched Steve Martin's movie, Shopgirl. Plenty of people told me that it was "weird," and they didn't like it. However, I loved it!! Most of the movie was an awkward, embarassing story about one woman and two men. At the end, though, things took a sudden turn and became surprisingly happy and optimistic. It had a useful story about relationships and miscommunications, and what makes a relationship happy. So, I recommend it, but now I've created unreasonable expectations. Ohhhh well.

Christmas: Part II

So far, Christmas break has been spent starting (but not finishing) movies, working endlessly on jigsaw puzzles, eating food, and watching Heroes at night with Ben and Jaime. All in all, that is a fabulous time. Some people might be bored with this, day in and day out, but not I. Oh no. This is lazy heaven.


Last night was Anne's 22nd birthday. Happy birthday!! Here is Evie giving Anne a hug after she opened her birthday presents.

I'm going to be ridiculous, and share what I got for Christmas. I got a blue sweaters with strawberries on it, an orange and grey shirt, beautiful handmade yarn from Taos, the complete anthology of Jane Austen's works (new!!!!), StitchnBitch, thermal underwear (score!), scented socks O_o, cute little flats (shoes), a selection of This American Life recordings (NPR), and a Canon Powershot 600. Suhweet.

Now, time for a nap. Four hours of sleep + egg nog and kahlua makes me sleepy.

Merry Christmas!!!

Drama Queen

I had a drama queen moment today. Being extremely tired + a comment led to me standing with my hands in the sink, full-out crying; what a sorry sight. A hug and nice words from Anne made me feel all better, but it was ridiculous, me standing there crying irrationally. It was....bizarre.

Dave, the carpenter who built Dad's new house, stopped by and gave Dad a wreath and screwbits. I thought that was so sweet and thoughtful. Nice guy.

We've just watched The Muppet Christmas Carol, and I am now in the ultimate Christmas spirit. Everyone should watch this movie and sing along. What great music. And so I give you THE song about Christmas spirit.

It Feels Like Christmas

It's in the singing of a street corner choir
It's going home and getting warm by the fire
It's true
Wherever you find love
It feels like Christmas
A cup of kindness that we share with another
A sweet reunion with a friend or a brother
In all the places you find love
It feels like Christmas
It is the season of the heart
A special time of caring
The ways of love made clear
It is the season of the sprit
The message if we hear it
Is make it last all year
It's in the giving of a gift to another
A pair of mittens that were made by your mother
It's all the ways that we show love
That feel like Christmas
A part of childhood we'll always remember
It is the summer of the soul in December
Yes, when you do your best for love
It feels like Christmas
It is the season of the heart
A special time of caring
The ways of love made clear
It is the season of the sprit
The message if we hear it
Is make it last all year
It's in the singing of a street corner choir
It's going home and getting warm by the fire
It's true, wherever you find love
It feels like Christmas

Christmas: Part I

You know how discouraging it is when you write something, and you like it, and then you lose the whole thing, and rewriting it again the same way just seems impossible, and it's not as good, and you're just so sad? That just happened. So, here's my horrible, re-written not as good version. What a good excuse for mediocrity.

Every holiday season, the Merry Christmas versus Happy Holiday debate comes up, and I've never given an opinion in that all-consuming, life and death argument. I used to think that it was because I was either too lazy or didn't think that either side really had it right. Then I realized the the reason I never give an opinion is because to strangers, I never say Merry Christmas. I never say Happy Holiday. I just say, "Have a nice day!" I suppose that if I saw a stranger on Christmas Day, I might say Merry Christmas. But when was the last time I saw a stranger on Christmas Day? I actually can't remember ever seeing a stranger on Christmas Day. Is that weird? I can't remember ever leaving the house on Christmas. Actually, does midnight church count? I've done that a couple of times. But really, I'm with family or members of church, on Christmas Day, so I say, "Merry Christmas." And that's the end of the story for Mandy.

On Tuesday, Anne and I converged on Dad's house. Despite the fact that it's vacation, I actually feel like we've spent the majority of our time productively. My back hurts. Ben, Jaime, Moira, and Evie arrived today at 4:45 am. Being the wonderful, caring sister and aunt that I am, I waited up until they were actually here. The next morning, I got up at 8:30. No big deal, right? Well I've been getting twelve hours of sleep a night, minimum, and to go from that to the 2.5/3 hrs I got last night was pretty harsh. So, I am....wilting. We started a puzzle today, and I periodically fall into a daze, staring into space. I am languishing.

Ooh, last night, Dad, Anne, and I went to see Charlotte's Web. May I just say, it was amusing sitting in the theater, the only discernible group that didn't have at least one child with it. Charlotte's Web: Thumbs up. Well done. And what a bizarrely packed cast. Listen to this: Julia Roberts, Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Oprah Winfrey, Cedric the Entertainer, Kathy Bates, Reba McEntire, Robert Redford, Thomas Haden Church, Andre Benjamin, Sam Shepard, and Dakota Fanning. That is ridiculous. Anyways, it had funny parts, and I laughed really loudly by myself in the theater, and at one point, the little boy sitting in front of me turned around and gave me a dirty look! Excuse me? I may have a loud, spontaneous laugh, but two seconds ago you were sitting there going, "It's a rat! It's raining! It's funny, 'cause he's a rat!!" Riiiight, and who should be given the dirty look here? I think that laughing is appropriate moviegoing behavior. I would like to point out that this was not a prolonged laugh or anything. I laughed, and it was done. Maybe I frightened him. I could see that. I am a pretty scary person. Rawr.

Today we polyurethaned the bathroom doors, so now we'll be able to put doorknobs on and properly close them. Luxury!! We also put up the tree and decorated, and it looks really nice. A Christmas tree looks so cute all decorated with presents underneath it. And it was nice unpacking all the ornaments and feeling very at home and normal. Still waiting for a couple of presents to arrive, but other than that, all my packing is done.

I have a busted taste bud on the very tip of my tongue, and it hurts so much. :(

I'm totally finished!

I'm done! Now, its time to clean the house, and perhaps go see (dare I?) Eragon. It has horrifyingly bad reviews, but what else would you expect? Something...good? Pfft.

An independent Mandy adventure of note: Those apartments that I've been drooling over just across the street from campus and haven't been able to find any information on, well they finally posted a number, and I actually called them! Compared to other apartments in town, the rent's outrageous, but the location really can't get any better. Irritatingly, though, I'll only be able to sign the lease in April, which leaves me uncertain of getting a place, which leaves me...uncertain. And I hate uncertainty.

Just to give you an idea of how close this is. For those of you who visited Anne in her apartment off campus at St. John's in Annapolis, this place is even *closer* to my classes than that. Haha, yeah, that's right. Preeetty close.

Jaime cut her hair, so I feel like we're short hair buddies, though hers is shorter than mine. We should make friendship bracelets!!! Omigosh! :-P

Yes, Jibbles *is* adorable. That one cat's cuteness is only enhances because his head is sticking down out of the ceiling. He'd be a lot less cute if I told you that the caption on the picture that I cropped out was, "Ceiling cat is watching you masturbate." Not quite the cute little guy anymore, now is he? :) On the topic of cats and ceiling cats, I have to present this link. Some of them are pretty weak, but some of them are really cool. Notably, I love the RAM cat, kitten in his food, trashcat, emo kitten, karate kitten, spy dog, shower cat, psycho cat, and moon cat. Go all the way through. Take a peek. It'll only eat up a couple valuable minutes of your life that you'll never get back.

Pictures of Jibbles to come once I steal a digital camera from Dad this Christmas break.

Jibbles' adventure

So my roommate Katie has this cat named Jibbles. She got him when he was six or eight weeks old, and we've had fun with him as he's grown up. Like any cat, he loves getting into funny spaces. Today, Katie, Kale, Jessie, Tim, and I went out to Boston Pizza for dinner. When we came back--no Jibbles. Couldn't find him. He wasn't in any of the rooms. I was so afraid that I'd accidentally let him outside before we went out, since I was the last person through the door. We found him, though. Where was he? He was in the ceiling. Where one of the water pipes goes up, it doesn't fit precisely, and there are those ceiling tiles in the basement like in schools. He climbed up the PVC piping, squeezed up into the ceiling, and made one of the ceiling tiles fall out. We found him peering down at us over the edge. After a five minute struggle of him clinging to the ceiling tile and wires, we got him down, all dusty and smelly.

This picture is like Jibbles' predicament, only without a ceiling tile, and less cute. Jibbles is very cute.

So that was the cat adventure of today.

Obama 2008?

Just out of curiosity, why is everyone and their mother talking about Barack Obama running for presidency in 2008? I obviously don't know anything about politics, but still. Why this guy? He's said over and over again that he's not going to run, but everyone's saying he will, and as Jaime demonstrated, already having some good fun with it.

Does he have the morals of a saint or something? 'Cause that would actually be cool, having someone you could feel proud of as a president. Like that's ever going to happen. So please, educate me. Why does the whole country want to have Obama's babies?

Nieces and Nephews

Well, Jennie did a post about her kids affecting her life, and Ben K did a post about Ella. So, I'll just mention the fact that I have seven nieces and nephews, and considering that I'm only twenty, that's insane. Five girls, two boys, and soon to be another boy, right? Pavel. Pavel is a kickass name. I've heard some people be surprised at three nieces and nephews, and when I hear that, I just think, "Pft! I have seven."

I've been watching CSI: Miami, and I think that in real life, David Caruso would be horrible at comforting anyone, considering what a bad job he does on the show. "You hang in there. Hang in there." He's the stiffest supposedly caring person I've ever seen. He does, however, get bonus points for always being polite. I love anyone who says 'please' and 'thank you.' You may wonder why I'm watching the show at all. But I have no idea.

One more exam to go! It's French, and I'm not overly concerned. Maybe I should be.

Man of the Year

So, the movie Man of the Year came to the Antigonish theatre...eventually. Most of the stuff that comes I don't want to see at all. So of course I went to see it. Honestly, it wasn't what I expected. It looked like pure lighthearted Robin Williams political-poking fun. Then there was the whole conspiracy thing that was almost the entire movie. The movie was...okay. It had its funny moments, but I have nothing witty or insightful to say about it. Oh, I can say that I normally strongly dislike Laura Linney, but this was the first time that she was actually tolerable.

The best feature about the supposedly uncorrupted comedian as President was the honesty he had. Could you imagine if all politicians were that honest? I think that a country like the US wouldn't be able to survive with honestly like that. Maybe Canada could, but the US has too many dirty little secrets dirty ways of functioning. I think that if everyone knew everything, that the old Right of the People to alter or abolish it[the government], and to institute a new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness would come into play. I've always thought that seemed like a really cool concept in the Declaration of Independence. Doesn't seem like the modern government would see things that way, though. Anyways, I know absolutely nothing about modern politics or government, so I'll stop pretending as if I do. :-P

I'm currently experiencing knitting frustration with circular needles and the idea of double pointed needles. Turns out that my circular needles aren't small enough. I guess that means another trip to the sad craft section of....WalMart.

Revelations

No, nothing Biblical. Prepare yourself for some extreme superciality, though.

First, I have discovered the amazing awesomness of bobby pins. These things are just awesome. They work so well.

Second, I found a beautiful set of eyeshadows. This is the first time ever that I've bought some shades, tried them on, and been really impressed. Two thumbs up for the set of "Mocha" colors by Maybelline. Shortly after opening the set of eyeshadows, in a moment of klutziness very unsurprising to anyone, I dropped the little eyeshadow brush straight down the drain of the sink I was standing over. It is now sitting at the bottom of the "U" bend in my drain, barely visible by the little indentation it makes in the water. Despite hte impossibility of recovery, I still tried to stick a fork down there and get it out. When I almost dropped the fork in the drain, I gave up.

Everyone knows I have fairly awkward and embarassing scars on my chest. Well, today I finally dropped thirty dollars on little silicone scar sheets in an attempt to reduce their noticeableness. If anyone is curious, I'm actually much better about picking anything. Much. So this scar removal thing's supposed to go on for twelve weeks at least. And yes, I'm accepting bets on how long I do this before I get bored and stop.

Brr

Every time I've been outside so far, I've been bundled to up like that Christmas Story boy. I generally sweat. I just took a short walk from the biological sciences building to the SUB without putting my hat or mittens on (it's a two minute walk!) and now I just can't...stop...*shivering.*

So, Developmental exam= finished. Finished poorly. Many of the multiple choice I was like...it could be a OR b...I have four d's in a row??? What?! I have four d's in a row TWICE?! What is wrong with the world? I also had very few a's. That concerned me. "A" isn't supposed to be that uncommon of an answer. It should be like one "a" to every three "d"s. Does this bother anyone else on their scantrons as much as it's always bothered me? Beginning from about fourth grade on, I've examined every scantron as I go through it with much paranoia. Is that an "a b d c d c b a????" Patterns are everywhere, and they make me very suspicious. If I were ever a professor, I would mess with the students' minds. One exam, I'd have all E....except for one D scattered somewhere. Or I'd keep my ratio of answers messed up. Or, I'd have it so that if they answered correctly, it spelled something or drew something out. And this is why I should never be allowed to be a teacher of any kind. Ever.

In a couple of hours I have my Research Methods and Statistics for Psychology, but it's not enough time to be worth walking all the home, all the way back to campus, and then home again. I'm far too lazy for that.

Did you guys know that the singing candlestick in Beauty and the Beast, Lumiere, is none other than Law and Order's Jerry Orbach? I've never seen Law and Order before, but I've seen lots of advertisements for the show, enough to make me very surprised when I found out that it was that guy from the Law and Order ads. He's just *so* energetic, with such a strong, young-sounding voice.

Did you know, though, that he started out on the stage in musicals, and was the first ever Billy Flynn in Chicago? Now *that* is cool. Ooh, he was also in Annie Get Your Gun and Guys and Dolls (Sky Masterson, very nice).

I should really get studying...

SNOW!!!!

But first, a bad idea: A bad idea is deciding to go out running at midnight when it's freezing. It tends to result in going around a block and only running at all to get back to the house as soon as possible. My skin was all red and hard, gross.

So, what started happening yesterday? It started snowing! Big, wonderful clumps. We had a light dusting the day before yesterday, but that didn't really count. It started snowing yesterday afternoon, and went all night, and it's still going. I'd say we've had at least six inches so far. To celebrate the snow, Tim, Katie, and I took a walk (about 15 min) to Subway to enjoy walking in the snow. One of my favorite things in the world is when everything is covered in snow, and walking down a quiet street, when the snow is falling, and the only thing you can hear is the snow crunching under your boots. That's what it was like last night, and with all the snowball throwing, it was great. I bundled up so much out of my excitement to be going out in the snow that I was sweating bullets outside. I had on my longjohns, a turtleneck, my winter jacket, crazy effective mittens, boots, and my little hat from Austria. It was such overkill.

It's rare that I feel comfortable talking to someone outside of my family, but I really enjoyed sitting in Subway with Tim and Katie, feeling very relaxed, and having an easy converstion.

During the "Baum baum bah!" of Sweet Caroline, I tend to throw my hands up in the air with each beat.

It is *so* easy to procrastinate, really, it's absurd. I have two exams tomorrow. I slacked off on reading the textbooks, 'cause I've had paper after paper after paper, so now I have to read one entire small textbook for tomorrow, and half of one full size textbook. I'll have more time for my later exams, but boy do I ever need to get a move on.

Shockingly, I have all my Christmas shopping done. I just need to get Dad's permission to use his credit card to actually buy them, since I'm out here in no man's land. I have to say, though, no man's land is pretty fun.

Okay, studying. :(

One second thought...this too.

Last minute Christmas gift addition:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVDs. I need to recognize those years that I spent faithfully watching this show. Make fun of me if you like, but I love it!

Seasons 1-7: Only $170!!

Freakout!!!

Okay, I'm going insane. During my nutty reading phase, where I think almost everyone will agree that I was reading a *bit* too much, I came across what are now my favorite books. Philip Pullman created an awesome world of parallel universes, creative creatures (a rare thing in fantasy these days), and a truly gripping story. There's a lot about the church in it. It's sort of like, if the DaVinci Code weren't full of itself trying to seem legitimate and call Clue-y, and was good, and about kids, it would be like the Golden Compass. Oh yeah, the DaVinci Code would also have to have lovable characters. Anyways.

Here's the freakout.

They're making a movie out of it!!!!!! AHH!!!!!! I've read these books soooo many times. Odd thing: Daniel Craig (Bond) is Lord Asriel and Eva Green (Daniel Craig's Bond girl) is the witch Serafina Pekkala. Odd that Bond costars are both in this. I think Eva Green will be an awesome Serafina. Anyways, I just can't believe this. I hope that they do an awesome job with it, and I cannot WAIT to see it. It comes out sometime in 2007, and is in filming right now. I have to say, Daniel Craig couldn't have picked a more perfect roll to follow-up his premier as Bond than the dangerous and powerful Lord Asriel. YES!!!!

Seriously, I nearly had a heartattack of excitement when I saw this. Happiness....euphoria...ugh, I'm tired, let's go to bed.

Careful, this is a long one.

Finally! Classes are over! (After I go to this one in half an hour.) I absolutely cannot wait to begin wonderful, slothful days of...studying.

On a sad note, my French Professor, Dr. Langille, is taking off the next semester to write a book or something, so he's getting replaced by...some professor who's not listed on the Modern Languages faculty page or ratemyprofessors.com! Maybe she doesn't know what she's talking about. Oh dear. Anyways, although I started out the year painting a very amusing picture of Dr. Langille as a ridiculously sharp 1950s dresser who flings out his coattails before he sits down, he is, in fact, much more amusing than that. He has a scornful, sharp humor that is just great. So, even though I know that on the written page these are amazingly unamusing, I give you some Dr. Langille quotes:

"Does 'ce sont' have a feminin hat on?"

"I couldn't imagine that anyone could be more interesting than me."

"I could be doing much more sophisticated lectures, trust me, but I'll be doing French 100 for the rest of my life."

"Any questions about that? 'Cause suddenly I'm going to make things a lot worse."

"Since you were so good today, I'll tell you a joke."

"Sorry, you have to get used to my sense of humor, which is sometimes quite devastating." (after he's just ripped a student to shreds for an incorrect answer)

"What's a day without a concept?"

"Let's see where we're AT *humorless laugh*"

"Someday, I'm going to take my frustrations out on the teachers of the world who didn't teach you any grammar. They all deserve to be horse-whipped!"

"My office is in an old, decrepit building. I think it's condemned, actually. A bird was flying around my classroom today. I was standing, teaching, and the bird actually landed on my head. No one could concentrate."

"And do you know why you don't care about subjects and objects? Because you're English!!" (Dr. Langille, I should add, is Canadian. Not French-Canadian, either.)

So, I know that these quotes don't seem amusing at all, but trust me, they are. And in the end, despite the fact that every class made me really scared, nervous, and stressed, I'm definitely going to miss his cruel, dry sense of humor.

Thanksgiving! Bottom line: Fun. Average sensation: Pain. Ow!

From the beginning: Sam drove up to Antigonish and picked me up! How awesome was that? He came Wednesday at four, and we went out to dinner at Gabrieau's. I've eaten there before, and thought it was good, but this time it was great! It's nice to know that there's actually a proper place to eat in Antigonish. Too bad it costs an arm and a leg. :( Sam was exhausted, so he went to bed early, then I had classes, and we left afterwards. Because the car he was driving was Megan's/Clint's/Clint's Dad/Someone's and he hadn't expreeeeessly asked permission if I could drive it, he drove all the way home. He apologized, like it was a bad thing, while I was feeling awesome since not only did I not have to drive at ALL, but I also didn't have to feel guilty about it. Sweet. We had a nice talk in the car. I think that's the longest I've ever spoken to Sam at once.

Upon arriving home: Wow, the house is very unfinished. Wednesday, Dad, Sam, and I drove down and picked Ben, Julie, and El (new nickname, to avoid spelling confusing of Isabel) up from the airport. When we got back to the house, after a very tame drive home, Dad decided that this was a perfect time to bring the refrigerator up from the basement. So he put plywood on the stairs to turn it into a ramp, wrapped a rope around it, tilted it onto the ramp, and Sam, Ben, and I pulled on the rope upstairs while Dad pushed from below. The whole heave ho-ness of it all made me feel very much like a slave in Egypt, buildign the pyramids, pulling a huge block of stone up ramps with other slaves. Of course, in the end, I accomplished almost no real pulling action, while Ben and (surprisingly) Sam did most of the work. The fridge, while slightly dinged, is very nice. I love it.

Thanksgiving day: We arrived at the BeViers' around...eleven? Eleven thirty? Something. In addition to Wes, Becca, their kid (Nathalie), Blake (is that is name? Why can I never remember his name?), Heather, their kid (Madelein[sp?]), Chick, and Susan, there was also Clyde and Pam, neighbors and friends of the family. Clyde is Chick's particular friend. Clyde scares me. He's very loud and outgoing, and also seems very competitive. I would never want to play a sport with him. Which is why, when softball started, (I predict that Clyde was on his high school, if not college, football and baseball team) I decided to help look after Nathalie and Madelein so that Becca and Heather could play. For me, this was much more fun than baseball. Afterwards, Ben really wanted to play touch football. Now *this* was a game that I didn't mind playing. No game of touch football is ever really that good or competitive. And in the end, most of us were really bad. Except for this guy Ryan (I forgot about them! Ryan and...and...hmm. Wife. And their baby son Gavin. He's a chef for the coastguard one of their boats, I guess.) who threw really well, and Wes. Poor Wes was on a team with Ben, me, and Heather. We were doing so badly, and I think that Heather and I were most useful serving as ineffective decoys.

Class time, I'll finish this later....

Later: Dinner was fabulous and huge. I took itty bitty bits of everything, but even with only a little of everything, there were so many options that I ended up STUFFED and with no room for any seconds. I didn't even get to try everything! Afterwards there was this iPod music game the BeViers wanted to play. I didn't want to play, and everyone was pushing me, but Wes was kind enough to save me and suggest that I help him pick out the music. It was actually probably a pretty good idea, since between the two of us we knew the musical tastes of almost everyone playing. Two pieces of pie later, and we went home, all of us very exhausted.

Friday, I rolled out of bed in immense pain from my muscles. The fridge left my arms crippled, and the football left my legs and waist crippled. Sam also felt my pain, but it took half a day for Ben's to set in. Two days later, when Sam and I were feeling better, Ben was still sore, which I thought was very fair considering his late start on it. :-P So, Friday...oh yeah. We all went out to dinner at the Chandler House. My previous experiences at the Chandler House I haven't liked so much. I thought the food was pretty mediocre. However, I've always ordered chicken and pasta, 'cause the other options are steak-like things and seafood. The restaurant seems to be known for those two things, so I thought that I should at least give the seafood a try. And...it was great!! It completely changed my opinion of Chandler House. So, if you ever find yourself in Calais at the Chandler House, keep away from chicken-y items and get seafood.

Saturday: Sam left, Ben and Julie went to Wes and Becca's, then they all came back later and we watched the horrible loss of Notre Dame to USC. While they were gone, though, Dad and I rearranged the wood in the basement to make room for the Expedition to go in. Having a car in a heated garage=awesome. We were pathetically tired, though, so Wes, Becca, and Nathalie left at halftime. Dad and I watched the DaVinci Code that night as well. I thought it was amusing and entertaining, but also pretty silly. Poor Tom Hanks seems to have fat man chin without a fat man body.

So, that was Thanksgiving! I didn't finish this entry until the day after I started writing it, so now that I've woken up and finished it, I need to go get a shower. Ben K should post his pictures on BenandJules.com...but not in flash form, so that I can save them to my HD.

Time for.....leftovers.

And, sorry for giving way more detail than anyone *ever* wanted about another person's Thanksgiving.

A Quick Drop In

Class in a couple of minutes, haven't posted in an age, thought I'd drop a line to hold me over until I have time for a "real" entry.

A) I really want to see Happy Feet, Running with Scissors, Bond, Stranger Than Fiction, Borat, and undoubtedly something else. Too bad only one of those movies are showing in my local theater. Otherwise, I have to drive forty minutes to see them.

B) Jaime's post made this desire to see Happy Feet even stronger.

C) Go Buckeyes!

D) As a result of skipping three days of classes to go home for Thanksgiving, I have sooo much work to do. Everything sort of peaks at Wednesday. By Wednesday at five pm, I should be completely destressed, and going out for dinner and a movie. That, however, is when the studying for finals should begin....

E) As a result of this awful accumulation of work, I won't be posting or (hopefully) doing anything else until I'm all caught up.

F) Had to type on the computer in front of class today in French. Typing with accents always makes me really nervous, 'cause no one ever taught me to do it, and somehow everyone else knows. A nice guy helped me out, though, with only about 30 seconds (seems so long!) of embarassment, and now I understand. Yay!

Time for Developmental Psychology. Run, Mandy, Run!!

The horror!

OH. NO. I FORGOT TO MAKE BUCKEYES. We're DOOMED!!!!

I know, I know, be positive. I just don't want to jinx us! Must opposite jinx!

Maybe there's still time....I need to run to Shopper's anyways.

Thinking About Credit Cards...

Okay, life without a credit card is, finally, getting too difficult. I need to get one. So, MasterCard or Visa? Here's a MasterCard that I think sounds...okay.

Your Citi® Dividend Platinum Select® Card for College Students can help. In addition to earning a full 2% cash back on eligible purchases at supermarkets, drugstores, gas stations, convenience stores and utilities including cable, you’ll earn 1% cash back on all other purchases everywhere else you use your MasterCard® credit card**.What's more, you'll now earn 1% cash back on cash advances taken at the standard cashadvance rate, plus you'll earn $5 cash back on all individual balance transfer transactions of $1,500 or more**.
Your new card also comes with free credit education tips and tools to help you control your spending every step of the way — all this plus no annual fee.

I looked at Visa options, and they look almost all the same. I don't know what to look for in a credit card, though. Most of the benefits seemed pretty irrelevant to me. And is it okay to get a credit card not through your bank? Since I'm not a Canadian, I don't qualify to get a credit card with my bank, ScotiaBank, which uses Visa.

Advice?

Edit: Further frustrations. I mentioned that I can't get a credit card in Canada, because I need permanent residency to do that. Well, I can't get a credit card in the states either. In order to get one with no previous credit history, it has to be a student card. In order to get a student card in the states, my school has to be in the states. So what can I do? Get a regular credit card with a cosigner? Grrrrr.

Nervous Excitement

We all have it right now. The eve of battle. I put on my OSU t-shirt early, and I'll just wear it two days straight, 'cause I'm so ready for this game. Today, I'll go to the grocery store, and buy lots of pop, some Tostitos, and buffalo wings (brats, buns, and salsa already at home). Any additional gameday food suggestions?

I'm in such unfamiliar territory here for the game. There are by far more Michigan fans than OSU fans. Is it weird that I actually can't imagine someone cheering for Michigan and not liking Ohio State? I don't think that my fragile worldview could take that. So, despite the fact that a sports bar opened up, and my roomie works there, I don't think I'll go. I'd feel nervous, sitting with my OSU t-shirt and buckeye necklace, and wouldn't be able to full out cheer. Maybe I'll invite some friends over for the game or something. That would be cool. That way I could carefully weed out any possible Michigan supporters.

Well, once more into the fray. I don't feel good about this one....

Some Very Fast Thoughts

minutes before class!

First. What's with girls and boots? One day, I was at classes, and no one was wearing boots. The next day, every other girl I see is wearing her uggs/lacy up boot things. How did they *all* know to switch to boots suddenly??? This must be some scary Canadian telepathy that I don't know about. The day was as nice as it was the day before. There was no snow or anything. Just, magically: Boots!

I love Canada. Why do I love Canada? Payphones are still 25...isn't there a cent sign? Can't find it... Okay, still 25 cents. Walk up with a quarter, and you're good to go. Fabulous.

I've sworn off long fingernails. When playing the cello, I never got to have them. Think about. Third and fourth grade: Mom was probably still sitting down with me trimming them. Ow! She cut them so short. After that, I started private lessons. And what happens when you go into private lessons with some white showing at the tips of your fingers? The nail clippers came out! *snip snip snip* "Okay, now we can start playing." Thus, from fourth grade to sophomore year, I rarely had *any* fingernails. Occasionally I'd put on some fake nails so I could have fun with the idea of long nails for a couple of days, and then break them off before I went to my lesson. For the last couple of years though, there hasn't been any private lesson. No one's been forcing me to cut my nails. And I have had quite a bit of fun growing them out. Long, long, long! Yay! However, I have now come to the realization: Long nails are horrible. They just get in the way of everything. I have a bit of white at the ends right now, and I can't type as quickly. So, forget about long nails! Why bother? I like them short.

I have a hair appointment for tomorrow evening, yay! No one let me forget. I did that once. Whoops.

Class time!

Mmmm....fun.

Sooo. I have a new top of the list for unmentionably ridiculous.

The Honda Metropolitan. Cute, isn't it? It's also available on ebay for $400-$600. Woohoo!!!

Or, you know, just any cute, classic bicycle with a rack on the back for tying groceries to. Think 1950s, that one scene in Wedding Crashers, or The Notebook.

Thoughts in the Middle of the Day

Well, I did it. The papers are done, my art's done (and doesn't look *that* bad), unfortunately, I think the quality of the art is much higher than the quality of my Developmental psychology paper. Oh well. It's over, so I shouldn't let it stress me out. However, I should get a jump on the next two upcoming papers.

So, there's this apartment building that I *really* want to live in. It was just built/renovated this summer. There isn't a number on the outside, and no one's living in it yet. I haven't heard word one about it on any of the off campus housing listings. I wrote emails to around five people in an attempt to find any information about it. Everyone says, yeah, I know those apartments you're talking about, but don't have any information on them. Does anyone have any advice for how to go about sneaking in and snagging an early lease for one of these places? I've searched every online listing that exists for this area, and it's not there. With the prime location these apartments are in for the university, once it gets published, I doubt that I'll stand a chance getting one, and I want one so badly! Blargh! Ben K, can you hack into Canadian appraisal/real estate stuff? The number should be just below 110 St. Ninian's St. :) Should I just walk in the front door one day, and be like, "Give me an apartment!!!"? Maybe I should rummage through a trash can in an attempt to find an address and landlord information. Then I could stalk him in his home. Brilliant.

So, the latest destination in Mandy's Go and Do Something Real This Summer: Tanzania! It's much more rural. There are two different programs for Tanzania. One is the style of: Live in a mud hut among people who drink blood, milk, and eat meat for sustenance, and the other is: more building-y, i believe. They don't have the huge drought problem that the mud hut guys do. So, I'm thinking of going with the more building-oriented but still rural guys. They're about 30 mins away from Kilimanjaro airport and 12 km from a decent-sized town, Arusha. So, I'm pretty excited.

I know that everyone is *dying* for an update on my hair. Of course. First, I am lazy and haven't made an appointment to get it cut yet. Second, though I dyed my hair a fairly dark brown, and it *was* fairly dark brown, the brownliness of it has gradually faded out. And what am I left with? My regular hair color? No! Some extremely red hair. I'm gonna try a less reddish brown hair dye next time. Please, try and contain your excitement.

So, we're going to the BeVier's for Thanksgiving. This is cool. I like the BeViers, I like their place, and I like being there. But now, instead of spending a relaxing Thanksgiving with my family, I'm going to spend it trying to be polite, feeling uptight, feeling uncomfortable about the sportiness they have planned, and not getting to make our own food at home. There's something about the BeViers that makes me feel very insecure about myself. Maybe it's how relaxed and at ease they are? Maybe it's their natural athletic ability? Maybe it's how I don't know anything about what it is that is discussed whenever I'm there. Maybe it's because they seem to always do things, when I'd prefer to just sit there with people. Maybe it's because they're all very attractive people, and I feel like the ugly duckling. I don't know. I'll still enjoy myself when I'm there, but at the end of the day, I'll be very emotionally tired.

Can't wait to go home, though!! To drive or to bus...still haven't decided 100% yet.

Miserable Whinings

Here is where I get to do nothing but complain. Yes.

So, I walk into my Research Methods and Statistics class, say excitedly, "Can you believe he pushed the paper back?? I'm so happy!" Everyone looks at me and says, "What?" Immediately, the inner Mandy stops smiling and says to herself, "Crap." That's right, that paper wasn't pushed back a week at all. I read through the email my lab instructor sent and misread. The paper was due today. So I left RM&S early, went over the Annex (a very fun, dilapidated building, home of the Psych deparment), and visited my lab instructor. "Hiiiiiii," I say. "Would you believe, when I read your email, somehow I misinterpreted it and thought you meant that the paper was being pushed back to next week?" "Really." "Yeaah, so, I found out that it is actually due today, and," and la da di da di da. The long and the short of it is that my lab instructor is really nice, and he's letting me email the assignment to him tonight, then turn in a paper copy tomorrow, and he won't count it as being late. I love this university! But still: Now I have two papers plus my art assignment to do tonight. :( Why must I procrastinate?!

Other suckiness: Got my paper for my Social Psychology lab back today. Do you think there's an unspoken rule that lab instructors are required to be the most miserably difficult graders you've ever encountered, and make your professors look like nice little cherub graders? 'Cause this is the second time that I've written what I felt was a fairly solid paper, and I've gotten a rotten mark on it, with some amazingly weird comments written in the margin that make me think, "What bee got in your bonnet?"

So, I have an unexpectedly large amount of work to do tonight (2 papers and art assignment[I'm supposed to spend a minimum of three hours on this...riiiiight]), plus I got a bad mark on a paper.

Also, just to up the whining ante, people in computer labs are obnoxious. Why do they have to talk so loudly about how stupid they are, while lauding the accomplishments of their friends, and saying stupid facts out loud? BE QUIET! Do what you want to do, but hte only thing I want to hear is the tick tick tacking of your keyboard. GAAAR!

Whew. I'm a monster today. Better stay out of my path.

Remembrance Day

So, Remembrance Day was last Saturday. Canadians in general, I've discovered, take Remembrance Day really seriously. For about two weeks prior to it, people stand around the exit of pretty much any building, and when you donate money, you get a little pin that's a felt poppy, and then you wear this pin for the next two weeks. If you don't get a pin, well then you're a really horrible person. So eeeeeveryone is wearing these pins, and posters are up everywhere. Even fast food signs that normally say "Toonie Tuesdays" or "2 Mama Burgers for $6," almost all say, "Lest we forget," and, "We remember." There are some really beautiful posters they've created using teh little felt poppies and stuff, but I couldn't find them. I'll include a less cool poster, though.


So, last Saturday also happened to be the day that Tim's parents stopped by on their way to Cape Breton. They arrived around 10:30, and we all went to Tim Horton's to get some breakfast, since it was one of the only places open on Saturday. Tim's mom is, how shall I say, sort of like a milder version of Mrs. Bennet when it comes to the strength of her opinions. So, Tim's mom and dad were sitting at a table in the corner of the restaurant, when Tim and I got up to get some TimBits. Thus, we were standing in line when the manager of the restaurant came out, and said that he would like to take two minutes of silence to honor the fallen soldiers. Only the whole place was so noisy, and he spoke so quietly, that only a few people heard him. So that thing happened where gradually everyone notices that other people are being quiet until everyone is, eventually, quiet. Except for two people. Tim's mom, and this other guy in the corner. Later on, we found out that Tim's dad was just sitting quietly, not responding to her, 'cause he knew what we going on, while she was saying, "Why aren't you responding to me?? Eric?! Why won't you reply??" But she realized, and eventually we heard the other guy's buddy shush him, and all this time, some bagpipes playing Amazing Grace happen to have been playing for this extreeeemely long time down the street, but in easy hearing distance. All of this combined, led me to the Giggle Loop. Yes, all of you Coupling fans out there, the Giggle Loop. At least it wasn't a funeral, but it might as well have been. All I ended up doing was smiling, though. Thank goodness.


An example of the ferocity of Canadians' feelings towards Remembrance Day: Before that whole amusing Tim Horton's debacle, Tim's mom had realized that they were going to be guests at a person's house, and weren't bringing anything with them, so she wanted to go get a bottle of wine as a present, but knew that the liquor store was closed. So she asked the man next to her, "Excuse me, is *everything* closed today?" "Yeah, today's Remembrance Day. Where are you from?" "Oh, we're from New Brunswick." "Well, it's a statutory holiday now! And about time." Hmm, that doesn't convey the mean, harshness of his town. The way he said, as if everyone knew it (which she did) that today was Remembrance Day, and the way he sort of looked down on her when he asked where she was from, and it was like he was lecturing (in a shouting sort of way) that it's about time that it was a holiday. So...that was interesting. I felt bad for Tim's mom there.

After breakfast, as we were heading back to the house, we had to take a weird route, 'cause the entiiiire town center was filled with people for the memorial service. I never even knew that Antigonish had so many people in it. I now believe that around 4,000 people live here, because I've seen it with my own eyes. Oh, and yes, I was extremely guilt-tripped that I wasn't there. I am a bad person. :-P


Check out this cool Remembrance Day quarter. Sweet, eh? One example of a felt poppy, above, on someone's cords.


So, the long and the short of this post: Sure, lots of countries have Remembrance Day, but Canada is scary serious about it. Which is good!

Boring stuff.

Well, it looks like bob #3 is winning. The title of that last entry is funny, 'cause with it in all caps like that, it makes it look like I meant to write "boobs" and just messed up. Yes, that's right, I *am* that immature. So, I'll hopefully make a hair appointment for sometime this week. Maybe Wednesday or so? It could be a celebration for completing two papers and fun for goign out to Boston Pizza to celebrate its opening and my friend's first day on the job there. Absolutely scintillating. :-P

So, yeah, two papers. One due tomorrow...oh. Wait. That got pushed back to next Monday. YES!!!! Okay, one paper. Due Wednesday. It's not big at all, but I *am* procrastinating majorly on it, as evidenced by this post's existence.

Just a note: I would have soooo much fun getting to spend a whole week in North Carolina with Moira and Evie!!! We could do fun little projects, see if there are any bioluminescent critters in the sand at night, make picture frames (? or whatever) out of seashells that we collect, and lots of other fun stuff. I suppose you've already covered waves and how it's just a transfer and energy, and the water isn't actually moving forward? That would be a fun lesson to be learned at the beach! Though sort of hard, when you see the water flowing up onto the sand, and then back into the ocean..., slightly contradictory.

So, I looked at the Peace Corps summer program, and features of it that sort of turn me away are: You don't stay in one place for more than five days, *part* of your time is spent in home stay, you have to move around with a group, and you only do what sounds like a small amount of work to help out the communities. With Americorps, on a summer program I wouldn't even be able to leave the States. Is it possible for me to find information in Amnesty International without already being a member?

So far, my top two candidates are ELI and MTC, aaaaand I basically got Dad's go-ahead.

On another note, Dad and Sandra got divorced on the ninth. I won't lie and say I'm not happy, 'cause I am. Right after the divorce, she drove back to North Carolina, and now he's sad that she's gone and all lonely. Amusingly, she never even got to meet all of her step-children. I actually thought that after they got divorced, things might go a little easier what with the ease in pressure. Even though Dad's sad now, though, I really think that he's going to be better off in the longrun, so I'm pretty happy for him.

BOBS

Okay, so, I feel like getting my hair cut fairly short. What do you think of these haircuts? Ignore the fact that the middle one is of evil girl from Bruce Almighty...I think. We'll label them one, two, and three, from top to bottom.

I really don't like Cap'n Crunch. It tastes so fake.

So, I can't do that Students Without Borders thing next summer, 'cause the application date has already passed, but there are loots of other programs that do the same thing that I'm interested in.
This site has options I'm interested in for Ghana, Kenya, and Nepal, and this site has options I'm interested in for Ghana and Kenya, and maaaybe South Africa, and this site has an option I'm interested in for Botswana. They all offer different things with their program, but that last one, the company is actually based in Botswana, and has lots of language, culture, music, and dance classes that go along with volunteering, plus weekend excursions. It seems to offer the most outside of the actual volunteer program, but it's also expensive. Right now, I think the biggest obstacle, though, is Dad and his probable dislike for the yellow fever, malaria, smallpox, and AIDS.

My latest snacking discovery is cheese. I loooooove cheese. Not a bunch of nasty cheeses, but basically anything that's smoked, or classic. It's sooo expensive though. I can't afford this habit, especially when I just want to keep going back and slicing off more and more and more. Hehe, remember that time that mom got a cheese ball, and Jaime was eating it, and we were all speculating on what the pinkish flecks were. "Is that ham? Is that ham???" "Uh...I don't know. Maybe?"

I drove to New Glasgow last night to see Marie Antoinette. I wouldn't recommend it. As a biography, I think it serves its function really well, and it had some creative ideas about how to show things. Otherwise, the movie's script was pretty awkward, and I wish that someone other than Kirsten Dunst, with her amazingly flat, wide American accent, had played Marie Antoinette. The Americanness was fine, they obviously made no attempt at trying to be French or Austrian, but her way of talking is just sooooo...wide. Every time she opened her mouth, I just felt like, modern! modern! modern! There *were* some scenes though that were well done, and really got me into the moment. Some.

Seinfeld is on every moment of every day. It's amazing. If I want to watch Seinfeld, I can watch it.

I feel so silly. I'm stitching some flags onto my satchel-y backpack, and I was looking up unique flags for Soctland and England, 'cause I don't like the Union Jack. So I got St. Andrew's Cross and St. George's Cross, and as I sat there looking at them, I was like, "Whoaaaaa." Dawning realization! I can't believe I never saw before how they combined the two to make the Union Jack. So, don't I feel sheepish. *bah*

I have a PHONE!!!

Okay, well it's not actually a phone, but it's a phone *number.* Any of you can call me from your landlines, it will ring on my computer, and *if* I don't answer, there will be voicemail you can leave that will actually check. Shocking, I know.

Disclaimer: I miiight not have my headphones hooked in, so if I answer hte phone, and you don't hear anything, wait at least 2-5 minutes for me to locate the headphones and plug them in. So, you guys are all dyying to know what my phone number is, right?

Edit: Stupid idea putting phone number on blog. I'll send an email around to siblings. Stop complaining...now. For those of you for whom it's still long distance to call me, sorry. At least it's not international. A)Canada doesn't have any Skype numbers B) They didn't have any in dad's area code either. So I thought I'd make at least *some* of my family happy and not have to pay long distance, and Columbus has not yet lost the majority on concentration of family. So, you want to call me and only get charged locally? Easy. Move to Ohio!!! :-D

Which leads me to my next Christmas present idea!

For the ambitious: A cordless USB phone to use with Skype

Similar phone, a little cheaper

Or the not cordless, which is just fine by me

I've got the bug

No, not the nasty, icky flu. It's the Do Something Bug!

I want to do the Students Without Borders program, and go to either Botswana or Vietnam. In Botswana I could either do orphan care, youth programs for children with AIDS, do counseling and home visits, and educational outreach. Yay!!! In Vietnam, I could teach English...not so yay, but still fun and helping. The whole thing would be either 2, 3, or 4 months, and apparently cost of living in Botswana for 3 months, including the plane ticket there, organization fees, and such, is approx. $5500 CAD, which is...like, $4,800 USD.

Those Silly Psychologists

I have a theory about psychology theories. As they progress from their early forms, go through different stages, change, and become the current accepted form, it seems to be that their names *must* get longer and longer. Whenever someone is modifying a theory, there's another psychologist peering over his shoulder, saying, "Wait, no, that new name...it's not long enough! Here, add a few more words in."

For instance, what started out as the Naive Scientist became the Cognitive Miser Model, only to later be replaced by the Motivated Tactician Model. Hm, in fact, these names aren't any longer than each other. That's very funny. However, I think everyone would agree that naive scientist and cognitive miser are a lot easier to remember than motivated tactician.

Okay, new theory about psychology theories. As they profess from their early forms, the language used to describe the theories becomes more and more jargonized and un-common sense. Naive scientist? Makes sense. Cognitive miser? Lots of sense!! Motivated tactician? What???

Someday, I'll come up with my own theory, and I'll call it something awesome, like, The Relationship Error, The Commonsense Thinking, or something like that. Easy peasy (peasy?).

I had a dream last night that everyone around me turned into a red zombie from the bearded Other guy from Lost, but burying them in the ground, making a hair rope, and sending an electric current through the hair to the person in the ground. They emerged red and zombie. Yeesh! Don't worry, though. After everyone had become a zombie, I dug up the first zombie they created and destroyed her, so everyone turned back from being a zombie (sort of like destroying the Queen of an alien hive. Starship Troopers/Ender's Game, anyone?orrrrrr even *more* like in The Little Mermaid, when Ursula is killed, and all the slimy things become mermaids again), then I tried on some adorable boots!

Unmentionably Ridiculous Presents

Everyone has to have their I'm Never Going To Get It section of their Christmas list. Ben K has his Bosendorfer and...Porsche? What happened to the Lotus Elise? Brad has the Sharp LC-37D90U and Playstation 3.

I have:

The Nabaztag/tag!! Goes on sale Nov. 18th, folks.

A ring from Tiffany's

And a kickass coat from J.Crew!

I'll let you guys discover these prices for yourselves. :-D

A little Skype education

Skype is a little piece of software that lets you make free calls to anyone else on Skype, anywhere in the world. Also, until the end of the year you can also make free calls to landlines and mobiles in the US and Canada from Skype. And even though the calls are free, they are really excellent quality. If you and your friends, family or business contacts are using webcams, you can also make free video calls. You can even call landlines and mobile phones at really cheap per minute rates (and there’s no setup or subscription fee).

You can talk to anyone on Skype over the Internet for free, and you’ll always be able to do that. There are some other useful things you can do on Skype that aren’t free (but they’re pretty cheap, actually).

SkypeOut is a cheap way to call from Skype to landlines and mobile phones. You can also use SkypeOut to forward calls to your Skype to your home number or mobile phone.

SkypeIn is a number your friends can call from any phone and you pick up the call in Skype. You can get numbers in one or more of the places offered, and receive calls in Skype from anywhere in the world.

Skype Voicemail takes your calls when you’re busy or offline.

So, I use a program on my computer with the nifty little headset Ben bought me last year to talk to you guys. Without paying for anything, I can call any of you on your computers if you have Skype. With SkypeOut, a pay a little to call you guys on your landlines, so you don't need to worry about being near your computer or anything. With SkypeIn, *I* don't need to worry about being near my computer, 'cause I'd have voicemail, *and* you guys could call that number (for regular rates for you guys) whenever you wanted. Any opinions noooow? :)

Okay, you all FAIL at feedback.

Two thumbs down.

Skype!!

Okay, I want some feedback here. I'm getting a Skype account so that I can call people without it costing 21/23 cents a minute. Evil. Now the question is, should I get SkypeOut or SkypeIn? Ben K uses SkypeOut, right? You just put a certain amount of money on your account, and it costs like one or two cents a minute to call any landline or mobile number anywhere in the US or Canada. Better yet, anywhere to the US or Canada is free right now 'til the end of the year! I sound like an ad.
Or, should I get SkypeIn? I'd get a phonenumber, and this way all you family members who still have a phone could call me, and if I'm not there, instead of me just getting a little red flag with a Missed Event notice on my Skype thing, you could actually leave me voicemail. And since it's on my computer, you can bet that it would be checked approx. five times per day. Aaaand, I don't know if on Skype you get to record your voicemail message or not, but if I did, I would actually be able to *change* it here, since this is a computer. My cell phone still has dad's old voicemail message on it (of Anne), and everyone who calls gets really confused. "Hi, Mandy....this is Emma...I'm calling for Mandy, not Dr. Kessler or Anne Marie....but Mandy, if you do get this meet me....." True, this has made for some really funny messages. Oh, did you guys know that I couldn't even access my voicemail from in Canada? Yeah, that's right. So those times when I went home (Christmas, spring break), I checked my voicemail, and had like 15 messages from Anne, Ben K, and Dad. Made me feel very loved all at once.

So, SkypeOut, or SkypeIn? And if I do get SkypeIn, what number should I pick? I can't pick just any, but I at least have some say.

Give me your opinions!!!!!

More Christmas Thoughts, Real Post Below

My request for a new perfume for Christmas is hidden deep in a paragraph of text, so I thought that I would reiterate that the signature scent Brad bought me two Christmases ago was in the bag that US Airways lost (evilness), and I would really appreciate a new one. I leave this up to the taste of whoever's buying it, since I don't have much of a discriminating nose. Anything that doesn't smell like an old lady or a trashy woman. Floral/citrusy/youngish scents are nice.

A Low Sodium Adventure

Just in case someone is reading this who hasn't been around me much, I eat a lot of salt. It's the stuff of legends. Basically, there's Loch Ness, there's King Arthur, and then there's me. A couple of days ago, however, I made the decision to not *add* any salt to my food. I'm not going to, like, try and eat only foods low in sodium, but when I eat macaroni and cheese or something, I won't use the salt shaker for every bite.

Let me tell you, it's been hard so far, but I've been doing it.

One of my roomies has a kitten, and she originally called her Princess. That's right, Princess. Then she was getting mad at her, so the only name I ever heard her call her was Bitch-Face. The people of the first floor (Kale, Tim, me) didn't really think that was cool, but we didn't like Princess either. Kale liked the name Kiki for some reason, so that's what we started calling her, and what we've been calling her for the last month or so. Turns out, my roomie doesn't like us calling her Kiki. I'm not going to call her Bitch-Face anytime soon, so I guess it's back to Princess.

On a happier note, I just finished a huge lab report for my developmental psychology class! Hurrah!! And yes, it *is* due tomorrow.

Brad, where are you??? A) You should have all your furniture by now, so I'm expecting pictures every moment B) You plain old haven't updated in sooo long. Did a new game come out or something? O_o C) Tim plays on XBox live a lot, you should add him: Seraph Saito

Don't you think it's annoying when you're joking about something, but someone takes it seriously and gets mad at you, and you're just like, "Errr...," and don't know how to make them understand? I hate that.

to answer Jaime....

So, the symptoms of Norwalk Virus, which is, indeed, a virus:
Acute diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea and vomiting, headache and low-grade fever. Symptoms usually show up 10 to 60 hours after exposure and last up to two days, but can persist for several weeks. Common names of the illness caused by the Norwalk and Norwalk-like viruses are viral gastroenteritis, acute nonbacterial gastroenteritis, food poisoning, and food infection.

How it spreads
In many cases, infected food handlers can contaminate food. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the only source of the Norwalk virus is feces from infected people. In many cases, shellfish are infected when human waste is dumped from ships.

You can pass on the virus up to 48 hours after your symptoms disappear.

There are an estimated 181,000 cases of the Norwalk virus in the United States every year.

Treatment
The sports drink solution: there is no effective treatment, other than fluid and electrolyte replacement.

Prevention
Doctors say hand washing and sanitizing is the best method for preventing the spread of the virus.

Recent outbreaks

Oct. 18, 2006: Health officials suspect that the Norwalk virus is to blame after at least 30 students fall ill at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S. Most of the students live on campus in university residences.

Oct. 13, 2006: More than 300 students at Mount Allison University in Sackville, N.B., are stricken with Norwalk virus. The school closed public buildings and cancelled extracurricular activities for several days. Extra cleaning staff were brought in and hand sanitizers were passed out to students to help combat the virus.

Thank you to the CBC and FDA for this information. :)

And no, no Halloween costume for me. I got really lazy, and then didn't want to spend any money on anything.

Psychology Excitement & Halloween LetDown

Okay, honestly, I've been doing pretty kickass great in my three psych classes this year. I know, I know, I mostly only have one grade that's worth like 10% of my overall mark right now, but I'm still feeling pretty good about it. When January rolls around, and I have a meeting with a psychology academic advisor, I'm hoping they'll say, "Yes!! Of *course* you should be doing an Honours degree! What other kind would you pick with marks like yours?" And then I'll ask one of my professors if I can help them in the lab at all, and they'll love to have me, and my application for graduate school will look increasingly impressive.

What a nice, perfect picture. That means that it won't actually happen that way at all.

And, as indicated by the title, Halloween was a *major* letdown on my street. Bought tooooons of candy (good candy, too), put it in a bowl, turned all the lights on, propped the door open...why didn't they come??? Granted, there isn't a sidewalk on my side of the street. And we didn't have any pumpkins out. We had maybe six kids stop by, max. Two of them were really cute, wearing little matching bear costumes. I heard the kid outside the door as he was trying to ring the doorbell, "But I can't reach it mommy...[sounds of stretching up on tippytoes with full effort]." "Yes you can, sweetie, try again." *ring* They were really cute. Now, I have tons and tons of candy that I can eat *all night.* This is gonna be deadly.

The "Deadly" Norwalk

So, a little more than a week ago, StFX students received an email that said that due to an outbreak of the Norwalk Virus at Mount Allison University (an hour or so away from us), classes at Mount A are closing until all university buildings are sanitized. StFX officials just kept saying, "Be safe, wash your hands, it's fine, no one has it here." <--world's longest run-on. In the same day that one of these reassuring emails came out, another one came out shortly later saying that thirty students were displaying "symptoms consistent with the Norwalk Virus." The numbers of students with Norwalk kept rising, but alas!! Classes were not cancelled. :( Instead, hand sanitizer bottley things were put at every entrance to every building, students weren't allowed to enter a food place without fist using the sanitizer, and in meal hall, soups, straws, pizza, burgers, bagels, etc. were all brought back behind the counter so that you had to ask for them individually (this is one meal hall for 4,000 students, soooo slow even without this back-up!), plus the salad/sandwich bar was completely removed.

So, that was the Norwalk fiasco. I made fun of it, and then last Saturday, after everyone had recovered, I got sick. Really sick. Couldn't move my arms without feeling the need to puke rising up in my throat. I made it to my bed, laid down, but couldn't move enough to close the door, get into PJ's, turn off any lights or anything. I waited without moving for three hours, and lo and behold, at 3 am I was able to pop up perfectly fine, and go back to folding laundry and cleaning my dirty dishes! YES! Norwalk can't *touch* me! I would like to point out that Norwalk is a stomach flu. I like this image, entitled "Barf."

Dad's Christmas Present

I suggest that, for Dad's Christmas gift, at least several of us get him one or two niceish shirts (with a front pocket :-P) For those of you who haven't been hanging out with him much lately, his favorite shirts are doing that thing where they're actually slowly disappearing at the edges as they get more and more worn. They're so threadbare, and in places you can actually see his torso, but he still wears them to *work*!

So, here's a nice plaid flannel from L.L.Bean that I think looks rather "Dad." I'm going to hopefully get him one of these and an Oxford shirt in French blue. I think they both look like shirts that Dad would actually wear, and they fit his style. Despite his rather compact frame, he still wears a large, right?


And remember: No shirts without a front pocket!!! Otherwise, I'm not kidding, he won't actually *wear* it.

Tough Program

I got my first midterm back today, and it was Developmental Psychology. I've mentioned that grading tends to work differently here than it generally does back in the States. For instance, last year in my English class, I got an 84 on a paper towards the end of the year. After class, my professor stopped me in the hallway and said, "That was a great paper. I don't give out grades like that very often." In philosophy (also last year), I had the highest mark in my class with an 86. So, before Dr. Bigelow (he he) returned our midterms, she did that thing where she writes out the general categories of scores people got. 80s: 5, 70s: 9, 60s: 13, 50s: 11, below 50: 13. Why do professors do this???? It is *very* stress inducing. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a direct causal correlation between this method of grade presentation and ulcers in students. Anyways, these numbers got me very freaked out, until I got my midterm back, and saw that I got an 81.5. Yay!! But I just thought it was interesting how quickly attending StFX has changed the way I react to grades.

Let me Continue Knitting!!

Stitch 'N Bitch

Stitch 'N Bitch Nation

I recommend half.com for finding affordable books online, and I also wouldn't mind used books or anything. I just realllly want these books. I bought the first Stitch 'N Bitch, but it was, alas, in the BAG THAT US AIRWAYS LOST!!! So, I'd really like to get this book again, plus the second one with *even more patterns.*

Warning: A side-effect of getting me this book may be receiving only horrible, ugly, knitted presents for the next 5+ Christmases.

That's right. I'm linking Target.

sweater/shirt $17

sweater $28

skirt $23

skirt $18

flats $20

flats $12

heels $25

heels $30

Christmas Ideas...cont.

Okay, linked some stuff that I liked from Urban Outfitters. And...this is a Tiffany's ring. Just putting that out there. :-P Size 5.5

cute shirt $42

shirt $32

jacket $58

cute thermal top $44

shirt $15

loooove this skirt $40

awesome sweater $35

flats $32

From random online stores...

shirt $23

cute shirt $23

Funny/Not Funny

Funny: Almost every computer in every computer lab says, "This copy of Windows is not genuine. You may be a victim of software counterfeiting." It's been this way for days, and no one's done anything about it. (Amusingly, a guy is walking around *right now* apparently doing something about it. Apparently.

Not funny: Seemingly as a result of this weird software thing that's going on, I can't access *any* email *at all.* Not gmail, not my school mail, not hotmail. Unfortunately for me, I have an essay due today in art that I had emailed myself so that I could print it off at school since I don't have a printer. So what does this mean for me? No essay. That's okay, it was horrible anyways. So, lucky me, I have a break between my last class and art. I sit down to write a new essay. This one is actually like ten times better than the one I wrote last night, yay! Unfortunately, apparent other side effect of stupid softwareness: Can't print. AHHH!!! Also can't get to my email to email it to myself so that I can log on on a different computer and print it from there. And I don't want to log out of my account, 'cause then I would lose my much better essay ("no changes made while you are logged on in this session will be saved"). So, I find a computer that doesn't have this software glitch, log on under Tim's username while remaining logged in at the other computer, and print off my sucky essay. Not funny.

Music

Kale (roomie) watches a lot of TV. One of the channels he likes to watch is a music video channel thing. I'm sure that most of you know how much music video experience I have. While sitting on the futon that has just a few moments ago completely broken underneath me (I'm now sitting on the mattress on the floor), this music video channel was on. After watching a couple of music videos, I have decided that I don't like music.

Unfortunately, the "Spotlight" was on Jessica Simpson. I've decided the editor has a sense of humor. They had all these interviews of her saying that sexy was okay if it was classy (cue unclassy sexiness), and that she doesn't need to wear revealing clothes or use her body to get people to watch her (cue string bikini "car wash" with much sudsiness, thrusting, and boob jiggling). So, I liked the editor's sense of humor.

I share Ben I's dislike of phones. My first memory of phones also involves Mom, but isn't traumatizing. I was sitting on the floor of Mom's and Dad's bathroom, holding a cordless, while she told me not to dial just anyone, 'cause someone would be on the other end. That's not why I dislike phones, though. I just don't like that someone *is* on the other end, and that I have to say something. Can't I just maybe ignore them? No?

Popsicles ROCK.

Christmas Gift Ideas #6...I think

(#5 was perfume)

I like this American Apparel Henley Dress

I also like this turtleneck, though *I* would wear it with a bra, unlike modelgirl.

Long shorts. I love long shorts. I would actually *wear* shorts if they were long.

Skirt.

Cute, versatile tights?

I loooooove Anthropologie (not everything, just can't resist some key items), and some day, I will be able to afford their ridiculous prices.

Today, my roomie cleaned our bathtub. How crazy fun is that? The French Lab test went fine. It was just listening, so the prof read stuff, and we wrote it down. I'm very relieved.

*Edit*: For ease of sibling navigating any Christmas Ideas I put on here, I have succumbed to labels. You will find, to the right, my easily clickable ('cause other clicking takes so much effort, I know) Christmas Gift Ideas label. Only one. So you'll be able to find all references to gift ideas I've made. Terrrribly interesting, I know. For all of you who don't give a hoot about what I want for Christmas: Sorry. Too bad. It'll be over eventually.

Mayhaps Ben should begin benandjules.com Christmas List of olde?