Saturday 31 October 2009

BOO!


Just wanted to wish you all a very Happy Hallowe'en.

Don't know if you'll be out trick or treating with young folks, or off to a party with older folks or maybe staying at home to hand out candy or what exactly you'll be up to, but I hope whatever it is, even if it's only staying at home and watching a good scary movie, you have a great time doing it.

I'm not sure what I'm going to get up to, probably something mellowish, but I'm pretty sure there will be (gluten free) candy involved. That much is a guarantee!

Have a great Hallowe'en y'all!

Friday 30 October 2009

Cool!

Since my car (that's from the future) has Bluetooth capabilities and there's going to be a law around here soon that means you can't talk on your cell phone while driving (unless you're handsfree) I thought I'd go ahead and upgrade my cell phone.

And let me tell you, it's pretty darn cool.

No, that's not true. IT'S SUPER AWESOME COOL!

I mean, it's cool enough that I can call someone without having to actually reach into my bag and find my cell phone, but when someone called me yesterday and MY CAR RANG?! that was super cool.

I swear, I have the coolest car in the universe and I love it and want to pet it and hold it and love it and name it George.

Thursday 29 October 2009

Autumn's Here*

I knew the moment I saw these trees that it would be a beautiful photo.

Actually, I knew before I left the house that there would be beautiful photos to be taken. It was just one of those stunningly beautiful autumn days.

Yvonne asked me one of the harder questions to answer the other week. (Yes, I've been saving the hard ones, waiting for an answer to magically pop into my brain) She said she'd "I'd love a post on your approach to photography." And I've been thinking about it and trying to figure out what exactly my approach to photography *is* ever since.

Y,
Thanks for asking, because it did make me think, but I'm still not entirely sure what to say, but here goes. . .

I take my camera out with me when I head out on a sunny day or to an event or something. (I also take it to family get togethers, but those photos don't get flickred.) And then I start looking.

Sometimes I look for who stands out and what stands out. Sometimes, if I'm in a crowd, I just look for people who are interesting. Bright colours, situations, stuff like that.

If I'm not around people and am taking a picture of things, I don't really know, I just sort of see what it'll look like as a picture and try to frame it that way.

I think for me it's a matter of looking and observing and then trying to recapture what I see on film. (I guess that should be "film" as I haven't brought out my film SLR in years) Sometimes I can't get it and I get frustrated.

I play around with angles and positions when I remember to, but certainly when I'm in a crowd, I'm often too shy for that.

I think my favourite thing about a digital camera is that it lets me take a ton of photos and it lets me see. That way, I can see if I got something I like and I can also take a bunch and find the "best" later.

There's still a part of me that thinks that some of the pictures I took pre-digital were better, but I'm not sure on that one.

Having a camera that loves bright, sunny days also helps.

I think I just love it. And I think my brain sees in pictures.

I do try to think of where things are in the frame and all that kind of stuff, and when I remember, I pay attention to the background and all that jazz.

So I don't know that I really have an approach to photography other than "take pictures".

Look for pictures, take them, delete the bad ones, enjoy it.

And I think a lot of times, I know that the picture is going to remind me of something.

Maybe it reminds me the colour the sky was that particular evening, or how much fun that awesome day I got off of work because of the snow was, or what it was like to be gripping to a relationship that wasn't working, or maybe it reminds me of every single moment of a trip I've always wanted to take. I think my approach is to take the camera with me when there are likely to be lots of opportunities to take photos and to get out and take photos when opportunities present themselves.

Then, once I'm out there, I try to see the picture or the story or the image and then I take it and take it and take it and hope that at some point in there I do.

And when I do?

It makes me happy.

Not sure how enlightening that was Y, but I hope, somehow, it helped,
Victoria

*As an Autumn bonus because I love you:



Hawksley Workman - Autumn's Here (live)

Wednesday 28 October 2009

Heh

I totally forgot about this until now, but a few weeks ago, I was over at B and S's house and S and I were noodling around on the computer looking at the guys on the dating site she'd coerced me into signing up for.

For whatever reason (I think the answer to that question is alcohol) we decided to make looking at profiles into a drinking game.

For every time a guy's profile said he was 1)"easy going" 2)"just looking/checking it out" or any time we found a profile where the guy was 3)shirtless or 4)holding a beer, we'd take a sip of our drink.

We thought it was hilarious. That is, until we realized just how many times we were having a sip.

Let's just say, we really didn't need all four.

Within a few minutes we both decided we needed to switch to water and less potent drinks.

Had we kept up, B would have found us both on the floor passed out.

Apparently a lot of guys are just checking out on line dating, and are really easy going guys who like to drink beer and show off their manly chest.

It's still kind of funny though.

Well, at least we thought so.

Tuesday 27 October 2009

.

If you've flown, you've more than likely experienced turbulence.

If you've flown over particular places, or in particular weather, you'll know that there's turbulence, and then there's Turbulence with a capital T; the stuff that makes you grip the arm rests and hope.

I'm having a bit of turbulence in my life right now, but it's just the little t kind.

You know what I mean, right? Where things are bumpy and maybe tricky or uncomfortable or upsetting, but it's not major. You're ok, just need to get through it. It's handleable. No arm rests being gripped.

It's been a little rough at work for the strangest reasons.

My physical recovery from the car accident has backslid (do you backslide? or do you some other term?) and I'm in more pain than I have been in for a while.

Hanging out with a new guy, whether or not it's something that will turn into a friendship or a relationship or a "I knew this guy once"ship, still brings up emotions and "issues", for lack of a better term.

So just some minor turbulence. Should be flying through it soon.

Just a little bumpier than usual.

Monday 26 October 2009

Dude

Do you ever get to the end of the weekend and you could SWEAR you hadn't had a weekend yet?

Yeah.

Saturday 24 October 2009

The Reason Angels Can Fly is Because They Take Themselves Lightly


Unrelated thoughts flying and fluttering through my mind:

- So You Think You Can Dance always always always introduces me to wonderful new songs. The Cinematic Orchestra is the latest such introduction. Awesome.

- Nice people make me smile.

- I think I've finally found a nail polish colour I could wear every day. Now if only it would stay unchipped for more than two days in a row.

- I have the deepest paper cut ever. Seriously. I think my thumb might split in two. Gross, right?

- Sometimes I run into an old post of mine when searching for something and I really like what I've had to say. Makes me think I should sit down one of these days and re-read my life.

- Now that's a weird thought.

- Sometimes I forget it's 2009.

- I think it's because my car's from the future.

- TGISaturday

- Technically, the first CD I ever bought was "Houses of the Holy" I bought it out of someone's locker at school because he didn't want it anymore. This proves my awesomeness, no?

- The first CD I ever bought for reals was "Nevermind". I bought it at A&B Sound. No one was really sure about the whole "CD" thing. How were you supposed to make a mixed tape with them there things? Ahhhhh, mixed tapes. No one has matched your awesomeness.

- I'm hungry

Friday 23 October 2009

When?

I was joking with someone yesterday that no one told us how to grow up and when did all this life stuff happen and how is it that we're suddenly dealing with kids and mortgages and marriage and real life grown up stuff, aren't we just still sixteen sitting in the parking lot at lunch, waiting for the bell to go so we could be one class closer to the weekend?

It's funny. But it's not.

When did I become an adult? Can I change my mind? Can I get a refund and go back to simpler times. . . things?

Huh.

Thursday 22 October 2009

This Picture is as Close as I Could Come to Nunchucks in my Photostream. Go Figure.


A question was thrown at me by TheClock that has taken up the better part of my brain for the last few weeks:"Which of the following characteristics would you prefer in a man/ boy/ male/ masculin person?

a) Competent dancer
b) Competent musician
c) IQ of 180+
d) NUNCHUCK SKILLS
e) Well endowed.... you know"

TC,

Well, ok, knowing that girls only want boyfriends who have great skills. You know, like nunchuck skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills, the answer should be pretty obvious. D!

Heh.

No, but seriously, I would love a boyfriend who was a competent dancer and musician. Not sure which one first. Probably dancer, then musician. After that it's kind of, "eh, whatever". See, if he's too smart, what'll we have to talk about? And if he has awesome nunchuck skills, he might accidentally knock me out when practicing one evening. And as for well endowed you know, well, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but it ain't the size, it's what you do with it that matters. Really.

So. There you go.

Hope you can rest your mind on that one now,
Victoria

Girls, any input on this? What're you looking for out of these fine choices?

Wednesday 21 October 2009

Continuance

So Tom was wondering about when "You're on a bus, train or plane travelling somewhere. The guy next to you starts talking to you - how do you respond? How does he start talking to you without seeming like a freak?"

So, Tom,
If I take this as a two part question, I guess how I respond has to do with my interest level not only in him but in how long my journey is and how much I feel like talking to anyone. Sometimes I might just want to zone out and not talk to anyone on the trip, but, then again, I've never been lucky enough to sit next to a single, attractive male (or, really any male other than a family member if I think about it) so I'm not talking from experience.

How could he start talking to me without seeming like a freak? Well, just to start up a casual conversation about something. Am I reading something? Then he could ask me about the author. Am I doing work or playing on a computer? He could use that as a polite way to talk to me. Or maybe he needs to pass my drink of water to me (I like the window seat, you see) or ask me for something. Just any sort of casual starter would work, and then he could go from there. You know, introduce himself, etc.

That make sense?

Hope that helps,
Victoria

What about you guys, ever found a good way to strike up a conversation with someone while travelling without seeming freakish?

Tuesday 20 October 2009

Sweet

I saw a So You Think You Can Dance audition with this wicked kid dancing to a song I fell madly, instantly in love with.

And kind of can't stop listening to now.

Enjoy:



If it Kills Me - Jason Mraz

Monday 19 October 2009

Mended

This was an odd mix of a weekend for me, but a good one in the end.

I spent some of it, well, ok, a day and a half of it, fighting off a nasty cold/flu bug that decided to pick on me.

My mid-Saturday, I was feeling all sorry for myself and melancholy and looking up ex-boyfriends on the internety.

So, figuring that it was a "I'm sick and tired. . . literally" induced bum out, I went to bed early and slept it off.

It's interesting, I noticed, how differently people seem to be treating colds and flus right now. How much more willing people are to encourage you to stay home and get better. Which I did.

I also have a pregnant co-worker (yes, girl spies sometimes to have babies, you know!) and so I'm doing my best to keep my germs away from her. Had I not been feeling so much better by Sunday, I would have stayed off for another day or so.

I hope this is the worst sickness I get this season, and I'm glad to be feeling better.

Saturday 17 October 2009

Shhhhhhhhh


So, as I sort of said the other day, C (she who famously introduced me to Smith and who was with me when we were smushed up in her car earlier this year) has, for a while, told me I should meet her friend. I think she first mentioned him a year and a half ago or so, but I wasn't interested in a relationship then.

C had a get together at the end of July and I forgot about it and didn't go, but apparently this guy was there and asked C why I wasn't.

Then work got busy. Crazy busy. And I called C up one day and told her that I needed to think about something, anything, besides work and would she give my number to that guy or something?

So she did.

And he called, and we went out on a "nice to meet you" kind of date and he was nice. It was nice and he was nice. And we'll probably do it again.

And it's not that there's a but, but there's a but.

Because I don't want to think about it too much or talk about it too much. I don't want to get wrapped up already in thinking about something that doesn't exist.

I don't want to start thinking about someone before I even know if he's someone I want to be thinking about.

Even if I suspect he might be.

I don't want to rush. I just want it to happen if it happens. I don't. Want. To. Think.

So that's all I know. And that's all it has to be.

This is all it has to be: I met a nice person who happens to be a single male.

And that's all it is.

End of discussion.

I need you on board with me on this. It's not anything and that's more than ok.

Now let's pretend I never said anything, ok?

Friday 16 October 2009

Advice, Continued

Ms Behaviour, or as I like to call her "Ms B", asked if I had any advice on "How to tell if he's uber metero or gay? Especially if he is being super friendly/demonstrating signs of being interested."

Ms B, this is a hard one, but one that I kind of have experience with. Sort of. (I had that cute temp spy worker guy who was super friendly and actually ended up asking me out for coffee, where he mentioned his partner. Who turned out to be another man. Which I hadn't seen coming.)

But I guess my advice may be more frustrating than helpful. Unfortunately, neither uber metro nor gay guys carry identity cards. So it's not like you can steal their wallet and rifle through to find the card that will tell you. The only way to find out is by actually . . . finding out.

My advice would be to ask him. Maybe not a tactlessly direct "So, does you like the ladies or the menfolks cuz I find you dishy but don't know if you'd kiss me?" but more of a "Tell me about your last relationship, where did you guys meet?" and then often during that conversation they'll mention their name or something. But keeping it in mind that often, in my experience, people may not be comfortable outing themselves until they know you well enough to be safe and so they may still just refer to their "partner".

I think the other advice I'd give you would be along the lines of "if he likes you, he'll let you know." I know sometimes we get all wrapped up in those "signs of being interested" as we interpret them, but usually if he is genuinely interested, he'll let you know. You won't have to guess.

It's hard to give great advice on this one without knowing more about how you know this guy and what your relationship with him is like, but I'd say the easiest way is to talk to him about it.

Hope that helps,
Victoria

What do you guys think? Any advice for Ms Behaviour? (Please note the "u" in her name. Go Canadian Spellings!)

Thursday 15 October 2009

A V.I.P.*


Jenn, Jenn! Are you ok?

Poor Jenn, six months pregnant and left me a question about ice cream days, no, WEEKS! ago and I left her hanging. Bad blogger, bad, bad, blogger. Sigh.

Ok. Jenn, here goes!

Jenn said "I'm 6 months pregnant, and out of ice cream. This? Is tragic. So....what kind of ice cream should I get? (Cookies and cream is getting old....)"

Jenn,
You're right, out of ice cream at 6 months? Yikes! (My friends who have had babies all nodded in agreement when I told them about your problem!)
And I can only try to help you with some suggestions of my favourites. How about any ( or possibly all?) of these?

Moose Tracks

Mint Chocolate Chip

Double chocolate

Can I go out on a limb and suggest Orange Sherbet?

Hope this helps Jenn!
Victoria

(Any other suggestions for awesome ice cream flavours y'all?)



*Very Important Post

Wednesday 14 October 2009

Version Two

This was my first Thanksgiving dinner (or any big family dinner for that matter) where I knew I couldn't eat certain things.*

My sister in law was good about it and cooked the stuffing separate from the turkey and made sure she bought a plain turkey (not basted or flavour injected or anything).

It was still hard though, because I used to love dipping my white dinner roll in the leftover gravy on my plate, and I used to love eating the pie for dessert.

I know these things could have been made gluten free, but you can't really be a guest in someone's house and ask them to completely alter their cooking habits. So, no gravy, rolls, stuffing, or pie for me. *sniff*

So this year I missed out on a few things, but all in all, I was happy to have been there and the turkey was delicious.

Next year I think I'll bring my own pie. Because it just ain't Thanksgiving without pie!

*For those of you new to these here parts, I've got Celiac disease and can't have a lot of traditional, yummy, Thanksgiving-esque foods due to its having gluten.

Tuesday 13 October 2009

Truth



I think that the best part of going away is how comfortable your bed is when you finally get to lie down in it again.


Best. Sleep. Ever.

Saturday 10 October 2009

Thanks

Before I run off for the long, turkey day, weekend, I wanted to give you all a big virtual hug and kiss and tell you how grateful I am that I have this space to write in and babble in and share my every thought I feel like sharing in.

Have a good Thanksgiving if you're having one, or a good Columbus day (what exactly that is I'm not sure) or a good just plain old regular weekend if it's not a long one for you.

Thanks for being you, y'all.

See you in a few days!

Friday 9 October 2009

Vicariously


It's Friday. Yay!

Double, triple, quadruple yay!

So, tell me, what exciting things are you doing this Friday?

I'm planning on coming home from work and lying on my couch until it's late enough to go to bed and sleep. I know, awesome right?

Because I'm so (still) tired and un-lively, please entertain me with the plans you have for this weekend and I'll live vicariously through you.

While lying on my couch waiting for bedtime.

So what are we doing this weekend?

Thursday 8 October 2009

Woah

Apparently this is my 1000th post.

One thousand?

I had no idea there was that much thinking going on inside my head.

Happy First . . . um. . . Millenium? Postenium?*





*I think we should celebrate. Let's all have something either tasty or yummy or chocolatey or fizzy/champagny or all of the abovey today!

Wednesday 7 October 2009

Living Up to the Name


(Please read the first paragraph in a serious voice, as if you're narrating a documentary or something, kay? Kay!)

And now the first in a small but well meant series of posts wherein Victoria actually gives advice and pretends to know what she's talking about.

So, Doodlebug, first and most importantly would like us to give help and support to the Phillippines after the typhoon and flooding and then second typhoon that has devastated the country. Please do what you can and ask others to help as well.

And so while we're send good wishes, Doodlebug would also like advice on "how not to fall or get infatuated on some celebrity or just somebody who is completely out of your reach." So, here goes:

Dear Doodlebug, (This is how you're supposed to start advice columns, right?)
I think celebrity's are the easier one to handle here and my advice would be to remind yourself that the person they are isn't necessarily the person we get to see. So it's a good idea to remind yourself that it's ok to have a crush on a celebrity while remembering that they're not really a "real" person. We tend to have crushes on their media presented personality.

If you tell yourself that and then find you *still* have a crush on them (because maybe you tell yourself that their real personality is even BETTER than their media version, um, not that I've ever done that, ahem) then maybe you could tell yourself little stories about imaginary flaws that they have that would just not make them a good match for you! You know, like how So-and-So never puts the cap back on the toothpaste and therefore is just not worth dating.

As for "real life" people who feel like they're out of your reach, I find it easier to remind myself that we're all on the same level so no one's really out of anyone else's reach. That being said, there are certainly some people whose lifestyles probably won't cross with ours (Brad Pitt, for example, is most likely never going to walk into my workplace, *sigh*) and so it's maybe better to focus on people who are already within our circles, so to speak.

So, in a nutshell (because I'm not sure I'm making much sense), I think if you remind yourself that celebrities are only pretend versions of the real person, almost as if they're a character on a tv show, you can keep the crush at a fun level.

Maybe pretend all celebrities are cartoon characters or something.

Hope that helps,
Victoria


What do you guys think? How do you keep your celebrity/out of your reach crushes from turning into infatuation/I think I love them type situations?

Tuesday 6 October 2009

Heh

Another story from Symphony Splash this summer. . .

I was there with some friends of mine and one of them was eagerly scanning the crowds for cute, potential boyfriend type guys.

For me. (Since the other person we were with was her husband.)

After we'd been there for a while, she nudged me. "What about the guy in the blue shirt behind us?" she asked, and I turned around all casual like, to check him out.

And when I saw him, my first thought was "Yeah, he's cute." And my second thought was "Um, yeah, I know him. How?"

Turns out the cute guy my friend picked out of the crowd was a guy I'd gone on a coffee date with last year.

I guess she has pretty good taste, eh?

Monday 5 October 2009

Zonked


Holy smokes I'm tired.

Woke up yesterday tie-tie-tired and sort of feel like I'm fighting off a cold. Which is better than having a full blown cold for sure, but still.

Kind of feel like it's my body's reminder that I need to take care of myself while I'm all stressy and busy and whatnot.

I'm hoping that work will settle down soon, ish, but I still have another couple of weeks that I know will be hard. Meanwhile, my parents are doing well after their car accident and the weather this weekend was gorgeous and it's sometimes hard to believe it's already October.

How are you?

Saturday 3 October 2009

Um

I can't remember. . . did I mention the new, cute, slightly older, maybe a potential spy at work? Or the guy my friend C thinks I should meet? Or the fact that Costco had Christmas stuff for sale in July?

Friday 2 October 2009

Happy and Proud


I sometimes leave myself a note on a Post-it that is a reminder to blog about something, which is my way of explaining why today's post talks about something that happened nearly two months ago.

At the start of Symphony Splash this year (August 2nd, why?) the announcer comes on and says "Please rise for the singing of O Canada."

Now, I'm sure they do this every year, but this is the first year I've been there for the start. (I usually head down later.) So to see the thousands of people down in the inner harbour stand up and sing along to the national anthem was something awesome for me.

It was great to see, and really made me feel proud and happy and like a genuine member of a group of proud Canadians.

I don't know why I found it so cool, I just did.

We rock.

Thursday 1 October 2009

Adjusting

I've had my (oh so totally awesome) new car for a couple of months now and I'm only just starting to feel comfortable parking it.

For those of you who don't live here, we've got us some tight little parking lots that are pretty ugly to maneuver around. And to be honest? I've avoided them.

Or, in some cases, if the spot was too tight? I've driven back out and decided to come back another time.

Sometimes I've parked farther away from stores because that was where it was easier to park.

A few times I've had to re-park because I was ridiculously close to the other car.

I'm getting better though. Really.