Santa Baby

One of my favourite holiday songs is Santa Baby by Eartha Kitts. In keeping with her extravagant wish list, here is my if-there-were-no-limits requests for Christmas:

• an end to sexual trafficking (why not start with something noble and deeply overdue?)
• dinner with Rick Mercer, Seth Myers, and Stuart MacLean (they could hang out, I’d just listen in and laugh)
• a boyfriend or a dog (I don’t think I’m mature & patient enough to handle both at once)
• some sort of PDA/phone/music machine that does exactly what I want (I’m not sure what that is yet)
• a new wardrobe (the clothes, not the furniture)
• an unlimited subscription to iTunes. (all music, all the time!)
• a new lens for my DSLR. (and photography lessons to go along with it)
• a family reunion (with all my family – siblings, spouses & parents)

Dance (Dance) Party (Party)

Last night was our epic house party. These are all the wonderful things about it:

• Dan made a great playlist. I mean, actually epically wonderful. No Diggity is offically my current favourite song. I don’t know why. It just is.
• We had full sized speakers in our living room.
• Aimee and I took a load of junk to the dump. Now we have a porch.
• Our hardwood floors were put to good use.
• There was cheese dip.
• Men came whom I did not previously know.
• Some of those men were foreign.
• No one came and didn’t dance.
• No one got rowdy or drunk.
• No one complained about the noise.
• I danced a good three hours.
• My musician friend came & slept over. But it was one of those sleep overs were you actually sleep.
• I woke up and made it to church this morning.
• Everyone reports that a great time was had.

No More Flying (For At Least 6 Months)

Highlights from my whirlwind trip included:

• speaking French with a taxi driver
• eating pastries & drinking fresh fruit juice
• serious conversations in a window seat (in a living room and on a train)
• riding in a crowded Mercedes-Benz taxi and realizing the little girl in the front just vomited into a bag
• classical guitarists in a garden within a walled city
• laughing
• making new friends
• getting off the planes
• learning words in Arabic
• negotiating prices in a market
• practicing my mean face when walking down the street

More New Music

Getting new music is exciting. Very, very exciting.

This week I added the following albums to my iTunes:

1. Jon Foreman Limbs and Branches – an acoustic album from the lead singer of Switchfoot
2. Plain White T’s Every Second Counts – of Hey There Delilah fame, it’s a solid/fun album
3. Neverending White Lights Act II: The Blood and the Life Eternal – it has an epic feel to it. And features Aqualung, Hakwsley Workmen, and others.

On deck (aka, not yet uploaded) are:

1. MIA’s Kala
2. Chocolat Soundtrack

Exciting Events

This week promises to be exciting because:

• I am traveling
• I will see the sun
• I am going to meet new people
• I will see an ocean
• I have a new shirt
• I expect to take many photos
• I hope to do some writing
• I get to work (yes, that’s good)

Undoing Stereotypes

(this entry is built on this earlier entry)

People in my class:

• 1 Published Poet Prof – always encouraging, lyrical, lilting.
• 1 Eastern Mystical Prof – honest, thoughtful, I have yet to hear any of her writing.
• 1 Thoughtful Lesbian – she is soft-spoken, dryly humourous, and encouraging.
• 1 Regretful Absentee – I feel sad that she is not here more, as I think there is much beneath the surface.
• 1 Hesitant Career Woman – her shyness in writing is the antithesis to her work ethic, I think.
• 1 Self-Absorbed Youth – I can’t help wondering what keeps her so agitated.
• 2 Dropouts – I don’t recall seeing either since the first class.
• 1 Kindred Spirit – we are going for coffee before our last class. And hopefully again after.
• 1 Humourist – unexpectedly hilarious. Also encouraging.
• 1 Naive Children’s Writer – wouldn’t have guessed it, but she’s sweetly (sometimes sickeningly?) bubbly.
• 1 Chinese Negotiator – I love hearing her exploration of tradition and experience in clashing cultures
• 1 Academic – doing their master’s in some sort of creative media. Fresh, intelligent. Enjoyable.

I have been pleasantly surprised. I have been encouraged. And I wish the class weren’t ending soon.

Unwritten

I like using song titles in my blog titles. I could make a habit of it. It amuses me, but is generally irrelevant.

In my drafts, completely forgotten, I just rediscovered six posts:

• Peevish
• Lessons on Traveling
• Narnian Names
• Claims to Fame (aka The Lame List)
• untitled
• untitled

The Dreaded Dentist’s Visit

In my case, it was more of a dental hygeniest and less of the dentist. Regardless, my appointment went as follows:

• Came in. Remembered how much I dislike the smell of the dentist.
• Do I have any problems or heath changes? No…but I do find myself clenching my jaw a lot.
• Teeth cleaning.
• Do I floss regularly? No…I’ve not been really good about it lately.
• I need to do it daily. Or come in more than once a year.
• Jaw pain. Having trouble keeping it open…
• More teeth cleaning.
• Dentist visit. Counts my teeth (yes, they’re all there…)
• Hygienist comments on “TMJ on the right side.”
• Do I grind? No, just clench…
• Do I feel stressed? Yes, but no more than average.
• Solution:

1. Don’t open my mouth wider than necessary.
2. Try not to yawn.
3. Eat big sandwiches with a fork and knife.
4. Don’t move my jaw from side to side.
5. Don’t bite threads.
6. Take muscle relaxants – samples enough to keep me dopey for three days.

• The end.

Conclusion: Floss. Rest my jaw (I know, that one will open the door for lots of comments…). Take drugs.

27 Things About 27 Dresses

It’s official. I love the movie 27 Dresses. I watched it yet again last night (simultaneously with another group of friends in a different ciy, I discovered. Crazy!). Here’s my list (from memory) of things I like, in no particular order. With some of the reasons why.

1. James Marsden is good-looking. There’s no way around that.
2. Kevin Doyle has great style. All casual with the sling back and the sneakers, but pulls of a dress shirt and blazer, just the same…
3. The taxi-cab scene at the start of the film – “Here’s $160. You know what you did.”
4. The bickering. All the bickering. I’ve realized that I actually really enjoy that type of fighting/flirting.
5. The line “I cried like a baby at the Keller wedding.”
6. The entire Benny and the Jets scene.
7. The fact that they both love looking at the groom when the bride shows up. That’s my favourite part too.
8. Jane really wants to be a good friend. She overdoes it, but I empathize because I think I can be similar.
9. The ridiculous dresses. I cannot believe people would have weddings like that – I know they’re fake, but honestly…based on reality.
10. Jane cherishes her parents’ marriage.
11. Jane cleans with Seventh Generation cleaning products. So do we.
12. Jane loves Tess, even in the midst of all their fighting. I really value the commitment to family.
13. Jane refuses to chase down George. I respect a woman who won’t throw herself at a man.
14. There is a great soundtrack.
15. The song Like a Star by Corrine Bailey Rae is perfectly placed.
16. Tess’ ignorance: “HELLO, PEDRO!” “Shagging flies? Sounds like fun…”
17. The freedom we all have to hate Tess, just a little, for being such a princess.
18. Casey. She is loud, she is obnoxious, and she is a great friend.
19. The yoga scene. “I don’t see any signs that say no talking!”
20. “To you it’s just another casserole dish, but to Tess it’s the dish she’ll bake Mom’s Christmas roast in.”
    “Tess cooks?”
    “Well, no. I’ll cook it. But she’ll be there.”
    “And this…this is the ugly rooster where George will hang all his umbrellas…”
21. Jane can’t say no. Sometimes I can’t either.
    “Jane, gimme 50 bucks.”
    “No!”
    “Jane, may I please have $50?”
    “No.”
    “Jane, (he takes her hand) I really need some money. Can you lend me $50?”
    “No?”
    “Ok. Can I have your drink?”
    “Sure. (he drinks) Oh, NO!!!”
22. Kevin calls Jane on her crap. I can’t quote this one…but something about how she keeps herself busy planning other peoples’ lives so that she isn’t forced to have one herself.
23. Just after the disastrous slideshow with Casey, “I know my moral compass doesn’t exactly point due north…but if I say something’s wrong, something’s wrong…”
24. Just after the disastrous slideshow with Kevin, “You wanna know the real reason I came here tonight? I came because I knew it would be hard for you and for the first time in a long time, I cared…You deserve someone who will take care of you…” (isn’t this what every woman wants to hear? or at least 95% of us?)
25. Jan makes a good villainous, callous boss. Turns out, I don’t think I like her as a human either (this is a terrible thing to say, I know. I just read a rather disappointing article last night, though).
26. The pancakes that their dad makes, with the strawberry smiles and blueberry eyes.
27. “Get over here.” (motions with his head) She comes. They kiss.

Rock Band on Replay

Rock Band is in my head. Songs I didn’t know, songs I’d never sing. Over and over, in my mind.

• In Bloom – Nirvana – “He’s the one who likes all our pretty songs and he likes to sing along…”
• Waves of Mutilation – The Pixies – “Waves of Mutilation, Waves of Mutilation…”
  
• Foreplay/Longtime – Boston – “And it’s been a long time. I think we should be going…”
  
• Train Kept a’Rollin -Aerosmith, I think – “And the train kept a’rollin…”
• Are You Gonna Be My Girl – Jett – “I said 1,2,3 take my hand and come with me because you look so fine…”
  
• Blitzkrieg Bop – The Ramones – “Hey! Ho! Let’s Go!”, and not to be confused with
• Ballroom Blitz – Sweet – “Are you ready, Steve?”
• Say It Aint’t So – Weezer – “Dear Daddy, I write this, inspite of years of silence. You cleaned up, found Jesus…”