Just 'Cause

As you were.

HRH

When in doubt, go back to the classics

Life is just a little insane right now. I'm not in a bad way, but I'm not completely here either. So I thought I'd just drop in and say "yo" and remind you all that in just under 3 months until these come out! Fall is going to be nice.

HRH

Not as young as I used to be

There's a reason why I don't drink very much. I'm no good at it. I never have been. Drink too much and I'm a big jerk, drink just a little and I feel almost normal, but lose just enough motor control to be irritated. Oh and did I mention the hangovers. Epic.

I was reminded of why I don't drink very much on Sunday or more accurately Monday. Sunday was Miguel's 28th Birthday. The lovely Dawn and I united our organizational superpowers to throw a small party for him. And as a quick aside, you simply cannot fathom how well this party was planned and how it came off. If Dawn wasn't bettering the world through the study and eventual practice of Law and I were bettering with world with pretty words, photos and the procurement of medical research funding, damn if we couldn't event plan the globe into paradise.

Anyway, with Sunday being the festive occasion that it was, and with some time needing to be killed in the afternoon while other's were off playing video games, it seemed like the right time to loosen up a little and partake. I started drinking at about 3 p.m. Andrea and I made Margertias and watched Yojimbo. Then as people arrived, I started into the dangerously tasty Absolute Cuts, which taste like 7up. That can't be good. And after that it was Smirnoff twists. Call it my little tour of mainstream vodka coolers.

I went to bed at a decent hour, forgetting that if I'd been drinking, I didn't as much sleep as I do pass out. And yesterday I was in pain. All day and still just a little bit this morning. But I made it through the day. Worked diligently and productively, then went home to die. Good times, good times.

Today's sing-a-long song: "Tonight may have to last me all my life" by The Avalanches

HRH

A little too accurate?

Props to Tara for the cute quiz:

How to make a Chelsea

Ingredients: 5 parts competetiveness 5 parts crazyiness 5 parts ego

Method: Stir together in a glass tumbler with a salted rim. Add lovability to taste! Do not overindulge!

A gaggle of gigs

This is getting a little silly. Beltzner has been offering up some of his gmail invites to, well, basically anyone who's interested. I noticed that I have a couple to give away as well. And if by "a couple" you mean eight, then I have more than I know what to do with.

Any takers?

HRH

The perils of being a Star Wars geek

An esteemed SW message board moderator colleague said this to me via IM this evening in regards to the challenges that come up when you use Star Wars names for your e-mail accounts.

It's funny filling out your name as Darth Vader and getting spam that says "Mr. Vader, as an accomplished businessman, we know you'll be interested in what we have to say!"

Seriously, how do you develop a marketing plan for Darth Vader?

"What I see for this project is black. Lots and lots of shiny black."

HRH

"Make your granny shake her head and say, 'those were the days'"

I was all ready to write this scathing post about wasted youth, but then I made the mistake of listening to the new Beastie Boys CD, To The 5 Burroghs before I started typing and now I'm just far to happy and distracted to be surly. The joy that is the Beastie Boys rhyming over the Rapper's Delight background cannot be expressed with words.

Best line so far:

You see I walk like Jabba The Hutt

However running a close second, and from the same song:

What the Helen in Troy is that?

Since I'm shaking my booty as I type I will reflect on the Franz Ferdinand show last night. I must be getting old, because it hadn't occured to me how disco they are until I was movin' it like it was 1977 at the Kool Haus. There was also quite a bit of beatles influence heard. I was a bit taken aback by their appearance. I don't know why but I was sure the singer would have black hair and look a lot like Evan.

The show was fun and I don't think I was the oldest person there, but I was a contender for lamest oldie I'm sure. Ah well, I still dance better than the youngens do.

Today's sing-a-long song: "Triple Trouble" by The Beastie Boys

HRH

Having a little too much fun

So last Thursday I was IMing with Kari and she revealed to me that she has a Webcam. Can I tell you how great these things are. I actually get to see people laughing at my jokes. It's so much better than "lol." So Friday I went out over my lunch break and picked up a run of the mill Webcam (facilitated by winning the office 50/50 draw and not hindered by my spree at The Gap and The Shoe Company - note, Laura and I should never shop together. We are far too skilled at rationalizing things. Occupational hazard). Since then, Kari and I have been enjoying not only communicating in real time, but seeing eachother while we're at it.

Beyond making bi-coastal communications smoother, the Webcam is also a camera (though I imagine pics of me sitting in my chair will get pretty tired after awhile, however Kudos to me for putting in a shot sans make up!)



Friday an Saturday were also a great deal of fun, with a gathering with Mike, Dawn, Tyla, Mike, Madahava and some Bison burgers on Friday and then Blake and Kirsten's wonderful engagement party which was a wonderful little Golden Words reunion.

All in all, a weekend full of fun with friends, good food and the new found ability to take photos of myself ad naseum. Woo!

Today's sing-a-long song: "Photograph" by Def Leppard

HRH

This is no M'Aidez

I am altogether too fascinated by the air freshener in my kitchen. It smells of mandarins (the oranges, not the people... though having never been to China, maybe the mandarin Chinese smell like oranges. Pretty cool.) and green tea. This is aromatically great, but not the highlight of the air freshener experience. This air freshener is also a night-light! A photosensitive night-light.

Now I'll confess that I've been out of the night-light scene for a long time. Actually I don't think I've ever had a night-light, which may account for the disproportionate amount of amusement I'm getting from this one. Anyway, I'm finding the photosensitivity very fun. I've taken to creeping into the kitchen (because in my head photosensitivity is erroneously connected to sound) and opening the fridge ever so slowly. As the fridge gradually lights up the room the night-light dims accordingly.

I'm trying not to do this too much, as it's pretty hot out and I know that M would get cross with me should he discover my putting the contents of the fridge in jeopardy. But when I'm home alone and trying to wind down from the day, it's either that or staring at the wall.

This isn't as much a cry for help as it is an example of what can happen when you spend just a little too much time by yourself. Back to the kitchen...

Today's sing-a-long song: "This little light of mine" Traditional

HRH

Something to whine about and something to Woo! about

I'm not going to pretend like this isn't annoying. It is. But venting, I'm told, is the healthy way to deal with things that bother you. And I know that I vent about this every summer, but until I get my wish and the temperature never exceeds 25°C, I'm not gonna stop. Like a dog with a bone, I will fixate until someone distracts and/or feeds me.

WHY IS IT SO HOT??????

I mean look at this... just look at this!!!!:



And it's only June. Welcome to Toronto I guess. And thank goodness for the inventor of the air conditioner. You, along with the inventor of the snow plow, make life here possible.

I am going to melt and die. I am going to melt and die. I am going to melt and die. I am going to melt and die. I am going to melt and die. I am going to melt and die. I am going to melt and die.

In other, not whiney news, I have used my Web Fu to score front section tickets to the Curiosa tour coming to Toronto on August 9, where I will enjoy Interpol, Auf De Mar, Mogwai, The Cure and that band I've mentioned once or twice before, Muse. Oh Joy!

Today's sing-a-long song: "Hot, Hot, Hot" by The Cure

HRH

Making it hard to hate them

My election dilemma continues.

I've been dutifully doing my research, trying to find a party, person or a platform to vote for. After a very informative conversation with Mike, Gary and Jonathan, in which Mike had me on the verge of never voting again (he made a loud noise to make a point which automatically sends me into stubborn "I will not agree with you on principle because you used a loud noise to make your case and I disapprove" mode) and then Gary, very persuasively pointed out that my chosen avenue of protest will go unnoticed and actually only make me appear retarded (spoiled ballots for political reasons are counted as spoiled ballots by inability to correctly fill out a form. Not much political weight there). So, bottom line is, that if I want to make my opinion heard I have to vote for the party that's closest to my values, vote for a minority party to protest the big 3 or set myself on fire on parliament hill.

I don't burn well, so it was down to option one or two. In my riding there are six options. The 3 major parties (Bulte for the Grits, Klufas for the Tories and Nash for the NPD) the Green Party (Spiegel), the Canadian Action Party (Hishon) and the Marxist Leninist Party (Gershuny). I crossed The Marxists, the NPD ,and the Grits off the list right away. I know what's going on there and I don't like it. Then I delved into the Web sites and media for the Canadian Action Party, which got a huge "Nay" when I discerned that they're an anti-globalization party and while I was briefly charmed by the Greens and their "not left or right", sustainable development spin, upon uncovering another layer, the anti-business sentiments were too much to forgive.

Total aside, if all the leftist parties were to unite, they might be able to make a run for it. There are two parties on the right (Bloc and Conservative) and one in the centre. There are 9 official parties according to Elections Canada and six of those nine fall to the left. Look at what uniting the right has done for this election. I'm just sayin... now back on topic.

And what am I left with? The Conservative Party of Canada. I can reclaim my membership at any time, but I still don't know if I want to. Don't get me wrong, Harper is saying a lot of the right things. Fiscally, I'm on the same page. I almost swooned when I read about his tax cuts for business, but only if they stopped taking government subsidies. Putting pressure on professional organizations recognizing the qualifications of the thousands of qualified immigrants we have in Canada; that's huge on my list of things to be ticked off about.

He quelled my concerns about reproductive rights to a point, I'm just not totally sure I believe him. I get the impression that in order to court the moderate vote, the Conservatives will support a lot of the things that I thought would be left by the way side. I've been watching the party platform develop and I'm happy to say that it's not going like I'd thought it would. I think they've seen that if they're going to win the election, they have to play up the fiscal conservatism and leave the "family values" rhetoric behind.

So we're 21 days out from the election and I have a choice to make. And I think it's pretty clear what it's going to be. I just wish I felt better about it and that I could defend my choices without doubt.

HRH

Why do I always get it backwards?

I painted my nails a lovely shade of pink (Chanel Les Varnis in India) about 30 minutes ago and now I'm staring at a no-doubt thirst-quenching can of Iced Tea, unable to open it as it will damage the afformentioned pretty pink nails. Fuck I'm thirsty.

While I'm on the topic of things beauty related, I will satiate the curiosity of el anonymous poster (just sign your name at the bottom, then I'll know who you are!), upon my instructions, my beloved M returned from NYC with these goodies:

First, the Frederik Fekkai Wave Creating Spray . You spritz it on almost dry hair, twist strands into waves and poof! summer hair. I gave it a test drive on Wednesday and I was pleased. The waves held for about 4 to 5 hours, which is incredible considering how wave, curl and body resistant my hair is.

Next, M got me Hide and Heal from Joey New York. Basically a zit killing concealer. When is that not a great thing.

Finally, I was treated to Pop Beauty's Eye Cake for Brown Eyes. So many colours of shadow!

I was pleased and I am enjoying my new toys. And fighting my make-up-lust urges. It's like when I get one or three new things I've opened the flood gates and am like a rabid shopping beast. If I could be totally irresponsible and buy all that my heart desires, the list would look something like this (and that's before the sales girls do their sweet talking):

Benefit
•BADGal Lash Mascara
•Moon Beam
•High Beam
•Brow Zings
•Bathina - Body So Fine
•Kitten Goes To Paris
•Kitten Shops NYC
•Lipscription

Cargo
•Eyeshadow - Halifax
•Eyeshadow - Oxford

Guerlain
•Mitsouko Perfume

Joey New York
•Way to Glow

L'Occitane
•Lavender Linen Spray
•Tinted Lip Butter - Red Currant

MAC
•Iridescent Powder
•Liquid eyeliner - Black
•Blot Powder - NC20

Mason Pearson
•Wide Paddle Hair Brush - Pure Bristle Brush B3

Nars
•Duo Eyeshadow - Tokyo
•Duo Eyeshowdow - Ireland
•Cream Blush - Constantinople
•Cream Eyeshadow - Penelope
•Lip Gloss - Scandal
•Lip Laquer - Chelsea Girls

Pop Beauty
•Bright Eye Cake - Bright Blues

Must have self control...

Today's sing-a-long song: "Waterloo" by ABBA

HRH

Not what you expect

This is a excerpt from an image on the cover of today's National Post. Those who've seen the paper today, will know what this is. For those who haven't... play along.



Looks like a common image from a more troubled part of the world. However, if you click on the link below, you'll see the whole picture and that things are not always as they seem.

The whole picture

HRH