Not Your Average Butcher

Fast Fact: The average butcher has 7.3 fingers. Actually, I made that up, but I have all 10 of my fingers, so that's saying something... or is it?

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

My Big Fat Greek Italian Easter

Why do long weekends go by so fast? Like any other long weekend, I completely neglected my school work. I had good intentions, but things just kept coming up. Like Easter. But that was fun, I got to see lots of my extended family (we're a pretty untraditional family, we celebrated Easter on Saturday night with a turkey dinner). It amuses mt that we still have a kids table. Mike was the youngest 'kid' at the kids table, at 22 years of age. My cousin's boyfriend was the oldest, at 36. Interesting dynamic. Anyway, Easter Sunday was much more traditional, at Mike's Italian grandparents' place, where we were fed capeletti (yeah, I don't know how to spell that), lamb, salad, etc. 'til we could eat no more! The food there is always delicious! On Friday I helped Kim move out of her apartment, which provided me with a week's worth of excercise: endless running up and down three flights of stairs makes for a pretty good workout! It was fun though, we rode around in a U-Haul and Kim bought us pizza to think us for our help. Anyway, that's why I didn't get too much work done.

Here's something anecdotal that I thought was funny: There's this new guy at work that takes my place at the front desk when I leave for class every Thursday afternoon. He's been around for a few weeks now, but I'd never really spoken to him before because he's always arriving as I'm leaving. However, last Thursday, he arrived around 20 minutes early, so I was able to get to know him a little. Anyhow, at one point, he asked me if I was Greek. "No," I answered. "Portuguese?" he ventured. "No," I said again, "Why do you ask?" "Because your hair looks very Mediterranean." Ha ha! I think that's the cutest thing a near stranger has ever said to me! Moving on: Friday was the day I helped with Kim's move. That evening, I stayed over for dinner. Her brother said something about Greeks. As an afterthought, he said, "I hope no one here is Greek!" and then he looked my way. I shook my head 'no'. "Oh that's good," he said, "because your hair looks Greek." Hmm, twice in two days... what's the deal? My hair is long, dark and curly... does that make me Greek?? I'm beginning to think that I look like the chick from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". Only skinnier... and with a smaller nose.

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Battered with Bias

I just received this e-mail from my Prof. MY PROF. I took out the identifying information, but essentially, this is what I found in my inbox:
Somebody ledft glassess after class on Tuesday, They cab be
retried at secirty in the AD building (AD sitst
floor).

Oh my. I fear for the quality of my education.

I thought I'd also relate my advetures on the bus this afternoon, on my way home from work. I was sitting near the back of the bus where there are four seats that face each other. Two chatting people sit down, a guy to my left and a girl who sits scross from him. However, before the guy actually sat down, he asked me if I minded if he "put his fat ass down" on the seat next to mine. "No problem" I say. He then asks if I would mind holding onto his bag for the duration of the ride. Big grin. "Uh, I'd rather not!" I say, faking a laugh. The girl looks at me, smiles and rolls her eyes. The guy then looks over my shoulder and asks me what I'm studying. "Third World Cities." I say. "Oh, well then maybe you know about this... Americans go and bomb Afghanistan... right?" Uh, yeah..." I say. He continues, "What they SHOULD do, is bomb the shit out of them and then leave a bill. So they can they go in and do the reconstruction." I'm thinking, this guy is pretty weird. I say, "That's an interesting theory" because I have no idea what else to say. This guy is pretty opinionated and cynical and I don't think he can keep any of it to himself! While sitting in traffic, he sees an old red truck through the window. He says, "We should grab a baseball bat and hit that truck with it because it's so ugly." Obviously by this time, I've given up on reading as I can no longer concentrate! Later on he tells me that university is worthless, all you learn is how to interact with people and everyone just drinks. "What's a BA?" he says, "It's BS... Bull Shit." I eventually find out he's studying history, and only to get a work VISA for foreign countries. And this guy's gonna be a teacher?! So he asks me what I'm studying and I answer "Urban Planning." "Do you WANT to die?" he asks me. Then comes the tirade about how badly designed Montreal is. Well, I couldn't agree more, but it's not MY fault! Anyway, strange kid. I felt finda bad for his friend, she pretty much just sat there in silence, listening to this guy. And somehow I got sucked into it, too! Anyway, he got off at Dorval and she stayed on. After he left, she continuously apologized for him, repeatedly calling him "special"... Indeed!


It's a Bit Late for the Winter Blah's

Alrighty, well this is the first post I ever write where I didn't have some topic in mind. However, I haven't written in several days, and I think I'm going through withdrawl!

On the weekend, I got my first cold ever. I've had the sniffles before, even a sore throat, but this was something different. It knocked me right out for four days and I'm only just recovering, poor me! Ugh, I never want to have a cold ever again! All that to say, I didn't really have any adventures to record about last weekend... Oh, excpet for another sighting of the "Montreal Massacre-er"! This time my Dad saw him. Apparently this guy likes to switch it up sometimes and pass through the neighbour's lawn.

As things are pretty mundane right now, let me just skip ahead in time a bit, and reflect on some upcoming activities: Mike's graduation ball is on April 1st, that's the "Plumber's Ball" for graduating students in Engineering. Should be fun; lots of food, wine, dancing and uber-smart dinner companions! Classes are finishing soon, so that's nice. Also, I've just asked to get a week off of work at the beginning of May: Mike and I are planning a one week trip to Cuba! I'm pretty excited about that, considering I haven't had a vacation since I was 17. That's going on 7 years without a decent break! Well, maybe my trip to China was a bit of a break, but that was for "research"... I'll put that one in quotations! And when I returned I was banned from work for 2 weeks because of the SARS epidemic. I would consider that a break if it had not been against my will! For the safety and well-being of my fellow man, I stayed in my house (please note the sarcasm in my previous sentence... it is difficult to portray in writing)!

So yeah, there are some things to look forward to. I guess that's how I keep myself going during the slow times!

Saturday, March 19, 2005

"Trink Jewelry": Go and See!

Ok, this is specifically for all you girls reading. I'm going to do some promotional work here! Yesterday, I got a hold of a jewelry catalogue that I thought I'd share, because there's some really nice stuff. Take a look at a couple of photos from the "Trink Jewelry" catalogue. The pieces were created by Tracy Gartner, a local West-Islander (I don't know if any of you will recognize the model, Valerie Michetti, but she's also a local, I've known her older sisiter for years)! I already have one of Tracy's pieces, I got it as a Christmas gift. Some of you may remember the silver choker I often wear with the snowflake-shaped crystal. It's simple but elegant and I like it very much! Anyway, go and check out her web site, www.trinkjewelry.com to see the rest of her stuff!

Why the promotion? Well, I've met Tracy a couple of times and she's also acqainted with my mom. Between the two of us, Tracy has sold us many pairs of shoes at Europa in the Pointe Claire shops! Who remembers my pink Guess sneakers? I can't wait to pull them out again in the spring! Anyway, Tracy's a super girl and I thought I'd spread the word a little... Here's a photo from her catalogue to give you an idea. My scan didn't come out so well, so go and see a better version on the web-site!


Trink Jewelry 01
Posted by Hello

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

I'll Show YOU a Strike!

I don't know if it's too early or what, but there don't seem to be very many picketers outside the school. They're playing their music awfully loud, though. That's right folks, today is strike day at Concordia University. However, life goes on for the lowly office assistant, for I am at work today, regardless. But class is cancelled, so I suppose that's fun.

It's fun as long as this is my only class that gets cancelled. Some Concordia students are pushing for an unlimited strike until something is done about these cuts to the bursaries. Alright, a one day strike is fine, I'm all for it: make your point known, fight for your rights, that's all well and good. But if you want to go on an unlimited strike and wipe away your whole semester (not to mention everyone else's as well), well, you can't have my support!

In all honesty, I'm not sure how an unlimited strike would work, but some are saying that our semester could be cancelled. With what, 4 weeks left? Where are their priorities? Would they really throw away 12 weeks of hard work and $1,000 + (and much more if they are international students), just to pay it again to redo the same courses? I'm trying to graduate, here! Also, some of my more faithful readers may recall that I recently applied for grad studies. How am I supposed to start grad studies in the fall if I haven't graduated?

Maybe I'm blowing this all out of proportion, who knows? What are the chances, really, that a whole semester can be wiped away? It'll be a lot less stressful, though, if an unlimited strike doesn't happen. I'd be much happier!

Monday, March 14, 2005

The Montreal Massacre-er!

(Sorry for that awkward word in the title. What do you call someone that does massacres, anyway? I called him a massacre-er, due to a current lack of imagination and inspiration.)

Sunday morning, it was just Mom and I. We had a nice breakfast together. As we sat at the dining room table, eating our cheese and mushroom omelettes, Mom asked me if I had ever seen anyone in our back yard. Well, apart from the two punks standing in our garden smoking... something... when I was like, eight years old, no. I didn't know what she was talking about until I turned my head to the left to look out our patio doors. Sure enough, there was a beaten down path in the snow leading from our driveway to the back of our yard. Apparently, someone had gotten into the habit of crossing through our back yard and stepping over the low stone wall separating our yard from our neighbour's behind us.

I'll readily admit it, I'm a compulsive person. And I like to play detective. I wanted to know who has been passing through our yard! Anyhow, we discussed this mystery person for a while, theorizing on the who, why and where of this person's actions. And why our yard, anyway? It leads to nowhere, except for another street full of houses. Anyway, we figured it was definitely not the mail man, but it could be the "Publi Sac" guy. Or perhaps not. But we both agreed it was probably someone young, a guy, maybe someone with a friend on the next street, and maybe someone living on our street.

Discussion waned as we moved from the table to the kitchen sink to do the dishes. All of a sudden, movement at the corner of my eye caused me to look up and out of the kitchen window overlooking the back yard. There was a man walking through our neighbour's back yard. I figured he belonged there, judging by his nonchalant swagger. "Hey look!" I exclaimed, pointing out the window. Mom leaned forward to look, mumbling at the same time something to the effect of "Yeah right, you're full of it!" Yet she saw him too and we were both stunned to see him cross over the aforementioned stone wall onto the rear neighbours' property and go around the side of the house, where he subsequently disappeared. We concluded that this had to be the same guy, I mean, what are the chances that our next door neighbours have a marauding stranger as well? Imagine that. Not half an hour after learning about this guy and he appears. He must have gone through the neighbour's yard because Mom's car was in the driveway. But this guy looked spooky! Actually, he looked pretty normal. He wasn't young, like we had thought he would be. Maybe 30-ish. Blue jeans, black leather jacket, dark sunglasses... and something slim and black in his hands. Looked like a blackjack. But that's just me being overly dramatic.

So where was this guy going? Where was he coming from? What was the insidious looking object in his hand? And why the recent forages through the snow in our yard? The mystery remains unsolved. And so it continues...

Sunday, March 13, 2005

This Post has Been Rated R for Sexual Content

Hey, check this out, there is a celebrity among us: www.onceadored.blogspot.com.

Have you seen this new ad for St. Patrick's day condoms from Trojan? "Mint Sensation Condoms"... they're green. As if that isn't bad enough, the Trojan press release says "Get lucky this St. Paddy's Day! Sporting green has long been a tradition of St. Patrick's Day. Now you can take it one step further. Trojan's new Mint Sensations Condoms are... you got it... GREEN... A whole new way to celebrate the luck of the Irish... Green instills a calming feeling - hence the reason for a 'green room' prior to appearing on television and the creation of a green condom... Wear head-to-toe (and we stress head) green... Pinching someone not wearing green is encouraged on St. Paddy's Day - where you pinch is up to you... let out your inner leprechaun and protect your valuable treasure with a calming mint scent and tingle." Oh, you think that's bad? It gets worse: "Get rid of your beer breath with the unmistakable fresh taste of mint." Ack. Who comes up with this stuff? Although it's admittedly clever, there is enough innuendo and play on words' here to make even Jackie Collins and the writers at Maxim blush. Have these people no shame??

Thursday, March 10, 2005

It's Not Beer but It's Still Good!

Today, I bought and ate my lunch at the cafeteria at school in an effort to spend less money on food. Of course, in a crowded caf, you have to share tables with complete strangers. I don't usually mind doing thins, unless they start to make fun of you. Anyway, I approached a table where there was only one person. I politely asked the guy he if he would mind if I sat. No problem, he says. As I sit down and place my purchases on the table, he looks at me and says; "You mix chocolate milk with pizza?" I answer with a giggle and say "Yeah, it's junk food day!" But really, is it that weird to have milk (of any kind) with pizza? I drink milk with just about everything! Excet maybe yogurt or icecream. A bit excessive, I think. But I'm reminded of a movie preview I once saw where there was this kid that had been estranged from his family for most of his life. Once reunited, it was somewhat awkward (what is more awkward than the word awkward?) for everyone. In the preview, they're all sitting around the table eating pizza and the kid asks for a glass of milk. Everyone in the family thinks this is weird. What's the problem with pizza and milk? And what movie is that, anyway? OK people, I'm looking for your opinion: milk and pizza = good or gross? And does anyone know what movie I'm talking about?

**Happy Birthday, Mom!**

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

A Day in the Life

Hmm, it seems that there are people picketing in front of my school. The street is blocked off and there are police cars everywhere... so what else is new? I guess the Concordia students are continuing to live up to their reputation. Ah well, that's what you get for threatening to cut back on funding for university education... a whole lot of angry university students! The funny part is, the picketers are gathered all around the construction workers that are trying to fix the hole in the street they created yesterday when the water main burst. Talk about poor working conditions! Well, the vote for a student strike is at 1:00 this afternoon. Aurora and I are planning to stop by just to see what the story is. And maybe take part in some rioting! Woo hoo! I've never been a shit disturber before!

Anyway, look for Concordia University in the news tonight (again)!

Oh the Stuff You Can Find on the Internet

Slow days at work bring restlessness and boredom... And interesting finds on the internet. Such as this "Which Napoleon Dynamite Character Are You?" quiz. I'm sure Kim will get a kick out of this one...!


LaFawnduh


You are LaFawnduh. Why are you so sweaty?

Which Napoleon Dynamite character are you?
brought to you by quizilla.com

Monday, March 07, 2005

"Come and pick my roses"

Ahh, what a nice weekend! I know I said that I was going to the Laurentians, but it seems that I was misinformed. We actually went to the Eastern Townships, to a place called Lac Magentic.

On Friday afternoon, Mike's best buddy Joe picked us up in the 'kewlest' ride ever, a Cadillac Escalade. I'm not one to promote SUV's, but this was just the sweetest vehicle I had ever encountered! I could go on about it's features but I fear my audience is not partial to reading about cars. But it had bum heaters. And that's what counts. Anyhow, we then went and picked up Joe's cousins Laura and Mary. Then we were off to the Townships, blaring Aqua from the CD player. It's unbelievable how much fun that dumb album is! It kept everyone happy and awake while we sang along to "Barbie Girl" and "Dr. Jones" as we drove by the Cascade paper mill that everyone agrees smelled like broccoli.

We arrived at the cottage at about 10:30 pm, where we were greeted by Joe's aunt and uncle and the eerie scarecrow that lives on the edge of the woods. Upon settling in, we had a really nice pasta dinner. Eating would be the theme of the weekend. I highly recommend hanging out with an Italian family for a weekend. They take very good care of you and feed you lots of food! I found the family very hospitable and generous and they were a lot of fun. This family was much different from my own in the way that they will talk about anything and everything: nothing is taboo! The highlight of Friday evening was when Joe's uncle tied one end of a rope to Joe's belt loop and the other end to his chair... when he tried to get up, the chair came with him, causing him to fall over! The whole family goofed around a lot, which was fun!

Anyway, we all went to bed around 2:00 am. After much horsing around among the cousins, we finally went to sleep, only to be awakened at around 8:30! That morning, Mike and Joe set off a small rocket before we took a walk through the woods (the cottage is on a 54 acre plot of land, so we never left the property!). After lunch we went to the town of Marston where we shopped around and went for coffee and cake. That evening after dinner, the guys made a big bonfire that we all stood around, passing around a bottle of port. The spooky scarecrow looked on, glowing intermittently in the firelight, making him look like he was moving. When we went back inside, we had a rousing game of Trivial Pursuit, in which the girls beat the guys hands down!

Sunday morning was devoted mostly to cleaning up the cottage in preparation of leaving (aww!), but not before Aunt Paula found a mouse in the cottage and had a bit of a freakout! By 1:30, we were back in the Escalade, bum heaters on and headed back to Montreal.

Friday, March 04, 2005

Bye-Bye!

Alrighty, guys and girls, I'm taking off for the weekend! I'm going to a cottage somewhere in the Laurentians that belongs to Mike's best friend's uncle. Should be fun! I suppose I'll be back on Sunday night, then.

Ciao!

Thursday, March 03, 2005

Folly

I ran into Dave today on the shuttle bus going from Loyola to Sir George. Dave is always a fun guy to hang out with, mostly because he's sillier than I am and he's quite witty. So it was fun to hang out and chat while standing on the overcrowded bus in rush hour traffic. We talked about the "anomynous" comment he left for me on a previous post and I am also in debt to him for saving me when the bus driver slammed on the breaks and I "very almost fell down." We had a subsequent intelligent conversation peppered with more examples of our great knowledge of grammer and pronunciation. Once in class, our prof. provided an example of his own superior intellect in admitting that he did not know how to spell "Hausmann." He then told us that he had seen it spelled countless different ways, with "various combinations of two s's and two n's." How many combinations of two s's and n's can you possibly have? We then rounded up our class by watching a video of an African beauty pagent. Where's the educational value in that? Oh well, can't say that it wasn't entertaining... after all, there WAS a drag queen...!

Dave... hey... hey, Dave... I wrote this post for you... Did you see your name, Dave? Dave, are you happy? Are you excited now, Dave?!

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Birthday Wishes

**Happy Birthday, Aurora!!!**
Oh yeah, and it's Yahoo!'s birthday today, too. Yahoo! is now 10 years old. That's a big one! But get this... Rory is a quarter of a CENTURY!

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

Attention Bloggers: We Are Being Watched!

It seems to be a recent trend that I quote from the Gazette. Oh well, how can I help it that I keep finding interesting, relevant stuff in it? Anyhow, I found this one yesterday... I'll let you form your own opinion. Oh yeah, and I took out a few paragraphs but you'll get the jist.

Net searcher has its ears to the blog
Faster information on trends promised by prototype tool

US researchers claim to have invented the first Internet search engine tuned to uncover scandal as it unfolds, gossip as it's being dished, and able to monitor the prickly views of an increasingly prominent tribe of 'instapundits' - the bloggers.
Online Search, the working title for a prototype tool by Accentre Technology Labs in Palo Alto Calif., goes beyond mere keyword lookups about products, public figures or trends.
Instead, the search focuses on several thousnd influential sources of online news and gossip that have traditionally been less accessible to search algorithms - from chat rooms and bulletin boards, to Usenet groups, fan sites and blogs written by amateur scribes. From those, it identifies hot topics and monitors people's positive or negative reaction to the next new thing.
Record executives who want to track the 'buzz' their artists' new releases are getting online, politicians looking for instant feedback about a policy announcement or stump speech, companies seeking speedier, cheaper ways to conduct post-marketing surveillance after a product launch, are among those expected to benefit from the more tailored search...
With their numbers conservatively estimated at anywhere from six to 10 million, swelling by at least 23,000 new online diaries a day, bloggers - scribes filtering the news through a uniquely personalized lens - are becoming critical influencers of public opinion.
Apple's decision to offer replacement batteries for the iPod came, coincidentally after rumours spread through the Blogosphere that the batteries 'only last 18 months'.
Lock manufacturer Kryptonite tacity acknowledged the impact of bloggers when it agreed to spend millions to placate customers whose U-shaped bicycle locks, an Internet billboard found, could be picked in seconds using a ballpoint pen...
During the US Presidential election, Accenture's engine trolled political news sites and blogs, plotting shifts in voter sentiment between George W. Bush and John Kerry, and acurately gauged the negative impact of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth on Kerry's campaign, he said.
In the demonstration engine searches are refreshed daily; but the system could easily be tweaked to capture near-instant monitoring of stocks, Boone said..
The technology can deduce roughly what a conversation is about, even flag musings about the competition...

That's basically it. I thought it sounded like a pretty interesting new technology. And to think that our opinions could actually make a difference! And so, fellow bloggers, let your opinions be known! Why else are we talking about ourselves over the internet, anyhow?

Article retrieved from the Montreal Gazette, Monday, February 28 2005. p. A17.