Gilgamesh - "asking why"In an effort to retain some semblance of physical fitness after a day of blobbing at work and munching on holiday treats Because I'm such a dedicated hard worker who loves a challenge, I've decided to try some different workouts on video.
I used to scoff (wow I scoff a lot) at aerobic videos. If you don't bounce, sweat, grunt, and bang weights around, it can't be hard work. So I decided to try the workout that the contestants from the Biggest Loser have to go through, and I was ready to scoff some more.
Oh, silly silly Jo, so ignorant.
I almost died. That workout is hard! There are no breaks, and it's a constant go go go circuit. The cardio portion was fine, but apparently my strength sucks. Unscoff!
So then, thinking that I should get a breather and a nice big stretch after the killer circuit, I thought I'd try yoga.
Oh, silly silly Jo, so ignorant.
I don't think yoga is suited for me. My mind was bouncing everywhere despite my best efforts to focus on something calm and relaxing, and my eyes refused to stay shut, or even half shut. My muscles were shaking with exhaustion five minutes into the poses. The televised instructor is talking while her body's twisted inhumanly, and she's like "breathe! hold! relax! focus! breathe! calm and centred!" and I'm like "meeting tomorrow, last minute holiday shopping, lunch date, breathe breathe breathe, it's a deep burn!, don't forget to print stuff out and get it signed, okay eff this noise." And I gave up and rolled over to my couch, grabbed a beer and ripped open a bag of Doritos. Okay, by beer, I meant water, and by Doritos, I meant nothing. But I gave up. Clearly, I am not of a calm and focused temperament! Ugh!
Never again will I scoff at these so-called "girly" exercises! Lesson learned, I'm going back to my bouncing, sweating, grunting and weight-banging. Mind out of gutter, people.
And in case I don't do this before the 25th, happy nondenomenational holiday, everyone!
Dir en grey - "ware, yami tote..."
I used to have a limited number of Shoes on rotation: A pair of knockoff Docs, my Casual Shoes, and Running Shoes for the gym. In the summer, I may have thrown in a pair of Flip Flops.
This year alone, I have also thrown Work Boots into the mix, and Work Heels which double up as Formal Shoes (that's right, being the cheap bastard genius that I am, I multipurpose my Shoes).
Now, the Work Boots have soles that are smooth as a baby's bottom. Of course after it snowed yesterday, I had to waddle like a penguin today. Which means I'll be adding Commuting Winter Boots that offer grip in ice and snow to my collection. And Work Boots will stay at work.
Except as you'll recall, I like to multipurpose my footwear. And I like to wear smooth-as-a-baby's-bottom Work Boots around on weekends to clubs and Other Occasions because they're comfortable and look somewhat appropriate.
So I have to either haul Work Boots around with me everyday on the subway in case I need them in the evening, or buy another pair that will replace them for Other Occasions.
I used to laugh at people who had more shoes than fingers. "Pshaw!" I would snort. "What need have I for shoes when I can spend my money on other fun things like accessories! Hah!" And others would shake their heads, waiting for the day it would happen to me, too. And I'd snort at their head shaking, "hah!"
You know, my undergrad program tried to teach us to think outside of consumerism.
Is it possible to not be bogged down by material goods? I have tried so hard to re-jig my work clothes into casual clothes in order to avoid having two wardrobes. Now I've created this weird hybrid where I look like a regular Joe (Jo?) on my off days, and I don't dress business-like enough at work.
I've lost my edge and I'm floundering in a giant pile of footwear.
the Smashing Pumpkins - "the beginning is the end is the beginning"
Angelina Jolie's been keeping it on the down low for a while with her little spawn army, but her resurfacing photos totally kick Megan Fox's case of walking STD's to the curb.
I adore this woman. She knows how to make an entrance. She doesn't even have to try to ooze sexy womanly allure. Love love love. This is not the face of a frumpy matronly woman. Dude, this woman flies planes and rides motorcycles. Her wild child past just adds to her appeal. C'mon, knife play? Blood vials of devotion? Fox has nothing on her. Also, even in her days of awesome psychoness, my girl never had the smell of blowjobs all around her.
Enter Megan Fox who has done, what, one movie? 
Megan Fox = trying too hard + wannabe Angelina + VD in a can = epic fail.
Happy thanksgiving everyone! Be thankful that it's a beautiful day in October reaching the mid-20's which just so happens to fall on a stat holiday. It's a sign. Spend it outside instead of on the computer blogging about useless things like celebrity gossip.
PS. get your ass out and vote tomorrow.
Dir en grey performed Glass Skin live. On Japanese television. Gasp, they still remember that they have a fanbase there? Not as cringe-worthy as I thought it would be. But remember when Toshiya used to look good?
Well peep this, yo. (Warning: eyes may burn)
Double you. Tee. Eff. At least Shinya still drums like a champ.
And for all the Dir en grey fans who want to bitch about how I should care about the music and not how the band looks, um.....lick my left nut. I've probably stuck with them longer than all your prepubescent pubic hairs combined.
Honestly, the song's okay, but I know what the boys are capable of, and this just isn't it.
Also, I just spent an inordinate amount of money (like, largest sum EVAR by far), and I'm feeling grumpy because of how depleted my bank account is going to be for the next few years. How is it that the older I get, the more money I make, the more money I spend? I hate having to borrow from the Bank of Mom and Dad.
I was a little wary of watching the Dark Knight. With so much hype around the film and Heath Ledger, I figured that it was just an overreaction to a highly anticipated summer blockbuster. Oh, and the crowds. Gawd, the loud, gaggling crowds on opening day would make me want to tear off a limb and beat people with it.
The entire sold out theatre was pin-drop quiet throughout the whole movie. And boy was the hype, the lineup, the wait, the $10.....TOTALLY WORTH IT.
I will avoid spoilers here, but be aware that all the media coverage around this movie will not lessen your enjoyment. It surpassed all expectations. In fact, Christian Bale (the fine, superb actor that he is) was overshadowed by other characters.
Heath Ledger isn't getting all the rave reviews because he's dead. He's taken a character that was never really seen as a serious villain and turned him into one of the darkest, most twisted criminal minds ever, delivering chaos for the pure joy of it. The walk, the talk, right down to the small mannerisms and smacking of the lips, he's made the Joker a villain to really fear.
The movie goes at a nice clip--not too fast, and not too slow. The action keeps on coming in a way that keeps you piqued and not pooped at the end with parts of oohing and aahing in between. Two and a half hours feels like nothing.
The Dark Knight isn't just another superhero movie. It has transcended superheroism. It's a movie that has pulled away from the Batman franchise and stands magnificently tall on its own, raising the bar of what comics to movies can be.
I can't decide on whether I want Christopher Nolan to make another Batman. It will be incredibly hard to try to top this one.
I know that I haven't been part of Facebook long enough to really complain about "back in the day"...but back when I joined, it wasn't nearly this annoying!
I hate waiting for pages to load because they have twenty thousand applications that nobody really looks at. Do I really care that you've been kissed? Or petted? Or that in a cartoon universe you'd be Spongeboob (not a typo)?
Even sillier is the need to add friends. Just to look popular. Hey check me out, I have 300 friends (honestly I don't even have that many on F to the B). If I don't even talk to you on msn, I probably don't care about the fact that in an alternate universe, you'd be the fat guy from Heroes either.
Honestly, the intentions of Facebook started off right. There are some people that I've reconnected with. But in all actuality, if we barely talked in high school and we parted ways 7 years ago and haven't made contact since, chances are that I won't really care what's going on with you anyways. And vice versa! The Facebook page is just a wall of drama-rama that doesn't concern me.
The only reason why Facebook is still useful is because people create events on there that are easier to keep up with. Oh, and the pictures. Oh, and the wide network of people on there willing to go on the record for an interview.
Oh, and because I get a perverse sense of holier-than-thou when I see my old elementary school friends who used to laugh at me and know that I'm doing better than them now.
muzak: D'espairsray - "Brilliant"
I've got an offer for a job and it's everything that I want to do. I have some power, a little freedom, and I feel the thrill of the excitement of facing a new challenge. Whether it tanks or not, it will look fantastic on my CV, and and if it does well, shoot, it's just going to drag me right up there with it.
But....
I'll be taking a significant pay cut from what I'm making now. With the very real possibility of no benefits.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't go into journalism for the money. If I have to live without dental cleanings and birth control pills, I suppose now is a better time than any. But for them to ask me "well, how much do you love journalism?" is just annoying and inappropriate. I enjoy journalism. Not enough to starve for it.
It's so annoying when I have friends who are able to move into brand new condos that they purchased with their own money. Or buy new cars that they actually enjoy driving. Or go on vacations two or three times a year.
I like journalism. I want to continue doing it for a while. I don't want to be 30 years old and living at home with my mother calling me every night asking me when I'm coming back. I want to buy a car that won't make me flinch every time I turn the key in the ignition. And I'd like to go somewhere longer than a three-day road trip.
So yeah, I love journalism, but it's so unfair to ask me how much I love it when I have to put my life on hold while my friends fly ahead and leave me eating their dust.
So with my work hours being pretty steady 9-5, I'm taking the good ol' TTC at pretty peak times. The subway culture is completely different during rush hour and it's all a new experience to me.To begin with, since parking at the subway station is needed, I bought a Metropass for the first time. The intimidation level of using one of these things is a five-star level. So peep this, yo: People are rushing through the turnstiles while you fumble wildly with the card trying to figure out which side the stripe is on, and which direction it should be facing, and then your bag gets caught in the turn and your heels fall off and then everyone just points and stares and laughs while the world spins wildly out of control! Aaaaah!!!!!
Then there's the actual subway ride. I luck out and usually grab a seat since I'm at the beginning of the line. But the train gets packed pretty quickly. Subway riders, riddle me this: where do you look when you're surrounded by people?
No matter where I try to put my eyes, they'll end up on someone's face, crotch, boobs, leg, toes. And you know, it's rude to stare. I can't see through everyone to look at ads, so I end up rolling my eyes wildly until I finally land on some nondescript hand. Then I analyze every crack, pore and hangnail on that hand. And then I feel creepy.
So again, I ask, where do you focus?
muzak: Kanye West - "champion"
I wear granny panties. That's right. And I'm not ashamed of it.
It all began this past weekend when I did a load of laundry and mistakenly left a nice cottony white pair in the dryer. I'm not going to lie, I owned up to it. And any girl that tells you she never wears granny panties is a liar, I say, a liar!
I have an assortment of colourful undergarments ranging from the sexy lace barely-there to the cartoonish/striped/polkadot low-rises to the wedgie-inducing boyshorts. And yes, even the big butt-embracing underwear.
Before you jump to conclusions, which I'm sure you've already done, you jerk, granny panties are ridiculously comfortable. Dudes, let's see you wear a thong every day. For those blah days, or the days on the rag, the grans are convenient. And, I've found, the quality is longer lasting than other cute underwear.
So fellas, there you have it. I bet even the sexiest of the sex goddesses has a pair in her repertoire. It's the same as having a simple white cotton t-shirt in your closet. And if people can wear Uggs, Crocs, and other odious trend-du-jours in public, then girls shouldn't be given flack for wearing the equivalent of men's briefs under their jeans where nobody can see them.
muzak: ATB - "9am till I come"
I'll be getting a loaner, but it's just not the same using a foreign computer. My folders are all in the wrong place. The bookmarks aren't mine. The hidden pr0n isn't from my personal selection. The scandalous sex pictures aren't of me. The keyboard grooves don't fit my fingers.
I don't know if it's the idea that--after being a student for my entire life--I'm suddenly faced with the idea of no grades ever again. Or maybe it's the loss of my baby, my laptop; but I feel so lost and forlorn and...confused. I've been wandering my room for the last day or so searching for my missing limb.
muzak: Gazette - "Silly god disco"
Am I missing something? When did changing the clocks become such a big deal?
Every radio station that I flipped to today (all of 2!) was making reminders to push the clocks ahead by an hour this weekend. Fair enough, this is all happening earlier than we're used to -- I'm sure that despite all the reminders, some poor sap will show up for work an hour late on Monday.
But there are actually tips out there on how to adjust to one hour's loss of sleep time! Among them: exercise well, sleep an hour earlier, don't operate heavy machinery the next day and eat dinner an hour earlier to help your body adjust.
Going a little overboard much? It's not like we're suddenly swapping day for night and the whole universe is going out of control. It's an hour's sleep. I'm sure everyone has nights where they get 10 hours, and nights with only 5. Suck it up.
Seriously, am I missing something about the incredibly detrimental effects of losing an hour's sleep? If I shouldn't be operating heavy machinery, I don't think I should go to my Monday morning class either. I always get a nasty case of the Mondays, I'm sure it'll be amplified tenfold with the loss of one hour of my day.
You know what really throws me off? This ridiculous amount of snow we're getting when we're supposed to be moving into better weather times. I guess this is what I get for flipping Jack Frost the bird.