All Signs Point to YES

Ok, yesterday I was wearing these great brown heels that I love and I noticed that they made this funny squeaking noise when I walked. It was a bit strange but sometimes shoes make noise right? Then today I was wearing flats and I heard the same squeaking noise. I walked, it squeaked. I stopped, it stopped. Very strange. Maybe it is my feet that squeak? Or is this just a strange coincidence?

Our office has this “Respect & Recognition” human resources push going on. Which we need because it seems to me like there is not a lot of team spirit in the office. But maybe it's just me. Anyway, we are being asked to thank people in the office who have done things that show respect. I guess they are trying to boost employee morale. Regardless, for some reason we were all given these mini magic 8-balls (with our logo on it). I have become addicted to asking it’s advice constantly throughout the day. It is quite often accurate. Although when I asked if my boss is really a woman I was told “Can’t Foretell Now” – hmmm, maybe he will get a gender re-assignment. Apparently the Red Wings are going to win the Stanley Cup this year. And it ISN’T going to rain tomorrow. Hours of entertainment.

After the Wedding

I went to see this Danish film, After the Wedding. It was a bit over the top at times but the acting was great and it was interesting to try and test my Danish skills. I understood a lot of what they were saying, but not everything. Not even close, actually. I'll have to work on that.

Talking about weddings with people lately, it seems like no one ever really has fun planning them. It is stressful for almost everyone involved, no? The bride, the bridesmaids, the family of the bride & groom, the groom. The only real fun part is the actual ceremony when the speeches and dancing and drinking happen. But I guess that is the only part that people really remember anyway. I mean, I have had fun with the weddings I was involved with. But there was still so much stress.

We were sitting in a restaurant having tea after and I saw a mouse run along the side of the wall to go behind a curtain that lead to another room. A few moments later I saw a movement in the curtains and I must have jumped about a foot in the air as I saw a man come out from back there.

On the streetcar home I found a piece of folded up paper on my seat. A NOTE! I started to open it up but then stopped myself, thinking that it might be something I should open once I am home. I put it in my pocket and started to try and imagine what it must say. I love found objects. The city is full of interesting ones with great stories behind them. Once I was in the safety of my bedroom, I unfolded the note. This is what it read (in child's writing):

NBA PLAYOFFS
(Round 1 - Eastern Conference)
Detroit Pistons VS Orlando Magics (1 - 0) (0,1)
Cleveland Cavaliers VS Washington Wizards (1 - 0) (0,1)
Toronto Raptors VS New Jersey Nets (0-1) (1, 0)
Miami Heat VS Chicago Bulls (0,1) (1,0)

Hmmm. Not exactly the story I was imagining. :)

My face is still red from being out in the sun all day yesterday. There is a reason that FUN rhymes with SUN. Don't mind me... I think I got sun stroke... my brain is mushy and I find really stupid things funny.

OK, one more thing... who leaves an opened jar of mayonnaise on the counter, leaving the remaining contents to yellow? MY ROOMMATE, that's who! I mean, the girl is great, but you can tell the one-year anniversary since I've moved in has passed and suddenly her little quirks are getting annoying. I mean, that's just GROSS!

AVIVA and OTTO

We watched Todd Solondz' Palindromes tonight. I had wanted to see it since the previews came out on apple.com/trailers like 3 years ago. I did a monologue for a theatre class I took in university from his film Happiness. His films are so sick and twisted but the characters are so seemingly innocent and hopeful. I like the way he sees the world. The film is about a young girl from middle America who wants to have a baby "so that she will always have someone to love". She succeeds in getting pregnant and the story just kind of goes from there. Lots of semi-disturbing things happen along the way. It was refreshing. I liked it.

I was a bit distracted when the movie started because I was thinking about this cat, Luna. It is my landlady's crazy, strange cat that drools when you pet it. But today we found out that my landlady, who we had thought had been at her daughter's house since Easter weekend, had a stroke and that when they took her into the hospital to be examined they discovered brain tumours. She is thus very very sick and in the hospital. Shocking and sad and depressing. What can we do? Take care of the house, they said. But what about the cat, we asked? Is someone feeding the cat? I went downstairs to check on it, terrified that there would be a cat that was starved to death or something, but Luna was fine. We later found out that someone was re-filling his food, but he was locked in the dark basement so we let him out and I bought some wet food for him (tuna flavoured) and we tried to pet him. I'm just so sad about my landlady. She is so nice. And now she's so sick. And now I think I am taking out my feelings of compassion and longing to be helpful by trying to love the cat to death. I just want to pet the cat and comfort it somehow. The cat seems sad. Maybe it's just me.

I was on my way home tonight and feeling nerdy wearing my new bright green running shoes because there were these girls all dressed up and looking sleek and it made me feel like a bum. So it was my stop, and all these stupid thoughts of insecurity are going through my head and I am the first one off the streetcar and BAM, the doors started to close as I was getting off and whacked me right in the face! HARD! Someone was getting off right after me and totally saw. It actually made me laugh, after I was done being humiliated. Stupid streetcar door!

Bohemian

Ok, I suck at dodgeball. I am not afraid to admit it. It is fun. But I cannot throw very well and I cannot catch very well and I dodge ok, but that is not enough to win a game. We were in the finals tonight against an undefeated team (the Runs & Throwses) and they kicked our asses. I am looking forward to starting ultimate frisbee again because at least by the end of last season I felt like I was an asset to my team. Dodgeball, I was seriously considering using myself as a sacrifice each game and just blocking the good players. I couldn't even pull that off. :)

Regardless, these sport & social clubs are always fun because you meet some new and interesting people and you have something to talk about when you go out for beers after the game (bitch about the opposing team) even if you don't know anything about each other initially. Tonight, being our last game, we head for beer and wings and watched some hockey (go Sabres!) and eventually drank enough to partake in the karaoke festivities going on at the bar. Good times. THAT smells like team spirit! I relied on an old standby (Bohemian Rhapsody) while others did Bryan Adams and there was an attempt at Journey. Really, in a sports bar where most of the patrons are drunken hockey fans, there are no divas or superstars and people just usually enjoy the entertainment, no matter how terrible it is. So you can't really go wrong. Or so the beer made me believe. Good thing tomorrow is Friday....

Long Time

It always happens. With each day that I don't write something, it becomes even harder to write something the next day. Soon I can't imagine anything that I could possibly write about. So that's where this post comes in. Kind of necessary for me to get anything else out in the upcoming days.

I could write about the cold weather that just seems to be staying here forever. Or the fact that I just had a FOUR day weekend, but didn't actually do much of anything. Or the fact that my dodgeball team came from behind to won in the semi-finals and will be playing the undefeated first place team for the championship this week. Or how about my hockey team, the Leafs, are out of the playoffs after teasing me enough into almost believing they would make it. They break my heart every time.

But I've had a couple of strange weeks. Work and life were majorly stressing me out. So I was doing weird things. Like buying lottery tickets. I never buy lottery tickets. I was obsessing over the idea of winning the lottery and what I would do if I won. And I was checking my horoscope religiously. Anyway, it was a bit out of character, these things. It all seemed a little desperate. But I think I'm over it. I think I was just looking for a sign or something. Some reassurance. But the other day I kind of shook my head clear and realized that there is no sign. But I don't need one.

Last year in Kenya when I was bored at work I would sit and memorize capital cities of the world. I was up to about 75% memorized by the end of my time there. Some of my favourites:
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
Antananarivo, Madagascar
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
Montevideo, Uruguay

Soul Sucking

I spent today walking around in the rain, handing out resumes. The weather was the perfect compliment to my mood. I am looking for a second job for the summer months, for 2 or 3 shifts a week, for some extra cash. I need the money and I will be a lot less busy at my other job so it makes sense that I do this but it is a seriously depressing task. Particularly because it won't allow me extra "fun" money, but rather all the extra cash will just go towards savings. At least if I could buy a couple pairs of really ridiculous shoes I might feel better about it.

So far the prospects include:
1) a family-run pizzeria with a patio that is ALWAYS busy in the summer. It is right around the corner from my house.
2) a wing place (DUFF'S) that just opened up down the street. I love wings and it looks like fun, young people work there but I would probably run into a lot of people I know and it could be soul-destroying at times.
3) a high end baby clothing store that is hiring someone for Sundays only. Only problem is that I don't really know anyone with babies right now to best use the discount...
4) H&M in a really ghetto mall near by. Crappy retail work but I'm sure I could use the discount for some clothes and would almost never run into anyone I know (other than people I want to see - Kelly/Mariza/Loretta?)

There were a few other places too. It is like high school again. I had NO idea what to wear this morning. What do you wear to apply to part-time jobs? Jeans? Dressy pants? Something in-between? My resume had to have a complete overhaul...

And I'm so cocky going in there, thinking, I have ALL this experience, but how terrible will it be if I get NO calls for interviews.