Thursday, October 25, 2007

Step off, please

This morning I was reading a blog where the writer was talking about his sadness over his wife's recent miscarriage, and I read through some of the comments. One started with something like "Honey, don't feel bad that you are sad about this..."

I *hate* when strangers start their sentences with "Honey" or "Sweetie". It's irritating and patronizing. As well, it most often accompanies some sort of self-righteous statement. Eg, "Honey, you don't know grief until you lose a parent like I have." Unless you are an 86-year-old woman, or my husband, kindly refrain from referring to me as honey or sweetie or sweetheart. Someone once called me sweetheart on some sort of forum and then implied that I had no idea what I was talking about. This is of course untrue as I always know what I am talking about. Nonetheless, I was irritated.

Maybe I'm just a little tired because I arrived at work when it was still dark. I am not a fan of mornings.

Ok, next topic. PJ asked for a post about the Canucks. Well, I'll be the first to admit that they've stunk it up on more than one occasion this year. I went back to my old posts and saw that my Canucks rant last year was on November 15, 2006, so apparently we are a little ahead of schedule. If there's one thing to say about the Canucks, it's that they never fail to disappoint me at least once every season. Consistency is key.

Oh well! Last time I ranted about them, they actually won a few games. I still have faith. :D Frankly I think they need to put Trevor in instead of benching him in favour of the lackeys. Come ON!

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Song lyrics

I have about five radio stations that I rotate between in the morning. One is news-only, one is traffic-only, and the others have music (and annoying morning show filler.) Driving to work can be mind-numbingly boring if I haven't got something to listen to, and it passes the time when I'm stuck in traffic (which you would think I wouldn't be, since I listen to traffic radio!)

Once in a while I hear a familiar song and realize that I never really listened to the lyrics before.... and hmm... those are the lyrics?? I wonder what they mean!

For example, I love the "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" song by PM Dawn. It feels like the perfect summertime song (except for "Summertime", of course). But here are some lines from the song:

  1. Subterranean by design, I wonder what I would find if I met you, let my eyes caress you, until I meet the thought of Missess Princess Who?
  2. Careless whisper from a careless man, a neutron dance for a neutron fan;
  3. Christina Applegate, you gotta put me on. Guess who's piece of the cake is Jack gone? She broke her wishbone and wished for a sign.I told her whispers in my heart were fine.what did she think she could do?

Um ... neutron dance for a neutron fan? cake is jack gone? missess princess who? Maybe this song is a little like "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" or "Puff the Magic Dragon" ... if you get me.

I'm terrible with lyrics in general though. I would totally lose on The Singing Bee.

More to come when I have more thoughts :)

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Wii love to DS

Friends, this blog is coming at you from a MacBook. I sure hope you like it because this computer is expensive. Of course, it isn't MY MacBook, but nonetheless, it's a nice one. If I had the cash to spare, I would consider a MacBook. Then again I would probably only use it for PhotoBooth. Speaking of which, if this is your computer on which I am composing my blog, have you noticed any new pictures on your PhotoBooth lately? Heh...

So it's been a bit of a technology-filled world lately. I got my new cell phone after weeks of waiting, and now I am just waiting for my screwed up bill to come so that I can call and complain. Please, sense my joy. The hubby sold my DS to a friend and due to a sale at our friendly Zellers, I got a brand new white DS Lite. Hubby is the proud owner of a brand new black DS Lite. Ahaha! We are such nerds. We will be Mariokarting all over the place, so look out.

Not much else of note lately. Someone sent us an email about some black Lab puppies that need a new home, and I did think about it - but it wouldn't be fair to the dog since we are going to Mexico soon ... too bad - they were super cute.

I am currently suffering from Nintendo thumb. As well as watery eyes. Perhaps I am just too old to play Nintendo. But probably not.

Pointless post, but I bet you read it all the way through anyway!

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

In which I make a poor analogy

Some good news at work today led me to visit Starbucks (in celebration, I guess.) The signs at Starbucks, they are convincingly tempting and beautiful. In the greyness of the afternoon, I couldn't help but to order a pumpkin spice latte. Have you seen the picture of this drink? It is delightfully cozy looking, with its foamy, whipped-creamy top, poured nicely into a fall-coloured mug.

If you haven't had this drink before and aren't sure if you will like it, I encourage you to pick something else. Because it is the opposite of good. Oh sure, at first you don't notice the odd aftertaste or the vibrant orange colour of the drink, since it is covered by foam and whipped cream. But then, those things really start to take over and bug you... and the coffee is less and less enjoyable... and then you wonder why you ordered it at all instead of your standard caramel macchiato or dark chocolate mocha (even though that only exists at Blenz.) And then you start to question your own judgment - after all, what fool pays $4 for a drink she doesn't even like?

When you think about it, isn't that just like when you have a crush on someone - you are attracted by the outward good things, but you overlook the not-so-good things (or maybe - you just never knew about them to begin with.) You like that he is attractive, that he is mysterious, that he makes you laugh. Later on, as your crush develops, you discover that the little things you didn't mind so much are really irking you. That neat little way he honked rather than came to your door? The way he never said exactly what he was thinking? The constant finishing of your sentences? All SO IRRITATING. And then you are shocked that you ever liked the person to begin with.

That is, until you find the person who is your dark chocolate mocha on a cold day, the yang to your yin, the right to your left, and all that, and you realize that beneath the foam and whipped cream lies only good things. Right?

Thursday, October 04, 2007

I only like diamonds

Diamonds are my birthstone. Had I been born in May, my birthstone would be emerald.

And that is all I know about stones.

Except, today on the morning radio show, the two hosts had a discussion about how stones can be healing and therapeutic, and how one host's mom had given her a topaz to "de-clutter" her mind. They asked for callers who could help explain the power of stones like rose quartz and boy howdy, did callers ever have things to say.

One caller spoke about a stone called snowflake obsidian, which she says is useful for bringing out the truth. She had been in a horrible relationship when she purchased the stone, and a week after she started carrying it around, the horrible truth came out and the relationship ended. Subsequent callers echoed the power of the obsidian, telling of how it too helps to de-clutter a person's mind, although apparently topaz does not ... and then it got even stranger, with callers talking about the negative energy that one might experience if one purchases a stone that has been previously worn. One caller's friend bought some kind of ring that gave her headaches, and as it turned out, the previous owner had also had headaches! (Maybe the ring was just on too tight!)

So then people said that what you might not realize is that you must cleanse a stone before it will work for you. Not clean, but cleanse. One lady suggested taking the stone out at a full moon and burying it in the sand to get rid of the negative energy. She talked about how stones are like sponges and they absorb whatever energy you put out. Someone else said that you obviously would not want to pick any stone, you must let the stone pick you. Yet another person said that the stone should touch your skin in order to work properly.

I admit, I was surprised by the level at which people believe in the power of an inert, inanimate object. Call me crazy, but the girl who was in the crappy relationship needed a stone to tell her it was crappy? And feeling as though a stone has healing powers, or could help "ground" you or clear your mind? I just can't fathom that at all. Perhaps this is an example of how people realize there is something missing in their lives, but instead of reaching for God, they reach for some kind of false spirituality. And then maybe they receive some sort of comfort for whatever reason, and their belief in that object increases even more. I don't know.

But it does suggest to me that we aren't doing enough to spread the good news about our God's love.

Luke 19:37-40
When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
"Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!"
"I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."


Let us learn not to keep quiet.