Archive for July, 2007
we will rock you
I was fortunate enough to receive free tickets to see We Will Rock You last week and I wish I could go back and see it again and again and again.
The plot itself and the music, humour, wit, and political messages within were perfect. The concert-like atmosphere was fun and different. A must-see show all round. It actually reminded me of my fond memories of Queen’s Players while at university — without the drinking on stage and without the cabaret feel, but still. To top it all off, a girl I knew from Queen’s was in it.
The voices were spectacular and it was so fun to see a show where you already know all of the songs (and it’s a great way for musical theatre to reach out to the masses and to get a potentially different audience than those who would typically attend in the seats) and really I can’t say enough good things about it. So go and see it and let me know what you think.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )conrad black book
I wonder what the Conrad Black news will do for his new book (The Invincible Quest) sales? It’s definitely a value for the number of pages. Any projections out there?
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )bathtub woes
Though it’s not as bad as nearly killing myself with mustard gas, I think I ruined my bathtub whilst attempting to clean it. I didn’t think about what it was made of and how I should clean it (though, thinking back, I think my mom told me when I was first cleaning in…). Nor did I think to consult my large volume of Martha Stewart’s Homekeeping Handbook (though perhaps I should consult it now to see if it has a solution). So I grabbed my Vim and the fateful SOS pad (instead of a sponge). The reason why parts of the tub were turning slightly grey didn’t register until I started talking to Brian and he pointed out that I actually shouldn’t use an SOS pad as it could strip off the polish, down to the metal. Which, is entirely correct.
So now I have a partially ruined bathtub (though it still feels like they’re polish on the affected areas, so I’m not sure that I’ve figured out what I’ve done in its entirety yet… And so now it’s a bit depressing to know that I’ve ruined the bathtub and that any potential fix is going to cost money and any lack of fixing it will cost more money down the road. I can’t believe I did something so stupid! Now it just looks dirty no matter how clean it is, which I don’t like very much. Anyone out there ever do the same thing (come on, there’s got to be someone out there who has)? What did you do to fix it?
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 2 so far )i know it could always be worse, but…
It’s what I’m thinking about lately — probably too much — but it’s a new state for me this lack of money thing and it was solidified yesterday when I received a GST cheque in the mail. I thought for sure that I wouldn’t get one this year — I mean, I’m not a student any more, and don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to take the cash…but one line on the statement kind of shocked me:
“The GST/HST credit is a tax-free quarterly payment that helps individuals and families with low and modest incomes offset all or part of the GST or HST that they pay”.
I somehow never (ever) thought that statement would include me. Not with my ambition, education, and intelligence, but alas, here I am. I guess I’ll just take it for now and figure out a plan. I hear that those 5-year ones are rather useful…
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )saving the world? and reducing my costs?
I haven’t put my air conditioner on yet this summer. So far it hasn’t been too bad – the highest it’s gotten to inside has been 28 C and to me, that’s not bad.
At first I thought, in my enhanced environmental awareness, that I would just not turn it on to try to save the energy with all of this climate change speak that’s floating around these days. And sure, that feels great — especially when it angers me that other people in my condo have their units running 24/7 which, for 500 square feet surely isn’t necessary.
But, in reality, I absolutely cannot afford to turn it on. People may claim that it’s worth it or that it’s not really that expensive, but if something is currently more expensive than zero dollars, I can’t afford it.
This often makes me think about waste. I hate waste and wasteful people. I cannot fathom wasting money, time, energy, anything really. It’s not in me to live beyond my means or to purchase somethign just because I feel like it then toss it out in a couple of weeks. It frustrates me that so many people seem to be heading this way — even watching those TV shows where a consultant comes and helps you get out of debt drive me crazy because the people seem so absolutely clueless, stressed, and selfish.
So, my mission for the summer is to see if I can get through without the air conditioner at all. And, secondarily, to see if I can find a way to raise more funds — things are just far too ridiculously tight (and trust me, if you couldn’t tell by now, I’m not a frivilous person — everything possible — eating out, travelling, new clothes, etc.) has been cut out of the budget. But I would like to have heat in the winter. That is non negociable 🙂
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )b12 shots do have fringe benefits
Other than helping me combat my B12 deficiency, the B12 shots that I get every other week keep the mosquitoes at bay. There are lots of articles out there that also say this is true.
Brian and I were at the cottage this week and though the bugs were attracted to him they stayed well away from me. One even started to bite and realized that it didn’t like me. Thinking back, before I was diagnosed with a B12 deficiency and was plummetting towards feeling like death, I also had SO many bug bites. Maybe instead of spraying yourself with bug spray, you just have to take supplements?
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )sicko, and the american way
Brian and I saw Sicko last night and while I was aware of the Health Care and Insurance situation in the US, I wasn’t aware of some of the ludicrous denial statements (like you’re too young to have cervical cancer — are you kidding me?), or the doctor pay-offs, but I’m not surprised.
What shocked me, and what was I’m sure a very deliberate parallel within the film was meeting the parents of a family of four who had lost everything because they got sick. They certainly didn’t ask to become ill, nor did they expect to be living out their days in their daughter’s basement (in one room that wasn’t even cleaned out for them) but, even after watching the film in its entirety I’m most angry and frustrated with the children of this couple. I’m still angry with them.
Their son and daughter both made it quite clear that their parents were a burden and that they frankly could care less what happened to them so long as they didn’t have to take care of them. They were lazy and selfish and an apt representation of much of America. This family was a microcosm of American society and is so indicative of the overarching Health Care and Insurance industry’s mentality of “we don’t want to take care of you”. If your own children don’t want to take care of you and an HMO doesn’t want to take care of you then you are left on your own.
The rest of the countries depicted — the social welfare countries such as Canada, France and England have engraved into their psyche that you care for those who cannot care for themselves. It is imperative to act as a country to ensure health, safety and happiness of the greatest number of people, not to secure the wealth of the few elite at the top or the unethical drug and insurance companies. Even Cuba’s Health Care was represented in a fashionable manner — though you have to think that an inhaler costs only 5 cents in a country like Cuba because of communism. Capitalism — the American way is really what there is to blame for the lack of Universal Health care.
As a Canadian, despite my frustrations with the doctors that I have encountered (and that naturopathy isn’t covered under OHIP — well, not really, though it would be nice) I would gladly pay taxes into the system to ensure that we have a healthy nation and that if you’re sick the only thing you have to worry about is getting better not about whether you’re in the right hospital as you’re child dies, or if you should have had your illness pre-approved.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )of course, the little one has an eating disorder
So I brought home my fish yesterday and got him settled (his name is Little One). And he was great except he wouldn’t eat. I thought he was just in trauma from the move, so I tried again today and he would put the food in his mouth and then immediately spit it out. Over and over again.
Brian pointed out that of course MY fish would have an allergic reaction to food or an eating disorder — not that candida is an eating disorder, but he was making fun of Little One and me regardless. Which, I admit, is rather funny (especially since Betta fish typically don’t know when to stop eating and will eat themselves to death!). Out of all of the fish I could pick, I had to pick one that doesn’t want food or perhaps the food doesn’t agree with him.
Luckily, after a quick search online, I found that this is a common problem with a variety of solutions. The best resource I found was on this wiki.
Here’s hoping he’ll just be super hungry tomorrow.
And you know, I’ve been way happier the last few weeks and I really, honestly think it has to do with having a fish around. It’s the only thing that depends on me entirely and between Tuffy and Little One they both have so much personality (I swear the do — even though they are just fish) that you can’t help but become attached and responsible for their personal well-being. I should have got one of these guys years ago! I could have avoided a lot of boredom.
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