Miniatures

Love 'em. If I had more time, I would probably occasionally put together a miniature something or other. A Mental Floss entry from this morning featured the work of miniaturist Kim Burke. Lovely, delicious stuff.

Ontario's Vision for Us is a Scam

I mentioned CBC's Marketplace earlier in the week, and can't recommend their most recent telecast enough.

Canadians who require prescription eyewear, watch that video. If you choose not to watch the video, I'll give you the gist but keep in mind that I can't rewatch the video here at work so I may be playing fast and loose with some details:

Bronies

These people fucking exist, and I never, ever want to meet one.

Oscars: This Might Prove My Point

At least a little.

This explains why Meryl won, and it makes sense. Not that she isn't deserving, because I think that we can all pretty much agree that she is. But if she hadn't been in the running, who the hell would they have chosen?

Without that comfort level, things get sticky, in other words...

Oscars

Okay. Here we are, as promised.

My girl Melissa didn't win. Okay. I accept that. I still love her so much. Meryl won, deservedly so. The hot French guy won, and without seeing the movie I can tell you I'd vote for him.

Clooney was fairly convinced he was going to win, I think. After The Artist and Midnight in Paris and the look on his face during that whole Cirque thing, his next girlfriend is going to come straight from Paree. Mark my words.

Billy was funny. It's the appropriate level of funny for the Oscars. It's the biggest night of the year for the most fragile group of people on the planet, and as hard as I prayed for a meltdown it didn't happen. I think Rooney Mara takes herself far too seriously, and having looked again at her facial expression after she lost to Meryl Fucking Streep... you know what? I'll stop there. Put in your time, kid, and take some notes. People want to like you, you did a good job. But you didn't win. Back to work.

I've read several times today that this is considered the worst Oscars ever. Eh, I don't think so. It was nice to see Billy again, everybody who should be there was there (Brad & Angelina & George & GeorgeGirlfriend (sorry, Stacey, but that's life) & Paltrow & RD Jr. & Spielberg & most certainly Tom Hanks). It was like old times.

If it sucked, it's because overall, awards shows suck. It's not because of the direction of the telecast, or the actors, or the films themselves. It's because the very act of attempting to choose the very best of a group of things that don't have anything in common (other than the fact that they're films) is SO subjective, it's impossible to do. It's not a footrace. The most deserving winner is not always clear. Ask George.

This is the biggest night of the year for the industry, for film buffs, for starfuckers, for a hell of a lot of people, and the Academy never, ever, ever gets it right. You can blame the f-bomb or the accountants or the jolly ladies who run around the red carpet or Ryan Seacrest or whoever the hell, I don't know. But I'm telling you, that no one's ever happy with the Oscars because no one's ever happy with who the Academy chose. So they blame something stupid. I do the same thing. Granted, I didn't mind last night's Oscars, but that's because of some of the actors and my God it looked like some of them (the cast of Bridesmaids, Zack, Will Ferrell, Robert Downey Jr., etc.) were having fun.

Eh, whatever. Done for another year, anyway, and this time in 2013, I'll be even further behind in viewing Oscar nominated films. I didn't watch a single nominated movie. Not one.

Life goes on.

This Week...

I'm going to try to post a pile of stuff this week, time permitting:

Academy Awards (let's take a stab at that today sometime)...

Rick Santorum - This is random, but it caught my eye:. the thought of the separation of church and state makes him want to vomit. Puke away, you sanctimonious closet case. The world hates you.

CBC Marketplace - We've been trying to tune into that more often. I want to touch on that this week and bring something to your attention. If you need to visit an eye doctor soon, you'll want to squint at this space first, or head on over to the CBC.ca website and give the most recent Marketplace a watch. More later.

What You Should Know Before The Weekend

I'm-a fill myself with bacon and sushi today. For those of you who feel that's disgusting, go fuck yourselves.

~~~

The Oscars are on Sunday. I know so many people who love them. For those of you who don't, read this. They're 1,000% right. There's even a bacon reference. It's a great read. I hadn't noticed this before, but it looks like the Academy feels that this year, if they push movies that have anything to do with France, the whole event will look classy and sophisticated again. They rehired Billy Crystal.  I like Billy. He's the only reason I'm watching it this year, but I also know he won't be as obnoxious as I'd like. It's Sunday night, what else am I going to do?

I'm pulling for 'Moneyball'. It's not sad or French or one of those movies black people are supposed to feel good about because not all white people are bad. I'm also rooting for my girl Melissa McCarthy. You know she deserves it more than anyone has ever deserved one of those stupid things. Gawd.

~~~

I can just tell I'm going to have a hard time getting through the day. The weather's crap, it'll keep people home, and that'll keep me from getting some stuff squared away here.

Winter, my arse.

<3

DBB (Day Before Bacon)

As I mentioned, I took the day off yesterday. This is what I did:

I swept. I vacuumed. I drank tea. I played Call of Duty. I made carrot cake.

I did not sleep as late as I would have liked. No matter. The house was quiet and dark and I was able to recharge. While I liked having the day off, I was glad to come back. I don't feel very motivated at home. I just feel tired. Does that sound awful? I don't really feel any reason to do anything overly productive while I'm there. I just listen to everything go on around me. Which really isn't much.

I've gotten a lot done today, but it seems that everywhere I go today, people want to stop and chat. So I've been stopping and chatting. I've laughed a lot today. What a nice surprise that's been. I hope my house is chatty tonight. It's nice to listen to that, even if I don't participate...

Tuesday

I haven't had any time to post anything for the past week because of a proposal. This morning, I found out we received an extension for that proposal. I have a bit o' time to say hello...

Catty women this morning, and a dead pigeon at the station. I casually mentioned it to a passing transit worker, and he got out the pylon and blocked it from view. Then he hopped on his handset and radioed that fucker in right then and there, because he knew just by looking at me that my tender lady sensibilities had been pierced by the presence of a dead bird. Whatever.

Today, I got a new monitor. It's really wide and everything's positioned rather stupidly on the screen. But my eyes feel a little better. I was prepared to be on the fence about it, but I can't be. Which kind of sucks. I haven't been able to waffle all day. Doesn't suit my mood, either.

I'm going to take the day off tomorrow. Just because.

Past Post Purge

Earlier in the week, I began writing a post about Whitney Houston. It was also about drug addiction, and the inappropriate lack of sympathy versus an irresponsible amount of pity. I feel compelled to write something about it, as drug addiction played a crucial role in my own development. I was kind of angry at the time, so it turned into something rambling. I think I can make my point.

When's Day??

I'd hoped to post something today or tomorrow, but it doesn't look likely. My deadline's Tuesday, but I lose Monday due to Family Day, so today I'll have to have my head down.

This workin' for a livin' stuff, eh?

Full.

As I mentioned yesterday, the moon is full tonight. There will be absolutely no argument from me.

To combat the moon's seemingly rabid and insane fullness, here are things that will tear your heart apart with their sweetness.

Google Today

Gorgeous.

Good morning.

It's been a long time since I thought George was sexy. But all of this is sexy.

*_*

Nothing says "Fuck Monday!" like a huge eyed kitten.

Tomorrow's a Full Moon. I know, I looked it up. I could feel it in my $&*#^@! bones before I did so.

Today has served as an worthy precursor to the Full Moon. I've been barked at and ignored so many times today I'm surprised I still work here. The nicest thing that happened today was my being added to someone's network on LinkedIn. I don't know her. She looks nice, though...

Look at the kitten again.

I didn't watch the Super Bowl yesterday, so I didn't 'get to see' Madonna bounce around like what one critic called 'a Greco-Roman cheerleader'. She really might be too old for this. Gaga's wearin' meat, so Madge has to gladiate. Whatever, honey. Men are talking about the game and your new song still blows.

It's come to my attention that certain women* gravitate towards me. I'm flattered, unless they're annoying.

The water cooler is situated very close to her work station. I go there to fetch hot water for tea. She talks to me an awful lot for someone who doesn't know me. This morning...

"Good morning, how are you?"

I smiled. Weakly, I'd imagine, it was early.

"Eh, I'm not sure yet." Guffaw.

She looked at me. Stone faced.

"You always say that to me."

Blink.

On Friday, I was walking away from her and she told me she liked the back pockets on my jeans. She's pretty hot and cold, man. Maybe I should ask her out.

One of the things pissing me off about today is having work to do but waiting on someone else to hold up their end of the so-called work partnership. I feel like I'm working on a history class project with a bunch of deadbeats.

Look at the kitten again.

PS and I have been watching Luck (HBO). I didn't realize this was Dustin Hoffman's first TV role. I really like it. He's playing it pretty buttoned down and it's good. This show is meant to be a slow burn, don't expect fireworks if you watch it. But it's been worth it so far.

An early night for me tonight, I reckon. I'm beat and beaten up. It'll be me and Mr. King, methinks.







Kitten.






* 40-something blonde women of Russian descent

Be a Nerdy McNerderton

If I'd had the support, motivation and money, I'd have been an English professor. I'll have to settle for wannabe geekdom. I look like an aging goth band groupie, but deep down inside I'm like a buttoned-up librarian.

That's kind of delicious.

There are plenty of sites that encourage free thinking without demanding you be an atheist or screenwriter. Or both.

Big Think: Okay, they like atheists here. But they don't hate non-atheists. Isn't that nice?

The Philosopher's Magazine: Partook in all Interactive Activities. Good ice breakers if you want to talk to handsome smart men.

Common Errors in English Usage: I don't refer to this page enough. If I did, I wouldn't have just found an e-calendar with daily entries devoted to righting English wrongs.

Merriam-Webster: A decent site. Rife with pop culture references, though. I like my dictionaries old and stodgy. Grumble.

Acronym Finder: One of the handiest sites I've ever come across. I see a lot of acronyms in what I read and edit, this untangles 'em all for me.

The Browser: My favourite. Good, varied reading.

Here!

These days, when I look out my window at work, I pretend I'm window shopping for a car.

Eh. Pass.

Over the past week, I've been doing a lot of thinking...

If you hate your job, that's pretty much it, isn't it? I mean, you hate one thing and that one thing turns into three things, then five things, then everything. You wind up hating it all across the board. Sometimes you can hate it and no one will be able to tell. But that's another issue and not everyone can carry such loathing around with them at all times without tipping someone off. Thank God. Apparently, one in every 24 people is a psychopath. I gotta be careful how I talk to people.

If you love your job, that's different. I love my job. I adore it. I spend more time here than I do at home, and I'm not broken up about it because it's fulfilling and let's face it: work pays me and more people say 'thank you' for what I do here. It's not all about money. I'm the youngest one in my group and I learn an awful lot from the people around me. How invested, though, is your workplace in you? On a really good day, it doesn't matter. On the day you are lauded for your efforts, you don't give a shit. You love your job and it loves you.

But then again, it is about money. I love this job, but it doesn't love me. I'd never do it for free. I raise kids for free. Hell, I pay to do that. They think I'm old and stupid, but I love them anyway. So what gives?

You have to have hobbies. Friends. Exercise. (The last one I suck at and I'm going to get better at it.) I read an awful lot. I think too much. I talk a lot less than I used to. That's probably why I started a blog. I don't really have any sounding boards for my opinion other than my best friend, and holy shit she doesn't need to hear me go off every day.

It's tough, this balance. It's not because of kids or work. When you have both, you are a parent and a worker. You really do have to fight to be something else. If you are both and you balk at the idea of being anything else, that's wonderful. Your life is brimming with meaning and you are obviously a fully actualized human being.

Until your kids leave home or you get your ass fired.

Don't lose yourself, that's all I'm saying.

This Blog

This was meant to be appended to the last entry...

It's okay if I know you and you have decided not to read this blog. It's very okay. I have a couple of friends who apologize perpetually for not reading. I've told them I'm not offended, and it's true. My family doesn't read my blog. My kids think I'm old and dull anyway, and their father is more interested in YouTube, hockey and soccer (I think, who would know?)... I'm not about to bug 'em about it if I don't care whether or not they read it. I bug 'em if they don't read anything at all. 

Some people do read it. They're mostly anonymous, of course. No matter who they are, it's much appreciated, and it's for the people that like and read it that I keep it, not the people who don't. What would be the point of that? 

To those who show up: thank you so much. :)

Blogs

I don't read other people's blogs anymore. (Okay, I read one.)

Blogs written by women are called 'ladyblogs'. Did you know that? I've read a few. I usually can't stand them, because they chronicle the lives of the type of women I would never hang with. (Hey, these women wouldn't hang with me either.)

But here's the lowdown for you, with some links. You'll be able to tell which bloggers are trying to communicate in earnest, and which ones have become (usually after enjoying some modicum of success) pains in the fucking ass. 

And then some are pure entertainment...

Bugger it.

This is how I'm going to pass the last hour of my day.