Escape...

I've had the last four days off from work, and it should have been the perfect time to run about getting things done and being ultra-productive, but alas...no such thing has happened. Instead, I went to my sister's basketball game on Saturday morning, where they lost a very close game, but went on to win the next one by a long shot. I then didn't leave the apartment for the next three days. I sat around and read, baked, and slowly made my way through my latest boxed set. Not that I sat on my bum all day, but aside from some yoga, a sculpting dvd, and Wii Fit, I didn't do much. I am quite enjoying the advanced reader's copy of this exciting new release, though!

Commencing Count-down, Engines On...

Okay, so whoever decided that writing our own vows would be a great idea is an idiot. Oh wait--that would be me!! What was I thinking?!!! Well, I'll tell you what I was thinking..."Oh, it would be so much more personal and wonderful to express our feelings in our own words and make our own promises to each other. How magical!" Until I realized, "Oh Crap!! I have to actually put to paper those personal and wonderful expressions of my feelings in my own words and make those promises to Russ!!! AGH!" Now I'm trying to write them and it no fun at all! I keep wanting to throw in jokes and other inappropriate things that pretty much ruin the entire sentiment of them.

Has anyone watched Friends? It's like a combination of the episode where Joey is going to officiate Monica and Chandler's wedding, and he keeps talking about having and holding and giving and receiving...over and over, and the episode where Monica and Chandler have to write their vows and their relationship doesn't fit into the mold of standard vow writing...needless to say, I wish I was watching those episodes right now instead of trying to make these vows not suck. Normally I would have Russ read them over and check them, but of course, since we decided to not share our vows beforehand, that's not possible, which, I think is adding to the stress. I guess I just have to keep trying and hope that they don't come out lamely.

The New "Messiah"...

Working in a bookstore is an interesting experience. It allows you to make some observations about society based on the people that come in, and what they buy. One thing that has surfaced is my extreme dislike for Oprah. I never liked her to begin with--I can't say she doesn't do a lot of charity work, but at the same time, she is also prejudiced. I don't agree with a lot of her views, but the thing that bothers me the most is the way that people almost worship her! Oprah says "Jump", and women all over North America squeal, "How high?!" Any author that Oprah features on her show, or through her book club, celebrates instant celebrity, and we can't keep their books in stock. People don't seem to care at all what the content is...they just gobble it up because Oprah says...

Oprah was raving about James Frey's "biography"...until it was revealed that he "embellished"key aspects of it, then she was forced to issue a statement about it, yet people still come in searching for it.

A while ago, a customer came in and told me, "I just read one of the books from Oprah's club, and it was so amazing...I was just wondering when the author is going to put out a new novel?" I asked her what book it was, and she told me that it was Anna Karenina. It was all I could do to keep a straight face as I explained that, since Leo Tolstoy had died in 1910, it would be unlikely that he would be publishing anything new, then directed her towards War And Peace, but explained it was a lot more complex than Anna.

Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious was flying off the shelves at Christmas because she was on Oprah, but the idea that hiding veggies from kids when they should be cultivating tastes for new things is a controversial idea, and not necessarily a good one.

Selection #61 on the book club list is A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, which is a self-help book. We can't keep it in stock. The thing that bothers me is that people are buying two or three copies of this book, without even knowing what it's about! The author bio on the back describes him as a "contemporary spiritual leader", traveling the world, spreading his message. One woman actually asked one of my co-workers where she could find Oprah's new book. He responded with, "The Eckhart Tolle one?" and she said, "No, the one that Oprah just put out--A New Earth." So he explained that it was not WRITTEN by Oprah, but rather, just selected by her. The woman didn't understand...
It's getting to the point where I just don't want to even SEE another copy of this book.

Now don't get me wrong...I really enjoy my job. I love books. I just wish that people would pick out their own books, not what a TV personality tells them to read. I totally get that Oprah is getting people to read when they wouldn't normally choose to do so, and that she is supporting the book industry...but SERIOUSLY!

Okay...That's my rant. I'm putting the soap box away....I feel better now...

Evidently, I am "IT"...

So, I have been "tagged" by Dani, and now I have to reveal five secrets about myself...so here it goes:

1. While I do love a good cerebral read, I have a secret weakness for Brit-chick-lit. I hate chick lit, but I can't resist the British stuff.

2. My vast CD collection includes such train-wrecks as the Baywatch soundtrack (Jeremy Jackson sings, as does David Hasselhoff!), Effel 65's Europop, and um...Limp Bizkit.

3. I almost got kicked out of a finger eleven concert...I had forgotten my ID in the car, and so had the "underage" arm band. The boy that I was smitten with was in the "cool" section, so Yvonne and I traded arm bands in the bathroom...but security caught us, and so we gave them some line about how my armband had fallen off, and that the woman handing them out hadn't ID'd me, and so eventually, the guy let me go to my car and get my ID, and I got back just in time for the concert to begin.

4. I buy makeup and beauty products compulsively. Seriously, I have about 10 different shades of purple eyeshadow, and justify it by the fact that each one is slightly different...I buy things just because I don't have them. Russ has forbidden me from buying lotions...

5. I pretty much have every episode of Friends memorized.

So now...I guess I'm tagging anyone who reads this and wants to do it?

Guess What.

So...guess who came into the Cup this morning. Lorne Cardinal! He plays Davis on Corner Gas!! It was so cool. Yup. I'm a dork, and I didn't think to get his autograph. But he got a single shot red eye...

This Place is a Hole.

So here goes another story about our crappy apartment, and stupid landlord. The bathroom and kitchen floor have been slated to be replaced since...October. The landlord called before Christmas to tell us that they would be doing the floors on Dec. 19. When I got back into the city on the 28th, the floors were still not done. We went to Cold Lake. We got back on the 2nd, and the floors still weren't done. We then got a phone call on the 3rd, saying that the floors would be done on the 4th. They didn't show up. We got a call on the 5th, saying that they would be coming at 10am on the 6th. Russ and I got home from West Ed around 7...and the floors were STILL NOT DONE!!! So then we got a call on Sunday, that they would do the floors on Monday. Yeah. Right. So FINALLY, on Monday night the landlord called and said that they were going to be here at 11am on Tuesday. Well...they came...at 10am...and when Russ said that he thought that they had said 11, the landlord got all defensive and accused him of not listening to the message and putting everything back. By "everything", I mean, everything that was in the kitchen, dining room and bathroom. Russ said that nothing had been put back, and by that I mean that the dining room table, chairs, boxes of books, and everything was still all piled up in the living room. So Russ went to school. When we got back, the hall was filled with the stench of varnish, and our apartment door was unlocked. The landlord was still there, finishing with sealing the edges of the lino in the bathroom. He told us that instead of putting lino in the kitchen, they just took out the tiles and then he buffed down the (badly beaten-up) hardwood underneath and dumped a bucket of varnish on it. He told us that it said to put on a thin coat, let it dry, then put on another coat. However....he didn't have time to wait, so he just put on one really thick coat on. We put on a box fan to help it dry quicker. He was cleaning up as we left. When we got back, the entire floor of the building reeked of varnish. The varnish smell was so thick in the apartment that I had an instant migraine. We had to open the frickin' window! In JANUARY! On the day when the atmosphere decides that Edmonton needs snow!! It took the floor a while to dry, and the thick coat bubbled as it dried, so now the floor is so rough it feels like there is a thick layer of sand on it! Plus, there's a reason why the floor was covered up with tile. It is very battered. There's deep, nasty gashes on it where it looks like someone moved the stove back and forth 10 or 100 times, some of the wood looks almost in the process of rotting...however, we are past the point of caring. We'll be moving in April.
Classes have started, and this is my last full semester. So far, my classes are going to be a lot of work, but I really like all of my profs so far. I just hope that my new preoccupation with Gilmore Girls box sets doesn't get in the way of keeping up with my craploads of reading...

....Procrastination....

So here I am...procrastinating...i really should be writing the last three pages of my paper...because it has to be done today....and it isn't...but i opened this morning (i forgot how much i love morning shifts!) and i took a nap, and got some groceries, and did some dishes, and cleaned the bathroom, and had some lunch, and watched an episode or three of CSI:miami...and now its 6 and i STILL have three pages to write...all i want to do is watch CSI and play with my new laptop!! I named it tomato for now...it's ever so pretty! i really should get that paper done, because i have three finals next week, and i have to do all the reading for each class that i didn't do throughout the second half of the semester....because i procrastinated....i think tomorrow i'm going to do what Rebecca did and just go to the Cup and set up camp. But first i have to put some music on my computer, because it has none, which is sad. maybe i'll do that now...and then i'll have some supper...and then i'll finish my paper...or go see russ at work...which ever will be less productive...argh!! Okay. I'm going to finish my paper now...and i'll just put CSI on in the background. Yeah. I'm gonna do that....

Damn You Jerry Bruckheimer!

So on Monday, I settled in to watch the season premiere of CSI: Miami. I was totally pumped. On the preview it said that one of the CSIs wasn't going to survive the investigation. I totally wanted it to be the blonde chick, because I love all the other characters, but she is kinda annoying. And what do they do? They killed off SPEED!! Besides Horatio, Speed was my favorite character! I was very very upset...I actually cried when they showed the funeral. Jerry Bruckheimer sucks! The show won't be the same without him...