You are Bettie Page

Girl next door with a wild streak You're a famous beauty - with unique look And the people like you are cultish about it

What Famous Pinup Are You?

Things are Definitely Looking UP.

*singing* Cass has a new job, new job, new job! Cass has a new job toooooooooday!!

Yup. I hand in my notice at Suck On Foods today, and go on Christmas break on Monday, so really, my two weeks will be spent gone! Whoo HOOOOo!!
The new job is going to be pretty sweet, as it is NOT in customer service. It is a position as an order processing clerk for Van Leeuwen Pipe & Tube (Canada) Inc. I'll get 40 hours a week, regular shifts, a signifcant pay increase, great benefits, and Heidi works there!! The only downside is that it is on the south east side of the city, but that's what Smeagol is for! I'm a little bit nervous, but very excited. Yay!! Bring on Christmas!

The Stupidest Angel...

So, in order to get into the spirit of the season, I am reading one of my favorite books: "The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror", by Christopher Moore. It is a great way to get Christmasy, without letting the stress of the season get to you. The author's warning, on the first page:

"If you're buying this book as a gift for your grandma or a kid, you should be aware that it contains cusswords as well as tasteful depictions of cannibalism and people in their forties having sex. Don't blame me. I told you."

The opening line paints a beautiful picture: "Christmas crept into Pine Cove like a creeping Christmas thing: dragging garland, ribbon, and sleigh bells, oozing egg nog, reeking of pine, and threatening festive doom like a cold sore under the mistletoe." Seriously, a hilarious read...though you can't really read it in public, unless you want strange looks when you burst out laughing....but it somehow makes me feel Christmasy...

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?

"Wanted" Woman.

Things have been less crappy lately. I start training for the cash office job next week, and I found out that I qualify for dental coverage. They also want to train me for front desk, because apparently, I have the "right personality" for the front desk. When they asked me if I would be up for working front desk, I said "I guess...but will my rampant misanthropy be an issue?" Of course, I just got a weird look and nervous laugh...
I was also told that they want me in Price Change...which would be interesting...it would be a graveyard shift 10pm-6am, Saturday nights. You get a $2/hr shift premium, and all you do is put on your music, and walk around changing the price tags on the shelves...plus the department manager is frickin' awesome!! I dunno though...that would really screw with my system. I think I'll stick with this stuff for now...I'm totally pumped for this week's Eastbound trip too...can't wait to see everyone!!

Cass -- [noun]: A beat poet working the streets 'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

If Your Life Was a Movie, What Would the Soundtrack Be? (Expanded, With New Questions!!)

I stumbled across this on some random late-night random blogathon, and had to try it out!

So, here's how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool...


Opening Credits:
Empty City Lights: Hearts of Black Science (yay!! What a perfect intro song!!)

Waking Up:
All I Need: Air French Band

Average Day:
Heart of Glass: Blondie

First Day At School:
24: Jem

First Date:
Black Black Heart: David Usher

Falling In Love:
Let Go: Frou Frou (so fitting!!)

Secret Love:
White Rabbit: Emiliana Torrini

Fight Song:
Cigaro: System of a Down

Breaking Up:
Smoke: Natalie Imbruglia

Life:
Ein Lied: Rammstein

Mental Breakdown:
I'm Only Happy When it Rains: Garbage (my personal theme song...how fitting...)

Learning a Lesson:
Good Times: Finger Eleven

Deep Thoughts:
My Medea: Vienna Tang

Driving:
Be Still My Heart: The Postal Service

Flashback:
The Shining: Badly Drawn Boy

Party Song:
I Get Around: Dragonette

Happy Dance:
Rock Is Dead: Marilyn Manson

Regreting:
Embrace: Joydrop

Long Night Alone:
Useless: Imogen Heap

Getting back together:
Like Her: Mandalay

Wedding:
The End Starts Here Today: Bis (um...irony??)

Birth of Child:
America: Simon and Garfunkel

Final Battle:
Green Bird: Yoko Kanno

Death Scene:
Think It's Gonna Rain Today: Claudene Longet (wow...incredibly fitting! Creepy!)

End Credits:
So Says I: The Shins

So, I think it is safe to say that my playlist is a fitting soundtrack, since most of these songs actually work! I suggest you all try it, and DON'T cheat...it's much more fun this way!!

Exhaustion Makes Me Weird.

Cass's synonym -- influential (... as in efficacious!) 'What is your synonym?' at QuizGalaxy.com

HoBS, yo!

If any of you get a chance, you HAVE to check out Hearts of Black Science. They are from Sweden, and so AWESOME!! I just bought their EP, and can't stop listening to it! So check them out!!

Learn.

are you feeling lost and lonely?
you needn't be
like you've lost all hope and your sanity
oh you needn't be

if we only have one turn
in this life we have to learn

carrying the world on your shoulders
you needn't be
ever more as you get older
you needn't be, oh you needn't be

if we only have one turn
in this life we have to learn

we wish our lives away
hoping for a better day
the future's miles away
and what is past is done and gone

if we only have one turn
in this life we have to learn
~lamb~

Friday the Thirteenth.

I'm feeling unproductive. Everyone else is doing something--in school, redoing their new home, getting married, getting a new job...and I'm still working at Save-On, getting letters from the Government telling me I have to give them money I don't have. On the bright side, I might start working in the cash office at work, which means no customers, something good on my resume, and possibly a slight pay increase....
I miss my friends. One of the "perks" of working at Save-On is that there are no set shifts, so I have no reliable schedule, which means I can't see my friends...EVER. I miss you guys! I'm spending too much time inside my own head, which is never good for anyone, but especially not for me...I need a day off.

Life for Rent.

If my life is for rent,
And I don't learn to buy,
Well I deserve nothing more than I get
'Cause nothing I have is truly mine.
~Dido~

Congratulations!

Wind, and Rain and...SNOW?!?! Oh my....

So, apparently, it's WINTER??? Though we have not yet got snow on the ground...it's freakin' gross out!! It's been a while since I've posted anything...but I haven't felt that there has been much to post. I'm still in Save-On hell, and every day it sucks a little more life out of me. Seriously, if I didn't hate Chad with such vengence, I'd consider going back--but I hate Chad. I'm getting exceedingly frustrated with the job search. Russ is doing well in school--in that he is the smart kid everyone sits by so they can cheat off of him...you know how he is. Right now I'm in Olds, visiting my family. My parents have another Japanese exchange student living with them, named Haruka. She's totally cute! Honestly, not much is post-worthy, and thus, I end this brief update.

Square One.

Welcome to Square One. Population: Me. Yup. Back at Square One. I went to the Cup to say I would return...and was then told that the one person who I wanted to work with, is quitting on Monday. So on Tuesday, I shall have to call and say that I shall not be returning, because I'm not taking a pay cut to work with people I don't like. So I guess for now I stay at Save On and blanket the city with more resumes. Yay me.
P.S. Thanks for the links, Dani. I applied to a few of them, so we shall see!!

ARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!

ARRRGGGHHHH!!!! So...the Cup on Jasper and 118th wants me back. They are tempting me with 40 hours a week (a 7-3 shift monday to friday), a raise, and working with the guy that I really liked working with there, even knowing that I am looking for a better job. I'm sick of Save On, because I am smarter than the managers, and they are screwing me out of benefits. I've been working 24-37 hours a week since I started, and you need to work 13 consecutive weeks of 20 hours a week in order to qualify for dental. The week that is my 13 th week, they scheduled me for-get this-19.75 hours!!!!!!!! And the week after, they scheduled me for 35 hours!!! Apparently, I'm not the only one they did/do this to. I don't know though, because I really don't want to go back to Second Cup, but at the same time, the offer is better than what Save On is doing to me...but thinking about going back to that Cup gives me a bad feeling too...Russ thinks I should go to Second Cup because working in a grocery store is killing me...but working in a Second Cup was killing me too...I honestly have NO idea what to do. And that really REALLY sucks.

Suchen nach meinem Weg.

It just hit me the other day. I'm done school. I'm no longer a student. I don't have to go back to school in the fall. I don't need to have my confirmation deposit in by August whatever. I'm done. Now, I'm sure you're thinking, "Um, DUH, Cass. We all know this, and you do too. You wrote a post about being done. What the crap are you on???" Well...now I'm freaking out, and am totally confused. I don't like Save-On. It's too repetitive, the customers are too much, and I hate the management. Ever seen "Office Space"? Pretty much covers it. It's not for me. I thought about taking a two-year diploma in Professional Writing at Macewan, but after much agonizing, I have decided that, while it would probably get me a job, I don't think it would really challenge me enough to keep me interested...plus, I don't think I would be going because I really really want to, but rather, because school is where I am comfortable. It is easy to stay where you are comfortable, even if you don't get anywhere--hence, the centuries spent at Second Cup. So my next choice is to go to an employment agency, and hope for something that doesn't suck. Even a being a receptionist would be better than where I am now...although I'm wishing that I had graduated with a more useful degree. When I tell people I'm an English major, they laugh and then ask, "Well...what do you plan to do with that?" I would LOVE to work for a newspaper or a magazine, but I'm not even really sure how to get there. UGH! This sucks. Russ is lucky. He's gonna be an accountant--not that he's lucky to get to be an accountant, as I'm sure Arden can attest to, but rather, that he knows what he can do with it. What good is a BA in ENGLISH?? Seriously, this sucks. On top of all this, I'm just feeling restless in general, which just makes everything else more trying... Mein Verstand ist im Tumult.

Twenty-Four on the Twenty-Fourth.

Today is my royal birthday. (Actually, at the time of this post, it's technically the 25th, but since I haven't gone to bed yet, it's still my birthday). 24 on the 24th. Honestly, it has been pretty good. Birthdays are always annoying because they get all hyped up and blown out of proportion, and then the expectations are too high and the day ends up being disappointing. We went to Cheesecake Cafe for dinner, and Dream Tea afterwards, and it was fun! All in all, I'm a year older, and no worse for the wear. Happy Birthday to me.

Addicted to Freecycle!!!

I was perusing various blogs and on the Von Bieker blog, Christine mentioned her newfound obsession with Freecycle.org, so I thought that I would check it out. DUDES!!! It's awesome!! It's a site where people from Edmonton basically give stuff away for free!! I've already gotten rid of my Jane Austen texts, and possibly an old CD rack, if I can find the stupid leg for it...but yeah! Check it out! Now I'm looking around the house for things to get rid of, which isn't hard, because when we moved, I noticed so many things that we don't need, but are too nice to throw out...now we can try to give them to someone else who will find a use for them!! Check it out!!

Crazies.

If a middle aged woman with an accent approaches you, RUN FOR YOUR FREAKIN' LIFE. This is the conclusion that I have arrived at. Inevitably, they will make you crazy. Work is good, but busy...however, I am scheduled to work on my birthday!! I mean, my birthday usually sucks, but I would prefer it sucking somewhere other than work.
We still haven't got the apartment unpacked, since both of us are working like madmen...but I hope to have it done before my birthday.
Things are very busy right now....but since I'm working so much, not much else is going on in my life...I feel very cut off from the rest of the world...I miss everyone!!