a cute toaster

Still no word about which field hockey team I can play for. Eh, it’s summer. People are probably on vacation.

I’ve been debating giving up (some or all) of the chick magazines I read. I realize that they’re really only designed to make me want to buy things. The social articles aren’t as good as what I can read in Wired, Macleans, newspapers, or online news sources. I’m tired of being told what I’m supposed to look like, wear, eat, drink, want, buy, or care about. No one does a fashion spread for clothes that are stylish, yet can stand up to being peed on by multiple species. Hair articles are almost always about long hair (expect for the token short hair articles that pop up every 24 months or so). Makeup ideas are for people who have mastered basic application skills. A smoky, smudged eye? Even if I had anywhere to wear it, I’d just look Jokerized.

Even Adbusters tried to influence the way I look. Maybe not as openly as other magazines, but articles often talk about the fact that women starve themselves to fit the narrow beauty image, or that North Americans are mostly overweight. (They also say stuff about SSRI/SNRI drugs that I disagree with, but that’s another issue.)

I hate needing to buy clothes and being at a loss because the fashion or style this/every season is stupid. I hate needing to buy new shoes, and having the choice of only form or function.

As far as my appearance goes I’m pretty happy with myself. Yeah, I wish my body was stronger and sleeker, but it could be if I was a little more motivated. I have an odd body shape, and that’s not going to change. But for everything that’s wrong with it, it’s a pretty amazing thing.

I guess I’m tired of paying money to be told how to spend the rest of my money.

After a lot of talk about it for the past few years, I signed up for field hockey this fall/winter. I paid my Field Hockey BC membership dues, as well as the dues to play for the Surrey Sharks on their division 5 team (the bottom), if there’s enough to form a second one. Their current div. 5 team is full.

If not, the Sharks will refund my money, and I’ll get assistance finding a div. 5 team to play on. If not Surrey, I’m hoping for Delta (go Falcons!), as their home field is close to where I work. Apparently Vancouver requires tryouts for all of their women’s teams…eek. I haven’t held a stick since grade 10, and I need to re-learn how to play.

I’m all excited to start looking at equipment, but that will have to wait until I know for sure where I’m playing. I’m sure I’ll end up somewhere…Shark, Falcon, Hawk, or whatever.

We watched Batman Begins again this afternoon. I’m getting geared up for The Dark Knight. I want to see it in IMAX when it comes out. The Dystopian Megaplex has an IMAX screen.

(Actually, last time we were there with Dale & Dolores it wasn’t that bad, but Dystopian Megaplex is a phrase I don’t get the chance to use very often, and I have to work it in where I can.)

As we’re watching the scene where the young Bruce Wayne falls down the old well and is terrified by all the bats he stirs up, I thought “I wonder if he was prophylactially treated for rabies after that?” All of the people he came into contact with who’d have to be treated as well. Ouch.

The same though re-surfaced when he called all the bats to him while under siege by the Gotham SWAT team in the Arkham Asylum.

You don’t have to be bitten by a bat to catch rabies from it. They groom themselves, sort of like cats. There have been cases of non-bite transmission of rabies by the CDC.

…or is this one of those things that only someone who works in animal health would think of?

My brother bought our Dad a puppy for his birthday. She’s a Bichon X Shih-tzu, and her name is Abby. She’s cute. She’s a big furball though - she’s the kind of dog that needs grooming and ear plucks. A little high maintenance, but my Dad just adores her.

When it was time for her to get spayed my Dad brought her to the clinic I work at. He hasn’t had a puppy in a while and he was worried about his little girl. She did fine, no problems.

Until:
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Just to prove I’m not a bitchy kill-joy:

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These are things that should Just Go Away, Because I Am Officially Tired Of Them:

(Yes I am a bitter, mean, uncaring person. Just so you know.)

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I have a lot of different interests that wax, wane, shift, and occasionally get replaced.

Right now I’m crazy about subnotebooks. I wanted an eeePC 701, but decided to wait (well actually, was persuaded to wait by Paul) for the 900 or 901 series. And now, HP has launched its rival, the HP 2133 Mini-Note and next month the MSI Wind will be released. And other companies have releases unofficially scheduled for late summer.

Now I’m driving myself crazy comparing all of them. Argh.

To counteract my sometimes too-snarky attitude at work (I hide it well in front of clients, I swear!) I have started practicing Bender-Zen.

Generally, I think my sense of humour helps me get through the day, but I recognize when the sarcasm slides too easily into the cynicism it’s time to get a grip.

Bender wags his tail all the time, unless you overload his brain with too much thinking. Then his tail slowly loses momentum, his brow furrows, and his eyes go a little blank. Once he’s though the thought-cloud (or forgotten whatever he was trying to think about), his tail starts wagging again, and his usual expression of happiness and contentment with the world returns.

Bender is not amongst the intellectual giants of the canine world, but he’s happy.

So now, when the asshattery gets too intense I tilt my head to the side, furrow my brow, and let my mind go blank.

Works like a charm. Seriously. I started doing it as a joke, but I was amazed at how unstressed I felt by the end of the day. Thinking, surely this must be a one-off thing, I’ve been doing it for a week. Success!

Yes, I know I’m using “Zen” in a completely wrong manner.
But it’s not like I’m abusing it to market green tea.

I never imagined that the war in Afghanistan would touch me as closely as it has now. Pte. Terry Street is the 82nd Canadian killed in Afghanistan; he died on April 4th after the vehicle he was in hit an IED.

Terry and his older brother lived next door to my family. My brother was good friends with Terry while the Streets lived there. Terry’s brother and I are the same age. We all went to elementary school together and played hours of street hockey together. We also traded scads of hockey cards and Nintendo NES games back and forth. We spend lots of summertime hours in their backyard pool. I can’t believe the goofy kid who wanted to be an NHL star when he grew up died like that.

Terry was only 24. This was his first mission, and he was only a month into it.

My heart goes out to Terry’s parent’s Bill and Diane, and his brother Nick.

I ordered some blush samples and tinted lip balm from Alima. They make mineral makeup that I’ve been interested in trying, since it’s supposed to be good for sensitive skin.

One of the lip colours I ordered was back ordered, and to make up for that, Alima gave me two sample eyeshadows, another blush sample, and a full sized eyeshadow (in a colour I’d actually buy!)

I got my back ordered lip colour yesterday, along with another free full sized eyeshadow, also in a colour I’d buy for myself.

The customer service representative I emailed about some shipping questions before I placed my order got back to me very quickly, and was super nice.

So, the products I’ve tried are great and the customer service has been excellent. I’m going to order some more samples (foundations) and some more eyeshadows. Alima made me happy :)