Saturday Night Blues

Saturday I met up with a friend at Indigo (the bookstore was packed – is it the new happening hot spot?) and then walked over to the Church of the Redeemer to catch the Great Lake Swimmers early concert. The venue was incredible and the only thing that could have made the show better would have been for the sound guy to have killed the faint speaker buzz that permeated the entire show. It was a collection of the perfect lullaby’s for the thinking person and I was present in the moment the whole time – ahhh…

After the show was over it was a quick hop on the Bloor line to get to Hugh’s Room for the Kevin Breit/Harry Manx CD release – In Good We Trust. It was a flawless set from the opening notes of Diving Duck Blues to the closing of Voodoo Child, it’s so good to see these two performers joking around with each other after a long silence (they never even performed their first album together - it was that bad!).

An excellent musical evening, and now that I look at my fridge I have 5 concert tickets waiting for me, all the performances are in the next month or so… this is going to be fun!

What is attractive?

I struggled against the values I was raised with (militant feminist), societal pressures (look attractive to men) and my love of fashion (an industry that thrives on insecurity) during my earlier years. I tested the waters, especially in university, of what feminine power was – what sex appeal could be and when I looked at how others treated me I wasn’t always happy with what I saw. I’m not just tits and ass, I never have been, yet these seem to be the most common descriptors of women today.

Sure I have body parts that I think look pretty damned good – but I am more than a low cut top or well fitted jeans. Isn’t attractiveness more about the confidence to swing your hips and pull your shoulders back when you walk down the street? Isn’t it attractive to have a mind of your own and a sense of adventure? I’d like to think attractiveness is more than long hair, a skinny body with big boobs - all placed in some ridiculous position and misted with water or oil for sheen.

Couldn’t I be; confident, fun, smart, spontaneous… descriptors that don’t focus on my physical attributes. Couldn’t I just be an attractive woman?

Farewell – The Artistic Way

It was the dwindling days of my contract and I wanted to wrap things up in style. Sure there’s the obligatory clean out the desk but seeing as it was the end of what they would likely feel was an era I wanted to do something special for those that had toiled so hard and thanklessly. Plus I’ve been inspired as of late by blogs about crafting and textiles… so I made these as parting gifts for the people who’d had the most influence on my daily life in the office.

The images are an artistic impression of the organization's logo.

What are you playing? – Part II

I have been thinking for sometime about a portable gaming system. Admittedly I am not a hard core gamer (I still needed a bit of a Video Game 101 lesson) but I was amazed at the lack of marketing that was aimed at me – handhelds are a perfect way to get through commuting around a big city! Of course it’s going to make it a little harder to make sure I don’t miss my stop but that’s a risk I’m willing to take for good entertainment on the way to my destination.

I was waffling on which system to buy either a PSP or a Nintendo DS - there were lots of considerations but in the end I boiled it down to; sexier (the PSP) or better games I like (DS). This is one of those instances that having a 15 year old brother comes in handy, C knew all the games for each system and was recommending games that he thought I’d like plus sending me links so I could see the games in play before I went making any purchases.

The winner was the DS! A cute little system in black, that has great puzzle games – I’m now happily playing through the 6 versions of Tetris. It only took 3 shopping trips to get one in my hands, the darned things were sold out all over the place.

This Week in Fashion - Socks, etc...

With 250,000 sweat glands each, your feet are among the most perspiring parts of the body, so there’s a really valid point to wearing foot coverings to absorb moisture. This of course is counter to my true love of summer sandals which of course can not be worn with socks or hose at any time. I have said it before and I will say it many times over, socks and sandals don’t mix, neither do stockings and sandals mix – if your toes are barren of shoe then your feet should be stripped to skin and shoe!

However I don’t think I’ll go as far as the kind folks in Annapolis, Maryland. Their local maritime museum holds an annual sock-burning party*. Who on earth in their right mind thinks burning socks is a good idea? Socks are entirely functional and can even be cute (though I personally am not into super cutesy) and serve a good purpose in life, plus the darned things last forever! Sure there are moments of not being happy with socks (who hasn’t realized that your black socks are suddenly navy at 2 in the afternoon?) but by in large I’m in favour of socks, especially if there’s a chance of cold or icky-ness - burning them seems an overly excessive way to mark the beginning of a season.

*Sailing enthusiasts burn their worn-out winter socks and pledge to go sockless until the next winter. Then they put on their boat shoes and hope for the best. The Globe and Mail

When I grow up…

Que Sera, Sera,

Whatever will be, will be

The future's not ours, to see

Que Sera, Sera

What will be, will be.

When I was a kid I dreamed of being an actress, a fashion designer, a teacher, an artist, a producer and more… I had ideas and dreams and I flitted from one idea to the next every 8 minutes or so. I took classes in fashion, acting, engineering, business, communications, public relations and more… I kept looking for my niche. It turns out I can’t find my niche, I’m pretty good at a whole slew of different things but none of them stick. I get bored as soon as I’ve mastered whatever I needed to learn, and then I start itching to move on. I think my main problem is I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up!

The future may not be mine to see but I still wouldn’t mind knowing which direction I should take, what’s going to interest me for years to come. When I look down my path five years from now I have no idea what kind of job I’ll have (I am however fairly certain I’m working), I don’t know which field I want to be in… I’m not even sure what city I’m living in! I know this is one of those “you have the answers” kind of conundrums but I find myself still not having any clue as to where I’m landing.

Whatever will be, will be… and so I’m not going to get too worked up about this all and let myself go where the tide takes me. I’m sure I’ll be successful in whatever opportunity comes my way next… I just have this (perhaps irrational) hope that one day I’ll wake up with a vision or something that will explain my purpose. I feel like I’m meant for something bigger than toiling away at a desk all day – then again I don’t know many people who feel like that’s what they’re meant to do with their lives.

Why didn’t anyone tell me that?

There are things people around you assume you know - stuff about the world and/or your environment. I sometimes feel out of the loop on pop culture references (likely due to no TV) and miss out on all the good ads… so I miss things from time to time. Sometimes it’s like the information was always there but no one bothered to tell me, like with Amy and the Vitamin E Oil (it helps with scaring).

I guess I missed all the hype about toothbrushes a while back… I had still been using the old dentist check-up toothbrushes. However without a dental plan and it being time to replace my last one I took a plunge on the Colgate 360 (mostly because I thought the circles looked cool & it comes with a tongue scrapper) – WOW! I think I’m actually brushing longer now because it feels so good, it’s like a mini mouth massage on the inside. Who know anyone could get so excited about a toothbrush… certainly not me. So there’s no excuse, you’ve been told – no need to take action but you can no longer plead ignorance.