Hmmm...good question

Again with the 'this post may offend you breeders, read with caution' clause at the front of the following diatribe...

So, a 'friend' from high school posted this status update today:

X wonders if a baby could choose would they want their entire life documented on facebook?

Interesting, non? I know that for some people that they use FB to upload pics, etc. because of their desire to share with the people in their life and well, that's kinda the narcissistic point of social media, isn't it? And if the tools be there, screw traditional paper baby books, go electronic, non?

But this makes me ponder, where does the right of the child come into play in all of this? Sure, we all had embarrassing moments where mom and dad would pull out the picture albums or the videos shot of us at school talent shows but there was still a much more private public viewing of these portions of our lives. How would the next generation feel about this if they knew now what they will know in the future? Or do we just not care because they will be a generation brought up on this so this will be thought to be the norm? Or am I just ranting because I have more baby/toddler friends on Facebook than adults?

I must say, I don't really have a feeling one way or another. While I'm a fairly open person who will share just about anything, I do have a certain level of privacy that I like to maintain while online. Bizarre as I feel this false sense of security in these pseudo barriers I've built up but still, I like to think I have some privacy. And I'd like to think my offspring would like the same.

At the same time, with the non-stop status updates of one friend's every waking (and sleeping) moment of her child since its birth this past fall, or the non-stop feeds of new videos and photos and the likes from new or soon-to-be parents, I have to wonder if this need to share is augmented by perhaps the feeling of being a bad parent if you don't share on such a grandiose scale. And is this leading to more of the dreaded helicopter parents that I have to deal with more and more at work? We all curse them but then I see colleagues fall into the same traps they bitch and moan about to add to the pandemic that seems to be infecting every well-intentioned parent these days.

So that's my kinda but not really soap-box rant of the day. While I may not pay attention to every posting of every child's first spit-up, first 'cruise' or even first nap without swaddling, I can appreciate that you all want to share and perhaps enjoy reading and commiserating sharing with one another. Just don't be offended if it falls off my radar most of the time.

Everybody was kung fu fighting...

Gmail has these awesome skins that you can use in your background and I love the Ninja one. I use it with one of my accounts. I guess this is also a confessional time where I say yes, one of my accounts. I have now 6 email accounts or 7* if you count the messaging option in Facebook. (Okay, seriously, when is Blogger gonna get with the program and recognize that Facebook is a word and stop underlining it as a spelling error?!?). So I use the ninjas on one of my accounts, not all.

What I love are the different ninja images that randomly come with the skin. I don't have them all but I'll post more as I see them come up. Check these out:

Ninja formalities.








Fight - to the death.









Ninja cleaning.

Ninja romance.











Ninja spa.








Ninja tea time.









Peekaboo ninja.









*Each email serves a purpose for the type of mail I receive at that address. Some are used for spam, some for newsletters, some for sports teams management, some for anonymity for replies to public forums, etc. And yes, I check all of them daily pretty much. I know, uber geek extraordinaire - oui, c'est moi.

Men and their drills

What is it with men and their drills?

No, that isn't a euphemism for their *ahem* goods. Really, I'm talking about drills. Plain old cordless or corded drills.

They're adding a door from the meeting room into the hallway today so that people coming to a meeting don't 'present' themselves at my desk expecting some kind of check in. Great. So banging and crashing and sawing and hammering and oh, you guessed it...drilling.

So because I've built up a fortress around me in my 'cube' I can't actually see these guys - I can only hear them. But this one guy - or maybe it's all of them - seem to walk around incessantly zing-zing-zinging the drill. And no, it's not connected to a screw or a bit that's in the wall making a hole. I know what that sounds like, I've drilled before. No, this drill is in his hand and he's just randomly pushing the trigger to hear it go.

Zing-zing-zing. Zing-zing-zing. ZINNNNNGGGGGG!

BAH! RAGE!

Rawr - postscript

I know that that's how it's done and all and that the info that I put into Facebook is all public and used for evil (advertising demographics) not good (uselessly letting it sit on a server) but sometimes I get a little creeped out by the accuracy of things.

I navigated to someone's page to see the wall->wall discussion of two mutual friends. Once there, I noted the right hand ads that came up. I was shocked to see what I saw considering the Rawr post I had yesterday here:




Seriously? The exact T I commented on yesterday? It's not like I put it in a link or even have a link to my blog on my Facebook account. Seriously?

And the irony of having a CU ad below it? Granted, the person I was creepin' is a fellow employee of the capital E Employer, but still...

It's the cyberspace trolls that creep me out once more...

You have GOT to be kidding me

If this isn't a joke, I now hate American Apparel.





OMG - I just found these online.

Hell.

Hath.

Frozen.

Over.

Rawr!

I must admit that I have a weakness for the graphic T's. They make me laugh and I especially like the cheeky, smart, witty ones, not just the stupid, crude ones. So this T cracks me up.

Should you feel the need to show me the love for my birthday, I wouldn't be disappointed.

WHMPC: Wounded Bird

Ahhh...the joys of the Wasted Hair and Makeup Product Chronicles*...

So, been doing the online dating thing for a few weeks now. Some good experiences, some not so good experiences (coming soon to a blog post near you) and I realize that I haven't blogged about them.

So let me tell you about the Wounded Bird (oh, you know it's not good if that's what I've nicknamed him).

Wounded Bird contacted me with a nice little note and we exchanged a few messages back and forth and then connected through MSN. We were chatting on a Sunday afternoon and he was taking a break from writing his book - yes, he's writing a book. Anyways, we got to chatting and one hour turned into two. While we had discussed the fact that we both had things to do, our conversation was going well. I then realized that I was soon going to not be doing any errands any time soon if I didn't get moving so I suggested that we meet at the grocery store as we both needed to go.

Yeah, I know what you're thinking. The GROCERY STORE?!?! And to that I say 'shush' this is my fumbling stories through dating and I'll make an ass of myself if I want to.

Anyways, I met him at the grocery store and I didn't even recognize him. He looked like he had aged 10 years from his photo, had lost about 20 lbs and just look like life had worn him out. We shopped and then went for coffee and chatted. Now, in our discussions, it had come out that he had been married and being the kind soul I am, who am I to judge. But it was a messy, she-left-him, kinda break up and he was convinced that after the split in September he was ready to date in March. And apparently, I wasn't the first date or two he'd gone on.

Problem was, you could smell the 'rebound' on him. Totally looked like he just wanted a replacement soul mate and was lonely. We had some nice chats but he pretty much didn't want to do anything but sit and commiserate about divorce all day - perhaps another sign that he wasn't quite over it?!?!?!

Anyways, another learning experience. Next WHMPC? The Leaky Faucet.

*also referred to as my follies through dating or WHMPC

This = pretty cool

Life, and all that is tweetful

Okay, so I've been on Twitter for a while now. It amuses me. I like it. I don't tweet as often as I update my status update on FB but then, between FB, Twitter and my beloved blog, that's a lot of creative juices that are flowing and there are moments where I sit there and say...

(insert no creative thoughts whatsoever insert no thoughts whatsoever)

'hunh'

So to have to update now 3 of those - OYE. Is my life really that interesting?

Well apparently so because I just had the CEO of Zappos.com start following me on Twitter. Sure, I followed him first and he's following 300k+ people but that's not the point. He chose MOI. And then he tweeted this:

Cool... See what people are buying from Zappos in real-time! (Warning: may induce hypnosis) - http://bit.ly/zapposmap

Oh my god. It's a real-time map of the us and lower end of Canada (sorry MPro and KPro, we likely won't be seeing what you buy up in the great north) as they buy it. And you can click on the pics of the things they're buying and go to the product description pages.

I think I've just lost my mind. Or as L would say, I've totally lost my shit.

One way ticket to hell snicker from today

I was going too fast (and the 'offender' too slow) to D&S for this one but the best bumper sticker I saw today read the following:

My boss is a Jewish carpenter.

JJ had a similar experience on the drive in this am as well. Stuck on with packing tape to either side of the license plate on a car she too blew past was Mary on one side and Jesus on the other.

Yup, my chuckles got me that one way ticket to hell this week. And I think JJ's gonna come with me for the ride. AWWW YEAH!

Wine and a sports bra

I'd always said that 'a car is not a travelling locker' as nothing bothers me more than seeing a car full of stuff. While I know not everyone shares the same irks as me, I like to think that it's not a hassle when you get in my car to move around clothes, coffee cups, etc.

Well I've been slacking off a bit lately. The only thing that I like to carry in my car is some purple grocery bins (which slide around everywhere and make me sound like a crazy driver), a blanket and some wiper fluid. But for some reason, things seem to be getting outta hand these days.

I took a look in my back seat to find a knee brace, a water bottle, two badminton rackets and a brush for wiping off the car. I think I can put the brush away now and not jinx myself. The badminton rackets will soon be put away for the season so I'm too lazy to carry them in and out and with a 4 night a week schedule, it's just stupid of me to carry my shoes and knee brace in and out of the car.

It was when I opened the trunk to get my laptop out that I was a little surprised. My gym bag was back there with my sports bra flailed across the purple bin with the blanket and wiper fluid in it and there was also two bottles of wine sticking out. Unopened wine. And a pile of recycling of juice and water bottles that needed throwing out.

As I stood there, I just had to shake my head at the sad state of affairs my car (aka my moving locker is in) and think that if anyone peeked in to try and rob me, they'd probably be left wondering a bit about the person who would have that strange array of items in her car. Left me wondering about myself even...

I'm on to you, you parents out there, I'm on to you

This morning I drove out of my driveway and nearly took out more neighbourhood kids than I knew existed on my street.

WTF?

Sure it's spring, sure it's a nice sunny morning out but 10 to 9 am and the street's alive like I've never seen it before?

WTF?

Ahhh, wait a minute, I see what's happened. You parents out there have jacked 'em full of chocolate and then sent them out to play in the street. Let 'em run around out there. Drive the DINKS and singletons crazy with their whoop calls, riding their bikes all over their lawns, drawing all over the sidewalk with chalk, the works. SHARE THE EASTER LOVE.

Well I'm on to you. Haven't figured out what my punishment will be but you keep your eyes on your garden gnomes and Mary's in a tub. 'Cause payback's a bitch.

So apparently there are other lessons to be learnt

A while back, I commented on the fact that I learnt my lesson about drunk dialing and how a drunk dial home turned bad for me once upon a first year university weekend. The thing I didn't realize at the time was that there's a whole new sly sister to the drunk dial - the drunk text.

Yes, I've done a little drunk texting in my time. It only gets easier with a QWERTY phone (for the neophytes - a phone with a keyboard). But really, I don't even need to be drunk for my texting to go awry as I've discovered - much to yours and my amusement. So I've learned my lesson that I have a select one or two victims who receive my drunk texts - bless their little souls.

But I've discovered that there is the USC (ugly step-cousin) to the drunk dial and the drunk text: the drunk web browsing from your mobile. I found myself on Thursday (and then Friday morning) cursing a certain photographer whose name starts with L for teaching me how to browse and update my Facebook status via my phone. And sure enough, somehow it stuck in my slightly-less-than-sober brain on Thursday and I woke up to a 'call me' comment on my status update. SIL was VERY curious, as were others I discovered, as to the story behind the "L is the official photographer to the tramp train." status update. Can't say I blame them - although the UPI story was much more entertaining.

So, this is yet another lesson to add to the list:

• no drinking and dialing;
• no drinking and texting (or sober texting for that matter);
• no drinking and updating Facebook status from my phone;

and last but not least...

• no drinking and drilling.

BRING IT!

Apparently, in my old age, not only is my hair getting curlier but the curls seem to be going to my head as I get a little more competitive.

I've been upping the number of teams I play on exponentially every season. Last winter (Jan-April) I didn't play anything. Last summer I did my religious Wed night softball with the Pineriders. In the fall I did Sunday softball, Monday dodgeball and Thursday badminton. This winter I'm just finishing up a season of Mon-Wed dodgeball and Thursday badminton.

This summer will prove to be my busiest yet - softball on Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays; kickball on Tuesdays; and rowing on Thursdays. While softball is a staple and I love playing and could pretty much play every night of the week, I'm most excited about rowing. Surprisingly, I'm not into sports where it's solo competition or pushing yourself. I like being in a team environment with chasing someone or something to push myself. So I was a little worried about rowing because while you're in a boat with a bunch of other people, and there are races for the last 4 weeks, it doesn't have that competitive edge like dodgeball, or softball (I know, not exactly mano a mano sports but you know what I mean). And then yesterday I saw this article as I logged out of my hotmail account: Trend Watch, April 2009: Rowing. In it, the author interviews a rowing coordinator in BC who likens rowing to tug of war:

Many first-timers think that the action of rowing comes from the muscles of the arms. But in fact, it’s a much more dynamic set of movements. Sproull [rowing coodinator] likens the full body engagement needed to a game of tug-of-war.

“We try to connect people with the movement through metaphors. It’s a lot like doing a tug of war. [Think about the action] as if you were going to dig in your heels and pull with your arms and try and drag somebody across the line. It’s a very similar motion. But every time you pull you’re going to let go of the rope and jump forward and grab another rope ahead of you.”

Ugh, that's all you had to say. Now I'm going to be thinking of tug of war every time I pull that oar this summer. And it's gonna make me a (albeit tired) force to be reckoned with, me thinks.

So, if 2008 was the year for making lemonade (you know, when life hands you lemons, make lemonade), then 2009 is all about 'kickin' ass and breakin' hearts'. Now if I could only move forward a bit on the breakin' hearts front...but fear not, there are more wasted hair and makeup chronicles coming your way!

Things that make my soul sing and things that break my heart

Don't worry - this isn't one of those grandiose love laments where I complain about being single or dating or what not. I've come to discover in life that there are simple things that happen in day to day life that can, as I put it, make my soul sing and there are also things that can just break my heart.

So here are a random soul singing and heart breaking moments from the last 24 hours that I thought I'd share.

Heart breaking: I have, for some strange reason, a real affinity for worms. Yup, worms. They're pretty ugly and to hold one makes me giddy like a little kid as it inches its way along your hand. Who knows, maybe it's from years of watching Sesame Street and seeing just how cute Slimey was. Anyways, this time of year kills me to be at work because with all the spring showers, out come the flowers - and the worms. and then they get simply trampled all over by all the students rushing to last classes or exams. It breaks my heart to see them there so much so that I used to yell after the ex on his way out of the house on rainy days to "watch out for the worms". And if you're ever walking with me on a rainy day, you'll notice I'll step around them. So I implore you, save the worms, let 'em get to wherever it is they need to go on those rainy days.

Soul singing: Today it's actually a song that's making my soul sing. Well, and how hot Jack Johnson is - yum. I absolutely LOVE the song "Banana Pancakes" off his album In Between Dreams. I especially love the lyrics at 1:40-2:00 ish. I've put in a video below that I think someone made with the lyrics included. This song makes my soul sing. Life is good.

I know I'm a carnivore but this...well, this may be a bit much

So I like meat. I do. And that's not a euphemism for anything you dirty minded people. I crave it. It's my weakness. I plan my meals around it. I couldn't live without it. I would give up chocolate and all other sweets to not give it up. And yes, ladies, your gasps are audible from here. Seriously, I didn't descend from apes, I descended from flesh tearing dinosaurs, like the Albertasauras.

Anyways, the new Facebook layout irritates me a bit. But funnily enough, I saw that an acquaintance just became a fan of meat. So of course I had to check this out.

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=861130552&k=3VDT4XV6Q3YM5DLAPCVYY4

No word of a lie - you can be a fan of meat. Even better? It's in the health and beauty category. WTF?

So this carnivore had to share.

If only there had been a better pic

First I need to rant. WTF is up with Telus and the slowest transfer of pics I take from my phone to any email address I send them to. They are sometimes gone for a week plus into the electronic void only to show up days later. Does Telus not know that this stops me from having some super good blogs for you to read? UGH!

Anyways, I was driving the other day (and yes, this is a D&S story - Driving and Snapping) and saw THE BEST BUMPER STICKER EVER! I tried to get a pic of it and I did (I also discovered that I have a zoom on my phone's camera -woot woot) but it's too small to really read it. Once, if ever, the photo gets to my inbox I'll post it up so you know I'm not lying.

Anyways, the bumper sticker read - remember the irony that this is on a moving car in front of me in traffic - wait for it....

I ♥ my seeing eye dog.

Does anyone else think this is as funny as I do? Almost as funny as the biology lab in the basement of my building at work where they do experiments on roaches and there's a bumper sticker on the door that reads "Entomology's a buzz" with a couple of house flies on it??

And the visual proof: