Guilty Pleasure..

It's true. I can't help myself. I love the Oscars. It's my favorite night of TV of the year. It beats out any season finale, any season premier. Everything. I love the beautiful dresses, (I love the hideous dresses even more), I love the tuxes, the guys who try to stand out and be different and just look embarrassing, I love the tearful acceptance speeches, the arrogant speeches, the look on the losers' faces when they don't win and think they should have. I love the unpredictability, (think Michael Moore "for shame"ing the president a couple of years ago, or Roberto Benini jumping on the chairs when he won). I love it all.

This year the writers strike put the whole thing in jeopardy. I tried to not to think about that while it was going on because, let me tell you, if it had been cancelled, or just gone over like the Golden Globes, they would have had one angry Jessica standing on their doorsteps followed by a hostage situation in a boardroom until the issue was resolved. Extreme? Perhaps, but what can I say? I love the Academy Awards, I haven't missed one in 13 years and I'm not about to now.

Some of my favorite Oscar nights have been because of my own personal situation. Oscars 2006 was wonderful because Mare and I had just moved in together. We had driven back from Smithers that Sunday just in time for the pre-show with cheesecake and brie in hand. Jer wanted to come over and watch them too, so we graciously allowed him, but first set out the Oscar Night Rules. 1. NO talking during the show, 2. NO mocking of ANYTHING unless Jess and Mare first start the jeers, 3. NO talking during the show, and 4. Talking may be permitted during commercials but must cease immediately once said commercials have ended, and 5. NO talking during the show. It was a lovely night!

Last year's Oscars were also a wonderful experience. Brad and I had just moved into our apartment in Swift and weren't able to get the satellite set up in time for the show. I called around to see if anyone would be watching them and no one had planned to, so we got to work jimmying an antenna. It turns out that running coaxial cable from the TV and electrical taping it to a metal curtain rod will actually get you decent reception, as long as you don't accidentally sneeze in the wrong direction. It was a great night too sitting on the floor (my stuff hadn't arrived from United yet).

So, needless to say, I'll be at home, on my couch watching the Oscars tonight with Brad and Alexis. Don't call me, I won't answer, and I might throw something at the person who does pick up the phone...unless it's during a commercial break.

Is there really any point?

I'm almost reluctant to post this, but it's on my mind so why not, right?
I'm talking about Blog Hecklers. Yup, those people who clearly read the blog regularly enough to be able to reference past postings and yet feel compelled to talk about how stupid the author is make "anonymous" messages on the comments page declaring the idiocy of the blogger.
To those people I ask this: What is the point?

First of all, why completely waste time in reading a blog that you disagree with and clearly get no enjoyment from reading? Seems like maybe these people have too much time on their hands and need a hobby. May I suggest making latch-hook rugs with pithy sayings on them as an outlet for all of that creative energy.
Second, the entire act of commenting is a futher timewaster as the blogger has the ultimate power with their blog. Believe it or not, they have the power to delete the comment. It would be like all those clever insults never existed!
I suppose the whole thing comes from wanting to rile someone up and have that power over another person.

The act is concerning as well in light of the recent increase in internet bullying. There was a huge story in the news a couple of months ago when a young teenager hung herself because a heckler was telling her she was a terrible person on her myspace. Not quite on the same level as your run-of-the-mill Blog Heckler, but the elements are the same.

It seems to me that if a person has such distain for a blogger, the best thing would be to a) stop reading the blog, or b) make a reasonable educated argument about how/why the content of the blog could be better.

Then again, maybe some people are just jerks. To those people I say this: stop that!

The Cause I Will Fight For

It's somewhat unusual for me to take a politcal angle with the ole blog, but I need to talk about something. Maybe not political so much, but more along the lines of societal. The emphasis recently has been placed on "going green" and taking steps to care for the environment. Obviously this is critical and, might I add, about time! But I want to direct the focus elsewhere for a moment. I want to turn things to animal testing.
I was talking with Mum the other day and she told me her sister has started buying "cruelty-free" products, or products that aren't tested on animals. Seems reasonable, right? There are tons of products that advertise "against animal testing".
It got me thinking and so I started doing some research. Most of the products in my bathroom are manufactured by Unilever, Proctor & Gamble, or Johnson & Johnson. All three companies use animal testing on either the finished product or ingredients, or both. More research showed me that the only products in my bathroom that are "cruelty free" are my Maybelline makeup, Brad's Nivea shaving products, and my Canus soap. That's it. Everything else has been tested on animals.
More research showed the tests are totally unecessary and NOT required by law (with the exception of pharmaceuticals). Furthermore, many of them are completely useless as the results are meaningless since they're done on animals that have no relation to humans, and don't even share any characteristics with humans (rabbits for example have hypersensitive eyes that are so completely different from human eyes the comparison is not valid). They are all hideous, but some are above and beyond awful. I won't get into it here, but please visit PETA if you want to know what they do.
Now everytime I go to brush my teeth with my Crest toothpaste (Proctor & Gamble), or wash my hair with my Sunsilk shampoo (Unilever), or moisturize aftewards with my Vaseline lotion (Unilever), I feel awful. Obviously I can't just throw out the products (I'm in radio! We aren't made of money!), but next time I definitely will be buying cruelty-free.
There's a list on the PETA website of companies that have declared themselves to be against animal testing, and there's a list of the big corporations that still test on animals.
Now, I'm not saying everyone should boycott the companies that do these tests, but I think if people start putting their dollars elsewhere and just be conscious of what's going on I think it will make a difference.
There's no reason to be killing millions of cats, dogs, primates, rabbits, and rodents every year.
Ok, speech over.

One More Reason to Love Saskatchewan!

And it's this: February Stat Holiday. That's right, Sask jumped on the band wagon last year and implemented a stat in Feb. Genius. It's way too long a stretch from January 1st to Easter! The Feb stat (AKA Family Day in Sask) breaks things up nicely.

Yesterday, in honour of Family Day Brad, Nick, Kim, Myself, Vince, Shay, Brett, Broden, Vanessa and Tom went to Lac Pelletier for some winter fun. It was was a beautiful day and got really mild as the sun came out. We did some ice fishing, sledding, snowmobiling, and I tried out my new cross country skis.

Broden getting ready to catch some fish!
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Tom going crosseyed getting Vanessa's line untangled
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Brett helping Broden get on the sled
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Broden finds a Broden-sized hole from the snowmobile
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Takin a breather
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Brad and Nick at the shack
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Brad on his snowmobile
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Shay posing on Nick's snowmobile
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Broden can't wait to drive the snowmobile!
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Tryin our the new cross country skis and I fell once. Close enough for everyone to see. Figures.
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My new skis!
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Broden wanted to go up the BIG hill. Figures. I gave up shortly after this shot.
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Kim and I were NOT up for the hike. haha!
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Some things I've learned from yesterday:

1. a 7 year old boy has boundless energy

2. hiking up hills through knee deep snow all day is really tiring

3. if you're going to fall on your skis it will be right in front of all of your friends

4. a wooden tobagan will break if towed behind a snowmobile across glare ice (I didn't learn it first hand, it was just a matter of watching the spectacle)

Love is in the Air!

Let's See How Far We've Come

On a totally unrelated note, while browsing for an image for my last blog entry I googled "clumsy" in the images. The image came from this page:
http://www.bradleysalmanac.com/2005/08/exciting-game-of-career-girls.htm

WOW.

I think my favorite part is the chip that says "You are Overweight: Bad for Airline Hostess, Ballet Dancer, Model" I feel the need to repeat myself: WOW.

Go Coordination!

It's looking like one of those days. I think it's partly due to not getting quite enough sleep. Maybe just one of those things. I woke up this morning and started dropping things. I dropped my blush. Upside down. On the bathroom floor. It broke and spilled all everywhere. Thank god it was on lino because getting blush out of carpet is terrible. Still, I was not in the mood for doing some serious cleanup of the bathroom floor. Not to mention I was already 10 minutes late thanks to some big time hair-issues (thank goodness I don't have any clippers at hand or I would have been one bald newsie this morning). It was about 4:25 by the time I got around to starting my car and making breakfast. I ate as fast as I could (heartburn anyone?) and then remembered to take some chicken out of the freezer to thaw in the fridge. An avalanche in the freezer tested my reflexes (which are definitely at-par!), unfortunately in saving an ice-cream sandwich from colliding with the floor, I smoked my funny bone on the corner of the wall, and proceeded to curl up on myself and silently curse so as not to wake up Brad. Now this morning I can't seem to string together three words to form a sentence, and I could really use some sort of special elixer to un-tie my tongue which is apparently trying to work it's way around a dozen marbles in my mouth this morning.

Can I go back to bed and hide until tomorrow?

Vroom! Vroom!

Brad and I have been looking for a new vehicle for some time now. Basically, his Pontiac 6000 has just about bit the dust. It wasn't highway worthy anymore, so I've been driving it around the city in the meantime while he takes me little Cavalier to and from Rosetown everyday. Needless to say, we needed a new vehicle.This Saturday Brad and I went to the local Chev dealership where they were having a big used-car sale. Brad's a big Ford man, but we were open to pretty much anything for the right price. While looking around at the vehicles we spotted the only Ford in the building. It was a 2001 Escape that had been traded in the night before. They hadn't even had a chance to clean it, but we liked it. We took it for a test drive and really liked the feel. After a few respected family members had a look at it, we decided it was pretty much exactly what we were looking for and went ahead with the buy. Now we're the proud new owners of a 2001 Ford Escape! Yay!

Cure for Cryface

I am a crier. I can't help it. I just cry. I'm that person who gets weepy when those sappy long-distance commercials come on. I can't even watch the SPCA commercials with Sarah McLaughlan anymore for fear of sobbing for the poor abused animals, and God help me when those Pedigree commercials come on with the sweet dogs in the animal shelters (you know the ones..."My name is Oliver. I'm a good dog. I just want to go home").
There are a number of people I know (my dear friend Heather being one of them) who have a good solid cry and look refreshed and bright eyed afterwards. I was not blessed with that attribute. No, when I cry I get red eyed, puffy bags under my eyes, a red nose, and generally look like someone has used my face to wipe the floor after spilling a pitcher of red kool-aid. As if that's not bad enough, if I even think about crying after 7 oclock at night I will wake up with morning cry-face. That's right, the red blotchy puffy under eyes and the red eye in the morning. Even if I stopped crying at least two hours before going to sleep, I still wake up looking like I didn't sleep a minute that night.
So, for anyone who may be like me and have the curse of cry-face, I have tried many many remedies and I think I've found one that's at least a partial cure. As soon as you're finished your cry, go to the bathroom. Put in some Visine (or any sort of eyedrop for red-eye). Then use some sort of eyecream and dab it on generously (but not goopy) to both the upper and under eye area. If you have time, put more eyecream on once again before bed. The next morning another shot of visine should take care of any remaining red-eye. It won't take care of the entire problem, but it definitely helps. Try not to use too much coverup or too heavy of a foundation on the eye area the next morning because that just seems to highlight the puffy area.
Cry on, emotional ladies!

Groundhogs, Winter Doldrums, and One Day at a Time

Let's see...it's been a while since I posted. My poor negelected blog. Let's recap:
Groundhog day: Neither Wiarton Willie nor Shubenacadie Sam saw their shaddows which means we'll have and early spring. To which I say: Thank God!
Not that I'm not enjoying winter, but, well, to be honest, I'm not really enjoying winter. I'm not one of those people who hates winter, but it's just not a highlight for me. Every year I tend to find myself in a funk in February or March. Maybe a little SAD (seasonal affective disorder)? Hard to say, but I tend to start feeling a little melancholy around this time of the year. It's nothing major, just one of those things. I should probably take some vitamin D, but I'm too lazy to try and battle the crowds at Wal-Mart for simple bottle of vitamins (the lack of ambition likely sources back to the funk I'm in...vicious cycle really).
But, that being said, I do have things that I'm looking foward to.
Example: February 18th is Family Day...a Saskatchewan Stat holiday. I think this is a fantastic idea. The stretch from January to Easter is so long otherwise. Throwing the stat in there breaks it up nicely. I think the plan is to head to the lake for a day of snow.
Example: Mare is coming in 20 sleeps! Woot! Definitely looking forward to spending lots of time talking, watching movies, touring the area and just relaxing together.
Example: March is coming which means the end of winter could follow shortly after that (I'm hoping by June?). With March is also another long weekend with Easter, and the end of Daylight Savings Time which means I'll once again only be an hour ahead of my family.
So, in spite of the doldrums things are good, and there's lots ot look forward to. Let's just get through the day, ok?