Smoking never loooked so good...

O.k., wow.

Denise and I are hopelessly addicted to a little series called"Mad Men" that airs on AMC Sunday nights. I will be the first to say that the show is a little bit racy; however, with a main character that looks like Don Draper, and with the costumes and overall design of the show (which is set in the 1960's), we can't seem to get enough.

Did I mention that we love Jon Hamm as Don Draper?

In the spirit of my love for the show, here are a few other things I am crazy about right now:

Reading

Grey shoes

lentils

chocolate lava cakes with fresh raspberry coulis

my white sunglasses

The Office

Ciao!!

For L.

If she taught me one thing,
It is this:

Know what you want and never
Settle for less.

This is it:
I wonder if she wanted to go?

This one goes out to all the bois, and Rachel of course...

Here is something from "The National Post", Saturday Aug. 8th:

"Corinne Maier, mother of two, has some advice for would-be parents: Don't. Resist the societal pressure to procreate, she argues in a witty manifesto against parenthood called No Kids, 40 Good Reasons Not To Have Children. "This little book is intended to further discourage those potential parents everywhere who are beginning to wonder if having children is really worth the trouble," she says, adding that children will kill your desires, transform you into slaves and, inevitably, disappoint you. The book caused an uproar when it was released in her native France, a country that boasts a baby boom."

There has been a lot of response/backlash about this book in the Post, and all over the internet.
Here is one of the responses by a columnist from today's edition of "The National Post". It gave me hope that there are still people of optimism and faith in the world.

"The future freaks me out"

Question: Is an event that features both Barry Gibb and Miss Havisham memorable or just downright crazy? This is a query that I tried to answer yesterday.

Last night I attempted my second foray into the wild world of the 31+ Singles scene. There were a few ladies going from my ward, and they invited me to attend with them. As Denise was out of town and I was at a bit of a loss, I acquiesced.

The event was held in Barnwell, and it was an aptly named "Corn Bust". As per usual, I was the youngest one there. Really, I felt like such a fraud while we were all introducing ourselves, and the common descriptive statement was "I have (insert # here) grand-children and (insert # here) great grand-children" (As Andrea says, "Yowsa"!) I did dance twice, both with men over 50, and the one was definitely a septuagenarian if he was a day. He was also the one who, after I told him where I worked, said "You must be good at your job" (with no real further explanation of why he thought that) and pulled me a little closer.

The d.j. was a regular entertainer, with comments and stories enough to choke a horse. He mentioned three times that he had a girlfriend (yeah, yeah, we get it!!) and when she finally showed up, she brought her teenage kids along. The music he played was eclectic, ranging from Bon Jovi's "Have a Nice Day" to Abba's "Take a Chance on Me" to Randy Travis and "Forever and Ever, Amen". Despite the range of music, however, the only dancing that was done was jiving and a slow two-step. I invite you all to picture people trying to jive to Bon Jovi. It will boggle your mind. There was also an ongoing battle between the d.j. (who has a girlfriend, don't you know!) and the "older" folks there. They would ask him to turn down the music, He would, albeit begrudgingly. Then, when the next song came on, the volume would start to rise again. This delightful cycle continued until we left at 10:30.

Now, back to the celebrity and fictional character I have already mentioned. As for Barry Gibb, he was definitely there, hair and beard firmly in place. (Although, sadly, not talking about the issues) I saw a few people try to talk to him, but he only sort of twitched or mumbled. I was really hoping he would favor us with a song, but that wish was not realized. As for Miss Havisham, there was a lady from our ward who was there who I had never really talked to before. She is in her 60's, now single, and as crazy as anything. She started telling us a story that had happened 20 years ago. A man had wanted to marry her, but when she said yes, he married someone else instead. Luckily, it was revealed to her in a series of dreams that she would still be married to him one day. She thinks about it every day, still dreams about him, and although he is still married, it has been revealed that on a specific day next year, they will be wed. I tried to keep an impassive face throughout this story, and I think I succeeded. The rest of the ladies I was with were also keeping up a pretty good front, we all avoided direct eye contact with one another, and waited until she was gone to express our confusion and fear for her well-being.

The announcement for the next activity was that it was going to be held at my new favorite spot, the Magrath Stake Campground. However, everyone was encouraged to bring their great and grand children, so I am thinking that caveat automatically excludes me form an obligation to go.

As much as I joke and mildly exaggerate about the whole experience, I really do feel very out of place and extremely young. I don't think I have to feel guilty for not wanting to go.

Anyway, have a wonderful weekend, one and all.

A hodge-podge...to say the least

For all of you readers out there...and I know you are few and far between...the reason that I have not updated recently is that I am just too darn lazy. I should probably be more embarrassed to admit that, but no. In some sort of defense of myself, things have picked up a bit more lately and promise to even more in the coming weeks. This cheers me as I enjoy being busy, as much as I may complain otherwise.

(Sidebar: if you are a fan of Amy Winehouse, come down to the library at the Lethbridge College immediately because she is sitting right beside me....oh, that hair...)

There are a few things that are keeping me busy.

1. I have learned how to correctly use a colon: it is important to have an independent clause preceding it, and it generally sets off a series or summary after. Thank-you to Braden for peaking my curiosity about this much maligned and misused punctuation mark, and thank-you especially to the Google for always answering my questions, no matter how big or small.

If you liked that, a quote from Kurt Vonnegut Jr. regarding the semicolon.
Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you've been to college.

2. I participated in a Lethbridge Stake rite of passage -making Elephant Ears at Whoop-Up Days. I was very hesitant to participate; however, it was brought to my attention that the money goes towards the Youth programs and so I felt a sense of obligation. Luckily, we had the opening night at the fair, and so it wasn't overly busy. It was a lot of fun to work side by side with some of the people in the ward that I hadn't really gotten to know before. The weather was quite cool as well, and it wasn't too hot inside the booth.

3. I am now the Young Women's President in our ward, and while I am very nervous to take on the responsibility, I am so excited to be a part of the girl's lives. I had a first meeting with my presidency, and we all shared the same vision for how we want the direction of Young Women's to go. We have a lot of great goals, and I hope to win many a Ward Council in the upcoming months.

4. I have been reading voraciously as of late and here is a list of my latest books -

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer. This was an absolutely delightful novel, written entirely in letters. The characters are engaging, and the story is sweet with moments of humour and intensity. Read it, you will not be sorry.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. I wouldn't describe this novel as delightful, rather creepy, Gothic and absolutely engrossing. I read it all in one night, and about 2/3 of the way through, I was so scared that I envisioned myself laying awake all night in sheer terror. Thankfully, the creepiness abated with the resolution of the story and the explanation of the mysteries, but there are some fantastic final twists that kept me hooked right until the very end. If you do not like Gothic literature, you may want to either avoid this book, or read it during the day times only.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. This is ostensibly a book written for teens, but the themes of death and selflessness resonated with my (very few) adult sensibilities. The story takes place in Nazi Germany, and it gives an interesting perspective on what it must have been like to be a German under Hitler's regime. It is absolutely heart-breaking at times, and I cried for my last hour of reading the book. If you like books about the holocaust, read this one. If you are looking for something both sad and triumphant, read this book. Read this book.

I will end this grotesquely long post with a poem by John Updike that I think captures my feelings about Leita's death. It has been almost 2 months, but I still think about it almost every day.

Perfection Wasted

And another regrettable thing about death
is the ceasing of your own brand of magic,
which took a whole life to develop and market —
the quips, the witticisms, the slant
adjusted to a few, those loved ones nearest
the lip of the stage, their soft faces blanched
in the footlight glow, their laughter close to tears,
their tears confused with their diamond earrings,
their warm pooled breath in and out with your heartbeat,
their response and your performance twinned.
The jokes over the phone. The memories packed
in the rapid-access file. The whole act.
Who will do it again? That's it: no one;
imitators and descendants aren't the same.

Everything you have been waiting for...and possibly less

So, here it is. Blog #200. I have to say, I thought there would be more fanfare than this...maybe trumpets playing, a montage of me alternately writing and reading my posts, Martinellis and a large cheer when I pressed the "Publish Post" button. Sadly, there are none of those things. Only a dark kitchen and a sick roommate on the couch....hooray!!

Also, please don't think that because I waited so long to write it, that is going to be a mind-blowing post. Sorry, you just get par for the course today.

So, now that this post is starting to feel like a viewing of "Wolverine" (Ummm, is the story ever going to start?), I will get to the point. I spent about 2 hours the other night reading over my blog from the beginning. It was a disturbing, eye-opening, funny, heart-breaking and banal journey that has brought me to right here in 2009. I realized a few things:

1. I sure love a good list
2. While working at Chapters, I loved a good rant
3. I sure wrote a lot more before Facebook
4. I think I used to be funnier
5. While trying to be cryptic to other readers, I am now pretty confused about some of the things I have written about.
6. I do some seriously stupid/questionable things.

To illustrate the last point, and to celebrate a return to Poetry Day, here is something I wrote last night. It comes after I read a line in a book that I may have had a run in with last year. Didn't work out so well then...and...still pretty sad. However, I hope you enjoy.


A brief moment of understanding E.D.

I once told you these words:
"You are the man
I have always wanted to meet".
Actually, to be honest,
I wrote you the words-
I just couldn't form them
with my mouth.

In the most cliche of all confessions
they wouldn't shape around my teeth.
Only parched
in my desert of a throat.

They did, however,
fairly sing from my fingers
and fly
to press precariously on the page.
Then with one unbelievable leap
(arms wide, eyes shut)
I sent them careening to you.
Settled in.

And you?
(the story suddenly swoops
your way)
You said nothing-
wrote no response
to my most fragile
and feathered offering.

And hope?
Well,
it's perching still-
with dark eyes
that glitter on my bruised soul.