Archive, February 2007

26 Feb 2007 Meet n' Greet Isn't funny hour when you have lots of time to write your blog, there's not much to write about, and when there's lots to write about, you don't have time to do it? Ah, the paradox's of life! Yes, I had dinner on Friday night with Stuart, his parents and his sister. I think it went well – they didn't ask me to leave and if they called up Stuart and told him never to see me again, well, he didn't tell me about it! I tried to be on my best behaviour and probably kept my mouth shut a wee bit more than my natural wont, 'cause these folks say grace before they eat. They'll likely find out about my pagan qualities sooner or later, but the first meeting didn't seem to be the best place to make an issue of it. (Actually, I hope not to make an issue of it at all, I'm willing to let them do their thing if they'll let me do mine… ) All in all though, they were friendly, kind and funny and I got yummy Greek food, so I count it as a success. After dinner, Stuart ran me home to pick up Mom and head over to the Blue Chair Café to see Gordie Tentrees. We got there in time for the opening act, which was slightly unfortunate, because the poor guy just wasn't very good. Gordie and his guys kicked ass as usual though, so it was worth a bit of sacrifice. I went up to say "hi" and buy an album… Gordie either remembered me or faked it very well, but either way I got a couple of hugs and had a nice chat, so that was good. The Blue Chair really is a cool little venue, the only problem is people who just come for dinner and then talk, loudly, over the performance. How rude! I got up Saturday morning in time to do some chores and pack a bag before my client arrived. Stuart picked me up after she'd gone and off we went. We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out at his place, watching Dr. Who, running errands, etc. It was fun. I took him out to the Spicy Garden last night for a belated Chinese New Year's dinner which was great, as usual. Now, with our respective activities, we won't see each other until he drives me out to Red Deer on Wednesday, which is no fun. Aah well, life goes on… Ciao! Currently listening : Universe By Sara Slean 2:36 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove 21 Feb 2007 Merge? So people keep asking me when I'm moving in with Stuart. And honestly, about the only answer I can give is "I don't know." Is that lame or what? Truthfully, I think that if everything were equal, we would have packed up my stuff and moved it already. Which is craziness – I mean we met for the very first time on the fourth and it's now the twenty-first. Of the same month! Two and a half weeks. It could be love at first site, although I always thought that came with rainbows and harps and time stopping and stuff. It definitely seems to have been lust at first site. ;) How long does it have to last before you can confidently say, yup, this is the one for at least the next two or three decades? How do you know that it's real and not wishful thinking? Where's the damn manual?!?!?! Fortunately (maybe) reality does intrude on might be's. For one thing, I just can't afford rent right now, not even half rent. If I could, I'd have moved out already! On the other hand, I fired off a resume yesterday for a position that would pay enough to handle my loans and half a household. Not that I'm guaranteed to get it by any means… but it would be nice if the universe would work out in my favour just this once. Please? Another point is that while I can definitely see me spending a whole lot of my time at Stuart's current place, it's really not big enough for me to "move in", per se. Those of you who have seen my library will understand the challenge. My books plus our DVDs plus his gear… god, we need a house. However, his current lease is up in September. That gives us 6-7 months to see if we're still together and happy and for me to get a little more solvent – nothing is guaranteed, but at that point, I'd be willing to give it a try. (He keeps talking about finding a two bedroom place in his current complex. I can understand the reasoning, less distance to move at least one set of stuff. However, the radiator pipes make an appalling amount of noise – no way! I have to pack everything I own anyway… in the interests of my remaining shreds of sanity, so can he.) On the other hand… I'm supposed to meet his parents and sister on Friday. They may decide I'm the devil incarnate and have me assassinated. Or whisk him away to be deprogrammed. Or to a third world country where I won't be able to find him. That would render all this planning moot. I'll let you know. Ciao! 20 Feb 2007 Fluid exchange Sunday was an exciting day. I met the Things at Eye of the Lotus about half way through the touch-ups of Thing 2's tattoo. It was started about a year old at another salon, but none of us were impressed with the artist or her work. And frankly, she didn't seem that interested or concerned about it herself, so we finally went looking elsewhere. We were all impressed with the new guy… he looks like he'd be kept off a plane by someone prone to racial profiling and he warned us that he only works with people if they like music, singing, swearing, etc. And he was completely accurate – all those things were present in abundance! We had a good time and Thing 2's tattoo looks like we all envisioned it, instead of like a self done job in a prison somewhere. Yahoo! Plus, he did it in about a third of the time as the original job – granted it was more like a touch-up, but still. There wasn't much else going on in the building, so the receptionist/piercer was hanging about as well and flirting like a madman with all of us. (In fact, we ended up going back later in the day for Thing 1 to get her nose pierced. It looks amazing!) Since Thing 2 is the only one of us currently single, she took a kind of proprietary interest in him and dropped VERY broad hints about how we were going to be at Hudson's for drinks later. This is where things went a bit sideways, because he didn't show up and she took it poorly. We both tried to explain that a) flirtation is sometimes JUST flirtation and b) he was flirting with all three of us, so for him it was probably about enjoying the game. In retrospect, that was probably a poor choice of words, because she got in a tizzy about how she doesn't play "games". I finally said, "well, it's your choice whether or not you play, but if you don't at least learn the rules, you're gonna get your heart broken at lot more." I'm definitely getting tired of coddling her… I thought I was sensitive, but yikes! She makes me look like I've got rhino hide. At any rate, we got her more drinks and some food, then dropped her off and headed home ourselves. And I FINALLY got to sleep in on Monday – thank god for long weekends. I had a very relaxed morning and Stuart picked me up around 12:30 when he got in from Calgary. I gave him a shiatsu treatment which was great fun. He'd done a 3 hour run on Sunday and I kept finding stuff to work on and make him groan and twitch. (You really do need to be a closet sadist to do this work, I think!) By the time that was done, we were both starving, so we walked down to the strip mall for lunch, followed by laptop browsing and the buying of real pillows. I hadn't packed a bag, so we stopped by the house and he very briefly met my parents (Mom's comment this morning, "He's very attractive" – like I hadn't figured that out for myself! ) before we crossed the river to see Die-nasty. It was a great night - the stand out line for me? "Cuddling is just sex without the fluid exchange." I have GOT to get that on a t-shirt. Stuart dropped me off at Thing 1's this morning in time to catch a ride to work and boy has that been a let-down. God, do I need to find a new job. Sigh. Ciao! Currently listening : Altered Beast By Matthew Sweet Release date: 13 July, 1993 4:20 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

17 Feb 2007 Slippery path... but to where? I know you haven't heard from me in a bit, but it's not entirely my fault. MySpace ate my last post and I was just too frustrated to do anything about it. David asked why I don't type up my entry in Word first, then paste it in, so if it gets eaten, I don't lose everything. And the answer is, because I'm not that smart, god bless me! But I am smart enough to steal a good idea… so kudos to David! The other reason is that life has gotten incredibly busy lately. When it was just work, Things, home, work, Things, home… I could keep it under control. But now that I'm spending every available second with Stuart, well, time has become a premium. And I just this second realized part of the motivation when I moved in with Mike so quickly – time! It's so much easier to have a BF and a life when you're living together because no matter what you plan for the day, you'll always see him eventually when you get home. Looked at logically and rationally, the speed at which this relationship is progressing should be downright terrifying. But however often I tell myself that, it's not: it's exhilarating, exciting, joyful, comfortable, giddy and wonderful, but not scary. Which should be scary in itself I guess, but I refuse to try and make myself embrace that. Maybe I'm setting myself up for a big fall, but then again, maybe I'm not and even if it all crashes down, well at least I'll have seen some heights! He left for Calgary this morning to visit friends for the weekend. After a reasonable interval, I texted him, to make sure he'd arrived. He called me back, which was totally sweet – something that I don't want to be a bitch and expect, but that I absolutely appreciate. He mentioned that he'd stopped in Red Deer to pick up more game pieces and I just had to laugh. "You went to G.R.O.T.S, right?" "You know about G.R.O.T.S.?" Ha, ha, ha, ha… I can't wait to find out that he and Gerry have already met, although given that they're into different games, it's not completely certain that they have. It would be the way my life runs though… I packed the parents up this evening and took them to see "Bridge to Terabithia". I had absolutely no idea what it was, but they'd both said they wanted to see it. It turns out to be a nice variation on the coming of age story with a large dose of fantasy. I really enjoyed it because I think it comes much closer to how imagination really works and because I thought the ending was only predictable in the sense that it actually made sense. At any rate, I laughed and I cried and I think Stuart will love it, since it's chock-a-block full of running! As Dad pointed out, it's amazing how much it felt like "Pan's Labyrinth", even though that one is much darker. They're both much closer to the original feel and intent of faerie tales than the modern crop of animated flicks. Well, I didn't have enough popcorn for it to count as dinner, so I'm off to scare up some real food. Ciao! Currently listening : Give Yourself a Hand By Crash Test Dummies Release date: 23 March, 1999 1:28 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

12 Feb 2007 To baby or not to baby Well, Will started it and since it's come up in conversation with the recent spate of dating, let's talk about it here. My PoF profile says "Does not want to have children." And inevitably, someone asks, "What do you mean, you don't want to have kids?" I don't know... I thought the phrase was pretty unambiguous myself. Ever since I was pretty little myself, I have been firm on the decision not to have kids. I've spent the last 20-odd years of my life listening to older women coo at me and say, "Ohhh, you'll change your mind when you get older!" Well, I'm approaching 33 now and although yes, pregnancy is still possible, if that biological clock is going to start ticking, it better get a move on. And no, I don't hate kids. I adore my niece and nephew, I love playing with Gerry's kids and Lura's kids and pretty much any kids who have been raised to not be complete hellions. And no, I'm not knocking myself - if I decided to do it, I think I'd be an ok mom. Maybe not the stay home and completely dedicate my life to my family type, but I think I'd be pretty cool. There are people who are hesitant to bring kids into the world because it's getting so weird, but that doesn't bother me particularly. If everyone thought that way, human history would go from strange to non-existant. No, the thing is... I just don't want to. Making the decision to become a parent means making choices about what you can and cannot do with the rest of your life. Even people with too much money, who can afford nanny's and travel for 5 and all that stuff - if they're really parents, they make compromises. And I'm not saying that there aren't compensations for the things you give up, but personally, the trade is not worth it. Maybe that makes me a weird person, but better that than a bitter and unhappy mom, IMHO. Years ago, when I was still with Mike, we went out for dinner with his boss and the wife. After several drinks, we were asked when we were going to get married and have kids. When we replied "Never", the loud and adamant response was "What!?!?! If smart people like you don't have kids, then the Pakkies are going to take over the world." Yuck. Maybe I'll think about kids when it requires a license. Fortunately, Stuart seems to be on board with this particular train of thought. We hung out some more yesterday and it continues to go very well. We have such similar tastes in music, movies, etc. and such congruent senses of humor, it's very comfortable. If you believe in such things, I'd be tempted to say we're soul mates, since I've never met anyone else who answers the question "What do you want to eat?" with "Food." LOL Plus, I'm a firm believer that every relationship should teach you something and in this case, I think it may be a more concrete appreciation of cardiovascular health! In less happy news, Thing 2 called me in a state of emotional upheaval - again. Guy stopped by on Sunday to return the stuff that she'd left at his place and she didn't take it well. Sigh. It's horrible, but I'm beginning to loose patience with all this drama. Until she accepts responsibility for her own emotional state, things are never going to improve and as far as I know, there's no way to force, coax or convince her to do that. More's the pity. (I don't really mean that - taking responsibility for myself is more than enough, I have no interest in becoming the deus ex machina for anyone else.) And finally - the rumor is that The Police reunion tour will be hitting Edmonton June 2. I will SO be there! Yippy! Ciao! Currently listening : The Triplets of Belleville By Ben Charest Release date: 27 January, 2004 4:58 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

09 Feb 2007 We missed the A.I. revolution I'm a big fan of sci fi, so I've read lots of takes on how computers will end up ruling the world. It's happened by accident and on purpose, with malicious intent and benign hopes, there's been robots who follow the three rules and supercomputers who follow no rules. But it's always assumed that this will/has taken place in the far flung future. I realized today that the sentient computers have already taken over and are probably laughing their cooling units into overdrive whenever they think of the idiot humans who haven't realized yet. Let me tell you what clued me in... I logged into my Windows 2000 this morning, clicked on my iTunes shortcut and got iTunes 7. (If you don't get it, read back over my last couple of posts.) As soon as I either get a new job or my raise, I am pitching this thing for a laptop. A nice, new, clean laptop and I'm never letting any boys, with their special upgrades or shortcuts or programs near it. Ever. I know, you're all saying, "we don't care about your stupid computer, Aerin - what happened Thursday night?" And the answer it, I had a great time. I met Stuart as planned and we headed down to Bourbon Street (WEM) for dinner. Once all danger of cannabalism had been removed, we wandered back up the mall to browse in Chapters. The end result of that was determining that he can save a bunch of money just by joining the Aerin Lending Library. I guess I do read a lot! lol We split up to our respective cars and met back at his place. Once the chill was off my gear, I gave him a shiatsu treatment. The man is really insane - in addition to the climbing/scrambling/etc., he's training for a 50K run. (If this lasts long at all, I'll probably end up in better shape just by osmosis! ) At any rate, on the one hand it was a joy to work on someone who's generally in exceptional health; on the other, boy does that much physical work do nasty things to the muscles! Ouch, ouch, ouch. Ah well, we can work on that. I reluctantly dragged myself out the door a little after 11 and once again had to dig my car out of the snow to get home. Sigh. And paid the price at work on Friday when I was tired and amazingly busy. Fortunately, I perked up a little by the time Thing 1, David and I arrived at Thing 2's. Boy was that a fiasco! We dismantled the old bed and unpacked all the pieces of the new one. The headboard was dented and scratched, one side rail was split halfway up the length and the other was completely missing the metal hooks (it looked like they'd been ripped out.) In other words, the new bed frame was good for nothing but firewood. So we reassembled the old bed while Thing 2 called The Bay. It took the girl 15 minutes to call up Thing 2's account, at which point all she could do was tell her that someone would call on Monday. So we poured her another glass of wine and had dinner. Meatloaf, smashed potatoes and salad, so at least part of the evening was a success. We hung out with T2 and her roomie until I started to pass out at 11 - then it was home time for everybody. It's gonna be a busy weekend, so I'll see ya again when there's some calm (ha, ha), Ciao! Currently listening : I Don't Care That You Don't Mind By Crash Test Dummies Release date: 30 March, 2006 5:42 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

08 Feb 2007 Myspace oops! So, I wrote a lovely blog yesterday and myspace apparently ate it. Does this happen to everyone or just me? I think that's the third time it's done that. Sigh. Some of the following will be a reconstruction and some is new. I don't think I'd mentioned it, but my "new" iPod did arrive on Monday. All slick, black, shiny and kindly loaded with the latest software. Which doesn't work with iTunes 6. If you'll remember, my PC problems were instigated by my inability to get iTunes 7 to load on Windows 2000. So now that I have both 2000 and XP on the ol' comp, I spent a large part of yesterday transferring my MP3s from one to the other and THEN to my iPod. Aaargh, but better than nothing! Also, in what seems to be becoming a tradition, Stuart hunted down this blog and has been reading. He says he's read back as far as December and he's still talking to me, so that must be a good sign! He's either very brave or he's even crazier than I am.... which might be a good thing too. He very kindly asked if it was alright with me if he read it. Of course it is. Weird in a bizarre self-referential way, but I don't put anything here that I object to strangers reading, so why should I object to a friend? We're actually getting together tonight and I'm really looking forward to it! I have to keep reminding myself that it's only the second date. We could still decide we hate each other and I could pitch him over the second floor railing at the mall. (Not likely, mind you, but you never know, I guess!) I feel like I keep coming at these relationships backwards. I have these deep, meaningful conversations with guys, get to know really intimate things about them, then discover that in the nitty gritty of day to day life, we're not that compatible. It appears to me from the outside, that other couples start out much more frivolously and work their way into the deep stuff. Is that true? If so, is my way around the problem or just another way in which I need to make my differences work for me? Hmmm... In other news, how the mainstreet press pisses me off sometimes. I caught a radio report this morning regarding a man who was just released in Calgary after serving a 10 year sentence for rape and attempted murder. She described the man as "26, 5'9", with dark hair and dark eyes" - because that really narrows down the options. Grrr... All stuff like that does is raise people's paranoia levels to no good point. If I subsequently got raped by a tall, blonde, blue-eyed man, could I sue the newspapers for not warning me? I'm sure I'm missing stuff, but that's all that comes to mind, so that's all you get! Ciao! Currently listening : Strange Little Girl By Tori Amos Release date: 27 November, 2001 2:32 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

06 Feb 2007 Fresh start - again So, loyal readers, I'm a bit late with this post, but I claim migraine in my defense. It started around 3am Sunday night and knocked me on my ass. I don't have them often, thank god, but they're sure doozies when I do. So I spent most of yesterday sleeping through my favorite dvds. And in reading my last post, I realized just how late this was, because I hadn't even mentioned that I had a date coming up and now it's past. Yup, Stuart asked me out and we got together on Sunday. The original proposal was for coffee, but due to scheduling issues it became dinner. We met for sushi, which was great, since at this point, I honestly don't know what I'd do with a guy who didn't like sushi! LOL Then we wandered down the block to the Wee Book Inn (used book store) to peruse the offerings. I actually found a paperback copy of the second book in a series that I've been looking for forever, so if nothing else, I owe him for that! After that, I did the classic first date no-no and went back to his place. He is really into gaming and some crazy boardgames, so we played a couple of games, listened to music and talked some more. Then I perused his book collection a bit, including a couple of gaming guidebooks that he wrote and a great romantic guide based on horoscopes. (I'm going to sideline briefly, to answer the most common question so far... yes, it looked like a typical single guy's apartment. Not messy, but lacking the degree of hmmm.... organization that most girls of my acquaintance would feel necessary. LOL It was definitely a straight, single guy's bathroom - one shampoo, one bar of soap, one towel and no bathmat! ) It was as I was leafing through the romantic guide that he said, "So, were you waiting for me to kiss you?" Frankly, I was at a bit of a loss on that one. On the one hand, of course! On the other, as I've recently had re-confirmed, I cannot separate physical intimacy from emotional. I don't want to fall into this trap again, where I let my hormones and my need for contact overwhelm brain - because then when my brain catches up and maybe says, "Well, he's nice, but not what we're looking for", I feel like an idiot. Plus it's hard to say, "I don't think this is working out", after you've been trying to justify to yourself getting his shirt off to see how all that time at the gym has paid off. LOL So, for the time being, it's brakes, brakes, brakes... sigh. On the other hand, when he called me last night, I picked up the phone with "Hey" and he said "Straw", so this could be the one! We made plans to meet up on Thursday as well as tentative plans for a Valentine's day dinner at his place, so at least he didn't run away screaming. It's also his birthday next week, so I've got to put some thought into that. What awkward timing for the beginning of a potential relationship! I never can do anything the easy way. Ciao. Oh - didn't answer the question did I? Yes, I did kiss him and it was very nice. And that's all you get! So there. Currently listening : Swing When You're Winning By Robbie Williams Release date: 22 November, 2001 2:33 - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

02 Feb 2007 Wrinkles in life Thing 2's roommate reads palms (not for a living, just as an interest) so I asked him a couple of months ago and he kindly read mine. It was a long, involved process, but the one thing he said that really stuck with me was, "Anything that you truly want, you will get. The thing is that there's not many things that you can be bothered to want that much." I felt like it summed me up to a 'T' and it's funny how often I find it called to mind in my daily life. I really need to find a new job; not just any job, but one that pays well and won't drive me insane. Since my dayjob is not my career, I'm pretty open to what I'm actually doing, but those are my main criteria. In the past, job searching has been a long, painful process for me: ten or more applications for one interview, five or more interviews for each position I'm offered. It's normally months between when I start looking and when I start somewhere new. However, the situation at the hospital is rapidly becoming untenable, with the impending loss of my boss and the lack of organization to replace her. I flat out refuse to do her job for a month or more at my current salary and god, do I NOT want to train her replacement. So, maybe, if I just want hard enough... As I was whining in an earlier blog, my iPod bit the dust. So I forged through the Apple site, which drives me crazy every time, and managed find and submit the "online service form". After that it was a whizz - they send out the prepaid packing material and you drop it off with UPS. I did that Monday. By Wednesday, I had an email saying it had arrived and another saying that my replacement unit was being shipped - if I'm really lucky, it'll be there when I get home! Wheeeee! Since my home pc is currently non-functional, I've been seriously considering going further into debt to finance a new laptop. This always brings up the PC vs Mac debate and given this experience, I'm leaning toward Mac. (This is yet another reason I need to find a job that actually pays!) Oh, by the way, for those of you who may be regular readers of my little life, please welcome a new-comer to the ranks. I stumbled across Will Entrekin's blog a short time ago and have found it to be interesting and well-written, so I've ventured a few comments. In the course of making a point, I mentioned my blog and the next thing I knew, he'd subscribed. I'm not sure of his motivations or how long he'll hang around once he's read a few, but in the meantime, greetings! I do recommend his blog if you're looking for engaging writing and lively commentary. (How does this tie into the palm reading, you ask? Well, I couldn't coax any of you to reveal yourselves, so apparently I just found someone who would!) Let's see, what else needs updating? Aaah, dating! Boys. Colin has professed himself interested in being friends. Why am I starting to feel like these guys have ulterior motives? He said something along the lines of, "I'm so comfortable with you, I feel like I can trust you and tell you anything." Which is great, but I hear that a lot - I can't use that as a criteria for who to date. Sigh. In that same category, I dragged David along with me to Yuk-yuk's last night. CBC is having a "Battle of Alberta" and Lars was competing against two other comics to represent Edmonton - he won, of course, although the competition was a little stiffer. Thank goodness. The first comic up was quite funny, but the third guy was all about being loud and swearing. Do people actually find that funny? The headliner was great, so obviously I can't remember his name. And I've struck up a conversation with a new guy from PoF. Stuart by name - a geeky, scifi loving, outdoors type, so if nothing else, maybe I've got another friend. :) I have been complaining that all my guy friends left town, so if nothing else, I'm filling out those ranks a bit. Although I have to admit, I haven't kissed so many of the guys that I've known for longer - maybe I should make the rounds? LOL Even if I haven't mentioned everything, I've spent far too long at this, so that'll have to do ya! Ciao! Currently listening : I Am Kloot By I Am Kloot Release date: 25 January, 2005 4:03 - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

01 Feb 2007 No cloud without a silver lining? After the long and frustrating conversation with Colin on Monday, he asked me to call him back on Tuesday. And because I'm a big ol' softy who'd rather rip out her own toenails than hurt someone else, I did. And boy, oh boy, had he put a lot of thought into the whole thing. He had written down a very logical list of concerns, questions, suggestions, etc. to support the fact that he felt I was giving up too soon and that he deserved another chance. I was honestly at a loss for words, because "yes, that all sounds perfectly reasonable and yet doesn't change anything" didn't feel like something I could/should say. So I temporized and asked for time to think about it. And I did think about it. In the end, I decided that the whole thing just made me feel like he was bullying me and trying to guilt trip me. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm making the wrong choice, but the whole conversation just reinforced that feelings of queasiness and tension that I'd had all along. So I sent him an email this morning saying exactly that. I don't think that friends is gonna be an option and I really hope that he gets the point and bows out gracefully. There's been a strange, but good side effect to all this. Having watched me go through the effects of the conversation Monday night, Thing 2 has somehow come to the conclusion that no one would go through that kind of emotional upheaval unless they really felt that the relationship was doomed. And therefore she feels better about the breakup with Guy. Weird, but whatever works! And on a happier note - I went back to the salon yesterday and got my hair fixed! Yeah! I mean I've been a redhead before, but I just wasn't feeling it this time. Now the front section is actually darker than the back, which we hadn't planned, but it's purple again and looks freakin' cool - so I'm a happy camper. Ciao!