ARCHIVED BLOG: MAY 2004

>>Return to Current Blog.

05/28/04...9:45 am

Over the past few days I have started blogging, only to get distracted (mostly by working on the STORM site). This am, however, as I am reading the New York Times online (like always), I find an article about people obsessed with blogging. So, of course, I read it. And then I get the itch to write. Interesting article. Although one always wonders, if there really are 2.5 million blogs out there, how do the people interviewed for the article get chosen? I mean, some of these people are really obsessed with blogging. Will I ever be that obsessed? Well, I won't write "no way, man" or some other such adamant expression. You have to be careful what you blog. It could come back to haunt you.

Had this bizarre dream last night about snowboarding. Except, I didn't get to go snowboarding (even though the boots I rented in my dream were awesome). Why didn't I get to go? I didn't have any pants. No, it's not what you think. I had pants on, but I didn't have any SNOWpants to wear. And I couldn't find any that fit. They were either massively too big, or they weren't waterproof, or they were too thin or..well, you get the picture. I wonder what I was anxious about. Generally when I have a dream where I am prevented from doing something, well, it is a pee dream. Let me clarify. If I have to pee while I am sleeping, it is very likely that the need to pee will somehow involve itself in my dream. Usually I end up walking into one of those public bathrooms with many, many stalls. Unfortunately, each toilet is soooo disgusting ( each worse than the next) that I just can't bring myself to pee. So, I keep looking and looking until I get so frustrated, I wake up. It used to be a dream I could rely on. It was always the same. But recently (over the last year or so) I have begun to come up with new bathroom layouts and sometimes I'm not even in a public bathroom! Sometimes I go from house to house, or from bathroom to bathroom within a given house.

Dreams are fascinating.

Plus, did you ever notice that no one ever wakes up and says "I had the most boring dream." People always say "I just had the weirdest dream."

No kidding.

Someone else has joined the blogging world.

---

Fun link of the day: Words that should exist.

Ran for 50 mins today. Yesterday we did modified plyos, so I didn't feel the need to do them today (although I could do some abs).

This kid playing for Tampa Bay, Martin St. Louis, used to play with my brother at McGill. He was the fastest little bugger you ever saw on the ice. And now he's a major player on a Stanley Cup finalist team. Very cool! Dan is psyched for him. And for good reason. It's not every day you get an opportunity to play at such a high calibre.

Intriguing statistic Mr. Don Cherry announced during Coach's Corner tonight. Apparently Tampa Bay has 18 Canadians on the roster, and Calgary only 15. How ironic is it that the franchise team has more Canadians? I guess it's all about money.

---

05/24/04...10:35 pm

Finally finished my degree at NYU. The diploma is in the mail, as they say. I hope it doesn't crumple in transit. Then again, I have no idea where my diplomas from Traf or Middlebury are, so clearly I don't take very good care of them. It's a strange phenomenon, framing diplomas and then hanging them up.

Lovely weekend. Ran an ex-boyfriend from way back. Grade 6 way back. Luckily, we have kept in touch over the years, so it's only been about 2 years since I've seen him. He's great. I don't know if it comes from knowing someone for so long, but really it felt like I hadn't seen him in a couple of days or weeks.

Went running 2X on the weekend with Ian. On day 2, we sprinted the myriad hills around the loop (Creamery bridge -> Hill West -> West Hill -> Creamery Bridge). Ian kicked my ass up the hills. But, he always circled back to get me. Hill running is hard. But, excellent for sprinting.

Haven't made a final decision about Finland, yet, but I am going to have to do it soon. I just can't afford to go, and it is too crazy to believe it is more important than Adam's wedding in NFLD. I really feel at this point like it should be either/or. Argh, I wish I could do everything. I just don't see how it is possible. I guess nothing is impossible, but, it sure feels that way.

Found some old Agatha Christie's that I haven't read in years. Because she wrote so many, I never remember the plots to any of her less famous ones. So, it's like reading new books all over again, until I reach the "Aha" moment. Then, the storyline comes flooding back and c'est tout.

---

05/21/04...1:43 pm

Don't have much time to write today. Trying to finish damn paper (finish paper, finish!). But, Ian just forwarded me a very funny link regarding the latest Greek masterpiece cum Hollywood Blockbuster (yes, I thought using cum here was appropriate, even though I generally shy away from this expression for obvious reasons). TROY has actually gotten decent reviews by the New York Times, as long as one doesn't expect too much. The Oddessy was one of my favorite reads in high school, with The Illiad coming a close second (and NO, I did not love P&P or Wuthering Heights) so I may have some serious reservations about this movie. However, I am willing to give it a try. Especially after reading this site's commentary.

Note: As I am writing this, I can hear Ian giggling downstairs. Clearly he is enjoying it too.

---

05/19/04...3:13 pm

Fun link of the day...choose your own adventure, NYstyle.

---

05/19/04...10:48 pm

Finally it is summer in Montreal! For some reason, blooming lilacs always bring back memories of elementary school. I used to cut lilacs from our tree out back and bring my teacher flowers around this time every year. Ahhh, the blissful innocence of youth. After watching L&O SVU last night, I am not so sure that bringing your teacher flowers, or any relationship at all with your teacher, is acceptable these days.

Interesting article in the New York Times today about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's personal belongings going up for auction. I would love to have a look at his writings, journals and letters! Apparently there is a big uproar brewing, since the former head of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Society died in a suspicious manner recently and he staunchly opposed the selling of Mr. Doyle's belongings. Many biographers and historians have not had an opportunity to see or document these artifacts yet and the concern is that some private collector is going to snatch them up and they will not be seen again. You just have to love the fact that a mystery writer has a mystery surrounding his life too.

Training has been going well recently. On Monday I went for a 1 hour run on the Mtn w/ Sonia. Then, Dan, Dan, Ian and I ran again with Dad at about 9 pm as a "moral support" run. We also did 2 sets of stairs. Last night, Ian and I did a plyometric workout.

Good times.

---

05/17/04...5:06 pm

some of my favourite people in the whole world are in this picture. Thanks Nat, for the memories. Nothing like another night of no sleep. In Amsterdam.

05/17/04...12:14 pm

Have you received the "boycott buying gas on May 19th" chain e-mail yet? Basically it is calling for consumers across North America to avoid buying gas on May 19th to show solidarity against rising gas prices. There are several interesting articles floating around on the web about why this e-mail chain will not work. One of the better explanations can be found here, at: breakthechain.org.

---

05/17/04...10:24 am

Back from our first tournament of the season (and ever as team STORM). Man was it hot! Everyone had moments of brilliance, and some less than stellar moves, but we won all of our games. We didn't necessarily win the tournament, because our final game was rained out, but we maintained our 1st place ranking, so that was great!

My twin (not my evil twin, but my "wear the same clothes by chance more often than is pure coincidence" twin) sent me this funny/poignant link to the noveal.org site. Worth a look. I knew there was a reason I haven't wanted to eat veal in like, 10 years.

So lovely to see some friendly faces on the fields at Dartmouth. It was superb to play against Marie's team and to see how much potential they have just waiting to burst out. Can't wait to see how well they do all summer long.

One downside to the summer season is the lack of book reading I get to do. I'm finishing up the first part of the Marquez autobiography/memoir trilogy, but I have nothing else currently on the go. Argh. I hate not having the New Yorker to read every week. Keeping up with the NYTimes is just not enough.

---

05/13/04...10:44 am

Keegan, aka Mouth/Spaz, took this great pic of the Pranksters old and new. The folks in this pic span graduation years from '81 to '07.

05/12/04...3:46 pm

While at fools fest in April, we watched this show on MTV called Pimp My Ride. Basically, it is exactly what you'd imagine. As stupid as it sounds, they've taken it one step further and now you can pimp your own ride, complete with trailer park backdrop. Check it out.

There were two other interesting links I stumbled upon today.

One is an article discussing the merits/studies being done on weblogs and blogger culture.

The other is for the hard core 80s fans in the house. Some nutjob decided that he wanted to sell his air guitar (yes, AIR GUITAR) on e-bay. And some other kid bought it! Don't believe me? Be sure to read the description of the "product."

---

05/12/04...8:12 am

It was beautiful here yesterday. Luckily I don't live in the prairies like this poor puppy below. Snow? Gotta LOVE Canada. Here's the whole article at canada.com.

---

05/10/04...11:02 am

Crazy weekend. So & I psyched ourselves up for running the stairs on the Mtn on Friday aft, only to find out they still haven't replaced them, so we couldn't run them. We were heartbroken. Instead, we ran for about 45 mins in the chilly wind & then made a double batch of cookies for Tryouts on Sunday.

Sat I drove to Midd to play with the alums. Hilarious experience. Lovely to see old faces & meet the ancients. Good catching up with kids I haven't seen in years.

Then back to Mtl on Sat night for tryouts on Sunday. Sun night we spent calling everyone to say YAY or NAY re: attending the next 2 STORM tryouts. Argh. Not a pleasant job. Lots of encouraging feedback, though, so that's A+.

Wish Ian was back from Vegas. Somehow in NY I don't mind being alone, but in our condo, with the pets, I feel lonely. Maybe it is the vast open spaces w/ nothing to muffle the echoes. Need softer furniture. And unpacking the books might help. If only we had shelves.

Dad's sister sent around this pic from Dad's trip to Hungary. Man on Horse. It's great.

---

05/06/04...10:12 pm

Funny news link. thedailyfarce.com

---

05/06/04...5:08 pm

Just dropped Ian off at the airport. He's off to Vegas for a week. (Every single time I say "Vegas," I just think "Vegas, baby, Vegas"...yup. Swingers. Where are those guys now? The one who played Rudy has some show where he invites celebrities to dinner. How far the mighty have fallen.... But, I digress.)

Just found out a good friend has a blog. He does really *cool* work for McGill University. And speaking of old friends, or acquaintances, why is it that the norms of society dictate that you must make small talk with people who you used to be friends with, or who went to your high school? I am all for keeping up the image or facade of civility. But mindless chatter with someone who you bump into on the street? Clearly they don't really care what you are doing in life, or they would have contacted you years ago. I am sure there is some philosophical argument for being polite, but I am just not good at the superficial stuff.

Gym today with Sam. 45 mins elliptical. Then I lifted hamstrings, quads, adductors & abductors, biceps, triceps, lats and did some abs for good measure.

Just finished this advance reader copy of a book coming out in the fall. I have been wanting to talk about it, but I am not sure I am allowed to. Should I be generating a buzz? There is probably an ethical boundary which I am not allowed to cross regarding discussing this book, since the author is a client of R&V.

I should probably start archiving some of these blog entries. It is getting out of hand. I might have to redo the site. Anything to avoid writing my final paper.

Although playsite has a much more impressive array of games (don't even start me on Tangleword i.e.: the best invention ever), this site isn't horrible: WEBOGGLE.

---

05/05/04...10:20 am

While doing research for final project, I came across this link with highly amusing information from a Former Professional Literary Agent.

---

05/05/04...7:48 am

Ran for 40 minutes (slow pace, mind you) and then did plyos yesterday evening. We did six types of plyos, and 2 sets of abs. Not bad.

The Hound of Baskerville was on last night. Although it was on late, I got sucked in to watching it. It is truly one of my all-time favorite stories. I used to read Sherlock Holmes over and over again. In response to the question every college asks (what three items would you bring to a desert island) my standard response was always The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes. I loved Agatha Christie too. I read all of her stories at least twice. It's funny that I don't still read Mysteries. I wonder why. I don't think I've found another author that I really enjoy. Most mystery writers do not seem to possess the literary skill of Mr. Conan Doyle or Ms. Christie. I mean, who can argue that Hercules Poirot is not the best detective in all of France?

Speaking of brilliant, the CBC wants you to nominate the greatest Canadian here: www.cbc.ca/greatest/. Sounds like they are going to have some sort of reality TV series pitting the 10 greatest Canadians against each other. Interesting, since I believe most of the people selected will be dead.

The top 5, off the top of my head, in no particular order: Pierre Elliot Trudeau, Terry Fox, Margaret Laurence, Carol Shields, Wayne Gretsky.

---

05/03/04...11:08 pm

Ultimate is already taking over my life. This may or may not be a good thing.

Middlebury's annual tournament is this weekend. Heading down for Sat. Apparently Midd Pranksters from the late 70s are flying in from all corners of the globe. It is definitely going to be an interesting experience meeting those players.

Just watched possibly the worst movie ever. Ok, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Aliens 3, and Phone Booth all vie for the Worst Ever movie, but Cold Creek Manor might just take the cake. If the venerable Mr. Christopher Plummer had not been in the cast, it would have been just unwatchable. Who thinks up these plots? Usually I opt not to watch scary/horror movies. But this wasn't scary or filled with horror. It was just plain bad. Boring, and too painfully cliched and predictable. All around, it gets a thumbs down.

---

05/02/04...3:30 pm

Montreal is good.

We had 44 girls show up to tryouts yesterday. It was stupendous to see so many women come out. The selection committee is going to have a hard time selecting players.

Want to be the next American president? Check out Americancandidate.com.

Training has taken a backseat this past week. Time to get back in the saddle. Plan for today: Run & Plyos. If only it weren't so damn cold outside. Beautiful weekend & then bam. The cold weather hits.

---

Want to read more?

Visit the ARCHIVES

April 2004

March 2004