You've Come a Long Way, Baby

Guess what, faithful readers?! Today is a very important day. Why, you ask? Well, today is.....

MY 100th BLOG POST

(cue the orchestra!!!)

Ok, I realize that this day is probably only exciting for me, but throw me a bone here. I'm not going to lie, when I first started this blog and set the goal of building it into at least a productive hobby, I didn't think I would stick to it. Generally I don't stick to things for very long as I get bored and moody very easily. So I'm quite proud that I've reached this point! It's taken almost a year to get here, but except for a few gaps here and there I've kept up with a schedule quite well!

I've also kept up with my goals of building a presence and starting conversations on Twitter, and on blogging forums such as 20-Something-Bloggers and She Writes. I feel that my writing has become stronger, and I've met a few great people through my writings. There is still so much I want to do with this blog and I still have a long way to go, but I'm most concerned with just enjoying the process. I have not only enjoyed writing my own blog, but I have stumbled upon some other blogs that are just AWESOME, written by strong, independent, quirky and creative women who are carving their own path in life and whose posts constantly make me think, inform me and make me laugh and smile. I couldn't imagine not keeping up with their writings now that I've done it for several months.

Anyhoo, to go with the whole "yay 100 is an awesome number!" theme, here's a list of 100-related things I think are cool (why not, right?!):

* The 100 Thing Challenge
* 100 Things To Do When Ordering a Pizza by Phone (because apparently, just ordering the pizza isn't enough activity)
* 100 Things To Do Before You Die, aka Creating a Bucket List (or you could be stupidly ambitious like me and create a 30 B4 30 list!)
* 100 Favourite Canadian Things (ummm whose the moron who voted for "our changing seasons?! That's certainly not one of my favs)
* 100 Jobs in 100 Days - such a cool project (and a creative solution to unemployment)
* 100 Things To Do in an Elevator (good for when the elevator is actually working; because if not I'm only doing one thing - FREAKING THE F$%K OUT!)
* The 100th Monkey Theory (oh yes, Virginia, there is such a thing)
* Billboard's Hot 100 songs for this week
* 100 Skills Every Man Should Know (because apparently women are so helpless that we have to rely on men to know these things *rolls eyes* (Yo, PM, hows about we change "man" to "person" in this title considering we live in the 21st century?! Are you with me?)

I wish you 100 happy thoughts and moments this week!

I soooo hope this is me in 75 years! Well, minus the cigarette...though I gotta be honest, she does look pretty bad ass

If You Could Read My Mind, Love

I recently discovered a sweet company through one my favourite bloggers, Bakerella. For those of you who haven't heard of her, she's a "cake pop" maven! If you like baked goods and fun, easy recipes check out her blog ASAP!

Anyway, Chronicle Books (@ChronicleBooks) is the publisher of her cake pop book, and I stumbled upon their website through following her book tour. I'm hooked! They publish really fun, quirky, witty books with some of the coolest graphic cover art I've ever seen. I could spend hours perusing their site. I ordered this book for my mom for Christmas (she makes the best whoopie pies).

So, given how much I love this company, and the fact that I'm a huge book-worm, I was soooo excited to learn about their Happy Haulidays contest.

By blogging a list of Chronicle books (valued at up to $500!) I would love to see under my Christmas tree, I'm automatically entered to win said list! Better yet, anyone who comments on my post will win the list too! (ahem, hint hint)

It would be so amazing to win up to $500 in books - I wouldn't have to buy a book for two years! I mean, I love me some books, but they can be pricey and I'm one of those wierdos who likes NEW books and therefore frequents bookstores and Amazon.ca when I really should be visiting the library (oh hello, budget, haven't seen you in a while!). Feeding my habit can get pricey so needless to say, winning a huge stack of lovely books would be very much appreciated. If I won, I probably wouldn't leave my apartment for, oh, a month or two because I'd be too busy caressing all the cute covers and absorbing every whimsical word.

The only issue is there are so many books on the site that I'd love to read, it was hard to narrow it down (believe it or not the list below IS in fact a narrowed down list!). Don't say I didn't warn you ahead of time about the book greediness (what?! All they said was $500 limit, and I'm well within that! Don't judge me!). This means there are too many for me to write a little blurb about every single one, so photos (and short comments here and there) will have to suffice. Photos are better anyway because you can get an eyeful of the aforementioned gorgeous cover graphics! Behold the awesomeness (and pray to the book gods for me to win - draw is Dec 13th)! *remember to comment below if you want to be entered to win too!*


I am CONSTANTLY writing myself notes, so this would be very handy

Yes, Kerry, please help me 

Such a sweet story behind this one!

Meow!

Considering my financial sitch I'll be renting, oh, forever so new decor tips would be great!

BEAUTIFUL

I love to doodle and colour!

 

Frida Kahlo is one of my fav artists. I just read a novel that features her and really enjoyed it

Bahahaha. Oh cat lovers and their silliness

I really miss doing yoga, and lets be honest, we could all use a little "om" in our workday once in a while, am I right?

J'adore dips, and everyone loves the person that brings dip to the party!

Just something I wanna learn more about...

In conclusion, I'd just like to say that books are the shiz. Listen to Levar Burton kids, "take a look, it's in a book!"

Happy Reading!

Celebrate Good Times (or not?)

Disclaimer: I don't really hate birthdays, but I do love cats in clothes. Speaking of which, I will gladly accept gifts from anyone who is so inclined to send me one. I would prefer the cat in the above photo, but I will also accept trips to Hawaii if more convenient. Thank you.

So, it's now t-minus 19 days until my 26th birthday. Most other years, I would have had the night planned a month ago - made reservations, sent invites out, developed higher and higher expectations the closer the date came. However, this year is different.

As of now I have made NO plans for the bday. None.

I don't know why but this year I just don't CARE about my bday. It has nothing to do with the number (though it is a little scary that I'll now be in my "late 20's") because that really doesn't bother me. It has nothing to do with not having ideas (I've come up with a few possibilities). Part of me does care, and part of me wants to care more, but I just don't.

You see, having a birthday two weeks before Christmas is not necessarily the most fun. Two weeks before Christmas isn't exactly prime socializing time for people I know - it's always exam time, broke-from-Christmas-shopping time, family get-together time, etc etc. I realize it could be worse (I could have been born on Christmas Day or something - though that certainly has worked out well for Jesus), but it's pretty frustrating when your plans consistently have to be modified or cancelled altogether to accommodate said bad timing.

And it's not just about bad timing - since many of my friends have moved away, or become marrieds, parents, married parents, or on-the-verge-of-married parents they just do not want to go out as much as they used to, if at all. Most prefer a quiet night in to a night out at a restaurant, concert or dancing. Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not knocking quiet nights in - I love these too, and when it comes right down to it the company is more important than the activity. However, it is nice sometimes, especially for a special occasion, such as a birthday, to go out - to get gussied up, drink fancy drinks and eat fancy food, watch people do funny or crazy things, and just let loose.

So, because my preference for celebrating, and the preferences of others, don't necessarily coincide I usually end up compromising "the plan" in order to not (depressingly) spend my birthday alone drinking a box of wine (though come to think of it, that doesn't sound so bad...)

Beyond the above, my friends have also just gotten BUSIER. They have more responsibilities and commitments (as do I) and therefore less spare time. I also hate being the centre of attention and generally get uncomfortable with being "fawned" over, so more often than not I try to plan things around making everyone happy and doing something that everyone will enjoy (which is, of course, impossible) to deflect the attention from me to the group as a whole.

Needless to say, all of these factors combined together serve to only make my birthday plans a huge chore - complicated and tiring. Rather than make me look forward to the day, I just end up dreading it all and worrying that it's not going to work out as I want it to, or ultimately ending up disappointed because it didn't, in fact, work out how I wanted it to.

So, this year I'm taking a break from birthday planning and...well, not planning anything. As I mentioned it's my mom's birthday too so we will spend the day together Dec 11th (we're getting our hair done, going to lunch then shopping as civilized and chic ladies do - or so I've heard), but other than that I will be passing the day with nary a glance or a care.

It's probably most appropriate to celebrate my birthday with my mom anyway, as it were. After all, if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have been born and therefore would not even have a birthday. And she didn't just give BIRTH to me, she had a c-section and she CHOSE the date. She CHOSE to have major surgery and languish in a hospital bed on her BIRTHDAY, just so that I could be brought into the world. And there is something pretty cool about that (though kinda crazy at the same time - wtf were you thinking mom, seriously?!).

So I guess it's nice to know that no matter what, no matter how many plans get cancelled, how many friends are too busy or too broke to celebrate with me, that there is at least one person out there with whom I'll be sharing this special day.

And if all else fails, I will just "move" my birthday to July. Everyone wants to come to a pool party, especially one with cake!

How do you normally celebrate your birthday? What are your thoughts about birthday celebrating in general? Overrated?

Honking on Bobo

Last night at choir rehearsal we had a special treat - Mike Stevens, a musician visiting Dal (Dalhousie University*, for the unititated) from northern Ontario, gave a short performance and sat in on our rehearsal for a bit. Mike is considered to be a master in his field, and has provided music for various film scores, among other accomplishments. The thing is, Mike doesn't play any ordinary instrument - not piano or violin or saxophone or cello.

Mike is a professional harmonica musician.

Now before you roll your eyes and think "seriously?", let me tell you I have a ton more respect for people who play the harmonica after he talked to us last night! I've always loved the sound of a harmonica (I love bluesy music) but didn't think it looked too hard to play - they just blow into the holes right? (get your mind out of the gutter). Well, yes, they do but it's actually a lot more complicated than that.

Mike explained to us how he makes different sounds on the harmonica, but there is no way I can remember what he said. I know he used a lot of big, musician-y words. So, instead of me explaining what he said, here's a little blurb about how harmonica's work:

A harmonica has a chambered body with each chamber containing 2 small metal reeds. The reeds are flipped in alignment from each other. As you blow into one of the chambers air passes over the first reed and causes it to vibrate and this vibration causes the sound you hear. As you draw air in through a chamber ("suck on a harmonica") the air passes through the chamber in reverse and causes the second reed to vibrate. because the reeds are aligned oppisately - the air direction will determine which reed vibrates. Harmonicas use a series of reeds lined up from longer to shorter. The shorter the reed - the higher the pitch of the note sounded.

So, basically, to make a harmonica even make SOUNDS that don't resemble a dying cat you have to blow the right amount of air into the right place in a certain way. It takes much more than this to actually sound GOOD and make a career out of it.

Not to mention, there are three main types of harmonicas (arguably more) and thousands of different models. Mike took out the plastic container he keeps his harmonicas in, unrolled the bundles and informed us that he currently had about 40 different ones on hand! He takes about 80 when he's on the road, to allow for different styles, fresh reeds, etc! I don't even take 60 pairs of underwear when I go on the road (mostly because when I do, it's only for a week tops).

He then proceeded to hook himself up to a substantial speaker and foot tools (sorry musicians, don't know the technical terms, so sue me) and play us a set for a few minutes. Well, I was amazed - it sounded at times like an entire rock band, a celtic violin, and a dj spinning while still giving off that unique, raw sound that a harmonica makes. His incessant jerking and moving illustrated just how much physical power goes into playing this instrument.

That's not all, Mike is also the founder of ArtsCanCircle a non-profit organization "bringing Artists and Indigenous Canadian Youth (in Northern Canadian communities) together in Creative Expression". They basically connect youth in rural Northern Canadian communities with the arts, cool huh?

I found this all very fascinating and therefore wanted to share it. I had no idea harmonicas and harmonica-playing were so complex. I have a newfound appreciation for those that play them!

For your harmonica enjoyment, this song has one of my favourite harmonica parts (and videos) ever (FYI, the title of this post comes from an Aerosmith album - I believe Bobo was/is Steve Tyler's name for his harmonica -?).

And here's a video of Mike playing (with Matt Anderson, a blues musician from New Brunswick - repping the East Coast 4 life up in this bish! Word!).

*I should mention that the Medical School at Dal is quite unique, in that it features a Medical Humanities program that exists to "balance the science and fact-base that physicians use as the “tools of their trade” with the human weave that can make the lives of humans rich, rewarding, and at times mysterious." The program consists of "consists of five core initiatives: History of Medicine; Narrative Medicine (oral story-telling film, mass media, and literature); Music; Spirituality; and Visual Arts". The program has various classes, workshops, events, and opportunities within each of these components, including my choir (Dalhousie Medical School Choir). This program (as far as I know) is one-of-a-kind and many people from the Medical community around the world come to investigate it. Just a fun bit of trivia for your Thursday!*

Sweet City Woman

Well I've been quite the slacker on the blog the past few days! And it's safe to say that this NaBloPoMo thing can officially be thrown out the window! Ah well, I tried. The fact is, I just find it too tiring to blog every single day. I just have other priorities, and I don't have any inspiration some days so it makes more sense to blog because I want to and have something valuable to say, rather than just for the sake of blogging.

I was planning on continuing with my Fashion Friday posts, but my inner timer got all messed up since Thursday was a day off, but yet I had to work Friday. I also didn't wear any outfits that felt "photographable" to me, and honestly I find taking photos without a tripod a lot more time-consuming and annoying. So I just couldn't be bothered. I'm still going to do this series, but I may wait until I get a tripod (*fingers crossed for Xmas! I put a word in with the powers-that-be, aka my mom). In any case, I should probably come up with some kind of photo-taking schedule because I'm one of those people that, if I don't schedule things (ya know, pencil them in), I will avoid them or forget. I dunno, we'll see!

Life gets in the way sometimes I guess, doesn't it? Wily Bastard.

Anyhoo, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately (which isn't really abnormal for me) about many things, one of them being how much I love my neighbourhood. Mainly what I love is how central it is - since I've started working this temp job, I've been walking to work every morning and it's been great to get the extra exercise, fresh air, and invigorating start to the day. And it only takes about 25 minutes.

Not too shabby. I also work within a 10 minute walk to anything I could possibly need or want - banks, stores, coffee shops, etc. Needless to say I'm loving the convenience and the rush of being around so many sights and sounds.

In fact, I've always been this way - I've always had the need to have hustle and bustle around me (not too much mind you, but at least some). I've never really been content with quiet and slow. This notion is actually tied to one of my life mottos, for which my blog is named (which shows how tied up in my personality this need for motion and stimulation is).

The last guy I dated  (before we moved in together) lived with his parents in a rural area about 30 minutes outside the suburban city where I lived at the time (just across the harbour from where I live now). 30 minutes out doesn't seem like that far, but it sure as hell seemed like it when I drove out there and back; we're talking two lane highway, no lamps, no guardrails or fence in some places, and a speed limit of 100 km/hr in some spots. I used to completely dread driving out there then having to drive home in the dark - and I mean DARK ('blacker than the inside of a cow', as my mom would say). Not only that but there was also the constant chance of a deer or something larger bounding across the highway at any moment, hitting a patch of black ice, or some jackass hick speeding around you and knocking you off the road like a pinball.

I HATED driving home from out there in the dark and did it white-knuckled and tense-shouldered the entire way. Every. Single. Time. All I kept thinking to myself (aside from the worries of impending sudden death) was "I would never in a million years want to live that way the bleep out here!!" (except I didn't actually say "bleep").

I'm a city-girl and that's just the way it is. I can certainly see the advantages to living outside the city - more space, more green, quiet, safer, better schools, cheaper real estate, yadda yadda yadda. I can certainly understand why people move to such areas. I can certainly understand the value of quiet and clean air and just...space, sometimes. Everyone needs that once in a while. But there's a difference between doing it once in a while to recharge, and doing it every day and it's just not something I could handle every day. I can't even sit at home without the tv or music on (too quiet - gah!!).

I love the rhythm that living in the city brings. I love having so many options for things to do, places to go and events to attend. I love being able to call out for food whenever I don't feel like cooking and have it show up at my door within 30 minutes. I love being able to sit on a bench or in a coffee shop and watch the myriad of human beings pass by in all their quirky glory. I love stepping outside my door and seeing countless families, couples, dogs, cats, strollers and kids marching by, in a rush to get somewhere or just enjoying gawking like me.

Sure, the city can be dirty, crowded, inefficient, and unfriendly sometimes, but the pros far outweigh the cons for me. I love feeling like a part of a living, breathing, moving, changing organism like a city - like I'm one small cog in this giant machine that just keeps running no matter what and that maybe, in some small way, I help keep it running. I sort of look at the city in that way - as a great, big living thing that's always changing colour and sound like a quickly rotating record player, much like This one.

I love to take excursions to quieter, smaller places to recharge my batteries once in a while, but usually after a couple of nights I'm itching to get back to the place I truly belong. The place that never sleeps, and will never put me to sleep.

So are you a city person or a country person? Or a combo of both? What attracts you the most to your chosen place to live?