Happy Canada Day!

I am doing absolutely nothing to celebrate Canada Day.

I worked instead. It took me two (yes, two!) hours to get home from work (I could have walked faster) and I'm fucking pissed off.

But, I know that I wanna be Canadian.

This is one of those nights

where I am feeling sorry for myself.

Youtube videos always make me feel better.



I'm drinking wine, and singing along at the top of my lungs.

This is for Jodijill and Mr. Jodi

I hated Lady Gaga until I saw this:



Now, whenever I feel sorry for myself, I watch this video. It makes me happy.

And I was amazed to hear that two of the coolest people I know were unfamiliar with this mashup. I dedicate this to them.

Sometimes, a girl has to remember her roots

I'm on a Corb Lund kick tonight, and this song... well, it's about more than horses.



Hmm. Mustache Man loves horses, but I don't think he would get the nuances of this song. I think we could have an amazing discussion about this. And, anything would be a relief from the Barry White Greatest Hits I gave him for Giftmas. I am sooo sick of that album.

Go here. Download this NAO!

This is the prettiest song I've heard in forever, and I just learned who the performer is yesterday.

For a downloadable version (and better sound quality), go here: http://www.reverbnation.com:80/ericnicholas

And then, go buy his latest album. I'm going to. And not just because I'm in a romantic frame of mind, these days. Local music needs local dollars.

Common People

I'm having a massive brain fart when it comes to writing these days, but, I love this version of this song. It's a couple of years old, but I'm not tired of it. Yet.



When did William Shatner become so camp he's cool. It must have been well after TJ Hooker and Tambourine Man

Famous Blue Raincoat

This is my favourite Leonard Cohen song. I have loved this song since the first time I heard it in 1991, a cover by Jennifer Warnes.

Sadly, Leonard did not perform this song in 1992, when I saw him in Regina. Here's hoping I get to hear him perform it April 30, 2009, when I get to see him in concert again.

A current favourite

This is one of my favourite songs right now:

Feast, by Quinzy



Yes, I like a Christmas song. Sue me.

Also, these boys are local. If I was as hip as I used to be, I would totally make a play for any one of them (we will not mention how they are way, way too young for me).

Red, Red Wine

Did you know that Neil Diamond wrote that song? That's one of the bits of trivia I trot out, whenever I want to look really smart.




Anyway, M, one of my bottlers-in-crime, joined me this evening, and we bottled this:

I know it's a Zinfandel. Poetic license, eh?

My festival boyfriend

About a year ago, I was volunteering at the Jazz Festival, happily selling drink tickets and listening to the free stage at Old Market Square.

I stopped, for a moment, when I heard an aching, soul-searing, young, but oh-so-very-old voice soar above the crowd.

I looked at the woman I was selling tickets to and said "Who is this? I'm in love."

She said, "It's JP Hoe. But you can't have him, he's got a girlfriend."

Like I cared. I had a boyfriend, at the time.

Anyway, I wrote that name down on a bit of paper, and had been carrying it around for a whole year, to remind me to buy the CD when I saw it, or take note of any concert listings.

It's been a crazy year. I did very little CD shopping, and paid attention to even fewer concerts.

Fast forward to this past folk fest. My friend passed me $20 and asked me to pick up his newest, The Dear John Letters.

I got one for me, too.



He's marvelous. I think I'll keep him.

Absurd

Every year it sneaks up on me.

I know that I will be out of town during the second weekend in July. Winnipeg Folk Fest is the same weekend every year, for the past 35 years.

I have my ticket. I have my campsite.

What I don't have:

• clean clothes
• clean sleeping bag
• food
• beer (or enough beer, at any rate)
• transportation
• sunscreen
• bug spray

Why do I do this to myself?

A little pick-me-up

Whenever I'm feeling sorry for myself (which is a lot, recently) or just need a little break, I look for funny stuff on Youtube.

This one never gets old:



(warning: bad language) I must watch it least every other day.

Walk of Shame

I had a conversation, a week or so ago, with N. It's a conversation I've had many times, with various girly pals. It's a conversation I suspect I will be having many, many more times.

And that got me to thinking.

It's about the walk of shame. We all know the "walk of shame" is walking home wearing-the-clothes-you-wore-the-night-before.

Maybe I'm a freak. I love the "walk of shame."

I OWN the walk of shame. In fact, I repudiate the "shame" in "walk of shame."

After a night of misbehaving with someone I may not want to see again (perhaps a visitor, and we are "Friendly Manitoba" after all), I walk home (or to the office) with a certain swing in my step. I'm thinking to myself "Hey, I'm pretty smoking, and wasn't that fun? Whee! Glad that I left without leaving my phone number..."

There is absolutely NO shame in knowing your body and expressing a healthy sexual interest in a person.

I repeat. NO SHAME. It's my life, my body. To hell with those who judge me.

I am unimpressed that they (by the way, who is "they"?) think that a girl can't have some fun without regrets.

Unless you've got names, dates and statistics, I'm not interested, but thanks for calling, and please put me on your "do not call" registry"...

I'm just clever enough to find a youtube video of the song I have in my head during those "walk of shame" moments, and here are the lyrics:

Standing in line at the grocery store
Reading magazines that say i should want more
There's an old boyfriend,
he looks my way
I can't help but smile, (smirk)
I feel great today (Yes, indeed, I do feel great)

Last night's clothes, no make-up,
drinking my coffee from a paper cup (Yup, that would be the walk of shame, right there, and damn, doesn't that coffee taste good?)

If this is it for me baby,
that's just fine, I'm not looking anymore (Hurray for giving up on looking!)

For what will make me happy baby, that's just fine,
I'm not looking anymore

So many places I'll never see
But here and now is where I'd rather be (Yes, it is all about you. Finally!)

Too many people searching so hard
But they never look right in their backyard (Duh!)
I've made mistakes, that's for sure, ain't that what your life is for? (Yup!)

If this is it for me baby, that's just fine, I'm not looking anymore (Looking for fun is good. Looking becuz ur desperate.. not so good.)

For what will make me happy baby, that's just fine,
I'm not looking anymore
(More clothes, more cash, more things, more rings) (I will buy my own clothes, earn my own cash and who wants rings?)

These lines upon my face, I'd be a fool to erase cause they show my place in this world (hell, yeah!)

If this is it for me baby, that's just fine, I'm not looking anymore
For what will make me happy baby, that's just fine,
I'm not looking anymore (say it again, sistah!)
If this is it for me baby, that's just fine,
I'm not looking anymore
For what will make me happy baby, that's just fine,
I'm not looking anymore (umn, do I need to say it? who's looking?)

Rawk on, ladiez...Own your life. No one is going to live it for you.

DST

Lots of people complain about daylight savings time.


I don't. I realize it's an illusion, but moving the clock an hour forward means that spring must be coming. Some time, anyway. It's been a very, very brutal winter, weather-wise.


True to form, I leaped out of bed this morning.


Drank a pot of coffee and spent four hours dicking around on Ravelry.


Then I had a 45 minute nap.


But after that, by golly, I was on fire.


I was going to watch Elizabeth: The Golden Age and work on some toe-up socks that I am completely in love with. But I paused for a moment... wouldn't the movie watching be far more pleasant if I cleaned the living room, first?


Well, I haven't gotten around to watching the movie yet, but yes, it is very pleasant to have a clean living room (I washed away a big-little brother footprint that had been there since November).







It is also very pleasant to have washed the kitchen floor (also very overdue), shovel the snow (for the second time this week), give the bedroom and bathroom a quick wipe (deep-cleaning occurred last weekend) and walk to the shops for a few groceries and a wine stock-up.

Also, does anybody want a TV stand? It appears I don't need mine any more. I also have a pretty nice coffee table that I haven't used in months, because it doesn't fit.


And there's some random stuff I want to talk about:


If you like bluegrass, or hearing crazy-ass country covers of well-known songs, listen to "Crossroads Country" on Hank FM. I stop everything at six pm on Sunday night to listen to this program. It's amazing. Surprisingly, the station as a whole is pretty good. Lots of Steve Earle and Fred J. Eaglesmith, which is never, ever a bad thing.

Hooch-making is coming soon! Look, I washed out some wine bottles, to prepare for new wine!



I swear, I am going to wreck this bookcase before I even get to assemble it.


Skool boyfriend freaked the hell out of me on Friday night. He basically invited himself to Winnipeg for Folk Festival. A weekend where I traditionally camp, laugh, talk, drink and generally misbehave with all my girly pals. I was, er, for a moment or two, speechless.


I'm pretty sure, now, that he is straight, and that he likes me in that way. Oh, dear. I don't like him back, that way. I mean, I'm all about making new friends, and it's great to laugh and talk with someone of the opposite sex (all right, y'all know I flirted - that's what I do!), but now he has taken it too far. If he wanted to do something about it, he would come right out and ask. Like invite me to Regina for the folk festival there. Dumbass. Scary dumbass.


And speaking of skool, the website says I have not submitted anything (i.e. 0/325) and therefore have not qualified for the exam. I feel a nasty phone call coming on. Again.

Fickle

Anyone who knows me well realizes that I am mostly attracted to older men.


Can't help it. There's just something about a receding hairline that makes me a little weak in the knees. Never mind the curmudgeonly attitude. I loves me some curmudgeon.


Well, not really. I like the confidence, the better social skills (for the most part), the ability to actually listen instead of just talk. I like a man who doesn't act like a little boy. Intelligence and thoughfulness carries much more weight with me than swaggering bravado.


So, at the watering hole the other day, I was asked out by gentleman who bears a passing resemblance to a certain singer song-writer that I have an enormous crush on.


I nearly broke my own damn rule. In some ways, I wish I had.

And speaking of my crush, I really, really want to do this. I know that if I spent seven days with FJE, (and 68 other people) he would fall in love with me.

Problem is, the week would cost $3,500 CAD. Plus drinks and gratuities.

Yikes.

Happy Yule to me

All that money was burning a hole in my pocket.

And, since I had to go downtown to pick up a memory card and the missing headset for my new pda, I thought I would pop into the bookshop and music store.

You know, if the shops weren't too busy.

As an aside, when funds permit, I feel no guilt whatsoever buying myself things during the holidays. My family doesn't exchange gifts. We give presents to the babies, and that's it. Honestly, not having to battle the crowds buying things that no one really wants makes this season so much simpler.

I wanted to spend a small amount of the unexpected funds on treats. Not new jeans or the long underwear I desperately need, but fun stuff. Stuff I want but never get around to buying.

Boy, it was hard to choose. Quite often, when I go shopping with idea of spending money, I can't find anything I like. It's when I've got a big bill coming up, or am trying to save for something that I find many things that I have to have right now. But, I persevered, and this is what I got:

Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave, Ann Budd and Anne Merrow, Editors

I got this because I spend lots of time knitting socks, and I really want to break out of my variations-on-a-theme basic sock groove.

No Sheep for You, Amy R. Singer

I have this fantasy of never buying another sweater again. But, wool is not always practical, so I figured that learning about the properties of different fibres and how the fibres knit up would be a good thing to do. Plus, the patterns are gorgeous.

Fitted Knits, Stefanie Japel

We talked about this at knit night - I think I am much larger than I really am, and anything I make for myself winds up being a small tent. I'm looking for some hints here, on how to produce garments for myself that won't clothe me and a friend at the same time.


For each of these books, there are at least three others I considered. There are some incredible pattern books out there, and I really do want them all. It's been at least five years since I bought a current book of patterns. Most of my knitting books come from the $4.99 bin. Also, I have very little in the way of reference books. Someday...


The music shop was insane, but the line was short, and I had 10 minutes to kill before the next bus. I swooped in and got two cds that were mentioned here. Everything I know about pop culture, I get from this blog.


Plus, these two artists are in heavy rotation on my favourite radio station, KICK FM. College radio is fun!

The Reminder, Feist

I had never heard of Feist before she played the Winnipeg Folk Festival a couple of years ago. I was blown away and have been a fan ever since (Yup, I pretty much live under a rock).

Back to Black, Amy Winehouse

I know she's a train wreck, but she keeps her panties on, unlike other train wrecks out there, and well, she writes beautiful songs.


I haven't purchased any music since July. I'm pleased to be adding something new to my ipod.


That is it for shopping for a while! I'm done, other than visits to the grocery and liquor stores. Except for the yarn sale coming up. New jeans and long underwear can wait until the crowds vacate the malls. Probably some time in February.

(All photos shamelessly swiped from Amazon.ca).

Truck Got Stuck

Have I mentioned that my inner hick, is well, not so inner? I am out, loud and proud.

I adore country music.

By which I mean GOOD country music. Not Garth, not Alan, and certainly not Shania.

I have a deep and abiding love for Corb. He's clever, witty, pens a saucy tune, and is really damn cute, to boot.

Did I mention he's been to my house? Funny story...

The point is, I have my brother's truck for a month. I've gone country. I'm driving that 4x4, V8, half ton, son-of-a-bitch truck like I'm mud-bogging in the bush. It's fun!

So much for my image of myself being all environmentally friendly and dedicated to bus travel. I'm driving to work tomorrow. I'm gonna ride the gas and brake at the same time, too. And take up two lanes. 'Cuz I'm a hick.

And, I hope I see the creepy little fool who slowed down and checked me out me as I was walking to Construction Inc. the other day. I'm gonna mow him down. Technically, you report to me, asshole. We just haven't met, yet.