It has been a bit of a bleh week for this gal. I was feverish and sick for a few days, off of work for one. I returned to this awful email sent out by someone at the top to all staff. The tone was terribly rude with absolutely no explanation as to why a certain thing was happening. I was not impressed and immediately sent a reply asking for an explanation, I have yet to get a response.


Our whole work environment lately has been toxic, staff morale is at an all time low, certain people aren't talking.......it's ridiculous. I'm a neutral person and get along with most....there's 10 of us how hard can it be? It's kind of sad really, I mean we all love what we do however it's difficult to work under such a heavy cloud. I feel like calling everyone into a room and telling them to lay their shit on the table and move on, get it out and move forward. I suppose that would only solve part of the problem......it's also difficult when you're being micromanaged.....

Sorry for the rant, it's overcast, chilly and this cat is still feeling a bit under the weather and when I've had it....I've had it!!!

Do any of your work environments resemble mine???

I am wondering just how many of you tip your masseuse/masseur and how much? You see pre accident I was lucky enough to enjoy luxurious massages once every two months as per my benefits and would tip accordingly.

Since the accident I have been going much more frequently........every week for the first month and every other week thereafter. I am still tipping as per usual but it's getting rather pricey. My work benefits have been exhausted and the car insurance benefits are kicking in however, they only pay a portion of the massages unlike my previous benefits which covered the full amount.

For those of you who get regular massages I'm assuming you would also tip each visit. Is it still expected with such frequent visits? I know my answer to that question is yes......I'm just wondering what others actually do. I mean I don't tip my dentist or my chiropractor so is it necessary to do so with a masseuse each and every visit? Don't get me wrong she works like a son of a bitch, does a fabulous job and I think she deserves one, it's just getting rather expensive now that I'm dishing out for part of the service as well as a tip much more frequently than before.

I got tagged by WIGSF to complete this meme of five things that frightened me when I was a child.

1) Bloody Mary and I'm not talking about the drink. I remember being in grade 3 or so and being told all about Bloody Mary, the scary woman that lived in the mirror. I was told to turn all of the lights out, put my finger to the mirror and say her name 13 times and poof she would appear with blood running down her face. I attempted this a few times and chickened out before I hit 13. I was so terrified that Mary would appear in my bedroom mirror on her own that I removed it from my bedroom and for years and years refused to have a mirror in my room.


2) I was quite young when I watched Psycho for the 1st time as it was playing on the television. I shut the movie off, demanded my parents come back inside (they were outside doing yard work though it was getting dark) and I couldn't sleep for days I was terrified.

3) I used to sleep sprawled out on the bed, limbs hanging over the edge until this one particular evening. I woke up to something hitting my hand......I held my breath, mustered all of the courage I possibly could and smacked whatever it was touching me. It felt hard.......was probably the cat playing with my finger tips or something but from that day forth I was freaked out about what was lurking under my bed and not once has a hand nor leg drifted past the edge of my bed since.

4) Unsolved Mysteries always intrigued/scared the crap out of me. Robert Stacks voice was soooo eerie; I remember watching an episode in my dark basement when all of a sudden the TV started to turn green and flip like crazy. It was most likely the picture tube but tell that to a creeped out little girl. I was certain the woman who had been thrown off a cliff was somehow inside my television taunting me.

5) I was always a little weary of strangers. I remember walking home one day and a car slowing down......I walked up the closest lawn I saw nonchalantly pretending I lived there when the car pulled right into the driveway and my heart went crazy. Turns out the person driving lived in the house and was slowing down to let me pass over their driveway before they pulled in.

Wiwille & Claire have honored me with the prestigious Artey Y Pico award. It is my understanding that this is given because of one's ability to inspire other bloggers and spawn the creative process through this sphere of online amateur entertainment..........

I'm not sure I was supposed to "borrow" the above paragraph from Wiwille but it was well written so what the hell :)

Upon receiving this award I must follow these four rules:

1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award through creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogger community, no matter of language.

2. Each award should have the name of the author with a link to their blog.

3. Award winners have to post the award with the name and link to the blog of the person who gave them the award.

4. Please include a link to the Arte Y Pico blog so that everyone will know where the award came from.

Dddddrrrrruuuuummmmmmmmmmmmrooooooolllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

Awwww I choose to hand out this wonderful award to the following 5 blogs, in no particular order:

1. Rawbean: You are definitely one of the most creative bloggers out there from the cartoon vegetables to the drunken pizza contests. There is never a dull moment over at Coke and Count Chocula, it's fun, honest and always interesting to read. Yay, shout out to Rawbean!!

2. 2DP: You sir are one hell of a writer! I thoroughly enjoy reading about the shenanigans at work in the Corporate Etiquette series and do believe that you have a fine eye when it comes to the photos that you choose. My only request would be for some more male representation in those photos :)

3. JLee: Another artsy fartsy type with a rather eclectic list of posts! One day there is a quiz to fill out, the next she has a picture of a portly half naked man surrounded my guns asking her readers to make an appropriate caption to go along with said photo. I love it!

4. Tokyo Tin Tin: I love reading about all of the wacky Parisian goings on over there! Cocoa kept in the coffee section at the supermarket.......the deed to your mothers house to get into school.......what are they thinking?? Oh and the music, I love the crazy youtube videos that you post!

5. Postsecret: I enjoy reading the new secrets that are posted every Sunday morning. Some are sad, others are thought provoking and a few hit close to home. I am grateful for those who share their secrets and wish each and every one of them peace and happiness.

I often read interesting......and by interesting I mean ridiculous stories in the newspaper and have a tendency to save the clippings for blog posts and what not. I did clean house recently though and threw a bunch of them away however was reminded about the stupidity of our world once again this week.

The latest clipping isn't the cream of the crop by any means but it's a good one nonetheless. We have this newish law that if one is caught going 50 KM/H or more over the speed limit their licence will be suspended and their car seized for seven days. Not to mention fines, court, paying to get the car back etc.

Three vehicles were impounded this past week:

The first man was going 147 km/h in an 80 km/h zone. He told police he was late for his prayer meeting.

The 2nd man was caught going 145 km/h in an 80 km/h zone and explained to officers that he was just out enjoying a holiday drive.

My favorite however was the last man. He was driving 138 km/h in an 80 zone. He told the officers that he had not noticed his actual speed because he was concentrating on sending a text message via his cell.

There was also the gem about a police officers gun discharging during .... wait for this.... a gun safety course that he was teaching.

Oh and I forgot to mention, somewhere in the States a car dealership that was giving away a free gun with the purchase of a new vehicle! Umm yeah......

I went to go and see Tropic Thunder this evening only to find that I clearly have issues reading the "Movie" section of the newspaper. A friend was meeting me there and as we approached the cashier we learned that TT was not showing until Wednesday. You see I saw Wednesday to Friday in the paper, however I thought it meant this past Wednesday.....DOH!!

There's a huge lineup behind us and I feel pressured to just pick a movie, any movie only I have no idea what's playing. He decides we should see either The Mummy or Batman. Hmmm I haven't seen the first 2 mummy movies for a reason....so I chose The Dark Knight. It wasn't something that I had wanted to see but figured meh I could stand to watch Christian Bale for a few hours.

I ended up really really enjoying the film and I must say Heath did a fantastic job as the Joker. I thought everyone was just saying he was wonderful because he had passed away blah blah but he truly was phenomenal in that role.

Any other suggestions for worthwhile films to see in the theatre as of late?? Can't promise I will make it on the right date haha but it's worth a go.

The NIN concert was amazing!! You know most bands will get up there, sing, do a shout out to the particular city they are in, flash some fancy lights and then they are finished. Not these guys! They always put on a phenomenal light show with big screens, lots of colour and a ton of energy. A friend of mine went for the first time and said that he was completely blown away by the experience and it far exceeded his expectations!! Yay!!

The video below is a mish mash of various songs that a fan put together from this tour. The quality is not great but it shows the various lights that NIN used just to give you an idea. Around the min 40 mark is a cool part with a grainy blue screen and special effects are used on the lens to show Trent's face coming through. As well I really enjoyed the very end clip with these crazy lights that looked like gigantic dangling windchimes; it was amazing!

Okay, seriously what the fuck is up with Youtube?? I just played the video and it says it's not available however plays it in a darker lighting which defeats the purpose. I saw this on Tokyo Tin Tin's as well...what's going on?? Ugh, try this link instead.






My friend is home but I have yet to see her. Unfortunately I am sick and off of work this fine day. Actually it's the perfect day to feel like crap because it's an overcast and gloomy day out there. I plan to cuddle up in bed and sleep, drink some tea and take some vitamins. Who the hell gets sick in the summer???

I had a huge scare this weekend. My best friend went in for a routine C-section and the next thing I know she's being air lifted to another city. The most frightening thing about the whole ordeal was A) she could die and B) we didn't know what the hell was going on. It was late when she was moved and I spent hours at her sisters house just talking and hoping that we would hear something. The only information we had was that she was bleeding internally and the doctors down here were not able to stop the bleeding nor did the 6 bags of blood they give her help; it had been going on for hours. I kept it together pretty good until I got home, then I just started to cry and cry. What would I do without her? She's the one person in the entire world that does not judge me at all, ever, no matter what I say or do. We tell each other absolutely everything and of course have had some funny/ridiculous/embarrassing times together over the past 17 years. I was truly scared. We always just assume that everything is going to be okay........what if it's not this time?

The next day I got word that she was in the ICU and stable. LD and I had previous plans to go into that city at some point to go shopping anyway this weekend so off we went. I wasn't sure if they would let me in to see her but they did. The doctors were able to stop the bleeding and she'll be home in a few days. Phew!! I told her that she probably stabbed herself on purpose because she wanted a free helicopter ride haha!!

On a lighter note, the NIN concert is this week Yay!!! They always put on an amazing show and I'm very much looking forward to seeing them live again. I first saw them in 1994 when Jim Rose Side Show and Marilyn Manson opened up for them, I went again in 95 when they opened up for Bowie and AGAIN in 2000, 2005 and 2006. Trent's voice sends shivers all over my body when he belts out Something I Can Never Have. Enjoy!