Ghosts and playing tourist for the day!!

I went on a haunted walk at an old fort that was rather disappointing. It wasn't very scary at all, not too many spooky stories or anything and it was quite short. I went to one years ago that I really enjoyed so perhaps I'll give that one a go next year.


A friend and I were chatting about ghosts and the belief or lack thereof in them. I for one do believe such beings exist, he does not. I have never had the pleasure (actually I think I would be so bloody scared) of actually seeing anything paranormal in person. I have had a few rather questionable things happen that made me a bit freaked out but I've yet to actually see a ghost.


Friends have recanted tales of witnessing unexplainable beings or goings on......enormous shoe prints on freshly washed wet floors while home alone, toys moving from an upstairs closet to downstairs; again no one else was home, a little boy standing at the end of ones bed.....the list goes on. So you my lovely readers, do you believe in ghosts and have you had any paranormal experiences?




On a completely different note I met up with Claire this weekend and had a fabulous time, she's great fun! I took her around the city and thankfully I have a friend in the tourist industry that was able to help us plan the day. We crossed the whirlpool on a cable car, braved the butterflies at the conservatory all the while hoping we would not kill any lest they land on us. As well it was near impossible to capture these bloody blue buggers on film which drove us both crazy. We took a beautiful walk along the rapids and braved the mighty falls in our yellow raincoats getting completely and ridiculously soaked.


(Rapids)

We ate chocolate covered strawberries which were to die for and apparently Claire is frightened quite easily. I took her to a very dark haunted house where they have live actors that try to scare you. We managed to get up the stairs, walk down a hall then heard a low voice and loud banging. It was frightening, she grabbed my arm and told me I could go alone and she'd wait for me. No way, we both turned around and got the hell outta there haha!!! We had a good laugh about that one.

(Booths at Sneaks....such a classy place!!)


It was a friends birthday this weekend as well, so Claire came out with us and danced the night away. We drank far too much and of course had to hit up Sneaky Dee's for a late night snacky poo IE breakfast at 4 am. Sorry for keeping you out so late, hope you were able to sleep on the train to Montreal :)

Tag

I was tagged by WIGSF

Each blogger must state eight random facts/habits about themselves

(A few of these I posted back in 2005 when I had like 2 readers, so i've put those back on and added a few new ones)

1) It horrifies me when others drink out of my glass or bottle or whatever it is I am drinking out of. I think it is terribly unsanitary and at the very least if they want to try my drink, I will turn the glass around so our lip marks do not touch. I don't need someone elses saliva and food bits in my glass. Same goes for anything else I would put up to my lips. Dawn's dad once asked me for a drag of a smoke (when I used to smoke) and I yelled out "what" with a disgusted look on my face. Once Dawn explained my aversion to him, he made a quip about me being able to share air with other people. Which leads me to my next habit...

2) Whenever I am out in public, walking past someone and they sneeze, I hold my breath until I pass the area that they were in. This also applies when people cough. Perhaps I have some weird issue with getting sick that I am unaware of, but I certainly do not want their icky germs in my body.

3) If someone leaves a light on when they are not in the room any longer, rather than turn it off, I must point it out to them......sometimes repeatedly, when really the end result i'd like is to just have the light off.

4) I am deathly afraid of spiders and have been known to cry because of them. It's almost like a small panic attack, my heart starts racing......it's very odd to have such a small thing affect me in such a huge way.

5) Whenever I see a dead animal on the side of the road I bless it. My friend does this and I thought she was a big weirdo the 1st time I saw her do it and now I am clearly a big weirdo as well.

6) I avoid gatherings at all costs with people I have not seen in a while IE family friends at Christmas. I don't enjoy the whole "so what are you doing" small talk. It makes me uncomfortable.

7) I am a rather sensitive person and take things to heart which can sometimes be great and sometimes not so great.....my cynicysm has quite the imagination as well which makes me distrustful of people, even if they are being sincere.

8) I've had my camera for almost 2 years, can point and shoot but have no idea how to use any of the actual functions on it.

Bars....Pubs??

Well i'm definately feeling much better than the last time I posted which is good news :)

The conference was alright, there was one interesting speaker but the rest I could have done without. I enjoyed my evening out with a few friends and a friend of theirs who decided to pay for everything (He wasn't some creepy guy, he was attending the conference as well). As much of a feminist as I am, it was nice to be treated to a night on the town. "Leave your purses at the hotel" hmmmm Okay!!

It did open my eyes a little bit to the fact that I am getting older every second and perhaps those types of bars are not the place for me. Everyone seemed to be of age or using fake ID.

(I snagged this photo off the net but you get the idea)

It's weird though, for instance 7 months ago I went to a place and had a fantastic time. I went to the same place a few weekends ago and everyone seemed to be having their 19th birthday, we left after a few drinks. I'm not even talking about those raging dance clubs or anything like that, just regular bars. Where do the old people go???

Apparently I need to find a nice pub to chill out at every once in a while. Screaming girls and waiting in line 30 minutes for a toilet (because they have all overflowed) no longer seems to appeal to me.

I am in an absolutely wretched mood and I have a busy week ahead. Very late nights followed by an out of town conference that I'm not too keen on attending. I'm just feeling defeated/melancholy as of late if that makes any sense at all. Little things are getting on my nerves....Somthings gotta give. So rather than bitch and whinge on here (cause nobody enjoys a complainer) I'm going to post a silly joke. It gave me a good chuckle when I first read it. Have a great week!
(The photos are of my favorite sculpture The Angel of Grief by William Wetmore Story. They best convey how I am feeling)

My Living Will

Last night my friend and I were sitting in the living room and I said to her

"I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug."

She got up, unplugged the TV and threw out my wine.

She's such a bitch.......

HNT

It's been eons since i've done one of these, Happy HNT!!

200th Post

Wow, 200 posts in just over 2 years!!! Seems like just yesterday I started this silly thing.

I had a gluttonous weekend and filled myself not once but twice with Japanese food and of course a few pints of Stella. Needless to say Sunday was a rather lazy day as I was nursing a sore noggin and trying to rehydrate myself. I spent many hours working towards goal # 73 (to finish the 1st 3 seasons of LOST). IE I sat on my couch allllll day long!!!

For the Canucks it's Thanksgiving which means an extra day off of work which is always lovely. We're not really having a dinner per se as my parents are away and I don't eat meat.....so really I see no point. I was invited to a few meals which I declined due to my throbbing head, however a friend stopped by with not one, but three pieces of pie that she made; So I was able to have some pumpkin pie which is very Thanksgivingish.

I was hoping to try a tofurkey this year.....yes folks, a fake turkey made out of tofu. They have always piqued my interest however I have never actually tried one. If we do end up having some type of Thanksgiving dinner in the coming weeks, I will search high and low for one as I find they are rather hard to come by in my neck of the woods (I've only seen one). I find anything smothered in veggie gravy to be delightful so I imagine it will taste better than it looks. I doubt anyone else in my family will touch the thing and will most likely mock me so I will probably be eating tofurkey well into November!!


I plan to spend my extra day off cleaning, exciting I know but unfortunately it is a necessary evil. I don't just mean tidying up & dusting but more along the lines of gut out my closet, under the bed, find stuff to freecycle type of cleaning. Wish me luck!!

Funny Friday

An Irish Ghost Story (I got this in an email, thought it was cute)

This story happened a while ago in Dublin , and even though it sounds like an Alfred Hitchcock tale, its true. John Bradford, a Dublin University student, was on the side of the road hitchhiking on a very dark night and in the midst of a storm. The night was rolling on and no car went by. The storm was so strong he could hardly see a few feet ahead of him. Suddenly, he saw a car slowly coming towards him and stopped. John, desperate for shelter and without thinking about it, got into the car and closed the door.. only to realize there was nobody behind the wheel and the engine wasn't on!!

The car started moving slowly. John looked at the road ahead and saw a curve approaching. Scared, he started to pray, begging for his life. Then, just before the car hit the curve, a hand appeared through the window and turned the wheel. John, paralysed with terror, watched as the hand repeatedly came through the window, but never touched or harmed him. Shortly thereafter John saw the lights of a pub appear down the road, so, gathering strength, he jumped out of the car and ran to it.

Wet and out of breath, he rushed inside and started telling everybody about the horrible experience he had just had. A silence enveloped the pub when everybody realized he was crying. Suddenly, the door opened, and two other people walked in from the stormy night. They, like John, were also soaked and out of breath. Looking around, and seeing John Bradford sobbing at the bar, one said to the other..."Look Paddy.....there's that fucking idiot that got in the car while we were pushing it!!!!"

___________________________________________________________

WIFE VS. HUSBAND

A couple drove down a country road for several miles, not saying a word.
An earlier discussion had led to an argument and neither of them
wanted to concede their position.
As they passed a barnyard of mules, goats, and pigs, the husband asked
sarcastically, "Relatives of yours?"

"Yep," the wife replied, "in-laws."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So to my bloggy friends a toast:

May the winds of fortune sail you

May you sail a gentle sea

May it always be the other guy

who says, "this drink's on me."

Have a great weekend, I plan to spend mine getting silly as it's October and I can have a drinky poo!!!

CHEERS!!!!

Chinese Lantern Festival

It was yet another quiet weekend for me, I've taken to watching TV and reading a lot while not drinking. I did however say something asinine while watching a commercial with LD and could not control my laughter for sometime after. To set the scene, an older gentleman is about to blow out his birthday candles and a young boy (his grandson perhaps) runs into the room holding a jar. He opens it, a big gust follows, the candles go out and there is this explosion if you will. So I say to LD "ohhh I get it he farted in the jar." She looks at me quizzically as I go on to explain how the little boy obviously farted in the jar and opened it thus causing the explosion. I then realize that this of course makes noooooo sense and the ad has something to do with wind or energy I'm not quite sure as I burst into laughter at my ridiculous thought. Seriously though, that's the first thing that crossed my mind "oohhhhh be farted in the jar, I get it." Unbelievable.


Today we went to see the Chinese Lantern Festival in the big city and it really was quite amazing and grand. Last year it took 60 craftsmen from the China Colour Lantern Museum of Zigong, China 45 days to build the beautiful sets on land and water.

This year, there were more than 40 spectacular illuminated sets; as well as entertainment and of course a small market area. I was surprised at the size of the lanterns and fell in love with the cute "chubby but agile" pandas.



The photos do not even do the festival justice but will give you a taste of what we experienced. Enjoy:







The above was particularly interesting as they used kitchenware to build the dragon heads. A close-up below where you can see the spoons, bowls and cups, very cool and creative.

I hope that everyone had a good weekend!!

Worst Pick-Up Lines

1. “What’s your sign?”The epitome of cheese, this line, which has been around since the Beatles came to America, ranks as the very worst line in dating history. The fact that it’s still in use says a lot about the decay of our society’s standards and the glaring desperation of some singles.

2. “Pardon me, I seem to have lost my phone number, can I borrow yours?”Maybe this was funny around 1910 or 1915—back when the telephone was a novel appliance. It does not inspire smiles now, only scared and doomed looks.

3. “You must be a broom because you’re sweeping me off my feet.”Maybe your dad used this one on your mom and for nostalgia’s sake, you’re bringing it out again. Nostalgia does not get you dates, only pity.

4. “Do you have a license? Because you’re driving me crazy.”Caution! Watching too many stupid teen movies impairs your judgment. This probably sounded clever to the person who swiped it from an Annette and Frankie beach party flick.

5. “I gotta thirst and baby, you look like my Gatorade.”Generally, comparing potential dates to food or drinks is not a winning move. “I had a guy use this one on me and I rolled my eyes and walked way,” says Susan, a marketing representative who doesn’t usually go for lines. “But a couple of weeks later, I saw this hot guy at the gym and I used that same line and it worked! I guess there are gender preferences when it comes to lines. He was really flattered, where I was insulted when it was used on me.”

6. “Are you lost? Because heaven’s a long way from here.”Maybe angels like this one, but real women don’t.

7. “Are you religious? Because you’re the answer to all my prayers.”Prayer is something that anyone who uses this tacky line desperately needs.

8. “Can I take your picture? I want Santa to know exactly what I want for Christmas.”This line is popular with both men and women who think references to Santa are cute and charming, which are qualities that they never possess personally.

9. “Do you believe in love at first sight or should I walk by again?”“A stunning woman I had been staring at used this on me,” says Mark, a tawny-haired, gregarious copywriter. “I know it’s an old one but it took guts to say it. I’m afraid I happily fell for it.”

10. “Well, here I am. What are your other two wishes?”A personal favorite, this one takes a certain amount of arrogance, as well as delusion, to pull off.

(Rosalind Cummings-Yeates is a freelance writer who often reports on relationships)

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I found the above on msn online and it gave me a good chuckle. Granted if any of the men below said any one of those lines to me....I would be putty in their hands LOL.

(James from Survivor)

(Aaron from Survivor)

(Brad aka The Bachelor)

I haven't heard anything too outrageous in my time however I did get "Can I borrow a quarter, I have to call my mother to tell her I met my future wife." Has anyone heard any funny lines in their time.....or even better, used one????

Funny!

I needed a good laugh this morning and thought everyone else could use one too, enjoy!!

One night, after the couple had retired for the night, the woman became aware that her husband was touching her in a most unusual manner. He started by running his hand across her shoulders and the small of her back. He ran his hand over her breasts, touching them very lightly. Then, he proceeded to run his hand gently down her side, sliding his hand over her stomach, and then down the other side to a point below her waist. He continued on, gently feeling her hips, first one side and the the other. His hand ran further down the outside of her thighs. His gentle probing then started up the inside of her left thigh, stopped and the returned to do the same to her right thigh. 

By this time the woman was becoming aroused and she squirmed a little to better position herself. The man stopped abruptly and rolled over to his side of the bed. 

"Why are you stopping darling?" she whispered.

He whispered back, "I found the remote!

One month of goals

So it has been exactly one month since I began my list of goals and thought I would give an update thus far. I decided it would be easier to try and complete some of the 30/90 day goals at the same time and get myself into a little routine. So for the month of September I have been working on :

#3 Make my bed for 30 consecutive days

This one in itself is not too much of a bother as I only have one sheet and a comforter on my bed at the moment, being summer and all.

#14 Take vitamins every day for 90 days

I bought one of those pill holders and have left it on my dresser so I remember to take them every morning. So far i'm taking a muliti vitamin, an Omega 369 and Vitrex which is supposed to help with my raging PMS haha, we'll see if it actually works.

#15 Stop going to obligated events

I have so far declined one wedding of a family friend I have not seen in probably 15 years....I see no point.

#26 Get a minimum of 100 signatures on my animal rights petition

I was able to get approximately 35 or so signatures before I passed the petition onto a friend to bring to her work. She's been amazing and has collected a whole whack of them for me. I still have a bunch of friends, neighbours and co-workers to hit up so I think this will be a successful goal.

#32 Floss every day for one month

This goal has been my least favorite of them all as I had braces when I was younger and still sport the brackets behind my teeth to keep them from shifting. It's a pain in the ass to floss as I have to use a threader. I will most likely continue to floss after the month is over on a more regular basis than previously.... but I doubt every day.

#35 Read all of the unread books on my shelf (2/35)

Ughhh so I read the two most BORING non fiction books ever. The 1st was the Depressive Spectrum from like 1974 or something *snore*. The 2nd was Hormone Hearsay which has a few valid points but was very repetitive. I'm currently working on 28 Stories of AIDS in Africa which I am of course finding very sad and very touching.

#50 Put all of my digital photos on disks

I'm very close to completing this goal as I put a whack of my photos on disks while I was on vacation. A few more and I am finished.

#73 Finish the 1st 3 seasons of LOST before the 4th season begins

Phew!! Apparently LOST is not beginning again until sometime next year so I do have a bit more time than I thought which is a pleasant surprise. That being said I've watched the full 1st season and will be starting the 2nd one in the near future.

#41 Visit 15 of my placements at work (1/15)

I went to one last week and have a few more lined up in the coming weeks. It's nice to be able to put a face to the people I talk to on a daily basis.

Goals that I have fully completed thus far include:

#12 Try a new food IE Korean

Jennifer's birthday shenanigans involved dinner at a Korean restaurant....and damn it was good!!! I had a spicy shrimp dish with rice, delicious.

#56 Wear a tank top in public sans jacket

Even when I was a tiny little thing I always hated wearing tank tops or showing off my arms.....no idea why but believe you me if I was back to that size I'd be running around sleeveless waving them in the air for all to see. So this day I decided to run some errands, go to the bank, get gas, groceries, visit a friend and other such things for most of the afternoon....all in a tank top. It wasn't as horrible as I had imagined but doubt I will do it again anytime soon.

Has anyone else decided to make such a list?

Oh, and give Bort a nice welcome and lots of fish...he loves them.

TV

I like to torture myself by receiving the Top 20 Deals each week from a travel website. Fortunately (or unfortunately for my pocket book) I've been on more than one impromptu vacation courtesy of this site. The latest deals that caught my eye were flights to New York for $80….not even kidding, round trip, taxes included and of course a cruise to Hawaii and New Zealand for less than $900. BAH!!!!!

I was able to talk myself out of traveling this time, as I keep doing these mini trips which take away from my larger goals of visiting India and other such places. TT mentioned an excursion he would like some of us to go on as well, and if I keep running off here there and everywhere I'll never be able to make it.

What is your travel wish list? Mine is rather extensive and I'd pretty much like to see anywhere and everywhere that I can….Galapagos Islands, yes please, Romania, why not…..Egypt, Iceland, South America, Indonesia…….we could be here forever, unfortunately I think New York will have to wait even though it's ONLY $80 *sigh*

On a completely different note, I'm a TV junkie….yes I'll freely admit it, and I like to watch some of the worst shows out there (The Bachelor, Big Brother you get the picture). So this coming week is heaven for me as it is what some call premier week. McSteamy and Meredith will be back in my living room, along with Linc and Michael, Survivor and Grissom…oh ya!!!! Premier week has been perfectly timed as well, as I've chosen the month of September to refrain from booze (goal # 75 no alcohol for one month). Rather than go to bars and watch everyone else get silly, I've been spending time with friends at home, catching up and relaxing. I really don't mind much, but it would be nice to get a little rowdy sometime soon. That being said, I'm glad to have my good ole friends Gabrielle and Edie back to keep me company on Sunday night

Highschool

My coworkers and I were talking about our high school experiences and it was interesting to find out that some absolutely hated high school and one so much so that she dropped out. Her school in particular was in a rather shee shee neighbourhood and many of the students had the privilege of driving mommy and daddy's beamers to school, wore designer clothes and such. If you weren't one of those students then you were nothing.

My high school experience was the complete opposite, granted my school was dubbed the "snob" school if you will (Still not sure why). I was one of those people that got along with everyone, of course I had my core group of friends but I was also friends with some of the jocks, the nerds, the freakers....pot smokers, you get the idea. I was also a good student, enjoyed learning and was on the honour roll every year so perhaps that made the experience more enjoyable as well....the thirst for knowledge (except of course math and science.....*shudder*) I've of course made new friends since those days however I do still have some close friends that I met in class, when we were young and silly.

I wonder if I had gone to her highschool, would my experience have been the same? I doubt it.

What was your high school experience like?

I don't Understand

I don't understand how we can live in a world where 7 months ago Deamonte Driver died because his family was unable to afford dental care ( bacteria from an abscessed tooth had spread to his brain) and yet a few days ago there was a family that won a $314 million dollar lottery???

Back to the Grind

I'm back to work this week but let's not talk about that, let's focus on the much needed time off that I had haha. In all seriousness it truly was much needed as I was starting to snap at my clients and my fuse that is generally short to begin with was non existent.

It was delightful to do nothing/anything that I wanted. Feel like watching Ellen or some morning talk show I never watch ... go ahead. Feel like watching LOST for hours and hours or reading in my jammies woo hoo! Want to go for a bike ride, or visit friends or swim ... Rock On!!! I don't recall the last time that I took vacation time and stayed home so this was a treat.

I also decided to pamper myself a bit and at the same time check off one of my goals, I went to the spa for a Hot Stone Massage. It was very relaxing and lovely but at the same time made me giggle just a bit. I'm generally a rather modest person but dear lord, this woman had the small towel so folded up it barely covered the crack in my ass... and massage it she did.


I've spent the past few days riding along the parkway and enjoying the weather. It's the one place I go when I want to relax or be alone. The whole area is quite lovely and rather quaint once you actually get into the town.

Unfortunately I'm a bike rack moron and had the bloody thing improperly situated on my car today. The paint on my spoiler chipped off due to a big metal bar rubbing against it....oops. Ah, but such is life.