Final Random Thoughts of My 30s....

So many thoughts race through my brain during the day & at night when I'm falling asleep ...I should have one of those Agent Cooper voice-recorders at my side or at least a pen and paper but I'm not that organized . Anyway I'm remembering a few things at the moment so here goes:

1. I really admire Terri Irwin. I think she is well-spoken, smart and she seems like a kind person. I know it was a tragedy to lose her husband, Steve the Crocodile Hunter dude but why oh why do her poor kids always have to dress in safari clothes? Sure, they're from Bindi's clothing line and the money goes to the Crocodile foundation or whatever but it drives me crazy that poor Bob is always dressed the same way. I've seen Bindi once or twice in slightly different clothes but generally she, Bob (Terri tends to call him Robert now that Steve is dead. If my husband called our kid Bob I'd hate that & would call him Robert asap even if I was going against what my poor dead husband wanted)...okay where was I? Yeah, the clothes. Terri wears them too. I think maybe with so much work on Terri's shoulders - raising the kids, hunting crocs and all that its easier for her if the kids wear a mix and match wardrobe that can all go in the same load of laundry. She's simply a practical mom raising her children to not be brand-conscious....and I'm picking on her. I'm mean!

And Bindi, step away from that crimping iron.

Okay, that was mean, but I'm done.

2. Mr Rochester. How's this for a complete change of topic? I recently listened to an abridged audio book of Jane Eyre. I distinctly remember sitting on the roof of my apartment on Queen West, during my days as an English undergrad at U of T, reading Jane Eyre and thinking it was awesome. I do not, however, remember thinking Mr Rochester was a manipulative, creepy, misogynistic control-freak. And yet, that's what I found him to be this time around. When Jane says "Reader, I married him" I yelled in my car "No! Jane! No! Run away!!" ...she didn't listen.

I mentioned this to some of the lovely ladies at my bookclub and one of them said she never liked Mr Rochester, even as a younger person (I was convinced age and two marriages had made me wiser or maybe just bitter). She (Barbara, the wise one) also didn't like - GASP - Wuthering Heights! So now I'm afraid...I've been enjoying listening to classics in my car on CD - but I can't do Wuthering Heights - what if Heathcliff is no longer steamy and sultry and alluring? What if it all seems annoying? I'd have to give up the Kate Bush song too & I'm just not going to do that. So I'll avoid any re-reading of Wuthering Heights.

After audio I still do love Mr Darcy, never fear.

So low maintenance...

I am the anti-Sally. I would rather scrape the pickles and onions off my Quarter Pounder with Cheese than have one specially made - I don't want to be a bother. Serve me a warm beer and I'll probably drink it, give me a hotel room with a toilet that doesn't flush properly and I'll take the lid off and pull the chain. It's not that I'm a door mat, I just pick my battles carefully and let the rest roll off my shoulders. Confrontation makes me uncomfortable. I do not return things to stores. I regret them or re-gift them.

Last night at dinner Sam, one of my lovely dining companions, asked for the server's recommendation as to what to order. I don't think I'd ever do that - would part of me worry that they'd try to get me to order the most expensive entree? Or the one no one else was ordering and they had lots of? No, probably not...but I like to be unnoticed except when I chose to make myself noticed. Hell, I didn't want people staring at me when I got married so I refused to walk down any "aisle"...is this low self-esteem? Probably. But I also think it's about control. The same reason I don't downhill ski or bungee jump - I want to be in control of things whether its racing down an icy hill at top speeds or not having people pay attention to me when I'm feeling vulnerable.

So you won't be seeing me on reality tv or asking a waitress to reheat my burger (at McDonalds I might ask my hustband to take it back)

Boobs, Bums & Bad Baby Names!

Maybe I should change the name of my blog! Those who know me, know my slight obsession with the world of celebrity babies. Why? I have no idea. I find the idea of being a child in Hollywood fascinating & I like babies....who knows.

I remember being shocked by Fifi Trixibelle, Scout and even Apple. But really are those names any worse than Dakota or Tiffany? Is it better to have a weird name or a tacky stripper name that sounds like your mom watches too much daytime tv?

Recently Bridget Moynahan named her son John. Wow, what a breath of fresh air. So normal, so old-fashioned! He'll probably be the only John in his class, whereas in my childhood there were often 3 in each classroom.

Some of my favourite wacky baby names: Jason Lee's son: Pilot Inspector, Penn Jilette's daughter Moxie Crimefighter, Jermaine Jackson's son Jermajesty.

The other day Gretchen Mol had Ptolemy - what are these crazy people thinking? Is weird the new normal? Is Ptolemy the new John? Actress Kelly Rutherford has a baby named Hermes. Not my favourite. Oh and don't get me started on names that are popular in the UK - very different than in North America (Jemima does not work on this side of the ocean).

I know Ava is in 2007 what Lisa was when I was born in 1967 or Jennifer was maybe 3 years later or Emily in the 1990s. My parents gave me a slightly unusual name & I hated it, I still don't like it so I'll be interested to hear what these celebrity babies say when they're all grown up.

Was Eclipse good? Not so much....

A year and a half ago when I read Twilight by Stephenie Meyer I was pleasantly surprised. I had heard about the book months before it's publication due to internet buzz and a great marketing campaign. So when Madeleine, from Indigo's JAB, recommended the book to me, I listened to her because Madeleine has great taste. She got me into Joan Bauer, and I will be eternally grateful to her for that. And I liked Twilight, I really liked it!

New Moon was a bit of a let down after Twilight. It seemed like not much happened until the last third of the book, then suddenly the author woke up and added a bunch of plot and then it ended. I wrote this off as a typical middle book. You know - book one introduces the problems, book two extends them, resolves a few things, introduces a few new issues and then wham in book 3 everything comes together.

Complication! Meyer signed a longer book deal and suddenly book 2 wasn't just a middle book, it was one of many middle books....seems she has to stretch out her story to keep us entertained and in suspense for more books - until book 6.

I'm not sure if the sudden lack of an end in sight is what went wrong with Eclipse, or if I was somehow influenced by my new knowledge that Stephenie Meyer is a Mormon (I'd like to think this isn't the case) but what I really think is that her editor copped out. Once authors get really big it's amazing how timid and useless some editors become! The book deal is signed people, she's not going anywhere for 6 books - so edit her work, damn it! Don't be afraid to tell her to cut back, let's say 200 pages and that totally long, boring First Nations legend. Snore! ZZZzzzzzzz.

So will I be reading book 4? Maybe, maybe not...I guess it depends on what else is out at the time. If it's less than 629 pages, I'll consider it...

Why Clive Owen seems even more attractive than before....

Gotta love Clive Owen & Pierce Brosnan. Both are married to non-Hollywood type women. Both of their wives are successful and attractive & I'm sure they're probably lovely mothers. But I'm happy because they aren't super skinny model types.

I feel the same way about Cate Blanchett's husband. He is not Hollywood-handsome yet she seems happy and in love - YEAH! Such a relief from those Hollywood types who are obsessed with looks and jump from relationship to relationship. I know relationships don't always work out - hey, I've been married twice, but some people in Hollywood seem to change their partners more often than I change the sheets on my bed. If you can't act like you're in love with your co-star in a movie, and you constantly fall in love with them, maybe acting isn't for you!

Speaking of Hollywood love - I've figured out what the kiss of death to any Hollywood relationship is! I originally thought it was the blessing of my friend Kim. If she said a relationship was "rock solid" they usually broke up within a week. It got so bad that she was forbidden to discuss certain Hollywood couples at all lest she inadvertantly give them her seal of approval (SJP & MB are one couple she CANNOT talk about). We even tried a test to see if she purposely said a couple were a sure thing would they break up - we tried it on Melanie & Antonio and on Harry Hamlin & Lisa Rinna -but alas it only seems to work when its unintentional.

Well it turns out the kiss of death isn't Kim's stamp of approval after all! All any couple has to do is tell the media that they are "soulmates". That's it. So watch out Tori & Dean - I know you've said it. As have many others who now avoid each other at awards ceremonies!

Overrated or Not?

I'm one of those people who resists the popular, the trendy, the often overrated shows, movies, books because ...okay because I'm a snob. I don't want to be seen as a mindless sheep who can't make an independent decision & justs does what everyone else is doing. So I refused for years to see Titanic and held off reading The DaVinci Code. Was I wrong? Did I miss out on some super amazing thing? No, but honestly I am glad that I have seen the movie Titanic and that I did read The DaVinci Code because they are a huge part of our world - pop culture wise & it is very important for me that in say 10 or 20 years I can still kick butt at Trivial Pursuit. So I need this knowledge!

Ok, Overrated or not?

Titanic - tremendous let down. What on earth was Victor Newman doing there? And that whole Billy Zane plot? Useless! I found on my 12" tv screen it was like watching an episode of Theordore the Tugboat. And the music? So manipulative! I only felt sad when music was playing! When it stopped I was strangely indifferent. Let's not discuss the ending when Jack was dead & Celine was singing. Don't go there.

The Rolling Stones - don't shoot me but they're totally overrated. And gross.

Grey's Anatomy - here's a show I thought I would hate & I don't! Strange because I find the main character irritating - yet she's more real than most tv characters so I'll forgive them. So not overrated in my opinion.

Jennifer Aniston - why is she still famous? Friends is over - she was great as Rachel but she is clearly a one note actress. OMG, can we get her off the cover of magazines please? I don't care.

The Dave Matthews Band, Jeff Buckley, other musicians I can't think of - I just don't get it. Some people act like "whoa" I've found my messiah - me, not so much.

I'm rambling. I felt the need to post a new entry. It's a rambler, folks.

So many books, so little time

I have the worst habit of buying books to read when I already have stacks and stacks and stacks at home waiting to be read. The problem is that the books I already own aren't necessarily the ones I feel like reading when I'm ready to start a new book - they're just the ones I felt like buying when I bought them! Basically I know that I'll read a book eventually & I don't want to forget about it or have it (yikes)go out of print so I buy it. Or put it on my list and buy it eventually (often when it's in paperback). I read book reviews pretty much daily so I'm constantly finding out about new books that interest me. I think my wishlist at indigo.ca must be worth thousands of dollars (they used to list a $total$ which I liked...)

So today I rec'd a package in the mail - books I've ordered and HAD to have. When will I read them? Who knows? Will they show up in the bargain books at Indigo for $4.99 before I've even cracked the spine? Perhaps. But its about the integrity of my shelves (we used to use that phrase at Indigo - the integrity of the section)...certain books need to be represented whether or not I'm going to read them in the near future.

So I end up with piles of books. When I'm done a book (I finish one every couple of days on average) I love that feeling of "What's next?"...then I usually walk around my apartment & think about what I'm in the mood for: petticoats?post-apocolypse? modern teens? fantasy? non-fiction? Then I grab 4 or so and start reading first lines. Whenever the urge to carry on past that first sentence grabs me, my book is chosen. So I never know what I'm going to want to read when.

I do, however, notice in myself a certain type of book that I prefer: books about people who are struggling against something - either oppression, being different, whatever. The Holocaust, Slavery, being a conjoined twin - these types of books - fiction or non-fiction, where I can put myself in their shoes (or lack of) and say "how would I survive this situation?" and often I realize that I would be useless in the same situation - I said if I were Susanna Moodie or Catherine Parr Traill I'd have curled up in a snow bank to die- so its all the more fascinating reading how others find strength & carry on. Boy, I'm rambling.

Right now I'm in the throes (spelling?) of sales conference reading - trying to read as many books as I can from our upcoming Winter list so that I can present them to the sales reps and ultimately to my customers. I really don't like selling books I haven't read. Or I need someone who's opinion I trust to read them. Ick to some books that just aren't my style - but I do what I can and therefore end up reading pretty silly looking stuff on the subway. Right now I'm reading a great book called "The Mysterious Case of the Allbright Academy" but once again I'm sure people who see me reading it think I'm a little simple. The cover is pretty child like. But then again so am I in some ways!

Pet Peeves for Pocampo

1. People who clip their nails on the subway.

2. The non-use of directional signals when driving.

3. B.O. - if you're taking the TTC, deodorant is a must.

4. People who stop at the top or bottom of escalators to look around & decide where they'll go next - totally oblivious to the crowd of people crashing into them from behind.

5. People in malls who just STOP. With no warning, no veering off carefully to the side.

6. People who use their cellphones while in line, or at a table in a restaurant (Mr Most!), or while being served by cashiers, etc. How rude!

7. Litterers.

8. Elevator starers and farters.

9. Anyone who's favourite book is The DaVinci Code (sorry if that's mean).

10. When someone's favourite book is obviously something they read in high school, which always makes me think they haven't read a book since.

50 Artsy Things in One Year

Since I like to copy Art Slade's actions I joined this facebook group for Canada Council for the Arts - where Cdns are challenged to participate in 50 artistic activities this year. Okay, let's be honest, I can't do it alone so I'm seeing what we as a family can come up with.

So far:
1. Went to that crazy tap-dancing play with the kids
2. Saw Corinne Bailey Rae & John Legend in concert
3. Saw Lemony Snicket perform at the Symphony
4. Wrote limericks with my sister-in-law at a wedding
5. Liam recently went to the McMichael gallery in Kleinburg
6. We went to the Marvel exhibit at the Science Centre
7. Liam & Duncan post photography on their flickr sites
8. Liam is participating next week in a lip-sync contest (does that count?)
9. I wrote some book reviews on http://www.wwhr.ca/
10. David took pretty pictures of mountains in Jasper

11. My co-workers & I did our best to interpret the bizarre paintings at the inn in Niagara-on-the-Lake

12. Janet & I photographed a lone hot-dog.

13. I made my family's photos into colouring book pages for David's 40th birthday.


Okay so there must be more....I'll think about it. Poetry? Pottery? Art? Home-made cards? Even Paris Hilton made her dad a home(prison)-made card for father's day! Yikes.

What makes us cringe...

After an entertaining conversation with some co-workers I've changed the name of my blog!

We were talking about our book pet peeves such as unrealistic dialogue: "Mom, can I invite my best friend Susan Jones for a sleep-over?" as well as words that just shouldn't be used. Especially "bum" in an erotica story. That totally cracks me up and laughing is not what I'm looking for if I'm reading erotica.

Someone I know really dislikes the new trend in children's books where the narrator talks to the reader too much (I thought this worked in Despereaux, but then was totally overdone by others). My brother is irritated when he's watching a movie & the title of the movie comes up in a line of dialogue. Funny what makes us cringe. See I just tried to do it there with the title of the blog...good thing he'll never read this!

Theatre Review - I Think I Can

Today, the Dudes, my mom & I went to Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People to see "I Think I Can" - a tap dance show about bullying. I wasn't sure what to expect but it was pretty entertaining. It certainly had me tapping my feet. The Dudes had mixed opinions - with one liking it better than the other. I think they both appreciated that the dancers were incredible and that it was an interesting way to tell a story.

I do wish that people would read the age recommendations for things like this. If it says 8 and up, please don't bring your 6 yr old, no matter how advanced you think they are. There were kids in theatre who clearly didn't understand what was going on so they kept talking to their parents.

I would definitely take my kids to another play at LKTYP. It was an inexpensive way to give us all a theatrical experience.

Subway Rage

I admit it, I'm guilty of subway rage. I get on at Bloor on my way home & by the time I get off, many stops later, I am ready to stomp on people's insteps, punch heads, etc. I think there should be constant messages on the intercom or whatever like: "If the pole is in your ass crack, you're standing too close", or "Guys, if you can't sit with your legs together, maybe you should stand", or " No nail-clipping allowed! And no french fries".

I love driving to work & luckily I do get to do that most days next week.

Newbery Challenge

I found a challenge on one of the many book websites that I visit - it was to read 6 (I think) Newbery books. So after perusing the list here are the 6 I am going to tackle in the next 2 months:

The Higher Power of Lucky (2007)

A Single Shard (2002)

Amos Fortune, Free Man (1951) - can't wait to see how this stands the test of time

Invisible Louisa (1934)

Kira-Kira (2005)

Criss Cross (2006)

I can't guarantee what order I'll read them in, but I'll start one tonight!

John Legend, Corinne Bailey Rae Concert Last Night

Maybe I'm getting too old for concerts. It's not like I was at some young top 40 concert but I felt like a curmudgeon & I hate that. I know some people are only interested in the headlining act but HELLO? some of us actually want to see the opener. I went to the concert mainly to see CBR and there were people sitting near us who talked through the whole thing! And the lateness - what's up with that? If your ticket says 8 pm, try getting there at 7:45 not 8:45. I find it difficult to enjoy live music when the people in front of me are standing up to let latecomers get to their seats. See, I am too old for concerts, I sound like a nag.

Great concert though. CBR was very low key, mellow, laid back. John Legend seemed like Liberace compared to her - all glitz and energy. It was fun

Music at Blue Jay's game

We went to the Jays game today & they showed this cool video on the big screen before the game began. Anyway the music was somewhat familiar - in a classical music/movie trailer sort of way. It is driving me crazy! It was the sort of music that would be on a trailer for a Lord of the Rings type movie. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe it's from some lame Cirque de Soleil commercial.

Easter - who will get the dirt egg?

So every year we have this Egg Hunt at someone's house for Easter & "the Uncles" hide an egg filled with dirt or grass. This year Keenan, far left, got the prized dirt egg.

First Post Ever

The idea of this blog is very exciting but the idea of writing a first entry is totally intimidating. Like the first page of a new journal. Such pressure.