It's coooomiiiiiing...

Sailing down the road on your bike, conversation drowned out by returning geese, throwing open the door and letting the sun and wind into your home, the return of the sound of rushing water (sounding like a 1000 old ladies!), it no longer taking five minutes to get on your "tons of clothes," and feeling so different that "in winter you must have been barely alive." Siberry perfectly describes how I feel each spring. The only thing missing in this song is the feeling of wearing lightweight shoes out on the street, in place of your heavy winter boots.

You have to live in a frigid, wintery clime to understand what it means for spring to return. We're not quite there yet, but on Sunday we got a little taste, with sunny skies and above 0 temps. And when I was serving people at cash, they were all cheerful, just like Jane Siberry sings: "People are like flowers: They blossom in the sun."

My family out west gets to laugh at me now that I'm the only one living in the extreme climate of Montreal, but I tell you... if happiness relates to an experience being relatively rare, not being a constant in your life... then I'll be a whole hell lot happier than them come April! Yippy!!

And so, in anticipation of that great event: Jane Sibery's "When Spring Comes." Posted by me, because someone had to do it. laaa laa la la la la la laaaa

En attendant le spring!

Like a cattle car in 1940s Germany

This comedian is sometimes funny, sometimes meh--but this is a funny shtick about modern technology. I especially agree with his comments re. airline travel.

The Story of Me: In Pics

My brother and I (I'm the one with the little deer shirt!) with our grandfather. This is my mother's dad, who was an English Lit prof, and gave me my first introduction to Shakespeare, Chaucer, Shaw and Wilde.

29.7 % Modern Yuppy

I've only recently finally taken a look at the blog: The Stuff White People Like. It's pretty funny.

"The name is sometimes controversial for suggesting racial stereotyping, although the blog is not about the interests of all white people, but rather a stereotype of affluent, environmentally conscious, anti-corporate white North American hipsters, typically holding a degree in the liberal arts.^[6] Lander claims to be satirizing contemporary versions of yuppie culture.^[6]"
(wiki description)

The full list is here... let's see how Modern Yuppy I am. I started from the bottom, and put an arrow next to the Ways I Am White, and an X next to the ones I am definitely not. Actually, this web site is a good description of downtowner-snobbery. The kind of people who call the West Island "Waste Island" and consider themselves superior to all those horrid suburban families. It's an attitude I dislike, though I'm more tolerant when it comes from a 20 year old than a 30 year old.

[I wondered why we sold these at work.] * #122 Moleskine Notebooks

* #121 Funny or Ironic Tattoos

* #120 Taking a Year Off

* #119 Sea Salt

* #118 Ugly Sweater Parties

* #117 Political Prisoners

* #116 Black Music that Black People Don’t Listen to Anymore

-> Well... I blame that on the possibility of doing a PhD. ...Though maybe that's on the list too.

* #115 Promising to Learn a New Language

* #114 America

* #113 Halloween

-> Vegan. It's a staple. * #112 Hummus

* #111 Pea Coats

* #110 Frisbee Sports

* #109 The Onion

X I enjoy CM. But I don't try to Appear so. ;-) * #108 Appearing to Enjoy Classical Music

-> Funny one. I linked it for you. * #107 Self Aware Hip Hop References

-> * #106 Facebook

* #105 Unpaid Internships

-> Am one? * #104 Girls with Bangs

-> Come on, I live in Canada! * #103 Sweaters

X OUT. * #102 Children’s Games as Adults

X Out. * #101 Being Offended

* #100 Bumper Stickers

-> * #99 Grammar

* #98 The Ivy League

-> * #97 Scarves

* #96 New Balance Shoes

* #95 Rugby

-> * #94 Free Healthcare

* #93 Music Piracy

-> Well yes hello. * #92 Book Deals

-> Ha ha ha haaaaa. * #91 San Francisco

X Not when you have a cat who might pee on your guests. * #90 Dinner Parties

* #89 St. Patrick’s Day

-> ...Well I don't go looking for them! * #88 Having Gay Friends

X Okay I have a Northface jacket, but that was cold desperation, not pretension! * #87 Outdoor
Performance Clothes

* #86 Shorts

* #85 The Wire

* #84 T-Shirts

-> * #83 Bad Memories of High School

X Out. * #82 Hating Corporations

-> * #81 Graduate School

* #80 The Idea of Soccer

* #79 Modern Furniture

-> Yes if I had kids. But I do live in Quebec. * #78 Multilingual Children

-> * #77 Musical Comedy

X I hate drinking. * #76 Bottles of Water

* #75 Threatening to Move to Canada

* #74 Oscar Parties

* #73 Gentrification

* #72 Study Abroad

X Suburbs. * #71 Being the only white person around

* #70 Difficult Breakups

-> I could be. * #69 Mos Def

* #68 Michel Gondry

X Out! * #67 Standing Still at Concerts

X Out! (for me anyway) * #66 Divorce

X Sports. That's a dirty word in my world. * #65 Co-Ed Sports

-> * #64 Recycling

* #63 Expensive Sandwiches

X Not after taking Poli classes. * #62 Knowing What’s Best for Poor People

-> * #61 Bicycles

* #60 Toyota Prius

X Out. * #59 Natural Medicine

* #58 Japan

* #57 Juno

* #56 Lawyers

-> * #55 Apologies

-> The hand blender is a New Classic. * #54 Kitchen Gadgets

-> :-) * #53 Dogs

X Can't stand her. * #52 Sarah Silverman

X Too poor. * #51 Living by the Water

-> ?I guess. * #50 Irony

X Too lazy to go downtown to shop. * #49 Vintage

* #48 Whole Foods and Grocery Co-ops

-> * #47 Arts Degrees

* #46 The Sunday New York Times

* #45 Asian Fusion Food

* #44 Public Radio

-> (Read, not watched.) * #43 Plays

* #42 Sushi

* #41 Indie Music

-> * #40 Apple Products

* #39 Netflix

* #38 Arrested Development

* #37 Renovations

X No. (See: Being vegan.) * #36 Breakfast Places

-> * #35 The Daily Show/Colbert Report

-> I could go there. * #34 Architecture

* #33 Marijuana

-> Guilty as charged. * #32 Vegan/Vegetarianism

* #31 Snowboarding

* #30 Wrigley Field

* #29 80s Night

X Ha ha. Hellz no. * #28 Not having a TV

* #27 Marathons

* #26 Manhattan (now Brooklyn too!)

-> Bought a book, but haven't read yet. * #25 David Sedaris

* #24 Wine

* #23 Microbreweries

* #22 Having Two Last Names

* #21 Writers Workshops

X Enough Poli Sci will kick that one out of you. * #20 Being an expert on YOUR culture

-> * #19 Traveling

-> Without reading the details: Probably. * #18 Awareness

X Alas no. * #17 Hating their Parents

* #16 Gifted Children

* #15 Yoga

* #14 Having Black Friends

-> Especially purchased at 75% off, and then my 30% employee discount on top! So I have real
snotty teas. * #13 Tea

* #12 Non-Profit Organizations

(??wtf?) * #11 Asian Girls

* #10 Wes Anderson Movies

X DEFINITELY NOT!! #9 Making you feel bad about not going outside

* #8 Barack Obama

-> Of course! * #7 Diversity

-> A little. * #6 Organic Food

-> Would be, if I had one handy. * #5 Farmer’s Markets

* #4 Assists

* #3 Film Festivals

* #2 Religions their parents don’t belong to

* #1 Coffee

and also, quizzes about your cats

Will Smith

Leading Man

A fresh prince in the pursuit of happiness, Tigernan is megastar Will Smith!

Putting the jazz back in jazzy, Tigernan is always moving and grooving to the beat of his own internal drum. Not one to settle for second best, Tigernan only takes on projects that are sure to draw attention and improve his pawpularity in the pack. Tigernan's broad appeal across breed, age and gender lines means that his actions often lead to his being named best in show. Smooth, suave and debonair... he's the perfect pet to take home to Mommy. Not lacking in the looks department, Tigernan‘s toothy grin would send even the most furrocious group of alien invaders spinning helplessly back into space.

Mr. Hunky

Sherringham is none other than superhunk George Clooney!

Turning heads everywhere he rolls, Sherringham is a huge hit with both googly-eyed babes and older, wiser fans. Admirers will paddle across no less than eleven oceans just to get a glimpse of this A-List heartthrob in the fur. Sherringham isn't in a big rush to settle down, so is often seen out on the town with the cutest members of the pack. Not just a looker, Sherringham's activism knows no limits—enerpetically involved in the campaign to save Dogfur, Sherringham is always looking for a worthy cause that he can sink his teeth into

American Queen

Come on, let's just face it: We are living in a material world, and Haley is a material girl. So go ahead and thank your lucky stars—Haley is the one and only Madonna!

Always desperately seeking attention, Haley is multi-talented and savvy, not afraid to get her paws dirty and experiment with new methods of getting into the groove in order to reach her peeps. She commands respect everywhere she goes, a sophisticated traveler who insists upon the best—and more often than not, she gets what she wants. Appearance is everything for your true-blue diva and while her look may change as often as the Pellegrino in her water bowl does, her commitment to exercise is unwavering. Haley's in tip-top shape, which makes her age in pet years a non-issue. Despite the hard fur and the no-nonsense approach, she's a softy when it comes to her devoted owner. It's fair to say that Haley is, yes, crazy for you.

the secret of menz

Comedian Steve Harvey has a book out about men (for women), and it's in high demand right now. Here are some bits I like (lifted from the Oprah site.)

*

When a man approaches a woman, Steve says, he already knows what we wants from her, but he doesn't know what it will cost. "How much time do you want from me? What your standards? What are your requirements? Because we'll rise to the occasion no matter how high you set the bar if we want to," he says. "The problem is, women have stopped setting the bar high."

...

Without ironclad standards, Steve says you'll always end up back in the dating pool. "You've got to quit lowering your standards," he says. "Set your requirements up front so when a guy hooks you, he has to know this is business."

...

[On the topic of waiting 90 days before having sex--just like the 90 day probation period of a job.]
So what if you don't want to wait 90 days? Steve says if you change the probation period, you do so at your own risk. "You all keep changing the rules. And men are aware of the fact that you are changing the rules. We're aware of the fact that you act desperate. We're aware of the fact that you think there's a good shortage of good men out there," he says.

"We play on all of that. … We created the term 'gold digger' so you won't ask us for nothing. We created the term 'nagging' so you can quit badgering us. These are terms that we created so you can require less of us."