"I don't want to eat out anywhere that's going to suck. I don't want to make anything that takes effort. I don't like eating when it's raining out." - Chris

"Frankenfunk. He's so hot right now. Frankenfunk." - Al

Nothing really happened at work today. It was uneventful, which is strange because it's a Saturday. I guess the freaks galore are in hiding due to the full moon?

Highlight of the night: triple chocolate mocha cream cake. Soooo good.

I really recommend reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon. Great great great book. Really funny and touching. Quoted from Chapters.ca: Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, Christopher is autistic. Everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning for him. At fifteen, Christopher’s carefully constructed world falls apart when he finds his neighbour’s dog Wellington impaled on a garden fork, and he is initially blamed for the killing.Christopher decides that he will track down the real killer, and turns to his favourite fictional character, the impeccably logical Sherlock Holmes, for inspiration. A must read, really.

My co-workers laugh at me because I attract all of the crazies...
 
Tonight at work, I was helping this very ungrateful and mean woman find a random book (from 1997 I think) on Martha Stewart. It was in absolutely no stores in Ontario (and believe me, she had me check).  Anyway, I wrote down the book title, etc, and while I was standing up (as I was bent down over the computer desk), she said (with a voice completely full of disgust): "Your hair smells like paint." Ok, so I know my hair doesn't smell like paint, because the store is being repainted.  So it's the store  that smells, not me. I really had to hold in the urge to tell her that she smells a hell of a lot worse than paint. Sigh.

Apparently, a man complained that the bathroom doors squeak a little too much, and he finds it hard to talk on his cell phone while standing in the bathroom corridor. Some people are so picky... and it's not like the bathroom corridor is for talking on cell phones, anyway.

Happy Birthday Dad!!
 
40+ years ago, on this day, my dad was born. While he spends most of his time on the golf course or watching golf on the tv or playing golf on his computer, he truly is a pro hockey player at heart. I considered quoting his famous "my dad is like a hockey player" poem, but it doesn't do him justice (I mean, come on, he was like five when he wrote it).  Anyway, happy birthday dad, and hope you can kick Al's butt on the golf course today!!


On an unrelated note, the Red West concert was so good!! They played mostly new songs, so that means that *fingers crossed* there will be a new cd out soon. No word about it on the website, though. After the concert was over, I bought a shirt and got to meet the band. They signed my cd, and were very nice :)   This has made my year. Seriously. Next mission: continue to try to meet Hawksley...

"What's Jessie gotten into?" "Uh... the kitchen?"
 
Ah, mom... Combine mom, jessie and the potential for jess to eat refried beans and hilarity follows!

On Sunday, Chapters opens at 11am. Unfortunately, the opening manager was a little excited when telling us about this conference he attended earlier in the week. This resulted in us having to open the store at... *gasp* 11:02am. As I was going in that direction anyway, I decided to open the front door and greet our customers. Well, one of them was already knocking furiously on the windows and door. It was like we were half an hour late! Geez. Maybe it was her watch that was wrong... Anyway. When I opened the door, one woman said, very nastily may I add?, "Someone slept in, didn't they?". I tried to smile. I really tried. I remember mumbling something about our meeting running a minute behind schedule. Then, an elderly man said "Someone slept in, eh?", literally about 2 seconds after the woman did. How original. How witty. I didn't even attempt to apologize. Why do we have to apologize to them for being two minutes behind. Have they never been late before?? I guess not...

I apologize for the above rant. I realize it isn't a big deal... I admit that it seems rather dumb right now. But I had to get it off my chest. It completely ruined my mood for the day. So, combining the absolute exhaustion (one hour of sleep max. the night before) and that little episode, I didn't have the best day. Nothing else to report, though... pretty uneventful.

On a slightly less relevant note, I painted my fingernails for the first time in years yesterday. They are now light pink. I decided that I was bored of non-painted fingernails... ok I'm even boring myself.

Chris and I went to London this past weekend for a friend's birthday party. It was my first club experience... I realized quite early on that I don't fit in there at all. For one, I was extremely over-dressed for that environment, which says a lot, as I was in nice pants and a tank top. Ah well. I'll know for next time. It was fun dancing, though, and fun watching people try to dance.

Ok, so I'll do it too... only because I'm bored.

Describe the best feeling you've ever had.: This is so hard... I agree with Chris - that moment was great. I will never forget his smile. But more generally, knowing that I am loved unconditionally is the best feeling in the world.

Were you named after anyone?: Nope. I am me.

Which finger is your favourite?: I don't particularly like any of them. However, if I were to lose one, I think that one would have to be my favourite, as I would miss it so much.

When did you last cry?: I don't remember. I can't see it being THAT long ago. I'm too sensitive.

Do you like your handwriting?: Not at all. I find that I rush too much and the letters all start to look the same. Actually, my handwriting has changed in the last few years. I'm not sure why. It's not a conscious thing... it's become more script-ish now.

Any bad habits?: Hm... I jump to conclusions... and I let things bother me too much without letting anything go.... sigh.

What is your most embarassing CD?: I would never admit to the worst of them... At least not here where it'll be published for all to read. I have two copies of The Moffatt's first (pop) cd, because one was released with an extra song. Is that embarassing enough? And Tiffany, don't feel too bad - I have 5ive's cd too.

If you were another person would you be friends with you? Why or why not?: I think I would be.  I try to teach others like I'd want to be treated. Except stupid customers. They don't count.

Are you a dare devil?: Depends. I'd like to say that I'd try anything once, but I would never do anything that would jeopardize my safety.

Do you believe in God? Why or why not?: That's a tough one. No. I believe in "god", which I believe exists in everything... maybe I'll write a Chris-ish blog about that someday... no... I know I won't... hehe. But that'll do.

Have you ever misused a word and it sounded absolutely stupid? Probably... sounds like something I'd do.

Do you think there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? Sigh. Yes. If I only could find it...

Do fish have feelings?: Yes. I had a fish in our aquarium that liked to have its fins petted.  When I'd open the lid, it would swim to the surface and wait there for me... It was cute... Don't look at me like that, I'm not crazy.

How do you release anger?: I rant... and blog.

Where is your second home?:  Dad's, I'd say. Although I don't spend as much time there anymore...

What was your favourite stuffed animal?: I'd have to say that it's my Amanda doll, which my Gramma gave me on my birth day. I used to go everywhere with it.

What class in school do you think is totally useless?: Critical Writing About Poetry... ugh... It was soooo pointless. I can understand the need to learn how to write an essay on poetry, but a full half course on it?! Boooooring. Thank goodness Gillian was there, so we could talk instead of working... hehe.

Do you like sappy love songs?: No, but that doesn't mean that I don't identify with them.

Have you ever been on radio or television?: My Frosh group was on Rogers Television during Frosh week... I don't remember why... We were downtown, chanting and singing songs, and it caught their attention. So someone, somewhere, has seen me on tv in those nasty blue pants...

Do you have a journal?: Obviously. What are you reading then?

Do you use sarcasm a lot?: Only if you think all day every day is a lot.

What do you look for in a guy or girl?: To quote Chris: "I don't"

What are your nicknames?: I have many nicknames. Many come from private jokes, though... Tubby/Lardy (they're interchangeable, I've discovered... neither of us have become attached to only one), Dee, Mandy.   (By the way, there have been some misunderstandings regarding Chris' comments about his co-worker Dee on his blog. Chris doesn't call me Dee. It's strictly a family thing).

Would you bungee jump?: No. I don't like heights.

Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?: No, and Chris will never let me hear the end of it... It's not that I don't do it to save time. I just forget.

What are you worried about right now?: Blah. Nothing specific.

Would you ever wear overalls?: I used to wear overalls on a normal basis. How embarassing. I guess I had to live according to my "farmer" status.

Do you think you are strong?: No, but I think Chris would  beat me in an arm wrestle.

What's your favourite ice cream colour?: Colour?? I don't know... I like chocolate though :)  So brown?

What's your favourite colour or shade?: Everyone knows that it's pink.. erm... blue.

Does anyone have a crush on you right now?: I don't care.

Whom do you miss most right now?: Chris

What are your fears?: Heights... bugs (especially ones that run across and in one's bed)... This question makes the entire survey anticlimactic.

"Celine Dion... didn't she die or something?" - a very confused, although hopeful, Chapters customer upon seeing one of the singer's (live) cds on sale
 
Ok. So I think I figured out the whole picture thing. Many thanks to Tiffany for the help :)
 
I decided that it'd be far too hard to put the pic on here, due to the load times, etc etc. Therefore, they have been put on my website. For some reason, my website can't be altered after like, 10pm, so I think that has been the problem. So, for those of you who are at all interested, these are two pictures of my cross-stitch project. If you can't tell, it's a woman in front of a picket fence with an umbrella.
 
I'm working on a smaller one now, so it won't take ages... hehe.

"...and she was ridiculously scary looking..."

Ahh, Emporer's New Groove. Great movie...

Just finished my monster cross-stitch (it's 12x15).  I'm having difficulty adding the pictures to my blog. Any help with HTML would be good! I know I took HTML in my computer course, but I forget it all. And none of the codes in my workbook are working...
 
Today could be summarized with: WORK. There were too few customers at the store today, so it was dreadful.  Larry and I decided that tomorrow on our 1-930 shift that we will sit in front of the dvd player and watch it all day instead of working. When customers come up to ask for help, we'll say "wait for a commercial".  We think that it's good for the dumb folks to get a good ol' dose of stupidity.

"No, I don't have the IRewards card. But I do have the Barnes and Noble card... can still get 10% off?"

Stupid stupid STUPID person.

On a more positive note, I'm REALLY looking forward to the Red West concert (July 27th). It'll be cool to see them again, as I saw them 2 years ago (they opened for Silverchair). From what I remember, they were great live - good enough for me to want to buy their cd. I must remind myself not to sing too loudly...

2 new pet peeves:

1) People who watch me look for a book for them on the shelf. I understand that I do work there, but that doesn't mean that you can just stand there. Wouldn't it make more sense for you to look too? Maybe I'm just crazy for suggesting it.
2) People who watch me dust. I don't get it. Have you never seen someone dust before? I didn't realize dusting was such a novel invention...

I bought a book today... I KNOW I buy too many books... But this one seems to be very much like House of Leaves. It's called "Creep," and it's by "I. Murderman" aka Michael B. Davie (as I've discovered). However, after reading the reviews on Chapters.Indigo.ca, I'm starting to regret buying it. It seems like the author has used a variety of pseudonyms in order to make his book look really good, while being stupid enough to put in his own email address every time. Oh well. That'll teach me not to judge a book by its jacket.

"I'm not biased or anything, but they should control the flow." - Gramma, commenting on the lack of "Canadians" in the Scarborough Town Centre

Ah, Gramma. How old school of you.

There was only me on the floor at work today, as one of the "newer" employees "forgot" to call in "sick", and the "managers" forgot to call other employees to see if any of them could "work". Not fun. Imagine this scene:

Amanda helps a hyper man, obviously in a rush. He thanks her several times, and then runs toward the front of the store. Several minutes later, he runs up to her again, with the book in hand, saying, "Hello. Amanda? Yeah, where do I pay for this?" While struggling with the urge to say "Oh, you can pay me, it's ok," she says, "Oh, up at the front of the store." "Oh...," he starts, looking confused. "You have one of those?"

I have NO IDEA what he was referring to, nor do I want to. Maybe he was talking with the voices in his head. Was he talking about the cash desks? The front of the store??? *brain explodes due to IMMENSE lack of common sense*. Sigh.

While walking through the mall with Gramma *shudder*, I realized that a) there is a HUGE number of REALLY stupid and REALLY REALLY ugly people in "Scare"borough, b) that all of the REALLY stupid and REALLY REALLY ugly people congregate at the mall and c) Gramma is scary. How many times could one person comment on the heat of the mall?! "*sigh*" "*humph*" "*whew!"* "It's so hot!" "I thought they had air conditioning here!"

Ah, she means well.

I think...? *duh duh duuuuuhhhhh*

*awkward pause*

I'm going to watch Family Guy now. "Pea... Tear... Griffin". Classic.

"I want to run barefoot through your hair." - Bombshell, 1933

We found that quote in a deck of "Best Pick-up Lines" during a slow point in the evening. The second best one that we saw must have been a response to this first quote: "I'd kiss you, but I just washed my hair." The line after it must have been, "because some dumbass decided to run his fungus feet through my locks."

I bought a book called "Fat Land," which explains the problem that America has with obesity, and offers some explanations on why this problem occurred in the first place. Looks interesting. While Chris has decided to make a list of all of the money he has spent on music this year, I think I should make one on books. Actually, no. I'm afraid of how much money I've spent, and how many of those books I've actually read so far...

"Give the Amish terrerium to the skeleton..."

Last night, Chris and I watched "The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra." For those who have not heard of it, this is what it says on the back of the rental case: "A dedicated scientist must save the world from space aliens, a radioactive monster, a terrifying skeleton and other 1950s 'B' movie cliches." While this sounds really bad (which I assure you is the intention), the movie was really funny. It really pokes fun at those black and white, drive-in theatreish horror films. Great stuff. However, there were parts that were drawn out for FAR too long...

Also last night, I checked the courses that I want to take and ONE SPOT was remaining in the B level Shakespeare course. Oh my god... So I took it. Wouldn't that have sucked if I had dropped the Psych course (as I have 5 courses already and cannot add a 6th), and the Shakespeare space had been filled?? Thank goodness for my fast typing skills... hehe.

I didn't know a vibrating bed was so inexpensive!

On Tuesday night, Jessie crashed my bedroom door down in order ot sleep on my bed. She, obviously, was frightened by the storm. For the remainder of the night, Jessie shook like a leaf on my bed, and actually caused my bed to clang against the wall. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep, but I contribute my eventual sleep with her rocking me ever so kindly like a baby in a cradle.

We went dress shoping last night, and I saw "the dress"... duh duh duuuuh. No, it's really nice. And although it isn't blue, I really like it. I also hear that the ceremony will last about an hour (which may mean that it may be longer than that), and it will be mostly in another language. I don't know how we're going to last... I mean, it wouldn't be that bad if one was sitting in the pews and watching, but being a bridesmaid, I have to stand the whole time and actually look like I'm paying attention. As Ashely's mom says, we can spend the hour getting a lingustic and cultural lesson. We've also been warned not to laugh. Ever seen "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"? Yeah, I'll be living in it.

Now, to find silver shoes that actually fit... and look nice... I'm just thankful that I have a year to search.

"I don't like sitting beside smart people, because it makes me feel dumb"

Ahh, I don't know what's worse: making fun of Vivian or Debby.

After reading Gillian's blog, I know that spot #3 is secure. "I hope I see you soon," indeed...

Whack.

"And when I woke up, the pillow was under my feet and it had no pillow case over it!"

"Astronomy... that's, like, with astranoids?"

Ahh, I shouldn't poke fun at Vivian...

Work today was fairly uneventful. It was busy, as there were few people on the floor as well as only three people at a time at cash. A fairly soft-spoken co-worker of mine had a horrible phone call, in which the customer snapped and demanded to speak with a man and not some "the token girl" that works there. If only he knew we only have four men working at our store...

I saw Gillian and Vivian tonight. Gillian came over for "dinner" (well, leftovers...), and we thoroughly discussed our past school year and our future year (with only one class together! I don't know how we will survive!). We then met Vivian at a DQ, where I had way too much chocolate. I also read the results of the professor evaluation forms. Apparently, Boughn was well-liked...? I don't quite understand THAT one.

Gillian: After the party at Rob's, I think your new bunkmate makes spot #3 taken... *wink*. Just wait and see.

The three of us sat in Gillian's van and talked for awhile after eating our sweet sweet ice cream. It was nice to see university friends outside of that cold concrete building. :)

"Jessie is half golden retriever, half jello"

Ahh, I love mid-afternoon thunderstorms. Unfortunately, Jessie doesn't. It's roughly 3 hours since the rain stopped, and she's still shaking under my chair here in the basement. Silly dog.

And yes, I did change the format of my blog, but unintentionally. While looking for a way to change the colour of the text, I accidentally deleted most of the HTML code, and found no other way to get it back but to change my template. Sigh. Oh well. I like this one. At least the comments are easier to read!

I found out about Ashley's bridesmaids dresses - not blue, but they are apparently very nice. I can't wait to see them! Her wedding dress is so pretty *romantic sigh*.

Before I forget, there's a contest that we're running (well, Indigo/Chapters/Coles, etc). If you know any "junior book lovers" (10-16 I believe), they can enter as many book reviews as they would like, and a jury (including THE Heather) will select one person from each major area of Canada (BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan/Manitoba, Ontario, Maritime provinces). Each boy or girl will receive $1000 worth of gift cards, a trip to Toronto (if not already here), their own "Kids Pick" in the kids section, a donation to their school and a seat on the company's advisory board. Not bad! I would totally join if I could. If you think someone you know would be interested, send them here.

Going to go read for a bit... hope this headache goes away quickly.

"Do you sell vacuum cleaner bags?"

Duh. The woman's daughter looked at her mom after she said that, and said, "Mom, this is a book store." Some people are just too stupid for words. She also looked like Cher... Enough said.

A co-worker of mine told me that his wife thinks that I have "deep eyes." He also told me that they both pray every night that their six year old son will marry someone like me. I'm honoured, really. It is very sweet of both of them to think of me so highly. Yet, it's still kinda odd...?

Chris gave me the COOLEST shirt EVER the other day. He's so cute :) Click here to see a picture. It says "I Love Condiments", if you can't read it. This is the shirt that Chris bought for himself. Awwww... it makes my heart melt... *sigh*. Thanks again for the shirt, love!!

And yes, I have comments now. Feel free to put in your two (if not three!) cents, if you do so desire!

"If you called this "Chocolate Stuff," I'd give it a 10. But you called it "Chocolate Mousse," so it gets a 5."

I hate my nose. Every time I wake up at Chris' I have the WORST cold. It's going away (thank goodness), but I doubt I'll be 100% by the time I have to go to work.

I frantically emailed the prof that teachers British Theatre (a pre-1900 course), and begged him to add me to his class (as I do not have the pre-requisites). Still no word back... But he's my last hope. I found out that the early American Lit does count as a pre-1900, so at least I will have 0.5 credits of the 3 finished this year? Sigh.

I was looking at the Queens calendar, and they have some pretty cool English couses (Norse!). It makes me wish that I had looked into Queens...

I haven't been sleeping well lately, not sure why. I plan on sleeping as much as possible tonight. Good plan, right? Won't happen... hehe.

"He was just trying to climb into her mouth and suck her plastic hip out of her face."

I don't know why that's my subject... I heard it on the tv and it just stuck. I don't even know what it's referring to...?

Anyway. Today has been a strange day. On one hand, it was SOOO bad. On the other, it wasn't too bad...

While I did get into some fairly interesting courses, absolutely NONE of them are required for my degree. For my degree, I have to take 6 pre-1900 literature courses. So far, in my first year, I have taken 0. By the time I signed up today, none were left. All spots, in ALL of the pre-1900 courses, were filled. Completely. Sigh. So now I'm stuck taking the same courses in both the first and second terms... Mythology, American Lit (Early American, and Modern), Canadian Lit, Women's Literature (which are 2 that I wanted to take quite badly, so... I'm mildly content), and Psychology (online). I'm really pissed about this. I am convinced that I was the last person to be allowed to sign up, which is so dumb, because I probably had one of the highest marks in first year. Sigh. Why me?!

On the other hand, work wasn't too bad tonight. I was asked, by Randall, to pick out a cake for a co-worker who is leaving. Of course, I picked a chocolate truffle cake. Hehe. I asked the woman to put "Good Luck Laura!" on the cake, and she put it in a box and I took it to the store. Turns out, she had put "Happy Birthday Laura!" on it... I wish I had asked to look at it before she put it in the box... But I figure that, since she repeated the message back to me, she would have remembered it a split second later? Maybe I'm expecting too much... But the cake was good, so that made up for the slight mistake.

A man called the store today, looking for a copy of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. We don't have it, which is a shame, as many people have been asking about it lately for some reason. I tried to explain this to him, and he seemed content with my answer and my suggestion to check it out online. Less than a minute after hanging up, however, it seemed that he had a change of heart and didn't trust my judgment or whatever. So he called back, not recognizing my voice when I picked it up. He went through the rant again about the book he wanted, and even said the same "Um, I don't know if I have the name correct" crap. I tried to be polite. I really did. "I told you, SIR, that we don't have it in this location." He knew his mistake, finally. I checked a few other stores, and he decided he would check out the Bay/Bloor location. Happy with the end of that conversation, I walked away from the phone. Less than a minute later, there was a call for an available CER (ie, me) to pick up the phone. So I did. Guess who was on the other end?? Good guess. He wanted to know where the Bay/Bloor store was. Then he wondered why I laughed. Content with the answer "It's in the Manulife center... at the intersection of Bay and Bloor", he hung up. AGAIN. And again, he called back, asking what time they were open until. I had had enough. I gave him their phone number and wished him good luck. You'd think he would get the hint??! No... hell no, that's FAR too simple. He called BACK, wanting to know if they are open on Canada Day... Again, I gave him the phone number and ran far away from the phone. I have no idea if he called back, but I feel sorry for the CER who had to deal with him if he felt the need to ask yet another dumb question.

There was a book club meeting tonight, and I was very politely asked by the leader of the club to ask the manager to set up some chairs. I asked how many were needed, and he said "well, we're going to have a good turn out tonight, about 45 I'd say." Which is weird. I've never seen THAT many people at any book club meeting before. But hey, it WAS Pilgrim that was being discussed, so I didn't question it. We set up about 30 chairs before he stopped us and said "Uh, why so many chairs? There are only 10 people coming." Grrrr. I wanted to make him take the chairs back. It's not like the chairs were conveniently stored right where the meetings take place. They're at the BACK of the stock room, which is the farthest corner from the book club corner. Stupid man.

But, the cake was good. That's the only thing that really saved the day, I think... How sad is that?