"No, you're an amphibus"

So our trip to Ottawa went well, as I had expected. Chris and I had a great time, because we did everything that we usually do in Toronto: walk, eat and make fun of people. When we arrived in town on Monday, we went for a really long walk around the downtown area (it only takes about 20 minutes to walk completely from one end to the other), trying to get a sense of where everything was located. Having quickly found the LCBO (which we never managed to visit, oddly enough), we found a cute little pub and had dinner. Much like Toronto, we walked around all week whenever we were even slightly hungry, trying in vain to find a place to eat (or trying to overcome our mutual indecisiveness and actually decide on a restaurant). We found a few nice places this way. One restaurant in particular was great - Mama Teresa (which we later found out is the best Italian restaurant in town, not to mention a favourite among politicians and celebrities). It was a great yet highly unusual find, as it was in the middle of nowhere, and looked like a home (except for the Italian flag above the door, which gave it away as a restaurant).

We also found the cutest courtyard in the middle of the downtown area. I can't even remember where it is, exactly, but it was near the National Art Gallery. Anyway, it has many large trees that shade a few benches, and a large water fountain that has unbelievably clear blue water. It was such a calming place. I can't imagine a courtyard like it in the downtown Toronto area. A bar/grill-ish restaurant had its patio in this little courtyard, so Chris and I ate there. We even got a show. There's a small apartment complex next to the restaurant, and a man (who we assumed was a security guard or a manager of some sort) was compulsively weeding a potted plant and sweeping leaves off of the front step (which were immediately blown back on by the wind).

We also saw my uncle Brian, his finacee Lynda and her two daughters while we were in town. They moved into a brand new home about 3 weeks ago, so we were their first out of town visiters since it has been furnished. I can't believe the size of the house. Four bathrooms.... I'd kill for four bathrooms in this house. No, I'd kill for TWO bathrooms. It was nice to see them again, and get a chance to get to know the girls and Lynda a bit more. We also met up with a few of Chris's friends from school, and they showed us around the town. I had my first gelato, too.

And now, for the amphibus story. Did you know that there's a whole website devoted to the amphibus? Well, you do now: Amphibus.com ! On the right side of the home page, there's a little circle of "stages" of the amphibus. You can't even imagine being on that bus as it crashes into the water - it's just that cool. Look at the picture for "stage 6". See the person directly behind the driver with the goofy "this is SO cool" look on his/her face? Yeah, that was my expression. I admit, though, that the rest of the tour was a little lame. Sure, it's nice to see the Japanese embassy and see where the Governor General lives, because the buildings are huge, but I could have done without it. As Chris mentioned on his blog, there was one really REALLY annoying man on the amphibus, and he just had to sit right behind us. I've never seen (or heard, for that matter) someone take so many pictures of the same building. Yes, we know you're a tourist. Yes, the buildings are nice. Do you really think you'll remember what every building is when you get home, or the significance of that small forest of trees? I wouldn't have been as bothered about all of this if he wasn't snapping the pictures out of my window, which was right beside my ear. Sigh. I hope the pictures come out, at least. They better have been worth it.

Visiting the art gallery has renewed my interest in art. I wish I was more talented, or at least have what I draw look like what I had in mind. "My stick people don't even look like stick people," which is one of my mom's favourite sayings. I exaggerate, but you get my point. The Great Parade exhibit that's running now is simply amazing. I was worried at first (as I'm definitely NOT a fan of clowns), but some of the paintings were very nice. We also spent two days visiting the permanent exhibits. I was greatly impressed by "Eve, the Serpent and Death" , which was painted in the late 15th century. I can't decide what it is exactly that strikes me so much about this painting. It's very symbolic - Adam is decaying and turning into Death as Eve innocently yet seductively grasps the Serpent while attempting to hide the apple behind her back. I also really admire the painting because it was made so long ago (but by no means was it the earliest one that we saw - some dated back to the 12th century) and yet still has a story that we can identify with immediately and that we can juxtapose onto the world today.

In closing, I had a lot of fun this past week; however, if it wasn't for the excellent company that I had shared along the way, I wouldn't have said that this vacation was such a success. And thanks for letting me talk you into the amphibus ride. It made my week.

fish heads, fish heads, eat them up... ugh...

Ok, so we (dad, liz, chris, alex, debby and me) went for sushi to celebrate dad's birthday. Great stuff. It was an all you can eat place. Good stuff. But debby and chris ate salmon fish heads. SOOOO gross. Like, they were eating the gooey stuff behind their eyes. It was really gross. Hence this blog title.

Today was the store's picnic. I'm so glad I went. Some of my old friends who have quit in the past year were there, so it was good to see them. Other highlights: co-workers piling on random pieces of food (candy, hot peppers, marshmallows, tons of mustard) on another co-worker's burger when he wasn't looking; the co-worker's expression when he discovered the added topings; our hike up this huuuuge hill, and having to stop several times before reaching the top; finding a cliff overlooking the valley and river, with the sun setting in the background... sigh... so beautiful; and discussing new age books and voodoo with my scary manager.

"What are you, an albino?!"

Chris found this great website, where one can put text into several different dialects. It's far too funny. If you change the text into the Swedish Chef, it'll add in "Bork bork bork!", and so on. Click here to change your own text into hilarious different dialects.

And now, in Jive:
I had some real bo'in' day at wo'k today. Slap mah fro! De servers (dat include da damn database uh scribblin's dat da damn company carries) wuz waaay down since 9 last night, so's dere wuz no way we could check any uh de scribblin' dat da damn customers wants'ed. Dig itably, de customers wuz downset and frustrated, but dey took dis out on de employees. Like we deliberately messed down de clunkers t'spite dem. WORD! Sigh. Lop some boogie. Oh well. It happens.

(That really makes no sense. To make a long story short: servers down at work = customers pissed off at everyone... not unusual)

"Your tummy feels like a big fuzzy teddy bear." - Debby
"*licks lips* You taste like a peanut" - Debby to Alex after kissing his head, which was after he has been playing tennis

Oh Debby. You're hilarium.

So, the concert was good. Quite good. We were there for 10 1/2 hours on Saturday, during which time we saw 9 bands: death from above, the arcade fire, buck 65, broken social scene, the constantines, pilate, the stills, sam roberts and sloan.

Highlights: #4's REALLY bad dancing (however, now I'll know how to dance if I ever go to a club that's playing really bad music), sam's desperate attempts to get the crowd singing and dancing (I guess he didn't realize we were all there for sloan?), Chris's non-stop "money money (money!)"-ing, and really expensive (yet still not satisfying) pizza. Fun times. Sloan never fails to entertain me.

Good news and bad news out of our family this past week. Last Monday, my gramma's dog (Muffy) had to be put to sleep due to an untreatable heart murmur. She was a great dog, and was best known for her tail that wagged in circles. On a lighter note, gramma adopted a dog yesterday, named Molly. She is almost identical to Muffy, and she is somewhere between 8 and 10 years old. A very well behaved and cute dog.

"Sure, I'll go to the Yonge and Eglinton Indigo. Where is that, anyway?"

Warning: this blog is ONLY about Chapters' stupid and annoying customers. So skip this one if you're sick of thses stories.

A few days ago, a woman was really really mad at me because one of my co-workers damaged one of her books while they were putting it into her bag (after paying for it). So, I told her she could exchange it, and everything was fine. She went to get the book. About a minute later, she was standing at the other end of the cash lines (about 10 feet away), and was waving the book at me. "I'm going now," she said. Unfortunately, I told her, I had to fill out some paperwork - for auditing purposes only. She was so mad at me because I held her up for about a minute, which was only because she refused to cooperate. Then, she was complaining because I was holding up the line (there were about 3 people in line, and I was the only cashier available). The rest of the customers didn't seem to mind waiting for a minute while I processed her exchange. So, after all of that, she refused to give me her address, postal code and real name. But she got her new book. But she won't be back. Pity. We've lost such a great customer...

Today, a man chased me through the store shouting "Oh!! Oh!! Oh!! Oh!!" over and over again, trying to get my attention. Obviously, he didn't get my attention, because I didn't stop or turn around. Finally, he took the hint and said, "excuse me."

Professor Leonard came into the store today. Originally, I wanted to go and say hi. But then I got worried that he would ask me for a book and I'd have no idea what he was talking about. But it was cool that Leonard came in! It was weird seeing him and not having a group of grade-hungry university students chasing after him chanting, "LEONARD, LEONARD!"

My stalker was back tonight and asked me if I had been playing tennis. He then said, word for word, everything that I had said in our last "conversation". Ok. So before, I was a little creeped out by him, but figured he was fairly harmless. He just needed a friend. But when he remembered every single conversation that we've ever had, it made me very frightened. So, I told my manager that he was making me uncomfortable, and he went over and spoke with the customer. I don't think we'll see him again. At least, I hope not.

Only a few more days until the Sloan/Sam Roberts concert!! Can't wait!