I am a miracle worker. From mere seeds, I have created life. Truly, I have staggering abilities.
I have flowers! In my garden! That I planted myself, and they didn't even die!
To truly appreciate how cute that flower is, you really need to see it in detail. Isn't it just beautiful?
And not only that - the seeds in pots are a-bloomin' too!
And the plants that I bought and then re-potted? They're flowering and looking beautiful!
A recreational vehicle. That's right. A Winnebago. (And yes, I am aware that "Winnebago" is a brand name, but it just sounds cooler than "RV")
They then, over the course of the next three weeks, drive this kick ass vehicle across the whole of Canada, excluding Newfoundland and the territories. Territories are for suckers. I have no problem with Newfoundland, it's just inconveniently located.
Because I am a huge geek, as soon as Heather and I first discussed this, I worked up a tentative route that would get us across the country, from Halifax to Vancouver, in 21 days with rest stops in all the places we're from - Toronto, Winnipeg and Edmonton. And then I looked up the mileage, converted it from miles to kilometers, made an Excel spreadsheet, formatted it nicely and printed it off. Dude. I told you - huge geek.
We'd be looking at a total of over 7,150 kilometers (actually 7,159.7 by my reckoning) over the three weeks. In a Winnebago! How awesome is that?
I've always wanted to do this trip. And, as those of you who have heard me rave about the coolness of Winnebagos in the past will know, it only makes the dream better to do it in an RV. Think how much tacky souvenir crap I can buy! Bliss!
Because we are poor, it's going to take us some time to save up the money, hence the 2008 thing. But that just means more time for planning! How awesome!
I can't wait two years! I want to go now!
Yet another fun meme via Gwen. (updated 29 June with missing song titles added)
The Rules
Step 1: Put your iPod/MP3 player or iTunes on random.
Step 2: Post the first line(s) from the first 20 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.
Step 3: Post it on your blog and let everyone guess what song and artist the lines come from.
Step 4: Update the list with the song title when someone guesses correctly. (I will identify any unguessed songs by next week some time.)
Step 5: Make your guesses by leaving a comment or sending me email. You have to identify both title and artist, and you're not allowed to Google any of these, either.
1. Hello, hello, hello, is there anybody in there? [Buffy: "Comfortably Numb" by Scissor Sisters]Brad asked: What I want to know is do you still have that Concrete Blonde t-shirt?
Answer: Hell yeah.
Imagine, if you will, Toronto in September 1992. A young girl from a small town is about to attend her first non New Kids On The Block concert with her two best friends. It's Concrete Blonde on their Walking In London tour and Wendy was a big fan.
All three of us bought t-shirts, as I am prone to do at concerts, and Steph and I wore them pretty constantly. By the time I got to university, it was pretty worn out but I still loved it. It was my signature look - long black skirt, Doc Marten MaryJane style shoes, tights, Concrete Blonde t-shirt and plaid shirt.
I don't wear it anymore, but it's still a much loved item of clothing. It's comfort clothes. It's lasted 14 years, and I think with a bit of care, it'll last another 14.
Let's say you get an order of chips (that's what those crazy Brits call fries, for all you North Americans) with your kebab when you come home a bit tipsy on a Monday night. Now, you don't feel like eating them at the time, so you stick them in the fridge. Then, the next day, you reheat them in the microwave and eat them.
Gross or no?
Oh, we had no idea what was coming. We snagged a spot on the sloped bit, just to the right of this walkway thingy.
After about an hour, a few more people had turned up.
Man, that's a lot of people. So, we sat in the sun for a few hours, drank some beers, contemplated which t-shirts to buy, chatted, the usual. Good times were had by all.
At about 5:30ish, the first opening band went on. It was a band called Spin, who won some kind of contest on some radio station to open for Bon Jovi. They were from Leeds, I think. They were kind of annoying. The lead singer was all "Milton Keynes! You must love us! Now sing along to this song you've never heard! Woooo!" Dude. Relax. They're here to see Bon Jovi. No one cares about you.
Nickelback was on after them. Now, I am not a Nickelback fan. I find them annoying. I tend to describe their music as "that one song and all those other songs that sound like that one song." So, I assumed that they would suck.
Now, we all know what happens when we "assume", don't we? That's right. Nickelback isn't as bad as you think they'll be. What? That's the definition of assume that I'm familiar with. This is just the first time I've been able to properly use it.
The lead singer guy was very funny and charming. So even though I wasn't the hugest fan of their music, I find myself liking them now. At one point Buni turned to me and said "Dude, he just sounded just like you." We're both Canadian. It's in our Canadian genes. We're funny, and we all sound the same.
Not everyone enjoyed the Nickelback though.
This lady slept right through them. Well, you can't win 'em all.
But then Nickelback was done! And you know what that means!
That's right. The last of the sixty five thousand people turned up. All there for Bon Jovi. Sixty. Five. THOUSAND. That is a LOT of freaking Bon Jovi fans.
And then there they were! Bon Jovi, right there in front of me. Well, there were about thirty thousand people in between us. But still!
Bon Jovi! Hee! They came onstage, and I turned to Buni and was all "Dude! That's totally Bon Jovi!" Hee!
I have to say, they were pretty awesome. They played for two and a half hours, pretty much straight. They played most of their big hits, and in a good order. They mixed the big singalong hits with the slightly more obscure songs and newer stuff. And they were great.
They had a bass player, rhythm guitarist and keyboard player with them, but they didn't get any screen time. That was all for Bon Jovi. And they were awesome.
The part that I loved best was that they were clearly having such a good time. And they obviously like each other a lot. And goddamn, Jon Bon Jovi is a good looking guy when he smiles. They were obviously loving the fact that there were sixty five thousand Bon Jovi fans singing along with every word.
When they sang "Livin' On A Prayer", Jon Bon Jovi started by singing the chorus alone by himself on the stage, and got the whole audience singing along. Sixty five thousand people singing the chorus to your song, and clearly loving every single second. How could that not be the biggest rush of all time?
It was dark by this time, and when the song started, the sea of people in front of me lit up with little white lights. Thousands of people recording video and audio on their mobile phones. Awesome.
They didn't play "Blaze of Glory", which was the only disappointment, but it's technically a Jon Bon Jovi solo song, so I didn't really mind.
As the concert was ending, I was getting nervous though. Sixty five thousand people in Milton Keynes. Now, let's say that a quarter of those people were taking the train back to London. That's probably a conservative estimate. So, that's sixteen thousand two hundred and fifty people getting trains, the last of which is leaving at 12:13am. Bon Jovi finished at 10:30. It's a half hour walk back to the station. That means that there will be one hour and 13 minutes to get those sixteen thousand two hundred and fifty people onto trains.
Obviously, some of them are going to be stranded in Milton Keynes. I was determined to not be one of those people. Fortunately, we got on a train. I was happy that we made one. Not everyone shared that sensible attitude. This short blonde woman wearing inappropriate footwear was moaning the entire time we were lined up to get into the station. Now, I thought they had the whole thing organized pretty well. The line was moving, they were only letting people into the station when there were trains to get on, and there were obviously more trains than normal running. But no, she was all "this is so stupid and frustrating, I'm meeting someone, why am I not on a train already, I'm so angry, this is so annoying, why aren't I on a train, I'd better meet that person or I'll kick some ass".
I wanted to kick her ass, but I resisted. I'm strong like that. We got on a train, sadly without any seats left. I sat on the floor and we got to Euston in time for me to catch the second last tube train. Sweet!
Not so sweet was Buni's experience on the tube, where she caught her last train, and ended up on the same car as annoying blonde woman. Apparently her friend was pointing out to her that even though they got back to London later than she planned, they were lucky enough to get the last tube train. Obviously, logic is not welcome to such a crazy person. She's just lucky I wasn't on that train, because I don't know if I'm strong enough not to have kicked her ass then. You do not want to mess with me.
In summary: Bon Jovi is awesome. Blonde women with inappropriate footwear are annoying. The rest of the photos are here. Woo! Bon Jovi!
Well, hi there Internet! I'm glad you stopped by. I've got a couple adorable girls I'd like you to meet.
Meet the most adorable kittens in the world.
The name debate carried on until yesterday afternoon, when my friend Jess at work pointed out that I would be getting them on 06/06/06, so they should have eeeeeeeeeevil names. Jess came up with the names, and Aaron came up with the abbreviations. It's all about teamwork here at the blog. My friends are very clever, so I'd like you to meet Lucy and Beez.
Lucy (short for Lucifer) is on the left, and she's very adventurous and outgoing. She's also sleeker looking and a bit bigger. Beez (short for Beelzebub) is on the right and she's much shyer. She's also quite fluffy.
And they could not be cuter if they tried. Seriously, they're adorable. It's a wonder I could make it to work today, what with the overwhelming cute factor in my flat threatening to keep me at home.
How can you not love this face?
This is Beez, looking adorable.
They were a bit shy and scared when I brought them home and had them in the kitchen, but once they got into the living room, the inhibitions came off and the cuteness ran rampant.
They really liked the shelves.
They're just as cute as can be and I love them to bits already. We just need to work on Beez's shyness. Last night, Lucy slept on my bed and Beez slept under it. Aw, bless.
For the full photo spectacular, Flickr away, Internet. Enjoy.
