twenty five facts...

I always feel this pressure, when I have things that I actually want to blog about. I feel like I need to write about them well. At the moment, these things include the start of the TOC life this week, and Lavonne's wedding on the weekend. I am pretty sure both posts will come in due time.

But not right now.

Now, I am going to follow the facebook-trend and post 25 random facts about myself. An incredibly lame thing to do, I realize, but it's a post, and I have to get past the pressure.

1.I have a teddy bear called "Scotty". There have been two versions before him. One got crunched in a garage door on a childhood sleepover. Yes, I still sleep with a teddy-bear, and not afraid to admit it.

2. I live my life with equal parts fortune and misfortune. I often lose things, but they are usually returned to me in very serendipitous ways.

3. I think it is a very horrible thing to show up at an event wearing the wrong outfit. I have even said it is the "worst thing". It obviously isn't the worst thing, but MAN do I hate that feeling.

4. I am an English major who doesn't read. I mean, I do read, but way less that I want to. I happen to also really like people. Its' hard to combine these interests (but not impossible. ha).

5. I don't like Dickens. (There I said it - judge me all you want, but he just goes on and on, and I don't like the million characters, I just find them irritating. I am going to live to regret saying this...)

6. "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey (circa 1981) is my current theme song. Thanks to Spiro. For the very reason she put forward: : I need a voice that is singing: "don't stop believing", and I need it "now more than ever".

7. I love Nick Hornby. I will read anything he writes. He is like the voice in my head, only "more accurate and with a better vocabulary" (10 points for that movie reference)

8. I like Harry Potter, and I mean a lot.

9. I love dancing at weddings. It's the multi-generational thing I think. It gets me every time.

10. I have zero sense of "interior design". I am counting on people wanting to come to my house to eat Matt's cooking.

11. I have never broken a bone. But I am very afraid that I will.

12. I love my converse. I feel like a whole different person every time I put them on.

13. I miss the "ding-dong" sound of the door opening in tiny shops in England. And I miss eating Cornettos from these shops.

14. I think that Fresh Ink cards are the best cards out there. If you ever feel down, take a trip to Hallmark and just read a few. You'll feel better, I know it.

15. As I get older, I discover more and more that I actually like foods that I thought I hated, only because I ate really bad versions the first time.

16. I eat a lot of fast-food. Way too much actually. It's a tough habit to break though.

17. I once had a t-shirt with overalls attached that had smiley faces on them. It was neon. I loved that shirt.

18. I find a lot of satisfaction in crossing things off lists.

19. I want my tombstone to say "friend". (Yup, I just went there)

20. When I don't straighten my hair, I look like a 70's boy.

21. I love Watermelon sour straws. When I buy them, I eat the whole pack in about 30 seconds.

22. I am an English teacher, who isn't very good at grammar.

23. When I was a baby, I had red hair. Sometimes you can still see a little in the sun.

24. I have a lot of rules about things, like "not drinking starbucks coffee in major city centers", and "always giving cards with christmas gifts". There are really too many to list here.

25. I am standing on the precipice of the rest of my life.

Whew. That was long, I am pretty impressed if you are reading this right now.

Okay, the idea is, if I tagged you on facebook, or if even if you are reading this on the blog - you go write your own 25, and then tag more people. I know, sort of just a "survey" and on my blog no less. But you kind of want to do it, don't you?

What do you think?

"I've seen your flag on the marble arch.
Love is not a victory march.
It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah"
- Leonard Cohen

Thoughts?

the new look....

Well I had been holding out for a year almost, not wanting to switch to blogger beta because I didn't want to lose that old template.

But then I started looking, and found that there are some beautiful people out there who can convert templates from wordpress to blogger. I didn't want to switch to wordpress, because I didn't want to loose everything. Now, I can have a nice looking blog (let's face it, wordpress templates are much cooler looking), AND keep my archives. Sounds good to me.

So what do you think? Any comments, ideas, suggestions?

I don't quite know what to do with that top box where I have the quote. I could put my title there, and put something else on the side. What do you think? Also, when you read my blog, can you see the "editing wrench" icon on the side?

**The beautiful people are: www.btemplates.com

In case you didn't catch it the first time...

A few months ago, Bec posted about Vancouver's new radio station: The Peak 100.5 FM.. At the time, I was lost in PDP-land, and did not read it. But then, I read it a couple of weeks ago and have been listening ever since.

So, I thought I would go ahead and post about it again. Because this has probably been one of the greatest discoveries in a long time. I consistently can't believe that I am listening to the radio when it is on, because it is actually good music. Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoy top 40 just as much as the next guy, but not because it is actually good music. On this radio station, I hear Arcade Fire, Metric, Snow Patrol, Jason Mraz and wonderful new independent artists, that I can't even find on itunes yet. The best part is, these guys are not covering the "Canadian Content" with Nickelback. In fact, I have never heard Nickelback played on this station which is a small wonder for this city. Instead, they play new interesting artists.

I have found myself at least three times, looking up artists that I heard and trying to find more of their music. I think that is what radio was intended to be. So go check it out, its definitely worth a listen.

Top 5 Songs I am enjoying on the Peak:

1. O My Heart - Mother, Mother
2. Never Miss a Beat - Kaiser Chiefs
3. You are the Best Thing - Ray LaMontagne
4. Boys with Girlfriends - Meiko
5. Take Back the City - Snow Patrol

Why I am switched into "off" mode....

You know that moment? It's the one right after high school, when you are standing there, looking out at the world, and it seems so vast and you wonder: "what am I going to do?" and it feels so overwhelming. Then, the next thing you know, you have signed up for some program in a post-secondary institution and your life is again dictated for you for another four years. You write the papers, get the grades, and then you graduate.

And then it happens again.

University is over. And again, you are staring out at the big bad world, and you wonder: "what do I do next?". In my case, I signed up for yet another program. This time, with a "practical career focus". Once again, you do the program, jump through the hoops and figure out what is required of you.

And now, I am here again.

It's a little different this time. The thing that I am "supposed to do" is quite obvious. But at the moment, that doesn't seem to make it any less scary. In fact, it almost seems more scary. I keep joking that I am not sure what scares me more: that I WON'T get the job, or that I WILL and then I will have to face all those crazy high schoolers all over again.

As I write these words, I wonder if I should post them. There seems to be a high possibility of misunderstanding. You might think that Sharelle must "not want to teach", or something of that nature. I don't think that is it really. I think it is more about transition. It's that point where your life shifts, and you are forced to move with it. Those are hard moments for me.

So I thought I would send these thoughts out into the void, and see what you thought, if maybe you identified. Ohh blogging...