Thursday, November 30, 2006

A Perfect Storm

Question: What's better than George Clooney and Jon Stewart at the same time? Answer: Nothing.

Two of my three favourite men in the world were on The Daily Show last night, and I had a big dorky grin on my face the entire time. I am smitten. Even their near-constant gay jokes didn't deter my reckless female emotions. (Nor did the fact that I probably can't actually have either one of them. Though I do maintain that if I could have two minutes with George, I'd cure him of his bachelor ways.)

L

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Shaken, Not Stirred

Geoff and I FINALLY got to see Casino Royale last night. Geez. It was literally about four attempts - pretty lame for a movie that both of us were dying to see.

Anyway. Daniel Craig was absolutely brilliant, the base-jumping chase scene was pure joy, and an actual romantic subplot in a Bond movie? Sweet. I thoroughly enjoyed this darker, edgier Bond.

Mmmm... bad boys. Super hot in the movies. Not so fun in real life. It's true, kids: not everything you see in the movies is real. In any case, enjoying a first-class bad boy on screen with my good guy sitting beside me was pretty much perfection.

L

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

RIP

Fish
2006 - 2006

Oh, he was a good fish. But I think the weekend in the office without heat was just a little too much for him, poor fella. Sleep well, little buddy.

[Insert musical montage of Fish swimming around and smiling.]

L

Monday, November 27, 2006

Really Awkward

What could possibly be more awkward than running into someone you formerly (kind of) dated? How about forgetting his name.

I still can't remember. Ugh. I feel so evil.

Thank god I did my hair today :)

L

Awkward

So product placement sometimes gets awkward. (Season 3 of Alias, anyone? 'Quick, let's jump into this F-150 and catch up to the Ford Focus!')

Apparently, co-branding can get even stranger. Case in point: Happy Feet. I thought it was a little odd that they paired up with Roche and Temiflu to give television tips on how to avoid the flu. But now I hear a humour that La Senza launched a special holiday collection of Happy Feet sleepwear.

Anyone else creeped out by the idea of grown women wearing cartoon penguin pyjamas to bed?

L

Weekend Update

(Does anyone actually find this interesting? It even bores me. Anyway.)

Friday: Cocoon CHRISTMAS Party (not so politically correct). Food was consumed, Orville's new Wii was checked out, martinis were mixed, karaoke was enjoyed(?). And I do believe a good time was had by all.

Saturday: Stranded in the 'hood with the flattest tire I've ever seen in my life. Shopping for coffeehouse supplies. Cooking for the potluck on Sunday. Tried to see Casino Royale (finally) with Geoff, but it was sold out - saw For Your Consideration instead (funny - go see it).

Sunday: Singing in the morning. Potluck for lunch (with my jaw-droppingly amazing meatloaf). Set up and decorating for the coffeehouse in the afternoon. Coffeehouse in the evening - with Fallen Short and Jordan Ashlin (who was amazing).

And I think that's about it! Oh, except for my official shout-out to Ryan & Heather, who welcomed baby James into the world last week. Congratulations, you guys :)

L

Friday, November 24, 2006

For Your Amusement

Compliments of Aaron:
http://www.karmafarm.com/formletter.html

Good for at least three smiles on a Friday afternoon :)

L

Welcome to Winnipeg

The land where time stood still? Maybe that's a little harsh.

The land of slow adopters? Yeah, the shoe's uncomfortable - but it's a decent fit.

I'm writing up a summary of our Scotiabank Grey Cup campaign, and realizing as I write that 'buzz campaign' is still a big idea in this town. Winnipeg doesn't get stunts - both in the sense that no one does them here, and in the sense that we may be too dim to catch on if they did. It's so much work to simply get things approved in this one-horse town. Just dealing with traditional media companies and looking into their blank eyes when you describe a non-traditional use of their medium that you'd like to try...

'Um, that's not really on our Rate Card.'
'Why would you want to do that?'
'I'm not sure if that's going to be possible.'
'I don't ever know who'd I talk to about that.'
'Sounds like a lot of work.'

Infinitely frustrating.

But cheers to a few unexpected people in a few unexpected places who 'got it' and let us have our fun.

L

Thursday, November 23, 2006

Cell Phone Goodies

Am I the last person in the world to know about this? Anyway, read about it in the New York Times today.

-

A little-known FREE Google service: Send a text message to 46645 (that’s “Google”; leave off the last E for efficiency). In the body of the message, type what you’re looking for, like “Roger McBride 10025” or “chiropractor dallas tx.” Seconds later, you get a return message from Google, complete with the name, address, and phone number.

Google’s 46645 text-messaging service can fetch much more than phone numbers. It can also send you the weather report (in the body, type, for example, “weather sacramento”), stock quotes (“amzn”), where a movie is showing nearby (type “flushed away 44120”), what a word means (“define schadenfreude”), driving directions (“miami fl to 60609”), unit conversions (“liters in 5 gallons”), currency conversions (“25 usd in euros”), and so on.

Every cell carrier charges for text messages — about 10 cents each, unless you have a plan that includes them. But Google itself doesn’t charge for any of this. It’s not only ad-free, it’s free free.

Ink

Okay, this was way too funny to let pass without comment.

The Free Press profiled a new children's picture book today, designed to help kids *cope* with the *issue* of tattoos. Here's an excerpt:
'Mommy has a Tattoo' tells the story of James, a little boy who is afraid of his tattooed neighbour, Mr. Too, until his big sister informs him that their own mother sports a tattoo on her lower back, and James learns that tattooed people are not all "scary."

Maybe just amusing to me because I know that - one day - my own children will realize that their mom sports a little ink. I just don't see it as a big social issue. But we'll see how those therapy bills stack up, and maybe reserve judgment until then :)

L

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Auction Round-Up

Just wanted to be sure to thank as many people as possible for supporting my auction to raise money for Joints in Motion. The online auction raised $1070 for arthritis research. Way to go, you guys! I'm beaming.

And I dragged my glow, roadkill-like, into Curves after work today... I'm exhausted and aching from the weekend, but after the auction I think I pretty much have to make this 10K in Athens happen, hey? Ugh. I have the mind of a 25 year old, the responsibility of a 45 year old, and the body of a 861 year old.

I keep thinking that if I keep working on it, I might eventually catch up with myself :)

L

Monday, November 20, 2006

That's All She Wrote

We have officially survived the Grey Cup. I'm not gonna sugar-coat it - it was a heck of a lot of work. But in the end, everything turned out really, really well. Happy client. Happy agency. Happy football fans (um, other than Marie-Eve). Really, what more can you ask for?

After a totally exhausting week - and then only four hours of sleep on Friday - a bunch of us Cocoon folk spent nearly 21 hours at the MTS Centre on Saturday, setting up, supervising, and tearing down. It was a long, long day. But it looked really amazing in there. When you walked in the front doors, it was stunning - a giant football smashed into the floor in the entrance, and the stairs converted to a giant LED noise meter, plus banners and other Scotiabank logos and decor.

I love when you work that hard and it all pays off. And we knew the payoff had come when we saw a pic of Manitoba's premier and the CEO of Scotiabank crouched in football poses - in front of our giant football - in the Free Press on Sunday :)

L

Friday, November 17, 2006

PowerBall

Winnipeg's going a little bit nuts with Grey Cup happening this weekend. There are literally seventeen thousand options to go out - Sam Roberts, Tom Cochrane, heck, even the Beach Boys are here. I think the funniest show this week had to have been Kenny Rogers. KENNY ROGERS.

Last night, I went with Geoff and a bunch of his co-workers to PowerBall - my first experience with this little Winnipeg tradition. We saw Mobile, The Trews, Theory of a Deadman, and Three Days Grace (funny how many people accidentally slipped up this week and said 'Third Eye Blind' - hehe, generic rock band names). It was a decent show. I mean, the sound wasn't impressive (odd for the MTS Centre) and the crowd was chock full of nineteen year olds, including an odd number of *ugly* pregnant young girls. Ew. Anyway. The bands were all pretty good - in particular, Theory of a Deadman was really good live.

The funny thing was that, after Three Days Grace wrapped up, you were left sitting there and thinking, 'Cool, now who did these guys open up for?' They're all really solid bands at the opening-act level, but I didn't feel like any one of them is quite worthy of being the drawing card to anything.

I went in with no expectations, and so it was a good night. Don't know how I'd feel if this had been something marked on my calendar months ago in pink glitter gel :)

L

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Football-Inspired Hooliganism

Thought y'all might enjoy a little peek at what we've been working on lately... I'll start returning emails again after Sunday, I promise :)

L




Stone Age

Seriously? Larry, even my grandma uses the internet.

Transcript from 'Larry King Live' on November 14.06 (that's 2006, not 1806)...

LARRY KING: On your blog you write, “Bush is going to declare war on China next, I swear.”
ROSEANNE BARR: I was so scared because I woke up and there was the Drudge, you know. I always read the Drudge Report and it said on there that the Chinese were like, you know, spying on our subs or doing something with our subs and I was like, “Oh no, he’s going to think that’s an act of war and then we’re going to go over there next.” I mean we’re everywhere. We’re everywhere.
KING: The Internet as a political medium viable?
BARR: Yes, it’s like the only one left, absolutely, and that’s not just me saying it. That’s everybody saying it.
KING: But there’s 80 billion things on it.
BARR: Yes, but if you know where to look, you know, it all can come together. When you’re looking for the particular information that you’re looking for after you do the big search, this is what I found out by going on there, it just takes your mind and then you live in there forever. You can never come out.
KING: I’ve never done it, never gone searching.
BARR: Oh, my God! It just opens up the whole universe. It’s so awesome. You would love it.
KING: No, I wouldn’t.
BARR: Anything you want to know.
KING: The wife loves it. I wouldn’t love it. What do you punch little buttons and things?
BARR: You just click on this thing. The thing is you got to be able to read, so you have to have strong glasses when you’ve over 50 and then you just scroll down and click. It’s not that hard. I can show you how to do it.
KING: No, thanks.

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/11/15/larry-king-internet/

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

The Perils of Healthy Living

Okay. The gym is the devil. My legs HURT... And I've realized that my high heel habit is probably not helping. By the time I get home after work (and remove my heels), I can hardly stand straight because the muscles at the back of my calves are so tight. Funny. I'm not giving up the gym or my heels, so hopefully I'll adjust soon. (Yes, I'm stretching.)

Also trying to increase my water intake, which has been funny so far. I had my full eight glasses the other day and I swear I was drowning from the inside out... I've realized since then that maybe I should aim for four per day this week, and work my way up slowly. Silly girl.

L

Monday, November 13, 2006

Auction Update

So the auction's off to a great start. Some early aggressive bidders, which is good news for me and bad news for arthritis (or all of you who are hoping to wait and then bid on some really cheap Christmas presents :)

A few people have asked about auction sales outside Manitoba. The answer is that a few of the items (gift cards) can be used in any province. And we can make arrangements to ship almost any of these items. If you have a specific concern or an item you would like to bid on, fire me an email and we can talk about it.

Keep bidding, and good luck!

L

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Tough Stuff

This whole blogging thing is so funny. I've never really liked to discuss my health - or how I feel about my health - with people. But now that I write a couple of times a week about what's going on in my world, I realize more people know about how I'm feeling now than ever before. Times about a hundred. Plus strangers :)

Is it okay to be honest, even if it's not pretty?

Yesterday was a really hard day. I'm not really sure what to compare it to. It kind of feels like the day I was first diagnosed. Or something. I haven't really analyzed yet. I'm not sure I want to.

I saw my rheumatologist (arthritis specialist) in the afternoon, kind of a last-ditch effort to figure out how I can get my life back. He examined and tested and re-confirmed my diagnosis. Then he told me to keep getting exercise and removed me from his patient list, because there's nothing he can do for me.

FMS is a disease with few real treatment options. Medical professionals tell you to get used to it - that this is your new reality. They recommend regular moderate exercise, sleep, a healthy diet. They prescribe an anti-depressant for during the day and a hardcore muscle relaxant for the night. And then they wish you luck. That's if you're lucky. My GP isn't so sure that there's anything wrong with me, because I *seem* so normal. There are alternative therapies that I've been sourcing, but I'm on my own to research them and then to pay for trying them out (because FMS isn't a 'real' disease).

It was one of those days when I honestly thought about giving up, instead of my usual reaction to fight it with everything I have. I'm tired. And, after fifteen years of fighting, guess what? I'm still sick. There's still no cure. Heck, there isn't even a medication that can numb my symptoms.

I stayed in bed until 1.30 today, something I don't usually let myself do. I just wasn't ready to face the world yet... As long as I stayed sleeping, everything was okay. Then I popped a few pills, got dressed, and took myself out for coffee and a bagel. I ran a few errands. And then I came into work.

I thought I'd feel better if I tried to just keep going, to make myself snap out of it. But I don't feel better. I still feel sad, and angry at a system that isn't helping me.

L

Friday, November 10, 2006

You Tell 'em, Johnny. You Tell the World.

It's official... As of 8 am this morning (and continuing until 8 pm on Monday, November 20), my AUCTION AGAINST ARTHRITIS is live and open for bidding!

You can view the items and place your bids at http://auctionagainstarthritis.blogspot.com.

Please do whatever you can to spread the word to your friends, family, co-workers, or anyone else you know. And don't be shy about it! There are four million of us in Canada who live with this disease - so everyone you know is guaranteed to know someone whose life has been affected and is hoping for a cure.

L

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Eighteen MEEEELLION Dollars

Just read this on The Arthritis Society's website, and thought it was pretty incredible. Letting y'all know seemed particularly relevant with my auction launching tomorrow.

(I don't work in PR for nothin' ;)

L

"The Arthritis Society recognizes and appreciates that it's been no small feat for Joints in Motion participants across the country to train for and achieve a very personal, physical goal - all the while working very tirelessly to raise funds in support of important arthritis research and programs. However, you will be pleased to know that effort continues to pay off for millions of Canadians with arthritis.

"As of October 2006, Joints in Motion participants have raised more than $18 million to help in the battle against arthritis.

"Thanks to your efforts, and the efforts of thousands of donors and volunteers across the country, The Arthritis Society is able to continue investing in the search for a cure, and improved programs and services."

Gym Bunnies and Pursuit of Contentedness

So I am officially one of Them. I know, I know. More specifics, Lindsay.

This week, I joined Curves. It was a pretty major step for me because, in my mind, Curves is associated with middle-age and obesity. But so many of my friends and acquaintances have loved it, so I figured I should at least investigate it. I've been twice now, and the people there are actually really NORMAL... Youngish, for the most part. And no morbid obesity in sight. Actually, most of them looked like me. And everyone was lacking that awful gym-bunny snobbery, which made me happy.

The first time I went was in the evening, and I was pretty tired. This morning, I tried going at 7 am - and it was awesome. It's so close to my house, and it wasn't really that difficult to throw on some sweats, put my hair in a ponytail, and get out the door (no need to look very gym-bunny when it's only Curves). I had plenty of time to come home, shower, and get ready for work. Kind of perfect, actually.

I just need to overcome the psychological barrier of being a girl who goes to Curves.

L

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Harold's Bringing Sexy Back



Thanks for bringing my attention to this video that brought me unimaginable joy.

On a somewhat related note, Craig sent me a YouTube link last week so that I could see a cat exploding. Which also brought me unimaginable joy (especially given our recent office brainstorms on how to rig a cat to explode at a totally random moment, months or even years after adoption).

But I'm not one of those people who links to animal videos on my blog. Not yet, anyway.

L

Monday, November 06, 2006

Poor Caitlin

Had a couple of really great things happen this weekend that I feel a
compulsive need to share with my little blog world (something to add
to my 'talk about when I find a new therapist' list).

The first thing may not sound like a big deal to many of you, but for
those of you in my situation - this is pretty major. I found a cute
laptop bag. That I love. That only cost $50. Amazing. I was so sick
of those nasty generic black bags (that weigh a hundred pounds BEFORE
you put your computer inside), and the only super-cute ones were
unjustifiably expensive. Anja and I were in Billabong this weekend,
and I found IT. I was so happy. I'm still so happy. It apparently
takes very little.

On Saturday night, Aaron and Cait came over for chinese take-out and movies. We watched Best of SNL Commercial Parodies and Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story (the Rob Corddry paintball mockumentary - 'second place is first place for losers'). We laughed so much. First the *classic* SNL commercials, including the lower back tattoo remover, mom jeans, and bass shakes. Then came the moment that Cait and I will try to forget... There's a scene in Blackballed where a novice paintball player who's a hardcore video game nerd is huddled behind a bunker, terrified. He shuts his eyes and starts screaming these random nonsense words... Well, what Cait and I THOUGHT were random nonsense words. But those random nonsense words caused Aaron to laugh out loud - louder than I think I've ever heard him laugh. Turns out the nerd in the movie was screaming out a video game cheat code to add bonus lives. And the fact that Aaron caught on immediately pretty much makes him the biggest geek I know.

Poor Caitlin.

L

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Injustice

Do you ever have one of those moments when you want to throw something or stomp your foot and haul out your whiny voice to declare that LIFE ISN'T FAIR?

Really? You do?! That's SO immature, you guys.

Here's the deal. Aaron and Cait and I made plans a loooong time ago to attend the Global Justice Film Festival together this weekend. Don't laugh. It's awesome. Anyway, it's been on my calendar and I've been getting really excited for weeks and months. Don't laugh. It's awesome.

I found out last week that I need to attend a meeting on Saturday that overlaps the film festival exactly. And now it's this grand moral dilemma: volunteer commitment or friend commitment? They're both good causes. I hate that I have to decide.

To add to the total injustice of it all, Geoff is in NYC and has tickets for The Daily Show on November 7. Yep, THAT November 7 - the one-hour midterm election day special.

Not that I'd enjoy that at all.

L

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

My Grown-Up Christmas List

Lindsay loves Christmas. Lindsay does not love making the annual Christmas List. Lindsay used to love writing up a Christmas List every year when people asked her to. As an adult, she finds the task quite tedious.

Here's the thing. I have *some* disposable income. And with that disposable income, I am able to purchase the dorky little things that I find myself wanting - books, movies, clothes, manicures, stuff for my house, whatever. Essentially, the classic Christmas gift options.

This leaves:
(1) Things I want that I'd never trust another human being to pick out on my behalf (and this list is extensive)
(2) Things that are too expensive for me to impulse-purchase for myself, and are therefore out of the price range traditionally affiliated with others' love for me

And so, each year, I feel my list becomes a little more ridiculous. I'm grasping at straws. It becomes oddly specific - and infinitely tiresome.

Maybe I'll just write down 'world peace' and let you all figure it out.

L