C'est L'Halloween

That is for all the countless people who continue finding my blog by searching for "C'est L'halloween french song".

Ahhh takes you back eh? Good ole French class.

Happy Halloween everybody!!

Also, just for old times sake:

Furry Friday

Thank you baby Jesus, it's Friday!! I'm way more excited about this Friday than I normally am about other Fridays...it could be because tomorrow is HALLOWEEN, and I love me some candy and costumes. And pumpkins! And dancing at the bar!

Anyway, it's puppy time!! Last night was a fairly typical evening at the shelter, tons of dogs, not enough time. My arms got mauled slightly by a american bulldog/boxer mix, who was one strong mofo. I couldn't even get a picture of him because he wouldn't stop jumping on me. There was also a giant, like the most giant Rottie I have ever seen in my life, who I did not take out, because well, he umm scared me a bit. He was HUGE and barking and strong, and sometimes I just don't have the strength or willingness to get knocked over and jumped on by huge dogs. Plus I had to go somewhere after the shelter, and didn't want to be toooo covered in mud. I've had to work the past four Thursday evenings, so I haven't been able to be at the shelter as long as I would have liked. Next Thursday, it's back to my regular time slot!

Anyway, this weeks models:



Scruffy again. Just cause he's so cute, and I like to squeeze him. His adoption is pending, so they are probably doing a yard check. Hopefully works out and he gets to go to his new home soon! He is such a good dog, and he does that hilarious small dog thing when he just tears around the yard. So funny.



Charlie. He is such a love. He's been at the shelter since last winter, which makes me sad. He got adopted, but then the new owners brought him back because they couldn't afford him. I can't even tell you how irritated that makes me...like, how dumb are you? Dogs are expensive! People should realize this from the get go. But soooo many don't. So many of these dogs are up for adoption because their owners "couldn't afford them". Anyway, I'm doing up the newsletter for the shelter soon, and I think I'll feature Charlie as the dog of the month. And this picture cracks me up! I would like to find him a good home before Christmas, I may make this my personal mission.



Who's not a sucker for dogs with a patch covering their eye?



Awwww Rottie puppy, so cute. This dog's gonna be huge!!

Oh animal shelter...I wished I worked there. Can you imagine what a dog overload I would have if I actually did? I would have to refrain myself from posting dog pictures everyday of my life. I need to constantly remind myself that not everybody is as obsessed with dogs as I am. So far I have managed to contain it to Fridays!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!! And a Happy Halloween!!

On International Days of Weirdness

So I was reading the paper yesterday and there was a recipe inside for some chocolate brownies. This recipe, according to the paper, was printed in celebration of International Chocolate Day. Immediately after I read that, I was just like, 1) how did I not know about this, I need some chocolate stat!, and 2) who comes up with these things, and maybe more importantly, why?

Every day is chocolate day for me! Or at least hot chocolate day! But when I googled "international chocolate day", several different days came up, so I'm thinking maybe some random people decide they need an excuse to eat copious amounts of chocolate in one day, thus International Chocolate Day was born. Yeehaw!

Then I got to thinking....what other random holidays am I missing? There is probably a plethora of exciting days that pass by unnoticed by me every year, when really, I could be partying it up!

So I looked some of them up, and indeed I was right...I can't believe I've been missing some of this stuff year after year! That ends now!!

So these are the holidays I will hence force be celebrating!

January-
National Clean off Your Desk Day
Someday We'll Laugh About This week
I'm Not Going to Take it Anymore day
Appreciate a Dragon Day
Squirrel Appreciation Day
Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day

Out of these, I have to say Appreciate a Dragon Day is my favourite. What does one do on Appreciate a Dragon Day? How exactly do you Appreciate a Dragon? I'm thinking...I'll watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Oh, and maybe sing Puff the Magic Dragon a couple of times.

February
National Tooth Fairy Day
At first when I saw this, I was all, awesome! Tooth Fairy! Then I thought about it and remembered the Tooth Fairy used to creep me the eff out. My friend told me a story once about how after she lost a tooth, she put it under her pillow that night, and woke up to find a large black man in her room! Which led us to conclude that: 1) The Tooth Fairy actually was a large black man, 2) Her house was getting robbed, or 3) It was actually the shadow of one of her parents. Either way, that scared me off the Tooth Fairy for good.

March
National Open an Umbrella Indoors Day
Awkward Moments Day

Truthfully, every day is Awkward Moments day for me, because I am a highly awkward individual. I've accepted it, it's just the way it is. If there is a way to make something unintentionally awkward, I'll likely do it!

April
Blame Someone Else Day
Avoid the Post Office Day

I love the post office like woah, so I'm not sure how that day would go for me. You mean I can't browse the new stamps? Ahhhh. Blame Someone Else Day? Yes please!

May
International Respect for Chickens Day
Limerick Day

Both of these are awesome! Chickens are awesome! Not when they are within 5 feet of me and getting all pecky, but I do like to EAT chickens, and I respect them for that. And Limerick Day??? Nothing would make me happier than if everyone in the world abides by this. Except maybe if there was an Pretend You Are in a Musical Production Day.

June
Hug Your Cat Day
National Handshake Day

I don't have a cat, but I'm sure I can find one to hug. And I'm sure I'll get clawed to death. National Handshake Day doesn't seem so sanitary, especially with all the H1N1 brouhaha going around, but I'll make sure to stock up on hand sanitizer for this one.

July
Compliment Your Mirror Day
Be A Kid Again Day
International Town Crier's Day
Embrace Your Geekiness Day
Take Your Houseplants for Walk Day

I LOVE ALL of these. Be A Kid Again Day??? Amazing. I also am slightly obsessed with Town Crier's, like I want to be a Town Crier, so I can totally get behind that day. I wonder if there is a Town Crier Festival anywhere in the world? Note to self-look that up.

August
National Mustard Day
National Underwear Day

I hope everyday day is Underwear Day, but hey, it happens I guess!

September
Be Late for Something Day
Talk Like a Pirate Day

Ahoy matey! Arrrrr. Shiver Me Timbers. Swashbuckler... Ummmmm, whoa, I would have very limited conversation skills on this day!!

October
International Moment of Frustration Scream Day

Yes please. They should time this simultaneously around the world...I'll like to hear what that sounds like!

November
Cook Something Bold and Pungent Day

Okay!

December
Gingerbread House Day
Cat Herders Day

I love making elaborate Gingerbread Houses, so this is perfect!!I have an excuse to spend hours upon hours of Gingerbread House decorating!!

This is only the tip of the iceberg people! Just imagine the possibilities! Hi ho, look at this: http://www.mydayregistry.com/ ....want the perfect gift for somebody? Create them their own day! Again, the possibilities are endless!!

What random holiday can I create??? Ideas??

Travel Tuesday: Story Time!

I went away on vacation to Europe last May/June, and I honestly had the time of my life. I went by myself, and it was probably one of the greatest things I have ever done for myself. I have tons of stories, as you can imagine, so I'm going to start writing some and posting them on here. I need to get them down somewhere before I forget. Here goes! Some will be fact, some will be fact mixed with fiction; I'll leave it up to you to figure out which is which.

The first time I saw him was an early morning in Prague, way to early to be thinking about making a good impression. He’s cute, I thought to myself, as I walked past him on the bus. I picked the seat across and one down from him, not so much because I wanted to sit by him, but because that was one of the only seats left. As the bus started chugging away from Prague, our tour group slowly relaxed and began talking to one another. It was the usual awkward, getting to know you stuff, but I find people move past that quickly when travelling; you have to. Everybody bonds over the excitement that is found in discovering a new place and embarking on an adventure.

I was craving human interaction. This bus tour was happening on the end of a long, solo journey through Germany and Austria. Weeks had gone by where I barely talked to anyone. Maybe that’s a lie, I talked to people, but as it happens when you are travelling, people flit in and out of your life, and sometimes you can walk around with them for a whole day, have pictures with them and have no expectation of ever seeing them again. One minute they are there, and the next they aren’t. Perhaps that’s one of the best things about travelling, the ability to make fast friends for a day with a complete stranger. You learn about their life and where they come from, and you make a connection that would take months or years to forge at home. Regardless, after about three weeks of hoofing it around Europe by myself, I was ready to meet some people, and stay with them for a whole week.

I wasn’t expecting him. Little did I know, this decision to travel in this particular group, with this particular company, would leave me feeling completely, well, lost.

He was on our tour as the companies official photographer, and for the first couple of days, that was all he was. He was the cute British boy taking photos; he was working. I barely exchanged two words with him as we toured through Olomouc, Kutna Hora and Krakow. Our interactions were limited to simple polite exchanges: “have fun on that rafting trip”, “lovely weather today isn’t it?”

We were at a restaurant in Zakopane, Poland and he wasn’t even sitting beside me at first. I’ve thought about this moment, the catalyst for when everything changed, and I wonder if I would do it all again? Of course, despite the "what ifs" that still pass through my mind, months after I’ve returned home.

He switched spots with my friend Leslie so that he could have easier access to the giant plate of meat that was being served up on our table which was your typical Eastern European fare: meat, meat, more meat and some potatoes. All of a sudden, there he was sitting right to the left of me our arms practically touching.

“Hi, I’m Paul, I don’t think we’ve officially met”
“I’m Megan, nice to finally talk to you!”

After that it was all over: my heart had swum up out of my body and was whirling around in happy little circles above me. I wasn’t thinking rationally, I was only thinking about this gorgeous British boy talking to me.

We talked all through dinner, it was like nobody else was even there. I told him all about my life back home and he told me all about his photography, his cats, his family. Never, not in my 26 years of life, have I ever connected with someone so instantly, so completely, I mean, I felt like I had known him forever. Like he was the guy who lived down the street from me, and we used to play together in the summer, running barefoot through the ravine in search of rattlesnakes. That’s how it felt. But I had just met this guy, this Paul.

to be continued...

On Thrilling the World

So I participated in Thrill the World on Saturday night, and I don't believe they know yet if we broke the world record...but I'm thinking probably yes! However, it was fun times! Group dancing while dressed like zombies? Yes please! My friend K and I went to the dance workshop on Friday night so we could learn the dance, and we got it pretty down pat. Although when we actually attempted to do it in a large group, it was significantly harder because some people didn't know what they were doing and it became slightly confusing. Also, there was this random small child behind me...not sure who she belonged to, but she was about two, and I almost ran into her like 12 times. It still went well though, there was 91 people registered and pretty much all of them were dressed up like zombies. We danced in a pavilion in a park which was definitely the perfect spot. It was freezing, so the roof of the pavilion blocked the wind a bit. Plus, the floor was wooden and it made the most awesome clomping noise when people starting dancing in unison. So fun.

I think K and I did pretty well with our costumes. I found this scar putty stuff that I was obsessed with, and it actually worked pretty well! We also bought this "tooth out" black wax stuff, but as you will probably be able to tell from the pictures, it wasn't so great. I definitely spit it out after it being there for half an hour.

And besides all the fun-ness, this was a great way to raise money for charity! It was an all around win.

We had one reporter take our picture, and he was like "pretend you are strangling her!"...which I did, but I did so while hysterically laughing, so we'll see if that makes it to print. I couldn't keep a straight scary face to save my life. We also told the reporter to put our ages as "392" and "396", but he wasn't haven't it. Oh reporters with no sense of humour. Anyways! Oh, and I also randomly won a Michael Jackson cd...not too sure why, but some girl just came up to me, and was like "here you go!"

I can't believe I'm actually posting these on here!



Not sure what this pose was...I believe I am trying to look scary though!



After getting ready! Happy zombies!



Mid dance.

I'm definitely going to do it again next year! Fun fun.

Bringing back the randomness

Okay, remember when I disappeared for a week? Sorry. I'll do my best to sum up my past week into fun and not so fun categories. And hopefully I'll resume regular posting next week.

Yay: Seeing Joel Plaskett live last Friday night. The venue was small, and the music was great. I love me some Joel Plaskett.
Nay: Drunk girls at concert who of course were directly behind us and proceeded to shriek like they were at a Backstreet Boys concert circa 1998 for the entire show. Shut. the. eff. up. Not the time, nor the place for shrieking. Everybody within a five foot radius of them wanted them dead.

Yay: We raised over $7000 for shelter at the walk a thon. WOOHOO!! It was a fun day and there was nary a problem. I'll put some pictures at the bottom. Dogs in costumes make everybody happy.
Nay: Finding out about the unfortunate demise of my buddy Brooklyn. Can't think about it, will cry. All I can say is, I will be wearing my "Ban the deed, Not the Breed" sweatshirt loud and proud, everywhere I go, until the stupid ban is reversed. Brookie did not get a happy ending. And that my friends, is why sometimes, spending so much time at a shelter is slightly emotionally crippling.
But yay: $7000 for my other buds. The money will be put to good use!!

Nay: Beginning my Monday morning by smashing my knee off the corner of my dresser. I literally woke up, got out of bed, moved one foot, and smashy smashy. I don't enjoy when my entire week begins like this.

Yay: Learning the Thriller dance! My friend and I are participating in Thrill the World tomorrow night, and we are going to be doing so while dressed like zombies! I am excited. I just need to learn the actual dance. Tonight we are going to a workshop to learn the dance!

Yay: Thank the good LAWD it's Friday.

Yay: On Sunday I have nothing officially planned. It has been a while since that has happened, and I am going to love it.

Nay: So much work to do. I mean, besides actual work, there is other work, articles to write, newsletters to write, wedding photos to edit.

Nay: My outfit today. I got to work today, looked in the mirror and I was just like, what the hell am I wearing? It's like I was drunk when I got dressed. Seriously, if you met me for the first time today, you would probably slowly back away. It involves a dressy blazer and a t-shirt that says "Deutschland" on it. Why Megs? Why???

Yay: It's almost Halloween. I looooove Halloween!!!

Nay: One day I actually might kill the mailman. Right now I've opted to ignore him, but I seriously want to punt him across the world. He think he's hilarious, but he's not, and he is one of those people that are always like, "cheer up!", "smile!". It's like, I was in a perfectly fine mood until you came in here and annoyed me. I detest when people tell me to smile. Go away. He'll do this thing where he pretends to hand me the mail, then pull it away, then hand it back and pull it away, till I'm all, you better seriously hand me the mail now, or I'm stapling your hand to your thigh. Give me the fecking mail.

Yay: Dancing! Last night I went to a fundraiser which was Sex and the City themed, so it involved dancing and fun drinks. And trivia! I love trivia because I am amazing at it. I won a dvd, which I already had so I gave it to my friend, but none the less...I won! Also, the dancing! You know how the cheesiest songs are always the most fun to dance too? YMCA? Yes please! Come on Eileen? Let me Clear my Throat? It was a string of great songs, and my feet hurt, and life was good.

Yay: Glee! I love this show. As I have mentioned before, I would basically be in heaven if people just sang like they were in musicals all the time. I think this show is about as close as I am going to get to that.

Nay: The oncoming saga of the quarter life crisis? Is this thing meant to last for years on end?

Nay: This computer is effing up large, so I can't make links or anything fun of that nature. Wamp wamp. I'll have to put up dog picturs later.

Nay: I missed the shelter last night due to aforementioned fundraiser. Will be going there Sunday though to visit my buds!

Ahhhh, that was surprisingly cathartic!!

Furry Friday

Carter, the lovely brown lab. It didn't show up in the photo, but the fur around his eyes is a totally different colour brown than the rest of him. Weird. Carter has a bit of a sad story, not horrible by any means, but still enough to make you hate people a little. He was taken by the OSPCA because his owners did not provide any vet care. At all. He's a sweet dog, but who ever takes him in is going to have to be willing to spend a bit at the vet. He has really bad skin, and he is allergic to everything. Poor Bud.



Scruffy! This dog is aptly named. He is part yorkie part schnauzer, and he is a total sweetie. After running around like a maniac, he just sad on my lap and shivered, but I'm pretty sure he was pretending so I would cuddle him, because it wasn't that cold. His act worked of course, I cuddled the shite out of him!! So cute. He will be gone by next week, I can feel it in my bones.



This dog is a cutie, with one of those barooooing barks I love so much.



Another lovely Husky, but this one has pretty brown eyes. The dog was a little unsure of life, and he was not a fan of that camera, so he looks like a bit of a grumpo. He's still adjusting to the shelter life. Oh, and I am happy to report the beauty husky with the blue eyes from last week got adopted. Woooot!



Here is my bud Brooklyn again. Someone needs to adopt this sweetie very soon. She's been at the shelter for a while now, and she is soooo good. She hates other dogs, but other than that, she is a love. She however loves to play tug-o-war and just about broke my arm yesterday. She is one jacked dog. I've written before over my concern about Pitbulls, so I don't want to rehash that, only to say, I'm always extremely worried about who adopts them. I wish the shelter would look into it more. It is SO important for the breed as a whole, that all pitbull owners are responsible. The public has a very distorted view of "pitbulls", and that is mostly due to irresponsible/criminal owners. Pitbulls are lovely dogs. They can be deadly, don't get me wrong, but so can many other large dogs, if they are trained to be that way.

I was chatting to one of the workers the other night about whether they screen people more when they want to adopt a pitbull....and they said no, not really. Which I think is a wee bit ridiculous, but it is not my place (not yet anyway) to say anything about that. Personally, when people go to adopt a pit, I think they should get the shite screened out of them. This is nothing against the people, and most of them are probably responsible, but it is all about weeding out the assholes. It would break my heart if somebody came in to the shelter, adopted one of my pit buds, then trained them to be aggressive/fight other dogs, thus perpetuating the problem.

Oh, apparently I am going to ramble about pitbulls. Sorry! It just makes me so mad. And one of the pitbulls at the shelter Homer, a complete sweetie, got adopted! Yay!!



As I have mentioned, the big Walk a Thon is coming up at the shelter this weekend. Wish me luck guys, and pray for no rain!! I have never been responsible for an event of this magnitude before, and I am a leeeetle stressed. I have loved every minute of planning it, no doubt, but ohhhh boy, I hope we raise a goood amount of money and everything runs smoothly.

We are having a dog costume contest at the walk a thon, which I can't even wait for. What's cuter than dogs in costumes? Not much! I'll post pictures! But I thought it would be nice if some of my shelter buds would have a costume so people can ohhh and awww over them. I found this vampire cape at the dollar store. And I wrote on it in masking tape. Is it just me, or is that hilarious? hahaha. Ohhhh boy.

Blog Action Day

Blog Action Day is a really cool idea. One day, thousands of bloggers all writing on one topic that affects us all in a huge way-climate change. I don't profess to be any kind of expert on this topic, and my science skills are slim to nil, but I do know the issue concerns me in a big way. Aka, it scares the crap out of me. I really don't understand why it isn't a bigger deal for politicians. I mean, do something and do something quickly!

I have deep love for Al Gore and even deeper love for David Suzuki. Can I just tell you a little story about David Suzuki? For those of you who don't know who he is, he is the man who should be running Canada. Older Asian men don't normally do it for me, but David Suzuki is a god, and I would pretty much marry him. His mother used to live down the street from us (or so the rumour went), and I would see her all the time. I would watch her walk her grandkids to school every day, and just think, "today is the day I am going to go talk to her", but I never did, because I suppose that would be slightly creepy and what if she wasn't actually David Suzuki's mother? Anyways. I met David Suzuki one time in university, when I somehow managed to volunteer to be backstage at a presentation he was doing. My duty was to guide David Suzuki through the hallway onto the stage and make sure he didn't trip. He didn't trip, but I'm pretty sure I did. I trip so you don't have to Mr. Suzuki. Holy lord was I nervous. David Suzuki ya'll! I met him, he was nice, and ever since my love has only grown stronger. Thus I give you, David Suzuki tips for how to help slow climate change through things you can do in your own home:. At work.. David's nature challenge!. Food issues!. Have I mentioned that I love this man? He is pretty much the King of Canada. Give him the Nobel Peace Prize!!

I read an article recently on the top 100 effects of global warming. This shit is grim people! Here are some alarming effects:

-No Christmas Trees-The Pine Bark Beetle, which feeds on and kills pine trees, used to be held in control by cold winter temperatures. Now the species is thriving and killing off entire forests in British Columbia, unchecked.

-Cultural Landmarks Disappearing: The World Monuments Fund recently added “global warming” as a threat in their list of the top 100 threatened cultural landmarks. “On Herschel Island, Canada, melting permafrost threatens ancient Inuit sites and a historic whaling town. In Chinguetti, Mauritania, the desert is encroaching on an ancient mosque. In Antarctica, a hut once used by British explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott has survived almost a century of freezing conditions but is now in danger of being engulfed by increasingly heavy snows.”

-No more really cool creatures: Scientists recently revealed a “lost world” of marine life off the coast of Indonesia, including 20 new species of corals, 8 species of shrimp, a technicolor fish that “flashes” bright pink, yellow, blue, and green hues, and sharks that “walk” on their fins.However, marine biologists warn the threats posed by global warming means millions of other crazycool sea creatures may become extinct before we ever discover them. Sharks that walk? That is afreakinmazing!

-More mosquitoes: Get ready for more mosquitoes. Mosquitoes like to live in drains and sewer puddles. During long dry spells (brought on by higher temperatures) these nasty, stagnant pools become a vital source of water for thirsty birds ... which provide a tasty feast for the resident mosquitoes. At the same time, these dry spells “reduce the populations of dragonflies, lacewings, and frogs that eat the mosquitoes.” I hate mosquitoes.

-Species Extinction: The latest report from the World Conservation Union says that a minimum of 40 percent of the world’s species are being threatened ... and global warming’s one of the main culprits. That is devastating to me!

-Grey Whales: Save the whales! Global warming is thwarting majestic gray whales’ struggle to recover from their endangered status. In recent years, more gray whales have been washing up on beaches after starving to death. Culprit: Rising ocean temps, which are killing off their food supply.

-The World is Shrinking: In 2005, a giant chunk of ice the size of Manhattan broke off of a Canadian ice shelf and began free floating westward, putting oil drilling operations in peril.

-Great Barrier Reef: According to the U.N., the Great Barrier Reef will disappear within decades as “warmer, more acidic seas could severely bleach coral in the world-famous reef as early as 2030.”

Okay, and these are just some!! I've neglected to mention all the we are all going to die bits.

I've written about this before.

It's weird, I think the average person is aware of just how big of a problem this is, and would do whatever it takes to help solve it. The problem is that the people who actually have the ability to make large changes happen need to get off their asses. Some people may say it isn't that easy, but I think when the entire fate of our planet hangs in the balance, it should be that easy.

I find the entire situation frustrating.

My Very First Award!

Woot! When I found out I got an award from the lovely and very funny CarissaJaded, I was super pumped. I always see these random awards on other people's blogs and I will admit I was a wee bit jealous. But now I have my very own award and all is right with the world. If you haven't visited Carissa at CarissaJaded, get your butt over there because she will crack you up. Seriously, I laugh out loud at least once during every one of her posts.

First, I am going to pay it forward with this award and give it too...dum, dum, dum:

Erinific
Where's My Piece of Cake
Tidbits From My Mind

I just recently started reading all these blogs, and I love them all! They are all part of my daily blog reading. Check them out!!

Now for 7 random facts about myself:
1) I am a huge history nerd. Right now I am very into WW2 history and read every possible book/see every possible movie I can on this topic. I believe this fascination started when I was going through my grandfather's old photos and found a random snapshot of Hitler.
2) My favourite city in the world is New York City. I would so love to live there one day. My favourite country is Germany and I would love to live there one day too.
3)I spend a large portion of my days thinking about where I want to travel to next. My travelling list is overwhelmingly long, but that never stops me from adding more places to go.
4) I want to write a book someday.
5)I am an only child. While I was never lonely growing up, I wonder all the time what it is actually like to have a sibling.
6) I love Canada, and I am extremely proud to be Canadian. I think it is an amazing country and I'm irritated at myself for not yet taking the time to fully explore it.
7) I daydream constantly, hence my blog title. There are so many times every day I find myself just staring off into space, then suddenly snapping back to reality hoping nobody noticed. It's a problem.

Okay, that's it!
Tonight I am going to a "Laughter Club" with one of my friends. I have no idea what to expect, but I imagine it is going to be pretty great. My friend thinks it is going to be, and I quote, "a lesson on how to laugh in different ways." To that I said, "what???" Because that would be ridiculous. "Laugh like a British person", "Belly laugh". Ummm no. I"m thinking it will be more along the lines of making other people laugh. Lame knock knock jokes and such. I will see soon enough! I have a great joke up my sleeve just in case!

Happy Wednesday!

Thanksgiving Adventures

Do you ever have one of those moments where you absolutely must go somewhere, anywhere, or else you might burst? I don't know if it is just my city or what, but sometimes I just really need to get out of here. It doesn't matter where to, as long as it isn't here. The city feels cagey sometimes, everything repeats itself, everything is the same, and I must get out. I mean, I live in a city where a crazy wild turkey routinely makes the newspaper.

I felt like that this week, thus this weekend was spent up in beautiful Western New York where luckily my aunt has a place. Ellicotville is more well known for it's amazing skiing, but in the Fall, it is equally as great. Nestled right in the mountains, Ellicotville, Great Valley, and surrounding areas, can literally take your breath away in autumn.

Fall Festival was happening, which meant the streets were full of vendors, every possible kind of food imaginable was for sale and apple cider was of ample supply. They also were having chair rides up one of the ski lifts which was pretty cool. They had a bbq and a band on top of one of the hills. We decided to walk down the hill after riding up, which in theory was great, but in reality was actually kind of painful. My knees were confused. And I almost wiped out approx. 8 times.

Another day we spent some time in a state park at a place called "Little Rock City". After driving for a good while far, far into the woods we finally came across it. It was basically giant rocks that you could walk on top of, walk in between and in general just marvel at. They were all covered in moss, and it felt a little bit like a different world. So cool. My aunt at some point decided it would be fun to mention the bears that live in the woods, which made me entirely unnerved. Getting mauled by a bear is not how I want to leave this world! In any event, we saw nary a bear, or any other kind of animal for that matter and it was a lovely hike.

I love fall, it is without a doubt my favourite season. The colours, the crispness in the air, the smell, Halloween!! I could live in fall year round. I love walking down the sidewalk and hearing the crunch of leaves, and I love bundling up and just being outside.

Photos don't quite do it justice...

Furry Friday

Baxter!


Duke! This dog never gets less amusing for me. He is just so...cartoonish.


Isn't this dog gorgeous?


Bailee. She's adopted already, which is unsurprising because she is sooo friggin cute, and seriously one of the fluffiest/softest dogs ever. I could not stop squeezing her, she was so teddy bear esque.


Carleigh. This is a dog I'm very close to taking home, because I ADORE her. She has some major issues, but I just...love her. I am going to tell the shelter I would be willing to foster her if need be, which could be a slippery slope, but I don't think the shelter environment is helping her issues (she's terrified of men, and does not like other dogs). Anyway, she's a sweetie.

"Lefty" who I think I put a picture up of last week...well, he's a huge brat, but last night he was all kinds of amusing. Someone had bought me a coffee, which I had set out on the picnic table in the run. I was just finishing removing my jacket and purse from the area because I knew the dog would be allll over that, when I turned around the grab my coffee and there was Lefty up on the table. She grabbed my cup between her teeth and proceeded to run crazily around the yard spilling coffee everywhere as she went. Then she stopped and drank the rest of it. It was kind of hilarious.

On a random note that is still slightly related, I just saw somebody walk by the office window walking two dogs, and one of them was a dog from the shelter. I am constantly on the lookout for dogs that have been adopted from the humane society, because I like to know how they are doing, and because I have a creepy ability to recognize them. Anyway, this dog that just walked by- Cosmo, was the craziest dog I had ever met in my life. Like, he was just insane all the time and it took forever to get him adopted. We have this board on the shelter where people can send in stories about dogs/cats they have adopted, and it's just nice to see. There was recently a story sent in about Cosmo, and when I read it, I stood in the shelter and cried like a fool, because I get overly emotional about dogs, and it was such a nice letter. Cosmo is doing so well in his new home and they love him. They have another dog who has probably been a great role model for Cosmo and calmed him down some and yada yada, the whole thing makes me soooo happy. Being at a shelter so much, I hear my share of sad stories, brutal, sad stories, so when I hear a happy one, I grab on to it and live in it. Not much can brighten my day like a nice happy ending for one of my buds.

Walk A Thon is coming up soon....in approx. one week. I *hope* it goes well and we raise a decent amount of money. It is the first event I have ever planned, and I am so excited/stressed! Woot!

On the time I almost got fired...

As I have alluded to before, I have had many jobs in my day. Flipping burgers, folding clothes, serving tables...basically, you name it, I've probably done it. But I have never actually gotten fired from any of these jobs...I did however come close one time.

I was working in a photo studio. Initially when I started the job, I was like, this is going to be great, I get to use a camera, do some editing, which no. The only part of that thought that was true was, I get to use a camera. I did not take into consideration the camera breaking constantly, crying children, posing giant groups of people in a small studio, crazy parents and ummm crying children, oh and the whole trying to make children smile thing. I refused, like absolutely refused to do anything stupid to make a child smile. Like, I would pop out from behind the camera and play peek a boo, but that was pretty much my limit. Some of my co-workers would go in the studio and just go insane and be like, "lookie here, here's a puppet!! smile!!! here's a dog!! cootchie cootchie!!" all while jumping all over the place. To that I said, no thanks.

You may say that was part of my job, and I would probably say, you're right, but for the 8 dollars an hour I was getting, I sure wasn't willing to make an ass of myself. Most of the time I would tell the parents, "if you want your kid to laugh, you are going to have to go behind me and do something funny" because a) I've never met your child before and I have no idea what they find funny, and b) I really don't want to appear creepy. Most of them complied.

The props we had at this photo studio were hilarious. Giant bears, giant flowers, all sorts of randomness. On my very last day of work one of my coworkers and I got out every single prop, pulled down the christmas background, and set the timer on the camera and posed it up. Those pictures still make me laugh hysterically. Our friend in the photo lab developed them, and nobody was any the wiser.

I digress.

It wasn't all children whose photos I took. Sometimes it was awkward teenagers, and sometimes it was just awkward people. One time I took a photo of a man and his fiance, and the man had a huge growth covering one half of his face. As I was snapping pictures he said, "every time I look at a photo of myself, a bit of my soul dies", and I was just kind of like, I am so not equipped to be handling this. Do I smile sympathetically, do I...what do I do??

Another time an old man came in with his daughters and his grandson to get their picture taken. I sat gramps on the stool in the middle. He was sitting there, legs apart, waiting for the camera to roll, hanging out. Literally. He had a huge hole in his pants and his penis was actually hanging out. Neither of his daughters noticed, and I was suddenly in an insanely awkward position. If the earth could have swallowed me up at that very moment, I probably would not have minded. Why, why did the man have a hole in his pants and no underwear? How could nobody notice this? Why was I suddenly the one who had to alert his daughters to this unfortunate incident? I'm pretty sure my face was bright red, and I was just like, "ermmmm, ummmm, ermm" gesturing towards the old man's crotch. The daughters eventually saw and obviously were extremely embarrassed. They started fighting about who was supposed to dress dad. I also need to add that grandpa had no idea what was going on the entire time. One of the daughters finally just decided that they would pose the grandson in between grandpas legs. Luckily this kid was little and will probably have no memory of this, otherwise it would likely scar him for life. I took those photos so fast, jumped up from the camera and was like, "ok, let's do this!". I am retroactively mortified when I think of that moment.

ANYWAY! So the time I almost got fired. One of the hardest parts of this job was not hysterically laughing when a photo popped up on the screen and the person just had a horrible look on their face; their eyes would be closed, smile would be dumb, something. You know the type of picture I'm talking about. I never quite mastered how to stifle this laughter, and on more than on occasion, I literally sat at the editing table with the family whose photos I had just taken, and laughed until tears were streaming down my face because of the way one of them looked. It was entirely inappropriate, but I seemed to have no control over it.

One day one of my coworkers and I decided we would go through all the old photos and pick out the worst ones and make a book. We entitled this project, "Ugly Baby Book". Personally, I found this hilarious. It wasn't really that the babies were ugly, it was just the facial expressions. Anyways. This took place over several weeks. One day my boss found a copy of one of the photos in the garbage. She was like, "why did you order this?" Me "Ummmm"...I figured there was no point in lying, because I am one of the world's worst liars, so I just told her "I was making an ugly baby book". Her face actually twitched and I could tell she wanted to laugh, but at the same time she wanted to kill me. I got a warning, and she didn't speak to me for two weeks.

I still have the book. I must say, it's just as hilarious now. Totally would have been worth getting fired over. I quit about a month after this incident, because I just couldn't take it anymore. But looking back, it was an interesting 8 months.

On Wild Animals in Captivity

Yesterday I read about the new TLC show My Monkey Baby on another blog, and frankly the show sounded hilarious. People with monkeys who treat them as though they are children. Funny on the one hand, batshit crazy on the other. I had the pleasure (?) of watching this show yesterday, and oh my god. It is quite possibly one of the most disturbing things I have ever seen on television. Ever. In my life. And I'm counting all future programming in that. One part showed a lady putting makeup on her monkey, because the monkey apparently likes it. Does she? Did she tell you that, crazy lady? Does she also like wearing that mini wedding dress? My word.

These people are clearly delusional, and while I am sad for these people, my inner animal activist is outraged for these poor monkeys. And at TLC for putting such crap on the air, and probably encouraging people that buying a pet monkey is a good thing to do. Maybe I'll adopt a monkey and get my own show. Maybe I'll adopt a giant fucking hippopotamus and keep him in my bathtub, even better! It was bad enough they saddled the world with Jon and Kate, but now this? TLC, the learning channel? Please change your name.



I just, I don't get the need some people have to have wild animals for pets. Seriously. The other day I read an article about a woman who was killed by her pet bear when she went in to clean his cage. HER PET BEAR? It's tragic no doubt, but come on, why do you have a feckin bear as a pet to begin with? Get a dog, get a cat, get a turtle, but how about not getting one of the deadliest animals on earth? How it is in any way a pet, and not a sideshow? Do you walk your pet bear? Do you play fetch in the backyard? No. You keep him locked in a cement cell where he probably was slowly going insane. That is not a pet.

And remember the story from about a year ago about the lady that got attacked by her neighbours 200 pound chimp? Again...why does someone have a giant chimp who clearly belongs ummm not in a house as a pet? The chimp attacks the owners neighbour, and then the chimp ends up getting shot by the police. This completely boggles my mind. These animals are not meant to be pets; they are dangerous and aggressive. (don't click on that if you get queasy easily). They belong in the wild with other primates.

Apparently 15000 people in the United States alone have monkey's for pets, most of them buying them when they were babies. a) What happened to all the mothers of these little monkeys, and b) could you possibly use that $5000 you paid for your pet monkey for something constructive that will benefit society in some way and not make you appear mentally unstable. c) it's a monkey, it is not a child. As much as I love all my shelter dogs, I know that all they will ever be are dogs, and thus have to be treated as such.

I can only hope this show will open up people's eyes to the issue of having wild animals as pets. I am hoping people will become duly outraged by this, and act accordingly. Click here for more info. The crazy needs to stop.

Something that drives me insane...

I hate dumb commercials and billboards, HATE. Like, I find some commercials are so stupid that they insult people's intelligence to an alarming degree. There are so many commercials that just make me go what.the.feck?, and then consider throwing stuff at the television.

So I present to you, commercials that annoy the piss out of me:

-The latest one that irritates me to no end is the Quizno's one. I can't find it on YouTube or else I would post it, if only to show you just how dumb it is. Anyway, there is a guy sitting on a couch and beside him is an oven. Then the oven says "So and so, I know how hard it must have been for you to have an oven as a mother, but at least I can make you toasty subs" (not exact words, but it's so stupid it doesn't matter anyway). First of all, what does that even mean? An oven for a mother? Were the makers of this commercial high when they came up with the concept? Who agreed this would be a good way to sell subs? Cause I can tell you, this commercial ensures I will never ever eat at Quizno's regardless of how good their subs are. If I ever meet the maker of the commercial I am stabbing him/her in the ankle with a pencil.

-Maltesers:
That goddamn commercial where the couple is lying on the couch and the girl asks for a malteser and the guy hands her one. WITH A STRAW. He sucks it onto the end of the straw and drops it into her mouth. Feck. 1) just hand her the bag dumbass! It would take way less exertion and be way less creepy 2) this seems like a really good way to make someone choke. And then they sit there and giggle and laugh like the hugest dorks on the planet. So annoying. I like me some maltesers, but what what is up with all the annoying commercials?? Also, when I tried to find a youtube link for this one, all that came up was approx. 45 videos on people doing a parody of this commercial. Also, there is a group on facebook with 868 members that is called "I hate that maltesers commercial". ahahaha, these are my kind of people. I'm joining, even though I haven't seen that commercial in months. But it retroactively annoys me just to think about, that's how bad it is. Whoa, and guess who just spent way too long reading posts on this groups wall? That shit is comedy cold. My favourite wall quote regarding this commerical: "OH man do i EVRE KNOW!!!!!!

my EX bf loved it and I was like GAHHHHH we are breakin up then we broke up

but it wasn't becuz of the commercial but it was party well kinda but GAHHH
I HATEIT!!!!!!!!!" What? That's almost as annoying as the commercial itself. There is some serious built up rage all over the world for this commercial.

-Any Old Navy commercial with the talking mannequins. Especially the new one where they are at the airport, and the one mannequin is missing her legs and the other mannequin is randomly British. Gah. The only place I want to see talking mannequins is on Today's Special.

-Chantal Kreviazuk hair commercial. I"m not sure why this commercial bugs me so much, but whenever it comes on I want to rip shit.

-The cat food commercial where the cat in the commercial is played by a male human. I can't remember the cat's name in the commercial, or even what product the ad is for. I think the cats name was Norman? or was it Frank? Regardless, it's so irritating. He's all in the corner licking his "paws", and the lady is like "ohhhh norman". die norman, die.

There are many more commercials that irritate the hell out of me, but these are the main ones that are guaranteed to always make me change the channel and likely never buy the product ever. Well, except Old Navy, because I enjoy their cheap ass clothes. Falls apart in one day? Not a problem, it only cost me a dollar!

Perhaps I shouldn't get SO irritated with stupid commercials, but I just can't help it. It boggles my mind wondering what people were actually THINKING when they made them. Don't they realize how much they are annoying people???

Furry Friday

What a cutie. This dog seemed to understand when I said "high five", because he did it every time. Coincidence? Perhaps. Extremely cute? Yes.



I know Duke was on here last week, but he cracks me up way to much. Doesn't he look crazed? Granted, he is a little crazy, but that makes him all the more charming. He reminds me of Santa's Little Helper. The episode where Bart took SLH to dog training class, and he never learned anything. But then randomly just when he almost had to give him away SLH suddenly learned the commands. Same thing applies to Duke except all he understands is "sit". He was going absolutely insane moments before I took this photo, running around all crazy and jumping and play biting and generally being a nut. Then I said "sit" and he stopped dead and sat. So hilarious.



Yesterday was like Staffie day or something because there were several of them. I love Brooklyn to pieces, and she has been at the shelter for a good while now. She has had a little cast on her back foot for several weeks now, because she got hurt, but she was all healed yesterday so she could run around again. I love when dogs do the sticking the bum in the air, play stance. I hope she gets adopted soon! There was a lady looking at her yesterday and I tried to talk her up big time. We'll see how that goes.



Lefty is adorable, still very puppyesque though. He would not stop biting and jumping, and chewed on my hand for a while. Also, at one point he managed to get all the little poop bags in his mouth and then ran around the yard, chewing them. I had to run after him, picking them up as they fell. It was fun. Then he chomped on my puffy vest and I had to run after him while he dragged that around. Also fun. Then he grabbed my purse, but I managed to catch him before he spilled everything out of there. Good thing he was cute!

And also:



Here Lefty is in his cage after going out to play. Zonked out. Sorry for the jail like picture, but I didn't want to wake him up by opening the kennel door.

The shelter runs have some really unfortunate placement as they are right by a drive thru. Back in the day when the shelter was build there was absolutely nothing around it, and now a freaking cornucopia of big box stores surround it. The Timmy's drive thru is right next door.

People that go through the line can see everything that is happening. Which is good on the one hand because they get to see the dogs, and ask questions. People are always yelling out their window. Always. Is that dog up for adoption? What kind of dog is that? How old is that dog? What is that dogs name? Where did he come from?? Some ask questions I can't possibly know the answer too. Anyways!

Last night I had a German Shepherd puppy out...he is at that age where he wants to hump everything. Including me. Like, for 20 minutes, I was just pushing him off me. I wanted to be like, "Dude, people can SEE you right now. Stop!". Whatever, it's what dogs do, but geeeez. There have also been several instances where I completely wipe out in the yard, because I am running around like a fool, kicking a soccer ball, when all of a sudden I step in a hole and I'm down. That would be embarrassing enough if I were alone, but in front of a drive thru line full of people? No thanks. I also have a special knack for going to kick the soccer ball, completely missing, then just spinning/tripping instead. I never did make the soccer team! Last night I went to kick the soccer ball and it went flying over the fence pretty much into the drive thru line. The dog was totally like, youuuu asshole, I can't get that!. But then a kindly lady left her car and went and got the ball for me, and the dog was happy again.

And that was my night last night! Love. Where exactly did September go? Seriously. Oy.

On Concerts

So I went last night to see Pink, or is it P!nk? I never know. In any event, it was grrrreat show! I always forget how many catchy songs she has, and then one comes on, and I'm like, "oh yeah!", and then rock out. It was a very colourful show and was circus themed: there were acrobatics, giant slides, and at one point she got lowered beneath the stage and came back up soaking wet, and then dripped all over the audience. I found that kind of...icky, buuuut whatever, I'm sure if I was a hardcore Pink fan, I would be like, "yes, please drip your sweat/water on me". She did several covers, one of which was Queen. You can't ever go wrong with Queen can you? She also sang "I Touch Myself" while writhing around on a couch with all these arms coming out of nowhere rubbing all over her. That part was a little too Madonna/Like a Virgin esque for me.

The Ting Tings opened up for her. For some reason I thought this band consisted of two girls, but it is in fact a guy and a girl. I *think* I like them. I found the girl to be extremely screechy in some songs, to the point where I thought I was going to freak out because it just wouldn't stop, but then other songs made me want to buy the cd. So we'll see. "That's not my name, that's not my name, that'snot my...name". That's one of those songs that is extremely irritating, yet somehow it is still on my IPOD. Anyway, they are British, and I generally enjoy all things British.

We had pretty good seats, but as you can see from my pictures below, we weren't overly close. Also, my camera doesn't do well with the whole "zoom" thing. I have to be incredibly still to get a non blurry picture. Someone can exhale loudly beside me and it will pretty much ruin things.

There was this couple in front of us that were drunk out of their faces. The guy had his hat on sideways and his pants basically around his ankles, and he kept yelling out "PINK ROCKS!", which made my brain go: does not compute. It was kind of hilarious. He kept turning around and saying stuff, and everyone had the same look of, I have no idea what you just said, on their face. It may as well have been Finnish it sounded so foreign. There were actually three people in the drunken group, but one of them was a blond girl/third wheel who was not nearly as drunk. She probably wanted to be though. At one point, Pink was singing a slow song, with a really lovely piano melody to go along with it, and the blond girl was making a video. Then in the middle of her video, her drunken friend randomly sticks her face in front of the camera and just yells, "bajdklfjjkjkjjjdfakdjfdjfkdjf". hahaha, way to ruin the video! It was probably her friends favourite song, which she was clearly trying to preserve the memory of, and it is now tainted by a drunken close up shot of her friend screaming. Video bomb! It was funny because it wasn't my video.

I am getting wayyyy to elderly to be going to concerts on weeknights. How sad is that? I didn't get home until 2am, and now I am basically useless. Need.more.coffee. The train ride home was unpleasant as I had to stand the entire time, and try not to awkwardly stare at people. You know when a train is so full, and you are just kind of like, where exactly do I look? I opted for the ground. Ugh, crowded trains.

All in all, it was fun night! I need more concerts in my life.

Crappy concert photos (in some you can actually make out that it's Pink):