Not Like I’ve Ever Shopped There

There’s an article doing the rounds on Twitter regarding Lululemon having some internal practices that effectively shun plus-sized shoppers. The whole thing is pretty rage inducing even for me, someone who is not a plus-sized shopper at all. But in all honesty, Lululemon (and its ilk like TNA and Aritsia) have been raising my hackles since I first saw them at my local shopping mall.

If being healthy was really about being healthy, it wouldn’t matter what you wear while you’re getting healthy. But consumerism fucks up everything; trendy name-brand workout gear is mandatory to demonstrate your commitment and passion for being healthy. You are not the sum of your actions (i.e. working out), you are the sum of your outfit (i.e. LOOKING like you work out).

It’s not enough that women need to be skinny, but in order to get there we ought to shell out our hard-earned cash for overpriced third-world-made clothing too. And for what? Why? Your muscles do not work harder while wearing designer clothes. Your heart does not pump harder if the Lululemon logo is displayed on your ass. I just don’t understand what the point is.

But my personal rant aside, Lululemon’s policy is terrible. Skinny does NOT equal healthy. Healthy equals healthy. :P

CBC Fail

Really, CBC? In what universe is that a relevant or appropriate cover photo for the headline next to it?? A young man died and you advertise it with tits? BOOURNS! So tasteless.

Writing Prompt #1 - What's in the Barn?

I found this very cool writing prompt website that I’m going to start using, both to generate blog posts and to continue flexing my writerly muscles. You can check it out for yourself here: Creative Writing Prompts

Prompt - Late at night you awake to find your wife/husband out of bed. Exploring the farmhouse, you find no lights on and the kids are still sound asleep. Past the fields, you see light shining out of the barn. When you walk out there and open the door, what do you find?

I’m expecting to see Francis sitting at his workbench, putting lacquer on the bookshelf or fixing the riding mower. But he’s nowhere to be found. Who turned the light on then?

I pull my robe around me tightly and take a few steps inside. “Honey? Are you in here?” No answer. But then I notice something shift at the back, behind a large curtain that covers an old mirror we’ve been meaning to restore for ages. “Hello?” I pause, getting the sense that I’m not the one in danger here. “It’s okay, you can come out.”

Holding my breath and waiting, I eventually see a small child emerge from the shadows. A girl, probably the same age as my little Myriam. Same dark hair and dark eyes as my daughter too, but the way her cheekbones stick out, the angles of her shoulders and elbows, the too-large dress draped over her thin frame... she clearly isn’t well.

My voice is barely a whisper as I try to coax her forward. “Hi, sweetheart. What are you doing in here?”

She looks past me with a scared expression. “He said he’d bring me a surprise.”

“Who said that?”

A low voice replies from behind me. “I did.” Francis walks past me and I can see relief in the girl’s eyes. He’s carrying a giant bag of candy, the kind that we keep hidden in basement cellar so that the kids can’t get their hands on them whenever they want. I silently watch as the girl creeps forward and sits on the floor of the barn with my husband, the two of them pouring through the bag of candy and selecting which ones they want. Kids always like Francis, mostly because he gives them exactly what they want. As he sits there wolfing down candy with her, my mind is whirring down a different course. This girl doesn’t look like any of the neighbouring kids, and whoever was caring for her wasn’t doing a well enough job. Where did she come from?

Without warning, the girl freezes with a look of panic on her face. “They’re coming for me.”

Francis gives me a brief look. “Don’t worry, we’re going to make sure you’re fi-“

A deafening boom echoes outside, like fighter jets are flying low and just broke the sound barrier. The girl screams, high-pitched and terrified. I try to grab both her and my husband at the same time but a blinding flash suddenly illuminates everything. I fumble, my fingers graze someone’s sleeve but I’m not sure whose, and I trip forward and land on the soft hay floor. The roar continues to split my head, making it impossible to speak over the noise, but then I feel the girl’s small hand on my shoulder. I feel a strange tug in the air, like a wave of pressure is pulling me towards some mysterious centre. I want to ask what’s going on, my eyes are beginning to recover from the flash of light. But the most I can do is turn back to look at Francis, who is sitting behind me with a handful of my bathrobe held tight in his fist. Then there’s a second wave, stronger than the first, and pricks of darkness crowd my vision. I’m falling, passing out, and I can only hope that I will wake up soon.

Pursuing The Dream: Hair & Nails Edition

For a little more than over a year now, I’ve noticed that my hair is no longer the hair I’ve been accustomed to. At first I thought it was because I was growing my hair out instead of keeping my usual bob, but it’s more than that. I also think hormones might have something to do with it; my nails aren’t doing so well either, and I thought maybe it was just that I was using nail polish more but I’m starting to think this is a keratin problem. :P

So I’ve developed a loose plan of attack to address some of my issues:

1. Stop combing my hair when it’s wet. This used to never be an issue because the comb would glide through my hair without stopping. But lately my head is just tangle central, even at the roots! So it’s not just #longhairproblems unfortunately.
2. Find a good leave-in treatment. Because if I’m not going to comb my hair after a shower, I need some way for it to be manageable! Friends have suggested that VO5 hot oil treatment but I will go for something more authentic like coconut oil. Desi stylez y’all!
3. Stop touching my hair or poking at my scalp all the time, which just makes my hair oily when I don’t want it to be. Hard habit to break, it’s a mindless tic I have.
4. Buy Bautiste, which is a dry shampoo. Dry shampoos are these sprays you can use in-between showers to maintain your hair’s volume and freshness, and to reduce that gross oily look hair can get.
5. Maybe – buy biotin, which supposedly enhances the look of hair and nails. Double bonus! But I hear that stuff is expensive, so we’ll see.
6. Maybe – get a satin scarf or pillowcase, because apparently cotton sheets can be abrasive to hair. But as a tried and true skeptic, especially when it comes to beauty and fashion, I might pass on it. Seems excessive, like sleeping in an oxygen casket to prolong your life. ;)

While I’m at it, I think I will try to improve things on the nail front as well. In addition to potential biotin use mentioned above, I will try to -

1. Consistently moisturize. I already have the right tools in place, I just ain’t doin’ it right. I have The Body Shop’s Hemp Hand Cream underneath my kitchen sink (because I wash my dishes by hand, OLD SCHOOL Y’ALL) and it’s super nourishing. I just need to remember to use it more often. I also have Burt’s Bees Cuticle Balm right on my night table, but I don’t use it before bed like I should.
2. Improve my diet/nutrients. Sigh, this is always a struggle. I’m lucky if I manage to eat actual meal food for my meals, as opposed to cake or Ringolos. (Side note: hell yeah Ringolos!) If I’m eating lasagne for dinner, I’m just proud of myself for eating a Real Dinner. I’m not concerned with salt intake or fat content. I’m concerned with “what is easy to make and won’t make me hate the kitchen?”

Not So Strong and Free

Most of the time I am a very proud Canadian. Today is not one of those days. What’s gotten under my skin? Well, Canada’s treatment of First Nations people has always left a bad taste in my mouth but a recent study demonstrates that the government actively allowed children and adults starving on reserves to continue to starve, so that they could use them as test subjects in nutritional studies.

Listen, this is beyond mind-boggling. Imagine for a second you’re at home, enjoying the comfort and normalcy of your modest house, when some strange dude walks through the door, declares that the house and everything inside it now belongs to him and his family, but don’t worry, you can still stay in the unfinished basement cellar, there’s a window for light and you’re protected from the elements, you should be grateful he didn’t just, like, shoot you or something when he came in. But he’s a pretty awesome dude, and because he cares he’s giving you some space and for their own good, he’s taking your kids to live with his cousin 500km away, she’ll take care of them properly. So don’t be so noisy down there, don’t try to hold on to any of the life you had before he took over everything you knew and loved, you’re free to leave and walk away whenever you want, or if you pay him a fee you could totally rent out a room upstairs instead. But it’ll be hard to come up with the extra money, because totally awesome dudes just like him have taken over your neighbourhood and have nothing but disdain for your modest ways and strange language and clearly inferior beliefs.

And then a hundred years later, when your children's children's children are still trying to recover from being ripped away from their way of life, everyone blames them for not being as awesome as the dudes living in houses. Go figure.

Freedomland

When I was a kid/teen, I didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of moving to America. Not only cause all my stuff was here in the great white north, but because I found their gun laws completely terrifying. That so called land of opportunity down south was also a land of terrible violence.

When I was officially an adult and went off to university, I added another factor to my “I Don’t Want To Move To America” list: lack of universal healthcare. Since I was finally living away from home, I was facing the new experiences of visiting campus health centres and getting my own prescriptions. At first I grumbled about having to fork out any sort of money for medication, until I realized how lucky I was that it was the only thing I paid for, and that at a discount. I don’t pay for doctor’s visits or exams or routine tests, even during the times I was without employee benefits.

My twenties and teens are now long behind me and I’m seeing the world from a much more adult perspective. And add to the list another reason why moving to America terrifies me: anti-abortion laws. I just can’t fathom that a nation and the people (let’s be real, the MEN) who govern it could be so hostile to truth and agency and compassion towards half the population. I want no part of that! In fact I wish I could do more to change things down south but hey, I’m not USian.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to move and live someplace else in the world but I know it’ll never stick. For what it’s worth, my heart is stuck in Canada. :)

#cornproblems

I’ve got some serious business to discuss today: corn on the cob. Shout out to @chotirani for forcing my hand on this issue. ;)

For as long as I can remember, I have always eaten corn on the cob one way and one way only: row by row. By which I mean horizontally. I have a very specific system.

1. To start, I pick a spot in the middle of the cob and take a bite that encompasses 4 rows of kernels, no more and no less.
2. Following the first bite, I eat the rest of the rows to the right of the initial bite, then the rows to the left of the initial bite.
3. Then I rotate the cob clockwise and take another bite from the middle (again 4 rows wide) and repeat step 2.
4. I repeat step 3 two more times and always just two more times because for some reason, all corn is made equal. By which I mean there is always 4 × 4 rows of corn kernels in a cob. My method for eating corn is mathematically sound.

So there you have it, my efficient and logical methodology for eating corn on the cob. You should all use it and if you’re not, rethink your corn eating lifestyle.

(I also probably eat corn the way I do partially because of a Bugs Bunny cartoon I saw as a very young child, where he ate his corn like he was a typewriter. Television, y’all. Just as influential as you imagined.)

My Freshness Scarcity

I’ve done a fair bit of grocery shopping in the last couple days and I’ve come to notice something: my fridge is always empty.

This isn’t to say I don’t buy food, but it’s that the kind of food I tend to buy doesn’t need to be refrigerated. My freezer is always fully stocked. My cupboards are exploding. But the fridge is sort of sad looking, with nothing but a cartoon of orange juice, some sauces in the door, a bottle of wine, a tub of margarine, some cheese and yogurt, and maybe some milk if the weekend is close.

I tend not to buy perishable fresh food because I am too flighty to stick to a weekly meal plan. Plus, even regular portion sizes are too much for me to consume before the expiry date. Why buy a 12-pack of eggs when I only need 2 per week? Why buy a whole celery bunch when I just need a single stalk? Why buy a litre of milk when I only drink 250 mL on the weekend? In the end, the extras wouldn’t be consumed and would go to waste, so I just don’t bother. But dry goods like pasta and rice last forever in my cupboards! My freezer is stocked to the brim with fruits, meat, and vegetables, as well as favourites like pizza and lasagne.

Now that I think about it, I don’t really buy bread either. It’s something that I don’t consistently eat, I only want it once in a blue moon, but I’m not going to buy 20 slices of the stuff when all I want is toast with jam maybe once every two months, it’d be a waste.

Honestly, I wish the sizes of my fridge and freezer were switched! It would be way more useful to me.

The Conscientious Shopper

This past Friday evening, I was out shopping for a Father’s Day present after work. I didn’t find what I was looking for, and I could have just gone straight home after that but it was payday, so I thought there’d be no harm in looking for some new clothes. I ended up wandering into Dynamite and heading to their sales rack. I found a very cute black belted dress with tiny white polka dots there, and it was marked down big time! So I took it to the dressing room, hung the dress up, and started undoing all the buttons so that I’d be able to try it on. But as I undid the buttons, I glanced up to the tag and froze at what I saw.

“Made In Bangladesh”

After a moment of paralysis, I slowly backed away from the dress and contemplated it. After the collapse of that factory building, I’ve developed a distaste for clothing from Bangladesh. But it was pretty and affordable; did I still want it? I decided the answer was no. I didn’t want to support cheap third-world clothes, and besides I didn’t need a new dress. So I touched up my makeup in the mirror and walked back out of the dressing room.

In an ideal world, I’d only buy products that were made in Canada. But Canada isn’t really a manufacturer of clothes, and when they do it’s usually out of my price range. But I still buy clothes that are made in China even though the same situation as Bangladesh is probably playing itself out there too. It’s hard to figure out what the right thing to do is.

The Best Thing A Writer Can Do Is Read

Before I realized that getting more sleep would be a good way to kick-start my writerly inspiration, I decided that doing more reading might be the ticket. You see, I’ve given up a lot of things since I became a home-owner... that mortgage ain’t gonna pay itself! Sometimes it’s the little things that matter, so I gave up (amongst other things) buying new books. Because let’s be honest, books are expensive, especially in Canada.

Thankfully, I got a ton of Chapters gift cards over the holidays and finally decided to use one up. My purchase was the novel 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami; I’d heard great things about Murakami’s writing and the novel’s plot seemed right up my alley. Indeed, this gargantuan book has everything: sex, espionage, an exploration of the nature of writing, parallel universes, vengeful feminists, cults, and paranormal activities.

This past week I was feeling like I'd made significant progress in the book, but then I came to a plot point where I realized the author had just set up the crux of the novel... 344 pages in. I am LESS THAN ONE THIRD through this book. D: It's like the literary equivalent of a progressive house song; it's 9 minutes long and the bass doesn't drop until 4 minutes in.

In any case, this is one of the best books I've read in a long time. Can't wait to see where else it takes me!

It's All Coming Back To Me Now

Slowly but surely, a change is coming into my life... I’m starting to dream at night again.

Let me explain. For starters, I always dream, that’s never changed since I was a wee one. And my dreams have never really been average, but quite vivid, fantastical, lucid, and extremely easy for me to remember in great detail upon waking. Seriously, my subconscious has come up with epic House MD episodes that would have put David Shore to shame. ;)

But I noticed that around the time I turned 30, my dreams changed. They became a lot more boring for one; dreaming about working in the office or watching TV with the family really doesn’t compare to dreaming that you’ve runaway with fairies to an alternate dimension and chilled in Father Time’s garden along the way. Not only did they become more mundane, but I couldn’t even remember them once I woke up, only vague feelings of mediocrity lingered behind.

I assumed it was just a complication of getting older, my brain just wasn’t as sharp as it used to be. Then, about a month ago, I changed my sleeping patterns. Basically, I got more of it haha. As opposed to going to bed around 11:30pm-12am every weeknight, I committed to going to bed at 10:30pm instead. Not only did I noticed I’d be far less tired in the morning, but gradually my dreams have gone back to being grand and vivid and epic. It’s not completely the same as it used to be (I’m still having issues remembering details when I wake up) but it’s definite progress towards a place I want to be in.

I never realized how important my epic dreams were to me until they started to fade away. Last night I dreamed that it was like 200 years in the future and I was canoeing down some Vietnamese river with a group of grumpy rebels working to repel our evil robot space-lords. And then there was a final showdown between our group’s hero and the head bad guy, and our hero killed the head bad guy... and then was somehow crowned the prophesized king of the robot space-lords and turned to evil. Which is when I woke up. How unreal, my brain is awesome. :D

Blog Topic #63 - You Are Here

Yes, you are here. Where is here? Here is ~*~*~THE FUTURE~*~*~

Exciting, no?

Let me explain. In the last year or so I feel there have been a few technological and scientific developments that really hit home the message that a lot of time has passed since I was a child. Like 3D printing drugs. Seriously. WE CAN PRINT DRUGS WHAT.



I know that technically the future never arrives, it’s always out there before you, but I don’t care what the people say, the future is NOW!

When I was a kid, they told us we’d grow up and live on moon colonies and vacation on Mars. None of that came true obviously, but other things did. We were so focused on the outer world, on outer space, that we forgot about our inner worlds, a world of DNA fragments and energized electrons. Before you know it, we’ll be operating on a quantum internet people!

More food for thought: this AT&T ad from 1993 that basically predicted the future.



We live in a world where you can video chat with anyone around the world (well, except for Syria right now), a world where a pre-verbal babies/toddlers know how to unlock an iPhone and find the YouTube app, a world where you can access real time photos and content the moment events break across an ocean. To some this may not seem like a big deal, but I am starting to find the present quite futuristic. :)

Blog Topic #27 - How Women Use Social Media

Another amendment to the topic title...

Blog Topic #27 – How Women I Use Social Media

(Because “women” are not some kind of monolithic hive mind, duh. We are, however, made up of individuals with their own tastes and preferences, and here I am!)

I’d say I’m a bit of a social media junkie, in the sense that the moment some trendy new app or website pops up I get an account and attempt to participate. Whether I actually use it effectively or at all is a different story. Let’s break it down.

Facebook – I have a very love-hate relationship with Facebook. I’m always bitter that I can’t be done with its terrible privacy settings and delete my account, because if I did I’d have no social life. :P I basically use Facebook to keep abreast of everyone’s lives; places they travel to, changing jobs or moving cities, getting engaged/married/babies, etc. Aside from that, I use it to mostly post music videos I really like, or sometimes geeky/feminist articles that catch my eye. My status updates are mostly about hanging out with friends or bitching about the weather. I don’t really get too serious or political on Facebook. That’s what Twitter is for. ;)

Livejournal – My first real foray into social media, I’ve mostly abandoned it in favour of other avenues. But from like 2002 to like 2009 it was my lifeblood. As a blogging platform, it was perfectly suited for me to squee about my favourite TV show and obsessively deconstruct every nuance of plot and character development. And similar fans responded! We became friends in real life! LJ also gave me a venue to try another highly specific form of graphic design: icon design. Not to mention all the fanfic I posted there. Seriously though, where do the kids post fanfic these days??

Pinterest – Honestly I still don’t really ~get~ what Pinterest is for. I only pop over when someone links to a cleaning related lifehack or pretty nail art. Otherwise I’m like “ugh, people, stop posting about food, food is boring”. :P

Twitter – this is my main hub of social media these days. So many other apps and websites revolve around it, it’s easy to make it central to my online presence. I feel a lot more anonymous on Twitter too (less of my real life friends follow me there), so speaking my mind doesn’t feel so fraught. I mostly retweet other people or link to articles I like. I’m a big Instagram fan and everything I create goes straight to Twitter.

Tumblr – I like to describe Tumblr as “Twitter but with pictures”. That might have been how it started out as for me, but it’s grown into this weird, unwieldy vortex of timesuck that I tried to avoid because, well, timesuck. Once I get on there, I start reposting all the awesome stuff I come across and CAN’T STOP. I come for the gifs, but stay for the intersectional screeds of real-talk.

From CDs to iTunes Downloads: a Great Gatsby Soundtrack Review

I’m interrupting my regularly scheduled blog topics to insert a very important post about Baz Luhrman, movie soundtracks, and how single song downloads have changed the way we listen to music. Yes, that’s right, this is a Great Gatsby OST post!

First off, listen to the soundtrack. You can either sample it on iTunes (I think it released yesterday) or listen to the whole album free on NPR: First Listen: Music From Baz Luhrman’s Film The Great Gatsby.

Now, personally, I’ve got real soft spots for previous Baz Luhrman soundtracks such as Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge. The music from Romeo + Juliet instantly takes me back to grade 10. Everyone had that CD. I remember a couple of the older kids in our drama class even created this cool contemporary routine with the Radiohead song on that soundtrack in the background. Not only that, the artists selected for the album and their varying styles of music are so indicative of the time period; grungy rock giving way to peppy pop.

The Moulin Rouge soundtrack isn’t quite the same, since it was a musical itself a lot of the movie’s songs are included on it. But I think the runaway hit from the soundtrack, Lady Marmalade with Pink and Lil Kim and Christina Aguilera and Mya, kind of sums up the time period well in itself. Trashy pop y’all!

The thing about the above two soundtracks is that I bought them as CDs. And while it’s relatively easy to skip around to your favourite songs, it’s much easier to just listen to the whole thing in one sitting. Which means that you eventually learn to enjoy most of the songs, while your favourites are little nuggets of joy in the course of your listening experience. That’s how it used to be. But with the advent of iTunes, you don’t need to get the whole album anymore. You download your favourites and leave the rest alone. That’s how I usually do it these days, haven’t listened to a whole album through since maybe 2005. Until now!

If you clicked on the link above, you’ll see that there’s a 57 minute track with the whole Gatsby album on it. And I’m kind of digging listening to the whole thing as opposed to my favourite 3 songs. And the best part is that all the songs are good, but when my favourites pop up... nugget of joy! It’s making me very nostalgic for that old way we listened to music. Anyways, my favourites are:

“Over The Love” by Florence + The Machine – her singing is so epic and it almost feels like they couldn’t create a score to match that epicness. ;)

“Hearts A Mess” by Gotye – this is WAY better than his song with Kimbra. It gives me a lot of “Talk Show Host” by Radiohead (from the Romeo + Juliet soundtrack) feels.

“Into The Past” by Nero – the closest thing to dubstep on the album, which y’all knew had to be represented for our current time period. It’s got a dreamy electronic feel to it.

Overall, extremely enjoyable album; I like it better than Moulin Rouge but Romeo + Juliet still holds the #1 spot.

Rating: 8/10

Blog Topic #88 - Shaking Things Up

It’s no secret that part of my identity includes the term “writer”. I’ve been writing one way or another (diary, fiction, etc.) since I was around thirteen years old. I’ve got a prolific fanfic resumé, I’ve been blogging for years, and I’ve got this dream of writing my own novel as well.

But in the last couple years, that dream stalled. It started first with a fall-out with fandom; without a new TV show or movie for me to be passionate over, my inspiration dried up. Then, I noticed that it was getting harder and harder for me to remember my dreams when I woke up, another one of my methods of inspiration gone. In addition to my usual sources of inspiration disappearing, there were other factors that made writing difficult. On the “there’s not enough time” front, I bought a house and found myself in a long term relationship, both things that I like to devote care and attention to (therefore diverting attention away from my writing aspirations). Finally, I started a job that requires that I sit in front of the computer a lot, and now that I’m a little older the last thing I want to do when I come home is more sitting in front of the computer, my shoulders and back can’t handle it.

So there are reasons. But reasons can also be excuses. I still want to write a novel, but it’s hard when your creativity is in a rut. Thankfully I found this article (on my favourite inspirational website Tiny Buddha): 8 Ways We Block Our Creativity And Keep Ourselves Stuck. I’m totally a victim of every single one of those pitfalls, the worst being that writing my novel stopped being about a personal accomplishment and more about its potential marketability. So I thought: “Self, forget about seeing your novel in Chapters and Indigo, forget about publishing and getting an agent... this is about creating something that makes you proud.”

Exactly a week later, I met up with a high school friend of mine that I hadn’t seen in some time and she was bubbling with excitement I hadn’t seen in her for some time. She had recently seen a musical that was inspiring her to try her own hand at writing a three-part tragicomedy script/play. I told her about my own lack of inspiration over the last couple years and my recent epiphany. And she said, “maybe there’s a reason we’re meeting at this moment in time!” I don’t believe in karma or synchronicity but it was still awesome to talk to someone on the same wavelength, who encourages you to follow your passions.

So that’s how I’m shaking things up. This Friday is going to be devoted to sitting in bed with my laptop and getting back in the groove of things. :D

Blog Topic #37 - Book Shopping (Buy These Books)

Another amendment: Blog Topic #37 – Book Shopping (Buy Read These Books). Cause being thrifty is awesome and more power to you if you can get these books at the library or borrow them from a friend!

Any list like this is going to be extremely biased and personal to the author, but I’m going to give its a shot anyway. These are the books that found their way into my life and will be a part of my bookshelf till the day I die or can’t read anymore:

Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie – This is a book that manages to be beautiful and poetic on one side while being frustrating and bizarre on the other. The real highlight is Rushdie’s prose though, in this novel his craft is at its height. It’s almost as if he’s plucked the words from the brain of some cosmic maestro. Well worth the read, especially with a couple different plotlines to keep the reader occupied.

A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth – Despite being alarmingly hefty, this book is one of my favourites. In fact, after I finished if for the first time I was saddened to realize I was only 20 years old and had already read the best book of my life. ;P You need to prepare yourself for this book. There are so many characters that Seth had to include a couple family trees in the beginning for reference purposes, and their stories intertwine in the most surprising ways. There’s also an in-depth focus on Indian politics soon after its independence, which can be dry for some (myself included). But I ended this book feeling like I had just read a story about my own distant relatives, that’s how real Seth makes his story.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë – I picked this book as an English project in grade 11 and was startled by how much I liked it. Then when I was in university I bought a discounted copy and realized that I could enjoy the story far more now that I was an adult. In fact, the older I get, the richer this novel becomes. Bronte was a trailblazer of her time and it shows through the main character’s actions and the little soapbox moments the author throws in every now and then. For a classic, it’s completely relatable for a modern woman like me, which is why I suppose it’s a classic to begin with. In the end, I’m enamoured with the way Jane Eyre is a lot like me.

Innocence by Kathleen Tessaro – I think this novel is categorized as “chick lit” but I don’t understand why, other than the fact that the main character is a woman and she has relationship issues. But the book is so much more than that. Romance plays second fiddle to the angst and agony of past choices, finding your calling, and the figuring out if you have the courage to truly live life. I think if you’re someone who spends a lot of time inside your own head and in search of your purpose, you’d enjoy this book.

JPod by Douglas Coupland – Coupland is known for his unorthodox writing style and frankly I find it something to aspire towards! As someone who does a lot of technical computer stuff at work and at home, this book was so much fun. Completely irreverent and seemingly lacking any kind of cohesion or plot, you get caught up in a world where nonsense is the norm in an otherwise stale existence. Also, with bonus Canadian content!

The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni – Back to the Indian stories; I know it’s been interpreted and postulated for ages but who can say no to a fictional examination of the Mahabharata from Draupadi’s perspective? I have to admit that when I started the book, I was flailing a little because I felt like I was reading something mildly blasphemous. But after a couple reveals I was flailing in a good way. That being said, I don’t understand how anyone who isn’t Hindu would get the kind of enjoyment I did out of this book. Therefore I humbly request that all you non-Hindus out there find a copy and tell me what you think. ;)

Blog Topic #85 - How I Went From Very Shy to Less Shy

It was a two part process!

Part 1 - Grade 10. We all have to pick a semester of some kind of creative art for one of our course selections. Instead of musical instruments (which made sense since I was in the school band) I decided on drama instead. Because despite my introversion and quietness, there was a diva dying to get out. ;) I ended meeting some fabulous new friends in that class, and for the first time I was prancing around and dressing up with people that I felt comfortable around. It really built up my confidence, and I had a great time finding my voice and expressing myself.

Part 2 - 2005. Freshly graduated from post-secondary education and I landed a great job right out of school, at a multinational company. My boss was senior management, therefore I was suddenly rubbing elbows with high-powered executives while we talked about stocks and sipped expensive wine. Stranger upon stranger would waltz into my life, experts in their field with mounds of education and experience. In that sort of environment, I knew one thing: confidence was key. Maybe it was the company's culture as well (I remember people like the CEO asking me to call him by his first name), people were very professional but open at the same time. So I didn't approach the situation as me being the newbie in the midst of sharks. I saw the men and women around me as my peers, my equals, and interacted with them like it was no big deal. Sometimes, I would fly across the country and run meetings with teams of people I'd never met before. I was forced to be at ease in strange and new situations, and it paid off. Now, chatting new people up at a party is nothing compared to shmoozing with rich execs. ;)

Blog Topic #23 - My Mother is On Facebook

The post title is a bit of a lie; I’m not going to talk about my mother being on Facebook. I mean, she is on Facebook, but I haven’t friended her there because that’s going a little too far IMHO. But! She is one of my tweeps on Twitter, so: amendment.

Blog Post #23 – My Mother Is On Facebook Twitter

And let me tell you, no one is as hilarious on Twitter as my mother! She spits realness in the most hilarious ways. Some examples...

Disney buys Lucas Films...Is that why they were saying world is going to end in 2012!!

— Sheela Rama (@SheelaRama) October 30, 2012

If I were in this debate i would either walk out or punch my opponent #debate2012

— Sheela Rama (@SheelaRama) October 23, 2012

Trump should join a circus team!

— Sheela Rama (@SheelaRama) October 24, 2012

Can you believe??Power went out At Superbowl.Epic fail #superbowl2013

— Sheela Rama (@SheelaRama) February 4, 2013

When you listen to Obama talking about immigration reform you realize there's no one cooler than him on this planet!!

— Sheela Rama (@SheelaRama) January 29, 2013

Some of Indian Politicians have truly lost all their brain cells!! #stupidityofIndianpoliticians

— Sheela Rama (@SheelaRama) January 4, 2013

Poor Romney's website doesn't work. How can he become a President?

— Sheela Rama (@SheelaRama) October 23, 2012

LMAO she has a block of angry Romney related tweets last October that are just killing me right now. She also conversationally tweets a lot of celebrities and politicians. She tends to livetweet popular sporting events, award shows, and political debates.

Blog Topic #29 - If I Were a Television Producer

My show would be the shit, I can tell you that much. ;P

Back when I was far more fannish and obsessed with my TV shows (a mere 3-4 years ago), I used to have the most vivid and fantastical dreams that were basically episodes of House, CSI, Bones, or Lost. I shared a few of them with friends and the reaction was generally "omg, I’d watch that!"

My TV show would centre around some sort of supernatural or mystical element in our current world, because as much as I love my scientific procedurals, nothing beats the kind of mindfuck you get from messing with the natural order. And while I love futuristic space-timey shows, world-building is not my forté. The cast would be a variety of ages, genders, races, and orientations. Cinematography would be a big deal, as would the attention to detail on any props. I would be very picky about choosing a composer to do the show’s score and theme song.

It would be an intelligent show. I wouldn’t underestimate the potential of my audience. The dialogue would be succinct but clever, the characters complex and misunderstood, the backdrops epic and intimate at the same time. Aaaand it would be cancelled before the season is over. Isn’t that the way of the world? :P

Blog Topic #84 - Downtime (What I Do Offline to Recharge)

I spend a lot of time online. More than I probably should. And I think it’s gotten worse since I got a smartphone. :P Thankfully, I have a number of offline pursuits to distract me from the shiny lure of the internets. So what do I do in my downtime?

1. I crochet – nothing completely clears my mind like crochet does! Your eyes and brain are completed focused on the yarn and stitches, and you have to watch what you’re doing (unlike knitting). And there’s nothing like watching a pattern come to life and take shape. The only downfall is that if you continue crocheting for too long, your shoulders and neck will not be pleased with you. :P My mom taught me the basics and the rest is I picked up from YouTube.


2. I scrapbook – I really had no intention of getting into scrapbooking because I know how involved and expensive it can be, but I got one of those Mambi kits as a gift and it all took off from there. It’s basically the real life equivalent of making your own desktop wallpaper in Photoshop, which is another pastime of mine coincidently. So I took to it quite well. I love all the fun stickers, picking out photos and laying them out with borders and matting . It’s nice to spend time documenting memories and the people in your life!


3. I watch TV – the offline pastime of kings and queens! I used to be the kind of person who was religiously dedicated to prime time dramas such as Lost, House, Bones, CSI, etc. but I find that I don’t have the patience for such things anymore. I prefer unplugging my brain with a lot of HGTV or something with Gail Vaz-Oxlade on Slice. It's not like there's a plot line to keep track of, plus it's usually educational!


4. I journal – like, in an actual journal, omg. It might not be as quick as typing (and sometimes my hand cramps up, hah) but every now and then it’s nice to meander with your thoughts and document things low-tech style. Old habits die hard; I've been journalling since I was probably 12 years old. Besides, I like the way my handwriting looks! Plus, journalling is extra fun if you're doing it in one of those fancy gilded leather dealies from Indigo. ;)


5. I paint my nails - I've become somewhat obsessed with nail polish over the last couple years and have amassed quite the embarrassing collection (embarrassing only because HOLY CRAP that's a lot of money spent on what is essentially crap haha). It's a great way to kill a couple hours and be creative at the same time. They may be tiny, but even a tiny canvas has limitless potential!


6. I dance - nothing like cranking up the tunes and grooving around the apartment when no one's watching, it's the ultimate stress release. It's fun, it burns calories, it lets me practice my pipes... what's not to like?? :D

What about you guys? When you're not staring at a screen, how do you spend your time?