Driving CDs, not iPods.

I love driving.  This is probably a good thing, since I have to drive all the time.  I drive 30 minutes to work, 30 minutes back, I drive to go pick up my kid brother, I drive to friends' places.

Arguably the best thing about driving is the music.

I don't really know what it is about blaring music inside my small little Volkswagen that makes me feel so good.  Nobody can see me, or hear me, I am sure.  Not when my music is loud enough.  I am that crazy girl who dances at intersections, and long stretches of road.  I am the one who is listening to 99 Red Balloons on repeat on a nice day.  

Now, I have not given in and gotten one of those new-fangled devices where I can listen to my iPod on my car stereo.  (Although, I did have one once, I got it for my birthday, but was unfortunately stolen from my car along with a beloved pair of sunglasses while I was at the beach with my Nana.)  I still kick it old-school with CDs.  I have some CDs I have purchased, others that are complete albums, and many, many mixes of my own making.  These are by far my favourite.  I love how in 21 songs I can perfectly capture a mood, or a day, or a trip.  I have several CDs that when I hear 2 songs played from it, I am transformed back to grade 12.  I can play a CD and be reminded of exactly how I was years ago.  

Even though these CDs are taking over my car. (They are EVERYWHERE, on the floor, under the seats, in the glove compartment, in the little pockets behind and beside the seats.  EVERYWHERE.)  I don't think I am ever going to get one of those fancy-schmancy iPod player things.  They take all the fun out of driving.  I like having to try 4 different CDs before finding the one I was looking for.  You have so much more fun that way.

Anyway, as I was saying. I love driving.  And the best thing about driving is the CDs.

All the way from 9th century China...

Yesterday, having drunk too much, I was intoxicated as to pass all bounds;

but none of the rude and coarse language I used was uttered in a conscious state.

The next morning, after hearing others speak on the subject, I realised what had happened,

whereupon I was overwhelmed with confusion and ready to sink into the earth with shame.

"As far back as the 9th Century China, the 'Dunhuang Bureau of Etiquette' insisted that local officials use a letter template when sending apologies to offended dinner hosts. The guilty party would copy the template text, enter the dinner host's name, sign the letter and then deliver with head bowed. The letter was discovered, alongside thousands of other documents, in a sealed cave library in western China."

I found this on this crazy awesome website called "Letters of Note" It has on display a ton of private letters, now made available to the public from the likes of Hunter S. Thompson, Kurt Vonnegut Jr, and Nikola Tesla to name a few. They range from wills to irate faxes and provide endless entertainment for someone stuck at work for 10 hours (namely me). Check it out. See the internet proves again to be endlessly entertaining. 

And now we know that even way back in dynastic China they got so drunk they forgot who they were.

Back to looking up pictures of polar bears and the arctic... yes that's my job. -N

Recently Discovered

It is the start of real spring and summer is almost here.  I can feel it.
And with new seasons come new things.  I have recently discovered certain things (not actually discovered, like a scientist, but have rather become mildly obsessed with).  Bands, blogs, tv shows etc.
It's a little bit like Oprah's favourite things lists, but without all the ridiculous yelling and slight religious fervour. And sorry, but nobody will be receiving a Prius...

ANYWAY. Here is a list of things I have very recently become addicted to...

La Roux - A super fabulous 80's-esque band that is causing me to tap my feet as I type and listen to the song.


Cooking Blogs - I have become obsessed.  I travel from blog to blog finding recipes and make mental notes to bake/cook something different every night.  Seriously addicting, it is taking all I have right now
not to start creeping one.  I have already baked muffins and have my dinners planned out for the next week and a half. I have already decided I am going to make this, Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and cheese one night...

Blazers - I am in love.  With this beautiful weather, blazers are perfect. They go with everything and they   instantly make you look professional and fabulous.  I just got a new striped one, I have basically perpetually borrowed Natalie's navy one and am keeping my eye out for another cute one.

Dexter - A fabulous show that has taken me far too long to realize it's awesome-ness.  It's really funny, and dark and just an all-round solid show.  Seriously. Watch it.

Mint Tea - I never really gave it a shot before.  I am a tea girl, through and through, but Mint Tea never really appealed to me.  I finally recently gave it a shot, and holy tits it was good.  Refreshing, tangy, not too sweet.  Perfect for spring/almost summer.

Jamie Lidell - He sounds like John Legend, looks like your run-of-the-mill hipster.  What else can I say, he is a modern day Rick Astley (but without the ridiculously annoying YouTube pranks).

I hope you enjoy everything as much as I do right now.

-ariel.

The world is good again...

Thank you Jon Stewart, I've nearly now forgotten about Ann Coulter's existence.

Domestic Duff

With the help of all my roommates (especially mother hen Brittany) I am slowly learning how to cook. I feel like I have improved quite a bit, considering that my favourite meal at the beginning of the year was chicken, fried on my main man, Mr. George Foreman. Now, however, I am making things like salmon, pizza dough with actual yeast (versus the not-so-nice recipe that is listed on our whiteboard) and last night's dinner - a delicious orange and soya sauce glazed pork tenderloin.

Probably another reason I am spending more time cooking: it is the best procrastination method ever! In my lame attempt to avoid work yesterday, I made bran muffins, an apple crisp, and my lovely pork tenderloin dinner, complete with mashed potatoes and ACTUAL vegetables (I can't believe it either).

But enough with that...now I'm just bragging! Here are some pictures of my most gourmet meal to date:

Yeah, I have photo shoots with my food...no big deal.

Dinner for me and my new main man (sorry George)!

PS: may start food blog in the summer called "Domestic Duff," discussing my learning to cook attempts. Blog will surely be chalked full of stove fire adventures, rotten vegetables, and grated fingers.

-Hilary

Pearson: My Main Man

You guys, it has been nearly a month since this blog has been touched. The poor soul. It's almost crying out for attention. Fear not. Essay season has returned and so have I.

When it comes to writing essays, I tend to get overwhelmed by the ton of information that you have to sort through. I just end up getting lost in the bowels of Wikipedia for ages. In this case, I'm writing an essay on Pearson and NATO. I've always had a soft spot for Pearson, being all diplomatic and winning the Nobel Peace Prize and stuff. Basically, this essay gives me an excuse to nerd out (as per usual). Pearson = awesome diplomat and secretary of state, not so awesome Prime Minister but I'll deal. I've been reading his Nobel Prize acceptance speech and getting so jacked. Here's one of my favourite quotes from him, enjoy!

Of all our dreams today there is none more important - or so hard to realize - than that of peace in the world. May we never lose our faith in it or our resolve to do everything that can be done to convert it one day into reality.

Also: you can totally go see Pearson's Peace Prize. It's in the Department of Foreign Affairs building entrance way. It's all gold and shiny and impressive. AND apparently him and his wife were swingers in the 1960's. Had a bunch of affairs and were totally cool about it. Who would've guessed?

We can't forget how Trudeau felt about Pearson though:

I'm always so torn because Pearson was such a swell guy, but Trudeau was so bad ass, didn't give Quebec the time of day and well... he was TRUDEAU.

- N

I am a horrible sports fan

The Olympics are almost over and this time, I have been following them with what can only be described as religious voracity. I know every medal we have won, and in which sport it was won. I know the story behind all of the Canadian athletes that are competing and winning medals for our humble little country. All of this makes me love Canada like a fat kid loves Rocky Road Ice cream on a hot day of eating nothing but celery. It makes me however, a horrible sports fan.

The Olympics are an odd thing, though. I am by no means a sports fanatic, I enjoy watching the occasional NHL game, and stumble through a conversation with a fan about Luongo and such. When the Olympics are on, however, I love hockey, I feel a connection with the sport that defines the country I love so much, yet I am not an avid fan. I am barely even a fairweather fan of the sport. I am an Olympic fan, a fan of Canada. It makes it easy, I don't have to know all about the Maple Leafs or Habs, I just have to know that I love Canada, and I want our boys to kick the snot out of the Americans.

I think Olympic fans are different from regular fans, and I am sure that if I was a regular, hardcore fan, I would turn up my nose at these horrible Olympic fans. Olympic fans don't really know much about the sport, when the games are over, we don't go over all the plays in the game, we switch over to another event and cheer on Canada some more. We don't know all the stats on the best players, and we don't really care who was the number one draft pick. All we know is that Canada is the best and we are going to cheer our little brains out until we win. I am fairly certain that Holden Caufield would have something to say about the phoney-ness that is the Olympic fan. We are worse than fairweather fans, we only care once every four, maybe two years.

Olympic fans are not all bad. Being one, I can see the benefits. While, we may not be constant, never-wavering, die-hard fans, we REALLY care about sports for two whole weeks, and by George are we going to show it. We buy all the Olympic garb, talk about the Olympics, update every person we meet on the current medal standings, and potential medal wins for the rest of the day, we watch and cheer for ALL Canadian athletes, and we paint our faces and cheer until our throats fall off.

Maybe I am not a genuine sports fan, and after the Olympics, I will most likely continue to watch re-runs of Family Guy in lieu of watching the game, but I am most definitely a Canada fan. I love Canada, and anything that shows the world how awesome we are, I will continue to support.

All that I have to say is

GO CANADA GO!

-ariel.

I, Heart Cake

Yesterday to avoid studying for my media law midterm (and because I am super sweet!), I made these rather adorable heart-shaped cakes for my boyfriend and roommates. Brittany convinced me to make them from scratch (as opposed to my usual cake-in-a-box) and I even whipped up a batch of buttercream icing to go on them!!! Thank you Sears and your beautiful spring form heart pans!

Here was the result...

Needless to say, I had cake this morning for breakfast.

-h

So I Smoked Some Salvia for School....

For my latest reporting assignment we had to do something that gave us “new insight” into a possible feature topic. Being the adventurous person I am, I decided to do drugs. Salvia Divinorum is an herb, much like marijuana, that when smoked or ingested produces a hallucinogenic high (similar to one experienced on LSD or magic mushrooms – I have not done those, it’s just what I’m told!). It is completely legal in Canada.

Here’s my trip… Enjoy!

It’s Sunday night, shortly after 9pm. While most of my friends are catching up on homework, I’m sitting at my boyfriend Dane’s kitchen table, with his roommate Rayne, carefully measuring the right amount of dark green salvia leaves into a lime green bong.

My mission however is purely academic. I’m smoking salvia divinorum, a drug that is legal in Canada, in the name of good journalism – hoping to find out firsthand the drug’s psychological effects.

Despite hours of background research I have no idea what to expect. The clerk at Crosstown Traffic, a marijuana paraphernalia shop, where I bought the salvia, told me trying to explain a salvia trip to someone who has never tried it, is like explaining the colour red to someone that’s been blind his whole life.

So I’m a little nervous.

It’s 9:07pm; I light the saliva, place my lips around the top of the bong and slowly suck in the murky air.

After a minute, my skin begins to feel tingly and refreshed, like I’ve just jumped into a cold pool on a scorching summer day. I become very aware of my surroundings. The lights, the smell of burning salvia, the music, they all seem more intense.

I move to sit on Dane’s lap, feeling nervous, and put my head on his shoulder. I close my eyes. It feels like the two of us are flying. I look up, and see that we’re attached to a giant red balloon, speeding high above lakes and treetops. I can feel the wind on my cheeks and can smell the scent of pine, coming from the forest below. It feels so real, but as soon as I open my eyes the sensation stops.

I close my eyes again. Now I’m sitting on a swing high above the ground, under a red and gold tent, surrounded by a cheering crowd. I’m an acrobat. Beneath me I can see elephants and clowns, every face staring up at me. I lean backwards and forwards, while the audience applauds. At first I feel confident, and then I worry that I do not know enough tricks to keep them impressed.

I’m jerked back to reality when Dane grabs my arm. He says I almost swayed off his lap and onto the floor.

After that my high begins to end. My body still tingles, but my mind is sound. It’s only been about 5 minutes, but I feel exhausted.

So, with my journalistic curiosity fulfilled and my salvia mission accomplished, I head to bed, wondering how I’m ever going to write what I just felt into a story that makes sense.

-alex

TCM

There is nothing better than sitting all bundled up on the couch on a cold day watching TCM.

For those of you who don't know what TCM is, it stands for Turner Classic Movies, the best channel there is (aside from the Food Network...) it shows old movies all the time complete with an often brief, and sometimes long background usually by Robert Osborne.

Now, Robbie used to be an actor and now he is the host and resident film historian at TCM, and he is awesome at it.

Anyway, because we are poor students, we can't afford the fancy cable, where you get all the specialty channels, instead we have to settle for the basics, and Rogers-On-Demand, which has become my single favourite tool ever. You see, Rogers-On-Demand has recently let us watch movies on TCM, for FREE.

These movies are:

Breakfast at Tiffany's, the classic movie of love, New York, prostitution and drug rings. In this movie Audrey inspired every girl who has ever seen this movie to want to name her cat Cat, and parade around Tiffany's in the wee hours of the morning with sunglasses, pearls and a danish.

The Graduate, the movie that made Dustin Hoffmann and Mrs.Robinson famous. Of course, like many other classics, this movie isn't what you think it would be. Not only is Dusty ambivalent towards Mrs. Robinson, but he also could really care less about anything, except Elaine. Now, I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone who hasn't seen it, it's a stellar movie and it makes me want to own a little red convertible and drive it up and down the Pacific coast until it dies.

There is also the movie In Cold Blood, based on the book by Mr.Capote. Now, I have yet to watch the movie version, but the book was amazing. It was creepy and chilling and I very highly recommend it to anyone who has not read it.

-ariel.

AWOL

Well, since I've had relatively little work to do in January, and finally had the scrapings of a social life, I have been rather missing from the blog. Apologies. Now that work has begun again (or should have last week - Sorry Mom), I'm sure my posts will become more frequent again.

Currently on the roster is tons of Stats, my Philosophy essay on the Propaganda of H1N1 (ya ya I know... bad ass), and a History of Political Thought essay. My PoliSci essay is contrasting Machiavelli and Hobbes' take on religion as linked to politics. I decided to Google Hobbes + Religion because after reading the chapter 'Of Religion' in Leviathan, one is needless to say left with more confusion than before. And instead of being miraculously informed on what exactly the hell Hobbes was trying to say, I fell more in love with the internet.

THIS is what came up when I google searched "Hobbes Religion":

Back in Middle School (okay fine all of High School) when I was a babysitter, one of my neighbours had almost every single Calvin and Hobbes comic book. They didn't have cable so once the girls would be in bed, I'd read the comics. I forgot how AWESOME these strips are. They are applicable to every part of life... from hating on school (see above)

to nerding out about science...

to explaining the complexities of supply and demand ...

Yes, the political nerd in me LOVED this last one. Whatever.

Alright. Now back to the "real" Hobbes, Lord give me strength...

(I just want to wipe that smug grin off Hobbes' face...)

-N

An Equation

+

=

(on a slightly smaller scale, with the flames inside the stove)

I realize it wasn't a forest fire, but I was reminded nonetheless of this fantastic childhood commercial:

-hilary

Baking

I love baking.

If I could, I would bake cakes and loaves and cookies all day long. I wouldn't do any work, I would stay in the kitchen, listening to happy, upbeat music and bake delicious smelling things.

Take right now. I am sitting in the house surrounded by the delicious smell of chocolate chip cookies and only a couple of days ago I baked a wonderful banana-chocolate loaf and muffins.

Why does life have to get in the way of cookies?

-ariel.

Ooo La La

My journalism assignment for this week: Find someone different from myself and introduce them in a 400 word profile.

Voila!

Scantily clad in lacy, purple polka-dot lingerie and shiny black stilettos, burlesque dancer Koston Kreme captivated audiences with her flirtatious style of dance Saturday at Ottawa’s Sexapalooza, but it wasn’t her outfit or her routine that had people in Lansdowne’s Exhibition Hall amazed.

In front of a few hundred people, Kreme writhed, wriggled and stripped down to a pair of shiny purple pasties, all while seductively spinning a shiny silver hula-hoop around her trim torso.

The 26-year-old is a member of the Ottawa area burlesque troupe Rockalily, and has been perfecting her unique style of dance for the past 2 years.

Kreme says she realized her knack for the hula-hoop while trying to get back in shape after a nasty break up. She says she remembers being skinny as a kid, so decided to do the things she used to do when she was young – and thus began her mastery of the hula-hoop.

“I learned how to take my clothes off while I was hula-hooping because it gets hot when you hula-hoop in your apartment in front of the TV for too long,” says Kreme.

After hearing about Rockalily from a friend, Kreme, who’s always had a passion for burlesque, says she originally wanted to work behind the scenes.

“I didn’t think I’d have the…guts to do that, but it looked and seemed like so much fun, and all the girls were really confident so I figured I’d try it out,” she says.

Now, she says the only problem she has with her burlesque dancing is her family’s reaction to the occasional publicity she receives.

“My family found out because we were in the Ottawa Citizen and my grandma read it,” she says with a laugh. Since then she’s decided to take her mother’s advice and only use her stage name Koston Kreme in public.

So what’s the best part of burlesque dancing? Kreme says for her it’s the confidence boost she gets after performing. “Everybody always gets off the stage and feels amazing about themselves.”

Kreme says that the ladies (and one man) of Rockalily plan on expanding this year. “We’re trying to make our shows bigger and maybe a little more often,” she says, adding that the troupe plans on adding a Montreal show to their line-up and possibly embarking on a mini tour.

“We try and have a…variety of people…we don’t want a bunch of skinny little girls,” says Kreme of Rockalily. “Everybody in our troupe is completely different and brings something completely different to the troupe.”

- alex

The Bachelor

Being a house full of six girls, we are obliged to indulge in some girly, giggly, man-crushing time at least once a week.

With such a commitment, we were all extremely happy when a new season of The Bachelor premiered a few weeks ago! As I type, Amanda and I are sitting on the futon waiting to see what psycho things these girls are going to do to get this "perfect man" (who needs to be on a tv show to find his soulmate, hmmm...)

The sad part is that I think we all genuinely like the show. Half of it is us being pathetic girls and loving sappy shit like this (the bachelor just kissed a girl while hanging from a bungee cord after jumping off a bridge, how stupidly cute is that?)...the other half is us LOVING watching the overly-dramatic things these girls do to try and impress Jake (bachelor).

The Bachelorettes are all, obviously, super crazy (with the exception of the one we all like - the one sane girl in the house). We all really like that Jake cannot detect the crazy in some of them, and seems completely oblivious to the crazy-eyes he gets from some girls. Especially this one:

Ridiculous, right? How can he not see it?

And I would like to end this post with a quote:

"I just had the best date of my life today. The only day that will top this one will be the day I marry Jake."

I JUST BARFED EVERYWHERE (and sadly love it).

-hilary

Suit up!

As some people may know, I am a huge fan of How I Met Your Mother. After recently watching the last episode, with a very lovely tribute to suits, it got me thinking: suits are awesome. Not only does every man look infinitely more handsome in a suit, they also look more put together, more charming and altogether more desirable. So, here is a tribute to my favorite men in suits...

Alec Baldwin.

Not only is he hilarious, but the man can wear a suit. No matter how old he is getting, his voice keeps getting deeper and the suits keep him looking good.

Robert Downey Jr.

He is Iron Man, Sherlocke Holmes, a badass and can rock a suit.

Jimmy Stewart.

He is by far my favorite old-time actor, and boy can he wear a suit like it's nobody's business. Notice the TWO women on his arms.

Neil Patrick Harris.

As Barney Stinson he was the inspiration for this post, he brought the suit back. Suit up!

Jon Hamm/Don Draper.

When I think of sexy suits he pretty much epitomizes it. I'm sorry Cancer society, but there is absolutely nothing better than a man wearing a suit, holding a scotch in one hand and a cigarette in the other...

ariel.

Horoscopes are grand aren't they?

So on a Sunday night what is there to do? Catch up on my studies? Watch more How I Met Your Mother? NO! Sunday night is the best night to catch up on your horoscope! I googled mine for January and THIS is what my month is to entail:

Your ruler,the Sun conjunct Uranus this moon darkening. Expects the unexpected and see self via new eyes now. Just on for your temper affakkelen do at the flaw at optimism you off. Do not give the doubts of other belief on this moment. At the sun darkening,your ruler is square to Pluto. Enjoys your unlimited possibilities and are very gratefully for each occasion that geplaveid is your way to success. Life is PIGLET now. A holiday,trips afar take. Take your Light on the way!

NICE! I can't wait for my life to become PIGLET!

-N

Back Alley Photoshoots

The Carleton University student newspaper, The Charlatan, is usually just that - a newspaper, however once in a while it decides to publish a snazzy little thing called a magazine.

Shocking, right?

Anyways, for this last issue I was the photo editor. My favourite part of this position was making my friends dress up in ridiculous costumes and pose for photoshoots in the back alley behind our house. Thank god they are so willing to help out, huh?

These are my faves; the theme of the magazine was "subcultures and the fringe movement" and with such, my rad roommates perfectly portrayed their roles as hippies, ravers, beatniks, greasers and punk rockers.

THANK YOU FRIENDS!

Love, Hilary

Interior Decoration

In an attempt to reverse the horrible karma I experienced this past semester, I decided to re-organize my room. Yesterday evening, because we basically (and I say basically because there are no assignments yet) no work I called up my trusty twin Ariel to help me move around the mess that I called my bedroom. Let me just say that underneath a bed can get surprisingly dusty over the course of four months. 5 Swiffer pads later, my bed, desk, chair and everything else was moved. And turns out I didn't fail my poli sci exam; see, good vibes already! Also, putting my bed against the far wall has given me infinitely more floor space and therefore room for about 6 people to have a comfortable dance party, and 10 if we squish.

In Hilary's semi-last post she mentioned her favourite things, one of them being this interior decorating blog called Desire to Inspire which I myself showed her. It's written by a few people and showcases different interior photographers as well as up-and-coming trends in interior design. Needless to say, after following this blog for a couple months, I have amassed enough pictures to basically describe my ideal house. Not too shabby. Here are some of my favourites and if you still know me roughly (and hopefully) 10-15 years from now, this is what my house will look like:

So I guess I'm really into clutter and chandeliers, who would have thought?

-N