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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Slinky.

So I got a Slinky for my birthday from my brother. (my birthday is Dec.22, awesome, I know.)

Now, once I got over being slightly annoyed that I got my brother an actual gift for his birthday, and he gets me a $3 slinky, I began to really and fully appreciate it.

It is one of the true Slinkies. A perfect metal coil, with just enough spring to make quick work of any flight of stairs. It has the perfect slinky sound when you play with it.

It made me remember those old slinky commercials, with the really awesome songs that just stuck in your head... Everybody knows its Slinky!

Anyway, sorry for not posting in about a decade. I have been busy/traveling home/having zero interesting things to post/say.

Merry Christmas yo.

- ariel.

All the President's Men and mind control

So, just finished watching All the President's Men, the movie about how Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein basically single-handedly brought down Nixon.

Essentially, the movie blows my mind every time I see it.

Now not only are Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman super fine,

but it also reminds me of how much I love Canada.

Because of course after watching this movie, I obviously had to Wiki Watergate and I end up looking at all of the covert CIA Family Jewels, which details all the bat-shit crazy stuff the CIA carried out on citizens in the states some examples:

-Assassination plots to kill Fidel Castro (this one was approved by Bobby Kennedy)

-Super crazy experiments conducted on citizens with LSD to control their behaviour - fun little fact: the unibomber was a participant of some of these ridiculous and super-crazy experiments

-Surveillance of dissident groups from 1967-1971 (including over 30 universities in the States)

-Opening all mail going to and from the Soviet Union and China.

So the reason I love Canada so much is because no one really cares that much about us, so our government feels no desire to control us. We are very much like the forgotten middle child. We go off, do our own thing, and no one pays any attention.

So thank you Richard Nixon, for epitomizing evil and getting caught by two crazy little journalists at the Washington Post, who then wrote a book that got a movie deal who's Wikipedia page has links to all of the crazy shit the CIA has done to Americans, which makes me SO happy I live in Canada where no one cares enough to try to alter our behaviour with LSD or plot to kill communists in far off lands, or even to bug the headquarters of someone as boring as George McGovern. As ridiculous as Stephen Harper and his little sweaters are, I do love that there was never a giant mind-control operation here, and that no one would really ever try to do that, because, let's face it: No one cares enough about the forgotten middle child. Let's just go and get our tongue pierced or something.

-Ariel.

The best month. EVER.

December is most definitely the best month. You have happy snowmen being made, long breaks from school, mandarin oranges, my birthday, Jesus's birthday, Santa-times, and Jimmy Buffet's birthday. There is no denying that it reigns supreme over all other months.

December facts:

December 5 is Sinterklaas in the Netherlands, from what I can gather, it is rather like Christmas here, (but not) and instead of stockings, he fills up your shoes (which you have to leave outside) with treats and small presents.

December has it's own flower Holly, and Pointsetta. That's right December is so awesome it has two flowers.

Festivus is on December 23. Festivus: the holiday for the rest of us! It involves the annual airing of grievances, then the festivus feast followed by the feats of strength, this is where you have to wrestle with the head of the household and the holiday is only over once this has occured... There is also a festivus pole.

Frank Sinatra's birthday on December 12. Frank married 4 super gorgeous women, with Ava Gardner definitely being the love of his life. He had three kids, one of which sung that really annoying boots song. And when he died, the lights on the Vegas strip were dimmed in his honour.

-Ariel.

Dogs in Costume ... and bacon.

If there is one thing I truly hate, it is when people dress up their pets.

These poor dogs...

I mean, I like a picture of an impossibly cute puppy or kitty far more than the average person, (in fact, I sometimes just search cute kittens playing on youtube) but I still cannot see the benefits of dressing your pet up in a ridiculous costume if they can't object.

Also, today I was making a very delicious breakfast, and the bacon attacked me! Seriously, I was taking the deliciousness out of the pan, when it spat out at me burning me with grease!! Now I have a very disgusting blister from this run-in with the bacon. If you see any bacon EAT IT, and show it no mercy, just as it showed me none.

You hear that bacon ... IT'S ON!

-Ariel.

Personality Tests...

K, so I really like taking these personality tests, they are always strangely accurate.. that and I generally like knowing what computers think of me

Here is a particularly fun one, all with colours and such...

It said I am 45% extroverted and 55% introverted... That sounds about right.

Here is a really long, but super awesome one...

According to this one, I don't really like change, I am disorganized but can get shit done, I'm relatively friendly, I am however, very judgmental and am very calm.

Here is one to see if you have any personality disorders...

It says I am moderate Histronic (attention seeker) and moderate Narcissistic, both make sense as I am doing personality tests and posting my results on a blog.

Here is the standard Myers-Brigg

I am ESTP, I am not super sure what that means.

Here is the Keirsey Temperament personality test...

I am an Artisan, specifically a promoter, once again, not really sure what that means, but it sounds good.

And this is how I spent my Wednesday evening.

-Ariel

Oh those Russians...

I have an odd affinity for all things Russian. So when I went on Wikipedia I was pleasantly surprised to find that the featured article was Nikita Zotov, a Russian who tutored Peter the Great, after clicking on a few more Russian rulers, I came accross this little gem...

This is Catherine I, and she ruled Russia,

and this is the current Russian leader:

Makes me wish Stephen Harper was tougher. He would guaranteed lose a fight against either of these guys.

ps. you can go and see Rasputin's penis on display at a Russian museum of erotica in St.Petersburg...

-Ariel

Christmas

I am 100% a Christmas person. I love the lights, the music, the happy TV-specials, the smell of the Christmas tree, the cookies.

Every year I lose my mind for Christmas, and this year is no different.

I has yet to snow though, and although I am used to having a Green Christmas, I really think that Ottawa weather should just grow a pair already and snow.

You hear that weather, I am giving you until December 1 to snow. After that I am writing a very sternly worded letter.

This is what Ottawa needs to look like by the end of next week, or I will really be very upset.

-Ariel.