All good things must come to an end

Here we are on day 30 of NaBloPoMo and I've done it - I actually managed to post every single day of the month. So what have I learned from this experiment? I've learned that even though I may not have something to blog about every day, I do have something to post most days and that I shouldn't sit on something I want to post about because chances are I will forget about it and it won't get posted at all. I've come to accept the fact that I'm not a prize winning writer but that I shouldn't worry about it - not all posts have to be long intellectual discourses. And lastly, even though it would be nice to have a large readership, I should post about things because they bring me enjoyment. And hey, if someone stumbles upon my blog and happens to like, that's just a bonus.

So, it's been fun. To cap off this posting extravaganza, I give you another photo.


The Lido Cafe, Calgary, Alberta

I have lots of great memories of this place - Thursday morning $3.88 breakfasts, mini jukeboxes, fall in Kensington...

The evolution of beauty

Dove has always been known for promoting real and natural beauty and they generally use normal, but still beautiful, women in their advertising. It's refreshing to see a large corporation acknowledge the fact that most women aren't 5'10" and 115 lbs. Their latest commercial, called Evolution, takes a nice looking girl and transforms her into a billboard model, all in a 60 second spot. You've probably seen snippets of this commercial on TV and now you can watch the whole thing.

Watch: Evolution

Direct from Whoville...

On Saturday evening A. and I attended the Best of the Fest show which capped off the Canwest Comedy Festival. The show was awesome (how could it not be with comedians such as Janeane Garofolo, David Cross and Scott Thompson?) and before the show we were treated to a sight we had not been expecting. There, in the lobby of the Centre for Performing Arts was Cindy Lou Who herself. I managed to take a few pictures as evidence but since they were taken with my camera phone, from one floor up, off a mirror, and on max zoom, they aren't incredibly clear. Still, I present to you... a Who!

Books 8 & 9

I'm ashamed to admit it but I had never read Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery until a week ago. I have owned the book since I was about 8 and I adored the mini-series when it first aired but just hadn't got around to reading the book. I'm glad I finally did. It brought back all those great memories of childhood and made me remember what a fantastic story it is. This is definitely a book I'll be keeping for my children to read.

Along with children's lit I'm a big reader of historical fiction and I've always found Philippa Gregory's books very enjoyable. The Virgin's Lover was no expection. It follows the stories of Queen Elizabeth I and Sir Robert Dudley, her Master of Horse, as Elizabeth begins her reign and the two fall in love. It was a nice light read.

*****

For the past few weeks there has been a Pepto Bismol pink Hummer in the parking lot at the college and one of these days I'm going to take a picture. The thing is hideous.

Mmmm... SPAM

Gmail now incorporates headlines and RSS feeds at the top of your inbox that you can customize to suit your preferences. A handy feature if I didn't already use Bloglines to consolidate all my blog reading. At the top of your Spam folder they also have different recipes using, what else, SPAM. Frankly I don't think SPAM is ever a good idea but some of these meals sound truly revolting. Vineyard Spam Salad? Yuck. Or some Savory Spam Crescents perhaps? Noooo thank you. I think the next time I have friends over for dinner I'll serve some French Fry Spam Casserole. heh.

A whopping three parts

I did a Google search today to see who was linking to my photos and I found some interesting results.

Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library

Stereogum (Half-way down the comments.)

Yahoo! Travel

Science vs Romance

and last but certainly not least,

The Bingo Guide (The one for club members' bingo reviews)

I also got an email today from a photo editor with the New York Times asking if I could submit a self-portrait for a story they are doing on people who take pictures of themselves and post them on the 'net. Crazy!!

*****

A Graphic Revolution! Books 5 & 6

Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi continues her story after her parents send her to live in Austria in order to escape the war in Iran. She's lived an amazing life and the graphic novel medium is a perfect fit for her to bring the story to the masses. For a long time I had a negative perception of graphic novels but so far I've enjoyed all that I have read. I highly recommend both this one and the first one, Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood.

Continuing with the graphic novel genre I then read Blankets by Craig Thompson which I had received for my birthday from Laurel. Again, an excellent novel about Craig's life growing up in Wisconsin and his search for faith along the way. The drawings are amazing and the story is engrossing.

*****

In other news, my MP, David Emerson of Vancouver-Kingsway has crossed the floor to the Conservatives in exchange for a cabinet position. I didn't vote for him when he was a Liberal but I certainly didn't vote for a Conservative and am very much looking forward to a by-election. Maybe Ian Waddell, our NDP candidate, will get the majority of votes this time around.

And here I always thought I was just intimidating

My good pal Day called me the other day and in the course of our conversation she mentioned this Maclean's article which states that men are generally turned off by funny women. She said it made her think of us - two attractive, intelligent and ambitious women (although admittedly she is MUCH funnier than I am) who, on the whole, have never really had very many boyfriends. I always thought that maybe we were just intimidating but apparently it comes down to something I never even considered. Who knew that having a sense of humour could be considered a bad thing? Thankfully, I seem to have found someone who is secure with his own (wacky) humour and even says mine is one of the things he finds attractive. Frankly, I would never even contemplate being with someone who didn't make me laugh and I'd hope it would work both ways. What's the point in being in a relationship that is devoid of laughter and fun? I'm glad I am able to make A. laugh (even though it's generally when I'm acting strange) and I hope that it continues. Maybe it's just the unfunny men who are turned off by funny women.

Motivation?! What's that?

After six months I have finally returned home - though if it's permanent I'm not so sure. The trip home was actually pretty good and I got to spend two fantastic days in Dubai and Amsterdam. I would have liked more time to do some shopping but unfortunately, with delayed flights and long taxi rides, the days were cut short.

It's taken me a while to write this post because I've found that since returning home I have very little to say and even less motivation to actually sit down and write it. Even though I was very eager to return home, and I am glad to be back in Vancouver, sometimes I find myself getting very antsy and wishing I was overseas again.

****

The situation in Afghanistan seems to be degenerating and another Canadian soldier was injured in a suicide attack.