The Shins- Saint Simon

Back in my day, ipods were for Richies, so we listened to CDs on CD players. I like to listen to music, but I only had 3 CDs (until mix-CDs became cool in grade 12) but until then it was: The Shins- Chutes Too Narrow, The Strokes- Reptilia, and the soundtrack to the musical Wicked.

Needless to say, this song carries a lot of memories of studying things like trigonometry proofs, convex/concave mirrors, world religions, and Jane Eyre.

My dad bought me this album for my 17th birthday.

Grade 11 was a good year.

Wisdom Tooth Recovery

I got my WT removed last Wednesday. One side of my mouth has been bothering me more than the other, so I did some research (thanks, Internet!) and decided it looked EXACTLY like dry socket, minus the searing pain.

I called my dentist, and he said it was probably infected, so I should GO IN TODAY. My dentist is 1.5 hours away from my school, but fine, I went. Turns out, its just some food stuck deep down in the pit. The pit. My mouth has a pit. He gave me a curved syringe with which to shoot water down the hole, so I can get food out.

Let me tell you something. The pit is big. I just dug my dinner out: 2 whole pieces and 7 half pieces of basmati rice. Plus some bread and lettuce I guess I missed during my post-lunch clean out. Things just kept coming out! It’s like a clown car in there!

And that concludes today’s TMI broadcast.

Book Review: One for the Money

I am a girl who loves girl detectives.

My favourite books growing up were Nancy Drews, and my all-time favourite TV show is Veronica Mars. I enjoyed Alias, but I tend to enjoy shows with a plural number of female characters better.A long time ago, a friend gave me the first book in Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books. I had started it, but then I went to Kenya and forgot about it until recently. I just read it in February and IT WAS GOOD. Girl detectives (well, Stephanie is a bounty hunter) always seem to be very smart with a dash of sass, and Stephanie Plum is no exception. She narrates the stories which means every page is a chuckle.

There are about 10 more books in the series; I'm reading the second one now. They are very breezey, light reads, and since they've been out for a while, I'm sure you could get a copy at your local library easily! Go try out the first one, "One for the Money" today!

(Wow, that ended sounding like a commercial, so I promise you that I am in no way involved with this author or publisher or somehow getting paid for this)

Feeling bad for feeling bad

Sometimes it's really tough not to dwell on the guilt of certain privileges.

You know, like clicking the "make payment" button to send off 5K for tuition. Mostly I just want to groan about how much money that is, and how long it took to make it or, in more recent school terms, how long it's going to take me to pay back that loan. It pains me to part with that money! But then cry-me-a-river-Lisa comes in being all "oh poor you, you get to go to an incredibly good school to get a top notch education and you have the means to pay for it, and the ability to work for it, or a government that loans you money interest-free. Poor you, indeed."

Or when I tore my ACL, I had a really rough period of self-pity. Why my knee? I'm physically active and now I can't do all the things I love to do, and I lose so much fitness, and I have to be more careful with my knee from now until forever. Poor me! But then get-your-head-on-straight-Lisa steps in with a, "oh really? Because last time I checked you got top notch medical treatment and physiotherapy for that injury. And plus you can still walk and you'll run just fine eventually. Think of all the people with way worse pains, injuries, and disabilities."

It's a circle of feeling bad for feeling bad.

We all WhiteWine sometimes. But just because something is a "first world problem" (Dooce's term), that doesn't make it still not annoying. It's just hard to justify complaining about things when you realize how great it is to even have those problems.

Here are some of my favourite posts on the WhiteWine site:

If another rice cake crumbles right out of the package, SO HELP ME.

I still don’t believe you can’t watch full episodes of The Big Bang Theory online. Dive into the 21st century, CBS.

The Fresh Direct server is moving SO slowly. At this rate it’s going to take me all night to order my groceries.

Where is the quality control on the foil lids for Yoplait? I hate when there is no tab to pull and I have to pick at the edge to get it off.

Can’t they just make ski boots that are easier to walk in?

Why can’t Blackberry have an “ampersand” symbol? I am sick of typing “and” all the time.

Anyway, where this is coming from is I just had to call home and ask for $40 because my bank account is a little short to make rent this month, because my student loans haven't come in. I have a hunker of a cheque waiting to be deposited, but it was mailed to my permanent address, not my school address. I had to call my dad asking for the loan, and it's just so embarrassing. You lose all of your independence and maturity! BUT! How ridiculously lucky am I to have parents who can just wire me money within the hour? I already owe them many thousands of dollars which have been loaned interest free. Uggghh.

I just hate feeling bad for feeling bad.

Celebrity Doppelganger Week

So apparently its celebrity doppelganger week on facebook?

Here comes a brief tour of celebrities I have been told I look like. The tour starts with baby Olsen twins. Back in the Full House days, I apparently looked very much like a baby Olsen. This is not news, since all babies look the same, pretty much? But me more so than usual, I guess. To be clear, the similarities ended after age 18 months.

My little brother tells me repeatedly that I look like the girl in Nancy Drew. Sure, but not really. He sees it, though.

At camp one summer, this magazine seemed to float around. There was just one copy that we found in a cabin when we moved into camp, but somehow it ended up in the dining hall, near the pool, and everywhere else. Three different people told me I looked like Blake Lively. I think it’s just the small eyes in this photo, because never before and never again have people seen any similarities between us.

Finally, when the Golden Compass came out, people told me I look like this girl. The scowl certainly helps, and we're practically twins:

And that concludes the tour.