People I like: Part 2 of an ongoing series

Oh Justus!I met Justus September of frosh year. We both ran (and were nominated) as frosh reps for Grebel... so, you know, we did frosh rep stuff together. Next fall we again are on student council again! (He is being associate rep, and I'm being co-op rep). Here is a picture from when we hosted the frosh coffee house back in fall 2005. It was a lot of fun.Justus is another of my favourite people. I met him in September of first week. Justus is just bunches of fun. I can't divulge too much, but lets just say this guy and I have done shots in the prayer room. Yes, Grebel has a prayer room, what do you expect. (Justus- is this TMI?). We've also been on intramural teams together and Justus is a good team player. And a good passer. And an alright athlete.

This is a picture from one day we were Siamese twins. The headband is around my pony tail too, you just can't see it.
Justus was president of Grebel student council last year. He did a good job and I loved when he'd do announcements at Commie Supper. (Community Supper, that is, for my new readers). One time he was making an announcement for why you should join Senior Orientation Committee (SOC) and so he had two sock puppets named Patricia and Rufus. I like thinking about name connotations as a past time, so I had an enjoyably long chuckle during that announcement.

This picture below is from when we were together in an art show as live art. I read him the book "The Peril of Magnificent Love".Here is a picture of us at the dance after last banquet. He was DJ-ing. Then we played a game that I forget what it was called up all the girls lined up on one side and all the guys on another and one by one we had to choose dance partners and it was really silly. Justus chose me (or did I choose him? I forget now) Oh good times at Grebel.
Justus is also good friend to talk to. After a recent break up, I called him even though it was long distance and rather expensive (I don't even call my own family) to have a nice long chat about a bunch of things related to and unrelated to relationships. He's a good listener, and even more rare, he's a good advice giver (giving advise without trying to sound experienced and worldly).

This picture is call the love picture. Because I love that guy!!

Use your Logic: Triple Trouble

This is mostly for KoryMath, but everybody else is welcome to try, too!

There are three identical triplet sisters: Xena, Yvonne, and Zelda. Their mother has no trouble telling them apart because on always tells the truth, one always lies, and one alternates between truth and falsity. Their mom made fruit salad and left it in the fridge. She went out and when she came back, the fruit salad was gone! Each daughter ate one part (that is, one fruit) of the salad. When she asked them who ate what, this is the conversation:

Xena: Yvonne ate the cantelope
Yvonne: Xena ate the blueberries
Zelda: I ate the apples
Yvonne: No, I ate the apples
Xena: Zelda ate the apples
Zelda: Xena ate the cantelope

Who ate what?

Culture vs Ettiquette

Today when I was sitting waiting for the subway, the other person on the bench was eating a meal. This person had TERRIBLE manners and I could hear each bite, slurp, and crunch. I was totally grossed out. I feel the rest of this article relies on the fact that I'm about to identify her race: east Asian. She had her face right into her food and was continually shoveling in more before she had really chewed and swallowed the last bite properly. Now- okay, I'm nervous to say this because I don't want to be called racist, but I think the following theory is evidenced frequently enough by observation that it's not racist. But wouldn't you agree that this eating style is most commonly displayed by east Asians?

Come on! Its true, right? But I don't think that girl sitting beside me today was like "fuck manners, I'm hungry" infact I doubt she had any intention of offending two of my senses this evening. (hearing and visual, though I guess I glanced away as soon as I was able) Which makes me think then, does this still count as bad manners?

When we were little my dad made us all watch this terribly made movie about manners. A woman with an English accent taught us about everything from which direction to stir your tea (clockwise) to how to remove a chicken bone from your mouth (turn your fork upside down, put the fork in your mouth, put the bone of the arc of the fork, remove fork from mouth, using fork place chicken bone on the side of your plate). Though I mightn't always display these tricks, I think I have quite a strong "proper etiquette" base.

Hold on though- this woman had an English accent. So... can we come to the conclusion that what we now in Canada and America call "manners" is really just adherence to Anglophile customs?

Though it seems to go both ways here, in some countries you NEVER take their shoes off when they enter a house, and in other countries, you wouldn't think of leaving them on. So if somebody from country 1 visits somebody in country 2- will both be totally disgusted by the other's behaviour? I guess we should accommodating in other people's footwear removal choices, right? But where do we draw the line? In some countries it is common for men have multiple wives, but we don't allow that here. Okay what if its a cultural norm elsewhere to have incredibly bad hygiene. Is it alright if I like a smelly person a little less? That I don't ask the stinker in my class to be my partner for a group project- or is that then racist? (Hypothetical situation). Was that hungry girl incredibly rude? Or is that part of how she was raised culturally?

Where can we draw the line between assimilation and expecting "proper" behaviour?

Winner Parade

One of the most hilarious blog posts of my life: The Winner Parade (Part 2... Part 1 was also good and I expect perfection from part 3 and onwards.) Check it out!

Impossible is Nothing

Now THIS is what I want my athletic product advertising campaigns to feel like!




Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world theyve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. Its an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. Its a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.

Run Easy NY

So how do we feel about the new Reebok ads that are all over the NYC subways?

Says this article, "Running... what's gone wrong? Over the years, running has been associated with a "no pain, no gain" theory. According to a recent survey orchestrated by GfK Custom Research, a staggering 87% of consumers surveyed have been put off the sport of running for a variety of reasons including the fear that they need to be competitive in order to participate (i). In opposition to this philosophy, Reebok is launching its innovative global movement "Run Easy"."

Okay yeah yeah, I get it. It's a confidence booster for the fatty who thinks s/he's too slow to get out there when there are fasties a-jogging. But a couple of their tag lines really bother me.

[Photo] (American version- as seen on NY subways.I'm having trouble uploading the actual image, so please click the link) (And Canadian version here, too small to look nice when uploaded)
I take offense at this one, actually, because when I do longer distances, I sometimes do run at 9:30-10 minute miles. And that is not "running easy", Reebok. If you're telling me that I'm not working hard when I run a 10 minute mile, guess again, buddies.

I like the feel of "run to the beat of your own drummer". It's encouraging yet not demeaning. Telling you to appreciate your own style (and accomplishments?) and ignoring your comparative results. Okay, cool, got that one.
Not everything needs to be done in a New York minute. Run easy. This one is a little annoying only because why do advertising companies think it is clever to make references to phrases like "city that never sleeps", "new york minute" and etc? I think it would only appeal to people not actually from NY- would you agree? I say: clam up. I also say: tee hee on the spelling error. What do you say?
This blog taught me that there is a Boston specific ad out there, too. Now, I think these ones are funny. But maybe people from Boston hate them?
Big Dig has set the pace. Run Easy Boston. (well, okay I don't get this one)
The British aren’t coming. The British aren’t coming. Run Easy Boston. (this is the funny one)

Why hit the wall? It hurts. Run Easy.
This one is the kicker. It's like they're desperately trying to be the opposite of Just Do It. It's telling you not to push yourself, not to strive to be stronger, faster, and better. Its telling you to be lazy. Settle for second. Especially with the I AM WHAT I AM bit- are they saying I am as fast as I'm ever going to get? Heck why push myself, I'm not going to get any faster. I am what I am, right?Did you beat your best time, or just yourself? This one I haven't seen in NY... they must have different things for different cities. But anyway- aren't we supposed to celebrate athletic achievement? Oh you did so well- but you're sore right? So you lose, actually. Winning is not breaking a sweat.

(Side note: thanks to this girl- her flickr had a bunch of useful photos)

SUBWAYblogger.com thinks "rbk" wants us to get fat. Good post.

This blogger calls the campaign the low hanging fruit strategy.

This guy has a good point. He says "The whole campaign is wrapped around the idea that you should run slower and at your own pace, or easier. It's a decent campaign, but why would they want to focus on the negatives of running easy here? I don't get it. I think the next couple of NYC themed ads should read, "Let the mugger catch up to you. Run easy NY." and "There's only 500 cabs running you down. Run easy NY.""

I'm just not feelin' this campaign. I don't like the target audience. I'm not trying to get all exclusive here about running- totally the opposite! (I think everybody is deep down a runner)... but it definitely cheapens the Reebok brand for me. By making it so accessible, it takes away any chance of competitive runners buying into the brand.

I especially hate the 38 second mark of this video.

And best of all, apparently there is one that says "Run + Puke + Run = Crazy. Run Easy". If you see it- take a photo for me. Because Run + Puke + Run to me = something you put in a montage of general athletic footage. Run + Puke + Run= inspirational.

Reebok, you haven't got my feet!

Oldies But Goldies

I recently got a new flickr account, and in looking through my old photos I got a little nostalgic.
Lets review some high lights of high school life. Keep in mind, my high school was: all girls, Catholic, and literally next to an orcharded convent. We wore kilts, too.

1. Pep Rallies
This kind of school spirit is exclusive to my high school, I'd say. Each grade dresses up in a different colour and then you cheer for our school (not for sports teams like in movies, just in general for our school). Then, if you're in grade 12, afterwards you go running out to the street after and everybody for a second consideres how hilare it'd be to flash the cars... but then you decided not to. And then you run back to math class.

2. War Canoe
Nobody ever gets this! 14 people and a coxman in one canoe. Really fun! Especially embaressing when we tipped Olympian Tamas Buday. He was so hunky.


3. Athletic Council
Just like my sister before me, I was publicity director in grade 11, and president in grade 12. I spent a lot of lunch periods painting signs for intramurals, or hanging out in the gym office (discovering and giggling at wine in the teacher's fridge) and worrying about get electromagnetic radiation (they've fixed it since). Athletic Banquets were also a joy to plan. In gr 8 the theme was "The Spirit of Sport", gr 9 was "Personal Best is Success", gr 10 was "Teamwork: Working Together Works" and then the two that I planned were gr 11, ... shoot I can't remember my own theme... then grade 12 was "BE TENACIOUS" which I will love forever. The other picture is one for a photo shoot one lunch time when me and other athletic council members got bored and broke out some gym supplies and a camera. I include it here as proof of the kilt.

4. When Nerd=Cool
Remember when it was funny to make math puns? I do. I remember clearly. Check it!
This is a cake we made for the birthday of our physics teacher. Can you decode the message?
I was also co-president, co-founder, and Minister of Trigonometry of the Math Club (with my best friend and prom date, Andre!)(Note: I am straight)
We also made a Chemis-tree (GET IT?) and took pictures with it for a long long time. And left it up for a while too. Then we made a manger scene with test tube cleaning brushes and other back closet supplies. ALSO good times.

5. Improv
Improv team... probably the group of people who changed me the most. Or, more like improv in general changed me, but you need teammates to compete. The team practiced year round, so by the end of every season you get really close to the other girls. We were one of the only all girls teams, too (there's another all girls school that competes in the same tournament), in a competition that attracts mainly guys... so... we totally played that up.

Back in the pool

Today I went swimming for the first time in almost a month.

I thought I'd be all out of it and forgetting my newly found terrific form, but no! It was great! In fact, for the first time in my entire life I could go from one end to the other doing the front crawl with out stopping. And by stopping I mean somehow, somehow always I breathe in water through my nose. When I first started taking lessons I could only do 3 arm strokes (i.e, one breath) before I'd have to stop and catch my breath. Maybe I won't backstroke my triathlon afterall!

I attribute my new skillz to my new bathing suit. Its hella cool, guys. I was going to take a picture of me in it with my goggles and swim cap (swim cap=also new) but then I realized that posting half naked pictures of myself would make me feel like this girl.

If you don't have facebook- its worth it to get it JUST for this group. 102.1 EDGE (a radio station in Toronto) has some contest where if you get a lot of people to join a facebook group, you get $7000. So this chikita has pledged, on her facebook group, that if we join the help her win, she will NOT ONLY donate $2000 of it to a charity of our choice, but for every 102 people that join, she will post a picture of herself with one less article of clothing! Already the group has reached a couple hundred, and she is staying true to her word. Good on her!

So besides the fact that I don't want to have to compete with her, I'm not posting pictures of my new bathing suit because b) we know I'm a total prude, and c) I don't have a camera. Bummer on c), hey?

The reason I love my new suit is because it has these white stripes that are supposed to, I don't know, look like scars? Its a little bit absurd but I love scars! Oh look I found a picture online! Ruff stuff, right?

Well I have next week down as my week to get back into the swing of training... more on my training and race plans coming up!

Summer Goals

Everybody seems to be making lists these days (and by everybody i mean Gillian and Justus... thats a lot). so in the spirit of Justus' "summer of fun" and Gillian's "general goals to be a better person" and my last term's (unpublished) "things to do in nyc" i have created this list, called "Things to do this summer in nyc that will make me happier"

-run at least 3 races

-join a running club

-join a book club

-go to a poetry slam

-go to a small small art gallery

-attend a roof bbq party (everybody on craigslist with a roof says they have roof bbq parties)

-have a dinner party (with at least 3 guests... thats party enough for my cooking abilities)

-go on a picnic in the park

-appreciate the vast selection of restaurants in park slope (by eating on a hot date, or otherwise)

-attend free concerts in the park (prospect)

-go to a church (just once is enough, and any church will do)

-pick up in park slope (this one was decided last night... it doesn't have to be from park slope, the alliteration just sounds nice)

-see good musicals in central park

-see shakespeare in the park (central)

-go to a cyclones game

-make a friend in a random place (book store? grocery store?)
-Carve my name on a park bench
-Go into a store and try on five outfits that you would never, ever buy
-Laugh a little (but only a little)
-Take a subway line from end to end
-Imagine all the lonely people


any more?

I should really just buy a digital camera so I can record these... but I know nothing about cameras. I'm willing to spend a lot but I'd want to make sure at least that I'm getting a good deal or something...

The Break Up

I recently received an email that started with the line “Okay I don't have much time to write because I am already late for work but basically I think it would be best if we just be friends now.”

As a long time time I:tg (that means Insatiable: the girl) reader, you probably have caught on to the pattern called "I don't really talk about my 'love life'". Well I:tg reader, this is all about to change. The more I talk to people about it, the more I realize it’s totally okay to blog about it because hey! It’s nothing I wouldn't say to somebody's face. It’s nothing I haven't said to somebody's face. So here we go. I was going to call the gentleman in question "the gentleman" but, as you are soon about to see, his actions are far from gentlemanly. So instead, let’s call him the assface.

The assface broke up with me over email. The email was 5 lines long when my browser window was maximized. The first line of the email was, and I reiterate for emphasis, “Okay I don't have much time to write because I am already late for work but basically I think it would be best if we just be friends now.”

I know, right?

The rest of the (poor grammar ridden) email, though really not much is left, said blah blah New York is pretty far, blah blah. Then get this! “Anyways I hope you understand and if you want you can write back, but if you don't want to I understand. I guess the next time I will see you then is in September” then a tad more, then "Bye Lisa."

WTF kind of ending to an email is that? And “I hope you understand”? Usually to aid understanding we provide justification, assface.

Also, what is this with the if you don’t want to write back bit? Is he trying to endow heartbreak? I am being completely honest with you here when I tell you that I was TOTALLY going to break up with him! I was just looking for a nice, polite, easy for everybody, respectful way to do it. Like I said to the assface in my reply email to him, “I’ve been thinking of really nice ways to go about "breaking up" and gotta say, a 5 line email starting with the line "don't have much time" didn't make my "polite and nice ways to call things off" list.". I very much called him on what an assface he is. I didn't mention that this might become his new name. He used to read this blog and I guess that if he still does, he'll get the nomenclature system I've got going.

So I did reply. I wasn't going to but I did. And it started harsh with a "Handily enough, I'm definitely feeling the same way. You make it sound like you kind of expect me to be upset, but I'm totally not. I've got a tonne on my plate anyway, and I don't think either of us cared enough to invest in a relationship right now" followed by you're a jerk part. I mean, IF I had been all about him, and not wanting to break up also, my poor little heart would probably be ripped to shreds and that’s saying a lot because I am a resilient human when it comes to emotional battles.

The next couple of paragraphs (because yes, my email reply was longer than 5 lines) were really friendly and nice! We had done a race this past weekend, and so I asked if he was sore. I asked a couple of nice, friendly questions, then said "write back, I want to hear from you" and signed it with my favourite sign off "-farlicious".

So what do we say? Assface is a good nickname? I knew you'd agree

-farlicious

Blink! (Book Recommendation)

I know that by now Blink is old hat, but I had always overlooked it until now. So for those of you other overlookers, overlook no longer because this book is rockin'.

Sure, I'm on page 57 of 294... but I skimmed ahead and they make a reference to Johnstonian Improv Theory (and his book, Impro, which I own and love). Its about making snap judgments, following your intuition, and I'm hoping that within the next couple of chapters it will get rah! rah! spontaneity!

The part I just read (which was so intriguing that I just HAD to blog about) is the chapter on your unconscious. In a study, people were told to make one 4 word sentence for each group of words, like so:
1. him was worried she always
2. from are Florida oranges temperature
3. ball the throw toss silently
4. shoes give replace old the
and so on. 10 of those sentences. The people being tested in the study probably thought it was a word play kind of study... but really there was kind of subliminal messages. Words like "worried", "Florida", "old" (and bingo, lonely, gray, wrinkle) people unconsciously starting thinking about growing old.

So thats the idea, yeah? So then he gave some people word lists that contained words like "patiently", "yield", "respect", "considerate", etc, and to the other half he gave words like "rude", "infringe", "aggressively", "disturb" etc. (He tested people one at a time, sending them to a room different from his office). When the person was finished writing their sentences, he made sure that when they returned to his office to hand it in, that he was busy talking to somebody else so that the person being studied had to wait. According to the study's ethical outline, they were only allowed to make test subjects wait 10 minutes-after 10 minutes they had to accept the paper from the test subject. The people who got "disturb" style words waited approximately 5 minutes before interrupting the conversation to hand in their sheet. 82% of the polite word people did NOT interrupt at all!

Awesome or Awesome? Read the book!

Tourists

I don't like tourists. I don't like NYC tourists most of all.

Though I only have lived in New York for a combined total for 4.5 months (4 months in Manhattan in 2006, and now 2 weeks so far in Brooklyn) I don't consider myself a tourist. I live here. My family has done numerous house exchanges and travelled to France (a month), England and the Netherlands (each 3 weeks). In France we stayed in a suburb outside of Paris- traveled into the city maybe 2-3 times a week to see the sites, but mostly enjoyed the French lifestyle, like riding our bikes to get baguettes. We stayed in rural Holland (with ponies! and we'd get waken up every morning by the neighbours taking their dairy cows on a walk) and in a random city like 5 hours from London. Sure thats still a tourist, I guess. But we went to appreciate a different lifestyle (albeit, camera in hand).

Other than a cruise or a trip to the Bahamas or something, I think the worst kind of vacation is "See 10 countries in 8 days!" Euro-bus that seems to be growingly popular. Strike that, I'd rather a Dominican Resort that eurobus. On those trips people spend 1/3 of the time travelling, 1/3 of the time waiting in lines to see overrated tourist hot spots (like getting in line for the Eiffel Tower around noon... if you want to wait less than three hours you have to get there at 8am!), and 1/3 getting drunk with other tourists (NOT locals). Its silly, really.

Manhattan is just crawling with tourists. When I used to go running in Central Park my favourite place was the Reservoir because, since I guess there we're many picturesque bridges, the tourists stayed away. Times Square- I love you, theatres, but I hate hate hate going there because people just stop in the middle of the street to take a picture of an advertisement. I think that all the sunglasses and handbag knock offs in Chinatown only exist because of non-local buyers. And don't get me started on SoHo.

I think thats why I love Brooklyn so much. Especially Park Slope. People come here to live. Its real people, right? Prospect Park is, yes full of yuppies (and their jogging strollers), but also devoid of tourists. I think I will live in Brooklyn forever, one day! Hooray!

How I'd like to be described

When I was young I wanted to be known as: unique and creative.

In high school I wanted to be known as: driven and motivated.

Now I just want to be known as: real and sincere.

How about you?

Always log off!

So as we know- I often use free internet at the apple store in SoHo. Well looks like I didn't log off last time...

Gillian had sent me an email. I didn't see it so it must have been right after I left the store. It started "hey birthday girl" and queried tomorrows plans.

"I" wrote back:
"hey baby, we going to the mall do you want to come? um..i need ballons
for my birthday. please bring that okay? thanks alot.
p.s meet me at my house"

How random and kind of clever is that? Of all things to say, right?

Excuses Excuses

Dear Reader(s),
Sorry for the lack of posts lately... its really hard to connect to cyberland from my new apt.
Speaking of new apts- its only for May so I'm back on the prowl starting now (so that its not as last minute as last time).
Love Lisa

In other news, I'm looking for a book club in Park Slope. Google is amazing, isn't it?

It other other news, I went to whole foods market just intending to "get a few things" and ending up spending $90. I have never spent that much at one time on groceries. In my defense, I got a box of Larabars(https://www.larabar.com) because they had it in apple pie which they NEVER do, so that was $20. Plus I got a huge tub of almonds which was another $10 so really I spent only like $60, right? And it was all healthy and I'm going to love it all, so I don't feel guilty in the slightest.

In my third and final other news, I was just about to say how much I love Macs. I am on a mac right now at the apple store in Soho. Every so often at work I use a mac (have you used iMovie? Its really... for lack of a better term "user friendly".) Macs are so user friendly in general. At first I was nervous about them because I was so used to PCs, but the more I use it, the more natural I feel. Next tech purchase: a mac. Its got to be done. However, now that I just said that, where is my "insert link" icon? There isn't one... should I blame the mac? or blogger?

May First Feelings

About my apartment:
How I feel regarding my new job