Better late than never...

AKA the ending of my last post. Sorry loyal blog readers, this weekend has been a busy one for me, more of which I will get in to later. For now, here's something for you to consider.

Gay.

Something I read on facebook today (and many times in the past) sparked my idea for this post. I want people to know how much I absolutely CRINGE when I hear someone say "That's so gay". I don't care if you're talking about a person or an object, or an behaviour. It really doesn't matter. Saying something is gay shouldn't be used as an insult. Being gay is something that should be accepted as completely normal. Imagine if people went around saying "That's so straight". In fact, I have a great resource that I would love to share that shows just how stupid people are when it comes to talking about being gay. I just have to dig it out of my desk at home first. It's a list of ridiculous questions that people who are gay get asked, with heterosexual subsititued in to show how silly it sounds. One example I can think of is "When did you decide to become heterosexual?".

I'll update this post again later once I find that paper and go win my award for college tonight ;)

Me Who?

I always seem to be thinking about my constant dilemma - how do we decide who we want to be in life? Is it something that just falls into place as we go and make choices one by one? How do I know if I'm making the right choices for paths to take, and whether or not I will be happy once I arrive at the final destination?

I've noticed that this seems to be a concern for many people in life, especially when it comes to education, jobs, partners, friendships, etc. Education is expensive... for me it causes concerns because I hate to be wasteful of time, money, & emotions. But it perplexes me that society expects me to decide what career to pick and which path to take to get there, without much experience to back up my choices. How am I supposed to plan such things for my future self, if I don't even know who that self will be by the time I get there? I am not the same self right now as I was 5 years ago, and I'm certain that by the time I am done of my education in the next 5 years, I will be a different self again. I'm not opposed to changing my mind multiple times in the future, but the expense of education makes it very difficult to do so.

I also often find myself wondering if I am content with who I am as a general person. The thoughts I've been tossing around in my head lately are mostly that I think my ideal self is to be someone unique and interesting; someone who is a pleasure to be around. I sometimes feel as though I am not living up to that standard I've set though. Just for kicks, I'm going to let you in on some facts you may not know about the me.

1) I love sweaters. I wish I was more fashion forward, but I really just love sweaters. For summers, I switch my love over to dresses.

2) I enjoy doing things alone. I have no problem eating out alone, shopping alone, going to community events or meetings alone, etc.

3) I'm developing more of a passion for nature and plants as I get older. I hate modern industrialization. Keep it simple, please.

4) I love baking and baked goods. There aren't really any foods I enjoy enough to pig out on, but baked goods would be my weakness. Especially with milk (although I think anyone who has worked or gone to school with me already knows about my love of milk by now...).

5) I think I'm missing part of my girl genes... make-up and shoes are not high on my list of interests.

6) I love getting to be creative - part of the reason I'm enjoying blogging is because it lets me exercise my love of writing. I used to get excited to write english exams in high school.

7) I kind of like being short. I don't like when people point it out bluntly.

8) I LOVE being organized... I think it sometimes borders on OCD.

9) Now that I don't live at home I really miss my cat Oreo, and it melts my heart when she shows that she misses me too. I don't want her to get older, because when she's gone there is going to be a real gap in her place.

10) I like the idea of travelling, but I don't cope with it very well in reality.


Well folks, that's all I've got right now. Thanks for reading my ramblings!

City Thoughts

Toronto trip has been successfully completed! No major upsets or setbacks involved. Learned the ways of subways and buses, knowledge which I find useful for future reference as well. Back at work today, which is not the number one place I would like to be... oh well, money must be earned, which is something beggars in Toronto do not understand.

To stray from that thought for a minute... one of the things I most enjoyed while in the big city was seeing a variety of colours, cultures, and styles. The white sea monotony in Pictou County is not very stimulating for the mind. Nice to see people who don't look like me, who don't dress like me, and who don't talk like me (although sometimes I do find it disconcerting to have people talking around me without understanding what is being said). I find it more inspiring that way... makes me want to re-think who I would like to be, and particularly the style I would like to have.

The one diversity I could have done without would be the beggars. I work hard to earn my money, why do people think I will give it away simply because someone walks up and shoves a cup in my face? At least have the decency to ASK for the money... do not just hold your hand/cup/whatever out assuming I will know what you expect. Certainly I have some level of empathy for these people, but you have to earn your money just as I earned mine... do a trick for me... entice me with your alluring story and personality... do a dance or sing a song... anything, really. Then maybe I will consider throwing away my hard earned money to support your addiction/mental health issues/poor choices. If you can not do that for me in order to gain a profit, then do not expect me to remain polite in return. If I am in a good mood, maybe you'll simply get a "No.", but most of the time I am already annoyed by the general crowding of the city, so you will likely get a more colourful answer. This weekend, the beggars were lucky that Chris was generally the interception point... he is much more forgiving and polite when he declines.

The city is interesting and enticing in some ways, but it is likely that I would end up longing for the country before too long. Natural greenery, peace&quiet, and avoiding crowds are all terribly valuable to me. Glad to be back home and in familiar surroundings.

The Mouldy Traveller

Sorry, blog readers. I am not very faithful with keeping my blog regularly updated. This is probably due to the fact that, as dad would say, my brain has gone a bit mouldy from this weather. Lucky for me, Toronto is having a HEAT WAVE right now... and that's where I'll be for the last half of this week :) Oh baby! If I can get a tan in four days I will be one happy clam!

My problem before heading to Toronto though is that there is simply not enough time in my days to get everything ready to go. Last night I got all of my large amounts of illegal liquids condensed into smaller travel containers. The deadly nail file and tweezers will be safely packed into a companion's checked baggage. My challenge tonight is somehow getting all of my clothes for the trip packed into my one travel backpack. Anyone who knows me is probably thinking that this is an impossible feat. Being high maintenence does not make travelling a light affair. Fitting all of my needs into one backpack will potentially be a challenge, but I plan to tap into my granola traveller side and pack smartly. My shoes alone tend to take up a backpack all on their own. On the bright side, maybe my expert packing skills from Sobeys will actually have some real life application here. If my endeavor is successful, perhaps I'll even post a list of travel packing tips for my wonderful readers! Wouldn't that be professional and exciting of me!

PressurePressurePressure

At what age does peer and societal pressure dissolve? Certainly not the age I am at right now. I would prefer to say that I do not let it affect me, as I am STRONG and CONFIDENT with who I am. Yeah, right.

Of course, things have improved since I was younger. I can make my own choices; I am more of a leader now and less of a follower (which partially resulted from a change in friendships). The problem I seem to most often face now is that I do not always enjoy doing that which most other people my age spend every weekend doing. Drinking my face off and partying hard. Why don't I enjoy this as much as others? Probably for a couple of reasons: 1) I'm broke. HOW DO YOU PEOPLE AFFORD THIS LIFESTYLE????? 2) I'm not single and looking to hook up. 3) It just doesn't interest me very much; I enjoy myself just as much doing other quieter things.

I am pretty comfortable with my reasons for not participating in certain activities as much as other people, but for some reason I sometimes feel pressured and guilty as if I am letting myself miss out on something that shouldn't be missed. Will I regret it in the future? I think probably not. I'm usually a good predictor as to whether I will regret my decisions. I don't regret missing high school formals like people said I would. I don't regret leaving university like people said I would. Will I regret not partying enough? Who knows, really. I doubt I'll change my current lifestyle in that respect. If other people my age think that I'm more boring and uninteresting because of it, then I think I can probably live with that in the long run.

Happy Burdday Gilbert

I promise I'll do a real blog post later... but for now I just wanted to say:

Happy Birthday to my favorite boyfriend, Chris!
(just don't tell the others...)

I would also like to throw out an honourable mention to Chris's twin brother, Brian.

Happy Birthday to Chris... no wait, that's Brian!


Chris's birthday theme in the apartment this year was "space". I'll put some pictures up later.



Last year's birthday cake :)