Merry Boxing Day!

I took the day off from email and internet yesterday, so I am a day late in wishing you, my faithful/sporadic/random readers a very Merry Christmas. I hope it was jolly.

As for myself, I have spent the last 3 days consuming and I am about to explode. We went to my cousin's on Christmas Eve and were served a whole turkey dinner. This was followed with dessert from La Gascogne and me and my mom's baking ... and ... interesting conversation about religion and "reasonable accomodation" - let's just say my uncle likes to "shock and awe" with his comments...

On Christmas Day, we always host Christmas dinner at my house. This is an important tradition to me. One year, we went to my aunt's house and it just felt... wrong. I mean the food was good and the company was great, but it felt like an impostor Christmas because it wasn't at my house, at my family's table, with my Christmas tree and my mom's food. 

So yesterday we had turkey #2. I was feeling particularly jolly due to the recent reconciliation at the homestead (also, see cocktails, my consumption below) so I did the Christmas toast and got everyone teary-eyed (including my brother, which is rare at best). 

Now, for those of you who don't know, Christmas dinner at my house doesn't just mean turkey and the fixings - we have a full first course consisting of a variety of appetizers (homemade spring rolls, sausage rolls, cocktail weinies, veggies and dip, etc., etc.) and cocktails (Kir royales and whiskey sours for me, emphasis on the plural). Then came the dessert - a "yule log", our baking, and my cousin's baking. THEN I went to visit Rob's family where they were having dessert. At this point I was on the verge of combusting so his dad and I drank grappa instead. 

I was so full that I didn't eat anything until 3 o'clock this afternoon. I then ate 2 meals in the span of 4 hours and I once again feel like a blimp.

I think I have ingested enough calories to last me for the next week. Until then, I will live off of celery. And roll myself into the gym. 

I truly love the holidays. I hope you are enjoying yours too!

peace.

SNOWMAGEDDON!

Seriously, who comes up with this stuff? Have we never experienced snow storms before? Why must a simple winter snow fall be called something as ridiculous as SNOWMAGEDDON? Is the world ending because there are copious amounts of snow piling up outside? 

In other news, my liver is aching. Leave it to having Kent in town and staying at my apartment. I don't even want to fathom the number of litres of alcohol and calories from beer/restaurant food I have consumed since Thursday. We've stayed up so late that a certain someone in Italy has surely gotten a good start on his day while I am just drifting off to sleep (or passing out).

And now that Kent has headed back to Ottawa, my apartment is strangely quiet and I am feeling very much alone. At least I will be able to heal my liver sufficiently for Christmas, only 4 days away!!!!! Mmm ... turkey ... stuffing ... cranberry sauce ... mashed potatoes ... gravy ... cookies and other treats ...

 

Happy Hibernal Solstice! 

Racism? or just plain stupidity?

So this morning I volunteered myself to invigilate at Trottier. The process is so completely different from that at Bronfman - for starters, I was actually shipped off to the Arts building where we had two different exams (one being Phys Chem with none other than Dr. Galley. Oh, Dr. Galley!). We also had a student who puked in the hallway as she didn't quite make it to the bathroom (we had to bring the students to the basement from the 2nd floor, a little inconvenient if you ask me).

Anyway, at Trottier, they have a sign-in sheet where you check off your name when you arrive. I was marked down just by my last name and a "B" - singling me out because I came from Bronfman. When they called out the room I was assigned to along with my name, I sauntered over and the dude asked me if I was the Bronfman person. I said yes. He looked taken aback and exclaimed, "You're not who I was expecting."

Huh.

For those of you who don't really know me, my father is Egyptian and I therefore have a Middle-Eastern last name. However, my mother is of British/Latvian descent, and I turned out white. So, Mr. Trottier was totally taken aback; yet the way he said "You're not who I was expecting" really surprised me.

I brought it up with the dude I was invigilating with and he agreed that it was an awkward comment to make, ESPECIALLY since the girl I was invigilating with was Egyptian (i.e., born and raised there) and totally overheard the comment.

We called him on it after the exam. The dude, who knows him quite well, asked him why I wasn't who he was expecting. I said, "It's because I'm white, isn't it?" ... and well, he didn't deny it.

Maybe I'm reading too much into this? I suppose it's not necessarily wrong to have pre-conceived notions about someone based on their name, right? But is it right to blurt it out because I am white? I mean technically, I'm half Middle-Eastern, but I clearly did not inherit my father's pigmentation (or nose, which my mother says is a blessing). I am not quite sure what to think because I have never found myself in this situation before (well, except for the time I got stopped at airport security and had everything from the lining of my hood to my shoes checked).

What do you think?

Anyway, back to Bronfman. Shift #2 is about to begin. Already has. I'm late. Oops!

Update: I suck at homework

10 am and my assignment is still waiting to be finished. 

I've checked my hockey pools (finally cracked the top 10, bitches1!), been on facebook (not sure why, there is nothing going on), read a couple of blogs I follow, and looked at the weather forecast about 10 times. I'm holding off on uploading pictures from yesterday because I feel I need to get some work done.

The assignment? Well the word document is open, the sections I have to complete are highlighted ... and yet ... I don't wanna do it. 

I don't know what my problem is. I've procrastinated on every single assignment that has been given out to me since I started grad school. I have forgotten how to work. I suck. 

p.s. What the fuck is up with PATRICE BRISEBOIS scoring our ONLY 2 GOALS in the last 2 games? Seriously? This is why we lose games. Fuck. 

Holidays

Today was a good day. 

Got some serious baking done with my momma at home - cranberry-lime cookies, amarettis, toffee squares, lemon squares, biscotti, and hazelnut crescents. Mmmmmm. I'm pretty pleased with what we accomplished. And, not to brag, but my cookies are fucking awesome. And totally worth the 60 to 70 calories per piece. Tomorrow, we're making fudge, shortbread (my specialty), and cherry loaves. I want to make gingerbread cookies, you know, with all the decorations and stuff, but I am going to force a certain someone to help me when he gets back from his trip that I am not at all jealous about that he has just left on. 

Oh, and I also get to help with decorating the tree. I'm in charge of putting up the lights. Apparently, and according to my mom (probably because she doesn't want to do it) I'm the best at doing the lights.  

All this after I finish my last assignment, which, as it turns out, is due tomorrow. And is not finished yet. Oops. 

I'd work on it now but I am a little tipsy from the wine I had at supper in the Old Port (at Pub Saint-Paul, which makes a pretty decent cheeseburger, oh, and by the way, the Fire on Ice fireworks are pretty sweet, check them out while they are still on!) and the vodka-perrier(s) I had at the apartment with some friends. Right now my eyes are on fire and I'm not really seeing straight so I should probably be sleeping, yet here I am, sharing useless details of my life with my select few fans who bother to read about what I have to say. 

Ok, I am going to bed. Or pass out at my desk. Whichever comes first. Kick ass pictures of the fireworks to come. 

s;djaskd ytghndnv,xm.............

Peace.

Holiday spirit

I want this:

Blackberry Storm

Who wants to buy it for me? (I'll love you forever)

p.s. Joe Sakic, how the hell did you break 3 fingers using a snowblower?

p.p.s. Robert Lang is the new love of my life. But Plekanec (it's all about that turtleneck) still holds a special place in my heart. Also, I normally don't really think anything of Mathieu Dandenault, but props to him for playing the rest of his shift with a broken arm last night. 

p.p.p.s. I got my TA evaluation from the students today. Apparently two of them didn't like the way I marked: they gave me Cs for fairness of grading and knowing what is considered a good lab report. Someone (presumably the person who gave me the Cs) commented that I was "too harsh" in my marking and that their mark "didn't reflect the work they put into it." And I'll guarantee that was from a student who got a 16/20. The lowest mark I gave out was a 14/20 and that was because they lost a mark for not cleaning their bench. So, I never gave under 75% and I'm harsh? Fuck you. That being said, thanks to the person who thought I was wonderful. :)

Queb Politics

Sigh. 

Well, Pauline's "victory" speech is going to be a long one, since her supporters won't let her talk. Chanting "Olé Olé" (seriously?) and "On veut un pays" ... you'd think she had won the election with the way those people are acting. 

That being said, Charest just narrowly got a majority (which I find rather disappointing) while the ADQ self-destructed (which I am not surprised about). 

We all know where this is heading. Come the next election, a referendum will be on the agenda. Barf. 

Meanwhile for the next 4 years, we're going to have to listen to Pauline and her haughty "Monsieur Charest, blah blah blah blah ... on veut un Québec libre" every two seconds. 

Thank God all this election nonsense is done. I am so over it.  

x-ine is a tool

... because I broke my nail on my hair straightener this morning. My nails are really short right now so I am still trying to understand how this happened. Especially the hair straightener part.

I also left my cell phone at Burnside Hall this afternoon, but luckily I realized this before I got on the metro to visit the Botanical Gardens. But, of course, someone decided to kill themselves in the metro today (I am not going to rant about this lest I break my vow to remain positive this holiday season, besides I have probably complained about it in an earlier post or maybe when I was still using livejournal, which was totally the cool thing to do back when I was an undergrad many moons ago), so by the time I got back to the metro, the Green line was shut down. However, they did us the kind service of keeping the line open up until Berri, which was COMPLETELY USELESS to me because I had to go to Pie-IX. So I took the bus there and ended up arriving late for my 10-minute meeting with my committee member. I love travelling 45 minutes for a 10 minute meeting! It's not a complete waste of time! Didn't have much of a choice though, since Alain had to sign my progress report form. Yes, I'm a graduate student and I still get a report card.

I also took the opportunity to express my displeasure with a certain CBH member who won't reply to my emails about the status of my proposal. I am convinced (and Anna can back me up on this) that this certain member hates me. I am usually right about these things (ahem, a certain someone who stole my desk and then invited everyone BUT me to the Valentine's Day potluck at school) ... so ... I don't know what to do.

The Christmas party season officially begins tonight (yay, potlucks!). I am fully planning to overindulge from now until Christmas Day. And go to the gym to counteract this, of course. (...) I actually hope it starts snowing soon (the only time you will EVER hear me say this) because I really want to try out my new snowshoes. . Running on the mountain isn't as fun anymore because the path is either muddy, wet, or icy. Bleh. Plus, the rate I'm going at with this (lack of) proposal approval nonsense, I will have plenty of time to do it before I go up north.

Political crisis news: Harper succeeded in proroguing until the end of January.

Personal crisis news: I need to stop procrastinating and get some work done.

Word of the year

Apparently, it was decided by someone, somewhere that the word of the year was "bail-out."

I disagree.

I think "crisis" is the word of the year. Economic crisis. Financial crisis. And now, in Canada, political crisis.

For me, 2008 was the year of "crisis" - reflected by what's been going on in the world and what my own personal life was like.

What say you?

Zportz

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=258182&lid=headline&lpos=topStory_main

HA! Sean Avery, you are a fucking loser. 

More amusing: 

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/pzVgz0NK0ov0wNwy#/owner/pzVgz0NK0ov0wNwy

The Elfyourself site is the best.