Putting out an APB ...

... on my supervisor, who is currently nowhere to be found. WHERE ARE YOU???!!! (And, nope, nothing from Mistissini.)

... on a Habs team that knows how to play hockey, which is currently nowhere to be found. WHERE ARE YOU???!!! (Check out Four Habs Fans for Price's perspective on how badly the Habs sucked it last night. Intervention time? Fuck, yeah. Let's get it together, boys. 4 losses in a row, all well-deserved, is bad news.)

wtf

Quote: "Many characteristics, such as shiftlessness, indolence, improvidence and inertia, so long regarded as inherent or hereditary traits in the Indian race, may at the root be really the manifestation of malnutrition." (emphasis added by me)

This was written in 1946 and published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. I know I shouldn't be surprised by this type of writing and I know that it was written more than 60 years ago, when people were evidently (openly) racist, but I am disgusted.  

And yet white people wonder why most of the world doesn't like them. Elitist much?

All-Stars

Most people find All-Star weekend to be a lame, money-grabbing scheme. I suppose that this is entirely true, yet I felt compelled to watch the event. This is most likely because it was held here this year. 

I can't help but swell with pride when I hear CBC (from George on the Hour - major crush on him, by the way - to the dudes calling the game) talking about our city and how great it is. And to see Don Cherry wear a Habs tie - well, that was icing on the cake. 

I am probably quite biased when I say this, but Montreal definitely put together a show superior to any others I have seen in the last couple of years. The Cirque de Soleil act at the intro - awesome. The gospel choir singing the national anthem - classy. Seeing Kovy score 2 lovely goals and win the "game" (because most people will argue the point that it is hardly a game when there is no hitting or fighting - but hey, Komisarek managed to get a penalty!) in shoot-out, then be named MVP - priceless. I hope we see more of that Kovy when we take on Tampa tomorrow. 

When you have Ovechkin saying that the All-Star game should be held here every year, you know that it had to be something somewhat special. Right? 

...

So we are in the last week of January, and - you guessed it, I still have not heard anything about the project. I am beyond of the point of GETTING tired of waiting. I AM tired of waiting. I just found out that my cousin is coming in from Vancouver at the beginning of April and I want to be here for that. He's the biggest Habs fan on the West Coast, and I am dying to take him out somewhere to catch a game. My mom says that she'll take him out if I'm not around ... but I'd like to think I'm a tad cooler than my mom (not that she isn't an absolutely awesome human being, because she is).

Point being - I want to be in Mistissini within the next 2 weeks. It is time to get this show ON THE ROAD. Literally. 

The walls have ears...

... so would you kindly stop laughing like a hyena after 10 pm on a weeknight? Some people have to get up early for school, work, etc.

... so can you please, please, please, for THE LOVE OF GOD, stop moaning like you're in a porno every time you have sex with your boyfriend? I'm not convinced he's that good, stop trying to convince yourself he is. 

Dear neighbours, will you do me a favour and SHUT THE FUCK UP? The entire apartment building doesn't need to hear you. 

Thanks; good night. 

I am this close to skipping Colloquium tomorrow so that I can stay home and watch THE INAUGURATION - come on, it's being hyped up as THE EVENT OF THE YEAR! Seriously, I am really considering staying home for this. Obama all the way! ... wait, he already won... rather, I should say, CARDINALS ALL THE WAY! (sorry Anna, Steelers will LOSE.)

UPDATE: I overslept, therefore am staying home to watch the main event. Oops?

Randomly...

"Beer is for sad-sacks and losers" (a wine snob in UK) (they're talking about it on the radio)

What do you think?

Super Bowl predictions + this week sucked

Fine, so I am not a regular NFL connoisseur (and, quite frankly, with the Pats out of contention, who cares?) but I am still sharing who I would like to see in the Super Bowl.

Ravens-Cardinals

Why? 

I am so over the Steelers and the Eagles. When was the last time you heard about the Ravens or the Cardinals playing in the Conference finals? Exactly. 

...

Otherwise, things around here have been pretty sucky lately. It's way too fucking cold (and YES, I know I will be up north soon enough and it is about 10 or 15 degrees colder there than it is here so why am I bitching? p.s., Heather, I am mad jealous that you are heading to the Southern Hemisphere where it is SUMMER) and my supervisor is MIA. Actually, he was MIA until my labmate and I found out FROM THE POSTDOCS that he's in Africa, again. This pisses me off because he didn't tell us and it FUCKING SUCKS because he was supposed to review my ethics application (... in December) so that I could send it in while waiting for approval from CBH to do the project (... STILL waiting) and he won't be back for another 2 weeks. Knowing my luck, he will be sick again and then I will find out that I am expected to leave for Mistissini 3 days later and will be stuck paying for my flight and then be reimbursed 2 months later AGAIN. This will not do. At all. 

Anyway, I am dealing with the absence (what choice do I have?) but boy was I mad the other day. Throw in a crying cat (carrying on for food as if I was starving him), getting a phone bill with $42 in long distance charges and $10 in extra text message fees, and then, the icing on the cake, being hung up on, and ... well ... let's just say I was fuming. As in, staring at my computer and seeing red. Sitting at my desk and shaking with anger. I did a lot of slamming and considered punching it out on a pillow. Or a brick wall. It was sheer and pure rage. I don't remember the last time I felt so out of control and angry. 

Lessons learned? 

- don't disappear to Africa when I happen to REALLY need you on this continent

- don't bug me for food when you are well-fed and I'm cranky (I will fail as a parent)

- don't convince me it will be cheaper for me to call you long-distance in Italy when you are so very wrong (this is my own fault for listening and luckily I will not be footing the bill)

- most importantly, DON'T EVER FUCKING HANG UP ON ME. 

Also, cleaning happens to be a very cathartic experience for me. Kat's kitchen sparkles thanks to me, Hertel, and Fantastik. Quite a threesome indeed. 

Tomorrow is Friday. Thankfully. 

Have a good one! 

Why Arrested Development was Cancelled, in 30 Seconds

David Cross tells it like it is.

read more | digg story

(click on read more to get the youtube video)

Ummm

Although I love hearing other people's points of view on topical subjects and occasionally on politics, I don't appreciate it when strangers use my comments forum to post long diatribes about important and serious world affairs (i.e., Palestine vs. Israel), particularly when my post has nothing to do with it. 

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion about this kind of stuff, but I am not getting involved in discussing something I don't know enough about. I'd prefer to keep my blog mindless and useless, thank you very much. 

So, this is to serve you notice, if you post unrelated items, try to force your beliefs on me, or otherwise make me feel uncomfortable, I will delete your comments. Let's keep this place irrelevant and light-hearted, ok?  

Thanks. 

UPDATE: Apparently, posting irrelevant topics in someone's blog is called trolling. So ... yeah .... don't be a troll, ok? 

NUTRITIOUS Fad Diets - who knew?

Let me start by saying that "NUTRITIOUS Fad Diets" (I am ALL about the CAPS this year - it's my new thing. Easier than using italics, bold, or underline - I'd rather hold the shift button to type my caps than the whole control+i nonsense) is really an oxymoron. Come on now, grapefruit diet? Detox diets? They cause your body a whole lot of harm as you battle through starvation. 

However, Epicurious has done a good thing (and fine, they promote themselves by using recipes from their site, but so what?) by taking the 5 most popular diets out there and making sure that they are healthy and balanced (Mediterranean diet excepted - I consider it a lifestyle) by consulting a nutritionist. 

Fine, anyone who knows anything about nutrition could have done this. Surely someone who studies nutrition knows what's good and bad to eat (doesn't mean I ALWAYS practice what I preach. Case in point: Kat and I had Domino's last night. Breadsticks, meat pizza .... yum) and knows how to balance intake and expenditure. But for those who need more guidance (or who lack willpower) - this article comes in handy. They list the pros and cons of each type of diet and let you know which foods you will be consuming a lot of and which foods you need to avoid (or severely limit, I've always believed that you are more successful at eating well when you indulge once in a while). 

Consider me impressed. They even do a decent job with the low-carb diet - their sample menu plan consists of healthy fats and some whole grains. (Side note: The original Atkins diet promoted liberal use of butter and high consumption of meat/bacon and virtually no carbohydrates - 2 problems with this: 1) saturated fat + cholesterol = hello, heart disease! 2) your brain needs 100 g of glucose per day for normal function. Without intake of carbs (which break down to glucose), you need to rely on your glycogen stores. These deplete quickly, so then your body uses protein (i.e., breaks down your muscles) and fat (which is the premise of the diet). However, this is called ketosis, which can be very dangerous. And ... umm ... fruits and vegetables are high in nutrients and antioxidants, which your body needs to stay healthy. But I digress.)

So, for your reading pleasure, here is the link: Diet comparison

And with that, my nerd moment comes to a close. 

Enjoy and happy (healthy) eating! 

Achy, and therefore cranky + motto of the year

I feel like I am very slowly developing the flu. If that is the case, I wish I would just get sick already, so that I can fight it and then move on. 

It started with a runny nose. A couple of sneezes, some random coughs. Today, I am feeling slightly achy. Not a full-blown, want to curl up in a ball and die sort of ache, but just enough to make me unhappy. My back, my arms, my fingers, my jaw (oddly enough) are all radiating with that dull ache. The one that makes you feel old. Is this what aging feels like? Because if so, I want no part of it. For real.

In other news, today has been slightly more successful than yesterday. I woke up at a reasonable hour (7:30, only 30 minutes of snooze!) and then spent until 9 o'clock discovering new blogs I might want to read and, of course, checking out facebook. So, really, considering I was pretty much rolling out of bed at 9 yesterday, it wasn't REALLY a waste of time (or so I am trying to convince myself). 

On a unrelated note, I have decided that my motto for 2009 is to "purge excess" - be it excess fat (thanks to delicious yet sinful holiday food eaten I may have eaten too much of) or excess junk (I own way too much stuff, which will slowly start making its way out of my apartment in the coming days/weeks/months). 

Yesterday, I started with facebook. Somehow, I have managed to accumulate over 350 friends. I know that I am not friends with 350 people because, frankly, I'm just not that sociable. So began the facebook purge. I managed to eliminate almost 100 barely acquaintances and people from high school whom I never even spoke to nor have I spoken to since we graduated. Then, a vast majority of those who survived the cut were limited profile-d - there are certain people who don't need to see all my pictures, my facebook status, or whether I am in a relationship. And you know what, after all that, I feel great. Relieved, even. 

Finally, yay to Canada's junior hockey team for a fifth consecutive gold medal win, thus becoming a "dynasty." Yesterday's game was a CLASSIC. Not. In fact, it was pure ownage of Sweden. Sorry, Sweden. At least you still have Ikea (which I love).

With that, my lunch break is over. And now - work! And gym! Purge time! (and by purge, I don't mean anything related to bulimia. Because that kind of purging ruins your teeth and gives you puke breath. Ew.) 

p.s. A big "get well soon" to my fabulous yet ailing labmate, may your momma lavish you with much love, attention, and everything you require as you recover (and good riddance, gallbladder). xo 

Back to the grind, 2009

Ugh. 

Well the holidays are over and it's time to face reality again. Today, I have utterly failed in my attempt to get back to work. My books are open, my computer is on, yet I find myself distracted by everything and anything not directly related to my thesis. Example: conferences I want to go to (which I never will if I don't WORK), downloading Genesis albums (Phil Collins era only - he is SO much better than Peter Gabriel. No contest. You know I'm right, so don't even bother to argue), joining digg (I am so behind on the latest internet fads, was it even worth joining?), and trying to fight off a cold. 

The plan was to rise and shine at 7 am and get a good start on the day. Instead, I snoozed until 8, then dozed off completely until 8:45. Oops. However, a got a nice caffeine jolt thanks to my new stovetop espresso maker and worked diligently for about 2 hours, after checking facebook (and no, not jealous of Sandy and Kathleen's beautiful Jamaica trip), google reader (I subscribe to fascinating and educational blogs such as The Failblog, Four Habs Fans, and Stuff White People Like. At least I quit The Superficial and Hot Chicks with Douchebags!), and washing towels (I am getting a drying rack, for real, finally). 

But now it's almost 4 o'clock. And I have just shared more useless information with the interwebs than I ever thought possible. A new record! 

New Year's resolutions? Hmm.... spend less time on facebook/blogging, more time working? I think that's a good one. Starting now. 

peace. 

p.s. Feel free to share your own resolutions in the comments. If you have any. 

p.p.s. New feature ... you can now subscribe to me! 

.... oh yeah! Happy 2009! 

Expression of the year, so far: "It's a classic!" (if you're not following the World Junior Hockey Championships, forget it. It sure beats everything "crisis")