I've been "memed"!

Thanks to Mrs. Comet Hunter for tagging me in the Cover Meme - the best and the worst! 

A song that immediately came to mind for best cover: 

Johnny Cash does such amazing covers, and his version of U2's One is definitely my favourite. 

Runner-Up: 

Apocalyptica does killer Metallica covers - all with cellos. The top of my list: Nothing Else Matters. It's haunting.  

Now on to the suckage:

This is what I call an epic failure. Sheryl, never cover Led Zeppelin again. Ever. 

Honourable mention:

Because it's Richard Cheese and he samples the Sesame Street theme song and makes me want to do jazz hands to Nine Inch Nails. Awesomeness. 

I choose: lady of the laptop, heather, wellstocked, Maria, and Vince.

Ick.

It's raining, it's pouring. 

Thanks, weather, for putting a dent in my weekend plans. 

Crunch time

It always happens this way - nothing, nothing, nothing, and then - kaboom! ... everything happens at once. 

We just found out that Nemaska is really interested in having me do my study up there, so now I have to deal with the logistics of getting both communities to agree on a very similar interview guide so we can at least make comparisons between the two. 

In the meantime, I have thankfully secured accommodations in Waskaganish - I'll be sharing an apartment with a physiotherapy student. No phone, no TV though (hopefully, at least a microwave ... or maybe even a toaster oven this time around). Internet? Doubtful, so my blogging will be sporadic at best. 

I will be better prepared this time around. For one thing, I'm getting a pay-as-you-go phone so I can be reached (Fido/Rogers network doesn't extend into the north, so my cell will be out of commission). I am getting an advance from school so I'm not stuck footing the bill for my flight, groceries, and participants/helpers involved in the study. Also: I will try to avoid any injuries to my back (though this past weekend at my parents' house I 1) practically gave myself a concussion by walking straight into a bike suspended in my shed - and yes, I still have a nice-looking bruise, 2) almost impaled myself when helping my mum install a flowerbox under the window in the frontyard - another bruise, and 3) ran straight into the corner of a wall because my depth perception sucks when I have no glasses or contacts on - result? 3 more bruises). At any rate, I will put in a 110% effort to avoid doing anything completely fucking stupid before leaving. 

So, I have 8 more days left to enjoy Montreal living, summer style. This weekend, the sidewalk sale on Saint-Laurent is running (they close down the street to vehicles from Thursday to Sunday - brilliant!). The beer festival starts next Wednesday, so I'll have to go to it before I leave. Sunday is free museum day, which I have missed out on for many years in a row. We're celebrating Father's Day on Sunday, since I will miss it, and this year it's a big deal because I'm celebrating it. Enough said. Throw in some parties, dinner with friends, picnics, runs on the mountains, and of course (most importantly!), some quality time with mon beau chum and I hardly have time to finish up lab work, finalize study details, and pack. 

And with that - I better get to it.

OMG

Holy shit. 

Just booked my flight. 

I leave in 10 days. FOR REAL! 

I never thought it would really happen. Yet, here we are. 

TGIF

It hasn't really been a long week, but it sure feels like it. 

I am exhausted. (lame) 

I haven't been running in a week. (boo me)

My samples are still in the process of being freeze-dried. (fuck)

The weather here is schziophrenic. (fall on Wednesday, summer yesterday, and back to spring today. No winter - yet)

The wedding weekend (by the way, it poured with rain almost ALL DAY, but stopped long enough to hold the ceremony outside - divine intervention???) has come and gone ... already ... and one of my oldest friends is now a married woman. (wow)

Tonight - margaritas and a good night's sleep. I can't wait. (wee!)

This weekend - spring cleaning. Not as excited about this, but my apartment needs it. (also, my mum is picking me and my laundry up. score!)

Less than 2 weeks - off to Waskaganish. Wait. What? OMFG IT'S REALLY HAPPENING! (panic? stress? excitement? I feel nothing.)

Finally: TGIF. Also: I need more caffeine.

Cooperation, makes it happen.

Well, my first week back at the lab has been mostly uneventful so far. 

I spent two half-days preparing samples (berries, which look really yummy) for freeze drying. Why did it take so long? Well, that's because we received about a million samples (ok, over 100) - some of which contained one frigging berry. One! Which is totally useless because I'll probably end up with a speck of dessicated material to use for a whole battery of antioxidant assays. Obviously not going to happen. 

It's incredibly annoying to work within a system (in this case, the way the samples were given to us) that is not your own. It's even more annoying when said system is NOT EVEN EXPLAINED TO YOU! It took a lot of guessing and frantic emailing to get everything sorted out. What a waste of time. 

I better get credit for doing their bitch work. And a couple of high fives. Oh, and a beer would be nice. Scratch that. A cocktail would be even better. Beer makes me all bloaty and gross. 

In other news, 2 days until the wedding (OMFG)! Still hoping for a nice day, but the weather is being mean and is deciding to rain. Come on, Mother Nature! Be nice ... please?

Also: playoff hockey pools and I are not getting along. First frigging Chicago (which I KNEW I should have picked, I really didn't expect LUONGO to choke in the biggest game of the series) and then god damned Washington (again, didn't expect them to choke, at least not that badly). Tonight: Game 7s: Boston/Carolina and Detroit/Anaheim. I'll be furious if Boston and Detroit do not win because that would mean a complete sweep for me. And not in a good way. 

Awww ... seriously?

... And now I'm wishing I didn't have to go up north for fieldwork during the summer. 

Just heard that Stevie Wonder is doing a free (yep, FREE!) show on June 30th to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Jazz Fest. And I'm gonna miss it. *pout* 

Will someone call me and put me on speaker phone when he plays "I Just Called to Say I Love You"? That was my favourite song when I was little.

Freak out.

I've been feeling a little frazzled lately. 

• The wedding is 5 days away (omg!) so that has been occupying my mind. Manicures/pedicures, how to do my hair?, what jewelery to wear?, how am I getting there? how am I getting home? ... and holy fuck, one of my best friends is really getting married!
  
• I've been trying to sit down and get a good day of work in. It's crunch time - about 3 weeks until I leave for the field, and I need to get my shit together. All of a sudden, I feel completely unprepared. Panic mode to commence. 
• I've committed myself to the lab and although I'm glad to be learning something new, this may be the thing that pushes me over the edge. 

Hard to believe I could only squeeze out three bullet points worth of stuff on my mind, yet my brain feels overloaded. 

Meltdown to commence - in 4, 3, 2, 1 ... 

Boozing it up + attracting creepers

Owww ... liver ... rejecting me...

A couple of weeks ago, I was complaining to mon beau chum that I was in a big funk. I was bored, and even FELT boring. I was generally quite miserable.

Since then, I have been keeping myself occupied. I guess I'm feeling I need to live it up before I head up to the field for 2 months of the summer, the best time of the year to be in the city. 

This past weekend was the second weekend in a row that I boozed it up Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. So I not only have a sore liver, but also a very thin wallet.  So worth it though. 

As my dear labmate lady of the laptop mentioned, I organized a welcome back to the city dinner at Academie, where the wine was flowing. I drank almost a whole bottle to myself. I ended the night playing Jungle Speed, which is the best game ever (especially when inebriated). 

Saturday was the bachelorette party, co-organized by my best friend and I (bridesmaid's duty: fulfilled). It was, not to brag, a raging success. Everyone had a blast and the bride-to-be made a fool of herself (for example: she dove head first into a moving convertible on Saint-Laurent shouting, "I'M GETTING MARRIED IN TWO WEEKS!" - all this while wearing a headband with flashing pink penises on it). 4 days later, and we're still talking about the party (well what she remembers of it anyway) - always a sign of a good night.

With the wedding so close (a week and a half) and with my best friend doing the bride's hair and make-up, the 3 of us have been spending a lot of time together lately. This is completely awesome because our paths have kinda diverged in the last couple of years. Back when we were all living in Rosemere, we all lived within a 5 to 10 minute walk of each other. Even though we're all downtown now, our lives are so completely different and it's been hard to get all 3 of us at the same place at the same time. It's been nice to reconnect - it feels like old times, like when we'd go to Rockaberry to "study" together. Among other things. Heh.

--

The weirdos strike again. I've alluded to the fact that I'm a magnet to creepy people before - and yesterday was no exception. 

So, I was walking down to the World Trade Centre (perhaps an unfortunate choice of a name, but my supervisor reassures me that there are many WTCs in big cities. I won't argue - he's very well-travelled) at Square Victoria. It was a warm, sunny day so I busted out the shades and brought along my music to keep me company. 

Anyway, some random dude walks up from behind me and says hi. About 3 times because I didn't realize he was talking to me. So I finally say hi back. He comments about the day (or something, he was mumbling in French, and I didn't pick it up) so I agree that it is a beautiful day out. 

Then, he gives me the up and down and asks: "Where are you going dressed like that?" (wtf? Dressed like what? I was wearing a jean skirt with leggings, a yellow scoop-neck t-shirt, and a scarf. Nothing scandalous, though I felt like he was insinuating I was a hooker or something. Or if that was his pick-up line, he failed utterly.)

Not sure what else to say, I just reply, "I'm going to the World Trade Center."

Trying to be a smart ass, he says, "Uhhh we're not in the United States, you know." (No! Really?)

So I tell him I'm well aware of this and let him know that, yes, there is a World Trade Center in Montreal.

Then he asks, "Well, can I come with you?" (second attempt at a pick up line? DOUBLE fail.)

At this point, I mumble something about going to meet my supervisor (which I was) and ran across the street because no, I did not want him to come with me.

Perhaps you could argue that he was just being friendly, and I would be inclined to agree, except for the fact that his comment about what I was wearing was totally inappropriate and downright creepy. And then inviting himself to tag along with me - well - just, no.

And with that, I will get back to (start) working. I want to get a run in today. 

peace.

Apologies

I have not been a very good blogger lately. 

In fact, I have been quite busy. With the nicer weather arriving, my social calendar has suddenly exploded. And if I'm not busy out spending money I don't really have (thank you, McGill, for not processing my stipend renewal fast enough), I've been invigilating exams, running, and planning/preparing for the big day - yes, that's right: the bachelorette party. Oh, and the wedding, too. That's another big day, but not mine. 

Needless to say, there has not been a lot of school-related work occupying my mind of late. I'm in waiting mode (sound familiar?) - but that's because 1) the goose hunt season has just started so even if I went to start my fieldwork now, there would be no one to work with and 2) I kinda have to be present at the wedding because, well, I'm in it. There are logistics that need to be figured out in the meantime (accommodations, budgeting, flights, equipment, etc.), so I'm taking care of those. 

Anyway, until my schedule frees up a little, I will likely be very blogging very sporadically. 

Hope you won't miss me too much ... and no, I have not forgotten about my science-y post. Work in progress ... (this is what happens when I don't have deadlines. It's a wonder I've gotten this far in grad school...)