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May 26th, part two:
Read your Torontoscope for the week. Here's a snipped from mine:

Today, you're in a tizzy, thanks to static interference from Venus and Uranus.

Today was actually yesterday, and wouldn't you know, I was in a bit of a tizzy. According to Merriam-Webster, tizzy is a noun meaning, "A highly excited and distracted state of mind.

Miss me while I'm gone.

May 26th:
So, I'm thinking I should join the non-negative blogging gang. Something from the site really struck me:

"If you want to attract a crowd that's nasty and attacking, be nasty and attack."

I'm not a nasty or mean person and I don't want to "attract" readers who are. It's bad karma and the negative stuff just snowballs once it starts. I got into it and made those harsh remarks because I know the person who commented on my opinion, and I really don't think epinions is the place to take your personal issues.

I looked up karma on Yahoo! and found the Karma Kanic -- good karma for your car. Of course it's in California.

Yeah. California. I got the Choose your best place to live link from Evhead (also where I read about the non-negative group) and took the little quiz. According to the test I should live in San Diego. I found that amusing because that's where I was born. However, since Brian needs to play hockey three times a week or he gets buggy, I don't think I'll be moving there anytime soon.

My good friend Mike sent me to Exploding Dog (he finds the best sites), and it's just too funny. Sam takes titles that people send in and draws quirky little pictures to go with them. He's got the goofiest sense of humour. Though all the ones I looked at were good, I think my favorites are "He's going to destroy anybody who gets in his way" and "Do mad scientists feel pain?" The answer is yes, but they enjoy it, but you have to see the picture to really appreciate the wittiness.

May 25th:
Okay, I talked about the big Moose in the City thing here in Toronto and I was all very excited about it. I still am, actually, though I haven't taken a moose tour yet. But now... moose are getting vandalized! What is that about? Did this happen in Chicago? Why would people do that? I think when they first announced the project some local artists were upset on how the artists who worked on the moose were chosen, but I just can't imagine that artists would break the antlers off of someone else's work.

«sarcasm»Yes, I'm quite confident that the having free trade with China is a great idea and will do wonders for human rights over there and benefit both our countries. After all, look how lucky we all got with NAFTA, especially Mexico.«/sarcasm»

More politics... The site I call "bust o' Canada" is actually put up by a group called "Citizens for better Medicare." First of all, I can't believe that doctors, patients, hospitals, employers and pharmaceutical companies all have the same interests, so how could they be in a group together? Also, the whole Canadian thing -- saying that "Oooh, if the US gets a healthcare system like Canada, you might have to wait for treatment!" First of all, many people in the US do have to wait for treatment, and some people don't get it all. Or they do and end up in a whole lotta debt. And quicker access to newer medications... that has good points and bad points. The whole thing seems to be half rumour and half scare tactic.

You know, I'm not even a citizen and I can see a doctor up here. I know the ERs get overcrowded and people don't get seen immediately, but I think that's more of a planning and staffing problem than the actual system. I'm curious to see what happens with Alberta's new health care act.

So, I joined a webring today. One percent weblogs with content is for people like me who add a lot of extra stuff (opinions, commentary, humour, drivel) to their entries and links. In other words, for people like me who have a lot to say.

May 22nd:
What happens when the courts in Mississippi get sick of hearing the question, "But can I marry her if she's just my half-sister?" The state legislature removes fractions from the school curriculum. It's a cute story and I thank squirrel girl for the link, but it is all made up. Yoknapatawpha is not a real county, it's a name created by William Faulkner.

I never thought I'd be in a mini-flame war over an epinions review, but here I am. The thing I've learned about flamers, cretins and simpletons is that if you just let them ramble, they will give everyone a good laugh with their own buffoonery.

Netiquette says not to feed the trolls, and I agree. Besides, humour is always the most fun.

Brian didn't think it was funny that I suggested we start rumours that zd net is actually a site for ziti recipes. Writing it here now, I think maybe he was right. Probably too much caffeine on my part. Which is also how I came up with, "Do people who warsh their clothes also wartch tv?"

May 21st:
I think that, unlike the Lycanthrope people, the readers, writers and practitioners at the Center for Duck Studies know they're not really ducks. It is just all in fun, right? (Although I am tempted to make a few confessions in my own ducky past...)
Thanks to Otto's Punk Rock Ranch for Wayward Girls for that link!

Okay, yeah, maybe it's a bit personal with me. But the way I look at the information about how the risks of anti-depressants outweigh the benefits is no, don't stay on them longer than you need to and doctors don't need to hand them to every patient who feels bad, but preventing suicide is a benefit that you can't measure. Thanks for the concern, but I'll take scattered thoughts over clinical depression.

Hey, kids -- knitting is hip! Once again, my mom was way ahead of her time. And yeah, I did read the article in Utne Reader about four years ago making the same annoucnement. So my advice to stay really current is to read Utne.

To stay even more current though, you gotta read the weblogs. I love this clip from NPR about weblogs interviewing real, live webloggers! I've never felt so almost-in-the-loop. Um. Here's how "in the loop" I am.. I found this weblog today. Dammit. But thank jish for those links.

And I added some weblogs links (top right of the page) and even a new journal. This time I included some guys! But damn, I better check my CanCon compliance, eh?

May 17th:
Halycon, of Prehensile Tales won a Webby award for best personal site. When I got the email describing what he wore -- bare-chested underneath a faux-fur coat -- I honestly thought he was kidding. Then I saw the pictures. Also, his "Five Words" are not to be missed. (If the pictures link doesn't work -- I just got an error -- there are plenty of pictures in his story about the event.)

The other day I read about Jean Beliveau's tumour and told my husband about it, not knowing if he'd know who Beliveau was. It turned out that he not only knew, but he was one of his heroes. (You can read about that on his pitas page.) If you read the CANOE article about it... well, read it. I love the paragraph that starts with, "Forget video games and Walkmans and rock concerts..." It sums Hockey in Canada the way I think of it. Just people playing the game. Like the kids on my block, who play in the street every day and ignore the sign that informs them it's not allowed. It's not all about the NHL.

And today I read about Maurice Richard (pronounced "ree-shard") going in the hospital for what might be abdominal cancer.

The NHL suspended Richard in 1955, and that ended with The Richard Riot. I didn't believe it actually happened until I saw the documentary. That gives you a clue to how important this sport can be to Canadians.

Shameless self plug: I put up a page for a friend of mine who writes a metaphysical newsletter every month. It's called Emerald Sound, and if you look at the pages please sign the guestbook or let me know what you think. Thanks.

When the hell is the new Tweeds site going to be ready? And is Krycek going to be on "The x files" this Sunday or what? (He's Canadian!) And finally, when am I going to find Fantasia fruit juices up here?

May 15th:
These are the people in your neighborhood....

So, Elizabeth had a few entries all about India and mehndi and henna and I thought I'd see if I could convince her to visit me during this phase. Here are a few places I can walk to within five minutes:

BJ Supermarket. I start sneezing like crazy in here, and one time I bought some masala to make my own chai, but it came out so spicy that I couldn't drink it without crying. The review includes a recipe for phyllo samosas. Those I can eat.

All good boys deserve barfi.. it's a review of a department store and two "sweet shops." That's where you go for barfi. The recipe that links to is for chocolate barfi! Other stuff, like Kulfi and chaat [mmmm] are available close by.

Skin shock. It's all about mehndi.

And I love this little piece -- Swaddling Clothes. A personal experience kinda thing about a girl from Michigan buying a sari in Toronto.

Brian made his own Lovely Meters Pitas Page! Go have a look, eh.

Free cereal! With real strawberry chunks.

May 11th:
Bushisms, or what I call, "He didn't really say this stuff, did he?"
"I was raised in the West. The west of Texas. It's pretty close to California. In more ways than Washington, D.C., is close to California." George W. Bush, in Los Angeles as quoted by the Los Angeles Times, April 8, 2000. Damn Rand-McNally for teaching us otherwise!

I was happy to read about Dr. Laura getting in "trouble," but disappointed to get to the end and figure out they weren't actually going to do anything.

Yes, lights, mirrors, and pretty blue stripes will make Japanese commuters stop committing suicide:
"We just hope they'll see themselves in the mirror and decide not to do it," said Sapporo official Masayoshi Sawatari. How very proactive. Sawatari obviously has no clue about depression, anxiety or suicide, and by the time someone get to the subway.. it's going to take more than pretty blues and bright lights to help. (Come on. Imagine looking at yourself in the mirror when you're feeling you're absolute worst. Oh yeah, that helps.)

Okay, now to some cheerier stuff -- me, me, me. I'm all over the place. I get mentioned in Al's (of Nova Notes) linkzine, Lives On-Line, and an article I wrote was just published on the She's Got Baby site. And Elizabeth, well, you'll have to go look at what she did for me.

More fun --
Print and color Sanrio characters, an adorable comic style story about Zobo, the offspring of duck and talking flower (Zobo link thanks to Fractured Lorax), and even more fun than the Magic-8 Ball, Suggestions from Tom's Cat. Reload for great kitty-koans like, "Use an unacceptable color," or "Do nothing for as long as possible," or (and this one scares me) "Don't be frightened of cliches." The page really needs a cute cat graphic though.

May 10th:
Yes, I've been busy! I went to the Toronto Small Press Fair over the weekend and got stuff from pas de chance, The Writing Space and 2x4 to the forehead books! And now I get to write about the whole thing for Bella. Too cool.

Anyway, have some fun at the Redneck Shootout to get yourself in shape for the Redneck Woodstock. I used to live right by where this is held and actually know people who have attended. It's some scary stuff, dude. This year one of the headliners is Lynyrd Skynyrd.

As soon as I found the place, I immediately submitted three entries to the Hockey Twins site, which is sort of a "separated at birth" thing. I never realized how much Jaromir and the guy from A-ha looked alike -- I always thought he looked more like my kitty. Or Stuart Adamson from "Big Country." Now I need to find a decent image of Rolf, from "The Sound of Music," who looks exactly like Mats Sundin. (When Brian sent me the link to this he said, "I predict this ends up on your pitas page.")

If you haven't been to epinions yet, well, you should go. Read the review I wrote of my favorite magazine and then get yourself addicted. Yeah, I've made 21 cents, but it's not about the money, I swear...

Robyn Sarah writes about keeping a journal -- instead of the "wonderful material" that others think she writes, she says, "What I have is the inside of my own messy head, projected onto the view from my window." But, when she puts it like that, and you read this article, you know she's gotta have some good stuff in there. Also, I think she says what's true for a lot of journal writers.

I got my free samples of paper from Origami Paper and I love it. Easy sign up and it comes in a cool envelope.

May 5th:
Feliz cinco de Mayo! Although none of these links have anything to do with the Battle of Pueblo or Mexico...

I know there are lots of online dressing rooms where you can check out clothes, but Diva Digs is CANADIAN and the clothes are really cool. Fun, fun, fun.

More chic stuff the lipstick page. Go here to check out color swatches, post messages and exchange advice. (I still don't know how to wear or pick out lipstick, but the best place to buy it is The Body Shop. Virtual make-over and shop locator available online)

Shoes, glorious shoes -- The Century in Shoes, The Bata Shoe Museum, and shoes and more shoes from Andy Warhol. (Go the the glamour exhibit in June at the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh to see more). The right shoes are art.

CanCon compliance -- did you know that Warhol did several... hmmm, "Warholesque" portraits of Wayne Gretzky?

May 3rd:
Two of my geek girl heroes, Gwen and Sarah, are working on something called Geek Girl Coalition. It's a resource center for girls who are also geeks -- it's fun, informative and makes you think. Lots of articles and links to things like "Geek of the Week," "systers.org," and girl gamers.

Gwen says, "by sharing our experiences and dispersing the knowledge, perhaps we can continue the progress towards equality as the generations progress." I definitely recommend you check them out, let 'em know what you think, offer to help in any geeky or goofy way you can.

I want to write up what it means to be a "geekess" for their gg prototype definitions.

A sweet little list from Queen of the Geeks -- toys that hurt when you step on them. Owie.

Everyone, that includes you, buddy, should check out geek chick. My favorite has got to be the Chronicle of Geek-Mania Throughout History, Geek Fanatique. It's a list of geeky dreamers which includes Barbie, Andy Warhol and Marcel Duchamp.

FemGeek items in the news:
Divas vs. Goliath. The giant wants to steal the name. As if we needed more reasons to hate Microsoft, eh.

Stereotype, schmereotype -- if women are more sensual, we're gonna want hardware that lets us smell and taste websites, right? Um, I don't think so. I can't see myself licking a piece of paper to get a taste of something. Unless it's damn good coffee. (Wait a second, doesn't that sound like those "tab" things? Hmmm.)

Finally, Windowseat is one of my favorite geek girl websites. I wanna be just like Laurel when I grow up.

~ Special notice!
In case you didn't know, May 4th is my birthday!

Yes, that's right -- anniversary of the Haymarket Square Riot, the Kent State shootings and Oliver North's conviction. However, it's also Audrey Hepburn's birthday, and that's cool.

But damn, one day later, cinco de Mayo, and I could've had a huge fiesta every year.

Yes, please send me cards and goodies!

May 2nd:
Welcome to MacOS 8!
Yes, I pulled up the Mac OS 8 virtual screen and pretended to use an Apple once again. Happy memories of my little gray Powerbook came streaming back until I almost wept. I left the screen up, and tried to convince Brian I had really dumped Windows for Mac for good, with or without the cute machine. Don't be frightened, nothing will happen to your pc, I promise.
Thanks to bird on a wire!

And of course, you need to check out fonts in a cool way for the new system. It's really quite fun. Would Elizabeth suggest it otherwise?

Geek battles with machinery told as only Douglas Adams can tell them -- in this essay he constructs a hellish journey through cabling gone amok. Brian says "You see in his knotted and twisted cabling a galaxy as bizarre as he described in his Hithchhiker's Guide. But like the Guide itself says, Don't Panic." (Shouldn't Brian get his own page? Tell him so.)

The first geek quiz I took was pretty fun, and I liked the rating system at the end. (Although I can't be as geeky as my score shows. I'm just a neophyte, really.) Geek quiz #2 seems to be testing for a different type of geek -- one who gets nervous or hyper and scared a lot. On that I scored, "Cool as a cucumber." Heh.

Tomorrow is another "all geek" entry, with a focus on girls!