Music Monday: Nobody

This video is weird, but I love it.

Goodbye July 2011!

Oh, July 2011, What a month you have been! So much has gone on. First and foremost I got married at the beginning of the month! July 2nd 2011. The wedding was awesome - laid back, casual and just a lot of fun. Everyone said they enjoyed themselves.

We also spent a week out at camp, which is always a good time. Very relaxing and wine filled. 

I discovered my Style Statement - Comfortable Creative - Which has inspired me to do all kinds of things, like apply for jobs I previously wouldn't have (out of fear). And one of them I got a call back for an interview! We'll see how it goes, but still - exciting! I've also been writing more, dreaming more and planning more. Plus, I'm blogging again, as you can see! Next steps are getting on top of my photo editing, taking more pictures and developing my personal style more. From here out, things are only going to be more awesome, I can see it already. 

Things that are inspiring me right now: random online videos, cleaning out my closet, a stack of magazines that I've had sitting around but never gotten around to reading and the color teal.

Book I decided not to finish this month: Climate of Corruption: Politics and Power Behind The Global Warming Hoax. It wasn't that is wasn't an interesting topic. I just found all the hard data tough to focus on. Maybe I'll read some more non-fiction books and then try again. What I did find interesting was all of the ways that the facts about Global Warming and climate change have been twisted in the media. Now, before the hate mail comes, I am not a global warming denier. I'm just not sure about how much of the information we've been given has been disproven, when often all we get is the initial shocking data (there are plenty examples of this in the book). Keep in mind though, this if any information coming from the Climate-Change-is-real-and-scary crew has been manipulated and misused, I have almost certainty that so is information from the Climate-Change-is-a-Total-Hoax camp. Anyway, the point is that I gave up on the book, because it was making me not want to read. 

I make my first trip to the Kentville Farm Market this month. That is the only plus to being on night shifts and working the weekend - I'm off on Wednesday afternoons. I got a giant bag of organic salad greens for three buck, and I learned that there is some kind of bug - a type of flea- that really likes arugula. Then he threw in some arugula with my salad greens. He said, "It wont hurt ya, that's just why there's holes in the arugula." Whatever, it was super tasty. I also got a special desert from a french lady. Chocolate and pear tarts. I served them warmed up with fresh raspberries on the side. Yum! Farm Market season is awesome.

How was your July?

Could-Have-Been Love Story

Of Life and Cheese

"Life is great. Cheese makes it better." 

               -Avery Aames

I love sweets. Anything chocolate, sugary frosting covered cupcakes, rich and decadent cheesecakes...And I love anything bread based - muffins, croissants, bagels...

        But if I'm looking for a special treat, nothing is better then a good sized hunk of cheese. Bonus points if it's melty.

  

Quick thoughts

★Do you ever read something at a glance and think it says one thing, but then you go back and read it again, and it's not nearly as awesome as what you thought it said? That happens to me all the time. I hate that! Like, today I was on some random home decor blog, and in the side bar I thought it said, "Welcome to our bbq!" which would have made no sense (which would have made it inexplicably awesome in my book!). What it actually said was "Welcome to our blog!" Which is totally boring. That's why it now says Welcome to my BBQ in my sidebar. You're welcome.

★On a similar note (I guess?), two conversations that happened recently at work: 1. We were having a meeting, and there's this big calender on the wall. On of my co-workers asked what a particular entry said. I squinted a bit, before coming to the conclusion that it said "Ball Tourney".  "Oh," he replied, "I thought it said 'Beef Tourney." Which I decided sounded much more exciting and fun. I'm not sure what exactly would go on at a Beef Tournament, but I bet it would be awesome. 2. A different Male co-worker was checking his personal e-mail, when he read out a subject: "Hog Rally". "Hog like pigs or hog like motorcycles?" I asked. "Motorcycles." he replied. "Oh," I said, "that's what I figured, but it would have been way cooler if it was hog, like, pigs." Again, I'm not sure exactly what would go on at a hog (pig) rally, but it sounds like a lot of fun.

So now I'm thinking I need to stage the first ever Beef Tourney and Hog Rally. Events to be announced. Bring your favorite pig. It's going to be epic.


★When ever I check the stats for this blog, I'm always a little surprised at the results. No matter what day of the year it is - no matter what month it is - there is always at least one page view for this post about pumpkins I wrote in 2009. And often other Halloween posts. I mean, it's weird, right? And it's not even that great of a post. But it accounts for more then 3000 of my +7000 all time page views. The internet is a weird place.

★So I'm going to throw a couple of thought provoking links in here, because I'm too lazy to do a full links post right now. Is it OK to Say "Gay" is a post about the evolution in meaning of the word 'gay', and if it ok to say it if you mean something is "lame" or uncool. It also touches on the word 'retard'. Very interesting indeed! How To Talk to Little Girls talks about the language we use when talking to girls, and how we unconsciously teach them that the first thing we notice about them is their appearance. I'm going to keep this in mind now when I'm around little girls. What are your thoughts on the article?

What's on your mind today?

Music Monday: I am Not My Hair (part 2)

I posted another version of this song before. This one features Pink instead of Akon, and is just as awesome. Totally worth checking out.

Grow

 

 

Life is a Canvas

Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can.  

                         -Danny Kaye

Music Monday: Hello

An upbeat awesome song to pick up your Monday morning! Hello! Happy new week!

Style Statement

After our wedding, The Husband (still weird to say and type!) and I went to the lake for the week. Just before, we happened to be in the mall, where we passed the bookstore that always has tables full of sales books out front. I love sales tables and especially sales books! Also, books are good to have at the lake, where there’s no TV or Internet to distract you. One of the tables had a sign that proclaimed “$2 or less!”. Holy crap is that a good deal, or what?! I pick up two books, one of which was Style Statement: Live by Your Own Design. It was $1, so I bought it. Why not? I thought it would be mildly interesting but a little too preachy, like most self-help-type books I read. But it was probably worth a dollar though, right? I was wrong though. This book was AWESOME. I read it and re-read parts and answered the questions and pondered who I am and what I really like and feel. I found it to be a great self discovery tool. It fits quite well with my <a href="http://saysdee.blogspot.com/search/label/cultivate%20me" target="_blank">Cultivate Me series</a> (more of those posts to come!), and has really helped me focus my quest to be More Awesome.

Basically, what your style statement is is two words that describe your overall style. Not just your style for clothes and decor,  but your style for life. They employ the 80/20 rule. The first word is your 80% - described as your inner foundation, your essence, your roots. The second word is your 20% - your creative edge, your wings.

Through my self discovery, using the workbook, the style statement I came up with was  

Comfortable Creative

This is going to sound really stupid, but as soon as I landed on that word combination, I felt like things make a more sense in my world. It made me want to clear out all of the clutter in my life, clear out my closet, decorate my house. The book said this would happen. I rolled my eyes. Because it sounded stupid to me too. But it happened.

Now, If you’re someone who already has a good handle on your life and style, you probably wont get much from this book. You might find it mildly interesting, or you might find it to be a giant waste of time. I’d guess the later. But, if like me, you’re still trying to figure this whole life/style thing out, I’d recommend checking it out.

And if you have a local Coles book store, you might be able to snag a copy for a buck.

Oh, Hello There!

So this is not and “I’m-sorry-for-not-posting-and-I-promise-to-do-better-I-swear!” post. This is a “hello-I’m-back!” post. Also, I got married on the 2nd of July.

 

Hello again!

Cultivate Me: Creating the Most Awesome Me Possible

I was on the site 43things the other day while working on my Life List and I clicked on the resolutions tab. For 2011, the only thing listed was Be Awesome. Now, to me, a resolution is an idea - inspiring and loosely defined. Unlike a goal, which needs to be specific and measurable. My resolution made me think: How can I work on being more awesome?

What I came up with is this: cultivate small parts of myself to make one (awesome) whole. I don't know what exactly this means yet, but some ideas of things to work on swirling around my head are: the way I move, the way I dress, the way I speak, the things I use, the food I eat...etc, etc. It's all about doing things more intentionally, without forcing it or being fake. Intentionally authentic. Or something. I guess.

I'm working on the fine details of what it means to be me.

Book Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

So, I won this book from a twitter trivia contest from Chapters Indigo. It's called Divergent  and it's written by Veronica Roth. For the contest, you needed to read the first nine chapters of the book (available online!) After reading it, I had to win that contest. I have never wanted to win an online trivia contest more in my life. True story. Those first nine chapters were a giant tease. And then I won, and it was awesome.

So, since the synopses of the book has already been written way better then I could ever describe it,  so I'm just going to do the old copy and paste. From Harper Collins:


In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

 Ok, so with that out of the way, I'd like to point out that I'm writing a book review. Usually, the closest I get to writing a book review is "It was good, you should read it" or "It was terrible, don't waste your time". The fact that I am writing one now should tell you how strongly I feel about it. It was so good. I received it this morning around ten and I've already finished it. And wrote this review. And I had to go shopping for a couple hours this morning, so I got a late start on things. Most of the time when people say they couldn't put a book down, they are lying. Or exaggerating. Whatever. I only put it down to cook some food, and you can bet I read while I ate that food!

I think the main reason I don't write book reviews is that I have a hard time putting to works what exactly what made it so awesome. And such is the case with Divergent. It's not only that it's well written with a great story that leaves you wanting more (good thing it's book one in a series!). And it isn't just because the characters are complete and wonderful, with flaws and strengths that make you love them but also want to hit them right in face sometimes (or most of the time in the case of the antagonists). It's those things, sure, but it's so much more. I just can't explain it.

I guess you'll just have to read the book.

 

Happy Election Day, Canada!

It's election day (again) in Canada! I've been out and voted. Have you? What are you waiting for?
 

Music Monday: Die Vampire Die

This video contains some strong language, so if there are people around that you don't want to hear such things you may want to turn the speaker down.