I know it's been over a week since I've posted but honestly, I haven't had much time in front of the machine just recently. I'm back though, and my machine at home has been rebuilt and I'll be getting a new one at work tomorrow so I have no valid excuse for not posting.

To get me re-started, here's this week's monday madness:

1. How did you choose a name for your blog?

I had no clue what to call my blog when I started it. Fortunately, I was listening to Kirsty MacColl and took the name of this blog from a song of hers.

2. How many times have you changed the name of your blog?

I haven't. Once I picked it, I stuck with it.

3. How many blogs to you update regularly?

3 to 5.

4. How many times have you moved in your life?

Not too many time, 8 I think.

5. On a scale of 1-10, how stressful is moving (in your opinion)?

I'd definitely put it at at least a 7, more if you're buying/selling your home. Moving when you are renting is much easier (and less expensive).

6. When moving, do you/would you rent a moving van/truck?

I have done in the past. The last time we moved we hired movers and I would never move without them again.

7. Do you wear glasses? If so, how old were you when you needed them?

Yes I do and I have done since 6th grade.

8. What one question would you hope someone running a meme, would ask?

my goodness, I can't think of a thing!

shopping and pineapples

What a week. I'm pooped but not in a bad way.

Work has been absolutely insane just recently. I know that I say that all of the time but seriously, insane!! I can't believe it.

Today I didn't work. For no particular reason, I booked off work today. A weird set of circumstances had Mark off today too. At around noon, we decided to head south of the border, down to Watertown, NY. We had a great time. All we really wanted to do was pick up a couple of things at the grocery store (things we can't get here at home) and have lunch. We ended up having lunch, doing our shopping, and catching a matinee of the new Spongebob movie. It was GREAT!!!! I totally loved it. It actually had a great plot, lots of good jokes, everything. Fortunately for us, there weren't too many kids in the theatre (and the ones who were there, were really well-behaved). After the movie, we took a drive, the "scenic route" I guess you could say and we ended up in Alexandria Bay for dinner. Lotsa fun!!

On the way home, we stopped off at the Casino in Gananoque and we actually won $100 between us. Shopping, SpongeBob and a win, can't beat that, can you??

Anyway, right now, it's late and I'm tired so I'm heading to bed. Hope you all have a terrific weekend and Pat, I hope you had a really Happy Birthday today!!

This sucks, doesn't it?

Ol' Dirty Bastard Dead
By Nolan Strong

Wu-Tang Clan member Ol’ Dirty Bastard passed away today (November 13). The cause of death is not known at press time.

While details are sketchy, sources told AllHipHop.com that the rapper collapsed and died in a Manhattan recording studio.

The nine members of the veteran rap group appeared at The Theater at the Continental Airlines Arena for their first joint East Coast appearance in five years, in which Ol' Dirty took part.

One of the founding members of the Wu-Tang Clan, the 35-year-old helped lay down the foundation for some of the most influential Hip-Hop in history.

He brought an air of humor to the macho world of rap, yet maintained enough integrity to be taken serious amongst a fickle Hip-Hop audience.

The Brooklyn born rapper was featured on Wu-Tang’s groundbreaking album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).

Shortly afterwards, he was shot in the stomach by another rapper during an argument on the street in Brooklyn.

He recovered and released the classic Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version, which spawned the hit singles "Brooklyn Zoo" and "Shimmy Shimmy Ya," which powered the album to gold status.

In 1998 the rapper further solidified his place in Hip-Hop history. That year, he rushed out of a recording studio to help save the life of a four-year-old girl who had been hit by a car and was trapped underneath.

The next day he appeared at the Grammy Awards and rushed the stage during Shawn Colvin’s acceptance speech for her Grammy Award winning song “Sunny.”

Dressed in a red suit, the rapper told the crowd that Wu-Tang shouldn’t have lost their Grammy to Sean “P. Diddy” Combs and then uttered the now famous words: “Wu-Tang is for the children.”

In 1998 he was shot again in Brownsville, Brooklyn, after two robbers pushed their way into his girlfriend's apartment. The bandits stole money and jewelry and shot ODB once. The bullet entered his back and went through his body, all superficial wounds.

After being treated in a New York emergency room, he ignored doctor’s warnings and left the hospital.

He was arrested several more times the following year for various charges, including threatening bouncers at the House of Blues in Los Angeles and for lounging on his balcony in the nude in Berlin, Germany. No charges were filed in that case.

Later that year, he was arrested and charged with attempted murder, after police claimed he jumped out of his car and started shooting at them. Those charges were dismissed when the police failed to present credible evidence.

In October of 2000, the rapper was almost finished a stint in rehab when he made a run for it, spending a month as a fugitive, during which time he performed at the Hammerstein Ballroom in front of hundreds of stunned fans.

He left the premise that evening but was captured a short time later in Philadelphia, singing autographs in a McDonald's parking lot.

He was extradited to New York, where he stood trial. In April of 2001, he received a sentence of two to four years in state prison.

After emerging triumphantly from jail and rehab, the rapper inked a deal with Roc-A-Fella Records in May of 2003.

I'm happy to be here,” Ol' Dirty said at the press conference. “I thought I wasn't gonna be able to touch another microphone. I'm happy my eyes are still open."

The rapper also had launched his own clothing line, Dirty Wear.

The news comes as Hip-Hop community was mourning the passing of another rapper, Mac Dre, who was shot to death in Kansas City.

overtired

Yesterday ended up being a very very long day. We got home around 2 a.m. this morning. We had a really great time though, lots of fun, and the drive up and back was relatively uneventful so that's good. I got a couple of good pictures (which I'll probably post later because I can't really see straight at the moment to edit them).

This morning, we slept in until around 11 or so. The afternoon was spent doing nothing in particular. I can't actually remember much of it, I'm pretty sure that we watched a fair amount of tv. It was nice. Late this afternoon, we did errands and plan to toddle back to bed again very soon.

I have come to the sad realization that I'm officially old. I cannot do late night anymore; it absolutely takes it out of me. It's sad but true and I'll just have to face up to it!!

remembrance day

Today is a particularly sad remembrance day, I think. It's impossible to separate the thoughts of all those young people who died during World War I and II from all of those poor young Americans who are in Iraq right now dying. I keep hearing about the high numbers of injuries that are being sustained while this attack on Fallujah continues. It's terrible and heart breaking and sickening.

On an "up" note, we're heading off to Ottawa in a couple of hours. Unfortunately, we were both up, wide awake, this morning at 4:15 a.m. I wish that we could have slept in at least an hour more but we didn't. I'm sure that we'll pay for it later on but right now, I am trying not to think about it. I'm just concentrating on getting there safely and having fun once we arrive.

mid week blahs

This is a short week for me. I have booked off this Friday. Actually, I have a few Fridays booked off between now and the end of the year. I had a bunch of vacation days left over and it's one of those "use 'em or lose 'em" situations. I chose to use 'em. I probably shouldn't use 'em. Goodness knows that I have enough work on my plate right now that days off are the worst possible thing I could. I feel that I need them though, not want, need. I've been beyond stressed recently so I'm quite looking forward to all of these mini-breaks.

This Friday, the only thing I have planned is to sleep in. You see, tomorrow night, we're heading off to Zaphod's in Ottawa. We'll be picking up my brother and his lovely lady and going to see Jonathan Richman. I've been looking forward to this for a long time. We were supposed to see this show back in June but it was cancelled. It'll be a great time, I'm sure, and it'll be wonderful to see my brother again.

I know that you're not supposed to "wish the week away" but right now, the only thing that's keeping me going is thinking about a long weekend and "dancing in the lesbian bar."

Here is the Monday Madness:

Name 3 (or more, or less!) things...

1. ...you cannot live without.

Air, water, food.

2. ...you CAN live without, but cannot seem to part with.

Books, CD's, my computer.

3. ...you wish to accomplish this COMING week.

Laundry, paperwork at home and gardening (I really need to finish cleaning up my flower beds before we get some snow).

4. ...you have accomplished this PAST week.

Laundry, paperwork at the office and all of my errands.

5. ...on your holiday (or non-holiday) 'wish list.'

New flooring and fresh paint throughout the whole house, new light fixtures in our dining room and office and a new cell phone.

6. ...you would like to change about yourself.

I'd like to be a nicer, more compassionate person. Beyond that, well, I'd rather not get into a laundry list at the moment.

7. ...you like about yourself.

I'm basically a good person (although, like all of use, I could be better); I'm pretty smart (s-m-r-t!); I have a good sense of humour (most of the time).

8. ...you should be doing right now instead of what you ARE doing.

Going for a walk; working instead of taking a lunch break; writing a proper entry instead of doing a meme.

9. ...in your life that could use a little more organization.

My kitchen cupboards, my bedroom closet and my home computer's harddrive.

One thing that made me smile today: I got a new monitor at work. A couple of weeks ago, I inherited a used 17" flat screen LCD. I thought that I was a pretty lucky girl I tell ya. Today, I was given a brand new, out of the box, 19" flat screen LCD monitor. I'm also on the list for a new laptop. It feels like Christmas already!!

processed

So I have had a few days to mull it all over. I've cried, wanted to punch things and have given myself a few tension headaches over the whole thing. I'm letting it go though, or trying to. I'm not going to scream at the television (because that doesn't really make me feel better anyway. I will continue to listen to Air America and hear about all the good work that people are doing to counter-balance all the bullshit that will no doubt be happening. I'm also looking for a way to get more involved with the whole political scene here as well. I don't have a lot of time to commit to the cause but I worry that we could see something like this happen up here. It scares the shit out of me. I mean, we came pretty close this year to having Stephen Harper leading our country. I think that I have a responsibility to help folks make sure that we never get that close to having a nazi lead our country again.

Having said all of that, there is a bunch of weird/sad family stuff that is going on at the moment. The weird stuff, I can't really get into. It's not that I don't want to post it here it's just that I don't have the energy at the moment to write about it. The other thing, is very very sad. My cousin lost her baby on Friday morning. She discovered that the baby had actually died (three weeks before it was due to be delivered) on Thursday, she delivered it on Friday morning. I cannot even begin to imagine the heartache that she's experiencing right now. The baby was a girl and they are planning to come back here to have a funeral for her (they are living in the southern US right now).

Right now, well, tomorrow really, I'm going to try refocus my energy into positive activities. I need to eliminate a lot of the stress that I've been experiencing recently and start having fun again. It feels like it's been a very long time since we've done that. This week should be a good start, we're going to Ottawa on Thursday to see my brother and Jonathon Richman. It'll be a Remembrance Day to remember.

say it ain't so...

It's over and I feel sick. Logically, I never thought that this could happen. I think my stomach knew the truth though because I felt sick for two days leading up to the election.

This is just so far beyond horrible I can't even say.

happy election night folks

I'd be lying if I said that I didn't feel a little queasy right now. I have a good feeling about things but goodness gracious, it's going to be a long night.

I hope that all you yanks had a safe and positive experience at the polls today. I'm very much looking forward to seeing Kerry win later tonight.

egged

I could have sworn I heard eggs being chucked against the side of our house last night. It was a dream, I know now, but at the time it was very realistic. Halloween was fun, we had 91 kids at our door. They started kind of late and were mostly "big" kids (like, boys who can shave!) but it was fun all the same. Tonight I have to pack away my glow in the dark skeleton for another year. I'm not too upset about it, it'll soon be time to pull out the holiday lights.

t'was the night before the election...

I've been feeling anxious and emotional all day today. I'm quite worried about the outcome of the US election tomorrow and cannot wait for it to be over, one way or another. I truly feel that Kerry will win but I worry that fear will conquer logic and morons will put dubya back in office. I've never felt so strongly before, about an election that is happening outside of Canada. As a person who lives in a border town though, I hate to watch what has happened to our neighbours over the past 3.75 years. It boggles my mind to imagine what further, irreparable damage could be done by the current US administration if they are given an addition four years in office. Hopefully, we won't have to worry about it. It would be so nice to go to bed tomorrow night knowing that Kerry won. I don't expect that we will know tomorrow but a girl's gotta hope, right?

One thing that made me smile today: Finding out that there were no eggs on my house. Heck, I didn't even seen one smashed pumpkin this morning.