More Spontaneous Dancing!

OK. Apparently, I need to start hanging out in the Eaton Centre more often. While I'm told the whole "flash mob" thing is totally passe, I still think they are totally cool.

The Mall Just Got Cooler

I love the mall. I love shopping. Anti-consumerism is totally not my thing. I shop when I'm bored.I wander the mall and around Yonge and Bloor just to browse a dozen times a month. While I see tons of great sales and merchandise, what I've never seen is a spontaneous dance in the epicentre of consumer culture: the Eaton Centre. You may remember my previous post where I said I'd love to be part of one of those spontaneous dances you see in movies all the time? Why, oh why, could I not have been in the mall when this happened! Totally would have made my day.

Should You Eat It?

I stumbled upon this from someone's link on Facebook. It was one of those random clicks that leads you somewhere you likely never would have ended up otherwise. This made me laugh out loud. Enjoy this handy guide:

Idol

I was watching the American Idol auditions the other night and there was this girl who came in all dressed in 80s rocker chick gear. Short, edgy hair, dark makeup, chunky jewellry. She was going to sing Pat Benatar. I thought, oh boy... this is gonna suck. What a huge cliche.

BUT, when she sang, she was actually really good. So good in fact, that they gave her the much coveted "golden ticket."

I'll probably never watch the show again. I only like the auditions. But I was happy the 80s rocker is making it to round 2. Rock n' roll.

The Smell of Vacation

Sometimes in the morning when I'm walking to work, I like to cut through this building on the corner. It's warm and there's a giant fountain in the middle. If I close my eyes for just a second as I'm walking, it smells like I'm in a hotel; the kind of hotel with a big indoor pool and it makes me think of vacation.

Just rolls off the....fingers

Just wanted to say that one awesome thing, albeit a totally small and insignificant thing, is how easy it is to type 2010.

Just rolls of the fingers. Loving it. :)

Also, just a random question: At what point is it too late to be wishing people a happy new year? Is it the first time you've seen or talked to someone in the new year? Or is there a cut off? Like mid-month or something. Any thoughts on "happy new year" etiquette?

2010: The end of the "Oh-somethings"

My Dad was inquiring over the holidays how we would refer to this new decade. You just can't say "oh-ten," he said. "That sounds stupid." I told him it was being referred to as "twenty ten" and he seemed satisfied with that.

The end of the "oh-something" years has me thinking about how much has changed in the past decade. Allow me to sound like a 90 year old woman here for one second but I actually remember New Years Eve 1999 like it was yesterday. Laura and I had new boyfriends. We went to two parties. I funneled something from a cardboard party horn (there's a picture. It's epic). We drank Jungle Juice like silly teenagers and my Dad drove us to Tina's place around 12:30 where we ate muffins and acted like idiots till the wee hours of the morning. Tina rolled in the snow with no coat on. Laura and Scott had screaming contests and stair runs. I asked Laura what she thought would happen in "the year 2000" and she matter-of-factly said: "There's still gonna be snow on the ground." I thought it was the funniest thing ever. The world didn't explode. IT systems remained in tact. The hugely ominous Y2K came and went without too much disaster.

And now, it's ten years later. TEN!

I can't even possibly begin to recount the major milestones of the past decade with any sort of brevity.

What I can say is that for the first time in those ten years, 2009 was the only year that I actually wrote down my year's goals on a piece of paper and for all you skeptics out there, it's true what they say. By writing them down, I accomplished every single one. I ran my first 10 km race, I got a new job, I completed 10 speeches in Toastmasters (insert giant nerd joke here) and got my certificate, among other things. While I'm still contemplating the goals for the year ahead, I think this will become a new practice for me. It's certainly satisfying to look back on a page of check marks at the end of it all.

So, goodbye "oh-somethings." All in all, you were good to me.

A Long Winter's Nap

I feel as if I need a long winter's nap. I often think about animals that hibernate with a twinge of jealousy. Wouldn't that be nice? To wake up one day and go, "Oh! It's getting a little cold, better go to sleep." The next thing you know, you wake up and it's Springtime.

I've been neglecting life lately due to a seemingly unmanageable amount of tasks to accomplish. On top of a demanding job, the regular stress of Christmas obligations seems to have snuck up on me again. I'm trying hard to feel cheerful and Christmas-y but failing miserably.

I have a cold. Not a huge deal, but it seems that whenever I get sick and try to remain active, I lose my voice. Talk about a cruel punishment for someone who loves to talk and socialize. It goes quickly and takes weeks to come back fully. I'm left with this raspy, smokers voice for days and days. I hate answering the phone or talking to anyone new when I'm like this.

I also just had pink eye. As if the ugliness of this isn't enough, I had just gotten over it and then, absent-mindedly used an old eyeliner on Wednesday morning and gave it to myself all over again. Terrific.

I voluntarily gave up going to two very fun events this weekend just because I felt so rotten and anyone that knows me knows that I very rarely let illness stand in my way of fun.

I keep repeating the word "vacation" over and over again like a mantra. It is so needed. I need to recharge. My batteries are totally dead.

Inquiring Minds...

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Viva Las Vegas

So I'm off to Vegas tomorrow. You might think, "Wow, cool!" But then I'd tell you, "Yes, Vegas tomorrow...but its for my grandmothers 75th bday."

You may think my grandma is the coolest granny in history. Drinking, gambling, shopping, scandal! What more could grandma want on her 75th? However, I am not really predicting this to be a wild time.

Sadly, the part of my family in my demographic is not able to attend so its me and the oldies/my parents/aunts/uncles, or me and my little cousins (oldest is 15). Maybe I can be that cool older cousin that sneaks him beer... :)

We don't really have anything booked. I have no real plans. I have no idea what to expect. The only think I'm looking forward to is the outlet malls and cheap designer clothes and accessories.

So I know there'll be lots of inquiring minds wondering how exactly my grandma's 75th bday in Vegas actually turned out. Will she win the jackpot? Will we just eat food and go to bed at 9:00 pm, or will granny get drunk and rock the dance floor? Who knows...

So, I'll report back. With pictures. When you travel with your fam, what happens in Vegas, doesn't necessarily have to stay there.

Till Tuesday....

Boo!

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love Halloween. I plan my costume months in advance and put a lot of effort into it.

This year is no exception. I am going to be Prom Queen 1983 in honour of the year of my birth. I have a selection of dresses perfect for a Halloween that happens to fall on a Saturday so that I can wear something different both Friday AND Saturday night. There could even be a mid-evening costume change incorporated.

I've said that I love Halloween more than Christmas. And that's not just something I say for dramatic emphasis. I think its actually a true statement. Halloween is just about fun. Pure, silly fun. There's no pressure or obligation to please family or to find perfect gifts. No baking involved; just grab a bag of candy. If you're resourceful (or happen to own a garbage bag full of vintage dresses like me!), you don't have to spend much money. Yes, it is the most wonderful time of the year, isn't it?

Okay, I realize I'm in the minority here and I basically use Halloween as an excuse to wear all my random dress up clothes without being mocked mercilessly in public. However, you have to admit, it is a pretty amusing night!

And with that, I leave you with this Halloween video. Anyone else remember singing this in French class in elementary school?? Tina?? :)



HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Rack of Lamb...for breakfast?

Today I received the following email:

(No Subject)

Since I have breakfast at 6:30, I get ferociously hungry at 10AM. Right now all I can think about is eating a rack of lamb.

*********

Hilarious.

I love Pat Benatar

I realize that nothing about that title makes me cool. I don't care. I love every song she's ever recorded. She's a wicked awesome 80s rocker chick and listening to her music makes me happy. I sing along and I feel good.

I've been in a bad mood lately. Work feels stressful. I got a nasty letter from the Property Manager due to a situation I don't think I can talk my way out of. I've learned that someone has pretty much the same Halloween costume planned as I do, and I've been a mean jerk to my very nice boyfriend and that makes me feel awful.

Anyways, I determined a remedy to get out of this funk. I put on my 80s party dress. (It's part of my Halloween costume, so I'm not really THAT much of an 80s obsessed freak). Cranked my friend Pat, and rocked out to the sweet sounds of All Fired Up (An overlooked classic in my opinion), Invincible, Love is a Battlefield and Hit Me With your Best Shot... and I feel better.

Nina Blackwood, my favourite Sirius Satellite radio host from 80's on 8, once said that the reason the 80s was such a happy decade was because the music was all about rockin' out, partying, having a fun and loving each other. Listen to the 80s and you'll never be sad. None of this ridiculous death metal or emo crap. Simple, awesome rock n' roll.

If you're happy and you know it...

So I had kind of a rough day today. Something blew up at work which caused me an unnecessary amount of stress. I definitley need to work on chilling out. Not to mention it was Monday, which is never really a stellar day of the week.

Anyways, I decided I needed to let off a little steam so I booked it to a spinning class as soon as I got home. I was walking there and this random old lady was kind of in my way, trying to feed the squirrels. She was pretty cute, cooing at this black squirrel up in the tree so I smiled as I walked by. She stopped me and said that she feeds this same squirrel everyday. Making small talk, I asked how she knew it was the same one. She said he had a little white patch on his tail and that he liked peanuts. Just as I was about to go on my way, she told me to wait and started rooting around in her little wheely carriage thing. I thought she was going to hand me peanuts to try and feed this squirrel with her but she pulled out all these cute little hand-painted cards that she said she painted herself and she wanted me to have one... for good luck.

I picked a nice pink rose with blue violets and told her I picked it to match my nails (they're pink today). She seemed delighted and told me to have a wonderful life. Isn't that nice?

I felt a little happier after that happened. :)

See? Not ALL people in Toronto are cold-hearted and mean.

TheMirandaMac

Recently, I won a Flip Video camera in a raffle. I was totally thrilled since I wanted one of these cameras for a long time. Ever since my last job when the department had one for use at tradeshows. Its yellow and records two hours of video.

Anyways, I had the opportunity to try out the little thing this past weekend and not only created my first video, but also.... my own YouTube channel!

It's called TheMirandaMac... since mirandamac was taken. But TheMirandaMac has a certain..."je ne sais quoi." Very authoratative and official sounding.

The site is a work in progress, as is my video editing abilities. However, I'm excited to announce a new chapter in my online activities! Check it out!

Heartbreaker

I can't understand why people watch the Bachelor or its equally horrible spin-off, the Bachelorette. During the cool-down of my spinning class last night, the instructor announced that she was racing home to watch the season finale of the Bachelorette which spawned about 15 "OH MY GOD!!! MEEEE TOOOO's" from other girls in the class. I looked around, bewildered by the fact that I might be the only 20-something female alive that doesn't watch this trite ridiculousness known as "reality TV."

But never one to be out of the loop, particularly in all things pop culture, I thought I would put on the show when I got home, passively observing it while I made dinner. At least I could talk about it with other girls if it came up in social situations.

As expected, it was awful! Why is it entertaining to watch people struggle through heartbreak? This woman apparently falls in love with two very nice, attractive men who you're lead to believe are in fact crazy in love with her, only to see her have to reject one man. Watching a grown man cry because he's just had his heartbroken is...well... heart breaking.

It wasn't entertaining. It was just sad. Even if it's all an act, it's STILL sad.

This show must only appeal to people who have had perfect relationships because for anyone who can relate to having their heart broken, it sure was depressing!

Maybe it's cathartic? I don't know. Either way, there was no way I was sitting through to the end to watch the much anticipated proposal.

Someone please let me know when they've found something worth watching on TV.

Denial

How is that a 25 year old can spend a whole weekend feeling old? Surrounded by people, some nearly a decade my junior, I felt ancient. It's insane. I know this a completely insane thought. But I can't help it. What is particularly unnerving about this is that while these "younger people" all seem to think I'm "so much older than them," I don't really feel that much of a divide. I felt that if the topic of age had never come up, I could have been perfectly happy thinking we were all peers.

And just to add insult to injury, I log into Facebook, which admittedly is becoming a more infrequent activity these days, only to find my wall covered in albums of new babies and weddings. That's it. I know it's been said before but what happened to pictures of fun parties and travelling? When did all this get replaced by things that are so alarmingly "adult?" I feel betrayed. Like everyone grew up and left me behind. And now, I have no choice but to continue pretending or grow up with them.

Again, I realize this is completely absurd. 25 is not old.

It's just a series of unconnected events that happened close together making me feel like this.

I need to go do something ridiculously immature now to make myself feel better. Maybe I'll make a prank phone calls while eating cookies in bed. Yeeeah... I think that will do the trick.

Things that make no sense at all

- People who confidently quit very good jobs to travel the world
- Face tattoos
- Smoking
- Why I can't sing
- A label on a roast chicken salad that said, "Now with roast chicken."
- Why anyone names their child the same name as their last name.
- This video.
- Everything that Lady Gaga wears. Especially this.

Blogs. Blah.

I was wondering today if the reason I have less enthusiasm for this blog is because I spend all day looking at other people's blogs.

I kind of feel like I have nothing to say.

Maybe I'll just start making stuff up. It can be Miranda's Truth or Fiction Blog: I tell the story, readers rate whether it's True or False.

Maybe I can even find some web geek to add voting buttons to my page.

Three people

Last night I was asked to name three people, living or dead, I'd like to meet and why. A cliche exercise. It's supposed to illustrate something about your personality apparently. Some people are literally unable to come up with anyone. They really struggle with this apparently. I thought for about 4 minutes and here's what I decided:

1) Jane Austen. She's a great writer. Plain and simple. One of my favourites actually. She's written some absolutley fabulous, timeless stories that have been, and will continue to be read and adored by thousands of readers. With English as my background, its no wonder I was required to read many of her novels to complete my degree. Pride and Prejudice will remain among my favourite novels forever. I'd love to talk to her about her influences, her life in the 19th century, and her thoughts on marriage, love and society.

2) Gwen Stefani. What an awesome, powerful female rocker. She's nearly 40 and she looks hotter than I ever will. She has incredible abs - even after having 2 kids - and is happily married to Gavin Rossdale. She's been with the same band since she was a teenager and her music is super cool - punk, ska, reggae-ish. I love it. I'd love to talk to her about her career and hear stories about her band's adventures. I'd also like some fitness tips.

3)Steven Meisel. He's a famous fashion photographer who's shot pretty well every top supermodel in the world. He's most noted for his amazing editorial spreads in Italian Vogue as well as being Madonna's photographer for her book Sex. I love the concepts, the design, the lighting and composition of his pictures. I'd love to sit down with him and get some pointers.

That's all. Analyze me as you see fit. :)

PS - this could change tomorrow.