Ask the Reluctant Housewife - Travel Edition

Hello there!

I had a message from the always hilarious, clever and fabulous Daffy, who writes the blog Batcrap Crazy, today asking if I'd posted here recently. Daffy wasn't asking to nag me about my lax posting schedule, or to point out my faults (she was asking because she was worried her RSS reader wasn't working - Huh. If there's nothing new on Daffy's reader, I must not be the only bloggess neglecting to update her blog) but it still gave me a nudge. Thanks Daffy!

So let's jump right in, shall we?

Elaine from The Miss Elaine-ous Life (who has two boys and a brand new baby girl) and Jen from Buried With Children (who has triplets, plus a big brother to keep them company) took the time out of their obviously very busy schedules to ask where I'd like to travel if I could go anywhere.

I like to think of myself as adventurous, spontaneous and well-travelled, but the reality is that I'm a bit of a wuss when it comes to travel. Exotic destinations kind of scare me - I worry about strange diseases, contaminated food and (this is the big one) enormous poisonous bugs and giant angry animals with sharp, sharp teeth. Canada is pretty safe when it comes to these things, you see. Almost none of our insects or reptiles are poisonous. We do have scary animals (grizzly bears, coyotes, polar bears (in the north), mounties) but I'm a city girl, so it's not really an issue.

Have you heard about all the stuff that can kill you in Australia? Have you heard about their crocodiles? Have you? They're terrifying. I learned about them in Bill Bryson's In a Sunburned Country. I wish I could quote it here, but I don't actually own a copy (which is ridiculous, I love Bill Bryson - there's a point at which religious library use becomes an issue... this is that point). Anyway, Bryson makes Australian crocodiles sound epically terrifying.

All this to say that my dream travel destinations are pretty tame.

I've never been to western Canada. I'd love to visit British Columbia. I'd like to tour Europe as well. I'm dying to go back to the UK. I want to visit Ireland. I want to go to New Zealand. NZ sounds amazing. It was described in my travel destinations class (back when I was studying Travel & Tourism) as containing all the worlds' climates on its tiny little self. I want to see the grand canyon and Las Vegas. I want to take the kids to Disney World. I want to go home and visit my family. I'd love to rent a cottage on the south shore of Nova Scotia. I'd like to spend some time in Montreal. And I'd like to visit Newfoundland.

But my #1 travel goal right now is to do a walking vacation in England. They have a great set up. The walks are gorgeous and often historic (with ruins and castles and English town and all that good Europy/British stuff) and there are tour companies who pick up and move your stuff from one inn to the next on your itinerary, so you don't have to carry it with you while you're walking. England has an extensive, well-established trail system. You spend your days walking and stop midday at an English pub for pub food and a pint. Yeah! That's my kind of adventure.


The brilliant Ami of Writing: My Life and Write Out Loud asked: Of all the places you've been in your life, what was your favorite and why?

Like I said in the previous question, I like to think of myself as well travelled. I've been to 6 countries (including Canada). I've visited all of the Maritime Provinces (extensively), Quebec city and Montreal in Quebec, and much of southern Ontario in Canada. I've visited Maine (especially Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor), New Hampshire, Vermont, New York City (several times on class trips), Boston (twice), Florida and Salt Lake City (I was there for a wedding) in the states. I've visited Iceland, Spain, France and England in Europe. I'm not exactly well-travelled, but I'm not a total newb either.

I'm really not good at picking favourites... and travel is no exception. I love Iceland. It's a magical place. Really special. We were there on a four day stop-over on our way home from visiting England and France. We stayed up all night driving around, exploring and visiting waterfalls (it didn't get dark... it was twilight for a while, though). In Spain, my favourite place was Ronda, a small town on a huge cliff-side up in the mountains in Southern Spain.

Ronda

We visited some Roman ruins, wandered the narrow, cobble stone streets and ate salmon in a little restaurant over looking a ravine. It was great. I love England. I just love it. I can't wait to go back, it's been years. France was gorgeous. We visited Paris and Brittany. Beautiful. I adore Canada, naturally. Gorgeous and so diverse. I'm from the Maritimes and I'm pretty sure I've visited just about everywhere. Highlights include: the Bay of Fundy (New Brunswick side), south shore of Nova Scotia, the Cabot Trail, Greenwich PEI, and the beaches on PEI's north shore, NB's eastern shore and the south shore of Nova Scotia. I also love the river valley in New Brunswick where I grew up. You can't find more beautiful scenery. Every single one of these is my favourite. I can't choose between them.

Now you share with me: What is your favourite travel destination? And where would you love to go if you could go anywhere?

If you've got a question you want me to answer, just put it in the comments.

Coming soon: Ask the Reluctant Housewife - Parenting Edition.

Mwah!

Ask the Reluctant Housewife - Husband Edition

Well I really dropped the ball on this one, didn't I?

The story is that waaa-aaa-aaay back in August I told you that if you had questions for me, just put them in the comments and I'll answer.

And then I went back to school, and the kids went back to school, and life got kind of crazy, and I didn't get back to you.

That was kind of uncool of me.

But I'm getting back to you now, okay?

Good.

This time I'm going to answer the questions you asked about my marriage:


Theta Mom wanted to know: What has surprised you about marriage and what is something you didn't expect?

What surprised me most about marriage was that I noticed a difference in our relationship after we were married. I married my high school sweetheart. We got married in our early twenties, after we'd been together for 7 years and lived together for 3. It made sense to us to get married. We agreed that we would. There wasn't a lot of romance, or even a proposal, at first. My grandmother gave us her engagement ring. It had to be resized so we dropped it off at the jewelry place. A few weeks later Hubs said he wanted to go for a drive. He drove to the river and parked overlooking the yacht club and the cliff. I didn't think anything was up because we often stopped there to admire the boats and the water and the view.

This photo is from the yacht club website. Pretty spot.
It doesn't show the cliff, though.

We sat for a few minutes just taking it all in. Hubs reached into his pocket and pulled out a small red velvet box. He turned to me, opened it to display the ring and asked, "Will you marry me?" I hadn't even known the ring was ready. He picked it up secretly from the jewelry store so that he'd be able to surprise me with a proposal. I was delighted. It was a lovely moment.

We'd been together so long by the time we got married that I didn't expect anything to change. I was surprised by how much of a difference it made to me. Everything felt... more official, somehow... or something. It was good. I liked it. I don't believe that marriage is necessary to have a long-term committed relationship but, for me, it made a difference. That was a surprise.


Elaine from The Miselainous Life, who just had a beautiful baby girl (congratulations again, Elaine!) asked: how did you meet your husband?

I met my husband in high school. He was in my best friend's English class and she was always telling me funny stories about him and the things he'd said and done to make her laugh. One day, when my friends and I were standing in the hall, near the theatre, chatting and sharing a bag of chips, Hub and his friends were lured over by the call of our snackfoods. They scammed some of our chips and stayed to joke around for a while. Eventually, Hub's teasing went a bit too far and one of my friends grabbed his shirt in a playful 'I'll beat you into a pulp now for saying that to me' kind of way (if you know what I mean - it was high school, you've been there) and accidentally ripped off his top two buttons. He was embarrassed because his shirt was hanging open to expose his chest hair and he didn't want to sit in class like that. I said, "It could be worse... it could have been all your buttons." The bell rang and we all went to class.

The next day, I was sitting with my group of friends on the carpet blocks just outside of the cafeteria, eating lunch. Hubs and his friends joined us and we had a long conversation about super powers. I told the boys I had x-ray vision. We discussed the ins and outs of my special power (which did NOT allow me to see people naked under their clothes, but did allow me to see what they had in their pockets). After that day, he started showing up at my locker between classes to walk me to class. We talked on the phone every evening. We combined our two groups of friends to hang out that weekend. Two weeks after we met, he asked me to the Valentine's Day dance. We shared our first kiss that night and we've been together ever since.


And now, dear readers, tell me about yourselves... Tell me how you met your partner, husband, best friend, pet... anyone who's important to you.

And if you'd like to add a question, just put it in the comments.

Coming soon: Ask the Reluctant Housewife - Travel Edition.

Mwah!

Call Center

You are sitting in a 3x4 box, at a desk. It's not exactly dark, but the light is dim. The air is stale, recycled and dry. All around you, you can hear voices murmuring. They rise and fall and repeat some of the same phrases over and over. You can hear them, but you can't see them from where you are sitting, in your box.

On your head you wear a device with an earpiece and microphone. The device pushes tightly on the sides of your head; it is always uncomfortable. It is attached by a wire to a computer and phone system. You are attached, by the device, to the computer and phone system at all times while you sit at the desk in your box. The system feeds you voices through the earpiece on the device, which sits uncomfortably on your head, and information on the screen of the computer you're plugged into. When you hear a beep, you automatically say the phrase you've been conditioned (like one of Pavlov's dogs) to say, "Thank you for calling The Company. How may I help you?"

The voices that you hear through the apparatus always need your help. Sometimes they're angry, impatient or creepy. Sometimes they're friendly and smiling. They tell you what they need. They ask you what you're wearing. They tell you you have a lovely voice. They ask where you're located. They are surprised by where you're located. They ask about your weekend. They tell you about their weekend. They tell you about their problems. They scream in frustration. They try to negotiate. They tell jokes. They laugh and smile. They ask to speak to your manager. They growl and threaten. They hit on you. You do your best to help them. You thank them for calling.

As you sit, hour after hour in your box, talking to the voices, attached to the computer and hooked into the system, life is passing you by. Outside, it's sunny or it's raining. People are walking in the fresh air, enjoying the light on their faces. People are talking face-to-face, smiling and interacting. People are driving in their cars, relaxed or rushed. People are fighting and struggling. People are sad. People are watching TV or sleeping. People are just sitting and drinking coffee. People are enjoying a nice light snack. People are living.

But not you, you just sit in your box, breathing the stale air, trying to help the voices.

10 Tidbits

Not to be confused with 10 timbits - the little donut rounds from Tim Hortons - which are much more fun than this, trust me.

The fabulous miss Erin from The Mother Load gave me an award yesterday.

With the award comes a demand (or perhaps a request, if you want to nitpick terminology here) that I share 10 things you might not know about me. Since I've been writing away here for almost 2 years and I tend to over-share there's probably not all that much you don't know about me, but I'm going to give it the old college try anyway.

1. I tend to assume people won't like me.

2. I have a terrible memory for names. I also have a hard time recognizing people by their faces, until they're more familiar. I can recognize new people again best by their hair, their personal style and the way they walk. If I met you once and you've had a haircut, dressed differently and you're stading still, chances are I will have no idea who you are.

3. I love TV. You probably know that already. Or maybe not. I don't love just any old TV, though. I'm choosy. I only like to watch what I like. I can't just sit down and watch whatever. Here's a list, in no particular order, of the shows I watch every week (I PVR them and watch them when I have some free time - usually while I eat breakfast): House, Lie to Me, Glee, The Biggest Loser, Modern Family, Fringe, Big Bang Theory, Being Erica (a Canadian show, it's awesome piled on awesome), Bones, Supernatural, SYTYCD, SYTYCD Canada and Eastwick. There are some shows I PVR but haven't been keeping up with: Cougar Town, Accidentally on Purpose, Melrose Place, The Good Wife, Mercy (all new this season. I'll probably drop them if they don't catch my interest soon.) Yes. I like TV.

4. I'm studying Information Science. There's a lot more information and science in it than I expected. It's challenging and I'm loving it!

5. I love kickboxing, but haven't done it recently. My gym doesn't offer a kickboxing class. Insert sad face here.

6. I love clothes and shopping.

7. I'm kind of lazy.

8. I used to think I was stupid. Now I think I'm smart. It might be wise to try to strike a happy medium. I'm probably not as smart as I think, or as stupid as I used to assume I was.

9. I really don't like
Poetry very much, but I
Really love haiku.

10. In my grade 9 creative writing class, I wrote a poem and handed it in under the name 'anonymous' . The teacher was so annoyed by the 'anonymous' poem that she stood in the front of the room and demanded to know who wrote it. She sounded so angry that I was afraid to tell her it was mine. It was chosen to be published in the school newspaper (also under the name 'anonymous'), which surprised me because I never intended for anyone to take it seriously. I wrote it to be a tongue in cheek spoof of peoms as I saw them then - fake heartfelt sentiment signed 'anonymous'. I intended for it to make my friends laugh, which it did, and to their credit they didn't out me as its author. Here it is:

War is over, Peace is here
I hope it stays throughout the year.
-anonymous

'I hope it stays throughout the year.' Heh. Still funny.

It's both over and understated, don't you think? I mean, yes, peace is a good thing but what about next year? We don't want peace next year? Nah. We just hope it stays throughout this year.

Anyway.

Thanks again Erin!

And I'll pass it on to the fair ladies of Snarkler. You know who you are.

Mwah!

Fangirl Photo Edit Birthday Pic

Hey!

Look who partied with us for Monkey's birthday:


Click the image if you'd like to see a larger view.

If you have no idea who these people are, click here.

There's nothing quite like a fangirl photo edit joke to up the geek factor, is there?

I Start Out Telling a Silly Story and Fall Down Some Kind of Crazy Dr. Phil-Related Rabbit Hole

Hubs often proofreads my posts for me before I publish them.

He tells me this one is not up to my usual standards.

I think: My usual standards? Whatever they are - if they exist.

He tells me it feels a bit like talking on the phone with me while I'm watching TV.

I think: And that's a bad thing?

He tells me I sound like I wrote this when I was feeling bitter.

I think: Huh. Maybe my sorry attempts at humour fell short... Very short.


And maybe, just maybe I was feeling a little bitter... who wouldn't be bitter watching Dr. Phil after they visited Walmart, I ask you?


Not to worry, though, I am all over happy right now.

lalala

see?

So here, darling readers, is a post not up to my 'usual standards'. It's bad AND long. Score!



So I was in Walmart this morning.

I see you judging me. Cut it out!

I needed toilet paper.


I went after I dropped the kids off at school so I was there right after they opened... The Walmart staff were still setting up their departments, stocking shelves, arriving, putting on their bright blue smocks.

I was wandering through the drug store section, looking for replacement razor blades for Hubs. There were two women working there who were setting up prices and stocking the shelves, we'll call them Katie and Joyce.

Oh wow! This post is interrupted so that I can share my thoughts about what is on the TV right now. Dr. Phil just came on.

I see you judging me. Cut it out!

I wasn't watching it, I was watching Eastwick on the PVR and it ended, the PVR stopped and there was Dr. Phil. And, yes I watch TV. If you want to use that fact to feel all superior because you don't, go right ahead. More power to ya, ya poor entertainmentless slub, ya.

They're talking about stay-at-home moms vs. working moms and there's this woman on and she's so judgmental. She said, "I just think that if you don't have time to have your kids then maybe you should give it a pass." Who is she to tell other women they shouldn't have had their kids?

Then she said, "I just don't think there's anything you should be doing other than raising the children you helped create." Dude! Some people HAVE to work. They'd love to be home with their kids, but they can't be. Some people WANT to work and that is also a valid choice. Who died and made her queen perfect mother, anyway?

Then another mom said that she has 3 kids under the age of 2 and she was looking forward to going back to work and that she was feeling burnt out. Judgmental woman answered, "I don't think catering to our feelings is really what we should be focusing on as adults." Well, let me ask you this - if we don't look out for our own feelings, who's going to? Hmmm? I'll tell you who. Nobody. That's who. We have to take care of ourselves so that we can take care of others. That's an important part of being I mom. I HAVE SPOKEN.

Also? I do not like this woman.

Do. Not. Like.

Oh and hey! Check it out. There's Dooce. Dooce on Dr. Phil. Huh.

Gah! Judgmental woman just made one of the working moms all teary eyed! God.

Oooh! Judgmental woman just got called 'sanctimonious' by one of the women who works behind the scenes on the show and judgmental woman replied that the bible says she has a right to be judgmental. Um, no Judgmental woman, I think that what the bible says about judgment is 'Judge not, lest ye be judged." But I might be wrong. What do I know about the bible? Not much, probably. Then the woman who works on the show said, "That's opinion, not judgment. There's a difference." Judgmental woman sneered and replied, "My judgment keeps me out of trouble so I'm just going to go ahead and be as judgmental as I want."

Wow. What a lovely woman. Really sweet. So full of love.

Oh! Now they're talking about daycare. I have thoughts on that: Why is daycare so hard to find and why is it so expensive? They have subsidized daycare here. You qualify for it based on your income. However, in order to make use of the subsidy, you have to find a subsidized spot in a daycare. They're extremely limited. I don't understand that at all! If they're going to offer subsidized daycare, why aren't all the spots subsidized? It's based on income, so only those who qualify would take advantage of it, it's not like they'd have to subsidize all the spots. It shouldn't be such a struggle to find a spot. It's awful. With this system the people who most need the work have the hardest time finding daycare they can afford. What the hell kind of fucked up system is that, seriously?

Hey Canada, get that fixed, would you?


What was I talking about?

Right. Walmart.

Again I see you judging me. Cut it out!

I needed toilet paper.


Oh never mind. Who cares about my silly Walmart story anyway?

Oh fine, here's the short version:

The girls working in the pharmacy? I think they were stoned. They were speaking in silly accents, making fun of the announcements over the loud speakers, yelling things like "I knew these were on roll-back! I have to find a nine! My job is so hard!" and laughing until tears rolled down their cheeks.

Like, for example, the loud speakers said, "Would all staff please come to the front cash for the staff morning meeting."

The girl chorused, "Come to the front for the staff morning meeting," in their silly accents and then they fell all over the place laughing.

So my point? Yeah. I really don't have one.

The end.

Just Sittin' Here in Class Staring at the Wall

So I'm sitting here in class and I'm done the test. I'm thinking maybe I should go over my answers again... But, really, I've done that already. Twice.

So I'm staring at the wall and there's a red sign there with yellow lettering. It says, "Please ensure lights are turned off before leaving the room." And above it? A blank metal box where a light switch used to be. Heh.

Question:

Do you think they're playing with our heads (Oh no! I can't leave the room! The lights are still on and I can't turn them off! There's no switch! Oh the humanity!)?

Or

Do you think it's some kind of deep philosophical 'if a tree falls in the woods' kind of thing?


Yep. Just staring at the wall.

I also read the side of my starbucks cup but it's not interesting enough to bother sharing.



In other news, I've lost 3 followers. They left without even saying goodbye.

What drove them away?

Is it the swearing? It's just a few little colourful words every now again.

Is it all the pictures of my kids? If so, what is your problem? My kids are awesome.

Is it me? Oh god. It's me isn't it?


I just knew it.


(totally kidding... I know it's not me - it's so obviously YOU).

Mwah!

Holiday Monday is Just Another Walk in the Park

I finished writing my research paper this morning. Yay! I just have to do some minor editing and then I'll be ready to hand it in.

Instead of cleaning the house, like we should have, we decided to go for another walk in the woods, this time at a different park.

You know what that means, don't you?

(wait for it... wait for it...)

Pictures!


Yes. Pictures. But first some stories.

We saw a woman feeding chickadees with a handful of peanuts. The kids were fascinated. She asked if they were allergic to peanuts and when I told her they weren't she gave them each their own handful of peanuts to feed to the chickadees.


I thought they'd have trouble standing still long enough for the chickadees to land on their hands, but I was wrong. The chickadees landed on their hands and my hand and hubby's and took peanuts. It was really cool.

Chickadee in Buddy's hand.

Chickadee in Hubby's hand.

As we were walking I kept noticing little purple flowers. They stood out against all the browns, greens, yellows and oranges. I wanted to take a picture, but I didn't see any near the edge of the trail. Finally, just as were almost at the end of our walk, I found some. I'm quite happy with how the pictures turned out.






I was once again happy with my fall day walking outfit. I wore my new scarf, which I think is just the right amount of punk.



And now... The pretty pictures from our walk:

Creepy old hollow stump

Cattails going to fuzz.

I like the way this tree arches over the path.

Some kind of bird or animal dug holes in this tree until it bled sap.
Very Halloween.

An interesting old log. The other side of it was hollow,
which the kids found very exciting.
("Look Mommy! A hollow log! Something might live in there.")

Pretty leaves, green turning to yellow.

Monkey was very concerned that we not eat these mushrooms.
He warned we'd have to go to the 'haustiple' in the 'ambulance' if we did.

Trees. I love them. These have the green/yellow leaves plus the arching over the path thing going on.

Marsh!

Marsh!

My very own king of all the wild things.

This neat old tree had a hole in it. Bud thought he'd poke a stick in it.
Nothing happened.

Very cool, very big tree.

I'm sensing a new theme here at my blog. It is this: Come to Canada, we have trees.


And, since it's Thanksgiving, I'll just go ahead and say that I'm thankful for all the stuff pictured in this post and all the other peachy keen stuff in my life. So, yeah, thanks!

And thanks to you for reading my blog, yo.

Kisses and hugs.

A Walk in the Park

It's a beautiful, sunny, fall weekend.

Yesterday we went for a walk in the park to enjoy the fall colours before they disappear in a pile of snow.

It was a fabulous day, the boys ran ahead with Hubs and I lagged behind snapping pictures galore. I snapped so many pictures that I've decided to adopt 'Pictures Galore' as my new drag queen name. You can call me 'Picky' for short.

Or not... because that is, like, the worst drag queen name ever. Also? I'm not a drag queen.


So, yeah. Here's some of the pictures I took:

The boys at the first lookout with the lake that the trail winds around in the background.
Such a pretty spot!

Lots of stairs. The lake is such an interesting colour.

Random outcrop with trees.

The lookout. It's a popular spot. That's Hubby and Buddy in the right corner.

I love this picture!

This is very fairytale children lost in the woods. Don't eat any candy houses, kids!

Like I said, lots of stairs.

More stairs.

I like the light in this one.

Hubby took this picture. I think my outfit is perfect for a fall walk in the woods.
Also, aren't my kids cute?

Again, I like the light.

Fall colours! Fall colours! Yay!

Happy Thanksgiving to all the Canadians! Happy Columbus Day to all the Americans! Happy Sunday to everyone else!

And I do deeply apologize for all the exclamation points in this post.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

A Lost Tooth

When I picked Buddy up from daycare on Wednesday I found a plastic tooth with his backpack. The school gives the kids plastic tooth-shaped containers to hold their teeth when they fall out, so that they won't lose them.

"Oh! Did your tooth finally fall out?" I asked him.

Buddy looked worried, "Yeah, but I lost it on the playground."

"Well, we'll have to write a note to the tooth fairy," I said.

So that's what we did. That evening Bud composed the following message:

Dear Tooth Fairy,

My tooth fell out. I lost it at school.

From Buddy.

We put the note under his pillow and he went to sleep.

In the morning, he eagerly checked for money under his pillow but the note was still there. The tooth fairy forgot to come!

We talked it over at breakfast. Hubby told Bud that the tooth fairy probably had a huge influx of teeth to pick up and she was running behind but that she'd pick his tooth up that night. Buddy thought maybe she couldn't find the tooth at school and that he'd only get his money when she found his tooth. I didn't say so, but I thought maybe the tooth fairy was in grad school and that maybe it's midterm and she's up to her ears in deadlines and, so, she's particularly distracted. Monkey didn't know what happened with the tooth fairy, but he thinks dinosaurs are COOOL!

Ahem.

So last night we left the note under Buddy's pillow again and this morning Hubby stopped me in the hall on my way out to make breakfast.

"Here," he said, giving me a nod in the direction of the kids' room while passing me a dollar.

I stared at him dully for a few seconds. "What's this for?"

He nodded towards the kids' room again and raised one of his eyebrows significantly. I watched his facial gymnastics until I remembered. "Oh shit. Has he checked yet?"

"I don't think so."

I tiptoed down to the kids' room and made the exchange, then I went to the kitchen to make breakfast. I let some time pass, then casually asked Buddy, "Did the Tooth Fairy come?"

"I forgot to check!" He jumped up and ran to his pillow.

A few moments passed in silence, then he made his way back out to the living room. He didn't seem excited.

"Didn't she come?" I asked.

"She only left a dollar," he said. "I guess it's because I lost the tooth at school... It's okay, I guess, but it's just not what I was expecting. I thought teeth were two dollars."

He put the money down and went back to his video game.

I didn't say, but I think the tooth fairy is not sure what to think about the price of teeth these days.

Quick Update

I'm supposed to be working on my research paper.

I just wanted to post a quick update and thank you all - I threw my little tantrum and instead of telling me I was being an oversensitive, defensive asshole you patted me on the back, told me it was all okay and sent me kind wishes of coffee and chocolate.

I've since had coffee and chocolate and I'm no longer in a giant snit.

So... I have an update on the whole sordid story of the little crying girl. The woman who was on the playground and first spoke to the little girl? The one who called her kiddo? Is the child's mother!

So I'm at a complete loss to understand why she let her kid flip out like that all over the place without taking responsibility... but I'm hesitant to judge (which I am SO obviously doing anyway... my bad) because you never know when it's going to be you. You know? You just never know.

Haha. I'm amused by how many times I just used the word 'know'.

I realized it's not that funny but, then, I had very little sleep last night.

One more quick thing:

I'm writting my paper about the information available online on blogs and wikipedia - information that's published with any kind of official content control, fact checking or editing... I'm looking at how information professionals assess the information, how they use it in libraries and that kind of thing.

Turns out there's tons of stuff written about this topic, which is peachy since it makes my research easier.

And my point: I was reading a book about blogs and the guy said that personal weblogs are a waste of time.

I realize that a personal weblog doesn't usually offer an enormous amount of value in the area of academic research, but a waste of time?

A waste? Really?

Yeah. Bite me.

And that's all I have to say right now.

buh bye!