I was duped in Vegas... but not the way you think!

Wow! It's been a looooong time since I updated this blog! I'm such a slacker!

Anyway, husband and I went to Vegas April 3-8 and had a fabulous time! I got a tattoo from the awesome Robert Kidd at Club Tattoo that I love and will always remind me of the trip. In the past, I've collected coffee mugs to remember my travels, but we've run out of room in the cupboards so I'm starting to collect tattoos instead!

 

Anyway... on to the duping. As husband and I were walking along the Miracle Mile (a cool mall attached to Planet Hollywood, where we were staying), I was accosted by a rep of BellaPierre. Now, anyone who knows me knows I love makeup and I have been loyal to MAC for years (they have the ONLY eyeliner that will withstand a Buffalo winter!). And lately I've been looking for some eyeshadow with a high glitter factor. So I indicated to the rep that I wasn't interested (she was trying to sell me on foundation which I don't wear) but I somehow still got dragged over to look at the eyeshadow. She told me she used to work for MAC and that the BellaPierre eyeshadows were more pigmented than the MAC ones. I saw some glitters that I liked so I let her do some demonstrating of the colors on her hand. The coverage was unbelievable! And when she told me they were on sale for buy 2 get 2 free (which made them $10 ea. instead of the usual $20 - much cheaper than MAC's $18CAD) I was sold! So I bought 4... two glitters and two pigments. I didn't get to try the shadows until I got back to Toronto... not that it mattered. They have an exchange only policy. I started with the gold glitter first. It didn't want to stay on. So I tried applying it wet like the rep showed me. Didn't make any difference except for wasting glitter due to it being stuck on the applicator. I was frustrated. I waited a couple days and then tried one of the pigments. I put on layer after layer trying to get good coverage. Then I tried applying it wet. No difference. And the shadow didn't last very long. A few days later I tried the second pigment, both dry and wet, AND with Urban Decay's Eyeshadow Primer Potion (which I always use under dark MAC colors to keep them in place). Same disappointing story. 

The conclusion: the shadows I was shown were much more pigmented than the shadows I purchased. I'm pretty pissed because I consider myself a smart person and I should have known better than to make an impulse purchase. But we live and we learn! Lesson learned: BellaPierre's got their last $$$ from me!

The Importance of Estate Planning...

This blog is usually my outlet for complaining, making fun, etc. But this entry is serious.

In early December my father-in-law (FIL) passed away suddenly. Since then it's been a mad dash to get his apartment cleaned out, funeral arranged, finances rectified. Most, not all, of the uncertainty and stress my husband and I are experiencing could have been alleviated if my FIL had a Will.

Husband and I did a Will soon after we were married five years ago. We don't have a lot but we wanted everything to be neat and clean should anything happen to us.

Luckily, regarding my FIL's estate, we've had a lot of good people willing to take the extra time to help us out. The woman at my FIL's bank has been wonderful in pointing us in the right direction and speedy in reimbursing us for out-of-pocket expenses. OASIS in North York sent a truck and two drivers to pick up almost all of the furniture in my FIL's apartment, at no charge.

Since I worked in estate law for over 4 years in the States I thought I could handle all the Administration paperwork. I was on the right track, but needed a little more help. We purchased a kit from Staples entitled Ontario Probate Kit: Everything you need to Probate an Estate. I have to say that this kit has been invaluable in getting together the court paperwork my husband needs to become Administrator of his father's estate. I was able to get the paperwork done quickly and easily. The paperwork has yet to be filed, but I have my fingers crossed that that will be smooth sailing. 

In all my Googling, I could not find a singular source which would point me in the right direction. I was mostly redirected to lawyers whose costs for estate settlement ranged from $300 - $3,000.  At those rates my FIL's entire estate would go to the lawyer, not leaving anything for his two sons. The kit cost $30 and is reimbursable as an estate expense. 

As much as people don't like to think about dying, it's inevitable. Luckily my FIL's estate was simple: no real estate, car, children under 18 or pets. Please take the time to devise a Will outlining your wishes at your death: funeral arrangement, division of property, organ donation, etc. Your loved ones will have one less thing to think about while mourning.

Incredible Nature: Longest Eclipse ~ Car Tree ~ Seed Bombs

Experience the century’s longest eclipse aboard the JetLite 737-700

On Wednesday, July 22, 2009, we are going to witness the greatest eclipse of the 21st century. A total eclipse of the sun will be visible from within a narrow corridor that traverses half of Earth. The path of the Moon’s umbral shadow will begin in India and cross through Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and China. Here is a great chance for the eclipse chasers to fly above the clouds at level four-one-zero to have a clear view of the eclipse. First time even in India, a plane has been chartered to see the total Eclipse from above the clouds. Cox and Kings, in collaboration with Eclipse Chasers Athenaeum, is organizing a historical passenger eclipse flight, which will heighten the experience the longest eclipse of this century. A JetLite 737-700 has been chartered for the same and it will remain in the air for three hours. Mr. C V Devgun, the key person of Space Technology and Education Pvt Ltd (STEPL), said…

The new aircraft hired from JetLite will take off at 3:30 in the morning for the Delhi to Delhi 4hr 20min flight. The aircraft will intercept the eclipse shadow at midpoint at 6.26 am IST near Gaya and give around a 3-minute long eclipse view at an altitude of 41,000 feet.



Enthusiasts sitting along the Sun Side windows of the aircraft will be able to shoot the eclipse, while the eclipse chasers sitting along the Earth Side windows will be able to photograph the Lunar Shadow moving over the Earth’s cloud top.

The eclipse flight will have four classes of seats, depending on sun’s visibility. Tickets cost Rs 79,000, Rs 67,000, Rs 59,000 and Rs 29,000 per seat (about $1,635, $1,390, $1,225 and $600 respectively). This is truly an opportunity of a lifetime to view the nature’s best show.

I really wish I had $4,000 just lying around. This would be incredible!

Junkyard workers enshrine tree that grew to lift a car

James of Japan Probe reports that a Japanese hackberry tree, which sprouted from a seed in a junkyard 25 years ago, has managed to lift a car in the air. "Workers at the junkyard have built a small fence around the tree, and are protecting it as it continues to grow," he writes. Video here.

Isn't this amazing? Just goes to show the power of Nature! When I still worked in Buffalo I would take the highway home and everyday one spring/summer I would pass a lone sunflower growing out of a crack in the pavement next to the median. I would have loved to take a photo but there wasn't a safe place to park nevermind crossing 3 lanes of highway...

How-To: Seed Bombs

If you want to liven up a local vacant lot or other area but don't have easy access for guerrilla gardening, make some seed bombs and throw them over the fence.

I'm definitely going to try to make some of these. There are so many vacant areas that could use a hint of color. Plus they're easy to toss and go...digging can be a little conspicuous!

Life Changes

So my friend Krysta posted her results of the HUMANMETRICS Jung Typology Test. I took the test two years ago and posted the results here:

March 13, 2007 Results - INFJ

Well, I re-took the test today and received a completely different result (ISTP):

All Artisans (SPs) share the following core characteristics:

• Artisans tend to be fun-loving, optimistic, realistic, and focused on the here and now.
• Artisans pride themselves on being unconventional, bold, and spontaneous.
• Artisans make playful mates, creative parents, and troubleshooting leaders.
• Artisans are excitable, trust their impulses, want to make a splash, seek stimulation, prize freedom, and dream of mastering action skills.

Artisan Portrait of the Crafter (ISTP)



The nature of Crafters is most clearly seen in their masterful operation of tools, equipment, machines, and instruments of all kinds. Most us use tools in some capacity, of course, but Crafters (as much as ten percent of the population) are the true masters of tool work, with an innate ability to command tools and to become expert at all the crafts requiring tool skills. Even from an early age they are drawn to tools as to a magnet-tools fall into their hands demanding use, and they must work with them.

Like all the Artisans, Crafters are people who love action, and who know instinctively that their activities are more enjoyable, and more effective, if done impulsively, spontaneously, subject to no schedules or standards but their own. In a sense, Crafters do not work with their tools, but play with them when the urge strikes them. Crafters also seek fun and games on impulse, looking for any opportunity, and just because they feel like it, to play with their various toys: cars,
motorcycles, boats, dune-buggies, hunting rifles, fishing tackle, scuba gear, and on and on. They thrive on excitement, particularly the rush of speed-racing, water-skiing, surfing.

And Crafters are fearless in their play, exposing themselves to danger again and again, even despite frequent injury. Of all the types, Crafters are most likely to be risk takers, pitting themselves, or their technique, against chance or odds.Crafters
are hard to get to know. Perhaps this is because they tend to communicate through action, and show little interest in developing language skills. Their lack of expressiveness can isolate them at school and on the job, and even though they hang around with their own kind in play, they let their actions speak for them, and their actual conversation is sparse and brief.Crafters can be wonderfully generous and loyal to their friends, teammates, and sidekicks, often giving up their evenings or weekends to help with building projects or mechanical repairs-house remodeling, for example, or working on cars or boats. On the other hand, they can be fiercely insubordinate to those in authority, seeing rules and regulations as unnecessarily confining.

Crafters will not usually go against regulations openly, but will simply ignore them. More than anything, Crafters want to be free to do their own thing, and they are proud of their ability to do it with an artist's skill.

Bruce Lee, Michael Jordan, Woody Allen, Alan Shepard, Chuck Yaeger, Michael Douglas, Lance Armstrong, and Kathrine Hepburn are examples of Crafter Artisans.

Full descriptions of the Crafter and the Artisans is in People Patterns or Please Understand Me II.


It's just interesting what time can do to a person...

Sharing the Randomness...#6

I wonder how much cat hair I consume in a day. Husband says a pound. Why, then, don't I have hairballs?

And just to be clear...I am not eating cats. It's just that they both shed so much...

UPDATE: After some quick research (and I mean quick) I found out that seagulls migrate:

Do seagulls migrate?
Some gulls do migrate, especially ones in the northern parts of the world, such as Alaska. Like other migratory birds, they go south during the winter to where the pickins' [sic] are better. The migratory patterns vary widely depending on where they reside in the summer, but they can travel thousands of miles to find better food sources. http://www.celestin.com/seagulls/faq.html

Sharing the Randomness...#5

Where do seagulls go in the winter?

I could probably look it up but I'm too lazy right now. We still have squirrels. And sparrows, starlings and grackles. And I even saw a falcon today. But no seagulls. Not that I mind. They're kinda mean and dirty. Except for the babies. They're really cute. Husband and I were at McDonald's one time, eating in the car, and the cutest little baby came up and was begging for a french fry. I woulda scooped him up and brought him home if I didn't know what he'd turn into...

I'll probably look this up later. And if I do, I'll probably share it with you. I know, I know, I can sense your excitement. We'll see. I may get distracted by something shiny.

Sharing the Randomness...#4

4. 6:30pm - I've had a splitting headache since I woke up this morning. So now, at 6:30pm, when I finally can't take it anymore, I go get some Ultra Tylenol. Pick up the bottle and am looking for the instructions (just bc I need to know the dosage not because I'm dumb like the McDonald's woman or the crazy who used deodorant somewhere other than his armpits). So I'm looking and looking when I finally see the tab on the label that says peel for more information. So I pull it back and Bob's your uncle! 500mg! Hurray! Now. Who the HELL wants to be peeling labels when they are looking to stop the mind melting pain of a headache???? The only thing worse are those damn child-proof lids. I DON'T HAVE A CHILD nor am I intending to obtain one any time soon! Luckily this bottle had an EZ-GRIP lid...or something like that. Good thing.

Anyway...hope this is at least 3/4 grammatically correct. I'm suffering through eye liquification just to amuse you people. Send money.

Sharing the Randomness...#3

3: 1:16pm - So I get out of the shower and put my deodorant on. I think, just for giggles, I'll check out what the directions say: "Apply in a thin layer...blah blah blah...APPLY TO THE UNDERARM ONLY." Really? Where else would you apply it? Let's see...what else stinks...feet? That'd be a slippery mess. Butts? I'm thinking that'd be terribly uncomfortable...and probably still smelly. I wonder if this is one of those instances where someone did something incredibly stupid with it and they had to add a warning to the packaging as part of the lawsuit. You know, like that dumbass who sued McDonald's because she dumped coffee in her lap.

Sharing the Randomness...#2

2: 3:30 pm - How weird would it be if doctors could check your blog or status update? It might say "Doug went bungee jumping today." but Doug has a heart disorder and shouldn't get the living CRAP scared out of him! Then when he goes to the doctor with chest pains the doctor can be like "It's your own damn fault jackass!" I'm sure I could think of a thousand more examples, but I work you know!

Sharing the Randomness...

So I've decided to start blogging about the randomness that goes through my brain throughout the day. It's way too bizarre to keep to myself. I'll try to explain what it's like...it's like weird thoughts swirling around, sometimes it's made-up movies with characters and dialogue, and sometimes I have no idea! Don't worry...it's not multiple personality disorder...my doctor said so.

So there is likely to be a HUGE increase in entries...albeit smaller ones. Hope you enjoy!

1: 12:15am - Wouldn't it be interesting if the US Treasury picked some people, gave them some bags and told them they could keep however much money they could grab in 30 seconds? The catch is that if you don't make it out by the time limit they lock you in the vault forever and you'd be forced to eat money until the day you die. Which, if you ask me, is a perfect punishment for being greedy!

So, there you go. First entry. I feel better already! But I bet you feel worse!

AMENDMENT TO PREVIOUS POST!

Nowhere is safe! I had forgotten that the unlatched door on the roof of the apartment building across from us slams open and shut any time the wind blows! I suppose my only option is to borrow the earplugs Husband wears when I snore!

It Can't Be Spring Soon Enough! Then I'll Have Some Peace!

I am ready to SCREAM! Neighbors are the bain of my existence. Well, maybe not that bad...but still. Tonight everyone needs to SHUT THE EF UP! I've got some guy slamming away like he's taking an ax to a corpse. I've got a whiny ass dog barking (altho it sounds more like dying). I've got a man yelling at a little girl while a baby is screaming in the background. I'm surprised the fabulous people upstairs haven't been moving furniture, dropping marbles or slamming drawers like they usually do all day and night! ARG! Time to go outside where, shockingly, it's quiet! Too bad it's -8C!

Makes Me Smile

It's HOW much?!?!? And goes WHERE?!?!?

So Husband sends me a link to the new Quattro 6000D. It's the MOTHER of all sewing/embroidering/world domination machines. All for the low low price of $9,000. Why wasn't I born rich instead of beautiful?

Well, the link he sent didn't have a price listed and of course I just HAD to know. So a-searching I go. Well, while I was searching I came across a site called BornRich.org, which lists some of the most expensive (and ridiculous) items around.

The first on the list is a DIAMOND ENCRUSTED $2,000 VIBRATOR! Yes. I said vibrator. So I check out the website. Seems the 5.25" long 'Little Steel Tonight' also comes with a leather strap so it can be worn around the neck while out and about, screaming loudly "Look at me! I'm easy!" Luckily the device is dishwasher safe.

Here's the company's website for all the sordid details. Go ahead. I won't tell anyone. *wink wink*

Paper Place Giveaway!!!

I'm so excited about this I just have to post it everywhere! The Paper Place is giving away $1,911 worth of Chiyogami paper. Enter HERE.

Who? Me?

You Act Like You Are 19 Years Old

You are a teenager at heart. You don't quite feel like a grown up yet, but you don't feel like a kid. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. You're quite rebellious, and you don't like being told what to do. You like to do things your way. You have your own unique style, taste in music, and outlook on life.

What Age Do You Act?

Because I could not stop for Death...

Soooooo....I'm driving home from dropping off brownies at my mechanic's (Yes. I pay my mechanic with food. You have to be creative when you're poor.) and I come across a funeral procession. Now, these things have always interested me. Supposedly, this is what I got from my mom growing up, you're supposed to pull over so the procession doesn't get broken up and to make the Sign of the Cross in the person's memory...even if you didn't know them... Mmmmhmmmm. A Roman Catholic thing, I suppose. But why the procession in the first place? An article by Grant McKenzie says it's

"an organized, dignified, solemn and respectful parade for the purpose of conveying the deceased and mourners from the place of service to the cemetery or crematorium for a committal service."

Understood. But do you think the dead person cares whether there's a parade or if everyone just meets up at the cemetery/crematorium? Probably not. Why? Because he's dead. When I die you can all ride in on giraffes for all I care. I suppose in a rural town a procession makes sense. In a city, though, it's a recipe for disaster...



I saw a funeral procession-ee run a red light to keep up with the group. Yeah. Not safe. Again back to McKenzie's article:

"In the past, most police officers have turned a blind eye to funeral processions proceeding unencumbered through intersections against red lights or without all cars stopping at stop signs. This is clearly illegal and an unsafe practice and has resulted in the occasional accident and regrettably some deaths."

Hmmm...death by funeral procession...that'd make a good headstone. And I think the police have started charging for escort service...although I couldn't find the cost anywhere...so that's probably an option for most. There really wasn't a point to this...you basically just got to hear my brain out loud. Oh! And I want a Viking funeral or to be crushed into a diamond...something cool like that.

So, yeah. I think that's all the gas (haha...get it? Funeral procession...cars...gas...) I have for this particular blog post. I'll be back when something else stupid or annoying happens...

Quotes: How Safe are Funeral Processions? By Grant McKenzie
(yes, I looked up funeral processions. You're surprised?)

Photo: Carthedral Hearse
(and I looked up hearses! C'mon people...you should know me by now!)

Title from: Victorian Poetry about Death
(oh, yeah...I also looked up Victorian death poetry. I'm on a research bender!)

Eating Steak, Laughing at Hookers and the Near-Fatality of a Drunk

So my fans (all 2 of them) have been bugging me to write a blog. So I figured I'd sit down and write it on Thursday...then I thought 'Why don't I wait. We're going out to dinner on Friday with some friends and there's bound to be mischief and mayhem' and lo and behold, I was right!

It started off with a lovely dinner at The Keg (American friends - it's a steakhouse). Well, the conversation was lovely, even though the food wasn't. Anyway, we were driving our friends home and this is what we see:

1. A hooker in a gold sequin skirt (skirt???...there wasn't much to it. Loincloth? Strategically-placed scarf?) proposition two teenage boys on bikes who promptly laugh and point at her. Now, I don't have a beef with prostitution, we all need to do what we need to do, but I believe the law defines the term 'statutory rape' as sex with a minor, paid or not.

2. A drunk woman trying to cross the street. There's massive amounts of construction on St. Clair, so we were redirected onto the streetcar tracks a few times. Well, the woman crosses the other lanes, goes up onto the concrete island where the transit shelter is, and then promptly falls in front of my car. Luckily my superior reflexes (from NOT having any wine at dinner) and superb Toyota brakes saved the day! She laid there for a few moments and then slowly got to her feet. She removed her shoes (as if they caused the fall rather than the fact she was marinated in alcohol) and painfully shuffled off. I'm glad I was able to stop...because that would've been one big bug to clean off the windshield.

3. At least (and I mean the very VERY least) two cars driven by drunk drivers. People, just because you're drunk doesn't mean you can drive between two lanes...you must drive exactly how you drive sober. Being inebriated does not give you special powers, nor the right to take up more of the road than anyone else. Seriously, though, don't do it...I had a family member killed by a drunk driver (he was directing traffic around a construction site...in broad daylight). It usually isn't the drunk that gets killed (if it was I'd say go on with your bad self...you're a douche for driving drunk in the first place) but the innocent bystanders. *gets off soapbox*

~*~ Intermission ~*~

Ok. So I went outside because I was falling asleep at the computer, and this couple is trying to stencil something onto the side of their SUV. As far as I know (and I could be wrong...my car painting experience is minimal...) there is no decorative spray paint for cars. Regardless, their stencil wouldn't stick because they repositioned it too many times. When they finally got it set, it was overlapping where the front door opened...a weird spot if you ask me (I know, no one did!). So then they sprayed and from where I was standing (under 100 yards away) there was nothing. Can't wait to see how this one plays out.

Well, ladles and jelly-spoons, I am off to... I'm not telling. Let's keep the mystique. *wink*

[[PS I am to lazy to proofread today...I apologize for any typos]]

And the Unidentified Omnipotent Being (UOB) Said "Let There Be Colds" (what a bastard)

I am sick. I am chest-wracking, head-pounding, phlegm-gagging, face-hurting, ear-aching sick with a capital "S." And, of course, this comes during the busiest (and most important) two weeks I've had in six months. It never happens that you get sick when you have time to lay around and recover. Instead it festers and waits until you schedule attendance at an art show opening, a craft fair, two doctors appointments and a week-long trip to see your parents in NYC. Seriously, Cold, I wasn't doing anything last week.

So I'm drinking tea (which I dislike) and taking Robitussin cough syrup pills (because liquid cough syrup makes me throw up) which really go down well when you throat feels like it has the circumference of a penny. I just made a pot of coffee out of desperation...caffeine and habit withdrawal. The first thing I do in the morning is make coffee (write this down if you're planning to poisoning me). This morning I made tea, which felt weird and wrong. I'm surprised that I even made it properly...I was half awake and I probably only make tea twice a year when I'm sick (or when hubby's sick - because I make it best according to him).

Anyway, I'm miserable so you get to be miserable with me. Sounds fair. And misery loves company.

I was, however, thoroughly amused by today's cartoon on Explosm.net. Being we're sharing misery, I figure I'll share this too. You can thank me for the levity later.


Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net

So, with that, dear friends, I bid you adieu. If I die from this disease (or if one of you sneaky little monkeys succeeds in poisoning me), my Executor/Executrix will be contacting you posthaste to divide my earthly possessions. Farewell!

PS Iron Man ROCKED HARDCORE! Go. See it now. Go. Shew. Go. GO! How many times do I have to tell you?!?!? GO! Ok. Farewell...again...part two....bye.

Foot Suffocation, Bananas and Monkeys...Just TRY not reading this!

You know it's going to be a great day when one of the first tasks of the morning is to pull a quarter-inch piece of glass out of your bare foot. What makes this even more interesting is the fact that you have absolutely no idea where the offending glass came from, causing you to tiptoe around, hunched over, inspecting the floor for the glass' friends and family. You think to yourself, I haven't broken anything recently...I broke something a month or so ago, but surely I cleaned everything up... Regardless of how hard you try, you just can't get all of it...and I'm the one who usually steps on it.

DH will say that it's because I have a vehement aversion to socks. He would too if he felt like his feet were being suffocated!

While I'm on the topic of things which annoy me (like glass in feet), I came across a news item (on MSN, I believe) about 11 students being suspended for dressing up like bananas and a monkey and running around school. They were suspended for 7 days, longer than a few kids were for fighting. What is going on? When I was in high school we were constantly doing something. One year for senior prank day a friend of mine let a chicken loose inside the school. On non-senior-prank-days, we'd get out of class, tilt a garbage can against a classroom door, knock, then run away. The teacher would open the door...and BAM! garbage everywhere. This is how we spent our time in our little farm community.

But a couple of years ago, while I was visiting family, I went to my old high school in an attempt to see my former art teacher. The place was locked down like Rikers. I was called into the office (not a big deal...I've spent a lot of time there) when I tried to walk down the hall to the art room. I wasn't allowed into the school at all...no visitor's pass, no escorted walk to the room with a security guard...I was flat out denied. I even tried explaining I was alumni, on the Honor Society, president of several clubs, did the morning announcements and that a painting I did hung in the art room I was trying to get to! No dice. I had to wait in the hallway outside the office and accost my teacher as she was going to lunch. Classy.

I looked at the kids as they were changing classes. There was no life to them. Although, how excited can you get when you feel like you're in prison? I used to sneak out of gym class to go paint in the art room...no chance of any of those kids doing that these days. It's sad, really. As if high school isn't hard enough...

Well, my serious diatribe is over. You can all breathe a sigh of relief now. Go watch some cartoons to lighten the mood.