Stuff I Hate Really Badly At This Very Moment

Rage.  RAAAGE!!!  I'm seriously hating a few things right now.  I realize you're probably thinking, "Wow, Fel's been gone for a while, I bet she's doing lots of exciting things with her life.  I can't wait to hear what awesome adventure she's been on, lately!"

You're about to be disappointed.  I'm not going to talk about my awesome adventures, I'm going to write about stuff that's currently seriously making me VERY VERY ANGRY at this particular moment in time.


I'd like to start with something very simple:  My internet service provider.  It's a Canadian company that's fallen into ill-repute with quite a few Canadians.  I am hating them hard right now.  Net's down in my area, I got home from class with some important things that need to be done.  No internet.  Oh gosh.  I inform the landlady who calls them up and we learn that the service is down in the area, it will take 24 hours to get it back up.

I HAVE SHIT TO DO.  I have homework to do, research to do, important e-mails to send out for my internship that are time sensitive...24 hours, eh?  WHY? WHAT THE FUCK? I'm so tempted to write a threatening letter to this stupid company.  But that'd be wrong, I realize.  Threats are often taken very seriously.

I really don't want to get in trouble for such things, I have a long career ahead of me and we saw how Sarah Palin made that work.  So instead, I'll admit that I love birds.  See that picture of a pretty bird? Such a pretty bird! I love birds.  Fly! Be free!  Moving on...


I just got the brilliant idea to go watch more Breaking Bad.  So I'm afraid I'll have to cut this entry short before I change my mind.  But hey! It's an update! I liiiive!  And now I'm obliged to provide a better blog entry very soon.

Hate you, ISP...HATE!

The best of times and worst of times and Norway!

Woo, been quite a long time since a proper entry got posted!

Let us start this one with a recent convo I had with TwinSis.  On Monday, we'll be heading out on a road trip to Manitoulin Island, one of our favorite places to go when we were younger.  It's been over ten years since I've been there, even longer for TwinSis, and since our birthday is coming up, we're gonna treat ourselves to a nifty road trip!  We'll be spending the night at a bed & breakfast in Providence Bay.

The room we managed to get (since it's summer and those places are busy) has a queen-size bed, so TwinSis and I will be sharing it.  No big deal, we did then when we were kids, but...I have a concern now.


Me:  I'm starting to worry about...pajamas.

TwinSis:  why's that?

Me:  Well, I don't have any jammies that one would consider appropriate.  I have long t-shirts and jammy pants...but no cute little sleep shorts and tank tops...

TwinSis:  You need to tell me the state and present location of your pants!

Me:  I LOL'D!

TwinSis:  XD Tell you what: cute little sleep shorts and tank tops are SO overrated!

Me:  ...see, this is good blog material.

TwinSis:  yes, well, that was a penny arcade quote.

Me:  I know it was.  That's why I lol'd.

TwinSis:  oh!  oh, good.  it was a good line.  =3

(After reviewing it, I realize that she got the quote wrong.  HA HA HA, NOOB!)

It's been a pretty wild summer.  From June 1st until July 6th, I was in Norway again, visiting the glorious Norwegian.  I had an amazing time and we even met some mutual online friends.  I was very sad to go.  Lots of good came out of that visit, though.  But that's none of your business, DON'T LOOK AT MEEEE!!!

When I got back home, Dad whisked me away to go camping.  This past week, however, my uncle's health took a turn for the worst.  He'd been diagnosed with c. difficile, a nasty disease that's spread through spores.  We were called back home by my cousin, who was sure that my uncle was dying.  I'm not that close to my Dad's side of the family but it's still pretty sad.  As of now, my uncle is stable but they're still keeping him in a coma so that he doesn't fuss with the tubes and such.

Dad and I will be heading back to Restoule on Thursday.  TwinSis will be joining us on Friday and that weekend ought to be enjoyable! And as of this past Sunday, I'm no longer single.  Wee! M'so happy.

So yes...things are going well in some things and bad in other (less important) things.  I am happy.  And check out World of Tanks, it's pretty fun!


~Fel


Edit:  ...I'm considering getting my eyebrow pierced.  Hmmm...

Hellew, my freaky darlings!

I'm feeling rather inspired and cheerful right now, so I decided that this chipper mood should lead me to writing a new blog entry.

I'll start this off with a random quote from TwinSis.

"THEY SHOT FIREWORKS FROM THEIR CROTCHAL GROINAL AREAS!!!"

I have no idea what this means.  She just now posted it on my MSN thingy and I'm not gonna bother asking about it.  Caps 'n all.  That's how she rolls, friends.  She's also extremely adorable because she says "cuppy cakes."

So! Two weeks from now, I'll be happily settled into my friends' apartment in Norway.  Prior to that though, I'll be heading to the provincial park of my childhood! Though I'm afraid there will be hordes of black flies, but Dad has those special jackets to keep those off me.  Cuz the last thing I want is to go traipsing about Europe with a neckful of nasty bug bites.

It's gonna be fun.

There it is.  Took that picture last September.  Gorgeous place, really.

I also had a fascinating idea that, quite honestly, makes me want to bust out laughing at the idea of me actually succeeding at it.  I've always wanted to be a published author.  I like to think I have some pretty good ideas and such, but the plots and all that of my stories are intricate.  Possibly, what I should be is a short story writer or a comic book writer (which is still a dream of mine).

But then I had the idea today: Why not write some erotic fiction?The idea cracks me up so bad, I made a horrible snorting sound when I laughed about it.

I could so totally pull this off...

 

It's an amusing thought.  I'll keep it in mind.  Some sort of anthology, perhaps?

 

...who the hell am I kidding? It'd be fucking hilarious for me to pull this crap off.  I'll think about it!

 

I also got a new PC this past week.  Works like a dream! It even has built-in wi-fi capabilities, mua ha haaa!  There's only my Dad's connection available to me in this area, mind you, but it's the thought that counts.  And I'm using it too.  My monitor is 21,5 inches and far superior to anything else I've ever had, so hell!  I'm happy as can be, right now! Less wear on my laptop and lots more storage space (1 TB).

Anyhow, new Supernatural tonight! Smallville ended last week, so that won't be in the way anymore.  I heard they're doing another season of Supernatural, so I'm quite psyched about that.  I also got my hands on the series Angel.  First episode showed quite a bit of promise! Buffy the Vampire Slayer had a very "teenager" vibe to it.  Angel, on the other hand, makes me feel a bit more "adult" versus the Buffy vibe.  I like that.

I also realized that I haven't mentioned a really good friend of mine in my blog yet, either.  This would be Army.  He's picked on me a few times about it and I've shrugged it off but in all seriousness, Army is one of my closest internet friends.

Army is from Finland (of course, Army isn't his real name).  We met on a World of Warcraft server and I'm absolutely delighted that we did.  Army is sensible.  He's funny (in my opinion) and I just freakin' love talking to him.  We have the funnest conversations.  He's also my guinea pig when I need to test something involving my webcam or headset.

This past week, he let me watch him eat sausage.  Of course, being a person with her mind in the gutter of hilarity, I had to make comments.  He didn't seem to mind.  Army seems to enjoy my sense of humor, which is great! He also has a rather amazing voice.  When I first heard it, I decided to start calling him Count Dracula.  Army's voice is very deep and he has a remarkable accent.  Mind you, Dracula (the historic figure) was Romanian, but I still think calling him Count Dracula is pretty freakin' epic.

We're very good friends.  I know he'd do anything for me (within reason, I wouldn't make ridiculous demands) and he doesn't seem to mind at all whenever I go on a rant over something or other.  He makes me laugh, he has good taste in music and even though we don't have huge conversations every day, I really like that we can randomly start up a conversation and then just go our own ways without having to worry about butthurtedness such as, "OMG, you didn't message me right away!!"  We're mellow like that.

So now he can't say I never mentioned him on my blog.  He's helped me a lot and kept me optimistic and positive through some pretty tough times, like a real friend would.  We haven't met face to face (yet?!) but it doesn't matter.  He's one of my closest friends and I live a better life for having a friend like him.

Thanks, Army! <3

 

Now Supernatural will be on soon!  Gotta go watch that! Hope ya'll are doing well and having an excellent Friday.

Pip pip, cheerio!

~Fel

Hoo, it's been a while...

I realize I've been slacking in the blogging quite a bit! This entry might not even have pictures in it sadly, but maybe I'll get a brilliant idea and find a picture for whatever idea pops in my head.  We shall see!

Kinda lots of news to bring up.  I went to my Mom's for Easter.  Sadly, we got some annoying stomach flu and we got sick for a few days.  That was rather unpleasant.  I'm delighted to report that Mom's quit smoking and she's actually drinking a lot less.  Major life changes for her, in my opinion, and I made sure to let her know how proud of her I am.  Seriously, I walked into the house and noticed right away that the smell of cigarette smoke wasn't at all as bad as it used to be.  My stepdad still smokes a bit but he does try to do it out in the garage when he can.

My home situation hasn't really improved (though there is a light at the end of the tunnel).  I've started referring to my grandmother as the rotten old hag.  I realize this might make me seem like an ingrate, but seriously...she's been like this my entire life and hasn't really gotten any better over the years.  Yesterday, as I was getting ready to leave the house to go to the store, she took a look at me and told me to bring her all of my pairs of jeans because she wanted to shorten the cuffs (or is it hems?)on them.  I gave her a look and said, "No.  You're not altering my jeans, they're fine the way they are."  I personally like the slightly frayed look and told her so.  I half-expected to come home and discover she'd rummaged through  my clothes and done it anyway.

It would be just like her.

Anyhow, Dad is heading out to go camping soon.  He'll be setting up at the same provincial park he's always camped in.  I'll be going with him to help him set up, so I'll be leaving on May 25th and back after that weekend.   And here comes the good part...

When we get back from setting up his campsite (he's a seasonal camper, so he'll be set up there all summer and into fall), I'll be packing my suitcase and heading to Norway to visit my glorious Norwegian.  I'll be leaving June 1st and returning July 6th.  It's a long time to be away, but...I really want this.  I'll be starting school in September and throwing myself into it as hard as I can so I don't know what the next five years will be like, so...I'm taking this opportunity.

And the glorious Norwegian is just that awesome.

So I'm really excited.  Though today, I'm quite sore.  Dad's what we call an "old boy" in French.  So since we were preparing his trailer for camping, I went full-on cleaning mode and attacked the place with cleaning supplies.  He was going to cut corners but I wouldn't let him.  His bathroom especially needed cleaning.  He kept insisting it didn't, but I ignored him and did it anyway.  It was kinda pretty nasty in there.

There it is! This picture's from last year, though.  And he flies an American flag because I lived in California for quite a few years.  It's good to be back in Canada, though.

So! Today was quite busy.  We're also slightly annoyed because we went to Tim Hortons to buy some coffee mugs and they only sell the ceramic ones around Christmas time! What the hell is up with that, seriously?  Ludicrous, I tell you.

Can't wait to go to Norway.  I'm so totally going to enjoy myself.  I plan on leaving my laptop behind, though.  My glorious host will let me check messages and such but I don't plan on doing computer stuff while I'm there.  He'll have a lovely stack of Terry Pratchett books I can read! And there's already a movie list cropping up.  And I'm seriously in the mood to watch a certain one over and over.

This has been one of my favorite movies for a while.  No, I won't tell you why.  It should be obvious! Maybe.

I'm so looking forward to this trip.  And now my cleaning antics have finally worn me down and I should attempt that sleep thing.

Which reminds me...the rotten old hag has this daily morning ritual of banging on the front window to scare off cats or pigeons from the bird feeder.  I realized today that ever since I've come to live here, I have not woken up naturally.  I wake up startled and my heart pounding so hard that I feel dizzy.  Seriously sucks...can't wait to get out of here for a while.

Mua ha!


~Fel

Sounds Good!

And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares that infest the day
Shall fold their tents like the Arabs
And as silently steal away.
 
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Day Is Done


Music was my refuge.  I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness. 

~Maya Angelou, Gather Together in My Name




One of the things I've loved the most about growing up was when my Mom and my two aunts would come together at family gatherings and my grandmother would ask for them to sing.  There's been a recorded tape that's been passed around in my family of the three of them singing at a wedding and then at home.


My favorite song they would perform at weddings was the Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet.  I had no idea what it was at the time but every time I heard it, I would tell myself that I would hear them sing it at my wedding.  Since then, I've heard the actual song itself (and seen the older movie) and I'm not sure how they got the idea to "sing" it since I've only heard it as an instrumental version.


Anyhow, we've always been big into music on my Mom's side of the family.  All of my sisters and I took singing lessons--either through school or by taking extra-curricular lessons--and my two older sisters were into it a lot more than I was.  Personally, if I'd stuck to it and pushed myself, I wouldn't have minded becoming a soprano singer of some sort.  I'm not really one for stage fright, so that wouldn't have worried me.  My sisters and I also played instruments.  OldSis knows several, including piano, guitar and clarinet (or some sort).  MidSis, TwinSis and I all played the flute and I kinda half-ass figured out how to play the bass a bit.  TwinSis is also working on the guitar.  OldSis has even written quite a few songs.  MidSis made it to the finals of a thing called Ontario Pop, back when I was a kid.  It's a franco-Ontarian singing contest that's televised and it's quite a big deal in Ontario.


Anyway!  That sounds like bragging, but it's not.

My point is that we've all had a lot of interest in music and even today, I love listening to music.  My favorite songs are either heard on the radio or recommended from friends.  I was sort of in the mood to share a few (and to write a blog entry, but not sure about what), so I'll post a few varied lists here!

They're numbered but just for posterity's sake, not really for any order of preference.

Songs That Make Me Feel Totally Badass
1.  I'm Alive -- Disturbed
2.  You're Gonna Go Far, Kid -- The Offspring
3.  Love Me Dead -- Ludo
4.  Figured You Out -- Nickelback
5.  Map of the Problematique -- Muse

Songs That Make Me Happy No Matter What Mood I'm In
1.  Hey, Soul Sister -- Train
2.  Consequence Free -- Great Big Sea
3.  Kjærlighet Mellom Muslinger -- Bare Egil Band (Norwegian)
4.  Everlong -- Foo Fighters
5.  Badlands -- Bruce Springsteen

Songs That Put A Lump In My Throat (If Not Outright Make Me Cry) 
1.  It Ends Tonight -- The All-American Rejects
2.  Jar of Hearts -- Christina Perri
3.  Kingdom of Days -- Bruce Springsteen
4.  Ave Maria -- Celtic Woman
5.  Far Away -- Nickelback
 
Songs That Are Just Freakin' Pretty
1.  Deep Silent Complete -- Nightwish
2.  Broken -- Sonata Arctica
3.  Hey There Delilah -- Plain White T's
4.  Pieces -- Red
5.  Us Remains Impossible -- Matthew Good Band

Songs That Make Me Sigh and Go All Dreamy-Eyed and Sappy
1.  The Kill -- 30 Seconds to Mars
2.  Savior -- Lights
3.  When the Sun Hits-- Slowdive
4.  Such Great Heights -- Iron & Wine
5.  What If You -- Joshua Radin

Songs I'll Sing To No Matter Who's Listening
1.  Bad Romance -- Lady GaGa
2.  The Kill -- 30 Seconds to Mars 
3.  Panic Switch -- Silversun Pickups
4.  What's On Your Mind -- Madrugada
5.  40 Feet -- Franz Ferdinand


Songs I Really Love By Non-English Bands
1.  Je ferme les yeux -- Najoua Belyzel (French)
2.  Das Tier In Mir -- E Nomine (German with some Latin)
3.  Dom Andra -- Kent (Swedish)
4.  Il est seul -- Les B.B. (French-Canadian)
5.  Les jardins de St-Martin -- Roch Voisine (French-Canadian with a tiny bit of English)


I limited myself to five songs per category, though I would list a lot more if I could.  Some songs got switched around while I deleted some and replaced them with others.  It wasn't that easy...and most of these are all pretty "new."  The oldest song on here is probably a Bruce Springsteen one, but I love all kinds of music; Johnny Cash, Duran Duran, Elvis, Billy Idol and so many more.  This list was tougher than I thought!


Anyhow, if you're curious about any of these songs and can't find them (and if you have some way to contact me other than posting on here, be it Facebook, forum or MSN), toss me a note and I'll see if I can point you in the right direction (wink, wink)!


Hell, I almost put down my favorite Christmas albums too, but meh...'tis not the season.  Yet!

~Fel




p.s.  And yep, I once again managed to stuff in something from http://icanhascheezburger.com

Cleanliness Is Next to Godliness...

And sadly, I've been feeling less than divine.

Due to some rather blargh and yech circumstances, I'm back in Canada and living with family members.  I'm looking into getting a job and all that, but in the meantime I'm living with my dear old Dad and "that woman."

I refer to my paternal grandmother when I speak about "that woman."

I realize it might make me seem heartless and ungrateful to be calling her that, but keep in mind that saying, "You get to choose your friends, you don't get to choose your family."  While my parents were still married, my mother couldn't stand it when my grandmother would come to visit.

In all seriousness, my grandmother is the type of mother-in-law people have nightmares about.  Yes, she's that fucking horrible.

Even her grandchildren can't deal with her.  She criticizes everything, makes embarrassing comments in public and she's never happy with anything.  I'm planning on going to university in the fall and when she heard about this (OldSis told her on the phone), she told my sister that they all need to discourage me from going.  Her reasons were many.  One of them is because none of my other sisters have ever graduated from university so, obviously, I won't either.  She thinks education is a waste of money.  She thinks I'm too old to go to school.  She thinks I should settle for any job I can get and not waste time dreaming about a career by educating myself.  She doesn't think I can do this...

Needless to say, OldSis told her off rather savagely about that.  Not that it changed anything, that woman's a stubborn old thing.

Anyhow, one other issue I'm struggling with while I live here is personal hygiene.

I long to spend more personal time with this thing...

According to my grandmother, showering every day is not a good thing.  By all accounts, I should only be showering once a week.  I'm rather ashamed that my personal hygiene has to take this kind of decline and I really don't know why I'm admitting it on here, but there have been some humorous incidents happening because of this change in my cleaning habits.

Last Saturday, I stepped out of the bathroom after my shower and she called me over.  I kinda tilted my head and approached  her.  I wish I'd pretended I hadn't heard her because I got a serious tongue-lashing over the fact I'd taken a shower two days in a row and I had moved the towels.  I went back to my room with a stunned expression and a sinking feeling of humiliation in the pit of my stomach.

The problem here, however, is that...I hadn't taken a shower two days in a row.  I have no idea what she was thinking but I've been following her rules.  Kinda.  I cheat sometimes, Dad tells me to take showers when she's out of the house and such and that's worked a few times.

So my mind was rather boggled, as I'm sure you can imagine.  I told Dad about it and he advised me to just let it all go through one ear and out the other.  I'm rather stressed and not a bit freaked out by several changes in my life, but I tried to take his advice.

However, now I'm really wondering if that woman's losing her mind.

I went out for a drive with my Dad today.  It's a lovely day out and he wanted to go see a local waterfall and take pictures, so I tagged along.  On the drive there, he sent me a look and I thought, "Uh-oh..."

"[That woman] came up to me this morning," he said.  "And she told me, 'She thinks I don't know! She thinks I can't tell that she's been showering every day since she got here, but I see it! She moves the towels and when she steps out of the bathroom, her hair is wet!'"

After I heard that, I exclaimed a rather high-pitched, "WHAT?!"

Behold, the instruments of the devil in my household!

I was shocked.  Dad said he thinks she's starting to lose it and  I'm not surprised.  She's up before I am, she sits in the living room which is not far off from the bathroom so she could hear the shower running or hear me going in and out of the bathroom in the morning.  I have no idea what this towel business is all about.  I use my own towels, I don't touch the ones hanging in the bathroom, but she could easily see for herself that the shower hasn't been run.

In a way, it kinda helps knowing she's going senile, strangely enough.  That might not be a very nice thing to say, but at least I know she's yelling at me for things she's making up on her own and not because I'm actually doing something wrong.  I'm also very much aware that she likes to talk crap when she thinks I can't hear her (especially in the mornings).  But this...

Well...

It's kinda fucking funny, to be honest.

Mua ha haaa!

Some Forms of Suicide Can Be Humorous...(Read before you judge!)

My first example, before anyone jumps down my throat, is political suicide.

But there's also the option of...hmm...I think I'll call this publishing suicide.  I'm currently suffering from lack of sleep again so I'm trying to keep busy.  While glancing through Twitter, I saw that Neil Gaiman had posted the following tweet:

If you ever have dreams of being a writer, please trust me & DON'T DO THIS: http://bit.ly/hEp5LI Just don't. Just.... don't. #CantLookAway

I've had self-publishing mentioned to me several times before but I'd actually need to finish writing whatever project I was working on to actually give it a serious consideration.  However, after reading the link my dear Mr. Gaiman posted, I realized that I'm extremely lucky.  I honestly love critique.  I don't get offended by it whatsoever.  Sure, I don't always agree with the critique I receive but I'm not going to rip someone's head off after hearing them out.

Then again, comments like "u suk" or "zomg, ur french is sooo bad, i took it for high school 3 years ago for liek a week and..." tend to not get much of a response from me, but hey...it's cute when they try.

(Side note: I actually did have someone who spoke English criticize a French poem of mine.  He claimed my sentence wasn't structured properly.  However, quite a few other people kinda went "Wtf?!" at him and...well, you can imagine how that went.)


Anyhow, I digress...

It shouldn't surprise me anymore but I can't help it: that review was not insulting in the slightest and I am still amazed that some people can get so freakin' butt-hurt over something like that.  That silly author has definitely committed publishing suicide with her reaction.

I tend not to ask for proofreading, mostly because I'm not writing to impress anyone, I'm just doing it for my own enjoyment, so I don't feel obligated to ask for it.  Though I'm quite aware that I do make occasional mistakes when I go back and read stuff, so if I did end up taking it completely seriously and consider publishing, I sure as hell will ask for someone to look it over.

Oh, and before I forget...no, I don't think actual suicide (the kind that kills) is funny in any way, shape or form.  I'm very anti-suicide and wouldn't wish it on anyone.  In this case, the butt-hurt author shot herself in the foot by reacting the way she did, thus damaging her career possibly beyond repair.  So if her writing career was symbolized as her life, well...she just killed herself.

Reviews don't become gospel.  Silly girl...

p.s.  Do note that both pictures posted here were swiped from http://icanhascheezburger.com.  Gotta love the lolcats!