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puddlelilies.com / proofreading negates the immediacy of feeling

Month: June 2010

  • 30 June, 2010 15:28

    I forgot my lunch this morning. I was almost in the building (across the street) when I realized it and I started to laugh. I never forget my lunch. Sometimes I don’t bring one if I have lunch plans. But I never forget it. I ended up taking out my supervisor to Irish Times to thank her for my year of work. The anniversary of my start is Friday. I hardly believe it.

    Yesterday I noticed many people (OK, two) using the word “utilize” when they wrote comments on-line when they could just have used the word “use”. This bugs me as it’s a waste of typing, space and syllables. What makes you so important that you have to utilize the things around you and can’t just use them like the rest of us?

    “Look at me utilizing this pencil to write with.”

    “Utilize this, you pretentious chump.”

  • I walked past a young man on the street who looked like a monkey.  A few steps later I saw a banana peel on the road.  Monkey must have littered.

    I’d like to present to you the Smitty’s in downtown Victoria:

    I think something has gone terribly wrong.  The sign doesn’t say “Smitty’s” anymore.  It says “West Coast Grill”.  This isn’t as much fun to say as “Smitty’s” AND also takes up a lot of time with all those consonants.

    This is their M.O., which I guess seems promising enough.  I like both breakfast and lunch, as well as dinner.  I guess I also should have found out if they will serve me breakfast at dinnertime, as this will be the real test.

    Oh, Smitty’s, where did you go??

  • New post!  I started Tiny String 23 this weekend.  It may be mistakenly labelled as “24” in some places.  This is a mild accident because I started another issue 23 but didn’t like it/decided it wasn’t ready for sharing.  Therefore, I am numerically confused.

    This weekend I will not be seeing Simon & Garfunkel in concert.  Who knows what I’ll get up to.

    Food:  Shredded Wheat.  Grapes!  Spaghetti with sauce from a tin.

  • I was a little miffed exactly three weeks ago when I got a call cancelling my dentist appointment.  But just a little miffed.  I wanted to get it over with, but I certainly don’t mind not going to the dentist (as I told the receptionist when I called in to re-book).  I have to be patient, anyway, since I’m scheduling appointments on my flex days, and those only come around every three weeks.

    I finally got in for my last thing today (and my face in frozen!) and they gave me a Starbucks card for being so accomodating.  I will gladly be accomodating again if it means a Starbucks card.  I also got a refund from my last visit, because I overpaid/they took to much/insurance covered more than they thought.  So I really cleaned up at the dentist today.

    Now I’m going to attempt to eat a hamburger with a frozen face.  The reason I need a hamburger at this time specifically, is because I was watching TV while I was having dentistry performed on me, and I was watching Regis and Kelly (actually Regis and Bernadette Peters today) and they made hamburgers.  I’m very suseptable to the suggestion of food.

  • Yesterday I didn’t want supper, I wanted shredded wheat with raisins.  And that’s what I had!  Tonight I was grown up and made stir-fry from a recipe.  I even had to buy meat.

    This weekend I plan to do nothing, or close to it.  Unless I find something to do.

    I have to ice my knees.

    Last year at around this time I got laid off from my job and *tippity-doo* started a new one.  That was a good happening.

    It’s summer now and I have plans.  These plans no longer include going to see Simon and Garfunkel in Vancouver.  Rrrg.  But I am going to go over and see the Lion King in stage musical form.  I’ve also got tickets for several more plays in Victoria.  Em.  Also dance classes. But these things are later.  For now: nothing.

  • Today I thought it would be good to write a story.  Then I remembered I am yet to download OpenOffice on my new thing, so I am in the process of that now.  The new thing came with Microsoft Works (??) installed, and I didn’t even know they still made that.  I didn’t want it to come with Microsoft works (??) installed, but I didn’t have a choice.  It was Microsoft Works (??) for free or pay extra to get Microsoft Office, which I didn’t want either.  I have nothing against Microsoft Office, I use it at work and it is quite jolly.  But Open Office is free, and I quite love it. Although I guess I have to set it all up again so it’s as I like it.  Shoot.  I’ll do that some other time.

    I ate at the Reef twice this week, once on Monday with Susan, and again today with the cooworkers.  “We should have lunch,” said supervisor.  “We’ll go to the Reef,” I replied.  “When? Today?”  And so it was.

  • End of dance year.  I had something poignant to say about this but I’ve forgotten it now.  Instead:  my knees hurt and I strained a muscle on the inside part of my thigh.  Ow.  But I can rest these things now, to the exent that I’m not in another dance class for just about a month.  I have three weeks of summer classes lined up and paid for, so I’ll get a mid-summer workout instead of being lazy for two months.

    I actually should be moving my files from my old computer to my new computer, but I don’t want to do that right now.

    I had the sorest of throats this morning when I woke up (at ten-to six for some reason?)  I think it may have been caused by the excess of sugary things I ate last night (cake!) but annoying since it wasn’t very much and why should I get sick whenever I have a little bit of cake?  No more cake for now (I have one other piece in the freezer I will save for another time.  I was celebrating the survival of dance recital with the first piece.  Nothing more to celebrate!)

    My apartment is hot except for where I am sitting, as I have the fan directed right at me.  Last night I lay with my knees in the sun– trying to “heat” them, right?  After icing them, to heal them up.  Also useful in the healing process is not taking the stairs at work.  Up or down, as they hurt either way.  Stupid knees.  (Not really stupid.  Get well soon, knees.)

    I got a new credit card.  It’s pretty!  I know what’s what when it comes to financial decisions.  Did I need a new credit card?  No.  But is it pretty?  Yes!  Financial decision made.  Don’t worry, however, as both of my other credit cards (both tasteful in design but in no way pretty) are both sitting at zero dollars owing on them.  Lindsie wins.

  • New computer is go.  As in “go real fast”.  I don’t have everything on it that is meant to be here (files, etc) because I haven’t had time to shift everything over from the old computer yet.  This is due to being busy with dance recital.  I’m still getting used to using the new touchy “mouse” thing that is new to me.  It’s a laptop, my new computer, so it has a touchy “mouse” area for making the cursor move and it’s weird.  I keep zooming instead of shifting the cursor around.  Vexing.  However, the enter key is right where my pinky thinks it should be, so that’s pleasing.  Same for the shift key, and the backspace key — another key I use often.  So far, so good.

    I’m reading “Late Nights on Air” by Elizabeth Hay.  I heard it suggested on the Cross Country Check-up summer book reading show.  As I listened, by eyes slowly shifted to my bookshelf, which happened to hold a copy.  I keep doing other things instead of reading, like dancing in recitals.  I’ll get back to it.

    Simon and Garfunkel has G.D. been postponed again

  • It must be because “fiction and nonfiction are very rarely published in the same book,”  (Beatrice and Virgil, page 6).

  • Review of “Beatrice & Virgil” by Yann Martel.

    I went to the library today because my book was ready for pick-up.  First off, I love picking up books from off my Holds list, because the library spits them out onto a special shelf for me to pick up, with a slip of paper marking it as mine.  “L Nic” is what this paper reads.  At least, that’s what I think it reads.  I usually remove it immediately upon picking up the book from the shelf (which I do, by the way, with a professional “this is mine” sort of way) and flick it into the recycle bin left on the bottom of the stack, just for such a purpose.  Perhaps I should start keeping them.  I could write thoughts on them, or such.  Grocery lists.

    “Beatrice and Virgil” is the new work from Yann Martel, who wrote “Life of Pi,” a book I enjoyed despite the talking animals.  Based on the cover of this book, which shows the sillouettes of a donkey and the monkey, I am in for some more talking animals.  OK.  What actually intrigued me about this one, though, was that he originally planned for it to be a flip-over kind of book. He was prevented from doing so because… well it was because his publishers talked him out of it, but the article doesnt say why they talked him out of it.  I have my own suspicions:  printing costs, no one would “get it”, it’s just too weird.

    The final version is here in front of me and the the only bit of flipiness that the publishers could let through is the cover.  It does indeed “flip,” with the back cover looking like it should open into a whole new story. It doesn’t though, and that makes me a little sad.

    I’ll get over my sadness, though, since the titling (title-ing?)  looks as though it has been inky-pressed onto canvas, and that quite tickles my fancy.   I guess I should read the story inside too, but so far I’m enjoying the outside quite a lot.

    P.S.  I also like that it is a very thin book.  My last book was too heavy.