but this morning while i wait for yoga class to start, i needed to use the internet and so i popped into starbucks which (not surprisingly) was about 25 metres away from me.   i enquired into how many ’shots’ of coffee they put in their americanos.  apparently it depends on the size, so i asked for a ’short’ (the smallest) ...]]> if you missed out on the starbucks frappuccino happy hour campaign, then that sucks for you.  $2 frappuccinos = awesome (don’t even pretend that you’re not gutted you missed out).

but this morning while i wait for yoga class to start, i needed to use the internet and so i popped into starbucks which (not surprisingly) was about 25 metres away from me.   i enquired into how many ’shots’ of coffee they put in their americanos.  apparently it depends on the size, so i asked for a ’short’ (the smallest) americano with two shots.  the friendly man behind the counter then asked me if i liked it strong.  to which i replied, ‘yeah i do’.  to which HE replied, ‘have you tried ‘long shots’?’ and i stared blankly back at him.

so now i know how to have a good starbucks americano.  ask for a SHORT cup. and ask for two LONG shots.  it almost tastes GOOD.  eeeesh… how canadian am i right now..

And it has been bothering me.

I don’t enjoy going to the doctor and I have adopted a ‘wait and see’ sort of attitude towards most ailments.  So far this hasn’t failed me and I have avoided a lot of hassle, waiting rooms and expenses by just waiting for my symptoms to subside.

So the first thing I did when I noticed my finger lump, was google it (obviously).  And so I’m pretty sure I have a terminal illness.

This is why the ‘wait and see’ ...]]> i have a big lump on my finger:

And it has been bothering me.

I don’t enjoy going to the doctor and I have adopted a ‘wait and see’ sort of attitude towards most ailments.  So far this hasn’t failed me and I have avoided a lot of hassle, waiting rooms and expenses by just waiting for my symptoms to subside.

So the first thing I did when I noticed my finger lump, was google it (obviously).  And so I’m pretty sure I have a terminal illness.

This is why the ‘wait and see’ method is better than googling your symptoms or visiting a doctor:

And when Tess got a little red bump on her leg that looked like this:

I googled it and this is what the internet told me:

So there you have it.

We first started watching it during the Olympics.  No doubt along with thousands of others, we become extreme hardcore die hard ice-hockey fans for two weeks.   And even though I grew up watching my brother play in NZ, I still found it near impossible to follow the puck, let alone the players or even to stay interested for the full 3 periods.

Oh how far I’ve come.

The Stanley Cup is like the biggest thing in the NHL.  The competition is ...]]> You can’t really come to Canada and not get excited about ice hockey.

We first started watching it during the Olympics.  No doubt along with thousands of others, we become extreme hardcore die hard ice-hockey fans for two weeks.   And even though I grew up watching my brother play in NZ, I still found it near impossible to follow the puck, let alone the players or even to stay interested for the full 3 periods.

Oh how far I’ve come.

The Stanley Cup is like the biggest thing in the NHL.  The competition is split in two sorta, by having what they call an ‘Eastern Conference’ and a ‘Western Conference’.  Basically the top 8 teams on the east side of North America play each other and then the top 8 teams on the west side of North America play each other and then the winner of each ‘conference’ play off for the Stanley Cup.

In each round – the teams play best of  7 games and alternate (usually 2 for 2) home advantage.

The Canucks came out on top in the first round against Los Angeles and have just lost (horribly) 4 games to 2 against Chicago.

It was terrible.  Made worse by the fact that our good luck charms (Red & Helen) weren’t watching the final game and hockey’s nemesis (Pablo) went to see the game live AND I wasn’t feeling well.  All signs pointed to LOSE.  And that’s just what we did.  Gah.

We might find another team to cheer for (Montreal), but probably not. We’ll more likely just go back to beach picnics and lazy bike rides in the late afternoon sun.   Ice Hockey… you captured our hearts and our souls for a short while.  It’s been awesome.

since when does it become normal for one to wait in line to eat brunch at a cafe?

if there’s is one thing i miss about enzed, it’s the abundance of good places to eat brunch. and not having to wait in line. and the good coffee. (so if it’s three things i miss about newzealand ...]]> I didnt’ actually take this photo. I forgot to take a picture of our food… so i found this one on someone else’s blog. you can visit his food blog here.

since when does it become normal for one to wait in line to eat brunch at a cafe?

if there’s is one thing i miss about enzed, it’s the abundance of good places to eat brunch. and not having to wait in line. and the good coffee. (so if it’s three things i miss about newzealand rather…)

it’s also quite normal here to order THREE poached eggs (rather than two), for eggs benedict to come with fries and for a ‘big breakfast’ to come with pancakes AND eggs. (whyyouarefat.com)

My favourite place to eat at the moment is probably Sebs. Although both times I’ve been there, I’ve waited at least 30 minutes to be seated.

This morning we went to Sophie’s and it was pretty average… Review number one:

The wait: about 15 minutes in a line outside. If there were 2 of us we would have been seated faster, but we had to wait for a table for 3.

The service: it would have been nice to get coffees right away but they sorta forgot about us. once they took our order though, the food came out in a matter of minutes (or so it seemed).

The food: Pablo and Ivan both ordered the salmon lox eggs benedict which came served on an english muffin with ‘home-cut fries’ which according to Pablo ‘aren’t fries’… it’s more like roughly chopped up potato really. They both ordered a side of avocado, which turned out to just be guacamole.. not ideal. I ordered the hot oatmeal, which came with a dismal fruit salad and some maple syrup. Pretty tasty oatmeal, but nothing spectacular. The best part of the whole meal was probably the chocolate milkshake that we ordered. It comes in one of those big steel cups which makes it seem super authentic and more delicious. Mmmmm. Milkshake…

The price: about $20 each. Pricey for what you get, if you ask me.

The atmosphere: It’s cute. Very ‘diner-esque’ with cute booths and whatnot.

Ever been to a music festival and missed out on seeing the very best sets because:

a)     You didn’t know which bands to look out for; or b)     Your friend Tessa was spewing in the toilets and you were holding her hair back; or c)     You were spewing in the toilets and had nobody to hold your hair back (because Pam was busy holding Tessa’s hair back)

Well I can say for certain that I’ve experienced Situation A before, and there’s about a 99% chance I’ll be experiencing B and C in about four weeks ...]]>

Ever been to a music festival and missed out on seeing the very best sets because:

a)     You didn’t know which bands to look out for; or
b)     Your friend Tessa was spewing in the toilets and you were holding her hair back; or
c)     You were spewing in the toilets and had nobody to hold your hair back (because Pam was busy holding Tessa’s hair back)

Well I can say for certain that I’ve experienced Situation A before, and there’s about a 99% chance I’ll be experiencing B and C in about four weeks time at Sasquatch 2010.

Situation A sucks. But we’ve all been there because it’s hard to know who to look out for when there are just so many bands to see in so little time.

So for those of you lucky enough to be attending Sasquatch along with myself, here’s a little heads up on the bands that I think you should familiarise yourself with in the lead up to the festival along with my top picks for each day of the festival.

Saturday:

Miike Snow – This is my fourth most anticipated set. If you haven’t heard these guys before, do.it.now. Their most popular songs are “Animal” and “Black and Blue” but I highly recommend “Sylvia”. It’s Crazy/Beautiful. Seriously, what is up with Swedish bands being so f*cking awesome these days?

Vampire weekend – enough said.

Broken Social Scene – Canada produces some amazing music, and these guys probably top that list for me.

Wale – One of the only really awesome rap artists attending Sasquatch, this guy is a must-see. “W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E” is the best remix of “DANCE” by Justice I’ve ever heard.

Mumford and Sons – Indie folk that will warm your heart. Pam, I know you will love them. Listen to “Winter Winds”.

Fools Gold – These guys rocked it at SXSW and are destined to become very awesome. Think Western pop meets African rhythms aiiii.

The National – If you like the dark and haunting sounds of The Editors, Interpol and Joy Division, then you just might like The National. I do.

Z-Trip – A bit of DJ fun to bring you up after you’ve finished at The National.

Deadmau5 – One of the only House DJ’s attending… I think? So this is my top pick if you’re looking to observe some girl-on-girl action later on in the evening.

OK Go – It’ll be like going to a jumped-up Prince concert. I’m so there.

Nada Surf – Another Indie band that’s definitely worth checking out.

Sunday:

LCD Soundsystem – This is my most highly anticipated set of the festival. He’s just released a new album that is awesome. I can’t describe how much fun this will be.

Massive Attack – I’ve been told they’re amazing live, so I’m not going to miss it. Let’s just hope it’s true.

Pavement – One of the greatest influencers of 90’s lo-fi rock, Pavement are set to hit Sasquatch as part of their reunion tour and it’s going to be awesome. Now, if only I could reunite myself with the favorite matching denim jacket and jean combo of my youth…

City & Colour – Marry me, Dallas Green?

Kid Cudi – It’ll be worth it just to spaz out to “Day and Night”.

Tegan and Sara – They’re hot Canadian lesbian twins and they can sing.

Dirty Projectors – Tessa, you were right. I do love them.

The XX – This guy/girl duo produced the most popular Florence & The Machine “You got the love” remix ever released. Their original material is pretty down beat, but equally beautiful. I won’t be missing this.

Simian Mobile Disco (DJ set) – I’ve seen Simian twice, once was mind-blowingly-amazing, the other was kind of over the top scary/trance/whack. I’m hoping the DJ set is not the latter.

Caribou – Canadian Electronic Pop… what could be more fun?

Yacht – Go now and listen to “Psychic City”. I can’t wait to cut shapes to this set.

Public Enemy – Flavor Flav is proper crazy, but it’s an experience not to be missed.

The Tallest Man on Earth – Yet another amazing Swedish singer/songwriter, and… bonus… he’s pretty sexy.

Monday:

Band of horses – My second most anticipated gig… AGHHHHHHH excite.

Passion Pit – My third most anticipated gig…. Go listen to the Manners CD over and over and over. Then tell me whether you think the lead singer actually has any balls… because I’m not convinced. He’d give the Bee Gees a run for their money.

Boys Noise – Make sure you’re wearing your dancing pants.

MGMT – Spoiler alert!!! These guys SUCK in concert. But if you haven’t seen them before I don’t blame you for wanting to attend.

Mayer Hawthorne – Dreamy.

The Temper Trap – Oh yeah, they must be the guys that sing “Sweet Disposition”. Don’t worry; they’ve got one other hit song called “The Science of Fear” which is actually pretty good too.

She & Him – Oooh Zooey Deschenal, I wish I could be as freaking adorable as you are.

So that’s my guide to Sasquatch 2010. Let me know if I’ve missed anyone you think will be amazing. Watch this space for my review of the festival…

People who say things like “that’s easier said than done” or “well that’s easy for you to say“.

A few days ago, I was having a conversation with someone who is having a hard time coping with a particular situation he’s experiencing, as well as figuring out what he wants from life, and I was doing my best trying to give him as much positive encouragement ...]]> I’m not a negative person, generally. Infact i’ll strap on a silver lining to pretty much any cloud. But i’ll tell you what really grinds my gears…

People who say things like “that’s easier said than done” or “well that’s easy for you to say“.

A few days ago, I was having a conversation with someone who is having a hard time coping with a particular situation he’s experiencing, as well as figuring out what he wants from life, and I was doing my best trying to give him as much positive encouragement and advice as I could. Some examples… (in case you’re looking for advice too):

- Don’t sit around trying to figure out what you want to do, start doing things and at least that way you can cross off the things you know you don’t want to do. It doesn’t really matter if you realise later down the track you’re never going to be a professional rapper slash actress (or whatever you tried) because at least you tried something.

- Work towards a positive goal – at least your mind will be focused on achieving something that is good for you and giving you all the associated happy warm fuzzies that comes from that.

- Look for the positive angle on every situation. Regardless of whether it’s not the ideal situation, there’s got to be some learning, or challenge that you can benefit from.

However… for every suggestion I made, he said it was “easier said than done”.

Of course it’s easier said than done. If it was as easy to do something, as it is to speak about it, then by now i’d be fluent in every known language in the world and i’d be a pro surfer and i’d be able paint better than Kandinsky and i’d be making sweet angel-babies with Robert Downey Junior (don’t judge me).

But, the obvious truth is that anything in life worth having is hard to earn, and hard to keep.

I’m currently training for a half marathon. ME. Yes ME. Running 21kms. Something I thought that I would never do on god’s green earth. But because of that very fact, I decided to train for one, to prove to myself I can do pretty much anything I put my mind to.

So I passed on this information to my confused-guy-friend as an example of how i’m working towards a positive goal in order to focus my own life, and you know what he said this time. “Well, that’s easy for you to say, you’re always so motivated”.

Q. Is it easy for me to part ways with my deliciously warm and comfy bed at 6am every morning to go running for over an hour in the cold, dark, wintry weather?
A. Um No.

Q. Is it easy for me to run day-after-day, week-after-week, for 10 weeks, with the pains and aches and blisters all compounding upon themselves without repreive?
A. Not so much, no.

Q. Is it easy for me to forfeit social drinking occassions, leaving parties with my friends, and work drinks with my colleagues in the few weeks leading up to my move overseas, just so that I can have a quiet night and feel chipper for my run each morning?
A. Certainly Not!!

It’s not easy. But it’s worth it so why would I complain?

If only my confused-guy-friend could see the sad truth that the only thing holding him back from changing his situation for the better, is himself. Oh but that’s so easy for me to say.

And this is where it all goes wrong.

I haven’t had a relationship that has lasted over 6 months or so for the past 4 years.  (sorry if you’re reading this and you think we’ve been in a relationship that’s lasted longer…).

And my mum seems to have this fear that I will somehow go from being a carefree, happy single 24 year old to this 40 year old spinster with no friends and no husband who fills her life ...]]> Flirt > Kiss > Sex > Sober kiss > Sober Sex > Date.

And this is where it all goes wrong.

I haven’t had a relationship that has lasted over 6 months or so for the past 4 years.  (sorry if you’re reading this and you think we’ve been in a relationship that’s lasted longer…).

And my mum seems to have this fear that I will somehow go from being a carefree, happy single 24 year old to this 40 year old spinster with no friends and no husband who fills her life with cats and canaries to make up for the fact that she didn’t get a chance to have kids.

The truth is, I’m scared of this too. (Also, why do men get to be called ‘Bachelors’ and women get called ‘Spinsters’?)

For the past 4 years it’s been no secret that people refer to me as a ‘heartbreaker’. And it’s not because I’m so beautiful and wonderful and don’t let guys date me… no, it’s because I lure guys in, I treat them nicely, I do everything wonderful and nice and then just when they start to seem really into me,  they suddenly become as pathetic and boring as the last guy and I literally kick them to the curb and stick my thumb out to hitch a ride with my next victim.

For the first month I can pretty much put up with anything.  I can do anything for a month right?  If we make it past the one month… say – to two months – then you can pretty feel safe that we’ll make it to 6 months unless something tragic happens or if i’ve actually been distracted/intoxicated for the previous two months.

If we make it passed 6 months, then experience tells me we’ll make it to a year or possibly even 3.  Following that, I couldn’t tell you what happens.  The longest I’ve ever stayed in a relationship is 3 years and that breakup was long overdue to the point where i was wondering if i’d been unconscious for a good chunk of it.

I won’t apologize for this post, but don’t worry, i do know that there is something nice about being in a relationship.

one (official) month and counting…

my mum once told me (after i expressed concern to her) that i’d never be ready to have a baby.

she didn’t mean that i never will have a baby, rather that there will always be more to do and more to prepare and more money to make before i feel as though i am ‘ready’, she told me.

i would never enter a running race if i didn’t feel as though i could be ready. i remember the first half-marathon i ran, i planned it out day by day for ...]]>

my mum once told me (after i expressed concern to her) that i’d never be ready to have a baby.

she didn’t mean that i never will have a baby, rather that there will always be more to do and more to prepare and more money to make before i feel as though i am ‘ready’, she told me.

i would never enter a running race if i didn’t feel as though i could be ready. i remember the first half-marathon i ran, i planned it out day by day for 70 days in advance. every day prior to race-day was important and if i made the most of every day as laid out in my plan, then i would be as ready as i could be come race day given the circumstances (my first ever race, 70 days to prepare). i knew that if i missed a day, or two days, or one week of my plan – then i wouldn’t be as ready as i otherwise could have been.

not being as ready as i can be is a pretty awful feeling.  but where does ‘being ready’ come from? what is the difference between being capable, being ready, and being prepared?

Consider the following statements:

• i am capable of running a half-marathon.
• i am prepared to run a half-marathon.
• i am ready to run a half marathon.

• i am capable of making positive changes in my life.
• i am prepared to make positive changes in my life.
• i am ready to make positive changes in my life.

• i am capable of passing this exam.
• i am prepared to pass this exam.
• i am ready to pass this exam.

if i am capable of doing something, then i can prepare myself to do something and if i am prepared to do something then i can be ready to do something.

1. in order to be ready, i need to be prepared and in order to be prepared, i need to be capable.
2. i am capable of passing this exam.
3. i am not prepared to pass this exam.
4. therefore i am not ready to pass this exam.

i actually think that the first premise here isn’t necessarily true.  as i explain below, i think being ready is more of a mental state and whilst it can be somewhat influenced be first being prepared, i think that it isn’t entirely dependent on the fact. take for example the statement “i’m ready for anything!” doesn’t necessarily mean that i am prepared for anything, but rather confirms my mental state of being ready to take on whatever life throws at me, despite my being ‘prepared’.  but for the sake of the rest of this wee rant, i am going to assume that in order to be ‘really’ ready is possible in an objective sense and depends on first needing to be prepared.

take for example, the event of having a baby.  what do i feel that i need in order to be ‘prepared’ to have a baby?  if we consider prepared to be a practical/physical state then i would say that i need to have a male partner, some money to pay for essential things and possess the things necessary for survival (food, shelter, good health etc).  following the logic i outlined above, this would suggest that given i have these things, i am therefore also ready to have a baby.

1. i am capable of having a baby.
2. i am prepared to have a baby.
3. therefore i am ready to have a baby.

the main thing i notice with this, is that it doesn’t indicate how ready i am, given that i am prepared, which suggests (in my opinion) that being ready can be either an objective ‘no, i’m not ready’ or a ‘yes, i am ready’ and then that ‘yes i am ready’ can be further expressed in a subjective sense based on mental preparedness.

which makes it easy to understand why i could potentially never feel ready to have a baby.  i may be capable and prepared, but if i feel as though i could always have more money, a more loving relationship, a more stable environment, a bigger house, a better job etc, then i may never get to the point of actually admitting that i’m ready to have a child.

so given that i feel as though i’m capable of pretty much anything… i think i need to spend more time making sure i’m prepared.  on that note… i’d best continue preparing for these exams so i can be ready eh.

“Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success.” (Henry Ford).