Groundhog Hangover

Had a lovely time Friday night, didn't go TOO overboard, and made a few new friends among the bottles on the liquor store shelf (Darling Kiwi Cuvee, it was a pleasure to make the acquiantance of a nice $10 Sauv Blanc such as yourself!). We got home at about 10:30, I stayed up 'til about 1:00 chatting and laughing with my oldest and dearest friend April, who lives out of town (she came up for the event and crashed at my place). Good times. But then, in spite of my reasonably moderate behaviour...I was struck with the dreaded disproportionately horrible hangover.

I woke up at 7:45 with a headache. Had a shower. Felt a little better. Drank some water. Sat on the couch watching TV with Allan. Suddenly, while Alyssa Milano was talking about the skin-clearing miracle of Proactiv, I bolted to the loo and promptly dehydrated myself. Hauled ass back to bed....

I woke up at about 10:00. Sipped a little glass of water slowly and with some trepidation...but my head was still aching, and I knew it was from lack of fluids. Okay, okaaaaaayyyyy.......no. Not okay. That water went down the sink too, while my husband made some crack about Alyssa Milano not even being on the TV this time. Hauled ass back to bed.....

I woke up at 12:30, and was a little sad to realize that I wasn't going to make it to the Farmer's Market this morning. Stomach felt slightly better, but head was still sore, and I had that general weak achy feeling. Water was no problem to keep down, and I even attempted toast, although after about 5 bites I put the rest away for later, which my friend found amusing (she had just recently woken up, and was feeling...not great, but able to drink coffee, at least. Ugh, my stomach lurched at the thought of coffee....). I sat on the chair with cat in lap, and waited for the day to just go away. I soon realized that the day wasn't going fast enough like that. So, hauled ass back to bed.....

I woke up at 2:30. Felt halfway human, able to finish my toast and some more bland food, and even felt like I could join April and Allan in running into town in my car to pick up theirs (we left their cars in town and cabbed home). We'd then say goodbye to April and pick up some groceries before returning home. Well, despite feeling like I'd rather be under a rock (or possibly dead) the whole time, I made it to town all right. However, when we got to the cars and Allan bravely offered to pick up the groceries himself (he doesn't like grocery shopping, and it's particularly painful on Saturdays with the extra-long lineups), leaving me to drive straight home, I took him up on it. *sigh* Yes, folks, he's a keeper!

So, the rest of my day was spent lounging on the couch watching Dexter and Battlestar Galactica (doing my crossword while the latter was on...just can't seem to get as excited about Battlestar as Allan is...I mean, I recognize that it's a good show, and I'm following the general plot, but it doesn't really grab me), and slowly returning to the land of the living. Right now, I'm about 90% there.

So, yeah, I think my liver will be getting a nice, long break for the next couple of weeks. Hopefully, she'll be all nice and regenerated in time for the office Christmas party....

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Oh, yes, boys and girls--it's almost that day! The day you've all been waiting for! Okay, the day I'VE been waiting for. Yes, tomorrow is the Nova Scotia Liquor Commission's Annual Wine, Beer and Spirits Showcase! For three blissful hours, I will be surrounded by tables featuring over 100 different sorts of beverages, all free for the sampling. The possibilities? Endless, my friends!

With my wonderful husband and our friends in tow, we shall proceed to sample until we can no longer stand on our own two feet. The cost of admission, $30 each. Cab ride home, $25. Annual Wine, Beer and Spirits Showcase experience? Priceless. It's our third time going to this event...The first year, I ended up in rough shape...and very thankful that the room we crashed in had an ensuite bathroom (I'm pretty sure I cleaned up after myself quite well...if not, my apologies to Steve and Kirsty!). My own damned fault; when the announcer said "Ladies and gentlemen, the showcase will be ending in 15 minutes," my intoxicated self interpreted it as, "Ladies and gentlemen, for the love of pete, drink as fast as you can before the bastards put it away!!!" Last year, I held up pretty well...my dear husband, however, was damned near incoherent. Maybe this year, we'll both be well-behaved...or the opposite?

An interesting twist this year, though. My good-hearted but at times painfully mopey co-worker, who has become a part of my regular social crew (to my occasional chagrin), will be at this event. As well, my boss has decided that he's going, too! Not that I'm too worried about getting trashed in front of the boss--it's a small office, we've already seen everybody at their worst. But...it will be interesting. I'm just not used to hanging around with the boss-man in a non-work social setting (work parties aside). Anyway, I don't think the presence of co-workers will affect my social time too much...I would prefer a little more separation of work life and social life, but what can I do when the co-worker befriends my friends? *sigh*

Anyway, that's my exciting Friday night...I'd better enjoy it, 'cause I don't have many of those in the run of a year!

Well, since everyone else is doing it...

All right, here's my Top 5, in no particular order. I'm not ambitious enough to go looking for photos, I'm afraid, so you'll just have to use your imaginations. Trust me, that works juuuust fine...

1. Clive Owen - The accent, the smouldering looks, what's not to love?! I still think he would have made a better Bond than Daniel Craig...but that's probably just my special valley talking.

2. Edward Norton - Mmmm, he just seems so intense and intelligent-hot. I choose to ignore the rumours that he's a bit of an asshole on the set.

3. Robert Downey Jr. - A fairly recent addition to my lust...I mean...list. Growing up has really agreed with him. Aged like fine wine.

4. You know what? Seth mothereffin' Green rocks my world. He's gingery cute, has a great sense of humour, and seems like a genuinely nice guy. Love, love, love him. The character of Chris Griffin tests my love a wee bit, but I can deal with it.

5. I creep myself out a teensy bit by even saying it, but damned if Daniel Radcliffe doesn't turn me the hell on. I love his big baby blues (ugh, I know, emphasis on "baby"), and I'm a sucker for the British accent (see #1). And hey, he sure looks like a man when he's starkers on stage. I recently caught a bit of one of the first Harry Potter films and felt like a horrible, horrible person...but then I saw that picture on Pajiba's list of men Dustin thinks gay men go for, and it all came flooding back. I wanted to rip that leather vest thingy right off his chest (*ahem* In my defense, it was a really hideous vest).

Bonus team-switching pick: Portia DeRossi. She's funny, hot as hell, and has hair that I want to bury myself in. Also, I figure that if I'm going to experiment, it ought to be with someone who knows what she's doing.

Ahh, Almost-Saturday!

Mmm, it's the cusp of the weekend. Delicious Saturday awaits--I'll wake up at about 9:30, maybe lounge in bed with my rather adorable husband Allan for a bit, then get up and head to the Farmer's Market. There, I'll meet my friend (a.k.a. my "Market Husband," since the real one doesn't enjoy the Market at all) and his girlfriend, maybe another couple of buddies will show...we'll chat with the vendors and grab some fair-trade coffee and breakfast, and just sit and be mellow. Ahhh, bliss. Last time the Market Husband and I were there, we sat around talking 'til closing time (1:00 pm), and we went home with free bread (one couple didn't want to pack all of their wares to take home with them!) and an apple pie (just because we offered one of the ladies our assistance fixing her car). It's just so nice to be part of a lovely little community like that! I love my Market buddies!

Then, it's home to my husband, our critters, and the crossword. Every Saturday, three generations of my family sit down to the NY Times crossword puzzle (consequently, every Sunday, my dad, grandma, and I consult each other to check our answers). It's a couple of hours of relaxing, positively brain-tingling wordplay. (Speaking of which, dammit, I still have to watch Wordplay! I gave it to my dad for his birthday with the express purpose of borrowing as soon as he was done watching. Yeah, I'm a selfless gift-giver.... Anyway, Allan is watching Hellboy right now, so I guess it'll have to wait....)

*sigh* Yup, I love these selfishly fabulous Saturdays. Honestly--the thought of having to give them up for another person is the best mo-fo birth control a gal could ever dream of!

Vagina-in-Pajiba Redux

I’m giddy as a schoolgirl--my Scorpion King / XXX review is on Pajiba today! It was really exciting being part of the Paheeeeba day contributions, but it’s a little bit scary to see something I’ve done all by myself up there.

Thanks to the Boozehound Cinephile for the inspiration, and apologies for taking your style and turning down the classiness level a notch or two. French .75s on me, my friend! Thanks also to Dustin for posting my little piece, and for creating this awesome site that spawned an equally awesome community!

I have to say, I don’t know how those guys manage to put together a lovely, polished piece every day, or even every week, and still hold down a job. How I envy you naturals. Took me ages to cobble together something halfway coherent.

The Slack-ass Naturalist Chronicles 2: Gannets

All right, for any of you who may have given me the benefit of the doubt as to just how much of a geek I really am, well...sorry. I'm a member of the Nova Scotia Bird Society, and attend birdwatching field trips pretty well every month of the year. With people whose median age is roughly double my own. *sigh* I know, but they're an awesome group, and it really is nice to get out and geek out now and then. I'd never get up the ambition if I didn't have an excuse to do so, and I want to learn more about ID-ing birds--it's a skill that I can use at work--and what better way than to go out with way more experienced birders than myself?!

November's field trip was to the Canso Causeway, where billfish on their annual migration tend to congregate. These billfish are a great food source for local birds--Bald Eagles and Gannets and many species of gulls among them. Unfortunately, the Causeway is about 2 hours' drive from home, which means I had to get up at 6:00 on a mother-effing Saturday morning, AND give up my beloved weekly pilgrimage to the local Farmer's Market. This is why I don't often go birding on my own--am not a morning person. It's a testament to my husband's awesomeness that he not only humours this silliness, he even joins me for some of the trips despite his better judgement (and takes great pictures, which I never think to do).

So, these are Gannets in action. The Gannet is lovely bird, bit bigger than a seagull, and as my dear lordhelmet can tell you, they wet their nests. (For the rest of you, look up the Monty Python bookstore sketch--it's great!) Gannets have the absolute coolest method of catching their food in the whole freakin' animal kingdom. Oookay, here's hoping I've correctly figured out how to install a video thingy into my blogamabob....




So if that didn't work...er...trust me, it's awesome. Basically, when fishing, they tuck in their wings and plunge into the water as they'd been shot. Great show, especially when there are hundreds of them feeding all at once!

Oh, the eagles put on a good display too. I'm a bit blase about them, since they're not uncommon around here, but to see them by the dozens (we counted about 100 over the course of the morning) is pretty freakin' cool.

So, all in all, a neat way to spend a weekend morning, lost hours of sleeping in aside (made up for that by sleeping 'til noon on Sunday...well, technically 11:00, thanks to the time change). Didn't hurt that Dave and Mary, the couple who leads the field trip, also hosted a spectacular lunch at their place after the field trip.

\geekitude (for now)

Putting the vagina in Pajiba.....

It's happening today. So excited...more than a little nervous...but mostly, very proud of how we've pulled it together. Special props to the incredible and organized Sofia on that front!

Hope everybody enjoys it.