pocket shrapnel

i was walking past the speaker's corner machine in the public library downtown and i caught a glimpse of one of the questions that is supposed to "inspire" you to record your thoughts for the local tv station, the new pl.

what do you think of the proposed $5 coin?

now, while i enjoy coins as much as the next person, i see two glaring drawbacks to a $5 coin:

a. as with the $2 coin, the evil vending machine conglomerate will see this is as license to charge more for their goods and services. or perhaps, they will go japan-style and start selling more big-ticket items.

b. it will be more difficult to tip strippers. not that i tip strippers, but if i ever were to tip a stripper, i wouldn't want to tip a large amount. with a $5 coin, the lowest stripper tip would have to be a $10 bill. that, or strippers will have to start incorporating a coin toss into their acts. maybe they already have. it just doesn't seem convenient.

thank you fat lady

the weather is gorgeous. sunny, blue sky, 17 degrees. i was in a weird mood today and decided i wanted some sugar, so i had my friend drop me off at william's coffee pub, so i could get some cheesecake or something. when i got to the dessert counter, there was a fat woman with her fat husband and their soon-to-be fat daughter standing in front of me.

fat woman: oh, the pieces are big
fat man: that's great
fat child: (giggle)

and that cinched it. i walked out. i've never felt so repulsed by food before. i've become way more conscious about gaining weight lately, and i feel like i should just go with it. i know i'm not fat, but boy, the way i eat, i could be. i've been lucky, but that won't hold out forever. sigh.

on a (somewhat) lighter note, i saw sin city last night. it was so stylish and slick. and so sleazy film noir.

current book: the life and times of the wicked witch of the west by gregory maguire. very good. people have asked me if it's funny, and when i tell people about it, it sounds really funny, but within the context of the book, it's just a story about an unpopular girl growing up. ugly, but very smart and cynical.

toronto rock city

just got back from a weekend in toronto. it was great to get out of london if only for a few days. now i have to do some liver detox unfortunately. friday night i went to a wine bar called idoru (or idaho, depending on who you talk to). it's a very lovely little place on roncesvalles, with shockingly brave white couches. after some great sangria, we all headed back to andrew and meadow's to have more beer. this was a most unfortunate choice on my part. i ended up passing out around 1am.

the next day, had breakfast at a cute place called mitzi's. asked my good buddies to take me to ikea. got to ikea. asked my good buddies to take me home. too hungover to look at swedish furniture. picture my heart breaking. months of wanting to go to ikea, i go, and i wanna barf. sigh.

then saturday night, we went to the gladstone for karaoke. andrew wow'd 'em with "just a gigolo"; andrew and geoff did a great version of "rawhide"; and i did "calendar girl" by neil sedaka. the karaoke guy even sang harmony with me. it was hilarious. oh how i miss going to karaoke. i remember tuesday nights in osaka, going bowling and then to karaoke.

sunday morning went to a place called the beaver cafe: lots of pictures of the national animal, some gnawed wood and fantastic food. and nobody cracked a joke about the name. which kinda struck me odd, but maybe i was hanging out with grownups. it's known to happen.

walked around roncesvalles area, which has a large polish community. saw a beflowered statue of the pope. there were a lot of people wearing black and a few strange families taking pictures of their kids in the flowers.

seriously considering moving back to toronto to give it another shot. knowing people makes things easier. we shall see...

google me, google you

i decided to image google some friends of mine to see if there were any photos of them on the internet, and apparently i have some famous friends. on the other hand, i suck. when i googled me, there were a bunch of old black and white photos of families in full-length bathing suits and 1970s sears portrait shots of women in their 40s.

and in other news, my personal chef and one of my best friends has gone newf. dr. christopher james lockett is now a member of the memorial university of newfoundland crew. cod tongues and screech 4 life! i'm happy and a sulky baby at the same time. on the upside is a free place to stay in st. john's. on the downside is no more gourmet meals to look forward to. props to the mun man.