Survey says...

I just caught the tail end of Game Show Marathon tonight, featuring a celebrity version of Family Feud. That made me think of all the game shows I used to want to be on:

1. The Price is Right (apparently two of my first words were "Bob Barker")
2. Family Feud (I would be so good at the speed round)
3. Jeopardy (but only Teen Jeopardy or College Jeopardy. Now that I'm grown up, it would be harder)
4. Press Your Luck (if only to be able to say, "no whammy!")
5. Classic Concentraion (also hosted by Alex Trebek. It featured matching and puzzle solving)
6. A Canadian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire (but only before it jumped the shark. None of this syndicated crap.)
7. Definition (one of the few Canadian game shows I remember from when I was a wee tv fan. I think it was on at 1:00 pm weekday afternoons, and I remember it being like a boring version of Wheel of Fortune with no wheel. I would be on it only for nostalgic reasons, not because I thought it was cool.)

In other news, after procrastinating the entire evening, I did manage to clean out my stinky fridge. Yay for me.

P.S. I'm going home for four whole days tomorrow!

Still hot.

Thanks to Catherine's comment below, I am nixing the air conditioner, for now. I went to the new Home Depot today and bought another fan. Then I spent a whole half hour assembling my fan. Currently it is hurricane season in my apartment, as I now have two fans blowing turbulent eddies of hot, humid air all around me. Much better than an air conditioner.

A memo to the hot shot who kept passing me on the way home from Up the River today: I saw you pulled over by the RCMP this morning. I don't think you need two speeding tickets in a short time span. So suck it up and let the girl in the little green car do her thing and pass you because you're going so slow. No need to speed to save face.

Too darn hot

It's 10:00 pm.

Current temperature outside: 23 degrees.

With Humidex: 29 degrees.

Current apartment temperature: hot.

And this is only the beginning of summer.

My windows are at the height of their openness. I can hear my neighbour's air conditioner humming and beeping away. So jealous. I may have to crack down and buy one for the summer, if only to stop myself from complaining. It's such a hassle, though, because I have to get a piece of plexiglass to fit the window, then I have to get someone to remove my window and install the air conditioner and plexiglass. And this is me, the queen of procrastination. I still haven't been able to find anyone to get rid of my ancient mattress and box spring. It's only been about a year and a half since I bought my new mattress.

Tomorrow marks the return of my work visits up the river. I haven't been up there in a few weeks. I'm sure Mrs. Hammond and her five children are doing well. Wait, that takes too much time to say. I need to cut that down a bit. How about: me work up river. Mrs. H. and 5 kids good. See, I can cut stuff, too. Doesn't that sound much better?

You're never through with surprises 'till you're dead

Holy frickety frack it was busy at work today. It was the FOH equivalent of a sold out rainy day Wednesday matinee of Anne with 100 francophone latecomers. Meep.

After I got home, I totally crashed and slept for an hour and a half. Not even Gilmore Girls could rouse me. I'm telling you, this whole getting up early thing does nothing for me. Especially after an entire week of sleeping till 10.

Also, thanks to me not cleaning out my fridge before leaving for vacation, it has developed that distinctive putrid smell again. Perhaps I shall try and verify my previous findings and see if this, too, shall pass.

Feelin' mighty mighty proud

Saturday afternoon I donned my best pseudo-scholarly garb and casually crashed a session of this year's L.M. Montgomery conference at UPEI. Rosey and Michelle were presenting, and I wanted to be there to show my support. However, I did not want to pay exorbitant fee to attend the session legitimately, hence the disguise and subterfuge. My partner in crime was Catherine. I'm still having lingering guilt about the sneaking in, but I'm sure I'll get over it eventually.

It was an extremely interesting session, and it made me so proud to see both of them present their findings to the captive, mostly "older and wiser" audience. It was a treat to see so many people with an ongoing fascination with Montgomery's works. Conferences always tend to awaken my "inner student", and it made me imagine what it would be like to be a professor, always traveling or teaching or researching. Doesn't that sound fun?

Anyway, I'm back in Fredericton now, where it's toasty warm in my apartment, just like it is outside. My vacation was enjoyable, yet way too short. I think I could use another week. Good thing there's a long weekend coming up!

Pomp, circumstance, and cheese

Friday night I managed to take in two important events: my brother's high school graduation, and the opening night party for Canada Rocks. I even wore a skirt to mark the occasions.


Picture this: sitting for over two hours on bleachers with no back support. The people behind us seemed to take great delight in giving a running commentary on all the occupants of the Field House. 297 graduates. I think it took an hour just for them to all get their diplomas, not to mention the awards. Plus, there was a girl five people over from me who was wearing my shirt. However, I thought it was important to mark the departure of our family from the public school system. There has been one of us in school every year since 1983. And I'm very proud of my brother, of course. He's the one in the red.

After a quick visit with my brother, a brief chat with Rosey, and some sweets, I headed out the the Centre to spend time with my peeps. And to eat, of course. There were lots of fine goodies there, like cheese and veggies and mini jelly rolls and steak in a bun. There was also some fine company to be had. And, I got to go for a ride in the posh new elevator. It goes to three different levels!

check out the elevator floor!

this is for Kelly.

Lazy days of summer

So I had big plans for today, like lunch with my sister and a wandering walk downtown. Unfortunately, I have a touch of some sort of illness that's making me feel less than 100 percent. So lunch with my sister turned into a trip to That's Entertainment to rent season 4 of ER on DVD, and a wandering walk downtown turned into a long nap and watching the Socceroos (they're currently losing 2-1 to Croatia).

Perhaps if I ate something I might feel better. I don't think popcorn counts as real food.

Update: It's 2-2, and someone got a red card. Tres exciting.

Reel 'n' Roll

Tonight was the first preview for Canada Rocks. Some of you may remember my reaction to the first preview last year ("I imagine that I like it"). Two of my main issues with the show last year have been resolved right out of the gate: no more "plot", and the rhyming is left for the songs. Again, final judgement is reserved for opening night. We'll see how things develop throughout the week.

The depths of despair

It was a bittersweet opening of the Festival for me.

On the one hand, I finally got to see Anne. I spent a good half hour today reciting lines from the show (I'm pretty good at playing all the characters). I was in the Anne Zone. My Anne-Bubble of Happiness was near its peak diameter. My sincere apologies to anyone who tried to talk to me tonight, because my thoughts were totally preoccupied with the show.

I'm not going into too much detail re: the show at the moment, because it was only a preview. Final judgement comes after Saturday. However, I will say that I was very happy with most changes. It's amazing how casting new actors in four main roles can revitalize a show.

On the downside of things, I was eagerly anticipating seeing the show with Rosey tonight. However, the show was totally packed, and there was room for one to squeeze in, but not two. I am eternally grateful to her for giving me the okay to go in by myself, but it really wasn't the same without her there. It was quite bitterly disappointing, actually. Also, even though Mel called after the show to get the lowdown on things, it would have been way better if she had been there, too. I was really happy to see all my other Centre "peeps", though. And a post-show Pepsi at Mavor's with Catherine was very enjoyable.

And the Oilers lost. Let's not even go there.

In my heart, you are forever young...

One more sleep till Anne starts! Woot!

I have nothing more to say.

I see a star, I see it shine now...

aka Lynda, Rosey and Liam and their adventures with the windmills and the Jesus Cloth.

We spent the whole day on an adventure up west. Highlights included blanket shopping, a scrumptious picnic, a visit to the "Jesus Cloth" church, a highly entertaining visit to the windmill interpretive centre, a nap between Mimimegash and West Point, and supper and dessert at the Frosty Treat.

The blanket shop also sold mittens. It was way too hot to even look at them.

Mmm, picnic.

The "Jesus Cloth" church (aka St. Simon and St. Jude in Tignish). The ceiling was blue and it had stars all over it. Very pretty.

The talking "wind wizard" in the interpretive center. Totally worth the $5 admission price.

Windmills!!

Say "Jesus Cloth"! (this one's for you, Rosey)

I'm a little fuzzy on how we got to West Point, but I know it involved a dirt road and a puddle.

Frosty Treat, Frosty Treat!!

On the lonely barricade at dawn

Dammit.

I don't know why I do this to myself. Some of you may remember my phase of troubled melancholy in March. Well, it has happened again. Letting my guard down in front of the wrong people is not healthy or productive. Walls can be a good thing sometimes. Especially at work.

I feel much better after pounding my feet on the sidewalks for a while, but I am still troubled. One more day until vacation.

7.5 hours of work. I can make it.

On a possibly brighter note, I had a doozy of an Anne dream last night. It was opening night, and the guests were all gawking over the new elevator, which was placed for some reason under the Aisle 2 stairs. I wasn't working, but I was sitting at the back of the theater, trying to catch a glimpse of the new Anne. Just then, two latecomers came into the theater. All the FOHers were frozen, so I started to show them down to their row in the dark, sans flashlight. The man was having trouble walking, so I reached out to take his arm to help him. Then his wife hissed at me, "You are NOT allowed to touch him." I took great offence to this, and stormed out of the theater. Apparently they made a big fuss after I went to the lobby, because all of a sudden the big brown doors opened and everyone started to leave. I was trying to explain my side of the story to whoever would listen, and all of a sudden my voice got very loud and everyone stopped in their tracks to hear me rant about the injustice of the situation. Then I woke up.

The copper of its beaches, and the silver of its shore...

Breaking News: Eargirl is hitting the road. She will be appearing on Saturday on an Island near you. Her engagement will last all week long! Contact her directly to arrange personal visitation.

Two more sleeps till my vacation starts. With all the happenings this week, I've been next to useless at work. Tomorrow we're having a planning day/love-in. The upside: I get to sleep in, because it doesn't start until 9:00. And, we get out early at 3:00!

Five more sleeps till Anne starts! I've had another few dreams, but I can't remember any specifics... I'm so psyched for the start of the season. It's getting hard to come up with appropriate musical-related titles for my posts, and I'm stopping after Monday. I started doing it in earnest on May 19th. A prize to the person who can identify the most of them.

At the end of the day you're another day (or year) older...

Flowers delivered to my office, scrumptious caramel chocolate cake, internet/email well wishes, supper with coworkers, and phone calls from home.

Birthdays away from home are hard, but it's nice knowing that people care. Thanks everyone.

12 of 12 - June 2006

Inspired by Chad Darnell (whose blog I check daily), here is my 12 of 12 for June.

The concept: take 12 photos during the 12th day of the month, then post them for all to see. Monday's aren't usually that exciting for me, but I gave it a shot anyway.



7:43 a.m. - It was a little foggy this morning.

8:10 a.m. - You know it's going to be a busy day when the first thing you see is the ominous red blinking light on the phone.

9:15 a.m. - Time for breakfast. Mmm, banana bread.

12:04 p.m. - So I tried to get in the bonus picture at 11:00 ADT, but I was swamped and I forgot. As soon as I remembered, I hastily snapped this photo of the view from my office "window".

1:34 p.m. - Free pizza for lunch, because we were interviewing an applicant for one of our vacant positions.

4:55 p.m. - Watched a little soccer action at home after work. Italy celebrates a goal.

5:44 p.m. - Went for a run down by the river.

6:33 p.m. - I was reading up on The Drowsy Chaperone's success at last night's Tony Awards, only to discover that the parents of one of the people who wrote the score are from PEI. Woot!

6:55 p.m. - Had dinner with the Gilmores.

8:53 p.m. - Went to the grocery store and managed to buy cucumber, turnip, and baby carrots at the same store on the same day in one trip. A rare feat indeed.

9:38 p.m. - Canadian Idol's Halifax auditions! The moment I saw this girl, I knew she would get on tv, and not because she was a good singer.

9:43 p.m. - The girl to Ben Mulroney's right was in my audition group. She didn't make it either.

10:34 p.m. - Spent copious amounts of time picking an outfit for tomorrow. It's a very special day, after all.

The road goes on

Toronto: Windy.

Blue Man Group: Highly entertaining.

The Lord of the Rings: Overpriced, flashy, and almost enjoyable.

Me: Sleepy and glad to be breathing fresh air.

The corn is as high as a elephant's eye

I am not a tall person. At 5'3", I consider myself to be a little on the short side. Not super short, but less than average height for sure.

Apparently I have been living a lie.

This week at work I had a health risk assessment, where they measured (among other things) my height. Imagine my shock to find out that I am actually 5'4".

That's five feet, four inches tall.

In my mind there is a great deal of difference between 5'3" and 5'4". Just look at the numbers. 4 looks so much more significant than 3. It's a whole different mentality. 5'4" is actually closer to a decent height. It's almost not short.

The thing is, when did this happen? I have spent as long as I can remember thinking that I was 5'3", because that' s how tall I was the last time I was measured. How did I get taller? Where did that extra inch come from? Why didn't I notice?

Does this mean that soon I will be 5'5"?? What would I do with myself?

A heart full of love...

Do you know how hard it is to find a happy quote from Les Misérables? It's so full of pain, tragedy, and death that happy words seem few and far between. Even the show's great love song has another character lamenting her sad state of affairs in the background.

Last Friday night I attended a student production of Les Misérables at Woodstock High School, presented by the Valley Young Company. Les Misérables is third on my list of Top Five Musicals (anyone care to guess the other four?), so naturally I was eager to see it performed live. Eager is actually an understatement. I am so attached to the compelling characters and the glorious music of this play that as the lights dimmed and the orchestra started, I could hardly contain my joy.

This version of the show did not disappoint. The set and costumes were masterful. The wonderful revolving stage deserves praise, as it is an essential storytelling component of the show, literally moving the story along in some places. I also enjoyed the use of the scrim, which allowed for unobtrusive scene changes that did not impede the flow of the evening's proceedings.

Highlights of the evening for me included the energetic "At the End of the Day", the rollicking "Master of the House", the stirring "The People's Song", the tender "A Heart Full of Love", and of course, the action-packed battle scenes where half the characters die. "The Epilogue", where Val Jean is finally at peace, never fails to give me goosebumps. I was particularly impressed by the performances of Val Jean, Cosette, Marius, Gavroche, and Fantine.

Another highlight of the production was the fabulous 14 member orchestra, under the direction of Amy Anderson. For me, part of the appeal of Les Misérables lies in its memorable musical themes., and to hear this music performed live was a true delight.

Throughout the evening, I was continually moved by the genuine, sincere effort put forth by everyone involved in all aspects of the production. Congratulations to all involved.

I closed my eyes, drew back the curtain

It happened again, people. Last night I dreamed that I was backstage at Anne. I was wandering around during the show, and I think I may have been in the show this time, because I was waiting for my cue. Many of the cast members who weren't on stage were trying to lure me away from the stage, but I was doing my best to ignore them. Then I decided to go into the house on the Aisle 1 side, where all the people sitting on the aisle seats had miniature cats in their pockets.

I did manage to buy my end table/night stand today, however, I think it's too small. I realized this while I was waiting for the lady in front of me to buy her 20 fake flowers. Did you know that 20 fake flowers have to be individually scanned? I think I'll let my table sit in the box for a while, then I'll take it back.

A little fall of rain can hardly hurt me now

It's been raining buckets here all weekend. Ordinarily, I wouldn't really mind rain, but I was hoping to go for an exploratory drive this weekend, and the wet roads kinda put the kabash on that. I didn't even feel like going for a walk, and that's really strange because usually I really like walking in the rain.

I did spend a little time dusting off my apartment therapy. I went looking for some end tables, and I found this one at Wal-Mart. It's on clearance, and I think I might pick it up tomorrow. It's really a night stand, but I think it will work as an end table, too. Plus, I think I'll go to a hardware store and pick out a cool knob thingy so I can switch out the hardware. They're always switching out the hardware on decorating shows, and I'll always wanted to do it. So there.

I also finally watched the first episode on Canadian Idol. The didn't show the Halifax auditions yet, but they did show a montage of "audition outfits", and they showed the yellow flower girl I auditioned with. I think the Halifax auditions may be next week.

Last night I watched Derailed. Not a bad movie, but not what I had expected. It was fun to watch Melissa George, who played Lauren on Alias, although I kept expecting Sark to pop up sometime. I had heard that there was a twist at the end of the movie, so of course I was distracted all while I was watching it, trying to figure out what the twist could be. I did actually clue in beforehand, so the ending wasn't much of a shock. And the movie dragged a little bit, I thought.

Next week is a short work week, and I'm leaving for the T-Dot on Thursday evening. LOTR, here I come!

I dreamed I saw eleven stars, the sun and moon and sky...

Yep, it's definitely June. Last night I had another Anne dream. This time at the end of the show Green Gables burned down. I saw Miss Stacy downstage left comforting Anne and Diana, while the Ladies of Avonlea were stage right, all clothed in black and weeping. There was a silhouette of the house in flames in the background. Very sad.

So did anyone else notice that CBC changed the design of their web page today? Now I'm all discombobulated with the new layout.

24601

Just got back from Les Miserables in Woodstock. Very tired. Theater was super warm. Left imprint of self on seat. Show was good. Show was very good.

Walked downtown today (by choice) to renew driver's license. Then walked back. Perspired steadily all the way, but refused to deviate from walking plan.

Going to bed now.

June is bustin' out all over

What's one of the harbingers of June? The Scripps National Spelling Bee.

It sounds simple. Everyone can spell, right? Even a junior high kid.

Okay, well stick that kid in the middle of a stage, surrounded by a gradually dwindling number of other spellers. Then add a row of photographers who start clicking furiously every time the kid starts to trace letters on his/her palm. Then add a row of judges, including the deadpan pronouncer (the fabulous Dr. Jacques A. Bailly) and his sidekick, the associate pronouncer. And let's not forget to have all the parents on stage, too. And while we're at it, let's add some tv cameras and broadcast the competition live on network television (with colour commentary).

Great.

Now spell sphacelated. Or formenkreis.

Can I have a definition please? Language of origin? Part of speech?

These kids rock. They've spent hours studying for this very moment. Their emotions can run the gamut from elation and relief after a correctly spelled word to sinking, crushing disappointment after hearing the dreaded "ding" when they get a word wrong. All of it is captured on camera, and I cannot look away. Oh, the drama!

I love it.