random tidbit no. 1

Today I said "aw nuts!" when I got stuck in the snow. And then I laughed at myself for saying "aw nuts".

I haven't abandoned you yet...

It's obvious that I'm falling back into the same old pattern. Lacking a bit of consistency as with any venture I initiate. So my new year's resolution, which will begin today, is to be more consistent, persistent and master the "follow-through" with posting...and just in general.

I have a great excuse for not posting in a while...all these wonderful holiday festivities. Well, not so much wonderful actually. Christmas at the Salsero house is a bit chaotic....there's a lot of yelling going on between my brother and I and then my mom chimes in with a big latin scolding. We get a lot of arm waving and rolling of the rrrrs. A lot of "puchica" and "que barbaridad!", each of which is loosely translated to "my goodness" and "how barbaric!"...when all we would be doing is arguing about how disgusting my brother is when he eats. I feel like a child everytime I step into my parents place...and I subconsciously start to act like one.

Christmas just didn't seem like Christmas this year. Everyone seems to be on edge lately. Lenny and I spoke over the phone a few times on Christmas Eve (we both spend the night at our respective parents on Christmas Eve...and then have Christmas together on Christmas Day) and every time, someone was yelling in the background. I would ask "who's yelling now?" and he would answer non-chalantly with "my grandpa, dad, brothers, mom and uncle". Maybe it's not that everyone's on edge actually because this is pretty typical at any of our family gatherings. Is the yelling a latin thing? Or is this culturally non-specific? I'm only half-latin but I notice that my dad (the non-latin half of the family) keeps quiet.

Christmas Day was a lot more calm. I always have a great story about male gift giving...or more specifically Lenny's infamous gift buying disability.

So Lenny gave me what he gets me every year. It started like this:

It gets better:

Imagine this card with some cash inside and you'll experience my surprise every year. It never ceases to amaze me. Well, at least the card is always different.

I have to say, it doesn't bother me much because I'm a hard person to buy for. I can even feel the tension building when he asks me "what do you want for Christmas?" So I always say "don't worry about it...whatever". But he does worry because he's gifted some real losers at the beginning of our relationship (tight red mini skirt, gold old lady watch, umbrella, the Swiffer). He agonizes and then on the 24th, he gives up and runs to the ATM...and then to London Drugs to pick up a funny card. It's actually kind of endearing. It really makes Christmas funny. And Christmas isn't usually described as funny...for me at least (see above).

science fair anyone?

Do you remember the fun and excitement of the grade school science fair? I remember it fondly. It was great innocent fun - the brainstorm...the secretiveness of it all...the suspense and giddiness the night before.

I wasn't overly inventive...I never won a ribbon but it was definitely good times. One year, my best friend and I decided to see which battery would last the longest - Duracell or Energizer. Our methods to drain the batteries in our flashlights didn't work out too well and the night before the judging, neither of our batteries had died yet...so we had to fudge the results.

Ahhh...the deception...now that I think back, I think on more than one occasion I made up the results because I left it until the last minute. Sounds like my university career. Maybe that's why I've gone into marketing...BS is my forte?

In other news, check out this cool craigslist-type site: http://www.etsy.com/
I found some great handmade gifts...and supported local artists! Do it, it makes you feel good.
An old friend of mine has some pretty cool quirky stuff for sale:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5531135

Wow - I'm turning 30 on Thursday and I didn't even post about it. Well, I guess I just did. And even found an appropriate picture.


Actually this picture isn't at all appropriate...it was just funny for a split second. Almost everyone I know has reassured me that 30 was the best year of their life...and I'm excited about the prospect. Just a little uneasy about leaving the good ol' 20's...it's been by my side for 10 good years. Well, it's not leaving me...that 20 year old with uneasy footing and puzzled faith is still in there somewhere. She's just growing up.

nothing to blog about

I've sat here trying to think of something to write about and kept coming up with nada. So I decided to pull a random quote from whatever random book I picked out of my bookshelf. This is what the universe chose for me to blog about:

"All favorable environments, all facilities for human life tend to make man more sedentary".

Say what? Okay...easy enough. Comfort leads to laziness. Hmmmm. I can roll with this.

How timely as I sit on my couch surrounded by a big ol' favourable environment: my living room, the television at its helm; sweats warming up my skin; popcorn in my mouth; and a laptop at my fingertips. The comforts that are leading to my post-work couch potato tendencies, my lack of social events throughout the week and my expanding waistline. Are these facilities for human life? Not really. Luxuries? Hmmm debatable...more like necessities of my generation (minus the popcorn).

Should these comforts be limited? No, I should be able to self-regulate. I'm not very good at it but I always have that option. I have a few friends that don't have television and they don't seem more nor less productive than me. And everyone eats and everyone computes. Moderation is key.

The author of the above quote did not intend this message for such trivial issues such as getting your butt to the gym...the author being none other than Che Guevara.

In the randomly chosen book, at the randomly chosen page, Che then goes on to talk about guerilla warfare and how common day comforts lead to nomadism for a true revolutionary. Blink...blink.

Yes, I get it, comfort leads to apathy. And Che wants us to know that a true revolutionary feels trapped in comfort. They squirm to release themselves from leisure, always seeking the difficult road.

Conclusion: a true revolutionary I am not. I just want to go to the gym every once in a while and on occasion, overthrow the comfort of my couch...not the government (the opposition is already doing that).

All in all though, I should keep an eye on my apathy level. Don't want it to reach 100% without my realizing it. You never know when you could use some cranked up guerilla spirit. Like when discussing immigration with "ignorant rabid Canadians"*.

* Thanks to you Maria, I now have an excellent way of describing this crew.