PICS
Merry Xmas everyone. Whatever you're doing today, whether it's holiday stuff or work stuff or relaxing stuff, I hope you enjoy it & go to bed happy tonight.
If you think you like someone, tell them before you miss your chance.
I am relaxing at home and cleaning up the apartment after an exhausting few weeks at work. I had a lot of fun, ran around the store so many times I'm sure I logged the equivalent of a marathon, I drank a lot of coffee & yerba mate, ate a lot of treats, gave a Secret Santa gift & treated myself to a few things... it was a fulfilling month. Even with the odd power struggle (as another put it).
I ordered a pizza online and I really hope the pizza place is actually open and delivering my food.
[Edit 2hrs later... I called them after an hour and they weren't open. Boo Megabite. So I went for a walk and found Papa John's open. Yay Papa John's! I also found 7-11, many Asian produce stores, and bubble tea open.]
What are you doing today? If you're celebrating something, what are you celebrating and how?
And if you have one, what is your favourite holiday tradition? Mine is getting a wall calendar from my mum for the next year. She always chooses a different theme and it's fun to see what she comes up with for me and my brother. For 2012 it is sleeping kittens. 2011 was (is) Polish landscapes. 2010 was guinea pigs in pastoral portraits. 2009 was extreme ironing (because I hate ironing). I can't remember before that...
Fun Facts!
(Or, Little-Known Yulia Quirks & Habits)
I check that my alarm is properly set several times before I go to bed, at different times. I used to be really bad about sleeping through things and am determined to not be that girl again, hence the checking. I also usually put my phone (my alarm) far enough away from the bed that I have to get out of bed to turn the noise off.
My favourite kids' book (novel, not picture book) is "Awake & Dreaming" by Kit Pearson. I've read it so many times but I don't own it anymore; it must have gotten sot in one of my many moves. I should really just buy a new copy.
My favourite book overall is "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte.This, I always have a copy of. I used to have many…
Even though my bed is a double/full, I only have king-sized blankets and quilts. This is on purpose, because cozying down in oversized blankets and quilts is one of the greatest things in life.
I can't listen to The Rapture because they remind me of my first bad drug experience, which was also my last. I also can't watch Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas. I once dated a guy who teased me that it was because I had a bad toaster encounter, but trust me that's not true at all.
The only negative comment I got on my recent work review was "she needs to calm down" from an anonymous coworker, which I found hilarious. If you know me you probably will too.
I work in a kitchen sometimes. I'd much rather accidentally slice open my finger than burn myself. I hate burns! I got one today, tiny but it stung so badly. It doesn't hurt anymore though.
Toenails kinda gross me out. I always have nailpolish on mine so when I'm barefoot I can be all "oh, nice colour!" instead of "ugh, toenails!"
I have sweet-talked my way out of several minor tickets and the only ticket I've ever gotten was a $20 parking ticket. (Fact: iTunes-on-random chose Judas Priest, "Breakin the Law" as I wrote that.)
I cried when I saw David Bowie live. Only for a minute though.
I'm actually mildly pissed I didn't win the Halloween costume contest at work with my crazy cat lady getup. Maybe I should have gone with roadkill?
That's all for today!
Can't give it all away!
(Or, Little-Known Yulia Quirks & Habits)
I check that my alarm is properly set several times before I go to bed, at different times. I used to be really bad about sleeping through things and am determined to not be that girl again, hence the checking. I also usually put my phone (my alarm) far enough away from the bed that I have to get out of bed to turn the noise off.
My favourite kids' book (novel, not picture book) is "Awake & Dreaming" by Kit Pearson. I've read it so many times but I don't own it anymore; it must have gotten sot in one of my many moves. I should really just buy a new copy.
My favourite book overall is "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte.This, I always have a copy of. I used to have many…
Even though my bed is a double/full, I only have king-sized blankets and quilts. This is on purpose, because cozying down in oversized blankets and quilts is one of the greatest things in life.
I can't listen to The Rapture because they remind me of my first bad drug experience, which was also my last. I also can't watch Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas. I once dated a guy who teased me that it was because I had a bad toaster encounter, but trust me that's not true at all.
The only negative comment I got on my recent work review was "she needs to calm down" from an anonymous coworker, which I found hilarious. If you know me you probably will too.
I work in a kitchen sometimes. I'd much rather accidentally slice open my finger than burn myself. I hate burns! I got one today, tiny but it stung so badly. It doesn't hurt anymore though.
Toenails kinda gross me out. I always have nailpolish on mine so when I'm barefoot I can be all "oh, nice colour!" instead of "ugh, toenails!"
I have sweet-talked my way out of several minor tickets and the only ticket I've ever gotten was a $20 parking ticket. (Fact: iTunes-on-random chose Judas Priest, "Breakin the Law" as I wrote that.)
I cried when I saw David Bowie live. Only for a minute though.
I'm actually mildly pissed I didn't win the Halloween costume contest at work with my crazy cat lady getup. Maybe I should have gone with roadkill?
That's all for today!
Can't give it all away!
(There, that is your soundtrack to this entry.)
SO! My dear SG,
3 years ago today my first set went live on the front page. And it's been a trip since then, from this
to this
and this
to this
and also this
(which is still waiting for its day in the sunshine & you can of course help with that!)
Thanks Shazzy & Cherry for shooting the above, and also Lavonne for shooting something you haven't seen yet and thus is not represented here.
In the meantime, I have been listening to a lot of Leonard Cohen, eating a lot of winter squash, and marvelling at my apartment's magical ability to fluctuate between tropical and freezing, all while ignoring what I tell the thermostat to do.
Oh and basking in the simple pleasures of a secret crush. It's been a long time coming (my having a crush again, not this particular crush, since months ago how could I have known we'd meet).
All is well! I hope it is with you too!
What did you dress up as for Halloween?
I decided this was my year to do the crazy cat lady. Since I wanted to wear my costume to work, the idea was partially motivated by my desire to wear something comfortable, which morphed into the goal of wearing pajamas to work, which resulted in…
The white cat hanging off my shirt I've had since I was a baby! I'm also proud of my hairdo, which had to meet the requirements of being tied back and covered so I wouldn't be told to put my hat on and ruin my costume.
Sometimes I just meowed at people if I didn't feel like talking. It's a crazy cat lady, right?
I didn't really do anything after work because Halloween was also my Friday, so I just wanted to relax. I ended up relaxing so hard that I didn't notice a police standoff start outside around 11pm until the next morning when I was taking out some garbage. Some guy in an apartment on the neighbouring block holed himself up "distraught" (that's all the news says) with weapons. They closed off the whole main street for a few blocks and this lasted about 20 hours. I had errands to do and every time I left or came back I had to duck under police tape on the hill right outside. No one ever yelled at me for doing it, so I guess it was there to prevent non-local foot traffic and not to keep residents in or out. All is back to normal now and the guy reportedly gave himself up.
I'm not saying "go crime" or anything but it WAS pretty neat watching the cops and all the assorted emergency vehicles from my roof! There was a cop on a roof a few buildings down, presumably the building the guy was in, and while he could have been just a cop guarding the roof I took to calling him the sniper because it sounds crazier.
Also, my cat Heidi is really cute.
She has discovered hiding in the closet on a shelf. This would be fine if she didn't knock everything off the shelf on her jump down! I think she does that on purpose. So now I'm extra careful to close the closet door when I'm done putting away laundry or whatever. Take that, cat!
Be content with cuddle time instead.
I decided this was my year to do the crazy cat lady. Since I wanted to wear my costume to work, the idea was partially motivated by my desire to wear something comfortable, which morphed into the goal of wearing pajamas to work, which resulted in…
The white cat hanging off my shirt I've had since I was a baby! I'm also proud of my hairdo, which had to meet the requirements of being tied back and covered so I wouldn't be told to put my hat on and ruin my costume.
Sometimes I just meowed at people if I didn't feel like talking. It's a crazy cat lady, right?
I didn't really do anything after work because Halloween was also my Friday, so I just wanted to relax. I ended up relaxing so hard that I didn't notice a police standoff start outside around 11pm until the next morning when I was taking out some garbage. Some guy in an apartment on the neighbouring block holed himself up "distraught" (that's all the news says) with weapons. They closed off the whole main street for a few blocks and this lasted about 20 hours. I had errands to do and every time I left or came back I had to duck under police tape on the hill right outside. No one ever yelled at me for doing it, so I guess it was there to prevent non-local foot traffic and not to keep residents in or out. All is back to normal now and the guy reportedly gave himself up.
I'm not saying "go crime" or anything but it WAS pretty neat watching the cops and all the assorted emergency vehicles from my roof! There was a cop on a roof a few buildings down, presumably the building the guy was in, and while he could have been just a cop guarding the roof I took to calling him the sniper because it sounds crazier.
Also, my cat Heidi is really cute.
She has discovered hiding in the closet on a shelf. This would be fine if she didn't knock everything off the shelf on her jump down! I think she does that on purpose. So now I'm extra careful to close the closet door when I'm done putting away laundry or whatever. Take that, cat!
Be content with cuddle time instead.
Sometimes going to work seems like a vacation compared to other ridiculous areas of life.
Today will be one of those days.
Today will be one of those days.
Yulia = extremely busy.
A lot is happening right now. (It's overwhelming but it's all good!)
Still, I have a lot to update you on. More than I can deal with after an extremely long day and before work at 6am tomorrow. Soon though I swear!
Until then...
A lot is happening right now. (It's overwhelming but it's all good!)
Still, I have a lot to update you on. More than I can deal with after an extremely long day and before work at 6am tomorrow. Soon though I swear!
Until then...
A few days ago a three-year-old boy went missing from a small town in the Interior (of BC). An Amber Alert was issued province-wide, all the major news outlets were covering the story, and volunteers from other towns kept pouring in to search for the boy. From the beginning they named a past sex offender as a "person of interest" but never specifically said he kidnapped the boy, even though a few days in they admitted they suspected as such. The boy mysteriously appeared back at home, unharmed, early this morning while no one else was home. This is wonderful, but there are so many holes in the story. Why was no one home at 3am? Why did the boy coincidentally arrive home at this time? (The boy can't speak so he can't tell his story -- I wonder if they will find a way for him to communicate through pictures, perhaps.) I feel like there is more to this saga. Yesterday the parents issued a statement asking that whoever was with their son please drop him off safely at a public place where he will be noticed and helped, that this was the kidnapper's chance to get away. And then pretty much just that happens, except in a place with no witnesses. How would they know that unless they were connected to the family?
Or maybe I just watch too many crime shows.
Or maybe I just watch too many crime shows.
It's amazing how much you can learn about a person simply by chance, by the chance encounter as fellow sardines on a packed express bus. Or how much of yourself you can give up, in my case. You could say I'm a rather open person. I'm quite shy around new people but if asked I will tell almost anything. There are a few things I don't talk about, ever, because they're in the past and it's much more productive to look forward rather than let long-ago things that happened affect the now.
So the bus after work is crowded as usual and I'm chatting with a coworker about the bus line and how today's crowded is at least less than the usual, non-holiday workdays. (It's Labour Day in Canada.) Someone else asks if I knew where Main St. was and I told him it's the next stop, at which point he got pretty excited. Then my friend lets me play with her phone that I think is awesome because it's in Chinese and I love hearing or "reading" other languages, especially foreign alphabets, and then I sign the alphabet to her in ASL until I forget the letter U. Another guy signs it to me and I sign thank you back. Then this other guy is staring at my left arm and I can tell he was trying to figure out my outline tattoos, so I told him it was all the places that felt like home to me.
He said, "Yeah I figured," which was shocking because no one ever says that to me. So I challenge him to guess what the top place is and he guesses Antarctica (no) and France* (no), so I tell him it's Poland.
At this point he knew: I spend a lot of time thinking about social behaviour on buses and said buses' schedules, I know (more accurately, am learning & am a beginner at) sign language, and I move around.
Then the bus stopped (almost) at the Skytrain station and I got up but then realized that no, we were actually stopped at the punishment light. It's a pointless traffic light that's new (of course) and it's not even a full 4-way intersection and worst of all, it's right before the final bus stop. You know, the one at the busiest Skytrain station in the city, the end-of-the-line stop that 90% of the line's riders are going to. Right before that. Great place for a traffic light, city! Once a bus driver confessed that all the drivers hated that damn punishment light.**
Then the bus inches to the stop and I hold on to a pole and the guy who's learning my life says "You a cutter?" and I point out the scars are faded and all at least six years old. He says that's good and we get off the bus. Some stairs and an walkway later we're on the Skytrain again, all three of us, and I get off first after describing my rooftop garden. A life, abridged.
Oh, and.
* I don't know about you, but I think France is a more logical guess than Antarctica. He really did guess Antarctica first.
** Didya catch the Weeds reference? Also, in case you haven't heard of it, the Skytrain is most analogous to BART, which you probably have.
So the bus after work is crowded as usual and I'm chatting with a coworker about the bus line and how today's crowded is at least less than the usual, non-holiday workdays. (It's Labour Day in Canada.) Someone else asks if I knew where Main St. was and I told him it's the next stop, at which point he got pretty excited. Then my friend lets me play with her phone that I think is awesome because it's in Chinese and I love hearing or "reading" other languages, especially foreign alphabets, and then I sign the alphabet to her in ASL until I forget the letter U. Another guy signs it to me and I sign thank you back. Then this other guy is staring at my left arm and I can tell he was trying to figure out my outline tattoos, so I told him it was all the places that felt like home to me.
He said, "Yeah I figured," which was shocking because no one ever says that to me. So I challenge him to guess what the top place is and he guesses Antarctica (no) and France* (no), so I tell him it's Poland.
At this point he knew: I spend a lot of time thinking about social behaviour on buses and said buses' schedules, I know (more accurately, am learning & am a beginner at) sign language, and I move around.
Then the bus stopped (almost) at the Skytrain station and I got up but then realized that no, we were actually stopped at the punishment light. It's a pointless traffic light that's new (of course) and it's not even a full 4-way intersection and worst of all, it's right before the final bus stop. You know, the one at the busiest Skytrain station in the city, the end-of-the-line stop that 90% of the line's riders are going to. Right before that. Great place for a traffic light, city! Once a bus driver confessed that all the drivers hated that damn punishment light.**
Then the bus inches to the stop and I hold on to a pole and the guy who's learning my life says "You a cutter?" and I point out the scars are faded and all at least six years old. He says that's good and we get off the bus. Some stairs and an walkway later we're on the Skytrain again, all three of us, and I get off first after describing my rooftop garden. A life, abridged.
Oh, and.
* I don't know about you, but I think France is a more logical guess than Antarctica. He really did guess Antarctica first.
** Didya catch the Weeds reference?
Also, in case you haven't heard of it, the Skytrain is most analogous to BART, which you probably have.