the CNE

Tonight I went to the Exhibition with my family. My mother loves the EX. Every year she will almost break her back shuffling everyone's schedules around so we can make a family trip down to the EX. As a child I always found the whole experience to be rather pleasant. However, I think this was the case because things went (or seemed to go) by so much slower.

I went a few years back with my parents and bf at the time and it was boring as hell. we walked pretty much the whole thing in a half hour and saw everything we wanted to see. This year wasn't much different, but since my family is fairly dysfunctional it took a little bit longer to make it through all the buildings we wanted to see. The main attraction for me was to be the farm building. HUGE let down. You couldn't really touch any of the animals (unless you did it illegally like me and my sisters) and it was really sad seeing things like ostriches all cooped up.

In the end the whole family left grumpy and with headaches and stomach aches (from waaay too much food) and resolving that we would not return to the EX. blurg.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Part 1 in a 7 part series)

As promised earlier this summer, I will now begin one by one to assess the Harry Potter series. I have recently finished book and movie 1 and have had some new thoughts and feelings about both.

First off I would like to state the the rendition of the movie from the book was phenomenal. As I read along and then proceeded to watch the film, lines were literally taken from the novel on most accounts. I understand that since the novel was quite short this was a realistic thing to do (whereas its not so much in other novels), they were also able to cater well to the imaginative aspects of the novel.

The first novel is clearly a setup novel for the rest of the series to invite readers into this world or witchcraft and wizardry and provide a backdrop for the remaining novels. This is why the first novel is not meant to be anyone's favourite, rather one that provides the reader with information and a slight amount of entertainment.

The first movie captures this well. The attention to detail in the sets and scenery make the world of Harry Potter truly come alive. Christopher Columbus is the director for the first 2 movies and his style and camera ability really show. He is able to capture the fantasy aspects of the novel without creating a scene that is too intangible to the viewer. Everything looks magical (Dumbledore's office being a perfect example), yet believable. He does an excellent job at making it seem as though this world could really exist in our time and space.

JK and Columbus I found to be an excellent team in the process of book to movie transformation. It was clear they worked closely alongside one another to produce a film of high quality without compromising information, plot, and imagery.

one more day...

one more day of work, yeah one more day of work wooo. one more day of work, yeah one more day of work wooo.

So while this summer it was clear that I was a little too old to still be doing this job, it turned out to be okay. I made some good friends, some of whom I plan on keeping, my kids turned out to be not that bad, and the weather for the most part was favourable.

I am lucky to work at a facility with so many outdoor education opportunities nearby and children who are at an age in which they are willing to learn and develop with the activities.

in conclusion, I am glad its come to a close and that it's closing on such a positive note.

Long and McQuade: Where the Music Begins

I love Long and McQuade. It is by far my favourite music store. I could spend hours upon hours in there just flipping through music and enjoying the atmosphere. Its well laid out and they always have what you're looking for.

Queensway music, another music store that I have frequented over the years is the polar opposite of LandM. Its dark and dank interior make it difficult to look through the bookshelves. The laneways are so cramped you never know where to stand as people try to get by. The old man that works there is most unhelpful and rather creepy. Whenever I go in there I get in and get out as fast as I can. This is not how music stores should feel.

I don't mean to bash Queensway music as it is independently owned and operated and has been since it opened ten million years ago, its just that change doesn't always have to be bad. With a little organization I think that Queensway music could be an unreal music store.

A little help from my friends

Yes I do realize that the title of this post is cliche.

But this week I had dinner with my friends after having not seen them for far too long. And my friends are amazing people and I think I take them for granted too much. They will be there for you no matter what and at the end of the day its them who will be there for you. And the best part about friends is they are there by choice. Everyone says that your family is there for you no matter what, and while I do agree with this statement, they are not there by choice.

I'm not saying that youre family does not care about you but I doubt I would hangout with them if they weren't related to me.

In conclusion, my friends are great and the best people I know. I wouldn't trade them for the world and I think I may take them for granted and I'm going to see them more often.

CUMBERSOME

Not that bad...

So I've been doing a lot of thinking about what I want to do after school is over. And today I was talking to a few friends and I realized that I am quite critical of myself and my plans and my ideas. One of them said to me: there are a million reasons not to do something.

And that is what I'm going to keep in mind from now on, because its fantastically uplifting and true.

habits and quirks

Recently I have developed a number of habits or quirks (since they aren't all habits, and I'm not sure what else to call them, I'll go with quirks). I'm not sure why they've started since I've been aware of all them for years in time and space and never had them passed along to me.

I guess I will begin with peeing. Before I was never able to hold my bladder. I would pee so often I thought that I had a bladder the size of a small nut. But magically I can now go hours upon hours without even thinking about using the washroom. AMAZING.

The next quirk is a little annoying since prior to its beginning I was quite good at teeth brushing even at the earliest hours of the morning. But recently I have been unable to brush my teeth without gagging. Its as though my gag refelx has appeared out of thin air and decided to haunt my tooth brushing parties.

Lastly, or at least the last one I can think of at this moment, is temperature. Usually I am persistently in a state of freezing. Last summer I wore a sweater to work everyday and it was much hotter than this summer. This year I have only worn a sweater once. I know, craaazy. Also usually when I fall asleep I like to be nice and toasty warm, even in the summer. Now I require my body temperature to be as cool as a cucumber at all times.

Anyway, I guess this was one of those cool story bro type of things but whatevs...

a tribute to amazing

I have had the privilege of meeting and hanging out with some great people this summer. One person in particular has been able to put a smile on my face everyday since the start of summer and without him, my summer would have sucked. I plan to pay tribute to him here.

A song:

Tax returns. Tax returns. Steve from accounting is gonna do your tax returns.
Jeff from IT is going to fix your computer. Jeff from IT is going to eat your doughnuts. Tax returns. Tax Returns. Steve from accounting is gonna do your tax returns. Francis is going to give you paper.

confused

So this week I met with the person that I used to date, and I found the whole thing to be quite confusing. Having a while to think this whole thing through I am ok with everything now and am looking forward to a (hopefully) long and easygoing friendship.

In all honesty before we met up I was a wreck. I was nervous about how things would go and how I would feel. I must admit it was not as terrible as I thought it would be. It will take some getting used to: being with him but not being WITH him, but overall we had lots to talk about and conversation flowed easily as it always has with us.

Now, getting on to the part that I found to be slightly confusing. While I admit I have done a lot of thinking recently about my life, I guess I didn't really think about whether he would be doing the same thing. It was kind of weird because I felt a little like I didn't know him because of all of his recent ideas and changes. But, it also felt like he was more like me now, having figured out a lot of things that he was very against before that I sort of had concrete feelings about.

I don't know, perhaps its just going to take some getting used to that he won't or doesn't want to share everything with me anymore and that I don't need to do the same thing. But I guess that's why you learn so much from relationships.

Despite my confusion, it was a great visit and I'm glad I went because I had missed talking to him.

what what...

...in the butt. If your first thought after having read the words what what was in the butt, congratulations. This week on my lunch hour my coworkers and I were discussing a fellow employee. This particular person is much older than us (I am the next oldest and she is 5 years older than me), and does not make any effort to become apart of our staff team.

We are all a little confused because its not as though any of us have not tried to converse with her. whenever she does open her mouth to speak everyone is very surprised to hear her voice because we seldom hear it.

As a person who is far from shy I have trouble envisioning what it would be like to be weary of being loud and obnoxious. The better part of our staff are very outgoing people (but why wouldn't they be? its pretty much a requirement for camp).

Then, me and my lunch pals began thinking that maybe this girl doesn't want to talk to us because we are immature. Then we all began to ponder whether or not we were in fact immature, which is when Laura (coworker) says what what... and Sigourney (another coworker) finishes it off with... in the butt. The second that happens were all on the floor laughing our brains out. When we stop we conclude that we are in fact very immature and why this woman ever want to talk to let alone hangout with us is completely understandable. So: Maggie you are justified in your not speaking to us.