There’s a film crew shooting a commercial at the Spelunking Club today.

From what I’ve seen of location sets, the crews seem to be pretty used to having the run of the place, and not worrying much about anyone else while they’re there. At least, that’s how this crew is acting about the club.

They’ve moved my equipment without asking, or knowing how, which could result in some serious damage. So I gave them hell. They blocked one of the main thoroughfares for club members to get to and from their… uh… caves? Anyway, I gave them hell again. And then I raided the craft services truck.

Abuse out, snacks in. I could get used to this!

My uncle’s beloved weiner dog Merlin ended up with a ruptured disc in his back.

Thankfully it looks like he’ll be ok, so I don’t feel bad about giggling at how he looks like frankendog with all the metal staples.

For a better look, open it up in flickr and check out the full-size version.

Dear Website Designers,

I love cookies. I am a cookie monster! They make life easier, and I’m a fan of anything that makes life easier.

However, they are designed to work a certain way. When you have that little “remember me” button to check, it should be UNCHECKED when I visit your website. If I want your website to remember me, I have no problem checking it once, and being remembered forever more - or at least until I clear the cache/history to erase any evidence of the donkey porn I’ve been watching.

But do you understand how much WORK it is for me to have to UN-CHECK the damn box every single FREAKIN’ TIME I log-in to your site on a shared computer where I don’t WANT my co-workers to ever realize what kinda freaky shit I’m doing in here by myself? (co-workers: kidding - no freaky shit taking place, I’m just checking my email…).

Anyway, website designers, realize that real people use your stuff, and enough with the counter-intuitive bullshit.

Much love,
-Jen

Ok, so here’s the dirt.

I’ve been seeing a guy for a couple months. We met on Lavalife at the end of May, and met in person in early June. We hit it off pretty well from the get-go. And the whole experience has reminded me that even more than car shopping, I LOATHE the “figuring stuff out” phase of a new “relationship.”

I was talking to him the other day, and mentioned that I’m getting requests to blog about what the heck is going on between us. Which was a challenge. Because as I saw it, the entry was pretty short so far:

I met this guy. He’s pretty cute. We hang out, the sex is great. I have no idea where things are going, if anywhere.

Subtlety isn’t one of my stronger points.

Without getting into the personal details, things have pretty much been figured out - and while we haven’t officially adopted the “girlfriend/boyfriend” labels yet, it is an exclusive thing and I’ve given up correcting people when they refer to him as my boyfriend.

For the curious, here’s what you get to know: His name is Mike (generic enough that he doesn’t exactly need a pseudonym), he’s 32, he’s an engineer, he has the ability to make my toes curl in a way I’d forgotten they could. He’s funny, and a goofball. He’s nearly as adorable as I am.

So of course, I’m now recruiting a posse who will do what’s necessary if he ends up breaking my heart. Friends will help you move; real friends will help you move bodies.

To Me

As I watched highlights of the Space Shuttle Discovery launch this morning, my first thought was a pretty typical “how cool is this.”

But my second thought was “You know, there’s gotta be more than a few people out there somewhere who think the shuttle is named ‘Discovery’ because it’s sponsored by the Discovery Channel.”

Media education has ruined me.

Stolen from Hessie

01. When you look at yourself in the mirror, what’s the first thing you look at? my eyes
02. How much cash do you have on you? $19.34
03. What’s a word that rhymes with “TEST”? nest
04. Favorite plant? bamboo
05. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone? Dad’s work cell
06. What is your main ring tone on your phone? “Ring 1″
07. What shirt are you wearing? yellow sheer boat-neck layering top from Old Navy over matching flowered bikini top
08. Do you “label” yourself? all the time
09. Name brand of your shoes currently wearing? Montego Bay Club from Payless baby.
10. Bright or Dark Room? bright. I can’t see in the dark.
11. What do you think about the person who took this survey? heathers are good for licking.
13. What were you doing at midnight last night? sleeping
14. What did your last text message you received on your cell phone say? “you can do it, get your ass in to it… ;)”
15. Do you ever click on “Pop Ups” or Banners? pop-ups? people still get those?
16. What’s a saying that you say a lot? “indeed” or “what the everloving fuck?”
17. Who told you they loved you last? I don’t remember probably my mom.
18. Last furry thing you touched? roo!
19. How many hours a week do you work? too many.
20. How many rolls of film do you need to get developed? film? I thought that went the way of the pop-up
21. Favorite age you have been so far? 24. But that could all change tomorrow.
22. Your worst enemy? time
23. What is your current desk top picture? corporate logo at work, something from shifted reality on my desktop, winXP windows theme on the laptop.
24. What was the last thing you said to someone? “if you’re that afraid of the water, perhaps you should try a different sport”
25. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to go back in time and fix all your mistakes which would you choose? many mistakes, but no regrets. show me the money!

One of the more prevalent fitness questions I get asked is how I manage to maintain the “Ass that Doesn’t Quit.” A lot of it is just plain good genetics, but a big part of it is that I almost always take the stairs.

Usually I don’t mind the stairs, a lot of the time I’ll run up them just for fun. However, sometimes enough is enough. At work, there are 3 flights (no elevator) between me and the rest of the offices. This can have its perks - I can pretty much hide away and not be bothered for 90% of the day, which means I get a lot done. However it’s painful when it comes time to make photocopies or grab lunch.

So to make my life a little easier, I figure I need to be gifted with a portable fridge for my desk! This one can even plug into the lighter socket in the car to keep my beer chilled on long road-trips and maximize the drinking & driving experience!

Of course, that means I’ll have to find some other supplemental gluteal exercise - but that’s the kind of sacrifice I’m willing to make if you really need to buy me this present!

I’ve been meaning to write about a couple things - but neither is really significant enough for their own post. So I figured I’d just combine them.

First off, I’ve been thinking that with the upcoming birthday I’ll dump a few ideas of the things I’d like to be gifted with on these pages. This is in no way a request for any of you to actually purchase these things for me. I couldn’t possibly love you any more than I already do, or be more of a spoiled princess than I already am, so buying my love is an exercise in futility. Unless of course you can’t help yourself, in which case feel free to splurge!

For the second thing, I confess my deep, dark secret: I have never even read so much as the jacket notes of a Harry Potter book. When the whole thing started, I couldn’t be bothered to buy into the fad. Then it got bigger and I refused to succumb to the machine. And now, well truth be told I’m just plain afraid of the machine.

So here’s where I combine the two and say maybe, maybe I’d like to get my hands on my own copies of the Harry Potter books. So if anyone wants to draw me into the phenomenon and render me addicted to all things Potter, I might be willing to succumb. But I am not doing this of my own volition! It would have to be a gift, so I’d feel obligated to read them. Until then, I’m 100% Wizard Free.

My life has been consumed by wanderlust. If anyone needs a ride somewhere in the next little while, I’m still excited enough about being able to actually GO PLACES with relative EASE AND COMFORT that I’ll probably take you almost anywhere for the low, low price of gas.

Yes, I know that with the price of gas these days the skytrain is probably cheaper - but my car has a trunk, does not smell like feet, and the only scary person you need to sit next to is me.

One of the more amusing side effects of driving instead of taking transit is that I now have to adjust my ideas of how long it takes to get anywhere. Things that used to be an hour away are now 20 minutes. anything that took 30 minutes now takes about 5. It’s really fairly perplexing, and means that I’m freakishly early for EVERYTHING. So my already obscenely short tolerance for anyone who is late has been shortened even further.

But, small price to pay. So if you’d like to come and break the time/space continuum with me even further, let me know. I’m thinking specifically about trips to Ikea and Target - but really, my enthusiasm is still so unbridled at this point that I’d probably drive across town to pick someone up and take them 3 blocks to buy milk.

Happy birthday to Sue,
Happy birthday to Sue,
Happy birthday dear Sue,
Happy birthday to Sue.

Okay, I’ll log out now. But let this be a lesson to all of you - if you’re visiting a friend and use their computer to log into anything that saves your login, be sure to log out again before you leave. Or set your blog logins to expire every so often.

I put 200kms on the new car today. I am drunk on mobility. It’s amazing how small the city just got.

It was quite fun to show up at the home of the parental units randomly. They live about 70kms away, so they were very surprised when I showed up without warning. They were obviously a little perplexed about how I managed to get there; when I told them “In my car!” they were shocked to say the least - they had no idea I’d made the purchase.

After eleventy frillion rounds of “No Way!” “Yes Way!” they (mom, dad, brothers) all took turns driving it around the block, then mom made me dinner. I could get used to that.

Also, I do believe I now totally need this.

The Safety Girl Roadside Emergency Kit contains serious roadside emergency supplies like an emergency blanket, first aid supplies and instructions to change a flat tire, but it also contains other “emergency” items like chocolate, nail file, aromatherapy headache remedy and more!

Yes, the shameless gift-plugging continues. It’s available at Beauty Mark on Denman for those inclined.

philosophy: how you climb up the mountain is just as important as how you get down the mountain. and, so it is with life, which for many of us becomes one big gigantic test followed by one big gigantic lesson. in the end, it all comes down to one word. grace. it’s how you accept winning and losing, good luck and bad luck, the darkness and the light.

Beautiful scent, beautiful sentiment. Gifting hints anyone?

Quick note to say I just… just got in from the monthly Vancouver Webloggers Meetup. And I couldn’t wait to blog about it. How sad is that. But I digress…

It was really great to catch up with Jamie and get to know him a bit better, as well as finally meet Matt. And engage in some fabulous conversation with a few other people whose names and/or URLs I can’t think of off the top of my head (though I’m sure Darren’s ubiqitous meetup-attendee list will jog my addled memory once he publishes the contents).

Between that, and some quality (though a bit short in quantity - but isn’t it always) time with some good friends over the past few days, I’ve been reminded (as I sometimes need to be) that I’m actually totally capable of being a charming, witty conversationalist, and very good company - and I quite enjoy it. Unfortunately I don’t get to be that best version of me as much as I’d like to these days.

At work I’m either Superior, Subordinate or Gatekeeper to most people I encounter. Things with the guy are not flowing as smoothly as they could (a whole other post - it’s coming, I promise!). Other than that, I’ve needed a lot of alone time to keep my sanity - and while I talk to myself quite a bit, it’s just not the same.

So, note to self: not all time is created equal. Aim for the quality stuff, and the rest of life will seem much rosier.

I think the car has a name: J’lo, the big booty ho.

How did this come about? I’ll let the IM log speak for itself:

todd: what kind is it?
peechie: ‘96 geo metro, white
todd: teardrop style?
peechie: yes, except no - it’s a 4 door sedan, so it has a trunk.
todd: trunks are good
peechie: indeed
todd: for to put the junk in
peechie: yes, I’m a fan of junk in the trunk
todd: me too.

And thus, a star is born.