Pride and Prejudice
Last week Sisy and I had a girl-movie night and watched "Pride & Prejudice" starring Keira Knightley and Matthew McFadyen. It was crap. I don't understand why Knightely was nominated for an Oscar for her role as Elizabeth - her performance was awkward and overwrought with melodrama, in fact the whole movie was. It was completely stripped of all wit - and Austen's book, page after page, is loaded with wit. This version was a sad attempt at turning the story into something "serious" but in doing so the sparkle of P & P was snuffed out. That BBC miniseries version was way better because, 1. it was a miniseries and was therefore able to get into much more detail and depth, and 2. better,
much better, acting. I mean, it had it's cheesie moments, but if you're looking to watch, instead of read the book, then choose the miniseries.
Anyway, having said all that, the one thing that was awesome in the film, well both actually, was the completely beautiful scenery. Vast expanses of hills and cliffs and grass and trees - I guess moors too but I'm still not too sure what a moor is - as far as the eye can see. I'm really looking forward to exploring the English countryside and as
HD said "running through the hills with the wind whipping through my hair" - yeah, she really said that...but yes, on my "things I want to do" list, traipsing around all that lush nature is a definite happening.
Here's a pic I found, not from the movie.
Resignation
I did it! I quit my job today! It was easy – much easier than I thought it would be. I wasn’t nervous or anything, I just walked right up to the boss and said, “Can I talk to you” and he knew. He got a look on his face like he tasted something sour. That was the last thing weighing on me. There are minor things that need canceling but this was my job – my “career” – and now it’ll be over in 5 weeks.
Yeah 5 weeks. That should be enough time for them to find someone new and hopefully I’ll be able to train them. I don’t know how realistic that is – I’ve seen how it operates here but maybe they’ll get lucky. Just not too lucky – I don’t want to get ousted before my official end date and lose some cash.
Anyway, it’s all over now. Or is it now just beginning? I’m excited and completing this step makes it feel like progress.
An apology of sorts...
All right. Clearly things have been static since the frenzy and excitement of getting my visa for the UK. Hence, the entries about books, music, and randomness, have found their way onto my blog. *yawn* But that's how it's been! Nothing has been happening - nothing UK related and nothing anything-related. Everything's kind of just moving along at a steady, if not boring, pace. I can spend whole days making beaded bracelets at work if I wanted - which I did yesterday, or tried to do before I dropped the string and they all fell off. I mean, the only thing that's happened is that this past month I got sick a lot - flu, cold, weird pain-in-the-neck thing that has only now finally gone away.
So yeah, things are steady. Steady is good, I shouldn't complain, it's like knocking on wood, or not knocking on it - you know, after saying something that is jinxy and if you don't dispel the jinx right away then that thing you were boasting about turns ugly? Ah nevermind!
Anyway, I'm swimming tonight with HD for some much needed exercise so maybe something worthy of note will come up.
More on books
I've read some more books and I forgot some on the previous list. Here's an update.
1.
Cocksure - Mordecai Richler
2.
How happy to be - Katrina Onstad
3.
Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception - Eoin Colfer
4.
Can you keep a secret - Sophie Kinsella (currently reading)
Can you keep a secret is my favourite book by SK so far (I still have to read
The Undomestic Goddess), it really is hilarious. I have actually had to stifle laughing out loud on the train when I'm reading it - of course I'm still smiling ear to ear so I look like a freak nonetheless.
I recommend
How happy to be by Katrina Onstad. It's not my favourite book of all time but it's well-written and her style flows off the page. It's full of "sardonic wit" which can get annoying after a while, but it's worth the read. It's set partly in Toronto and it's neat to read a story set within in a place I'm familiar. Plus the actual story is interesting and sad and funny and hopeful.
Top 25 songs played so far
Here’s the Top 25 most played songs on iTunes as of the last update (in alphabetical order by artist, the # of times played is in brackets):
1. Drink to me, babe, then - AC Newman
2. Fingerbib - Aphex Twin
3. Fratres - Arvo Part
4. Good Song - Blur
5. Free - Cat Power
6. Good Woman - Cat Power
7. He War - Cat Power
8. Shaking Paper - Cat Power
9. Oh - Ciara
10. Evil - Interpol
11. Obstacle 1 - Interpol
12. NYC - Interpol
13. Leif Erickson - Interpol
14. Avalon (Jacque Lu Cont mix) - Juliet
16. Avalon (Original) - Juliet
16. Hot Topic - Le Tigre
17. Hung Up - Madonna
18. Dead Disco - Metric
19. Let Down - Radiohead
20. Dirty Little Secret (Thievery Corporation mix) - Sarah McLachlan
21. Run - Snow Patrol
22. Love & Death - The Stills
23. Hypnotize - System of a Down
24. Smells Like Teen Spirit - Tori Amos
25. Maps - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Hmmm ... even I’m surprised at that list although I’m pretty sure some of the songs’ appearances are due to Sisy's and my nephews playing their favourites too. They’re all good songs though - I’m interested to see how that list will change.
Totally random entry
I’m at work right now and it’s an excruciatingly, slow day. There’s absolutely nothing to do – this job does not need to be a full-time position. I’ve surpassed my usual idleness so much so that I can’t think of anything else to look at on the internet. I’ve emailed HD, text messaged Nella, chatted with Supa on Messenger, and clicked on the “next blog” button about 20 times so far. And yes, I also did whatever little work I had to do on my “to do” list.
Anyway, yesterday I got busted on the Go Train. My fault for trying to screw the system and get an extra ride in there but it was meant to be since I was the very last person to be checked right as the train was pulling into the station. I really believe that there’s no point in lying or trying to cover up things because you’re just going to get caught, and if you don’t you’re going to worry about getting caught and in many ways, it’s better just to get caught and get it over and done with.
My blog entries have to get a little more “London”-esque!
Books read over the past few months
The commute to work takes about and hour and a half - so three hours of my day are spent travelling. I take the Go train and the subway to get where I have to go and I’m always armed with my iPod and a book. I’ve got an iPod mini that’s served me well for the past year and I still haven’t filled it up yet. I’m always deletiing and adding songs at the same time, so it’s pretty much stayed static at about 480 songs.
Since I’ve been doing this commute I’ve probably read more books than I have in the past three years, although the choice isn’t exactly highbrow. Here’s a sampling of some of them:
1. Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince (J. K. Rowling)
2. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Haruki Murakami)
3. The DaVinci Code (Dan Brown)
4. The Time of the Angels (Iris Murdoch)
5. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
6. Shopaholic Takes Manhattan (SK)
7. Shopaholic Ties the Knot (SK)
8. Artemis Fowl (Eoin Colfer)
9. Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident (EC)
10. Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code (EC)
11. The Bride Stripped Bare (Anonymous)
It’s been a chick-lit & easy reading kinda few months. I was going to rate them too but then I started just giving them all 3*'s so there was no point; the star system is too limiting because there are always "becauses" & "buts" behind them that you don't get to see.
The stash so far...
I did some shopping this past weekend and got a few things for my trip - mostly toiletries. I put all the stuff I have in a bag and it's already fairly heavy. This is a little worrying because the baggage allowance is only 44lbs - that adds up pretty quick.
These are the things I have so far:2 bottles shampoo
1 bottle conditioner
6 bars soap
2 toothbrushes
4 toothpastes
2 foundations
1 moisturizer
2 pkgs of make-up puffs
5 shower gels
4 wash cloths
2 mascaras (mascar
i??)
4 deoderant sticks
floss
2 bottles Advil liquid migraine relief
facewash
toner
1 bottle ColdFX
What I still need:Q-Tips
2 towels
mouthwash
another shampoo and conditioner
jeans
more facewash and toner
vitamins
make-up remover
Okay, so that's all I can think of right now. I'm trying to get enough things so that I don't have to worry about buying anything as soon as I get there plus everything is cheaper to get here than there. And I'd like to get some of the nicer items - like go to Sephora and get a fancy shower gel and Aveda for a sweet shampoo & conditioner because over in the UK all this stuff is mad expensive. But I also don't want to go overboard because like HD said to me a few weeks ago "they have gum there too, you know."
My new luggage
It’s been a while since I last wrote but I got sick and there wasn’t much going on. Anyway, this entry will be about my new luggage. I was going to use my sister’s black suitcase for the trip but I wanted to check out what other suitcases were out there. So a few weeks ago we went to the mall to just look around and we ended up at Zellers.
Now I’m a “deal girl” and do enjoy a good bargain. Sometimes I fall into that trap of buying something just because it’s on sale. Retailers could really screw around with people like me, all they have to do is put “for sale” on a tag and it’s like a magic spell that’ll make me pull out my wallet and pay for the item no matter what it is, whether or not I need it, or even if I actually like it! But besides those mindless shopping experiences, this was a good one. When we went to Zellers and I saw that “discontinued 50% off the LOWEST price” sign – well I was happy happy happy! I got 2 great deals on both a suitcase and carry-on.
So here’s my new suitcase – a 29” upright in fuschia (see below). There’s no way I’m going to miss this one on the baggage carousel. It’s beautiful, yes? And it only cost me $30! I mean come on, even if that thing falls apart after a year, it was well worth it!
And my prized purchase is the silver Heys X Case carry-on. The “world’s lightest carry-on” as it’s described by Heys. It’s both trendy and sturdy – 2 hard things to come by in the same package! This is totally cool – and it was half price off of an already low price so I got it for like $40 when these things usually go for $150!! It’s so easy to pull, it’s got rollerblade wheels – so smooth and slick. I can even use this as my luggage when we start traveling around.
As you can tell I’m very pleased with my luggage purchases.
