I see you.

{photo credit: a cup of jo} 

AVATAR AND EVIL LAUGHTER:

Avatar (in IMAX 3D) was very entertaining! Here are two observations I walked away with. Skip #2 if you haven't seen it yet (spoiler alert?):

ONE. Even though the movie has been out for about two months, the theatre was packed. We were unprepared for this and ended up with crusty seats by the front. This frustrating and disappointing event resulted in the dogre and I turning on each other. He was certain that we could find better seats and I had already resigned myself to our current ones. We were mildly hostile towards each other and our sour moods would have lasted a while had we not discovered that others were in a similar situation. Other late comers were rolling their eyes, attitude-y, physically distancing themselves from their companions, and apparently also blaming one another for their misfortune. Ha! Suckers! Lesson not learned, obviously, as we eagerly soaked up the scene and chuckled together. Maybe cackled? Insert evil cackle here.

TWO. I love animals. I love animals but get the heebie-jeebies over insects, reptiles, and fish. The creatures in Avatar were hideous and shrieky. But, that didn't stop me from growing an attachment to them. My stomach twisted and turned at the creature casualties. Oh, poor viperwolves, hammerhead titanotheres, mountain banshees, thanators, and direhorsies (I'm not a nerd—it's called research! I wiki'ed it. Oh, wait...). I also fretted over what the abandoned banshee would do, now that Sully had traded up for that fancy toruk. Could Neytiri create a bond with it, since hers had died? I understood that Na'vis and banshees only made one connection in a lifetime or some crap, but couldn't they make an exception? I hope there were others who shared my worries. Otherwise, I'd feel pretty embarrassed right about now... Heh..hehe...

A IS FOR . . .:

Our night ended with another unexpected and unhappy event. We were trying to exit the underground parking lot but our ticket wasn't scanning and we were stuck. The dogre buzzed for help and after quite a bit of wait, the attendant strolled over. What a jerk! Here's a snippet of the conversation:

  A(for attendant or ass): It's not working?

  D(for dogre and love of this dogre's life): Yeah, I think it's the ticket, it's folded.

  A: Oh really, how'd you figure that one out? (sarcastically)

  D: Are you being rude with me? (assertively)

  A: No, sir. Just wanting to serve you. Have a great night, sir. And ma'am, you too. (politely—fake!)

ONE. The exchange reminded me why the dogre is great at his profession. See, the dogre is a cop, and in such a role, you deal with a lot of abrasive personalities. Being level headed and keeping your cool at all times is very important. Someone else in the exact same situation might have snapped and escalated the situation. To be honest, I used to think this was a flaw—that he was too passive or a sissy. Now I appreciate this desirable quality in him, as it shows his maturity. Smart, sensible boy, he is! (This display of praise and affection for the dogre was, is, and will continue to be rare here!)

TWO. I'm not as patient as the dogre. I would have been very mad and visibly agitated. I would have taken it personally and fussed over it.

THREE. If this problem is so common that you (stupid parking lot company) feel the need to post signs up telling customers to "straighten out" their tickets when they won't scan, then maybe it's time you set up a better freakin' system! (See, I'm still worked up over it, even though I was just a bystander. Sort of.)

FOUR. I'm glad that the dogre didn't escalate because I become super distraught when I witness altercations and raised voices. Something to do with my childhood experiences.

FIVE. You're a SUN-A-BITS, you jerk of an attendant!

PEDDLING AWAY INTO SUNSHINE AND LOLLIPOPS (NO, MAKE IT COTTON CANDY):

I'm aware that the image in this post is unrelated to the content. I selected it purely because it makes me happy (or envious?). It's like, let's forget about the rude attendant and ugly weather outside and just stare at this carefree girl, with her wispy hair, matching red tuque and socks, and cute yellow sneakers! Really—click to enlarge and wish you could be her for a moment. It makes me want to be all healthy and athletic. Almost. As for yoga, it's been...more than two months and we somehow have not attended a single class! For shame.

There's a polite word for what you are!

A few weeks ago, the dogre noticed that all my car passenger rage was directed at senior drivers (they were driving recklessly). I'm not an ageist, I promise, and get riled up over poor drivers of all ages, despite the fact that I myself don't (can't) drive. On this particular night, they just all happened to be elderly: too fast, too slow, too reckless, too old (purely for rhyming purposes!). In any case, the point of this introduction was to discuss my favourite past time as the dogre's front-seat passenger: schwearing. See the ch there? Intentional. Let me explain. I took the crassness, vulgarity and unclassiness out of swearing by schwearing instead! Here's an example: the old lady cuts us off while switching lanes, just barely missing us, so I yell out "Mother tucker! YOU SUNABEEEECH!" Cute! I'm so adorable and fun, right? The dogre has got me hooked on schwearing and I really like getting a snort out of him. But I have to admit something to you...it's thrilling! I feel exhilarated when I schwear...As a kid, I used profanity in my diary and letters to my best friend without understanding what they even meant. As a teen, I never swore. At my current age, I'm terribly uncomfortable with profanity. Schwearing, apparently, is okay though. And here's another secret, when I was at Nathan Philips Square last month, ducking and avoiding the little people, an uncensored blooper popped in my head. To be exact, it was a "getthef***outtamyway!" Then again, I brain-spoke it in this high-pitched gremlin voice, similar to Cameron's when they accidentally locked Lily in the car on Modern Family and he charged at the car with a garbage can screaming  "I'M BREAKING THE WINDOOOOOW!" Blame the dogre.

By the by, I enjoy Woody Allen movies. Does this appall you? My mid-twenties friends despise all Allen movies. Kind of makes me feel left out. So I gently and lovingly tell myself it's really because I'm that much more mah-tour and cooler than them. Besides, I've only seen a handful of his films and am not some hardcore fan. All I'm saying is that of the few that I've seen, I was really into the awkward and mundane conversations, the banter, and the seductions. Okay? Is that okay with you, mr/ms movie critic fancy pants?

So...I was absent all of last week from posting. No particular reason, really. Just...life happened! Busy eating, watching stuff, spending time with friends and family, cutting and pasting for one of my courses. Any six year old would be better with the scissors—I'm so wobbly and messy. I like to blame it on a traumatic experience as a wee toddler, when some crazy neighbour kid attacked me with a pair of scissors and left me with stitches on my face. True story. Here's another story for you. A classmate who sat next to me yesterday had the most awful case of halitosis. I visibly flinched when she leaned in to ask me a question and assaulted my olfactory. I'm a fairly considerate person so for me to actually frown at her because I couldn't recover quickly enough to save her feelings just goes to show how smelly her breath was!

Sadly, not much cooking to brag about. Plenty of food porn, however, so stay tuned. Also? Not sure whether I want to return to the old schedule of designated days+post topics. I'm feeling very cluttered in the mind and noncommittal. Hey, hey, listen! It's not you, it's me. Don't cry. I just can't commit at this point in my life. I promise to come by at least a couple times a week. But, friend? I've got to go now. I have to stop typing because I'm two sentences away from my typical lengthy posts, yes? Not quite there though, yes? Right? Plus, the dogre thinks I'm in bed! Shh- Et voila. Aussi, comme ci comme ca, tootles!

your easy words..

"Where is this love? I can't see it, I can't touch it. I can't feel it. I can hear it. I can hear some words, but I can't do anything with your easy words." (from the movie Closer)

"have you ever transcended space and time?"
...
"yes. no. uh, time, not space...no, i don't know what you're talking about"

- i heart huckabees

...je t'aime.

There are times when life calls out for a change. A transition. Like the seasons. Our spring was wonderful, but summer is over now and we missed out on autumn. And now all of a sudden, it's cold, so cold that everything is freezing over. Our love fell asleep, and the snow took it by surprise. But if you fall asleep in the snow, you don't feel death coming.

(francine; segment "faubourg saint-denis")