Like a riot, like a riot, oh! / Birthday festivities

Well, another year, another day older the same age. Had a really nice week, despite the crummy weather, spending time with family and some friends! I even received a "real" gift from my mom (she usually just gives me a thin envelope). Well, technically, the dogre did all the work (he was her gift advisor, purchaser, and delivery guy. I even overheard the words they exchanged—"Sorry I didn't wrap it." "That's okay! How much was it?") but the point is, friend, she made the effort to supplement the envelope (yes, I still got an envelope. I was terribly spoiled this week and I'm happy to brag) with a bit of...effort (I've been neglecting my Word of the Day emails)! 

I've been super giddy because of how wonderful the gifts are this year. And you know that when it comes down to it, it's really all about the presents—while memories fade, material gifts last just a bit longer. Hehe. I half kid! While some gifts were definitely indulgent, others were very practical and will (hopefully) help me work towards my new (hopeful) career path. Received a few great books on typography, design, and such (including The Making of Fantastic Mr. Fox, which I've already devoured), the magic mouse, slouchy gray suede boots, the Bookbook (such amazing quality), gift cards (to be used towards Alice in Wonderland and a gold tone Casio digital watch), the Penguin postcards (will follow up with photos of a few favourites), a lovely freesia scented candle (the dogre thinks that all other flowers smell like cat pee. it's true), a party serving set (great since friestivities are usually held at our place), his + hers kazoos and...a UKULELE! My fingers are far from nimble so it'll be a huge struggle but I'm looking forward to it. And I love how I feel like a giant when it's in my hands! Hopefully, I'll be properly committed to this, as opposed to the yoga tragedy (the passport, friend, has expired. we went zero times. we spent x amount of money on multiple yoga mats, clothing, and a bag. when I hear or see anything yoga-related, I get a tummy ache and am stricken with guilt.)*

As expected after a birthday week, the dogre and I have pudgy-wudgy bellies. Fancy tea, scones, finger sandwiches, pastries, kalbi, butter chicken, naan, vegetable biryani, cajun fries, mango cheesecake, corn soup, kimchi jjigae, rice noodle with beef and black bean sauce, chicken fried rice, beef with broccoli, pizza, wings, chicken souvlaki dinners, mango mousse cake, and a sprinkling of beer and tequila shots. Yes, and cup noodles. Oh, how the dogre ate! As for The Host, the biryani was the best I've ever had—tofu and mushrooms, yes please.

Oh, some devastating news: Vampire Diaries is no longer playing on any of our channels! How sad am I? No, that's not what I meant! I said I was sad, not sad. Are you always this mean? In any case, happy that we'll be returning to our regular programs. Didn't follow the Olympics very closely but the few times I did, it was both pleasurable and anxiety-inducing. Felt some twinge of excitement for Canada + Korea and also have some opinions of the death, but I don't care to discuss such seriousness on my blog. I think I'll go have a tiny slice of cake now, because, you know, I don't want it to go to waste! As a piggy, I'm very respectfully dedicated and doting to that which pleases the tum tum.

Also, after being inseparable this week, I've learned that the dogre and I are, erm, special. I'm so happy that we can appreciate each other's sense of humour but worry that we're feeding off of our individual suckiness. I'm pretty certain our neighbours think we're half human, half donkeys. Wait, why is other's underlined. Am I not allowed to use that? But it sounds right...What does it matter, anyway—suckiness isn't even a word! And I'm also going to throw in that we've got a high level of lame-itude. Does that make any sense? The cuss it does!

*It's not that we didn't care. We really sort of made the effort! But Saturday after Saturday, something came up. And yes, apparently, of the gajillion studios available, we were adamant that it had to be Octopus Garden's Saturday beginners' class. And yes, a few times we slept in. However, we actually rushed and drove out to the studio a couple of times, only to get stuck in traffic...so we had lunchies. I mean, really, we he can wear the clothing to the gym! And the bag is just super nice and I will use it. As for the many mats we unintentionally accumulated, maybe we could lay them all out and have the dogre sweat it out to P90? Is that what it's called? P90? Because I Googled it just now and a bunch of guns turned up. I had a brief daydream that involved government authorities breaking into my home and cuffing me. My imagination really is my enemy. And a reTARD. Hehe...favourite part of The Hangover. Can I call something a daydream if it's a negative trip of the mind to la-la land?

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.

My favourite colour is fluorescent beige.

I've been thinking of taking up yoga for quite some time. I've been out of sorts and thought that some inner calm would do me good. Maybe yoga - the gentle restorative/meditative kind - will get me out of my funk and hush-up my busy brain (seriously, I'm a never-ending-ruminating-thinking-thinking-fretting-thinking-machine with the consequence of sleepless nights and foggy mornings).

After discussing the potential benefits of yoga with the dogre, we purchased a couple of passports to prana. They allow us access to a free yoga session at all participating studios in our city so that we can sample different styles and environments. For thirty buckaroos, we can take many classes and determine which studio best fits our needs. The options will come in handy as we are expecting to move in June and I'd prefer a studio close to home. What's that, you ask? Come again? Yes, we have a move-in date! I know it's a tentative occupancy date but we're just so excited! We ogle at the progress whenever we get the chance.

By the way, the dogre is not particularly interested in yoga himself but we got him a passport anyways since he wants to support me and will likely join here and there. What a good guy! Here is a picture of my dogre in all his glory:

Wow, look at me, writing a whole post about my fancy new hobby and the progress of our first home purchase... What else can I obnoxiously blog about? How about this: that first photo up there with the soft sunlight and billowing flowers and the Portrait of the Dogre just above were taken during, oh-you-know, our honeymoon in PARIS! Hehe!

For the few readers who do not personally know me (and even for those who do), it may appear that my posts and brain are full of fluff and material things, but I just want to put it out there that, and I introduced this earlier, I am diseased with chronic and persistent over-thinking. Since I exhaust myself daily by my own torments, this blog is really a therapeutic outlet for my creativity and jumbled thoughts/emotions. It's a place where I can afford to appear frivolous, light and airy! I don't plan on using this blog to post rants or expose my deepest fears/worries (unless I think I can make a funny out of it!). Besides, if I permitted myself to write about the serious thoughts that bounce about my brain, my posts would be lengthy essays (not that I won't successfully write lengthy posts about nothingness, like this post). I hope to keep this blog light + airy, freckled with beautiful words (of others smarter and wiser than myself) and snapshots of the journey of a dogre and his dogress (and their fat cat that runs like a raccoon and obnoxious llama/rat/fox/piglet/stitch-like chihuahua).

So, I'm looking forward to the upcoming experiences as an inflexible, impatient yogi. I'm seriously challenged at keeping my focus and worry that I'll have fits of panic and run out of the room screeching and flailing my long monkey arms. I may be the (self-appointed) queen of fixating and obsessing over the most insignificant details in life, but have lately been struggling to get through a single sentence in a novel or listen to someone talk. For example, the dogre gets nervous and shifty-eyed whenever he tries to tell me a story in fear that my eyes will gloss over and he'll lose his audience. While typing out this paragraph my mind has already moved on to other thoughts, such as why my Christmas spirit has been so low this year, my love for cola and lemon wedges, and a brain giggle over this week's episode of 30 Rock where Liz Lemon stands in front of the HD camera...

...I have to go now...I need a fix of cola and mind-numbing episode of Community or Parks and Recreation! I don't feel like typing anymore. Wait, don't judge me! I'm not a potato-brain! To prove it, let me inform you that I've recently finished What is the What by Dave Eggers, a very serious and depressing (but surprisingly funny and uplifting) story. I swear my eyes only glazed over a few times.

I just realized that my post title (taken from Precious) has nothing to do with the contents of this post. Or does it?! Hmm, think about it! (no, it doesn't...I just think the line is funny and wanted to use it)