Thursday, April 20, 2006

Hey Mister DJ, Put a Record On...

I haven’t written about my iPod troubles here yet, because quite frankly, they are boring. Long story short, my iPod Mini died. We had to send it back to Apple. After a few hassles and some red-tape (and $100) they sent me a brand-new one. Brand-new meaning all my songs are gone. Bye-bye songs.

At first I thought this was a pain in the ass, but I’ve learned to be happy about it, because quite frankly the old mix was getting stale. Comfortable but stale. Change is good.

But I am lazy. SO lazy. I spent some time thinking about what to put on it and searching for songs and adding songs and I’ve managed to put about 150 tracks back on, but I’ve now I’ve lost my energy for it. This morning I found myself wishing that I could just pick a few random people and pass over my iPod and say, “Put stuff on it now, please.”

So. Why not do just that? Thus, I give you Project Playlist.

Here’s how it works. You send me a list of 10 songs (you can just put them in comments) that you really like right now. I’ll make them into a Playlist on my iPod under your name. Fun!

Now, please don’t feel pressure to be cool about it. Anybody who knows me, knows I’m so NOT cool about music. In fact, if you send a really cool list, I’ll still put it on under your name, but I’ll totally skip through the songs until I end up with one that’s just cheesy and singable enough that it allows me to forget that I’m on the subway during morning rush-hour.

Just to take the pressure off and prove how NOT COOL I really am. Here’s a sample of 10 songs that are already on my iPod. Feel free to use them on your own as your “Beaches” Playlist. If you can handle it. Which you probably can’t. It’s that bad.

FYI – these all come from two existing Playlists on my iPod called Cheddar and Pop, and these are not the most embarrassing selections that I have on there, only the most selections embarrassing that I’m willing to admit to in this public forum.

1. Time After Time – Cyndi Lauper
2. Africa – Toto
3. Shake it Off – Mariah Carey
4. It’s Not Right, but It’s Okay – Whitney Houston
5. Country Grammar – Nelly
6. Because of You – Kelly Clarkson
7. Toxic – Britney Spears
8. I Ran – Flock of Seagulls
9. Milkshake – Kelis
10. Senorita – Justin Timberlake

Your turn. Let’s play Project Playlist!

Monday, April 10, 2006

Who Let the Dogs Out?

The Family took a little over-nighter in Beaverton this weekend at the summer home of some good friends, Mr. and Mrs. DRock. I call it a summer home, rather than a cottage, because although it does have rustic charm and a cosy feel and is nestled on the shores of Lake Simcoe, it's hardly a cottage.

The house can sleep about 20 people if need be, and comes fully equipped with three bathrooms, a large screen TV, a pool and a hot-tub. There's also boat house and a new boat who will take her maiden voyage as soon as the lake thaws. It's a great spot and at just over an hour drive from the Big Smoke, I'm anticipating many more weekends spent up there among great company.

Admittedly, I've been a bit nervous to go up with the entire family, given that our entire family includes one furry, four-legged bundle of love and the DRock's family consists of not one, not two, but THREE furry bundles of love. THREE! I was a little concerned that finding a moment's piece amongst all the legs and fur would be a little difficult.

Luckily I was wrong. The dogs were dogs, don't get me wrong, there was much running and barking and fetching and pooping, but instead of being overwhelmed and run ragged, we all found it entirely amusing and fun to watch.

As you can imagine, it's difficult to capture four dogs on film at one time and despite my best attempts, which included holding scraps of meat above my head, I couldn't work it out. I did manage to capture a few individual shots, however, and so, I give you, the dogs.

This is Billy. She's a little shy and skittish, but I'm quite fond of her, none-the-less. Shit, we all have our issues, right?



Here we have Buddy, aka P-Woop. He rarely stops moving and is also camera shy so capturing this moment of stillness was quite a coup:



Here's Roxy, the baby of the bunch. She's a pushy little vamp, who took quite a shine to the Momes. DRock liked to tease her for "presenting" herself to him any chance she got. My take is that like any hot bitch, she's just working with what her Mama gave her:



Last but certainly not least, The Momes. He was incredibly well-behaved and I'm rightfully proud; however, we all could have done with few less glances at the "pink lipstick." It seems he took quite a shine to Miss Foxy Roxy as well:



There were only a few dog-free moments, but I relished them when I could. Like when I snuck outside at sunset to look out at the lake and thank my lucky stars for all my best friends, both two-legged and four.

Saturday, April 08, 2006

Smells Like Teen Spirit

I know I've promised a few people before and after shots of the hair. Chill. They are coming. Fact is, I'm a lazy bitch. 'Nuff said?

If not, then here's a hint. Hair definitely does not look like this:



Come to think of it, neither do legs.

And before all you eagle-eyed fashion police call me on the beer wear. YES. It's an oversized Molson Dry t-shirt, tucked into teal short-shorts and, YES, it was in my first string outfit rotation at the time.

And yes, I was cool.

But really the point of this post (aside from proving to everyone what a hot teen I was) is to give mad props and shout-outs to my lovely (and also not so hairy anymore) friend Bendy Girl for reaching her 30th birthday.

Jesus H. Christ. We actually made it? We?! Made it to THIRTY YEARS? We survived through all that HAIR? Incredible.

Happy Birthday Bendy. Seriously looking forward to the next thirty. Much love.