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Thursday, December 24th, 2009
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vancouver
[ shiny_gal ]
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7:34a
Happy Holidays Vancouver!
Hey there Vancouver! I'm off in Edmonton right now visiting with the familial units and feeling homesick for Van. 2 years ago it was the other way around! Anyway, I just thought I'd drop you a line to say hi and wish you well over the coming weeks into the first of many New Year celebrations. I hope you are spending time with people you care about and if not I hope you can connect by phone. Oh, I also wanted to ask you what your favourite Vancouver-related holiday tradition is?
Mine are non-Vancouver but include:
- watching the original How the Grinch Stole Christmas
- egg nog
- annual Solstice party with all my friends
- walking the Legislative Grounds to see the lights
So, how about you?
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vancouver
[ philippa_future ]
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1:40p
UBC
Hi there - I am thinking of applying to UBC to study Human Kinetics. Does anyone know anything about this course/are there any UBC students out there who can tell me a bit about what is like to be a student at UBC! I live in London, UK but I have dual citizenship as my mum is Canadian. Thanks for you help!x
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theferrett
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8:34a
In Which I Am Unique In A Way That Is Totally Not Unique
I started in the same way that most of you did: totally ignorant. Some of you - I suspect most - had this rite of passage foisted upon you before you really had any choice in the matter, dandled over a father's knee while my mortal enemy played upon the tube. You were lost before you knew it.
As the years crept on, it wasn't anything I set out to avoid; had it shown on TV while I was drinking Jaegermeister and Schlitz with my friends, I certainly would have lost my strange virginity. But it didn't, and by the time I was twenty-five I recognized my status as a statistical anomaly.
So, I decided, I will go to my grave pure.
This is why, at the age of forty, I have never seen It's a Wonderful Life.
Nor will I. I walk out of the room when it's on, now, avoid parties where it might be shown. I've gone half my life without seeing this American classic, and since I've covered this distance inadvertently I intend to reach the goal purposely.
Thing is, I don't think I'm missing much. I did get to thirty without seeing Gone with the Wind, which I considered a lesser triumph - but when Gini found that I'd never seen it, she said, "WELL, YOU'RE GONNA!" and sat me down for four hours. And lo! The burning of Atlanta was actually more impressive than people had said. So I don't regret having her pierce that celluloid hymen.
But It's a Wonderful Life? I ask, "Is it worth breaking a four-decade fast?" and they hem and haw and go, "WeeEEEllll.... It's pretty good..." And I walk on. I have no time to waste on an okay movie.
So I stand alone. Others have not seen It's a Wonderful Life, I am sure, but I am the only one I am aware of who has made this a principled stand. You cannot make me see It's a Wonderful Life. You cannot break me. I will tumble into the soft earth of my grave with my eyes clean, to be greeted by a wingless angel.
Of course, I do have nightmares sometimes. I see myself in the old-age home, decrepit, bound to a wheelchair so I do not fall out. I am wheeled in front of the television to placate me, and just as the nurse deposits me before the screen, I hear through enfeebled ears, "THIS CHRISTMAS, TBS PRESENTS THE 'IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE' MARATHON! TWENTY-FOUR HOURS OF THIS AMERICAN CLASSIC!"
I rattle in the chair. I have no dentures, and I must scream.
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marginalrevtion
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7:13a
Nicaragua notes (avoid walls!)
http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2009/12/nicaragua-notes.html The keys to eating well here are: avoid walls, seek corn, and bow down to the finest white creams and cheeses you are likely to find. They use cabbage frequently and well and they are not afraid of sour tastes. Fried chicken is a treat and they sprinkle white cheese on top of that and on your french fries. It is an under-mined cuisine.
Horse and donkey carts have not disappeared. Few people speak English. Many women carry baskets on their heads to transport goods. I stayed in what is arguably the country's nicest hotel and my room was $100 a night. The place was empty.
Nicaragua is wealthier than Honduras but much poorer than El Salvador or Panama. Here is a garbage dump in Managua, La Chureca. The economy is likely to shrink two percent this year. On the bright side, the drug trade doesn't (yet?) have so much of a hold. The lower income classes seem to do better in terms of social services than in many other countries of comparable wealth.
Leon has one of the best Latin American town squares for cute children, street musicians, balloons and ringing bells, and flirtatious teenage social life. The Sandinista murals are maintained. There are few international chain stores of any kind outside of Managua and even most of Managua is under-chained. People will insist of getting you back the change you are due, even when you tell them to keep it because you don't want to wait for them to get it from their uncle across the street.
Appreciating the country boils down to how much you can enjoy a very direct feeling of genuineness all around; Nicaragua is a hidden jewel, at least for tourist visitors.
I did not see anyone smoke, not once.
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patrissimo
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3:58p
Glee!
Someone out there on the internet convinced me to try Glee, and I just watched the pilot episode, it was awesome!!! Cheesy, dramatic, soulful, musical...everything a high school show glee club TV show should be. I see why Joss Whedon listed it on his top 10 things he's grateful for in 2010.
I think many of you will like it, but ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) xleste for sure!
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choiceful
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1:41p
Keep me posted!
In response to capitalism_yeah's inquiry to how things are going with the surrogacy in India adventure:
Pretty boring, in a good way, at the moment ;) Driving is extremely dangerous, but we're used to that now, and we've hit most of the sight seeing attractions at this point. I've gotten fat, just started working out again ;)
We go to the hospital every other day, for ultrasounds and blood tests and shots, and on alternate days I give the shots to myself. Its much more timely to give the shots here than it was in Panama, because they gave me a big needle to suck up the solution to mix it in Panama, whereas here I only have a medium needle, so I spend a lot of time trying to suck that last little drop out of the viles when mixing them.
Today is day 9, and the doc said that the eggs are actually developing a little faster than scheduled, so it might only be 11 days instead of 12 to 14.
My prolactin levels are still through the roof thanks to Risperdal. I'm not quite sure what the negative consequences on egg extraction that has, but the doctors are concerned about it and have been increasing my dosage of anti-prolactin meds with every blood test. I'm still over 200: 200 is the most that the test goes up to.
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(comment on this) Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
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(comment on this) Thursday, December 24th, 2009
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