Sesame Street Newsflash...

Unfortunately, I have no Kermit The Frog to read my news for me. ;) Bad blogger Larissa, not posting for ages...I'm suggesting 50 lashes with a wet noodle for myself. Anyway, without further ado...

Today I got my invite to Ryan and Kat's wedding (although, being part of the bridal party, not a huge surprise :). I'm really looking forward to it, and some people have been lucky enough to see pictures of the awesomeness that is my dress. Right now I'm working on the Self Challenge so that I will look just as fabulous as the dress does. Hand weights are coming back with me this weekend.

Things at work are shaking out okay. I was lucky to get some really excellent advice from an ex-Splashie manager (who is my Wondermanager Idol - I want to be just like her). The two partners are on speaking terms once more. And I did some asserting of myself when I set the agenda for our "meeting" last Sunday (go me!) and kept the other two on-task.

Greg and I have tickets to see the Dalai Lama in Toronto in April - it's going to be *amazing*.

Still have two weeks until exams start, so it's not time to panic *just* yet.

One week until my birthday...twenty-three...on the one hand, it still seems young. On the other...it's getting towards mid-twenties. I'm sure that other people are fretting about this too...but I guess that I feel like, with all the program hopping that I've done, that I don't have a lot to show for the last few years...and a quarter-century is fast approaching. Scary thoughts, scary thoughts.

Sex and the City finale on tonight (yup, it's 2:40 am on Friday) on Bravo - I feel like a late bandwagon-jumper, but I watched a few episodes way back in the day and never really got into it. Now, I'm a late-blooming fan. In a way, it's good knowing what's coming (when watching old episodes) because I was watching some of Season Two this evening, and it's kind of depressing at the end (Big and Carrie splitting up, Big being engaged), but it's okay because of the series ending that I know is coming. Anyway, this has become my Friday night ritual (especially since I'm home and busy working every weekend) - leave work and kick back with a glass of red wine and SATC...Excitement is my middle name .


- posted by Larissa @ 2:54 AM

 
The shit hath hitteth the fan...eth...

Props to those who recognized the quote from 10 Things I Hate About You. And I can certainly think of at least 10 things I hate about my workplace right now...

This weekend has included: A distressing revelation about one of Larissa's partners. A lot of tears. Two partners barely on speaking terms. Larissa caught in the middle of it all. Larissa getting abso-fucking-lutely tired of trying to hold this partnership together when that is NOT her job. On the flip side, Larissa wondering if she's wussing out by being in the middle and not taking a strong stand, one way or the other.

Bugger. Bugger, bugger, bugger.
- posted by Larissa @ 11:01 PM

 
Quote of the day...

From an interview in Time Magazine with Mr. Depp:

"The challenge for me is still to do something that hasn't been beaten into the moviegoing consciousness. Otherwise what am I in it for?

The dough? Well, the dough is cool, but I don't want to be 85 years old and have my grandkids go, 'Ewwww. Grandpa did some dumb shit.' I'd rather have them say, 'Wow, man, you're nuts!'"

Johnny, I salute you! :)
- posted by Larissa @ 9:14 PM

 
Gotta lay off the peanut butter-and-sardine sandwiches...

It's a rare occasion for me to remember my dreams, so I thought I'd share. I think this one might rival some of Bean's dreams for weirdness.

Much of this dream is probably attributable to the fact that I watched Buffy on Space right before going to sleep...

So, there was me. And another girl (who I didn't recognize). And we were in a weird sort of hybrid city that resembled Waterloo/Toronto/Ottawa. And there were vampires everywhere, and we had to get away from them and meet our boyfriends (who also turned out to be vampires - I was dating Angel, I think - but somehow they were okay, and they were helping us with whatever it was that we had to do). And it was a cold and snowy night, and we were walking through the theatre district in T.O., when we were spotted by a vampire (who seemed like the "Head" vampire) who looked uncannily like Anthony Hopkins. So we had to run away, and meet the boys/vamps. And we did, and we were going into a restaurant (?), I think to discuss strategy, when my boyfriend-vampire turned into the Anthony Hopkins vampire (and can I say...eww...no offence to Sir Anthony intended, but...ewww...). And then we were wandering from place to place, I'm not really sure why...and then I woke up. Very strange.

But, it's dreams like this that confirm for me that I don't have the Trent Psychology Department's Favourite Disorder Ever - Alexythymia. Alexythymics tend to have really exciting dreams, like: "I dreamed I was washing my car. And then I drove my car to the Pizza Pizza, and got two slices of pepperoni. And they were good. And then I went home." And this may sound like an exaggeration, but we're doing a lab for my Personality Psyc class, relating dreams and Alexythymia scores, and some people's dream reports *really* were that boring.
- posted by Larissa @ 9:32 PM

 
Office politics bite the big one...

I hate office politics. And I hate gossip. And I hate having to worry about the reaction of other Area Managers, when I want to do something good for my area; "What? You can't do that! You're going to make the rest of us look bad!" I don't want to play this game - I've never been good at gossip, and "keeping my ear to the ground" and all that other crap that makes the world go 'round.

And I hate being stuck in between my two partners, and feeling like I'm letting one down when I don't stand up to the other one the way I think she wants me to - feels like I'm back-stabbing her, but all I'm trying to do is get along with everyone. :(

People suck.
- posted by Larissa @ 1:26 AM

 
A brilliant day for muggles...

Wow, these entries are really turning into being all about movies, books and music...

(Edited to add - my entry somehow deleted itself. So now I'm trying to reconstruct. This bites.)

J.K. Rowling did an online chat for World Book Day, and gave away some interesting information (at least for Potter nerds such as myself)! The full transcript can be read here, but here are some highlights (don't read if you don't want to be spoiled, especially if you haven't read OOTP yet (Greg)).

- Ron, Hermione, and Ginny's middle names are Bilius (astute readers will note that Ron's Uncle Bilius was mentioned in POA...he was the uncle who saw a "grim" and died 24 hours later), Jane, and Molly, respectively
- Sirius' flying motorcycle seems like it will be making a return appearance
- The two-way mirror that Sirius gave Harry also seems like it will be making a return appearance
- Harry's going to be getting more action in Books Six and Seven (Ginny, anyone?)
- Harry's grandparents have passed away (on the Potter side and the Evans side, it seems)
- Question: "If we ever see Sirius again, what form will he be in?" J.K.: "I couldn't possibly answer that for fear of incriminating myself." (I want Sirius back!)
- Is Harry related to Godric Gryffindor? "Maybe he is ;)"
- The Muggle and Magical worlds will never be joined, although, "as Book Six shows, the Muggles are noticing more and more odd happenings now that Voldemort's back."
- We will learn more about the circumstances of Tom Riddle's birth in Book Six
- Moaning Myrtle will be back!
- There will be a new Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team in Book Six (my money is on Ron. He has a pronounced aptitude for strategic thinking - demonstrated by his skill at Wizard Chess. I think that Ron's vision in the Mirror of Erised may yet come true!)
- In Book Six, Harry will have his shortest stay at No. 4 Privet Drive yet
- The debt that Wormtail owes Harry for saving his life (in POA) will come back into play
- We will find out what Dudley saw when he faced the Dementors
- Apparently, knowing what forms Professor Snape's boggart and patronus take would, "give so much away" (so, no answer)
- Question: "What will Ron's job be when he leaves school?" J.K.: "Well, assuming he lives to leave school... I'm not going to tell you :)" (Is Ron going to die? It seems like J.K. may have let slip in this chat that Harry lives...she says that she won't "absolutely" rule out writing post-Hogwarts books. And she also says, in response to a question about Harry's career path, " I'm not sure I can see Harry in an academic career, he's seen so much action!" But nothing about Ron here, except for hints that he will wind up with Hermione - J.K. says she's "given enough hints" about Hermione's love interest. I've been afraid that Ron will die ever since he sacrificed himself in the chess game in PS :( )
- "Does Harry's eye colour become important...?" "No comment!" (hmmm...)
- There was a "reason" why Sirius had to bite the big one (but J.K. still feels guilty for killing him off)
- Harry and Cho Chang will not be getting back together - "They were never going to be happy, it was better that it ended early!"
- Winky will always need Butterbeeraholics Anonymous
- Now that Lucius is in prison, we will hear more from Narcissa Malfoy
- There will be a new Minister of Magic in the coming books (my money is on Arthur Weasley)
- We will not need prequels written post-Book Seven, because all the background details will have been filled in (including some more detail about why Sirius decided to send Snape to the Whomping Willow during their school days)

As I said, before my post was partly deleted (grr...), I can't wait for Harry Potter Book Six! Or the sixth book in the Outlander series. I remain, a Big Old Nerd.
- posted by Larissa @ 3:54 PM

 
Something Beautiful has happened...

I don't know how much other people are out of the media loop, but I didn't know that there was a new Great Big Sea album out - Something Beautiful hit stores on February 24th. I read an article about it in the National Post (regrettably, I can't link to it, because of National Post's rules about access for non-subscribers...not that I'd ever want to subscribe anyway...but I digress), and it seems that this album is mostly Alan, Sean and Bob's original work - they're planning to release an all-trad album later this year. For the hockey fans among us, one of the new songs is called "Helmethead." ;) And two of my coworkers went to a concert last week (just a small show) - there has been a lot of tension around the office because of assinine new wardrobe policies, and Nicola has taken to singing, "Let it Go" under her breath.

So, a review will be up after I have acquired it...first single sounds good (there's a clip on the main page of the website). But no matter what, I'll still love the b'ys.


- posted by Larissa @ 4:55 PM