I haven't posted in this thing for a hella long time. Just go here: London blog. I actually post there.

This is the very same survey-dealy I did last year, when I stole it from James blog (tuningout ) to kill time at work on Christmas Eve. I need to kill time today (New Year's Eve), as we're waiting for Amanda...

Italicized text is from last year...

1. What did you do in 2003 that you'd never done before? Went to London! Moved out. Worked at a racetrack. Lived at one, too. Lived in Edmonton (ok, those last few are all the same event).
Last year: Graduated University. Never done that before.

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Sure I didn't keep last years... but this years... well, I'm not big on resolutions. Lets just leave it at that.
Last year: Oh lord, I'm not sure I remember what my resolutions were, if I even made any. I've got a few lined up for this year, but they're mostly stuff I should be doing already.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Um, no.
Last year: My cousin's cat. It produced this, which now lives with my sister.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Once again, nope. Pretty good, I think. Last year: Nope. 

5. What countries did you visit? Cuba and England.
Last year: uh...none.

6. What would you like to have in 2004 that you lacked in 2003? Once again, money. A job (in London) would be good, too. A computer that is younger than I am. That's about it.
Last year: Money. That's all I need right now. And oh, look, I'm at work right now!

7. What date from 2003 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? The day I left for England. Saying bye to my parents in the airport was brutal, I started crying, but then had to get under control, as I had to walk thru security and all that, and didnt' want to do it in tears.
Last year: When my parents gave me the jetta for my graduation present. They totally had me fooled, and I was so close to yelping "Holy Fuck" in front of my grandparents, which would have been a bad, bad thing.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Leaving.
Last year: Graduating, I suppose. Still amazed that happened. (Probably selling the Fark story, too.)

9. What was your biggest failure? Nothing that jumps to mind. Yay for me.
Last year: In a sense, graduating. Or the reason for it. Still can't believe that happened.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Nope.
Last year: Amazingly, no.

11. What was the best thing you bought? I'd say flights to London, but amazingly, didn't have to buy those. My new digicam? My cell? My Brighton-bought cowboy boots? Couldn't say.
Last year: Trip to Cuba. Not only is it Cuba (!!!) but it pulled me out of an extended not-so-happy mood.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Hmm. Mine? Ha ha ha.
Last year: My family. It's been a rough year in a few different reasons for my family as a whole and for certain individuals, but for the most part, we've all come thru for each other, and I think that's pretty cool.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Ditto from last year.
Last year: Don't get me started.

14. Where did most of your money go? Into pounds, and then very quickly spent on clothes, shoes, pints and tube passes.
Last year: That's a great question, and one I don't have an answer to.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? England. Coming home from England.
Last year: Cuba. England next year. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Wow, I've got priorities, huh.

16. What song will always remind you of 2003? Stabilo, Everybody Wants (or whatever the hell it's called) and the song from Watchmen called Absolutely anytime (or whatever it's called).
Last year: Sloan's "Rest of my Life" or whatever it's called. I never liked Sloan before now.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? probably still a toss up, but I have much happier moments, and much sadder ones, I think. Last year: It's a toss up.
ii. thinner or fatter? Thinner. Good lord, shoveling shit's an awesome workout. Last year: Thinner, by about 15 pounds. (Way to go James, I'm impressed.)
iii. richer or poorer? Poorer and more indebted. Last year: I have more money, but I'm poorer. Does that make sense.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of? Saving money.
 Last year: Saving. Working. Snowboarding.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Spending (some things never change).
Last year: Spending. Not Working.

20. How will you be spending Christmas? I spent it at home, in the new house, with family (minus Brandon). Tony came over for dinner and CSI: The Game.
Last year: At home, first, then driving to Edmonton to visit family.

21. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. Hmm. Let me think that one thru.
 Last year: "The movement you need is on your shoulder."

22. Did you fall in love in 2003? Once again, nope! And once again, thank god!
 Last year: Nope. Thank god.

23. How many one-night stands? None. I'm a good girl.
Last year: Depending on your definition... but none, really. I'm not like that.

24. What was your favorite TV program? Ooh. I've started getting obsessed with Lost, and some weird ass BBC cartoon called Monkey Dust.
Last year: Well, Buffy ended, so now probably That 70s Show, which makes me giggle.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Hmm... No. Wicked. I'm still unhateful.
Last year: Nope.

26. What was the best book you read? Ooh. Toss up between: Bill Bryson's Short History of Nearly Everything and HV Morton's In Search of London
Last year: You Shall Know our Velocity, Dave Eggers. I think AHWOSG is better, overall, but he got me, with Velocity, and I like that.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Uh... nothing I'd call discovery. I'm not a very good music person.
 Last year: Eeee. I think Atkinson was right with the whole, people grow up and stop listening to music thing. (Um, James, if you read this... can you make me a Mix CD? Please!)

28. What did you want and get? London (living and schooling there). Computer (thanks ben!).
 Last year: Arrogance. I'm not kidding. I've been carefully culitvating it, and it's working.

29. What did you want and not get? A pony. I never get a pony.
 Last year: The Gauntlet. Didn't get it.

30. What was your favorite film of this year? Ooh. I just watched the Extended LOTR:ROTK, and that was wicked-awesome. But new movies. Wow. Nothing that stands out. This wasn't a big movie/music year for me.
 Last year: Return of the King. I walked out of the theatre at 4am with a big grin on my face. I also really liked Mystic River, and am a happily converted Sean Penn fan. And... well... just thinking about Pirates of the Carribean still makes me happy.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? As always, Hop. And not as always, 22.
 Last year: I turned 21, and was at the Hop. It was good.

32.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? My Jetta not trying to kill me.
 Last year: My family being healthy.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2003? Cheap London.
 Last year: Faking business casual.

34. What kept you sane? Free long distance. Parks. Beer. Horses.
 Last year: Not sure I am sane, but really, I just decided to make the best of things, and be happy with what I have, and what do you know, it worked.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Ooh, in a year where I haven't cared about pop culture... Sean Bean. Yes, Sean Bean in Sharpe. That's good stuff.
 Last year: Toss up between the rugged sexiness of Viggo Mortenson and the perfection of Orlando Bloom. I really can't decide. It's a fun debate, tho.

36. What political issue stirred you the most? US international relations, and how people outside the US think of the US, if that's not too weirdly confusing.
Last year: Probably Iraq. Really, Bush. Pisses me off.

37. Who did you miss? Everyone I moved away from. Family and Friends.
 Last year: Friends and family who moved away. Bastards.

38. Who was the best new person you met? Couldn't pick, but lots of good new people from London and the Track. Good year for new people.
 Last year: Oh wow. I didn't meet anyone new that means anything to me. Well, there's an area I need to work on.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2003: Make yourself happy. If you can't make yourself happy, no one can.
 Last year: Pretty basic. Some things can't be changed, so just be happy with what you have. Be happy with who you are and everything else just follows.

The CBC tv show has chosen Tommy Douglas as the Greatest Canadian. I'm not going to argue that; it's subjective, after all. I would have picked Lester Pearson; at least he made the list. The ones I take issue with are Don Cherry--what exactly has he done of any importance?--and Wayne Gretzky, who is a wanker, and if he really was a great Canadian--or even a half-decent one--would have saved the Winnipeg Jets rather than buying an American team. Wanker.

It's not that I'm against sports figures for such a list, I just think Greztky is a sell-out. At least Don Cherry beat him. But, what about Bobby Orr? He placed 19th.

I also would have liked to see Rick Hansen (he got 30th) higher up, but at least he beat Avril Lavign (at 40.) Avril Lavign--you've got to be kidding me.

The final standings in CBC-TV's The Greatest Canadian contest:
Canadian Press
1 T.C. Douglas
2 Terry Fox
3 Pierre Trudeau
4 Sir Frederick Banting
5 David Suzuki
6 Lester Pearson
7 Don Cherry
8 Sir John A. Macdonald
9 Alexander Graham Bell
10 Wayne Gretzky

Stolen from Fark, but funny none the less...

Fallujah Video has congressman calling for reporter ban
CAPITOL HILL The videotaped shooting of a Fallujah combatant by a U-S Marine has evoked strong emotions in the Arab world and on Capitol Hill.

Texas Democrat Sylvestre Reyes says it's time to rethink the presence of embedded reporters in combat zones. During a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee, Reyes compared it to a football game, saying "we don't want to know everything that's going on on the field." Reyes says this is not censorship. In his words, "We should not be providing the Al-Jazeera the kind of propaganda they've had the last couple of three days."

Marine Corps commandant General Michael Hagee disagrees, saying embedded reporters have actually worked very well and inform the American public about "what these great young Americans are doing over there."

this is an exact copy/paste from my other blog... b/c I'm that lazy...

My sister and her boyfriend, Brandon, got engaged over the weekend. I found out from an email from Tony, with the subject line: Hell has frozen over.

Nice.

Here's the ring:




They're planning (and hopefully succeeding) to have their wedding the week after Nat and Daorcey's... so I only have to fly back once. I go away for just one summer, and look what happens...

The Globe and Mail online has a reader submitted joke/pun feature in the bottom right of their page called Morning Smile.

Today, there's this:

Q. What's the difference between the Vietnam War and the war in Iraq?

A. George W. Bush knew how to get out of the Vietnam War.

Somebody tell me how to do an absentee ballot! The green party needs my vote!

From this week's Dan Savage column... well worth the read. Especially for Canadians.

...I know your liberal heart means well, Dan, but the response you gave to SAUDI typifies much that is wrong with Western attitudes toward the Middle East.

While SAUDI is partially to blame for having the poor judgment to ask you about sexual ethics, your statement, "Unlike the country you left behind, there are no morals police in the part of North America where you live" smacks of haughty, imperialistic condescension. You totally ignored the fact that the values he was taught as a Muslim have a deep and completely valid cultural context that needs to be considered when dispensing advice. You reduced the conundrum of a devout man experiencing serious cultural conflict to the influence of the "morals police," and in quite a smirking tone. I don't care how progressive Canadians are. It is incredibly offensive to imply the superiority of morals in Canada to values taught in Saudi Arabia. To paraphrase Gandhi, have some goddamned cultural sensitivity, man.
Sick Of Stereotypes


Did I imply the superiority of morals in Canada to values taught in Saudi Arabia? Jesus H. Christ, SOS, I feel terrible about that. So let me set the record straight: I never meant to imply the superiority of morals in Canada over values taught in Saudi Arabia. I meant to state, loudly and clearly and for the record, the absolute superiority of morals in Canada over values taught in Saudi Arabia.

Let us count the ways in which Canada is superior: equality of the sexes, political and religious pluralism, a little thing called democracy, and, of course, the radical notion that consenting adults are free to have sex with other consenting adults without having to worry about being lashed or beheaded in public. Canada's also got vodka tonics, BC bud, and pornography going for it, along with Tim Hortons, pork-sausage gravy on fries, and a just and equitable social-welfare system. Is Canada morally superior to Saudi Arabia? You bet. It's also morally superior to the United States of America.

But back to the big SA: Unless you believe that cutting off the heads of homosexuals has a "deep and completely valid cultural context," or that men treating women as their property is a "value," you have to acknowledge that Saudi Arabia practices and promotes a thoroughly fucked-up brand of Islam. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia's state-sanctioned "morals police" are not, as you imply, an imperialistic fantasy of mine. They are, sadly, a fact of everyday life for Saudi Arabian women, gays, atheists, moderate/non-Wahabi Muslims, and anyone else who fails to live up to the pinched, sex-negative, deeply psychotic brand of monotheism practiced there.

To paraphrase the U.N.'s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I believe that human rights are universal, man. As Saudi Arabia exists in this universe, I think that the humans there—Muslim or not, liberal or conservative, male or female, gay or straight—are entitled to their full human rights. Until that day comes, SOS, I'm going to go right on thinking that Canada kicks Saudi Arabia's ass when it comes to morals and values. And bud.


Nicely done, Dan, nicely done.

“Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not to their own facts.”

This comment by former New York senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan was raised this week after a U.S. presidential debate rife with half-truths and distortions.

Taken from the Globe and Mail online.

I like that alot, and it has nothing to do with me living in London, so it's going here. Maybe this site isn't dead, afterall.

...

I met an american in a bar last night, from Texas. Her sister works for Bush, in the White House, and said: "The only reason I want him to win is 'cause if he does, I get to go to the White House christmas party this year. Otherwise, go Kerry." Fun times.

I haven't posted much here, because I've moved to here: nicolelondon.blogspot.com

-Nicole

(Taken straight from the email I just sent out to the usual interested parties... but I thought I'd share with the rest of you, too.)

So, the new Pride and Prejudice starring Keira Knightley has some fella named Matthew MacFadyen as Mr Darcy (for pictures: http://www.thezreview.co.uk/news3/prideandprejudicenew2.htm).

And, strangely--I mean, I almost don't believe this--the Nick Hornby book Fever Pitch is being made into a movie again; the first version starred Colin Firth. This time it's starring Jimmy Fallon (of SNL fame) and Drew Barrymore, and ditching Arsenal football for the Boston Red Sox...(although, I must admit it's interesting how the title still works.)

So, in one year (2005), there'll be two remade versions of Colin Firth films...I wonder if he finds that flattering or depressing? On the plus side, for the rest of us, in the same year, there will also be two new Firth films; one by Canadian director Atom Egoyan and the other costarring Julliet Binoche--and that's always a good thing.

Back in Calgary now, after two months in Edmonton, and a few days in Vancouver.

I just wrote a bit on the other blog (London-related one), so if you're looking for reading material, head over there.

I miss my horses.

-Nicole

Some photos need to be shared:

For this, and some from James' post-going-away-party gathering, held at Daorcey's, click here. The devoted, caring friend that I am, I took a day off, made the monster journey from Edmonton, and came to see him. Glad I did. (Aside to James: Hope Halifax's treating you well... and vice versa...)

And, big surprise: more photos of the horses at the racetrack. This is Private Balcony--or Belle, which is fitting, as she's the prettiest horse ever... I mean, look at her!--and there's more here if you're dying of boredom, or want to be.

I'm done at the track in a week and a half; I'm really going to miss it there. If I wasn't off to such grand adventures, I'm not sure I'd leave--so thank god for London, or I'd be stuck living in a barn for the rest of my life. Jesus.

It's very good to be back in Calgary, if only for a day. I'd write more, but as anyone who's every moved away and then come back to visit can likely attest, I'm busy having breakfast, lunch, dinner and coffee all day with people.

Still, manage to find time to fall back into old routine: so, here are some photos of the track and my room... in Edmonton.

So, sorry if I missed seeing anyone, but I'll be back for another day in August, and then for a week before jetting off across the pond...

Student loan came in, my flight is booked, and I'm officially excited/panicked/...

-Nicole

Survey stolen from James and used because I feel like writing, but haven't any thoughts in my poor, tired head.( Read more... )

Met my parents in Red Deer for dinner and a movie; went to see Spider-Man 2, which made me think of one of my favourite movie lines ever, from the first:

Peter Parker: Spider-Man wasn't trying to attack the city, he was trying to save it. That's slander.
J. Jonah Jameson: It is not. I resent that. Slander is spoken. In print, it's libel.

Made me laugh, very very hard.

And yes, it was very good to see my parents.

Random list, as an update on my life since moving to Edmonton, numbered for no apparent reason:

1) Living in a shithole isn't so bad, as long as it's your shithole. There's something to be said for private, personal space. (Pictures to follow, as soon as I get my USB, which I forgot at home.)

2) Being homesick is the worst thing I've ever felt. It's like depression, guilt and doubt rolled up into an ugly, exhausting ball of unhappiness.

3) Dollar stores kick ass. I recommend them to everyone living on the cheap.

4) Grocery shopping is fun and the bulk section, like dollar stores, kicks ass.

5) People change. I never thought they did before, but they do. And there's nothing quite like enjoying a six-hour conversation with someone who used to scare the crap out of you.

6) I really love reading. So far, between morning work and feed over the past two days, have read Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 (which was good, but oddly familiar, likely bc it's probably been ripped off a billion and a half times--see Equilibrium; it's very similar but with more violence and more Christian Bale) and Shoeless Joe, by Calgarian W.P. Kinsella, and of course the basis for Field of Dreams, a film described perfectly by Ben as "too corny." Ha, ha. Anyway, have some Morley Callaghan to go, and then back to the bookstore for me.

7) Everyone looks better when smiling.

8) My car hates me and is possibly trying to kill me, tho that's hardly news, is it? Got a flat tire driving up here... well, more like a shredded tire. I think it (my car) is trying a new tactic, tho. Now instead of killing me in a violent, bloody crash, or stranding me in dark, dangerous places, it appears to be trying to frighten or stress me to death, by making terrible noises that sound like something's wrong, when nothing really is.

K, think I'm done.

Car is fucked again; this time, it's the transmission, at the low, low cost of $1,700--an amount I really don't have.

Very frustrating, and means I'm heading to Edmonton a day late, which is also very frustrating.

...

Had my last riding lesson today--well, last for now, at Teesdale, anyway. Considering I've been riding there ten years, I've known my riding instructor longer than any of my friends, save two (Mel and Ryan).

So, very sad, and makes me realize how much I'm gonna cry/panic/freak out/ect on the plane over to London... assuming, of course, my student loans come through, because if they don't... well, then I'm not going this year.

...

Me not going (this year, I should stress) is not that scary to me--a fact that I find scary.

Very frightening, and makes me realize how happy I am with my friends, family and lifestyle here; what the hell am I giving up by going? And what the hell am I giving up by not? Ack, confusing. Must think less hard--there, much better.

...

Finally paddocked a winning horse--on the last bloody day of the Calgary meet. His name is Tycoon County, and I'd say he's cute, but he always smacks his head into things, so he really kinda looks like a warhorse.

Very exciting, and makes me want more winners. Not just for the money the owners, for some reason give us when one of their horses win (in this case, $50) but because now I get a win picture, which I'll scan and put up when I get it.

...

More racetrack photos are up; click here.

(I could try and force this random structure I've decided on, but well, it'd be forced.)

So, I took the shiny new digital camera to feed at the track today, just to try it out and see if it's any good or not. Considering I paid just over $100 for it, it's not perfect, but I think it'll do. I always forget how easy it is to blur digital photos, so must learn to keep my hand still.

The camera is some knockoff brand bought at Walmart, but is 2 megapixels, super tiny (barely 2 and a half inches long and just over an inch high), and... it's blue. If I have it at the highest quality setting, I can take about 25 photos; not too bad, and the pictures look like they'd be alright to print.

Anyways, digital cameras don't make it any easier to photograph horses; they still end up blurry--stand still, damn it--and the flash makes their eyes all wonky, tho if I wasn't lazy, I suppose I could fix that in photoshop.

So here's one of a baby named On Maneouver, who we just call Joelle (as that was her mommy's name):

I like how her eyes are all squinty from the flash...

More photos, click here.