Dec 3

          Honest, people, I am touched by your concern. But sometimes I don't say anything for the simple fact that, occasionally, I have nothing to say.

5 Dec

          I read a lot of rejection letters, some of them even my own, you might be surprised to know. Or not. (You're a bunch of evil trolls.) One of the common reasons for rejection seems to be the ever present, "It didn't hold my interest."
          Have publishers been hiring a plethora of first readers with ADD lately? I mean, really. Some of these manuscripts are only a few measly pages long! Well I for one am not going to stand for it anymore. I'm going to be proactive.
          That's why I suggest that from this day forward, we all submit our stories in bright, shiny font. Use sparklies if you have to. Something that blinks would be even better. I bet that will hold their feeble-minded attention.
          Or not.
          (I feel another, "Dear Steve. No," coming on.)

9 Dec

          CFSATE (Canadian Forces School of Aerospace Technology and Engineering--trust me, it sounds more impressive than it is) is having its Christmas party tonight, and I'm going. (Yeah, me!) I will be feasting, drinking (yes, Diet Pepsi counts) dancing (or a close approximation thereof) and general merry making. (I have all the ingredients for my paper mache piñata of General Merry, and promised his wife the first whack!) I have promised to stay out of trouble, not make the officers cry (again), and basically behave myself. Yeah, right.

10 Dec

          There's a good reason why Pen wraps all of our Christmas presents; when I do it they wind up looking like Frankengifts. Nothing a direct lightning strike wouldn't fix.
          And I did too so behave myself at the party last night. Nothing to see here. Move along, move along. (These are not the droids you are looking for.) 

12 Dec

          I can't win. My reading glasses haven't arrived yet. Grrrrr. (Grrrr because they haven't arrived, and Grrrrr because I actually need the durned things in the first place.) In the meantime, the Doc gave me these drops to put in my eyes.
          Problem is, my eyes burn when I don't use them, and my vision goes all blurry when I do. And I have about as much luck getting the drops in my eyes as I do getting the golf ball in the....er...golf hole. No doubt there's just as much crying involved in either endeavour.
          And they migrated our server at work last week. Migrated to where, I have no idea. I was kind of hoping it migrated south, and I could go with it. Regardless, when they migrated the server, they didn't bother to migrate our links to it, or our rights, so I can still see the drives with all my information and work on it, I just don't have access to it anymore. And for some reason, everything else is slower now: Internet access, email, freece....er...everything. All I can say is, "Gee guys, thanks for the upgrade."

20 Dec

Seven things to do before I die:
1. Don't worry
2. Be happy
3. Write a hit song about 1 & 2 (What do you mean it's been done?)
4. Become a best-selling author. (Actually, it's the books I want to be best sellers, not the author, because that's just prostitution.)
5. Become filthy stinking rich--possibly as a result of numbers 3 & 4, which should take care of numbers 1 & 2.
6. Travel, preferably with the people I love. (You know who you are.)
7. Think of number 7.

Seven things I cannot do:
1. Get pregnant (Not that I've ever tried, so maybe...)
2. Skate well.
3. Play hockey (See #2 P.S. don't tell any Canadians or they'll deport me.)
4. Stay serious for any prolonged period of time.
5. Play a flugelhorn (Not that I've ever tried, so maybe...)
6. Juggle (and I've tried. Wah!)
7. Think of number 7.

Seven things that attract me to women:
1. A huge Steve-magnet
2. Sense of humour (or at least the ability to understand mine)
3. Intelligence
4. Confidence
5. Loyalty
6. joie de vive
7. eyes (preferably two, and not on the same side of their face like some freak Picasso; smile; scent; smooth skin; yadda yadda yadda...

Seven things I say most often:
1. eh?
2. I'm so screwed.
3. What's the problem, officer?
4. Great idea, Boss! *snerk*
5. I'm an idiot, eh.
6. Sort of, kind of, almost, in a way.
7. suurrree.

Seven books or series I love:
1. Tarzan series
2. Anything by David Gemmell
3. Shogun
4. King Among the Dead by Lesley D. Livingston (not yet published, but should be)
5. Scott Bakkers The Darkness That Comes Before series
6. Anything by Karin Lowachee, Elizabeth Bear, and C.C. Finlay (but I'm probably biased)
7. Any of a gazillion other books that I've read and loved, but can't for the life of me remember because I'm an idiot, eh.

Seven movies I can watch over and over:
1. The Crow
2. The Fifth Element
3. Scrooged
4. Independence Day
5. Buckaroo Bonzai
6. Hell Boy
7. Any of a gazillion other movies that I love, but can't for the life of me remember because I'm an idiot, eh. (Are we sensing a theme here?)

23 Dec

          So I ran out of gas again last night. Not only is my car on its last legs, but apparently it now has the gas mileage of a Ford Navigator. Luckily, I was only a couple of blocks away from home at the CanEx (a Canadian military PX) this time. Oddly enough, the same guy that gave me a ride home the last time I ran out of gas was there, and gave me a ride home this time, too. I'm thinking of trashing my car, and just paying him to drive me around.

          And, in case I forget to say it later (cause I'm an idiot, eh) Happy Holidays to all my LJ buddies. Just knowing you all this year has made my life so much better. (Even if you do say nasty things about me in the comments section. Okay, especially when you say nasty things about me in the comments section.)

24 Dec

The 4 Things Meme (Serious, for once.) "It's all Jenni's fault, eh?"

FOUR JOBS YOU'VE HAD IN YOUR LIFE:
1. Construction
2. Musician
3. Bodyguard
4. Military

FOUR MOVIES YOU COULD WATCH OVER AN OVER:
1. The Mummy
2. Blade
3. The Matrix
4. A Knight's Tale

FOUR CITIES YOU'VE LIVED IN:
1. Trenton
2. Kingston
3. North Bay
4. Victoria

FOUR TV SHOWS YOU LOVE TO WATCH:
1. House
2. My Name is Earl
3. Battlestar Galactica
4. Lost

FOUR PLACES YOU'VE BEEN ON VACATION:
1. Bermuda
2. Mexico
3. Disney World
4. Niagara Falls

FOUR WEBSITES YOU VISIT DAILY:
1. Talk Entertainment
2. Canoe
3. SciFi Wire
4. LJ

FOUR OF YOUR ALL-TIME FAVOURITE RESTAURANTS:
1. Fazio's in Oshawa
2. Mediterranean Grill in Victoria
3. Sweetwater Supper Club in Toronto
4. Moxy's in Victoria

FOUR OF YOUR FAVOURITE FOODS:
1. Spaghetti
2. Poutine râpé
3. Fillet Minion
4. Raspberries

FOUR SCHOOLS YOU'VE ATTENDED:
1. Trenton High School
2. Loyalist College
3. Canadian Forces School of Aerospace Technology and Engineering
4. Master Wei Min Ho's Dojo

FOUR THINGS YOU FIND YOURSELF SAYING A LOT
1. It was like that when I got here.
2. Not again!
3. For the good of your physical well-being, I would suggest that you rephrase that.
4. No way!

FOUR PLACES YOU'D RATHER BE RIGHT NOW:
1. Victoria
2. Bahamas
3. Greek Islands
4. Vegas

30 Dec

          So the holidays have been great so far, and lucky me doesn't have to go back to work until the 9th. Pen spoiled me rotten, as usual. And the rest of the family helped, too.

Christmas Haul:

1. Treadmill
2. Chocolate Gift Bastket (the stuff in the basket is chocolate, not the basket.)
3. DVDs
a. Fantastic Four
b. Batman Begins
c. Sahara
d. The Interpreter
e. Angel Seasons 4 & 5
f. Serenity (the movie, not the feeling.)
4. Chapters Gift Cards (totaling $150--that's mega books!)
5. Future Shop Gift Card
6. Walmart Gift Card
7. The Lady of Avalon, by MZB
8. The Chronicles of Narnia (yep, all of 'em.)
9. Turtles (two boxes…mmmm, chocolate)
10. 26 cans of Diet Pepsi (yep, wrapped and under the tree, honest.)
11. A monogrammed pen and pencil set
12. $150 cash
13. A ginormous chocolate bar. ( mmmm….chocolate.)

          To top it off, when we got home we found out our VCR had given up the ghost, so we ran out and bought a DVR. Yeah, me!
          We spent Christmas eve at her parent's place, and had a roast beast dinner, then opened our gifts Christmas morning, had a light lunch, and was off to my parent's place, where we opened more gifts and had the traditional turkey dinner. My son was at my parent's, so it was nice to spend some time with him. (Even though he is very tall--not that I hold that against him. Much.)
          Then it was back to the in-law's place the following day, where Chantel's boyfriend joined us for another traditional turkey dinner, and more presents. I know it's called the Twelve Days of Christmas, but I don't think that means you're supposed to celebrate it each and every day with gift giving and feasting.
          Of course we have left-overs from each and every one of those dinners, so turkeys ought to be safe from us for at least six months or so. Or until Easter.