Encore!

Recently, I was at the symphony, yes, very posh.

At the end, the guest musicians and the conductor took their bow and walked off stage. The rest of the symphony stayed put. We all clapped and lo and behold, they came back! Call me crazy, but it's the freaking symphony, a stage encore just seems a bit, well, lame.

Bands do this all the time, walk off stage and then, while you're clapping away madly - you realize that they haven't played their most popular song. What?! That can't be! Oh please please please come back. Yay band! GAG.

I'm sure that back in the day, an encore was a genuine thing. Now it just seem a little desperate and attention seeking.

How not to multi-task

The idea of multi-tasking is a great one. We all should do more of it. What we should NOT do however, is watch TV and surf the internet (unless of course you're reading a great blog like mine) as that isn't multi-tasking. While I may like to pretend that it's not just me sitting on the couch and wasting the *prime* years of my life, that's really all it is. With a portal on my lap that can show me in an instant what exactly it is that I am missing.

Oh internet, how I love/hate thee.

I'm thinking of going into a self imposed TV exile (and besides, think of all the great things that will be on my PVR when I go back to it), but I'm pretty sure I lack the discipline for a task of that magnitude.

I did however, turn the TV off to write this post.

I amuse easily

I'm not simple. Really. I just like simple things. This tape dispenser:

absolutely makes my day. So simple, yet so genius! Kudos to whomever invented it. Maybe it says on their website, website here, look for yourself, I didn't check, I guess I don't care that much. I dare say it's worth its ridiculous price tag just because how can you not smile a clever piece of obsolete technology (both the tape - who uses paper anymore? and the cassette).

Arranged Marriage

Arranged marriage is not a topic that comes up all that often in North America, but I think we might be dismissing the concept without enough thought.

Ask any teenager their thoughts on it and you would likely end up with a sharp gasp and then a verbal diarrhea of why it's the worst idea in the whole world. Ask any single person in their 30's and you might just get a different response.

I am currently single. I have tried using some of those singles dating sites as I actually have friends who have had success with them. Of course, I haven't told any of them that I have given it a shot. I obviously am okay with the idea of online dating but I'm also not quite comfortable with admitting to the world that that's how I'm going about it. Seems like it would be a good "how we met" story.... for the wedding reception.

Possibly my favorite thing with online dating is my ability to suss out people before I meet them face to face. If you meet someone in a bar or at a party you might get a bit of slightly intoxicated idea of both their looks and their personality. Online, you get photos that may or may not be accurate, but you get to see how they express themselves when given a blank slate to write on.

This is also my biggest dilemma, the blank slate.

I like words, and I like spelling and grammar. Now, obviously I'm not perfect when it comes to these things, but I figure I'm pretty average and it worries me that my skills in English syntax seem to be far superior than the average single male.  I go so far as to mention how important the ability to use the full word "you" instead of "u" is to me - yet I receive numerous responses that include this sort of text speak. Why? Why? Why?

I realize that I may be eliminating a potential significant other with my ridiculous obsession, but my rationale is that since it's something that drives me INSANE, it's not unreasonable to expect someone who can at least spell - how else am I supposed to enjoy my future love letters??

Fruit Loops

Every time I crack open a box a Fruit Loops (which may or may not have been my dinner this evening) the smell that overtakes me reminds me of being 5. When I was little, it was a special treat and I had to savor the one box I got every once in a blue moon.

Mmmmmm......

Avacados, Cranberries and Cashews (oh my!)

These are just three of the foods that I hated at one time and now don't actually mind that much. They* say that our tastebuds change every 5 years, so now that I'm a "grown-up" I try to go back and taste things that I haven't liked previously to see if anything has changed.

 

On the other hand, mushrooms, almost all fish (unless it's smothered in tartar sauce) and olives are still on the hate list. I don't even like olive oil, and how olives have sex or how something can be "extra-virgin" is beyond me.

*they: they, the people who say these sorts of things. This fact may or may not be accurate as the way to substantiate it would be to ask the good old internet, but there's so much crap on there, who has the time. I will therefore stick to using facts from my memory bank that I enjoy the sound of.

Happy new year?

I get a little fed up with all the societal norms that we're supposed to follow.

Like New Year's Eve. Now, I do like that it forces everyone to get together and ostensibly do something fun, but all the Happy New Year! crap that goes along with it? No thanks. Personally, I have new minute/hour/day resolutions that I can't keep, let alone thinking that I'm going to change anything about my life mid-winter when there are hundreds of delicious things to be eaten EVERYWHERE.

I also don't like Christmas. I enjoy some of the sentiments of Christmas, but (and I'm guilty of this myself) why do we feel the need to spend time with people we don't like in the spirit of a holiday that was once a religious holiday and is now just mass commercialization?? If you like being with your family, then spend time with them. Year round. If you don't like them, don't spend time with them. *note to self, take own advice*

I'll go in depth about my theory of gifts later.

So, Happy New Year!! If you want it to be.