it's over!

time's up on the list. i've accomplished (fully completed) 40 of them. 23 of them are in progress. i'm too tired for commentary now. pooped, actually. but i do feel like i've accomplished something, even if it is just seeing the list through to 1001 days. and i've accomplished 40 things i've set out to do in the last 2.65 years as well as started working on even more things. so, i guess that's good! and i feel like it's a success, so that does matter. not sure if i should remove the list from the left just yet: suggestions?

you don't have to wait until you die

WARNING: THIS IS GOING TO BE A REALLY LONG BLOG POST WITH LOTS OF PICTURES!! if you want to see more pictures (there's over a hundred) go to my flickr and search "portland trip with melissa" or click here.

holy moly! what a weekend! i'm exhausted and have just dumped all my shit all over the floor and lined my laundry and bedding up in the laundry room as both of our hostels had BED BUGS, mother fuckers. i've got itchy red splotchy parts and am not that paranoid about their travel, but need to get my last load in the washer before night fall. or bed time. that's when they come out. *i have since received confirmation from the hostel that they found the bedbugs and dealt with it, so please still stay there it was a great hostel!

the main highlight of the trip, other than spending four days with the wonderful girl of the north country, was food. lots and lots of food. from diners, groceries, coffee shops, and food carts. we also did other cool things like go to the art gallery, go antique-ing, watch away we go, buy craft supplies, and in general drive around and listen to mirah. oh yeah, and eat doughnuts, we ate a lot of doughnuts.


girl and her new (fake) art tattoo.


our twin portland creams from voodoo doughnuts. mine, on the left, is vegan. girl's is regular. they were so good. collectively we ate over a dozen doughnuts in 3 days. here are more doughnut pictures.


junior's. we had breakfast here on sunday. i ate so fast.


cool things from stars antique mall!


made in oregon!!

task #80: meet girl of the north country COMPLETED!!!

done! yaya! more soon when the internet doesn't suck. xo

task #6: read 6 canadian fiction books

oh, how the tasks continue. since i made major headway with my thesis today/yesterday i just picked my 6 books! They may not be read in the following order, but i'll cross them off as i go. so if you want to follow this one, bookmark the post and keep track of it in your bloglines or something, i'll post little reviews, too!

1. never cry wolf by Farley Mowat
2. the diviners by Margaret Laurence
3. from stone orchard by timothy findley
4. the bewilderments of bernard willis by aaron peck
5. nikolski by nicolas dickner
6. turtle valley by gail anderson-dargatz shitty! the emotions and communications were boring and telling. you knew where the story would go though the twist at the end "got me" it made sense faster then it played out. romance was lame and protagonist was disappointing in her struggle.

and let me just close this by saying that i must thank the incredible vanoronto and KTkabOOom for hooking me up with books!

going hundred miles per hour, with your radio on

task #95: go canoeing

a few of us staffers went to camp kananaq this week to build team spirit, go canoeing, etc. i went with cheryl from ccrr out in the canoe and we had a blast. i want one now.

"it's mid-august and the weather's fine...i'm goin' out to shot the pipe lines"

well, we're over the hump in our holiday. tomorrow we're taking on victoria with finethankyou and then braving the long windy-construction'd road back to pg. then work on wednesday. no fun city oh yeah.

today we went with my mumma to tofino and went swimming at long beach (oh yeah! i'm crossing that off my list! footage when i get home!!) and then into tofino where we stocked up on tea at the tofino tea bar and then food and coffee (no ice?) at common loaf. (btw, both of these shops don't have websites, so no linking!!). now i'm sucking back on sangria. so good, and cooking burrito fillings: kale with red peppers/onions/garlic and then pork on the bbq, then with aged cheddar and homemade salsa. yum. and we're siding with salad that has candied salmon on it (i love port) and corn coins. yum. a lot of the ingredients are locally sourced, which was sadly hard to do.

last night we had a big bbq here with lots of people and we skewered up some shrimp and drank beer and caught up with relatives and friends of my parents...but the most fun was hanging out with my grandparents. third time in one year, baby! woooo! this list is surely getting whipped.

more about our trip when i'm back to my computer and can upload pictures, but regardless: it's been a blast so far.

task #41: sarah polley movies

I'm not sure how I'm going to accomplish this one...
*bold means it's zipped*

* One Magic Christmas (1985)
* Confidential (1986)
* Prettykill (1987)
* The Big Town (1987)
* The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)
* Babar: The Movie (1989)
* Exotica (1994)
* Children First (1996)
* Joe's So Mean To Josephine (1996)
* The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
* The Planet of Junior Brown (1997)
* The Hanging Garden (1997)
* Last Night (1998)
* White Lies (1998)
* Jerry and Tom (1998)
* Guinevere (1999)
* eXistenZ (1999)
* Go (1999)
* The Life Before This (1999)
* The Claim (2000)
* This Might Be Good (2000)
* Love Come Down (2000)
* The Law of Enclosures (2000)
* The Weight of Water (2000)
* No Such Thing (2001)
* The i Inside (2003)
* The Event (2003)
* My Life Without Me (2003)
* Luck (2003)
* Dermott's Quest (2003)
* Siblings (2004)
* Dawn of the Dead (2004)
* The Secret Life of Words (2005)
* Don't Come Knocking (2005)
* Beowulf & Grendel (2005)

task#40: completed!

We're going whiter tomorrow after work.

101 in 1001 clean up

so, i've gone over my list and i haven't accomplished as many as i thought i have. about 38 or something? whoa. and i only have just under 2 months left to do as many as i can. i think i just did a recent post of ones i wanted to accomplish asap, but here goes another one.

#3: one day fast (i'm going to do this one, probably some day this week).

#5: a recent fall-back means i won't be defending by the time my list is finished. this is probably the most sad for me. i wish i had internet while i was in new aiyansh, but i don't think that would've changed anything. boo.

#7: i'm starting this now, like after i put down the computer: midnight's children.

#12: rejected from one application, still waiting to hear from the other one.

#18: i think i can still do this. but it will be when i get back from portland.

#25: 2008: The Wrestler; 2007: Juno; 2006: Little Miss Sunshine; 2005: Brokeback Mountain; 2004: Sideways; 2003: Lost in Translation; 2002: Far From Heaven; 2001: Memento; 2000: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo hu cang long); 1999: Election; 1998: Gods and Monsters; 1997: The Apostle; 1996: Fargo; 1995: Leaving Las Vegas; 1991: Rambling Rose; 1992: The Player; 1993: Short Cuts; 1994: Pulp Fiction; 1987: River's Edge; 1988: Stand and Deliver; 1989: sex, lies, and videotape; 1990: The Grifters; 1985: After Hours; 1986: Platoon

#95: go canoeing

#80: meet melissa !soon!

#72: make another pair of leggings

#58: teach aco or kt how to sew

#54: giving pink scarf to KT

#48: go swimming in the ocean (on the island, parksville probably)

#40: go bleach blonde (next week)

task #27: buy all of devendra banhart's albums

i'm changing this to acquire, not buy. i already have a few of them on cd: cripple crow, and smokey rolls down thunder canyon. based on allmusic.com i still need: oh me oh my..., rejoicing in the hands, nino rojo, and love above all. eta: i've downloaded four of his albums and are listening to them right now. woop! another task completed.

task #15 (completed) + task #54 (still in progress).

task #15 Today at work we had a psychic fair and i read cards for a handful of youth as well as some community partners and staff. it was a lot of fun. and though i needed my book for some of them, for the most part i did it from my head and heart. so very impressed with myself. scratch that one off my list! i still have a lot to do with my cards and have to get to know them better, but there's a start.

task #54 i've given away one thing i couldn't live without (my grey chucks...so sad, i miss them ALL THE TIME) and i thought of the second item. it's hard to think of something to give away that i can't live without...i mean, will i replace it? not sure...and if i can give it away does that mean i CAN live without it? so confusing..let me tell you...but i've picked the second item! can you believe it? my pink pashmina.

i will send it to the first person who comments saying something like "i want that scarf!" also, leave me your email so i can get your addy. i'm sad to let this go as it's been such a part of me for the past 3 years, but i think it's time.

ETA: i just read through my list "go canoeing" and said, poo!! i just had an opportunity when i was in new aiyansh and turned it down, mainly because the boat was full of kids... i need to make this one happen!! anyone have a canoe??

Task #36: yoga, 10 weeks straight

Week one: Fusion at YMCA (7pm)
Week two: Hatha Yog at YMCA in Metro Central (Toronto)
Week three: Fusion at YMCA (7pm)
Week four: Leora and I threw down stretches on the living room floor at the group home in New Aiyansh
Week five: Fusion at the YMCA (7pm)
Week six: Fusion at the YMCA (4:30pm)
Week seven: Yoga at home
Week eight: Yoga while on Holiday
Week nine: Yoga at home
Week ten: Fusion at the YMCA (7pm)

Task #85: Own only five pairs of shoes

i think i left my camera charger in toronto. where, im not sure. so i had to take this picture with my phone. bugger. the top row are the ones i'm keeping.

TOP ROW
1. my owl eleanor keds. i got these through trade from urban colour summer 2006. i washed them the other day and they're as new as can be. i love them.
2. burgundy rocket dogs, maryjanes, semi-wedge heel. these are new (last fall) and i don't wear them much but can't yet give them away/rid of them. if i do i will give them to caitlin gilroy.
3. my moccasins. i will destroy these this summer by wearing them so much.
4. my rocket dog flats. silk insides. they're pretty wrecked. but i love them. my new knitty dirty girl maryjanes will replace them. i don't know if i can part with them though. it will be hard.
5. my pink chucks from sendai, japan. i have to keep at least one pair!

MIDDLE ROW
1. grey chucks from japan, first pair ever. giving them to michelle d.
2. metallic flats from kalin. she was destashing and gave them to me. i've never worn them.
3. red heels (wood stacked) from the bay. bought these for the pg women's dinner at cimo in 2007. don't think i've worn them out of the house since. waste of $$ definitely.
4. black flats from value village, 2006. i wore these a lot. they're a little big, though. (someone already claimed these)
5. vans bought on sale when a sports store in the mall was closing. $14 or something. was with a. she bought a pair of eleanor keds that day. i saw them in her closet last time i was over.

BOTTOM ROW
1. pink and black checker vans from wedding 2007. i wore the shit out of these and they are completely blown out along both sides of both feet. i'm not getting rid of them but putting them into storage. they're my wedding shoes! i have to keep them!!
2. puma flip flops. i wore these a lot in japan but since have adopted a "no flip flops in public" attitude. i blame stewart for that one.
3. fancy slip ons that stewart wore for a year and recently gave them to me. these ones will go in the garbage. they're smelly.
4. my $10 pumas i got brand new at value village in blue mountain in 2003. i wore these when i worked at starbucks all the time.
5. my black rocket dog flats. i bought these when i bought the pink ones and don't like them. they stretched out pretty bad. (someone already claimed these)

you'll notice that these are NOT winter boots (which include my etnies, vans boots, my short fluffy boots, and my slouch boots). i hope to get one more pair of winter boots (leather ones this time) to round out my winter collection. the same 5 pair rule applies, i think. i've also not included my working out runners and my slippers (boots).

all pairs that are going will be up for grabs for one week (size 10 or 9.5 most of the time). you just have to email me (ohsweetie (at) gmail (dot) com) and be willing to pay up to $10 shipping.

love!

task update #1.a, #12

#1.a: got a new bike. it's in pieces in the shed. it needs new tires and to get fixed.

#12: publish something in an academic journal. i'm sending four copies of my paper “A pen in my hand, and in the other a knife”1 : Defining Third Wave Pedagogy through Canadian Multicultural Literatures in English. for blind peer review to Atlantis magazine tomorrow morning. I also just submitted an abstract for a future article called, “if music could cure all that ails you”: DIY electro pop in the wake of 9/11 to an future anthology. i just need to finish up the first one and get it ready to print in the morning... yippee!

(i love not having to work on my thesis today. i slept in and got some groceries and now i'm going to stitch n bitch. i should eat first, though.) xo

it hurts with every heartbeat

i took some super cute pictures of stewart the other day when we were at the camelot. but right now i'm so in the zone i can't even begin to guess where my connecting cord is for the camera.... so picture less you are my friends! i left work a little early today to come home and thesis my face off. got a slurpee. ate some food. and began to work on it. i'm also working on an article that needs to be in the mail by the 15th. i think. it'll help me conquer that one on the list "get published in an academic journal". i hope it's all up to snuff and they love it. it's the chapter i've taken out of my thesis, too. so i think if it got published in a journal it would be fitting and a good way to say goodbye to that article. i'm working on my chapter about cyborgs and the internet... and attempting to use as many internet-based sources for the chapter..just to drive it home. stew's taking me for pita pit a little later and then we're going to go watch the hangover. i really shouldn't be taking time off from thesis but i haven't really seen him at all this past 6 weeks and we owe each other a date.

Task #101

Well, I've been working my body well lately. I won't say I've been watching what I've been eating because that's just not true, but I've been going to the YMCA a lot and have a five-workout week in the works. It's funny because not being on facebook means I have more time for myself, but I'm still social, just not as harried social, which is good, actually. So, my workout plan to date is Monday - Fusion, Tuesday - Walk outside or run inside, Wednesday - off, Thursday - Rollerderby, Friday/or/Saturday - Run inside and weight training, Sunday - run inside.

I feel awesome and have been eating lots. and taking lots of supplements. I'm not sure how to define, "healthy as possible" but I feel pretty awesome. I think that being "healthy as possible" would mean not living here with the air-quality attack to the lungs, though. hm.

I'm waiting for stewart to get home from work so we can have a mini-greek feast (chicken, potatoes, salad, yoghurt) and watch gilmore girls and get cozy on the couch. Maybe some knitting will happen! I feel like I haven't knitted that much lately?? Anyway, off to check the stove!

xoxo

updating my list/task updates

is it okay for me to update my 101 in 1001 list? i'm feeling like where i wanted to be almost 2 years ago isn't necessarily where i want to be now. is it fair to update such a list, or should i have tried to accomplish those things sooner so i wouldn't feel like i had lost interest. so, i'm not deleting the original ones, but adding ones in tandem to the ones i'm bored with.

1.a. acquire a new bike (b/c mine was stolen last summer)

(#4 i know i can't do, i'm already out of time, and being a vegetarian isn't really a goal anymore, but that's okay!)

22.a. move out of prince george to a new city!
23.a. get a job in another city that's better then the job i have now.
27.a. buy? i'm not sure buying is something i want to do..maybe listen to?
49.a. not sure if i really want to see blonde redhead live anymore.

they call it way too rowdy, we call it finally free

right now this is my favourite thing. i've kind of resisted buying it because i know that it would go to a better home and i've been so distracted with thesis i've pretty much only paid our bills and spent money on food and some tights/runners, etc. oh, and rollerskate wheels which should be here sometime tomorrow just in time to get them on for practice.

i am so sick of looking at my thesis. i went to go finish formatting my last chapter and i should have tackled it easier b/c i was having such a hard time transitioning it from pages to microsoft word for mac. so i've just pdf'd it without any of the fun. and my scans from UNBC last night I SCANNED THEM WRONG. while it only took me 20 minutes I Have to do it again. gr. and, i guess in this whole process our house has been turned upside down by it's lack of "maintenance" and my contracting work has totally fallen behind and i'm SO BURNED OUT!!! i mean, i can't even find my charger for my camera battery to show off anything around me right now. i just feel so brain dead.

over the past few days NOT being on facebook has been awesome. i like finding different ways to communicate with people and spend less time trolling people's information and checking out cool things like blogs or just avoiding the computer in general (minus my school work). i really want to sew some things! it sounds like a gal pal and i are doing a table at the farmer's market this summer and we're getting together on friday night to scheme up names for our booth. to date it sounds like we're going to be selling home made/all natural beauty products like face masks and soaps and body scrubs as well as other crafty stuff. FUN!!

off to just stare into the abyss. aside from emailing my documents to copy services in the morning this shitty shitty first draft is done. yes.

whatever task # this is, my thesis is heading to it's first draft deadline...

oh boy oh boy, tomorrow is the big day: the deadline. i've had a rough week and feel the stress beginning to lift. i've been so burnt out by this mammoth of a project and am scared by the draft process. i mean, never once in my undergrad or grad programs did i ever do more then one draft. i just did the final draft (and usually an outline) so working on this kind of project is somewhat out of my realm... i am not even sure what the quality of a draft should look like so am worried that what i'm going to hand in tonight via email and tomorrow in the flesh (printed out style from copy services). i just finished scanning those drawings that didn't take when i did them at the shop (i'm at school using their super speedy robotic scanners, nice, and wonder why i didn't come up here in the first place)... well the lovely lady here in ems is going to leave in a few minutes so i better run home, get some takeout, and plow through this. oh, and i deactivated my facebook account if that matters...... love!