I think most of you keep in touch with me via Twitter or Facebook these days, which is where I always post updates to the 3 Rs, which happens on Mondays! BUT! This week is special because there is a Holiday Special, a hopefully five-page installment to answer your question: "what to do about the holidays, i don't have any presents, omgwtfbbq!"

It would mean a lot to me if you guys checked it out, or passed it on to your friends.
http://icanhaz.com/3rsupdate

(From the top: http://icanhaz.com/meranie)

And it would also mean the world to me if Cricket would stop being itchy! This morning is pretty bad...

I figure I'll add to this at time goes on, but I want to start getting this down.

-Earn a Bachelor's Degree, followed up by a Ph.D. I'm not sure exactly what in yet, but that'll come with time. I'm almost certainly convinced I want to go for Renewable Electrical Engineering, but the more I think about it, the more I'm finding myself drawn back to the raw potential and great mysteries that come with the pure science fields of Chemistry and Physics. Engineers are the ones who write the sonnets within the general constraints of their framework; Scientists are the ones who define and create that framework.

-Change the world. I'd like to be one of the great minds that you read about who revolutionize the world as we know it- minds like Bohr, Newton, Rutherford, Fermi, the Curies, and Darwin. Not because I want to have my name plastered across history (ok, well maybe partially that), but because I know I have the ability, the talent, and maybe to a certain extent the responsibility to. Is that naive or a bit arrogant? Probably.

-Travel the world. There's so much more out there beyond the U.S. and I want a chance to experience it all. As such, I want to get back to fluency in French, and learn another language as well. Someday I'll be able to say that I've set foot on all seven continents.

Current Mood: contemplative

Work has introduced me to people that I love unconditionally. Like a burst of sunlight on a cloudy day, when I see them, it makes my day become a million times nicer.

Miss C, who has a lovely little dog named Melba, is easily one of my favorite people ever. She's a cross between Helen and my Nana in looks, but she's got a really nice, down-to-earth personality and she's sweet as can be, always ready for a conversation and wants to be as inobtrusive as possible. I don't know why I love her so, but I want to go over to her house and sit with her for hours. I doubt we'd run out of things to talk about.

A lovely older gentleman who always orders salmon, warm orzo, and fruit; he comes in with his wife every now and again. He's taking poetry classes, he read my comic and thinks it's great. He tells me that he's glad I have things going on in my life other than working at the cafe. I think he would be an awesome, awesome grandpa.

The tall, handsome European man who comes in with a radiant smile and gets a hot jasmine pearl tea and sits outside when it's warm, and when it's a good day, he treats himself to a cream cheese brownie. He comes in with a huge smile on his face and a huge burst of energy. I miss him; he's been either too busy with work to come, or he comes too late in the day for me.

The psychology Grad student. Okay, he's just a stranger, but he's nice eye candy. Think, Spike Spiegal meets Ryan from The Office, somewhere between the badass and annoying. ;;smirk;;

The UPS dudes, P & T. They've become regulars since I started, and they got a real kick out of the fact that I remembered their names.

A, the delivery guy. He is incredibly cool and can talk your ears off about music, but he can't stand mariachi and prefers only "the good music", by which he means 70s rock. I like to bring him fruit during our rush, when he's taking his lunch and browsing the Internet with his black MacBook. I love his quiet, appreciative smile and he smells good when I hug him.

A, the dishwasher. He stops me if I'm holding something heavy, goes out of his way to be nice. He can barely talk because of some kind of vocal surgery, and his English is limited, but we communicate with some kind of unspoken language combined with our limited vocabulary, and I think of him like an uncle and I would do just about anything for him, like give him the meal I made for myself.

A, the new-ish cook, who calls me "chiquita" and likes his coffee with three sugars and whole milk. I have a huge crush on him. When we are alone together in the mornings, I don't have to worry about anything because he asks me questions, works hard, and is efficient and nice. Like I said, I have a huge crush on him.

The other people, the ones who are faceless, the people who make my life hell, the people who think I am invisible, I would prefer not to remember them. I really like my job, and it's mostly because of the people I mentioned above. There are more, and I plan to add on to this list.

Greg sends along this DIY FYI:

"Good news is that I truly out did myself this year with my Christmas decorations. The bad news is that I had to take him down after 2 days."




"But two things made me take it down.

First, the cops advised me that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost wrecked when they drove by.

Second, a 55 year old lady grabbed the 75 pound ladder almost killed herself putting it against my house and didn't realize it was fake until she climbed to the top (she was not happy). By the way, she was one of many people who attempted to do that. My yard couldn't take it either. I have more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove up my yard."

Wow, this is the exact title that I used last year!

I have a picture in mind, and I will work on it today.

Today, in honour of you, I woke up early in a good mood, had some coffee, drove safely to work, took out my boots and ran errands for my co-workers (because it was really flooded in the back, and no one else had shoes like mine), helped people in general, made lots of people smile, had a delicious lunch, finished work, appreciated the blue sky, drove safely home (while greeting my favorite trees (that you would like, too) and the solar panels (which you would also like)), took a walk downtown in the wind and pictured the picture I am going to draw for you, thought about how much you would have liked the windy but warm weather, bought some yarn (for Nicole's birthday, which was Sunday), did some paperwork and gave love to sweet doggies, scheduled a massage for my feet (to give your tired hands a break), walked home, ate some warm (for you!) soup and then some chocolate, cuddled with my kitty and checked lj/twitter/e-mail, and decided to write a post for you, because I rarely post and I know you like reading my ramblings.

I love you so, so, so (times infinity to the infinite power) much. You are awesome. We will live together someday, if not in the same house at least as neighbours. And we will be unstoppable.

All the best,
me

Pulled an all-nighter last week for a school project and my body still hasn't quite reset itself. At least, I think I pulled an all nighter. I feel though, considering how much I had to do (not a ton) and how close to the wire I was on it, I may have blanked/blacked out for a bit and just not remembered.

-- Finally watched The Plan. Initial response? Oh hai, let's give Mrs. Eddie a job....

Overall reaction was quite meh-ish...seemed like a way to tell all the haters to screw it. As much as I hate to admit, I did enjoy Stockwell as evil Cavil re: making fun of Doral and offing John Boy. And I guess Boomer makes more sense now. Did not understand the plot point of slutty Six (besides Tricia skin appreciation, which it may have been). Did not appreciate underdeveloped Ellen story or Tory (like, what was the point of showing anything at all of her on land?). Wondered why Pegasus did not get a nod since VFX made a point to show the Scorpia Station. Was more concerned about WTF naked guy was doing (either making out with that chick or getting his eyebrows plucked) than the close-up on the peen.

-- Tiger Woods. I wonder if Oprah is going to unadopt him now.

-- This Renault video. A classic sophomoric joke from way back when.