meme, meme, meme...

A meme. Feel free to leave your own answers in the comments.

1. What's the last TV show you saw?
The Bachelor. I'd long given up on this show, but this season, I'm back. Because of Jason.

02. What are you wearing at the moment?
A white t-shirt, grey loungerama pants and fuzzy blue socks.

03. Favorite Song of the Moment?
Reign O'er Me. The Pearl Jam version. I desperately want to see the movie, but the man with whom I reside who shall remain nameless will not allow it into the home. Hmph.

04. What is your favorite scent?
Gingerbread. I'm assuming I was supposed to say something sophisticated like Vera Wang but whatever. I love gingerbread.

05. What's your occupation? What do you do there?
I'm a writer at my pink laptop. I write stories that are lies, all lies. I'm an editor at a magazine. I try to edit stories that are not lies. I'm a teacher at a college. I attempt to teach students who have paid a lot of money something useful and interesting so they don't fall asleep in class or throw things at me.

06. What do you drink the most?
Club soda. I'm pretty sure that's not sexy, but I'm bringing Canada Dry back.

07. What is your favorite restaurant?
In the world? The Cliff in Barbados. It's on a cliff over the water. For takeout Italian, I love Amato. Their motto is: Eat More Amato. That's my new year's resolution.

08. What will you be doing after finishing this?
I will write some more lies.

09. What did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a writer.

10. Your favorite romantic movie?
On Golden Pond. I cry a little just thinking about it.

11. What's the least favorite thing about yourself?
I have the shortest attention span in the world. I have to be doing 17 things at once, which makes it very difficult to do things that require my full attention.

13. What are your ideal qualities in a novel?
I like it when I cannot stop reading it, because I want to know what happens next.

14. What time do you usually go to bed?
Lights out: 11 pm.

15. What's the meaning behind your LJ username/name/nicknames you go by?
My LJ name is chantels, which is obviously my first name, last initial, not an indication that I have multiple personality disorder. My ebay name is mittensncats because I love both these things.

Happily Ever After. The End.

A New Year...

Well, it's January 7. I'd say that my new year's resolution to update this blog more regularly is going smashing well, wouldn't you? 

Ha! I did not MAKE that new year's resolution. Why? Because I inevitably break all my resolutions, so really, it's better to just have none. That way you have more time for other things, such as:

New TV Shows

Are you watching THE NEW BACHELOR with Jason?



Oh my God, do you love him? And what about when DeAnna returns?


Ahhh! Drama!

PS Obviously we could've told her the novelty of that snowboarding dude would've worn off.


Really! What was she thinking?

I'm also watching The City, which is officially my new favourite show. Seriously, what is not to love about Whitney? Actually, I'll tell you what: those crazy culotte shorts she's been wearing on every episode.


Those are not sexy or cute. Please stop wearing them! Just wear a short skirt! But I am loving everything else: Social Olivia Palermo, her cousin, the boys, the job, the setting. The last time I was in NY on a junket, I even ate the Stanton Social, where they ate on this week's episode! Could you imagine if it would've been the same night they were filming?! Sadly, I did not see Jay. 

Anyway, I haven't just been watching TV...

Not So New Books 

I've also been reading. I just discovered Jane Green. Do you know her? She is the best-selling author of a bunch of books like Jemima J., Mr. Maybe, Swapping Lives (which is strangely similar to The Holiday with Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz). But the one I'm reading is The Other Woman, which is about an engaged couple.




The other woman? The mother in law. It's so good.

And Twilight. I succumbed. I'm only on Chapter 1 though...

And also, Tess of the d'Ubervilles.




This is the book I'm supposed to be reading for my book club, but I just CANNOT get into it. I realize it's a classic and good for me and all that, but it's just SOOOO boring. Is that terrible? Who cares. If I'd made any new year's resolutions, they would've had to do with the fact that there's only so many things you can do that are good for you. Right now I'm working on trying to floss my teeth more often. And the rest, well I just can't feel guilty for not doing things I don't want to do. Anyway, I bought the book--and paid like $11 in a used bookstore for it because it was the only copy left and it was an original or close to--so I've done my part for the publishing industry this week. And it's a very pretty book, so I have it on my nightstand, with other pretty books that I like to look at, but not touch. 

Speaking of classics, I've also been watching some good old movies lately. 

Not New At All Movies

Twelve Angry Men: I love a good court movie, and this one's a classic. It stars Henry Fonda (who I love. On Golden Pond is my all-time favourite movie). It's surprisingly captivating, given that all but 3 minutes of the movie take place in a tiny room. So you're really just staring at twelve angry men yell at each other for an hour and a half. 

Rebel Without a Cause.



I'd never seen this, and I was totally surprised. I thought it was going to be more like, well, Grease, to be honest (without the singing). It wasn't. That's all I'm going to say.

The Shining: I've seen this a million times but The Hubs never had, and there's no better way to start the year than with a little Tony and redrum.

Saw III.




Really, after Saw II I swore I would never see another of these movies, but then Saw III was on TV and so I taped it, which was a huge mistake because after watching it, I couldn't sleep for like three hours, and so I had to watch all my taped episodes of Chris Angel: Mindfreak.



I have no idea why, but I TOTALLY love him and I have already convinced The Hubs that we have to go to Vegas so that I can meet him. We're in negotiations. My stepsister is there right now as we speak and is going to see his show, so I told her to let him know I'm coming. She said she's see. She didn't even WANT to see his show! Can you even imagine? It's really beyond my comprehension, in the same way as I have no idea how someone could have possibly thought that Bromance was a good idea. 

Oh, well, 10 guys in a hot tub?



Maybe it's not that bad...

Ballet flats and other important items

I don't normally watch The View, but this morning, because I was home, and because Chandra

Wilson was a guest host, I watched. She is just so sweet, and every interview I've seen with her she's so humble, down to earth, and mentions how she doesn't take the fame for granted because she was a struggling actor for years in New York. She also mentioned how she watches 4 soaps every day, which always makes me laugh.

I may have mentioned, a few times, that I love lists. I make them for everything, and if it's not on the list, it doesn't get done. I'm not sure what this says about my memory, really. Actually, I do know. Because I rely on lists, my memory is very bad. So bad that I can walk outside with a handful of envelopes to put in the mailbox, and walk by 5 mailboxes without once thinking about depositing the letters on my way to work. Or, I can go to the grocery store intending to buy 5 specific items and come home, instead, with a box of cereal because it looked fun (and no milk, never once thinking, hmmm, buying cereal, do I have milk at home?). It can be annoying, but it just makes me revert to the lists. Which is why, last night, when I was packing, something strange occurred. I realized that I never make a list for packing. And as a result, I don't think I've ever been on vacation where I haven't forgotten something. The question is, Why am I not making a list for packing? Even now, as I'm sitting here, typing, I could be making a list, and then making sure all the items on the list are in my suitcase. But I'm not. I'm going to wing it. Hope for the best. Maybe it's vacation mentality? Go with the flow and all that.

Finally, last year I avoided the ballet flat. I don't look good in a flat. My legs need a heel to look good, I'm convinced of it. Except if I'm wearing sneakers or flip flops. Then I can reconcile that I'm going for pure comfort and all looks go out the window. But the problem is that the ballet flat is cuter than the flip flop and if done right can really make an outfit even cuter, and comfortable, for those days when you've got to walk around alot. And then... I found this pair.

So I've succumbed because it's so cute, right? I haven't tried it with a skirt or nice pants yet. So far I've only broken them out with jeans. But it's a start, right? Small steps.

PS I just realized I haven't packed a razor! 13 days without a razor? No one wants to see that. See? This is why I need a list! Sigh...

Banned Book Challenge!

How great is it that Canada has a Freedom to Read week? In the U.S., books are banned all the time. Books that aren't even bad. Books like "A Wrinkle in Time", Susan Juby's Miss Smithers, Judy Blume's Forever, Blubber?

OK, so Blubber's actually just restricted, not outright banned, but still.

Anyway, I hope that Stuck in Downward Dog would get banned. Why, you ask? Because if it did, there would be free publicity (and who doesn't want free publicity for their book? You can't BUY free publicity!) Plus, we all want what we can't have and we all want to do what we're not supposed to do, so then, millions of readers would buy my book just to find out what was so bad that made it get banned. Of course, considering Mara doesn't even have sex, and he's 28, and so even if she did have sex it wouldn't be unreasonable. So it's unlikely that it's going to get banned. But right, back to the authors who've actually had their books banned.

If you go to the Freedom to Read site, there's a list of more than 100 books and magazines that have been challenged in Canada.

I scanned the list and found that I've read the following books:

The Bible (Well, I've pretty much covered the New Testament, thanks to 13 years of Catholic school. I'm a little foggy on some of the lesser known chapters, but I think I can still say I get the gist of what the book's about)
Lord of the Flies
Snow Falling on Cedars
The Diviners
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Giver
Maxim. Yes, the men's magazine.
Lives of Girls and Women
Foxfire (I love this book)
Harry Potter (You see, my theory is right. J.K. Rowling is the richest woman in the world. Although, maybe that had nothing to do with her book being banned).
Catcher in the Rye (Why, you ask? Foul language. Good grief.)
Underground to Canada (because the word "nigger" appears 20 times)
Goosebumps and Fear Street books
Huckleberry Finn
Wallpaper (not actual wallpaper, unless it has rude words, but one particular 2001 issue that used a female model as a sex object to sell the magazine. Imagine - see Maxim)

There are dozens of other books I haven't read, which is why I've signed up (and you should too!) for the Banned Book Challenge, by going here. It's run by the Pelham Library, which is very close to the town where I grew up. Pelham is not a big town, so it's so amazing that they're doing something so important. You can sign up and read as many or as few (even just ONE book, if that's all you have time for) banned or challenged books as you can.

Why not? It's winter, it's cold. It's a perfect excuse to stay inside. And, it's much more wholesome than the other things you COULD be doing to keep warm. Things we cannot talk about for fear of being banned.

PS I'm now going to search the list of books that I still need to read that are waiting on my bookshelf. I'm hoping some of them have been banned or challenged, so that I can kill (I mean, injure, but not seriously) two birds with one stone.

Got Gubb?

So, as I've discussed many times, I'm obsessed with making lists. To-do lists, grocery lists, cleaning lists, work lists, people to call, friends to email, relatives to write, cards to make, presents to buy, recipes to try... I cannot stop making lists. And if I don't write the item down on a list, it doesn't get done. Take my driver's license and health card renewals for example. I got the notices months ago, but I didn't write them on a list. Instead, I stuck the notices in a drawer and forgot about them, until yesterday, when a girl at work was telling me about how she had to replace all the cards in her wallet for a second time in like, two weeks, because someone had stolen her wallet for the second time. Which is just crazy and awful. So anyway, I went home, found my renewal notices and started a To-Do list. Now, they'll get done this week because I love the feeling of striking items off a list.

So when I heard about Gubb I couldn't wait to check it out. It's a FREE list-making website. You log in, choose your list topic and then add all the items to it. You can change the background colour, and add details, and can even make shared lists with friends or email the lists to yourself. I love it, except, I don't get it. I mean, if you're going to email the list to yourself, why wouldn't you just send yourself an email, instead of logging into Gubb, making the list, then emailing it? I guess if I actually used my cellphone for things other than taking pictures of my cat and making phone calls (how old school!) maybe I'd want to get the lists on my phone, but honestly, the point, to me, of making a list, is to grab a piece of paper, a pen and write it down. It's quick, it's easy, and there's this incredible sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when you ACTUALLY cross the item off the list. Plus, the list is super portable. Write it on a Post-it, stick it in your bag. Pull it out when you get to the grocery store, find the items. Put it in your pocket. Pull it out at home, stick it on the counter.

I get that after you create the list on Gubb, you could print the list out, and take it with you. But if you work in an office all day, it's not so discreet to have to print the list out on the communal printer, then rush over to pick it up before anyone else in the office sees that you need to pick up toilet paper or clean the litter box or buy new underwear. Plus, even though you can make the backgrounds on each list pretty colours, like pink or periwinkle, if your printer's black and white, it's just black letters on a grey list. And with purple Post-its, I just don't think I'm going to get stuck on Gubb. You know, unless they have little people inside the website who actually COMPLETE the tasks on your list for you, then send you an email to let you know.

We'll see.