#87 - The Bell Store Man

Before I start this post, do you know how hard it is to include a picture with every post that I write? I'm sure you're thinking that I could just stop posting pictures, but then the blog would look boring and who would want to read a blog that has no pictures to look at? Oh, and let's not forget that I need a picture that at least goes with the theme of the post. So, if you're wondering why there is a picture of a cell phone, you're about to find out.

Number 87 on the 101 list was to speak with a random stranger for 10 minutes. The story is as follows:

A couple weeks back I went into a Bell store to get my phone fixed/replace/what not because it wasn't working properly. The guy at the bell store recommended that I upgrade the software on my phone. Two days later, I followed his advice. Big mistake. My phone went on the fritz and stopped working. Now, for those that know me, my phone is like my life line - without it, I might as well not even exist! So I panicked and was up for the entire night into the next day with a bell tech assistant trying to fix my phone. No luck. Monday rolls around and I miss school because I *need* a phone. I walk into the Bell store and there is the guy who told me to upgrade the software.

I'm pretty sure he was ready to run and hide because not only was I pissed off, I kept glaring at him. I let him know how his advice killed my phone and how Bell was not going to do anything about it. My only option was to buy a new phone. To his credit, he did call Bell to let them know that it was his advice, his wrong doing, and that something should be done. Unfortunately, Bell is another blood-sucking, money-robbing, who-cares-about-customer-satisfaction company and decided to do nothing (other than offer me 100 free long distance minutes for the remainder of my contract. Um, hello! How does that help me when I can't even place a call?!)

Anyway, after a few apologies and the phone call he made to Bell, he helped me pick the Blackberry Tour (pictured above.) While setting up my phone, we actually had a really good conversation! From school to places where we've lived before, we talked for quite awhile about everything. Not only that, but we had a lot in common (ie, he's from Toronto and loves it and I want to move Toronto because I love it. And our hatred for Victoria!) In the end, walking out with $450 more on my Visa wasn't so bad, but only because the conversation was pretty amazing. And let's face it - it's the Tour. The phone fucking rocks!

And there is my story of how Bell sucks and how I acquired my new phone.

Moral of the story: don't sign up with Bell!

Loves,
Lady S.

#97 - 301 to 400 things that I love

So, this part has taken awhile for me to post, but mostly because I have completely forgotten to continue the list. Randomly, tonight, I remembered, and I was only able to complete up to 342 without repeating myself or having my mind go blank. I'll update this list to 400 once I have completed it.

Loves,
Lady S.

*NOTE: I completed the list today (being the next day from last night when I posted the first half.) Only 100 more to go and I can scratch this off my 101 list. Not only that, but I have the comfort of knowing that soon I know I will discover that there really are 500 things that I love other than money and material objects. Doesn't that just give you the fuzzies?!


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301 - 400 Things That I Love

301. building forts
302. watching movies in a fort
303. ooh la la cupcakes
304. hope
305. learning about international development
306. yawning in the morning
307. playing Halo with the roomie
308. speaking in Spanish
309. listening to old songs
310. remembering the lyrics to old songs

311. the opera
312. musicals
313. a working cell phone!
314. automatically cliquing with a stranger
315. watching children movies
316. short hair
317. kitten heels
318. dying my hair black
319. coloring books
320. crayons

321. pink crayons, to be more specific
322. hand writing (when it looks good anyway)
323. 7:14 (am or pm)
324. board games
325. green leaves
326. Georgia font
327. back row seats at the movie theatres
328. “accidentally” locking people out of the car
329. funny waiters
330. wet-naps

331. using rock, paper, scissors to settle things
332. having 5 pillows on my bed
333. electric toothbrushes
334. people that are shorter than me so I look superior
335. a good parking spot at the mall
336. pulling into a parking meter stall and seeing there is time left on the meter
337. a fresh, new tube of toothpaste
338. sleeping in on Saturday
339. sitting a the booth in a restaurant
340. completing a puzzle

341. sneaking candy into the movie theatre
342. magnetic poetry
343. discovering new things on my BlackBerry
344. product (RED)
345. boycotting Tim Hortons
346. Winnie the Pooh and his adventures
347. when the sun comes out after a gloomy day
348. hearing the birds chirping when the sum comes out after a gloomy day
349. seeing a dog pretending he/she is running while dreaming
350. learning to play a new song

351. cue cards
352. having cookies turn out the way they are *supposed* to turn out
353. watching clouds go by
354. having a nice tan
355. funny emails
356. Barbie (yes, this is the kid inside of me!)
357. becoming re-addicted to old games I used to play
358. magazine subscriptions
359. a new hair cut
360. how my hair looks two weeks after a get a perm

361. doing movie marathons
362. getting an assignment done on time
363. new emails in my inbox
364. get-well messages
365. knowing there are 365 days in a year, so you can make the most out of one year
366. post-it notes!
367. arriving early to my destination
368. speeding past a cop and *not* getting pulled over
369. having Karma on my side when I do the above (or anything else)
370. countdowns

371. BlackBerry messenger – I live by it
372. when people throw in free things because they screwed you over and made you buy another BlackBerry at a ridiculously expensive price because you had no choice (Bell man – this one is for you!)
373. feeling great after being sick for days
374. gift boxes
375. on-sale items
376. free shipping and handling
377. getting the bigger slice of the pie
378. having someone offer to take a picture of you and your friend
379. when it stops raining after it’s been raining for so long
380. Chinooks in Calgary

381. my mom’s cooking
382. my sister’s cooking
383. when I fix technical problems on my own
384. breakfast food
385. the people at Shaw – they are so friendly!
386. the possibility of having cell phone companies coming to Canada so we’re not forced to pay ridiculous amounts of money two three companies that suck balls
387. finding treasures in the sand
389. singing in the shower
390. seeing music download ultra fast

391. getting popsicles from the ice cream truck (this one is for T.F.)
392. vegetables fresh out of the garden
393. tequila shots! oh right!
394. peeing after holding it in forever
395. the fresh, crisp first page of a new coil notebook
396. cracking your back after you have been hunched over for hours
397. digging out an old yearbook
398. laughing at my ridiculous fashion sense in that old yearbook
399. point out constellations and being right
400. knowing I’m only 100 away from finishing 500 things that I love

#19 - Writing Security

So, it's not like I read this book by choice. Actually, if I were to ever encounter this book again at Chapters, I would buy it and light it on fire to protest how *horrible* this book is.

I had to read this book for my Poli 347 class (god, the prof is *lucky* he is good looking, otherwise I would have dropped the class after reading the first paragraph of this book!) This is the most pointless and dry book to have ever been written. I'm serious, I would much rather have to read a book in another language that I don't know and try to decipher it as opposed to reading this book again.

David Campbell (author of this incredibly boring book) writes about the discursive economy of language and how our use of language determines .... booooooring!

And there ya have it - don't read this book.

Lady S.

PS, only one more book to read and #19 will be crossed off the list! Ooooh yeah!

#95 - Accomplished!

This summer gave me the perfect opportunity to "discover" myself. Sounds cheesy, I know, but I think it's vital that most people do this, as some people are seriously lost, trying to find themselves amongst a wide array of possibilities. I constantly was encountered with the conflict of staying in Victoria and moving to Toronto, and while that doesn't seem significant, it was hindering on my happiness. So, the adventure to find myself to then determine where I was going to move began.

It started in May, where I took two summer courses: Politics of Development and Gender & International Politics. At the beginning, I was not looking forward to these two classes, but later into the term, I discovered what I'm truly passionate about. International development is my area of focus in political science and after extensive research not only in my classes, but as well in my own time, I was able to discover how development works, what development means, and the approaches that are used to help states develop. After finishing both classes, I knew that I wanted to work for an organization that focused its interest on international development. It is also my goal to change the views held by neoliberalists in regards to development, as I firmly believe that neoliberalism does not answer the question of development, but rather hinders the progress of development in third world states and disregards the micro level of economics.

After discovering that, I had all of July off to do whatever I felt like doing. Research is what I did, and I continued to research theories that are applied to international development. I also started volunteering for Urpi, a non-profit organization that grants scholarships to children in orphanages located in Ayacucho, Pero. The volunteering position is small and consists of doing translations at meetings. This opportunity further allowed me to get a sense of the magnitude of poverty that exists in this world and the overabundance of resource and money held in first world states. July also gave me the opportunity to spend quality "me time", to discover who I was, what I wanted, and where I wanted to go. I, personality wise, did not change, but my attitude towards certain aspects of life certainly did. I do not care about minuscule details in life, about insignificant people that in the long run have no effect on my life, or the petty drama that surrounds various people I know. I have detached myself from caring about many things that I used to worry about, and thankfully I'm much happier now.

August rolled around and I left Victoria for the entire month. The first half was in Calgary, and being there for 18 days allowed me to realize that I never want to return to Alberta again. I cannot stand how conservative Albertans are, how close-minded they can be, and how they refuse to adapt to modernity and the constant evolution of society. The 18th saw my leave to Toronto, where I stayed until the 2nd of September. Being in Toronto is always exciting for me as I adore the city and love the culture and speed of the city. Never did I miss Victoria while I was in Toronto and that alone answered my question: Victoria will not be my home next year.

I hope that by July 1, 2010 I will have moved from Victoria to Toronto. I hope that I'm able to find a job that deals with international development, that allows me to use my knowledge of dependency theory and that enables me to make a difference (even a small one) in this world. I hope that what I discovered during the summer will never leave and that my move to Toronto will be the next step towards a great future.

Lady S.

#61 - Dye My Hair Black

So, there isn't much to this post other than I got my hair died black.

And here is a picture to prove it.

But aside from the black hair, isn't the hat so cute?! SO in love with the hat right now =)

And that's all.
Lady S.

#19 - Flight of the Dragonfly

While I was visiting my parents in Calgary (August 1-18), we hit up Costco cause... well we love Costco. I headed for the book section to see if I could find a particular book (can't remember the name right now) and came across "Flight of the Dragonfly."

At first, I walked by it, but when I walked by it again, I decided to read the synopsis and read that the story was a true story about a mother whose two girls are kidnapped by their father to Lebanon. Now, I would not have been interested in the book at all because it's not my type of story, but when I read that the mother was from Calgary, I just had to read it. And, quite frankly, I'm glad I did!

The book tells the courageous story of Melissa Hawach, the mother of her two girls, Hannah and Cedar, and her journey to Australia and Lebanon to find her two daughters. It explains her marital history to Joe Hawach, the deceit of her husband, and the dangerous adventure she goes through to find her daughters. It's not a great piece of literature, but I still enjoyed reading the book, especially through the intense moments she lived through in Lebanon.

There is something really important that she emphasizes in the book and which I believe is important for everyone to know - even though her husband, of Lebanese origin, kidnapped the girl, she made a point of not stereotyping the Lebanese people; in fact, in her book, she mentions that a lot of the help she received in Lebanon came from Lebanese. For some reason, I felt that to be very important to say!

Anyway, if you get the chance to read the book, I recommend it.

As a side note, it's been a month since I last posted; however, I was away for an entire month, sooooo I have an excuse ;)

Loves,
Lady S.

#92 - Host a BBQ

So, I'm like a week late on updating this event, but it happened! And it happened on such a hot day as well. Imagine bbqing outside when the weather is at least 28 degrees and the condo you're at has no air conditioning? Plus the kitchen is turned on because your roommate is cooking there too? Yeah - not so much fun when you're dripping sweat.

Regardless, it was still fun! Part of the BBQ was to play board games (yes - I'm old that way!) and I successfully kicked ass at Clue and Cranium (with the help of my teammates, of course.)

Aaaaaand that's all I really have to say about the BBQ! All I need now is to host one more BBQ and I can scratch #92 off the list.

Oh, and I fly out to Calgary today and leave the 18th to Toronto from Calgary. My next 101 things to do? Explore downtown Toronto. Pictures will be posted =)

Love,
Lady S.