Hair, Lack of

My favorite part of having no hair is watching it grow in. It changes every day. And it's kind of like velvet - soft in one direction and rough in the other. I've been rubbing my head like crazy. I also like figuring out which sections of hair are growing in which direction. It's kind of like a fingerprint.

(Endnote: I wrote this post in advance and scheduled its publish time, so me posting this right now does not necessarily mean that I decided to get my butt out of bed today.)

On Thursday

I have nothing to do tomorrow.

Should I sleep all day, or should I get my butt out of bed and go for a fatty bike ride?

What's under my hood, you ask???

Nothing!!!

AHHHH

Any tips on putting up with Sam's antics? I cannot STAND them anymore, maybe I should move out?? Does anyone have a place for me to live?

Hairy Mann

I went to school with a boy named Hairy Mann. I just thought of it because this post concerns my hair, although I am not a Mann.

Dreadlocks are a lot of work. It takes weeks to get them in and they require a lot of maintenance for the first few months. It takes like 15 minutes to wash them properly and it is best done in a bath rather than a shower. I am used to taking only 15 minutes to get my whole self ready, so it's quite a hassle. You don't have to wash them every day, but I wash mine at least every second day. There is also a dandruff issue. Conditioner is a no-no, so my scalp is super dry. Chelsea (Shanghai) says that dreads are allowed to be dandruffy, but it drives me crazy. 

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the way mine turned out, save for a few in the back that haven't gotten enough love. They're fun and they make me feel way cool, but I still think I'm gonna cut 'em off within the next week or so. Part of the excitement of putting them in was knowing that eventually I'd get to shave my head. I don't know about you, but I've always wanted to know what my head would look like naked.

I'm thinking of making it into a fundraiser to benefit Future Island by selling the right to cut each dread for $10. Because I have 33 of them, that'd make $330 for Future Island. I think it'd be kind of cool to have 33 different people cut my hair. There is also a possibility that I will just give Jen and Sam each a pair of scissors this weekend and let them go to work. We will see.

Lucky!

The other day, while Annie and I were walking across a field, she suggested we stop to look for 4-leaf clovers. I found one within the first minute of looking! I was so shocked and Annie was so mad, haha. She had a little tantrum right there in the field because I found one and she didn't. It was the first time I had ever found one, I always thought they were mythical or something. Have you ever found one before? What does one do with a 4-leaf clover? I pressed it... now what?

TV

I used to rather enjoy being one of those people who just doesn't watch TV. When I was in elementary/middle/high school, I watched a ton of TV with my brother and sister. But, I gave it up when I moved to Seattle. I didn't start watching TV again when I moved to Canada, but since moving to Sam's house, I have begun to watch more and more of the ol' tube.

It was easy to resist at first. I'd watch the Flames play once in awhile and that was enough. But then I started gravitating into the TV room after supper, then occasionally in the afternoon. I probably watch about 2 hours of TV a day - that is over 7% of the awake part of my day!

I haven't even got to the worst part yet... I have watched multiple consecutive episodes of the same show. As in, I have a show. It's not even a comedy (like The Office - which I love, yet never watch). The show is... I can't believe I'm admitting this... Grey's Anatomy. I'm so glad the season finale was this week so I can forget about TV for the summer.

And the new hobby...

with 33% of the vote...

is...

SEWING!

Okay, let me be straightforward with you and confess that I changed my vote from wandering to sewing on the last day. I was afraid that running would win. I don't really like running that much and I'm not really sure how it got shortlisted to begin with.

Also, I'm really glad busking didn't win. I don't really know what sort of skill I would busk. My juggling isn't impressive to anyone over the age of 10. Again, how did that make the list? I personally made that list and I'm not sure why half of the things on there sucked.

Wandering would have been good, but I'm always wandering around anyways.

Sewing will be great! I think my first project will be a Perry the Platypus stuffed animal.

Should I go with Perry as a secret agent, or Perry as a pet?

 

OR

Bike Ride #1

Today I went for my first real bike ride in Calgary (biking between Sam's house and her aunt's house and Nan's house doesn't count because they all live within ten minutes of each other).

My original plan was to bike from my house to Ambrose, the school I'm hoping to go to in the fall. If my study permit comes, I'm going to try to bike there and back on the days I have school (twice a week). It's 21 km, that's 13 miles, from my house to the school.

I made it a little less than halfway. There was freezing rain falling from the sky and I could see one of my favorite coffee shops from the bike path I was on at the time. I was also pretty tired. I got lost once or twice or maybe even three times on the maze-like side streets, which must have added a good deal of extra mileage to my trip.  A hot cup of coffee was way too tempting.

I stopped, had my coffee, and made my way back home. Getting home was way easier, it took me 50 minutes to get home compared to the 100 minutes it took me to get to the coffee shop. Getting home was also way colder and way wetter. I was SOAKED. It rained/sleeted/snowed the whole way home. Haha, maybe that's why I got back so much faster.

Anyways, I don't think biking to school will be that bad. Maybe I'll make a real trial run on a sunny day. 

I have to slowly work up my hardcore-ness, although I still have no intention of ever riding my bike in -40 weather. I tend to wear ear warmers even when I ride my bike on warm days. My ears are SO sensitive to wind and cold, and bike riding involves wind. If I were a superhero, my costume would definitely include ear muffs.

"I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant!"

That is the name of the TLC documentary that Sam, Sara, and I were watching tonight. One of the featured ladies said that her only symptom was mood swings. As soon as the lady said that, Sam became convinced that I am pregnant, but that I don't know it. (As it turns out, I can be a teensy bit moody with Sam.)

Now, every little idiosyncrasy I exhibit is proof that I am pregnant. She is trying to figure out who the father is. She is even planning play dates for my unborn child and Avery, Sara's little girl (Sara is Sam's older sister).

I'm thinking maybe I should just run with it. Like, if Sam thinks I'm pregnant, maybe I could get her to do stuff for me. What kinds of things do people do for their pregnant friends?

(edit: just to clarify, I am NOT pregnant. Haha.)

Reactions

After Sam read about Perry the Platypus, she decided that I had no reaction that she liked. So, she hacked into my blog and added "retarded." I don't like that word, so I changed it to "foolish." Sam likes both of those words, so she shouldn't have a problem with it. Actually, it's my blog and I can do what I want! So stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Sam.

Perry the Platypus

I am not supernanny, so sometimes cartoons are on the agenda. My favorite is Phineas and Ferb. They have a pet platypus who looks really really stupid, but who doubles as a secret agent. His name is Perry the Platypus. He's pretty awesome.

Allowance

So, I've started giving myself an allowance. Not that I was living any sort of frivolous life to begin with, I just wanted to be aware of how I'm spending my money. 

Last week I gave myself $10 and all I spent was $4.25 for a game of squash at the leisure centre. This week I gave myself $8.53 because I had it in change, and it left me 9 more dollars for next week.

The only thing I'm not sure about is gas. I use my car to pick up Annie and take her places that are too far to walk. I also use it to drive to church every other week or so, and to the occasional social gathering. I don't go to social gatherings often... is it awkward to refer to them as social gatherings? Anyways... I'm trying to get into the habit of riding my bike places, but I haven't ventured out of the neighborhood. I need to learn where the bike paths are.

Ummm... I think this has turned into a disorganized ramble, but oh well.

It's not all about saving money. Being resourceful is probably a better description. Like, seeing the significance of little acts. I've never been one to leave the water running while I'm brushing my teeth, but what about while I'm washing my hair? It takes me a LONG TIME to wash my hair, and I realized the other day that I was wasting A TON of water. By the way, wouldn't it be cool if there were some way to put your bath water into a tank and use it to flush the toilet? I read that idea in Jesus for President. That book was really great.

Basically I'm trying to start a dialogue here on ways to be resourceful. We really aren't short on resources here in Canada, but that is no reason to be wasteful. Thoughts?

Human Right #10: The Right to Trial

Have you ever been accused of something you didn't do? Maybe took the blame for something simply because your reputation implied that it could have been you? Or because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time?

I was a total punk ass when I was a kid. I was always getting into trouble, usually for things that I did do. But there were a couple of times when I got busted for something that I didn't do. Once I was accused of flipping off the bus driver, and once I was accused of yelling in the library. I pled each case with fervor, but it was my word against that of the bus driver/librarian. In both instances, I got sent to the "Solution Center" (the place for bad kids). Maybe I should have demanded my right to trial?

Obviously my situation wasn't serious. At all. The point is, what the accusers think happened isn't always true. We are human - sometimes we make mistakes and sometimes our senses trick us - so sometimes it takes a lot of good evidence to prove that something happened one way or the other.

I, for one, am glad that it would take more than one pointing finger to put me in jail, even if it could put my elementary-school self in the desolate corner of the special education room known as the "Solution Center".

I know...

I am probably going  a bit overboard with the Blogger features today, but I'd also like to draw your attention to the "reactions" you can choose from. These are found below each post. Sam had them on hers and I was jealous, so there you have it.

Poll

Hi. I just want to direct your attention to the poll I have posted on the right ----->

It's going to be a real drag of a summer if I don't find something fun to do with all of this free time.

Saving

I've got to be quite frugal if I'm going to pay for the classes I want to take in September. Plus, there are some habits I've developed over the past couple of years that I'd like to break. There were, after all, days when I had no car and lived primarily off of dumpster bread.

So far I have effectively cut out buying coffee, and eating out in general. I've been using my bike instead of my car to run errands. Would suspending my cell phone for awhile be too much? Do you think Sam would go for taking the bus/train to church?

Human Right #9: No Unfair Detainment

Number 9 is all about imprisonment. The UDHR says you can't lock someone up without a reason. Fair enough.