New and Exciting.

Tonight, I made a great discovery - paranormal romance novels.

Does it get any better than that?

And I thought I knew everything, but apparently there's a whole genre of literature that was just waiting to be discovered.

Knick Knacks

Why do we feel the need to buy things we don't need?

A few weekends ago, I bought a black rubber duckie. I certainly don't need it. I don't collect rubber duckies. I just thought it looked cool.

Today, I was very tempted to buy a Halloween snow globe. Little bats were mixed in with the snow. Again, not something I need.

If I was a millionaire, I would have a house full of useless (but very cool) knick knacks.

Slippage

"A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over." - Benjamin Franklin

Word Choice

The word birthday sometimes seems strange to me. It is what it is. "Birth" day. It's so literal.

Couldn't we have come up with something more creative?

We don't call a couple's anniversary weddingday.

Although anniversary is a very generic word. Not only is an anniversary a time for romantic celebration, it can also be a time for mourning, as even Sept. 11 has an anniversary.

Maybe weddingday would be better word for a couple's anniversary. And Sept. 11 would be plane-takes-out-world-trade-centre day.

Insensitive

This month, both CSI NY and CSI Miami had real-life dead bodies turn up on set. Very odd coincidences.

Someone commented to me that this sort of coincidence was kind of cool.

Really? Have we been desensitized that much to think a real dead body turning up on the set of a TV murder-mystery type show is cool?

I think so.

Yep. I know it's sad.

And can anyone believe that we have three successful CSI shows on TV? Really, the shows are that popular? I guess Americans love David Caruso's melodrama as much as Germans love David Hasselhoff.

Every country needs their own David to love.

Co-workers and Family

We spend more time with our co-workers than our own families. And sometimes all we have in common with those co-workers is the fact that we all just walk on the same piece of carpet for eight hours a day.

This was a very valid point brought up by Tim Canterbury on BBC's The Office. Sometimes TV can be so profound.

Haunting

Someone e-mailed me a photo of John Travolta in a loin cloth. It was a publicity shot taken early in his career. I bet he's embarrassed to see that photo now.

A writer friend of mine was asked to walk a tight rope to promote a book he wrote. They also wanted him to wear tights while he did this. He said no because he knew that if he did the photos would come back and haunt him.

The moral here is be careful what you do in front of a camera.

Modesty

Why is it when we are younger we seem to know everything?

When you listen to teenagers talk you want to say "shut up."

They are a little like David Brent on BBC's The Office - obnoxious know-it-alls who think they are comedians.

As you move into your 20s you are knocked down a few pegs. Perhaps you're not as comedic, but you still know a lot, even though life has taught you some tough lessons.

Does modesty come with age? I guess there is only one way to find out and that is to get old.

Idol

This is the first year that I am not watching the Canadian Idol finale.

Normally there is at least one interesting person in the top two. Not this year. They are both a bunch of lightweights.

Winners of past shows are still around. Ryan Malcolm is fronting some band called Low Level Flight. Kalan Porter is working on a sophomore album with his BMG label.

Other idols are still active in the "scene," most notably Jacob Hoggard. You just have to do your homework to find these idols, because CTV is horrible for updating their "where are they now" page.

Some of the idols could be hugely popular today if they were marketed better. The public will buy anything if it is thrown in their face - just take that Paris Hilton song as an example.

What is it good for?

"Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime." - Ernest Hemmingway

Smile

I hate when random strangers tell you to smile.

To them, I want to say "shut up." Or, at the very least, put my acting skills to the test by crying and telling them my dog just died.

Why do some people feel it necessary that we should walk around smiling like idiots all the time?

I once had a job at a grocery store where the manager gave me hell for not smiling while I was taking out the trash. I was in the back room. No one could see me. But, apparently, I still had to keep up the appearance of a happy work place.

I don't know about you, but I prefer my smiles to be genuine, not forced.

Royalty

A friend of mine once observed that the Queen's wave is probably done in a small and controlled manner to reduce the amount of tricep extra skin jiggle one might expect from a woman of her age.

Perhaps this is true. I cannot test the theory as I lack a good tricep jiggle, due to some muscle I somehow acquired.

Although, I imagine even without the controlled wave, the Queen's jiggle is probably well-hidden, as I don't think she wears sleeveless shirts. Such clothing, I imagine is for the peasants, like me.

What am I saying? I don't wear sleeveless shirts either. Perhaps, this means that I'm of Royal blood. I've just fallen really, really far from the tree.

Transport

"The civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the use of his feet." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Invincible

Every now and again someone you thought invincible dies.

Princess Di was one of those people. The Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin was another. News of their passing kind of takes you by surprise.

Friends of mine always say if you are going to die young, it should be in a creative and unusual manner, like being killed by a hippopotamus. Being killed by a stingray is close enough, I guess.

There have only been about 30 stingray deaths worldwide in recent years, as stingrays are known to be quite gentle animals.

As a side note, I was amazed at how quickly Wikipedia posted the news of Steve Irwin's passing. It was almost as quick as the news wires. Wikipedia was also pretty quick to re-write his biography in past tense.

As another side note, did you know that hippos account for more human deaths than any other African mammal. I guess it's because they are rather territorial animals whose habitats are often trespassed upon by farmers and tourists.

Reindeer Games

Did you know reindeer and caribou are the same frickin' animal? It's true.

The animals are typically called reindeer when roaming wild in Scandinavia, Russia, Siberia and China. But when roaming wild in North America they are called caribou.

When I was first told this, I didn't believe it. I had to look it up myself, which hurt the feelings of my friend who told me this, as she thought I was questioning her credibility.

But, hey, I've worked in the journalism biz long enough to know you always get the information from more than one source, that way you know the info is probably true.

Who Cares?

Recently someone took offence that I used my blog to declare Nirvana's Nevermind as one of the greatest albums of my generation.

"Who says?" The person asked me. "And why should we care that you think that?"

Maybe this person is a little new to blogging, having asked "who says?"

For those of you who don't know, a blog typically has an "author," some Joe or Jane Blow, like myself. They then use the blog as an expression of "free speech."

Typically, the author writes the blog for themselves or for their friends, and if other people happen to read it, that's great.

If you don't care for what the blog author has to say then he or she would simply ask that you don't read their blog.

A blog author does not liken themselves to God delivering the 10 commandments. However, if you wish to take the blog author's writings as sacred, I'm sure the blog author would be very flattered.

If you have a problem with someone expressing their opinion then get off the Internet.

Pluto and its Power

Pluto's demotion has had such a profound affect on people, it is making them do crazy things. I know one guy who took it as a sign that he should quit the high-paying job that he has held for 17 years.

"You, Pluto, are not fit to be held within the oval rings of our self-centered universe," the Rockstar Poet said. And with that, some people, like the man mentioned above, felt they weren't fit for their own jobs.

If Pluto couldn't continue being a planet, then they couldn't continue being a fire fighter, or whatever.