...must be fine, cuz my heart's still beating...

i) The other day I read a comment on Dodgy's blog written completely in capital letters. "No need to shout", says another commentor. This started me thinking about what we have done with online communication, the extent to which it has progressed which makes it seem little different from a verbal conversation.

Using quotation marks, asterix', underlines and bolds, or capital letters we portray every nuance that we would ordinarily use when speaking. It used to be that I hated talking on MSN because it was so easy to get misled. You couldn't get your "tone" across, so something said in joking sarcasm could be taken literally, leading to problems all around. Now, online conversations are so real to me that they seem completely indistinguishable from spoken ones. "I talked to Javod last night", I told my roommate a couple days ago. "Oh, did you call him?" she asked. I told her no, I had talked to him online - but truthfully, the back and forths, the expressions, are so real that I could almost hear his voice.

This doesn't have a tangible point, I don't think. Maybe just my bewilderment at the advances of technology and how we incorporate it into our lives. Where will it end? It is very strange.

Last night on Futurama, I saw that their "society" had advanced to the point that they had an insane asylum for robots. Later on in the episode I saw a 7-11, and that comforted me. It seems that no matter how much things change, we will always have 7-11.

ii) The Keds ad spread in this month's Vogue power issue is about being cool. Mischa Barton sits posed bare legged in her keds, chin on her heads looking beautifully golden, All-American. "Be Cool" says the line above her, the new slogan of the Keds brand.

At the top of the opposite page, the following is written:

Cool isn't a fad.
Cool isn't pretense.
Cool isn't wearing a mask that doesn't fit.
Cool is a label that says you and not somebody else.

www.keds.com/mischabarton - Log on to see what else Mischa thinks is cool.

That blatant hypocricy frustrated me to no end last night.

iii) So close to finding a dress yesterday, I had it on hold for a second fitting that my mother would also attend. I thought, from past experience, that she should see it before I bought it - good thing too, because she completely hated it. I still don't understand why. A skinny black tube dress, fitted not slinky, and classy. Bias cut sash around one side, low on the hip. She thought it wasn't dressy enough, was inappropriate for the event, and was too "old" for me. Like something you would wear to a funeral. I'll tell you something though, I would be really offended if someone wore a dress like that to the funeral of someone I loved.

I am panicking somewhat. We are now only three weeks away, and no dress. Monday brings a trip to Yorkdale and fingers crossed.

In a more positive light, I did find jewelery for the as yet nonexistant dress. Rachel and I stumbled by chance on a new jewelery gallery from Mexico City with the most incredible, unique things. I have never seen anything like it - pieces made with different sized, different coloured stones which don't match but fit perfectly together, despite their lack of symmetry. My mother adored it, and it was decided I will get a set to match a dress, once it's found. Pricey but well worth it for it's one-of-a-kind-ness. Patterns wound in thin thin thin silver wires, you have to be so careful because they bend easily. I bought two pairs of earrings last night, and one bent slightly just in transit. Completely lacking functionality, it took me a full 10 minutes to get the earrings in, and a panicked five learning how to get them out.

iv) While I was trying to fall asleep last night, it suddenly occurred to me that I was wrong. He isn't leaving for two weeks, but for five. Two weeks are just the rehearsals, but it didn't even occur to me that he would be gone during the entire three week run of the show. Which makes my situation in the next few days slightly more pressing.

When you think about it, this is all Greg Behrendt's fault, and by extension Farnam's. Because it is directly a result of that horrid book that I am not making moves, superstitiously waiting for him to do so. Come on, shy guy, get with the program...