...my uterus is jumping...

I want this child, or one remarkably like her in brilliance and absolute adorableness. But, I probably wouldn't grill her incessently until she memorized all this. I'd teach her maybe 15 countries and let my adoration be satisfied with that.

...are you KIDDING me?...

"We've got a scouting report on each goaltender, video on each goaltender. It's optional for our players to look at it prior to the game, usually our defencemen don't. We do not tell the players where to shoot the puck." - Paul Maurice.

So Paul, if you don't tell the players where to shoot the puck, what exactly DO you do?

This, and the general weak incompetence of J. Ferguson, are largely the problems behind the Leafs horrible start to the year. Without a strong leadership behind you, coaching you, working with you, how are the players supposed to pull together and create a solid team?

...dribbles...

I don't care if I work with books and I should know better than to judge books before having finished them, without giving them a chance. Sid Hite lost me about 5 pages into "I'm Exploding Now", his new book for teens. I'm sorry, I don't care if your character is smarter than the average 16-year-old, teenagers just don't talk like that. So I'm skipping this, and moving on to Saint Iggy by K.L. Going, who is just about one of my favorite writers for young adults, ever. (You may remember "Fat Kid Rules the World" being my staff pick at the store for over a year).

I won't even pretend that I am also spending time studying for finals. We all know it's not true.

...the face forgives the mirror...

Tonight I'm negotiating studying with trying to find Christmas cheer, but it's hard when other things aren't cooperating. My hot chocolate is watery, and the should-be-snow is only icy rain; the blade on my skate snapped, and instead of shopping for fun One-of-a-Kind Show things, I spent almost $40 today on shipping costs (for three envelopes, to two Canadian cities); customers aren't happy but bitch about the dollar, and the store isn't playing Barenaked for the Holidays nearly enough. And speaking of barenaked holidays, this was SUPPOSED to be American Thanksgiving weekend with suitable American distractions.

I WANT CHRISTMAS CHEER!

...from "the buried life"...

Only – but this is rare –
When a beloved hand is laid in ours,
When, jaded with the rush and glare
Of the interminable hours,
Our eyes can in another’s read clear,
When our world-deafened ear
Is by the tones of a loved voice caressed –
A bolt is shot back somewhere in our breast,
And a lost pulse of feeling stirs again.
The eye sinks inward, and the heart lies plain,
And what we mean, we say, and what we would, we know.
A man becomes aware of his life’s flow,
And hears its winding murmur; and he sees
The meadows where it glides, the sun, the breeze.

~Matthew Arnold

...wonderful past all telling...

I'm in awe of friends who have, in some case, 3088 pictures of themselves on Facebook. I have 27, and sometimes I think that is excessive. That either makes me remarkable supressive and controlling, or not a lot of fun. You decide.

...i was hoping winter was over...

My Thursday lived experience in mediocrities:

i) Dan in Real Life: Fails to achieve the awkwardly hysterical dysfunctional-family/romantic mix-up that The Family Stone did effortlessly. Instead, it is tepid and sentimental, contrived, and devoid of sincerity except for a few altogether brief moments. Middle daughter Cara was perfectly cast and realized as the typically melodramatic, speaks-in-italics teenager on the brink of the "love of her life". "YOU ARE THE MURDERER OF LOVE" she screams at her father, weakly played by the usually stellar Steve Carrell.

ii) First date: smart + cute + friendly + gentlemanly + perfect on paper = less than the sum of his parts. Chemistry lacking, this feels familiar. Don't continue, nip-bud.

iii) The updated Canada's Food Guide: Information not well presented or explained, could be so much better. I'm not seeing that much difference from the old guide, frankly, other than an alteration of certain serving sizes and per-day quantities. Canadian policy makers need to really start thinking about how to make ideals like healthy eating habits sexy.

iv) General Hospital, and what was promised to be an exciting sweeps-worthy week of surprises and heartrending moments: it hasn't been.

...re: it's a date, not a life decision!...

Why it's not a problem: It is not going to be the launch of an all-consuming affair, or a life-altering relationship. It is one date, one night, to help me remember that I am a woman first and a crazed student only distantly second.