Bunnies

He and Bunny drove home, Dave behind the wheel, and Bunny strapped in the passenger seat. Halfway home they switched.

When I hear this, I laugh out loud, even when I'm walking on a crowded street. : )

Hardships

Ever get the impression that Life, yes Life with a capital L, is laughing at you in your face?
I say laugh right back at it.

The level of Zen I'm demonstrating these days by not getting angry in highly frustrating situations is so amazing that I could start levitating soon and not be surprised at all by it.

I'm discovering more flaws with my apartment almost every week, but am still determined to stay at least a year because I hate moving and I also hate the expenses that come with this highly overrated activity.

For a couple of years now, the only things that could get me really depressed was moving into a new apartment and large purchases that left me unsatisfied. Today, I'm proud to say that, with the help of my lovely girlfriend, I'm getting used to the idea that an apartment is only a temporary living area after all, and that I really shouldn't worry too much about the small things I don't like about it.

With just one thing left to throw me into depression, I think I can laugh with life, I know in a couple of years I'll be laughing at all the irritating things I'm living right now anyways…

Giving thanks

Online shopping is great. Its allowed me to get my hands on various products unavailable in my part of the woods and on some others that were selling much cheaper elsewhere.

One drawback though is the lack of human interaction. You'll get no smiles from your computer when you purchase electric legwarmers over the Web.

I'm pretty used to this by now and I never pay much attention to the thank you page that usually appears after I've completed an order.

But today, when I opened an email from the online music store I just bought a CD from, I was amazed.

Here is what was written:

Your CD has been gently taken from our CD Baby shelves withsterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow.
A team of 50 employees inspected your CD and polished it to make sureit was in the best possible condition before mailing.
Our packing specialist from Japan lit a candle and a hush fell overthe crowd as he put your CD into the finest gold-lined box that moneycan buy.
We all had a wonderful celebration afterwards and the whole partymarched down the street to the post office where the entire town of Portland waved "Bon Voyage!" to your package, on its way to you, in our private CD Baby jet on this day, Wednesday, October 31st.
I hope you had a wonderful time shopping at CD Baby.
We sure did. Your picture is on our wall as "Customer of the Year."
We're allexhausted but can't wait for you to come back to CDBABY.COM!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Now doesn't that make you feel all warm inside?

Of course there might be a touch of exageration in the steps stated above, but just the fact that someone took the time to write such a thoughful and funny email amazes me.

Go to cdbaby.com and buy something, anything. I'm pretty sure you won't be rewarded by such gratefulness anywhere else.

CBC and new music

I haven't gotten any comments on this yet, but I still feel the need to make it clear right away. I am in no way associated with the CBC; I just have a major crush on it.

It just amazes me that I only discovered this radio station two years ago. I know I'm still pretty young, but still, everyone should be aware that the national broadcaster also broadcasts on the airwaves.

Don't have time to listen to the radio? Own a MP3 player? You can still take CBC with you, most shows being available as podcasts.

Just to prove to you that its worth listening to, I'll show you this. I discovered this while listening to the Radio 3 podcast with Grant Lawrence today. I also discovered this. And, although some of you might already know of this, I wasn't aware it existed. So there you go, three great finds in one podcast. You should now be convinced of the importance of listening to anything produced by the CBC. After all, if you're Canadian, you are paying for it.

I'll tell two other secrets that aren't so secret before I let you go:

1. Lions love CBC. No one knows why, but I think its because lions are just that cool.
2. On this station, you'll never hear advertising. Never!

Vinyl cafe

Do you have favorite shows?
I have favorite shows.
Most people I suppose have favorite shows.
But unlike most people, mine are radio shows.

Do yourselves a favour and tune in to the next installment of Afghanada. This series often keeps me up past my bedtime.

Also be sure to give a listen to Stuart Mclean's Vinyl cafe. You'll hear a mix of great stories and cool tunes by bands you may never have heard of.

I should tell you that I started this post on Sunday, but that I had to leave before finishing it. I had begun writing full of inspiration and filled with the intention of giving a detailed and amusing account of both shows mentionned above and was hoping to hold on to that inspiration until I found the time to get back on Blogger. Tonight, my hopes were dashed. So, unfortunately for you, these lines are the best I can manage at the moment. Do not despair however, as I will surely find the spark to write some inspired rant at some point during the week.

Really though, I'm not kidding; both shows are some of the best out there and everyone who can tune in to CBC's Radio One should check them out.

Apple pie (edited)

This year I baked some apple pies for the first time. That might not be a particularly shocking statement to anyone; I'm not big on making elaborate dishes, and had really never baked anything before this year. But now I'm living pretty far away from my pie maker/mother (or should that be the other way around) so I had to take matters into my own hands. Pie after all is my favorite dessert and you just can't go without your favorite dessert for too long before you loose some marbles. Of course they sell pie at the store, but that crap just doesn't cut it. Marbles won't be saved by storebought pie.

I'm going to switch to first person plural here. Don't freak out, I just had company for the rest of the story.

There was excitement and flour in the air. We were about to make our first apple pie. Neither of us had ever attempted this before, but I felt pretty confident. After all, she was in my eyes a dessert-making expert and I had eaten quite a few pies in my day. So we ventured on. Slicing the apples was easy. Mixing the dough was easy. Flattening the dough was a little tricky. And, finally, assembling the pies was the most fun you can have with sliced apples.

We managed to make four pies and one crumble. Pretty good for me, a first timer. She seemed happy with the results as well.

We went out for a walk afterwards. Leaving is a very important part of baking apple pies. You have to go outside for about half an hour just to enjoy the smells of fall and the special mood that this season brings along. When you get back, you'll get rewarded by the sweet smell of pie baking victory which will have filled every corner of your dwelling space.

The day was ended as every apple pie/crumble making day should end; with a good diner topped off by some oh so good pie and some delicious crumble.

I ate a slice of those pies tonight and it brought me back to that afternoon. I know it hasn't been that long since they were baked, but I'm still glad. I'm glad to know that I'll most likely be reminded of that day every time I eat homemade pie for the rest of my life.

Thank you for the wonderful day. Thank you for the wonderful memories.


Now, on to the lions

Fun facts about lions # 1

A male lion is referred to as a lion or tom. (wonder who's the guy who said "you know what, I know it's a lion, but lets just call it Tom")

Evolution

He felt quite happy about his life now.

He still remembered the day his best friend told him their friendship would be over if he didn't try to get along with one of his pals. That was one of those defining moments you remember all your life. He was a kid back then. He thought about how things had changed since then. About all the friends he'd made over the years. About all the ones he'd lost. About how it would be much cooler if he was thinking about this in front of a fireplace while smoking a pipe. Ah well, you can't have it all he thought.

He'd evolved a lot over the years,
High school had made him a better kid.
University had made him a better teen.
The workplace had made him a man.
Moving away from everything he had ever known had made him a better version of that man.

He felt he was now finally ready. Ready for what he didn't know, but ready.
He was happy and he was intent on staying happy.