i've been trying...

to have an organic experience like ashanti does. the lather keeps getting on my face. how do i keep it just in my hair?

i've also been mellowing out my music these past 6 months. i accidentally overmellowed into the Norah Jones, Sarah McLachlan, Pilate, Snow Patrol, Coldplay, but i think i'm where i want to be now.

Playlist:
billy joel - piano man
bonnie somerville - winding road
cary brothers - blue eyes
cheap trick - i want you to want me
coldplay - dont panic, the scientist
colin hay - beautiful world, i dont think ill ever get over you, the flying song
communique - evaporate, perfect weapon
counting crows - accidentally in love
cyndi lauper - time after time
death cab for cutie - tiny vessels
del amitri - tell her this
delerium - after all, innocente (ft. leigh nash), myth, silence (ft. sarah mclachlan)
evanescence - my immortal
five for fighting - superman (its not easy)
frou frou - holding out for a hero, let go, shh
howie day - collide
iron & wine - naked as we came, overhead, passing afternoon, such great heights, weary memory
jack johnson - taylor
jason wade - you belong to me
jet - look what youve done
josh joplin - camera one, wonderful ones
keane - somewhere only we know
lifehouse - everything
lipps inc. - funkytown
men at work - overkill
michelle branch - goodbye to you
nena - 99 red balloons (german)
pilate - alright, perfect thrill
relient k - getting into you
rufus wainright - hallelujah
sarah mclachlan - blackbird
shane barnard - you said
sixpence none the richer - breathe your name, dont dream its over, with every breath
snow patrol - run
story of the year - sidewalks
switchfoot - 24, dare you to move, let that be enough, on fire, only hope, this is your life, you
the killers - everything will be alright, mr. brightside, smile like you mean it, somebody told me
the postal service - recycled air, such great heights, we will become silhouettes
the shins - caring is creepy, pressed in a book
warren zevon - keep me in your heart
when in rome - the promise
yann tiersen - comptine d'une ete: l'apres midi

Tiny Terrier Plucked from the Talons of Death

OTTAWA—A tiny Yorkshire Terrier was almost a late night feast when he was attacked by a determined owl last week.

Caillou, a 3-year-old male weighing about 1.6 kilograms, was on the backyard veranda of the home in nearby Rockland he shares with owners Josee Brennan and Jean Lamoureux at about 11.30 p.m.

"We put him outside every night before bedtime," says Brennan.

"Luckily, my partner was watching through the window or else I think the dog would have been gone. He saw this shadow come down, and — it was snowing — he just went outside barefoot and grabbed this thing and started shaking it.

"The dog was under its talons. Jean kept shaking it, and the dog got free. Caillou came back inside ... just soaked in blood. A few seconds later I guess there would have been no dog. It was quite a terrible scene."

Caillou "shivered throughout the night," but a vet said he didn't need stitches in a puncture wound on his neck.

Bird expert Bruce Di Labio examined feathers at the scene and believes the culprit was a great horned owl.

"They'll go after skunks and other prey," he said.

CANADIAN PRESS

upon reading this i was torn between two thoughts. a) i have an affinity for yorkshire terriers, as it was the second dog i've ever played with (but had the common sense to not kiss this one on the nose and get a lip infection like the first time) and they're just about the cutest of dogs, with their highlighted hair and moustaches. like little overtestosteroned korean girls. b) i've been particularly drawn to birds of prey ever since grade three when we did a unit study of birds and i sketched a plastic great horned owl that sat on my teacher's (teacher of the year 1995?) desk. Owls are the real silent killers, not high blood pressure. if you've lost a loved one to heart disease via HBP, apologies. the only way they could've died any quieter would've been death by great horned owl.

so should i gush with pity for the poor doggiewoggie and extol his heroic owner for freeing him from the deadly clutches of a downy assassin of the night? or crow with admiration for a bird that tried to snag a whole dog for dinner? [b] predates (occurs before, not eats) [a] by 2 years so i leaned about 85% towards [b]. plus, i believe that anything named Calliou deserves it.

good thing i ordered it black

Order Now!

Happy Robbie Burns Day

Address to a Haggis - Robbie Burns

Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye wordy o' a grace
As lang's my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o' need,
While thro' your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.

His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An' cut you up wi' ready sleight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like ony ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!

Then, horn for horn,
they stretch an' strive:
Deil tak the hindmost! on they drive,
Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve,
Are bent lyke drums;
Then auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
"Bethankit!" 'hums.

Is there that owre his French ragout
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi' perfect sconner,
Looks down wi' sneering, scornfu' view
On sic a dinner?

Poor devil! see him ower his trash,
As feckless as a wither'd rash,
His spindle shank, a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit;
Thro' bloody flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!

But mark the Rustic, haggis fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread.
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He'll mak it whissle;
An' legs an' arms, an' heads will sned,
Like taps o' thrissle.

Ye Pow'rs wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o' fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies;
But, if ye wish her gratefu' prayer,
Gie her a haggis!

What is Haggis?
A dish consisting of the heart, lungs, and liver of a sheep, calf, etc. (or sometimes of the tripe and chitterlings), minced with suet and oatmeal, seasoned with salt, pepper, onions, etc., and boiled like a large sausage.

Making Haggis

* 1 sheep's stomach bag plus the pluck (lights, liver and heart)
* 1 lb Lean Lamb
* 6 oz Oatmeal
* 8 oz Shredded Suet
* 2 large Onions, chopped
* about 1/4 pint beef stock

* Soak the stomach bag in salted water overnight.
* Place the pluck (lights, liver and heart) in a saucepan with the windpipe hanging over the edge. Cover with water and boil for up to 2 hours hours. Impurities will pass out through the windpipe and so you need to put a basin under it to catch any drippings. Drain well and cool. Remove the windpipe and any gristle or skin..
* Mince the liver and heart with the lamb. (Add some of the lights before mincing if you wish.)
* Toast the oatmeal gently until crisp and pale golden brown.
* Combine the suet and onion with minced mixture. Season well and add enough stock to moisten well. Pack it all into the stomach bag, filling it just over half-full as the stuffing will swell during cooking.
* Tie the bag tightly with the string. Prick the haggis all over with a needle to stop it from bursting as it swells
* Put an upturned plate in the base of a saucepan of boiling water, stand the haggis on this and bring to the boil, and let it boil slowly for about 4 hours.
* Makes enough for 6 to 8 helpings of delicious haggis.

to prove that i'm not a girl

late last year i set out on a mission. not a Christian soul-saving mission, unfortunately, but one of danger and mild intrigue and most people not caring. hush hush secret.

it was the oppurtune moment to GAIN WEIGHT! as christmas dinner times were nigh.
for a few years i had been of equal weight to a scyther (123 lbs (55.8 kg) +/- 2 (0.9), depending on the day of the week). a BMI calulation told me that i was marginally normal for my age and height. BMIs are dreadfully inaccurate, as they do not factor lifestyle or other such intangibles. since i'm honest with myself and know that i am a rather dense chesterfieldian tater, i figured that i just need more mass. so i pigged.

not being a real goal setter i merely aimed for cresting the previous pants-on high of 127 lbs (57.6 kg). my pockets were also full at the time. i finally did it a two weeks ago and have been sitting steady at around 128 lbs (58 kg) with PJ pants, which have negligible mass, and cresting at a milestone 130 lbs (59 kg).

if i ever hit 2.58583 x 10^30 kg, can collapse into a neutron star.