You can't stop the signal... Tonight we went to the special screening of "Serenity" in Charlotte, as posted previously. We were afraid that we might not make it because of the weather, but it calmed down just in time for us to drive down there. Its about an hour and a half to Charlotte from here.

Anyhoo...its nice to see the movie with 100 like minded fans, and not just a bunch of folks filling a cinema who're saying "what's this about again?"

We didnt' get there in time to get any t-shirts tho, so hopefully organizer Tanya can find out for me if there's any anywhere to be had. They were nice shirts, with the ship's isignia and the dates June 22-24, 2006.

Hopefully it'll become an annual event. I like watching the movie on the big screen rather than just my little 27 inch TV. Which is fine too...but I think you get the point.

I also ordered the Firefly DVDs when we got home. I'd looked now and again whenever we'd gone out DVD shopping, but never saw it. Amazon's got it for $24.99. We should have it well before James' birthday.

Tanya if you read this, thanks for all the hard work you and the other Browncoats put into this. Sorry we couldn't get to the after party! Hope everyone had fun :-)

For more info, and to see the final tally of $$ raised for Equality Now, check the websites Can't Stop the Serentiy and Equality Now   ¶ 2:42 AM 0 Comments

  Can't Stop the Serenity Part Deaux I just received an email from the Charlotte organizer, and at her request I am happy to post more information about the event. James and I hope to be able to go, but as previously mentioned, idiot boss man forgot that I had asked for the evening off and has gone and scheduled me in :-p

Anyhoo...here's some more info

Ms. Chapman -

Oh, there's plenty of tickets left. We are actually having trouble moving them right now. So if you know of anyone else who would like to come, please bring
them with you. I'm so glad you've decided to come. You shouldn't have any problem buying tickets on the night of the event. I would recommend bringing cash to pay for
your tickets. We won't have the ability to process credit cards at the theater (and the box office can't sell them for us). We'll have to send credit card purchasers across the parking lot to our ticket outlet at the Record Exchange.

It should be a lot of fun. There's plenty of Browncoats coming who can set the mood for us all. I'm more of a wallflower so don't expect to see too much of me. (Yes, I'm not sure either how I ended up organizing this shindig)

I have one favor to ask you. Would you mind putting a little info on your blog about the screening? I would really appreciate the publicity. Or maybe just
a link to the website? I'm afraid ticket sales aren't going to cover the cost of the theater and movie. My husband has been very
supportive of my efforts up 'til now. But if I have to shell out a few hundred dollars, that might change. :-D

If, by some miracle, ticket sales start to pick up and we start to sell out, I'll set a couple aside for you. Especially since I know you're planning to come.

All the Best,
Tanya Morris  ¶ 12:21 AM 0 Comments

  100 F in the shade! ugh, its too freakin hot. I need to go grocery shopping but I don't want to put the dogs out in this infernal heat! And I can't leave them in because when I do that, Bruno has a party and tears everything up.

Maybe we could move to Alaska...  ¶ 3:58 PM 0 Comments

  Life in general Yanno, its hard picking up your life and moving to a different country where you have only one friend. In my case, my one and only friend here is/was my husband. And sometimes he’s less than supportive of my homesickness and general discomfort with Morganton, North Carolina, and America. He has even on occasion said that its my fault that I don’t have any friends here, that I’m not doing anything to even attempt to fit in. Yes, he can be an ass. He has admitted as much. Admitting the problem is a step toward a cure as they say ;-)

The other day we took the dogs for a walk on the Greenway here in town, and went wading in the river. As we walked down the pathway to put a bag of George poop in the garbage, another dog came toward us with his older human. The dog looked less than a year old, chocolate lab, very cute. George dragged me the 20 feet or so toward the dog to attack it, and there was nothing, absolutely nothing I could do to stop it. I didn’t have shoes on my feet, I was carrying them because we’d just got out the river. I was putting the poop in the garbage can, and the leash was wet. Off she went to attack the poor little dog. James was at the time also struggling with Bruno, but James is obviously bigger and stronger than I am. George and I weigh probably about the same, and she’s got 4 legs to my 2 bare feet.

I got leash burns and cuts on my hand, actually drew blood, my shoulder muscles pulled, my feet hurt from the asphalt, my hip wrenched when she pulled me. My hand swelled up so that I couldn’t get my wedding rings off without soap and James’ help, and quite honestly I was embarrassed and frightened by George’s actions.

We got home, I soaked my hand under cold water and somehow we ended up in an argument. This happens a lot lately, James hears things that I don’t say. He twists my words to make them worse. Why, I have no fucking clue.

I left the house and went to Hickory for a few hours. I went to the book store, then to the cinema to see a couple of movies. One wasn’t enough. I watched The Omen, and then The Lake House. The first wasn’t scary, and the second was quite enjoyable. I highly recommend it.

This was on Friday evening. A while after I got home around half past midnight, I took a couple of sleeping pills and went to bed. 2 hours later when James came to bed I was still awake. I’ve been having a lot of trouble sleeping lately. An hour later I was still awake so rather than toss and turn I got up and listened to the birds wake up as I surfed the internet. Some 24 hours later, I finally was able to sleep again, I’d been up for well over 30 hours. Of course I had called in to work and said I wouldn’t be in Saturday or Sunday, there was no way that without sleep and with my injuries that I’d have been able to manage. Kenny was pissed, because that meant he’d have to work :-p

Anyhoo, today James is covering a shift at one of the stores and has got wind of a rumour that Kenny is planning to fire everyone at the shop who was hired by James, except for 2 phone girls “who weren’t really there long enough to be considered James’ crew” huh? So, apparently I’ll be fired sometime soon. James says I should get Kenny to sign a letter stating that I’m being fired because there just isn’t enough work to be had for all the crew, and that way I will be able to apply for benefits. I figure I should go in there when I’m next scheduled (Wednesday) and tell Kenny I’ve heard the rumours and have the letter ready for him to sign there and then. Whaddya think? He’s only firing “James’ crew” because he wants to bring his own crew (some of which he’s already brought in) so that he’s got people there who will kiss his ass and not complain about his laziness and shoddy business practices. “James’ crew” tend to bitch about how things are being run these days. And rightfully so IMO. Kenny’s a git. No idea how he intends to keep the store running and to keep his own job. Oh well, not my problem.

Lately I have just been so tempted to ship my ass back to Canada and not come back. I’m tired of life being up in the air and I have no say in the matter. It was like that for 4 years while we struggled with immigration, and now we’re back to that again with trying to close James’ parents’ estate and figure out if he wants to buy his own Domino’s somewhere and move. The other day he mentioned that he’s maybe changed his mind about having his own pizza business. And the estate is still not finalized for various reasons and he wants to move over to his parents’ house once he gets the deed. I’m very afraid that this will become permanent, and I really do not want to stay here. I don’t belong here. I have never felt at home here, and after 2 years of trying, I probably never will.

Have you ever had one of those…days…weeks…years…lives?  ¶ 4:33 PM 6 Comments

  Now I am Anna of Cleves!




Which of Henry VIII's wives are you?
this quiz was made by Lori Fury

Anna of Cleves got the royal shaft. She came all the way to England to become the fourth wife of Henry VIII. Once married to Anna, he refused to consummate the marriage, and called her the "Flanders Mare". Talk about a burn, considering that by this time, Henry was the fattest man in England and had a rotting syphilis sore on his leg.

Anna was miffed, but she was too sensible to let it ruin her fun. She was given an annulment and a fat yearly allowance, and she threw extravagant parties and dined on delicacies for the rest of her life.

With thanks to Becky in Toon Town ;-)for this one!  ¶ 4:37 PM 8 Comments

  Debbie Reynolds Which Movie Star Are You?

Ever wonder which movie star you are most like? Don't read ahead please! Well, a team of researchers got together and analyzed the personalities of movie stars. The gathered info has been incorporated into this quiz. There are only 10 questions so it doesn't take long. Number your paper from 1 to 10, then answer each question with the choice that most describes you at this point in your life, and then add up the points that correspond with your answers.

Don't look ahead or you will ruin the fun!

1. Which describes your perfect date?
a) Candlelight dinner for two
b) Amusement Park
c) Rollerblading in the park
d) Rock Concert
e) Have dinner & see a movie
f) Dinner at home with a loved one

2. What is your favorite type of music?
a) Rock and Roll
b) Alternative
c) Soft Rock
d) Classical
e) Christian
f) Jazz

3. What is your favorite type of movie?
a) Comedy
b) Horror
c) Musical
d) Romance
e) Documentary
f) Mystery

4. Which of the following jobs would you choose if you were given only these choices?
a) Waiter/Waitress
b) Sports Player
c) Teacher
d) Policeman
e) Bartender
f) Business person

5. Which would rather do if you had an hour to waste?
a) Work out
B) Make out
c) Watch TV
d) Listen to the radio
e) Sleep
f) Read

6. Of the following colors, which do you like best?
a) Yellow
B) White
c) Sky blue
d) Teal
e) Gold
f) Red

7. Which one of the following would you like to eat right now?
a) Ice cream
B) Pizza
c) Sushi
d) Pasta
e) Salad
f) Lobster Tail

8. Which is your favorite holiday?
a) Halloween
B) Christmas
c) New Year's
d) Valentine's Day
e) Thanksgiving
f) Fourth of July

9. If you could go to any of the following places, which would it be?
a) Reno
B) Spain
c) Las Vegas
d) Hawaii
e) Hollywood
f) British Columbia

10. Of the following, who would you rather spend time with?
a) Someone who is smart
B) Someone with good looks
c) Someone who is a party animal
d) Someone who has fun all the time
e) Someone who is very emotional
f) Someone who is fun to be with


Now total up your points on each question:
1. A-4 B-2 c-5 d-1 e-3 f-6
2. A-2 B-1 c-4 d-5 e-3 f-6
3. A-2 B-1 c-3 d-4 e-5 f-6
4. A-4 B-5 c-3 d-2 e-1 f-6
5. A-5 B-4 c-2 d-1 e-3 f-6
6. A-1 B-5 c-3 d-2 e-4 f-6
7. A-3 B-2 c-1 d-4 e-5 f-6
8. A-1 B-3 c-2 d-4 e-5 f-6
9. A-4 B-5 c-1 d-4 e-3 f-6
10. A-5 B-2 c-1 d-3 e-4 f-6

NOW, take your total and find out which Movie Star you are:

(10-17 points) You are MADONNA:
You are wild and crazy and you know it. You know how to have fun, but you may take it to extremes. You know what you are doing though, and are much in control of your own life. People don't always see things your way, but that doesn't mean that you should do away with your beliefs. Try to remember that your wild spirit can lead to hurting yourself and others.

(18-26 points) You are DORIS DAY:
You are fun, friendly, and popular! You are a real crowd pleaser. You have probably been out on the town your share of times, yet you come home with the values that your mother taught you. Marriage and children are very important to you, but only after you have fun. Don't let the people you please influence you to stray.

(27-34 points) You are DEBBIE REYNOLDS:
You are cute, and everyone loves you. You are a best friend that no one takes the chance of losing. You never hurt feelings and seldom have your own feelings hurt. Life is a breeze. You are witty, and calm most of the time. Just keep clear of back stabbers, and you are worry-free.

*snarf* Not even close! Other than the cute part ;-)

(35-42 points) You are GRACE KELLY:
You are a lover. Romance, flowers, and wine are all you need to enjoy yourself. You are serious about all commitments and are a family person. You call your Mom every Sunday, and never forget a Birthday. Don't let your passion for romance get confused with the real thing.

(43-50 points) You are KATHERINE HEPBURN:
You are smart, a real thinker. Every situation is approached with a plan. You are very healthy in mind and body. You don't take crap from anyone. You have only a couple of individuals that you consider "real friends". You teach strong family values. Keep your feet planted in them, but don't overlook a bad situation when it does happen.

(51-60 points) You are ELIZABETH TAYLOR:
Everyone is in awe of you. You know what you want and how to get it. You have more friends than you know what to do with. Your word is your bond. Everyone knows when you say something it is money in the bank. You attract the opposite sex. Your intelligence overwhelms most. Your memory is the next thing to photographic. Everyone admires you because you are so considerate and lovable. You know how to enjoy life and treat people right.  ¶ 6:19 PM 5 Comments

  Odds ‘n’ Ends Yesterday I had to go to the bank because I’ve forgotten my bank card PIN and I wanted to have it re-set. Now, anytime I’ve had to do this back in Canada, I just go into the branch, tell them I need to re-set my card and we can fix it right there. Swipe the card, and pick a new PIN. Not here! Nope nope nope! They have to Send Away for a new one! It’ll take a Week or more to get it. How ridiculous!

Also back home banking had become pretty much paperless. Need to make a deposit? No, don’t fill in a deposit slip, just swipe your card, hand over the cheque or cash to the teller, and there ya go. Need to make a withdrawal? No need to write a cheque to cash or write a withdrawal slip, just swipe the card. Right there at the teller’s desk/wicket. No grumbling about the pens that don’t work or rummaging in your purse. Banking was so much easier, and about a decade ahead of banking here in the US. So much for civilization! ;-)

I took Bruno to the vet yesterday for some booster shots, and the vet said he could stand to lose 10 to 15 pounds! Hmph! He’s only 170 pounds! That’s about average for a Saint Bernard! Overweight my foot!

He is a bit flabby tho, and could do with some more exercise, but we can’t get out much these days. Its too bloody hot out during the day time, the dogs can’t handle heat over 80F/26C; and James has started back to work as a “floater” and usually ends up working evenings til close, and I work evenings whenever I have a shift. Kinda hard to take the dogs out for a walk after midnight after an 8 hour shift. :-p

Oh well, we’ll have to figure something out I suppose. We don’t want him, or George for that matter, to get sick or shorten their lives because they get fat. The vet said to feed him about 25% less than he had been eating, we only let him eat about 4 or 5 cups of food per day! Plus treats…which isn’t much, but they do probably get more “people” food than they should. So, no more “people” food, and more exercise. When we can get out. *sigh*

Well, in honour of today’s date 6/6/06 last night I made us a Devil’s food cake, From Scratch! And for a bit of devilish fire, I put a bit of cinnamon extract in the icing (frosting to you Americans!). And boy is it yummy! The cake is not quite as fluffy as it should be because my electric mixer decided to crap out on me before I could get it all mixed, but its still edible. Its very difficult to whip egg whites to a froth by hand with a fork. I don’t even have an egg beater. I should get one. And a new electric mixer. Maybe one of those fancy ones ;-) Like this


Yesterday I mailed out my monthly newsletter and sales book, and to my local Watkins customers I also included invitations to a “Mystery Host” Good Tastings party. For June 18th. Which, until I spoke to Juli this afternoon, I did not realize it was Father’s Day that day. That happens when you don’t have a father you celebrate these things with. Oh well, maybe some of my customers don’t celebrate it either, or their husbands/fathers always spend the day Away from the women and they’re looking for something to do that day. Hopefully Somebody will show up! If not, I’ll try again next month after I get back from my trip to Toronto. I really need to get some customers who order on a regular basis, it would be nice to make some money. At least enough to pay for my own stuff ;-)

I’m doing pretty good tho, I have 8 downline associates, and continue to work on getting more. I have a couple of ads out there, so I’ll just keep workin’ ‘em! Having a downline is great, I just need customers of my own. Good Tastings parties are about the easiest way to drum up new customers, but I need to get them to show up at the parties!

Ah well, my butt is getting numb, and I have a couple of movies here I could watch while James is at work.

21 days and counting…  ¶ 5:34 PM 2 Comments

  Joss Whedon Fans Unite! Its Joss Whedon’s birthday on June 23, and somehow his fans got it together and arranged special screenings of his feature movie “Serenity” in Australia, USA, and Canada. Check out the website Can’t Stop The Serenity to see if there’s a screening near you.

Proceeds from the evening go to Joss’ favourite charity Equality Now

Equality Now
Equality Now works to end violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world through the mobilization of public pressure. Issues of concern to Equality Now include:

RAPE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS TRAFFICKING FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION POLITICAL PARTICIPATION GENDER DISCRIMINATION

There are two ways to fight a battle like ours. One is to whisper in the ear of the masses, try subtlely and gradually to change the gender expectations and mythic structures of our culture. That's me. The other is to step up and confront the thousands of atrocities that are taking place around the world on an immediate, one-by-one basis. That's a great deal harder, and that's Equality Now. It's not about politics; it's about basic human decency.
- Joss Whedon

I hope to be able to go to the one in Charlotte if I can get the evening off work. I love the movie, and what better way to celebrate Joss’ birthday?

Happy Birthday Joss, and make us some more movies will ya!?  ¶ 10:17 PM 1 Comments

  26 Days and Counting Woo Hoo! I’m going home for a visit, and I can’t wait!

I haven’t been home since March of last year. My baby niece was just one month old, now she’s talking and only knows me by my photo on the wall. My nephew is now in school half days, and won’t talk to me on the phone, but he’ll yell at me from across the room! ;-)

First things first of course, Mum is picking me up at the airport, and we will have to stop at Tim Horton’s for donuts. LOL. My sister wants to have a day out with me, and wants to take the kids to the local public swimming pool. That should be fun :-)

I arrive on the evening of June 28th, on June 29th I hope to be able to go up to see friend Charlene at her place, and maybe take some donuts ;-)

On the 30th Mum and I have to go downtown to pick up our tickets for The Gathering of the Fellowship It’s a Tolkien convention and starts off with a bang so to speak, with a picnic and fireworks on Canada Day (July 1) on Centre Island. It runs to July 4th, with a bunch of really neat stuff to do. While I’m in the city I will of course have to have some Street Meat! I miss those hot dogs something fierce! I just can’t find anything comparable here in Western NC. Its pathetic really.

Included in my convention tickets is an outing to see Lord of the Rings, On Stage http://www.lotr.com/intro.html playing at the Princess of Wales Theatre. Plus the Trilogy Movie Marathon (cinema TBA), which of course will take all day on the 4th. Other events include a banquet and costume contest (I’m not nearly skilled enough to bother to make a costume). There are also planned appearances by Craig Parker (Haldir), Bruce Hopkins (Gamling), Kiran Shah, (Frodo body double), Ted Nasmith and John Howe, (artists and set designers for the movies) among others.

This is the second convention of this type held in Toronto. I missed the first because I was in the US, and refused to go without James. This time he’s not so lucky :-p Plus, its an excuse to go home for a while.

I (and my Mum of course) are also planning a family BBQ at Mum’s house. Most of my extended family I haven’t seen since before I left Canada, I didn’t get to see them on my last trip. My Grandmother is planning to move out west soon, so I need to see her before she goes. Its not likely I’ll be getting to British Colombia any time soon. Maybe I’ll make a birthday cake for the party. We can celebrate everyone’s birthday while I’m there!

Of course we’re also planning a Girls Night Out to go see Pirates of the Caribbean – Dead Man’s Chest on July 7th. We’ve ALL be anxiously awaiting this one since it was announced they were making sequels. I’ll likely have to make a trip home to see the third installment next year too ;-)

I’m trying very hard to talk myself out of going to see my tattooist while I’m there. We have yet to find a decent tattoo artist here in our area, and I’m jonesin’ for more ink. I really should stop watching all those tattoo programmes on TLC and Discovery channel! I really don’t have the money for another tattoo tho, unless I win a lottery between now and then. That would require me going out to buy a ticket tho wouldn’t it? We finally have the PowerBall lotto here in NC, I just haven’t got out for a ticket yet. What with only working 2 shifts a week since I got back from Scotland, I’m finding it difficult to justify even $1 for a lottery ticket. I suppose I could count out some pennies for it! ;-)

My tickets for the convention I’m paying for out of my savings account, which is very quickly dwindling away. I am surprised tho how long its lasted me. Its leftovers from my severance package and cashed in RRSPs from when I got laid off at JDE and moved here. A big chunk of RRSP went into a locked in CD, which I can’t touch, but my savings account is the interest off it, which is $80+ per month for about a year and a half. I do hope that James’ parents’ estate will close soon, so that we can get a move on moving. He won’t do anything until that’s done now. *sigh* We’re thinking Michigan now. If the store(s) is (are) still available when James gets around to it that is.

Ah well…in the meantime there’s not much for me to do, other than sit and vegemegate. We bought a bunch of DVDs on sale the other day. Grey’s Anatomy season 1, The Muppet Show season 1, Ghost Hunter’s season 1, Dinosaurs season 1 & 2…we need a bigger house, just to fit our DVD and VHS collections! ;-)

Well another thunder storm is rolling in, I’d better turn this beast off so I don’t get zapped!

Ciao.  ¶ 2:22 PM 2 Comments