Magic

After making tentative plans to get pedicures in August, Emily and I finally made it happen. Emily is a friend from my political science world, and we like each other because we have similar temperaments. That is, we experience the same kind of school anxiety and it makes us feel better to know there is someone else out there who has school-related panic attacks. Also, we are both CBC Radio nerds. I think we once had a showdown about who was the bigger fan. I may have won that round, because Emily has yet to fight with Rex Murphy on Cross Country Checkup. But that's not important right now. We’re both in the middle of final exams, and we went to Magic Nails and Spa on Yates so we could help ourselves relax and catch up with each other at the same time (we didn’t have any classes together this semester).

I was worried that I had high expectations that couldn't be met, but the experience was perfect. My favourite part was the massaging chairs with the built in foot bath. That's what I want for Christmas. The ladies who worked on our feet were awesome too. It was very relaxed in that they just chatted with each other and their nephew while Emily and I chatted with each other. No awkward conversation. No awkward silences. This is not a she-she spa with hippy music and candles. There are fluorescent lights and nephews. That puts me at ease more than mood lighting somehow.

Those of you from Vancouver are probably wondering what I'm going on about, because these types of Asian nail spas are everywhere in that city. That is not the case in Victoria; Magic Nails just opened in August and I've had my eye on it since I saw the grand opening banner. These types of establishments are especially good because they are affordable.

The final pedicure results are fine, but it's more about the process for me: making time to relax. Emily admitted that she almost bailed because she thought she needed the extra hour for studying, but wow. You should have seen her face when we were through. It really is magic.

I tried taking pictures of my feet this morning, but they won't be showing up on the Internet anytime soon, even though the red nail polish is festive. You'll just have to trust me on this one.

The goose is getting fat

I waited until December 1st to put up Christmas decorations and listen to Sufjan Stevens' songs for Christmas (thanks Sarah H!). Now I'm in full holiday mode. I didn't put up a lot of decorations because Michael and I are going home for Christmas, but I did make some new ornaments for the (fake) tree that I'm particularly proud of:


When I worked at The Sellution, one of the Main Street antique/consignment stores in Vancouver, I nabbed some of the single chandelier ornaments that were kicking around. The store kept a drawer full, and I wanted to make earrings. I did make a few pairs (Lydia, didn't you get some?), but most of them were too heavy on the ear. Last year I decorated my tree with candy canes, but I wanted something shiny this year. When I started digging through my suitcase of craft supplies, I found 12 of the glass beads. I took out the metal hardware and threaded them with colourful embroidery thread. Presto! Heather Armstrong just featured glass bird ornaments on Dooce. We're on the same page, but she didn't make hers.

Rock interventions

Michael's Rock Club theme was a success. Most of us admitted that we struggled with our final choices, but maybe that's why they worked; people put a lot of thought into their songs, and they shared some crazy stories. I'm sharing the play list with you, to satisfy your curiosity, but I've left names and stories out of it because of their personal nature. My choice is pretty obvious. Can you guess?

Play List

Walkin' After Midnight, by Patsy Cline
Fuck Was I, by Jenny Owen Youngs
Pump It Up, by Elvis Costello and The Attractions
Holland 1945, by Neutral Milk Hotel
There Is A Light, by Great Lake Swimmers
In The Evening, by Nina Nastasia and Jim White
What Wolves Would Do, by Les Savy Fav
Rollercoaster by the Sea, by Jonathan Richman
The Morning of Our Lives, by Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers
Step Back, by DAT Politics
No Key No Plan, by Okkervil River
Smells Like Happiness, by The Hidden Cameras
Andante from the Dumky Trio, by Antonin Dvorák

I can't tell you how happy I was that there were two Jonathan Richman songs. They were played back to back, no less. I decided to bring my favorite, Roller Coaster by the Sea, for a variety of reasons. First, I thought it would be great to hear the actual song when I went on the Santa Cruz roller coaster last August instead of torturing Shannon with my rendition. Second, I like the message of the song and I wanted to share it: sometimes you need to do something silly to get you out of your head.

I might add some other musings about this Rock Club at a later date. It deserves some extra thought and I don't have energy for a longer post right now. Besides, I need to go buy cookies for my last Writing Popular Science class. We're having a party.

Everything is the worst

I'm at that point in the semester when I'm having a hard time showering when I should. I stopped taking my vitamins a couple of weeks ago. I'm not drinking enough water. The thing that is really getting me down is this political theory essay that I have to finish in a week. I was going to submit an essay about Marxian theories of alienation, but when no one offered to sell me this type of essay I decided change my subject to Kropotkin and Anarchy. My dad suggested that I refuse to write the essay in order to embrace the true nature of this political theory. He made me laugh and then I truly considered the option.

I've been listening to Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, the 2002 Flaming Lips album, while I slog away on the computer. Here's one of my favorite songs on the album: Fight Test.

The new mayor in town

Michael is the new mayor of Rock Club. Actually, he's been mayor for some time now. While he decided on a clever theme right away, he's failing to set a date for the big event. I don't mind, as I have no idea what I'm going to bring. I'm posting his Back to the future inspired theme below so you can help me brainstorm. Of course, you shouldn't tell me to change parts of my life or anything, but maybe you can tell me what song you would bring so I can copy you.

In my mayoral universe, I’d like to see how we rockers might respond to the realization of my favorite sci-fi scenario (and second, maybe third, favorite mutant ability) – time travel. Here is my challenge for the upcoming rock club:

You’ve been given keys to the Delorian together with ample supplies of plutonium and a functional flux capacitor. Marty has briefed you on the dangers of carelessly toying with the spacetime continuum. Satisfied that you understand the risks, Marty has approved your request for a “pre-present” personal intervention. That is, he has authorized you to travel back in time so that you may attempt to alter the outcome of a single decision/scenario that took place in your life in the past. You’ve been given the opportunity to remedy a regret, right a wrong, or otherwise improve on something you did or did not do in the past. However, as Marty has explained to you, the only tool your present self can use to exert influence over your past self is, well, music – specifically, a well timed song to be played by your present self in the presence of your past self. The “Dobler” effect has been shown to exert only minimal stress on the fabric of spacetime while at the same time offering surprisingly efficacious results. Duly warned and boom-box equipped, you have been given clearance for your 88 mph departure…

Where, and when are you going? What are you going to try and change? Most importantly, what song are you taking with you?

Halloween, yo

I'm not a huge fan of Halloween, but we did it up this year. Michael's costume was unbelievable:

He was Buster Bluth from Arrested development (I couldn't find a picture of him after the seal ate his hand):

This was my costume:

I was Robert Smith from The Cure:

Dressing up is fun! I'm never sure about Halloween, what with the scandalous costumes and the masks that make me uncomfortable (my recognition skills aren't great at the best of times), but this year was an exception. We went to the Caribou show with friends who also dressed up (there was a wizard, a prom queen, a dead beauty queen and two mechanics) and we were all thrilled to see so many people dressed up at the show; I didn't expect that kind of enthusiasm at a hump day Halloween show, especially because there were so many parties the weekend previous. The highlight of the evening was when we spotted another character from Arrested Development: Tobias Funke. It was a beautiful reunion. The guy wasn't able to fake the baldness, so Michael suggested that he add a trickle of fake blood to his forehead to represent the time Tobias got hair plugs; we saw him later and he'd added the blood to great affect. He was wearing his never-nude jean shorts, if you were wondering. Our Halloween team schemed about going as the whole Bluth family next year, and I have to say, I'm already making tentative plans. If not the Bluth family, then some other team costume will surely be possible.