September 2011

crabtacular

- by admin

is the name of today.

I blame it on the fact that I was having this ridiculous dream about being at the Bass Invaders Vilify show (which I am not going to I am going to this instead) and working the food tent in exchange for a free slice of pizza because slices were five dollars each which is highway robbery. Grant if you ever sell pizza at exorbitant costs at your shows count me out okay? anyway I was having this dream and my phone started ringing and I dashed up to answer it thinking it might be important and it was a spam phone call about cruise ships or something. awesome.

in case you didn't know this is my ringtone, aren't you jealous you didn't think of it?



this is probably one of the best scenes in the movie fyi.

the apartment is also insanely cold today. I don't mine it being ten degrees outside because I can bundle up but I feel like an idiot wearing my outside jacket inside and I can't sit under a blanket at the computer because that doesn't help keep my fingers warm while I type does it? also my toes are cold.

apparently today for my History of Winnipeg class we are going on the General Strike Tour which means we will be shuttling around to various parts of the city and my prof is going to tell us about the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike which sounds interesting but means I have to be outside a lot which sucks.

I have to go get my stuff together for class, I'm on campus will 9pm tonight. bleh.

maybe if you're lucky I'll do some vlogging for you while I'm out and about.
 

I want to be her in this photo

- by admin

we are watching Charade and I am learning a thing or two about 60's marriage which is that most people stay married and ignore their unhappiness if the guy is rich and you can buy all the new season's clothes, unless you're Audrey Hepburn who is getting a divorce but doesn't have to because her husband gets murdered. dodged that bullet, didn't she.

Audrey Hepburn is probably the prettiest woman ever and her Transatlantic accent makes me swoon. I am mildly obsessed with Transalantic accents, have you noticed? sometimes I fantasize about learning to speak with one and adopting some ridiculous life somewhere else, but where?

maybe that's the only thing stopping me.

besides Tyrone, school, my family, money, and the fact that I don't know how to mimic a Transatlantic accent and it's not the 60s.

now Audrey is talking to a guy in a fancy office. you know it's fancy because it has a piece of marble as a shelf on the radiator.

we do that in our apartment but it's just with glass.

things aren't nearly as fancy these days.


 

quick post today

- by admin

since I slept all day now I am going to campus to catch up on the readings I have due tomorrow and hopefully not to sit on my iPad until class starts tonight at 6pm so instead I'll leave you with these words of wisdom:

never underestimate the power of the 'stache


 

Hip Hop Sunday #16 - Dead Prez - Hip Hop

- by admin



feelin' kinda down today

going to go get out and run some errands with the person I love

(Tyrone, silly, though I love you too)

happy Hip Hop Sunday


 

Rob Brydon knows best

- by admin


my advice for you today is this: don't clean while wearing a sweater. I did a bunch of running around this afternoon buying snacks for yet another wine party and realized the apartment is a sty and did a crazy whirlwind clean while listening to the entire first Protomen album (listen to them their stuff is like sex for your ears) and now I'm kind of all frazzled-looking and my hair is crazy cat woman-esque and I'm just going to throw one of those sloppy beanie-type hats on tonight and act like it's the look I was going for the whole time. also I'm sweaty.

should I shower again today? yes or no? like you care.

Tyrone was out having a man-date with @morleyrigged and @ckomus they were having a 'jam sesh' which is where Komus DJs and Tyrone and Morley do VJ stuff to match. it's actually really neat and I don't know how to do it at all. in case you didn't know Tyrone and Morley are Union Union and they do really sweet VJ stuff. Komus is a kickass DJ but you knew that already.

while Tyrone was out I went on an adventure and had a latte at the new Stella's in the Buhler Centre downtown with Will and he bought me these omg:


he got me the shark and I'm basically dying over this. I wish I could get my hands on some helium because how awesome would this be to be 'swimming' around the apartment tonight while we're all blasted on wine or anytime really?

also here is a text conversation I just had:

Tyrone: I'm missing mah baby

Alyson: MISSINGYOUGUY

I'm going to go play Super Mario RPG
 

just realized I didn't blog today

- by admin



guess that's the downfall of working on projects all day and then meeting up with some sweet tweeps in the evening.

@cdnbeer was in town so we met up with him for a while and after having a few Half Pints Tyrone and I are back at home and I learned a few things today:

- I look like Lisa Loeb (I don't)

- shorts and tights are warm as long as you wear a wool sweater

- white nail polish doesn't look as trashy as I thought it would

- hugs from @nicolerudge are awesome (I got four!)

and now it's time to order pizza and drink imported beers and watch movies so happy Friday to you all.
 

got a phone call just now

- by admin



while I was sitting here freezing in our apartment with no heat (it's not that cold out but apartments are weird like that and I have circulation) and this weird phone number came up as calling me so I picked it up and it was this lady asking me if I was still interested in breast reduction surgery which obviously I'm not. then I remembered that she was calling from an office I had visited two months before I even got in to see my surgeon and they (the office that just called) had told me that my surgery wouldn't be able to be booked until probably July or so and as a result I'd kept looking because at that time it was March or something.

anyway I told her I'd already gotten it done and she got really snooty like 'why didn't you call and tell us?' and I didn't know what to say because it's not like I was on some schedule or something and frankly I forgot because that was seven months ago and my surgery was in early May and wow it seems like a whole lifetime ago looking back. also wtf was this surgeon doing all this time where it took them three months to after they'd told me I'd be in surgery to call and see if I wanted to book next month? seriously.

I can't even imagine being that size anymore. I just re-watched that vlog I did the day before my surgery and woah they were like the size of my head.

I love/hate when people bring up reductions like they're implants because I can argue about them because getting your boobs removed/reshaped is different than getting more put in and doesn't mean I buy into any of the crap about how heterosexual women's self-images are shaped by the hyper-sexualized media dominated by male perspectives it means I had huge boobs and my back hurt a lot and now I can wear a button-up shirt for once in my life.

in case you haven't noticed I am kind of crabby today. I blame the cold apartment.

 

dude on a bike asked me for money today

- by admin

I was sitting at the bus stop going to class and he rode by me and asked as he rode past "do you have any change??"

and I realized that I've been in a lot of weird situations that involved someone asking me for money and on the bus on the way to class I made a list of the weird ways in which I've been asked to give someone change and here they are

- by two guys who tried to get me to drink out of the bottle of straight whiskey they were sharing which I declined to do

- by a woman in a clown suit (I didn't ask)

- by a woman who was so drunk she fell head-first over the waist-high railing of the patio I was sitting on (she was okay)

- through the window at a coffee shop

- by a little kid who yelled "can I have a dollar?" at Tyrone and I as we rode past on our bikes

- on the bus and then he sat next to me for the entire 20-minute bus ride asking for change from everyone around me

- in the waiting room of a walk-in clinic once when I was sick

in other news I'm dressed like a big hipster today and this is what I look like

 

following up on the CreComm bloggers round table

- by admin

it's taken me a while to sort out my feelings about this topic, and I feel like last Thursday I said a lot of things that were insightful, important and hopefully useful to the students I was speaking to.

however being part of a panel of bloggers who do a decidedly different form of blogging than I do -that is, blogging that is extremely focused on a specific set of topics and targeted at a very specific audience- I felt like maybe my voice and the relevance of writing a 'personal blog' fell a bit by the wayside.

maybe the students I spoke to will read this, maybe they won't. however for those of you that I know read this (hello new readers! I see you) I just want to make the distinction between something that perhaps I didn't articulate properly during the round table:

this blog isn't my 'online portfolio', it is my personal brand.

I do a lot of things. I'm a blogger who is obsessed with social media and The Internet. I'm a Joint Communications student. I contribute at squarepegcity.com. I'm the Social Media Manager for the Manitoba Electronic Music Exhibition and I'm an unprofessional photographer who does freelance consulting. I live a rich and interesting life full of people who admire and respect what I do and it's all because of this stupid blog. because when people visit my blog they don't just see some schmuck who has a 'blog on The Internet' but someone who spends a great deal of time thinking about and crafting their online image and their personal brand.

there are others like me that I can say the same thing about: Tony Pierce (of course), Lauren O'Nizzle, Kyla Roma, Christine Estima, Zach Bussey, to name a very select few. all of these people have extremely interesting and unique personal blogs that not only highlight their mastery of their field and ongoing accumulation of knowledge/experience but also provide insightful, funny and sometimes shocking peeks into their personal life.

the reason people want to work with these individuals is because of who they are, not just what they've shown that they know.

because let's be honest, people aren't hiring what you know, they're hiring who you are, and your portfolio blog could be the most knowledgeable and on-the-ball blog there is, but if you're not engaging, open and interesting nobody's going to give a shit about what you have to say.

don't get me wrong, topic-specific (portfolio) blogs have their place. The other participators in the Blogger's Round Circle (Erica, Liz and James) are extremely good at what they do. but I'm here to tell you it's not your only choice.

I'm here to tell you that you can be weird

that you should give insight where it isn't wanted

to read how to blog every day and do it

that it's okay to wear like a fucking sailor if you want because having a squeaky-clean image isn't always what employers/collaborators want (in most cases it seems cheap and fake, and in most cases it is)

that it's okay to share stories about your dog, your summer vacation, or your sweet thrift store finds with your audience because it means you're a real person and that's so hard to come by in 'the industry'

that you need to realize that the people worth working for will both respect your blog and appreciate it. I haven't worked with a single person, ever, who hasn't said "I love your blog, it's why I got in touch/was recommended to you". seriously.

but you can't take yourself or your blog too seriously. then you just become some asshole trying to manipulate your audience and you'll lose everyone who cares enough to read what you have to say, no matter what you're saying

and finally if you can't or don't want to share your life, don't feel bad. there are untold numbers of blogs that are centered around a specific topic that are wildly successful and entertaining. just look at the people on the rest of the panel with me.

however that being said social media is just that -social. living your life (or part of it) online not only demonstrates your expertise with drawing an audience, keeping them engaged and interested, and creating a positive brand image for yourself but it shows fearlessness and accessibility. both to potential employers/collaborators as well as your audience.

if you want people to care about what you have to say, you have to make them care about you.

however you choose to blog about it is your choice.
 

Tea Party audience cheered for letting the uninsured die

- by admin



this is probably one of the most disgusting things I have ever seen in a 'civilized society'

the amount of ego, ignorance and selfishness involved to
cheer about letting an uninsured person die
is something I can't grasp

whatever happened to being a good person
looking out for your fellow man
basic human decency

remember that Jesus guy in that book all the Tea Partiers love so much?

what would he have to say about this

don't you think he'd be disappointed in the way these people think?






 

« Newer posts

Older posts »