Tagged: black
Just hit a personal low
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I polished off the rest of a container of yoghurt directly from the container while standing in front of the macbook in my underwear looking at Pinterest and listening to the Backstreet Boys. Don't be too jealous of my fabulous lifestyle, now.
Amazing day
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Had a fantastic meeting this afternoon. One of those really great meetings where you totally connect with the other person you're talking to. Where you part ways with a smile and you find yourself feeling empowered. I love those.
Met up with Mum & Granddad to pick up my Nan from the airport. She's been in the UK (which is where my family is from) for the past month and though we teased my Granddad about his "bachelor life" ending, it was really sweet to see how much he missed her.
Made a fancy weeknight dinner for two complete with home-brewed apple wine. Also featured: balsamic chicken stuffed with goat cheese, pesto penne, and arugula salad with lemon and tomato. I am spoiled, spoiled, spoiled!
Here's to a wonderful rest of the week!
xox yr Shaner
Things I've learned so far while reading 'Ulysses'
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- Apparently the proper way to read the book is with at least one guide book which essentially deconstructs the chapters for you and explains what's going on. Which seems a bit backwards because isn't that the point in reading the book, anyway? To figure out what's going on?
- Apparently a lot of people find it to be an incredibly challenging read and have trouble getting to the part of the book that I managed to get to in a single sitting. Which means either I'm a genius, or I have no idea what I'm doing. You decide.
- Apparently I'm not going to understand what the f is happening until I reread all 700ish pages of it again at some point in the future. Great!
- Apparently skipping back to previous chapters is totally normal and accepted, which I didn't realize was unique to Ulysses because I do that with basically every novel I read.
- Apparently reading the introduction, the errata, and the notes to pages sections are basically useless, which is good because I don't usually read that stuff, anyway, and didn't this time.
- Apparently every time I pick up the book I'm going to think of this via Kate Beaton:
and also this:
Things that I rocked today:
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- Baking midnight cupcakes
(because why the f not)
- Grooving out in my living room to Robyn
- An interview at a really exciting prospective job
(people like when you give a double thumbs-up, right?)
- Taking care of Tyrone after his dental surgery
(as per usual)
- My CodeAcademy lessons
- Home-made chicken noodle soup
(boom)
- Totally not falling in a single puddle at all
- This blog post
(obviously)
Volunteered at Siloam Mission for the first time last night
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and wasn't prepared for what an amazing experience it would be.I went with my parents, who have been volunteering for two years or so and to their credit have been bugging me to come with them forever.
They're pictured here, looking amazing as per usual and holding the four cakes that my mum baked for this week's dinner.Because in addition to giving up every Thursday night to come down and help serve dinner, my mum also does a ton of baking for the patrons so they always have a wide variety of desserts.
When you ask her about it she'll be like "oh it's no big deal" even though it's totally a big deal.
Which is why she's so cool.
So we went in and started prepping for dinner which was slow-cooker pulled turkey, mashed potatoes, veggies, salad and dessert and it was crazy to see how quickly everything came together and even crazier to see how quickly it went.
The line was intense and we served basically nonstop for over an hour.
I got to meet some really great, hilarious people who made the hours fly by in the blink of an eye.
But the real joy was being able to interact a little bit with the patrons, because it's really easy to become cynical and dismissive of people in our society who are less fortunate than we are.
We've all ignored that outstretched hand at least once in our lives.
So being able to help give them something of value -a warm place to hang out for a while, a decent meal, a friendly face- really affected me deeply.
I realized halfway through my shift that I recognized a lot of the faces coming through the line from my years of living, working, and going to school in downtown Winnipeg.
These people who smiled and waved and joked with us as they waited for their meals. People who thanked us and said "god bless you" and came back afterward to complement us on the food.
I saw a side of these people that I hadn't seen before, and it was wonderful.
You know, I go on a lot about how much I try to be a decent, contributing citizen and be someone who actually gives a damn about the world around me, and it felt good to start putting some money where my mouth is.
It was hands-down one of the most rewarding things I've ever done, and I'll definitely be going back next week.
red wine, fat cats, final fantasy
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Bún at the local vietnamese place
getting shit did at the office
wearing fleece jackets that are from china and meant for boys
texting yr best girl
holding hands with yr best guy
thomas dolby, stars & smoki tigr in the car
zapp branigan jokes
super strong coffee
are the things a good Friday are made of.
happy weekend!
xox yr Shaner
Here's my favourite answer from Crispin Glover's AMA
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Because nothing I could possibly write about today could compare to this.You are my friend Toyou4yu. There are certain things that happened since being in Back to the Future that makes it difficult for me to reflect on the film as having funny things happening. Specifically there was a lawsuit because of something the producers did that was illegal in the sequel to the film. What the producers did that was illegal was as follows. The producers used the molds that were taken from my face from the original film and had prosthetics made to resemble my face to be placed on another actor to make them look like me and then inter-spliced a small amount of footage of me from the original film with the actor in prosthetics to resemble me in order to fool audiences in to believing I was in the film. There was an actress that was replaced with another actress in the film, but they simply cast another actor in that role with no prosthetics. Had they simply cast another actor to play the role of George McFly there would have been no criminal activity on the part of the producers and there would have been no lawsuit. Since they did not own my face nor make an financial agreement with me to use my facial features what they did was stealing something they did not own for personal again and therefor what they did was illegal and why there was a lawsuit and why there are rules in the Screen Actors Guild that make it so producers can never to this kind of thing again.
Probably the most negative aspect about it is that Bob Gale who was a co-producer and co-writer and one of the main architects of the illegal activity has decided that it serves him best to lie about what happened in order to justify partaking in something that led to the producer’s illegal activity. He has falsely stated that I asked the same amount of money that Michael J. Fox was getting. This statement by him is complete fabrication. He is doing this to take the focus off the fact that what he and his fellow producers did was illegal, by definition of the word. He does not want to face that fact. To skirt the issue Bob Gale has lied to millions of people on the Back to the Future DVD commentaries about how the negotiations were handled. I would not normally discuss this sort of thing, but people believe what he has stated as true. What people have to realize is that Bob Gale was involved with something that he and his fellow producers turned in to illegal activity. People who wonder about if what Bob Gale has said is true or not, should understand even if they liked “Back to the Future” it still means that a creator like Bob Gale who was a contributor to the illegal activity has motivation to create lies to detract the attention from his wrong doing. I wonder if Bob Gale were asked if he would help produce a film with the same specific illegal activity if he would say he would do it again. For one thing the new laws in SAG that my lawsuit helped to create would not allow an actor to be hired to fool audiences in to believing they are another performer with the use of prosthetics or otherwise. Still putting that specific questions to Bob Gale I wonder what he would answer. If he would answer that he would help to do something illegal again I hope people would understand the lack of integrity that would indicate on his part. I would hope he would answer that what he/they did was wrong, and illegal and if they had to make the film without me playing the role they would simply cast another actor in the role like they did with re-casting Claudia Wells with Elizabeth Shue as Jennifer character in the same film. In the very same film they re-cast an actress with a different actress, but they did not put prosthetics on Elizabeth Shue to make her look like Claudia Wells. For whatever what feels to me like being mean spirited, they decided it was good idea to put another actor in prosthetics and inter-splice a very small portion of me from the original film to fool audiences in to believing I was in it. There has not been another situation like this preceding it, and because of my lawsuit there has not been another time that another actor has been subjected to this particular sort of illegal activity. Again I am proud of the lawsuit and standing up against illegal activity that caused proper precedents and bylaws in to be set in the Screen Actors Guild. It is unfortunate that the producers of the Back to the Future films decided it was a good idea to perform an illegal action, which led to a lawsuit. In 2005-2007 I had a very positive experience working with Robert Zemeckis again playing Grendel in his “Beowulf.” When working together the subject of the lawsuit was never brought up. I am enjoying my life, making my films, touring with them, publishing my books and acting in other people’s films. If I were put in the exact same situation today I would react in the exact same way. Thank you for asking about it in that detailed way. I am glad to help clarify. People can find out about my films and shows and where I will be with them on CrispinGlover.com
I have noticed however that Bob Gale who was the co-writer and one of the producers on the films and one of the chief architects of the concepts that led to the law suit has been stating false things about me to attempt to lessen his wrongdoing. I do not like his false statements would like to remind that what he did caused laws in the screen actors guild to be changed to protect actors from his kind of wrong doing. I ended up having an excellent working relationship with Robert Zemeckis on Beowulf which was released in 2007. Despite the negative aspects of Bob Gale I am glad that I played the character in the original film.
You can troll the whole thing here.
It's been blizzarding again and I need a break
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Real Talk: I LOVE winter. Love, love, love it.
But this it getting to be too much for me.
I need some days when I can walk around and enjoy the scenery. Relax and enjoy the outdoors without freezing my toes off.
Actually enjoy my Canadian winters outside.
So when I was offered an opportunity to go and tour the outdoor Thermëa Spa being built at Crescent Drive Golf Course my heard skipped a beat -this is definitely the kind of "winter activity" I can get into during a winter like this one.
So I bundled myself up last Saturday and went to meet the GM, Frederic Jenni, who walked me around the grounds and explained the different services that the spa is going to offer once it opens in the early spring.
He explained that Thermëa is a Scandinavian-inspired spa, so it offers humid & dry saunas, a hot tub, cold & temperate pools, and a Finnish Sauna (which hosts an Aufguss Ritual twice a day) in addition to massages, body treatments and etc inside.
(Clearly not taken on the weekend. This gives you a better idea as to what it will look like than my snowy pictures will and also makes me yearn for summer... sigh...)Honestly though, when I was standing in the middle of a bunch of snow in -35 weather, shivering in my jacket, toque, winter coat, mittens, boots, etc I wasn't quite sure if the idea of sprinting from one warming hut to another in a bathrobe was really something I'd be into.
Then I was told that there will be heated pathways during the winter.
(I think my toes just sighed at the thought of it. Clearly I need a space heater.)
It's funny how a detail like that can make all the difference, though: I immediately went from being a bit skeptical of the whole idea to being absolutely in love with it.
The idea of sitting in a hot tub or a sauna in the middle of a crisp winter day seems like such a great way to unwind, doesn't it?
(Here's a more winter-y version of what the finished site will look like.)
Until last weekend I'd never considered myself a "spa" person. I'm super anxious by nature (remember when I told you I got stressed out during that massage?) and until last weekend the idea of going somewhere specifically to relax seemed like a super weird idea.
However, after going and learning about all the careful planning and care that goes into building something like Thermëa, and the effort involved in crafting an experience where you basically show up, hang out, and relax, I'm really excited to check it out!
The spa is scheduled to open in late April, so I'll definitely be going at least once during the summer, But it's during the winters that I think the experience they're going to offer is really going to stand out.
I can't wait!
Still on a bit of a high since MBlog
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aka the New Media Manitoba Blogger's Conferenceaka #NMMBlog
aka that panel I spoke at on the Friday night with the James Hope Howard, Liz Hover, and Colin Fast aka @policyfrog.
It was also MC'd by my buddy Kenton Larsen -hello!
We fielded the usual questions -where we can be found online, our thoughts on the future of blogging, etc
(Liz got into a heated debate with one of the audience members as you can see in the photo)
Overall it went pretty well.
The crowd was fantastic & engaged and I feel like we covered some really interesting and relevant topics.
I just wish we'd had more time -panels always start to get good right towards the end, don't they? That's when everyone gets fired up!
I had to jet to a million other things that night so I couldn't stick around, but I managed to make it to the daytime event the next day in time to catch Liz's interview with The Bloggess, who was even more charming and clever in person than on her blog which I didn't think was possible.
I sat with my homie James and we took dumb photos. Obviously.
It was really cool & inspiring to see local people talk about their experiences and share their stories, and to put faces to so many avatars and profiles that I've creeped online for so long. It was a fantastic day and I feel so honoured to have been asked to be a part of it!
Biggest thanks go out to Alison Kirkland from the Women's Enterprise Centre of Manitoba, Kathy Driscoll of New Media Manitoba, and of course the dear Kenton Larsen for having me!
xox yr Shaner
Let's take a moment to reflect on darker days
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