Home on the Range

As I sit on the couch on a lazy Sunday afternoon, sipping a chai and tapping away on my laptop, I get to wondering what the best parts of being home for the holidays are... and then realize that it's spending lazy Sunday afternoons lounging with a laptop and a chai.

That's the other good thing about being at home- I normally don't have to overthink things.

All in all, being back in beautiful BC is... well, beautiful? Whether it's contemplating gnoming and dildos (not together, you perv) over pub food with Lisa and Tica, making awesome jewelry and (attempted) bellydancing with Sinead, or watching Gidget and playing Settlers of Catan with my ridiculously entertaining sister, I love that the pace of life seems to slow exponentially when I reach the Interior.

Having lived away from Kamloops for almost seven years, I've gotten past the fact that my hometown has changed a good deal from when I lived here. Instead of it being a problem, I've learned to enjoy getting lost while driving around town or getting ridiculously excited when I discover a new funky place on the main strip. Plus, I'm kind of enjoying the Y's recent gym upgrades... it used to be kind of brutal when you wanted to go work out.

I've been interning at the Daily News, and even that has been fun and chill. My editor doesn't want to stress us out or give us all of the lame assignments because it's my holidays and because I'm unpaid– and I'm not twisting her arm to make me write city briefs. I've been able to write a couple of features, a few news stories, and am working on a recycling piece for next week. I'm also not supposed to work Christmas Eve and get to end my internship whenever I want. Maybe writing for a small daily paper isn't that bad of a job after all?

As Christmas approaches, my massive extended family is starting to pilgrimmage back to the Loops... yesterday, my aunt, uncle and twin cousins arrived from Texas and they'll be staying with us for a week. Seeing as our house is small enough that even I don't have a bedroom (yep, it's a futon in the computer room for me– home sweet home!) and that the twins, who are six, are still learning to use their indoor voices, this could prove to be an interesting seven days...

Blogging is best done pantsless.

I've recently discovered that my apartment becomes a sauna in the winter.

Pros: promotes a pantsless lifestyle, I don't pay my heating bill.
Cons: determining when to open the windows before asphyxiation sets in.

All in all, though, it's pretty sweet. I was definitely writing a reference letter for a student this morning while pantsless... while I didn't state it specifically, I sincerely hope that it comes through in the document and that he gets his funding. Because good things happen when people don't have to wear pants...

Bulk Barn's best-kept secret

What started as a fun artsy project is quickly becoming my studying comfort food...

I am sitting on my couch, surrounded by empty fortune cookie wrappers. The fortunes lined in a neat, almost OCD row next to a pile of crumpled plastic.

When you think about it, fortune cookies are the best study food- they're lightly sweet, so you can eat lots of them and not feel sick; they're mostly air, so you can't feel like a total blob for consuming them in epic proportions; and the wise notes contained inside their crispy shells not only inspire deep thoughts but distract me from my mind-mangling articles on the feminist print media in Canada.

Of course, I acquired this large bag of these tasty not-quite-Asian confections from Bulk Barn (which is potentially the best thing about Ontario aside from their tradition of eating clementines during the holidays rather than mandarin oranges)... with BB charging by the pound, fortune cookies are one of the best investments one can make because of the fact that they're so light, they practically defy gravity. Indeed, by a deliciousness/entertainment/cost analysis, there's no more intelligent snacking option. At least, this is what I'm telling myself as I compulsively tear my way through a grocery bag of cookies.

If their sheer tastiness wasn't enough to keep me going back, the opportunity to pick and choose my fortunes is.

"Your smile will brighten someone else's day"

... Right.

"Someone is speaking well of you"

... Riiiiight.

"Others find your charm irresistible"

... Ok, I guess I can deal with that.

Oh, in case you haven't noticed, I've started a new blog. I could give all sorts of reasons for not continuing with my old one that I lovingly kept 2001-2007, but it isn't really that important. Or, as my last cookie just said:

"Look with favour upon a bold beginning."