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    A good story should provoke discussion,
    debate, argument...and the occasional
    bar fight.
    -- J. Michael Strazynski




    ..:Hilarious Trajedy .:. Katie
    ..: Aerial Ambition .:. Tiff
    ..:Tales from Trent .:. Beej
    ..:Realm of Angst .:. Nikki
    ..:Mad Scientist .:. Bish
    ..:Grey Skye Blue .:. Brynne
    ..:Elected Potatoe .:. Sean
    ..:Magdelina .:. Kat

    ..:Fanthroplogy .:. Research
    ..:Scary Duck .:. Weirdness
    ..:The Dreaming .:. Neil Gaiman
    ..:Whedonesque .:. Joss Whedon
    ..:Photo a Day .:. Something Interesting
    ..:WKOA .:. Odd
    ..:Belle Du Jour .:. Secret Diaries
    ..:Nee Naw .:. Dispatchers Tales
    ..:Confessions of an Aca-Fan .:. Henry Jenkins
    ..:CJSD .:. Brando
    ..:LUTD .:. Tales from the Undeground
    ..:Inky Circus .:. Odd Tales
    ..:Copper's Blog .:. Met Cop
    ..:Occasional Superheroine .:. Marvel Girl
    ..:AE .:. Ed Kennedy's Blog
    ..:Sleep Talkin Man .:. Nocturnal Ramblings
    ..:Blag Hag .:. A Bit of Fun


    ..:Sakura Crisis .:. Manga Scanlations
    ..:Ill Will Press .:. Neurotically Yours.
    ..:The Very Secret Diaries
    ..:Pancino .:. A Kick Ass Indi Band!
    ..:Bubblewrap .:. Boredom
    ..:Threadless .:. Good Clothes
    ..:Magdelina Designs by Kat
    ..:My OCAD .:. Ontario Artists
    ..:Facebook .:. Online People
    ..:The Mall Ninja .:. Redneck Stupidity
    ..:The Penn and Teller Essays
    ..:Tales From Homeward .:. Uncle
    ..:Overheard in the Office
    ..:Evil Mad Scientist Labs
    ..:Cool Aggregator .:. Cultural Oddities
    ..:The Fail Blog .:. Wasting Time
    ..:Cute Overload .:. More Time-Wasters
    ..:My Life Is Average .:. Stranger than Fiction
    ..:Not Always Right .:. Proof Humans R Crazy
    ..:Oddly Specific .:. A Collection of Signs
    ..:1000 Awesome Things .:. Neil Pasricha
    ..:Texts From Last Night .:. Hilarious




    ..:Boy Meets Boy .:. Sandra Fuhr
    ..:Friendly Hostilities .:. Sandra Fuhr
    ..:Other People's Business .:. Sandra Fuhr
    ..:Questionable Content .:. J. Jacques
    ..:Girl Genius .:. Studio Foglio
    ..:XKCD .:. Who The Fuck Knows
    ..:Vampirates .:. Jones
    ..:Cigarro and Cerveja .:. Tony Esteves
    ..:Count Your Sheep .:. Adrian Ramos
    ..:Dog Eat Doug .:. Brian Anderson
    ..:The Awakened .:. Sarah
    ..:Menage A 3 .:. Giz & Dave
    ..:Gingers Bread .:. Carl Sjostrand
    ..:Legend of Bill .:. Dave Reddick
    ..:Brathalla .:. Jeff Stevenson
    ..:SGVY .:. Kittyhawk
    ..:Nice Hair .:. A. Mauchline
    ..:Something Positive .:. R.K. Milholland
    ..:Weregeek .:. Alina Pete
    ..:Schism .:.Leigh Bader
    ..:Least I Could Do .:. Ryan Sohmer
    ..:Basic Insturctions .:. Scott Meyer
    ..:Girls With Slingshots .:. Danielle Corsetto
    ..:Blip .:. Sage
    ..:The Abominable .:. Karl Kercht
    ..:All New Issues .:. Bill
    ..:Just a Little Bit Off .:. Jeff Zugale
    ..:Ctrl+Alt+Del .:. Tim Buckley
    ..:Shortpacked .:. David Willis
    ..:CAD Sillies .:. Tim Buckley
    ..:Looking for Group .:. Ryan Sohmer
    ..:Family Man .:. Dylan Meconis
    ..:White Noise .:. Madsniper
    ..:Magic High .:. Madsniper
    ..:The Dean Show .:. Minkmix
    ..:Saturnalia .:. Spacecoyote
    ..:Pandect.:. Dina Situ
    ..:Arcana .:. Kelly
    ..:Megatokyo .:. Fred Gallagher
    ..:Mini!Marvels .:. ChrisG
    ..:Mac Hall .:. Matt and Ian
    ..:9th Elsewhere .:. Caroline Curtis
    ..:Sluggy Freelance .:. Pete Abrams
    ..:YWAM .:. Aoi Hayashi
    ..:Skyfall .:. Rekka and Mirai
    ..:Picture Diary .:. Lianu
    ..:No Rest For The Wicked .:. Andrea
    ..:Shifters .:. M. Tary and J. Strocel
    ..:Oh My Gods! .:. Shivian







    ..:Ver. 1 .:. Half of Mine
    ..:Ver. 2 .:. Lost Girl
    ..:Ver. 3 .:. Broken Doll
    ..:Ver. 4 .:. Kanashimi
     ..:Ver. 5 .:. Sgoil Dhubh
    ..:Ver. 6 .:. Solas Suarach





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    Images from The Sandman
    Lyrics by Jars of Clay
    Layout by Nekoki

    .:Thursday, January 28:.

    ..:Family and Funerals:..

    Alright then, first off, yes I am alive. Secondly, to anyone who's been trying to get in touch I apologize, but this has truly been one hell of a month.

    Since the last time I updated I have: gained a new appreciation, and a new hatred, for my family. Attended the funeral, gotten the news I'll be moving and possibly a new job. It's been interesting.

    First off, on the moving front. Cavan, the guy who's lived in the basememnt of my brothers house for the past decade, has gotten a girlfriend and is moving out with her. This means that my brother and sis-in-law are claiming the basement as their new studio leaving the biggest bedroom upstairs free. It's almost twice the size of my current bedroom and actually gets a decent amount of sunlight unlike my current room, so in April I get to move and actually truly unpack all my stuff that I had instorage for the past few years simply because I lacked the room to spread out.

    I applied to, and have been reviewed for, a job at the local bookstore. I hope I get it as I would love to start my new year by starting in a field I love for once and maybe actually being HAPPY at a job.

    To KT:


    Apparently this is gencon, held in oz. I want to go

    Be warned: The rest of this is pretty much just me ranting about the family and is likely of very little interest to anyone else.

    The funeral. The funeral was held on the 17th, piled into a car with all my siblings and my dad and drove down to meet my mum who had been in Windsor for the past week making all the arrangements and settling out all the accounts. My mum was... a bit of a wreck, but I think it did her alot of good to know that all her children came to the funeral of a woman we despised simply to support her through this.

    The funeral itself was interesting. My grandmother was a cryptographer in the 2nd world war so they had a full military service before the main funeral itself. The funeral service was polite, and very solemn.

    Then came the surreal part of the day.

    After the service, we were approached by dozens of people, old neighbors, fellow servicemen and women, fellow chruch go'ers, etc. And the person they talked about? They painted this picture of a woman who was funny, and honourable and sweet, and kind and nice to everyone. Always willing to lend a hand and go the extra mile. I never met that woman in my life. The woman I knew was bitter, and jaded, and petty, and has tried my entire life to sabotage my parents marriage as she never believed my father was "good enough" for my mother. My parents are HAPPY, my dad still makes my mum laugh after 30 years of marriage and losing their first-born son, something no parent should ever have to go through. If for no other reason than that, I would hate her, but there was more.

    When I was 13 or 14 I showed up one summer at the cottage wearing a tank top, nothing low cut or with thin straps, just a normal tank because it was a rather hot summer. Grandma? Looked me up and down and told me I looked like a whore, and proceeded to completely ignore the fact that I existed for the rest of the visit. She told my brother terrible things, and after her and my dad got into a massive fight about the way she was treating us, she told my father that she'd get back at him. That was 10 years ago, she never really talked to any of us since then.

    I could have dealt with that, but what really hurt? finding out that she went out of her way to stay involved with every other grandchild EXCEPT US as a way to hurt my father, and in doing so devestated my mother with her pettiness and bitterness.

    So the funeral? Was truly an excersise in holding my tongue and not telling people the real story behind the old harridan.

    On the other hand, I got to meet a few cousins I hadn't seen since I was a little girl, and they grew up to be some really cool people that I'm going to try and keep in touch with, the type of people I'd be proud to say are family.

    Unfortunately, they Aunts and Uncles did not leave me with such a changed impression. My mother had 4 siblings, her brother Jim, and sisters Carol, Jo and Pam. And none of them really talk to each other, past actions and life choices split my mothers family apart, and after what they did after the funeral it wouldn't suprise me to hear that none of them ever talk to one another ever again.

    Every item that was not willed to someone? Became a battle for who got what, down to the smallest thing, with my mother stuck as the referee as the executor of the will. Needless to say, if I ever see ANY of the aunts again there is not a chance of hell in me keeping silent after what they put my mother through.

    Me and my mum are headed back up on tuesday to clear out the last of the big stuff and take it off to goodwill or the cottage, so at least after this week it will be completely over and done with. Honestly though? I walked away from all this just sad, that she hated so much that she punished others for it, and that life stripped away the beautiful funny woman my grandfather married after the war.

    On the other hand, all this made me gain a new appreciation of just how much I love and am thankful for my immediate family.

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    Meru at 8:00 PM

    .:Wednesday, September 24:.

    ..:Pirates and problems:..

    Okay, so, it has been..... pretty much ages since I've blogged properly. Lessee, had talk like a pirate day of course, my little sister crashed at my place for the weekend and we met tiff for cheescake. Then proceeded to swagger our way home and try a bunch of different mixes of all the booze and other liquids in my fridge to see what was actually palatable.

    Fireball whiskey and coke? Very very good. Amaretto and pretty much anything? Also very very good. Vodka? Evil. And that is all I will say on that matter.

    Tiff bummed out on me and shopping for the 2nd time (boo-urns) so me and beej spent the day bumming about the apartment watching Justice League and the Labyrinth. David Bowies eyebrows are terrifying, and he really needs to lay off the glitter, but DAMN do I love that movie.

    KT is back home again, unfortunately, not for fun reasons, but because her Grandma died. This month really seems to suck balls for that kin of stuff, everyone I kow has pretty much had to go to a funeral at least once this month, and poor Chrissy at work 4 times in the last month, and 3 of those were family members.

    God? You suck.

    Speaking of work, this past week was rather... unique. For those who don't know what I do, I'm in charge of getting all paperwork cleared and sent through with Canada Customs properly and with getting revises. This means that if freight turns out to be more than someone had origionally booked, or if there were extra charges or if they just annoy the boss enough, that I'm in charge of getting the revisions out of them and getting more money assigned to an order.

    Generally this is pretty easy, you call, explain what happened and people send more money (if only that happened in my life), but every once in a while you get the assholes. You know them, people whom, no matter what reality, other people or occasionally the laws of physics state: they have to be right.

    These are the people who insist that we can drive between California and Ontario in one night, who will argue to death that you quoted them something other than the standard rate and will try to get a discount, or some of the time will tell you to fuck off and just not pay the bill. Alot of the time I get those calls. We have a few girls here in the department, but I seem to be the one that they all turn over calls that are going to turn into a shouting match in one way or another. Why? Because I'm damn good at it, I'm a quick thinker and know how to adapt an argument to get my point across and can usually talk the other party down into seeing my side.

    This does, however, have a pretty standard side effect: alot of people in the industry think I'm a bitch. I'm the one they send when Things Go Wrong, so I tend to get a bad rep even though most of the time I'm very polite to customers and really fairly cheerful at work.

    That all being said, I got called into the office last week to talk to the owner. After the usual smalltalk stuff, he started talking about gas prices and the state of the industry and all the things that can go wrong and cause us to loose a customer. And all I could think was 'oh fuck I'm gonna get laid off again.' Not a fun thought. And then he came out with the insulting thing: "Meredith.... there have been complaints about you...." Well ya think? You hired me to do a shit job, which I'm good at, that causes alot of people to get very very angry with me. My dispatchers, any time they've buggered up or need to break bad news on to someone, pass the buck on to me, so yeah people get annoyed.

    I think basically that the company isn't doing as well as it had hoped it might this year and now they're looking for reasons to let someone go. So it basically all boiled down to one more complaint against me and I'm gone. Well whop-de-fuck. Honestly, I hate it when people play mind games. And that is what this is: he'd called a bunch of other people into the office right after me to "talk" so I have a pretty damn strong suspicion that he's trying to motivate the lot of us by threatening our jobs. I don't need that, Frank used to do that and it drove me fucking BATTY.

    So, one more thing gets put on me and I get yelled at for it? I'm gone, I'll just pick up a bartender gig or a job at Chapters, surrounded by booze or books, or hell, maybe just combine the 2. I hate people who play mind games, and while my current bosses are better than most, they still do. We'll see, I just hate job hunting, so either way it's gonna suck.

    Apartment stuff: Jenn has made the final offer on her property, so she's pretty much got it all in the bag and all that's left is signing all the papers and getting everything built and installed, so it looks like she might actually make her deadline of moving out of the apartment by December. Tiff is still in the running for the Universal studios job out in Japan and I really am torn. This would be an amazing experience for her, and a big boost for her career if she does manage to go: but a part of me still wishes that she's bloody well stay in the country at least. She has put forth a possible suggestion though: She'll find out in December if she's going or not, and if she can't I pretty much have 3 choices:
    -Pray that a friend or hell, a friend of a friend can move in
    -Advertise on the U of T network (not bad, but I really do hate some students)
    -Advertise on Craigslist (possibly lifethreatening and an overall very squicky idea)

    Bugger.

    Have been having some disturbing as fuck dreams too, as in I have actually woken Jenn up screaming one night. This keeps up and I might actually cave and go see a therapist. (and I really do hate those fuckers) Have been having a pretty bad run of physical crap go wrong too. Food, and I do mean pretty much any food here, is OK while I'm eating it, but about an hour later I feel like my stomach is staging a revolt and has recruited half my other organs in the battle. Blah. At this rate I'm going to be subsiding on soup by Christmas. And my freaking JOINTS hurt. Me and Beej were gonna wander down around bloor street on sunday, but I ended up scrubbing on her cause I couldn't actually stand without my joints feeling like I could pop apart like a mister potatoe-head doll at any minute. And the first person to suggest I go see a doctor is having a cat flung at them, I have seen a doc, and pretty much all they do is drain me dry and suggest simple foods. Useless buggers.

    But tonight, gonna head home, meet up with Jesse for dinner, then a bit of a movie fest and sleep for at least 10 hours. Likely with the cats locked in the living room so the little fuckers don't wake me up again like they did last night. (The fire alarm went off, that didn't wake me up, the fucking cat STEPPING on my EYE did.)

    Now back to work, and pretending I actually give a flying fuck and am happy to be here.
    Joy.

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    Meru at 2:25 PM

    .:Thursday, September 11:.

    ..:Why can't we ever have just a good day?:..

    So, the weekend started off weel enough. New epi of Eureka and Bones to watch, got confused when I saw Mark Hildreth, also know as Heero Yuy, on Eureka. Hooked another person onto the new show "fringe" and spent 5 hours on Saturday making sure the apartment literally SPARKELED. And then my little sis called to tell me that one of out Great Aunt had died over the weekend.

    Fuck I hate the world sometimes.

    So, to cheer myself up, went on a bit of an internet-crawl and hunted up the following amusing things:

    Cutest. Cat. Evar.


    Some really cool news however? Kelly Armstrong is doing a run of Angel Comics. This makes me happy inside.

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    Meru at 9:30 PM

    .:Tuesday, December 18:.

    ..:Wasting time:..

    So, am sitting in the hart house, trying to kill time before my exam tonight. Can't really study for this one as it's a blind essay. You go in, you sit down, and then you write for 3 hours and try to bullshit your teacher into believing that you've actually learned something this semester.

    Anyway, as soon as I get home tonight it's back to the grind, have 2 more essays to pump out, and an assignment which I did do but I think my TA lost cause I got 0 on it, so need to re-write that.

    On the other hand, work is being somewhat kinder to me these days. I specifically asked my boss for double shifts so I could make enough to take a few weeks off for christmas, and she goes "sure, no problem!". Then proceeds to give me reduced shifts and close the place early dso I get even few hours. Then she took off for a 2 week vacation so I can't even talk to her about it. But other boss cam in today tearing his hair out cause he has no cashier for the next week. So I pipe up "I can do that" and voila! More shifts. So I may be able to squek by after all!! Sweet!

    Have spent the last week with my apartment being alternately dead silent or so freaking noisy one can't hear oneself think. Jenn's mum died on Wed, and we had the funeral on Mon. So we had Tiff, and KT up for 4 days, Michelle in from BC for 3 days, and Jenn's dad in for 2 days. Our apartment was rather crowded. On the other hand, got to repay the favours Michelle is always doing by getting HER addicted to a new show rather than the other way around for a change. She finished the first season on Dr. Who and had us burn of the rest. The virus spreads, excellent....

    The funeral was beautiful, Jenn really does look like her mom, and they seemed to have had the smae odd quirky sense of humour judging from the stories people were telling about Cathy. Went to both the reception and the Wake, spent the wake trying to dodge Jenn's psychotic uncle who somehow cottoned on to the fact that I hate hugs and was chasing me around trying to hug me. Evil evil man, and a rather demonic sense of humour, I think he could give my dad a run for his money in the tormenting department.

    Anyway, have to finish up work and exams this week, then it's home for a few days in Caledon. (Brining the kitten home with me, this should be interesting as my giant, 120lbs dog is terrified of my tinny little 7lb cat) Hopefully pick up the new computer as mine is truly on it's last legs and I want to get all my files tranferred over before it dies for good. Then the Weekend of Parties for KT, then moving across the courtyard, then New Years.

    This is gonna be hectic to say the least.

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    Meru at 4:45 PM