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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

    .: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

    .:Monday, August 27:.

    ..:The good, the bad, and the downright Creepy:..

    So, haven't blogged in a few weeks now. I have a new trainee at work who has been occupying my time with her complete incompetence at this job. (Seriously, it's not that hard, and it's been a WEEK now and she hasn't improved). Anyway, not going to rant about work because that will just piss me off far too much.


    So, the pirate fest last week was small, but what was there was kinda fun. I don't think this is going to be a lasting event in any case. The Parrot Aid society was there, with the cutest damn bird in the world. This thing snuggled! His name was Peaches, and he was adorable, the thing even made BISH hug something. A sight to see. Met a leather worker who does custom made orders that are NICE for a damn good price, going to commision a couple of pieces off her I think.

    We did the first of the old movie fests, and I gotta admit I've been converted *ducks to avoid the flying pigs* Dammit.....

    Last Sunday was the trek to Wasaga Beach. It was kinda cold, but lots of fun, was digging sand out of my ears for DAYS after we got back, and we got horribly horribly lost on the way back. Never ever trust google maps, they're evil (and don't seem to get the fact that U-turns are illegal on most canadian roads)

    The week was hell (see rant about trainee above) but the weekend was sweet.

    This past weekend being, of course, the yearly event Fan Expo at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. It was V. good, amazing costumes (mostly really good Star Wars ones as it was the 30th anniversary for the origional films) It was also the year of spending far far too much money... I got Sandman. The giant leatherbound edition. It was about half of my spending money and it was SO worth it!! Also got several other stand-alone short stories or comics, and a few more stuffies and posters.

    Posters forthcoming when..... I have time, maybe tonight if I can actually remember!

    Then last night happened, I had gotten back from the con at around 6pm, had my brother and sis-in-law over for dinner. Good food, had some good new comics to read and a cat who wasn't being a complete spaz for once. It was shaping up to be a good night. So I settle in and get changed for bed and I hear someone knocking at the door. It's a guy who lives across the courtyard from me, nice person. Who said "Um, I don't mean to scare you, but I just chased off a man who was crouched down and looking through your window. He's gone now, but I thought I should warn you."

    My window.

    Of my room.

    Where I was just getting changed for bed.

    Fuck.

    I spent the night locking and pulling the blinds on all windows and doors and not sleeping (seriously, am dead tired right now)

    God is that creepy.

    Anyway, this is my last week of day-shift, I switch over to nights next week and start school the week after.

    Now back to work. Oh joy.

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    Meru at 11:22 AM

    .:Tuesday, August 14:.

    ..:Sketchy:..

    So. The week in review.

    Thing the 1st:
    Everyone should go and see Stardust. Because it is Excellent. If you can't quite decide, or are on the fence, follow dear Neil's advice:

    "If you're in two minds about Stardust, about whether or not to see it or even when to see it, please go and see it this weekend. Friday night if you can. Take friends. If necessary, take them at gunpoint. They will love the movie so much they will forgive you afterwards. And if they don't forgive you, you can dispose of them quietly -- you're the one with the gun, after all -- and you will have a wonderful time for the rest of your life with the new friends you made at the Stardust screening."

    Fully endorse this sentiment as the movie was freakin hilarious. There was Drama, Snark, Cross-Dressing Pirates, Floofy Hair (yay) and a truly entertaining story. It was V. good. Though the fans themselves were great fun too. I love going to a movie where the audience is populated with fans. Before the movie started, KT did what she always does with a good movie: She prayed to the slash gods. Out loud, in the middle of a theatre full of fans.

    Her prayer came true, and we nearly pissed ourselves laughing when Robert De Niro pranced about in a corset and skirt with a pink feather fan and hammed it up for the camera.

    And then, at the end of the movie, random fanboy wanders up to introduce himself. He'd heard our prayers to the slash gods and had thought it was funny. As KT has often said: We fans can smell our own.

    Thing the 2nd:
    Had Dr. Sketchy's session last night with Tiff as the model. She did really well, and there were some great sketches. She was cosplaying in honour of fanexpo in 2 weeks. Suu from Clover, Seishirou from X and Sailor Tin Nyanko from Sailor moon. Prizes for the night was swag from the Silver Snail. And much booze was consumed by all.

    Check out this beautiful piece that one of the artists (Jon Lam) drew:


    This weekend is the now annual Pirate Festival at Ft. York downtown, should be good. Then back to the apartment for a Katherine Hepburn fest, because as KT claims "You can't hate all old movies, I'll MAKE you like them!!" We shall see.

    Should be a good week, and I only have another 3 weeks left doing dayshift here, then I switch to the night shift. I get my own wee little trainee next monday to mold to my will. Excellent.


    Countdown to Fanexpo: 10 DAYS!!!!

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    Meru at 4:31 PM

    .:Wednesday, May 23:.

    ..:Faint:..

    Going to the faint concert tonight with KT. SQUEEEE!!!! Soooo damn happy, I hope the show doesn't blow. Also, 2 days to Anime North 2007. Am doing limited cosplay/loitering about this year as..... well I got lazy and didn't finish the costumes I wanted to. So.... yeah.

    In other news, Tiffs wings are 85% completed. I was actually going to finish them up last night but it turns out that the wire I'm using for the wrapping I'm also rather allergic to. I had to stop when my hands stopped working right. And Tiff, before you panic, they're done, the rest is just anchoring it all and putting finishing touches on it. I will probably finish them up either tonight or tomorrow. SO DON'T PANIC. Call KT or Jenn if you need proof that I'm not being a lazy sclub and am actually working on them.

    Also, Pirates 3 tomorrow. Also hope this does not suck. Am headed out to grab the advance tickets for AN tomoroow night then going to the advance screening of pirates.

    Now home to see the faint. SQUEE!!

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    Meru at 4:41 PM