20A. when milk begins to sour

Itinerary for the next few days;

Friday midnight ~ Ottawa bound
Friday morning ~ showing room/home to subletters
Friday afternoon ~ pack/tan
Friday night ~ drunk
Saturday afternoon ~ finish packing/goodbye dinner
Saturday night ~ drunk
Sunday noonish ~ Nadia shows up/pack things into truck
Sunday afternoon ~ Sudbury bound

Not enough drunk time in my opinion. I can't stop listening to this song (poor quality, but one of my faves) and this song. I really wish I had more to write, because I feel like I've been neglecting this blog, but there isn't much to tell. Actually, there is plenty to tell, which is probably why I won't bother getting into it. Have I mentioned I've begun keeping to-do lists?

Amanda, you really need to;
- get a job
- register for school in September
- go to the gym
- stop being catty to people
- get a life

Yup. That's how the balls rolling.

19P. Bears are Godless, Soulless, Killing Machines

I hate bears. All of them. They are pure evil.

I mean, look at that bastard. Powerful legs for chasing. Serrated fangs for ripping flesh. Angry eyebrows for looking menacing. An all around demonic depiction of sin.

You can't even MAKE them look not evil.

See? Still just as intimidating. But there is something far more terrifying than any normal or pleasantly coloured bear could ever be.

Flaming Bears. Imagine the most dangerous animal on the planet, mixed with the destructive power of fire.

See what I mean? But thankfully, they don't usually last for very long.

18P. I don't want no scrubs, Dammit.

I'm just going to get right down to it. Music is awesome; there's so much power in it. And to me, there's nothing better than playing a show. The adrenaline and the ridiculousness and all the blasting sounds and melted faces (or disappointed looks) - everything!

Before I die, I hope to play shows in a few certain venues. For a few reasons, but mostly because some of my heroes have played at them.

The Molson Amphitheatre - Toronto

Soma - San Diego

The Palladium - Hollywood

The Joint - Las Vegas

The Electric Ballroom - London

And last but certainly not least:

The Sydney Big Day Out Festival

Ok, so lets be honest. It's just where blink-182 has played. And there are many other places I'd like to play, but none as much as these. Iconic shows and some of their best performances happened at the places listed above. I hope one day, somewhere, someone will blog about me, and wanting to follow in my footsteps, post a list of the venues I've played at.

17A. Losing touch

Sup? I'm writing to you from home. Home as in Sudbury, Ontario. I used to want to set this town on fire. And while I still have a bit of animosity towards it, it's when I don't live here that I use it as a place of refuge from my 'real life'. It's like a vacation; I'm drinking my coffee, typing away on mother's laptop, there's a wonderful summer breeze coming through the open window, and I have the coolest cat ever, Bono, sitting right beside me. It's visits like this I can't really fathom why I moved away.

Usually I only visit home on the holidays, as it is six hours away from Ottawa. However, there is a motive for this visit, and for you my readers, I will lay the cards out on the table. I had a complete meltdown. I really have no problem saying it. If Matt Good can go publicly about being bipolar, I think I can admit to a quater-life crisis, particularly since I believe many of those my age are in the same boat, the S.S. Fuck My Life. I saw it coming. Things have not been good for a couple weeks; I currently have no job, I'm weighing my academic options, my family is far away. And while my friends and roommates in Ottawa are great, they're not the friends I have back home who I grew up with. Anyways, the past few weeks climaxed on Monday, and I felt an anxiety that I had only ever felt once before. I cried for hours in bed, until the point that my nerves made me physically ill. That was the moment that I pulled myself together, called my mother, and told her I was coming home. Anyone who argues a mother's instinct is an idiot. I have a lot of decisions to make, and I think being home and surrounded by those who love me unconditionally will allow me to think more clearly.

I'm currently reading this book called 'all families are psychotic' by Douglas Coupland. After reading 'JPod' I really thought I wasn't a fan of Coupland's, but the title caught my eye, and I grabbed it from my roommates bookshelf. Hilarious. I'm only halfway through, and I can honestly say that I have never laughed harder reading any other novel, which says a lot, because Vonnegut usually brings me to tears. Basically, the book is about the most disfunctional family you could ever possibly imagine. I would actually say they are far more fucked than the Bluths. The further you get into the book, more things about the family are exposed, and you realize how crazy they really are. Anyways, my favorite character is one of the sons Bryan, who is absolutely neurotic. Minus his depression and his attempt to kill himself on three different occassions, I will make another 'Arrested Development' reference, and compare him to Buster. Just wild. His one-liners kill me, and I'm actually bookmarking my favorite moments and quotes of his so that I can blog them all at a later date.

This is where I will leave off. There's really nothing to accomplish today, but I feel like I can find something to accomplish. Like working on my tan. oijgiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii --> oh hey Bono. He sends his love as well.

xo,
- A.

16P. I wanna smash them all!

I haven't blogged since Friday. It's been far too long.

If you have me on Facebook, which you probably do if you're reading this, you may have noticed that I'm not Patrick Fahey right now. I'm Jenny Lewis. It's caused mass confusion, and I've even been hit on by some of the guys on there that "didn't recognize me" or "didn't know where we met" and the like. Its kind of depressing, but hilarious at the same time. This shall continue for the next little while. I've yet to milk it for all its worth.

I can't say this blog is going to be very interesting. At all. I mean, all I've done is eat a lot of sushi and look for a job. Both are becoming increasingly hard, since I'm running out of money pretty quickly, and jobs are super scarce in Burlington. I've got a few leads and I'm kind of excited about them. I'll keep you posted when I get a job.

On another note, I saw Allison Weiss last night. She sang for me. Well, me, a room full of people, and the internet.

She livecasted her set on Girltour2010 online at www.allisonweiss.tv. She was awesome. Played my favourite songs, had a party, and brought along two other lovely girls. Uh... Lauren Zettler and Laila something. Fuck. I feel like a failure for not knowing her name.

Either way, rad show, and I'm definitely checking out the next one.

Patrick, out.

For now.

PS. Here's a drawing of THE AVID. For those who get it, I miss Billy B.

OK. Done fo reals. WAIT WAIT WAIT. I hate formatting on Blogger. It's annoying. OK NOW I'M DONE BYE!

15A. Got a picture in my pocket

Oh, hello. I didn't see you there. I am in the midst of going through my CD collection. I do this every now and then, but I have apparently neglected this task for awhile. I'm missing quite a few, and some are so scratched to shit that they won't even play. This is devastating to me, because it reminds me how obsolete hard copies have become. And I love buying CDs. LOVE buying CDs. LOVE. I would actually rather go home and rip the plastic off a new album than go home and rip the clothes off of Benjamin Kowalewicz. Lies and slander, but we will put the two side-by-side. Anyways, going through my collection, I've noticed that my CDs can easily be categorized into the following classifications;

The Necessities

These include the classics. 'London Calling' by the Clash, Bruce Springsteen's 'Born in the USA', U2's 'Joshua Tree', a token Nirvana album. Sometimes the necessity albums reflect what decade you grew up in. It's safe to say that anyone my age will have 'Sixteen Stone' and/or "What's the Story (Morning Glory)?" in their CD collection. If not, well, you're fucked.

The Unconditionals

These are my safety bands, ones that have never let me down. I own every Matthew Good album, and will continue to purchase everything he releases for the rest of his career. Other unconditionals of mine include Joel Plaskett Emergency, Billy Talent, Sam Roberts, and Alexisonfire. Oh, and Matt Mays & El Torpedo. One day I will tell you about the time I interviewed this fine man before he made it to mainstream radio. What a hero.

The Guilty Pleasures

What I am about to tell you, is very well the most embarassing thing about me that you will ever read in this blog. Nothing I have ever done at a high school or college party will ever compare to this admission. Clay Aiken. Yeah, it's in my collection. Untouched (much like himself), but still there. Then there's the usual guilty pleasures; Spice Girls, N*Sync, Aqua. Typical '90s trash. I also seem to have purchased every single Nelly Furtado album. I'm not exactly sure what my obsession was, but I'm now going to take the sleeves out and put them on my walls as encouragement to start going to the gym.

The One Album Stands

These are albums by musicians I absolutely love, but for some reason, have only purchased one CD of theirs. I blame the internet. Richard Ashcroft, for instance. Easily the best thing to have ever happened to the lead singers going solo movement, and yet I have only bought his first album. Interpols 'Antics', The Strokes' 'Is This It?', Bloc Party's 'Intimacy'...I would say this category takes up the largest space in my CD collection.

The Canadian Content

Easily my favorites. When I was 11-years-old, I had a bad report card, and my mom took away my I Mother Earth CDs. These are the bands that made me fall in love with music. Matthew Good Band, Limblifter, Age of Electric, Moist, the Gandharvas. REMEMBER PLUTO? Holy eff. This was about the time I started reading Chart magazine, and that MuchMusic was amazing, because they played videos like this. Please check out the related videos as well, because they're incredible.

So, I'm going to cut myself off here, because I could literally just talk about this for days. That and the fact that I have a bunch of errands to run, and I haven't started them. I should buy a lottery ticket today, so that I can afford a personal assistant. There are some things I just don't enjoy doing, like cooking and blow drying my hair, to name a couple. I would need to find someone who is good at EVERYTHING, which I believe is harder than winning the lottery itself. I guess I'll have to continue being self-sufficient...either that, or find a husband. I just threw up in my mouth a little.

xoxo
-A.

14P. Sarah + Longboards

I just got home from longboarding. Ok, so I don't really longboard. I biked alongside Sarah while she showed me how it's done. She did teach me something. I'm not cut out to longboard. I wish I was. But before we get to me failing at gravity, we have more pressing matters to attend to.

Sarah and I were discussing how female "boarders" are just never attractive, at least in Burlington. Case in point, we saw 1 - ONE - female skater on our little outing today. And decidedly, she's going to grow up and touch other girls that look like boys/dress like crazy cat ladies. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just the demographic.

So, longboarding. I have a problem with Gravity. She and I dated for a while, messy breakup - she hates me now. With good reason. I slept with her cousin Lust afterwards. Yeah, they're related. the "Abstract Concept Family" is a tight knit network.

I definitely can't handle planks of wood on wheels. Here is a slightly exaggerated visual representation of my longboarding adventure:

Barely exaggerated. Yes, that is an Ash Ketchum hat. My mom made it for me for Halloween when I was 10. No, you can't have it.

13A. Explanation Fail

Actual conversation;

Patrick: You don't know what a large hadron collider is?!?!?!
Amanda: No.
Patrick: It's a particle accelerator.

OH!!! Awesome. So that explains it. FTW!!

12P. Got a plot? Got one of those... protagonists?

Patrick again, eating sushi. You'd think I was bullshitting by this point. But then you'd be wrong. Different restaurant, same order. Well, relatively similar order. And I'll say that this place definitely has some of the most delicious sushi I've ever had. Top 3, for sure.

But the best thing about this place isn't the food. No, no. It's the music. I NEED to make mention of the music. Right now, there's an instrumental version of "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion. This is definitely not as good as the song that was on before though. If you've heard of the Vitamin String Quartet, you know that they're the best when it comes to covering songs. I just heard, as covered by them, IN A SUSHI RESTAURANT, Yellow by Coldplay. Awesome.

Alright. Blog stuff. I've always wanted to write a novel. Everyone wants to write a book at one point or another. Some do it and become famous. Others do it, then kill themselves because their book failed, but then the story of their suicide makes their book famous and if they even know about it probably wish they were still alive but that would make a time paradox and would suck. Some don't even pick up a pen or put some words to paper. Of course, with the internet one can write whatever they want, whenever they want and to whomever they want. The best of these are usually news journalists, internet magazine writers or recipe bloggers. The worst of them are fan-fiction writers and deviantART poets, both of which spend a decent amount of their writing time feminizing Square Enix's entire cast of male characters.

At any rate, blogging can be a good alternative, or a middle-ground to all that jumble. And since there's no definitive format to blogging, I think I'll take this opportunity to attempt a novel. Would it be too cliché to start my story off with "It was a dark and stormy night..."?

Oh well.

It was a dark and stormy night. I was sitting in my study, mulling over my vast collection of books. For the record, my study smells of rich mahogany and most of my books are leather-bound. The lightning was crashing outside and... no, no, no. Wait.

Better idea. Still dark and stormy.

I was huddled under a day-old newspaper, rushing home and trying not to get drenched. It was the third time this week I'd been this late from the hospital. We're so close to a breakthrough on "patient zero"- Hold on.

I know nothing of medicine. I don't even like taking aspirin.

OK. Not dark and stormy. Overcast. A little chilly-- FOR VENUS! My trusty robots P44 and B182 by my side, I must excavate the remains of alien dinosaurs deep beneath the surface of the planet!

WOW. That was miserable. One last try.

Actually, the first thought that came to mind was a children's novel about an ice cream shop owner who's secretly a serial killer on even numbered weeks and a superhero on odd numbered weeks.

Writing a novel is hard. I wonder what writers of famous books were thinking of at the times they came up with their stories. Were they sitting at a sushi restaurant too? Listening to instrumental covers of their favourite songs? I bet they were all worried about unemployment. We have that in common.

So, even though the novel thing failed this time, I'll definitely take a crack at it again sometime. Who knows, maybe Norbert Sherwitz, the ice cream guy/serial killer/superhero will eventually take form. For now, I'll stick to blogs and songs, because I know I'm at least competent at them.

11P. Mythical Creature

Wouldn't it be just too perfect if mythical creatures existed? Gryphons and Dragons and Golems and Centaurs... Smurfs maybe? Chocobos. Definitely Pokémon. Not Digimon. Digimon can be fucking scary. Everyone has one animal that they'd really want to exist. I know I do. These creatures are the majestic Unillama!

It's basically a Unicorn, but instead of corn, it's a llama. I figure that's probably more fun. UNLESS you have a lot of corn, and you make a MAZE. Or a maïs. Oh man, am I ever witty.

Holy digression Batman! I love the concept of this magical creature. And when they discover them (WHICH THEY WILL), I shall breed them. I shall have a farm in Peru, where they can roam freely, and only get strange looks from the natives. Although they do look kind of delicious. I'll be sure to give them some protection.

Rad.

10A. Baking cookies

I am currently at my girlfriend Molly's place. Let me give you the 411; Molly is my savior. There is not a single person in the city of Ottawa who I enjoy hanging out with more. Both of us are equally cynical, and are horrible realists. I used to think I was a rare breed of girl, until I met my blonde counterpart. We believe and stand for the same things in life - some of these things include;

- drinking entire bottles of wine
- moccasins
- killing bitches
- being overly dramatic
- BBMing when in the same room
- jersey cotton sheets
- hating life

It has been brought to my attention that my posts lack visuals. Here is a visual that both Molly and I support;


Bruce circa 1970s.

On a completely different note, I received an e-mail this morning. I excluded from my David Berman post that I forwarded a link of the posting to his Globe e-mail account. I received this response;

"Hi Amanda,

I'm flattered, and it's good to hear that the blog is attracting young readers. Dying to know who your next crush will be. Please put me in good company.

Best,
David"

So awesome. Almost as awesome as eating bad food and watching Mean Girls, but everything takes a back seat this.

Until next time,

- A.

9P. Sushitwo

Holy mother of tater tots. I'm HUNGRY.

And not the normal "man, I should get some noms" hungry. It's vicious. And it seems like only hands can satisfy me. Ok, not hands. But something very dissimilar.

I'm talking about sushi. Once again, my unhealthy obsession with rice, raw fish and seaweed is detrimental to my well-being. Remember in my "Sushi" post how I mentioned how I had a problem with going to sushi restaurants on impulses? Well, it's striking again. This will be the third time in 8 days eating sushi, and the fourth time eating seafood. I had Red Lobster yesterday. 'Twas deeelish.

I mean seriously though. Sushi is just SO amazing.

I'm a regular Van Gogh. But seriously, I could eat sushi for days and not get bored of it. And this week, it seems as if I'm not only slave to this character trait, but abused by it.

Now, the thing about sushi, is that it's expensive. Generally, you'll spend about 30 bucks on a large sushi meal at a good restaurant that won't give you fish-diseases, or in my case, Chewie indigestion (Oh look, a Star Wars reference that's not really a Star Wars reference). Luckily, there are such places known as: ALL YOU CAN EAT SUSHI BARS! Yes, that's right. All you can eat. And here's the best part. They're usually between 11 and 22 dollars total, barring you buy any alcoholic beverages. Or pineapple juice. 15 bucks for sushi?! AND I CAN EAT AS MUCH AS I WANT!?

The mere thought of this is making my stomach hate me for not being that badly drawn rendition of myself sitting in front of an equally-as-badly-drawn table covered in sushi. I assume Badly Drawn Patrick likes badly drawn sushi. Because IRL Patrick LOVES IRL sushi.

I've called all of my friends that like sushi and they're either too busy, or are coming to the bar with me later, and don't like the prospects of beer and raw fish intermingling. Looks like I'm going solo, again. I really hope this doesn't become a trend of some kind. I like being social. I really do.

Anyone want to go for sushi?

8A. Dead End Girl

I have been avoiding getting out of bed and starting my day for about an hour. I get easily distracted sometimes, and that 'Next blog >>' button at the top of the page has become my motivations enemy. Doing so, I would say that I have come across at least five blogs which were documenting the preperation of a couple's wedding. I used to think I didn't believe in marriage. However, I'm slowly starting to realize that I actually have no problem with marriage, but that weddings themselves, and the thought of me ever having to go through the trouble of one, makes me sick. I don't have a bride gene. I don't have the ability to care what table arrangements to have, or making sure that no one else wears white besides me. It just seems so obscure, and I feel like the entire circus that is a wedding takes away from the marriage apect of the whole thing.

The above is one of the many things I concern myself with that I shouldn't. I think way too much about the future, and what it's going to hand to me, and how the decisions I make now will shape what is to come. I would say I spend 75% of my time worrying, and I have an hole in my stomach as a door prize. To be fair, I would say that my close friends are in the same boat; we're all turning 25 this year, hitting that "what the fuck are we going to do?" quarter-life crisis. My worrying is something that Patrick scolds me about regularly. I would say that for the most part, he and I are extremely similar in many respects. But when it comes to life's lemons, Patrick makes lemonade, while I spend days and months wondering what to do with these lemons. This is one of my favorite things about him, and a large reason why, over the past couple of months, he has become one of my favorite people to talk to (when we're not yelling at each other...and I write that with a huge smile on my face.) I would say that since moving back to Ottawa last year, I have actually gotten a lot better, and my anxiety about life has actually been taken down a few notches. I think maybe once I get my shit together more, I'll feel a lot better.

That being said, I have a job interview today. It's for an administrative assistant position. I have never held any administrative position before, so I think there has to be a lot of charisma used during this interview. As always, I'm mostly concerned about what look to wear. I've decided to wear my hair up. I feel that's very administrative like. Pointy-toed flats. It's a female interviewing me, so I can forget being cute. I guess I should go shower.

- A.

7A. List

Just a few things;

- I miss Nadia. Nadia is my mom. I will probably quote her very often in this blog. These quotes will usually be jabs at me, and what a disappointment I've become. She loves Jon Bon Jovi, probably more than any other woman in the world who claims so.
- I need to start freelance writing. I have a journalism diploma. I should probably start using it.
- I will take this moment and give a shout out to Glen and Debbie. They're my roommates. On the 'rad' scale I would rate Debbie a 9.7, and Glen an even 8. Debbie gains points for introducing me to Patrick; Glen loses point for always leaving the Brita empty and out of the fridge.
- When I'm in bed, I can't have my legs or feet under the covers. They get stressed out. If I was on that one episode of Seinfeld, I would be a 'no-tuck'.
- I resent Patrick's parody of my post. Everyone develops crushes on musicians; only the most quirky individuals develop them on stock analysts.
- I just received an e-mail to my BlackBerry from the Toronto Raptors. I have no idea what this could be regarding, but I hope it's Bosh looking to hang.
- I have a BlackBerry. It's my heartbeat. And no, I don't think I'm important because I have a smartphone - I think I'm important because I don't own an iPhone.
- I am horribly skeptical, but I do believe in Nessie. I will never refer to her as the Loch Ness Monster. She's probably adorable, and the term "monster" is just rude.
- I hope every gay man appreciates Neil Patrick Harris, because as a straight girl, I think he's being selfish. Same with Morrissey. Fuck you.

That's it for now. I love lists. Lists are far better than paragraph format. I would have done so much better in school if everything I could could just be in point form.

xoxo
Amandachu

6P. Rachel Yamagata

I have been developing obscure crushes since I was 10. If you ask any friend or member of my family, they will tell you I have the oddest taste in women. These crushes usually come in cycles, where I will obsess over one for a while, before moving onto another. For the past half-hour, it has been Rachel Yamagata.

Rachel is an indie musician, known for having her songs featured in many TV shows, including Grey's Anatomy and How I Met Your Mother. She's a Japanese-American who's lived in Washington, DC, and New York City, as well as Chicago where she started as the vocalist for the funk-fusion band "Bumpus". Now, let it be known, I had no idea who she was until I started looking up attractive female artists so I could parody Amanda's post. I actually don't know what the word "sublety" means, and it's safe to say I will be over this after I get my own laugh about it. However, I am a guy who likes to stay in the know, and I feel that as I get older, I should be looking for females who share a common talent for music that I can stalk, and that's something I should definitely keep myself informed on.

Honestly, I just googled "eclectic female musicians" and the was in one of the first page's results. Brief and straight to the point: this is entirely a way to pass the time until I get dinner. We're going to Red Lobster for my sister's birthday. Besides this, it is in my opinion, that Amanda needs to stop crushing on Stock guys from the paper and gingers that snowboard... or gingers in general. I'm sorry If I just alienated some of our readers. I'm sure you're all nice people.

So, Rachel Yamagata, next time you're in my neck of the woods (that being Ontario at all, because I'll show up), we should hang out. I'll even let you call the meeting a "date". Talk to my people.

I'm too lazy to find Rachel's Twitter, if she even has one.

- P.

5P. Sushi

Eating at a sushi restaurant in the business area of a city is always a grounding experience. It reminds me that no matter how hard I try, I won't be hipster enough, mogul enough, and definitely not asian enough to fit in with those crowds. The tables around me are as follows:

1. Me. I'm rad.

2. Two business looking guys talking about stocks and business and Xbox. So Cliché.

3. Hipster douchebags decked out in the latest douchetastic wear and soccer-related scarves, because apparently it's 'hip' to be into soccer this year. ("DUDE I LOVE MAN U." "They don't play in the world cup." "I KNEW THEM BEFORE THEY WERE COOL.")

4. Business woman and her two personal assistants. One of the PA's is very fat and I giggle every time she talks because she has a valley-girl drawl to her. She's not pretty enough to be that stupid.

5. One other solitary dude. Seems normal. Pending further investigation.

Looking around at these people makes me a little sad to be unemployed and un-hip. Also, looking around has incurred many worried looks, since I'm doing the whole "look-around-then-scribble-down-notes" thing.

HOLY FUCK. #5 just stood up. HE'S LIKE 7 FEET TALL.

Ok, freakout over. I'm not crazy. I do get out. Sometimes.

Digression aside, I'm not hip. I have no job. My spare time is spent playing guitar... or Pokémon... or the Pokémon theme on guitar. Yet somehow I get by.

Remember high school, when you had to have a place to exist in or you'd be socially outcasted? Then college gave you that place to be with those other people who thought they were outcasts too? Yup, it finally wasn't just you. It was a whole bunch of yous that look for peer approval just as much. And now it's after college and you're stuck in the middle of a recession where you have no money and it seems like all your friends have better jobs, or jobs at all, or magical free money from Narnia and you feel super outcasted again? You just wonder how you could possibly get by.

Now, let's recap. You can play along with your own checklist. OH LOOK! I MADE ONE FOR YOU!

Well we all know where I fit in on this. Hm.. Check, check, check ...wait. Why am I at a sushi restaurant if I have little money, you ask? That's a good question. Let's add "Impulse sushi restaurant goer" to the list.

Wow. How do I get by? I'll tell you.

Blind optimism.

Stream of consciousness over.

Love, Patrick.

By the way, my favourite dish here: Japanese fried rice. Prepared in a similar manner as chicken fried rice, I presume.

4A. David Berman

I have been developing obscure crushes since I was 10. If you ask any friend or member of my family, they will tell you I have the oddest taste in men. These crushes usually come in cycles, where I will obsess over one for a while, before moving onto another. For the past few months, it has been David Berman.



David is a stock analyst/financial reporter for the Globe and Mail. Before that, he has written for both MoneySense and Canadian Business Magazine, as well as the Financial Post. Now, let it be known, I am horrible with money and finances. I actually don't know what the word "savings" means, and it's safe to say I have a very low understanding of the TSX. However, I am a girl who likes to stay in the know, and I feel that as I get older, the market, and economics as a whole, is something I should keep myself informed on.

I began falling upon David's posts on the Globe and Mail's market blog as the newspaper's website is my homepage. They're always informative, but very easy reads. Brief, straight to the point, and they keep me up-to-date. The guy has charisma. Besides this, it is in my opinion, that David Berman is a journalistic fox. Tall, slim, black square-framed glasses...I would be lying if I said a portion of my crush was not related to his business-attire good looks. He's also a graduate from U of T, and studied Journalism at Ryerson. No big deal.

So, David Berman, next time you're in my neck of the woods (that being our Nation's capital), we should hang out. I could use some journalism-related advice. I'll even let you call the meeting a "date". Talk to my people.

David can be found on Twitter here

- A.

3P. Patrick

My life is a summation of music, inside jokes, and childhood obsessions that have grown into adult ideals.

I've been in love with blink-182 for as long as I can remember listening to music, and the love that I have for them will never fade; it became me so quickly that I never got the chance to question it.

I have more inside jokes than a Chinese phone book. You had to have been there. All of my friends have something they can reference to me that no one else gets. I'm a peanut, a magical flying unicorn, and Ash Ketchum. I bore witness to a vicious battle between rival fridge tribes. "There's Jack, and Alex, and uh... Zack and... STEVEN!" KAH-KAWW! CARRRL THAT KILLS PEOPLE! MEOW MEOW MEOW! Seriously. I could go on.

I love programs from my childhood. Pokémon, Digimon, Shaman King, Dave the Barbarian, ReBoot, The Weekenders, the list is... limited. Limited, but there are more. I just can't think of them right now. I'll get back to you. These shows all played a part in my life when I was young. They gave me hope and, as sad as it sounds, companionship when I really wanted it. The shows always talked about friendship and sticking together and being a cohesive group with individual goals - a group that could do anything they wanted when they put their minds and hearts to it. I've kept that with me my whole life. If you get a chance, watch Shaman King. It's definitely my favourite show ever.

And now you know Patrick a little better.

PS. I'll write a whole post about how much I love blink-182 eventually. It won't do my love justice. I'll probably cry writing it.

PPS. Totally gonna be Shaman King one day. You'll see. You'll ALL see.

2A. Untitled

Oh, hey. Amanda here. Patrick is busy eating smoked oysters. I told him I was also getting hungry, but that was pretty much just so I could get him off the phone. Oh shit - hey Patrick. Forgot you might be reading this.

Anywho, blogging. When I was a journalism student, a collegue and I co-wrote an article for our student magazine, Glue. This article was written in a pro-con format, my collegue arguing against blogging, and me arguing in support of it. (NOTE: this was back in 2004, when blogging had not reached anywhere near the level of popularity it is at right now). I can honestly say that everything I wrote in that piece was absolute bullshit. Even now, I can't honestly say I fully agree with blogging. For the most part, they're pretty much an outlet for people who crave some form of attention. Nevertheless, they can be horribly entertaining, sometimes resourceful, and I now too have been sucked into the world of blogging myself.

Seeing as this is my first post, I feel as though I should give myself some sort of introduction. However, I feel my section of the "About me" sums me up quite nicely. This blog is pretty much a filler for me until an editor for some high-brow publishing (oh, hey New Yorker, sup?) realizes that I'm so clever and comical, that I should have my own column.

Well, it's about that time. Hopefully this entry isn't a complete blog fail. I fail quite often. That should have been noted in the 'About me'.

xo

1.

Amanda loves Matthew Good.

Patrick loves blink-182.

Amanda hates Fall Out Boy.

Patrick hates that stuff that forms on the cap of ketchup bottles.