----- from Facebook
"I would rather cuddle then have sex. If you're good at grammar, you'll get it."
Wednesday, 26 December 2012
Monday, 24 December 2012
A Year In Review
I looked at what Facebook said were important events in my life this past year. I was glad to see Jason in there and Steph and Dave's wedding featured prominently. Those are two of the biggest and most exciting things to happen to me in 2012 - good job Facebook! This was the opening page for my 'Year In Review'. I think the wedding is a little over emphasized in the photos but a lot of photos are taken at those things.
Box O Wine
I am home, at The Cottage, for Christmas. I can't help laughing at my parents who have, on the corner of their kitchen counter, a huge box of red wine. It is 16 liters. The best part is the 'Flavour Profile' where they describe the wine as being "for wine lovers who enjoy easy drinking, casual-style wines... fun, food friendly and pair easily with a wide variety of foods and cuisines." This essentially says nothing about the taste of the wine, or maybe it does and it suggests it isn't very good. I can't really judge since I don't like beer or wine so it isn't anything I really understand. I guess it is a good thing that they chose "The perfect, everyday choice."
Friday, 21 December 2012
They Are Everywhere!
Wednesday, 19 December 2012
Not True
------- from Facebook
"You text him, he doesn't text back. He was obviously so excited that you texted him that he fainted."
"You text him, he doesn't text back. He was obviously so excited that you texted him that he fainted."
The True Story of Rudolph
-------- from Facebook
A man name Bob May, depressed and brokenhearted, stared out his drafty apartment window into the chilling December night. His 4-year-old daughter Barbara sat on his lap quietly sobbing. Bob's wife, Evelyn, was dying of cancer. Little Barbara couldn't understand why her mommy could never come home. Barbara looked up into her dad's eyes and asked, "Why isn't Mommy just like everybody else's Mommy?" Bob's jaw tightened and his eyes welled with tears. Her question brought waves of grief, but also of anger. It had been the story of Bob's life.
Life always had to be different for Bob. Small when he was a kid, Bob was often bullied by other boys. He was too little at the time to compete in sports. He was often called names he'd rather not remember. From childhood, Bob was different and never seemed to fit in. Bob did complete college, married his loving wife and was grateful to get his job as a copywriter at Montgomery Ward during the Great Depression. Then he was blessed with his little girl. But it was all short-lived. Evelyn's bout with cancer stripped them of all their savings and now Bob and his daughter were forced to live in a two-room apartment in the Chicago slums. Evelyn died just days before Christmas in 1938.
Bob struggled to give hope to his child, for whom he couldn't even afford to buy a Christmas gift.But if he couldn't buy a gift, he was determined to make one - a storybook! Bob had created an animal character in his own mind and told the animal's story to little Barbara to give her comfort and hope. Again and again Bob told the story, embellishing it more with each telling. Who was the character? What was the story all about? The story Bob May created was his own autobiography in fable form. The character he created was a misfit outcast like he was. The name of the character? A little reindeer named Rudolph, with a big shiny nose. Bob finished the book just in time to give it to his little girl on Christmas Day.
But the story doesn't end there…
The general manager of Montgomery Ward caught wind of the little storybook and offered Bob May a nominal fee to purchase the rights to print the book. Wards went on to print, “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and distribute it to children visiting Santa Claus in their stores. By 1946 Wards had printed and distributed more than six million copies of Rudolph. That same year, a major publisher wanted to purchase the rights from Wards to print an updated version of the book. In an unprecedented gesture of kindness, the CEO of Wards returned all rights back to Bob May. The book became a best seller. Many toy and marketing deals followed and Bob May, now remarried with a growing family, became wealthy from the story he created to comfort his grieving daughter.
But the story doesn't end there either…
Bob's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, made a song adaptation to Rudolph. Though the song was turned down by such popular vocalists as Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore , it was recorded by the singing cowboy, Gene Autry. "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was released in 1949 and became a phenomenal success, selling more records than any other Christmas song, with the exception of "White Christmas."
The gift of love that Bob May created for his daughter so long ago kept on returning back to bless him again and again. And Bob May learned the lesson, just like his dear friend Rudolph, that being different isn't so bad. In fact, being different can be a blessing. MERRY CHRISTMAS
A man name Bob May, depressed and brokenhearted, stared out his drafty apartment window into the chilling December night. His 4-year-old daughter Barbara sat on his lap quietly sobbing. Bob's wife, Evelyn, was dying of cancer. Little Barbara couldn't understand why her mommy could never come home. Barbara looked up into her dad's eyes and asked, "Why isn't Mommy just like everybody else's Mommy?" Bob's jaw tightened and his eyes welled with tears. Her question brought waves of grief, but also of anger. It had been the story of Bob's life.
Life always had to be different for Bob. Small when he was a kid, Bob was often bullied by other boys. He was too little at the time to compete in sports. He was often called names he'd rather not remember. From childhood, Bob was different and never seemed to fit in. Bob did complete college, married his loving wife and was grateful to get his job as a copywriter at Montgomery Ward during the Great Depression. Then he was blessed with his little girl. But it was all short-lived. Evelyn's bout with cancer stripped them of all their savings and now Bob and his daughter were forced to live in a two-room apartment in the Chicago slums. Evelyn died just days before Christmas in 1938.
Bob struggled to give hope to his child, for whom he couldn't even afford to buy a Christmas gift.But if he couldn't buy a gift, he was determined to make one - a storybook! Bob had created an animal character in his own mind and told the animal's story to little Barbara to give her comfort and hope. Again and again Bob told the story, embellishing it more with each telling. Who was the character? What was the story all about? The story Bob May created was his own autobiography in fable form. The character he created was a misfit outcast like he was. The name of the character? A little reindeer named Rudolph, with a big shiny nose. Bob finished the book just in time to give it to his little girl on Christmas Day.
But the story doesn't end there…
The general manager of Montgomery Ward caught wind of the little storybook and offered Bob May a nominal fee to purchase the rights to print the book. Wards went on to print, “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and distribute it to children visiting Santa Claus in their stores. By 1946 Wards had printed and distributed more than six million copies of Rudolph. That same year, a major publisher wanted to purchase the rights from Wards to print an updated version of the book. In an unprecedented gesture of kindness, the CEO of Wards returned all rights back to Bob May. The book became a best seller. Many toy and marketing deals followed and Bob May, now remarried with a growing family, became wealthy from the story he created to comfort his grieving daughter.
But the story doesn't end there either…
Bob's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, made a song adaptation to Rudolph. Though the song was turned down by such popular vocalists as Bing Crosby and Dinah Shore , it was recorded by the singing cowboy, Gene Autry. "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was released in 1949 and became a phenomenal success, selling more records than any other Christmas song, with the exception of "White Christmas."
The gift of love that Bob May created for his daughter so long ago kept on returning back to bless him again and again. And Bob May learned the lesson, just like his dear friend Rudolph, that being different isn't so bad. In fact, being different can be a blessing. MERRY CHRISTMAS
Monday, 17 December 2012
The Office Puppy
One of the questions in the interview for my current job was how I felt about dogs. This is because there is an Office Dog. Gracie is the sweetest thing and I am so happy when she comes in. When I started last December she was just a puppy and now she is over a year old. (She is a Portuguese Waterdog and I am totally in love with the breed.) Check out her Christmas portraits!
Gracie Puppy - Christmas 2011
Portrait taken last year at a veterinarian's office
as part of a Toronto Animal Services fundraiser
Gracie Puppy - Christmas 2012
Portrait taken this year at a veterinarian's office
as part of a Toronto Animal Services fundraiser
Sunday, 16 December 2012
Great Monarchy Metaphor
---- from The Walrus, magazine Postscript, "Survivors: Revisiting the wedding of the love rat and the adulteress"
"I'm not a revolutionary, and I like the Queen. She seems just the sort of person one would elect as queen if one were given the chance. Canada is a constitutional monarchy. I accept that. It's like wallpaper I wouldn't have chosen in a room with a lot of bookshelves, in a house with a lot of history, and I've adjusted my tastes accordingly. After all, the bookshelves block most of it, Lord knows what you'd find behind them, and moving them would be too much work."
"I'm not a revolutionary, and I like the Queen. She seems just the sort of person one would elect as queen if one were given the chance. Canada is a constitutional monarchy. I accept that. It's like wallpaper I wouldn't have chosen in a room with a lot of bookshelves, in a house with a lot of history, and I've adjusted my tastes accordingly. After all, the bookshelves block most of it, Lord knows what you'd find behind them, and moving them would be too much work."
By Tabatha Southey
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