Dancing Queen & Other Beats

It's 90's night again tonight so before I head out the door in my dancing shoes, I'm looking at what my music says about me.  Give it a try yourself by setting your entire music playlist on shuffle and using the sequence of songs that play to answer the following statements/questions.  There is only one rule - no cheating!  Out of 4100 songs, this is me according to iTunes:

What does next year have in store for me? I Like to Dance (Hot Chelle Rae)

What's my love life like this year?  Life, In a Nutshell (Barenaked Ladies)

What do I say when life gets hard?  Strange Times (The Black Keys)

What do I think when I get up in the morning?  Fingerprints (Katy Perry)

What song will I dance to at my wedding?  I Need you Tonight (Backstreet Boys)

What do I want as a career?  Baba O'Riley (The Who)

My favourite saying:  Any Other Way (Backstreet Boys)

My favourite place:  Undisclosed Desires (Muse)

What's my alter-ego name: Dancing Queen (Abba)

Where would I go on a first date?  Fantastic 6 (Alphabeat)

Drug of choice?  Glitter in the Air (P!nk)

Describe me!  Rock and Roll Star (Oasis)

What is the thing I like doing most?  Restless Heart Syndrome (Green Day)

The song that best describes my workplace: Our Lives (The Calling)

My current state of mind:  Vindicated (Dashboard Confessional)

How will I die?  Do Your Thing (Basement Jaxx)

Some pretty good hits and strange randoms but fun none the less =)  Happy Friday everyone!

TMI?

I'm feeling narcissistic today from all the attention so I've decided to double post and give you more information about today's hot topic - me! Hence the title which stands for Too Much Information =p

3 random facts:
Sometimes I dream in black & white
I can play the piano

Classic Scooby Gang
all the way!

One of my pinkies is smaller than the other (Pinkilina) =)

3 old cartoons I used to watch:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, X-Men, Scooby Doo

3 shows I watch first:
Fringe
Glee
Modern Family

3 Songs on Repeat:
Dog Days are Over (Florence & The Machine)
Hammers & Strings (Jack's Mannequin)
Love is the End (Keane)

Last 3 books read:
Dinner for Two (Mike Gayle)
A Match Made on Madison (Dee Davis)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (JK Rowling)

Last 3 movies watched:
Air Force One
Wanted
No Strings Attached

Who wouldn't want to
wake up to this?

3 celebrities I would stalk:
Joshua Jackson
Ryan Kesler
Diane Kruger (because she's going out with #1)

3 Awseome places in my city:
Robson Square Skating, Stanley Park, Robson & Howe (my downtown happy place aka the giant Chapters!)

3 Awesome places in my house:
The deck, My bed, Any of the couches

Last 3 Vacations:
Honolulu (Oct '10), Tofino, (Jun '10), Ottawa/Toronto (Mar '09?? Clearly I don't get out much!)

3 guaranteed smiles from:

It's a Ghost Spider!!!

My friends, the Pass it to Bulis blog, Modern Family

3 scary things:
The dark, spiders, ghosts

3 things I love:
Family, friends, champagne bubbles =)

3 things I hate:
Stupidity, ignorance, superiority

3 things I don't get:
Beiber fever
Why we keep putting hockey teams in cities where no one likes hockey
How Donald Trump can be so rich but still have such bad hair

3 Things to do before I kick the can:
Dive with Sharks, Visit every city on my "To See" list, get published

My nemisis!

About 10 years ago...
1. I had an amazing group of friends
2. I thought planning grad would kill me
3. I wanted to be a writer

About 5 years ago...
1. I was getting ready to move to Florida
2. I took a break from school
3. I worked retail full time (go Smart Set!)

About 2 years ago...
1. I was back working full time at Smart Set =(
2. I started looking at schools
3. I went to Hawaii with my whole family =)

About 1 year ago...
1. I was kicking ass at AiV
2. Made so many amazing friends at school
3. Quit Smart Set and lasted 3 weeks unemployed!

Today...
1. Is my birthday!
2. I drank champagne at midnight
3. I am amazed I still have some of those amazing friends from 10 years ago to go along with all the amazing friends I've made since then =)

January 27, 1983

Apparently on this particular date, not much happened...

The Seikan Tunnel which is the world's longest subaqueous tunnel (53.9 km) opens between Honshu and Hokkaido in Japan

Future St. Louis Blues defenceman Carlo Colaiacovo was born in Toronto, ON

Some other notable facts:

Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart would have turned 227

Author Lewis Carroll would have blown out 151 candles

Actress Bridget Fonda could have had her first legal drink in Canada

Like I said, nothing much happening on this day in history.  I guess I'll just have to settle for being one of the great things that happened on this day.  Happy birthday to me! =)

More Coincidences

A quiet lunch hour = an early afternoon post!

It's my birthday tomorrow (eek!) so a friend of mine sent me a couple more links to explore.  The Birthday Calculator has some neat facts about what sign and different calendars you were born under, celebrities that share your birthday and even how old you are to the second.  For example, as of 11:45 this morning, I was approximately 883,579,291 seconds old which actually doesn't seem that long to me.  Another interesting link that goes along with yesterday's personality test, is the Numerological Name Calculator.  I calculated myself twice, using my standard given name and my full legal name.  Obviously I got two different results but they were still quite accurate.

With my standard given name, I am a #9.  Characteristics of a 9 include humanitarian, giving nature, selflessness, obligations, and creative expression.  I have a Soul Urge (I have no idea what this means) number of 1 which means I want to lead and direct, working independent of supervision.  My Inner Dream number is 8 which means I dream of success in business or political worlds and of power and control.

With my full legal name, I am a #6.  Characteristics of a 6 include responsibility, protection, nurturing, community, balance and sympathy.  I have a Soul Urge number of 7 which means I am fond of reading (this is pretty obvious to anyone that's been in my room and seen the overflowing bookcases!) and retreating to periods of being alone.  My Inner Dream number for my legal name is 8 again.

I will stress one more time that these online tests are not 100% accurate, but I think we can all agree that there are general observations that really do apply to each of us.  Let me know if you find any other links/sites/quizes for us to try!

My Other Me

Commenting on a previous post, Jen Mac (woo hoo shout out #2!) suggested I take a Myers-Briggs personality test.  Curious to see what it could possibly say about me I gave it a shot and was pretty surprised.  Apparently, my personality type makes up as much as 10% of the population.  I am what is considered a 'Protector' who's primary interest is in "the safety and security of those they care about - their family, friends, students, patients, boss, colleagues, and employees." Clearly, anyone I've ever picked on would disagree, but I think at the end of the day, I am like that.  It goes back to being needed and trying to take care of everyone else.  Another thing that jumped out at me was that protectors are willing to "work long, hard hours quietly doing all the thankless jobs that other manage to avoid.  Protectors are quite happy working alone; in fact, in positions of authority they may try to do everything themselves rather than direct others to get the job done."  Hmmm...a work-a-holic who has control issues?  Still sounds pretty accurate to me!  Lastly, protectors are "frequently overworked," which translates to sleep deprived and exhausted.  Another piece of my personality that cannot be denied, just ask anyone I went to school with.

While none of these quizes and tests are 100% accurate, it's always amusing to see what they do manage to get right.  Personally, I like to think of myself as a giant contradiction.  I love Halloween, but hate being scared; I have OCD but live in a messy room; I love planning events but live for hanging out at home.  I'm a little eccentric, a little brainy, a little sporty, a little sweet, and a lot of fun =) Hopefully you all won't mind getting to know me a bit better this year.

Tangled Up

First order of business is to welcome our newest follower Diana to the blog and the blogging world as she's just started one of her own.  Check out News on D to see what adventures she's getting up to!

Source: imdb.com

Yesterday I took my god-daughter to watch the new Natalie Portman/Ashton Kutcher romantic comedy,  No Strings Attached.  While it's pretty predictable, it's also fairly sweet, charmingly funny, and a nice change of pace.  The role reversal trend of men wanting a relationship while women try to keep it casual is gaining ground with movies like this and Love & Other Drugs.  For me, the twist is a small breath of fresh air in a formulaic and stagnant genre.  Regardless of the reviews, I have a feeling this will be a fairly popular movie, not because of the actors or the writing, but because everyone can relate to the eternal questions that are at the core of the story; can a guy and a girl ever JUST be friends and do friends with benefits situations EVER work out?  It was a little strange to have my 17 year old cousin ask me about guys and girls being best friends and if I didn't know her so well I'd be concerned.  I told her yes, but it takes time, honesty, and certain conditions.  It's something I've tried more times than I can count but has rarely worked.

The most important condition to success (in my opinion is also the most difficult to overcome - attraction.  If we're being honest, there is ALWAYS a trace of attraction when members of the opposite sex start spending time with each other.  Think about it - when you're out with your friends, the first thing you notice about someone else is how they look.  You can learn to like them for their personality and everything else once you've figured out what they are, but what pushes you to talk to them 95% of the time is looks.  Of course once they open their mouth and start talking, things can change drastically.

If you can make it past attraction then I find the rest is easy because it's like any of your other friendships.  You find common points of interest, make concessions about the things you disagree on, and become a part of each other's lives.  For me it's like having another brother but being closer because there are some things I talk to my friends about that I would never tell my family.  It's an amazing thing to have platonic guy friends that you can trust to take care of you without any hidden agendas, even though sometimes the trade off means you learn things about them that you never wanted to know.


Source: vi.sualize.us



If you can't get past attraction, then you have two options - see where it takes you (as long as neither of you are involved with someone else) or settle for being 'party pals' who don't spend much one-on-one time together.  From what I've seen, people are more successful at the second option and those that go through door #1 fail 95% of the time because things just get too weird post hook up (if it even happens).  The 5% that  are successful at navigating around the awkwardness have the following in common:



1) The are brutally honest with each other.  If it really is just a fun fling then do you really have to worry about hiding the truth?  If you honestly would never actually date each other then there shouldn't be anything wrong with saying it out loud and having a laugh about it.  It is vitally important to know where you stand with each other at all times.



Source: Zedomax.com

 

2) They recognize that this deal is extremely time sensitive.  The more time you spend together, the more likely someone might start feeling something that will complicate matters.  I don't know anyone who's lasted more than 2-3 months and still managed to be friends afterwards.

Source: MySpace

3) They don't talk about it to everyone!  Aside from your closest friends (this number varies depending on how long you've been friends and whether or not they're all part of the same group), you really shouldn't be telling other people about what's going on behind closed doors.  When a relationship is purely physical between friends, everyone has an opinion and will share it.  This is what leads to confusion - if you hear the same opinion from enough people (i.e. you like him but are in denial), it's bound to play with your mind and make you question both of your feelings and motives.

One thing I have to stress at this point is that all of this is based on my experiences and observations and should be taken lightly.  At the end of the day, it's your choice to take that chance and your reactions that will determine the outcome.

The Lost and the Needy

"When life hands you lemons, find someone who was handed a bottle of vodka and invite you friends over for a party!"  I think I read this in a Jen Mac blog posting but am too lazy to find it so will gladly hand the credit to her anyways because she is a fantastic writer and it really does seem like something she would say =) I know the title of today's post seems like some horrible daytime television show but that's what many people are like most of the time (hopefully not at the same time though). 

Sometimes life can be a bit of a pain in the rear end.  One minute you're happily travelling down your designated path and the next minute all the rules are changed and it feel like you're dropped into someone else's life.  It happens to everyone but is still unique to each person because of the decisions we make.  There is no right or wrong answer, just the answer that works best for you.

I'm feeling a bit philosophical today because I have a dear friend who is facing a conundrum  They have to make a choice that could potentially change the futures of multiple other people.  When faced with situations such as these, I find there is a wealth of things that can be said; from "follow your heart, to "write a list of pros and cons," but do any of these actually make a difference?  Event placing yourself in their shoes is useless because you are not the same person and cannot think about these things in the same way.

So with that in mind, what's a friend to do?  I suppose all I can do is be there to listen and support the decision no matter what it is.  As much as my heart hurts for them, I'm so honoured that I've been trusted with sharing their burden.  I've been told a few times before that I am a person that needs to feel needed. I won't dispute it because I know it's mostly true.  I want to be the confidant trusted with the deepest, darkest, secrets.  I want to be the constant that stays through the most difficult moments.  I want to be the friend that takes care of everyone else no matter what.  All I ask is that they return the favour when I need a bit of help myself.

Personally, I see very little wrong with that.