the inner eyelids of cats

i actually have wondered this.
my crazy kitty sleeps on my face, so i have plenty of time to check out her eyes.
it's weird.

cleaning out gmail

old story, i know.
but seems fitting, considering it's 12 degrees and raining in ontario on january 6th.
have i secretly moved to vancouver and forgotten?
it's also not january 6th anymore. but that's when i wrote this.

resolutions

i hate new year's resolutions.
they never work.
too much pressure.

so my resolution is always to never make resolutions and then secretly tell myself to get in better shape, eat well, keep running.
because those aren't resolutions for a new year, i tell myself.
those are just things i should do.

and now more.
it's not just calories and jumping jacks.

back to school

starting monday, i sleep a lot more.

snoozing my way to straight As...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

death by firing squad

this is crazy.
same story, different angle.

take action.

confessions of a cyberchondriac

combine the internet with my nursing textbooks and i swear this schooling is making a hypochondriac out of me.

funny story.

good food for good fortune

if you tried all of these wonderful food traditions from all over the world, are you then guaranteed atleast some good fortune in the new year? if you love food like i love food then it doesn't really matter. just eat.

spain & grapes - eat 12 grapes at midnight, one for each stroke of the clock. if any of them are sour, then that month will be no good. for example, if the 3rd grape you eat is yucky, then march will be yucky. make sure to swallow all grapes by midnight. if you're in peru, you can swallow a 13th grape for good measure.
(see also: portugal, venezuela, peru, cuba, mexico, ecuador)

greens - a common good fortune food across many cultures because the green represents moolah. the big buckaroos. sometimes folded. the more you eat, the more money you will receive in the new year. and the more you will have to be on the toilet, in my opinion.
(ie: germans-sauerkraut; danish-stewed kale; southern americans-collard greens)

legumes - also represents money. this time coins. beans, lentils and peas all swell when cooked, symbolizing financial gains.
(ie: brazil-lentil soup; japan-kuro-mame; southern us-hoppin' john)
usa's black-eyed pea symbolism (the main ingredient in hoppin' john) goes back to civil war era when some small town in virginia apparently ran out of food while under attack and discovered the bean(pea?). have considered it lucky ever since.

pork - swine signifies progress. who knew?
(see: cuba, spain, portugal, hungary, austria--all of whom eat a roast suckling pig)
(see also: germany-sausages; sweden-pigs' feet)
(see also: italy & usa who think the fat content is indicative of wealth and prosperity...of course they do.)

fish - apparently a very wise choice around the globe. my favourite reasons go to japan: herring roe for fertility, shrimp for longevity, and sardines for a good harvest.

cakes & baked goods - always a reason to consume cake. although with some cultures, the cake is a gamble.
(see: mexico & greece who hide a trinket in a cake. whoever bites into that trinket is the one who gets the good fortune of the new year. and perhaps a hefty dentist bill.)
(see also: sweden & norway who have cut down on broken teeth by putting an almond, which is indeed edible, in rice pudding for the same reason as the trinket in the cake.)

whatever you do, do NOT eat the following (in no particular order):

lobster - they move backwards, which could signify setbacks
chicken - they scratch backwards, which could cause regret or dwelling on the past
(see also: any winged fowl - your good luck could fly away)

happy 2007.

drinking tears of sleeping birds

this story title sounds like the title of a gwar song...or cannibal corpse...or one of those crazy death metal bands. haha. when you read the story, use gwar speak in your head...it makes the story really funny.

moths drink the tears of sleeping birds

yellow water

recycling pee in europe (where else?)

happy christmas eve

whirlwind 4 days in NYC.
tried my feet at chopsticks on the giant floor piano at fao schwarz a la tom hanks in big, c. 1988
are you jealous? you should be.

regulars at the bar

a conversation:

[irish bloke]: "you know what you need to do? take a hot bath, with candles...and oatmeal."
[me]: "oatmeal? i eat oatmeal."
"well, don't eat it, but i'm serious it's so good for your inside and your outside. your skin will be wonderful. and it's relaxing."
"oatmeal."
"don't forget the champagne."
"then i may really try and eat the oatmeal."
"no, no, don't eat it...now, what do you do when your car breaks down?"
"smack my hand on the steering wheel and curse."
"well, besides that."
"walk."
"no, no. you just leave it where it breaks down?"
"no. i get it fixed."
"exactly."
"and?"
"that's the whole philosophy of life. something's not working, you get it fixed and move on."

police reports

both my roommate and i work at bars.
we come in pretty late at night sometimes.
last night some guy followed my roommate home and tried to talk his way into our apartment.
around 5am i woke up to hear her talking loudly to someone from the top of the stairs.
this guy was claiming to be our neighbour, and needed something for a leaky water pipe that he said would leak into our apt...i don't think he realized that behind the door were stairs to the top floor, and there was nobody above us to be leaking water into our apt...nor did he realize that our only neighbour doesn't speak english.
nice try though, buddy.
standing at the top of the stairs we told him we couldn't help him and waited for him to leave. it's a frightening feeling to hear somebody waiting outside the door and wondering what they were going to do next--was he going to try and get in? or was he going to leave?
after what seemed like an eternity, i heard him going down the stairs and out the front door.
my roommate ran to the window and all she saw was a baseball cap and baggy pants walking up the sidestreet across the way.
i was definitely in fight or flight mode.
i thought for sure my heart would pop out of my chest.
scary stuff.

i heart NY

i'm going to nyc.
can't wait.
a much needed reprieve from school and exams
my head is about to explode. there's too much stuff crammed in.

i gave my first insulin injection last week. a subQ injection which means it's going in on a 45˚ angle. tricky.
it actually wasn't so bad.

tomorrow i give a heparin injection, change a colostomy appliance and suction a trach tube.
and then exams next week.
i'm exhausted.

can't wait for nyc.
last time i was there, did all the touristy stuff.
this time i plan on hittin up roosevelt island, to check out these ruins
maybe a knicks game...i don't particularly like basketball, but how fun would the $10 nosebleed seats be against the utah jazz? i'm betting pretty fun.
and tons of art to check out. never got to the whitney or the moma last time.
and i heard that the night of the living dead (the musical!) was off broadway. but i can't find it anywhere except some old listing at the greenwich theater. that would be zombifyingly fun.
i don't even care that zombifying is not a word.
it is when there are zombies involved.
in a musical, no less.

good food + good band = good night

saw a great band tonight
slow news day

ate a great meal in the annex at mt. everest
and had a wonderful fish jalfrajee. it was delicious.
had a baskin robbins ice cream on my way home from seeing slow news day

back to candy and essays.

i'm glad money's not on my brain.

today in psychology class...

you are kind of always aware of the influence that famous psychologists' theories have on popular culture...sayings like "he's so anal" wouldn't be in existence if it weren't for Freud, right?

but today i learned something new.
my psych prof said that george lucas was such a big jungian that the whole star wars trilogy is based on jung's idea of the duality of man and embracing your dark side ("luke, i am your father")

i was so intrigued that i looked it up. and although this particular reference is missing, wikipedia does have a fairly comprehensive list of jung's influence on culture...

even though i am a fairly big TOOL fan, i never really thought of aenima as being synonymous with jung's anima/animus
i've also read robertson davies, chuck palahniuk, and ursula leguin and really didn't put 2&2 together.
even northern exposure dj chris stevens made many references to jung.
who knew?

check it out here

random ttc exchange

i love transient ttc conversations.
who was that random guy?
he told me that it must be a good book i was reading because it was thick.
he told me that che wanted to be a doctor. and he thought he would have made a great doctor.
had it not been for that revolutionary stuff.
and he knows this because he's mexican.
and then mid sentence he got off the car.
just like that.

the gizzardly joys of thanksgiving

i cooked a bird.
me, the quasi-veg-head....cooked a bird that i won't even eat.
but i cook a pretty mean bird.

this post is a little late because canadiana thanksgiving was at the beginning of october.
but i was uploading some photos from my camera to the computron and i had forgotten about these photos:













so i decided to cook a bird and trimmings for 13 family members (is that a sign of age? who knows...i just love cooking for people--always have)
to make my conscience feel better, i ordered a free run, grain fed (raised just for the occassion) bird from a local mennonite farm.
this baby, we called her chantelle, was a 20 lb beast. and she still had some pin feathers stuck to her. you see, when the birds aren't massed produced by butterball™, they actually have feathers. and hefty breasts.
the night before the big day, i decided to give chantelle a salty bath.
i was reading all about how to make my bird delicious and read about brining the bird, especially an all natural, non-frozen, non-butterball bird.
so with a mixture of salt water and herbs, i double bagged chantelle and soaked her for 12 hours. unfortunately her wing tip broke a hole in both bags and the kitchen floor was cleaned with a salt water, sage and black peppercorn cleanser
thanksgiving morning i woke up like it was christmas morning...ran to the fridge to get chantelle and prep her for her spa day.
rinsed off the brine, and made my own herb butter.
ever so gently i pulled the skin from her breast and slipped my hand between the two to rub the butter in. then i put some sage leaves under the skin.
it was beautiful.
it was masochistic.
and a bizarre practice for someone who doesn't eat turkey.
but i actually didn't mind. maybe it was the biologist in me?
and it left my hands feeling supple.

so an elephant goes into a black hole...

two fascinating articles and a whole lotta dung

i have never seen so much s**t in my life. honestly.
to spare the gory details, i cared for a client yesterday--progressive ms, quadriplegia, aphasic (doesn't speak)--who had been given a suppository the night before. need i say more?
made me wonder if this is what i got into nursing for.
the RN said "this is nothing".
good lord.

what interested me this week was the idea that you can't have everything.
where dung beetles get compensated, in terms of growth (in this case big horns), other parts suffer (in this case, testicles):

horniest male beetles have tiniest testicles

and this is just sounds like oodles of fun:

working invisibility cloak created at last

cauliflower and avocado

after leaving my pathophysiology class on wednesdays, my brain is starving. plus it's well after lunch time.
today i stopped at my favourite falafel place on the way home, an egyptian eatery on the danforth called the prince of egypt. although similar to lebanese cuisine, they make their falafels with lima beans instead of chick peas. they are the best! and cheap, cheap, cheap.
today i stopped in and was trying to decide on something different. the young guy who runs the place with his father suggested i try his favourite breakfast wrap: battered cauliflower with avocado. sure, why not?
although his father gave me a weird look of inquiry when he relayed the order, i went ahead with it.
while i was waiting, i had a wonderful talk with the son.
right now, muslims are in the midst of ramadan.
adam was telling me how it was hard being in the restaurant business when fasting because he's serving food all the time, smelling the food, and talking with customers, which makes his mouth very dry and parched.
but he really believes in god, and believes that fasting is a very humbling experience. through fasting, muslims can feel the effects of starvation and feel the effects of poverty.
in the many years he has fasted during ramadan, he has never once broken his fast. i found this so impressive because he's a young guy and only human. i can't imagine how hard it would be to refrain from food, drink, tobacco, and unpure thoughts from dawn until sundown.
many hours are spent reading the qur'an and reaffirming your faith in islam.
it was a wonderful conversation and i learned so much.
i was so intrigued i even forgot my wallet, which i didn't realize until a half hour later, when i was trying to purchase some fruit at the market.
i ran back, and as soon as i opened the door, adam smiled and extracted my wallet from his back pocket, while his dad and his friend made jokes that it had taken me so long to come back they had used my amex to make calls to egypt.
and you know, even when i realized my wallet was missing and i remembered how much cash i had in there (i'm a server...i always have cash on me), i wasn't even concerned about it. i knew it was in good and honest hands.
and it was.
and that cauliflower and avocado pita was damn good.