pensive

Things I'm wondering about today:

• Ashlee Simpson said, in regards to her recent engagement to Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy, "We're past the honeymoon period...It's just a really awesome thing." How odd is it that couples are constantly using the term "past the honeymoon period" prior to ever having been on a honeymoon...or having been married?
  
  
• On the TTC, three signs are posted throughout a bus or streetcar to encourage patrons to seat themselves first at the back of the bus to allow more passengers on. The first of which says: "Step to the rear", the second: "A little Further back, PLEASE!", and the third: "THANK YOU for moving back!"
  

1. Why would they use a word like "rear" if the general population of Torontonians would either a) not understand, or b) never use it over the simple word "back"?
2. Why is punctuation missing from the first sign and present for the next two?
3. Why is "further" capitalized?
4. Why are we yelling "PLEASE" and "THANK YOU"?
5. Who edited these stickers before going to production, printing off thousands of them to be posted on every bus and streetcar in Toronto, and broadcasting the their inefficiency?

• On a somewhat related note, I recently found an animal activist group on Facebook that sparked a very heated debate. Someone commented about the misuse of the words "they're" and "there" in a previous commenter's post and tempers flared. The response, from Clint, was:
  
  "You're right this is an interesting topic but if communicating with people who don't use proper grammar irritates you so much then what are you doing on facebook at all? I mean come on, surly you've come to realize that this is where grammar goes to die, so why can't you just learn to accept that and listen to what people have to say and not how they say it?"
  
  Is that true? Has grammar died? Has it been bludgeoned at the hand of MySpace, Facebook, and texting ("how r u 2day?", "gr8!")? Strange how I found this much more disturbing a fact than the animals being discussed in the forum...

I love you, grammar. Please don't leave me.

"I'm sure those families are hoping for that kind of star power..."

Breaking News: Plight Of Missing Hikers Will Make Great Movie

daddy

I love this picture of my friend, Craig, and his little daughter.

It's how I see God holding Kate in ICU right now. And how he held me yesterday when I really started to miss her.

You'd have to know Craig to truly appreciate this photo. I traveled with him as part of a mission team that spent three months in India. He's wildly hilarious, totally adventurous, extremely hip, passionate, sensitive, and intelligent. He's a photographer, a husband, and a father of 27 years of age. Not exactly what comes to mind when we think of Father God...which is why this picture struck me.

He's his girl's daddy. She doesn't know that he's 27, that he's fallible, that he's human. To her, he's all the strength and comfort she needs. She doesn't seem the least bit concerned that he's carrying her, single-handedly, across a dubious path of rocks over a stream. And that's the point: he's carrying her, single-handedly, across a dubious path of rocks over a stream.

He doesn't have her curled up in bed reading her a story, although I'm sure he does that too. He has her in the Philippines, out to see the world, out to conquer a stream, out to experience risk and excitement and uncertainty.

And that's how he's holding Kate in ICU right now. And how he held me yesterday when I really started to miss her.

98%

Andrew and I don't have time to shop around. In fact, Andrew and I don't have time for a lot of things which is why we forced inspired our bridal party to spend Family Day assembling our wedding invitations. But I digress.

We went to IKEA on date night to pick out furniture for our new apartment. In the "As Is" section, we came across a couch. But not just any couch.

IKEA's top-of-the-line couch. At a 98% discount.

As we drove out of the parking lot, after having also purchased our bed (on sale), our box spring (on sale), our mattress (on sale), our duvet (50% off), two bookshelves, and a slipcover for The Couch, Andrew was still marveling at what we had saved.

"We just bought a couch for $25. A $1,000 couch for $25. I feel like we stole something. 98% discount. I need a cigarette."

[that's not Andrew...it's his stunt double, Jonathan Boerger]

incommunicado

My blog-a-day goal kind of hit a bump in the road.

Or, rather, a head-on collision on the highway.

Which is what Kate met on Thursday night while she was driving to see her husband, Paul. One moment she was driving, the next moment she was hit by an impaired driver.

What annoys me now is remembering all the times I was unable to return her calls due to a hectic schedule compared to how much I would like to see "K8" show up on my call display today. I figure the phone's probably in smithereens, so I don't think that will be happening.

So, when she gets better (and I know she'll get better), she'll read this blog and laugh at the words: Kate, you definitely topped the bachelorette I gave you.

And I know that it's a wonderful world
But I can't feel it right now
Well I thought that I was doing well
But I just want to cry now
Well I know that it's a wonderful world
From the sky down to the sea
But I can only see it when you're here, here with me
- James Morrison, "Wonderful World"

the world is not
respectable; it is mortal,
tormented, confused,
deluded forever, but it is
shot through with beauty,
with love, with glints of
courage and laughter;
and in these, the spirit
blooms...
- george santayana

[Updates with less florid prose can be found on Paul Graham's website.]

sing a song of sixpence

I didn't post yesterday, despite my blog-a-day resolution, primarily due to the fact that I've come down with a post-Freshwind cold.

I set my radio alarm to CBC Radio 2 in an attempt to start my day with brain stimulating classical music. It generally works. Unless there is an operatic special. Opera at 7:00 a.m. mostly stimulates anger.

Today, the morning news informed me that birds now sing 20% louder in order to attract a mate over the din of traffic our cities produce. Songbirds now reach decibel levels so high that prolonged exposure to them can cause hearing loss, over time.

For some reason I haven't been able to remove this thought from my head all day. If birds are forced to compensate for modernity's intrusivness, how much more are humans being forced to adapt their lifestyles to catch a mate? How do we even have time for romance in our frenetic world?

I guess we just try 20% harder.

techtonik

I've watched this video half a dozen times and can't seem to get enough of it.

Things to look for:

1. The Upper-Thigh-Brushing-Move (main guy, front and center).
2. The Jump-On-It-Pony-Skip (guy on the left, as he joins the dance). He reminds me of Brett.
   (P.S. If you're interested, here's the original 70s version of the song. Disturbing.)
   
3. The Disinterested-Leg-Jostle (guy on the right, before he joins the dance). Very Gazaneo.
   
4. The Neo-Twist (guy on the right, after he joins the dance).
5. The Footloose-Throwback-Clip-Of-Dancing-Shoes (throughout).