Saturday, December 25, 2010

Farararara.....

Merry Christmas, happy hannukah, joyous Kwanzaa, civilized festivus, and a jolly snowflake day to you all.



kitty may be disgruntled, but probably wishes the same.



...yea. This one is plotting your doom.

Here's to a joyous 2011!!

-janeovision

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sunday, November 21, 2010

a TO style update

oh Toronto.
my new home.

I've been here for almost 3 monthes now. And my, what a whirlwind it has been.

Getting adjusted is a new place is a lot of work. In my case, it was nice to have a few semi-friends and acquaintances in the area so my integration wasn't nearly as stressful, but it was still a challenge to get into a flow. The job scene has been less than stellar, working at a call centre, now a chaotic fine dining restaurant. But overrall, this has been a great move.

This city is awesome! so many adventures every day, so many concerts, bars, food options! With a city this huge, it seems that every turn there's a new place to see and go to. Plus, when you live in a city like Toronto, it's amazing how many visits from friends you get. And since you don't see them on a regular basis, each time you see them is that much more amazing.

This city is definitely a lot of fun, but definitely a lot of work. I've recently got myself an internship, and hoping for a second, which is nice to help the whole 'find yourself in the big city' experiment I seem to be doing. I'm liking the challenge I've been given here, especially with how easy and comfortable Ottawa was making everything.

3 months in. Keep it coming. Bring it on.

-janeovision.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

'cuz you gotta have faith.

I've been thinking about faith lately.

Not just the religious type, (I haven't been religious in years) but the faith we put in others, in ourselves, in the stranger on the bus or the cab driver taking us home.

It seems to me that many people put the stereotype of 'bible-thumpers' on the word faith. Many believe that faith automatically points toward religion, to the limitations of some of those beliefs, shutting out others and other ideas, accosting those that aren't "on your side" and nearly stifling others with you "Faith".

Now, I've gone down a few of the religious paths before settling in my comfortable world of atheism. I was raised Roman-Catholic, practiced Wiccan for 3 years, and even looked into other religions. I"ve seen the beliefs of other religions, in education, in the media and in public practice. I've even watched (and loved) Kevin Smith's Dogma, and rethought the word "Belief" and "Faith". In my 25-ish years of being surrounded by religion and faith and the love and hate and anger and etc. that has come about in my lifetime, I have realized this:

It doesn't matter what you believe. It's even okay if you don't believe at all. What matters is where your faith lies and that you have any faith at all.

And we all have faith. Somewhere.

Faith to me is trusting those around me, the people I choose to have in my life, and those that happen to pass through, will be good to me and will be there for me. I have faith that when times are tough, I have that friend that will call me or text me and send me a little bit of love, regardless how small. Faith is also knowing that sometimes they won't be there. Sometimes they can't, whether they don't see you in need, or whether they are too wrapped up in their own lives. And this is where faith in yourself comes in. When you feel alone, stuck, trapped, royally screwed, or whatever. When those times comes and it feels like you are gasping for air, knowing you can keep moving forward, because it will get better. You are strong enough to get through whatever it is that is pulling you down.

Faith even goes out to those strangers we pass every day. The girl that catches up with you because you dropped $5. Or that cab driver that finds your phone, charges it and calls your last number so you can get your phone back. Or that man that pulls you back when you're not looking and saves you from being smucked by a bus. That old lady who sees you at the bus stop asking if you're ok, be cause you 'looked sad' Those little things and big things that people do for you. They have no idea who you are. You could be a horrible person, you could be a wonderful person, but they see you as just another, and reach out to you. They take that moment out of their own life to make sure you are ok and you don't have to worry or be bummed or hurt. These people aren't every person we pass, but the ones that do are the ones that surprise you.

It's a nice surprise too.

I think this post comes from the recent teen suicides that have surfaced in the news. It reminded me of high school, dealing with bullies, being called names (including a lesbian) and having those days where you feel like you're drowning. Having faith in those around me, in myself, and in the potential of what was ahead was what kept me going some days.

Everyone has faith. Everyone has to. Otherwise, at those dark moments, we'll just get lost.

If anyone who's struggling out there is reading this, have faith. Stay strong. Whatever you have faith in, hold onto it. It's your powerhouse. It will keep you going. It gets better.


...'Cuz you gotta have faith.


-janeovision

Saturday, July 24, 2010

self-indulgent rant...

Ok, the past few days have been less than great.

Still looking for an apartment.
Still looking for a job-well, scratch that, looking for a BETTER job. The one I went for was smoke and mirrors and a shit call-center in awesome sheepsclothing.

But I'm not going to dwell on that today! Today I'm going to write about some of the awesome little things in life. Cuz yknow what? Sometimes it's the little things that keep you going.

The other day I was at a friends place and he was showing me his new button-up shirt he got. I was very tempted to steal it (and I almost did!) because I realized the awesomeness of the mens shirt.

Whenever I wear one - which is relatively often - I feel so frickin' confident and sexy and overall totally amazing!! They just hang so nicely on me, with rolled up sleeves and either tucked in or hanging loose, it creates this brilliant silhouette on the body! Even if it's hanging away from your form, it somehow creates this illusion of hotness; almost the "less-is-more" idea, or as I like to think guys think, "more-is-less"; as in "the more clothes you wear and the more you cover, the less I want you to be wearing them because I want those clothes on my bedroom floor".

Don't tell me you don't think that, guys.

I've even noticed a few looks from guys today. It may be the shirt, it may be the waythe shirt makes me feel, either way, I'm liking it.

So after my few crummy days, today I wore my favourite mens shirt. And regardless of everything else, I feel pretty damn fabulous today.

... I guess I should mention a second thing, since I said "some" of the things that are awesome.

Shorts. Shorts are awesome because they aren't pants. They are like fancy underwear. Those that know me know I am not the biggest fan of pants. So I love summer simply for the shorts.

Self-indulgent rant ended.

-janeovision


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Friday, July 16, 2010

first fringe, then bluesfest then bed.

The Ottawa Fringe Festival Has come and gone.

In a nutshell, The festival was wonderful, with new, innovative ideas and organization and adventure happening everywhere.

Myself, I didn't have the best Fringe. Not because of the fringe itself, i loved the people and meeting old friends again and awesome dance parties in the beer tent. This year, the lottery factor of the Fringe got the worst of me and I saw more bad shows than good. Well, there were only a few REALLY terrible ones (we all know what they are/were) but I found that there was nothing realy amazing or anything that really caught my attention, or moved me or spoke to me. It seemed quite repetitive and lackluster. Mind you, I did miss a lot of great shows due to work and NXNE schedules clashing, so I'm a bit one sided (and frustrated by it too!) but I guess this was not my year for Fringe.

Oh well. NEXT YEAR!!

Bluesfest is happening now, with shows such as Flaming Lips, Dana Fuchs, Woodhands, Rush, Swell Season, Arcade Fire, and Sarah Harmer flooding our streets with music. This weekend wraps up the festival, closing up with Foghat and Weezer. I'm so excited to see this show, however, at the same time, I'm really excited for Bluesfest to be over. My schedule this summer has borderline festival'd me OUT!! I'M EXHAUSTED!!!

Monday, post-pinkerton, I plan on sleeping in, drinking tea and regaining my bearings again. I'll need them, especially since I'm moving in just over a month to Toronto.

...without a job (yet).
...or an apartment (yet).
...or a roommate (yet).*

*please note my blind optimism. It's there I swear!!!

I think I'm going to catch some sleep while I can. I have another blog post in my head, but my head is feeling smooshy. Yes, smooshy. Deal with it.


-janeovision

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

where've you been? check your compass.

So This past weekend I ran down to Toronto for the NXNE music and film fest. June 14-18 was chock-full of artists, films and conferences with people all over the music industry.

This was, I'll have to say my first adult trip to T.dot and it was everything I thought it could have been and then it blew my mind with everything else!!! I was working with the NXNE fest as volunteer leader, selling wristbands and working as a mini info-ifficianado. I worked days the entire time, so I was not able to do any or the concerts and usually missed the films.

I did, however, see a shitload of music!

There was lots of AMAZING artists, a good handful of god-awful ones too. There were hundreds upon hundreds of shows to see, and I could obviously only see a handful:

Brant Bjork and the Bros
Mud Honey
X
Terracotta Pidgeons
Warpaint
Elliot Brood
Kidstreet
Said the Whale
K-os
Japandroids
Burning Boys
Queen Kwong
De Staat
Mini Mansions
The Soft Pack
DD/MM/YYYY
The Raveonettes
Iggy Pop
Attack in Black
Ruby Coast
Spooky Ruben
Chin Injeti

...Yes, that's just a handful.

Obviously I won't review every show. Just a bit too much for me. However, I will mention my two highlights and the definite low of the festival for me.

Terracotta Pidgeons - Oh, this show. It reminded me of Alice in Chains meets Pearl Jam, however this bastard child came out after both bands had been through rehab and found Jesus again. This show was loud and harmonized with no depth or emotion, and was grasping for air, with bandmates struggling with the beginning of middle age, but pushing out the barley legal boy to the front of the stage, just to show they were still 'hip'. Nice effort, but no luck boys. Maybe Australia has a different taste, but it's certainly not mine.

Kidstreet - This was the show that cleaned my palate post-TCP and renewed my faith in the night. This brother-sister-other guy trio brought me to my feet with the synthy-dance rhythms and quick lyrics drawing me and my heart into the festival full on. The band itself is downright adorable, with the lady vocals styling a Lisa Loeb Geek-chic-meets-hipster-cutie and sweet adolescent-like banter. I also realized that this band feeds off their audience. Having seen this band before in a very different setting with very different crowds, the better the energy of the crowd, the better energy of the band. Awesome audience=awesome show!!

Queen Kwong - This is my underdog love. They were playing pretty early on the Saturday at Yonge-Dundas Square, and the audience was minimal, but I definitely fell in love with them instantly. The lead singer has a Katy-o sound to her voice, backed up with a grungy, dirty hip sound to them. They totally serenaded me during my shift and even asked them for a presskit to see if I could get them to perform in Ottawa. THAT AWESOME.


Now I'm back in Ottawa for the 2010 Fringe Festival. No rest for the wicked. Prepare for another year of Fringe reviews. I've already started tweeting about it, feel free to follow me. I know ALL of my followers on this blog (stifle your laughter please) would love to hear whats going on with shows, and of course the beer tent!!

until the next show,

-janeovision

Friday, June 11, 2010

Today...

I feel fantastic.

Still unsure of the future, but today is a good day. I made banana bread, watched some of the world cup, and had a beer while reading "the book of awesome" on my sunny balcony.

Sometimes you need a shit day to counter the simple, awesome ones.

Here's to tomorrow.

-janeovision

Thursday, June 10, 2010

When there's nothing to lose, I'm just ranting with myself... oh oh ohoh...

This is a personal rant. I feel I need to get the thoughts on to the page so that, maybe, I can make sense of the nonsense that has been buzzing around my head. Respond if you like. For a posting like this, I might not even read the responses. Hell, I might not even read what I wrote ever again!

Just need a selfish moment to get this out, done and over with. Clarity would be such a luxury at this point.


So, five years of school and 6 years of living in Ottawa. I've been able to work on shows, both in and out of school. I've been a technician, a producer, a director, casting director, an actor, a stage manager, and meat and muscle for shows in this town. For the past 6 months, however, I've been just a server. No jobs, no prospects, no real view of a future past a paycheque and a pile of meat and mayonnaise.

Needless to say, this has been a sucky 6 months.

I"ve had my fun, of course. Spent time with friends, went to many (MANY) a social event, shmoozing with the Ottawa scene, knowing everyone, yet not really knowing anyone. Some of those people are just so fake and vapid, it's like talking to paint chips. Yes, paint chips. Obviously there are those that I do care about and enjoy being around, but I'm also a big picture kind of gal: I know I won't know these people down the line. They're nice and fun and all, but they aren't a big staple in my life. If and when either of us leave the scene, it isn't going to change a whole lot.

With all this socializing and shmoozing going on, I've been watching everyone else too. I've been watching friends and peers moving forward and getting these great opportunities. I'm watching them reaching for what they want and getting it. Working, gaining experience, being offered amazing jobs. Moving towards a future!

...and I sit quietly over here.

It's not that I'm lazy. It's not that I'm too social for my own good. The problem is that, after 5 years of school and 6 years of living in Ottawa, I STILL don't know what the fuck I want to do with my life! I've been asked this question since 11th grade, since was 16 or 17: "so what are you going to do with your life? What do you want to be when you grow up?" IT'S BEEN ALMOST 10 YEARS!!! WHY CAN'T I ANSWER THIS QUESTION YET????

I'm working hard and trying to figure out what I want and I'm just so tired. I'm just absolutely exhausted by my lack of answers for people. I'm tired of people giving me that pathetic smile when I tell them I'm just serving right now. That I have no future. That there seems to be no light in my future. It rips me to shreds every time someone asks me the question that I have yet to find the answer to.

I've tried applying for jobs too. I've been sending out resumes left right and center for positions that are either right up my alley, or even just touch on the experience I have. Wanna know how to tear someone down to nothing but skin and bones? Have them apply for a shit-load of jobs. Over. And over. And over again. And get the same response, if any. This field is lions and lambs. pure and simple. They tear you apart, rip your insides out, leave you gasping, still grasping for hope. You're too qualified. not qualified enough. You didn't apply soon enough. You were up against *so many* other applicants. Or my favourite, they already have someone in mind, but still post the job as a 'formality'.

FUCK FORMALITY. QUIT FUCKING WITH ME AND GIVE ME A FUCKING CHANCE!

I'm just tired. Again. And I'm frustrated. Again.

I need a genie. Or perhaps just some glimpse into the future of what I have in store for me. I'm tired of waiting for that beam of light to go off and I finally know what I want to do. It just feels like my own mediocrity is weighing me down and burying me.


Sigh. This self wallowing is exhausting. Low week plus bad weather equals emo-Jane-o.


I think this move I have planned will be good for me. I think Ottawa, although such a home to me, is sucking me into this funk of comfort and mediocrity. And I'm so much better than that. I need this change to happen before I destroy myself. I need to find my groove and find something to pour myself into. Serving food just ain't cuttin' it any more.

Cup of tea and reflection. Start up a plan. Maybe I'll find that drive I had for all those potential future things I had 5 years ago.

But first. Cup of tea.


-janeovision

Monday, May 24, 2010

update of sorts...blog mashup, twitter style.

Once again, I have fallen off the Blogging wagon. oddly enough, while I've been procrastinating, I've been contemplating starting a new blog with specific rants focusing on one topic. However, I think I should work on managing one blog at a time. If you can't do one thing, two can't be any better.

I'll keep this short, note the things that have happened in the past month in twitter-style: 140 characters or less. I tweet far better than I blog anyways, so why not combine the two! This post will have a bit of everything, cover all my bases of the past month and ideally get me back on track with this damn thing!! Okay, here we go:

UPDATE:

Tattoo: I have one! Paper cranes and black ravens up my ribcage. Yes it hurt. A bit. I love it. No, mum, the birdcage is not crooked.

Scooter: I'm driving it now! It's awesome and was such a pain to get on the road, but $$ and stress later and I'm scootin'!

Julie Doiron and co.: Cute 4-piece band which name i forget. cute and mellow. one guy stood like an old man. In a cute way.

Plants and Animals: AMAZING CONCERT! New album rules and they put on a great show. Openers for them were lame.

London: I went for a weekend (no, the other one). Bad start, good ending. Saw family and friends, but some things never change.

Toronto: I'm the girl who cried it. But this time it sticks or I lose my mind for good. I have roommate prospects!!

Wooden Sky: Saw them at Cafe Nostalgica just in time for the encore. I'm still in love with you guys, shoe scuffs and all.

Roommate: Have a new one. Last one pulled a "Mr. Big" and moved out sneaky style. Left a note. New one has promise.

NXNE: I'm volunteering! I'm either running the retail tents or the merch/artist tent. ICOULD MEET IGGY POP!!


Okay i think that's the worst of it. One day I'll be able to do this properly. Maybe even non-twitter style.

Until then.

-janeovision

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Musical Adventures: Diamond Rings and Woodhands

Last week I whet my whistle with the coming of the summer music festival by watching Diamond Rings and Woodhands at Mavericks.

When Diamond first came on stage, I was very skeptical. He was wearing zebra leggings tucked into black tube socks, with an oversized leather jacket and more makeup than I've worn in a week. (although, I was impressed, his lines and blending was nice and clean) Once he started playing, I wasn't immediately swayed either. He had his Itunes open to his songs and accomanying it with either a keyboard or guitar. Once in a while he did both.

It threw me off for sure. His outfit was wild and his music was peppy, but his voice was so deep and somber. It was an interesting contrast. Think Magnetic Fields meet the Cure. After a few songs and a LOT of skepticism, he grew on me. This solo artist slowly dragged you into his moody-poppy hipsterlicious music. I even realized that I knew one of his songs as he came up to perform his encore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6IUKa25e80

I'm still not sure if I'm a fan. This song is alright and seems to be enjoying its 15 minutes of fame, but I'm doubting any staying power. I can't even look at him without giggling at how ridiculous he looks.

My heart and my ears were saved once Woodhands came on. I've been a fan for the past year now and to finally see them in concert was making me do a happy dance to the dance music. And that's a lot of dancin'!

They played the old and even tossed a couple new songs in, including the recent single, "CP24". The audience was feeling all of it, eating up every stroke off the keytar and the beats of the broken snare drum (occupational hazard, I suppose).

I'd have to say the best part was the remixes of old songs like Biz Markies "Just a Friend" and Cory Hart's "I Wear my Sunglasses at Night" in with their own tunes. This created an extra vibe and pour-out of energy from the crowd, singing along to the awesomeness.

I'll try to add my videos later, but my words are failing me at the awesomeness. Obviously I'm not much of a writer, but let's just say it kicked ass and Woodhands and I are getting married. We confirmed it on twitter and everything. So there.

Hoping it just gets better from here.

-janeovision

dream series: April 13

So last night's dream...

I was in a really nice cottage that was nearby to a beach in some tropical land - something like Costa Rica or the Cayman Islands. There was me and a few other people I didn't recognize, and one of them had children. There was a little girl about 3 or so, and there was an infant, sexually generic, but could fit in my hand, like a kitten.

One wall of the cottage was all windows which looked out to a bus stop and the beach about 500 yards away. Although the sun is out, it's starting to rain and the win is strong. I get nervous that there is going to be a tornado. As I say this, a funnel starts to form on the water. Not only that but the funnel then divides into three smaller funnels and start to lean and move to us and our cottage.

**note: I was thinking about watching the movie "Twister" the other day...there may be a connection**

We all run into one of the back rooms, and I grab the mini-baby as I run into the room and we close the door. Everyone else huddles onto the bed and as I shut the door I toss mini-baby onto a nearby chair to start looking for something. (you may be shocked I threw an infant like a ragdoll... but it was fine. It stood up and brushed itself off then sat on the seat, arms crossed in a huff. Yea, I know.)

I'm not sure what I'm looking for or why I'm looking for it, but I go to a nearby dressor/vanity combo thingy and start opening drawers. I find scarves wrapped around machetes and dueling swords, but that's not what I am looking for.

I turn around and stare at everyone on the bed in disbelief. Why were they not helping??

...and then I woke up.

they just keep coming.

-janeovision.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

the dream series. an introduction.

So lately I've been dreaming a lot.

I've been dreaming of the most random things, and some of the most random occurrences to come out of my head. Since they are so random, and, well downright entertaining to those I tell it to, I'm going to share it on here.

These won't be large posts, just a summation of the dream I had the night before for you all to enjoy. I'm going to post a few past dreams I've had within the past few months today, just to get you all caught up and to explain why I had this idea to do this in the first place.


Dream #1
It's a Michael Cera movie. Seriously. I'm his semi-popular girlfriend who is unhappy in the relationship, dating the nerdy Michael Cera, but we have our 'first time together anyways. Finally fed up (and not shortly after the awkward Michael Cera sex) I break up with him.

His geeky female BFF is heartbroken (obviously secretly in love with him) and makes plan with the hesitant MC to pull pranks on me and make my life a living hell for shattering his innocent, naive heart.

It gets fuzzy around here, but I know that hilarity ensues, Judd Apatow-style, and at one point, in my own frustrations with everyone, I see one of the slightly more popular girls is snapping her fingers at me to get my attention at a lunch table. Instead of walking up to her and talk to her, i walk past her. As i pass her seat, i grab her face with my hand and face-palm her backwards out of her chair onto the cafeteria floor.

It was awesome (movie idea now in the works...you steal my shit and I'll take you down!)

Dream #2
I was in a random elementary school in Montreal where I was doing a conference of some kind with schoolmates (Ashley, Danielle, MaHo and Dario were there, from what I saw...for those that know those people, haha) I walk into one room and this guy asks me if I want to finally get my tattoo. I say yes and he starts working on it. But he puts the tattoo I want on my forearm with a (I think) Pirate ship on the upper arm.

As I am getting the tattoo done, I look outside and there is a big unmarked van, and it's raining.
Black ink. Black ink is melting from the sky. I am unphased. I have the tattoo finished, and I go to find people to show it to. I see MaHo and I'm excited to show it to her, but she is nervous that I won't like it. Simultaneously, Dario and Ash are about to brawl, and Danielle is cheering from the sidelines. I only knwo it's them because i see Ash's threadless tshirt, and you can point out Dario's hipster-non-chalent saunter a mile away. Danielle just waved to me.

Then I realize. I haven't even looked at the tattoo yet. As I go to look down at it, I wake up .
Weird.

Dream #3
This one was all over the place. There were mini stories happening everywhere, but the main part that I remember was my friends mum (and my second mum, pretty much) was scoldeing me about the quesadilla tattoo I wanted to get on my ribcage.

I don't even like Quesadillas.

Dream #4
This one Happened last night.

It starts in some mall with two people chatting, but basically I am being hunted down by Batman. But I am actually Batman. Darth Vader has stolen my costume and is chasing after me in MY Batman costume. At one point, i have to jump off a moving train and hide behind garbage cans to avoid being shot.

Then I go to hide at work and put on my uniform, but my uniform is a beer wench costume. It still has my work logo on it, but it's definitely a beer wench outfit.


I'll try to continue these as they happen. My dreams are fucked up.

-janeovision

Monday, April 5, 2010

a word to the future...

Ahhhh, life. Ah, student politics.

This year I've had the first official opportunity in a long time to watch student politics to blossom, progress, and simultaneously spontaneously combust. The student association and faculty association members have gone through quite a lot this year. Gong shows, shit shows, and general nonsense. Granted, there have been some amazing things happenas well, but it seems the shit has outweighed the good this time.

As the new execs start rolling in and transitioning themselves, I would like to put out a bit of my own advice. Take it as you will, love it, ignore it, bitch about it (which I'm sure you all will) but at least read it before you go all middle-school on me

  • Politics and relationships are bad.
  • Know your audience. If you have an UBER-kickass party on night, assume that everyone is going to be just as, if not twice as hung over as you are. An event the next day is a poor choice, even if you have *insert pop tween/rocker/etc icon here* in your lineup. Just becasue you build it, doesn't mean they'll come
  • Facebook is shit. Stop basing all your advertising on it.
  • If someone has an opnion, good or bad, take it into consideration. They may be a bitch/asshole 99.9% of the time, and they may say what they are saying in a crass and offensive mannor, but they may also have a point.
  • No, seriously, politics and relationships are BAD!!! You have to know how and when to separate the business and personal, regardless of the level of the relationship. If you can't do that, you shouldn't be in politics. At all.
  • Stop relying on your friends. Politics is a job, it's a business. Social events, political events, ANY events must be dealt with as if you are doing it on your own. Unless they are on the payroll, you can't count on them. In saying that, don't be pissed if friends don't show up to events you have prepared. It may be your job, but it certainly isn't theirs. They have their own lives and own stuff to take care of.
  • A JOB IS A JOB IS A JOB!!!! Just because it has to do with school and there occasionally is music and drinking and delightful chaos everywhere, doesn't mean you can fuck off and get stupid. You're getting paid, you're responsible. Take the responsibility.
  • THERE'S A TIME AND A PLACE FOR E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G. There.
  • Be strong, be confident, get over your egos. Seriously.
  • Old ideas are good, but new ideas are and can be better. Even Adding new twists to old ideas can make things great. Don't put all your hope into an old idea. People get bored way too quick these days anyways.
  • Know your rights!!!!! Know the rules of which you work under, know what you can and what you cannot do. But better yet, know the loopholes so you can still get away with shit.
  • NO RELATION... okay, i think you understand that one now. But seriously, business before pleasure. In every aspect of the phrase.
  • People are going to tear you down. Stand your ground. They are going to fight you. Your best bet is to listen, take the information and move on. Ignoring it and shutting it down makes you look close-minded and an overall asshole.
  • Listen. Work. Fight. Play. Have fun. know your limits.

Thats my two cents.
...Okay, that may ba a full quarter. But take it and learn.

Onward and upward. I hope.

-janeovision


p.s. anyone who gets angry about this post. just click here

mini rant.

hey Ann Coulter.

The University didn't cancel your speech because you're 'controversial' and because we are against free speech.

you were cancelled because the university was too dumb to have enough security to man the (civilized) masses. it was dangerous because IF THEY DID get out of hand, it've been a shit show.

They were unprepared. They can fix that. You'll still be an angry closed minded troll surviving only on white wine, cigarettes, and your own publicity.

Get over yourself.

mini rant ended.

-janeovision.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Valentines

So today is valentines day. I'm single, but I'm okay with that. Single is sexy and I'm happy with my life.

I was getting thai for supper and on my way home a girl asked me for some change. She didn't look like the usual hobo, jut looked like a girl down on her luck.

I gave her $10. She hugged me, almost cried and seemed so grateful.

This year, that girl is my valentine. Hope you got where you had to be, my dear.

-janeovision

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

late night upset.

A graffiti quote comes to mind:

"everything for everyone and nothing for ourselves."


Bucket of suck. goodnight.

-janeovision

Monday, February 1, 2010

this place is a powdercake!! (you notice 'em...)


This is a mini post about where I live. And where you live. Earlier in my posts I mentioned the fire that swallowed my sister's apartment while she was on her honeymoon. Some dumbass had fallen asleep while smoking and ran out of the building when the awoke to the fire. Another neighbour, who smelled the smoke, alerted everyone in the building and saved everyone. The place was destroyed, with the fire making a b-line from the back apartment to their right corner one. They lost everything from the wedding, all the new furniture and appliances they had purchased for their new apartment and new life together.

And they had no insurance.

If you live in Ottawa, and if you have been watching the news this past month, there have been apartment fires one after another, gutting buildings and stranding renters over and over again. It's even worse because the majority of these people do NOT have insurance. It's scary, because most of these people are students, or people holding part-time jobs and people who can't afford to start over again.

After all the fires this month and after watching my sister going through what she did, I got insurance last week. It's not expensive (around $200 or so for a full year, depending on whatever) and it helps you out! It obviously isn't going to replace everything, and you still have to deal with the shock of losing your possessions and home, but at least it helps move forward from the chaos.

Think about it friends,

-janeovision

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

It's so shiny!

So last night was my staff party.

I won "Most Valuable Teammate". This gave me a sweater and a $50 gift card to a spa. Later, they offered me the chance to keep my winnings OR swap it for one of the envelopes. The envelopes could have awesome stuff, or it could have mcdonalds gift cards. I was feeling lucky.

I picked an envelope. It was the little white one.

I won this.


I've always wanted a scooter!!! Now if only I could ride the thing. Spring, get here NOW!!!

-janeovision.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

what do you remember of the first 10 years?

2010, a new year, a new decade. A fresh start.

I’ve been talking to a lot of friends, co-workers, peers (etc.) about the last decade, and the first real start in the new millennium. And we’ve come to a conclusion about this first introduction to the 2000’s.

It’s sucked.

We’ve had war, terrorist attacks, tsunami’s, earthquakes, economic downturn (on more than one occasion) murder, rage and hate. In general, the first ten years of the millennium have been a downer. When you ask someone about what they remember about the past ten years, it’s hard to think of the positive stuff, since the negative has been so prominent.

So, that being said, I thought we should try to find the positive in the past 10 years! Yea, we did have a rough decade, but there was some positive stuff too! What I did was, with the help of friends, co-workers, and even guests at the restaurant, I have compiled a list of some of the GOOD things that have happened in the past year.

Here we go…

Ipods and itunes – everyone can afford one now, they are the new way to enjoy music. You can have 5 albums, or 5 weeks of music on something as small as a matchbook or as large as your palm (which is still pretty awesome!) all the music, movies and radio you could want at your fingertips. And with the development of shared music and itunes, there is no limit to what you can enjoy
Dove “Real Beauty” Campaign – It was about time someone took a look at the media and say ‘this is not right’. Creating a campaign acknowledging and praising all types of women, body types and declaring them beautiful. Hopefully is helping this budding generation of girls that are being so overwhelmed with Hollywood enjoy the beauty they have and make their individuality hot.
Celebrity Arrests – I know, I know, but these indiscretions of the rich and famous remind us that not only are they human, but also really, really stupid.
Kanye West – He’s a jackass. We all hate him, we all love him because we all hate him. Jackass.
Red Bull – who needs coffee when you can have a caffeine surge in a can? Plus, this one you can mix with alcohol more easily! Hyper drunkards for all!
Obama – okay, there seems to be some nervous people now, since it’s taking time to get stuff done and he’s backtracking on stuff. Welcome to politics. He’s still made a huge impact on what the future is to become, he’s our first black president, AAAND he thinks Kanye is a jackass too.
Pageants – This is a little known fact, but National beauty pageants (minus the Trump franchise of course) are no longer aired on national broadcasts. Booyea.
Youtube – you can watch anything from any era, from any person, from any theme, mood, or personal style of the video poster. Whether it’s breakdancing, epic fails, music videos, tv and movie clips, the options are endless, with thousands of videos posted every day, there is no limit to your procrastination.
Social Networking sites – Keep up with friends from all over the world, whether you’re BFF’s, random bar friends, or just want to stalk, you can now do that without the fear of that restraining order!
Nunavut.
• Gay rights – There’s still a LOONG way to go, but at least there’s a start.
Life – This one is a little broad, but it seems that in the past few years, we have demanded a better quality of life and we’ve demanded a simpler life. Simple is better.
Technological boom – wii, cell phones, IMAX, etc have really developed a lot in the past decade. I remember by cell in 2002 and game cube. Fast forward to PS3 and skype and the interwebs. We’ve come along way, baby.
The euro
• Breakdown of the US empire – suck it, USA.
SARS-stock – Toronto was almost destroyed by the SARS outbreak. Music and people coming together saved that city. Sweet.
“Your mom’ and “That’s what she said” jokes – You know you love them.
Style Evolution.
• Books into movies – Not all of these were a good thing, but some were amazing.
Y2K – that was fun, wasn’t it?
American politics – We all got a good laugh. Thanks Sarah Palin!
Tax-Free Savings Accounts
• Hybrid Cars
• Letterman brings NY back on the air – This was huge to me. Even after all the chaos and tragedy of 9-11, David Letterman came back on the air and reminded people that it was okay for people to laugh and move forward from the tragedy. He made us laugh again and saved us from the pain.
Wikipedia – fun facts and useless info, not to mention the power to change the info!
Blogs and websites about nothing – TFLN, MLIA, FML, Fuckyoupenguin, etc have made procrastination more fun and just allowed us to laugh and vent and share more of ourselves to each other. Occasionally, it’s a bit much, but some people forget the power of the interwebs.


Now, Obviously this is only grazing the surface of good things that happened. But, like I said, it’s hard to find the positive when the negative is so prominent. Even some of the positive builds out of the negative.. Definitely not the easiest thing in the world. Either way, there was some good, there was some positive, and we were able to move forward from the bad that has happened, or at least, we’re working on it.


Here's to another 10 years, and here's hoping they are awesome.

-janeovision

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

new year, new rant!

Happy 2010, everyone!

It's a new year! full of new opportunities, new adventures and new experiences! It's a fresh start, with a new decade and a clean slate ahead of us, there is a fresh new world we can create before us!

That being said...

This rant is going out to those negative people out there. These are those individuals that choose to cloud their vision with nothing but the negative bullshit that is happening or has happened to them. They suck the positive out of the room, they tear down the good moment being experienced, and they generally drag down everyone else into their hole of despair.

That's right. I'm talking about the Debbie Downers out there.

You just can't seem to find the positive in anything. At all. This collective of Negative Nancy's (or Norma/Nick, if you prefer) somehow have this uncanny ability to look at the present and find every single disgusting, terrible, and worthless thing to the surface and shine it under unflattering light, not only shoving it in the face of the rest of the world, but making it look fat and sallow too. If the current day isn't depressing enough for them, they claw out the horros of the past and slap that on a platter for everyone to stare at. Then, just for fun, when the rest of us try to claw for hope under the pile of shit they shovel onto us when we look to the future, they find a way to suck the fun out of that too.

Fun suckers!


To all the Debbie Downers out there, I say this to you:


Get over yourself.
Seriously.


People like this drive me nuts. They have no concept of the big picture that there are good things out there. They can never seem to find the positive spin on anything or even look on the bright side of life. Because it IS there. It must be absolutely exhausting being so negative all the time. Maybe the exhaustion+lack of sleep combo fuels the fire... I'm sure there's a scientific calculation to the process and result of being a Debbie Downer.

Now, I'm not going to leave this with no blood on my hands. I know I have my negative side too. Hell, I'm ranting and bitching about negative people. There's a bit of irony in there, I'm sure. I have my bad days and my own moments being a Debbie Downer. And I'm certainly not perfect specimen of life with a horseshoe up my ass. I have my own shitty moments, bad turns of luck, health, personal, and otherwise issues that aren't necessarily awesomefatasticsauce. Shit happens. It happens to me, it happens to you, it happens to the barbie girl in the mall and the Uberjock on the street. But I have the common sense to know that there is a bigger picture and enjoy the positive in the big perspective of things.

I may not be perfectly healthy, but I'm not dead.
I may hate my job some days, but at least I have one.
I may not be in a relationship with the man of my dreams, but better single than in an abusive relationship.
I may have had things stolen from me, but they're only things. I'm still here.
I may not have my dream job right now, but I have time.
I may be horribly in debt from school, but I have a job and can pay my bills and have a bed to sleep in and a roof over my head.
I may have a bad experience with a stranger, but I still have my friends
I may have a bad day today, but there's always tomorrow. And the day after that.


There's always the positive. You have to see it before you become blinded by all the bad out there.

During the death of Michael Jackson, I got into a back-and-forth FB battle with a friend about him and his persona. I wanted him to be remembered as the Pop icon he was and the positive influence he's had on so many lives and how his work has molded the music and the spectacle of music we see today. My friend only saw the negative of the rumours and trials and the general bad shit that goes with Michael Jackson's name. (You all know what it is, so I won't bother explaining) Now this friend is not a regular Debbie Downer, but it was so frustrating listening to her tear apart this icon. I know he has this bad rep, and i'm in NO WAY saying he's innocent, some of the shit is pretty fucked up. But to ignore all the positive influence he's had is just ignorant and... well, silly.

There'e one thing I said during this back and forth battle. I"m not sure if I made it up or if I got it from someone else, but it still rings in my head now:

"See the good or drown in your own hate."

See the good, people. Find the positive and keep it with you in your life. Otherwise, you are sure to drown. Always look on the bright side of life.


Rant ended.

-janeovision