Happy September 30th!

Today is my favourite day of the year! I already posted why last year and since my opinion hasn't changed...

"I wanted to wish you all a happy September 30th! Today is my favourite day of the year, it's a perfect day, not too summer and not too fall. The leaves changing colours (even though in this province they're all yellow!) the air crisp with northern winds but still bringing sunny daytime highs in the 20's. The sky is the perfect shade of blue. Not too bright or too cloudy, or too unclear. A boy once told me my eyes look like a morning sky and it was in September so that makes the blue of the sky that much more my favourite. :)"
http://drelwin.blogspot.com/2006/09/happy-september-30th.html



LOL (nothing like quoting one's own blog...

Today I spent the day outdoors, I went to the park and hunted acorns, enjoyed the changing of the leaves and then went on a bit of a hike through the woods... it was a very satisfying day!

Crocs causing accidents

Here's an article fwd'd to me from my stepmom from the star. It's about accidents involving Crocs (my most-worn shoes) getting stuck in escalators and causing injuries.

"Escalators a peril for wearers of Crocs



Accidents on the rise as flexibility, grip of soft-soled clogs sometimes prove a liability near moving parts

Sep 18, 2007 04:30 AM

Sarah Karush
ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON–At rail stations and shopping malls around the world, reports are popping up of people, particularly young children, getting their toes caught in escalators. The one common theme seems to be the clunky, soft-soled clogs known by the name of the most popular brand, Crocs.

The Washington Metro has even posted ads warning riders about wearing such shoes on its moving stairways.

Four-year-old Rory McDermott got a Crocs-clad foot caught in an escalator last month at a mall in northern Virginia. His mother managed to yank him free, but the nail on his big toe was almost completely ripped off.

According to reports appearing across the United States and as far away as Singapore and Japan, entrapments occur because of two of the biggest selling points of shoes like Crocs: their flexibility and grip. Some say the shoes get caught in the "teeth" at the bottom or top of the escalator, or in the crack between the steps and the side of the escalator.

Crocs Inc., based in Niwot, Colo., said it does not keep records of the reasons for customer-service calls. But the company said it is aware of "very few" problems relating to accidents involving the shoes, which are made of a soft, synthetic resin.

"Thankfully, escalator accidents like the one in Virginia are rare," the company said in a statement.

In Japan, the government warned consumers last week it has received 39 reports of sandals – mostly Crocs or similar products – getting stuck in escalators from late August through early September. Most of the reports appear to have involved small children, some as young as 2.

And at the Atlanta airport, a 3-year-old boy wearing Crocs suffered a deep gash across the top of his toes in June. That was one of seven shoe entrapments at the airport since May 1, and all but two of them involved Crocs.

During the past two years, so-called "shoe entrapments" in the Washington subway have gone from being relatively rare to happening four or five times a week in the summer, though none has caused serious injuries, said Dave Lacosse, who oversees the subway's 588 escalators, the most of any U.S. transit system.

The Toronto Transit Commission, which oversees close to 300 escalators and is the single largest escalator owner in Canada, does not consider Crocs a safety issue, said spokesperson Marilyn Bolton.

The TTC has very few accidents related to loose clothing or shoes each year, Bolton told the Star's Megan Ogilvie.

Lyla Miller, spokesperson for Toronto Emergency Services, said Crocs safety has not emerged as an issue for paramedics."

http://www.thestar.com/article/257690

Motivational Posters

You know those "motivational posters" where it's a parody of an actual poster? Well here's a website just chalk-a-block full of them, all kinds! Very, very funn!

http://www.notafront.org/~agit/compilation/imgpages/image000.html


Some of my favourites:

where does pepper come from?

I wondered today, as a I stared at the grinder of pepper, where exactly those delicious little corns came from... (luckily wikipedia knows everything!

A pepper plant:



"Black pepper (Piper nigrum) is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The same fruit is also used to produce white pepper, red/pink pepper, and green pepper.[2] Black pepper is native to South India (Tamil: milagu, மிளகு; Telugu: miriyam) and is extensively cultivated there and elsewhere in tropical regions. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is a small drupe five millimetres in diameter, dark red when fully mature, containing a single seed.

Dried ground pepper is one of the most common spices in European cuisine and its descendants, having been known and prized since antiquity for both its flavour and its use as a medicine. The spiciness of black pepper is due to the chemical piperine. Ground black peppercorn, usually referred to simply as "pepper", may be found on nearly every dinner table in some parts of the world, often alongside table salt."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_pepper

Fall Skies

Well fall is upon us... the skies are beginning to look like fall skies...

I realized that I've had this blog a long time when looking back through the archives I find 2 previous references to fall skies:

http://drelwin.blogspot.com/2006/09/happy-september-30th.html

http://drelwin.blogspot.com/2006/04/summer-blue-day.html

Anyways, if you don't feel like back-reading I don't blame you, fall skies are the ones that are so blue and vibrant and just incredibly clear, like ths sky wants one more big hurrah before it has to be bleak and wintery for months. These are my favourite kinds of skies! If I could make autumn last forever I would!

One Night Stand Etiquette

This is an awesome article for women, and not just college-aged women as the article denotes, but all women, and I think men could learn something from it too! ;-) (Not that I'm an advocate of one-night stands, but if you're gonna do the deed at least now you'll know how to get out of there with some grace & dignity)

"One Night Stand Etiquette: A Woman's Guidelines for the Morning After
By Kamala Kirk, published Mar 09, 2007
Published Content: 44 Total Views: 30,906 Favorited By: 8 CPs

"Chances are, you've been in this situation. Or, if you're too goody-goody to admit it, you've had a "friend" who was in the same situation. It's nothing to be ashamed of, either way. It's not something you want to share at the Thanksgiving dinner table with all your relatives either, but at one point or another, the majority of us have had a one-night stand. Whether it be a drunken blur from a fraternity party or a flirtation from across the bar that went a bit too far, and you wake up to find yourself next to a guy that looked a lot more like Leonardo DiCaprio ten shots ago, you find yourself in the ultimate of awkward situations. Don't lose your cool, whatever you do, and just follow the following set of guidelines which will help you get through this moment.

10) Don't give him the whole "I've never done this before" routine. That will just make him more likely to think of this as a repeat occurrence for you. You don't need to prove yourself to anyone. You know in your heart whether or not this is in your nature, and it can be your little secret. No one needs to know how many strangers you've gone home with on multiple occasions. You should feel free to forget that number too, if you like. And if the guy asks you if you've done this before, simply say, "It's not normally my nature," give him a smile, and change the subject. Enough said.

9) Don't overstay your welcome. You wake up, look at the clock, and you should already be glancing around the room, eyeing your belongings. Don't wait around in bed, especially after he gets up. Don't hang out while he takes a shower either. When the guy leaves the room to take his shower, he secretly is hoping that you will leave during that period of time. Unless he specifically indicates that he would like you to stick around, don't assume. Another indicator of him wanting you to stay would be if he actually invited you to shower with him. I still say you should leave, even when offered the invite. You don't want to seem too clingy or eager. Plus, that shower could be just another testosterone-filled excuse so he can score an extra morning session before he starts his day.

8) Don't attempt to engage him in conversation. Not all guys are morning people, and having a conversation with a stranger you just woke up next to can be one of the strangest and most uncomfortable experiences. If you find that he's answering you in mono-syllables, that's your indicator right there that he just doesn't want to talk. And if you feel that you just must chat with him, don't mention the hook-up, the future, or anything touchy in that aspect. You'll only make him that much more eager to have you leave.

7) Don't offer to leave your number or ask him to call you. When men want something, they will get it themselves. If he has any intention of calling you, he will ask that you write down your number before you leave. Obviously if you say to him, "Do you want my number?" he's going to feel bad if he says no, so any male would feel the safer choice would be to have you write down your digits, and then they just go straight into the trashcan. And you will be waiting by the phone for a call that will never come!

6) If possible, try to leave before he wakes up. It will make you that much more mysterious. And if he really likes you, he'll attempt to find you. He'll ask around, maybe go again to the same fraternity house or bar that you met at, and he'll look for you. Guys will go to great lengths for a girl they really view as worth the effort.

5) If he does invite you for breakfast or to hang out, even if you really want to, thank him but turn down the offer. If he has any real interest in you, he will try to set up a future date with you. Besides, do you really want to sit across from the table from him in broad daylight with last night's makeup still caked on?

4) If you don't remember his name, don't ask him what it is. That will look very bad on your part. See if he remembers yours first. That's a true indicator as to how much interest he really has in you.

3) If you happen to wake up in his frat house and find yourself heading down the "Walk of Shame", don't act embarassed or ashamed. Simply roll your eyes, act like you couldn't care less, and walk out with your head straight up in the air. You have nothing to be ashamed about.

2) Don't ask him "how you were" last night. Chances are, he probably doesn't remember. And if he does, he will say something about it.

1) Don't get on your cell phone while you get dressed in front of him and tell your sorority sister that you're "in some random guy's room and can't remember how crazy last night was." Save the gossip for when you have left and are well under way.

Follow the list of guidelines and you'll ease out of any sticky one-night stand situation with finesse!!"

Song of the Week

"Candy Shop" - 50 Cent (feat. Olivia)

[Intro: 50 Cent]
Yeah...
Uh huh
So seductive

[Chorus: 50 Cent & Olivia]
[50 Cent]
I'll take you to the candy shop
I'll let you lick the lollipop
Go 'head girl, don't you stop
Keep going 'til you hit the spot (woah)
[Olivia]
I'll take you to the candy shop
Boy one taste of what I got
I'll have you spending all you got
Keep going 'til you hit the spot (woah)

[Verse 1: 50 Cent]
You can have it your way, how do you want it
You gon' back that thing up or should i push up on it
Temperature rising, okay lets go to the next level
Dance floor jam packed, hot as a teakettle
I'll break it down for you now, baby it's simple
If you be a nympho, I'll be a nympho
In the hotel or in the back of the rental
On the beach or in the park, it's whatever you into
Got the magic stick, I'm the love doctor
Have your friends teasing you 'bout how sprung I gotcha
Wanna show me how you work it baby, no problem
Get on top then get to bouncing round like a low rider
I'm a seasons vet when it come to this shit
After you work up a sweat you can play with the stick
I'm trying to explain baby the best way I can
I melt in your mouth girl, not in your hands (ha ha)

[Chorus]

[Bridge: 50 Cent & Olivia]
Girl what we do (what we do)
And where we do (and where we do)
The things we do (things we do)
Are just between me and you (oh yeah)

[Verse 2: 50 Cent]
Give it to me baby, nice and slow
Climb on top, ride like you in the rodeo
You ain't never heard a sound like this before
Cause I ain't never put it down like this before
Soon as I come through the door she get to pulling on my zipper
It's like it's a race who can get undressed quicker
Isn't it ironic how erotic it is to watch em in thongs
Had me thinking 'bout that ass after I'm gone
I touch the right spot at the right time
Lights on or lights off, she like it from behind
So seductive, you should see the way she wind
Her hips in slow-mo on the floor when we grind
As Long as she ain't stopping, homie I ain't stopping
Dripping wet with sweat man its on and popping
All my champagne campaign, bottle after bottle its on
And we gon' sip 'til every bubble in every bottle is gone

[Chorus 2x]

Happy Fall!!!

HAPPY FALL EVERYONE!

Word of the Day

(I'm the one who takes all these pics...)

Urban Word of the Day
www.urbandictionary.com

September 23, 2007: facebook surprise

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=facebook+surprise&defid=2580732

When you don't know a picture has been taken of you until you see it uploaded by someone else on facebook. Usually results in an embarassing picture getting into the public's viewership, or it can be a normal, innocent picture.

I got wasted and started getting rowdy with this [hogbeast], but I didn't think anyone saw and I got away with it. Unfortunately I got a facebook surprise when I saw jen uploaded pics from that party and it had some ebarassing photos

Facebook Videos

A whole bunch of videos about Facebook!

I think this video sums up my life rather nicely lately:

http://www.youtube.com/v/rSnXE2791yg

This one is a really funny eHarmony ad parody one:

http://www.youtube.com/v/dHi-ZcvFV_0

This one is a facebook stalker one... LOL:

http://www.youtube.com/v/6FahBBnfHAQ

and finally this one is a guy's plea for facebook friends in song form:

http://www.youtube.com/v/-PH4aElf6CU

The formatting is gonna be weird for the links 'cuz i only have the embedded format so they'll open by themselves in a window... just fyi

Penisist

For today I was going to show you a very funny video on YouTube, unfortunately it's been taken down for violation of their policies, etc. etc. It's actually a real shame, I've found this video about 3 times now and each time it's taken down for violation of terms... The video is of a man who's naked standing behind a sheet that is cut & printed to resemble a keyboard with each key slit. The man "plays" the piano from behind the sheet with his... man bits, as he hits up a cloth key a real note plays so it seems he's playing the piano. It's actually incredibly funny and you can't see the man's bits so I'm not sure why they keep pulling it... if any of you have any luck finding it again let me know!

This was the link, on the off-chance it gets put back up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrzIJ8zeMhk

How are marbles made?

Because it's random and fun, today I bring you the explanation of the making of marbles:

"The earliest marbles were rolled out of clay, and therefore did not offer any technological insight for glass marble makers. In fact, it was a man with a background in metal ball-bearings who was able to contrive a machine to shape marbles. Martin Christensen, in 1902, patented his invention of belts and rotating wheels as the first automatic marble maker. The globs of heated glass were individually melted off the end of cylindrical canes by hand, and placed in the machine, so only part of the process was automated. These marbles didn't have pontils, the nubs left over from where the rod was severed from the glob, so they rolled straighter in the game of marbles.

The machine was an improvement upon shaping marbles entirely by hand over a heatsource. James Leighton's work provided an intermediary step in mechanization in 1891. He patented a tool resembling tongs with a spherical mold on its end, based on an earlier German toymaker's method. While not automated in any way, the process sped up production.

Increasing demand during the 1920s and 30s could be successfully met by mechanized marble companies. Children and adults alike were caught up in the marble craze, collecting fancy "shooters" and entering tournaments. The game of marbles relies on flicking marbles at other players' marbles, within a boundary, in order to take them out of play.

In modern machines, lots of glass melts at once in a furnace around 1500 degrees Fahrenheit (815 degrees Celsius). Once the glass is freely flowing, it streams down a slide nicknamed the Gobfeeder, into the grooved mechanism. Swaths of colored glass can be added at this point. Each wheel's edge has a semicircular groove, and when matched up with another, the space between them is a sphere, just like Christenson's. The hot, bright orange gobs of glass are separated and rolled while they are malleable. When they have been rolled into perfect spheres and cooled sufficiently to maintain their shape, the machine pushes them out to a bin to be packaged and sold.

Marble-making is also alive among the fine arts community. Glass blowers and artisans still form marbles with tongs, a blow torch, a mold and a kiln, the way handmade glass beads are made. These talented people make stunning marbles with dragons or butterflies at their center in dazzling colors. "

http://www.wisegeek.com/how-are-glass-marbles-made.htm

Natioanl Talk Like a Pirate Day

YO HO HO, Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day!!! ARRRR!

http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html

Urban Word of the Day
http://www.blogger.com/www.urbandictionary.com

September 19, 2007: yarr!

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=yarr%21&defid=297268

a word often used by pirates whenever they have experienced a loss or pain

Yarr! My pirate's booty has been stolen.

Microsoft ate my e-mail account!

About 2 weeks ago Windows decided to eat my Hotmail account and in it's place spit out Windows Live Hotmail... I don't like Windows Live Hotmail, the format frustrates me and doesn't view well on my 800x600 resolution monitor. This happened once before, in beta, when I was young & curious and I clicked the button to switch me to Live, it went badly, I opted out and moved on. The problem with this new Windows Live Hotmail is that YOU CAN'T OPT OUT!!!

It's actually really, really frustrating... I scoured the net for help on opting out and found the usual Microsoft tips & tricks page telling me how to opt out of Beta with no mention of the new Live. I contacted Microsoft via e-mail 3 times and to each I got a refer to help doc such and such answer that led me to the above mentioned problem that it was for Beta. In the end, after a 4th and very thorough e-mail, I got a response stating that the new Windows Live Hotmail was in for good and there was no way to delete it and all I could do was wait patiently for Windows to work out the glitches... we shall see how long that takes!

I'm a bit disgruntled today as a result... RIP Classic Hotmail, you will be missed!

Song of the Week

"Tell me on a Sunday" - Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber (sung by Sarah Brightman)

Don't write a letter when you want to leave
Don't call me at 3 a.m. from a friend's apartment
I'd like to choose how I hear the news
Take me to a park that's covered with trees
Tell me on a Sunday please

Let me down easy
No big song and dance
No long faces, no long looks
No deep conversation
I know the way we should spend that day
Take me to a zoo that's got chimpanzees
Tell me on a Sunday please

Don't want to know who's to blame
It won't help knowing
Don't want to fight day and night
Bad enough you're going

Don't leave in silence with no word at all
Don't get drunk and slam the door
That's no way to end this
I know how I want you to say goodbye
Find a circus ring with a flying trapeze
Tell me on a Sunday please

Don't want to fight day and night
Bad enough you're going
Don't leave in silence with no word at all
Don't get drunk and slam the door
That's no way to end this
I know how I want you to say goodbye

Don't run off in the pouring rain
Don't call me as they call your plane
Take the hurt out of all the pain
Take me to a park that's covered with trees
Tell me on a Sunday please

The Sims 2 Bon Voyage

They've finally released the long-awaited expansion "Bon Voyage"! It let's you take your Sims to 3 exotic locations, an island, camping, or the far east... I'm a bit disappointed there is no snow resort as there was in the original Sims destinations, but the far East one should be cool!



http://thesims2.ea.com/about/ep6_index.php

EA is also announcing a new Stuff pack to be released soon, Sims 2 Teen Style Stuff. From the screenshots it looks to be pretty awesome!




This pack includes clothes & furnishing in three styles that EA is calling "Goth," "Thrasher," and "Socialite." I'm pretty stoked about the "Goth" style, it comes with some very fun, emo looking things!

http://thesims2.ea.com/about/sp6_index.php

Misheard Song Lyrics

This is a fun site of misheard song lyrics, you just pick a song or a category and it gives you a listing for them. My favourite is this one:

Deep Purple's, "Smoke On The WAter"
Misheard Lyrics:
Slow motion Walter, that fire engine guy.
Original Lyrics:
Smoke on the water, fire in the sky.

http://www.amiright.com/

Word of the Day

(this is SOOOO funny)

Urban Word of the Day
http://www.urbandictionary.com/

September 14, 2007: milkshake

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=milkshake&defid=1095497

1. A whipped iced dairy drink, usually chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry.
2. A girl's body and the way she carries it.

1. Wow, that milkshake from McDonald's was [bangin].
2. Kelis' song 'Milkshake':

My whipped ice dairy drink brings the attention of many males to my place of residence and/ or employment, and they declare that its quality far surpasses that of yours. Absolutely, it far surpasses yours. I could convey to you the recipe, but i would have to demand compensation.

Word of the Day

(this is why I don't set an alarm clock... problem solved!)

Urban Word of the Day
http://www.urbandictionary.com/

September 13, 2007: alarm shock

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=alarm+shock&defid=2569364

The shock of having to wake up a lot ealier than you normally would due to school after summer vacation.

Mmph, this alarm shock is such a drag! *falls back asleep and misses bus*

Pet Tricks

From Websthos Reel, some cool pet tricks



Webshots Reel: Pet Tricks

http://pets.webshots.com/video/3084003540101632085vyixhQ?tag=nl.e217