Sleepy Head

You know you're tired when: you're in class and a picture of a specimen on a lecture slide starts to move all by itself.

Bus Rider Diaries

1. The Smell
I smelled a faint, yet funny smell this morning. I looked around to see who it was coming from. Obviously, it was not me who was committing the olfactory crime against the bus population at large. After careful investigation, it was me. Rather my jean jacket. Since it's been so warm out, I started wearing my fall/spring jacket today without a care in the world. The jacket in question hadn't been washed since I wore it in the fall. Last year. I smelled like a skunk. Literally. It was a mild mix of moth balls and skunk. We don't have a skunk or moth balls in our closet, so it was kind of a mystery.

A guy on my bus this afternoon also had a problem with a smelly coat. His smelled like old, musty beer. The thing is, I like the smell of beer (but not the taste of it). However, this was just wrong. Plus, it was 10 times more potent than my gentle skunkish smell. I was getting a buzz just sitting behind him. It was like I really wanted to smell the jacket, but I really didn't want to smell the jacket... Anyways. There was only one reason for his jacket to smell so badly. Someone notices if the jacket they wear smells that terrible and he or she washes it. He did not have the sniffles or any other sign of a cold, so he could smell it, though he was probably used to it by then. It was not his drinking jacket because it was the middle of the afternoon and he was heading toward Sackville.

He made the same mistake I did! We both, in the midst of the excitement that comes with warm weather, wore our fall jackets for the first time today without washing them first! It could happen to anyone. Surely, this exact same thing has happened to many, many people in the last couple days. I would just like to take this time to recommend that everyone wash their light jackets before they do something impetuous like wearing them. At least give a thorough smell test, preferably in a location with little or no air circulation. You may be surprised with what you smell.

2. The Noise
I was minding my own business and listening to my mp3 player when my music was overpowered by someone elses. The back of the bus was filled with some loud rock music that some singer was yelling along to. My brother says that the genre of music is actually called Screamo. Even if a Christian band makes this kind of music, your parents object to it because they say that there is no way that it can be edifying and worshipful. I suddenly got the urge to crank up my music for two reasons. The first reason was because I wanted to hear my own music. The second reason was because I wanted to provide the other bus riders who weren't wearing headphones an alternative music choice. Something more inspirational, like the Pussycat Dolls. It was my little way of giving back to my fellow bus takers. I also thought it might make up for some of my smelliness.

Compressed Gas

As a lifeguard, I am trained to administer oxygen if someone needs it. We keep a tank of oxygen on the beach at all times. Whenever I recertify in my oxygen certification (which is each year), the instructor always talks about how careful we must be with the tank. The tank isn't that big, it's about half the size of a fire extinguisher. However, if the tank is dropped and becomes punctured, the force of the compressed gas coming out a hole in the tank would blow a the tank through a wall or two and it could hurt you very badly. Therefore, we aren't supposed to even put an oxygen tank on a table, in case it falls. Now in reality, the tanks are very sturdy and I've dropped one once or twice and nothing happened. This is background information for a particular moment of uneasiness that I experienced yesterday.

I was walking through the tunnel through the Chemistry building in the LSC yesterday. I turned a corner and I saw it. A huge tank of nitrogen. Just sitting in the hallway. It was taller than me and you could have fit several people inside it. All I could think of was what would happen if this tank ever got a hole in it. It should be a registered weapon or something. Tanks of compressed air should never be this big. I didn't want to go near it. This brought me to the conclusion that I shouldn't devote my life to working in a chemistry lab because the chemicals frighten me.

Scientists really walk on the wild side.

Chapter 13: We'll Get There Fast and Then We'll Take It Slow

Everyone slowly backed away from the group of spacey looking men. Well, that is, everyone but Raj. Megha reached for his hand, and after grabbing thin air for a few seconds, she realized that he hadn't actually noticed the scary group of men because he was caught up with the jazz music that was blaring (yes, jazz can blare) over his Ipod and filling the whole room.

Megha thought to herself: "Why he has to have music with him ALL the time is completely beyond me! Not only that, it seems odd that someone who was entirely tone deaf, as Raj is, should gravitate towards music at all."
At the same time, Jessie reflected: "What is their problem?!? Did I miss an expiry date? Do I look fat? Is there anything in my teeth? Is my hair frizzing in this humidity? I wonder if Logan and Raj thought that our cat fight earlier was hot."
All the while Logan was thinking: "If I ever get out of here, I am slathering myself with tanning oil and baking in the sun for a week straight. Actually make that a week and a half."
Raj was also deep in thought: "So I guess the only word that rhymes with jazz is spazz..."

Everyone's thoughts were inturrupted when the potion type was revealed- so not love juice. It so happens that the love potion vial lookes remarkably like the hot chicks vial, of which the digesters transform temporarily into little baby chicks, that is, after getting nasty heartburn. One by one, the rest of the villains turned into soft bundles of yellow fuzz. Megha, Jessie, Raj, and Logan felt that the chickens were fine by themselves in the big cabin and left the premise through the mauve door (after peeking in the gold door, they found it led to Hood's Jennifer Lopez shrine), locking the door behind them. They made their way down the driveway and Megha said something cute about this all being evidence that Jessie was poultry in another life while she dialed Interpol. Everyone was so relieved that Hood and his extended accomplises were finally captured and he would never take policing the world's fashion choices into his own hands again, and it was all because of them. Hood definitely had the cheek bones to pull off the black and white pin strip suit he would soon grow very accustomed to wearing.

For some reason, Interpol's phone line was down. "That's odd", Megha thought.
"Sweetie, did you press the send button with the green light on it?" Raj asked in his soft low 'girlfriend' voice.
"Um, yes I did, dearest" Megha replied.
"Let me try on my phone" Logan interjected, as if his cell was more familliar with connecting calls than hers was. "Well, that is weird" Logan decided after it didn't work for him either.

Suddenly a loud whirring noise was heard overhead. It was an Interpol chopper coming to take them to debrief their successful mission in Hawaii. As the four climbed up the rope ladder they could see the lights of more and more Interpol Choppers surrounding the building.

Megha smiled as she looked out the window. She was very ready for some rest and relaxation. Jessie was already asleep on Logan's shoulder. Megha wondered what their trip down south would be like.

Then she heard Logan whisper to Raj, "Your hair is doing something nasty, man!"
Megha didn't mind Raj's cowlick...she thought it was endearing.
"At least my hairline isn't retreating from battle!" Raj shot back.

Then she knew. Her and Jessie would find some way to ensure that Raj and Logan became best buddies over the trip. They also had a wedding to finish planning.

The End

Chapter 11: Only They Can Do It In Evening Gowns

Jessie and Megha stood up slowly and took two big steps backwards, holding hands. At least they were sure that the large, solid, warm thing wasn't a person. It was a gigantic microwave. It used to be sitting on a table in the hallway. The whole hallway was lined with microwaves. Hood was on this food decorating kick. Jessie and Megha peeked in the door. There were ten pizza slices stuffed inside it, that were obviously not very fresh. The girls weren't hurt, no one could tell that they even had this little mishap with the oven, except for the backwards number 4 that that was clearly imprinted on Jessie's forehead from where she knocked into the button panel. Megha had to try hard to resist the urge to push it. Megha thought it would be best to not mention it to Jessie, hoping it would disappear soon.

Jessie then had a brilliant idea. "Megha, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Jessie asked. "Seeing what the opossum will sing if it is nuked on High for a minute and a half?" Megha answered. "No Megha, Loooove Potion!" Jessie said in her sexy voice, batting her eyelashes. Jessie whipped out a pink test tube and sprinkled some clear grains of dust on each piece of pizza. One the love potion is consumed, the person will fall in love with the first woman that they see. Now, if any of the bad guys in the immediate vicinity see Megha or Jessie, instead of slitting their throats, they will most likely, out of love and devotion, spare the girls' lives and walk into jail without resistance or an involved discussion. At least it should work...Jessie quickly dismissed the nagging worry that she might have grabbed the wrong tube from the supply closet when she was stocking up before the mission.

Jessie and Megha continued down the hall, looking for a closet. They both felt that it was time to disguise themselves a little. Actally that wasn't entirely true. They were both getting tired of their straight and uncomfortable suits, and wanted to put on some attractive eveningware. They entered through the circle-shaped door that said "Totally Fab Threads" and picked out two stunning dressses. Jessie's was a long sparkling black one that tied around the neck. Megha's was a dark red strapless one with lots of layers at the bottom. "Finally," Megha said, "my day is really starting to perk up." Jessie and Megha had both decided earlier to not talk about their stupid love interests for the next little while. Periodically through out the evening, Jessie had to try hard to resist the urge to ask Megha to press the opossum's back just one more time.

In the back of the closet, there were tons of large fishing nets. Megha came up with the next brilliant plan. "You know Jessie, if we wanted, we could just blow this pop stop and escape...but I think we should be a little more aggressive than that. How about we use these nets, and capture all the bad guys in the castle one by one, and then call in some back up once they are all safe and locked up?" Jessie loved the plan and they got going.

In less than half an hour, the girls rustled up 10 men. It was so simple. Megha would walk by them and turn on her disgusting rodent key chain, which would captivate the victim with it's soulful song, while Jessie would sneek up from behind, yell "take this villain scum!" and throw the net over their head. Then they would switch jobs. They already had all the hench men and staff of the cabin.

Jessie had just gotten a fax from Interpol through her spy underwear that said that Sher Not and his castle had just been searched and everyone in the castle was in jail for further interrogation. The big fish the girls had caught was Hood himself. He was all alone in the kitchen covered in flour and whipping up some cookies. There were too many chocolate chips for them all to be for him. There must be a party going on or something. Hood was caught and bound before he had a chance to remove his "kiss the cook" apron. Hood was there the entire time, so it seemed like no one even knew he was even missing.

Now the only ones left to catch were Petit Jean and Will Raspberry. Jessie and Megha knew where to find them, they just followed the off key singing. As they made their way towards the party noise and the stench of overcooked pizza, Megha wondered what it would be like to have all the pizza eaters fall in love with her...and it WOULD be her that they saw first.

My Five Secrets

I'm going to interrupt our epic story with a commercial. The other day, I got tagged in Deb's blog. In response, I would like to share five things that most (or some) people don't know about me:

1. When I was younger, I would sneak treats from friend's kitchens in the middle of the night during sleepovers. Okay...I still do that now.

2. I often get scared of the dark when I go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, especially when I walk past the stairs that open into my pitch black living room and kitchen. I always imagine someone lurking in the shadows.

3. I truly wish that I liked to drink coffee and eat watermelon, Chinese food, most cooked vegetables, and seafood.

4. I have to think for a little bit before I can tell time on a non-digital clock.

5. It bugs me when people use the phrase "pimped out" or something to that effect. It just makes me think of a pimp. I hate the fact that a someone could go so low as to profit from the exploitation of a woman's sexuality, and so, I hate the phrase.




Notable quote:
Me: "Yeah, her and I were close friends in elementary school, but we're not anymore."
Matt Clarke: "Oh yeah? What happened?"
Me: "Ah, I moved, and we just drifted apart...actually (jokingly), we had a huge fight over a boy! It was quite the falling out, very dramatic!
Matt (wistfully): "I've always wanted to be that boy."

Chapter 9: Surprises in Sherwood Forest

The only sound that could be heard in the lavish sun room was the swish of fish fins and the gurgling of water. The four walls were actually 4 tall windows that were made of fish tanks. There was a vast array of different tropical fish peeking out at Jessie, Megha, and Logan who were all apparently out of it, and tied to three large lazy boy chairs in the middle of the room. The door was guarded on the outside by a heavy duty padlock and one of Hood's craftiest men, the one in the red cape...who, as he was standing at attention, was also beginning to snore silently to himself. The only thing about this scene that wasn't entirely true to how it appeared had to do with Jessie. She had, over the years, perfected playing dead.

As Jessie finished mentally arranging her wedding bouquet and pondering her next move, she went over the last week in her head. Their lives had been semi-normal before she decided that her life calling was being a spy. It got much more interesting when she found out that the love of Megha's life was, first of all a CIA agent, and second that Raj was already independently working on the "fashion nightmare" case that Jessie and her and her new boss Logan-who she was going to marry as soon as possible- had just received. Jessie almost smiled as she remembered how the poncho-clad Megha rescued her from the impostor driver that was supposed to take her to the airport in that black BMW. It was nice to stop in at home in Halifax before the little mishap in the Swiss airport with the little tangerine-coloured man and that silly sign he was holding. Her least favourite locale of the week was undoubtedly Sher not's grimy dungeon. It was, ok, maybe a good thing that Raj was keeping an eye on them, and that they were able to teleport it back to that airport only to be captured again in a deserted diner nearby and brought to this old, but very fancy, log cabin deep in Brazil, the Amazon jungle. At least they were finally in Hood's lair.

Jessie was about to open her eyes, when...ZAP! An electrical shock went through the three chairs. Everyone was awake now. Poor Jessie was the only one that had a permanent negative reaction to the electricity, and that was Jessie's hair- it looked like a beach ball. Megha whimpered and was rather weepy for the rest of the day. In the wink of an eye, Megha used her exacto knife to set herself free, and she tossed it to Jessie.

CLICK...CLACK...CLICK...CLACK...the sound in the hallway outside the room was unmistakable. Red shoes. With heels. And sparkles. Jessie and Megha scrambled to appear that they were still tied up. The door flung open. Hood breezed in the room with Little John and the freshly woken Will Raspberry. "Welcome to Sherwood forest my pretties!" Hood greeted them. His make-up was a little smudgy and Megha was sure that he must have hit up the self tanner a little to much in the last little while. "John! Straighten up those clam-diggers of yours...uh, I mean those ca-pris!" Hood bellowed in a forced English accent. "Someone bring me my lipstick!" "You mean your lip conditioning shimmer gloss or your long lasting kissableware?" asked Raspberry expertly. "Duh..." (Megha was positive that she had seen this masculine cluelessness before.) "the first one!" Hood said back. Hood's following was then commanded to leave the room. Once they were gone, Hood breathed a sigh of relief and went over and kissed Megha on the cheek. Megha looked at him, burst into tears, hugged him, and refused to let go. "MEGHA!!!! Stop that this instant!" Jessie hollered jumping to her feet. "Hi dudes, " Raj said casually from underneath Hood's leather outfit. Jessie and Logan were quite surprised to see that it wasn't Hood but Raj!

Before anyone was able to get a word in, Logan finally spoke for the first time since he had entered the cabin. He grabbed Jessie's hand and took her away from Raj and Megha and over to the school of angel fish. Logan looked into Jessie's eyes and said quietly, "Jess, I have something to tell you. The moment I met you, it was love at first sight. Before any more time passes, I have to tell you that I need you to be complete." Jessie stood there wide eyed. "Logan, I feel the same way." Megha just looked on, reading lips from across the room, with misty eyes.

The four of them sat in a cozy circle on the floor and Raj told them what he had been up to in the last little while, that is, after he gave Megha her surprise gift that came in a little velvet box.

Chapter 7: Teleporting, True Love, and Text Messages

"Owww!" yelped Logan. "My heeeeead!" he moaned in a surprisingly high voice, that the girls later came to know as Logan's "pain voice". He claimed to have a "low pain tolerance".
"Wow," Megha thought to herself, "what a little whiner." She then convinced herself that she could be understanding.
Jessie, on the other hand, went on the offensive. She gathered herself together, straightened her slightly ruffled suit, and reached in her pocket. She pulled out her lighter (which was only used for concerts and to singe the ends of people's hair on long plane rides- she really didn't have a...problem) and flicked it on. It didn't work. She tried again, there. She held it up and surveyed the room, rather the cell. A traditional damp, stone cell with no windows and hay in the corners. She slowly turned on her heels and faced Logan. She peered into his face and started shouting, "LOGAN!! What is your problem!?!? Can't you follow simple directions? Do you know how much time our little saving-your-butt detour has wasted? Lorraine fricking Hodges, how hard is that?"
Megha silently marveled at Jessie's spectacular display of shifting the blame on Logan.
"Hmph, " Logan grunted.
"Ugh, " Jessie responded.

Then there was an awkward silence. The only thing that filled the silence was the clicking of a computer mouse somewhere in the castle...which in fact was the orange, accented man looking at pictures of himself over and over. It was obvious that Megha was going to have to introduce herself to Logan. She thought that extreme perkiness was in order. "He-loo, Logan! My name is Megha Malhotra! My name spelled backwards is Ahgem! I have heard no-thing about you except that you work with my dear-est, bosom friend," said Megha in a sing-song voice.

Before Logan could respond, Jessie's phone beeped again. She put back her lighter, which she had been clutching, and looked at the phone. Two missed text messages, both from Raj. The first one said that the tracking device that he had placed on Megha had shown that they were in the evil Sher Not's lair, though this time, Sher Not didn't have any connection to the killings, he just liked to kidnap random people.The text went on to say that there had just been a teleporting device activated on the phone and she and whatever she touched would be sent back to the airport to meet the real Lorraine Hodges and get the mission back on track. "The meddlesome CIA, " thought Jessie to herself. The next text message was intended for Megha, whose phone was dead (who knows how long Megha would have looked at it) and it said that Raj loved his little rain cloud, and missed her more every second, and that he would love her till the day he dies...and that the only reason that he didn't kiss her goodbye was because he wanted to be sure that the adhesive on the tracking device he put on her scalp would dry completely so it wouldn't fall off. There was more mushy business, and Megha read and reread the text like seven times. Jessie finally snatched the phone, contemplated leaving Logan there to rot, but settled for Megha standing between them. The all held hands and Jessie pressed the teleport button.

In a flash, they were back in the airport, and reappeared in the women's washroom. Logan, uncomfortable in a washroom setting that didn't contain urinals, left the bathroom and said he'd meet them outside. Jessie and Megha took some time to freshen up. Jessie turned to Megha and whispered obsessively, "Ohhh, Megha! I don't know what came over me in there! I totally freaked out at Logan. I mean, I just get so nervous around him. And he's my boss,well sorta, I mean, I'm still in training, ugh, stupid, stupid," Megha resisted the urge to tell her how funny she thought it was. Before Megha began her consoling, she noticed two feet under a stall with the door closed. Her eyes widened, and she silently pointed to them, and she and Jessie left the bathroom as quickly and quietly as possible.

Meanwhile, in Sher Not's castle, Sher Not was still sitting at his computer, oblivious to the fact that his recent catch had flown the coop. He just sat there muttering to himself, "dead, alive, dead, dead, alive, alive, dead, alive, dead, dead..."

Chapter 5: The Momentary Hero Wasn't Even Well-Dressed...Fashion Irony At It's Best!

Megha was determined to help her man find his man. A million things ran through her head while she glanced out the window as Jessie was driven away. Jessie had almost disappeared into the rain when the car's right tires went up over the sidewalk, quickly recovered back to the road, and kept on their way to the airport. Megha, being such an analyzing-detail person (but not like obsessive, like she liked doing it, and it didn't really take that much time or effort) had a bad feeling. Jessie's driver, Christopher Fraser had a driving talent that one could easily equate to his stunning, and oddly alluring work ethic, and he never went off the road. Ever. Megha sighed, grabbed her yellow Walt Disney World poncho, and ran out the door.

Meanwhile, Jessie was waiting the the car. Her driver, who had a sick, scratchy voice, had just taken his third bathroom break. She decided to make the most of her time and began to decide what cut of wedding tux would most compliment Logan. Before she had the perfect tie and cuff links matched (a mint leaf theme), the driver was back. He was just about to get back in the car when a flash of yellow bounced off the hood of the car and fell to the ground in a heap. Megha regained consciousness within milliseconds and grabbed the driver and yelled "Over heeeeeeeeere, boys!" Out of nowhere, local policemen came running, choked on their doughnuts and stopped running. Then they took turns giving each other the Heimlich. As the suspect was pelted with half chewed food stuff, he snatched up his designer JLo sunglasses and ran off into the mist as fast as his little legs would carry him...snickering. In the distance, his snicker was joined by another louder, more hearty snicker and the police finally started chasing the shadows.

Megha, not worried that the little man was getting away, went over to a stunned Jessie and explained her intuition. Then she went on to explain how she truly believed that she and Jessie had a neuropsychological connection and that they used to share a brain in another life- Megha was weird like that. Nonetheless, Jessie knew Megha had an amazing nose for mystery solving and she decided on the spot the Megha should come on the mission with her, as a secret accomplice, at all times hidden from Logan. Plus then, if Jessie had any relationship questions/ problems/ stresses with Logan...which is out of character but of course a thing that every woman has the POTENTIAL to go through, Megha could help. Megha agreed, and they hugged and jumped up and down.

Then they put their heads together to come up with the next move...

Chapter Three: Coffee and Suitcases

In a Cute New York Cafe

"Wow," Jessie mused as she twirled a curl around her finger, "he really is the best looking guy I have ever laid eyes on...even the spinach stuck in his teeth is attractive...if only I were a green, half chewed vegetab-". She was snapped back to reality when Logan suddenly flailed his arms, and knocked his knife off the table...off the table...and point down into Jessie's shoe. Logan's eyes widened to three times their normal size-which oddly enough, made him even more attractive. Jessie said something half understandable about having steel enforced stilettos, and called him "dude" two or three times (she was still getting used to speaking in sentences around him). He didn't even apologize, but was sad that his knife got dirty and he wasn't done buttering his bagel yet. Jessie officially wrote him off as just a pretty face, and regained her fluency in the English language.

Their coffee date was productive in the way of discussing their new case, however. They read over the infamous Hood's file, and discovered several things about him. First of all, he was the lead in his high school's production Robin Hood, and he never quite got out of his role. He insisted on being called Robin, walked around with far to much makeup on, and carried a wooden sword with him everywhere that he periodically waved around. Secondly, he was last seen in his apartment in New Brunswick (which is in Canada, the land of snowshoes and igloos). Finally, they (Jessie and Logan, who never was told that he had food residue stuck in his teeth) were to obtain him within the month, before his death count rivaled Freddy and Jason's. Their plan of action was to go to the scene of his last sighting and try to decipher, and search for more clues. Their plane left early the next morning.

In a Cute New York Apartment

Jessie went home, booted Raj out of the apartment, and after several minutes of "No, I love you more", "No silly, I love you more" he was finally gone, leaving Megha sitting on the love seat giggling like a fool. Jessie rolled her eyes, and told Megha all about Logan and her case (secret government issues = smecret smovernment smissues), and Megha helped her pack. Megha had some berry good insights. Before Jessie could say anything though, Megha told her about Raj's big news.

Chapter One: So It Begins

Once upon a time there was a girl named Megha. She was very tall and very punctual. While she was away at university, actually at ballet boot camp in Julliard, she met a very special boy. Actually, this was no boy, this was a man. He was also tall, and very punctual. But when they were together, they were short and late, but blissfully happy. Now, this would be the end of the story, except there was another man. Rather, another boy. His name, when people weren't calling him things like "hey, God's gift to women!" was Tristan Green. He had this attachment to Megha, it could be most accurately equated with gum stuck to ones shoe. Anyways, this was really bothering Megha's real man...so much so that he would cry every night. It was his one weakness-Megha. Oh, and the fact that he was allergic to clam shells. That is weak.

So one day, Megha's beau dried his big brown eyes, stuffed Kleenex in his pockets and went to find Tristan. He wanted to discuss some things, share some feelings, with Tristan (as in scare Tristan just enough so he never spoke to Megha again), but he also had a sneaking suspicion that there was more to Tristan than met the eye. He arrived at Tristan's closet and Tristan was no where to be found. He looked under the rug, and behind the door. Tristan had just vanished. Why did this worry him?

A Tall Tale

A fun thing to do over email is to start writing a story and email it to a friend so he or she can add on to it. Then you can keep going back and forth until you have a really great story. Megha and I did this very thing shortly after we graduated high school and we'd like to share it with you. We are going to take turns publishing the chapters that we wrote on our blogs. So, the first chapter is here, but chapter 2 will be on Megha's blog, and so on.

Please keep in mind:
1. this story is all in fun
2. there may be an inside joke or two
3. we hope you enjoy it

I am Canadian

Skating on a frozen lake is beautiful! This afternoon was perfect for it, because the sun was shining, so the ice sparkled. As I was skating along, a train went by. The driver whistled at me and I waved to him. Then I tried to race the train, but I lost. I'm a pretty amazing skater so I don't know how that one happened ;).

One of the moments that I truly felt Canadian happened a couple years ago. That was when I played a spontaneous game of hockey on a little frozen pond with a bunch of people, most of them I didn't know. It was a great group cause there were people of all ages playing together. We played for a long time, until it got dark. I think that every Canadian needs to play hockey on a lake. It's important.

Jessica

Here's what I found when I looked up my first name. My name was first used as the name of Shylock's daughter in The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare. It is a Hebrew name. The most accurate meanings are "Wealthy one" and "God sees".

This is my new favourite website. There are ringtones on this site that have my name in it and they are so funny! If I ever move out of Canada, I will download one the second that I cross the border.

http://www.babynamesworld.com/meaning_of_Jessica.html

Happy Valentines Day!

I helped hand out free roses to the ladies in Sheriff Hall today. It was really fun to make so many girls smile! For some of them, it really made their day. The card on it said: "You are beautiful! God loves you and he created you with value and worth." It was such a simple message and I really pray that someday, or even today, it would mean so much more to each of them than the roses do. It was funny to see how guys would come up to us and ask for a rose to give to their girlfriends. I bet at least one guy took the tag off and pretended that he bought the rose himself :). That's okay, I can forgive him in the spirit of Valentines Day. It was also cute to see all the guys who came into the building with big bouquets to give away.

Here's what the different rose colours mean (I was wondering about that as we were handing them out):

Red roses are for love and romance.

Pink roses are for love, admiration, appreciation, and gratitude.

Yellow roses are for friendship, joy, and to say "get well".

White roses are for purity, innocence, weddings, sympathy, and spirituality.

Orange roses are for desire, passion, and enthusiasm.

Lavender Roses are for enchantment, wonder, and love at first sight.

My final thoughts on Valentines Day:

1. I support it, though I don't think you should have to spend a lot of money on extravagant gifts.

2. I think that chocolate is a nice addition to a gift, but not a big box of chocolates. You don't want either person to feel fat after feeling compelled to eat a lot of chocolate because it's in front of him or her. I have very little self-control when it comes to chocolate.

3. I don't know if I think that the best type of flowers to receive on Valentines Day are roses. Roses, or a single rose, would be nice for the first couple Valentines Days in a relationship. I'd like to think that I would want to spice it up with another kind of flower after awhile...

Shake It

WARNING TO STUDENTS: While the author attempted to follow Shakespeare's plots as closely as reasonably possible (for parodies), you should not rely on these scripts in a cheesy attempt to avoid reading the original works, while still hoping to pass your examinations. Without limiting the foregoing, please be advised that in the original works by William Shakespeare, Ophelia is not a conniving gold digger, Edmund and Edgar are not ventriloquist's dummies, and Lady Macbeth does not turn into a man when she says, "Spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here."

This inspires me to download a Shakespeare parody from http://www.shakespeare-parodies.com/ and read it in it's entirety!

Later. After my exam.

Valentines Day

Some people used to believe that if a woman saw a robin flying overhead on Valentine's Day, it meant she would marry a sailor. If she saw a sparrow, she would marry a poor man and be very happy. If she saw a goldfinch, she would marry a millionaire.

15% of U.S. women send themselves flowers on Valentine's Day.

The 17th century hopeful maiden ate a hard-boiled egg and pinned five bay leaves to her pillow before going to sleep on Valentine's eve. It was believed this would make her dream of her future husband.

To do before next Wednesday:
1. Get some good bird-watching binoculars.
2. Send myself some flowers?
3. Convince my mom to buy me some bay leaves.


http://www.corsinet.com/braincandy/valtrivia.html

Disappointment

You think that you have finally focused your finicky microscope, then you realize that your eyes are actually just looking at the dirt on your glasses.

The Future is Female

When I was in elementary school, particularly in grade 5, I had gender-equality issues. One day, I refused to participate in gym class because I thought that my gym teacher had implied that boys are better at certain aspects of sports than girls are. I had to go to the vice president's office and she told me that Mr Mayo did not intend to be chauvinistic. I really liked the sound of that word, and I made a mental note to use it in further protests. Around that time, this little ditty that was on the inside cover of the first Spice Girls CD became my mantra. Me and my friends would march down the halls at school and recite it.

"Wonderwoman. This Vibe is Contagious. Feel it, Catch it. It's a Girl's World. She Who Dares Wins. It's a Girl Thang. Come On Baby. The Spice Squad Are Here. What Are You Looking At Boy? Can You Handle a Spice Girl? Silence is Golden But Shouting Is Fun. Freedom Fighters The Future Is Female. Spice Revolution."

Now, I'm quite different. I have no problem admitting that men are stronger than women. Generally, guys are physically stronger and faster. It's true and that's totally ok with me. I was reminded of my acceptance of this fact when I happily stepped back and let Morgan's dad and his male co-worker carry Morgan's mother of a couch up three flights of stairs on Saturday. Now, I wholeheartedly capitalize on my physical weakness whenever I can.

I'm sorry, Spice Girls. Oh, and I'm sorry, Mr. Mayo-wherever you are. I will never call you Mr. Mayonnaise again...starting now.

Taste the Rainbow

One pack of Skittles gives you 70% of the daily vitamin C you need.

Goodbye orange juice.