Friday, February 6, 2009

Dating With Erin: A Gloomy Update

Alright, so an update on the adventures of dating with Erin is long since due. Remember when I decided I needed to start dating, and when I actually signed up for Plenty of Fish? And then there was the sample of barf worthy messages I have received. Well, there has been a bit since then. Let's just say though, I'm starting to feel rather like this boy:

It's getting depressing by SmartMarmot

There have been two guys so far, the first we will call West Coast and the second we will call The Teacher.
West Coast messaged me first, he seemed nice and fairly normal. He moved here from BC and seemed pretty interested in me. I think I self-sabotaged that one. I was brutally honest about myself, and when I felt like he was moving to the meeting stage fasted than I was ready for, I told him I wanted to move more slowly. Shortly after that, things slowed to a stop. He stopped messaging me, and I didn't really try to re-start it, I just wasn't that interested.
The Teacher was next. He seemed really normal and things were going really well, we seemed to have a lot in common and the messaging was good. He seemed to be really interested in me, and then all of a sudden, he stopped messaging me. He had stopped for a bit before, over the Christmas holidays, so I thought he might return. I wait, and waited, and nothing.
When I first started this, I told myself that I was not going to be the initiator. I would put myself out there by being online, and they would come to me, right?
No more have come. It could be that I'm picky. Good grammar and an education is a must. I'm more attracted to certain types of people than others.


Plenty of fish by SNOWFactory.com


I'll keep looking, but I'm not too excited about it.

And then, there was the slightly embarrassing real life incident. We'll call him Bus Boy.
The day before New Years Eve, I was riding the bus home from the subway around midnight, and saw a guy kind of looking at me. I was not attracted, so I continued to play Solitaire on my iPod (hey, it's an hour commute!). I happened to be getting off the bus at the same stop as him, there were a few people getting off, so I didn't think much of it. It was snowing and gross and I just wanted to get home and to bed because I was working at 8 the next morning. To get to my building, it is fastest to walk down this "Avenue" which is actually more like an alley. It is lined with sketchy garages, and can be a little scary at night. By the time I was at the end of the alley, close to my building, he started walking beside me, and struck up small talk about the weather. I was a little confused. Why is this guy talking to me? Is he flirting with me? Guys don't hit on me! He asked about my New Year's Eve plans, I told him I was working, he started asking questions about me and I answered politely, but did not flirt back, because I just wasn't interested. He told me he was 27 (5 years older than me) and lived in an apartment by himself in the building next to mine. He asked if I had a boyfriend, I told him I was seeing someone. Then he asked for my number. I froze. This sort of thing doesn't happen to me! Part of me figured that I can't complain about being single if I'm turning down giving guys my number, and how do you nicely turn down someone, especially at midnight in your parking lot? I thought about giving him a fake number, but was so flustered that I couldn't think up one, I was afraid I would end up giving him my parents' number or something accidentially. So I did it. I gave a random guy my phone number. That is so uncharacteristic of me, I couldn't believe I did it. We shook hands and I went inside, on my way in, he told me he thought I was hot, and, flattered, I said thank you.
Big mistake.
Less than an hour later, I recieved a picture text message, from him. The picture was of him half (?) naked and flexing. The friends who have seen it speculate that he may be pleasuring himself in it. With the picture, he asks to see one of me. My response was something along the lines of HOLYCRAPNOWAY! I ignored it. Not much later, he sends me another text message informing me that he would like to sexually pleasure me and inviting me over for a booty call.
Ladies, can I take a poll here: would this technique actually work on you???
I ignored that one too, and shared it with my friends of course. Over the course of the next few weeks, I continued to receive texts from him and voicemails, all of which I ignored, hoping he would get the point. One night, however, I accidentally picked up when he called. I pretended not to know who he was. He told me he was just going through his phone calling some people he hadn't talked to (and I am like, WTF, there's more than just me!?!). He asked what I was doing, I said I was hanging out with the guy I was seeing, and he still wanted me to call him sometime! He asked if I got text messages, I curtly said no. He said he was adding people to MSN and asked if I had it, I curtly said no. That was that. I immidiately saved his number as "Do Not Pick Up" in my phone, and got more calls/voicemails than ever before from him over the following week or so. It was starting to stress me out. I worried I would run into him, it's hard to ignore someone in person. It stressed my sister out even more, she wanted to give me her camping knife to carry around with me. I declined. Finally, one weekend, he called me Saturday night, Sunday morning, and Sunday night. That was it, I decided. If he called again, I would do something about it. That Tuesday, he called again. Right afterwards, I texted him. I told him that he needed to stop calling. I said I wasn't interested in booty calls or pictures texts, and that I had already said I was seeing someone, and I am not that kind of girl.
I haven't heard from him since.

And that is that, my friends. A Dating with Erin update. It's a sad state of affairs over here.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Kitteh Love

We had another cat photoshoot at my apartment tonight! Then I dressed the photos up using Poladroid. I am aware that I am just a few cat photoshoots and a few boyfriendless years away from crazy cat lady-dom. But will you just look at how cute he is!?


Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Ever Wondered About Canadian Government?

A good portion of my readers come from outside of Canada, and with the excitement going on in U.S. politics, you may not have realized that Canada's been going through big political changes of its own... sort of. Here to explain what the heck is happening in Canada is Rick Mercer. Haven't heard of him? Picture Jon Stewart, but much more Canadian. He has the Rick Mercer Report on the CBC every Tuesday (he ends every show with "See you next Tuesday", get it? Heh!), where he goes to various Canadian events and talks to/makes fun of Canadian politicians. So Rick, what's been going on in Canada?

25 Things

This has been going around Facebook like wildfire. After being tagged a few times, I thought I would avoid doing housework by doing one myself. And, because it makes good blog fodder, here you go, 25 random things about yours truly.

1. My initials spell EEW. Thanks, Mom and Dad.
2. As a kid (okay, until a few years ago) I had an unhealthy obsession with moose. Like, as in the animal.
3. I own movies that I've never watched.
4. I have bought myself a "Ferret Frenzy" calendar every year now for 4 years, we started with World Tour, then it was TV Shows, then At the Movies, and now On Vacation. It's ferrets posed in different scenes, wearing clothes and acting out something, in case you were wondering. For February, they are on a cruise ship, dressed in cruise clothing, one is sitting in a deck chair and the other is looking over the side of the ship.
5. I might just singlehandedly keep Matt & Nat handbags in business. I've lost track of how many I have.
6. At our last vet visit, Thunder Kitty weighed 25 pounds. He is on diet kibble now, but I think it's only called "diet" because it must not taste good, he does not like eating it. I realize this is not at all about me... but the reason he is on diet food is so that the vet doesn't judge me as a bad mother when I bring him in.
7. Since last April, I have watched my mother battle - and beat - bowel cancer. It brought our family close together, and made me realize how amazingly strong and beautiful my mother is.
8. I have been on anti-depressants for my anxiety disorder for over 6 years now, it may not be everyone's best option, but it has worked for me.
9. If given the option, I could easily be completely nocturnal.
10. I loved the Twilight series way more than I will admit to most other people (unless they share the obsession). I feel like a 15 year old girl when I admit that New Moon made me cry.
11. I want to travel the world, but first I need to find someone to do it with me because I'm way too chicken to do it alone.
12. I think Dave Matthews is a genius. I would put my anti-adultery morals aside for him. (Too much info? Sorry guys!)
13. I get stressed out when other people are arguing / not getting along, even if I have nothing to do with it.
14. I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up. I like working at the shelter, but I know it's not forever. I don't ever want to feel bored or unhappy with my job.
15. I have considered getting a tattoo, but I am too scared of commitment and permanence.
16. I can't watch those OSPCA commercials on tv without being tempted to adopt them all. If I had a large piece of land and unlimited funds, I would likely adopt a tonne of abused or abandoned animals.
17. I go through periods where I can't get enough of a certain food, and then all of a sudden I can't stand the thought of it and move on to another food. Current food: eggs.
18. I can't decide if I like Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi better. Lately I've been on a Diet Pepsi kick. I drink way more Diet Coke and Diet Pepsi than I should, but I do not like the non name brand colas, I can taste the difference.
19. I like driving. Not so much in the GTA or on 400-series highways, but on the country highways. However, if I had a choice, I would take the train, I love riding the train.
20. I will always love Kenesserie Camp. I would go back to work there in a heartbeat if it was at all feasible for me. It is the first place that I have ever loved.
21. My sister is in New Zealand right now. I cannot even fathom how far away that is.
22. I miss the camping trips we used to go on as a family. The east coast twice, the west coast, Kentucky, South Carolina, Northern Ontario...
23. I had kidney surgery when I was 3 years old. I have a scar across my side that has grown up with me. If given the choice, I don't think I would want to get it removed. That scar is a part of me now.
24. I can bake, but I cannot cook. I almost always screw it up when I cook.
25. I love board games. Most nights I would rather stay in and play them than go out. I love Cranium and Trivial Pursuit and Monopoly.

Monday, February 2, 2009

My Own Personal Saga (minus the vampires)

Remember this? Weeks ago I ordered this purse, with overnight shipping. I was so excited for it. Those of you who follow me on Twitter have heard about it every step of the way, but just in case you don't follow me on Twitter, here's what went down:
January 14 - Order the purse from Matt & Nat, blog about how excited I am. Overnight shipping wasn't that much more than regular shipping (as in, a matter of cents difference) so I went for it, expecting the purse to arrive by January 16th at the latest.
January 16 - No purse. The tracking website says there is an exception and it should come Monday. I know I won't be home Monday or Tuesday, but figure they will leave a yellow sticky note at my building so I can go pick it up.
January 21 - No sticky note, no purse, no update on the tracking website. I decide to call UPS. They tell me they don't know where it is, because it has not been scanned since it left Quebec, tell me I have to call the company who sent it to have them track it. I call Matt & Nat, they are super helpful and put a track on it, telling me they will call me when they hear from UPS where my purse is.
January 27 - Matt & Nat calls back, says UPS still hasn't found it, but they will call me as soon as they do.
January 28 - My purse was returned by UPS to the Matt & Nat warehouse in Quebec, Matt & Nat tells me they will send it again.
January 30 - The tracker website says they attempted delivery, but I had been home all day and no one had contacted me. I do not have a working buzzer on my building, so I left a note for UPS to call me when they get there and I will meet them. Matt & Nat, who has been in contact with me the whole time via e-mail, says I had better call UPS and see if that will effect delivery. I call UPS, and they tell me that the drivers do not have cell phones and so can't call me. What?? What sort of 21st century company doesn't have cell phones? The pizza delivery guys can call me when they get here, but UPS can't? I am pissed. The UPS lady on the phone asks if I have a concierge or something along those lines, but I live in sketchville and nobody near me has a concierge, so that will not work. I am close to telling her that I will sit outside the building to wait for it, but I have standards. So she suggests that they could hold the package and I could go pick it up. I say sure, I have a car, that's easy to do. Then she informs me that the UPS building that serves my area is at Jane and Steeles. What??? That is nowhere near my area! I live along the lake on the bottom of Toronto, and the UPS building is literally along the border where the top end of Toronto meets Vaughn. At that point I said fine, I would go pick it up, because there were really no other options and my purse was supposed to come two weeks ago.
January 31 - Dropped my little sister off at the airport, was feeling sad about not going anywhere and saw a perfect Matt & Nat bag at Winners that looks like this, only made of linen with darker pleather trimming, and may or may not have purchased it (I love it! It holds my stuff for work PERFECTLY).
February 2 - Got in the car, drove for about an hour across the city, and finally got my purse! Here it is, in all of it's glory (and the glory of my beautiful loveseat):


Ta-da! It's more of a dressy purse, and I have moved my stuff into it to use for my interview tomorrow at the shelter. I think I'll use the linen one for everyday work stuff, and the new one for dressier events. Perfect!!
And thus the saga ends. No vampires or romance, but a beautiful purse (or two) to call my own!

Google Knows All

I found this Google game over at Coming Home, and thought it looked like fun:



Q1: Type in "[your name] needs" in the Google search.
Erin needs a servant.
(Oh. My. Goodness. Yes, please!)

Q2: Type in "[your name] looks like" in Google search.
Erin looks like Harry Potter on drugs.
(How exactly would that look, anyway?)

Q3: Type in "[your name] says" in Google search.
Erin says "Sit" Happens!
(Frequently!)

Q4: Type in "[your name] wants" in Google search.
Erin wants to pack 330 cookies in eight boxes.
(But I don't know if I can!!!)

Q5:Type in "[your name] does" in Google search.
Erin does the Donkey Dance.
(Daily! Some day it will attract a donkey, I'm sure of it!)

Q6: Type in "[your name] hates" in Google search.
Erin hates stripping. She hates it the way Marie Antoinette hated wigs.
(But, I thought Marie Antionette liked wigs? No?)

Q7: Type in "[your name] asks" in Google search.
Erin asks her class to help her raise the $8000 needed to free an abused elephant, named Lilly.
(Poor Lilly! I hope I can adopt her!)

Q8: Type in "[your name] likes " in Google search.
Erin likes waffles.
(It's true!)

Q9: Type in "[your name] eats " in Google search.
Erin eats emos.
(Well, when I'm out of waffles...)

Q10: Type in "[your name] wears " in Google search.
Erin wears many hats.
(All at once! Wasn't there a children's book about that?)

Q11: Type in "[your name] was arrested for" in Google Search.
Erin was arrested for offensive touching.
(You know it! I'm always so tempted...!)

Q12: Type in "[your name] loves" in Google Search.
Erin loves to cut things with her scissors, but cutting things can cause lots of trouble.
(One time I cut my own bangs, true story. Curly bangs are NOT nice...)