For Ireland

Liquid threads of colour
Pool across a palette of infinite dimension
Stretching the breadth of human emotion with its thundrous vitality
A canvas of serene sacredness and raw power:
Rolling fields slumber in tranquility, embraced by tangled bushes,
Frothing water of a laundered bed --
A masquerade of faeries shimmering in a wonderland of mist and spray.
Fierce strongholds boldy curse time's passing hand.
They whisper to me tales of their childhood
Of swords and magic and kings.
Standing in the recesses of your spirit
Nature and myth collide in waking dream
Reviving my senses from numb apathy.
I run my fingers along the rough Celtic legends
To suck the marrow of my paramour.
I will revel in the silken coolness of your breath
and forever rest in the arms of your ardent lullaby.
I am home.

It still needs some editing.. but I'll sit on it for a while. In the mean time, here's the first draft.

Acting angst.

So I watched the second half of “What a Girl Wants” the other night, because I was bored and it was on TV. Let me just say that I have great pity for anyone who loves that movie. After about 10 minutes every inch of me felt entirely compelled to change the channel. Amanda Byrnes CAN NOT ACT. Every time she spoke it sounded like she was reciting a script. If it’s good acting, you should never hear a script. “Why are you trying to fit in, when you were born to stand out?” Please excuse me while I throw up. So why did I keep watching it, you ask? Well, for one thing, my parents sat down and started watching it with me… but the main reason I started watching it in the first place is because Colin Firth is in it. And believe me, I am very disappointed in Colin Firth for doing this movie. I mean, he’s about the only thing that’s good in it, but even that doesn’t save it. Why does a really good actor do a movie with a crap actress who is only famous because she’s pretty and she did a kid TV show? The same thing goes for Lindsay Lohan and Hillary Duff. Blech. All these kids, who can not act to save their lives, get to work with these credible actors just because they’re pretty and marketable. There is no justice in this world. Then there’s Jim Carrey, who I am starting to have more respect for as an actor. I saw the Majestic over the weekend and it’s not a bad little film. I don’t particularly like him so much as a comedic actor (although I do have respect for his abilities in that area), but I think he does some good stuff as a dramatic actor (dramatic meaning ‘not comedic’ rather than soap opera, overdone acting), especially in “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”. I think Canada should be proud of him. It has taken some time for him to convince me of this conclusion so there it is. I’m sure he’s reading this now and jumping for joy because he now has my respect. I know I would if I were him.
I saw my friend Jenna two nights ago -- I haven't seen her since Christmas. That made me happy. It's always nice when you can see someone who you haven't seen in months and it feels like you last saw them a day ago. It makes you really appreciate your friendship. I think that's what having a best friend is all about. And it feels good.
Cheers.

*Scream*

I'M GOING TO SEE LES MISERABLES IN TORONTO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Join me, as we all curse scanners.

I hate scanners. Stupid stupid machines. And along with the hatred of scanners, comes the hatred of thin wimpy paper. Normal paper? Scans like butter. Wimpy paper? Not so much like butter -- more like a porcupine in a patch of thistle bushes... Do thistle bushes even come in patches? And do thistles even come in bushes? Questions questions questions. Although, I must admit, when I have to de-staple, wimpy paper is easier then normal paper because you can feel the staples through all of the paper. Makes me feel like the Princess and the pea. Only instead of a pea under a matress.. I can feel a.. staple. Through.. wimpy paper. Okay, it's not quite as cool, but hey one has to stay entertained.
Well, I can now say that I officially own a sexy black dress. Really, a female must. And I've been depriving my feminity all these years because I never owned a sexy black number. But that's all behind me now. Yesterday, I bought a sexy black dress. At Le Chateau. Oh yeah. I feel good.
I just scanned in 162 papers at once. Booyah! And now my computer is uber slow because it can't handle my awesome scanning abilities. Stupid machines.
So I found out that Mariska Hargitay (from L&O SVU --- sorry ... I'm not really that addicted but I just recently checked out their website) is an rape crisis counsellor in real life. I think that's pretty cool. I think if I ever got raped (heaven forbid) I would probably go to New York (at least I'm assuming she's in NY becuase that's where they film the show) and get counselled by her. Now, I know what you're thinking.. Steph, you're only saying that because a) you love that show, b) she's pretty darn cool, c) she's famous, and d) she's a golden globe winner. And those are all valid statements my friends. But I wouldn't go to her becuase of that... more because I feel like I know her already. Granted, I feel like I know Dectective Olivia Bensen, not necessarily Mariska Hargitay, but I'm assuming that if she's doing rape counseling I'm sure the sympathy she shows on screen is not far off from the real person. And feeling like you know the person already would definately be helpful becuase then you wouldn't feel as inhibited to tell them things. So that's my reasoning. Here's hoping I will never have to use my reasoning.. but it would be kind of cool to meet her though. :)
I'm a sad sad human being.
Cheers.

Notable Quotables

I feel ugly today. Maybe it's the black hair and I'm just not used to it yet. Or maybe it's my clothes. I don't really know. I mean, what makes a person feel ugly? I'm sure the people we think are the most gorgeous people on the face of this planet feel ugly sometimes. Or all the time. Kind of weird if you think about it. Who's to dictate what's "pretty" and what's not? Why, when I looked in the mirror this morning, did I feel like I wanted to sink into the largest hole I could find because I was so disgusted with the way I looked? Now I know what you're thinking.. Oh boy, here it comes, she's going to come up with some big social philosophical thought here that might change the way we view ourselves.
But I'm not. I'm just rambling.
I don't really have that much to say today (besides letting everyone know that I feel ugly). I had a pretty crappy morning before work. I was pretty tired because I went to Guelph last night and partied it up. Oh yeah. So when I got up it seemed like I hadn't really slept at all.. kind of like I went to sleep and the next thing I remember is waking up. I don't have that very often so it was kind of odd. Then I didn't like what I was wearing so I changed a couple times (that wasn't that crappy, but my self-esteem didn't enjoy it too much), shockingly burned my tongue and lips (you know, when you're not expecting it and then wham! shit!) on my coffee and my mom got mad at me for something. Then on the way to work I spilled my coffee in the car and I almost got hit trying to salvage the ruins. Stupid, I know, but man, was I tired and therefore not really thinking straight. I've never confessed to being an excellent driver, but I'm not really that bad. So my morning got an overall rating of: SUCK.
I've been having lots of dreams lately though so that's kind of fun (obviously except for last night). Recently they've been about Christopher Meloni (that's even more fun) mostly because I'm completely HOOKED on Law and Order SVU. I have three episodes waiting for me tonight because I've been gone these past two nights so I had to tape it. Well, on Tuesday night I wasn't actually gone -- my family and I were watching AFI's top 100 movie quotes ... and wanted to see the top ten which were on during my show. The top ten were pretty good so I think it was worth it. The number one movie quote of all time was (take a guess...) "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" from Gone with the Wind. Go figure. "Here's looking at you, kid" from Casablanca made the top ten as well, along with "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore" (Wizard of Oz), "May the force be with you" (Star Wars) , and "Go ahead, make my day" (Dirty Harry). "I'll be back" "Life is like a box of chocolates" and "Housten, we have a problem" didn't even make the top 15.... stupid really. What do these people know. And 2 and 3 were ones I hadn't even heard before. I mean really. Get it right.
Anyways, that's about all for now... time to get back to work.
Cheers.

Monday, monday.. la da la da da da

Ah... mondays. But there's lots for me to do so it's not so bad. I have these big piles of paper to scan in... which keeps me busy, but the probability of something messing up during the scanning process greatly increases. Oh blech -- cold coffee.
Good weekend for me. Didn't get much sleep but that's okay. Went to a wedding shower for my friend which was fun but wierd at the same time. She's my age... and getting married. I'm not even looking for a freaking boyfriend and she's getting married. Not to mention all the other people I know that are around my age that are getting married. Silly people.
I dyed my hair again..... black. oh yeah. My friend Crystal did it.. Man, Crystal's great.. she pierced my nose, she dyed my hair... she's going places. Yeah, so my hair is black now. My friend Tiffany would call me a "stranger in the land" (she did that the last time my hair was dyed black becuase I happened to be wearing my "stranger in the land" t-shirt -- I never did live down that nickname from her). I'm feeling a little goth, but once I've had it for a few days it will be fine.
Oh, I heard great news on the radio this morning -- Les Miserables is returning to Toronto one last time in September. I'm going. I don't care how much it is. Who wants to come with me??!?!
Almost time for lunch... roughly a half hour. Booyah.
Saw some good movies recently. I went to the movie theater 3 times in the past two weeks. Unusual for me. I saw Star Wars 3, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and Batman Begins -- all action type movies which is also rather unusual for me. But I guess that's kind of what's playing right now. Star Wars was okay -- the dialogue was soooo sad.. I cringed inwardly whenever someone had to speak. And Hayden Christiansen? Help us all. Mrs. and Mrs. Smith and Batman were both really good, but I think I'd rate Batman higher just because Mr. and Mrs. Smith is too hyped up with the whole Brad and Angelina thing.. and, well, Christian Bale is very nice to look at (and might i add -- this is risky -- even b. Not to mention, Tom Wilkensen and Liam Neeson are in Batman... it doesn't get much better. Although 'Smith' is pretty funny and has some great fight scenes. Another excellent movie that I just recently rented -- The Sea Inside. About a rather hard issue and not one that Christians agree with -- assisted suicide. It's inItalian (I think) with English subtitles. And it really makes you think. It's almost completely clean and totally worth seeing. I don't know, I was so clear on what I thought of euthenasia but this movie really challenges you to really come to grips with this issue. I recommend it to anyone. It also won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film and it's based on a true story.
Well, that's about it for now..... looking forward to watching my show tonight -- haven't seen it all weekend. :)
Cheers.

A business woman? Me?

So here I am, typing a blog since who knows when. I'm currently sitting at my desk at work, trying not to look at my watch too much -- time goes faster that way. It's almost 3 which means I have an hour and half left of work. Whoppee! Not that work is horrible or anything.. actually rather like it.. but the end of the day is the end of the day. Doesn't matter. Right now I'm going through old files and taking all the staples out so that I can scan them into the computer and then file them. I know, it sounds so exciting. My hand is starting to hurt though, from the staple-taker-outer. Poor me.
So work is going great. I can make my own hours sort of thing, I can have lunch when I want to, go to the bathroom when I want to and I even have my own desk! I'm trying to decide whether I want to dress it up a little bit in good ol' Stephanie style... But at the moment it's covered with paperwork and that's making me feel pretty important, so I don't know yet. One thing I do know, though, is that my foot is falling asleep right now becuase I've had my legs crossed for quite some time. Not good. Oh, another thing we get here is free coffee all day long. And yes, I've now officially become a coffee drinker. Sad and pathetic, I know, but all too true. Oo, I'm reaching the end of my pile.. almost time to scan.
So I'm addicted to Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. At least my mom would definately think so. :) Okay, so I watch every day at 7:00 without fail (escept maybe two or three times when I forgot to set the tape and I wasn't home.. pity) but it's such a GREAT show! And maybe I'm just a little in love with Christopher Meloni. But even when he's not featured in a particular episode, though the episode suffers, it's still good. The only thing I don't like about the show is Ice-T. Blech. The guy should cut off that thing hanging from the back of his head (and for those of you who haven't seen the show, I'm talking about his ponytail -- no, he's not an alien). But besides him, the show is so exciting. I don't know why, call me gross, but I find sex crimes interesting.
Anyways, it's almost time to go home so off I go.
Cheers.

I'm still alive..

Here's a recent photo of me... taken and edited by me. It's a fun one. Anyways, I'm still alive people and I've just reactivated my blog. Not that it needed reactivating, I just enjoyed saying that. Blog to follow.