Bill’s post of today makes up for last week’s eviction notice, the shit hitting the fan in our department at work, our having to move our offices downtown, the pimple on my butt, my Visa bill, my regrets about having cut my hair (SOB!!), the frikkin’ cold and the lack of recent comments here.

Thank you, geekette, I needed that! Much slobbery love (with tongue) back to you!

I saw this anti-drug coalition commercial last night: two teenage boys are sitting in what seems to be the plush home office of one of their parents. One is sitting at the desk, the other in an easy chair. They’re smoking pot and obviously quite stoned - mellow, slow, slurring their words. You wonder where this is going until one of them opens the top drawer and pulls out a gun. Not realizing what it is, he holds it weakly towards his friend. Completely relaxed, his glassy-eyed friend asks if the gun’s loaded, and the other kid inadvertently shoots him.

The word “HARMLESS?” comes on the screen, meaning the marijuana.

Does it strike anyone else as perverted, that pot is shown as the harmful thing here, when there’s a loaded gun in the unlocked top drawer? Are they saying this is a normal thing to have in one’s house?

Today, I hate winter.

This had T and I in tears, for some reason.

Almost two weeks into 2003, how am I doing with my resolutions?

1) Keep cooking for myself and packing lunches
I started this in November, dropping a whopping six pounds and saving hundreds of dollars in the first month. This week, one café-bought bagel (but I brought the cream cheese from home) and dinner at the Claremont with friends on Saturday night. That’s going very well.

2) Make fewer commitments, so I have more free time for friends
I made this resolution because three nights of swing dancing a week, combined with a boyfriend, meant I hardly ever saw my group of friends, and almost never saw anybody one-on-one anymore. This one is also going all right, but I’m counting the first week of the year, which I had off and spent hanging with friends, so that’s kinda cheating. I’m not sure this one will hold: on Monday I still knew what I was doing every evening of the week, and had none free. And now I’m considering joining an archery club.

3) Save up for a condo
With the whole eviction thing that happened this week, I don’t know if the condo project still has the same timeframe (early next year). I mean, do I really want to move twice in such a short period? I’m sticking to the budget I established quite nicely, but that budget will change (hopefully for the more advantageous) if and when I move in with T. So this remains to be revised.

What were yours, and how are you doing?

I was watching Spider-Man over the holidays, and noticed some annoying product placement in the movie. Thinking about it afterwards, I realized that product placement in the movies had often distracted me, sometimes significantly reducing my enjoyment of the film.

I don’t have a problem with subtle placement. Someone taking a Coke out of the fridge during an interesting conversation is not “problematic product placement” for me. Even all the FedEx stuff in Cast Away didn’t bother me, because a no-name brand would have been more distracting. The Lexus logo filling the screen for a whole second in Minority Report, that’s problematic.

Another type of “non-problematic product placement” is when there is a justification for it, or it’s part of the entertainment. Example: in What Women Want, we watch an entire, full-length Nike ad in the middle of it. This, in the story, shows how Mel Gibson’s ability to hear women’s thoughts has helped him understand them better and make a kickass ad aimed at women, landing the firm the huge Nike account. The ad was great. It was entertaining to watch. That totally worked for me. I wasn’t distracted by thinking “ugh, product placement”.

This may seem silly, because it’s like I’m saying trick me into watching ads, and I won’t care so much.

(This blog was brought to you by Ikea. Ikea. Swedish for common sense.)

This explains a lot.

Actually, I’m getting evicted. WAH!

My landlady needs my ground floor apartment for her elderly sister, who currently lives in a third floor apartment. She felt really bad about it, but hey.

So the non-optional part is that I have to move out. The optional part is that I can take the sister’s current place. I can’t afford it by myself, so I asked T to consider sharing it. He’s into moving in with me if we like the place. We did a drive-by and decided the inside better kick butt if we’re going to take it. For one thing, it’s waaaay at the eastern end of Mont-Royal, not really near a metro.

So this time it’s for real, folks: I need to find an apartment. Because of the guilt factor, my landlady is flexible on the date, which means May, June or July. Looking for a 5 1/2 ideally, top price 900$, near metro a must.

Thanks in advance.

My landlady wants to see me tonight because she has a “business proposition” for me. Hmm, interesting.

Watch me wonder all day about it, then have her offer for me to become part of the Amway family.

Dork Tower is, once again, frighteningly accurate.