Two blogger parties, two coats of paint in the living room, one old couch out, one new couch in, one TV table assembled, all clothing, books and DVDs unpacked, one dishwasher installed.

Still not a single present bought.

I’m really, really no fan of winter, so when I read three different blogs today talking about how cold it was, I bundled up like the Michelin man and braced for the worst.

Still, I have to admit when I got out into the sun and got my first lungfull of the nostril-freezing cold, some ancient buried part of my brain went “SKI DAY!!!” (surprising the cold-weather-wuss majority of my cortex).

I really hope we do go sliding next week, dear off-yulbloggers. Or at least have a snowball fight. Pickup street hockey. Something. Then we can go back online and compare pictures of tuque-heads and rosy cheeks on Flickr.

“Over and underweight guys who don’t get laid. They’re our bread and butter.”

- Holden McNeil, Chasing Amy.

Holden was talking about the comic book industry, but when I read stuff like this, I can’t help but think that applies to gaming as well.

I’m no fan of Microsoft, but IE has always worked for me. Still, wanting to increase my system’s security and shamed into feeling like a member of the unenlightened stone-age masses, I gave in and installed Firefox early this week. I made it my default browser and removed all the desktop shortcuts to IE, determined to break the habit.

Overall it’s a browser I enjoy using, but I’m having a few problems. After a week, here are some of the ones I haven’t yet been able to get around:

- Yahoo! LaunchCast, where I get most of my music throughout the day, does not support it. Not really Mozilla’s fault, but not good for me.
- I would have linked “Firefox” in this entry, but I’m using it to blog this, and the formatting and URL buttons in Movable Type do not appear (yes of course I can enter the HTML tags manually but that implies changing the keyboard language to English, etc). There has to be a simple plugin I need to download for this.
- This page looks like shit in it. I shudder at the thought of having to put in the time to make it look right for the two browsers simultaneously (sorry, but IE still accounts for 70% of my visitors).

Last week, with the move and everything else that went on, I wasn’t the most dedicated mom to my pooch. Moreover, Comet was turning one on Monday, so when I heard that Montreal’s sortiedechien.com invited us to their doggie Xmas party, I felt I owed it to her to attend.

Not really knowing what to expect, I made my way there, only to find it was a real bar with low lighting, loud music, beer and pool tables, except everyone had a beer in one hand, and was holding a dog on a leash on the other.

Since I didn’t know anyone, I initially decided I’d let Comet lead the way, greeting whomever she wanted to greet, and I’d just follow. It was her night, after all. However, after going around the room five times in the first minute, I revised the plan.

You had your social butterfly dogs like her who went around meeting and sniffing as many canines as they could (and Comet seems to be developing a clear preference for the bigger boys… she’s a Great Dane groupie). At the same time you had your cooler, shier doggies just propping up the bar, trying to look like they were enjoying themselves, secretly hoping someone would talk to them.

No doggie Christmas would have been complete without a barkalong and a gift exchange, and Comet got to go home with a stuffed bone and a new ball. And even I got to make some new friends.

Merry Christmas, Comet!

(photo from sortiedechien.com)

Vivendi is holding a contest wherein seven winners will have their likeness used in the upcoming third-person shooter Scarface.

Of course it’d be kind of cool to see yourself in a game… but then shooting that character?

Went outside this morning before 7 am to move my car (ah, the joys of waiting for the new neighborhood vignette) and found that the city’s snow-removal services (ah, the joys of winter) had bashed my wrought iron gate in (ah, the joys of ownership) and broken it, so that now it won’t open and I can’t get out.

These soda crackers and tea should last me a few days…

UPDATE: According to the city, I have to send them a letter claiming damages. The processing time for such a request is 2 to 3 months, and I’m not allowed to have the thing fixed until they come back with a decision. Not joyful!

If you work in a restaurant that serves meat, accept that. When serving a nice pork chop to a customer for lunch, do NOT say, as you lay the plate down, “Awww… poor piggie”.

Anyone know of any community or eco service that takes used furniture, and will pick it up, other than the Salvation Army and St-Vincent-de-Paul?

Thanks.

Update: Thanks for the suggestions, but this freecycle thing has proven fantabulous! I now have about 15 people wanting to come take my couch away. Great initiative, this site.

Seem to have reached the speed limit. Head spinning. Going ashore for maintenance.