'Tis the Season!

No, not Christmas. It's time for NaNoWriMo again! I've signed up to participate. I'm not sure what sort of commitment I can really maintain this year, but what the hey! Maybe it will get me motivated to do my homework sometime...



I doubt I'll have time to blog how things are going this time. For detailed stats you can see a chart at the NaNoWriMo site.

I've been trying to think of rewards that I might give myself if I succeed. Here's my thoughts so far:

• at 12500 words I'll buy myself a Geocoin (a trackable coin to put in geocaches)
• at 25000 words I'll buy myself a dance DVD (maybe Rachel Brice's fusion one)
• at 37500 words I'll buy myself another Geocoin
• at 50000 words I'll buy myself a set of 4 Travel Bug tags

Wish me luck!

Geocaching update

I have not had much time for geocaching lately. And even when I have gone out I've had poor luck in finding caches. I need to give myself more time, I guess. Anyway, it looks like my travel bug is finally on its way. I released it into the wilds outside of Lanigan towards the end of July, and it sat there for nearly three weeks before anyone picked it up. The guy who grabbed saved it for almost seven weeks to put in a cache he was making (Sept. 29). It is a travel bug hotel - a place where people can pick up and drop off travel bugs - and my travel bug was one of over 30 placed in that cache! On Oct. 7 someone finally picked it up again, so we'll see where it ends up.

So far this travel bug has been in the hands of: me, Mr. Speedy and his wife Salsa girl, mathineau saw it, and LoveYouAll. It is currently north of Montreal. Not a bad distance considering how many people have moved it - 1558.5 miles. It's now further east than I have ever been, and if I had travelled with it then I could have visited Joel!

I'm a Supreme Ultimate Boxer

Makes it sound like I'm up to something crazy doesn't it? When really it's just referring to something I learned on Wikipedia:

The Mandarin term "T'ai Chi Ch'üan" translates as "Supreme Ultimate Boxing" or "Boundless Fist".

I've taken two whole classes now. Pretty much makes me an expert. I'd watch out if I was you. I'll supreme ultimate box your ass until the cows come home.




Remind me not to blog on only 3 hours sleep...

The September Update

Man, it's been a while since I've posted! I've even had things to write about but just haven't gotten around to it, I guess. So, let's see what I remember:

• On the September long weekend I went to a wedding in P. A. on the Saturday, then came back home on Sunday morning for a dance practice. Brandi joined us so she could make sure she was still up to date with the style of belly dance she wants to teach in Edmonton this fall: American Tribal Style (see my picture from Aug. 20). We had a pool party, and were visited by Andy and his girlfriend who were also visiting from Ottawa. All in all a good time!
• School has been pretty busy and promises to continue to be that way for the rest of the term. I've already had two quizzes and an assignment. This week I have another quiz, another group assignment, and a group meeting with a prof about another assignment. I think it would be pretty much impossible to have more group assignments than we have this term. We have two different interprofessional problem based learning modules going on right now, which means that there's some group work with students from other colleges too.
• I found out on Thursday that I was one of only 5 people from my class who wanted to do their out of province placement in B.C. Previous years there were more students who wanted to go there, so they drew names. For me this means that I'll be able to go to B.C. provided the clinical coordinator there can find me a placement in Dawson Creek. If not, then my second choice was to go to Ottawa. I guess we shall see where I'll end up. Won't find that out for certain until November or December, though.
• My love life is going okay. We're both pretty busy, so it's hard to spend much good time together now. Friday night we went and saw Snakes on a Plane. It was silly and fun, very enjoyable. It definitely helped to have a few rowdy people in the audience to keep things fun. It's not the sort of movie you need to see more than once, but there you go.
• Today I finally got a bunch of papers from last year organized. It's nice to not have them cluttering everything up anymore.
  

So, I guess that's about all for now. See you next month!

My new favourite video

Thanks to Tanya for e-mailing me this video by OK Go: Here it Goes Again. It is amazing! It makes me want to play around doing something like that for our class video at school this year!

Here's an ABC news story where they talk about the video and interview the singer.

And the song is soooo good too! Totally makes me want to go out and find more of their music.

Fringe Pictures

Fringe was quite lovely to perform at this year. The weather cooperated on most days. We had lots of people watching us for most shows. We made a goodly amount of cash! And I got lots of compliments on my dancing and costuming. Here's a pic of me doing a solo improvisation while balancing something on my head:



If you would like to see a million pictures of my dance group performing at the Fringe, one of the newer people is quite technologically inclined and has set up a photo album . Quite lovely!

Friday at the Fringe

I don't know at what times exactly we'll be performing, but Friday we'll be starting shortly after 6 pm and doing another show at 7:30 or 8:00 or so. I have no idea what will happen on Saturday. I hate not working with a plan! Feel free to come say hi! Happy fringing!

Fringe Weekend #1

Our first weekend of Fringe performances is over. On Friday we had two performances, and neither of them went quite as planned. When I got to where I was getting ready I discovered we were going to be performing 15 minutes earlier than we had been told the couple days before. Then there was a bit of miscommunication, so instead of being in the intersection we ended up in front of the Broadway Cafe. For the first performance the busking amp we had rented didn't work properly, so instead I ended up drumming for accompaniment with 2 other drummers. It was a very thrown together show. For the second performance the Broadway Cafe was kind enough to allow us to plug into their power. This show went a lot more smoothly until the weather went bad. There was a huge swirling cloud to the north, and nasty looking clouds swooped into the area. We ended up cutting our show in the middle of it. It didn't really seem to storm very bad though.

On Saturday things went much better. We had two performances, and I drummed a bit and danced a bit. Our second show was my favourite one so far. There was so much energy and it was a lot of fun. Things went more smoothly, so we were all happier.

By Sunday we had a system going. The drummers better understood what the dancers wanted. The dancers were getting good at making a plan on the fly.

Monday was hot, and I was starting to tire. I felt very much like I was just putting in an appearance. It went well, though. We danced in the afternoon, so it was pretty much at the time of peak temperature. Whew!

So , that was our first weekend. Next weekend's schedule has not yet been set, but we are planning on starting at 5:30 on Friday. We'll probably do two shows, and then we'll do two or three on Saturday. Good times!

Fringe!!!

We're going to be busking twice a day over the long weekend. We will be putting on a 40 minute show at the intersection of Broadway and 10th St at the following times:
Fri. Aug. 4 6:30 and 8:30 pm
Sat. Aug. 5 5:30 and 8:30 pm
Sun. Aug. 6 5:30 and 8:30 pm
Mon. Aug. 7 3:30 and 5:30 pm

I'll keep you posted with the schedule for next weekend once we get it.

On Mon. there is also going to be a drumming circle hosted by Dieter, a drummer who we have collaborated with over the last couple of years at the Fringe. It will go from 7-8:30 pm at Broadway & 10th, and you are welcome to join in with anything that might make noise, or just come be moved by the experience. :)

The Return

Well, we're back! No damage except for a little bit of sunburn. We drove a lot, hiked/geocached a bit, and did some siteseeing.

Here are some lovely photos from our trip:

This is Jay and I with a little friend we found in a cache at Craik. No, that is not a real snake. I would be freaking out if that was a real snake!



These are the Travel Bugs we found in Saskatchewan and released on our trip.



Here we are at Mount Rushmore. I am very impressed with Jay's ability to take pictures of himself!



We drove around on some scenic roads. On one there were three tunnels and you could take pictures of Mount Rushmore through them. The tunnels only had one lane, so you had to honk before you entered. This one was near a cache that we found. Every time I heard the horns honk I felt like they were chastising us for climbing around in the bush!



One day we went out and followed some trucks as they climbed through the rocks. We hiked along with them and took pictures/video. We also drank a whole lot of water.



That same day we went to Jewel Cavern National Monument. We went on a short tour. It would have been nice to go on a more interesting tour, but at least we got to feel cold for 20 minutes! (Did I mention it was 40 degrees every day and we didn't have A/C in the car?)



These bridges looked really cool, and they were made of wood. It was a bridge over a bridge over a roadway, and they were all for automobile traffic.



Here's Jay when we visited the Cosmos Mystery Area. It was really hard to stand up in that room. Jay tried to take a similar picture of me, but I couldn't keep stable... kept getting sucked into the wall!


And here we are visiting Devil's Tower. If you look closely enough you can see an alien spacecraft behind one of the trees. Just kidding. Legend has it (a Lakota legend, I think) that a bear was trying to climb up the tower to get at some women. Those vertical lines looked like claw marks.

The last three pictures were taken on a stupidly hot day. We actually stopped into Walmart and spent extra time looking around the freezer section to cool off. We also scammed a whole lot of ice water from Burger King. I guess we were giving it to the man.

It was a good trip though. It's been so long since I've gone away for a vacation, so it was extra nice.

Secret Revealed!!!

Yes, it's true! In this very message I will be revealing to you my secret.... I suppose I should stop introducing or babbling or whatever you call it that I'm doing now... Dragging on! That's what it's called. Oh yes, anyway, here is the message in which I will speak of my secret. Ha ha, already said that. Well, without further ado...








I am no longer a single girl!

Now I am 18 women, 3 men, and 523 cats!!!


And a hyena.







Just kidding. (Like you needed me to clarify that.)





So, in May I started a new relationship with an old boyfriend with whom I have had a pseudo-relationship for somewhere between 7 and 9 years. At that time we decided to work towards getting back together, and now we're both ready to share it with the world. We're going to start in South Dakota, then spread the news on our way back home. Man, I'm full of dumb jokes today. We are going to South Dakota for about a week. It will truly be a test to see if we can stand being around each other 24/7. And it will be fun too. We plan to go to Mount Rushmore, do some hiking and geocaching, see some other tourist-y things, meet up with the Toyota guys on the Cruiser Classic, and camp in a tent every night. And, lucky us, his car doesn't have air conditioning. We will be dying to find some coolness, I'm sure, since the forecast puts the daily high around 31-32 degrees every day. Yay, a week of sweaty grossness! The A/C is going to feel so good when we come home...

On another note, on our way home from a wedding today we dropped off my travel bug in a cache. I hope it starts its journey while we are on ours.

Share the love...

1. FIRST NAME? Lorianne (read carefully. It does not say Lorraine.)
2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Sort of. I was named after my great-grandmother Laura. We share initials, too (until she got married).
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Hmmm, probably in May... in a really big combine.
4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Handwriting is pretty foreign to me. The only handwriting I do is signing stuff.
5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Not sure. Summer sausage?
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Probably not. I'd look at myself and think that I'd never want to be friends with me, so why try. Then I'd both miss out.
7. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? I have this blog...
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yup. Been surgery-free since 1974.
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? I don't think so. It seems like the sort of thing that puts jarring forces through your joints, and I'm not into that.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Probably Cheerios, when fresh.
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No, like much of the rest of my life, I am lazy.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Not so much.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Fruity anything.
14. SHOE SIZE? 6-6.5
15. RED OR PINK? Ugh! How could you make me choose between the two most hated colours in my life!? Red, I guess.
16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? I despise my self-loathing. (Can you tell I've been waiting for an opportunity to use that for weeks now?)
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Debbie, Brandi, and Joel (in order of when they moved away). My life would be so much more fun with them around.
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? It's always fun, but since I'm not actually e-mailing anyone, no pressure.
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Navy shorts, no shoes.
20. LAST THING YOU ATE? Pizza and garlic bread from East Side Marios.
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The hum of the computer.
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? I would be an orange, green, and purple striped crayon.
23. FAVORITE SMELL? Freshly mown grass.
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Jay.
25. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? How good a person they are.
26. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? You bet!
27. FAVORITE DRINK? Cold water.
28. FAVORITE SPORT? To watch, short track speed skating. To participate in, Ultimate Frisbee.
29. EYE COLOR? Grey.
30. HAT SIZE? Um, smaller than I can usually get.
31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? nope.
32. FAVORITE FOOD? pizza.
33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy endings, but not corny ones.
34. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Aqua.
35. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer! Love it!
36. HUGS OR KISSES? Kisses, yum yum.
37. FAVORITE DESSERT? Pumpkin pie.
38. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Dunno
39. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Everyone.
40. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? The Two Towers, info guide to the Black Hills, How to Make Love to Your Man (just kidding. I do own it though!)
41. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Dust and piles of other crap.
42. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? The news at supper time.
43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? My nephews' laughter, my godson's laughter and squeals, and a breeze passing through the leaves of a trembling aspen.
44. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles.
45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME? Not very far indeed. Probably Thunder Bay, Ontario.
46 WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT? Insulting people and getting them to laugh about it.
47. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? St. Paul's Hospital, Saskatoon
48. WHO SENT THIS EMAIL TO YOU? Joel in Montreal
49. IF YOU COULD SPEAK WITH ONE DEAD PERSON, WHOM WOULD YOU CHOOSE? My grandpa. I'd like to hear about his experiences fighting in World War I.
50. IF YOU COULD SAFELY DO SOMETHING FIFTY TIMES IN THE NEXT FIFTY DAYS, WHAT WOULD IT BE? I'd climb Mount Everest and make all the mountain climbers jealous.

My first cache!

Well, I finally did it! I went and found my first cache. I picked up Tanya and we headed out to a park in Eastview where the cache was located. It wasn't too difficult to find, but I wished I had worn pants. Long grass and bugs make my legs feel super itchy. The cache is hidden in the big ol' dead tree behind me.

Getting bugged

Well, I did it. I bought a travel bug. My travel bug's mission is to travel to places I've never been to. Now I need to start geocaching so that my bug will get on the road!

I was tagged!

It's been like three weeks since Taran tagged me in her blog at Tribe.net:

RULES: Once you've been tagged, you have to write a blog with 8
facts/things/habits about yourself, saying who tagged you. In the end, you need
to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. No tag backs.

So I guess I'd better get on it! ;-)

1. I have been a belly dancer for almost half my life.
2. I don't eat cereal very often, but if I eat an unsweetened one I like to eat it with brown sugar, never white.
3. I have two right ovaries, or at least that's what a researching gynecologist saw during a transvaginal ultrasound. That means I have a pair and a spare! I'm 50% more woman than most! Etc., ad nauseum.
4. I was the most distinguished graduate in linguistics in 1996. In the Arts building at the U of S they have large lists of academic achievers posted up to 1995, so I can't even show it off to people when I go there.
5. I would really like to get into geocaching.
6. I am afraid of fear.
7. I have a secret life that I'm not very good at being secret about, at least not with my friends. I'm looking forward to getting permission to make it more public.
8. Looking at my age, I should be at my sexual peak right around now. It would be nice to have more opportunity to enjoy that!

So, if you're in my blogroll, consider yourself tagged!