Cool Moms?

I just read a disturbing article about a woman who was throwing parties with drugs and alcohol for her teenage son and his friends. Oh yeah, she was also having sex with her son's friends. She said that she wanted to be a 'cool mom.' This is an extreme case of 'cool mom' syndrome, but even in smaller doses I have to wonder -- should mom's be cool?
I think most people wanted cooler parents when they were growing up. I know I did. Looking back on my teenage years, I realize that my parents had their moments of cool. I used to envy those girls who would could go shopping or for lunch with their mom and not end up fighting or running out of things to talk about. They were like modern TV moms. I don't think I had a productive conversation with my mother until I was 20.
I don't think parents should be too cool, it's like having a boss that's too nice, it's hard to draw a line. My parents would sometimes try to make me come home on at 10:30 at night, on a Saturday, in the summer, when I was 16/17 and that sucked. But at the same time, they didn't get mad at me for throwing parties at their house when they went out of town, maybe because I didn't have that many friends, but still it was a party with kids drinking underage and that was cool enough for me. I wouldn't have wanted to have the parents who threw the party with booze for me, it'd be strange. Several of my friends' parents were OK with us having parties while they were away as long as the cops didn't show up, nothing got broken, and there were no signs of the party. (Most of the parents ended up OK with the parties after they realized we'd been having them for a quite a while without them noticing)
If parents are too cool, kids will forget that they're their parents and do whatever they want. And we all know that if kids have too much space they don't always end up as great kids, they end up on 'Brat Camp.'
Oh, and 40-year-old women should not have sex with teenage boys no matter what happened in 'American Pie.'

Rejection sucks

I think the worst part about looking for jobs, besides writing cover letters, are receiving rejections letters. Rejection letters suck because they mean you haven't even made it to the interview process, I don't often make it to the interview process. After taking a lovely break from receiving them I got another one in my email inbox today, damnit. I thought if I was thinking positive it might help, nope. I'll go back to being cynical again.

WTF moment of the day

This a short one. My normally surly boss bought us all ice cream today. I'm confused and a little scared that my chocolate ice cream was laced with something.

Dazed and stupid

Ever have days where you just feel completely stupid. Maybe not even stupid, but more stunned like you haven't been using your brain enough? That's been me lately.
I think it's a side effect of living in rural Ontario and being on my own. I don't come across good conversation much here. I miss the days of talking about current events, even having arguments (where's Larissa when you need her?). In my office the only conversations that aren't work related involve, kids, food, bad movies or the occasional round of celebrity gossip. I was shocked when one coworker even mentioned the bombings in London two weeks ago, btu all she said was 'can you believe it?' Um, ya. When I'm not at work I kill brain cells by watching reality tv shows that I said I'd never watch. Then I try to rebuild brain cells killed by Beauty and the Geek by reading War and Peace. I have a constant sense of 'ummmm what' going through my head, it's like I'm stoned, but really I'm not.
Anyways, I'm going to Toronto tonight and hopefully we can have stimulating conversations and then get drunk and make fun of my taste in men or something.

Air drumming

It's no secret that everyone looks like an idiot while trying to play air guitar. Even if you know how to play guitar strumming your stomach just doesn't look cool. That must be why air drumming has become the new faux instrument.
I took up air drumming a while ago, I think I was drunk, but I discovered that I was actually fairly good at it. I'd seen the occasional air drumming before, mostly on car steering wheels, but last week I saw it on TV. I was watching the show Rock Star, not the Mark Wahlberg movie but the reality show with INXS, and there's Dave Navarro playing air drums, and then all the guys in INXS are playing air drums too. I think just looks cooler than air guitar, even Navarro who is so very cool and a damn good guitar player would look like an idiot playing air guitar. But air drumming looks cool and gives everyone a chance to be Ringo or Tommy Lee. Now that I know I share an air instrument with INXS and Dave Navarro I feel a connection, like we're the same, except that they can probably play the real drums too.
It's hot and I'm obviously having strange thoughts...

It's about freaking time

Finally an agreement has been reached and there will be hockey. It sounds like the next couple months should be interesting with teams scrambling to get everything together. I won't even pretend to have an educated opinion on the deal itself, I'll leave that for Mirtle. I'm just looking forward to being able to go to a bar and watch hockey again. And I'm hoping that the cup will go to the right team this time around. Stupid Tampa Bay. Go Flames!

Klein has caved

Maybe Andrew will stop making anti-Alberta comments for one day. Ralph Klein announced yesterday that the province will allow same-sex marriage. He definitely didn't announced this with a smile on his face, "We will proceed to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, much to our chagrin, following proclamation of the federal Civil Marriage Act.” And adding, "We will develop legislative options to ensure the rights of religious officials and those Albertans, who hold social or cultural beliefs or values, whether religious or non-religious, will be free to express opposition to the traditional definition of marriage or a change to the traditional definition of marriage and will not be required to advocate, promote, or teach about marriage in a way that conflicts with their beliefs.”
See Ralph, it wasn't that hard. I agree that nobody should be forced to perform same-sex marriages, and people are welcome to disagree with them but they should be performed. I'm somewhat surprised that Klein decided to issue same-sex marriage licenses before it became federal legislation. I thought he would go kicking and screaming, but I guess this is one more way for him not to directly listen to the federal government and try to beat them at their own game. At least it's happened.
See, Andrew, Alberta's not all bad.

What a wierd day

Pete was right...
When I started this blog Pete told me that I would receive messages from people that I hadn't heard from in years. I wasn't so sure it would happen, but thought it would be fun. Checking the comments I saw a name I hadn't seen in years who found me in a round of 'google your old friends.' It's strange because recently I'd been thinking about her and how we stopped being friends over all sorts of stupid high school drama. Sure it was just a blog comment and an email in return but we'll see where this goes.

I don't wanna grow up...
My brother got engaged last week, a friend from high school had a baby a year after her wedding, and today I found out that my oldest friend in the entire world got engaged. Most of the time I think I'm pretty grown up but when this whole marriage and babies thing comes up I feel like I'm 12. I'm ok with it though at least I have Sunita, the closest thing I've had to a boyfriend in years, and my blog.

My boss...
He doesn't understand that journalism is about deadlines. He's out of town and told me he'd have his copy into me by Monday. By the end of Monday still no copy. If I teach him one thing before I leave it's that he needs to have deadlines and follow them. He shouldn't be writing stories on at 2 p.m. on Tuesday when the paper should be in bed by 6 p.m.

Who misses blue polyester robes?

Sure it took a while to post these, but consider them proof that we graduated.

Fish and the City

After six and a half years of school I figured I'd be asking a lot of strange questions. One thing I never thought I'd ask is 'how big is your fish?' I covered a fishing derby today, basically I took pictures of people with gross dead fish. Isn't my life exciting?
I miss the city. My life has never resembled Sex and the City, but it was nice to go out for drinks with friends on the weekend. I miss high heels, sparkly jewelry and eye makeup. Sounds cheesy and girly I know, but the longer I'm here in the sticks the more I realize I don't want to be here too long. It's not that I regularly got dressed up to go out in when I was in the city but at least I had the option. I'm sure someone is rolling their eyes saying 'gee Nic, why don't you get away from the computer and go out.' I would, but there really isn't anywhere to go and there's only so much time I can spend sitting in a bar alone trying to guess which people in the bar are the least sketchy.
I hope my next job is in a city, where people at least pretend to get dressed up for work and occasionally wear high heels because mine are getting lonely and dusty.

Unpleasant wake-up

These things always happen in the morning. I get out of the shower, turn on my radio and hear that something somewhere has been attacked. Four years ago it was the Twin Towers, this morning it was London.
I have no words, other than I hope your friends and family are alright and I'm glad I'm not in George W. Bush's head right now.

I said I wouldn't...

I wanted to avoid making any sort of commentary on the release of Karla Homolka. Since her release on Monday and her subsequent interview with Radio-Canada it's been Homolka madness. Really it's been a big discussion of the madness of Homolka. Every media outlet is having commentators, analysts, and average joe's try to figure out what has happened and what will happen next.
I had to laugh a little when she granted an 'exclusive' interview to Radio-Canada. Ah yes, the exclusive interview that the CBC sold to every other media outlet in the country, complete with the Quebecois accented translation.
I laughed even more when I heard the explanations for the interview. Then I tried to play the role of media analyst, and member of the public at the same time. The questions to Homolka were not hard hitting by any means, but gave her a chance to tell some of her side.There has been much discussion about her sincerity, I agree with that camp. There was no emotion at all in her eyes or on her face. No joy over being released, and no visible remorse. The only time the expression on her face was when she laughed at wanting to have an iced cappucino.
Some are questioning the public interest in Homolka, but it comes as no surprise to me. It's been over thirty years since Charles Manson and his 'family' went on their killing spree and people are still interested in what happened and what his life is like in prison. Homolka doesn't want to be hounded by the press, well I think she's out of luck. She's worries about the death threats she's received, did she expect to be welcomed back into society with open arms? She, like most sexual offenders of minors, was in solitary for much of her prison term because her safety was at risk. Yes she is at risk to be harmed, especially if people know where she is but the public has a right to know where she is because she is a registered sex offender but too damn bad. When you rape, torture and kill three young girls people don't think too highly of you. She will never have total freedom. Homolka wants to get a job, which is understandable, but what employer wants to be the one who hired her?
I think someone needs to keep an eye on her, the public damn well has a right to know where she is, and she's shit out of luck if she wants to keep a large degree of privacy. I don't dare guess if she's still a danger to society, only time will tell that one. All I know is she's out of jail, that won't change but at least we know where Bernardo is and will be staying.

Here comes the groom

My brother is getting married, my brother is getting married. (If you read this out loud, please not I'm not screaming like a girl here but I'm doing more of a repetitive Rain Man and feel free to keep saying it if you want to know what's dancing through my head.)
Everytime someone I know announces they're getting married I freak out just a little bit. Not in an 'oh my god, will it ever be me' sort of way, but in a 'wow, when did the people I know start to become grown ups?'way.
Last night, as I was just about to crawl into bed I get a phone call from my brother Darcy. He and his girlfriend, Melissa, got engaged over Canada Day weekend. I am genuinely excited but still kind of in shock. She's great and I told my brother years ago, when they were on an off section of their relationship, that Mel was always my favourite. She has run the gauntlet of several Riva family functions and come out unscathed, she enjoys a glass of wine and seems to have some wierd quirks like my brother, so she'll fit in just fine.
Darcy has now taken away one of the few things we have in common, being single. For years we both had no relationships to speak of so neither of us got harassed to much, it was a nice power in numbers thing. Now that that's gone I guess we still have music.
I'm hoping the shock of it all goes away soon, it's wierd to walk around with the words, my brother is getting married, in your head. Now I'm just hoping my mom's prediction doesn't come through.. I don't want to be a bridesmaid.

Wimbledon 2005

After all my speculation and hoping it's all over for another year. The women's final proved to be far more dramatic than the men's, which was a pleasant surprise for me. Lindsay Davenport had the match within reach twice. She served for match point in the second set and again late in the third, but in one of the best tennis comebacks in recent history Venus Williams ended up winning. The comeback wasn't the match, the match was simply a fight to the death, but in the tournament. Nobody was thinking that Venus would do too much, she's been off the radar for years mostly hidden in the shadow of Serena but she kicked some ass in this tournament. The women's game was close and intense, Davenport had tape on one hamstring and was treated for a back strain midway through the match but kept on fighting and came painfully close. Both women looked like they might fall over at one point.

The men's match went to Roger Federer for the third year in a row, and for the second year he beat Andy Roddick. This match wasn't as exciting as last years and very one sided if you compare it to the women's final, but Roddick fought hard after playing his semi-final match the day before. Once again, Federer made it look easy. In his post-game BBC interview Roddick said he'd tried everything and "maybe I'll just punch him or something." In a more gracious moment later on Roddick said nothing but nice things about Federer recounting how he told Federer "I'd love to hate you, but you're so nice" and that the only bad thing he would've ever said was about his hair, which he's since cut. Roddick fought hard, but not hard enough maybe next year or the U.S. Open.

Blogger Book Tag (aka let my inferiority complex begin)

Pete tagged me to be next in the ongoing book binge game. This scares me as I really don't think I'm all that well read, but that's probably because I spend too much time with Andrew.
Here goes:

1) How many books do I own?
Like Mirtle many of my books are not currently with me. It's close to 200, and a combination of school books I happened to enjoy and the books I've read over the years. I will note that this number is after several book purges before/after a move. The number wouldn't been higher had I not gotten rid of the fifty babysitters club books and my trashy collection of V.C. Andrews novels.

2)Most recent purchases?
A $4.99 copy of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace, The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger, and the reading list for great journalism (Martha Gellhorn, George Orwell, Philip Gourevich, Joe Sacco etc), I've been reading a lot of borrowed books these days.

3)Currently Reading?
In my annual quest to read a "classic" novel I'm reading my $4.99 copy of War and Peace. I'm just starting this marathon of a book, but it's about the Napoleonic wars in Russisa it must be good.

4)Books that meant the most?
I have to start with the book that I've read more than any other, Judy Blume's Are you there God it's me Margaret. I must have read that book 50 times when I was in elementary school, I took it out the library every second or third week. It was the book that got me figuring out the whole adolescence thing from a girls point of view. I love Ann-Marie MacDonald's Fall on Your Knees, it's so twisted and dark but it struck a cord with me for some reason. I'm proud to have read it before it became an Oprah book. Speaking of Oprah, I do have an Oprah book on my list, Wally Lamb's She's Come Undone. It still blows my mind that this book was written by a man, but I read this when I was feeling all depressed in high school and so I related to the character and also felt better because her life was way worse than mine. I still read this book when I feel like I totally suck. Then there's the Beatles Anthology, the book that began the obsession. I read this book when I started to become very interested in the Beatles and this gave me definitive answers direct from the source. I've read many rock-bios and nothing compares to this one - well I guess The Dirt by Motley Crue is pretty definitive too. The last book on my list is the Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, it's one of the few Atwood books where the overt feminist message isn't frustrating or over the top even though the message is so clear. I'm stopping there to cue the criticism.

5) Who's next?
I'm throwing it to Andrea and Shannon, because those are the only bloggers left on my list to be tagged.