Archive for February, 2011

I sat here this morning trying to figure out what the best advice I’ve ever been given is.

You’d think that it wouldn’t be that hard. Turns out, it’s not easy to figure out which piece of advice to talk about when you’ve been given a lot of really good advice over the years.

I have been really lucky to have had some awesome advisers over the years. I’m not sure that I can really pick just one bit of advice that I’ve been given that I can call “the best”. So, instead, I will share with you the gems of wisdom that stick out in my (relatively uncaffeinated) brain this morning.

And if they are stuck in my brain without the addition of coffee?
Then I know that they have stuck with me.

Ya gotta make hay while the sun shines. ~ Dad

This one used to piss me off to no fucking end. It was always said when I was in a piss-tastic mood, awake way earlier than I wanted to be, and off to work on a Sunday after not having had a day off in weeks during the middle of summer. I used to think that it just referred to the construction industry, and the fact that there was only so much time during the summer to get the work done. Of course, now I realize that it is applicable to life in general. You have to take advantage of the good situations and make the most of them, because you never know how long they’re gonna last.

It’s easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission. ~ AHW

I know that this is a well known quote, but it wasn’t to me when I first heard it uttered by my supervisor at work when I was seventeen. I am attributing the quote to him, because whenever I hear it, I still hear it in his voice. I wanted to change something at work. But I was the new kid, and what the hell did I know? I talked to Arnold about it – the man is very much a second father to me – and he gave that little bit of wisdom back to me. I have remembered it since. It is very good advice, and I have found it to be true each and every time I have applied it.

Perception is reality. ~ DC

Again, this might be a well known quote, but if it is, I don’t know. Given to me by a manager at an old job, it means very simply that people’s perception IS their reality. It really doesn’t matter what ACTUAL reality is. Each of us sees reality through our perceptions of it. And not taking that into account when dealing with everyone from your paper boy to your boss will cause a lot of frustration. Seeing someone else’s side of things isn’t always easy, but it’s always worth it.

Don’t let it make you crazy. ~Khayyam Wakil

This is a huge paraphrase of a convo with Khayyam that happened in the middle of the night in the not too distant past. But the essence of the quote I think I got right. This was in reference to some social media bullshit, but really, it applies to life in general, and I find myself repeating it often. Damn good advice. Because in the end, we’re the only ones that have the power to make ourselves crazy. Or not.

The real key to success? Make other people feel special. ~ Owen JJ Stone

I had an awesome chat with Mister Stone one evening. It was quite unexpected, and completely out of the blue. But it was stellar. If you ever get the chance to do so, I highly recommend it. He is not OhDoctah for nothing. We chatted about stuff in general, and when the conversation rolled around to his utterance of this sentence, I realized that he had just put into words a philosophy that could be world changing. Y’know, if people got their heads out of their own asses and started thinking about making other people smile rather than themselves.

Static: don’t start none, won’t get none. ~Sylak Saladais

Very recently, I have added this to both my Facebook and Twitter profiles. Why? Because it’s just plain #truth. (That’s right, I just hashtagged a blog post. Sue me.) To me, this means just what it says. You leave me to live my life and do my thing, and I will return the favour. However, if you choose to shit on me or those that I care about, you might want to watch your ass. Because I can – and will – fuck it with a muddy workboot. Just sayin’. I will try not to start it, but if I have to, I can finish it.

See why it was so hard for me to pick just one?

What’s the best advice you have ever gotten?

The 50-50 Challenge is an idea that Chrissa from A Little Wicked and I came up with. It is based on a list of 50 Lists to Write to Lift Your Spirits, which can be found at Demanding Joy. We were inspired to make it a blog challenge. If you’d like to participate, please do. Be as inspired as we were.

So.
Dream jobs.

Yep. I have some. I have some weird ones. Some may or may not have been influenced by television. Some may or may not be influenced by the kind of books that I read. Some may or may not be considered ‘normal’.

Like you’d expect anything less from me?

Rock Star. Yep. Who didn’t want to be a rock star? Who didn’t dance around their bedroom in their pajamas with a hairbrush as a microphone and sing out loud to KISS? And since we ALL did this, wasn’t it awesome when you got caught doing it? By your stupid little brother who still hasn’t let you forget it to this day? Yeah. That’s stellar. Needless to say, I did not become a Rock Star. Unless you count my high score playing the Rock Star video game. Which, if you’re like me, you don’t.

Forensic Pathologist. I wanted to have this job since I was a very young girl. I blame it on a lot of watching Quincy with my Mom. And thus started my life-long obsession with criminology, pathology and other sundry unusualness. I thought Quincy was brilliant. I’m not entirely sure that his portrayal of what a forensic pathologist actually does was very realistic, but damn it made for good – and inspiring – television.

FBI Agent. Not just any FBI agent. I wanted to be Dana Scully. And not just because of the whole getting to work with Mulder in the basement thing. I wanted to work on the X-Files. Again, I’m fairly certain that the X-Files probably wasn’t the most realistic show to base a career choice on. But seriously, there was no-one cooler in a crisis than Scully. Please also note that she was a doctor, and often acted as a forensic pathologist. Seeing a pattern here? Um, yeah.

FBI Profiler. Uh-huh. Look, I told you I had weird dream jobs, okay? Ever since Silence of the Lambs, I have been obsessed with criminal psychology. I read true crime books. I read books on criminal profiling. I follow the careers of several actual Behavioural Services agents. I may be a little strange when it comes to my career choices, but damn… if I had to pick a dream career, at least I’m picking something that I can still play along with online and in books. Heh.

The one job – from as long as I can remember – that I have always dreamed of was being a Writer.

I have been writing since I was able to write, and my head is a constant flurry of fiction weaved with reality, added to a mix of words and phrases.

And you know something?

If I had to pick one dream job that actually came true?
I’m glad it was that one.

Because I am a writer.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

The 50-50 Challenge is an idea that Chrissa from A Little Wicked and I came up with. It is based on a list of 50 Lists to Write to Lift Your Spirits, which can be found at Demanding Joy. We were inspired to make it a blog challenge. If you’d like to participate, please do. Be as inspired as we were.

Seeing as yesterday’s post was about the best gift’s I’ve ever received, it’s fitting that today is about the best gifts that I’ve ever given.

It’s kind of weird, though.  I don’t know that the gifts I would consider the best gifts I’ve given would be the gifts that anyone that received them would call the best.  Because sometimes, for me, the best part about giving the gift is the fun I had finding it.  Or the look on someone’s face when they open it.

Things that don’t have much to do with the actual gift at all, really.

Okay, so with that in mind, here are my favourite gifts that I’ve ever given, with a little explanation as to why they are my faves. The explanations are my favourite part, after all…

Most recently, I had some very memorable experiences picking out some little gifts for friends while I was in Mexico. I cracked the hell up looking through six million off colour t-shirts looking for JUST the right one. I dove into market after market looking for that little thing that screamed out that it had to travel back to Canada, then elsewhere. It was a blast.

I once gave my Mom a necklace in Hawaii. It was a gold necklace with a pearl pendant. The thing is, the pearl was one that I had found myself. I had found it in an oyster, got ridiculously excited by that, and decided that my Mom really needed a necklace made out of it. So, I went and had it made. She loved it, but I think I had way more fun with that gift than she did.

The dress. This ranks as one of my all time favourite gifts given. Laurie and I had a party to go to. A Christmas party. A fancy fucking dress Christmas party. I already had a dress, and when Laurie and I went shopping together for hers, she found one that she fell in absolute love with. She tried it on, and she looked… stunning. But the dress was kind of out of her price range. By kind of, I mean completely. I bought it for her. We had a blast at the party and everything, but that didn’t even touch how much her reaction meant to me, and how great she looked in that damn dress.
I think the bitch even cried. Heh.

Finally, one of the best gifts I’ve ever given was a re-gift of something that was gifted to me. It was a slow-cooker that was given to me by an online group of ruffians that go by the moniker of The Dobernerds. My slow cooker got broken (because I’m a klutz) and they all grouped together to buy me a new one. However, I had already gotten one. So, I donated their gift – with their support – to a local charity. That? One of my favourite gifts I received, but also one of the best ones I’ve ever given.

What about you?
What are the best gifts you’ve ever given?

The 50-50 Challenge is an idea that Chrissa from A Little Wicked and I came up with. It is based on a list of 50 Lists to Write to Lift Your Spirits, which can be found at Demanding Joy. We were inspired to make it a blog challenge. If you’d like to participate, please do. Be as inspired as we were.