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Always the bouquet catcher, never the bride

2008-07-04T10:25:00.003-06:00

What is that wedding tradition?

After the wedding the bride will toss it over her shoulder, and it is believed that whoever catches the bouquet is the next in line to be married.

If that were true, I'd be married a loooooooong time ago. I guess I'm just progressive and non-traditional.

Last weekend, I attended Kris and Nicole's wedding. I caught my eighth bouquet. It's not like I desperately tackled someone for it, but I took a step or two forward and held out my hand. It's not like years of football came into play here, I think the flowers have a built in targeting system and seek me out.

How in the world did I work my way up to eight bouquets? Being single, I guess. At work, people were asking if I'm just jinxing myself and catching too many. Gregg has a theory, "Can you catch something that is the anti-bouquet? Whatever it is, Dean must be catching it every wedding." But even if that's true, that doesn't explain the bouquets I caught before meeting Dean. Whatever it is, I'm as usual, I'm the abomination to tradition, even when I don't try.

So if I'm not getting married, what should I get out of this instead?

Maybe I can resell the bouquets I catch to craft people. That seems like something crafters can reuse or repackage. Maybe I should start hanging up bouquets I catch like hunting trophies. Mount them on the wall and have a big story about how it "almost got away".

Oh wait, I know. I wonder if this can become some sort of new sport. I don't see why not? They had bridge at the Olympics. I used to play football, so I can catch and tackle. "The bouquet has been tossed. Johnston and Furuholmen has collided and both are down. Nguyen is set to catch it. Chan has shoved aside Abebech and jumps over Anfisa and snatches it from mid air before Nguyen had a chance to get it!! It's over! Stephanie Chan of Canada has won the gold metal in bouquet catching!!!! Let's see that in again in slow motion..."

And then the real money comes when I do endorsements for the Canadian Egg agency, Sears catalogue modeling and voice-overs for the Discovery channel show How It's Made.

That'd be totally sweet.

I'm going to Winnipeg... twice!

2008-06-03T23:34:00.003-06:00

Tomorrow I hop onto a plane ant land in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The first trip is two days of non-stop work related conference then they fly me back home. And then I go back for a different conference a week later. That one is when I get to socialize more.I wish it would have worked out in a way that I could have just stayed in Winnipeg and not fly back and forth. Ah well.

I know I haven't been around much. Had a lot of stuff going on in "real life". But I want to rework the blog and I just never sat down and did it. But I think it's going to happen pretty soon.

Orangina... WHAT THE HELL?????????

2008-02-21T20:01:00.001-07:00

Dean bought me a 1.75 L bottle of Orangina then sent me this link. MOST DISTURBING COMMERCIAL EVER! (might not be work safe)

New Beanworld!

2008-01-03T06:18:00.001-07:00

Through a Blog@Newsarama post, I found out Larry Marder is making new Tales of the Beanworld comics.

State of the Beanworld 2008

If you didn't know, Tales of the Beanworld is the first indy comic I ever owned, and it's my favourite indy comic series ever.

Christmas Loot 2007

2007-12-31T13:28:00.000-07:00

Playstation 3 from Dean
Dyson handheld vacuum from an Xmas gift exchange, I have a feeling the giver had no idea the awesomeness of these things.
Tick vs Season One DVD
Astronaut Ice Cream
Ghost in the Shell Motoko Kusanagi PVC Figure

Dream of Winter Barbie
Teracotta garlic keeper
Kuhn rikon garlic press
Bulbs of Garlic
Stainless steel mixing bowl sets
Miga the Seabear touque (Olympic mascot)

Story of the Vancouver olympic mascots book
Alfred Sung Christmas ornaments
Phoenix Wright 3 - Nintendo DS
Soul Calibur Legends - Wii
Dark Kingdom - PS3
Street Fighter 15th anniversary Chun Li controller for PS2

Assorted nuts and chocolates
Random garments
Cash

Bought myself Time Crisis 4 so I can play some PS3. Plus got a Dual Shock 3 imported from Japan for two player fun.

'My Name is Bruce' Trailer

2007-12-14T15:19:00.001-07:00

It's the movie I wanted to see the most this year.

The Japanese finally creeped the hell out of me

2007-12-10T20:13:00.000-07:00

Yeah, that's right. I finally said "WHAT THE HELL?!?!" at a Japanese toy item. So you know it's freaky.

Go to the link to see the whole collection of tortured kewpie dolls as well as a commercial featuring the Joker's son:
8 New Kewpie Doll Cellphone Charms Crank the Weirdness to 11

Yes, they are on my wish list.

September 25th is a very important day!

2007-09-25T20:32:00.000-06:00

Happy Hatch day, Newton!
You're one year old today!

Flight Safey Instructions

2007-09-02T09:27:00.000-06:00

More images are located here.

Found via Super Punch.

Two new Sega DREAMCAST Games!

2007-08-20T17:37:00.000-06:00

One is a four-player shooter, the other a puzzle battle game ported from the GP2X More info here.

Real Doll Darth Vader???

2007-08-10T22:56:00.000-06:00

Is this one of those 'lost in translation' moments, or is this a Star Wars sex toy? (Click here if you don't know what a Real Doll is, my young padawan.)

In all seriousness, I know the Darth Vader figure isn't actually a silicone sex toy. But there seems to be a growing sexual fetish fad for Stormtroopers!

Two links of reference:

1. Storm Trooper Stripper (OK, Prostitute)
2. Sexy Stormtrooper Makes Me Rethink Hatred of the Empire

Both via Gizmodo.

Eau De Toilette

2007-07-19T18:12:00.000-06:00

Just now I was on the computer with my bird Newton sitting close to my collar bone when I suddenly noticed a perfume smell in the air. Where did it come from? Why so suddenly? I start looking around trying to figure out where it came from. Then I stop, and look a little past Newton, and sniff.

And that's when I realized what that smell was.

It was Newt's poop.

That's right. My little birdie's poop smells like a bouquet.

Steph: "He's my Chanel no. 5"
Dean: "I think you mean Chanel no. 2"

I'm going to hell for laughing at this video.

2007-06-10T09:54:00.001-06:00

Meet Newton, the Lineolated Parakeet

2007-04-22T03:35:00.000-06:00

Something I didn't link to yet are videos Dean uploaded of my pet bird, Newton.

Dean took this video and sent it to me at work. It was taken Nov 17, the day after we got him. This was his first meal with us. He was about six weeks old (hatched September 25, 2006).

Newton loves to sleep in warm and soft places. He's very diligent about going to bed at sundown. So if I'm playing with him in my bed and it gets dark, he'll crawl into the covers, find a warm place to tuck in and sleep. It's quite cute. Unfortunately, I can crush him if I sleep with him so I usually put him into his cozy cot, which you can see in the video.

Another example of warm and cozy:

I must say, I am very VERY impressed with lineolated parakeets. They are quiet, smart, and cuddly. Newton can say a few things like "good bird" and is starting to say "I love you". He also learned the Addam's Family theme from Switch, Dean's cockatiel. The other day, Dean heard the scrollwheel of his mouse turning. When he went to look, there was no one there! Ended up Newton was imitating the mouse perfectly.

The best part is he gets along with Dean's budgie Digit and his cockatiel Switch. Sure they might occasionally spat, but overall they're good. Especially Digit, who seems to have adopted Newton, preening and feeding him all the time.

Newton also likes to sit in front of my face and listen to me talk. Or else he wants kisses and he'll kiss back! And if I'm not talking, he'll just rest his beak on my lips. SO CUTE!

And there you have it. My pet gushing post.

DVD buying is a pain in the butt.

2007-04-11T16:25:00.000-06:00

Lately I've been on a big anime kick, and I want to buy the DVDs for the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex TV series. Of course you can't just buy the series, there are several versions to choose from. In this case, a standard version with about four episodes per disc, then a special edition version where each disc includes metal cases, toys, t-shirts, and other goodies, then a box set that's rather unfabulous but has all the episodes for one good price. Man, I can't decide.

Here is what's interesting. Whenever a movie or show comes out on DVD and they offer more than one version, I have a hard time choosing which version to get. Or else I become too afraid to buy it in case a newer, better version comes out. So in the end I don't buy any of them. This happens a lot, especially with all the nerd movies I love. Aliens is one of my favourite movies of all time and I don't own a copy.

Mind you, if they ever release the giant Alien head DVD set here like they did in Japan, I'm SO GETTING IT.

Moose Jaw

2007-03-30T01:43:00.000-06:00

Dean and I went to Moose Jaw last week for out 8th anniversary and to visit an owl sanctuary.

See the owls and watch me handle a dead mouse:

Link to photos of our trip to Moose Jaw

Video Games Live: Canadian Press

2007-01-24T19:10:00.000-07:00

I'll make a longer post later about my time at Video Games Live, but real quick, I was interviewed briefly in this Canadian Press article:

From the Vancouver Sun

Lots and lots of Hello Kitty goods at CES

2007-01-13T20:45:00.001-07:00

What is a Consumer Electronics show without Hello Kitty?

Many more goods on Gizmodo.

A Conversation About Food

2007-01-08T15:24:00.000-07:00

James: Do you have Cheez-its in Canada?
Steph: Cheez Whiz?
James: Cheez-its. It's a cracker snack.
Steph: I dunno, I'm not up on my crackers... Just bananas and eggs.
James: There are that many different bananas and eggs.
Steph: Exactly, some have souped up Hondas, others Toyotas.

Comic Legend Marty Nodell passed away

2006-12-09T23:01:00.000-07:00

http://blog.newsarama.com/2006/12/09/martin-nodell-passes-away

It was my very first time at the San Diego Comic Con. I managed to get an invite to a Diamond private party held outdoors. It was a lovely buffet, the evening was beautiful, with a mild ocean breeze coming in.

My boyfriend and a fellow we befriended rather quickly filled out plates up with buffet but we couldn't find a place to sit. An elderly couple invited us to sit with them. As we were talking, the wife piped up "you kids don't know who this man is, do you?"

My first thoughts were "Oh god, I am at a pro party, and sitting with an old man in a wheelchair, he must be a legend!" Heck, I only knew what Jack Kirby and Stan Lee looked like before this.

At that point, the woman introduced herself as Carrie Nodell and her husband Marty.

Oh. My, God. he created the Green Lantern.

As the night went on, I learned that Marty also created the Pillsbury doughboy! We enjoyed a lovely dinner with lots of stories and laughter with him and his wife.

With that, my very first art piece directly purchased from a creator was this one, that he signed and personalized.

(note that the art did not all fit in the scanner, but basically the part that's signed and GL's feet were not scanned.)

Marty, thanks for the memories. Rest in peace.

What color lightsaber would you want?

2006-12-09T15:02:00.000-07:00

I'd either go with cyan-blue, or a Pink Hello Kitty Special Edition Lightsaber. Lucasfilm and Sanrio needs to team up.

Worst Week Ever

2006-12-08T18:51:00.000-07:00

1. So the hard drive in my computer totally died in the middle of being backed up. I lost a lot of stuff, but Dean managed to shake out most of the important things, literally, as you can see:

We figure the rest of information is still on there, but we currently don't have the means to pull the info off. Dean says a computer tech can do it but it would be ridiculously expensive. He says he can possibly do it, but we need to buy a new drive to gut, then find a dust free area to "operate" on it. So for now, the old drive has been put away.

I'm currently going on "shifts", using Dean's computer when he sleeps. It really doesn't leave me with much of a window to work and his set up is completely not ergonomic for me.

2. I was working on a black and white comic proposal as the toner (putting all the nice patterns into the line art) but they decided to go with colour in the very end. It didn't phase me at first but now I'm really bummed about it. I worked so hard, and didn't sleep which lead me to...

3. ...contracting some crazy respiratory infection. The pills are supposed to be swallowed whole, but it leaves a terrible taste in my mouth that keeps coming back. even 20 hours after I take them. And they were expensive, too.

4. Was supposed to go to Edmonton to do some Christmas and other shopping with my friend, but then she had to cancel on me. The worst part is I have some things to exchange before Monday, and realistically, I have no chance to do that before it's too late.

5. Still don't have a Nintendo Wii. Sold out everywhere.

Well I guess things are starting to get better. Here is the good:

1. Dean bought me a nice new 120 GB drive and fixed the computer himself. I still have to get all my applications onto it, so hopefully I have my computer up and running by tomorrow.

2. The Conservatives' desire to re-open the same-sex marriage debate and hopefully make it illegal was shot down rather quickly. No, that doesn't affect me personally, but I really believe in human rights and equality and the idea of denying marriage between two consenting individuals is ridiculous.

Nooooooo! Not my Underwear!

2006-11-15T19:53:00.000-07:00

Victoria's Secret buys La Senza or $710 Million!

I love my Canadian underwear and urban yoga clothing! I am so sad!

Note: I like Victoria's Secret clothes, too. But my gosh! I really love love love love the La Senza Spirit line! I hope they don't take that away from me!

And it was so nice to buy Canadian...

"I am the strongest woman in the world!"

2006-11-07T20:21:00.000-07:00

So I pulled off that Chun Li from Street Fighter costume!

Happy belated Halloween!

Tell me my future

2006-10-29T07:46:00.000-07:00

I went to a bridal shower yesterday at the Russian Tea Room and they were doing metaphysical readings there. The lady said I had a very good relationship that would last forever with my boyfriend and that I live a carefree life, I'm creative, and I have no inner anger. I have recently come into money and things are only going to get better. I will get lots of recognition and noteriety. My next two years are supposed to be very prosperous, I will have one major event, and I will end up travelling overseas at some point.

Do I beleive it? Well, the stuff she said about me was fairly true. I'm still not convinced it's real, but it was fun to do.

Something else she mentioned, which was true, is there will be either a new pet or child coming into my life. Well Dean's buying me a lineolated parakeet. He/she isn't ready to leave the breeder's house yet, but here are some baby pictures.