Channel M

It's been 3 months since I started my daily photo blog and since I can barely keep up with all my different online efforts, I hardly expect you too (unless we're FB friends and I subject you to the updates on a daily basis). So I thought I'd do a wee recap and share some of my best snaps from the past 3 months. I'm actually quite proud of myself!

August 24

September 27

October 11

October 23

November 8

November 10

November 17

From the guys at work...see it for yourself here. LOLZ!

Got gold...get more kitteh

I just bought two tickets for a New Years Eve partay in the city. Ticket #2 goes to the one and only T! It's going to be held in a museum downtown and there are DJs, open bars, the works! It'll be my first time going to an actual party for New Years Eve, so I'm quite excited and that's why I've already started dress shopping.

I was naturally perusing my favorite site, ModCloth, and I came across 2 dresses. Both I love for different reasons; however, I'll keep my opinions to myself as I don't want to influence the votes. I used this handy little website called Polyvore to potentially mock up the two outfits. See?

New Years Eve Outfits

So now, all that's left to do is decide. The current vote is as follows (I asked around before deciding to post)...
White: 1
Black: 2

A few notes that might interest you...

• The shoe in the middle is a similar style to a pair I already own. It's an alternative to the classic black pump. 
• I would likely wear a black necklace of sorts with the white dress - I just couldn't find one I liked.
• The tights are fishnet, but if I found something more fun/intriguing then I'd go with that. It would definitely have pattern.
  

Dear rude neighbor,

Your highly disapproving comments about where my dog (not mine, but the one I was walking) pissed are not appreciated. I've mulled it over in my head for a few hours now and I'm not sure what the problem is as the tiny piece of grass allotted to the dog was public property (or I suppose technically, government property). So unless you work for the FBI, CIA, or Obama...please, keep it to yourself.

Don't think I haven't tried to rationalize your behavior...because I have. And every excuse I generate for you, I easily dispell. Allow me to demonstrate.

Theory: You don't like dogs peeing on your property
Fact: We were not on your property, or not even in front of your property. The area was public property. I've already been down this road with another one of your obnoxious neighbors.

Theory: You are overly sensitive to the environment & dog piss doesn't fit nicely into your daily regimen of protecting the earth.
Fact: Yeah, yeah...I've read the article too but the eco-footprint of the dog I was walking doesn't quite equal the eco-footprint of the THREE cars you have parked in your driveway. You also stated in your rant that I should just let the dog pee in the owner's lawn. Okay - fair enough, but I can't control when/where a dog pees and keeping him in the back yard forever just isn't fair and really this has nothing to do about your concern for the environment.

Theory: You hate dogs. Perhaps you were attacked as a child and have a huge psychological problem with them.
Fact: I hate birds. I've been swooped countless numbers of times, but you don't see me yelling at people with birds.

Conclusively, I declare shenanigans and I think you're just a bitter person who likes to torment other people. I only wish I'd had my wits about me to stand up to you and ask what the eff?

kthxbai,
Maggie

This past weekend, I drove down to NC to meet my wee nephew for the very first time.

CIMG3444

About a month ago, Jenna emailed me when I was in Glasgow and asked if I wanted to be a part of their group costume. I said sure...count me in for whatevers! The theme for this year was the 7 deadly sins. I was crossing my fingers for gluttony because who wouldn't want to own a fat suit...but I still lucked out with sloth.

As I scoured the interwebs, I slowly realized the only thing out there for sloth related costumes were slutty pajamas. Meh - so I got creative and decided that I'd kick it up a notch and go as Sloth from the Goonies. Here is my Halloween in review...

The 7 deadly sins

The only sad part of the evening was that many people mistook me for Super girl. Apparently, in their comic books, super girl wears jeans, suspenders, and a condom-esque looking contraption on her head. By the end of the night, I was a little sad that very few people understood or appreciated my genius...

Sad Sloth - no one got my costume. Imbeciles

C'est la vie.

Simultaneously, on the other side of the world, T was participating in Glasgow's first ever Zombie Walk. I hate these pictures, which means they're awesome and he looked entirely too scary. He went as an emo zombie and cried tears of blood...obv. Check out his creepy zombie contacts too!

T wants your brains

According to the Dominion Post, you could help out the environment when you eat your dog. Check out this odd article on the carbon-footprint of pets and their take on going green.

The eco-footprints of the family pet each year as calculated by the Vales:

German shepherds: 1.1 hectares, compared with 0.41ha for a large SUV.

Cats: 0.15ha (slightly less than a Volkswagen Golf). Hamsters: 0.014ha (two of them equate to a medium-sized plasma TV).

Goldfish: 0.00034ha (an eco-finprint equal to two cellphones).

A Million Little Pieces

I finished book 4, A million little pieces, awhile back but just forgot to report in on it. A short and sweet summary of my standard book report would be that James Frey ruined a perfectly edgy novel (one that started with great narrative and writing style) when he went overboard on the love story. A little love in the beginning was okay, but it was as if the book lost it's appeal when it turned cliche as the love story became the central focus.

I do recommend it as one of those books you should read and judge for yourself, but I wouldn't expect it to finish as strong as it started.

Book 5 of 2009, The Time Traveler's Wife, was actually a repeat read for me. I had read it in 2005 before the buzz of the movie and hailed it as a great novel. One of my favorites according to my Facebook profile. With the movie out, I had wanted to read it again, before seeing Hollywood's take on Niffeneger's novel. I bought the book again in August, and it sat on my nightstand for 2 months before I felt inspired enough to pick it up and read it. While I wasn't psyched to read it for some reason, I started on it during my last trip to Scotland. A quarter of the way through I still felt unimpressed and wondered why I had loved this book so much in 2005. Half way through it picked up pace and was satisfied with my original love of the novel. As I neared the end I started thinking back to 2005 and I remembered how I cried my eyes out the last few pages. That however, did not happen. I read the last few pages of the book and when I had finished, I let out a "hmph". Partially a "well that was interesting enough...hmph" and a "why was I so crazy about this book...hmph".

The Time Traveler's Wife

My only conclusion as to why I wasn't as impressed with the novel this time round is that my thoughts and definitions of love have changed drastically within the past 4 years. While I think the author puts forward a nice story, it's one I associate with my more ignorant/innocent self. If anything, I smile when I think back to how I cherished the love story at that point in my life.

So what did I learn? Well, other than the fact that I've grown up and my views on love/relationships have changed...not too much. Though now I'm extremely curious to go back and read all my "favorite books" to see if they still maintain favorite status.

Next on the list and currently underway: Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer.

ps. I think it's safe to admit that my original goal of 25 books this year (whoa...what was I thinking?) won't be happening. I'm quite impressed with 6 so far this year (and maybe 1 or 2 more), considering I probably read less than 2 in 2008.

It's catchy. Dig it.