Birthday Suit Blog

What up blog readers! (Michael)

Its a beautiful Saturday morning today, and I'mm a try this out; Naked Blogging!
With my windows wide open and the sun shining in! .. I'm just assuming that no one outside can see through the glare off the pane... And that Jenna's not gonna walk into my room unnanounced. Keeping my fingers crossed haha

So what can I tell you? Well its almost summer! I have one lab report and 6 stats assignments to complete by Monday and then I'm home freeeee! Until April 10th. Because then my finals start :(

Overall second year has been eventful! Went through my first bought of heartbreak, recovered (with some help from good friends) quite easily compared to what I was expecting, somehow got the captain of the university volleyball team interested in me, learned two new chords on guitar (my progress is OUTSTANDING har har), had a good cry session in front of my volunteer program bosses when my friend was rushed to emergency, wrote a book review on a book I didn't read (got a 72! hahaha), figured out that I will probably never stop biting my nails, haven't bought new clothes for a whole year! (too poor :/), chickened out on going to Costa Rica to save baby sea turtles, played beer darts in February, volunteered at BioScan and explained the caterpillar-cucoon-butterfly cycle to about 400 people in a matter of hours, got shingles all over my face (ug.. maybe I'll attatch a picture. haha),  experienced depression for the second time in my life while fighting off the said shingles (seriously I cried for about 5 hours every day for 5 days), changed my mind several times on what direction to take with my academic life (went from bio major, to psychologist, to bio major, to psychologist... currently I'm sitting on English major with education later on down the road), got ridiculously excited when I found out my best friend decided to transfer to my school for next year :), had a 3 for 25 Roll up the Rim run (what a rip), became camera man for a short series of videos that involved Bryna snowboarding around the block ... towed behind her car haha, and had a pretty good time in general.

I'm writing songs now, channeling all the happiness that comes with spring time into music. Pretty stoked too!

I'll Fall Victim again.. I just know it.

Lesson of the Day: NEVER GO GROCERY SHOPPING WHILE HUNGRY!!!

You end up buying all this stupid shit.

Prime example #1:
Campbells Chunky Soups
When you're hungry, these things look like a friggen dream. I decided to pick up a can of "Chicken a la King" or some shit like that for supper that night I went shopping. It says it was made out of only the best veggies and lean chicken, but I sampled some and came up with my own ingredient list:
Shit Carrots

Crap Potatoes
Vomit Peas
and "Are You Sure This is Chicken?" Chicken
aka Shit Chicken
All of these ingredients mixed with what seems like a gallon of cream and ... hmm was that pepper I tasted? I'm not really sure because it was so friggen bland. Anyway, heated it up, ate a spoonful thinking that it would taste as delicious as it looked on the can... washed spoon, and dumped that shit down the toilet where it belongs!

I can't think of a prime example #2.. Sometimes these adventures turn out even better than planned. Like my spurr of the moment decision to pick up some apple pears. AHH I could live off those things. And pistachio pudding. That was also a good decision amongst the bad.

That's all I have to say about that.

Things

Here is a few things about me

I love cooking. LOVE it. If I had thought of it when I was in highschool, I probably would have went straight into culinary school and become a chef. I only use onions as a background flavour, and my favorite spice is dill.

I like running barefoot through fresh snow. As long as there is hot chocolate and a pair of warm socks waiting for me when I get back inside.

I don't fancy artificial cherry flavours.

I went through a really weird music stage when I was 16. I basically only did it to be "different". I still have a few Zebrahead songs on my ipod that I'm not overly proud of...

Turtles are my favorite animals. Otters run a close second. Sloths are dead last. (Although all these videos of baby sloth bathtimes that are circulating facebook are making it hard to despise them so much)

I still have every one of my ex boyfriends on facebook, and I've managed to maintain friendships with each of them. Somehow. 

I bite my nails.

I roll my eyes at least 10 times a day. 10/10 times it's at facebook status's.

O blood types represent! Haha...

For ONE day it would be so badass to see what life is like as a boy. 

I've wanted to dye my hair red since grade ten, but always chicken out last minute.

I think I crave grapes all day every day. 

Me and nature get along. I'm a hippy at heart. 

I'm starting to notice a reoccuring pattern that the past three feb breaks that I've had have involved the weakening of my immune system enough to get me really ill. 2010- Pneumonia, 2011- Flu, 2012- Shingles (which is normally only found in people OVER SIXTY!) Thanks for nothing immune system.

One day when I was 15 and my brother was 13, he went on a shopping trip with my Grandma one day. He came home with only one thing that he had spent all of his money on. It was a really hideous tiger teddy bear that he had bought for not reason at all, other than to give to me. It is one of the few stuffed animals I still have from my childhood.

I don't like taking petty meds. And by that I mean like sinus pills or pain pills.. I just don't. I don't like the feeling of having to rely on something to get better

And I guess you could also say that I have a real problem when it comes to asking for help. This isn't true for most things like reaching the top shelf at the supermarket, or picking what to wear to a big event or whatever. Just a problem with things I am or used to be proud of ... like school or being in shape or being really organized (YES believe it or not, I used to be quite a tidy kid which brings me to my next point...)

I make complete days out of organizing stuff. I love the feeling of turning a messy, dirty house into a clean and functional home! .. Again confirming that I truly am a woman. 

I like grape freezies.

I don't see whats so bad about brussel sprouts.

And I used to be super sentimental. I still have a ball of really old string from co-op camp in grade 8. grade 8!! I didnt even LIKE co-op camp!! haha

Dear Grandparents

Ok, for those of you who don't know, my Dad was the youngest of SEVEN and my Mom was the oldest of THREE. This makes my situation as a grandchild very different on each side. On Dad's side, I am the third youngest of 17 (my siblings are the only ones your than me). And my next closest aged cousin is 25. And they range in age from 25 - 48. When I was born, my grandparents got YOUNGER because they already had three great grand sons. On my Mom's side, I'm the third oldest of 6. The age range of my cousins is 17-23.

So needless to say, my grandparents on my Dad's side were already pretty old when I came along. My Grampa passed away when I was 13 at the age of 94 and my Granny when I was 14 at the age of 88(?). This past October would have been Grampa's 100th birthday, which really got me thinking about them. I loved my grandparents, they lived just across town from me in a tiny house with a huge yard. Grampa gardened right up until his last couple of years. My dad made an effort to have us go to their place at least once a week. I'm not sure why I resisted so much. Probably because I had very little in common with them at that point in my life, or I was confused about my religion which I was ashamed of because my Grampa was a pastor. I look back now and have so many questions I would ask them now, I never really got to know them as well as I should have. I hear my aunties and uncles talking about them and I just feel this need to talk to them, but I can't. Sometimes I try, but I'm still not sure if they can hear me. I was there the night that Grampa died. He had been in the hospital for some kind of surgery. He was almost fully recovered when he fell one day, he landed on his hip. I'm not exactly sure what else happened from there, but all of a sudden he went from being a strong, healthy man to this fragile body that was in critical condition. We were told he was in his last hours, so we raced to the hospital. I'll never forget walking in the room, seeing my huge family crowded in his small room, its the only time I've seen my big strong uncles cry. Then I caught a glance of him laying there, he was still and I thought we were too late. I watched everyone go to him one by one and say goodbye, each time, his eyes fluttering a big when they hugged them. I, of course, was balling from the moment I walked in the room. I stayed enveloped in several arms until it was my turn. I didn't really know what to say, so I just told him I loved him and gave him a kiss on the forehead. His eyes fluttered for me, but he also grabbed my arm when I gave him a kiss, which I think was a feeble attempt at hugging me back. He mumbled something too, which I was grateful for - he had heard me. After he passed away, every family member who was still in the area took turns staying with Granny for the first couple of months. Jenna and I even took our turn. These sleepovers were probably some of my best memories of her, she would get up before we woke up and make us breakfast, wish us luck in school, be fascinated by all that we had to say and was very grateful for our company. She passed that summer.

My Granparents on my Mom's side are still around, they live in the same city that Jenna and I go to school in actually! Over the last two years, we've developed a really great relationship with both of them, and I would actually consider my Gramma to be one of my best friends. I'm trying to do the exact opposite of what I did with my other grandparents this time, and willingly see them 1/week. When my schedual gets too hectic, I give them a quick phone call to let them know I'm still thinking of them. I ask them whatever question I have about their lives, or their parents or siblings lives. It' ridiculously interesting to learn about your family's history. I'm also working on hooking my Gramma up with facebook so we can better keep in touch. Anyway, I tell them I love them as much as I can because I now see the value and importance of it. If you don't say what you really want to say, you might not get another chance.
Going for supper at Gram's on Wednesday this week! :)

Vivid Dreams

So I just had a really strange dream. It centered around me being a nude model and just kind of took off.

It starts with me and Jenna and Bryna all standing in our underwear in a really huge bathroom, trying to decide who gets which shelf in a cupboard there. There is well over 300 shelves, but we only get one shelf eachofor some reason. Anyway, I pick one and put all my undies in there, including the ones that I was wearing. Jenna and Bryna keep their clothes on. All of a sudden, this guy I met in res last year who was 29, and some big black guy that I don't know were in that bathroom. Jenna was really embarassed and threw her clothes on and slammed the cupboard shut. Anyway, then the guy from res came up to me and told me I was the cooler twin, and tried to kiss me. He was wearing red lipstick... :S Anyway I shoved him away but not before he put his red lipstick on my lips. I was horrified that me being naked was probably the cause of this. So I put a dress on.

Then all of a sudden I walked out and I was at this L.A. outdoor party. There was palm trees, and skyscrapers and glowing pools. I got really drunk and found a HUGE top hat. I wore it around, but there was alot of tables close together and I kept knocking things over. I don't remember drinking anything in the dream, but all of a sudden I was drunk. And I felt embarassed for myself for being so drunk and wrecking the tables. So I took off out of there, there was so much greenery all around the paths that connected the table part of the party, to the pool part, to the party part.. reminded me of a resort I was in in Panama. Anyway, I was feeling really drunk and I just wanted to find someone I knew, then I saw my friend Christian walking by, so I tried to run after him. I had just caught up with him when he told me I was too late, and disapeared.

So I felt rejected, just after feeling like the most desired nude model out there, and that was a huge drop I guess. I noticed these really skinny palm trees that grew as tall as the tallest sky scraper. Which happened to be right beside me. They were acutally tied to the sky scraper because they were so thin. If you touch the tips of your thumbs and pointer fingers together to make a circle, thats how thick they were all the way up. Anyway in my disapointment, I started climbing one of them. I climbed all the way to the top.. I didn't realize how high I had gotten until I was up there, and the top of the tower was only the size of a kitchen table. Then the tower started to wiggle, and the palm trees would just snap if I tried to grab them for support. I was losing balance fast. Just then, Bryna was walking by below, so I started yelling for her to get help. I just wanted to get down. She said she would call the fire department, but I said it was no use- I was going to fall before they even started their trucks! I got increasingly tipsy until, at the very last moment, I spotted a pool on the ground, I fell off the tower, aiming for the pool, and landed safely in the four feet of water. Haha. But my dress was soaked and fell off as soon as I got out. No one was around.

I went back to the party where I ran into some of my friends that I haven't seen since jr. high. They all turned into dream douchebags. I kept looking for Christian, but he was nowhere to be seen. Bryna had gone too. So I was walking along a path when a really rubby car pulled up, there was a girl in front of me who was heavier set (I think I saw her in real life on the bus this afternoon). A man got out of the car with a jug of liquid and a cloth. He dumped some on the cloth and asked the big girl not to smell it. He shoved it in her face, and she collapsed. Then he put her in the back of his car and started to drive away. I'm happy to report that Dream Jory did the right thing and chased him down, I opened up the back and he slammed on the breaks. I started pulling the lifeless girl out of the back, and he came to fight me off. I was really scared that he would touch me, he was really really greasy and for some reason that really scared me lol. A cop drove slowly by and I screamed at him for help, but when he got out, he just said that the guy was all good and to not bother. I was screaming at him that he chloroformed her, but cop wouldnt listen.

The dream ended with me, pulling an army-coloured rifle out of a near by bush and pointing it at the rapist. He must have known that I would never pull the trigger because the last thing I remember before waking up was his shot gun pointed at my head, as we stood in a stand still - both at gun point, fighting for a complete stranger who didn't even know what was happening.

SO yea. That was a dream that I had. I remember it really vividly, I still feel really shooked up from both the tower-fall and the drug-rape-attempt.
I'm trying to piece together why each of these things appeared in my dream, but its harder than it seems. Lol

Life of Di. (Being a Twin 101)

Being a twin has it's ups and downs. A definite up is that you have a very easy and obvious topic of conversation to use with strangers (you never bring it up yourself though). A definite down is that this conversation gets overused and abused again and again. Another up is that I have had this convo so many times that I now know what kind of responses work best on different kinds of people, and when it's appropriate, and I can tell a line at the perfect moment, making me seem incredibly witty/funny/charming ect. When in reality, it's taken years of practice to craft these perfectly timed and toned responses. A down is having to refrain from saying "Yep, definitely heard all of your twin one liners before." when someone thinks they've made a funny. Instead I just politely laugh and try to come back at them with something witty.

Here is a quick off-the-top-of-my-head compilation of the most common phrases people have to say to us.
*note that when I say "HAHAHA" I'm mocking the *funny-ness* of it. HAHAHA

1.) I wish I was a twin/I always wanted a twin when I was growing up!

2.) What's it like being a twin?

3.) Can you guys read eachothers minds?

4.) Say happy birthday to Jenna for me! HAHAHA

5.) I'm SOOO SORRY! I FEEL TERRIBLE I CAN'T TELL WHICH ONE YOU ARE!! FORGIVE ME!
- and they say this every. single. time. I see them. (This one is by far the most annoying)

6.) Where's your better half? HAHAHA

7.) What's the best way to tell you guys apart?

8.) WHOAH! Are you guys twins?!

9.) I know a pair of twins! -or- My cousins are twins, they don't look as alike as you two though!

10.) You're the hotter one - shhh! HAHAHA *goes and says the same thing to Jenna...

Don't get me wrong, I don't despise or dislike when any of these things are said to me. It's made me very patient over the years, and I appreciate when people come out and just talk to me, because I love human interaction!

The best is when you hear something you've never heard before. Which doesn't happen very often. For example, a guy told me last night that he tells me and Jenna apart not by the shape of our faces, or our hair length or different piercings, but by the fact that her brow protrudes further than mine, and mines more flat against my face. Hahaha wtf

That all being said, I'm a total hypocrite because when I meet other twins I have a lot of the same questions as everyone asks me.

An old boyfriend told me that it's dangerous how close we are. And he was serious. He said something along the lines of "You guys need to start separating yourselves otherwise you will never learn to be independent." and basically he hit the nail in the head for that one, because I still fear the day that we part ways. But I know that day will never come. I mean sure we will lead separate lives and what not, but we're always gonna be best friends. And currently I only see her for about 2-3 hours a day. Which is way down from the 24-7 that we used to spend together.

While my ex had a negative mindset towards twinmanship (or whatever you wanna call it lol), I think it's been positive. Even when your closest "friends" bail on you, you're never completely alone. Giving you confidence to be independent knowing that you always have someone to fall back on. Plus it's easier to learn from her mistakes because basically if I was in her shoes, for 90% of the time I probably would have done the same thing as her. And seeing what does and doesn't work for her is a totally unfair advantage we have over singular people.

Anyway, I should get reading my book for english tomorrow.
HAHAHA

Moments in Movies

There's aways those moments in life when you feel like time stands still and the world actually revolves around you for a select moment. When you can hear music when reality is quiet. Movie Moments if you will.

Walking down the street towards a picture perfec sunset or

That's what this post is going to be about incase you haven't caught on yet. My inspiration for this write up goes way back to a classmates birthday in elementary school. I'm from a really small town, but we have a bowling alley! And to use this bowling alley, you have to rent out thte whole thing. It's only open when people rent it for special occasions. And then its private and you are trusted to keep the lanes, balls and pins in mint condition for the next user. Anyway, at the end of Bryns Bowling themes birthday, his parents decided that they just didnt care. So they turned on the Glo-Bowling (tm) lights so everything was under a black light. They also let us run free over the lanes, which is strictly forbidden so I'm not really sure why they let that happen. But it was glowy, and balloons were falling from every angle around me as I lept from lane to lane. I think there was some kind of music as well, but that is the earliest memory that I have that can be percieved as a "Movie Moment". I remember everything in slow motion and it was the coolest feeling ever.

There's also those times when you're taking a walk around town with headphones in and listening to really angry/sad music really REALLY loud. Haha I ususally put up my hood and walk as if I have something mysterious running through my head. I don't even try to - it just happens. Like I'm in my own little emo music video. The same thing happens when I'm in a really good mood and listening to happy music.

Movie moments. Right. Back to that.
Actually I might as well be in a movie moment right now. First day of classes after Christmas break, I've been in class since 8:30 this morning, up since 7. Now I have my first break of the day, my only break of the day until it's done. But I'm sitting in the food court at the bottom of Place. I can't really hear anything that's going on outside of my earphones. But Serisously people are broken up just like on Mean Girls. Twelve feet ahead of me theres a table of Asian girls. Immidiatly to my right theres a group of three gabby white girls, one redhead, one blonde and one brunette, but all equally as dumb-sounding. Then you have your inevitable loners scattered everywhere, taking up space that could be used by triple the amount of people, I'm in this group. Even as they're coming down the stairs you can pick our stereotypes. Cool asians, nerdy asians, the odd redneck, lots of city people, lots of moccosins, but oddly enough, they're ALL wearing jeans. Everyone within my range of sight is wearing jeans actually. If not 100%, then at least 98%.

Anyway this post is kinda dragging on and this mocha is killing my bladder haha ttyl!!!