ME TO WE! - turning self-help on its head.

So I'm reading this book right now, that we recieved at work many months back, I don't know what made me start reading it, but it's the most interesting book I have ever read. It touches on so many subjects that peak my interest and many of the ideas are things that I have always believed. Written by two brothers (Craig and Marc Kielburger) in their twenties from Toronto who founded the renowned international relief organization Free the Children.

Some key points that I have read so far, and that I can remember off the top of my head are:

- Self-help books have become the literature of our time, however most of these books promote goals such as money, power and physical attractiveness as the keys to happiness. They also have one thing in common "what's good for me" So many people are disconnecting from society, and not forming relationships with others. A lot of us are now relying on money, power and material objects thinking this will lead to happiness when for the most part we are often left feeling empty and wanting more. This book, in a way is just sort of saying that with self help, it's not just about helping yourself. By helping others, you will in turn be helping yourself.

- It discusses how we have become so focused on winning and succeeding that we will do whatever it takes to win, no matter who we have to step on in the process. Most of us feel no remorse for the 'losers' as long as we have achieved what it was we set out to do. Now you're probably thinking shit, it's my life and I have to look out for myself, and yeah that's true to a certain extent, but there is no need to trample others just so you can get the golden ticket!

- The bystander effect - this is so true in so many ways, we are becoming more and more removed from the people around us. A tragic example of this would be Catherine Genovese's story. NYC, 1964, Catherine is raped and stabbed outside of her appartment building one night. Apparently 38 of her neighbours heard her scream for help, "I've been stabbed, please help me." Not one person came out to help. Finally a neighbour appeared with a baseball bat and scared the perpetrator away, but even he left Catherine on the ground bleeding and dying. When the coast was clear the murderer returned and finished the job he had started. The police weren't called until the attack was over and Catherine was dead. Some say we choose to be bystanders because we want to stay out of other people's business, or we think that someone else will take action, but when we're all thinking the same thing, then nobody does anything.
A quote taken from this book, are the famous words of German Anti-Nazi activist, Pastor Martin Niemoller,
"First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out-because I was not a jew. They they came for the communists and I did not speak out- because I was not a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out-because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me-and by then there was no one left to speak out for me."

- So ya the book has nothing to do about religion or spirituality, it's basically just about how important it is to stay connected with eachother, friends, family, our communities and by helping others, we are in fact helping ourselves achieve happiness. I am only about 50 pages into the book, but I think it's really neat. It disusses how 98% of people have televisions and that most of us spend so much time watching tv rather than interacting with others. We spend so much time watching 'friends' rather than making friends. Or 52% of children ages 4-7 years old would prefer to watch tv than hang out with their father. Also that we have moved away from meeting people on a more personal level, (face to face conversations), that we are going online and having cyber conversations, or communicating through email which lacks emotion and human contact. I understand the convenience aspect of all of this, but I would much rather hear Erinne's crazy laughs when she finds something funny, than see the letters LOL appear on my screen. Just doesn't have the same effect on me.

I'm probably going to be posting more about this book in the days to come, so bare with me. Maybe you will agree with some of my points of interest and maybe you wont. I have always had the urge to help others, and have always tried my best to do so. These days I wonder if I have the right kind of personality to make it in the business world, or if I would be better suited for something else.

I don't even know what to say!

Any thoughts?

I know I can't walk properly while wearing these, and that's a fact.

Promises, Promises.

I have proved to myself tonight, that for the most part I cannot keep a promise to myself.

Which answers a few questions I have been asking myself today. Pretty dissappointing actually.

Which also answers a few questions I will have to answer over the next few months.

Also very dissappointing.

So CHANGE OF PLANS ladies and gents.

Sorry for those of you who these changes will affect.

For the most part you are all safe. haha.

It's nothing serious, but just something I was trying to do or change.

E squared rockin the green room!

So Erinne and I went for a couple drinks on saturday night with Sean, it was fun. We all goofed off and acted like nutso's so it was cool. Typical!

Here are a few pics from the event!

E-squared doing some simultaneous drinking.

Ok Ok, I'm not actually licking the flame, the picture would have turned out different if I was!

I had lotion on my hand, but you can't see it!

I really have no friggin clue what the point of this was.

Sean drinking!

What a goof ball, I forget what she was doing here, but I made her do it like twice or something!

This is called dumpster diving "a-la-mode"

Don't be frightened Erinne, they won't find us here.

How fast do you think you could go on that thing?

Our spidey senses are tingling!

I have a feeling!

Something's comin on......

Ok So I've got it. I'm editing this post for all of you who have your pics taken with celebrities, or have had your touch with fame.

Personally, I htink I have the ultimate souvenir, (besides my autographed pic of Doug Gilmour, when he was with the Calgary Flames)
Not that I am a hockey fan, but, I don't wanna sound queer or nothing but I think unicorns are kick ass!)

Ok, Y'all remember SNOW!

If you're my age and you live in Canada, you remember the white rapper from the 90's - SNOW. You know, "Informer"
Right, so my aunt is a nurse in Oakville, and she used to go to Snow's gramma's house and tend to her. So every time she goes there, Snow's gramma always gives her stuff. So my mom is visiting my aunt one day and she has to go to Snow's gramma's house so my mom goes with her. While my mom is at SNOW's gramma's house, she is like oh take this and take that, I'd like you to have this stuff. So my mom leaves with a brass camel and a couple of silver salt and pepper shakers.....
I end up visiting my mom and aunt that weekend in Oakville and my mom is like "UHHHHH, Do you want SNOW'S gramma's camel????" Of course I was like "what you talkin about willis?" So she told me the story, and I'm like UH YA OF COURSE I DO!!!!!!"

SO there is the story about Snow's gramma's camel.

K so what If I stuck a button on him saying, help I think I'm a rock star, I think it add's character!!!

So for those of you who need a refresher, here it is!!!

[CHORUS:]
Informer
You know say daddy me snow me-a (gonna) blame
A licky boom-boom down'
Tective man he say, say Daddy Me Snow me stab someone down the lane
A licky boom-boom downPolice-a them-a they come and-a they blow down me door
One him come crawl through through my window
So they put me in the back the car at the station
From that point on I reach my destination
Well the destination reached in down-a East detention
Where they whip down me pants look up me bottom
[CHORUS]
Bigger they are they think they have more power
There on the phone me say that on hour
Me for want to use it once and-a me call me lover
Lover who me callin'-a the one Tammy
And me love her in my heart down to my belly-a
Yes say Daddy Me Snow me I feel cool and deadly
Yes the one MC Shan and the one Daddy Snow
Together we-a love 'em(?) as a tornado
[CHORUS]
Listen to me ya better listen for me now
Listen to me ya better listen for me now
When-a me rock-a the microphone, me rock on steady-aYes-a Daddy
Me Snow me are the article don
But the in an a-out (?) a dance an they say,
"Where ya come from?"
People them say I come from Jamaica
But me born and raised (in the ghetto) I want ya to know-a
Pure black people man thats all I man know
Yeah me shoes are-a tear up an-a my toes used to show-a
Where me-a born in-a the one Toronto
[CHORUS]
Come with a nice young lady
Intelligent, yes she gentle and irie
Everywhere me go me never lef' her at all-ie
Yes-a Daddy Snow me are the roam dance man-a
Roam between-a dancin' in-a in-a nation-a
You never know say Daddy Me Snow me are the boom shakata
Me never lay-a down flat in-a one cardboard box-a
Yes-a Daddy Me Snow me-a go reachin' out da top
[CHORUS]
Why would he? [repeat]
[MC Shan:]
Me sittin round cool with my jiggy jiggy girl
Police knock my door, lick up my pal
Rough me up and I cant do a thing
Pick up my line when my telephone ring
Take me to the station, black up my hands
Trail me down 'cause I'm hangin with the Snowman
What an I gonna do, I'm backed and I'm trapped
Smack me in my face, took all of my gap
They have no clues and they wanna get warmer
But Shan won't turn informer
[CHORUS]

Strange-ness of the Double E's

I just noticed that Erinne and I take some pretty strange pictures together. So I figured I should post a few to prove it. I am only posting pics from our recent dance party, so they were all taken the same night, which makes it even more funny. What is wrong with us? The pictures were taken at Mayssan's housewarming Dance party on College Street.

Kisses! What am I looking at? on a side note, Erinne does NOT have severe acne on her left side chin/mouth area, I had kissed her on the chin area with my red lip gloss and left a mark.

New hand symbol, too drunk to do a shocker, peace, or devil horns. oopsies! Give it up for the steem whistle. Always associated with good memories!


Peek-a-boo, Miss DJ Erinne! Jesus are we inseparable or what?

Mayssan looks terrified! On another side note, Erinne IS NOT a midget, she is crouching or something.

Come on guys! let's make a chain. I'm just wonderin what Erinne is doing with her hand??? I think it's trouble by the expression on her face!!! BOU-yaka!!!

It's ok, rest your head, I've got yer back! Ghost face KILLAH!

Miow. cats eyes. Looks like yer shedding a tear Erinne! So what if only one of my eyes made it into the picture, at least the horns made an appearance! DAMN you look sexy! To be honest, one of my fave e pics!

3 middle fingers for the closed pizza shop. What's with the name of the pizza "Lounge"? Telepizza, what? are we going to get teleported or something? Sweet! Love the ghost white hand e.

Who's this guy and why are we posing for a picture with him and our pizza!? Hands off sukkah!

uhhhhhhhhh! So Erinne says my hair looks like cotton candy, I dare you to bite it. EW Hair ball! Cough cough!

Ok so Erinne and I were dancing and i lost my balance, almost fell and grabbed Erinne's dress like this, so we had to do a reenactment so we could get a picture of that shit. Pretty nuts! Except it took us a few tries to get it right. This one looks like I'm goign to tear her dress. Sorry lady, hope it didn't leave a mark!

For those who think this is the daily life of a 27 year old in Toronto. THINK AGAIN! This is straight up UNIQUE! Prrrr OUT!

Dear Mr. SICK BUG!

If you survived, I will seriously crap my pants in my sleep! I honestly hope your guts are smeared in my slipper.

Unfortunately, the way my cat is looking under my couch, I think you made it, somehow, and I will have freakish nightmares because of you.

Un-love,

Erin

We are the earth intruders!

OK so a few things.

1. I've noticed that since Monday I've had over 60 visits to my blog, and seriously it wasn't me. So first point, wtf? who's checkin' this shit out?

2. Um Bjork has a new single from her new album, (Volta) and I'm freaking out!

3. I've downloaded the new Bjork single (Earth Intruders) and it's the best thing I've heard since 2001 and I don't just mean since 'Vespertine'

4. I'm severely annoyed with a lot of things right now.

5. I miss hanging out with my gals in Ottawa.

6. I miss my mom. I forgot to mention that the thursday morning before my roadtrip to Ottawa, I developped a bit of a cold, and fortunately my parents live RIGHT off the HWY 401 and I made a quick stop in Kingston and picked up some Buckley's and Vitamin C which killed my 'cold' within a day or so. THEY ROCK. MY PARENTS ARE THE COOLEST PARENTS ANYONE COULD EVER ASK FOR. P.S. If you ever read any comments posted anonymously, it's prolly my MOM (yeah she made the cop's # comment)

7. I've got so much on my mind the past few years it makes me feel like a car crash victim, and trust me, for those of you who know me, I know how one thinks. Yes, harsh but true.

8. Why the hell are people so messed up? I've recently reunited with some people and some are TOTALLY the same (ie. DAVE, he's the shit, and always was when we used to work together close to 10 years ago, same guy, little more grown up now, but the SAME, totally, that guy ROCKS) but others its like, shit who are you? I'm not just talking about people from 10 years back, even some from a year ago...what happens to people? Even some people I talk to on a weekly basis, I'm just like shit, you weren't the same person eve a week ago....I wonder how things will go next week?

9. I wonder, am I the same? Have I changed? I think I have, somewhat, but i don't think my personality has changed much. I mean in some aspects FOR SURE, but if you can totally pick up with someone, you have only seen about 3 times over the past 10 years, that's gotta say something. I'd like to think I'm the same.

10. I'm still listening to the new Bjork song on repeat, yes folks, some things never change, ask my mom, I've been 'forcing' her to listen to Bjork since I was about 14. Whether it was on T.V or through the walls of my room, she has her fave Bjork songs, and does mention to me when she sees her on T.V. She HAS sat through Dancer in the Dark, has admitted to me that she cried at the end, and I wasn't even sitting there with her. She watched it on her own cause she loves me :) tee hee hee!

Ok so for those of you who would like to hear the new Bjork song, here is a very short clip of it, but the only way I can describe it is Bjork goes Tribal, meets Nine inch nails circa 1995. So industrial sounding I am freaking out. It's so good. The song is available to download p.s.

Robot Chicken!

OH MY GOD THIS IS FUNNY!

This is what I watched Saturday night! So funny, we watched a bunch of other episodes too!



Here is another episode, for fun!

Saturday: Hockey night at Dave's place

Saturday my friend Dave came and picked me up at Sara's. We went to his place and watched a bunch of episodes of THE BEST show ever!!! Robot Chicken. It is the funniest thing I have ever seen. We went for supper and had some chicken burgers and fries with beer. Then returned to his place to watch the hockey game (Toronto vs. Montreal) We listened to some of the kick ass cd's that Dave made for me while watching the game, which made the entire hockey experience that much more enjoyable.
After the game we continued to drink beer and chat and tell stories and just catch up on a lot of shit that has gone on over the past 5 years. (Dave and I used to work together when we were about 18 years old, and I haven't seen him in 5 years, we just recently got back in touch) It was nice that neither of us have changed much after all these years.
We drank rediculous amounts of beer, watched the funniest episodes of South park ever, told animated stories, took a pause to get pictures with the masks. YES I brought the masks, I thought he might get a kick out of them. He did. Finally around 3:00AM we 'Shut 'er down' and went to sleep. Sunday, drove back to Toronto.

Dave pretending to crowd surf . He was telling me a story!

This is my beer

Dave posing on a bike in his livingroom!

Eyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

How hot are we!

Friday: Amanda's bridal shower

Friday around noon, Steph picked me up at Adam's and we went to the hotel to set everything up for Amanda's surprise bridal shower. Once we got to the room, we started drinking beer. We decorated and got all the stuff ready. Guests arrived around 4, I guess there were about 20 people there. Amanda's mom, Rob's mom and other family members and friends. We played silly games and had a great time.
Once the guests left we partied our faces off, took some rediculous pictures with my freaky masks I brought with me, then went for a walk to a pub on Elgin Street. Had some beer and fries then walked back to the hotel while taking some more funny pictures at various locations. Once we got back in the hotel room, we continued to party. We wrapped it up around 3:30am.

Woke up the next morning at 7:30am to clean up the hotel room and go downstairs for a buffet breakfast.

My morning was spent with Sara, watching a movie all curled up in blankets on her couch in the basement.

Amanda at her shower, surprise!

Bring on the masks, don't be scared boys and girls, it's just me!

Cheers! The girls at the bar!

Don't ask!

Double Don't ask!

If you would like to see more pictures from the shower click here.

I'm goin' back to Cali, no wait, Ottawa!

So thursday after work I left for Ottawa with a few friends. We arrived around 11:30PM, the drive was alright. My friend Steph who was supposed to pick me up in Gatineau, Quebec fell asleep and missed my calls so my best boy bud Adam drove out and picked me up. I crashed at his place that night. Was nice to hang out with him again!

Erin and Adam!

Kisses!

What the fuzz?

Friday night turned into an adventure I really didn't need to be a part of.
Erinne, Mayssan and I went out dancing.

Then we headed on over to an after hours club, on some dark side street, just a random door you knock on and someone answers. You head down to the basement and there's a dance party with music and drinks and stuff. So we get in, Mayssan hits the bar for a drink, and Erinne and I hit the massive bathroom line. Within 5 minutes of entering the bar and waiting in line, all of a sudden we hear EVERYONE DOWN ON THE GROUND WITH YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!!!

Um WTF? This doesn't sound like the kind of situation I'm usually invovled in. I turn around and see about 15 cops with flashlights, cuffing people, and everyone in the bar, on the ground hands in the air, some people sitting, some laying on their stomachs. I thought I was in a movie. Erinne and I just looked at eachother and slowly raised our hands in the air and got down on our knees. I thought I was going to wizz my pants! WOAH!

So the cops continued to hold us down and cuff some people and yell and scream at everyone. I just sat there thinking to myself, I have made it 27 years without getting arrested, I do not need this right now. What would my mom say? haha!

Fortunately within about 25 minutes we were all "removed" from the bar, we step out and there's like 10 cop cars blocking off the entire street and some around the corner too. What a sight!