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So I was all excited.

A while ago, I was listening to the radio and they mentioned a study that looks at the work habits of employees who work in open concept work spaces.
Basically they said that productivity was lower than in closed concept offices. It was things like the workers putting off making a phone call because they knew that their co-workers could hear everything they were saying…

I was thrilled with the article b/c it made me feel like I wasn’t crazy! I’m not a huge fan of the open concept thing.
(…though, I’m not sure how I would feel about sitting in a cubicle either…)

anyways, I thought I had finally found an article that described the study: “Office Design Can Affect Productivity, Study Shows; Proximity To Co-Workers Can Impact How Much Work Gets Done”
But it turns out, the info in that article is WAY different than what I was looking for.

It is semi-interesting though. “If you’re performing a task next to someone else, then quite often what happens is that you’re also representing the task of the other individual,”

Anyways,
James Morrison was in Toronto sometime last year:

hmm, if only I had known… I could’ve hung around the place and been a crazed fan!

And in more unrelated news:
Photojojo mentioned The Photographic Dictionary in their newsletter today.
And I know this doesn’t quite relate, but I LOVE this word:

I feel inspired.
…stay tuned.

hey! I just read this over on Kalpna’s blog!

It’s the Crafty Slackers Get ‘Er Done Giveaway!

From the TCA site:
Toronto Craft Alert presents The Crafty Slacker’s Get ‘Er Done Giveaway - a contest that gives you the incentive you need to get ‘er done! By sharing your unfinished projects you’ll be entered to win a care package bursting with goodness from Toronto-based craft stores and talented local designers (valued at close to $700! ). Finishing your abandoned projects will earn you even more entries and of course the satisfaction that comes with completion.

exciting!

Here’s how to enter:

1) Upload an abandoned project to the flickr pool (counts as 1 entry)
2) Join the TCA mailing list (counts as 1 entry)
3) Post about the giveaway on your blog (counts as 2 entries! yay!)
4) Complete the unfinished project and upload a picture to the flickr pool (counts as 5 entries!)

The first thing I thought of when I read aboudt this giveaway was my quilt! oh my quilt!!

I actually have no motivation to work on it.
it’s just SO finicky! …I feel like if I work on it, I’ll get frustrated and then do a bad job in order to finish it.

But actually, when I was walking to work this morning (randomly) I thought about working on it sometime soon. ..maybe stitch it by hand and then run it through the sewing machine… that might work.

well, we’ll see.

[Here’s a link to my quilt.]

my mom sent me an email forward this morning that said something about Country Style will accept losing ‘roll up the rim’ cups from Tim Hortons.
what a hoax, right?!

so I went to the Country Style website and lo and behold….

*gasp! It’s true!!!

crazy!

There’s a line in the song “You and I” by Ingrid Michaelson that I was misunderstanding for the longest time.

It goes: “Let’s get rich and buy our parent’s homes in the south of France.”

I always understood it in the same way that I just wrote it.
And I was always so confused.

What kind of rich parents are these that have houses in the south of France? …is that common? And how do the parents have not just one, but multiple homes in France?
…If I was rich, I wouldn’t buy my parent’s home. …I might buy them another home, but I wouldn’t buy the home from them…

It was a looong while until I realized that the parents don’t have a home in France yet!
The idea is that if she was rich she would buy them the home!

gosh.

Anyways,
here’s a video of the song:

with guest: Jason Mraz!

I was looking to book a hotel today and I came across this statement on Minto Suite’s site:

hehehe “suite”! love it!

Improv in Toronto is at it again…

Subway Dance Party:

I like the idea of this.

In reality though, I would probably be the person who gets off the subway car. …maybe.

On the one hand, I’d like the think that I would smile and laugh and enjoy the ‘festivities’. I mean, a subway car of ‘random’ people dancing? What’s not to like!?!

But on the other hand, if I’m not in the right mood, I will probably be superbly annoyed.
Especially if I feel like people are intruding on my personal space.
Or if I’m just looking for a nice peaceful subway ride.

Case and Point: on Friday I was returning from work a couple hours later than usual and the subway car was fairly crowded. I was reading a book and listening to some calm tunes on my mp3 player. A guy in front of me was chatting it up with random passengers and after a couple stops he pulls out a harmonica.
Cute right?
Who doesn’t want to be serenaded on the subway?

…me, that’s who.

actually, as soon as he pulled it out, I hightailed it out of the subway car, and waited for the next subway to come by.

of course, I acted like I had always intended on getting off at that stop. ..I mean, I didn’t want to be rude….

a little early this Sunday…

So #1: I <3 This American Life.
Hana kept telling me about AI and how good it is but I never listened to her. A while ago I downloaded something that I thought was This American Life, and it was horrible. And I couldn’t understand why EVERYONE was so into it!
Well in January I decided to give it another try. And I’ve become slightly obsessed. Once a week is definitely not enough! But I don’t really want to pay $1 for each of the archives…considering that I’ll probably only listen to it once.

Right now I’m listening to a story where they’re talking about how there’s always at least one person in each office who no-one knows the name of.
Hilarious.
and oh so true.

#2: A fun ‘Pessimist’s Mug‘ from Despair inc! (Maker’s of Demotivators!)

they’ve created a lot of new products since the last time I visited their site….

#3: The best picture of pancakes that I’ve ever seen.
[From VeganYumYum.]

#4: This concept Cassette MP3 Player
I want one!!

[via Toxel]

#5: I love this:

[from Up Up, The Blog]

#6: This soap is beautiful!!

[link]
[via Toxel]

#7: I like these mugs!
They’re made out of ceramic!

[link]
[via Toxel]

it’s the weekend! And I finally finished reading Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides!!
SO well written!!
I was explaining it to someone the other day and was doing such a horrible job. I couldn’t quite convey the storyline and how the past/present are interwoven throughout…

anyways,
I was in Windsor yesterday!
“yay”
actually it wasn’t that bad. The hotel room was sweet. It was about 1.5times the size of my apartment. And the bed was perhaps the comfiest I’ve ever been on. (Either that or I was just really tired…)
The plane I took was kinda cute. It was a 36-seater and and a ‘couch’-type seat along the back of the plane.

I was pooped after arriving home last night around 10:00, but I switched on the tv and the Helvetica Film was playing on TVO! SUPER exciting! So of course I stayed up to watch that.
I love TVO for playing such great documentaries…
So #1 : I had NO idea Helvetica was everywhere. Throughout the film they showed how Helvetica is being used (coporate logos, government documents, street signs, etc) and I was s.h.o.c.k.e.d! It’s everywhere!!
#2: I love the interview with Erik Spiekermann!

Most of the other interviewees were singing the praises of Helvetica. I almost felt like they would start saying that Helvetica is the saviour of civilization.
And then Spiekermann comes on and says something like, “Why is Helvetica used so often? Why is stupidity ubiquitous?”

oh the horror! The Horror!!

So actually, I don’t know if it’s a technical ‘virus’, but it’s some kind of malware.

I’m not too worried about it…mostly cause it doesn’t really do much.
This is how it works:
I search for something on google and get a bunch of results.
Now, if I click one of those results the malware immediately directs me to some other random webpage.
…I can’t remember if the ‘other’ webpage actually loads… I think usually it just keeps loading until I stop it.

anyways, so now what I have to do is copy/paste the web addresses from the google results and go to the url directly.
That’s a bit annoying cause sometimes the url on the google results page is incomplete.

oh well.
I figure it’s about time I get a virus. I mean, I download random things all the time…
(coincidentally - last week, I bought an external harddrive and backed up a bunch of semi-important files!!)

I haven’t checked to see if I still have issues if I use a different search engine.
Google is just about all I use.

This would be a good time to try out GoodSearch!
Melissa from Operation Nice mentioned GS a while ago.
Basically, you pick a charity that you would like to support and then use GoodSearch to search the net as you regularly would.
And somehow as you search the net, the charity gets money! (It comes down to about 50% of the ad profits that GoodSearch makes.)
GS is powered by Yahoo, so basically, there’s no reason not to switch over!
(It’s been on my to-do list for a while.)

Here’s more info –> GoodSearch FAQs.

And here’s the late Sunday Night Round Up!

— it’s free to send mail to the Government.
I think maybe I knew this, but forgot. …either way, it’s time to send some letters to some politicians!!
(I’ll start with these!)

— The story behind the ever popular ‘Keep Calm & Carry On’ poster.
[via Nubby Twiglet]

— Ex-Boyfriend Jewelry. com
hehe, they’re tag line is: ‘You don’t want it. He can’t have it back.”
[via Cusp of Normal]

— Barak Obama’s Wikipedia page
interesting read!

I’ve switched around my computer/desk situation and now I no longer have my laptop on my kitchen table!
I’m currently typing on an actual desk!
…I originally had my sewing machine on this desk, and then a couple days ago I realized that I could use the desk for it’s original purpose! eureka!

I have no idea what I’m going to do with the kitchen table now though.
…maybe that’s where I’ll put my sewing machine!

mmm milk.

I’m at my parents’ place right now.

so….’Sunday Night Round Up’ will have to wait until tomorrow, when I’m back at my computer.

Different topic:

I was watching tv with my dad and a DirectBuy commercial started playing.
and my dad says “Hey!! That’s Tony!”
Some guy and his ‘wife’ were in the commercial talking about how much money they saved with DirectBuy.
Their names were displayed on the screen too, so I totally thought my dad was joking about how he knew them.

but no, turns out my dad used to work with Tony, and has met his wife! (And their kids).
I was floored! I had always assumed that the people in those commercials were actors! I mean, of course they’re actors!! They just stutter and stuff so that they give the appearance of being real customers!

So now that I’m over my shock, I wonder how Tony & his wife got to be in the commercial!
Like, did someone at the DB store walk up to them and say ‘how would you like to be in an ad?’
And if that’s how it happened, I wonder how Tony & wife feel about the whole thing. … like, how does it feel to have an “All-American”-type look? …they kinda looked like the ‘happy couple next-door’. …am i making sense?

different topic:
oo, so I was looking up a video for Chaka Khan on youtube, and I stumbled over this:

Esperanza Spalding singing “I Know You Know” on Jimmy Kimmel Live:

I’m not a huge fan of the super-fast singing but I do enjoy her vibe!
iTunes here I come!

it has been a slow start to the day.
I should probably make a list of the things that I want to accomplish today.

but first!
I’ll do this 99 things, thing that I found on One Blue Chocolate’s blog!

Basically, all it is, is a list of 99 things, and you bold the ones you’ve done, and post the list on your blog!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars (in a tent. …does that count?)
3. Played in a band (Rock Band!! …oh, and high school band too I suppose…)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain (Turtle Mountain!)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo (does Rock Band count?
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (Does crochet count?)
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (it was a “personal day”!)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (kinda…?)
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a cheque (oopsy!)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt (kinda…?)
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job (fired, ‘let go’… same thing!)
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee