I am constantly amazed at the amount of sexual predators there are out there, in this small city alone. I have come across my fair share, and I’m not even overly attractive (not to say I’m belittling myself, but I’m just not really the type of person you would think would come across such people). I often hear about girls who’ve been in situations with men, either a guy their age or a bit older, just being inappropriate and just trying to get into their pants, or someone older – who should know better – with some kind of authority over the girl. It’s no wonder I’ve lost so much respect for men, why I think every man is a jerk and an asshole until he proves otherwise. It is honestly insane, how many girls have been sexually harassed or abused!
I think it’s a problem and something needs to be done. Men need to learn the difference between what is and what isn’t appropriate and where the lines are. men should not be taking advantage of girls and we girls and women need to learn to stand up for ourselves! It may be embarrassing, but keeping in something that is so important cannot only be very damaging to your own self-image, but also doesn’t teach the person doing the harassing a lesson. Now, I don’t know if all men who do this quite realize how serious of an offence this is, and that even just saying little comments can lead to a bigger problem. I’ve learnt so much about myself these past few years, and I know now that standing up for yourself in this kind of situation is something that needs to be done. It is not something that will just go away. Ignoring it will not make it better. Whether there was physical contact or not, it is serious. I wish every woman on this planet knew her importance and that she should not feel bad or embarrassed to talk about this to someone who can do something about it. When put in this situation, you have to let the person know that it is NOT ok, you do NOT like what they are doing or saying. They have to be told that it is inappropriate. Please girls. PLEASE if you know me or not, do me this one favor - do YOURSELF this favor - that you will stand up for yourself if you are ever put in this situation.
I understand that shock and fear come into play and sometimes your brain freezes. But knowing how to “snap out of it” and knowing the boundries and telling yourself that it needs to be stopped is one of the most important things you can do for yourself. Writing this, I am shaking in disgust at these men, and I’m crying because I don’t want any woman on this earth to think they are not important enough to be heard in this kind of situation, that they are not important enough to stand up for themselves. It really truly hurts me when girls don’t think they are worth the fuss.
I sincerely apologize to those few men out there who are respectful, sweet and fantastic. Be strong and teach others to be like you! Although I have, for the most part, lost my faith in men, I realize there are some great men out there, and I’m sorry that you have to work so much harder at getting great women, because of the crap that these swines have taught women about men and how men are. But I promise you, once you get that girl, she will be the luckiest girl alive, to have found someone that treats her with respect and loves her. And she will appreciate you for it. I know when it comes to me, any man that wants to be with me is going to have to work hard and prove to me that they are a good person. I have finally learnt that I deserve to be treated with love and respect, and it is my sincere hope that I can pass this on to other girls who maybe don’t realize that about themselves yet.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
HE'S BAAAAACKK!!!!!!
when i started working at Second Cup, i was introduced to Jerry, the creepiest, yet most hilarious guy you could ever come across. he's a guy of average build, about 30-35 years old, short black hair with a perv-stace/goatee goin on, super tanned and kinda looks like he wishes he was a porn star. basically, he's the kinda guy that hits on anything that moves. a grown man version of a 13 year old girl.
he always came into Second Cup, probably because it was an all girl staff, and basically flirted with every single one of us on a daily basis. usually, it'd just be the "you should wear your hair up sometime, so i can see your pretty face. promise me you'll do that? wear your hair up for me, k, as a favor." but every now and then you'd get the "wanna go for nachos?" which would hastily get a "i dont like nachos." reply.
One time, he came in when it was dead. three of us girls, myself, Julie and Miranda, were milling around talking, when he came in, looking ready to talk. the three of us groaned as he made his way toward our little circle, and Julie said "what can i do for you Jerry." in a very "tell me what you want so you can get the fuck out of here" kinda tone.
"well," he said, "i have this picture on my phone, i want to blow it up and get it printed. how do i do that?"
all of us looked at him like he was nuts and i said, "who knows, go ask at Telus, (which was right across the hall) they're a phone company, they'll know."
apparently that didnt mean anything to him, so he stayed and kept talking about how he wanted to blow up his picture. he turned his phone around to show us, and Miranda looked, just out of instinct. and Julie and i just rolled our eyes at him. finally after a while, we convinced him to go as Telus and he left. the second he walked out the door, Miranda said, with a horrified look on her face, "OH DEAR GOD, WHY DID I LOOK AT THAT!!!!!"
Julie and i turned around instantly, "WHAT WAS IT!!!"
apparently, he had taken a nude picture of himself on his phone, posing like the porn star that he hoped to be. laughing, and horribly disgusted, the three of us spied on him showing the picture to the poor workers over at Telus and asking them how to print the picture.
He always hit on Mel a lot too, who was engaged at the time. questions like, "so are you still engaged?" would come up frequently. one day, after a rush, Mel turned to me, looking shocked and told me a story:
The line had been out the door with customers waiting to get coffee, when Jerry came in and beckoned for Mel to come speak to him.
"what do you want Jerry." she asked.
"You have to help me," was his reply, "you're the only one who can help me!" he proceeded to tell her about this rash that he had on his back, and about some lotion that he bought for it.
"i need you to rub this lotion all over my body," he told her.
the lady in front of him in line turned around in disbelief at what she had just heard.
finally, Jerry left, after Mel told him she wouldn't help him, and the lady followed him out into the parking lot where she proceeded to yell at him and tell him how inappropriate he was. She then took him inside to the security guards, told them what had happened, and got him banished from the mall for two years.
so today i was at the mall, la-di-da, minding my own business, when i saw a guy standing at the doors. "no! it couldn't be!" i thought to myself. although it made sense, two years had probably been up since we had last seen Jerry, and it would be very like him to go back to his old routine of creeping on all the female mall employees. he looked different though... bigger, less pervy, less tannned. i thought i'd go in to Second Cup and see if i was just imagining things. but alas, i was right, it was Jerry, good ol' Jerry, and he is back. So watch out, female employees of Kildonan Place Mall, and learn how to reject boys in a mean way IMMEDIATELY because that is something you will be doing with him every day.
oh, how i sometimes miss working at that mall and all the weirdos that came through! almost every day was an adventure.
he always came into Second Cup, probably because it was an all girl staff, and basically flirted with every single one of us on a daily basis. usually, it'd just be the "you should wear your hair up sometime, so i can see your pretty face. promise me you'll do that? wear your hair up for me, k, as a favor." but every now and then you'd get the "wanna go for nachos?" which would hastily get a "i dont like nachos." reply.
One time, he came in when it was dead. three of us girls, myself, Julie and Miranda, were milling around talking, when he came in, looking ready to talk. the three of us groaned as he made his way toward our little circle, and Julie said "what can i do for you Jerry." in a very "tell me what you want so you can get the fuck out of here" kinda tone.
"well," he said, "i have this picture on my phone, i want to blow it up and get it printed. how do i do that?"
all of us looked at him like he was nuts and i said, "who knows, go ask at Telus, (which was right across the hall) they're a phone company, they'll know."
apparently that didnt mean anything to him, so he stayed and kept talking about how he wanted to blow up his picture. he turned his phone around to show us, and Miranda looked, just out of instinct. and Julie and i just rolled our eyes at him. finally after a while, we convinced him to go as Telus and he left. the second he walked out the door, Miranda said, with a horrified look on her face, "OH DEAR GOD, WHY DID I LOOK AT THAT!!!!!"
Julie and i turned around instantly, "WHAT WAS IT!!!"
apparently, he had taken a nude picture of himself on his phone, posing like the porn star that he hoped to be. laughing, and horribly disgusted, the three of us spied on him showing the picture to the poor workers over at Telus and asking them how to print the picture.
He always hit on Mel a lot too, who was engaged at the time. questions like, "so are you still engaged?" would come up frequently. one day, after a rush, Mel turned to me, looking shocked and told me a story:
The line had been out the door with customers waiting to get coffee, when Jerry came in and beckoned for Mel to come speak to him.
"what do you want Jerry." she asked.
"You have to help me," was his reply, "you're the only one who can help me!" he proceeded to tell her about this rash that he had on his back, and about some lotion that he bought for it.
"i need you to rub this lotion all over my body," he told her.
the lady in front of him in line turned around in disbelief at what she had just heard.
finally, Jerry left, after Mel told him she wouldn't help him, and the lady followed him out into the parking lot where she proceeded to yell at him and tell him how inappropriate he was. She then took him inside to the security guards, told them what had happened, and got him banished from the mall for two years.
so today i was at the mall, la-di-da, minding my own business, when i saw a guy standing at the doors. "no! it couldn't be!" i thought to myself. although it made sense, two years had probably been up since we had last seen Jerry, and it would be very like him to go back to his old routine of creeping on all the female mall employees. he looked different though... bigger, less pervy, less tannned. i thought i'd go in to Second Cup and see if i was just imagining things. but alas, i was right, it was Jerry, good ol' Jerry, and he is back. So watch out, female employees of Kildonan Place Mall, and learn how to reject boys in a mean way IMMEDIATELY because that is something you will be doing with him every day.
oh, how i sometimes miss working at that mall and all the weirdos that came through! almost every day was an adventure.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
NUFAN muthafuckas!!
after about 7 years or so of being a big No Use For a Name fan, i've finally downloaded their entire discography. (i know, i know... i should buy their cds, but i only ever find them for near $30 a piece, and do not have that kinda money to spend on the 5 or 6 albums that i dont already have). i'm pretty stoked, listening to them, and feeling really nostalgic, thinking back on when this was all i listened to.
I remember back when they came to Winnipeg for the first time since i'd started listening to them, they just happened to be playing an 18+ show, and i was 17, so i couldn't go. My buddy Ryan was also underage, and his brother Ray and his friend Mike made sure to let us know at every opportunity they got, how great of a show it was going to be and how we'd be missing out, taunting us by saying things like, "it's NO USE being sad guys, you can't get in anyways" and whatever else they could think of. Needless to say, we wanted to punch them, if only they weren't 8 years older than us.
I finally got my chance to see NUFAN when i was 18 or 19, i'm not quite sure, but i was the most excited person in the world for that show! Before the show, Ryan, Ray and I walked out back behind the venue to where the tour bus was and saw Rory Koff (drummer) walking out of the bus, toward the door of the venue. Ray yelled, "hey! it's Rory!" and he replied with a "hey! it is!" which we found somewhat comical.
so time for the show: i stood at the front at the stage, right underneath Tony Sly (the singer/guitarist)'s mic and bellowed out the words to every single song, not missing a word. I saw Ryan getting up to stage dive a few times. I rocked out harder than i'd ever rocked out at a show before and had the time of my life.
After the show, we stuck around inside to chat with the band a bit. Tony was surrounded by a bunch of girls, so we only got a few minutes with him and time enough to get a picture. Dave had to miss the tour due to him becoming a father recently, so we didnt' get to meet him. Matt Riddle was hanging out kinda by himself at the side of the stage, so we snuck over to say hi. We told him that we were all members on their message board (RIP haha) and he recognized us right away. we chatted for about half an hour before he suggested we take some fun pictures.
The venue we were at (the Garrick) used to be a movie theater, and there were still a ton of seats still in place, though they'd cleared the middle section for concerts. we sat down in the seats on the side and Matt said "hey! let's pretend we're in a scary movie!" so we all put on our terrified faces and someone snapped a picture. looking back at the pictures, Ryan laughed and said it looked like Matt and I were on a date since we were huddled close together. we took a bunch of pictures and then headed out to the car, but were so excited about the night, that we forgot where we were going and just aimlessly walked for about 5 minutes in the freezing Winnipeg winter until we realized we were walking in the opposite direction of where we had parked.
i've been to quite a few shows in the past few years, and this one has definitely got to be one of my most memorable. i'm so stoked to see them again, and i'm sure i'll have just as great a time! so stoked, can't wait! review to come after.
I remember back when they came to Winnipeg for the first time since i'd started listening to them, they just happened to be playing an 18+ show, and i was 17, so i couldn't go. My buddy Ryan was also underage, and his brother Ray and his friend Mike made sure to let us know at every opportunity they got, how great of a show it was going to be and how we'd be missing out, taunting us by saying things like, "it's NO USE being sad guys, you can't get in anyways" and whatever else they could think of. Needless to say, we wanted to punch them, if only they weren't 8 years older than us.
I finally got my chance to see NUFAN when i was 18 or 19, i'm not quite sure, but i was the most excited person in the world for that show! Before the show, Ryan, Ray and I walked out back behind the venue to where the tour bus was and saw Rory Koff (drummer) walking out of the bus, toward the door of the venue. Ray yelled, "hey! it's Rory!" and he replied with a "hey! it is!" which we found somewhat comical.
so time for the show: i stood at the front at the stage, right underneath Tony Sly (the singer/guitarist)'s mic and bellowed out the words to every single song, not missing a word. I saw Ryan getting up to stage dive a few times. I rocked out harder than i'd ever rocked out at a show before and had the time of my life.
After the show, we stuck around inside to chat with the band a bit. Tony was surrounded by a bunch of girls, so we only got a few minutes with him and time enough to get a picture. Dave had to miss the tour due to him becoming a father recently, so we didnt' get to meet him. Matt Riddle was hanging out kinda by himself at the side of the stage, so we snuck over to say hi. We told him that we were all members on their message board (RIP haha) and he recognized us right away. we chatted for about half an hour before he suggested we take some fun pictures.
The venue we were at (the Garrick) used to be a movie theater, and there were still a ton of seats still in place, though they'd cleared the middle section for concerts. we sat down in the seats on the side and Matt said "hey! let's pretend we're in a scary movie!" so we all put on our terrified faces and someone snapped a picture. looking back at the pictures, Ryan laughed and said it looked like Matt and I were on a date since we were huddled close together. we took a bunch of pictures and then headed out to the car, but were so excited about the night, that we forgot where we were going and just aimlessly walked for about 5 minutes in the freezing Winnipeg winter until we realized we were walking in the opposite direction of where we had parked.
i've been to quite a few shows in the past few years, and this one has definitely got to be one of my most memorable. i'm so stoked to see them again, and i'm sure i'll have just as great a time! so stoked, can't wait! review to come after.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
super powers eh
This morning, i was laying on the couch (i sleep on the couch every now and then) stretching and as i reached my arm up in to the air, i thought how crazy would that be if spiderwebs shot out of my wrist. like if one day you woke up and you had super powers. i remember watching the Secret World of Alex Mac as a kid, a show about a teenage girl who got some kinda toxic waste spilled on her one day as she was on her way home. as a result of the spillage, she could turn into goo at will, allowing her to make sneaky getaways without being noticed, and she could also move things with her mind. of course, as a kid, the show inspired me to try moving things with my mind too; the remote when it was too far away and i wanted to change the channel... a snack that was just out of reach... my brother when he was being annoying.
so, a little tidbit about me before my next story - i'm terrified of ladybugs. if they're not on me, whatever, not inside the house, it's fine, not flying, ok. but as soon as they open their wings or are in a secluded area with me, i get a little nervous. so one day, i was sitting in the front pew at church, bored out of my face when i saw a ladybug crawling on the floor about 2 feet away from me - keep in mind this was like a year ago - when i decided i would be goofy and try to make the lady bug come closer to me. so in my head i whispered to the lady bug to come closer come closer (i wanted to squish it) and then soon, the lady bug started to come closer. i was like ha that's funny. then it started to come really close, and i was like GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY!!! yeah. i dont know what the point of that story was, but Alex Mac made me think of it.
i'm sure you've done something similar in your time. feel free to share a story...
so, a little tidbit about me before my next story - i'm terrified of ladybugs. if they're not on me, whatever, not inside the house, it's fine, not flying, ok. but as soon as they open their wings or are in a secluded area with me, i get a little nervous. so one day, i was sitting in the front pew at church, bored out of my face when i saw a ladybug crawling on the floor about 2 feet away from me - keep in mind this was like a year ago - when i decided i would be goofy and try to make the lady bug come closer to me. so in my head i whispered to the lady bug to come closer come closer (i wanted to squish it) and then soon, the lady bug started to come closer. i was like ha that's funny. then it started to come really close, and i was like GO AWAY GO AWAY GO AWAY!!! yeah. i dont know what the point of that story was, but Alex Mac made me think of it.
i'm sure you've done something similar in your time. feel free to share a story...
Sunday, April 5, 2009
skulls = death = BAAAAAAAADDD!!!!!!
i dont understand that concept actually. why do people fear skulls? i have a tattoo of a skull and i love the shit out of it, i'm just always baffled at the reactions i get from people when they see that it is a skull. i've had a lot of comments like "wow, that's a beautiful tattoo!" and then 5 seconds later... "oh, it's a skull...." and they kinda shy away.
i understand that to most of the world, skulls represent death. ultimately though, i dont think death should be something that we fear that much, that a picture of a skull makes us uncomfortable.
what i dont understand though, is people say that one should not fear death, especially if "you know where you're going" (which i find obsurd, no one knows where they're going). but if someone fears a skull, does that mean they fear death? and if they fear a skull does that mean they fear themselves? because everyone has a skull.
i just dont understand. without our skulls, we would be nothing. our brains would flop around, we would have no shape to our faces, we would look like blobs with bodies.
the only thing i'm afraid of, is when i go to paraguay to see my family. they live in a very tight-knit, very mennonite (reserved and conservative) community and i know i will get a lot of comments like "why do you have the sign of the devil on your foot?" and "you need to repent, that's evil!!" and dumb shit like that. ultimately, i dont give a shit, it's my foot, i'm the one that has to have it on my body for the rest of my life. and i would have it no other way! (hopefully no one tries to scrape it off though!)
people dont even bother to ask what the meaning is behind it, they just say "ew skull. bad. begone satan!"
granted, i knew that there would be some controversy in it when i got my tattoo, so i'm not really complaining so much as just trying to wrap my head around the narrow closed-mindedness of this world.
i'm not gonna get a jesus tattoo or a bible verse tattoo, just because i know that if someone says "you have a tattoo. that's bad." i can be like "yeah but it's a cross. or yeah but it's this and this bible verse, so how can that be bad?"
ultimately, having a skull on my body does not change who i am. it does not make me a bad person. it actually inspires me every day to be a better person. and if anyone tries to tell me that that's wrong, i believe i have full rights to tell them to fuck right the hell off. am i right?
i understand that to most of the world, skulls represent death. ultimately though, i dont think death should be something that we fear that much, that a picture of a skull makes us uncomfortable.
what i dont understand though, is people say that one should not fear death, especially if "you know where you're going" (which i find obsurd, no one knows where they're going). but if someone fears a skull, does that mean they fear death? and if they fear a skull does that mean they fear themselves? because everyone has a skull.
i just dont understand. without our skulls, we would be nothing. our brains would flop around, we would have no shape to our faces, we would look like blobs with bodies.
the only thing i'm afraid of, is when i go to paraguay to see my family. they live in a very tight-knit, very mennonite (reserved and conservative) community and i know i will get a lot of comments like "why do you have the sign of the devil on your foot?" and "you need to repent, that's evil!!" and dumb shit like that. ultimately, i dont give a shit, it's my foot, i'm the one that has to have it on my body for the rest of my life. and i would have it no other way! (hopefully no one tries to scrape it off though!)
people dont even bother to ask what the meaning is behind it, they just say "ew skull. bad. begone satan!"
granted, i knew that there would be some controversy in it when i got my tattoo, so i'm not really complaining so much as just trying to wrap my head around the narrow closed-mindedness of this world.
i'm not gonna get a jesus tattoo or a bible verse tattoo, just because i know that if someone says "you have a tattoo. that's bad." i can be like "yeah but it's a cross. or yeah but it's this and this bible verse, so how can that be bad?"
ultimately, having a skull on my body does not change who i am. it does not make me a bad person. it actually inspires me every day to be a better person. and if anyone tries to tell me that that's wrong, i believe i have full rights to tell them to fuck right the hell off. am i right?
Friday, April 3, 2009
all i wanna do man
i wish sleep wasn't necessary. cos i can't seem to do that. i'm tired as fuck, but i just can't fall asleep. not just tonight, but basically every night. i dont know about you, but when i dream, i sleep worth shit. i wake up feeling exhausted, whether it was a good dream or a nightmare, and it seems like getting my brain to shut up is impossible. all i want in the world is to be able to hit an off switch for my brain at night so i can sleep. how sweet would that be man, how perfect.
i think i want to invent something: a jar that you can keep your brain in overnight (without dying of course) so you can have a peaceful sleep and fall unconscious instantly. no hassle. but have no fear, you will still wake up when your alarm goes off in the morning, and you won't feel like you need to sleep longer because you've just had the best sleep of your life. seriously. i think i would make millions. word.
i think i want to invent something: a jar that you can keep your brain in overnight (without dying of course) so you can have a peaceful sleep and fall unconscious instantly. no hassle. but have no fear, you will still wake up when your alarm goes off in the morning, and you won't feel like you need to sleep longer because you've just had the best sleep of your life. seriously. i think i would make millions. word.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Late Night Encounters
i dont know if you believe in ghosts or the supernatural at all, but i do, and so i'm not really sure what to make of what happened last night.
Half asleep, I went to the bathroom and just as I was coming out of the bathroom, there was an intense flash of light that looked like it came from a camera. as it lit up the whole basement, i saw the figure of a girl who was probably around 17 or 18 standing a few feet in front of me, facing the computer. now, i know our computer has been on the fritz lately and kinda just restarts whenever and so the screen does flash randomly, but i've never seen it so bright before! it's probably just cos i was barely awake and imagining things, but needless to say, it scared the pants off me.
Half asleep, I went to the bathroom and just as I was coming out of the bathroom, there was an intense flash of light that looked like it came from a camera. as it lit up the whole basement, i saw the figure of a girl who was probably around 17 or 18 standing a few feet in front of me, facing the computer. now, i know our computer has been on the fritz lately and kinda just restarts whenever and so the screen does flash randomly, but i've never seen it so bright before! it's probably just cos i was barely awake and imagining things, but needless to say, it scared the pants off me.
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