A series of unfortunate events OR Resolutions, and all that jazz

2017 was a bit of a shit show, to be honest. 

 *replace 2016 with 2017, and you get the picture

Before it rolled around, I consulted Lainey's (aka Elaine Lui of Lainey Gossip and The Social fame) trusted predictions for the Year of the Rooster. This is the first thing she had to say about being a Rabbit in the year of the Rooster: 

"For Rabbits, the Year of the Rooster is not ‘go time.’"

She wasn't kidding.

The year started off with what should have been an amazing trip but was anything but before turning into something akin to the plague. It quickly went from bad to worse and one thing turned into another; literally over and over again.

My grandmother passed away in April and in May I finally figured out why my apartment smelled so funky: it was infested with squirrels - and everything that comes along with them - and I had to move out after spending months (not to mention mucho dinero) working on the place. 

 mucho dinero

In June, I was diagnosed with Lyme disease and in September, I was told that I had experienced a mini stroke, which explained a lot about the way my brain was working not working. Also, my heart was broken.

As the year comes to a close and I think about everything that happened I can't help but be struck by how much positive transformation occurred, despite the seemingly endless series of unfortunate events.

Thanks to an amazing group of friends, as well as my family, I was able to turn lemons into lemonade (with vodka): I'm living in a great new apartment, my health is doing better than ever and I'm finally doing what I love, full time, for actual cash money. 

Also, I've met some great new people.

Since I'm a strong believer in the law of attraction, I thought I'd use this post as my wish list, or goal board, for 2018. So here goes nothing: I want to keep writing and get better at it, I want to start the book I've been talking about for years, I want to be a better friend, and daughter, and general human being and I want to visit Poland. I want to focus on myself and what's good for me, health-wise, and I want to live with love.

 true fact

Happy new year's everyone... YOLO!

 

A living language OR English on fleek

English, like you and me, is forever changing. It may not be a living, breathing matter but it is constantly evolving in response to a variety of factors including migration, culture and technology.

Especially technology. 

Just the other day I was struck by how technology, namely texting, had changed the way I use the English language (i.e: incorrectly). For some reason, I started using "high-larious" instead of "hilarious" when texting close friends a while back. When the time came for me to use the word hilarious in a "non-textual" environment, I couldn't remember how to spell it. 

Actually, that's a lie. I thought it was spelled the way I had been writing it over text.

Groan.

Because of how time-consuming, and frustrating, it can sometimes be to text (especially with my new killer claws) I've developed a slew of acronyms and abbreviations to save time: addy instead of address, b4 instead of before, k instead of okay and tom instead of tomorrow, for example.

The problem is, after repeated use of texting slang I'm starting to forget how to write correctly. 

And that scares me.

All of this got me thinking about the evolution of language, English specifically. Every year, the Oxford English Dictionary enters new words and revises versions of existing entries. The amount of new words the OED enters is nothing compared to the amount of new words actually being used by English speakers the world round.

2014 was particularly ripe with new words. As such, I've decided to dedicate this blog post to the top 10 new words that are "on fleek"  right now. On fleek, most obvs, is one of them.

All definitions come from the Urban Dictionary, unless otherwise indicated.

1. Amazeballs: a douchey/hollywoody way to say amazing, originated by a Youtube comedy duo named Jessica and Hunter and popularized by blogger Perez Hilton. 
*otherwise indicated: the word "balls" can be added to a variety of words, for no apparent reason. Shadeballs, for example, refers to a particularly shady, or "sketchy," person or event.

2. Bae: the most f@$#%&g annoying way to say girlfriend, boyfriend, crush, or any other sort of significant other. Commonly used by ghetto folks, swagfags, and annoying f$%ktards.
*otherwise indicated: ummm... alrighty then.   

3. Erday: means everyday, just slurred a little bit.
*otherwise indicated: erday I'm hustlin'.

 the boss, aka the teflon don, aka ricky rozay, aka rick ross

4. FOMO: a state of mental or emotional strain caused by the Fear Of Missing Out.

"my FOMO is through the roof!"

5. Hashtag: the battle cry of hipsters OR a way for people to search for tweets that have a common topic.

6. On fleek: when your eyebrows, eyelashes, outfit, makeup or any other s$%t like that is on point.
*otherwise indicated: the first time I saw the words "on fleek" was on JLo's Instagram. It was in reference to her eyebrows. I had to look it up. Embarrassing much?

7. OOTD: means Outfit Of The Day. Usually refers to a picture of someone's clothes found on social media such as instagram, twitter, pinterest, tumblr or facebook. 
*otherwise indicated: I had to look this one up just this week. At 39, I'm obvs a grandmother now.

8. Steeze: style and ease, you put it together and get steeze.  
*otherwise indicated: too similar to "skeeze" for me to use comfortably.

9. Turnt up: phrase coined by Juicy J and Wiz Khalifa that basically means to go HAM at a party, usually while intoxicated.  
*otherwise indicated: really??? I thought it came from this song...

 turn down for what by dj snake and lil john

10. YOLO: abbreviation for You Only Live Once. Also, one of the most annoying abbreviations ever.

*otherwise indicated: popularized by Drake in his song The Motto, along with "erday."

 the motto: drake, lil wayne and tyga

And then there's this... the battle cry of a generation:

 YOLO: the lonely island with adam levine and kendrick lamar

Can anyone guess what YODO means? 

LOL. 







 

YOLO

Sometimes, I can't see the forest for the trees.

I get so overwhelmed by the minutiae of everyday life that I forget how blessed I am just to be alive.

After a particularly detoxifying (sweaty!) hot yoga class last night I went home and made an ever-so-slightly barf-inducing tofu and vegetable stir-fry.

Side note: Is it possible to be too healthy, like... to the detriment of your actual health?

When I was done, I felt like I could finally see the forest for what it is.

Life. 

My life. 

When I was younger I used to look down at the ground while walking around (I thought I was looking for lost money but according to a quick internet search it turns out I was actually shy). Everything was dirty, dark and gross. Also, there were lots of cigarette butts.

A slight adjustment in my posture, looking up - and around - instead of down, totally changed my perspective (if not my attitude).

Life in Montreal has been a little like the filthy ground of my youth lately. Dirty, dark and gross. 

Not to mention cold and rude. 

And hectic.

When I first moved back here in August everything looked shiny and bright - full of hope and promise. The trees, streets and buildings all held a little magic. 

That magic has since been replaced by work, apartment living and... the minutiae of everyday life.

In an effort to recapture a little of that magic, I thought I'd dig up (or download) some pictures I took of my hometown upon my return.

 clearly, i didn't take this one

PS: On my way into work this morning I came across a handwritten sign that someone had made and taped to a pole. It said "Smile!" I wanted to take a picture of it but I also didn't want frostbite. The sign achieved its goal though... it made me smile. And guess what? I wouldn't have seen it if I had been looking down.

 the killers

PPS. YOLO. "The battle cry of a generation." Too funny...

the lonely island