Sum.

I have plans of making Eggs Benedict for myself for the first time tonight. It's a favourite in breakfast spots, but I've never made it at home before and I want to try. But before I go off to the kitchen to do that...

I had an amazing weekend ripping it in Toronto with my newest best buddy; let's call her K.E.S.P. Today is the final day before I head back to work after a glorious holiday, so it was a delight to spend the weekend having fun with a friend and indulging in a number of pleasures. I got back to Waterloo around 1:30 ish and immediately cuddled with my kitty Spoon (I didn't take off my jacket or boots for at least 5 minutes... Spoonie deserved the attention). Then I felt like I needed a nap, so I climbed in bed and tried to sleep, but I couldn't. I tried to turn something on to watch that I'd hopefully fall asleep to, but it didn't happen. So, I figured I'd just lounge in bed, snuggling with Spoon, and watch something I actually want to watch. That's what brings me to the reason I wanted to post right now...

I Am.

K.E.S.P. watched this documentary recently and highly recommended it, so I was happy to take the time to watch it. It was fantastic!!! I won't bother summarizing it for you, I suggest you watch it yourself. There were so many amazing takeaways, but here's the fact that resonated most with me.

We are all connected. Everything we do has an impact.

I tend to get overwhelmed watching documentaries with big ideas like this one had. I get so wrapped up in the good ideas and want so desperately to implement them in my own life, but being overwhelmed, I often end up implementing nothing at all. So I'm going to take a "small" part of this idea and work to consider it as regularly as possible.

Consider the energy I'm putting out into the universe. 

I know the feeling of walking into a room and feeling an existing tension that you may not have the context for, but you can actually feel. My cat Spoon knows that feeling, too. When my GF K. and I have a big talk (also known as a fight) and we're sitting next to each other on the bed, crying, maybe speaking in loud voices, feeling intense emotions, etc., Spoon jumps up and sits in between us (an example of another message in the movie: that all living things are the same).

The energy that I put out there matters. Big changes happen because of individuals' consciousness spreading enough to translate into critical mass and action. But even if big change isn't my goal, everything I do has an impact, great or small. Do I put enough thought into what I do? Do I consider the impact of my words, actions, and even thoughts and emotions? I think I could stand to be more conscious of those things. And it's not about being hard on myself, or critical, or changing everything I do and everything I am. Increased consciousness is small but mighty, and I'm conscious that I could be more conscious.

Now... onto Eggs Benedict!

#Swoon4Spoon

I have a cat.

I've never had a real pet before in my life.  By "real pet" I'm referring to anything that lives outside of a cage or a bowl.  My mom is nervous around cats and dogs, and so we never had them... and truthfully, I was pretty nervous around cats and dogs, too.  Maybe I imagined having a pet in the future, but not really... I can maybe remember dreaming that I'd one day have a dog, but as I moved into my twenties it wasn't part of my future plans.  Pets just seemed like too much work, and they represented permanence.  In the past 8 years I've had 6 different homes... permanence isn't something I've felt for a while.

But the more serious I got with my girlfriend, the more I realized that I'd likely have a cat one day.  My GF has had cats for her whole life, and so I accepted that a cat would be in my future... I just didn't expect to have a cat so soon.  That's how life goes though... here's how it went down...

Our friend L. fosters cats through the Annex Cat Rescue, so she'll take care of a cat for a few months and help find it a "forever home", even involved in the screening process of the potential new owner.  Back in November, L. started fostering a cat named Spoon.  My GF went to visit the l'il guy and fell in love.  She gushed about Spoon when she came home that day, but that's where the story could've stopped.

Two months later, L. posts a photo of Spoon on Facebook and says she'd love to find him a forever home, and would prefer that he go to a friend.  K. (my GF) was so hoping our home could be Spoon's forever home, but I needed some time to consider this.  I wasn't at all opposed to having a cat... I wasn't even concerned or nervous... just apprehensive, perhaps.  I needed to ask a lot of questions - weird ones!  "Will I be surprised a lot, i.e. will the cat jump onto random places, frightening me?"  "How much will it cost?"  "Are cats inherently evil?"  And so on, and so forth...  After a lot of discussion, and a lot of patience on K's part, we decided the next step was to meet the cat.

When I met Spoon, I had to hold him.  He's just got such a great demeanor: cuddly, mellow, sweet, friendly, etc.  We cuddled with him, asked L. lots of questions, and then afterwards, when we got into the car, I told K. we should go for it.

That evening, K. called the Annex Cat Rescue and had a screening, wherein she answered some questions, and then was approved on the spot for adoption!  The next day we went to Petsmart and bought everything we could possibly need to care for a cat (including a few special things to enhance Spoon's life).  A week after our initial meeting with Spoon, we came back to L's place, armed with our new collapsible cat carrier, allowed L. to say her goodbyes, and then brought Spoon into the car to take him to his forever home.

We've now had Spoon for almost two full weeks.  It seems like he's been here forever... in a good way.  I thought I'd need to sleep with the bedroom door closed for a few weeks before I was comfortable with him having the run of the apartment... turns out it only took one night! I love having Spoon around.  He's so funny and cuddly and sweet and I couldn't believe how quickly I fell in love with him.  I frequently find myself lying on the floor petting him... I've brushed him for 10 minutes before (he loves it!)... I love knowing that he sleeps near me (or on me)... and I love how happy K. is to have a cat.

So... I'm a pet owner, and there's no going back now.

I Don't Care / I Love It

I have an upcoming post on my cat (!!!), but in the meantime, here's a track that I've been playing on repeat today. It was featured in the latest episode of "Girls" (have I written about "Girls"?) and my sister sent me the link to the video last night and I can't stop pumping the jam.



Bringing media content back to S & G.  What is this, a blog of essays?!

Upcoming posts... Spoon, Girls, RuPaul

Reader's Digest

I can't believe it's already January 22nd!!!  This month has flown by.  It happens to be pretty much my busiest month of the year at work, so it was a stressful and overwhelming start to the year.  But, with the biggest project in my portfolio behind me, I'm feeling very successful, accomplished, and productive.  That is a great way to begin 2013.

I don't have anything in particular to blog about today, but I was feeling like I'd been neglecting ol' S&G.  So - how about a bit of a general update?  Perhaps even a list of things I want to blog about when I have more time / I'm in the zone.


My cat: I got a cat.  His name is Spoon.  I've never had a pet before in my life, save for a hamster and maybe some fish... and an infamous turtle (ask me about that story as I'm unlikely to blog about it).  Spoon and I already have a beautiful, budding friendship, and I have no doubt I'll want to dedicate one - if not many - entry to him in the near future.

Hobbies: I wouldn't call myself a workaholic.  I love my job, but I make time for lots of other things, too, and it's not that often that I find myself "burning the midnight oil".  However, when someone asks me, "What do you do?", I'm determined not to reply with my job title.  Therefore, I am cultivating a number of hobbies that bring balance and fun to my life, and which I can state to people proudly.  I'd love to write about a few of them soon.

My iPad: I got an iPad and I really enjoy it.  I may or may not blog about it.


That'll be all for now.


Currently reading... Grace: A Memoir by Grace Coddington, Quiet by Susan Cain
Posts to come... An overview of all contestants to date on "RuPaul's Drag Race" ... and maybe sometime on my cat and my hobbies.