Trick or Treat?

This week The TASG has decided to show off our artistic skills once again by drawing comics of ourselves. This time the theme is Halloween.

Hopefully those of you who read my main blog will get an extra chuckle out of this one.

Click to Enlarge

Click to Enlarge

Tom, can't wait to see what costumes and silliness you come up with on Wednesday! Sorry my drawings really suck.

- The Canuck

I...I Will Be King

Harry Potter: My Literary Hero

This is not an easy post to write. Like Allison, I find heroes hard to find in a culture that celebrates fame for fame's sake, and catapults so many barely talented people into stardom when they've hardly had to lift a finger. I couldn't think of anyone who I really look up to,
every pro had a con.

My mind kept wandering to biblical passages about worshipping false idols, or the heroes of classical civilisation, ancient definitions of heroism and out-dated reasons to respect.

So in a world with no Spartans, where vacuous, talentless individuals are placed on pedestals, where is the heroism? Who is there to respect? Politicians lie, footballers behave like children and celebrities fall apart in spectacular fashion, right in front of your eyes.

But I didn't lose hope, for once, because there are people I respect and look up to. There are people who display traits I'd love to have. They're just not famous. It's the people who have the guts to split up fights they're not involved in. Or who buy homeless people a cuppa rather than awkwardly avoiding their gaze or throwing them some loose change. Journalists who quit their jobs - despite the skin chances of finding a new one - because they disagree with the messages they are paid to put across.

So I've decided to give up trying to find a celeb worthy of my admiration. I'll save it for people who go out of their way for others, or those who face hardship and difficulty but still won't compromise when doing what's right. These are the traits I'd want in a hero, and sadly (or so it seems) traits that are lacking in today's legions of celebrities.

I totally have Bonnie Tyler stuck in my head now.

Lauren's Embarrassing List Of Guilty Pleasures

Okay, here we go.  THIS should be a fun post.  I think half of the things I like could probably considered guilty pleasures.  There are even some things that I should be ashamed of that I have loved for so long I no longer feel any guilt (i.e: Lady Gaga, reruns of "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," 90's eurodance, etc.). 

But anyway, I'm going to attempt to boil this down into a cute little list.

I'll call this list "Lauren's Embarrassing List Of Guilty Pleasures."  The list will begin at this time:

*drum roll*

LAUREN'S EMBARRASSING LIST OF GUILTY PLEASURES
(in no particular order)

- Reality Television.  It's trashy, predictable, and an overall train wreck - but I can't look away. 

- The "Twilight" Movies.  These are possibly the worst films ever made, but something about them draws me in.  I make fun of them the whole time I'm watching them, of course, but the whole time I am secretly fascinated by the whole werewolf-vampire-human love triangle.  CONFESSION:  Somehow, I ended up with tickets to an exclusive pre-show of "New Moon."  A friend and I told everyone we were going to a rock show and snuck off to go watch "Twilight" in a room full of pre-teen girls and their mothers.  ANOTHER CONFESSION:  I have been to Forks, Washington.  I was on my way to Canada, but there were other routes I could have taken.  I went to Forks on purpose.

- t.A.T.u.  Remember those Russian lesbians that did that song "All The Things She Said" when we were all in middle school?  I never did take them off of my iPod... 

- The Black Eyed Peas.  With lyrics as simplistic and stupid as "let's do it, let's do it, let's do it, let's do it, let's dooooo it," I'm a little ashamed to say that The B.E.P.'s are one of my favorite things to jam out to in my car.  CONFESSION:  I secretly wish I was Fergie. ANOTHER CONFESSION:  I know all of the words to "Imma Be."

- Trashy late night advice talk shows on the radio.  My favorite radio station recently changed it's programming schedule and "Loveline with Doctor Drew" is no longer on weeknights at 11.  Discovering this shouldn't have made me as sad as it did. 

- The Food Network.  I don't cook, but I love watching other people cook. 

- Eating peanut butter with a spoon.  Out of the jar, naturally.  It's disgusting and I know it, but it's something that occasionally happens anyway (usually late at night).

- B-rated horror movies.  Actually, I've loved these kinds of movies for so long that I no longer really feel shame, but I thought it was worth mentioning.  CONFESSION:  My shelf of DVDs has two layers to it.  The outer layer is all the Wes Anderson films and things I feel as though I am allowed to like as a sophisticated film geek and a pseudo-hipster.  The inner layer is mostly b movie crap.  "Bela Lagose Meets A Brooklyn Gorilla," anyone?  Don't tell my hipster friends.

I feel as though I could make this list go on for a very long time but I am going to stop.  I think I have embarrassed myself enough for one week...

*scuttles away* 

I'm Not Guilty!

This week The TASG is writing about our guilty pleasures.

The thing about guilty pleasures is that they aren’t things we necessarily feel guilt over, but more shame and embarrassment. So really, these are our shameful pleasures - but that sounds naughty, so we’ll stick with guilty.

Usually guilty pleasures are associated with pop culture and hobbies that are generally regarded as uncool. I’m pretty much okay with being uncool for the most part - it’s part of my charm. High School’s over! I can embrace my strangeness!

Since I like making lists, I’m going to make some TOP 5 lists:

TOP 5 GUILTY PLEASURE SONGS:

1. All Out of Love by Air Supply - I downloaded this because of a scene in this short-lived Canadian television series called JPod. The scene involves drunken karaoke and viral video.

2. Rasputin by Boney M - I remember a girl in high school used this song in history class for a project on Rasputin. Nothing beats campy dance music.

3. I Need You Now by Lady Antebellum - I like this overplayed, country-ish, pop song.

4. Pokerface by Lady GaGa - Lady GaGa frightens me, mostly because she reminds me of a cartoon villian. She just doesn’t seem real. But damn, this song is catchy.

Listening to GaGa...shhh.

5. My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors by Moxy Fruvous - Cheesy early 90s Canadian pop! This song is a about me, I swear.


TOP 5 GUILTY PLEASURE FILMS:

1. A Walk to Remember - Mandy Moore, Shane West, a dying girl, a bad boy. This is one of those movies you pretend to hate in mixed company, but you secretly love.

2. Just Like Heaven - Reece Witherspoon is a ghost in limbo (sorta) and Mark Ruffalo is a drunk widow. So natural they fall in love. Don’t judge me!

3. 13 Going on 30 - Another Mark Ruffalo, only this time he’s paired with Jennifer Garner. A 13 year old girl wishes she was 30, and it happens.

Hugh Grant is so delightful.

4. Notting Hill - Hugh Grant! Julia Roberts! Yes please. A famous American actress meets a bumbling awkward Brit and they fall in love. Also, his roomate Spike kills me with his “Fancy a Fuck?” t-shirt.

5. Peter Pan - One of my favourite Disney movies. I have this one on VHS and DVD. "Think of a wonderful thought! Any happy little thought!..."

TOP 5 MISCELLANEOUS GUILTY PLEASURES:

1. YouTube Vlogs - My life is boring, this is why I need people on YouTube to tell me about theirs.

2. Online Shopping - I feel like my mail carrier is judging me each time he sticks an Amazon.ca box between my doors. Or an envelope from an Etsy seller.

3. Chocolate - I may have eaten a hand full of chocolate chips straight from the bag more than once.

4. The Blogosphere - I talked about this in my Real Life vs. Blog Life post, but I don’t really talk about my blog much in real life. But I have a morning routine. I wake up, take a shower, make a cup of tea, sit with my laptop and check my email, facebook, and sometimes YouTube, then I check my blogroll. I go through all the newly posted blogs, and even go back to some I skimmed or skipped before.

Gossiping

5. Gossiping - It’s not nice to be talked about - but let’s face it, it happens. It’s harmless if they don’t know about it. I think a good rant and rave is perfectly healthy, just as long as you’re not directly hurting someone, right? I’m not talking about celebrity gossip (I’ve freed my mind of that stuff). So it’s bad to admit, but I enjoy gossiping. There I said it.

Okay, so let the mocking begin!

And, also, do me a favour and check out Lauren’s post from Friday - it’s really funny.

See you Wednesday Tom!