PRgal

I mean, I know non-South Asians who’ve been involved with their South Asian friends’ weddings who’ve had henna done. But I suppose that’s something different.

We had one for WWI. I remember learning about conscription in Canadian History.

We've had services as long as I remember. At least in Catholic schools (always at the church across the street) and at the private school I went to (in chapel, though during our regular service (but extended), so it wasn't exactly through 11 am). Does she go to a public or Catholic school? We only had the moment of silence in the public school I went to for one year. Public schools have a PD day next Friday in Toronto, but private schools have their traditional "half term" this weekend (Friday and Monday).

I don't think I've ever been preached AT other than crazy people handing out pamphlets on the street but I think I'm going to use the Hey-Zeus thing next time/if they ask me. Maybe I'll say "oh, Hey-Zeus? Yeah, he married a good friend of mine. They have two kids now." HAHAHA

I have an induction cooktop and what I do is I bring eggs straight from the fridge to a boil, cover and wait 12 minutes. I don’t move the pot to another burner. It usually turns out okay. I never eat hard boiled eggs the same day, usually the following day.

You sound like me! But KitKat and Coffee Crisp still have a special place in my heart.

I had Tootsie Rolls for the first time (yes, EVER) yesterday. Sorry, but it's NOT for me. I don't like anything that gets stuck on teeth. Give me a KitKat or a Coffee Crisp and I'm a happy camper.

Chips are okay. I consider that in the mid-range. I think my idea of "low" are those that my parents would have thrown out back in the days of "check your children's candy! There may be blades!" in the 80s and 90s. My husband's idea of low-tier are lollypops. Treat sized chocolate bars are perfectly fine!!! Back in the day, that was those sizes were the only ones I was allowed to eat whole. Shrinkflation has also gotten into the Halloween business. Halloween Aero bars (for example) used to be much bigger!

I was surprised at how mid-tier the candy my son got was. It's a fairly well-off area, but we got a lot of things that were, how shall I put it....low-tier. I was expecting better. We went to a different area last year, but we were invited by a friend and it was a long drive. Might go somewhere else next year. I think the mid-tierness of the selection was because half the homes were empty-nesters/boomers who now have a more limited budget.

We're not allowed to trick or treat in our building so we always have to go to a residential area with houses. We picked a decent neighbourhood, but the place we went to last year was way, way busier. We might have wrapped a bit too early though. We started around 6:30 pm and finished an hour later since it was getting close to his bedtime. But that was when the 8-12 year old kids started going out and things were getting busier...

Whoa...that's crazy. My parents had a dentist friend who'd do the toothbrush thing. Not kidding.

I had trouble controlling my little guy tonight. He was running all over the place and I was really concerned for his safety. He kept on wanting to walk across people's lawns and climbing over hedges to get to the next house. No. HE CANNOT DO THAT. We managed to go to, maybe 25-30 houses? Got a decent enough stash. Not as much as last year, but okay enough. It should last him for the next couple of weeks before he gets tired of them. By then we would have moved on to the holiday stuff anyway.

Some older gentleman side eyed me earlier. I'm not sure if it's because of my lame excuse of a "costume" (witch's hat/hair(head) band) or because I'm an adult in a costume. I didn't see too many adults who dressed up for work, but I DID see one woman in cat ears and Wednesday Addams.

While I don't ever recall a Snomageddon Halloween in Toronto, heavy winter coat is definitely a thing. Here's a picture of me, around 1985 about to go out trick or treating!

I was actually shamed by a teaching assistant in my first year (this was a Women’s Studies class). She was talking about colonialism and how it was the Europeans who brought in sexism/patriarchy. This was before I really focused on East Asian history, but I knew my heritage enough to know that it’s not just a European thing. I mentioned that and she went all over me. I suppose you can still consider a student since she was a PhD candidate, but still.

But this is happening AT schools. And was, to a certain extent being used long before social media was a "thing." I remember being shamed 20-25 years ago when I was in university and graduate school. Internet was there, but not social.

On education: Our current education system no longer allows for open debate. People are automatically "cancelled" or shamed for having some belief that doesn't adhere to the current narrative. I've experienced this myself and let me tell you that it's no fun. This usually comes from people who have at least high school, and for the most part, an undergraduate degree of some sort. Just look at what's currently going on on social.

My parents live in the same condo building as us, just two floors below. So yeah, we have convenient (free) childcare, but not "the grandparents live with us!" close (my maternal grandparents lived with us when I was growing up so I grew up with a lot of myths and lies/fake news that my parents didn't know about until I was at least a teenager. In a way, it kind of messed me up, but not horribly. I'm surprised I didn't turn out to be a rebel/go through a goth phase!!! Unless you count me trying to build more muscle, "rebellious." My grandmother is definitely turning in her grave these days).

Halloween is almost as big as Christmas in some neighbourhoods. My son's preschool/Junior Kindergarten was on a street where people went ALL OUT. It's like bigger is better. When I was growing up, it was just Jack O'Lanterns.

I've approved the draft for my book! We're now in the next phase, which I believe is prep for publication. I did find a glitch, but it's small enough that I don't think people are going to notice. My family, my illustrator and even some friends said just to let it go. I'll likely just explain it in a follow up (it has to do with the colour of something). Anyway, I'm hoping it meets the goal of being complete early in the 2024 at the latest!

I get both because I have dense breasts and am also in a high risk group due to my genetic condition. And when you have super-tiny boobs, that mammo machine barely grabs on to anything!

I don't know if this qualifies as health or general peeve - or even mental health, but as you probably know, I'm super-sick and tired of the anti-diet philosophy because my eating more healthfully than the so-called "general public" and my distaste of anything super-sweet (especially fake sweet) is interpreted as me being "on a diet." In other words, trying to lose weight. Comments like "you don't need to lose weight, so why aren't you having any fun?" Different people have different ideas of what "fun" means. I didn't grow up this way, so I don't want to eat this way. I like pumpkin, but not PSLs of any kind. I used to make myself drink a very modified PSL once a year (one pump of syrup, no whip...and the smallest size possible - a short), just to get into the spirit of things, but was grossed out every time. I've now decided to just get the pumpkin seasoning. Much better, thank you very much. It really angers me and makes me uncomfortable when people say these things.

I've probably mentioned this before, but I had a Mean Girl boss who fired my supervisor, then me and likely the entire team after me. She basically hated us but couldn't get rid of us at the same time without looking suspicious.

But then you get the Mean Girls. Can be very bad when your boss is one of them.

Not sure if this is the appropriate thread, but I saw THIS at the bookstore today: https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/gilmore-girls-at-home-in-stars-hollow-tv-book-pop-culture-picture-book/9798886631449.html