Category: Fun

I was in the city today and passed by the future H&M store. They had what looked like future employees gathered outside for training. 20-somethings in stylish scrubby clothes and hardhats adorned with their names and flare. So I stopped by and asked when they’re opening: November 19 – so kind of them to give me a birthday present.

After 5 months, it’s finally rained. And it’s a thunderstorm too! Fall is here. Yea!

This weekend us non-native Californians were lamenting that California doesn’t have weather. The forecast is usually, “Today will be somewhere between 70 and 90, clear skies and a light breeze.” I know we’re spoiled, but when you grew up with summer thunderstorms the weather here seems rather monotonous. There’s nothing to break up the days, let alone start a conversation with.

And since there’s no rain, the smog just sits in the valley crowning the mountains with a sepia haze. Maybe this little rain shower will wash some of it away. But I doubt it. I’m hoping for a nice long wet winter with a smattering of sunny days. And don’t tell me that I should move back to Vancouver.

I recently discovered that I have asthma. So now that I have an inhaler I’m exstatic that I can run a mile for the first time since I was 10. Hopefully one day I can run a 10K. So I’ve been trying to figure out a route I can run in my neighbourhood that will be feasible, challenging and not discouraging. Failing driving around various routes to get the actual milage, I turned to see if there was a hack. And lo and behold there is! Sue and Paul (whoever they are) have the Gmap Pedometer.

So this morning on KFOG they were talking about how in Virginia Algie T. Howell, a Democrat legistlator from Norfolk, proposed a $50 fine for anyone who “exposes his below-waist undergarments in an offensive manner.” And it looks like it’s going through.

This is too funny. At first I was a bit shocked that a state could actually pass a law dictating how people can wear their clothes. How naïve of me. I really should know better. Someone gets annoyed or offended, so the obvious solution is to pass a law prohibiting the offensive behavior.

So out of curiosity, I did a quick search to see what other laws are on the law books out there that legislate fashion. Here’s what I found:

Virginia

On 16 June 1904 Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom, two characters in James Joyce’s Ulysses, set out on their epic journey through the streets of Dublin. Today also happens to be the 100th anniversary of Nora Barnacle and James’ first date, and let’s just say Nora wasn’t the good little Catholic girl that evening down by Dublin Bay. And if it wasn’t for Nora we probably wouldn’t even have this behemoth of a book, as she was the one who fished it out of the fireplace after one of James’ typical tantrums.

Your man wasn’t celebrated until after his death and slowly over the years Bloomsday turned into a tribute to Joyce. A few years ago I was in Dublin on Bloomsday. There were groups in Joycean dress following the path Bloom took that day. And I even tried to grab a glass of burgundy and a gorgonzola sandwich at Davey Byrne’s just off Grafton, but alas they had already drank the pub dry and strewn across the tables were the skeletons of eaten sandwich crusts. So I headed over to the James Joyce Room at Bewley’s instead. With the throngs of people at the 100th anniversary this year, I’m sure there are more than a few gorgonzola sandwiches lining Grafton Street.

And if burgundy or gorgonzola sandwiches aren’t for you, well then grab a pint of the black stuff, some bangers and mash, curl with a copy of Ulysses and try to make a dent in its 933 pages. Or may I suggest the film about Mrs. Joyce, Nora.

Don’t like what the President has been saying lately? Wish you could make him say what you want? If you have time to waste why not put words into Bush’s mouth? Some guy named Matt in the UK created a Bush Speechwriter flash app that lets you splice together various soundbites. And you can save it for all the world to see. You can make him curse, but unfortunately none of his malapropisms are available.