Do you remember where you were and what you were doing when you heard that Princess Diana had died? It's really hard to believe that today marks the seventh anniversary of her death. Time really does fly, doesn't it?

Welcome to the Lola Show!

I am dead tired today. I can't blame anyone except myself though...

Friday night after work, we watched movies until 11 pm and then went out for Chinese. I am sure the restaurant owner wanted to kill us for showing up so late but we went anyway. And the movies were fun as well.

We watched the new version of The Italian Job and the Japanese film Battle Royale made in 2000. I've seen the Italian Job before and even if it were a terrible movie, looking at Mark Wahlberg, Ed Norton and Seth Green for 110 minutes is not a bad thing.

On the other hand, I hadn't seen the Japanese film before and had to say that I hesitated because I thought it might be a bit too gory. However, while there was blood and killing, I found myself intrigued. The film simply took human nature and pushed it one step further. It took me back to my times in Japan and how people interacted. I really must say that the longer I think about it, the more I like it. The premise for the film start off with the opening graphics for the film"

"At the dawn of the Millenium, the nation collapsed. At 15% unemployment, 10 million were out of work, 800,000 students boycotted school. The adults lost confidence, and fearing the youth, eventually passed the 'Millenium Educational Reform Act'...AKA: The BR Act."

Their solution? Kidnap a class of teenage students and take them to an island, give each an object, put an sensor around their neck that they cannot remove (that could cause them to explode) and force them to kill each other until only one is left. Sounds horrible I know but it was interesting to watch the dynamic change as each inevitably was a little closer to death.

Okay. So I am a little twisted... but I looked beyond the gore and saw an interesting story.

Having survived the films and the food, on Saturday, I went with some friends back to the same restaurant and had a karaoke party there. We came, we ate and I sang a lot. Thus, the Lola show. I know that the whole karaoke thing is a little stale but well, when you are with friends AND no one is there to throw things at you, what can it hurt.

After we closed that place down, we went to one of the local gay bars to look at hot men and dance ourselves silly. I must say that this is far more enjoyable when you aren't totally drunk. And one of my friends got a number at the bar...

When I finally got home, it was around 3 in the morning. Am I too old to be doing this? Well, I certainly felt a little like that yesterday but I am just tired today and will probably survive. What can I say? Sometimes, one needs to push the boundaries of their mundane lives and let their hair down.

Funny thing is, that I will be doing that again in Vancouver this weekend.

Hope that you had a great weekend. Talk with you again soon!

It's really funny how we all really get caught up in the fame game. Ever since seeing the film "Garden State", I have been reading the Zach Braff Garden State Blog, to see what this guy is up to. It's an interesting read and I believe that everyone leaving comments hopes that they catch the eye of Mr. Braff himself. In fact, the last time I looked, there were well over 400 comments left for the last entry. (And most of those just attached an email address and not their weblog url for people to check out. I suppose they had hopes of being contacted.)

Funny, I too, felt the need to leave my mark. Twice. But, I won't be doing that any more. Why? Because I felt I was being consumed, just a little, with getting recognition for my feelings. And if that is all I need, then I should just keep writing this blog and hope to hell that someone reads it. At least a couple of people will... Or maybe, I will just go out and meet a whole lot of people and make connections on that level.

What is it in humans that make those "fifteen minutes of fame" that Andy Warhol talked of, necessary. Is it just creative people that crave this or does everyone want some sort of validation? And why? Is it because we all want to be loved?

I am always looking for something that will make me stand out in the crowd and get me noticed. The truth is, is that if I felt that I was worthy of the attention, I wouldn't long for it. People can tell me that I am wonderful, worthy, intelligent, talented and, dare I say it, cool but unless I believe it, I will always search for meaning.

Anyway, back to the famous guy's blog... He talks today of antidepressants and their usage and how he didn't make the film as a statement against those drugs. I just wanted to comment on the whole drug thing myself and how that related to how I felt when watching the film. I am not giving anything away because you would have heard the synopsis of the film anyhow.

I wanted to share my insights on this subject.

I have been on these drugs. It was a really difficult time in my life and, at the time, it assisted me to wade through a bog of unhappiness. Doctors prescribed them to me stating that depression was an illness much like diabetes and that there is nothing wrong with taking them to get you well again. After all, they said, you wouldn't not take your insulin if you were diabetic.

I had to agree. At the time. The ten months that I spent taking them gave me an outlook more positive than I could hope for. Then, when I was feeling better, I went off them. Properly.

Fast forward to four years later. I was in a similar position of unhappiness upon returning back from an extended leave and the doctor felt it necessary to try again. I did. And I puked for four weeks. And I just felt really horrible. I decided to give it up taking them. Even though I was still sad, I preferred the uphappiness to the puking and the eventual "evening out" of highs and lows which was basically numbness to any kind of emotion.

I know, you are probably thinking that this is a recipe for disaster. But you know what? I took another route...

I began to question why I was feeling this way. I know that I wasn't really taking care of myself and someone recommended I see a naturopathic doctor. I must tell you that I am glad that I did. We discussed my depression and he assured me that I would not feel like that for much longer.

He was right in this. I came to understand that my diet and lifestyle contributed to my inability to feel good. I ate badly, I drank coffee and I just didn't take care of myself. I wasn't getting correct vitamins because of a problem with TMJ that made it difficult to break down foods. When I changed this, I started to feel better.

Eventually, I was able to feel as positive and had a sense of direction.

Which makes me think that sometimes medical doctors cave in to the "fix me right now" mentality many of us have. It took me about two years to feel like I am now. Life is not perfect but I don't think it was meant to be. It's not their fault entirely, they are just doing what we want to, perhaps too quickly for our own good.

My advice to you if you are unhappy? Sure, if your physician recommends it and you feel alright about taking them, you should. They are helpful. But also be willing to receive counselling AND look at your life and see what needs to be changed that will assist you in a long-term cure. Do you eat a lot of processed foods? Do you drink lots of coffee and soft drinks? Do you consume alcohol? Do you exercise? Do you live a healthy, vital life?

If you want true happiness, you may need to make changes. In fact, take a good look at how you can be proactive in your own happiness.

It's too easy in today's society to have a lifestyle of convenience. In my opinion, those things that are acheived too easily are not as worthwhile - or permanent - as the ones that you struggle with.

Look within you and you will see the direction that you should take next!

I hope that everything is well with all of my readers. I hope that peace finds you all! See you!

I saw the movie Garden State last weekend and must say that if you get the chance, and you haven't already, go and see it. I found it to be a statement on how, nowadays, many people are awakening from a fog of numbness to realize that they are not really living. Instead, we are just plodding along on a road in which we have become boring and not willing to take risks. We are avoiding getting our hearts broken or truly getting angry or feeling the awe when experiencing something truly beautiful - for whatever reason - and forgetting that those things are all important parts of living.

I should have taken some tissue or something because I ended up crying my eyes out. Not that it is sad, but because it seemed so relevant.

Go and see it. You will be glad that you did!

Have you ever heard of a Green Gym?

It's a volunteer program that offers opportunities for people to try gardening and conservation activities for the benefit of their heart health. In the UK, an organization called BTCV is offering a Green Gym program for British Heart Week. Sounds really interesting!

I know that some of you are just going to say that well, we should just be doing this in our own backyards anyway. The truth is, that society has moved from this kind of manual labour that can keep you healthy and perhaps this is an opportunity to get back to our roots, so to speak...

A special thanks to Yummy for providing the link...

In addition to the earlier post about creatures that sting, this article tells of a good reason for children (or anyone) not to throw rocks at a beehive...

You know, I have been meaning to add a link to Random Ruminations for a really long time but haven't gotten around to it until now. So, today, I am posting it and have added it to the sidebar. You should definitely take a good look at the photos. They are quite spectacular!

A while back, I read an entry entitled "In which it is seen that flying stinging insects are a very Bad Thing" posted by Bill of This is not the way home fame. I was reminded of this entry today while reading Reuters online, about a wasp that cause a traffic jam in Germany. Interesting how they used the word jam as that is what spilled all over the motorway...

In case any of you were interested, I actually managed to survive the weekend. Japanese lesson, working at a food stall at the dragon boat races and having a garage sale certainly took a lot out of me but I got a cool t-shirt from the races for volunteering my time, about $300 Canadian for selling stuff that I had bought but never used, and a sunburn on my upper arms.

So, here I am, a little richer, pretty knackered from lack of sleep and feeling a little like I spent some time with my arms lying on a barbeque grill. Aren't you glad that I am still able to type?

Still on the subject of Tim Fountain, I found an online review from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Sounds like he got great reviews!

I wonder if this guy has a blog! I took a short look but if YOU come up with anything, please let me know...

Is sex an artform? It seems that Tim Fountain does, because he's now having sex and telling people about it - in play form.

As one of my coworkers has commented though, what is the difference between Tim's performances (where he gets people to pay him for having sex and telling about it) and prostitution. Oh, maybe it's that he tells about it and prostitutes often don't.

What do you think?

This story is proof that you cannot mess with mother nature. It appears that even bunnies are on her side...

While burning brush at a cricket club in the UK, the members ended up burning up about 60,000 pounds (the currency type) worth of equipment. Actually, it wasn't entirely their fault. A bunny who got too close to the flames caught fire and ended up running into a hut, thus starting a blaze the engulfed the equipment stored there.

Unfortunately, the bunny didn't make it...

However, it has been pretty hot and it was kind of silly to have an open fire. And, as I reread the story, I wonder how those guys didn't notice that there was a bunny caught up in the brush... Did they do it on purpose?

I am guessing that now is a really good time to go shopping in Chennai and Tamil Nadu.

It appears that the month of Aadi sees people not buying anything due to the auspiciousness of that time. During that time, nobody weds, buys clothes or moves to a new place. Due to a huge drop in sales, some businesses have come up with an interesting way to bring the customers in. Some of the advertisements even use that US presidents endorsement (of sorts).

Read about how in this article from rediff.com, an online news source.

Sometimes the business owners come up with some amusing ideas to sell things...

I didn't really have much to say today so I posted the word below as a word of the day. Tantamount. Interesting word.

Life has been exceptionally busy lately. Mostly my own doing, I'm sure but it tires me out nevertheless. All this studying of Japanese, eating out at restaurants, trying to be creative and planning a garage sale this weekend is making just feel really tired. And to boot, I have volunteered my services to help out at this year's Victoria Dragon Boat Festival. It appears that I won't have a spare moment for myself this coming weekend. So if you are out there on the weekend, have fun.

If you don't want to participate in that event, you can come to the garage sale located at 232 St. Andrew's Street in James Bay this coming Sunday between 9 am and 4 pm. We'd love for you to take some of this stuff off our hands. We really don't need it anymore and it's all perfectly usable.

So, if you don't hear from me in a couple of days, you'll know that I am just overextending myself and will probably be insane by the time Monday rolls around again.

Have a great weekend everyone. And a special weekend to David, Olivia, Robert, Radmilla, Hildur, Pete and Bill the bus driver. I know that many of you have been reading and I appreciate it. Also, a big hello to Jazz's brother. I have been spending some time looking at your photos and they are great!

And, if you have a chance, try to use the word tantamount in a sentence at least once.

Tantamount.

To continue on with bananas, Robert of mrhappysad.com passed this next little tidbit on to me and I just had to share it with you. It appears that there is a product on the market that protect your bananas from becoming bruised and squashed when you carry them in your lunch. Check out the Bananaguard! I see that they sell them in the Market on Granville Island in Vancouver so I might just go and check them out.

I was thinking that these could even have a medical use... One might be able to use it if certain body parts got lopped off and you needed to keep it safe until you get to the hospital. Was that too insensitive of me? Oops!

Man, you haven't lived until you've heard a Latin version of the Eagles' Hotel California... (and yes, I say that in jest). It's playing on my online radio station as I type this...

What I really wanted to comment on today is... bananas...

I just went to the cafeteria for dessert and found a whole lot of chocolate and flour-type items that really didn't do anything for me (actually, I believe that I am one of the only women in the world that dislikes chocolate). So, I opted for a healthy choice which was a bright yellow banana. However, it was so hard to peel it and I eventually had to start by cutting it with a knife.

Weirdly enough, the little round sticker that usually says something like Dole, actually said Weight Watchers. This made me think... Was the banana difficult to peel because it was a product of the diet company? I mean, if you cannot eat it, you don't have any caloric intake.

Weightwatchers, huh? Kind of makes sense in the long run!

Today is my birthday! I haven't any special plans because I was way too lazy to do anything about it. Oh well, I will just have to catch up on the weekend...(By the way, thanks to F, Y and M for their birthday wishes)