Coyote or Fox?

So I was talking on my cell phone while walking along the Confederation Trail about 2 weeks ago. As I was walking and talking, I heard this strange sound which sounded like a high pitched bark or yelp. The first few times I heard it I didn't fully hear it since I was in full conversation and just thought it was a bird in the trees or something like that and paid no interest. The sound became a bit louder and more frequent and I started to zone in on it a bit more. I stopped walking and turned to my left to see where this yelp was coming from. There in the woods, about 30 feet away, looking straight at me was a small/medium sized animal that I immediately assumed to be a dark coloured fox.

I said to Chris who was on the line with me, "There's a fox looking at me!" I kept walking along and as I walked, the "fox" walked beside me, continuing to yelp as it followed along. It didn't get any closer to me but definitely was stalking alongside me as I quickly walked to catch the bus. I stopped again and took a better look at the animal and said, "No wait. It's way too dark to be a fox. Is it possible for a raccoon to be that big and follow me in broad daylight? Do they yelp like that? No, it's gotta be a fox."  The animal shadowed me for about 5-7 minutes until I reached the mall and hopped off the trail to the mall to catch the bus.

After that day I didn't think of my strange fox occurrence again until a couple days ago when I was driving home from work and heard on the local news that there were concerns from Charlottetown residences about coyote sightings within the city. This got me thinking. Could that have been a coyote following me that day? So today I did some research on the possibility of this, found this article about coyotes in Charlottetown which makes me think that if this was a coyote trailing me that day, then people need to stop worrying about their pets and start thinking about their kids, especially if this animal was ballsy enough to follow a full-grown person for such a considerable distance and time. But, the article says that no "official sightings" have been declared so I tapped into my mad research skills and found this website called Soundboard.com (which is amazing if you have time to check it out and play for hours) and found examples of sounds of both the fox and  the coyote.

After listening to many examples of both animals, I officially declare (with 96.2% certainty) that the animal that day was a fox and not a coyote. The #8 call on the fox sounds was definitely what I was hearing that day. I have just never heard of a coyote stalking a person like that before...it just seemed to strange. Coyotes definitely are known to stalk their prey and be very persistent and patient to get their meal. Just ask my dad! Long story. Foxes are generally more docile creatures and it is not as though they hibernate so seeing one in the winter is not an usual happening.

I guess my point for writing this post is to tell you that, #1) soundboard.com is awesome, and #2) if you live in Charlottetown, take note that I am still 4.8% unsure that the animal was indeed a fox and not a coyote so please be careful and lock up your pets and children for their own safety. It's cold and winter and these animals may be a bit hungry. Better safe than sorry.

Queen of the Night

I was shocked and saddened hearing about the death of Whitney Houston. My first memory of listening to her was when I was very young. I remember hearing her very first album Whitney Houston at my friend Lisa's house and just thinking what an incredible voice this woman had. It's funny how a song can take you back to a specific time and place. I remember standing in her dining room and hearing that song so clearly. I can remember the sun coming in through the windows and standing there next to the patio doors listening to her voice. I have no idea how old I was, couldn't have been older than 6 or 7, but that is my first memory of listening to her rich and beautiful voice.

I mean, the woman won 2 Emmys, 6 Grammys, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards and an additional astonishing 355 other awards as well. She was amazing and she accomplished amazing feats. I find it very sad that the past 10 years were such a personal struggle for her and even though she ended a divorce with who seems to be a rather horrible man and openly discussed her battle with drug use, her life just never seemed to get back on track and she never was able to fully return to the spotlight.

But when it comes to Whitney Houston, nothing will ever touch my heart as much as the soundtrack to The Bodyguard. Myself and my sisters listened to that cassette endlessly, mostly singing at the top of our lungs driving along in the backseat of the car and to this day can still sing along to every track wholeheartedly. "I Have Nothing"and "Queen of the Night" are two of my favourites and get me grooving every time.

I don't really know to say about this. I just wanted to make this post be a tribute to Ms. Houston and say thanks for giving me so much fun and joy with your music. Plus you rocked the shit out of this metallic outfit.

So Easily Distracted

It's been a semi-busy week and I've been enjoying myself the past few days. I made a short-term decision with the whole gym membership problem I was having and I am at peace with it. I went down to Atlantic Fitness Centre on Kent Street, which is conveniently only a couple blocks from my apartment, and told them that I was interested in a membership. The lady gave me a day-pass to try out the space and see if it was a good fit for my exercising needs. Even though the space is small, I'll admit that I loved that first day and since the price was way cheaper than what I was paying at Delta, I ended up buying a 2 month membership to try it out a bit longer. They have a huge pilates/fitness class studio that only gets used a couple hours a day for classes and it's available for everyone when it's empty so I just use that space whenever I can to avoid all the busy cardio machines and muscly gym dudes. Super convenient. Members also get to attend any classes at no extra cost at the Kent Street and Garfield Street location, as well as have full access to the huge gym on Garfield.

As for my lingering hot yoga obsession, I decided to buy a 30-day trial membership at Moksha Yoga Charlottetown. For all first time users to the studio (which is me), it's only $40 to get unlimited access to all of their yoga classes for 30 days. I walked down there this morning to buy the pass and try out my first hot yoga class at their studio. It was a 90 minute class, which I have actually never attempted before, and it was a totally different experience from my usual Dynamic Fitness hot yoga. The studio is quite large and there are lots of windows which makes the space very bright. The studio at Dynamic is somewhat small, is down in the basement of the building and is kept quite dark - which I definitely prefer. I think I like the darker room because it keeps my eyes from wandering around the room at other people and allows me to listen to the instructors better and concentrate more on what I am doing. Plus I accidentally put my mat at the front of the studio (thought it was the back!) which is something I hate when I do yoga in a studio with mirrors. I find it incredibly distracting to be that close to my reflection during yoga and I end up having a harder time maintaining my balance sometimes. Plus, some people look for guidance from their yoga peers to see if they're doing it right and I hated knowing that a lot of people behind me would be looking at me during pose changes which would do them no good since I did not know the instructor's method yet. When you go to the same instructors repeatedly, you get to know them and know their routines and how they like to do things. I was the most lost out of everyone there and was a bad model to be at the front of the class. PLUS! The front of the studio had a lowered ceiling so my hands couldn't extend all the way up when we had to reach overhead! That was the most distracting thing of all! But, it was a learning experience and I plan to use my 30-day trial as much as possible.

After yoga and breakfast, I met up with my friend Sarah and we went and had some coffee at Beanz which has quickly become my new favourite coffee bar. After my first detox back in December, I officially decided to stop drinking soy milk and now use almond milk. To all you people who don't drink milk and don't like soy milk, I highly recommend almond milk. It's much easier on the digestive system and even though I only drink the unsweetened version, it has a naturally sweet flavour and is honestly really yummy. Beanz recently started offering almond milk as an option to their customers and I was pumped when I found out! Plus they are trying really hard to accommodate a lot of people's needs by offering gluten free pasta salads, sandwiches and sweets, plus lots of vegetarian options and specialty items that look delicious. Way to step it up Beanz!

After coffee, we wandered around town looking at all of the amazing shoe sales happening at several shoe stores around town. I ended up buying myself a pair of incredibly hot ankle boots which I am stoked to wear in the near future. Purrrrrr. Plus they were 50% off to boot!  

See what I did there...... that's a pun.

I got completely carried away with this blog post since my whole reason of writing today was to tell a quick story relating to my previous post about cell phone etiquette. My friend sent me an email telling me a story about a group of people who work with her husband. These people all go out for business lunches several times a week and they have this rule which I love love love! There is a strict no cell phone policy at these lunches so everyone has to put their phones on silent and stack the phones in the center of the table. The first person to touch his/her phone during the meal has to pay for everyone's lunch. Isn't that great? I thought it was too wonderful to not share. Horray to you business lunch people whom I have never met but have great cell phone etiquette while out at lunch. Way to go!

It's The Norm

It's strange when something suddenly becomes "the norm" and things that may have seemed strange 10 years ago are now...well... the way society works. My example today involves the topic of cell phones and just how obsessively attached we are to them and the people they connect us to. For instance, while I am at work I get a first look of people's cell habits during the dining process.

Habit #1 - Two people sitting at a table together, not talking to one another, but each texting other people and completely ignoring the present company. And I'm not talking a quick and simple message like, "Hey I'm out to lunch with Johnny here, so I'll talk to you later." I'm talking about sitting there in silence until the food comes, taking mouthfuls, putting down the fork and continuing the texting. If you want to talk to those other people so badly, I think you should have lunch with them. Just a thought.

Habit #2 - Answering the phone while dining. Unless you're waiting for a super important call that absolutely cannot wait, I think it's completely wrong to answer your phone while eating. Maybe it's just the way I was brought up, but we never answered the phone during meal-time, or we did answer and told the person that it was dinnertime and they'd hear back from the wanted person when the meal was over. If my cell goes off while out to dinner, I'll look at the number on the display, press "ignore" and make a mental note to call back later. I'm sure that person will completely understand why I did not answer the phone. Or are we so preoccupied with constantly being connected to everyone that the concept of not immediately answering leave us in anguish?

Habit #3 - Giving your server the "just a minute" finger when he/she approaches the table when you're texting. Really? Is me doing my job interrupting your social life? All I wanted to know is if you wanted more coffee...but if you can't stop your fingers and wait 10 seconds to hear me out then I guess the Prime Minister or whatever equally important person can't wait for you to hit that "send" button.

Habit #4 -  Not turning down your ringer in public. I REALLY don't care that you have the latest LMFAO or  Flo Rida song on your phone (I actually had to Google the top singers/songs in the country right now because I am so out of the loop). Turn down your phone so that everyone in the room isn't interrupted by you. Please?

Habit #5 - Placing your cell phone on the restaurant table in front of you during the entire meal and checking it every 5 minutes to see if you got a new message. I will walk up to table with 6 people and there will be 6 shiny phones on the table, just waiting to prove who is the most popular person there tonight. Who will get the most messages? I'm waiting on pins and needles to find out! Put the phone away. Talk to the people who you are meant to enjoying your time with and have some good ol fashioned face to face conversations about meaningful topics. I dare you!

Habit #6 - Standing at the front of the line to pay for your meal, then you whip out the phone to send a text. Three other couples are waiting to pay behind you but you decided in that second to fire off a message and make me stand there holding the debit machine that has your card inserted in it and waiting for your info to complete the transaction/payment. If you can't answer my coffee question and text at the same time, I highly doubt that you can use a debit machine simultaneously as well.

My one big issue with all of this is that millions and millions of people do these things every day and don't even bat an eyelash because it has become their norm. If you are reading this blog post and see nothing wrong with any of my listed habits, that means that you need to first read this or this article about cell phone etiquette and second, you need to disconnect. Turn off the phone and take a moment to enjoy the world in a way that you have forgotten even existed. Go for a walk; leave the phone at home. Take a yoga class, go window shopping  or go have a coffee with a friend (ask him/her to turn their phone off too). I understand that technology is changing every second of every day and that a lot of people salivate at the thought of getting the newest and hottest gadget on the market, but remember there is a world out there and people all around you that deserve courtesy and respect. Every once in a while, especially when out dining in your local food serving establishment, separate yourself from your phone and just enjoy the view.

Hot Athletica

I have been on the fence for the past couple of weeks of whether or not I want to buy a membership for Dynamic Fitness. Every day my interests and longing to practice yoga, whether it be hot yoga or just yoga in my living room, is growing stronger and stronger and I know that if I had a membership that I would be hauling my butt to every yoga class that I could. There are also other classes available at the gym such as cardio spin, Zumba fitness, pilates and reformer. My big dilemma with the whole thing is that I seem to have gotten stuck with all of the lunch shifts during the weekdays at work, which interferes a lot with the classes I want to attend (mostly the hot yoga). So I decided that I would drop into a few of the other classes that they offer and see if I enjoy them enough to use as back-up in case on some days I was to be unable to get to other classes that I really want.

There is a new class that they created called Hot Athletica which is a 45 minute mix of high-intensity cardio intervals, strength training, core work and power yoga in the hot yoga studio (which is 95-100 degrees). Just imagine doing fast-paced yoga, push-ups, burpees, running in place, lunges, squats, jumping, planks...etc in a hot hot room. A lot of members that I have spoken to haven't even tried it yet because they are scared of how hard it is. I thought I would give it a shot today. I'm not gonna lie - I was nervous. The room was a lot warmer than I would have expected it to be and there were only 6 of us brave enough to show up. Within 10 minutes I was dripping with sweat and breathing a lot harder than I would have liked or even like to admit to. I'm in decent shape but I suck when it comes to things like burpees (with push-ups in between to make it that much more fun). I start off strong but lose steam quickly because I lack the upper body strength to do proper push-ups, then I fall behind in the reps and feel guilty and weak. However, on the flip side of that, there were times when I was rocking the moves he was telling us to do which boosted my confidence when I saw others struggling as I did with other moves.

So my personal review of the Hot Athletica class is as follows. Am I glad I attended? Most definitely. Sweating my arse off and surviving the 45 minutes felt good. I am also glad that I tried something new rather than attending a yoga class that I know I would get through no problem. It was also a really nice change from my regular work-outs. One of my greatest fitness faults is that I tend to not push myself hard enough sometimes and get caught in a cycle of doing the same exercises and same routines all of the time, which is not ideal.

A peacock on a fence? How could I
not add this in my indecisive post?

Now the question is, did this class help tip me over the fence towards buying a membership to Dynamic? Maybe. I am still torn because I feel that this was a class that I could do at home in my living-room, apart from the heated room of course. It didn't teach me anything new or make me understand anything differently. What I love about taking yoga classes is that even though I may do the same sequence or pose the following day or day after that, I am constantly learning how to improve the pose to make it work and achieve what it is supposed to do. But then again, apart from doing a P90X video every now and then, I generally do not do work-outs like the Athletica at home so it did inspire me to exercise in a way that I haven't been doing regularly. The main reason I would ever want a Dynamic membership is to frequent as many yoga classes as I could, but I think that if I had a membership and couldn't attend a yoga class then this is a class that I would show up for to mix it up a bit and challenge myself in different ways.

My next class I plan to attend a spin class which is another class I have never done. I don't know why they intimidate me so much, but if I want to be serious about this membership then I have to approach this expensive decision at every angle. My one worry is being hunched over the bike for so long considering I have a less than stellar healthy back/neck record. But I survived the class today so hopefully a spin class would have the same outcome.

Although I did stumble across a couple stories of people dying during a spin class. Like this guy in New Zealand and also this guy in Ottawa.

Wish me luck!

Maddening Pleasantry

Alright. I'm going to lay it all out here today. I have a huge beef to talk about and I feel like an absolute a-hole for this being something that I can easily call a pet peeve, but I can't help but feel total disdain for people who do this to me on an hourly basis.

If you're calling my place of work and I answer the phone, please, PLEASE, do not ask me how I am or how things are going where I am. Just ask me your question or tell me the reason you are calling so that we can get the conversation rolling and resolve whatever issue you are calling me about. Whenever I try to explain why this irks me so badly, I don't know if my explanation is good enough to keep from making myself look like a complete jerk. Only in PEI has this ever been an issue so I am thinking that since everyone on the island knows everyone else, they are all trying to be extra friendly so that no one offends anyone else, just in case it gets back to so-and-so's mom that he was rude on the phone to a random server at a bar. What would she think of that!??!

I am well aware that it is common courtesy to ask a person how he/she is when entering a conversation, but I do not think it is at all necessary to ask this question when calling a busy restaurant to ask to speak to a manager, make a reservation or order a take-out burger. Really, you don't care how I am doing at all. You just want to order your food so that it's ready to be picked up in 10 minutes when you arrive during your lunch break. My personal well-being is not the hot topic in this moment and I almost find it insulting that you are taking this extra time to ask me this question during a super busy lunch rush when you truly don't care what my answer will me. Maybe next time someone asks me I will go on about how terrible I am because of a lingering infection in my big toe that has been filling my shoe with puss for the past week and the antibiotics have me so constipated that I can barely walk without having to take a break from the cramping. Maybe that would teach them to ask such silly questions!

I'm sure I will get some hate mail from this blog post and I will get called some bad names because I am trashing friendly people. Friendliness and common decency is quickly going out of style which is a sad thing for sure, so keep in mind that this is just one girls personal opinion and I encourage all of you to be sociable and well-rounded people for the world to enjoy. Just don't ask about my well being anymore.

Hardcore Love for Buffy

I have had some people approach me in person and send me messages via email or attached to the blog telling me their opinions about my thoughts of continuing this blog or not. Even though all of the feedback encouraged me to keep writing, it was my best good (and longest running) friend Gill (I wrote an entire post about her waaaayyyy back in the beginning of this blog)  who inspired me to keep writing. We grew up together and were separated in early teenagehood when her family moved down to Washington. We have kept in contact ever since she moved away and she sent me a quick email pleading me to keep writing because it keeps her in my loop a little bit more than the emails that we send back and forth. I am proud to keep writing this if only for her and for me to continue getting lots of random thoughts and emotions off my chest.

Today I want to talk about something very near and dear to my heart. There is a movie that was made way back in 1992 and most people don't even know it exists. It is a fantastic silly movie with lots of comedy, fighting and amazing one-liners. Like, AMAZING one-liners.

The movie? Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The reason I am even talking about this is because it was on TV the other night and I could not pass up the opportunity to fall into Nostalgiaville. I texted the one person I know to be as psyched about the movie as I would be, my heterolifepartner, and sat back to enjoy the movie as much as ever.  Now I'm not talking about that tv show with that Sarah Michelle girl and...Angel...is it? I'm talking about the classic and ridiculous original movie shot in 1992 featuring a fantastic cast of Kristy Swanson, Luke Perry, Donald Sutherland, Paul Reubens, David Arquette, Hilary Swank...etc. You get my point. Great cast. Sure, most of those people wish to forget that they were ever involved it its production, but that's their own skeletons that they need to deal with.

Before anyone starts to point their finger at me and judge me for loving this movie, (it only got a 5.4/10 on imbd.com), let me explain why I hold this movie in such high regard. First of all, I was 9 years old when it came out so the memory of watching it goes so far back into my memory that I can barely remember a time before it. Second, Luke Perry is adorable in it. Third, it's incredibly cheesy and the plot is easy to follow. Buffy, the blond airhead cheerleader is "the chosen one" who's destiny is to rid the world of vampires and she is to be trained and guided by Merrick, who's destiny is to train the slayer to end the vampire race. Toss in some fighting, dancing, fake blood, an arm amputation, over-the-top costumes and a script that oozes cheese, and I am reliving my childhood over and over again. Fourth, the one-liners and memorable quotes.

Vampire - "Now, I am God!"  Pike stakes him - "Now, you're a coat rack"
"Get out of my facial"
"Pike isn't a name, it's a fish."
"He says I have no sense of history. I have no sense of history? He wears a brown tie!"
"Got any gum?"
Buffy - "It's a stupid dance full of stupid people I see every stupid day!" Nicole - "So now we're like...stupid?"
"It's so five minutes ago!"
"All I want to do, it graduate from high school, move to Europe, marry Christian Slater and die. Now it may not sound too great to a sconehead like you but I think it's swell."
"God, what's your damage?
"Does the word 'duh' mean anything to you?"
"You ruined my new jacket. Kill him a lot!"
"I know that guy. THAT is a bad guy, can we go now please?"
"Shuh, like we care?"  "Yeah...boo hoo!"

What I love about this movie is that it was just a simple movie that was not meant to be taken seriously. I have never watched any of the Buffy series that was on TV and I really have no true or good reason as to why. I think I was put off by the fact that it was so dark and seemed so severe when the Buffy I know and love was corny and none of it was to be taken seriously at all. Plus, there seems to be 2 kinds of people in the world and I am proud to be part of one of those groups. The first is people who love the movie (me) and the second is those who hate it or think it's stupid. I love that those who love it love it sooo much! We're hardcore about our love. I think that those who are not fans saw the series before and could not appreciate the simplicity of the movie or the cast of people involved. Or they're just too dark and serious for their own good.

Plus Kristy Swanson is way hotter than Sarah Michelle Gellar. Just sayin!