I took a leap of faith and decided to change up my normal black slacks by wearing my grey dress pants with blue stripes today.

Now I don't want to say it was the change of leg gear but I bumped into a co-worker (who works in a different area of our department on our really spaced out floor) while I was finishing my mid-day stroll around the mall. Due to the pandemic, safety is paramount even in such a striped down office setting. Masks are on at all times and social distancing is stringent so that being gregarious and communal at the office is an achievement.

Therefore, I must give myself an 'A' in how I managed to exchange contact information with said coworker and be able to maintain a friendship EVEN at a distance! *woot! woot!*

minor detail: Even though I LOVED the change in outfit wear,
normal black slacks is still the way to go...

‘A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.’ - Christopher Reeve

In rememberance of Carmi: RIP

Pulled a 10 hr workshift most of this week but was surprised to receive a call from bestie, S at 4:30pm on Wednesday. Considering most of my team works from home or had called it a day already, I had no reservations in receiving the call. S was so grateful that I had picked up...she was actually mainly surprised that I had answered the call like I had a premonition (I hadn't but let's call it a bestie sense tingling...) due to reading the unfortunate news about her first love by chance...

We've since caught up a bit more today as she was on her way home. Unfortunately, details are still sparse but at least I'm glad that I've been able to give some advice that hadn't occurred to her. This is all still a relatively new processing to an event that's already happened since the beginning of this year so we've agreed that at this point, it's all after the fact condolences.

Still, when she does reach out at least she'll have some potential reaction scenarios planned so that there will be few surprises...regardless to the saddest news already...

56th Academy of Country Music Awards #ACMawards

Hosted by Ketih Urban and Mickey Guyton honoring country music achievements in Nashville!

Lineup:
Miranda Lambert and Elle King - Drunk (And I Don't Wanna Go Home)
Chris Young and Kane Brown - Famous Friends
Blanco Brown presenting Group of the Year to Old Dominion
Thomas Rhett - Country Again & What's Your Country Song
Miranda Lambert & Chris Stapleton - Maggie's Song
Maren Morris and Ryan Hurd - Chasing After You
Lady A - Like A Lady
Gabby Barrett - The Good Ones from the Blue Bird Cafe in Orangeville
Darius Rucker presenting Song of The Year to The Bones - Maren Moris at the Grand Ol Opry
Dierks Bentley - Pride (In the Name of Love)in Nashville
Carrie Underwood - Amazing Grace, How Great Thou Art and duet with Cece Winans - Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Eric Church - at the rhinemann auditorium
Dan + Shay - I'm Glad You Exist from the Blue Bird Cafe
Entertainer of the Year nominee Luke Combs - They Say Nothing Lasts Foreverfrom the Grand Ol Opry
Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall - In His Arms
Jimmie Allen and Brad Paisley - Freedom Was A Highway from the Bluebird Cafe
Martina McBride presents Single of The Year to I Hope You're Happy by Carly Pearce and Lee Brice from the Grand Ol Opry
Kenny Chesney - Freedom Was A Highway - In Memorium: Mac Davis - Songwriter/Artist; JT Corenflos - Session Musician/Guitarist; Jerry Jeff Walker - Songwriter/Artist; Billy Joe Shaver - Songwriter/Artist; KT Oslin - Songwriter/Artist; Ed Bruce - Songwriter; Jim Weatherly - Songwriter; Hal Ketchum - Artist; Jamie O'Hara - Artist/Songwriter; Tony Rice - Bluegrass Musician; Doug Supernaw - Artist; Larry Willoughby - Record Label Executive; Bob Mckay - Hall of Fame DJ; Troy Jones - Songwriter; Ray Pennington - Songwriter; Bill Mceuen - Producer; W.S. 'Fluke' Holland - Drummer; Jason 'Rowdy' Cope - Guitarist; JT Gray - Owner - Station Inn; Bill Owens - Songwriter; Walter Miller - TV Producer/Director; Connie Bradley - ASCAP Executive; Charley Pride - Artist/Country Music Hall of Fame Member
Ashley McBryde - Martha Divine
Alan Johnson - In My Life and Always Be My Baby Rhyman Auditorium
Blake Shelton - Austin and Minimum Wage
Dolly Parton presents Leslie Jordan for Duo of the Year to Dan + Shay
Carly Pearce and Lee Brice - I Hope You're Happy Now
Mickey Guyton - Hold On
Ingrid Andress presents Male Artist of the Year to Thomas Rhett
Keith Urban - Tumbleweed
Brothers Osborne - Rumfrom the Rhimann Auditorium
Kelsea Ballerini and Kenny Chesney - Half of My Hometown at the Grand Ol Opry
Kelsea Ballerini introduces Clay Walker to present Album of the Year to Chris Stapleton - Starting Over
Amy Grant presents Female Artist of the Year award to Maren Morris
Little Big Town - Wine, Beer, Whiskey from Nashville
Entertainer of the Year - Luke Bryan
Brothers Osborne from the Rhimann - Dead Man's Curve

‘Pain is inevitable. It’s what you do with it that matters’

- Eva Woolf 'The Broken Hearts Gallery'

Came across this movie starring Geraldine Viswanathan, Dacre Montgomery and featuring Utkarsh Ambudkar, Molly Gordon, Phillipa Soo, Bernadette Peters, Suki Waterhouse accidentally and have totally fallen for this movie!

The aussie playing 'Nick' is so yummy looking!!! ALSO, LOVE the cameo! ;)

I Am Paul Walker
Maps to the Stars, 2014 with Julianne Moore, John Cusack and Robert Pattison
I Am Patrick Swayze
The Sit-In: Harry Belafonte - A look at the historic week in 1968, where entertainer and activist Harry Belafonte took over 'The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Introducing the changing country to legendary guests like Arethat Franklin and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as well as the unfortunate assassination of both Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy.
Aisha Brown: The First Black Woman Ever (fun note: she's a Canadian comedian from Toronto)
Chris Rock: Kill the Messenger - performance at South Africa's Carnival City Casion, the Apollo Theatre in New York and the Carling Apollo Ammersmith in London

Had a wonderful surprise phone chat of nearly an hour with bestie, Shelley, earlier this evening after some back and forth messenging earlier in the day. I use the verb, surprise because we'd last messaged a week ago and due to this world crisis, actually met up in person over a year ago (back in 2019, we think...). I'd actually been reminiscing a bit of the past (as we'd met each other back in our undergrad usmc years in bioanthro) while multi-tasking my television binge (see list from above). It was a really nice mind-foreshadowing bit...
Considering we're both up to our ears in our busy lives, I love that we can still pick up where we've left off like the next page in our story (something I noted with regret that I haven't had the time to write her any of my insane email novels that I used to send when I was able to find time to waste...luckily or unluckily(?) my current employment enables me to utilize all my free time) and it's with great hopefulness that we can meet in person sometime this year. *Fingers-crossed*

RIP Prince Phillip April 9, 2021

'To have fallen in love completely and unreservedly,
makes all one's personal and even the world's troubles seem small and petty'
- Queen Elizabeth II

'Prince Philip's connection Toronto was a deep and heart-felt one. He visited our city 20 times, beginning in 1951 when he accompanied then Princess Elizabeth on a tour she made in place of ailing father, King George.' - Mayor John Tory

'Prince Philip owned the affection of generations, here in the United Kingdom, across the Commonwealth and around the world. We are a kingdom united both in grief and gratitude; grief at Prince Philip's passing, and gratitude for his decades of selfless service to the country.'
- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson

'Today, we mourn the loss of an extraordinary man, who devoted his life to public service and helping others.' - London Mayor Sadiq Khan

The Queen and Prince Philip

Weekend Bingefest

Nov 8, 2020 'The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame 202 Inductions'
Inductees included Depeche Mode, The Doobie Brothers, Nine Inch Nails, The Notorious B.I.G., T-Rex and Whitney Houston.
Watching it was very bittersweet because of all the past flashbacks to the inductee's performances.

Selena 1997 about the Mexican-American singer's international career that's been cut short with J.Lo.

Jackie 2016 film with Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, Billy Crudup, the assassination of JFK through the eyes of Jackie Kennedy.

I am Jackie O

2020 MTV EMA - Nov 11 hosted by Little Mix #MTVEMA
Sam Smith, Maluma, Doja Cat, Zara Larsson, YUNGBLUD etc
Performances by:
- Doja Cat
- Jack Harlow
- Sam Smith
- David Guetta and Raye - Let's Love
- DJ Khaled presents Maluma's performance
- Dababy
- Little Mix
- Alicia Keys: Love Looks Better
- Taylor
- Yungblud
- Zara Lawson

Best Song Award: Dynamite - BTS
Best Group Award: BTS
Best Rock: Coldplay
Best Push: Yungblud
Winnie Harlow presents Best Latin Award: Karol G
Rita Ora presents Best Electronic: David Guetta
Bebe Rexa presents Best Artist: Lady Gaga - Rain On Me
Big Sean presents Best hip-Hop: Cardi B
Best Alternative: Hayley Williams (paramore)
Best Collaboration: Karol G ft Nicki Minaj - Tusa
Best Virtual Live: BTS
Lewis Hamilton presents Video for Good - H.E.R. - I Can't Breathe
Best Pop: Little Mix
Best Video: DJ Khaled ft. Drake - Popstar starring Justin Bieber

Appearance by Barbara Palvin & David Guetta

MTV EMA REMEMBERS:
Adam Schlesinger: 1967-2020
Andre Harrell: 1960-2020
Bushwick Bill: 1966-2019
Chadwick Boseman: 1976-2020
Chynna Rogers: 1994-2020
Eddie Money: 1949-2019
Florian Schneider, Kraftwerk: 1948-2020
Huey: 1987-2020
Juice Wrld: 1998-2019
Naya Rivera: 1987-2020
Neil Pert, Rush: 1952-2020
Pop Smoke: 1999-2020
Ric Ocasek, The Cars: 1944-2019
Eddie Van Halen

American Idol:
Cassandra Coleman and Ryan Tedder - It's Too Late to 'Apologize'
Alyssa Wray - Something In The Water; Carrie Underwoodvand Katherine McPhee - 'I'm Your Baby Tonight' - Whitney Houston
Deshawn Goncalves - 'Forever Young' - Bob Dylan; with Ryan Tedder - 'I Lived' - One Republic
Graham Defranco - 'Love Like This' - Ben Rector
Willie Spence and Katherine McPhee - 'The Prayer' - Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli

27th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series: Mark Ruffalo - I know This Much Is True
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series: Anya Taylor-Joy - The Queen's Gambit
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series: Jason Sudeikis - Ted Lasso
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series: Catherine O'Hara - Schitt's Creek
Outstanding Performance by a Ensemble in a Comedy Series: Schitt's Creek
Gabrielle Carteris - SAG-AFTRA President
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role: Daniel Kaluuya - Judas and the Black Messiah
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role: Yuh-Jung Youn - Minari

In Memoriam:
Cloris Leachman, Thomas Jefferson Byrd, Carl Reiner, Dawn Wells, Ja'net Dubois, Shirley Knight, Max Von Sydow, Joyce Gordon, Ian Holm, Conchata Ferrell, Irrfan Khan, Naya Rivera, Hal Holbrook, Yaphet Kotto, John Karlen, Henry Darrow, Warren Berlinger, Fred Willard, Jerry Stiller, Natalie Desselle Reid, Kelly Preston, Lyle Waggoner, Zoe Caldwell, Kellye Nakahara, Ann Reinking, Richard Herd, Tommy 'Tiny' Lister Jr., John Saxon, Diana Rigg, Ben Cross, Olivia De Havilland, Brian Dennehy, Sean Connery, George Segal, Robert Conrad, Honor Blackman, Gregory Sierra, Tanya Roberts, David L. Lander, Christopher Plummer, Mark Blum, Deezer D, Mac Davis, Bruce Kirby, Lynn Cohen, Orson Bean, Kevin Dobson, Dustin Diamond, Jessica Walter, Nick Cordero, Peter Mark Richman, Wilford Brimley, Cicely Tyson, Kirk Douglas and Chadwick Boseman

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series: Gillian Anderson - The Crown
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series: Jason Bateman - Ozark
Outstanding Performance by a Ensemble in a Drama Series: Olivia Coleman accepted on behalf - The Crown
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role: Viola Davis - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role: Simone Ledward Boseman on behalf of Chadwick Boseman - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: The Trial of the Chicago 7