I started thinking that maybe this would be the best time for me to blog: the end of the day with all the day's events swirling through my head. You know, important things like:

Why do the holiday radio stations play Bruce Springsteen's "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" SO FRIGGIN' OFTEN? Was it a one-song album? Did he not do any other holiday hits?

Why has the show "Boston Legal" become SO boring? (Although I do believe the series finale is on tonight, yay.)

Why did my son's school think it'd be a good idea to send second graders on an outdoor field trip in December? It was brutally cold today!

Why is Starbucks still so busy with the economy the way it is?

So, that's all I got. What a great start to bedtime blogging, huh? Maybe I'll have a more eventful day tomorrow.

I've been tagged by Vicki from Orion Designs to share a little bit about myself. Here are the rules: 1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog. 2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird. 3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by including links to their blogs. 4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs. Seven facts about Ainsley:

1. I took the QE2 across the Atlantic to England when I was 6 with my grandmother;

2. My husband has NO IDEA how much I've spent on beads over the last couple of years (and neither do I, so let's keep it that way);

3. I like to cook, but I suck at baking;

4. My husband's nickname for me is "Bakie" (this may or may not be related to #3...I don't really know where it came from or why);

5. I recently became acquainted with the band Guster and quite like them (thanks, Vicki);

6. I have a serious procrastination problem (I think I was tagged for this over a week ago);

7. Um, I don't think I can come up with 7 blogging pals to send this to (all the Artisan Beaders sent it to each other already; see #6). Sad, really. I'm a tag killer.

Two additional thorns in my side:

1) To all the hiphop/dance artists out there: we know who you are, it says it right on the CD. Therefore, the need for you to sing about yourself in the third person is redundant.

2) Please, learn to EE-NUN-CI-ATE. Eddie Vedder, I'm talking to you. Has anyone ever successfully sung along to Yellow Ledbetter? Seriously.

I have satellite radio in my car. It's great; there are channels covering pretty much all genres of music. I have the buttons set to a variety of channels from current pop songs to classic rock, which brings me to the reason for this post. Is it just me, or does the music of today have absolutely no depth? Are there really any bands from this decade that will last longer than a few years? I really don't think so.

Think back to the 60s and 70s. The bands that were big -- think Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, AC/DC -- are pretty much still around and while maybe new albums are few and far between, their songs are still played regularly. Do you think we can say the same thing about bands like Fall Out Boy? Do you think in 20 years anyone is going to still play "Thnks fr th Mmrs"?  Or that anyone is even going to remember it? (Or that it will ever stop bothering me that they left out all the vowels?)

I also find it hard to distinguish between a lot of the current bands; to me, there are very few lead singers who have a really distinctive voice that stand out from the hundreds of others.

It's probably just my age showing; I'm sure my parents probably thought no one could compare to Elvis or Buddy Holly. But even I still know who those guys are 50 years later. I sincerely doubt Forever the Sickest Kids are ever going to make it to the classic rock channels 20 years down the road.

Because it's neglected. Abandoned. Left alone for days. It hungers for new posts, pants thirstily for photos. Why do I ignore the blog? It never did anything bad to me. It just sits there in the bookmarks toolbar, crammed in between "Most Visited" and the "Artisan Beaders". Staring reproachfully. I did give it a new look a few days ago (ok, quite a few days ago). Threw it a bone, so to speak.  The blog shouldn't make me feel guilty. But it does, sometimes.

When I went to bed Friday, Canada did not have any medals. Countries such as Togo and Tajikistan had one, but we didn't. But when I woke up Saturday morning, we had three! Hurray!

I can't get into the whole "Canada doesn't support their athletes" debate; I'm sure you could find hundreds of posts about that. I just want to say congratulations and keep it up!

I'm such a baby. I was watching the opening ceremonies this morning and for some reason, it was just so overwhelmingly beautiful and incredible that it brought tears to my eyes. My son turned to me curiously and wanted to know why I was crying. I swiped my face with a Kleenex, muttering, "Allergies" and quickly blew my nose.

This slideshow from the NY Times gives a glimpse of how breathtaking it was.

You know how you think of stuff to write when you are nowhere near a computer? I decided to remedy this by jotting down random thoughts in a journal that I would keep on hand. Of course, it wouldn't be just any journal, it had to meet certain criteria:

• it had to be small enough to fit in whichever purse I was currently using;
• it had to have lined sheets;
• it had to stay closed somehow, like with an elastic band or magnetic closure;
• it had to be reasonably priced;
• it had to have either some sort of pretty pattern or appealing colour; and
• it had to inspire me.

You would certainly think I could find something like that at Chapters, especially after perusing every single journal/notebook they had for almost 40 minutes. But no. No, every one I picked up was missing one crucial element. The right size was the wrong colour. The right colour didn't close. The one that closed had blank sheets. You get the picture. I'm picky beyond belief. So I went into Starbucks instead and bought a grande, extra-hot, skinny cinnamon dolce latte. And of course like an idiot I had to make sure it was extra hot by taking a little sip. Believe me, even the tiniest sip can give you an excellent idea of the temperature. Yep, it was fucking hot.  So my day ended with no journal and a burnt tongue. I'll try another location tomorrow and maybe go with the frappuccino.

Assertagirl tagged me for this meme.

The rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you. 2. Post the rules on your blog. 3. Write six random things about yourself. 4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. 5. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website. 6. Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

Random item #1: I probably spend thousands of dollars visiting the hair salon and spa, getting highlights, colour, cuts, blow-drys, pedicures and facials, and buying all their high-end products, but for some reason, I could give a rat's ass about my fingernails. They resemble those of a small child; torn, jagged, and full of hang nails.

Random item #2: The reason I have only one child is because I was high risk. I was born with a hole in my heart and it's genetic. Because both my son and I made it through no problem, I decided not to push my luck. I found out only recently that my husband had been counselled during my pregnancy as to the possibility of either my son or I dying during child birth.

Random item #3: My favourite store in the world is Marshalls, which, sadly, is only in the States. The (lame) equivalent here is Winners. So you now know that although I'm somewhat snobby about name brands, I'm too cheap to pay for them. Also, if I really like something, I will buy more than one, just in a different colour.

Random item #4: I've played house league soccer for 27 years. I play both indoor and outdoor, recreational and competitive. I absolutely love it. I was hoping my little guy, AJ, would love it too, but so far he's more interested in subbing out for water breaks and getting ice cream after the game. We'll see what happens this season; he's playing on a bigger field in actual positions. He might even learn the rules this year.

Random item #5: I love to cook, but I suck at baking. I can't knead properly. I just purchased this book and I'm going to try out the recipes this week.

Uh, hey, I didn't get it for 24% off in the store...

Random item #6: I think it's sweet that Amy tagged me for this meme, but I don't actually have 6 bloggy peeps to send it to (the ones I might have sent it to were already tagged in hers). So while I love the Internet and I'm on it pretty much everyday, I don't have many virtual relationships quite yet. Maybe this will help.

So that's it for my randomness. I'll only tag this one person, since she has been so kind as to pop by and comment from time to time and I would like to know more about her:

• Jenn from Living on a Whim