What "being from Brantford" means....

It's Bran-Furd, not Brant-Ford.

There are streets calles Strawberry Lane, Sandy Row and Winter Way.

10 minutes from the farther point to the other further point.

Cockshutt Park is where you go to watch fireworks, eat cotton candy and get bittern by mosquitoes. At any other time of year you can't say the name wtihout giggling.

The Bell Homestead is a rite of passage for every single person living within the city - whether you're a new immigrant, moved from a bigger city, a smaller city, or are in grade 3. This is a necessity. You also must churn butter, bake shortbread and clean laundry old skoole.

Every street, no matter what, will either curve or at some part, become a hill.

You do believe that you will be the next Wayne Gretzky...along with your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbours, minor league hockey coach, the zamboni driver, etc.

Speaking of zambonis, I know the first woman to ever drive a zamboni in Brantford's Civic Centre. (Hey Linda!!!)

The most degrees of separation anyone has from anyone else is always 2.

We grew up with an awareness that hockey isn't Canada's national sport. This is.

Angels Diner is considered right up there with Montana's and Kelsey's as a "fine dining establishments". *shudder*

The Moose is not a moose.

There has never been a line up at the movie theatre, except when Shrek 2 came out.

A bush party really does mean just the bush. But it is imperative to know which bush. Otherwise, you could end up wandering alone in the dark for hours. I still just mean the bush.

Too many things were given Aboriginal themes - Mohawk Park, Eagle Place, the Grandwoodlands, etc. They became so normal that it was weird when you realized where the names came from.

5th Street stops. Then starts again. 3 blocks over.

My neighbourhood was a gold mine for kids to make a killing when: 1) collecting Halloween candy, 2) shovelling driveways in winter, 3) setting up lemonade stands. Why? We were surrounded by the elderly and the retired!!! There wasn't a kid to be seen for blocks!

The Man in the the Moon (my secret's out)

I remember watching a movie once when I was younger. The memories are still pretty vivid - it was a Saturday afternoon in the summer, I was sitting in the family hoping I wouldn't be asked to help with any of the gardening, I was sitting in my favorite chair.

It was a movie about a girl who had a crush on a boy. An older, cuter, neighbour boy. They go swimming. He works on a farm. Then she realizes he has a crush on her older sister when he helps with the groceries. Then there's an ending that really breaks your heart.

Of all the things I remember, I don't remember the name of the movie. I still think back to that day when I first saw it, how sad I was, how much I liked the characters, how much I didn't...

Then walking through Best Buy one afternoon, my eyes passed over the clearance rack. I saw a movie with a young Reese Witherspoon on the cover and I thought to myself, "Well she sure didn't have that gawky adolescent phase". As I slowly read and re-read the back cover, it dawned on me. This was the movie. The movie.

You know when there's a movie you love and you want the world to know you love it? For some reason, this one didn't. I was embarassed. What if people thougth I came in here looking for this movie? I quickly put it down and hurried out of the store like I stole something.

Random? Yes, I like to be a little random.

All the things I wish I'd said

To the guy who takes everything as a personal insult - I know you want the world to revolve around you but it doesn't, so get over it!

To the girl who thinks her world is coming to an end - Shut up! Far worse things have happened in much greater numbers to people whose lives were worse off to begin with. Complaining about it so much just makes you sound like a whiney brat.

To the guy who loves to tell others I'm not qualified for my job - I got it. You didn't. Deal with it.

To the girl who can't get her crap together - You're like black hole that sucks the energy out of the people around you, complaining about your workload, and the drama you hate, yet promote and how difficult even the tiniest things are. Please refer to earlier message to " girl who thinks her world is coming to an end".

To the girl who refuses to complain about anyone - I can respect what you're trying to do, it's just when you walk up to me with that look on your face and you half start a rant that you never finish, it leaves me more pissed off. Do me a favour, instead of coming up to me to say those things, pretend to have the conversation wtih yourself. Start it with yourself, end it with yourself.

To the girl who I insulted - You deserved it. You did. You deserved it for the years I sat by, ignoring the things you said about me behind my back. At least I got the satisfaction of seeing how you felt after hearing it.