Copperhead

Lazy

2005-05-08T02:07:00.000-04:00

I need a damn job, to post more in my ample free time, to register for my races, and to make some sort of a decision before the many-headed rebound hydra I've created rears up and bites me, or grows yet larger. But for now, wrapping a Mother's Day gift, downtempo music, then bed.

Now Playing: Air - Moon Safari - 08 - Ce Matin La

Cleaning

2005-04-28T21:19:00.000-04:00

Who'd have thought I've got so much stuff? I've spent most of the past week cleaning. I've cleaned my room, including unpacking, filling two large boxes with old books and Popular Science magazines (1992-2002!), two more with old clothes I never wear, and sorting through this year's schoolwork. Lots of stuff for charity. I seem to have been more organized this year; only one 3" binder and four notebooks for the whole year, as opposed to two 3" and one 1" for 2003-2004.

Also, I've purged the basement of a lot of old computer stuff. Unfortunately computer recycling seems to be a neglected area in Ontario, so I may have some trouble getting rid of it all. Currently I'm "fixing" my expenses record for the past term, and trying to figure out which Linux distro to install on an old 200 Mhz / 64 MB / 3 GB box so my parents can both use the internet at the same time.

Training for the marathon is getting in gear. I ran Monday, Wednesday, and today (Thursday) - today was one of the Nike runs from the store in Yorkville downtown. They're really organized hyping the 10 km race this year - unfortunately there's this whole trash-talk-between-boroughs ploy that's getting tiresome. I just want to run, jeez. Anyway, 34 minutes for 8 km today, including maybe 12 flights of stairs up and down. Pretty good!

Now: more finances, web design, and cleaning. Tomorrow: getting a damn job.

Now Playing: Lagwagon - Blaze - 02 - E. Dagger

"Like A Phoenix"

2005-04-19T10:11:00.000-04:00

I really like this album. Sam Roberts seems to have the right idea when he shouts "We will rise like a phoenix from the ashes" - it is something that should be shouted, not sort of ... prayed. You know? "Life sucks right now, I hope I can somehow miraculously succeed" is not the tone that goes with the statement.

Is it pretentious to point out that there's only one phoenix?

...

I also like Every Part Of Me ("I can never bring them back but those days remain inside the very heart of me / My memories are white and black but the song's the same and plays in every part of me") and Rarefied ("You say you won't be a friend of mine, but you can't be a lover 'cause you take up all my time") - familiar sentiments both.

Packing right now for res moveout in ... 3 hours! It feels good to be done. For better or worse, second year is over. Instead of routine and easily-derailed method of planning to live and do better next year, I'm going to start this summer. I'll outline my utterly ridiculous running plans later. Back to packing!

Now Playing: Sam Roberts - We Were Born In A Flame - 04 - Higher Learning

Everyone Else Has Had More Sex Than Me

2005-04-15T01:40:00.000-04:00

It's not strictly true anymore. Haha!

No, really - what I mean is that Flash music video that recently made the meme rounds. I've got this nagging idea that the audio is a parody of something else, or at least uses the tune of another less humorous song. Extensive Googling hasn't turned up anything - maybe I actually heard the same song, or perhaps they've just nailed that particular, rock-anthem style, thereby exemplifying every similar song I've heard.

Anyway I'd like a conclusive yea or nay. Any help?

FOCUS.

2005-04-14T00:04:00.000-04:00

I've got FOCUS in big red sharpie on a Post-It on my monitor, but it's only helping me sporadically. Tonight was a bit of a write-off; I printed off some past exams for Fluid Mechanics and went down to the Fish Bowl to study, but couldn't get into it because of

Boorishly drunk first-years stomping down the hall,

A rude couple gabbling at each other instead of studying, and

Cute girls just sitting there being cute.

Seriously, I made errors in a triple integral. I never do that. </sarcasm> So it's one post and off to bed.

I'm not sure what to think of all this uproar about Bernard Law celebrating one of the memorial Masses for the late Pope. He's the one who shuffled sexually abusive priests around the US to hide their actions. That's pretty bad form. On the other hand, protesting at the mass is a bit like squabbling at a funeral, except in this case much more disrespectful given the identity of the deceased. What strikes me even more is that the standard American response to offense (litigate, litigate, litigate) seems to be outweighing the Christian doctrine of forgiveness. The now-adult victims are surely scarred, but the fact that they're out for blood seriously dents my sympathy for them. The offending priests can be brought to trial; the current clergy can be vetted for deviants, and training and enforcement can be organized to prevent molesters from being ordained. Hounding Law smacks of revenge, by those who'd rather have their pound of flesh than contribute an ounce to prevention or anything at all to a cure.

I call myself a liberal but sometimes it gets pretty complicated. Time for bed.

Now Playing: Zero 7 - When It Falls - 07 - Passing By

Perspective

2004-11-21T09:45:00.000-05:00

I think a good use of (relatively) cheap commercial space travel would be to send every head of state up for a good look at the planet. Some wouldn't want to go; some would be unfit to; some would merely retreat further into their hidebound ways - but from what I've read and heard, the majority would be shocked into a new perspective on our planet and the life on it. You can't see a flag waved from space; you can't see skin, you can't even see religious differences from a few metres away. What you can see is the beauty of our world, and in many sad cases the damage we're doing to it.

I got up at 8:30 today, w00t! Yesterday was excellent; went shopping with my mom for birthday presents - two pairs of pants and dress shoes that my parents are hanging onto until my actual birthday; plus I got a whole load of candy and snacks for the run-up to exams. We went to a little restaurant in Port Credit for a $200 belated birthday dinner for the mother, along with some good wine and conversation. Alice is right, my family does get along well - it's great!

The next week is rather ridiculously crazy, and it all starts today with a trip to Oakville just to use some machine tools.

Also check my deviantART, new stuff in frequently.

Now Playing: Blackalicious - Blazing Arrow - 10 - Make You Feel That Way

Style

2004-11-16T04:21:00.000-05:00

Style's great. I'm a big fan of the high collar, the toothpick or cigarette, the right kind of aloofness ... the perfect remark, well-timed and delivered. Dramatics, seen?

But it's not for me. The problem is, to run style needs attention, ("health is secondary when you've got a style to maintain") and I can't be bothered - not 'cause I'm too cool, but I'm not focused. Also I don't have the necessary pride; you need pride to run style and I'm a firm believer that pride (at least the noisy sort) goes before a fall.

I just made the poor decision of borrowing the Battle Royal manga volumes 1-3 from Danielle, and I've discovered all over again why I love manga (many reasons) and why I hate it (you've got to have the book in your hands, and that's expensive). I've also flirted briefly with the attraction of writing storyboards for manga and comics. I could do that; perhaps even well. For a time I'd had plans to write storyboards for my cousin Jon based on a plot idea I've been throwing around since forever - he was going to do the drawing. Of course, that fell through due to lack of attention.

The problem with the really fun ideas - just like style - is that when you give them a close look, for me at least, they're always just permutations of other fun ideas. The aforementioned plot was a near-future story about teens in the aftermath of a ebola-like virus that killed everyone on the planet who didn't have a certain hormonal imbalance particular to the pubescent. So right there you've got Ender's Game, maybe The Girl Who Owned A City, Atwood's Oryx and Crake and pretty much every other post-apocalyptic, life-in-the-ruins-of-modern-society story. Think crumbling futuristic structures a la Trigun or Vampire Hunter D. Lord of the Flies, even. I could go on, but I won't.

There seems to be limited room for style. I mean, you can wear your fedora everywhere, but it's only a matter of time before you bump into some other genius who's latched onto the same brilliant idea, and the two of you look like mirrored dorks staring at each other. Even when I feel creative, I'm always nagged by the feeling that I'm just regurgitating some meme I've caught. Even the dreams which I used to think were the source of such great, imaginative ideas are - I accept now - just random recombinations of shit that's been done and seen, seen and done.

So I despair of being original, of finding a mode of poetry or an idea to write on that's solely my own. To be honest I don't care if someone else has come up with the same thing independently and I've never heard of it, but the way I soak things up chances are I'm just apeing. Maybe it'll come with time, experience and effort (or the careful avoidance of effort). Or maybe everyone's muse is just a sort of synthesis, and I shouldn't be ashamed of it just 'cause I can see it.

It's about wanting to sing the unsung song, once and forever unique. It's about knowing you're alive.

How's that for style?

Now Playing: Animatrix Soundtrack - 08 - Overseer - Supermoves (Animatrix Remix)

Yuo aer t3h Winnar!

2004-11-14T16:34:00.000-05:00

Today I set a new personal record by sleeping in to - without a word of exaggeration - 4:00 PM. I'm a champ - or merely a narcoleptic.

And my room is FILTHY. Agh!

Now Playing: Bonobo - One Offs... B-Sides & Remixes - 01 - Pilote - Turtle (Bonobo Mix)

Lists

2004-11-12T01:29:00.000-05:00

Well, nearly a month has gone by since the last post, and there's precisely one reason: midterms.

For those who aren't familiar I'm in a particularly brutal engineering program. The workload is heavy at the best of times, but when midterm exams are thrown on top of all that, it gets rather frantic. I've either got a self-discipline / focus problem or a simple inability to juggle more than a certain number of things. Perhaps both. Anyways, in the busy parts of the term, things start to slip. Here's an example of what might be on my plate at any given moment:

Laundry. This often gets left until I have to reuse one (or two) days' worth of socks.
Stageband. Two hours of jazz on Wednesdays, a good escape but cuts heavily into homework time.
Guitar. I haven't practiced in at least three weeks.
Cooking. Bob usually ends up doing this, or we alternate nights making something prepackaged. Since he refuses to "sink to the level of KD", we're on a steady diet of Hamburger / Chicken Helper.
Other eating. Breakfast is a rare occurrence and lunch is often cheese and crackers in my room at my computer.
Shopping. For the above.
Dishes. For the above. Our kitchen is in a truly horrid state at the moment, the sort of thing I was looking forward to not having to deal with this year. Suite cleaning suffers likewise.
Job Application Engineering summer positions go fast. I should have done much more this month than I have so far.
Exercising. I used to go do circuit training at Hart House with Brian, and run on Thursdays. I haven't run in over a month; I've been to the gym once in three weeks.
Time Commitments. ECC (improving/expanding InnisRes.com), Iron Dragons admin, Eng Sci dinner dance, various engineering activities.
Various Chores. renewing health card, picking up some proffered chairs from my cousin, pre-wisdom-tooth-removal consultation, putting up the remainder of my posters.

OK, well, that's the non-school stuff. For school itself:

Calc Always quizzes to study for. I'm weeks behind in homework. Prof. incomprehensible.
Chinese Philosophy I have a 6-8 page essay due Monday, which I haven't yet chosen a topic for.
Design I have to have measurable results by the week of my birthday, and I'm stuck in one of those can't-plan-without-parts, can't-get-parts-without-planning paradoxes.
Dig/Comp Systems Biweekly labs to prep for.
Physics Weekly problem sets that take hours (6, for this week) to complete.
Physics Lab Sessions two weeks apart merely give me enough time to forget about doing writeups.
Thermo Open Systems and Bernoulli were OK, but I'm still not conceptually solid on First- and Second Law problems, and definitely shaky on the math for Thermodynamics Properties of Materials.

Marks which I'm horribly ashamed of:

Design (Assignment 2) 0%
Calc (Quiz 1, 2) 25%, 0%
Thermo I 47%
Chinese Philosophy Paper I 60% (65% minus late penalty)
Physics 65.5%

Marks which I'm happy with:

Physics Lab (Experiment 1) 75%
Chinese Philosophy 86.5%
Physics (Problem Sets) All fairly high
Dig/Comp Systems 94% (47/50)
Design (Assignment 1) 96%
Dig/Comp Systems (Labs) 100% so far, mostly trivial.

Of the things I've yet to find out about, Calc Midterm and Quiz 3 will be terrible; Design Proposal and Thermo II will be OK; Design Assignment 3 should be pretty good.

And my worst problem? I waste time. I waste time, realize I'm wasting it, shake and kick myself, then go right back to wasting it. It's a huge problem. I:

Download Stuff. Music, Anime, etc. This isn't bad, but I spend hours compulsively organizing, categorizing, annotating and renaming.
Surf. Sometimes I read the news, but often I just browse randomly, reading stuff that has no real bearing on what I should be doing.
Chat. On Trillian or DC++. I've got lots of good friends that I keep up to date with, but I really should trim down. I semi-justify this wasted time by saying I don't want to alienate people.
Sleep. On "good" days I'll stay up 'till 3 or 4 doing homework. On bad days I'll be either go to bed at midnight or be up to 5, in either case sleeping in through the next morning's classes, necessitating copying of notes and putting me further behind. I've actually slept through the combined noises of my alarm, cellphone, watch alarm, watch timer, and roommate pounding on the door. Random daytime napping is also a problem.
Work on the wrong thing. In avoidance of a difficult task or tackling hard concepts, I'll often spend too much time perfecting something trivial and relatively unimportant (mark-wise).

The worst part about all this is I've perfected a ridiculous ability to swallow down mass amounts of shame at marks I know I could at least double (or best by 75% in the case of those zeroes), and similarly choke back that sinking-stomach type of panic at the amount of work my procrastination has forced into so short a period. If I could do away with these I'm pretty sure I'd be several times as stressed, but I'd actually get things done, which from my current perspective seems highly preferable.

Anyways Alice is over for the night, and it's already 0220, so I'm off to bed. Hopefully this catharsis/confession does me some good - tomorrow morning's target up-time is 7:45! Down with narcolepsy!

Now Playing: Hed Kandi - Winter Chill 3 - II - Lamb - Gabriel

Psychological Equilibrium

2004-10-13T21:55:00.000-04:00

I got Heretics of Dune as an ultra-advanced birthday present, and made the mistake of starting to read it. Now I've come over all philosophical.

The ghola was developing a nerve-muscle equilibrium that, given time, might be matched a psychological equilibrium at least equal to Teg's.

Maybe that's my problem - lack of real psychological equilibrium. Not to say that I'm psychologically unstable; indeed I feel I'm more stable than many people, and in the absence of stressors I can achieve a high degree of mental clarity and relaxation. The problem lies in the fact that I'm currently unable to predict and control how the equilibrium responds to changes in conditions.

In short, I hope to one day feel and be perceived as capable and potent, whereas currently in the face of unexpected events or amounts of work I fear I become disorganized, unfocused and ineffective.

Now Playing: Animatrix Soundtrack - 09 - Overseer - Supermoves (Animatrix Remix)

Ever heard this song? It's on both the Animatrix and Snatch soundtracks. Plays during the machine battle in The Second Renaissance Part I of the Animatrix (to which it's perfectly suited), and I haven't seen Snatch yet. I like it. The drumwork and treble synth make it seem almost frenetic, but the synth bass and bass drum beat are very deliberate, driving. I think of a knife fight, a ring of spectators primed for violence, streetlights and shadows, tension. The fighters stalking each other in a circle, on the edge, small blades and big egos, grinning ear to ear. They wait and then dive in, riding the crowd and endorphins to a serious, rocking high, intent in the noise, the sweat - the blood.

Woo speedwriting! Also, speaking of soundtracks, check out the one for Office Space - especially "Shove This Jay-oh-bee", "Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta", "No Tears", "Still" and the Perez Prado tracks.

Back to work!

Copycat Artist

2004-10-12T11:43:00.000-04:00

There's a Val Kilmer graffiti artist making in the rounds in Toronto, mostly in and around Chinatown and the University of Toronto campus. His tag: the name "Val Kilmer" and the peace sign in thick black permanent.

As if that wasn't weird enough, the big blue wall surrounding the construction for the new University College residence now sports another tag, this one saying merely "Charlie Sheen". Odd. Also there's a cartoony drawing of a duck's head, with a number of arrows pointing to the bill - an obvious stab at the "Post No Bills" warning on the wall. Gave me a chuckle.

Now Playing: DJ Tiesto - In Search Of Sunrise - 05 - BT - Mercury And Solace

Hell Week

2004-10-12T01:39:00.000-04:00

I've resolved to post despite the steadily mounting mania that is Engineering Science. Simply put, I feel that I need to learn to juggle as many things as possible without letting the small ones slide; the latter is poor practice and really the only way accomplish secondary objectives. Where doing well in school is currently my primary objective, things like staying healthy, being content in life (and all that entails), attending to my various hobbies/clubs/musical involvements, etc. are important in their own right.

This is Hell Week - next week may be worse, but I haven't sized it up yet for fear it might make me cry. On my plate:

Tuesday (tomorrow/today)

ECE - LAB (prep currently incomplete)
CHE - MIDTERM, 5-7 (studying required)

Wednesday

PHL - Assignment 1 DUE (3-4 page exegesis, text not even chosen)
AER - Assignment 2 DUE (motor driving circuit and report, circuit to be completed and tested)
Stageband 7-9

Thursday

APM - Quiz 2 (studying ~half complete)
PHY - Problem Set 4 DUE (not started)

Friday

PHY - Lab 1 Writeup DUE (not started)
PHY - Lab 2 (choose, prep and begin)

I'm in a state just shy of panic right now, and that's mostly because I'm wearing my comfortable new slippers. Really, if I was less physically relaxed, I'd be freaking out. To work!

Now Playing: Louis Armstrong & Ella Fitzgerald - Paper Moon

In the heezy

2004-09-05T17:29:00.000-04:00

Now back in res and unpacking. My suite is thoroughly awesome, pictures forthcoming. Hope everyone the best for their weeks of orientation and beginning the fall term.

Also, the new cell is in ... LG TM250, Bell Mobility, 200 anytime minutes, unlimited weekends, voicemail, call display, etc. $31 per month AFTER all taxes and charges, $25 startup. I quite like it. Bob, however, has informed me that using the free leather case just because it's free, and wearing the phone on my belt is not only unkosher, it's also something that smacks of baby-boomerism. So I've stopped.

Anyways, ask me for my number if you want it. For the present, there's more unpacking, socializing and mounting of posters I should get done. Cheers!

Now Playing: RJD2 - Since We Last Spoke - 07 - To All Of You

Aaaaaauuuugggghhhh!

2004-09-03T13:19:00.000-04:00

So much packing to do, interspersed with running downtown pre-move in for pre-F!rosh Week stuff and nonsense.

On the plus side I'm getting a phone today. Number will be posted when I know it.

Now Playing: Khachaturian - Sabre Dance (panic music)

Thinking about thinking

2004-09-02T01:35:00.000-04:00

One of the reasons I'm trying to use this blog more often is to document some of the odd, transitory thoughts I have. I'm not sure if they're unique to me, or if everyone has similar realizations, but I suppose that's one thing I want to find out.

I can be thinking on one topic, doing another task, when something I see, hear, smell, etc. causes random recollection a memory, brings something into my mind or causes a lateral jump in my thinking. It's kind of like the word association game, but in thoughts. For a moment I'll see an odd sort of relationship between items and topics I (and presumably most people) would usually consider unrelated. There's a sense of discovery/realization, and then the thought passes.

Perhaps this is a form of gestalt:

Examples of the Gestalt experience include the perception of an incomplete circle as a whole or a pattern of dots as a shape- the mind completes the missing pieces through extrapolation. Studies also indicate that simple elements/ compositions where the meaning is directly perceived do not offer as much a challenge to the mind as complex ones and hence the latter are preferred over the former.

Yet I don't feel such thoughts fit this definition; although the relationship is a significant connection of the components, it only exists as regards those parts. But then it does increase their meaning, at least with respect to each other. Ugh, now I'm confusing even MYSELF.

Anyways, maybe I only flatter myself by feeling that my thoughts in this mode are abnormally complex. I also worry the concepts are so abstract that trying to express them in writing will shift the thought into a mode where the connections are no longer meaningful or complete - in other words, perhaps I'd learn more from them if I didn't try to communicate them, but just accepted them. I guess that's a risk I'll have to take.

The result? More confusing Paul-memes to read about. Joy!

Now Playing: Zero 7 - When It Falls - 09 - Look Up

613A

2004-08-31T01:07:00.000-04:00

It's official, Bob and I have one of, if not the most pimpingest suites at Innis for the coming year. Excellent. Come visit me.

Things are getting busy in the end-of-summer ramp-up to school. F!rosh week prep, the last few dragonboat practices before the GWN races on 11-12 Sep, and packing for move-in to res. Dear God, the packing. I must be a woman in disguise, I've got so much stuff.

I've currently got three hard drives, Maxtor 6Y060L0 (60 GB) and 6Y160L0 (160 GB), and Seagate ST380021A (80GB), for a total of 300 GB or thereabouts. The problem is, it's getting crowded - way too much anime. I'm all set to burn about 50 GB using my sister's DVD-R before school starts, but I'd still like to do something about space. Also, having all those drives running in my case makes it pretty toasty at times, especially at Innis where the upload speed tends to be close to the maximum (I uploaded almost 4 terabytes of data during first year). Anyways, I'm thinking about a couple of SATA drives - perhaps 80 GB and 250 GB, roughly priced at $95 and $230. The question is, can I make enough from the sale of my old drives to recoup the majority of that cost? Remains to be seen, but if you know a potential buyer, let me know.

Anyways, my bed beckons, and tomorrow's packed: dragonboat practice, exchanging coveralls, back-to-school shopping, packing, trying to convince my dad that a cell phone makes fiscal sense, work on InnisRes.com and my own site, and possibly even some time spent with Alice. Oy.

Now Playing: Nightmares On Wax - Late Night Tales - Large Professor - Bout That Time

For Chrissake

2004-08-27T03:44:00.000-04:00

I did my second round of the Nike Run downtown today, 8k in 34:25, and yet for some reason I'm STILL AWAKE AT 0345. Ugh. No free shirt, even; they didn't have mens' small. Gotta get up early tomorrow - er, today.

Pro: Alice's PC is all shiny and new.
Con: InnisRes coding is behind.
Now Playing: the throbbing of my legs.

Giving it another stab ...

2004-08-26T13:23:00.000-04:00

With the latest redesign of my website, I've completely given up on integrating this blog into my website. It's iffy coding, and the high-contrast scheme I use on my site really isn't conducive to reading anything lengthy. The same goes for poetry and prose; it's all going to show up on my devART account now. Again, hopefully this will help me update more frequently.

khaerukama-o.blogspot.com! J'y suis, j'y reste!

Now Playing: Deep Purple - Smoke On The Water

Sharia

2004-06-10T08:48:00.000-04:00

Recent objections to whether sharia triubunals should be created to provide arbitration for Ontarian Muslims are, I feel, unfounded. Many of the counterarguments are based on incidents in Muslim nations where women have been stoned to death for infidelity, or similarly received punishments incredibly severe when compared to the minor or imagined crimes for which they were prescribed. As horrible as these incidents are, to suggest that they are characteristic of sharia or Muslims and that they will be repeated in Canada is blatantly racist.

These are extreme examples occuring under specific conditions - including the coincidence of religious and secular law, the authority of religious officials, a weaker attention to human rights, and similar results of fully- or partially-theocratic government. We are fortunate enough in Canada to enjoy a democracy that, in comparison to the nations in which these abuses are committed, is nearly absolute. Sharia cannot conceivably create situations in which women's rights will be degraded if is conducted within the bounds of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms - as it is required to by current law.

In fact, it could be suggested that equitable, nonviolent and satisfying application sharia in the lives of Canadian Muslims could set a precedent for other nations seeking to embrace human rights more fully while not abandoning religious practices. Gay marriages are now conducted in some Canadian churches despite the rhetoric and sometimes violent objections of conservative Christians here and abroad; the case of sharia, if fostered properly, could be much the same.

Now Playing: Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News - 03 - Float On

A Humming Void

2004-05-31T00:06:00.000-04:00

Despite the fact that I'm still lossfully unemployed, it's been a busy weekend. Working backwards, today I read Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood's latest. Yes, by 'today' I mean I began and finished it since I've gotten up. Briefly: it's good. Less briefly: it's not as unique as the glowing reviews would have you believe. The story itself is excellent, but there have been other settings devised that are similar in many ways. One of my favourite science-fiction authors, William Gibson, also uses a mix of biotechnology, class separation, technology and corporatism gone to extremes to paint a bleak view of the future, although Atwood's is more apocalyptic. The ever-in-progress short story I've been tooling with for years has a civilization-ending plague. I guess the numbers of those who do or want to write science fiction outweight our generally poor ability to extrapolate present conditions into anything but the very near future. In light of current world events, I guess Atwood wins points over Gibson for reminding us that the years to come are not all bright and shining, but hold new and uniquely horrible forms of human suffering.

On a more cheerful note, Saturday was Alice's (day-after-her) birthday extravaganza. We went to The Keg for dinner, and I had this amazing steak with a "bleu cheese, bourbon and almond" spread ... very unique flavours, if very strong. And very pricey. I got her The Tao of Pooh to help her be a bit more calm, since she gets stressed sometimes. I flipped through the book (yeah, I do that) before I wrapped it, and I think I might have to do some more reading on Taoism ... it seems to coincide with my world-view in some ways. Not all, of course. While I was buying it, I noticed copies of The Upanishads and The Bhagavad Gita. I think I'll add reading the principal texts and literature of the world's major religions to my list of things to do in my elusive "spare time".

Anyways, to finish the evening (or before the finish, muahaha) we saw Shrek 2, which was great - lots of humour for grown-ups, and brilliant animation. Keep your eyes peeled for Joan Rivers, "Knights", the flamboyant Prince Charming, and Funky Town. We laughed pretty hard, and Alice shushed me a couple times - sorry babe -)

Earlier Saturday was a dragonboat practice, which was fine except for running aground on a pipe just off the beach. We had to hop out of the boat so it would float higher in the water, push it off the obstacle, and then hop back in en masse before the water got too deep to stand in, in a sort of bizarre, aquatic version of a bobsled start or something. Good times.

Friday night and Saturday morning were spent with friends of the family. Basically, my mom has stayed in touch with a few friends of hers who graduated from the University of Waterloo, BMath '79 Co-op Teaching Option (a mouthful). Two of these are now married, and a third is married to a Waterloo grad of the same year but a different program. Between the three couples, there are seven kids (including myself and my sister) all aged 17 to 22. Because the parents have all known each other and gotten together regularly since way before we were born, we've known each other pretty much all our lives, and all come to these reunions. One guy, Kevin, has a loft downtown (he's going into UofT CompSci 3rd year), so I spent Friday night there with him, his fiancée, his sister and her boyfriend, and they dropped me off at Dragonboat in the morning. I also went to St. Lawrence Market for the first time, and had a great peameal-bacon-on-a-bun sandwich for breakfast. Mmm good.

Anyways, I ramble, and my bed beckons. More soon!

Now Playing: Zero 7 - Simple Things - 05 - Simple Things

Just Imagine: Innis

2004-05-22T00:50:00.000-04:00

Seriously, it's almost like a lottery. The first round of readmission offer e-mails just got sent out to people trying to return to Innis for 2004-2005, and those offered and those placed on the waiting list follow no noticeable order whatsoever. Perhaps merit was awarded to the ability to schmooze, brownnose, and BS - I got in, I guess, because I used my essay to make myself look like Mother Theresa herself, except younger, male, of a different background and not in any way on the fasttrack to canonization. Anyways, I got back in, and I'm relieved - now to get a job so my parents will pay the $5000 (yikes!) fees. Bless their hearts.

Today was mostly a series of meals: I got up early to go to Cora's for breakfast with the fam. Unfortunately their fifteen five-dollar breakfasts are no longer so numerous or cheap, but it's good food. Once of their omelettes had every conceivable breakfast ingredient - mushrooms, onions, other veggies, cheeses (yes plural), a few kinds of meat, garnishes, etc. etc. Something like the TMNT sushi and jello pizza, but infinitely more appetizing. Yum. Then a huge deli sandwich for lunch. Then to Dixie Park for cheap (but non-westernized) Chinese food: Beef and Green Onion with Bean Sprout on Rice Noodle, $5.75. Another excellent establishment, look for the big pink building one light north of Eastgate Parkway on Dixie.

Gah, gotta run - I was going to pontificate, but it looks like there's no time.

Miscellany

2004-05-20T02:25:00.000-04:00

I should really stop being so anal about formatting ... making the paragraphing work properly with the blog template just took me ten minutes, argh. Two thumbs up for being awake at 0233.

I've got a new link button, so check it out ... turns out I was stupid for sticking with Corel PHOTO-PAINT for so long; Photoshop actually is easier to use. Many parts of the site have been updated, btw, and I like it a lot more ... it'll be easier to update. Up at the top there is a new title image and a bar with links to the most recent blog entries and a quote of the day, which has been and will be more of a quote-of-the-several-months for a while yet. I've still got to write the script to run that, and think up some original lines that don't blatantly rip Tat. Still, you really shouldn't visit jerkcity - most indecent humour ever. I laughed for days.

I'd like to wish safe travel to Monika, who's heading to India ~~tomorrow~~ today for most of the summer. She says she'll still have access to the intarweb, though - just through a phone line (gasp, I know, I know). Also props to Mark, who's abandoned LJ and got a blog account at my insistence ... we'll see who updates more often. Probably neither of us.

Editorializing: On Ontario politics: I bet the Tories are having a huge laugh-up right now, enjoying how they were able to simultaneously overspend and set the next government up to look bad. Jerks. On the Middle East: America and Israel again take out (presumably) innocent civilians. Several years ago, when I first took interest in what's going on in the (former) cradle of civilization, it seemed that goodwill, disarmament, humanitarian investment and a bit of peacekeeping could just fix the region's problems. Now I'm beginning to worry, in an uncharacteristically pessimistic sort of way, that there's a deeper problem, namely: people are (fucking) stupid. Joe Western Hemisphere is too attached to his middle-class lifestyle; Washington can't see the harm in a little jingoism or a war to stir up the economy; and a bunch of idiots in Iraq somehow believe they have reasons to help the coalition blow up parts of their own country while the Israelis and Palestinians have yet to wrap their heads around the math that says that there's not enough of that land to go around. The whole situation would be tiresome if it wasn't so horrible.

OK, 3 am .. definitely bedtime, the job search must continue and there's a dragonboat practice tomorrow night.

Now Playing: Zero 7 - Another Late Night - 10 - Serge Gainsbourg - Bonnie & Clyde (Herbert's Fred & Ginger Mix)

Procrastination

2004-05-17T13:38:00.000-04:00

For some reason I'm sitting here working on this when I should be out trying to get a job. Yeargh! Procrastination is a huge problem for me ... not entirely sure why.