The Feel-Good Moment of the Season:

I was finally able to complete one of my pre-New Year's resolutions. I'm afraid that eating all the chocolate I own before the year is out is not going to happen (I have quite a way to go and two days in which to accomplish my goal), but I was able to go to the Daily Bread Food Bank yesterday to help sort food for the needy. And surprisingly enough, this kind of manual labour was really fun. I went with Emily and her church friends, so there were maybe ten or twelve of us. I knew a few people, so it made it less awkward. After receiving instruction, we got to work. The one thing that impressed me was how well everything was organized. They had 17 categories of food items, all arranged in alphabetical order around a group of tables. We had people date-labelling the food, people sorting the food according to which side the boxes were on, and people boxing the food and putting them on the trolley. The time went by so fast, and suddenly we realized that we had sorted 4 or 5 skids in two hours. Food was flying back and forth, since we kept mixing up baked beans with plain beans, and dry pasta with noodles with soup. And what exactly counts as a significantly dented can? It also amazes me the kinds of things that people donate to the food bank. We found a bagful of old chocolate Easter eggs and bunnies. There was one bunny that wouldn't fit in the box even if the box was empty. We checked with one of the people in charge, who took one look at it and said "Garbage". Honestly, I don't think starving people are interested in Easter chocolate. We also kept getting lollypops and gumballs. File those under "Snacks", I guess.

It was such a great experience, I encourage all of you to try it at least once. And go with a group, it's much more fun with people you know. I can't wait for Easter.

"Help me if you can I'm feeling down, and I do appreciate you being round, help me get my feet back on the ground"

Storytelling:

Last night, I stayed up nice and late and watched "High Fidelity". Now, I love this movie for several reasons: 1) John Cusack; 2) it contains one of my favourite scenes of all time, which is the fantasy sequence where the shy quiet guy beats the crap out of the neo-hippie with a telephone and an air conditioner unit; 3) the music kicks ass; 4) for the most part, the lead character is telling you his story directly, except once in a while you get to see the action first hand. You get to see his perspective, his view on life and love and all the crap that happens along the way.

Today, my bros and I got to see the full version of "Big Fish". Basically, the lead character in this movie also tells stories about his life, except the accuracy of the facts is not entirely reliable. But they're really interesting stories, even if they didn't really happen. I guess the reason why I like these movies so much is because I love to tell stories too. I suppose that's evident by this blog of mine. So...yeah. Storytelling. Good. That's all I have to say about that.

On an almost unrelated note, I miss my friend Leo. I got to see him yesterday at a get-together with other high school people that I haven't seen in ages. He makes me laugh just by standing there, but he makes me laugh even harder when he tells his stories. Whether it's about his cheerleading days or his first hand experiences with Viagra, I can always count on Leo for a good story.

Lesson of the Day: I shouldn't drink red wine at a party. Or in public for that matter.

"Shadows grow so long before my eyes, and they're moving across the page"

Weirdos At The Door:

This is could possibly be construed as a cautionary tale. Or it could be funny. Depends on your point of view.

My cousin Ellen called me just a little while ago. She's at home by herself (well, my grandfather is there too, but basically she's there to look after him as opposed to the other way around). Someone rang her doorbell. She guessed that her sister had returned home and forgotten her key. As she approached the door, she noticed it was a man, so maybe it was her father. But her father isn't six feet tall with grey hair. As she was about to open the door, the person outside started trying to open the door. That made her stop and begin to freak out. Who is this weirdo? So she backed off into the kitchen and waited. After maybe ten minutes of constant bell ringing and knocking, the guy left. That's when she called me. We figured things were okay, except he came back and started knocking and ringing the bell again. She really began to freak out, so I gave her the number of our family friend (where our parents were playing MJ) and told her to call the police in addition to her parents.

After several minutes, she called me back. The 911 operator had instructed her to talk to the man through the door. It turns out that the man was her sister's friend's father, and he was looking for his son. I'm not sure about the details, but it was something like he was supposed to come and pick up his son but wasn't sure of the correct time or place. So she informed him that they had gone out and hadn't returned yet. And as far as I know, he left.

Man, Ellen was freaking out. She had even armed herself with a kitchen knife. To be honest, I would have been pretty scared too if I were in her situation. Unfortunately, my uncle and aunt are probably speeding back to their house right now, freaking out even more so than Ellen. In any case, it's good that everything turned out to be non-hostile. But seriously, what kind of person tries to open the door while they're waiting for someone to answer it?

"Every bond you break, every step you take, I'll be watching you"

A Keira Knightley Kind of Christmas:

Merry Christmas to one and all! I hope your holiday festivities are proceeding nicely. It's been interesting so far for me. Bucking tradition, my family and my uncle's family went to a Chinese buffet for dinner last night. There's nothing like watching adults jousting each other with tongs while trying to grab the best crab legs to put you in the holiday mood.

Today started out pretty normally. We opened the few presents that were under the tree. My cousins gave my brothers the same sweaters that I had bought for them. After lunch, my mom offered to treat us to a movie, so we took the money and headed to the theatre. Twenty minutes in "Big Fish", the picture suddenly turned upside-down and played backwards. Given that this is an unusual kind of film, the audience thought that either this was part of the movie or someone in the booth would fix it eventually. After about five minutes, people went out to get the manager, and it turns out that yes, some yahoo had loaded the reel upside-down and backwards. They wouldn't be able to fix it for this showing, but it would be ready at the next showing at 4pm. In the meantime, everyone in the theatre would receive two free tickets to any movie they wanted. So we postponed "Big Fish" for tomorrow and went straight to the video store and rented "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Bend It Like Beckham". Not too shabby for one day.

And now, a great excerpt from our car conversation:

Steve: "So nothing's open today?"
Me: "Nope."
Steve: "Not even the 24-hour drug stores?"
Me: "Well, maybe a couple of them, but I don't know which ones."
Steve (in a high whiney voice): "But what if I need condoms and penicillin?"
Me: "I don't think you'll likely be fighting an infection while having sex anytime soon." (I start laughing)
Steve: "Hey...it's not funny when it happens."

"Feelin' hot hot hot!"

A Dirty Experience:

Eww, eww, eww. It's been several hours but I still feel yucky. My friends and I were having dinner at JJ Muggs last night. There was a table of men near us who were having some sort of Christmas party, I would assume, given the steady stream of libations that kept arriving at their table. During the course of our meal, Emily and I (since we were facing their direction) noticed that they kept looking over at us. We chose to ignore them. There were a couple of times when I believe I saw them taking photos of us. That alone was pretty creepy. Finally, they were getting up to leave, and a couple of them came up to our table. One approached my side and asked if he and his friends could buy us some drinks. I declined. He tried again, saying that it was Christmas and what's the big deal about them buying us drinks, and I declined again, and then got distracted by what was happening at the other side of our table. Another guy was trying to get Em to tell him her name. She was getting upset, but remained civil. Finally Ada said in a clearly annoyed tone, "Would you please just leave?" The guy seemed kind of indignant and said, "Why?" She replied, "Because I asked you nicely." He had no response for that, so he just left. The whole group of them stood around, possibly waiting for us to leave, however our waitress had not returned with the bill so we just sat there and ignored them until they left.

Now, I suppose the whole idea could be viewed as kind of flattering. And I guess it would have been, IF THE GUYS WEREN'T THE SAME AGE AS MY FATHER. Eww, eww, eww! I mean, I've passed by dirty old men in the street, but I've never actually had to deal with any in a family restaurant before. How old did they think we were? I still get carded at the liquor store, so I would guess that most people think I look younger than I really am. And I was with Laboni, who can still get away with paying child admission in some places.

That sound you hear is me shuddering violently.

"You can look but you can't touch, I don't think I like you much"

Why Was He Born So Pitiful, Why Was He Born At All?:

I had the rare pleasure of being in a U of T dominated pub last night with a group of people from Mac and Ryerson. Needless to say, it felt a little strange. The place was packed with predominantly caucasian kids being somewhat rowdy, most likely celebrating the end of exams or whatnot. Every so often a group would start singing some kind of drinking or school spirit song. They were very enthusiastic, I'll give them that. The only problem was that I couldn't understand a word they were saying. Other than a "hey!" or a "yeah!", it was really hard to tell who they were singing about or why they were singing at all. I thought back to my days in Waterloo Engineering, and there was always that one song that everyone knew that would single out some poor shlub who, at the end of the song, would have to chug his or her drink while everyone chanted. The first time I heard that song was during Frosh Week, and I was able to pick up the words after the first rendition. So it was kind of disheartening to see and hear those guys last night who, despite being very vocal and very passionate about St. Mike's, didn't do justice to the grand tradition of university drinking songs. I don't know, maybe I'm being too particular about it. But I would imagine that people sing these songs not just to unite with their friends, but also other people who may eventually want to join in at some point.

In other news, I was at Joe Badali's last night for dinner, and we were walking to our table when I glanced to my right and saw Mike "Pinball" Clemens sitting at a nearby table with other very large men in suits who were most likely also football-related people. That was quite exciting in a "Toronto celebrity" kind of way. Sort of similar to the time I passed by Tie Domi in a parking lot after a Leafs game.

"I walks with you, I talks with you, I still can't help thinking"

Crap Crap Crap Crap Crap Crap Crap:

I just donated $35 to the world. I don't think I could feel any stupider. My father had given me the money for gas. It must have fallen out of my pocket as I was going about my business, doing errands. I didn't even notice the money was gone until I came home because I had used my credit card at the gas station. So, somewhere out there in the land of Etobicoke, someone is getting a nice Christmas bonus.

"I'm a loser baby so why don't you kill me"

An Interesting Exercise:

Things have been picking up in the job search department. I had an interview with a pharmaceutical company on Monday that went...okay. I could have done better, but that's life. The fact that they called me for an interview at all has lifted my spirits a little. On Wednesday I got a call from another pharma company who wanted me to come in and write a test. Test? What sort of test? The HR rep tells me it's general math and english, high school level stuff. So basically there's no way to prepare. And high school level math?? That may sound like a walk in the park, but after several years of complicated math, I haven't looked at the easy stuff for a long time. So despite all my efforts to stay positive and optimistic, I still felt kind of nervous this morning as I drove across town in the driving snow during rush hour. Almost being side-swiped by a van didn't really help (although I did forget about the test for a split second).

I should know better by now. First of all, there were maybe 24 people in the room with me, the majority of whom were around twice my age. Secondly, the majority of the people who were also writing the test 1) belonged to a visible minority, and 2) were applying for production jobs. So what did this mean? It was a really basic math test. What's this plus this? What's 7% of this number? If I have this many kilograms of pills, each with an average weight of this, how many pills do I have? No sweat.

The english portion was kind of funny. The first part was simple written communciation. There were three scenarios and we had to write a paragraph about how we would go about doing it. The first was about addressing an envelope for a letter you were going to mail. I couldn't think about it without giggling, let alone write about it. The second was about a fire alarm that goes off in the building. That was a little iffy. The third was to describe how you would go about taking the bus or subway to the company. I decided to go with the third one, based on the fact that I could actually see myself doing it. Not that I couldn't see myself in a fire alarm situation, but that one could have things attached to it, especially in a pharmaceutical environment, that involve more than just exiting the building.

The other parts of the english test were just about reading comprehension. There was a little story, and then there were some sample documents and you just had to describe things in your own words or find specific information. They said that you need to have at least 70% in both sections to pass. I haven't felt this good about a test in years.

So in both cases, they're going to get back to me by early January. And I just got an e-mail from a classmate today about an opening at her place of work (also a pharma company) in Montreal. Looks like the law of averages is kicking in.

"Oh no, she's not a secret now"

Oh No, You Don't Get Off That Easy...:

The past few days have been filled with social activity. Hooray! I have the semblance of a life!

Thursday, I went to Second City with Jocelyn to see a couple of her Laurier friends perform some improv. Their group, Calibre:Gros, was really good. We were sitting next to Alex's mom, and she defintely enjoyed it, even when they made some references to Alex's circumsized status.

Today, I made a little pit stop at MEC and got myself some early Christmas presents. My brothers got me a climbing harness (thanks guys!) and my parents got me some rock shoes (thanks Mom and Dad!). I even gave myself the gift of a chalkbag and chalk (thanks me!). Then I met up with Howie and we made our way through cold streets and detoured streetcars to Joe Rockhead's. After my confidence-crushing experience at Rock Oasis, I was glad to be back where I could make it to the top of several walls, and I got to use my own equipment (no more rental shoes for me!). The best part was that I didn't strain myself the way I did last time. Other than a little knee scrape, I was doing okay. Someone must have noticed that, because no sooner had we finished and I stepped into the changeroom, I jammed my thumb. I guess they weren't going to let me get away injury-free.

Tomorrow, Jocelyn and I will make another jaunt downtown to Aphasia's CD release party. We'll be there supporting her friend Stephany (the bassist). So exciting! It's great to see people you know on a stage. If you're in the neighbourhood of the 360 Club, come check it out! I have to admit, the guys look a little scary on their website, but their music is pretty good. I would suggest wearing black.

"I will let you down, I will make you hurt"

Ding Dong...

Who could that be? A UPS guy? Oooookay...

For me? Who could be sending me a package? From Paris Ontario??

Well, what do you know? I won something! But of course, with the literally dozens of contests I enter at any given time, what exactly did I do to win this thing? Ah...it's from that Toronto tourism propaganda blitz that happened this summer to lure people back after SARS. Apparently, I won the fifth prize. They even sent me the waiver with the skill testing question on it (the answer is 55). My prize? Two extremely large T-shirts, valued at approximately $20. It's funny, because according to the rules and regulations, I sent in the contest form a couple of days late (it was a weird situation...the way they had it there was no way I could have completed the form and sent it in on time). I guess my little note of explanation did the trick.

"We'll be singing when we're winning"

Did They Say Who Was Leading the Choir?

The festive season is fully upon us. Last night, I went downtown to Nathan Phillips Square to see the first lighting of the Christmas tree. Of course, they put on a show before they actually turn on the lights. We were too far back to really see anything, but we were able to make out the general direction of the stage. First up was the Toronto Children's Chorus. They sang a couple of standard carols, then they sang "Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day", which is a song I distinctly remember singing in middle school choir (insert flashback here). Boni was able to confirm my memory. Then they sang "Panis Angelicus", and then they sang "This Little Babe", and I turned to Boni and asked, "Did they happen to mention who's leading this choir???" We were reliving our Grade 7 Christmas concert. Very surreal. We half expected Ms. Anber to pop up at any moment.

After the new mayor made a little blah-blah speech, and after the Ontario Guild of English Handbell Ringers performed (they have guilds for everything!), there was a performance by Strange Fruit, those people on bendy poles that we had seen at the Street Festival this summer. They must have been FREEZING. Their performance would have been good had it been less cold and the music had been less trance-like. Most people couldn't handle it. The minute they were done, flames started shooting up from city hall, and a huge fireworks show filled the air with smoke (luckily the wind was in our favour). It was quite impressive - better than New Year's, according to some people.

The skating was a different story. The ice was covered with a thick layer of snow, and people were skating in any direction they wanted. We had to avoid the kids zipping around our knees, the bumps that we couldn't see due to the snow, the garbage that was strewn about, and the people who had a complete disregard for safety and were just walking across the ice or were standing in the middle of the rink to watch the live band. Queenie actually yelled at a couple of kids, who yelled something back but I didn't hear what they said.

On our way out, we decided to partake in the free hot chocolate being dispensed by a guy with a Starbucks tank strapped to his back. There was a spillage in Ada's direction, naturally. I got bumped by the tank and spilled some on my mitten, which (and here's the low point of the evening) I decided to suck out. Boni, Queenie, Ada and Janice were trying to balance cups of hot chocolate with the free brownie squares. I just shook my head and said, "More than you can chew!" Queenie nearly choked on her hot chocolate trying not to laugh. I had inadvertently crossed the line into "stern elderly relative" mode.

"To see the legend of my play, to call my true love to my dance"

The Leaky Tire and the Asian Posse:

Dear god...so hard to type right now...
fingers...cramping...too...much...climbing...

More about that later.

So today (well, yesterday) was kind of eventful. First, we discovered that one of the tires on our car had a leak. To my mother, it was almost like the worst thing that could happen in the world. "We need to get it fixed TODAY! We need the car tomorrow!" Technically, that was a false statement. My brother had taken one of the cars since he has army training this weekend. I was going to go indoor rock climbing with friends in the evening, but we still had the van. Tomorrow (i.e. later today) my parents are going out all day and I'm going downtown but I could take a bus, I'm going to take the subway anyway. My mother was of the mindset that I needed the car to drive to the subway station. I don't know, she's weird that way. In any case, my dad and I took it to the dealer and got it fixed within half an hour. No problem.

So I went rock climibing tonight. I realize now why I didn't find it too difficult at Joe Rockhead's when I went last week. I had forgotten how tough Rock Oasis is. I was climbing 5.7 and 5.8 walls at Joe's with minor difficulty. But at Rock Oasis, I could barely make it to the top of a short 5.6 wall. Stupid handholds...how are you supposed to grab something that's almost completely spherical and smooth? I have decided that I like Joe Rockhead's better. Good thing I bought the membership there.

The rock climbing brought two of my worlds together. On the one hand, there were my close friends from high school (Em and Ada), and on the other there were people from university (Stacey, Danny, and another girl who I just met today). After the climbing, we went to Chinatown for a really late dinner and met up with a couple more of Stacey's friends, one of whom was the infamous Arthur (who else?) and another friend I just met (Jimmy). Suddenly, I looked around and realized that we had formed an Asian posse. The greatest part was that we all spoke Cantonese, which made it all the more authentic. I was proud of myself for being able to recommend a place where the food was good and cheap, and we all had a good time eating and getting to know each other. But some of us were having some issues using the chopsticks with our cramped fingers.

Lesson of the Day: It's easier to pull the snail out of its shell if you try sucking it out first.

"But when you feel so powerless, what are you gonna do?"

That Would Have Been the Fifth Continent:

Okay, so I went in knowing that it was the biggest marketing gimmick in the world, but whatever, it involved shoes, so why not? I was chosen as a "finalist" in a contest at Town Shoes, but naturally you had to be there in person when they did the draw, which was tonight at a downtown store. So I went. The draw was for a trip for two to South Africa for Cape Wine 2004 valued at around $25000. There were also going to be hors d'oeuvres and wine and gift bags for everyone. So I stayed around for a couple of hours, eating their food, drinking their wine, and looking at all the pretty shoes. There was an African mystic woman who was telling fortunes or something, but the line was quite long. They were also giving away prizes for answering trivia questions about South Africa, but there were WAY too many gung ho ladies (many of whom were at least twice my age) who really wanted the lipsticks, hair spray and Vitamin C tablets more than I did. At 9pm they did the draw for the ten runner-up prizes and then the grand prize. I got squat, which was to be expected. But the lure was too great and I ended up buying a really cute little evening bag using one of the "save $10 - tonight only" coupons they gave out. It was nice since the bag cost less than the minimum allowed on the coupon, and they gave it to me anyway. It would have been a lot nicer if I had won, but I guess I'll have to find some other way to get to that continent (I suppose I could go on safari, but in which lifetime is that going to happen?).

"Don't be afraid, navigate and I will steer into the sun, we will run"

The Story of My Life:

I've started another marathon cleaning session, and have begun to unearth some interesting artefacts from my past. More specifically, notes that were written by me or to me during that soap opera better known as high school. Now that enough time has passed and things have gone for better or for worse, it's utterly fascinating. I can now laugh at the things that we used to think were so damned important, or things that we would freak out about. Okay, when I say "we", it's more about "me" than anyone else, but I suppose the people who were involved were thinking about the same things and freaking out about similar stuff. I've found notes that were the instigator for other notes, and so on, and the whole timeline of events is pretty much documented. Which leads me to the question: should I keep this stuff or throw it out? I've been pretty good so far in throwing out my old junk (my inner pack rat is screaming in agony). But this is gold! It captures my high school experience so much more than a yearbook could (again, something that I used to think was SO important back in the day). I suppose I'll have to think about it a little more.

On a related and MUCH HAPPIER note, I found money! I'm glad I'm taking the time to examine everything I'm pitching out, otherwise I might possibly have thrown out $150 worth of traveller's cheques that I had totally forgotten about. You should have seen me earlier, jumping around and giggling with glee. YAY! Free money! Ding ding ding!

"But when it comes to being lucky he's cursed, and when it comes to loving me he's worst"

I Should Have Known They Would Say 'Nein':

It's been a couple of weeks of inactivity, I know. Nothing terribly exciting has been happening to me. Well, not until this past weekend, when I spontaneously decided to go to Montreal. It all came together quite quickly, and worked out pretty well. I crashed at my cousin's place, which was really nice. Got to hang out with Marie and observe her sushi eating habits. How the roe got in her hair, we'll never know. We also went to see "Love Actually", which is a hilarious movie starring every British actor on the face of the planet and is not as sappy as one might think. While the "many stories linked together" concept isn't new, the interesting twist is that not all of the stories have a happy ending. Go check it out. Oh, the guys in the audience need added incentive? It actually has some porn in it.

Here's some relatively depressing news. I got a rejection letter today. From Kraft Foods. Located in Munich. Yes friends, I had applied for a job in Germany. It was quite exciting for a little while, but they ended up saying nein to me after all. They even sent my resume back. It's like they want no recollection of me whatsoever. I learned soon after I had first sent off the application that in some countries, it's common to send a photo of yourself along with your personal information as a part of your resume. Maybe they thought I had something to hide by not sending them my mug shot.

"I've asked myself how much do you commit yourself? It's my life, don't you forget"

Hope everyone had a happy Halloween. I was on candy patrol, and as predicted there were only a few handfuls of people who came to the door. The second group of the night consisted of four kids, three of whom were dressed as SpongeBob Squarepants. I was handing out the treats when the last SpongeBob stopped me and said, "I have a nut allergy." All I had were Reese Peanut Butter Cups and Mars bars, so I felt kind of horrible for the kid. Then one of the other SpongeBobs, who looked like his twin, fished out the Reese that I had given him and handed it back to me saying, "Me too, but thank you for offering." These kids couldn't have been more that 7 or 8 years old.

The next notable visit came from a tiny white lion and his mom, who was dressed as a cat. He was literally knee-high, probably 3 or 4 years old. The mom tried to get him to say hello to me, but he was way more interested in the flashing bicycle light that was tied on a string around his neck. Finally he glanced up from his chest and said hello.

One of my first thoughts was, where did these kids come from? Most of the kids in my neighbourhood have grown up and even the younger ones have now entered university age. My next thought was, where are the older kids? I got a couple of kids, one with just a purple wig and the other with a green and white striped "Cat in the Hat" hat, and that was about it. I guess it just means more candy for me, although I did carry on my tradition and bought Halloween candy today.

"It's close to midnight and something evil's lurking in the dark"

15 Minutes...Maybe More:

Wow. I was on TV. Not only that, I was on TV standing 6 feet away from Sarah McLachlan, my favourite recording artist, listening to her perform. So, if you saw me and Boni last night, sorry, we hardly had room to breathe let alone wave when the cameras were turned towards us. Damn tall people. But since MuchMore is going to rerun the special presentation a million times in the next couple of days, here are some general tidbits of information:

1) Boni and I were standing directly to the right of Sarah when she's performing on the piano. Look for the woman with the dark v-neck sweater and short hair. You'll see me and Boni on either side, peaking around her head.

2) During the first interview segment, near the end of the "Lisa from St. Thomas" phone call question, there's a very clear close-up of Boni.

3) During the performance of "Dirty Little Secrets", the second song, there's an EXTREMELY clear close up of my head.

4) We had to rehearse the opening (where Bill Welychka first introduces Sarah while everyone is going crazy) FIVE TIMES before the show started. We had to cheer just as loudly each time.

5) I'm about the same height as Sarah. I know because she had to walk past us on the way in and on the way out, and I was maybe three feet away from her. Also, her hair is just brown, not black, despite what the promotional photos would suggest.

6) The floor director made it clear that we weren't supposed to approach her for autographs, but some people did anyway. Bastards.

7) When the show was over and we were waiting to get our coats, Bill passed by to grab something before he headed home. He thanked us for coming, and then the security guy said something like, "These people were waiting for you. Aren't you going to go over there and talk to them?" Bill stopped and looked at us for a second in a bewildered manner before the security guy started to laugh.

8) The Café Crêpe that's across the street and always visible during Much broadcasts has really good crêpes. Boni wondered if they were clever and knew they'd get free daily publicity or if they were just incredibly lucky when they acquired that piece of real estate.

"Though I've tried I've fallen, I have sunk so low, I messed up, better I should know"

If you aren't doing anything tonight, turn on the TV to MuchMoreMusic at 8pm. Boni and I will try to wave at you if the camera is turned our way. =)

"Listen as the wind blows from across the great divide"

A Smashing Start to My Career:

You just can't take me anywhere. I decided to be bold and attend a forum at York University that was organized by the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers and the Women in Engineering Advisory Council. My motivation for going was the fact that Bob McDonald was the keynote speaker. I thought, "Hey, it may be at 9:30 in the morning on a Saturday, but damn, it's Bob McDonald! I'm NOT going to be bored!" Oh, you don't know who Bob McDonald is? He used to host Wonderstruck on CBC, and now he has a CBC Radio program called Quirks and Quarks. I saw him speak once at Waterloo, and he was great. He didn't even major in anything science related, but he can talk about the subject in a way that anybody can understand, and he's really funny.

Back to my story. The talk was held in one of those typical university lecture halls, with the retractable little table things on the sides of the chairs. Now, these were less stable than what I was used to, and it serves me right for trying to save the environment and use a ceramic coffee cup instead of the available paper cups. Yes, that's right, I readjusted the table and the next thing I knew the cup and saucer were headed for the floor. The room became silent for two seconds, and I could feel every single eye on me as I bent down to pick up the pieces. One of the organizing ladies came around to make sure I hadn't also injured myself with hot coffee or sharp edges or something, which made the whole experience complete. And all this before the session even began.

Embarrassing moments aside, it was a nice little seminar. The ratio was approximately 6 guys to 40 women (but if you don't count Bob and the president of the society, then the ratio was a little closer to what I was expecting). Bob did a similar presentation to the one I had seen, but that was okay. The panel discussion was okay, it focused a lot on the typical "how do we get more girls to join the profession?" and "how do we guys to treat us equally?" Some good points were made, but nothing groundbreaking. The networking lunch was much more fun. I was at a table where pretty much everyone was a Chemmie, except one girl who was a Civ. I got some really good job search advice, and met some interesting ladies. And the food was good, which made it all worthwhile. I'm thinking I should really start to go to more of these events.

And who knew that York has an engineering program now?

"If my life is for rent and I don't learn to buy, well I deserve nothing more than I get cos nothing I have is truly mine"

My Father the Spy:

Operation CleanRoom is picking up steam, especially in the last couple of days since I decided to focus exclusively on my closet. That's when I found one of the coolest things ever. I pulled out a box from one of the more remote corners of the closet, thinking it was something like a portable heater or an old turntable. I popped it open, and it was actually an old tape recorder. It had two big spools, like the ones you see on TV, being used in CIA interrogations in the 1960s, or in old fashioned stake-outs with the two guys in the unmarked van taping the conversations of known mafiosos. The best part is that there's a tape on the machine that has clearly been used. I can't wait to find a power source and find out what's on it. I showed it to my dad, and the first thing he said was "Great! Now I can listen to those tapes that I have."

"Secret agent man, secret agent man, they've given you a number and taken away your name"

I couldn't believe my ears as I watched Everwood last night. The annoying nemesis, Dr. Abbott, was actually using Friendster as a resource to search for potential suitors for his younger sister. I was stunned. First of all, I figured these guys were extremely outside of the target demographic for this particular website. But, after taking a look around, it would appear that there are people of that specific age and background who do use it, and are apparently serious about it. I'm not sure why I was surprised when I heard it referenced on a popular TV show. I mean, these kinds of online networking services have been around forever. I don't know, it probably seemed really surreal to me simply because I've recently become a participant in this modern matchmaking scheme.

By the way, is there anyone out there who wants to see Kill Bill with me? Please?

"Always should be someone you really love"

Jaws, I was actually able to type in your blog address correctly from memory on the first try. You sure don't like to do things the easy way, do you? =)

Reading her blog today reminded me of a quote I heard earlier this week that made me laugh and then made me shake my head because I had laughed at it. I'll tell you the quote, and then I'll tell you the context.

"My God, look at the nut sack on that thing!" - Ed Robertson

The making of the video for the Barenaked Ladies' new single "Another Postcard". The concept: a six-storey tall chimpanzee is rampaging through Toronto while the five band members run around as either civilians or army soldiers with pieces of fake concrete falling around them. The chimp then climbs the CN Tower before it rockets into outer space. Also, each of the guys got to play a character with a line at the beginning of the video. Sadly, the nut sack line didn't make it into the finished product. Those guys are hilarious. I couldn't stop laughing for the entire half-hour show. Well, maybe during the commercials.

Speaking of music videos, I just saw the new Sarah McLachlan video, "Fallen". I've lost count of how many videos she's made in which she is naked. Three? Four? But it has been quite a while since the last one (which I believe was "Possession") so I guess that's okay. And I'm glad that her hair is long again, but the jury is still out as to whether the black dye job suits her or not.

"Another postcard with chimpanzees, and every one is addressed to me"

I seem to have the kind of luck that would result in a brief power outage at the exact time that I've set the VCR to tape something. Boo...

On the other hand, I went to see Cavalia, which was really really cool. There was a girl seated behind me who sort of summed it up: "They're making the horses act like dogs!" This was mainly referring to the fact that the trainers were able to get the horses to lie down and sit up on command. I think my favourite act was the Roman Riding act, where three riders were standing on two horses each, racing around the stage and jumping over bars. It was a really good performance, although the strong winds made sitting inside a tent something like a test of my faith in engineering. As it turned out, my faith was in the right place. =)

"All the mistakes one life contained, they all finally start to go away"

I hate confrontation. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it. People who know me probably know this already. Why can't we all just get along? But what I hate even more is confrontation with people I consider to be my friend. This doesn't mean that I won't do it, but I get this pit-of-the-stomach kind of feeling (like I'm about to be sick or something). And I hate it. It's like we're attacking each other. I don't like attacking people when it isn't in a joking, "I don't really mean it" kind of way. It gets way too personal for me. More proof that I don't have the stomach for business.

Hooray for nepotism. I appear to have a job. How? My dad appears to have gotten the cultural centre job. But it's just a verbal agreement, he hasn't signed anything yet. Although, even if it were a written contract, it doesn't mean anything's written in stone. Things can change all the time. I suppose once he gets his first paycheque, then we'll celebrate the job. Oh, and the way this affects me is that I'm going to be his "staff". Yay, monkey work! Well, it's stuff like taking notes at meetings, doing some spreadsheet analysis, creating powerpoint presentations, and such. However, in the words of my father, "THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU STOP LOOKING FOR A JOB." Well, yeah, I don't plan on being a lackey for the rest of my life. This is more of a temporary financial solution while I'm between jobs.

Here's my funny story of the day: I was looking at the cultural centre's website to see what the board of directors (a.k.a. my dad's bosses) look like, and I came across the group photo. One of the directors is a lady who's name is (and I'm NOT kidding) Dr. Dong Dong-dong. I asked my dad if this was for real, and it was. Her last name could have been spelled Tung, and her given name is literally "winter winter". All I can say is, why??

"If I sorted it out, if I knew all about this one thing, wouldn't that be something?"

Things I Thought Would Never Happen:

I never thought I would see Jocelyn take down a 250-lb male. Okay, I didn't exactly see it, but she reenacted the event with some assistance from Em (which was one of the funnier and more painful things I have seen of late). I now know where the pain sensitive areas are, and how to get out of a situation where someone is choking me...err...from the front, anyway. Ooh, I should clarify this: she was taking down the guy as part of her "use of force" training. She wasn't being accosted on the street or anything.

I never thought I would ever join an online network. No, it's not a dating service, but it could be used for that purpose. It's also a friend network, and I've found people there that I haven't seen in years. Funniest thing: I had been on the network for 24 hours and I already received a message from a guy I don't know who's a friend of a friend of a friend of mine. Did I mention that this is a "six degrees of separation" kind of thing? It's staggering, I've got four friends on my network but through them I'm connected to over 27000 people in the world.

The girls and I went on a road trip yesterday to Creemore Ontario. It's an hour and half north of TO, just south of Collingwood. It was voted one of the top 10 prettiest towns in Canada, so we had to go and check it out. Cute town. We thought we would be an attraction for the locals ('look, Asian people!') but it turns out that there was another group of Asians, who were clearly tourists, at the brewery (Creemore Springs...good beer). Then we saw an Asian chick in a restaurant who looked like a local. So much for being unique.

"I think we're alone now, there doesn't seem to be anyone around"

Words you really don't want to see in a weather forecast in early October: Chance of light rain or snow.

Ah...pre-season hockey. As fun as it was to go see a game with my dad, the quality of hockey that we witnessed was disappointing, to say the least. Both teams looked like they didn't know what they were doing. And yeah, we lost, but it was marginal. The fights were satisfactory though. It's interesting that some people who are generally quiet and friendly, like myself, can become such advocates of sports violence when given the opportunity.

And what is with all these goddamned fruit flies?! We don't even have any fruit out in the open! No matter how many I squash, they just keep materializing. Again with that violence thing...well, they started it.

"Hello out there, we're on the air, it's hockey night tonight"

Well, at this rate, it looks like my daddy is going to get a job before I do. Yes, my daddy is applying for a project manager job to oversee the completion of Phase 2 of a Chinese cultural centre. It's most likely in Markham or something. It was funny listening to him grumble about making a résumé. It's been DECADES since he's had to make a real one. This will be interesting if he gets it, because for one thing he'll have a full plate again, and, as a result of his involvement, we may be thrust back into the Chinese community after...how many years? I can't remember.

In other news, I don't know what it is with the birds in my neighbourhood, but they've taken up the hobby of slamming into my living room window. A couple of days ago I was sitting there and WHAM!! The blue jay staggered around on the ground in a spastic kind of way but after a while he took off. The next day a smaller brown bird was not so lucky. I thought my brother had taken care of the body but laziness and inclement weather has meant that the poor thing is still lying on our patio.

"I will go down with this ship, I won't put my hands up and surrender"

Another Arthur Encounter:

For those who aren't familiar with Arthur, he's a friend of mine who I bump into in the most unusual places. The first was in a line-up at Canada's Wonderland a couple of years ago. The next was near the Mr. Greenjeans restaurant in the Eaton Centre. Tonight, it was when I was coming out of the Isabel Bader Theatre after watching my final festival film, and Arthur was sitting in the line waiting to go in to see the next movie. It's really weird how that keeps happening.

Speaking of line-ups, the film festival, and encountering people randomly, I had another celebrity sighting, and quite an impressive one in terms of difficulty and somewhat low level of celebrity. What I mean is that Boni and I were waiting outside the theatre while people were exiting from the previous film. Of the people who were filing past us, one person caught my eye, simply because he was wearing a shirt that said "Eat Krispy Kreme Doughnuts". I thought to myself, "Hey, cool shirt." Then I looked at who was wearing it. It was Bob Blumer. Okay, like I said, the level of celebrity is quite low given that you're probably asking, "Who's Bob Blumer?" Anyone who watches the Food Network like I do will know that he's also known as The Surreal Gourmet. If it hadn't been for his shirt, I wouldn't have even looked at him in passing. His face was partially obscured due to his sunglasses, but his hair is very recognizable. And, as further evidence that it was most likely Bob Blumer, he came out of a screening of "Go Further", that movie about Woody Harrelson touring around America endorsing hemp and yoga and organic living. He seems like the type.

"If it's over let it go and come tomorrow it will seem so yesterday"

Rest in peace, John Ritter. He was a genuinely funny guy.

So, here's a classic example of how funny my life is sometimes: I got a call from a recruiting agency, and the woman tells me that there's a position available at a food processing company and that she would like to talk to me about it so would I please come around on Thursday to meet with her. Sure. I write down the address, the time, and her name. It isn't until after I hang up that I realize I don't have her phone number. My call display is of no use since the number is blocked. I attempt to do some internet snooping, and finally I figure out which agency it is and discover that I had applied to this job at the end of July. Okay, no problem. I get to the place, talk to a different representative for a while, fill out some paperwork, then then woman (Christine) comes in and we have one of the fastest interviews ever. I swear, the woman was talking a mile a minute. Then I discover who their client is: Effem. For those of you unfamiliar with the confectionary industry, Effem is the one who makes M&M's, Mars, Snickers, etc. (I have probably gained a few new best friends at this very moment) Coincidentally, my friend Rehmat had worked there previously for one of her work terms. Coincidentally, she had just left last week for a six-week vacation in India. So much for insider information.

I spent the entire day downtown. No point in coming home and then going back again, especially after I found out about the interview. I killed time with Boni in the garden at Osgoode Hall, talking about heavy stuff like politics and the world at large. I think our consensus was that the world is in extremely poor shape, and that we both hoped that we would be around when the American empire finally collapses and the Chinese take over the world.

"Come and knock on our door..."

I Was THIS Close...:

Okay, first of all, I want to say that although I do enjoy the occasional celebrity moment, I don't use that as my sole reason for going to the film festival. Honestly, some of the movies they screen are really really cool, and will probably never see the inside of a Famous Players. Like today, Howie and I saw "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised", a documentary about the military coup that happened in Venezuela last year, coincidentally on my birthday. To quote Howie, "I've never been inside a coup before...that was cool."

So, the second movie we went to see today, "Casa de los Babys", was very closely timed to the first, and so we had to hustle out of the theatre and head down the street to the other. Since we arrived later than most, we had some side seats that were not too bad. About five minutes before the film was to start, a lady came up and asked if the two seats behind us were taken, and then asked if the seat beside me was taken, and I said no. She continued up the aisle asking if other seats were free, and Howie turned to me and asked, "Isn't that Fran Drescher?" Damn right it was. If nothing else, the voice was pretty much a dead giveaway. So Fran Drescher saved the two seats behind us, and two seats that were a couple rows ahead of us, and called to her friends. One of those friends came up and happened to be Kim Cattrall. So I was sitting there, in a theatre in Toronto, with Fran Drescher behind me and Kim Cattrall in front of me. Incidentally, neither of them were in the movie we were about to see (that, I guess, is actually kind of obvious, because if they were, they wouldn't have been trying to find their own seats).

Yeah yeah, I was star-struck. I didn't say a word to either of them, but then again, I don't think anyone else did either. We Torontonians are just too cool for that. Like, two nights ago I went to see "My Life Without Me", which was a nice film dealing with dark stuff, mainly cancer and death. A young married mother finds out she's going to die in two months, and sets out to do everything to prepare, like recording birthday messages for her two young daughters until they turn 18, and finding them a new mother, and visiting her dad in jail, and having sex with another man just to see what it feels like. You know, warm fuzzy stuff. Anyway, it stars Sarah Polley and Scott Speedman, among others (like Deborah Harry!! Okay, I said that to each of my friends and none of them had heard of Blondie...honestly!!). During the question/answer period, someone asked how Sarah and Scott developed the intimacy that they displayed so well on screen. Scott was visibly embarrassed, and Sarah simply mentioned that she and Scott had gone to high school together and had been friends for a long time. My friend reminded me later that they had gone to Earl Haig, and suddenly it was like they became more familiar. Not because I had gone to that school (I didn't) or really knew anyone who went there, but just because here were two people from my hometown, who had gone to high school just like I did, and were now doing what they loved to do, and I got to see them do it. I don't know if that makes any sense at all. I guess it just further reinforces the idea that they're normal, just more well known than the rest of us.

In other news, I GOT LEAFS TICKETS! So very exciting. I'm going to see some pre-season kick-ass action against the Senators, as well as a regular season game in February against the Hurricanes. And yes, it does seem like I'm buying tickets for everything under the sun these days, but if I didn't get on board for the hockey tickets now, I wouldn't be able to see anything live for the whole season. My mother was on my case about it, especially about the hockey tickets. No doubt she still has that $300 playoff ticket fiasco firmly in her memory. But this time they are much more reasonably priced (I mean, I've got the cheapest tickets in the house). "You're buying tickets to everything all the time...why are you spending all that money??" So I have varied interests...what's wrong with that?

"The last goal he ever scored won the Leafs the cup"

The first thing that I saw when I picked up my paper this morning was a reference to bananas. The funny thing about that is that the article was using the banana reference for people, not fruit. Those readers out there who are remotely Asian-Canadian will know what I'm talking about.

Here's a thought that has been on my mind for the past several days. It was discovered maybe a week ago that West Nile has hit a number of the local mosquitos. However, I have been bitten by various insects more times this summer than in the past couple of summers combined. I've been aware of the situation this whole time, but I haven't done anything to protect myself from the prospect of becoming ill. Weird that I'm not more concerned about my own health and safety.

Lesson of the day: If the platform is empty, the subway door guy will not sound the 'sol-mi-do" chime and will close the door almost as soon as it opens. (This lesson was learned while riding the rocket at a ridiculously early hour on a holiday Monday)

"Senorita, I feel for you, you deal with things, that you don't have to"

I am going to have a heart attack.

I am never renting a dwelling from anyone ever again.

My father said this to me: if you're not willing to be cut-throat and just a tad bit slimy, don't get into business. I'm just too nice for this shit (oh, he didn't say that last part, I said that to myself).

Great. Now I'm going to be wound up all night.

"And I need my anger not to control, and I want my anger to be me"

Did anyone see that lightning storm last night? Damn cool. Every few seconds there were giant blinding flashes, but very little thunder. Most of the time the flash was too brief to see, but sometimes the bolt just stayed there in the sky for a couple of seconds, and once or twice there were a few bolts close together at the same time. If only we could somehow...harness that energy. But then where would I get a flux capacitor? =)

The summer is rapidly grinding down, and I'm beginning to feel like I should be doing something productive. Like work. On the other hand, my social life is picking up again. CNE this weekend, baseball game on Monday, and then the ever pleasant task of figuring out what movies I'm going to see at the film festival. As someone who's had some experience in organizing things, it wouldn't be asking a lot to ask the good people at the Toronto International Film Festival to allot a little more than 48 hours for people to choose their films. But I guess they have their own deadlines to meet, and hey, I thrive in a logistical challenge (or go totally insane...one or the other).

"Floating in the summer sky, 99 red balloons go by"

This summer has been all about family. My cousin Charles threw a party to celebrate the birth of his third child, a son they named Avery. Cutest little guy, he never made a sound during the entire thing, and when I was saying goodbye to him, he smiled at me. Charles's other kids were really cute too. Lauren is a 7-year-old who is the living definition of 'precocious'. Aidan is a really shy 3-year-old. The majority of my mom's side of the family was present, which is a rarity. The only person missing was her youngest sister, my Aunt Shirley whom I visited last month in BC. I hadn't seen Charles in a really long time, or my cousin May (his younger sister) who has a new baby too, a daughter named Delaney. Terry joked that they named her in honour of her Irish heritage (she's Asian all the way). Annie (Charles's older sister) and her family flew over from Vancouver, which really made it a family reunion, and it was nice to see them again so soon. On our way home, I asked my mom and my Aunt Betty when was the last time the whole family had been together like that. They started naming the various funerals that had occurred in recent years. How sad is that? My aunt made a good point that for happy occasions, people have no problems making excuses not to make the trip ("Maybe next time"), but for tragic occasions, people find a way to be there to support the family.

Last night, I was by myself as the rest of my family went to a Beatles tribute show at Stage West in Mississauga with Annie and her family. So I drove over to Ellen and Michelle's house to hang out with them, since they're alone at home with my grandpa while their parents are in Europe. My grandpa was very surprised to see me there by myself, and I guess I don't blame him, since I don't think I've ever done that. I only go over to their house with the rest of my family, and usually on the weekend. Howie showed up too (after getting a little lost), and we were able to chat for a while and make fun of each other (we may have made fun of Howie more than anyone else).

Lesson of the day: Don't wait for the tragic occasions to reunite with family.

"I waited 'til I saw the sun, I don't know why I didn't come"

So...funny story.

There I was at Cloverdale Mall, about to enter the Dominion to find my parents. *Click* No power. People kind of glanced at each other like they do when something weird happens. I did the same. Then I saw my dad and just walked over to him. Within a few seconds, some emergency lights came on, and...get this...every cash register started working again. Well, the important thing is that the money was rescued. Riiiiight.

My brother called me on my cell to tell me he was going to go out into the mayhem. "Power's out at our house," he informs me. Okay, whatever. We drove home fairly easily thanks in part to the convenient stretch of highway located close by, allowing us to bypass every intersection that has been transformed into a four-way stop during rush hour. It isn't until my brother comes home soon afterwards that we find out that this was bigger than we thought. "Did you know that the whole eastern seaboard is out of power?" Uh...no. Listening to the radio, it turns out that it isn't just our little part of the city that's powerless. It was a great throwback to the 1940s, sitting around as a family, gathered around a radio. The stories started coming in. People on the street who took it upon themselves to help direct traffic not just downtown, but virtually everywhere. People helping other people out. Awesome. One of the many reasons why I love this place.

Had a realization in the early evening. The annual Perseids meteor shower is happening this month, and Toronto is dark. So, I grabbed a beach towel, spread out on my picnic table and looked up. I have never seen so many stars in my backyard before. A little while after I started looking, there was a small dot that was crossing the sky in a steady straight line in front of me. Took me a couple of seconds, and then I said to myself, "How cool was that?!? I just saw a satellite!!" I was out there for about an hour and was ready to give up when suddenly a huge bright streak passed overhead. That totally made my night. Then the weird night noises started to freak me out, and since I didn't want to be attacked by the local raccoon, I headed back indoors.

I kept dreaming different scenarios where the power had been restored. Each time, I woke up, looked at my clock, said to myself "The power is still out", and then went back to sleep. This happened about three times. How weird am I?

In the morning, despite what Mayor Mel had told us the night before, power had not been restored to our neck of the woods. I took a dark cold shower, then headed over to Howie's house. We hung out, annoyed each other for a while, then (cue heavenly music) the power came on. I headed home soon after to help with the aftermath, but found that it seemed to be only a very local phenomenon. My house was still in the semi-dark (there was natural light, after all). I went out in search of lunch, and found a place that was open and selling food products. The guy made me sandwiches by candlelight, but still kind of gouged me ($30 for four sandwiches and a half-dozen bagels). Ah, whatever, he was at work in the dark, after all.

Finally, 22 hours after the lights went out at the supermarket, a big 'whirrr' started up in the kitchen. Things started up instantly. Dad started charging every battery that we owned. My mom started making dinner (it was 2pm). As luck would have it, things in our freezer were still mostly frozen (we hadn't opened the door once, which could be why).

So, we survived the Blackout of 2003. I wonder if I'll remember these details 40 years from now (my dad remembers the blackout of '65).

"One thing I know about the rest of my life, I know that I'll be living it in Canada"

Maybe I'm not up to date, or maybe I enjoy clinging to old traditions. Or maybe it's just because I haven't been to weddings for a long time up until this year. The bride doesn't throw the bouquet anymore. I've been to two weddings this summer, and both times flowers were not flung into a throng of desperate single women. Which I suppose is a good thing. I guess the other point would be that the groom wouldn't have to remove the garter of his new bride and toss it into a similar throng of men. The only time I remember witnessing this custom was at my cousin May's wedding, which was at least a decade ago if not more.

As for the wedding itself, it was a nice affair. My cousin Karen married her long-time boyfriend (8 years), short-time fiancé (10 months) Hilen. It was interesting in that her brother Humphrey was the one who performed the ceremony. He made a joke about telling his friends back in Calgary that he's going home to Toronto to "marry my sister...". Nobody seemed to hear the second part of the sentence, "...to my best friend."

I guess my name is very popular in my extended family. After all, Karen's (the bride) cousin Karen was there, and I was sitting next to a Karen (who's related to me VERY distantly, I think), and one of the MC's was a Karen (although I don't think we're related at all). Five distinct Karens in one room. Look out, we're taking over the world!

"Why do birds suddenly appear everytime you are near?

I Wonder If The Acoustics Are Good...:

Taste of the Danforth is an event that I've heard many things about in the past 10 years, but this was the first time I'd ever gone. The hope that I would experience it with a familiar group of people was unfortunately dashed early on, and so Boni and I made the best of it. The food was amazing and, best of all, cheap. I was able to spend less than $10 and be satisfied, thanks in part to the abundance of free stuff.

The big lure for the both of us was to see Melanie Doane play live. I had missed a number of opportunities to see her in the past. We got to the stage early, and just as the rain started, so did the "opening ceremonies". A bunch of people were there: the chairperson of the event, the mayor, the mayor wannabes (namely the two Johns, Nunziata and Tory), the Greek Ambassador, and others. Laugh of the day occurred just when Mayor Mel was being introduced to speak. Mother Nature didn't seem pleased about it and so she cracked open the sky and poured it down on everyone, prompting Mel to keep his speech brief.

The sky cleared up once Melanie Doane hit the stage. The first thing you notice is the most obvious: she's very very pregnant. Apparently she just had her first child and went straight into the second. The change in body shape did not prevent her from rocking out. After watching her play a plethora of instruments (guitar, bass, violin, piano, and ukelele), I began to wonder how this was affecting her fetus. I mean, if my own internal organs were vibrating as a result of some very heavy bass, what could the child be experiencing. My guess is that it will come out either very musically inclined or slightly hearing impaired.

"Are you a Wilma or a Betty man? Do you drive a Mercedes or a Trans Am?"

Hey there, loyal viewers. So, it's been a little more than a week, and things have smoothed out. Not so blue anymore, which is nice.

I've been having a lot of really intense dreams lately. Always at the same time, which is after I initially wake up in the morning and then drift back to sleep, so since I'm semi-conscious, that would probably explain why I can remember them so vividly. The funny thing about it is that they involve people and places I've never seen before. Example: this morning, the dream involved being at a restaurant with some family members, but the meal lasted forever. Afterwards, I was in what looked like a high school class, and I was sitting with, of all people, Alexis Kucey, who is someone I vaguely recall from middle school and someone I didn't really hang out with in the first place. The class was stranded in a hellish French class, and for some reason we weren't allowed to leave, even though it was 7pm, and I was going to be late for...something...and Alexis tried to help me get out by reasoning with the teacher, but there were no exceptions, and we had to stay until the lesson was finished...I think. Anyway...yeah...weird stuff.

Oh yeah, if you haven't heard my vacation story, I've got most of it on my website right now, minus the photos. So if you want to see the whole thing, wait a couple of days, and you'll see it all together.

"And oh, my dreams, it's never quite as it seems"

Okay...so just when I couldn't feel any more like a loser, I go and injure myself while walking. Yeah yeah...how dumb am I? Basically, I just turned on my right ankle as I was walking to the car. Unfortunately, I was also wearing heels at the time. It's funny how fast falling happens. I mean, one second I was standing, the next second I was plummetting to the ground, and then in the next second I was on my hands and knees, with a very sharp pain in every part of my body that's touching the ground. Well...what else can happen?

"I'm falling forever, I've got to break through"

It's official. Today I received the letter from Estée Lauder that formally rejects my plea for employment. She did write the letter and mail it on the day that I returned from the West, so it wasn't like it was waiting for me when I got back. But that means my hopes are all shattered, and I've got to get back out there again. Ah well.

"I want a reason for the way things have to be, I need a hand to help build up some kind of hope inside of me"

Greetings, friends! I have returned! I touched down at Pearson at a little after 8pm on Monday night, and I must say that after 10 days of pretty much flawless weather, I was kind of disappointed to see how grey, wet, and relatively cool it was when we landed. If I ever have the chance, I'll have to be sure to tell the good people at Air Canada that it's not the best idea to remind the passengers where the emergency exits are when the plane is about to land. My dad and I looked at each other as the guy was explaining the different locations, and my mom kept asking me "What does this mean?? Why are they telling this to us??" The minor turbulence was a nice touch too.

But what am I doing telling the end of the story before the beginning? Well...it's a bit long, so I'll save the details for the website. All in all, it was a great trip, despite the things that I didn't get to do. I went to the Stampede but didn't see a rodeo. I went to Banff but didn't get to ski (not that I had the opportunity, but you know). I saw many a horse but never got to ride (and, surprisingly, saw more horses in BC than in Alberta). But no matter, it was still really fun.

Barkerville is way more interesting than I had imagined. Chinatown was more than just three shacks, and there were a lot of things to do and see there. Hanging out at the Lung Duck Tong (my aunt's restaurant) was always interesting, because I could see all the behind-the-scenes stuff, and listen to the customers talk about the food and the decor. Speaking of food...good eats! We ate almost all of our meals there, and even my brothers were happy eating Chinese food. The good news is that my aunt will most likely renew her contract next year, and so there will be a good chance that I can go and visit her there again, perhaps with other people in tow.

I can see why everyone who's ever been to Vancouver likes it there. Very laid-back city. Although, the traffic signals are a little challenging ("Flashing red?? What the hell does that mean??"). The best part of it was that my cousin Annie and her husband Michael did all the tour guiding for us, relieving me of that responsibility. We saw sights of the city that we probably never would have seen if I had relied on the CAA tourbook. And it was fun just hanging out with them and their kids.

I seriously can't wait to go back.

"Nobody on the road, nobody on the beach, I feel it in the air, the summer's out of reach"

So, about 12 hours from now, I'll be at the airport. It's been a long time since I've been able to go on a vacation and not have to change my currency. Actually, I'll be enjoying a lower tax rate, so woo hoo! Time for shopping.

Jocelyn, I'll be sure to say hello to the Stampede for you; Ada, I'll say hi to the sheep (?); and Boni, I'll give Alberta a shout out for you.

"Want to leave but I've got to stay, and I'm wondering more everyday"

So, I'm supposed to be doing some sort of preparation for my impending vacation, and what do I do?

I work on my website.

"Stranger than your sympathy, all these thoughts you stole from me"

Summer in the City:

In the ongoing struggle to redeem the reputation of Toronto, along comes the annual Toronto Street Festival. Always a good time to be had. Coolest thing we saw: an Australian troupe called Strange Fruit. Kind of bizarre watching six people standing 4 meters above the ground on bendy poles.

I attended my first housewarming party yesterday. A nice little townhouse in the Queen East district. Three stories with extremely easy access to the roof. There was even a little self-tour of the place, describing in some detail about things such as how there used to be an orange tree in the bathroom, or the large quantity of miscellaneous screws that were removed from the walls. I suppose the more interesting aspect of the party was the people. I knew a number of people from CUTC, so it wasn't too awkward. I was sitting in the kitchen as people were coming and going and I just happened to look up and see a very familiar girl walk by (Cassie Lee!). It turns out that she knew someone who knew one of the guys who lives at the house (Sean, to be exact; I know Kevin). We had a nice chat before the others started beating the crap out of a Spongebob Squarepants pinata. The other interesting person of the night was Jason Yuen, a guy I've known since....I guess we were about 4 years old. He breezed by me about five times without so much as looking at me. I discussed this with a friend (who also happens to be a guy) and he mentioned that guys have really really bad memories. That must be it. Of course, we hadn't really seen each other since Grade 2, but I was able to recognize him on sight...have I changed that much?

Lesson of the day: They make really good strawberry milkshakes at Spring Roll.

"All around, people looking half dead, walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head"

Hope everyone had a good weekend. Strange to be saying that on a Wednesday.

I attended my very first non-Chinese Chinese wedding on Saturday. That is to say, both the bride and groom are Chinese (I sort of know the groom), but the wedding banquet was at the Sheraton Hotel in Richmond Hill, and it was non-Chinese cuisine. Sort of like going to a formal, except with your parents. Food was pretty good, the music could have been better, and the games were a little bit unusual (instead of clinking the glassware, each table had the opportunity to go and pick a topic for Charades, and if they got the answer correct, the couple had to kiss). And of course, my brothers and cousins and I ended up at the "young persons' table". I felt sorry for the one girl, Vicky, who was here by herself and, while everyone else at the table had either graduated from university or was still in some post-secondary institution, she was slightly out of our age range (14, although she completely didn't look like it). But we all had a pretty good time. I have some bizarre photos of my parents shaking their groove thang that will probably haunt me for years to come.

Congratulations to Vancouver! Hopefully when I get there in a few weeks everyone will still be shiny and happy.

"Drive your car all night by just starlight to Canada"

After a couple of months of fishing my résumé out there in the void that is the job market, I finally landed my first post-grad interview. Here's the thing...I REALLY WANT THIS JOB. Not because I'm desperate for cash flow, oh no. The reason why I want this job is because it is almost exactly what I want to do, and it's in an industry that interests me highly (as superficial as it may sound later on). Basically, I would be working for Estée Lauder, more specifically for their sister company, MAC. Product quality control for a cosmetics company. For those who knew what my initial career goals were, yes, this is a slight deviation. And it's funny, because it's one of those things where you apply without the usual expectation of actually getting anywhere with it, and then being told that you are just the person they are looking for. As far as I know, I'm up against 3 or 4 other people, but I think the interview went pretty well. Unfortunately, I was the first person they interviewed, so I'll have to wait a while before I find out if I get the job. It's extremely hard to keep my excitement in check.

Please...please let me get this job...

"Hold your head high, don't look down"

The Art of Smuggling Water:

Anyone who's been to an event in a major arena lately may have noticed that they are doing a lot more bag checks now than before. This tends to make it a lot more difficult to conceal food and drink items into the entertainment venue. Solution? Put it in your clothes. They only search bags, not bodies. The best way, as I discovered today, is to put it in a jacket, preferably one with inside pockets. That way you can either wear it or carry it with you in one arm while the unsuspecting security guy simply rummages through your bag/purse. This lesson took place today at the Concert for Toronto (aka SARSville), so while I casually walked into the first gate we found, my friends had to travel a little further to find a gate where bags were not being checked as vigilantly. The concert, by the way, was kick-ass. There was one interesting thing: it was maybe half-full in the Air Canada Centre, but it looked pretty packed at the Skydome. The decision to purchase ACC tickets was made through a very detailed thought process:

1) I couldn't get to the Skydome page when I was buying the tickets
2) I don't think the experience would have been as good if I were surrounded by screaming teenagers in a venue that isn't really known for its acoustics
3) I saw Sarah McLachlan live for the first time in four years, playing a new song for the first time in six years
4) After Sarah finished, everyone in the ACC left, except for a handful of us who stayed for the Tragically Hip (who totally rocked), making our own exit at the end of the night quite effortless

Okay, that last point was something that we found out when we were there, but yeah, it still kind of sucked being in the less rocking arena. Makes you realize the percentage of tickets that scalpers can get their hands on. The main lesson of the night is for everyone to see Barenaked Ladies, Jann Arden, and Sarah McLachlan play live at least once in your life.

This last part is a blast from the past for everyone who reads this and went to Islington or MCI. After the concert, we (me, Howie, and Ada) went to Vinnie's (a bar) to meet up with a couple of people, namely Natasha and Eva. Of course, when we got there, the group also consisted of Jimmy Woo, Alisa (Eva's sis), and Vanessia (I think that was her name...you know who I'm talking about, right?). And there were of course the people we didn't know, but that was okay. Within 1 to 2 hours, the group expanded to include Mike Rawle, Owen Bartley, Ramsey (!), and Andrew Cowan. I didn't get to talk to many of them, but keep in mind I had not seen most of these people for at least five years, and even back then I didn't really talk to them that much either. But it was an interesting scenario, all of these people coming together almost sporadically despite the time and distance apart. This seems to be an epidemic, as it has been happening to a lot of people I know. Maybe we could call it PARS (People Appearing Randomly Syndrome).

"First we'd climb a tree, and maybe then we'd talk"

I am truly amazed with myself for having spent three hours at the Playdium yesterday. What happened was that a family friend gave us a 3-hour game card that expired yesterday, and since we didn't want to waste it, Steve and I went. He used it mostly, I just hung out, watched him play, sat outside in the sun for a bit, found an abandoned game (it was a driving one...boy did I suck), ate the saltiest pretzel in the world, beat my brother once at air hockey (we only played two games, so it's not that bad) and dodged the kids. There were at least four busloads there at the time. I felt incredibly old, until I was outside and saw a bunch of older people, most likely a corporate group, engaged in a team building exercise. So funny. You know that game where there are two teams, each with a pair of super-long skis that have places for your feet, and so the group is attached at the feet, and they have to move in synch to get to the other side of the field? One group had total control of the situation, but the other group literally went nowhere. Ah, memories of grade school.

Latest update: Karen is heading west. My father has decided that we are going on a West Coast road trip in July. Calgary, Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper, Barkerville, Vancouver. I know what you're thinking at this very moment: "Where the hell is Barkerville??" Barkerville is a tiny town in the middle of the mountains where my aunt has a Chinese restaurant. To be more specific, it's a little less than 200 km south-east of Prince George. It'll be an action-packed 10 days. I've been trying to see if we can squeeze in a side trip to the Okanagan Valley, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen. Boo...sucky. After this, all I need to do is tackle the Maritimes, and I will have been in every Canadian province. Not bad, eh? I wonder if I know anyone in the Yukon...

"Life is peaceful there...in the open air..."

A Product Plug:

Get The Animatrix. I really mean it. So very cool, and extremely graphic as only anime can be. Try to get the DVD/CD set, but whatever, just GET IT. They're all really interesting, but I think I like "Final Flight of the Osiris" the best. Same guys who made the Final Fantasy movie did this one, which could explain why I like it (funny isn't it, that I've actually seen Final Fantasy...). You can take a taste here. From what I've heard, and from what I can guess, if you don't want to spoil the third movie, don't watch "Matriculated".

Lesson of the day: Job fairs...stupid waste of time.

"Can't stop sleeping awake"

That Changing Thing Again:

Forgot to mention something that I noticed while watching people trot across a stage for two hours. There were only four of us from my class at MCI who made it through Engineering and graduated together yesterday. It's been five years, and it was the little things that didn't change that were as interesting as the little things that did.

Ruminder Kalkat (Comp): I never really knew him, let alone talked to him, but I distinctly remember that he used to have hair.

Sivaram Ramanathan (Comp): Looks EXACTLY the same, even his hairstyle. But now he goes by the name "Siva".

Jonathan Shui (Mech): Also visually identical as he was in high school. But who knew that he also minored in Economics? (Note: Anyone who minors in ANYTHING while majoring in Engineering is either utterly dedicated or utterly insane)

And then, of course, there's me. You'll have to let me know if I've changed or not.

"That's just the way it is, things will never be the same"

A Yearbook Screws Me Over Yet Again:

Let me start by saying that I am no longer just "Karen Lee", I am "Karen Lee, B.A.Sc." Check it out, it rhymes and everything! Yes friends, today was the day I became a permanent fixture in the history of UW. The day started out normally enough, except that neither of my brothers seemed to have good pants that fit properly, and I was ready to go before any other member of my family. The drive down to the 'Loo was uneventful, and I got to the PAC in time to rent my gown ($25 for a shapeless black smock that I'm only going to use for three hours) and then to Engineering to get my yearbook, which, incidentally, is the size of a phone book and weighs three times as much. Finally, something that's actually worth the money we paid for it. (But unfortunately, it screws me over later on)

Now, the big challenge: getting 700 engineers to line up in numerical order. It worked out, more or less, but not without a hell of a lot of noise. While filing into the gym, the first thing I did was locate my family within ten seconds. I really had no idea where they were going to sit, and with every other person in the room waving at somebody, it was a miracle I found them at all. The big coincidence was that they seated themselves directly beside the row where I ended up sitting. Poor Sandy, who was sitting next to me, wasn't able to find her family until her little sister came up to us and handed her a bottle of water near the end of the ceremony. After everyone was conferred and people had finished their speeches and whatnot, we filed out into the blazing sunshine and attempted to find everyone we wanted to take photos with. The funniest thing is that everyone took multiple shots of everyone, and so all of us will have at least three copies of every photo.

I don't know how long it's going to take for me to fully realize that I have a degree.

We started heading for home after the crowd and the traffic thinned out. Here's where I made the mistake: I started looking at the photos in my yearbook. After a few pages I started to get a little dizzy so I put it away. We stopped for dinner at a restaurant in Mississauga, and it wasn't until we were seated in one of the noisiest places in the world (complete with wedding banquet), that my system decided to completely shut down. I lost almost all feeling in my hands and feet, and my head was spinning. When I was finally able to make my way to the bathroom, I lost all vision when I was halfway to the door. This was longer than the other head rushes I've had in the past; I literally could not see a thing for twenty to thirty seconds. I think I had grabbed onto somebody's chair before it went black, and I just stood there like an idiot in the middle of the restaurant. Someone asked me if I was okay, but by that time I was able to see partially, so I said I was all right. My mom came back for me and led me into the restroom. After spending a little time just standing in the almost totally silent bathroom, I felt way better. That was too easy. I spent the rest of the dinner just keeping myself together, drank an entire pot of tea by myself, ate maybe two bites, and was able to leave the restaurant with whatever dignity I had left. I made it home before I let myself go. Childhood memories of road trips to Scarborough came back to me at that point. So, through some basic repetitive experimentation, I was able to determine that I still should NOT be reading anything in the car. I guess old habits die hard.

"We've only just begun"

An Average Transit Experience:

Taking the TTC is always an adventure, but somewhat predictable as well. This time I was heading down to the Dome for a Jays' game (when the ticket is $2, I would probably go see anything). The ride downtown was uneventful, except that I had forgotten exactly how long the Skywalk is and was subsequently late in meeting my friends, who were pretty much ready to give up on me when I finally arrived. The game itself was quite enjoyable, given that we won. The people who sat around us were really entertaining as well, including a couple of kids who were trying to find a vendor who wasn't selling beer.

I went home solo on the subway again, but this time I walked along Front St. with the rest of the baseball crowd. It was a little daunting, but there was no shortage of witnesses, should anything happen to me. So I relaxed and went along with it. On the subway, there was a girl with some pretty cool multi-coloured knee socks. An interesting look that I could never pull off. And of course there was the brush with a crazy person. It was an elderly lady who wasn't sitting that close to me but she was speaking loudly to a woman near her, although I couldn't hear exactly what she was saying. She was twitching in her seat, like she couldn't sit still, so it was probably more of an "old person" thing than a "crazy person" thing. Then, while waiting for my dad at the station, there were ads posted around the phone booth about a "singles dance" that's being held at the Old Mill for the "over 30 crowd", brought to you by the Single Professionals Network, or something similar. A very scary glimpse into my future.

Lesson of the day: Coldplay is an AMAZING live band. Or so I've heard.

"Nobody said it was easy"

I know this has been out for a couple of weeks, but I didn't read it until now. It's quite long, but hey, Sean Penn paid $120 000 to have this printed in the New York Times. I guess he wanted his money's worth.

A Lesson in Warehouse Sales:

What would you do to save almost $240? I would stand in a line for two hours to get into a building, spend another hour rummaging through piles and piles of miscellaneous Guess clothes with countless hundreds of other people (9 out of 10 of which are Asian, naturally), then stand in line for another two hours to pay for three items (a pretty nice dress, a tank top and a shirt) and depart from the building. So, four hours of standing, one hour of scavenging with the rest of the discount hunters, and $40 spent (instead of $280). So, I was saving about $48 per hour. Not too shabby. It's been a while since I've been to a warehouse sale, and back then it was for cheap cosmetics. It was a little more astonishing this time to see some women lugging around two or three garbage bags filled with merchandise, or other women having an entire bag filled with nothing but handbags. Craziness.

"I'd buy you a green dress"

My brothers are two of the funniest people ever. We just had a discussion about feminine hygiene products, with a personal anecdote thrown in by my youngest bro, that had me laughing on the floor for ten minutes. It's stuff like this that makes me realize how much things have changed between us. And that, somehow, my brothers have developed a wicked sense of humour. When the hell did that happen?

Lesson of the day: Remember to glaze the inside of the flower pot as well as the outside.

"I think my life is passing me by"

Okay...so the blog that I just wrote has disappeared into the web somewhere, most likely never to return again. This is probably a random cosmic test of my memory.

Speaking of memory...my computer has been yelling at me about the lack of space on my hard drive. Okay, that's fine, I understand that. What I don't understand is why the amount of free space REDUCES when I delete stuff. Am I not doing the right thing to solve the problem? What the hell is going on??

My good friend Howie is famous! Or semi-famous. Whatever, read all about it.

Noticed how my blogs are getting shorter? A very good indication that there is absolutely nothing going on in my life. How sad...

But June is shaping up to be more exciting. Concerts, weddings, $2 baseball games, the return of old friends, the departure of old friends, and, of course, the definitive end of my post-secondary experience (for now). Now if only it would look and feel like June.

My local shopping establishment (Sherway) is being invaded by all things swanky and American. I was already a little miffed by the gigantic Tommy Hilfiger store that opened last year. Now I have discovered the impending arrival of both a Pottery Barn and a Williams-Sonoma. God help us all.

"I'm just a simple girl, in a high tech digital world"

Oops, I didn't realize I hadn't written anything in a long time.

I was extremely talented last week and managed to break our vacuum cleaner. It provided me with an opportunity to spend some quality time with my father while taking something apart. Long story short, it appears that we'll have to wait almost three weeks for Sears to get us a new $3 belt for the motor. Hooray for customer service! (oh yes, and my mom is freaking out about the "dirtiness" of our house...which, if you've ever been to my house, is NEVER in a state of visible dirtiness with the exception of my room...but what can you do?)

Finding Nemo is the best Pixar film so far. If you can tolerate the screaming kids, go and see it soon.

Lesson of the day: There is a nice Cineplex Odeon in Brampton that shows movies for $6.

"Somewhere, beyond the sea..."

So, naturally, it would take a water mishap in my basement to kickstart my room cleaning operation. But, here I am, boldly digging into the dusty corners, unearthing stuff that I didn't even know that I had. In other house news, the beautification project has come to a temporary halt. My parents are feeling a bit guilty about the amount of work my uncle has been putting in, including some sweltering work up in our attic (which, after 24 years, I discovered was not quite so scary...or littered with dead bodies). In any case, after a week and a half, we have a new bathroom floor, new faucets, a new exhaust fan in the kitchen, and a new light fixture/ventilation unit in the upstairs bathroom. As a TLC junkie, I have to admit that it's not incredibly impressive, but hey, we don't have half the resources that Trading Spaces has, but we do have more than $1000. Not that we've spent that much, but we still have a kitchen floor to tile.

"There's a world where I can go and tell my secrets to"

This city still surprises me. This was discovered as I was walking around on Saturday, wandering into various famous and not-so-famous buildings in a popular downtown area. The box seats at the Canon Theatre really suck in terms of the view. Walking up a neverending claustophobic circular wooden staircase up to the bell tower of the Metropolitan United Church gave me France flashbacks. Old City Hall was a great history lesson, not just about the city but also in a personal way (it's where my parents were married). Osgoode Hall is apparently a popular place for wedding photos (we saw three different parties). Mountain Equipment Co-op's rooftop garden is quite impressive, and adds to the whole environmentalness of the building (which, if you didn't know, consists of around 60% recycled or reclaimed materials). Plus, it was a cool experience to be on a roof in the middle of downtown Toronto. If you've never participated in Doors Open, I highly recommend trying it next year.

The beautification of the Lee household continues. The floor of the downstairs bathroom is almost retiled, and once the sink faucet is replaced we'll be able to use it again. I know I should be used to sharing one bathroom with five people, but it's different when everyone wants to shower at the same time of day. One week to go, with two other rooms to complete.

Lesson of the day: Origanum vulgare is apparently not good to use for cooking.

"Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city"

All things happen in three's, both good and bad. I'm happy to report that this time, it's all about the good things. What good things have happened to me lately?

1. I am back in the black, since I received my tax return a couple of days ago. Quite possibly the fastest return EVER, especially since I did it the old-fashioned way.

2. I received a phone call yesterday regarding employment. Not to jump the gun or anything, but there is a chance I may be relocating to la belle province. We'll see if they like me.

3. The marks are in, and I MADE IT. No more worrying, no more stress...I will be going to Convocation in June.

"Can't wait for tomorrow, I might not have that long"

I said a little while ago that the more things change, the more you realize things are changing. At the same time, some things are forever frozen in time. In this case, it's friendship. It's a rare thing to be able to pick up where you left off ten years ago. But there we were, the EVIL, reunited and having adventures just like we used to. Except this time we were wandering around in the forest, running out of Smarties, attempting to cross a swamp without getting dirty, encountering deer without hitting them with a car, somehow finding ourselves on the other side of the highway, and being honked at as we walked along the side of the road littered with, among other things, discarded toupees. Good times.

My mother is desperately determined to get rid of my beloved turtle. Well, not necessarily beloved, but he's a survivor (he outlasted his two brothers) and he is now the size of...I can't think of anything that could compare, but let's just say that he's damned huge. He used to fit neatly in my palm, and now I can't even hold him by the shell with one hand anymore. Poor thing spends his day trying to climb up the glass of the tank. And yet when he's released in the backyard, he doesn't move an inch, even after three hours. Sadly, I'm starting to think that maybe he would be better off in a roomier, more turtle-friendly environment. Anyone interested?

Lesson of the day: There's no such thing as a "simple renovation".

"Here I am, stuck in the middle with you"

Call me a girly-girl if you want, but whenever I get a new pair of shoes I become all giddy and excited. I don't really understand why. Even if they're just running shoes, for christ's sake. And it rarely happens for any other clothes, unless it was an incredible bargain. I know what you're thinking, and yes, I guess it could be labelled a "fetish", but it's not an uncontrollable obsession. Maybe the infrequent purchasing of footwear leads to my being all happy about it when it happens.

Today is a day of cosmic freebies. First up, a few days ago I received free passes to an advance screening of "Down With Love" that is taking place later tonight. Where did they come from? According to the envelope, I was blessed by MuchMoreMusic. I have no recollection of even attempting to obtain these passes, but whatever. I have this habit of entering every useful contest I can find. When I say "useful", I mean that I would actually want the prize if I won it, and as long as I don't have to do anything other than give them my name and a way to contact me. Plus, this seems to be a very appropriate belated NoMan event, since the festivities were unfortunately postponed this year. I can't wait to be immersed in the gaudiness of the Sixties.

Today is also the day of the Matrix Reloaded. My brothers and I went to see it this afternoon, and were surprised when, during the ticket purchasing process, we obtained $15 worth of free food. How, you ask? It just so happens that whoever used the ticket machine before we did bought a concession ticket but it had remained hidden in the machine. When we bought our tickets, it popped out. Whoever was before us probably thought they were ripped off and were hopefully compensated by the establishment. Nothing beats guilt-free free food.

Lesson of the day: No matter how full you are, there's always room for popcorn.

"I like it here, it's nice in here, I get everything for free"