Ah...I love the One-of-a-Kind Show. Or, as my brother calls it, the "Knick Knack Place". I already went last Thursday and bought a couple of things, mainly for Boni's birthday but also an item or two for myself. I went back earlier tonight to try to pick up some Christmas gifts but two of the three purchases were once again for me.
The One-of-a-Kind Show...where you can purchase a resin pendant, yogurt-covered berries and a little margarita man all in the same place. And the cranberry pudding with butter sauce is excellent.
I think I'm going to go again on Friday...
"If you like pina coladas, and getting caught in the rain"
Monday, November 29, 2004
Sunday, November 28, 2004
A Tale of Two Parties
'Tis the season for excess.
Friday kicked it off with my company's "holiday" party. None of us were in the mood to work, and of course something came up half an hour before the end of the day, so I had to rush around to get it started and then passed it off to Marianli who was kind enough to take over so I could leave. I went to Anna's place to get ready, then went to Farrah's to pick her up. We were exactly on time but there were already a ton of people there, having drinks and chatting. It was then that I realized that I would only know about a third of the people at most, but it would give me a chance to meet people I had only known through e-mail correspondence. The food was excellent, there was plenty of people-watching and gossip going on, and there was a lot of dancing. I must say, I love going to these kinds of events because you get to see people as they really are...crazy, fun-loving, and able to move their bodies in ways you can hardly imagine. Monday is going to be FUN.
Last night, we pulled another surprise birthday, this time for Boni. I went to "kidnap" her at her place, blindfolded her and put her in the back of my car. Then I got a call saying that key people were going to be late, and so I had to stall. I ended up driving around and around in circles for 20 minutes, keeping in mind that Boni was most likely counting the times I was turning right to figure out where we were going (and she was). When I got to the restaurant, I decided to have some fun and told her to stay in the car. Then I locked the doors and went in to see what was going on. I talked to the people who were there for a few minutes, then decided that I should probably go and get her, since it looked like the "late" people were going to be really late, and it was kind of cold outside. I solicited Kimmy's help by asking her to take one of Boni's arms when she got out of the car, and I would take the other, but we wouldn't say anything, allowing Boni's imagination to have a good workout. We led her in, giving "right" and "left" commands when necessary. After we got the blindfold off, and Boni was able to say hello to the people who were there, she finally asked, "Where ARE we??"
We were at Anatolia, a great Turkish restaurant near my house. It's been a really long time since we've seen Boni eat meat (they used Halal). The rest of the night proceeded well, with a surprise guest whom I had never met before, but, funnily enough, knew Cathy through the "Love Boat" program and had a mutual friend with Ada. There were also some incidents, naturally, like the waiter accidentally pouring tea down the back of Jocelyn's pants and the little girl who was sitting at the table next to us who decided to throw her book over her shoulder. But it was great seeing people we hadn't seen for several years, and after dinner the conversation carried out of the restaurant and into the parking lot for another half an hour.
Biggest laugh of the night: "I'm cold. I need some more tea down my pants."
Needless to say, I'm a little partied out today. But give me a minute and I'll get my second wind.
"Who really cares cause it’s your life you never know it could be great"
Friday kicked it off with my company's "holiday" party. None of us were in the mood to work, and of course something came up half an hour before the end of the day, so I had to rush around to get it started and then passed it off to Marianli who was kind enough to take over so I could leave. I went to Anna's place to get ready, then went to Farrah's to pick her up. We were exactly on time but there were already a ton of people there, having drinks and chatting. It was then that I realized that I would only know about a third of the people at most, but it would give me a chance to meet people I had only known through e-mail correspondence. The food was excellent, there was plenty of people-watching and gossip going on, and there was a lot of dancing. I must say, I love going to these kinds of events because you get to see people as they really are...crazy, fun-loving, and able to move their bodies in ways you can hardly imagine. Monday is going to be FUN.
Last night, we pulled another surprise birthday, this time for Boni. I went to "kidnap" her at her place, blindfolded her and put her in the back of my car. Then I got a call saying that key people were going to be late, and so I had to stall. I ended up driving around and around in circles for 20 minutes, keeping in mind that Boni was most likely counting the times I was turning right to figure out where we were going (and she was). When I got to the restaurant, I decided to have some fun and told her to stay in the car. Then I locked the doors and went in to see what was going on. I talked to the people who were there for a few minutes, then decided that I should probably go and get her, since it looked like the "late" people were going to be really late, and it was kind of cold outside. I solicited Kimmy's help by asking her to take one of Boni's arms when she got out of the car, and I would take the other, but we wouldn't say anything, allowing Boni's imagination to have a good workout. We led her in, giving "right" and "left" commands when necessary. After we got the blindfold off, and Boni was able to say hello to the people who were there, she finally asked, "Where ARE we??"
We were at Anatolia, a great Turkish restaurant near my house. It's been a really long time since we've seen Boni eat meat (they used Halal). The rest of the night proceeded well, with a surprise guest whom I had never met before, but, funnily enough, knew Cathy through the "Love Boat" program and had a mutual friend with Ada. There were also some incidents, naturally, like the waiter accidentally pouring tea down the back of Jocelyn's pants and the little girl who was sitting at the table next to us who decided to throw her book over her shoulder. But it was great seeing people we hadn't seen for several years, and after dinner the conversation carried out of the restaurant and into the parking lot for another half an hour.
Biggest laugh of the night: "I'm cold. I need some more tea down my pants."
Needless to say, I'm a little partied out today. But give me a minute and I'll get my second wind.
"Who really cares cause it’s your life you never know it could be great"
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Have You Ever...
...wondered how someone can work overtime and leave early on the same day?
(Actually, I can answer this one..."Pam" follows her own rules governing time and space)
...watched the sun set almost every night?
...seen a tow truck being towed away?
...taken half an hour to drive one kilometre?
...been to a book signing?
(CRAZINESS...)
...considered Band Aid to be a great idea...and how sad it is that Band Aid 20 is still necessary?
(By the way, the new version of "Do They Know It's Christmas" sounds nice...but a little weird near the end)
I have.
Lesson of the day: If you want to cut in line at a book signing, bring a baby with you.
And now, a Public Service Announcement: ease off the gas if you're heading south on Martingrove past Eglinton. The cops are back and this time they're ticketing. Luckily I'm still dodging that bullet.
"Well tonight thank God it's them instead of you"
(Actually, I can answer this one..."Pam" follows her own rules governing time and space)
...watched the sun set almost every night?
...seen a tow truck being towed away?
...taken half an hour to drive one kilometre?
...been to a book signing?
(CRAZINESS...)
...considered Band Aid to be a great idea...and how sad it is that Band Aid 20 is still necessary?
(By the way, the new version of "Do They Know It's Christmas" sounds nice...but a little weird near the end)
I have.
Lesson of the day: If you want to cut in line at a book signing, bring a baby with you.
And now, a Public Service Announcement: ease off the gas if you're heading south on Martingrove past Eglinton. The cops are back and this time they're ticketing. Luckily I'm still dodging that bullet.
"Well tonight thank God it's them instead of you"
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
A Busy Bee
I know, I missed you guys too. I didn't mean to leave it for this long, but I've been busy with this. It took me a while to get the hang of it, and then it took me even longer to sneak onto my home computer (between my mom's games of mah jong and my brother's games of Rome Total War) to scan the appropriate photos. But it's funny how dedicated I was to finishing it once I made up my mind to do it. Crap...now I know what it reminds me of...yearbook...
In any case, stuff has happened in the past couple of weeks that I've been meaning to talk about, but didn't. Some of it has actually stuck in my mind without the aid of a written list, so here we go with "the list":
In any case, stuff has happened in the past couple of weeks that I've been meaning to talk about, but didn't. Some of it has actually stuck in my mind without the aid of a written list, so here we go with "the list":
- Dodging the bullet: I don't know if I'm lucky or the cops just don't care, but lately I've been breezing by the radars without getting a second glance. And I don't mean that I'm one or two kms over the speed limit...I'm talking 10-20, and I'm almost the only car on the road. But I think the guy stationed across the street from MCI was just gathering information, he didn't look up from his notebook when I passed by.
- Speaking of Martingrove...: Have you ever witnessed a game of "chicken" where nobody chickened out? Again, this was one of those "why do I always witness these things?" kind of moments. People who are familiar with the two-lane stretch of Martingrove that passes West Deane Park know that the lanes used to be separated by the dashed yellow line, but after the construction they made it solid. That didn't stop some yahoo from passing me anyway as we came down the hill. Then he tried to pass the guy in front of me, but the other guy kept the pace, and so the two of them were hurtling towards the intersection, and into oncoming traffic. Nobody slowed down, nobody budged. By some coincidence, there was enough space between the guy in front of me and the oncoming car for the yahoo to squeeze in between, straddling the yellow line. I don't know why he was being such a jackass, the light was red anyway. And of course, it was a souped-up Honda.
- Speaking of witnessing things...: I seem to be an accident magnet at work too. Some of you may remember me talking about "Pam" from a previous blog. Well, last week, I was exiting the office, heading towards the washroom, when I heard a shriek behind me. Pam had just exited the office and headed in the opposite direction towards the cafeteria, but had failed to notice an empty wooden skid on the floor just outside the office doorway. By the time I turned around, she was somersaulting on the floor. I was more concerned about her hurting herself than anything else, but I suppose later on it did seem kind of funny (okay, it was hilarious). I had yet to see her upset to the point of tears up until that moment. Then she was red-faced and on the warpath, STORMING into production to get them to remove the skid. By the time I returned from the washroom, the skid was gone, but after I retrieved my lunch and started heading to the cafeteria myself, Peter the IT guy was putting the skid back, looking pretty peeved and asking me if I knew which "moron" had who moved his skid. "The one who tripped over it?" I replied, before I realized what I had said. Just then Pam came out of the office and had a discussion with Peter, who then moved the skid to the other side of the door. Luckily, I don't think she heard his question, which makes my answer less insulting even if she heard it.
- "Matt & Ben" is a really funny play.
- A classic Ada line of questioning: "Do you do drugs? No...wait...I mean, does your company do drugs?"
"I walk this empty street on the boulevard of broken dreams"