We welcomed our new baby to our home today. She's so shiny and new.
After months and months of badgering, my father finally found the time to buy a new car. A Hyundai Sonata. It all happened really fast, once the ball actually got rolling.
So what does this mean for me? Well, it means that Phase 1 of my plan has hit a snag. Basically, there's no more room on the driveway. But never fear! Phase 2 will commence shortly.
And now, for those of you who enjoy all things quirky and old-school, this is for you.
"And you may ask yourself, how do I work this? And you may ask yourself, where is that large automobile?"
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Monday, October 24, 2005
The Sensation of Falling
While I wouldn't say that I nearly fell to my death a few days ago, it wasn't until after it happened that I could properly evaluate the experience of freefalling. And, given the circumstances, I really only have one thing to say about it.
Cool...
After more than a year, I ventured back to the climbing gym. I knew that my technique had become quite poor (who am I kidding? It was ALWAYS poor), but I had the gear and a few more visits left on my ten-visit pass, so why not?
After a few easy climbs, I went over to a 5.7 that didn't seem too bad. Laurie was belaying me. I climbed to the top of the wall with only a few minor pauses. So I made sure Laurie was ready and I sat in the harness. As she lowered me slowly down, I kept my gaze slightly upward, watching the fake rocks as I passed them. Partway down, Laurie let the rope out a little too quickly and there was a short drop (maybe a foot) before I jerked to a stop. As she started lowering again I could feel the drop again, so I was ready for it. Only this time I didn't jerk to a stop.
I kept falling.
And falling.
And falling.
Until I realized that, hey, I'm kind of falling now.
And hey, that's the floor right there.
And I'm still falling.
And just like in the movies or in cartoons, about two inches from the floor, I stopped falling. My feet touched the ground as though I had meant to plant them there, and I felt Laurie next to me swinging about two feet off the ground.
In reality, it might have been maybe ten feet of falling, but of course in the moment it felt like forever and a split second at the same time.
Some guy (out of the half-dozen witnesses) came over and said to Laurie, "You know, if you lose control of the rope, you just have to let go of the lever."
You know, if you were watching carefully, she did let go of the lever. If she hadn't, I would have been a mangled heap instead of swinging with my butt two inches off the floor. But what you didn't know is that her first instinct was to grab the rope with her right hand, which unfortunately meant that she ended up with a pretty nasty rope burn while I walked away injury-free.
In the end, nobody got permanently hurt and there was never any danger of that happening anyway. Woo hoo for cushy floors.
And Laurie, for God's sake stop apologizing.
"At the end of the world, or the last thing I see, you are never coming home"
Cool...
After more than a year, I ventured back to the climbing gym. I knew that my technique had become quite poor (who am I kidding? It was ALWAYS poor), but I had the gear and a few more visits left on my ten-visit pass, so why not?
After a few easy climbs, I went over to a 5.7 that didn't seem too bad. Laurie was belaying me. I climbed to the top of the wall with only a few minor pauses. So I made sure Laurie was ready and I sat in the harness. As she lowered me slowly down, I kept my gaze slightly upward, watching the fake rocks as I passed them. Partway down, Laurie let the rope out a little too quickly and there was a short drop (maybe a foot) before I jerked to a stop. As she started lowering again I could feel the drop again, so I was ready for it. Only this time I didn't jerk to a stop.
I kept falling.
And falling.
And falling.
Until I realized that, hey, I'm kind of falling now.
And hey, that's the floor right there.
And I'm still falling.
And just like in the movies or in cartoons, about two inches from the floor, I stopped falling. My feet touched the ground as though I had meant to plant them there, and I felt Laurie next to me swinging about two feet off the ground.
In reality, it might have been maybe ten feet of falling, but of course in the moment it felt like forever and a split second at the same time.
Some guy (out of the half-dozen witnesses) came over and said to Laurie, "You know, if you lose control of the rope, you just have to let go of the lever."
You know, if you were watching carefully, she did let go of the lever. If she hadn't, I would have been a mangled heap instead of swinging with my butt two inches off the floor. But what you didn't know is that her first instinct was to grab the rope with her right hand, which unfortunately meant that she ended up with a pretty nasty rope burn while I walked away injury-free.
In the end, nobody got permanently hurt and there was never any danger of that happening anyway. Woo hoo for cushy floors.
And Laurie, for God's sake stop apologizing.
"At the end of the world, or the last thing I see, you are never coming home"
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Dancing on the Edge
It's been pointed out to me by several loyal readers that I have been very remiss about the frequency of my blogs. And they are very correct. Life is funny that way: you don't blog because there's nothing to blog about, but then everything starts happening and then you don't have time to blog. I'll try to remember what happened, but I think the only way to do this is in reverse. So here goes:
Last night I went out to celebrate the birth of my good friend Livy. She was my clubbing buddy back in the day and when she went off into the world for a couple of years I was sure that my clubbing days were over. But she's back home now and we've had some fun (although my stamina is not what it used to be). As for last night, we started with a Chinese feast with a large number of friends, and then moved the party down to Clubland. The night wasn't quite as crazy as we had anticipated (the venues were not quite as packed as usual). I, however, managed to step right up to the edge of drunkenness and dance my way back from the brink with minimal damage. Unfortunately for Livy, although I knew that she could hold her liquor a little better than the average Asian girl, the event did end with some hair holding. But I'm happy to report that she's feeling much better today, and we've got some photos to remind ourselves of the good times.
I went to the opera on Thursday with my brother. We went to see Carmen, which is one of the few operas that I'm actually familiar with. The best part is that they now have a system called "Surtitles", where the English translations are projected above the stage as the lines are being sung. But I was stunned to see a number of people showing up to the opera in jeans and sweatshirts. Granted, there were two busloads of high school students there, but even amongst some of the adults who attended the performance, the standard of dress was surprisingly causal. I know that we don't have an opera house like they do in Europe, but it just seems to me that the opera is one of those occasions where dressing up is expected.
I know I've mentioned quite forcefully that you should go and see Wallace & Gromit if you can. I can also recommend Corpse Bride. It's a little creepy at one point but the amazing thing is what they can do with the technique of stop-motion. Even though I had put it on my list of movies I wanted to see, it wasn't until I was opening my mail a couple weeks ago that I had made up my mind for sure. I thought I had received another piece of junk, when out of the envelope I pulled a double pass to see the movie for free. I had won a contest I entered months ago and had forgotten all about it. This totally renews my faith in the $2 I spend almost every week for the Super 7. My time will come.
I spent a weekend up north in Muskoka with some of my co-workers and had a blast. They went golfing while I went fishing with another girl. We weren't very successful on the boat, but I caught my first fish off the dock, which was rather exciting. There are too many details to be described here, but I plan on revamping my website, and hopefully that will be up and running by the end of the year (I'm being optimistic), so hold on to your hats until then.
"Monster hospital, can you please release me?"
Last night I went out to celebrate the birth of my good friend Livy. She was my clubbing buddy back in the day and when she went off into the world for a couple of years I was sure that my clubbing days were over. But she's back home now and we've had some fun (although my stamina is not what it used to be). As for last night, we started with a Chinese feast with a large number of friends, and then moved the party down to Clubland. The night wasn't quite as crazy as we had anticipated (the venues were not quite as packed as usual). I, however, managed to step right up to the edge of drunkenness and dance my way back from the brink with minimal damage. Unfortunately for Livy, although I knew that she could hold her liquor a little better than the average Asian girl, the event did end with some hair holding. But I'm happy to report that she's feeling much better today, and we've got some photos to remind ourselves of the good times.
I went to the opera on Thursday with my brother. We went to see Carmen, which is one of the few operas that I'm actually familiar with. The best part is that they now have a system called "Surtitles", where the English translations are projected above the stage as the lines are being sung. But I was stunned to see a number of people showing up to the opera in jeans and sweatshirts. Granted, there were two busloads of high school students there, but even amongst some of the adults who attended the performance, the standard of dress was surprisingly causal. I know that we don't have an opera house like they do in Europe, but it just seems to me that the opera is one of those occasions where dressing up is expected.
I know I've mentioned quite forcefully that you should go and see Wallace & Gromit if you can. I can also recommend Corpse Bride. It's a little creepy at one point but the amazing thing is what they can do with the technique of stop-motion. Even though I had put it on my list of movies I wanted to see, it wasn't until I was opening my mail a couple weeks ago that I had made up my mind for sure. I thought I had received another piece of junk, when out of the envelope I pulled a double pass to see the movie for free. I had won a contest I entered months ago and had forgotten all about it. This totally renews my faith in the $2 I spend almost every week for the Super 7. My time will come.
I spent a weekend up north in Muskoka with some of my co-workers and had a blast. They went golfing while I went fishing with another girl. We weren't very successful on the boat, but I caught my first fish off the dock, which was rather exciting. There are too many details to be described here, but I plan on revamping my website, and hopefully that will be up and running by the end of the year (I'm being optimistic), so hold on to your hats until then.
"Monster hospital, can you please release me?"