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"

A Tribute to my Mother:
A little while ago someone told me that my mothering instincts are...I believe the word was "staggering". It got me thinking yesterday about how the hell I turned out this way. Looking back, I should really be the biggest spoiled brat on the planet. My mother did everything for me when I was growing up: cooking, cleaning, laundry, sewing, health care, etc. And she continues to do so. I never had a real job until I got to university. She always bought me things, and even now she always asks me if I have enough money and offers to give me more. At dinner she would always eat the less desirable parts of the chicken or fish and leave the tastier morsels for the rest of us. My mother dedicated her life to caring for me and my brothers ever since I was born, putting aside her career. These days, significantly fewer people can say that. So then, why am I not a horribly selfish, self-involved person? I guess what ended up happening is that I didn't take advantage of my mom, but I learned by her example. Another possibility would be that it's an inherited trait, in which case I have my mom to thank for that (partially) as well. I can only hope that I'll be as successful when it's my turn.

Happy Mother's Day to all your moms. Please give her a hug for me.

"I want to thank you for giving me the best day of my life"

Adventures in Vanity: Like all Chinese people, I'm inherently drawn to discounts, and when I received one for a local salon and spa that I had visited in the past, I was thinking, why not get a facial? I had recently gotten my hair cut and coloured, so those options weren't very feasible. Utilizing the spa aspect didn't seem like a bad idea. For those of you who may have experienced facials before, you will probably understand when I say that, at one point during the procedure, I suffered through some unanticipated pain. While this was going on, I had two main thoughts. 1) This was not in the brochure, and 2) Thank God I decided to stick with the half-hour facial and not go along with the full hour that the lady had tried to sucker me into at the beginning. The lady actually joked with me about that last point while she continued to puncture my face. Evil. So, I emerged from the salon a little redder than when I had walked in, contemplating whether I was ever going to subject myself to that again. I think that if I ever do venture down that road again, I'm definitely going to prep my face in advance.

"I am beautiful, no matter what they say"

Interesting sight on the highway. There was a cube van-type vehicle driving beside us, except the cube part was silver metallic and there were were windows on each side. Within the cube you could see rows of seats similar to those on school buses. Nothing else was weird about it, except the driver side door of the van had the name of a company, which mentioned something about "live bait".

As far as I could tell, there were no specimens in the cube.

Three other things were observed today as I was either walking or driving around my neighbourhood.
1) I have to make sure that I live somewhere near a park when I grow up. Preferably a park with a water source.
2) Goaf's house, or what I think is Goaf's house, has been sold. It's funny that I still think of him as "Goaf" first, and "Ian Gardiner" second.
3) I drove past what my mother has dubbed the "homicide house" on Lloyd Manor on my way to the grocery store. The windows are boarded up and it's still surrounded by yellow police tape.

Lesson of the day: The more things change, the more you realize that things are changing.

"I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems, got to open my eyes to everything"

Have you noticed that there are certain people in your life that you bump into in the most unusual places? I discovered today that I have one of those. His name's Arthur, a guy I know from a conference that I used to help organize. Today, as I was exiting from a washroom corridor in one of the more obscure areas of the Eaton Centre, he was just passing by at that exact moment on his way to Indigo. We chatted a bit before we went our separate ways. The last time that I randomly bumped into him (other than at the aforementioned conference) was in a ride line at Canada's Wonderland almost two years ago. I've been experiencing a number of cosmic coincidences lately. And...that's all I have to say about that.

Lesson of the day: The Chinese translation of "Black Hawk Down" has the number 15 in it.

Now I leave you with this:

Me: "Hey Dad, Bush is on TV again."
Dad: "Do I care?"
Me: "It's cutting into the regular programming."
Dad: "Oh, then I DO care!"

As it turns out, there was no disruption to the hockey broadcast. My daddy's funny.

"Everytime I look around, it's in my face"