where we went
Tuesday, July 27, 2004 10:51 p.m.

Just for kicks... here's a look at two of our walks in Boston. On the pink one, 95% of it was on foot, with a brief T ride. The yellow one was about 70% on foot, with the long slanted line (the hypotenuse) of the triangle being on the T. It actually goes up much higher than the map shows, which was actually our visit to Harvard.

To see the map click here.

I'll put a couple of pictures up soon.

ROADTRIP!!!
Tuesday, July 27, 2004 01:51 p.m.

So there was this mattress on fire at the gas station once we got back to Toronto. It was only smoking when Leigh and I got there, and we thought "That's odd." So as I got out of the car to pump gas, the smoking mattress became a firey blaze of a mattress... about 20 feet from the gas pumps. So instead of actually sticking around to pump gas, we drove across the street to pump gas at a different station, where we could still have a good view of the "isolated inferno". By then the fire trucks had shown up, and pretty much put it out, although the garden was a little singed.

Oh... and we were in Boston too.

Starting with yet another fiasco involving another rental vehicle, the trip got off to a slow start. This time Europcar didn't seem to realize that everybody in its company seemed to think that the location in question opened at 7am. According to the website it was 7am. According to their national reservation centre, it was 7am. According to me showing up at 7am, and then having to come back 2 hours later, its 9am. I was annoyed, and will follow up on this. Don't worry I'll keep you posted.

So eventually we got on the road. There was a lengthy delay at the border, but we still managed to make decent time. We met up with Ayse (pronounced I-shay or I-pod, I can't remember) who took us up to Cambridge to see Andy's band play. They were pretty good, and pretty loud, and by the time they were done, we were pretty darn wiped out. We went back to homebase, and slept.

The following day, we had breakfast with Andy and Ayse, and proceeded to walk ALL OVER Boston. We went from Back Bay to the South End, to the North End, to Newberry Street, to Prudential. At some point during our wandering we hit one of those "Day Of" Ticket booths, and got two pretty cheap (half price, I think) tickets to Blue Man Group. So after a quick dinner at The Cheese Cake Factory, we ran back to Newberry Street so Leigh could buy a sweater from North Face, before cabbing it to the Charles Street Playhouse for Blue Man Group.

Blue Man Group is a really really entertaining, funny, and amazing show. I'd suggest seeing it if you ever have the chance. I had seen it already, and didn't think twice about seeing it again. Leigh loved it as well. After that, we did a bit more wandering, had dessert at TGI Fridays, and a late snack at Legal Seafoods. We were going to weigh 900 pounds by the end of the day, even if it killed us. Unfortunately, we weren't able to meet up with McDonough by the end of the night, but were well stuffed and didn't seem to worry much about it.

The next morning we were greeted by SoCo, Tobin's cat, jumping on us and then attempting to play pattycake with our faces. Freddy G and John showed up and we had a nice little catch-up session before hopping in the Cavalier and driving to the Natick Mall, Southborough, and then the Wrentham Premium Outlets. Money was spent, stuff was bought. I'm wearing a good chunk of it now.

After returning to the headquarters, we decided to go for dinner, which involved walking through the ghetto. UNO's was okay, but nothing spectacular. We took the T up to Harvard and walked around Harvahd Yahd, and Havahd Squeah, and walked all the way down Mass Ave, across the Charles River, and back downtown, where we met Andy & Ayse for a quick drink and some cheesecake. We did a whole lot of walking...

On the last morning, we went to the Museum of Fine Arts, and saw some pretty decent art. We were in a bit of a rush though, so we probably didn't enjoy it as much as we could have. There was a really neat modern art exhibit involving shadows and stuff, and we saw some classic impressionism, ancient Greek and Egyptian stuff, and some other interesting bits. We hit Dunkin Donuts, got on the road, and rode the Pike out to New York. We tried to think of fun games to play along the way, but really got stuck on the numbers game. We made a couple brief stops, but relied on our Donuts to keep us nourished. We flew threw the border, and made it home around 9ish... just in time to see the flaming mattress.

All in all, it was a really fun trip. And now I'm back at work. And I'm hungry. So I'm ready for lunch. Peace out...

still rockin...
Thursday, July 22, 2004 04:36 p.m.

The gig went well the other night, except for a bit of weather that kept us indoors. The majority of the party, however, was outside on the covered part of the patio. So what actually happened was this: Jen & I performed in the kitchen, while the speakers were parked just outside the door, and the music played outside. It's a rather odd dynamic because when you're nowhere near the sound equipment or the crowd, for that matter, it's very hard to guage what kind of reaction you're getting. But apparently, it was well received, and my pay was well received, so I have no complaints. Apparently, we might have a few more gigs because of this. As long as it's not so darn hot and humid, I'm all for it. Or maybe I'll just wear less.

This is my last day at work before Leigh and I take a little jaunt to Boston for a long weekend. The plan is to see some sights, a concert, maybe a baseball game, and have a bit of fun. Hopefully that all works out!!

Yesterday, I saw a guy sleeping on the grass in a courtyard between a few giant office towers. I wouldn't have been surprised except that he was dressed pretty well, and was still holding on to his briefcase. I'm sure he just had some time to kill, and felt like having a nap, but to do it there just seemed like an odd choice of location. Am I crazy, or does that seem a little odd.

In other news... We bought our tickets today for Alberta in August. Flying out Friday the 20th, and will arrive around 5:45 their time. I'm sure some of you care... On the way home we have to stop in Edmonton. I've never been there before, but I guess that's going to change.

Peace out.

the coolest sharpie trick ever
Tuesday, July 20, 2004 10:41 a.m.

Today I learned how to get sharpie marker off of a dry erase board. Because there's one idiot in every office who doesn't know the difference between a dry-erase marker and a PERMANENT SHARPIE MARKER. And for once, I am not the idiot.

But to remove it, you need three things: a paper towel, a bit of water, and a Sharpie Marker. Wipe affected area with wet paper towel, scribble over it with Sharpie marker, wipe again with wet paper towel. VOILA. It's kinda weird, but apparently there's some solvent in the marker that liquifies the ink, even if it's dried on the board. So now you've learned something handy...

I've been pretty busy lately. Finally had a couple of days off on the weekend though. After spending all of Saturday hanging out on the roof, I played softball on Sunday. We won both games, and if we win one more, we will clinch the league. Hopefully we can squeeze out one more.

I finally made some progress on my website last night. I actually have an idea of what it's going to look like now. It's going to be a pretty major change. So that's exciting.

I had a meeting with the team I'm coaching, and it went really well. We got a lot done, and are looking forward to getting more done. There will be another meeting shortly, but right now we're just trying to sort out when.

Leigh and I are going to Boston this weekend, which is sure to be a good time. We're heading down on Friday, and coming back on Monday. I should get to see some friends and have some fun, and Leigh should get to meet some friends and tour Boston for the first time.

In the meantime, we're trying to plan my OTHER summer vacation to Alberta. August will be a bit nuts apparently, and the 5 day jaunt to Calgary, Canmore, and Banff, will be a whirlwind adventure. We're trying to sort that out.

And tonight, I'm performing with Jen at her aunt's charity thing. We're getting paid, which is always a bonus, and who knows what other goodness might come out of it. Hopefully more paying gigs, but I doubt it. We practiced last night and it sounded pretty good.

I'm at work now, obviously getting a lot done. But keep your eye on this page, it's all going to change soon.

*MY* Tour de France
Tuesday, July 13, 2004 09:25 a.m.

Starting on Friday morning, and ending Monday at noon, I managed to work seven 8-hour shifts, between my two jobs. 56 hours, in 3 and half days. AWESOME.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. It's good to like your job(s).

The highlights of the weekend... spending my overlapping spare hours with Leigh on the roof in the sun, or in the kitchen looking at our lack of groceries.... and getting out early on Sunday, and going for drinks with Score people.... then going to work at 5am.

24 hour bug
Friday, July 9, 2004 08:49 a.m.

WEDNESDAY
9:00pm - After abandonning a spaghetti dinner half way through, I sit on the couch and hold my stomach as of it had just been kicked repeatedley by a large footed kangaroo. I wonder what's wrong with me, and hope it's just gas or something. Leigh studies for her class at work.

10:00pm - Still feeling a little unstable in the belly department, I give up on my plans to go down to the gym and instead head to the bathroom, hoping that might relieve some of my gastro-tension.

11:00pm - Another trip to the bathroom later, Leigh and I wonder what could be the problem. Was it something I ate? Leigh's convinced it was the turkey that I had eaten at lunch. I had the idea that it might have been the meat sauce we had with the spaghetti, but decided that couldn't have been the case because Leigh wasn't having any problems.

12:00 am - Sitting and watching TV wasn't helping, and my repeated bathroom trips weren't either, but they were becoming more frequent and more urgent. I tried to get some sleep, hoping to feel better in the morning. I'm wearing a t-shirt and basketball shorts.

12:10 to 3:45 am - About every 10 minutes, I got the sensation like there was about to be an ugly explosion from either of my top or my bottom, and I would make a quick jog to the bathroom to take care of that. It was always my bottom.

3:45 am - It was my top. It hurt like mad, I almost didn't make it, and sources tell me it was really loud.

**At some point during all this (I don't really remember when), I got so cold, that I changed into a sweater and long pants... and a toque. I know it was BEFORE I tried to sleep on the bathroom floor, though. I needed way more towels to make an acceptable bed.**

4:00 am - I call and leave a message at work saying that I wouldn't be in right at 8:00, and may not come in at all, if I didn't feel better. Of course this was on my latest trip to the bathroom.

4:10-6:00 am - The pattern continues, only my discomfort is accompanied by fatigue, frustration, and a little more pain in my abdominal region.

6:10 am - Leigh gets up to sleep on the couch. Apparently me jumping out of bed every 10-15 minutes makes it hard to sleep. And honestly, it WAS every 10-15 minutes...

7:30 am - Realizing I had slept for 45 minutes, I knew I was overdue for a trot. Took said trot. Leigh covered her head with the pillow as I ran by her.

8:30 am - Leigh gets up and gets ready for work (which was actually her class, in which she had a final exam) and does an amazing job of not killing me for keeping her up all night. I get up and go to the bathroom.

11:00 am - I wake up sweating. Apparently you don't need long pants, sweater and toque when you're sleeping in July. Who knew? I got up had a shower, told work that I wasn't going to come in at all, and tried to rid the apartment of that stuffy "SICK" smell.

12:00 pm - After venturing downstairs to send a fax to Tom regarding our softball uniforms, and checking some email, I sat down on the couch.

3:00 pm - Leigh wakes me up as she gets home from work. After reminding me she had called earlier, I asked if she had gotten the toilet paper I had requested on the phone. She had. What a sweetie... She proceeded to turn on "General Hospital." I think this was my punishment for keeping her up all night. Although, TV show aside, I'm starting to feel more stable.

4:00 pm - An episode of Dr. Phil almost makes me cry. Perhaps I'm not as stable as I thought. At least the toast Leigh made me was eaten with relative success. I actually felt better having something other than water in me.

6:00 pm - I decide that I'm well enough (or anxious enough) to escape the apartment, so I bundled up and went for a short walk with Leigh. By the time we made it to Blockbuster (about 10 minutes away), I was ready to get a movie and go right back home. Which we did, except we got 2 movies. Of course, I headed straight to the bathroom when we got home.

9:00 pm - After finishing "Big Fish," some pretzels and a Pepsi, I was feeling a lot better, but not yet 100%. I liked the movie quite a bit too, but not as much as I thought I would. I think it had been built up too much. Maybe I'll see it again with more realistic expectations.

11:00 pm - After finishing "50 First Dates" I felt even better yet. If not 100%, it was somewhere near 90%. It seems like it went away just as fast as it came on, and I'm still not sure what caused it.

Talking about it with a few people, I've heard others have been experiencing the same sort of thing, so I'm assuming it's some sort of bug that's going around. Leigh took good care of me, and for this I am very thankful. Apparently, I'm not very pleasant when I'm sick.

Thank goodness it only happens once every few years.

i actually forgot to name this one...
Thursday, July 8, 2004 12:44 a.m.

1. Finish reading "Life of Pi"
2. Finish reading "The Colour of Magic"
3. Finish reading "The Gospel According to ESPN"
4. Finish reading "Zen Guitar"
5. Finish reading "Appocalypse WOW"
6. Finish learning Flash MX 2004(which involves finishing a book)
7. Learn Italian
8. Finish Level 2 Workbook for Coaching (Certification)
9. Put together Workbook for Coaching (Pre-Season Planning)
10. Redo my website.

Well all the reading ones are done... and it'd be so much better if I didn't feel like I was about to be sick. Something I ate today didn't agree with me very much and I've been rather ill for the past couple hours. I hope it passes, because I'm heading into several days of heavy work, and I'd like for them to be as pleasant as possible. I don't need gastro issues, while I'm already miserable...

Influences:
Tuesday, July 6, 2004 12:45 a.m.

For the purposes of sharing a little bit about myself, I'm going to list three things in each category, which have influenced me in the past, are currently doing something for me, or are something I generally like.

Musicians: Jack Johnson, The Streets, U2
Funny Movies: Dodgeball, Old School, Zoolander
Cinematic Movies: The Royal Tenenbaums, Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, American Beauty
Books: Ragtime, Dave Barry's Guide to Guys, The Gospel According to ESPN
Magazines: GQ, Sports Illustrated, Maxim
Topics of Interest: Jack the Ripper, The Order of Skull & Bones, The Moon Landing Hoax
TV Shows: Seinfeld, Simpsons, Sopranos
Stores: Modrobes, Steves Music Supplies, HMV
Artists: Chuck Close, Lawren Harris, Jack Vettriano
Ambitions: To perform, to teach, to have fun

Ask me some questions, and I'll answer them. I need to be mentally stimulated here!!

too much to even talk about
Monday, July 5, 2004 10:55 p.m.

I should really carry around a pad of paper to make notes on all the amazing things that happen to me in the course of a day, and to write down all the things I'm not supposed to forget, and to write down all the things that influenced me in one way or another. But I carry no such pad, so my entries generally consist of a day-by-day summary of all the boringness that surrounds me...

So let's get that out of the way, and then I'll work on influences...

TODAY: Working backwards from right now... I made Leigh some rocking fajitas for dinner, I practiced some music with Jen S. for some charity gig we have coming up, I watched a bit of Seinfeld, I bought a new guitar (just your basic acoustic, nice full sound), I worked out, I talked to some lady at the NHLPA about a game I had won in a trivia contest, and got out of bed.

SUNDAY: In super descriptive form... I woke up on my stomach, realizing that my time in the sun the day before had left my chest a little tender and a lot pink. After a shower, which felt like sandpaper on my belly, I wandered downstairs, wearing kakhi shorts, and a grey t-shirt. I slipped on my new Adidas flip-flops before I went outside. I stopped and said hello to Brier, then sat down on the patio with Leigh, her brother Chris, and their parents. After some chit chat about the wedding, I eventually toasted a sesame seed bagel, added some butter, then poured a glass of orange juice. It was extra pulp. After a bit more sitting on the patio chatting, Leigh and I headed up to pack our bags. Everything fit pretty much the way it had on the way out, except for the extra pair of flip flops and the magazine I had purchased during our downtown Kingston shopping trip. Leigh's parents drove us to the train station, then waited with us until Train #45 showed up, roughly on time. The VIA station was busier than normal, but this was to be expected considering it was Sunday of a long weekend. Three trains headed to Toronto in less than an hour, we were on the third. And only because we had reserved our tickets on the website, the day before. Once on the train, we were suprised to find two seats next to eachother. They faced two others which were occupied by two students, but that didn't bother us when we sat down. It did bother us, however, about 10 minutes into the trip when it became clear that we were sitting across from two of the nerdiest engineering students (one girl, one guy) ever to walk the halls of the University of Waterloo. They were talking about classes, classmates, theories, courses, quantum mecha-tetro something or others, and I could still only manage to think of a few things: 1. This is probably the longest conversation that this guy has EVER had with a girl 2. She's a candidate for one of those make-over shows if I've ever seen one. The black jeans are just a no-no 3. I wonder who's feeding his pet snake while he's away on the train? Eventually, she got to studying full time, and he put on headphones and fell asleep. Leigh and I were thrilled by this turn of events, and celebrated by eating Pringles, Brownies, and Coca-Cola. The train arrived in Toronto about 15 minutes late, which is quite reasonable given some of my past VIARail experiences. As we stepped of the train, we ran in to Bill, who lived on Leigh's floor in residence a couple years back. We all caught up as we walked through the lower level of Union Station and parted ways when he headed to the subway and we headed to the street. On the walk home I adjusted my bag a few times to accomodate my sun burnt shoulders, and made it in to the apartment with a bit of time to spare before heading to the Score, for a late shift. My latest ebay purchase had arrived in my absence, so I opened it and put on my new England soccer jersey, featuring the number 18, and the name of the only Canadian-born player on the English national team: Hargreaves. As I walked to work, drops of rain were starting to hit me every few seconds. At this rate, I would still be reletively dry by the time I got around the corner to work. As I reached the corner with my Meatball Sub and Pepsi in hand, however, the heavens opened up and a downpour commenced without warning. Big, fat, sloppy drops of rain attacked me and the bag containing my dinner, before I could even think about taking shelter. I broke into a jog, which did little to keep my dry, but saved me a certain amount of rain-exposure by the time I got into the Holiday Inn on King. By the time, I got to the EA Office, I was pretty wet, and was immediately informed that the internet had been cutting out periodically during the day. There were 3 baseball games in progress and two later that night. CFL was just getting underway as well. The fire alarm went off twice during my shift, which forced us to evacuate and play football in the parking lot. The rain had stopped, so the only problem was now the puddles. I finished my shift a little early and joined some co-workers (some of whom you might have seen on TV) on the patio at Gabby's for a frothy beverage. I got home around 2:30, and eventually made it to bed.

Man, that was long, and useless. Feels good to write though.

SATURDAY: In Haiku form...

Clouds interrupt sun
Warm, but only hot for a
bit. Sunburn Ensues

Wedding at Harbour
Few acquaintances and a
cash bar. Early Night.

FRIDAY: In headline form...
TORONTO MAN SHATTERS KINGSTON SLEEP-IN RECORD
TORONTO MAN HAS BAGEL CUTTING ISSUES; SLICES UNEVEN
SHOPPING TOUR REPLACES 6-YEAR OLD FLIP FLOPS
BBQ FOILED BY PROPANE SHORTAGE; STEAKS SURVIVE... AND ROCK!!
RUM AND WINE DISAPPEARS; DEHYDRATION AND HEADACHES REPORTED

THURSDAY: In amnesiac mode...CANADA DAY!! Um... Fish and Chips? That's about all I remember from that. We drove out from Toronto that day.

WEDNESDAY: In regular fashion... I worked at CBC, finished Zen Guitar (eliminating #4 from my list), met with Leigh and her parents for dinner at Milestones, then went to see Dave Matthews at the Molson Amphitheatre. The show was really good, although he didn't play everything I had hoped he would. I got a nice shirt though.

Hope that was good for ya...

another one bites the dust
Wednesday, June 30, 2004 10:35 a.m.

1. Finish reading "Life of Pi"
2. Finish reading "The Colour of Magic"
3. Finish reading "The Gospel According to ESPN"
4. Finish reading "Zen Guitar"
5. Finish reading "Appocalypse WOW"
6. Finish learning Flash MX 2004(which involves finishing a book)
7. Learn Italian
8. Finish Level 2 Workbook for Coaching (Certification)
9. Put together Workbook for Coaching (Pre-Season Planning)
10. Redo my website.

and another thing
Monday, June 28, 2004 07:11 p.m.

I just realized that I mentioned "Dodgeball," again. Forgetting that I had already mentioned it on Thursday, I mentioned it again today. So with that in mind...

I saw Dodgeball on Thursday, and my goodness, it was really really really really funny.

Getting things done... and done... TCB
Monday, June 28, 2004 06:26 p.m.

It occurred to me this week that there were several undertakings I had started in the past year or two which had lost momentum, never got started, or strictly gotten abandonned... SO I made a list, and came up with 10 things I have to finish before I start any new projects. Finishing 5 different books, make up half the list.

1. Finish reading "Life of Pi"
2. Finish reading "The Colour of Magic"
3. Finish reading "The Gospel According to ESPN"
4. Finish reading "Zen Guitar"
5. Finish reading "Appocalypse WOW"
6. Finish learning Flash MX 2004(which involves finishing a book)
7. Learn Italian
8. Finish Level 2 Workbook for Coaching (Certification)
9. Put together Workbook for Coaching (Pre-Season Planning)
10. Redo my website.

Now, since I've made this list. I've already knocked two of the books off the list. I read about 300 pages in the past 20 hours. So #1 and #3 are crossed off and done. Talk about productive...

Today is Election Day in Canada. I hope everybody voted. It's going to be a close one so it should be an exciting night at work.

Yesterday was my Dad's Birthday, so I had a nice little chat with him and mom.

Saturday night, I went to Toronto Island for the first time. I met up with a friend from Montreal at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, and then we caught up with Leigh and her peeps at the Bier Markt. Always a good time there.

Leigh and I saw "Dodgeball" on Thursday. That movie was really, really, really, really funny. I laughed a lot. Leigh didn't want to go, but ended up laughing almost as much as I did. Funny funny movie. Not especially cinematically brilliant, but really, really funny.

And I scraped my arms something fierce sliding into 2nd base in our softball game Sunday. They're going to start calling me "Timmy Hustle." Or Maybe they'll just stick with Timmy...

okay... so it's been like 9 or 10 days.
Thursday, June 24, 2004 10:16 p.m.

A lot has happened over the past week and a half. So here's the recap.

-Leigh and I saw "Dodgeball" tonight. It was pretty dang funny.
-I drove to Maitland & Williamsburg and back in a day to see my family. I had a good time with the nephew, the parents, the sister, the cousins, and others. It was a little longer than the last meeting when Sue and Neil brought the boy out and we had pizza and ice cream.
-I met with the team I'm going to coach this year. The meeting was pretty successful even though we had a visitor kinda leach on to it. He was an acquaintance of one of the girl's, who in retrospect thought he was someone else. Anyway, we're meeting again soon.
-England lost to Portugal today, which made me sad. Great game though.
-I've been working a lot, but the next couple weeks will be extra heavy, with weddings and concerts and other goodness mixed in. At least I'm making money now, unlike all the entries from this time last year when I was broker than china in a bull shop.
-It looks like I have another gig coming up with my friend Jen. We played/sang at a wedding a while ago, and now some charity thing is requiring our services. Still not sure what we're singing yet. Should be fun.
-So other than that, been to a couple Jays games. Not too many wins... -I'm ready for a nice vacation. Little Boston trip coming up.

such a good show...
Tuesday, June 15, 2004 04:20 p.m.

Nothing too crazy to report from "The Big Smoke." That's what my friend Bill calls Toronto. But whatever. Leigh is in Kingston for a couple days, while I work feverishly at making sure the Ticker is updated and that iNews isn't crashing across the country. And when I say feverishly, I really mean, I watch a lot of Euro2004 Soccer.

Our softball team is now 8-1, having swept our main competition this week, which was particularly satisfying. I'm hitting somewhere around .610, which is nowhere near the best average on our team. It's quite sickening actually.

I watched 4 episodes of the Sopranos last night from my DVD set. I wanted to watch another one, but it was getting rather late and I should have quit after the first two anyway. But wow, I love that show. It's like a good movie every episode. Sure they swear a lot, and kill some people, and it's all about organized crime... but it's ridiculously compelling.

On Monday, I'm meeting with the team I'm probably going to be coaching next year. That should be interesting, considering I haven't met any of them. I'm looking forward to it though.

Ruud VanNistelrooy just tied it for Holland. That's huge. Germany was going to win. Not no more!! Tie game. It's over.

who's the big winner here tonight?
Thursday, June 10, 2004 11:55 p.m.

Well, I went to the NHL Awards tonight as a seat-filler, which was actually pretty lame. I managed to be among the large group of people who didn't actually get to sit at the event, because there were a lot of seat-fillers, and not too many empty seats. However, I got ridiculously close to Jarome Iginla and Martin Brodeur at one point. Actually, they both walked right by me... who'da thunkit?

So I worked Monday night at the Score, which was alright. The work was okay, and to make it more exciting there was a pool involving that night's Pistons-Lakers playoff game. By picking the closest total points by quarter, I managed to beat out 18 other people, to win their each. It was a great game, and I almost killed Kobe Bryant when he hit the clutch 3-pointer at the buzzer. Any more points in that quarter, and I would have lost the whole pool, but alas, I didn't. So I bought some DVDs (finally picked up Men With Brooms) and some new sunglasses.

In other news about winning things, I got a call from Tim Horton's saying that I won something with my Camp Day raffle ticket. I threw in my dollar and filled out my little slip, and apparently I won something coffee related, I think he said actual coffee, but I couldn't really make it out on the phone.

Looking ahead, I get to meet my nephew this weekend, which is pretty cool. Looking back, Leigh and I had some wicked fajitas tonight, and then tried to decide on what kind of art we are going to get.

clearly, the only thing you'll be intaking is...
Monday, June 7, 2004 07:17 p.m.

It was quite a weekend. Friday afternoon, Chris picked up Mike and me, and we headed down to Niagara Falls. We beat the traffic out of the city, and were downtown Niagara before too long. We couldn't check into the hotel yet because the rooms were in Justin's name, and we hadn't met up with him yet. That, and we didn't exactly have a plan on how, where, or when we were going to meet him and Merrick.

So to kill some time, we went to East Side Marios. It is always a pleasure to get together with the buddies you don't see enough and chat, joke, and catch up. It hadn't really been that long since I had seen them, but compared to the frequency we used to have, once a month or two is way down.

We headed back to the hotel, and the guys still hadn't checked in. So we went to leave a message at the desk for them. Amazingly, they had managed to check in in the 2 minutes we were standing right in front of the hotel desk... either that of one of the hotel employees didn't know how to check such a thing and guessed wrong. Either way, they were there, and we met up.

Now, with the 5 of us assembled and accounted for, we were looking for something to do. After some debate we ended up at a Go-Kart track outside of town. Mike ran Chris into a wall on Lap 3, but other than that it was a pretty safe ride. Except for the fact that Justin's eyes puffed up to mosterous proportions shortly thereafter. Nobody else seemed to have eye issues, but Justin was clearly in some state of disorder. So what else could we do? We went to Hooters for wings and beer.

Now, I had honestly never eaten at a Hooters before. I've been near a few, and inside one, so I'm pretty sure the mechanical bull is not a standard feature. The Niagara Falls location, however, is blessed with such machinery. I had never been near one before, and had no idea how long it would be until I was near another, so I had to give it a ride. Chris was nice enough to sponsor my adventure by paying the fee. A cowboy, I am not. Merrick gave it a shot later, and it made me feel better to see that he wasn't really a cowboy either.

The wings were okay, and the beer was cold (thanks to the Hooters patented "bag of ice"), and after that, we headed downtown to a bar, and then to the casino. Chris battled with the unluckiest craps table in history, and when I jumped in to help, I too was quickly defeated...

We golfed on Saturday morning at Legends: Battlefield. Beautiful course, but I played the worst golf game of my life.

We watched Smarty Jones lose the Triple Crown from our hotel room, then debated about what the plan was for the rest of the evening. We were hungry, thirsty, and needed a place to watch the hockey game. As unfamiliar with the area as we were, we knew there was a little place just up the street where all three objectives could be met. So back to Hooters we went...

About 5 hours, 50 chicken wings, a lot of beer, and an over time goal later, we walked back to the hotel. Calgary lost, bets were settled, and I went to bed. Chris and Mike, however, went back to the casino.

I seem to recall Chris coming in a couple hours later saying he won back some of his craps table losses. That didn't matter, at the time though, our tee time was in about 4 hours.

At 7:36 am, we were on the 10th tee (playing the back nine first) at Whirlpool Golf Course, which is on the north end of Niagara Falls. It wasn't as perfectly maintained as Legends, but was still a very nice course. I played a lot better, but still wasted a lot of shots, and felt somewhat redeemed from the previous days performance.

A short while later, we lunched at Wendy's, and drove back to Toronto. I was back in the apartment around 3:00 pm, when I went up to the roof to hang out with Leigh and sit in the sun... which eventually turned into a little nap.

We saw the latest Harry Potter movie, which I quite liked. For anybody who has read the book, however, it is obvious that a TON of background got left out, which was really noticeable. I didn't get to see a lot of what I was expecting to see, which was sad. However, as a whole, it was still very well done.

My Sopranos DVD Sets arrived today, and that marks the end of another Ebay purchase. I'm very impressed with them, although I'm not 100% sure they're legit copies. They look good, work on the DVD player, and have very nice packages, but still seem a little "off the back of a truck." I'm not complaining... just sayin.

Leigh's at work tonight, I'm getting hungry, and a hockey game is about to start. Time to wrap up this thinger for the moment... great weekend though, all around.

darkest before the dawn...
Friday, June 4, 2004 10:11 a.m.

Well, I've been at work at 5 am all week and now I want to die. Although I'm getting up 4-5 hours earlier, I'm not going to bed any sooner. Well maybe a little bit, but not at all enough to matter. ANYWAY... It's been an early week.

Leigh's ebay budding addiction has sparked a relapse in mine. I was on the wagon for quite a while, but fell off to the tune of 4 seasons worth of Sopranos DVD Box Sets.

We hit up GroceryGateway.com for this weeks food, and wow, it was way too easy. No walking around the store, no picking through fruit and vegetables, no lugging it all back in a cab or subway. They just bring it right over... too easy.

Lastly, I'm heading to Niagara Falls with the boys for a couple days. A couple rounds of golf and a little casino action never hurts. So I'm counting down the hours until I can get out of work...

soooo early...
Monday, May 31, 2004 07:44 a.m.

I'm still not sure why I had to be here at 5am, but I was. Certainly that's a little earlier than I wanted to be up today, but I should get used to it because it's CBC 5am-1pm.

Working backwards... Sean and Natalie came over for BBQ and some guy stepped on a little dog named Oscar... We won both of our softball games in the morning. I brought my average up a couple points... Saturday, Leigh and I went for dinner at Gabby's after bumming around for most of the day... Friday night, we had a load of people over, and had a little housewarming party. It went pretty well, and now we've got all sorts of beverages left over... Before the party, I was running errands and did a little shopping for myself, I got a really cool ModRobes sweater/jacket thing... And I'm sure some useful stuff happened before then, but I can't think too much exciting.

I need a nap. Or breakfast. Or both.

Today I learned...
Wednesday, May 26, 2004 05:36 p.m.

It occured to me today that the older I get, the list of "Things that can suddenly turn me from mild-mannered happy Brian to ranting stressed-out foaming-at-the-mouth Brian" is only going to get longer. I knew there were a few things, and people have told me that they can tell when they've hit one of these nerves by the look I get in my eye. Pretty much only my best friends have seen it... because they have been around while I've discussed any of 3 things. That's right, there are only 3 things on the list of things that will set me off in an instant.

Although, I pretty much knew it already, today confirmed the fact that the whole U-Haul experience was going to be on that list forever, and so I offically made it #3. After receiving an e-mail a couple days ago containing an appology and an offer for in VIP U-haul money, I was more outraged than satisfied. I wrote back...

Hi,

in store credit might be fine if any ONE of my complaints had gone wrong. But the fact is, from beginning to end, pretty much everything that could have gone wrong did. Your company didn't care about the fact that it forced me to completely rearrange all of my moving arrangements, then proceeded to overcharge me.

might cover the gas, but what about the botched reservation, the 20 ensuing phone calls, the truck instead of the van, the resulting extra trips and extra kilometers, the 11 hour rental instead of the 24 hour rental, and the hassle of dealing with landlords wondering why I still had things in my apartment after my move out date?

I requested a complete refund, because that's what I feel I deserve. I'm not going to be satisfied with of U-Haul credit.

Thank you, Brian Chick

So today the district manager phones me. Her name was Lucy. She appologized, which sounded extremely insincere, but it was still better than nothing. I told her how upset I was with everything, and the more I talked about it, the more I felt it all build up inside. I'm sure I had that look in my eye as I was explaining things, but I was at work, so I couldn't freak out all the way.

She said all reservations were subject to availability. I said fine, but suggested that they tell customers if their vehicles are not available. She didn't sound as if this was something they were going to start doing. She didn't sound as if she cared much about anything I was saying, frankly. But I did get about 15 "Oh, we're extrememly sorry about that"s.

And what did it all come down to? Nothing new. I'm getting my in U-Haul money, which apparently can buy me propane, and boxes, and packing materials! The only thing I can think of that might be useful there is buying some propane so I could blow up U-Haul... but even I think that's a little extreme. So anyway, give me a call if you need boxes or styrofoam popcorn.

I bet you're wondering what the other two things on the list are now... I know a couple of you can name them!

pbp v 2.0
Thursday, May 20, 2004 02:35 p.m.

so then.. where was i...monday?

Leigh and I went grocery shopping. This is a big deal. Of all the things that require planning and organization, not to mention motivation, grocery shopping tends to top that list for us. It's really something. I'm pretty sure nothing else happened that day. I think the weather was nice.

Tuesday my parents showed up according to plan. we did a little tour of the apartment, a little tour of the CBC and other things in this city, tried to put up a shelf (unsuccessfully - due to a pesky cement wall behind the drywall), and then went for dinner at Milestones. I had steak, which was excellent. Leigh had to work, but mom and dad and I went to the Jays game. They won.

Wednesday, Leigh got home from work and went to bed. The other three of us went for a pretty lengthy walk to some record stores, some furniture stores, some hardware stores, and some other stores. We made it home as Leigh was getting up (which was the plan), and then headed to the theatre for Mamma Mia.

The show was very entertaining and pretty funny. I think we all enjoyed it. After that, we worked on the shelf again (and again, unsuccessfully), then sat on the roof in the sun until it was time for them to go.

Leigh and I made some dinner, watched "The Bachelor" and both agreed he picked the wrong girl. That was about it. Now it's Thursday, and I'm at work.

play-by-play... the last few days.
Thursday, May 20, 2004 12:55 p.m.

Friday -

I make calls all day trying to find someone to go to the Jays game with. James is busy, Mike is going home, Chris doesn't answer. Later, Chris calls back with Jays tickets (what a coincidence), James got out of his plans, and Mike changed his mind. We go to the Jays game. Jays lose. Good seats though. We meet John Cerutti and Sean McDonough in the SkyDome hotel bar after. We have a drink... or two.

McDonough and Cerutti say that some of their peeps are at another bar called the Big Easy. I don't know it, but based on the directions, I know where it is. So it turns out they're talking about Easy & the Fifth, a pretty nice club, and of course James and I are in schmo-clothes. Apparently that doesn't matter as they usher you in the back door, and through the bar to the V.I.P. section.

So the guy lifts the rope and lets us in to the V.I.P. area, where who should I meet but Johnny Damon, the Red Sox centerfielder. Then I notice that Manny Ramirez was around. And David Ortiz. and Ellis Burks. and Hazel Mae. Okay so other than Hazel, they're all with the Red Sox. And then Nick from "The Apprentice" showed up...

James and I kept laughing to eachother saying "what are we doing here?"

So after one last drink with McDonough sometime around 3:15 am, I pass out. Sometime around 8:30, Leigh got home from work, and we talked a little bit about my crazy night. Apparently, I still smelled a little bit like alcohol, which was not surprising because I still felt a little dizzy. Sometime around the 4th inning of the following day's Jays/Sox game, I get out of bed.

I tidied up the apartment a little, went to dinner with Leigh at Subway, then ended up getting together with some work people which eventually ended up being poutine and Peel Pub. It was a nice early evening.

Sunday, I had two softball games. We won them both. I played pretty well, except for a little miscommunication with the third base coach, which resulted in me getting screwed at 2nd base. I got home from McFly's around 5:00, which was just about the time Leigh was getting up. So we had a nice little hour together before we both went to work. NOthing crazy happened at the Score that night... I watched "Trailer Park Boys."

Enough of this for now... it's lunch time. I'll finish it later.

It's about that time...
Friday, May 14, 2004 01:07 p.m.

Well, it's Friday. And this makes me good and happy. Red Sox are in town tonight, and I'm probably going to go to the game tonight, or tomorrow, or both. The apartment is shaping up to be liveable, and only a few more things need to be put away. Not bad. Today makes two weeks.

Work is starting to pick up a little bit, which is actually welcome. It's not exactly fun work, but it makes the day go by a little faster. Of course we all tend to take periodic breaks to listen to music, or watch things on TV. Amazingly, all the work still gets done.

My parents are coming to town next week. We're going to a Jays game and to Mamma Mia. Should be good. I'm looking forward to that.

What else is going on... Leigh is working nights all weekend. James is starting to work at the Score again, which is great news. Sean McDonough is around this weekend, so it's always fun to hang out with him. I've got a busy social calendar this week... I think I'm even going bowling with work people. Crazy.

I've got softball on Sunday. Games #2 and #3 this year. Hopefully our bats will be mighty and our balls will be... nevermind.

Happy Mother's Day
Sunday, May 9, 2004 07:59 p.m.

Hey all... It's Mother's Day, so if you haven't called mom yet, you're running out of time. It was a pretty crazy week, trying to settle the new place, but I think we're getting pretty close to done. There are still a few things looking for a place, and a few things that we still need to get, but it looks remarkably like an apartment.

I tried out the Virtual Golf downstairs and played 18 holes at Pebble Beach. It's a lot harder than real golf, but it's still pretty fun. I played a few games of pool too, but I'm going to be hitting the gym every now and then.

Leigh and I made a little shopping trip yesterday and got a new TV and DVD player. We got it delivered last night, and now have a pretty sweet little entertainment centre. I hooked up the TV to my stereo, so we have some decent sound too. And I was reminded of how much I hate salesmen on comission... I really do.

So what else... the Leafs are done. The Flames won today. The Survivor finale is starting. We won our first softball game. Jays have won 5 straight. I still haven't heard from U-haul. But I'm going to keep bugging them til they answer. Leigh's at work tonight, so I'm taping it. And I think I'm gonna go work out... hehe, that sounds funny.

The U-Haul Letter
Monday, May 3, 2004 08:52 p.m.

Let it be made official that U-Haul is on my list of "Companies I Hate" and is taking over the #1 spot. ScotiaWhore and ViaWhore have NOTHING on U-Whore.

"Why?"

Well, how about you just read the letter I just left on the U-Haul website in the comments/concerns page. I didn't even mention the rain...

Describe your concern:
Renting from U-Haul was the most frustrating and miserable experience I can remember. Moving is stressful enough. I really didn't need to have problems every step of the way with your company.

I made a reservation on April 17th via this website, for a Cargo Van, 24 Hour rental, on April 30th.

-I was supposed to get a call to confirm that reservation. I got no call. I eventually called to make sure everything was okay, and was told that everything was fine with my reservation.

-I was supposed to get a call to confirm my pickup location and time. I got no call. I was forced to call after work on Thursday, only to find the line busy for hours, and the center closed by the time I got through. I had to call 2 other numbers before finding the information I needed.

-I was supposed to get a location near my house, on the east side of downtown Toronto. The location that was assigned was about as far away from me as possible, on the absolute west end of the city. Not to mention that I'm getting charged by the KM and the location was 16 KM from my house, and there are several locations closer. I asked for a different one, but was told that the other location was the only one with a Cargo Van, which I found very hard to believe.

-I reserved the van for 24 Hours, two weeks ahead of time. It was only when I called (the night before my move) to inquire about the location and time that I was told I was only going to get the van for FIVE hours, and that would be from 7am to 12 pm. THIS WAS ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE. Not only did I have this reservation for two weeks before finding this out, not only did my reservation get cut from 24 hours to 5 without notice, not only were these hours the most useless 5 hours I could have gotten (due to elevator bookings at my two apartment locations), but I WOULDN'T HAVE KNOWN ANY OF THIS, unless I had called and asked a question out of curiosity.

-I expressed my displeasure on the phone with little result. I was told to call another branch (Rexdale) farther away from my downtown apartment to see if they could accommodate my request. They couldn't, but at least made an effort. When I called back to the original location, I was told I could get a pick-up truck all day instead, which was not very appealing, but given my schedule of elevators, and friends to help, it was all I could do.

-Because of the size of the truck, I was forced to make more trips, add more kilometers, and take more time in general. I was UNABLE to finish my move because of this. I had to make alternative arrangements over the next two days to move the rest of my things, which also caused problems with the building I was moving out of.

-Upon returning the vehicle, the gas gauge read the same as it did when I took it out (On the low side of the 3/4 line). Regardless, I was charged for low-gas, and no matter how hard I tried to convince them that it was the same, because it was on the low side, I was charged excessively for a very small amount of gas. Not only was this charge ridiculously large, it was unwarranted in the first place. The gauge was the same.

-They also tried to charge me for insurance, which I had opted to waive (I had the paperwork to prove it), and for late charges because I had been in line for 15 minutes by the time they were looking for my vehicle. Although they were both eventually waived, I was still unhappy about it. If I hadn't argued then, I would have been charged even MORE.

There were so many things wrong with your company's service that I don't even know where to begin. It made my move incredibly difficult, even though it was just a small apartment moving a short distance. I have sworn to never deal with U-Haul again, and am encouraging anyone who will listen to do the same. You are in the business of moving equipment. You should know that a Cargo Van for 24 Hours is not the same thing as a Pick-Up truck for 11 hours.

What can we do to help?
Offer me an official apology for horrendous service, and refund my charge of 0.73 for changing my reservation without notice, poor customer relations, overcharging me upon the return of the vehicle, and the general stress and difficulty caused by dealing with U-Haul.

So...

That was the stripped down corporate version. The personal version has funny stories about me flipping out on the phone, cramming four people into the cab of the pick-up, and me walking over the highway in the rain, with a tarp on my head. But that's the basic run-down. Needless to say, I was pretty stinkin' mad...

DURING ALL THAT, THESE THINGS ACTUALLY CAME OUT OF MY MOUTH:
1. You're kidding, right?
2. You're screwing me here!
3. You have no idea how completely USELESS that is to me!
4. I'm sorry I'm freaking out here, you must understand this is a little.... frustrating.
5. Thank you. You know what? You're very nice, but I hate your company.

MOVED - What an ordeal that was... is... will be
Monday, May 3, 2004 04:13 p.m.

I'm working on a longer version of the whole story, so I can type it out and send to everyone (and I'll post it here) but it really boils down to this... the move is done. The new place is really nice. There is still a lot of unpacking to do. U-haul made it about 100 times harder than it needed to be, and I have plans to complain until I get some sort of compensation. I'm back at work, and will probably write more soon, but for now I have to take care of some other things...

Details to come, but promise me you'll...
NEVER RENT A U-HAUL
NEVER RENT A U-HAUL
NEVER RENT A U-HAUL
NEVER RENT A U-HAUL
NEVER RENT A U-HAUL
NEVER RENT A U-HAUL
NEVER RENT A U-HAUL
NEVER RENT A U-HAUL
NEVER RENT A U-HAUL
NEVER RENT A U-HAUL
NEVER RENT A U-HAUL
NEVER RENT A U-HAUL
NEVER RENT A U-HAUL

it's about that time...
Tuesday, April 27, 2004 10:26 a.m.

It's about that time when you can pretty much put the winter coats away and look forward to spring and summer stuff. You gotta love that first warm sunny day in spring. Of course that was last week, not today. Today is kinda miserable and a little cool, but that's not the point.

It's about the time when curling is done and softball season starts. Our first games are on Sunday, and I don't know if I can make my appearance because...

I'm moving this weekend. Now, assuming everything goes according to plan, the move should be uneventful. Of course that's assuming that people show up when they say they will, things are available and on time, and there are no earth shattering complications like "we were just kidding about the lease."

My apartment is mostly packed up. It's starting to look really empty now that all the walls are bare and the shelves are empty. And the amount of dust I swept up from under the furniture is enough to make new furniture. So there's not much left to do now, except confirm the arrangements.

In the meantime, Leigh and I managed to watch "Kill Bill: Volume 1." As long as you don't mind foul language, gratuitous violence, and lots of unrealistic blood spurting, it's quite an entertaining movie. We're both excited for Volume 2, but I'm sure that will have to wait until sometime after this weekend. Leigh, of course, has her own packing to do, although I think I'm getting called in to dismantle some furniture.

In the meantime, the quiet week at work is entirely welcome. Because it means the work I was hired to do has not yet arrived, which means by the time it does, I'll get a contract extension. So that is good news.

stick it to the man!!
Thursday, April 22, 2004 11:34 a.m.

Wow... free time. Something I haven't had a lot of lately (outside of work). I like it though. It gives me time to watch TV and pack up my apartment. I sold my dresser a couple days ago. Wow. Far out. Tony Hawk is cool. I was happy that girl got booted off American Idol last night. She seemed a little obnoxious in the 30 seconds of video I saw. I'm not really a huge follower.

Okay, so now the real entry begins. I was just kinda trying to portray my state of mind here at work. It's a little slow at the moment. A little boring. It's time to create a little project for me, which I think will be to redo my site. It's an anual event.

Details are starting to come together for the move. I've got a van reserved, I've got the elevator time booked, I've got a crack team on call to make it as quick and painless as possible.

The Leafs start a big series tonight against Philly. It's going to be a rough series, but I think if we can score a couple goals, Eddie will keep us in it.

Leigh is back from the Dominican and looks fantastically lightly toasted. She brought me a nice necklace and a nice cigar. Sounds like they all had fun... Nice to have her back though.

Oh, and I shaved my head.

long week
Sunday, April 18, 2004 02:18 p.m.

Well apparently this site was down for a little while over the past couple days, so if you tried to check it out, you might not have gotten anything. But then again, you didn't miss much, because I hadn't written anything. I was going to, but the site was down...It's a viscious cycle. But I can't complain. It's a free site, and 99% of the time, it's up and running with out any issues.

So between work and curling, I was busy from 9 am to about 11pm every day this week except Friday. Monday night, lost in Mens. Tuesday night, won in Mixed. Wednesday night, won in Mixed. Thursday night, lost in Mens. Friday... the Leafs won. Saturday was finals night, and due to our performances during the week, our Mixed team was in a final, and our Mens team... just wasn't.

So, in what was supposed to be a 10-end game, we took 2, stole 2, stole 1, stole 4, and that was it. That's right. 4 ends, 9-0. We're the mixed league champions. Yay. Finals Night itself was a great party with lots of goodtimes. Sean came out to watch, but missed our game because it was so short. So he hung out and partied with us until the wee hours.

In related news, our Mens team has been somewhat disbanded. Our 5 members are now all Free-Agents, which could just be a nice way of saying that we're all fired. So it's all up in the air for next year, but it looks like I need at least part of a new team. I've got all summer to work it out though.

Leigh gets back from the Dominican tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to that. Now we just have to get our act together for moving. There's a lot to be done, and schedules to figure out, and logistics and whatnot. I'm not sure what that means, but I'm pretty sure there are some logistics. I just have to wrap my head around it. There needs to be a good plan for moving two apartments on different sides of the city to one apartment in the middle of the city, in a 2.5 hour elevator window. I'll sort it out. It will depend on how much help I can get too.

It looks like my parents are coming up in May to see us. They want to see Mamma Mia and maybe a Jays game. It's funny how you can live in this city all the time, but you don't do any of the touristy things until people show up from out-of-town.

I'm gonna go watch the Jays game. Leafs are on tonight, poised to eliminate Ottawa. It'll be huge. I can't wait. As long as they win.

Oh.. Master and Commander was a good movie. I watched it on Friday after the Leafs game. Just thought I'd mention that too.

good thing i like curling...
Monday, April 12, 2004 01:50 p.m.

I was in Montreal for the weekend, following a pretty average week of work. On the way out, I stopped in to see the parents for a few minutes, but because we were trying to get to Montreal, and because I wasn't in control of the operation, we had to keep the visit short. Had it been up to me, I would have stayed a little longer... alas, it was not. Nice to see mom, though.

Montreal was a lot of fun, the curling was entertaining. We should have won more games than we did, but that would have given us less time to party it up and have fun. We didn't lose on purpose, but we got into a habit of playing a good first half, and a horrible 2nd half. After the 4th end, everything kept going downhill. Ah well, we had fun. We danced, ate, drank, sang, gambled, went Scooter hunting the parking lot, and threatened people! What a good time.

I got in last night, and headed over to Leigh's. I watched her pack for her trip, and we ordered Thai food. It was pretty good, but a little spicey. I was wiped out from a couple long weeks, and of course the Montreal weekend, and she was wiped out from her work week, so we passed out pretty easily.

In the morning, she ran some errands, and I saw her off to the airport shuttle bus, where she met Natalie. The two of them headed to the airport, to meet their friends, and then to fly to the Dominican for a week. I'm jealous.

In the meantime though, I'll probably have to curl in club playoffs almost every night this week. It's a good thing I don't have any extra Score shifts until Sunday, because they'd get in the way of 6 nights in a row of curling. So I guess I'll be good and distracted while Leigh is away, baking on the sunny beaches of Puerto Plata... doesn't mean I'm not jealous though!

weekend? what weekend?
Sunday, April 4, 2004 12:16 p.m.

Well it's Sunday and I'm at CBC. I was here yesterday, and I'll be here tomorrow too. Every 6-7 weeks, I'll have to do weekend shifts, which means I get long weekends on each end of an 8 day stretch. Throw a couple of night at the Score in there, and you got yourself a busy week.

However, with all the work, I still manage to find time to enjoy things. On Thursday night, Leigh took me out for dinner and bought be a nice jacket for my birthday. We had some steaks at the City Grill, then stopped by SeaNat's to hang out for a bit and to get my birthday presents from them, which were a hoodie and a t-shirt featuring Homestar Runner (from HomestarRunner.com). So that was a really nice and fun night.

Friday, I was back at work, where it seemed that Karen and I were the only ones in the office. Somehow, the place didn't fall to pieces and we actually had a really good time. I think we were just looking forward to the party to come.

After I left work on Friday, I stopped in at Modrobes on Queen Street and treated myself to a birthday "Give'r" T-Shirt that I've been eyeing for quite a while. I made it home, had a shower, and cooked myself a hotdog for dinner, but as I went to put the ketchup on it, I dropped the brand new bottle (seal still on) to the floor, and it managed to explode across my kitchen. I had a little cleaning up to do, and now, worst of all, I have to buy another bottle of ketchup.

But then it was time to party. I had received confirmation from more than 20 people saying they were going to be at the Bier Markt to celebrate, and I'm pretty sure closer to 35 showed up. It wasn't all for me, most of them just wanted an excuse to get together, but we had a really good time. Some of Leigh's friends came too, so I don't think they were really there for me, but I count them anyway because the numbers are more impressive. The pictures are great though! I drank enough, but not a ridiculous amount, and felt fine in the morning, when I had to go back to work!

Last night, I went to the Loose Moose with Mike to watch the last regular season Leafs game. They beat the Senators 6-0, which was fantastic, and a great way to enter the playoffs. Depending on what happens today though, Toronto will either play Montreal or Ottawa in the first round of playoffs. Eitherway it should be an intense series.

After that, I met up with Leigh who had been at the Britney Spears concert (don't judge, she had free tickets). But I tell you, if you ever want to feel like a creep, just hang out alone outside the arena when a Britney concert gets out. Thousands of 10-14 year old girls, hooched up to the max, dressed like little tarts, all wearing the exact same skanky clothes, and yapping like... school girls. I was thrilled that Leigh and Natalie wanted to get out of there as fast I did.

Thank you to everyone who called, or sent birthday wishes. I hope you guys all had a good weekend too. Even though I've worked Friday-Sunday (and tonight at the Score), I've still had a great birthday weekend, which seems to be the trend this year.

Holla holla... happy bizzle to the mizzle!
Thursday, April 1, 2004 12:00 p.m.

It's my birthday.

I'm not even joking.

Thank you in advance for all the gifts you will be showering me with.

it's amazing how it all adds up
Wednesday, March 31, 2004 12:11 p.m.

It's Wednesday, but I'm pretty sure it still feels like a horrible Monday morning. Partially because I had the last 4 days off, partially because I'm only barely recovering from feeling as bad as I have felt in at least a couple years, partially because I have a super long week ahead, partially because I was at The Score until 2am last night... and partially because I drank too much on the weekend which opened the door for the discomfort on the following days.

That being said, the weekend went really well. Everybody had a good time. My hard work was well appreciated, and my music was enjoyed by at least a few people. The curling was so-so for us, but the event was a resounding success. It was nice to see my dad, and we had some good times drunk-dialing my mom and sister.

Eventually there will be some photos on the website, but who knows how long that will take. That being done however, I can now focus on what's ahead, which is a WHOLE LOT... I don't think I'll be able to rest until about mid-May.

My birthday is tomorrow, and I'm going out for dinner with Leigh for it, and having a little party on Friday, and I'll be working at CBC for the next 8 days, after which I'll be going to curl in Montreal, after which I'll be able to hang out with Leigh for one night before she goes away on vacation, after which we only have a week before we move, which suddenly doesn't seem too far away. I'm still excited for it, and walking by the place everyday on my way to and from work only makes it worse. The Countdown is at 30 Days... and there's a lot to do in that time.

I saw "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" on Monday night with Leigh. We both really liked it. It seemed to borrow a bit of "Memento" and a bit of "Being John Malkovich" and was a very atypical Jim Carrey movie. If you like the offbeat and different flicks, check this one out.

I should probably get back to work.

art vandelay - i'm an architect
Thursday, March 25, 2004 11:44 a.m.

Hey people... friends, family, and whatnot. Things are good and busy, but generally in pretty decent shape. I'm doing a pretty good job of nursing my Seinfeld addiction. For some reason, I can't get enough of it these days. What a good show.

We clinched the aggregate championship for our Tuesday Night League this week. It was a must-win game, and eventually we did that. It was a little questionable for a while, but we eventually got the train up to speed. So playoffs for that start the week after next.

Tonight, however, the Men's Bonspiel starts. They've got a great website. You should check it out. So it should be a very entertaining weekend. My dad is coming out, and that'll be fun.

Leigh and I are looking forward to the big move... but sadly that won't happen for another month. So until then, we're trying to get furniture and other arrangements in order, which involves a lot of window shopping. Eventually we're actually going to have to spend a load of money though, which will probably not be as much fun as looking at all the nice things in the store.

In the meantime, I'm hungry.

m-o-n-d-a-y m-o-u-s-e
Monday, March 22, 2004 11:24 a.m.

And so it begins... a week that should be action packed and exciting. A week that will begin with a lot of work, and end with a lot of fun. A week that will likely be seven days long, and eight days wide, and 3 days deep, giving it a total volume of 168 cubic days... which is a lot.

And... I got nothin. Don't ask where that came from.

This weekend was nothing too crazy. The curling I was supposed to do got cancelled due to some miscommunications (I got the screw-job, really). So Leigh and I watched "School of Rock" on Friday night and got Swiss Chalet. It was pretty sweet!

Saturday, Sean needed help painting his apartment so I threw on my old jeans (which were massive, by the way. I thought I had gone on the Jared-Subway diet and these were my "BEFORE" pants. Did they ever actually fit? No.), and helped Sean and friends do up the apartment in a nice "eggshell" color. Leigh came by in the afternoon after taking care of some work she needed to do at home. We hung out well into the evening. Drinks were served. Hilarity ensused. We waved at the people in the hotel across the street.

Not much happened on Sunday other than a few March Madness upsets. I was at the Score (where I will be again tonight after CBC) and chillaxed there until about 2 am.

I continue to rock out and expand my playlist for my upcoming gig. My next major project involves securing a microphone stand and a microphone. Peace out!

results are official
Thursday, March 18, 2004 12:43 p.m.

Tuesday morning, Leigh and I signed a lease for a nice new place. I know this probably comes as a surprise to many of you, so all I can say is that you should talk to me more often, and return emails and phonecalls.

So May 1st, we're moving to 50 John St. which is right in the area where both my jobs happen to live. It's about a 15 minute walk for her to get to the hospital, and close enough to everything else we want to be near. It's a really nice place, and we're both looking forward to furnishing it with real grown up stylish things.

For those of you who are familiar with the area, or for even some of you who have just visited, it's at the corner of Wellington and John, right across from the CBC. The Boston crew may remember the Starbucks where we left Tony while we visited the CN Tower... that Starbucks is IN my apartment building.

In other news, I've been listening to a lot of new music. I really like the new Jet CD, the "Once Upon a Time In Mexico" Soundtrack, along with some old rock stuff I got. I had been in somewhat of a rut because I had exhausted most of the music on my playlist. So now I have some fresh stuff to keep me entertained.

I'm not curling this weekend, due to a miscommunication in the registration department. As it works out though, it gives everybody a free day or two to do some other things that they needed to do. We were all upset about it, but not so terribly upset that we're not going to take advantage of the day off.

Lastly, I've started a xanga.com blog to keep in touch with some of the Boston friends. It's going to be really weak and nonsensical compared to this one, which I know is a frightening concept.

My birthday is coming up! WOO WOO.

Horseshoe everything
Thursday, March 11, 2004 11:50 a.m.

Wow, a lot can happen in 9 days.

I was talking to my parents on the phone last night and my dad was kind enough to remind me that I haven't updated this in a while, and it honestly took my by surprise because I've been so busy in the past couple weeks, that I've forgotten all about it. Usually, I think "oh i should mention this, or write about it" but that thought had completely escaped me for the past 9 days. Anyway, I'll try to get you caught up.

Monday and Tuesday last week, I went in to CBC to test out the 3-11 shift, by shadowing Greg for the evening. I didn't really shadow him, but I hung out at work with him, and he showed me the rundown of nighttime things. It's pretty simple, and really quiet. After work on Tuesday we went to the Horseshoe Tavern to catch a band called the "Pat McGee Band." Apparently they've got quite a following down in the south. Apparently, they DON'T have quite as large a following in Toronto. It was pretty empty.

Wednesday was my double day between CBC and The Score. Those 16-hour days aren't nearly as long when you only do one, instead of 3 in a row. Thursday was pay-day and I went to Leigh's for dinner. Oh yeah... then I destroyed one of her shirts by getting ink all over it. That was kinda funny. Apparently, nothing happened on Friday because the calendar is blank. I must have slept all day. Actually, I think I went to work, did some shopping on the way home, then hung out with Leigh, Sean, and Natalie... we watched "Office Space."

Then the fun begins. Saturday morning, Leigh and I rented a car, ran some errands, toured a condo just for kicks, loaded up all sorts of clothes, and headed up to Horseshoe Resort for a bit of afternoon/night skiing. There's a reason they don't call it Horseshoe Mountain, or even Horseshoe Hill. It's pretty little. But I got to go snowboarding, and Leigh finally got to go skiing, which she's been craving all year. It was a very nice night, which we capped off by driving back downtown, picking up Sean and Natalie and driving around all night until we got bored. We hit up Lick's for a wicked hamburger.

Sunday, I worked at the Score. Star Wars was on TV. I think that's it.

All this week, I've been doing 3-11 shifts at CBC. They've gone pretty well. In the meantime, I've still been trying to sort out this whole apartment deal, and it looks like we're pretty close. The original plan is scrapped, the original building scrapped, but the end result is really cool and I'm excited for it. And so it my new roomie, Leigh. The building is insanely outfitted, insanely located, and insanely nice. It's almost insanely priced, but we're young and decided we should live it up while we can. So I'm just waiting to hear from them for sure, we filled out all the paper work yesterday.

Things to come: This weekend, not much. Next weekend, the Score sends a team to the Media Bonspiel. Should be one fun day in Niagara Falls. The next weekend, Men's Bonspiel. I've gotta get my show together. Should be four fun days. Dad's coming up. Hilarity will ensue.

Speaking of Sue... All the Alberta people finally got their Christmas presents from me, because I just sent them. Whaaaaaaaat? ;)

ketchup
Tuesday, March 2, 2004 04:48 p.m.

As usual, I thought of about 50 things I wanted to mention in my next posting, and as usual, I forget most of them right now. Work is starting to pick up a little bit, to a reasonable pace... intstead of the slowy-slow slowness I got paid to endure for the past month. Things should be picking up even more over the next little while, so at some point I may be doing a lot of work.

I made my coaching debut on the weekend, and it didn't go too well. First of all, one of our players couldn't make it thanks to some flu or food poisoning. He was sick on the side of the road during our first game which we lost...although it was back and forth and close all the way through. Our 4th player managed to show up for Sunday's game, but we were playing another good team, and had another close game, which was another close loss. As the coach, I'm trying to figure out what to take away from all this, but I'm gonna let it sink in before I look to closely at it.

So when I have time, I hang out with Leigh and friends, and curl, and play my guitar (rehearsing for upcoming gig at our Spiel), and think that it's about time I write something good. I don't know what I want to work on, but I know I want to write, and I know that I want to make it good. Tonight, I'm at CBC til 11, and tomorrow I'm at the Score until 2.

I'm making money at least, and I'm going to spend it on a nice apartment. As soon as I find one... which may be more of an issue than I thought it was going to be. We'll see.

did ya see that one?
Wednesday, February 25, 2004 03:49 p.m.

We start our scene with a young man looking at a clock in his office. It reads almost 6:00. He packs up his things, puts on his jacket, and heads for the door. He makes his way to the elevator, takes it down to ground level from the 4th floor, and walks out towards the street.

He crosses the street and walks up towards a stoplight. He makes a left turn at the corner and goes past a few restaurants. He crosses that street, looking up at the building he's approaching. He looks at his feet, shakes his head and laughs as he enters the building. He heads for the elevator, goes up to the 3rd floor, and enters his office. He sits down at his desk.

8 hours pass.

A young man looks at a clock in his office. It reads almost 3:00. He packs up his things, puts on his jacket, and heads for the door. He makes his way to the elevator, takes it down to ground level from the 3rd floor, and walks out towards the street. He walks home, gets ready for bed, and lies down. His alarm goes off, he gets up, and gets in the shower.

It occured to me yesterday as I walked from Job #1 to Job #2 yesterday that for the past few days, I've been that guy... the one in the cartoon who's working too much, and not sleeping. But it's only been a few days, and until I start feeling this tired with any regularity, then I might think about cutting out the part-time hours. I actually laughed at myself though as I left CBC for the Score. I was so excited to leave one, and then it occured to me that I had 8 more hours of work.

awesome birthday weekend... no, not my birthday
Monday, February 23, 2004 05:15 p.m.

Well, if I'm really busy with work during the week, why not use my weekends to relax... by being twice as busy with the social fun parts of my weekend.

Starting Friday after work I met up with Leigh, Sean, Natalie and some other peeps for some drinks to celebrate Leigh's birthday a day early. So the bunch of us went to the Bier Market and waited in line for a hella long time (in the rain, I might add) but managed to still have quite a good time making fun all the people on the street including the bouncer, tiara/limo girl, and Sean. (heh heh).

Eventually we got in and of course we had a good time there, met some pretty cool people, and eventually ended up at Natalie's where we crashed for a few hours before leaving in the morning for the Sick Kids Charity Volleyball Tournament.

After riding the rocket up to the boons, we played a bunch of games on indoor sand courts against teams, both good and horrible. And we finished day 3-3, and hit up Salad King for some dinner. Later that night, we headed out to 279 that night, for Leigh's REAL birthday, which was also pretty fun.

So after another night of dancing and screaming and whatnot, we got a few more hours of sleep, and went to play more volleyball. We ended up 4-4 by the end of it, which was not good enough to make the playoffs, which meant we had time to go back downtown, and out for dinner before I had to work at 6 at the Score.

So we hit up the Friar and Firkin, then Leigh and I did a little Queen Street window shopping before splitting up, so I could head to work, which was boring. The nice part is I got to leave a little early, and had a nice chilly walk home. The company was fantastic.

So all that being done, I woke up and went back to work this morning, and I'm still here. In a short while, I go back to the Score for another 8 hours, and then I get to repeat the whole thing all over again tomorrow. Won't that be fun. Why, again, am I doing this?

tired as hoohaaa
Thursday, February 19, 2004 12:51 p.m.

You gotta love it when you work at one job all day, then go to another job for another 8 hours, and finally get home around 2:45 am, only to realize that due to some small oversight, you have to go BACK to work to fix it even though it will take 10 times as long for you to GET there and back as it will to fix it... Actually, no... you don't gotta love that. You gotta hate that, because you know it's only your own fault that you're not getting to bed until 4:30 am.

That obviously means that 7:45 came pretty early today, and my irritibility level was off the charts. I added a bunch of people to my list of "People I would Punch if it Were Socially Acceptable" in the 25 minutes between my place and work. There was the guy on the elevator of my building with super-loud headphones with bad music on them, there was the guy on the bus who kept stepping on my feet, there was the guy at Tim Horton's who was way too cheerful for a guy who screwed up my order, there were the people who stand 2-wide on an escalator so nobody can get by... yeah, I'm tired and cranky. It happens!

re-route the satellites
Tuesday, February 17, 2004 12:49 p.m.

So it's about time for my little update. It's been a short while, but hey, I've been so busy that there's not much to report. How does that make sense? I've been working a lot, starting to feel useful at the CBC. I have a training session tomorrow, and a few more next week, so I should be even more and more useful before too long. The only problem is that no matter how much we train there's only so many things we can cover, and that things will go wrong that only happen once every 5 years... so we'll see how that goes. But again, there's no rush in getting us trained becuase the project we're backfilling for has been delayed somewhat... which is good news for me. More work - more money - no complaints.

Valentines Day was uneventful. I got myself a pizza and a bottle of rum. Sounds pathetic, I know. I ate almost the whole pizza, and only had a very small bit of the rum. I hung out with Leigh on Sunday, which was nice, as usual. I've been coaching a lot, curling a lot, working at the Score a bit, and trying to play guitar as much as I can. As usual, I'm looking for more creative outlets, and sometimes that's just as easy as James coming over and joking around, which he did last night.

A couple comments on the headlines in the news lately (you see, I watch a lot of CBC Newsworld, so I'm up on all that)... First of all, I'm not shocked at all that the government misused 0 million. And I think Paul Martin either a) didn't know about it, or b) was smart enough to act in a way that would not screw him over should these events ever come to the public eye... So if he knew, he acted like he didn't well enough that people believe him. Even so, every government misuses cashola.

Next, Alex Rodriguez going to the Yankees is just STUPID. You've already spent millions on a all-star shortstop, so why not spend another 8 MILLION on another all-star shortstop. That's more than the WHOLE GOVERNMENT of Canada is in trouble for 'losing.' I don't care if he needed to be traded, or whether he's going to play third base, or whatever... he should have gone to Boston. Because if the Jays can't win it (and they won't thanks to the A.L. East arrangement), I'd like to see Boston do well, just so the whole town can get their hopes up just to see it all crash down again... Bucky Dent, Bill Buckner, Aaron Boone, I hope A-Rod beats them in the playoffs just to show them how dumb they were to let him go to the Yanks.

I'm playing volleyball this weekend. That should be interesting, provided my legs don't fall off. They almost did last week when I got the bike out for a day. I finally got the lock off... amazing how it works when you find the key.

I'm starving. Time to grab some grub.

turn the radio up
Tuesday, February 10, 2004 10:30 a.m.

I keep feeling like I haven't updated this in a while, but everytime I sit down to write, I don't seem to recall what it was that was so important that I felt the need to record it. Strange..

Work at the CBC is going well. It's a little more exciting than the past few weeks, and I'm getting more accustomed to the building, the work, and everything else that comes with it. Yesterday I was at the TSX studio, which was a nice little break from the office I usually see.

The weekend was nothing crazy, I worked on Friday night until 2am, hung out with Leigh on Saturday, and worked during the day on Sunday. Roots had a great sale on leather jackets, but I decided not to get one. Then I decided to get one, but they had decided to close the store, before I could actually get one. So I decided to go back when the store was open, but they decided to be sold out of my size, and I decided that it was probably better that way, once I got home and started to look through my mail (bills!).

For once, however, I'm not worried about paying them or getting by. This working full time thing, although time-consuming, is turning out to be quite profitable and within a few months, I'll be in great shape, and in a new apartment... or at least that's the plan at the moment.

I've just gotta start planning my year, when I'm going where, and how I'm getting there. And with a 6-month contract that's probably going to get extended, it kinda just weirds a few more things up, because I can't be certain on some things.

Ahh well, I can't complain. I'm really busy, but getting paid. I'm curling mixed tonight, yee...haw..., after I coach my juniors. Our first competition is the last weekend in February, hopefully it's not our last!

lost in translation
Tuesday, February 3, 2004 11:51 a.m.

This picture is from boston.com

That being said. How about them PATRIOTS!! WOO WOO WOO!! Yeah, that's right. I told you so.

I kept thinking all week that I needed to update this thing, and that I had all this fun stuff to say, but now that I'm actually doing it, it's all lost.

I'm at CBC right now, and obviously very busy. I'm starting to settle in a bit, but there is still a lot for me to learn. I worked at the Score on the weekend, so I actually got paid to watch the Patriots win the Superbowl, and was rewarded yesteraday with my Christmas bonus... some Score clothing (which I actually quite like).

I hung out with Mike, Chris, Cathy and Terri on Friday at the Red Room on Spadina. Everybody had TTC issues getting there, but I was the only one who walked the whole way instead. I went from Sherbourne to Spadina on Carlton/College without having a streetcar pass me. The same thing happened on the way home. And I don't walk THAT fast.

I watched "Lost in Translation" last night with Leigh, Sean, and Natalie. I quite liked it. It was kinda slow and artsy, but there was a lot of feeling and tension between characters, which was periodically broken up by Bill Murray doing what he does best, being funny. I think he'll win the Oscar for it. At least I hope so.

So I'm coaching a team now. We have our 2nd practice tonight. I'm looking forward to it, we could do really well.

Time to get back to work. Break's over.

busy busy busy... did i mention i was busy?
Thursday, January 29, 2004 09:29 a.m.

Well, Montreal was a blast. Leafs won 4-1, and there were probably more Leafs jerseys in the crowd than Canadiens. We found the Casino, and some bars, and generally made a good time of it, despite the amazingly cold temperatures. So Chris, Justin, Mike, and I made it back to Toronto in time for me to go to work on Sunday night at the Score.

So Monday, I went back to CBC and continued to take in the very light training regiment. Bit by bit I'm learning more, but it is by no means overwhelming. I'm getting familiar with the buidling, the people, the software, and whatnot, so that's all good stuff.

Other than that, I had a couple good dinners with Leigh this week, and I'll be working all weekend at the Score. Patriots are going to win the Superbowl, and you guys read it here first that they're my team, and have been all year. So go Pats!

wow... eventful much?
Tuesday, January 20, 2004 10:45 p.m.

Friday I went shopping with Leigh, and proceeded to spend a bunch of money on what I called "work clothes" but in actuality are just "clothes." We had a nice dinner then went to hang out with Sean, Natalie, and Erin. It was a pretty quiet night, but enjoyable nonetheless.

I worked Saturday during the day, which was one of the quietest afternoons I've ever worked (including Christmas). On the way home, Sean called me and asked if I wanted to go into CHFI studios and sing some spoof songs for their morning show. So I went in, and "laid down a few tracks" (which is what I THINK they say in the industry... anyone?). So we did a "Friends" theme spoof, and a Beach Boys "kokomo" spoof, both with changed words promoting "Mad Dog and Billie in the Morning." It was fun, and I'll get some decent demo stuff, should I ever attempt to go after a career in radio spoofing... which doesn't seem out of the question, considering how easy this was for me.

So Sunday, CHFI (Sean) was kind enough to put me down as media for the Leafs Skate for Easter Seals. And I actually got to BE MEDIA, and skate on the ice at the ACC, which was pretty fun. I interviewed Mats Sundin, Tom Fitzgerald, and Nick Antropov, who are right up there on my list of "Cool People I've Interviewed." Sundin would probably top the list. I don't think holding the microphone for a Tom Brady scrum really counts... but if it does, then he's on there too. Anyway, I had a camera, but couldn't really get many pictures because it was a charity thing, and I was trying to let the Leafs skate with the disadvantaged children instead... so I didn't get me with Captain Mats, but I did get Fitzgerald. Sean got Domi, Niewendyk, and Ken Dryden.

So I hurried home from that (even though I could have waited another 2 hours for Mogilny) to watch the Patriots game and... WE'RE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL!! Well, they are. I'll be there in spirit. I've got my hat on.

So Monday rolls around... and what do I hear on the radio except one of my songs, and a few people called/emailed me and said they heard them too. So I'm a bit of a star. Only not at all. I'm supposed to get a copy of them, so I'll try to put them up here so you guys can all hear it, and make fun.

And of course it was my first day at CBC. And it was a pretty regular one, at that. Tours, some tips and instruction, some papers to sign, some things to read, and that's it. Oh... and we got our security passes, which are pretty cool, because now I actually have something that shows my picture on something that counts as a media card/pass/whatever. I've had other ones, but they were only for specific events. So that was cool.

Today, was pretty quiet at work. I finished the crossword before going in, but in retrospect, I should have kept it around so I had something to do ;) We're really easing in to the training. :P

So how about that sports fans?

well, it was thursday a few minutes ago... only like 82
Friday, January 16, 2004 01:26 a.m.

I curled tonight, and won. But that's not why I'm writing right now. I'm making a special point to make a post right now, because I know that a few extra people are going to read it tonight, because this BLOG (remember guys? that's short for "web-log?") was the topic of much...er.. well... some... discussion.

Because Johnny is such a devoted reader, he likes to bring up things that only my faithful audience would know, and then other people get to asking about it, and then he says something to the effect of "Oh, I read it on the coolest site on the Internet, which happens to be run AND WRITTEN by Timmy." He then proceeds to buy a round of drinks, and advise people to invest in the necessities like alcohol and tobacco... but I digress.

So we curled and we won. I was also supposed to make a point of the fact that Snuffy (aka "Josh") has a big head. Not like in the cocky/arrogant sense, but in the physical sense. I used to think I had a giant mellon, but his is like Jupiter, and mine is just an orbiting little moon. It's pretty massive.

In other news, big football games this weekend. Only one that really matters though. One between the Patriots and the Colts, and another one. In the other one, the winner gets the honour of losing to the Patriots in the Super Bowl, so it all works out in the end.

I've been working from home on a Leger/Carma project for the past few days. It's a lot of research dealing with U.S. catalogues and websites. I'm done my first 39 and only have 11 more to finish tomorrow, and after that, I get to read and code 120 articles featuring the words "FedEx" or "Federal Express." The only perk is that FedEx sponsored a College Bowl Game this year, so some of the articles will be about football.

In still other news, we had band practice #2 last night in the middle of a snow storm. Again, the turn out was pretty light, but again, we rocked out and had a good time. We still need a good name, so if you have any ideas, send them to me, and we can have a little vote. I'll put a poll right up here on this site. It'll be fun. Of course it doesn't mean we'll pick it. We'll just know what the adoring public likes. That's you.

The last piece of important news is that I'm going to Montreal on Friday to see the Leafs/Habs game. We've got a ticket/hotel package and it should be a great time. Mike, Chris, and Justin are completing the fearsome foursome, and it promises to be a blast. But before that, CBC starts Monday, wish me luck.

pooter go crish
Sunday, January 11, 2004 07:34 p.m.

Well, I think I only lost a little bit of information when my computer decided to go all screwy this time. The more it happens, the more prepared you are for it. So just in case it happens to you (whoever YOU are), I suggest that you back up as much of your information, pictures, music, files, etc. as you possibly can right now. It's always better to have it all on a CD or something, so you can always get it. Otherwise you could be sad....

And here's the news. Harry Connick Jr. was amazing, in Brockville no less. Leigh and I rented a car, a FORD FOCUS WAGON, and drove out to Maitland with little excitement, had some dinner, went to the Brockville Arts Centre (which seats a whopping 700) and saw a really really good show. Harry is talented and funny, and so are all the musicians in his group. So that was pretty good. I brought my bike back to Toronto in the FORD FOCUS WAGON, and now I just have to worry about getting the big lock off. (thanks sisters!).

We had our first band practice!! We still don't have a name, or much of a repetoire, and I still haven't met at least 4 band members, but we officially got started... even though most people couldn't make it. Derek and I got acquainted, and worked our way through some songs, but next week promises to be better.

I signed my contract at CBC, so I'm officially on there for the next 6 or more months. I'm still going to stay on at the Score and work a day or two a week there, which my boss seemed happy about. I start next Monday, and for this I am very excited.

The Energizer Spiel started yesterday. It's a Toronto-wide mens bonspiel, which starts with somewhere in the neighborhood of 240 teams. We won our first two games yesterday at St. Georges, and play again tomorrow at the Cricket Club. If we keep winning, we keep playing.

Last night, however, was the 2nd Annual Tackey Mackey Christmas party. The whole Federation got together (along with some other guests) to catch up, eat, drink, be merry, watch football, make fun of each other, and be merry. It was really nice to see everybody, and I had a chance to talk to some people I hadn't seen in a bit like Merrick, Kristin, Chris, Mike, Sarah, and Jen... so pretty much the whole Federation (including former members who were bannished, and unofficially reinstated). So that was really good.

Merrick reminded me I still need to give a shout out to my faithful readers. So here's the people I know who read this page, or have read it at some point... Merrick, Chris R., Leigh, Mom, Dad, Dan, Sue, Di, Neil, Chris J., John S., Bill, Tom, Dawn, Mike O., Mike K., Del Cid, Ethan, Tony, Cahill... anybody else? Thanks for reading, feel free to email me with comments by clicking on the "EMAIL BRIAN" button to the left.

I'm outtie... Go Patriots!! AFC Championship game next week vs. The Colts!!

they came, they saw, they drank...
Saturday, January 3, 2004 02:15 p.m.

And here it is a few days later. The American crew left back for the States a couple hours ago, and from what I hear about bridge traffic today, it's quite possible that they're still in Canada.

So Del, Cahill, Cam, Tony, Ethan, and Carin all seemed to have a great time. We did a house party on New Year's eve, a bar on Thursday, and a bar on Friday, not to mention touristy things like the CN tower mixed in. The apartment looked like a war zone for a while piles of bags, sleeping bags, clothes, luggage, beer bottles, and so on everywhere. They did a pretty good job of tidying up before they left, but there is still work to be done.

It was great to see them all, and I'm happy they had a good time. Now I get to go to work at the Score tonight, and relax for a while. Yeah, relax at work... it's been a busy few days.

Next big thing: Leigh and I are going to see Harry Connick Jr. in Brockville on Monday. So that should be fun. Okay, I'm outtie...

what have i done lately?
Monday, December 29, 2003 10:18 p.m.

Um... okay. I'll start at Christmas because that's the last time I updated.

I slept in a good part of the day, then went into work around 3:00. After doing nothing for most of the day, I found an open Subway, and got some dinner, then went back for doing nothing. Thankfully, there was ONE other person working at the station, who had a LITTLE more to do than me, but in any event we kept each other company, while I played with a bat that is kicking around Master Control for some reason. Terminator 3 was the movie of the day, and was therefore on 4 times straight.

After sleeping the day away, I went to Leigh's for Boxing Day dinner with her family. We had a good laugh over the leftover turkey, stuffing, and wine, and stayed up well into the night. The next day I hung out with Sean and Natalie for a bit, and we did our little gift exchange... Surprisingly, they gave me a watch * (note: this was not at all a surprise, because Natalie broke mine when she dropped it a few months ago).

So anyway... I closed the Ticker last night, which meant staying until 2 am. The Patriots continue to rock, winning their 12 straight game, to end the season. SUPERBOWL, HERE WE COME!! Leafs are still doing well, so life in sports is good. I go into CBC on Monday, and then I'll have some more info on the ol' job-ola.

So the crew is coming up from the states for New Years, and I've been trying to get the apartment clean. Tomorrow I've just gotta pick up some beverages. Still not sure on what the exact plan is, but with these guys, it's always fun, so it won't really matter.

Anyway, I'm gonna dig up some food. Have a good new year if I don't write before then. I probably won't... Oh... and did I mention that I'm going to be in a band? We're going to start playing soon. This is good news.

O HOLY NIGHT
Thursday, December 25, 2003 01:04 a.m.

Merry Christmas everybody!

Whatever weight I had gained by indulging in dinners, drinks, and desserts while visiting Mom and Dad in Maitland was just worked off and/or sweat out about an hour ago when I walked 2 or 3 miles carrying the heaviest bag man has ever packed. I went from Maitland to the train, from the train to work, then from work to my apartment... the last part being my mega-journey. My shoulders are a little sore.

So while at home I did the Christmas thing with the parents and the grandparents, and a couple of cousins. I fixed their computer, I stayed up til 5 am talking with my dad, I curled a little, my parents had a party for the neighborhood people, and I unwrapped a bunch of presents I just had the pleasure of carrying home on my back.

But if getting some pretty expensive presents from my caring family and having to walk home on my healthy legs from my fun job to my penthouse apartment is all I have to worry about, then I should be the first person to realize how fortunate I am. I know there are a lot of people out there who don't have some of all of those luxuries, so I should really count myself thankful.

And I do... so thank you to everyone who makes my life better, and Merry Christmas to everyone. Thanks for reading. Tomorrow, I think I'll make a list of all the people I know who read this, and send out personalized holiday greetings. The list could be as big as 10 people. WOW.

coles notes
Saturday, December 20, 2003 09:49 a.m.

Won on Thursday night.

Got a job on Friday morning.

Ran errands around lunch, got called into work on Friday afternoon.

Saw Lord of the Rings: Return of the King after work, which meant it was 3am when it was done. Pretty good, although it dragged on at the end.

Exchanged presents with Leigh. Got the Mogilny jersey I've wanted forever! She seemed pleased too.

Up and heading out to Maitland, right now.

yao ming, yao ming, yao ming...
Thursday, December 18, 2003 03:00 a.m.

I've just returned home from my first closing shift at the Score. That means I get to wait for all of the West-Coast games to be done, and wrap everything up on the ticker and scoreboards. It's not too crazy hard, except for the fact that you get to stay there until 2:15 am. I think it went pretty smoothly for my first run at it.

I'm still waiting on a phone call from the CBC. I really expected it yesterday, but things happen and phonecalls get delayed. So I'm hoping for it tomorrow...

The Score Christmas Party was Monday night. I showed up a little late because I was acutally working, had a couple drinks, chatted it up, won a Yao Ming jersey, and then went home because I had to be up at 6am. Of course there was a cab chit issue, so I had to pay for that, but later figured out another way to use it.

In other news, I still have some Christmas shopping and wrapping to do before I head out to Maitland on Saturday. I also have some article coding to finish up for Carma, and should really look into doing some laundry/dishes. It's about that time again.

In the meantime, it looks like a plan has resurfaced for visitors from Boston. They're targetting New Year's Eve, which is fantastic because I'm working... (sarcasm)... So we'll have to see how that one pans out.

I think it is almost my bedtime. Good thing I have nothing official to do before 7 pm tomorrow!

played until my fingers bled...
Sunday, December 14, 2003 03:48 p.m.

I actually did that the other night. I was playing guitar and took a chunk of skin of my finger when I was strumming, causing a major blood leakage... It was kinda cool in a rock star sorta way, but otherwise, it was just a cut on my finger.

I curled in the zones all weekend. For those of you who don't know, this is the earliest round of qualifying for the Brier. From there, you go to regions, then provincials, then on to the Nationals... aka... the Brier. So we drew one of the worst spots in the draw, went 3-2, and finished this morning. Better than last year, but still crummy because of the 19 team draw. This is something that the OCA needs to look into, although I don't think any OCA officials ever read this so it doesn't really matter... Other people will tell them that it was a horrible draw.

So now my week involves working a bit, and waiting for a very critical phone call from the CBC. I'm quite confident I'll have a job offer before too long, but haven't heard an official word on the subject. I hope to in the next couple days.

In the news today... the Patriots are winning again, and Saddam Hussein has been captured. Good stuff. ANd I might be getting into a band. Details to follow.

sunday
Sunday, December 7, 2003 02:59 p.m.

Hey there... I'm not doing a great job of keeping this thing updated very regularly. It used to be daily, then it kinda became every couple days, and now it's fallen to almost a weekly posting. Nobody seems to be complaining about the lack of substance though, so I'll just keep writing when I feel like it.

I curled this weekend at the Cricket Club spiel, which I've always said is one of my favourites. Good food, fun times, lots of curling, lots of drinks, nice place...etc. We won our first, tied our 2nd (i hate spiels where you can TIE), won our third, and lost our 2nd Event Semi-Final. It wasn't our finest showing, but actually winning a couple games felt nice and was a welcome change from the funk that we've been in for the past few weeks.

The other news is this... earlier in the week I went to Casino Niagara with Leigh, Sean, and Natalie. I won playing roulette... I was up almost at one point, but cashed in once I started to lose. It was nice to get a little lucky for once though. The next day, I had an interview at CBC which went pretty well, but of course I don't want to assume anything. My last one at CBC went really well, and I didn't get it. So I'm not going to expect anything from this... although it would be nice.

I'm a little tired, so I plan on spending my afternoon on the couch watching the Patriots beat the Dolphins.

IT IS OFFICIALLY THE CHRISTMAS SEASON!!
Friday, November 28, 2003 02:34 a.m.

Now... it's the day after American Thanksgiving, technically. Today is the official start of the Christmas season, and I am officially getting into the right mood for it. I'll actually appreciate the decorations, and music, instead of cursing them for being two months early.

I started to write this yesterday, and got most of the way through a pretty lengthy entry before my computer froze (which it hasn't done a lot lately, since I installed Windows XP, by the way). The first bit was about how I was starting to feel a little more grown up, with a job, and reading the paper, and volunteering for committees and stuff. It's odd like that.

The next bit was about how excited I was for my buddies to come up from Boston for the weekend. I haven't seen them in about a year, and we were going to go crazy for the weekend. They called tonight, however, and said that they were going to postpone it because it hadn't really occured to them how short the trip was acutally going to be, and because some of them couldn't get Monday off, they'd have to leave at a reasonable time on Sunday. So instead, it'll be put off for at least a few more weeks, but they have promised to make it up soon.

I spent a couple really nice days with Leigh, shopping, eating, and watching movies, and what not. And although things are all over the place, and generally pretty screwy, we still manage to have fun together.

So now, it's bedtime.

what day is it?
Wednesday, November 19, 2003 08:18 p.m.

I don't even remember the last thing i wrote in this thing... but I think it was late last week. Because since then, I remember thinking that I should update it... but of course I didn't. Which is kinda pathetic, because I haven't been really busy or anything. But then again, if I haven't been busy, then I don't have much to write about. So I'll do what I can.

My biggest news is that I got a new cell phone and a new cell phone number. I was getting really sick of Fido, and their crummy service, and their annoying phone reps when you call them for help, and the lack of coverage... all sorts of stuff. So anyway, I quit them, and signed up with Bell. I got a new phone, which is WAY cooler than my old one, and a pretty similar package, except I get free weekday nights now. So I'm excited for that... and the fact that I'll be able to use the phone outside of the city.

So other than that, I've been getting up early to work at CARMA/Leger, putting a few days here and there in at The Score, and working on various projects from home. One project should BE my home... this place is a disaster.

And next week, some Boston boys are coming up for a weekend of hilarity. Can't wait... one more has been added to the roster, so now 3 are expected to make the trip.

holy wind!!
Friday, November 14, 2003 12:52 a.m.

Today was without a doubt the windiest day I can remember. Starting this morning when I got up to go to Carma at 7am and all the way until I just got home from the Score, the wind was so strong it almost knocked me over a couple times. And it was going crazy all night banging on the windows!

So I've been busy doing all sorts of stuff... I've been hanging out with Leigh a lot... again, and things are pretty good with that. Yeah, I know it's weird but if things were simple, life would be boring.

I've started a new part time job at Carma, a division of Leger Marketing, as a media analyst of sorts. I read articles and either code them or summarize them, depending on which project I'm working on. Suddenly though, I feel very businessy talking about clients, and projects, and meetings and stuff. There are up sides and down sides. The ups being that I'll be able to work from home for a little while each week, and the down side is that a few days a week I'll be up at 6 am, to get downtown for 7am. But it's cash, and I want to move out of the ghetto!

I got my first ebay purchase today! It came in the mail from Thailand, oddly enough. My Beckham jersey, however, is here and it fits wonderfully, which was my only concern.

Lastly, I applied for a sports reporter job with CP24 in Toronto, I worked on my demo all week, and handed it in today. So while I don't want to get my hopes up, this would be an awesome job to get, and for some strange reason, I think I might have a chance... but that could just be hope talking. We'll see I guess. I'm calling tomorrow, I'm told that persistence is a good thing.

so yeah... it's monday
Monday, November 10, 2003 03:35 p.m.

Good news: We curled this weekend, made more than our money back, had a good time, and played pretty well...despite losing a few games.

Bad news: Getting a mild shiner because you got punched in the eye by one of your best friends, even though you thought it was the funniest part of the weekend. Thanks Josh, that was awesome. I just couldn't believe he used a FIST!

Good news: Getting a part time job with involving media with a market research firm, to subsidize your income.

Bad news: Having to be at work for 7 am. That's gonna hurt.

yesterday was really cool
Tuesday, November 4, 2003 01:36 p.m.

Yesterday was a good day. I started off early in the afternoon by winning my first ebay auction ever, a Real Madrid Beckham soccer jersey. Let's just hope it fits. Then after looking around my room for stuff to sell, and failing, I went to work.

After joking around with my boss (which put me at some sort of ease) I worked all night, and watched the best Monday Night Football game in recent history. It was the best because the Patriots won it with a dramatic drive in the 4th quarter, with less than a minute left. So good, I was screaming at the TV before I realized that I was at work almost an hour later than I had to be... ahh well, I couldn't leave in the 4th quarter! So the Patriots rock for winning... and I had them in the pool too!!

The only downside was the fact that none of my fantasy hockey guys did anything. So it was a pretty lame night in that department. Well one of them did great... although I had him on the bench. CURSE YOU FANTASY LEAGUE!!!

I'm done now, time to grab some lunch.

book two begins tonight... for james at least
Sunday, November 2, 2003 01:00 a.m.

I curled two games this week. Each was supposed to be 8 ends. Instead, I played a total of 8 ends, and won them with a combined score of 17-1. So that went well, and I have actually been making a lot of shots, which is always a good feeling. I have to worry about work next week, but hopefully I can get around that with a little wheeling and dealing tomorrow.

So I worked a couple days which was a welcome change from the nothing I've been up to, and only on the way home from work last night did it upset me that I had missed all the Halloween parties. But instead, I got paid to watch sports, and DIDN'T have to spend money going out. I just have to tell myself that every now and then.

And now to the day's rants: #1... curse fantasy games. Curse those addictive games. Curse the 3 leagues I'm in. Curse my desire to win in them, and curse my failure to do so. But above all, CURSE the fact that I have to hope for Martin Brodeur and Jeremy Roenick to do well because they're on my fantasy teams, even though their teams' winning in turn hurts the Leafs (who are doing a damn fine job of hurting themselves lately anyway!). Seriously though, I'm getting WAY too addicted to these fantasy leagues, yet I suddenly fit in a little better at work!

Rant #2 - CHRISTMAS SEASON DOESN'T START BEFORE HALLOWEEN, NOR DOES IT START NOVEMBER 1ST. I talk about this every year, but it makes me sick to see Christmas trees in the mall before Halloween, and even more sick to hear about people putting up Christmas trees TODAY. So people... wait at least a few weeks before you start getting into that frame of mind, please.

But hey, tomorrow I'm back at work. FOOTBALL!! Patriots play Monday night, everybody watch!

in a little while...
Wednesday, October 29, 2003 03:43 a.m.

You'd think they woulda been alright with a two-goal lead halfway through the third period... but no. Within a minute, the score was tied, the Thrashers had caught the Leafs, and a collective groan consumed the ACC. The boys in blue held on for the OT, so they at least got a point, but managed to NOT SCORE, on a 4 minute power play, which actually ended at even strength... idiots. These is my team, these are my boys, this is what I scream for... and I don't like half the guys on the ice at any given time.

Ahh well, at least I saw Elvis Stojko and Walter Gretzky at the game. That was kinda cool. They each walked by me, within touching distance... one before the game, one after the game. OH, and Elvis Stojko was the worst dressed person in the building that night. That's including the mascot, Carlton, who wears no pants.

So today, I visited the Ryerson crew (Gary, Sandy, and Sally),got paid from the video gig (cashmoney), bought a CD (Barenaked Ladies), curled a game (which I skipped), smoked the opposition (8-0 after 4), watched Joe Schmoe (the finale), drew another comic about a video tape (featuring a Halloween-esque "Jack the Ripper" theme), and worked long and hard on a cover letter and resume for an ESPN job (espn.com actually).

So now it's pushing 4am, and I wonder exactly why I'm still up. I have no good reason, and because I'm suddenly tired, I'm going to bed.

yeahhhhh, how long must you wait for me?
Sunday, October 26, 2003 05:07 p.m.

Yo yo, my peoplez!!

Yeah, I have no idea what that means, I think I heard it somewhere. Still not a whole lot going on around here. I spent most of the afternoon watching football and the Joe Schmoe Marathon... I love that show, the finale is on Tuesday, and for this I am very excited.

My gig went alright on Wednesday. Most of the people had left the party by the time I started playing, but it didn't really matter to me. It was fun, and I got to hang out with some people from work and enjoy that.

Thursday morning, I was up at 5:45, so I could be ready to go at 6:30, so I could be in Vaughn by 7:30 so I could work for Sandy's video company at a dance studio up there. Of course, we ended the day hours and hours behind schedule, so I'll likely get another day of work out of it at a very favourable rate!!

That's about it for right now... Patriots won!

frustration station
Wednesday, October 22, 2003 01:02 a.m.

Well, the server that hosts this page apparently went a little wonky, and therefore lost (at least temporarily) the entries from the past week or two. I haven't been too crazy exciting, so you're not missing much, but a few entries about work, or sleep, or something like that.

I instructed curling on Saturday monring at the club, which went really well. I had a good time doing it too. I was going to go out on Saturday night, but decided against it, and instead watched a monstrosity of a hockey game.

Sunday, I watched an AMAZING football game. The patriots won in overtime, which was awesome. I was screaming and jumping around. The rest of the day was pretty much wasted.

Monday... not much happened. I went to work.

Tuesday... I worked on the website for the Royals Mens Bonspiel, which is coming together quite well. Then I went to work. I took the long, thoughtful way home, and realized the effectiveness of the TTC as a decision making tool. Perhaps more on this later, perhaps not.

So tomorrow is my big gig. I still don't know the details. Only that I'm showing up, and playing some songs. Who knows how many? Or when I'm showing up? These details are all to be figured out tomorrow. For the past couple weeks, I've been playing a lot of music, and figuring out which ones I acutally can perform. Tomorrow afternoon, I'll likely hammer out a setlist.

In the meantime, I'm hanging out at the ranch, and trying to figure out what the heck is going on in my life. It's a blast.

the right password helps
Sunday, October 5, 2003 11:56 a.m.

So there are some major headlines, but I don't feel like talking about all of them... So I'll just talk about going out with the Federation last night.

For the first time in months, the majority of the Federation gathered together. Chris, Mike, Kristin (with Ash), Sarah (with dude...who's name escapes me), and I met up at Tortilla Flats on Queens Street. We had some nachos, some drinks, and some dinner (I had the Beef Quesadillas, which were really good). The conversation, as usual, was hysterical, and I was reminded of how much I miss having classes with these people everyday. It was really nice.

Today, I'm at work yet again. One more week of Ryerson, which is still a shame. This time next week, I'll be looking at days off everywhere... instead of the 2 I've had since August 25th.

NFL and MSN this afternoon, and for this, I am excited.

so much stuff
Monday, September 29, 2003 01:02 a.m.

Well I don't know how much of this I have to cover, because I can't remember the last thing I wrote. I'll work backwards from right now, until I feel I've gone on long enough. I just got a picture of my new nephew in my email. He looks like a baby, which is a good thing. Before that, I was working on reformatting my computer, and getting everything working again, which involved a few calls to sympatico again. But hey, props to the sympatico people for being nice and helpful!!

Before that, I was out watching some football, and before that I was hooking up some new speakers for my computer, which gave me the bright idea to reformat and go back to Windows 2000, which I did. Before that I was at work, and it wasn't too tough at all.

Before that, I walked to work and was amazed at what a beautiful day it was. It was sunny, and pleasant, and fresh. And I was really sad that I had to go inside, because the weather had put me in a great great mood. Before that I had slept a while. Before that, Leigh came over, and we watched Shrek and talked.

Before that, I was at work again. A while before that, like the night before, I was out with my curling team at Dirty Nelly's and we had some drinks, and decided that we were going to be a good team who has a lot of fun. Before that, I took a nap, because before that I had been at work.

I'm into another stretch of no days off for a while, but after Canadian Thanksgiving, I'll be back to one job, and 3-4 days a week. So it'll be another couple weeks of working... only not QUITE so hard this time. I have a couple fewer shifts at the Score for now, which makes it a little easier.

no gel today
Wednesday, September 24, 2003 03:52 p.m.

Well... it's Wednesday. And I'm working on about 5 hours of sleep. After a couple 16-hour days, and a late night MSN conversation, I could have used a little more, but I was surprisingly awake this morning... I was even early.

The draft for the Score NHL Hockey Fantasy pool was today, and I made out alright. I scored Martin Brodeur in the first round, and Jeremy Roenick in the 2nd. It was fun, but I had to run in and out of the room to do actual work while I was trying to pay attention to the draft.

Today is my brother's birthday. So if you know him, call him and say hello and happy birthday. He's older. I should probably do that.

Just call me UNCLE BRIAN
Monday, September 22, 2003 09:31 a.m.

I suppose the biggest and most exciting news of the weekend is that my sister had her baby yesterday morning, around 1:30am. So Ethan Robert Denton is my first nephew, and his birthday is September 21st. Everybody is healthy, and things apparently went according to plan...except for the fact that he was a week and a half early.

The other news is that I had two days off. My first two days off after 24 consecutive days of work. Of course, today I start another string of 11, I think, but that'll be nothing!

Laura's reception was a blast. It was good to see mom and dad, and the cousins, and to stuff my face with real food. There was dancing and drinks, but sadly I was driving, so I couldn't get too stupid... maybe that's a good thing. Leigh had fun too and I think she's finally figured out which cousin is which, and who's sisters with whom.

Yesterday was a bum-around-town day, which was fine with me. I didn't get to watch quite as much football as I had planned, but it was okay. Leigh and I stopped for lunch at a Firkin Pub, and munched on some really good nachos. I did get to watch the Bills stink it up vs. the Dolphins. That was kinda funny... it would have been MORE funny if I had picked them in my pool.

whatever doesn't kill you....
Tuesday, September 16, 2003 12:48 a.m.

Just an odd day... a long one... with all sorts of interesting things.

The highlights:

-the sing along in the office this morning
-working from 9-3:30, then from 4-12, and meeting leigh for the 10 minutes i had in between
-"the joe schmo show" (watch this if you haven't... soooo funny)
-watching "seinfeld" at work
-seeing two giant snakes as i walked home from work. two guys each had one python sized thing hanging over their shoulders... for serious.

The lowlights:

Um... work still ended up sucking. And no, I didn't get fired or anything.

and so ends our broadcast day...
Saturday, September 13, 2003 07:21 p.m.

Well 72 hours later, my work week is complete. Isn't that fun? Amazingly, I managed to squeeze in a couple nights of relaxing and movie watching, and one night of hanging out with the guys. And the weekend day shifts at the Score aren't too rough, even with NFL on Sundays.

Only 7 more shifts in 5 more days before I get two whole days off. I can't wait, it will be fantastic. Tonight, I'm going to order some food (because the cupboards are bare), sit down on the couch and chillax a little bit. Sound like a plan? I think so...

Train WReck
Thursday, September 11, 2003 12:15 p.m.

I directed my first show yesterday, which was a very exciting thing for me. Everybody says that I did very well, even though the show as a whole kinda blew. Any of the things that DID go wrong (and there were many)were not my fault. So I'll look to improve everytime from now on.

Leigh came over and watched "Phonebooth" last night, and although I know a lot of people didn't like it, I thought it was very entertaining. For something that cost virtually nothing, and was probably shot in a few days, it was way better than a lot of the super expensive 0 million blockbuster action flicks.

Tonight, I head to the Score for a ticker shift. Shouldn't be too crazy exciting, except that dinner will be free tonight because I've filled my Sub-Club card. It's a pretty quiet day so far at Ryerson, but that should pick up just in time for me to leave and head to the other job.

That's about it for now, other than the fact that it is the 2-year anniversary of the September 11th attacks. It sure doesn't feel like two years ago...

work and work and work and movies
Monday, September 8, 2003 02:49 p.m.

So today will be another super long day. I'm at Ryerson for now, and at 4:00 will be at the Score. NFL Sunday #1 was pretty hectic at the Score, but nothing completely ridiculous... except for who won some of the games.

Saturday night, I watched "Pumpkin" with Leigh. It was a screwed up little movie. The whole time, we were wondering whether or not it was supposed to be funny... we really couldn't tell.

So I think I'm on my 14th straight day of work, and have 11 more before my next days off. Besides not having a lot of free time to spend with the lady-friend, I don't mind the hours.

busy week, good times
Saturday, September 6, 2003 01:42 a.m.

It feels like I'm using a brand new computer! I just installed Windows XP which makes everything look a little sharper, and so far makes the computer run a lot faster. I'm sure it will get bogged down with the more stuff that i throw on it, but for now it's pretty quick and I love it. It's even a legal copy, thanks to Ryerson!

Speaking of Ryerson, my first week of work flew by. I really like the job, and am pretty bummed that it will likely only last 6 weeks. I'm good at it, I enjoy it, and from what I can tell so far, they like having me too. Unfortunately, it probably won't last. Too bad.

So tomorrow morning, I'll be back at the Score. Shouldn't be too tough. Can't wait for that. Then I'm there on Sunday again. And then back at Ryerson on Monday, before heading to the Score in the afternoon. And then just Ryerson for the rest of the week. I've worked 10 days straight so far, and have about that many left on the sched for the next few weeks. Making up for lost time, I guess.

Other happenings lately... Leigh made me dinner the other night, which was awesome. I went to Tom's to show Joanne how to use Photoshop, which she loved. I showed Tom how to download mp3s which I'm sure he'll be abusing for the next few months. And finally, although I cleaned my room a few days ago, it needs it again already... and laundry needs to be done. It's a lot harder when you work EVERY DAY! Oh well, I like the money!

just like the first day of school...
Wednesday, September 3, 2003 12:53 a.m.

Well, it actually was the first day of school... Only I wasn't a student this time. I got up nice and early, met Leigh for breakfast as she got off work, then proceeded to Ryerson University as I have for the past 4 years. But instead of going to class, I found my new "colleagues" and proceeded to start Tech-ing things up! I installed a CD burner, shredded a bunch of papers, and figured out just when I'm going to be working.

After that, I took off to my other part-time job, where we had a meeting, and then I worked the rest of my 8-hour shift. So from 9am to midnight, was pretty steady work. And it was all made possible, by my good friend CAFFIENE (I didn't really sleep well last night). I'm kinda hoping someday I can get a real (permanent) job, so I can settle into a normal routine... HINT HINT (SOME OF YOU OUT THERE HAVE MY RESUME!!).

All in all it wasn't a bad super long day. It wasn't as nice as my free slurpee yesterday followed by an abbreviated ticker shift, but it was good. And now it's bedtime. The end.

write something...
Monday, September 1, 2003 01:55 a.m.

Hey folks,

Happy September. I didn't realize it until just now, although I suppose it has been official for a couple hours now. August is over... unofficially that means summer is done too, but it would be too easy to make the season-changeover and the month-switch on the same night. In my opinion (which I'm well aware nobody asked for), there should be three months to each season. Summer should be June, July, and August. Once September rolls around, it should be officially Fall, and that should last through October, and November. The next three would be winter, and then spring would follow. It's not rocket science.

But we can't make it that easy, can we? We've gotta wait an extra 22 days before it's official. I think its so we can celebrate something meaningless later in the month. It just gives radio DJs something to mention on that day. Seriously, when it actually IS the first day of autumn, count how many times you hear it on the radio. Guaranteed it will be a LOT of times. Not quite as many times as you hear songs by Avril Lavigne, but it will be right up there.

So, now that I'm on a little rant, I should probably segue back into my little blog update, which really wasn't going to be all that exciting to begin with. Really, I worked a pretty easy shift today, which was great. Then I came home, after a brief stop to pester Josh at Ryerson (the Pitman Hall front desk I used to work. I swear that kid wants to be just like me ;). I'm going to be working a lot for the next few weeks, which will be good for the bank, bad for the social life. I'm still hoping on this other job, but am doing my best not to obsess about it. Leigh would tell you I'm failing at that.

So for now, I try to write stand-up material... again. I've resurrected that as my official time-killer, and have promised myself to actually go through with it and perform it at least once at an honest-to-gosh comedy club open mic. I've got a couple good bits, but they all need work.

making up for lost time...
Saturday, August 30, 2003 11:58 p.m.

So I'm walking down Queen St. West today on my way to work, and I happen to glance towards a patio of a restaurant I don't even remember the name of. What are the chances that in that split second I should make eye-contact with someone I know really well?

You would think they'd be pretty slim. With 4 million people in the GTA, and it being a Saturday afternoon on a busy shopping street, there were thousands of people I didn't know around. How then, do I look RIGHT at someone I know, who happens to be sitting in a place I would never normally look? Weird.

So anyway, I saw Mike, and stopped in to have a little chat. Nothing too crazy, he was heading to work as well. Then I went to work, and ran the ticker for a while. There was a lot going on, and while I didn't feel like I wrapped my head around the whole thing, I think I got everything done that I needed to. I talked to Leigh briefly before she too left for work.

Tomorrow, I work the afternoon shift, which should be a breeze. Can't wait. For now, I'm just gonna chill for a bit. g'night.

all caught up...
Thursday, August 28, 2003 01:24 a.m.

Now that I don't have to do a week's worth of recapping, I can actually take a moment and attempt to write something intelligent... attempt being the key word.

Last night, I put almost 200 pictures up on the camp website. Thanks to my digital camera and a little Cold Fusion programming (both courtesy of my brother Dan), I was able to take a bunch and post them with out too much effort at all. I've already had a bunch of people tell me how good they are. One girl even went to far as to tell me I should be a photographer... how about that?

So today, I had an interview with beer.com for an associate editor position. I like the site, I like the content, and I'd love to work for them, so that's all good. I think the interview went really well... so my fingers are crossed.

After that, I had some time to kill before heading to the Score, so I sat outside and worked on some stand-up bits. Yes, I'm still working on that, and at some point, I promise to actually get up and perform it. At some point... I have no idea when.

The Score was about the same as it was when I left it. Lots of baseball tonight, Halladay didn't get the win. Patriots won their pre-season game though. We got a kick out of watching a lady at the World Track and Field Championships face-plant on the track as she finished her race. It looked like it hurt, but as Homer Simpson once said "It's funny because I don't know him (her)."

And now I'm home again, chatting with Leigh (who is on her break at the hospital). We have a hot date planned for tomorrow morning, so I'm looking forward to that. Mmm, french toast.

In other news, my room still looks like a disaster, but what can you do? I've got a ton of things I need to read including the two books I talked about a couple weeks ago, a stack of ESPN magazines, and a new GQ (can you believe Dominion didn't have Maxim OR Men's Health?).

I'm not sure it was intelligent, but that's the best I can do right now. I'm tired, and the stale Tostitos and Coca-Cola aren't helping the cause any. Wish me luck on the job!

SO BEHIND.. time to catch up.
Tuesday, August 26, 2003 07:36 p.m.

Okay... well last time I wrote it was Sunday morning at 8:12 am. So I'll try to walk you through all the week's proceedings worth mentioning.

SUNDAY - played two softball games. won one, lost one. i went 3-6 with a walk. drove to guelph with josh. stopped at wendy's for lunch. had two jr. bacon cheeseburgers. met up with the camp staff, planned for the week, good to see all those people again (many of them were not a part of the first week). checked in the campers, went back to the club, settled in, took pictures, had pizza, went to bed

MONDAY - Curled and taught. It was a long day. I don't think anything too crazy happened.

TUESDAY - Pretty much the same as Monday, except we had a pool party in the evening which was fun. I didn't swim, but I played some football. We showed the campers how it was done!!

WEDNESDAY - Curled, taught, played games, ate, etc. Played some cards, won the euchre tournament with Chrissy. Stayed up too late.

THURSDAY - Curled, bowled, had some fun... i can't remember exactly. all the days are kinda running together now. all i know is that there was a lot of curling, teaching, fun, and hanging out with josh, lyndsey, julie, paul, brad, chrissy, and megan. we had fun, the campers had fun, that's all that matters, right? Somewhere between Thursday and Friday, I got woken up at 4:00 am, by Brad, Paul, and Chrissy.

FRIDAY - camp eventually wrapped up, and i eventually said all my goodbyes to all my friends, and loaded up all my stuff into Chris's car, at which point "Project: SARATOGA" commenced. We drove to Maitland, had some dinner, stole the golf clubs, and headed down to Canada Lake, NY where we reached Bry's cottage, and sat on his crooked dock, having some drinks, and looking at the stars. Chris and I had some moments on the way down, but they are far too personal. All you need to know is that I am forever changed.

SATURDAY - So on a few hours of sleep, we all got up and drove to the Horse track at Saratoga. I'd been there a bunch of times before, but Chris hadn't. We all had a blast, and some of us made some money... other's didn't. After being down at one point, I managed to come out in the positive numbers, so that was fun. I hit the exacta in the Travers, which was is biggest race of the season at Saratoga. Then we hit the harness track, and afterwards Friendly's before heading back to camp and crashing around 12:00.

SUNDAY - In the morning we played 9 holes of golf in our new favourite town (Johnstown). I hit some great shots, and some not so great ones, but I do feel like I'm getting a little better, but then again, I haven't played since May. After golf, we did a little tubing on the lake behind ths Fink's new boat, and all had a blast. Around 7:00, we took off for Canada, from Canada Lake, NY, and around 10:10pm, we reached the Maitrix.

MONDAY - By 1pm-ish we were back in Toronto. I spend the afternoon and evening with Leigh, watching "The Pianist" and "Comedian." I had talked to her a few times on the phone during the week, but it was nice to actaully sit down and spend time with her. We got yet another free pizza, which was topped off by free chocolate. It was a good night for free stuff. It was a good night in general. I sorted through about 340 emails, about 300 were junk. I made some job related phonecalls, and now have to see what comes of them.

TUESDAY - So today... I finally unpacked. Did some stuff in Scarborough, details to follow, and now am working on cleaning my room a little. It looks like a bomb went off at Walmart, and I have to clean it up.

a recycled letter to the fam...
Sunday, August 17, 2003 08:12 a.m.

too lazy to write all this out again. I just sent this to my family to let them know what was going on. And if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for you... which is some of the same people as them. odd, eh?

Hi everybody,

I just wanted to check in before I took off for Guelph again. First of all, week A of camp was brutal. Bad weather, then the blackout, means big problems. The campers handled it all very well, but it obviously didn't go according to plan at all. I taught two class sessions, one on season planning, and the other on team dynamics. Both went pretty well, one actually went so well that Keith Wendorf (former German Olympic coach, now head of instruction for the WCF) asked for a copy of it. How about them apples!? I didn't throw all that many rocks, so hopefully I can get caught up this week, when I get promoted to the rank of COACH. Should be good, I'm excited.

I worked last night, which was alright. Apparently the station was off the air for about 14 hours due to the blackout. When I get back next week, I have a pretty steady schedule of 4 days a week, which means money will be at least alright. Something else may be brewing, but I'll let you know if/when it does.

And finally, I know you're all dying to know... I'm back with Leigh. It's been a couple weeks now, and things are great. It was obvious to me after a while apart that I had made a big mistake, and so I worked at fixing it. So I spent most of the weekend with her. She's actually a full-time, real nurse now. She just got off her orientation/starting regiment, and is on to real-nurse patient load now.

And finally again, I'll finish up the week of camp by heading down to NY for the weekend. Chris and Justin are coming with me down to Canada Lake/Saratoga for a little weekend adventure. Mom and Dad, I will probably swing by on Friday night to steal the golf clubs ;) !!

I'm playing softball this morning, so I'd better be off. Talk to you soon, my cell works in Guelph if you need me!

love, BJ

i'm away
Monday, August 11, 2003 07:28 p.m.

hey... i forgot to write before i left. i'm in guelph until friday. don't expect any updates until then.

mr. pondie, the defense rests...
Friday, August 8, 2003 11:25 p.m.

Well, if the last time I wrote was about a day that went from good to great to horrible and all that, then since then has been okay, to good, to great, to awesome, to awesome, to awesome... and so on. It's just too bad I didn't like anything at the Nike Store's 40% off sale.

You can probably assume that the various issues have been sorted out, and that I'm quite a bit happier for it. The only downside is that now that I've finally got things in good shape, I'm taking off Sunday for Guelph for pretty much two weeks straight. And while I'm going to have a lot of fun, I still haven't packed, planned my lessons, or anything like that... so I'm working on that now.

So in other news yesterday (not directly associated with our top story), I bought a book about Jack the Ripper so I can discuss intelligently with the other wannabe experts (Tom, Cordy, Johnny, and MB). I also got a book on ASP (a programming language) from a guy at work. I'm all about furthering my personal education right now.

Other than that, I'm off to work on a session on season planning. Peace out, y'all.

another day, let's see how this one goes
Thursday, August 7, 2003 12:29 p.m.

Yesterday went from great, to good, to great, to stunned, to horrible in the span of about 14 hours. And now, I don't know what today is like.

As you might have guessed, there is a girl involved. Hey, you might even be able to guess which one. But as usual, I'm not going to share all the details, because frankly, if I want you to know them, I'll tell ya. I'm hanging in there, other things are getting better, and as Kari (who I ran into on the street last night) said, "No matter what's wrong, it could probably be worse." And she was right, so I tried to think about what's going right. That helped a little bit.

So for now, I'm hanging at home for a little while until work starts. I'm thinking I need a trim, my hair is kinda shaggy around the edges.

new glasses and a way to pay for them.
Tuesday, August 5, 2003 05:31 p.m.

Well first things first. I finally got some new glasses. These were long overdue, because I was abusing my eyes by putting in contacts everyday. So now I got some, and I look sharp. See?

So yeah, I'm glad that's out of the way, so now I can focus on things like paying for them.

Speaking of which (how was that for a segue), I am likely going to be working as a karaoke/dj/live performer starting when I get back from camp. I was at the Brunny last night (oh... the good ol' Brunny) for karaoke, and I rocked the place because there weren't that many people there. But I impressed the guy, who said I had the voice, the talent, and the personality, to be good at it, and that I should do it. So I just talked to him on the phone for an hour talking about the possibilities, and I will for sure be starting it up when I get back in a couple weeks. A little extra money, a little karaoke, and some fun. I can use this cash to pay off the credit card ;)

Other than that, I don't have much going on. I'm about to make some dinner for myself. Tune in next time...

today, dying's not on the menu.
Monday, August 4, 2003 01:14 a.m.

I must reiterate how much I like the weekend day shifts. Although I'm pretty sure my boss doesn't read this and wouldn't care anyway, it was a pleasure to work. And all the work I did ended up on television... how much fun is that.

So I guess I have to figure out how/when I'm going to Alberta next month. My one sister is having a baby, and the other is having a little event of her own that she wants me to be at. Time to start saving the pennies!!

I'm now completely intrigued by the Whitechapel Murders (aka - Jack the Ripper). I've been reading a bunch of stuff about them, and saw the movie "From Hell" which is all about them, and I'm thinking about getting some books on the topic. The fascinating part isn't so much the murders, but the number of suspects in a case that was never solved. There are tons of stories involving tons of people and conspiracies and whatnot. I like that kind of stuff... not so much the gruesome murders, but the whodunnit part.

So for now, I sit and talk to the lovely and talented Miss Paunchy Pondie about all sorts of wonderful things, and think about how lucky I am that certain people just hit it off with other people. I mean if a certain boy and a certain girl actually clicked, a certain boy would certainly be very miserable. Figure that one out.

I learned something new..
Saturday, August 2, 2003 05:02 p.m.

Today I did my first weekend day shift at the Score, and I must say I liked it. NOt too tough at all. Now I know why people want this shift. It's not hard to do, there's not a lot to do, and you get to go home at 6:00, so you still get your Saturday night.

I actually got up a little earlier than I had to this morning, and had breakfast with Leigh, who was getting off work and needed to kill an hour before catching her train to Kingston. I was heading down this way anyway for work, so I just came a bit early. We had a good time, ate some breakfast, revelled in the comfy chairs at Starbucks before knocking over their table and spilling coffee on their floor... We had a good time and laughed quite a bit. It was really nice.

Tonight, I got nothing. I have the night off yet no clue how I plan to use it. I should figure that out, although I could use some sleep.

i survived sars-stock
Thursday, July 31, 2003 11:34 a.m.

Well it was a long day, and I was pretty uncomfortable by the end of it, but I went to the SARS concert and along with 450,000 people watched some pretty good bands, and trampled on people's stuff, and had my own stuff trampled on.

Getting there wasn't much of an issue at all. We took the subway up to Wilson station and walked it from there. We were inside the park with 25 minutes after that, and waded through the crowd quite a ways unitl we decided we could go no further and spread out on the ground. The music was good... Sam Roberts, The Guess Who, and AC DC were my favs. Other than the sheer number of people in your way when you want to move around, there was nothing wrong with the day, and it went quite smoothly.

We actually got split up from part of our group, and didn't find them until several hours later several miles away thanks to a few phone calls. Getting out was no problem either, the TTC people did a great job. All in all it was a fun experience, and I sorely needed a shower when I got home. I'm a little sunburnt across the shoulders, but other than that no serious problems.

Today, I have to work, and I should probably take care of a couple other things on the way in. Let's hope I remember. Oh, and in the last bit of news, I'm not so much a freako as I thought I was. Well maybe I am, but it's not so bad...

great, i'm becoming a freako
Tuesday, July 29, 2003 01:18 a.m.

Didn't to much today other than dishes and laundry. Did the usual job search, the usual kick the soccer ball around the apartment, made the usual trip to SUBWAY (actually, not that usual unless I'm at work), and did some work on my movie. I'm posting in a new forum discussing things with other writers who are trying to be funny... I'll fit right in.

In other news, I'm confused about life and stuff. If you actually know me, you've probably got a better idea of what I'm talking about. But as usual, I don't feel like divulging all my personal garbage on the web, especially when there may be others involved.

Oh, the other thing I did was look into teacher's college. I think I might apply to University of Toronto (and maybe some others) this fall, unless I get a real job before then. That means I would start until next September, but at least I'd have something to work on and look forward to. Loans are in my future, I think.

apparently, she sounded cranky...
Saturday, July 26, 2003 02:53 p.m.

Well it's been a couple days of nothing too crazy... a lot of hanging out with Leigh, a lot of rollerblading/biking, a bit of shopping, and some movie watching. Today, I settle back into my weekend routine of job hunting and running the ticker.

My apartment is a mess. I really need to do laundry. And considering I have to leave for work in about 15 minutes, I've gotta find some other time to do that. I'd also like to find some time to go to the Travers in August, but I don't want my time-off requests to get too ridiculous considering this would follow my two weeks of camp. Anyway... I've gotta start thinking about work.

learning stuff...
Wednesday, July 23, 2003 11:03 p.m.

I didn't do much today except sleep in and read. After visiting with the cousins last night, I slept in until about noon (after some really screwy dreams involving a war and a train... figure that out). So I read for a while until my parents got home from work, did some computer maintenance, and ate some wicked good BBQ porkchops for dinner (BBQ steak was last night).

So I've acquired a couple books, and a copy of Trivial Persuit, and those will keep me busy for the next little while, as I'm bored at home. I'll be heading back to Toronto and the Ponder-osa Ranch tomorrow on the train... but the ranch came with me to the Mait-rix. Someday I'll have to write a dictionary of Brian-ese.

Meanwhile the Jays bullpen physically pains me. I hurt. I feel sick everytime they bring in somebody new, because it will only get worse.

the mait-rix: re-loaded again
Tuesday, July 22, 2003 12:01 a.m.

I think I've used that title before, but I'm not feeling horribly creative right now. I'm in the Mait-rix, after a hectic afternoon of computer repair and other more serious whatnot. I caught the train with minutes to spare, but now I'm here, and will be up early to go to the funeral. Something tells me this won't be as entertaining as the last one.

I worked last night, then joined Leigh, Sean, and Natalie for a little road trip, gambling, and late night Burger King. It was a lot of fun, and I'd like to do it again sometime... because it was a good time.

So now, I think I'm going to bed. It's been a long day.

i guess the bad news first...
Sunday, July 20, 2003 01:59 p.m.

Yesterday morning, my Great-Uncle Ethan died. He was the only one of my grandpa's siblings that we saw regularly, and he was also the who was the inspiration for my second middle name... it's sad, but not unexpected. He was quite old (89, I think) and in failing health. So I'll be heading home tomorrow evening, so I can make it to the funeral on Tuesday.

Well after finding that out I went to a wedding in Oshawa with Leigh for one of her friends. It was at a huge mansion of a house (the one used in Billy Madison) with lovely gardens and fountains and whatnot. After hitting a parade, and a closed DVP, we were actually a little late, but got the for the important part (The I do's, the rings, the kiss, etc). The reception was fun, and there was lots of dancing and stuff. We took lots of pictures which I will eventually put up on the site.

In other news, I have to work in a couple hours. It's nice because I need the money, but a pain because I'd like to go on a little road trip with the wedding crew. But alas, I cannot. So instead it will be the ticker for me!

late night, tired eyes
Saturday, July 19, 2003 01:16 a.m.

I worked tonight for the first time this week and I was actually happy to be there. Just knowing that I was making a little cashola was good enough for me. I feel like I'm finally settling in a little and getting used to things, so that's definately a good thing.

Yesterday, I finished my movie. For those of you who don't know, I've been trying to write a movie for a long time, and over the last year or two I've had it going on and off, but mostly off. Well lately, as part of a drive to capture some of my creativity, I sat down over the past couple days and pumped out 28 pages worth of script (about 8 of it was already done). So now, I need to work on editing it, formatting it, and making it better, and then I'll figure out what to do with it.

Last night, I had an overwhelming urge to get out of the apartment... no reason... ahem... So I met up with James and hit the Red Lion on Jarvis. We had some drinks, played some Golden Tee (I beat him on 18 holes, then on 9 holes, then as he played 18 on his own, he shot -18 which set several records on the machine including lowest score, most eagles, and longest putt or something). I also rocked out with the band for 5 songs, and they mentioned that they might need a guitar player a few nights a week, so I may have a part time rockstar gig. That would be tons of fun...

In other news, wedding tomorrow. Time to figure out what I'm going to wear. Wow, that sounds girly.

the new king of multi-media
Thursday, July 17, 2003 03:19 a.m.

Today I did a mediochre radio demo, which is now accessible on my website. Hopefully that's one more thing employers look at at say "wow, this guy is pretty handy, we should hire him!" That would be too sweet, considering I applied for a few more jobs today; one or two that I'd REALLY like. So keep your fingers crossed.

Other than that, I spent a while working on stand-up material. James has motivated me to write some things down, so I'm working on more comedy stuff, as well as finishing the movie I started to write last summer. It's nice to have an outlet for things that have been kicking around in your head for a while. It's also great to be able to use my brain for something creative instead of mind numbing and drudgerous (I'm pretty sure that isn't a word, but as of now, we're making it one). So anyway, I wrote about 10 pages worth today on my movie, and a few little stand up bits. After I made a demo. How's that for productive.

In other news, I got job postings sent to me from 3 different people, on top of the ones I check out every day. It's really good to know that other people are looking, and are helping me out, and that I'm not doing this alone. So if I get tired of it all, or a little bummed out, there will always be people around to pick me up. That's a wicked feeling.

In slightly sadder news, my great Uncle Ethan's health is failing considerably. Things don't seem to be looking good for him, so I guess the best we can do is hope for the best.

ooohhh, i'm , oh i'm still alive.
Tuesday, July 15, 2003 01:33 p.m.

Hey there, everybody. I'm on day 2 of 4 days off, and not much is going on. I went grocery shopping yesterday, so at least I have things to eat while I'm bored. I talked to my parents for a while yesterday and they reminded me that I'm slacking a little on my "daily" updates, so I decided to get caught up.

James came over last night and we watched "Old School" and discussed comedy. He's writing a book, I'm always writing something, so now we're trying to rely on eachother for motivation and brainstorming ideas. Hopefully that works out, and Justin decides to participate.

I played softball on Sunday, and we won both games. Dennis came out again and made some incredible catches in the outfield. My average is now up to .658 but I won't be playing for the next few weeks because of holidays and camp and stuff. So it will have to stay there, and I'll likely relinquish my lead in some offensive categories.

I'm going to make a radio demo today, so I can apply for some jobs.... er, some MORE jobs.

In other news, I'm having ups and downs, just because I'm a little bored, but then I get over it, and then I'm bored again. So I'm trying to avoid those and be productive, and in the meantime I'm keeping my head up and looking for opportunities.

good news, bad news
Saturday, July 12, 2003 12:59 p.m.

I guess the good news is that I'm working a lot this week, I'm meeting more people at the Score, and that I've made a couple new friends. I went out afterwork with a bunch from work last night, and realized that I may be able to do, or at least learn, a little more.

The bad news is that in the next couple weeks, I don't have nearly as many shifts, which kinda stinks. A combination of the All-Star break (nothing really happeneing) and a couple guys in the department being a little more available. So I'll have a lot of time in the next couple weeks, if anybody wants to come visit.

So I work today and tomorrow, and in the meantime I'm still applying for other jobs. Prospect in Sudbury, and maybe even an inside connection to help me out.

man... the blue jays need a bull pen in the WORST way
Thursday, July 10, 2003 12:27 p.m.

I was at the game last night... the one where they blew the lead in the 8th inning. AGAIN. I am so sick of watching this team collapse late in the game because they have no pitching! But anyway... James and Justin were there, so we had fun.

Afterwards, I went out to Lava with some guys from work. It was nice, because I hadn't really had a chance to hang out with them outside of a work environment. And I also hadn't been out in quite a while. Sat around and talked for most of the night, then walked home nice and late.

The day before, I spent with Leigh. We did a bit of shopping (I bought stuff for ME!!) and saw Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle. It was...entertaining, if not painfully unrealistic. The stunts were less believable than in the first (which is saying something), the plot was a little thinner (which is also saying something), but what it lost in those categories it made up for in other forms of eye candy... such as Demi Moore. Ubuhhhhhh..... Entertaining. Not good. Just entertaining.

Pizza Pizza tried to screw us out of a free pizza, but I argued until I got it. Hey, I don't ask for the 20-minute Policy, I just enforce it...

Today is work, as it will be all weekend.

oh... and by the way. I guess I didn't explain it too clearly way back in April. Pleasantville Post was a kids show that a friend of mine was doing for an RTA project. I was the main character/host "Postman Pete" and I was dressed like a goof all day, and I walked around and talked to Bob the Baker, Andy the Artist, and Lisa the Librarian, and learned something useful at every stop. Not my finest hour, when it comes to looking cool ;)

weird ending to a good night
Tuesday, July 8, 2003 01:38 a.m.

Okay... so I hung out with Leigh tonight, and had a good talk, and watched some TV. It was nice, and I really needed it, with as weird as I've been feeling lately. So that was all well and good, and I got on the street car around 1 am to come home.

So I'm sitting there, minding my own business staring at all the nice little places on College St. that I really should visit sometime, and this girl comes up to me and says "Excuse me." I turn to her, a university-aged average looking girl, and say something like "yeah?" And SHE says... "Are you Postman Pete?" (See April 2nd, if you don't know that story)

I was stunned. Not only had this girl seen the video, she obviously watched it closely enough to recognize me on the streetcar in the middle of the night. Stunned. Slightly flattered, but mostly embarrassed I chatted with her and her friend about the whole thing and Ryerson and stuff. They were both Ryerson students and the one who recognized me was in a different section of the same class that we made the show for. But yeah, I'm a celebirty somewhat... or not at all. But it still blew my mind.

Stunned.

new look... symbolic?
Monday, July 7, 2003 01:21 p.m.

So as you all have noticed, this page looks a little different than it did yesterday. I woke up nice and early today and instead of wasting the day, I decided to be productive. Not like this NEEDED to be done, but it was something I wanted to do, and was putting off. So now this page looks different, as does my personal page. It now includes a spiffy flash front page.

So other than that, I'm trying to clean up a little. The pile of dishes in the kitchen is still a little intimidating, but they need to be done. And I guess its my job now... (although I don't think it is my turn, Dennis is at work and Dave is home for the week, so nobody else is gonna do them!).

In other news, I got an email from a highschool friend today which made me happy. I also got a GST cheque which will be promptly used to pay my phone bill. I guess it's the little things that make your day. Hopefully it continues to get better.

logic has nothing to do with it...
Monday, July 7, 2003 12:14 a.m.

I just wish i could figure out what is going on in my head. I haven't been sleeping well lately, and while I'm pretty sure I know why (a lot on my mind), there doesn't seem to be an easy cure... that is, to get things off one's mind.

Today I played softball. Split the two games. Made an error. Lost my glove (I think I did that last week actually, but I just noticed today... I was time to get a new one anyway). Went to work. Nothing special. Left work. Almost killed myself when my rollerblade wheel got caught in something on the street. Had a nice little spin. Little almost fall. Caught myself on my hands before I cut or bruised anything. Got home. Talked on MSN for a while. And now I'm here.

So if I only knew what to do next, I would. But I don't. And I wish there was a way to figure it out. Don't ask, I'll tell you if I feel like it.

I should probably be asleep
Sunday, July 6, 2003 01:48 a.m.

Today I went to Markham with Merrick to Kristin's engagement party. Of course, that was after a little running around downtown trying to find an appropriate card, that wasn't overly shmoopy. All of them were. I chose the least shmoopy. It was a nice day, hot and sunny. The rest of the Federation were conspicuous by their absence, but Merrick and I represented.

I got home around 6:30 and kinda bummed around for the rest of the night. I was all set to go out and do something fun, but nobody seemed to want to join me. Kinda last minute planning on a busy weekend, I guess. I have softball in the morning anyway...

So that kinda makes me wonder why I'm still awake. Just thinking... about stuff... what else do I ever do?? It's really hot too, and this fan just ain't cuttin it!

weekend came and went
Wednesday, July 2, 2003 12:38 a.m.

Well, I just did a little review of what I've written lately, and I've noticed that it's a little less frequent these days. That's probably because I don't feel the need to tell you that I still work at the Score (for real money) every couple days, or that I'm still looking for a full time dream job somewhere (lately the eyes have been on NYC), or that I hang out with friends and whatnot.

But regardless, I'll try to say a few things that I haven't said 100 times in the last few months. Yesterday I hung out with Leigh, Sean, and Natalie. That was fun. We played some Trivial Persuit (I insisted) and it was really hard because it was a British version. I also got some of my digital prints printed at the photo place, and was thrilled with the outcome. So I now have some grad pics, some Myrtle Beach pics, and some other ones, in my photo album.

Today, I did laundry. Then I revamped the front page of my website. All my long-time readers know how it is. Every summer, I get bored and redo my site. Or at least, this will be the 3rd time. So you can expect this to change sometime soon, and look a lot cooler, I hope.

James came over tonight to watch some baseball, and eat large amounts of poutine. It almost killed us both, but it would have been the best way to go. Heart attack caused by gravy, fries, and cheese. MMMM....

This week calls for a couple days of work, one day of engagement party, and that's about it. I'll try to have something more intelligent to say next time.

THE WHITE JAYS?!
Sunday, June 29, 2003 12:42 p.m.

Boy... The editors at the Toronto Star really must not have been thinking. The writer obviously wasn't. Their expert source obviously can't.... and he doesn't know a thing about baseball.

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, there was an article in the Toronto Star yesterday called "The White Jays" which featured a front page spread of the Blue Jays roster and all their mostly-caucasian faces. Of course to actually read the article, you'd have to buy the paper, because the articles *yes, there were a few of them* were all in the sports page. What it boiled down to was that the Star was pointing out that the Jays had the least racially diverse team in baseball, and that JP Ricciardi (Jays GM) has signed mostly white players.

If they wanted to write an article saying that, so be it. It's interesting, it's true, and people would have read it. But to take that same theme, pump it up to amazing proportions, put a giant photo-teaser on the front page that tells you to read the other 5 articles about the racist Blue Jays, something is horribly wrong.

It is not a story worth filling the whole sports section. None of the players were complaining about ethnicity. None of the management said anything. As far as I know, the fans weren't complaining, considering the team hasn't played this well in years. So why did this reporter feel the need to focus on something that nobody cares about.

Thank goodness the players and management agree. Carlos Delgado said it was the "stupidest thing he had ever read." JP Ricciardi was embarassed that he even had to comment about it because it wasn't an issue. And as some of people have pointed out, nobody complains about the Leafs being white, or the Raptors being black. Same city.

I don't have a problem with the article being written. I think, however, it should have been about 1/10 the length it was, and the supporting columns should have ignored what the general public was smart enough to see was a non-story. Instead we get giant photos, race-focused headlines, and tons and tons of copy, making an issue out of something that everybody was fine with.

Now everybody hates the Star, and it's their own fault for attacking the one thing that people in this city are happy about right now. Their explanation was weak, including the line "Jackie Robinson couldn't play for the Jays today," because their philosophy is all about patience at the plate and risk free baserunning. What a load of crap! I, along with a lot of other people in this city are really annoyed with the Star on this one, and plan on making it known.... even if that just means complaining to people at work.

The Star screwed up. They should get people who know about baseball to write, and be interviewed for, stories involving baseball. These people obviously had another agenda: stirring the pot, which really doesn't have anything in it.

PS- I know he's out there, and I know we could use some bullpen help, but does anyone else think that now might not be a good time to sign John Rocker?

A little TP never hurt nobody!
Thursday, June 26, 2003 01:02 a.m.

Well it looks like I'll be working pretty much full time this week, which is fine with me. I'm going into the Score again tomorrow for Web Trivia, and likely again on Friday before I work my ticker shifts... so if you do the math, that will probably be 40 hours. I don't remember the last time I got paid for a 40 hour work week!

Tonight, we had a little fun that was too long coming. Mike, Cathy, and Terri came over for a Trivial Persuit game that had been talked about for years and planned for months. Finally we got it together. See, back in first year, Terri and Cathy were on my floor in residence. Trivial Persuit was always a great way to pass the time while people had a few drinks before heading out to a bar. And because Mike was over almost every weekend, he ended up playing a lot of Trivial Persuit with me, in Cathy and Terri's suite. But that was more than 3 years ago now...

So at some point, we decided we were going to have a reunion game. So after months of planning (it was just hard to get everybody on a free night) it finally happened. The three of them came over to my apartment and TP was played... for a long long time.

Terri and I ended up coming from behind and winning after Mike and Cathy had about 100 of the easiest questions in the game's history. Honestly though, writing 560 trivia questions taught me a little bit about sports, which came in handy for some of the questions I was forced to answer. So anyway, we played, and had a lot of fun, and I think we will likely do it again.

Does that mean we're getting old? We now think board games are a fun way to pass an evening?

i know i know...
Tuesday, June 24, 2003 01:02 p.m.

I haven't written too much in here lately, because frankly not a whole lot has been going on. I have a part time job and some bonus freelance hours, but that still gives me a lot of time to sit around the apartment and look for jobs. I spent the last couple mornings out on the balcony sitting in the sun... did I mention the weather is beautiful.

I'm still waiting on a couple different paycheques, but when those come in, I will be a lot happier. Things are a little tight right now, which means I haven't been out doing anything too crazy, simply because I can't afford it!

That will change a little bit soon, once the money starts coming in. I'll be able to pay a bunch of bills, and maybe treat myself to a little something.

Softball continues to be fun, we're 6-2 now. My average is now somewhere around .600. JB (one of the myrtle boys) played with us last week, and has found a spot on the Eradicators Roster, which he is very excited about. So, this afternoon, I'm going to write more trivia. But at least I'm getting paid for it... eventually.

i got nothin'
Sunday, June 22, 2003 05:46 p.m.

Hey there...

Just checking in. I'm working at the Score. I played softball this morning. Won both games. Right now, I'm wiped. A combination of staying up way too late and getting up way too early. Tomorrow, I will sleep all day.

Cheers.

just like an old video game... up and down
Thursday, June 19, 2003 12:23 a.m.

Well yesterday was good, and today was good too... except for a few minutes on the phone which left me scratching my head until... well, now.

Because of The Score's new employment policy, I essentially had to "interview" for a job I knew I was already going to get. So I did that yesterday, and sat down and talked some things out with J.D. (my boss) and settled all that stuff. As of Saturday, I'm an official part time employee of the Score and I'll be able to run the ticker all by myself. Yay! I'm seriously happy about this, for several reasons, including the fact that I have a new email address at "thescore.ca"

Now today, I finally heard from CBC, and it was obviously not the result I was hoping for, otherwise it would have been the top story. But it isn't... because I have too much ambition and want to do more than this job would have let me do. He said I was "too strong." Which is a compliment and annoying as hell at the same time. We had a little chat about it, and he recognizes that it was a selfish move (to hire someone less deserving who would be happier doing joe-jobs) but I still really wanted it. Either way, I plan on speaking with the guy again, because he seemed like a good guy for advice, and at this point, I really need some.

I spent the rest of the day with Leigh, Sean, and Natalie. The weather was great. We had some laughs. We had some ice cream. We had some wings. And later some spaghetti. After that, I watched "Minority Report." Upon further ponderance, I think it was pretty brilliant. And that's my story.

I'm going to go cut my hair now.... really short!

misty haze in the city...
Saturday, June 14, 2003 01:10 a.m.

Hey... not much to say today. Or yesterday for that matter. I have been pulling 10 hour days at the Score, 4 in the web department, then 6 in the ticker, which is a great way to pass time. Trivia questions are coming along nicely, but may become remarkably less interesting very shortly.

In the meantime, still no word from CBC. I have it on good authority though that I'll be in at the Score starting next Saturday, and that means paid shifts with money. Which reminds me, I should bill them for my Web-time.

Anyway, I'm going to go relax and watch a movie or something. All that sports watching is hard work.

it's just something i made up while i was eating dinner one night

Gragimation...
Wednesday, June 11, 2003 07:32 p.m.

Well I officially am now done my university career at Ryerson. Today at around 3:30pm, I received my degree and got hooded, as I strutted my stuff across the stage at the Ryerson Theatre. The ceremony was kinda slow, but that was expected.

Mom and Dad came into town to mark the occasion. We went out for a nice steak dinner last night before going to the Jays game and watching them trounce the Pirates. Delgado, Hudson, Phelps, and Catalanotto all homered. We had a drink and played some pool at the Royal York before riding the Rocket (TTC) back uptown, to my apartment, and their hotel.

Today we did a little walking around. I got all spiffed up. Met up with the Ryerson crew, took some pictures, did the grad thing, took some more pictures, and came home. Mom and dad are now on their way back to the Mait-rix, and I'm relaxing before the party starts tonight.

so until next time...

i made a promise to myself...
Monday, June 9, 2003 10:57 p.m.

I'm not sure why, but a little while ago I decided that I would fill out and post the next email survey I got... I don't know why I thought I would do this, but I did. So I will... and because I don't have much else to say other than "Enter the Matrix" is an awesome game.

1. WHAT IS YOUR FULL NAME? Brian John Ethan Chick

2. WHAT COLOUR PANTS ARE YOU WEARING? Blue... they're jeans. Big shock.

3. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? "I started a joke" by the Wallflowers.

4. WHAT ARE THE LAST 4 DIGITS OF YOUR PHONE NUMBER? DUDE

5. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? peanuts... i went through about half a bag of them while watching the hockey game. Stupid Devils!

6. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOUR WOULD YOU BE? If I were a crayon?!? Well, in the event that should happen, please make me...blue?... I don't want to be a crayon...

7. HOW IS THE WEATHER RIGHT NOW? Dark? Clear enough to see the city, cool enough to get a breeze through the window.

8. LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Justin Parsons. He called to discuss our graduation day.

9. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT THE OPPOSITE SEX? As my good friend Kalid Azad said: "The first thing I notice is how they look. I know I'm a pig, but I can't see their soul."

10. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT YOU THIS? Like like? or just like? Need to be specific here people... that's just a nice way of avoiding the question, because really i think she's hideous.

11. HOW ARE YOU TODAY? not too shabby, a little tired, but I'll survive.

12. FAVOURITE DRINK? sippin' on coke and rum... (man I'm sick of that song!)

13. FAVOURITE ALCOHOLIC DRINK? um... rum and coke? the other one didn't specify, so now i feel like a dork for having this twice.

14. FAVOURITE SPORTS? to play: curling, softball, volleyball, soccer, football. to watch: hockey, baseball, football, sure why not?

15. HAIR COLOUR? brownish... tan?

16. EYE COLOUR? brownish... with some greenish spots

17. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? sure do, why?

18. SIBLINGS AND THEIR AGES? yes, and they're older. some of them more than others.

19. FAVOURITE MONTH? August... warm weather, not much to do, two weeks of camp is always fun.

20. FAVOURITE FOOD? steak. oh yeah.... steak. mmmm... steak.

21. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Adaptation - it was really really weird. Not bad... just weird.

22. FAVOURITE DAY OF THE YEAR? I love Christmas. like the kid I am... inside.

24. ARE YOU TOO SHY TO ASK SOMEONE OUT? nope. i have been. but that's all behind me now.

25. DO YOU LIKE SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDING MOVIES BETTER? i'll take either. there's enough room for both of them. although a lot of both should never be made in the first place.

26. DO YOU LIKE SUMMER OR WINTER BEST? summer for sure, it's when the girls come back from "Hot Girl Camp." Seriously, in the winter they all go away to camp. And as soon as the weather is nice, they all come back!

27. HUGS OR KISSES? i like both personally... why would i have to choose one? like if i was forced to pick between a girl with no mouth and a girl with no arms? that's tough.

28. RELATIONSHIPS OR ONE NIGHT STANDS? Um... i'll take the relationship. Hands down. That is, of course, if you have arms.

29. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? chocolate for sure...

30. DO YOU WANT YOUR FRIENDS TO WRITE BACK? sure... most of them won't. 31. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? nobody. this isn't email.

32. WHO IS LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? everybody. see above.

33. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS? three bedroom apartment in the multicultural part of town... great view!!

34. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? starting "The Colour of Magic" again. Never made it through the first time.

35. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? my mouse...

36. FAVOURITE BOARD GAME? Trivial Persuit

37. WHAT DID YOU DO LAST NIGHT? Ran the ticker for a while, watched sports, watched a movie with Leigh.

38. FAVOURITE SMELLS? barbecue. pie. shampoo. burning leaves. winter.

39. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING? how much longer can i sleep before i really have to get up?

That's it. Wasn't that fascinating?

i rock
Sunday, June 8, 2003 09:05 p.m.

I hit three homers today in our softball games. I just cranked 'em. Now I'm at the Score, and there's nothing going on. Tomorrow is Monday, and for this, I am very excited.

Final answer.

at the moment, i like my chances...
Friday, June 6, 2003 01:44 p.m.

Well, hopefully... er.. probably... the days of this blog being a rant about my lack of employment are numbered. I'm close... really close, and in fact, in one sense, I'm almost there.

First of all, on the Score-Front: I'm actually getting paid for some work I'm doing for the web department. That's only temporary and part time, so I won't be able to rely on that forever, but hey at least it's paying work. My boss also told me yesterday that I'll start having my own shifts in a week or two, which means that again, I will be paid. Like it will be a job... that pays me money... in the field of sports broadcasting. How about that?

I'm still waiting to hear about the Canadian Press job, which would also pay me money to work in the sports department. He's been putting it off, and I keep calling back, but yesterday I got a "Be Patient" instead of a "Bugger Off! Stop calling, you didn't get it!" So that could be good.

And today... I interviewed at CBC Sports. I got all dressed up and went down to the CBC Megaplex Headquarters and had the greatest interview of my life. I had the experience, I spoke well, they laughed at my jokes, I knew what they asked me in terms of trivia... I was pretty psyched.

So now, I have to wait and see who offers me a job. CBC would be the full time, longest term (1 year contract) with the opportunity to go some really cool places. CP would be full time, but only until summer, and the work wouldn't be too crazy fun, BUT there is lots of room for advancement. The Score would only be part time, but its a fun place to work, and the days are pretty flexible, so I'd like to stay on there, if possible. So I guess I'm really hoping for the CBC thing to work out, and that I can still stay on at the Score a night or two a week.

Speaking of the score, I'm going in again tonight. Some paid work, some more training. Hey, it's something to do, and it doesn't cost me anything!!

and then there's today...
Wednesday, June 4, 2003 04:26 p.m.

Some things happened yesterday, but were not directly involved with the trip so I left them out of that entry. Um... in no particular order.

I have a parttime, short term, PAYING gig from the Score.

I have an interview with CBC Sports on Friday.

I got a call from CP, still no word, but still high hopes.

The Score told me today that they'd probably hire me within the next couple weeks. The plan is at least in motion.

The reason I woke up this morning at 8:30 pm was so I could take part in the RUNTO.CA launch for Nike. They're having a 10 K race and hired a bunch of people to run around the city and promote it. I was one of those people so for the day, I got decked out in Nike stuff (which I get to keep) and got paid to run around half a block. It was fun. Nice shoes though... I needed them. Nike came through.

The whole trip (abridged)
Wednesday, June 4, 2003 03:30 p.m.

Well, I have a few days of vacation to get you caught up on, as well as some job r