yeah... so... right...
Wednesday, February 12, 2003 02:15 p.m.

I'm finding that I have less to write about these days just because its a lot of the same old stuff. I'm going to school, looking for jobs, working at the call centre, playing volleyball on Mondays and curling on Thursdays. When there's time, I hang out with Leigh.

I finally copied my first set of demo tapes today. So tomorrow, I plan to send a couple out and see if I can't get a job. Either way I have another interview tomorrow for the tour people, and also with my call centre boss.

Shooting of our documentary officially starts on Saturday, which means I'll be booking it back downtown to get ready for the party in the evening. We shoot again on Wednesday, which means things will be more busy and stressful before too long.

So that's the update. I need a job. I'm making a doc. And I'm feeling like i'm under a little more pressure lately than I have been in a long while... that's about all I have right now.

weekend
Sunday, February 9, 2003 04:11 p.m.

Um... Have I written since Friday? I don't think so...

Well, then. Leigh made it back from Cuba with only a little inconvinience. Apparently her luggage was misplaced for a little after they landed in Toronto. It did turn up, however, and they made it home only a little later than expected.

I don't really have a TON of news, other than the fact that I bought the movie "Office Space" last night. It was only $7 and I figured it was one of those I needed to own. Other than that, not too much happened. I have to work tonight.

I have a pretty busy week ahead, so I'll probably be pretty run down by the time the weekend rolls around. On the weekend, we're starting to shoot for our documentary, and the Res. Semi-Formal is Saturday night. Not to mention Valentines Day on Friday, so I should probably figure something out for that too...

groceries
Friday, February 7, 2003 03:12 p.m.

I finally went grocery shopping today. I've been putting it off for a while, but it got to the point where I REALLY had nothing to eat, so I decided to head to the store. Other than an incident involving a moronic lady and a tub of cat litter, the trip was uneventful.

Leigh gets back from Cuba today. She's probably in Toronto as I write this. Her plane was supposed to get in about 45 minutes ago, so I'm assuming she's on her way back to the ILLC soon.

Yeah... so that's about all I got for now. Other than the fact that I should clean a little.

And I'm done... And I've decided that i'm going back to song lyrics. Because I'll never be at a loss for those.

11:00 on Wednesday, February 5th
Wednesday, February 5, 2003 11:00 p.m.

A 21-year old guy chews on a black pen as he types at his computer. He's wearing a striped rugby style shirt, and a pair of blue jeans. A light to the left of his computer is shining a little too brightly in his face, but he doesn't do anything about it. He takes time to answer the instant messenger conversations he's having with friends. They keep dinging and flashing at the bottom of his screen.

On the shelf to his left is an empty Coke bottle, three guitar picks, a phone, a penny, a subway transfer, a button, a shoe horn, a big speaker, and a job application. The application is for a tour guide job that would take him to Quebec for a few days at a time for a couple months. He stumbled upon the opportunity earlier in the day at a campus job fair he didn't know was going on. He handed out the first copy of his newly-revamped resume.

He takes a minute to curse his CD-ROM drive because it won't read the disc he puts in. He thinks he should get a new one.

Earlier in the day, he went to class (where he finished the crossword puzzle, and got an A on his test). He went home to his apartment, went through his daily ritual of job searching, filled out the application, and went back to the living room to watch hockey and later, a movie.

After watching "Amelie," he decided that life would be cool if thing acutally happened like that. He also came to the conclusion that he likes foreign film because they cut through the fat of Hollywood movies. Anybody can make the same Romantic Comedy of a budget of $100 million, but can you make a unique one for a whole lot less? The French can...

He adjusts the lamp that was shining in his face. It's a little dimmer now, but at least he isn't blinking every 2 seconds. He plans on staying up for a little while talking to his friends. He'll get up in the morning, go out to the store to buy the video tapes he tracked down yesterday, and go to work for a one hour meeting. After that, he'll hurry to the curling club because he has a game.

He clicks "done!" on his mouse, knowing full well that he didn't finish his entry in the usual way. He's not watching enough TV to think of something fresh everyday. He'll probably go back to movie lines or song lyrics before too long.

All sorts of productive!!
Tuesday, February 4, 2003 02:54 p.m.

Howdy folks... I love days when I actually do things. I went to bed nice and early last night (around midnightish) so getting up at 7:30 was no problem. What made it even easier to get up was the fact that I was already awake because my phone rang at 6:30 (Jen didn't expect me to answer, she was just going to leave a message about class) and also because it was windy like crazy outside, so things were whistling and banging.

Long story short, I was out of bed and in the shower before my alarm even went off. While I'm thinking of it... we won our volleyball games again last night. Still undefeated... woo hoo.

So I got up, went to class, joked with Chris and Kristin, did the crossword, took some notes, talked to Gregg and Gary about some technical issues (like a job, and demo tapes and stuff) had some lunch and came home. This is when things really got going.

First, I tracked down a place where I can get some REALLY cheap tapes to use for demos. We're talking less than a buck each... which is nice, because I'm going to make about 10.

Next, I talked to a lady for our documentary who seems to be pretty into it as well. I was worried before, but now that I talked to her, I got a completely positive vibe, and that's good news. So we'll go back to that father's meeting in a week or two.

Then I got a phone call about a job... well, more of a gig. I'll be covering a conference at the Royal York Hotel at the end of the month, which should earn me a couple hundred bucks, for a couple days work. It seems to be a government thing, so I need to do a little research before I get there.

Merrick also assured me that I would most likely NOT get cut from the call centre job, which is good news whether I like it or not. Right now, I'm in no shape to turn down money, so as long as they're willing to pay me, I'll keep showing up and making calls.

Leigh gets back on Friday and I'm looking forward to that. Hopefully she'll bring me back something nice!! And again.. GO TEAM ONTARIO!!! Gotta love the Nationals, they're winning right now. Hopefully they hold on to make it 5-2.

Sunday Melty Sunday
Sunday, February 2, 2003 08:41 p.m.

I'm in a pretty good mood, but I'm not sure exactly why. There are a bunch of little reasons I guess. #1 - It was sunny today, which is always good for the soul. #2 - My friends who are curling at the Junior Nationals are off to a 4-0 start. Go ONTARIO! #3 - As I walked to work, I realized that the snow was melting and the temperature was acutally pleasant (a sign of things to come, hopefully) #4 - I ran into a friend I haven't seen for a while (Adam Pells for anybody who knows him) and had a nice little chat on the street corner. #5 - I had some good conversations and make a bit of money at work tonight, so I feel like I'm getting better at that and hate it just a little less. #6 - The temperature was still nice on the walk home. #7 - I mixed up some Fruitopia which means I get to drink it in LARGE quanities instead of the bottle it normally comes in. So things are good. Happy February by the way. I still wish I was in Cuba (like somebody I know).

so what's new
Saturday, February 1, 2003 11:47 p.m.

I talked to my parents last night, they said they could tell I was a little stressed from the way I've been writing in this thing, and in emails. It's a little odd that these days we can tell stuff like that... It's even more obvious in instant messenger conversations, by the way the people write back, how long it takes, and where the "..." is. Personally, I over use "..."

So last night I worked at the call centre. Yee haw. Came home, went to bed after watching a little basketball. I don't even know who won. That's how into it I was.

This morning, I woke up (a good start to any day!!) and got ready to head out to the curling club. I had a second so I checked the computer to see what was new, and I heard about the Space Shuttle crash. It's one of those times when you just don't know what to say. It's extremely sad, and I feel for friends and relatives of those involved.

I curled today... well enough to qualify for our bonspiel in March. Which means we lost, but still made it in. I stayed at the club for most of the afternoon, which means I was in no shape to do anything when I got home except for watch a movie, which I did. It has just occured to me that I still haven't eaten anything, and that I'm kinda hungry... so I might go take care of that.

In other news I feel like I have all this creativity inside me itching to get out in the form of a song or a script or a picture or something. I don't really know... but I kinda want to "create" something. Weird feeling. So maybe I'll do something soon. My other itch these days is to prepare coaching material for this summer. I don't really have much to do at the moment, but I want to be really ready when the time comes, so at least I can put some productive energy into that.

I've decided that another goal on my list is to make a critically aclaimed independent film.

did i use that one already?

T-dot... where the excitement never stops
Thursday, January 30, 2003 06:11 p.m.

While I'm thinking of it... I'll start here. "SIGNS" is perhaps one of the worst movies ever made. After watching this, and hating it, and remembering "Unbreakable" I'm starting to think that M. Night ChakaKahn only got lucky with "The Sixth Sense" and is really not that talented.

Some other things happened before that, so I should probably back it up a little. Tuesday night I dragged myself to work, even though I absolutely didn't feel like being there. Even so I struggled though, and actually made $50. The thing is, however, at the end of four weeks, they decide whether we're good enough to stay on as call-center people, and the way it looks now, I don't think I'll be one of the "lucky" few. I've cost the school more money in paying me than I've made, and I don't think that is really what they're looking for.

So Wednesday, I got together with my group and worked on my P.R. presentation (taking a little time for a quick lunch with Leigh) then went to class to present. We did that, then Paul and I went to do some Documentary research. Which was pretty interesting...

Our documentary subject is divorced fathers who are fighting custody battles with their exes. We went to a support-group kinda thing for these guys and heard stories ranging from people moving and changing school districts to "my ex assaulted me and told the cops I molested my kids." So we met some very useful sources who may appear in our piece, and got some ideas for other things we might use.

So THEN I went to Leigh's to watch the worst movie ever, "Signs." Today we ran some errands after lunch/breakfast and I came home to do the dishes. Leigh leaves for Cuba tomorrow morning, early enough that it almost counts as tonight.

I curl at 9:00 so hopefully something good comes of that. Still no word on REAL jobs, but I'm about to take the search up a notch or two.

Oh wow... Tuesday
Tuesday, January 28, 2003 05:12 p.m.

I am ridiculously tired. Although after dragging myself out of bed today, then going to a meeting with my PR group, I saw "City of God" in a VIP theatre at Varsity Cinemas. Yeah, I felt pretty cool.

The reason I saw the movie was so that I can review it for the Ryersonian. Mike would have gone, but he was busy so he asked me. So I got the invitation, and went and watched it. It was a Brazilian movie (subtitled) about the ghettos of Rio, and how the drug and gang situation evolved in the 60 and 70s. It was apparently based on a true story.

So now I have to write a review, and I'm still not sure what I'm going to say. Oh well, I'll figure it out soon enough.

Other than that, I'm not thrilled about going to work tonight. But hey, I never am.

DEAR FAMILY...
Monday, January 27, 2003 12:17 a.m.

um... where to start.

SCHOOL - I like my four classes and my schedule. It makes for short weeks. I'm usually done on Wednesday although I have the occasional Friday morning meeting. It's rough. I know. The scary part is that I recently signed up for my GRAD photos which means the end is very near. I'm getting them taken in a couple weeks. Exciting stuff...

JOBS - I'm still working at the Call Center for the Alumni Office and I can't say I love it. I've thought about quitting a few times, but I can't argue with the fact that they pay me, and that is more important right now than me hating it. It's not all bad, it actually has some decent times, but I'm always thankful that the shifts are short, because I'm always ready to leave. In other news, I'm starting to talk to people in the real world about jobs. I've sent some emails out to various connections, and have heard back from a couple people. I have to start preparing resumes and demo tapes this week... Right now, there are a few places I'm persuing. SO the people I'm trying to work for are: Ryerson, Govt. of Ontario, ESPN, FOX, Sportsnet, and WGBH in Springfield, MA. More details to follow.

CURLING - We've been winning a lot lately so we're at the top of our league (as we should be). We beat our primary competition (Guy) last week, and are now two games ahead going into the last quarter. We play a game on Saturday to qualify for our own spiel, and if we lose that we get another shot. We should be okay... as for COACHING - which is somewhat related - I took my level 2 theory course today, to make sure I do what I can to keep moving up. I've been working a lot on the Trillium Website and have been talking to the staff and campers a lot lately. I suppose because its kinda the peak of curling season, and everything is going on now... or shortly. I'm also reading through a lot of the literature i have on various things.

Hmm... other things worth noting. I can't say I've been a fan of the weather lately. It's stupidly cold. I saw "Chicago" and I loved it. I rented about "About a Boy" which was also good. Leigh is well. She's going to Cuba next week for a little trip with her friend Natalie. Other than that, I need to get some AA batteries, and I'm sure you all care.

I've decided that this will be my blog posting for the evening, so don't be shocked if you see it there.
love,
BJ

Another long weekend... is my schedule cushy enough?
Friday, January 24, 2003 01:47 p.m.

So here it is Friday, and I again have nothing to do. Just like yesterday. I curled last night, and we won. We're two games ahead of everybody in the aggregate standings, so that's looking good. Unless we go through a complete an utter collapse, we should be in pretty good shape.

So now I'm doing laundry. It's fascinating I know. But hey, I write about what I do. Later I'm going to work, to call people who don't want to talk to me and ask them for money they don't have. It's not my favourite thing to do, but hey... I need the money if I want to eat.

I'm still looking for something else, but nothing has presented itself yet. So that's about all the news for now... I may watch "Dr. Zhivago" tonight.

so much to talk about...
Wednesday, January 22, 2003 10:47 p.m.

Where to start.. the past couple days have been filled with fun times so I don't really know where to start considering chronologically seems too obvious.

Yesterday I had some class, hung out with Leigh, then went to the call centre for a shift. Again, I didn't get any money, but I DID have some good conversations and didn't hate it quite so much, at least for a while. After that, Leigh and I went to see "Chicago" (the movie) and I must say that I thought it was fantastic.

It was really well made in terms of visuals. But what really made it was the singing and all that. Really good... worth seeing.

So today, I had a class which was nothing special, but afterwards I went out for dinner with Merrick, Kristin, Ash, and Chris. We were going to go to our favourite place (Lone Star Cafe) but they were "closed due to mechanical difficulties." While we don't know what that means, we do know that Armadillos was still pretty good. After waiting for a while for Chris to show up, we finally ate, and talked, and laughed, and life was great.

So while I was content to call it a night and walk home, the evening got even better when I got a ride home. And when I got home, I noticed an envelope that I had been waiting for since December... the bursary cheque from Ryerson.

I opened it up, looked at the cheque, screamed, and jumped so that my phone fell out of my shirt pocket and hit the ground. Needed a little tending to, but is still 100% functional. So the cheque was a little more than I had expected, but I'm not complaining. It will all be put to good use.

So considering I don't have school for the next two days, life is great right now... except for Leigh, who is working an overnight shift at the hospital right now, and again tomorrow night. Too bad.

every other day of the week is fine, yeaaaah yeah
Monday, January 20, 2003 01:24 p.m.

I'm sitting in a computer lab at school wasting time until my next class. I just had lunch with some guys in my program (Paul, Jeff, Justin, Merrick) at the Mutual Street Deli. Three of these guys are in my group for our documentary class, so there may be some more talk of them in the near future. Besides, we may be going on a golf vacation.

The last couple days have been ridiculously cold, and otherwise uneventful. I worked a couple more shifts at the call center, and I still am not a big fan of it. I really don't think I'm going to last. But I'm going to stick it out as long as I can.

Yesterday the power was out in my building, so when I went home, I got to climb up 33 flights of stairs to my apartment. It actually didn't take too long, and I'm not suffering at all today. I guess I'm in slightly better shape than I thought, but that still isn't very good. Speaking of physical activity, I'm playing volleyball tonight and I'm very excited about this.

In other news... well there is no other news. I'm kinda tired, that's all.

and so it continues...
Friday, January 17, 2003 11:20 p.m.

I've decided that the call center thing isn't really my kind of job. I do the conversation and all that pretty well, but I'm just not good about asking people for money. So I'm going to give it a little while to see if it gets any better, but in the meantime, I'm going to keep looking for something else.

In other news, I didn't do a whole lot today. After getting up around 10:30, I cleaned my room, and bummed around for most of the day, until I decided to be productive and watch a movie. So at Josh's request, I watched "Super Troopers" which was pretty funny, in a pretty stupid way. It's kinda stupidly good, but it is no "Zoolander." Not even close actually.

I've been cast as a mailman for a kids show, for a TV class project. Details will follow as soon as I know them. But as far as I know, I'm going to be the main guy on this 12-minute show IF their group's proposal is accepted. That will be fun...

I'm kinda tired now, even though it was a pretty slow day.

tired
Friday, January 17, 2003 01:52 a.m.

well... um. it's thursday night, well now officially Friday morning. I curled tonight, and we won. Yee Haw. Tom and friends are in Chicago, so Paul was here to spare for us. Nobody had a great game, but it was good enough for the "W."

I spent the day hanging out with Leigh, running some errands, and that sort of stuff. I didn't really have all that much to do, but she had a list of things to complete before she spent the next two days working at the hospital.

It turns out that she has confirmed her trip to Cuba with Natalie, and that it is only a couple weeks away. I can't say that I am as excited as she is, because a) I wasn't invited, and b) even if I was, I wouldn't be able to go because I can't afford it. So she's about to take off for a sunny island, and I'll be stuck in ankle-deep slush. Sounds like fun, I know.

So that's really it. I don't have much to do tomorrow except work from 6:30 to 9:30. I'll probably swing by Leigh's after that, to say hello before she passes out. 12-hour days tend to be somewhat exhausting.

and after three days, he wrote...
Monday, January 13, 2003 11:35 p.m.

It occured to me as I walked home today that I haven't updated this in a couple days, even though I thought about doing so quite often and never got around to it.

But now that I'm actually here, and typing... Yeah... not much to say. Um... yeah. My training on Saturday wasn't too bad. It seemed like a lot of the same stuff over and over, but I guess that's so we remember it. I started a shift on Sunday night and actually earned a pledge (the only rookie to do so), so I was kinda psyched about that. I'm sure I'll get more used to it after a little while, but its a little nerve racking for the first few times.

My parents are leaving for Mexico soon, to visit my sister. Leigh and Nat are working on arranging their tropical vacation. Paul is talking about his recent jaunt to Cancun, and Jen just got back from the Caymens. I think it is time that I go somewhere hot... and figure out how someone else can pay for it.

I have a class brignt and early tomorrow so I'm about done.

i almost forgot...
Friday, January 10, 2003 09:32 p.m.

I left out something that was a pretty time consuming part of my afternoon. I applied for a provinvial internship which seems to be more like a job. It pays quite well, and starts in May. Filling out the application took a little while because I had to answer a bunch of questions in 200 words or less. I think I have a decent shot... it is probably a good sign when you look at your own resume and it surprises you.

Another thing I forgot to mention a few days ago, is that I went after another Ryerson job which would be full time next year. I don't know how it would work through the summer though, and they won't even think about filling the spot until later in the spring. But we'll see... its time to start sowing the seeds of jobs.

friday... really didn't feel like it
Friday, January 10, 2003 09:14 p.m.

I tore myself out of bed this morning and went down to meet my public relations group. The plan was to meet at 9:45, so naturally I showed up at 9:50 and everybody else wandered in about 9:55, 10:05, 10:11, and 10:12. Everybody did get there, and we had our little meeting with the prof, which was really the only order of business on today's agenda.

After that, we discussed our next plan of action and called it a day. This was around 11:00. By chance, I ran into Jen who was enjoying her first day back in snowy Toronto after about 18 days in the Cayman Islands. She told me about going out and partying, and walking on the beaches, snorkelling and lying in the sun... and i told her she was the devil. But I acted really sad when she said that the last few days were cloudy. Wait. No I didn't. But anyway, after that I wandered home and started a long afternoon of killing time.

I watched "Death to Smoochy" which I had heard mixed things about. And when I say mixed, I mean I heard a lot of people say it was horrible, or that they hated it, or something to that effect, and I had heard one person say he liked it. That one person happened to be Tom (my skip... speaking of curling, did I mention we won last night, and that I also won the game I was sparing for?), and because it was Tom, I felt the need to examine it. Because, as crazy as it sounds, Tom and I laugh at the exact same things. Yes, it's freaky.

So all in all, I didn't think it was a great movie. It was however, pretty/very humerous, and did include a variety of colourful characters... who also happened to be nuts (in several cases, at least). If I were to give it a grade, I'd say it gets a C. Not the finest work, but passable... and pretty funny. Lots of swearing and death, yet NOTHING like "Pulp Fiction."

With that out of the way, I made some dinner and waited for Leigh to get back from her hospital placement. She's home now and we're talking online. So my day just got way more eventful.

That's enough for now. Turn that camera off...

well that about does it...
Friday, January 10, 2003 12:46 a.m.

I did laundry. I did some work on my assignment. I walked through a blizzard to pick up Dan's Christmas presesnt... yes, it's late. Not my fault. I curled two games. I won them both. I ran a virus check on my computer, then defragged, played around with some skins on various applications, and now I'm just kinda hanging out, until I'm ready for bed.

sigh... (that was "of relief")
Wednesday, January 8, 2003 02:09 p.m.

Well, I had my little phone interview today. It went pretty well, and as of about a half-hour ago, I am invited to attend training on Saturday. This is good. This means that I have a job, and that SOME income is on the way. This is a good thing. I just paid some bills... watching the account go down uncontested is never fun.

So I'll train on Saturday, then hopefully pick up a few shifts a week. 12-15 hours would be great. So we shall see, what we shall see.

In other news, I have to leave shortly for my last new class. Public Relations, aka BRD 800, starts at 3:00. So that's about it.

despite the early morning...
Wednesday, January 8, 2003 12:48 a.m.

I got up at 7 am today. Normally I would whine about this for a little while, but really it wasn't that bad. Perhaps it was because I went to bed at 7:45pm, last night. I was wiped after my no-reason-all-nighter, so I really needed the sleep. So I got up early and went to my 8am class.

Class was alright, nothing too special. And the news of the year so far is that my friend Kristin is engaged, and has been since New Years Day. This is the same Kristin who sent shockwaves through this blog one year ago by complaining that it wasn't "steamy" enough... by I digress. Congratulations to her on that one.

I went to a job info-session for a Ryerson calling-people-for-money job. At this point I need the money, and it seems like a good place to work. I'll take what I can get. My phone interview is tomorrow, so I'll find out within a day whether or not I get it. Man, I hope I do. The cashola would be nice.

So this afternoon I had lunch with Leigh then went to see a movie. We had nothing else to do, and we both wanted to see "Catch Me If You Can," so we did! I liked it, but I knew what was going to happen because I had read the book (which in my humble opinion, I thought was better). But it was still good, entertaining, and funny, so I suggest you check it out.

Now I'm home again, and trying to get some stuff organized. I don't have class until 3pm tomorrow which is nice, but I have to be at my sharpest by 1:30 so I can call this job and do my phone interview.

this just strikes me as funny...
Monday, January 6, 2003 07:39 a.m.

I went to bed last night around 1:30, keeping in mind that I had to be up at a somewhat decent hour to go to school today. Around 2:45 am, I decided that I still wasn't very tired, and decided to read until I was.

Four and half hours later the book was done, I was still wide awake, and it was time for breakfast. At least, there wasn't enough time to get any meaningful sleep. So I got up, made some toast and a cup of tea, and turned on the computer.

Can't wait til later today when I collapse from fatigue!

other than a couple hours, today was just fine
Sunday, January 5, 2003 10:30 p.m.

Leigh and I watched "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" last night. Although it was okay and somewhat funny, I didn't think that it was worth all the fuss that has been kicked up over it. It was cool for a different reason, however, because parts of it were shot on Ryerson's campus, and in buildings that I frequently go to. So that's always fun...

Today I went with Leigh to ScotiaWhore (ScotiaBank for all you newbies who haven't been reading too long... there are stories behind this, but they're in the archives somewhere so read back a year or so to find out)... So anyway, we go several blocks out of our way to visit this bank machine, and I go to make a deposit, and... there are no stinkin' envelopes. So I can't make this deposit without going several MORE miles out of my way. Curses!! Hence the name...

So we skip that task, head to the mall to get a birthday card for Leigh's brother, hit some Tim Horton's on the way back. For some reason they can charge you for a French Vanilla Cappucino but they have a lot of trouble actually GIVING it to you... 2nd time this week that Leigh has had that problem. So we got back to her place, and she was nice enough to carry me across the lobby on her back (don't ask... not even worth explaing, I just wanted to remember it).

Then I came home to watch the hockey game. For those of you who don't know what game I'm talking about, how are things in the States? Nice? Glad to hear it.

So the World Junior Hockey Championship gold-medal game was on. I got all decked out to watch it, and watch it we did. Dennis and I were shouting at the TV, screaming at the refs, and so on...

Yeah... it was great when Canada was winning 2-1. But then they weren't... and the Russians won. And Dennis and I were screaming no more when time ran out...

Yeah, I know...
Saturday, January 4, 2003 10:12 a.m.

Yes, it has been a little while, so I should probably start by officially saying "Happy New Year." Yup! It's now 2003... I remember thinking in high school that I would graduate in 2003 and that it seemed very far away. Now it's here, so apparently I'm scheduled to graduate.

It was this and a couple other issues that had me stressing out last night as I tried to get to sleep. The lack of job was also contributing, along with the financial situation that comes from not having a job. So I tossed and turned a bit, as is becoming a little too common. So, I should really get a job because that would solve everything.

I spent the last several days with Leigh. We didn't DO a whole lot other than see Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and go wandering in the city a couple times. New Years eve was a pretty low-key affair, but we watched some movies and went out on the balcony at midnight and watched the neighbors spaz like Korea had just won another World Cup game.

Monday starts school again, and I'm really looking forward to it. I haven't had much to do for the past month or more so I'm anxious to be back in classes. So stay tuned for that, it should be fascinating reading... after 10 hours of class.

nothing to do is way better with company
Tuesday, December 31, 2002 03:00 p.m.

Hey. It's me. Not a whole lot is going on here. Leigh is in town and staying with me until rez. opens up and she can get back into her place. It also means we get to hang out for a few days, and I'm not complaining at all about that.

We don't have a lot to do, so we're watching a lot of movies and TV (what else is new?) and going out on little errand-running ventures. In about 9 hours it will be 2003, and suddenly graduating doesn't seem like too far away. That's crazy...

I think next year's closing lines will now be from TV shows, because I'm running out of movie lines.

well I'm back in Toronto...
Saturday, December 28, 2002 09:41 p.m.

A few things to say now that I'm back in Toronto...

Home was great. Good food. Good people. Good times. We laughed a lot and had a generally fun time.

The drive back to Toronto was way longer than in should have been. First, Dan was a little sick so we made a couple extra stops, and then we had to go around a large section of the highway which was closed. So a section that would normally take 2 minutes took about 20. Because of these delays, Dan and Gina were a little pressed for time, and therefore couldn't drop me off downtown. No big deal... we made one more stop which took care of everybody's needs. Gas, food, bathroom, subway... all in the same place.

i took a few little naps this afternoon because I didn't sleep very well last night at all. It's not that I tossed and turned, it was just that I was still wide awake at 4:30am and was supposed to get up at 7:00. So I slept a little, but now am awake and feel fine.

Here's the highlight of the day... I watched a good chunk of the U2- Live from Boston DVD and I am still in awe. U2 blows me away in every respect and their DVD along with the "making of" feature was no exception.

So now I'm looking forward to two things. #1 - Leigh arrives back in Toronto tomorrow afternoon. I haven't seen her since the 15th, so I've very excited. #2 - The Leafs are on TV starting in about 10 minutes. I haven't seen them on TV since last night.

And in other news, I got my new digital camera to work with the computer (as it should) so more pictures may find their way here...

There is nobody left on earth, the insects have won.
Friday, December 27, 2002 01:52 a.m.

Oh man was I in a silly mood tonight. I played a board game with my family where you were supposed to complete a phrase that sounds real enough to get other people to vote for it. Of course there is a real answer, and you're supposed to guess at the end of the round which one is real. Of course they get a little funny, and some people get a little silly... Well most of us just gave up any hope of winning, me above all. So I devoted most of the evening to making people laugh, specifically my brother and my dad. A good time was had by all...

Other than that not much was done today. I read the last few chapters of the Two Towers last night, and i'm quite excited to see the movie. I talked to Leigh online and that was an great way to kill an hour of the afternoon. It probably would have been longer except we're both using Dial-up service.

Dinner was great. I love the food at home. We watched hockey. Canada beat Sweden 8-2 in the World Juniors. And did I mention that I didn't get out of bed until 1 pm?

I got my class schedule for next semester. Like I guessed, four classes kinda spread out. Good enough for one day off, one other late sleep in day, and my first 8:00am class in my four years of University. I'm excited to get back and go to school, and even to get a job. That's kinda key...

Well, I guess I missed it...
Thursday, December 26, 2002 01:17 a.m.

I suppose it is no longer Christmas, technically. At least in Ontario, that is the case. In Alberta, or Hawaii, it still would be. So all is not lost... I can still stay "Merry Christmas" to everybody, and for a few million people it will not be late. As for those of you who did not receive this message on time.... suck it up. The thought was there ;)

I'm in the Mait-rix. As rare as it is, and as often as I say I can't stand it here, I'm really happy to be here. It's that time of year, that reminds you that the family is still important. I wish I had come out a couple days ago instead of yesterday, but I waited in Toronto for Dan and Gina. In retrospect, there were better things I could have been doing with my week, than sitting alone in Toronto. Oh well...

So Santa was nice to me. I got the usual socks... it's not Christmas without socks! I got some shirts,a couple DVDs, a card game, and electric razor, and a digital camera, among other things. I'm quite happy with that, and I think everyone else was as well with what they received.

The plan for now is to a) finish "THe Two Towers" (i'm really close) b) Go to bed c) figure out a plan for the rest of the week and d) figure out a plan for New Years.

I spoke with Leigh on the phone today, just to say hello and pass along Holiday wishes. It was nice to hear her voice and to chat it up for a few minutes.

Now it's time to execute the plan. Merry Christmas, I'm happy to be here.

harry potter, harry potter, harry potter
Tuesday, December 24, 2002 02:31 a.m.

Dan and Gina arrived from Minneapolis today. I was watching the first Lord of the Rings movie. See... last night, I got through about 100 pages before I finally went to sleep around 5:30am. So upon watching it today, I picked up on a lot of things from the 1st movie, that make a lot more sense now that I'm a good chunk into the 2nd book. But now things are making sense, and I will continue reading.

So Dan and Gina showed up and professed their hunger. I was in agreement so we went to the Lone Star Cafe (everyone's fav!!) and had some dinner. My honorary name for the night was "Buck" while Dan became "Tumbleweed." Anyway, dinner was good. We were going to do the CN tower trip afterwards, but decided not to after a lengthy debate.

So instead we came back to the apartment. Gina took a nap while Dan and I watched the Leafs game. Alex Mogilny scored three goals and added an assist. Hat trick!! What did I tell you about Mogilny? He's DANGEROUS. I've been saying it for years. After that we popped in a VCD copy of the 2nd Harry Potter movie, THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS. I read that this summer so I knew basically what was going to happen, and like the first one, they stayed pretty true to the book. We couldn't watch the last few minutes though... so we missed the last couple loose ends. I'm surprised my DVD player made it THAT far.

So tomorrow, we head to the Mait-rix. I'm actually excited to see the parents, and of course for Christmas. It's officially Christmas eve already... doesn't quite feel like it. So Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!! The next one will be from Maitland.

its starting to look like the C-Dot.
Monday, December 23, 2002 01:25 a.m.

The Christmas shopping is as done as it's going to get before Wednesday. I grabbed a couple last minute items today, and had to talk myself out of a couple purchases for me. The "you have no job, and even less money" argument, always seemed to work. It was really cold outside, do I didn't wander around like I thought i might.

Instead I came home, did some laundry, watched some football. Worked on www.PhotoSmack.com stuff for a while. Dan reminded me today that I haven't even mentioned it yet here. We're building a website devoted to photoshop contests, he's doing the technical stuff, i get to run it. So really all I have to do now, is put a new picture up for people to play with. For example...

We start with this...

Then people use their photo-altering skills to make it funny. Like this...

So check it out. Participate if you want. It's free. It's fun. It kills the time when you're the only kid left in the city besides your roommate who is at work 16 hours a day.

okay... take 3... more exciting
Sunday, December 22, 2002 01:53 a.m.

This is the third time I've tried to write this. The first time, I got the blue screen of death, the second time, it got deleted by accident, and the third time... well, let's see.

I'm gonna give up on the narrative and just write sentences.

Josh was here with his friend Jordan.
We looked at an apartment for Jordan.
We went shopping.
Josh needed something for Jen.
We went to Burlington to pick up Jen.
We all came back to my house.
Josh and Jordan drank a lot.
Jen drank a bit.
I didn't drink at all.
We watched movies and stuff.
Around 1am, I drove Jen home.
Josh came.
Jordan was alseep on the couch.
There was no traffic on the QEW.
We played some Nintendo when we got back.

This morning I slept in.
Josh and Jordan left.
Jordan still hadn't heard about his apartment.
I cleaned up.
I did the dishes.
I had a shower.
I went to the store.
I bought toilet paper, toothpaste, and deoderant.
I cooked the other steak and watched the hockey game.
I talked to Dan about a Christmas present idea.
I photoshopped some pictures for fun.
I talked to friends on MSN and ICQ.

The fun never stops. No, no. The fun never stops.

oh man...
Friday, December 20, 2002 09:33 a.m.

The fact that I'm even awake right now is.... quite frankly, amazing. We curled last night, and won our game in dramatic come-from-behind fashion. We took three in the last end for the win. Woo hoo. But it was also the last game before Christmas and the New Year, so it seemed like everybody wanted to spend a bit of their Christmas bonus or something. Needless to say, I was ridiculously overserved.

Yesterday was spent in a fog while trying to Christmas shop. I went to the Eatons Centre and walked around for a couple hours and left with NOTHING. Not even an idea of what to get for anybody.

So I guess I should make another trip sometime. Considering Christmas is only a few days away, that sounds like a horrible idea.... but it needs to be done.

Happy Birthday MOM!!
Wednesday, December 18, 2002 06:12 p.m.

Yes, today is my mother's birthday. So happy birthday to her, and to everybody else who was born on December 18th. I celebrated mom's special day by calling her (even though she wasn't there to answer) and then by cleaning my apartment, just like she would tell me to do if she were here.

Last night, I finished the overhaul of my website that I started in the summer. So brian.chickonline.com is now 100% looking new. I put up some more pictures, and updated a couple things, but other than that it's pretty much the same stuff that has always been there. Before I went to bed I took a second to do a quick photoshop doctoring on Fark.com. It was a picture of a NYC subway, and I made it look like well... see for yourself. Mine is towards the bottom (I'm Chillblove).

This afternoon, I got out of bed (true story), made some scrabled eggs, and checked in on Fark to see how I was doing. My best yet... 55 votes puts me in 2nd place. The things I do to keep myself amused!!

Tomorrow is Christmas shopping day.

i think it is officially a streak...
Tuesday, December 17, 2002 10:48 p.m.

My hands are cold so I'm having a little trouble typing straight. I curled tonight in the place of Tom, and we lost. So if my math is correct, I haven't won any of my last 5 games. That includes two league games, two zone games, and the A final of a pretty big spiel. Most of them have been pretty good games, but we're not winning any of them. Is it possible we're not as good as we think we are?

Sure.

In other news, I had a busy day of doing nothing. I found a couple more jobs to apply for, did a little online christmas shopping, and decided what I would get for some other people on my list. So I guess you could say that sitting on my bum all day was somewhat productive... well, kinda.

Leigh and I were both wishing she was around here. She's already bored at home, and I seem to be the only person other than Dennis who is still in Toronto. Other than that, nothing is going on, and I'll probably stay up way too late again talking to people online. But then again, I have a long day of sleeping in and doing nothing tomorrow, so I should be in tip top shape for that!!

I am completely at a loss for a title to todays entry...
Sunday, December 15, 2002 12:56 p.m.

We curled yesterday, but that didn't go so well. So don't ask about it, and we'll pretend it never happened.

Josh and I finally made it to Bruno's Fine Foods (the store that dontated the gift certificates we won) and spent our $25 each. I bought some steaks, some steak spice, and some steak fries. Do you see a pattern here? I was going to make the steak dinner for Leigh, but she didn't have time last night, and today she left for Kingston, so I decided to make one for myself. So last night, I enjoyed a homemade steak dinner in front of the TV.

Then I went out with Leigh to her friend's apartment. Even thought I didn't know anybody, and much of the conversations involved aerospace engineering and plane engines, I still managed to enjoy myself.

Like I said earlier, Leigh left for Kingston today. I went with her down to Union, and saw her off. Stopped at the grocery store on the way home and picked up some shnacks so I can watch football all day... after I do the dishes.

the lazy days
Friday, December 13, 2002 02:15 p.m.

I slept in pretty late yesterday, got up and bummed around for a while. I applied for a couple of jobs, and looked around for more, with little success. I went to Leigh's for a while because she wasn't feeling well and needed some looking after. Basically all I did was show up with a box of crackers, and watch TV.

We curled last night and lost. The other guys made everything. We didn't. It was odd that we didn't really seem to care that much. I've lost games before, and I'll lose some again, so this one seemed kinda inconsequential.

Today, it is time for some Christmas Shopping. The unfortunate part about that is that I have no idea what I am getting anybody, except for part of Leigh's present which I have had for a month. Everybody else may be getting boxes of cereal or perhaps a can of soup, because the grocery store is a lot closer than the mall.

I've finally seen Men With Brooms
Thursday, December 12, 2002 01:24 a.m.

Yeah, I sat down tonight and watched "Men With Brooms" for ths first time ever. My first reaction was that there was no possible that this movie could be entertaining to anyone who did not enjoy the game of curling already, nor could could it be enjoyed by people who are entertained by the game of curling. My second reaction was pretty similar, as was my third, fourth, and fifth. Somewhere in the mid-twenties, I finally realized that there were some redeeming qualities such as the occasional laugh outloud gag... not too many though.

Regardless, I can now say that I've seen THE Curling Movie.

I spent the day trekking across the city and around the Eatons Centre, first running some personal errands, then Christmas shopping with Leigh. I put quite a few miles on my shoes today, and my feet actually burned at one point... that was a new experience for me.

I then started an argument with Leigh, because I can be a dork sometimes. Tonight was one of those times, but I think I at least mostly fixed it. At least I hope so.

Then I came home and paid a bunch of bills online!! The fun never starts!!

The less I have to do, the less I have to talk about...
Tuesday, December 10, 2002 11:54 a.m.

First of all, we lost the final of the main event on Sunday in a horrible horrible 2nd half collapse. So bad, never should have lost, but what the heck... it's in the past, and it likely won't be the last game I ever lose, so I might as well accept the fact that I won't win them all.

The most disappointing part about the whole thing is that the prize table suffered a horrible collapse as well this year. Last year main even prizes were worth $1000 for the winners, and roughly $500 for the runner up. This year, the winners got a $350 pair of curling shoes, and we got a Nike track suit from TSN which I would price at about $100. I also got a $25 gift certificate to Bruno's Fine Foods. So I wasn't thrilled about that... but considering I paid $130 to play, got an all-i-could-eat roast beef dinner (and I ate a LOT!), a nice dinner for two on saturday, bagels and sandwiches and snacks for breakfast and lunch all weekend, AND I got at least $125 worth of prizes... I'm not allowed to complain.

Today, I'm looking for a job, and fighting my parking ticket. Leigh came over last night and we watched "Life or Something Like It." It wasn't that great, but entertaining enough for us not to turn it off. Good enough, I suppose.

PS- I have a little problem with whoever said that. If this were my last day on earth, I wouldn't be worrying about a parking ticket or finding a job. Does this confuse anybody else?

a good day all around...
Sunday, December 8, 2002 02:31 a.m.

Well besides being awake til 3ish, and up at 7:00 to find a parking ticket on the car, things today went pretty well. We won our first game on the last shot, and won our second game on the last shot as well. So now we're headed to the semi-finals of the main event which pretty much guarantees us a good prize.

After our second game, I booked it back down to my apartment, showered, shaved, got dressed, and booked it down to Ryerson to pick up Leigh, Josh, and Jen, and then we booked it back up to the club for dinner.

Leigh looked great. She had just gotten her hair cut today, and I'm a big fan. We didn't stay too late because... frankly it was a little old for us. And we do have big games tomorrow. So I hung out with Leigh for a couple hours before I came back here to go to bed.

So now the car is parked in the same spot it was last night, except now I have the pass I couldn't get last night, and I also have a good way to get out of parking tickets, thanks to a building security guy ;)

curling
Saturday, December 7, 2002 12:53 a.m.

So now that I'm back in Toronto, I'll now have at least a weekly curling update for you. And for all of my faithful readers (both of my faithful readers?), I know this is big news.

Starting with two games last night, I'm almost back into the full swing of things. We won both of them, one was closer than the other, and that was that.

Today marked the beginning of my third straight year in the Chisolm Bonspiel at the Toronto Cricket, Skating, and Curling Club (or "Cricket" as we like to call it). As I have said before, this is one of my favourite spiels because they give you your money's worth and then some... We won our game, although it was closer than it should have been. Dinner was tons and tons of roast beef, along with tons of caesar salad, potatos, veges, bread, and so on. Lots of good food in my belly = good times.

So tomorrow, I have to play a game at 9:00am, and another one at 3:00. Tomorrow night is a dinner/dance thing. So I've got a hot date lined up in Leigh, who will be looking stunning, I'm sure. So that's something to look forward to, along with a killer prize table... but that's only if we keep winning.

man... the days are short this week
Thursday, December 5, 2002 02:34 p.m.

Yesterday I wrote my internship essay. It's not the best, but its done. I have to hand it in today, as well as a couple other things on campus. That's really all I have to do this week, other than curl tonight, and the rest of the weekend.

I just got another NOVEL of an email from my sister in Mexico. She writes books. I swear I should just print them off and staple them together, and sell them to a publisher of travel guides. Hopefully she starts blogging soon so she can put it in a nicer form... like ME!

I'm pretty psyched for this weekend. Curling at the Cricket Club, hot date on Saturday with Leigh, and hopefully some good prizes are in our future.

I said that last year and we tanked... still won a bag and a watch. Wasn't a TV though!!

so i skipped a couple days.
Tuesday, December 3, 2002 08:10 p.m.

I know i missed a day or two but i'll make sure you hear all the important stuff.

-i edited my demo, so that's ready to send out and get me a job
-i hung out with leigh
-leafs are losing 2-0

that's about all i got for now.

24 - a FOX special
Saturday, November 30, 2002 06:54 p.m.

Saturday

6:54 pm - After watching an fascinating episode of "Junkyard Wars," Bryan Fink and I get on the orange line and take the T to North Station. From there, we walk to the Fleet Center and find our seats in section 321, row 12.
8:00 pm - Tip-off between the Raptors and the Celtics. Celtics won the tip off, but the Raptors dominated the first quarter. By halftime, however, it was a one point game.
10:35ish pm - with 10 seconds left, the Raptors lead by a 4. Celtics sink a 3, to bring them within 1... Raptors ball. They foul Alvin Williams, who makes both of his free throws. Raptors up 3 with 8 seconds left. Celtics miss 2 three-pointers in the last 8 seconds, Raptors win. I'm the only happy person in the building.
11:00 pm - Bry and I meet Andy, Cam, and Jim at the Samuel Adams statue in Quincy Market. We proceed to a near-by bar, where Cam decides to toast my departure with a round of tequila... he was nice enough to get me two. ugh.
11:35 pm - I leave the bar momentarily to walk Bry to the T, so he can catch his train back to Franklin. He's on the T, I go back to the bar. We leave there, grab a bite to eat, then find a different bar with a kickin cover band, and a lot of people. After a few hours of dancing, singing along, and the odd drink, they make us leave because apparently the place was closing.
2:30 am SUNDAY - As we walk home, a snowball fight occurns in the Boston Commons, which leads to me tackling Del in the snow/mud, and then Cam tackling me, and so on. Shortly after this time, Cam won a $5 for standing on top of a stone pillar before Jim did. Jim won a dollar however for touching the face of the next statue we passed. Andy and Cam got in an argument because Cam had Andy's phone, and somehow they ended up in a pile of garbage.
3:00 am - I go to sleep on Andy's floor, in my clothes, not realizing how dirty they actually are from the snowball incident.
9:00 am - I wake up, have a shower, brush my teeth, and do all my last minute packing. By 9:30 I'm out the door with Andy, on the way to the airport, after a brief stop at Dunkin Donuts.
10:10 am - I check my bags and get my boarding pass from the Air Canada desk, say goodbye to Andy and go through the security check point thing. I get the super sensitive metal detector so I am there for a few minutes, I even have to take off my shoes and have them passed throuth the x-ray thing. While I'm doing that, the guy notices my mini-leatherman keychain thing. Of course that has a one and a half inch blade on it, so that can't go on the plane. And considering I've already checked my bags, there's not a whole lot I can do.
10:20 am - After going back down to the Air Canada desk and asking the lady if I could get my bag back so I could put this key chain in it (then doing so), I went back through the security check point thing, this time hassle free... even though it was a completely different crew. The first guys must have been there a while, because they didn't seem too friendly.
11:30 am - I had some McDonald's fries for lunch and they were WICKED good.
12:30 pm - The plane leaves right on time. Right after I have another random security check, with hardcore metal detectors, and again, have to take my shoes off. I didn't know they had any metal in them....
2:00 pm - The plane arrives early, I go through customs in about 6 seconds, grab my bags, and catch a bus to the subway, which I take all the way home. Once off the subway, I carried my 70 pounds of luggage (no exaggeration) home and back to my apartment.
6:00 pm - After an afternoon of unpacking and cleaning and laundry, I have a shower in preparation for a hot date. I get to see Leigh shortly, and I am wicked psyched for that.
6:56 pm - I put away my laundry and start to write this thing. Halfway through it, I realize I never wrote anything about Thanksgiving with the Finks, the food, the football, and so on.

If you really care, ask me. I'll reflect more later.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Thursday, November 28, 2002 11:50 a.m.

Hey everybody... Today is Thanksgiving!! (in the USA that is... not so elsewhere). So enjoy your day, even if you're writing papers, and give thanks for something.

I'm thankful for a lot of things... like yesterday, i finished a great internship, had some REALLY good pizza, and FINALLY got paid for that football game I worked at a month ago. I'm thankful that I get to go back to Toronto soon to see Leigh. I'm thankful that I have a great family... and so on. The list is long.

So that's about it. I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing today, and how I'm getting where. Oh... and I'm thankful that I don't have to work today covering highschool football.

done... believe it or not!
Wednesday, November 27, 2002 11:54 p.m.

Internship Boston 2002 is officially done. At times it feels like it has been forever, and sometimes it seems like it wasn't that long ago. Now that I think of it, it definately feels like a while...

My time here was really valuable, and I enjoyed the time at the station, and with the guys, but I am very ready to get back to Toronto...

Well, I'm not PACKED or anything, but I don't leave for a couple more days. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I'm looking forward to some good food. I've got the Celtics/Raptors on Friday, and about 30 people to see between now and then.

On that note, I'm gonna get ready to get out of here. And this will be the last time I set foot in Fox25, at least for a little while.

snowy snowy day...
Wednesday, November 27, 2002 12:43 p.m.

I woke up this morning and there was a few inches of snow on the ground which was a bit of a shock. I vaguely recall hearing something about the fact that it was coming but never really thought about it... today, however, I have to think about it. Because everything is white...

Alex, Cam, and I decided we were going to go have some breakfast today. Just a nice thing to do before everybody takes off for Thanksgiving. So we went out into the snow, walked a long long way, couldn't find the place we were looking for, took the T back to the stop near our place, and hit the donut shop right across the street from our apartment. We all got a kick out of the fact that we trekked through snow, wind, and slush to end up across the street for a muffin.

Last night, I finally had a chance to get together with McDonough. I met him at a bar downtown called McCarthy's and hung out with him and some friends who were watching the basketball game and making bets. Two really random occurences happened while I was there...

#1- I walked by this guy on the street a few days ago and thought that I recognized him, but wasn't sure if it was actually him, so I kept going. Last night, I saw the same guy working at the bar so I asked one of the waitresses what his name was, and it turns out that it was the guy I thought it was. So I had a little chat with Greg McLaughlin, a kid I had played Little League with 11 years ago... in NEW YORK. This wasn't even a Boston connection, which is why it was so random.

#2- One of the guys Sean was hanging out with said his cousin was bringing some of her friends out to hang out. So when they showed up, it turned out that his cousin was a girl who also interned at Fox, who I had talked to a couple days before. Again, what are the chances that a girl I work with in Dedham is cousins of the friend of the guy I came out to see in Boston?

So anyway, it was fun. I got to thank Sean for all the help, and paid him back with a few of the drinks I owed him. For now though, it's still snowing, and I have to go to work in a little while.

Check out the countdown... it's getting pretty low. (Scroll down a little bit, if you are unfamiliar with the countdown).

sunday best
Monday, November 25, 2002 05:07 p.m.

I didn't go to the game, but I didn't care. I went to work and I watched it and then I taped my demo. That was actually a lot of fun, and i now know 100% that that's what I want to do... then I went home and passed out. I was that tired.

Today I went to the Patriots practice, and interviewed some NFL players. That was cool.

Then I came back to the station and now I'm about to go home. Forgive the brevity, but I'm about to go home... these long days are taking their toll on me.

i might as well start whining now...
Sunday, November 24, 2002 08:58 a.m.

Well, even though it is not 100% official yet, there is a good chance I won't be going to the Patriots game today. Why? My own inability to read a train schedule...

Yes, last week's flag football game fiasco should have been a warning, or should have at least alerted me to the fact that certain trains do not run on Sunday. I thought it was just late, because I saw one go by just after I left. But no, that was coincidence and the train I saw had nothing to do with the one I was waiting for.

So this morning I was up at 6:30, and down at the train station by 7:30, planning to make it to work by 8:00, so I could meet all the other guys. I waited for a good 45 minutes... getting kinda cold the whole time. I finally figured it out after I looked at the schedule for about the 10th time, and started feeling miserable, because I knew I had probably blown my chances of going to the game. I could still get down there, but now its a question of if I can meet up with the guys I'm supposed to be with.

Either way, its now a waiting game. Waiting for the next train...er, first train of the day, and waiting for Joe (our producer) to call me back and tell me whether I should come to work, or go to Foxboro. Either way, its an 11:05 train... its just a matter of where I get off. Hopefully, its not work.

a party of epic proportions
Saturday, November 23, 2002 10:42 p.m.

Well for those of you who think that 7 guys living in an apartment would be crowded, try cramming about 50 more people in there. That's what we did last night when we had a little gathering. It was tons of fun and I saw a whole lot of people whom I haven't seen in quite a while. It was kind of a going away party for me, because everybody will be home for Thanksgiving when it is actually time for me to go away.

It was a grand ol' time though, and today I'm at work and bored. Leafs won, as did the Bruins and the Celtics. So that's about it. I'm going to the Patriots game tomorrow, and for this, I am very excited.

I'm supposed to do a demo tomorrow to, which is another thing to look forward to. So I'm going to have to get some more sleep.

Friday, November 22, 2002 11:57 a.m.

Normally, I would have had yesterday off. But because Joe (the producer) had the day off, Butch (my boss/anchor) asked if I could come in and help out with stuff. Considering I had nothing else to do, I said I would.

It was pretty much like every other day, except I got stuck watching college hockey which was extremely boring for the first two and a half periods. The end was good though, Boston University scored with 48 seconds left to win.

I guess we're having a party tonight, as an unofficial going away party for me. Because next weekend is Thanksgiving, and I'm leaving on Saturday, we decided to do it this weekend instead. So, it should be fun tonight.

In other news, I'm excited to get back to Toronto. The next week should fly by though. I think I'm going to the Patriots game on Sunday, and also shooting a demo. There's a lot of other stuff going on all week, so it shouldn't drag too long. And I'm going to the Celtics-Raptors on Friday, as long as I get the tickets I ordered eventually.

i thought it was kinda funny
Wednesday, November 20, 2002 01:51 p.m.

Yesterday, I took the train down to Franklin to drop of a bag that I didn't want to have to take on the plane next week... you know that "two bags" rule? So anyway, I went to Franklin and met up with Mrs. Sue Fink, who is going to see my parents next week. So, we had 20 minutes to kill before the train went back to Dedham for work, so we went to a little coffee shop and caught up.

Well the time just flew by... so much so that by the time we checked the time, we had missed the train by 3 minutes. We were both shocked that so much time had passed, and she was all worried that I was going to get in trouble because I was going to be late for work. And I was because I caught the next train, an hour and a half later... but anyway...

I just got back from the Patriots practice today, I shot a stand up for a demo tape I'm putting together. So that looks good, I just watched it, and now I'm trying to put together a package I can use. Anyway, that's all the news for now.

whoa, isn't that random...
Tuesday, November 19, 2002 11:59 a.m.

Yesterday at work was kinda dull. I had the biggest grunt work project yet, which was to go through a couple hours of video of last week's Patriots game, figure out which order the plays were in, figure out which plays were just replays of other plays, and then once i did that, i had to edit them all down, in the correct sequence... so that was a pain, but it kept me busy for a while.

As I was walking back from the train station last night, I ran into Cahill and Scorpius on the street. I love random meetings like that. It turns out that Cahill had come downtown to see Scorpius (whose real name is Megan, but there's a whole other story there). So anyway, the two of them had been on like their first official "date" and Cahill's car had been "towed" and was "not there anymore." So they wandered off down the street to find the guys who had done the towing, and figure out where his car was.

When I got home, everyone was still up being loud, and that sounded like a fine idea to me. So I joined in, and then Cahill and Scorpius showed up at the apartment because Cahill's car was far far away. So they hung out for a while, and sheer hilarity ensued. That's just what happens when you get us all together. And we may be the only people who think it's funny... but hey, that's what matters.

I have to go to Franklin today, and drop off a bag. Just so I don't have to carry it on the plane when I go.

let the countdown begin
Sunday, November 17, 2002 04:31 p.m.

I forgot to mention that I picked up my ticket home.

So in...

... I'll be heading back to Toronto. And by the way, that will update every time you come back to read.

grrrr and thanks
Sunday, November 17, 2002 09:53 a.m.

Have you ever had to curse something and love it at the same time? Some of you may be wondering why I am even awake at 9:53am on a Sunday, considering I normally sleep til at least noon.

Well remember that line yesterday about playing football? I got up today at 8:30, had a shower, got dressed up in extra warm clothes, had some breakfast, and went to catch the train to Dedham, where a guy from work was going to pick me up and take me to the football game.

So I waited for the train... and waited... and waited... and suddenly it was 9:45, the time I was supposed to BE in Dedham for this 10:00 football game. So I called the guy and told him that I wouldn't make it, and left the station all annoyed.

On the other hand, it is a miserable day (again). It is cold, it is raining, and I'm not sad that I'm not going to be running around in it. I am just annoyed that I couldn't get to something I said I was going to.

So now I'm up nice and early, and I don't have to catch a train until 3:30 (assuming it comes) so I can go to work. So, in the meantime, I may head out into the city, to perhaps start my holiday shopping.

ahh sweet steamy hot water...
Saturday, November 16, 2002 08:22 p.m.

I would have written this about a half hour ago except my fingers wouldn't work well enough to type. After a warm, sunny day yesterday, today was a rainy, snowy, cold, wet, damp, dark, cold, wet, snowy day... that rained.

It was, however, entertaining. I went to the Boston College football game against Syracuse, and my main job was to watch the game so I knew what to ask about afterwards. The thing was, afterwards interviews were press conference style and not one-on-one so I didn't have to worry about asking all these questions, because other people were doing it. I did get in one question, just to make myself feel important.

I went back to Fox after the game and edited a bit of leftover highlights from last night, and then came home. I was still cold when I got here though, so I had a wicked hot shower, which was perfect. I feel refreshed, warm, and all that good stuff.

So the plan is to go out somewhere with Sean McDonough tonight, and play football tomorrow morning with some guys from the station. I just hope it is warmer... and drier... or else I'm gonna whine like a baby all day.

a busy day... but i rock
Thursday, November 14, 2002 11:06 p.m.

First of all, I honestly don't remember what I did yesterday. I remember I slept in, then went to work, and now I can't remember anything else.

So today, I got to do all sorts of fun stuff. I went to Fenway Park and interviewed the owner and the president of the Red Sox. Some of those interviews made it on the show tonight. Then I interviewed a bunch of players who are getting inducted to the Red Sox Hall of Fame includng league MVPs, Rookie of the Years,Cy Young winners, people who have pitched no-hitters, and several people who have played in the World Series. Some of that stuff made the show too, and more will be used this weekend on Sports Sunday. I edited all those highlights, and worked on a lot of the other pieces too... so I actually did a LOT of real work today. That was good.

So now I'm watching Seinfeld, and chatting with Leigh, and waiting it out until the train comes.

i curled!!
Tuesday, November 12, 2002 11:16 p.m.

Today, I went to Cambridge to shop. I didn't buy anything. Andy did though, and I saw some things I had not seen before. There's this bridge they always show on TV that looks really cool, but I hadn't seen it in real life... so now I have.

Straight from there, I took the T out to Riverside, where Mr. Dave Fink picked me up (For those of you who don't know, Mr. Fink is a dear friend of my family, as are the rest of the members of the Fink family - like my good friend Bryan, but anyway...)

I went with Mr. Fink to the Broomstones Curling Club where I saw some old friends, and curled my second game of the season. I was just hoping to throw some rocks, and luckily for me, somebody need a spare player so I jumped in on that game. We lost, but it wasn't my fault ;) I was actaully really happy with the way I played.

So now I'm back after walking through the rain. I'm a little damp, but once I get a cup of tea in me, I'll be quite content.

fleeting moment of stupidity...
Monday, November 11, 2002 04:14 p.m.

Not much to report... the Patriots game yesterday was great. Down 21 in the 3rd Quarter, Pats come back to win with less than a minute left. Ahh, it was beautiful.

I talked with Leigh for a while last night. Always a pleasure... as long as I don't say anything stupid ;)

Today is a rainy Monday. Happy Veterans Day!! Everybody thank a Vet, or at least think for a second about what they did on your behalf, no matter what country you're in.

We just watched Shawshank Redemption, which is one of my all time favs. And that's about all I got for now...

its 3:00 in the morning...
Sunday, November 10, 2002 03:21 a.m.

There was a party going on when I got home. I knew about it, so I wasn't surprised. I wasn't really in a party mood however, so I just kinda hung out while everybody else took turns being loud. I wasn't in a bad mood or anything, I just didn't feel like being at a party. However, I didn't really have any other options so I hung around.

So now its 3am, and most of the people have left. There are still 5 or 6 people still hanging around and dancing in the living room. Of course dancing requires music, so I can hear it easily down the hall. Again, it was good to see a few people who I hadn't talked to in a while, Cahill again, and Andy's brother Luke. I like catching up with people...

And there's a new joke, but only Cahill will get it. It's worth writing down though, because it will make me laugh later on when I read this. I suppose this page is as much for me to read, as it is for you...

And here it is...

okay...
Saturday, November 9, 2002 12:22 p.m.

I was just talking to Dawn on MSN. She said something to the effect of "I'm going to stop reading because it's getting BORING," (Note the use of capital letters). She wants it to be more exciting and interactive...

So if you have any suggestions on thing you would like to see on this page to make it more exciting or intersting, email them to me at brian@chickonline.com

So send me your stuff, and I'll make a list of what the ideas are. And I'll see what I can do... And for those of you who aren't bored by my daily routine... I'm going to work this afternoon.

a tale of two days...
Friday, November 8, 2002 06:13 p.m.

Yesterday was slow and uneventful. I got some contact solution, and debated buying a hat. I decided not to, because I already have like 1000 of them, 3 of which I wear regularly. So I wandered around, looking at stores, and the stuff in them, and eventually found my way back to the apartment, slightly depressed.

Late last night, I had a nice long talk with Leigh on the phone and suddenly my night was better. All it took was a phone call... then instead of going out to the bar with the guys, I went to sleep and stayed that way for a long long time.

Today was similar to yesterday, except for the weather and the mood I was in. I had tons and tons of sleep, I was still in a good mood from the phone call, and I had some good music playing while I was in the shower, so I was dancing... for real, I'm that weird.

So after a little while Andy and Cam and I went for a little walk. Cam had some errands to run so we went from place to place, did a little window shopping. I finally took some pictures of some of the stuff downtown, although there are still a lot more to take.

ON the way back, Andy and I stopped at the Christian Science Library for the "Betterment of Humanity." Seriously, what's that about? But we went to the Mappoerium, which is essentially a giant hollow globe you can walk through. They also have a Hall of Ideas which is pretty cool, it's kinda hard to explain. But its a big empty hall that flashes all sorts of quotes from people through out the centuries. There's a little fountain in the middle... but the way its all set up is worth checking out.

I don't know what else I'm doing tonight, but something will present itself, or I'll just go to sleep again.

i hate wednesdays
Wednesday, November 6, 2002 09:06 p.m.

Even though it should be like my Friday because I don't have to go to work tomorrow, or the day after, Wednesdays always seem miserable no matter how much fun I try to make them. Today, I was at the Patriots practice again, and went to BC, with the reporter who normally covers such things. Again, however, it was wet and cold, and I was tired and I kept wishing I was inside and warm.

Because I went in early, I got to go home early. But because I wasn't used to taking these other trains, I almost missed both of them. I didn't miss either, but I almost missed both. So now, I'm gonna chill out for as long as I can stay awake, which I don't pretict to be too long.

another fascinating day
Tuesday, November 5, 2002 09:20 p.m.

Well, I managed to drag myself out of bed... i mean, off the couch, in time to go to the grocery store and get some food before work. I had planned on doing that yesterday, but that kinda didn't happen.

So after that, I was back at the apartment for a bit, killing time until work. And then I went to work. Today was a little weird because its election day and the whole place is going nuts about the governer's race. And when the whole place is going nuts about something else, then nobody cares about sports, especially when nothing is happening with the Celtics or Bruins. So nothing is happening today around here.

Tomorrow, however, I'm going to the Patriots practice again, with one of the reporters. I do have to get up early though, so I'll be leaving a little early tonight.

In other news, I just ordered tickets for the Raptors-Celtics game I'm going to at the end of the month with my friend Bry. That should be a good time. Hopefully, Vince can play for that one.

That's all I got for now.

how did i do it?
Monday, November 4, 2002 09:53 p.m.

Somehow I slept until 1:20 today. I wasn't up that late, and had planned to get up at 10:00 so I could get some grocery shopping done. Well that didn't happen... but whatever.

So now I'm at work, and it's a pretty uneventful day. I copied a bunch of stuff I'm going to use on a demo reel, and now I'm watching Monday Night Football, and talking to Leigh, which is always a treat.

I was all for an easy day today, so I'm not too disappointed.

And Andy really needs to update his blog.

yesterday, all my troubles seemed to far away
Sunday, November 3, 2002 02:32 p.m.

Well yesterday was a really good day... Other than getting up early, and by early I mean like 9:00. So I'll take you through it, because, why else do you read this? To see what I did...

Well, I got up, and I had to wait for a day or two because Scott took the longest shower in the history of the world. By the time he was out, I was rushed and the water was luke warm, but I showered nonetheless. It's good to do that.

So I went to catch the Green Line on Hunnington, but it was under contstruction, so it wasn't running. So I walked further up the road and caught a different wing of the Green Line, the one I would have had to get on eventually anyway, but it was farther away... and if you're confused just look at a MBTA Subway map, and it should clarify things.

So eventually I made it to Newton, and wandered around for about an hour before I evetually found the shuttle bus to Mount Ida College, where I found the guy I was supposed to meet, who showed me the ropes around their football set up. So I did all the pregame anouncements and thought I was doing a heck of a job... then the game started. I had a rough start just because I hadn't figured out a system of finding the names and numbers of players I was looking for... Eventually I did, and I got a lot better. One of the guys who worked there was kind enough to drop me at Fox afterward, because it was only in the next town over.

So I was at work, and I watched the end of the BC-Notre Dame game, which BC won... even though they weren't supposed to. Then I watched and logged the Bruins game, until they were tied at 2, after being down 2-0 in the third period. But then...

I got to do real work, which I love. I went to BC to interview the team who just got back from Notre Dame (on their chartered jet) and were all really nice guys in really good moods. So I interviewed three players, then we sent the video back to the station, where Joe (the producer) had about 15 minutes to edit the pieces he wanted to put on the air. I was on my way home, so I actually didn't get to see the piece but I plan to watch it today when I go in.

So I'm on the T (streetcar) on my way back to the apartment. And the driver calling out the stops is having a GREAT time making comments about restaurants and jokes and stuff. He was actually really funny. He had the whole car laughing... I was so distracted by the guy that I got off at the wrong stop and had a really long walk. Actually, I was just confused... I got my stops confused. Either way, long walk.

So when I got home, I expected this party to be raging at the apartment. But it wasn't... there was actually nobody there. Slowly but surely, more and more people filed in and the fun began. The highlight of the night was seeing my two friends Andy Cahill and Matt Oak because I had not seen nor talked to them in quite a while. The old gang was back together, hilarity ensued. There was also a mini concert which was later dubbed "Chick-Unplugged" but I had nothing to do with that... or actually it was all me.

So we stayed up quite late, and all eventually crashed in the living room. I think there were 5 of us in there, so there was a late-night "slumber party" chatter going on for quite sometime after the lights went out. All in all though, it was really really fun. Even when I carried Andy D. to bed even though he got up and ran down the hall giggling right after.

It was a really good day from beginning to end. And now I'm off to work... peace all!

aww man...
Friday, November 1, 2002 01:18 p.m.

Last night, I was in such a good mood on the way home. Sitting on the train, rocking out to U2, and I got back and hung out with the guys.

This morning, I cut my NOSE while shaving. How to you do that? I don't know... my stinkin nose!!

Happy November!! It's off to a great stinkin' start.

C'est l'Hallowe'en HEY
Thursday, October 31, 2002 11:58 p.m.

Well, I got mentioned on the air tonight. I represented one side of an office debate between hockey and basketball. It was kinda like "If you're like our producer Russ, you think the hockey highlights should go first, but some people, like our intern Brian Chick think that the Celtics should get the nod." This is only because I happened to log the Celtics game, so I had more to do with that than the hockey... but normally I'd be all about the hockey.

As a little RETRO-LOOK-BACK, I had a look at what I wrote on Halloween last year. There were four postings in that ONE day... Most of them were just a rant about the bank, and one of them mentioned the fact that I was reading Dracula, which by the way, I never finished. I also burned my hand on a pan, but that was really the night before and I didn't write about it until after midnight.

Now, it's late. I'm watching Seinfeld on Letterman. I'm ready to go home. In a few minutes...

No costume this year. Hope you guys all had fun.

work work work
Thursday, October 31, 2002 12:02 a.m.

Hey, I can't complain that I actually have stuff to do. I got to do some more editing today, and now have 4 things on my personal "this is work i've done here" tape.

I managed to screw something up at the end of the Bruins game which made editing a little harder, but it was nothing too major so I still got done on time. It was a big pain though...

So now, I have to take off and catch a train, so I can do it all over again tomorrow. I like it though, besides the one obvious drawback... being away from a certain someone in T.O.

At least I have clean clothes...
Tuesday, October 29, 2002 05:21 p.m.

Today was another day off, my last for a while. It was productive, however. Laundry is done, my phone bill is sorted out (they tried to charge me an extra $75, for my new phone. I got $100 taken off ;). I read a good chunk of the Two Towers, the 2nd Lord of the Rings book. And that was about it... so not all THAT productive... but hey, laundry is done. That's BIG.

And to keep this interesting for all my devoted readers... Tonight, you're going to meet all the guys I live with in this apartment. If I didn't say it already, six people usually live here, and I make seven. So here they are:

Andy- Andy is my friend from highschool, and the guy who actually said I could stay here. I spend a lot of time hanging out with him, or in his room. I did use his computer all the time, but it has recently died. He plays the guitar, is studying civil engineering, and has a girlfriend named Karen.

Todd- Todd is another guy I knew from highschool. We weren't really good friends, but I'd say we were at least friends. I was better friends with his girlfriend because she used to sit behind me in math and poke me with pencils. Todd also plays the guitar, and is studying music at Berklee. I think he wants to write film scores.

Tobin- The last of the three people I knew from high school. For some strange reason we didn't really used to get along, but we've grown out of that. He now works with students at a school for kids with mental problems. He also plays the guitar, but is rarely around because he works a lot... and crazy shifts too.

Scott- Also known as "Cam." I'm using his computer right now. He is a friend of Andy's from Northeastern, who I talk to a lot about sports, specifically hockey, and of course, the guitar. He likes to play a lot of Dave Matthews Band stuff. No argument here. I believe he is originally from Vermont.

Alex- As strange as it is, Alex and I have said the exact same "out of nowhere" comments at the exact same time. We get along pretty well because of our bizarre senses of humour and our love of the guitar... He reminds me of some of the other guys I used to hang out with in hichschool. He has a very cool pair of Diesel shoes.

Claudio- Claudio is studying anthropology and music, although he DOES NOT PLAY THE GUITAR. He has an extensive knowledge of Mariah Carey music, including her entire discography. He enjoys watching Golden Girls, and recently auditioned for the 2nd season of American Idol.

And then there's little ol' me...

more days off
Monday, October 28, 2002 02:58 p.m.

The way it works these days is that I swith between having Monday/Tuesday off, and having Thursday/Friday off. So every other week, is a really LONG week, and the next is a really short one. So after having Thursday/Friday off, I now have Monday/Tuesday off... and I have nothing to do except return the Sopranos DVD to Blockbuster.

Yesterday, the Angels won the World Series. Whoopdy Dooo!! Who cares? I'm just glad its over so we don't have to wait until 1am to do the news. It's crazy.

I went for a nice long walk today, found some parts of the city I hadn't been before. Wishing you were here ;)

days off
Saturday, October 26, 2002 12:12 p.m.

I didn't have to work yesterday, or the day before that. I went grocery shopping and hung out around here. I kinda wish I had more to do. I feel guilty watching all the people around me work their butts of doing homework and assignments, and studying for midterms, when I don't really have anything. So I'm reading a lot. I just finished the third Harry Potter book, after an all night marathon reading session. I just didn't feel like going to bed, so I read until about 4am, when I finished the book.

Last night, I went to Northeastern vs. UNH Hockey game which was a good time. I actually had a chance to wear the hockey jersey I brought. Although Team Canada wasn't playing, so I looked a little out of place. We (Scott and me) went for pizza and watched Spaceballs (a classic). We never got around to a 2nd movie, because the guys upstairs were being too loud with their party to make it worthwhile.

So now, I have to go back to work, which is almost a relief. I don't know what I would do with another day off.

cold and wet
Wednesday, October 23, 2002 08:51 p.m.

Well, I had to go in to work early today, which means I had to get up really early. And the train I catch doesn't stop at the close stop at that time, so I had to walk to the farther stop. It's not a huge problem, except...

It was raining and snowing and really cold this morning. So I got wet and cold on the way to work. But it was kinda all worth it because I went to Foxboro with one of the reporters to cover the Patriots practice today. I was at the Q and A with the coach, and then in the locker room for interviews. The new place, Gilette Stadium, is a pretty nice place.

So now, I'm still pretty friggin cold.

so you think you can tell....
Monday, October 21, 2002 02:14 p.m.

Well last night was perhaps the longest baseball game in forever... Well, actually I know it wasn't. But it was still long. I left work at 11:00 last night, and got home in time to see the last two innings. Angels won though, and that is good news.

Logging the Raptors-Celtics game was also fun because Toronto was killing Boston. So I kept writing things like "Vince dunks over a Celtic" and "Mo Peterson for three." I would have put in things like VC, MoPete, or JYD, but somebody has to read these things.

It's back to work today. I can't imagine it being too eventful. No baseball or basketball tonight. Bruins are in Toronto though, that should be worth watching. Other than that, I got nothing.

I'll have Thursday and Friday off this week, so I'll have to figure out something fun to do by then. I'm liking it here, but (at the risk of sounding schmoopy) I really miss Leigh.

sunday...
Sunday, October 20, 2002 12:12 p.m.

Not much to report. I talked to Leigh last night for a while, which was lovely. I watched the Celtics win, and chose the highlights for last night's show. It was all Vin Baker baby!!! (For those of you who don't know, Vin Baker is a Celtics player who is getting paid something like $10 million, even though he is HORRIBLE).

Tonight, the Celtics play the Raptors. Yee haw. I'm going to be cheering for the other guys (The Raptors).

Seriously, that's about all I got right now!!

real work...
Friday, October 18, 2002 11:04 p.m.

Well I forgot what happened yesterday, but I do recall thinking about updating this, then forgetting. So in the last day, I watched some Sopranos then I watched the end of Spy Game, which I've owned for months but never been able to see.

Today, however... today was good. I went to Fox, and actually got to do some REAL work. I went to Fenway Park and interviewed a Red Sox exec. about rising ticket prices. This was a big change from my usual days of logging games and choosing the highlights. So I did a real interview, and it made it on the real news, and I got it on a real tape... and I'm real happy. So maybe, I'm really easily amused. Either way, it was good.

Then I came back to the station and logged a game, and chose some highlights. Regardless, it was good.

So anyway, I'm watching Seinfeld and waiting for the train. I talked to Leigh this afternoon which was great. It was only a few minutes but it's always nice to hear her voice.

And in other news, I scratch my head an wonder why my last bulk email has decided to send itself 10 times. And everybody likes to remind me of that fact. It's getting bothersome, but I don't know what else I can do.

comedians are funny
Tuesday, October 15, 2002 11:12 p.m.

I took a crazy long walk today. I went all over the city. I looked at a bunch of stuff that I didn't have any money for and thought I might get when I did have money. I went grocery shopping (finally).

Tonight I went to a comedy show with my buddy John Lincoln. And it was acutally funny... go figure. Tomorrow starts day 2 of internship 2002, but I don't see much happening in the world of sports, so it may be a quiet one.

Who knows...

home of the bagel buzzsaw...
Monday, October 14, 2002 10:51 p.m.

I didn't have to work today so I spent a couple hours wandering around downtown. It was sunny today, so I was in a better mood, and I saw all sorts of things that I vaguely remembered from past Boston experiences. For example, while avoiding a 50,000 woman 10k roadrace, I made my way past Cheers.

I have also found my cafeteria for the next month. It's just up the block and it is called New York Pizza, or as the sign says "new PIZZA york." Giant slices for $1.60... good thing i go for two hour walks. Keeps my hips in check.

I had a couple lonely days even though there were lots of people around. It's getting a little better. I think the weather had something to do with it. I swear... it was sunny today, and that made it so much better.

Anyway, I'm gonna go watch some "Sopranos."

da da dah, da da dah....
Monday, October 14, 2002 01:41 a.m.

Well, I made it to Boston. I'm getting settled and acquainted. I knew a couple of the guys I'm living with already (Andy, Todd, and Tobin) but there are a couple others I didn't. The apartment is nice, and pretty downtown, which means we're not too far from anything. Today was the first day of my internship, which means I can now officially use this:

I got there okay, I met some people, I did some sports journalism related stuff. It was pretty simple, but good stuff to tackle on day one. Hopefully it gets a little more challenging. The nice part is that I only have a 5-7 minute walk on each side of the train, so my whole commute is only about 30 minutes. NOt too shabby... I'll keep y'all updated.

why oh why didn't i take the blue pill?
Friday, October 11, 2002 10:03 p.m.

Well we did our last show. My piece was well received. Chris was touched, afterall, it was his obituary. Kinda morbid yes, but it was actually a tribute...

I hustled down to the train station, caught the 3:10 outta there, and got sat next to a nice older lady, and a really really drunk guy who had been sitting in the Union Station Bar for a few hours. As loud and chatty and drunk as they get... that was fun. I'm just glad he got off in Cobourg.

I finally made it to Brock-Vegas, met Ma and Pa, and headed to the Matrix where I had dinner and searched franticly for a backpack which doesn't seem to exist anymore... oh well, off to Boston tomorrow.

well that's it...
Friday, October 11, 2002 01:25 a.m.

I got my piece done. The show is tomorrow. I picked up my train ticket. The walk to Union seemed to take quite a while, I don't know why. I came home, had some lunch, and watched TV. I had really wanted a hotdog from the street vendor but decided that there was a lot of food in the fridge that I needed to get rid of before I go.

I curled tonight for the first time this season. I played well and we kicked some butt. Unfortunately, it will be December before I curl with these guys again, but what can you do?

I'm home now, and have spent the past few hours IMing and packing. I'm finally down to two stuffed big bags and a shoulder bag. I would take a little more, but then again I have to get through Union tomorrow at rush hour on a holiday weekend. I figured I would get whatever else I needed from the Mait-rix.

So tomorrow, I head out after the show. Hopefully I can hang out with the class for a few minutes before I have to run down to catch the train. My next posting will probably be from Maitland, so I'll see you then ;)

do you remember?
Wednesday, October 9, 2002 11:48 p.m.

We did a show this morning. It was "ambitious" and we pretty much pulled it off. I hung out with Leigh for the afternoon, which was really our last official time together for quite a while. It was emotional, but something tells me we'll survive.

I'm trying to get my act together so the next couple days runs smoothly. I'm crossing things off my TO DO list, which is always a good sign, and there are only two things left: Pack, which is a pretty big one, and "Pick Up Train Ticket" which I'll take care of after class tomorrow. I curl tomorrow night, then leave right after the show on Friday.

It's all so sudden. I'm half sad, half excited, half stressed, and for those of you doing the math on that, I'm just that good.

honey nut cheerios
Tuesday, October 8, 2002 09:17 p.m.

I had honey nut cheerios for breakfast. Apparently they help lower my cholesterol. I proceeded to head down to class and edit a feature on homeopathy with Kathryn. My second to last assignment is done, and the one yet to do is a joke... literally. We're doing a spoof show on Friday.

I went home and did some work on my Friday project after taking advantage of the school's printer for a while. I had to get some stuff on paper before I went to Boston. After bumming around at home for a while, I came back down town for volleyball... we played pretty horribly. Did I mention we won last night? I don't rememnber...

I was going to take Leigh out tomorrow night as our last little thing before I take off for a while, but suddenly she's going to have to be at the hospital tomorrow night, so we can't really do that. So we're trying to do something fun with tonight instead... but we're getting a late start. It was going to be a nice steak dinner, but now it may be pizza or Harvey's. Two words: "CLOSE" and "OPEN"

lots of work for a day off...
Monday, October 7, 2002 06:49 p.m.

I don't have class on Mondays, but Kathryn shot some video over the weekend that we needed to edit for this week's show. Whilst we were editing, I started thinking that I might apply for a CityTV scholarship kinda thing, which requires some work between now and Friday... if I actually decide to do it. I need to shoot some stand-ups and throw together a demo tape, which would take some time. So we'll see how the week goes.

In other news, I'm working on Boston admin stuff right now. Just making lists, and finding info, and trying to get everything organized so I can do it when it comes time to be done. And it's getting ridiculously close...

Yesterday, I did laundry, but wasn't able to dry everything because the laundry room was a busy place and my 4 loads of wash wouldn't fit into the 1 dryer i was able to secure. So things are still hanging all over my apartment.

Last night, I went to Leigh's and we watched Pulp Fiction, which I had not seen in a long long time. I forgot how good it was (even though there is a lot of violence and swearing *gasp*).

So tonight, I continue with all this, and try to take care of everything I can, before I leave on Friday. Between now and then, I have to finish two features, a demo tape, pack, drop some things off, pick some stuff up, and go out with Leigh for our last nice date for a while... so sad.

The train leaves at 3:10 on Friday.

and there was the matter of the wedding...
Sunday, October 6, 2002 06:18 p.m.

Well we went to the church, did our little bits of music, watched some people get married in what I thought was a very quick ceremony (not that I was complaining). Looked around at the crowd, counted mullets, and made several comments to Jen to which she usually replied "Only in the 'Shwa"

Leigh came over last night. We made some dinner, baked some cookies, watched some TV, got some new furniture, and had a grand ol' time.

Today we watched Monster's Inc. (which I had not seen, but really liked) and now I'm doing some laundry and some research for my feature this week...

a rainy saturday in oshawa
Saturday, October 5, 2002 01:01 p.m.

After cabbing way the heck all over everything on Thursday, we (Stac- who I was working on my project with) came back to class and edited our piece. We were done by the end of the day, which meant we could come in late on Friday. Yippee Hooray. Leigh and I went for a little walk in the afternoon, ran some errands, stopped at Starbucks, and hung out. Later we watched Friends, Survivor, Will and Grace, Good Morning Miami, and ER. It was an eventful day, what can I say!!

Friday morning I went in late to class (because I could) and left just as quickly. I went home to get all my stuff for this wedding that Jen and I are about to play/sing at. I packed, grabbed all my stuff, went back down to Ryerson, had lunch with Leigh, did the show, and then took off with Jen for the GO Train.

Ahh yes, Oshawa... We went to the rehearsal at 5:00, and everything ran smoothly, the bride was so touched that she had to cry... at least I THINK that's why she was crying. We grabbed some dinner at Shoeless Joe's (where Jen works) and then hung out with some other people and had some drinks. A good time was had by all.

In about 15 minutes, we're going to leave for the church to actually do this thing. I'm all dressed up, lookin' HOT!! Well, I'll let you know how it goes. If it is as good at the rehearsal, then there will be no problems. We shall see in an hour.

*that's from The Wedding Singer... did anybody get that?*

Wendsterday
Wednesday, October 2, 2002 07:22 p.m.

After a few hours of pannick this morning, we finally got the phone calls we were waiting for and were able to go shoot the first part of our piece. We'll finish shooting tomorrow, and hopefully have some time to edit as well.

We did a pretty good show, minus 10 seconds of panic in the studio at the very end of it all. But it went well...

I think I'm off to Leigh's tonight for some TV. But here's my question for the day: Did you ever bite the back of a pen and get the most horrible taste in your mouth? It's not ink, but I don't know WHAT it is... but its staying there. And its gross. I think it is time for one of the 50 apples I have left from Leigh's Apple Picking Adventure, which happened before I made it to Kingston.

Oh... I nailed down my first day of work in Boston. Sunday, October 13th, will be DAY ONE of a segment we'll call INTERNSHIP 2002: BOSTON. Keep and eye out for that!!

U2 said it best.. OCTOBER
Wednesday, October 2, 2002 12:10 a.m.

So yeah, class was okay today. I didn't really have all that much to do. I made some phone calls about our current project, and hopefully we'll be able to tape in the next day or two.

I saw "Sweet Home Alabama" with Leigh this afternoon. It looks like we're resuming our abnormally frequent movie watching habits, but who cares. We like them. This one was a typical romantic comedy thinger, with a couple of pretty good lines.

Played volleyball tonight, after talking to Dad on the phone for a bit. A pretty routine life makes for pretty dull phone calls. Come to think of it, I forgot to mention this weekend's adventure on the train. Oh well, I'll see him before too long... and in fact, I think he reads this from time to time. So if you're reading this, HI DAD!!

And we lost our volleyball games. I worked up a sweat, which lets me pretend it counts as a pretty good work out. I wish I could play more often.

weekend update with kevin nealon
Monday, September 30, 2002 01:35 p.m.

When I wrote that last entry, I was in class preparing for the day's broadcast, on which I was a host again. I was more comfortable in front of the camera, and gave a pretty good read. Unfortunately some of the technical people weren't quite up to professional standards and caused the flow of the show to suffer, by pushing buttons when the weren't supposed to, or pushing the wrong ones when they were supposed to. (grumble grumble grumble... seriously, you could train a monkey to push a button when it is told to, can't you?)

So after the show, I went home, bummed around for a bit, and popped on the Monsters Inc. DVD. I hadn't seen the movie yet, and the only other thing on my schedule for the weekend was watching the Patriots game on Sunday afternoon.. and that was only IF we got it on TV.

I'm about 5 minutes into the movie and Leigh calls and asks if I want to go to Kingston for the weekend. I think for a minute about all the fun I'm going to miss in Toronto because of my hectic schedule, and said "SURE." So I packed as fast as I could and took off for Union Station to catch a 5:30 train (it was around 4:30)... but it was sold out, and so were the next 3 after that. So I boot it up to the bus station to see when they go, and there is one leaving at 5:30 (its just after 5:00 now) so I get through the line, get a ticket, and get in line.

I get on the bus around 5:20 and think I'm golden. I call Leigh on my cell phone, tell her I'm on the bus, and that I'll see her around 8:30. And I would have, if the bus had had a driver... but it didn't. And we didn't leave until shortly after 6:00. And then we got stuck on the DVP in traffic for another hour, so around 7:00, we finally made it to the 401, but still weren't moving incredibally fast. So for the next 2 and a half hours I was forced to sit in cramped dark seats in front of a bunch of obnoxious students who were planning to party hard that night, and next to a lady with a mullet who kept looking at me funny.

Around 9:30, I finally made it to Kingston after sitting in the same seat for 4 hours. Leigh picked me up at the bus station and we went home and had dinner... but not until her brother Chris arrived from Montreal (apparently his train had been missing an engine, causing HIS delay). So we ate dinner and watched TV, and relaxed and went to bed.

The next day we walked around K-town for a little bit. It was Queen's homecoming weekend so there were a lot of returning Alumni around. We went out for dinner at an Indian place called Curry Originals which smells exactly like certain parts of my apartment building and played similar music to that which you can hear eminating from some of the apartments. But I digress, the food was good, and there was lots of it, and I can now say that I've expanded one more horizon.

On the way home, we picked up Zoolander at the video store and forced everybody to watch it as we laughed hysterically even before the jokes were made. We've seen it a few times... and I think everybody enjoyed it, even Leigh's mom although she would never admit it.

The day, we went to the train station nice and early to pick up my reserved ticket (we didn't want the same problem on the way home... little did we know we were going to get a horribly different problem). We hung out at the station until our train arrived, just a couple minutes late. We were rolling by 2:25pm. After about an hour of sheer bliss, comparing this ride, to my ride on the bus two days prior, we pulled in to Port Hope for a scheduled stop.

About four hours later we started rolling again. Around 8:30pm, we pulled into Union station. Yes... 8:30. More than 4 hours late, on a two hour trip. Apparently there had been some accident on the track, just ahead of us in Port Hope. We were stopped at the same spot from 3:50 to about 7:30. Boy was that fun... we had all this time to write stories, draw pictures, laugh at all the people on the train, curse under our breath everytime someone let their cell phone ring more than once (our cell phones were both out of range so we couldn't even call anybody until we were about 15 minutes farther down the track... of course that 15 minutes was four hours away).

Well, we got a free trip out of it. But I missed the one thing on my weekend to do list. Patriots lost anyway... After we got back to Leigh's place around 9:00 (yes, about 8 hours door-to-door) we got a pizza, and ate it. That was about it.

In an unrelated story, I ended up with 25 votes in that photoshop contest.

stunning...
Friday, September 27, 2002 09:26 a.m.

What baffles me is this. Yesterday I got home from class in the early afternoon. I worked on my website for a little while, I don't really like the new look I'm working on. So then I kinda bummed around for several hours. I watched Friends, then Survivor, then I started bumming around some more (meanwhile, I put more pictures up on the Trillium Camp site). What is most amazing out of all of this is that after bumming around for a whole day... I couldn't find the time to update this thing.

I guess I just didn't have anything to say. Although I got some votes in the latest photoshop contest on Fark.com (at last count it was 12).

wednesday
Wednesday, September 25, 2002 07:11 p.m.

For no good reason, I find myself exhausted today. I played 3 on 3 volleyball last night, and played better than I thought I could have. I had a couple hits that I was quite proud of, because guys can't jump from in front of the 10-foot line in this league. So anyway...

I had a broadcast today. I was the host. Things went alright. It takes a little getting used to, reading off the teleprompter, watching the monitors out of the corner of one eye, and the stage director out the other. It wasn't perfect, but I didn't expect it to be. I do it again on Friday.

I walked Leigh down to the train station today ( I got to carry the heavy bag ) because she's going home for a few days. Ah well, what is it they say? Absence makes the heart grow fungus?

wanna shoot the whole day down...
Tuesday, September 24, 2002 12:03 a.m.

Absolutely nothing to report other than the fact that we won both of our volleyball games tonight. The intramural season is off to a good start.

Oh... and I have a little job interview thing tomorrow. It's for a marking assistant job that even if i get it, won't be enough to sustain my income. Still working on that... hopefully, I can get back in at the SND (Stupid Nothing Desk- for newer readers... although I don't know how many people read this thing anyway... I think its like 4 or 5).

Oh, and now that I've looked at the clock and noticed its past midnight, I can officially say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my brother Dan, who turns 28 today. I hope I can find his phone number somewhere.

In a related story, my PHONE STILL ISN'T HERE.

things i either forgot to tell you, or recently became aware of...
Sunday, September 22, 2002 01:12 a.m.

Forgot to tell you:

1. I bought that jacket from the Gap. I'm very happy about this. What's better is that the coupon worked and it saved me abour $35.

2. I saw the "Four Feathers" with Leigh yesterday. I didn't know that much about it going in, and was pleasantly surprised. I gave it a 7.5 out of 10, and Leigh gave it an 8. A little too predictable for my super praise, but I liked it regardless.

Recently became aware of/Was recently reminded of:

1. Froot Loops rock, especially the powder at the bottom of the box. MMMMM sugar.

2. "Rudy" is one of the few movies that will give me goosebumps and almost weepy eyes on EVERY viewing. I watched it again tonight...

3. Making WinAmp skins is actually really easy. I kinda learned today, and am working on getting better. Something to do, i guess.

gotta love the weekend
Saturday, September 21, 2002 03:08 p.m.

Yesterday we did a pretty good show. It ran a little long, but nobody seemed to care because all of the pieces were good, and everything ran pretty smoothly. I did sports again, had some minor audio problems, but other than that I was pretty happy.

I went out with Leigh and friends last night to Tonic, a club I hadn't been to since first year... or maybe 2nd. I don't remember. It's been a while. But we had a good time, until we got tired... we must be getting old.

So now it is Saturday, and I love it. Nothing to do...except clean the apartment. It's untidy to an extreme degree.

uhruhhhhhhhhhhh...owayo wayo waya wayaoooo
Thursday, September 19, 2002 09:29 p.m.

I watched Survivor tonight. That's what that little title was all about.

I also realized that I am kinda excited to get into a TV career. It occured to me last night when I was watching the news and taking notes, and I thought "THIS is my homework?" I love this program!!

In other news, getting out of bed was torture this morning. I ended up taping some sports highlight shows and heading down to class a little late to edit. But my piece was done, and will require a minor touch up before the show tomorrow. Hopefully, my minor touch up doesn't screw it all up like I did last time...

i still hate fido...
Wednesday, September 18, 2002 12:15 a.m.

I got up around 8:00 this morning and went to school for 9:00. I was a little late, but that didn't really matter because it's more like work than class, and a few minutes late doesn't hurt anybody... it wasn't my fault anyway, damn elevators.

So I used the first hour or so to cut and edit my sports introduction, which I'm sure will blow everyone away tomorrow when we watch it. I used a few tricks that nobody in the class knows, so I feel pretty cool about that.

Then, I did the work that I was actually supposed to do and got that done by 1:00 and came home. I had some lunch... nummy nums... and loafed around for much of the afternoon.

After I called the Phone Company that is... They sent my phone to the wrong house, in the wrong town, where nobody I know lives. Yesterday, they did nothing to help the situation. Today, the guy said he would send me a new phone... unless I wanted to go to Hamilton and pick up the other one. So again, the waiting begins.

I hung out with Leigh tonight, as she tried to get her Rogers Internet hooked up. Something about her building, and the type of modem, wouldn't let it work, so she too was on the phone with useless people for a while. If everything goes according to plan, she may get her internet fixed the day I get my phone.

We chilled there for a while, got some really good pitas from Pita Pit, and went back to chilling. During the walk home, a Jamaican guy was shouting out a sermon-type thing from behind a tree in the park. The sound of his voice against the quiet noise of the city at night was really cool. I know that makes me sound like this artsy fartsy stuck up dork, but trust me, it was really cool.

In other news, Leigh outright refused to steal toys from the Hospital for Sick Children for me.

why am i still up?
Tuesday, September 17, 2002 02:17 a.m.

Two things before I go to bed...

1. #3 on my list of "Companies I Hate" now belongs to Fido. They sent my new phone to the wrong house, and aren't doing anything to fix it. I am very very very mad at them and will continue to let them know tomorrow. NEVER BUY A FIDO CELL PHONE... NEVER EVER. If this message reaches one person, then it will be enough.

2. If you call me on my phone... LEAVE A MESSAGE, OR HANG UP BEFORE THE BEEP. IS THAT SO HARD???

frisatunday
Sunday, September 15, 2002 05:17 p.m.

As is sometimes the case, the weekend all gets lumped together into one posting. I suppose a lot has gone on, but I just haven't taken the time to sit down and write it out. So now, I'm going to write it all out... So now, I present to you... the step by step guide to having a weekend like Brian (start Friday morning).

Friday AM-

Wake up, go to class, meet Chris and Jen
Shoot, edit, and show, a report about quitting smoking
Have pizza with Chris, make jokes (enjoy this)
Pick up Leigh, walk home, tidy apartment, and make some phone calls
Go shopping with Leigh (* This involves a lot of walking so wear comfortable shoes)
Have people over, watch movies, talk, drink, eat Cool Ranch Doritos
Go to Madison's, meet more friends, have more drinks, laugh a lot (especially when friends look ridiculously overserved...COUGH *JOSH*)
Go home, sleep.

Saturday-

Get up, eat breakfast, get ready to go to softball, realize you haven't talked to Tom
Check messages, learn that Tom is leaving if he doesn't hear from you
Call Tom, learn he has left
Figure out how to get to Topham Park (even though you have been there 100 times
Take TTC to Topham, play softball, go 5 for 5 in your two games, go to McFly's and eat nachos
Take Tom's car and go to Playdium in Missisauga with Leigh and Natalie, spend free money (note: the people who work there are dorks), come back, stop at Wendy's, enjoy a frosty with your combo
Go to sleep

Sunday-

Wake up, have shower, take Tom's car and pick up Tom
Play softball, go 5 for 5 in your first game, and 1 for 4 in your second
Go to McFly's, eat Nachos, watch Football (Patriots!! WOO HOO)
Come home, shower, update weblog, find some dinner...

That's all I got for now. Time to eat.

One year ago today...
Wednesday, September 11, 2002 03:33 p.m.

My alarm woke me up today much earlier than I would have liked. It was only 8:00, and I realize that much of the world gets up before me. Either way though, I was having a really funny dream, which made me think about (after I woke up) how creative the brain can be even when you're sleeping. If i had seen what I was dreaming on TV, I would have laughed hysterically... anyway, that was my thought.

As most people are aware, today is the One-Year Anniversary of the Attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. People around the world are remembering, mourning, and paying tribute to this day in their own way. Toronto had a little ceremony where they remembered the 22 Canadians who were killed that day. We covered it for our TV class.

Obviously everything changed that day. Nobody felt safe anymore. Nobody knew what to expect anymore. People mourned the loss of loved ones and friends. They wallowed in a sense of vulnerability. But I think one of the blessings to come out of it all was the fact that people suddenly realized that there's no time like the present to get things done. Make that phone call, send that letter, visit that person, say the things you've always wanted to...

I'm not saying the world has recovered. We haven't moved on too far. People are starting to feel comfortable again, but not without a sense of caution. Even though a year has passed, the events of September 11th, 2001 still haunt every one of us, and I'm sure they will for the rest of our lives.

More than 3,000 people died that day, simply because they went to work. They did nothing wrong, and they got cheated. Don't forget these people... It's not all about politics, terrorism, war, etc. These people had friends and families, and we should keep them all in our thoughts today and every day.

gotta love the 5-day weekend
Tuesday, September 10, 2002 08:43 p.m.

Well I got to sleep in again today, which is always a bonus. Tomorrow, however, I have to be at class by 9:00 which is going to be a pain in the butt. Ah well, the 4th year schedule can't be too cushy, or we would barely learn anything.

So I went shopping with Leigh again. It's kinda funny that we keep doing this because it keeps reminding us that we are still, in fact, students and that we still, in fact, have no money. Today's adventure did prompt me to rekindle my job hunt because I found some things that I really want to buy, that I really can't afford. So I got some more resumes out, and followed up on a couple others.

In other news, I've taken to participating in fark.com's photoshop contests. They give you a picture, or an idea, and you have to doctor it to make it funny - er. So I've done two so far, and it looks to be another time-waster to have in my arsenal.

In an unrelated story, I'm still waiting for my new cell phone. It's pathetic how comforting it is just to have... I don't even use it that much. But like, what if someone is trying to call me?

sunday morning
Sunday, September 8, 2002 09:10 p.m.

I ended up going out again after posting last night. I went back down to Leigh's and chilled with some friends for a while. It was a lot of fun and everybody had a good time, I think.

Today, I watched sports for most of the afternoon. Pete Sampras won the US Open. The NFL got underway. The Canadian Open wrapped up, but I didn't really watch that. My two football teams this year are going to to be the Patriots (who play tomorrow - Monday Night Football baby!) and the Houston Texans (an expansion team - playing, and winning, as we speak).

I put some posters up, tidied some of the apartment, took out the garbage. The dishes still need doing, but I think I'll survive.

i could have settled the baseball strike in an hour...
Saturday, September 7, 2002 11:07 p.m.

I went to Canada's Wonderland today and had a really really good time. I spent the day with Leigh, and members of her floor (here and there), and went on all the wooden roller coasters that place has to offer.

One of the best parts of the day was when I played the game where you hit the thing with the hammer and the other little thing flies up the pole, and rings the bell at the top... you know what I'm talking about, right? Well, I rung the bell and got Leigh a prize.

So then we headed back downtown, and back to reality, had some Harvey's for dinner, a lengthy talk, and I came home. I've also started to plan my "end of the year" retrospective edition... but that won't be around for a long time yet. I just started.

two days, one entry
Friday, September 6, 2002 11:07 p.m.

Yesterday, we shot show openings for our news broadcast class. I thought I'd be funny and run through a fountain. Instead I was REALLY funny, and slipped as I ran and fell over, then got up and fell again, and whacked the heck outta my knee. All in the name of good TV...

I went out with my curling team last night. We had some drinks, watched some football, and argued all sorts of things. A good time was had by all.

Today, I got to sleep in. Then Leigh called, and I ended up spending the whole day with her walking here and there, taking care of little things we both needed to do. I also ordered a new cell phone because it was starting to bug me, and also it didn't work after it went swimming with me in the fountain.

I'm going to Wonderland tomorrow with Leigh. I hope it's better than the last time I was there.

sleepy time down south
Wednesday, September 4, 2002 02:57 p.m.

Today's class was all just review of equipment, and how to use all the various software and cameras and stuff. I tried to pay attention, but was pretty sure I already knew most of what they were talking about.

I walked by the Eatons Centre today and saw a line up for Toronto International Film Festival tickets coming out the front door at Yonge and Dundas. So I went inside briefly and the line went down the stairs, around the stairs to another set of stairs, down those stairs, around the flower shop and into the ticket office. Meanwhile I looked at the movies, and most of them were sold out anyway. I find that somewhat ridiculous.

I got my student card updated and got special treatment because I know one of the guys who works there. I was standing in line and he came out from behind the desk and gave me the sticker I needed. It was really cool... now if only all my connections weren't at the University Information desk. Maybe I could get some tickets, or free drinks or something.

That's about all I have right now. I think I'm going shopping this afternoon.

so i had to run off last time...
Tuesday, September 3, 2002 06:59 p.m.

I didn't really have all that much to say when I took off yesterday. Beachfest was fun, hot, and sandy. The only performer I actually listened to was Chantal Kreviasiananichuk... you know who i'm talking about. She was alright but all of her songs were too mellow for the day. It was hot and sunny, but her music was all like a guy sitting in a rainy window pondering life and more specifically, his relationship.

Meanwhile we got to catch some of the CNE Airshow and that was pretty sweet. Actually, I'm pretty sure we saw all of it because it was all out over the lake.

Today was the first day of school and a couple things became obvious. The guy who teaches my class has no idea what he's doing. The first six weeks of the semester won't be too bad. Being done class at 2:00 is going to be great every day.

And if you're looking for some entertainment, check this out. This is what I look like when I make myself into a South Park Character.

no time right now...
Monday, September 2, 2002 10:00 p.m.

I'm on my way out...

Beachfest was fun. Hot. Sand everywhere.

Chris is here, gotta run. Hope you had a great day.

On the sidewalk, Sunday morning...
Sunday, September 1, 2002 12:19 p.m.

The Jays beat the Yankees 5-1. Cerutti introduced me to Brian Williams of CBC Sports (especially Olympic) fame, and we had a chance to chat a bit. He was giving me tips on how to be a good broadcaster. I thought that was a little surreal (if that's the right word). It was really cool.

So then I hung at the ILLC for a bit with Leigh who was running a Casino Night for the residences. We were going to go out after but everybody was too tired so we ended up watching some bad TV. One of the worst Saturday Night Lives I have ever seen... and I've seen it twice.

So today, I have to clean the apartment again and get ready for school which starts on Tuesday.

does the fun ever stop?
Saturday, August 31, 2002 01:43 a.m.

Well I got up around 11:00. I was at Ryerson by 12:00. I sent the J-school froshies on their scavenger hunt. By 1:15 I was at the curling club, fixing a computer problem (i was so proud), drinking a SUPER Big Gulp from 7-11, and sweating profusely. By 2:00, I was back at Ryerson after a speedy skate down Queen East (Rollerblades are a wonderful way to get around quickly, and way more entertaining than walking). Katie (Journalism Course Union President) and I went searching for prizes and scored some great stuff from NOW magazine. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank them for their generous donations.

Mike showed up around 3:00 and we had some lunch and sat around until about 5:30 when he had to go to work, and people started to return with scavenger hunt items. At 6:00 (or shortly after) we tallied all the points, looked at some pictures, and gave out the prizes. I hung out with Leigh for a while and just came home a few minutes ago... it is now approaching 2am.

I have to be up and ready to go by noon tomorrow on account of my appointment with the CBC at SkyDome. Thanks to John Cerutti, I'm going to watch the game in the CBC booth and learn more about being a sportscaster. So Jays and Yankees at 4:00, although I'll be there at 1ish.

That's all I got for now. Take it easy. I hope you're all having a great time, whatever it is you're doing this weekend.

time after time
Thursday, August 29, 2002 04:15 p.m.

Don't ask what the title means... It's nothing really. Just the song that is playing right now. I've done a lot for the past couple days, but nothing so exciting I had to run here and write it up.

Yesterday, I took a tour of the CBC building downtown. That was fun and informative. Again, not so exciting that I had to run here and tell you about anything.

Today, it was the orientation for the Faculty of Communication and Design (FCAD) so I gave a tour to a bunch of j-school (journalism) froshies, and watched their "Welcome to Ryerson" presentation, which feature Tony Conte, who is an excellent speaker/comedian. He gets his message across, but makes you laugh enough that it doesn't seem like he's preaching. I think everybody loved his talk, and lunch afterward was edible. There was an engineering Slip 'n Slide but that wasn't a hugely popular event. Apparently we're having another pub night tonight. Oh, the diversity.

I'm really tired, but I guess I'll just have to deal with it. I'm also a little annoyed because I'm having some trouble straightening out my Coaching level stuff. I'm working on it, and I will be ready to go by next summer. It's just a matter of how much effort I have to put in between now and then. I'm hearing two different stories, and one makes my life a LOT easier. Oh well, we'll see.

the new guy...
Tuesday, August 27, 2002 11:11 a.m.

Our new roommate, Dave, moved in yesterday. Getting his stuff up the elevators was pretty easy, but getting settled took him and his family a little while.

Leigh apparently will be rather busy this year, because the students on her floor like to party a little bit, whereas last year, we weren't sure if there WERE other people on her floor. Oh well, comes with the job, I suppose.

Now that I'm mostly caught up on all the things I missed while I was away, I have to work on some new stuff. Don't ask what that means, because I don't think I know. Either way, I have to leave shortly, to fix Jayne's computer.

Justin is officially out...
Sunday, August 25, 2002 08:10 p.m.

Well, even though he supposedly moved out in May, Justin (the now ex-roommie) has moved all of his stuff out. Well not all of it, but all of it that is actually going. He left a little table for me, and his mother talked him out of taking the nice big chair home. And when I say "talked him out of" I mean she told him he wasn't going to. I felt bad because he really wanted to take it, but she insisted. So I'm now the proud owner of a living room chair.

I caught up on my emailing today. I did a bunch of work on the Trillium Camp Website. Nothing too major, but a lot of little things got taken care of. I wrote some letters I needed to do, I went through a stack of papers, and I cleaned a bit.

Dave, our new roomie, moves in tomorrow. That should be exciting. That's about all I got right now. Perhaps I'll watch a movie tonight. Or some football, I still have to watch last week's Patriots game.

holy cow - it has been a while
Sunday, August 25, 2002 09:46 a.m.

Well well well... It's a week later and here I am again. Although this time, I have nowhere to go for quite some time. And I am completely happy that that is the case.

My second week in Guelph was entertaining, informative, and fun... just like the first one. I got to teach a little more, which I also really enjoyed. I played some guitar, made up some songs, made a lot of people laugh, which is something I like to do.

I managed to really hurt something in my back while golfing (i think it was the golf). After hitting some balls at the driving range, I couldn't bend at the waist for a couple days without some hardcore pain. So I loaded up on the advil, and kept on truckin'.

Josh drove me back to Toronto, but not before driving me two hours out of the way to pick up a mini-fridge in Grimsby. Eventually I made it home, and dumped all my stuff where it still lies today.

Friday night I went to Leigh's and ended up helping decorate her whole floor in residence. And then all day Saturday, we finished decorating. (I took a couple hours in the middle of the day to complete my Off-Campus Peer Supporter Training). By the time the day was over, which was actually REALLY late, the floor looked great, Leigh was sick of nametags, Natalie was sick of cutting paper, and I was sick of paint.

So today, everybody moves in to Rez. This includes Josh, who, when he dropped me off on Friday afternoon with plans of going to a party Friday night, had not even THOUGHT about starting to pack. But that's his problem... not mine.

My problem right now is just getting organized. I have a bit of everything- everywhere, and I need to take care of that. Updates will be more regular from now on, I don't think I'm going anywhere too soon.

Well that was quick!!
Sunday, August 18, 2002 11:22 a.m.

I've been in Toronto less than 48 hours, and it is already time to leave again. In the time I was here, however, I managed to spend a good amount of time with Leigh, get some laundry done, go shopping for some DVDs (I bought "Rudy"), and hit a game-winning grand-slam - or maybe a single - depending on who is scoring the game.

But Josh will be around any minute now to pick me up, and take me back to Guelph for another week of camp. I'm not complaining, because it is a ton of fun and the pay me. I'll be happy to be back, but it is a welcome distraction for now.

I hope you all have a good week, I'll probably write again on Friday. Peace OUT!

Back in town
Friday, August 16, 2002 05:00 p.m.

Well, I didn't have a chance to update this while I was in Guelph, and for that I am truly sorry. But if it matters that much to you what we did each day of CURLING camp, then you should seek psychiatric help. My own mother doesn't care that much.

It's odd that time can go fast and slow at the same time. One minute you think "this is dragging on" and the next you think "wow, its over?" Such was the week at camp.

I got to work with some wonderful people, both campers and staff. We had a lot of fun. We went mini golfing. We curled. We went lawn bowling. The residence where we stayed flooded and soaked a whole bunch of rooms, including mine (but not nearly as bad as some poor girls whose things got drenched. I stayed up late. I got up early. I ate a lot. I'm probably 5 pounds heavier than I was on Sunday.

I have a couple days off now, so I'll hang out with Leigh, and do some laundry. She's gonna be busy, so I'll have to keep myself entertained for a lot of the time. Oh well...

I got my schedule for the fall semester. I have Mondays off, which is cool. The rest of the week is 9-5 or 9-2, depending on the week. Not to bad at all.

Anyway... I have to do some shtuff, so I'll leave it at that for now.

back in the T-Dot
Sunday, August 11, 2002 12:24 a.m.

Well, even though I was in Maitland, the past few days were really fun, relaxing, and all that good stuff. I enjoyed myself immensely.

I golfed for the first time this year, and actually got a par and a few bogeys, which was good enough for me. I visited the grandparents which I don't get to do very often. I hung out with my parents which I don't do as often as I should. I picked up Leigh at the train station and we drove to the Hershey Chocolate Factory in Smiths Falls and loaded up on goodies. I manned the BBQ and we had some wicked steaks. I spent some quality time with some quality people. I went swimming. We went to RIB-FEST. I had a great time...

Leigh and I left on a train around 7:20 and enjoyed our last 45 minutes together. She got off the train at Kingston, and I stayed on all the way back to Toronto. I wasn't here 15 minutes before I was making a list of things about the city that annoy me. I think the suburbs are starting to call me. Every 10 seconds, something new would bug me :Traffic, people, smog, etc... I also waited a good 25 minutes for a bus, and then decided to walk anyway. The walk took 10 minutes.

I'm home, and I leave tomorrow for Guelph, and Trillium Curling Camp. Should be a good time. It usually is. But the entries may be fewer over the next week or so, but I'll make up for it on the weekend.

clean country air
Friday, August 9, 2002 12:44 a.m.

You'll all be happy to know that my throbbing headache was gone by the time I woke up this morning. Although I was still slow to get started, I managed to make my 9:30 train to Brockville on time. Of course, as is the nature of VIA Rail, we were a half hour late getting in... but what can you do?

Mom met me at the station, and took me into the Mait-rix (aka- Maitland) where I had lunch, and chatted with the 'rents before heading out to golf with my dad. I hadn't golfed all year, and it was something I wanted to do while I was here. So we did, and it was no shock that he beat me... although I was proud of my one par, and a few bogeys.

For dinner, we went out to the Farm to visit my grandparents. Living downtown, I had forgotten how quiet the world can be. We sat on their front porch in the sun, surrounded by fields and the complete lack of "white noise" just blew me away... in a good way. I kinda want to go camping now too.

Leigh comes to visit tomorrow, and for this I am very excited. So if I planned it right, by the time I get up and have breakfast, it should be about time to go pick her up. For now though, it is time for bed.

PS- Today I read a whole book. It's called "Catch Me if You Can" and its an autobiography of a con-man who racked up about $2.5 million by passing phony checks. It was extremely entertaining, and I suggest you all read it.

waiting for the advil to kick in...
Wednesday, August 7, 2002 11:32 p.m.

For some unknown reason, I've had the world's worst headache since about 3:00 today. Conviniently, this was right after I had left the apartment so I didn't have any aspirin or anything to drug myself up with. I don't normally get headaches, and less often to I treat them with medication, but my head friggin hurts, and it has for a while now. Well, I'm home, and I have some advil in me, so let's hope it gets better.

In today's more upbeat and exciting news, I went to SkyDome today to watch the Mariners play the Blue Jays. This wasn't an ordinary baseball trip for me, because I was the guest of Rogers Sportsnet and since I was following John Cerutti around for the day, I got to go on the field for batting practice, and get up close with all the players. Of course I didn't say anything at the risk of sounding like a moron, but I was close enough that I could have.

I met a bunch of cool people, who may be good to know later on when I try to get a job. I also met Pat Gillick, who was the GM of the Blue Jays when they won the World Series all those years ago. He was the guy who was responsible for getting Joe Carter, Roberto Alomar, Devon White, and all those other guys who helped us win in '92 and '93. He was a really nice guy, and I actually did talk to him for a minute. I also met Tom and Jerry, the voices of Blue Jays Baseball on the radio. That was pretty cool too.

It went to 10 innings, with several homers and lead changes, and all sorts of excitement... but the wrong guys won. Oh well.

what did we learn today, kids?
Wednesday, August 7, 2002 01:54 a.m.

Well, today, I learned...

Packing for Leigh is more exciting than the nothing I normally do all day.

A good of mine has a somewhat serious medical condition (from the sounds of it) but should be fine after the required surgical procedure (from the sounds of it... keep your fingers crossed).

I'm out of shape, and still not that good at basketball. My shoes suddenly give me blisters, and I can't jump nearly as high as I used to. I think its time to hit the gym (no, seriously, I mean it this time).

Soaking in the hot tub at Justin's place felt really good after sucking at basketball. So did killing him in the few games of pool we played.

I'm getting to be pretty good at pool.

Smokey bars filled with freaky people aren't so bad if you accidently meet up with some friends. (Unfortunately, these people were occupying the reason we were there...Golden Tee Golf... so we didn't get to play).

You don't have to drink at the bar, to stink like the bar. My clothes are all smokey now, and that is just no good.

gotta love the cable TV
Monday, August 5, 2002 12:33 a.m.

Today was uneventful. Unless you count watching TV for several hours and doing a SMALL amount of cleaning...

Because that's about all I did. First of all, the 4th Batman movie was on (Batman and Robin) and I hadn't seen it. Everybody said it was horrible, and I'd always wanted to know just how bad it actually was. And yes, it was horrible.

Then the Breakfast Club came on... at the same time as Kindergarten Cop. Talk about a dilemma! Not to mention tennis and baseball were also on. So my day was filled with difficult decisions.

Sitting around all day really took it out of me. I was in a really BLAH mood, for the afternoon. It might have been because I hadn't really eaten anything all day, or the fact that I hadn't done anything at all. Whatever it was, I felt miserable. I'm better now. (Talking to Leigh made it better, as did a conversation with mom... ahh, the ladies in my life are wonderful people ;)

So that's all I got. Interesting that I can write this much about a day during which nothing happened, but when I'm busy doing things for a week, I have nothing to say. Ponder that one.

done with the tennis...
Saturday, August 3, 2002 10:28 p.m.

"This has been an ESPN production, The Worldwide Leader in Sports. Goodnight everybody, so long from Toronto."

And with that, everybody took off for their hotels and eventually Cincinati, and the next Tennis Masters Series event which is called something like the "Southwest Northern West Side Eastern Insurance Brokers National Masters."

It was fun though, and I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow and hearing from some people who might have some work for me someday.

In other news, Leigh left for Kingston today, so she's gone for a week. By the time she gets back, however, I'll be gone to camp in Guelph, so it will be a short while before I see her again. Unless I go out that way on the weekend... which I may after I see the Jays on Wednesday night. I'll be in the Sportsnet booth, and meeting some people who may be good to know later on.

For now, I'm having a drink, and wondering what I should eat. And I'm also pondering the fact that I desperately need to clean this apartment, and do a truck-load of laundry.

That's all I got for now.

a quick one before i go
Saturday, August 3, 2002 07:35 a.m.

in a few minutes, I'll be leaving the apartment again. I'll head to York University to work on tennis pushing my "hours worked this week" count over 80.

But its not too tough, and the people are nice and today is the last day for us, so I'm not complaining. And I need the money.

I walked right past Mandy Moore last night. I vaguely remember getting a phone call from Jen about a wedding or something, but I was half asleep when she called, so I wasn't quite all there.

its going to be a long week
Tuesday, July 30, 2002 10:57 p.m.

Tennis started yesterday, which means I started work on Sunday, which means it will be another 5 straight 12-14 hours days. Can we all say yee haw?

Besides Andre Agassi backing out at the last minute and Lleyton Hewitt getting beaten after a two hour rain delday, nothing too exciting has happened besides meeting Patrick MacEnroe.

Tomorrow, I go back to the middle of nowhere (York University) for another day of action. Meanwhile, this week sucks.

taking in the pop-culture
Saturday, July 27, 2002 10:21 p.m.

Last night I finished reading the first Lord of the Rings book. Today I started the second Harry Potter book. I got through most of it and only have about 7-10 pages left. For some reason, it is only the Harry Potter books that I can take in so quickly. Reading 200 pages of any other book would usually kill me, but Harry Potter has some sort of power over me (like he's some sort of wizard or something), as does Sports Illustrated (which I read cover to cover yesterday, as well).

I'm a reading machine at least for now.

Tonight, Leigh and I saw the new Austin Powers movie. It was quite funny, although the majority of the laughs came from potty humour or re-hatched bits from other Austin Movies. Although, if you look closely in one scene, the news headline ticker bar at the bottom of the TV screen says "Maple Leafs win Stanley Cup." Ahh, only Mike Myers. Really though, it was funny, and if you like the first two, you should check this one out... oh, and I saw the Lord of the Rings trailer. Looks good.

I'm off to conquer the remaining few pages of "The Chamber of Secrets."

LATERS!

cable television
Friday, July 26, 2002 12:30 a.m.

Today was a landmark in my entertainment world. Not only did I get two DVDs back (which were borrowed long, long, ago) but I made the call, and had CABLE TV hooked up.

Until now, we had been surviving on CBC, CTV, Global, CityTV, CFMT, and the WB. That's good enough for all the regular shows, but I decided that I needed a little more... specifically in the sports department.

So Leigh and I watched The Golden Girls tonight. I never realized how funny that show actually is. I laughed out loud a few times. And I also realized that for a long time, I thought that Betty White was actually Bea Arthur. So now, a whole lot more Bea Arthur jokes make sense.

Tonight, my sister and her husband are crashing here as the first stop on their cross continent drive towards Alberta. They left Maitland today, and plan to visit Minneapolis and Calgary before settling in Canmore, Alberta for a little while.

reese's puffs were still on sale
Thursday, July 25, 2002 10:02 a.m.

We've officially solved our roommate issue. A guy named Dave who is taking journalism at Ryerson is going to take over our empty room when Leigh moves back into Rez. He's from the Hamilton area, and did a year at Carlton already, but really wanted to go to Ryerson, which we all know is the right choice when it comes to journalism.

I spent a good part of the day Wednesday just trying to remember what I had spent $80 on my credit card on. I racked my brain and could not remember. Well, the statement just arrived and it's time to figure it out...

Oh yeah... THAT. I spent some money at Abercrombie when I was in Boston last time. The thing is, I had forgotten that I had even MADE that trip. Oh well, I did, in fact, spend the money.

What else have I done lately. Leigh and I went inline skating around the neighborhood to escape the routine of going on insanely long walks. The city is under attack from the World Youth Day people, but it seems like they're all having fun so I can't complain.

And this is my favourite piece of news today... Apparently, one of the NSYNC guys is going to get launched into space on a Russian ship, and hang out at the international space station. That's just funny...

New Austin Powers comes out tomorrow!

monday night, no football
Monday, July 22, 2002 10:02 p.m.

I got my new passport today... that's exciting. I just wish I had somewhere to go.

And leigh and i saw mr. deeds today and it was wicked funny. check it out. i'm typing one-handed because i'm eating a fudgecicle with the other. forgive the caps, or lack thereof.

i would have written sooner if i had anything to say...
Monday, July 22, 2002 11:59 a.m.

Hey all... Yeah, nothing much going on here. We won our softball games yesterday, one by default, the other because we had more runs. I hit a bomb of a triple, and a single up the middle. I also used one of the lousiest swings ever to pop-up a horrible pitch. But hey.

I've been reading a lot, and have almost finished the first Lord of the Rings book. Last night I watched lightning strike several of Toronto's downtown buildings.

I've decided for about the 100th time in my life that I should read more. So I'm working on it... but for now, I'm trying to figure out what to do tonight.

nothing on tv
Friday, July 19, 2002 09:16 p.m.

I actually did some real work today. It's kinda pathetic that I have to mention that. It really shouldn't be that rare of an occurence, but sadly, it is. Not much else is going on.

Tomorrow, I'm going to study the Patriots all day, so I know my stuff when I go to Boston. But other than that, and a little web design, I have no idea what the future will bring.

food would be great, right about now...
Thursday, July 18, 2002 03:55 p.m.

I finally got to work on the website I'm building, and got word that I'll be working on some tennis at the end of the month. So that's all good news...

In not so good news, I'm hungry. I'll have to do something about that right about now. Nothing else to report...except the weather. Rainy like a MOFO.

hotter than a friggin... hot thing
Wednesday, July 17, 2002 11:34 a.m.

Well it's like the hottest day of the year. Muggy, humid, and just plain hot. Did I mention it was hot? Amazingly enough the un-air-conditioned apartment is not too bad. It's just hot outside.

The unfortunate situation that accompanies this is that they've shut the water off in our building to they can work on the plumbing. So its hot, and we have no water.

Oh the joys of living in the ghetto.

dave's gone...
Tuesday, July 16, 2002 10:29 a.m.

On Saturday, we went out for the third time in as many nights. Leigh, Dave, and I met up with some friends at Merrick's house, had some drinks, toured his apartment building, then went to Madison's.

From there we went to the Duke of York. Eventually everybody had been sufficiently overserved, and we headed home. We got a little crazy, and it was a heck of a lot of fun.

In a related story, Dave drank roughly a gallon of Guiness that night. Eight pints, not bad.

The next two days were a lot of taking it easy. We ordered pizza, watched movies, went out for ice cream, and played video games. We still managed to miss Dave's flight home yesterday, so he was forced to hang out at the airport for a little while. I couldn't even wait with him because he had to go through custom's right away.

That's all I got for now. Time to start the day off right... FRENCH TOAST.

CRAZY
Saturday, July 13, 2002 11:08 a.m.

Yesterday was pretty low key until Dave and I went to the Blue Jays game. After the game we met up with Sean McDonough again, and he brought his friend John Cerutti, who used to pitch for the Jays and now does commentary for CTV. Mike showed up a little later on.

So we all sat around and had a few drinks. Then Sean decided he was going to call Matt Damon. So he did, and they had a little chat. Then the weirdest thing happened.

Dave and I both talked to Matt Damon on the phone.

Then we went to a different bar, played some pool (Dave and I thumped Cerutti and McDonough) and had a few more drinks. All in all it was a very interesting night. Especially when we met the same guys at Burger King the night before.

Tonight we're going out, yet again, but this time it is for a friend's birthday.

You're from Scotland?
Friday, July 12, 2002 01:25 p.m.

Dave arrived yesterday from Albany. I met him at the airport and we caught up as we took the hella-long TTC ride back to the ghetto where I live. We went for a little walk around the city, then we hung around until after the baseball game was done.

Once the game was over, we got a call from Sean McDonough, the Boston guy who hooked me up with the internship, and we headed down to Wayne Gretzky's Restaurant to meet him have a few drinks. We had a few there, then Dennis met us and we had a few more. We then switched bars, and had a few more. We were all in good spirits by the time the night was over...

Dave and I stopped at Burger King as we walked home, and argued basketball and hockey with the other inebriated customers. We got in around 3am, and promptly fell asleep.

Today, we got a late start and we still haven't done anything. We're going to the Jays game tonight, but other than that, nothing is on the sched.

so i'm a little lazy...
Wednesday, July 10, 2002 10:41 p.m.

I'm managing to muster up enough energy to write this thing, although for some unknown reason, I'm really tired, and fading fast. We went to Oshawa today to visit Natalie, and because it was something to do. We've decided that we've done a lot of sitting around and watching TV and that there are more exciting things in life (What's the most pathetic thing about it is that Buffalo and Oshawa ADD excitement to our lives).

Unfortunately, some of these things cost money and now, I'm feeling a little poor. Oh well, I'll make it, I'm sure.

Brian and Leigh's Excellent Adventure
Tuesday, July 9, 2002 08:09 p.m.

Hey all. This is Leigh. I rarely agree to be involved in this little page, however Brian is being the ultimate in a lazy boyfriend and making me write it.

We've had a crazy few days. Brian decided to finally give up on the "job that never was". YAHOOO!!! One "slightly nasty but to the point" letter later, he's done with them. There may be more news on this and it might be juicy so keep reading.

In other news, today we went to Buffalo to find me a swimsuit. Good thing that Brian likes shopping, because man, did I drag him places. Not without him buying a few things for himself mind you, so it wasn't a totally gut wrenching process for him. We rented a Sebring, did some long driving back and forth and even drove around Toronto for a bit. All in all, it was a great break from the monotony.

So this has been my entry. Hope you enjoyed it. It was short and sweet but some people tell me that describes me well. (oh and did I say I was modest too?)

ciao all! Until we meet again.

inner turmoil or something
Saturday, July 6, 2002 10:55 p.m.

Now that half of my stress is gone (having nailed down the internship), I can now spend all my time focusing on the other half... starting the job that was supposed to start a month ago. This is becoming really frustrating, and I don't know what I should do. I'm gonna need some money, and I'm going to need something to do... but I don't know exactly what is going on.

Leigh and I went out with Chris and Jen tonight. We headed down to the Beaches, and walked around for a bit and had some dinner. It was good to see them because so many of our evenings are spent at home in front of the TV.

Tomorrow morning, it's back out to the softball field for a couple games. Hopefully I can raise my average from the piddly .520 it currently is (and I say that with all seriousness).

Dave comes next week, and for this I am very excited.

read the SUN
Saturday, July 6, 2002 12:01 p.m.

Everybody read the Toronto Sun this weekend. Especially all the Molson Indy stories, and specifically the ones by Mike Koreen. He got his first head-shot in the paper yesterday and a bunch of guys got together to celebrate... either that or it was his birthday. But the head-shot was talked about more.

So I finally saw the inside of Joe Badali's, only to walk right out the door to the patio. About 10 guys from Ryerson Journalism eventually showed up and had some drinks, and talked about sports for the mostpart. Then we went to "My Apartment" but I could only stand it for an hour. Watching other guys trying to pick-up girls is only funny for so long, especially when they don't do anything about it. So I walked home around 12:30. I did, however, see a friend at the bar, whom I haven't seen in a while. That was cool.

Tonight should be a movie night. I think its time to break out the BLOCKBUSTER card, yet again. Leigh and I have a list of movies we haven't seen, so we're scratching them off one at a time.

a little catching up
Friday, July 5, 2002 12:09 a.m.

Well, it has been a few days since we heard from me because I was out of town for a bit. I was sitting by a pool, or swimming in the pool, or sitting in the boat floating in the pool, for most of the time, but for all of the time, I was in Kingston with Leigh.

So now, I'm tanned to a nice golden brown and my belly is full of food and drink.

As usual... VIA was its usual TARDY self. We got in an hour late tonight. I think we get a free ticket though.

And in a LOAD OFF MY BACK story... I can officially say that I will be interning at Fox25 in Boston this fall. I got the call, and am really excited to have it nailed down... even though it was kinda supposed to be arranged a week or two ago.

But that is done. And that is GOOD NEWS!!

HAPPY CANADA DAY
Monday, July 1, 2002 11:19 a.m.

Well for those of you who don't know (meaning my friends in the United States), today is Canada's 135th birthday. Yes, way back in 1867, we decided that we could probably be our own country. So we did...

Today we celebrate by walking over the piles of garbage that our city workers have left there because they are on strike. And because yesterday was the Gay Pride Parade, Yonge Street had about 1000 times more human traffic than usual (and it is a lot to begin with) so there's piles and piles of garbage, water bottles, confetti, and whatever else the mostly naked men were throwing from their parade floats.

Today, like yesterday, is very hot and muggy, so we should be experiencing some great smells in the near future.

But in the meantime, we're going to barbecue and watch fireworks and all that good stuff. Happy Birthday Canada, and if it happens to be your birthday today, then happy birthday to you too.

time after time...
Saturday, June 29, 2002 03:07 p.m.

of course, as soon as i decide i want to work at blockbuster, they aren't hiring anymore. what the biff?

it's really hot here today. a little muggy. i got some pictures back and was blown away how old some of them were. there was one from my first day of school in september. there were some from my party in december, my trip to boston in january, my trip to boston last week, and the few i took with leigh to kill off the rest of the film. but that september one blew me away...

i'm trying to think of something clever to write. it's not working. so i'll borrow a line of magnetic poetry that is currently up on our fridge:

I'm not going to tell you who wrote it.

In a completely unrelated story... I flooded the kitchen today when I forgot the water was running, and went and hung out in my room for a while.

today was hot...
Friday, June 28, 2002 10:31 p.m.

After a useless "job" interview, I walked around with Leigh for most of the day and did some shopping. "Job" is subject to interpretation because they didn't want to pay me and failed to mention that before I rearranged my week to make it to their office for 10 minutes.

Leigh and I went to a party at her friend's house and had a good time joking with eachother. There were some interesting characters there.

Today, we sat in the sun, went for a swim in the scary apartment pool and went for a walk. I'm trying to figure out the next thing to do with my summer and I'm at the point where I'm just going to apply at Blockbuster, or the mall. I'm at both every other day, so I might as well be paid for it.

I have to dig myself out of a hole ;)

Headlines for the past couple days
Wednesday, June 26, 2002 10:14 p.m.

STUDENT DRIVES NEARLY 1,000 MILES: "I'm sick of the van," he says.

ANDY DELCID'S THEME OF THE DAY GOES FROM "DEATH BY A MILLION LITTLE CUTS" TO "THE SHIMMERING WATER LOOKS NICE AGAINST THE WILLOWS"

BRIAN HANGS OUT AT A HARVARD BAR

LIGHTNING STORM ENTERTAINS BRIAN AS HE DRIVES ACROSS MASSACHUSETTS

BRIAN LEAVES AMHERST AT 10:30pm AND DRIVES TO CANADA

ANGRY DRIVER VOWS TO KILL SOMEONE IF HE HEARS THAT "COMPLICATED" SONG ONE MORE TIME

STUDENT ARRIVES HOME AT 3:30am, DOORS LOCKED, SLEEPS IN CAR FOR 5 HOURS

IF YOU ASK FOR THE MONEY AND THEY DON'T WANT TO GIVE IT TO YOU, THAT'S BASICALY A BOUNCE.

another post ripped off from an email...
Tuesday, June 25, 2002 12:40 a.m.

I figured I'd let you all know that I made it down to Boston okay, and without much excitement. The drive was warm, but there was nothing to crazy to speak of.

It turns out that I interviewed today instead of tomorrow like I thought I would. It turned out that tomorrow wasn't going to be a good day for them, so I went down today and had a really good talk, and I think that everything will work out there, and i should know in a few days.

Now I'm at Andy's apartment, and am almost ready to pass out. It was a long day, and I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow, except shop for all the things I promised you...

I'm going to bed.
g'night

love, Brian

Cherries? We said 7s!!
Sunday, June 23, 2002 11:44 p.m.

I played softball this morning, and won both of my games. I was 0-3 in the first game and 3-3 in the second, and hit all 6 balls in roughly the same spot.

I packed some stuff, and hopped on a train to sunny Brock-Vegas, and mom met me at the station. We drove to the Mait-Rix (Maitland).

So I'm here for the night, and then am driving to Boston in the morning. Should be a good time. I almost talked Dennis into coming with me. Leigh, sadly, is working so she couldn't make the trek either. But I'll be back in T.O. soon enough. Hopefully it won't have been eaten by a giant SMOG cloud.

Details...
Sunday, June 23, 2002 07:42 a.m.

After 3 incredibly exciting *cough* hours of TV at the NHL draft, we packed it up and took off. It was interesting for the first 10-15 minutes, but got really repetative and reallly old.

Anyway, I play softball this morning, and leave for my Boston trip tonight. I have a headache now though...

too darn early...
Saturday, June 22, 2002 07:09 a.m.

A pathetic sign I'm getting old: I go out with friends for a couple hours, have ONE drink, get home around midnight, and go right to bed. Now, this morning, everything I do seems like a Herculean task, whether its having a shower or getting dressed.

I hurt because I only got 7 hours of sleep, and lately I've been getting like 10 or 11. It's NHL draft day, everybody watch on TSN or ESPN (It might be ESPN2). Look for me in the background.

I worked today!!
Friday, June 21, 2002 05:18 p.m.

I actually got up, and went to work. Although its not the job I have been waiting to start, it is work nonetheless. The NHL Draft starts tomorrow, so I'll be working for ESPN. I even got a press pass with my picture on it! Fun stuff.

I just decided I'm going to Boston early next week, so I can interview with the internship people. Hopefully, I can make them like me.

That's all I got for now.

Crappines PART 2...
Thursday, June 20, 2002 03:08 p.m.

Well it looks like I'll be doing a little more sitting around because the job I have (hosting a TV show for all of you who don't know yet) is having some delays, and so I don't know when I'm actually going to get started. So for now I'm looking for something part-time to keep me busy and get me a bit of money.

It's a beautiful day though, and I just sat on the "beach" for about 15 minutes before I overheated.

I think I'm going to go to Boston while I still can, and get this interview out of the way before i get too too busy...which could be quite a ways off from the sounds of things.

Oh well, I have an interview on Thursday and we'll see if that will give me something fun to do. Tonight, I take care of passport stuff!

bad news on the internship front...
Wednesday, June 19, 2002 10:11 p.m.

I finally got a call back from Boston today, and unfortunately, it was NOT what I wanted to hear. It's not completely bad news, but it means I'm going to have to work my butt off in the next few days to figure something out.

In other news, I spent a lovely day with Leigh on the "beach" (aka "the balcony") and we both got quite a bit of sun. Leigh had been craving some quality outdoor time because she's "cooped up in her good for nothing job" (That's a direct quote).

We're both wishing she had more days off.

Boy, it was a day at the beach...
Wednesday, June 19, 2002 09:50 a.m.

The fish died today. It was about time for that to happen. You could tell he was getting pretty ill. I'm not sure what we did wrong. We fed him, and we changed his water, and he died. I don't know... I just don't know...

Yesterday was a day at the beach though. We sat on the balcony, which has earned the name "Wellesley Beach." I made pancakes for breakfast, and they rocked. We went for a nice long walk in the afternoon and got icecream. And we watched some TV, and went to bed.

i'm a superstar...
Monday, June 17, 2002 02:34 p.m.

Yes, yes. I'm an international recording sensation. No seriously. A song I wrote and performed was played at a club in Minneapolis last night. It's called "Goth Kid" and really it just makes fun of the whole Goth Scene. Anyway, I recorded it, and sent it to my brother a long time ago, and apparently he got it played at some goth club at closing.

And now, for the first time in my life, I'm drinking ORANGINA!

my new thing...
Monday, June 17, 2002 12:00 a.m.

Just for kicks... from now on... little things like this are going to appear every now and then.

THE TELEMARKETER WHO GOT ME OUT OF BED THIS MORNING AND EXPECTED ME TO CHEERFULLY ANSWER ALL HIS STUPID QUESTIONS ABOUT PRODUCTS I USE, EVEN WITH THE ASSURANCE THAT HE WAS NOT TRYING TO SELL ME ANYTHING...

I told him I didn't want to take a friggin survey, and that I didn't want to answer his questions, and told him not to call back. Who tries to do market research at 9:30am on Father's Day? Man, that annoyed me.

why don't you and the laser get a friggin room?

Happy Father's Day...
Sunday, June 16, 2002 11:06 p.m.

Well I hope you all sent a card, or at least called. And if you've forgotten you still have about an hour before it is no longer Father's Day.

I sent a card, AND I gave dad a call today. We had a nice little chat about how little I've been doing. Good times.

I also went on a shopping spree and bought a few DVDs, and think I might have figured out the mystery that is my player. It's like a car in the winter... it may not run so well as soon as you turn it on, but if its warm, then you won't notice any problems.

Best deal of the day was the Pearl Harbor 2-disc set, for $9.99. Not too shabby. I also rented Chasing Amy, which was the only Kevin Smith movie I had not seen. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

and the days go by...
Sunday, June 16, 2002 12:24 a.m.

Actually the entry I was going to write this morning wasn't going to be about my computer crashing. It was supposed to be about how I've aged. I know I've aged because I got passport photos taken yesterday, and I compared them my passport photo from when I was 14, and what do you know! I look older.

If you don't believe me, see for yourself.

Those are both me, 7 years apart.

Kinda neat, eh?

holy cow!
Saturday, June 15, 2002 06:18 p.m.

Well, I was going to write this entry like 6 hours ago, but suddenly my computer decided to spaz out and not work. So I did as much as I could, backed up some files, then reformatted, and started from scratch.

So with out losing too much data, I'm reinstalling everything, and the machine as a whole, seems to be running a lot faster. Not all bad!!

consumer reports
Friday, June 14, 2002 10:45 p.m.

Instead of writing a regular entry tonight, I'm going to do a couple reviews of things that I came across this evening.

The Banquet Burger at the PICKLE BARREL: Not only did it come with a miserable helping of fries, the burger was ultra-greasy and not nearly up to reasonable standards. Not anywhere close to the best burger I've had lately. In fact, not even up to the low low standards that students have come to adjust to. This was a really crappy burger... and it sat like a fatty rock in my stomach afterwards.

My APEX DVD PLAYER: This machine never fails to baffle me. After playing a DVD fine the first time, it will have issues with it the 2nd time through. Sometimes it works without a hitch, and sometimes it won't even recognize a brand new DVD. For all of you in the market for a DVD player, I'd steer clear of the APEX brand. It's a little quirky.

But somehow between the bad burger, and the botched movie, I still managed to enjoy my evening... Call it a customer feedback night.

---NEW DESIGN---
Friday, June 14, 2002 02:00 p.m.

I spent the last couple hours redoing the look of this site, and after making a lot of tweaks and debugs, I think I am finally happy with it. Perhaps next I'll overhaul my whole site. It would be a fair amount of work, but at this point, I think I'd like that.

how long will we sing this song...
Friday, June 14, 2002 10:05 a.m.

Well, Detroit won the Cup. L.A. won the NBA Finals. Tiger is winning the U.S. Open. Everything is as it should be. The best teams are winning. I'm talking about sports today, because otherwise it will just be another rant about how bored I am.

Who's watching the World Cup? What's going on there? Portugal- OUT. Argentina- OUT. France- OUT. Leaving Brazil and England as my favourites. Italia squeeked through to the 2nd round, but I hope they don't win anymore. Their fans are obnoxious. I'm happy to see Korea get through, because its a big deal for them, you know?

In other news, I found the Deleted Scenes on the Harry Potter DVD. Those of you with the DVD know what a friggin ordeal it is. The whole disc is arranged like a little game, so you can't see all the things you want without playing. Although they don't really tell you how to play. So you have to figure it out.

I later learned on the web that there was an easier way to do it (yet just as hidden) and that everybody else was just as annoyed with the whole process. Oh well, it gave me a pitiful sense of accomplishment for the day.

Oh yeah... I helped my good friend Andy get his pitas.com site up and running, so if you're reading this and are bored with me (I certainly am), you might want to check out Andy's new page called The DELIFIED EQUATION.

..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..:..

I think it may have inspired me to redo the look of this page... yeah, it did.

the nothingness continues...
Thursday, June 13, 2002 11:13 a.m.

It won't be as bad as the last couple days because I have some things to do, and Leigh is around. But it looks to be another uneventful day in the life of Brian.

Yesterday, I got my passport application, and a Father's Day card. Met Leigh at the train station. Ran some errands. Woo hoo. I don't know how you people keep up.

look at me, mr. heathy!!
Tuesday, June 11, 2002 10:42 p.m.

Today I went for a run. A run, you say? Yes, believe it or not, Mr. Lazy got off of his bum and went for a jog. How about that? I'm still out of shape, but not as bad as I thought I would be. So I guess that is good news.

I also just ate fruit... on purpose. I didn't eat anything fast food today, no pizza, nothing fried. How about that? I suppose that's what happens when you don't leave the apartment all day. You eat what you got.

Although today was pretty productive. I got 3 more Golden Balloons on Diddy Kong Racing for Nintendo 64. And I am a little closer to finalizing my Boston internship. And I made a movie on my computer. Trust me, you don't want to see it.

I think I'll watch some Simpsons then go to bed.

I have to watch what I say...
Monday, June 10, 2002 11:03 p.m.

Well, from now on I have to assume that the CEO of McDonald's reads this. Don't ask, it's a long story. It should be worth it though, if everything works out the way it should. I can say that my job hunt is officially over, although my boredom is not. I'll start working in the next few weeks, but the exact date is still up in the air.

In other news, I STILL haven't heard from Boston lady, and it is really starting to bother me because my deadline is looming closer and closer. So I'll call her tomorrow... for like the 30th time, and pray that she's made the 30 second phone call that she said she would make a few years ago. Years? I meant weeks... but whatever.

I'm sleepy, which is ridiculous.

I did it... again...
Monday, June 10, 2002 09:06 a.m.

THIS ENTRY WAS ARCHIVED BY ACCIDENT... SO YOU WILL SEE IT HERE, AND IN THE ARCHIVE UNDER "10-06-02" OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. EVERYTHING THAT WAS HERE IS LISTED UNDER "THROUGH JUNE 9"

After saying I was going to do it MONTHS ago, I finally archived this bugger so it isn't 200 entries long. Don't worry, they're all still here, you just have to click on the "archives, the less old updates" link to the left there. So there, now you can stop complaining that it takes forever to load. I'm probably going to archive a little more frequently now that I know how to do it.

In other news, I haven't been sleeping well lately. I think its the jugs of coca-cola I drink in the hours before bedtime that are screwing me up. Either that or the dork who calls at 3am and doesn't leave a message, or show up on caller ID so I can't track them down and beat them up. Or it might have been the loud cheering that woke me up around 4am when I assume somebody scored in a World Cup game, some people in my apartment building were having a party about it.

Because of this, I haven't been able to get up early and go running like I plan. I will someday though.

Our softball team won both our games yesterday. I went 5 for 7 with a homer (first of the year). Leigh and I went for a walk, picked up some Slurpees at 7-11, then came back and popped on the Harry Potter DVD. A good time was had by all.

And it's Monday. I'm very excited about this.