back to being bored...
Saturday, June 8, 2002 10:23 a.m.

Unfortunately, Leigh only ever gets two days off in a row. So the last two days were really fun. We just hung out a lot, saw some movies (Sum of All Fears was really good, Slackers wasn't), and so on. It was a good time. Now she's back at work...

So now, it Saturday. I'm going to do some errands, I'm going to sit in the sun, and I'm going to see Barenaked Ladies play tonight. Monday, I have a meeting.

yesterday i saw all sorts of things...
Thursday, June 6, 2002 10:06 a.m.

To escape the apartment, I went for a little walk downtown. I picked up a paycheque at work, I walked around on Yonge Street for a while, and met Leigh at work and walked home with her.

On the way though, I saw a car that was insanely on fire. Smoke pouring out from the hood, out the door, and drips of fire falling out the bottom of the car (yes...DRIPS OF FIRE, it was like magma). So then the fire department came and hosed it down, making an awful lot more smoke, and spreading the smell a couple blocks either way.

I also saw Armand Assante eating in Leigh's restaurant. He's been in a bunch of stuff including the NBC version of the Odyssey. So Leigh and I left there, got some smoothies at our new favourite place (papaya hut) and complained about how hot and muggy it was.

Later, we made it a Blockbuster night and got a really bad movie called Good Advice. I mean, Denise Richards was in it. Need I say more? I also bought the Harry Potter DVD.

if only i had wanted the job...
Tuesday, June 4, 2002 11:09 p.m.

I would have been pretty upset this morning had I really wanted the job I was supposed to interview for. But because I have something else lined up (Finally), and because i didn't really want to go anyway, it wasn't a big deal that I slept in two and a half hours later than i meant to, and missed any chance of making it to the interview on time. So I called and said I wasn't coming in.

Then I proceeded to do NOTHING AT ALL for the rest of the day.

I can't wait until next week, when I have something to do.

not a bad weekend...
Monday, June 3, 2002 09:50 a.m.

I am red like a lobster. Too much sun.

I played three softball games yesterday (and won them all) but the extra hours in the sun proved to be too much for my fragile little body, so much of me looks a little fried.

We returned the movie to blockbuster, grabbed some dinner, then watched some TV. A nice relaxing night.

That was a good thing... because my legs were so tired after running around all day, it was ridiculous. I'm so out of shape, when I'm supposed to be young and limber, that's just funny.

Anyway, I just got a pretty cool phone call about a job, and I'll let you know more when I can.

mulholland WHAT?
Saturday, June 1, 2002 10:46 p.m.

Today I sat in the sun for a while. Now I'm toasty and pink. I read a bit of my book, did the dishes, cleaned the bathroom, watched some world cup. In other words, it was roughly like every other day this week.

Leigh and I rented "Mulholland Drive" which is a head-scratcher to say the least. It was more of a what the *#@! is going on? kinda film. It was interesting, yet extremely hard to follow, so much in fact, that I still have no idea what went on. So if you like the choppy, bits of story here and there, flashbacks, identity switches, no sense by the end of it all films, check this one out.

ow..
Friday, May 31, 2002 11:16 a.m.

Well, I didn't end up getting that call from Boston yet, so I'm at home for the weekend. I was trying to roll over and get out of bed this morning and ended up smacking my head on my dresser. Yeah, I know, I'm a pretty smart guy.

So now, I have a bump, and a little headache. But I'll get through it all somehow.

episode 2- attack of the clones
Thursday, May 30, 2002 11:19 p.m.

Well I slept in, cleaned my room, had dinner out with Chris and Leigh, saw Star Wars 2, and liked it.

Thus went my day.

i have no idea what is going on...
Wednesday, May 29, 2002 11:20 a.m.

I'm waiting on a call from Boston.

I'm waiting on a call from a job.

I'm waiting on information for another job.

...and another job, now that I think of it.

Leafs lost in overtime last night, which was a heartbreaker. Tough series, tough loss, tough way to end the season. But then again, if you only score one goal a game, you're not going to win too many.

After the game, I went out the the ESPN crew and had some drinks. They are a fun bunch of people, and I've made some good contacts. Hopefully, at some point, one of them will come in useful. I got in shortly after 3am ;)

I may be leaving for Boston tonight if I ever hear from the lady. I'll give her until early afternoon, and then call her. I bugged her yesterday twice, but that's because she didn't call me back like she said she would... either time.

i was up before 10:00 today!!
Monday, May 27, 2002 10:19 a.m.

Last night I went to see the Pet Shop Boys with Leigh. Not exactly my favourite group, but I liked it. Leigh loves them, which is kinda why we went.

It was at Massey Hall, which I hadn't been to before. It looks more like a theatre where you'd see a play, than where you would go to see a concert. It was smaller than I expected, and actually looked pretty run down in parts. We had pretty good seats though, in the front row of the balcony and not far from the stage. I sang a long to the song and a half that I knew, and enjoyed the rest. For the record, U2's "Where the Streets Have no Name" is about 50 times better live, than that of the Pet Shop Boys. Not to take anything away from them, U2 is just that good. And it's their song.

Then I started thinking about how many concerts I had been to, and who I had seen. So here's the best list I could come up with.

Fred Penner
What's left of the Mamas and the Papas
Aerosmith
Jars of Clay
Barenaked Ladies (Mixfest 97)
Lisa Loeb
Barenaked Ladies (Stunt Release Show, Boston)
Blues Traveler
Paula Cole
Ben Harper (HORDE)
Barenaked Ladies (Horde Tour)
Barenaked Ladies (Mixfest 98)
Edwin McCain
Sister Hazel
The Corrs
Barenaked Ladies (FleetCenter, Boston)
Barenaked Ladies (Tweeter Center, near Boston)
Ben Harper (Toronto)
Tal Bachman
Barenaked Ladies (Worcester Centrum)
Fastball
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
Some of the Collective Soul guys
Barenaked Ladies (Toronto City Hall)
U2
Pet Shop Boys

The three bold ones are the three best concerts I've ever been to. Go figure, they're the ones I actually paid to see... I've also seen David Copperfield, but I don't think he counts as a concert. And I think I saw Don McLean sing half of American Pie at one point, but I don't think that counts either.

So back to today. I'm up before noon, and have a list of things to do. Now is the time to do them.

good to be done...
Sunday, May 26, 2002 02:17 p.m.

I am now officially certified in level 1 coaching theory. i'm sure you're all as excited as I am, and trust me, I appreciate it. That's what I did all day yesterday, and again early this morning. But it's done, and it feels good to have completed something that I've put off for so long.

In other news, the Leafs won last night. I don't mean to make this thing the Leafs daily report, but sadly, this is what my life has been reduced to... Just waiting to see if there is a game 6. And there will be, and I will be working.

In other news yet, I have an interview for an actual journalism related job this week. I've been short listed after my original tape, and application, so this is good news. Good things are starting to happen. Then again, I don't want to count on things before they happen, because they might not happen.

It's a beautiful sunny day, perfect for sitting around. And here I go...

what the biffity biff was that?
Thursday, May 23, 2002 11:27 p.m.

Well the Leafs just got hammered 3-0. They haven't won since Sundin, Tucker, and all those other injured guys came back. The game tonight was boring and slow, and the Leafs couldn't put the puck in the net, no matter how hard they tried.

In other news, I worked two hours yesterday, and got to bill them for a whole day thus earning myself the highest hourly rate I've ever earned.

In other news still, I worked at the Hummingbird Centre last night doing catering stuff, and ended up eating very well, getting paid pretty well, and finishing off the champagne and strawberries that were left over.

Leigh and I got to catch some of the 2nd act of "Riverdance" but left after about 10 minutes because it was corny, boring, and plain unimpressive in parts.

I made some internship progress and will likely be going to Boston next week to nail some things down. That's about all I got for now...

do you want the bad news first?
Tuesday, May 21, 2002 11:36 p.m.

Leafs lost in overtime...AGAIN. My hero Mogilny is injured. And because of a stupid commitment, I can't play hockey on the Air Canada Centre ice tomorrow.

The good news is I had some company at my job today which made everything more bearable, I get to work a short day tomorrow, which also means some bonus cash, and I got a free Leafs T-shirt, like I needed it.

Dennis turned up alive, which is great news. And I might could maybe have possibly found a possible roommate for the fall... maybe.

Oh, and Curtis Joseph talked to me today.

today... the dorks won
Sunday, May 19, 2002 11:49 p.m.

Carolina beat the Leafs in overtime, which sucks.

Stupid girl won Survivor, which also sucks.

I actually have to work this week. Which is good.

I haven't seen Dennis in a week. I don't know what happened to him. Should I worry yet?

again, not much to report
Sunday, May 19, 2002 11:39 a.m.

I made it back to Toronto last night. As usual, there is still no official job, but I will be working four days this week. 3 at the ACC, and one at the Hummingbird Centre for a catering gig. The money will be good, if I ever get paid.

Today is a clean up, shopping, errand day. Although I don't know how many errands I have to do.

Leigh and I watched a French movie last night, which wasn't that good. A lot happened, but never ended up making that much sense. Interesting, but not that great. It was called "Happenstance."

Good to be back in Toronto.

didn't do much on this one..
Friday, May 17, 2002 12:28 a.m.

Leafs won 2-1 IN Carolina!!

Mom made some WICKED cookies.

G'Day Mait...land
Wednesday, May 15, 2002 11:39 p.m.

I decided kinda last minute that I would come and visit my parents for a couple days. So after grabbing some ice cream and sitting in the sun for a bit, Leigh and I got on a train at Union Station and headed east. She got off in Kingston and I kept going towards Brock-Vegas.

Dad met me at the train station in Brockville, and we came back and watched a bit of TV. Now they're in bed, and I'm watching hockey and half looking for a job. So I'm in Maitland if any body is looking for me.

i've been saying it for years.... well, A year.
Tuesday, May 14, 2002 11:55 p.m.

Alex Mogilny is dangerous. I've said it 100 times. And who runs the dagger through the heart of the Ottawa Senators? None other that Mr. Dangerous himself: Alex Mogilny.

But enough about how RIGHT i am...

I'd like to thank the Leafs for winning Game 7 and advancing to the Eastern Final Series, and guaranteeing me a couple more games. I, of course, am still lacking a full time summer job, and enjoy getting paid to go to as many Leafs games as I can. I also signed on today for two more days at the ACC for the NHL Draft in late June. (which will take place shortly after the Leafs win the Cup)

Cool happenings today... I saw Barenaked Ladies again. I got a free Leafs T-Shirt and a couple of flags. I got to go on the ice at the end of the game and look up to 20,000 creaming fans... who could not have cared less if I was there or not.

Regardless, good things are happening. Still no job. And still no internship. Who cares?

it's late, and i'm a big jerk
Tuesday, May 14, 2002 01:16 a.m.

I just had a long talk with my sister about her life, and what she's up to lately. I had to point out some things that have me (and some other people) concerned. She's not a bad person, by any means. She's actually really nice, healthy, and intelligent. The problem is that she's at a transition stage in her life, and she's not taking the road that most of us (family, friends) would like to see her take.

On one hand, I completely respect her for it. Standing up against all the people you care about is a friggin hard thing to do. Well, it can be... but when you're convinced that you're right, and they aren't, it's a little easier. Being stubborn certainly runs in my family.

On ther other hand, she's acting very differently, and doesn't seem to be very happy, or on her way to being too happy. That's all I want to see, but I don't know how she's supposed to do it, with things being how they are.

So we had a long talk, and I told her how I felt. And how some people (myself included) were worried about her, and have noticed some changes. This, compounded with the stress from a new job, and the bad day she was already having, made her really sad, and probably made her cry. It was on ICQ, I couldn't see.

But really, I feel like a jerk. She's just trying to live her life, take some chances, do things her way, and nobody will let her. She's changing a bit, but that happens to everybody, doesn't it? Yeah, I'm worried about her and I tried to be really nice about it, but I didn't want to hurt her, and I know I did.

I'm going to bed, and I'm sad for all of this...

i had the jersey on all day...
Sunday, May 12, 2002 10:25 p.m.

Leafs won 4-3 in Ottawa. Game 7 is here on Tuesday, and I'm working. Happy Mother's Day. I'm a freak.

ahh saturday...
Saturday, May 11, 2002 11:06 p.m.

Saturday, the weekend, rest days...

Wouldn't it be funny if it actually made any difference to me what day it was? I mean, come on, I haven't done anything in weeks!! Yeah, I know I shouldn't be too proud of that, and I should also realize that the bank account isn't going to grow by itself, but I'm trying. I even have another confident lead.

A buddy of mine from curling (Mark) works for CIBC, and is trying to get me in there doing some database stuff, which is boring, mindless work. But if you do it for a bank, I'm pretty sure they'll pay you well for it. He's going to be my boss, which would be kinda funny. He just has to have me approved by his boss. There's always the other interview on Monday.

Leigh and I went to Randy's for a barbecue tonight. It was super good. Randy is a BBQ-man extrordinaire. The steak was amazing, and he even let me take some home in my pocket.

I just read that Star Wars Episode 2 is already out on the internet. I'm going to try to find it just for kicks, and so I can say I was one of the million who saw it before it came out in theatres. I'll keep you posted.

grades...
Saturday, May 11, 2002 12:27 a.m.

Well I passed everything with flying colours, so I am officially a fourth year student. A senior, if you will. Two classes have me scratching my head... One should have been a little higher, and the other should have been a hell of a lot, lower. So we'll pretend they balance out, and move on.

Leafs lost a heartbreaker. Ottawa got lucky that the ref was blind. Oh well, it pays the bills, at least some of them. Praying for a game 7, but not relying on it.

And I actually have some potential job stuff lined up!! I just have to talk to a few people...

this is just funny..
Wednesday, May 8, 2002 01:04 p.m.

I did the exact same things for English, two semesters in a row. I didn't read the books, I didn't go to class, and I wrote reader responses based on little things I found on the internet. First semester, she was not impressed and it was reflected in the grade. Second semester (by doing the exact same thing), I get an A, and a "much improved" kinda comment. What's that all about?

In other news, my income tax refund came today ;) If only I could spend it.

i've gone and forgotten...
Tuesday, May 7, 2002 11:24 p.m.

I had something meaningful to say. It must have been great if I was going to tell all of you, but right now it has slipped my mind. I interviewed at the Keg today, which should lead to absolutely nothing because they aren't really hiring.

I finally got the Nintendo64 I was promised YEARS ago...

But there was something more profound to share, oh well, its gone.

ROCK ON!!!
Tuesday, May 7, 2002 12:26 p.m.

Reese's Puffs are on sale for $2.77 a box!! That's a wicked deal for a great cereal!!

Do you think...
Monday, May 6, 2002 01:22 p.m.

So you suppose that if I sit around long enough a job will find me? I've sent out a bunch of resumes and stopped in at a lot of places, and now I'm just waiting for someone to call back.

I'm sure that's going to happen today...psshright.

So instead I'm gonna head out shortly to look for a job, because I don't know how much longer the Leafs are going to be in the playoffs.

And, looking at the bigger picture, I still don't have an internship lined up for the fall either. So I'm just on a roll!!

thank god for gary roberts...
Sunday, May 5, 2002 01:27 a.m.

That game would have gone on forever...

The Leafs just won in Triple Overtime, and I spent most of the day running the usual errands. I worked a 15 hour day, so I think it's almost time for bed. However, the Leafs (by winning tonight) forced at least a Game 5, which means I have at least one more game at the ACC.

Tomorrow, I get to sleep in!! But when I wake up, laundry will still be waiting.

I have to figure out how to get to Ottawa.

oh... i don't know
Friday, May 3, 2002 11:44 a.m.

I still don't have a real job, but the Leafs still have a few more games, so hopefully they can pull off another round. Although if they keep playing like they did last night, tomorrow will be my last chance.

I spent Wednesday dropping of resumes and running errands and stuff, and I spent Thursday at the ACC watching the Leafs get killed. The only bonus for the day was the fact that I got to drive a Lincoln Navigator around all day. That is one BEAST of a car...

My apartment is as clean as I've ever seen it, thanks to Leigh who has been cleaning like a crazy woman. I'm not complaining, except things are a lot brighter than they used to be.

if only it didn't start at 7:30 am...
Wednesday, May 1, 2002 12:06 a.m.

Despite a really really painfully early start, I ended up having a pretty good day at the ACC for Game 7 of the Eastern Quarterfinal Playoff Series between the Leafs and the Islanders.

Here's the cool stuff that happened today:

1. I got to drive a brand new Ford Explorer, which reminded me how much I like driving big-truckish kinda cars/SUVs.
2. I talked to Leaf's Defenceman Thomas Kaberle (and by talk, I mean we said hi, and continued walking opposite ways).
3. I talked to Don Cherry and Ron Maclean (with roughly the same definition of "talk" but I asked Don how we was and he gave me an enthusiastic "alright!!")
4. I shook hands with and talked with every member of Barenaked Ladies, who were on hand to sing the national anthems. After, I had a REAL conversation with Ed Roberston, lead singer/guitarist. I was such a dorky fan...
5. Leafs won!!! What did I tell you about Mogilny?! I've been saying it for 2 years!! He's dangerous!

So that guarantees at least two, probably more, more games for me. Good thing, because I need the money.

up nice and early...
Monday, April 29, 2002 09:15 a.m.

Well, yesterday I helped Leigh move, which involved a couple vanloads full of boxes. The first trip was for THINGS and the second trip was for STUFF... or at least that's the way it seemed. Everything is here though, so at least that's all out of the way.

The Leafs lost last night which means I have to work Game 7 tomorrow, at the ACC. I'm not complaining at all because a) I'm pretty sure they'll win it b) I need the money c) I have nothing else to do and no job and d) free klondike bars.

Speaking of no job, I mailed out a couple resumes this morning. I'm about to make a little trip to pass out a few more. Still no luck, but I'm remarkably not worried.

I'm also going to pick up my Nintendo today from Merrick, which has been about two years coming. We made a deal a long time ago, but he never delivered the goods... but soon I will have Nintendo64 and Goldeneye. That's what's important.

In other news, we're going to IKEA today!!

one night... two stories...
Saturday, April 27, 2002 05:00 p.m.

This day gets diveded into two parts... the good one, and the bad one.

The good part included going to the ACC, watching the Leafs destroy the Islanders in an awesome game, seeing Lenny Wilkens and Antonio Davis, having Gary Roberts say "hi" to me, eating like 5 klondike bars, getting NO coffee/food, getting a ton of Leafs flags, finding a puck during the Leafs morning practice, and meeting up with Kristin, Mike, and Ash, who drove me home to find...

The bad part of the day. Justin's party was pretty lame when we got there, which prompted a lot of people (Mike, Kristin, Ash, Dawn, etc.) not to stay too long. After they left, I found a bunch of guys in my room trying to do some VERY illegal drugs until they were rudely interrupted... then I snapped. I was about ready to kick everybody out, and throw people off the balcony. If Justin or his friends were the ones responsible, I would have. But because it was a "friend of a friend" kinda thing, I didn't want to be all pissed at Justin for something he couldn't really control. But really, I was going to snap...

I went to Leigh's, which was the plan anyway, but because I really needed to get out of there, it was a better plan. I stayed there, and we laughed about raccoons tapping on a window and asking for a glass of water. It made me feel a lot better.

This morning, I played softball, and watched the Canadians beat the Bruins. I really need a haircut.

foreign films...
Thursday, April 25, 2002 11:29 p.m.

I've officially been done school for a couple days now, and haven't done anything too crazy yet. I'll be at the ACC tomorrow, and I saw a movie with Leigh today.

Still looking for a job...

and and internship...

but i'm not worried.

a short one...
Wednesday, April 24, 2002 01:21 a.m.

i haven't really been home

i got shoes and pillows

and... my girlfriend is a sweetheart ;)

the end.

a couple more days...
Sunday, April 21, 2002 02:05 p.m.

Well Friday was pretty uneventful, because basically the crew spent the day in the truck, in the Sky Dome parking garage, preparing footage, and clips for yesterdays game. So I made a Starbucks run, and a Wendy's run, and picked up a few packages at the hotel.

I got done pretty early and was thus able to meet Leigh, Sean and Natalie for dinner at Oakham house, and hang out with Leigh for the rest of the night. Except for when I ran home to get her my iron... you feel kinda silly carrying an iron down a city street.

Saturday started at the ungodly hour of 5am. Getting out of bed was NO fun, and getting out of the shower was an effort. Chris came with me to the ACC because they needed another guy. I'm not sure why though, he stood around as much as I did, which was quite a lot.

So again, I was the food/coffee/errand boy and again I excelled in my duties. Although a certain member of the crew wasn't exactly thrilled with Second Cup's Chai Latte, compared to that of Starbucks.

But I got a free lunch, drove around a bit, watched the game from the truck, and then half of it from the glass where the zamboni drives out. ANd boy was I exhauseted by the end of it all. Did I mention that I worked at 12.5 hour day on 3 hours of sleep?

Then I stopped by Leigh's and passed out for a couple hours before we went out to Fynns, with her friends. We had a good time. And boy did I sleep well when my head finally hit the pillow...

Next objective: Study for this stupid math test.

i worked for ESPN today... this is a big step for my career
Friday, April 19, 2002 01:09 a.m.

again, i'm just going to rip this out of an email i just wrote, because I don't feel like typing it all again. I'll add that I was sharing an ice cream cooler with Wendel Clark at one point...

Well I've just had an amazing day...

yes, I got coffee for people
yes, I ran useless errands for people
yes, i photocopied
yes, i even grocery shopped...

But I did have an incredible time. I saw a ton of people who, until today, I had only seen on TV. I got to walk around the building pretty much whereever I wanted. I was at the ice level, I was in the media gondola, I was in the truck.

I hung out with Sean McDonough who was announcing the game for ESPN (which is who i was working for today), and for those of you who don't know/remember he is the guy who does all the Red Sox games on the local Boston channel and was also the guy who was calling Game 6 of the '93 World Series when Joe Carter hit the homer. He's a really cool guy. I talked to him afterwards about a possible internship, and he was REALLY helpful and cool enough to give me his home phone number. He left me a message on my phone already, and I'm still a little stunned.

It was an amazing time. I got to see how things are done in the real world. And the best part is a) the Leafs Won and b) I have this gig for EVERY home playoff game. All the way through to the Stanley Cup Finals... ;)

So I now have some connections, some ins... and some experience working for a major network. Tomorrow, I'm working on a show at the studios in SkyDome, and Saturday I have to be at the ACC at 6 am.... because its a 3:00 start, and everything needs to be ready to go.

I'm still in awe of how cool today was... and look at it this way. If the Leafs sweep the series, then I'm here for at least a couple more games. If they lose a game, then they have to come back to Toronto for game 5, and I, again, will be there. So no matter what, I get a couple more games for sure.

Excuse me if I'm giddy, this is really cool.

work work work...
Wednesday, April 17, 2002 07:35 p.m.

All because I want to be on TV, I worked my butt off today for several hours. I shot video for a couple hours. Then I edited video for a couple more hours, and then came home and answered 2000 words worth of questions.

But because I did all this work, and I doubt many other people will, I think I have a pretty good chance at getting the job, and having a TV job this summer.

In other news, I'm applying at the RAC to be a Summer Camp Counselor.

an email i just wrote
Monday, April 15, 2002 10:55 p.m.

SUBJECT: I have the coolest job ever... this week

Dear everybody,

I just need to take a second to share my amazing news. You ready for this? It's pretty unbelievable...

This week, I will be working at the Air Canada Centre as a runner (gopher, all purpose abuse taker) for ABC/ESPN for the first two NHL playoff games between the Toronto Maple Leafs and The New York Islanders. Yes, I am getting paid to go to playoff games... how rough is that? I'll be there for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday...

I'm sure I'll be working pretty hard so I don't know how much I'll actually get to watch, and I don't know what happens as the playoff continues, but I look to make a bit of cash this weeked, doing a very cool-sounding job.

Consider me PSYCHED...

-brian ;)

and here i am...
Sunday, April 14, 2002 07:39 p.m.

Well... I don't have a whole lot to say. But i'll probably end up writing quite a bit. First of all, we lost last night. My parents came out, finally met Leigh, but really all that was a blur to be because I was in a HORRIBLY bad mood. I don't normally take losing that badly, but last night I was just ready to explode, and I'm not exactly sure why.

Today I'm pretending to study for my politics exam tomorrow. But really my head is all over the place. I can't focus for more than a few seconds and feel like I would much rather be doing something else, somewhere else.

Last night, however, after the game, I got to hang out at Leigh's for a bit and watch some TV. Not really the most exciting night, but it was really what I needed instead of being Mr. Irritable. We watched the 2nd half of two movies I had not seen in years (Rainman, Clueless) and then I went home and watched "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" because Dennis had rented it.

I just read something that annoyed me... but this too shall pass.

i accomplished so much today... or not quite
Saturday, April 13, 2002 02:35 a.m.

I did my interview for TV and it went well, despite me sounding like a complete ass when asking a certain question, but hey... it happens. I ended up talking for most of the rest of that 8 hour class, except for the hour or two I went to have lunch with Leigh. So that was a rough day. My last class has officially passed.

If only I had a job for the summer, or even an internship lined up for the fall... but whatever. Something will come. Someone will call back. And until they do, I'll get paid to do nothing at the restaurant. I love it.

I curled tonight. Won again. I think at this point in the season, we're trying to trick ourselves in to thinking that we still want to be there by making each game more important than the last. I've played 3 games in the past two days, and I have one more tomorrow night FOR THE CLUB PLAYOFF CHAMPIONSHIP... we won it last year, and should be able to do it again.

I can officially say I've seen the Britney Spears movie thanks to Leigh. And it was... entertaining. Perhaps because it was so horribly bad, we were able to laugh at it and have a really good time.

i have had enough...
Friday, April 12, 2002 10:05 a.m.

I don't want to be at school today. I'm tired. I curled two games last night, and will have to play another tonight, and likely tomorrow night too. Did I mention I was sick of curling?

So now I'm in TV class. Yee Haw... I hope this is reletively painless. It is my last class afterall.

we must be on safari...
Thursday, April 11, 2002 01:11 p.m.

One more class... who cares that it's 8 hours long?

Now, all of my assignments are done, and classes are almost done. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Yesterday was Jen's birthday so a bunch of us went out to Crocodile Rock. Leigh and friends came out with the journalism crew which was a ton of fun. It was, however, the largest collection of COUGARS that I have ever seen assembled in one place. There were literally OLD LADIES on the dance floor. That was just funny....

I managed to get up for class at 9:00, which was just painful. And now I want to take a nap. I'd sleep all night but I have some work to do, AND I have to curl possibly two games tonight.

it just keeps getting better....
Tuesday, April 9, 2002 11:51 p.m.

Well the joy that accompanied yesterday's completion of my english assignment was nothing compared to today's joy after handing it in, and leaving that class forever. Ohh what a feeling.

Tonight I went to work, and realized that it was my last time there too, this year. The season officially ends on Saturday, which means I don't have to come home smelling like food anymore.

I am currently working on my VERY LAST assignment of the year (final exams not included). I am very very excited about this, and also about the fact that I can sleep in tomorrow.

Back to work, time's a wasting.

I AM DONE!! DONE DONE DONE!!!
Monday, April 8, 2002 08:35 p.m.

I just finished my last assignment for my English class, which means I never have to be forced to read another book again. NOt like I read a whole lot of them anyway...

Clocking in at 3,085 words and 12 pages, I must say that this rush is unbelievable. I'm very very excited.

Today was okay. I got some really good grades back, which made me happy. It rained on me. But at least it isn't snow...

PS- anybody who wants a good laugh... ask me what Justin made for dinner tonight. Somehow it was strangely appropriate.

tired, full, and happy
Monday, April 8, 2002 12:39 a.m.

Leigh came over last night, and after binging on pizza and bread sticks we watched "Kiss the Girls" and "Shrek" to get out of our normal weekend routine of watching a lot of movies.

After forgetting about daylight savings time ;), I ended up being a little late for work, where I served, cooked, and cleaned for the next 7 hours. But some good things came out of it such as a free pie, a $20 tip, and a wicked good hamburger I made for myself. I've never seen a bigger pile of pots and pans than I did today.

In other news, this is my last week of class. Yay. And in an unrelated story, I'll never be able to listen to "Go West" by the Pet Shop Boys the same way again.

Despite some hellish work, today was actually a really good day.

so close i can taste it...
Saturday, April 6, 2002 01:51 a.m.

I'm almost done. I have one and a half more assignments to do and then that's it for the school year (except for two pesky exams). But I'm almost done, and frankly... that makes me happy.

I'm off to bed pretty soon, because I didn't get enough sleep last night. I was up late making some very minor changes to my site, just in case some future employer was looking at it. I'll laugh it that actually makes the difference.

this place is dead anyway...
Friday, April 5, 2002 04:08 p.m.

Should i continue to complain about the weather? I mean, I woke up and it was blizzarding (is that a word?) and then I went to class, and it got sunny, and then it started snowing again. Geez... this is really starting to bother me. Spring seems to be clinging desperately to winter. just let it go, spring, let it go.

In other news, I did a pretty lame report on the TTC strike today. School was/is pretty quiet. I envy the people who got to sleep in all day.

I read some lines for Sean's DVD project, which involved shouting at Catherine, and then Kari made me an origami star... and got mad when i ate it. Yes, the day was just that exciting.

getting to that point...
Thursday, April 4, 2002 12:06 p.m.

First of all, I wish the stinkin weather would make up its mind. Last week, it was sunny and warm, and then snowed for a night. Then it all melted. Then Monday, it was sunny and warm again... in the morning at least. Then I don't even remember what happened. It rained like crazy, it got sunny, it rained ice pellet kinda thingers... and now its sunny again, but still really cold. what the biff?

So anyway... I had my interview at Pitman Hall on Tuesday. It went pretty well and considering I worked there last year, and my boss likes me, I think I have a good shot at getting something there (even though I'd rather not). In terms of internships, I finally called TSN and found out that I didn't get SportCentre, or That's Hockey, but I could still end up somewhere else in the building, which would be cool. I also called The Score, and started some inquiries there. Meanwhile, Sean and Randy are both still trying to get me jobs...

Today's top story: I got some really cool stuff for my birthday. Besides the Team Canada Hockey Jersey from my brother, and some pretty sweet clothes from Leigh, rumour has it that something is on its way over from England, which is pretty exciting. I'm still expecting the parents to send something, but maybe they forgot.

In other news, the whole world seems to be under construction. Everywhere, there are crews digging something or building something. It's crazy.

Looking ahead: I curl tonight. We're into the third round of playoffs and we haven't lost yet. Wish me luck... This afternoon is all about LAUNDRY.

on the occasion of my 21st birthday....
Tuesday, April 2, 2002 01:10 a.m.

i type extra slow to make sure that there are no typos
i had dinner at the hard rock cafe with chris, mike, and sarah
i went to fynns for a few drinks, and a whole bunch of people showed up
some of us went to the fuel station for karaoke, and i sang "it had to be you" and "surfin USA"
leigh came, which was great because i didn't think she was going to make it with all the work she had to do
now I'm home, and if i can get my contacts out without killing myself, i'm going to go to bed

goodnight

A new month...
Monday, April 1, 2002 12:17 a.m.

It is officially April Fools Day...

and my birthday.

seriously.

did you ever...
Sunday, March 31, 2002 06:14 p.m.

Did you ever turn on the TV and just KNOW that you missed something good? I did that today and I'll tell you how I knew. I had just switched on the tele, and it was on City TV... the credits were rolling for something that had just finished. I could tell it was amazing though because it had parts for SEVERAL sumo wrestlers AND and NINJA MASTER. It must have been an oscar winner with a cast like that!

In other, more important, news. I'm done my stupid paper!! I went to bed super early last night, got up at a reasonable hour this morning, and here it is 6:18 and I'm already done. How about that!

Meanwhile, MSN doesn't want to work, and its ticking me right off... I'll survive. I'm serving myself and easter dinner of sandwiches. How pathetic. Oh well, its my own fault. I needed to get some work done this weekend, and going home wouldn't have helped, not to mention the whole course I was going to take, or the fact that I didn't want to spend $110 on a train ticket. Oh well, it will be Monday and everyone will be back, soon enough.

my time of day...
Saturday, March 30, 2002 06:56 p.m.

What I learned today...

1. There aren't a whole lot of people on Yonge St. at 7:30 in the morning on a Saturday.

2. Sometimes you need more than 1,000 words to tell a story. Sometimes you can use 1,300, and still not be done.

3. A pair of giant plaid flannel pants, a hoody, and a backwards hat is a respectable outfit.

4. My apartment is a mess. (not something i've learned, more of an observation).

5. Talking to my parents made me think that I should have gone home for Easter. If I had though, I would have been bored to death and mostly miserable, even though my parents are wonderful people, and dinner would have been great.

6. One paper down, one to go. (That's for Monday... there are more to come ;)

7. These aren't really lessons anymore. I'm just rambling.

8. Can you ramble in point form?

9. Who knows. It's time to stir up some dinner.

10. One more... getting out of a building before the fire alarm goes off 10 times, is a goodthing. Especially if you plan on sleeping.

it's actually spring... kinda
Thursday, March 28, 2002 08:23 p.m.

I know i've said this about 10 times, but today actually felt like spring. And it looked like spring. I'm sure that would have been a little more obvious if my eyes had been open more, but finishing that essay killed me last night.

I took a nap this afternoon and am ready to go out and exert myself with some hardcore TV watching.

as is the custom...
Thursday, March 28, 2002 03:53 a.m.

Usually, when I finish a paper at some crazy hour in the middle of the night or the early morning, I let everybody know. So there... I did it. I thought long and hard about an original thesis, and i think I did alright with it. I kinda ran out of steam though. Who knows? It's done.

In other news, assignments are starting to get scratched of the final "to do" list. That is a good feeling. Right now, bed would be a great feeling.

Getting up tomorrow is going to blow.

long time, no see
Tuesday, March 26, 2002 03:16 p.m.

I was home all weekend, and didn't take a minute to update this. Exciting weekend? Nothing too crazy, but fun nonetheless. Leigh was around for most of it, which was fun. We've decided that we've done too much "Oscar Research" (movie watching) and are kinda burnt out.

In a related story, Leigh's Oscar Picks, we only ONE point more accurate than mine. It didn't matter, however, because Dennis kicked both of our asses.

In other news, the course I was scheduled to take this weekend was postponed, so I now have the whole weekend off to work on all the stuff I get to hand in on my birthday! Lucky me... the official countdown is 6 days.

Anyway... work is piling up. I should do some.

rocking out to twisted sister suddenly wasn't so much fun...
Saturday, March 23, 2002 05:30 p.m.

Yesterday's broadcast was okay, i guess... It just seems likea long time ago. I went to Mick E. Fynns afterwards for dinner with some friends then went to Leigh's and helped her with some staff work she was doing.

Today, there were about a hundred cops in the park supervising a homeless rally or something. It was a little crazy down there. I cleaned like a crazy man all afternoon, and sucessfully avoided any work that I should have done. I was rocking out to some tunes, but then sat down for a somewhat serious ICQ conversation. Things are okay, though, for now.

Now, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I feel like bumming around for while. Sounds like a plan.

what i write about...
Thursday, April 21, 2002 01:26 p.m.

I've been reading some other people's blogs lately. Some for fun, and some for a project i did for class, and I started thinking about what i actually write in this thing.

A lot of other people include all the personal details about their inner-most personal feelings and whatnot. I wondered if i should do that more, or if i did it too much. Should i include more details? Or do people not care that much?

I think the main reason I write this thing is to let people read something I write. Life just is the easiest thing to draw content from. Hopefully, you find it somewhat entertaining.

I think I include enough details to keep people informed. I don't, however, feel the need to bare my soul, rant about individuals, or embarass people other than myself. Embarassing myself is what I do everyday, I just don't want to bring anybody else with me.

So I hope you all enjoy it. And still, I don't know who YOU ALL are. email me or something ;)

the things i learned tonight...
Thursday, March 21, 2002 01:18 a.m.

1) When opening a coconut with a hammer, the sharper end is more effective than the fat side that one usually hammers with.

2) Oscar picks are now going to be 10 times harder now that I've seen Training Day and know that it was a crappy movie. Denzel Washington doesn't deserve anything for that, and really neither does Ethan Hawke.

3) I learned that I'm planning to take TV documentary and Public Relations as my two professionally related electives for next year, my final year of university.

4) Pulling the hood up on a sweatshirt makes you feel like a Jedi, or a Monk, or Rocky, or something...

i have been dethroned as drama queen...
Wednesday, March 20, 2002 02:40 a.m.

Today was the average Tuesday. Class, and work. In the free time surrounding those events, I worked on arranging an internship for the fall (i still haven't heard from TSN, so i'm not getting my hopes up) and I applied for a job (Sean gave me a hint to get my resume in where he works).

Work was its usual boring self... I watched most of the hockey game, and only now do i realize that I don't know who won. I left when it was still 2-2.

In an unrelated story, relationships can be screwy. For once, I'm not talking about myself! ;)

too bright for the eyes...
Tuesday, March 19, 2002 11:00 a.m.

I couldn't open my eyes today as I walked down the street. It was that sunny out. I also heard birds chirping and all that jazz so I think Spring is pretty darn close (although I think it is supposed to snow tomorrow).

Yesterday, we recorded three songs. Then I watched TV with Leigh and I decided that I want to go to theatre school and cooking school, once I graduate. I honestly think the prospect of more school is sickening, but cooking school looked like fun.

Anyway, it's a beautiful day.

happy st. patrick's day
Sunday, March 17, 2002 10:28 p.m.

The only thing I did to observe the holiday was to not change out of my green flannel pyjama pants all day. So I didn't get out at all, but that's life when its cold and you don't wake up until 2:00.

Last night I was out with the Federation (minus Jen), and we had dinner at the Lone Star, and then chilled out at Kristin's boyfriend's hotel room and watched wrestling, and had a good laugh.

Today, I made up the invitations for next week's Oscar party and proceeded to do the research for the "Winner Take All Oscar Pool." I take this VERY seriously, so I put a lot of work into reading all the pre-oscar predictions.

I just finished my homework for the weekend (after watching the Simpson's of course) and plan to bum around for the rest of the night. Oh, I cleaned my room and did the dishes today too!!

the sun is shining, and i'm inside...
Saturday, March 16, 2002 03:22 p.m.

Yesterday wasn't exactly a happy day, but it did have its moments. After a shorter than normal broadcast class, I went to a memorial for a girl who was killed in an accident a few weeks ago. I didn't know her, but a lot of my friends did, and some were pretty close to her. It was pretty sad, but most people held together alright.

After that, I hung out with Leigh, and watched TV for a while. The plan was to go out for steak and then to see the Lion King, but after we left too late to get steak, or any respectable meal for that matter, we ended up having a smoked meat sandwich and a julienne salad (GROSSLY OVERPRICED!! ;)

So then we saw the Lion King. Besides being a couple miles from the stage and having the SAME CRAPPY LITTLE SIMBA (see the entry from July 10th in the "all the old updates" section), the show was great. I'd give it the same review as I did the last time.

At the moment, I'm in the studio with Sean, mixing and mastering some of the stuff we recorded in the past weeks. It's a big expensive mixing board and I have no idea what he's doing with it, and frankly... I'm not sure he does either. Well some of the time, at least.

i gotta stop doing this...
Thursday, March 14, 2002 05:40 a.m.

It's approaching 6am, and I am still up. My politics paper is done however, and I think it is pretty okay. I thought the same thing about my last politics paper, and the teacher agreed. So if he's consistent, then I'm in good shape.

Tonights news: I procrastinated. I had dinner with Leigh. We watched TV. We played volleyball. I came home. I procrastinated. I had a shower around 2am. I had a sandwich around 4am. And now, I'm going to bed.

yesterday's news...
Wednesday, March 13, 2002 05:01 p.m.

Today has been so uneventful that I'm going to fill the space talking about yesterday because there was some crazy stuff going on...

First of all, Kristin and I played cell-phone tag with Mike, as we tried to locate him in the library. We walked around from floor to floor, following his directions as best we could, and still couldn't locate him. Instead of dwelling on it, we took a break and went to get some photocopies *FUNNY STORY ABOUT THIS LATER ON*.

Meanwhile, we get another call from Mike wondering where we are, saying that he was still in the library, and again, tried to give us directions to where he was in the buidling. Again, his directions were screwed up, but we followed them as well as we could.

After continuing to NOT find him, he called yet again wondering where we were. We told him, he argued, I laughed (because at this point it was just getting ridculous) and we eventually figured out that he wasn't at the Ryerson library like we were. He was at the Toronto Reference Library... and he was mad at us, for screwing it up. Right. Which is why I met Kristin at Ryerson.

*FUNNY STORY ABOUT PHOTOCOPIES BEGINS HERE*

When we went to the copy place to get some pages done, everything seemed pretty normal. We went in, photocopied about 40 pages each, and got ready to pay. As we approached the counter though, a young lady (obviously a student) was freaking out on the girl behind the desk.

From what I could tell, the student had dropped a disk off with something big and fancy to print on it. The copy-shop girl probably estimated that it was going to cost around $50. So when the student came to pick up her stuff, and the cost was $130, she was less than pleased.

So as she cried her eyes out, shouted at the other girl, called her a "witch," said she was "swindled," and demanded that she get her stuff for the $50, because it should be a write-off for the copy place. The copy-girl wouldn't budge, and the student was just losing it, screaming and crying about how she needed to hand that in, and how she was going to fail, and how she just wanted her disk back. Then she was so bold as to just walk AROUND the counter (read: forbidden ground), which prompted the copy-girl to call security.

Another copy-shop employee tried to calm the hysterical student down. The crying continued.

At this point, Kristin and I had LONG used up any excuse to still be in the copy place, so we didn't feel right about staring any longer.

In other news... I have to write a politics paper tonight. It has been started, but progress promises to be slow. And there's a volleyball game in there somewhere to delay it further.

a step by step guide on how to be a moron...
Tuesday, March 12, 2002 01:28 a.m.

1. Say to your friend "hey, it's a really funny recording. i'll burn it onto a CD for you!!"

2. Go and buy blank CDs in order to burn the funny track.

3. Go home. Commence burning. Fill rest of CD with enjoyable music.

4. Listen to CD to make sure all tracks work.

5. Two hours later realize that you did not include the recording mentioned in Step 1. Have someone write "Moron" backwards on your forehead so you can read it in the mirror.

In other news... a project I worked on was nominated for a national newspaper award. how about that!?

weekend
Monday, March 11, 2002 01:50 a.m.

I did laundry on Saturday. Watched hockey with Mike. Chatted with Leigh for a while after. I worked all day today. Went by Leigh's after and watched a movie... I can't way which, because I'll get beat up.

And now, I will write a short review on "A Walk to Remember."

I've seen worse movies. True to the teen-movie genre, the plot tended to be a little ridiculous, and the acting a little sketchy at times, as was the writing (oh baby). It had everything you'd ever want in a teen-movie romance drama (not-so-much a comedy, like most teen movies): romance, betrayal, death, angry fathers, teary forgiveness, and nice cars. Oh, and the whole plot had been done before in other movies. Leigh says it was just a Mandy Moore plug, and I would have to agree.

Time for bed. Recording tomorrow!

one more thing...
Saturday, March 9, 2002 02:43 a.m.

the raptors WON!! first time in 14 games!! how about that, sportsfans!!

weekend at last... and yet so soon
Saturday, March 9, 2002 02:33 a.m.

The week flew by, but I am so glad that I get to sleep in tomorrow. I don't want to waste the whole day, but I probably will.

Today we did an okay broadcast. Mr. CBC had some really good things to say about our feature which was really nice. He didn't have anything really BAD to say, which was also nice. Some constructive critisism, but not a viscious slam like we have seen with other groups.

I watched Rat Race with Leigh, Sean, and Natalie. It was a stupid funny movie that had some really funny parts, and some really stupid parts. Worth the rental for sure though.

Tomorrow is a long overdue laundry day. And also politics research.

you can tell its almost spring when...
Friday, March 8, 2002 01:38 a.m.

The air wasn't bitterly cold like it had been all week. I walked down the street with my jacket unbuttoned. It smelled like autumn. And the hookers had resumed their posts outside of Harvey's. That's when I realized it was almost spring.

I'm in a good mood tonight. And I'm going to bed.

with eyes wide open... or not quite
Thursday, March 7, 2002 02:08 p.m.

Even though I had a pretty good sleep last night, getting up this morning hurt quite a bit. I stood in the shower for quite some time, and really didn't feel like getting out. But I did (after what I estimate was about 25 minutes).

Yesterday was a pretty good day. I got up nice and early again, and headed to Rye High for 9:00. We edited our feature until 4pm, and boy it is a great feeling to have that done. I went to the SND... (a few minutes late ;), and stayed until 6:00, at which point I closed the lab, and went for dinner with Chris, who had just gotten back from Dresden (aka- "The Capital of the Whole World").

After that, it was two entertaining volleyball games. One resulted in victory, and the other almost did. The team then resorted to hanging out in Leigh's room eating cookies, and watching Cocktail.

This morning I went to class. Yay. My eyes kept closing.

I did however, apply for a job at the place I worked last summer. Good ol' Pitman Hell... er.. Hall. My boss seemed excited to have my application, so I think that's a good sign. It's not my dream job, but its a job. That's what's important.

Anyway, I curl tonight. That's about all I got.

not a whole lot to say...
Wednesday, March 6, 2002 12:26 a.m.

There's just something about Tuesdays that lends itself to making the day incredibally boring. So not a whole lot went on today. Worked. And now I'm home. Still looking for a job. Thought about doing my taxes. Divided up my laundry into whites and colours. Looked through a stack of old pictures. Fun stuff really.

some unpleasantries...
Tuesday, March 5, 2002 02:27 a.m.

Well actually, the day started okay... kinda.

I didn't sleep at all last night. Between tossing and turning, some unexplained anxiety, and one really weird dream, sleep was not high on the list of things I accomplished between 2 and 8am. Actually, it was only about 2 and a half hours of that time.

Despite the lack of rest, I managed to get up on time, get my things in order, get dressed (like a slob), and get to the SND on time. I chatted with some friends on MSN, finished the crossword puzzle, and combined with the fact that it was a nice sunny day, the day was actually going okay.

The math test I got back was even good. And the story meeting I had for stupid class went REALLY well. So things were working just fine even though I was, and still am wiped.

We met briefly to discuss our feature, and decided to meet at 5:30 to get the equipment and to start shooting. Well we did that, but we didn't actually start shooting anything until at least 8ish, because our subject wasn't there yet. So then we took an hour or so to get about 30 seconds worth of footage, and we hadn't even gotten to the bar where the main part of the story takes place.

Well, long story short... I've been at The Goldie Foxx since about 10 taping people singing bad karaoke, and drinking their faces off, and interviewing people who are just there for the alcohol. And because of the "line-up" rules of karaoke, we had to wait til 1:30 before we could get our last shot. Boy were we annoyed... at least I was.

First rule of shooting for TV... it will always take twice as long as you think it should. Hence the 8 hour shoot for a 5 minute piece.

The day was great until 5:30. Then it sucked. At least we have all of our footage. Sadly, all Leigh got to hear from me today was a slightly dazed and exhausted Brian calling at 1am explaining why I was at a karaoke place. And I'm still pretty out of it... lack of sleep will do that to you.

the sound of one-handed typing
Sunday, March 3, 2002 11:18 p.m.

Well, I have to hold the pizza while I type!!

I got home last night extremely exhausted. My eyes were barely open, so I went right to bed. We went 2-1 yesterday which was okay, but not as well as we would have liked.

Today we lost our game, so we didn't have to play a second, which was fine with me. Frankly I didn't want to. I hate to lose, but I really didn't mind not having to play another game today.

Tomorrow, school starts again. Ew.

home again home again...
Saturday, March 2, 2002 12:23 a.m.

I left for Kingston on Thursday afternoon/evening, and made it in just a few minutes later than expected. Leigh met me at the train station. I met her parents, then her cats, and her dog (a big german sheppard named Brier), and I think most of them liked me. I don't think one of the cats was too crazy about me...

We ate quite a bit, and watched some TV, and just talked a lot. Nothing too crazy, and that suited me just fine. I slept in a nice cozy bed (after removing the pillow shams which looked remarkably like pillow cases) and woke up to a pretty blonde girl telling me that it was noon and that french toast was being served. Not a bad start to a day!!

After sitting around for most of the day, we eventually made it downtown to shop for a bit, and back home in time for dinner, a chat, and cheesecake before dropping me at the train station.

On the train, I had the honour of sitting behind four 11 year-old girls who were on their way to Toronto from Ottawa to see a friend who had moved away, and it was her birthday this week. I know all this because they wouldn't shut up from the time I got on the train. They weren't talking to me, and I had headphones on... they were just that loud. They also discussed "how to be popular" and I took notes.

So I'm home now, and I have to curl at 8:30 tomorrow morning, which in real terms is about 8 hours away. So its time to grab some Z's if I can.

i actually did stuff today... i must have left maitland
Thursday, February 28, 2002 01:35 a.m.

This morning, I slept in. Sue knocked on my door at some crazy hour like 11 or something. I don't really remember what happened there. I think she came into get something while I pulled the covers over my head and continued sleeping.

A little while later, mom was shouting at me to get up because we were about to leave for LUNCH at Grandma and Grandpa's House, and I hadn't even gotten out of bed yet. These people don't understand the concept of "i have nothing to do this week so i'm going to sleep it away."

So I showered, and dressed and helped load up the car so we could go for lunch and continue on to Montreal to drop Sue and Neil at Dorval so they could take off for England for a while.

So we dined with the grandparents, played some cards, and took off. We got in and out of Montreal with no problem. Except that we forgot Sue's guitar at home, and we destroyed our front left tire on our way out of Quebec.

It sounded kinda funny, so we pulled over and noticed that the rubber bit was kinda ripped to death. So after we realized that the tire iron we had was a piece of garbage, a nice Quebec Cop called us a nice Quebec Tow Truck Driver with a decent tire iron, so we put on the spare and drove to a nice Quebec Canadian Tire. So we killed a little while there, while they changed the tire.

After a bit we were back on the road, racing against the clock. My parents had to curl in Brockville at 8:30, and it was already 6ish. So whatever, we got there on time, and I took off for the mall to buy some pants.

The only jeans i packed have holes in the cuffs, knees, pockets, and arse. So I picked up some new jeans to wear tomorrow when I "Meet the Parents."

So when I got back to the club, mom and dad were losing 4-0, and then decided to start playing and ended up winning by a ton. I went out and threw a bit, and concluded that Brockville has crazy ice.

So now I'm home. A little hungry again. And the plan is to head to Kingston tomorrow...

You'll notice that notice that none of the above excitement actually occured in Maitland, unless you count sleeping in.

headlines...
Tuesday, February 26, 2002 09:21 p.m.

Because I've been in and out of the apartment so much in the past few days, and the fact that I'm now in Maitland visiting the parents, I've not been able to make any updates lately. So instead of the normal play-by-play, you're just getting headlines today.

Friday:
TV SHOW RUNS SMOOTHLY
CANADA HOCKEY BEATS BELARUS
YOUNG MAN MEETS GIRLFRIEND AT TRAIN STATION
COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO FLAW EARNS VIEWERS FREE PASSES

Saturday:
DINNER OF FAJITAS AND CHEAP WINE A SUCCESS
LEIGH LIKES HER BIRTHDAY PRESENT

Sunday:
CANADA WINS HOCKEY GOLD!
BRIAN MEETS LARISSA FOR A DRINK, NOTHING HAPPENS
HAPPY RIOTS IN TORONTO INJURE NONE
AMELIE IS BRIAN'S FOREIGN FILM OF THE YEAR CHOICE
BREAKFAST CLUB SHOWN ON CITY TV

Monday:
WORK SUCKS!
FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF SHOWN ON TBS

Tuesday:
BRIAN DRAGS BUTT OUT OF BED TO CATCH TRAIN
VIARAIL TRAIN ACTUALLY MAKES DESTINATION ON TIME, PASSENGERS SHOCKED
HOME COOKIN RULED "THE BEST"

ugh.... friday morning
Friday, February 22, 2002 09:12 a.m.

Well, I'm in class and my eyes are barely open. I've been up too late for the past few nights, but at least this time I had a good reason.

Last night, we won our 17th curling game of the year, clinching the League Championship. Only lost 3 times all year... I think I got the number wrong a while back, last time I was talking about it, but now I know for sure that we are 17-3, and that we won.

Yesterday, I had my TSN Sports Quiz for the Internship. After having NO CLUE on the first couple, I finally got my act together and answered a bunch right. Then I struggled a bit at the end. So all in all, I think I passed, but I don't think they see me as a sports guru. Oh well...

Go Canada Hockey!! (Women won last night, men play this afternoon). More medals for Canada coming right up!! Curling final is today too... guaranteed silver, probably gold.

GO CANADA GO!!
Thursday, February 21, 2002 12:28 a.m.

Well how about that!! Canada wins 2-1. Our volleyball team won both of our games in straight sets. The other guys were pretty terrible!!

Tomorrow is Leigh's birthday. Too bad she's not around to celebrate. She's in Kingston until Friday, and we'll have a party when she gets back.

I retain my title...
Wednesday, February 20, 2002 03:20 a.m.

I don't call myself the Grand Poobah of the Procrastination Station for nothing!! I'm quite good at it actually. I even help others (just ask my cousin Beth... I'm the Devil!!). So tonight, after work, I started to work on an assignment that is due tomorrow at 10am. And it would have been no sweat, had I actually put any planning into it... Of course, I didn't.

So after about 3 hours of struggling research, I had HALF of an amazing story, and the other half was nowhere to be found. The worst part was, I didn't even know what I was looking for. But the first half was INCREDIBLE and it would have blown him away, but I had no 2nd half. So I had to switch the story entirely, and decided to save my great source for another time, and BOY will it be great!!

In other news, I did the class thing today. Work was alright, except for me soaking myself while doing some dishes. And apparently...

I MAKE THE BEST NACHO PLATTER EVER!!!

According to one group who ordered it tonight. So here's the deal if you want to knock their nacho socks off. Cut up some flour tortillas into triangles. Just dip them into hot oil for about 10 seconds and then let them dry. Throw on some cumin (its a seasoning) then some diced onions and tomatoes, some sliced jalapenos, and a ton of cheese. Stick it in the oven til the cheese melts and you're golden.

productivity in the name of avoidance...
Monday, February 18, 2002 07:37 p.m.

Did you ever just not want to think about something, so instead just go crazy doing other things to take your mind of it? Well, tonight is one of those nights and so far, i've done a good chunk of my english project, and put together the "Hocku-Mentary" I promised you months ago.

Later on should be just as productive, unless the ICQ or MSN starts going crazy like it did last night. Either way, I can sleep in, which means I can be up late doing whatever.

In other news, I raised a grade (out of 10) by 9.5 doing a rewrite. "But Brian, doesn't that mean your original grade had to be...?" Yes, hence the rewrite. ;)

why am i still up?
Monday, February 18, 2002 01:25 a.m.

it was a really tough day, and nothing even happened to me. all i did pretty much was sit around here, talk to people on my computer, watch a bit of TV, and have a sandwich or two.

but really, it was hard because of what was happening to other people, and sitting here, there wasn't a lot i could do about it. i wish there was, but it just wasn't so. but i'm still thinking about it.

so instead, i scrubbed the hell out of my bathroom, and now it actually resembles something clean.

eatin fudge and watchin TV...
Sunday, February 17, 2002 03:21 p.m.

This is the life. I slept until 1pm.

Although I know I have things I have to do (ie- english presentation prep, math review, clean), for the moment, I'm letting the sun shine through my window, watching some TV (switching between the Raptors and the Olympics), and eating some pretty amazing fudge.

Let the procrastination continue...

T.G.I.S.
Saturday, February 16, 2002 05:38 p.m.

Whew!! What a couple busy days that was!

Thursday was Valentines Day, so after dragging my butt out of bed to make it to my 9am class, and my 10am class, and work at 1pm (with a nice Dangerous Dan's poutine and grilled cheese for lunch) I did some shopping and headed home.

I curled at 7, and though we started kinda slow, ended up kicking some bootie, as usual. If we win one more game, we clinch the league, which should be worth a small bit of cash.

So then I went to Leigh's place to do the Valentine's Day thing. After a little gift exchange and a crummy movie on the family channel (side bar- although "An American in Paris" has some great music, but overall is a crappy movie), we hung out for a quite a long while. For those of you who were wondering... Leigh made me some super-good fudge (it'll go right to my hips!) and got me a couple other little cute things, including a stuffed dog, who still needs a name.

Friday, I was on a crew for my broadcast class. So I ened up at the Canadian International Auto Show, and while i'm not a HUGE car fan, I still had a good time, even though someone was barking orders telling me how to do stuff i already knew. Anyway, I saw some cool cars, and got my picture taken in a new Thunderbird.

After the show, which was a disaster, I ran home, showered, got dressed and looking nice, and took off again for the Res. Winter Semi-Formal. Leigh looked amazing, everybody looked nice... and we had some fun, and a small dinner. We left a little early, got changed and went to Madisons, where we drank a bit, and ate a lot, including some insansely hot "medium" wings.

And today... Justin acutally washed some of the dishes, I brought my amp home (it was living at Leigh's), and I kinda half cleaned my room.

I've officially applied for an internship.
Wednesday, February 13, 2002 11:09 p.m.

I mailed my TSN application today, and so it should only be a matter of months before I have a clue where I'm going for my internship. TSN would be great, and I'm told that I have a good shot at it. So cross your fingers for me.

In other news, we lost in volleyball tonight. Oh well, it was still fun. Dennis is off to play hockey again, but I don't think I can join him for personal health issues. I have to be able to curl tomorrow night still...

the shower is clean...
Wednesday, February 13, 2002 01:27 a.m.

Sure the shower is clean, but i'm about to pass out. That SCRUB-FREE stuff is powerful, and gives off some major fumes. I'm in my room, and its still pretty strong. But the tiles are nice and white again.

Justin told me that i looked happy tonight, so i had to think about why. I attributed to a)things over all are good b)i made some research breakthroughs for papers i have to write (in english, math, and politics) c) i figured some important gift-giving stuff out d) i found out my super-cool cousin is coming to Toronto and e) good things should happen tomorrow. So yeah, i suppose things are pretty good. I'm just lucky that I'm not buried in work like some people I know... that's a few weeks away still.

i can't believe i'm this annoyed!!
Monday, February 11, 2002 11:16 p.m.

I know that guys are supposed to be too manly and macho for figure skating, but for one night every four years, we let down our guard, and care for at least a few minutes.

Tonight was that night.

The Canadians (Sale and Pelletier) were amazing, and flawless, and the gold still went to a Russian couple who performed with obvious flaws. While the crowd was chanting "SIX! SIX!" European judges could only muster up a 5.8, which screwed the Canadians over.

For this reason, many guys, myself included, will go back to avoiding figure skating. Too much politics and scheming behind scenes. Everyone knew Canada deserved that medal...

I'm really worked up about this. It's kinda funny. I don't even care enough to say anything about the rest of my day, other than the Constitution of the Second Federation was signed, and made law. Hooray for us.

i hurt...
Monday, February 11, 2002 02:02 a.m.

For a day that started at 1pm, and an afternoon that consisted of TV watching and the smallest amount of school work, I'm aching quite a bit at the moment.

Sure, I woke up nice and late. Watched some TV, ran some errands, got some groceries, watched the NBA All-Star Game and some of the Olympics, and everything was cool until about 10:00. See, I thought it would be fun to go with Dennis to play some pick-up hockey on Lake Devo (an outdoor rink at Ryerson). So we went down, and sure enough it was fun.

The unfortunate part of all this is that I kinda forgot that I hadn't played hockey at all in a year, I'm kinda out of shape, and that my skates drasticly need to be sharpened. What that all adds up to is me trying really really hard to be good, when everything (including my abilities) is telling me that I can only be OKAY, at best. So in addition to regular muscle pain (lower back=ow)from not doing anything like that in a while, I took a couple pretty good hits (not purposely, but sometimes they happen) and jammed my shoulder pretty hard, and caught a shoulder in my face... I did something to my elbow too but i don't remember how that happened. So anyway, although it is nothing too serious, I'm hurtin a little.

Oh yeah, I watched "Being John Malkovich" this afternoon. I just found out that Oscar nominations are coming out on Tuesday, and this excites me quite a bit.

if i see any more lasagna, i'm gonna *snap*
Saturday, February 9, 2002 11:05 p.m.

After making 6 pans of lasagna and serving 13 of them, I'm going to be sick if i even think about it any more. While it was good (of course I had to have some for lunch), I'm just a little sick of it.

It was a 9 and a half hour workday, which means money in the bank... for now. The time actually flew by which was nice. I suppose watching the Leafs game and the Olympics out of the corner of my eye helped pass the time a little quicker.

On a more unfortunate note, the biker gang I was going to interview for my feature has decided not to take part, so I need either another idea, or another biker gang. Any help would be great. For now, I'm going to do a little homework (GASP! on a saturday night?!)... yeah, its too late to start anything fun, and i need to get it done at some point, so why the heck not?

its about that time...
Saturday, February 9, 2002 03:51 a.m.

As I walked home tonight, a few things sparked my interest. First of all, I found a dollar on the street, so that was a bonus. Second, I almost killed myself by slipping on an ice patch i didn't notice. Third, some girls were laughing at a transvestite hooker getting picked up, and it made me laugh too. Fourth, the fire alarm was going off at the building next door, and I'm just thrilled that it wasn't ours. And lastly, it concerned me that its February and the people with the most outrageous Christmas light display, still have them up.

In other news, I hung out with some friends I hadn't seen in a while tonight. We went to the Bier Market, where I had never been before. Nice place, but the crowd is slightly older.

Stopped by to hang out with a really tired Leigh, just for a bit, then came home.

i'm glad it was short...
Friday, February 8, 2002 01:13 a.m.

We played a lot better than they did, we were up 8-1 halfway through the game, so they gave up. I was kinda hoping something like that would happen.

So now I'm home, showered, and tired. I shant be up too much longer, even though I don't have class tomorrow. Hooray for that!!

So anyway, I'm off.

i...am...slee...pee
Thursday, February 7, 2002 02:36 p.m.

Sitting at the SND is really taking it out of me today. I'm not really doing anything useful, as usual. I read the paper, and Chris and I did the crossword puzzle earlier, so that's done.

I'm reading a lot more of the sports page these days... like all of it, everyday, actually. Part of the TSN interview is a "Sports Quiz" so I want to be really prepared when that comes around.

I should, however, start thinking about the summer a little more seriously. I don't have a job yet, and I haven't really given it too much serious though. Oh well, its still a few months away...

We lost at volleyball last night, but we had fun, which was a change from last week. Leigh made me watch half an episode of "Student Bodies" which I think was worse...

Tonight, I curl. But before then, I'm definately having a nap. I'm wiped out.

By the way... the Federation, after its collapse, is on the way to a full and glorious recovery.

not a whole lot to say
Tuesday, February 5, 2002 11:21 p.m.

Um... a Hell's Angel wrote me an email.

I'm applying for an internship at TSN.

I saw "I am Sam" which was okay. Nothing TOO crazy good. I like the soundtrack though.

Speaking of soundtracks, "BlackHawk Down" has some good stuff on it.

I have to look through a few hundred Toronto Star articles tonight.

The Leafs won.

I can't handle the excitement.

Patriotism
Sunday, February 3, 2002 10:57 p.m.

All I have to say is this...

super bowl sunday
Sunday, February 3, 2002 03:46 p.m.

So the game starts in an hour and I doubt I'm going to watch that much of it. However, I want the Patriots to win. I do have some loyalties to the Boston area, and a lot of friends who love them, so I have to root for the Pats.

I haven't been home a lot in the past few days, which is obvious by my lack of postings. Friday, I was making a TV show all day for class (and that went pretty well... for the parts I was involved with) and then I went out for dinner with Chris and Jen (his girlfriend, not Federation-Jen) and then a bunch of us (Me, Chris, Mike, Merrick, Kristin, and her boyfriend Ash) all went out to Madison's and had a grand old time. We were loud, and we laughed a lot. The only unpleasantness of the evening was when Kristin attacked both curling AND this blog, IN THE SAME SENTENCE. Good for her though... she was on fire all night.

After sleeping in until 1:00 I met Sean at Rogers and we recorded all day. We got 3 more songs done for his project, and a few more for my little demo, but it was a long long day. I hung out with Leigh afterwards and we watched Cocoon, one of the greatest Steve Gutenburg movies EVER.

Got out of bed today around 2:00pm, and am now looking at what I need to do for the rest of the afternoon. Maybe I'll watch some of the game.

long day, and it started late...
Friday, February 1, 2002 01:39 a.m.

Well, I slept in an hour later than I wanted to, therefore missing the first half of my politics class, and helping Chris and Merrick with the crossword puzzle for the 2nd half. (That was after I had braved blizzard conditions during my walk to school).

In the afternoon, I did my first recording session with Sean, and I played the same song a bunch of times. I was kinda making up parts as we went along, and therefore screwed up a few times. It should be a fun, and LONG process though, but hopefully we'll have something good by the time we're out of it.

I curled tonight, and we snapped our two game losing streak. We are now 4 games in thet lead, with 5 games to go... Or something like that. Whatever the exact number, we are in pretty good shape to win the league.

Then it was some TV with Leigh... We caught the end of ER and neither of us really knew what was going on. Too bad, because it really looked interesting. We'll find out soon enough.

Tomorrow, I have a broadcast all day. I'm a writer, so who knows what other crazy stuff I'll end up doing.

thank you RYERSON!!
Wednesday, January 30, 2002 05:33 p.m.

It is a very rare occurence to me to thank my university for anything. Today though, is a different story.

If it is possible, I made an impulse buy that I had been planning for 4 years. For a variety of reasons, everything came together just right today, and I went to the music store and bought myself a new acoustic amp for my guitar. Perhaps it was last weeks bursary cheque (or what was left of it) or Friday's expected paycheque, or the fact that i'm recording in a studio tomorrow, or the fact that I meant to buy one four years ago, and now finally seemed like a goodtime to do it... but for whatever reason, i did. So yay for shopping!!

My friend Josh is coming to visit tonight, so he can take a tour of Ryerson in the morning. In other news, I have a volleyball game at 8:30. And in other news yet, I'm falling asleep.

the status of things...
Wednesday, January 30, 2002 03:53 a.m.

it's almost 4am... justin is on the phone with sympatico tech support trying to fix his computer, which is better than finding him in my room everytime i come home... i have just managed to pull off some okay work considering i only started it a couple hours ago, and now i've researched a story that i think it would actually be cool to do. (the class is research and story editing, so all we have to do is come up with the IDEA and research it. we never have to DO anything)... my hair is looking pretty damn hot. a picture wouldn't even do it justice at the moment. just imagine something sticking out every possible way, and then flatten parts of it.

So yeah, today was class in the morning, a presentation in the afternoon, and work until about 10:30. Then I went to Leigh's to watch the movie that we were going to watch on Sunday but never got around to because it was too late.

And now it's time for one of my famous movie reviews... This time we caught a screening of Legally Blonde. Yes, lucky me!!

All I can say is that there was quite a lot of pink in this movie. Some people might have thought there was a little too much pink. There was also a lot of other girly-girl things like shopping, manicures, i-macs... so yeah, its more of a girl movie (think Clueless) but it wasn't so horrible that I couldn't watch it.

this keyboard is weird!!
Tuesday, January 29, 2002 12:15 p.m.

I'm at Leigh's just hanging out before class and I just realized that I didn't update this thing last night. And since I know everyone is dying to hear how my day was, I decided to do that now... except she has one of these ergonomic keyboard thingers where the keys are all bent and in the wrong spot so it might take a little while to finish this thought.

Well, I got up too dang early. I had to be at the SND for 9:00. I think I was a few minutes late. Sat there and talked to some friends until 11, at which point I went to Math with Chris and we made fun of the prof because he trails off into a mumble at the end of EVERY sentence. After two hours of that, it was off to diversity reporting, which the entire federation (except 1 or 2) left halfway through.

I went home, did some stuff I needed to do, and took a nap before work. At 4:30, I left for work, and from 5-10 I wasn't that incredibally busy, which was very very nice. I got out of there as fast as I could, and ended up watching some TLC shows and a U2 bio on TV after with Leigh.

Today, I have an hour of politics, and hour meeting to prepare for our presentation in english, and then our presentation in english. Then its back to work... oh the joys of my life!!

Things are actually going quite well. ScotiaWhore even did something right!

ahh Sunday...
Monday, January 28, 2002 02:39 a.m.

Well, it was long overdue but today i got to sleep in until 1:30. The sun had been shining through my window for a few hours already, and I had heard noises, but nothing was going to spoil the perfect start to a nothing day.

I went for a walk all over town and eventually covered what I estimated to be about 5 miles. From my house, to Ryerson, down Church to Queen, across Queen to Spadina, back to the Eaton Centre, up Yonge to Wellesley, and back to my house. It was all part of a giant shopping trip on which nothing was purchased. I did, however, get to enjoy the day, because the weather was lovely. Didn't even wear the heavy jacket.

In the admin side of life, I did laundry, and shopped for groceries.

Leigh came over and we rented some movies. Tonight we watched Memento which I had seen and liked before. The 2nd viewing just gives you a little more understanding and let's you watch a little closer for a few certain things. Tomorrow we will watch the 2nd half of the doubleheader...

whew... this is a book!
Saturday, January 26, 2002 11:27 p.m.

Well, time to catch up.

Yesterday morning I left for school at 8:40ish,and got to class around 9. Over the next 8 hours, we all did our part to make sure that we put together a half-decent first TV show of the year. Despite cutting a few things pretty close, we went to air right on time, and finished up only about where we were supposed to. So that was good... I was the producer this week, so my job was just to make sure that everybody else was doing their job. I was only worried for about 10 minutes out of the whole day.

I came home and relaxed for a while, did the dishes, cleaned the tub, played some PS2, made some spaghetti, and killed some time before going to Leigh's to hang out for the evening. I learned how to play a few games on Dreamcast.

We started to watch "Silence of the Lambs" on TV but we were both too tired to finish it.

This morning, I dragged myself out of bed, and got to work for 11:00. I then cooked, prepped, cleaned, drove, and served for the next 12 hours. Which is why I just got home... I am, however, stuffed with some really good beef tenderloin with peppercorn sauce, rosemary roasted potatoes, and a mixed green salad in a raspberry vinagrette dressing. It was really good... and of course I brought home some more beef ;)

It occured to me as I was writing in my hours for today, that I've done 38 hours there since last Saturday... and that's a heck of a lot. Which would explain why I'm half dead most of the time... however, it will help amazingly in this weeks endeavours. More to follow...

Now is the part of the show where I answer a letter from a fan. Well, I'm not sure if ICQ counts as a "letter" and I'm not sure the person who wrote it counts as a "fan" but considering nobody ever sends me anything, I'll have to use the closest thing I got.

Sean writes: "What is it about the free world that pisses the rest of the world off so much?"

The answer: While Canada is a wonderful country, free in almost every conceivable way, its role in the "Free World Club" isn't nearly as significant as that of the club's loud and obnoxious leader: Mel Lastman

oops. that's not right, although Mayor Mel is certainly a loud and obnoxious member of the FWC, he's not the leader (although he allegedly says Toronto is his favourite continent).

No no, as we all know, The U.S.A. is the leader of the FWC, or so they claim. And because they hold such a prominent rank, people tend to listen closely when their head honchos uses words like "strategery" and "i didn't know that's what you meant by sexual relations." The rest of the Free World Club sometimes gets grouped along with them by a puzzled global community.

The people of their great nation are just as confused. As someone who spent a good part of his life living in the U.S., I can honestly say that someone has tricked them into believing that the rest of the world wants to be like them and that everybody is trying so hard to be as cool, as technological, as successful, as stylish... you understand.

And because American's honestly believe this (some are taught it in school), they do their best to be the kind-hearted people they are and share their stuff with the rest of the world. However, half the time the world doesn't want it, and the other half the time, the world absolutely needs it and reluctantly accepts the gift because they know they've just boosted the already giant ego of the American nation, but are too desparate to refuse the help.

It's the idea that the rest of the world wants what Americans have, that plagues all of their actions. Now, the rest of the world sees the United States as show-offs, and therefore is resentful of them. We must not forget, however, that Americans (besides from being really nice people - with some exeptions) have always been willing to help (yes, sometimes too willing) in any international crisis, war, debate, relief effort, etc. They, as a nation, have a giant ego, they flaunt what they have, but it should never be said that they are selfish. Self centered? Yes. But Selfish, no.

And I'm done... so if you have a question, comment, or issue that you would like me to discuss, please feel free to email me at brian@chickonline.com

its way past my bedtime...
Friday, January 25, 2002 01:40 a.m.

I'm plain old tired. Talk about being a little burnt out!

Today, I went to class which was actually kinda fun. I never thought I would enjoy trying to remember math i learned in highschool, but that's essentially what we did in class this morning and it was cool... Lordy, I'm a geek!

Then it was lunch at Swiss Chalet, although I wasn't all that hungry. I ended up munching off of Kristin's fries, and Mike's perogies. Chris just didn't have all that much to offer.

I sat at the SND for a while. This was the biggest waste of time (besides the free money) because they have TWO Lab Attendants on duty. Considering it takes less than one person to do the actual job (for which there are no other responsibilities than merely showing up), having two people there is a joke. So I took off a little early, to make sure I got to my hot date on time...

In a related story, I saw Gosford Park with Leigh this afternoon. I enjoyed it, although I wasn't blown away. It was a mystery with about 20 suspects (a few too many actually, kinda hard to remember who's who). It was like Clue, only not as funny.

After hanging with her a little longer, I took off for the curling club where we officially started our first losing streak of the season. After winning like 10 straight, we've lost our last two. Oh well... I'm too tired to care at this point.

aww yeah... we rule
Thursday, January 24, 2002 02:05 a.m.

We had our first volleyball game of the semester tonight, and we (Absolute Spike(d)) kicked some major butt. The most satisfying butt (and also one of the bigger ones on the team) to kick was that of this really annoying "I'm a Volleyball Pro-Star" Girl, who actually wasn't good at all. But while we were pounding them, she kept acting like she was still God's gift to intermurals. But whateva... we smoked 'em!!

As for the rest of the day, it was nothing too crazy. My first class was cancelled so I hung out with Leigh for a while (Yes, I'm mentioning her and will likely continue to do so) and then went to my other class, where we explored the joys of Non-Linear Editing, and stand-ups about nothing. (My new name according to Sarah is Brian "Long Winded Bastard" Chick, because my clip was 15 seconds longer than everybody else's).

SO yeah... work was HORRIBLE last night, and I was in no mood to write, so I appologize for not gracing you with any words. I was so annoyed until I got home, relaxed for a bit, and talked on the phone for a little while.

Apparently I was hyper tonight...

WOOO HOOOO!!
Tuesday, January 22, 2002 12:08 p.m.

Remember that free money application from back in November? I got some FREE money today and I'm doing the happy dance. If only I didn't have to go to class... and then to work.

today was not the most fun day i've had lately...
Tuesday, January 22, 2002 01:20 a.m.

There was nothing remarkable about today, other than the blizzard i walked through to get to work this morning. I was "a little snowman" according to Stacey, a friend who saw me pass through Pitman. So I sat at the SND for two hours, and boy does that beat the heck outta the nine-hour shift i did last semester!!

Class was the usual half bored, half attention.

Then I went to the club, and suffered through 5 and a half hours there. It was as busy as I've ever seen it on a Monday, and of course, nothing was ready. Oh well, its over... and i'm richer.

I get to sleep in tomorrow!!

math problem
Sunday, January 20, 2002 10:49 p.m.

Okay... Figure out how I can have two totally useless days at work (and by useless I mean boring and no fun, despite the food and money discussed last night), and still figure that I had a really good weekend.

Friday's Federation outing was just an awesome time, and reminded me how cool my friends are. Saturday was work all day, play all night. I ended up going out after I wrote the entry last night. And today was work from 2-6, but I managed to not do all that much, and watch the football game instead. So life is good ;)

boy it was a long day...
Saturday, January 19, 2002 10:49 p.m.

While getting up "early" this morning wasn't at all fun, and working an 11.5 hour shift wasn't exactly a riot either, I can still say that I love my job, and that today was a decent day. Perhaps it's the money... and the food, or a tie between the two.

Regardless, I have some cash in my pocket, and a few meals in the fridge for the next time I don't feel like cooking... so they'll all be gone in the next 24 hours. And its back to work tomorrow, but I don't mind. It will be a picnic compared to today.

a date which will live in INFAMY...
Saturday, January 19, 2002 02:32 a.m.

Besides being brutally cold, today was actually a very uplifting day. In broadcast class, we shot and edited a show-opening for our weekly broadcast, and I (along with everyone else in the group) was really excited about the quality of our finished product. So that was cool...

I got paid, which was a wonderful thing. That money is now in the bank, but likely won't stay there long. I faced ice-cold Canadian winds as I walked around the city today, and i can honestly say I was chilled to the bone. It was friggin cold.

The best part of the day however began around 7:30 when all 7* members of the Federation came together for pizza and drinks, before heading out to another party, and then out to Mick E. Fynns (where I happened to run into some other friends). It has been a long long time since everybody made it out together, and I think it is safe to say that everyone had a really really good time. God, I love my friends.

So, it's time for bed. I have to work ALL day tomorrow, which doesn't look like it will be much fun, however, i don't mind the money at all. Not only do I not mind it.... I NEED IT.

nothing speical...
Friday, January 18, 2002 10:04 a.m.

Well we lost last night... that's what happens when you curl like garbage and one of the team members is begging to be killed by the rest of the team (he didn't know he was begging though, which is the sad part).

Anyway, it's Friday morning. I'm in class. I hope this day goes by nice and quick, because tonight, it's PARTY TIME!

and it is settled...
Thursday, January 17, 2002 01:49 a.m.

The bet is over, somebody won. Who that someone was, really doesn't make any difference, now does it? All I can tell you is that it was really really close, and somebody ALMOST won, and somebody did.

Nothing terribly exciting happened today. I did a couple hours at the SND (Stupid Nothing Desk) and stopped at work before coming home. I had some dinner, then took off to go watch some TV (*coughgillmoregirlscough*) with Leigh.

a great day for the federation.
Wednesday, January 16, 2002 01:07 a.m.

An unprecedented number of bills became laws today during the Federations English class meeting. While most of them were on serious matters, some of them involved internal squabbling, and almost led to a suspension for yours-truly. Through a little political magic, however, I avoided any punishment except for a 45 minute probationary period.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you're going to have to find the entry from a few months ago where I explained the Federation... I might have called it the Confederation at that point. Who knows?

In other news, I worked tonight. I hate the fact that I have to keep the kitchen open until 10, because nobody ever comes in after 9:15. But I have to... so I get home nice and late.

In entertainment this evening, the debate between BUGles and BEWgles continues. But results will not be official until at least tomorrow night.

And ScotiaWhore has been taken off the probationary list, and put BACK on the companies i hate list because of a little ATM issue this afternoon.

P.S.- Because this thing is getting really incredibally LONG (like several months on one page) I will be archiving these entries shorty, so one day you will show up here, and there will only be one entry, and all the others will be moved (but still accessible). But fear not, for that entry will become a bunch more... just like these did.

breach, breach, breach!!!
Tuesday, January 15, 2002 01:14 a.m.

If I had known it was going to cause such a stink, I never would have made the stinkin' web-poll on the Buggles question. First of all, it hadn't even been up for half an hour and we've got more vote-tampering going on than Palm Beach, Florida in the last U.S. election. I tell one person about the thing, and all of a sudden like 5 votes appear!!

So then I get back from everything tonight, and my opponent in the bet is accusing me of CHEATING because i set the stupid thing up. Apparently, we hadn't agreed that web-polling was going to be a part of the bet, and even though it made me look like I was going to lose, I was attacked with comments like "Breach, Breach, Breach!!" for not including a clause about web-polls in a $5 bet.

However, the bet is still on. We've agreed on a new method of settling the questions (even though the poll was never intended to do so) and there will be no more debate concerning the matter.

In the events of the day... I went to my math class, paid attention, took notes, was intellecually stimulated, and actually enjoyed the subject matter. It was a really good feeling because for the first time in a while, i felt like learning was enjoyable. (Cue the "The More You Know..." star from the NBC adds). Strangely enough the same thing happened again in my jounalism class.

so thing are actually looking up, believe it or not...

The debate rages...
Monday, January 14, 2002 12:58 a.m.

There's money riding on this so I need your help. Please answer this for me... While this is not the official bet-settler, it is a poll to see if either of us has a clear advantage. Please answer only once.

I repeat, this is not to settle the bet. It is just an indication of who seems to think what. We already know what the PROPER pronunciation is, but how do YOU say it? The RIGHT way? or the WRONG way?

before i go to sleep...
Sunday, January 13, 2002 03:11 a.m.

well, i can't say the past hour and a half have been the happiest of my life... but i can say is that leigh probably won't be mentioned in this thing quite as often as she used to be. (you guys are all smart people, do the math).

while yeah, i'm depressed, i'd rather have this than have both of us trying to struggle through something that never seemed to be quite fully functional. it was never DISfunctional, it just never got going as well as it should have. i'm sure its for the best... and when people say that, it usually means that it sucks right now.

and it does... but i'll live

today's discovery
Sunday, January 13, 2002 01:02 a.m.

I'm sure people have known this for a long time, but it just kinda occured to me tonight. Or maybe reoccured to me, because I may have thought this before... People tend to think a lot more when they have nothing else to do.

Ladies and gentlemen, the story of my day.

I got out of bed around 1:00, which was pretty nice. A good sleep is never frowned upon. I really had nothing to do all day, so I took it upon myself to clean the kitchen, and most of the apartment (the bathroom still needs work). Then I cut my hair because I was getting awfly shaggy, and watched some TV. Mike came over around 6:30 and stayed until after the Leafs-Canadiens game was over.

The whole time though, my mind was all over the place. I didn't have anywhere to be, and I didn't have anything to do, but I was thinking like crazy. People, places, careers, relationships, everything... and its not like I figured anything out either. All I know is that I feel like I'm waiting for something big to happen. I've settled into a routine, and things have gotten pretty dull, and something needs to change that. It just seems like I'm always waiting... I don't know what that means.

So while I wait, I picked up Lord of the Rings again. I got it for Christmas and have been pretty slow to make any progress. But tonight, I've turned quite a few pages, even read a couple of them. It's getting exciting, and now, I think I can break down and see the movie.

my right hand is freezing...
Friday, January 11, 2002 07:52 p.m.

my right hand is so cold, and my left hand is a regular temperature. that's really odd. i've kinda been loafing around for the past couple hours. i got back from class kinda in a weird mood because class was just... disturbing.

today was the first day of my TV broadcast class, and as a teacher, i have the executive producer of ALL of CBC News. so i was excited because this guy knows what he's talking about, and considering he's been in the business for 28 years, he's probably got some useful stuff to share with us.

So were did the usual first-day stuff, and figured out our schedules and whatnot for the rest of the year, but after all that, things got interesting. what he did, was show us videos of really RAW news footage of pretty sick things (people getting shot, shooting themselves, getting stabbed to death by a mob, a pile of burnt corpses, etc.) and then started discussions on why these should be on the news, or why they shouldn't. while the discussion was completely reasonable, and even educational, the images which we had all seen were floating around in my head, kinda haunting me. i'm not terribly upset or disturbed or anything like that. it's more like a constant state of "ew..."

now i'm trying to figure out what i do with the rest of my night, and tomorrow.

steamy? you want steamy?
Friday, January 11, 2002 12:04 a.m.

I have received a bit of criticism saying that this weblog isn't steamy enough. While I was thrilled that people (i can now be sure that its plural) are reading, I was slightly concerned about what i should do about it.

Well, after quite a bit of debate I've decided that Kristin is right. (Mike once described Kristin as the woman with the sex drive of Bea Arthur, and now she wants me to be steamy. Strange, no?) So here it is... for Kristin.

i take really long and really hot showers...NAKED

Steamy enough for ya, CRACKA?!

In other news, I was really tired all day, and thought I deserved a nap. So I took one, watched "Friends," went to the club, made some dinner (god, i love free food), curled, won (we're now 18-1), came home. The world is so exciting.

10 days deep
Thursday, January 10, 2002 12:47 a.m.

What a drastic change for Wednesday... Last semester I would sit all day from 9-6 at the stupid nothing desk and crave a bullet in the teeth to make life more exciting.

This semester, I have TWO 3-hour INTERESTING CLASSES. Research and Story Editing, and Broadcast Techniques. Both things that might actually help further my career!!

I saw "ALI" today. Nothing special. Will Smith was good, but they tried to fit way too much into it. There was a lot of stuff that just could have been left out. And they might have included a few other notable events, but oh well. I'll have a say someday, but until then, I'll suffer.

Today's discussion question: Is it wrong that I'm starting to enjoy "Gillmore Girls?" (Remind me to thank Leigh for that!)

i got home late tonight...
Wednesday, January 9, 2002 01:06 a.m.

After showing up to a class with no prof, we joined another of the same class, and learned that there had been some mishap in the scheduling office. What it all boils down to is that I have another hour of class on Monday, but I get to sleep in another hour on Tuesday. And by sleep in, I mean I don't have class until 2pm.

Then it was politics, and english, and they were both boring as usual.

I went to work, and it was pretty busy but i managed to keep up and make some good food. My curling team was playing a make-up game at 9, and they knew I had to work, but they scheduled it today anyway. So I closed the kitchen at 9:30 (as usual) but left the clean-up for later and joined the game that had already started. We won, I played well. Then I went back into the kitchen and did the dishes, and mopped the floor.

Now I'm home, and my email doesn't work. It's been down for a two days now. Oh well, I hope there's no crazy news coming my way over email... I may not get it anytime soon, or at all.

school daze...
Monday, January 7, 2002 11:09 p.m.

If only there was something about today to write. Classes started and I had two very unexciting lectures. First was MTH599, the "Foundations of Mathematic Thought." This wasn't have as boring as it sounds but it was still pretty dull. It wasn't complete loss though because I had fun trying to remember things I learned in Grade 9. Geez, I can't even remember the teacher's name...

From there I went to two hours of "Covering Diversity," a required class for the whole Journalism program. This is only going to be slightly less useless than the "Sociology of Diversity" we were all required to take last semester.

Then it was off to work for the first time in several weeks. Oh the joys...

BOSTON part 2...
Monday, January 7, 2002 12:33 a.m.

So Tony and I are headed into Boston to see some friends (DWBs) play at Northeastern University. This was their first real gig as a band, and Andy (guitarist/singer/all around good guy and great friend) did a great job promoting it and got a ton of people to come.

But first, we drove around for a day or two trying to find a place to park. Northeastern is stupid like that, because they have about 30 parking lots, and none of them are open on Saturday nights, so they stay empty. Grr... anyway, we eventually found a spot, and prayed we didn't get towed.

So Shoopus played an amazing show and blew me right away. I had no idea that it was going to be anywhere as good as it was... I am already committed to be head roadie when they start touring.

Afterward, Andy had a bunch of people back to his aparmtent, and a goodtime was had by all... I think. Some details are a little foggy. Although I was planning to spend the night (and we had found an appropriate parking spot that allowed us to do so), Tony decided we should leave and crash at his house, which probably was a good idea. So we did that... around 5:45am.

I was up at 10:30, and on the road 15 minutes later. My head hurt a little, and I didn't dare try to eat anything. So the plan was to meet Darcy on the Mass Pike at 12:00. I got to the spot at 11:30, and waited and waited and waited... and he never came. Considering I was supposed to bring him back to Toronto with me, this was kinda a big deal. I didn't have his phone number, and I couldn't check my email, but I figured he would have been there... I couldn't wait that long, because I needed to be in Brockville in time to catch a train. I trusted he would be on time, especially for a meeting like this, and assumed (and prayed) that he had sent an email or something saying he wasn't coming with me. So after waiting an hour, I took off and hoped that I wasn't leaving him stranded.

About 40 miles down the Mass Pike, I catch glimpse of a sign pointing towards Interstate 91, and it strikes as a really familiar road for some reason. Then I remembered that Darcy had mentioned it in all the things we were talking about when we arranged everything (we originally had planned to meet at a rest stop, then in Sturbridge, and then setteled for a Pike-exit). Then it occurs to me that I was probably waiting at the wrong exit for an hour, and that it couldn't hurt to check things out at this one. So I pull off, go through the toll booth, and sure enough, he's parked there and waving at me. Yes... I'm the genius in the bunch.

We got packed up, and drove all afternoon. It got a little snowy in Northern New York State in the 25 miles between Burger King and McDonalds (seriously... they advertise that). After a couple brief stops for food and gas, we made it to the border where the customs guy drilled us with all sorts of questions. Both of us have gone through customs 1000 times, and have never been asked so many odd things ("Did you leave the country while you were in the U.S.?" Umm... i was there for two days, and even if i had had the time, i don't think that's technically possible). But we survived that and drove to Maitland with the only downfall, almost sliding into a ditch half a mile from my parents house... almost doesn't count though.

Mom made an awesome dinner, we fixed the printer, and then took off for the train station. Got tickets, got on the train, got sat, and then the fun started.

We ended up using Darcy's camera and laptop to make little movies like "Beer Quest"(starring our new friend Kevin as the guy who is looking for the refreshment-cart guy so he can buy a beer). Anyway, it was a really good time, and the 3 hour ride flew right by.

And now I am home... and I'm exhausted... and I have to start classes tomorrow... but not until 11. So that's a bonus. Take it easy, and goodnight.

I hope you're comfortable, because this is going to be long...
Sunday, January 6, 2002 11:35 p.m.

THE BOSTON TRIP

It is Sunday night and I've just returned from an epic voyage. Well, maybe not epic, but a voyage from which a lot of good stories can now be told. I'll try to get to all of the good ones.

After running errands all day on Thursday (pick up paycheque, update student card, update ISIC card), I hung out with Leigh for a bit, before I took off to the train station. I got on the 5:30 train and arrived in Brockville a few hours later, where my dad was waiting. I had a snack, watched some TV, and went to bed.

The next morning, I was up nice and early (8:00am!!) and had some breakfast, watching the weather channel to make sure I wasn't going to drive through a blizzard. Once the route was decided, I hopped in the Dirtiest Van on the Planet and went for a drive. After missing a turn in the first 20 minutes of my journey, I was slightly concerned how the rest of it was going to go. I fixed my error though, and eventually found the big bridge that connects Ontario to New York State, and crossed it. After that, there were no driving problems.

There were some related problems though. Like the fact that my van has the WORST cup-holders in the world which resulted in the drivers side floor getting bathed in a nice tall cup of Coca Cola from McDonalds. I think I had taken half a sip before it went over... I hadn't even left the parking lot. (*In a related story, entering that McDonalds in the middle-of-nowhere New York confirmed the fact that i am a CITY-BOY and that while it may look completely normal in Toronto, jeans, a sweater, and a leather coat, is an outfit way too classy for this establishment whose patrons were almost entirely mullet-headed flannel wearers).

Most of New York is a wasteland for anything resembling a radio station...

I made it to Southboro, Massachusetts around 3:30, and went straight to visit Andreas, who was the only one I figured would be home. His sister Cosima was there, and he was due back shortly, so we chatted and she tried to hide the fact that she had forgotten my name. She succeeded, but later admitted the fact shamefully.

Andreas then got home, and we hung out for a while which was tons of fun. He makes me laugh a lot. I took off to visit my awesome friend "Just" Beth. I showed up in her kitchen, she had a heart attack, we got caught up, she ate spaghetti, i left for "THE WEDDING RECEPTION" (*cue scary music and lightning flashes).

I understand that the first of your friends marriages is kinda a big deal, and that it would be odd for everyone. But consider the fact that I dated her for almost a year, and things get a little more odd. I kept telling myself that it wasn't a big deal and that it wasn't going to be weird... boy, was that stupid.

As I pull into the parking lot of the place, I started to think about what was really happening. When I walked in to the room, it hit me like a ton of bricks. THIS WAS WEIRD. Natalie flipped (in a good way) when she saw me because she didn't really expect me to be there... you know, living in Canada and all. So I talked to her, and a bunch of other friends, had some ice cream, and took off because it was really freaking all of us out.

Then I went to a different friends birthday party where all the DWBs were. (Dirty White Boys= DWB = all my best friends from highschool... not all dirty, white, or even boys). So I saw everybody, had a lot of good laughs, and called it a night.

But not before I locked my keys in the car at 2:30 in the morning. We called AAA and the exceptionally cool auto-attendant guy, impressed the heck outta me by maneuvering wires down the outside of my window, up the inside, and then managing to hit the "unlock" button on the door... in the dark.

I slept at Tony's house (he was the one who came up to visit in August... if you've been reading that long).

I had a great sleep. Woke up around 11:30, fresh as a daisy, had some pancakes, went shopping with Beth and Tony (i make it a point to go to CFO every time i'm in town... its really good clothes (eddie bauer, j.crew, gap, american eagle, abercrombie, etc.) at really cheap prices (all jeans = $15)), drove to Franklin, Mass. to see my another of my best friends in the world, Bryan Fink. I hung out with his family for a bit, then drove back up to Southborough, had dinner with Tony (mmm... Boston Chicken), then took off for downtown Boston.

This is getting really long... time for a break.

it's all about the WB
Thursday, January 3, 2002 02:50 a.m.

Already the 3rd day of 2002. Where does the time go?

I had a slightly more productive day than I did yesterday. January 1st consisted of a trip to Blockbuster and Coffee Time, ordering dinner from Dangerous Dan's (mmm mmm poutine!) and watching "Reqiuem for a Dream" and "Strictly Ballroom."

After hearing a lot of people tell me how good Requiem, I was a little disappointed when it sucked. It was okay, had some really intersting parts, but then it just dragged on and on, and got less and less interesting. People are correct to say that it's a really "heavy" movie, but it wasn't nearly as good as I was hoping.

After finding out I get the WB network, Leigh is suddenly way more anxious to visit. I didn't think it was such a big deal, but apparently that scores me super bonus points.

Today was kinda half productive. I went to Ryerson to figure out a scheduling conflict (side note: lots and lots of class this semester= crummy schedule). Then I went home because I had to work at 5, and I had to get some stuff before heading to the restaurant. Just as I was about to leave for work, the boss called and said to come at 6:00 instead. And later he called again, and said not to come at all.

So instead of going to work, I hung out at home for a bit, then went to Leigh's place, tried SUSHI for the first time ever, watched TV, made fun of whatever was on TV, and then walked home just a few minutes ago.

Now, I have to plan a trip to Boston that i will undertake starting tomorrow afternoon. I was supposed to have some company, but everybody was busy, or backed out, or something... So instead I'll do it alone. Just me and the road. And some music. And some donuts.

So keep reading for updates on the Boston trip.

HAPPY 2002...
Tuesday, January 1, 2002 02:55 p.m.

Happy new year everybody!!

Our celebration was pretty low-key, just hung out at the apartment and watched some movies, had a couple drinks, made dinner. Leigh and I are bit by bit scratching titles off the list of movies that we need to watch. Last night Tomb Raider and Saving Private Ryan were knocked off. Tonight we might get a couple more done.

In unfortunate news, my shower is acting up, so it wasn't nearly as warm as I would have liked. I like really long, really hot showers but today I had to settle for a luke-warm crappy one.

The debate rages on about what is to be done with the rest of the day. And this being the first entry of 2002, we're switching to movie lines...

an update for those of you who care...
Sunday, December 30, 2001 10:55 p.m.

Fortunately, I was wrong.

I didn't have to play three games today, only two, if we kept winning. And win, we did. So after losing our first two yesterday, we won last night, and both of our games today, pretty easily (although they all went right to the end, we were in complete control), and I brought home a new fleece sweater thingy. Like I needed another one.

In other news, I've done a bit of cleaning, watched a HORRIBLE movie (The Legend of Baggar Vance), and am now really really really tired.

i'm so tired...
Sunday, December 30, 2001 12:46 a.m.

I know you were all waiting for an update on the status of this weekends curling, so here you go. All I can say at the moment, is after one day of competition, it is pretty safe to say that we are NOT going to Switzerland. Actually, its guaranteed.

We lost our first game to Bobby Reid, last years provincial champion, even though we should have beaten him. It kinda sucked, because we really could have won. He made a great shot to beat us, although had I made my first shot, he wouldn't have had the chance.

We lost our second game, because we played UGLY. (I did make a pretty sweet shot in the 4th end though ;)

And somehow, we won our third game. Although we weren't trying at all, and were more focued on being goofs and joking with everyone, we won the game pretty handily. I think it was because the other team wanted to win LESS than we did. Neither of us really wanted to because it involves playing tomorrow at 9am, which means I have to be up in roughly 6 hours.

calm between the... storms?
Friday, December 28, 2001 07:23 p.m.

well maitland wasn't exactly a storm, but i now have about a 20 minute break before the next wave of holiday season excitement. Josh, Steve, and Justin should show up shortly, kicking off our curling weekend. The TCA starts tomorrow, and if we keep winning all our games, i'll be writing to you from Switzerland.

For now, i'm cleaning.

i've escaped
Friday, December 28, 2001 12:16 a.m.

I'm out of the town where nothing happens, and back to the apartment where things are dirty. Toronto was crazy with post-holiday shoppers, but other than that, it seems to be pretty normal.

i'm developing a bit of a cold. it's not often that you get a stuffy and runny nose at the same time, but i seem to have managed it. so i'll be off to bed shortly.

It's good to be back though. most of my new toys have found a home.

Oh yeah, i stayed up super late last night talking on AOL instant messenger, and froze to death, i was shaking so much i could barely type. Maybe that's where i got the cold...

Summary...
Thursday, December 27, 2001 01:46 a.m.

Tomorrow, I officially head back to Toronto to resume the life that I had settled into before I came to this town. Maitland isn't a horrible place. There just isn't a lot to do. And when you don't get a good book to read until a day before you leave, it makes for a couple uneventful weeks.

I actually enjoyed myself for the most part, aside from being really bored. I slept a lot, watched some movies, spent some time with the family. Today, I went to Brockville (the closest thing to civilization we have around here) and did a little Boxing Day shopping. I got the DVD I wanted, and one that was a good buy, and some shoes, which are making me very happy at the moment.

Before I sleep my last night in this quiet little town, I'd like to share with you some of the things I've observed while being here:

1. I brought home about 4 times more clothes than I needed to. When going "home" free laundry is a perk, and you can get really lucky if someone else does it.

2. Spending time with family is really good. There's a fine line between over-exposure, and never seeing someone, but if you can find that area in the middle, it can be some really good times.

3. If I don't shave for a few weeks, I can get really ugly. I also need a haircut, while we're on the topic.

4. Travel tip: If you plan to take a DVD somewhere so everyone in your group can watch the DVDs they get for Christmas, remember to bring the remote control. Otherwise, your DVD options can be EXTREMELY limited, such as watching only the movie (no special features) with the on-screen timer running, as well as the closed captioning.

5. Going to hockey games is fun and it is too bad that tickets in Toronto are so grossly expensive.

6. I learned I'm not half as dumb as I used to think. We always used to play Trivial Persuit as part of our family gatherings, and there were always 100,000 questions I couldn't answer because the game was older than I was. This year, we brought out a newer version of the game (genus iv) and suddenly, I can answer everything.

7. There are some other things I'm feeling right now, but I can't quite figure out what it is. It's somewhere between excitement of going back to T.O. and the sudden realization that I'm actually going to miss the people I've spent the last weeks with. Nobody will understand more "inside" jokes than my brother and sisters. I can't make anybody else laugh like them either. I've learned that you will never grow out of a nickname that you've had for 20 years. And its kinda corny, but I know that they will all be there for me no matter what I end up going through... so yeah, its a big cheer for "yay family," but its too bad they can't live somewhere fun ;)

It's bed time. The next posting will be from Toronto. See you there ;)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
Tuesday, December 25, 2001 07:01 p.m.

Well I hope you all got what you wanted, because I did, for the most part (minus the ONE DVD that i REALLY REALLY wanted and will be forced to buy myself in the next few days). But I got a lot of cool stuff, ate a lot of really good food (deep fried turkey again) and hung out with the fam, including the grandparents, and aunt, uncle, and cousin. If I eat anymore, I'll explode.

I have some reading to do. I got the Lord of the Rings set, and I have to read it before I see the movie.

It was a white Christmas in Maitland, I hope it was as nice for all of you... and by the way, other than the couple readers I talk to regularily, I still have no idea who, if anyone, reads this.

and its not so bad, not so bad
Sunday, December 23, 2001 01:59 p.m.

We were in Montreal last night to see the Canadiens beat the Kings. It was a good game and we weaseled our way into pretty good seats. We spent half the game in the 8th row which was better than our Row W seats which were a ways back.

When we got back, Sue, Di, Neil and Jon were here and we joked a bit before they all went to bed. I watched some TV first because I wasn't tired yet, and eventually went to sleep in the basement. (Now that everybody else is here, I lose my cushy room with the computer and the TV).

It's nice to have more people here, and its getting pretty exciting. Christmas is right around the corner! Ohhhhhh yeah...

uuuuuuuuuughhhh.....
Friday, December 21, 2001 11:25 p.m.

Okay, I know it was my idea to stay at home tonight, hoping that some plans might arise, knowing full well that they might not. That's my fault. I knew, however, that I could watch all the TV I wanted, and that there was a hockey game on TSN that involved the Toronto Maple Leafs, so i was going to be all set.

Now, whose bright idea was it to NOT SHOW the Leafs game because we're not in the Toronto area? And whose bright idea was it to take any other decent programming off the TV. I spent the last few hours flipping channels, and didn't even find anything entertaining...

Whoever took all the good stuff off TV also gave me a headache, and made my house really cold. Oh well, I'll live. I can always send out mass Christmas emails ;)

Things should get a little more exciting tomorrow. We're off to Montreal for a hockey game, and also my sisters arrive (with their guys). Then its only a couple more days until Christmas... YAY!!!

But for now, ugh. I've made a decision that in the new year these entries will end with a movie quote instead of a song lyric (that's what all those little lines are, by the way). This is the kind of things I think about when I get really really bored... and i've exhausted all the usual things to ponder.

I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out...
Friday, December 21, 2001 01:39 a.m.

Tonight, Dan and I went to Ottawa to see the Senators play against the L.A. Kings. Anyone who has seen any highlights of this game know that it was pretty exciting... and pretty violent. After 4 or 5 one-on-one fights, an all out BRAWL broke out between the two teams, and the goalies even got into it. A total of 247 penalty minutes were given out, and one guy on the Kings is probably going to get a 10 game suspension (for leaving the bench during a fight... and tackling an opponent... and one of his own teammates... and a referee).

i ripped this off from the TSN website

We took lots of pictures, and as soon as I can, I will present you with a photo essay of our voyage tonight, and our tentative trip to Montreal on Saturday for another game not to mention pictures of me with the Stanley Cup). It's all part of my "Hock-umentary" according to Dan.

In a related story, really good seats in Ottawa only cost $110, whereas the same price in Toronto might get you into the game, if you find the right scalper.

In an unrelated story, Dan and I sure made fun of Charlotte Church a lot. I know, I know... she sings like an angel but i still can't stand her.

you know you're bored when...
Thursday, December 20, 2001 12:00 a.m.

I just spent a couple hours searching through boxes in our basement looking for a few CDs that I actually don't care too much about. Sure old jazzy Christmas Carols are great, and you gotta love Sinatra, Bennett, Crosby, and Ella singing all the good ones, but is it really worth hanging out in a dusty basement for that long?

I never found the CDs. While I'm confused about their whereabouts, I'm just impressed that I actually wasn't bored for the past couple hours.

Looking through the boxes was a trip down memory lane though. I saw pictures and things that reminded me of places and people that I hadn't thought about in a while. One more crappy thing about Maitland... no friends around. I miss Massachusetts.

In other news, I've wrapped all my Christmas presents and a nice long phone call with Leigh was the highpoint of my evening.

PS- sure i'll be home for Christmas, but I'm getting out of here as soon as I can AFTER Christmas!

a milestone...
Tuesday, December 18, 2001 11:49 p.m.

Today, i lifted the heaviest couch i have ever encountered in my whole life.

oh, the excitement...
Monday, December 17, 2001 08:20 p.m.

I've been in Maitland for all of 30 hours, and already am ready for a drastic change. I think snow is the most exciting thing ever to come to this town.

Needless to say, things are a little dull. We voyaged to the metropolis of Brockville today, and I finished my Christmas shopping. I think this is the earliest I've ever done that. I did some laundry (typical behaviour for students: do laundry at home) and the my mom said that she didn't clean the lint trap in the dryer for a while because it would "give me something to do when I was home." Someone please save me.

The week looks to improve, if only because I'll be getting out of this town. Trips to Kingston, Ottawa, and Montreal are all in the works, and will surely bring some excitement into my life. But for now, its hockey on TV, on the French channel. That's the best we can do.

I didn't know I was going to touch the Stanley Cup today.
Sunday, December 16, 2001 02:03 a.m.

I got up and called Leigh as I had promised (to make sure she got out of bed in time to catch her train). Unfortunately, I was still too groggy to carry on a meaningful conversation, so I'm sure she found it rather amusing. I don't think I got a complete sentence out, and if I did, i doubt it was relevant to anything we were discussing.

So after bumming around the apartment and I, my brother (Dan) and I took off downtown for an afternoon of fun and excitement.

We went to the Eaton Centre (5 days in a row!!) to exchange the sweater I got, and after realizing they didn't make XXLs, I put on the original one. Not only does it fit just fine (just not too baggy) but its really cozy. So after all that, I love the original sweater.

We went to the Hockey Hall of Fame. For some reason, it just didn't occur to me that "THE CUP" would just be on display and that you could just walk up to it and touch it and stuff. Sure enough, that's what we did today. Pretty crazy... Then we watched an documentary on the 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union. I'm literally convinced that this moment in hockey history was the basis for Rocky IV. It's the exact same story (well, almost...).

After that, we decided to see what people were charging for Leafs tickets tonight. I have a correction to make: Anybody who has ever asked me about getting tickets has always heard me say "They're really tough to get." From today forward, my standard reply will be "They're easy to get, if you don't mind selling your children to raise a couple hundred bucks." We could have had any seat in the place, starting at $100 each for the worst ones. So we passed on the game, went to East Side Marios instead. Had some good food, watched the game on TV.

We walked back uptown and took a lot of pictures (Dan is suddenly a hardcore photographer), and then went to Mick E. Fynns, to watch the rest of the game and to play some pool. I won the first four games, before letting him take the fifth ;)

And now I'm home. And ready for bed. It looks like I'm taking off for Maitland tomorrow. Prepare for a few weeks of really boring entries.

What did i learn today?
Saturday, December 15, 2001 05:26 a.m.

Today I learned that:

1. They have the same stuff at the mall as they did yesterday, and the day before that, and none of it makes a good present for dad.

2. Apparently I'm huge enough that XLs don't even fit me anymore. I guess all that non-working out, eating pizza, and walking several miles a day really works.

3. The stress associated with gift-giving is way over-rated. The present I was all freaked-out over was well received, and I really like the sweater she got me (even if it is a bit tight)... but its still a really nice sweater, and I will still wear it all the time (once we get the size figured out).

4. Just because a movie has Mel Gibson, a Supermodel, and a soundtrack that is almost entirely U2 (not to mention the cameo appearance by Bono), it DOES NOT MEAN IT WILL BE A GOOD MOVIE!!! For example, Million Dollar Hotel would be one such film. Not that good...really weird...drags on forever...

5. Six-String Samurai was equally weird, but in a way better way. "If you were me, you'd be goodlookin'"

6. Slush, baggy jeans, old shoes, slush, and more slush do not make for an easy walk. Between sliding all over the place, and stepping in puddles that fill my shoes with cold cold stuff, it was rough.

And finally...

7. I leared all sorts of interesting things about sex by watching a call-in show until 4:30 am.

it's all happening.
Thursday, December 13, 2001 09:53 p.m.

I finally attacked the shopping dilemma, and settled on something. I was going back and forth and here and there, and still had no idea. But I went with one of my first ideas, and I hope it works out okay. Oh well... I won't be hurt if she wants to exchange it.

We curled tonight and won in an extra end, which was kinda fun. I didn't want to be there too late, but it ended up being okay, because we were playing pretty fast. My team was glad that Brian showed up and Timmy (my mentally dull alter-ego) didn't. So it was good...

After sprinting from Queen to Dundas to catch a streetcar, I realized how out of shape I was. I did run fast enought to get it though, and the driver said that not many people can keep up that long. So that made me feel pretty good about myself.

So now, I'm waiting for my brother to show up. If I didn't mention it weeks ago, he's flying in from Minnesota tonight. He should be arriving momentarily. It kinda snuck up on me though. Yesterday was like "oops, that's tomorrow?"

So anyway, now I wait. And chat on ICQ, and listen to a 38 song mix.

a mighty mighty sleep-in...
Thursday, December 13, 2001 02:57 p.m.

So I slept in a little bit today. I meant to get up around 12 of before, but somehow in a daze, I shut of my alarm and figured I'd go back to bed. At least I'm assuming that's what happened, although I have no recollection of these events.

Yesterday was a fun day though. I saw "Ocean's Eleven" with Leigh. I really liked it, and it seemed longer than it actually was, which isn't a bad thing. It was just like more stuff happened than they should fit in a movie under two hours. Whatever, it was really good.

Remember the CD I made for Leigh like two months ago? Last night we finally put her's together for me. She had all the songs and stuff ready months ago, but doesn't have a burner, so she couldn't actually make the CD. So we did that... Her's is two full CDs, and one CD with 3 songs. I'm listening to it at the moment, and I quite enjoy it.

It was really misty/foggy in Toronto. I couldn't see anything out my window...except fog. Then I looked in the mirror and saw some WICKED hat-head.

all the lights are misty in the river...
Wednesday, December 12, 2001 04:37 a.m.

Okay, so there's no river. But there was a misty fog-like cloudy thing in the park tonight, which made the lamp-posts look really cool. It was a cross between really calm and quiet, and kinda eerie spooky. Calm and quiet took over and won though.

I just got back from Leigh's where we spent 4 hours figuring out that there was nothing on TV. We ended up watching old episodes of Cheers and singing along to the theme from "the Nanny."

I worked tonight, which was a good thing considering the amount of money i spent today. And besides working an extra hour to make up for the one i missed yesterday, i scored $12 in tips, which is about $12 more than I usually make.

All the money I spent today was on Christmas presents. I dropped quite a bit of cash on my family. Dad is the only family member who has not been completed yet. I have a good idea what he's getting, but haven't had a chance to find that yet. In other news, an internal dilemma rages on what certain other people should be getting from me for Christmas...

oh happy day!!!
Monday, December 10, 2001 11:46 p.m.

I've officially completed my 5th semester of my university career. I took my exam today and it went quite well. Definately a solid pass ;). I was right (and lucky) not to worry about it too much. So I'm done school for a month or so!!

I took the watch back to eatons, and they gave me some grief about not having a receipt but eventually gave me cash for it. I asked if they gave store credit, and she said "no, just cash." So if you have something in the original box you want to get rid of for retail price cash, take it to eatons! The only problem is the watch was on sale, so I had to take the sale price... dang, only $52.

So then I decided that I could blow the money because it was a prize and that I had earned it (although I'm not sure how losing the 4th event deserves much of a prize). So I bought two CDs, and spent the rest on dinner at the Lonestar Cafe with Chris, Mike, Merrick, Will, Kristin, and Sarah (aka- the journalism crew who had just taken the same exam).

In related news, I highly recommend: Robbie Williams- "Swing When You're Winning;" Barenaked Ladies- "Disc One: All their greatest hits"; and the Texas Fettucini Alfredo with Chicken Breast at the Lonestar Cafe. They all friggin rock.

weekend update...
Monday, December 10, 2001 01:38 a.m.

We won our 9am game this morning in 5 ends. We were up 10-3 or something so they decided not to play the rest of it. We had a few hours to kill before our next game so I went home and caught up on some sleep (I was up at 7am). So after about 2 hours on the couch, i picked up Tom and went back to the club.

One benefit of qualifying for the finals is that you get yet another free meal. So after Fridays roastbeef dinner, last nights dinner for two, and breakfast stuff on both days, they fed us yet again. It was really good, as is most of the food i've eaten there. Then we curled and lost... no details necessary other than that it was not my fault because i actually played pretty well.

I ended up winning a Timex Watch valued at around $65 and a Molson Canadian Gym Bag, which is actually really nice. So the weekend was well worth the money. I'm going to try to trade the watch in because a) it doesn't work and b) i don't want it anyway. Details to follow.

In other news, my one final exam is tomorrow afternoon, and I feel adequately prepared. I dont think i'll ace it, but i think i'll be able to make up enough stuff to fill an essay. But then I'm done til January...

it was fun BUT...
Sunday, December 9, 2001 01:50 a.m.

a) i'm running on 3 hours sleep

b) we lost a horrible first game, and won our second

c) dinner was great. leigh and i got all dressed up and we looked HOT (her moreso than me).

d) we laughed at old people dancing

e) i'm dead tired, and i have to curl tomorrow at 9 am.

good start....
Saturday, December 8, 2001 12:38 a.m.

We won our first game pretty easily. So we're one step closer to the good prizes. Two games tomorrow, then a nice dinner. Tonight's dinner was an all-you-can-eat roast beef buffet. Guess who made a few trips and loaded up?

In other news, somebody thinks we're pretty good because he paid $850 to "own" us for the Calcutta draw. Basically how it works is that someone buys each team at an auction (some people own a few teams) and all the money goes into a pool. If you win the main event, whoever owns you gets 25% of the pool. If you lose the main event final, whoever owns you gets 15% of the pool. The percentage drops as the events get lower. So anyway, somebody paid $850 for us, which was among the highest money spent. Go us... What it really means is that this guy is going to be REALLY mad at us if we don't win something ;)

I gotta get up early...

sleepy sleepy
Friday, December 7, 2001 11:51 a.m.

I can't wake up. I got tons of sleep in me, and it sunny and bright in here, and i keep wanting to get back in bed. At least I didn't have to get up for an 8:00 exam or anything. I feel sorry for anybody who did... especialy if you were up til 4:30 studying.

We curled last night in our Thursday league. We won, which brings our record in this thing to 9-1. Tonight I start a spiel at the Toronoto Cricket, Skating, and Curling Club. We played in it last year, and it was a great time with good food, and good prizes.

And there's that pesky exam on Monday. Time to study for that thing...

one to go...
Thursday, December 6, 2001 04:12 p.m.

In about 5 minutes, I'll hand in my music essay. This will mark the end of everything school related, except for my politics exam on Monday. While everything else is done, I'm still a little concerned, because a) it's an exam and b) I have no idea how hard it's going to be.

Well, I'm just gonna learn all I can between now and Monday.

a poem
Thursday, December 6, 2001 03:56 a.m.

3:30 am
december feels like may
old drunks debate "dirty harry" in the park
i'm really warm
didn't need the jacket
get home whistling
the place smells like bacon
no new email
just icq
blinking globe in the corner of my screen
porn link, no thanks
goodnight hotstuff!

hooray for being productive!
Wednesday, December 5, 2001 05:39 p.m.

The paper is done. At least the writing part. I still need to do the bibliography, the title page, and whatnot... but the hard part is out of the way.

We cleaned the apartment (at least somewhat) and I cleaned my room so now it looks almost presentable. I was getting sick of living in a sty, which is how it is sometimes. We threw out lots and lots of bottles that might have been worth some money, but Justin was too lazy to do anything about it, so we threw them out. So it's kinda clean at the moment.

I have to say I'm looking pretty hot at the moment. It's 5:44. I have flannel pants and a t-shirt on. Haven't thought about putting in the contact lenses yet. The hair is all over the place. Can you say "oh baby! oh baby!?" I can.

good sleep
Wednesday, December 5, 2001 12:45 p.m.

Well, I'm hoping that I'm not supposed to be at work today. At least nobody has called or anything. It is a University job, and they aren't allowed to make us work during the exam period, so I think I'm okay. Another thing they aren't allowed to make us do is write papers due after classes end, which is why I'm wondering how music-teacher lady is getting away with it. That's about half way done, and the 2nd half should be pretty easy. It will be done today.

I just woke up, and am therefore hungry and uncoordinated. Typing this little note took way longer than it should have because I was hitting backspace a few times a word because I kept missing the right keys.

the sound of music...
Tuesday, December 4, 2001 03:53 p.m.

I'm officially starting my last essay of the semester. It's about the guitar. It's history, cultural significance, and whatnot. Can't wait.

And if I was germ-free before, i think that's passed. I was on the elevator with a lady coughing her head of, and a guy who sneezed about every 6 seconds. I can only hope that I survive. Don't worry, I eat healthy and get lots of rest... or not so much.

apparently i walk fast...
Tuesday, December 4, 2001 12:13 p.m.

For a night that ended so incredindally well, I woke kinda scared and excited. I think it was because in my dream somebody was drilling through my bedroom door, and about to kill me or something. I don't usually remember my dreams, and I don't remember this one very well, but I do know that it was really weird.

Oh well, I'm over it. I'm awake (unlike some people I know who planned to get up nice and early). Then again, I'm only awake because Noah called, and Dawn called, and Mike called, all in the span of about 10 minutes.

I was out rather late last night at Leigh's. I'm not even going to tell you what movie we watched because I will likely get beaten up.

Today, I have to write a paper. But its time to start procrastinating. Going out for lunch ;)

by the way...
Monday, December 3, 2001 12:22 p.m.

That B+ paper was this one... from November 6th.

so far, so good...
Monday, December 3, 2001 11:59 a.m.

Well, i'm officially down to 3 semesters of class. Today was my last class of the year and, although it didn't even take place, its great to be done. Now that sociology is done, I can focus on my music essay which should be pretty easy (at least I think so)...

So today I got up, had some cereal, got ready, and took off for school. Today is sunny, and warm, and really doesn't feel anything like December. I ran some errands around campus, which included dumping my Soc. paper on Chris to hand in, and picking up the politics essay I wrote a while ago... B+. Not too shabby, eh? I thought it was going to be a lot worse.

Recapping today's top stories: It's sunny, soc. is done, politics was better than expected, and i have the rest of the afternoon off.

o brother...
Monday, December 3, 2001 03:06 a.m.

Didja ever talk to somebody for 12 hours? I did today... well, it was on ICQ, and we were both working on essays, but from about 2pm until about 2am, there was a pretty steady conversation going on... (a couple of those hours were spent on the phone instead of ICQ though).

I just watched "Oh Brother Where Art Thou?" and I really liked it. I knew I would, based on the opinions of those who had seen it and what I had heard, seen, or read about it. It makes me want to read the Odyssey now, because that's what it was based on apparently. Perhaps that'll be my goal for when I go home for Christmas. Perhaps not.

So here's the weekend movie wrap up...

Center Stage- A cute teen movie for every little girl who wanted to be a ballerina. Not bad, but there are better dance movies.

Life Is Beautiful- Roberto Begnini is amazing. He wrote it. He directed it. He starred in it. It was funny, it was romantic, it was uplifting and sad all at the same time. Really good... and you learn some Italian (bonjourno principessa!).

Oh Brother, Where Art Thou- three escaped cons travel across a dusty mid-depression Mississippi. They accidentally start a group called the Soggy Bottom Boys, and now that I've seen the movie, I can understand how Mike could say that they "rock out" a bit. Very entertaining.

Bed time, yo...

not the me i'm used to...
Sunday, December 2, 2001 08:38 p.m.

I woke up early, had some cereal, and started right to work. I don't know what got into me. Our sociology papers are due on Tuesday, and I had started it on Saturday, and finished it on Sunday. Does anybody else see the historical significance here? I mean, I gave myself four days to write something!

In a related story, it took me just over seven hours to write 6 pages. I took periodic breaks every 5 or 10 minutes to do anything BUT write this stinkin thing.

So now I'm sitting in bum-around clothes, wearing a black beanie toque (trying to be like the Edge, from U2), and pondering what my next move will be. Right now, I have no idea. I have all sorts of things that I haven't used as procrastination aids yet (searching for a new skin for Winamp, playing some guitar, writing new lyrics, eating, downloading more music). So i've got all sorts of options...

LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL...
Sunday, December 2, 2001 04:06 a.m.

Well considering i sat around for most of the day today (well yesterday, Saturday) I should have found a few minutes to write about last night. But for some reason, I didn't. So here's the wrap up on last night: At least 39 people were here (that's as many as I could remember). I was slightly overserved (not ridiculous, but enough for sure). There were a ton of empty bottles kicking around this morning... but that was no surprise.

Everybody left around 2:30, and I went to bed shortly thereafter. But not before winning in a fistfight with Justin, my roommate.

Slept like a baby until around 6am, when the phone rang, 9am, when it rang again, 10:00 when Justin came in to ask me something, 10:30 when the fire alarm went off, and 12 when the phone rang again, and then finally decided to move around 2 pm.

I worked on my sociology paper. I'm about two pages in already, and haven't even started the good stuff yet, so it shouldn't be too bad. I hope to finish it tomorrow.

That was the only productive thing I did all day, other than put all the empties in a box ( a big box ) and talk on the phone and on icq for a while.

I went to Leigh's place to watch some movies. After picking up some stuff (snacks) we decided on Center Stage (a ballet movie, which wasn't too bad, but not even close to the best dancing movie out there... swing kids and strictly ballroom are both way better) and Life Is Beautiful, the Italian film with Roberto Begnini.

Life Is Beautiful was a really really great movie. It was in Italian, and subtitled in English, and wasn't half as sad as I thought it was going to be. It was not a pick-me-up, but it also had some incredibally funny scenes. Umbellito!!! (Italian for Belly Button).

I collected on a debt (although she still owes me $5 for thinking that Dean Martin was gay!), said goodnight, and walked home. Justin's friends' bodies are strewn about the apartment, but there is nobody in my bed, or even in my room, so its all good.

Vote for me!! ;)

FRIDAY=PARTY
Friday, November 30, 2001 08:11 p.m.

Well, I think we all had a good day, and now its time to start the weekend. From the sounds of things, a LOT of people will be coming over tonight, which will make for a pretty good time!

pop quiz hotshot:
Thursday, November 29, 2001 11:57 p.m.

The question of the day is a simple one:

If you plan to get up really early, and you stay up until 2:30, and the turn off your alarm when it goes off, and get back in bed, do you make it to class on time? (for extra points: do you make it to class at all?)

Answer: No

So, guess what I did today?

In other news, I curled tonight, and won. Pretty easy game, but that's the way it goes when we all play pretty well. Not much to report... big party tomorrow!!

scratch some things off the list...
Wednesday, November 28, 2001 07:24 p.m.

I killed the last two hours of work by watching the Simpsons and Who's Line is it Anyway? Not a bad job when you're allowed to do that.

I took the scenic route home (around crack park, instead of through it) and went to the post office on Parliament to pick up my mystery letter. It was a big plastic priority mail envelope bag from Markham, Ontario. I cracked that open only to find a smaller regular sized white envelope with my name and address appearing through the little window. It was kinda thick, and when I felt around a bit, I knew what it was.

ScotiaWhore had done something right.

Yes, I'm officially a VISA card holder. Yay me... I knew it was coming so its not the most thrilling thing in the world, but then again, its fun to have. ScotiaWhore is still on the COMPANIES I HATE list, but probation may be lifted shortly, and it may be freed.

While I was on Parliament, I decided to stop in at a bunch of places that I had walked by 50 times before (i always pass these places at 10:30 or 11, on the way home from work, and they are always closed. So I went into the hardware store and picked up some nails* and I went into an old furniture store that had so much old furniture there was barely room to walk. I didn't see anything I liked or needed so I left and went to this art store I wanted to go in, but it was closed...

I eventually made it home and right away decided to use my nails. I had a purpose in mind when I bought them, but the ones I bought were way longer than i needed them to be. I was putting up a coat rack, and considering the nails still fit through the holes, everything worked... even when I blew a chunk out of the wall on the inside on my closet because of my extra long nail. OOPS!! ;)

So for now, i'm chillin... I think I'll make a CD, its been a little while. Time for a new mix (for ME this time).

what the biff?
Wednesday, November 28, 2001 02:10 p.m.

In all the commotion of the weekend, I didn't occur to me until today that I was not paid for my long, hard, hours at the stupid nothing desk. So I called my boss, and she said something like "oops, my bad!"

Oh yeah, don't worry, I didn't really need that money anyway. What's a couple hundred bucks to a student? I mean really.

So I'm back at the stupid nothing desk, and so far have been relatively productive. I did about half of the crossword puzzle, read over some articles for my sociology project, and ate some pizza. To make the day even more enjoyable, I've been visited by Leigh and Noah thus far as well as a certain student who admitted to "bending the truth a little" in an interview she just had with a professor. Fun times!!

Big plans for the evening. I have to pick up my mystery letter from the post office (for some reason they couldn't leave it in my box), I have the volleyball team party, then the U2 thing.

Only four more hours to kill here... and I'm told I'll eventually get paid for them.

what happened?
Wednesday, November 28, 2001 12:08 a.m.

Either it is SUPER-foggy outside, or someone turned off every light in Toronto's downtown. As far as I can tell at the moment, the CN Tower, TD Buildings, Bank of Montreal Building, ScotiaWhore Centre, and the Eatons Centre no longer exist. It's a dark dark night, my friends.

Tuesday, a date which will live in infamy...
Tuesday, November 27, 2001 11:04 p.m.

Today, the Federation crumbled. At least momentarily until we drafted new retroactive legislation that rebuilt it in no time...

That's an inside joke that about 6 people will get, but it is also the reason that Chris called and woke me up this morning. I wasn't going to go to class, but he called and I slept through it. He called again, I answered and he talked me into trying to be a hero in order to save the Federation. Apparently he was too lazy or busy to be a hero himself, because even after I dragged myself to class, everything fell apart, and Chris was nowhere around.... the bastard! (and I say that with all the kindness in my heart, he's one of my best friends).

Anyway, that was the first in the series of three miserable classes today. The second was just a lot of notes, and the third was half of a miserable movie I thought I was going to enjoy. I had heard good things about "Bladerunner" but was practically put to sleep by the first half, so I left.

I went for hot chocolate with Leigh, which was a nice break before work. Then it was off to work from 6 til 10, which wasn't so bad because the hockey game was on. We were just busy enough to keep the time passing but nothing to get crazy about.

And now I am home... In other news, I sent an email to John Lander this morning. He's my favourite morning show host, from Boston. I want to intern there next year for my placement. So we'll see how that goes. He hasn't written back yet (still hoping)... hold on. I just checked my email again, and there is still no message from John Lander, or his people.

Oh, and get this!! My friend Cathy is awesome. What a sweetheart! She won passes on from a radio station to go see a special preview screening of the new U2 DVD at the Paramount IMAX theatre, and she asked me if I wanted to go with her. So I'm superpsyched about that, as well as the end of season volleyball team gathering that is occuring before that. Should be goodtimes tomorrow!!

no englais!!
Tuesday, November 27, 2001 01:58 a.m.

No more english, because I IS DONE... fo dis yeah. I even used the Good Will Hunting line "My boy's wicked smaht."

In other news, my day was made at 1:38. The simplest of compliments can go such a long way.

Well I've got some good news, and some good news
Monday, November 26, 2001 12:51 p.m.

I had my music test about a half hour ago, and honestly it wasn't too bad. I studied pretty well so I knew my stuff, but I still think i screwed up on something. One of those deals where I had it right, then changed it. Oh well, I'm still pretty happy with it. It should be a reletively good mark.

The other piece of good news is that the English thing I have due tomorrow isn't actually 12 pages anymore, its only 7. And considering I already have about 5 pages done, I'm in good shape. Sure I'll need to edit it down a bit, but still. Writing two pages is a lot more appealing than writing seven. So yay for me!!

In other news, it is official that another team who should have done well, is not going to provincials. You know what I think is happening? Anybody seen "Space Jam?" You know what I'm talking about...

weekend update...
Monday, November 26, 2001 12:26 a.m.

Where to begin... I don't think you've heard from me since Friday, so that's a good place to start.

I don't remember what I did on Friday. It was too long ago. I think I went to class, picked up team uniforms at the mall, went back to class, talked about internships, met Kel from Survivor, went back to class, listened to some mini-docs, took off, caught a GO train to Oshawa, drove to Trenton, saw myself on TV, ate some steak, watched a movie, curled, went back to Josh's house, sat in the hot tub for a bit, and went to bed.

Saturday morning marked the beginning of regionals for eastern Ontario. Our first game was against Chris Ciasnoka (please forgive me if it is spelled wrong, just remember is sounds like "cheese-nacho") who was runner up at Ontario provincials last year. Well, by the 5th end, we were losing by 4. Not a good place to be in. After the 8th end, we were tied (yes, we rule). After the 9th, we were still tied and we were coming home (playing the last end), tied (we had the same number of points as them), with out the hammer (last rock advantage. I threw my last one into the four foot, but pretty wide open, and all he had to do was hit it out. He didn't even have to stick around... He throws it, its on line, looks good, I'm about to shake hands and say "good game" when the thing turns left, barely touching our rock, leaving it right there in the house, while his whizzed by. We win. I swear I stared at that thing for a good 30 seconds before I realized what had happened. If only our luck had stuck...

Our 2nd game was with Sebastian Robillard who has a really really really good team. We played them pretty well for the first half of the game. Sebastian bailed them out of a couple jams, when we had them in trouble. Then our wheels fell off, and they took advantage. They win, I'm not surprised, but slightly disappointed.

In our third game we *mumble mumble*COUGH*mumble* SUCKED.

Yeah, so we didn't play that well. It happens. Especially when you don't get to practice that often as a team. The strangest part of the weekend was the fact that none of the boys teams who are classified as pretty-really good made it past regionals. Sebastian, as well as 2 provincial winners, a few other provincial contenders, all lost out at the regional level. Big upsets across the board.

Oh well, congrats to all of you who DID make it. Good luck in Scenic Unionville!!

yeah, we won... but the other guy was ON
Friday, November 23, 2001 12:24 a.m.

So I managed to waste my whole afternoon, which is fine with me. Although I am eventually going to have to study for Monday's test, and write 7 more pages for Tuesday's English. I'll have tons of time this weekend (yeah right!).

My men's team curled tonight, and won a pretty tight game. We were playing okay, but the other guy was making crazy shots. He was like this older freaky guy, but he was insane good. I played okay, but I wasn't really into the game.

In completely unrelated news, I've decided I want a futon for my bedroom. I have this giant empty space in the corner that is about futon-sized, and I think that it would be lovely to have a nice little seat there. The reason I'm thinking futon is because there was an add in the elevator for some futon place. They're not that expensive, and I think it would be awesome. I'll keep you posted on this, which will be known as FUTON-QUEST from now on.

In other news, I think I'm adding a futon to my Christmas list... And now, its time to pack. I leave tomorrow for Kingston, and regions. Let's just hope that we play well. At least this time, most of my clothes are clean ;)

cursed elevators
Thursday, November 22, 2001 04:02 p.m.

Here's a note for anybody who ever comes to my apartment. Do not try to get on the elevators between 3:00 and 4:30 on a school day. You will be cut off, pushed, and annoyed to death by about 300 little kids, and their mothers who also happen to be holding baby strollers, or large bags of groceries.

In other news, ScotiaWhore is still on probation, but still gaining points. I was in today for my shortest visit ever, and finalized everything for my credit card. If it arrives as it should in the next couple weeks, then I may even consider taking them off the list... we'll see.

And as usual, sociology was the most useless class either, but I enjoyed it because Mike kept calling Kristin a "Cracka!"

harry potter and nice walk at night....
Thursday, November 22, 2001 01:52 a.m.

I just returned from seeing the Harry Potter movie, and I must say I quite enjoyed it. I went with Leigh, who is a Harry Potter fanatic, so that was fun. I had read the first book, the basis for the movie, but none of the other ones (yet). So we walked down to Paramount Famous Players, discussed the disorientation associated with riding the worlds longest escalator, and sat down to watch the movie*.

* Left out of this chronology was running in traffic, discussing other movies, and buying tickets.

So anyway, the movie was excellent. Kept me smiling the whole time. I suppose I knew it was good, when I realized I already knew the ending, but I was excited to see how it ended anyway. So I really enjoyed it, and will now have to read the next few books, before the next few movies come out.

The walk home was just as nice. It was cool, but not cold. Really, it was a quiet and peaceful night. Kinda rare in the downtown of the megacity.

For the record, class tomorrow morning is a BIG "if."

Suddenly, I was confused...
Friday, November 21, 2001 05:13 p.m.

I sat down to do this thing, and suddenly it was December 21st, according to this computer at least. But I figured out that it was only the computer that was screwed up, and not the whole world. Well, I suppose the whole world is pretty screwed up as well, but not in the way that skips ahead a month in the passage of time.

Still bored to tears at the stupid nothing desk. Can't wait to get out of here. Counting down the minutes.

i wish there was something more exciting...
Wednesday, November 21, 2001 01:24 p.m.

I'm at the stupid nothing desk, because, as expected, I woke up and it was Wednesday. I read the paper this morning, and decided that there was no way I was going to get all the CBC application stuff done, which is a load off, and a disappointment at the same time. Oh well, I'll live.

So now, I have to figure out what I'm going to do for the next several hours. I think i'm going shopping after work. No volleyball tonight or any night until January, unfortunately. It's probably a good thing though because, i'm physically exhausted. Nothing planned for this evening which means I'll be writing some English. I might even start that now...

what day is it?
Wednesday, November 21, 2001 12:46 a.m.

I'm a little lost. I think it was Tuesday, and is now officially Wednesday. And between school and work, I have yet to do the application stuff that is due tomorrow morning, so I may not be working at CBC this summer. Even if I get it in on time, there is still a good chance that I won't be working at CBC this summer... but I'll try to get that done at the stupid nothing desk tomorrow morning, before noon.

In other news, I went on the ice tonight with my boss Danny (who has been curling for about 2 days). I had left all my curling stuff at home so I went out in my jeans, and grabbed a club broom, and club shoes. Club shoes are terrible. Jeans are terrible to curl in. So I looked, and played like TRASH! The funniest part was that people there didn't know that I've been curling for 13 years... they just thought we were the guys from the kitchen teaching ourselves how to curl. One lady said afterwards "You seem to be picking it up quite well!" If only they knew I didn't suck...

hot chocolate.
Tuesday, November 20, 2001 01:40 a.m.

I have a cup of hot chocolate in front of me. I just made it. I want to drink it, but I know that if I do, I'll burn my mouth. I'll get that weird feeling on my tongue. But I really wanna drink it... it's mocking me. "Look at me!! I'm hot chocolate, I'm steamy hot goodness!! And I'll scorch the hell outta your mouth if you try to drink me!!!"

So for now, I have to wait.

boys suck...
Tuesday, November 20, 2001 12:57 a.m.

I know you have all been wondering what I've been doing with the last several hours, and why I haven't updated this thing yet. Well, at least one of you has... and I don't know how many more of you there are. But anyway, here's what happened today.

Well it was a kinda productive day. I got rid of the mountain of laundry that was the landscape of my floor for the past few days. Seriously, the pile was 3 feet tall. But I did it ALL. Took 4 washers, three driers, and several hours of stuff hanging on chairs and doorknobs (by the way... most of it still isn't dry, but I'm not coughing up any more dollars to get it warmer and still moist). But regardless, everything I own is clean minus the clothes i have on at the moment (that just sounds icky though...).

So I did that, cleaned a bit, and went to work. (For some reason I was in a really miserable mood... not sure why). I went to work at the club which wasn't too busy, which meant I got to watch the hockey game in between orders (Leafs won 5-1, I think Darcy Tucker got a stick in the face).

So I'm walking home, and I'm about 3 minutes from my house and my phone rings. A very good friend of mine is telling me she had a terrible night, because her boyfriend cheated on her with his ex. So change course and head to her apartment because she is crying so much she can barely get the words out. I spend the next couple hours with her and her roommate, just trying to make her smile, and forget about the dork. The dork knows he screwed up BIG time, and she helped him realize that over and over again. The dork feels bad, but that doesn't change the fact that my friend was crying hysterically. So I did what I could do, and gave her some hugs, and I think she felt a little better by the time I left.

Here's a tip for anybody who ever dates me: If you find yourself in a situation where you're about to cheat on me, take 30 seconds, give me a call, and dump me. If I'm not there, leave me a message. Because if you don't, and I find out, I will do my best to never speak to you again. May sound harsh, but I think that's the least respectful thing somebody can do...

So that's my story, ain't it a good one? Not really. Although the clothes are clean, and that's a definate plus. Oh, and I just talked to an old friend from highschool. It was a short conversation, but it was nice to talk, even briefly. It amazing how easy it is to lose touch with people, even those you care about.

Well, we did it...
Sunday, November 18, 2001 10:33 p.m.

We won both of our games today pretty easily. Despite a slight lack of focus in the second game, we played a little better, and took them both. So we are a Zone Winner, according to the patch we got. So I'm off to Kingston next weekend, to play some better teams, and I think we'll do okay, as long as we take it seriously.

Getting home was the adventure...

Josh dropped me in the SHWA (that's Oshawa, the armpit of Ontario) at the GO station so I could take a train downtown and get home. Well, the trains don't run on the weekends, but the buses do. But the buses aren't Express to Union, so it makes 30 stops between Oshawa and T.O. So I think to myself "That sucks! i don't want to sit on a bus for two hours, considering the next one won't even be here for 55 minutes!" So I asked the VIA guy* about their trains, and he said there was one coming by at 8:40. This was just after 7. I decided to wait for it, because the ride itself would only be 25 minutes.

*VIA guy was a big unhelpful jerk who resembled an 80s "I live in my mom's basement" version, of the old, tall, skinny, brown haired Backstreet Boy. Just a big dork... gets no special points for customer service (VIA- loses points).

So I wait and wait and wait, for a stinkin' hour and a half, (meanwhile I call my parents and have a little chat about my weekend). Finally, 8:40 rolls around, so I head outside towards the track, and wait for the train to pull up. And I wait... (VIA- loses points)

A few minutes later I see a light approaching, and pick up my bags in preparation of boarding the train. The thing flies by me at 800 mph and keeps going towards Toronto. (VIA-loses points... have you detected a pattern yet?)

So I put my bags down and continute to wait... and wait and wait. (VIA is losing tons and tons of points with every passing second).

A half hour later, the train pulls in. (VIA loses points, just because...) I get on, go home.

So due to this, and past VIArail pains in the butt (and there are a few, a couple big ones), ViaWhore has now been added to the "COMPANIES BRIAN HATES" list. The only other company on the list is ScotiaWhore...

In a related story, ScotiaWhore is gaining points, and is currently on probation. This is following Friday's good news that finally all my VISA stuff went through, and I get a credit card. Scotia(Whore)bank has improved their standing, and with continued goodwill, could be removed from the list.

So with that, I'm done. I need a shower, and a bed. Peace out!

arrrrgh.... and better
Saturday, November 17, 2001 09:11 p.m.

Game 1... we shoulda killed 'em. We were killing them. And I decided that I really didn't want to win the game and turned of my skillz for the 2nd half of the game. Granted, I had a little help, but honestly, I blew the whole game practically by myself.

The second game was much better, we killed em. But because we lost the first one, we're now in the B side. Had we won all the way, we'd be done by now and moving on. Instead we have to win both of our games tomorrow. So let's hope we can survive tomorrow's games without too much dain bramage, and make it to regionals, next week.

We're talking about curling here, by the way.

FRY-DAY
Friday, November 16, 2001 03:03 p.m.

I'm in class, and i have a little break from my radio show. I'm a host today, so I really don't have to do that much until showtime, which is nice. I took advantage of that and slept in this morning, and I woke up feeling good.

We won our game last night, which is always fun. We drew the four foot with our last rock to win by one (if you don't know curling... just imagine that it was a close game and that we made a nice one to win).

A bunch of us went out for lunch today to the Mutual Street Deli, a little restaurant just down the street. For $4.75 I had a 1/4 chicken breast, a giant salad, and an equally giant serving of fries. And it was all really good. I needed to load up on food, so I have some energy for the rest of the day.

After class its straight to the train station, then out to Trenton. Important games this weekend. As usual, I'll keep you posted... Don't you love how I pretend you're interested? It's good for my self-esteem.

the worst volley ball ever...
Thursday, November 15, 2001 02:13 a.m.

Well the day went according to plan. It amazes me how good I am at making time pass quickly. I was at the stupid desk from 9-6 today (like every Wednesday) but it never feels that bad... Probably because I'm half asleep for the first three hours, do the crossword for the next little bit, then go out for lunch. So by the time I really wake up, I'm more than half done.

So after work, I made a stop at the dentist so I could sign some papers, went to Dawn's where I helped her with her web assignment, and she made me dinner. Then I met the team for a little warm up before volleyball.

Then we played the worst volleyball game of our collective lives. Horrible, horrible, and again HORRIBLE stuff.

After much debate, we decided NOT to go to a bar, although it would have been a good time. Instead we all went to Leigh's room and "helped" her work on a project she was doing. Basically a lot of cut and pasting...

And I think I know what you're all thinking, but I'm not gonna go there.

In other news, the man who introduced me to the easy way to BLOG has resurrected his site. This was big news because he had retired it, and that lasted a whole 12 days. Regardless, like a Phoenix from the ashes, so is Chris Johnston rising to greatness. (I'm just pumping him up so he says nice things about me in an article he's writing. The interview is next week). So check it out... after you read mine, of course.

sleepy sleepy sleepy
Wednesday, November 14, 2001 02:10 p.m.

I can't believe I'm watching a soap opera on TV. I just got back to the stupid nothing desk. I had some lunch with Mike, and now will be forced to be here for the rest of the afternoon. Somebody, however, was kind enough to change the channel from Sportsnet to CTV so now I have the "Young and the Hopeless" or something...

I'm kinda sleepy, but I'm going to be taking it easy for the afternoon. I have to be really really psyched for volleyball tonight.

Before that, however, I'm helping Dawn with her website and stopping in at the dentist to sign something. Speaking of websites... I finished one last night that everybody should check out Trillium Curling Camp is the summer camp I work at. Enjoy.

its tuesday, do you know where my kids are?
Tuesday, November 13, 2001 07:49 p.m.

I wish I could say something exciting about my day, but I'm afraid it just isn't going to happen. It was one of those mornings when all I wanted to do was stay in bed, and had my alarm not played the music so loud, I think I might have.

Then it was sociology, the most useless class on the planet. Then an hour of politics, and three hours of English. Can we all say "YAY" together? Luckily, English ended really early becuase teacher had a headache, and nobody wanted to be there anyway. So I grabbed some dinner with Sarah and Jen, and talked about the miseries of past relationships. Good times...

One perk of the day was that I finally picked up a cheque I had been waiting for since September. It's been there for a month or more, but I kept forgetting to grab it. And the nice part is, it was a little more than I thought. Nice little bonus...

I went to work, because its Tuesday and I'm supposed to do that on Tuesday's. Danny was confused out of his head, between scheduling, and working, and whatnot, he had lost a day or two, and for whatever reason, I didn't need to be there. So I threw some rocks (some of them went where they were supposed to) and came home.

Now I'm going to attack the dishes that have been sitting there for WAY too long...

sure beats the last essay!
Monday, November 12, 2001 10:58 p.m.

Woke up at a reasonable hour, went to class. Left class ran some errands. Paid my phone bill (a little overdue), dropped of a paper at school (application for free money ;), got a book i needed for another essay, put some money in the bank (always good news... except that the bank was closed for Rememberance Day, ScotiaWhore!!), and got some pizza for lunch.

And now, its only 11:00 and the essay is done. None of this 5am stuff!!

I'm starving though...

suddenly nostalgic...
Sunday, November 11, 2001 11:15 p.m.

Why is it that everytime i hear "Good Riddance" by Green Day, I suddenly think of memories... not even specific moments, but a mental collage of people, places, and feelings, like a slide show they play at graduation or something.

This WAS going to be a post about how I worked all day and that my feet hurt, and a billboard I pass on the way to work, but since I heard that song, I don't feel like it anymore.

A couple days ago, I wrote a letter to a teacher I had in highschool. He came up in a conversation, and i felt the urge to write him, and then he wrote back. It wasn't anything special, but it made me laugh and think of some really great people. So between that, and this friggin song... I'm hoppin in the WAY-BACK machine.

Oh well... speaking of the past. Did I ever mention that an ex-girlfriend of mine is ENGAGED? What's that all about!!??

a good SNL!!
Sunday, November 11, 2001 04:32 a.m.

Didn't do much all day. When Dennis got home, he had the hub we needed to network all our computers. So after limited effort, all 3 of our computers are fully functional and internet ready. Then I went to Leigh's, hung out, watched a bunch of TV. Gwyneth Paltrow hosted Saturday Night Live and there were a bunch of parts that really made me laugh. Good for those guys!! Quote of the night: "Shut up, biaaaaaaaaaaaaaatch...ahh!!"

long day, late night, part 2.
Saturday, November 10, 2001 04:34 p.m.

Okay... well, while I was in the middle of the last entry, at 3am, the phone rang, and a friend called saying "we're really drunk, and we need a place to stay tonight." So I went to meet my friend (who I met at my Popstars audition) and her friend (some guy), and we came back to my place, stayed up late(r). So then i slept all day.

Good story, eh?

Oh, finishing the other story... the bar was called Pope Joan's, which is a lesbian bar, which is fitting because the friend who was having the birthday is a lesbian. Good music, fun dancing, and not that many guys. Oddly enough, I still didn't get any phone numbers ;)

Anywho... I owe two of these cause I skipped the last one because i had to run to the donut shop to meet my friends.

long day, late night...
Saturday, November 10, 2001 02:52 a.m.

Well, it was a pretty standard Friday. Got up around 8, stood in the shower for a day or two until I woke up, went to class at 9, went to class at 10, went to the Air Canada Centre for the report I was working on... did the report, finished class at 5:40, straight to work. Worked at the restaurant, got a nice tip from my ONE table, got a bit of busy work done. Left work at 10, went to a birthday party, hung out with friends, met some new people, went out to a bar called ....

time out... the night just got interesting. More to come

in an effort to add a little excitement to my life...
Thursday, November 8, 2001 08:05 p.m.

Well, I was talking to Erica last week, and we were both kinda bored with how monotonous life was these days. For me its school, work, and curling. Sure I enjoy it all, but I hadn't done anything different lately. So I tried something different.

Justin (housemate) was at a bar a few weeks ago, and apparently got drunk and shouted out our phone number to anyone who would listen to it. So some girls called last week, looking for him, so they could get the number of one of the guys he was there with. Justin wasn't home, and I ended up talking to two girls I didn't know for a bit, just because it was something to do. One of them called back again, looking for Justin, and again he wasn't home, and again we talked for a bit. Anyway, after talking to me, she wanted to meet. At first I was like "no way" but then i realized how bored I've been lately, and if nothing else, this would make a good story.

So I met the two girls today at the mall, and the one I had talked to was nice, and her friend was an idiot. It was really awkward to start with, and got less awkward, but i still didn't really want to be there after a while.

So really, I wasn't all that impressed, but now I have a face for the name and voice, and I know that I'm not at all interested. Not that it matters, because my interests definately lie elsewhere...

I ended up buying two pairs of pants on sale at the GAP, and the Shrek DVD, which is begging to be watched. Tons and tons of extras. So yeah, that was my day... and sleeping in was the best part of it. At least I tried something.

PS- I watched Friends tonight for the first time in a while... funny show.

just another exciting wednesday...
Wednesday, November 7, 2001 05:49 p.m.

Well well, i'm outta here pretty shortly. Nothing happened today, although i committed myself to drawing up an outline for an English paper that isn't due until Tuesday. I know this is unlike me, but I figured I can do some stuff ahead of time.

Rumour has it that calls will be going out shortly for a job I applied for at Canadian Press. Keeping the fingers crossed... which should be interesting considering i have a volleyball game tonight. So I'll keep you posted on that. Who ever YOU are...

Getting kinda hungry, as usual. Wondering what I can make for dinner. I think I'm going with Chicken and Noodles. MMM!!

wednesday.... ew.
Wednesday, November 7, 2001 09:53 a.m.

NOt much to report other than that I still haven't caught up on any sleep. Last night I curled late, and won (in an extra end) and didn't get home until close to 1:30-2. I don't really know what time it was. Then I talked to Justin about life issues... he's got more stuff to figure out than I do.

And now, I'm at the stupid nothing desk, because it is Wednesday, and I don't even have a trip to ScotiaWhore to look forward to.

In other news, I got a new curling broom. This is big news for me. I didn't have to pay for it either, because Tom owed me money!

is it only 5:17?
Tuesday, November 6, 2001 05:17 a.m.

There is a reason I call myself the Grand Poobah of the Procrastination Station... Not everybody can put of a 2000 word essay for 2 months and start it 12 hours before it is due, and pull of a decent paper. I think I have done just that. I admit, it wasn't all done tonight. I had most of the research done this weekend, but not a word had been written as of before tonight, and I didn't actually get going until after 2am.

Here's me, at the 2:45. Hanging in there, wondering how much longer this is going to hurt...er, take.

3:30- still alive, kinda thirsty, thinking hard

4:30- I think I lost it for a bit, i felt like wearing a hat, and my eyes were starting to hurt.

5:10- Done and done...

In other news, today was breezy, and kinda chilly. Not cold, but kinda chilly. I say this because I passed an Indian man outside my building (gee, that never happens!) who was bulked up in the thickest coat he could find, with gloves, and a fur bomber hat (with the earflaps down). I wonder what he's going to do when it gets cold?

a dream, the sun, and a good hair day...
Monday, November 5, 2001 12:39 p.m.

Not surprisingly, I was a little bummed when I went to bed last night. I just seems that lately, things have not been going my way, and I've just had a string of a few really BLAH days...

All that was different this morning though. First of all, I had a really weird dream. It was basically me, Bruce Willis, and Billy Bob Thornton making "Bandits" again, except with me in it. Yes, I was a bank robber. It was really exciting too...we got away.

I woke up (without the help of my alarm) probably because the sun was shining really brightly through my window. I was trying to look at my clock to see if I had slept through it again (see Friday) because it sure felt like it was later than 8:30. That's all it was, so I went back to sleep until 9:00.

I know you're all thinking "But why would you get up at 9:00 if you don't have class until 11?" The answer to this question, and to all other questions invovling life's little inconviniences is, of course, ScotiaWhore.

So I get out of bed, have a shower. Throw on some jeans, and my black hoody (re: comfort clothes), put in the contacts, throw some gel in the hair... and take off for the bank.

I realize as I'm walking down the street that a) I look pretty good today b)I'm a lot happier than I was last night c) that there are a lot of crazy people in Toronto, and it would be fun to pretend to be one of them. I felt like shouting at people I passed for no reason, or ranting and raving about something that has no relevance to anyone. Just because people would brush me off like it was nothing... that's what's so great about this city.

So I go to the bank... I realize I'm taking a chance when I don't go to my home branch, but I'm pretty sure that they can handle a replacement card anywhere. After all, what do you do if you lose your card on vacation or something? So I go to the desk and ask the lady about it, and the first thing she says is "Is this your home branch?" and I almost hit her... but I didn't. Eventually, it all worked out, even though my home branch didn't have the proper paperwork so they couldn't fax it over. I think I got someone in trouble at my home branch because I said I was there about 30 times last week, and signed a bunch of papers, without them comparing it to the proper signature card. Oh well, I don't care. I got my new card, and it only took one 25 minute trip to the HellBeast.

It's a beautiful sunny day. I'm about to walk through it and go home to work on a Politics paper. But at least I'm having a good day ;) Oddly, the prospect of writing 8 pages tonight, doesn't scare me at all.

In other news, it was a great day in sports. The Diamondbacks beat the Yankees in Game 7 of the World Series. This makes me very happy. Like anyone who has ever lived in the Boston area (except my good friend Bryan Fink), I hate the Yankees. Canadian Mike Weir won the PGA Tour Championship. Vince Carter scored a bunch in a Raptors win. And the Leafs are leading their division. A good time was had by all.

just when you thought it was safe...
Sunday, November 4, 2001 09:12 p.m.

I spent most of last week talking about how much I hate ScotiaBank. I was thrilled on Thursday, when I finally got everything done, and did not have to return. So can you explain how I could be so ridiculously stupid that I managed to lose my bank card, meaning yet another trip into the depths of the hellbeast?

In other news, I worked all day. That stunk, the money is good though. Trying to figure out life, which is not a fun thing to do in the middle of a string of a few miserable days, especially when the future doesn't look much brighter, until, at least, Wednesday.

What I don't get is how I spend 7 hours around food, come home and decide I'm hungry.

in the immortal words of Ben Harper...
Sunday, November 4, 2001 04:26 a.m.

For a day that started so well, I'm going to bed feeling pretty miserable... email me if you want the details.

oh sweet sweet sleep...
Saturday, November 3, 2001 02:26 p.m.

Well although yesterday was a pretty boring night, it had the desired effect this morning. I worked until 10, went home, bummed around and slept... It's 2:35, and I haven't had breakfast yet, because i just got up.

Talk about a good sleep.

salvaging the day....
Friday, November 2, 2001 02:17 p.m.

The plan was to get up at 8, go to class at 9, go to the other class at 10, work hard all day, go to work as soon as class was done, and stay there until 9:30 or 10.

I got out of bed at 10:05 because I realized I was late and for some reason my alarm didn't get me out of bed like it was supposed to. I rushed to get ready, got dressed, grabbed everything (I wore my white button up shirt for work because it was one less thing to carry) and ran down the hall to get the elevator.

In my haste, it never occured to me to look out the window and recognize the fact that it was raining. So I had no umbrella for my 15 minute walk to campus. No biggy, I like the rain, I was just getting a little damp.

It wasn't an issue until I got to class (luckily no problems due to my tardiness) and I took of my jacket. The rain, had caused my black jacket to bleed and stain my white work shirt. So my nice white shirt, now had nice black stains all over it.

I took 5 minutes in the bathroom, to wash it out as well as I could, and then hung it on a chair to dry. At this point, I hadn't even THOUGHT of who I was going to interview for my piece today.

I got back to class, read through the paper. Chose something easy. Made the call, got through first try. Talked to the guy, set it up, and BOOM, suddenly the day didn't suck quite so much. I pulled it out of a nose dive just in time to make it over the mountain. I've seen people struggle all day with these interviews, I just thought that was going to be me today.

Thank heavens it wasn't... I would have snapped.

In other news, that extra two hours of sleep and brisk walk through the rain really woke me up, and I'm feeling pretty rested right now. Nothing however, will compare to tomorrow, when I can sleep all day.

holy smokes, its november!!
Friday, November 2, 2001 01:10 a.m.

considering its already officially the 2nd, i feel like i was a little late making that comment, but who cares. it's still here, and still way ahead of schedule!

and on that note, i'm tired. i got roped in to working tomorrow, so after 9 hours of class, it'll be straight to the restaurant. hey, i can't say i don't like the money... i do like it, and i do need it. so i won't complain.

and i curled a terrible game tonight. you throw them like that, they go like that...

le dentise
Thursday, November 1, 2001 06:02 p.m.

I think that's French for "the teeth." I don't know. All I know is that mine are clean, and cavity free. Every person who looks in my mouth feels the need to tell me that I have a misformed tooth, in the back. Today, the dentist said that because of that, if it would be easy to identify me by my dental records. That's wonderful, isn't it?

i never could get the hang of thursdays...
Thursday, November 1, 2001 12:26 p.m.

Not much doin... I had a two volleyball games last night, one of which we won. Put my CD burner, and other toys into my computer, so now it is a power machine... almost.

Today, I woke up, went to politics and actually took some notes... this is big news. I usually do the crossword puzzle in the Toronto Star, but that wouldn't have kept me awake today. Everybody seems to be tired and I'm afraid I'm fitting right in. I have to go to class at 1:00, the dentist at 2:45, and I curl at 7:00.

So there you have it. How exciting is that?

point of order...
Wednesday, October 31, 2001 05:00 p.m.

Let it be noted that ScotiaWhore does employ some good people, who are nice and helpful. The majority however, are not, and the policies of that institution confuse me.

In a related story, I had a GOOD visit with the bank, saw Cinderella again, who passed me on to Tweedle Dee, and everything ran smoothly after that. The money is where it needs to be, the account details are changed, and everything seems to be in order. Except the rest of that institution...

Halloween
Wednesday, October 31, 2001 02:16 p.m.

It's Halloween and I'm reading Bram Stoker's Dracula and I'm enjoying it. How cool is that? I figure I can get a couple more chapters in at the Stupid Nothing Desk, before I have to go back to ScotiaWhore.

*snap*: a script (based on actual events)
Wednesday, October 31, 2001 01:48 p.m.

SETTING: Inside of a ScotiaWhore (bank)

A young man named Brian walks up to the reception and information desk. He is greeted by an attractive bank clerk in a long white wedding gown. It is Halloween afterall...

CINDERELLA: Hi, can I help you?
BRIAN: Yes, I'd like to close this GIC and have the money put in my account. I was wondering who I should talk to for that. (He hands her a paper from the bank with account info).
CINDERELLA: Is this your home branch?
BRIAN: (thinking... a HA! you're not going to screw me with this one again!!) Yes, yes it is.
CINDERELLA: Okay... let's have a look at the computer *type type type type type....*
BRIAN: *eat candy out of the bowl on the table*
CINDERELLA: *type type type type type*
BRIAN: *look out the window at McDonalds, crave lunch*
CINDERELLA: *type type....pause.... puzzled look... type type...REPEAT*
BRIAN: Read her name tag for the 30th time, still forget her name
(TEN MINUTES LATER) CINDERELLA: Okay, I can't do that at this desk.
BRIAN: ruh?
CINDERELLA: You're going to have to make an appointment.
BRIAN: Is it possible to do that this afternoon?
CINDERELLA: Yeah, come back at 3:30
BRIAN: Um... doesn't the bank close at 3:00?
CINDERELLA: yup!
BRIAN: *eat candy*
CINDERELLA: Anything else?
BRIAN: Actually, yeah. Is it possible to pay this (tuition bill) here? Or do I need to go to a teller?
CINDERELLA: You need a teller for that.

Brian looks at the teller counter... and then the line of about 20 people waiting. Desperate to pay his tuition, he gets in line. And waits for quite a long time. Finally he gets to the counter, where a short angry woman is serving him. He hands her the paper.

BRIAN: Hi, I just need to pay that.
ANGRY LADY: Swipe your card.
BRIAN: *swipey swipey, pushy buttons*
ANGRY LADY: *type type type* STAMP! STAMP! *type type*
BRIAN: *waity wait wait*

ANGRY LADY: Um... we can't do this. You still have cheques on hold. This won't be clear until tomorrow.
BRIAN: *snap*
ANGRY LADY: You'll have to deal with your home branch.
BRIAN: (Trying to fix the wires in his brain that have just shorted out) This IS my home branch. Is there anyway around this?
ANGRY LADY: *gets nice manager lady, explains deal*
MANAGER: *talks to someone else about something completely unrelated, leaves, comes back 5 minutes later*
BRIAN: *rage*

(a short conversation takes place here, not worth typing out, brian mentions the fact that he's been here 3 times in the last three days, and has an appointment at 3:30.)

MANAGER: Just override that. I'll initial it... it's okay.
BRIAN: yay!

This is just a hypothetical situation of what could happen to anybody at anybank. It just so happened that it was me, at ScotiaWhore today.

In a related story... I left ScotiaWhore, walked across the street to McDonald's, ordered, paid, got exactly what I wanted, and left, all in about 60 seconds. Why the hell does the bank have such a problem?

brian's cooking tip of the night...
Wednesday, October 31, 2001 12:14 a.m.

I know you all (who ever "you all" is) tune in all the time to learn from the zen master guru of amateur cooking. Well tonight I learned something crazy, yet kinda blatantly obvious.

So here is what I learned tonight...

Don't grab really hot pans with your bare fingers

Yes, I'm a genius. The worst part was I had just taken it out of the oven myself. I took all the bread off of it, and grabbed it. Carried it for a couple seconds, and then realized "this is really incredibally hot." So I dropped it... and I think i swore too.

In other news, I want to write a song. i think I finally have enough inspiration. It's been a while since I have written anything good. So I'm watching Moulin Rouge for motivation.

PLEASE DON'T BE AFRAID TO EMAIL ME!

you are about to read a rant...
Tuesday, October 30, 2001 03:35 p.m.

I hate ScotiaWhore... I mean, ScotiaBank. I went back today so I can get some money to pay the remainder of my tuition and whatnot. I had a break in class between 3 and 4, so I went down then.

They closed at 3.

This alone wouldn't have bothered me so much if a) I hadn't gone to the bank yesterday to do the same thing only to find out i had to be at my home branch. b) i hadn't checked on my way out yesterday to make sure they were open until 4 (which that branch was, just not my home branch) c) i could do what I wanted to do on their On-Line banking, which I found out yesterday, i cannot.

DAMN YOU SCOTIAWHORE!!!

So I'll go back tomorrow, and see if they don't screw me over yet again. One day I'll write out another ScotiaWhore story... the first few times they pissed me off. There are so many.

if only i knew any songs cursing a bank called scotiawhore

The procrastination station is now closed...
Tuesday, October 30, 2001 03:13 a.m.

According to this the official time is 3:10 am, on October 30th. This raises a few questions in my mind, which I'll discuss in a moment, but first I will make the announcement that I have officially finished my assignment. As long as I can get up in the morning, and hand it in on time, everything will be peachy. Otherwise, it won't be... at all. (NOTE TO SELF: set alarm)

So back to the questions... First of all, I'm wondering why I'm up at *3:17 am* (oh god, it's 3:17? NOTE TO SELF: turn alarm up really loud, also set alarm on watch just in case). I'm up because I was working on something that is due tomorrow, and I am the Grand Poobah of the Procrastination Station. So while I've had the assignent for two weeks, i decided not to start writing it until I was down to about 11 hours. But its done, and I still have a few hours for sleep!!

Next question... what the heck happened to October? In a few more weeks, it will be the end of the semester, then finals, and Christmas and whatnot. (in a related question... why does the Eatons Centre feel the need to put up a Christmas tree on October 22nd?)

In other news, I'm officially part of another curling team. I'm trying to hang on to my youth by exploiting my last year in juniors. So there goes two weekends in November, and hopefully a week in January... wouldn't that be nice.

I finally got Moulin Rouge on my computer. Only took a week.

And I still hate ScotiaWhore... oops, I mean ScotiaBank. My mistake.

procrastination station...
Monday, October 29, 2001 04:16 p.m.

Welcome to The Procrastination Station. I'm the Grand Poobah of this place, and I have a hell of a lot of things to do... but first I think I'll talk on ICQ for a while, then go to work, and then I'll start my school work when i get back around 10:30 or 11.

If only I was kidding...

it's been a few days...
Sunday, October 28, 2001 05:25 a.m.

Well, here's what happened.

I was planning to curl in London this weekend starting on Friday afternoon, or evening. I found out that we had to play Friday morning, and that we were going out on Thursday night. Um... minor detail.

So I devoted all of Thursday to running errands. I got up early, and took my computer back to the shop, got it fixed, ran it home. Threw in some laundry, worked on setting up the computer, got that working mostly. Spent a while on tech support with nice guy at Bell Sympatico. Threw some stuff in the drier (by the way... each trip to the laundry room, is like a 15+ minute trip, because it is 33 floors away). So I cleaned the room, finished the laundry, and started to pack for going away to London.

I went down to Ryerson to drop some things off, and to look up some stuff regarding the classes I was missing, and then hung out with a friend for a while, before jetting to the curling club to pick up my bag, and then back to the apartment, just in time to get the phone call from Josh saying that they were pretty close.

So we drove to London. Curled 6 games, won a couple of them. A few tight ones, a few ugly ones, and one where I was on fire (not literally, i just couldn't miss). So there was a lot of fun stuff going on around that... I've decided that I want to live in a hick-town and spend my days mullet watching with Lyndsey. I'm seriously considering this as a career option. A degree from Rye High oughta be enough for that, eh?

So now I'm unwinding, pondering my next move as a curler. The guys I played with want me to playdown with them, which would be a commitment involving a few more weekends. I think I want to, but want to be sure I can.

In other news, I have a lot of little errands to run in the next few days. Bills to pay and whatnot. Dentist on Thursday. Website to finish. yadda yadda yadda...

the winner takes it all...
Wednesday, October 24, 2001 11:53 p.m.

We won both volleyball matches tonight. We dominated, kinda. But the fact that we won, not only our first, but also our second match of the year... is utterly ridiculous. We're terrible, but its fun.

Nobody gonna break my stride, nobody gonna hold me down, oh no, i got to keep on movin

today's headlines...
Wednesday, October 24, 2001 03:45 p.m.

Well, I've read to paper, and now am prepared to make official commentary on today's most important news stories...

Maple Leafs Win 2-0 - We tie for the lead in the conference. Mats Sundin is playing how he can. Cujo had his first shutout of the year. Life is getting better for Toronto hockey. Hopefully, they'll sign Kaberle soon, and help out the defense a little. (By the way... this story going first = SARCASM).

Anthrax-o-rama This is just not cool. I know they haven't linked it officially to bin-laden, but i think the available evidence is pointing pretty cleanly in that direction. Maybe I'm taking the bait that some other terrorist is throwing out... bin Laden is severly un balanced. Hears only what he wants to hear. Dropped on his head as a child. Even then he had a full beard...

I forget what the rest of the paper said... so if you would like me to comment on any story specifically, or if you just want to say hi or whatever, Write to me!!

good morning... or not quite
Wednesday, October 24, 2001 09:38 a.m.

Well, yesterday was a crazy day, and I can guarantee that today won't be. I had class all day yesterday, with a break for lunch at the restaurant where I work (A Culinary Affaire,237 Dundas E. T.O.<--- FREE ADVERTISING). So after we demolished a few pizzas, it was back to class for some hardcore crossword puzzle action.

I went to pick up my new computer... ran home, got it started as well as I could, then ran to work. Didn't have a really busy night, BUT I had a make up game to play. So I worked until 9:30, then jumped in the game my team had already started.

I was really really ugly, but we won. Although we should beat them 9 times out of 10, last night should have been that one time... oh well. I'm not complaining...

Then I went home again to play with my new toy, and somehow its already broken. Won't even turn on. Something happened to the power supply I think. Regardless, I'm still with out a computer, which is a giant pain in the arse.

Talked on the phone for a while, put the finishing touches on the mix. It is 100% done now... cover, cases, notes, CDs, all done. So yeah, I need a new project, although it looks like I'll be spending a while working on the friggin pooter. Which by the way, delays important website developments.

And this morning... I'm at the stupid boring nothing desk (SBND) because it's Wednesday. And that's what I do on Wednesdays. Good lord, I wish I didn't... but it's free money.

I feel like I should be making a comment on politics, or news, or something meaningful. Really, I don't have the first clue about what is going on. I've been so busy lately that I barely know anything about the whole Anthrax and Afghanistan Situations. So I'll read up a bit, and maybe get back to you all in a bit, with some useful commentary.

Authors note: Yes, I am aware that today is Wednesday, and that this song is not entirely relevant. Ask me if I care...

i love my job(s)...
Tuesday, October 23, 2001 12:12 a.m.

It occured to me tonight, and several others, that I do have an awesome job. No, it isn't glamourous. No, it doesn't even pay that well. But I get enough hours to keep me happy (usually which ever hours I want in a week), and I get to eat as much as I want... and I learn how to cook. SO it's good stuff.

So yeah, that's where the last 6 hours went.

the horror, the horror...
Monday, October 22, 2001 12:52 p.m.

Just got out of my test. It was...good enough. A lot of stuff I knew, and a lot of stuff I made up. So we'll see how it went when I get it back.

Off to see a movie this afternoon with Mike, then work tonight. So for everybody who checks this thing hourly for new updates (yeah, I'm dilusional), there won't be anymore until after 10:00 tonight. And if you do, check this hourly, or even more than once a day, you really need to get out more.

I know I do...

one of them days...
Monday, October 22, 2001 12:21 a.m.

Nothing happened... I worked... I'm trying to study.

Unsuccessfully...

done and done...
Sunday, October 21, 2001 02:16 a.m.

It's 33 songs long. It took 2 CDs. It took several days to figure out. But the thing is done... and I am going to bed.

2 updates...
Saturday, October 20, 2001 05:40 p.m.

Number one... The guys name is Lawren S. Harris. He was an original member of the famous Group of Seven (Canadian painters for all of my ignorant American friends). Anyway... he did some cool stuff like this one called Lake and Mountains:

The second update is that my head still hurts from banging it on a sign at Old Navy. I was going to leave that part out but it seems to be playing a role in my afternoon. I hope you all laugh as hard as Leigh did. I should sue...

andy warhol and sweater shopping...
Saturday, October 20, 2001 05:16 p.m.

I went to the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario) with Leigh today. It was a really good time. I felt like I was doing something cultured, and sophisticated when really all we did was make jokes about the art. We did see some cool stuff, and I've become a fan of a certain guy, whose name escapes me right now... I'll have to get back to you on that one. But anyway, we looked at some really good art, and some not so great stuff. But all in all, that was a lot of fun...it could have been the company.

We went sweater shopping. Actually, I went sweater shopping and brought Leigh with me as an advisor. We stopped in at American Eagle to bug my roommate, who tried to sell me ugly sweaters, and then it the Gap, and Old Navy, with even less success. Why can't I just get a cool sweater? It shouldn't be that hard! But apparently I'm a fashion idiot, who can't recognize the coolness of all the sweaters at the stores...

So now, I'm at home. Not much is going on. Dennis and Justin are both out, so the apartment is pretty quiet. It's times like this that I think I spend too much time alone. It's kinda depressing. It's not like I do any productive either. I could do laundry, or study for a test, but I'd rather play my guitar, watch a movie, or chat with friends on ICQ or AOL or MSN... but nobody seems to be around right now.

On that note, it suddenly became 5:15, and I really should do something worthwhile.

its a beautiful day...
Friday, October 19, 2001 03:03 p.m.

Well, I'm just in a great mood. It seems that after yesterday was so blah and melancholy, that today, everything is right. Things are going well, and I'm in the middle of it all.

I got to campus at 9 this morning only to find that our prof was sick, so that class wasn't happening. So I went to our Radio classroom (my class from 10-6) and started looking for a story idea. I'm a reporter today, so I had to go out and find something that was going on, get some good sound, and write up and record a report.

It just so happened that Jane Goodall, the environmentalist wildlife chimpanzee expert was on campus recieving an honourary degree. So I went to see that, and plugged into the media box, which basically guarantees perfect sound (a common problem for reporters is crappy sound quality).

So I was thrilled to have that luxury. So then, I got some sound of the bagpipe playing the processional, Jane getting presented with her Docterate of Science (which is a joke coming from Rye High, but an honour nonetheless). But then Dr. Goodall started to speak.

She gave a talk that was about 10-15 minutes long and I was mesmorized. Everything she said was incredible. I don't even know why, but I was captivated. The tape of that speech, is now one of my prized possesions and will remain that way until i lose it ;) But I left that place, smiling from ear to ear knowing that I had just heard an amazing speech, and that I recorded it all perfectly.

I went through it again to pick the clips I was going to use, and then wrote up a script for it. Stuart McLean (who I have mentioned before is a great great teacher) read the script, and loved it. Everything was really really well written, he said. So that made my day even more, because he's got a habit of ripping these things apart. But not me, not today... I was on a roll.

He asked me to change one sentence which took me a good half hour to get just right. I ended up going back to the tape, to get a clip I wasn't originally going to use. But I knew I had too... so i did.

I went in the studio, and recorded it all. Angela, the lab assistant was really impressed with it all, the sounds, the script, the whole thing. So I got a few more compliments, and my smile got even bigger.

Then I went to Hooker Harvey's and had a cheeseburger and fries.

I'm so happy right now. I'm having a great day. Apparently I'm beaming, or at least everybody says so. This is the kind of day I really needed, specially in a journalism course. Last weeks class was brutal for me... I was annoyed, tired, doing crappy work. But this week all is well and I'm loving it.

In other news... I got an email last night that told me to go ahead with a project I was waiting for the go-ahead on. So the Trillium Curling Camp website will be completed shortly. In a related story, my computer is still a piece of crap, so I'm getting a new one, hopefully Monday or Tuesday.

That's about it right now, but I'm smiling real big ;)

is it about my cube?
Thursday, October 18, 2001 11:08 p.m.

For anybody who didn't understand the title of this entry, its from a Simpsons episode. Bonus points if you can tell me who said it, and why...

The reason I bring it up is because Tom (the skip of my curling team) had that one line in his head all night. So during our game, he said it like 30 times... while Mike and I were just reciting most of Eddie Murphy's Delerious. I couldn't tell you what the score was at any point during the game, but i think we won ;)

IN other news, the room still isn't clean, the mix still isn't done, and the laundry is still a big pile... and i did nothing all day.

music is great...
Thursday, October 18, 2001 04:33 p.m.

Anybody who knows me, will already know how much i love music. I just had another experience that reaffirms all that stuff about how powerful it is...

About an hour ago, I was miserable, tired, and blah. I heard a few good happy songs and now I'm awake and energetic! How cool is that...

That still doesn't change the fact that I don't want to do laundry.

sitting on a sunny afternoon...
Thursday, October 18, 2001 03:23 p.m.

I thought I owed it to myself to sleep in today. I've been pulling some screwy hours lately, and usually have to get out of bed before i want to... so today was not going to be one of those days. So i slept in til noon...

I looked out my window and my eyes hurt, because it was so bright. I figured that was a good think because the last several days have been rainy and cold. Just by looking I could tell that, at worst, today could only be cold. But it wasn't even too bad...

I went to class and read the paper. I'm quite the slacker and its starting to concern me. Not enough motivation... So anyway, i had a lengthy debate with myself about whether i was going to the eatons centre or not, because I had things i COULD do, but were not dire. So I came home, because i felt tired. I'm very sluggish today.

we are terrible...
Thursday, October 18, 2001 12:08 a.m.

It is official that our intramural volleyball team is not the most stellar group on the court... in fact i think we are the LEAST stellar.

In other news, i'm having a conversation about how comforting bedtime stories were as a kid. Why can't we get tucked in and read to everynight? The world would be a better place.

the stupid boring desk...
Wednesday, October 17, 2001 03:03 p.m.

I'm at work, which is, on Wednesdays, as a "Lab Assistant" in a resource center at RyeHigh. And by "lab assistant," I mean "a person who sits at a desk and does homework, crossword puzzles, and talks to friends while students come to use phones, computers, meeting space, and a small reference collection. It's pretty demanding, but it's also very rewarding... or not at all. I like to call it free money.

All is not a waste though. Today I finalized the list, and it only took about 3 revisions. And because, Leigh doesn't read this, as far as I know... here it is. (ps- i had to abandon the alphabetical order strategy, because the mix would have sucked.)

The order has not been finalized, but that's it for songs. back to the stupid boring desk.

a peruvian woman spoke to me
Wednesday, October 17, 2001 12:29 a.m.

Biggest news of the day is that i did more reading today for an English class than i did ALL of last year. I read all 173 pages of "Letters from a Peruvian Woman" in one sitting... and I got paid for it!! I was at work...

In other news, AOL, MSN Messenger, and ICQ are the devil.

Tomorrow shouldn't be any fun at all... until about 9:30. Work at the stupid nothing desk from 9-6. Well I should get some work done... either that or figure out the final list and order for Leigh's CD. I decided today, that I might make the order alphabetical to save myself several more hours of deliberation. Can you deliberate with yourself?

I think you can...

correction... and a crucial one
Tuesday, October 16, 2001 01:53 p.m.

In the last entry Barry Manilow's song, "Copacabana," was spelled incorrectly. The Star regrets the error.

In other news, the Pizza Hut Lunch buffet will be the death of me.

choices, choices, choices...
Tuesday, October 16, 2001 01:39 p.m.

My friend Leigh asked me to make a CD for her of songs that I like, that might tell her something about me. Not only are there many sides to me, but there are 200 CDs and countless mp3s to choose from. The first list (which was very selective) was more than 70 songs long. Last night I managed to work it down to about half that. Something tells me its going to be a two disc set... that is, if i can knock off a few more songs.

So far, I've already eliminated Bust a Move, November Rain, Rappers Delight, Sweet Emotion, a bunch of Barenaked Ladies songs, a few U2 songs (there are still 4 on the list), a handful of Beatles, and others by such artists as Barry Manilow (Copa Cabana), Billy Joel (Piano Man), Boney M (Rasputin), Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds (Satellite), Hot Chocolate (You Sexy Thing), RunDMC and Aerosmith (Walk this Way), Pearl Jam (Alive, Even flow, Jeremy, Better Man), and some ABBA.

Those are just some that were on the list, that aren't anymore. There were 1000 others that I wanted to put on the list, but forced myself not to. I'll put up the full list, when I finalize it.

goony goo goo...
Tuesday, October 16, 2001 01:34 a.m.

Something tells me that as long as I can waste time writing on this thing, I'm not going to get a whole lot of work done. But such is the beauty of RyeHigh J-School, you don't really have all that much work to do...

bandwagon... but damn i wish i had a band
Tuesday, October 16, 2001 12:49 a.m.

Well, I've officially jumped on the "blogging" wagon. I don't have any dilusions of stardom, but it would be cool from time to time if someone actually read this.

so this is the start of me wanting to be as popular as some people I know. i tried to do it the old fashioned way, but being able to do this from anywhere, with out ftp and stuff, will make life easier for us all.

I play the guitar, but I don't have a band. After seeing U2 rock the joint on Saturday in Hamilton, I really want to be in one. Yes, I'm a wannabe rockstar... some people even think i can sing. I'd agree with them sometimes.