Friday, October 31, 2003
Just came back from Simon's house (bf to a girl on my floor), where we watched some of "Spike TV"s Friday the 13th marathon - such incredibly bad movies.
So I get back in, and go to my bathroom, which smells strongly of beer. Then I noticed the knife and empty cans on the counter, which also has large puddles of beer all around the sink.
Looks like my fucking canmate and his delinquent friends were shotgunning in my bathroom. And, of course, being the inconsiderate pricks they are, they left their shit all over the place. It smells like ass in there, and there's beer all over my side of the sink/counter. The least they could do would have been to keep it on their side.
Well, hopefully my canmate will trip and fall while crossing the road drunk and get run over by a Mack truck, lying in agonizing pain with his gut torn open in the middle of the road for a good long while before finally dying.
That would be nice.
So I get back in, and go to my bathroom, which smells strongly of beer. Then I noticed the knife and empty cans on the counter, which also has large puddles of beer all around the sink.
Looks like my fucking canmate and his delinquent friends were shotgunning in my bathroom. And, of course, being the inconsiderate pricks they are, they left their shit all over the place. It smells like ass in there, and there's beer all over my side of the sink/counter. The least they could do would have been to keep it on their side.
Well, hopefully my canmate will trip and fall while crossing the road drunk and get run over by a Mack truck, lying in agonizing pain with his gut torn open in the middle of the road for a good long while before finally dying.
That would be nice.
Tuesday, October 28, 2003
I've always been disappointed with powdered iced tea - it's usually extraordinarily sweet, yet still watery.
So I decided to do something different - a couple of days ago I made a nice hot pot of Tetley orange pekoe tea, and after pouring one steaming mug, decided to put the rest of the pot in an empty pitcher, followed by 5 spoons of Nestea Lemon iced tea mix, and enough water to fill. I couldn't shake the pitcher (it's not leak-proof, as I found out last time I tried to shake it :/ ), and I didn't have a spatula, so I had to improvise.
Chopsticks make good iced-tea-pitcher stirrers.
So I tried a bit, and it seemed kinda nasty, not least of all because it was quite warm. So I dumped it in the fridge and forgot about it.
Until today. Just poured myself a nice tall cup, and it's sooo good! I was always disappointed with the caf, which only carries sweetened Nestea. This stuff cuts that really sugary taste with the bitterness of real tea, in just the right proportions. And it gets rid of the watery taste too.
Sooo good...if you're an iced tea maniac like me, then it's something you have to try.
Along with bottled Nestea iced GREEN tea...also incredibly good.
hmmm....maybe I'll make my next batch of iced tea with green tea as the real-tea base....should be good.
Alright, time for a MIC meeting, then off to study bio with the crew...a man's work is never done!
Well, at least not this man's!
I know you've got a man in the picture but it hasn't stopped me yet
We've all been in one situation or another we regret
Now I'm the other man, no-one's rooting for me,
Yeah I'm the other man, nature will abhor me...
So I decided to do something different - a couple of days ago I made a nice hot pot of Tetley orange pekoe tea, and after pouring one steaming mug, decided to put the rest of the pot in an empty pitcher, followed by 5 spoons of Nestea Lemon iced tea mix, and enough water to fill. I couldn't shake the pitcher (it's not leak-proof, as I found out last time I tried to shake it :/ ), and I didn't have a spatula, so I had to improvise.
Chopsticks make good iced-tea-pitcher stirrers.
So I tried a bit, and it seemed kinda nasty, not least of all because it was quite warm. So I dumped it in the fridge and forgot about it.
Until today. Just poured myself a nice tall cup, and it's sooo good! I was always disappointed with the caf, which only carries sweetened Nestea. This stuff cuts that really sugary taste with the bitterness of real tea, in just the right proportions. And it gets rid of the watery taste too.
Sooo good...if you're an iced tea maniac like me, then it's something you have to try.
Along with bottled Nestea iced GREEN tea...also incredibly good.
hmmm....maybe I'll make my next batch of iced tea with green tea as the real-tea base....should be good.
Alright, time for a MIC meeting, then off to study bio with the crew...a man's work is never done!
Well, at least not this man's!
I know you've got a man in the picture but it hasn't stopped me yet
We've all been in one situation or another we regret
Now I'm the other man, no-one's rooting for me,
Yeah I'm the other man, nature will abhor me...
Alright, so I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday, and I have a few minutes before I grab breakfast and hit my 8:30 (*groan*, calc).
Sunday was another interesting day in Montreal, only this time it rained a lot. Went "CV" (Centre-Ville, the French word for downtown) to hit up Archambault, a massive music store. This place had CDs, DVDs, books, instruments, sheet music...everything you could possibly want to do with music.
But no Robert Miles, as far as I could tell :(
Then it was time to hit St. Hubert's, the French Swiss Chalet (only much better). Since we were CV, there were actually people who spoke French - the menus were all in French, most of the wait staff spoke in French. It was only after we failed to understand and asked for clarification that our waitress switched to English. The food was good, but we didn't get out of there until 4:40ish, and then we were a little disoriented trying to take the underground mall home, which meant that by the time we got to Eva's it was shortly after 5:00.
Our bus left at 5:30, and we still had to take a short metro trip to the station.
So we briskly left Eva's house and headed to the metro, where I once again used my (now limited) French skillz to figure out the fare and determine the right way to go. Gary stole a metro ticket (we get down to the platform, and he pulls it out and asks "what's this?"...), and we were on our way. The subway itself was extremely packed, and 3 stops later I was more than glad to get off. We were at the terminal, with 5 minutes to spare...only we didn't know which platform our bus was leaving from (Tricolor tickets don't have ANY information on them :/ ), so we just walked until I noticed one line that had many university-aged people. And one of them had a Queen's sweatshirt.
Awesome.
Bus ride back was uneventful.
Hopefully I'll get some pictures posted sometime this week, but I'm getting really busy - bio midterm is on Thursday, and I've just discovered that this unit is a lot harder to study for than the last one, so I gotta start the hardcore studying. Plus there's always meetings, Haidong, labs, assignments, etc.
But it all ends Friday, so maybe by then I'll get some time to get things posted...gotta resize etc. so they don't blow the server or take forever to load. Which reminds me, gotta get photoshop...
Last night's Sloan concert was amazing...and I'm not even a Sloan fan! The whole standing up thing was kinda annoying...I mean, once they were standing not many people actually moved a whole lot, so I think we could have all just sat down and it would have been equally exciting...and less painful on the shin-area muscles...
But standing aside, great show...the bassist/lead singer was hilarious (although something of a spotlight-hog), they interacted well with the audience, and they did some really fun stuff (as well as playing many of their singles, which was a huge bonus).
Even the opening act, Boy, was much better than expected.
Alright, time to eat...see y'all later.
Sunday was another interesting day in Montreal, only this time it rained a lot. Went "CV" (Centre-Ville, the French word for downtown) to hit up Archambault, a massive music store. This place had CDs, DVDs, books, instruments, sheet music...everything you could possibly want to do with music.
But no Robert Miles, as far as I could tell :(
Then it was time to hit St. Hubert's, the French Swiss Chalet (only much better). Since we were CV, there were actually people who spoke French - the menus were all in French, most of the wait staff spoke in French. It was only after we failed to understand and asked for clarification that our waitress switched to English. The food was good, but we didn't get out of there until 4:40ish, and then we were a little disoriented trying to take the underground mall home, which meant that by the time we got to Eva's it was shortly after 5:00.
Our bus left at 5:30, and we still had to take a short metro trip to the station.
So we briskly left Eva's house and headed to the metro, where I once again used my (now limited) French skillz to figure out the fare and determine the right way to go. Gary stole a metro ticket (we get down to the platform, and he pulls it out and asks "what's this?"...), and we were on our way. The subway itself was extremely packed, and 3 stops later I was more than glad to get off. We were at the terminal, with 5 minutes to spare...only we didn't know which platform our bus was leaving from (Tricolor tickets don't have ANY information on them :/ ), so we just walked until I noticed one line that had many university-aged people. And one of them had a Queen's sweatshirt.
Awesome.
Bus ride back was uneventful.
Hopefully I'll get some pictures posted sometime this week, but I'm getting really busy - bio midterm is on Thursday, and I've just discovered that this unit is a lot harder to study for than the last one, so I gotta start the hardcore studying. Plus there's always meetings, Haidong, labs, assignments, etc.
But it all ends Friday, so maybe by then I'll get some time to get things posted...gotta resize etc. so they don't blow the server or take forever to load. Which reminds me, gotta get photoshop...
Last night's Sloan concert was amazing...and I'm not even a Sloan fan! The whole standing up thing was kinda annoying...I mean, once they were standing not many people actually moved a whole lot, so I think we could have all just sat down and it would have been equally exciting...and less painful on the shin-area muscles...
But standing aside, great show...the bassist/lead singer was hilarious (although something of a spotlight-hog), they interacted well with the audience, and they did some really fun stuff (as well as playing many of their singles, which was a huge bonus).
Even the opening act, Boy, was much better than expected.
Alright, time to eat...see y'all later.
Sunday, October 26, 2003
Ah, Montreal - the hilly city. Or at least that's how it seemed yesterday.
Everywhere around here is on at least a 20-30 degree incline, often much steeper. Haven't gotten that good a workout just walking around since...since...well, a long time ago, anyway.
Got some crepes for breakfast/brunch/lunch yesterday, which was pretty sweet. Met up with Fehmida and Cathrine, saw their apartments, and all I can say is...wow. Fehmida's place especially was easily the greatest student house I've ever seen - furnished, fairly large space, clean, very homey looking. And Catherine's place was pretty sweet too, especially for just one person.
On the subject of off-campus housing, things are really different here. You'd think that being in a large city, housing would be both more expensive and more decrepit than in Kingston, but it's exactly the opposite. While the rent is approximately equivalent (maybe 5-10% more expensive than what I've heard ppl pay in Kingston), the houses/apartments are NICE. I mean, we walked through the "student ghetto" here, and I was amazed - no garbage on the ground, no broken beer bottles, well-maintained lawns, nice trees, well-maintained buildings that, while old, actually looked like they were structurally sound and repaired/maintained/cleaned on a regular basis. The absolute worst building in the Montreal ghetto is cleaner, nicer, and better than the best house in the Kingston ghetto. And all the streets had adequate lighting, nice roads, etc.
Really, is it that McGill is the anomaly, and most places have shit ghettos like ours, or is Kingston the anomaly, and most other universities have decent housing off-campus? I know the Globe and Mail "University Report Card" is a terribly inaccurate study (their procedure for ranking and getting info is so incredibly flawed I don't know where to start), but still, our ranking of...what...36th or something for off-campus housing leads me to believe that it's not McGill's livable houses that are abnormal, but rather our shitty, run-down ghetto.
Something has to be done about that area...hopefully this election will bring this issue to the front of City Hall's agenda, or at least to somewhere nearer the top.
But enough about politics and Kingston - I'm in Montreal!
Spent the afternoon climbing Mt. Royal to see the atrocious monster steel cross they've erected up there...long trek, but it was still pretty fun - got some good views of the city, plus there were some nice trees on the "mountain".
At night, we hit the old city for a while, stopped by the quay by the science center place and got yelled at by the patrolling security car because someone was leaning on the railing (or so we assumed, a mixture of fast French and crappy PA meant we didn't really hear what he said). Then we went down a few older streets, saw Notre Dame (not the real one of course, but Quebec's version), then had to head back to rez to let Jason get stuff out of Jen's room so he could head back to his brother's pad for...something (confused? that's ok, it's irrelevant...).
It was fairly nice, I definitely liked the European feel of this one street, with mock-cobble-stone roads, and benches and stuff in the middle of the street. And definitely all the trees here are nice - as well as the little parkettes around campus, just little places with a couple of trees and grass and such. I wish Queen's had more of those - more grass, more trees, and not just fields for playing sports on either.
And what trip would be complete without visiting Chinatown? Well, by visiting I mean we hit a chinese buffet for dinner, which was alright. I mean, some of the food was good, but some was disappointing. Overall, tho, quite nice.
Should be hitting downtown (centre-ville) today, check out a ginormous music store among other things. Gotta hit the Tricolor at 5:30, so should probably leave campus around 4:30.
That leaves 6 hours for fun in Montreal...better wake Eva and Gary up and get going.
Once again, didn't bring my camera dock, so I'll post pics either tomorrow night or Monday...
Everywhere around here is on at least a 20-30 degree incline, often much steeper. Haven't gotten that good a workout just walking around since...since...well, a long time ago, anyway.
Got some crepes for breakfast/brunch/lunch yesterday, which was pretty sweet. Met up with Fehmida and Cathrine, saw their apartments, and all I can say is...wow. Fehmida's place especially was easily the greatest student house I've ever seen - furnished, fairly large space, clean, very homey looking. And Catherine's place was pretty sweet too, especially for just one person.
On the subject of off-campus housing, things are really different here. You'd think that being in a large city, housing would be both more expensive and more decrepit than in Kingston, but it's exactly the opposite. While the rent is approximately equivalent (maybe 5-10% more expensive than what I've heard ppl pay in Kingston), the houses/apartments are NICE. I mean, we walked through the "student ghetto" here, and I was amazed - no garbage on the ground, no broken beer bottles, well-maintained lawns, nice trees, well-maintained buildings that, while old, actually looked like they were structurally sound and repaired/maintained/cleaned on a regular basis. The absolute worst building in the Montreal ghetto is cleaner, nicer, and better than the best house in the Kingston ghetto. And all the streets had adequate lighting, nice roads, etc.
Really, is it that McGill is the anomaly, and most places have shit ghettos like ours, or is Kingston the anomaly, and most other universities have decent housing off-campus? I know the Globe and Mail "University Report Card" is a terribly inaccurate study (their procedure for ranking and getting info is so incredibly flawed I don't know where to start), but still, our ranking of...what...36th or something for off-campus housing leads me to believe that it's not McGill's livable houses that are abnormal, but rather our shitty, run-down ghetto.
Something has to be done about that area...hopefully this election will bring this issue to the front of City Hall's agenda, or at least to somewhere nearer the top.
But enough about politics and Kingston - I'm in Montreal!
Spent the afternoon climbing Mt. Royal to see the atrocious monster steel cross they've erected up there...long trek, but it was still pretty fun - got some good views of the city, plus there were some nice trees on the "mountain".
At night, we hit the old city for a while, stopped by the quay by the science center place and got yelled at by the patrolling security car because someone was leaning on the railing (or so we assumed, a mixture of fast French and crappy PA meant we didn't really hear what he said). Then we went down a few older streets, saw Notre Dame (not the real one of course, but Quebec's version), then had to head back to rez to let Jason get stuff out of Jen's room so he could head back to his brother's pad for...something (confused? that's ok, it's irrelevant...).
It was fairly nice, I definitely liked the European feel of this one street, with mock-cobble-stone roads, and benches and stuff in the middle of the street. And definitely all the trees here are nice - as well as the little parkettes around campus, just little places with a couple of trees and grass and such. I wish Queen's had more of those - more grass, more trees, and not just fields for playing sports on either.
And what trip would be complete without visiting Chinatown? Well, by visiting I mean we hit a chinese buffet for dinner, which was alright. I mean, some of the food was good, but some was disappointing. Overall, tho, quite nice.
Should be hitting downtown (centre-ville) today, check out a ginormous music store among other things. Gotta hit the Tricolor at 5:30, so should probably leave campus around 4:30.
That leaves 6 hours for fun in Montreal...better wake Eva and Gary up and get going.
Once again, didn't bring my camera dock, so I'll post pics either tomorrow night or Monday...
Saturday, October 25, 2003
Ok, so I'm not sure why I didn't update earlier - probably cuz I was busy.
Physics exam was a joke - 2 of the 3 questions were pretty much just proofs (show that a=b), so with the answers right there in front of you, it was kinda hard to get it wrong. I ownz0red that.
Psyc was...alright. Didn't remember what a supernormal stimulus was...stupid video. But I think I did alright...
Anyway, Eva's bugging me to go and enjoy Montreal...pshah - what better way to enjoy Montreal than by blogging, right?
Alright, it's time to climb a mountain...catch y'all later.
Physics exam was a joke - 2 of the 3 questions were pretty much just proofs (show that a=b), so with the answers right there in front of you, it was kinda hard to get it wrong. I ownz0red that.
Psyc was...alright. Didn't remember what a supernormal stimulus was...stupid video. But I think I did alright...
Anyway, Eva's bugging me to go and enjoy Montreal...pshah - what better way to enjoy Montreal than by blogging, right?
Alright, it's time to climb a mountain...catch y'all later.
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
Just finished writing my chem midterm.
Sooo much molecular shape and dipole moment stuff, and so I say a big
THANK YOU MR. STEINER!!!!
Wow...that stuff right after orgo in AP Chem really helped tonight.
Just one thing: can a molecule with formula AB4 (with polar bonds and an overall permanent dipole moment) ever have a pyramidal shape?
Oh well, one down, 2 to go - physics tomorrow, and I haven't started studying yet...oh well.
And, of course, crazy psyc on friday. OMG WTF I R GOING TO DIE!!!!!1111
3 essays, 90 minutes...my hand is gonna fall off.
And physics - 3 questions, choose only 2, 4 marks each. That's like 12% off for each mistake. And only 1 hour to write. Depending on the questions, I'll either ace this one or fail it miserably....I guess we'll have to wait 'til tomorrow to see....
So tired, and then there's that adrenalin/nervousness rush...all going to my head...so if I'm completely incomprehensible right now, that's why...
Sooo much molecular shape and dipole moment stuff, and so I say a big
THANK YOU MR. STEINER!!!!
Wow...that stuff right after orgo in AP Chem really helped tonight.
Just one thing: can a molecule with formula AB4 (with polar bonds and an overall permanent dipole moment) ever have a pyramidal shape?
Oh well, one down, 2 to go - physics tomorrow, and I haven't started studying yet...oh well.
And, of course, crazy psyc on friday. OMG WTF I R GOING TO DIE!!!!!1111
3 essays, 90 minutes...my hand is gonna fall off.
And physics - 3 questions, choose only 2, 4 marks each. That's like 12% off for each mistake. And only 1 hour to write. Depending on the questions, I'll either ace this one or fail it miserably....I guess we'll have to wait 'til tomorrow to see....
So tired, and then there's that adrenalin/nervousness rush...all going to my head...so if I'm completely incomprehensible right now, that's why...
Sunday, October 19, 2003
Who needs alcohol? I act drunk enough already - just ask anyone who had brunch with me today.
Of course, only getting between 2 and 2.5 hours of broken sleep could do that to a guy...
So I just got back from watching Kill Bill at Bri's, and I gotta say, those fight scenes are...weird. They're like...almost seems pre-post-production, ya know what I mean? They look unpolished - it's like when you see a "behind the scenes" bit of a movie, and you see them fighting and it looks so different from in the actual movie after the editors and various other guys have got to it.
Kill Bill looked like nobody got to it after it was shot (besides the guys who added the ridiculous blood...it was like Evil Dead 2 all over again, except that Evil Dead was SUPPOSED to be so ridiculously stupid it's funny.
Overall, I'd have to say not a very good movie. But maybe the dark screen, the "Property of Mirimax Films", and the breaks contributed to that.
Oh yeah, is there ANYONE on the face of this planet more fucked up than Tarantino? I thought not. Still undecided over whether the completely random/strange bits in there were good or not...
Got back, and I had an ICQ message from "Veronika Veronika" (her nickname is "Veronika" as well):
Hi, Lee, how do you do?
what is your up?
What happens in uoyr life?
I'll tell you what my fucking "up" is: up your ass. A katana, that is.
Just like this.
Seriously, now...don't you all wish these IM telemarketer-style ho-wannabe porn-solicitors would just die in some extraordinarily painful, grotesque manner?
On a completely unrelated note, I've been listening to waaaay too much Robert Miles lately...and I can't find any tracks from 23am on direct connect.
And for that, I shall now cry in a corner.
Listening to: Children (Dream Version) - Robert Miles
Of course, only getting between 2 and 2.5 hours of broken sleep could do that to a guy...
So I just got back from watching Kill Bill at Bri's, and I gotta say, those fight scenes are...weird. They're like...almost seems pre-post-production, ya know what I mean? They look unpolished - it's like when you see a "behind the scenes" bit of a movie, and you see them fighting and it looks so different from in the actual movie after the editors and various other guys have got to it.
Kill Bill looked like nobody got to it after it was shot (besides the guys who added the ridiculous blood...it was like Evil Dead 2 all over again, except that Evil Dead was SUPPOSED to be so ridiculously stupid it's funny.
Overall, I'd have to say not a very good movie. But maybe the dark screen, the "Property of Mirimax Films", and the breaks contributed to that.
Oh yeah, is there ANYONE on the face of this planet more fucked up than Tarantino? I thought not. Still undecided over whether the completely random/strange bits in there were good or not...
Got back, and I had an ICQ message from "Veronika Veronika" (her nickname is "Veronika" as well):
Hi, Lee, how do you do?
what is your up?
What happens in uoyr life?
I'll tell you what my fucking "up" is: up your ass. A katana, that is.
Just like this.
Seriously, now...don't you all wish these IM telemarketer-style ho-wannabe porn-solicitors would just die in some extraordinarily painful, grotesque manner?
On a completely unrelated note, I've been listening to waaaay too much Robert Miles lately...and I can't find any tracks from 23am on direct connect.
And for that, I shall now cry in a corner.
Listening to: Children (Dream Version) - Robert Miles
Saturday, October 18, 2003
Never ever, EVER drop your palm, under any circumstances.
I learned this the hard way...dropped it last night as I was putting on my coat (it was in the inside pocket), and this morning it was completely reset.
Right from the box type reset.
Everything I had put in it was erased.
And I haven't hot-sync-ed since before I got here...
This is so fucking annoying...I don't have anyone's queen's info (phone number, etc.), I lost all the contacts I've made since coming here, my list of b-days is gone, and I lost everything in my day planner (like my exam days/times/rooms, meeting times, etc.).
At least I don't take notes on my palm...then that would really suck...
Fuck...why does this always happen to me?
I learned this the hard way...dropped it last night as I was putting on my coat (it was in the inside pocket), and this morning it was completely reset.
Right from the box type reset.
Everything I had put in it was erased.
And I haven't hot-sync-ed since before I got here...
This is so fucking annoying...I don't have anyone's queen's info (phone number, etc.), I lost all the contacts I've made since coming here, my list of b-days is gone, and I lost everything in my day planner (like my exam days/times/rooms, meeting times, etc.).
At least I don't take notes on my palm...then that would really suck...
Fuck...why does this always happen to me?
Thursday, October 16, 2003
Random thoughts:
Megaman games are IMPOSSIBLE to play with a keyboard. On a related note, I need to get a gamepad for my comp.
I need more Robert Miles.
When, exactly, did porn become pr0n? Is it pronounced "prawn"? Why not p0rn, or...p0rnz0r...or something.
Why does getting more sleep than usual make you tired?
Does the P&CC sell individual overhead transparencies?
Why do my Pirates of the Carribean movie files not work? GSpot says they're fine, but the video is just a green screen, no matter what application I use to run it.
Why are you reading this?
Megaman games are IMPOSSIBLE to play with a keyboard. On a related note, I need to get a gamepad for my comp.
I need more Robert Miles.
When, exactly, did porn become pr0n? Is it pronounced "prawn"? Why not p0rn, or...p0rnz0r...or something.
Why does getting more sleep than usual make you tired?
Does the P&CC sell individual overhead transparencies?
Why do my Pirates of the Carribean movie files not work? GSpot says they're fine, but the video is just a green screen, no matter what application I use to run it.
Why are you reading this?
Tuesday, October 14, 2003
Well, that was certainly interesting...and irritating.
Just came back from my 8:30 calculus class, which was cancelled due to lack of projector (after 15 minutes of waiting around for said projector).
I don't have another class until 12:30.
I could have slept for another 3 or 4 hours.
BAH! >:(
Oh well, could be worse - I could be sitting in calculus right now (zing!).
Damn cold...I hate being sick...
Just came back from my 8:30 calculus class, which was cancelled due to lack of projector (after 15 minutes of waiting around for said projector).
I don't have another class until 12:30.
I could have slept for another 3 or 4 hours.
BAH! >:(
Oh well, could be worse - I could be sitting in calculus right now (zing!).
Damn cold...I hate being sick...
Monday, October 13, 2003
Not too many pictures - I'm not as camera-happy as I used to be. Just 3:
The group at Kelsey's
Tom and Nitasha (also at Kelsey's)
Some of the group at Toogood Pond
The group at Kelsey's
Tom and Nitasha (also at Kelsey's)
Some of the group at Toogood Pond
Sunday, October 12, 2003
Yesterday was a day of reunion. The OAC crew (plus Gabe, aka MJ, aka Jess Pang) got together for lunch at Kelsey's, followed by the usual loitering and meandering, which eventually led to Toogood Pond, where there were pictures being taken of a wedding.
Tom, being his usual self, took the opportunity to mock the bride and groom. Then again, since most of what he said seemed to be true, it was excusable. Besides, it wasn't like he was the only one offering non-complimentary comments (and it did seem exceedingly obvious that the groom didn't want anything to do with his bride...).
And what reunion would be complete without crashing Max's house for some good old-fashioned Choo Choo (Chu Chu?)? Oh the profanity. Never has that much smack been talked. Even without the presence of Brian or Chiu, there were still records set for the insulting of others' mothers.
Then it was off to hotpot. I can't really say whether I prefer this to KBBQ - the whole spicy soup thing was good, as were the noodles and dumplings (variety is the spice of life), but it cost twice as much. Then again, I didn't get the too-much-salt-feel-like-puking feeling I usually get from KBBQ. This just means I'll have to do more of both to finally decide which is better :)
Finally, bubble tea to finish off the night. Didn't know jelly would drive Al so insane...
Good times, good times (I'm such a biter).
Took a few pics at lunch/Toogood, but I forgot to bring my dock thing, so I'll have to wait 'til tomorrow to post them.
Oh, almost forgot: CODPIECE!
(That's for you, Jess)
There's no place like home...
Tom, being his usual self, took the opportunity to mock the bride and groom. Then again, since most of what he said seemed to be true, it was excusable. Besides, it wasn't like he was the only one offering non-complimentary comments (and it did seem exceedingly obvious that the groom didn't want anything to do with his bride...).
And what reunion would be complete without crashing Max's house for some good old-fashioned Choo Choo (Chu Chu?)? Oh the profanity. Never has that much smack been talked. Even without the presence of Brian or Chiu, there were still records set for the insulting of others' mothers.
Then it was off to hotpot. I can't really say whether I prefer this to KBBQ - the whole spicy soup thing was good, as were the noodles and dumplings (variety is the spice of life), but it cost twice as much. Then again, I didn't get the too-much-salt-feel-like-puking feeling I usually get from KBBQ. This just means I'll have to do more of both to finally decide which is better :)
Finally, bubble tea to finish off the night. Didn't know jelly would drive Al so insane...
Good times, good times (I'm such a biter).
Took a few pics at lunch/Toogood, but I forgot to bring my dock thing, so I'll have to wait 'til tomorrow to post them.
Oh, almost forgot: CODPIECE!
(That's for you, Jess)
There's no place like home...
Friday, October 10, 2003
I never attended an MDHS football game in all the 5 years I was there.
Yet tonight, I found myself at Markham Bowl. How sad is that?
I have an excuse - I was merely trying to find people. After Gary leaves me a cryptic ICQ msg ("Markham Bowl?"), I decide I know what he's up to, and drive off to the bowling alley.
Wrong.
Well, I thought, why don't I just call Dan, maybe he'll know what's going on. So I did. Then I say I'll come pick him up.
Another bad idea. Because as it turns out, some hooligan (aka. Dan's sis and her delinquent friends) decided to remove all the street signs from Larkin. So I couldn't find Tilman. 2 map checks later, I was finally there.
So Dan comes up with a great idea - let's go to Max's house, he should know where everyone is! So I drive over. In the driveway (Max's, that is), Dan decides we should give Max a call.
Good idea. Cuz he wasn't home. After getting a hold of Max's father (wrong cell number, doh!), we finally figure out that they're over at BA.
So we head out there, find him and others (Gary, Lindquist, Bennett, and Arthur Don Paul Wright), hang around the game for a while (why oh why? I don't even go to Gael games, now here I am at my old high school's game? How lame is that.? Very lame. Lame frosh, indeed :( ) then decide to loiter around the Shoeless Joe's parking lot.
And now I'm home...and going to bed. Sooo tired, and I really don't have much reason to be.
I think I'm coming down with something...either a cold or a throat infection...neither is very good.
Yet tonight, I found myself at Markham Bowl. How sad is that?
I have an excuse - I was merely trying to find people. After Gary leaves me a cryptic ICQ msg ("Markham Bowl?"), I decide I know what he's up to, and drive off to the bowling alley.
Wrong.
Well, I thought, why don't I just call Dan, maybe he'll know what's going on. So I did. Then I say I'll come pick him up.
Another bad idea. Because as it turns out, some hooligan (aka. Dan's sis and her delinquent friends) decided to remove all the street signs from Larkin. So I couldn't find Tilman. 2 map checks later, I was finally there.
So Dan comes up with a great idea - let's go to Max's house, he should know where everyone is! So I drive over. In the driveway (Max's, that is), Dan decides we should give Max a call.
Good idea. Cuz he wasn't home. After getting a hold of Max's father (wrong cell number, doh!), we finally figure out that they're over at BA.
So we head out there, find him and others (Gary, Lindquist, Bennett, and Arthur Don Paul Wright), hang around the game for a while (why oh why? I don't even go to Gael games, now here I am at my old high school's game? How lame is that.? Very lame. Lame frosh, indeed :( ) then decide to loiter around the Shoeless Joe's parking lot.
And now I'm home...and going to bed. Sooo tired, and I really don't have much reason to be.
I think I'm coming down with something...either a cold or a throat infection...neither is very good.
Thursday, October 09, 2003
It's been too long since I've heard Vladimir Horowitz play Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata (mvmt 3).
I'm in heaven...can't wait to get back home to my piano...
I'm in heaven...can't wait to get back home to my piano...
Wednesday, October 08, 2003
Update: we're actually in the Syndenham district (formerly District 10), as far as the councillor election goes.
Our candidates are:
-Jeffrey Outram
-Floyd Patterson
-Don Rogers
Just in case you wanted to know.
Our candidates are:
-Jeffrey Outram
-Floyd Patterson
-Don Rogers
Just in case you wanted to know.
So I'm officially a member of the Municipal Issues Committee, part of the Municipal Affairs Commission, part of the Alma Mater Society, the student government here at Queen's.
First order of business: the upcoming municipal elections, which I'll now be an integral part of getting on the student radar.
Did I mention I don't even know where City Hall is?
Or that while everyone else in the room tried to describe its location ("Across from the Lone Star", "You know where the market is?", "End of Ontario St."), I had no clue what they were talking about.
It's all good, tho - over the next few days, I'll find myself some maps, learn the city a bit, and get some info on the candidates. We got ourselves 6 candidates for mayor, and a bunch for councillor (turns out our ward is "Sydenmoore" or something like that - I'll have to research that I guess). But anyway, I want each and every one of you to come out and vote.
Come by the AMS office and fill out a "form 32" to get yourself registered.
Next week, Tuesday-Friday, we'll be manning info tables at Mac-Corry and the JDUC, tentatively from 11:30-2:00. I know all of you have space at least one of those days, so come out and get informed. There'll probably be some "form 32"s there as well, so you can register as well.
Oct. 23, 5:30pm, the candidates for mayor will be at the Common Ground (or the Lower Ceilidh of the JDUC, if there's more space needed), and Oct. 30, 5:30pm, the candidates for city councillor (from the 3 wards that encompass most student houses and the campus itself) will be at the same locales.
So now you have all the information - you have no excuse not to make an informed decision Nov. 10 and cast your ballot. Remember, the municipal government is going to affect your lives more than any other level of government while you're at Queen's, so make sure your voice is heard. If you have any ideas of projects that can be done in the community this year, please let me know, and I'll see what we can do about it.
And hey, if we can make some progress in the battle against landlords this year, it means better housing for all of us next year, right?
Right.
Ok, so I didn't really mean to go on like that about the MIC...
On to the more personal part of the post.
I've always found that I'm particularly...hmmm...shy? Sheltered? I lack the self-confidence...or something...to just go out and do stuff, especially on my own.
Coupled with that is a wish to do some wild and crazy stuff, and the worst of it is that I'm not ignorant - I am constantly reminded of how boring my life is, and how little experience I really have with life than others. And how hermit-like I can often be. People tell me their stories, and they're fascinating, and they're interesting, and I step back and say "wow, this person has had a cool life."
I have no stories to share. I never partied with Gob, I never got drunk and carried back to my room, I never spent the summer in another province/country, I never played piano at a wedding.
The craziest thing I ever did was swim in Lake Ontario...big fucking deal. I never knew those edgy people, never associated with those guys who might be kinda rowdy sometimes. I'm still trying to get myself to see drunk people as actual people.
And so this lead to an interesting question: what if I hadn't been in the gifted program?
I'm not yet sure whether it would have made a difference, but had I not been formally placed in the program, I like to think I might have made some destreamed friends.
With faults and all...and their lack of nerdiness, maybe.
So I've finally come out with it - I wish I was a little less nerdy. But the non-nerd world scares me. I want to join with it, do some crazy shit and be able to laugh it off.
I want stories...I want to be able to tell people about the fucked up people I've known, the dumb shit I've done, that crazy friend who shows up at my house stoned while my grandmother's over.
But still, it's intimidating. Maybe my upbringing has instilled me with more Catholic morals (*shudder*) than I could ever have imagined - maybe I'm a prude, an old stern nun living in the body of a nerdy boy.
Or maybe I don't know what I really want. Or maybe I just don't have an ounce of self-will and self-confidence in my body.
My floor is talking outside, I'm going to join them...in all their non-nerd glory.
...I'm gonna be back here, sitting alone in my room, fairly quickly, I'll imagine :(
First order of business: the upcoming municipal elections, which I'll now be an integral part of getting on the student radar.
Did I mention I don't even know where City Hall is?
Or that while everyone else in the room tried to describe its location ("Across from the Lone Star", "You know where the market is?", "End of Ontario St."), I had no clue what they were talking about.
It's all good, tho - over the next few days, I'll find myself some maps, learn the city a bit, and get some info on the candidates. We got ourselves 6 candidates for mayor, and a bunch for councillor (turns out our ward is "Sydenmoore" or something like that - I'll have to research that I guess). But anyway, I want each and every one of you to come out and vote.
Come by the AMS office and fill out a "form 32" to get yourself registered.
Next week, Tuesday-Friday, we'll be manning info tables at Mac-Corry and the JDUC, tentatively from 11:30-2:00. I know all of you have space at least one of those days, so come out and get informed. There'll probably be some "form 32"s there as well, so you can register as well.
Oct. 23, 5:30pm, the candidates for mayor will be at the Common Ground (or the Lower Ceilidh of the JDUC, if there's more space needed), and Oct. 30, 5:30pm, the candidates for city councillor (from the 3 wards that encompass most student houses and the campus itself) will be at the same locales.
So now you have all the information - you have no excuse not to make an informed decision Nov. 10 and cast your ballot. Remember, the municipal government is going to affect your lives more than any other level of government while you're at Queen's, so make sure your voice is heard. If you have any ideas of projects that can be done in the community this year, please let me know, and I'll see what we can do about it.
And hey, if we can make some progress in the battle against landlords this year, it means better housing for all of us next year, right?
Right.
Ok, so I didn't really mean to go on like that about the MIC...
On to the more personal part of the post.
I've always found that I'm particularly...hmmm...shy? Sheltered? I lack the self-confidence...or something...to just go out and do stuff, especially on my own.
Coupled with that is a wish to do some wild and crazy stuff, and the worst of it is that I'm not ignorant - I am constantly reminded of how boring my life is, and how little experience I really have with life than others. And how hermit-like I can often be. People tell me their stories, and they're fascinating, and they're interesting, and I step back and say "wow, this person has had a cool life."
I have no stories to share. I never partied with Gob, I never got drunk and carried back to my room, I never spent the summer in another province/country, I never played piano at a wedding.
The craziest thing I ever did was swim in Lake Ontario...big fucking deal. I never knew those edgy people, never associated with those guys who might be kinda rowdy sometimes. I'm still trying to get myself to see drunk people as actual people.
And so this lead to an interesting question: what if I hadn't been in the gifted program?
I'm not yet sure whether it would have made a difference, but had I not been formally placed in the program, I like to think I might have made some destreamed friends.
With faults and all...and their lack of nerdiness, maybe.
So I've finally come out with it - I wish I was a little less nerdy. But the non-nerd world scares me. I want to join with it, do some crazy shit and be able to laugh it off.
I want stories...I want to be able to tell people about the fucked up people I've known, the dumb shit I've done, that crazy friend who shows up at my house stoned while my grandmother's over.
But still, it's intimidating. Maybe my upbringing has instilled me with more Catholic morals (*shudder*) than I could ever have imagined - maybe I'm a prude, an old stern nun living in the body of a nerdy boy.
Or maybe I don't know what I really want. Or maybe I just don't have an ounce of self-will and self-confidence in my body.
My floor is talking outside, I'm going to join them...in all their non-nerd glory.
...I'm gonna be back here, sitting alone in my room, fairly quickly, I'll imagine :(
Monday, October 06, 2003
So I've got a new psyc prof now, since we've moved on to a new "module".
His name is...
HANS.
And he speaks with a slight German accent.
He is soooo cool.
He's just this funny, hyper little German guy who seems to get very excited all the time. He waves his hands and even goes so far as to bounce a little sometimes.
In a word, he's awesome. I'm going to hate it when he leaves.
Tomorrow I get my new bio prof, and I've heard he's a cranky old man who hates technology. Hell, everyone calls him Dino Bill....oh well, shouldn't be that bad...heard he cracks down on people who sleep in his class.
And I haven't slept in any class yet....
...although I was so friggin' close in both physics and psychology today (even with crazy Hans teaching). I'm gonna need a good 8-9 hours of sleep tonight...
Waaaah...chem is getting crazy! Stupid quantum numbers and electron density...absolutely insane equations, I don't even bother looking at them...hope we won't have to use them ever...
His name is...
HANS.
And he speaks with a slight German accent.
He is soooo cool.
He's just this funny, hyper little German guy who seems to get very excited all the time. He waves his hands and even goes so far as to bounce a little sometimes.
In a word, he's awesome. I'm going to hate it when he leaves.
Tomorrow I get my new bio prof, and I've heard he's a cranky old man who hates technology. Hell, everyone calls him Dino Bill....oh well, shouldn't be that bad...heard he cracks down on people who sleep in his class.
And I haven't slept in any class yet....
...although I was so friggin' close in both physics and psychology today (even with crazy Hans teaching). I'm gonna need a good 8-9 hours of sleep tonight...
Waaaah...chem is getting crazy! Stupid quantum numbers and electron density...absolutely insane equations, I don't even bother looking at them...hope we won't have to use them ever...
Sunday, October 05, 2003
I've had about 11 hours of sleep in the past 4 nights...compared to my usual 8 hours in one night.
I haven't had internet since Friday at around 9:00pm. Stupid virus has downed resnet. Now that it's back up and running (sort of), it's both extremely slow and prone to cut out every 10 minutes or so, for about 30 seconds at a time.
Bah!
But life's good, nonetheless. I did go to that pancake kegger, which was really quite lame - only 4 of my frosh group members showed up :/
But the pancakes were good...can't comment on the beer, cuz I didn't have any.
Spent the rest of Saturday hanging out, saw Underworld (which was alright, but could have been much cooler if the vampires were more than just humans with guns :( )...
Yeah, never got to see Julius Caesar (tickets sold out...grrr, so pissed off - it looked really good :( ), didn't go to that piano guy's show...
Meh. Boo classes...can't wait to go home for Thanksgiving, and see all you guys again.
I haven't had internet since Friday at around 9:00pm. Stupid virus has downed resnet. Now that it's back up and running (sort of), it's both extremely slow and prone to cut out every 10 minutes or so, for about 30 seconds at a time.
Bah!
But life's good, nonetheless. I did go to that pancake kegger, which was really quite lame - only 4 of my frosh group members showed up :/
But the pancakes were good...can't comment on the beer, cuz I didn't have any.
Spent the rest of Saturday hanging out, saw Underworld (which was alright, but could have been much cooler if the vampires were more than just humans with guns :( )...
Yeah, never got to see Julius Caesar (tickets sold out...grrr, so pissed off - it looked really good :( ), didn't go to that piano guy's show...
Meh. Boo classes...can't wait to go home for Thanksgiving, and see all you guys again.
Thursday, October 02, 2003
Whoo!
Internet's back up - been off since 7:00 this morning. I swear, these new building are nice and all, but they aren't the most reliable places to be. First the power, now this...again, I might add - probably the 3rd or maybe even 4th time we've lost the 'net here (although on one of those occasions it was only for about 20 minutes).
I apologize for not having blogged much in the last few days - this has been a full week:
Calculus "mastery test" last night (worth 25/3 percent of our overall mark in the course)
Bio midterm this morning (worth 15% of overall mark)
Chem quiz this afternoon (worth like 0.5% of overall mark)
So I've been cramming my head with bio knowledge for the past few nights, and doing little else. But tonight I'm free...
...to do math/physics assignment, or chem pre-lab, or physics readings....yup, my work is never done.
Homecoming weekend this weekend. Not going to the football game, and now I'm indecisive about going to my Gael's "pancake kegger". It will only be fun if I KNOW that there'll be at least a few other non-drinkers there...I'll have to play that one by ear - probably just going to be a case of whether or not I want to get up early Saturday morning :)
Supposedly there's a semi-famous pianist performing at Grant Hall Saturday night, so I might try to score tickets to that. Also have to find a time to see this Julius Caesar production in Chernoff - seems like a cool idea.
And David Usher hits the Cocamo (aka the dirtiest bar/club in Kingston) next Wednesday night. Not sure if I'll be going to this...I mean it IS only $8/$10 (can't remember which), but it IS the Cocamo...anyone else interested in this?
Oh yeah, in case you were wondering, I'm getting better. Still a longish road to full recovery, but the wound is healing up a bit, and it's less painful - I can almost walk properly now (and I've doubled my speed at least since monday). Thanks for all the concern you guys have shown in the last little while...it's really appreciated.
Finally - is there anything worse than coming back from dinner only to find a message on your voicemail from a fine young lady asking you to dinner?
I didn't think so.
~Later, cowboys
Internet's back up - been off since 7:00 this morning. I swear, these new building are nice and all, but they aren't the most reliable places to be. First the power, now this...again, I might add - probably the 3rd or maybe even 4th time we've lost the 'net here (although on one of those occasions it was only for about 20 minutes).
I apologize for not having blogged much in the last few days - this has been a full week:
Calculus "mastery test" last night (worth 25/3 percent of our overall mark in the course)
Bio midterm this morning (worth 15% of overall mark)
Chem quiz this afternoon (worth like 0.5% of overall mark)
So I've been cramming my head with bio knowledge for the past few nights, and doing little else. But tonight I'm free...
...to do math/physics assignment, or chem pre-lab, or physics readings....yup, my work is never done.
Homecoming weekend this weekend. Not going to the football game, and now I'm indecisive about going to my Gael's "pancake kegger". It will only be fun if I KNOW that there'll be at least a few other non-drinkers there...I'll have to play that one by ear - probably just going to be a case of whether or not I want to get up early Saturday morning :)
Supposedly there's a semi-famous pianist performing at Grant Hall Saturday night, so I might try to score tickets to that. Also have to find a time to see this Julius Caesar production in Chernoff - seems like a cool idea.
And David Usher hits the Cocamo (aka the dirtiest bar/club in Kingston) next Wednesday night. Not sure if I'll be going to this...I mean it IS only $8/$10 (can't remember which), but it IS the Cocamo...anyone else interested in this?
Oh yeah, in case you were wondering, I'm getting better. Still a longish road to full recovery, but the wound is healing up a bit, and it's less painful - I can almost walk properly now (and I've doubled my speed at least since monday). Thanks for all the concern you guys have shown in the last little while...it's really appreciated.
Finally - is there anything worse than coming back from dinner only to find a message on your voicemail from a fine young lady asking you to dinner?
I didn't think so.
~Later, cowboys
