Blogging from Melbourne, Australia.
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
today, instead of attending an early-morning film screening, catherine and i (pretending to be yuppies in disguise) took a last-minute detour to the Groomed Beach of Fakeness, where we were sexy marilyn monroes and supermen and giant trucks while the wind made whitecaps behind us, as i gulped down an extra large hot chocolate in a matter of minutes (the wind had already made it a luke-warm chocolate instead) so that my stomach wouldn't revolt against the bumblebee pill i had to take. after discussing Matters of Utmost Importance (camping, siblings, and whether it was more in style to have a therapist or to be taking prescribed anti-depressants), we decided that the wind was too much and left to drop in on a friend of catherine's who lives above an italian deli along the drive, who soon became my Hero for today. lucky for us, she'd just come home. after being chewed on by her puppy and catching up for awhile, we decided to accomany her to the laundromat, it being Laundry Day in her house and all. we ran into peter and sarah and learned about the rewards of microbiology before heading off for food and puppy play.
that was only half the day, but it was the majority of the good half - much fun and silliness and commentary worthy of six-year-olds (though intelligent ones, mind you!).
so many people around me seem to be growing up rather well. while i feel like i'm regressing in age.
i'm not necessarily complaining, though.
written with flair at 11:20:00 AM | link |
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
as good as all the recipes look and as wonderful a show as i'm sure this is, any brit's gonna see a problem with the show's name.
but my oh my the food looks gooooooooood...
written with flair at 5:30:00 AM | link |
Sunday, April 25, 2004
sarah: oh, i need money!
daniel: there's always crime...
sarah: crime doesn't pay.
daniel: it does if you're brad pitt.
sarah: brad pitt gets lots of money because he's brad pitt.
daniel: NO, brad pitt gets lots of money because he's a sexy piece of man.
sarah: THUS SPAKETH DANIEL!
daniel: ...oh, snap.
written with flair at 2:38:00 PM | link |
Saturday, April 24, 2004
i've really appreciated the wind today. s'lovely.
today i met kirby, the work experience kid at CJSF. middle name clifford, if i recall correctly. i can't recall his last name anymore, but altogether his is one of the most appealing and endearing names i've ever heard. if it were me i'd be torn between hating my parents for a bizarre name and loving them for it.
i'm on antibiotics again because, once again, my body refuses to notice any strangeness because it's too used to feeling strange until suddenly i just know that something is wrong and go to the doctor anyway. and shows no usual symptoms either. i'm sure that learning to ignore pain over the past few months hasn't helped either.
not that i'm complaining. i just find it amusing and astounding whenever the doctor tells me that whatever it is that ails me is extremely bad and why on earth did i not come to see them earlier.
at any rate. it explains my moods over the past few weeks. the pills are fun, though. they look like bumblebees. and when the pharmacist gave them to me her last comment was a warning that they might make my pee turn orange.
thus far, there is no orangish hue. i'm disappointed.
and now, in a surprise twist, i'm going to bed. 12 hours was enough of a day for me today.
written with flair at 1:32:00 PM | link |
Thursday, April 22, 2004
today was a dress-up-fun-and-sillylike-because-i'm-in-a-shitty-mood day. it kinda worked.
although spending an inordinate amount of time trying to record an interview at CJSF (and failing - something's wired improperly, i think) and being forgiven by the person on the other side of the telephone and then finding good people to chat with and go for greek dinner with probably worked better.
written with flair at 4:59:00 PM | link |
Wednesday, April 21, 2004
i feel so popular today. my phone's ringing off the hook.
unfortunately it's all brides wanting tickets from me or crotchety old people wanting to tell me that they never want to hear from me again. it's the gift and the curse of having your phone number attached to a fax-out. technically i didn't bother a single one of them...but my number's on the paper. oh well.
in the midst of it all, however, there's been one phone call from someone wanting me for me! kinda. more than the rest of them, at least. hurrah!
but today i'm going to bask in my pseudo-popularity. either that or turn my phone off and ignore people for awhile.
written with flair at 6:19:00 AM | link |
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
today the surgeon reminded me that the funny bumps that you can feel underneath the large incision are actually the staples that he put in to hold the new "ligament" in place. i'd forgotten about that. i'd assumed that it was scar tissue.
as he was talking about them he looked up at my face and interrupted himself, "oh. you'd forgotten about that, hadn't you. now you're going to think about that all the time, huh. sorry..."
lucky thing that i like him and only hate his receptionist. he's told me that if they're a real bother they can be taken out without a lot of trouble. but there's no way in hell that i'm willingly going to go through any sort of knee surgery in the near future.
i also found out that when people have ACL reconstruction, when the surgeon goes inside the knee they'll either see a bit of the ligament hanging around, or nothing at all because it's completely snapped back and disappeared. in my case, it was the latter. "no, your ligament was completely gone and useless, you needed surgery, there was no question about it."
i won't be anal enough to go back and link to entries years ago where i complained that i'd probably torn the ligament and was only able to stand because of the muscles holding my knee together. i could. but i won't. frickin' medical world....
but my knee works now and it doesn't wobble in the slightest and it's terribly exciting and my foot can be forced to touch my butt (which is very rare after ACL reconstructions, apparently, and i'm still in healing mode so that shouldn't be difficult in the least when it's all better) and i can bike now and i can hike as long as i don't over-do it and all that i can't shouldn't do is run. not for another month. or do the twist.
i'm almost a normal human being again! except for the biodegradable screw and metal staples in my knee. and the tiny dent in my forehead. and the inability to snap. and the magic powers.
the biggest highlight of this past weekend was traipsing through the British Properties ("the rich area," for people who don't live in vancouver) with neal, questioning and downright criticising the architectural design of each and every house, mocking the sensibilities of the rich, admitting that the air did smell fresher there and lamenting the fact that we couldn't afford to breath such nice air, and making many ironic and sarcastic comments. everyone who drove past us when we abandoned the safety of the (far inferior and cheaper than the local standard) vehicle for a brief while eyed us with suspicion and probably had their finger ready to dial their local rent-a-cop if we made any sudden moves.
because a skinny blonde girl with glasses who can't run and a tall skinny nerd with glasses pose a real threat.
after i left neal i sat at kits beach for a little while and noticed the ironies and facades of everyone there.
the second biggest highlight was good venting session that made a few things much clearer and got rid of any number of tensions building up.
third (and final) highlight was a spontaneous trip alone to the beach (belcarra, this time), mini-hike, playing with squirrels, taking pictures, talking to geese, finding strange shrubbery, heading to a good vancouver lookout point to take a couple more pictures as it got completely dark, and generally forcing meself to cheer up a little.
it was a very critical, observational, and solo weekend indeed.
fun fun fun.
written with flair at 2:38:00 PM | link |
Saturday, April 17, 2004
"my popularity is only surpassed by my loneliness"
- the famous bovine internet celebrity
written with flair at 6:03:00 PM | link |
Friday, April 16, 2004
since i've been back in canada, today's the first day that i've had that didn't have any pressing deadlines looming ahead of me. or, at least, the fewest by far. when i came back in january the semester had already started and i had to go to class first thing the next day to beg my way into classes and start thinking about final papers and go to the knee surgeon, and that was even before i'd had a chance to clean my laundry after the plane ride!
so now i don't know what to do with meself, really. get a job, of course, but other than that.... ::shrugs::
but handed in the final final final paper yesterday (a day late - shhhh! ..but i wasn't the only one!), cleaned out the arts editor section (much easier to do than cleaning out my own stuff - so much went into the trash!), and when i finally got home i found out that, Surprise! That road test you thought was on the 26th? It's tomorrow morning! Think you can manage? Cuz either way you have to pay for it now....
so i woke up early and went for the road test and hurrah and huzzah passed and am now rid of the N plate forever, but the best bit about that was that i only got one demerit - for skipping a shoulder check that i'd thought of doing but deemed pointless as the road had already been determined to be deserted. makes up wonderfully for driving tests in the past. at least i didn't have to redo this one at all.
and i think i have most things settled for the first newspaper issue so i don't need to figure that out anymore at the moment.
and now i'm really stress-free. and i should have / wanted to go to the art show tonight but really felt more like watching a film and doing some magazine work at home instead, because when that's done then i have this weekend completely and totally to meself. i'm sure the show was fun... but watching french films with daniel and finishing up edits and silly debates online with nicky was more what i needed.
so. who wants to make plans for the weekend?
written with flair at 3:00:00 PM | link |
Tuesday, April 13, 2004
should i ever have a family of my own this is how we will spend sunday evenings.
written with flair at 2:52:00 AM | link |
Monday, April 12, 2004
today at church (first time there since i've been back... so first time there in about two years? aiyaa..) when it came time for communion i couldn't decide whether to go up for it or not. when it came to the crunch, i went, because that's just what i've done for years. it felt strange and wrong, though.
kahlil told me that if it would make me feel better she'd forget that i went up. it sorta helped.
kahlil and i had fun during service. we broke it out during the descant in the final hymn. we exclaimed how grown up people look now. we lamented the lack of Church! The Musical. we critiqued the other hymns and how terrible they really were. we made snarky comments during the (fire&brimstone) service. we spent a great deal of time choking back laughter.
i'd already spent the first quarter of the service chatting with elisa and telling sacreligious (but funny!) jokes. she says that she really actually does miss us coming to church regularly, despite the fact that if church were class, me, rebecca and daniel would likely be sent to the principal's office almost daily.
i kept my utter amusement at Black Gangsta Jesus during the gospel reading to meself, though. because if i'd mentioned it during the service kahlil and i wouldn't have been able to hold in laughter. rebecca and daniel found it amusing on the drive to the ferry terminal, though, during which rebecca made rude and/or seductive gestures to every guy checking out the hawtties in the minivan.
this was after easter dinner, during which rebecca did not explode, but we discussed the possibility of selling her (and sufferers of epidemics in asia) as a new party game, as well as the merits of Full Contact Fancy Dinners. and daniel gave me a potato wrapped in chocolate foil and tried to convince me it was peanut butter-filled, after tragedies of over-minting. the lamb and even the ham were decidedly tasty, though. my grandma prolly wasn't too impressed with us, though.
and then i drew a picture in MS Paint to illustrate everything that was bothering me at the moment for the sole purpose of posting it on the internet, where i could wallow in my angst with everyone else whose lives are full of hardships. it was a cathartic experience. isn't it impressive? i didn't even know i had that much talent.
and now i'll sleep to get rid of this headache and wake at 6 AM to write papers. wheee!!!
written with flair at 3:29:00 PM | link |
PS:
Q: What's red and black and white and can't fit through a doorway?
A: A nun with a spear through her head.
BADUM BUM CHING!!!
(ooh, i cheated and changed the time so that this one comes after the big post! but it's so much more effective this way, no?)
written with flair at 3:28:00 PM | link |
You are 27% geek 
You are a geek liaison, which means you go both ways. You can hang out with normal people or you can hang out with geeks which means you often have geeks as friends and/or have a job where you have to mediate between geeks and normal people. This is an important role and one of which you should be proud. In fact, you can make a good deal of money as a translator.
Take the Polygeek Quiz at Thudfactor.com
written with flair at 7:27:00 AM | link |
i'm such an academic snob. someone has submitted an article about a kundera novel for the magazine. i'm not finished editing it, but i keep catching meself writing in comments like "actually, kundera has said this in other places, so your comment here is technically wrong" or "but in another part of the novel kundera wrote this..?"
it's nice to have the work i did on kundera last year come in handy. and i'm revelling in it while marking up this article. because it's only going to happen once, i know it!
i found out yesterday that the papers i thought were due on wednesday are actually due a day earlier. so in a roundabout way, wasting time hiking through ravines and visiting friends turned out to be vitally important. i prolly wouldn't have gotten my papers in on time. so hurrah!
written with flair at 3:47:00 AM | link |
Saturday, April 10, 2004
"Our purpose is to draw attention to the quality of our products without arousing any unjustified expectations."
rebecca directed me to read the ritter sport website as it was "obviously written by germans and a jolly good read!"
she was right.
"We welcome strategic alliances if they are of mutual benefit."
literal translation from german to english? yes, i think so....
written with flair at 12:02:00 PM | link |
my hair is currently being held up in a bun by chopsticks and only chopsticks. it actually works!
also, everyone who didn't listen to my radio show (which means everyone reading this) missed out. rebecca was stunningly ineffective in her goal to be the least useful co-host ever. we played hungarian gypsy music. we spoke german and czech and got confused on air. everything was vinyl. to bad for you!
with all luck tomorrow will be spent at buntzen lake. but we'll have to see what happens. hope hope hope, though...
written with flair at 11:45:00 AM | link |
Thursday, April 08, 2004
when i was a kid my mom always put my hair in pigtails held up by elastics like this:
 | You are a spatial thinker Spatial Thinkers tend to think in pictures, and can develop good mental models of the physical world; think well in three dimensions; have a flair for working with objects. Other Spatial Thinkers include Pablo Picasso, Michelangelo, Isambard Kingdom Brunel Careers which suit Spatial Thinkers include Mechanic, Photographer, Artist, Architect, Engineer, Builder, Set designer |
