just an update on maintenance guy:

despite what happened when the misunderstanding started , i still do not yet understand why the cold shoulder of all a sudden ....continuing to be nice to me would help , ignoring me is the puzzling part. i like you and you know that but i will not go over the line when i know your committed ok? your a nice girl ....i hope you continue to work for MINTO in the future...Good Luck

just so everyone knows, this email pissed me off. now he's telling me how to act with him? just because everything is weird because of HIM, he's telling me i'm being cold and ignoring him? what a small-minded individual, it made me so angry. in the end i just didn't reply. i suppose that also constitutes as ignoring him, but you know what? he brought it upon himself. what was i suppose to write back? so sorry, i'll try harder to incorporate your creepiness into my life ?!?!? anyway, enough about that.

in other news:
even though i SHOULD be working on my next presentation that is due tomorrow morning, it appears that i'd rather blog then do that. i think it's because i just need a break from writing well. hahaha. it's definitely been an interesting time since the last time i blogged and wanted to update so many times but i've just been too busy. so here it is now.

i'm now working full-time so that makes me happy in one aspect. but only one. the satisfaction of making some cash to save for school and travelling. I'm not UNhappy at work, it's just so boring. i suppose someone's got to do it, and here i am. the biggest problem up to date from working full-time now is that i have NO time for anything else.

i'm currently still taking french classes at alliance so my tuesday and thursdays are shot to hell. i try to stick in some dinner dates those evenings, but since cat isn't taking french with me this semester, i find that i am not motivated to do my homework. hahaha. counterpoint starts in 2 weeks and since i haven't taken harmony since 8 years ago, i'm pretty much screwed. no hope there so moving on...

on jan 18, jacob and i went to see a symphony on mozart's work. titled "The Singing Voice", it was played at the TSO. Peter Oundjian was the conductor for that evening, and it showcased Viktoria Mullova on violin and Isabel Bayrakdarian as the soprano. What a great evening! i even ran into tarik and brian from anthropology. can you imagine? i can't even manage to get together with tarik, but of course we meet at a symphony. he cracks me up. that evening was interesting because i had taken two packets of neocitran during the day and therefore had to leave work early to go home and sleep before the concert. how was i suppose to know that neocitran makes you sleepy?!?!!?! i DEFINITELY learned from THAT mistake.

sunday evening, i went out with jordan and alex. we were originally going to eat at the honey kaffe but because it's not opened after 4pm on sundays, we decided to go over to yorkville instead. I finally went to Panorama. and yes, it has a great view, but for the amount of money we spent, the good food came in portions so small you would have thought we were in france. and afterwards, since we were still hungry, we went to cafe nervosa and had dessert. yum!

i conversed with carlo at yonge and bloor this morning for a full 15 mins. hahaha. we met up because he wanted those cookies my mom made for the graditude fundraiser last year. so i had to get up extra early to meet him but that came back to bite me in the ass last night. since i had french class, i didn't return home until after 10pm. but i couldn't go to sleep because i had to finish writing my statement of interest for my orientation today. this resulted in bed-time at around 1am. and now i'm up again. tonight's not going to be any different. i have a presentation tomorrow morning and i have to prepare for that as well. the only problem is i cannot leave THAT until the last minute because i'm in a 3 person group and already one of the guys has slacked off so we have to pick up the slack. *shakes fist at dud boy*

anyway, enough rambling i have to go to work.

I received a disturbing email from the maintenance man at work this weekend. it was titled "christina":

Hi there , i thought i'd send you an email to let you know ...(psst) i have one *wicked crush* on you but i am kind of hesitant on letting you know that at work...i guess the signs are there huh? and also i know your a busy woman so ...let me know how you feel and if your committed to someone else...if so , i understand see ya at work ...Take care! Jeff!~


If Ya Don't Reply ....it's your FuneraL

Byllzy says so >:-)

there are so many things wrong with this email. why are you putting yourself out there like that? he's very old looking (like late 30s or early 40s), VERY unattractive, AND he doesn't seem to know the difference between "you're" and "your." the last line also freaked me out. "if ya don't reply...it's your funeral"?!?!?!?! is he threatening me as well? needless to say, i enlisted the help of many friends to get their feedback as to what i should do and say.

my good friend jordan offered to send him an email, i asked that he run it by me first. this is what he posted on his blog:

So...I was going to write a threatening email to to help Christina get the creepy 40-something maintenance fella off her back. This situation just goes to show you that being bubbly and friendly has its downsides and very few upsides...unless you're actually trying to pick up. The worst decision Christina made was not giving me the guy's email address. She requested that I run the email through her so she could ensure I didn't send anything like the following sick joke: (And I don't do pre-approved censored emails because I'm a shit disturber...)

"Hey you, fucking janitor, stay away from my biatch - I mean it!! My hunni's pot is real sweet, but the only sweetness you'll be tasting anytime soon will be the opened sugar packets I stick in your mouth to help your blood clot after I use a pair of cold-forged pliers to slowly remove each and every one of your non-cavitated teeth. I'm leaving the bad ones in 'cuz the sugar will fuck them up even more. Ain't no Crest that can repair that damage and good luck getting OHIP to cover the cosmetic surgery that you will require after I use a razor blade to scrape the tissue off your upper-right gumline. Then every time you bite down on a hard candy, you'll remember the time you tried to grab my candy's ass. And let me remind you that as a temporary employee, YOU DON'T GOT NO HEALTH BENEFITS...SUCKA!!!!!!! Regards, Jo Jo"

hahaha, it's so great. unfortunately, i don't think the maintenance man would appreciate your humor jo. i eventually came up with something, but i had to really fight the urge not to write please don't kill me at the end of the email. today is monday now, so let's all hope that everything will be ok. i've already warned karina that if i didn't see her tonight that they should send a search warrant out for me. :0

i'd just like to put my two-cents in about the politics that is going on in ames, jules, and grace's blogs. i actually don't care too much about politics in general and i find their banter quite amusing. however i'd like to point out that i'm only voting liberal because the liberal candidate in our riding happens to be KEN DRYDEN. that's right. that would be KEN DRYDEN, the canadian goalie!?!?!? now i hate to give you a slap in the face *cough cough grace cough* but if ken dryden happened to be conservative or ndp or even green party, i'd still vote for him. he's a national hero. so i suppose it's just luck of the draw that he's liberal. AND he's a lawyer. (i know, that had nothing to do with it, but whatever.) and on a slightly more different note, i also have a bias towards paul martin, partly because he looks more honest then stephen harper, and mostly because he's also an alumnus from university of st. michael's college. hahaha. so there you have it. the reason why i'm voting liberal.

ps. jared padalecki is SO NOT lickable.

courtesy of kinsey...

Impressing Chinese Parents 101
Written By Michael Wong

You're in love. You love her. She loves you. You talk on the phone for hours at a time. You drive her everywhere. You find yourself spending fifty bucks on cuddly Korean stuffed toys that cost a buck twenty to make in Shenzen. In short, your world is complete. Now the only things standing in the way of your complete bliss are her parents. Want to learn how to overcome these obstacles? Welcome to impressing Chinese parents 101. Guys, take note. These are ancient secrets that up to now only a handful of noble families knew of. Father to son, to his son and so on. Only recently have these powerful techniques been catalogued and brought to the public's attention. Girls, take note too. If you love him, make him learn these rules. Harmony in the house, between your man and your mom and dad is paramount. And what's more they can be used when you meet his parents! Okay let's get down to the details.

Basically, we'll be covering what to wear, drive, say, bring, and talk about during dinner. We'll also cover what details to reveal about yourself, what your "supposed" ambitions are in life, what your family does for a living, and how much to eat during dinner. Finally, since there is no way to cover every conceivable situation which could arise, we will teach you the secret of secrets, to be used only in times of dire need. Please proceed.

What to Wear

Wear Polo or Tommy Hilfiger, as these labels will make you seem non-threatening. Chinese parents like non-threatening. They like to think that their daughter will be the boss of you and that you will be a hard worker and give her all the money you make. When she has all the money, she can lavish her parents with gifts and give them a nice life. Through you, their daughter will be able to repay her debt to her generous parents who sacrificed to give her a better life.

Under NO circumstances should you wear French Connection UK. Chinese parents know very little English, but they'll recognize the obvious mangling of one of the three words in their working vocabulary of English. The other two English words that Chinese parents also know are "yes" and "no", although "yes" is seldom used.

What to Drive

Borrow your parents' Accord. Your parents don't drive an Accord? Borrow their Camry. Your parents don't drive a Camry? Wait you're Chinese right? You're not Chinese and you're meeting your girlfriend's Chinese parents? Hmm, we have a problem here that we don't have room to cover in this article, so please proceed to purchasing the textbook, now in its 7th edition. Some other acceptable cars to show up at their house with are Corollas and Civics. Contrary to popular belief, Mercedes and BMWs are not good choices. Her parents won't like the idea that you are flashy. You could try to front and say that your parents are rich, but this can go both ways. If her parents smile, this means that they are gold-diggers. If they are gold-diggers, then your girlfriend is one too. If they don't smile, it means they have an inferiority complex and feel that their daughter should be matched up with someone of the same social class. Take my word, go Honda and Toyota.

What to Say

Several years ago, the beautiful and amazing Chinese vocalist Sandy Lam came out with a song called "Talk more, screw up more." It would be wise to listen to Sandy's advice. Say as little as possible. Let your girlfriend's dad brag about his prowess in the stock market. Let him bore you with his outlook on the Hong Kong - China or the China - Taiwan situation. Let him put metaphorical "money in your pocket" by sharing his experiences and the work attitudes that made him the man he is today. He will wave his hands about the room and tell you that if you work hard, one day all of this will also be yours.

If you must speak be modest and apologize for not knowing much. Chinese parents ask a lot of rhetorical questions. Feign ignorance. Let THEM answer the question for you and then say that's what YOUR parents tell you all the time. Your girlfriend's mom will beam from ear to ear, and chide you about new world folly versus old world wisdom. In truth, she is not admonishing you as much as she is strutting her tail feathers. Let her strut, by all
means let her fuss and strut.

The Meeting

It's either at a restaurant or at their house. If it's at a restaurant, pretend to fight half-heartedly for the bill but let the real man at the table pay for it. Pour tea constantly even if no tea has been drank from the cups. I once poured the tea so high that it was actually higher than the rim of the teacup. Thank goodness for grade 12 physics and that lecture about surface tension. If they actually let you pay (not a good sign), leave a 3% tip. Chinese parents love frugality. But you might also want to rethink ever going back to that restaurant for fear that you will be recognized.

Most likely the meeting will be at their house. This is their territory. In this territory, your girlfriend's dad is king. Your girlfriend's mom is queen. You would do well to remember that. First off, bring something. To show up empty handed or what the Chinese refer to as "two bunches of bananas" is disgraceful. Bring tea, bring dried mushrooms, bring dried scallop, bring ginseng, bring dried seafood, bring bird's nest, or even bring shark's fin if you can afford it. Do not bring a case of Molson Canadian. Do not bring tiramisu (Chinese parents won't eat what they cannot say). Do not bring bbq pork or other dishes (this is an insult as it suggests that your host didn't make enough food). Do not bring anything that's name sounds like "4" unless you are wishing death on the Mr. and Mrs.

When you meet them don't call them by their first names or address them by Mister and Mrs. and their last name. Go "uncle" or "aunty". By doing this you've made yourself a part of the family. Be of the belief that all men are brothers with different mothers. Also, never let your guard down, because while you are trying to earn their affection, you have to recognize that the parents are the enemy. There is nothing you can do that will ever make you good enough for their little girl, so know your enemy. Recognize that all girlfriends' parents are old, crabby uncles and aunts that smell of white flower oil or tiger balm. The dad uses too much Brylcreem in his hair, while the mother wears an updo. Of course she doesn't know that updos are actually back in style. For parents, time and coolness stops after 40, so don't even try to relate.

Dinner

Before the meeting, remember to not eat for two days. Then, when you go to your future in-laws house, go to town on her mom's lion's head meat balls or her mom's shrimp paste stuffed tofu or her mom's bitter melon beef. Sing the praises of the dishes as if it were dishes fit for Pu Yi himself. You do know who Pu Yi is right? Have at least four bowls of rice. Conventional wisdom dictates that making a pig of yourself is not wise. On the contrary, lavishing your future mother-in-law with praise is a shrewd investment that will reward you with ample dividends down the road.

Dinner Talk

If they're Christian, say how you've always wanted to be converted and ask for their guidance. Offer to go to a sermon with them that coming Sunday. If they're non-religious talk about saving money to buy a house (they love this). Tell them you've been condo shopping. Talk about a general mistrust of computers, but the necessity of computers in the modern world. Talk about famous singers like Teresa Teng. All Chinese people love Teresa Teng. If there's one thing that China Chinese and Taiwan Chinese people can agree on it is Teresa Teng. You're on your own if you talk about Four Big Sky Kings, Cookies or Twins. Talk about how Rap Talk is stupid. Remember to use the words "rap talk". They'll look at you blankly if you use terms like "hiphop" or "urban". Talk about how everything is so expensive. In short, be as fake as a ten-dollar Rolex.

Yourself

Don't talk about your grand schemes to save the world. Don't talk carpe diem, getting colonics, the protein diet, google, and other new age crap. Don't tell them about your plan for an Internet business. Don't tell them about how you plan to backpack across Europe after you graduate from university, that is if you decide to go at all. Tell them that ever since you were a kid you wanted to be a doctor. Tell them that your parents are strict. Tell them that their daughter is your first girlfriend. Tell them you're a straight A student (what are they going to do, phone the school?). (editor's note: I wouldn't place bets on that)

Your Family

This is a thorny issue, but if your parents are notorious triad gangsters, tell them that your parents own an importing and exporting company. If your parents are working stiffs, tell them that your parents are working stiffs who saved every cent so you can go to medical school. If you're out of school, tell them that your parents are retired, but got part-time jobs because they were bored sitting at home.

The Secret of all Secrets

Even if you do everything as we have instructed, situations may arise where all your hard work is for naught. In that event, use the secret of secrets to get yourself out of trouble every time. Lie. Simply calm your mind and pretend that they are your parents. It's so easy to lie to your own parents, isn't it? Your parents actually think your credit is fine. They don't know about how you are on Prozac. They don't know about how you smoke (thank goodness for breath mints). Once you realize that all parents are the same, you'll find that it's a cinch to lie to other people's parents as well.

The Conclusion

In parting, I expect some of you out there to doubt the effectiveness of these techniques. Why would anyone call someone who is not related to him "uncle" or "aunty"? Who in his right mind doesn't like tiramisu? Who is Sandy Lam? And who the heck is Teresa Teng? (For your information Faye Wong frequently covers her songs. Who is Faye Wong? Awwww...just forget about it.)

Ah, young grasshopper. If I could I would introduce you to the future you, a future you who is sad and depressed because Chu Chu (piggy) or Boh Boh (precious) or whatever other cutesy name you have for your girlfriend won't see you anymore. You feel independent. You feel powerful. You feel you don't have to kiss up to your girlfriend's parents right? It's an illusion. Children are only as independent as their parents allow them to be. Cut off the credit cards, the cell phone (they pay the bill right?), the Lexus IS300, and all the other perks and your girlfriend is a nerd in Seven jeans. You have to realize that you are fighting the equivalent of The Machines in the Matrix. To be a successful Neo, follow my words. I wouldn't steer you wrong. I have put these tips into practice. In my lifetime I have gotten along great with parents. To this day, every couple of months I get a call from the parents of one of my ex's. They call me over for dinner and fret about how I don't get enough soup and home-cooked meals. I jump at the offer and starve myself for a day or two (not on purpose mind you. I am a writer and starving comes easy). It's okay that my ex-girlfriend married some other guy and moved to another city. It's all good. That just means more lion's head meatballs, boiled shrimp with chili sauce, and winter melon soup for me.

i went to see chronicles of narnia with alicia and fiona, and my oh my, what an incredible movie! i can only vaguely remember reading a little bit of the novel but i was never into the fantastical books and it never really made an impression with me. but the movie was just SO good! the boy who plays peter reminds me of chad michael murray, and the little girl, lucy, is simply adorable.

and yesterday, despite being sick, christian joined me, mich and sandra out for a sushi dinner, and then we went to this most wonderful coffee shop called "williams" up at yonge and elgin mills. we were the only asians in the store, hahaha. i think next time i will bring my grandma there.

oh, i took a break to talk on the phone with matthew, but now that i'm back, i'm just tired. so i think now i'll read a book and go to sleep.

what is true love? true love is your soul's recognition of its counterpoint in another - wedding crashers

well well, happy new years! jordan's in lyon, france and i'm soooo jealous, but let's all hope that he finds a place to live otherwise there will be problems...i hope tj's recommendations help out. as well, thanks to jordan's photos...i uploaded some of the pictures we took with tyson here and while i was at it, uploaded alot of my other old photos from my now defunct website. the thing that bugs me most about yahoo photos is that they're all in random order and i can't even remember when and what happened first. oh well, as long as i have a faint idea, i suppose that it's all that matters.

the new year is off to a good start. sushi with the newtonbrook guys plus simone and liz. i love sushi, i don't think i'll ever get sick of it. we gorged ourselves and then went to bug alex at price chopper, and then when he finally got off on his hour break we whisked him away to starbucks (we hope to get him a job there so we can get discounted coffees.) in the evening we went to lenny's house and watched wedding crashers...love love LOVE that movie.

also, somehow i quadruple booked myself for thursday january 12th. it all started off with cha organizing an abbey get-together for that evening. then jenny decided that would be a great evening for a knitting group, and then i find out that AF108 begins next tuesday and since classes are every tuesday and thursday, i therefore have class next thursday evening. the kicker came from work today. i had promised monica i would substitute for her when she went away for examinations this month and surprise surprise...thursday january 12, 2006. unfortunately that's the deal breaker. rescheduling abbey and knitting groups and skipping my second day of french class. what a way to go. hahaha.

this is going to be a great year! ;p

i nearly died just now. liz and i were on our way home from meeting up with tee and wongie. and we were driving up dufferin from wilson in her little white geo, and this huge ass canadian tire truck totally switched lanes and WE WERE IN THE FREAKING LANE!!!! she honked and honked but he didn't care. we're lucky we were driving in the left lane so she was forced into the median, fuck man. why can't anyone know how to drive anymore? that makes me soooo mad. it's raining and it's late and people don't have the courtesy to watch how they drive. i'm so pissed. and this happens on a normal day too. NO ONE KNOWS HOW TO DRIVE. it's like, hey let's pretend to go to driving school, pass the test and then promptly forget everything. we ended up taking down all his license plate numbers down, the cargo number and described the time and place so that liz will call and email and complain tomorrow. i hope he loses his job.

wow, that was such a bitter end to a crazy fun evening. ok, well we didn't really do anything, we just met up at futurs on bloor and went to have sushi. and afterwards tee invited liz and i to see her friend matt, who just got engaged to his boyfriend rene. they are such a darling couple, i love love gay guys. we went to the ramada in on jarvis and carlton (surprise surprise) where they had this big gorgeous room and just hung out for a bit and looked at pictures (did i mention they have a GAZILLION photos from their trip to tanzania?) man, i so want to go to africa right now.

anyway, i'm pissed and tired right now and that's just not a great combo. i'm going to sleep.

day 2: snowboarding

what a fantastic experience. i have to admit that i think i'm snowboarding the wrong way. i know for a fact that snowboarders face forward...however, i am most comfortable facing backwards! i think it has something to do with which foot is forward. i face forward with my left foot. it thought that the right foot at the back does the maneuvering but clearly i am wrong. but then, i was much too lazy to go in to change the foot forward...hence ending up snowboarding backwards! hahaha. that and plus getting up when i'm facing the hill is much easier then getting up when your ass is on the ground.

ah, which brings me to the various parts of my body that has been subjected to this torturous outdoor sport. (it's interesting but skiing brought the same results, but i suppose i can't remember skiing. haha) anyway, my butt isn't speaking to me anymore, i think that's a good thing. because it's my right knee that's bitching at me right now. i've got at least 4 bruises on my knee, is that possible? and my upper arms are just so sore. serves me right to go snowboarding two times in a row. i have various parts of my thigh and calf muscles screaming at me. that's partly what i'm not sleeping yet. i'm too scared to!

the weather has been pretty craptacular. it rained most of yesterday, thereby melting the snow. but it snowed overnight for a bit so that was exciting! karina came with connie and marta for the evening, and so we had a blast on the bunny hill. that's right...the BUNNY HILL. haha. my sister and i tried the big hill twice (and by big hill i simply mean the largest of the easy hills) and we finally gave up and went back to the bunny hill. hahaha.

but i'll be home tomorrow, and i'll rest up then. until then bailey's will have to do! ;p

where to start? ok i went and had my flu shot last night after work, and now my left arm is sore. it's sucks because it's always at these moments that i realize how important my left arm is and how often i run into it! there are these coat hangers in the women's washroom at work and i almost always run into them, i don't know why! and hugging people? i have to make sure that my left arm is on top of the other person's right arm! it definitely made it difficult today when i had a late lunch with tee and liz.

tee just came back from tanzania last night, and boy have i missed that girl. i'm so happy for her, she seems to have had an amazing time. i told her next time she wants to go to tanzania to let me know because i'd like to go. and knowing me, i'd go too! we were originally going to go to cafe demetres for dessert but after passing all these sushi restaurants we decided to eat sushi instead because tee hadn't had any since she'd left 3 months ago. mon dieu, i love sushi too much to go so long without! since i had some time before meeting the girls, i went to the eglinton centre and had laurinda gift wrap their presents so that they were all pretty!

tomorrow morning i'm going to blue mountain for the next couple of days. this year i'm going to try and learn how to snowboard. karina will be up on the 26th so i will go with her. it'll be a joint effort! until then i think i'll work on my skiing technique.

i'm also bringing up two movies, castle in the sky and amelie. i borrowed them both from alliance and so i'll be watching them in french. i thought i had this genius idea of watching the movies in french with french subtitles because i find that i understand better when i can see the words. i did that for the movie les miserables, but i found out that they don't actually translate word for word so that clearly didn't work out. i'm hoping these two will be better.

ames has also recommended that i read "hey nostradamus!" so that will also be brought up for some reading leisure when i'm tired of watching tv or knitting. i've gotten the hang of knitting now, the only problem is, i only know how to knit scarves. i'd like to try my hand at a toque, or perhaps some nice little mittens.

hey you know what's really good? peach and ginger tea.

everyone, merry christmas!

you know it's bad when cleaning my room is a major operation plan. plus sleeping in bed just isn't the same when all the blankets are bunched up in one corner and the other half of the bed isn't taken up by another person...but with clothes. anyway, i figured i'd do myself a favor and make my room pretty again. so now i have a bed.

i'm having the most incredible time right now. yesterday was flashback to the abbey days. tanaka came back for a bit from medical school in north carolina, so i organized a get-together (go wedding planner!) and i am still in shock as to how everyone was able to get their act together and meet up! maija came sans jonathan, and then had to leave earliest but she still had us in stiches about her little "activities" with hubby. charysee knitted me the most adorable arm-warmers! it's mostly grey-white with touches of blue and pink...AND purple and pink ribbons too! she totally knows my inner girly side! lilian showed up later with her fiance, michael...no one can still believe lilian's getting married.

it's so odd, but if feels like just yesterday that i was sitting in the cafeteria with all these girls and laughing and making fun of each other. just like old times, but OLDER. lilian pointed out that i never call satchmo anything other then satchmo. i suppose the nickname has just stuck, i can never call her "maureen" it's just not the same. satchmo's right! ;p

ROGER
Who do you think you are?
Barging in on me and my guitar
Little girl -- hey
The door is that way
You better go you know
The fire's out anyway
Take your powder -- take your candle
Your sweet whisper
I just can't handle
Well take your hair in the moonlight
Your brown eyes -- goodbye, goodnight
I should tell you I should tell you
I should tell you I should -- no!
Another time -- another place
Our temperature would climb
There'd be a long embrace
We'd do another dance
It'd be another play
Looking for romance?
Come back another day
Another day

MIMI
The heart may freeze or it can burn
The pain will ease if I can learn
There is no future
There is no past
I live this moment as my last
There's only us
There's only this
Forget regret
Or life is yours to miss
No other road
No other way
No day but today

ROGER
Excuse me if I'm off track
But if you're so wise
Then tell me -- why do you need smack?
Take your needle
Take your fancy prayer
And don't forget
Get the moonlight out of your hair
Long ago -- you might've lit up my heart
But the fire's dead -- ain't never ever gonna start
Another time -- another place
The words would only rhyme
We'd be in outer space
It'd be another song
We'd sing another way
You wanna prove me wrong?
Come back another day
Another day

MIMI
There's only yes
Only tonight
We must let go
To know what's right
No other course
No other way
No day but today
(Lights slowly fade up on the Life Support group.)

MIMI & OTHERS
I can't control
My destiny
I trust my soul
My only goal is just
To be
There's only now
There's only here
Give in to love
Or live in fear
No other path
No other way
No day but today...

ROGER
Control your temper
She doesn't see
Who says that there's a soul?
Just let me be...
Who do you think you are?
Barging in on me and my guitar
Little girl, hey
The door is that way
The fire's out anyway

ALL
No day but today
No day but today
No day but today
No day but today
No day but today

ROGER
Take your powder; take your candle
Take your brown eyes, your pretty smile, your silhouette
Another time, another place
Another rhyme, a warm embrace
Another dance, another way
Another chance, another day

- Live Another Day, RENT

i ran into laurinda on my way home monday evening, god that girl looks good. we met up for lunch the next day and had a really good heart-to-heart. it kills me the things we as human beings go through. you think you just watch it on tv, but then when you hear real live friends tell you the things they go through, it just seems so unreal. half of me wishes that she'd told me before, but realistically, what help can i give? all the love that a friend can give, but nothing else. i suppose a friend support is good to have but still, it's hard the whole feeling of helplessness.

life is hard. but it can also be good.

i say this as i look back on the last couple of months. i feel like in the past couple of weeks, i've taken on a new out look on life. suddenly i know where i'm going with my life (i hope.) david, my instructor at ryerson has opened a HUGE door for me regarding post-grad schooling and possibly grad school. i haven't been this excited since i don't know when. work is starting to look good, french is incredible, i *heart* alliance, and the best part is seeing old friends. friends define who you are, and i'm glad i have so many. always the greatest treat of all.

say WH-AAAAAT?!?!?

good weekend everyone. went with liz to georges' birthday at insomnia, and it was awesome. i haven't seen mu since phl384 and i met his incredibly cute girlfriend. monica is adorable as always, and yes i got to see avril and jt for maybe all of 3 mins, but it was still good.

i can now say that i've been to the T-Dogg's farm for The First Ever Michael Scofield Christmas Party. i loved it so much. finally, a party that i can make! and what an adventure just before walking in his house on saturday. lily, manny and i arrived just seconds before noel and erica. but noel's car promptly got itself stuck in the snow. so we had some pre-entertainment involving a shovel, manny pushing the car, and shooting spurts of snow from the back car wheels. good food and great music, terry definitely is a good host!

the house smells. we're varnishing the hardwood floors and since i've been at work it's been ok. but i've just come home, and the smell is enough to get me high. ;p

tanaka's back, went out with her and karina tonight, and then we bummed around at a shoppers drug mart waiting for someone to call and give us a ride, and who should do that but jacob! so we went over to jordan's house for a bit where mark proceeded to creep us out and we watched the simpsons while eating chips. ha.

christmas is almost here and the christmas parties are going crazy. eat, drink and be merry.

parlez de votre vie ideale au futur...

this is what it's come down to. it's 7am, i have half an hour to write a blurb on what i expect in my life in the future, and then i have to haul ass to class downtown. *sigh* and the worst part is i'm doing this to myself all by myself! :0

last class AF106 was last night, and boy will i miss the motley crue from our class. cathy and i decided that levan isn't really that bad looking afterall. and robert? geez, if only he'd started chatting with us BEFORE THE LAST CLASS. he is really quite an interesting character, if not only that.

wait wait, i have to stop reminising about the past...think FUTURE...

happy belated birthday satchmo, happy early birthday karina!

what great fun it was to see my girls this evening. for some reason, cha thinks i'm the funniest thing on earth, why? i don't see it. hrm...

poor satchmo didn't realize the restaurant she picked was so far up north, so while the rest of us were at the lcbo getting her "presents gift wrapped", she was freaking out cuz she was late for the reservation. and while she went out clubbing at "afterlife" with litta and claudia, the rest of us went to see maija's new apartment that she shares with her adorable hubby (who was at a bachlor's party this evening...convenient) and we stayed and watched this crazy home video that she had made with some of her girlfriends she lived with last year about a stalker. yah that's right you read correctly and no i'm not going to explain it. haha.

well i have gotten hold of 12 past exam papers for history 5 and i was sort of skimming through them today. it's unbelievable how scared shitless i am now. ack. well i have 5 more days left and i will definitely have to make the most of it by shutting myself in the basement with an endless supply of starbucks. so farewell until then.

and to imagine that after this i have to think about 4 counterpoint, 5 analysis and 5 harmony (because i can't remember if i took it or not...i think i did already)...the possiblity of dennis teaching 4 counterpoint to me and johnny? scary yet at the same time, enlightening.

"...as human beings, sometimes it's better to stay in the dark
because in the dark there may be fear,
but there's also hope."

- grey's anatomy, meredith grey

i have screwed up my sleep cycle yet again. i stayed up until 2am to watch hbo's "rome." i haven't been watching the show faithfully probably because i never know when it's playing, and i've never really taken the time to find out. but i'd usually see it playing sunday evenings as i'm taping desperate housewives and grey's anatomy (my favorite show this season by far!) so anyway, i decided for some godforsaken reason to watch this episode of rome tonight, and i find out it's the LAST episode of the season, and not only that...they killed off my favorite character! well actually, i like alot of the characters, but this girl (narobi)was so pretty. hahaha, i am SO materialistic like that!

now i'm debating if i want to pick up this tv show as a "must see" for me. it doesn't really matter because i read somewhere that it's on hiatus for the next two years, but just for kicks, huh?

god what a boring day today has been. i'm trying to get into "study-mood" but so far it's been a no go. i'm hoping tomorrow will be a better day.

i went to bed right after my post last night. but i had the weirdest dream last night. i dreamed that i was walking past this store with my mom, and we decided to go in...and then we were watching a tv show infront of a stack of cupcakes, and they all fell down. and a whole bunch of girls were wondering how they fell over, and some random guy was saying in french that it was me. so then i turned around and started yelling at him in french that it had nothing to do with me. and he was so shocked that i understood him that he kind of ran away.

the end.

i know, i said it was weird.

it's too bad that my work was temporary and the contract is now done. my only hope is that my supervisor will randomly call me when things get really busy so that i will come in to help...and then january i can get a part-time/full-time job. let's cross our fingers and hope. on the bright side, now that i've filled my november working quota (no, i don't have a quota, but making $400 is always a good thing) i can concentrate on studying for my exam december 9th, AND enjoy going out with friends again.

which brings me to this fun story...larissa and i met up on wednesday evening to look for a nice venue for her birthday party (dec 2.) she had three places in mind. so we met up at bay and avenue at 10pm and walked to avenue and davenport to look for this place called "bohemian nightclub" that i have actually been to (like 2 years ago) and is now...well there IS no more bohemian, nightclub or anything. i couldn't stop laughing there was nothing there anymore! so then we walked to museum station and took the spadina streetcar to college to check out 2 more places. the supermarket (which looked fantastic and has a great dance floor inside with a rotating discoball), and then we walked all the way down augusta to look for another place called "the boat." the boat is a funny little run down chinese place, with chinese music floating up the stairs, a disco ball and floor, and NO PEOPLE. ahahaha. i think we're going to meet at "the supermarket" dec 2 at 9:30pm. come one come all, to larissa's birthday party!

i know i don't update as often as i would like, but i get home so late that i am usually exhausted and don't even have the time to check my email. so now that i've wrote a little, i'm hoping i can muster enough strength for next time. hahaha.

lalala...randomness...

A+ numero deux tonight! our group rocks! i have to admit that i felt completely unprepared tonight (compared to the last presentation) but we hit all the key spots and the prof is simply amazed with us. i'm looking to sign up with him in the next semester so i hope that all works out!

i just signed up with rcm for history 5. the deadline was 4 mins ago. hahaha. this is go number 3 i think. i now have a month and a half to prepare for this exam. lets cross our fingers and hope everything goes well!

french classes at alliance francaise begins tomorrow (today) again. cathy and i have changed our classes to the downtown spadina and bloor area. this too i hope will now turn for the better. we were very much unimpressed with the north york centre. updates will follow.

i've now seen LES MIS twice in a month. boy am i spoiled. that is my favorite favorite musical. i can see it forever and not get sick and tired of it. jake now listens to the cd over and over again in his car. it's so great. i *heart* les mis.

d'accord. maintenant, c'est fini. bon nuit!

just for the record ames, even though there was a giant sticky on your monitor asking you to tape lost, you STILL managed to not get it right! you tape the lost episode on the LOST tape, not the DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES tape!!!! gah! n'est pas difficile!

anyway, the whole reason for her taping for me was because i was at the new opening of the vegas bar tonight. very nice atmosphere, there was brie, and i had some, and well...you can imagine the results. hahaha. and there was a performance by three drag queens, it's the first time i've seen THAT. VERY interesting!

which reminds me of alicia, i'm not sure why, but yesterday we met up after my pr class and we were supposed to go to alan's little birthday shindig at the bedford ballroom, but that didn't work out, so we ended up walking around yorkville before settling at brownstones with tiramisu and decafe lattes. ah, heaven!

and cha is going to teach me how to knit! or she's going to knit me something, either way there is wool involved.

these last couple of weeks have been interesting, and i thought i'd blog about it but then i got tired so i'm just going to leave it at that.

things to do before i leave this weekend:

- send beth my new presentation slides
- send erin my apa bibliographies
- send pauline my presentation script
- pack my bag
- don't forget textbook (test tuesday!!)
- bring french stuff to review
- CLEAN MY ROOM

this is just crazy. i never get home before 10:30pm anymore. i have no time for my friends of family. i have to TAPE tv shows to watch another day. plus i'm tired.

french isn't going the way i want it to. i feel like i'm being screwed over with the amount of time i am paying for. the teacher is always rushing...why are you rushing? we're paying to LEARN not to sort of not understand what's going on. all the vocab i know is because i already knew it, i'm not learning any new vocab because she doesn't like getting up off her ass to the whiteboard (which is right behind her) to right the spelling. for example, wednesday she said "souhait" and i heard "sweat." i'm a visual learner, and this doesn't seem to be working. cat and i are pretty upset and we're going to be looking into the one at spadina and bloor for january. as for now, we have to make do with what we have now.

as for pr, it's been great. my group is great, pauline is forever giving me new jewellery every time i see her (she owns a jewellery company called lolobubsisters.) and we go out for lunch and have martinis and sushi. it's great. at least, not everyday is all work! especially since i work for orthodox jews and so i get a whole bunch of days off this month! ;p

either way, i get to spend quality time this weekend with matt, shelley and carmi. yay!

happy thanksgiving everyone!