"What sad times are these when passing ruffians can say 'ni!' at will to old ladies?"
*checks date of last post* This is how lazy I feel these days; I barely even want to post, let alone do these essays and assignments I have due this week. But alas, I have duty to report the ongoings here at RJ420. Last Thursday afternoon, I went to watch my roommate Courtney horse-ride up at a barn somewhere north of Stouffville (or something like that - it was out in the boonies). I have to say, horses are pretty interesting creatures once you care to learn about them. "Frog", Courtney's own Thoroughbred (a breed of horse primarily used for racing around the world) was no exception. Did you know that horses have a 5th toe that is evolving away? I think I must have seemed like a complete nerd to the other barn people there, asking all my questions. All the same, horses are pretty nifty creatures, and I can see why they are so loved by many around the world. I watched Courtney go through her routine and all, pretty impressive. Alright I'll concede the point; it takes a LITTLE more than just being able to walk and talk to be able to ride a horse. Only a little more though; I still can't believe Courtney actually breaks a sweat doing this. The barn itself wasn't that bad, I was expecting smells more putrid than those I experienced so all in all it was bearable. My crowning acheivement was probably finishing chapter 6 in my history book and reading the entire Toronto Star front page, GTA section, Life, Sports, etc. *nods* Well at least I don't have to go back there anymore; been there done that, right? *grin*

I went back to Markham District High School on Friday. I have to say its pretty interesting to see how nothing really changes around there much. I joined a grade nine debating club group. I have to say, those niners are very silly kids. I was coerced into doing a 30-second speech. Having mentally prepared to talk about a serious topic, I had no idea what to say to the subject of "why it would be better to wear one shoe rather than two". Still I managed, putting that good old BSing skill to (poor) use. I felt really old after that ordeal, esp. when I had to refute their questions at the end. I tried to being logical and practical but I don't think it made much of an impression. I'm just not silly enough anymore. =/

Dragonboat practice(s) on Saturday was not that bad. I was kind of nervous as this was the practice that they were going to make final cuts to the team. As a result, I had a bad feeling at the end given my poor performance at the pool practice. In either case, the coaches decided to postpone the final team annoucements until next Saturday, which means another week of me going all out at practices. Oh well... hopefully this will turn out well for me. I've got to improve my stroke, or failing that at least stop going to the land practice on Saturday. Doing a lot of running and arm/abdominal/back muscle training before paddling (what I'm mostly judged on to make the team), doesn't things any easier.

I have to mention here that I saw the UC team at the Athletic Centre, having their first ever pool practice. Of course this means that I encountered my UC friend who was vying for a spot on their team. I don't know but Vic looks pretty pathetic compared to UC numbers-wise. They must have had over 50 people at their pool practice, which is manditory for all. Vic's practice had just a little over 20, including coaches. I don't know, while its true that its harder to get on a team that has to make more cuts, it also sucks incredibly when there are 2 people being cut and you are one of them. Well at least I know that somehow, having more people to choose from doesn't mean that you're any better; according to my coaches, Vic beats UC almost consistantly. And as my friend Chris pointed out, "They got more people Font, but they mostly look pretty weak; I'll take on 5 myself." Hmm... actually I think he may have been refering to starting a huge brawl in the AC. Ah, crazy Polish Combat. Seriously though, if I can make the team this is going to be tons of fun in the summertime. Heck, just getting out of this place for the summer will make everything tons of fun. Can't hardly wait.

Want to walk with me to that better place?
SARS is really is starting to get people freaked. I guess it makes sense to try to protect yourself as much as possible but somehow it doesn't seem all that important to me. I mean I'm not going to go purposely put myself at risk but there are people staying away from Chinese malls and avoiding Chinese people who have gone back to HK. It's all a little silly I guess to me. I guess I wash my hands a lot more now and I watch what things I touch but nothing extreme. It's probably just me not realising the severity of the situation (even though I do keep up with the news everyday) or maybe its just because I don't think life is about that. My friends have asked me about whether I believe in some kind of higher power before and I've never really been able to answer clearly. Now, I think that there is a part of me that does believe that what will happen will happen. I mean if I were somehow ordained to be affected by SARS, then I will, no matter how much I try to avoid it. I guess the flaw in the belief is that it can't be applied in the reverse ie. if I'm not destined not to be affected by SARS then I won't be, no matter what I do. That's why I'm so vague about my thoughts on destiny. Well either way, life moves on and I intend to move along with it. REBOOT! <--- I don't know why I did that, but I've always wanted to.

Canadians Don't Count (page A33, The Toronto Star, March 27, 2003)
March 26,
   U.S. ambassador Paul Cellucci's message to Canadians was clear: Americans set the rules and make the decisions, Canadians have no right to question them. Our duty is simply to follow orders.
   Unfortunately, Canadians are in good company. Increasingly, America is turning its back on international co-operation, favouring instead a belligerent, go-it-alone approach. In its bilateral relations with Canada and other countires, the U.S. now demands, "you are either with us, or against us."
   In recent years, the U.S. has refused to sign the international treaty to ban landmines, stubbornly resisted expansion of the international court system, unilaterally withdrawn from the treaty on anti-ballistic missiles and spurned the Kyoto accord.
   And, as Canadians have witnessed on softwood lumber, the U.S. believes international trade disputes should be settled in the U.S. by American tribunals, under American-made rules, not by international bodies like the World Trade Organization.
   In Cellucci's view, not having the U.N. support for the war against Iraq doesn't matter. Nor does it matter that the U.S. failed to provide any credible evidence to support its claims that Iraq has banned weapons, had any connection to the attacks of Sept. 11, or that it poses a threat to America.
   No, as far as Cellucci is concerned, the opinions of Canadians don't count. America has decided: "We said jump, and you damn Canadians had better jump."
   Well, at least now we can see the implications of more closely integrating our military, harmonizing our immigration policy and participating in a common security perimeter.
- William T. Morris, Toronto

"I can't find the motivation I need, the motivation I need to succeed..."
Ah... the slacker bug is here again and it looks like it really wants to stay. I planned today to be SO much more productive than it was. Gah! Now I have much more to do for tomorrow! The Arts program really is an excessive amount of reading... I don't do readings for a couple of my courses and its STILL a lot. Gah.

In other news I realised that I really have been going to Taco Bell a lot recently. Tonight was the 7th time in the past 2 weeks; ah, all those bean burritos and soft tacos (with bean instead of beef). And don't forget the 7-layer burritoes! Ah... wish I had one right now; unfortunately they close at midnight on weekdays (as I've learned after getting there JUST after they closed 3 times) Ugh, and I have a meal plan too! I hope I'm not gaining too much weight...

Mmmmm beef.... good vegetarian beef... that they don't serve at Taco Bell. *sigh*

"It takes one tree to make 1000 matches; only takes one match to burn 1000 trees"
Well last night, my friend Chris was over (as often is the case these days) and we stayed up until the wee-wee hours of the night (don't ask, it was so stupid but at least I got some school reading done in between rounds of gaming), As a result I woke up waaaay past any reasonable hour for a school day. Yup, missing both breakfast and lunch I was finally awoken by the music of Hung (read: rap music) at 1:50 p.m. Fortunately I found 2 chocolate chip muffins on our kitchen counter, unknowingly provided by my annoying crazy wonderful dormmate Courtney, and ate one. Along with water and a vitamin C tablet, this was able to stave off the hunger pains until dinner time. Continuing with my ghetto tradition here at RJ420, I returned from the dining hall with a large Rubbermaid container filled with pasta salad. As well I had some chicken tetrazzini in a styrofoam cup for my "wonderful" roommate, who had asked for a little something to compensate for her unsatisfying dinner (apparantly Ned's Cafe now gives out smaller dinner portions). It was a fitting favour for someone who had provided me with my "breakfast" after all.

I went off to Dragonboat practice shortly following dinner (bad idea, I almost threw up and had a cramp throughout circuit training) and when I returned I found that the tetrazzini was gone yes, but so was two-thirds of my pasta salad, my post-workout snack! Of course the culprit wasn''t that hard to find seeing as there are only 3 other people in your suite and sure enough Courtney was looking very self-satisfied using my computer for homework as I entered my room. *sigh* Some people...

While peacefully eating the remaining pasta salad though I was horribly attacked again by my arch-nemesis. Ah first it was just something that wouldn't quite swallow right and it continued to remain somewhere in the confines of my throat. Much gagging and drinking of Pepsi only made it worse as I now had something stuck jabbing at the walls of my throat. As I stumbled around my room with my hands at my throat I eventually coughed something out and it was with much eagerness that I tossed a piece of parsley into the garbage bin. Damn you, you strong-tasting vile plant of foulness! Ha, a good attempt but not good enough as I remain alive to see you to your demise! You can have all the parsley Mr. But-not-too-much-parsley.

Towards a Fortress Canada (page A35, The Toronto Star, March 20, 2003)
March 19,
   I recognize an increase in Canadians' fear of American retribution for Jean Chrétien's decision to skip the war in Iraq. This conversation is revived every time Ottawa publically disagrees with Washington on a major issue.
   I am surprised that many Canadians actually believe this war is about disarmament and security and that George W. Bush is going to war to protect America. This invasion is about economics. It is about oil, currency and securing American economic dominance by controlling the Persian Gulf.
   Those who believe that Bush is going this for liberty, baseball and apple pie are buying the propaganda portrayed on CNN. America is about money. Canada buys 25 per cent of American exports with $2 billion in trade crossing the 49th parallel every day. Do Canadians really think the Americans will sabotage that lucrative relationship because a backbencher calls them bastards and we don't send our six troops to Iraq to watch?
   What kind of neighbour is the U.S.? Every time our government makes a sovereign decision against the American position, we get spooked about American economic retribution. Is this Canadian sovereignty? America is a great ally as long as we don't disagree with it. I have long held that we need to diversify our export destinations and raise our military strength so we are less reliant on the Americans. Genuine sovereignty comes at a cost. If America were truly our friend, we would not hold our collective breath every time we disagree with it.
   Bravo to the Canadian government for staying out of this Iraq charade. Don't look now, but maybe we are taking a first step toward reaffirming the true sovereignty that we have let slip away in the last 30 years. Let's not stop there.
- Scott Clark, Toronto

Counting down
Well, I guess this is it. Not much more waiting left.

I had a lot more to type here, things about the volunteer human shields, the way Bush is conducting the war, French retaliation for the "freedom fries" in the way of pretzels, etc. but I've decided to let you guys go out and look up stuff yourselves. If my last post didn't inspire you to go and do a little research yourself, then I guess it doesn't really matter. Either that or you are a real lazy bum and want me to do the work. Well guess what? I'm lazy too. That, and I'm spending most of my time reading about it and I feel that to be informed you should read from the news sources yourself.

My heart goes out to the innocent people of Iraq; may their needless suffering be minimal.

The beginning of the end?
Well, its finally happening; the madness is finally here. The next 48 hours (about 44 hours at the time of this post) will probably be an extremely busy time as people are evacuating Iraq by the droves, people all over the world are speaking up against the impending war and Allied forces are readying the forces that will destroy Iraq. Although it comes as no real surprise to me, I am still saddened by Bush's declaration today. Just a little over a week ago, he had said that he would put the resolution for military action to vote by the UN security council no matter what the apparent opposition. What did he end up doing instead today? He pulled away from the UN, most likely because France had said that it would use its veto power no matter what to stop the resolution from passing, and gave Iraq a two day ultimatum. So much for sticking to your guns, Mr. President.

But whether Bush is a good-hearted cowboy who keeps his word or not is not the issue; the problem is that he's still a cowboy, relying on his gun to solve his problems. The world acknowledges that Saddam Hussein is not the kind of person that should be in charge of a country, let alone any military forces that come with a country. But does that justify an offensive strike against a country for one man? The United States has thrown every possible excuse for war into the mix, including terrorist connections and possession of banned weapons of mass destruction, but the only one that people can agree on at all is that Hussein is indeed a tyranical despotic ruler. Bush defended his actions by proclaiming that the oppressed people of Iraq will finally be free. "The tyrant will soon be gone. The day of your liberation is near." He neglected to mention that these are the same Iraqi people who are likely to be the biggest victims of the American-British led offensive of almost 300 000 troops. In the US led War on Terrorism in Afghanistan, there were thousands of civilian casualties largely due to bombing imprecision. The claim is that this time around, all warheads will be precision-guided "with an error margin or a few feet". I'll admit I do not know much about modern weapons of war but when you are talking about dropping something on the order of 3000 bombs over an entire country, I would not be so sure about not hitting any civilian targets.

In response to the 48-hours deadline that Bush gave for Saddam Hussein and his sons to leave the country, Iraq has been defiant. Hussein replied that there is no way that he will have another country tell him what to do and warned that if the US wanted war, then it would be a war that extended past the borders of Iraq. One of his sons followed up saying that Bush was the madman that should step down for the unnecessary danger and conflict he is leading the American people into. Personally, I agree with our own government's stance that we should not use military force without a sanction from the UN. I also agree with Chretien that it's very dangerous when a country demands regime change in another threatening use of military force. How can you justify bombing another country to make their leader step down? It should never even be an option; diplomacy is the best and only solution to any such situation. What Bush is doing is setting a dangerous precedent for future methods of dealing with defiant nations. Have we learned nothing from the lessons of the past?

"Those who decide that all peaceful means that international law makes available are exhausted assume a grave responsibility before God, their conscience and history."
- Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls

The good, the bad, and the parsley
Aside from a French "test d'écoute" in the morning, I had a pretty fun and interesting day today. Namely this because Joyce finally got to come down and visit me! Well, I guess visiting me wasn't the real purpose of her coming to downtown; she had her Spring break and was doing a "career shadowing". Basically its when you follow another person to work and learn about what sort of things they do in the work place. Joyce got to shadow someone at Disney... damn lucky. I remember in grade nine when I went job shadowing; Garway and I sat at a computer office for several hours and surfed the Net with their ISDN line. I know many of you have fancy high-speed connections these days but remember back then everyone was on dial-up Internet.

For dinner, we went to Spring Rolls, an award-winning restaurant offering a Pan-Asian experience specializing in Thai cuisine. Aside from the excess parsley (To those of you who enjoy parsley in their meals, a curse on all your children, and their children's children, AND their children's children's children!! Ahem, yes.) in the mango salad, the food quality really did live up to the reputation that it had. The vegetables and fruits used were fresh, and although the tofu portion in the noodles I ordered was rather small - the colourful arrangement of bell peppers and pineapples made up for that. I must stress again that mango and parsley really do not mix, although I managed to make most of it edible by means of parsley removal with my chopsticks and spoon.

While I was waiting for the food to arrive and Joyce was at the washroom I came upon some Random Weird Eavesdropping:
"...and then I put one sweet potato in until it's nice and hard on the outside."
"Yeah, its so good like that because its still so soft on the inside."
"I know. Sometimes I even use two sweet potatoes its so tasty."
"Oh, I can't live without sweet potatoes."
The two people in the conversation were middle-aged caucasian women who obviously had a "thing" for sweet potatoes. They're pretty good but I don't know if my life would be much lessened without them. Ah... yammy goodness.

Walking through downtown (I walked down to Front Street to pick Joyce up) I found that I really have learned a lot about the city from living down here. However, I don't even go out often or even make a conscious effort to memorize these things. I guess from my weekly rides back and forth from campus and occasional bouts of exploration have added to my knowledge of T.O. I'm starting to really like this city - that scares me. (Markham... must return more often)

Note: Having your head stuck in the fridge looking for food each time your roommate's girlfriend sees you does not make for a good first-impression. =P
Note 2: Keep your parsley away from me!

Cooking = Tastes Better
I really think that I have to have a stronger will. I never used to eat much past midnight - a couple crackers/cookies at the most. Recently however I've been really getting hungry around 12:30 to 1:00 a.m. Tonight I made simple soy sauce fettucine with mushrooms. I think I must be the king of ghetto cooking; I didn't actually buy anything I used to make it. You too can make this "Street-style" meal in the comfort of your own kitchen! Assuming you can do basic cooking, the most important part is getting the right ingredients.

"Street-style Noodles"
Primo fettucine pasta (left behind by a friend)
fresh white mushroom (from Burwash Dining Hall)
margarine (from Ned's Café Terrace)
soy sauce (from Chinese take-out)
salt (from Taco Bell)
sugar (from McDonalds)
plastic fork (Burwash Dining Hall)

There you have it! A recipe for success! Well... maybe not for success but I'm sure something good will come of it. Yes, and the stolen fork does helps with the whole street taste. Seriously. If you want you can even get some Burger King napkins to further the experience. Hopefully, you can also enjoy this exciting and fun way to dine. Now steal me some fresh jam, and I'll show you some street-style jam crackers. =P

"Street-style, 'cause anything else just costs too much."

Crazy Late Night Antics III
Time: 11:58 p.m.
Place: RJ420

R: Hey Font, is it midnight yet?
F: *checks cell phone* Nope, not yet. (I don't carry a watch, just my cell)
R: *checks computer* Yes it is!!! (if you've read my blogs you'll know that Ray likes to set clocks ahead)
F: Ray, there's 2 more minutes.
R: Oh, okay.

Several minutes later
R: Yeah!!! It's 12 o'clock! Download time!!!
F: Umm... Ray, it's Saturday.
R: What? It's Sunday!!!
F: Yeah...well it's Sunday now but your Internet bandwidth doesn't reset until midnight on Sunday.
R: What're you talking about?
F: [trying to clarify] It was Saturday today?
R: It was? No it was... [realising] AH FREAKIN'!!!! MOTHER 'F'ING!!! NOOOOOOO!!! CRAP!!! etc.

Okay, this one is not so crazy but rather just stupid. As usual though, it IS Raymond stupidity. As you can see from the events, my roommate is clearly not a clever one, especially when deprived of Internet. If only some people would learn to stop downloading Asian "softcore" music videos... Admittedly although it was his hormones that killed the large majority of his bandwidth as always, it was a great video that finished him off. (be sure to praise Barnahog for his good work)

Free good advice - like costly good advice but less costly and more free

Life is a continuous learning experience. Today was a lesson about discomfort; I learned a few things that I thought I'd share so as to save you all from having to endure unnecessary hardships. I am after all an exceedingly noble person. Wonderfully humble too. *grin* I'm just kidding of course. *looks at the stares of people* What? I was kidding!

Anyway, I learned the first lesson the hard way (pun intended). Advice #1: Do not use the floor of my dorm as a bed unless you like sleeping on stone. You will recall that previously in my life, I found myself lacking a place to sleep. Armed only with my trusty pillow, I had managed to secure a spot at the base of my bed. *shakes his head sadly* First I lay my jacket down to shield my pillow from the floor, then I lay myself down with my feet extending between the legs of my desk chair. It was relatively comfortable, at least comfortable enough to let me sleep. *thinks* No wait, I think I found unconscious bliss only because of my tiredness; I don't think it was comfortable at all. At least that would explain the pain in my stiff back in the morning. It would also explain why when I woke up the clock showed that it was 7:58 a.m. even though I slept at sometime around 4 a.m. (actually it displayed 8:16 a.m. but using what little math skills I still retain I was able to quickly calculate the time based on the fact that Ray likes to set the time ahead by 18 minutes). I think they sleep better in prisons (the Canadian ones at least with their fancy cable television...).

After a day of work, I ended up going to Dragonboat practice RIGHT after dinner. Well that wasn't that bad, and by that I merely mean that I did not get any cramps. The workout itself was brutal on my arms... I couldn't even keep up with the push ups... had to do them on the knees. Yeah yeah, no need to tell me, I know I'm pathetic. This time though it wasn't my arms that hurt as I walked away from Hart House (one of two athletic centres down here); it was my back that killed - for those not versed in slang (Joanne - "I don't get it, what did your back kill?") , that means that my back was causing me pain. Although push-ups are still my mortal enemy, back extensions are pretty evil.

Naturally after any workout, I like to take a shower. This one was no exception save for the fact that I had forgotten to bring any change of clothing. Advice #2: Do not try to take a shower (or semi-shower) partially clothed hoping that you can keep the clothed part dry. It's a pretty silly story that I won't tell but let me say that walking through Queen's Park with wet underwear on a winter night is NOT pleasant. Of course those that don't believe me are welcome to try themselves. =P But the rest of you probably think I'm some kind of idiot. Aw... put a sock in it! (weren't expecting that expression were you?)

Fact 1: pub nights usually result in pre-pubs. Fact 2: pre-pubs at RJ420 usually result with screaming (oh yes, always screaming), hard liquor, uncreative cussing, loud bass-centric music, and singing (often to Enrique Inglesias - yes him again!). So what's the tip? Advice #3: Try not to plan to accomplish much work/sleep on Thursdays. It's rather silly, actually. Normally RJ is a nice residence at night with normal teenagers staying up a little; however, come Thursday this place becomes eight floors of craziness. It's not very bad compared to some other residences at Victoria but it certainly is a little crazy. As I walked down a floor to empty the recycling I walked by a strainer on the stairs, a pair of dress shoes on the window sill in the stairwell, and a broken wooden box in the hallway. The highlight of tonight's activities though, was the splattering of multiple types of Asian takeout sauces on the door of the suite opposite mine. It was so bad that their electronic keycards no longer functioned to open the door. Crazy crazy Rowell Jackman Hall.

For own activities tonight, Garway came up and watched My Sassy Girl with Raymond (while I tried to work on an essay no less). Now, while I personally did not get the full experience, my watching of the last ten minutes of the film led to another point to keep in mind. Advice #4: Do not watch movies with Raymond, especially romantic Asian ones. From the constant attempts to predict plot and the loud hand-waving excitement when he's right, he makes for the worst movie watching experience. In particular his obsession over the female characters can be detrimental to the full enjoyment of quality film-making. When we watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding earlier this week all I could hear through half of the movie were mildly racist or sexist remarks. Truly a horrible man he is, inhumane even! Of course he would argue that citing that he signed a petition for anti-cruelty animal legislation today; however those of you that know him can appreciate the ridiculousness/humour of the situation involving any such an action on his part.

Finally, sometimes gross stuff can be funny. Here is where I'd throw a gross website link at you like the one that a weird friend led me to - let me assure you this one was not funny in anyway. It was gross and horrible and I had to wash my eyes after looking at it. Advice #5: Do not click any link from suspicious friends without first testing the link with another friend. Well I've done all I can. If you want to still ruin your eyes/mood/life, you may find the link in the comments section. I am not responsible for any social problems incurring from your actions.

One final thing, Advice #6: Do not listen to the ramblings of bloggers who obviously have crazy lives. Children!

No Vacancy!

This has got to be one of the longest weeks ever so far - it's like it has no ending. Maybe it has to do with being constantly fatigued, even though I am getting 6 to 7 hours of sleep per night. Or maybe its because The Polish Combatant is over at RJ420 AGAIN. He's here right now, sleeping in my bed (Fortunately I managed to save my precious pillow). Ahh... I'm supposed to be up to do some work but I'm dead tired; I'm mentally exhausted and my muscles (triceps and pecs) STILL hurt from last workout. I'm told that I need more protein (being a vegetarian, it usually a little harder for me to acquire the necessary amounts), but I just think I need to get stronger. Yes... strength is good... Okay, not really but I still need it.

First its time to sleep though. Sadly it looks like its going to be the ground for me; sad because I pay for this residence and here I am comtemplating a night on the floor. You may wonder why I don't take the couch in the common room. Well it so happens that our (often) bi-weekly guests James and Geoff are over for the night as well. *sighs* Looks like Hotel RJ420 is all booked up tonight; I knew I should have vaccuumed the floor today...

Slacking off...Working out

I was trying to work on Sunday night when I decided to do a blog check of friends... this proved to be a fatal mistake. At "The Yellow Dart"'s page of crazy ramblings, I met my match. For all of you who have played the hugely popular game Dance Dance Revolution and its sucessors/imitators (and even for those ignorants that have been living in some kind of hole =P), FFR will probably take over at least an hour of your life. Hopefully it won't consume your free-time as it has mine... damn my desire to hit arrow keys to beats!

Yesterday after Chris "the Polish Combatant" Wilmer forced me to take a break from trying to get on the high score list for the Megamen II Remix, I was dragged off to dragonboat practice. This workout we started on weight training to strengthen up and, as a quickly realised, boy do I need strengthening up. I felt really bad being only able to do 20 lbs more than the girls that were in our group (I'm not being sexist; they were weak-looking girls! I'm probably going to get beat up for this aren't I?). On a separate note, the coaches really need to get the organized... I don't think they have a real plan in the weight room, no goal. This was apparent when Chris was made a leader of a group as you can read a little about it here.

I found out that team cuts-offs are probably going to take place in about a month. That means several things if I want to get on the team: a) I work at getting stronger so I can do the rowing, b) I somehow make people THINK I am getting stronger, c) Seal the deal with the coaches (one of which happens to be in the suite next to mine). The worst thing was when I mentioned my concern of not making the team to the coach; he just gave me an unreadable expression and told me, "just try hard, try your best." It's as if he knew I was probably going to be cut but just wanted me to keep going anyway. *sigh* I WAS told that what matters most in the end though is that you get the paddling technique down right, so I still have a chance... I don't want all this upper body aching every post-practice morning to be for naught. Damn weak arms. I guess a plus from all this is that I really can't make my supposed workouts with Courtney anymore... thank goodness for small things. I really am in no shape to do more training right after Dragonboat - I'm not intentionally shafting anyone here. Honest.

Technology strikes back!

I'd like to prelude this post with a little rant. [rant] Looks like it's deli sandwich lunch Monday (tomorrow)... which means I can't sign up for a bagged lunch ahead of time. Which means I have a chance of feeling ill or at least having to go to the washroom urgently in the middle of class. Dammit Burwash!!! Can't you give me edible things that won't kill me faster OR taste like dirt?[/rant]

Raymond's computer is really messed up right now - the GeForce 4200 fan is making all sorts of horrifying noises, changing pitch and volume sporadically. Its almost as if Derek's earlier vist on Friday might have had something to do with it. Fortunately (for Derek), the computer was in fact making such sounds before he arrived here at RJ420. In order to try to solve the problem, Nathan, our friend and computer expert, was contacted and it was very fortunate he was. He had very helpful pieces of advice to impart upon us such as, "poking is good" and "rip out the power cord". After further consultation with Nathan regarding the problem, we're now stuck wondering wtf to do. Anyone know how much food we can get for a fried GeForce4200 128MB?

Related with our technical woes, for those of you who were hoping that Raymond's masochistic eye-lasering tendacies could result in some injury one day, I am sorry to announce that Raymond's replacement mouse is not optical and thus it cannot be used to cause any more burning. However, feel free to stop by here with a pen laser and do the job yourself. I'll even give you a cookie.

Interior Redecoration? Nah...

Back at rez! Courtney (dormmate) had said something about some changes but really, I don't notice all THAT much. There are two sleeping bags tossed haphazardly to the sides of the room, but that's to be expected seeing as my other dormmate had said her sister (and boyfriend apparently) would be staying over. Hmm, there IS something else different... I just can't quite put my finger on it. There are 8 semi-empty/empty beer bottles lying around in assorted places all over the common area, but I'm kinda used to seeing that by now. Hmm... there also appears to be an empty bottle of fruit wine (Boone's) and an open bottle of self-brewed ice wine lying next to what appears to be an abandoned card game in front of the television. On top of the television itself is a pack of cigarettes (Du Maurier light) and a bottle cap, one of at least 4 other bottle caps that are scattered around the room on the floors and furniture. The several things lying on the couch include a pillow (not one of ours), a teddy bear (kinda cute looking actually if you don't mind the spiked leather collar it's wearing), one of our Psych textbooks (the one with the Sesame Street page tagged), a politics notebook, and a couple articles of clothing (outerwear, based on a quick observation) Still, none of that is what is really striking me as odd. PUZZLING.

Upon a further investigation, there appears to be more to this scene than what I surmised earlier. There is a pair of black knee-height boots on the floor in the between the breakfast table and the counter as well as various knapsacks and bags along the sides of the room. Ah, on the breakfast table is a roll of paper towels (not mine fortunately) and a botte of Windex. As well there is what appears to be... a device for rolling joints? Next to the contraption is what appears to be the remains of several smokes... hmm... yet not quite what it is that is bugging me. There IS this miasma of second-hand smoke in the room as well as punk/rock music emanating from Danielle's room, creating a sort of dim sordid atmosphere but... *shrug* I guess I'm JUST IMAGINING THINGS.

(UPDATE @ 3:00 am - In addition to all the above, add 6-7 persons in the common room, add a lot more alcohol, and crank the volume on the stereo to max. *listens* Yup and there's female screaming every 3 minutes, can't forget the screaming...)

(UPDATE @ 3:40 am - Management people have arrived after several noise complaints and noise level has dropped to an almost non-existant level. I think its good time for me to start Operation Sleeptime.)

"M" is for mushroom, and mushroom is for me

I would have thought that without my esteemed roommate (he left early in the morning), things would be quiet down here. But never one to miss out on an opportunity to spread his villany, the so-called Chinese general sent one of his agents in his stead to ruin me. Fortunately I was able to offer the man plenty of food (stolen from Burwash) and drink (stolen from Raymond) and we ended up having a fun time. =P Derek really does need to stop saying that he can fix things though because the reality is that he really can't. At least he didn't break anything... (no really Ray, nothing was brok - *runs away*)

I was reminded that I really should make the time one day to go visit... *faces screws up in disgust* York. There, I said it. *makes a face* I mean, I do have a couple friends there and while I make excuses about friends at McGill and Queen's being too far away, I really can't say the same for a university that is in the same city. Admittedly I HAVE been to McMaster but that was a bit of a silly experience. I mean really, who wants to go see a building that looks like a hospital/factory anyway? Besides, Scott's a bit of a strange lad... *grin* (for those of you who can, read his grad write-up and see why I shake my fist perpetually at him)

However, I really should get to the point of this post lest I forget soon: mushroom pizzas are among the greatest things in the world and I hope this serves as a reminder to myself to hustle and bustle this weekend in order to purchase some.