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tax refunds are a welcome surprise

Right now, I'm wondering whether my life and that of everyone around me is going to get busier or not. 

I mean, I'm assuming my summer is more of a anomaly than an accurate portrayal of the rest of my working life. Or at least I hope to God it is. 

Some of the people around me are fairly settled in that they have long term jobs and long term relationships, so their current state should be fairly static until the families start up. 

The remaining two groups are individuals who either have not started working yet (and I wonder if work is more or less time consuming than school for these mainly professional students), and of course single people who are either recently hooked-up or will eventually be hooked-up, thus making their lives relatively busier depending on how each person's personality is. 

I mean, if it's safe to assume that everyone is either going to get busier or at the very least maintain and get busier simply by entering relationships, I frankly don't understand how people have any time to see each other at all. 

I guess this is where it helps to have your own places, and roommates, and such and such, instead of having essentially everybody in your social circle live with their parents. 

Right now I have maybe...MAYBE one free night a week. And sometimes a weekend morning. 

 

Really, the only reasons I see people now are to prepare for a wedding, or for some sort of sports team. 

On the bright side, I think my goal of moving out by the end of the year might be pretty darn on track. That should help I think. Thank goodness I bought a lot of books to read...

insert title here

I've been MIA for the past month or so due to work, but I figure after this summer I'm going to have a very solid foundation of working relationships and experience to build on, so it'll justify it. Plus I've already planned a vacation in September, so, work hard, play hard, right? 

It's the Canadian way.

Speaking of Canada, come check out the game this saturday everybody. 7pm tip-off for the senior team, single game tickets are now available for pretty darn cheap (under $15). 

I'd write more, but my brain hurts.

Today I become legendary

Or I become an official alumni of Humber College.

Seems like that happened a long time ago, but technically grad was yesterday night. I can't wait until September, when I'll be able to actually celebrate.

oracular spectacular

There's an article in the new Macleans that says participating in a religious group or community is a proven lifestyle choice that leads to longevity. 

That could be the most ironic thing I've heard all week -- outside of people making Facebook groups for people to join Facebook. Isn't that the equivalent of movie running a trailer for itself before it shows?

the cup

I haven't really watched an entire hockey game in at least a month. 

Tonight's was one hell of a game.

check out that 'stache

You know when you grow up with someone, and you're best friends with them for your entire life, but maybe you also realize that over the past three years or so you've begun to grow apart, but still see each other, so you kind of remain best friends almost as much out of comfort as you do for any other reason? 

That's Weezer. 

Favorite band? In all honesty, probably not since the Green album came out and supremely disappointed. 

Maybe we were expecting too much. Maybe it was time to consider that the Blue album and Pinkerton were as much products of a band in a particular time and place, and to ask someone to emulate a phase of their life would be asking for too much, and end up being too fake anyways. It was always Weezer's honesty that fans found endearing, and catching lightening in a bottle three times in a row was just not going to happen.

With that admission long ago conceded, I download the leaked eight tracks of the upcoming album, and I must say that although they don't blow me away, I personally feel it's the best they've done since Pinkerton. It feels like they know it too, and they decided to forgo a name almost to underscore the fact that...in spirit, this is essentially the third Weezer album everyone has been waiting for. 

The catch however, is that if you aren't already a Weezer fan, you probably won't find any of these songs particularly special. And even if you used to be, it's entirely possible you've just outgrown the sound by now. Realistically, if you weren't still waiting for this, you probably won't care. This album was, quite apparently, made with fans in mind, and it seems like the band now has the hindsight to enjoy and appreciate the Weezer experience that we had all along.

If you are indeed a huge lover of all things Weez, you're going to be hard pressed to not hit repeat on Heart Songs about a gajillion times. 

Along with most of this album, it almost seems like the band is parodying itself. But Heart Songs lets you into where Rivers is right now, and stirs up feelings about the band's idiosyncratic nerd-rock that you thought died when they recorded "Crab".

Heart Songs is an homage to Weezer by Weezer, and although it's not necessarily going to bring the band back into the type of relationship they had with fans in years past, it's certainly a spectacular reminder of why Weezer once occupied that place in the first place.

pondering

everyone says sports is a great metaphor for life, but couldn't life just be a great metaphor for sports?

On that note, I'm just going to take it one game at a time, focus on the team and try my best to play hard out there.

I'm trying to decide whether a television show based on my life would garner decent ratings.

Personally, I like to think it would, if only for the fact that shows about single guys with quirky jobs who meet strange and often famous people seem to make for comedic situations. Notice that I assumed a show about me would be a comedy. This is because there is no drama in my life outside of running out of black socks to wear to the office.

I have humorous and distinctly different single male buddies, myriad couples to play off, I live in my parents basement and like to undergo hairbrained entrepreneurial schemes and freelancing opportunities.

The only thing missing is a rotating door of love interests, although if you take my dating track record that is a comedy unto itself entirely.

Yes, I think the me show would be quite the prime-time sitcom. I'm also confidant I could write a pretty killer theme song, although perhaps not as killer as Alan Thicke wrote for Growing Pains.

I'm good, but I mean, modesty is the better part of valour.

Upgrades

Yesterday:

Today:

Ryan Reynolds, you did OK for yourself there kid.

The ladder disparity calculations are blowing my mind.

everyone loves a slinky

there's a lot to be cynical about on "extreme home makeover". 

yes, the signs are probably made by the show and handed out to a crowd that most likely is only there because they got free t-shirts and school credits to volunteer for building a house in a week. the corporate sponsors probably decide who gets picked for each episode and afterwards the sustainability of living in a giant mansion full of millions of dollars worth of material wealth ends up gentrifying a neighborhood and perhaps even the family itself in the eyes of the community who (purportedly) supported this television show in the first place.

yes, all of the above is highly probable. 

but the parts where they move the bus and people actually break down into tears? that -- in my mind at least -- is possibly the only real emotional display remaining on prime time television outside of professional sports. everything else might be contrived (to put it mildly), but that one moment? it's real. it's interesting to watch. 

in unrelated news, now that steph has a real estate license, she has officially assumed a role in my personal superhero team that i like to call "the league of useful friends."

so far that league includes three doctors (overlap is inefficient!), an accountant, a chocolate dealer and victor, who really i have no idea what he does but he can get a decent rate on currency exchange, so that's good enough for me.

as for the rest of you -- all engineers, i might add -- stop being so selfish! I suggest you make like steph and find a secondary occupation that benefits your friends more. 

what good is an engineer if they aren't married to you for the purpose of employee benefits?

honestly.

75 word per minute.

Addictive AND a life-skill builder.

This is what the internet is all about. A shame I can't type properly.

Goodbyes

Well gosh darn it. 

When I got the invitation to my undergraduate convocation, I put the registration envelope in the garbage. I wasn't going to be there -- a trip to Asia awaited -- and frankly, I wasn't big on the pomp and circumstance associated with the ceremony anyways. It came and went with nary a thought. 

Recently, I got the invitation to my post-graduate convocation, and again, I put the envelope in a drawer, giving myself some leeway but pretty much planning not to go. Again, I never did see the point. 

But you know, it really takes seeing people to realize that you'll actually miss them. The hardest part is there is no naivete in us anymore because we're at the age that life has already impressed itself on us. For the vast majority of my classmates, we may never see each other again, and we know it.

It's a strange feeling, saying goodbye to someone for ostensibly the last time. I've grown so comfortable with the people I know at this stage of my life that saying farewell isn't a common occurrence. Doing it about 15 times in one night...well, that's something else. 

To the nights I don't remember, but the people I always will. 

Evolution

For some reason, I watched an entire episode of House tonight. He kept talking about how people don't change (only to believe in people's abilities to change at the very end). 

My thoughts while watching were two-fold. 

1) In terms of plot, House is pretty much medical power rangers. Every week the same formula happens. I kept waiting for Rita to make the monster in the patients body big. 

2) The chick from the OC is much, much hotter than sweater-vest girl. And for some reason she apparently plays a bisexual -- again. I've heard of typecasting, but this might be a little bit too pigeonholed even for television actors...

3) To be honest, I'm not entirely convinced people can change. I think we can learn to change how we react to who we are, but not necessarily who we are. By this, I mean you might always want a certain thing, but instead of giving in, just learn to discipline yourself to act differently on those same impulses (which always remain the same). 

I can see how that could still be defined/interpreted as change. 

But I could also see how it could not be. 

On another note, I've been playing basketball at the YMCA lately and there's this one old guy who's there every single night. I can't figure out what he does -- he's old enough to be retired. But man. Whatever reason he's there all the time, it's either incredibly admirable, or incredibly depressing. 

Funny how there's no gray area with that one eh?

Mutant powers

When I got my wisdom teeth removed in high school, I chalked my utter lack of recovery time as a fortunate matter of happenstance.

In retrospect however, I concede there has been a history of either playing sports through injuries, or simply healing quickly in my daily scratches and nicks. But I never thought it was unusual per se. 

Until this week, when I played basketball and was (again) pushed into a wall while in mid-air. I sprained my right ankle and bruised my left heel, but was able to tighten my shoe laces and just play the rest of the night relatively unencumbered. 

Upon untying my shoes at the end of the night, I realized that my ankles were in severe pain. I had trouble driving, and by the time I got home I couldn't put weight on my right ankle without sharp jabbing pain. It had noticeably swollen already, and I couldn't even sleep on that side of my body because it hurt to torque it with even the weight of just my foot.

Anyways, I woke up this morning still swollen and limping. I was in pain, but much better than the night before although still unable to apply too much weight to my right ankle. 

I went to work, and had a relatively normal work day. Some time around 2pm, I realized that although I definitely felt a little sore, I seemed to suddenly be completely pain free. I did some quick movement, and lo and behold my ankle seems to be completely healed, and the bruise on my other foot is a bit tender, but nothing to really write home about.

In short, I have exhibited freakish mutant Wolverine powers over the course of a single day.

Naturally, I will only use my abilities for good, not evil, and embrace the responsibility that comes with great power.

Good day.

Foul I say!

Upon flipping through the television universe, I stumbled upon Dancing with the stars (in HD) last night and stopped to see what the big hoopla was about. 

I noticed that the celebrity dancer was Kristi Yamaguchi.

Now, I won't claim to be an expert on dancing nor figure skating. However, does it not seem just a weeeee bit unfair to be pitting an Olympic calibre figure skater whose sport involves complicated footwork (some might even call it... dancing?) and athletic prowess while wearing a sequined outfit, all while choreographed to music... against the likes of say, an NFL player, or hollywood actress? 

Isn't that kind of like having a celebrity mandolin contest, except a world famous ukulele player is allowed to participate? 

If I was Shannon Elizabeth, I'd be pissed off. 

Also, I would feel like Dancing with the Stars was rigged.

kill me now

Things I did today:

Wake up. 

Make coffee.

Drink coffee.

Drop off softball gear for people.

Eat lunch.

Make coffee.

Drink coffee. 

Eat dinner.

Shower.

I even staged a Facebook photo tonight. If that isn't the mendoza line for boredom, I don't know what is. 

Strings & Things

The funny thing about stereotypes is that sometimes they can be accurate.

With the recent changes to CBC Radio 2 and the disbanding of the CRO, classical music fans have come crawling out of the woodwork (and woodwinds) to protest what the have decried as the sullying of the CBC's mandate to the arts.

Exhibit A for why many folks think these whiners are snobs, taken from the letters section of the Globe & Mail:

I am almost too depressed about the planned "overhaul" of CBC's Radio 2 to even write about it. What's the point? We've all seen the writing on the wall for some time now, and resistance is futile: The CBC no longer feels there is any point to devoting an entire radio station to the more musically and intellectually complex style of music colloquially, though entirely inappropriately, known as "classical" (more on that tendentious terminology in a moment), because, according to its mysterious studies, no one is interested in that any more.

I'm pretty sure if I was having a real conversation with somebody and they uttered the above paragraph, I would be left with no option but to punch them in the face.

Please. Come off your pedestal and join us philistines and our good friend Leslie Feist.

Sometimes it's fun to slum it a little, y'know?

lightening the load

The concept of joining clubs and classes completely makes sense to me now that my schedule has devolved into what more or less is representative of regular office hours. I don't know what to do with my free time outside of going to the gym and watching sports on television. 

The fact that I am resolutely content with such an existence is a story for another day.

Upon getting a haircut today, It crossed my mind what a difference it makes when someone obviously cares about doing a good job. I tipped the guy well (the actual price of the haircut was only $10, so I mean, they deserve some kudos) but it was because it was evident throughout the haircut that he really wanted to do a good job. He was meticulous, and although personally I can't tell the difference between a diligently cut head of hair and one victimized by a suck-and-cut stylistically speaking, what I definitely could discern what the effort.

I applaud effort. It's an under-appreciated trait in our hustle and bustle society for someone to take a little extra time to make sure things are held to a higher standard of quality. 

The world would be a better place if we all approached our jobs with that kind of attitude. 

Next week's life lesson: saying thank you when somebody opens a mall door for you.

gin and juice

Even if for only one day (it's not supposed to last through the weekend), the weather was nice enough that I drove the entire way home with my sunroof open. 

Human beings are solar powered. This has to be some sort of scientific fact.

"Things we will forget by next week about Communist China..."

For a country full of Buddhist monks, Tibet has sure pissed a whole lot of people off lately.

Faster than you can say “Kosovo,” the Tibet issue has jumped to the forefront of almost every major media outlet in Toronto. It’s enough drama and back talking to make one realize the only difference between international politics and The Hills is the sobering prominence of ugly people -- although Chinese president Hu Jintao does sport some retro-chic aviator specs.

To say that coverage of the situation recently has been sensational would be like saying James Blunt is in touch with his feelings. The latest Macleans magazine features the headline “Butchers and Monsters” splashed across a photograph of a man in camouflage chasing after a Buddhist monk with a stick. Elmer Fudd would be proud.

The Globe and Mail featured a cover story over the past weekend about three Canadian women who for the last 8 years have been working to use this summer’s upcoming Olympic games as an international stage for the Tibet liberation movement. They were portrayed as heroic figures.

The Associated Press reported that China had been planting military instigators in Tibetan monasteries to pose as monks, acting as both agent provocateurs and plaintive decoys for government organized diplomatic tours of the volatile area.

It’s suddenly hip to hate on China.

As a journalist of Chinese decent, this all cumulated locally and personally when a friend of mine emailed over the weekend with video footage of the Pro-China rally taking place at Dundas square. “It’s about time,” he said, “China’s been getting such a bad rap in the media lately.” I can’t say this made much sense to me, but the words still struck an internal chord that had been nagging me for several days.

I heard the same exasperated tones from my father, who over the dinner table often wonders aloud why everyone makes the Chinese government out to be the most evil entity since the consortium that decided hotdogs would come in packs of 10 but buns in bags of eight.

The Macleans article in question calls for us to be witnesses who “make a difference” in the lives of the Chinese people. But I wonder; instead of worrying about problems nestled at the foot of the Himalayas, shouldn’t we be witnesses who make a difference in our own lives first?

How soon we forget that at the last G8 summit in Quebec, local police planted officers posing as fake protesters into the crowds? Or that when it comes to human rights violations and mindless environmental destruction, China’s track record may be horrendous, but still trails that of our friendly neighbours to the South?

The actions of the Chinese government are indefensible, to this I readily acquiesce. And to say China is getting a bad rap is like saying Rob Shneider doesn't deserve to be typecast.

But if the media is going to demand accountability, we as readers should be willing to at least do the same.

We deride our own actions, but ultimately tolerate the status quo. When it comes to change, party platforms rarely come to fruition in our quagmire of a political system.

Macleans is the same magazine that superimposed George Bush’s head onto Saddam Hussein’s body – but there aren’t too many student activists who suggest we boycott the NBA finals.

Maybe they should have shown Bush chasing an Iraqi with a stick.