halloween sweets for you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEVILINE!!!! *insert my bad birthday song singing voice here*:)

once again it's Halloween and i don't know where time has gone and flown by... it's been years since i've dressed up but decided to this year for an ex-coworker's house party this weekend. hung out with NH and wife pre-party, i think his costume (fat ballerina) was the best one i have ever seen (comes with an internal fan that keeps the costume inflated).

so let me explain MY costume - i wanted something cute AND a bit scary, so i was going to be my version of Bunnicula (vampire bunny that sucks the orange color out of carrots, scary i assure u)
but alas, my vampire teeth didn't work out. Damn those bad instructions on the package: "mix the putty fill tooth and hold in place of your teeth for 5 minutes and you're done" - so i did that and of course it did not stay, and ran to the drugstore - yes ppl were staring at me - to get denture cream (that also apparently "freshens breath") which also didn't stick the vampire teeth to my teeth... the cream did, however, stick my teeth to my lips and gums... so i was quite a sight as we walk in and i desperately try to scrape all the pink denture cream off my teeth... *picture a puppy who's trying to down a spoonful of peanut butter in his mouth* in the end i was just a lame-ass bunny.

(btw i OWN those boots pre-Halloween, they go fabulously with my jeans skirts, and are in style right now, so thankfully they look like bunny furry boots and 'worked' with the outfit)

Here's some photos... as u can imagine, NH got quite a few cat-calls as we walked/waddled from the car to my friend's place... baby got LOTS OF BACK if u know what i mean. *wink* and he kept fondling his boobies the whole night; thankfully guys don't naturally have boobs, because all they would do is sit there and touch themselves and admire in awe... (click photo to expand to full size)


1st photo: "Amy, lend him your bunny ears" "Ok, good bunny..."











2nd photo: "Amy, lend him your bunny tail" "uh, it's attached to my butt..."






3rd photo: Evan(Karate-kid bad-guys-at-Halloween) fondling Nick's boobs (FatBallerina), who's sitting on Lien's lap (TinkerHell)

the price of gold

I was not aware of this, but the current price of gold reflects the environmental cost of mining one ounce of gold = 30 tons of rock mined and polluted with cyanide. Sad. Really. Its pathetic how our market/economy works, trapped in a vicious loop.

Unlike the past few weeks, there are two movies I'm very anxious to catch. "Good Night & Good Luck" and "The Squid and the Whale". The first of which I find more than ever relevant after the recent indictment of Lewis Libby I cannot for the life of me understand how Robert Novak (a CNN contributor) has not been indicted/charged/lashed at. As with any acts related to national security, I think this case stinks of treason and would not object to a death sentence. Yes, I believe in capitol punishment.

Now that I'm attacking journalists, another reason I hate CNN. This asshat of a man, Jack Cafferty ran over a cyclist, dragged him across two intersections before finally being stopped. Yet, what does he get? A 250$ fine? And he still works at CNN, criticizing and preaching his superiority. I hope he gets what he deserves soon.

speaking of food

what do you guys snack on at work? By 3-4pm I'm usually starving. Sometime I have jamaican patties, samosas, sandwiches (if we go out) or, bagels, muffins, chips which are available in the caf. Bringing my own fruits and/or granola bars end up with them disappearing at a much faster rate than expected. Knowing that its cold and I'm biking home I'm stuffing my face with a crappy muffin and strudel as we speak. damnit, where's the sugar in this strudle! but its quite unsatisfying. I'm also usually too lazy to prepare two meals to go...

I could sure use some stuffed pasta right about now...

cholesterol levels...

haha i guess i must be getting old, to be happy about getting good results from my cholesterol level check today.
the lady who pricked my finger for the test said that i had exceptionally good results, and the other nurse said 'you must work out, we can tell from the results.'

numbers:
Total Cholesterol: 168 mg/dL
HDL: 84 mg/dL
TC/HDL ratio: 2%
Glucose: 94 mg/dL

i was worried because i've been on a low-carb lifestyle for the past year; i wanted to make sure the increased intake in protein wasn't going to impact my cholesterol negatively either. i guess it's time to celebrate, i did have a steakburger for lunch with a side of chili-cheese fries (seems appropriate!)

i just took a moment to realize the perfectionist in me to "do well" is why i'm happy about my results - not just that it indicates i'm HEALTHY, but to have "EXCEPTIONALLY WELL" numbers... LOL

Yummy chocolate snacks!

Chris & Larry's Clodhoppers - Made in Canada. Highly addictive (as the package says) chocolate graham waffer clusters. That's pretty much the description. And if you've never had them, you have to try them. You can even order them online! But only by the case... is that a bad thing? :)

Arnott's Tim Tam - Made in Australia. Great chocolate biscuits. I got a taste today and their really good. Not sure how I can get more...

Anyone else have "obscure" tasty threats to share?

free toast makes my day...

we get free bagel wednesdays at the office, though the ones i like - chocochip - are never here. i think the early ppl hoard it... anyways the bagels out here are more like bread, i miss Mtl bagels (the REAL bagels)

i usually go down to the cafe and ask for a slice of toast. last time the guy toasted 2 slices, charged me 1.25$ and threw in 2 sausage links. (i'm like i only wanted toast but whatever). today the guy that knows me there gave me a slice of toast for free (yeah, 27 cents but it was FREE) :)
can't complain about FREE...

other than that i have not much to blog about except my legs still feel weak from the 4 games of hockey played this weekend, i haven't been to the gym all week, i don't have a fabulous costume for a halloween party i may/may not attend, i'm back on coffee but reduced quantities from before and i bought Capcom classic games for the xbox and managed to get cramps in my wrists from button-mashing my way to some victorious fights (but random button mashing, no matter how good i am at it, still doesn't beat experienced players with all the intended combos!)

oh i bought Kingdom Hearts game for the GBA, can't wait to play it. loved playing it on PS2, but i don't own one, i actually liked the game so much i thought about buying a ps2 to play it. it's an RPG game based on the final fantasy engine but with all the disney worlds and characters in the story... love it.

649

for those of you hiding under a tree, the 649 jackpot is 40Million. I keep forgetting to buy a ticket. Anyway I'm gonna play the four dates sh-t happened to me this year. 9/7 bike destroyed 9/13 car banged up 9/27 I got my notice 11/30 I'm outta here. So 7,9,11,13,27,and 30. If I win, I won't tell any of you.

You can't contradict Math...

metro adventures part deux

So yesterday on my way home, I see this giant man in the single seaters reading a book. Didn't think much of him. Then suddenly he starts SWATTING the pages of his book. I look, and see him put his enormous hand above his bald head to feel the wind coming down the vent (orange line, the vents come down the sides of the car) and he looks up angrily as it blows on the pages of his book. He doesn't change seats though. Then I noticed what he was reading... Scary man.

practice makes perfect?!

well as you see i've been LACKING in blog entries from the past week, i totally attribute that to me reducing my starbucks from 2/day to 3/week. i was irritable and grouchy (more than usual, and NON PMS related) and my reaction time was slower and brain functions were slower, but i digress.

so i know i bitch and moan on the blog, but perhaps i can interject here (it's still monday, i'm still delusional on caffeine) with a slight optimistic view?!

when we were at the last semester at McGill i was hella scared of the whole interviewing and job hunting process (yes, 5 years in California has instilled "hella" into my everyday conversation whenever i can). i decided to tackle it the way i do most things - get on it until i've overcome or die trying.
i sent my resume out to every freaking company that was on site for career fairs, that had postings on the job boards in the CS/Engr buildings, grabbed contact info of local software companies and sent them along even. I sent out 30 resumes. Got about 12 interviews. went to all 12 interviews, probably got 4 companies calling me back for 2nd+ rounds. and at the end i got 1 *ONE* offer.

so it used to bum me out because 29 companies rejected me! wow. of the 30 ONLY 1 company wanted to hire me, and i had a 3.54 GPA graduating from "the Havard of Canada" (so they say). WTF :)

but you know what, since then, i've had half a dozen interviews and had been rejected by many MUCH bigger named companies than previous: Oracle, Apple, Microsoft, eBay, Google... but interviews don't scare me at all, people actually gave me feedback that i interview very strongly and that i represent myself very well in them. So even though all those companies have rejected me, the experience in the rejection enriched my life much more than a job back in the day with any of the companies aforementioned.

i guess what i'm trying to 'preach' at - the moral of the story, is that if you never try, you'll never fail, but you'll never succeed either. and if you've tried and failed, learn something from it, chalk it up to your experiences and it'll be useful going forward. given different star alignments, things may fall in line differently. and of course it's easier said than done to brush the dust off after a fall and get back on the feet, i think time to wallow a bit in self pity is good... but just know that every fall teaches you something about yourself, and the amount of nerve it took to attempt the jump, and the recovery you are capable of to pick yourself up.

just think, if i've never gotten my 7 F and D in my engineering courses, i would never have switch to comp sci and be in the valley now. funny, for the longest time at every interview, my interviewers would always ask "your transcript REALLY intrigue me, how did you go from flunking out of engineering to getting all A's and graduating with a 3.54 GPA?"

they didn't CARE that i've failed, they cared about my ability to pick up from the pits of despair (Princess Bride reference) and turn things around so dramatically the other way.

hang in there..

Self-deprecating humour...

What is your opinion on self-deprecating humour, ie people who make jokes about themselves, sometimes shamelessly but always hilariously?

I always thought that this type of person would have a very laid back view of the world, never taking anything too seriously, and always looking at the brighter side of life. This person would also be able to make light of embarassing situations that they find themselves in.

But what if the reason you always make fun of yourself is because you feel so uncomfortable in your own skin that you need to put yourself down somehow? Doesn't an extreme level of self-deprecating humour become self-insulting instead? Where do you draw the line?

so damned sleepy

seriously - what do you guys do when you start falling asleep at work? I was up last night reading "Girl with a Pearl Earring" and next thing I knew it was past 1. I'm sooo sleepy right now.

wuss

I'm feeling weak. It was cold this morning on the way to work. Of course, I come in and see its only 4C! I knew I should've worn my full leg warmers (only had knee covers, and thin ones at that.) I guess I'll start wearing my less-airy helmet.

So the reason I'm writing is because a little part of me is thinking "damn, its cold. How am I going to keep riding when it goes below 0C?" ... My coach always makes fun of me because I'm always more bundled than most on the bike rides - but damn, the wind really does a number on me. But part of me wants to toughen up, I want to be one of those hard heads biking on spiked tires in the middle of winter. I'm even starting to get used to gravy's bike. (I think I understand why Shimano integrated the shifters into the levers man - those shifters are in my way when I try to hold onto the bars with all fingers.)

So whats everyone's weekend plans? I don't really have any, as some people are ditching me or not responding. I would go biking but I'm not sure if I can keep up with mr.wobbly. Any suggestions?

So, no one has comments about public transportation? No one gets as frustrated as I do? Eesh.

inconsiderate b-st-rds

Seriously. If you're gonna jump onto the tracks, could you do it during less busy times? This morning I left the gym at 8:15, and was on my way to work almost on time. Thank g-d I picked up the free Gazette at McGill. (I was debating about carrying it.) On my jolly trip on the green line, the crappy speaker goes "thanks to assurances sante, the orange line is now stopped between lionel groux and cote vertu". ARG!@*#&

* * *

The metro pulls into Lionel Groulx and I see a wall of people all the way back to the green line side. People sitting on the steps, metro cops kicking old ladies off the steps, (ie. a fat man, and I mean FAT man, wearing a badge around his neck like in the movies, plain clothes.) Once in a while a metro would flush in but then the metro cops wouldn't let people get ON. I decided to read my paper - pretty much finsihed it by the time things got moving (~30minutes). btw, I don't know if any of you heard about the McGill Football team hazing scandal (its on the Gazette front page) but now the team is not allowed to play for the rest of the season.

* * *

Teenagers. I can't find any info on any jumpers but man, teenagers are so stupid. I realize I was probably just as dumb and arrogant, but when the metro is not working, and you're standing in line, what's the fcking point of shoving yourself in front of me? This KID had an overbite, skinny and ugly. I wanted to kick his ass into the tracks. Even once we were on the metro he was in people's way n' stuff. I hope he finds a life soon.

* * *

Of course, one might beg the question: why am I in a rush to go to work? I have no idea. All I know is that I better get home on time.
o
*EVENING ADDITION******
ok someone up there is mad with me.
I'm on the orange line, make it to Lionel Groulx on my way home, run over the platform and get onto the green line. ... Pause... uncomfortable staring at each other (because the doors aren't closing). Then that damn incomprehensible speaker again: "due to the ambulance (am I hearing something wrong?) the GREEN line is now stopped between Lionel Groulx and Honore Beaugrand" WHAT THE FCK!@#*&!@&# At least this time I was seated and it took only ~15 minutes for the damn thing to move. Of course, as always getting OFF the metro at Place-des-Arts was hell since it was so packed (normal) + all the people who had to wait because of the stupid delay.

Well, I made it to my run workout. It was cold and wet.

ps. I'm in a bad mood because I barfed this morning. I occasionally go too hard during the sprints (10x30secs) and sure enough, once we did the last one I was feeling really queezy. I won't elaborate any further. Either way I finished the workout.

weak managers...

my manager is so weak. not physically, althought that might be true too.

so there was this project i worked on, 90% of the project has to do will billing stuff, and 10% has to do with a 3rd party application which was the only part *I* was responsible to test. now a bug has come back in the billing front end and needs URGENT testing to make sure fix is ok, the original lead named me as the front end responsible person to test the fix, i replied with everyone on the thread that "look the status reports all says that section was tested by the lead" so i have no freaking idea what they tested, what else was changed and might break.

my weak manager comes back with an email to me saying he freaking lost the pushback on this and can i verify the fix!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it's like "hey, can you go correct some Political History Final Exam papers" when my major was Electrical Engineering or something.

Rant about toe socks

I hate toe socks.

It makes feet look strange but colorful. It's kinda intriguing at first... until the toes start wiggling.

I mean I really hate toe socks.

Makes me think of monkey feet. You could go on an African safari and swear you'd see people hanging upside down on tree branches with their toes of unnatural strength.

No really, toe socks are evil.

My skin crawls at the sight of them. It's like a thousand worms slithering up my back as the colorful toes wiggle happily.

The Devil wears toe socks to keep warm.

and just when I think it can't get any worse, the individual toes reach out and touch me. My body spasm shows my extreme disgust.

Did I mention I hate toe socks?

customized stamps

great idea, but when i checked out the pricing, it cost around 85 cents per 37 cents stamp!!!!!!!!!!

the infamous watch...

since so many things remind ppl of my watch, here's a photo - it's bulkier than my usual watches since i have a small wrist. but it's cute and fun and almost inappropriate which makes it so *ME* :)
(click for details) - i bought this for myself as a birthday gift.

Shameless plug for www.big-boys.com

Since Amy's been posting links like crazy, I thought I'd include a few from one of the daily sites I visit...

Nintendo Choir - Can you name the game for each theme song? (yes, I can)

Commercial for Blaupunkt - Not really NSFW, but depends on office politics I guess. Reminds me of Amy's watch.

Everyone else - Cartoon bunnies are always cool. Also reminds me of Amy's watch.

Numa Numa - I still can't believe they were playing this song at the restaurant where the baby shower was held.

where's my glove?

ok, so my mom would periodically lose someone's sock in a shirt (laundry) but in less than two months, I've already managed to lose TWO socks (different pairs) and now, a glove. Not even in the wash. I don't understand! I was wearing it yesterday and now I can only find one! ARG! They're the gloves I bike with!@#(!@

You would think with a smaller apt. on my own (no one else) I wouldn't misplace things as much. Grr.

babies.

ok, I like kids but after this weekend's Yionel baby shower, I gotta say, I am NOT ready for kids anytime soon. Its just too much cutesy fartness for me to handle. Its like, "oh, you're having a baby? You're my new BEST friend!"

I defintiely feel more at home with the tri bunch, but at the same time I think I'm in limbo. Its not like I want to go to the "lodge" or "tokyo" for a fun night out, but at the same time I don't want to be sitting around a table with a bunch of babies. And yet, in most public situations - people assume I'm a student - why is that? Stores, my neighbours, restaurants etc. Its not like I have baby soft skin like mr.hurc there.

Anyway I just wanted to say that it was a horrifying experience. Baby showers are meant for crazy pregnant ladies. Not the rest of us "normals".

geek new technology...

it's sad, but the past day or so i've been playing with TiddlyWiki which is like blog/wiki/google desktop search rolled into one.

i still haven't mastered it yet, but i like the technology (and the "lightness" of it). So far i've been dumping all the documentation and info i have on there... so i can find it quick!
maybe i should write a macro for it.. not sure what to tailor it for, but it's neat. (recall the days when i had my Palm Code Warrior IDE ready should i ever get my butt off the couch to write a Palm OS app that i can run on my Visor Handspring PDA!). let me know how you like it...

TGIF random links

you can address me by my villain names: the grim Mistress SoulAxe or Duchess ChaosMoon the cursed - what's yours?

vampires are never so cute - cool game but i suck at this!

just in time, there will be a Princess Bride musical!

this one's for hurc - history of video games

i'm never good at Jenga, or else i could've made my career in it!

Microsoft and Yahoo to Link IM Networks

Link to PC World news item

This is really good fot people who insist on using Yahoo IM instead of MSN Messenger. :P

links of interest

random:

Expensive food fines
"... a $99 Burger Royale. A carnivore's car crash, the sandwich's main event is a sirloin steak, but it's stuffed with short ribs, foie gras, root vegetables and a double portion of fresh black truffles..."

Take THAT Marco Polo!

% body fat

ok i never measure myself. i prefer ignorant oblivion to known faulty measurements.
anyhow, before i started bootcamp, i did get to the fitness center and had my fitness instructor Jon measure me for % body fat. thankfully it was in the "normal range" so i wasn't too terribly depressed.

it's been 2 bootcamps, so 3 months since that fateful day, and jon again measured my % body fat. in the past 3 months i had lost 2.6% body fat!!!! i'm near the lower range of the normal numbers now... and i don't like to weight myself, but i was at the doctors for a checkup the other day and the nurse measured me before i knew what was happening.
i'm finally at the weight that i've lied at on the various forms about!!!
now i got to knock my weight "on paper" down another 10 lbs and try to reach that goal.

this is just to wrap up the topic that i feel i'm at the best shape of my life right now (quick! someone take a picture before this goes away!) . the last time i weight this much was in grade 9, on my weight up (pun intended), not active, especially in the winter months where my body craved carbs and heavy saucy pastas to stay warm, and big bulky layers of sweaters under which to hide my body.....

Municial Elections

seriously. Some nut jobs in the city of Montreal suddenly decided to paint a bike path lane on Prince Arthur next door to McGill. I have NO idea why they did this. Its a narrow road that intersects MANY one way streets and man were people pissed during rush hour yesterday.

Drivers were ignoring the lines, bikers were jockeying position in the bike lane (I was actually quite timid as this was my first day back on the bike commute), (we even had a scooter in there -lardo) and people were turning into the lane constantly. Talk about DUMB idea.

Now if anyone had half a brain, they would have instituted this on Milton, the one way street the leads TO the school (not away). I admit, everytime I'm on that street, bikers on the left, right, in between cars AND you have joker kids riding the opposite direction. Don't forget the constant stream of delivery trucks, garbage trucks, McGill security, heavy machinery etc.

And one last thing, what is the point of painting two bicycles on a normal road (no bike lane) indicating the "flow of traffic"? Seriously, its a bike with two arrows on top of it saying which way the road goes. They did that on my street! morons. I'll try to get my mom's camera and post a pic. Its really silly.

There have been a number of protests/petitions for a more "bike" friendly Montreal but this seemed like a half-hazard, ok, we'll paint some lines and make some people happy before the elections time of ruse. Who plans these things? Eesh. idiots. No one respected the lines last night - and whats the point if you don't put barriers up? The cars drive right over the line. (I'm thinking back to my bike ride from Kingston to Ottawa when there was a ton of traffic and drivers were literally shoving us onto the gravel for no reason - one guy in our group got into a piss contest but that's another story.) Municipal elections - do I vote for dumb or dumber?

bench press...

how much should u be ABLE to bench press, anyway?

as i recall, i think karen had to benchpress her own body weight, as a fitness test for the dragonboat team... really??!?!?!

was at the gym at lunch with mary and cal, who spotted me. i hadn't remembered the last time i bench press, so just the 'feat' of doing 3 sets with the 45lb bar was enough for me. that's not even HALF my weight (see, ok, i weight MORE than 90lbs!!! surprise!!!) - but i felt like strong-man at the bench press, because it's like the holy grail of the gym equipments. you can even hear the huff and puff sound in the background and the aura of light surrounding the bench press. maybe that's just me.

i'm kinda afraid that i may never get back to the gym again, tomorrow's last day of bootcamp round 2. it'll be too unpredictable weather to have another bootcamp; but i need the public mocking/peer pressure/encouragement/obligation-guilt to push me to the next level. on the trail runs, i would say to myself (quietly, in my head): "just jog until the next shaded area... look so-and-so can do it... AHAH I lied, just jog until the NEXT shaded area..." (yeah, i have strange thoughts in my head ALL the time. and i lie to myself. it's a good thing most ppl don't have insight to it...)

i know i am at the best shape of my life right now, i'm afraid of what goes up must come down... nooooo.... the pain of starting to workout when you've let that go for a while.... overcoming the mental block of being diligently going to the gym 3 times a week when there's no real obligation to do so; no group missing you and asking about u making u feel bad you skipped it. no one to press me to go jogging (which i still hate)...!

gotta love Megan's law

I'm sgoing fishing. Amy, any interesting friends in *your* neighbourhood?

Wicked, not so wicked...

i finally finished reading Wicked. it was alright, i think the middle part of the book kind of grabbed my attention a bit more, after that it was just a matter of finishing the book, or putting it down to never pick it up again. Overall the concept of the story was interesting, but then the socio-political background to the whole Oz, and Wizard wasn't interesting to me. plus it was like a good hard run where everything was set up, then the ending came too abruptly; like he wrote 470 pages then say holy cow i have 30 pages to wrap it up. to me the last part was unrefined.

i've heard the musical was good though, i'd definitely go see that. as for the follow up recently released Son of a Witch was supposed to chronicle the son... not going to bother reading that.

i've started reading The Princess Bride - i know it's a popular geek-ish movie. i've watched a few scenes of it. the weird thing is, the intro and cover talks about retelling of the classica tale by S. Morgenstern...
of course, being the curious kat, i went to Googled the guy, only to find that there is no Morgenstern (!!!!), and there's quite a few threads out there to explain that William Goldman invented Morgenstern for the book's fake biography sections...! how clever (and DEVIOUS!)

well so far i'm at the beginning where Buttercup professed her love for Westley who said that he was leaving the farm.

i'm also starting to read XSLT for Dummies (don't laugh, i usually don't condone the For Dummies series, but i really want a basic understanding for XSLT for now, so i infringed my personal rule and bought that book). I'm also going to start Learning Java part of the O'Reilly series, hopefully that would get me back in the loop of all things Java.

(interesting side note, i also came upon "Einstein for Dummies" book and thought that man must be rolling in his grave every time they sell a copy of it. it's as wrong as "Buddha in a Box" the gift pack in the bookstores. we don't seem to put Jesus in a box. that's just my take. ok i'm ready to be struck down for blasphemy)

what do i want to be when i grow up...

one of the more popular questions we're always asked... when you're young, the answer is supposed to indicate your dreams and ambitions (to tell if you're a loser or not, early on; in case we waste any unnecessary efforts in raising you proper)
in elementary school, you had to write essays about it (and the teachers love to see if their assessments of what you may do one day will come true)
when you choose a major in college (note that in the US everyone says "college" even if you went to a university... ), you ask yourself what do you want to do...

i remember before high school graduation, when i was 16 years old, i said to myself, oh horror of horrors, MUST I choose a faculty to apply to? MUST i narrow my life down into either Science, Art or Commerce? what if i choose the wrong path, then what?! i had said that i wish it was 10 years from then so i can look BACK and see whether the path chosen was the "right path"...

and to this date, i am still contemplating what i want to be when i grow up!!!

i guess to be fair, take the question apart, and what are we asking ? we're asking about what career might you have in the future, or what job? because there IS a difference between the two.

at this point in my life, i look around, and where i'm at the average age of coworkers have increased slightly... they all have family, kids, soccer practices, mortgages, PTA meetings to go to... i see that sometimes they are as displeased about the same stuff i am; the difference is that they consider this merely a job, to spend a few hours a day in return for some money, an obstacle to LIFE, so that they can get in, get out, and go back to pick up the kids before dinnertime.

i guess i'm still searching for a career... or exploring that possibility. apparently the average person changes career 3 times in their lives - AVERAGE. maybe i'll settle for being on par.

canadian jokes

ok, let's hear some DECENTLY good Canadian jokes here.

i'm tired of this one:

how Canada got its name: When J. MacDonald and Friends were trying to figure out the name of this great place, someone had a great idea. Let's stick all the letters into a hat and draw 3 of them - That will be the new name of this place.. So they did so.. 1st letter is pulled and the guy shouts - "C" eh!? 2nd letter is pulled and the guy shouts - "N" eh!? 3rd letter is pulled and the guy shouts - "D" eh!?

this one made me chuckle (though i've head variations):

On a train car there were a Canadian, an American, a spectacular looking blonde and a frightfully awful looking fat lady. After several minutes of the trip the train happens to pass through a dark tunnel, and the unmistakable sound of a slap is heard. When they leave the tunnel, the American had a big red slap mark on his cheek.

1. The blonde thought - "That American son of a bitch wanted to touch me and by mistake, he must have put his hand on the fat lady, who in turn must have slapped his face"
2. The fat lady thought - "This dirty old American laid his hands on the blonde and she smacked him".
3. The American thought - "That fucking Canadian put his hand on that blonde and by mistake she slapped me".
4. The Canadian thought - "I hope there's another tunnel soon so I can smack that stupid American again".

what's your favorite Canadian joke?

i'd been slacking on blog!

alright i know i've been slacking on the blog front :) as this is some of your "light lunchtime reading" (afterall, i am here to please and entertain!) i'll add some of my typical rant of the moment.

HAPPY CANADIAN THANKSGIVING!!! it wasn't until last year did i identified that we Canadians celebrate our Thanksgiving day on Columbus weekend (i had trouble remembering it every year since the US Thanksgiving is much later). to me it makes sense to celebrate Thanksgiving so early, you have plenty of days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, should you want to server turkey and all the delicious side-dishes for both occassions.
one of the frequently asked question is what do we eat for Thanksgiving... well we eat what the Americans would eat! turkey, cranberry sauce, gravy, candied yam, mashed potatoes, stuffing, mystery-casseroles, pumkin pie, apple pie... yum. i always thought we celebrate it to give thanks to the good harvest (afterall, it usually coincide with the END of harvest, indian summer, etc) - but i'm sure the pilgrims were part of the story anyway.

what do i know? as a CanadianChinese we have rice at home for Thanksgiving. my mom never made turkey at home, she always found it too dry a meat to make, plus we're a family of 4, it would take us until Christmas to finish a whole turkey. the closest we've ever gotten to having a turkey was when mom cooked a whole chicken for the occassion. but she didn't roast it, she cooked it chinese style, which was to slow-low-heat-marinade-cook it served with chinese veggies over rice. it was delicious, but not your so typical Thanksgiving Turkey.

so i spent the evening at Nathan's place yesterday, who was kind enough to host and cook for Canadian Thanksgiving. he has the super huge Ronco Rotisserie (to this day i am still mesmerized every time the freaking informercial comes on TV). met a bunch of Canadians and we talked about hockey, reminisce about the Corn Pops/Coffee Crisp/Smarties and one of the girls even wanted to sing the national anthem.

i find that being out here AWAY from Canada has increased my patriotism; as i am sure other Canadians not-at-home must feel similar. when u meet someone from Canada, it's like finding a lost friend - even though you may have lived on total opposite sides of the country, and never ever would've gotten along or even met under "normal circumstances" had you both been back in Canada. (it's like travelling abroad, and you're from California and you happen to meet a guy from Utah, and you're instant best friends because being from the US bonds u immediately - so you can both reminisce about the quality of bagels from NY, the rainy Seattle days, and the good old fashion BBQ eateries in Texas?!?!)

Anything CANADIAN , naturally, we have to embrace and root for, sports teams, TV shows, quality of beer. i've never proclaimed "go Canada!" as much as i have in the past 5 years... especially during the Olympic game for hockey a few years back. (we won, i like to attribute that to my energy and karma in rooting for the team, i totally made the difference, to tell you the truth. *I* carried the team, and they say there's no I in TEAM! Pfffff).
it's not that i think Canadians are BETTER than Americans or anything, i think that being in someone else's country makes u embrace your country a little more...

so back to the topic, even though this isn't EVERYONE's holiday, have a HAPPY CANADIAN THANKSGIVING; change of weather, it's time to remember how lucky we all are to have what we have, family, friends, health and each other. HUGZ.

calvin and hobbes

so did anyone buy it? I saw it at chapters... huuuuge... nice paper too

damn lawyers

sorry Sue, not directed at you. Here are some snippets from a disturbing article in the sun-sentinel.com I'm obviously amazed at how parents can moan that their children are inactive; yet they support this kind of development. I've got a story to add to this as well - these newfangled plastic playgrounds are a ROYAL PAIN to set up! Eesh. I was at a friend's place and the 'dad' had assembled the playhouse wrong. We had two kids telling us "uncle Tony, that's not right...", "its backwards!" etc. It took us more than 30minutes to rearrange 6 giant pieces of plastic (the four walls, an inner piece, and a slide). Whatever happened to those nice monkey-gyms made outta wood? ... anyway read on:

Andrea Levin is grateful that Broward County schools care about her daughter's safety. But this year when they posted a sign that demanded "no running" on the playground, it seemed like overkill.

Broward's "Rules of the Playground" signs, bought from an equipment catalogue and displayed at all 137 elementary schools in the district, are just one of several steps taken to cut down on injuries and the lawsuits they inspire.

How about swings or those hand-pulled merry-go-rounds?

"Nope. They've got moving parts. Moving parts on equipment is the number one cause of injury on the playgrounds."

Teeter-totters?

"Nope. That's moving too."

Sandboxes?

"Well, I have to be careful about animals" turning them into litter boxes.

Cement crawl tubes?

"Vagrants. The longer they are, the higher possibility that a vagrant could stay in them. We have shorter ones now that are made out of plastic or fiberglass."

Broward playgrounds aren't the only ones to avoid equipment that most adults remember. Swings, merry-go-rounds, teeter-totters and other old standards are vanishing from schools and parks around the country, according to the National Program for Playground Safety.

"Kids aren't using them the way they're supposed to," said the agency's director, Donna Thompson, who led a national effort to get rid of animal swings two years ago. "I'm pleased that a lot of these are disappearing."


"We could do a lot more if we didn't have to watch our back every single second," said Graziose, who has led a playground safety committee for 17 years. "We sometimes get a letter from the attorney before we even get an accident report from the school."

Since 1999, Broward County schools paid out about $561,000 to settle 189 claims for playground accidents, about 5 percent of the amount the district spent on all injury claims in that time. To keep those numbers low, Graziose said, he needs to keep thinking of ways to make playgrounds safe.

"Play is one of children's chief vehicles for development," Frost said. "Right now it looks like we're developing a nation of wimps."

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no sh-t.

play at home - Fantasy Hockey

so i did end up waking up early saturday morning in order to attend the 9:30am online live draft of my fantasy hockey team this year... i'm excited hockey is back, although even now it's still a little bit of hurt to know that their stupid dispute caused an entire year of lockout...

here's my fantasy hockey team for those who want to play at home with me - y'all can help me figure out who should really be benched/dropped or something...

active roaster:
J. Sakic (Col - C)
B. Morrison (Van - C)
L. Nagy (Pho - LW)
O. Kvasha (NYI - LW)
M. Hejduk (Col - RW)
S. McEachern (Bos - RW)
N. Lidstrom (Det - D)
M. Schneider (Det - D)
K. Timonen (Nsh - D)
A. Foote (Cls - D)M. Kiprusoff (Cgy - G)J. Giguere (Anh - G)

bench:
D. Sedin (Van - LW)
P. Boucher (Dal - D)
A. McCauley (SJ - C)
J. Theodore (Mon - G)

went to the coyotes vs sharks pre-season game last week, fortunately it's pre-season so tix were cheaper - it was awesome to sit close enough to read the label on the goalie's legpads. (speaking of labels that reminds me KW and AL used to drool over this Danny T. guy from CEGEP - the Italian Stallion type. I recall them saying they were checking out his bootie and his black jeans were so FITTING that they can practically read the laundry directions on the inside tags!!!!!)

hockey is such a smooth game when you watch the NHL players - the skating is not even an element in the game, as in at no point do you see them struggle with the skating part at all... then i play my women's games on saturday and had many bambi-style falls.. i was inspired and had a good game even though i didn't score. one of the refs said to me 'i have to say, you're a pest on the ice, and i mean that in the very good way!' - apparently there's a role on the team as the 'pest' who will get in ppl's face and force passes, or poke check, or just in general screw up the opponent's plays. i've had teammates' significant others who watches the game ask me how i can be so brave out there when nearly everyone outweights me 2:1 at least...

in the end i think it's less about bravery than about ignorance... i FORGET that i'm smaller, that on impact, there's Newton's 3rd law that applies (for every action there's an equal and opposite reaction)... it's not brave, it's oblivion!!! if we were in nature back pre-civilization, i'd be the doe that prances along, and next thing u know i'm already dead without forewarn knowledge because i'm oblivious to surrounds. natural selection would've taken me already, if civilization were not there to support my current existence.

the machinist

good news finally - I got a call from the insurance company of the guy who hit me (bike) and they've offered to pay my deductible (should I need to) for the bike! It sounds promising - I'll really celebrate when I get the cheque.

I rented the "Machinist" last night. I saw it because my massage therapist told me to (we share the same taste in movies) - she compared it to "Memento" which I wasn't a fan of but I defintiely see the resemblance. Anyway - GO SEE IT! Susan, I think you'll really like it. I will definitely buy the dvd. I kept thinking of the movie throughout the night and when I woke up - definitely one of the most satisfying and thought provoking movie I've seen in a very long time.

swings...

it's a slightly crisp turn-of-the-season day... some leaves have started falling, the air is clean and slightly chilled.
do you remember being on the swings at the playground, as you launch the swing higher and higher off the ground, then holding on tight and closing your eyes, and the feeling of sheer freedom, so care-free, as the wind blows on your face and on your hair, as you feel like you can rule the world...

i was reminded of that yesteday as we were at the playground with 3 year old Q.H. she's soo cute and adorable and energetic, when she laughs it's full of innocence and TRUE spirit. she was on the swings and it just reminded me of how many of those days you don't get anymore when you grow up. i want to have a play-day at the park, enjoy the sunshine, the outdoor air, the falling feeling on the swings.



here's a picture of drew-drew, TOTALLY adorable and so affectionate. she'd come and hug u for no reason, and mimick your words and tried to run with them. i love her sooo much~

the luxury that is "car charger"...

i broke down and got myself a new cell phone this weekend... ONLY because my 3+ year phone finally died... ok so it wasn't completely dead, just in a irrecoverable coma - as in i dropped it, then i can hear my recipients fine but they couldn't hear me talk so of course that was NOT acceptable.

but i am still in love with my new phone, it's got color(gasp!) and a camera (gasp!!) and if i so choose, each of you who calls me shall have your own personal ringtone. (there is no way i'd remember more than 2 different ringtones, i'd likely ignore your calls thinking someone ELSE's phone was rining instead...)

best of all, i can use my CAR CHARGER (came with the phone!)... for the past year my car chargers for the old phone discharges my phone... turning my phone off and then turning it back on discharges my phone... charging my phone in the cradle AT THE WRONG ANGLE discharges my phone...
now there's the luxury to charge it when i'm in the car, it's so easy and nice... and convienent!!!!!! I LOVE IT!!
love the phone, love the geeky stuff i can do with it. the only thing is it doesn't have any games, which you CAN buy from Verizon, after you pay $x for the software to connect to their hub, and $y/minute, and then another $z for the game software to download... argh.