Monday, March 27, 2006

   Umm . . . . . . . uh . . . . . . . oops?
"I sense a disturbance in the force . . . as if millions of people suddenly slapped their foreheads and shook their heads disapprovingly . . . . ."


Yeah, uh . . . . . . I think I might not be sleeping tonight again . . . . . this'll be the last time though, promise! I WILL get on top of that Miyazaki paper before the 10th, and I WILL get on top of that war literature paper before the 7th!

Y'know . . . Renaissance stuff just ain't as fun . . . . .


[EDIT:] Yes, it begins . . . well, it's 2:30am, I'm about halfway through this thing . . . and well, I guess it could be worse . . . unfortunately I keep distracting myself, googling names of people I know who could become famous some day. Sooo . . . I figured I'd help one out a little . . .

http://members.shaw.ca/paigemillar/Index.html

This is Paige Millar. I went to high school with her. I had a class at UBC with her last semester, in fact. Heh . . . hell, I had an unrequited crush on her in grade 10 and everything too (we did come to a sort of understanding as friends who did care about each other plenty, though). In any case, she sings and I love her voice. Listen to the two tracks on this homepagey-type thing of hers even though it's cruelly out of date.

Oh yeah, she also likes to scat. Just sayin'.

I gotta get a CD off of her one of these days if I ever see her again . . .which I should be able to . . . just 'cause, y'know . . . . .

[EDIT 2:] Figured I'd fill you in. It's 5am, and I have maybe about 2 more pages to go. I'm a the point where I really don't know what the hell I'm talking about anymore, which is always fun. I'm cold and hungry for the most part. Hmm . . . . how to finish this, how to finish this . . . . .

[EDIT 3:] Well, it's about ten minutes after 6am, and I've just started printing this damn thing. As expected, the conclusion is absolute garbage. On the other hand, the paper it's being printed on is damn nice quality. Yeah . . . . . I think it's time to shower now. And then sleep all through tomorrow.

Alright, my night's story's done. You can all go listen to Paige sing now, or something.
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Thursday, March 23, 2006

   A skillet, a saucepan, and a corningware pot walk into a bar . . .
. . . . . yeah, I don't really know how that could be a real joke, to be honest. Sorry.

Oh yeah, Neil Gaiman's "Coraline" is a wicked sweet book. It's all adventurous and creepy and stuff. And it's short and probably cheap to buy.

"Obasan" by Joy Kogawa is another really good book. Japanese-Canadian author, grew up during the internment years, wrote a book. It's not November 11th right now, but I'd still tell people to read it.

Thank you, Flint.

Before today really kicks into high gear, I might be able to finish watching "Excel Saga". That would be cool. Then I can go on and really get into Seed Destiny . . . . . or something.

My left eye is much more bloodshot than my right. I don't know how that happened exactly . . . probably rubbed it too much or something . . . . .

Oh yeah, "Jarhead" is a good movie. Really good. DVD also has a commentary track with the scriptwriter and the original novelist (who's portrayed in the film). That was a good commentary . . . . .

I'll REALLY try to start visiting everyone more really soon! Really!


Random SomeGuy Trivia: I enjoy ketchup. For some reason, though, if it's not in a food-eating context, the stuff just makes me uneasy . . . y'know, like when it's dripped or smooshed on a table, or if people like, eat it straight.
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Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Eep. . . .
I slept in today . . .

[EDIT:] This is "eep" because the last bus I can catch without being late comes by the stop closest to my house (about 2-3 blocks down the hill) at 7:30am.
I woke up at 7:15am.
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Monday, March 20, 2006

   Aaaaand here we go . . . . .
I'm gonna jinx it again . . . I'm feeling quite good tonight. I might actually be healthy again. Of course, I'm gonna lose it now, since now I'm in "all-nighter" mode.

Don'cha love me for doing this to myself?

As always, I'll re-update once this thing's bagged and tagged to give you all a play-by-play of my blasted essay about how Grendel and his mother are archetypal enemies without being archetypal monsters . . . or something . . .

Meantimes, here's some fun quotes I've jotted down during my lectures from when my prof, Dr. Gernot Wieland, has said especially funny things . . .


"You'll get spears in your butts, that'll be your treasure!"
(Paraphrasing the main Anglo-Saxon leader speaking to the vikings in "The Battle of Maldon")

"I'm the Vice President Dick Cheney! (*coughs*)"
(No idea what the context for this is anymore.)

"You don't go to war with a falcon, it's stupid."
(Re: a passage from "The Battle of Maldon")

"I'm allergic to apostrophe mistakes..."
"English professors, yeah... get a life!"
(Re: returning our midterms.)

"You have heard about...plagiarism? Anglo-Saxons were more relaxed about this..."
(Re: the poet of "Beowulf")

"Most of the time a groom isn't supposed to see the bride until the bride is all groomed..."
(Re: Old English linguistics)

"Look where he lives, it must be quite moist down there..."
(Re: Grendel's underwater cave)

"Can that wait? I want to finish Grendel off..... like Beowulf!"
(When asked an off-topic question)

"Let's see what Seamus Heaney is doing to Grendel's mother..."
(Re: translation issues, but it came out funny)

"Who listens to Wagner, I hate Wagner..."
(Re: The Nibelungenlied and its operatic versions)

"The dragon is a whole different kettle of... fish..."
(Odd wording re: difference between Grendel monsters and dragon)

"Beowulf and swords have bad history...bad karma..."
(Re: how swords always break when Beowulf uses them)


[EDIT 1:] Well . . . it's about 2am now. And I'm nowhere near where I wish I was in the progress of this paper . . . . . . fack.

[EDIT 2:] Y'know what? it's about 3am and there is NO way I'm gonna cap this bitch before 7-ish, when I'd need to leave for school. So y'know what? I'll take the penalty percents if I have to - I don't feel like getting sick again, damnit. Damnit, damnit, damn damn damnity damnity damn . . . . . I hate school . . .

[EDIT 3:] It's 3:53. It was bugging me way too much, while I was lying in bed fifteen minutes ago, so I'm back at work. Damnit . . .

[EDIT 4:] about 5am. About 2-3 pages to go. It's doable, I suppose . . . my neck is itchy and sore, though . . . very uncomfortable . . . . . I miss my bed . . . . . . . . seriously, I don't even know what I'm writing anymore!

[EDIT 5:] Oh hell. 5:50am. So . . . you know how you hate it when you hear your alarm clock go off in the morning? I gotta tell ya, it's DAMN scary to hear it go off when you're still very much out of bed. Basically, I have about an hour to go . . . . . on the other hand, I maybe need just two more paragraphs, and one of those is the conclusion. This is doable! And . . . heh, hey look, Beck commented . . . . .

[EDIT 6:] It's 6:27am. The blasted thing is printing. It's probably still very rough around all its edges, it probably sucks a donkey phallus . . . but y'know what? I wanna shower. I can catch a bus to school in about half an hour, too . . . . . . . . damnit! Why do I keep doing this to myself?! Okay, note to self: do NOT do this for any more term papers!
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Sunday, March 19, 2006

   Damn. I'm tired.
Huh. YTV's showing "Fullmetal Alchemist" now. I didn't know that. That's cool, though . . . I wonder if I'll be able to unconsciously make my brother pay attention to this one . . .


Alright, so on Friday I left school halfway through. I in turn hit up a walk-in clinic on the way home (gotta love healthcare). Well, THAT doctor suggested that flus go on for "7-10 days", so technically it was okay that I was still feeling gross. In any case, the . . . uh . . . . . bottom problems . . . were still on my mind, so the doctor told me to keep myself hydrated with Gatorade (good idea, actually), and wrote me up some orders to go to a BC Biomedical office to give them some bits from myself.

THAT said, taking those pink pills really complicated that part of the day a bit . . . in any case, if there IS something extra wrong with me, the lab can find out.

Either way, on Saturday I went through the whole day without any . . . um . . . bottom incidents. Maybe I'm getting better after all . . . although now I've jinxed it, I'm sure.


. . . . . if none of that made any sense, it's probably for the best.

Anyway, I've still got a bit of a headache, but that could just be because I'm so tired right now (work took it out of me extra well last night). Now I just gotta chop down my 8-10 page Beowulf paper by Monday and read "Coraline" somewhere in between. Then I can start my 7-8 page Renaissance plays paper . . . and then my however-many-page Miyazaki paper. And then my 15 page War Literature paper.

Dang.

(The ways I'm looking forward to never having to go to school ever again for the rest of my life . . .)


Random SomeGuy Trivia: For whatever reason, my favourite Classical Greek hero is Theseus. Not so much because I'm Athenocentric (because I'm not), but because he started off as a small guy who took on bigger guys and won because of using the opponent's strength against them - y'know, whole judo thing. I always liked that . . . and hey, there are worse monsters you could be famous for killing than the minotaur . . .
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Friday, March 17, 2006

Very very short post just because
One essay got pushed to next Monday. This makes me happy.

I'm still sick. That makes me less happy. I may need to hit up the walk-in clinic again.

Viz licensed the Bleach anime a few days ago. Fun news.
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Wednesday, March 15, 2006

   Headbutts are love . . .
Woke up and drove downtown yesterday. I'm not a big fan of driving downtown. I am a big fan of meeting myOers, though, and there was one waiting at a skytrain station downtown yesterday. It worked itself out, I suppose.

Sooooo . . . . . yes, I have had the pleasure of meeting Enin in person yesterday. Heh . . . first glimpse I had of him was his squinting as he came up an escalator with a cell phone against his head. Good times . . .

After that weird bit, Enin, his sister and I all went down to Vancouver's 4th Avenue, which is good for shopping. Of course, nothing's open at 10am in the morning, so we ended up having brunch at some vegetarian juice place - not so much that we felt like having vegetarian food, but it was open and we were standing right in front of it at the time (my moment of being decisive, I'll take responsibility). We were all perhaps a little quiet, but it was fine.

Eventually the stores opened and we all walked around a bit - they were trying to find a birthday present for that cousin of theirs. In any case, they bought a ton of music for themselves at "Zulu Records" (which Enin fell in love with), and then . . . we had a fun moment in this fancy chocolate store. Something about a chocolate bone as a gift . . . . . it would have been in bad taste, anyway . . .

After all that, I took the two of them to UBC with me (I had class that day). We walked around the northern tip of the campus mostly, like the Rose Garden, the Chan Centre for Performing Arts, and eventually the Nitobe Japanese Garden (which they also quite loved). Unfortunately the tour was cut short before we could get into it further, being that their family had arrived to pick them up.

That said, I got to meet the man's father. Very jolly man who I would totally expect to have a great sense of humour (though from what Enin tells us I'm not surprised). But yeah, also a shame I didn't get to hang out with him either . . .


Then came the payoff . . . . we were all saying our gooodbyes since most likely we wouldn't see each other again while they were still in town this week . . . so yeah, we did the whole "good to see ya, hope to come back soon" deal, hand shake . . . . .

. . . . . and then I pulled the Josh-man in and headbutted him. Not too hard, but about medium. Hard enough, we'll say.

Let me fill you in about that . . . . so y'know how when he recently got all mopey and starving-like earlier this year? I'm powerfully unimpressed whenever he does that. I'm not saying that I don't appreciate his situation, but I truly expect so much more from that boy, y'know? Maybe I'm still missing a lot of the story (well, I know I am, duh), but damn . . . like I said, he's better than that whole not eating bit . . . . . so yeah, I said I was gonna headbutt him for being so stupid about it.

ALSO . . . . . good close friend to all of us also had a bit of a chat with him while he was in his starving mopey mood to cheer him up. This friend felt she had done a lot of good for him. He in fact said she had done a lot of good for him that night, even referring to her as "my wonderful drug/medicine" or something. She felt good to be able to help the guy.
Then he posted about how all the talks made him feel "a little" better, and that he still wasn't eating . . . . . well, said-friend did not take to being stepped on so lightly, in her words. I promised her I'd headbutt him for her.


Which brings us to yesterday. Kapow. I tried to be nice about it, though, and aimed for his forehead which would protect him better than say, his nose (apparently I nailed him in the brow, so it was close). Anyway, I told him that that one was for said friend . . . . . and then as I saw him reeling in agony still, I just didn't have the heart to give him another. ". . . and for me," I tagged on quickly while he kept wobbling back and forth next to the van. His sister thought it was funny, in any case . . . and I explained to his dad that he did indeed have it coming - he laughed about it too, though I wonder if he even knew that I had just headbutted his son . . . . . ah well.


So yes. We're square with him now. All good.

That good for you, dahlin'? 'Cause he did seem to be in a decent amount of pain . . . heh. So yeah, he knows that was for you . . .


[EDIT:] The flu . . . possibly getting better. This morning the . . . stuff, is still coming out like mud, but at least it doesn't hurt anymore . . . I suppose . . . . . we'll see tomorrow.
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Tuesday, March 14, 2006

   The story thus far . . .
Abdomen continues to grumble and make noise like it's trying to show off how much it's working because it thinks that I don't think it's working hard enough or something. It's getting old and uncomfortable. Also, stuff is still spilling out of me every few hours or so which is really taking a toll on my body and mind. Here's hoping the pink medicine'll ease that up a bit for a couple more days (the doctor said seven days, so here's hoping I'm not an exception). Have I mentioned that I hate the flu? 'Cause I do.

Suddenly I realise that I have two term papers due on the 20th. I need to get to work on those. Damnit.

"Midori Days" is a freakin' funny manga. Just sayin' . . .


In unrelated news, it seems that Mr East is in my neck of the woods. I'm gonna go find him at Burrard Station at 10am today and hopefully he'll be there. I only type that out as a reminder for myself, just in case you're wondering . . . should be fun, methinks. 'Tis a big city, Vancouver be . . . here's hoping I can think of some good places to check out while he and his family are here.

Heh, it's been a good month for meeting myOers . . .


Random SomeGuy Trivia: I got the Chicken Pox when I was turning seven. I had to cancel my birthday party. It was a shame, but we did it a couple weeks later so it was okay. Sidenote, I got it from my aunt's nephew (but not my cousin) in Calgary, then when we got back home I gave it to my older brother. We then in tandem gave it to our younger brother. Fun times.
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Sunday, March 12, 2006

   The following may or may not be considered too much information . . .
Read the subject title. You have been forewarned.

That said, I'm long past the "chills and bad headaches" phase of my flu. I am now onto the "don't do it, it's gonna be more than just flatulence!" phase. Some of you might not understand what I meant by that. Maybe that's for the best.

Oh yeah, jook, also known as congee of "rice broth", is basically rice boiled with way more water than usual so as to make a sort of soupy/porrigy sort of thing. It's good for sick people. I think some animes have people serving it to sick people now and then (it's definitely in "Ranma" where they subbed it as rice gruel).

Umm . . . . . other than that . . . I got served in the Gundam Seed game yesterday before work. It was the difference of not playing for two weeks while everyone else played like, twice a week or more (and that's not including the guys with modded PS2's who OWN the game). I need to practice more . . .

Oh yeah, and "Star Wars: Empire at War" is a very nice Star Wars strategy game. The first really good one ever, in fact. 'Tis grand.


Random SomeGuy Trivia: So you understand where I'm coming from, my older brother is five years older than me and my younger brother is two years younger. As I've probably mentioned before, the older one is a police officer (who actually got into ERT school recently, which is cool); the younger one works part time as a supervisor at a community rec' centre. Needless to say, both are professionally much more successful than I am at present. Which I suppose I'm fine with. Kinda. Sorta. Ish.
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Friday, March 10, 2006

   Quick check in, post check-up
I left work early yesterday. Felt gross. Turns out I have a flu now. I'm now on a regiment of Tylenols and jook. Rock on.

"The Subtle Knife" by Pullman (book 2 of "His Dark Materials") is turning out to be a not-so-bad read. Still curious as to how evil he's gonna portray the church . . . bwaha. And now to read 200 pages or so before school today . . . . . that said, this fever and headache really isn't gonna make that part fun.

So that's what I've been up to. I hope you're all doing well as well. If there's anything I'm missing, I'll try to bring it up later.


Random SomeGuy Trivia: For whatever reason, I always keep three pennies in the right pockets of my jackets and coats. They serve no purpose other than to give me something to fiddle with as I walk . . . but always with the three pennies . . . . . okay, sleep time.
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