There and Back Again

Well, we're all back from the Vancouver trip. I had a blast, and pretty soon I'm going to be gone again. I have some camping trip to go this upcoming weekend, and on July 29th I leave for Brunei and come back August 23rd. It was fun hanging out with everyone and the things we saw and did.

We left on the 25th of June and came back July 3rd.

Saturday

We left Edmonton at about 4 am. For the most part, it was pretty much a straight drive except for gas breaks. We did have a quick lunch break though, but there was a concerted effort to limit stops. In total the drive there was about 12-13 hours. I was crammed into the back with Kevin and Megan. Actually, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Pretty much the ways to kill time was to sleep, listen to music, or use Megan's portable DVD player. There isn't much to tell since nothing crazy happened on the drive there.

At about 5-6 pm B.C. time we found the place we were staying. There was an arrangement where my cousins would take the 7 of us into their home. They lived in Coquitlam which was a bit far away from the places we would see, but that was the only negative. There have a pretty big home housing my Aunt and my cousins Tess (who is our age) and Vince (who is 24). Tess was always the cousin I would hang out with during family gatherings since we were close in age. I didn't see Vince much during the trip, although that was kinda expected. But anyways, we arrived at the house where my aunt greeted us. She helps us settle in a bit and jokes that I'm useless in helping navigate us around in Vancouver. Since this is the end of a long drive, we're all hungry but can't decide on where to eat. We wait for Tess to come home from work and she also ends up joking that I'm useless in navigating Vancouver. Thanks guys. Anyways, we eat at Red Robins and after that, the day is over.

Sunday

So the plan was to stay in Victoria after arriving in Vancouver. To get to Victoria with our rented van, we were going to take a ferry. Everybody woke up and got out the door relatively on time, but we just missed catching the 9 am ferry. We wandered the shopping area that was close by and took pictures near the coast. Soon we heard a big loud voice telling us to get our butts back into ours cars to drive onto the ferry. At the same time they started unloading the ferry that had currently docked. The cars unloaded and drove down the road we had crossed to take the pictures. At first everyone was all excited about the ferry and we stood outside for a while, but then it started getting cold and windy. The ride was about an hour and a half before we reached Victoria island. After checking into the hotel we went shopping. For the most part it was just wandering around. It pretty much would come to splitting up, with the groups being the two couples on their own and Me, Dev, and Ant just wandering around.

Our next meal would be at a place called "Barb's..." well I don't remember anything else about its name. But it had very good fish (halibut) and chips. Good enough to come back the next day. What was very cool was that were floating houses right next to the place! I wish I had a camera so I could show pictures, but alas, I don't.

Next was Butchart Gardens. Although there were only about 2-3 hours left before it closed and there was some light rain, it was probably the best time to go. I thought the light rain added a really nice atmosphere to the place and with us getting there so late, there was no one else there. I really enjoyed the place there and this was also a place of some stupid fun. First off, we picked up umbrellas and for the most part, we used them as swords to fight. The funny thing was that Kev saw some wheelchairs for use, so he decided to grab one. About 30 minutes into the garden, the genius decides he is sick of the wheelchair ,and we ditch it somewhere. Later on when we go back we find that someone already took it back. The funniest part is at the end when Dev, Tom, and Ant decide to have a quick wheelchair race in the parking lot. Somehow, Ant goes veering off to who knows where, and some guy sees them all and busts them. He just yells out, do you need to use that? Ant looks at him, looks down, goes alright, I'll get up. Meanwhile, it seemed that Dev and Tom weren't spotted, so they quickly finished their race. Tom won by the way. That was pretty much the end of that day.

Short Update from B.C.

Well, I'm still in B.C. but the trip is almost over. We've done quite a bit, so hopefully I can remember most of it. At the moment it seems everyone else is asleep. It looks like I'm one of the first to wake up. Its kinda funny because usually on a family trip that would go to Keith, and I would be the last to wake up. As much as it is a bummer to have the trip end, I imagine people are starting to miss their beds.

Quick bulletin update, I'm in, yeehaw!

At 2:00 pm on a Wednesday afternoon, I get a call from someone in the Occupational Therapy department. I wasn't at home at the time (at St. John's Ambulance) so I missed it. By the time I get home and call back, all I can do is leave a message. So I don't know if I'm in. The next morning my cell phone has a missed call at 9, and I'm kicking myself for not getting out of bed. I end this phone tag session quick and reach someone and eventually hear, "we have a spot for you, will you accept?" So Yay!! My future is on track for now! Of course, it only gets harder and I'm gonna have to put in a tremendous effort the second I step into a class.

However, there is a potential problem. Next week the department mails out some package but at the same time I'll be in BC. They may need me to sign some documents, but if I fire off an email to the lady in charge, my parents could hand it in.

Anyways, time to grab a quick nap before heading off West. Later days!

Update

Alright, lets just get a brief sit rep on whats going to be happening with me. On Tuesday and Wednesday I'm heading to St. John's... center? place? Eh, whatever its called. Anyways, I'm going there for a Stardard First Aid/CPR course. I've always kinda kicked myself for not getting this sooner. You never know when any little tidbit from these courses could come in handy. Luckily (and knock on wood) I've never experienced a very tense situation where such knowledge needed to be called upon.

On the 25th I'll be on a trip heading out to Vancouver. Yeah, its coming up pretty quickly and it will be a 10 day trip. Whats mind boggling is that when the trip is over and I'm back in Edmonton, it'll be July!! That means summer is half over! But back to teensy bit more about the trip. I also talked to Tess, who is my cousin that lives there. After she had a quick chat with her mom it looks like our group might be able to stay at their place. Awesome! Y'know, whoever planned this trip, I should probably say thanks to for including me in on this. It probably helped that I have a lot of free time now since I've just been bumming around =)

I think I might try to keep a journal of it. If I bring a small notebook, and jot some point form notes about what happened and fill it in with more info at another time it shouldn't be too hard.

Now, that kinda brings me to another thought, I always wondered if blogging would get easier. Really, it never did. I've never been much of a "sharer" to begin with, and writing a diary of some sort never appealed. So that would make having a blog a dynamite idea! Well, at the time I thought something would change and maybe I would throw more out in the open. Instead, I just end up throwing around some scattered thoughts and brief sentences on what I've done. Ugh, clearly I can be capable of more than that, right? Why else have I kept this up when I could have just forgotten about it? Well, I really like being able to read about what everyone else is doing. And another thing is it seemed like keeping a journal was a good thing, although I'm not sure why. It doesn't matter to me if no one reads this, but the potential for it helps keep me honest and a bit more open minded. Plus, I should type as though I'm typing this for another person to read. That way this blog will be a good archive of what my thoughts, actions, and opinions were.

Okay, I think I'll end this here and see where I go afterward. On a side note, if anyone is bored, check out this blog. The writer is a bouncer at a club in New York, and these are some of his stories and observations.

New Middleweight Champ!

I'm gonna make this a quick one, and mostly about watching UFC 53. I thought the event was pretty exciting, not completely full of competitive matches but rather to see if the guys they wanted to push belong in the Octagon. By the way I'm talking about professional fighting in the event known as the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The sport is pretty much called "mixed martial arts" or MMA for short. I'm not completely sure why I became such a fan of this, it can be pretty raw and brutal at times. I guess combat sports are pretty much the only ones where you find total one on one competition. And even though a fighter will need a lot of people backing him/her up (sparring partners, coaches, sponsors and so on) in the end, he is responsible for what happens to him. I also like the simplicity of the sport in comparison to something like football, baseball, heck even bowling (seriously, who came up with this idea?). Anyways, there was one fight between Rich Franklin and Evan Tanner for the Middleweight Championship and it was a solid fight. For me it was the culmination of Rich plugging away, working hard and smart, getting his chance and giving it his very best. He won the MW championship fairly clearly, but had his scary moments. Anyways, this picture best represents what it took for him to become a champ.

To be honest, I could probably go on for a long while, but its not like I think about this THAT often.

In other news, I haven't recieved word on whether or not I'm accepted into the Occupational Therapy program. Its "Mid-June" and I don't actually know how I'm getting the news, or if they're only telling those who get in. For a long time, my attitude was pretty much to just take it as it comes. Kinda fast how "Mid June" has come, and I have no idea what to expect. I'm hoping that I'll get to have a celebration dinner instead of a consolation one.

Looks like this stayed brief, but I better head off to bed and try to fall asleep.

Quick update...

I guess a quick update on my happenings would be a good starting point for this blog. So lets get straight to it...

My city job ended May 28th, so now I'm just sitting around the house and one week has nearly passed. Unfortunately, I still have to wait for another paycheque to roll in, and I kinda have to cross my fingers that my hours didn't get screwed up. I'm already missing 10 hours, thanks payroll! Well, I'll be positive on this one and I figure things will work out.

The weekend right after was another public library book sale. The prices went like this: Hardcover is $2, and softcover is $0.50. I got some sports books (I now have a bunch of books about the Oilers of the 80's, one co-authored by Kevin Lowe...), some Tom Clancy stuff, CPR/first aid books, and other stuff I can't remember all too well. I also ended up later picking up Michael Durant's book from Chapters. If you've ever watched Black Hawk Down (somewhat a spoiler coming up) Durant is a helicopter pilot that ends up getting shot down and captured. This book is a bit about his career and the 11 days he spent captive. It was a decent book but I just didn't like something about it.

Just today Maggie and I went to St. John's Ambulance center (place??) to register for a Standard First Aid and CPR course. Its slated for June 21st and 22nd. If anyone else wants to come out for it or maybe more info, just give me a shout...

Star Wars and stuff

Its been a quiet long weekend. On Friday I got to drive to work again (right by Belvedere station) because my parents were going to Calgary 'till Saturday evening. The drive there was pretty much a non event, although I heard about the semi truck hitting the bus over the radio. Work breezes by and at lunch I actually start to feel my throat getting a bit sore. That's great, I'm getting sick...

Anyways, I figure out a plan to watch Star Wars Revenge of the Sith with my bro the next afternoon. We'll have breakfast somewhere, line up half hour before doors open and kill time however we need to. For some reason I think things are open at 9 so we leave around then, but of course nothing is. We eat at Moxies at 10, and that brings us to 11 am which is about half an hour 'till the theater opens. A bit of a line actually forms but nothing maddening. We're one of the first to be there so we get good theater eseats.

As for the movie itself, well its okay. It would be interesting to see the original trilogy again and see if everything fits in well. The biggest problem I have with the prequel trilogy (PT) is that its too much about the special effects. Sure, thats the draw with Star Wars, the lightsabers, blasters, and ships. I never was bothered with the differences between the original trilogy and the current one regarding things such as lightsaber fight scenes and crowd scenes, because thats really just a film making thing, if I was reading the story there isn't a difference. But the special effects are the focus instead of the characters and events. Seriously, whats up with all these CG characters and animals? The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy really sucked me in, whereas I find the SW trilogy I'm just amused by shiny lasers and force chokes. Oh yeah, I almost preferred the original lightsaber fight between Obi Wan and Darth Vader back in A New Hope than in some of the PT fights. Reason? I can't f*'ing see what the hell is going on! "I think its cool.. I can hear the whrrrr's and see bright lights twirling..."

Anyways, my parents get back in time for dinner (yay!). As we're talking, they look and point at the paper and my mom mentions she was feeling sick to her stomach when she found about the semi truck broadsiding the bus (The thing I heard over the radio). It turns out that this bus is part of the same service that my dad takes to get home. My dad took the first bus back, and the one that was hit was maybe the 11th or 12th bus heading to Edmonton. Four were killed and about 20 more were hurt. A bit of sad irony, the Journal reported that one of the victims didn't like to drive that stretch of road and so he took the bus because he felt it was safer. My parents found out about this when they phoned the friend they were visiting, and he came off on the phone as very worried because he knows what bus service my dad took.

While this didn't come across as a razor thin escape from fate, it was another reminder of how quick life can change. There have been a number of reminders over the past years, or at least it feels that way. I'm not really sure how to take these, do I just kind of accept it as a part of life? That these things happen and there is a certain level where we just roll with it? Or that its a signal to do the things you need and want to do?

I guess thats growing up. I tend not to think about the difficult parts of the future, just the potential cutesy Kodak moments...

Whats up?

Hmm... I haven't really looked up any more info about the CPR stuff, although I did see that the U of A is holding a session in mid June. Maybe I'm better off checking out other places.

Lets see, so far its been an activity filled week. I guess I can give a bit of a recap of what happened and some thoughts...

On Sunday a load of us went out to Hawrelak park, well, at least the site nearby. It was fun to be outside and ice fights are apperantly still really fun! Yeah, in one confrontation a friend named Andy comes up to me with a tray of ice ready to toss at me. At the time I head a cup of Vanilla Pepsi, and for some reason reflexively tossed it at him (yeah, real nice...). He still comes at me relatively unfazed and then I slip and wipe out on the grass and get even more grass stains. Whatever, I think he got the worst of it (=

Fast forward a bit to Monday where we decide to have a game of Monopoly. To tell you the truth, its not very often you can have a full fun game of Monopoly or Risk. Those games are quite the momentary friendship killer. Thats not to say that there can't be friendly games, but that it can be difficult (Frick?! Why are you attacking me?? He just took over a continent!). Sometimes you even start yelling at the dice (because that helps soooooo much!). The most classic moment ever though, and this has to be shared, is a game of Risk 2025. At the time, Ryan had the option to "nuke" continents and he opted to do so. Each side of the dice corresponded to a continent, and at the time I was nervous because I held 2. Anyways, he proceeds to roll the number that goes to his continent, and nukes himself. The card doesn't specify that you CAN'T nuke yourself sooo.... bam!! Its pretty much game over man. Friggin priceless!!

Anyways, we can't finish the game because people have work and school the next day, so right now that game is in stasis.

We'll fast forward to a birthday dinner at Mikado's (a Japanese restaurant). Everyone seemed pretty satisfied with the food, although it was a bit pricey. I was driving Keith and Delia, and for those who don't know, they get involved in the most stubborn arguments ever. I usually just sit and face the opposite direction, because its really frustrating listening to them.

The gist of it is this:

"People can be nice"

"But not everyone is nice"

"Well maybe because other people aren't nice to them"

"So people can be mean!"

"Well, only if people aren't nice... but... "

Like what the frick? This isn't even an argument. This isn't even a discussion, its just making a bunch of statements and trying to appear more right. For some reason, their personalities mix into the most frustrating conversations ever.

Okay, you know how whenever a group of friends get into activity _____ there is always one or two people who sit in the corner because they are uncomfortable with the activity? The bums that don't include themselves for some reason? Yeah, well thats totally me because afterward we went to karaoke it up. I'd just sit on the couch farthest and stare at the words on the screen. For some reason I just can't get into it, and it sucks because everyone else is having so much fun. I think its because I don't want to get up and sing into the mic and suck, but really, who cares? And its not like there's a prize to win or anything. One of these days I'm gonna get up in front of the mic!! ....but yeah...

And so thats an update! At the very least, this is a decent record of what I did this summer...

A question to everyone, who wants to learn CPR and get certified!! I have to start looking so I can sign up for it. Anyone else interested?

Last comments

I'll quickly end off what I started about the tournament. I promptly lost my next match 5-2 but it was a good experience (it was here where I didn't dodge all the sidekicks and got caught, it was sore for a bit but now its completely gone). Again, didn't embarass myself and managed to learn a few things. Yay!

I was going to talk about how others did, but I changed my mind. If they decided to blog about it, that's great and if not, thats okay. Maybe I'll comment, if anyone wants me to. Anyways, the tournament doesn't feel as long as it used to, even though I have to wait a lot longer for my events.

Not much else to report on a Monday. Well, today it rained and I didn't mind it all that much. It was just some minor drizzles but I had a decent jacket and hood on so it wasn't horrible. After the tournament there's not a whole lot to look forward to. Oh wait!! Movies!! I'm actually looking forward to watching a few movies! Hey, does anyone wanna watch Unleashed
this Friday?? A Jet Li movie with some hope!! woohoo!

Some thoughts and tiny bruises

Well I'll quickly start off by saying that I started my courier job for the City of Edmonton. I did this last year, and a quick description of what I do is that I deliver the garbage pickup calendars. Mailing it out appears to cause a few hassles with using Canada Post (oh yeah, and deliver these calendars in housing zones that do not correspond with your mail route) so thats why we have a job for the month of May. This is accomplished by having groups of 6, with one being a leadhand (and driver of a rented van) and the rest of us to deliver the calendars. This year I have a decent driver that is a retired foreman, and 4 fellow couriers that are female.

Interestingly enough, despite the City of Edmonton being "equal opportunity" the ratio of females to males seems to be 8 to 1. Is the fact that most of the couriers I'm working with girls a good thing? I'm not really sure it is. I'm not that great with initiating a lasting conversation and I don't have a whole lot to add when they're talking (did you see the Bachelor??). You also tend to overhear some interesting comments, such as: "Back during (high) school we used to have "commando" days. We thought it was so funny and cool! So I went the day without any underwear! Later on, I had a yeast infection..."

...What the ...

Huh?? How do you respond to that??

Some last comments about the job. Mentally, its not very difficult. For the most part, if you get good directions from your leadhand you won't get confused. It helps to be decent with reading maps and understanding where you are, but not completely needed. Physically it can take its toll, despite the fact that you are just walking. The weather is the tough part, and really when the job is walking outside there are a lot of tougher jobs out there. Despite that, I remember walking in some blistering heat last year and thought to myself, how slow am I moving??

Soooooo onto the Ging Wu tournament! Its a relatively big deal because our Karate club doesn't often go very out of the way to hit the tournament scene. This year was a good one as people from our club managed to medal. The ones that I think still read this blog I'll just congratulate, so kudos to Devin, Anthony, Larry... and uh... I'll give one to Kevin for helping finish my pizza. Thanks man, a very difficult role indeed. Unfortunately, I didn't medal but at least I didn't embarrass myself (=

This year would be a toughie, as now I'm in the blackbelt category. Now I would have to wait the whole day before my division starts. I guess I could have helped judged kata and sparring divisions, but I didn't really feel up for it. Sparring I wouldn't have minded. But katas (forms, patterns... same thing) are really tough because I didn't remember what different styles (even just for "hard", the one we're categorized under) look like. Katas, very briefly, can be described as prearranged movements in a fight. I tend to look at it more of a training tool that helps you in balance, conditioning, body movements, attention, and dedication to bother to learn something. I'll just leave it at that for the moment. Judging kata's can be very subjective, and thats whats difficult. I also tend to be very biased against certain kata's that to be put bluntly, seem unusual to me. I'm pretty decent with details regarding these, but I'd probably feel more comfortable judging these next year.

As for judging point sparring, which I call the baby of combat sports, its a bit less subjective. The main thing you learn from Point sparring is to land the hit first. However, some purpose is lost because you need to score jabs to the head the same as a hard body kick.

Anyways, on to when I actually competed. I'm just going to talk about myself, because thats whats important after all. Plus, I missed Ant and Ranald's sparring because my kata division got called up. I didn't place, but I'm confident I was scored in the upper half of the division. When you perform a kata, its pretty much only going to be you performing a routine for about a minute and a half at the max. In the middle of it, I knew I was doing a good job but that it wasn't enough. There are some adjustments to make (be quicker, improve certain parts that require kicks), but I got some encouragement. One person who's katas I admire is Irvin Tong (ended up with a silver) and when we lined up he gave a compliment, saying that was a nice kata. "Well thanks, but I'm still chasing yours..." I also got one from Larry, who's always been watching me like a younger brother. "Okay, well dude I'm gonna go with the conspiracy thing... it was great because you emphasized this part and this... and then you only got ______ for scores... jeez!!"

Now for the point sparring. Quick description of what it is. Its a match where the competitors try to get 5 points first, or the most in 2 minutes. I was pretty nervous about this one for the whole day because I really did not want to go in there and lose 0-5. I was in the lightweight blackbelt category in a single elimination tournament.

I didn't really remember a whole lot about the first match except for the last two points. Luckily, with the aid of some video (Thanks to Jo and her bro) I remember a few things. I remembered this guy is very aggressive, but that his hands weren't particularly sharp. His movement coming in while using hands were probably similar to mine. Anyways, he wasn't wearing a helmet despite the rules stating that it was mandatory. When it was pointed out, the score was 3-3 and the points came by him either attacking and landing, or attacking and missing and me countering. After he gets the helmet he scores so its almost over. Its only a 2 minute match so I kinda had an inkling that I was nearly out of time, but I wasn't going to rush in and get kicked in the body. Its down to the wire and he misses an attack and I miss the counter, but he ends up at the edge of the ring. Knowing I really have to come in, I switch from orthodox to southpaw and then throw a right leg kick that barely resembles anything, and come in with hands. The kick helps break the distance and I know I've got the point because my punches landed on the jaw of his helmet. Just as that exchange ends and the ref breaks it, the timekeeper throws a white belt all tied up to signal that time is over. Phew! Quite the timing... Well its sudden death now, so what do I do? I felt I'd get an opening, and in the video he is clearly inching up toward me before the ref restarts it. I'm actually backing away already. At the time, I just felt that the way he was standing he was going to come at me as soon as the ref says "start!" Well, that exactly happens and I jump back and throw a simple roundhouse kick that scores to his body. Match over and with a bit of luck I manage to move on.

Quite the paragraph for a 2 min+ first round match huh?

Thats all for now since its late. I'll probably add some more comments about how everyone else did.

Where will this lead to...?

I'm not really sure what I want to blog about. I guess I'll just type and see what comes out. Well, just recently I got back some of my final grades. For some reason this seems rather quick to me, although It has been a week and a bit for most of my finals. I've got all my marks except for one. There seems to be a pattern of A-'s in courses which I could have gotten A's in, and some B's to drop me down. My gpa is hovering around the 3.3 range, which has for some reason been a benchmark for me. I probably should have aimed higher, because that is definitely not a guarantee to hit or top requirements needed to get into Occupational Therapy. I threw an application to Business, but really thats meh to me.

The schoolyear for me has ended and I'm wondering if I really learned anything. This year isn't a whole lot different from last year. Grades are more or less the same. Is my mentality the same? I'd like to think I'm a bit less lazy in terms of using my mind, but that probably isn't true. In fact, behaviourally I haven't seemed to learn a whole lot. I repeated the same mistakes from last year. However, it isn't like I'm in academic disaster. I just need to tweak a few things, take more initiative and work very hard. There's a quote attributed to Muhammad Ali that goes like this:

"The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights. "

There is another one that I liked by Mike "Pinball" Clemons, coach of the Toronto Arguonauts. I don't remember what he said exactly, but in the time leading to the Gre y Cup Championship he said that it would be better to work hard and be miserable for a few weeks to be prepared to win, instead of being miserable because you missed out by not preparing enough. I just gotta try to keep these years in perspective. I can give it a good effort for 4 years and be a bit better off for the rest of my life.

No, good effort may not be enough.... After all, there is a difference between a good fighter and a great fighter. I'm still feeling mixed about University. My general mood isn't strictly directed at University life either. Its not a feeling of excessive stress or difficulty. Not that I haven't ever gotten the shakes (a feeling where you just think... oh my I am going to be annihilated on this exam...) buts its just something else that I'm discontent about. Its something that keeps recurring and I have small bouts of dissatisfaction vs optimism.

Eh, I'll read over this tomorrow and see what I think then.

Eww! Yucky!

Woohoo! A day of nothing!! Even though I still have one exam left, I feel as though I'm done. It is totally not the case but... ehhh!!! Right now I'm just going to skim through my manual and then look over it more in depth as I get closer to the exam. I really shouldn't stress about how I did because thats really out of my hands at this point.

During exams and maybe a week before, this rash developed on my right arm. It looks like it has developed into excema. But then I think on Wednesday I noticed this freakish looking lumpy thing on my right shoulder. It looks like an enlarged pimple and you could visibly see the pus in it. It apparently is a staph infection that comes from bacteria that can live on your skin, and enters through openings (cuts and so on). So I showed my mom and she freaked out so we went to the medicenter. Yeah, I was actually counting on that. I still feel like a kiddie when it comes to dealing with medical needs.

Anyways, the doc rubs and checks out the arm, says its a staph infection and leads us to another room. Now he has to take a razor and cut open the lump and clean out the pus and blood. He quickly cuts a cross on the lump, widens it a bit and scoops out some stuff. Its relatively quick and clean and its magnitude felt like that of a getting a needle shot (not much). I always find it easier to watch whats happening to you, as opposed to looking away and not knowing when its going to happen. Anyways, they patch it up, give me some antibiotics and send me on my way.

When I first saw that thing, I kinda ignored it and was just wishing for that thing to go away on its own. Of course, I think it got bigger. I had no idea what it was and that kinda scared me as I don't at all feel invincible. I'd like to think I've come a long way from being an elementary school midget (its disheartening that right now a grade 5 schoolgirl can be just 3-4 inches shorter) to some kinda tough guy now, but wow are we humans ever fragile. I really hated getting colds and fevers, because this was something happening inside you and I felt I couldn't really control it. And trying to just let your immune system handle it could be a very bad idea. At least with a broken bone it would just be "don't move that f!@#$%^ limb and it'll heal."

Yeah, thats all for now.

Exams are almost over!

Kinda funny how my longest blog in a while has nothing to do with me or anything that actually revolves around me. Right now I only have one exam left, then I'm done with the school year. Oh yeah, with the PrideFC event coming up, just gotta say that Kazushi Sakuraba is still the best!

Well, thats not totally true, I still have some school worries, but theres no more studying involved. Man, I don't know how I'm going to deal with the outcomes of my exams. I'll be checking my email for my grades with my head half turned away. I guess I'll slowly inch my eyes and see the initial shape of the letter.

I've been thinking about contact lens. Its a thought that comes to me every so often, but I never really felt the need to get them. Well, its come back again and it would be kinda nice not to have to wear glasses. Also, wearing my glasses starts to irritate me every so often. Another benefit may be during times when I'm participating in a sport activity (like our football outings) but maybe just wearing the glasses with the head tie thing is good enough. What d'yall think?

So what is everyone's current plans in May? Mine is pretty simple. I am again working as a City of Edmonton employee with a Monday to Friday schedule from 8 to about 4:30. This starts May 4th and ends before the month is over. Wow, I just realized there are quite a few birthdays in May. Off the top of my head there is Dev, Ranald, Maggie, and uh... I either don't remember, or don't get invited (jerks!).

I'm just gonna quickly end off the a comment aobut the movie A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe that Larry mentioned. The movie looks like it'll be a lot of fun. check out the trailers at Apple and look for it under Touchstone (The movie studios are in alphabetical order).

UFC 52 Fight predictions!

I find its really hard to predict winners for fights. I will never count out one athlete when up against another. Here are some thoughts... Keep in mind not all the fights will get shown on the PPV. Sherdog has a good analysis of the event.

Ivan Salaverry vs. Joe "Diesel" Riggs
I've seen both of them fight, but I can only remember Salaverry's performance. I also remember he's fricking huge for a middleweight! He's pretty much like Rich Franklin in terms of cutting weight, at least in my opinion. Riggs, I seriously can't remember... I'll have to go with Salaverry for this. I think they may show this one on PPV.

Travis Lutter vs Matt "The Law" Lindland
Not much is known about Lutter, except he's supposed to be good on the ground. He knocked out his last opponent with a fast right hand counter to a leg kick. Lindland has been in the middleweight picture for a while. The problem is he is a very methodical Ground and Pounder. He isn't viewed as exciting when he's facing top guys. Also, he knocked himself out when he was trying a suplex. I was going to choose Lindland, but if Lutter is at a high enough level, Lindland quite frankly has difficulty finishing guys. I'm hoping the winner here faces Evan Tanner for the title, then maybe give Rich Franklin a shot.

Joe Doerkson vs Patrick Cote
Doerkson was the fighter that I saw against Riggs. However, I couldn't even remember who won. For some reason I'm thinking he's more well rounded then Cote, but that Cote may be too big, strong, and powerful. I'll go with Cote. I don't think they'll show this fight.

Travis Wiuff vs Renato "Babalu" Sobral
Don't know too much about these guys, except that Renato got kicked in the head by Chuck Liddell. I've read that Wiuff may not pass a doctor's physical, and he's also coming down from being a huge heavyweight. I've also looked at Renato's record and its pretty solid. I'll pick Renato if this goes down.

Mike Van Arsdale vs John Marsh
I'm going to have to go with John Marsh. I've read he is a powerful guy and I looked at his record, and his list of heavyweight opponents is nothing to sneeze at. Van Arsdale is coming up from 205 and may be at a size disadvantage.

George "Rush" St. Pierre vs Jason "Mayhem" Miller
GSP is coming in highly touted as the next generation of fighters. He is also the 3rd Canadian on this card (Joe Doerkson and Patrick Cote are the others). His opponent is a a dangerous fighter with a solid record. Lets talk about GSP some more. He destroyed Jay Hieron, decisioned a very good Karo Parisyan (while doing so he somehow escaped an incredibly tight kimura) and looked good against Matt Hughes. If he's going to join the list of top, exciting fighters, he will always be questioned. He has good wrestling, strikes, and a decent bottom game. However, what happens if he gets hit? Is his clinch work effective? And so on. Yeah, I'm rooting for and choosing GSP. GSP is the next freakishly athletic, well rounded fighter. The next Frank Shamrock? (Man, Frank Shamrock needs to come back to fighting... he's too young to be retired!)

Matt Hughes vs Frank Trigg
They've fought once before, but I missed it. Apperently Trigg makes a mistake, Matt takes his back and submits him. Matt Hughes is practically more machine than human. He is the greatest Welterweight Champ in UFC history, only recently losing to B.J. Penn. Of course, BJ Penn is off doing his own thing wanting to fight at random weights. While its possible to have an open weight division in MMA, I don't think its needed. Its more fun to watch two guys with more even physical size so that they can implement more of their skills against each other. Yay for weight classes. Anyways, besides that, Hughes is the type where he doesn't make many mistakes, and when you make one, you lose. They are both evenly matched in wrestling, and the difference is how they've supplemented their game and how they mentally focus. Matt Hughes is incredibly composed. He doesn't have a fighter's passion. In fact, he doesn't care. He is on super neutral, while Trigg is a bit more of a volatile and aggressive fighter. Personally, I don't think their physical or even skills will make the difference. I really think it will come to focus and their mentality. I'm hoping Trigg can pull this one, so I'll pick him. An example of their focus may be this. Trigg may get frustrated that he can't take down Hughes, whereas Hughes figures the time will eventually come.

Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell vs Randy "The Natural" Couture
Wow, where to start? Lets look at the champ, Randy Couture. His record contains top notch fighters. I'm also very sure that he has very few legitimate losses. Simply put, I mean that his losses will usually have a weird circumstance that contributed to the loss. Examples? His loss to Vitor Belfort was due to taking a cut when the edge of Belfort's glove clipped him in the eye (Which may have also happened to Ken Shamrock recently)and one of his submission losses occurred after the fighters were repositioned, and the other fighter took advantage (On a side note, I dislike fights in a ring simply because if its in a ring the rules will pretty much demand the need to have repositioning, otherwise the ropes will tangle people up. I think it kinda breaks the flow of the fights). Its very difficult to be aggressive or defensive against Couture. If you have a very offensive free standing or ground game, he will use his great clinch to neutralize you. If you back up, he can utilize his strikes to break the distance, get the clinch and impose his will. Liddell is a good striker with an excellent chin and knockout power. He tends to differ from a normal stance in that his arms are held lower than usual, and his punches "loop". This meaning that his punch always lifts up next to his shoulder and comes around at you. His low arm stance probably hurts his striking, but it probably adds to his takedown defense. He is very well known for stuffing double legs, and getting up from the ground. The problem is that it is worlds apart when you strike and don't have to worry about being taken down, like in Couture's case. Liddell will have to worry about the takedown/clinch, as well as the striking game.

I personally see Couture taking this because Liddell hasn't really shown much to lead me to think he can win this. Liddell's conditioning is questionable in a high intensity fight, and I'm not sure if he's improved or supplemented his skills enough. Nonetheless, he has a great shot at winning. Anything can happen still, so I'm looking forward to this one.

But seriously, almost anyone who looks at this and has no clue what I'm talking about has just as good as a chance to pick the winners. I honestly think that. The fight game has a lot of variables. You can check the odds to see who are the favorites.

Take the time...

There has been so many different topics I wanted to put out htere, or maybe even try to get a discussion going on. However, I would always get too tired (lazy) to finish it or even put out a draft. I don't even write a bit of a draft and save it for later. Well, its final exams soon so I shouldn't spend too much time doing this anyways. I just wish I could finish one of those blogs that hopefully have some thought put into it. I also don't want to keep ending half finished!

So yeah, theres that King of the Cage event on Saturday. I knew a bit about it a while ago, and I also knew then I totally can't go. The reason? A Monday exam that looks to be killer. Yeah, I'm still going to watch UFC 52 since I need a fix somehow! Plus, UFC 52 will probably take less time than going to an event and watching it. But still... it would be nice to attend a live MMA event.

Damn you exams!! I can't even do this blog without the thought popping into my head... Its not the end of the world, and a lot of them really aren't worth much more than my midterms. But they seem a lot harder than midterms!! Sigh...

Okay, out of my head exams for one paragraph! Or for four sentences. Everyone seems to be talking about trying to get out of town during the summer. Yes, a road trip!! I know my family wants to go somewhere, but they don't really know where to go, or when the chance to go somewhere will come up. Personally, I don't care. In fact, it would probably be just as cool to hang out at Sylvan Lake with a bunch of friends or try to find some of those Alberta "hidden treasures" to check out.

Screw it, lets goto Disneyworld!

Not much to say

Man, I just want to buy some games for the Gamecube. I would like to grab EA's Fight Night round 2, or the new Donkey Konga game! I guess I should probably worry about exams however... blaaaaaah!

Keith is at China, and my dad came back for last week, but now during Spring Break its just my mom and I. It'll be a quiet week for sure. Everytime the phone rings, she's hoping its Keith so that she can get an update. Also, we think he got ripped off when he bought his phone card. Or its an excuse not to have to keep calling home. Either way, just friggin call home for 5 minutes Keith!! FRICK! (=

So right now is that calm before final exams. I'm trying to prepare in advance, doing bits of studying here and there instead of trying to catch up immediately. I just need to stay positive and finish strong at exams. I wish my gpa was a bit higher so I could have a higher margin of error but ah well... one good thing was that an exam mark I thought was a percentage mark was actually a raw score. Yeah, its actually not a huge improvement, but it just shows I didn't get killed as bad as I thought.

Not much else going on for interests sake, except that I'm just keeping the usual tabs on the sport "mixed martial arts." The Ultimate Fighter finale is April 9th, and the following Saturday April 16th is UFC 52. Also, on April 23rd is Pride Fighting Championship's Middleweight Grand Prix tournament. PFC is a Japanese fight company that is great at hyping events, however they have a less sport based approach. I mean, the tournament has 16 fighters but they didn't even list the full lineup yet. But basically, April is a fight filled month.... oh wait... final exams... crap! And I just talked about finals the paragraph before this one...

Alright, I have nothing to add at the moment. Peace out!

So how can you tell its not final exams yet? Nobody's really blogging consistently. =D

Life is short

It looks like blogging is kinda dying. The people that do post get no response, and then its like... ah screw it. Anyhoo, I should be going to sleep, but I just felt like typing something up. I should be going to sleep as I have another exam tomorrow. Not a whole lot that is new to report, but I think I'm one of many that is looking forward to those Monday Night Sport nights. Just holding out until I finish the term.

Oh yeah, an epiphany for training. For drilling things like counters or sidesteps, I've tried to guess way too much on whats coming forward. Thats not very good because its a drill with an either or outcome. Basically, you've got 50% to dodge the right way, or the wrong. Instead, I should rely more on a read and react. Don't predict and move before its coming, but rather see it, and move. I gotta stop myself if all I'm doing is jumping the gun and guessing. Anyways...

Onto the blog title..

A few nights ago Larry told me that Andre Poon passed away in a car crash. Some of you may know who he is. Anyways, I didn't know him that well, and wasn't on the best terms either. He was only 20, thats only a year older. I recently saw him a few weeks ago at a dinner, and now I won't anymore. Since I'm fairly removed, this hasn't really hit me emotionally hard. However, it does me make think over a few things. Some of us will be turning that age real soon, and that part just really impacted me.

Another one is the driving itself, that it only takes a whopping total of one accident to change your life.

Now, it isn't as if I've found new found meaning and discovered a new way to live. But you get to thinking, its only a matter of when before its your time. Way back, someone sent me a note after her grandma died. Basically, the note said she liked me, and although she couldn't be with me she at least wanted to say something (I was with Delia at the time already). She said life was too fragile, and she felt she should say something rather than nothing. I don't think I reacted all that much, but I really admired that. That took a lot of guts, and I don't know if I could do that. Its a lot easier to sit there and think what could have, as opposed to risking something and going for it. Right now that comes back to mind. There are things I want to go for, but don't for whatever reason I sit back. It could be something as simple as changing a course, but I don't because my schedule is set and I like it the way it is.

I had more to say, but I should probably get to sleep.

RIP Andre

Aloha!

Turns out the exam I did turned out not to be hard... that is if I had studied well. The concepts on the exam weren't hard, I just plain didn't memorize certain diagrams. I had kinda given up because I thought there was way too much to go through, but of course, the exam thoroughly ignored certain workbook areas and made itself a lot simpler than I figured it to be. Dammit, I shouldn't have given up trying to memorize the bones! Remember that carpal bones thing? 4% of the exam was on that! Dammit! That could easily be the difference between a B or a B+, and so on.

Ah well, hopefully I learned a lesson. In fact, I have a midterm right away on Friday, followed up by one next Wednesday. Oh joy! But heres where I prove I am capable of learning life lessons and study better for the Wednesday exam. University shouldn't be something that breaks you down, but sometimes it seems like that. I can't allow myself to be mentally broken.

In fact, in the last few UFC's I've watched, perfectly physically capable fighters allow themselves to be beaten because their mental state was unstable. Its absolutely crushing to watch it happen, knowing they trained hard for it, and lose mainly because their head wasn't in it.

The story of a K1 Fighter, Andy Hug.

I'd like to know who was the big bright brilliant scientist who decided we needed to name the 8 carpal bones individually, as opposed to just calling them the 8 carpal bones. Why must I know which is the triquetrum (sp?), pisiform, lunate, capitate, trapezoid, scaphoid, trapezium, and hamate???

Well, hopefully I haven't sabotaged myself for this exam. (=

Yeah, I'm pretty much resigned to just blogging a few thoughts here and there, as opposed to thoroughly thought out blogs and talking about events.

What up?

Haha, I'm so unfocused. I was in the middle of hole punching some notes to put into binder, but that was about 30 minutes ago. I got distracted and stopped doing it. Its amazing to be able to drop and forget something so simple. I really need to sharpen up and actually mentally work. I'm reminded of a Malcom in the Middle episode where Reese just stops thinking. He says, "I'm the world's happiest tool." Wow, things are so much easier when you don't think about anything (silly things... oh like the consequences of your actions/inactions).

I better change that pattern soon hey?

Its funny how many more bathroom breaks, snack breaks, and other such breaks you need and take when you're trying to study...

I've seen ads that say the movie Ong Bak comes out February 11th, but I'm not too sure which theaters it hits. Anyways, who wants to go? More accurately, who wants to offer to drive me?? I'll treat ya to the movie (=

Aloha...

I'm quite glad I didn't post my last blog because after some rereading I realized it wasn't all that readable. Thats not to say this one will be.

Something seems to have been bugging me for a while, and I couldn't pinpoint it. I've been feeling inconsistent for the year, getting emotions all across the board but with no real reason for getting moody. In the few days, I've come to the conclusion its not one major thing bugging me, but a whole host of the little things thats getting to me. There are the obvious big stressors like exams, but its not just exams. Knowing I have to write them sometimes irks me as much as writing them. And its gotten so hard to want to study since my first semester ever. I'm just tired of well... being tired. If nothing big is getting to me, and its just small things... then WTF? Life could be worse.

I'm tired of a lot of the things I do. Like not working hard enough on the things I should be. I'm really tired of doing things half assed. There are way too many things where I just haven't pushed when I know I'd get on someone else's case for not pushing in the very same instance. And I've got to realize working hard does not mean time spent on something. Working intensely as opposed to running the clock does not yield the same result... If I'm only going to spend an hour on something, it better be a damn good hour now.

I've also been wondering about the debate between genetics and environment (and/or your own will I guess). Now, I'm not going to argue which is more important because I've always thought of an analogy one of my more interesting courses had: Which is more important for music? The person, or the instrument? Its hard to tell because when one of them is missing, there is no music at all. Are you going to make choices because you are predisposed to a certain type of personality? Or does being brought up and being in certain demographics affect the way you make decisions too? ( Such as being brought up in a royal family would mean I'm a prince...) However, since I haven't read about a surefire way to predict every individual's choice in every event, I'm sure we have enough free will...

Also, don't you ever wonder what would have happened if you did choice A instead of choice B say 2-3 years ago? Just one little change in your life could potentially alter everything in the upcoming 10 years. For the people that truly say they've lived a life without any regrets, I don't know how they can do that. I know I've looked back and regretted certain actions, maybe wishing I had risked instead of holding back. Perhaps you're just better off not dwelling on them. After all, you never can know if you truly would have been better off on that tangent. Its like poker, don't dwell on the fact that you didn't stay in and win a pot, how are you supposed to know what cards come out next? But yeah... somebody should invent an alternate dimension machine so I can see what happens.

After briefly looking back at the above paragraphs, maybe it seems that theres a lack of control. Right now I'd like to think I'm having an internal outlook where what I do affects things... but do I sound confident that it works that way? I know its what I do that affects my grades, what I put on my resume etc... but I think I am feeling a lack of control somewhere. But where?

One step closer to inner peace? o_O we'll see

Aloha

Hey, does anyone want to play badminton at the pavillion? Like say... Thursday?! I don't have class, and a cool plan would be to badminton it up, then study, then go home. Minus the study part of course.

Oh yeah, thanks to everyone that was able to come out on such short notice on Saturday. Overall it was good, considering me and Larry weren't actually creating a mutual list of invitees. And that the restaurant changed like a half hour in advance (Go Dantes!) Thanks to Team Dev for the cake, Megan for use of her house, Delia for the sweater, everyone who provided rides, and everyone who was able to come out. Wait, I already said that last part already. Meh, I'm sure you had forgotten with that sentence in between.

Anyways, lets check out some funny hockey team logos!

Goto www.nhl.com and vote for the Edmonton Oilers to beat Calgary. I have no idea how it jumped to Calgary beating Edmonton, because before it was like 70-30 in favour of Edm. F*ck the '89 Flames...

Aloha

We'll see where this blog takes me.

Its back to school and my classes are the following: Physiology 210, Health Education, Psyco 233, Occth 106 (communication), and Rehab 250. So far its been 3 days and I haven't done much yet in any of the classes, so I can’t really comment how it has been so far.

I’ve been reading some rants on http://www.outpostnine.com/editorials/ and they are friggin funny! They’re kinda like the rants you envision yourself typing out, except don’t. I don’t necessarily think that way, but I still find it funny. Don’t you ever wonder how universal the concept of the “friend zone” is?

These are things that I’ve done and I wonder if other people do them too:
- When you see a girl, without knowing anything about her, just for about 3 seconds size her up and imagine what you two would look like as a couple.
- When you meet a guy, size him up and see if you could take him in a fight. I think of a strategy for about 3 seconds until I realize I’m being stupid (Besides, I don’t need a strategy, I’m that good).
- When you are talking to someone and you want to bring up a certain topic so you can impress that person. You try to think of ways to bring up that topic so you can brag, but at the same time come off as humble. Then finally you manage to bring it up, it gets an “oh cool”, then the topic gets dropped and forgotten like broccoli on the floor for whatever reason.
- When you don’t feel like talking to someone, but you see them walking toward you. You look away and try to time it so that you give a greeting in passing. Then you look back and totally miss that person. Now you feel like a jerk for not saying hi. Jeez…
- When you don’t know what to do, so you analyze your situation. Now, you look at your first few choices and decide not to take them because of obvious setbacks. However, you’re still looking for a perfect choice (like a perfect move in chess). Eventually you end up reaching a choice, and it turns out to be one of the original choices you rejected, but forgot it sucked because you took so damn long.
- When you have lots of time to arrive somewhere early, but then decide to set it so that you arrive with zero waiting time. Then you get distracted by something sharp or shiny, and arrive late. Good job!

Thats all for now, and if this appears disjointed, its because I didn't reread this and typed it at various points in time. Damn I'm lazy...

Aloha

Blogging sure is hard. I want to blog, but sometimes the things you want to blog don't seem like much of anything. Then, you reflect back on your day and its full of stuff like "Today, I played Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga and collected all 4 pieces of the Bean Star! Now I need to figure out how to cross the water..."

Anyways, I'll start with whats recent. On boxing day our family decided to pick up a new T.V. A Samsung 43' DLP tv! Yay! It also came with a DVD player. We also have a Gamecube system now, the Logitech laser cordless mouse, and some other electronic doo dads. At first we got the TV from Futureshop, but then opted to get the same TV from Costco instead. Originally at Futureshop the TV was purchased and was also supposed to be delivered to our house (syntax here gets a grade of B!). My mom goes in and cancels the purchase, and the salesman who processed the transaction comes out. The way my mom tells it, he comes out and starts asking "Your returning the (undelivered, so technically not returning) TV? How come?!?! Whats wrong? Is somewhere else cheaper??" Then my mom goes, oh no we just want a Sony TV now. In fact, they (me and my dad) are over in that section. So the salesman runs over to where Sony TV section, and my mom runs out of Futureshop. My dad and I were of course in the van ready for the getaway. :S

I still gotta clean the living room up to what I want. Of course, I've been saying this since September.

Apperently on Sunday night(Or Monday..? that was some get together thingy. Well, I didn't know a lot about what was going on anyways, and didn't feel like having to bum a ride off someone.

It seems that there has been a whole bunch of Texas Hold 'em Poker nights lately. I just learned the game, and its fun. Well, at least when you're winning. It's great because you can get a lot of people playing at once. Now I can actually watch the poker games on TV. Sadly, I can see why poker has gained popularity. But one thing I will say about the game is that I will never play it with real money on the line. Plastic chips? That's cool. The stake of losing is to sit and watch everyone else play and twiddle your thumbs, and cry about how you got bluffed out by a pair of 3's. Real money? It is too easy to risk and lose so much. Its a lot of anguish that many people around have to deal with. I wouldn't want to inflict that upon my family and friends.

Its almost 2005, and I'll have to think of some resolutions. First, I'll think of some. Then I'll establish reasonable and realistic (ever do that in an essay? List two words like that that mean the same thing??) plans to attain them.

Or I'll pig out on chips.

2005!!

Dec. 19, 2004

Aloha

It seems so weird to be finished all my exams. There were times when I thought I had a decent amount of time to do things, and other times when someone just randomly chopped off an hour. Anyone ever notice that writing final exams is like getting sexually assaulted? Especially since everyone keeps saying “damn it, I sucked ass on that exam”, “that test totally raped me”, or something like “that test was like, totally f**king gay!!” Anyways, exams are over and I know there is no use in thinking about it anymore but it is not out of my system yet. I’m too worried about the ramifications of the marks. I’m sure everyone is aware of how monotonous it sounds complaining about anything exam related, but damn it it sucks!!

Anyhoo, its Christmas break. Yeehaw! Tomorrow… well today, but whatever (I started this last night), my family is gonna spend a night at the Fantasyland hotel at WEM. We wanted to go somewhere, but were too lazy to pack and travel. Seriously, that’s a lot of work to end up “relaxing.” You end up traveling how far to sleep in a motel?! Or how much you end up sleeping during travel time. Not to mention that I think my parents (by that, I mean my dad) didn’t to miss any Best Buy deals for boxing day. Of course, it’s a number of factors such as it’s the holiday season and flights are busy like KrAzY. Or driving somewhere in the winter isn’t the same because my dad isn’t at the same capacity to do it anymore.

Wow, Microsoft word keeps correcting what I type.

What has been cheering me up lately is that I keep humming and singing various Christmas carols to myself. The problem is, I don’t remember a lot of the words. For example:

“… then one foggy Christmas Eve, Santa came to say
Rudolph with your nose so bright, won’t you guide my sleight tonight?
Then all the other reindeer… …..??......!??!”

Dammit, I don’t even know if that’s right. Whats next?! For some reason, I don’t want to look it up. I want to remember it. Its in my head somewhere, I know it, I swear!!

Yeah, there isn't much else for me to say. So Happy Holidays!

Aloha

Well I'm going to follow the tradition of everyone else with the blogging before studying thing. Yay. First with good news! I got some Edmonton Road Runners hockey tickets vs. the Hamilton Bulldogs for Dec. 20. We basically sit next to the visitors bench! Normall y these tickets are $39, but the EIG decided to buy all the tickets and resell them for charity at $4 each. The downside is me and Keith don't actually next to each other, we actually sit with one of us a row below and in front of the other (so rows 1 and 2). But they are aisle seats anyways, so its gonna be cool to be sitting up against the glass in a hockey game.

In regards to everyone who's weighed in on the whole exams and what they've done... its my turn! I feel like I've sabotaged myself but all I can do now is study (...err.. in a minute!) and learn from it for the future.

Rawr...

Aloha! Lets try to kickstart this blog off on a positive note. It seems like such a struggle sometimes to have a string of posts that aren't downers.

On the weekend, our family went to dim sum at Good Buddy with my mom's friend. My moms friends name is Francis, and her daughter is Grace. Their family just recently moved here to Edmonton. Yay!! I don't know if they've ever experienced winters before, but come December they are in for a suprise!


Here is a picture of us at our house. Isn't she cute?! Yeah, in she wouldn't smile in any of the pictures. But like all little kids (that aren't yours) her smiles would just melt you. 

Anyways, it is almost December which means finals! As the semester nears an end, I kinda look back at the courses I've taken. By the way, has anyone started studying for finals? It is so not gonna be fun. I was supposed to be catching up this week, but yeah hasn't happened yet. >=( I better change that very soon.

I had intended this blog to be longer, but the rest of what I would say wouldn't flow well. Not that it usually does, but I'm gonna post this now rather than later. (=

So when do we get to say its the holiday season!? Its almost Christmas!!!

Anyways, at the moment I feel pretty rejuvenated. Yay for Project Halo 2! It was a good time, although anytime you got stuck on the small T.V. you just had to fight the urge to complain. After all, its not like most of us brought a TV. Yes, it was a week ago that PH2 happened, but how often does it happen? Major kudos to Ryan for setting this thing up! The days that we can get that many people for events like that are slowly dwindling. It hasn't gotten to that point where back in high school everyone was writing "good luck on the rest of your life and may you reach your dreams etc..." Meaning, we haven't all yet gone completely on our own paths. But it does seem that I only see certain people whenever we have a certain event to hang out. Or if I randomly happen upon someone while taking a bus. Otherwise I wouldn’t be seeing a lot of people.

In other news, motivation has seemingly hit an all time low. I've been hitting emotional ups and downs throughout the week, being angry for a moment, then trying to play X-mas songs on the piano. Anyways, I remember Vic saying during Dev's one acts back in high school how sometimes its just a feeling of the world against you. Thats the bottom line, and its very powerful. Perhaps you should know better, but that doesn't make you feel better. Which leads me to the movie Dodgeball. Vince Vaughn's character is going to skip out on a championship dodgeball game. He's feeling down in the dumps, and is the captain of his team. Rather than turning to his teammates, he takes the easy way out ("You may not know what $50 000 looks like in real life... it sorta looks like this..") and tries to catch a flight at the airport. While there, he meets up with none other than Lance Armstrong who despite facing multiple cancers manages to win the Tour de France a record 6th time in a row! "But hey, I'm sure you've got a good reason to quit."

Yeah, that had a lot more relevance in my head than how it appears. Anyways, bottom line for me is that its okay to feel down in the dumps, everyones been there. Just don't beat yourself up for feeling that way as well. We've got a good network of friends who are definitely willing to be a shoulder to lean on. That itself is a very reassuring thing. Thanks to those that you made that very clear a month ago.

Now to end off on a more positive note. What is your favourite Christmas carol? Mine is Winter Wonderland! If you don't have one, or don't even like Christmas... well I really don't know what to say to that.

"You have lost the lead..."

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you, from failing hands, we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

- John McCrae

Ahoy shipmates! Yeh' be travelling the dark waters of me blog now...

Another month bites the dust and onto November, the month before Christmas. So what has happened lately? Well, yet again I'm putting off reading for my midterms. Man, I'm so smart. Considering that I did relatively poorly on my last midterm, you'd think I'd just be kicking myself to get moving. Hm... I'm hungry, I should eat some chips.

Yay for Christmas! I'm actually looking forward to it this time. I've actually been feeling like a grinch for the past few years. I didn't really like Christmas past the "I get stuff" before, and I just hated the commercial aspect of it. I think I have changed my tune though. X-Mas should be the season where you don't look forward to it because you get school off, its because its the time of the year you gotta remember whats important. You could argue that it shouldn't take Christmas to do it, but its the one part of the year dedicated to making you feel a spirit of some sort. Treat Christmas right, and you'll have a good time. By the way, Delia and I broke up...

I couldn't really think of another way to put it out or let it be known. Ah well. I do miss her and feel sad, but it seems for a while this was where we were going. At times, I wonder if we should have tried harder or not, but I think this is the best decision for now. We've been a lot friendlier in the times we've talked in a very long time. We did agree though, at the very beginning when we went out, that no matter what, we would at the very least stay friends. I'm happy to say that that has happened. There are no ill feelings (although she's keeping one of my sweaters... :S). Yeah, she does have a part of me for life now, we spent too much time together. For me, it doesn't hurt to look back at our memories, I like to remind myself of our time. She'll always mean a lot to me and I hope she knows that.

Great holiday y'know... *Steals more candy from stash.... and from Keith* One of my faves! (=

An excerpt from Phil Esposito's book "Thunder and Lighting"...

For the rest of my life I would have to satisfy myself by playing in Old-Timers games. The first Old-tmers game I played in was in Stamford, Connecticut, at the Dorothy Hamill Arena. Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, and I all played. Gordie was fifty-two and Hull forty-two. We were playing against college guys who could skate pretty well, young guys, lawyers and stockbrokers in their twenties and thirties.
I mean, these guys were flying. Gordie and I were sitting on the bench, and Gordie said, "Jesus, these guys can skate."
"I know," I said. "goddamn, they are getting a little too serious."
Gordie said, "Yeah, they are. We've got to talk to them."
Gordie and I went out onto the ice, and I heard him say to one of the young guys, "Hey take it easy son. Slow down. You don't want to embarrass us old guys."
The guy said, "What's the matter, old timer? Can't keep up?"
The puck dropped, and I sent it over to Bobby, and out of the corner of my eye I could see Gordie whacking the guy who had taunted him.
Whack! Smack! Boom! Bang! The guy went down and he started moaning, "Oh Jesus. Oh Jesus."
Gordie said, "Get up, you fucking suck. Get up. I didn't hit you that hard."
I skated over and said, "Gordie, what happened?"
"I speared him in the balls, " Gordie said.
"You're kidding me, "I said.
"No, " Gordie said. "That will slow him down."
Gordie skated over to their bench, and he said "Does anybody else here want to try to embarrass me?" He then repeated the question to drive home the point.
No one said a word.
I said, "Gordie, you are fucking nuts."
"No way they are going to embarrass me," he said. "I won't let them."
I love Gordie. Gordie is one tough son of a bitch.

Aloha!

So why haven't I been blogging lately? I haven't had any exams...

Anyhoo, for the most part, its all quiet on the western front. Just some internal ups and downs that are pretty similar to the other things that have been said in other blogs. Wow, I really have nothing to talk about. I could talk about how the burglary...burger...bur.... some frickin alarm went off at CAB on Saturday. But really, where would the point be in that?

One thing I have been wondering is how much control do we have of our lives? The courses of Sociology and Psychology have gotten me thinking. Lately I've been introduced to how we develop, and I just wonder how different things could be for all of us. At first, its things that are influenced by society. How would differences in the TV shows, or how our parents treated us change us? Again, along the developmental line. Then my line of thought changed into our actions. How would our situation be different had we done certain things differently at certain points?

Is there anything you wished you could go back and change? Or is this question pointless, because none of us can go back in time. If anybody asked me if I in my short 18 years of life had any regrets, I would say yes. I wish I had put myself on the line more. Meaning, I wished I had taken certain risks or more control of a situation. But hey, as much as there were regrets, there were also some good decisions. Heres to hoping the good outnumber the bad.

Why am I up? Well, apperently blogging beats sleeping.

Anyways, I'm going to the Thanksgiving Day football game between the Edmonton Eskimos and the Montreal Alouettes. The Esk's are on a three game losing streak, and facing the best team in the CFL. Hopefully they'll come out like the Grey Cup team that they are. GO ESKS GO!

Edmonton is certainly rich in sports history. I believe that the Eskimos came to fruition because 50, 000 "investors" each invested a dollar to create the football team. That is some really strong community spirit! Anyways, for some reason I've been really able to watch football now.

I've finished my main midterms which were Psych, Sociology, and Biopsychology. Next midterm will be at the 20th, but I shouldn't let up on reading/thinking. About every weekend at least one of the days I will head to the University and just read/study. It seems my marks are usually in the range of 80% to 90%. I'm not sure why I can't push myself to break that 90% barrier. I'll always be in the B --> A- range, not quite cracking an A or A+. I guess it just shows in the exams that extra little time that was taken to THINK about a subject, not just stare at a random diagram. I still have to recieve my midterm marks for Biopsych and Sociology.

Lets see, what else can I complain about. Oh yeah! My willpower! I just don't have the motivation to get out to exercise. Most of the time, I'll just be bored and get Keith to throw the football with me and thats it. But all of a sudden, what? The Apprentice is on?!!? Then I scramble toward the TV. TV has sure made a comeback in my battle to be efficient.

Okay, this is stupid, I'm going to sleep. For the questions, the answer to the first question was fruit loops. The answer to the second question was pushups. Both Larry and Joey get a point. Yay!!

**Chris' third question of the situation** (Yes this is a cheap way to get comments, but also another way to tell stuff to you)

What career am I most thinking of heading into?

a) Pharmacy
b) Business
c) Accounting
d) Occupational Therapy
e) Psychology

By the way, if anyone remembers those 10 question quizzes about themselves, I will never put up a stupid random question like "What color do my stuffed bunnies like to pick out for socks on their left paw?"

Aloha

Why am I still up?? It makes no sense to still be up. I should be heading to sleep. But since when have I proven to be an avid practicer of rationalism? Anyways, I had gathered some quotes by various people and here are some of them. Some words of inspiration and humor is a decent kick in the butt to get you moving sometimes.

*I don't actually know if these are all real quotes or what context they are in*

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much.
- Mother Teresa


I don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom.
George S. Patton


I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly.
Winston Churchill


I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.
-Thomas Jefferson

If you only ever give 90% in training then you will only ever give 90% when it matters

-Michael Owen

My wife made me a millionaire. I used to have three million.

-Bobby Hull

Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.
~ Warren Buffett


** Chris question of the moment #2**

What is the first thing I gave Delia?

a) A bracelet
b) flowers
c) pushups
d) a card
e) a movie coupon

Well, I'm going to be using this time to blog. Why? Well, because it beats studying and doing homework. I really hate homework. Especially the type that involves thinking. Yeah... I'm just really lazy. I wish I wasn't lazy. I can't remember who it was (either Dev or Ryan) that had the theory that you blog when you should really be using that time for other things and everything else is too much of a time waster. Plus Maggie told me to in the other comment. And you always listen to Maggie. Why? ...elephant!

I've been finding it difficult to stay motivated to set aside time to study and stick with it. In fact, I'm always thinking in the midst of creating a schedule so I can stick to it instead of relying on a mental plan. I'm really in a rut in terms of studying, with most of it consisting of reading material over and over again, something that I'm not really a fan of. Although, I try to actually read and make sure something is going into my head. You know those "thought" questions at the end of a chapter that asks a question, I'm actually thinking about those! Those sections at the end of a chapter with questions can be useful...

I've always thought of myself as being somewhat lackadaisical if not mostly (if you don't know what it means, look it up!) but with brief moments of high concentration (yay! you've been given context). Something really needs to and is going to change. I'm not sure what it is, but its not the most positive situation. Well, things could be worse. Time to suck it up.

I should really be getting back to reading, or finishing my assignment. I'm probably making it harder than it seems...

**Chris question of the moment**
Although I don't eat cereal all too much, when given a choice, my cereal preference is:

a) Rice Crispies
b) Lucky Charms
c) Fruit Loops
d) Cap'n Crunch
e) Frosted Flakes

Aloha! Time for a quickie blog...

So the first week of University is over! For the most part, the thing that determines my mark is mainly exams. It'll be time for lots of reading now...

Well, it seems like I'll need another bag to carry the laptop in. I just need some kind of compartment to protect the laptop from getting scratched and crap. Bleh, I have so many other school bags that are just going to take up space. I guess its time to figure out how to get rid of them...

At the moment, I'm listening to George Carlin on Winamp radio... hehehe.. thats a funny guy.. aww damn it ended...

Anyways, not a whole lot to say... except GOO CANADA!! Canada takes on the Czech Republic for their semifinal, and the winner takes on Finland in the Gold Medal game. Go Canada!

Time to go eat some grapes...

;lasdkhjashn

Testing 

Well, yesterday was a good day. Canada beat Russia in the World Cup of Hockey 3-1, and we played Mario Kart Double Dash until our eyes and brains were tapping out.

However, I just feel like mentioning the terrorist incident in Beslan, Russia. I won't elaborate or talk about any political ramifications of this act. Its a terrible day in history when children are actually targetted. Again, I'm not going to talk about the ins and outs of this act, but it makes you think. People will be writing their opinions everywhere, with huge columns devoted to this story.

Its sad because I almost wasn't fazed to hear about another terrorist attack...

I can't get to sleep, too many nights where I've stayed up for no good reason. Can anyone remember the last time they went to bed before 12 am?

So I guess I never did get to blogging about Universal Studios. Oh well!

Alright now sportsfans, lets get a quick update on whats been going on since I haven't blogged in a while:

1. Quit 7-Eleven, it was a good work environment and very close to home but the hours may have been too much.

2. Had a job interview recently at Edmonton General hospital, we'll see how it goes. I only need to work 6 times a month, although 2 outta every 4 weekends.

3. Our family has been going a little technology nuts, getting a new desktop computer, and me getting a new laptop. Also, we're going to keep our old comp running, so we are getting a router to set up a network. We'll have up to 3 comps running. Plus we got this new printer, photocopier, scanner all in one to come with the comp. Its kind of funny beacuse we have three seperate machines that do all those, but they just got replaced!

**NEWSFLASH**

Its going to be Delia's birthday on Sept 2nd, sooo everyone wish her a happy birthday! We'll be going out to eat at Japanese village, which should be awesome! I can't wait to see the chef go ninja bezerk on the food! Soo a big shout to Delia saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

There is actually a small birthday parade in September... so heres the people I can remember off the top of my head

Happy Birthday Anita! Happy Birthday Kev! Happy Birthday Ant! Happy Birthday *insert your name here*!

Thats all for now, thanks for tuning in.

Stupid refresh button!! Ugh! From now on I'm using Microsoft word to update, first typing stuff up then copying and pasting it. Damn it all...

I just typed about Universal Studios, but I'm not in the mood to retype it. I'll do it later. It rocked. Okay lets move on.

So in todays news, I worked at the Whyte ave. 7-11. Yeah its just a little far, but eh I made it there and back. It was an alright experience, but I'm only noting it because I had to go far. Monterey Jack taquitos = good! 7-11 pricing = bad!

I also just recently got my GDL in the mail! For those scratching their heads, thats graduated drivers license. Yay, I graduated! I want a party! No, I just want to drive to the theater and watch Collateral. Anyways, my mom took me to All State where I got my insurance right away but we still need to see how long it takes for my parents to build faith in me that I can drive on my own.

Well, I can't remember what else I was going to say. I'm feeling really tired right now, so peace out!

YAY DELIA IS BACK! Or at least in Calgary because that is where her flight lands...

In other news, I'm about to head off to the ever glorious night cleaning shift! Yay! Monday is gonna be a fun day because half that day is actually going to be at work. Yay! Ah well, I can tough it out.

It seems I'm never going to get to the blog about Universal Studios and so on. I will though, trust me on that! Oh yeah, while in LA I saw White Castle!! ... its not really a castle, but it is white. They were selling free burgers because the movie had just come out.

Well not much to say here, but I'm just on Satire wire, and if you feel like having a laugh check out http://www.satirewire.com/news/july02/viagra.shtml.

Blah, I still feel sick but just had to quickly blog about today. Did my road test and passed! Weeee! Still need insurance and to change class 7 to class 5 but meh, its all good.

I'll eventually blog about Universal Studios and also nearly getting strip searched on the way back to Canada.

I'm feeling sick right now, so no blog tonight.

So its official, Gameboy SP has been bought. Yay! Although ownership is officially Keiths, generally we share everything or threaten to do something to the other. Stupid stuff you know, like jumping on the other when hes sleeping or settings things on fire. Great fun!

Anyways, on to Seaworld!

To get to Seaworld we had to get to San Diego. For this, we booked seats on a tour bus. Remember, we're staying in Anaheim. Anyways, a few hours later we arrived to our destination. We wouldn't have nearly as much time as we spent at Disneyland, but we managed to do have a good time. Right away we went onto their river ride. If you've ever seen that commercial where you have a bunch of people sitting inside this octagonish floating thingy going down river, you may know what I'm talking about. We went on a similar ride at DCA. Anyways, if you're really baffled I can direct you to a better description later. After that, we went to get lunch and I remember it being really filling despite the food portion looking small. See, thats what happens when you get real food (Frickin McDonalds...).

Right after we lined up for their "Arctic Ice" attraction. First off, they had a ride similar to the ride "Back to the Future" at Universal Studios, except the vehicle of choice is a helicopter in the Arctic. Wait, is it Arctic or Artic? Ah whatever.... it was one of those motion rides. Afterwards, you "arrived" at back at their "arctic station." You exited on the other side which led to a base camp that would try to lead you to think that you were indeed in an Arctic base. It was pretty cool, and my dad got some pictures of Seals. Yep, he used flash photography... haha stupid animals!

Next up was penguins!! Yep, those cuddly cute little things. They're always so innocent! Except for that time in Batman Returns when The Penguin strapped rocket launchers to their backs. Otherwise, these flightless birds are always fun to watch. Next exhibit?! SHARKS! Well, we saw manatees or some other thing, but no one cares about that. Sharks!! At one point, they placed a tunnel through the shark tank. Then they placed a conveyor belt to keep people moving so that everyone could go through the tunnel and watch all the sharks. Sadly, I didn't get to see any Sharks eat the small fish.

We saw some more things but next was one of the main events! Ever heard of Shamu?? Wellll hes one of three in a family of killer whales! He and his other parents playfully (or forcefully) perform for the crowd, splashing those in the front row. The hilight of the show? They brought out a kid volunteer, and told him to do actions so that Shamu could mimic him. Then, they told the kid to do an action so that Shamu would go and greet the kids dad. Try to picture the tank, and the kids dad next to the tank putting his cheek against it. He did so because he thought Shamu would give a kiss through the glass. Yeah, anyways, hes a frickin Killer Whale. He comes up and does a huge back flip and his 2 tons of mass splashes down and soaks everyone in the first 10 rows or so. Somewhere, my dad has a pretty cool picture of a backflip of Shamu.

Afterwards we watched a show involving two seals interacting with human actors. This show is much more difficult to describe, but the best moment was when the seal was supposed to drag a dummy off the stage. Unfortunately, the dummy's arm snapped off, and the seal dragged only that off. There was a dummy because one of the actresses "exploded" through the air, and since you don't explode people for the sake of a seal show.... Anyways, she comes back and goes... ah shit! She runs back off stage and tells one of the other actors to pick her up. So he runs on stage and goes, "How you doing??" Then he goes to pick up the dummy, and rips off its other arm! He just scoops everything up and runs off. Heehee!

There were a few things in Seaworld but these are the main highlights.

Next up: Universal Studios!

*I should probably get an account at webshots and put up pics*

Heyo, quick blog to myself.

I'll talk about my day at Seaworld on Tuesday, as well as anything I may have forgotten to talk about of Disneyland.

Also, I think I'll be getting a Gameboy Advance SP for myse-... I mean Keith, hehehe... =P

Still need a laptop!

I didn't even fit in everything that I wanted to...

Aloha! I am finally back from my trip to California and it was a fun one. Yeah, you could say I'm a little old for Disneyland, but I could also just stick a raccoon in your pants. Okay, maybe I can't...

The following will be a recap of my week in California. Just a straight forward account of what I did, nothing more and nothing less.

Anyways, we drove out around 4 am on Sunday morning, leaving on the 25th of July. It was an uneventful ride to the airport. Then we carried our bags, checked in, and made our way to the security checkpoint. Yay, I didn't get strip searched. Anyways, we head onto the airplane. Now, earlier before we found out that my family got split up. However, we did ask for window seats which of course we were bound to get because the plane was a small one, seating 2 seats on each side. Unfortunately, due to some shitty luck we had no window! the seats and windows weren't lined up so we got stuck with airplane wall. Weee! Great view!

The flight was a smooth one, but I was hungry the whole time. See, I mentioned I left at 4 am but I also didn't eat breakfast. My tummy started eating itself )= *Oh yeah, I'll use emoted faces as periods from now on* We finally touched down to La La Land and were finally on our way to vacation!

We arrived around 11'ish in Cali time, and went to Anaheim. Check in time for the motel was at 3, but at least we were able to drop off our bags. We walked around the area, first picking up information about various tours in the area. We weren't renting a car and didn't know enough about the public transportation at the time to be able to travel to the theme parks we were going to, so we would be booking seats on a tour bus. After that, we decided to head to Downtown Disney. Of course, we didn't know the entrance to that place, we figured we'd just stumble upon it. After a few miles and sunburns we got in around back. I have a few pictures but basically it was similar to how Bourbon Street looks like in West Edmonton Mall. Of course, replace all the clubs with more Disney-friendly places and there you go. Once we got bored, we left to our motel to get into our room.

I can't remember what time it was, but since we didn't want to waste our time we decided to walk to a place called the "Anaheim Marketplace." Man, that was a wash. We basically headed out to mini Mexico. It was really uncomfortable being in there because we seemed so out of place. My family decided to head out and we walked back to a place called Panda Express to have dinner. It was near our motel, and we would get to know them pretty well over the week.

Monday = Disneyland!!! Disneyland!!! Disneyland!!! Disneyland!!! heehee!

For those who don't know, the area we would be visiting was Disneyland, and across from it was Disney California Adventure (DCA). In between was a main street if you will, which led out and in the other direction led to Downtown Disney. We grabbed park hopper tickets which allowed us to go into DCA and Disneyland. Yes, those are two separate theme parks right across from each other. Ah well... Disneyland opens at 8 am, and DCA and 10 am. We had an unsatisfying meal at McD's (which we would also get to know) and lined up around 7:30 am. It was friggin Disneyland! They counted down the opening and then let us in. Yeeehaw!

First, we headed out to Indiana Jones Adventure. Yeah, the Temple of Doom!!! The anticipation of getting there, and also having our family there was great. After a quarter mile+ walk to the actual ride, we got in. We were also lucky enough to be in front! It was really cool to have my parents in there, as they aren't exactly thrillseekers at their age, but wanted to share the experience with me and Keith. We also got lucky, getting seated in the front! It was a cool ride and we got to dodge the blowdarts, and run from a big boulder about to crush us. What did you do on Monday hmmm?!

Afterwards, we went on Pirates of the Carribbean. Not exactly an exciting ride, but soothing and more to my moms liking. Not much to it, we sit in a little boat, and travel around watching pirate mannequins do pirate mannequin things. No Cap'n Jack Sparrow of the Black Pearl )=

Next on the list, the Haunted House! It was cool, we move into this octagon'ish room and there they get into the atmosphere. Afterwards, you get into this egg-like vehicle for the ride. You also sit in pairs. Reminder, never go on the rides in Disneyland alone. You'll feel like the loserest loser in the whole wide world of losers. It was a cool ride because they kept projecting out ghostly images and in the end, they would have you and your ride mate face the mirror, and project a ghost in between us. Would have made for a cool picture (=

Splash Mountain! We lined up but it wasn't too long of a wait. My parents weren't exactly thrilled beause of the steep slide at the end, but they got in. We've got a picture of it too (= We were going to go on the ride next to it, which was the Winnie the Pooh ride. However, I kinda vetoed it because that ride is for babies. We did go on more rides but I don't think I need to state every single ride. Well, I could, but I'm lazy. After a while, we rode the train.

Now, while on the train, the girl next to me nudges me and says, "Hey, I hear this station is in need of some new TRAINing." WTF?! Heh... heh! She kept talking and as it turns out, she worked at Disneyland and played characters. You remember that picture you took with Aerial the mermaid? That would be her! Or someone that looked like her! She had and showed me pictures of her as Snow White, Aerial, and Cinderalla. She also told me what rides to go on while at Disneyland and DCA (= After Snow White left, my family decided to split up. Me and Keith headed out to DCA to go on more rides while my parents would rest. We went on some more rides and saw Aladdin in a condensed 45 minute play. I must note one of the things we went to, which was the "A Bug's Life" theater. It was a 3-d show and we got honourary bug glasses. It was one of the best shows to sit in on. There would be a bug on the screen shooting "acid" at us, and we would be getting sprayed with water. A bug would "fart" at us and they released some kind of smell. They even unleashed bees at us, and if you were sitting up straight, your seat actually poked you to simulate the stinging. Those kind of things happened, and at the end we were to wait to let the cockroaches out first. Then our seats bulged as though bugs were running by us! It was great!

Afterwards, we went back to Disneyland and unfortunately, Keith and I missed out on the parade. We were wandering Adventureland. Anyways, we did get to watch the Laser show "Fantasmic." I don't really know how to describe it. Maybe when I figure out how I can, I'll put it in this blog. But for now, take my word for it, it was great! Scheduled next was the fireworks show. The lights flashed and the sound was loud, also great. We finally headed back to our motel after all that time with Mickey Mouses in our eyes. One of the first things my mom said when we were in Disneyland was that it seemed to surreal, and that it was a world that was fake. Yes, it is a fake world, but despite that she enjoyed it and said it was a place where you are not allowed to think about the troubles of your life. Yeah, the sights are plastic and fibreglass, the costumes tacky, but expect us to be there next year. I could still go on and on but I don't think I should in this same blog. Damn, I didn't even get to Tuesday.

Yes I've got pictures and I'll be showing to whoever wants to see. Also, as I said to Dev, I didn't buy too much Disney stuff because most of the shops there are glorified "Disney Stores" that are at Kingsway and WEM. Besides, what am I going to get? The red Tinkerbell keychain, or the blue one? Disneyland is great, and the way I'll remember it was because I was there.

Next up: Seaworld, Tuesday!