Archive for May, 2005
Although I’m not terribly fond of this new blogging chain letter trend, I happen to really like Crystal and since I’m also busy with another project, this meme makes my day a bit easier. Here goes…
1) Total number of films I own:
We have so many DVDs that we finally had to break down and part with the boxes to organize them in albums. Each holds about 45 movies and five albums are filled. Plus, we have about 25 more waiting to be filed. That means over 250 movies, and that’s sick. I blame my other half, as my video purchases take up only one album.
2) The last film I purchased:
The Philadelphia Story – Cary Grant is hotness.
3) The last film I watched:
Star Wars Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.
4) Five films I watch often:
Sense & Sensibility – I identify with the characters.
Life as a House – Same reason as the previous one.
The Sweetest Thing – Bad girls make me laugh.
Zoolander – Dumb guys make me laugh too.
An Affair to Remember – I’m a total sap.
5) Tag five people to participate:
This time I’m going to include a few people that don’t regularly blog. Feel free to leave your answers as comments here on this post, and don’t worry about passing it on unless you want to – Silentz, LlamaKing, PinkSaltyDickMeat, KanagaMini, and you.
May 23rd, 2005
A big round of applause for MrLemurBoy for filling in for me while I was away. Silent may be right – A blog of his own may indeed be in order. After all, he’s a very unique individual and the blogging community always benefits from diversity. Thanks, Ziggy… You rule!
San Francisco wasn’t bad. I managed to have fun despite the fact that I felt antisocial around the conference attendees. Conversely, I hit it off fabulously with the locals. Maybe I’ll write about my adventures next week, but for now here’s an overview of what I learned:
1. People from SF think they hate people from LA but in fact they are irresistibly attracted to us, as evidenced by the fact that I got hit on more times in five minutes in SF than in a week in LA.
2. Then again, maybe it’s just that women who leave maps to an unfamiliar city on their desk back at the office, and in turn roam around with a desperately lost “please help me” look are irresistible to all men, regardless of their sexual preference.
3. Homeless people in SF are some of the coolest, most articulate people you’ll ever meet. Seven out of ten are intelligent enough to develop unique marketing gimmicks to increase their panhandling payouts. I learned more from them than the conference.
4. Business conferences are lame and yet completely necessary. I came up with pages of ideas, none of which were related to any of the material presented, yet somehow I don’t believe those thoughts would have been precipitated by any other means.
5. Shopping in SF is the PWN! They have over three times the inventory compared to the same stores in SoCal. For every item we have, they have ten we never see, and the ones we do have come in five other colors up there. It’s sick! I’m already planning my next visit.
6. Never walk into a Marc Jacobs boutique… Naughty, naughty!
May 21st, 2005
Well, a good friend of mine was reading my post yesterday, and indicated that there was a falacy in it. He said that the crack on my literary skills was unfounded. Whether that’s true or not, I’m not gonna debate at this point, but it got me thinking. I make cracks like that about myself very often. I tend to call myself a moron, or an idiot, and that’s on the good days. I actually enjoy telling people that I’m dumber than a sack of rocks. And sometimes, I wonder why.
Now, it’s not like I don’t know when this started. I know because I started conciously doing it. I was quite unpopular through most of grade school and high school. Yeah, wah wah, I’m not the only one, I know. But it still sucked to have almost everyone else call me a loser pretty much every day.
Of course, I got advice on how to deal with them. My dad told me to beat them up. Yeah, I was a scrawny weakling who had no concept of how to fight. Growing up with 3 sisters meant I didn’t employ fisticuffs in the house very often. If I’d tried to hurt any of the guys who teased me, I would have ended up eating dirt. My mom told me to ignore them. New flash, this does not work. Bullies can tell when you’re specifically ignoring them. They know they’re having an effect just because you’re so obviously ignoring them and will keep bullying you harder until you can’t ignore them any more.
So I came up with a defense of my own, which I called Self-Degredation. If they called me an idiot, I happily agreed with them. If they asked why I was doing something, I’d reply with “Because I’m a moron!” with a big grin on my face and go on my way. I confused the heck outta them, and they stopped bugging me because you really can’t get any joy out of teasing someone who’s taking joy in the abuse. Basically, I beat them to the punch.
Nowadays, I’m a lot happier. I have my friends, I have a good job, I actually like my family, and people tend not to tease me anymore. My life is nothing spectacular, but it’s still pretty darn good.
And yet, I still compare myself with intoxicated long-tailed primates, and tell people that I have all the cognitive abilities of a sack of rocks. This self-degredation has become my security blanket. Kinda funny how something so negative can be taken as a positive, isn’t it?
May 19th, 2005
Well, I suppose I should thank Aurora for a lovely introduction, and for not stealing my thunder, though I’m not sure if I’m “fabulous”, but hey, I’ll take the compliment.
Now, some of you are probably wondering “What in the world is Aurora thinking, letting this unknown goober write for her!?”. Personally, I’m not sure. I think she’s taken a leave of her senses.
The few of you who read this and who know me are probably instead thinking “Why in the world would he agree to stick his neck out and write for her, when he has all the literary skills of a drugged up monkey?”. And that, ah, that I can answer.
So sit yourselves down (and if you’re standing up while using your computer, well, that’s weird, but to each their own) and I’ll tell you a tale. A tale of a fateful trip. That started at a chilly airport. Aboard this tiny airship.
Well, the story begins… oh… a bit over 2… or was it 3 years ago? I was playing on MajorMUD, where Aurora was a GameOP, and doing quite well for myself. I was quite a high level in the game, and had taken to helping new players get on their feet and learn about the world. One new player logged on, who called herself Devon. I took a shine to her, and took her all around the place. I bought her new armor, helped her level up, and everything looked shiny and happy. Eventually, we started talking outside of the game, and then via phone (my phone bills were a horror story in and of themselves). And I’ll admit, I fell for her. Hard. Not the smartest of things, I admit, but hey, it happened.
Then came the fateful day that I decided to finally meet my lady love. She lived in California, and I was all the way in Ontario, so I knew it wouldn’t be a cheap trip, but nevertheless, I dipped very heavily into my savings account, and bought a plane ticket. Checked with Devon on a good date, let her know when my flight was coming in, and all the other stuff people need to know to pick you up at an airport. Planned to stay for a glorious fun-filled week with her. Life was good. Except that a couple days before my plane was to leave, Devon was barely logging on. This didn’t seem like a good thing, but I’d be danged if I didn’t get to use my non-refundable plane ticket to California.
And this is when I found out just what a warm, caring and all-around amazing person Aurora was. I confided in her some nervousness regarding my upcoming trip, and she told me that if anything went wrong, I was to call her. So I got on the plane, bags packed, and sat with my knees knocking the entire flight. I got to the airport, called Devon, and… her ex-boyfriend picked up and hung up on me. I called again, and again was hung up on. I was stranded in California. So I called Aurora.
Aurora immediately took pity on me. She drove out to the airport, picked me up, took me to her place, and let me sleep on her couch for the whole week. When she wasn’t at work, she was taking me out to see Venice Beach, Los Angeles, and all the things a Canuckian needs to brag about when they get back home. If not for her, I probably would have ended up in a cheap hostel wallowing in self-pity for that entire week. She really was my saviour that week.
At the end of the week, I packed up, thanked her profusely, and got on the plane home. After I arrived home, I realized that the 3 koosh balls I used for juggling had been left behind, most likely still sitting on her coffee table.
And that, ladies and gentlement, is why I agreed to help her out.
Because she still has my balls.
May 18th, 2005
“I’m leaving on a jet plane… Don’t know when I’ll be back again.”
Actually I’ll be back Saturday night, but I really liked that John Denver song as a kid. Here’s the deal: I’m heading up to San Francisco for a business conference and I won’t have internet access while I’m away. Though I may die from withdrawals, you will not have to go without.
Meet our guest host: Mr. LemurBoy – some of you know him as Ziggy, and others as PJ, but everybody who knows him thinks he’s fabulous. He’ll be filling in for me over the next three days, and I’m excited to see what he will write about while I’m gone.
Originally I was going to delve into some details about him, but then I figured that would be stealing his thunder. So instead, I’ll let him share with you as he sees fit. Rest assured it should be fun… Take care, and I’ll catch ya on the flipside!
May 17th, 2005
Beef, it’s what’s for dinner… Especially on Sunday afternoons at our house. We’ve decided that the perfect complement to the last leisurely day of the weekend is a good ole beef roast. It’s better than going out to eat because you don’t even have to get dressed.
Here’s how it’s done: Trim the roast. Rub with olive oil and then coat it with seasoned salt, herbs, and some red pepper flakes. Pop it in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 and cook until the internal temperature reaches about 130 degrees.
The best part: Use the pan drippings to make a kick-ass gravy. Deglaze the roasting pan with 1/3 cup white wine and 2 tablesepons butter. Add a minced clove of garlic, and once the liquid has reduced a bit, some finely chopped parsley and white pepper.
Slice the roast thin using a serrated knife (for the sake of your sanity) and spread the pieces across plate so that you can drizzle the sauce over it evenly, for the purpose of enjoying a little of its awesome flavor with each bite… Now that’s a nice lazy Sunday afternoon!
May 15th, 2005
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At last, the weather in Southern California is starting to feel familiar!
Though we didn’t quite reach that new record for annual rainfall, it was the wettest in my lifetime as a local. Today we experienced summer weather and I fear it’s only a small glimpse of the price we’ll pay for all that rain: I predict a prolonged, scorching-hot summer.
I’m a wuss when it comes to weather. Anything outside the 70-degree range gets on my nerves after a while, but I’m not complaining just yet. Sure was nice to pare down to open-toed shoes and a sundress today, to assault the world with cleavage after a long season in hiding.
May 14th, 2005
A while back Stamps.com started offering custom PhotoStamps and they were fabulous… but then they disappeared. Good news: They’re back and better than ever! Head over and design your own (imagine the possibilities) and when you place an order by May 16th each sheet will be specially marked as a “First Day of Release†limited edition.
Mine should be circulating in the mail very soon
to delight otherwise disgruntled postal workers
…Call it a small, geeky public service…
May 13th, 2005
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