Achy Legs and Salmon

My legs were hurting today - not in a bad, complaining-sort of way - but in an achy-feeling good sort of way. It was from the long walk home last night, probably close to 5km. Just for kicks I'm going to see how close my guess is on mapquest. We walked from downsview park along Sheppard to Bathurst, South on Bathurst then east on Wilson then south on Avenue for quite a while until we picked up a cab. Well, apparently it was about 5.4 Km, so I wasn't too far off. Anyway, we had it pretty lucky catching that cab as there were thousands of people trying to do the same thing. As for the concert, I think I'll leave it at what I said last night, I've had far too much time to form an opinionated view on the whole evening, whereas last night's post was raw and unbiased.
MMmmm Salmon fillets. In another attempt to better myself, I am trying to eat healthier, so today I picked up a Salmon fillet after the Gym and kind of created my own recipe. It wasn't half bad so I'm gonna throw it down here so I don't forget it:
Cucumber-dill dressing: Cucumber (finely chopped), chopped fresh dill, Mayo, lemon juice (Add sour cream next time.)
Poached salmon: Fill skillet with water, wine, fresh dill, chopped shallots

An ocean of human beings...

Just returned from the Rolling Stones concert for Toronto. I've got to keep this short as I work in about 6 hours and I really should get to bed. All I can say is that it was it was indescribable. So many people - It's so funny to see how we act in that context. All our emotions are put through a magnifying glass in situations like that - joy, humour, paranoia - all is love. This will definitely be one of the highlights of my life. Thank-you friends for sharing yourselves.

"One thing I know about the rest of my life, I know I'll be living it in Canada" - Sloan.

Procrastination is fun for everyone!

Procrastinating is something I tend to do. I have perfected this rare art form to the point that it can be self-destructive. I think I will try to improve myself in this respect - I'll start tomorrow.

I guess procrastination at it's core relates to that primal part of the brain that gives us instant gratification. When we procrastinate, we are foregoing long term benefits for short-term benefits (Usually milder in nature) to avoid the initial effort needed to realize the long-term benefits. However, I'd like to propose that this isn't necessarily all bad. Statistically, once in a while, taking the short-term benefit will lead you down a different path that will ultimately result in greater long-term benefits than the initial ones that were cast aside. I will give an outlandish and overtly biased example:

On some particular day in the future, a person (Let's call Him Rudy) decides to study for an exam at some remote location (other than his home). The day rolls around and Rudy realizes that he really doesn't feel like going to the library / park / chapters / etc to study and decides to stay home to watch some DVD's instead. Rudy knows that he only has a few days left to study, and he will no doubt fair better on the exam if he studies on this day and each of the remaining days until the exam. This will no doubt land the better job (Long term benefit), however, the (mild) enjoyment they get from staying home to watch the DVD's (Short term benefit) overwhelms him and he decides that he will put off studying until tomorrow. More importantly the underlying cause to stay for Rudy to stay home (whether he knows it or not) is to avoid the studying (effort) required.

Now, on this particular day, the doorbell happens to ring. A little startled, Rudy jumps to his feet and hurriedly runs to answer the door. Aware that his appearance may not quite be up to par on this lazy day of indulgence, he checks himself out amidst his quick jaunt to the door. As a result, Rudy doesn't pay as much attention to the large coffee table in his path and trips over it - fracturing his arm in several locations. The Religious crusader at the door hears all the commotion and concerned, opens the unlocked door to find Rudy and his gnarled arm curled up in agony on the floor. The Good Samaritan takes Rudy to the hospital where he falls in love with and marries his nurse Sally. Sally is an amazing woman. She has no need to work, but does so out of the goodness of her heart. You see - Sally is the daughter of a middle manager who won the lottery in his office pool. I could go on, but you get the idea.

So I guess one could argue that hard work pays off. I say that hard work usually pays off, but that procrastination will eventually pay off BIG TIME.

Yeah, that's it - BIG TIME.


"I've been talking drunken gibberish" - DG

Clickety-Click Barba trick....

Remember the Barbapapas? Those funky blobs of ectoplasm that could change themselves into whatever shape they wanted? As a kid I always wondered how the hell those things functioned - where were their organs? What about skeletons? How could they stand upright? Talk? It was against the laws of physics. (Not that I knew the laws of physics at age 6, but one tends to extrapolate these laws from observations around them. I.E. The swing goes up - it comes back down. Hmmm... Gravity. I fall off my bike and slide to a stop on the pavement -> Friction. Cool) So how the fuck could these things mold themselves into whatever the fuck they wanted and not have to abide by the same rules of nature as the rest of us?. Things like this that were fed to us as children had a knack for pissing me off. Man, I really needed to relax as a kid :)
I thought today would be a good day to be a barbapapa. I'd just mold myself into a helicopter and clickety-click barbatrick - I'm home. No QEW. No Gardiner. No near death highwary experiences. Then I'd mold myself into a quality meal and proceed to eat my fine self. This wouldn't do to much harm as I'd just integrate the food back into myself. I know, I know - your thinking but he doesn't have a stomach! I'm a freakin' barbapapa, I'd just make one. One could just imagine how being a barbapapa could have it's advantages in the bedroom as well :0
Anyway, check this out for some solid Barbapapa pics and info.....

"If you complain once more you'll meet an army of me" - Bjork

Short Post

This is a short post. I am falling asleep. So tired. Still... must hang.. on... neeed... to quote....

"It's the last laugh of the laughter
Sur la dernier page du chapitre" - Travis

Good times...

I met up with some old high school friends tonight.... Life is strange - people who know people, we're all intertwined somehow. It's too cliche, but it's a small world. Anyway, it was good to see them. I realized how much I missed that place when I moved... We always knew how to have a good time.
I'm pretty hammered so I'll keep it short as I probably won't make much sense. A few things:
- The DVP was closed today. That really sucked as I had a meeting in Markham, I took Warden out and the Allen back. I should take public transit.
- Met a girl & friends who went to Waterloo. They were all teachers who work right near me. Weird.
- Woody - You rock. You always put a smile on my face.
- I'm proud of my Roomie - I wish I had the self-discipline he's got. He is the shit.
- Strange weekend - many familar faces...

Almost forgot, I need a quote.

"Bonita Applebum, you gotta put me on" - Tribe called quest.

Melancholy 2

2nd attempt - IE crashed. Fuck you Micro$oft.
I don't know why but I've got the blues today. I was just reading vice - highly disappointing. A old issue was left at our house a while back and it was mildly amusing and I thought I'd take a look online. You know your dealing with a poor effort when the first thought that emerges from the depths of your mind while you are absorbing the initial paragraph is "I am really wasting my time here".

Anyway, I need an epiphany in the very near future or I feel my life will (and has) become dull. I did have another one of those "ideas" we all get from time to time on the slow-motion commute home today. Perhaps this was an initial ray of light (string) with a sunshine (yo-yo) to follow. Who knows. I tend not to act on these things (except for perhaps the songwriting department, in which I must say I am becoming quite accomplished.) This one happened to be a story idea, still too vague to define as a movie script, short story or book, but an idea none the less. SO, in an attempt to thwart my normal procrastination and hence loss of the idea, I think I will enter it here. (If anyone actually reads this - don't steal the idea. I would then be forced to hunt you down and kill you. The idea sucks anyway :)

It's the story of a man in his mid thirties who has come to worship the almighty dollar. He has an O.K. paying job that eats away at his inner being bit by bit each day. He has a amicable wife that he thinks he may have loved at one point, but is positive he doesn't anymore. He has a kid that is in their early and teens with whom he can't relate and who abuses our character on a regular basis. He drives a used North American car that keeps breaking down and smells like sour milk no matter how many times he tries to clean it. After some character introduction, the man has an epiphany. He finally recognizes the fact that he puts money, possessions, and the pursuit of the american dream above all else. He somehow knows this isn't right, but believes that if he can aquire these things that happiness will follow anyway. He does some quick self-education on religion and learns there is one common factor accross all faiths - that those who are worshipped reward those who are faithful to and worship them unabashedly.

So he says fuck it.

If this is what his deity requires, This, then, is what he will do. Time to go balls-to-the wall with it. No more fucking around.
He withdraws all his life's savings from his moderate portfolio, leaves his shitty job, Nice wife and kid and heads for (atlantic city or vegas?)
Here's the cool part - he actually wins. He wins pretty big - in the millions.
The remainder of the story takes place in the casino. He is there alone, and nobody knows who he is. At first he is treated like royalty by the staff, but this doesn't satisfy him. He spends a few days/nights in his room. He ponders what he can do - buy the fancy car, get the hot girl, get a boat, the mansion. But he quicky realizes that he can't really get all that. The money he won really isn't that much. He must worship harder.

So he returns to the casino floor for the remainder of the night gambling away all his winnings. by 4 pm the next evening he's lost it all. Several sub plots occur in the casino during the night - the good-hearted girl who can see the good in him and is attracted to that. The war veteran he talks to for several hours with at the slots who is now a gambling addict. The billionaire oil tycoon who he sits with at blackjack who tells him the new rules he will live by.
The character has no doubt gone through a major transformation - he has changed. However, into what remains to be seen and is left up to the audience. There is no moral to this story, no happy ending, nothing saying what he did was wrong. Just that he is human in it's purest form. To be elaborated....

"It's not going to stop til you wise up" - aimee mann

Rain today... Heavy at times....

I don't know why, but I still enjoy superbad now and then. It's been around for a while but it's still the best at it's purpose.... Radiohead's site tried to rip the idea off at one time or another. I think today I'll use a quote from a radiohead song.
So I almost fell asleep on the drive home today. I had this brutal headache and was beyond tired, nodding off in the stop and go and rain. I should really be more careful, I could hurt myself or worse yet someone else. Christ, I sound like my mother. Anyway, it was like driving in a semi-concious state. I was aware, but not quite awake, somewhat like sleepwalking, I imagine. (I haven't had the pleasure to experience that.) I don't think much of my brain was active during that hour long commute. The constant sounds of raindrops on my hood were soothing though, and just when they were on the brink of annoying, an overpass would break the cycle. It was that same feeling you got as a child riding in the backseat of the car, watching the waves of telephone wires pass you by on a back country road. A wave of motion eminating from motionless things....

"Ambition makes you look pretty ugly... Kicking and squealing gucci little piggy" - Thom Yorke

Hello World

So this is my first entry... The excitement and anticipation of something new... Isn't technology fun... Snippets of -Stupid White Men- by Michael Moore are dancing around my head. Plenty of provocative facts are provided, but the proposed solutions are a bit too black and white. However, the world needs more people like him to shove a big-ass mirror in our faces now and then, no matter how painful it is to look at. Does this thing spellcheck automatically? Oh well, there's always the good old-fashioned dictionary to fall back on.... Listening to live365.com a lot recently - dialed in on chill factor 100 - a good collection of ambient / Jazz / soul tunes.... Davids (Gray and Matthews) are still providing me with my acoustic needs.... indulged in adaptation the other day... Nic Cage nails anxiousness and floundering in an anti-Face Off kind of way... Brilliant film.... Hung out with my brother yesterday - he is good people - the best. Well... I like this. I will return quite soon.... I think I'll sign off with quotes... From me.. From Others.. From Songs.. not picky, but new traditions are a good thing.

"Some people are just good at life..." -JBM.