Calm Between the Storms

I'm never really sure about how I feel at this time of the year. I have a break from most things and although these few days between Christmas and New Years are filled with reffing hockey, there is always some free time that I don't really know what to do with. This year I'm watching more hockey (World Juniors and Spengler Cup) than I'm reffing so I even have more free time. It's funny how we always look for more spare time when it gets busy but when we have some spare time it sometimes gets a little boring. People are gone and busy with families so at a time when it should be easier to get together with friends its often actually more difficult. I guess this gives me some time to clean up my room and the apartment at least. I'd feel better going into the new year living a little bit cleaner than I'm used to. Guess I can continue to play my new guitar as well.

Merry Christmas

Sorry to those expecting a post sooner but I've been busy the last week. As exams ended I geared into Christmas mode and have been busy being jolly and fat with Christmas baking, parties (ish), and shopping. Plus I got sick a couple of days ago which took a little bit of the Christmas energy out of me. But the exams finished well and I ended up with better marks in almost all of my classes than I expected. It makes the holidays a lot easier when you finish off school with good marks.

My grandparents are here at my parent's house right now and tomorrow we all head down to my uncle and aunt's place in Red Deer for Christmas. It'll be another good old fashioned cramped holiday Christmas like it is every year but it'll be good to be with the family again (especially since I haven't seen my cousins since last Christmas). Well I'd better get going, my uncle is coming to visit for the evening. Merry Christmas to all and have a good boxing day whether you brave the crowds in the everlasting search for deals or not. I'll be back and probably posting boxing day night or on the 27th. Stay safe and have a good Christmas.

Halfway through exams

So I had two exams yesterday, CMPUT 325 (Prolog and Lisp) and HIST 295 (History of 20th Century Warfare). The computing one in the morning was 3 hours long (I took almost the full time) and wasn't so great but I'm pretty sure I passed it so at least I'll pass the class (if I didn't pass I wouldn't graduate this year). History was almost the exact opposite. I had used almost all of my time studying to that point on computing and had only glanced at history so I took another look at history for the 2 hour break I had before the exam. I walked into the history exam (50 multiple choice) and finished in under 20 min. He didn't let us leave until half an hour into the exam but basically I had 10 min to sit and look over my answers and twiddle my thumbs. If I don't do extremely well on that exam I'll be very surprised.

Now all I have left to do is the two exams on Saturday (that's right, Saturday, yuck). My computing one then should be relatively easy since I have to answer two of the questions and type them up before going into the exam. My Organizational Analysis class is a toss up. I definitely have to do some major reading tomorrow but I think I'll be ok. After Saturday it's Christmas holidays for me until January 10th. Well, I'd better get back to studying.

How long can I procrastinate?

I'm sitting here, two days before two exams. After sleeping in until 11, I finally get up but what do I do, (not study that's for sure) I go and watch sports highlights. Then I come back to check e-mail and of course post this. If only I could kick my own ass enough to study...I'm such a hypocrite.

Have to get studying now but no doubt with my short attention span I'll probably find something else to do soon enough instead of working. On another note, I've been listening to the band SR-71 quite a bit lately, check them out (the quote below just came through my playlist).

I don't mean to piss you off with things I might say
But when I try to shut my mouth they come out anyway
If you spoke your mind you might feel more connected
Until you get politically corrected
-SR-71 from Politically Correct

Last day of classes

Well, all of a sudden it's the end of the semesters and finals are upon us (well, those of us in University anyway). I'd like to think that I could start studying for finals but somehow I still have one pointless assignment left to finish and hand in. Good thing it's in the class that I utterly hate and have problems understanding but since if I don't pass this class I don't graduate, I can't really not do some of this assignment (yes I am that slack and have done that before). I guess I should probably get back to work now so that I can go to RATT (Room At The Top, an on-campus bar for those that don't know what I'm talking about) for lunch and drinks in half an hour and not feel so guilty.

Just a thought

Why do people waste time doing meaningless things like watching TV but don't make time for more important things like keeping in touch? I wonder especially about myself sometimes when I spend quite a bit of time either in front of the computer wasting time (or working occationally) or in front of the TV. If I'm sitting here playing a game or surfing the web, why don't I take 5 min to write an e-mail anymore? Anyway, that should be one of my New Year's resolutions the way I've been thinking; staying in touch with friends is important and as much as I've kind of tried, I don't think I've been seeing/talking to my friends enough lately. That being said, it's a two way street and despite busy schedules, I'll always make time for a friend (even if it means losing some time in front of the idiot box). So if anyone wants to talk or go out for a drink or supper or something, just let me know.

It is so not December

This is a little bit of a repeat of a previous post but I still feel this ways so...

My mind is a little confused right now...there is no snow on the ground, it can't be December already. It can't be the end of the semester since it seems like I just got back from Ottawa. But it's so dark so early, there's so much night (even evening) left but every day I feel like I should be getting to bed earlier.

At least I was up again at the end of another poker night (not that kind of up sickos, I just had more money than I started with). Too bad the rest of the day wasn't that great with a pretty big problem arising in my group project when the program is due tomorrow. Guess I've got to get up early again to deal with it...and I was looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow, argh.

"Last night I had a dream
It wasn't about anything
But it made me smile
It made me scream"
-SR-71 from the song Paul McCartney

So tired

Last time I ref three midget games in one day. Too bad the most important one, the 'AA' call that I had at the end of the night was my worst game. Oh well, I've had worse games and I know they've had worse refs. So I started looking at guitars (which is the big thing I'm asking for for Christmas). I'm still looking and I haven't really priced out much (I've only gone to two or three places) but right now there are a few models that interest me. Check these out and tell me what you think (even if you don't know much about guitars, just tell which one is the best looking):

Ibanez: PF60SCE, AEG10, AEL20
Yamaha: FG423S
Yamaha Guitars

For the Ibanez site you need to click the accoustic guitar tab and then find the model on the left. I'm thinking a blue one if you haven't guessed, but I could also go with a black one or even the traditional boring old light brown. Well, I'm done playing around with Dan's guitar for the night and I'm pretty tired so it's probably a good time to go to bed.

Hard to believe

Well a few things actually...

1. That I've been back in Edmonton for 3 months now...wow, doesn't seem like it's been that long. I have yet to see a few friends (which is pretty sad on both of our parts) and others I just haven't seen as much as I want to (due to busy schedules mostly).

2. That I managed to win some money at poker all of the last 3 weeks :)

3. Related to point #1: that it's nearing the end of my last (hopefully) fall semester at university (at least for the time being). With two weeks of classes left to go there is only a minimal amount of work to wrap up for this semester besides finals. I also have to make sure that taking the courses I plan on taking next semester ensure my graduation (assuming I pass everything of course). Speaking of which, I'm planning on switching some classes but I'm unsure of what to take. I have at least one business option and an approved option to play with so if you have any suggestions let me know.

Well, one thing that I can believe is that it's late again and I'm not in bed yet. Seems to be happening too often these last few weeks. Hopefully I can get back to some semblance of a regular sleeping pattern soon. Maybe that would help me stay awake in a few of my classes too :)

Awesome Concert

I meant to post this last night but I was busy cleaning and playing nintendo...

So Wednesday night was the Tragically Hip concert...and what a concert. They had a pretty good stage setup and some good lighting, but of course most important was the music. They pretty much covered all of my favorite Hip songs. And I don't know what Gord Downey eats before a show but the energy that guy has as he rants away and dances (if you can call it that) around the stage is amazing. The crowd was pretty good and continuous cheering brought on 3 encores. Great show!

And in the end it wasn't to detrimental that I went to the show instead of staying home and working on my paper. I managed to get it almost done by the time we left for the concert and it only took another hour and a bit to finish it before I went to bed. Probably not the best quality but meh, it's done. This weekend should be semi-relaxing with only 2 games to ref and the Grey Cup to watch but I do have some school work to do like the assignment that had its deadline pushed back, so I don't have it totally off. Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Breathing room

Well it's been a bit stressful the last few days but I think I'm going to make it. I think it's mostly because I got a little lucky though. My computing assignment got pushed back until next Tuesday so I can at least leave that until I'm finished with everything else. Unfortunately my paper analyzing an organization is still due on Thrusday and it's still not done. I do have my final internship paper done though and the midterm, sorry, "quiz" on Monday went very well (especially considering the preparation, or lack there of, that went into it). Even with the Hip concert tomorrow, I should have time to finish my paper and be done the week of hell. Oh, and poker and BBQ at my place Friday night for those that are interested. Now to bed for some rest.

One more thing, here's a funny little link Darren sent me, check it out...
IQ and American Election Results

Where did all this work come from?

So I'm a little pressed for time this weekend, good thing it's a long one. I unwisely chose to spend most of yesterday drinking and watching movies with friends so I again wasted enough time to make the rest of the weekend a crunch (even if it's 3 days). My second history midterm (even though he calls it a quiz) is on Monday but it's the least of my worries. I have two more assignments and two more papers due this week. Really should have started on some of those earlier. Guess I never learn.

Well, just thought I'd fire off this update in case some of you were wondering why I disappear this weekend and at the start of this week. At least I have the Tragically Hip concert to look forward to on Wednesday night.

Conspiracy?

Oh yeah, I got this link from a friend a couple days ago...pretty creepy. View at your own risk to believing the U.S.

9/11 Pentagon Conpiracy?

Ah, short school week

Good thing it's a short week this week because I really don't feel like going to class. The other little problem is the crap load of assignments being stuffed down my gullet right now. Well, I guess I'd better get some sleep. Though it is going to be the last school day of the week, I have a feeling it could be a long day of work.

Another poker night in the books

Well, I managed to come out ahead for the second week in a row. This time I wasn't up quite as much but hey, up more than a buy in is still up quite a bit. Again, good times with some good guys though there was a pretty low turnout this week. Too bad that I have to get up so freaking early tomorrow to work on my project class but at least I'm making Kelsey get up early too. Looks like this weekend will be spent mostly at the rink again, not that that is unusual but I really should spend some serious time working on these papers and getting my parents computer fixed.

Friggin' Time Change and Microsoft

So I forgot about the time change. Well, that's not entirely true. I changed my watch, I changed the time in my car...I just neglected to change my stereo or my alarm clock, the two things that wake me up in the morning. So this morning I was up at 8 rather than the planned 9...stupid me. Oh well, at least I had more time to fix my parents computer. Which brings me to my next point: stupid Microsoft. For unexplained reasons, the internet browsers seem to work for only 3 or 4 pages before quitting on my parent's computer. Everything else that needs to be connected to the net works fine but as soon as you try to use a browser it just can't find anything. Stupid Windows. Probably has something to do with Service Pack 2 since it was working fine until I installed that. Guess I'll have to try to fix it tomorrow.

Well, Happy Halloween everyone, enjoy the extra hour of sleep.

Happy Halloween

Well, it's another Halloween and me without a costume. I guess it's not really necessary this year since I'm reffing or spending time at the rink all weekend. And inbetween, I'm busy rebuilding my parents computer and enjoying what little time I have to breathe before jumping back into school work. At least I won some money at poker this week almost tripling up my original buy in. That puts me back to about even on poker nights in Alberta. Hopefully I can continue the winning streak next week and so on through the month since I think we're going to make it a real weekly event now (at least until finals). Well, I'd best get to bed so I can get up nice and early for more computer work and reffing. Happy Halloween everyone!

Assignment's done...sort of

Well, the deadline's come and gone and despite me finishing only half of the assignment, I'm strangely satisfied with what I finished. What I did finish seems to work so that means I at least know what I'm doing for some things in this useless class, right? Now I just have to figure the rest of it out for Thursday's midterm.

So besides the midterm, this week is looking pretty tame. As of now I only have one game to ref next weekend (Junior B on Friday) and just one easy orgnizational analysis assignment to do besides the midterm. That means Thursday night is poker night again. I know Jay's got the bug to play and so do I after two weeks off. On a related note, I hear my friend Gordon in Ottawa won $1500 US in an online tournament this weekend. HOLY #%*&!

Ahh distractions

While distracting myself on the internet from my assignment I ran across a few things you should check out...

Bush and Moore Flash Song (funny stuff).

KartVader...ripping around Montreal in a Go-Kart

Jeep Parking Only

Well, if I find some more the next time I go browsing I'll post them...and everyone knows I'll get distracted from my assignment again.

Boy school sucks...sometimes

Well right now I have a love-hate relationship with school. First let's deal with the hate, or maybe just dislike. It involves one of my computing classes (yep, I'm going into bitch mode here so if you don't like it when I do this skip to the next paragraph). The prof is just stupid. He doesn't prepare his slides properly, they're full of mistakes and examples that are done wrong; he puts at least a quarter of the class to sleep every day (including myself); and he gives these freaking hard assignments for these concepts that I'll never use again. Why am I taking this class you ask, because I have to to graduate. That's it, no practical real world application of all this stuff. And the worst thing is that everyone (including the department) knows it and will admit it but never change it. So I'm sitting here right now working on this useless assignment and besides having a hard time, realize that I'll still be doing this all week because I have a midterm in this class on Thursday. Ok, I'm done bitching about that class now.

So besides that one class my other classes are pretty good and I'm generally enjoying my last *fingers crossed* fall semester (of this degree anyway). And as much as some of the people in my department (computing science) bug me, in general the people at university are awesome and I love hanging out there. Just yesterday I ran into a guy that I met in the summer before first year at a summer orientation event. We've never had a class together (he's an engineer) and we don't regularily hang out. In fact I haven't seen or talked to him in almost two years now. But yesterday I ran into him and we started talking like old friends and catching up on everything. THAT is the main reason I love the U...the people. That alone put me in a good mood for the rest of the day.

Well, I guess I'd better get back to my stupid assignment which probably won't get done by the deadline tomorrow but I may as well try to get as much done as possible. If someone sees me banging my head in the next few days, you now know the most likely reason.

This is the perfect time to panic

Well, my presentation went ok even though I went over time and I think I talked a little fast at times. I also managed to notice how I said "so" too much, but I guess that's better than "umm". So now that that's done, I only have to do my final essay and I'm done with all my work in that class. The problem now becomes my other stupid computer classes. My project class is actually starting up the project so that's not too bad but in 325 I'm getting slaughtered. I have an assignment that is due on Friday night (or Sunday if I use 2 grace days) and I'm not even close to finishing it. In fact, I've barely started. It's really too bad that I just don't care anymore. The worst thing is that I actually sat down and tried hard to work on it last night and I really didn't get anywhere.

Midterms went as well as can be expected so far. With my computing one still to come of course. Yesterday I wrote my history exam to make up for missing it when I was gone to Ottawa on Friday. Nothing like doing a test in 20 min. Hopefully that's also a sign of me knowing what I'm doing and I'll do ok.

I also went out and bought a new referee jersey last night. You may ask yourself this question: "If he's reffing then why doesn't he have a jersey already?" Well, it's because I'm stupid and I left it at the arena a few weeks ago and it wasn't there when I went to find it. How I managed that I don't know but I can't keep borrowing Dean's jerseys forever so I went out and splurged and bought a new one. I find it a little hard to choke down an expense like that where I really shouldn't have had to do it but oh well, I'll make back that money in games I do this weekend.

Presentation Time

So I'm up early this morning because today is a big day. Not only do I have my Organizational Analysis midterm but I also have my internship presentation. So typical me, I was up until 1:00 in the morning trying to fix a few last things up. It's not that it wasn't done before that, it's just that I actually had too much (hard to believe) and I had to find places to speed it up. Not to mention that I had to look through my pictures for some pictures of friends and the other interns to throw in.

Obviously I'm back from my trip to Ottawa now...and what a trip it was! The wedding was nice and the reception was a whole lot of fun. Amazing how much I'll dance with a few drinks in me and when I really feel like having a good time. We also went out for a really nice dinner with about 22 people (basically all the younger people that weren't in the wedding party). Besides the wedding I also got to go out and see most of my friends which was great. It's too bad I couldn't stay longer and I'm beginning to see how much I really miss everyone and life in Ottawa in general. Who knows, I could end up back there next summer, you never know.

So thanks to Wei and Esther for letting me stay with them and keeping me full of food. And thanks to Ive for organizing the dinner and otherwise being our cabby for Friday night. And of course, congratulations and thank you to France and Ali for getting married and giving me an excuse to get back to Ottawa. I know they'll live a long and happy life together. It's a good thing I booked my flight early too, because as much school work I have to deal with, I don't think even I could have justified going if my ticket hadn't been booked already. Well, I'd better get to school and start studying, maybe it'll take my mind off of this presentation.

Back to the East

Well, I've only been away for just over a month and a half but I'm already going back. Ottawa is just that appealing...well, and I'm going to France and Ali's wedding. It'll be great to see everyone again, I can't wait. I get there Friday afternoon so I'll have time Friday night to go out and see people. Then all Saturday is wedding stuff and Sunday is open for recovery and more visiting. I get back Monday just before lunch from an early morning flight. The only downfall to this trip is that I lose the weekend to do school work, but who am I kidding, I'd just slack off and not do it anyway and it's more important to go visit my friends in Ottawa. Between midterms coming up and my big group computing project starting to get busy, I really don't have as much free time as I like to think. Hopefully after next week when two midterms and my presentation are out of the way I will realize how much more I have to do. Well, back to the presentation so I can get it mostly done before I leave on Friday morning.

I'm falling into memories of you
Things we used to do
Follow me there a beautiful somewhere
A place that I can share with you
-One Year, Six Months by Yellowcard

Indoor soccer involves a lot of running

So tonight I went out and played with Adam's indoor soccer team for an exhibition game. I'm still not sure if I'll join them for the full season (if they'll take me) but I'm definitely thinking about it. There was more running and exercise than I expected but surprisingly I wanted to play more. Lots of fun though and if it weren't so expensive I'd do it in a heartbeat.

So this weekend I've got three reffing games already. One is only Atom 'AA' but I get to teach some new linesmen so that'll be good. Plus its always fun to do some little kids games and Atom 'AA' is actually pretty good hockey when you consider how old the kids are. It'll be a bit of a change from the Midget 'AAA' I'm doing tomorrow night.

Ok, so it's been a week

And what a busy week it was. I just wasn't home a whole lot. All weekend I was in Stony Plain at my ref clinic getting recertified. It was a good clinic with lots of hockey discussion and old war stories about what's happened to who in past hockey games. When I wasn't at the clinic I ended up going out to play some pool on Saturday and then was reffing after making my parents supper on Sunday. Pool was good to get back to for the simple fact that I hadn't really played since winning the tournament. A little rusty but I felt it all coming back by the end of the night.

Last week Dan and I also hosted our first poker night. We're playing again this week and though I'd like this to become a weekly event, we'll have to take it week by week. I also heard some good news on Wednesday. My friend Matt popped the question to his longtime girlfriend Karla and of course she said yes. They've been together for just over three years now (one week over that is) and I couldn't be happier for them. All the best to both of them in the future. Well, besides all the school work, that's all the excitement in my life right now. I'm off to bed because I have a feeling the only way I'll get anything done tomorrow is to go into the university nice and early and work there.

Right back into everything

Well, I guess it's official now, I'm right back into everything that I'm used to back here in Alberta. I had 3 hockey games to ref this weekend and I'm back into finishing assignments at the last minute and slacking off otherwise. I'm going to try to get back to writing here more often but through October I'm going to be quite busy. Actually, despite the fact that there will be an insane amount of stuff going on, I'm actually looking forward to most of it. Granted the midterms and assignments (as well as my internship presentation) can't be avoided but the reffing and my trip back to Ottawa have me excited for the next few weeks.

Poker...not until next week

Unfortunately, the plans for poker tomorrow just aren't going to work. I didn't get enough response and I guess I should probably do my assignment that is due on Thursday anyway since I didn't do it tonight. Plus I might end up reffing. Oh well, there's always this weekend or else if I end up going to Jasper we can just start it up on next Wednesday.

So today I realized how much I'm going to actually have to do homework and reading and stuff this semester. October is going to be hell but I guess that's just me trying to get back into school. I managed to pull it off before with more work and even more stuff to keep me busy so I should be able to do it again. It shouldn't even be that bad even with my huge CMPUT 401 group project keeping me busy. Just a little intimidating when you start filling in a planner (yep, I'm actually trying to use one this year) and you don't see more than three days in a row without an assignment or test or something. I know, I know, suck it up...I will.

And on that note, guess I should read a few chapters to catch up tonight before I go to bed.

Reffing season is here again

Well, I reffed my first hockey game today. It's good to be back at it but boy am I out of shape. I wasn't too short of breath but my legs were just killing me. It's also hard to skate when your muscles cramp up on you. Time to go to the gym. Anyway, the game went ok and I'm looking forward to my next one already.

I also played in the Campus Rec Golf tournament yesterday. My team of three came in tied for third with a -10. Pretty impressive but I guess not quite good enough to win. On the first hole I hit a 280 yard drive and then chipped in and got us an eagle! Anyway, it was a good time and I played quite well. I hope to get out again at least once before the end of the season but hopefully it stays warm enough for me to get out a couple of times.

The calm between storms

Well the first week and weekend back at school went off without too much trouble. I managed to get my internship report done and I don't have any other assignments due this week so I have a little relaxation time. With Canada winning the World Cup last night and me having some free time (for now), I'm feeling pretty good.

This weekend I start my reffing and I get to golf in the Campus Rec Texas Scramble tournament. Should be a good weekend.

First week back

Well, the first week back at school is drawing to a close and boy am I burnt out. I really thought that it would calm down a bit once I got moved in and school started but I couldn't have been more wrong. Between my internship report, cleaning the already messy apartment (and still unpacking), volunteering at the university, and trying to find some social time to see friends, I'm as busy as ever.

Orientation was a blast. My group of kids weren't the most energetic but a few of them stuck through to the end and they helped make it lots of fun along with the fact that I had an awesome TF (Team Facilitator) and a great group of OLs (Orientation Leaders) that I was with. I'm also volunteering for Week of Welcome (WOW) and trying to get out to those events. I went to the Sloan concert last night which was pretty cool because it was in a relatively small venue. It's too bad the opening bands weren't that great but Sloan still rocked. I'm going to the football game tonight where hopefully the Eskimos will be able to repeat their performance of the Labour Day game. Too bad it's going to be frickin' freezing but the crowd in College Corner will keep us warm.

I'm off to my one class for the day and then back to the Student's Union building to volunteer some more.

New place and Orientation training

So I've been really busy these past few days. Aside from moving into my new place and trying to finish my internship report, I've been doing Orientation training for the last two days. First, about the new place. It's actually not that bad of an apartment. It's very spacious and the location isn't bad (less than two blocks from West Edmonton Mall). We have a corner basement apartment which means our patio/balcony door leads right out onto the grass outside. This will make it a lot easier to come in and out and means we can have a BBQ *YAY*. I'm still trying to get all my stuff settled and unpacked but I've been so busy with other things that it's been pretty hard.

One of these other things is Orientation training. For those that don't know what the heck I'm talking about, Orientation is the program run at the University of Alberta for first year students to learn about the University. It runs the two days before classes start but the Orientation volunteers (like me) have to go in for two days of training before that. Yes, this means I lose my last long weekend of the summer but it's worth it. We had tons of fun at training this year but I am already burnt out. I know somehow I'll find energy for the next two days (plus the three after that for week of welcome) but hopefully I'll have a good group of kids and I can feed off of that.

Well, I'd better get back to finishing up my internship report (yep, it's still not done) and then get some sleep. It's going to be a long, fun filled day tomorrow.

Back in the Wild Wild West

Well, it's been a crazy 16 months in Ottawa but I'm back in Alberta now. How did it get to be September already? I still remember getting to Ottawa last May...boy does time fly. Some stuff has changed around here but I don't think I'll feel quite at home until after school starts. I'm moving stuff into my new place tonight with Dan. I still actually don't even know the actual address so I'm kind of scared but also kind of excited, aparently it's a nice place but I'll have to post later with my first impressions. Just thought I'd post to say I'm back in E-town and that I'll post again after I get moved in.

The end of one chapter...the beginning of another

Well, today is my last day in Ottawa, I leave early tomorrow morning for Edmonton. I've had a lot of great times here and I've met a lot of great people, some who I'm sure are now friends for life. It's a very bittersweet departure for me. I love my new life here and it's hard to leave, especially leaving some people behind. But at the same time I'm excited to go back home and see all my friends back there and get back to school. Only two more semesters and I'm done so it's kind of exciting that way. It'll also be good to live with Dan again. He and I (who have been best friends since we were born) get along so well together that it's actually easier to live with him than on my own I think, at least it's better anyway. I can't wait to see our new place. Dan's mom aparently said it looks good so it can't be too bad :). Well, for those in Ottawa, this is only see you later, not goodbye. For those in Alberta, I'm coming home, see you there. For those elsewhere, I'll be by your way again sometime in the near future.

Music to check out

Now I'm assuming most of you have heard Yellowcard on Much Music or the radio by now but lately (especially since Warped Tour) I've been on a huge kick listening to them. Ocean Avenue is a great album that I can't seem to get enough of and some of their earlier songs are starting to find their way onto my MP3 player. So check the whole album out, not just the radio songs which, while great songs, aren't the best on the album.

Everybody here is livin'life in fear of fallin' out of line
Tearin' lives apart breakin' lots of hearts just to pass the time
And the eyes get red in the back of your head
This place will make you blind
Put it all behind me and I'll be just fine
-Yellowcard from Back Home

Also, I've been listening to Michael Tolcher again and Something Corporate. Two great softer sounds that seem to mellow me out like a lot of Switchfoot stuff. And then there's always my favorite band, Less Than Jake. Anyway, just thought I'd let everyone know what's firing through the stereo and computer while I'm packing stuff up. Guess it's almost time to pack up the rest of my CDs and I'll have to go on MP3s alone.

When all the things that you've been thinking
has you so confused and so unglued
your head is spinning
well we've all felt the same inside
-Less Than Jake from Is This Thing On?

Packing

I thought I'd take a break from packing to throw out a post. It's really hard to stay on task and pack when the olympics are on. I've been lazing around for half the day watching TV (mostly the olympics) and trying to avoid packing which needs to get done. It's hard to believe all the junk that I've collected in just over a year here. The box of DVDs and CDs is about twice as big as was needed to come here. Good thing Jarett and I are splitting a truck load of stuff or I don't know how I would get half of this stuff home. Well, back to packing.

And I know how it feels to walk out on your own
Maybe someday I will see you again
And you'll look me in my eyes and call me your friend
-Yellowcard from Empty Apartment

Post #50!

Wow, can't believe I've actually posted that much. Especially since I seem to post in spurts. Like in the next week or two don't be surprised if I don't post at all since I'm going to be out of my mind packing stuff to get it moved from Ottawa to Edmonton. Thanks to all the people who actually read this and give me some feedback. I know my life isn't overly exciting but meh, it's my life and it's nice to know some people actually care to read about it. I'll keep posting if you keep reading and if anyone has feedback, even if it's just to tell me how boring this all seems, or ideas on other things I could post let me know. Thanks for reading.

My vacation summary: Part 4

Ok, so it's been quite some time that I've been back so I'd better finish up this summary for those that care...

Sunday we moved across the river to a cousin's cottage where my parents would be staying for the rest of their trip (which is almost over now). This cottage is constantly under renovation but it is a pretty nice place and we're just grateful for someplace free to stay. Sunday evening I got a chance to see my Uncle Cam and Aunt Roxanne along with my little cousin (who is now getting big) Quincy.

Monday just flew by since we just went into Charlottetown and met my Aunt Nancy for lunch as well as met up with Cam, Roxanne, and Quincy again, this time with Quincy's sister Lisa joining the gang this time. Boy have my cousins grown up a bunch since I've seen them last. I guess that's what happens when you're away as long as I was. Monday afternoon we went to Brackley beach for another fun, yet relaxing time at the beach with my cousin Rachel. I forgot how well we seem to get along with so little time getting reaquainted. After a quick supper with Rachel and her boyfriend Brad, my dad and I had to run back to Montague to golf Dundarave while my mom went grocery shopping. Dundarave is definitely not my favorite course but it's still pretty nice and though my game didn't go so well I wouldn't mind trying it again when I have time to prepare for the round. After the round of golf we headed back to Jock and Gwen's and Amy and I had a bonfire on the beach with a few of her friends. Good times and fun with fire.

Tuesday was spent visiting random people and kind of wrapping up the vacation...boy did it just fly by. Tuesday night we went to see one of the plays Nancy was putting on at the Kings Playhouse in Georgetown. This may be the last time "A Nightengale Sang" ever shows so I count myself fortunate to have seen it again. It's a show basically guided by newspaper articles and headlines from World War II and the songs that came from WWII. My older cousins Pam and Christie were in it along with Nancy's roommate and production partner Pam. I forgot how musically talented (at least some of) my family is. Pam and Christie have just amazing voices. So that was kind of the final wrap on my visits. There are a few people that I wish I would have seen but for the most part I got to see who I needed to see and wanted to see and hopefully it won't be so long again before I go "home".

The Winner and New Champion...

I'll post the tail end of my vacation (which no one's probably even interested in anymore) later but right now here's a quick update.

I'm going nuts right now. There aren't enough hours in the day. I have to figure out a way to pack, do my report, and finish up work while trying to see everyone one more time before I leave Ottawa. It's been a blast here and the new life I've created here is hard to leave. Some close friends that I've made here make it very, VERY hard to leave and there will always be good memories. Who knows, I may yet wind up back in O-town after I finish up at the U of A this year.

What else is new? As some that know my regular routine (if you can call it that) might know, it was the end of the pool season last night. We capped it off again with a tree style tournament...and I WON! I basically played the best pool I've ever played and ended up only losing one game out of the 3 best of three matches I played before sweeping Mike (who is a really good player and was playing well) 3-0 in the best of 5 final. Look out to my friends in Alberta, I actually know how to play pool now :)

My vacation summary: Part 3

See, told you it would be soon...

So the first morning we woke up and had breakfast at my uncle and aunt's house. Oh, I forgot to tell the story of their house. It's actually on their old cottage lot and it wasn't built there. They bought it from where it was in Montague and moved it (yep, the whole house) to the cottage lot where they now live. I guess it was quite the spectacle seeing an old house up on a trailer going down the highway. Anyway, they fixed it up really well and built on a little addition and the place looks great. So back to breakfast...mmm, strawberries. After breakfast we went down to the river and since it was high tide we ran back up the bank to the house and grabbed our swimming stuff and went for a dip...THAT'S REFRESHING! So the river is a little cold. At least there wasn't too many jellyfish to watch out for and the seaweed wasn't that bad either. Later that afternoon we went out to Panmure Island beach for a swim and just to play at the beach with my cousin and her two daughters. They've both grown up so much since I saw them last. That day was also my dad's birthday so we went out for supper at Doc Johnson's in Montague and then Amy (my cousin) and I went into town (Charlottetown) with her boyfriend to meet up with her older sister Rachel and her boyfriend. We went out to Dooly's for pool and then East Side Mario's for half price appetizers...mmm. Then it was back to Rachel's for a movie and then back to Montague at 3:00 am. Good thing I got home so early so that I didn't have any problems getting up for golf at Brudenell at 7:00 the next morning .

So my dad and I played Brudenell which in my opinion is the best course on the island and near the top in Canada. It was in such amazing shape and is such a beautiful course that even going +13 on the first 4 holes barely phased me. Luckily I only went +10 on the rest of the course so I managed to salvage it to a normal round out of a really bad start. The rest of the Saturday was spent around the house and visiting with some more relatives until the evening. Saturday night we went out on a relative's fishing boat for a little trip down and then back up the river. It was nice to get out on the water again but unfortunately that's the only time I got out on the water since my uncle's sailboat wasn't in the water yet. Now I think that's a crime against nature (to have a sailboat and not have it in the water) but he is really busy and it will take some time to get it prepared to sail so it's understandable, just unfortunate.

I'll finish up the rest of my vacation story tomorrow hopefully.

My vacation summary: Part 2

So it's been a little bit in coming, and now I've been back for almost a week but now, as promised, here's more about my trip to PEI...

So after meeting up with my parents in the Halifax airport (I'd say Halifax except that the airport is way out of town) and we were confronted with a decision. Do we go to Halifax and see the tallships that were only starting to come in that day or do we go straight to the island? Since it wasn't a nice day at the time and I'd already had a trying morning, we just decided it would be better to head for the ferry. Along the way we stopped at the normal rest stop we always do in Stewiacke to go to the Dairy Queen and get the Digby scallop basket...mmm...fast food scallops. If only the rest of Canadian Dairy Queens and not just those on the East coast had Digby scallops, I might go there more. So we continued to drive north trying to time it right to make the ferry without having to wait long. I guess we took a little longer than we should have at the DQ but we managed to be one of the last 10 cars onto a ferry that arrived only minutes after we got into line to get on. Now some people ask why we would take the ferry when it is just as fast to go around and take the Confederation Bridge (the big stick connecting New Brunswick with PEI) when you're going from Nova Scotia to the East end of the island, but unless you've taken both the ferry and the bridge there you probably wouldn't understand much. For one, it's much nicer to get out and walk around the ferry than sitting in a car, but the main reason for me is just the atmosphere. Getting back to the island by way of the ferry is just a little bit (now forgive the corny feeling here) magical. It just kind of signifies the start of my vacation when I see the red sand shores and the lighthouse coming up.

So the ferry ride was good and I got to visit with my parents some more as well as we saw some seals and a ton of porpoises (which made my mom happy). We stopped at the visitors centre for a map and whatnot and then headed for Montague (my dad's home town on the East end of the island). We got to my uncle and aunt's house in the middle of the afternoon and just spent the rest of the first day visiting and catching up. And for supper...scallop bubbly bake...YUM. In case some of you don't know, scallops are my favorite food. Just so I don't bring it up again, I had scallops some 5 or 6 times while I was back East in various forms and even that wasn't enough. I also ate a lot of strawberries...mmm...almost as good as scallops.

I guess I'll have to continue this in another post later...which will be sooner rather than later unlike this one.

What a weekend

Wow, this weekend just flew by...but boy was it full of stuff. Friday night we went to Ive's house where her dad gave a few of us a lesson in wine tasting. I feel much more cultured now. And those newly aquired methods of wine tasting came in handy on Saturday night when we had a wine and fondue party at France and Ali's apartment. The rest of Saturday, when I wasn't playing soccer, was spent making squares for the dinner. Funny how we crammed like 15 people in their living room but it was a blast. France and Ali always throw a good party. So I crashed there on their couch that night at about 4 in the morning and then got home Sunday around 12:30...oops, too late for soccer practice. So I stayed home and napped/played guitar all afternoon when I really should have been doing my internship report. Then it was time to head out to Wei's for his housewarming BBQ. More good times. Wei and Esther have a nice little townhouse and we packed it with people. My team even won at Cranium (great game). So yeah, fun filled weekend. I'll post more on my vacation later today before I forget all that happened.

My vacation summary: Part 1

Well, I guess I'll take a bit of time and summarize my vacation to PEI. Since this could take a while, I'll probalby do it in a few posts, but then I won't have to repeat the stories to everyone who asks about my trip.

It didn't start off on the best note. I woke up last Thursday morning at some unholy hour (5:00 am) so I could take a cab to the airport for my 7:10 flight. I woke up on time and immediately called and booked a cab to pick me up at 5:30. I had all my stuff packed and I was ready to go by 5:20 so I decided I may as well go downstairs and wait for the cab. After standing and waiting by the elevators for over 10 min I was starting to get worried. My cab was probably waiting downstairs and if the elevators weren't coming after 10 min I wasn't taking the chance that they would come in the next 10...so I took the stairs...with my golf clubs, suitcase (duffle bag for clothes), and my backpack. Down the 16 fligths of stairs to come out of the stairs to the outside just in time to catch my cab before he could drive off. Not the best start but I figured it could only get better...I didn't count on the Air Canada factor.

So I got to the airport in good time and was in line for my ticket by 6:00. Plenty of time right?...wrong. The line up was huge, and Air Canada, in its infinite wisdom, only had 3 ticket "windows" open. So as I stood in line and watched the time go by as other people were pulled out of line so they wouldn't miss their flights. Finally, at about 6:40, they pulled the Halifax flight that I was on out of the line to get checked in (keep in mind they only accept baggage for a flight up to 30 min before the departure time). So at least I got checked in...but then I hadn't been through security yet. As I waited in another huge line I began to worry if I would catch my flight. I finally get to the front of the line with about 5 min before my flight and of course get sent to the metal detector with some guy that doesn't know what "take any items out of your pockets" means. So after watching this guy get scanned several times, each time taking one or two more items out of different (or sometimes the same) pockets, I finally got passed through and ran down the terminal to my gate at the far end. I made the plane only to find that my seat was the one in the back corner of the plane where you can't recline the seat and the armrest is 4 inches or so in from where it should be because the plane starts to curve towards the tail. By the time I got to Halifax I was just happy that the plane didn't crash and that I'd managed to find my mom and dad without any hassle.

Ok, that was the rant and the only bad thing that happened on my vacation so when I post the next part it should be shorter and less bitchy.

Return from the island

Just got back from PEI this morning and man am I ever tired. I've been on the go since 4:00 PEI time. It kind of sucks to fly back from a vacation and have to go straight into work. Luckily I got a ride home from the airport so I didn't have to suffer through a bus ride as well. Anyway, sorry I didn't post while I was gone but I never got close to a computer after the first day so it was kind of hard. I'll post a little report about what I did while on vacation...but for now that will have to wait until later. I'm going to try to stay awake for the last half hour of work and then I'm helping Wei find a BBQ for his new house.

Off to the Island

Ok, this will be fast, mostly because I leave for the airport in 10 minutes. That's right, I'm off to Prince Edward Island for almost a week to visit some relatives (and my parents who are vacationing there as well). It'll be a nice break from work and everything here in Ottawa, though I am missing Tony's 4th birthday (Ive's little brother). Little kid's birthdays are so much fun and we had such a blast last year that I'm sad to say I'm missing it this year. Anyway, I don't know if I'll get time to post from PEI with all the visiting, golfing, and hopefully sleeping that is going on but I'll definitely post when I get back.

I can't believe I forgot this

There is a new Less Than Jake album out! I can't believe I didn't post anything about it. I was just listening to it while packing and I just thought, "these are some awesome songs, wait, I don't think I've told anyone about this". For those of you that don't know who Less Than Jake are, they're only my favorite band. They're an awesome ska/punk band out of Gainsville, Florida and they've been around for quite some time. It's the kind of music that just gets me going no matter what mood I was in. Their new album (B Is For B-Sides) is a collection of b-sides that got cut from their last album. Most of these songs are good enough to even be on Anthem (their last album). Check them out on the web and then go buy an album or two if you like the upbeat music.

"Because is it whatever it takes to get you by? What's the right thing to do in this crazy mixed up life? Sad or sober or stong or with closed eyes. Would you still make all the right decisions? Would you accept someone's forgiveness in this life?

I've read all the books and I still don't have all the answers. And that's fine. Whatever it takes to get you by."
- Less Than Jake from Showbiz? Science? Who Cares?

Bourne again

So I've been meaning to post a few times in the last few days but I keep getting interupted by something else so I'm just going to do it from work.

Last Saturday we went to the Bourne Supremacy after Mike and I went and bought the Bourne Identity special edition.  The special edition isn't much more special than the regular version but it was cheaper and came with a free movie pass to the Bourne Supremacy so I thought why not.  I wouldn't say the new movie is any better or any worse than the first one but it's a bit different.  The car chase is really the only scene I have any problems with.  Don't get me wrong, it's a great scene in general and a way more realistic car chase as far as movies go but the camera is constantly changing and shaking around.  This is obviously a cinematic choice but one that I don't particularily like.  All I can say is go see if for yourself, it is a really good movie. 

Last night I went back to pool league for the first time in a few weeks.  I was a little rusty but somehow I got a little lucky and managed to win the A-tier for the week.  Tournament is coming up in a few weeks so I'd better get some practicing in if I want to make a run at one of the titles again.  This pool league is definitely one of the activities I'm going to miss most in Ottawa.  Not that I can't play pool back in Edmonton but the atmosphere of the league and the people that play in it is almost impossible to duplicate so I probably won't even try, though I definitely will get out to shoot some stick whenever possible.  I mean, if I was rusty after a few weeks, just think of how much my newly found skill at pool will go missing if I don't play for a few months.

The two best words in the English language: de-fault

So we have our first win in my Saturday soccer league. We even managed to beat the top placed team...by default. They didn't have enough players to play so we won 1-0 by default...well, you have to get that first win somehow. We still played (they just borrowed players from some other teams) but I really didn't have the energy. Last night we went to the Heart and Crown for some good times on the patio. Afterwards we decided to go back to Ive's friend Mark's house to watch a movie and drink some more. Good times continued until 4:30...a little late (or early, depending on how you look at it). So I didn't actually get to sleep until 5. And for some reason I was up before 9. Good thing I slept some this afternoon after getting back from car stereo shopping with Mike. His stereo for his car is going to be pretty sweet once it's installed. Tomorrow I plan on cracking down on that report and probably playing some more music, boy have I been regretting not playing more music in the last year.

My weak lips and lungs

So since getting the silent brass and kicking my butt back into playing my trumpet I've realized that I'm really out of shape. Yes the way that you all think, but I'm talking more about my lips and my air capacity. Playing this last week has shown me how much I've let my "skills" slip by not playing much over the last year. I also realized how much I missed playing. Now if I can get my tone back up to an acceptable level and not make myself out of breath playing only one song I'd be a lot happier. All in good time I guess. I should have some time this weekend since everyone seems to be gone away or busy with something else. Besides soccer I really don't have anything planned and it doesn't look like much is going on so I'll probably spend my weekend playing trumpet (and Jay's guitar whilst he's out camping and canoeing) as well as some video games. I should also really get cracking on that internship report...but that's not as much fun so we'll see how much time I make for that.

Actual update

So I just realized I blabbed on about movies for the last post and didn't really say anything else. Well, I hurt my knee again...playing soccer, again. It's not as bad as last year though. It comes and goes and I could probalby get along ok doing almost everything physical like normal but I'm skipping badminton tomorrow (even though I really don't want to) and I'll likely miss soccer on Thursday too. Besides hurting my knee (which happened when I got kicked in the back of the knee for some unknown reason) the game on Sunday went very well. It was a beautiful, hot day (too hot some would say) and the other team didn't have a full lineup and wasn't overly good anyway. So we managed an easy 5-0 win. I didn't get any goals (partly being sidelined didn't help that) but I did manage to get into the action quite a bit. For some reason we play better on Sunday afternoon games then our regular weekday games. I guess we're all just tired from working so hard all day (inside joke description: almost all of us work for the government). We're going to have to get a win on a weeknight sometime (I hope).

Other bit of update (which I meant to post last night but was too tired) is that I went to the Evanesence concert last night. It was AWESOME! Not just Evanesence but the opening bands as well. My one complaint was how long Evanesence played (only 1 hour) but with Breaking Benjamin, Seether, and Three Days Grace each playing before hand, the concert was long enough and had enough great music. Anyway, if you get a chance to see either Three Days Grace or Evanesence live, DO IT. Even Breaking Benjamin was really good (Seether was ok but not totally my cup of tea). Next big concert on the horizon: Warped Tour 2004 in Montreal. Can't wait for that one. Hoepfully it'll be as great as last year's.

I Robot...well not really but you get the point

Ok, so I've seen a few good movies lately and I thought I should fill you in. First, in case you didn't see me mention it before, go see The Terminal. Not long after that I went to see Spiderman 2. Good movie, I liked it better than the first one, but that may also be because I've been playing the game so much (which is the best game I've played in a while too). Next was King Arthur. Now for those that know the fictional legends of King Arthur, this is a little different. They based the movie a bit more on the "real historical" legends rather than the fictional legends made based on "history" (I'm obliged to put the quotes in since I've already been given a hard time for saying that King Arthur might have actually existed in history). But I still liked the movie despite some lackluster comments from some people *cough* Wei and Mike *cough*. It had a decent enough amount of action with a decent enough story. It wasn't as good as I had hoped though (it didn't quite live up to my expectations of it being as good as First Knight). And lastly, in case you hadn't guessed from the post's title, I went to see I Robot tonight. It was a surpisingly good movie. I didn't expect a whole lot from it but I really enjoyed it. Even if you just take away the actual story, it's still interesting to me to see how the movie managed to portray the way life could be in 2035. Very cool. And the plot just adds to it (even if some of you will find it a little far fetched). So yeah, it's been a busy month for movies, and as far as I'm concerned, it won't change anytime soon with The Bourne Supremecy and The Village coming out. Happy movie going!

Silence is deadly

Well I guess I've got a whole week to update so this could be a little long since it has been a busy week. I'm finally back to feeling normal again, all these strange sicknesses have gone away. I'm left with a bit of a runny nose and cough but that's been getting better too. So I started playing badminton again on Wednesday. Frank and Wei invited me to go with them to Nepean to play. Boy am I rusty. And speaking of rusty, I've started to play my trumpet again. I went out yesterday and bought a Silent Brass (hence the title of this post). For those of you that don't know what that is, it's basically a mute that you put in the end of your trumpet that picks up the sound and mutes it almost completely but outputs into a little gizmo that you can plug earphones into. So it's like shoving a microphone into your instrument while muting it. It's been great so far. I'm way out of practice but with this I'll feel more inclined to practice more since I won't be disturbing anyone.

So this weekend/week has been filled with soccer. I had my regular game Thursday (we lost to the top team in the league, no surprise) plus the game Saturday morning (we lost again but I did manage to stop a penalty kick) but this week I also had to ref the early game Saturday (10:00) and we play again this afternoon. So a soccer filled weekend, at least I'm starting to get in shape. I think I pretty much stuck myself with the keeper position on my Saturday team. I've played the last few weeks as the goalie since no one else wanted to and since I did manage to make a few saves (by some fluke), I'm pretty much stuck there for the rest of the season. Not that it's totally bad, it's just that I like playing striker a lot more. Hopefully I'll be up at striker this afternoon. Speaking of which, I'd better get my gear together and head for the bus soon. Updates should come more often now, especially since the blog hosting service has a bunch of new features I want to try out.

Nothing like the shakes

So I got over the fever I had Friday but kept the cold (read: cough and runny nose) but I managed to shake off sickness for only 48 hours or so. Yesterday after poker I wasn't feeling very good and when I went to bed my body was shaking uncontrollably...probably not a good thing. Anyway, didn't get much sleep even including the nap I took after leaving work early today so I'm going to bed now but first I thought I'd fire off a quick update on the weekend.

I got stuck reffing soccer Saturday morning since we needed someone to ref and of course I was stuck holding the bag as captain. Not that I really minded that much but kind of inconvenient when you were quite sick the night before. So after reffing that game we had our normal Saturday morning game and I was stuck in net again. I think I'm going to end up there on the Saturday team for the rest of the year (which I guess is ok but I'm not very good). At least this time I made some saves and we managed to pull off a 0-0 tie. I credit half of that shutout to Marcel because he saved my ass a couple times. In the afternoon I helped Marcel move across town to Jarett's building and then it was off to Mike's for another birthday party. It was a lot of fun. We barbequed chicken on the roof of his parking garage. Yep, that's right, he has a little park on the top of his building's parkade so you can go have a barbeque there. Good times again. I think we'll have to have a birthday party every Saturday night now, even if there isn't a birthday. Sunday was pretty boring for the most part. Cleaned my room (I can see the floor again) and the balcony and then hosted poker (where I lost again) at night. So that pretty much wraps it up, time for bed...at least the shaking stopped after my nap this afternoon so I should be able to sleep tonight.

Wearing sweatpants in the middle of summer

Ok, so I'm sitting here in my sweatshirt and sweatpants with my blanket wrapped around me...and it's July! Why you ask? Because I'm sick! I don't know how this crept up on me. I mean, I went golfing this morning and all that was wrong was a little bit of a cold (sore throat, stuffy nose). When I got home I wasn't feeling any worse, but around 4:30 when I finished watching Old School (thanks to Jay for getting me that movie for my b-day by the way) I felt like crap. It started just with a bit worse of a cough and feeling just generally crappy, but it progressed into my head feeling like it was on fire and the rest of my body shaking and freezing. So of course I went to bed and got all wrapped up in the covers to take a nap. Problems arose when I had some problems stopping coughing and breathing normal long enough to actually fall asleep. At least now I'm starting to feel slightly better. Hopefully when I wake up I'll be well enough for Soccer and Mike's birthday party (happy birthday to Kevin by the way, and belated happy birthday to Mike). Ok, enough whining for one day, I need to try to actually sleep.

Oh, and apologies for the rant if it was a little overboard this morning. I was still fired up about that and you all know how competitive I can get. At least I managed to keep my cool on the field and not do anything stupid.

Another extra note...poker here at 7 on Sunday...let me know if you're coming.

Quick rant

Ok, not much time for this one but since I was planning on posting last night but was too worked up to post, I'll do it now. So we had soccer last night at the RA Centre. We were playing a team that we were tied with in the standings and probably should beat. And I think we probably would have...except for the incompetent ref. Now for those who don't really know me, this seems like a normal complaint that comes up after many of hard to take losses, but for those who do know me, I have a pretty good understanding when it comes to officiating sports. I ref hockey, I have the odd bad game, I can empathise if that's all it was. But this guy was incredible. And it wasn't just our team that thought so, the other team totally agreed. Unfortunately at the end it was my team that had more of the bad calls directed towards us. I mean, we had a player given a red card in the first 10 minutes of the game...and he barely touched the guy he tripped. Not to mention the fact that we almost had a brawl in the last 10 min when one of their players headbutted one of our defenders after a textbook slide tackle. But even if he would have made the proper calls for these obvious fouls, it still doesn't explain the fact that he couldn't call a corner kick/goal kick right all night and never knew which way a throw in was going. Even when one of their players kept saying, "No, I kicked it out, it's their corner kick", he still said goal kick. ARRRGG!! Well despite that I managed to play an alright game considering I had to move back to midfield to cover the guy who was given the red card. Oh well, hopefully soccer tomorrow goes better and there's always next week. At least today I'm not working and instead am going golfing. That'll be nice.

Happy Birthday to Me

Well, another year gone by and another year wiser...yeah, wiser, that's it. It's funny, I don't feel 22. Anyway, not much special going on today, just your average Monday, pool league and all. Besides, we already had my birthday party on Saturday, and what a party. I can definitely say I haven't had a birthday party that good since...well, a long time anyway (which is hard when you've only had 22 of them). We started out by going to the beach to play some volleyball, hang out, and get some sun tans (read: burns). After the afternoon at the beach we found our way over to Ive's house for a BBQ. And wow, did we ever have a lot of food: sausages, hamburgers, pork steaks, beef steaks, salmon steaks, salad, rice, potatoes, buns, veggies, and of course cake and various beverages (including some really yummy Jello shooters)...like I said, lots of food. We capped the night off by heading to Grace O'Malley's. For some reason I really like that place. Perhaps it's because all the times I've gone there they had a kick ass live band and good music playing in between sets. More good times. So I'd like to thank Ive and Anne-Marie for planning it and everyone that could make it out for coming. It was a great to have so many people come out and hopefully everyone else had as good of a time as I did.

Whoops, forgot something

Well, two things actually.

One: Thanks to everyone yesterday, it was a good time and I miss doing stuff like that every weekend like last year. We'll have to do it more often.

Two: My b-day party is Saturday at Mooney's for some v-ball at 1. See you there!

Warning: Long Post

Well since it's been almost a week since I posted last, I figured I should probably update what's been going on...but first, HAPPY (belated) CANADA DAY!

So last Sunday we (Jay, Anne-Marie, Kayla, and I, and eventually Wei) played some beach volleyball at Mooney's. Stupid wind kept blowing too much but we still managed to have some fun and play for a couple hours. The net held up well, I'm happy with my purchase.

Then as the (short) week cranked into full gear we decided to go to Farenheit 9-11 for cheap Tuesday. Unfortunately, the only good theatre that had it playing was on the far east end of the city (and I live in the west). So while the rest of my friends went for supper before the movie, I went to get my hair cut and go shopping before taking the 40 min bus ride to the movie. And even though I managed to beat everyone else there, the show was already sold out so we were left with a decision. I wasn't travelling across the city and not seeing a movie so we decided to go to the new Tom Hanks movie, The Terminal. One word...AWESOME! Even if you aren't a big Tom Hanks fan (like I am), it still is a very well done (and surprisingly funny) movie. Even Jay enjoyed it (and he's disliked almost all the movies we've gone to lately). So go see The Terminal. Ok, there's my one movie recommendation for June (yes I know it's July now).

On Tuesday I also picked up the new Tragically Hip album (good stuff!) and the Spiderman 2 game for Gamecube. So you can guess how I wasted all of Wednesday after work until late at night. Yesterday (Canada Day) was a blast. We (Jay, Anne-Marie, Ive, Antonio(Ive's little brother), and I) went downtown in the afternoon and despite almost getting caught in the rain, we had a great time. Tony's a pretty funny little guy and it was fun just walking around and seeing street performers and all the people. Then at night a bunch of us had a bit of a picnic down at a park next to the river. We got a fire going and cooked some burgers and hotdogs over the fire before playing and sitting around a bit before the fireworks. And the fireworks didn't disappoint. After heading back to the fire and cooking some more marshmallows and hanging out we finally called it quits. Drinking some last night probably wasn't a good idea since I (and almost nobody else) had to work today. Work is almost completely empty, but that is somewhat a good thing since I can get some more work done. Speaking of work, I should probably get back to it.

Wow this really is a long post.

It's Volleyball Time!

So I finally got my volleyball net Friday after work. I had to get Anne-Marie to drive me to the UPS depot to pick it up but at least I finally have it. Unfortunately, the depot is pretty much as far from my place as you can get without being out of Ottawa. But the important thing is that we're going out to Mooney's Beach to play tomorrow (barring any morning rain). Anyone in Ottawa looking to play some volleyball, let me know. I'm up for it almost any time.

More good lyrics that were recently rediscovered:
"I found silence in this space
an on and off again attraction
I need such amazing grace
heaven sweep me away"
- from Busted, by Matchbox Twenty

Nothing like posting from work

Well, the server is down here at work so I thought I'd drop a quick post. I've been seeing quite a few movies lately and with all the good (at least good sounding anyway) movies that are coming out this summer I think my movie going habits will continue. But of course I can't go to all of the movies out there (read don't want to waste the time and money) so I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions on good movies that are out right now. I've already seen Chronicals of Riddick (** out of 5 by my rating), Harry Potter 3 (without reading the books, ***), and the Stepford Wives (***) but I'm wondering what movie I should see next. Do I wait for Spiderman 2 or is there something that should be seen this weekend/next cheap Tuesday. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Oh, and my volleyball net is here!! Well, not here in my possession but in the process of being delivered (as soon as I can meet the UPS guy). Unfortunately, those money sucking people at the border have deemed that I pay about 25% for an import tax. Free trade with the US my ass. I'll pay the fee of course (I do actually want my net) and hopefully there will be nice enough weather for a game this weekend.

Happy Father's Day (revisited)

Whoops. As the title of the last post (and this one) implies, it was of course Father's Day today. So Happy Father's Day to my Dad, my Grandpa, and all the other Dad's out there.

Happy Father's Day

Well it's been a busy week. I finished up my Sociology class for good now, the final was on Friday. All in all the class wasn't bad but the prof was a complete moron. Never have I had a teacher/professor that frustrates me so much (yep, not even the comp sci profs that don't speak english). But at least I passed and got my credits, and I met a couple of nice people as an added bonus.

So this week also turned into a bit of a gambling streak. I was at the Casino du Lac Leamy on Thursday for a work lunch for someone leaving my division, so we played some slots that afternoon (and I won $7.50). Then a bunch of friends had planned a night at the casino on Friday so I lost my winnings from the day before (plus $5), and then Saturday night was a poker tournament at Patrice's (a guy from work) apartment. I made it to the final table but finished out of the money in 4th place. Not bad but I could have played better.

Soccer also kept me busy this weekend. I played two games on Saturday morning (one as a sub for a team that was short players and one for my own team) and then played one with my other team this afternoon. It was a bit more trying today because added to the fatigue from Saturday was the fact that we had no subs for our full length (90 min) game. And since I was midfield, I ran...a lot. But WE WON!! First victory of the season. And a dominating 3-0 win at that. Now if we can just get on a roll...

I really am a computer geek =)

Proof positive that I'm a geek: when I woke up this morning and checked my e-mail, I realized I had way more free space than I had last night. Then I realized that's because Yahoo! increased the size of their e-mail accounts to 100Mb from 6Mb...and the proof that I'm a geek, that actually made me somewhat excited and happy this morning. So if you're looking for an online e-mail account, I would suggest Yahoo now even more than I would have before. See, I'm a geek =).

Another weekend over

Well it's pretty clear that I shouldn't worry too much about updating regularily since only two people even reading my last post/question. I enjoy posting every day or couple of days but if I'm pretty much the only one that reads my own posts then there isn't much point in posting that often is there.

Well this weekend went by pretty quick considering nothing really happened. Had a poker night last night and soccer yesterday morning but the rest of the weekend was either spent studying (so much fun for a weekend) or sitting playing video games or watching TV by myself. Oh, I bought a volleyball net last week so at least soon I'll hopefully get out to enjoy the nice weather more, that is if I can drag anyone out to play with me (it's kind of hard to play volleyball by yourself or with only one other person). Well hopefully everyone had a more eventful weekend than me (hard to get much more lackluster).

"I don't wanna lose my thoughts
Thinking 'bout the alley and the van
Must have been the season's sudden end
Sliding down the dirty road again
Thiking 'bout the rhythms and the band"
- Eric Eggleston Band from Good Neighbour

Question

To: whoever is reading this

I'm just wondering how many people are actually reading this site and what you think? Am I just wasting my time or are people actually reading this from time to time?

I only ask this because of the lack of comments (and e-mail) that I get. Not that I necessarily want comments to every post but with the lack of response from anyone on pretty much anything I'm just wondering if this is even getting read. Either comment on this post or e-mail me at d_beck_er[AT]yahoo.com (replace [AT] with @). Thanks.

The Empire Strikes First

Just bought the new Bad Religion album (see the title of the post) today. Pretty good. Pretty much on par with the rest of their stuff. Good lyrics and some kick ass rhythms. Check it out if you like the punk rock stuff.

"And I know I can't explain the commotion in my brain
Like a terrifying reality deconstructed but inadequately"
-Bad Religion from To Another Abyss (from the newest album of course)

Finger Eleven

Went to the Finger Eleven concert at the Capital City Music Hall tonight with Jay, Larisa, Jason, and Ryan. Awesome concert! The stage presence was amazing and Rick Jackett and James Black (the guitar players) kicked ass. The band that opened, No Motiv, wasn't too bad either. Neither was the local opening band, Exact Match. All in all, I've been blessed with some pretty good music lately (as if you haven't noticed by now), thus, more quotes:

"I'm on my way, on the gold brick path.
I'm on my way, where the sad ones laugh."
-Eric Eggleston from Dames are Swell

"You should try to remember the good times and the high life"
-Finger Eleven from Good Times

And the one that fits me best right now:

"You’ll never find out now
That all these absent elements
Build your comfortable defense stronger still
Like an emptiness"
-Finger Eleven from Absent Elements

My visitor

Well like I said earlier, the lack of posts can be blamed on my sister being here visiting. We had a good time (well I had a good time and I assume she did too). It was good seeing her again. I wish more people would visit but I understand that a lot of people are too busy (or student poor) to take a trip across the country.

Anyway, Julie and I pretty much spent most of our time in the Market and around downtown. One night we went out shopping and touring around, another day we went to the Parliament buildings and the War Museum, and yesterday was spent rollerblading and at the Museum of Civilization before taking her to the airport to leave. I also got to hang out with my cousin Kayla (who I haven't seen in a while though she lives in the big O) and my best friend Dan's sister (who is also my sister's good friend). You know there is actually a lot of good live music going on around Ottawa, even on a Sunday night. We went bar/pub hopping all night (about 5 or 6 places) catching live music before settling on my favorite pub, the Heart and Crown. There we caught the Eric Eggleston Band who absolutely rocked! Good times, good times.

Gap in posts

So I haven't posted for a few days. Well, this one will be mercifully short to boot. Julie (my sister) is in town for a few days so I've been hanging out with her a bit and otherwise I've just been busy and haven't sat down to even e-mail. Today isn't much of an exception: soccer in the morning and Jay's birthday supper at night (I forgot to post that it was his birthday on Wednesday, Happy Birthday Jay). I'll post again as soon as I can to give a real update.

Cleaning sucks

Well I've been busy for the last two nights cleaning my room and generally tidying up the place since Julie (my sister) is coming to visit for a few days starting tomorrow. It'll be good to see her again. I guess it's also good that she's coming since it forces me to clean my room and such. It hasn't been this clean since I moved into this room, actually it wasn't even this clean then.

On another note, I went and saw The Day After Tomorrow yesterday (ok so I took a quick break from cleaning) and it wasn't that bad. As far as mass disaster movies go (Armageddon, Deep Impact, etc) it's probably my new favorite. I suggest you go see it on cheap Tuesday like I did though, it's no super blockbuster worth paying the insane ticket prices for. Well, I leave you with another music quote (I was listening to some stuff while cleaning that I haven't listened to for a while):

"If it's real for me do I have to prove it to you?
Why do revelations fade to cold blue untruths?
It's oh so relative subservient in total to one's perspective."
-Bad Religion (Epiphany)

More music quotes

Just a couple songs that I'm listening to before I drift off to sleep where the lyrics kind of got me. I had to get up and check them again so I figured I might as well share them.

The stars are alive
They dance to the music
Of the deepest emotion
And all of the world
Is singing in time
As the heavens are caving in
Mysterious ways
Why God gave His life
To put motion inside my soul
-Switchfoot (Love is the Movement)

i'm not afraid of tomorrow,
i'm only scared of myself,
feels like my insides are on fire,
and i'm looking through the eyes of someone else
-SR-71 (Tomorrow)

Alright, more music quotes to come probably since I feel music (and lyrics) having more of an effect on me lately.

A little bit about some good music

Ok, so I've been going on and on about some of the music I'm listening to right now. For some reason I'm really back into the emo type stuff and some different other stuff. So I go on about Michael Tolcher, Maroon 5, and Switchfoot...well now I'm going to start singing the praises of Something Corporate. Great band, pretty much emo. I love their stuff. Jay has their latest album ripped and I just bought their previous one for only $10 at HMV. So it's that and Michael Tolcher that are filling my (relatively new) MP3 player right now. I'm reripping them at a lower quality so I can hopefully fit some of my Switchfoot album on there too. Just a suggestion, check out some of these bands if you like that kind of music, you're really missing out. I leave you with this:

Where I used to think that this life would be good,
And I would do things that I thought that I should,
And no one's gonna tear me down.
-Something Corporate (from Cavanaugh Park on Leaving through the Window)

Happy Saturday

...and happy birthday to Mike Tofinetti, that's what I'm up to tonight, Mike's party. This morning we were up pretty early to head to Mooney's Bay to play some beach volleyball. A friend of a friend is off to Africa and held a little volleyball tournament as a fundraiser. It was a good time though a little chilly because of the wind. The wind also played a little havoc with the actual volleyball playing, yes it was that strong, but it couldn't stop us from enjoying a (mostly) sunny Saturday morning. I'm beginning to think I should get a really good net so we can play more often.

"Until it ends, the story is unfolding" - Michael Tolcher

Did you like Troy?

Anyone who has seen the movie Troy (which I thought was pretty good) might enjoy this Penny Arcade cartoon.

The weekend is almost here

For a short week it sure took a while to be finished with, but at least I got a lot done at work. Unfortunately last night, we got taken to the cleaners in soccer. Hopefully next week will be better. Tomorrow: beach volleyball tourney and a friend's (Mike's) 30th birthday (he doesn't want to go quietly into that good night). I think tonight will probably just be simple night at home watching movies and playing video games or something. Maybe I'll just sit and listen to my Michael Tolcher album some more, or the newest Switchfoot album which also rocks in a different from the mainstream kind of way. Have a good weekend everyone.

Midterm is done

My midterm is done! Woo hoo! Don't really know how it went but at least my mark will be up soon. The soccer season for my Stats Can team starts tomorrow night. We're up against one of the top teams from last season. Guess what that means (besides us probably losing)...lots of running for me at midfield. Guess I'll get my workout tomorrow.

Random Quote

Actual quote from my Sociology textbook: "Sociology is a good idea"...gee thanks for that, it really helps me learn sociology.

Quick post

I'm just taking a quick study break (since I have a midterm tomorrow) so I thought I'd post a quick update since I've been busy studying for the last few days. We went to Shrek 2 on the Sunday (by we I mean my friend Mel and my roommates Jay and Anne-Marie). If you haven't gone yet...go see it. Absolutely hilarious. I don't want to judge if it's better than the first one but it's pretty good. Well, back to studying.

Long weekend update

It's hard to believe that the May long weekend is here already. It's funny to think that I've been here in Ottawa for over a year! Well, this long weekend isn't quite the same as last year. Last year as soon as we got here it was PARTY PARTY PARTY. It seems like everyone is taking it a bit easier this summer. But all is not lost, we have a friend from Alberta here visiting right now. So yesterday we went to the Tulip Festival and today I belive there are some museum visits before we go to Shrek 2.

On another happy note, I got my MP3 player on Friday. It rocks! I can actually start jogging and rollerblading now that I have some tunes to listen to. Oh, and something I forgot to mention earlier that is music related: Michael Tolcher's first album came out a couple of weeks ago. I told some people about him before but if you want to check some of his stuff out go to www.michaeltolcher.com. You can listen to some of his stuff on the website. It's just like I warned some of you about Maroon 5 being big and look at them now. This guy will be good if he can get the airplay, check him out. Have a good long weekend everyone.

Poker = fun

Well, it equals more than fun if you're actually winning but when you take into account the fun of playing and the time, losing isn't usually too much of a bad thing...except when you do it 4 weeks in a row! So I'm taking two weeks off of poker (due to a busy next couple weeks, not just because I'm losing), which I haven't done since I started playing regularily in January. In conclusion:

"You gotta know when to hold'em, know when to fold'em, know when to walk away, know when to run. You never count your money, while you're sittin' at the table, they'll be time enough for counting, when the dealing's done"...if you have any money left to count that is.

Someone may actually read this

Well, I expect some people to actually read this now that some people actually know about it. As I tell everyone, I expect this design (and probably address) to change. It all depends on how lazy I am and how much time I get to work on changing it, and we all know how lazy I am. Well, another long day ahead tomorrow. Hopefully my system at work is running ok (after having problems all day today) and I can get through class without falling asleep.

Mondays are busy

Well, another long Monday is done. Early to rise and on the run until late. Between work, class, and pool league, I barely have time to eat let alone rest on Mondays. Tonight wasn't even a very good outing for me at pool, though I did play a mean game of snooker after the league finished.

On another note, yesterday I shot my best round of 18 ever. Not bad for the first round of golf of the year. 41+41=82(which is +6,+6 for +12). Better yet(I guess) I did that without any birdies which means I played pretty consistent. And what a beautiful day for golfing. Hopefully this Friday is that nice and I get to go out again.

Birthday Wishes

On another note: there has been a few birthdays lately. So happy birthday to France and my little (or not so much anymore) sister Julie.

Kind of wimpy

So I'm a wimp...so what? So getting up to play soccer at 9 which turned out to be a practice, not a game like it was promised to be, was probably a bad idea today. Unlike previous soccer practices and games, it wasn't my muscles that hurt. That's the good news. The bad news was that the bottom of my feet (more specifically my arches) hurt like hell. I could barely (read couldn't) walk and had problems just standing all day. Good thing I'm golfing tomorrow morning (my feet are feeling better now and I can actually walk though I see a power cart in my future).

Summer is in the air

Well today officially clinches it: winter is gone for another year (well until October when the snow flies again). It was 28 degrees here (in Ottawa)! What a beautiful day. Unfortunately I didn't go to soccer practice tonight due to the heavy thunderstorm and rain warning (and it did rain so it's probably good I didn't go). But with the weather changing and the A/C coming on soon (hopefully), it's definitely time to start wearing shorts (which I did today). With soccer starting to get rolling, including me getting a goal in our first exhibition game, I'm spending more time outdoors. Now all I have to do to officially kick off summer is get in a round of golf...which should happen on Sunday. Well, enjoy the nice weather if you have it.

Hello to the World

Well, I finally made a blog. Could be just a waste of time but you never know, someone might actually read this from time to time. I don't know yet how often I'll post or what I'll post but I figured a little presence on the the net isn't such a bad thing.