bone in sub

i watched ‘rambo’ and enjoyed the incredibly thin plot, so i downloaded an episode of ‘cops’ for more mindless viewing while i wait for the new episode of Dexter to pre. as i’m watching the theme song & intro, my upstairs neighbor’s security alarm goes off - which sounds exactly like a siren. for about 30 seconds i was thinking “WOW not only is that really annoying, the stereo pan is EXTREME!” until i couldn’t believe it anymore and paused the show. what a coincidence.

and then.

today at no frills i was walking around thinking of things i hadn’t eaten in a long time. i walk through bread zone “oh hey, i haven’t eaten an english muffin in about four years. i’ll buy a 36-pack.”. i’m watching the new dexter (shortly after cops), and 7 minutes into they’re talking about english muffins. amazing!

i love how many hilarious little coincidences there are in my life.

i obviously hadn’t thought about it at all since sending it but three years ago, on nov. 13th 2005, i sent an ‘email time capsule’ through forbes.com. as soon as i got it, i immediately remember where i was, what i was wearing, and the weather outside when i sent it.

here are some excerpts:

broke your collarbone and didn’t practice
tonight you were avoiding studying for your first psychology 100 term test
reading as many zeppelin books as you can get your hands on and listening to more zeppelin than everything else combined.
you liked “working for the weekend”.
busted for downloading photoshop.
you and your roommate ryan roll oranges down the second floor hallway of margaret addison
your family has stopped supporting you indefinitely because of your choice in women. you have 50 dollars in your wallet and 13.84 in the bank.

it’s like 4 times longer than that, but a bunch of it was some nonsense about girls. not only is it crazy to have such a visceral look back to a specific point in time, it’s very surreal how i am a completely different person now. reading my old thoughts on emotions is quite a trip!

i think i also set it send it in 5 years, 10 years, and 20 years. i seriously doubt i’ll have the same gmail account in 7 years, but who knows? i still get email from an 8-year-old account thanks to forwarding…

i feel like i haven’t written anything in weeks, even though it’s been five days. i’ve been out a lot - other than my insane drug-addled paper writing marathon on monday i haven’t been home much.

i DESTROYED my film paper. i did a little bit of outlining on sunday night, relaxed all day monday until about 10pm, and then got going. this is how i do it every time, i’m amazing at it. this time i took a little nap around 6:30 and woke up at 7, and it was one of the weirdest sleeps i’ve ever taken. i was really alert and my heart was beating SO FAST. i had some crazy little dreams, but unfortunately i didn’t remember any. woke up, finished the shot-by-shot and ate some breakfast, blasted out a 750-word written account in 20 minutes, and went to school. wicked

the only weird thing is i’m somehow not tired yet. usually i feel like i need to sleep every 36 hours, but i’m going strong. i’m going to read in bed a little bit, i haven’t done that in months.

i’m losing my ability to judge novembeard, i feel like i can’t tell if it looks good or not. i do like the idea of growing a real beard for winter. i guess i’ll keep going!

ugh, right as i start actually taking care of business/myself, the last couple weeks of bad eating/drinking/sleeping catch up with me. i never get sick, and today i was seriously nauseous ALL DAY. well, it’s either my living habits or just the undercooked bacon for breakfast. i actually got up early just to watch some wcg live and the second match started while i was cooking so i rushed it a bit. i did make an amazing breakfast though, too bad i was sick for the rest of the day. i couldn’t even go to hockey tonight.

unprovoked novembeard comments - 4

rehearsals were great though, i’m playing timpani for the brahms violin concerto which is a sick little part that involves rocking out on A and D. now i do i love tough stuff with ridiculous tuning every 6 bars (der rosenkavalier overture is one of my favorite pieces i’ve ever played), but it’s really nice to sit back and focus on technique and sound and play some timpani.

MY PHONE STILL DOESN’T WORK. if it’s not working by tomorrow after school i’m going back to the store to see what’s up, because i obviously can’t call tech support. also my phone has very, very low latency on key commands, compared to my old one that was at maybe 300ms. it’s crazy how much i learned to adapt to it, i’m still kind of weirded out when i type numbers and they go in….instantly. this is 2008.

MAN i got a lot done today even though i woke up at 11. laundry, trip to shopper’s, grocery shopping, huge cleanup of my place, and new phone/plan!

i hadn’t bought a big load of groceries in like 3 weeks…the occasional milk or eggs since then but not a real 3-bags-full. it was actually great to just hang out and cook in my underwear with loud music instead of going out or getting takeout like i’ve been doing for the past 2 weeks. part of the grocery issue was that i had a big mess piling up from when i was really busy last week, it’s another feedback loop: the more mess and dishes pile up in addition to Life Things, the less i want to clean them, the less i want to go do errands like get groceries, which contributes to a general lack of energy. this happens to me once every couple months and i don’t like it, but it is especially satisfying to have a day like today where i get going again.

i spent a good 3 hours cleaning tonight and it feels AWESOME. i want to have a party or something.

how’s this for efficiency: while my laundry was in the dryer, i stopped by a phone place on the way to getting groceries. cellphones.ca has a pretty cool comparison feature and i ended up picking solo mobile. koodo kind of looked better but it’s brand new, and never buy version 1.0 of anything. got a better/more sensible plan than what i had on primus (blegh) plus a new phone. so much nicer than my old garbage motorola. well my old phone actually survived some insane situations (big drops, lots of water) and we went through tough times and good times together. it also had the most insane unshielded interference, which i guess was why i always had better reception than anybody else. goodbye motorola v190.

it’s way, way thinner than the old one which will be nice when i’m wearing tight pants, my old phone looked kind of silly in my pocket. i don’t mean to get all hardocp but i don’t really get new tech stuff very often anymore and it’s exciting! the new phone came with a 64mb microsd card, charger, AND usb->proprietary cable. generous! i’ve already thrown music and stuff on it, which i did not expect to be able to do without some hacking. it also has a camera, something i’ve never had in a phone before. it’s not horrible (for a phone camera), check it:

i’m switching cell phone providers sometime (maybe today? depends on number portability), and this just made me laugh:

35 cents per square minute.

last night was kind of fun, i was going to go to the election party at the gladstone, but as i was leaving her house, my aunt was just coming from her book reading there and described at as “new years’ eve with a lineup”. i just wanted to sit down and watch tv, so i came home and drank beer and streamed msnbc instead. i’m now convinced that instead of getting hangovers i wake up more refreshed than normal. maybe because of the extra calories?

“novembeard” is going OK so far, i don’t look gross…yet. i’m still not sure i’ll have enough moustache coverage to not look white trash, i think i’ll know by friday. i’m pleasantly surprised that my sideburns and chin are connecting, i think that’s called a ‘beard’. my neck itches.

orchestra started again yesterday. it’s funny, i didn’t play with an orchestra for three years, and it was great getting back into it in september. because of opera there was no orchestra for the month of october (well, except some stupid reading sessions that were just a pain), and after that one month i missed it waaaay more than i realize. after rehearsal yesterday i was totally elated to be back into it. it helps that we’re playing bernstein’s ‘overture to ‘candide”, a hilarious & fun piece. i did my thing again where i’m called to play my part solo in front of the whole orchestra and i play it better than i ever have.

i’ve gone to all of my classes so far this year except film. i haven’t been to film since mid-september. this isn’t a problem, in first year i took psych100 (supposedly a really hard ‘weeding-out’ course?) and i went to maybe 8 classes in total and got a high B in the course. studying consisted of getting to the exams 20 minutes early and skimming the textbook. a couple psych majors in my residence didn’t believe me when i told them about my attendance/grade juxtaposition. i don’t think school has ever been a challenge for me, i cannot empathize with people who have serious school-related stress issues. i totally understand what it’s like to have no free time or a recital or something, but school is just EASY.

film though, last week i realized there’s a paper due sometime soon and panicked, walked quickly to a computer and checked the syllabus - it’s due the 11th. i made myself a reminder and every time i saw it i felt sick, because i have to write a paper on a course i know nothing about. this morning i read the actual assignment outline, and it’s SO EASY. wicked! i know what i’m doing on monday. the only other actual work i have to do this semester is watch about 11 movies before the december 6th exam. that can’t be so bad. i’ll get a pizza and a case of coke and spend 2 days in bed watching art films.

i want to go to the doctor just because i haven’t had a physical in ages and i’m curious. unfortunately i don’t really know how it works up here in canada! i know about walk-ins, but so many of those look incredibly sketchy and gross. i think i’ll find one in the financial district, hopefully that will be nicer?

since my only good jeans got really muddy on halloween, i had to wear my tight pants yesterday even though it was really cold. i really didn’t want to be freezing on the ride to work, so i wore long johns. they’re really comfortable but i feel so goofy wearing them anywhere other than at home.

i’m trying no-shave november/”novembeard”. i haven’t ever gone more than 3 or 4 days without shaving so it will be uncharted waters! i’ll be trying to go the whole month but i can imagine thinking “wow that looks gross” on like, thursday, and just giving up. it’s funny remembering the days (age 16?) when i didn’t care what i looked like.

i played some pool last night. i’m pretty bad (mainly because i play about 5 games a year), but the first game we played i beat someone who is actually very good. i made some perfect shots. from then on i played horribly. seriously though, that first game was the best game of pool in my life.

tomorrow night is election night! in 2000 i really didn’t care, in 2004 i was taking two political science courses concurrently so i was SUPER into it. this time i’m even more into it, seeing as i’m not 17 and self-absorbed anymore. unfortunately i’m watching my cousin that night, but after i get him to bed i’ll have access to a TV (something i don’t have at home!). i want to go to one of those “election night parties for americans living in toronto” after my aunt & uncle get home or something. maybe just a bar with a big tv.

this guy is really scary:

halloween next year?

my costume was super fun to wear, the whole night was really fun. walking down bloor st. was amazing, even though nobody knew who fonejacker was i was still a scary-looking terrorist. later on in the night i was leaving a bar and some dude asks me “who are you supposed to be, a chechnyan terrorist?” i didn’t want to explain so i just said yes, at which point he grabs my arm and gets all tough and asks me “you think that’s funny?!”, to which i also said “yep!”. he was so taken aback by my answer that he let me go and didn’t say anything.

i still look pretty young so if i shaved that day i usually get carded unless it’s a dive bar…it was kind of funny to order drinks while wearing a ski mask and sunglasses. nobody ever asked me to take it off, or for id!

sometime around midnight i was walking across king’s college field, the huge one in front of convocation hall. i got to a muddy part (i didn’t think it would be so muddy this early in the year) and started running, and my awesome prop phone fell out of my pocket. i didn’t notice this until i was out of the mud, so trying to find a black phone in the mud, in the dark, at midnight on halloween was impossible. i wrote it off and got a little bit sad about my loss.

the next morning was SUPER weird - i sat bolt upright at 6:45am, completely sober and awake…15 minutes before my alarm went off. i don’t know when i got home but i estimate 3am or later. my metabolism is insane, i still barely believe i metabolized everything that quickly.

in the shower i put on young americans and sang the background vocals. what a great start to my day. when i got out of the shower i found that my pants and shoes were completely covered in mud, presumably from when i lost my phone.

this reminded me of the phone, so i left for work 10 minutes early and stopped by the field on the way there. i looked around for about 5 minutes..and FOUND IT! i was so incredibly happy for the next hour. it’s not about ten dollars, or the phone itself, just the concept i guess. actually i’m still not sure why that made me so happy. there was a chocolate bar in the battery compartment that i ate when i got to work.

the whole debacle made me consider that emotions might be a zero-sum game for some people. i know it’s not for me, i don’t really get angry or sad often but i get excited and happy frequently. i think for some people though, equal opposites have to occur? it’s a weird thought.

i also like how the mcdonald’s monopoly posters have pictures of last year’s winners, followed by things like “Winner, $1000000, Monopoly 2007″. the last part is hilarious to me, it’s like monopoly is a month or a season. you can attribute quotes to that time: “something stupid” - celebrity, monopoly 2007. or you can be like, ‘how was your monopoly? it went really fast for me.’

twice in the last couple weeks i’ve walked past construction workers using handheld circular saws (?). the sound of them moving up or down their harmonic series as they spin respectively is really, really cool.

today at school i made a drumstick explode. i attribute this to 2 months of working out:

i walked for about 3 hours today - a lot considering i usually bike. i did it for fun - school to bank (needed a new card) to chipotle (delicious) to queen st. to chinatown back to school. at chipotle some girls showed up dressed like burritos and got free food. i forgot about this and wished i had brought some foil with me. on queen st. i didn’t find any suitable hats at either black market, but in active surplus i found both fridge magnets AND a perfect handset/old cell-style phone. it was $25 but i talked him down to $10 because i didn’t need the base or the battery. sick. on my way to kensington market i just happened to walk past a street kiosk selling….burgundy ski masks. good enough! 13 dollars later (the ski mask was THREE DOLLARS) i had a complete costume.

came home, bought some beer and here we are.

i’m still way backlogged in updating my dream journal (i have a pre-journal to write down the rough ideas of the dreams before i write down the whole things now, so silly) but i just had the best dream.

i had a never-ending wrap. it was normal sized, like maybe 8 inches long, but somehow i never got past the halfway point. it had a nice flour tortilla outside and the inside kept changing to all these ’sandwiches’ that i love - tuna melt, chicken salad, turkey & cheese, salmon handroll, chicken caesar, reuben, burrito - as i ate more of it. it was always the appropriate temperature (tuna melt & burrito were hot, everything else cold) and it never went bad so i had a custom case made for it and kept it in my backpack.

yep, that’s pretty much a best-case scenario for my life. i woke up really hungry and made a pound (precooked weight) of spaghetti, what a let-down.

still don’t know what i’m doing for halloween…which is in 12 hours. woop!