Adventures of a Guelphite

Today is the first day I felt the coming winter here. My hands were cold all day. Damn the Japanese for their lack of central heating. Anyway, came home and saw this video. Love, love it! It warmed me up in a heartbeat. I simply adore them.

There isn't a poppy in sight. Anywhere. There are no boy scouts or girl scouts standing outside the local grocery store in their uniforms with boxes in hand. If I wanted one at this point, I'd probably have to get it shipped over.

Today there was no minute of silence at 11:00. In fact, I was in the middle of teaching a class when it came and went.

Remembrance Day has always been an important part of my life, my family pride and being Canadian and today I missed it. A lot.

This is one of the many times I've had to sit up and take notice that yes, I'm in Japan and no, they don't do things the same as back home. However, this is the first time that it's bothered me.

But at the very least I got to read a really interesting article that my Dad sent over.

network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/posted/archive/2009/11/10/pow-diary-excerpts-god-how-these-bastardly-germans-push-you-around.aspx

It's transcripts from a Canadian POW's diary that he wrote during the end of the Second World War. He lived to see his liberation from a German POW camp and the dirty nasty stuff no one talks about that happened after the cease fire was called.

I invite you all to read it. It's rather fitting today, of all days, I think. What these guys went through and their sheer will to survive will never cease to amaze me, or make me proud that we are from the same soil.

...you'll stay up till 3 in the morning to help me talk out my thesis conclusion. :)

Am presently chilling on a futon & listening to my first typhoon raging outside. It would seem the powers at be agree with my philosophy of ﾞGo big or go homeﾞ. My first typhoon isn't just any run of the mill typhoon-it's a SUPER typhoon! hahaha

Anyhoodle the gods are on my side-this thing will blow past just in time for me to fly to the boy's place.

I've found a true gem in him. Last time he visited he chilled out with me in my living room one night and watched anime - no complaints!

He's even perused Inuyasha. I laughed my ass of when I tried explaining who Shippo was and heard in response: ﾞShippo? Yeah I know him. That annoying little squirrel fucker! He's so useless! He just sits around complaining all the time.ﾞ

I thought this was a pretty decided opinion for someone who only caught a few eps on Adult Swim. hahaha!

Anyway, I hear stuff crashing and banging outside so best go and investigate. Hopefully I won't have floated away by tomorrow!

I just finished giving Modernboys Moderngirls's first full length album - "Might As Well Break It" a listen. I've been listening to them for a while, since my DJ days at UWO, so I was pretty excited to see that they had an album out. I have to admit though, I was a bit disappointed.

It started off well enough with their opening single, "My Baby Says Boy, Don't You Ever Go" and I really enjoyed "A Hammond Organ Singing" but the rest I found myself flicking through.

To be honest, I miss the dance rock. I miss the sexy edge Aimee Mazzuca's vocals contributed to the band. I miss how they reminded me of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. They are without a doubt a talented group of musicians, but I'm still finding myself disappointed.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but a complete departure from their previous sound and dynamic wasn't it.

In the meantime I suppose I can console myself by listening to Hey Ocean! (who never fails to get old) and the new Lights album. I'll bring some of this awesome Canadian music to Japan if it's the last thing I do :)

"I love every nerdy inch of you."

He has no idea how long I have searched for just that.

No longer having to apologize for my nerdy tendencies because I've found someone who understands them implicitly (because they share them too!) is an incredible feeling.

I am blissfully happy today and will remain so for at least the next couple weeks :)

And how was your day?

I'm writing this with a summer thunderstorm brewing outside. I feel like I've been waiting all year for this moment and it's a perfect night for it. The Daily Show is on in the background and I'm happily making plans for my weekend jaunt to NYC. I've never been to the Big Apple before so any suggestions you readers would like to throw my way would be appreciated ;) At the very least I'll have some good company there with me, and who could possibly complain about that?

This is turning out to be quite the summer of travel and adventures - Scotland, NYC, Japan... In January, when I predicted that 2009 would be one of the best years of my life I wasn't kidding! At the moment, despite the return of kidney pains, a thesis still hanging over my head and the amount of preparation I need to do before heading to Japan August 1st, I'm feeling perfectly content with life and am very much looking forward to the months ahead.

Having lost about 10 lbs I'm feeling rather good about myself too. Another 16 and I'll be at my goal weight, but will be moving in baby steps towards that goal. I ended up stumbling across this great little community on LJ today which tickles my inner Fashionista pink with glee

whatiwore . Hopefully I'll be able to contribute something of my own someday in the near future and get some ideas.

Today I was commissioned to write a piece of erotica for a friend. It'll be an interesting experiment since I haven't let anyone read my erotica as of yet and am not quite sure how it will be received. I'm going to remain optimistic though and hopefully, with a bit of luck, I'll be able to whip up a sensational piece of scintillating erotica for his reading pleasure.

Alright, I really should head to bed. While talking dirty about capitalism has been fun, I still have to answer to THE MAN in the morning.

Night all,

XO

Biked almost 9 km today about town on this beautiful sunny day and burned around 500 calories whilst doing it. This whole staying away from the computer plan, not such a bad thing.

Am headed to dinner tonight with Mom and Sara - a delayed part of our joint Mother's Day present. After which will possibly head to Toronto for Courtney's goodbye party. Rude Rhonda is moving to England forthwith to set up shop and make a fresh start. Good for her :) She can make it happen, I'm sure of it.

Decided today that I'm buying a car - this one to be exact:

Spoke with a fine lady at the Hyundai dealership, went for a test drive and will be returning tomorrow with the D-A-D to go over the finer details of said purchase. This will be my first car and after nearly 25 years I think it's about time. It is of course an investment piece since I will be moving come August 1st to Japan and said car can't tow along, but that's fine with me. I'll need a car for when I return and so long as I continue making payments on it while I'm gone I will have it paid off by the time I return. Excellent :)

I particularly liked how the first gentlemen I saw at the dealership gave me the side eye as I strolled through the door, sized me up in two seconds and determined that I wasn't worth his time. His condescending "Can I help you?" was particularly nice as was the irony of how he greeted the older gentleman who came through the door 3 minutes after me: "Oh! Hello sir! Welcome to Hyundai, how can I help you today?" Old man won't be buying a car, I could tell just by looking at him. I, however, will. Condescending jackass lost himself a sale. Oh well! *sing song*

Have a fabulous weekend everyone. Mine will be busy, but hopefully highly productive.

*prances off*

Ciao!

So the cooking frenzy has continued. Made a delicious Tikka Masala today and baked a couple batches of chocolate cupcakes last night. The guys at work loved them! My "brother" was even complaining that he only got one. Hahaha They're such a nice bunch.

(Don't you just wanna eat one?)

In other random news, had my first Japanese Language lesson today with Kaori-san. She's super nice and apparently very impressed with how fast I learn. W00t! I just hope I retain some of what I learned on Thursday when I go for my next lesson.

I'm thinking if I can go Tuesday and Thursday every week till I leave I should be able to pick up enough Japanese to get by in my first little bit there. I love the way she teaches her lessons too. She speaks to you in Japanese pretty much the entire time unless you really don't understand something. It's a great way to get you used to the phrasing and the different words and how they're used. I think picking up an ear for what's being said is almost as hard as learning how to say it properly so I like how I'm getting exposure that way.

After a 10 hour day at work though, going to 2 hours of class leaves me beat. I've gotta get some sleep.

Sweet dreams everyone ;)

After work today, I stopped in at the Police Station to get my Criminal Record check done for JET. On the way home I thought I'd visit my favourite sushi place for dinner - a little place called Kenki Sushi

I hadn't had lunch at all since work was so busy, so by the time I got there I was STARVING. Thankfully I was the only customer there. I've been to this place many times, but this is the first time I had the chance to have a long discussion with the owners - Tony and Jen. They told me about moving here from S. Korea after they got married in 1984 (coincidentally, the year I was born hahaha) and a bit about S. Korea too.

When I told them that I was heading to Japan to teach English and they got pretty excited and said I should go to S. Korea for a few months once I'm done in Japan and teach there too. Jan seems to think that because of my 'nice smile' I will be a very popular teacher in Japan hahaha I hope she's right ;)

Judging by how nice this couple is, if the rest of Korea is even half as nice I might just have to make the trip there before heading home to Canada :)

It's interesting to me that a guy with a degree in civil engineering and a woman with a degree in social work have wound up in my little home town with their own, very successful, sushi restaurant. They're certainly not alone in this, but I'm glad to see they've done well for themselves here too. I've known about their little place for years, but this was the first time that I really got the chance to learn about the people who run it and I'm glad I did. They're total sweethearts.

Oh, and the sushi was delicious too :)

I got a message in my inbox the other day from the editor of a travel guide. They found some of the photos I took in Scotland last year on Flickr and asked my permission to use them in their next publication. I thought it might have been a scam but then I checked into it and it's actually legit. Pretty snazzy! I said yes, of course. I think it comes out in May? In any case, for those who are curious the pics can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/golangus/sets/72157614766077700/

http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090417/baby_al_090417/20090417/?hub=TorontoNewHome

This makes me sick.

In Canada we have laws that allow anyone (ANYONE) to drop a baby/child off at a "safe" place (hospital, fire hall, police station, church, etc.) NO QUESTIONS ASKED.

There is absolutely no excuse for what these two did. Callous. Selfish. Disturbed.

They abandoned their baby in the middle of winter in an exposed stairwell with no expectation that she would be found before she died of exposure.

Thank goodness for Good Samaritans and people willing to step up to the plate. Thanks to them the little girl is safe and in a loving home. With any luck she'll never see these two monsters again.

What did they get for their crime? A $300 fine and a slap on the wrist sentence of "time served" (which amounted to 11 months total).

Good to know the safety of a child is worth so little. Congrats to the Canadian justice system for being complete retards. If there are extenuating circumstances that somehow justify this sentence, I know I'd sure like to hear them.

I'm in a raging bitch of a mood today. Be warned world - do not cross me or feel my wrath!

Not eating carbs for a day, working a 10 hour shift and taking a brand new set of anti-pregnancy hormones that make me ready to bawl at the drop of a hat will do that to a person.

Seriously, I was walking around the grocery store at lunch today looking for pumpkin seeds and I couldn't find them. I ALMOST CRIED because I couldn't find pumpkin seeds! For fuck's sakes! I've also packed on 10 lbs in a month as a result of taking these stupid pills (hence my low carb diet). Not fun.

I'm completely useless when I'm a raging bitch. Thank god for Mike Holmes and Holmes on Homes. Hearing him talk for an hour is actually very soothing. He's become a nice part of my evening routine. Home, Holmes on Homes, Law & Order SVU, (gym), bed. :)

I might just have to take a nap earlier than expected. Sometimes it does wonders for your mood. As does a fierce 1000 calorie burning workout. When you're that exhausted, you're just too pooped to be pissy. Hmmm...we shall see.

Have a good night all! Hope you're inner raging bitch is on a leash hahahaha

*happy dance*

Thanks everyone for the votes of confidence. They mean a lot to me :)

Validation feels so damn GOOD! YAY!

Now, off to dinner to celebrate!

You're turning into a douche. Maybe you don't even realize it, or maybe you do. Or maybe it's just me. But you're turning into one of those kinds of people I can't stand to be around. It's not just the raised eyebrows and impatient expression on your face when we talk. It's the blatant, obvious attempts to show me up somehow, to make me see that you're okay without me and doing just fine. You want to prove to me that you've moved on, and that's just fine, but you can do that without turning into a dick.

To be perfectly blunt, my friend, without your "nice guy" personality you don't have much.

FYI.

I didn't watch the Junos on the weekend. Not such a fan of Nickleback, really. Anyhow, I did catch up via the paper this morning with who won and whatnot. Mostly it was the usual suspects until I saw the winner of "Best New Artist".

LIGHTS!

Girlfriend did it! I knew she was going places :) Love that girl. She's sweeter than icing on cupcakes and just as delicious.

I hope she's celebrating in style today.

Channel 81-10 - a new channel I now get thanks to bringing my TV home from Guelph and putting it up in the living room. It looks fantastic, all streamlined in its flat screen way. Had the big move out today. Spent most of yesterday and all today packing/cleaning etc. That place was spotless by the time I left, but I took pictures anyhow. Made me feel quite independent to be moving myself with no help from a man. It was quite a bit of work though. Wouldn't recommend it. At least I got some exercise though... speaking of which will be exercising/dieting starting Tuesday. Must must get on this!

Anyhow, right, back to the original point of this post.

So I'm flicking through my new channels, most of which are blank and come across 81-10. What is this mystery channel? Why does 81 need 10 separate channels after it? Curious, I watched and waited. What came on but the new 'Twilight' movie. I couldn't believe my eyes. No way was this on TV yet! Eager and giddy like a school girl I hunkered down for a good showing. Now, I don't know about the stations YOU watch but apparently channel 81-10 is run by a Twilight fan. I say this not only because the movie was playing a mere week after being released on DVD, but also, because every intimate scene featuring Edward and Bella was rewound and replayed. Every. Single. One. The Meadow - saw it twice. The super hot kiss scene? FIVE TIMES! Awesome. I was loving it :D That was until after the baseball scene the movie magically ended and went to black screen. I've been watching the screen for a few mins now hoping it comes back but so far, nadda. Bummer but still, it was awesome while it lasted. I hope you all had a fabulous Sunday and enjoyed this complete stream of consciousness post. I didn't even make paragraphs. Hahahaha!

XO

Your Sexuality is Canadian

The average Canadian first has sex at age 17.
And the average number of partners is 11.
Canadians think that the sexiest profession is being a firefighter.
12% of Canadians have had sex with their best friend's partner.

What's on your list of dealbreakers when it comes to romantic relationships?

View 501 Answers

I had a dream just before I woke up this morning that Michelle Obama was in my house at home and we were baking white chocolate macadamia nut cookies together. I was showing her how to make ice cream cookies. Well damn if I didn't wake up with the biggest craving for ice cream cookies ever. I could still smell the cookies. Though why it had to be Michelle Obama baking them with me I don't think I'll ever know. For the record, she was a very nice lady and thoroughly pleasant to have in my company.

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