December 2006 Archives

I saw this group in my news feed and I'm not even sure how I should approach this. Sure it's filed under 'Just For Fun', but it's the same kind of fun that some of my idiot straight friends have when they throw around derogatory terms and think it's ok because they're not actually racist, or sexist, or homophobic. Ya, figure that logic out and explain it to me. Only, it will never happen because they are in reality living in their own delusions.

There are not words that I can properly form in my brain to explain how I feel about this stupid group. I mean, first of all every member is of white European descent. EVERY SINGLE ONE. Like way to live up to your own ironic stereotype.

I can only speak for history in Korea, where 'V' is for 'Victory' but that's as far as I can take you. And I don't even want to take you that far.

I feel like there is nothing of interest for me to share. That's so sad.

Yesterday, after a small freak out, I phoned Sarah and told her that we were going shopping for Boxing Day. For those of you who don't know Sarah here's a quick back-story: We met in grade 2, shortly after I had moved to Oakville from Toronto. I had a crush on her in grade 4; it didn't work out.

We decided to go to Sherway because my mom had given me giftcards to spend there. That ended up being a really stupid decision for two reasons. First, neither of us really wanted to go shopping, and second, it was Sherway on BOXING DAY. Sherway is usually nuts on a regular day. Shopping day means it gets packed with stupid people trying to find a great deal on something expensive. Not pleasant.

We drove a full circle around the parking lot before giving up. There were cars parked on the sidewalks, SUVs parked on the grass, and vans just stopped on the road in some places. So we decided to go to the Eaton Centre again. There wasn't anything I really wanted to buy there either but I figured we would go. As we were driving out of the parking lot, I turned to Sarah to ask a life changing question.

"On a scale from one to very, very mad, how mad do you think my mother would get if I bought a MacBook?" A quick phone call to my mother gave me the answer (100), and told me to park across from Chestnut. When I got there I realised that the MacBook I wanted was much less than I had originally quoted today, and that I qualified for student discounts on it, the .mac account, and the AppleCare program thing. So my mind was made up. I was doing this.

I phoned my mother and told her. Only, things didn't go as planned. Originally I planned on paying with my AMEX. As it was going through they had to call for authorisation. My bill was going to be too big, and I hadn't paid Novembers which was due tomorrow (now today). Not good.

Well, I could get a certified cheque from the bank on a Visa. Only, banks were closed because it was Boxing Day. So I went to see if I could transfer the money from the Visa to my bank account at the machine. Not working, the Visa wasn't set up. I don't know what I was planning on doing anyway. Withdrawing that much cash? Not going to work.

I went back. I had a thought. I could pay with the Visa number? Nope. Or I could pay online? Nope. Then it hit me. I transferred the money into my account. Then I tried paying. Limit exceeded. Sigh. Another phone call and I was good to go. I had created such a scene at the store that I'm sure if I was to go back in the staff would still recognize me. It was one massive gong show.

But at the end of the day? I HAD A MACBOOK. SUCKERS.

I knew I shouldn't have used Fructis. Nothing good ever comes from that. But I was in a bad mood: It was just before 7 in the morning, I'd been up since quarter to six and I didn't go to bed until 2. I blame the quad venti I had. It might have been a serious error in judgement. I needed it to stay up through my movie though.

I wasn't even going to use it originally. I stood in the shower for fifteen minutes just trying to stay warm while I decided what to do. The one problem with coming home is that it throws off my whole shower routine. When I'm not at my parent's I can choose between whatever good product I want to use. Here I was limited to what my brother had in the shower because I only remember to bring my bathroom stuff, not my shower stuff. Fructis smells so good though, even if it might not be that good for your hair. So I cracked and used it. And I liked it too.

As I shampooed I tried to think of all the things that would now go wrong as a result of this foolish mistake. I already knew that Christmas presents weren't to be expected so I thought I would be in the clear. I was wrong.

I nearly lost my mind yesterday in my house. At the end of the day I finally went to visit friends and saw Dreamgirls. I thought I was in the clear. Normally the bad stuff happens within the first 24 hours. So when I woke up finally thinking I could look forward to something today my mother storms into my room yelling: She had screwed up her internet again.

I don't know how she manages to do these things. Every time I come home something is wrong. This opens up to a bigger problem of my family that reflects on society. People should NOT be using technology if they can't even begin to feel their way through fixing it. Every time I came home during the year I had to fix the internet. Then I would go home and leave it working only to come back to find it not working again.

My mother's computer was infested with viruses and spyware. This was a result of her letting my sister on it despite very, very loud protests from my brother and me. Why was my sister on my mother's computer? Simple: She screwed hers up. So I spent a good day fixing my mother's laptop, and then another day making sure that the wireless internet worked. Now, two or three days later, it's broken again. God help us all.

I don't know what happened. At one point in time I really enjoyed Ashlee Simpson's music. Now it comes up on shuffle and I shudder. The fact that I liked her period was strange enough for me. For the longest time I disliked her just on principle. I had an ex who really liked her; it just didn't seem right for me to like her. And the last thing I needed was a reminder about how I was a horrible person because I was currently juggling a handful of different prospects that were slightly more than prospects.

Then one day as I'm walking home from my BUS111W lecture at Laurier I realise that I can't get 'La La' out of my head. More than that, I realise that it's been stuck in my head for almost a week now. It was so bad the day before that I got nothing done because I was singing it instead of focusing on something. Not that I would have been able to focus that much in my state of pseudo-sickness, but I didn't know that at the time. So I stopped at the HMV on the way home and bought Autobiography. Fast forward two weeks and Laurence and I are being idiots every time it plays at Ren.

Some months later I Am Me comes out and I'm quite sure I bought it the day of (I'd link to something, but I apparently didn't feel it was worth mention when it happened). That or maybe a different ex who was really into Ashlee bought it for me. Not that it matters. What matters is there was a month or three where I really liked I Am Me. It almost reached a point where it was pathetic. Then it stopped.

Up until this point I hadn't even thought about it. I just didn't like her anymore. Then L.O.V.E. came up on shuffle as I was trying to pass the time until it was a decent hour in the morning and something I had said last night while I was out with Nancy popped into my head. It was nothing profound; simple statement that I don't like people telling me what I should like (followed by a statement that I really don't like people who tell me I should like someone/something because he/she/it is gay and so am I).

So now I'm stuck debating whether or not I don't like something because I have some deluded sense of self-importance or if it's just because I know how to hold a serious grudge.

No seriously. I want to be asleep. I didn't go to bed until after 2. What the hell?

And I will punch the first, second and third persons who says it's because I want to open presents.

I feel like I am achieving nothing at home. I sit on my bed using this stupid laptop attempting to find something going on in the real world. I hate the holidays. People are either working or busy with family. I've spent my time shopping and reading blog archives.

Rob sent me a link to a review about the Unforgotten Realms Christmas Episode by someone calling him/herself Ghost22. It was quite possibly the worst review I had ever read in my life. I wrote a scathing reply and I'm considering sending it to Rob to post on top of his response. Then I read through the rest of the reviews and realized there were a few things bothering me.

First, to 13 year old Luke (blotty000), yes Mike is g4y. Adding it as a post script to your comment is not going to make you cool. It probably won't make Rob like you more, and it's definitely not going to make me like you more. Please work on some new material, instead of taking material that is only funny when Rob uses it.

To the rest of the Unforgotten Realms viewers and fans, it's spelt 'ELUAMOS'. There is no 'U'. Well, there is in the movie because Rob is an idiot and added a 'U' I would make him fix it, but he bitched about having to redo all the episodes just to fix one simple spelling mistake he made from the beginning.

It's true, I don't.

My second day in Oakville and I already topped parking lots and caffeine: Sherway, picture adventures and board games. This morning I woke up at 7:45 to my phone ringing. It was my mother calling from the house and I could hear her downstairs, so I ignored it. Then 10 minutes later she called again. So, annoyed, I answer. I'm assaulted by a very loud voice that seems on the verge of panic.

"I HOPE YOU KNOW I NEED THE CAR FOR 9:00!!" What the hell? The car is in the driveway. I know this, because I left it there before going out last night. It was also there when I returned from my night out.

"I'm in bed." I tried to keep the conversation short. I was tired. My mother, surprised responds: "Oh, I guess Nick must still be out." Thanks a lot mom. I'm now wide awake because of all the loud that was coming out of my phone a moment ago. I stumbled downstairs and made her drive me to Chestnut to pick up my phone charger (and my grandmother). Then I attempted to purchase a present for my father.

It had been a long time since I'd been to Sherway and I just want you all to know, I WAS DISAPPOINTED. The Lacoste Boutique was as dry as ever when it came to selection, Sporting Life was even worse and I didn't even BOTHER going into Harry Rosen. When I went into Holt's I had already realized I wouldn't find anything for my father in there. Instead I settled on a new scent for myself and tried to find jeans. Selection sucked, I walked out very cranky.

I spent the evening out with Natasha. We went on a picture adventure. At this point it is only available on facebook. I plan on adding it to flickr as soon as possible, and sharing some of the more amusing ones (and their captions) here. We are not inundated, but we might be traveling partners.

After I went to Nancy's to make Channukah cupcakes and play Monopoly. I got my ass kicked. I don't know what happened to me; I used to be so good at Monopoly. I knew that I should have picked Risk instead. I always win at Risk. So unless Nancy has been practicing, I have nothing to worry about. I'll have to do some reconnaissance tomorrow when we attempt to find my father his present. I'll keep the world posted.

(Oh, and for those of you who have yet to hear my new voicemail, I suggest you give it a listen. I find it quite enjoyable.)

My second first term is officially over. I wrote all my finals and moved back home for the break. Of course, I’d only been home for a few hours before I realized that I did in fact forget something there. Unless I can get there before 12p.m. I’m going to have to be using my dad’s charger for the next two weeks. Here’s to hoping I make it.

It was weird to write exams and walk out of them knowing what the exams were on. I was so sick at Waterloo that shortly after I wrote a final I would forget everything about it. Someone would ask me about a question and I wouldn’t remember it or what my answer was. In one case (JAPAN111R) I completely forgot that I had even written a final. My marks aren’t what I’d have liked them to be, but there are still courses that I am doing so disgustingly well in that at this point I should be able to continue in any field I want.

I celebrated my return to Oakville with a night on the "town" with Sarah and Josh. Of course, Oakville being as Oakville as it is, the night consisted of Starbuck's, parking lots, drugs and McDonald's. It was roughly in that order too.

Sometimes I want to cut down on the gross food I eat, or all the booze that I (we) drink. On top of everything else, there are two empty 60s of Grey Goose in my room (plus a third one that's missing like 4 shots). It would probably do wonders for my school work. Cutting down on the food would probably do wonders for my body. If only the food in the caf didn't suck. I guess I shouldn't have expected much from sustainable organic food when it came to flavour. Or nutritional value either.

I've been thinking about what I write here and how it must lead SO many people to think that I have one of the most boring existences ever. While that's only partially true it made me wonder if I'm doing what I want to be doing here.

Originally I used this as my space to say whatever I wanted (within the limits of the law). Feelings got hurt. At first I didn't care. The more feelings got hurt. This bizarre thing happened and everyone went through that phase where LJs were turned to friends only. Then instead of reading what people had to say because you didn't have a chance to talk to them about everything, people started reading blogs because it made them part of an exclusive group.

So I changed my stance on the subject. Eventually I started letting things slide. I mean, some (most) of the older entries are pathetic, so I thought it would be an improvement (for the love of all that is holy, if you ever do plan on reading through the archives skip everything before Experience England and then skip most of what came after it.). I tried this thing where I wouldn't post about something until after a certain period of time. It turned into not posting about anything at all. I just bottled most things up.

At one point I had such a fit about someone that I exploded in blog form and then stopped writing about anything that really mattered. It would bother me less if I still didn't consider him one of the greatest friends I had.

Now, I've digressed a lot. I don't even remember what my original topic was meant to be. Probably about how I've had a great first term (I have). I just wish I had told the interesting stories while they were fresh. Oh well, next time.

Now, for those of you who aren't lucky enough to have experienced Jem yet, you're in for a treat. Don't believe me? Read some of her Pants awards and then tell me you still disagree.

I don't know how I came across Jem, but it should be obvious that I'm hooked. Not only does she provide witty commentary about her life but she also provides an easy source of Navigation html. And now, she's topped even that.

A while back she made a post about Mint, which works as a stat counter and so much more. I've always had beef with the way AWStats works. Leave it to Jem to provide me with an amazing alternative. So I emailed her and asked her about it, telling her I was planning on installing it as soon as I was allowed to access to my site again.

Not only did she give me the 411 on Mint, but she also hooked me up with tons of sweet Peppers for it. So if I disappear for the next little bit it's safe to assume I'm addicted to my stat counter. If I go missing for a week, send help (and food).

For those who have been lucky enough to not ever experience my laptop, you're in for a treat. I've spent the last half an hour yelling with (not at) my brother about the extreme misfortune that is my laptop.

I was in Michigan for a wedding (warning: drunk grammar and babbling), at a McDonald's in Flint when I got a phone call from my dad. The conversation went something like this:

dad says:
"I BOUGHT YOU A LAPTOP LOLLERSKATES"
mike² says:
"what?"
dad says:
"YA ROFLCOPTER IT'S PWNSAUCE"

And that was it. For those of you who don't speak Internet, the conversation was just long enough for my dad to tell me he had purchased an Acer with not very good stats, instead of the MacBook Pro I had been asking for since forever. He was also very confused about what a dual core processor actually did. Suffice to say I got very drunk shortly after in an attempt to forget about it. I sometimes wonder if they planned it to be on the one day I was out of the country.

I've spent the year trying to make this pathetic excuse for a machine work. It would crash when I tried to compile java programs because there wasn't enough memory. Hello. I am in computer science. Rather, I used to be. If I can't compile programs on it – simple, pathetic programs – what GOOD is it?

Upon thinking about this I've come to a conclusion. Acer is Korean for shitty. Now in saying that, I'm going to go with my gut instinct that Acer is actually Korean. I think it is. On the other hand, I've melted my brain with studying so I could be wrong. So if it's not Korean, just replace it with the appropriate place of origin.

This was all brought to the forefront of my mind when my brother mentioned Christmas presents. Yesterday I sent him an email during one of my laptop's freakouts telling him that I've had it up to here with the piece of crap and that all I need is a MacBook Pro. Now, I'm well aware that I don't deserve anything. But I feel like I've been cheated out of a laptop. And as ungrateful as this makes me, I almost think I would rather have gone through the first term without a laptop instead of with this piece of crap.

Or I would have bought a MacBook Pro myself when I blew all the money I earned over the break. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a laptop to try and deal with.

I have a final at 2 p.m. that I almost didn't bother waking up for.

What is the point of posting the past exams if you don't post the solutions with them? Seriously. THINK ABOUT THAT. What good is it if I have questions to do, but I'm doing them wrong?

I end my boycott effective immediately with the purchase of the Dreamgirls Motion Picture Soundtrack. YOU WIN. ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?

I can only hope they actually did stop putting rootkits on their cds.

January: It shouldn't be surprising for me that this year went by so quickly, but it did and I am.
February: Whenever I disappear it's generally safe to assume that I'm either off by myself being extremely moody or with people at Starbuck's trying to cheer myself up.
March: I reserve the right to make up words when I'm this excited.
April: Today was spent on an emotional high, with a lot of up and down movements.
May: You're on a very shrinking list of sites I link to.
June: So seventeen people are arrested in and around the GTA on terrorism related charges, and I'm sitting here excitedly. (BAD GRAMMAR.)
July: Saturday before the BBQ Adam and I went on Operation Nancy is a Sexypants to save her from Canadian Idol induced isolation.
August: BRB.
September: It's the middle of the night and I'm cracked out on non-drowsy allergy medication.
October: For the last few days my mental capacity has been a little below what you would expect it to be.
November: "I'm going to be sick."
December: GLORIOUS FREEDOM!

I just connected to a wireless network in my house, for which I had unhooked all the LAN cables.

I was on Facebook adding people I went to high school with. I went to add one person, and right as I was about to click "Add to Friends" I realized he had died earlier this month. Yech.

Power Hour means I can listen to songs from musicals OBNOXIOUSLY LOUD and NO ONE CAN DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.

I know it's not a Tuesday, but last night was the earliest that I could get my hands on Nancy Silverman's demo album 'Now You Know My Secrets'. I would have been the first person to buy one but Adam had to be the biggest douche bag in the world and cut in front of me. Douche bag.

I had already heard 6 of the 9 tracks on the demo. However these tracks were rerecorded with nicer instruments and equipment, resulting in a much nicer sound. The three new tracks are phenomenal. I don't know how anyone else would be able to get a hold of a copy, but as soon as I do know I'll post it up here.

I just finished Terry Goodkind's latest book 'Phantom' (the 10th book in the Sword of Truth series), which I purchased yesterday. Yes, I finished it because I am absolutely nuts. I was going to go into an in-depth review about it. Then I realized that it is 3:00a.m. and that even if I was clever and witty under normal circumstances, I wouldn't be able to pull it off right now.

Something is bothering me. I'd like to blame this fact for my inability to be clever and witty, but I think we can accept that it's a stretch to actually call me either of those two things. I have this horrible premonition that there will be a large pimple on my nose, and I'm not sure if I'm using my new cleanser properly. I also truly hope that's not what's bothering me.

It's really upsetting to know that despite the fact that I have courses that I thought I was doing poorly in and courses I thought I was doing well in, my overall marks are all about the same. They're all looking to be average; plain, boring average. So much for achieving my goals. Not that I really had any real goals. That's probably what the problem is: I'm only slightly motivated, but I don't have any direction for this motivation.

First term at UToronto has been great. I actually get along with the majority of people I meet here. On more than one occasion people have stopped me in the caf to tell me that they love my clothes. Up until when finals came bearing down, I had no problem leaving my door open and having people wander in to play video games. With one exception, all the classes that I managed to make it to managed to pick up and be remotely interesting. I just wish I hadn't thought a 9:00a.m. class was a good idea.

I've moved servers, etc., etc.

Just testing things out.

GLORIOUS FREEDOM!