Month: September 2007

Uncle Gerry is profiled in today’s copy of the Toronto Star in their Canadians Abroad article. Excellent!

http://www.thestar.com/News/article/258089

(photo taken from the Star article, but something tells me it’s property of Uncle Gerry anyhow unless The Star sent a photographer his way!)

I don’t know if it’s because I started running again or if it’s the extra two flights of stairs I have to scale up in the morning, but I was quite out of breath once I hit the sixth floor! It’s amazing what a difference two flights of stairs can make…I think it probably has something to do with how your body is accustomed to a certainty (like four flights of stairs) and then you throw it for a loop.

1) My buddy Duncan is looking for a roommate to live in the Bayshore area of Ottawa. I have lived in the house before and it’s a sweet deal. Very good area. If you’re interested, hook a brother up and give him a ring.

2) If you’re interested in buying a crossbow, I heard that Ken is selling them. Get in touch with me if you’re interested. I know nothing about crossbows but have heard that the pack he is selling is a great deal.

Saturday calls for another birthday in the life of Vero. Considering she is an old crow now, I had to go easy on her and not do anything too exciting.

In reality, the crappy weather canceled a great plan to go outdoors and do something, but we managed to go to Cora’s for breakfast. Cora’s is this amazing breakfast joint where they lay on the fruits like it’s the Garden of Eden. Vero had a crepe full of fruits which was literally the size of my arm. I forget what Mike ate but it was huge as well! To top it all off, seeing that it was Vero’s birthday, a treat was brought out in the form of an apple sculpture which looked like a bird swimming in whipped cream. We were stuffed but managed to chow down.

Afterwards we hit up the town looking for some boxes for my newly acquired comic books (I’m picking up comic books for cheap on ebay in hopes to sell at a profit. We shall see if that happens or not.) After a few hit and misses, we ended up on Bank Street and toured around for a bit before heading back home to watch a film and take a nap.

Let’s talk about the film Hostel, shall we? I’m a horror movie fan. I dig them. But these new-age horror films are pushing the limits of good taste. Now all we seem to see in films are scenes of torture. I’m not going to get into the scenes, but let’s just say I wouldn’t recommend the film to anyone. There are some sick minds out there, let’s just say that. I must point out that I loved the whole satirical viewpoint on the American capitalist system gone awry. Kudos to Eli Roth for that. Otherwise, you’re just a sick person.

After a nap, we headed to Carleigh’s pad for her housewarming party. Friends who live near me in Orleans has increased by one. She was a few blocks away and her place is fabulous. I especially like the front patio off her living room (which is on an upper level). We had a great time chatting it up with the regular crowd and watching people play Dance Dance Revolution (am I the only person out there who doesn’t really care for this game? Give me Guitar Hero any day of the week!).

It probably wasn’t the most exciting birthday for Vero, but she will be having an ice cream party in a few weeks which puts the sparkle in her eye! I hope you had a great birthday Vero. You’re as beautiful as ever.

iplaying: What Would You Say – Dave Matthews Band (The Best of What’s Around)

What do I love? I love the random events that spiral into a night of fun. Let’s get to that in a moment…

Friday was my last day at work before I switched. I have been with this group for the past six years and they’ve essentially grown into a form of family for me. It’s strange to think of work as a source of family, but it is! Unless you don’t care for the people you work with that is. 😉

Considering I had already packed up my office and finished 99% of the outstanding work, Friday was a relaxed affair. We ended up heading down to Milestones for lunch around 11PM. Everyone was excited to see what the Ultimate Bellini was all about as Krista, Maren and I have been raving about them. After a few of those and a great shanghai noodle dish (highly recommended!), we headed back to work and the day passed by. Considering I’m only moving a few floors away from them, I don’t personally feel like it’s a goodbye as I’ll see them from time to time.

Krista, Mike, Vero and Sara decided to meet up at the Royal Oak for a few beers to celebrate my escape. Although I had a mean cold for the past few days, I couldn’t pass this event up and it spiraled in a good afternoon of beers and nachos. We tried to play cards but a) Mike thought it was lame b)When we did pull them out, the wind whipped them clear across the patio. Not the best day to play! There was also a Human Society fund raiser going on so we threw them a few dollars and managed to get a few samplers in the process.

It’s good to go out with Sara as much as we can as she is heading back to live in Newfoundland! It is sad to see a friend leave, but at the same time, great to think of the opportunity to return home to family and friends! If I could get a good paying job back home, I would seriously consider it. However, the lack of concerts may irritate me. 😉

We split off from the pack and headed home. While on the bus, some younger girls were chatting away, oblivious to all around them when I heard what happens to Harry Potter in the final novel. Unfortunately for them, after a few beers, I proclaimed “Hey thanks a lot for ruining the end of Harry Potter for me!”. They gave me the oddest look which was probably well deserved as they looked at the raving lunatic at the back of the bus. Vero and Mike howled in laughter. I suppose it serves me right as the media has been pretty good with not revealing the ending yet and I could have got a hold of the novel by now (Annie, I’m looking at you for a source of literature here!). We retired the night by watching Pirates of The Caribbean 2 (which I managed to get through an hour of before crashing).

iplaying: Ants Marching (Live) – Dave Matthews Band (The Best of What’s Around)

Read it here.

You have to read this article. It is insane. Insane in a good way.

Essentially Colin Farrell helps out a homeless man by bringing him to a store, buying whatever he wants, gives him a wad of cash but (here’s the clincher), rents out an apartment for him for the entire year.

This is amazing. It really hit home when they quoted the man saying how he can now change his life around.

I can’t say I know a lot about people who are homeless. But I can only imagine that a permanent residence for awhile helps a lot more in the long run.

Anyhow, I thought this was a heart-tugging story.

Let’s play catch up shall we?

– I’ve started class. One classroom is in the new Desmarais building which is amazing! Electrical outlets for all laptops, comfortable chairs…all it needs is a hot dog vendor and I’m set! Unfortunately my other class is the one placed right next door to Hell. Uncomfortable seating, bad teleconference setups and (gasp!), no wireless Internet connection. This wouldn’t be a problem if the subject material wasn’t so dry. I was thinking of gouging my eyeballs out in class.

– I ordered some stuff off of ebay awhile which I’m slowly starting to receive. Beauty. Included in that are some comic books which I want to start picking up for cheap and trying to sell at a profit. I’m not sure if this will work in my favour at all considering the fact that if I picked them up for cheap…wouldn’t that mean that I can only sell for cheap?

– I downloaded an old show (circa 2000) called Undeclared. Has anyone seen this show before? It’s a hilarious look at freshman year at college. I recently stumbled into it after looking at what the creator of the 40-Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up has created before. Turns out that he was the mastermind behind Freaks and Geeks (haven’t seen that yet) and Undeclared. Unfortunately, Undeclared was only on for one season but whatever. It’s hilarious. It’s so good that Mike managed to watch 12 hours of it within a 24 hour period. That’s how much he loves this thing.

– It’s Vero’s birthday this Saturday. Eek! What to get her, what to do, guh, the possibilities are endless! It does not help that I’ve come down with a cold and I feel like crap. I hate being sick. I want my mommy.

– The biggest news deserves the slot at the end – Led Zeppelin are reuniting for a show on November 26. Awww, heck yeah! Because they know they are the kings of rock, the only way to get tickets is via a ballot system. You enter your name and if you’re chosen, you’re good for two tickets. As far as I can tell, you’ll be assigned a seat in the O2 Arena so that will be interesting. Did I mention the concert is in London, England? Mike and I were talking about the possibility of going over there to check it out if we are chosen. While I think I would rather sell the ticket at a massive profit (pay down debt, by that LCD computer monitor I’ve been eyeing up…), Mike is adamant that he will go if we win the tickets. That would be awesome.

iplaying: Bring it On Home – Led Zeppelin DVD

I went to class last night (after eating some excellent tacos over at Krista’s place) which was in the new building at University of Ottawa. It was pretty slick as they had comfortable seats and they had power outlets for all the students who have laptops (as opposed to some rooms where there are 20 people fighting for one outlet. I got in the habit of bringing a power bar into the room for us all to use.)

My Lord, there was one stinky gentleman who sat in front of me. I was wondering if it would be rude to raise my shirt over my nose.

I am going to be taking an Intro to Sociology course as well as the required “Critical Thinking” course. Last night’s class was pretty dry, what with the overview of the class outline and whatnot.

The teacher mentioned how the first night should be used to gauge whether or not we wish to stay in the class, but I really can’t say that I learned what the class was about. I will learn via my readings of the textbook this week I suppose.

If no one knows this already, I am also changing jobs next week and moving into the Technology Branch at my work. So it’s with trepidation that I leave as I have been with the same group for the past six years and they feel like family to me. It will be quite different but am looking forward to it. Now, all I have to do is clean up my office!

Unfortunately, my great neighbour is moving.

The good news is, if you are looking for an excellent place to live, chances are, this is the spot you want! It’s right next to Michael and I! Michael will also offer his services to shovel your driveway (if you are females. If you are male, suck it up and shovel.)

Anyhow, I thought I would send a note out in case someone was looking for a new place to live. I love the area – right behind a mini-mall with a good bar, Giant Tiger and The Works is opening soon.