One Week Hiatus

I most likely will not be blogging for the next week. I am going to Hawaii!!


Hope all is well with all my awesome followers!



Cheers!

Fleeting Routines

Have you ever had a routine, even if only momentarily maintained, that consisted of something you really cherish? Sometimes we can get so absorbed in these routines, whether it’s a workout program, a course, or even a simple dinner with friends. I’m not talking about a daily routine per se, but perhaps a habit based around a non-perpetual extracurricular activity or hobby. Of course, it’s possible to prematurely commit to a daily routine only to have it unexpectedly taken from you as well, but I would prefer to focus on the voluntary rather than the mandatory routines that we treasure in our everyday lives. 
 

Personally, I rarely venture out conquering new endeavors. The recent routine that I hold close to me the most is weekly dinners with my two close girlfriends, Cassy and Robyn.  It was spring/summer 2010, and big changes were on the way. Cassy was moving to Norway mid-summer, and Robyn was planning her next global move.  We would usually assemble at Cassys’s house, while she would ply us with the food that she was trying to get rid of before leaving the country. She was creative, and we started eagerly anticipating these weekly dinners. She had an abundance of frozen chicken that she refused to handle, at which time I was delegated the task of creation. I must say, I made a pretty damn good pasta (I think it consisted of canned sauce and mis-matched noodles) After dinner we would walk to the park and play on the playgrounds, and just calmly enjoy each others company and great un-censored conversations.  The air was warm, summer was on its way, and each of us was excited about new circumstances in our lives. One day, over delicious thin pancakes topped with berries and ice cream, I gloomily realized that it was my most beloved routine at the time, and that it would soon come to an end.

The 3 of us being awesome

The 3 of us being even MORE awesome!

Me in my strange clothes practicing my moves!

There was a time that I did venture out to partake in a new activity. I have always been interested in Kung Fu, and in 2009, I decided to give it a try. I relinquished my Saturday night drinking and showed up at 2:30 every Sunday to essentially wear strange-looking clothes and run around with the other students, who were all children. It was so fun! Everything about it was ridiculously challenging, and I recall getting demoted to the littler kids group at one point. Of course, there were incidents where I didn’t relinquish the Saturday night drinking, and, refusing to be wasteful, insisted on attending practice in my forlorn state. Even though those days were borderline torture, I stuck with it. My progress was minimal, and my physical condition sub-par, but I was attached to the routine. It was mine. No one else that previously existed in my life was a part of it. I got along well with the Chinese teenage boys, because we engage in similar hobbies (anime, video games, etc). I think that their parents may have thought I was strange, but they welcomed me regardless. After I had participated in the class for several months, I realized I would have to move out of the city into the condo that I had purchased a couple of years prior. It was non-questionable; I had to give up going to that class due to the distance I was moving. I have since considered joining something local, but aside from all the practical things holding me back (time, money, sloth), I just don’t think that my experience in a new class will be parallel to the one I had in the past. 

Routines and moments cannot be recreated. Nor can they be replaced. You can only hope to remember them, tell others about them and reminisce about them with the people who were involved. There is that old saying that goes: “People enter your life for a season, a reason, or a lifetime”. My Kung Fu lasted only a season. It changed my life and the way I spend my weekends, almost as if there was a reason for me to attend that class.  Luckily, with the two friends, we may have had our dinner routine for a season, but our camaraderie will last a lifetime.

My Top 10 Iphone Apps!

My Top 10 Apps for the Iphone

I love my Iphone. I definitely get my moneys worth with all of the surfing I do on there. I actually look forward to a delayed appointment, as I get a chance to chat with my friends who are overseas, play games, read news… Oh there is just so much entertainment on there for me I could go on forever! Instead of going on forever, here is a list of 10 of my personal favourite apps on the Iphone. Keep in mind that I am not saying these are the best out there, but out of the multitude of apps I have,  they are the ones that I use the most!

1) Facebook. If you’re not a Facebook whore, then you can replace this for Twitter or MySpace. Certainly, you MUST social network, right?

2) E Buddy.  Access your MSN, Yahoo, AIM, GTalk, Facebook, MySpace, ICQ, and Hyves accounts.  Ok, I don’t know what the latter two are, but I do use 4 of the mentioned chat programs.  It is a one stop shop for all your contacts. Usually works without fail, but even when it does fail, it’s worth dealing with to be able to keep in touch while on the go!

3) FML.  I know it doesn’t really do anything, but neither do I, and I LOVE to cruise FML’s whenever I have the chance.  It’s constantly updated, highly popular, hilarious app. It is really my go-to app on the Iphone.

4) Words with Friends- It’s Scrabble, but without the official name. It’s also free. Scrabble. All day. Every day. With anyone who has an Iphone. Can it get any better than that?

5) RBC Mobile Banking I’m sure that if you don’t deal with RBC your financial institution has an equally awesome app. The online banking apps are quickly becoming one of the most widely used apps out there.  Comes in very handy when you need to move money from credit over to credit to buy things you don’t need. Bliss!

6 ) E Bay- Shop online all day. It’s easy to use and links straight to PayPal. The “My E bay” screen is similar to the one on my home PC, and just as good if not better due to its simplistic interface. Ill never miss out on a last minute deal as long as I have this app!

7) IMDB- Better check out that movie before shelling out the big bucks to see it in 3D! It is easy to use, and much better than opening up the site in browser.  It saves old searches, and provides me with all the movie info I need, at my fingertips.

8) CNN- Provides up to date news from around the world. Right here, right now. Includes a Video tab, local News tab, Favourites, and much more! I just have to remember to remain media literate -smiley-

9) Let’s Tans- This is super fun puzzle game!  I use it when I’m not killing time with FML’s. Not too challenging, but still makes me think! Plus, it has pretty colours!

10) Shazam- Simply, it rules! I’m a music junkie who loves to genre hop. Having access to the song title and artist information for random songs that I hear while out and about is invaluable. Simply hold up the phone when that great unfamiliar song is playing and you will never have to wonder again!

The best thing about all these apps, is that they're

!!!!!

Now, I would love to write more, but it is my move on Words with Friends. Please note that Chess With Friends would have made this list, but I am having a hard time winning any of the Chess With Friends games I am playing... So I excluded it based on the fact that it reminds me that I am intellectually inferior.

Thanks for reading, and I welcome any suggestions for more cool apps!

It's the weekend!

I am not doing a real blog post, but in between reading blogs and watching videos,  I decided to share a picture I took when walking around Rolley  Lake today. I wrote a quick Haiku to go with it.

Walk through the forest

Take pictures of the cool stuff

I went out today

LoL!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Before the Quake

I have avoided writing about Japan, and am going to continue to avoid going into too much detail about what is currently happening there.  It is too emotional of a time, so I am not comfortable posting how I feel about it. There are absolutely no facts or photos that I can present that we aren’t being constantly exposed to by the media. With the casualty count still rising, daily life completely interrupted, a looming nuclear disaster, and an imminent economic meltdown, I wonder how long of a recovery period will be required. Japan is a strong country, and the people are steadfast and patriotic. After Chernobyl and the Three Mile Island incident, there were reports of an increase in depression and anxiety by the people affected by it. That report doesn’t surprise me, and I am morosely curious to see the after effect of a disaster of this magnitude, which includes not only a nuclear accident but one of the largest earthquakes ever.

Cool mall-cannot recall which part of Tokyo

I would like to post a few pictures of my trip to Japan in 2008. They display a happy country, advanced, seemingly infallible infrastructure, and a state that we can all hope the entire country will soon return to. I have not travelled to any of the places ravaged by the earthquake or tsunami. The closest I got was Tokyo, and it is an amazing city.  Reasonably, I can’t get Japan off my mind lately and would like to share a few of my experiences from when I was there.








Even the drains are cool and fancy!



Big building in Roppongi

This is the top of that big building, viewing Tokyo Tower.









Inside an electronics store. This is the camera floor. Chaos!



Creepy panda





Shibuya



As you can see, there is a lot of hustle and bustle in the city of Tokyo!

Inside Absolut Icebar, Tokyo





Example of the infastructure. Huge bridge (near Osaka, if I remember correctly)



Of course, I had to visit a few shrines.



Write your prayer on paper, and drop it in the box. I am non-spiritual, but I still wished for a safe trip, and if i was there now, I would wish for a miracle in Japan.





Garden inside the Meiji Shrine





The current disaster is rated as the 2nd worst incident in Japan since World War II. When I was there, I visited Hiroshima. It was an important part of my trip, although one of the most depressing.



This flame will burn until there is peace on Earth.



Wax figures. Artists rendition of people suffering through the blast.





The "A-Bomb Dome"



Of course, I have almost a thousand pictures and cannot share them all. These may not even be the best ones, but I feel that they are revelent for this entry. I completley skipped the Kobe temple pictures and all of the many many party pictures taken in Osaka.



Here is a last one of me enjoying being a foreigner!

Drinking wine in a Convenience store parking lot. Yes, I am holding up japanese porn.















Pursuing Patience

As an impatient person, I find that one of the things that irritates me the most is when I attempt to do something that I have never done before, or something that I have difficulty doing.

My first experience driving standard resulted in me truly understanding the depth of my impatience. A force from within, a combination of exasperation and frustration fought its way out of me as I stalled on hill after hill.  I cried.  Not helping the situation was my teacher, who was also an impatient person.



My friend on the mountain, he's a great boarder!



As time went on, I found myself regularly testing my patience. Around 2001, I tried snowboarding.  To this day I have trouble recalling why I insisted on returning to the mountain after the first time.  I am the type of snowboarder that real snowboarders hate. I am a nuisance and a danger. I clumsily attempt to gracefully vacate the chairlift, fail, and then barely pick myself up in time to avoid getting smoked by skis. I have zero speed control, and I am usually throwing a temper tantrum. I have cried 90% of time times I was on a mountain.  I ventured as often as I did to give the sport a fair chance, and because I was a conformist.  I have since given away all my snowboarding gear. I am no longer a conformist and I realize that I am simply too intolerant to pursue it any further. I also don’t like being cold.

As I get older and acquire wisdom, I learn how to control my indignant outbursts. I used to be guilty of “Road Rage”, until I realized that getting so angry at the people on the roads was only adding to my own stress levels. This has somewhat manifested into “Sidewalk Rage”, where I constantly feel irked at people walking slow in front of me. I have started using the same mindset in dealing with this as I used when abolishing the road rage.  Getting frustrated at people for going slowly even when I am not in a hurry is the epitome of impatience.  I truly am an impatient person!



FAIL!



 Unfortunately, I have not discovered any tactics in combating the agitation I feel when trying something new.  Prompting me to write about my impatience is my recent attempts to fix my own PC.  Not only is this is something that I am new at; it is also something that is reasonably complex to the average person.  As you can predict, I experience complications.  Each time I open the damn thing up and asses the hardware that I’m going to have to move and unplug and unscrew, I feel overwhelmed. I almost give up before even starting. A user manual is usually provided, but I can’t find the patience to leaf through it. After I calm down, I usually start unscrewing and it eventually makes sense.  I put it all back together and enjoy the momentary pride: a self satisfying reward for a job well done. Then, something goes wrong. Usually, it is something big. The force returns; this time it’s exasperation and frustration boosted by raw anger. I literally have to sit on my hands to avoid smashing the fucking thing to pieces and throwing it in the alley.  I almost cry, and then I give up.  I do not have the patience to fail repeatedly

As time goes on, I continue to try to cultivate patience. I walk away from discouraging projects and return to them later, realizing that sometimes a different frame of mind will provide different results. Sometimes I continue on with things regardless of recurrent defeat;  I am fortunate to have a patient person in my life to assist me and encourage me to persevere when dealing with my PC.  I am currently playing several games of chess on the Iphone. I have played over 30 games and won 3. It’s frustrating, but the sense of accomplishment I had today when I finally trapped my opponent’s king to secure my third win was immensely gratifying.  Perhaps it is worth sticking with something, even though it tests my serenity. Perhaps practicing in these little ways is a worthwhile exercise for keeping my impatience in check.   

Wish me luck and thanks for reading!

Cheers!

Remembering the Gobi

A poem I wrote during my visit to the Gobi desert in Mongolia. It was mid-afternoon, after naptime, before dinnertime; I was inspired by the silence.

So desolate it seems, until you come near

then you truly see, how small it can be.

This warm serene feeling, like nothing I've had:
The wind in my hair, grass tickling my calves
the fragrant air is unsurpassed,
this feeling must be too good to last.

I can feel the quiet, almost pure silence
the sound of the wind, touch my ears, close my eyelids.
It seems as if I am so far away,
but its still the same moon and the same light of day.



                                                                                I know I will leave, but feel as if I could stay,
                                                                                soon I shall leave, hoping to return someday.

I feel no need to caption these pics. They were all taken in the Gobi desert, which is amazing.

Above is the "Timeless" painting by Jay. She is amazing. Below is the photo that inspired the painting.

Timeless!!

Thanks so much for reading! Cheers!

To eat or not to eat??

Today, 3 co workers and I went out for lunch to celebrate a shared birthday between two of them. We ordered 4 fabulous sandwiches and shared them .They all came on grilled bread with French fries and a salad. We ordered a tasty, fattening dipping sauce for our French fries and each one of us cleared our plates check out the restaurant here . The abundance of food and the female company prompted me to consider the differences between men and women in regards to our relationship with food. 

 An upcoming trip to Hawaii has encouraged me to cut down on some of the refined carbs that I eat. I wouldn’t call it a weight loss plan, but I have no plans to gain weight before frolicking around in a bikini with the one person I would like to look good in front of.  My attempt at decreasing my sugar and breads has created awareness for me as to how many grams of carbs are in what I normally eat. A candy here, a piece of white toast there, topped off with  a white chocolate mocha and whatever free tidbits I can get my hands on, all adds up… I think I was eating on average over 150 grams of carbs a day! I still eat pretty much whatever I want, but paying attention to carbohydrates ensures me that I will be taking in more nutrients, through whole grains, rather than empty refined calories that temporarily spike blood sugar and eventually lead to type 2 diabetes…  Anyways.. this is not a nutrition lesson, this paragraph was just meant as a background as to why I decided to write about  food.

Very few men out there have an accurate measure on what they eat; how many calories come from fat, protein or carbs, etc. For them, it is simpler. If they're hungry, they eat. If they're full, they stop eating. If they have had half a loaf of sourdough bread earlier, and someone offers them a piece of pie, they eat it. However, if a man is kind of full and doesn't  really want the pie that badly, he doesn't eat it.

Women, for the most part, are completely different; Today, as the 4 of us ate our lunches, cleaning our plates with impetuosity even though we already had ingested more than enough food, we found ourselves making fun of our male manager who usually saves his french fries for us (who proceed to eat them even though we have already eaten our lunches). As we were ridiculing him for being such a pussy and not finishing his food, we started talking about how men eat: they require more calories than us and most aren’t as concerned with their BMI as we are, so why don’t they always clear their plates? Why do they often decline pie and cookies?

I have come to a conclusion, and discussed it with those colleugues, as well as the said male manager (who isn’t really a pussy). It is because men do not have the same body issues as women that they eat less. It seems like a paradox, I know, but it does make sense.  When women go out to eat, participate in office pot lucks, attend an event with food stalls, etc., it usually means that we are allowing ourselves a treat. We are damn well going to enjoy this treat. Even if we have had enough food to fill our stomachs, our taste buds do not turn off. This is our big chance to indulge, and indulge we shall. Consequences, schmonsequences! This is my fucking pie! Yes, I would like that extra scoop of ice cream, this is my treat! After I eat this, I am going back to chicken and salad and less than 50 grams of carbs a day, so don’t judge me! Many women are guilty of “comfort eating”. I had a bad day so I deserve a treat… I have PMS so I will have a treat, I feel like I’m fat so I think I should have a treat… We can blame chromosomes for that; women are naturally emotional, and usually react to all of the emotions we feel in one way or another.

You may have noticed my use of the words “guilty” and “judge”. Considering that food is mandatory for survival, we shouldn’t feel guilty for enjoying it, should we?  I regularly see men walking down the street eating hot dogs, drinking Big Gulps, etc. with zero fear of judgment. Women are usually less likely to do so in fear of being held accountable for our less-than-perfect physiques. Many women will eat before going on a date, then order a salad, or just order the salad even thought they’re starving!

Of course, this by no means applies to everyone. I do know a few men that are meticulous in their daily caloric calculations. My co-worker, Edward, has taught me most of what I know about carb intake, metabolism, blood sugar, fiber, etc. One of closest girlfriends and I enjoy food as an activity, refusing to even consider the caloric content and then ordering dessert after and then maybe having second dessert later on. I just think that in general, men and women view food differently, and that these differences are cultural as well as natural.

Now, I’m going to go to Starbucks and try one of the new Cake Pop things!

Cheers!

Blog-tastic!

March 8^th 2011.

Ok, so I know that I need to blog. Or write anything, really. I have an inferiority complex when it comes to writing, and perhaps that is rightfully so. The majority of my free time is spent being lazy and addicted to the internet.  My first blog entry then shall be about blogging.

I am not here to convince the general public that I am enlightened, omniscient, superior, or even remotely informed or intelligent. A blog, by definition on Dictionary.com is a web site containing the writer's or group of writers' own experiences, observations, opinions etc. So, I am here to provide you, the (perhaps unfortunate) reader with those experiences, observations and opinions. In other words, I am here to blog… (I love when nouns get to be verbs). I will have to remain focused on keeping it slightly impersonal; the majority of my writing experience stems from journaling or poetry, which are both emotional outlets. Putting anything I have wrote out there for anyone to read is huge for me, not only to have the general public reading it, but also to have people close to me reading it. In fact, keeping in mind that I am neither thin or a good singer, let it be known that I would be more comfortable skinny dipping with the general public and my close friends as would I be more comfortable belting out a Mariah Carey song on national television.

For someone that has a desire to write, I sure spend a lot of time not writing. I do the majority of my journaling (ok, so I haven’t in over a year) or poetry writing (I used to call them song lyrics in an attempt so seem cool and not geeky, although it was only to myself …anyways) on my laptop, which is currently out of commission due to a faulty power cord. My other PC is used primarily for playing video games, and I have trouble tapping into my creative or thoughtful side whist placed in front of a 42 inch screen in a less than comfortable chair. I am currently writing from my work PC… and this will have to do for now. I am done making half-hearted excuses as to why I do not write. I am by no means done procrastinating, but I figure having an initial blog entry may motivate me to write more often.  In regards to my inferiority complex, I figure that the above disclaimer indicating that I am neither informed nor intelligent will help me feel somewhat comfortable when I write. Finally, I am not writing to impress anyone. If you do not like my experiences, observations and opinions, or if you do not like how I present them to you, then feel free to go do something that you enjoy, like read celebrity gossip or the boring old news. I am not at all concerned with grammatical error, improper word usage or spelling, lack of punctuation, or overuse of profanity or slang. I am just here to practice my writing and typing, and revisit some of my experiences.

Here is what you can expect from me: I plan to find the flash drive containing the writing I did while travelling, back in 2008 and 2009. I had a lot of great experiences, and would like to share them. Travelling is one of my few passions, and I look forward to using words instead of only pictures to tell my stories.

I plan to rant and rave about things that arise in the world, in my life, down the street or even in Hollywood. What I do promise is to not post rant-y entries whilst pre-menstrual.

I plan to continue to observe everything and have an opinion on it. I currently share these opinions with co-workers and occasionally my Facebook friends.

I thank you in advance for reading my blog, and I apologize that I may not be as witty or insightful as you were hoping I would be.

Cheers!

tehDARKNESS