Easy life & alleah's survey

Don't you ever think that maybe it would be easier to post surveys to your blog, rather than email them to everyone?
Welcome to the next edition of getting to know your friends. Okay, here's what you're supposed to do... and try not to be LAME and spoil the fun! Just give in. Copy this entire e-mail and paste it into a new e-mail that you can send. Change all of the answers so that they apply to you. Then, send this to a whole bunch of people you know *INCLUDING* the person who sent it to you. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little known facts about your friends. It is fun and easy. Remember to send it back to the person who sent it to you.

1. WHAT IS YOUR FULL NAME? Kevin John Dobson
2. WHAT COLOUR PANTS ARE YOU WEARING? I am not wearing pants
3. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? The sound of traffic.
4. ARE YOUR LEGS CROSSED? no
5. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Soup with crab (though the proper verb for soup is really drink...)
6. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOUR WOULD YOU BE? Green
7. HOW IS THE WEATHER RIGHT NOW? Hot & humid; not too bad though.
8. LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? the other Kevin
9. FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT THE OPPOSITE SEX? Body
10. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT YOU THIS? As a friend
11. HOW ARE YOU TODAY? sweaty
12. FAVOURITE DRINK? tea
13. FAVOURITE ALCOHOLIC DRINK? I don't drink.
14. FAVOURITE SPORT? badminton right now. my backhand sucks
15. HAIR COLOUR? Brown, with some highlights.
16. EYE COLOUR? brown
17. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? no
18. SIBLINGS? Foo; host sibling: Shih-Wei & Shi-Han
19. FAVOURITE MONTH? December I think.
20. FAVOURITE FOOD? potatoes
21. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? a pirated DVD of Troy
22. FAVOURITE DAY OF THE YEAR? The last day of school makes me happy.
23. SATURDAY OR SUNDAY? Saturday.
24. ARE YOU TOO SHY TO ASK SOMEONE OUT? Possibly; I don't think I have.
25. DO YOU LIKE MARMITE? wtf
26. SUMMER OR WINTER? definitely winter. you can always put on more clothes
27. HUGS OR KISSES? Some combination of the two. If only one, hugs win out (though I am not a very good hugger or kisser)
28. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? vanilla
29. DO YOU WANT YOUR FRIENDS TO WRITE BACK? Blog this
30. WHO'S THE MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? mmm.... I would say alleah, except she sent it to me
31. WHO IS LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Alleah
32. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS? Mom, Dad, older & younger sisters... 2nd floor apt.
33. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? "Chinese in 10 Minutes a Day"
34. WHAT DID YOU DO LAST NIGHT? Play guitar, play piano, watch tv.
35. DID YOU WAKE UP BEFORE YOUR ALARM WENT OFF THIS MORNING? 5 minutes before
36. DO YOU MISS BIG BROTHER? he's watching you...
37. FAVOURITE SMELLS? post rain air, clean laundry from a dryer... mmm... and girls' hair
38. WHAT INSPIRES YOU? music. 'cause you know, music saves us all
39. BUTTERED, PLAIN, OR SALTED POPCORN? Salt & VINGEGAR
40. FAVOURITE CRISPS? wtf
41. FAVOURITE CAR? Labaron convertible... "Where's your Labaron?"
42. FAVOURITE FLOWER? probably foxglove
43. HOW MANY KEYS ON YOUR KEY RING? maybe 7.... I don't know what they all do
44. CAN YOU JUGGLE? no

So, last night I found out I am registering for school today, and starting tomorrow, instead of next week. This is for visa reasons. Apparently, even though it said student resident visa on my visa, I only have the visitor's one, and need to upgrade in the next few days. grrr....

Still haven't got my bank card to work, maybe I will soon. I need to get a haircut in the IMMEDIATE future, as I am going to school tomorrow I think. I have to do laundry & wash my hair now, no good having it dirty. Though I understand haircuts here come with a complimentary washing. Here are pictures describing the slipper situation.

skies unclouded, sweet the water runs my friend

...or at least when you boil it for 2 minutes. I miss being able to come home, and just pour cool, clean water out of the tap. It would be especially nice since the taifeng is over and daiy temperatures range from 27-34 degrees.

Went hiking with Scott (American exchange student), his didi Kevin, and my host father yesterday. It was pretty hot and muggy. The first part of the hike was flights of stairs straight up the side of a mountain. There must have been around 1,000 steps (in a non-hyperbolic way). At the top, one could see--through the smog--all of Taipei City. There was a Daoist/Buddhist shrine and a humongous statue:

Then we climbed over the top, along a forest path. We found an exercise area and Scott & I did Marine-style chinups; I could only do 3, but 6 regular ones, yay. We talked to some old man at the top of another one, and he gave us hot tea (he brought a teapot)--Apparently, it's good to drink hot things when you're hot. I consumed several litres of ice water and cold plum tea as well.

Later that day, baba, mama & I went to a park. I got to ride on the back of a scooter. It's not all that remarkable, except traffic can be really scary. I always expect death when I cross the street, because people's stopping/going logic is different here. They don't slow down when you expect it. The park was sweet: a huge track, soccer field, tennis courts, basketball court, playground & rock climbing wall (à la mode "romper room"). I jogged and then played badminton with my host father, who is pretty good. My backhand sucks.

The night before we went downtown, and had dinner at a shopping mall. A ridiculously tall shopping mall/department store. Look at all the floors!

Went to see my high school, which is very big... next to a very nice elementary school. It has many buildings, and they all have many stories. Didn't take any pictures. I will need a haircut, and school starts in one week. So these next few days will be my last with long hair for a while.

Watched a pirated DVD/VCD of Troy today. It was pretty good and I practised reading the Chinese subtitles. Was going to play badminton in an alley with Scott today, but everyone was burning money & praying for 'Ghost Month,' so we didn't. I thought a while ago that I pissed off my host sister because I am dense at learning Chinese and our parents make her teach me; however, it turns out she was just stressed. She is going to cram school 15 hours a day 6 days a week, because she didn't get a high enough score on University entrance exams. She will cram/study for a year then try again. hardcore is all I can say.

If you know where the title quote is from, post a comment. Wild guesses are welcome. (hint: it's from a song)

$4,500 New Taiwan Dollars

Ok, the picture below is less... maybe 3800, but you get to see what the money looks like. I just bought (don't have yet) an acoustic/electric guitar for that price.

Played badminton with another exchange student & his host little brother yesterday. It was somewhere between hardcore & brutal: we just played in the street, stopping for motor-scooters, and then switched to our off hands after a while. It was so hot, I was drenched in sweat and showered right when I got home. Also, I got a blister on my toe (as if that's the kind of priceless information you want.

Anyway, $1.00 CDN is worth about 25-27 NT... that's the conversion I do in my head, but you can check out a currency exchange site. So far, it seems many things are cheaper. Public transit is much less than the $1.75 of Nanaimo. The subway system is excellent, in English and Chinese; also there are reduced rates if you transfer between buses and subway. There is one card which pays for everything--you just top it up with money whenever.

That's about all I have to say right now. I am going jogging and to get my guitar with my host mother later today. yay

Typhoon Holiday

It has come to my attention that some people have been clamoring for a new post or two, so here goes:

Anyway, I am now in Zhong He City, Taipei, Taiwan. The weather is generally very hot & humid: when I got here it was about 33 degrees. Everyone showers every night, some people twice each day. It is a very large, very crowded city, but the public transit is good. Lots of people ride scooters (they call them motorbikes but really they're not. Here's my bedroom:

Today is a holiday from work and school because there is a strong typhoon passing over Taipei. Otherwise, my host sisters would be in school from 7AM-5PM and 7AM-10PM, and my host father would be working from 7 to 7. People seem a little more hardcore here... then they come home and still have time to watch some baseball.

Anyway, I am going to eat breakfast now.

here it comes!

holy crap. my CAL plane leaves in 10minutes. I won't be back for a long time.

Liftoff to Taiwan: 10minutes

counting down the days

Well I leave in just over a week (measured in hours)... 9:00 AM next Friday, and it's Friday now. Yesterday, I visited our friends in Port Alberni, Flora, Doug & Carla. We also picked up my visa, passport, and airline tickets from my travel agent. We met a girl there who did a Rotary exchange to Germany and is now studying international relations so she can work at the Canadian Embassy there.

That evening proved another festival of badness as Alleah came over again. This time, there wasn't any really horrible behaviour; however, she stayed until around 2. Paddy picked her up (demanding gas money) and drove her home, but somewhere in there they did some smoking up. I really hope my "gas money" contribution didn't go towards drugs. I hate it when that happens. I also climbed a tree, and took lots of pictures of my house and stuff.

Today was pretty dull. Did Mandarin (possibly the last class for a while) and then T'ai Chi this evening. T'ai Chi in the park was nice, not too hot, it's a lovely view and location to do it; Nanaimo/Newcastle Harbour is an excellent view. Of course, I didn't call ahead so I went to the club first. That's life though.

Tomorrow I plan on rewriting the Physics 12 provincial. No extra studying, à la mode Lit 12, I'll just get a lot more sleep this time. My mark isn't too terribly awful, but I'd like to bring it up to at least 90% for the course. Then, I will have rewritten every provincial exam I took. I love the BC government, I can't believe they let you rewrite and pick the highest mark... it's the precedent for how we did Physics 12.

There are tentative plans for a party in my honour Tuesday night (considering Brad's house as a venue, not yet secured). Not to toot my own horn or anything, but if you like me more than you dislike me, and my prolonged absence will not improve your life, you might want to consider coming and saying goodbye. Or rock on, or ciao, or bon voyage, or see you in hell... you get the picture. Think about it.

It's time to go to bed soon. I have an almost irresistible urge to see "Harold & Kumar go to Whitecastle," just because of the title--no other reason. Can't wait 'til Brad and Laura get back but in the meantime, this is YOUR perfect opportunity to hang out with me. Check out the Ebola Monkey Man (Nigerian-scammer baiting antics) or, alternatively, a useful page on ages of consent. Make sure to read up on Canada's various laws, including the one discriminating against gay sex, and the penalties for allowing minors to have sex in your house, even if you just live there. 1:52 AM = Time for bed.

Liftoff to Taiwan: 7 days

I disapprove, but judge not

Today was an o.k. day. My forearms have been pretty tight all day, but I was doing some good drumming earlier. Chinese was good, I need to study much harder for vocabulary. Next time, we are working on a speech that I can give to Rotary clubs, or at least the framework for one; go thinking ahead. That will be pretty hardcore.

Anyway, after Chinese, I told Alleah to come to our house. The parental units were down in Victoria (or somewhere) bicycling with their friends, and they told me to stay home and have dinner with Foo. I got home around 5:00 PM, Alleah arriving shortly afterwards. She said she had to go to Brianna's afterward. Foo & 'Lexis-girl were already there, just sitting around. I told Foo to go order pizza, and he told me to give him money but that he didn't know how.

I called Pizza Hut (after several wrong numbers) and said "Hi, I want two pizzas, meat lover's and hawaiian, and I have $20.00. What can I get?" For $20.32 I was promised two mediums in 35 minutes. Of course, due to Foo's retardation of progress, the pizzas didn't arrive until 6:00 PM. When we opened them (Alleah having generously tipped the nice boy several dollars) we discovered one was a Canadian, not Hawaiian!

So, Alleah called up Pizza Hut and explained the situation. Apparently we were to get the right pizza at no extra charge because it was their mistake. It arrived soon, and we traded the delivery guy Canadian for Hawaiian. But he gave it back and said we got it for free! Lo and behold, we ended up with an extra pizza. It's in the fridge, we didn't get to eating it. We did eat the rest of the ice cream cake though.

Foo & Alleah were being pretty silly, so 'Lexis-girl and I went downstairs and started playing Rampart. I tried to let her win, but I wasn't trying hard enough. We stopped after a while and went back upstairs to hang out. 7:00 came & went, and Alleah said she was too indisposed to go to Brianna's; however, she did not call to tell her (I thought this was the case, but no). We all talked a bit, but Foo/Alleah was an in-depth conversation. Whenever we turned our backs, they seemed to get a bit...indiscreet though. I did not approve [not of the relationship, but of the foundation, or their conditions--so to speak] from the start. And that's as best as I can side-step around it.

Recently, I've just been waiting for my batteries to charge. Alexis left, and then Foo's friend 'Rob' came over. He was smoking a cigarette while leaning out Foo's window, of which I Most Certainly do not approve on so many levels. He had an appreciation for Zelda 64, but still, that's quite the stupid thing to do. Liberal amounts of Febreeze only took the edge off it. I've pretty much cleaned up the house since everyone left, but people got gross food on the family room floor. nyar.

Hopefully this post won't be as long as Alleah's tremendous blog entry of insanity. I think I will end my summary of the day, and possibly create another post where I discuss other, more interesting, non-routine things. Tomorrow, heading to Parksville-Qualicum & Port Alberni on Rotary-related visits. Sorry for the excessive wordiness.

Liftoff to Taiwan: 9 days

get your motor running

Haven't been doing much these past days... somehow, it seems when a lot of the people I usually hang out with are away, I don't get much done (instead of rushing things due to excessive hanging out). Today was o.k. though I wouldn't say I've been feeling excellent.

All in all it's a little hot to be doing stuff, and lack of sleep doesn't help my mood. Now I'm just listening to Chinese chatter and pop music on a Taipei web radio station. I got up today, and went looking (with Grant) for a good memory card for my camera. I got a 256MB one for a good price, meaning I can now take over 100 pictures at the max settings of my camera; however, I haven't filled it up yet. maybe I will while I'm downtown tomorrow. While experimenting with my computer's picture resize capabilities, I made this:

Although the image suffers from a bit of jaggedness on one power line, I am impressed on the whole with the speed & remarkable compression of the function. I am still experimenting with my camera and photo-editing software. Though not blessed with 'Photoshop CS,' I do have version 7, which is very useful. I also want to try making digital prints before I go... and a wooden box, but that's beside the point, and probably out of my skill range when it comes to carpentry.

In the spirit of exercise, I've been working on my upper body today. Cruches, pushups, freeweights & wankinator to "Pimsleur Mandarin I" (a chinese course for businessmen) and "BCC Pop Network" are targeting my abdominals, pectorals, deltoids, biceps, triceps & various forearm muscles. Unfortunately it's pretty hot so I have to have a fan on to avoid instant death from heat overload ["Danger, heat overload. 600 degrees Kelvin. Shutting down engine." ah mechwarrior]

Tomorrow I plan to go to my Chinese lesson downtown, maybe shop & take some pictures, then go to Alleah's. My mom wants me to be home to have pizza for dinner with Foo, but I'll have to discuss that with Alleah. "Just bring her over here," she says, to which I reply, "Um, mom, it's your rule that I can't drive anybody." Silly parents; first they make a silly rule (egregious to the max) and then give a contradicting order while undermining my plans. Oh well.

While Grant & I were putting the new brake rotors & pads on his car I saw Smoker & Jenny walking the Ryans' dog. Talked with them for a while, caught up with what's going on. They've got to move to Victoria soon to attend UVic in their respective faculties. I'll keep in touch with a wonderful tool known as 'the internet'--you really must try it. Randomly: the volunteering lady woke me up today at 10:00 AM and talked me into doing 5 hours on Saturday afternoon.

I will head immediately to bed as I am somewhat tired. Hopefully tomorrow's renewed activity and absence of parental units/Foo will rejuvenate me... along with the sleep and some exercise. It is now 1:15, and my hands can hardly type as my forearms are so tight. The asian pop is beginning to get on my nerves.

Liftoff to Taiwan: 9 days
Total Googlewhacks to date: 75

♪could you whisper in my ear ♬

Today I had drums (because of BBQ yesterday) in the early afternoon. Then, I went to Laura's for a while and we walked in the woods behind her house: first the gate wouldn't open, then it wouldn't shut; I almost got lost except I left arrows; and we saw Cottle Creek. All in all, it was a grand adventure and tons of fun.

I spent a while getting my dad set up with MSN messenger on his computer. He's got it figured out now I think. Dinner was pretty good, basically chicken nuggets & fries in the oven. After dinner I went downtown to meet Laura & her dad at the HarbourLynx terminal. We all got on the ferry to go see the fireworks in Vancouver. Here's a picture of the Coast Mountains across Georgia Strait:

We played Scrabble while we sat, as it was windy and noisy outside, and the trip was longer than the show. Once we got there, we headed out to the front deck, but I didn't get a very good spot. Laura was having a little trouble because she couldn't see over the people as well as I could. The show was pretty good, though we couldn't hear the music well. Vancouver's skyline looked pretty cool, but I didn't get a good picture of it; I was struggling a lot with my camera to get good night shots, and I had major camera shake issues. Here is a picture of the fireworks:

All in all, it was pretty neat, though I would have rather been on a sturdier boat or land (to hear the music) as my vantage point afforded neither seat nor easy photographing. We went to Laura's house, had tea as she packed for Naramata tomorrow, and chatted with her mom. I may not see her again for a year, but I may have a chance on the 15th; she's one of the people I'll miss a lot. Anyway, now I am tired & hungry so I'm going to bed (with a little bit of eating).

Liftoff to Taiwan: 12 days

Of kings, both grilling & returning

Today was pretty darn good. Foo continues to irk me slightly, but whatever... won't have to worry about it much longer. We had breakfast at the Granary today, I stuffed myself with:

• 2 pieces of bacon
  
• 2 sausages
  
• 1 piece of ham
  
• 4 pieces of toast
  
• many hash browns (diced)
  

It was, all in all, quite awesome. We went home afterwards & played video games for a while, then I had a shower. At about 3:45 we started driving to Lantzville for the BBQ at my uncle's. I wore a white shirt with light blue crosshatching under the burgundy sweater-vest.

We socialized for a while, had an awesome dinner (including very excellent steak) and then I ate a ridiculous piece of ice cream cake for dessert. I took a picture or two off of the deck, to show my host family. I hope you like landscapes, check out the Georgia Strait & Coast Mountains: [You can kind of see how it's cloudy and rainish out]

Went to the mall to get CHEAP POP when I got home: 12L for $4.60 after all fees & taxes, oh yeah. Then, I went to Brad's... called Foo, and he came up. David, Foo, Brad & Amay and Laura & I all watched "Return of the King." It was funnier than usual, but some of the usually epic and dramatic parts didn't get to me. We got irked by the excessive ending though... there's a good 30-45 min of extraneous crap after the numerous places to end it. Especially the randomness of Sam coming home at the very end.

Anyway, now it's 3:00 so I should go to bed. I hopefully have drums tomorrow @ 1:00 PM (Gregg says "works just fine, my fine feathered friend"), then a little time to spend with Laura. In the evening, we plan to take a ferry to Vancouver Harbour and watch fireworks. That's about it.

Liftoff to Taiwan: 13 days

beats the hell out of twister

"On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero."

I've been staying up too late recently, so today I hope to hit the sack a little bit earlier. Anyway, today I got up around 11:30ish, had some breakfast. Jenna & Margaret arrived almost simultaneously; Margaret is now a proud Canadian citizen. Went downtown early before Mandarin, lesson was again good... I learn a little bit each time--like eating an Asian elephant, excepy with lots of characters to memorize.

Got home, mom sent me instantly to the mall to get corn & ice cream. There's a sale on pop, no-name brand for $0.49/2L!!! I was really excited, haven't stocked up yet though. Hopefully, my teeth won't rot out of my mouth before I go. Brad came over for dinner, as did Uncle Brian & Aunt Glenda (and of course their dog). T'ai Chi was good, we did almost 60 donyuus in the warm-up, and some good sets. It's too bad that I'll miss Fred's Noetic Symposium: I hope everyone else goes, it'll be good.

Brad, Laura, David, Foo & I watched "Fight Club" at Brad's this evening. Quite the excellent movie, it is. Apparently it is also a book, which I should read one of these days; however, I've got one or two other ones to get to first. Tomorrow there's a BBQ in the evening I must go to, but other than that, I hope to hang out with people a lot. Give me a call.

As for yesterday, it was of course Laura's party. Beforehand I helped her clean her house all hardcore (using FAR too much Febreeze); I actually vaccuumed most of it (in both senses of 'actually'). The party itself was fairly fun, a typical Laura-based social gathering with the usual events. I met a lot of nice people--whom I will probably never see again--and even saw Last-to-Leave-guy. There was no defining, remarkable event about the party that I can recall (no people started going out that I noticed) but I did do the "Time Warp." When I got home, talked to Jenna for a while, as she is just back, and she managed to lock herself out of her house (funny for me). 'nough said.

car-washing & brainwashing

Today has been o.k. though I can't say I've done very much. Nor was yesterday especially productive. For starters, I spent a lot of Monday cleaning out the van, mainly working on the vinyl; however, most of it is pretty clean and I want the shine of Armor-All or something (which I have not). Other than that, I watched "The One" with Foo... also, mini-Paddy & I played a lot of video games.

There was much SSB, as well as Rampart for many hours. Really, I wasted the day away and didn't even manage to blog. Oh well. Mini & Foo were thinking of going out, but Foo was tired and slept heavily on the floor. So, we decided to 'prank' him by tying things to his wrists:

Unfortunately, he had anticipated our treachery and used a knife (concealed under his pillow) to cut himself free. Thus, it wasn't as funny as we had initially anticipated. As retribution, Foo (with turncoat Mini) woke me at 10:00 AM--and again at 11:00--by running into my room and jumping on me; I was, needless to say, not impressed. Incidentally, I'd like your feedback... do you like pictures on my blog? Are they funny, topical, good, or none of the above? [If your computer is dying, invest in a cable modem &/or a faster system]

Went to Mandarin today, last group lesson with Julia. She's still looking for several host families so if you want some CWY people for 3 months, now's your chance! Came home, with the expectation of the wayfarer back from Oz; however, there was no word. Brad & Laura were both back, to my delight. Brad & I hung out and went to "Manchurian Candidate" with my 'rents. [Check out this article and this site on real-life background to the movie.]

It was an o.k. movie. As tonight was cheap night, I only paid $6.00 for it, but I still wasn't overly satisfied. It leaves you with a neat feeling right at the end, and some images & sections are very creepy, but overall it isn't great. I liked, say, "King Arthur" better. I'll have to see the original and/or read the book before I can comment much further, but I wasn't highly impressed. In my father's words: "The pace is too slow."

Afterwards, Brad & I played songs till about 10:45 PM. We then went to Amay's house, she showed us a new oil painting she did, and then I left. Tomorrow is Laura's party. I am going to hang out with her in the daytime, helping with preparations & generally having fun with my significant other. I hope to see everyone there Wednesday evening for the main event though. There mayn't be any more mass gatherings of the sort for a few weeks.

Total Googlewhacks to date: 69

air compressor

Today was an ok day, but I am pretty tired now. By that, I mean, I am quite tired so I will write quickly and poorly, while remaining verbose. BTW, if you're not sure what a word I use means, look it up on Wikipedia or Dictionary.com. Fun fact: I stayed up until 3:40 AM last night doing my blog.

I was going to vacuum out my van today, 'cause it had lots of dirt and junk on the carpet floors; however, the hose didn't reach far enough. So my dad made me use the air compressor, and blow stuff out. It was difficult, but I could really fluff the carpet and it was fun. Somewhere in there I played some SSB with Foo. Immediately following club-wagon-cleanage, I went to dinner with my 'rents to their friends' house. The Seips entertained us for dinner, fed us a ridiculous amount of great ice cream for dessert, and took my 'rents for a walk at Neck Point. I just drove home, shunning valuable exercise.

I missed Brad on MSN today. I got to do other stuff though. Right after I got home, I think, Geoff showed up (circa 9:30) and said he was going to "Bourne Supremacy" and I should come right away. Now, in accordance with the 7 Habits, I ought have declined, but I like hanging with my friends. Just to spite me, the spirit of Sean Covey sent my aunt & uncle to my door right as I posted the note to my parents that I was going. I'll have to catch up with them later.

We got to ride in E.J.'s new Element (I wonder if I should italicize Club Wagon?) out to the Avalon. While there, we saw Olives, Mel & J-Ro all working simultaneously @ the concession. Mr. Windross generously bought us tickets, and we headed in, missing some of the previews. Afterwards, we started hanging with Mel, and she offered to buy us Tim Horton's if we went there. Windross was keen on going down to the waterfront because "there aren't people there."

So we got timbits and went down to Swy-a-lana. At this point it was about 12:00 AM, but ironically enough there were many people around. We socialized for around an hour, gave our remaining timbits to a homeless person sleeping in the park (Random Act o' Kindness) and proceeded to go to our various homes. It turns out that, out of that group of people, I was the only one who HADN'T any sex, which was kind of sad (in the way that some people have somewhat casual sex). Though I guess some of you might call it sad in the other sense.

I just finished "7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens" again (which inspired the car-cleaning), and now I am started on "Highly Effective People." I hope it's as good, then I'll take it with me. Megs is now in Finland (my 3rd choice, after Japan & Taiwan) though hasn't blogged about it yet. It's actually exciting, even to think of someone else's exchange, once it's actually happening. It makes me more stoked, though I'm trying to keep it real so I don't come down so hard after the initial euphoria. I have to write another letter to my host family.

Recently, I just googlewhacked a bit, and have been chatting on MSN. And blogging, which I don't often mention, but it really takes some time and work, especially when I aim to form coherent sentences. Now it's like 2:50 AM, so I'm going to bed, because I've had enough. Do I need to change the bgm from Stairway to something else? Post a comment about it.

Total Googlewhacks to date: 62

random violence & video games

Before you pre-judge what I'm about to say, let me offer this disclaimer: it's not about violence in video games! I may mention it in passing, but I am 100% in favour of violent video games (just in case you got the wrong idea from the title). Today was a fairly good day... Foo & I got up before noon to go to the 1st annual "Hammermania" charity fundraiser, and--to speak in the parlance of Laura--it was buckets of fun.

At first, we watched people doing "professional wrestling." Then, the "Realm Riders" took turns catching big air and riding over a huge box van (until one, Sheldon by name, landed badly on his shoulder/face). We watched teams of local businesspeople beat in the roofs of cars; the most priceless was watching a guy from Tom Harris' jump up and down on top of a car. We even went to Zellers and bought 500ml of isopropanol (rubbing alcohol). But, that was only the start of the day.

After I got money at the mall (to pay/donate for smashing time), we returned to find most of the events wrapping up. Some of the bike riders were working on a car at such a pace I knew they weren't paying for it. I kept looking for someone to give money to, so I could hit a car for the life experience and so that Foo could (as he desired) bash off an untouched mirror. Somehow, we managed to insinuate ourselves into helping the other boys destroy a car. It was hard work (as my delts will attest) but very fun and rewarding, and as an added bonus, once we gave up on the first car, a new car was presented to us for smashing.

I was delighted beyond words, as was Foo. He proceeded to knock off a mirror (took several swings). I broke some lights, then climbed up onto the trunk and began bashing in the roof with the help of another guy. Once we were done with that car, I donated $10 to whatever charity it was, and then helped sweep up debris. Foo soon informed me that I should help him loot, because there was "good stuff" in the cars. I found a tire iron, and between us we looted:

2 hubcaps

1 rear-view mirror

1 vanity mirror

3 owner's manuals

2 random cassettes

countless logos (i.e. "Limited," "Buick")

All in all, it was a mega-fun, highly rewarding experience. Moreover, it benefited charity, and thus I highly suggest you go next year. As for Foo & I? We went home on the bus! with our hubcaps and the iron dangling from Foo's bag. When we got home I called Alleah, who came over later. Foo made burgers and I defrosted the buns to the "Rocky Horror Show" soundtrack. We started calling various people, but got few "hang-out bites."

After dinner we started playing Super Smash Bros, and taught Alleah the rudiments of the game. Amay showed up after a while, so then we all played together, having tons of fun. Eventually, Foo & 'Lexis-girl went to see a movie up-town, so Alleah & I went with Amay to the Clarkes' down the street. Bethany & Rastapoppus were there watching some movie. Alleah left just before the end--which was bad, to go with the overall mediocrity--to catch a bus. Then, Amay, Bethany, 'Poppus & I hung out until around midnight. We listened to the Dead Alewives' D&D thing, which was as funny as ever (and which 'poppus had heard before) and then went our separate ways.

Total Googlewhacks to date: 58