To My Dearest...

I want to...

2006-10-21T04:40:00.000-04:00

I want to sleep more,
I want a not-so-chill fall,
I want to have fun,
I want to be happy.

I want a Wii,
I want a pair of black boots,
I want a sumo pillow,
I want a PetTree,
I want a set of Kung Fu Kids stationary.

I want to graduate,
I want to build a better blog,
I want to move to Toronto,
I want to get a job,
I want to live in a loft,
I want to open a cake shop.

I want to travel,
I want to go to Spain with my special someone,
I want to wish all brides-to-be as happy as they can be.

To my dearest ......

2006-08-31T00:51:00.000-04:00

What is indian style hakka chinese cuisine? Only the chef and the owner knows!
To me it's a bit of confusion fusion here.

I am not as adventurous as to go figure it out myself. Anybody volunteer?

(Photo taken at Scarborough, Ont)

from the confused foodie

To my dearest friends,

2006-08-30T01:31:00.000-04:00

Darth Vabear @ HMV Robson, Vancouver
from the tourist

Never underestimate the chimpanzee!

2006-08-21T22:44:00.000-04:00

To my dearest slowpoke,

2006-08-14T22:22:00.000-04:00

There are many slowpokes around me in my life, and in the last few months I have been living with one. It doesn't bother me much most of the time but there are times you just want to strangle the slowpoke and leave him behind.

Hm, where should I start? ok, my housemate is busy with her exam today and didn't have time to take her boyfriend to work, so we organized a car pool. Since the shop is open this week only I want to get to school as early as possible to get work done. We agreed to leave by 930am last night.

This morning while I was packing my car while eating breakfast, slowpoke arise from the stairs at 925am. He saw me eating breakfast so he asked if he could have breakfast before we leave. We end up leaving the house 2 minutes before 10am.

Yes, Mr. slowpoke has his own car, but he spent last friday afternoon to fix the brake only to know that he broke another part, so he needs to carpool before this thursday while the car is in the garage.

He also complains the amount of errands to fix around the house. He broke the kitchen faucet on the weekend. (He broke so many things recently. :p ) Since he doesn't have his car around I had to take him to Home Depot to get the special screw to put it back together. Too bad Home Depot doesn't carry the screw so we have to stuck with the broken faucet for a while. No, I don't know when it will be fixed, since the kitchen is not the first priority on his list.

Oh, forgot to mention, when I was ready to pick him from the office this evening, I called him 15 mins before hand to let him get ready. Took him at least 5 more mins after I arrive for him to get out of the door.

Thank god we don't have to carpool with him everyday or else my model will never get done.

from the tenant of slowpoke

To my dearest foodies,

2006-08-08T16:13:00.000-04:00

club sandwich @ luxe bistro
aioli in the sandwich is to die for!
not too fond of the vinegrette soaked bread though. :(

from foodie

To my dearest mom and dads,

2006-07-29T20:41:00.001-04:00

Ever wonder how to toilet train your kids? Consider the following:

from the (probably within the next decade) mom-to-be

To my dearest game players,

2006-07-27T16:02:00.000-04:00

What are the game rules in your life? I mean, is there really a routine to follow? I was following ms cwang's blog entry about some typical women planning their lives.

There are people around my life that is in the game, planning to buy a house, get marry and child planning. When I was small I see my parents doing all the routine stuff at the right moment, which secretly hide the sequence in my mind. It is typical to want to follow the good steps. Maybe this is only because I have a healthy family history. But then again, why is the so-called good steps the best steps to follow?

To a certain extend I think I am worrying about my own game plan. Being in post-secondary school for 7 years now I am definitely behind -- way behind rather. Talking to high school friends makes me blush. The group of guys have been working and getting big pay cheques in their profession. They have girlfriends, saving up for down payments while still have extras to upgrade their cars. That is very typical. The more you hang around with them the more behind I felt. This should be the best time in our lives for a long while. While I ponder about the question there are more stories to tell you what the plan SHOULD be like, your best friend is choosing her engagement ring and your other friend's baby is already a year old. Am I doing something wrong or not?

On the other hand I have another group of girl friends who the majority are still in school. They just seem to not have enough books in front of them. Among the first few questions everytime we met was "You in school or working already?" Hanging out with this group makes me feel normal again. I am ok, I am not alone, I am not behind!

Every little girl has a dream game plan that has been set out by the norm and by her parents, find a man, get marry in her 20s and finish giving birth by the age of 36 -- at least this is what my mom, my mom's siblings, as well as their friends' story. There seems to be an urgency to follow the plan in order to be with the norm. But why should I be with the norm?

This all maybe caused by a woman's physical limitations of giving birth. If I don't plan to have kids then there is no need to follow the guideline right?

from a game player trying to quit the game

To my dearest yellow car lovers,

2006-07-10T19:04:00.000-04:00

Location: Montreal, QC
note: this is a real shot around Concordia University, between Ste. Catherine and Rue Sherbrooke.

from the Traveller

To my dearest daytime callers,

2006-07-05T15:19:00.000-04:00

Why would you think you could reach someone during daytime at their home phone number?

I just happened to be at home these 2 days and I already got at least 5 or 6 phone calls from various sources to look for my parents. They include banks, doctors, telephone and gas companies, and the ultimate of all, the promoting companies. It's annoying to pick up the phones to deal with them, tell them they are not available, and reply when prompted a better time to call. It's always a struggle to decide if I should pick it up at all, given that the call displays works too slow, often after 3 rings and when voice mail mode activates. To solve the problem? Pick it up regardless, and then tell them to call back later. Most of the time there is no call back, or even worse, they call back the next day at the same time, hoping that they will be available. What makes them think that you work one day and you are off the other? For the companies that are stupid enough to call you the next day, they must only have employees work during 9-5. For those actually make the effort to call you after work, aka dinner time or cooking time, they must be one of those advertising company.

You may say I can just ignored the calls and let them ring, and then check voicemail later. That doesn't quite work, since my parents are a little bit paranoid about the fact that thieves might call before they take action. Oh, we did had unknown calls before which confirms their suspicion to the myth.

I guess I have no choice but to pick up the calls. However, the question remain, why can't they call a different time? It's a problem hard to solve.

from the annoyed home-stayer

To my dearest foodies,

2006-07-01T00:14:00.000-04:00

This is my first time to visit Schwartz's Montreal Smoked Meat. I found recommendations on the web as well as from friends that persuaded me to visit this 78-year-old deli place. And there's continuously a line up of at least 10 people outside the door. We arrived at 1pm and waited 15 mins for a table to share with another couple. Their menu is short, sandwiches of 5 different kinds of meat, side orders and extras. The 3 of us tried their most famous smoked meat sandwich with mustard, fries, coleslaw and a pickle. We ordered the meat with a little fat and it came warm and quiet juicy. The hand-carved meat gave a distinct texture that grocery stores can't compare, although the bread is a light rye that doesn't surprise me at all. I am not a pickle person but the other 2 side dishes are good, fries fresh from the oil and made to order, the coleslaw is to die for for the perfect sourness and crispyness. Yum Yum!
Price is not cheap but it's ok, $4.75 for the smoked meat sandwich and the extras ranges from $1.50 to under $2. With drinks we just came under $10 each.
Oh, we learned that not to mess with the waiter, you HAVE to follow their routine, let them put the plate ON your table and don't say anything before he is done, or you risk yourself being harassed or make fun with. He did 3 groups of people at a time, I was only asking my friend if one of the pickles are for us and I got a shoo... ah well, he is one funny guy.

from the hungry traveller

To my dearest Canadians,

2006-07-01T00:13:00.000-04:00

Happy Canada Day!

from a Canadian celebrating at the capital city

To my dearest blog readers,

2006-06-21T16:59:00.000-04:00

In case you didn't know already, I have a section in my blog listing interesting random facts. I have been busy with school work and have abandoned it for a while. Introducing the Did you know? website. Quoting my favourite of the day:

What do people fear most? At the top of the list is death, the fear of which is necrophobia. Second, apparently, is the fear of failure, which is called kakorrhaphiophobia. After browsing the list of phobias you may have developed a fear of words! Which is logophobia. Or perhaps you developed a fear of a particular word or name, which is onomatophobia. If you handled the short words well but developed a fear of long words, you suffer from hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia.

Currently I am suffering from the fear of drawing. Oh, they don't have a word for the syndrome!

from the drawaphobia

To my dearest Ottawaians,

2006-06-12T23:24:00.000-04:00

The Byward Market is a wonderful place. There's excitement, events, activities, cars, people, and most importantly, there's food! Always fresh from the field. I spotted some unusual ingredients the other day, some purplish-blue stemmed mushrooms and wild asparagus. They all look so flavourful and juicy. I was on my way to dinner so I didn't get any. What a miss! I wonder what they taste like.

from the temporary Ottawaians

To my dearest pretz fans,

2006-06-11T23:05:00.000-04:00

I thought shark fin has no taste, yet to my surprise I was wrong. Introducing Pretz Hong Kong Shark's Fin Flavoured, oh, and it's in extra large size. Did not buy one though... Maybe you can try it out and tell me what you think.

from Munchy Muncher

To all George Foreman followers,

2006-05-29T16:24:00.000-04:00

courtesy www.comics.com

from a comic reader

To my dearest utopian,

2006-05-28T21:22:00.000-04:00

Ever have the problem of not knowing how full your usb drive is? or looking for your tv remote while away from it? Designer Dima Komissarov got the problem solved at his website plusminus design. The usb drive inflats and deflats as the memory content goes up and down, and remote control comes in the form of beaded bracelet. What a wonderful world! Well, maybe I am not that fond of the bracelet idea but it's still cool. Now, only if these are for real....

from a utopian

To people in advertising business,

2006-05-24T16:54:00.000-04:00

Where is the best place to put an ad? Rent a poster spot near a major highway? Print posters and stick them on bus stops? Cold call? How about registering a new car plate?

Saw this on the road the other day.

It reads: COW4SALE

from the Traveller

2006-05-24T16:51:00.000-04:00

Since when the lamp post have emotions?
Here's a sad one in Stittsville.

To my dearest dreamers,

2006-05-22T14:09:00.000-04:00

Had a couple of weird dreams about places these few days. I must have travelled half around the world in my dreams already.
The night before I had a dream feeling that I was still in Barcelona. I didn't see the surroundings but I knew I was there. I woke up in the dream (not from the dream) thinking that I should get a cheap ticket to Valencia. "It's only 60€, I can afford a ticket! And I can go there for the world's best paella!" The next thing I remember was sitting on a bus, supposingly continuing the architecture trip. I looked at the watch and it was almost noon. I looked outside the window and to my surprise it shows scenes of Hong Kong. I was on a double decker bus in HK? Two hours later I looked outside and was still in the dirty city. Weren't I supposed to be in Spain? What happened to the Valencia trip? And the weird thing was that my grandma was there on the bus with me.
As to my dream last night, my best friend came visit me from the states in Toronto. She was sleeping over at my place... but my place turned out to be the apartment I lived in when I was 12. She settled down in my parents' room (what happened to my parents) and I went to take a shower in the bathroom. As I stood in the bathroom taking down the clothes I was confused about where I was and what time it was. The time and place must have messed up. Confusing....

So where am I right now at this moment?

Looking forward to see my best friend again in the beginning of June.

from the confused dreamer

To my dearest Ottawaians,

2006-05-20T23:03:00.000-04:00

This is not what I imagined Ottawa to look like in spring. There has been so much rain in the last few weeks that the annual Tulip Festival was covered with grey clouds. It was cold, windy and tulips washed out by the environment.
I always imagined the tulip festival as a nice, bright, friendly and happy occasion and it was totally the opposite. It's dull, it's dim, sales were grumpy, flowers were stripped. Even it's saturday the park was empty. It was understandable why the booth owners were angry; however, showing it as emotions on the face is just not the way to go. If I didn't borrow an entry pass from my friend I wouldn't want to pay to go. It was sad.
Hope next year and many years coming better than this year.

from one of the visitor of the festival

To my dearest VIP,

2006-05-17T16:09:00.000-04:00

It's been 10 years, 10 wonderful years.

Thank you for everything. Happiness and sorrows, laughs and tears; you completed me.

from Bubbly

P.S. 10 years has 3653 days, you forgot the lunar days.... :P

To the corresponding Industrial Designer,

2006-05-11T19:49:00.000-04:00

Bottle opener? Hammer? Hybrid?

But why do we need a hammer with a bottle opener? Do you put this tool in the toolbox or the kitchen drawer?

Oh, and what happened to the thing that retreives nails? What do we do if we need to pull a nail out? We look for pliers? So why not look for a real bottle opener when you need a beer instead of looking for pliers for a nail error?

Was the designer drunk to begin with? If you had that much beer maybe you were unfit to use a hammer???

from the Curious

P.S. If you really need one, it's on sale for $6.99 at The Source.

To all girls in a relationship,

2006-05-08T23:49:00.000-04:00

What is good and bad?

What is a good man? Why are good man better than the bad?

Your concept of good does not equal to mine, nor the other way around. You cup of tea does not equal to mine. No one should tell you if a man is good or not, because it is you who is going to spend the rest of the life with him.

If your mind is up, stick to it, devote all you have to defend your decision.

Good luck my friend.

by One of Us

To my dearest fuchsia-lovers,

2006-05-04T19:10:00.000-04:00

I never like pink, it is the colour for the high-maintenance girls. I start liking pink starting 4 years ago, not pastel pink, but fuchsia pink. Since then I started to buy stuff in fuchsia colour whenever possible. That was my after my third year in school. Affected by the ribbon of the graduation gown (I thought "traditionally" architecture is a male's profession, so why did they pick fuchsia?), my pocession gradually got a spin on the hue. I got my first mp3 player in fushia, my high heels in fuchsia, almost got my phone in the same colour (only to get persuaded by the VIP that silver looks more professional), my second mp3 player in the same colour, and as my latest edition, my toothbrush joins the team.

Actually, my first piece of fuchsia is not any of the above, but is my lock that I used in high school. Horrified by the never-ending straight hallway in school, I picked the colour of my first lock. It is the sharpest colour I can find, and I am the only one on that floor to use that colour so I won't be in lost.

Since I know how absent-minded myself can be, I picked my first mp3 player in fuchsia so I can always find it on the table. So far so good, I still have the player with me after 4 years (let's not talk about why I have to get the second one, that was stupid and painful.).

As for my phone, maybe because of the size and that I have to use it everyday, it is still here beside me right at this moment.

But my question is, where is my mp3 player #2? I already spent more than half an hour looking for it. The last time I remember seeing it was on my printer before I pack up for the move last week. Now that I have unpacked almost everything I still can't find it. Woohoo, where are you? Does that mean buying fuchsia-coloured belongings is useless for this super BHS?

from the BHS

P.S. For those of you who don't understand the meaning of BHS, it stands for "big-headed shrimp", head is big but contains nothing. Term derived from chinese idiom.

P.P.S. I just found my player... it was always on the table... um... inside a transparent plastic cup. Thank you god.

To my dearest friends,

2006-05-02T22:20:00.000-04:00

Picture tells a thousand words.
Taken from: Byward Market

from the amateur photographer

To my dearest girlfriends,

2006-05-01T21:19:00.000-04:00

I had an interesting conversation with one of my girlfriends today. Girls and guys have such a different ways of thinking. Here're some examples:

You are planning a trip together. The guy said he wanted to go to placeX for a week next month. The girl first asked for an exact date and the number of days that he was planning for so she can schedule that for work. "Which day do you want to go?" "I dunno, sometime next month?" "There are 30 days next month, at least you can tell me which week you are planning to?" "erm... maybe the end of month..." The next day the girl went to the office to look at the schedule. "Honey, we are in luck, the last two weeks of the month are free. Is that ok?" "Yeah, cool." The guy went straight back to work without having second thought. Later that day the girl called him again to ask if he marked off vacation with his boss already, and of course the guy said he was busy and will do it later.
2 weeks had passed and the girl asked the guy almost everyday if he had arranged the vacation already and got negative answer. "So what exact day do you want to fly? Should we go Friday night or Saturday?" Still thinking if he could make it on Friday after work, the girl looked at him with wide eyes and said, "what? You still haven't decide?" "No, I mean, lets get the Saturday flight, I might probably be too tired Friday night." "How about hotel? Where should we live? I have been checking on prices and seems like we can get a deal if we book it within this week." The guy started to get annoyed and walked to his computer to finish off whatever he had been planning to do that morning. "Yeah, I can look into that when I have time."
That was probably monday. Depending on the type of girl, she would call him up from twice a day to once in two days to remind him to check on prices of hotels. Of course, "later" is always the answer.
By friday, depending on the type of boyfriend he is, have generally two options on answer. #1, tell the girl that he found a better deal living farther away/in another area; or #2, he forgot to do it but insist that there will still be places available after this day - it's not the end of the day if you can't get a deal you know. Either way the girl gets mad because he seems not to care about his own stuff, not even have to realize that the guy still hasn't gone to his boss to talk about the vacation.
Of course there's always exception in everything and you may claim that this is too much of a generalization of the genders. It is true though, I am afraid to say, that girls are more prone to look at details while the guys think only of results. So are girls overreacting or the guys acting too cool?

from the girlfriend of a boyfriend

To my dearest friends,

2006-04-30T23:16:00.000-04:00

A perfect way to end a stressful week and month.

The sun was up high today and finally the temperature rises back to normal during this time of the year. Half of the 05Spain group went picnic by the canal near school. It was fun gathering with friends eating crappy food like KFC's, fries, cucumber sandwich loaded with cream cheese + mayo and flaky pastries. The grease goes together so well, perfect combo of evilness. The more evil the better, the amount of fun and friendship together has the power to conquer all life-threatening cholestrol. Forget about the diets!

from the happy no-dieter

To cwang: looking forward to the van trip! Rob Feenie and oyster bar!

To my dearest friends,

2006-04-29T12:39:00.000-04:00

Being friends is one thing, living together is another.

I recently moved to my friends' place. Before I moved in I thought that it would be nice to live with your best friend, spend time together before I leave the city for a long time and what not. But it's always easier to say than to do.

No, there hasn't been anything wrong between our relationship, but sometimes seeing your friends too much creates problem. Or maybe I should say, trying to fit in their live schedule is difficult than you thought.

I have been to their house before, sometimes even cooked in the kitchen and helped them paint a wall when they first moved in, so I am familiar with the place and are comfortable staying in. But things are different when you turn from a friend visiting to a person who's renting off their house. Not only there's conflict in money (rent and groceries, phone bills and internet fees), but there's also conflict in concepts and customs. Friends are friends, not your family who are responsible to make everyone happy in the house; both parties have their own right to do whatever they like to do. When this balance situation becomes a parasite and host situation, the parasite has to live based on the condition of the host. The host is not responsible to make the parasite happy. Since the host and parasite used to be friends, and both of them want to remain friends after the host-parasite relationship is done, both parties tried their very best to keep each other happy, thus comes the conflict. What used to be effortless becomes an effort. Pressure increase with tension in the friendship.

Both of us are easy going, hope the tension ease out in no time.

from the Parasite

To my dearest fellow students who have been living in rez,

2006-04-25T18:45:00.000-04:00

I remember my first day moving in residence. It was a day of drama.

Being the eldest of the generation in my family, grandma made it extra special to start my life of being away from home.

She suggested the whole family should come move with me. No, I don't mean to move and live here, but to help me moving.

We ended up having 2 vans containing 11 people coming from Markham to Ottawa. I swear I didn't think it was a keen idea to make such a journey for this big gang, of which they claimed it as a civic holiday event. They booked a hotel room for the moving day and stayed in the city to tour around. Not only this is an event for me, grandma insisted that my brother and cousin to come with us so they can have a vision of what university looks like.

Although I didn't have much stuff to bring, the vans were still packed because there were 11 of us in 2 7-seaters. It was obvious that the first thing of arrival would have been to unload my luggages. There had been cardboard boxes and plastic containers full of school supplies and clothes, beddings and what not. I lived on the second floor so it wasn't a long walk. Since there's only one room key and the door was locked automatically (until I figure the door out later in the year) someone has to stay in the room to open the door.

Probably out of curiosity everyone helped out carrying a box of two, but the scene was absolutely hilarious. The first trip I made with my dad and grandma (my dad's mom, the one mentioned above was my mom's). I opened the door and my roommate D checked in a bit earlier and I greeted her. Her mom was there as well and they were talking in some language that I couldn't understand. I said hi to her and told her that I was her roommate. Since she looked very asian, my grandma walked to her, shake her hand and greeted her with "ni hao ma?" D's face was full of question marks and confusion. It's just funny. Grandma also introduced herself as my "ah ma" and of course it only added confusion. I asked why she did that without asking what nationality my roommate is and she answered that since she can only speak cantonese and D looks asian, it's worth a try. I was speechless.

But this is by no means the end of the move. The first trip my grandma stayed in my room and I went out to confirm everything was ok and shall continue to unload. The next trip was me and my parents, and it's my turn to stay in the room to start sorting out the boxes. And then my brother and cousin came in after my parents, with following with trips of my other grandma and uncle and auntie. Even grandpa came in to "help out". I was in the room to watch them come and go, each time the door opens with different faces. You might think unloading shouldn't take much time since there were so many of us? No way, anyone beside my dad and my brother who has the most reason to bring stuff in, everyone was just carrying a small box or a bag of something. More like a tour of my room I should say. I understand their intension to get to know about the place I was going to stay for the year-my immediate family about the place I was staying, grandparents wanted to know what a dorm looks like, and my cousin and his parents wanted to know so they could be prepared when his time comes-but it was embarrassing. If it was just me in the room that would be ok, but D was there as well and I was making a showcase of my family. I looked like a weak and dependent girl coming out of an overly protected environment. It was my turn to feel embarrassed.

But I wasn't a weak and dependent protective creature in the family as shown in what happened next. After we unloaded the vans they said bye to me and off they go to travel around the city. I was left with my boxes in my dorm on campus, while they got to have fun in the same city for the rest of the day and the day after.

That was my first day at Carleton.

from a Carleton student who lived in rez for 6 years.

P.S. You know what is even more amusing? Couple of years later when I discussed travelling with my parents, they thought that they brought me with them to tour around the city. "Oh you have never been to the Big Apple (On the way from home to school)? You haven't been to the mint? Of course you did, you came with us while we sent you off to school." Hello mom!

To my dearest fellow university students,

2006-04-23T10:30:00.000-04:00

It's the season of exams and deadlines.

This is the first year ever I am staying at school for the summer and I was actually excited because I have never been away from my family around the hottest season and that I get to live with my best friend. But only in these few days that reality hit me. The end of exam period also means moving out for most of the students. Sitting in my room I can see cars parked at the door and cars are packed with boxes and boxes of stuff. Ah well, I knew people are moving out and I am moving out, that's not a big deal - until I went out to Zak's last night to satisfy my American food cravings. People were there to meet up or farewell, asking each other their plans for the summer. Sounds like everyone has a zillion plans to cool off the hot climate, but for me, my plan is to finish up my thesis. Summer fun is not in my schedule.
My trip home for easter only makes things worse. Parents kept on asking me how I was doing at school, bugging that finishing early means less tuition. Relatives asked me if I got a job ready after graduation and I could only tell them I won't be done yet for another term. Their eyes looked like "Oh, you are doing summer school and you must be a lazy student." Somehow it's a tradition for them to take a term off for the summer. The worse thing came when my boyfriend told me he will learn salsa dancing without me. He will be having fun without me! And I can't complain because I am the one doing summer term and not him; he has the right to go have fun while I am away doing my own thing.

I can't wait to get this stupid thesis done.

from the poor girl who won't have a fun summer

To my dearest green tea lovers,

2006-04-21T17:39:00.000-04:00

Don't try Starbucks' Blackberry Green Tea Frappuccino, it tasted aweful.

from another green tea lover

To my dearest blog readers,

2006-04-18T00:30:00.000-04:00

To check out the accuracy of the personality test Cwang did, I tested it out on my own. Here is the result:

Advanced Global Personality Test Results

Extraversion		46%
Stability		20%
Orderliness		23%
Accommodation		30%
Interdependence		70%
Intellectual		23%
Mystical		50%
Artistic		76%
Religious		16%
Hedonism		36%
Materialism		43%
Narcissism		56%
Adventurousness		23%
Work ethic		63%
Self absorbed		56%
Conflict seeking		83%
Need to dominate		56%

Romantic		36%
Avoidant		43%
Anti-authority		23%
Wealth		30%
Dependency		76%
Change averse		30%
Cautiousness		76%
Individuality		70%
Sexuality		23%
Peter pan complex		63%
Physical security		50%
Physical Fitness		57%
Histrionic		63%
Paranoia		63%
Vanity		70%
Hypersensitivity		36%
Female cliche		76%

Take Free Advanced Global Personality Test
personality tests by similarminds.com

trait snapshot:
messy, irritable, depressed, fragile, worrying, emotionally sensitive, does not like to lead, phobic, weird, suspicious, low self control, paranoid, frequently second guesses self, dependent, unproductive, introverted, weak, strange, unassertive, submissive, familiar with the dark side of life, feels invisible, rash, vain, anti-authority, heart over mind, low self concept, disorganized, not good at saving money, avoidant, daydreamer, unadventurous

from the supposingly messy, irritable, depressed, fragile, etc. etc. Bubbly

To my dearest colour lovers,

2006-04-17T23:55:00.000-04:00

Title: Ouch, my eyes hurt!
Taken from: Women's Washroom, War Museum, Ottawa

from a Museum Visitor

To my dearest mom,

2006-04-11T22:00:00.000-04:00

It's good to be home.

But then it's also bad to be home.

There has been so much good food at home everyday that it's hard to ignore. I feel bad. I feel bad to complain about the amount of food that we have while millions of people are starving all around the earth. I feel bad to not eat the food on the table, as I know it will get spoiled. I feel bad when there's enough food to feed our family for 2 days and there're still new dishes on the table at dinner. I feel bad for not being able to not listen to my own body but to follow orders to clean the plates.

What is this concept of having a feast everyday? We just never finish the food. Why in the first place to buy so much food? The stew that you made last friday was good, but you don't have to add more ingredients to the pot to make an even bigger stew. I don't want to eat the same stew everyday. Need not to worry me from not eating enough while I am away from home. I love cooking as much as you do and I am old enough to take care of myself and eat a balanced diet. What is the point of eating when every now and then you complain about gaining weight? Oh, and do you understand the word "full" when you forced me to put third or fourth helpings in my bowl?

I feel bad. Bad for you and bad for me.

from the extremely stuffed daughter

To my dearest shopaholics,

2006-04-05T23:40:00.000-04:00

This is a material world afterall. I have tried to control myself but could not pass the temptation test. I shamefully announced that today I once again got defeated by the enemy without even realizing it.

My goal was to print some pictures from Walmart, and I end up carrying shoes in my hand with no pictures to be found. Okay, I did went to Walmart with my pictures, but I could not print them because they don't accept usb memory stick. So I went to chapters to read. Hours later I found myself at Winner's trying on shoes on the way back to my car.

I must have the shopaholic gene in my blood that makes me do things that I am not suppose to do. Once again I fell for the material world.

from Miss Shopaholic

P.S. But the shoes are so cute!

To my dearest bad habits,

2006-04-04T23:01:00.000-04:00

My left knee hurts.

No, I didn't cut myself of bang it to the wall, it just hurts. It is not very painful, just a little bit, a nerve pinching the muscle around. I can jump and walk alright, it's just annoying.

I figured it's my bad habit that led to the pain. I am a person who cannot be in the same position for more than 5 mins; my parents always say I have a bee sting on my behind. From time to time I will be kneeling on the chair, sitting up straight, one knee on the chair and the other foot on the floor, and the worst of all, cross legged.

Probably it's Sharon Stone's to blame, when I was a kid I saw women who dressed nicely had their legs crossed. So I had in my mind that all ladys have their legs crossed when seated. I started since then to cross my legs, and my parents terrified me that my legs will bent because I was still growing.

And now, after many years, I proofed that my parents were right, my legs are bented. And because I sit around a lot these days and I unintentionally performed the bad habits, my knee started to sore. Yet it is a bad habit and I did it without noticing, and the pain never go away.

Habits are evil. How can I get it off me?

from the troubled bubble

To my dearest fashion disasters,

2006-04-03T23:14:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I have the urge to pull people over to question on their fashion sense.

Today I saw an Asian dude in the tunnels. He was wearing a nude colour long sleeve, dimple fabric top, collarless, tight round collar with two little white buttons, with a long black dress pants that the bottom of the legs are so tight that neither his calf nor his shoes could pass through. And the pants are an inch too short from touching the top of his shoes.

A Saturday a couple weeks ago, I saw a guy in the tunnel wearing a full three-piece white suit (those with a vest under the jacket) with a blue shirt, black dress shoes, practising catwalk -I am not sure if he was practising but at least I hope so or else he must be an idiot - by himself. He had his right hand in his pants pocket, eyes straight ahead, his somewhat long hair tidied up towards the back and fully groomed. I was walking in the opposite direction so I had a good 5 seconds to look at him... but I can't look at him while holding my laugh. Hello, this is the school underground tunnel on a Saturday and I cannot imagine a reason to dress like that, or to walk like you are a model. That outfit belongs to a wedding and nowhere else.

I am not criticising people without a fashion sense. This is not a matter of fashion; it is the sense of appropriateness. You don't need to wear fashionable clothes to look decent. Putting on fashionable clothes do not always look right either. Examples are everywhere out there. I wonder if they look at the mirror before they leave the house, or worse, do they even know there's something wrong with their outfit?

I love watching TLC's What not to wear. Although I don't agree with them that everybody should dress like Stacy and Clinton in the show, they do give out hints to make our body more flattering.

It is true that looks are less important than the soul, but it helps to gain confidence and trust from others. You think your boss will give you a job when he thinks you can't even take care of yourself?

Look at the mirror before you head out.

from the amateur fashion police

To the guy that blew himself up at a Tim Horton's,

2006-04-02T23:38:00.000-04:00

Question: what happened in that cubicle?

I read from the news that you blew yourself up at a Timmy's at Yonge and Bloor today. Although you were dead on the scene, you left everybody a big question mark. If you did not intend to kill other innocent people there, why did you go there to perform the task? Poor customers were rushed out of the coffee shop in the middle of a gloomy sunday and the police were made busy to look for the source of the bomb. This is what I suspected:

You must have passed by the coffee shop to borrow the washroom for some relief. You went for the cubicle for a long one, and lighted a cigarette to kill some time. Unfortunately, instead of killing time, you killed yourself while flicking your lighter and reacted with your own gas.

Is that what happened?

May you rest in peace.
from a curious Torontorian

To my dearest friends-who-have-been-hurt-by-words,

2006-03-30T23:48:00.000-05:00

Language is an interesting thing. Words that came out of our mouth sometimes do not match what we truly intend to say. Even when two person dialoguing in the same language, different cultural or family background can manipulate the meaning, resulting in unintentional assult. Here's an example:

A: Did you see the mess that you just made in the bathroom?
B: Did I? No, I did not see any mess.
A: How can you not see it? If you can't see it, wear your glasses!

I don't think A wanted to be mean, and that A did not even sense the accusation along the lines. There are 2 possibilities to B's reaction: either she really mean she did not see a problem in the bathroom because of her own standard of cleaniness, or A was right and she really forgot to put on her glasses. Of course the prior reason sounds more logical; however, that does not necessarily legitamat for A to point at the handicap. Or is there 2 possible meaning to A's reply as well? It can either mean literally to tell B to pick up her glasses, or pick up her sense and be more observative. Either way is valid to explain the response, yet results can be extremely different.
Have you ever get hurt verbally by someone? Now think twice, are there other possible meaning to what he/she said? That happens to me all the time. There are times when I don't even notice what I was saying is hurting someone. I have a friend and we were best friend since grade one. We stuck together during recesses and talked on the phone for hours once we got home. And then one day when we were 13, she stopped talking to me. I was sad and told mom, and she said it must have been something I said. I cannot recall saying anything that hurted her, and till this day, after so many years, it is still a mystery. We eventually started talking to each other after a year or two being strangers, by then she cannot recall what happened that day. Maybe she was being considerate by not telling me what I did wrong, maybe.

How about you? Did you get hurt before? Are you sure that person was trying to hurt you?

Love, and think twice before you say it.
from the Friend-who-still-don't-know-what-went-wrong

To my dearest dreamers,

2006-03-29T19:47:00.000-05:00

I had a weird dream last night.

I dreamt of my grandpa (but not my real grandpa) in a house with grandma and my parents. He looked like he has mind problem and was not thinking straight. He woke up in the middle of the night and took a knife and wanted to kill grandma. My dad and me stopped him and brought my grandma to a safe place to hide.

The scene then switched to a car dealership where we were shopping for a new vehicle because the van that we own had been broken down the other day. We picked a van and we all sat on it to try it out, where I was in the middle row captain seat and my parents were at the back. We all looked around to the rear window and a huge panel flipped over to reveal rows and rows of buttons on it. I was then told that we were buying a helicopter instead.

We flew to a huge public place with lots of people in their dress gown. I found myself changed into a beige-gold dress carrying a big black bag and people keep stepping on my train which I later saw (I didn't know the dress has a long train until I looked around after I got stepped on a couple times). My parents and I walked on the red carpet and entered the Oscar award ceremony. While sitting down next to the banquet table, I realized that I was in inproper shoes and was told that it will soon be my turn to go on stage to present an award. I checked out the big bag that I was carrying with to see if there were shoes. To my surprise, there were two pairs of shoes, but they were a pair of white running shoes and a pair of light blue running shoes (of which is the fourth thing - beside my grandma, my dad and the van - that really looks like the real version of things related to my life). I decided to wear the blue running shoes to the stage and announced that it is the new trend to wear evening gown with running shoes.

The end.

from the CD (Crazy Dreamer)

To my dearest kids in North America,

2006-03-27T23:26:00.000-05:00

The PC brand has launched their Mini-Chefs series of microwave ready food. These pre-packaged pasta bowls provide kids like you a supposingly good and quick meal while your parents are busy with work. There are different pastas to choose from, like "elbows on the table" whole wheat macaroni in tomato beef sauce, pizzavioli pepperoni stuff ravioli, and the "bug-a-licious" pasta in tomato chicken sauce. Isn't pasta fun, when you can make it into different shapes? They can be in the shape of wheels, shells, even mickeys and donald ducks. And now introducing a new shape - the shape of bugs? Imagine a bowl of hot pasta with red tomato chicken sauce! How fun is that?

Okay, so kids nowadays like to eat bugs? How about microbes that are 1,000,000 times their actual size in the form of plush toys? What do you do with these microbes? Are you suppose to put them on your bed and hug and talk to them every night before you go to sleep? Or learn each of their names to learn the importance of sanitary? To be honest, those eyes on the plush toys really scares me; the last time I saw pictures of them in books they haven't evolved to own a pair of them.

What do you think? You want a bowl of bugs?

from the Confused Consumer

To my dearest Ottawaians,

2006-03-26T15:25:00.000-05:00

It's a nice Sunday. I really have an urge to eat ice cream outdoor. Have you ever heard of the ice cream law of ottawa? Couple years ago, someone sent me a link on dumb laws of North America and a line says something like "cannot eat ice cream on Bank Street on Sundays." Not sure if I remember it right, I tried checking it online again. Here are a couple of them regarding ice cream for the States:

Alabama, Kentucky, New York, West Virginia:
You may not have an ice cream cone in your back pocket at any time.
California:
Burlingame: It is illegal to spit, except on baseball diamonds; Carmel Ice cream may not be eaten while standing on the sidewalk. (Repealed when Clint Eastwood was mayor); Women may not wear high heels while in the city limits.
Georgia:
No one may carry an ice cream cone in their back pocket if it is Sunday.
Indianola:
The Ice Cream Man and his truck are banned.
Kansas:
It is illegal to put ice cream on cherry pie in Kansas.
New Jersey:
It is illegal to buy ice cream after 6pm in Newark, and illegal to sell to a customer unless there is a doctor's note.
...And as for Ottawa, here it is:
"It is illegal for children to eat ice cream cones on the streets on the Sabbath in Ottawa."

As to why these laws are created and the reason of their origins, and if the police will really catch you if you carry an ice cream cone around on Sundays, I say someone should try it out to verify.

Love, take care, and watch out for ice cream and policeman.

your fellow Ottawaian

To my dearest blog readers,

2006-03-26T02:08:00.000-05:00

Thanks for reading my blurp yesterday. I already felt better after I sent the letter out. Everything has been going well today. Yes, I went out today. Weather was nice and warm and I was able to drive with windows open. There are many people out on the street today and I met a friend on the street. It was a nice afternoon.

Heard of a recommendation of a book called Mister O and think you might be interested as well. Mister O is a round dude who wants to cross a ditch. The book records in comic form his different solutions. Each page represents one solution and each time he fails and falls into the ditch - A bit like Wile E. Coyote trying to catch Road Runner in my opinion. As a fan of the coyote and the Road Runner, Mister O seems like a good read. One sad thing: it cannot be found in major Canadian bookstores.

From the Blog Owner

To my dearest blog readers,

2006-03-25T00:24:00.000-05:00

Have you ever feel left out and alone? On one hand you are looking forward to a little pampering with some dear ones, and on the other trying to enclose and detach from the outside world? That's what I feel like in these two days. I have locked myself in my room for two and a half days (beside to class this morning) and restricted myself for going out. Deep in the heart I wanted to go out to get some fresh air; the weather is so nice and warm. I don't really have anywhere to go. There has been attempts to schedule some outings and got cancelled. Everybody has their own lives to get busy about.

One can really get tired by not doing anything. Tired as in physically and mentally. I haven't moved much and I feel exhausted, like after a marathon run and hours of kickboxing. My brain is drained just by sitting here. There's nowhere to go, no place to visit, just me and my room. There's an avalanche of books waiting to be read but there's no interest. I have lost interest in reading, writing, drawing, or going out.

No, even if I have the attempt to go out I really shouldn't. I lack self control on spending money. Everytime I go out I have a tendency to spend. Never big purchases, but bits and pieces add up. Although I am not quite in debt at the moment, but if I don't watch out it would be dangerous. Therefore, I should watch myself, restriction and control on demand! Cut down every single expense. I have spent enough money just by sitting here. Don't you understand? Every penny counts.

I never have allowance until I was well in my teenage. I never have urge to spend money when I was young. I was one weird kid, I beg my mom not to buy toys for me, even though I really wanted them. When mom saw me staring at the toys in the store, she knew I wanted it. The next day she got me as a present, and I actually pout at her and acused her for spending money on me. Such a weird kid I was. When I grew up to my teens and first have my allowance, I successfully restricted myself to have only one purchase in a month. Everything went well until I got my second job, since then I lost my self control. I go shopping every week. I get myself treats from now and then, a coffee here and a cake there. They never show on my body but on the bills. Having no income really makes me insecure.

It's late at night and I am hungry, but I really should not snack because I have eaten enough calories for the day and it's not good for the stomach to have food in it during sleep. I should control myself.

Thanks for reading up my long blurp, just want to let some negative energy out of my body.

from the worry freak in the cage

To my dearest car owners,

2006-03-21T23:30:00.000-05:00

As a car owner myself, my friends and I got into the discussion about car genders. No, I don't mean the type of cars that opposite genders should drive, but we believed that like humans and animals and other living creatures, cars have genders too.

I don't know why and how I got this vision, but i believe my dad's Beige Sienna is an old grumpy man, my mom's TSX is .... um.... sorry mom..... TSX is a trans-gender. A female turning male.... There is no particular reason how I personify the cars, it's pure feeling and a little imagination. Or maybe it's the colour? Well, not really. Nor does it related to the driver's gender. (My dad is not a grumpy old man and my mom is definitly not a... you know) More like a mix of consideration about type, colour, specs, and everything. How about other cars? I think yellow beetle is a girl, red viper is definitely a boy. There is no problem for anyone to drive any gender of cars... because as I said the gender does not related to the driver.

So what's the gender of your car?

from the owner of a Black Matrix

P.S. Just in case you are wondering, my Matrix is a boy!

To my dearest engineers,

2006-03-20T23:04:00.000-05:00

I feel great today!

Engineers, sadly I have to inform you that not all architects are useless and stupid. It is a matter of perseverance.

Maybe I am still confused about the difference between shear and bearing, forces and moments, but I did exceptionally well in my midterm exam. 97%!!! Well above average. If the architect can do it, so can you! Come on, you can do better. I understand that grades are not everything, but the lack of them on such an easy exam show your lack of effort and contribution. Have you put time and effort into the course, paying attention in class and work on your assignments? Ah-ha, I caught a couple of you snozing in class today and passing around that mysterious paper. I spent so many hours working on the assignments and studying hard for the exam. It's payback time, baby. If you are not doing better than we architects do, why should you worth earning more money then we do?

So, to all students who has potential to be a professional, work hard!

Yours Truly,
from the Arrogant Architect

P.S. Sorry to all engineers who do not believe they rule the world, maybe I was too generalized. But please forgive me, I feel too good today. :)

To my dearest Mr. Shopaholic,

2006-03-18T18:20:00.000-05:00

It is all my fault of creating the burden on your visa bill. If I were not to ensure you have such a good self esteem, and that you have all the potential to extend to a higher level, you would not be as enthusiastic in the action of shopping. In no time you can write a book like The Confessions of a Shopaholic. Maybe you should get a copy and read it. It's only $9.20US because it's on sale. You are actually saving money! Good for you!

Seriously, you have surpassed my ability as a shopaholic. I truly admire you financial stability (or the opposite in reality). Enjoy seduction in the material world and don't get carried away!

From Miss Shopaholic
the creator of Mr. Shopaholic.

To My Dearest Honey,

2006-03-18T03:06:00.000-05:00

Sorry for not being there to celebrate and make you a cake.
But please forgive me or I'll feel guiltily sick.
If it's possible I also would love to have a break.
However, if I decided to do so, trouble will be very big.
Go enjoy this very day and eat a red-dyed egg.
Don't you worry, I promise next year is gonna be great!

Happy Birthday Honey Bunny!
Your Dearest Honey Monkey

P.S. Did you check the mail today?

To my dearest Brain,

2006-03-18T02:56:00.000-05:00

How are you? Where have you been? Was looking for you all day long. I miss you so much.

Without you, I feel so empty. Everything went wrong today. I put mascara on earlier today and I forgot to wash them out before I went swimming this evening (therefore, panda in the pool!); I forgot my goggles and had to go home to retrieve them; I also forgot my student card plus all my id at home and failed to realise until the moment I walked in the gym. Even worse, it took me the whole day today to finish my supposed-to-be-done-by-yesterday assignment. I wish you were with me today.

Miss you lots!
from your Owner

P.S. Did I mention I borrowed a book from the library that I only need a page from it? There's something called photocopier you know....

To all Pranksters,

2006-03-16T23:13:00.000-05:00

I came across this article about pranks in the school newspaper. I am never a promotor for pranks, and never thought about executing one, but some of the things it mentioned there are pretty hilarious. Here are some quotes on the article:
"Go to a bait store and buy 100 crickets. Release them under the door of your target. It'll be weeks before they stop chirping."
"Boot up your roommate's PC and switch the right mouse button to the left."
"Switch the wires in the light switch every week so one day you flip it up to turn it on, the other day to turn it off."
"ring ring. Hello, this is Baskin Robbins. We're running a contest. If you can name all 31 flavours of ice cream in 31 seconds we will give you $3,100. Your time starts now."
I can't quite tell you what my reactions will be if I came across these pranks, but I wonder if I can realize the humor the moment it was played. Think it will depend of what my mood is at the moment. So to all pranksters, think twice about the person before action.

Yours truly,
from the person who loves to watch but wishes not to get involved

P.S. there are more ideas on pranks.

To My Dearest Mom (Type 2),

2006-03-15T22:45:00.000-05:00

Thanks for calling me today.... Yes you haven't call me for a while.... when's the last time we talked? I can't remember. So what's up? Nothing? Okay then. What's for dinner tonight at your place? How come you never make that stuff when I come home? You gotta go? Dinner's ready? Ok, talk to you later, mom.

I love you mom!
From the forgotten daughter

To My Dearest Mom (type 1),

2006-03-14T18:31:00.000-05:00

You fed me well when I was hungry,

and taught me to write.

You brought me to school

to learn what is right.

You encouraged me to be strong

and made everything alright.

Why can't you trust me

and just hug me tight?

You showed me what are manners,

and how to be nice.

You reminded me of cold weather,

and saying it twice.

You gave me all the love

that nothing come as quite.

Why can't you trust me

on this very night?

I love you mom!

From your confused daughter

To my dearest Library,

2006-03-13T21:16:00.000-05:00

You have opened my eyes today. I could never dream of such a transformation for an ordinary vending machine. I love the transformation and I think it's amazing! There are vending machines for soft drink and junk food, and I have certainly heard of weird combinations as underwear and fresh flowers in places like the wacky Japan. But stationary? That's something new. The machine can produce mechanical pencils to pens, line paper to graph paper, and sticky pads to correction fluid. I wonder who would use that vending machine. Students who are too lazy to go to the bookstore in the next building? Those who only remember to bring their laptops and forgot about their pens at home? Thank you, Library, for bringing us one step closer to human alienation.

Yours truly,
A student who cannot figure out who buys stationary from a vending machine

Dear Dude-on-the-Floor

2006-03-12T21:46:00.000-05:00

Haven't seen you for a while, how are you?

Your suite door has been closed more often then the last few months. I can't stop but wonder what you are doing behind that door. Are you still sitting at your desk concentrating on the monitor, or sitting again in the kitchen with your back facing the outside world and devouring on books? A couple of times I walked pass your door when it's open you were doing one of the two things. You look so serious all the time and never have emotions on your face. Do you ever say hi to your neighbours, or do you know that there are other people who exist on the floor?
It was a surprise for me to see you at the lobby one weekend. So you actually go outside and do stuff on the weekend! And wow, you do own clothes other than shirts and dress pants. You know, dress pants and Sundays do not go together in my dictionary.

Nothing much, I am not being nosy, just being curious.

Regards,
Your Neighbour

Dear Savion Glover,

2006-03-11T21:21:00.000-05:00

Went to see your Improvography tap dancing show at the Ottawa National Art Gallery today. Great show! It was awesome! You are really talented.

I have seen tap dancing before, but could never imagine a full show on tap dancing could be like what you have put on stage this afternoon. To me this was not only a dance performance, but with Tommy James on piano, Patience Higgins on saxaphone/flute, Andy McCloud on bass, it also was a music show. Your feet in contact with the wooden floor became part of the orchestra. Your beat, high spirit, enthusiam and passion spreaded to the audience through each step. What was even more amazing was your smile throughout your performance. It's very warm and charming. You should see the kids outside the hall after the show, they were all tapping and dancing around happily.

I am ashamed of myself that I couldn't stay focus for the entire performance. I couldn't help but daydreamed for a moment in the middle of the show. As the lights dimmed and the taps rhythmically sent out for the dance dedicated to the world around us at the present, my mind took off and travelled around things that happened around me recently. It must have been your dance's influence. Thank you Savion Glover for giving me such a great time!

Best Wishes,

The one at Mezz B-32

To my Dearest Blog Readers

2006-03-11T00:06:00.000-05:00

First of all, welcome to my blog!

I have been tempted to have my own blog for a while but can never made up my mind on what to write about. There are so many yet so little things to write about. Everyday is somewhat the same while something different happens everyday. I think I should write things down before I forget about them. But you know I hate writing. My brain goes faster than I can type and thoughts do not go in a linear path. It's a mess most of the time, like a plate of chinese stir fry with a bit of everything put together into one. There are good stir fries and bad stir fries, let's hope that this one qualifies to fall in the former category.

So what's this blog going to be about? Well, I am not telling you yet. You will have to wait and see.

Cheers,

The Ambitious Blogger