Coheed and Cambria - "Welcome Home"
So I saw this neat artsy fartsy calendar on photojojo.com and decided that Eric's blank condo walls could use a little bit of pizzaz. a) it's functional and b) it's easy — two qualities that are essential to the lazy wannabe crafty person like me.
Neat way to add some spice to an otherwise dull wall, and it's just awesome on so many levels.
All you have to do is take your camera out with you and take pictures of any number you see between 1-31. Get a few clips and put it all together, and throw in a few extra photos that are meaningful to you for the blank days of the month. Every time the month changes, you just rearrange the numbers. It's a simple matter of swapping the columns around since certain numbers will always be in the same column like 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 and 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, etc...
If anyone else tries it, let me know how it turns out!
D'espairsRay - "R.E.M-fuyu no genchou"
Given the infatuation all men (and women) have with the ladies boasting a nice, large set of breasts, I think it's time to give us small-boobed women some love.
I'll be the first to admit that I do not have boobs the size of watermelons. Even for an Asian I'm relatively flat. And yes, sometimes it sucks. But you know what, spring is raining its way in and that means I'm coming out of my winter funk and I'm starting to feel better about myself.
So be proud of your size, oh ye of little breast!
- Can you sleep on your stomach comfortably? 'Cause I can. It's awesome.
- Perky, perky, perky.
- When I run, i don't need to worry about my uniboob hitting me in the face.
- Heck, any kind of exercise is a lot easier.
- Pfft, back pain? What back pain?
- I can play up my legs and not look like trash
- What, I'm compact. Can you squeeze through tight spaces?
- I can be the androgynously hot female
- Or slip on an awesome push-up and titillate others (teehee)
NoGoD - "Kono ame no mokou ni"
Alive? yes.
Life is teaching me some invaluable lessons and I'm carefully taking notes. Or taking careful notes. Or listening to musical notes. And boy, oh boy, does NoGoD have some awesome musical notes. I think I've rediscovered the joy behind rocking out.
Scratch the first bit of this post. I think life is throwing a chalk brush at me and I'm sitting behind my desk staring out the window at the sunshine that's almost within arm's reach listening to some awesome music dreaming of the day when I can go out and touch the cool waters of Yosemite's glaciers don't you love run-on sentences?
Either way, I'm paying attention to something.
Dir en grey - "doukoku to sarinu"
A week and a half ago, my coworker asked me to water her plants while she went on vacation. I promptly forgot until 2 days ago when my mom gleefully pointed to the African Violet in my room and exclaimed that she'd brought it back to life (again).
Today, thinking that I could get to work earlier than my coworker and save the plant before she got in, I grabbed the dried up leaves, threw them into a bucket of water and proceeded to let the roots soak. I felt awful. My coworker was sweet and forgave me for almost killing her plants.
They perked up a little by the end of the day. The goal was to remove them from the water and then revive them with regular watering.
For the entire day, I sat at my desk, checking on the greens every few hours, singing to them, talking to them, petting the leaves. I wrote post-it notes and stuck them to my monitor, "take plants out!"
At 5 o' clock, I grabbed my jacket and left the building, plants still drowning in water.
And this is why I should never have kids.
ps. My mom was a florist when I was younger, and brought home a variety of neat flowers when I was kid. How I managed to kill all of them including two cactii is beyond me. The only exception is the African Violent which my mom repeatedly brings back to life.
Enchanter - "marilyn dream road"
Today, the blogosphere will learn a whole lot more about me than they really want to know because Yukiko dared me to post a picture of my desk,
The reason why I hate people moving my things around:
Wait for it....
wait for it....
wait for it....
Interesting things to note: yes, I am currently reading The Game by Neil Strauss. Very entertaining and enjoyable. Also, he's a writer for the New York Times, which means he's somewhat adept at storytelling. And he is. Good read. And there's the Watchmen under it.
Also, blackcurrant candies? DELICIOUS.
I'm still trendy and cool 'cause I'm on Facebook.
And there's a green gift-wrapped box from the days that I was a professional gift-wrapper.
The coolest part here? The toy kitchen sitting way in the background with the stuffed bears on top. It shows my inner child. :)
You can mouse over and see every front page of every newspaper in the world! And then read it if you want!
There's my afternoon. Thanks Dad, for killing all productivity for the day.
Cinema Bizarre - "Forever or never"
I can't tell what's hotter: The girl or the shirt.
Sorry boys, but sometimes, females are just so much more attractive and interesting to look at. If I had the balls, I'd love to cut my hair like that.
Gazette - "Filth in the beauty"
About a week ago, I went and finally zapped my eyes. And I found that in the process of trying to do some research and see other people's takes on the experience, well, there were none. Except for gushing testimonials that really told me nothing.
So instead of my usual snarky post, I'm going to do something serious, and walk everyone through the procedure. Hopefully anyone else who's thinking of doing it will stumble upon this and get some insight on the world of laser eye surgery — at least from a Torontonian perspective. Whatever, the world revolves around us anyways.
Long story (and I mean really long story plus a bonus picture of my creepy post-surgical eye) short: it's pricey but so worth it.
Before
I'd been meaning to get laser eye surgery for a while. It wasn't something that I did on a whim. My eyes don't handle contacts well, and I was sick of running my schedule on when I could wear them and when I couldn't. Vacations were a hassle, sports were worse, and nights that I wanted to go out turned into squinty fun times. In fact, by the time I was in 2nd year of undergrad, I was wearing glasses almost all the time unless I was playing sports or going out. Then there was the added bonus of snow, sleet, rain, fog, and people making fingerprint smudges on my glasses for fun.
I talked to anyone and everyone who had done it, I searched online for as much information I could absorb about the procedure and the risks, I went to see my optometrist to get her opinion and she referred me to the more reputable surgeons. I went to two different clinics and an opthamologist to get a third opinion from someone who wasn't trying to sell me new eyes.
In essence, I did a lot of running around. And you should too.
I finally decided on Herzig Eye Institute. I'd heard nothing but good things about them, and they made me feel the most comfortable. They charged about $5,000 but price wasn't about to be an issue for a lifetime of good eyesight. So bam, appointment booked.
During
On the day of the surgery, I was told that I'd be at the office for about an hour and a half to two hours. I got there, testing was done, I got a free massage, and an offer for valium (which I declined) and whoosh, there I was, lying on my back, taking my glasses off for the last time.
The procedure wasn't painful, but it definitely wasn't pleasant either. The doctors were really good about telling me what to expect throughout the 15 minutes. It started with a million different eye drops, some to clean, some to lubricate, some to numb. One eye was covered, and I felt this uncomfortable pressure around my eyeball. My eyesight was gone for about 20 seconds. When it came back, I was told to focus on a flashing light while the laser did its work. This was probably the weirdest part because I could see something scraping over my eye and every nerve in my body was tingling, telling me that this should be very very painful, but it wasn't.
Then it was done. I got up, and I could see....sort of. Things were blurry and hazy. It wasn't like being nearsighted or farsighted, it was more like everything had an airbrushed quality to it. I got a quick checkup, instructions on how and when to put a bunch of different drops in my eyes, and then I was out.
Here's something useful to think about: don't take the subway. That was a mistake. Before the surgery, I'd insisted that Eric leave his car at work so that he didn't have to pay for parking twice. As we were leaving the surgeon's office, the anasthetic started to wear off. And my eyes started to burn. Like, really burn. Like when you leave your eyes open too long and they burn before you blink. Eric had to navigate me through downtown Toronto and the subway while I sported some awesomely cool giant shades, courtesy of Herzig, and squeezed my eyes shut in a futile attempt to alleviate the burning.
It's probably good that I had the shades. My eyes were not a pretty sight.
After
By the time I had my follow up appointment the next day, my eyes felt fine. The only uncomfortable part was having to wear sunglasses because of the HIDEOUS BRUISING. I looked like one of those kids that are too cool for school wearing shades on the subway. And at night. My eyes weren't sensitive to light, nor did they feel dry or gritty. They were just aesthetically so very unappealing.
One week later I have 20/20 vision. Creepy bloodshot eyes aside, I see a lot of glare at night, and I have trouble focusing up close, but this is all supposed to pass and it's nothing debilitating. I only missed a day of work, and I started taking classes and playing volleyball right on schedule. I'm done with all of the eyedrops except for the ones that moisten my eyeballs. I'm not completely out of the woods yet - my eyes will take about one to three months to stabilize completely, but the doc says everything's healing as it should. So thumbs up chum.
It's awesome. And liberating. And totally worth it. I still reach for my glasses in the morning, and I'll occasionally poke the bridge of nose thinking that I need to readjust my glasses. But hey, I've been bespectacled for the better part of my life and old habits die hard.
There are two points I'd like to make:
1) it's New Year's Eve and I'm sitting at work for most of the day like a loser while everyone else gets a nice half day. But you know, money is happiness......
2) Played some pick-up volleyball for the first time in a year and a half last night. Every muscle in my body from my calves up to my neck is in varying amounts of pain, and I absolutely love it. I love exercising until my body aches the next day — it validates my workout. Ah, the glorious pain of it all.
Gilgamesh - "asking why"In an effort to retain some semblance of physical fitness after a day of blobbing at work and munching on holiday treats Because I'm such a dedicated hard worker who loves a challenge, I've decided to try some different workouts on video.
I used to scoff (wow I scoff a lot) at aerobic videos. If you don't bounce, sweat, grunt, and bang weights around, it can't be hard work. So I decided to try the workout that the contestants from the Biggest Loser have to go through, and I was ready to scoff some more.
Oh, silly silly Jo, so ignorant.
I almost died. That workout is hard! There are no breaks, and it's a constant go go go circuit. The cardio portion was fine, but apparently my strength sucks. Unscoff!
So then, thinking that I should get a breather and a nice big stretch after the killer circuit, I thought I'd try yoga.
Oh, silly silly Jo, so ignorant.
I don't think yoga is suited for me. My mind was bouncing everywhere despite my best efforts to focus on something calm and relaxing, and my eyes refused to stay shut, or even half shut. My muscles were shaking with exhaustion five minutes into the poses. The televised instructor is talking while her body's twisted inhumanly, and she's like "breathe! hold! relax! focus! breathe! calm and centred!" and I'm like "meeting tomorrow, last minute holiday shopping, lunch date, breathe breathe breathe, it's a deep burn!, don't forget to print stuff out and get it signed, okay eff this noise." And I gave up and rolled over to my couch, grabbed a beer and ripped open a bag of Doritos. Okay, by beer, I meant water, and by Doritos, I meant nothing. But I gave up. Clearly, I am not of a calm and focused temperament! Ugh!
Never again will I scoff at these so-called "girly" exercises! Lesson learned, I'm going back to my bouncing, sweating, grunting and weight-banging. Mind out of gutter, people.
And in case I don't do this before the 25th, happy nondenomenational holiday, everyone!
-Photo courtesy of the Toronto Star.
Days like today make me so much more excited for my laser eye surgery appointment.
I've got splatters on my glasses and I can barely see because the lenses keep fogging everywhere I go. Glasses FTMFL.
Dir en grey - "ware, yami tote..."
I used to have a limited number of Shoes on rotation: A pair of knockoff Docs, my Casual Shoes, and Running Shoes for the gym. In the summer, I may have thrown in a pair of Flip Flops.
This year alone, I have also thrown Work Boots into the mix, and Work Heels which double up as Formal Shoes (that's right, being the cheap bastard genius that I am, I multipurpose my Shoes).
Now, the Work Boots have soles that are smooth as a baby's bottom. Of course after it snowed yesterday, I had to waddle like a penguin today. Which means I'll be adding Commuting Winter Boots that offer grip in ice and snow to my collection. And Work Boots will stay at work.
Except as you'll recall, I like to multipurpose my footwear. And I like to wear smooth-as-a-baby's-bottom Work Boots around on weekends to clubs and Other Occasions because they're comfortable and look somewhat appropriate.
So I have to either haul Work Boots around with me everyday on the subway in case I need them in the evening, or buy another pair that will replace them for Other Occasions.
I used to laugh at people who had more shoes than fingers. "Pshaw!" I would snort. "What need have I for shoes when I can spend my money on other fun things like accessories! Hah!" And others would shake their heads, waiting for the day it would happen to me, too. And I'd snort at their head shaking, "hah!"
You know, my undergrad program tried to teach us to think outside of consumerism.
Is it possible to not be bogged down by material goods? I have tried so hard to re-jig my work clothes into casual clothes in order to avoid having two wardrobes. Now I've created this weird hybrid where I look like a regular Joe (Jo?) on my off days, and I don't dress business-like enough at work.
I've lost my edge and I'm floundering in a giant pile of footwear.
Dir en grey - "Inconvenient Ideal"
Without school to pepper work periods, I find life starting to get dull and routine, and I'm trying to find ways to break it up. Jamming with the Family and going to the gym can only do so much. I find that playing the DS is only acceptable in small increments. As much as I'd love to get out there and learn as much as I can, my position as Captain of Team Procrastinators means that I have a healthy dose of Laze in my repertoire.
Also, money does not allow for frivolous learning. Yet. Sports leagues and the one class that I can afford to take also doesn't start until January.
So, in an attempt to curb my spending habits and pick up a new hobby, I've decided that maybe I'll give sewing a try. DIY clothes and all that jazz. It's something I've always wanted to do, but never got around to. Take that, h.Naoto!
Who knew that a sewing machine costs OVER A HUNDRED DOLLARS. wtf.
This little one is the only machine under a hundred dollars, and apparently significantly less on eBay. But it's PINK. Now if someone could tell me whether 41 stitch patterns, 5mm stitch width and 4mm stitch length is a good thing, that would be gold.
So what do other people do for fun around here?
Also, it's finally sinking in that I'll be seeing my boys on Sunday. I'm starting to feel small thrills of anticipation.
Dir en grey - "red soil"
Fall is like nature's last hurrah before everything fizzles out and dies. It's like a final desperate attempt at an amazing explosion of colour and beauty before everything turns grey for 4 months.
Doesn't mean I don't forget about the impending frostmush and enjoy what nature has to offer every once in a while though.
Ontario has some beautiful little gems, one of them being Lake Huron. Grand bend boasts one of the best beaches in Canada and the Bruce Peninsula is one of my favourite places, like, ever. Cliffs and the kind of clear blue water you see in the Caribbean = win in my books.
See that? It's a friggin' CAVE that you can climb into and explore!
More of mother nature's tricks up her sleeveI highly recommend the Niagara escarpment and encourage you all to go before it gets too cold and snowy....oh wait. Never mind.
the Smashing Pumpkins - "the beginning is the end is the beginning"
Angelina Jolie's been keeping it on the down low for a while with her little spawn army, but her resurfacing photos totally kick Megan Fox's case of walking STD's to the curb.
I adore this woman. She knows how to make an entrance. She doesn't even have to try to ooze sexy womanly allure. Love love love. This is not the face of a frumpy matronly woman. Dude, this woman flies planes and rides motorcycles. Her wild child past just adds to her appeal. C'mon, knife play? Blood vials of devotion? Fox has nothing on her. Also, even in her days of awesome psychoness, my girl never had the smell of blowjobs all around her.
Enter Megan Fox who has done, what, one movie? 
Megan Fox = trying too hard + wannabe Angelina + VD in a can = epic fail.
Happy thanksgiving everyone! Be thankful that it's a beautiful day in October reaching the mid-20's which just so happens to fall on a stat holiday. It's a sign. Spend it outside instead of on the computer blogging about useless things like celebrity gossip.
PS. get your ass out and vote tomorrow.
Dir en grey - "Undecided"
Mine. All mine. Well, it will be once I'm done paying it off. The important thing is that it's sitting in the garage and I have the keys.
Get your grubby paws off my seats.
Big-time reporter Rosie DiManno writes for the Toronto Star:
Going "undercover" to tell a story is just about the laziest form of reporting existent. The conceit is that a reporter masquerading as a citizen sign-up – or homeless person or religious cultist or domestic – can better grasp the matter by providing a first-person in-those-shoes account. But this is shortcut journalism and intrinsically dishonest.
I say dishonest not because of the core misrepresentation – duplicity is a common tactic in reporting, if only by posing as a sympathetic audience – but because a story thus told becomes more about the narrator and less about the subject. Why bother asking the relevant questions or doing the time-consuming research when the reporter can just "see for himself"?
Well, Ms. DiManno, if that is your real name, I disagree.
The failure in her argument is that journalists who go undercover are trying to walk a mile in someone else's shoes. That is, how will you really know what it's like to be handicapped if you don't see what it's like yourself? How will you know what it's like to live on the streets? The so-called news item then becomes a narrative of your time...except you know that at the end of the day, you can get up and walk away from a wheelchair, or you can go home to your family, and therefore, you'll never really get what it's like, to truly understand. It's lazy journalism because you should just invest the time to do all the necessary research and make all the necessary phone calls, right?
I don't think so.
Undercover reporting is more than just writing about yourself. How do you understand the complexities of a political camp or the mafia underworld if you don't ally yourself directly with the sources? Do you really think that you'll get more insight by talking to a twitchy, mysterious "informant"? And is it really that easy to lead a double life? Rosie, you're underestimating the complexities of it, I think.
And as much as we'd all like to believe, there is no such thing as impartial journalism or an absolute truth.
You can always read the full article yourselves and decide. On the plus side, whether or not Rosie was trying to be offensive or not, she did incite debate and make me think, so good on you, Rosie D.
The Star also threw out an article in yesterday's paper with an interview with a fellow who believes homework should be banned. My head almost exploded with the insanity, but that's a story for another time.
Dir en grey performed Glass Skin live. On Japanese television. Gasp, they still remember that they have a fanbase there? Not as cringe-worthy as I thought it would be. But remember when Toshiya used to look good?
Well peep this, yo. (Warning: eyes may burn)
Double you. Tee. Eff. At least Shinya still drums like a champ.
And for all the Dir en grey fans who want to bitch about how I should care about the music and not how the band looks, um.....lick my left nut. I've probably stuck with them longer than all your prepubescent pubic hairs combined.
Honestly, the song's okay, but I know what the boys are capable of, and this just isn't it.
Also, I just spent an inordinate amount of money (like, largest sum EVAR by far), and I'm feeling grumpy because of how depleted my bank account is going to be for the next few years. How is it that the older I get, the more money I make, the more money I spend? I hate having to borrow from the Bank of Mom and Dad.
How is it only 3:15 right now?!
*bang head on desk*