thursday december 18

today i took a bus home to london to surprise my mom on her birthday. when she arrived home, i wasn't sure exactly how to "pop out" and surprise her: whether i should do it immediately upon her walking in the door, or if i should wait a couple minutes and then casually walk out while she was talking to my dad, potentially risking overhearing conversation i wouldn't want to hear (involving christmas present surprises or worse). i eventually chose the latter option, assuming that they wouldn't launch into those hypothetical conversations immediately anyway.

wednesday december 17

today i watched the season finale of stylista by myself. i bought myself snacks, and laughed out loud once or twice in an otherwise empty house. it was a pretty sad picture.

tuesday december 16

today i had a sore hand for a good five minutes or so after multiple failed attempts to untwist the top off a container of pasta sauce. the endeavour also left me feeling a little down about my overall strength, though i'm pretty sure it was the jar's fault, and even if i were 15% or 20% stronger, it wouldn't have helped.

monday december 15

today i bought gift wrap as a christmas present for someone.

sunday december 14

today i felt an enormous sense of accomplishment when i temporarily quieted the barking of the dog we were dog-sitting by realizing that he just wanted some food. this was one of the few times when his barking didn't seem entirely illogical. it really felt like we were communicating.

saturday december 13

today i decided to showcase some of the blogs that i link on my sidebar. rather than discuss them all, i'll focus on the ten that have been most recently updated. after all, the ones that update the most often are the best right???

http://canadianlovesong.blogspot.com/
this is my roommate lisa's blog. she likes new order and 90s movies. some of her blog's main themes are: nostalgia, the seasons, exclusive-never-seen-on-facebook photos.

http://transientchildinthewild.blogspot.com/
this is rakhee's blog. she likes love actually and (secretly) friday night lights. she asks hard-hitting questions about pop culture, and frequently embeds youtube videos.

http://www.stuartathompson.com/
this blog, as the url suggests, belongs to stuart a. thompson. he likes wine and hating bill o'reilly. his blog navigates everything from the american political landscape to life in london, and at western. also he posts his essays from class a lot.

http://biasbigadventures.blogspot.com/
this is bianca's blog. she likes british television and the name butch. her blog also discusses life in london, at western, in personal and anecdotal form, with some pop culture thrown in there. watch out for the embedded music player, it starts automatically!!

http://sixty-six.blogspot.com/
this blog belongs to sarah. she likes ska music and dr. mario. also mostly personal and anecdotal, her blog focuses on her life in vancouver; i have to admit that i enjoyed it more when it was about london and i recognized more of the references, but it's still a good read.

http://nonnapower.blogspot.com/
this blog belongs to maria and her sister. they sort of alternate. using the same account. it can be very confusing sometimes. anyway, i don't know her sister (though she seems very nice), but maria dislikes seinfeld. have you ever heard of such a thing? this blog's primary purpose is for the sisters to keep one another apprised of music and movie recommendations.

http://devanboomen.blogspot.com/
it's devan's blog. devan likes doing dishes and my roommate leslie. he didn't update this thing for months, but he's going nuts on it lately. probably exam procrastination or something. my favourite entry he made was when he wondered aloud why the t-rex has "those useless little arms." this is something i've discussed extensively before, though mostly as a punchline in my unwritten dinosaur-themed pilot.

http://electricshuffle.blogspot.com/
this is one of lulu's blogs. she likes giving people rides home from the bar, after taking unflattering photos of them. but we'll get into her other blog another time. this is the one where she posts playlists from her radio show and sometimes mp3s and things like that. look at the colours!!

http://kattekylling.vox.com/library/posts/page/1/
i wonder why the url is that lengthy. weird. anyway, this is kat's blog. she likes the band grizzly bear and maybe actual grizzly bears too, who knows!! a surprise addition to this list, kat only updates this thing about once a month. it's usually pretty entertaining though. her latest post, about her visit to a quack doctor, is MUST-READ.

http://5000songs.blogspot.com/
this is my friend dan's blog. he likes chicago sports and whiskey. he started this "gimmick blog" after seeing the success of mine, but so far hasn't had the same self-discipline for constant updates that i do. when he does update though, it provides an in-depth look into his itunes library, a good chunk of which i've provided him.

friday december 12

today i was finishing off a bag of skittles that i'd bought yesterday. i poured what i thought were the remaining few into my hand while sitting at my computer, checked out a couple of websites, went downstairs to brush my teeth and shave, then came back upstairs. when i came back into my room, i noticed a lone red skittle sitting on my computer chair. i was torn. on one hand, i'd just brushed my teeth, and the fact that the skittle had been lying there for a good amount of time already (during which i may have been sitting on it, for a little while) was unappealing. and i felt uncomfortable setting it aside to save for later. on the other hand, red skittles are delicious. after a good 20 seconds of deliberation, i threw it in the garbage and immediately regretted it.

thursday december 11

today i had an exchange with the girl who checked me out (that is...rang me through) at shopper's drug mart that i was sure would be blog-worthy. however, when i replayed it, looking for a potentially awkward and self-deprecating moment in the conversation, i realized that i'd really played the whole thing rather suavely (particularly, my reaction to whether or not she should open a new roll of pennies to give me the one cent in change she owed me got a solid laugh). while this was ultimately good for my ego, it did little in helping to create an interesting blog entry.

wednesday december 10

today i experienced my first semi-lengthy power-out since owning a laptop, rather than a desktop computer. while my initial reaction was one of excitement -- that i'd finally have SOMETHING to do in the dark, something that didn't rely on the power! -- i quickly realized that the outage took both the internet and my speakers out of play, leaving little of interest to actually do with the functioning computer.

tuesday december 9

today i sat in the laundromat waiting for my clothes to dry. i was reading the fountainhead while the girl sitting next to me blasted beyonce's "single ladies (put a ring on it)" on her ipod, so loudly that it was practically acting as a 'boom box.'

monday december 8

today i went to the dufferin mall, intending to find a 'telephone booth' store that i'd heard was in the building, in order to get my broken cell phone fixed or replaced. i entered at one end of the mall, and wandered through, keeping an eye out for the store all the way. eventually, i arrived at the other end, having not come across the store at all. perturbed, i decided to finally look at one of those maps of the mall, and discovered that the store had actually been the third one i'd passed, about 100 feet from where i originally entered the mall. walking all the way back there made me so grumpy that i didn't even do the other shopping in the mall that i had originally planned.

sunday december 7

today i watched the dramatic and emotional season 1 finale of friday night lights while the girl living on the floor below us was throwing a party which featured music with bass-heavy beats. it ruined the mood slightly.

saturday december 6

today i presented the second installment of the aforementioned "another thing i did on these days" feature. it still doesn't have a better name than that.

tuesday november 25
today i walked into my neighbourhood shoppers drug mart to buy bread and milk. i headed over to the milk section and noticed that polaris prize nominated musician basia bulat was buying milk next to me. though i'd had a class or two with her at western and met her multiple times before, i had no idea if she'd remember who i was, and froze up, unsure of whether to say anything or not. over the course of the next few minutes, we made eye contact, then waited next to one another in the checkout line, while i continued to say nothing the entire time. it was awkward. i don't think she noticed.

friday november 28
today i was standing in line in the lcbo when i heard a discussion from a group behind me, about the appeal of celebrity-endorsed wines. the conversation seemed to mostly come to an end when one girl loudly declared "like my mom needs ANOTHER excuse to be a wino!"

wednesday december 3
today i accidentally sent a text to the wrong person for the third time (to the third different wrong person) since buying my new cell phone, a little more than a month ago. the phone is making me so nervous that i now intend, whenever i remember, to click on 'add recipient' at the end of the message to be 100% sure i have the right name checked off, rather than just clicking 'send.'

friday december 5
today i was walking by myself to a nearby pizza pizza shortly after 1:00 am. along the way, a large group of teenagers -- about 25 maybe -- were taking up most of the majority of the sidewalk space outside one building (not even a bar!), making me slightly nervous, in light of recent incidents in the area. when i was almost past them all, one girl called in my direction: "excuse me, sir. sir??" i pretended not to hear and power-walked my way through to the other side.

friday december 5

today i was walking through downtown toronto when i saw a black pickup truck in a parking lot with the words "mammoth erection" in bright yellow on the side. it was unclear, from the truck, what kind of company this "mammoth erection" was, assuming they are, in fact, a company.

thursday december 4

today i went downstairs to use the bathroom at the bar 'beaconsfield.' rather than having multi-person men's and women's washrooms, the bar features three single-toilet unisex bathrooms; you know, the kind that one person uses at a time and locks behind them. while lining up to wait for a bathroom to become available, a guy came out of one of the three, followed a few seconds later by a girl, and then another 30 seconds later by a second guy -- all out of the same bathroom. baffled at the fact that the three of them even managed to fit into the cramped room, i was slightly uncomfortable to be the one using it next.

wednesday december 3

today i stood on the side of the road, attempting to cross the road to my house, for so long, that a passerby asked me if i was waiting for the bus, even though i was not standing at the bus stop.

tuesday december 2

today i noticed, for the first time ever, the microwave instructions on the side of the pop tarts box, which advise putting it in on 'high' for three seconds. my incredulous reaction to the fact that three seconds, even on 'high', would do anything brought back a long-lost memory from my childhood, when i used to watch the bugs bunny & tweety show every sunday afternoon. one of the commercials/public service announcements that constantly played during the show's advertisements featured tweety bird cautioning against making the water too hot in the shower or bath, offering that "hot water can burn in less than twee (3) seconds." if i remember correctly, this made me terrified to step into the shower for weeks, for fear that i'd be perma-scalded.

monday december 1

today i wanted to charge my phone while sitting at my computer, without missing any potential calls or texts. unfortunately, the power outlet next to me was full: one socket with my bedside clock and the other with the computer's power bar. the power bar, while not full, had its available outlets blocked by oversized power plugs, leaving me to unplug the bedside clock to charge the phone. when i fell asleep later in the day, i had a dream in which i rearranged the power bar's plugs, sticking the huge ones on either side, so that the available outlets were freed up. while this dream plan makes perfect sense and would take approximately 30 seconds to execute, i've yet to implement it, as if doing so would mean my acknowledging that my unconscious is a better problem solver than my conscious.

sunday november 30

today i was home by myself and sitting with our cat in the living room, watching football. all of the sudden, i heard several loud crashes from the kitchen, which sounded alarmingly like breaking dishes. when the noises subsided and it became clear that i'd have to go investigate, my first concern wasn't the mess and the prospect of cleaning it up, but rather that my roommates would hold me responsible for whatever had happened in the kitchen, despite my being on the other side of the house.

saturday november 29

today i went out for dinner with cousins who i see very infrequently. the biggest revelation of the meal came when i heard one cousin, who lives within walking distance of me, mention that he hosts a weekly poker night. while my ears perked up at this news, i quickly realized that the participants in this night were the types with real jobs and real bank accounts and, despite my extensive experience playing $1 online tournaments, i'd probably be a little out of my league; financially, at least. i didn't pursue the subject.