Concrete Jungle

No goodbyes, more of a "See ya later, gater"

2006-07-06T11:24:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone, I've decided to take a little hiatus from blogging. I just have alot going on right now and lately I've been lacking time, and there is alot to write about lol I may come back sometime in the future. Hope you enjoyed what you've read so far. Take good care and live life to the fullest take some time for yourself to think about things, they define who you are and what you want out of life and most of all always take note of your "Deep Thoughts" :)

Cheers,

I'm baaack :)

2006-07-03T22:04:00.000-04:00

I had an awsome time in Montreal, my third time there, day and night, and each time it feels like home. Wonderful. Thanks to Sharon, Matthew, Lisa, Dave and Nicolina for such a memorable time! you guys are definately lifetime friends and I'm so glad I know you all :)

Je t'aime mes amis! !

Super!

2006-06-29T22:53:00.000-04:00

I think I found the love of my life! sigh, too bad he's not real. Awsome movie. Have a great long weekend everyone! Happy Canada day... off to la belle ville, Montreal for me :)

Surreal

2006-06-27T21:19:00.000-04:00

It feels very weird to be back at work. I'm here in body, but not in mind lol really I should of just taken the whole week off but there's just too much to do and people would miss me too much at work. So I'm here tuesday and wednesday, then I come back next wednesday. Oh did I mention its also my half-day friday that week? yup its all a plan ;). I've been back to the gym since last Tuesday, much to my bud Damian's delight, and once again I'm hooked on the endorphins, going practically everyday after work. If my new work shirts start not fitting me I know who to blame lol.

I was reading the cbc site and ran accross this little blurb about canadian soccer for those of you who are folloing the World FIFA Soccer
Click here for more... Enjoy :)

Hundreds of thousands turn out for Toronto's Pride Parade

2006-06-25T23:34:00.000-04:00

Fearless.

"Hundreds of thousands of people turned out Sunday for the largest, noisiest, most flamboyant and probably happiest Pride Parade in the country."

Click here for more...

So another year and another Pride has passed and as always I had an awsome time :) Buddies was fun and the Parade was much better than last years, less corparate and politics which was great. It concentrated more on the things that really matter to all gay people. Tons of people. Every year I always seem to be the target of the water guns, whether it be watching the parade or dancing at the street party (which the DJ was awsome), so needless to say I was soaking wet when I got home. Tried for the first time 'rolling ice cream', that they were selling on Church street little freeze dried bit of ice cream balls which were soo good, I had the cookie dough flavour, yum! I could go into details on hte past three days, but honestly I'm beat. I'll tell you all individually next time I chat with you. Thank goodness I have tomorrow off at work. :)

Day off! finally...

2006-06-23T11:31:00.000-04:00

So I finally have my first official day off work since the Christmas holidays. I know, crazy eh? I'm taking monday, thursday, friday and the following monday off next week too for Montreal :) I leave Friday morning, I can't wait. This sunday is the Pride Parade, and tomorrow afternoon we're going for dinner at Masa Sushi ojusu off Yonge Street and then head to Buddies for a night of frivolous dancing and cruising! fun times are ahead.

Yesterday, my friend Matthew and I went to the EMS Pride Party. Not much to say cause we got there pretty late around 12:00am, so the place was pretty much dead. There were some people on the patio, but they were in their own groups so we didn't bother. Beforehand I went to a birthday dinner set up by some of Matthew CCNC (Chinese National Coalition group) friends. There were 3 people being celebrated, all these gemini! lol I had fun, they are a really cool and fun bunch of people. EMS was a dud, so we headed down Church Street which was pretty busy, line ups everywhere to get into the bars. You can definately tell Pride Weekend is here or at least gearing up to it. Lotsa eye candy too! but plenty more of that over the weekend.

So with that I'll sign off for next week. Have fun this weekend everyone! Happy Pride! :)

ADDENUM:
Gay and Lesbian Emergence: Out in Canada
(some historical news coverage for your enjoyment)

Deep Thought Wednesday

2006-06-21T22:46:00.000-04:00

Wow, wednesday seems to come to much faster nowadays. You know what they say, a week after wednesday is just downhill towards the weekend! Friday I have the day off, and monday. I'll get a nice extra long weekend to enjoy the Pride festivities! woo hoo! one of my buds, Matthew invited me to an EMS Pride Party fundraiser Thursday night. Matthew said "hot ambulance workers", we'll see. Though I have to say I don't think I'll ever feel more safe in my life in one location lol I'll let you know how it goes.

The current music video this week is an awsome song by Green Day called 'Minority' notice its a parade too? I thought it was fitting for this week. Main message of the song is be yourself, do not conform to society and its rules, we're all different and do whats best for you no matter what the outcome is look out for #1! :)

Pride Week!

2006-06-20T11:51:00.000-04:00

Argh! its been a pretty busy and hectic week so far at work, 2 of the 3 people I work with are both on extended sick leave (lord knows why) and now we have a new person on contract, she's really nice but it just feels like our team isn't as solid as it once was. Oh well, enough about work...

Its Gay Pride Week! sunday is the parade on Yonge Street hundreds of thousands of people are coming from all over the world to see it. Its one of the major highlights of the year for me. Its a time when all of my friends and I get together, old and new and have fun! Its not just a celebration of individual expression but a celebration of who we are, and where we have been and how much we've grown this past year. It doesn't matter if you're gay, straight or bi... wherever you fall on the Kinsey scale, celebrate diversity, acceptance and life!

Happy Pride everyone! :)

Weekend Times June 16-18

2006-06-19T00:09:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a good weekend, it was beautiful, sunny and HOT. :)

On Friday, I had my half day @work and it was was also Sreng's Birthday (yeah I know so many Gemini's!) we went to eat at Frankie Tomattoe's in Markham. The food was very good! its an all you can eat italian buffet. I went back up at least 4 times, and thats not including the dessert! yum. Their calamari was really good and also the beef ribs, right Steve? :p. After dinner we played some DS Lite in the parking lot, that was fun. Sreng, Veena and Steve, all had the handheld and it was fun watching them connect wireless. Hope you had fun Sreng! happy birthday! I want to see those pics! :) Veena is going away with family next week, we'll miss you Veena! Did I mention I bought an iPod? its my new baby, i love it. I'll show you guys next time I see you. A very fun day, thanks for inviting me Sreng!

Saturday, woke up rather early around 8:30am not sure why, I think its the weather. The sunnier and hotter it gets my body just wants to get up faster. I got ready to go to Yoga, been missing it alot -- saturdays are always so busy especially in the summer. So I decided to go, and lo and behold, they were closed for renovations. Sigh, I tried! hopefully they'll be open soon cause I really want to go now. I think I'll go on Tuesday nights. Later that night, I met up with Vicki to go to Montana's second floor on John Street. We danced the night away and oogled at all the hot (but straight) men lol. I had a great time miss Vicki! :)

Sunday, it was my mom's birthday and little godaughters birthday(yup both gemini's) I took my mom out for dinner at Sushi Time on Queen St, and then we went to see the movie The Lakehouse at the Paramount which was surprisingly good, all expenses paid of course. She's done her schooling and about to start her practicum, I'm very proud of her :) we watched a bit of the MVA Awards too, Queen St was packed! I still have to go shopping for my godaughter's present, she's 4 now...it gets harder to shop as they get older lol

Deep Thought Wednesday

2006-06-14T11:23:00.000-04:00

Hump day! thank god. This week I have my half-day friday again so I'm leaving work at 1pm... FREEDOM!! yeah thats a deep thought alright!

Monday night I went out to dinner with Vicki at Shopsey's on Front Street. That was so much fun Vicki! thanks for meeting up with me. I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard that I couldn't breath. Hilarious, glad we got caught up with our lives. Ironic since we work in the same building! I'm very glad we met and stayed friends this long :) considering we met through Mr. Derek. I'm looking forward to seeing your new place too!

Today, I fell head over heels for a guy on the street, and not just any guy. Possibly a homeless guy. Yeah you heard right, lol. It happened this morning on my way to get breakfast with Damian near my work, I looked over and notice some guy asking people money, and I thought... gosh darn it! another homeless person begging for money (downtown u know), maybe we can avoid him. He caught Damian, and say's to him that he just arrived in the city and if he could spare some change. I said "damn, here we go.." so I look over and I noticed he was pretty good looking, very tanned, that he had the nicest deep blue eyes I've ever seen, he was young too around 25'ish. So we walk away, and I mentioned to Damian that I thought he was cute and even he agreed that he had really nice eyes and seemed very sincere, thats why he gave him some change (Damian never gives change to bums). I did notice he had this niceness sincerity about him, and I felt bad when we walked away, cause he did look at me and I didn't have anything to give...

So I bought my bagel and got some change with the intention of giving it to him. We walk over towards him and he notices me, we made eye contact, and he smiled! I then gave him $2, and he said "thank you so very much" looking eye to eye. I wanted to tell him "you have the most sweetest amazing smoldering blue eyes I've ever seen". But felt awkward. I don't think I've ever met anyone that took my breath away the first 5 seconds. Damian then said to me "yeah, I noticed how he looked at you, you must be melting right now", and I have to admit I was. I noticed he had a backpack on with some pens, he was tall and with curly hair with a deep tan...I could swear he was a backpacker. I looked for him again today at lunch but sadly he was gone... no one's looked at me like that before, I'll never forget that. It was a great way to start the day, honestly I couldn't stop thinking about those amazing eyes all day ...

Deep thought? you guys must think I'm crazy for thinking that, but I'm sure you would of fallen too! lol. All I can say is that you never know where love will hit you, and this morning I got hit by something very unexpected. I might as well have been hit by a runaway bus. WOW.

Weekend Life 9-11

2006-06-12T17:01:00.000-04:00

Hey folks! hope you guys had a good weekend! even though it was freezing cold on saturday, at least if you were in Toronto.

On Friday, didn't do much, just stayed home. D wanted to go out and see a movie, but we ended up not going, Amanda was tired and so was I. We were going to see Omen. But couldn't make up which theatre to go to, so we decided to just forget about it lol

Saturday, it was Steve's birthday and we went to Cantina Mexicana in missisauga. The food was pretty good authentic mexican food. I got to see the owner/grandmother come out and actually serve tables! I met some of Steve's friends they were very funny&nice, Judy brought her baby daughter Caitlin she was soo cute! we went back to Steve's place after, Sreng, Veena, Michelle, Matt and I played video games for a couple of hours then everyone else left... so the remaining three of us headed to Timmy's for some hotstuff. Damian came later to pick me up, thanks D... you're the best! you really didn't have to come all the way to Brampton. Overall a really good day, and it looked like Steve had a good time, always good to see on a birthday.

Sunday, had a lazy day... just bummed around. Funny how fast the day goes when you do absolutely nothing! lol

Today at work, I booked some holidays during the next couple of weeks, I can't wait... Gay Pride coming up and Montreal, la belle ville! and Sreng we can't forget about your birthday too!

Tonight I'm going to meet Vicki for dinner... see you soon miss V! can't wait :)

Part deux!

2006-06-09T16:38:00.000-04:00

I just got this email from one of the organizers of the event :)

THANK YOU TO ALL 17 OF OUR BEAUTIFUL VOLUNTEERS!!

Random strangers were taking pictures of you last night. Random people were saying how cool this was – one even uttered the word “brilliant”. Dave Larsen was groped by two women. David Houghton was voted “best ass”.

We could not have done this without you. Here is a shot to enjoy of your backsides. Assess the asses.

Bottoms Up!

2006-06-09T10:14:00.000-04:00

I had a really good time yesterday at the Bottoms Up benefit, though at times I felt like a piece of meat! but it was hilarious! posing, bending over, and have people on bicycles, joggers and tour buses, car honking at us etc AND random people taking pictures! I was standing next to 'Cancer' who happened to be a very good looking british gay guy, unfortunately he was taken, according to Amanda lol. He was very nice though. Actually, there were 2 other gay guys that volunteered, but they were a couple! imagine that. I ended up with the boxer that had 'in' written on it (haha). Anyways, they still looked hot in their boxer briefs, it was for a good cause and the people from the benefit were really nice, it had an open bar and food. I walked away with a cool new t-shirt and boxers too! I had a great time Amanda! so if you ever need a bum next time, my ass is all yours! lol

Amanda, her sister Kate and I, went back to the city around 8pm and went to meet Damian at Yuk Yuk's, he was out with guys from work in the RBC team, buncha cool guys, Alex you're a hoot. Wish I was with the RBC team rather than the boring old CIBC folks. We had a good time laughing our asses off and drinking.

Plans over the weekend? Tomorrow Steve's Birthday so I'll be going for dinner at a mexican place in Mississauga, I'm looking forward to it! I love trying out new things.

Have a good weekend everyone! God I love summer.

Countdown: 16 days 'till Pride!

Deep Thought Wednesday

2006-06-07T11:33:00.000-04:00

Wow I can't believe its already wednesday! I've been more active recently, working out alot and today I'm starting my first season of beach volleyball at Ashbridges Bay. Anyone can participate, and its only $20 per season, so if anyone is interested let me know and I'll forward you all the info :)

OH and tomorrow night, I'm going to a benefit with Amanda for her work. We're going to be wearing nothing but boxers!... ok well maybe not just boxers, a cool t-shirt too! lol. There's going to be 17 people with each wearing boxers having a word written on it:

ONE - IN - 17 - CANADIANS - WILL - BE - DIAGNOSED - WITH - COLON - CANCER - IN -THEIR - LIFETIME - BE - SMART - GET - SCREENED

They will be providing the boxers and t-shirts (see pic), I hope I don't end up with the words 'Cancer' or 'Colon' written on my ass lol. I can't wait, sounds like fun and its for a good cause. The tickets to attend the event $150 but since we're volunteering we can get in for free and have dinner too at the hotel.

The song thats playing this week is a song I heard on the radio at work yesterday while I was kinda stressed out. You know its just one of those songs that kinda take you to another place, you just want to stop whatever you're doing and just listen. Its simple, and honest. I felt much more relaxed after hearing it.

Sharon, I think this is a great song for your wedding if you and Roger haven't found one yet! ;)

(since I've already taken it out for the following weeks video, the Video was Lighthouse's You and Me)

Weekend Times 2-4

2006-06-05T15:39:00.000-04:00

A low-key weekend, on Friday I had my half-day from work. It was nice, I left work at 1:30pm. I headed home and just chilled, worked out for a bit and then headed back out to meet Lisa, Matthew and Sharon for dinner around 5pm. Its amazing how fast 4 hours can go, when away from work. I met them at North York and we went for dinner at Toby's, that was good. Its always fun to hang out and catch up on life. I had this humongous burger called "All the works". Still doesn't compare to the buffalo one I had though. Nicolina and Dave joined us later and had dessert with us. We then went our separate ways, I headed back downtown to meet up with Damian and Amanda. We were going to see the Omen, but later found out that it wasn't playing yet! It comes out this week. Amanda wasn't feeling 100%, so she decided to stay home. I then went with Damian to Mama's pizza and he had something to eat. It was a nice night so I walked home from Queen Street. It was a nice 30 min walk, although there were some annoying drunk people littered on the street. Friday nights and saturday nights around the theatre/club district is crazy busy. Got home and went straight to bed, I was surprisingly tired... :)

Saturday, the weather was crappy! it was raining pretty hard and I was prepared to stay home all day. Until Damian called and said that Amanda was cooking and I was invited to come over for dinner at their place. Can't say no Amanda's cooking! :) its always so good. So I went and we watched the original Superman movie. Damian just bought the complete DVD package that same day. I can't wait to see the new movie thats coming out June 30th (and the new superman is HOTstuff too). Headed home and went to bed, thank god the rain finally stopped.

On Sunday,my mom and I went to go visit my dear grandmother Rose. She just got back from the Philippines. She was there on business, running papers with my uncle so he can come over to Canada. He is the last of my mom's siblings. There are only three of them. I took her out for lunch and movie, I think she was tired from her trip cause the fell asleep at the theatre! poor lola Rose. We went back to her place and had dinner. She made a delicious beef and bone stew...mmm mmm, my fave. Nothing like her cooking. We headed home around 8pm and I just chilled and got ready for work the next day.

It was a nice, slow and good weekend. I guess sometimes its good to have rainy weekends and just take it easy :)

So today is monday and guess what??....a stupid bird pooped on my head this morning on my way to work...ugh!! interesting way to start off the week, Jen said it was good luck. Riiiight! I had to go back home and wash my hair, needless to say I was very late this morning lol

Sigh, what are the chances? life's a joker sometimes...

Deep Thought Wednesday

2006-05-31T15:14:00.000-04:00

I'm so sorry Vicki! I feel bad, I was supposed to meet vicki last night for dinner. I thought I had plenty of time to do two loads of laundry before meeting her, but of course, just when you think alls well, something went awry. One of my loads screwed up and I had to redo it again, so I had to cancel. We'll definately have re-schedule vicki! we have alot to catch up on :)!... Good news though, a/c is finally running in my building!

So here's another installment of deep thought wednesday, I got this on my work email this morning, this goes out for all you working people out there!

Working Wisdom

1. Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.

2. Process and Procedure are the last hiding place of people without the wit and wisdom to do their job properly.

3. Put the key of despair into the lock of apathy. Turn the knob of mediocrity slowly and open the gates of despondency - welcome to a day in the average office.

4. If your boss is getting you down, look at him through the prongs of a fork and imagine him in jail.

5. If you can keep your head when all around you have lost theirs, then you probably haven't understood the seriousness of the situation.

6. If work was so good, the rich would have kept more of it for themselves.

7. Those of you who think you know everything are annoying to those of us who do.

8. Know your limitations and be content with them. Too much ambition results in promotion to a job you can't properly do! (and that could be dangerous)

9. If you're gonna be late, then be late and not just 2 minutes - make it an hour and enjoy your breakfast.

10. A problem shared is a problem halved, so is the problem really yours or just half of someone else's?

11. I thought I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it was just some b*stard with a torch... bringing me more work!

Weekend Times 26-28

2006-05-29T19:29:00.000-04:00

I had really good summer-like weekend :)

Friday, I went out to watch XMEN3 with D&A, its such a good movie, great special fx, action scenes and this time it felt that there was more in-depth character than the last 2 prequels. There were some surprises in it too, but I won't spoil it here :p. We sold out on the 8:10 tickets so we watched the 10pm showing. But you guys will never guess who we saw while standing in line waiting to get into the theatre... Natalie Portman!! you guys may remember her from the Star Wars Trilogy she played Queen Amidala and more recently 'V' for Vendetta. She just strolled on by with another actor, Amanda thinks she saw him in another movie too, like there were just regular people. She's in town filming a kids movie. Cool eh? so far she's my second star sighting, next to Scott 'mydreamlover' Speedman, yum! lol. He starred in the 'Underworld' movies opposite Kate Beckinsale.

Saturday, I was in the mood to stay home. Just lounge around and pretty much do nothing. Damian called around 12pm and gave me hell for staying home on such a nice day out. Him and Amanda were at Centre Island, I haven't been there in awhile so I thought I'd join them. I was soo glad I went. It was such a beautiful day, nice breeze, sunny and not humid at all. I took the ferry up to the Isle with bicycle in tow and met them there. Spent the rest of the day, riding, Amanda was on her bike and Damian on his blades. Stopped by centreville and had some delicious funnel cake! mmm that was soo good. There's also an incident near the nude beach thats not for the faint of heart, so I won't post it here lol. Unfortunately I got a flat tire on the way back to the ferry to go back to the city. Got back into the city around 7pm, dropped off my bike and we met Damian's friend Peter. We then went to Jack Astors, where Damian's brother worked and had dinner and a few drinks. I finally tried a beer called Creemore, and it was good! later that night, I met up with Sreng and Veena, and we headed to Buddies, I had a really good time. The place was packed, but the music was a bit eclectic, overall great time as always :) we then went to Big Slice, that was good.

Sunday, went out to the mall. I didn't buy anything really, just a couple more underwear lol and a new lamp for my room, the old one stopped working.

Oh my gawd its hot in my apartment... they haven't turned on the A/C yet in my building, I'm hoping by the end of the week it will be running. Its a short work week for me, I'm taking my half-day friday this week :)!! I hope the TTC strike is over by then too, its crazy out there.

So in honor of summer, this week I'll leave you with a very sexy song that I heard for the first time at Buddies... anyone care to loosen up my buttons? ;)

Its too damn hot in here.

'X' marks the spot

2006-05-26T10:19:00.000-04:00

Pretty much an uneventful past couple of days. One highlight was wednesday night when I went to look at a few condo's with Damian and Amanda's and their real estate agent. They needed an extra pair of eyes for the places they were going to see and asked me to tag along, thanks guys, it was alot of fun and I'm flattered that you value my opinion lol. I'll never forget that one condo at Navy& Wharf! the one with the massive Betty Boop collection. A whole room was filled with Betty Boop memorabilia, toys, pictures, pens, statues etc etc. He hardly had any furniture too. Yeah that condo was scary. The view was nice though, looking out into the lake and boats, but the layout was odd. This week just flew by for me, work has been very busy. Tonight I'm going to see X-MEN3: The Last Stand so far the reviews are coming in well, so I'm looking forward to watching it at the theatre :)

Have a good weekend everyone! (hopefully it will be nice and sunny)

Deep Thought Wednesday

2006-05-24T10:45:00.000-04:00

This past long weekend, each day, I got to see each and everyone of my friends and realized how lucky I am to know you all. From work and outside work, I can turn to you when things get rough and you always have an open ear. You let me know honestly what you think and thats precious. You accept me who I am without question and I really wouldn't know what I'd do without you. This post and video are dedicated for you all, you guys make me wanna dance :) Thank you for being a part of my life! you guys enrich me in so many ways.

"the good and the bad times we've been through it all, you make me rise when I fall, want you in my life" - Cascada

Long Weekend 19-22

2006-05-23T00:15:00.000-04:00

I had an awsome long weekend :)

Friday was good, I was supposed to go to Schmooze nightclub with D&A and a couple of their friends, but everyone cancelled last minute and Amanda wasn't feeling well so we all decided to cancel for another day. Its a really high-end bar/club, they are very strict on dress code and age. Girls have to be at least 23 to get in and guys 25... weird eh? I've never been and was curious to check it out. Did I mention drinks are only $2 before 9pm?. We had dinner instead at Bandido's, which was actually open. I tried to take Steve there for dinner last week and they were closed! I forgot to ask them why they were closed that day. Ordered a delicious chicken enchalada and had deep fried Ice cream for dessert, yum! I went back with D&A to their place and watched Dark Crystal on DVD. Its actually pretty cool and freaky at the same time, its all puppets, kinda like a darker version of the muppets lol I enjoyed it.

Saturday I did some errands (grocery shopping etc) during the day and pretty much chilled at home. In the evening I went out for dinner with Lisa, Matthew and Sharon at Sushi On Bloor. I had a good time as always, chatting it up and eating really good, cheap sushi. We actually got to seat upstairs! there was no line up, we were there pretty early though, at 6pm just before the dinner rush. Its so much nicer and peaceful upstairs and we sat by the window. I can't remember the last time I ate there when its actually daytime outside :). I guess summer is just around the corner.

Sunday I woke up really late, and spent the day just puttering around the house. Steve emailed me saturday night to let me know that he was having a get together at his place while his parents were away. Did some research on the best route to take to Brampton by GO Bus and headed up there in the afternoon. The ride was pretty short just under 1.5 hours, it usually takes me longer to get to my cousins place in Scarberia by TTC and not as relaxing. I get to Brampton around 8:15pm, Sreng was nice to come pick me up at the Bus station. We then went to go pick up Veena at her house. We went back to Srengs place and watched a bit of Desperate Housewives before heading out to go meet with Steve at his workplace. We pick him up around 10:30pm then headed to Sobeys to buy some food. We bought chips, ice cream, 40 wings(!!) bbq and honey garlic which were delicious! once we got to Steve's place we cooked the wings and brought them down to the basement where we watched a couple of movies that Sreng brought, WorlfCreek, Basic Instinct and Jarhead. We finished Basic Instinct, and started to watch Wolfcreek but it was too slow, so we put on Jarhead instead we were too tired and drunk to finish it that night, oh and I brought a bottle of vodka too. We finished it all lol-- Veena headed home later that night and we all went to bed around 5am. I had a really good time guys! :)

Its funny how life gives you a chance to meet good people...I'm so glad that I met Steve and his friends and can't believe how close we've all become. I headed back on monday I didn't get much sleep sunday night so I took a nice long nap when I got home. Its too bad I missed out of the BBQ, but hey summer's just around the corner! though I am craving italian sausage right now mmm ;) ...

Long Weekend!

2006-05-19T10:54:00.000-04:00

Alrighty so here I am at work, twiddling my fingers. Our email system is down along with the database that stores all my designs and drawings. I wish I knew sooner and I'd stayed home lol. My boss isn't even here today, and we're supposed to be able to leave work at 4pm cause of the long weekend. Time goes by so my slower when you're not busy....

On a more serious note, I'm sure you've all heard about Capt. Nichola Goddard. Another valiant female canadian soldier that recently died in Afghanistan. She's from Ontario too and was the 16th Canadian soldier to die in Afghanistan since 2002. Also I can't believe that our government voted for our troops to remain in Afganistan for another two years, not even a day after her death. I'm just appalled that our people are dying over there in 'support' of the U.S agenda. 'Casualties' as they call it. I'd like to dedicate this post to Capt. Nichola Goddard and the other soldiers that have died abroad and my hearfelt condolences to their family and friends...

Natural Highs

2006-05-18T23:02:00.000-04:00

Today I was on a natural high. Not sure why, people at work kept asking why I was so upbeat and cheerful when its gloomy and stormy outside. Maybe I'm going through caffeine withdrawals lol. Smiles are definately contagious, and almost feel like walking home without an umbrella in the torrential rain... well almost :) a funny coincidence my boss sent me a fwd email this morning re: Natural Highs, she's fun like that, and this one made me smile. Here it is:

Natural Highs

1. Waking up and realizing you still have a few hours left to sleep.
2. Laughing so hard your face hurts.
3. A hot shower.
4. No lines at the supermarket.
5. A special glance.
6. Falling in love.
7. Taking a drive on a pretty road.
8. Hearing your favorite song on the radio.
9. Lying in bed listening to the rain outside.
10. Hot towels fresh out of the dryer.
11. Chocolate milkshake... (or vanilla or strawberry!)
12. A bubble bath.
13. Giggling.
14. A good conversation.
15. The beach.
16. Finding a 20 dollar bill in your coat from last winter.
17. Laughing at yourself.
18. Walking in the rain not caring about getting wet.
19. Midnight phone calls that last for hours.
20. Running through sprinklers.
21. Laughing for absolutely no reason at all.
22. Having someone tell you that you're beautiful.
23. Laughing at an inside joke.
24. Friends.
25. Accidentally overhearing someone say something nice about you.
26. Getting a phonecall from someone you like.
27. Your first kiss (either the very first or with a new partner)
28. Making new friends or spending time with old ones.
29. Playing with a new puppy.
30. Having someone play with your hair.
31. Sweet dreams.
32. Hot chocolate.
33. Road trips with friends.
34. Swinging on swings.
35. Making eye contact with a cute stranger.
36. Making chocolate chip cookies.
37. Having your friends give you home made cookies.
38. Holding hands with someone you care about.
39. Running into an old friend and realizing that some things (good or bad) never change.
40. Watching the expression on someone's face as they open a much desired present from you.
41. Watching the sunrise.
42. Getting out of bed every morning and being grateful for another beautiful day.
43. Knowing that somebody misses you.
44. Getting a hug from someone you care about deeply.
45. Knowing you've done the right thing, no matter what other people think.

Deep Thought Wednesday

2006-05-17T15:18:00.000-04:00

You know, I'm still trying to get used to typing/writing my name with 2 R's. I can't remember how many times I've had to use backspace at work just to add it. I guess it really doesn't matter since people say my name the same...and I'm glad that my close friends still type/write my name with one 'R', when I asked them why, they replied by saying that they will always know me as Daren, irreplaceable and nothing would change that, sometimes its more than just a name. Its a very sweet thing to say... thank you :)

Another deep thought...when I was having ice cream with Steve the other night, a man came up to us asking for money. He seemed pretty healthy, and of sound mind. At the same time I thought, "why isn't he working? he can see, walk, talk and most likely read, why he doesn't get a job, any job?". I see people who are deaf or blind or missing limbs and still work. Heck I create workspaces for them to work in. I realize its different for each person, and the circumstance why they end up begging for money on the street but in these situations I just go with my gut feeling when I choose to give money or not. Would he accept a slice of pizza instead of money? you never know what they'll use your money for and thats always in the back of my mind. Am I really helping?

Rainy Days and Mondays

2006-05-16T19:36:00.000-04:00

Monday after work, I went to the EC to meet up with Steve for dinner. At first we didn't know what to eat, and I suggested Mexican. Unfortunately the mexican place that I knew about called Bandido's on King Street was closed! total surprise. I made poor Steve walk for a bit, sorry about that... but hey we definately worked up an appetite right? ;)

After option #1 not being feasible, we decided on sushi instead on Queen Street, this place called Sushi Time. The food was good, and the place was really nice. But I think we ordered too much! lol, thats what we get for looking at the menu while very hungry. We had 2 bento boxes and 2 appetizers, if you guys know what a Bento Box is, you're probably already in disbelief with us ordering appetizers. I don't know how we did it, but we still managed to eat everything that we ordered at the restaurant and still have room for ice cream down the street at Ben&Jerrys mmmmm that was good too. I had one with chocolate and lots of nuts and Steve had cookies n' cream. When we got out of the restaurant it was raining, good thing that he brought an umbrella or else we'd be all wet by the time we got to the subway. I had a good time Steve, it was a great way to start off the week :)

One of the things I like doing while on the net is listening to music through music videos. Its so interesting to see words translated into visual art in motion brought to life by the music. The music video thats playing right now is from Benny Benassi a song that I like but never seen the video until tonight. It made my jaw drop and almost made me go down a number on the Kinsey scale :p... I said almost. Can anyone say 'metaphor'? lol. This one's for you Lisa! :p

Trippin' Weekend 12-14

2006-05-16T13:44:00.000-04:00

Today I had whole wheat bagel with jam and orange juice ;) and I've decided to ditch my morning dose of caffeine namely Timmy's Steep Tea.

Having said that, I had a great weekend! Friday, just chilled at D&A's place and watched Boogie Nights. On saturday, I was invited by Damian&Amanda for a day trip to Buffalo, NY, to do some shopping. It was about 1.5 hour drive over. We rented a car for that day, it was a Toyota Matrix, a nice car with a roomy interior, I was surprised that it only cost us all $40 for the day. We left early in the morning, well not too early, at 9am. We passed by Niagara Falls before getting to the border to get in to the U.S. when we got to the border it was pretty smooth, we gave the officer our passports, and she asked Damian a few questions, around 4-5 questions. She was really serious though and kinda scary looking.

Once we got through we had some breakfast at a Denny's, which was very similar to a Golden Griddle. That was good. AFter eating we headed over to this big mall called the Walden Galleria mall. Spent the rest of the day going in and out of stores. There was alot of good deals, I ended up buying 3 t-shirts, a hat and a belt all for under $70! everywhere we seemed to go there was food... practically all of the shops in the food court was giving out samples, and even some of the stores had like chips and dip. We ended up eating 'lunch' at 4pm in the afternoon at this place called Rocket Joe's. It was a cool little 50's looking diner with a little jukebox at each table. They'd give you 3 nickels, and you can choose to play any songs. They also had the best tasting burger I've ever had in my life! although it was on the greasy unhealthy side. I also had my first taste of malt root beer. The hamburger was definately something that should not be eaten once a week lol but I still managed to finish it... hey, its not often I go to Buffalo right? :)

Got home around 9:30pm that same night. Its so interesting to see americans in their natural environment, and its true... food definately is jumbo sized in the U.S. Sunday was Mother's Day (shout out to all the mom's out there). My mom and I had lunch with my grandmother and spent the day with her, that was nice too.

Thundering Thursday

2006-05-11T17:14:00.000-04:00

I had alot of fun at Damian's birthday get-together on wednesday night. Damian, his brother Adrian, Amanda and I went for dinner at Marinela's, I think I mentioned the place before. Its a nice, quaint family run italian restaurant, with the most delicious lasagna, it had eggs and pieces of meat in it including italian sausage, yum! We ate on the patio, it was such a nice day out. Then we had some delicious dessert, Hard to describe it, kinda like a very light chocolate brownie/cake, oh man, I was in heaven. Amanda took some pics so she may post them at her site soon :)

After dinner we walked over to the Elgin/Winter Garden theatre on Yonge Street. A very victorian old style theatre, basically a theatre over another theatre. Very cool. The seats were comfortable, but I found that there wasn't enough legroom, my legs kept hitting the seat in front of me, and my ass fell asleep lol. The show was very entertaining, but a couple the main leads weren't "singing their all" in a couple of the songs. There just wasn't enough feeling and sometimes it was hard to hear them. This is in comparison to the last 3 times I've seen them about 4-5 years ago, the perfomers were awsome. Back then we'd line up really early (6am) to get $20 tickets, seating was limited and only a certain number would get it. Best of all we'd get to seat right on front row! Yesterday's show still had its moments and parts still tugged on the heart strings. Oh! and I completely forgot about intermissions, as soon as the lights came on, I was like, "hey whats going on? thats it??" lol, we had a brief 20 minute break and then headed back in for the second part of the show. Its was a long and fun day, I got home around 11:30pm.

Thursday's weather was a bit crappy since it rained most of the day. I went to the EC to return a shirt (there's a backstory to it, but I'll tell you guys personally :p) and I finally gave in and bought RENT: The Movie on DVD! I was waiting for it go on sale, but after wednesday night, I couldn't resist and just gave in to temptation :)

A deep thought Happy Birthday...

2006-05-10T09:57:00.000-04:00

To my bud Damian! 'nuff said :) we're going to dinner and then see the broadway show 'RENT' tonight at the Elgin Theatre across from the Eaton Centre. I've never been to that theatre before, I'm pretty excited. The songs kept running in my head since yesterday. So in dedication of the show and Damian's b-day-- our featured music video for this week is the sultry minx Mimi's 'Out Tonight'!

My first...

2006-05-09T19:37:00.000-04:00

I finally got it!! my first canadian passport :) ... world here I come! (again lol) I went to the office at lunch with Damian to pick it up. I was lucky that there wasn't any line-ups. D&A invited me along to go to Buffalo, NY this saturday, I think I'll go to try out my passport, I heard there's some great shopping there. Yesterday was a fun day, after work I went over to their place to check out their new iMAC computer!... its soo cool. The hard drive, camera and monitor are all in the same machine or should I say "monitor". Its a widescreen and the features are very cool. I'm supposed to scavenge their computer for parts lol. I think I'll get the DVD/CDRW player :). Damian opened up a bottle of wine and we waited for Amanda to come home. Just before she came, Kate, Amanda's sister came over to drop off some stuff for Amanda. We chilled and finished off the bottle. Kate had a 'Ultimate Freesbee' game with people from her work so we decided to go watch her play! that was alot of fun to watch. We went to a little stadium on Wellington. After the game she drove us all back to D&A's, and we still couldn't believe it was only a monday...

p.s. I forgot to add that I have to write my name with 2 R's now instead of one, since all my other IDs' have 2 R's including my passport and citizenship card, but my birth certificate I only have one R, go figure!

Weekend Times 5-7

2006-05-07T21:44:00.001-04:00

I can't wait for half-day fridays to begin at work. Especially when the weather gets warmer. We get it every other friday until September. Though It doesn't start until June. The past 2 weeks I've taken a half-day to go to my dentist in scarberia and almost can't bear the thought of having a full day of work again on a friday and its only Monday too lol. Friday morning, I was rushing again to get things done before I left work, then headed to my dentist to get teeth filled and cleaned. I was a bit anxious since I've never had to get my teeth filled before and I heard some "not so pleasant" stories too :p. I heard about the needle and the freezing process, which my dentist, Jennifer Yu Lopez (I'd like to call her J-Lo) said that I'd only need it on my right side. It was practically painless from beginning to end. I was soo relieved. Mostly cause I was going out later that night. On the way home I felt the freezing liquid leave my gums and move to my cheeks and right upper lip, which felt odd but it went away later that afternoon. I was soo hungry, I didn't have lunch before going and didn't eat after, fearing that my fillings would fall off or something.

So I went home and got changed to go over to Nicolina&Dave's housewarming party. Met Matthew around 6:30pm at King station and we both headed up to Sheppard Station to meet Lisa. By the time we got to Nic&Dave's it was close to 7:30pm and I was ready to pass out lol. Thank goodness they had food ready by the time I got there, I ate like a maniac. I brought a bottle of my favourite red wine, Fat Bastard, only to find out that no one really liked red wine only Nancy. So I basically had the bottle all to myself lol which was fine. We chatted for a bit and Matthew told us about his trip to Italy. He also brought us souvenirs, little hand-crafted animals from a little village in Italy, I chose a cute small ceramic eye-bulging owl :). We had some good laughs and caught up with our lives, I haven't seen some of them since my birthday in December.

Left their place around 10:30 and met up with Steve, Veena and Sreng to go out on Church Street. We were going to go to Fly Nightclub but when we passed by there were alot of straight couples/people (ya Steve, you're right :p) and it seemed to be more an East Indian theme going on so we decided to skip Fly for another night and head to 5ive instead. The music was better than I expected, usually they'd only play music with no lyrics whatsoever like trance or tribal, which gets boring really fast. I had a really good time :) hope you guys did too. After clubbing we were hungry so we had some Pizza Pizza and that was good. It was raining when we got out of the club but we had some magazines, it was funny seeing all four of us walking down the street with them over our heads like hats. Sreng drove me home (hope you're feeling better!) and Steve, him and Veena headed back to Brampton... its great hanging out with you guys, can't wait till next time :)

Saturday, I woke up pretty early around 8:30am. Went to bed at 4am, but surprisingly I wasn't very tired. My mom and I went to the St. Lawrence Market for brunch and then decided to go to the Pacific Mall (a really big asian mall) on Steeles. I bought her a mother's day/Birthday gift (even though its not until June but she really wanted it) a Shitsu massager. Its like a Obus forme for the back but has little balls that go up and down to massage. Its awsome, almost as good at getting a real massage, so we both benefit from it. After that we went to Scarborough Town Centre (another mall) and browsed, and no I didn't buy anything for once lol. We went to see Mission Impossible 3 which was pretty good. Not a big fan of Tom Cruise, but I still thought he looked really good in black army fatigues ;). We didn't get home until 11:30pm...been a long day. Didn't do much but pass out on my bed I was so tired.

On Sunday, I rode my bike around the city, and then headed down to harborfront and just read a book. It was soo relaxing. Headed back home in the afternoon and just watched TV, played some video games. It was a nice relaxing day, a great way to finish off a really good weekend :)

Sharon: Got a song for you!!

2006-05-04T00:12:00.000-04:00

I was listening to the radio at Timmy's this morning and this song came on and immediately thought of you... I know you and Roger are looking for a nice, romantic song to dance to at the wedding, hope you like it! Congratulations again guys, I can't wait for the wedding in October :)

All My Life: KC & Jojo

Deep Thought Wednesday

2006-05-03T21:00:00.000-04:00

On Monday it was Damian's first day at work. Yup, he works in the same department as me, but in different accounts. He works with RBC while my client is CIBC. He's enjoying it so far. Poor guy still doens't have a computer so pretty much he is shadowing someone for the rest of the week. Its still sinking in that we work together just like back in school :)

After work I met up with Veena and Steve at the EC. It was Veena's birthday and we were going to celebrate by going to the Hothouse Cafe. We had some time to kill, so we headed over to my place to hang out. Stopped by the Liquor store and bought a bottle of Fat Bastard, funny name, its a pretty good french wine, a merlot. Those of you who know me well, know that its my fav! Once we got to my place we started drinking to start the celebrations early. Needless to say the wine got to me pretty fast, since I really didn't have much to eat, just crackers, also Steve didn't help by pouring my glass to full :p. I was pretty happy with a permanent Joker-like smile the whole night lol by the time we left my place. We were running late for our reservations, when we got there Damian and Amanda were waiting for us. Sreng and Vicky joined us too. I had a great time at the Hothouse, hope you guys did too! Happy Birthday Veena! :) the food was pretty good also. After dinner we went to this small ice cream Gelato place on Front St for dessert, yum! they ran out of canadian money at the cash so the guy had to give me american money (which I still have to exchange) so technically I got a free ice cream, funny stuff. We walked Damian and Amanda halfway home, and Steve, Sreng and Veena took the subway back to their car. I wished we lived closer to each other, the night was still young. It was a nice 30 minute walk home, it was a such a beautiful night. Unfortunately walking by Church Street, I got cat-called by a bunch of gay guys in a passing car, saying "hey baby! need a ride?!!"... whoah and rude! I was shocked and just kept walking really fast lol. First time thats ever happened to me, it felt very weird!

Tuesday, pretty standard day at work. Damian and I met Amanda for lunch, that was fun, went home worked out for a bit and just chilled. So now its finally the hump day! I can't wait for the weekend as always. Deep Thought of the Day? its awsome to be around good friends, don't know what I'd do without them. Good times indeed.

Weekend Times 28-30

2006-05-02T11:06:00.000-04:00

Friday, I took a half-day at work since I was going to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned. It was crazy busy at work, everyone was in a rush to get stuff done as soon as they remembered that I wasn't going to be around the rest of the day. I swear nothing would get done without me! which is mostly true lol. My dentist is located in scarberia (yeah yeah Damian, I should get one closer :p) but its still good excuse to take a half-day. So I get there and find out that they got rid of my records since I haven't been in 3 years (yeah I know I'm baad) so they had to do a full checkup, xrays etc. I was in there close to an hour. When she was looking in my mouth the dentist said that I had good teeth, and taken good care of them considering I haven't visited in 3 years. Unfortunately I wasn't in the clear. She found 2 cavities in between my molars on the top back. So I have to take another half-day this friday, so they have clean and fill them. Also, she mentioned that I should really think about getting all my wisdom teeth removed. I don't have anymore space in my mouth and they might damage my molars once they start growing out. So looks like I'll be having some dental surgery sometime late May, or early June, ugh. After that I met my mom at Scarborough Town Centre (its a really big mall) had dinner, did some shopping and saw the movie called Take the Lead with Antonio Banderas.

Saturday, once again I was a naughty boy. I skipped on my Yoga. I was already awake since 9am (for a saturday, its very unusual for me lol). Did laundry. I wanted to go to the EC and buy a couple more shirts for work and a bathing suit, the old bathing suit one that I had, the elastic went really loose in Vegas, and it would of been very exhibitionistic of me if I ever were to get out of a pool with them on again *ahem*. Around noonish Damian calls and wanted to see if I wanted to hang out with him and Amanda, I went for it and decided to meet them at the EC. Went back to their place to hang out and watch the movie DOOM (quite gory and violent, total guy's film lol) which was surprisingly good. Later that night I met up with Sreng to go to Buddies. I had a good time! met some really odd people on the street though and one at the pizza place we went to eat after clubbing, I'll call her "unknown Pineapple stealer" woman. I'll tell you guys the story next time I see you :), all and all good times and great cardio.

Sunday, I had to go to my godson's first communion. The whole family went to the mass ceremony around 2pm and after that we all went to Swiss Chalet for lunch. God I love their chalet sauce, everyone gave me theirs. I finished four lol. After that I headed home to get ready for the workweek. Later that night Steve called to plan for Veena's birthday.... more to come :)

Oral Fixation

2006-04-28T13:18:00.000-04:00

I'm soo hungry! I've only had a bagel to eat for breakfast this morning. I'm taking a half-day today (leaving at 1:30pm to head over to scarberia to get my teeth cleaned. Been putting it off for too long, but finally decided to set up an appointment after my Dentist signed my passport papers lol. So no lunch yet until 4:30pm (appointment is at 3). I'm not supposed to eat anything before going.

So here I am, just waiting for time to expire. I could easily do more work, but my brain just doesn't feel it like it anymore :p.

I was supposed to go to the dentist on saturday at 2pm, but I would miss Yoga. After what Rethna told me last week, I don't want to get into more trouble and have the class pay for my absentness lol. Dave, our instructor asked about me last week, if I was going to show up, Rethna goes, oh he went shopping with his friends. Apparantly he looked appalled and shocked and said, "What? going shopping instead of Yoga??!!". So I moved my appointment for today. I hate it that he knows my name lol. After the dentist, I'll be meeting my mom at the scarborough town centre, browse, possibly buy a couple more works shirts for summer and possibly watch a movie...

Have a great weekend everyone!

Cheers,
Daren

Deep Thought Wednesday

2006-04-26T21:48:00.000-04:00

I had a weird dream last night.

I don't usually dream (or remember that I dreamt) for some odd reason, this one stuck. I dreamt that I was on a bus full of people it looked alot like inside of a greyhound. I was trying to go to sleep but there were other people there that kept pushing me, there were no seats. I had my pillow and bedsheets and trying to get comfortable, but I just couldn't find peace. We finally arrived at our destination, it was a beautiful placid lake. The rest of the annoying bus people disappeared and it was just me. So I decided to take off my clothes and have a little dip in the lake, it felt soo good. But when I stepped unto the shore of the lake I felt something on my chest. I looked down and there were 3 long snakelike things attached to me!! they kinda looked like leeches. I was in shock, and panicked a bit. and wanted to tear them off me, but also felt bad and I didn't want to hurt them. They eventually fell one by one the more I calmed down. I watched as the last leechlike thing fall to the ground and the grass became carpet. It felt like I was back at work, but it wasn't my workplace. I was trying to print something at the machine, but this guy who I couldn't see very well kept taking and hiding my printouts! I wasn't annoyed, more like a game. I had a feeling he was cute too but its weird since I couldn't get a clear picture of him. I ended up chasing after one of the printouts that the guy didn't get and something of the side of my eye caught my attention, I saw a building blow up, all I remember is that it was grey, after that everything went hazy and I woke up.

Even weirder, total deja vu. Earlier today I was browsing the CBC news site and ran across this article. Today is the 20th anniversary of
the Chernobyl disaster in the Ukraine. One devastating horrific nuclear mistake that affected hundreds of thousands and is still affecting people, the environment and animals to this day. Please take a moment to remember those who have died and those who are sick from the radiation.

--The catastrophe of Chernobyl
--Chernobyl Video

Natural Solutions

2006-04-25T15:20:00.000-04:00

Don't you just hate it when your lunch explodes?

I just came back from the passport office to get my passport processed.
Everything went well, and I should be getting it in 2 weeks! now I don't have to worry about it when I go away. Did you know that you're not supposed to use your cell phone at passport offices? well I just found that out today. I was waiting for my number to come up and decided to make a quick call, left a message and hanged up. A woman beside me started to use hers and out of nowhere the security guard comes and tells the lady that she is not allowed to use her cell. I was shocked! I mean I can understand in a hospital, but in a passport office? ridiculous. I got a callback and decided not to answer it, I felt very restricted... and a bit annoyed because I didn't know the reason why I couldn't answer my own phone. When I go pick up my passport I'm going to ask why people aren't allowed. On my way our I saw a picture of a cell phone on the wall with a big red cross on it.

A funny thing happened yesterday while I was getting my lunch in the underground PATH. My hairstylist friend Keri leaves me a message on my phone saying "Daren, I just saw you buying food in the foodcourt, whats with the hair!? okay you have got to come and see me after work hun. We'll fix that up."... hilarious! I admit it was getting pretty long and really I couldn't do much with it. So I went to see her after work at Natural Solutions and she made me close my eyes and only open them when she was done. It looks goood! I felt like I was in one of those makeover shows (ok lets not think about that one too much now) I think I just found my summer haircut! I gave her a nice tip, she's just awsome :)

Later 'Round 7pm, Sreng calls me and wondered if I wanted to hang out and have dinner since he was in town to submit his courses for september. I said I needed to go to the EC anyways to go find a great PS2 game
called God of War (which has a shocking sex scene). But by the time we finished eating and talking the mall was closing, time flies when you're having fun as always, its ok though I think I'll go another day...

Okay, so getting back to my lunch. Microwaves are evil, my yummy chinese pork filled bun went splat. I'm so hungry now I'm going down to get me a Sub...

Weekend Times 21-23

2006-04-23T10:32:00.001-04:00

Wow... I have to say I have had a very eventful few days :)

It all started Wednesday night when Steve called to invite me over to his place to hang out with him, Sreng and Veena. It was all last minute and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to go since I had to work the next day and Steve lives in Brampton so I'd have stay overnight. So where there is a will there is a way! The next day I came to work and was able to get Friday off (god I needed a break too). Damian mentioned earlier that week that he was going to visit his friend Rob, who also lives in Brampton and I was able to hitch a ride. Before dropping me off at Steve's, Damian showed me around Brampton, and the area where he grew up as a kid. We also stopped by Factory Direct, a discount computer store. He bought some more memory for his computer and I bought a hard drive at a really good price. At Steve's place we had some yummy pizza and salad (which everyone did a great job making). We played video games too! We tried to watch dvd's but unfortunately Steve's DVD player wasn't working. Overall, I had a great time guys! its good to know you all! :) and thank you Steve, you were a great host! I went back home to Toronto on Friday, travel time was faster than I thought, it took me about an hour or so to get home. Faster than going to visit my cousin and her kids in Scarborough (or Scarberia as I like to call it lol). It was a very relaxing ride home.

So Friday I got home around 1:00pm and headed out again to meet my mom. We had to get our passport application signed by our Dentist as the guarantor. Later that afternoon, Damian called to ask if I wanted to hang out with him and Amanda, I wasn't doing anything that night, and my mom staying over to her boyfriends so I rushed to head back downtown (I was in scarberia). We went to see the movie Silent Hill at Paramount on John St, it was a freaky movie! It started off pretty good, but then the dialog started to become cheesy and eventually some parts became ridiculousy funny. At times, the whole theatre was laughing. I had a good time as always :)

On Saturday, I skipped Yoga (yah crazy eh? lol), after last week I thought about giving my body a little break. I went tanning instead at 1PM and that was relaxing. The weather was so crappy though. Sreng then called to verify what time to meet to go to Yorkdale with him and Veena, so when I got home, I quickly took a shower and got ready to meet them. I'm sorry again guys for being late! I thought getting a ride to the subway was faster, wrong call lol. I arrived at Yorkdale about 20 mins late. We then had something to eat, and went shopping! we all bought something. I got a pair of shoes and 2 shirts. We practically closed the mall at 9pm! we then headed to get something to eat we were so hungry. Sreng suggested a really good Chinese restaurant in Thornhill, and thats where we went, and the food was soo good! thanks Sreng! I had such a great time with you and Veena :) lots of laughs! At the end of the night Sreng dropped me off at Yorkdale station and I headed home.

Sunday, I spent the day with Damian and Amanda. I tried to help them fix their computer, wipe their hard drive clean and install Windows XP, but all in vain. Microsoft sucks and I couldn't do anything cause we didn't have the original disk. Amanda made an awsome dinner later :) thank you! with yummy dessert and we watched a funny movie on dvd called Drowning Mona. Still a crappy rainy day, thanks Damian for driving me home.

So now its Sunday night and another week is upon us...its supposed to rain for most of the week so with that little note, I leave with a great inspirational song... and just "Feel the rain on your skin". Brighter days ahead :)

Deep Thought Wednesday

2006-04-19T23:24:00.000-04:00

Hi there! how was your day?

Today started off pretty hectic, I had a presentation this morning at 10AM. I was all ready and set to go, stayed at work until 7pm since monday to finish it. My boss then asks me, "So Daren ready for you debut? where you able to book the projector?" I was like... huh? projector!? 2 days to get it all done and now to she tells me I need to book a projector which apparantly had to be done whilst booking the meeting room. I've never presented before or what techie stuff I needed and she was the one that booked the meeting. I just figured that I would just be able to plug a laptop and it would pop on the screen board. I called the IT department to see if they could bring the projector over and hopefully it wasn't booked. I had to pull some strings, and fortunately one of the IT guys was soo nice and helpful, I was able to get the last remaining one, out of the four they had. By the time I got to the meeeting room I was about 10 minutes late! no big deal, my boss and everyone there was understanding, and she said that I would do the training next week since 3 of the key people that really needed to know what I had to present were not there. A tension headache caught me for the rest of the workday, ugh.

So now I have to wait another week to present, which kinda sucks, cause I really wanted to get it over with. Oh well, goes to show that nothing is ever easy and always have all bases covered, thats my deep thought of the day :)

I just got home from having dinner with Amanda and Damian at Bandidos, on King Street. It was mexican food, soo good, spicy but good! I had a beef enchalada served by very rough and brash waitress. She was hilarious. During dinner we chatted about their Philadelphia trip this past weekend, they drove there and had alot of fun :)after that, I went back home with them to watch a movie they rented called Wolf Creek, a suspense psycho thriller, I don't recommend it... the movie was more frustrating than scary. The characters did everything stupid. Apparantly, tt was loosely based on true events in the australian outback.

I also had lunch with Matthew, he's going on a european cruise, tomorrow he's off to Italy, lucky guy! though I don't think he's looking forward to spending his vacation time with both his mom and Grandmother lol, catch 22 there I think, oh and Steve just got back today from Vegas too. Seems everyone I know is travelling but me... so even though I really had no plans on going out of town as of yet, I decided to get my canadian passport done... after work I went and got my picture taken. So now I just have to do the rest of the paperwork, Its good for 5 years right?

Hips Don't Lie ...

2006-04-17T01:05:00.000-04:00

Hullo! I hope everyone had a good Easter weekend? mine was pretty good :) its been pretty laid back lately on my Weekend Life so this past weekend was a breath of fresh air :)

It all started on saturday, I headed over to Yoga class at 1pm. For some odd reason Dave (or FBS lol) our intructor thought that because we were going to have Easter dinner on Sunday, he should make the lesson tougher than usual. I knew we were in trouble when he asked if anyone was new to Yoga, and no one put their hand up. I don't think I've sweated so much in my life! thank god I brought a small towel with me that class. He even went over 15 mins. After Yoga class, Rethna and I went over once again to Queen Street. I was going to return the pants I bought last week, and get a size 33. Unfortunately, I was out of luck, so I kept the 32. I wore it today at work and got compliments! I just hope it doesn't shrink when I wash it. I was already in a rush after Le Chateau, I booked an appointment at the tanning salon at 4pm, my bad. So I parted with Rethna and headed home. When I got to the tanning place, Mario (yeah a cute and tanned italian guy lol) said that he was waiting for me at 1PM! I was like no... I remember saying 4pm, but he said it was ok, and was able to squeeze me in... I think he heard me wrong and he wrote the wrong time. He was nice about it though. I loved it. It was soo nice and relaxing, I used the bed. I felt so invigorated after. I booked another appointment for Tuesday, he jokingly gave me a hard time booking it though, and we really made sure we understood each other this time around. Headed home after and took a nice hot shower, I just got out and Sreng gave me a call about going out to with him and Veena to Buddies that night. I was so looking forward to it! I haven't been out to a bar/club in awhile.

Sreng and Veena picked me up at my place around 10pm and we headed over to Church Street, we had some pizza (thanks so much Sreng! also for the drink) before going to Buddies. I almost didn't get in!! as we were walking up the ramp towards the door, the bouncer(cute, kinda looks like Gavin Rossdale) came out and said, "Alright people have your IDs ready! and no Health cards!) I was like huh?? but I only have a health card!! I was scared walking up to him. I showed him my card, and said that its the only ID I had and that I've been there before... he looked at it intently and then me, and said..."well,yeah I guess its ok, go right in, but next time have another ID ready k?". Guess my pouty face worked, but as I was walking away he goes "Hey! Im sorry for asking you that..its just that you look so young!". I was like what, 18?... oookay, not sure how to take that comment, so I just laughed and said that I'll take that as a compliment! and walked in. I had a really good time and I hope Veena and Sreng did too...we danced nonstop the whole night, there was alot of hip action going on in the dance floor too ;) especially when they played Shakira's new song lol Later that night Sreng and Veena drove me home, we were soo tired! thanks for the good times guys and the ride home :)

The next day I woke up all sore, not sure from Yoga or all the dancing. Around 4pm I headed out to meet Matthew and Sharon for Sushi at Sushi on Bloor. On the way there, Matthew calls me and says that Sharon will be meeting us later, since her boyfriend Roger, just came into town unexpectedly. So Matthew and I ate dinner and proceeded to meet them at the Second Cup at the Jewish Community Centre...

Here's the good part... they are now engaged! congratulations guys, I love you both! I'm so happy to hear the good news! October 8th, thanksgiving weekend is the wedding :) I can't wait! they have so much work to do though... especially since Roger still lives and works in L.A. But love conquers all right? you both definately proved it, long distance and all.

So that was my weekend and now its monday... and I have an impromptu presentation at work that due on Wednesday morning. Goodie. Oh well, at least the weekend is around the corner :)

A Good Friday

2006-04-14T22:26:00.000-04:00

TGIF? *wink* lol I have to say this has been one of the best Fridays I've had in awhile. It all started this morning when I woke up at 7:30am like I usually do every morning, and in my "just woke up" stupor, I thought it was thursday. Half awake, I'm lying in bed thinking, how odd, why did my alarm clock go off? then I suddenly realized that not only is it Friday... but also a Holiday!... so I went back to sleep :)

Woke up around 11am and ate breakfast, and did some icky laundry. Then my mom and I went to Church for Good Friday and then headed back home. I haven't been a church goer for awhile but this is one of the days that I do, mostly cause its a family thing. Headed home and went through my closet and got rid of some old clothes that I never wear, and put them in a big plastic bag for Goodwill. So I finally have some closet space! yesterday my work let us out early (they always do that before a holiday) at 4pm so I went to Eaton Centre. I ended up buying 2 pairs of jeans...jeans that actually look really good on me! (its so hard find good jeans). Funny enough the style was called 'Bragg' I wondered why they called it that, and found out when I tried them on. I'll let you think about that one for a bit lol

I ate nothing but fish and rice all day. Its a filipino tradition to not eat red meat on Good Friday. You have no idea the craving I had for a nice steak dinner. Other than that nothing too eventful, tomorrow I'll be going tanning after my Yoga class and I'll make sure I take your advice Steve... ;)

Oh and I also have to return the work pants I bought last weekend at Le Chateau on Queen Street...they are just the right fit, but cotton blend, so at 32" waist I have a feeling they're going to shrink after I wash them. So I'm going to exchange it for a size 33". I just hope they have some left... Le Chateau is one of the few stores that actually carry one size up, and not just jump to a 34".

So overall a very Good Friday... happy Easter Weekend everyone!

Deep Thought Wednesday

2006-04-12T17:19:00.000-04:00

Hi there! I can't believe that the 'hump' day has finally come! not to mention that its practically the end of the week, with tomorrow being my last day at work because of Good Friday (holiday)... well, until next monday. Its just been steady busy at work, which I'm actually like, time goes by soo much faster :)

Today I went with my mom to the Eaton Centre to get our income tax done at H&R Block. The lady I deal with is very nice, I've been going to her the past 3 years. She's even gives me a discount for the End fee. But I wish I knew how to file my own income tax. It just seems so easy, she was done in less than 10 minutes. But again, I think its one of those things that I should let a professional handle, or else I might make a mistake and end up paying for it, literally. Afterwards, we went to eat at Swiss Chalet. Its always funny to watch my mom order dessert at the same time as the meal, and see the server's face totally surprised. She has a sweet tooth, and has always done that when we eat dinner. I'm not like that though, I mean I like dessert but definately after. I like to dip alot though! (namely donuts, bagels in chocolate mik! yum.. oh! and cookies!).

Its been raining pretty much all week since monday, its just been a gray. Which made me do something I'd never thought about doing before. I joined a Tanning Salon near home. Those of you who know me well, are probably asking why?? you already have some color, you don't need it! I'm doing it more for health reasons, like getting more Vitamin D, and sunlight. I've heard that it does other good things too as long as its done in moderation. One of my coworkers said its so relaxing too. So I'm going to start tomorrow night, and probably do it once a week or so probably after Yoga. I only got 100 minutes, that should be enough until the real summer weather comes. The girl at the front desk was really nice too, and said that she'll show me how to use the equipment. I was surprised at how knowledgeable she was about tanning, its benefits etc, but I guess thats her job. She did have a great tan and I just said to her, I want your tan! and she said she'd help me get it. At first I was like, god, probably girls do this more than guys, but while I was there filling out the form, about 6 different guys came in to inquire and/or get a tan. So I felt at ease lol. silly me. So don't be surprised if you see me with an early tan. I told the girl I didn't want to get too dark, just even out my skin tone, she said a 7 minute session will do. I'm not sure if she meant the standing up one or the bed...hmm I do want a full body, so that means nakedness on my part lol so I hope they provide towels.

Lately I've been doing things that I wouldn't think or have done in awhile, like shopping for clothes, joining this salon out of impulse, joining a Yoga studion and I guess doing more things and taking care of myself more. Exercising and eating healthier. I guess thats the Deep Thought for the day... take care of yourself first and foremost! sometimes we're so busy taking care of others, or thinking of what others think, when really it all starts with #1. Take some time to nurture yourself... mind, body and Soul.

You feel much happier when you do ;) I promise you.

Weekend Life 7-9

2006-04-10T12:24:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! here comes another instalment of my so exciting weekend life. Not. lol
Once again I didn't do much really. Friday I stayed home after work, wasn't feeling too hot, kinda overtired from a long week. Saturday I once again went to Yoga, that was fun and after went down to Queen Street with Rethna for a little shopping. She got a nice top at one of the stores, I ended up going to Le Chateau and buying a nice pair of pants for work. There's actually a funny story about it, basically I had to chase down one of the sales people cause he took it right off my hands! I guess he didn't understand me when I said, "yeah I like it, I'm going to take it"... I think he heard, either a)oh its not the right size b)i'd like to try it on. He eventually realized and took it up to the cashier for me.

When I got home and after taking a nice hot shower, I suddenly felt the urge to go out again, specifically to a club. I wanted to go dance! I haven't been out in awhile. So I called my friends and they didn't feel like going, so I thought, I wonder what Sreng and Veena are doing? so I emailed them to see if they wanted to do something. But it was last minute and I didn't think they'd get it in time. I watched some TV and a got hooked on a movie called "How to Deal" with Mandy Moore (yeah I was that bored lol), and just decided to stay in.

Sunday, my grandmother, aunt, my cousin Donna and her daughter, visited me by surprise! :) that was nice. They stayed for about 2 hours and I got to play with my goddaughter Alessa. She's soo cute! she just turned 5. My mom was still over at Phil's (her bf) place where she stayed overnight and totally missed out on the visit. After they left I just did some spring cleaning around the apartment and went for a walk near and around the St. Lawrence Market area. I was tempted to see "V for Vendetta" I heard it was good, I might see it tomorrow night after work, since my mom won't be home until late cause of school and usually there's nothing good on TV on Tuesdays. Sreng gave me a call later that night and we chatted for a bit and made plans to go out with him and Veena next weekend to Buddies, the music there is top 40, R&B music so I hope they like it. I'm just kinda sad that Steve won't be with us this weekend, but hopefully soon...

So today is monday, went straight home after work and ate dinner and got ready to watch the last live episode of the Muchmusic VJ Search! it was a nail biter... and guess who won?

Tim Deegan! :)

Woo hoo! I'm glad that he won, he seems like a really nice and sweet guy. Not to mention he's really cute, there's something a tall, dark haired sweet guy, that totally gets to me ;)

Anyways, hope everyone had a good weekend... remember its a short week! a holiday on Friday (Good Friday) and even Monday for those lucky folks that work for the government :p

Oh Timmy...

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

Hi friends and strangers :) hope you all had a good weekend, i won't bore you with details of mine. So lets just skip that lol well the only highlight was on Sunday when Damian and Amanda invited me for dinner at their place. Amanda made some yummylicious peanut chicken with rice and a really good side salad... mmmm that was soo good Amanda thank you! we watched, the Phantom of the Opera, its such a good movie! Its almost art come to life, I love the sets in it too. I wish I could of watched the live theatre version it when it was at the Pantages Theatre downtown, but I was too young back then. Hopefully it will come back again soon. I'm going to buy the DVD :) time flew, by the time we finished it was already 11:30pm! and we already lost 1 hr because of the time change.

Monday was a tough day, I guess cause I really didn't sleep that well. On a more serious note, I'm not sure if you guys heard about the suicide bombing at the Tim Horton's near Yorkville last week. Its been spread accross the globe in newspapers and news as a possible terrorist attack, before anyone really knew what happened! though its true we don't get many self-bombings in this part of the continent.

What really ticks me off the most is that this person decided to commit suicide in a public place, in a rather busy time of the day. I mean, for crying out loud, if you're going to kill yourself do it where other people who care about their lives won't get hurt! It happened near lunchtime and my friend Matthew was going to grab some lunch there, but couldn't because there was a large crowd of people and police and firemen were all over the place. What would of happened if he went just an hour earlier? its true what they say about suicide, its the most ultimate act of selfishness. I'm glad no one else was hurt due to this insane individual. Sorry if it sounds cold ...

What do you think?

p.s. speaking of another Tim... those of you who watch Much VJ search, he is back! as a VJ hopeful, chosen by the public. I like Nikki but I hope Tim gets it, I really like him... he sweet, down to earth, knows his music and not to mention cute! I'd date him in a sex err I mean sec lol

The other two umm think not. I'd like Sean to represent, but its the wrong representation since he is too stereotypical and doesn't represent those who are not femenine acting. Erik is cute but just too fake and shallow.

Spring is here!!

2006-03-31T18:39:00.000-05:00

Wow, I can't believe that Friday is here! time just flew this week. It was pretty busy at work, but productive. Had my cut&highlights on Monday, and its looking pretty good just in time for spring. On tuesday I went shopping for clothes at the Eaton Centre, I spent more than I thought I would--- like always lol went to H&M, bought 2 dress shirts for work and 2 spring jackets (well one was more sporty) I've been meaning to get more work wear, I still have to buy a couple of more shirts for summer and a couple of dressy but cool pants. I went with my friend Matthew, afterwards we got something to eat at the Pickle Barrel on Yonge Street, awsome place after the renovations and best of all same good quality and prices. We went up to see his condo thats being built, well so far they only have a very big hole in the ground. Steve called me too, which was a surprise...I'm glad that I talked with him and caught up. Oh and that same day Damian had the interview at my work, hopefully he'll land the job, it will be like old times working with him when we were in college. My boss was pretty impressed with him so its looking pretty good. Also another bit of good news my friend Vicky just landed a job right down the street from me too! she'll be training at my building for a few months, thats so funny, its indeed a small world. Also Happy birthday Vicky!!

Finally Spring is here, warmer weather to come and especially more sunlight! sigh :)

The song thats playing on this blog makes me think about Spring and the warm breeze, people walking relaxed and enjoying the weather... hope you like it! remember the time goes forward in the weekend, so we lose an hour, set those clocks right!

"I should be living
Giving my mind a chance to rewind
And playback beautiful music
I should be living
Giving my mind a chance to rewind
And playback dangerous rhythms"

Enjoy the weather folks and remember to take a breather from time to time... this goes to Steve, who's working hard since its near end of school :)

Weekend Life 24-26

2006-03-27T17:51:00.000-05:00

Hullo! well once again, not much to say, decided to stay in, more or less by choice.

Saturday I had a chance to go to the Docks nightclub, Steve had 10 passes to give away, but I thought...hmm, everyone I know was doing something else that night, even Steve so I'd probably would be going by myself. So I politely declined the ticket offer. I did go to my 2 hour Yoga practice during the day, that was fun. After that walked on Queen Street with Rethna and we grabbed some yummy burritos on the way home. It was cloudy and rainy that day and surprise, surprise, what gets me? a migraine. That was pretty much the end of my day, got home and by 5pm I went to take a nap to get rid of it. Woke up around 10pm'ish. Which kinda sucked cause it pretty much took over my night. I was invited to watch the hockey game by Jen at one of her volleyball player's friend's place with Rethna on the way home from Yoga too. God its been soo long since I had a beer :p! Sunday chilled at home, pretty much getting back to my homey (relax at home type of moods). I know once summer comes, I'll be out more often (yay)!

So I'm still at work, not because I've more work to do (which I do bleh) but more to waste some time to get my spring makeover! lol I usually get a nice fresh haircut and highlights every April 1'st, well close to April at least just to welcome back spring :)! I can't wait for warmer weather where I don't have to wear a thick jacket and actually look good and not cold! my appointment is at 6:15pm.

An ode to Spring:

Come back Spring,
I miss you, hope you
Get here soon, blah blah
I wuv you.

(ok I tried, but failed :p but you get the drift)

Deep Thought Wednesday

2006-03-22T17:08:00.000-05:00

This actually happened last monday, but I thought I'd save it for today's deep thought posting. I'd like to call this one...

Want some fries with that?

Lunch time at work, my boss comes over to my desk with coupons for McDonalds, you could get 2 combos for $7.98! I decided to go for it (I know, I know) since I haven't had Micky D's in several months. So I get to the store and I order hers and then I order mine, a quarter pounder w/cheese, but no onions. I get back to the office to start munching, and lo and behold, what do I get...a quarter pounder without cheese and with onions! sigh, come on!

When you want something badly, you usually get jipped. You could conform and accept whats been given to you, but are you really happy? or you could over analyze and double check things, but that would only make you seem crazy. So I guess the Moral of the story is, just eat it, mistakes happen and move on. No point in dwelling on something you already paid for, or need to double trip and waste more time.
Its just a sandwich.

:p

Antioxidants

2006-03-21T17:59:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure what was up with me today...but I feel great! I had a great nights sleep and a productive day... and most of all it felt like spring (not withstanding the cold). The sun was shining out and it just felt different, maybe its the new vitamins I'm taking from GNC... its got alot of good stuff in it including ginseng and garlic and supposedly full of antioxidants. I bought it last Friday when I went to the Eaton Centre, I'm going back to my old workout routine by taking my whey protein shakes. So I went to GNC and I was going to buy my old one but the sales guy suggested this other much more filtered version called "whey iso burst", after chatting more with him I decided to try it out, buying that, you could get vitamins at 50% off, and I needed to get one, he was very helpful. I left the store -$70 less lol and thats with a GNC gold discount card! but well worth it. I haven't tried the shake yet since you're supposed to take it right after working out (like after yoga) but I started taking the vitamins since monday. Hopefully its the cause of my renewed energy :)

Hmm, and now something is up with my cell phone. My only source of communication since I don't have a land line at home. I seem to miss messages lately and now I can't even call out! oh Telus, you tempt me to move to Rogers and get the Razor grrr

Weekend Life 17-19

2006-03-20T17:10:00.000-05:00

Hmm, well no easier way to say this... I didn't have a weekend life this past weekend :p call it self-quarantine. I decided to just spend the weekend at home, watching TV and just relaxing, and getting rid of the final remnants of my annoying cold. I watched a couple of movies on TMN, one was called Sahara with Matthew McCouhnahey and Penelope Cruz (I almost forgot her name, but remembered when I thought about Tom Cruise), and The Eye 2, a chinese horror movie about ghosts, similar to The Ring.

I also watched a touching The National show on CBC about this old woman in Peterborough who lost her newfoundland ponies in a deadly fire. It was more about her coping through her loss and the loss of the ponies which were a part of a Worlwide genome testing to find out how pure the Newfoundland ponies were.
On Sunday, Damian called me to see if I wanted to watch "Just Friends" with him and Amanda, I've been waiting to see this movie, I heard it was hilarious. But I decided to stay in, since I had to go back to work today. He called me again today to see if I wanted to go over and watch, so thats where I'm headed...I need a good laugh or few lol I haven't seen a comedy in ages!

TGIF

2006-03-17T16:56:00.000-05:00

Its funny, I used to think that using the acronym TGIF (Thank God Its Friday) was so valley girl, "like oh my god! TGIF!!" and everytime I'd hear someone say it at work I usually cringe. Today I heard it in the photocopy room and surprisingly I ended up responding to her, "yeah finally, but I think you forgot another F in there" laughed and walked away. I'll leave it up to you fine folks to guess that that letter stands for ;).

I decided to take the day off on thursday just to take care of my cold (Steve, its a cold, not the avian flu! ;p). That day I woke up late, and was rushing to get to work. I didn't get much sleep since I was coughing and couldn't breath so even getting up was a drag. So I said to myself, what the heck am I doing? if I don't take care of this now, it may get worse! so I took the executive decision, emailed my boss and said I wasn't coming in. They kinda knew something was up from my constant coughing at work, and my "if only I cud breed" comments. Went back to bed and woke up around 2pm and then ate. Took it easy the rest of the day, made some hot tea alot and slept...

So I woke up today and I was feeling much better, so I decided to go to work. I knew I'd probably would have a pile of designs feasibilities waiting for me, and I was right! I was still coughing a bit and next thing you know people were like "what are you doing at work! you should be home resting!!" telling me this like 4-5 feet away like I had the plague!! lol. One of my co-workers was such a joker and actually covered her mouth when I tried to talk to her about a design LOL, she's going to Cuba in a week for vacation. So around 11am my boss (who sits behind me and has the better window seat) says to me through the cubicle panel "oh Daren, you know, if you're not feeling well, feel free to go home early and rest up". I was like, Wusses! :p can't take a little coughing? but I'd be a fool not to take this chance to go home early on a friday so I did :)

So I went home after lunch. Actually I headed to the Eaton's Centre and bought some Euchanasia(sp?) so I'll never be sick again! and I was so catching up on work too, but I know my health is more important.

Sigh, TGIF.

p.s. Oh Happy St. Patricks Day fer all ye Irish people!
(I like my coffee crisp ;)!)

Deep Thought Wednesday

2006-03-15T19:02:00.000-05:00

You know, twice this week, well Tuesday and today, I thought it was Thursday. I'm not sure if its because I still have a cold and am not getting enough oxygen in me or maybe I just totally lose track of the weekdays and they all just blend in lately.

I always used to say that time 'flies when you're having fun or if you're busy as hell, so best to keep busy' now, I know I'm not having too much fun at work but I do know I'm pretty busy, but this week has just been dragging on!... (dot, dot, dot)

Tomorrow will finally be Thursday, but will I wake up thinking its Friday? quite possibly. Maybe I should have more fun at work :)

Cough and Sneeze

2006-03-14T21:17:00.000-05:00

"I cud breed,"... this is what I sound like when I try to say, "I can't breath!" I have a full blown cold now, and it sucks. Advil Cold&Sinus (no advertisement promo here now) is helping a bit, but honestly I don't think I'm getting enough oxygen lol. It felt like I was in slow motion all day. Matthew calls me at home and asks if I wanted to go to yoga thursday night. Still positive, I say to him "Sure! i'd love to, if I cud breed by then!"

I hardly ever get sick, I hope this goes away soon... bleh.

Weekend Life 10-12

2006-03-13T15:11:00.000-05:00

Wow...first of all I have to apologize for not posting for awhile. This past week its just been one hectic week where I just tried to stay away from a monitor after work... things are much better now. I've caught up on alot today and can finally breath better (and actually have a break and post on this blog too, yay!) believe me you haven't missed much last week if you care, so no worries :)

I guess my week started looking up after I spoke with Steve last Sunday, and the next day he emailed me saying that him, Sreng and Veena were thinking of going downtown to go to Fly Nightclub on the Friday! I already had dinner plans with Matthew and Lisa for sushi, so I invited Steve to come along (I knew how much he loves sushi) I also invited my good friend from work Jen and her boyfriend Dave. I met Steve on Friday at the Eaton Centre and we both headed over to Bathurst station where we met everyone else. Our reservations got pushed to 7:15pm and we were all starving! we got to Sushi On Bloor about half hour early and luckily we sat to eat just past the reservation time. The line up to get a seat on Sushi On Bloor was crazy as always! Dinner was delicious and cheap, $9.95 for a supreme bento box with free ice cream, can't beat that! and the portions were huge too. I was soo full, I almost didn't finish my food, though Steve did help me out with a shrimp ;).

After dinner Lisa, Matthew, Steve and I went over to Second Cup at the jewish community centre, I order a mocha frappachino (*wink*) which was really good. Jen and Dave headed home to change to go to a birthday party. We chatted for a bit and then Steve and I went over to meet Sreng and Veena near Fly. We get there and buy the parking ticket when Sreng realized he forgot his keys in the car! no biggie, things happen. I once forgot my keys on my door once, coming home from doing groceries, and a neighbor knocked on my door and let me know it was still hanging there! We didn't know what to do, Sreng called CAA and there were going to charge him $60 to open it up. I was like, "no way!, save that money for alcohol later!".

I called Damian for help and as always, he's never let me down. He came over with his friend Peter from watching a hockey game near the beaches and met us downtown. He was a member and was able to get CAA to open up the door for us. Thank you much bud! but by that time the CAA guy came (he got lost too) it was already 12:15am and pretty much too late to go to the club ($20 bucks to get in and still a huge line-up!) so it wasn't worth it. There will be a next time for sure guys! I still had alot of fun with Steve, Veena and Sreng, it was nice to talk more with them and hangout, so the evening was not lost. We went to Woodys/Sailors after for a drink and watched some really bad leather competition on the telly they have in there... ugh, we couldn't figure out why or even how they actually won. But again, its not the place, but the company I was more interested in ;)

So thats pretty much the highlight of my weekend ...

Saturday I went to Yoga with Rethna, she was supposed to go with us to Sushi too, but her mom just came from from Ireland. It was a good class... harder than usual. I go to Dave (the instructor) after class and ask him 'so was it me or just cause of the warmer weather, but was your class harder than usual?' he goes, 'yeah it was harder, so no worries, you did well' lol. We leave the Yoga place and Rethna and I went to get a chicken burrito at this place called Burrito Boyz just off Queen Street, they have the best burritos there mmmmm. Rethna and I parted and I headed over to Damian's and played some Gauntlet on his PS2. Didn't stay long, since him and Amanda had to go to Amanda's mom's birthday party. Went home after that took a shower and just stayed home for the rest of the night.

On Sunday, I made a mistake of taking a nap midday, it was so nice outside, so I left the window open. Woke up with a chill and next thing you know I'm coughing and now I have a light chest cold. Thats what I get for only wearing boxers to sleep with the window open!

Sigh so now its monday, a great productive monday. I'm going to go home, make myself a nice cup of tea and eat some yummy brownies as snack before dinner :p

What a week...

2006-03-03T22:29:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! sorry for the lack of posting on the blog. Its just been one of those weeks, its been hella-busy at work, and by the time I get home all I want to do is sleep.

I took my mom for some sushi and a movie today right after work. We we went to see UntraViolet. At the Paramount on John Street.

Its a sci-fi action movie that stars the hotty Mila Jovovich. It was good, not awsome, but still mindlessly entertaining. But what can someone expect from an action movie? the filming technique was interesting to behold. Awsome martial art moves too. I wish my grandmother came with us, she loves action movies. The more violence the better...oh lola Rose, I wuv you :), I think I'll get the movie when it comes out and go visit her, and we can both watch it again together.

I missed out on Yoga for about 2 weeks now. Yeah. I'm definately
going tomorrow with Damian&Amanda, and my friend Rethna from work.
She's never taken Yoga before so hopefully she likes it. Maybe it will
help me focus again and get some endorphins going... Spring oh
where are you! I need you! I soo need some sun and hot weather soon.

Well, I hope everyone has a good weekend. I plan on just chilling at home
and hibernate lol

See you next week :)

p.s. My condolences to Steve, his Nonno John passed away a few days ago and today was the funeral service. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family...

Weekend Life 24-26

2006-02-27T22:39:00.000-05:00

So I'm a day late... shoot me :p. I admit, I do have the February blues. Not sure what's wrong but I just feel..."bleh". No energy or drive to do anything lately.

I just came home from Damian&Amanda's, thank god for such good friends :) we met after work, I was supposed to go to Yoga but just didn't have the drive. So Damian&Amanda suggested that we hang out at their place. We go to HMV and Amanda bought a movie called Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightley and Matthew MacFadyen (who's totally hot). It was a good movie, I really enjoyed it.

I ended up buying Metric's new CD...(which I'm listening to right now) and loving it. I first heard of it from my friend Lisa last summer, but never really heard their sound. Thank goodness Steve (my music guru ;)) reminded me of them through his blog, I went to their site and listened to their tracks... and I love the music! and yes the lead singer does sound like the singer from Volcano Girls lisa!

I guess I should talk about my weekend... Friday went to meet up with Damian after work at the Eaton Centre and bought a PS2 game called Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows (which is pretty cool and fun) we decided we'd finish it together since its a 2 player game. He played a mage and I was a "spritely" elf as he calls it lol. Amanda joined us later and we went Lulu's to exchange Damian's yoga gear. I didn't stay long at the mall, I had to rush to go to dinner later that night with Sharon, Matthew, Dave and Nicolina at Asian Legend, this really good and reasonably priced authentic Northern chinese restaurant up in North York.

I got home at 12am (yeah we talk alot when we meet up lol and time flies) I was still pretty hyped up and stayed up until 3:30am! I was supposed to go to Yoga saturday. Well that didn't happen, I was too tired, and Damian&Amanda who were supposed to go with me felt under the weather so we all decided to hang out. It was a great day! Played Gauntlet with Damian, in the early afternoon... then we watched a bit of this really good movie called Empire of the Sun that starred a 12 year old Christian Bale. Around 7pm we headed to the movies to watch a russian horror movie called Night Watch it was pretty good, I liked it. The russians definately have a different way to make movies lol... its part of a trilogy, so this first one felt more like a introduction rather than a complete storyline. I can't wait to see the next one.

Went back to their place around 10pm and finished
watching Empire of the Sun. If you haven't seen that movie, I highly recommend it. Its about a british family, particulary a young boy that lived during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai, they were sent to a internment camp. Its a very touching story.

Sunday, stayed at home and finished up some work that I brought home (ugh), just to help catch up ato work. Monday, not much to tell went home and watch VJ search, (yes I'm hooked). Larissa is gone yay! finally. The hot guys are still there though. We'll see what happens next week. :)

A matter of choice?

2006-02-22T17:08:00.000-05:00

I ran into another hot topic in my cyberspace surfing. Its happening, all we can do is make people aware. Maybe ask each other the questions now...so in the future, we can have answers that will have human ethics in mind and hopefully some will realize that nothing is broken at all.

Moms' Genetics Might Help Produce Gay Sons

Once again its a matter of choice... but who's?

Deep Thought Wednesday

2006-02-22T10:03:00.000-05:00

Great-Grandmother Gives Birth at 62

I read this article, and I thought to myself... Is this lady crazy? by the time her kid graduates high school, she'll be too old to even keep up with her kids!

But then I thought, age is just a number, and her best years would be raising him into adulthood. Knowing full well the risks...who says that she'll be
too old? she definately wasn't to give birth...and that takes alot of strength. I'm more shocked that she has a husband who's 14 years younger than her! :p

She's already had 10 kids, but yet she decided to have another at a later stage in life. Moral of the story? I think it is "its never too late for happiness"

What do you all think?

p.s. wow science has come a loong way

R&R (rest and relaxation)?

2006-02-20T16:17:00.000-05:00

I finally decided to get some R&R. Took today as a sick day from work. I've been wanting to do this for about a month now, and I finally decided enough is enough... I'm taking it!

Also called 'mental health' days, I was starting to get really annoyed at work on little things and thats usually not a good sign. I love my job, but I'm not a machine. I go back tomorrow, hopefully with energy renewed. :)

So I'm just going to stay home...and chill, play video games, watch a movie called Haute Tension (High Tension) a scary movie that my friend Lisa lent me 2 weeks ago (lol yes, I'm just watching it now too). Oh and speaking about scary movies I ran into this article while browsing, apparantly they are doing a prequel to Friday the 13th... those who are fans of Jason Vorhees, what do you think?

Well, I should go watch while its still day time :p

Post Party

2006-02-19T01:31:00.000-05:00

Oookay!... please, please remind me *never* to mix vodka and rum, gawd I feel like I was gonna pass out at the bar, my energy totally zapped out of me. I had a great time though Emily! those jello shooters are the bomb! it was nice meeting all your friends too. Please thank Chris for me for giving me the free pass. It was also great that Jen could come! at first she wasn't going and called like 2 hours later to say she was! woo hoo! .... wow I am soo starving now, I feel I could pass out but yet I'm like insomniac. Don't mind this post, probably the ramblings of a drunk, and hungry man lol

Ok I'm gonna go raid the fridge now... hope you all had a good weekend.

Yeah, never rum and vodka again.

I'm hungry :)

p.s. sorry for the randomness
p.s.s. wow its amazing how many times I've edited this post
to fix all the spelling errors

Out Tonight!

2006-02-18T15:03:00.000-05:00

Alrighty, I know I normally don't post on the weekends, Its been such a crazy, rushed, stressful work week since we're down 2 key people. Of course the workload gets dumped on those diligent people who remain...like moi.

So today is Saturday and one of my friends from work, the lovely miss Emily! :) has invited us all cool people, Jen, Rethna, Vicky and I to go to her place chill a bit and then head over to the Phoenix.

I haven't been to the Phoenix in like 3 years... hell I haven't been to a bar/club in close to 3 months! and thats a long time for me. I can't wait to dance and just forget about the workweek (though Tuesday night was a great break!). Its alternative rock in the big room tonight and retro in the smaller room.

so in the eternal words of Mimi:

"In the evening I've got to roam
Can't sleep in the city of neon and chrome,
Feels too damn much like home
When the Spanish babies cry.
So let's find a bar,
So dark we forget who we are
And all the scars from the
Nevers and maybes die!

Lets go out Tonight!"

Philippines Landslide Death Toll at 1,800

2006-02-17T22:20:00.000-05:00

A very sad day to end the week. Its about 10:30pm and just came home from trying out my very first level one Yoga class. It was intensive and tough and I'm totally spent... my mom walks up to me as soon as I enter the door and says to me "Daren, there's been a horrible tragedy in the Isle of Leyte in the Philippines... alot of people are dead". I was in shock. We're lucky to live in a place that doesn't have natural disasters like these, when in an instant all that you knew will be taken away in a blink of an eye. Though words cannot express the grief and loss, I'd like to give my condolences to the all the people who have lost their loved ones and homes.... I'm so deeply sorry....my heart goes out to you :(

GUINSAUGON, Philippines - Rescue workers held little hope Saturday of finding more survivors from a devastating landslide that killed an estimated 1,800 people, saying this farming village in the eastern Philippines was swallowed whole by a wall of mud and boulders.

Click here for more info

By HRVOJE HRANJSKI, Associated Press Writer

You're Sweet Wanna hit the Streets?

2006-02-16T10:47:00.000-05:00

Last week found out that on Feb. 21/06 the [RENT] dvd will be coming out in stores, and those of you who know me well, know that I just love that musical...well more the musical than the movie. But what a great reminder so obviously I'll be getting it :p

It was a good film adaptation of the Broadway musical (hehe I still went to see it twice on film). I saw it about 3 times when it was in Toronto a few years ago. Each saturday morning for the first 60(? i can't remmeber maybe Damian or Amanda can remind me lol) people to get in would only pay $20 to watch the show and get to sit front row! of course we would take full advantage of it, and line up each morning just before 6am. RENT is about a group of close friends from different backgrounds and lifestyles struggling to make it in the Big City--- namely New York. Its pretty much the theme of this blog, living in the concrete jungle, a city of neon and chrome :)

After watching this movie it made me cherish the people I care about, my
friends, family, and life even more. Live for the moment, forget regrets...
and live each day to its fullest. No day but today!

If you haven't had a chance to see it, watch it when it comes out
on DVD and let me know what you think.

During the next couple of weeks I'll be hosting some of the music
and lyrics from the show, hope you like it...

Better late than never...

2006-02-15T16:00:00.000-05:00

Oops, alrighty I'm slighty late on my posting lol (oh "lol" is an acronym for "Laugh Out Loud") so please bear with me as I post on my weekend, outings and deep thought :)

Since Tuesday of last week, I've been doing alot of overtime at work, until 6pm each night sometimes 7pm. Its just been that busy. Though I guess not really overtime since I don't get paid overtime which sux...gotta love being salary.

I brought work home with me...worked all day Sunday trying to finish up our quarterly reporting to our client. Saturday I had a little bit of a break. Did Yoga from 1pm to 2:30pm, then Damian&Amanda and I, went over to this little 60's diner on Queen Street called Shanghai Cowboy...and I have to say they have the BEST Shanghai Noodle dish, with pork, veggies, bits of scrambled egg and this tastey spicy sauce mmmm makes me hungry just thinking about it! i just love food. heck, love it in general! lol

That same night it was Damian's sister's b-day Robin (the one with me in the 'Jump' picture a few posts back) It was a girls night out to celebrate and Amanda was going too to club/bar called Devil's Martini on King St. I wasn't doing anything that night, so I went home after our yummy lunch and took a nice looong hot shower and went back to Damian's to hang out. We rented Zorro2 and Dark Water. Zorro 2 was good, lots of sword fighting and action stuff, Dark Water was alright, but slow and had a predictable plot. Got home around 1:30am. Went to bed but made sure there were no leaks on the ceiling hehehe ;p (I love to watch scary movies)

That was my weekend.

Monday just did the standard, wake up, work, eat, go home, eat, sleep type of deal. Left work at 5:30pm which is reasonably good lately. Watched the MUCH VJ search on TV...which was over the top ridiculous, but still hooked me for an hour. I like to watch social interaction shows like that and sometimes wonder what people in those shows think about themselves after seeing the show on TV.

Tuesday! Valentine's Day! I went to meet up with Steve and his friends at Zelda's. Matthew came with me and we all had dinner. I had a good meat lasagna dish, which was *very* filling. I ate half of it, the other half I had some help... right Steve? lol thanks, I hate wasting food. I also had a really good drink called a Mudslide... let me tell you, it was the best tasting alcoholic drink eva! mmm yum. Steve and Veena ordered it first...and it look soo good! I just had to try it, oh and I also had a Killer Coolaid after. Veena and I were called "Sugartits" by the waiter, and we later found that it was actually a martini on the menu... I was like "hey! my shirt is not that tight!!" hilarious. I had a great time, we made fun of the music too, they played Total Eclispe of the Heart and even worse-- Celine Dion singing All by Myself. We had a theory why they put that kind of music was to A)make all the lonely single people order more alcohilic beverages and B)the couples would say,"oh honey, what a sad song, at least we have each other! lets order more food! and stuff our faces silly" its a conspiracy I tells ya lol.

Everyone started to leave one by one around 10pm, Matthew left too to catch his bus back to Scarberia. So it was just me, Steve and Veena left. I walked them to their car @church and Lombard and since I was close to home, I decided to just walk it (was around 20 mins walk). Steve and Veena suggested to walk me home, that was really nice of them! :) It was a great night too, not even cold, so it was a nice relaxing way to end the night. I've never really celebrated a Valentine's before... but I have to say for my first it was a great time, thanks for the invite Steve :)

Well thats pretty much the dealio, I guess I should leave you all a Deep Thought Wednesday quote:

"Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart" - Marcus Aurelius

Find X.

2006-02-10T21:19:00.000-05:00

I wish life was this simple lol... but isn't it really? sometimes we make things complicated when really we shouldn't. Have a great weekend everyone :p stay warm.

Deep Thought Wednesday

2006-02-08T22:13:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the second week of Deep Thought Wednesdays! I thought what better time than to talk about the second most visually apparent dedicated event next to Christmas....namely Valentine's Day :)

What is love? Poets and philosophers have tried to describe what it is, I'll try my best to answer it with my *very* limited knowledge and experience lol

Love.

It comes in many forms...love towards a relative, a friend or a lover. I feel it can come from words, a picture, a smile, or a gesture. Sometimes not until we look into one anothers eyes for the first time....who knows? It's that certain something. I can't explain it - you know what I am talking about, right? I think I'll stick to the romantic love... and to the people who know me well, know that I'm a hopeless romantic. When he (I'll stick to "he", since its more relative lol) is on your mind... and even when he is not, he's lingering in the back. He brings that smile to your face when you are alone during the day. What is that feeling? It's a scary thing to feel that good and to be that vulnerable. Sometimes you don't even know the person knows that you like them and are they thinking the same? these are one of the many questions it brings, and sometimes the answers are far more rewarding.

He makes you want to focus, be your best, impress him. He makes you want to do something crazy, irrational, unreasonable, illogical, but when the two of you are doing it together...it all makes sense. Those of you who have been fortunate enough to experience it know what I am talking about. It's beautiful.

"Maybe love begins with a smile,
grows with a kiss and ends with a tear."

Love.

Movie Magic

2006-02-07T23:09:00.000-05:00

Last night I saw a really good movie on TV called Murder Unveiled it aired on CBC about a sad story of 2 people who were in love but due to their caste class in India would never be together. Similar to Rome & Juliet. Its A controversial film made in India and Canada. The filmakers had to be very careful whilst filming in India...they even released the film as titled "A Love Story" specially in the Sikh community. The movie deals with pre-arranged marriage, the sikh mafia and how far people would go to protect their way of life, even murder of their own daughter. The film was based on real life events that took place to a indian-canadian girl.

On a lighter note, tonight I had a "guys night" with my friend Damian. While we waited for Amanda to come back from a show called "The Boyfriend" with her mom and sister. We watched a couple of dvd movies. The first movie was called Serenity a good sci-fi movie from Josh Whedon (creator of Buffy and Angel) from the original Firefly series, and the second movie Creep which totally freaked me out. If you're thinking of watching a scary movie, this is it.

I think I better check to make sure the doors are locked lol

Weekend Life 3-5

2006-02-06T23:46:00.000-05:00

woah... where did the week go? I can't believe its monday and that the weekend's already passed once again! hmmm lets see... didn't much on thursday or friday. Headed straight home to just chill. It was actually a pretty crazy last couple of days at work. Some "office politics" that pretty much included me... much to my distaste. Nothing major though, but I guess I'll fill you guys in individually. So that pretty much sums up thursday and friday, which totally left me emotionally and a little bit mentally exhausted. Saturday I had a better time though, I went to Yoga, just to release some stress and loosen up with my friend Damian... unfortunately Amanda couldn't go cause she wasn't feeling well. I had to go to work first, to pick up my Yoga mat and clothes. I brought it to work to go to Yoga on Wednesday, but just felt too tired and didn't go and forgot it there. The class I went to was pretty easy compared to last week's. Our instructor David (we call him FBS "Fake Ben Stiller" only cause he looks like him... but is not, and has a better body hehehe) is definately gay, well... it was obvious the first time I saw him but more when his boyfriend showed up in the class which was once again soo obvious lol

After Yoga I felt better and loosened up a bit, went home and took a nice hot shower, and proceeded to head back out for dinner. I met Lisa, Matthew, Nicolina&Dave, Sharon, and Nancy&Morty at Barootes on King Street for a yummy Winterlicious dinner. Its a winter event that goes on for about 2-3 weeks on selected restaurants. Great food on a fixed menu at great prices (you can get appetizer, entree, and dessert for $25, tip included! even cheaper on lunches too) it was soo goood. My new friend Linda joined us as well! thanks for coming out with us Linda! hopefully your gf Melissa can join us soon, nonetheless we had such a great time.

The weather was pretty crappy after 7pm, non-stop rain, but that didn't stop us! we ended up going to a Second Cup down the street on King after dinner and talked until 11pm! it was non-stop conversations. Such great company. Headed home after and went to bed, I got a slight migraine from the weather... but went to bed with a smile knowing I had a great time...

Sunday afternoon I went to visit to my cousin and her kids--who're aloso my godchildren and spent some time watching Sponge Bob cartoons and playing video games with them, all in all a good weekend. :)

Deep Thought Wednesday

2006-02-01T12:24:00.000-05:00

I've decided to make wednesday's my weekly "deep quotes" day.
Feel free to post any quotes that personally affected you in one
form or another :)

"The things that will destroy us are: politics without principle;
pleasure without conscience; wealth without work; knowledge without
character; business without morality; science without humanity;
and worship without sacrifice.

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."--Mahatma Gandhi

'Brokeback Mountain' Gets 8 Oscar Nods!

2006-01-31T11:25:00.000-05:00

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - The cowboy love story "Brokeback Mountain" led the Academy Awards field Tuesday with eight nominations, among them best picture and honors for actor Heath Ledger and director Ang Lee.

Click here for more info

By DAVID GERMAIN, AP Movie Writer

Weekend Life 27-29

2006-01-30T18:32:00.000-05:00

Hi folks! you know what I just realized? that I just don't have much
of a life for the most part monday-thursday'ish :P. Its just the basic wake up in the morning, go to work (insert crazy illogical clients here and some overblown problematic situation that could of easily been prevented) then go home and vegetate in front of the computer and/or T.V. Drained of any brainpower lol oh lets not forget about food, a man's gotta eat... I love food. So please don't worry if I miss out on a day or two on my posts, really you're not missing much!

Ok so Friday :).

Started out pretty routinely at work doing workstuff in the morning. I get a call from Jen asking me if I wanted to go to Kareoke that night, I said sure! I really didn't have any after 9pm plans. I did plan on going shopping
at Lulu Lemon at the Eaton Centre with Amanda after work, I was very excited about getting some workout clothes that didn't tear and were stretchable clothes for Yoga. Near the end of the workday I kinda got stressed, mostly due to my curiosity. I started to play around with the settings on this program that I use alot for designing called AutoCAD, and basically messed it so much that I couldn't finish my work! Thank goodness that the client wasn't expecting it that day. Moral of the story is... "if it ain't broken, don't even try fixin' it... no matter what!" :)

After lunch Rethna called me and said that Jen wasn't feeling well and had to go home. So I thought...aww poor Jen! I hope she gets better, so I guess Kareoke is cancelled. Which really I didn't mind, I usually don't go out Friday nights anyway. I met up with Amanda and Damian after work and went to Lulu's (gotta love that name hehehe Yo! Lulu!). I ended up buying a cool looking sleeveless shirt, which felt great too. I wanted to get a pair of pants, but they didn't have my size.

Leaving Lulu's and feeling hungry, Amanda (the dear heart) decided to treat us for dinner since she just finished her first week at her new job! we went to Marinela'sthis great authentic italian restaurant, where the owner John treated us like royalty... such a great guy! we had the delicious dessert and yummy chocolatey shots mmmmm on the house! we started eating around 7:30pm and finished at 11pm! its always good to have dinner in the company of great friends :)

The night got even better after that delicious dinner. Steve called me to let me know that he'd be going downtown with his friends Veena and Sreng! I was very surprised, I wasn't expecting to see him again so soon. Gotta love spontaneity! I went to meet them at Zelda's on Church Street and we had some drinks, I had a refreshing Singapore sling and to this day I have no idea whats in it lol. We walked around on Church St and showed them some of the cool bars and then we walked down Yonge Street. Sreng wanted to go to Remingtons, but unfortunately it wasn't ladies night... and Veena couldn't get in (next time Veena!). So we ended up getting some pizza instead. I wanted to eat... but I was so full from Marinela's! we went to Big Slice. After big slice we went to Crews to watch a drag show...though not much of a show. She/he didn't give much of a performance. I enjoyed the song nonetheless, Kelly Clarkson's "Because of You". I had a great time! I got home around 2:30am... and slept like a baby :)

Saturday:

Woke up rather early...10am! (believe me thats early for me on a saturday, especially after staying up late hehehe) puttered around the house and ate some breakfast. Before I knew it I was running late to meet up with Damian, Amanda and Damian's sister Robin! took a quick shower and got a ride with Robin to their place.

We had Yoga at 1pm :). It was a very good workout, I really enjoyed it. After that we walked down Queen Street and stopped by another Lulu store and got my yoga pants! I love it. We then ate lunch at Rivoli on Queen Street. I had a really good Roti with a salad that was humongous! I had to take the other half of it home and ate it for dinner. But before going there Amanda took a fun picture of us three "gleefully jumping for joy" at the unusually awsome weather hehehe.

Got home around 6pm... then the weather started to turn. Yuck. I instantly got a migraine around 8pm, slept at 9pm and woke up the next day with it. I always seem to get them when the weather changes suddenly, I think its the air pressure or something. Anyway it didn't go away until 4pm'ish or so that Sunday. Sigh.

Oh well at least I enjoyed the best of the weekend with great people!

Before I head to bed I'd like to leave you with a smile! this is a very funny clip that my friend Dave sent to me. Its unbelievable that David Hasselhoff (Knight Rider, Baywatch) is actually a singing superstar in some parts of Europe lol

Hooked on a Feeling
(wait until it loads before playing, its hilarious!)

Have a great week everyone! Smile at someone... its contagious!

Cheers,

Getting there...

2006-01-25T23:39:00.000-05:00

Oh my... I think I'm starting to get limber! I'm really
enjoying my Yoga, and this time I didn't get drenched
from the rain going home! I mean... come on now, rain in
mid january? insanity!

Oh well, enjoy the mild winter as much as possible. I just
hope spring doesn't come late :)

Weekend Life 21-23

2006-01-23T15:28:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! well pretty much a quiet weekend. I guess what I mean
by quiet is that I didn't go to a bar or club. Which is in itself
pretty refreshing. Notice also I will not be using the words
"and I slept like a baby" like on my last weekend post. Usually
means, I got home a bit drunk and pretty much passed out in bed lol.

Hmm, once again lets start on the Friday. Nothing much really,
got home from work and went to do some laundry! ooo how exciting.
Watched TV and played some PS2, overally a relaxing quiet, and self entertaining night :).

On saturday I went shopping with my friend Matthew for a couple of new
zip up light jackets at Style Exchange on Yonge and Queen (awsome place
to shop) I've decided that every pay day I'm going to buy one piece of clothing just to update my wardrobe lol. I just need new stuff. I was also supposed to go see a play with Damian and Amanda called Rocky Horror Show, at U of T. But tickets ran out. So we all ended up having a great time eating dinner at Rivoli on Queen Street. The food was pretty good, kinda asian fusion. We headed back to Damian and Amanda's place after to hang out and watch some funny clips on the internet.

Sunday, I went over to Damian & Amanda's place again to watch Underworld the first movie before watching the latest one that out right now called Underworld: Evolution which was totally amazingly
good... yes I loved every second of it. Action packed, and I loved how the storyline actually connected with everything from the first movie... it flowed perfectly. I want to see it again! after the movie we went out to dinner near their place called Rustico, pretty good italian eatery place. Excellent ambiance, I mentioned it would be a perfect after dinner, dessert place during a date. Went home and got ready for today... workday.

Thats all :) lol

I guess I will leave you something that you can smile at, before I log off
and head to the voting polls (every vote counts!).

An old man was sitting on a bench at the mall. A young man walked up to the bench and sat down. He had spiked hair in all different colors: green, red, orange, blue, and yellow.

The old man just stared.

Every time the young man looked, the old man was staring.

The young man finally said sarcastically, "What's the matter old timer, never done anything wild in your life?"

Without batting an eye, the old man replied, "Got drunk once and had sex with a peacock. I was just wondering if you were my son."

Have a good one :)

I just had to...

2006-01-20T19:12:00.000-05:00

.. share this with you all! a friend of mine sent it, too funny not to :)

Enjoy!

http://www.starterupsteve.com/flash/html/love.shtml

and on a more serious note:

Md. Judge Strikes Down Gay-Marriage Ban

Have a great weekend everyone!

I feel so Yoga'ish

2006-01-19T10:10:00.000-05:00

Ok...I do have to admit, I am in a slight bit of pain. But good pain, I'm talking about the lactic acid kind. Its not the day after, but the second day when you really feel it. I went to my very first Yoga class on Tuesday night at the Downward Dog Yoga Centre on Queen & Bathurst! My friends Matthew and Shana have been going there the past 2 years and have been asking me to go since, and I finally went :)

They usually take the level 1 class or the one with the drum beats, and of course I had to start at the very beginning with a prep class, lest I break something on me lol. They didn't have that class on a Tuesday this week. Luckily by mere instance of serendipity I ended up going in the freezing cold wet rain with my bestest friends Damian, Amanda and Damian's friend Kevin (who was surprisingly limber lol, sorry inside joke there). Damian actually bought his lovely and charismatic wife Amanda miz
Sketching Paris Blog/Sequined Faery herself! passes for her birthday to the very same yoga centre!! isn't that cool? I was thrilled. I really didn't know what to expect.

I try to stay active physically, I go 20 min runs on the weekends near and around my area, and go to the gym at least twice a week. So I thought... yoga, hmm this should be a slower more relaxing pace and it was! and then some :). I have to say it was the most self challenging exercise I've ever done, both physically and mentally. The instructor was awsome and we did the Ashtanga technique. For two hours we were doing the poses and learning the different techniques, and yes we did learn the "downward dog" pose (the closest way to describe it is a holding a push up with your butt really high up in the air lol) each pose we had to hold for at least a minute, which can easily seem much longer especially when she stops counting the breaths (5 breaths, in and out) to help out someone. Holding a pose and breathing is tough. concentration and breathing is the key. I found that if I lost focus due to a Madonna song intruding in my head lol j/k I'd lose balance or get weak, and I started to actually sweat alot! it definately is an overall body workout. My shoulders, abs, legs, hips and butt are on lactic overdose right now lol.... its true what they say, no pain, no gain baby.

I'm soo coming back again.

I've noticed lately I've been trying out new things, getting out of the usual repertoire. Is this a theme for 2006? I'm already excited. I guess it pretty much started last october when I took pottery (yes, you heard right pottery, me pottery!) class with Jen and Rethna which by the way I really should pick up the final products soon, they are still at my extremely patient friend Jen's place gathering dust (hopefully this weekend!).

Alrighty then, back to work before the IT police arrest me lol, and then off to the gym tonight (I know... I'm craaazy! :) but I like it lots! endorphins here I come!)

Keep on truck'n...

Weekend Life 13-15

2006-01-16T20:56:00.000-05:00

I know, I know... I'm late about three days on this post.
I promise fellow bloggers and friends that I'll not let it
happen again ;). My weekend. Well, I think we should
start on Friday the 13th.

A pipe burst at work...a newly renovated 11th floor, flooded the place.
I work on the 4th. Most if not all the people on that floor
got to go home... unfortunately my very good friends,
Jen and Rethna had no choice but to stay and help out
their boss as part of office services. Overall Rough day.

But the day looked up after work. After work, Rethna, her sweet
sister Sheneigh(sp:?) me, and my friend Vicky over at Jen's
place to eat homemade pizza at their place! homemade pizza
wow. I've never had it before believe it or not. So right after work
we end up going to Dominion and buy some pizza dough, toppings etc.

Headed over to Jens place and watched Jen's boyfriend Dave play some
video games while the expert pizxa makers did their thing l while I
stuffed my face with popcorn to hold off the hunger :)

Once the pizxa were cooked we watched a really funny movie
called Super Troopers...did I mention that the pizza was totally
awsomely good? well it was :) thanks to Jen! there must of been
at least three pizza's made. I never tasted pizza so fresh before
I only had four slices and some yummy chocolate ice cream for
dessert. After eating, a couple of Jen & Dave's friends came over
to hang out. We ended up going to a small bar around 11:30pm
down the street called the Upfront Bar&Grill on Front Street,
for none other than..... Kareoke!

Ok, you guys may already think I've lived a sheltered life but that was
pretty much my first time at a kareoke bar. The first time didn't
count since we only stayed for less than 10 mins, right Jen? ;).
I had so much fun, I didn't have enough drinks in me to go up to
sing, but hopefully next time I will. But I was singing along great
at the table! we closed the bar at 2am. Went home and slept like a baby.

That was Friday night.

Saturday started out pretty slow, woke up late around 12:30pm puttered
around the apartment, cleaned and watched some TV. Later in the day I
went to get some groceries. In the afternoon my grandmother came to
stay the weekend with my mom and I until monday. Here I was thinking
...I need to go out! I mean I love my grandmother, but its saturday night
and our apartment is not that big. But then, I didn't really make plans
to go out with any of my friends. Thats when my best friend
Matthew called! he calls around 9pm to see what I was up to.

I said nothing much, I was just working on my Blog (yes this blog you are
reading from now lol) and invites me to a birthday party at a bar on Front
Street just steps from me. So I end up going there and its a quaint little
lounge with pool tables, although the people who were playing on
them had no idea how to play. I saw one guy hit the ball 4 times and
it practically went flying across the room. He was cute though but straight,
and obviously not too good with a stick *ahem*. I just missed the cut-off
time (10pm) by like 3mins and I had to pay $5 to get in! I was a little bit
annoyed by that. Overall a good time though.
Stayed there until 11:30pm.

The night was still young so Matthew and I decided to check out this gay
club called 5ive Nightclub they had a special event night called
Asian Xpress. Very disappointing. The music was alright, but the
crowd wasn't that good and it dissipated very quickly. The place
was near half-empy. Ugh. Overall, we had a good time, danced a bit.
Took the cab home and once again slept like a baby.

That was Saturday night.

Sunday, went by fast! woke up late again, just pretty much did nothing.
I'm usually such a lazy ass on sundays its not even funny. I guess its
cause the next day I have to work so I try to not to much of anything lol.
My mom and grandmother rented the movie called Constantine which
starred Keanu Reeves (not the best actor mind you). It was alright,
but it confused my grandmother alot, I think I spent most of the time
explaining the movie to her rather than watching it.

Thats pretty much what happened this past weekend. How was yours?

A reflection...

2006-01-15T23:24:00.000-05:00

I was looking through some old high school yearbooks and reminiscing and ran accross an old school newspaper clipping of a poem I wrote during the last semester of high school. I remember writing this poem back when I was graduating high school, it got published in the school yearbook and then I sent it over to Poetry.com. I didn't come out to anyone back then, by coming out I mean being "gay". Though I don't like using terms like that... its usually pretty subjective. I wanted to let people know, especially friends, but it was harder going to an all boys catholic school (lol yah you heard right). So I guess this is for anyone who has kept secrets inside them, afraid to let people know. Time had ran out, only the future remained... though the saying is true, the truth will set you free, and surprisingly enough people can be very accepting. Never be afraid. You are never alone. Enjoy....

Words Unspoken

He walks through shadows,
In the Valley of Sadness and Content;
Sometimes finding, always wondering what
Spoken Words truly meant,
If eyes could speak, with
A single honest glance,
If heart's could feel,
Without words expressed;
Then what is said truly would have no meaning.
Familiar faces pass, physical self is seen;
But mystique the only facade shown,
True-self unknown;Strangers at once exposed.
Events have already passed,
Time (our enemy) has elapsed; all
Will be remembered, the Future lies ahead.
Words unbroken, will be hidden,
Within one's Soul,Untouched and Sealed
Never revealed;
Forever Unspoken.

2006- Shall we?

2006-01-15T18:41:00.000-05:00

I was walking home after returning a movie at Rogers and I was thinking... each year passes and yet I hardly remember what each day brought me in that past year. Maybe I should start writing a journal. But what would I write about? After reading my friends blog last week I had an inkling why. Information. Its a very powerful thing, it helps you become aware and remember important parts in your life. Even the ones that are most insignificant can have the most meaning. A way to track and back track on your life. A blog is a great way to share your life with friends you don't see often, and a way to keep in touch. This is for you :)

Something that made me think about and still remember to this day. The movie is called Sliding Doors, Gwyneth Paltrow starred in it. It's a look back at all the times in your life when there was a fork in the path to the future. Some sort of decision had to be made, and, for better or worse, it irrevocably altered the course of your existence. From time-to-time, everyone thinks about the roads not taken, and how things might have turned out if the choice had been different. I think everyone thinks about this-- the "what if" question.

It's something that I think about at times and pops up when there is a decision to be made. You are more than welcome to share with me the road less travelled and my experiences. Maybe we can enlighten each other in a world that is less than sometimes comforting. Lets start anew :)

Shall we?