a sad day in hollywood

... the death of #charliesheen, #winning, #tigersblood, the mistresses, and sober valley lodge.

occurred this afternoon at 2:46pm Japan Standard Time.



god remember this guy ? so good in platoon. one of the best movies about the vietnam war ever!


wall street... the portrait of the 1980s greed and excess. what happened to him?

it seems he went hella crazy. his father is calling his addictions a cancer. that he is very sick and dying from a disease.

something more news worthy - terrible - yet news worthy... an earthquake near japan, triggering a tsunami which washed ashore and flooded the north eastern parts of the island. they have projected that the tsunami will reach the west coast of the united states. i have been watching it on TV all morning



so goodnight sweet chuck. i didnt watch your tv show - but i was a fan of your earlier works.
i'm sorry you fell apart, i hope you take this opportunity to become anonymous.

jen

a special opportunity

just recieved a letter from the royal bank. they are offering to increase my visa card limit to $18,600 (from 17,100). for absolutely NO reason.

does this mean when they call and claim to be interested and thoughtful about my banking needs i can laugh at them??... also, let them know that if they were so concerned they would be showing me better ways to manage what little money i do have - rather than trying to coax me into taking on more debt than i need.

i find this kind of funny since i have been collecting employment insurance since november and have roughly 3,100 sitting unpain on that very same visa. i guess this is my reward for making at least the minimum payment for the past several months.

and just who is the G. Lombardo - Marketing Head, Global Cards and Payment Solutions anyhow?? i've never heard of him... oh, i just noticed that they sent me a postage paid envelope as well. when they want me to do something stupid they make it really easy, but when they want.. oh.... for you to hurry the hell up and send them a payment for a delinquent visa they never give you the envelope.

no thanks royal bank. i am on to your tricks. i will not be signing this limit increase form... you will not get one more cent in interest from money i dont have.

...sigh...

"Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who
has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was,
since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He
will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
Knowing when to come in out of the rain; Why the early bird gets the worm;
Life isn't always fair; and Maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend
more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children,
are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but
overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy
charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended
from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for
reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the
job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly
children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental
consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could
NOT inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an
abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses;
And criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a
burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to
realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her
lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.


Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, TRUTH and TRUST,
by his wife, DISCRETION, by his daughter, RESPONSIBILITY, and by his son, REASON.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers:
I Know My Rights
I Want It Now
Someone Else Is To Blame
I'm A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and
just do nothing."

the london times.

goodbye LA

im obviously writing this post from memory (or lack thereof) of the events of that final day. we got organized and packed, and checked out of the hotel at 1130am. we left our luggage in storage at the hotel since our flight didnt leave until 1000pm. we headed by metro red line to hollywood and highland for a final day of shopping along hollywood boulevard. the weather was decent and the sun was shining.

finally went back to the store that i saw earlier in the week who had fantastic sales on levi's jeans and a pair of orange chucks.

after wandering a bit more we headed to the frolic room for a few pre-airplane drink. the last thing i remember was looking at the clock and it said 230pm....

after that, i know i got on a bus, got through security, and got on a plane bound for montreal.

an artillery officer

yes folks, i have been looking into every option which presents itself. and just before the new year, i was told:

"you will be back in the military in three months, i guarantee it"

i will have to rewind a little bit. i was in the military one time before, in 1995. i remember thinking that it would be a great way to make some money for university. anyway i got into the reserves for the 722 communications squadron, signed some papers, got a kit and boarded a bus for kingston, ontario. this was the first time that i was going to be alone and away from my rents and somehow i know i was going to be in for an experience.

in the summer of 1995 i was 19 years old. this was not old by any stretch of imagination, however in a room of 16 year olds, i may have well been Mrs. Garrett from the Facts of Life. i was the de-facto beer buyer and party girl - though managed to stay fairly innocent in the eyes of the instructors who saw me as a weak and homesick - only child - east coast girl. they made me do push-ups and sits just to earn the right to read my mail because i was just that terrible at the physical aspect of the training. i did alright with the strength training but really sucked it at the running and endurance parts.

i got almost to the end before the homesickness and fatigue really took its toll. and with only one graded exercise left to finish i backed out and left the training, opting for catching a bus back to kingston from the outdoor training phase in borden ontario. (PS the last graded exercise in the course was the 16km forced march - epic fail)

fast forward to now. there really are not many jobs in the economy at the moment and i am stuck sitting on my ass, collecting EI. dont get me wrong it i a good opportunity to get the statistic course done for school, and get everything finished up so i can hopefully get some work in planning. but for right now, what about going back into the training from the military again. i have always regretted not finishing the course the first time around, so this would be an excellent opportunity to do it again. the course is a lot longer now than it was the time that I went in. the basic training in 1995 amounted to roughly 8 weeks (comparatively - it is now 13 weeks. ) - plus there is an additional 8 week course tacked on after that course is finished.

the pay is pretty amazing considering it is the military i always tend to hear the negative - bum rap - side of things.

early morning baking

i got out of bed at 8:30 this morning and started upstairs to begin making red velvet cake for my friends birhtday dinner this weekend. i asked her what kind of cake she liked and she mentioned chocolate as being her favorite. i have been wanting to try to make a red velvet cake for a long time, and i was inspored to make a cake after my last weekend in perth-andover with my two ESLT friends.

red velvet cakes have always been interesting to me mostly for their awesome color and contrast betweent the cake and the while white frosting. the last time i made a cake i didnt even get to try it (a marble sheet cake for my step-rents mom), so this time i know i am going to be able to try it.

it didnt take too long to prepare the cake, and i did everything from scratch, meaning NO box mixes. the bright red color of the crumb was achieved by adding two tablespoons of red food colouring to the buttermilk. in the olden days of making this cake, the red colour is said to be created from a reaction between the cocoa and the vinegar added to the batter. after about 45 minutes i pulled the fire red cakes from the oven and let them cool for approximately 10 minutes in the pan, i then inverted them on wire cake racks to cool further before splitting each cake in half and refrigerating the four layers. tomorrow i will attempt a cream cheese frosting with coconut and coloured sprinkles.

my friend is pushing 29 - again.

a weekend birthday

my aunt's birthday is on the 17th of january but we are having her party on the saturday before. its the usual papa john's pizza, garlic fingers, and ice cream cake from dairy queen. funny, it kinda reminded me of the birthday parties that we used to have for our students in korea. where the parents would often order pizza (even though korean kids dont really love it), bring in lots of gifts (toys, school suppplies, and other clutter), and provide one of two cakes; a giant sheet cake from costco (vanilla or chocolate) or some kind of asian fruity creme cake from paris baguette (usually chocolate) that the kids would never usually eat but simply spread around the plate leaving a giant mess for the assistant to clean up.

there was very little in the way of mess after the eating as everything was bought take-out and came in the most useful of throw-away containers. after the evening quieted down a bit, my cousin got us all to play a game that was very similar to cranium, whose name escapes me right now. it started with a "QU" though.

i got a lift home from my aunt and jumped into the hot tub for a quick soak.

a beautiful day

it's the first of january of 2011 and another year has begun. i rang in the new year at my friend chris' place uptown but managed to take off some time to check out the fireworks that started at midnight.



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Usually, the fireworks are a small affair and the mood uptown is just slightly better than sombre but due to the fantastic weather (+8 degrees)everything was just happening.



after the fireworks, i went back over to sydney street, had another glass of wine and proceeded to hop into the hot tub at around 3:30am. by 5:00am i was dry, dressed, and getting into the cab to take me home.

earlier in the day i hopped on the bike and pedaled over to my grandmothers. on my way over i ran into my friend mike and stopped into his place for a chat and a glass of water. it took me roughly 25 minutes to get to my grandma's place (one-way).

by the time i got home, it was starting to cool down significantly. then i hopped in the car and headed to gramma's place for the new years day special of ham and boiled dinner. sadly there was no cabbage (i've been looking forward to it since i got back here but have yet to try some).


we ended the evening playing bullshit and having a few laughs.