World's Ugliest Dog 2005

Isn't he cute!

People Watching

I was in Richmond today with my mother who was shopping for fabrics at a favorite haunt of hers. I waited in the car as usual, but it took her about 45 minutes till she actually left the store. As one can expect, I got a little bored and impatient.

I tried entertaining myself by observing the people as they passed by my car. There was a little child with his father walking by. The child was chasing a rather large bird which I think was a seagull. I was amused by this situation because I can recall doing the same thing so many years ago.

As I watched this event unfold, I noticed that the bird was having a rather difficult time running away. I wondered why it just didn't fly away, at that moment the bird flapped its wings and flew a few inches but quickly crash landed. It was then that I realized the bird was injured. As the child was scolded by the father for his behavior, my attention shifted completely to the bird. I felt sorry for the creature as I watched it cross the street. I was hoping that no cars would pass as the bird made its way across the intersection. Luckily no harm came to the creature. As it walked out of view, I felt a sense of helplessness. I hope it's okay.

Next, my attention was caught by a young man running with his shirt off. There was a woman trying to catch up with him. He stopped across the street from me as the women walked to his location. As she approached, I noticed that they were actually in the middle of an argument.

I was fascinated by their body language. He had his shirt in his hands and was continually swinging it, while she was standing very static. It was almost like he was using his shirt as a distraction from what she was trying to get across to him. At one point, the man started walking away while the woman called out his name.

My mom returned shortly and as I was about to leave I saw the woman snag the shirt out of the man's hands and hit him with it repeatedly. From the distance I was at, I could not hear what the argument was about, but just by observing their body language it was a fascinating display of the emotions common to all human relationships.

Hitter & Friends Shoutout!

Hey, I got a mention on Hitter's podcast! Thanks man, you got my vote!

Canada vs. USA: The Candy Wars

As you all know, I've been hooked on PEZ recently. I did some research on the company which turns out originated from Austria. When I found the refills at Toys R Us last week, I noticed that the candy was still made in Austria.

Well today my mother made a trip to Seattle. While there, she stopped at a Walmart and picked me up some PEZ refills. They only cost $1 USD for a pack of 10 compared to $3 CAD for a pack of 8 at TRU. When she handed them to me later in the day, I noticed that the packaging was different from the kind I had found at my local Canadian Toys R Us. It was more plain. Turns out the ones from the States were made in California, NOT Austria.

Upon a taste test, it turns out that the ones made in the US had a sweeter taste; the artificial flavors were more apparent. How strange that Canada would not import the American made PEZ but opt to import the traditional Austrian made variety, probably at a more significant cost. I'm glad they do this because I prefer the Austrian-made PEZ.

On a related note, I was listening to the Dawn & Drew show and they made mention that someone in the UK had sent them a dozen Kinder Surprises. Apparently these are not available in the States! This is surprising because they are readily available in Canada. If D&D had not mentioned this fact, I would have never known that American children were deprived of the ability to eat a chocolate egg filled with a toy.

I'm happy to be Canadian. Besides all the political reasons for why I love Canada, a new reason is added to the pile: Canada gets candy that's not available in America!

This Week's Addiction: PEZ

This past week I have become addicted to pills. Pills of PEZ!

Ever since I bought a Batman PEZ dispenser at Virgin Records' going out of business sale for $1.50 have been eating way too much of these tiny addictive candy.

I actually went on a PEZ hunt to try and find the sweets. Almost everywhere sells the dispensers with 3 rolls of candy, but I bet you didn't know how difficult it was to find just the candy without the dispenser. I looked everywhere! Luckily, Toys R Us had them and I happily bought two packs, which contained 8 rolls each.

And I can't just eat them from the wrapper, I have to load them into the dispenser...my BATMAN dispenser...it's totally sick! haha

BBQ @ CMG

Last night I went to a BBQ at CMG's house. If you recall, CMG is the guy in my Masters program who I finally came out to in March.

He lives in the west end and he's got an apartment like an Ikea catelogue. I mean that as a complement. I've always planned to decorate my future pad like those pictures in the Ikea book, but he beat me to it! haha

Great night, great food. There were about ~15 people there so it got pretty busy. Since he lived so close to the beach, we were also able to catch the finale of the Fireworks.

I met a lot of great people, all of whom lead more exciting lives than me :-P
I need to get out more.

Jason Mraz: Mr. A-Z

This week I've been listening to the new CD by Jason Mraz entitled "Mr. A-Z". Let me tell you, if you haven't listen to this record, you're really missing out on something special. I never even hear of Jason until 2 weeks ago when he appeared on Jay Leno performing "Wordplay" from this album. This song is really fun with tongue-tying lyrics. This intrigued me and compelled me to seek out his disc.

The album contains songs that are fun and upbeat and some that are more introspective and haunting. "Mr. Curiosity" and "Plane" are two of my favorite somber pieces. Everyone should check it out.

Vancouver Pride 2005

On Saturday, I stopped by briefly at the Vancouver Dyke March. It was really cool with live music by lesbian performers. It was at Grandview Park and there were so many cute dogs there! I have to admit, some of those lesbians really looked like guys...and cute guys at that! Hmm...since I found a woman sexually attractive, does that make me straight?! hahah

Yesterday I went to the Pride Parade and it was totally crazy! So many people were packed onto Denman Street. I waited through three PACKED buses at Granville before I could get on one going near the parade. So many tourists were there as well. I was grinding up to this larger woman on the bus, and with such a hot day yesterday, I felt every bead of sweat on her back! ahhhhh! haha

Trying to get free stuff was totally fun. I tried yelling the loudest as people with the swag were walking by in the parade. Some people from Ginch Gonch were there and they were throwing t-shirts! But unfortunately I wasn't destined to be so lucky :-(

I did manage to get a "mardi gras" bead necklace, a pack of playing cards, tattoos, and a Dr. Pepper! The Japanese girls next to me there a lot louder than me, so they got more stuff than me :-( haha

After the parade, I went to the festival at Sunset beach and got me a pride bracelet, a bag of chips and a button from the Centre. All cool stuff!

There was a tent set up for free sunscreen which I took advantage of. Unfortunately, I forgot to apply some onto the back of my neck and today I realized that I got a nasty sunburn there.

I went by the Lesbian and Gay Choir booth and met in person someone who I only met online previously. It kinda weird to see someone that you know but don't know in person. It was great to meet him for real. I also got a free CD of their past performances as well!

BBQ & Misquitoes!

Friday night I went to a BBQ. It was at Jericho Beach and as it got dark, the misquitoes came out to feast on my legs. Maybe I shouldn't have worn shorts?

There was a guy there who did a fire show. He was spinning these balls of fire on a chain all around and with the sun down, it was amazing!

What else...I had to piss in a bush!!! haha Apparently the park washrooms are padlocked after a certain hour. At 10pm I went to the washroom because I had drank 3 cans of ice tea, but it was locked! With nowhere to go, I ran behind a tree and the rest is history. Luckily it was really dark so hopefully no one saw me.

The next morning, my legs had about 5 swollen misquitoe bites. Yikes!!!

The Last Hurdle

On Thursday morning, I had my final thesis defense with my committee. Happy to report that I passed! This means that after I do some minor revisions I am officially finished my Masters program :-)

My presentation for the defense lasted about 20 minutes, after which there was a question period that lasted 40 minutes! Thankfully, all the questions were answered relatively smoothly.

After the presentation, I went home and took a nice deep nap.

I didn't really get much sleep the night before. In fact, Wednesday afternoon I didn't really spend practicing and going over my notes. The majority of Wednesday afternoon was spent at the youth group redecorating and spray painting their office walls.

Let me tell you something, when you're spray painting, the mist goes everywhere...especially your hair! It was all good fun that helped distract myself from the pessimistic thoughts that go through my mind prior to a presentation.