Men of Snow

Listen.

Oh, one day, you will go away from this;

Oh, one day, you will know we're men of snow.

We melt;

One day

It's sad, but she's right. We're all going to disappear one day, but the first thoughts which went through my head were those of defiance. I am not a man of snow.

I accept that I'll be gone after several decades. I'll leave behind things that I have done and things I have created, while memories of things I've failed to do and things I've destroyed haunt those I've left behind. I embrace this fact. But one thing I don't want to do is to stand idly by while I melt away.

I want to be part of others around me, for them to be able to say that I have made a difference in their lives. It's not that I want to be remembered when I pass, it's that I want to be here when I haven't. I don't need to make a mark in history, or a statue in my likeness. I want to live. (But please, feel free to remember me for as long as you want.)

Crawling along

School year's off to a slow start. My mind is going crazy not doing anything. I've started doodling again, not much worth displaying though. I still have to design my mini-water stream I want for the backyard. My dad wants me to sketch something up for when we get rid of the deck, too. Might as well do it now until school picks up!

Untitled

I smiled the whole way through. I laughed at some parts. Hearing your voice, listening to you, the whole notion of it; being on the phone with you makes me happy. I just have to say:

I'm in love with you.

Speak up

Just an observation made during my overnights:

People sound the same when they talk through the drive-thru speaker. It's like people have voice presets. I imagine it this way:

Picture an individual's voice as a t-shirt. There's different cuts, styles, colors, designs, sizes, etc. If you take away all these embellishments, you're left with a piece of cloth. This is our voice preset a "voice base", if you will. Different mixtures cloths / materials represent different "bases". These presets are our voice with no intonation or accent or "stain" that we've picked up in our daily life.

Neat? I think so. Obviously my overnights got boring. Hell, I played hockey in the lobby for an hour on Tuesday.

Nightmare

Is a good word for how work was last night. I hate doing overnights, especially weekend overnights. I expected it to be busy, so I wasn't really stressing out in the beginning. By 4:30AM I started getting really pissed off, 'cause people were still coming and I needed to change to breakfast. I think it's a little ridiculous how people stay out so late. I barely got shit done and I'm damn tired. 1 down, three more to go.

Hollerado Land

So the night was getting dirty, and I asked the Lord for mercy;

And He said, "Oh, so now, you wanna talk?"

Not what I had in mind He would say, but amusing nonetheless.

minefield

I didn't have to, but I dove right in.

My goal? To know.

To let me be known.

They were fine just sitting there, or were they?

In a path never traveled, but would it be?

Now, they're out in the open.

Not safe, but sorry -- was it a matter of time?

No regrets.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand some blood just came out of my nose. This usually means a lack of sleep & being super tired. G'night!

Waterboy

I've already talked about how my dad inspires me to try gardening a little. I know I have no patience or too much time for all those plants, though. I did have a grand idea in my mind: a little pond.

The neighbors said that there used to be a little water feature in the corner of the backyard a while back. The last owners of the house weren't big gardening people, so they took it out and covered up the old hole. "It would be nice to put a new one in," I thought. I told my dad I'd like to, but in the back of my mind it was something that would be done much later.

The opportunity arose, since summer break means more free time (PSN is down, too). I barely had plans in my head, but enough ideas were there. I tagged along with my dad to Home Depot, just to see what I can get. The biggest challenge was to find a basin shaped nicely that I can bury underground. They had a nice one, but I got distracted by something even better: a tarp / lining for ponds. Free-form time! I grabbed a pump and some tubes, too. With rocks and a Japanese lady feature in the backyard, I was good to go.

Digging was the first hard part. I needed to dig down pretty deep, and be able to keep the shape I want. It's harder than it sounds for a rookie like me. You wouldn't believe how many buckets I had to carry to the other side of the garden. And the little pond isn't even big! The Japanese lady had dirt stuck in her hole, so I had to poke it out. Stuck the tube in, sealed the tip with silicon to keep it in place, and ta-da! The second hard part was covering up the sides of the tarp. It wouldn't look too nice seeing black plastic sticking out the sides. My dad and I dug a little around the pond, and used some cobblestone-type bricks to surround it. We threw in a few real rocks around the sides to keep it looking more garden-y.

The pond is small, the shape isn't consistent, and the lady leaks a little. But the sight and sound of the water flowing out is sooooo worth it. Pics when I get the chance.

2DCC

Two Door Cinema Club was a new band for me introduced by a friend. The moment I heard one of their songs, I fell in love. MJ recently heard them (without knowing that I have), and she recommended it, figuring it would be something I like. I didn't know she knew my music that well! I'm impressed. And just last night, Justin asks me the same thing. Oh the coincidence! My new band, I guess. They just released their album last year, so they have much room to grow. I'm looking forward to it, gentlemen.

My Shadow's the only one that walks beside me.

I enjoy walking my doggy. Maybe it's because I do it rarely, that it's not that much of a chore. Maybe it's the stupid things we do when nobody else is around. Yeah, that's it!

• I chase him.
• He chases me.
• We race.
• I tell him to come and he'll randomly lie down in the middle of the sidewalk (rare).
• ...I talk to Shadow.

This morning I was talking to him while zigzagging down the middle of my street only to find out a woman was watching from her car. She asked what kind of dog Shadow was. Then she asked the weirdest question. "Can I hug him?" I said "suuure," right away, since I'm used to people asking to pet him all the time. The lady looks at me in a weird way, then it hit me. She had said, "Can I have him?" I quickly came up with the lame excuses that she could since he's a little messy then we do our thing. Oh boy.

Quotable Quote (QQ)

Nobody will ever bother you when you do things properly.

Thicker than anything.

He runs upstairs, tripping over everything he possibly could: chairs, garbage, stairs. A fight has broken out. For once, the next few minutes of his life were not planned. There were no thoughts behind each action. Blinded by rage, all his screams almost made no sense. Frozen by fear,all his strength is used to hold tight.

It felt good to use all of his energy. His heart was beating fast, words usually held in explode. He was throwing all the weight on his shoulders and in his heart at the other. He thinks to himself, "Is this my way out?"

He regains control from his momentary bliss. His expression quickly sours when he realizes none of it took effect. Everything he had kept barely made a notch. A rubber ball to thick ice. Throw it hard enough, and you have a chance to break through, but any less and it will hit you back hard.

Chop chop.

'Twas a long weekend of overnights. I came home Sunday morning with my new tulips. They're red with white edges... I call them dragon tulips in my head.

I was dead tired, but I decided to bother my dad in the backyard before I relaxed and slept. The remains of our tree-cutting day stood in the middle of the ground, making it's last stand. My dad was slowly digging away at the roots, making the stump bigger and bigger. I grabbed a tiny hoe and just scraped away at the other side. We were unaware of how hard this seemingly simple task was.

We started to hit bigger roots, ones that the shovel couldn't punch through. I was asked to take out the chainsaw, and we hacked away at the tough roots. They were still quite alive, after a month of not having much to supply to. This made it harder for us to cut through. After a trip to buy some oil, the chains coming off several times, the blade just dulling out, we gave up. Who knew that cutting down the tree was the easy part? I went inside and literally collapsed on my bed. Tired, sweaty, smelly. I think fatigued is a good word for it. By the time I woke up, my dad had managed to go buy an axe and get it out before the snow hit. Next stop, fill in that hole! But that's for next time.

I was already tired by the time I got home, but when I started digging and getting messy, a sense of adventure came over me. I might get into this whole gardening thing a little.

Ape real

I've always hated April Fool's Day, nobody I know has ever made a decent enough joke to make it memorable. Most of us are left with terrible horrible attempts at jokes. Yesterday, I've heard someone's friend "died". Seriously? Seriously. That has to be the absolute worst joke. It's not even close to being funny. Disgusting.

That aside, I read a tweet from Raisa telling me she's working with me, like usual. I was hoping it were true, but it was just an AFD joke. That was actually a good joke, though it weren't so funny at the time. Earlier Anthony and Mike tried pulling one on me, telling me I missed an exam question on the lecture. I didn't even flinch at that one.

But the best "joke" ever was made by a dork. Right after I finished my pre-shift for work, I get called up to the front. "These people wanted small fries with a side of Glenn... but they disappeared." They'll be ba--

"APRIL FOOLS!"

Made my night. Overnight just became bearable. Thank you, MJ. She acted like a fool to make me smile.

Inner-net

I need to get new internet. This one keeps shitting out on me.

Nowadays

I just came across the term future-proof, describing a piece of technology. Something that will be able withstand through the ever changing times and be desirable for a longer lifespan. Why can't this be the aim of all companies? Instead of releasing a rehash of the same product every single year, just make one that is more "future-proof", release that every few years. Easier said than done, I know, but keeping up is really damn hard.

Back and forth.

My dad and I have been playing some ping pong lately. I've gotta say, I'm getting a little bit better. Of course, I can't even win since he's pretty good. Not oh-my-God-he's-so-Asian-good, but I'd never be that good at that age. Every time I manage to step it up a notch, he does too. I'm never going to win! Just have to keep getting better, I guess! Other than basketball, this is the one thing I can't beat him at.

Still, we play a whole lot different from the guys at school. They play trickier and with more spins, while we play more fastball kind of thing. Another thing for me to obsess and get more competitive with? Sigh.

Peace,

Jack-of-all-Trades

(Master of None)

Penguins

I felt like some important guy, getting my suit tailored and whatnot. But boy, what a difference it made. Being in a suit that fit me so nicely made me feel better about myself. Okay, you can laugh at me.

The night was perfect! Despite the name, Science Formal was a blast. The open bar took its toll on some of us. "Friday" was requested like no tomorrow (sorry, Mr. DJ, you were terrible). People were (re)met. I actually liked the broccoli soup (and the dessert, but that's it). It's safe to say I'll be going again next year.

I threw the suit on again before I put it away. I know why Barney Stinson always wears one, now.

It always snows in April.

If I remember correctly, It's only not snowed in April twice in the past few decades in Canada. I wasn't surprised that it was predicted to snow today. I was surprised, however, by the amount.

Neither of the two cities I frequent were prepared for all the snow that fell. Snowplows were not in full force until late in the afternoon. Bus schedules were out of whack. I spent around 6-7 hours total in 8 different buses. It was not a friendly day for commuters like me.

In the end, it was all worth it. School is school. A friend needed some company. A promise needed to be fulfilled. Being able to spend time with MJ and have so many laughs made it all worth it. "I'm sorry," she repeats. I should be thanking you instead.