Random Rants From A Random Mind

A/B's Ladies of 2011 - and a few other things

2011-02-02T15:45:00.002-07:00

Dave, just saw your comment. Hope you're doing well. You have spurred me to update. I never look at my comments because I have them sent to an old email I rarely use and check. I'd get them sent to my current email, but I have no idea how to change where they're sent on this damn site. Which is why I rarely update.

Anyway, it's a new year, and with that, I have a new Top 10 Ladies. It's probably my best list ever. I think it's really well rounded, and well thought out. But that's just me.

So anyway, here's my list:

10. Selena Gomez - she's 18 now, so I don't even want to hear it. If we do the half your age +7 rule, I'm still good.

9. Julie Bowen - I love Modern Family, and I love Claire. She's almost old enough to be my mom, but I don't even care. Rhyming unintentional.

8. Mila Kunis - I haven't even seen Black Swan yet, and Mila makes the list. She was super hot in Book of Eli which is why she makes my list this year. What an ass.

7. Kristen Bell - I'm not sure if she's been in a good movie other than Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but she's cute as a button, and she's been a favorite of mine for some time.

6. Emmy Rossum - thanks to her new show, she makes this list. If you also like Emmy, watch Shameless, where she shows her tits every other episode. But she makes this list simply because she's super cute.

5. Emma Roberts - I think she's been on my list a couple times before, and will likely be top 10 for quite some time to come.

4. Sophia Bush - just so goddamn hot. I'll leave it at that.

3. Kari Byron - a mainstay in my top 3 it seems. She's actually hotter now that she's popped a kid out than before. She should be an inspiration to all mothers - just cause you pump a child out doesn't mean you have an inherent excuse to get fat. I find myself watching Mytbusters less now though, so there could be changes to next year's top 3.

2. Lights - this is our darkhorse of the group. Comes out of nowhere to jump to #2. I've been aware of dear Lights for years, but for whatever reason, never paid enough attention. I honestly love her music. She has a great voice. And she's gorgeous. What more do you want? Saw her in concert a few months ago, and it was fucking awesome.

In lieu of a picture, here's a video from the concert I was at (not my video). How can one not love Lights when she does a cover of the Internet song of 2010???

1. Kate Voegele - She's been #1 for a while, and I still love her. New album dropping spring 2011 which will only increase in love of her no doubt. I could go on and on, but if I start I might not be able to stop. It's going to take someone pretty spectacular to take the top spot away from Kate.

Other Notes:

- Emma Watson is usually a shoe-in here but since she cut her hair short, I have lost much of my interest. Don't get me wrong - still would - but she's out of the top 1o now. Sorry girl.

- Kim Kardashian. I don't care what anyone says, she's hot. Love dem tits. Almost made top 10 this year, but who would I take out?

- what's the deal with all the hot girls being brunettes now?

- I should do a top 10 pornstars list some time. Not sure I could come up with 10. Maybe 5. Oh who are we kidding, I could do a list of 10.

Dave, thanks for the push here. To answer your questions about Black Ops, I hate it. It's buggy and laggy and just a general piece of shit. My brother got me GT5 for my bday, so I think I'm going to start to play that more and more. I will not buy the next COD game. Not with Killzone 3 coming out pretty soon.

2010-11-06T22:05:00.003-06:00

K, so I kind of retired from Blogger a while ago. But I've pulled Favre and I'm back, and I think better than ever.

First off, I'm single again, so any girls in Calgary, holla at me.

Second, I decided to un-retire because I'm starting to see a lot of things in the world that are pissing me off, and I enjoy blogging about them. People need to know what to think of big issues. I have the answers.

I love the USA. I work for an American company, and I work with Americans on a daily basis. But fuck, it's getting silly how quickly and far that country swings. Left in 2008, right in 2010. You guys may as well make yourselves happy and hold a presidential election every 2 years instead of 4. It'll cut down on all the bitching.
Whether you like Obama or not, he's a better choice for Prez than anyone the Republicans can throw up there. Who is going to run for you guys in 2012? Palin? Romney? His first order of business would be to ban Coke and Starbucks, to eliminate the caffeine intake of the entire goddamn country.
Vancouver Canuck fans= the dumbest fucks in hockey. Shut your mouths til your team wins a Cup. Also, the Sedin's have giant foreheads, and look ridiculous.
I hate to say anything bad about Taylor Swift, but all of her songs sound the same now. But when Nickelback does it, everyone shits themselves.
That new Nelly song is pretty awesome.
Lights is my favorite artist at the moment, and everyone should give her music a try.
I'm addicted to Entourage now, and I'm afraid I'll reach the end of season 7 before season 8 starts. I want to be Ari Gold for the following three reasons: 1. Hot wife 2. Great job 3. Sweet suits.

A Tearful Goodbye

2010-03-18T00:23:00.002-06:00

As Dave did many many months ago and HE just recently, I think it's time to officially pack it in.

I started this blog about 6 years ago. I had just finished high school, and was into college. I was unsure of many things, and what direction my life was headed. Was I studying the right subject? Was business the way to go? My first several posts were either about school or girls. That was about it.

I bitched about both subjects frequently, and over many months I gathered a group of fellow bloggers who provided me with great advice and a kind word. Total strangers. What a concept this blogging was. I was blogging all the time then. It was almost a social thing, even though I had never met any of the people with whom I shared very personal experiences in both directions.

Eventually, I made my way to University, and studying accounting demanded more of my time than I would have liked to give it. That, along with the introduction of a girlfriend, meant my updates became less frequent.

I didn't have to bitch about girls anymore, and I didn't bother with posts about school because I could finally see light at the end of the tunnel. I officially graduated in December '09. Woo.

This blog had acted as my venting outlet, and as I found more and more things in life going my way, I didn't need to turn here as often. What I ended up with was a dead blog. It seems like a lot of blogs are dying. I don't know if people are moving over to Twitter or what. Facebook maybe, but I think they serve different purposes. Regardless, I think the personal blog thing is slowly dying off. This was an inevitability.

I'm days away from heading down to the USA for a final interview for a job. What little spare time I do have will be spent doing things other than blogging. Doing an official goodbye is sad. I've had this thing for over half a decade.

I thought about deleting it, but there are so many good memories here. I want to be able to look back at it years from now. It's like an e-journal.

Thank you to everyone who ever read my blog, and an extra thanks to those who commented.

A extra special thanks to the small group of bloggers who read my blog and commented on a regular basis. You know who you are. Most of you aren't around anymore, and will never read this. But on the off chance you come back, thank you. You really don't know how much your advice and kindness helped me out.

I may pull a Brett Favre and add another update or something in the future but I doubt it. I just want to reserve the right to do so.

Thanks all,

A/B

PS: read second last post for babes w/pics.

A/B's Top 10 Ladies - 2010

2010-03-15T23:49:00.002-06:00

10. Mila Kunis. Her ass in Book of Eli was mouth-watering.

9. Marisa Miller. Could easily be higher, but - I don't now.

8. Kristen Bell. Maybe the most underrated hottie in Hollywood. Dayum.

7. Evangeline Lilly. Thank Christ the Smoke Monster hasn't killer her yet.

6. Emma Watson. The latest Harry Potter movie blew. Thankfully Emma almost made it bearable.

5. Giada de Laurentiis. Boobs.

4. Emma Roberts. New to the list (I think. I haven't posted anything for like a year or two, so I don't recall who was on the old list). An up-and-comer who will be TOP 10 for a long time.

3. Sophia Bush. Between Sophia and #1, you'd think One Tree Hill would be a can't-miss show. It is. Still love B.Davis though.

2. Kari Byron. I've met her before, and she is super nice. Will always have a spot in my TOP 10.

1. Kate Voegele. I could go on and on, but I'll just say this: #1 this year was a no-brainer.

Honourable mention to Natalie Portman and Jennifer Love Hewitt. Have been mainstays on my list for years, but a new decade signals a changing of the guard here. I think I'm happiest with this list over any other years. Just a really good group of ladies.

RIP MJ

2009-06-25T16:47:00.002-06:00

One of the best - maybe THE best - performer ever. Very sad. I grew up listening to his legendary music.

Movie Reviews

2009-06-24T22:35:00.002-06:00

Here are short movie reviews for the films I have recently seen (or at least the ones I can remember).

The Hangover - saw this one tonight. Funny, and had some laugh out loud parts. The Allan character was the highlight. I like Ed Helms (from The Daily Show and now The Office) and got worried at the beginning because he was playing the exact same character. Thankfully, that didn't last. Not that I don't like him in The Office, but he should be doing different characters. Also Heather Graham was hot. Overall, not as good as Superbad - and I haven't seen a comedy since that compares, but it was right up there with Role Models and I Love You Man.

I Love You Man - great movie, and the best comedy I've seen since Superbad. It's been out for a while, so go give it a rent. Hilarious.

Up- Another great Pixar film. Highly enjoyable, and the 3D effects really add to the movie. It's not the best animated film I've seen. It's close to Wall-E, but not on the same level as Monsters INC.

I can't remember what other films I've seen lately. You can't go wrong with any of the 3 I mentioned though.

Not All Albertans Are Dumb - Just The Ones Running The Government

2009-06-22T20:43:00.002-06:00

This is what one of our MLAs had to say:

Edmonton-Calder Conservative MLA Doug Elniski apologized late Monday afternoon for controversial comments that he posted on his blog, and insisted that he is not sexist.

Elniski posted the text of a speech on June 13 that he said he gives to junior high school students at Grade 9 graduation ceremonies.

Part of the posting included advice to girls saying, "Ladies, always smile when you walk into a room, there is nothing a man wants less than a woman scowling because he thinks he is going to get s--t for something and has no idea what."

It continues, "Men are attracted to smiles, so smile, don't give me that 'treated equal' stuff. If you want Equal, it comes in little packages at Starbucks."

This next one comes from Iris Evans who is our Finance Minster. What qualifications she has for such a role, no one knows, and why she is speaking on the "proper" way to raise children is anyone's guess.

'When you're raising children, you don't both go off to work and leave them for somebody else to raise.'

The sad thing in all of this is next election, both will no doubt be re-elected. Thanks rural Alberta. And Calgary isn't any better. I'm moving when I can.

I <3 Kate Voegele

2009-06-19T00:31:00.003-06:00

On Suday, I went to a concert at a little place downtown for Kate Voegele.

I knew very little about Kate. I did know that she is in One Tree Hill as Mia. Yeah, I've watched that show a bit. How else would my love of Sophia Bush blossomed?

Anywho, I went with the GF and a good friend of mine not knowing what to expect.

What I got was a wonderful concert. She is just amazing and is going to be a big thing soon. Wonderful live, and you have to love a girl who writes her own songs and knows how to play a guitar. She promised the crowd that she would be back in the fall, and I will most certainly go see her when she comes again. I've basically listened to her music non-stop all week.

Here's a couple YouTube videos from the Edmonton show.

Her lastest single 99 Times:

Her cover of Hallelujah - which quite frankly is the best I've ever heard:

If you're looking for some great music, give Kate a try. You can't go wrong.

Also, I have a slight crush on her now.

Fuck You Manpower and ATCO Gas

2009-06-01T20:02:00.003-06:00

You may have heard of a temp agency called Manpower. They're a pretty big outfit based in Milwaukee. Essentially they recruit employees to work at numerous companies. They're like a temp agency.

This past April, I was looking for a job on the University job website (where outside employers can post job openings for students, new grads, etc). I saw this one job with Manpower which started at the beginning of May and ended July 31st. Manpower was recruiting people to work at a call centre for a well-known utility company here in Alberta.

I thought this would be perfect, since I'm going on vacation at the beginning of August - I can work for three months, make some money, then enjoy the remainder of my summer.

I applied and was hired the next day. A group of 14 people, all students trained over the next 3 weeks. I really enjoyed the job, and especially the people I was training with.

Imagine our surprise when at the start of the fourth week, we were told that the utility company was moving the call centre to the Philippines and we would be out of jobs after May 29th.

These are the problems I have with all this:

we were told in the job posting, interview, and orientation that we would have jobs until July 31. Period.
both Manpower and ATCO, the utility company, knew that they'd be moving the call centre, yet hired a group of students anyway.
Manpower has done nothing to find any of us new jobs.

I have been in contact with people from Manpower today, and they really don't give a damn. This is a company that preaches "responsible business practices" and "integrity" and "ethics". Bullshit.

Some of the people I was working with will have to delay going back to school in September because they don't have the money to pay tuition now.

I understand the need for them to make money. But the bottom line is a company like this should stand by its employees. They have not.

Hopefully a few people will read this and avoid working for this crooked company. Hopefully, a few people will read this a refuse to hire Manpower employees for their businesses. Don't stand for their bullshit.

I'm going to keep fighting them. I want them to know they can't fuck with people like that. I'll let you know how it goes.

Oh, and fuck ATCO Gas for shipping good Alberta based jobs overseas. This is an Alberta based company too. Where is their loyalty? Yet another legacy of Ralph Klein's deregulation era.

To summarize:
-fuck Manpower. Don't work for them. Don't hire their employees.
-fuck ATCO Gas for shipping the call centre, based in downtown Edmonton, overseas. ALTA Gas is where it's at!
-fuck Ralph Klein. Ah, he's gotten enough shit from people in this province.

To voice your displeasure with ATCO, go here: http://www.atco.com/contact.aspx

K, Im Back

2009-06-01T13:06:00.003-06:00

Whew, that was quite a hiatus. I'm going to try to get back into the blogging groove now.

So I'm going to Japan in August for three weeks. Tickets and room are booked. I even bought some yen.

I had a sweet job for the month of May. Thought it would last til the end of July, but it didn't. Long story, and I'll let you know about it (it's a rant) another day.

I actually have quite a bit to rant about. I'd do an official rant later. This is just me getting back in the swing of things.

Did The Geese Do It Again?!

2009-02-13T00:08:00.002-07:00

Hello all,

I'm watching CNN right now, and there is breaking news of a plane crash in Buffalo.

New York State has a little streak of plane crashes going. It's getting ridiculous. This one took off from Newark. I've been through that airport. Very nice. I was also at LaGuardia, where the famous Hudson crash originated from. Rest easy, flyers of New York, that those are the only two airports I have flown in/out of so you're safe now.

Over the years, much has been made of my charm over the girls at work. This trend is continuing. The number of girls who lust for me rises, but their ages seem to go the other way. Where was this charm when I was 15?!!!? Goddamnit. But seriously, there's this one girl, she's 16, and if was only a few years younger...like, you don't understand - she looks older "But your honour, she looked so much older!". She could/should be a model. My god. There's another one who just turned 15 :\ who I'm pretty sure is smitten with me. I can't blame her. Let me make it abundantly clear I in no way bring this on myself. It's simply my natural charm. 15, to say nothing of being illegal, is even a bit too young for me. Unless I go with my "once they're in high school, they're fair game" rule.

Which brings me to my next point. You're thinking to yourself, A/B, what is it that get the women hot and bothered? What's your secret? This is it: CONFIDENCE. Not to be confused with cockyness. They're different. You need to excude a confidence in yourself. Be humble, be polite, and friendly. Don't be a douche. You're welcome. Now go out there and score some womens.

My favorite band, Thornley released their 2nd album on Tuesday. It's been years in the making. 5 I believe. Well, the wait has been 5 years. I'm not sure how long he's been working on the album. So how is it? In a word, wonderful. I'm not just saying that either. There's one song called Your Song which should go down in rock history as one of the best rock songs of the decade. Find a way to listen to it, and fall in love.

Does anyone else watch Kenny vs Spenny? Is it the greatest TV show ever produced in Canada? It's the funniest. It even beats Trailer Park Boys. This show makes Jackass look like it's made by a bunch of pussies. And how can you not love the dynamic between Kenneth and Spencer? Although I must say, Kenny isn't doing anything to help the already tarnished reputation of Jews. You can watch episodes on YouTube if you're interested.

So I'm going to Japan in August. Haven't book tix yet, but will do that before month's end. I'm really excited. I think we'll go for a 2 weeks. Maybe a few days more. I'm planning on getting two really nice suits that I can wear to interviews which I have in Sept and the ever engrossing accounting dinners in the same month. I want to dress to impress.

So yeah, I'm graduating in December. So 1.5 semsters to go. I'll only have 3 classes, but two will be brutal accounting courses, so it could be the death of me. But at least I'll go out in style.

I have fallen in love with another woman. Her name is Sophia Bush.

I would kill 100 homeless men just to touch her. She's also my current desktop wallpaper (which looks great on my new monitor. Boo Ya!).

Mr Obama, I invested some of my savings into US Equity mutual funds. Please fix the economy now so I can reap massive profits.

I also invested just as much money into European Equity so whenever you Euros want to get your ass in gear, and fix the economies, please do so. I'm looking at you Britain. I'm heavily invested in you. Surly Elton John can do something to help you guys out. Maybe a new CD? Oh, you should bring back S Club 7 too.

I'm going to go read your blogs and try to leave a witty, yet pointed comment.

Everything Is Fine

2009-01-28T19:46:00.002-07:00

Thankfully, the whole serious post business in the past are irrelevant now. Things are all worked out. I'll update more later.

2009-01-20T13:15:00.001-07:00

2009-01-18T14:59:00.003-07:00

I was intrigued when I heard the story about the US Airways plane crashing into the Hudson River last week.

I still can't believe no one died.

It piqued my interest more than usual just because I was in NYC this past summer. I was curious to hear exactly where along the river it landed/crashed since I had taken a boat ride along the river when I was there.

I came across this picture which jumped out at me.

I quickly went into my photos folder and searched through my cruise pics. I knew I recognized the area where the plane landed in the water.

Here is a pic I took while on my boat:

The netted dock is a driving range, and you will notice many of the other buildings are the same. Both pics were taken at different angles, but very similar locations. I think the crash pic was probably taken across the river in New Jersey, while mine was taken on the boat.

Also, it sounds like Canadian geese are being blamed for the crash. You can't trust them. I took this picture of one not too long ago. The goose immediately raised suspicion.

An Update on My Serious Post

2009-01-11T14:20:00.002-07:00

Why so serious? LOL, I had to make the Batman reference. But seriously, here's the update.

Shortly after my first serious post, things between the GF and I improved quite a bit. I was very happy. We were always happy, and never fought or bickered. The last week, we seem to have digressed again. I'm not sure why.

To be fair to you reading, I should be totally forthcoming with all information. Now please, just read the whole story before you jump to conclusions.

Alright, so a month or so ago, this new girl started working at Toys. We will call her "L". L is a very nice girl, and we chatted casually here and there whenever we worked together. Just simple small-talk and nothing more. Shortly there after, she added me on Facebook. Again, no big deal. I noticed that she had pictures from her family trip to NYC up on her page, and commented that I had gone there as well this past summer. This lead to a string of messages back and forth on a regular basis first about New York than about anything and everything. So I'm thinking, this is no big deal. I mean, she obviously knows I have a GF and I'm sure she's just being friendly.

Well, over the years, I have grown a sense of when one person likes another person. I'm certainly better than I was at the beginning of this blog lol. I'll say I'm 90% sure she wanted/wants me. I won't bore you with the details, but yeah, I'm pretty sure.

I know what you're thinking "A/B, you've been dead wrong about this sort of thing in the past. Why is this any different?". Let me tell you why. I think I've come a long way in terms of being able to tell these things. Also and most imporantly, I have no reason to dillusionally make something like this up. I have nothing to gain from this.

The problem with L, was the timing of it all. We really started chatting when things with Shawna and I were at their worst, which was the beginning to middle of December. I NEVER considered L a replacement of any kind for the current GF. Not at all. But I think somewhat inevitably, when you're in a relationship that is going through an uncertain period, you start to wonder what the future might hold, in a larger sense.

Ironically, last night we had a work birthday party at our usual place, and both girls were there. At the beginning, they were chatting and being friendly, but when L got a chance to get away, she did. she also seemed to keep her distance from me. I'm guessing she didn't want to start trouble. Or maybe she has given up on me, having met my GF, and not wanting to get in between.

So that's the backstory of "L". I'm not sure if it is at all relevant, but in order to form an opinion on a situation, I think it's best to have all the inforation.

But getting back on track, I think Shawna and I will have to talk things over and just get everything out in the open. Last night at the party, I was talking to a friend (girl) and she was telling me about how she recently ended a 2 year relationship. Things were worse with her and her BF than for me, but there were some similarities. I asked her how you know when it's time to pack it in. She said, when you find yourself having more fun hanging out with your friends than your significant other, that's one indication. She said her and him were fighting a lot at the end too.

So basically there hasn't been any movement once so ever. I just have been feeling shitty about everything today, and I really wanted to blog. It makes me feel better.

I just wish I knew what was going to happen. I don't like the uncertainty.

Apparently, I'm at the stage of unhappiness, where people can tell than I'm not myself. The problem is, there are only a handful of friends whom I can get advice from. I will be sure to utilize those sources in the near future. And if you're reading this, that includes you too.

A Random Update

2009-01-03T23:30:00.002-07:00

Junniper and Dave, thank you both for your comments on my last post. It's still an ongoing issue and I will update it as is becomes appropriate. Right now, I like to think of the issue as on hiatus.

Just before Christmas, I bought a new computer. I went with an HP desktop to replace my HP laptop. The ol' laptop had been good to me. It's celebrating its 5th birthday sometime this week. But it had 512 RAM and a 60 GB hard drive. The hard drive space wasn't the problem. It was the RAM. It couldn't keep up my ever-growing demands. It really started going downhill once I installed Office 2007. Just couldn't handle having say Excel/Word+Firefox+itunes open at the same time. Plus it was starting to turn off automatically and wouldn't turn off properly either.

I went with a desktop because I simply don't take my laptop with me enough to wararnty the extra costs of another (although they have about half the price now as they were when I bought mine). PLus I like having the big 20'' screen. The new computer itself is a small, slim unit. I wasn't aware they were building them that small these days. It's literally probably 40% the size of my parent's old Dell desktop. I love the big screen, and it's nice to have the number pad on my keyboard now. It will make using Excel a hell of a lot easier. I bought some sweet speakers too. There's your basic two on the side, but it also has a subwoofer, which I didn't intend on getting, but my package was only a bit more than buying just two simple speakers. Since I'm always listening to my itunes, it's well worth it.

An unexpect bonus: The heat from the computer and monitor keep my room warm during these cold winter days!

***

I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Years. Both of mine were very ordinary. Not in a bad way. I've never been a big New Years guy. I don't see the appeal of going out to say a bar when it's going to be croweded and then wait for a cab til 3 in the morning (because the Edmonton city council severely limits the number of cab licenses for some reason).

***

The good thing about this time of year is it's World Junior Hockey Championship time. I just saw the highlights from the Canada/Russia game tonight. All I have to say is this: Jordan Eberle is an Oiler draft pick. Ka-ching!!! We're taking gold baby. 5 in a row.

***

Anyone else love Lady GaGa? I got into her on a suggestion from someone from work. I think I'm in love. Her beats are catchy, and she's easy on the eyes too. I love "Just Dance" and "Poker Face" isn't bad either. Here's the video for "Just Dance". Try and watch it and not watch it again. I hate how all Youtube video have those goddamn grey boxes on the screen now. Way to fuck up a good thing Youtube.

***

We've been in a deep freeze here the last couple weeks. I know, I always complain about the weather. It's like someone who lives in Hawaii complaining because it's humid there. We have a termometor in the kitchen that gives us the indoor and outdoor temp with the outdoor sensor in our backyard. It ceases to work below about -30C. I haven't seen it register for like 3 straight days. This is ridiculous. I don't know how people can choose to live in this city.

And don't get me started on the drivers. Yesterday I swear I saw about 5 accidents on the roads. That's taking up the time of a lot of police and fire and ambulance workers. All because people can't slow the hell down. Damn you Edmonton drivers!!!!

***

I went shopping the day after Boxing Day this year to see if I could get any good deals. I picked up a pair of jeans at half price to replace my dying Diesel jeans that I'm sorry to say are on their last legs. I also got a sweet t-shirt with Albert Einstein on it. And I was able to add to my collection of designer underwear (that I started in New York) with a pair of Paul Smith undies. They were on sale of course.

That's about it from me. I'm back to school on Monday :|

I'll let you know how that goes next week. It'll be the beginning of my second last semester in school. I'm almost there. 6 more courses.

A Serious Update from A/B

2008-12-22T23:32:00.003-07:00

Hello friends, I hope all is well with you. This is probably going to be my last update until after Christmas, and I hate to have such a bummer post, but it's important.

This New Year's Eve will mark the second anniversary of the GF and I. The sad thing is, I don't know if we will see the third anniversary.

I guess after two years, couples get to the point where you can only progress so far. I mean, after two years, how much more can a relationship progress without getting engaged or married?

It feels as if we have stalled. Things begin to get monotonous. We certainly fight now more than we used to. It doesn't feel like either of us, and I will readily admit my part in this, "try" as much or as hard as we once did. It's been a gradual decline. Things were really bad earlier this month. I had pretty much conceded the fact that we would be done within months.

I didn't want to base too much in the last couple week though because with the stresses of final exams (her first round of University exams), all the Christmas bullshit, and the fact that we work at a toys store all compounded things. The good news is, the last week has been perfect. I don't know if this is just a calm before more storm, or if this is both of us putting on a brave face because it's Christmas in two days, or if we truly have turned things around.

I told myself weeks ago, that I wouldn't read into anything that happens this month because we have so much going on, and the true test will be what happens in the new year. I'm going to stick to that.

I really haven't talked to anyone about this. Basically all my friends are now friends with her as well, so I don't think I'm going to get an unbiased opinion from them. When I think back over the last two years we've spent together, there's so much good there that I'm scared, literally scared to even imagine what life would be like without her. My parents adore her. My whole family does.

She has been the most important person to me, ever. She came at a time when I needed to catch a break, and little did I know that we would spend the next 2+ years together. In a couple days, we will have done two Christmases together. A trip to New York - so many things.

I feel like I will lose all that.

What are the odds that your first love will be THE love? I don't know the answer. Does anyone have it? Please share.

We've all had friends who are are relationships and we know, and everyone else know that they need to get out of it because it's not working. I know I'm not in that position, but I can't help but wonder if I'm on my way to that stage.

I mean, her, and my friend and his little brother and I are supposed to be going to Japan this upcoming summer. Can she and I undoubtedly say we'll be together? Again, a couple weeks ago, I would have said no for sure. But we're supposed to plan this trip pretty soon. Am I supposed to say "hey so are you and I still going to be together in August? Because if not, you may as well not waste money on a ticket there". But of course I can't say that. I don't want to plan and book a trip, then feel an obligation to stay together for the next 8 months just for the sake of the trip. That would make one shitty trip. And a shitty 8 months.

I probably sound very pessimistic right now. I shouldn't. I just wanted to vent and I'm venting worst case scenario right now. I have never been in a position like this before, so I'm in unknown territory. I'm certainly not throwing in the towel or anything like that. But I truly did believe that it was going to end soon earlier this month. I wanted to blog about it then, but I thought I'd better give it some more time and see how things go. Plus, I had my final exams so I was preoccupied with those.

As always, any ideas/opinions/thoughts that anyone would like to share are appreciated.

These Are A Few Of My Fa-vor-ite Girls

2008-12-01T22:37:00.003-07:00

10. Evangeline Lilly - This woman is always in my list. I love LOST and she gets bonus points for being born here in Alberta.

9. Emma Watson - She's 18 now so it's OK to put her in the list now. 18 seems so arbitrary doesn't it? What happened to the half your age plus 7 rule? Whatever, we're not here to debate that now. Bottom line is the Harry Potter movies don't do her justice.

8. Avril Lavigne - I always put her somewhere in my list, and each time, I'm told that she isn't worthy. I guess she's an aquired taste, but I love those Cannon commericals with her.

7. Jenna Fischer - The Office is one of the few TV shows I watch on a regular basis. Anyone who watches this show has to love Jenna. She's so damn cute.

Miley Cyrus is not #6 because she is only 16... But look, I work at a toy store. I'm surrounded by dolls, blankets, cookies, candy, guitars, videogames, CDs, DVDs, and giant posters of her on a regular basis. And yeah, sometimes I watch the show. Got a problem with that?

5. Megan Fox - I subscribed to GQ magazine just in time to get the issue with Ms Fox on the cover. The picture of her with that cherry in her mouth is classic. The picture below isn't too bad either.

4. Sophia Bush - There are many benefits to having a girlfriend. There are also some negatives. One of them is having to watch girly TV shows. One of those shows is One Tree Hill. The upside to watching such shows is being introduced to fine creatures like Sophia Bush. Hands down, the best looking of all the girls on the show - and there are some real lookers to choose from there. Surprisingly, she's 26. That's only 4 years older than me, so it could still work. Probably the closest thing to perfect on this list.

3. Giada de Laurentiis - The disgusting thing is I almost forgot to add G to my list. I knew I was forgetting someone. If you've seen any of her shows, you know why she's on the list. She may be 40, but G is still gorgeous.

2. Haylye Williams - This is the lead singer of Paramore. I love her music. I just love her. She's such a cutie. Haylye did the impossible and took the #2 spot from Giada - for now. I especially like her in the Paramore video entitled That's What You Get. That red hair is a turn on. Period. Is it natural? I'd like to investigate.

1. Kari Byron - I still lover her. I have an 8x10 photo in my room above my signed t-shirt to remind of the that wonderful night when I got to meet and touch Ms Byron. What a wonderful evening. I know this is an anti-climatic pick for #1, but there was no way I could choose anyone else. Hey, just like Haylye, she's a red head too.

Offensive Pictures, Call of Duty, and a Baby Poking A Dog

2008-11-25T22:43:00.002-07:00

It's been almost a month since my legendary Mythbusters update. I'm sorry. I've been trying to update, but I've been very lazy lately.

A/B Trying To Update

I've been playing the new Call of Duty game, COD World at War. It's not as good as COD4, which I loved, but it's still addicting. Not sure how many people heard about the 15 year old kid in Barrie, Ontario who ran away from home when his parents took away his Xbox. He was pissed because he couldn't play COD4 anymore (I understand his pain). Having said that, he's 15. 15 year olds should know better than to run away from home, and then freeze to death.

In regards to this story, I came across this picture that made me laugh. The internets is a cruel, cruel place. Is this picture in bad taste? Absolutely. But it's hilarious at the same time. If you have played COD, you'll get it - if not, move along.

Actually, maybe it's not offensive at all. Maybe it's like a memorial. Maybe.

I will be absolutely pissed if the Canadian government gives any money to bail out the car industry. Let's be honest here, Ford, GM, and Chrystler are obsolete companies who can no longer compete in the car market. We can give them billions of dollars to keep them afloat, but how long will that money last? A couple years? Than what? Do we give them more of our tax money? To hell with that. Harper, don't give them a penny.

This meteor flew through my home province last week. I would have loved to have seen it, but then I thought about it. If I saw something that big and bright coming towards the earth, I'd probably shit myself. Still, I'm happy for all the people how got to see it. That's one thing you'll never, ever forget.

Sam Roberts is coming to Edmonton again in January. I've got my tickets. I love that guy. It'll be my third Sam Roberts Band concert. I'm excited.

A dozen of us from work have planned a ski trip to Banff in Feburary. We've rented two 6 person lodges and it should be a lot of fun. I'll go into more detail later.

For my next update, I think I'm going to do another 10 Ten Women post. I have some new additions that I really want to put in.

I leave you with a GIF of a baby poking a dog in the butt hole. Hope you're all well.

A/B & the Mythbusters . . . A dream comes true

2008-10-28T22:01:00.002-06:00

Last week, the University of Alberta held Science & Technology Week. I'm not sure what happened during 6 days of that week, but Saturday was highlighted by an appearance from two members of the TV show Mythbusters on Discovery Channel.

One was Grant Imahara:

The other guest was the one and only Kari Byron:

Kari is somewhat of a regular on my blog. She is always present when I make up my Top 10 Women lists. Is there a list that hasn't included Ms Byron? I don't think so.

The two were here for a sit down discussion/interview. Basically, a guy, I don't know who he was - probably a prof or something interviewed the two before an audience of about 300. Not an empty seat in the place. His interview lasted for about an hour and 15 minutes or so. They discussed how they got started on the show, their favorite myths (kind of cheesy question), and Grant showed us some unedited clips of some future myths from the show. Just basic stuff.

The next 45 minutes or so were audience questions. There were lots of young kids, like 8-9 years old and they had cute questions. One kid asked if they brought their dummy Buster. One man, I couldn't see him, but will assume he was probably in his 40s, scragly beard, and likely lived in his mother's basement, asked Grant about his work on the movie The Matrix, and where the props from the movie were. I think this guy wanted to steal them or something.

After that, they had a stack of Mythbusters books signed by Kari and Grant. They probably had about 20 or so. They randomly drew numbers corresponding with a ticket number. If your number was called you got the book, and the chance to shake hands with Grant and Kari. I came really really close twice to winning a book. The second time, my friend Jon won. I was happy for him, albeit a little jealous he got to shake Kari's hand. But he got my ticket so I couldn't whine. Also, he let me touch his hand that had touched Kari's.

After the last book was given away, it was announced that Kari and Grant would be staying on stange to sign autographs. I demanded that we stay so I could get Kari's (and I guess Grant's too) autograh.

The line was long, and it was hot under the lights of the stage. I suggested to the friends I was there with that I should take my sweater off and get them to sign my plain white t-shirt. I was joking, but Jon, often the one to talk me into things I probably shouldn't do said I should totally get my shirt signed. After some encouragment I agreed.

Thankfully, another friend with us brought a camera. I was all set to get my picture taken with Kari. Could my dream really come true?

The group before us was a bunch of girls (presumably in engineering). One of them brough their graphing calculator to have signed. After that, I didn't feel like such a loser for getting my shirt signed.

As the girls left the stage, it was finally my time. I went to to Kari and Grant and asked them if they would sign my shirt. They were happy to. Kari leaned in a signed her name. As did Grant. After Kari finished signing her name to my shirt, she added a little heart for me too <3.

I almost died. Let me be perfectly clear right now. She gave no one else a heart. No one. Just me. on my shirt. "Hell yes" I said in my head.

After they were done signing my shirt, and my friend's ticket stub, I asked them if my friend Johnny and I could get our picture with them.

They were happy to. As instructed while were were in line, Johnny took the spot beside Grant, allowing me to stand beside Kari. Thank you again Johnny.

She put her hand on my shoulder, and I put my hand around her waist. It was wonderful. The picture was taken by another friend, and that was that. I thanked them again for the picture and autographs, and Kari said "it was nice meeting you!".

Once the other two we were with got their shit signed and picture taken - again, let me say that they recieved no hearts with their autographs - we left. I was quite giddy. I think I skipped all the way to the car.

I have since developed the pictures and am working on getting an 8x10 pic of just Kari and I from one of those Kodak kiosks they have at Wal Mart. I'm just waiting for Johnny to send me the original file.

I leave you now with the pictures that will enshire the eveing I got to see, meet, talk to, touch, and be touched by Kari Byron (and Grant) forever.

If you're wondering, the shirt is hanging in my room. Never to be worn again. I don't dare risk anything happening to it.

I'm the one holding Kari.

The Big New York City Review

2008-10-21T20:33:00.000-06:00

Our flight left at 6:30am Edmonton time. I didn't sleep the night before. Too excited. I didn't sleep on the plane ride either. Too excited.

We arrived at O'Hare in Chicago in the late morning. What a beautiful airport. It's huge compared to ours - hell, it's huge compared to most airports in the world. When we were landing, we saw a firetruck with its lights on. Once in the terminal, we looked out the window and saw some smoke off in the distance. Grass fire maybe?

LaGuardia airport in NYC isn't quite as nice as O'Hare. Our luggage came off the plane no problem. I was worried it would be lost on the way.

Our hotel, the Grand Hyatt was beautiful. Surprisingly, our room was quite spacious. We had a bath which was nice. We both soaked our feet and legs each night. They were sore as can be each night from all the walking we did. But it was worth it. We had a walk in closet too which was bigger than we needed, but nice anyway.

HIGHLIGHTS:

Museum of Modern Art - we went Friday night, which is free admission thanks to a sponsorship deal with Target. It's a beautiful building. Its only 5 or so years old, and it's huge. There had to be thousands of people in there when we were there. It was neat to see Warhols and Picassos in person. I didn't know many of the artists, but I'm glad we went. I wouldn't have wanted to pay to get in though.

Museum of Natural History - one of my overall favorite highlights from the trip. It's simply a wonderful museum. If you're interested in science at all, you will love it. The dinosaur exhibit was really cool. Interestingly, many of the fosssils were from right here in Alberta. We even saw a dino named after my fair city.

The evolution exhibit was also interesting. As was seeing the largest meteor in any museum in the world.

Time Square - New Yorkers hate Time Square because it's essentially a tourist trap full of chain restaurants and stores. But for a tourist, it's still one hell of a show - especially at night. Looking up at the lights, and pushing through the crowd is a must-do. Going to NYC without a trip to Time Square is simply a damn shame.

The overall highlight was the taping of The Colbert Report. It was a lot of fun to see a show filmed lived. The "commercial breaks" during the taping are actually longer than on TV. Sometimes, much longer. Stephen gets his makeup re-done if need be, and goes over things (don't know exactly what) with his writers. Also, I got to touch him. We high-fived.

Some more pics:

I loathed coming home weeks after the trip. I still miss NYC. Anyone who has been there will know what I'm talking about. It's one of those cities you need to see at some point in your life. It's hard to explain the feel, the vibe, you get walking along the sidewalks. It's home to all these famous places like Central Park, Time Square, Grand Central Terminal, Ground Zero. It's home to the Statue of Liberty. The New York Stock Exchange. Wall Street. Broadway. Soho. It's endless. Don't forget Brooklyn and Harlem, just to name a couple more places.

I will be back. I don't know when, but I promise I will return. There's a pull New York has. I think it's because you can spend a week there, and not come close to doing and seeing all that the city has to offer.

Next Post Preview: My night with the Mythbusters. It's a must read update.

ZERO!?

2008-10-15T21:53:00.000-06:00

The combination of "zero!?" along with the look on McCain's face was hilarious.

A Few Random Thoughts

2008-10-14T20:00:00.002-06:00

It's election day in Canda. I voted. As of right now, CTV is predicting another Conservative Minority. This is what we had last time! Why did we have to go and dissolve Parliment, and waste time and money on this?! Don't Canadians know better than to elect a Calgarian as PM?

It's Science & Technology Week at the Unversity. Or maybe it's next week. I'm not sure. I'm in Business. But this is imporant to me, because as part of the festivities, the school as somehow managed to bring to of the stars from one of my favorite TV shows to the city - Mythbusters!

Kari is coming, and I'm going to see her. Grant Imahara is coming as well. I love the guy, but he's merely an afterthought. That happens this Saturday, and I'll let you know how it goes.

I'm kind of sick. I think it's going around school. I just don't feel like doing any work or reading. So I thought I'd update the ol' blog and watch some election results.
I know I promised NYC pics soon, and they're coming. I'm just lazy.

Take care all. I'll get working on the NYC update.

Fool Her Once, Shame On Couric. Fool Her Twice, Shame On Palin

2008-09-30T21:09:00.003-06:00

In other words, she only reads gun and hunting magazines. Couldn't she just lie and say USA Today? New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, or maybe a plug for the local hick paper?!!!? Come on.

After these last two interviews, Couric could get a job with The Daily Show.

PS I know I said I'd do an update with my New York pics, and I haven't forgotten. I'm just a little pre-occupied watching all the stupid videos of Palin. I haven't made fun of McCain for weeks. She's doing a great job of making the old man look good. Sly guy.

Couric Makes Palin Look Stupid

2008-09-24T19:44:00.003-06:00

The whole video is fun to watch, but the last 30 seconds or so are the best. It proves why McCain's people and her own people don't let her out in public very often. Yes, we all know you think Pappa Bear McCain is a "maverick". But you need to realize, Sarah, that everyone is getting tired of your same old taking points. It's becoming increasingly clear that you are nothing more than an Alaskan Barbie doll, and have no place in the White House.

This, coupled with the "time out" McCain has called in the election race has made today one of the worst days for the Republican't party in quite some time.

McCain Did What?

2008-09-09T19:39:00.000-06:00

The US Doesn't Really Want McCain (McCan't) Do They? And Palin???

2008-09-07T22:43:00.003-06:00

I got a chuckle from this YouTube video demonstrating the many lies of McCain.

I don't know who made this video, but it made me laugh. Viva Barak!!

According to Wikipedia, there were 670,000 people living in Alaska in 2007. There's more people living in Edmonton damnit! We're expected to believe that the governor from there - with less than 2 years experience - can run the most powerful country in the world? The Republicans must think we're all fucking stupid.

She's been playing the "oh poor me, the media is so tough on me" card since she was announced VP candidate. She's trying to get a free pass from them. It's working to a degree now, but her and McCan't can only push the media for so long before they start pushing back. And when they do, we will no doubt hear her people whine about "sexism" and "unfair treatment".

Have we even seen her take questions from reporters? The only time she speaks is when she can rail on Obama without journalists there to call her out.

I swear, McCain must have just drawn her name out of a hat at the last minute. Obviously, she was picked because she is a woman. Are we to believe that she is the most qualified female Republican for the position? I simply can't believe that.

She only got her first passport in 2006 according to this Boston Globe article:

Comella said today that the 2007 trip was her only foreign travel apart from visits to Canada. Comella said Palin first received a passport in 2006.

Palin's knowledge of international affairs and security issues is likely to be tested when she debates her Democratic counterpart, Joe Biden, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

I can't wait to see Palin debate Biden. I believe her inadequacies will be exposed. Surely, she will spend much of her time attacking Obama and Biden, while bringing no new ideas to the table herself. Will that be enough to pull the wool over the eyes of the American public? I don't think so.

Instead of learning how to shoot a rifle, maybe she should have spent that time keeping self-proclaimed rednecks away from her teenage daughter.

Oh, and we all know real hockey moms are from Canada. Not Alaska.

A/B Visits NYC

2008-08-28T21:25:00.002-06:00

I got back late last night from New York City. I loved it. Plain and simple. I miss it. I want to be there now.

Highlights:

The American Museum of Natural History was wonderful. Too much to see in only one day. If you read everything and studied everything, you'd be there for a week at least. The dinosaurs were great. Interestingly, a lot of the bones were from right here in Alberta. I even saw one dino named after my very own home town. The evolution section was awesome. If anyone still doesn't believe in it, go visit it. Then kick yourself in the ass for being so naive.
MoMA was alright. We got in free (everyone does Friday night between 4 and 8). I'm glad I didn't pay, but then I'm not much of an art guy. It was neat to see real Picasso and Warhol paintings. Am I spelling those right?
We went to the observation deck on top of Rockefeller Center on our last night. It was amazing to see the city all lit up.
We also took a cruise our last morning, and that was great too. We got up close to the Statue of Liberty, and got some great pics.

The highlight of my trip occurred Tuesday night when we went to the taping of The Colbert Report. Long story short, I got to high five him (so did Shawna) and recieved a squirt of hand sanitizer from him at the end of the show. I'll do a whole update on the overall experience later.

I don't have pics for you at the moment, but I will once I have them all organized.

New York Trip and The Olympics

2008-08-13T22:38:00.003-06:00

I haven't updated for a little while. I figured I would tonight. Not a lot to report, but I'll try to come up with a few things.
In one week tonight, I'll be in New York City. I'm really exited. I think I have everything ready to go. I have my US cash, my passport was renewed in the winter. All I have left is one last load of laundry which I'll do on Monday or Tuesday.
Many travelers are getting charged money by the airlines to check their first/second bags. Not I. Thankfully, we bought our tickets in January, when those policies were not in effect. We can check two bags free of charge.
I'm only going to bring one bag down there, but I'm also going to pack a medium sized gym bag in my regular suitcase, and if I buy lots of stuff while I'm there, I can stuff my dirty clothes and a pair of shoes in my gym bag, which will free up space in the suitcase.
I've been watching a little bit of Olympics this week. It's almost painful to watch the Canadians. As of now, we still don't have any medals. That's pathetic. I know a lot of people say that the athletes should just be proud of making it to the Olympics. To that, I say bullshit. You have trained for the past 4 years to compete in Beijing. Your goal is to win a medal. If you don't, you have failed. When I was younger, our baseball team would travel to tournaments all over the province. Even to Saskatchewan. We went there to win a medal.
I'm not saying the athlete should feel bad that they didn't win a medal, but as a country, we need to expect more from our competitors.
Instead of spending money on several hundred athletes - the vast majority who have no chance at winning a medal, we should invest the money on only the top athletes who actually have a legitimate shot at winning. As a country, we shouldn't be in the business of financing free trips for hundreds of people. Let's give the money to the people who deserve it.
There was a lot of talk on CNN today about the ages of the gymnastic competitors for the Chinese women's team, and how they're too young. Apparently, three are under the necesary age of 16. This is based on their height, weight, and appearance. I have a couple problems with this.

First, who really cares how old they are? As far as I'm concerned, there shouldn't be an age limit in the first place. If they're good enough to compete at 14, then great for them.

Second, one of the CNN reporters went to a gymnastics club in the US and asked the instructor if any of her students were as small as the Chinese girl. She said no. OF COURSE YOUR STUDENTS AREN'T THAT SMALL!!! They're American! Has this reporter ever met someone from Asia?! FACT: Chinese people are smaller than American people. Chinese girls are tiny compared to American girls.

Lastly, would the Americans be whining if they had won the gold medal, instead if silver? No. I actually watched the competition last night, so I can speak about it. Bottom line is that one American girl who fell off the balance beam is to be blamed. As were the other girls who kept jumping out of bounds when they were doing their floor routines. If they didn't screw up, they would have won gold. Blaming things on the age of the Chinese girls is a cop out.

This might be my last update before my trip. Rest assured, I will be back with an update when I get back. I will be at the taping of The Colbert Report on August 26. If you're up late that night, give it a watch. Maybe you'll even see me in the crowd.

Cheers all,

A/B

Lost Heads, The Dark Knight, And Time For A New Job?

2008-08-05T22:14:00.003-06:00

What a crazy story of that guy who cut off that other guy's head on the Greyhound bus last week.

It felt weird hearing that the killer spent the last few years here in Edmonton. He delivered newspapers here, and worked at a Wal Mart. Who would have thought he would end up doing what he did.

The victim was going back home after working at Capital Ex, the same fair that I saw Sam Roberts at a couple weeks ago.

The suspect has to be crazy. "Normal" people don't do that. "Normal" people can kill people, but you have to be crazy to stab a guy 50 times, then chop his head off, then eat parts of him, and stuff other parts in your pockets.

Clearly, he was a troubled man, and no matter what the court decides to do with him, he will never be the same. Simply a wasted life.

* * * * * * * *

I'm late with my review of The Dark Knight. It was a great movie. I had heard nothing but amazing things before I saw it. It wasn't the best movie I've ever seen. It might be top 10. The more I think about it, the more I want to watch it again.

It blew all the Spiderman movies away. It made Spiderman look amateur. It even beat IronMan which I loved.

Heath was very good. I don't care what people say about Bale, he was great. I loved his over-the-top voice whenever he was Batman. What do you expect people?! He's fucking Batman!

* * * * * *

I finally watched Monsters Inc. for the very first time this weekend. Great movie. Maybe the best animated movies I've ever seen. I want to go see Wall-E now to see how they compare.

* * * * * *

It's two weeks tomorrow when I finally leave for New York. I've been planning this trip since January, so the anticipation has been building for a while.

* * * * * *

I've been at my current job for just over 3 years now. Part time of course. For the first time ever, I'm wondering if it's time for me to look for a new job. Over the last few weeks, the managers have all had a stick placed up their asses. I shouldn't say all of them. Most have.

Basically, they're treating everyone rather poorly - in a failed attempt to crack down on what I guess they would say is poor work ethic. The problem is they're making everyone's lives miserable, not just the people they should be.

Most of the managers have no idea how to actually manage people. They may have taken a couple managers training courses put on by the company, but unfortunately that doesn't make you a good manager.

They are cutting hours of some good employees, a couple are friends of mine. I don't like seeing friends treated like that, and there is growing dissent amongst the rank and file. I would enjoy seeing several long-time employees leave over the next couple months - just in time for the Christmas season. It seems more likely every shift.

Current Events Rants

2008-07-27T23:11:00.002-06:00

Let's start with Omar Khadr. I know I'll sound heartless about this one. It's an intriguing case. You can read about it here if you don't know about it.

I'm sorry, but I can't stand hearing people whine that the Canadian government isn't doing enough to help Khadr. They call him a Canadian citizen. Legally, he is. But he spend much of his life in the Middle East, with his al-Qaeda-sympathizing family. Ok, no need to assume he's guilty by association, right? Well, he did kill an American soldier with a grenade. This happened in Afghanistan. It could have been a Canadian soldier he killed. Would people here be so quick to defend him then?

I don't want to hear that he should be sympahtized for because he was 15 at the time. You know between right and wrong at 15. I was in high school at 15. People argue that he was brainwashed. Yeah, you could argue everyoen in al-Qaeda has been brainwashed. It doesn't make killing someone right.

No help should be given to Khadr to try to bring him back to Canada for his trial. He didn't kill the American soldier in Canada. He did it in the battle field and was captured. Where his trial is held is none of Canada's business.

If I killed someone while travelling in, say, England, I wouldn't expect to be sent back to Canada. The fact that he is refered to as Canadian is insulting. We can't allow people who have essentially no Canadian in them to pull out their passports and beg for help at their leisure.

Barack Obama's sucessful showing in Germany appear to me, to be a sign that the world, not just the USA, is ready for the breath of fresh air that he would bring to the world. Let's go back in tim 4 years. Would John Kerry or Dubya have had such a crowd for their speech 4 years ago in Berlin? Absolutely not.

The world is excited at the idea of Obama as President. An issue like the environment, which Obama has made prominant in his campaign, is a prefect example of what kind of power someone like Obama can have. He just might be the guy who can bring the world together to make progress on this issue. Imagine what he can do over 8 years.

Can he undo all the wrong Bush has done? I think Obama can make great progress.

Rants About My Conert and the IPod Touch

2008-07-24T21:59:00.002-06:00

I went to see Sam Roberts last night. He was playing at the local fair. I don't like the fair, but I've gone the last 3 years cause of the concerts. It brings out the worst people.

You know there are problems when the carnies are classier than the average patron.

Great concert. He played lots of old stuff. Most importantly Brother Down and Where Have All The Good People Gone? . If I had one complaint it would be that he didn't play enough stuff from his new album. But as he was playing a big fair, I'm sure they figured most of the people there wouldn't be familiar with all his stuff so he probably wanted to stick with the hits. I understand.

A big wag of the finger to the teenage ass hats who push their way to the front of the concert after it starts. You kids were late - probably riding the damn ferris wheel or eating cotton candy. Both are things I enjoy, but I also have a watch and know when Sam is about to take the stage. Spend your money on a watch kiddies, and hold back on the candy apples.

A tip of the hat to Apple for their new software update for the ipod touch. It's a shame they charge $9.99 for it, but it's nice that we can now download some pretty cool applications. Some are free. Some you have to pay for. But I've already loaded up on lots of free ones.

What's Up With Us? A/B Wants To Get Back To The Basics

2008-07-24T00:16:00.003-06:00

I received an email from our friend Sudeep this week. We've been reading each others blogs for years now.

He had big news. He's getting married! First, congrats to Sudeep. I think I speak for all of us when I wish him all the best.

I realized what has been apparent for quite some time. I just don't update my blog very much anymore. I don't know why. Blogs like Dave's and Junniper's are updated even less. Sudeep went on a pretty long hiatus a while back too.

We all have our reasons why we don't blog as much. Personally, my blog started out as a novelty. I bitched about things. Then came the storied chase for women. That gave me the most fodder for updates. I truly blogged about that stuff because I deeply appreciated the advice. And the support.

With those problems behind me, I no longer need to come to the blogging world for advice. I have a girlfriend who is wonderful, so that topic is no longer something that requires blogging.

I don't want to stop blogging. I've met too many good - no great people to stop. While only a few update regularly, whenever I check out blogs like Sudeep, HE (who's no longer known as HE, but will be known as HE to me always), and of course Keshi, who updates rain or shine, I check blogs like Dave and Junniper too. Just in case.

So here's my plan. I have the summer off. I work little, and play PS3 a lot. In between the two, I'm going to update more. I'm going to try for everyday.

As my blog name suggested when I first began, I'm going to bitch and complain about anything and everything. I'm also going to throw in personal updates too. The latter has become a mainstay of the blog now. It wouldn't be the same without it.

I don't want any of the regulars to feel as if you need to comment every post. I know it's become somewhat of a courtesy, but until I get my posts up to par, they probably dont' deserve it.

If anyone is reading my blog for the first time, please feel free to come back later. I promise the quality of the posts will get better as I start blogging again (OK, they probably won't get any better. Nevermind).

Here we go. I'm going to update tomorrow. I'm going to talk about the iPod Touch, and douche bags at the Sam Roberts concert I just got back from. It's like Random Rants From A Random Mind 2.0.

Before we leave, a gratuitous picture of my secret love, Giada de Laurentis:

And my girl Jennifer Love:

And lastly, the greatest GIF in the history of the Internet:

I was wrong, this one is:

Matt Good Concert Review

2008-06-22T00:14:00.001-06:00

The concert, in a word, was wonderful. It was thoroughly enjoyed by all. MG actually forgot the words to the second line of the very first song, but we all had a good laugh at it after the third song.

The Canadian media loves to portray Matt as an ass/difficult/etc. Last night, Matt was pleasant with the crowd, and had us all laughing out loud on more than a few occasions.

The venue was perfect for the concert. It's usually reserved for fancy concerts or plays, so the acoustics there are perfect. And indeed, Good and his band sounded perfect. Being the venue that it is though, everyone sat throughout the concert, which I'm not accustomed to. We were able to stand when we demanded an encore.

I'd say my 5 favorite songs, in order are as follows:

5. tie between 99% of Us Are Failure and Avalanche.
4. Giant - it was the first song of the encore, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear it.
3. Load Me Up - this was probably the crowd favorite.
2. Black Helicopter - one of my fav songs from his most recent album. It sounded great.
1. Weapon - my favorite MG song, and it gave me goosebumps hearing out live. Perfect.

The only complaint that I have is that they never played Alert Status Red which is my 2nd favorite song. But he's drawing from so many albums, he can't play everything.

I'm glad my first MG concert was to see him with a full band. It was a great experience and if he brings some band mates along next time, I'll gladly see him again.

Travels

2008-06-19T16:15:00.002-06:00

It is 62 days until I leave for New York City. I'm very excited. I even bought a Moleskin book to take with me. It's going to be my travel journal.
I have my Matthew Good concert Saturday night. It will be my first time seeing him, and I can't wait. He's always been a favorite of mine.
Sam Roberts is coming at the end of July, so I'll likely see him too. Give his new CD, Love At The End Of The World a listen. Them Kids is especially catchy.
I have a bigger trip planned for next summer. My friend frequents Japan, specifically Tokyo. He basically goes there after school ends in May and comes back in August. He rents an apartment. He always bugs me to come, and I think I'll go, along with the GF for a couple weeks next August. We got talking about the trip, and I threw out the idea of heading to Australia while we're on that side of the world. The Australia leg adds to the costs substantially, but it might be the last chance we have to travel together before we graduate and get real jobs which will keep us tied down.
Speaking of the NYC trip, United Airlines changed our departure time from Edmonton to 6:30am from 7:05am. It's so early, I might not even bother going to bed that evening. I can fly on the flight to Chicago, and the subsequent one to LaGuardia.
That's about it for me. I promise I'll update more often. I'll do a Matt Good concert review for sure.

A/B The Conspiracy Theorist

2008-05-19T21:05:00.002-06:00

When I was younger, I watch ET The Extraterrestrial dozens of times each afternoon after school. I don't know what part of it compelled me like it did. Looking back, I think it was the idea of creatures from other planets not only existing, but coming to visit our planet.

Later in my childhood, I watched a movie called Contact with Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey. It's about Foster, who finds that aliens have been transmitting a signal into outer space, hoping another life form will hear it, and decipher it. I've seen that one a half dozen or so times. Great movie.

Of course, I grew up with the X Files. I actually have an X Files poster in my room from many years ago.

It wasn't a fascination I had with UFOs or aliens. I'd call it an interest. I believed, and still do, that there has to be other forms of life somewhere. I hated how people simply said "well, there's no proof, so I don't believe in them". Ironically, it was often people who blindly believed in God that demanded "proof" before considering the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

Again in my youth (let's be honest, I'm not in it anymore), my family took a trip down to Las Vegas. Before leaving, I bought a book written by Whitley Strieber. Basically he's a guy who wrote a book explaining how he was abducted by aliens. Subsequent books he wrote were both works of fiction (one may argue his first was as well), and collections of stories from strangers dealing with UFO/alien experiences. My book dealt with the latter.

I read the bulk of his book while sitting in the LV airport, the evening of our departure, waiting for our airplane which was delayed for three hours (it must have been Air Canada!). The dark airport, the lights in the distance from the hotels, and the stars in the sky created the perfect ambiance for such a read. The whole flight home, I stared out the window, wondering what I might see.

I've spent a little time on the Internet reading UFO websites and I read them assuming 99% of everything I come across has to be bullshit. But I also assume that 1% of what I read is real. It can't all be fake. As I mentioned, I think there is life elsewhere. But do I believe the stories of people who claim to have been abducted by aliens? Generally, I do not. Do I think UFOs are more than mere weather balloons, and meteorites? Some of them, yes.

The point of this post isn't to convince you of aliens or ETs or UFOs. I merely want to weave three news stories together for you, as I have done so in my head. I'm certainly not saying I'm right, but I ask you to not completely conclude that it's wrong.

* * *

UFO buffs have often argued that the reason so many people don't yet believe in UFOs is because governments around the world keep such information classified. Why don't they release it? Because if the public knew aliens existed, people would go mad. Pandemonium would ensue. Maybe even anarchy - I mean, we view the government as this powerful entity over us for which there is no equal. If they were to admit the existence of aliens, would ET not threaten the dominance of every single government on the planet? Aliens would truly be a power greater than any one government.

The admission of UFOs essentially means aliens have to be part of the equation, and finding out aliens really do exist would be the biggest event in the history of humankind. Now let's say hypothetically governments around the world had to break this news to the public (you can insert your own reason as to why here). How would they do it? Very slowly. They'd want to wean the public onto the possibility of UFOs and aliens. They certainly wouldn't hold a press conference and introduce ET. With that in mind:

In late March of this year, the French government did something unprecedented. They released all of their secret UFO files onto their website for public view. Before this, nothing of the sort had been done by any of the major western governments.

Last week, the British government did the same thing. Why would two of the most influential governments in Europe do this? Why do it at the same time? Is it just a coincidence? It seems odd that they'd both keep these files secret for decades and then release them at the same time.

But something else happened this week that really struck me as odd. Just as much the story itself as much as the timing of the story. The Vatican's chief astronomer wrote in the Vatican newspaper that he believes aliens may have been created by God, and could indeed live in outer space.

Two big governments and the freaking Vatican!?!? I'm not saying something is going on here. I'm just telling you that the last 7 weeks have given me reasons to ponder - not unlike I did when I was younger.

2008-05-09T12:52:00.003-06:00

So I was trying to decide what to get my mom for mother's day. Then I had this idea. Why not roll Mother's Day and Father's Day and my parent's 25th wedding anniversary (which they're celebrating in Oct) into one gift? They are going to Las Vegas to celebrate, so I figured my brother and I should get them tickets to a show. After some searching, we got them two tickets to see Elton John at Caesars Palace. They're great seats, in the front section. I think they're 8th row. They cost $300 each including fees and taxes, but I think it's worth it.
I'm still lounging around looking for a summer job. I thought I had one lined up earlier, but it fell through, and I refuse to work full time at the toy store, so I'm still kind of looking around. It's a great excuse to sleep in each morning.
I finally watched The Simpson's Movie this week. It was pretty good. A lot better than the show has been the last several years.
I don't think there's too much more for me to say, so I'm going to go read your blogs.

Dave Asks And A/B Comes Through

2008-04-12T13:19:00.002-06:00

Look, an update.

I'm all done classes for the semester now. I'm not currently working like usual on a Saturday, cause I booked it off to study. As you can tell, I'm not. Oh well.
It's actually better that I'm not working because we're celebrating Shawna's 18th birthday tonight (remember out here in the wild, wild west the drinking age is 18). It's going to be big. Lots of people from work, some of her friends who are old enough (and some who are not :0 ). In a few hours, I'll have to go out and get cash, and booze for a little get together I'm having at my house. Just four of us, me along with a few friends. It'll be like a guys night in before going out. We're going to drink and have pizza and play Call of Duty. I even bought Hannah Montana plates and napkins from work for us. They didn't have cups.
It seems like all girls over the age of about 16 hate Hannah Montana. I'm not sure why. Jealousy? But it's the truth.
I bought an ipod touch a couple weeks ago. It's a great machine. I went with the 16GB. I didn't think I needed 32 GB, but 8 seemed a little small, especially once you start putting videos on there.
The Foo Fighters concert was amazing. Best concert I've ever been too. Dave Grohl is so great with the crowd. The Edmonton show was the biggest of the Canadian tour, and he let us know his appreciation throughout the night. He seems like a down to earth guy, and it just makes you love the concert that much more.
My top 5 songs from the concert, in no particular order: My Hero, Monkey Wrench, But Honestly, The Pretender, Big Me.
Against Me! opened for them, and they were great. They played Stop!, Thrash Unreal, and even White People For Peace, which I wasn't sure they'd play, but was giddy when they did.
I don't know if any of you ever watched a show called Third Watch. It was a wonderful show and season 1 recently came out on DVD. If you're looking for a well written, well acted drama, pick it up. Trust me on this one. I can't wait for season two. The sad thing is the show ended several years ago, and they're only now getting around to putting out the DVDs.
I was happy Thursday night to have The Office back. Good episode. Not their best, but that scene when Michael and Jan and everyone is bickering at the dinner table before they storm off was wonderful. It's the best comedy on TV.
Last Saturday, we had about 15cm of snow fall overnight. And we almost had all of our snow melted too. Tomorrow is supposed to be 21 degrees. I don't like crazy weather. But I will take the 21 degrees. Hell, at that temperature, I could wear shorts outside.
That's about all I have to say. Hope everyone is well. I should get back to studying.

A Bit of Everything - And News That Will Make Dave Happy

2008-02-27T17:16:00.004-07:00

Hello all, I hope you are enjoying the spring weather. I walked all the way home from the mall today, instead of taking the bus. It was really warm out. The snow is melting, the main streets are snow free, and everyone seems just a little bit happier. It reminds me how much I love summer - and hate winter.

Ok, I'm making this official. My favorite videogame of all time is Call of Duty 4. I spent all Reading Week playing it online. Yeah, I'm pretty damn cool. But seriously, if you have an XBOX 360 or PS3, you must at least give it a rent.
Dave, I got tickets for the Matthew Good concert in June. Yes, I finally snagged some. It was imperative that I get some, as I heard he was bringing a full band with him. How could I miss it? Well, I'm not. Shawna is coming, and so is my brother, who might just be a bigger fan than me.
You know what I've realized? I don't like school anymore. I'm really just going through the motions now. I only do enough to get by. I just want to get my credits, and then get out. I'm sick of it, and can't wait to be done. In my 22 years of life, I have never hated school like I hate it now.
I think that feeling probably strikes a lot of University students. I think it's inevitable for most of us.
I just finished a great book called The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, the famed atheist. I highly recommend it. Regardless of your views on religion or atheism, it will make you look at things from a different perspective.

I haven't done my top 10 babes for a while, so I'm going to do it now. Actually, I don't think I can come up with 10, so I'll do 5. No wait, I'll do 6.

6. Natalie Portman - She's always in my list. How can you not have her in the top 5 (now 6)?

5. Kari Byron - I still love Mythbusters, and still love Kari. There's probably a dirty Kari+"bust" joke that could be made, actually two I think. But I will take the high road.

4. Evangeline Lilly - The local girl always looks great on LOST.

3. Avril Lavigne - She's in Maxim this month. Finally, she is getting the recognition she deserves.

2. Jennifer Love Hewitt - There's a reason why she's nicknamed Jennifer Love Huge Tits. But it's not just those that I love. It's the whole package.

1. Giada de Laurentiis - Anyone who has watched Everyday Italian or Weekend Getaway on the Food Network knows why she's number 1 here. Damn she's hot. She's my new crush.

I also love this time of year because stores are selling Cadbury Cream Eggs. Delicious.
I will leave you with a GIF of perhaps the laziest, most over-dramatic cat I have ever seen.

I forgot most of what I was going to post

2008-01-30T16:05:00.000-07:00

Seems like everyone who's blogs I read updated this month. Cool.
Shawna and I are planning a trip to NYC this summer. We have the plane tickets booked, and are in the process of looking into hotels.
We want to go shopping, check out the Museum of Natural History (which is #1 on my list of things to do), maybe the Museum of Modern Art, and of course all the other touristy places. We're going to go for a week at the end of August. I'm excited.
We got pretty cheap tickets. They were about $570 each roundtrip. We go through Chicago, which I'm excited about just so I can say I've been there. Apparently it's the 2nd busiest airport in the world.
It has been cold as shit here lately. Monday was brutal. It got down to -38C and with the windchill during the day, it felt like -48C! But don't worry. I survived.
I had more to say, but I can't remember what now. I'll update when it comes to me.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

2008-01-09T16:05:00.000-07:00

Hello all, and best of the New Year to you. I thought I'd share a few new things with you, in point form.

Dec 31 was the 1 Year Anniversary for Shawna and I. Coincidentally, we both goth each other rings. Mine was engraved on the inside, and unfortunately was too small for my fingers, so I wear it around my neck on a necklace. I actually like it better that way.
School started on Monday, and I enjoy all my classes so far. Even the accounting classes. I have 3 hours straight of classes on Monday and Wednesday, and 4.5 hours straight Tuesday and Thursday. I start at 11am each day which allows me to sleep in. The best part is no classes on Friday. 3 day weekend! Every week!
I am not usually one to spend money on fancy new electronics. But I sprung this Boxing Week (the day after Christmas is called Boxing Day in Canada, and stores stretch their famous Boxing Day sales out for a week - or sometimes longer) on a 32'' LCD HDTV. It's a Sony Bravia and I love it. I watch Blu-Ray movies via my brother's PS3 on it. I bought Mr and Mrs Smith, and let me let you imagine how good Angelina Jolie looks in high definition. Just imagine...
PS3 games on the TV are great too. I can't stop playing Call of Duty 4 on it. Everyone should buy that game - and play with me online.
I went downtown after school today and bought a pair of jeans. Now listen, I haven't bought a pair of jeans since last January. Yeah, it's been a year, so there you go. They're Rock & Republic jeans and I got them for $150. Regularly $290. Sweet.
I got all worked up, in a good way, after Obama won Iowa. I was hoping his momentum would carry him last night too, but no luck. I want him to win. He doesn't come off like all the other politicians who just seem fake or just come off as if they're in it for the power. I have nothing against Hilary, and I think she'd make a fine President, but she just seems like she's in it for the power. Obama seems sincere. He's young, and he's well-spoken. I could say the same about John Edwards. They're my 1-2.
Shawna bought Season 3 of LOST on DVD last week, and I'm working my way through it now. It's so exciting, it's hard to stop watching. Sure it's crazy as shit, but I just love it.
Shawna and I went to see Juno in theaters on New Years Eve. Very good movie. It's more of a girl movie than a guy movie, but it's enjoyable for everyone. I recommend it. Even better, both of the main characters are good, young Canadian talent.
I also saw I Am Legend a few weeks ago. It is a wonderful movie. It's on-the-edge-of-your-seat action the whole time. It's surprisingly short, but it doesn't feel like it. But in a good way.

Merry Christmas To All

2007-12-24T16:06:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to say Merry Christmas to everyone.

I saw I Am Legend with Will Smith on Saturday night. It was a great movie. Very intense, and a lot scarier than I expected. I give it two thumbs up.

I don't have much else to say. It really doesn't feel like Christmas Eve, but here we are.

Enjoy yourselves.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

2007-12-07T14:26:00.001-07:00

Wow, I haven't updated in a while. The last couple weeks, we've been a deep-freeze here. -15C weather. Even colder at night, and with the wind, it wasn't fun. But it's supposed to warm up closer to -2C this weekend.
Is everyone done their Christmas shopping? I am. I finished this week. I have it all done, and even my 1 year anniversary gifts for Shawna. That is December 31.
I'm done classes now. I finished Wednesday. I have two exams this upcoming Tuesday, but after that day, I'll only have two more. I can't wait for them to be over.
I've been listening to the new Foo Fighters CD. It's just great. I also got tickets to their concert here in March. I can't wait for that one. I'm already excited for it, and it's still like four months away.
Work is getting busier and busier by the day. What would one expect from at toy store? But it's a lot of fun hanging out with a handful of co-workers you really like (not to mention your girlfriend), and when it's busy, time just goes by so quickly.
I bought the Superbad DVD on Tuesday. I haven't watched it yet, but I might have to this weekend. Having it sit beside me is just so damn tempting.
I haven't been to any of my favorite blogs for over a month and I'm sorry. As I type this, I don't know if any of you are even updating. For all I know, you all could have packed it in by now. I sure hope not. I will update more this Christmas break. I promise.

A Q&A With A/B

2007-11-06T15:46:00.000-07:00

Q:A/B, how is school going these days?
A: It's going fine. Midterms have come and gone. I have/had two big assignments due this week. One I've handed in, the other I should be working on right now. Only one month of classes left. That's crazy.

Q: And work?
A: Well, we had the big catalogue come out this past weekend, so it was super busy. Saturday was the busiest day of the year. Every subsequent Saturday from here on out should be busier than the last. I won't complain. It's a lot of fun.

Q: How's the wife?
A: Very good. No complains. There are periodic flare-ups that last an evening, but never anything serious. It's just a whole lot of great times.

Q: How are you occupying yourself when you're not at work or school?
A: I'm playing Guitar Hero 3. It's a ton of fun. I would say I'm addicited, although I haven't played too much because of school work the last few days. I'm playing on medium now, if you're wondering.

Q: Why don't you update your blog more often? It's been 3 goddamn weeks.
A: I don't think there's been a whole lot to update about lately. I'll be honest, I don't feel bad not updating. I feel worse not reading the blogs of others. That's the part I miss most. I'm going to get around to reading blogs again soon. I have a lot to catch up on. I have a four day weekend coming up, so it'll get done.

2007-10-14T15:14:00.000-06:00

My goodness, it's been a while. Not much new here.

-School is going fine. Midterms will be starting next week, and I will use the week coming up to prepare. I am enjoying 3/4 of my classes, and the one I don't really like, is just really boring.

-Work is starting to get busy, as one might expect as we get closer and closer to Christmas. I'm working about 15 hours a week, which is maybe a bit more than I'd like, but my paycheques are of pretty good size. Not that I need the money. I'm doing fine financially, and have no need to buy a new pair of jeans any time soon. I haven't bought a new pair since January. Isn't' that amazing?

-I did buy a pair of grey Diesel pants last month, but they were on sale, and aren't jeans, so that doesn't count right?

-The municipal election here in Edmonton is tomorrow. I'm going to go vote before work. We need to really clean house, but the thing with municipal politics here is, your seat is pretty much safe unless you like, kill a man, then shit on him, and record it and put it on YouTube. This current group we have is one of the worst I can remember, and don't at all deserve the jobs they have - or the 13% raise they voted themselves this summer.

-Shawna and I are good. No complaints at all. We'd like to take a trip together next summer. It would all come down to how much money we want to spend. We could do inside Canada and go to Toronto or Vancouver, which would be nice, but with the high value of the CAN dollar now, it wouldn't be too bad to travel to the US, like New York or L.A. My concern for NYC would be the costs of hotels. The flights to either city would be cheap, it's really the hotels that cost you. Thoughts?

2007-09-30T17:06:00.000-06:00

Hello all. Thought I should update.

School is going pretty well. After some thought, I decided to change my minor from finance to management. Those management classes appeal to me more than finance, and lets be honest, they're easier too. I'm down to four classes this semester, now that I've dropped finance, so that's kind of nice, but I feel like a lazy douche for only taking four when I planned on five in the summer. Oh well.

I went out for a friend's (Stephanie) birthday last night. She turned 21. It was a great night, and I saw some people who I haven't seen for a while. It was fun. I drank too much, and felt like shit this morning, but it was worth it. I think.

Winter is coming. It's getting colder out. The leaves are changing colour, and it's putting me in a foul mood. I hate the cold. I hate snow. Why do I live here? The only good thing about winter is that hockey season is back.

That's all I have to say. I hope next time I update I have more interesting things to discuss.

Til next time.

The Back-to-School Update

2007-09-10T21:58:00.000-06:00

I'm just going to get right down to it. I don't like being back at school.

I question hourly why I decided to major in accounting. As Dave said in his last comment on my blog, it's because of the job prospects. I will have no problem finding a job when I graduate. The money I'll make will also be better than that of other grads with different majors.

I don't plan on being an accountant my whole life. But I want to get my degree (I guess) in it, then get my CA, and from there, I am pretty much qualified (as least from an education perspective) for any business job. I think the accounting major+finance minor will look good to employers.

I still hate it though. Only two more years.

* * *

Years ago, my friend Gavin and I swore never to do two things together for the sake of both of us.

One was never to take a University course together, as experiences in high school told us that the two of us together was nothing but trouble.

We broke that rule this semester by taking an elective together. We'll see how it plays out.

The second rule was never, ever to work together, because it would inevitably end up with the firings of both of us. He recently quit his job at IKEA and is now looking at working with me at the big toy store.

Are we mature enough to handle both these situations with grace and dignity? If you knew both of us, you'd know the answer to that is a resounding no. Well, it will be fun to see how it plays out at least.

* * *

I don't think I shared my thoughts on the latest movie I watched, Superbad.

In short, it was fucking hilarious. It was the funniest movie I've ever seen. It's almost in my top 5 movies of all time.

If you're a guy, you will love it. If you're a girl, you will still have laughs, but this is a guys movie through and through.

Everyone must watch it!

Just A Little Update Before School

2007-09-03T23:33:00.000-06:00

Well here we are. Summer is almost over. I go back on Wednesday. Where did the time go? I'm not ready to go back.

Looking back, I had a good summer. I got to spend lots of time with Shawna, lots of time with friends, and a decent amount of time at the bars. Say what you will, going out and bar hopping on a nice summer night is plain fun.

The exodus from work continues. I think we've lost about 13 people in the last two weeks. Those people have either quit, been fired, or have handed in their two weeks notices.
On the plus side, we are all getting raises. And a premium for working weekend shifts, which all of us who work part time are used to working anyway, so it's like a bonus for nothing. In all, it will mean a little more than $1.00 per hour extra. Nothing huge, but it all adds up I guess.
Tomorrow, season 3 of The Office comes out on DVD. I'll be first in line to buy it. I'm pretty sure I missed some episodes of that last season due to school or work. I'll be able to catch up now.
This year, the U of A is bringing in the U Pass which is like a universal bus pass which every student must subsidize via $75 fee per semester. It will save me lots of money. I'm all for it.
I have trimmed the number of links I have on the right side of my blog down. I basically got rid of links to bloggers that don't update. I gave Dave a reprieve because, well, it's Dave. We all love him.
I by no means blogged a lot this summer. Much less than I should have. I would assume that with school, I will blog even less. I hope I'm wrong. But if I do, thanks for reading my blog despite the regular updates. It really does mean a lot to me.
All of you going back to school, good luck. All of those who are going back to your regular work schedule (or starting a new job *Junniper*) good luck to you all as well. Make sure you all have fun, regardless of how shitty the work/school work can sometimes be. Use the time to better yourself, to have fun, to enjoy the company of the good people around you. None of us want to look back at this time when we're older and regret it. So lets all make the most of it, OK? And lastly, find a little time every now and then to blog. It's good for you.

Caitlin's Going Away Party

2007-08-28T18:52:00.000-06:00

Friday night, we had Caitlin's going-away party. We started around 9pm, right when she got off work. We went to Boston Pizza for something to eat. There were six of us that went together, including Shawna, and a relatively new employee named Allan, who is like my protege at work.

There, we were joined by a couple more people our age, along with a few of the older individuals from work.

Really, the young ones were just getting a quick bite to eat before going out drinking, as we learned our lesson not to drink heavily on an empty stomach last time we went out.

The evening looked to be special, as Shawna had procured her friend's fake ID for the evening.

We eventually make our way to the bar around midnight. On the walk there, Shawna told me how nervous she was to use the ID. She had never done it before. I told the group that I would go first, then, Cait, then Shawna, then the rest would follow behind assuming she got in.

I go up and try to smooth talk the bouncer, who was looked to be 40 or so. A little older than most. "There's five of us, do you have room for all of us in there?" I asked. He checked those little clicky things they use to keep track of how many people in the bar and said, "oh sure, we've got lots of room".

Cait was right behind me, and went through fine, as she's 18, so we were not worried at all. Then it was Shawna's turn. Her and Cait were behind me still, and I didn't want to turn around and watch her give the bouncer the ID - that would look suspicious, so I stood looking ahead instead.
This is how things played out after that:

Bouncer: Oh, I've had enough of this tonight.
Shawna: WHAT?!?
(A/B turns around to see what's going on)
(Bouncer reaches up to his earpiece and pulls it out)
Bouncer: The guys in the bar have been talking about all the hot girls that are in there. Like I can see them from the front door. I'm just going to stop listening.
(A/B breathes sigh of relieve)
Shawna and Cait: Oh, ha ha ha.
(Bouncer takes ID, scans it, gives it back to her without looking at ID, or her really)
Shawna: Yeah, that's not fair that you have to be stuck up here all night. How about I do your job and you can go in there and check out the girls?
Bouncer: Nah, I like this job to be honest.

After that the rest of the group made it in just fine. Let me tell you though, hearing the bouncer say "oh I've had enough of this" worried me greatly for a second.

Once in, we all had a great time. We started off with a shot of tequila each, or as Caitlin calls it, "a meeting with Jose Cuervo".

Shawna impressed me with her drinking abilities. She enjoyed the vodka slime she had next, and didn't flinch when doing shots of SourJack or JagerBanana (Jagermeister, and banana schnapps or something like that). Both are a must try next time you're out. The Sour Puss and Jack Daniels is quite nice, and the sourness of the sourpuss really makes the whiskey easier to shoot. Her favorite drink was the Pornstar (highball not shot). I bought her a Gladiator near the end of the night, cause what would her first bar experience be without a drop shot? Am I right? Her and Cait danced near the end, and just before we left, she and I danced to a Shania Twain song (yeah, it was a country bar). You know both of us are drunk when we're both dancing out in public.

Her, our friend Chris, and I cabbed home, stopping at her house first, as I wanted to make sure she made it home safe. Then her and I went to work at 9:30am the following morning.

All in all, it was an awesome night enjoyed by all. It's sad to see Cait go. Her and I got really close as friends over the past year or so. She will be missed, and I wish her all the best at University in Winnipeg.

Incubus Concert Review

2007-08-24T12:51:00.000-06:00

Let me start by saying that I took a few pics, but we were too far from the stage for them to really come out very well. My camera phone is great when I don't zoom in, but as soon as I do, the quality goes straight to hell. So in short, I don't have pics.

Anyway, it was a really good concert all around. They started off with Quicksand and A Kiss To Send Us Off from their latest CD, Light Grenades. Both were great, and the whole sold-out crown was into it. For their third song, they played Wish You Were Here, which is my favorite Incubus song, and probably their biggest hit (ok, Drive might have been bigger). They played Drive as well, which was great.

Also from their latest, they played Dig, Anna Molly, Oil and Water, and Love Hurts. Basically every single song off that CD that I wanted to hear.

From their anti-war, anti-Bush CD A Crow Left of the Murder, they played Megalomaniac - the video was pulled from MTV when it was released as it was too anti-Bush for some rednecks. They also did Pistola which was probably my second favorite song of the concert. They threw in Sick, Sad Little World too.

For the fans who play Guitar Hero II, they played Stellar which you can download and play on the game.

They did a couple of early songs including Summer Romance (Anti-Gravity Love Song), and Aqueous Transmission, which is pretty funky.

When you've been around for as long as Incubus has, and when you have released six full length albums, you can't play all the songs everyone wants to hear. I would have liked to have heard the following songs: Nice To Know You, Pardon Me, Make Yourself, Warning, or Redefine.

All in all, a wonderful concert. They sound great live. There was more weed being smoked there than any concert I've gone to before. I got a cool t-shirt too. It's actually a cool band shirt, which are hard to come by because most of them are ugly. They even had my size small! I'd go see them in concert again in a heartbeat.

This Update Has A Bit Of Everything

2007-08-21T15:38:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I got a letter in the mail telling me I had been selected for jury duty. The trial is to begin September 27th. I filled out one of those "don't make me go, I have a good excuse" papers and sent it back to them yesterday too. I basically said I am in University and having to do jury duty would hinder my academic well-being. I fully expect to get out of it.
Work has lost, or is losing three of my favorite girls. Megan has been let go. Little Claire has moved on to find a full-time job now that she'd done high school. Caitlin, whom I went to see Thornley with has a couple more shifts left, and then is moving to Winnipeg to go to University there. Cait will be missed most of all. She has worked there almost as long as I have. It won't be the same without her.
Friday we're going out for Cait's going away party. It should be crazy. Crazy good.
Tomorrow night is the Incubus concert. Should be a great show. I'll have a review and pics later on.
Shawna and I have watched a couple movies in the past week. I want to share my thoughts on them.
The Departed was the last one we watched, and was a great movie all around. Well written, and well acted. Alec Baldwin was hilarious. So was Marky Mark. I'd say it was my favorite Jack Nicholson movie ever. I 'm not a big fan of him overall, but loved him in that movie.
Smokin' Aces was a different movie. Entertaining if nothing else.
Collateral with Tom Cruise and Jamie Fox was a great movie too. Very exciting.
Last night I finished reading the 6th Harry Potter book and started on the last one. In regards to the 6th book, I've known for a while that ***** kills **********. So the ending didn't surprise me.
I bought season 10 of South Park today on DVD. I've watched 3 episodes. That show always entertains.

A/B Goes In Depth With The New Mattew Good Album

2007-08-15T14:36:00.000-06:00

If you don't care for MG, or have no idea who this is, you can go ahead and skip this post, and come back another day when I have something that you might actually care about. At least I know Dave will read this, lol.

I'm going to start by giving a couple sentences on each song. Then an overall thought at the end.

1. Champions of Nothing - It's the longest song at 9:33. I like the beginning of it with the repeating audio clips, but other than that, it's too slow for my liking.

2. A Single Explosion - Starts off slow, but then picks up the pace. It's decent at the very least.

3. Metal Airplanes - The whole song is slow-paced, but I love this song. One of my top 5 songs on the CD

4. 99% Of Us Is Failure - My favorite song on the CD. The chourus just sounds epic. You'll know what I mean if you listen to it. Just a wonderful song.

5. Born Losers - The first single. Great song. Most radio-friendly. Maybe my second favorite song on the CD.

6. Odette - I just don't like this song.

7. Black Helicopter - This is another awesome song. If Born Losers isn't my #2 song, then this one is. "Only killers call killing progress"...

8. The Boy Come Home - This song isn't bad. I think it's one that will grow on me the more I listen to it.

9. The Devil's In Your Details - This is another one that I love. It's just really catchy. It's a top 5 song.

10. Moon Over Marin - This song bores me. I don't really like it.

11. Girl Wedged Under the Front of a Firebird - This song is just weird. I'm sure there is quite a story behind this story - more than MG explains over and over at the beginning. Great name for a song, well very appropriate at least.

12. I'm Not Safer Than A Bank - This is another short song like the previous one. It's cool. I need more time with it to "get it".

13. I'm A Window - This is another great song. I love this one. It sounds surprisingly "poppy" for MG. I think it's the chorus that has that effect. Still a wonderful, catchy song regardless.

14. She's In It For The Money - I'm sure this song would hit home for a lot of unlucky guys. Thankfully I'm not one of them. Very sad, but incredibly well written.

15. True Love Will Find You In The End - This song is kind of the counter-balance for the previous song. A little something to give everyone a little hope.

I don't think this CD overall is the best MG album. It's a great one, but it isn't up there with Avalanche, The Audio of Being, or Beautiful Midnight. It is much better than his last solo album White Light Rock & Roll Review however - heads and shoulders above.

As always, my feelings of certain songs, and possibly the album has a whole will change the more I listen to it. Having said that, I think my little review above sums up my thoughts on MG's latest work quite well.

Everyone should give Matthew Good (Band) a listen. Buy his albums. Or download them. Whatever you need to do. Give him a try.

This latest CD, Hospital Music was the #1 CD in Canada. It was his first #1 album since 1999 with Beautiful Midnight (I believe that was the CD). A whole country can't be wrong - can we?

2007-08-13T15:59:00.000-06:00

Ok, first let me talk about today's post. As has become tradition here, every summer, I answer Maxim's Hot 100 list with my own top 10 list. I will do that in this post.

Also, I actually have a few things that I'd like to mention here on the ol' blog, but will save them for another post, another day. Some other time this week. I promise. At the end of this post, I will respond to a couple of comments that you guys so graciously left on my previous post too. Sorry I didn't do it earlier in the comments section.

I haven't done a theme post for a while. It feels good.

A/B's Top Ten Girls 2007

10. Ashlee Simpson - You're surprised she's only #10. I'm surprised she even made this list at all. I didn't even want to include her. She has fallen dramatically ever since she started dating that douche from Fall Out Boy. I felt I should include her on this year's list just because she has been such a big part of my blog. If she doesn't dump that loser, she wont' make the cut next year.

9. Kari Byron - Kari always makes my lists. I always enjoy watching her on one of my favorite shows, Mythbusters. What else can I really say about her? She's just great all around.

8. Jennifer Morrison - One of the stars of House is one of the most underrated girls on TV. I know she was on my list last year. She's just really cute.

7. Michelle Marsh - I don't know much about this girl. I know she's a British model or actress or something. What I do know is she has huge boobs and that's good enough to make this year's list at #7.

6. Natalie Portman - She is a favorite of mine, and has been for a while. I haven't seen a lot of her this year though, and that's why she's only making it up to the #6 spot.

5. Avril Lavigne - I'm not going to try to justify this pick. She looks really hot sometimes.

4. Fergie - Fergie is interesting in that people either seem to love her or hate her. Some think she is ugly. I think she's really hot. She has one hell of a body too. Most of her songs annoy me however.

3. Emma Watson - I know what you're thinking, but she's already 17 years old, so come on. My girlfriend is 17 years old. It's all good.

2. Nelly Furtado - she's been huge the past year or so. I debated putting her in the top spot. Back in junior high and high school, Nelly was probably my #1 overall.

1. Jennifer Love Hewitt - A perennial favorite for the #1 spot. No reason for her not to be here again.

This year's edition of my top 10 wasn't as enjoyable as if often is. Probably because I have a girlfriend now. But I felt like I should do it anyway - for old times sake.

* * *

Ok, in response to the comments on my last update that I didn't comment on:

I'll be going into my 3rd year of University.
I will give a bigger, better review of the new Matt Good CD in the near future.
I want to live in Australia during the winters here, because it's summer there.
A couple weeks ago, I accidentally fucked up my blog template which threw everything out of whack. So I thought it was a good time to get a brand new blog template.

2007-08-07T13:40:00.000-06:00

Well, here we are. It's already August. Where has the summer gone?
Normally by this time I'm getting anxious for school. Is anxious the right word? Maybe more excited. I'm always looking forward to going back. Not so this year. I'm not sure why. I'm just not ready to go back. Hopefully I get my fill of summer over the next month, and am looking forward to school again come September.
Ok, I'll admit that I am quite excited to get my books. I always am. That's how cool A/B is.
Having spent a decent amount of time with the new Matthew Good album, I want to say that it is very well done. It's not quite like anything else he has done so far. It certainly is more dark than usual. It is almost the opposite of Avalanche in my opinion. Hospital Music, in at least a few songs sounds very bare bones. Which is in contrast to a song like Weapon for example off Avalanche.
Regardless, I suggest everyone buy or download this CD. Give it a try. If you like this CD, there's plenty more MG for your listening pleasure.
What was up with that bridge collapse in Minnesota? How can that happen these days? Anywhere in the world?

2007-07-31T19:02:00.000-06:00

I had my Thornley/Matt Mays concert on Friday with my friend Caitlin. It was amazing. The lowlight of the evening was the opening band, Mariana's Trench. They were some shitty emo band from Vancouver (I think that's where they're from). The concert was filled with little 12 year old girls just to see them.

Matt Mays & El Torpedo were wonderful. They played Cocaine Cowgirl first, and finished off with Time Of Your Life. Both are awesome songs. They also told a cool story about seeing Bill Cosby at the Edmonton International Airport that day. Apparently, Bill has friends in the city that he met in the 70's and likes to stay in touch.

Finally, Thornley took the stage. They were nothing short of spectacular. They actually sound really good live, which we can't say for all bands. They played my favorite song, Come Again, and threw in some old Big Wreck stuff including The Oaf, That Song, Blown Wide Open, and Ladylike. I bought a Thornley t shirt, and Caitlin bought a Thornley tank top.

That same day, Shawna, her family, and her friend headed off to BC for vacation. I miss her so much. We talked on the phone last night, and of course we text each other all the time, but not being with her really sucks. She may be back as early as Saturday, or as late as Monday.

It has been really hot here lately, but today was a reprieve. It was only about 20C today and rained a bit. It's supposed to warm up to 26C tomorrow and continue the warming trend for the rest of the week. Hopefully tomorrow night is warm, as a few people from work will be going out to the bar for a few drinks after work.

I bought 300 on DVD and the new Matt Good album today. I will have opinons on both once I have a chance to sit down with them.

Hope everyone is well.

Please Ignore This Post

2007-07-27T01:19:00.000-06:00

....

A/B Reviews Different Things

2007-07-23T12:04:00.000-06:00

Movies

Ocean's Thirteen - this was probably my favorite movie of the summer. Much better than the second movie, and almost up there with the first one - which I loved. The little Oprah bit at the end was wonderful.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - terrible movie. By far the worst of the 5 HP movies. Obviously, they tried to keep as much from the book in the movie, but failed, as the movie was hard to follow and seemed jumbled the entire time.

Ratatouille - This the the latest movie I saw, and I enjoyed it. Seeing this one wasn't my idea, but I'm glad we went, because it looks great, and as animated movies always seem to have, had a great story as well. I recommend this one.

Music

Ten Second Epic - These guys are from right here in Edmonton, so I have to mention them. I bought their new CD last week, and am only now starting to listen to it. As a local band, I want to try to expose them to as many people as possible on my tiny, little blog here.

This is their latest single called Old Habits Die Hard.

This is the first song of theirs that I heard called Count Yourself In. It's a wonderful song.

Interesting Ten Second Epic fact: One of the managers at work was in the same elementary class as the older brother of the drummer. One winter, the brother of the drummer pushed the manager down the stairs and the manager broke his leg. Once he recovered, he beat the shit of the drummer's brother. Apparently all the guys in the band are all really good guys, and the singer is a funny guy.

Edmonton Building Codes

A big thumbs down on this review. Saturday morning, I was awoken by dozens of sirens from fire trucks and police cars. They came one after another for a good twenty minutes. I had never heard anything like it before.

I later found out, all the emergency vehicles were responding to a fire that started with a yet-to-be-finished four story apartment building, then spread to destroy 18 townhouses and damage 40 more. It was the largest residential fire in Edmonton history.

All new homes in the city are built so damn close together and use materials that are flammable, that no one was surprised by this fire. I would hope building code changes are coming now. Thankfully no one died, but it could have turned out much worse.

2007-07-16T15:27:00.001-06:00

Hello all. I hope you are doing well. I haven't updated in a while. I don't have a lot to report. I'll just write down some random thoughts as they come to me, and we'll see how long this post ends up being.

Adair's birthday a few weeks ago was fun. We got her really drunk. Apparently she threw up once before she went to sleep and something like six or seven times in the morning. I didn't know people threw up in the morning.
Last week I took my final driving test to get my full licence. I passed. I just got my new drivers licence in the mail today.
I had to get me goddamn mp3 player repaired again a while back. I got it back this past week, after a six week wait! I will never buy another Sony mp3 player again.
Here is my prediction for the new Harry Potter book: Lord Voldermort will die for sure, and the other main character will be the big mystery. I think it should be Harry, but I could see it being maybe Ron or Hermoine dying while helping Harry fight Voldermort.
We're in the middle of some really hot heat. It has been over 30C the last few days. Today is just below that, and cloudy so it isn't quite as bad. But I won't complain about the heat, because in the winter I complain about the cold, and you can't complain about both.
Shawna is going on vacation on July 27 and will be gone for ten days. I think the break will be good for us. I think it will make us both appreciate each other when she comes back. Time apart every now and then is always a good thing.
I've been playing Rainbow Six: Vegas for PS3 a lot lately. It's a great game.

I Feel I Should Update

2007-06-24T20:49:00.001-06:00

I don't really have too much to say. The powers that used to tell me to blog are no longer here. I once ridiculed Dave for never updating, but little did I know, I was headed down the same path. If the pattern continues, I will never update - as our good friend Dave is now in the habit of.

Dave, did I hear a new Matt Good single on the radio today? I swear I did.

Adair's birthday celebration is this Wednesday. The excitement continues to build. Pics will be added afterwards.

My Nana is coming out from Ontario to visit. She arrives Monday night and will be here for about two weeks. It's been about a year and a half since the family has seen her.

Shawna is going camping with her friend Char and her family this upcoming long weekend and I don't know what I will do with myself. The guy from work who also owns his own lounge/bar is celebrating his birthday on Saturday the 30th, so I'll go to that. But what will I be doing Canada Day/July1? I have no idea.

Last week, I went shopping with Shawna and ended up trying on a pair of Diesel's. They were straight leg, but were too baggy in the leg for me. I was told by the girl working that the cut of those jeans - Vikers - are the slimmest they make in straight leg. This means that I will have to wear boot cut Diesel's in the future. I prefer straight leg in general, but I have no complaints with my boot cut Diesel's I have now.

Well, I was due for a jean mention. I haven't had one for a while.

Just A Few Random Things

2007-06-18T15:29:00.000-06:00

I am fighting off a cold I think. I took some Cold FX (you remember me going on and on about that stuff), and I hope this is the worst of it. I haven't been really sick for quite a while, and I'd like to keep my streak going.
July 27th, my favorite band, Thornley will be in town, along with Matt Mays & El Torpedo who I also love. Unfortunately, Shawna will be on vacation then, so I will be going to the concert with a couple people from work instead. We're all really excited.

This is Matt Mays in "Cocaine Cowgirl"

Thornley in "Come Again"

Excitement is building for Adair's Bday party next Wednesday. We expect quite a few people to come from work, and since we're going on Wednesday night, it shouldn't be too busy at the bars, so no lines.
We saw Hostel II this weekend. Better story than the first, and more blood and gore. Also, nice to see Paxton from the first Hostel, but I won't say anything more.
Last night I went to Shawna's house and watched a movie with her and her best friend Charlene. I had to sit through Because I Said So. I had my arm around Shawna and on the other side of her was Char. Char started tickling my arm, thinking it was Shawna's, and I commended her for the boldness of tickling me in Shawna's bed, with Shawna between us, no less. The movie sucked by the way.

A Few Random Things

2007-06-11T14:11:00.000-06:00

So this ass-clown won the National Spelling Bee (why do they call it "national" when they allow Canadians to compete?) last week. What a pathetic loser. This is why children should not be home-schooled. I can guarantee if he had gone to public school like most of us, he would not have turned out like that.

For the record, the 2nd place finisher was Canadian, and in fact, from Edmonton. FYI, he goes to the same school as Adair - albeit much younger.

* * * * *

I know we are all supposed to hate Paris Hilton, and savor the fact she is now in jail, but I felt bad last week when they let her out of jail, then threw her back in. That was unfair.

* * * * *

I was going to put pics up from the trip to the bar last weekend, but realized that they aren't that great, so I'm going to hold off until Adair's birthday party (her bday is today, but we're celebrating it June 27).

* * * * *

I want to see two movies that came out recently: Ocean's 13, and Hostel Part II. I'm not sure what Shawna and I will see this weekend - maybe one of those.

* * * * *

An ear looks to be coming to an end at work. It sounds like Megan will be handing in her two-weeks notice this week in anticipation of another summer job. It will kind of be sad to see her go, but overall, it's probably for the best. She may return in Sept when school starts again though.

* * * * *

Then end of June will mark the 6 month anniversary of my first date with Shawna. Any ideas how the special occasion should be celebrated?

Weak Update

2007-06-05T13:44:00.000-06:00

I didn't plan on updating today, but saw these to GIFs and had to share them.

Before I do, let me say that pics from Friday night will be up at some point. There aren't many, and they aren't that great, although the evening was fun. I don't think I've felt as sick after drinking as I did that night. I thought I was going to throw up in my bed, but I didn't!

Also I bought new shoes this afternoon, they were on sale for $43 and I'll take pics of them so you can critique.

This GIF is for Junniper, who we all know enjoys cats. But we can all get something out of it too. We've all had days like this cat is having.

I don't know why I find this last one funny, but I laugh every time.

Love Is In The Air - For Some

2007-05-27T20:50:00.000-06:00

Last night, Shawna and I watched Pirates of the Caribbean 3. It wasn't that good, and fuck was it long. My ass and legs were sore afterwards (insert joke here).

Afterwards, we went back to my house, and hung out. She was laying on top of me, and we were kissing.

I asked her if I could tell her something. I told her that I loved her. She said she loved me.

It seemed like the right time. I can't imagine life without her, and I care for her more than anything in the world. If this isn't love, then I don't know what is.

Things weren't as successful for Megan last night at her grad. The guy she brought out from BC (who she hates, but really liked at a time) was apparently hitting on her friend all night. Also, another of the guys that came from BC got beat up. We Alberta boys are not to be messed with.

Semi-on topic, I have never felt as distanced from Megan as I do now. We might actually talk more now than a few weeks ago, but I don't feel any real bond to her, other than that of a friend. If anything, that's a good thing.

Also, all the of legal age people at work are going drinking this Friday. It should be a good time. It always is when we get together. We could have as many as 10 people, plus guests, so I really can't wait. Should make for a good update - with pics.

The Lazy Days Of Summer Are Not Good For Blogging

2007-05-23T13:40:00.000-06:00

I don't really have a lot to say.

I broke down and made a Facebook account. I feel like such a tool now.

It's really cold today. So cold, that I'm wearing my warm U of A hoodie.

Despite not doing much all day, all week, I have zero desire to find full-time, or anything close to full-time employment.

I have about as much money now as I did at the end of last summer, so it's not like I spent it all during the school year and need to replenish.

If anyone has Facebook, let me know, and I'll add you as a friend, then we can be tools together.

On Sunday at work, my pen burst on me. It leaked all over the white t-shirt I was wearing underneath my work shirt. This has prompted me to look for a new white t-shirt. I went to Gap today, and they want $25 for a plain white t-shirt. Fuck you GAP.

Let's all cheer for the Ottawa Senators. Bring the Stanley Cup back to Canada where it belongs.

Q&A With A/B: Part 2

2007-05-15T21:19:00.000-06:00

Q: Did you pick up the new Linkin Park CD as planned today?
A: Yes I did. It's quite well done. It won't be for everyone, but everyone who feels the Iraq war was unjustified should download two songs: No More Sorrow, and Hands Held High. HHH is incredibly well written and everyone should hear it.

These fuckers are laughing the way to the bank and cashing the check
Asking you to have the passion and have some respect

For a leader so nervous in an obvious way
Stuttering and mumbling for nightly news to replay

And the rest of the world watching at the end of the day
In their living room laughing like "what did he say?"

Q: Junniper wants to know what kind of weather you are experiencing. What's the answer to that question?
A: Tomorrow will be the warmest day of the year so far, with an expected high of about 82F, which is about 25C. But it is going to cool off considerably for the long weekend. Friday will only be about 56F which is about 12C.

Q: A long weekend? What is that for?
A: Victoria Day is Monday.

Q: What is Victoria Day?
A: I don't know.

Q: Plans for the long weekend?
A: Shawna and I are going to go out for dinner on Friday, and just "hang out" the rest of the weekend.

Q: "Hang Out", eh?
A: Yes. I'm pretty sure I could have gotten some on Friday if I wanted. Why didn't I? It just didn't seem like the right time I guess. I'm in no rush. I have every reason to believe we'll be together for a while. Maybe this weekend. It isn't a big concern of mine.

Q: Switching gears, what is the most underrated fruit of them all?
A: By far, the pear. The pear is a great fruit. It's kind of like an apple, but it tastes so much better. The pear doesn't get enough respect.

Q: You haven't bought any jeans for a while. What's up with that?
A: I just don't have a need for any more. I have 5 good, quality pairs now.

I did take my brother shopping last night for jeans. My parents put a $100 limit on them, so we went to Buffalo, and got a nice pair for $98. They also wanted me to help him find a t-shirt, and put a $30 limit on that, so I found a Juicy Couture shirt on sale for $29. The regular price was $95, so I was pleased with that buy.

Q: So you haven't bought anything recently?
A: Well, I did buy a nice Penguin polo last Friday when I was shopping with Shawna. It's a nice polo that is perfect for those warm summer nights spent drinking.

Q: We've been asking you a lot of questions A/B. Do you have any questions for us?
A: Yeah, I do actually. How does one know when they are in love? I think I'm falling in love with Shawna. We've made so much progress in the last 10 days or so. I'm closer to her now than ever before - there is no question about that. It's getting pretty serious.

How do I know?
When and how do I tell her how I feel?

Here is a text message she sent me Sunday morning after we had hung out after work on Saturday. I got this just as I was on my way to work:

Good morning Sweetie! When I woke up this morning I wished I was waking up beside you. Have a good day at work! I hope it goes by fast! Talk to you later =)

How can I not love that?

Q&A With A/B: Part 1

2007-05-13T22:19:00.000-06:00

Q: How many Q&A sessions will there be this time, A/B?
A: I'm not sure. More than one, since this is part one, and that means there has to be more than one right?

Q: How is your summer going so far?
A: Not too bad. I've been sleeping in till 11:30 or so each day. Then I watch South Park on DVD. I've really gotten into that show over the past week or so. I'm watching season 8 now, and can't wait to watch season 9.

Q: Last year around this time, you were excited about the new Breaking Benjamin album. What has you excited this summer?
A: Not a whole lot. The new Linkin Park CD comes out next Tuesday. I'm looking forward to that. I've loved all their albums so far, so this one should be good too.

Q: Is that it?
A: Well, I'll be honest. I downloaded the Justin Timberlake CD yesterday, and I've been listening to SexyBack and What Goes Around Comes Around ever since. I love the latter of the two most.

Q: Isn't your favorite band, Thornley releasing their album this summer as well?
A: Apparently. But we've been waiting for like three years for it, so who knows if it will ever come out.

Q: When are you going to find another job?
A: I'm not sure. I got my tax rebate cheque a couple days ago. It was for about $400, so that means I can delay finding another job for a couple weeks, right?

Q: Switching gears, you have been going out with Shawna for almost 5.5 months. It seems to be getting serious. Your response?
A: It is slowly getting more serious, whatever that means. Relationship wise, I don't know what the "next step" is. We talk every day, we see each other each weekend, usually twice. Hopefully once she is done school for the summer, we can spend even more time together.

Q: Would you like to go into more spicey details about you two?
A: Not now. I'll save it for part 2.

Q: So now that your summer is well underway, what goals do you have? Any big plans?
A: I've decided to bring Sexy Back. Just for you, JT.

The Weekend, and A/B Intimidates

2007-05-06T20:30:00.000-06:00

Saturday night, Shawna and I had dinner with Megan and her friend Courtney after work.

To be honest, it wasn't nearly as bad as I had expected it to be, and in fact, it may actually be classified as enjoyable. Who would have thought?

The idea for a movie afterwards was scrapped. We figured we could do it another time. Also, Megan's parents were out of town for the night, so you know what that means.

Shawna and I dropped by later in the evening, around midnight. We only knew Courtney, so it kind of sucked, but we were able to get some booze into Shawna.

As we were walking up to the door, we could see into the living room. A few high school boys were visible. Shawna says to me "meh, it's going to be some dumb high school party". I couldn't help but laugh. Did she forget she's in high school? I've taken her to too many 20-something parties. Going back to the teenage crowd is a step down now.

We only stayed for about 20 min, then I drove Shawna home.

* * * * *

I asked Megan what was up with the whole "the only person I'd date is A/B" comment after work today. She says she doesn't remember saying it. I'm guessing she probably did say something along those lines. But I'm going to drop it. No need to dwell. Nothing good can come from it.

* * * * *

The party at Megan's was essentially a sausage fest. Also, I was the oldest there by probably three years or so.

Megan's new guy friend, Adam was there. Apparently, I intimidated him, and told Megan that I kept giving him dirty looks last night. I didn't, he's just a little pussy-ass bitch. Anyway, the conversation went like this with Megan:

Megan: Yeah, so Adam said that you kept giving him dirty looks last night.
A/B: Um, no. Why would I? I don't care about him.
Megan: No, I know you didn't, but he's intimidated by you.

A/B: Well, that does not surprise me.
Megan: (sarcastically) Yeah, you're a very intimidating guy. You're very scary.
A/B: I am. I'm also smarter than he is. . . And better dressed. That's why he's intimidated.

I guess Megan has told him that I'm "protective" of her. I guess I am. More than that though, I'm weary of guys who pretend to be her "friend". She thinks they just want to be friends. Oblivious to her, they want to fuck her. I've been right about every guy like that since I've known her. Adam seems better. He didn't even drink last night (lame). But he's after the same thing. She just doesn't believe me. Do I care anymore? Very little. But the bottom line is Megan and I are still friends - pretty good ones. Albeit, not as close as before. I don't like seeing my friends being taken advantage of, and I'm afraid that is what's happening here.

* * * * *

Last week Shawna and I kind of had a rough patch. I don't know exactly what caused it. It lasted a few days. We both just didn't have much to say to the other. It was the first time we every really had anything like that happen to us. But it's all good now.

This weekend re-affirmed that she is truly an amazing girl. We hung out Friday+Saturday night, and had a great time of course.

She fell asleep on me in my bed last night, which is why we didn't go to Megan's until midnight. She is just amazing, and I don't know what else to say. Things truly worked out for the best.

I will leave you with a gratuitous GIF of Jennifer Love Hewitt

Some Pics, and an Unexpected Update

2007-05-03T22:45:00.000-06:00

Ok, first, here's the pics I promised. I didn't make the pics, so don't whine to me if you find them offensive. They're funny. Period.

The real update is at the bottom.

Anyway, the pics: First the cat ones (just for you Junniper)

Now the offensive (to some) pics:

I had more cat pics, but they have captions on them, and I want to use them in my posts in the future, so I don't want to use them yet.

Anyway, the real update is right here:

Tonight at work, I was talking to a fellow employee, Ryan.

He asked me "what is going on between (me) and that Megan character". Clearly, he is a few months behind the Toys R Us current events. I said "nothing".

Apparently, he talked to Megan a few weeks ago, and she said "the only guy I would date right now is A/B".

I don't know what to think. Considering all the bullshit that happened late last year, I think this picture pretty much sums it up.

Saturday Night May Be Regrettable

2007-05-02T00:27:00.000-06:00

Weeks ago, Megan commented that we don't get to talk like we used to. We promised each other that a greater effort would be made in the future.
The fruits of that conversation are to be seen this Saturday night.

Shawna and I will join her and Courtney for dinner and a movie.

I was working Monday night, and her and Courtney came into the store. After some small talk, Megan asked me if she could invite her new friend Adam and his friend (whose name I don't remember).

I will paraphrase my response, which was much longer at the time. It was probably a 10 minute conversation, plus numerous text messages. But this is essentially what I told her.

Bringing Courtney is good enough. We don't need more people. So quit your goddamn bitching. If you want to spend the night with Adam, then cancel with us - I have better things I can do on Saturday night as it is.

I received a simple text from her this morning. Courtney will be coming. And only her.

I win.

The whole reason she wanted to hang out was so we could talk, which we rarely get to do anymore. Then she wants to bring two other people? Guys no less? I'm assuming she wanted to prove something. But I wasn't going to have my Saturday night wasted on her gong show. The audacity she showed when she asked me if she could bring Adam surprised me.

I will keep you updated on how it goes. It will likely be more awkward than fun.

* * * * * *

I'm two days into my summer break, and I'm bored already. I bought South Park, The Hits, Volume I yesterday. It's great, and hopefully that will keep me going for a little while.
I have yet to find another summer job, nor have I began looking. I worked with Gavin at IKEA Sunday night doing the IKEA inventory. That 5 hours of work is going on my resume.
I realized that one of my most listened to songs over the past 6 months or so has been "Through Glass" by Stone Sour. It is a wonderful song.
The world is so used to Dubya fucking around that no one really thinks twice about the news that he vetoed the troop withdrawal vote. Too bad, because it was a great chance for the troops to finally find out when they'd all be coming home.
Doesn't the Canadian Conservative gov't look foolish after announcing their big plans to save the environment? Big business and the oil companies have their collective penises so far up the government's ass it is sad. Hey, I never voted for the assholes. But I did vote, therefore I can bitch all I want.
I really want to go to Las Vegas for a few days and just drink, and have a merry time. I'm old enough now. The tentative plan is Reading Week next Feb. If any of you plan on going before then, let me know and I'll join you.
I'm going to update more from now on. I have nothing better to do. Next post will consist of lots of pictures of cats, and offensive, yet topical images. Are they too soon? Maybe. But I laughed.
See you then.

Random Update + Drunken Shenanigans +Lots of Pictures

2007-04-24T16:43:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm done 3/4 of my final exams. The 3 I've done so far all went a little better than I expected, so all in all, I'm quite happy.
I have my last one this Saturday :\ at 9am :\
But I have all of this week to study for it, so it should go fine.
I have my interview for the co-op program tomorrow morning. I need to make a good impression so they let me in.
Saturday night, a girl from work, Caitlin celebrated her 18th birthday. A half dozen of us from work went out to the bars to celebrate. We went to 4 or 5 bars that night, and each of us got fucked pretty good at some point during the evening's festivities. I have a few pictures to show (taken with my new fancy phone).

The birthday girl having dinner - before all hell broke loose

Mark (aka "Tex") with a pitcher of beer at The Strat. He's from Calgary. Can you tell? ;) Also of note, Tex is taking accounting at U of A with me. AND we work together. I love that guy

Tex riding the mechanical bull at Cook County Saloon

You can't tell here, but Caitlin and Dani are both quite drunk

We settled down for the night at Cook County Saloon about 12:30am. Tex really wanted to go, so we went. It was actually a lot of fun - for a country bar.
That is where Caitlin and I pretty much finished it off. I think it was the tequila shots her and I did together. We were never the same after that.
I knew I was drunk when Caitlin asked me to dance with her on the dance floor and I accepted. I had a rye and ginger in hand so it was all good.
Afterwards, it was about 2-2:30am, and we walked to this pizza place. Tex and I took a pee outside of a building during the walk. As we did this, the cops drove past, but thankfully didn't notice.
I don't remember the pizza place too much. I DO remember telling Caitlin that she would "have to be my anchor, so I don't fall over". She did a good job.
Apparently Caitlin woke up early Sunday morning (we all got home about 3) and threw up in her bedroom - so it was a good night all around.

I think I'll be going out again next week. Probably Monday or Tuesday. Gavin is going to Japan for 3 months and he leaves on Wednesday. So we need to have a going-away party. Also, I will officially be done school by then, so that's another excuse.

Here is a picture of him I took yesterday after a trip to the dollar store (those are bags of candy).

Lastly, here is a picture of Shawna's head. You can't see her, but you can see her curly hair. I prefer it curly to straight to be honest. It's really pretty either way though.

The Aftermath of the VT Shooting

2007-04-19T18:42:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, afternoon NBC aired the pictures and parts of the video that Cho Seung-Hui sent to the NBC station in NYC. Since, the media has been contemplating their decision to air the footage. Were they merely playing into the wishes of Cho? Were they being insensitive to the victims? Were they focusing too much on the murderer, and not enough on the victims?

Here are my thoughts.

First, I won't bother going into the hypocrisy of the news media spending all day showing the video and pictures of Cho all day yesterday, then spending all day today debating whether it was right or not (while re-running the very same footage).

Ok, were they playing into Cho's wishes by giving him airtime? Yes. Was it wrong of them? No. I will be the first to question the real reasons they showed the footage. It was in all likelihood simply to squeeze more time out of a slowly dying story. But to me, it was actually the right thing to do.

There have been a lot of people on TV saying that the footage should not have been aired? My question is why? This is news. What he sent in the mail is news. I want to hear the news.

Like it or not, it's part of the story - a huge story at that. To consciously withhold this from the public would be wrong. Dare we see the pictures and hear his rants, and get into the mind of Cho. Maybe even learn why he did what he did. My goodness, we might even be able to learn the underlying causes and prevent such things in the future. But no! We must stick our heads in the sand!

Was airing the footage insensitive to the VT community? No. Again, it is news. I can understand students there may not want to see or hear him on TV. If that is the case, don't turn on the TV for the next week. It sounds cold, but it's true isn't it? It's like if people said back in Sept 2001 "don't show footage of the WTC towers falling. It might be too traumatic for some people". Too bad. It's news. It's life.

Do I ask sports stations to stop showing highlights of game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals last year when the Oil lost? No. When it's on TV, I change the channel.

Lastly, is the media focusing too much on Cho, and not giving enough time to the victims? Again, I may sound cold, but I would say that the media is getting it right here. Cho is the story. We should find out why he did it. What his motives were. In all honesty, the stories of the victims will not help me understand the overall story here any better. Knowing more about Cho, and the logistical side of the shooting (security, police) mean more to me. I do enjoy hearing stories from the survivors however, as they can shed light on the happenings during the shooting. They are quite informative. Many are heroes.

OK, one last thing. This is funny because it shows how desperate the news is to drag this story out as long as possible. It also shows how ridiculous Fox News is (as if we didn't already know).

Did the Devil Make Him Do It? - Fox News

Could Cho have been possessed by the Devil? Could that explain the massacre at Virginia Tech?

Dr. Richard Roberts, president of Oral Roberts University, shouts an unequivocal “Yes!”

“Based on what I’ve seen in the news," Roberts said in an interview, "there’s no doubt that this act was Satanic in origin."

On a completely unrelated note, there is a new channel included in my cable TV package. It's BBC World News. Thank god for that.

More Random Things + A Picture For You Until I Get A Better One

2007-04-16T21:18:00.000-06:00

My god, I don't update much anymore.
It seems as if these mass shootings are becoming so common-place now, that turning on the TV to find out that 22 people (which later turned into 33) people were dead was surprising, but not shocking by any means.
Dog the Bounty Hunter was in Edmonton last Thursday for a motivational speech. That guy is awesome, and I wish I was able to get tickets, but they were sold out. It's sad because I'm guessing he'll never be back here again.
I forgot to show you a picture of my new phone:

Ok, here is a picture of Shawna that was taken on her birthday by her friend Janelle. It's small and was taken with a camera phone (my phone would have taken a much better picture):

You have Janelle to thank for that picture: Here is Janelle:
I'll get better pictures of Shawna later. I promise. The blurry one really doesn't do her justice.
Last night, her and I had the whole "where we are" with each other talk. So now when people at work ask me if her and I are "official" I guess I can say yes now. Apparently it had been something that was bugging her for a month or so, and she decided to bring it up last night. I'll be honest, after a certain point, I just assumed. I never really questioned where her and I were, and therefore never felt a need to talk about it. But it has now been talked about so you are up to date.

A Lot of Random Things

2007-04-11T18:39:00.000-06:00

I have two more days of classes. Am I excited? No. I have 3 final exams next week.
Shawna went to dinner last Saturday with my family. It went really well. I had mentioned that Shawna might not be able to make it to my parents, as it was her birthday weekend. So they went out and got her a little gift from Hallmark. I had no idea of it, but I know Shawna thought it was really a sweet gesture.
I had to watch The Holiday that night. I asked her about 3/4 of the way through when someone was going to get shot. When she said no one, I pondered on my own what kind of movie would be without any sort of violence.
This is what I learned that night. If a movie has a gun in it, it's a guys movie. If it doesn't have any guns, it's a girls movie.
Dave, am I the only was that was (a) surprised, and (b) disappointed, to see Audrey return on 24? I didn't like her in Third Watch, and I don't like her in 24. I hope the Chinese finish her off quickly.
I worked with Megan on Monday. After work, we were walking to our cars, and she wouldn't just say "bye" like she usually does. I could tell she had something to say:

Megan: You know what I noticed?
A/B: No. What?
Megan: We don't talk like we used to. Remember when we would talk about anything, and everything? Now we just fight. It hasn't been the same since all the bullshit before, and I know you don't like seeing me make stupid decisions which is why we fight too.
A/B: I guess it isn't the same.
Megan: Yeah, I miss it.

We agreed that since we don't really work together as much as we once did, we would have to hang out outside of work - with Shawna and whoever the hell she wants to bring.

She hasn't yet come crawling on her knees begging me for another chance. I'm guessing that will happen sometime in the future.

Having said that, I'm perfectly happy with Shawna. She is wonderful in every way.
I have gained access to pictures. I could post them, but I think I'd feel guilty posting pictures of my girlfriend like that.
Actually, we all know I will eventually. Maybe next post? I have to find some good pictures first.
People don't update their blogs as often as we all once did, eh?
Except Junniper. She updates more now. That is good and I thank you for that Junniper. I really do.
I don't want to sound mean, but I probably will in the upcoming sentence: Tuesday, I saw Amanda at school. She said hi, and we chatted, and when I was talking with her, I couldn't help but think "you know, she's really quite plain compared to Shawna". She was just "meh". You know? I know, it's bad to think that, but it's true. Sorry Manda. You have truly been replaced.
I will admit that I really love the new Avril Lavigne song.
I think that's all I have to say.

A/B Goes On A Good Ol' Fashion Rant

2007-04-04T23:48:00.000-06:00

This is basically an update on the whole Megan going to BC story I told a few days ago. Let me add a bit more. We were on MSN tonight. That guy and his friend are coming to MY city for her grad. Both of them. I had some thoughts I felt I would share with her: Warning, it's long, but if you miss the old ranting A/B, he's back with a vengeance tonight. Her text is the bolded childish-style font. Mine is simple arial. My post-talk comments are in red colouring. Enjoy.

My thoughts on two guys at grad:
people are going to think you're a whore bringing all those guys who dont even go to (school name) :\ but who cares what i think

This is pretty much where it started. My thoughts on Alex:
he tried to get into your pants. and that is pretty scummy, and now you act like it didn't happen. i mean, is your memory that short? hasn't courntey or someone told you this is all kind of fucked?

Her:
yea...but i guess you dont know everything courtney and him talked for a long time i dunno its hard to explian i guess

The rant begings:
well, now i'm going to go on my little speech

cause it's just dying to come out

and stop me at any time if i'm saying something that is incorrect

but i have heard numerous stories from you about bad boyfriends who treat you like shit and how they broke your heart and all that. I've been hearing these stories for quite a while now.

then you are all excited to see alex in BC thinking everything will be different than before. like he will be different than the other guys. week prior, you bitch at me for suggesting that sex might be involved during the trip. you remember that monday shift with Tex.

then i question whether you and him are getting "too close" because you told me that you would never date him because he lives too far away. I get the feeling there is more going on. then you leave for BC

two days later, i get a text from you explaining how alex wanted to bang you. when you said no (as you assured tex and I you would), he only wanted to be friends, and in fact took back his offer to have you move in with him.

he took that offer away cause we were with my grandparents and they were like soo we want you to move to bc and i was yea i do to but my mom was bout to cry when i mentioned it to her [what a gullible little girl]
[I like how I ignore her comment, and just keep going]
now, to most people, this would raise a red flag. a red flag, that ulterior motives are in play. but what do i know? you on the other hand were quite upset with him - if i recall

he said its cause he wants wats best for me and moving to bc probably wouldnt be the best he said i should go to school and stuff [again, what a gullible little girl]

you told me he said that cause you wouldn't let him fuck you

well i thought that [what naive little girl]

i'm guessing there is a correlation between the two
a high correlation [possibly my favorite two lines of the night]

am i the only one that sees parallels between all the other failed boyfriends who treated you like shit, and alex who treated you like shit in BC? or am i just going crazy? [point]

its different with alex [counterpoint]

lol
yeah

lol you hate me rite now

you want to know what i honestly think? promise you won't get mad? [round 2 starts]

promise

im gonna go to bed after you say this im tellin you this now soo you dnt think im leavin cause im mad

you have your head so far up alex's ass that you can't even think straight. do you think things are going to be different with him? no. he tried to get you to fuck him. he's just another prick looking for some pussy. you don't realize that for some reason. if courtney was thinking she would have warned you by now. i can't believe you just totally ignore that. wait i'm not done my rant

i think it's immature, irresponsible, and ignorant. after all the shit you have been through in the past, one would think you would have learned by now, but you keep doing it.

i don't know why. you are smarter than that. I dont know why it's so hard to find a normal guy who will treat you well and not try to talk you into shit like this

when things go to hell, i won't have anything to say expect "i told you so" because i've told you so a hundred times

and you just won't listen lol

lol well you gave me lots to think bout
thanks for listening even tho i know it killed you im really sorry i shouldnt have brought it up with you

i am not sure why you think it kills me. it kills me cause i don't like seeing you make more stupid decisions. if you think it kills me for other reasons it doesnt. and you know what i mean. i hope you aren't implying that again :\ [she's pulled that line before. Acting as if I'm jealous. Which I take as an insult to both Shawna and I, which is why I don't tolerate it]

no no i know wat you mean i wasnt implying anything trust me i was saying i know it kills you to see me be stupid all the time lol

you are seriously asking for trouble and i dont know why you do it.

asking for trouble with you?

no with alex and all his friends that want to fuck and ARE GOING TO YOUR GRAD FOR CHRIST SAKES

ok matt does not want to fuck me trust me on this one and even if he did it would not happen!!!!!! me and him talked on the beach for over an hour one night bout my parents and alex

kind of like wat me and you are doin [wrong wording]

you don't need to justify anything with me. i know you won't fuck them, but that doesn't mean they don't have other motives
and i'll ignore the matt comparisson

w.e they can have motives they will jsut be disapointed that they are not gonna be fulfilled and when they arnet and they still want to talk to me then that will prove that they arnt pricks

matt is definately not liek you trust me
that sounded wrong nvm take that back [she was just asking for a round 3. I deliver]

what does that mean then?

jsut that no one could be like you to me

i'm sure. except alex, matt, nick

i dnt know how to explain it but i would actually fall apart probably if i didnt have you as a friend youve done so much for me but yet i have done basically nothing for you in return and i feel liek a horrible friend [she was fishing for a compliment. I didn't oblige. I was tired of the bullshit games]

do me a favour: try listening to me for once
and realize that i'm alway right
you have me a riled up now. and i'm just going to keep bitching at you, so that won't get us anywhere

but regarding what you just said,
that's why i was so pissed when you threw your temper tantrum before you went to BC when you thought i said i "don't care" about you and alex. maybe it was cause i knew all this shit would happen. then you say you don't care about shawna and i. like we were somehow on an even footing. it was so ridiculous, I actually laughed [harsh, but necessarily so]

i was right about nick, and i'm sticking with what i said about alex. and matt. he's just being covert. and i'm done with this bullshit. i have a website to put up.[it's a school project, in case you're wondering]

goodnight

I Am A Fantasy Baseball Nerd

2007-04-02T21:38:00.000-06:00

I have played fantasy baseball for several years now. I started young, and I 've kept with it since. If you are unfamiliar with MLB, or just find baseball boring in general, stop reading, and come back later when I've updated again. This post is meant only for those interested in baseball, the players, and specifically the addicting game of fantasy basball. I won't bother explaining it. If you don't know what it is, just don't read. Sorry to sound mean, but this just won't make sense to you.

This is my keeper team (Yahoo). This is a money league. If I finish top 3, I win cash. After each player, I leave my own comments.

C - Russell Martin ~ Great young player. He was a FA pickup. I can't believe that
1B - Mark Teixera ~ There are few 1Bs that I would prefer over Teix. Big numbers all around
2B-Jorge Cantu~I need to upgrade here. I have a waiver claim in Kinsler. I hope I get him
3B-Chipper Jones~He'll put up good #s when healthy. If he isn't, I have Ensberg to fill in
SS-Stephen Drew~The best young SS in the game? Should give me good numbers-no steals
OF-Vernon Wells~Vastly underrated b/c he plays in T.O. A great #1 OF though
OF-Johnny Damon~A great #2 OF. Provides steals, runs, oh, pretty much everything
OF-Scott Podsednick~He is on my team for the steals and nothing else. But I like him
Util-Justin Morneau~Best Canadian in baseball. He belongs with me. Up with Teix for 1B
Bench-Kenji Johijima~Maybe I can trade him for a 2B? With Martin at C, I don't need him
Bench - Pat Burrell~Bad average, decent power numbers. He can start in OF if need be
Bench - Jr~My fav player growing up. I really have no use for him though. Tradeable
Bench - Morgan Ensberg~Insurance for when Chipper get hurt - and we all know it will happen

SP-Roy Halladay~A great #1. There are few pitchers I would rather have
SP-Rich Harden~Best CAN pitcher in the game. He could put up Halladay-type #s
RP - Mariano Rivera~Maybe the best closer ever. A solid RP to have as my #1
RP - Brad Lidge~A risky pick. He gets the saves, just gives up a ton of runs doing so
P- Jered Weaver~A great young pitcher who thankfully, is better than his brother. I love him
P - Cole Hamels~Same as Weaver. Minus the brother comment
P-Eric Gagne~Best CAN closer in the game. He's always hurt though. Can he stay healthy?
Bench - AJ Burnett~He's a solid #5 SP for me. I'm not leaning on him. Look at my other SPs!!!

I promise a normal post in a couple days.

Random Musings + An Update On Two Former Stars Of The A/B Blog

2007-03-28T20:09:00.000-06:00

I didn't mention it before, but my new mp3 player fucked up on me a couple weeks ago. The sound was in and out. It was covered under warranty, and I got it back tonight. I'm happy.
I've started bidding on things on ebay. I'm after a new cellphone now. I want to get a good one that will take me to the end of my contract which expires in two years. Buying off ebay is going to save me between $250 and $300 than if I was to upgrade with Rogers. So fuck you Rogers. You aren't getting any upgrade money from me.
I bought Children of Men on DVD on Tuesday. I will watch it with Shawna on Friday.
Friday is coincidentally the first time I will get to see her since her return. She is expected back later tonight. I eagerly await her call.
Is it sad that the highlight of Friday night will be watching Children of Men? Yeah, it probably is.
While Shawna was away, I bought her birthday present. I can't find a pic of it so I will explain it. It's a yellow polo by Bench. That's all I will try to explain because it is true that a picture is worth a thousand words.
I never did get to see TMNT. Maybe sometime in the future.
I don't update as often as I used to. I don't know why. I guess I just have less to say. I'm not sure when I'll get to update next week. It will be hell with school work. Maybe I'll be so overwhelmed I will have to update and bitch about it.
But I still update more than Dave, so it's all good.

----------------------

I have a couple updates on two girls who ruled my blog for the longest time. You know who I'm talking about - Amanda and Megan!

Let's start off with Amanda. She is dating someone now apparently. His name is Joe. She met him at a karaoke bar. Mike can't take the two of them seriously.

I don't think they will last very long, but Mike thinks they will stay together a while because "it's not like Amanda has any other options right now". Good point Michael. Honestly though, I hope things work out for Amanda. She has been nothing but supportive of me with my Megan chase, and now with Shawna, and I wish her and Joe all the best. LOL @ his name though.

Then there is Megan. She isn't dating anyone right now. She however is spending Spring Break in BC visiting her "friend" Alex. Alex is flying out to Edmonton next month to go to grad with Megan.

She flew down last Saturday thinking everything was going to be just wonderful. She has gotten close to him over the past few weeks. I told her weeks ago that he would expect something in return. She assured me that they were both on the same page about their "friendship". All this despite the fact that Alex had suggested Megan move to BC to live with him. Megan was actually considering this.

So imagine my surprise when I get a text from her a couple nights ago telling me that Alex wanted to bang her the first night she got there. When she denied him, he rescinded his offer for her to move in with him, and said that they should "just be friends". She was really upset about this, as one would imagine. She told me she didn't want Alex to go to grad with her and all this bullshit.

So when is your going away party, Megan?

I couldn't feel too sorry for her. She had her chance with a real guy, and turned it down. I also warned her that he would want something from her, but did she listen? Of course not.

People need to learn to listen to me more.

I could have gone on my "I told you so" speech. I didn't. Maybe I will when she gets back.

Look, I'm going to be honest. I feel a little bit of satisfaction seeing things with Alex fall apart. I mean, you get this opportunity with A/B handed to you, and you turn it down. Now look where you are Megan. You're going nowhere with no one.

From my point of view, things have worked out perfectly for me. I'm better off with Shawna than with Megan. So I have no complaints. I just got a text from Shawna in fact. She will be back home around 11pm. She asked if she could call me. She didn't want to wake me up if I would be sleeping. I told her to call. I can't wait to hear from her.

What a difference a few months makes.

5 Days

2007-03-23T16:24:00.000-06:00

Shawna left today for Vancouver. She will be visiting family there for the next 5 days. That means I must survive 5 days without her.

She opened up the care package I gave her. She went the whole week without peeking. I got a text message from her after she opened it. I will share it later.

We said goodbye Wednesday night. She came over and we watched TV. Well, the TV was on, but we didn't really watch it if you know what I mean. We said bye the right way.

Later that night after she left, we talked on the phone. She said she forgot to ask me something when we were together. She wanted to ask if she could borrow my U of A hoodie. She wanted it for the drive.

Thursday night, she and her friend Char (who came to watch 300 with us) came by to pick it up. I met her outside and we talked very briefly. After a couple of goodbye kisses, I said goodnight to her and Char and that was the last time I saw her.

She will be gone this weekend, and back Wednesday. That means I had to find things to do this weekend.

Tonight, I'm going out to the bars with a few people from work (surprisingly, there are a few from work who are over 18).

Tomorrow, Jon and I are going to go out for dinner, then probably play PS3, then pick up Gavin who will be coming back from a school field trip. Who the hell goes on field trips at this age?

From there, we will meet up with Steph the Goddess and Myranda and we're going to watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Hey, we all grew up watching that show OK? After, we might go to the bar.

So that is the plan for the next two nights.

Here is the text I received this morning from Shawna:

Good Morning Sean! thank you so much for everything in the bag! that was one of the nicest things any one has ever done for me! ur the sweetest guy and im so happy we've met, i think back to before and i don't know what i did with myself! ur wonderful and i definitely don't say it enough. im going to miss u more than u know. thanks again for everything and for letting me take your sweater! have a good day at school! =)

I Guess I Should Update

2007-03-18T13:57:00.000-06:00

School

School overall is going well. I hadn't seen Amanda for a while. I saw her walking to class a couple weeks ago, and we chatted for a few minutes, but I haven't seen her since.

All my midterms are over. I still have a lot of assignments, and group projects left, but I'm a lot less stressed now than I have been over the past couple weeks thanks to exams.

Work

Work is fine. It seems like every couple weeks, another guy leaves who has been there forever. This means the number of people I enjoy working with decreases overall. This makes work less fun.

Still, it's easy work, and I practically run that place, so it's not like I'm going to leave any time soon.

Shawna

I finished putting the care package together. I have everything in there I said I was going to put in. I won't bother talking more about it. I'll let you know her reaction when she opens it and reads the letter.

Shawna and I worked together yesterday. After work, we came back to my house. We made grilled cheese sandwiches together.

Our plan was to go to the mall and look for shoes for her after dinner. But she was tired and was laying in my bed while I got dressed. I promised her that after we get back from the mall, she could crawl back into bed.

We went to the mall, but Shawna didn't find shoes.

By the time we got home, and chatted with my parents, and had a little dessert, it was only about 8:30 pm. We asked each other if there was anything the other wanted to do. But we were both really tired, so we were content just watching TV in bed.

Now, usually, we watch TV on the couch downstairs, but my brother and his friend were playing PS3, so we didn't want to disturb them. That is why we were in my room.

* * * I want to make a note here. Weeks ago, I made it quite clear that I would pick and choose how much detail about Shawna and I, I include in the blog. The following goes against what I believe in, but since I don't update as often as I used to, I will throw in some details to make up for it. * * *

We were watching the end of CSI Miami (when is that show not on?). We cuddled. She was laying atop of me with her head in my shoulder. By this time it was 9pm, and COPS was on. She eventually fell asleep. Not for a long time, but maybe 10 or 15 minutes.

When she woke up, she apologized for falling asleep. I told her there was no need to be sorry. Then I gave her a kiss on the forehead.

That kiss set her off. In a good way. She got up on top of me and started kissing me. Full out.

By this time, it was about 10pm. I know this because I could hear America's Most Wanted on in the background. We pretty much went until about 12:30am. There were a few short breaks to catch our breath, let our lips which had no feeling left in them re-gain feeling, and take a sip of our drinks.

I don't want to brag, but I had her going pretty good. I was on top of her at one point. I was kissing her neck, I had her shirt up and was kissing/sucking her stomach. I eventually worked my way up a ways, if you know what I mean. That really got her going. She liked it when I grabbed her ass too. What can I say? I like to keep my hands busy. I may as well make good use of them right? I basically just kept trying different things until I got her moaning, then I knew I had hit the right spot.

We honestly could have gone all night, but her parents were adamant that she be home at midnight.

At 12:11am she told me we had to go. I said OK. She wouldn't let me get off of her, so we didn't actually stop until about 12:30am or so.

Too bad she's going to be gone next weekend in Vancouver. I guess it will make March 30 that much more special. For two reasons: We're going to watch Children of Men which comes out on DVD on March 27. The other reason being I expect she will want to carry on where we left off last night.

It's Been A While

2007-03-13T23:16:00.000-06:00

. . . since I asked for advise. Well, I guess I asked for advise when I needed more date ideas.

I'm asking for help again. Same girl, different situation.

Shawna's birthday is coming up (April 6th), and I want to make sure I get her something good.

But I have no idea what. I have asked her for ideas, but she has been no help. I'm coming to you for advise.

Obviously, I will take her out for dinner at some point. Of course, I'll get her a card. I'll write something nice in it. But I need a gift too.

I need ideas. I need lots of them. I beg you.

* * *

In other news, the high schools in the city have their spring break next week (insert underage girl joke here). Shawna and her aunt are driving to Vancouver to see family. She will be gone for 5 days total, including next weekend. What ever will I do? Probably go to the bar.

Anyway, my friend Danielle (or Dani as she is AKA) at work gave me this great idea of making her a care package for her trip. I think it's a great idea.

I'm not sure what to put in there, but I've come up with a few things:

a couple packs of her favorite gum.
A bottle of her favorite water - that Fiji stuff.
Maybe a bottle of Sprite because it's her favorite pop.
a magazine. Maybe Cosmo cause I know she reads that, although I despise the magazine. But it's not for me.
Then I was thinking of writing her a little note saying how much I will miss her. Since I know she will have her ipod with her, and I know she will have Incubus on there, I also want to write the lyrics to Wish You Were Here, and tell her I will think of her when I listen to it while she is gone.

Overall thoughts? I would appreciate answers to the following:

Birthday gift ideas?
Anything to add to the care package?
Is the note too much?

Thank you in advance.

300 & Shawna

2007-03-11T14:38:00.000-06:00

Saturday night, Shawna and I went to see 300. We were joined by my friends Jon and Johnny, Johnny's girlfriend, and Shawna's friend Char. Char originally wasn't going to go, but decided last minute to join us, so she showed up later.

The parking lot was packed. We didn't even find places to park anywhere in the theatre parking lot. We had to park in another parking lot nearby. It wasn't a long walk, but I have just never been able to not find parking at the theatre before.

Since Char was a last-minute addition to the evening, we didn't get Johnny to buy her a ticket ahead of time, like he did for us. So when we arrived, I went to find Johnny and get the tickets for Shawna and I while Shawna stood in line to buy Char's ticket.

Now, this proved to be an oversight on my part. The following was also the highlight of the night for me because I thought it was really funny. You see, 300 is rated 18A in Canada meaning you must go to the movie with someone over 18. You also need to be over 18 to buy the tickets.

I wasn't there to see the conversation, but this is how it was told to me by Shawna:

Shawna: Hi, can I have one ticket for 300?
Ticket Person: Do you have ID on you?
Shawna: Um, no I don't (that was a lie. She had ID, but of course, she is only 16).
TP: I'm going to need to see ID before you can buy the ticket.

On cue, I find her with our tickets from Johnny in hand, and she gives me the money and I buy the ticket. I wasn't ID'd which was pretty cool.

Johnny and his girlfriend had arrived early and bought all our tickets, and were near the front of the line. They were able to get us great seats near the top of the theatre, right in the middle.

Before the movie started, Johnny's parents actually came too, so they sat with us as well.

Johnny and his girl had a coupon for 2 drinks and a popcorn, but only wanted the drinks, so they gave the popcorn to me. I bought a large drink for Shawna and I to share. As it turns out, Char was quite hungry and ate most of the popcorn, which was fine, and consequently was thirsty, so had a fair bit of the pop as well. Since the lineups at the concessions were long, she didn't want to go. So her, Shawna, and I ended up sharing the popcorn, and pop. It was like I was at the movie with two dates at once.

Char is a cutie, so if that had actually been the case, I wouldn't have minded. But I digress.

Shawna and I held hands, and we were able to do most of the things we would normally do watching a movie at my house, so that was good. Although holding hands is harder to do when you have the arm rest in the middle.

As for the movie, I thought it was good, not great. I don't want it to sound like I didn't enjoy it because I did. It was actually quite entertaining, and the time went by fast (although maybe that had more to do with Shawna than the movie itself).

It delivered what it promised. Lots of blood, lots of body parts cut off by swords, and a bit of nudity and sex thrown in just for fun. So pretty much everything I want in a movie.

I'd watch it again when it comes out on DVD.

You know who loved the movie the most? Char. She was giddy afterwards. I am not sure why.

Anyway, I finally got to spend some time with one of Shawna's friends. I think I made a good impression, so that was good.

Just A Quick Update

2007-03-08T15:23:00.000-07:00

So Mike told me that Incubus was coming to town on Tuesday. So he, Shawna, and myself are going to the concert scheduled for May 16. It should be great. I've been listening to them for years.

Here is the first video of theirs that I saw. It got me hooked on them. I Wish You Were Here.

This is their first single off their new album Light Grenade. It's called Anna Molly.

This is their new single called Dig.

I know what you're thinking. "weak update". I know. I just don't have anything else to say right now. Hopefully the weekend will bring more to talk about.

Oh, I did go to the bar with Steph the Goddess and her friend Myranda last night. The hockey game was on, and I thought I should drop by and say hi. Then I went home and FINISHED MY HOMEWORK!!

EDIT: Well, I talked to Shawna tonight. She is at a friend's house sleeping over (they don't have school tomorrow). This friend, Caitlin, and her boyfriend are planning on going to the circus tomorrow. I guess they want Shawna and I to go. Now, I didn't come right out and say that I didn't want to go, but she could tell I was less than enthused.

I just really don't want to go. Period. I'm guessing we won't end up going anyway (as per her decision).

I suggested that Shawna and Caitlin and whomever come to a movie with Jon and I Saturday night (we're going to see 300). That way I still get to meet Caitlin (which Shawna wants), and I don't have to go to the goddamn circus.

We will see.

I Don't Do Enough Shawna Posts

2007-03-04T22:10:00.000-07:00

So I will dedicate this whole post to her.

Let's see. What is new?

We watched Hostel Friday night. We wanted to compare it to Saw, which we watched last week. I've always liked Hostel, and I still enjoy it more than Saw. Shawna didn't agree. This Saturday, we watched Saw II. It was better than Saw, and I will even say, more enjoyable than Hostel, so good choice Shawna.

We plan on watching Saw III this Friday.

I know what you're thinking. A/B, you're spending a lot of time with her. Are you neglecting everyone else?

In short, I think the answer is yes, and it is something I will work on this upcoming weekend (just not Friday night). It's just that her and I only get to see each other on the weekends, and we want to make the most of it. It's not like we go to the same school, and we see each other every day.

* * *

I can't say enough great things about this girl. I love being with her. We hold hands all night (which usually includes a movie, then we watch TV. For some reason, we always end up watching CSI Miami or What Not To Wear).

Saturday night, somehow she ended up with her legs across mine on the couch. I asked if she was ticklish. She said she was, so I took it upon myself to find out every single place she is ticklish. As it turns out, there are a lot of places. I almost put her to sleep by running my fingers over her legs. Out of nowhere, she gives me a kiss.

A/B: What was that for? (as if I gave a damn)
Her: For being so cute.

* * *

I am going to take this opportunity to give myself kudos. Why? Because I'm taking things slow with her. I'm not pushing things. I'm letting her set the pace.

This is exactly what I said I would do at the beginning. I don't regret it. I think all in all, it has worked well.

I won't change the game plan, but after Saturday night I will feel more comfortable moving forward with her, and I won't feel as if I need to be totally passive.

* * *

So, I'm still scared of her brother. But apparently, Shawna talked with him Friday night, and he just wanted to make sure I "wasn't one of those guys, like him". I understand that. She's his little sister after all. So I think it's OK now. I still have never met him, nor do I eagerly anticipate the day when I do. But apparently he wears Diesel jeans, and so do I, so maybe we'll hit it off.

* * *

So I should ask you for advise. What should I do with Shawna next? Any ideas other that a movie?

A Hockey Rant, Winter Is Dying, And I'm Drinking At 3:30pm

2007-03-02T15:49:00.000-07:00

The NHL trade deadline was this Tuesday. The Oilers traded away Ryan Smyth. He's been with the team for like, 12 years. Everyone loves him. Why did this happen, you ask? I will tell you.

Smyth's contract is up this July. After that, he can sign with any team he wishes. We tried to sign him to a new contract. We offered $5.4 million/year over 5 years. He wanted around $5.5 million/year.

So with that, we traded him to New York.

Am I sad to see him go? I was. I've moved on. He is a great player, but he is not an elite player. We cannot give great players that kind of money. We have to save it for elite guys.

Smyth and his wife were crying when the left Edmonton at the airport. Was all of this worth it, Ryan? Was $5.4 million a year not good enough?

* * *

Today, I realized summer is coming. It was about -10C today, but even still, there was snow melting. The sun was beating down on the road, and you could see water running off. I guess the Sun's rays are getting stronger. Is that how it works?

* * *

I'm having myself a drink now. It's 3:30pm. I just finished my 2nd midterm in two days. Both went fairly well, and all-in-all, I'm pleased. But I guess I should wait to see the marks before I get too excited.

Shawna is coming over in a couple hours. We're going to watch Hostel. But I will wrap this up, because Take Home Chef is coming on in 15 minutes.

A Rant - Like The Good Ol' Days

2007-02-26T21:43:00.000-07:00

***Warning, negative views of religion are expressed in the following post. Scroll down for a feel-good Shawna update if you want***

I'm sure everyone has heard this story about the film makers who say they have found the bones of Jesus and Mary.

This claim may or not be true. I really don't know.

But what I do know is the way some Christians are dismissing this story is quite ignorant.

This is the problem they have with all this:

The claim that the bones of Jesus have been found could challenge the Christian belief that Jesus died and was resurrected three days later.

Give your goddamn head a shake. Some people don't believe Jesus even existed in the first place. If anything, all these Reverends and Priests and believers in the Christian faith, should be happy about this.

Instead, they throw their hands up in disbelief because they think Jesus was resurrected. Come on. Don't be stupid.

There was some religious nut on CNN this afternoon, and Wolf Blitzer asked him if anything would convince him that these were truly the bones of Jesus, or if anything would convince him that Jesus was never resurrected at all. The religious nut's response was simple: "No, never"."

Never? If indisputable evidence (and I'm not saying this is that evidence, I'm speaking hypothetically) were to come forth, he is saying he would simply ignore it. Unbelievable.

All this does nothing but make me shake my head at religion even more. If people want to believe fairy-tale type stories, then fine, but this is the 21st century. Let's grow up.

* * *

I haven't talked about Shawna for a while. Simply put, things have been going so well, that I really haven't had anything to bitch about. We watched Saving Private Ryan on Friday, then Saw on Saturday. We're going to watch Hostel this weekend.

It is always a lot of fun hanging out with her. It's great to just cuddle and hold hands with her on the couch while we watch a movie. She is a lot of fun.

Tonight at work, she needed to call one of us guys working to take a big box to the warehouse. She didn't know who to call, so she asked the manager Ron:

Shawna: Who should I call to pick this box up?
Ron: You can call whoever you want. Sean, honey, sweetie, sweetheart, call him whatever you wish.

* * *

After work tonight, I texted Megan to say hi. I told her Monday's aren't the same without her at work.

This is how she replied:
well hopefully i get to work mondays again. i miss them. oh well at least you have Shawna now rite?

I said that was true, but that I missed my Megan time and that I hoped she worked Monday's again as well because her and I on Mondays had become tradition. Her response:
that's very true, but it wouldn't be the same as it used to be.

I reminded her that back in December we promised each other to keep things as much the same between us as we could, and I asked her if she thought I wasn't doing my part in that. She said that it was her problem not mine, an d that she didn't feel like she could be herself with me, around Shawna. She said it was a problem that she would have to fix on her own.

A Pity Update

2007-02-22T19:16:00.000-07:00

So what is new? I'm on my Reading Week break right now. I have been doing school work all day. Tomorrow will be more of the same.

Shawna and I are watching Saving Private Ryan tomorrow night. I can't wait. . . I love that movie. Seeing her will be good too. Ha ha.

* * *

I bought a belt from Tristan & America yesterday. It's a dress belt to go with my suit. The whole package is complete now. I was a nice belt at Banana Republic, but it was $80 so I passed. This one was $40, but when I paid for it, I found out it was on sale for $15, so bonus. Contrary to what you may think, T&A is a Canadian company based out of Montreal. All their stuff is Made in Canada.

* * *

K-Fed should keep the kids permenantly now. Britney is nuts. If they stay with K-Fed, he will be able to keep them out of the limlight, and away from all the bullshit that will accompany them if they are taken care of by Britney.

K-Fed is a lot of things. He is a terrible singer. Bad actor. Wigger. Gold digger.

But he has done nothing to make me think he is a bad parent (admittidy, I may have missed something). This is the perfect situation for him. He can raise the two kids full-time with all the child support money he gets from Britney.

He can give them more attention than Britney can with her "career", and partying, and rehab.

That is really all I have to say. I hope you are all well. Dave, I'm going to go watch 24 now. Oh damn. The Office is on tonight too.

A Couple Really Bad Movies + Random Things

2007-02-19T01:50:00.000-07:00

Saturday night, Shawna and I went out for dinner, then went to watch a movie with Gavin, Myranda, and their friend Monica.

Monica had chosen Ghost Rider.

Based solely on the trailers I saw on TV, I was certain that the movie was going to blow. The only saving grace, would be Nicholas Cage - whom I love.

Nothing could have prepared me for how bad this movie would be. Nothing. It was terrible. It just didn't make sense. It wasn't exciting. The acting was poor.

The only bright spot was Eva Mendes' cleavage. There was plenty of that.

Also being close with Shawna was nice.

After the movie, as we were walking out of the theatre, we all ridiculed Monica for picking such a shitty movie. She took it like an adult.

* * *

Sunday afternoon, I got a text message from Megan. She asked me if I wanted to go to a movie with her and her friends. Since Shawna had plans to hang out with a friend, I said fine. Megan picked The Messengers.

I felt bad about it. I told Shawna that I was going, but I still felt bad. She wasn't upset. During that conversation with Shawna, she mentioned that her friend cancelled on her.

This of course, meant that I had to find a way to get Megan to tell me that I was allowed to bring Shawna. I won't go into detail, but I did.

So Shawna and I get there, and go into the theatre. Megan calls me asking where we are. I say we're already in the theatre. She asks why I hadn't called her when we got there because they had been there for half and hour.

Now, Shawna and I are in the second last row, and we're pretty much in the middle. I figure there is plenty of room for her and her friends (we don't know how many were coming) on either side of us.

They come in, and realize that they can't all sit side-by-side (there were five of them). Shawna and I offer to move over to accommodate them.

Megan says "oh, it's OK, we'll sit in the next row", and that is exactly what they do. They sat in the row in front of us.

Shawna and I just looked at each other.

Now, why would one invite someone to a movie, then not sit with them? Normally, this would bother me, but to be honest, I didn't really care. I was with Shawna and that's all that mattered.

In case you're wondering, The Messengers was a shitty movie too.

On the ride home, Shawna agreed that while the movie sucked, and there was no point in us actually having gone to the movie in the first place, it was nice that we got to hang out again. So it wasn't a total loss.

* * *

Last week, I bought a faux-suit from Club Monaco. Since I bought both the jacket and pants off the rack, separately, I can't call it a true suit. But it looks like one, and it was a decent price.

Today, I went out with my parents, and they bought me a nice Hugo Boss dress shirt, and Harry Rosen tie. Combined with my dress shoes, I look outstanding. I'm not going to lie. I still need a dress belt though. I promised Shawna I would get all dressed up to show her how I look in it on Friday when we are scheduled to watch Saving Private Ryan - finally.

* * *

Dave, I made a new ringtone for me cell. It's the beeping from 24. You know - before and after every commercial? The beeping and the heartbeat sound? There is also a bit of climatic music in the background, which sounds like the music played during the credits.

Ok, so it's hard to explain. All you need to know is that I have a 24 inspired ringtone.

Just A Few Odds And Ends

2007-02-14T17:32:00.000-07:00

I bought a J Fold card holder today. I'm a bit tired of the big, fat wallet routine.

The J Fold ensures I carry only the essentials. I have my drivers licence, U of A ID, debit card, and credit card on the inside. I have my bus pass in a holder on the outside. I am able to put some folded bills inside as well. I don't carry around a ton of cash now. I probably have $80 in there. I see no need to carry any more than that at any give time - for the most part.

* * *

I saw a guy on the bus earlier this week. I don't want to sound crazy, but I think he was wearing a pair of knock-off Diesel jeans.

Let me tell you why I thought they were fake.

At first, I saw his jeans, and thought to myself "that's an ugly pair of jeans". Then I saw the Diesel tag above the left pocket - not unlike my pants:

The Diesel tag looked fake. It was too "white". Normally the tags have a darkened colour to them.
There was no stitching on the back pockets. Diesel jeans always have stitching on the back pockets. I have not seen a pair that do not have stitching of some sort. Both mine do. Both of Shawna's do.

Also at the back, was a missing belt loop. Both my Diesel jeans have two belt loops at the back, above the ass crack. His pair only had one.
Perhaps his pair were an anomaly. Perhaps he is simply a poser.

* * *

So I'm planning on entering the "co-op" program at school which is essentially a program that allows you to go out and work in the field you are majoring in (in my case accounting), and gain work experience, and make a bit of money. It extends my time at school by one year, which I don't mind at all.

Ultimately, it will be a total of 12 months (one 4-month term and one 8-month term) with two different employers.

I still have to do the paper work and stuff, and it's due by March 1, but it looks like a go.

The benefit is of course experience, but just as importantly, it's the networking opportunities that compel me to join. By going this route, I pretty much guarantee myself a job when I graduate.

It just makes a lot of sense.

* * *

I'm debating putting my favorite Hinder songs onto my new mp3 player. See, the thing is, I've listened to those songs a ton over the last several months. But on the other hand, the only reason I started listening to them in the first place was because of Megan. So you can see the dilemma.

* * *

Why do I not update as much as I used to? I guess this blog was truly centred around me bitching about things. Like I said last post, I don't really have anything to bitch about right now. It makes for bad blogging.

Hope you are all well.

A Latenight Update For Old Times Sake

2007-02-11T01:13:00.000-07:00

I just got back from driving Shawna home. We watched Anchorman. She didn't want to watch two movies tonight because she didn't want to have to sit there silent for 5 hours. I figured that was fair enough. Plus, it's an excuse to hang out again soon and watch Saving Private Ryan.

It was a good night. We watch Anchorman, which sucked. I hate Will Ferrell and I know I have said that before. He simply is not funny.

Then we watched the Pamela Anderson Roast on The Comedy Channel. It was funny. After each commercial break, there of course, is a warning about coarse language and that the show isn't suitable for young viewers, and of course I had to ask Shawna "are you allowed to watch this?".

I gave her the perfume. She really liked it. I think she was a bit surprised by it. Although, she knew she was getting something.

I gave her a few CDs to take home and put on the ipod she bought last Saturday night.

She also really likes my U of A hoodie. She wore it when we hung out with Megan last weekend, and she wore it again tonight. Since it is going to be cold this week, I told her to take it. She did. I'm sure it will keep her nice and warm while she is taking the bus.

We cuddled on the couch during the Roast, which was enjoyable.

Then I took her home.

When I got home, I took a shower, and afterwards, she had sent me this text message:

Thank you so much again for everything sean. u are such a sweet guy. i feel so lucky to have met u. i hope u have a good rest of the night!

* * *

Edmonton Oiler, Jarret Stoll was in Toys R Us tonight. He was without his girlfriend and former supermodel, Rachael Hunter.

What did Stollie buy? Hockey cards . . .

Just A Meaningless Update

2007-02-07T20:44:00.000-07:00

I'm just updating because I'm bored.

I'm bored because I had an accounting midterm tonight, and don't want to do anything else now. It was hard. I don't think anyone finished, and there were like, 450 of us writing the damn thing. Ride the curve!
So yeah, I'm just sitting here, sipping a vodka-sprite, and updating the blog.
Shawna and I are watching movies Saturday night. That was determined days ago, but I forgot to mention it. Needless to say, I am looking forward to it. It is the first time we've been able to hang out alone in two weeks. Last week we were with Megan, and the weekend before that we were at Manda's house. We are going to watch two movies: Anchorman and Saving Private Ryan. I will let you figure out who picked which movie.
Let me tell you about my mp3 player. It has a noise cancelling feature - which does exactly as it sounds. The earbuds are shaped kind of like earplugs, and those themselves help block out a lot of the outside noise. But when you turn the noise cancelling feature on, little microphones on the outside of each earbud take in all the outside noise, and essentially filter it. It works great. When I'm on the bus, the person next to me can be talking on their cellphone, and I can't hear anything. When I'm outside at the bus depot, I can be standing by a bus, and I won't be able to hear it. You can hear very little. It is great for school. I should as hell wouldn't turn it on when I'm jogging in the summer though. It would only be a matter of time before I was hit by a car that I couldn't hear coming.
Valentine's Day falls on a Wednesday this year. I work Wednesday (although not for long - but that is another story). That means Shawna is getting her gift this weekend. When I was talking to her tonight, I asked when she wanted it. She of course wanted it this weekend and not next weekend. So I have to buy a card before Saturday. And wrap the gift.
What did I get her? Actually, did I already mention this in a previous post? Oh, I'll say it again. When I was looking at grad dresses with Megan and Courtney, I bought Shawna perfume. The same perfume I always smell on her. It's Princess by Vera Wang. I just didn't know what else to get, and I figure she will use this, and I will benefit too, because it smells great.
You know, honestly, I'm just very content with life right now. Shawna has a lot to do with that. I have nothing to complain about, and when was the last time I could say that?

A Real Update With Some Random Stuff - Well, Mostly About Shawna

2007-02-05T22:57:00.000-07:00

Well Shawna, Megan, Courtney, and I had our date on Saturday after work. We were going to go bowling, but I hate bowling so we played poker and PS3 instead.

All in all it went well. Shawna and Megan will never be best friends. They are just too different, but I think they can keep things civil at least. That's all I want.

The four of us met at MacDonald's. Shawna and I got there first. We were ordering our ice cream, when I noticed a guy in there that looked familiar. It was a friend of Megan and Courtney. I had met him once before. I wasn't 100% sure it was him at the time, so I didn't say hi.

He and his friends left just as Megan and Courtney were coming in.

According to Megan this is what he said to her: "Hey, I saw your friend in there. And he's with a hot girl!".

That made my night.

* * *

The next day, Shawna and I went shopping. I watched her try on a dozen different pair of jeans. I did not mind at all. We went to High Grade, where I have purchased all 5 of my jeans (see below).

We both found a pair of Diesel jeans on sale. When you purchase two sale items, you got an extra 10% off, so I put both of our jeans on my credit card. She promptly found an ATM and paid me back.

I picked her pair out. When she tried them on, I knew she had to buy them. She wasn't sold on them at first. She said they sat too low.

Shawna: When I bend over at work, my ass will fall out.
A/B: I don't see a problem here.
Shawna: Ha ha. You wouldn't.

* * *

So Megan and I worked together Monday night. She told me she wasn't in a good mood at the beginning and she wasn't kidding. We kind of fought all night. Just about little things. Any time I'd try to joke with her, she get all pissy. I know she is a girl, and these things can be expected. Now that I think about it, it was likely her time of the month, so that's probably the cause.

Last week she asked me if I had watched The Notebook. I hadn't, because it seemed like a girly movie. She told me is was great and begged me to watch it with her sometime. I said fine.

Monday night, I was trying to make conversation with her and asked her when we were going to watch it.

Megan: I'm not sure. I'm busy this week.
A/B: Ok, well so am I. So when are we going to watch it?
Megan: I'm not sure when I will be free. I don't know if I will have plans.
A/B: Well, this is not difficult. You pick a day you are free and tell me and then we will watch it.
Megan: Well, I don't want to make plans too early. What if something comes up?
A/B: Like what?
Megan: I don't know. A funeral?
A/B: If a funeral comes up on the day we are supposed to watch the movie, I'll excuse you.
Megan: How about you call me one night when you don't have anything to do?
A/B: That won't work. I always find things to do. If we do it this way, we will never watch it. Why can't you just pick a day?
Megan: Well, I don't want to ditch my friends.
A/B: It's quite simple, you make plans for our movie, and if they ask if you are available, you say no. If watching the movie is a "plan B" for you, then forget it. If it is just something to do when you don't have something better to do, then just forget about it. I have better things to do too.
Megan: No, it isn't a plan B. But if my friends are doing something, I don't want to have to say no.
A/B: Yeah, it is a plan B. And if that is the case, then I won't bother. You're the one who wanted to watch it.

She has just been a real bitch lately.

* * *

I bought the mp3 player I mentioned last week. I love it. I will go into more detail about the noise cancelling technology later. But is is really great. I put some old Third Eye Blind and Matchbox 20/Twenty (the first two CDs) songs on there. I really enjoy listening to them. Those 3 CDs are a few of my favorites of all time, and I forgot how much I enjoyed them.

* * *

Here is a scan of the tag that come on my last pair of jeans. As you can see, the original price was $349.00. You will also notice two sale price tags. The one that you can't see says $209. Then they must have marked it down again to $175. Recall that I also got 10% off the $175, so as you can see, I paid less that 50% of the original price.

The Jeans Post

2007-02-05T22:42:00.000-07:00

This post has been a long time coming. I talk about my jeans almost every post. You talk about my jeans almost every post. So let's take a look at them.

(has it really been almost a week since my last update? My goodness, that isn't like me at all. Also, I know the pics are bigger than they should be, but I'm too lazy to scale them all down. That's a lot of pictures. Plus this way, you see the detail)

We'll start with my 7 For All Mankind jeans. These were my first expensive pair. They are a slim pair, and actually taper slightly at the bottom. They are the closest thing to "emo" pants that I have, but they are simply not tight enough to be classified as such. They're more scenester pants than emo I guess. But is there a difference these days? I'm not part of either group ultimately so it doesn't matter. I like the colour of the denim on this pair. I quite like the dark denim, but also appreciate the fade that they have.

The belt is from American Eagle.

Can you see the small hole in the leg there? I don't know when that happened, but they did not come that way. I'm a bit worried that it will get bigger and bigger the more I wear them.

These are the J. Lindberg jeans. My second pair. I get more compliments on these jeans than any other pair. They are a straight leg, snug-around-the-crotch jean. The greatness of the JL's has been tarnished by the fact that high school kids everywhere wear JL t-shirts and hoodies like fucking crazy. A message to them: don't just think you can get by wearing the tops. Buy the jeans bitches. These are my lightest pair - both in weight and colour. You need a light colour pair of jean in your aresenal, and this is mine.

Notice the fray on the bottom of the leg on this pair. This is natural, and caused by my inability to wear my belt tight enough sometimes.

This is my third pair. My Energie jeans. I really quite like them. They are made of a thick, stiff demin, so they will get more comfortable the more I wear them I am sure. These were also my most expensive pair. Notice, there is more wear in these jeans than any other pair by far. All of it was like that when I bought them. 15 year old Brittany whom I used to work with loves these jeans. I wear these jeans most often out to the bars. They're "going to the bar" jeans.

Here is the fourth pair. The Diesels. I don't think there is a lot I can say about these ones that hasn't already been discussed previously.

A pic just for Dave:

This is my latest - and last - pair. Diesels. I have no intention of buying anymore jeans after this pair. I have 5 now. These ones were 50% off, plus another 10% off because Shawna and I both bought a sale item at the store. Yeah, she got a new pair too. At this price, I had to buy them. We've already planned to wear them both on Saturday. The demin feels like heaven, and they are very slim. I really like them. I will wear them for the first time tomorrow.

One last for Dave ;)

Here is the hat the Shawna got me for my birthday. I love it.

Some final thoughts on the jeans

What I'm about to say, I talked (argued) about with Megan no more than 2 hours ago (I will get into that another day). I wish I could go into American Eagle, or some other store, and get a pair of jeans that fit me this well, and look this good. But I can't. I guess part of it is because I'm skinny. Part of it is because I'm picky. Part of it because I don't want to go to Abecrombie & Fitch or Hollister and dress like a goddamn frat-boy.

Let's be honest, like with so many things in life, you get what you pay for. I don't think these jeans are any exception (although I will let you all form your own opinions).

Maybe it's hard to fully grasp the greatness of the jeans without seeing me in them. But I hope the pictures give you an idea of what I'm working with.

***I will do a real update tomorrow. Some Shawna and Megan updates. We had our get together Saturday night. I will review that. I will have a bit of everything tomorrow. I promise.***

Catching Up

2007-01-30T21:56:00.000-07:00

I feel like the last few weeks have gone by really quick. Ever since the New Year, really. I always like to keep you up to date of all the insignificant things that happen and I don't know that I've done that. I've skipped things, and glazed over others. This post will catch you up. Point form style.

A couple weekends back, 15 year old Brittany/Megan did indeed come by TRU to visit, but I didn't get to see her. She did email me apologizing though. Oh well.
I am working on getting pictures of all my jeans that I keep talking about. I will also get a pic of my jacket, and the Lacoste hat Shawna got me for my bday.
I realized this weekend, that I am 100% over Megan. It was quick wasn't it? Shawna can be thanked for that. Megan mentioned that she asked her friend living in BC to go to her grad with her, I could tell she was uncomfortable telling me, but I just said "hmm, that is good". I have never been at greater peace with her and our situation than I am now.
I went with her and Courtney on Sunday to look for grad dresses. I wanted to shoot myself. Don't get me wrong, when Megan did find a dress to try on, I waited with baited breath for her to come out of the dressing room, but it was just boring as hell. So I texted Shawna. Aww.
I almost convinced Megan to buy a $250 pair of Diesel jeans. She said that was too expensive. I told her if she bought a pair, I'd buy a pair too (of course, I don't need another pair, but I figured I'd buy them and send them via mail to Dave).
Here is a question for you: How many pairs of jeans does one need? I have 4. Is that too many? Too little? Shawna has like 6, but she's a girl.
There is something between Megan and Shawna that doesn't sit right with me. They don't dislike each other, but I would prefer that they be friends. It's easier on me. So my genius plan is for Megan+Courtney to go hang out with Shawna+me. Then we can all be friends, and working with both of them at the same time won't make me want to shoot myself. We're going to go bowling. Maybe this weekend. I dislike bowling, but girls love it for some reason.
Why the fuck doesn't Dave update his blog? I think he does it purposely to piss me off.
How hot is Steph the Goddess? Very hot. She trumps Tristan. She is above Ellie. I'm going to say she is flawless (except for the fact she can't go an evening without spilling a goddamn cooler on the carpet).
My pec muscle is almost 100% again. Very little pain anymore, and I haven't taken any Advil for a few days.
I took Megan to the U of A today for a psych class and lunch with Manda. They really hit it off, and got along quite well. They were practically finishing each other's sentences, and it was very unnerving.
I need a new mp3 player, and I have my eye on this one, but The Sony Stores in the whole city are sold out of them. They are supposed to get some shipped in this week, so I will keep trying. I really want one.

* * *

OK, well I know all of you want details of the kiss like gossipy little junior high girls. It is a little sad, I must say. LOL.

When I started this blog, I thought about how much info to share on it. I knew there would be a line that I would have to draw at some point.

If I had banged her, would you want detail about where, when, how hard, and in what positions? I guess there should be certain things that are left out of this blog. I will tell you what I think I should tell you about the kiss, and I won't say anything more.

I want to assure you that I will continue to keep you updated on everything, with (certain) details. It's not that I care if you know what I do, but there is part of me that feels it is wrong to share too much info because it's not just mine - it's Shawna's too.

Um, where? It was on my driveway, as she was getting into her SUV. When? It was Friday after we had watched Inside Man (great movie). How long? It wasn't long. What was her reaction? She seemed satisfied. Like she had an "it's about time" thought in her head.

My Birthday

2007-01-28T12:21:00.000-07:00

Saturday started with me going to work. Shawna was starting at the same time, and we were able to walk around the store and hang out for most of the shift. It was fun.

Overall, it was a quiet day at work. A girl made a little sticker for my name tag that said "ITS MY BIRTHDAY". But anyone who cared, already wished me a happy birthday.

An hour or so before the shift ended, one of the managers called me into the office. Asked if I wanted to go home. I said sure. Then he asked "do you need Shawna?". I said I would take her with me too. She was quite happy that I was able to get her off work early as well.

I then had birthday dinner with my family, grandparents, and aunt and uncle. Got a lot of birthday money, and that stuff.

As the extended family was leaving, I guess I was holding my back as if I was in pain. My mom has one of those Dr. Scholes back massager that you lay down on and it vibrates and massages you. The following conversation made me laugh:

Mom: Is your back sore? Do you want my vibrator?
A/B: (laughing) What? Vibrator? No. I don't want your vibrator.
Mom: Why? The vibrator will make your back feel better.
Dad: (laughing as well). Don't call it a vibrator, it's a massager.
(at this point I was hysterically laughing on the couch)

With everyone gone, I went to Shawna's house to pick her up for a party we were going to. The one and only Amanda was having a get together at her 3/4 of a million dollar house while her parents are out of town. Our friend Mike was going to bring his Nintendo Wii, and being cool like that, we decided we had to go. Shawna and I dropped by IKEA to see if Gavin was coming too. How could he pass up a chance to see Amanda again, and annoy the hell out of her with me?

One of his co-workers, Stephanie, came too. She will be known from now on as Steph the Goddess. She is the hottest girl I know. She wanted to come, and I wasn't about to say no. Her and I have hung out at the bar several times, so it's not like she is a stranger or anything. She is really nice. She can be the ditsy blond sometimes, but that only adds to the persona.

Steph had to stop at the liquor store and buy a bottle of vodka for Manda, whom she has never met. But she didn't have her ID on her (she's 20). And didn't have cash (only a debit card). Since I was the only legal aged person with their ID (Gavin didn't bring his wallet), Steph gave me her debit card and pin number and sent me in.

This post is getting long, so I will summarize the rest of the night:

The four of us sit in Manda's basement, while a bunch of people with cheap jeans stay upstairs. We're waiting for Mike the bring the damn Wii.
Gavin calls Mike asking impatiently where the Wii is. Twice.
Steph falls in love with Manda's three dogs.
We play Wii, it pretty much sucks.
Two other girls at the party know Shawna, and there is awkwardness (high school drama that I won't get into). Somehow, Amanda's 18 year old step-sister knows Shawna.
Steph spills a cooler on Manda's carpet. Manda doesn't care. I get mad at Steph. It was pina colada flavoured, so it was white, and the carpet was like a cream colour, so it didn't stain.
Gavin and I make fun of Manda's friend Rose (spread over the whole night).
Shawna, Gavin and I, all wearing our Diesel jeans, point it out to anyone that will listen.
Steph the Goddess eats all the chips and candy that Manda brought down. Justifies it by reminding us she brought Amanda a bottle of vodka.
We thank Manda for a wonderful evening.
Shawna, Steph and Gavin comment how nice they think Amanda's house is. It is beautiful. Of course I've been there before.

I dropped everyone off (I didn't really drink), then went to another party for a bit, but it was like 3 in the morning, so I went home shortly after.

Oh, when I was dropping off Shawna, her brother called her cell phone. He was drunk and was asking her why she was out so late. I was a bit worried that he would kick my ass, so she actually told me to drop her off like 5 or 6 houses down from hers, so I didn't have to drive past. Yeah, I'm a bit scared now.

Oh, and at work, Megan brought me cupcakes and a really nice birthday card. It was really nice of her.

Friday night when Shawna and I watched Inside Man (with the wonderful Clive Owen), she brought me a present too. It is a really nice black Lacoste ball cap. I wear it everyday now.

EDIT FOR JUNNIPER: I forgot to mention that I kissed her Friday night. So there you go Junniper. LOL.

Just A Few Very Random Things

2007-01-26T16:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I went to the doctor yesterday after an excruciating night lying in bed. He poked me with his fingers, then listened to my lung. He determined that I pulled a muscle. He told me to keep taking Advil (those things are great). So that's what I'm doing. No ETA on when I'll get 100% though.
Seriously, the last couple days have been the most painful days I have ever experienced. I don't know why this pectoral muscle hurts so much, but it hurts like a bitch. I don't know what it feels like to be shot, but it must feel like this. The pain I experience when I'm not on an Advil high is comparable to what a woman goes through when they give birth I figure.
Edmonton Oiler Ales Hemsky had a similar injury a couple months ago, and he was out for like 2 weeks. So, I'm pretty tough (OK, I don't remember how long he was out for, and I'm not even sure if it was a similar injury. Nor do I know the extent of his injury at the time).
I'm actually fairly certain it was his pectoral muscle, and he was out of about 2 weeks.
But the Advil LiquiGels are amazing things.
So is Cold-FX for colds. It boosts your immune system, and it is like a magical pill.
Does anyone watch Take Home Chef on TLC? I love that show. I really like the chef, Curtis. I like the way he dresses. He often wears a pair of Diesel jeans, which I always enjoy. Shawna and I often watch the show together. I think she may wonder if I have a crush on Curtis. Actually, I'm pretty sure she does, after this conversation yesterday:

Her: Yeah, Curtis is a good guy. He always dresses well. I like him.
A/B: You do, do you?
Her: Well, I like his style. I don't think he's hot.
A/B: You don't? Hmm.
Her: No...Why?...Do you?
A/B: Well. If I was a girl.....
Her: If you were a girl....?
A/B: I'd, uh, I'd do him.
Her: Well then.

I kind of feel sorry for Lindsay Lohan. I don't like how the paparazzi follow her to her AA meetings, and take pictures of her. I feel even worse for the other people in those meetings who inadvertently get their pictures taken, simply because they are in the same meeting and Lindsay. So much for privacy.
I'm going to have to take pictures of my jeans that I always talk about because I really love them a lot. I'm going to declare my Diesel's my favorite pair of the four. Curtis (pictured above) partially inspired me to buy a pair, and I will always be grateful to him for that.
Here is an updated list of my favorite TV shows:

1. 24
2. The Office
3. Mythbusters
4. Take Home Chef
5. House (but I dont' watch it as much as I would like)

Honourable mention to the Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report. I love them both, but never get to see them.

They Know What Music I Like

2007-01-24T15:43:00.000-07:00

Saturday night, before Megan and I watched V for Vendetta, she texted me, telling me to turn to The Bear (a local radio station). I did, and then realized why she told me to. They were play So Far So Good by Thornley, who she knows is my favorite band. I was touched.

The next night, I was sitting in my room doing my homework, when Shawna called. She said "hey, can you hear it?". It sounded like they were at a party, with the loud music and all. It took me a few seconds, but then I could hear it. It was The Diary of Jane playing in the background. Shawna and her friend were in their car when it started playing on the radio, and she phoned to tell me. I was touched.

* * *

Rarely does a shift go by now without Megan and I fighting. Saturday was no exception.

Megan saw me quickly chatting with Shawna on her way to the breakroom. Shortly after, Megan was wandering the sales floor, and avoided me to talk to some other guy. Finally she came over to me and I didn't say anything.

Megan: Oh, you're not going to say hi to me?
A/B: Well, you're too busy with (guy's name). But that's OK. I'll find Claire. At least she will talk to me.
Megan: Well, I have to find someone else to talk to now, since you're busy with Shawna.

We argued for a while. Everything worked itself out though. Pretty much everyone agress, that she was wrong in this situation, and I was 100% right. One word can sum this up: Jealousy.

* * *

Shawna and I are going to watch a movie at my place Friday night after she gets off work. It should be fun.

* * *

Adair and I had our meeting at the University yesterday. It was quite fun too. We went to lunch with Manda, and then Adair got to experience first-hand a psychology class. She seemed genuinely enthused, which was good. We'll see lots of her next year at school.

* * *

I've been fighting a cold the last couple days. The Cold-FX has helped. I swear by that stuff now.

But something else is wrong. my torso, on the right side, is sore as hell. It's like half soreness, and half cramping, and it hurts whenever I breath, or walk, or move. I've been taking Advil for the pain, and it helps, but if this doesn't go away in a day or two, I will have to go to the doctor, because it's a pretty big area I'm hurting. I don't know what caused it, and I don't know how to cure it.

I will keep you updated.

Watching V for Vendetta

2007-01-21T11:49:00.000-07:00

So I watched V for Vendetta again with Megan.

We were in the basement and it was cool, so I got her a blanket. She asked if I wanted to share part of it. I told her I didn't because sharing a blank is a "me-Shawna" thing.

While watching the movie, I realized something. I realized I don't really have feelings for Megan anymore. I was content sitting beside her and leaving it at that. I kept thinking about Shawna.

Shawna and I are going to hang out next weekend and watch a movie. I asked her which one she would like to watch. She said "it doesn't even matter what we watch I just want to spend time with you!".

I realized that Megan and I are friends. Just friends. Albeit good friends. But what I have with Shawna right now is too good to risk. I will continue to be friends with Megan, and we'll still hang out, but I will be careful not to fuck things up with Shawna over it, because that girl has been nothing but great to me, and I can't forget that.

* * *

Adair and I are still very excited about our meeting on Tuesday. I sure Amanda is less enthused. Ha ha. But it should be fun regardless.

* * *

So we took recently-turned 18 year old Dani to the bars on Friday. We finished the night off at the stripclub. Who knew girls enjoyed stripclubs so much? We saw 4 dancers, and it was great. I really enjoyed it. Edge of your seat entertainment. It's only a $6 cover too, so I mean, you're looking at $1.50 per dancer, which is a great deal. Some of those girls are very skilled on that dance pole, and could easily be gymnasts.

* * *

I forgot to give my thoughts on a wonderful movie I saw last week called Children of Men. I won't go into the plot because you have already read that in the newspaper. Let me say this, it is one of the greatest movies I have ever seen. Here is a simple equation to give you an idea:

Saving Private Ryan+V for Vendetta=Children of Men

I liked it so much, I bought tickets for my parents. They are going to see it in about an hour. Everyone should see this movie.

You WIll Want To Rip My Balls Off After Reading This Post

2007-01-17T21:43:00.000-07:00

Reasons:

1) You remember Brittany/Megan? The 15 year old girl in love with me? The one I used to work with until she quit? Well, she is coming by work on Saturday to "say goodbye" to me. To make things better, Shawna will also be working.

2) Tonight, Adair and I confirmed our meeting at the U of A on Tuesday. We are both quite excited. She is upset with me however, for not telling her I was seeing Shawna. For the record, Shawna knows she and I will be hanging out and is all good with it.

3) Another girl at work recently turned 18, so her and I and a few other people from work (the pickings are slim, as most people we work with are under 18) are going to the bar Friday night. I work Saturday morning, but who cares. Shawna also knows about this and if fine with it.

4) Saturday night is where it get tricky. Megan texted me wanting to do something Saturday night. I said sure, because I didn't want to be mean. Possibly a bad move. Shawna does not know of this. I don't know if she should.

To further complicate things, a friend of mine, Myranda, is having her 22nd birthday party at her apartment that evening. I told her I would go, but I think I can squeeze a few things into one evening.

How about this?

1: After work, go to dinner with Shawna (if she wants to)
2. Go to Myranda's party.
3. Watch V for Vendetta with Megan after she gets off work at 9pm.

I am hanging out with Shawna tomorrow after school. So I'm putting in the time with her too. I was a bit surprised she didn't say anything about Saturday yet, because I would have preferred to do something with her instead. But....

Maybe her and I can hang out on Sunday too if she wants, and she doesn't have school next week either, so maybe we can do something then too.

OK, let me have it.

The Text Messages Say It All

2007-01-15T15:55:00.000-07:00

Just a few texts I thought I would share.

Back story: Megan is at a chemistry study session. She hardly knows anyone, but met a guy and a couple girls.

he came with us thats the girls who came with me at lunch she is stealing my study buddy lol oh well i would rather talk to u anyways u are much more fun and a million times more amazing than him actually an infinite times better

The important thing here is the last line. Either she is still patronizing me for some reason, or she is regretting her decision. Maybe a bit of both. Oh Megan, you always want what you can't have don't you?

Also yesterday, I asked Shawna how badly her parents will beat me when they find out how old I am:
well basically i dont care what they think, so it doesn't matter, and as of right now they know ur over 18 and haven't asked questions so again it doesn't matter! i don't see it as a problem as long as you don't?

Prachi was worried that my cover regarding the lack of goodnight kiss may put the brakes on any future ones. Shawna assured us that wouldn't be a problem:
They didn't even ask me anything about last night, so a kiss wouldn't have been out of the question...

Also of note, Shawna wants to hang out Thursday after school. I have no idea what we're going to do. But does it really matter? We also talk on the phone at least once, and often more each day.

Thankfully, I recently changed my cell phone price plan to something with 1000 weeknight/weekend minutes, 100 weekday minutes, and unlimited Rogers-to-Rogers (the wireless service) minutes. Thankfully, Shawna is also on Rogers. I also have a total of 300 texts I can use each month, which should be enough to cover both Shawna and Megan.

But this change only took effect Sunday, so this month's bill is going to be really bad. Rogers Wireless is going to fuck me up the ass one last time.

* * *

I missed an important anniversary. Jan 12 was the one year anniversary of the Amanda talk. And less importantly, the one month anniversary of the Megan talk.

* * *

Vaibhav, I'd email Parlyzer to you, but I don't know your email. But you can listen to the song on Finger Eleven's myspace page.

Or, you can listen to it on their official site.

Saturday

2007-01-14T01:09:00.000-07:00

Well, I let JL know I was not pleased with her telling people at work about Shawna and I. I'm still mad at her and she knows it. She is still trying to convince me she didn't do it. When I was about to leave for the day, she pulled the "you don't have to believe me, but I'm not going to try to convince you otherwise" card.

I call bullshit.

* * *

Shawna and I went to dinner. It was very nice.

After, we watched V for Vendetta at my house. She hadn't seen it. We cuddled under the blanket. We had our legs intertwined under the blanket and everything. I almost fell asleep with my head on her shoulder.

We looked something like this:

Then I drove her home. I got out of the car. Gave her a hug goodbye. Then she hugged me again. I think she was hinting at a kiss. I didn't pick up on this until it was too late. Missed opportunity. When she was walking to her house, she seemed a little disappointed/annoyed.

Shit.

* * *

The evening was interrupted by a text messages from a few different girls.

I heard from Megan, Adair, and another girl at work who just turned 18 and whom I will be going to the bar with next Friday.

* * *

The mystery of the email was solved today. I confirmed the last name of mystery Megan with a guy at work who goes to school with the suspected Megan/Brittany. He also said "yeah, Brittany is in love with you".

You know, when it rains, it pours.

Just now, I noticed I have an email from her. Let me preface it with a note. The thing around her neck is the dog tag I gave her one day a couple weeks ago. She still has it.

haha..i guess i shoulda checked this one first..yeah..it's around my neck right now...well, actually, it's on my sean shrine...along with a lock of your hair, a piece of your mom's benz hubcap, the picture that i took of Megan and you (i cut her head out and put mine there), and a bunch of stuff from your house. .
i dunno, when do you work? i can probably come and bring it back to you, or send it with Ryan or something.

I especially liked the comment about the me-Megan picture. I will have to share that with the real Megan.

EDIT: OK, so I covered my ass this morning (Sunday). I was concerned that Shawna may have been put off my the lack of goodnight kiss last night, so I slyly went about explaining it.

First, I asked how badly her parents were going to beat my ass when they find out how old I am.

She said that they already know I'm over 18, and that she doesn't really care what they think. She said she doesn't see the age gap as a problem if I don't.

I said I don't see it as one, then said that I just didn't want to get her in trouble. "I didn't want to say, give you a goodnight kiss, than have you go into your house and have to answer questions about it from your parents".

See, I was looking out for her well being last night. That's what it was. Rest assured, next time, I won't have my head stuck up my ass.

Very Minor Update

2007-01-11T22:48:00.000-07:00

Here is a prediction for the new year: Paralyzer by Finger Eleven will be one of the top songs of 2007. Every few years, this Canadian band comes up with a huge song that everyone loves. They will do it again this year. It will be huge.

* * *

Well, Shawna and I are going out for dinner after work tomorrow night.

We were going to see a movie (Children of Men) after dinner, but now she just wants to hang out at either her place or mine. That can only mean good things for me.

Instead, I'm going to the movie with Jon, while she is at work.

That is all I have to report.