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.:Monday, December 29, 2003:.
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So much for my Super Consumerized Christmas
... in which I got NOTHING on my published list (see below, or in the archives) save for the windshield wipers (I think)... but all is good. I can always get it myself. I did end up doing some excellent Boxing Day shopping and bought new clothes (including jeans that AREN'T too big for me, except maybe a little too long...) and the new Travis CD. But not the perfume, for some reason I think that is still a gifty thing. (Hint hint) Anyway, not to toot anyone's horn, but I did get something cool and unexpected for Christmas... two pairs of sweatpants.
Yes, sweatpants.
I've never owned a pair of sweatpants before. Seriously. I mean I've had track pants and lounge-y lazy day pants (but not cabana pants!), but never an actual pair of sweatpants before. My mommy bought them for me and they are oh-so-comfortable. I can't sing enough praises about them right now, I am so amazed with them it's like being allowed to wear pajamas in public.
Disclaimer: I recognize that I've mentioned my newfound enthusiasm for sweatpants to a few people already but it's always good to spread the joy. When there are quite a few things to be bitter and annoyed about (cough cough), small joys like sweatpants and enjoying the company of friends are key in remembering that life isn't always as crappy as you think it is. Yay!
Year In Review and 2004 Predictions are coming... and a happy birthday to Niko today.
4:38 p.m.
posted by tre
.:Saturday, December 27, 2003:.
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The hills are alive...
...with the Sound of Music... I had a night in at home tonight, alternatively switching between the movie version of High Fidelity, the Canucks-Oilers hockey game, and The Sound of Music on TV. At any commercial break I would rotate to the other shows to see what was going on - having seen the Sound of Music and High Fidelity already, I already knew what happens so missing parts didn't really bother me too much. Plus after the Canucks started losing I was falling off the bandwagon and paying more attention to the von Trapps, and observed something interesting.
**Caution, movie spoiler, if you haven't seen the Sound of Music...**
When Maria gets married to Georg (the Captain von Trapp), the music that they play as she walks down the aisle isn't the traditional wedding march, but a reprise of one of the nuns' songs from the beginning of the movie that goes,
"How do you solve a problem like Maria...
How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?
How do you find a word that means Maria?
A flibbertijibbet! A will-o'-the wisp! A clown!
Many a thing you know you'd like to tell her
Many a thing she ought to understand
But how do you make her stay
And listen to all you say?
How do you keep a wave upon the sand?
Oh, how do you solve a problem like Maria?
How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?"
...and I thought... what a novel send-off from singledom to married life. I am now considering that as my wedding march. When I so choose to get married, that is. Except change the name to mine and take out the references to flibbergibbets and clowns. That should make for an interesting entrance.
11:57 p.m.
posted by tre
.:Wednesday, December 24, 2003:.
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Interesting thing about Bridget Jones...
Found Helen Fielding's columns from The Telegraph, archived online. See how it differs from the books and the movie. This is where the essence of Bridget came from. Quite funny actually. Great for a rainy day when you bored in front of the computer. (Caution, long reads.)
12:37 p.m.
posted by tre
.:Tuesday, December 23, 2003:.
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The Best Gifts Are Always In Stock...
Stuck for a gift? Got cash to burn? I was staring at my blog today and in the advertising header I came across an ad to buy Krispy Kreme stocks. You can buy a single stock share and have it framed. I think that is a marvelous idea, except for the fact that the transfer fees usually cost as much as the single stock shares themselves... very novel.
Or, for your favourite pessimist, find gifts for them here.
In unrelated news, I got a few postcards in the mail this week - one from my brother and Tracy from Disneyland, another one from Mark in Japan, and from Pear and Lena in Bangkok - elephants mating - how appropriate. People like me. YES!
1:30 p.m.
posted by tre
.:Monday, December 22, 2003:.
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Casual Observation:
Speed limits do not apply when...
1. you are playing (good, thumping, eurotrashy) techno music
2. you are driving through tunnels with no traffic
On Saturday Niko and I drove Karin down to SeaTac Airport for her late night flight to Ft. Lauderdale, quite an adventure. I tried a hot donut from Krispy Kreme for the first time and have decided: hot donuts are where it's at. I know I wondered what the big deal with Krispy Kreme was - now I know. But I'm not a disciple, so no random trips down to Burlington for a dozen boxes. Sorry. Then we made it to Bellevue for dinner and a little shopping, and off to SeaTac. I've never been to SeaTac; it's very... 70's retro in there. And lots of concrete and convoluted instructions. Driving back we got back to Vancouver in 2 hours and fifteen minutes including a ten-minute detour for caffeine. To keep ourselves awake we played Niko's techno CD but that didn't stop him from poking me to make sure I was awake. That hurt, especially when you're not expecting an elbow in your side. The top speed on the way back through the Massey tunnel was a bit over 180 kmh. Maybe Niko has a leadfoot - I've never been able to get my car to go that fast.
9:51 a.m.
posted by tre
.:Thursday, December 18, 2003:.
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Nice....
9:48 a.m.
posted by tre
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Music Fans Beware...
Boy am I glad I didn't buy any of these albums this year. Anyone remember Danny Wood from New Kids? Did you know he released a solo album this year?? What is this world coming to??
9:46 a.m.
posted by tre
.:Tuesday, December 16, 2003:.
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One word today.
BLEH.
9:42 a.m.
posted by tre
.:Friday, December 12, 2003:.
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Now that the wedding's over we can concentrate on other things... like, back to my subconscious...
...yes, that is correct. So I had this strange dream last night in which I was driving down Highway 99 for no apparent reason, and I had to light a match. Again, for no apparent reason. While I was driving. So I grab a box of matches that I got from Niko's cigar shop (don't ask), and fire one up. I remember these bad boys because every time I used them I always had a hard time getting them to fire up or blow out.
Anyway, so it fires up with no problem and I suddenly realize that I just lit a match for no apparent reason (while I was driving, mind you, down Hwy 99, again, for no apparent reason). So I blow it out, and open the window and hold out the burnt-out match for two seconds, then let it go. It floats off, or drops to the ground or whatever matches do when you throw them out the window going 100 kmh. But then all of a sudden I notice in my rearview mirror that the speed limit post I had just passed had become alight with fire. WTF. Well, since it was also raining I drove away anyway, figuring the sign post would eventually burn itself out. I drive away to the sounds of people in the background whooping and hollering in excitement. Like, hey, that sign post spontaneously caught fire. Cool!
'Later' in that dream I find myself at home listening to the TV in the other room and a report comes on that a sign post had caught on fire and the 'authorities' were looking for the suspect. They had said that a number of cars had passed by and there was a camera nearby that caught all the cars passing. I could have sworn at that point I saw my car on TV speeding by with an apparent inextinguishable match flying out the window. I didn't know what kind of offence this amounted to, but I went into hiding.
Eventually I feel like the gig is up, I am going to be caught for dropping a match out a window and setting a sign post on fire. My father is apparently the lead prosecutor in this case, and the tape is clear evidence that I am a closet pyromaniac. Then beeepbeeepbeeepbeeep. Oh, time to press the snooze button.
Analyse that!!
10:49 p.m.
posted by tre
.:Tuesday, December 09, 2003:.
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The Bridesmaid's Tale... in mostly chronological order...
December 6, 2003
7:15 AM. Wake up in a panic... well, no not really, I kind of rolled out of bed leisurely and then realized I had to be in White Rock in just over half an hour... oops... luckily I had my bags packed and ready to go, and made it to White Rock in 25 minutes only to have to follow the slowest minivan in the world down 24th.... grrr.
7:55 AM. Tracy drives to Langley. Chain-smoking the whole time, practically. It is raining but in the distance we see a rainbow! A good sign. We pick up Kim at her house, and meet up with Amanda at Michaud's, where we all get seated for our hair appointments. We all get started; I think Kim is done first, and I'm done second... Tracy's third and Amanda had to have her hair re-done twice because the first time didn't work out... plus she inadvertently insulted the stylist by asking how far along she was in her pregnancy... and she wasn't even pregnant. ooooops.
10:30 AM. Hair all done, we decide to stop by McD's drive-thru for a healthy breakfast. Tracy has her hair up in her veil so no eating in the car!!
10:45 AM. Back at Tracy's parents', we are greeted by some of Tracy's relatives who are 'helping'. While eating breakfast (and Tracy stressing about being on time for everything), we have to open up 6 bag of pompoms and fluff them up to stick them on the bus. Groomsmen David and Adrian show up to help Richard (Kim's fiancé) decorate the bus, and they arrive with a present for Tracy from Joe: a card and a snowglobe. She starts getting teary, of course, but then the make-up lady shows up and it's time to get ready for that.
11:15 AM. Make-up lady does Tracy. Then me. She tells me that I should use concealer to cover those 'dark circles' and insults my eyebrows. Even though she does a good job I'm not quite impressed with her comments. Thaaaaanks. (First of all, there's nothing wrong with my eyebrows, and the dark circle comment was just unnecessary. Biatch!)
12:30 PM. Done make-up? There are more relatives visiting, and by now at least three people have stopped by thinking that there was a craft sale going on. Nope. I have now put on my shoes and am prancing (practising?) around trying to find the most comfortable way to walk. I've found that these $40 shoes (plus free purse, score!), while very hot to look at, are killer on my feet. Just need to get used to it I'm thinking. Just need to get used to it.
12:45 PM. Bakery calls the house: "You haven't picked up the cake yet..." So someone busts it out of there to pick up the cake and deliver it to the reception hall.
1:15 PM. I'm in my dress already. May as well. Tracy is waiting for all these relatives to get out of the house so she can get dressed. Everyone else is dressed. Tracy waits, stresses some more. Tracy's mom gets her make-up done. People finally start leaving. Stragglers annoying the hell out of Tracy. Everyone else walking on eggshells. Me, trying also to step lightly in these murderous shoes.
2:15 PM. FINALLY Tracy is in her dress and we are ready to go, heading to the church with minutes to spare, only to find that there are still people milling about outside. Tracy is adamant that she wants EVERYONE in the church before she goes down the aisle. So we take a short detour around the block and wait outside until everyone is in the church.
2:30 PM. Showtime. Well almost. We still wait in the car for the last 10 stragglers to find some seats. As practiced, we eye from the back where the groomsmen are standing, wait for the cue, and there I go down the aisle amidst flashbulbs. I'm trying hard to 'walk slow' like they wanted me to, which is turning out to be a success on account of the shoes. Grab Chris and am led to my seat, followed by Amanda by half a church length, then Kim, then Tracy and her dad. Tracy's dad looks about ready to cry when he gives Tracy away, which starts everyone else around me, too. Awww.
2:45 PM. The service begins. It's pretty short - maybe only 35 minutes. The gospel was seriously a short paragraph. Throughout the service I am acutely aware of the young boy sitting behind me pretending to clean the pew. So much so that it was annoying, I couldn't pay as much attention to the vows and what was going on in front of me. (I am not going to get into my pet peeves about children in church here.)
3:20 PM. Joe and Tracy are officially married! They head down the aisle followed by the rest of this bridal party, where we head outside to the nicely decorated bus (a Quick Coach provided by Tracy's dad) and get on to take some pictures by the beach. Ooh. Not such a smart idea. I'm sure the pictures turned out great but it was damn cold from the wind (no rain, thank God)... and the bridesmaids were all sleeveless! I purloined David's jacket from him for the endless few minutes we were standing around, but had to give it back when it came to picture time. Back on the bus, cracked open some champagne and headed back to Tracy's for more pictures. Family pics and the like. This took a while.
5:30 PM. Headed out to Semiahmoo Fish & Game Club, where the reception was being held. Made our grand entrance and could now be social with the guests. The best thing about being at the bridal party table, I think, is getting first crack at the food. Good stuff. There was an extra dish that Tracy hadn't ordered but I think my mom went through Joe to, was the traditional Filipino roast pig... but it was already cut up so no ghastly pig head à la Lord of the Flies book covers.
The room was beautifully decorated - fairy lights encased in tulle hung from the ceiling to create a canopy effect, and on all the tables there were huge Christmas wreaths with a big candle and glass holder. Not to mention all the favours were hand-decorated Christmas ornaments.
The MC had given the guests the stipulation that if they wanted the new couple to kiss, instead of tinking their glasses with their spoon or fork, they had to come up to the head table and sing a verse from a Christmas song. Which several people did. There were the half-assed ones that forgot half their lines, but also a full-on operatic version of Oh Holy Night that cracked everyone up to bits (complete with raising hands to the sky).
There were, of course, the speeches, mostly made by people on the bride's side of the family. One highlight was my brother's toast to Tracy, which made me proud; the other was Adrian's toast to the parents - and his words of wisdom to Joe, that was interactive and funny: "Now Tracy, put your hand down on the table. Ok, Joe, put yours on top of hers. Ok, Joe... treasure this moment: this is the last time you will have the upper hand!" Good one!!
Joe and Tracy's first dance was to "I Do" by Paul Brandt, they did this funky choreographed dance that they had been practicing for almost 6 months. I got to dance with my bridal party partner Chris, we practised the box step for a bit and then gave up after he stepped on my foot, which was already throbbing. His wife was pretty good-humoured about it; seeing as though she was stuck in the back of the hall with Amanda's husband and Richard.
After that it was free reign for dancing, I left my seat at the head table to hang out with my cousins and complain about my feet. Also at this point, my contact lenses were starting to give me trouble (damn that make-up artist and her "dark circles" concealer!!). After a few dances I popped outside for a breather and got my brother to find my running shoes, which I promptly changed into (hey, this was at like, 10, my feet were killing me, give me a break!). And then come to think of it, my eyes were hurting so much that I went to get my glasses and changed out of my contacts. Ahhhhh. Much better.
 
The band, a gift provided by Ruth and Ron, played a lot of oldies rock and roll, Elvis stuff, that everyone on both sides of the family loved. On breaks between sets they played a selection of dance music, including some polkas for the Ukranian-Saskatchewanians. But by far the most popular was the band. Watching the dance floor was an interesting take on people-watching. There was one cousin of ours who ended up picking up a cousin of Tracy's... Jaedinn & Dylan wanting to play with the band... Nicolas and his red light-up thumbs... Mimi progressively getting drunk and telling everyone she loves them... my 'new' uncle Jeff falling on the dance floor and taking two others with him... he did this THREE TIMES... other interesting things were dancing with my Polish Uncle Felix, random Filipino 'aunties' complimenting me to no end (got rather embarrassing actually)... and then dancing with uncle Jeff.
 
"May I have this dance?" he asked. "Why yes of course!" I obliged. (What the hell.) So we get on the dance floor, we are doing some kind of twirly dance (this is where knowing the two-step can come in handy!) and he asks me, "So are you a brideshmaid?" "Yes I am," I placate him. "I've alwaysh wanted to dance with a brideshmaid." "Oh well you're in luck! You can dance with Amanda, too!" "Oh?" "Yes, there's more than one bridesmaid." "Oh. That's a nice scarf." End of song. Outside for some air. Ahhhh.
So, around 11:30 or so people are starting to leave, at about 12:30 everyone's pretty much done. The bus gets started up and begins loading - not only people, but Tracy's family takes down the hall in one go - all in the span of about half an hour. Pretty quick, considering. It felt like forever though. I had the pleasure of hanging out with Adrian's fiancé Trish who was more than completely bombed. Whilst waiting for the bus to go, others also got on for the ride and also passed out. Including good ol' Jeff, who had fallen asleep across the aisle from me and Trish. But Jeff's son Neil and his wife have decided to drive their own car, and wanted Jeff to come with them... so he eventually gets up, stumbles to the bus door and almost trips down the stairs (considering his falling incidents on the dance floor I wouldn't have put it past him at this point!). By the simple virtue of turning my head to stretch or whatever, I notice a little pink plastic 'thingee' on the seat next to where he was. On second glance, it was a set of dentures. Gross!! So I get up and yell after them "DUDE SOMEONE LEFT THEIR DENTURES ON THE BUS!" (I think I really did say 'dude'.) Neil ended up having to pick them up. (Apparently the next day we found out that Jeff lost them again that night, somewhere in his hotel room, after the requisite McDonald's run.)
I had arranged to stay at Joe and Tracy's place so that I didn't have to go all the way back to Vancouver, but in some ways I wish I had gone all the way home. I was horribly allergic to the cats at Joe and Tracy's, and spent most of the night being acutely aware of my breathing (and wheeziness). Even though Joe and Tracy cleaned and vacuumed and everything, it still got to me. I also had about three 24-hour Reactines in the space of about 10 hours - so not too sure if that helped either. My plan was to shower and head to bed, but all I ended up doing was taking off my make-up, counting out 67 bobby pins in my elaborate 'do, and crashing in The Jungle Room (aptly named because of the animals on the wall that Joe & Tracy hadn't painted over yet).
Next morning, wheezy as hell, showered, changed and headed over to Tracy's parents for the gift opening. That wasn't too exciting so I'm not going to talk about it except to say they got some pretty nice presents. (Cash and a digital camera? Not bad!)
Anyway, that's my story. Thanks for reading.
PS: I was only asked four times when my wedding was going to be. The number is slightly disappointing because I had expected more relatives to ask me... but then I thought, I had been purposefully staying away from those certain relatives who were mostly likely to ask me anyway, and I ought to be glad people aren't bugging me about getting married or where my date was (ha!)... then my cousin Jason made fun of me when I mentioned this - saying that what, am I insulted that no one thinks I am marriage material? Hmm. Interesting. ;0)
9:26 p.m.
posted by tre
.:Thursday, December 04, 2003:.
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Amended Selfish Christmas Wish List
1. Don't get me Travis tickets. I'm already going to the show IN VANCOUVER, THE DAY AFTER MY BIRTHDAY.
2. More CDs: Texas (whatever the new one is)
3. Apparently Niko has decided that he's getting me windshield wipers, and he's even going to put them on for me. Score!
4. Okay, I'll give in: peace and goodwill and all that crack.
Disclaimer: this list is subject to change at least three or four times daily without you even noticing. See comments for details.
Random... Stereophonics concert last night was FANTASTIC. 'Twas an acoustic show, and they did not disappoint. The show was a bit short though, less than an hour and a half including encore. Kelly Jones is a little man, but talented. Thumbs up to the dude who separated himself from his girlfriend so I could see better. Thumbs down to the girlfriend who was still taller than me and could have joined him behind me... and thumbs WAY down to the chick beside me who pierced my eardrum and the eardrums of others around us with her two-fingered whistle... I mean really, I know this is a concert and everything and whistling is a common occurence, but seriously - when you see people visibly in pain (ie. covering their ears every time you put two fingers to your mouth) - and lots of of them doing it at the same time... take a freaking hint!!!! Pictures online shortly.
12:23 p.m.
posted by tre
.:Tuesday, December 02, 2003:.
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Totally Selfish Christmas Wish List
nevermind peace and goodwill and all that crack, it's all about me this year. it's about time, too.
CDs: escapology by robbie williams, whatever the new craig david one is, whatever the new dido one is, the diary of alicia keys. no american/canadian/pop idols, please.
travis tickets (jan. 23 in seattle!)
canucks ladies replica jersey in blue. or white. or both.
and if you were going to personalize it, put Reith and 77 on it. thanks.
plane ticket to england to visit junko.
extra vacation time to visit scotland and ireland and other parts of (continental) northern europe.
or tropical beach vacation.
heck while we're at it, why not add vacation money to the list.
computer network card for my laptop so i can switch to cable.
a kite. that works. one with no teddy bears on it.
a 1960's streamlined 'portable' typewriter. check eBay.
black leather Roots bag with cream or brown leather monogrammed 't' - yes, i still want it.
clothing gift certificates. all of my pants are too big for me, like seriously.
air freshener replacement for car. (see specialty asian novelty shop in metrotown)
new windshield wipers.
a postcard from finland. or iceland.
10:56 p.m.
posted by tre
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copyright? what copyright? (2005)
guess what?
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