post 100: Moving In

So, I'm moving to downtown today.

Residence life. Makes me wonder what it will be like, sort-of reliving myself 5 years ago.
Strange.
Yet, hopefully wonderful.
And, completely different.

School's about to start...

ANd, i'm thrilled!

Managing Money

Yesterday, as I browsed the Personal Finance section of the stacks at my local community library, I came across a books called "Women and Money". I really didn't think much of it, the cover wasn't that appealing, but I picked it up, opened it, read the inside cover and decided that although I didn't like the cover, this might just be a book that i need.

And, it turns out to be a gem.

Suze Orman writing about "Women and Money", it's incredible. I don't know how to describe it. I'm thankful and grateful that I can read what my love has been trying to teach me. It seems to be like a more overt version of the necessary skills that I need to be learning.

It's also a great read. Not academic, and conversation-like. Perhaps more of an 'easy' than a 'great'. :P

Starship Trooper Trilogy

Well, I just finished watching the 2nd of the Tril.
It's nasty. Like, bloody, arms, legs, head, fingers sort of nasty.

Really very STRANGE 2nd movie. Though, I'd say I enjoyed it a bit more than the first.

However, I was really confused - there isn't any continuity of characters from the first to the second.

I'll keep you posted about the third.

posted: 8/28/08 12: 27 AM


I finished watching the third one with my brother tonight. interesting indeed.
Very odd. very, very odd.
Recommended movies, though I think that the Aliens Quadrilogy is much more exciting and scary.

The Alien's Quadrilogy

I finished off the quadrilogy this past weekend. It was GOOD.
strange and weird, but good. This was a good 8 hours invested.

Highly recommended. And, trust me, it's different from Star Wars. Although it does sort of take place in space, believe me, these movies will keep you on the tip of your ass. Literally.

Good thing Chris was there for all of it. He was my human teddy bear. Except for parts of them. It was so intense, I had to leave his warmth and curl in my blankets and crawl closer to the computer monitor.

It was amazing.
And, if you're looking for character development - we got a jackpot here. The four movies were filmed over a 20 year period. not only do you have character development, you have actor literal development too. And, it was GOOD.

now, go watch it!!!!!

34Km ride ... with minor injuries

Took a new bike route today, and did a total of 34km!
Total pedaling time - 1:57:32
I left my place at 12:30pm, and didn't get home until 2:50pm

It was a great ride!
I love how I get to explore the area. I found a very beautiful pond at Mills Street. It was amazing!

That's partly the reason why i took so long. I spent 10mins at the pond, biking very slowly through the trail so I could soak up the beauty a little longer. I did get a seemingly unfriendly look by a man in his mid-thirties pushing a baby carriage, and walking with a young girl (she was about 3-5yrs). But, no one said anything, and I didn't see any signs that said "please do not bike".

Well, it turns out that I fell on Elgin Mills, between Yonge and Bayview. Good thing it was on the sidewalk, and not on the road. Last thing I'd want is to end up as a 'Jane Doe' in the hospital. I think I should get one of those ID tags for when I'm riding alone.

ALEINSSSSS

Over the weekend, I watched Alien 1 and 2 with Chris. Well, their names are: Alien and Aliens.

They were GOOD. Aliens, I must say is much better than Alien. But that makes sense. They have a much better budget and etc. etc. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed when I watched Alien. But, I think that is because here we are in the 21st Century, it is nearing 2010. This movie was made around 30 years ago. Even before I was born! Alien was released in 1979. Now, for a 1979 film, it is impressive. Aliens was released in 1986. It overlaps the time that Star Wars was produced.

I would definitely recommend this movie, well movies. Aliens kept me on my toes! Figuratively. In the literal sense, imagine a girl sitting on a bed, leaning against the wall watching a movie from a laptop. Now, imagine the girl grasping onto the blankets, curled up close to the screen, watching the monitor intently. That's how good it was.

I'd give it a REALLY good rating (the second movie: Aliens). The first movie, isn't as good... but, the second movie wouldn't be nearly as good if you don't watch the first one.
Excellent movie. Very well done!

Philospohical and Spritual?

I just had a long, but intense (for me anyways) discussion about religion(s) and concepts.

There's a point where we talked about a triangle. Where one corner is the human, the mind of humanness, in my head, I call it the physical aspects of living. Another corner is the mind of things which are not physical. This can be called the 'spiritual'. In my head, i call it the Meta-physical. Or, it can be termed 'being'. It is other than those things which are physical and things that we can touch or feel. I know that it doesn't seem correct to use the words 'beyond, above and surpasses', but it's that that i beyond the physical. The reason why I don't like using those words is that it gives the connotation that the meta-physical is better and superior than the physical, and i don't mean to convey that. I mean to say that it is separate and apart from. In my head, I see a Venn diagram. There is a circle. that circle is labeled 'physical'. Another circle outside of the 'physical' and labeled 'metaphysical'. And back to the triangle, the last point is the integration of both human and metaphysical.

What I mean by this is that.. let's say if a person is only driven to only think about the Humanness, then that is all they see. There doesn't appear/seem to be anything that is metaphysical that matters to this person. Now, if a person only thinks about Metaphysical things, this person may neglect their physical aspects such as family, friends, their academia, their careers etc. Now if this person then integrates their human experiences with their metaphysical experiences, and integrate the two, they can see the sadness of humanness, the suffering, the happiness. But, they can also see perfection in such imperfection.

I probably don't make sense to you at all, and I must admit that I am not nearly excellent at articulating my thoughts.

Another one is the separation of reality and concepts. Everything that we think and feel are concepts. They are all concepts. Jesus Christ is a concept, a representation of what people believe to be God. Ali is also another concept as a representation of God. As well as Nirvana, a concept of God. Dao is another concept of God.

I have been grappling with different consequences (which are part of a said religion). And what has never occurred to me... is to separate these ideas from GOD.

Books Read

Books Read this summer:

Carolina Moon - Nora Roberts
Scarecrow - Matthew Reilly
Who Moved My Cheese? - Spencer Johnson
I Won't Learn from You and Other Thoughts on Creative Maladjustment - Herbert R. Kohl
Tuesdays With Morrie - Mitch Albom
The Myth of Laziness - Mel Levine
What Great Teachers do Differently - Todd Whitaker
Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffeneger
Savage Inequalities - Jonathan Kozol

And those that I hope to finish:

Life in Schools - Peter McLaren


1 more book to go before the end of August. Can I do it?

Story Sharing

I want to share a little snippet of The Time Traveller's Wife with you. And, this is one of the parts that brought me almost to tears.
To give you a bit of background, Henry is the Time Traveller. So far from what I've read, he mainly travels back to the past. Meaning, his self at age 36, would travel back to the time when he was say, 16. Clare is Henry's wife (they marry when Clare is 21, on Oct 23, 1993). In real time (if Henry and Clare are situated together) Henry is 8 years older than Clare.

The following snippet takes place April 12, 1984. Clare is 12. Henry is 36 (meaning he has travelled back in time). Thus, he knows the future that young Clare doesn't know.
They are playing chess and talking about the Beatles, and Paul McCartney. It evolves into a discussion of who Clare likes, and who Henry likes when he was her age, 12.

"Who do you like now?" she asks without looking up.
"you mean at twenty? Or at 36?"
"Both."
I try to remember being twenty. It is just a blur of women, breasts, legs, skin and hair. All their stories have been jumbled together, and their faces no longer attach themselves to names. I was busy but miserable at twenty. "Twenty was nothing special. Nobody springs to mind."
"And thirty-six?"
I scrutinize Clare. Is twelve too young? I'm sure twelve is really too young. Better to fantasize about beautiful, unattainable safe Paul McCartney than to have to content with Henry the Time Traveling Geezer. Why is she asking anyway?
"Henry?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you married?"
"Yes," I admit reluctantly.
"To who?"
"A very beautiful, patient, talented, smart woman."
Her face falls. "Oh." She picks up one of my whit bishops, which she captured two moves ago, and spins it on the ground like a top. "Well, that's nice." She seems kind of put out by this news.
"what's wrong?"
"Nothing." Clare moves her queen. I move my knight.
"Am I married?" Clare inquires.
I meet her eyes. "You're pushing your luck tday."
"Why not? You never tell me anything anyway. Come on, Henry, tell me if I'm gonna be an old maid."
"you're a nun," I tease her.
Clare shudders. "Boy, I hope not." She takes one of my pawns with her rook. "How did you meet your wife?"
"Sorry. Top secret information."

Clare, then she does some complaining about how it's not fair and not knowing if Henry is made up or not. Henry makes a remark about God, and after Clare exclaims that he shouldn't say things like that:

I shrug and change the subject. "I'm more real than Paul MacCartney."
Clare looks worried. She starts to put all the pieces back in their box carefully by dividing white and black. "Lots of people know about Paul MacCartney - I'm the only onw who knows about you."
"But you've actually met me, and you've never met him."
"My mom went to a Beatles concert." She closes the lid of the chess set and stretches out on the ground, starting up at the canopy of new leaves. "It was at Comiskey Park, in Chicago, August 8, 1965." I poke her in the stomach and she curls up like a Hedgehog, giggling. After an interval of tickling and thrashing around, we lie on the ground with our hands clasped across our middles and Clare asks, "Is your wife a time traveler too?"
"Nope. Thank God."
"Why 'thank God'? I think that would be fun. You could go places together."
"One time traveler per family is more than enough. It's dangerous, Clare."
"Does she worry about you?"
"Yes," I say softy. "She does." I wonder what Clare is doing now, in 1999. Maybe she is still asleep. Maybe she won't know I'm gone.
"Do you love her?"
"Very much," I whisper. We lie silently side by side, watching the swaying trees, the birds, the sky. I hear a muffled sniffling noise and glancing at Clare I am astonished to see that tears are streaming across her face towards her ears. I sit up and lean over her, "What's wrong Clare?" She just shakes her head back and forth and presses her lips together. I smooth her hair, and pull her into a sitting position, wrap my arms around her. She's a child, and then again she isn't. "What's wrong?"
It comes out so quietly that I have to ask her to repeat it: "It's just that I thought maybe you were married to me."

Heart is Blind

This is such a sad song, but the words cut so deep.
And, before I show the lyrics to the world, I want to tell you about this book that I'm reading. Chris gave it to me on my 19th birthday. Since then I've attempted to read it, but got completely confused and lost in the first chapter of it. I attempted a second time, and i got lost in the second chapter. Now, I'm attempting to read it for the third time, and I've made it to page 153 within a few hours. The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger is utterly confusing at times, but then you give it a little patience, and the world lights up like a 'ping!'. It's a great book. It's made me want to cry more than twice.

Well, back to:

Heart is Blind - Shania Twain

I hear the slamin' of the door
there you go again.
I can take it anymore
that's just the way it is. Ooh...
But then i listen' to my heart
and the anger fades.
I wanna hold you
never let you go away.

Bridge:
I feel a raging war inside,
a battle between the heart and mind.
But love wins when i close my eyes

Chorus:
The heart is blind,
It will not see.
When hope is gone,
the heart will still believe.
I see you go.
With tearful eyes.
But for the sake of love,
the heart is blind.

I know there's been a lot of nights
when we couldn't sleep.
The words are like a knive,
they cut so deep. Ooh..
But when i listen to my heart
It's deeper than the pain.
I really love you,
that's all that matters anyway.

Bridge
Chorus

I'll always love you.
And hard times will only
make us strong.
If we keep holdin' on.

Chorus and fade

Back from my 25Km Excursion

I made it to Eglin Mills today!!!
And, being so proud of myself, I decided to bike the big road, Leslie back down home.

I'll post the map of it later :p

The ride makes me hungry, so I popped 2 pizza pops into the microwave. Nothing's as fast as microwave dinners :P

Oh, and hei, your book came in from chapters today!

update: I actually diverged from the previous post a bit, because I didn't turn onto South Park Road. Hence, the Beaver Creek detour.

The maps don't seem to be working, so i'm adding the link to the map of my ride.
my ride took: 1hr, 40mins. It seems that I'm biking (rather consistently) at 15km/h.

My Next Ride - hopefully

So, I'm already planning my next ride.
I've found some streets that are a little smaller, the residential roads where the speed limit is 20km/h. Of course, you can expect the traffic to be about 60km/h.

Anyways, this route is a whopping 23km. I hope to have fun! And, i really need to get one of those water bottles where there's a little ap on the end that you can just bite open.

the route:



and, if the embedded map doesn't work, here's the link.

My 15km Ride

I had my first 15km bike ride today. Having my Minoura Handlebar Bottle cage was definitely helpful, now i don't need to strap the bottle to my waist. But, my water bottle proves to be not that helpful. I can't drink from it without stopping, since it's an old Nalgene one, and you need to unscrew the cap to get it open, and I couldn't do that with one hand.

From (one of) my previous blog posts, I mentioned MapMyRide.com. I'm using it as a measure of how far I've biked, and as a site to log all the different routes I've taken.

Here's a map of the route I biked today, it took 1hr.

Adjusting

I've decided to take Chris' advice and try something new. I hope to keep this up and stick to this new scheduling this year, including this coming school year. Hopefully it will help me wake up in the morning, and help me be more productive.

So, the new thing is: taking showers which included washing my HAIR in the morning instead of saving those showers for late in the night (and i don't end up sleeping until late late in the might, more like early morning since I don't like blow-drying my hair, and i like to sleep with my head relatively dry). I've been doing this for the past 3 days, and it seems to be working. At least I have somewhat of a 'morning'. I've been sleeping more consistently as well. I get sleepy at around 11:30pm, and usually get to bed by 12:45 - 1:30am. Yes, i take a while getting to bed.


oh, and I've been doing some research on cycling in Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area.
I've also made my own maps from mapmyride.com it utilizes google maps to plot your bike routes and rides. It gives you the KM/Mi calculations. I think it's great that I get to see how far I biked, since I don't have a speedometer yet.

Speaking of Cycling, I've also looked into cycling charities such as Ride for Heart, Wheels for Wellness, and MS (Multiple Sclerosis) Bike Tour. All these have one thing in common: you register to cycle for distances of 25km - 100km, and of course you get to contribute through donations. But, i like the idea of getting to cycle such distances. I also found out about the Toronto Bicycling Network. I'm pretty sure that the group of 25-30 people we saw biking were with the TBN. I found from their website that they have Saturday morning/weekend cycling trips. Maybe I'll join them ... next year.. maybe :P

Booking reading

I'm reading another book(s) on education. These books are fantastic!!!
One is: The Myth of Laziness by Mel Levine. This book, don't be fooled by it's cover or title, its really good! I love how we are given case studies of people. We get to see things happening, we can apply knowledge to these situations. I've known this for a while - I tend to work better with examples. Teach me an abstract theory, i might not get it right away. Use an example with the theory, ahhh, all comes to light. It s true that there are drawbacks to the particular way that i learn. I may not be able to apply as broadly and widely, because I learned it in an exemplary fashion. I may only learn to apply it in that same fashion. Well, it is good to know the pros and cons.

The other book I'm reading is called: Life in Schools by Peter McLaren. The first part was such a dense read!! The introduction of many sociological concepts at such depth and abstraction that I didn't understand. Then, when I finally got through the first part of the book, it seemed like I passed the quicksand portion. The second part, the one i'm reading now, is written in a diary/journal form. It speaks of his experience as a teacher in the inner-city regions of Suburban Toronto namely - The Jane and Finch Corridor. It is a very interesting read and I'm really enjoying it. I can't wait to get through this 390page textbook!

A "not so surprising" Surprise Dinner

I"m sitting here in my boyfriend's apartment, unsure of whether or not I should just go ahead and finish the cooking. Everything is prepared and laid out. The veggies are washed and all cut to the shapes and sizes that I want. The meat has been marinated, and even cooked - but, this still is the preparation portion. I'm making what I feel is more a fail-safe entre for dinner: pasta! I know that pastas can be very complicated, but the pasta that I make are the boil-the-pasta-get-the-sauce-and-add-whatever-else-you-like-to-the-sauce sort of pasta dishes. I also have another simple veggie dish that I know he'll eat. I'm not sure whether he loves it or not. I do know that he likes veggies, and I adore that, because I like veggies too!

So, to let you in on the 'whatever-else-you-like-to-the-sauce', I'm prepared Zuchinni, Fresh Mushrooms and slicked pork thigh (I can't remember exactly where on the pig, and I don't feel like going through trash to look at the label, but it is some part of the leg). The separate veggie dish I'm planning on preparing is Brcolli! Not very creative. Next time, I'll try adding things to the brocolli. Well, I do have an extra package of mushrooms. I think I'll cook them with the brocolli. Perhaps boil the brocolli for a few minutes, then take them out, and stir-fry them with the pack of mushrooms. That's exactly what I'll do!

And, I got him some beer. Hopefully the Guiness Draught is the 'black' Guniess beer that he spoke of.

EDIT: So, later on last night, I asked him if he knew about me making him dinner. And, of course he is honest with me, and tells me that he knew. He knew from the phone call when I got to Davisville subway station. How could he?!?! I hadn't even bought the groceries yet!!! Well, i suppose i'll let him off with his "I am Chris" phrase. And, I believe him.

Differing Views

is what I have with my parents at times. Perhaps a lot of times, and it is this time, as well as during camping too. But, ah... bikes.

and, long term planning. I know and understand the situation, which is fine, and I respect that.
But, what I would appreciate, and would want my sibling to be able to have is an explanation of what and why you say what you say. Of the reasons why he must listen and execute your wishes.

I really don' think nor agree that it's a good idea to ask someone "So, are you going to do X?", which is the exact thing that he was told he 'shouldn't do' just 2 minutes prior to asking the question. the reply is "Hmm... probably not". I interject and say "ask him why, to make sure he understands". the parent asks "why are you not going to do X?". The response that I applauded to "because you said so."

what a wonderful answer to show that my dear sibling does NOT understand why he should listen to the advice given, or do anything that is told to him. There was no reasoning included in the instructing of prohibited actions. There was no reasoning as to why i should be classified as 'prohibited' in the first place.

I can't stand rules without reason.

Back from Arrowhead Provincial Park

The past three days were long (in a not unusual sense, since I have the tendency of sleeping late, thus the day being 'long, but these past few days, i slept very early. The day just seemed so long, most likely due to the energy output).

After setting up the tents, the screen-house, and everything else i.e. food, chairs, etc. etc., my brother and I went out for a canoe. Don't have a picture of that right now. We went around the entire Arrowhead Lake, and were done in less than an hour. So, for the remainder of the rental time, we decided to trade the canoe in for a bike. Ivan had some fun with it! After the biking journey (and for me, the long walk back to the campsite), I went for a shower. I was ready to curl up into a ball and sleep! I retired right after dinner the first time, and slept for a good 12 hours. Is that even possible?! I slept from ten pm to ten am. I blame that on my headache. Or, perhaps it was because I just got off my medical supply of penicillin and my body was reacting weird. I felt exhausted during the light canoing.

The next day, was the better day. Rising at 10am, breakfast was eaten monstrously. Bread, with eggs and ham have never tasted better! After that, we did some chores, washing the dishes, cooking lunch, and about an hour after breakfast, ate our second meal of the day. And, we ate quite a lot too! Good thing we did. I have a feeling we burned all the energy that we consumed portaging the kayaks. My brother and I rented Kayaks, and our parents a canoe. And, off we went into a little river called "Little East River". There we paddled in the quite waters.




Here we are portaging one of the kayaks. These guys are heavy!! Although I think we only portaged about 50meters one way, it was tiring. Going up and down those little hills, and over the tree roots in FLIP FLOPS, and having my feet covered with mud was not easy.
But, I'd do it all over again!!


We had to portage around the Stubb's Falls, ince we wanted to continue down Little East River. We were hoping to reach Big East River, where the River is much wider, and the current much stronger. But, about 30 meters after the portaging, we encountered a huge pike of logs and fallen trees. We didn't really want to portage again, so we headed back. Again, we still had about 2 hours left from our rental, so we took out two mountain bikes and hit the Biking Trail. Being the 'adventurous' one, I decided to take the more difficult trail. I don't know if that was for better or worse. The trail was difficult. The hills were steep both going up and coming down. Going down was scary, because there were big rocks and the trail was so bumpy. To be honest, I was totally freaked out. There were also parts that were so muddy, we had to get off to pass them. And, of course parts of the trail... was a bit tough, and my little thighs couldn't keep up. Scary, but exhilarating ride. And did I mention that the bike, although it was a Trek, was extremely uncomfortable. After 7 mosquito bites, we conquered the trail. And although the bikes itch, it was worth the while. And, not to mention that the trail was a ways off from the rental place. It took us a good 15mins just to bike to the trail. The 4km trail itself took us a good 20mins to finish. The rental office is next to the beach, and after returning the bikes, i hit the beach. It was rainy, and chilly, but I didn't really care, or mind.

I suppose I was the first one that braved the waters. It took me a while to get in, but I did and I started swimming. I also did something that was extremely physically exhausting, and a bit stupid. Although, I'm so glad that I did. I swam across the lake. There was a dock on the other side. It was probably about 100meters. Thanks goodness my brother was with me. I swam about 20meters ahead of him, and he caught up with me like a piece of cake. I'm glad this swimmer guy just got his bronze cross. If anything did happen to me, at least he would have been able to save me to shore. About 5-10meters to the dock, I felt my muscles caving in on me. I think I pushed them a bit too much, ad I really didn't want them to Spaz on me in the water. I called for help, and my brother came back for me. yay! I felt 'saved'. There were these kids with a 'dad' on the dock, thy were trying to tell us something, but i couldn't hear. When I got closer, they were trying to tell us to stay on 'this' side of the dock. There were mating Snapping Turtles close to the shore!

I must say that this second day, the kayaking, biking and swimming, was the triathlon that i never had. it was amazing.

Hopefully, the biking trail back home here will be a lot easier.