l'académie nationale de musique

i want to check this place out. celina and i walked past this building at least once every day we were in paris. in retrospect, we walked a LOT.

basilique du sacré coeur

i really wanted to see the inside but it was too late by the time i got there. so i just puttered around til it got a bit darker. i am quite impressed with this picture i took (*pat on the back*). this basilica is found in montmartre, THE MOST romantic part of paris. seriously, they say it in the guide books, but if you go there, it really is. painters and artists drawing scenes and portraits line the sidewalks on the hilly streets. the buildings house little cafés and boutiques and shops... and the view is amazing.

café des deux moulins

for those of you who watched amélie, you KNOW what this café is! i was SO lucky to be here and it wasn't busy at all! i drank a café crème and even sat in the booth where amélie was writing backwards at! too bad the waitress was totally acting like she hated her job. oh well, the ambiance otherwise was awesome. i know i'm a geek, but i made it a point to see this place. i just HAD to. this pic is dedicated to my homie: romeo.

got change for a 20?...

so i got to actually see a "vending machine convenience store". if ever you needed the basics of anything, you could just go up to this huge machine, pick out your items and work it like a vending machine! it was hilarious!! since i had some change, i decided to test it out. it worked! look at the bottom left item in the machine... it was...

... where i bought THIS package of pink toilet paper. i was laughing so hard. so as i was watching this huge mechanical arm move over and grab my toilet paper, 3 police cars pulled up behind me and the officers got out and stood right behind me just staring at what i was up to. seriously, i felt their breath on my neck! so i very snobbily picked up my toilet paper from the chute, stared at them with a snobby nasty look and walked away. they were harsh rude, i can't even explain. but really, if they were to ask me what i was doing that night, i'd reply "well, duh! i'm buying toilet paper, what does it look like?!"
but seriously folks, the police in france are sorta like american marines... act now, think later. i'm actually a bit surprised that i didn't get arrested for my dirty look. rumour has it that they can stop you just to ask to see your papers (what, are we in ww2 poland?). and if you don't have your passport or any citizenship documentation on you, they can arrest you. yeah, i don't think i'd want to be blogging from a french prison, thanks.

notre dame

... from the back... i think. among other things, i will be going to see the notre dame again. it's so beautiful. and huge! next time, i'll get a good shot of gargoyles and flying buttresses!! note to self: buy a zoom lens.

these pictures were taken on my way to the train station (gare d'austerlitz). i left for barcelona that evening... au revoir paris... tu me manqueras!!

barcelona!

this is how our hostel looked... from the outside, that is. the actual sleeping quarters and facilities were in a building built behind this beautiful ex-hospital. our building was modern, clean and above average standards for a hostel i'd say... but you had to get up quick to take a warm shower otherwise you're lathering in the cold! what i guess bugged me the most is that we kept on being put in rooms where the other roomates were early-to-bed types. i'm sorry, but why would you go to bed on a friday or saturday night at 11pm when you're in barcelona? they didn't even wake up so early! although it was an interesting and experience (i kept on thinking "it could be worse!"), i would not hostel unless i absolutely had to. for real.

so after we dumped our stuff we headed to the department store nearby called el corte ingles. it's like a super mega hudson's bay. we ate, i mailed my postcards, we looked around a bit, then we headed straight to the strip called las ramblas. it's SO busy there. but the food... and the shopping!... my gosh, i really could have spent ten times longer checking out all the shoes, all the purses, all the clothes... nobody knew my shopping skills til i was let loose in las ramblas!

what were the odds?!

... twice in one trip?!!
on las ramblas, the first night we were there, we encountered a bboy battle. it was pretty cool. this guy ended up winning.

anytime is TAPAS TIME!!!

mmm!... as you can see, the calamari was perfectly fried, the cheese and olives were abundant, the pizza and bread were so tasty and the the little pork sausages were greasy goodness!! we also ate the richest paella i've ever tasted. food soooo good!!!... with sangria all around!

after a long and productive day of shopping (24euro for a sweet lacoste purse, 5euro pants at zara!!) we went back down to las ramblas to putter around some more. i totally wanted to eat at la boqueria, but i'll do that myself next time. instead we went off las ramblas and found this tapas restaurant. i must admit, short of water, my beverage of choice was sangria... and this place had the best.

getting my culture fix

i enjoyed the shopping, and the eating, but what i LOVED about barcelona is GAUDI! this is the inside of the unfinished sagrada familia cathedral. this man was a genius, let alone an artistic one! i will never again use the term "gaudi" to refer to something considered visually obnoxious. i love his work.

la pedrera

... gaudi again...

casa batillo

... and more gaudi. i just loved walking around and seeing his beautiful buildings. i wouldn't have been able to see them at any other time! i'm happy that i got at least a little bit of culture while i was there.

the sagrada familia at night. aparently it'll be finished for the 100 year death anniversary of gaudi... in 2026 i believe. this cathedral is already so beautiful. i just can't wait!

this was taken on the night tour we had of barcelona. there were a bunch of other places we saw but my camera died right after taking a picture of this huge, phallic, LED blue illumitated business building... that sorta sucked. but i still took a few pics with my phone. inlcuding a mini bellagio-esque fountain music and light show down the street from the placa espana. i spent the least amount of time in barcelona, but my curiosity is completely peaked. i will return with a list of things i have yet to do out there.

WHERE am i, you ask?...

... in BELGIUM!!!

so kp is in the middle of our first ever european show and to update: we rule.

no matter what, these guys can't get enough of our "exotic-ness".

i can't get enough of the "oooh"s we get when we rock our spanish dresses, or the "woohoo"s we get when pandango and tinikling come on, and the even louder "woohoo"s we get after singkil... and of course there's the shocking and awkward silences that we get when the dudes are wearing the bahags. those are awesome! we're so "sex", di ba?!

and dudes, we totally know how to rock the party. the la noche celebration last night almost made us a sight to remember in a not so good way, but thanks to us, we kept the party movin (and drinkin!) til the early morn... jus keep randy away from the beer from now on. i have bruises! so yes, we did our part to promote friendship and togetherness positively last night. i WILL post pics when i get back!

anyways, this blog is mostly for my kuya gary. thanks for pushing me to get into filipino dance... it's really been a great experience.

i know that you may be reading this, cuz i'm your favourite cousin and all, and if you are, i want you to know that in kp, YOU are NOW known as "gary, mer's cousin" cuz i'm no longer "mer, gary's cousin". woohoo!

:o)

what i'll be missing while in europe...

so i'll be soon off to my "belgium - france - spain" trip... and i figured vancouver will just be sleepy boring while i'm gone in august. then i got a newsletter from tigerstone entertainment.
grrr... if only i bothered mastering being in two places at once instead of practicing piano!!

...

... i know i shouldn't complain... these guys would most likely come around again (well, at least killa kela and kid capri... i dunno bout mr. spike lee tho... that might be a bit more rare). at least i'm gonna be cultured by the time i get back from europe. *sigh* maybe there'll be a super fun old school party at the heritage hall waiting for me when i get back!... *hint hint*

second the BEST!

we're RGL... Ridiculously Good Looking!!!

what i did this weekend? well, my team and i won silver in the competitive c division of the alcan dragonboat festival. it wasn't easy... but, you know... ain't no thing.

hehehe... i LOVE my team. we're such GOOD winners!!

bring it on back, 50!

remember when 50 cent...

flowed to the tequila song of peewee herman?
meowed on a track?
made weekly mixtapes?

where are you, old school 50? you were once an artist i respected for your fresh style and ghetto love songs (ie. porno star). now all you do is imitate the old ja rule. to add to your earned "infamous" reputation, you also signed such talent as beanie sigel, m.o.p. and of course mobb deep and made them all sound like candy shop (OR magic stick, depending on which one you like less).

and yet i held on strong... trying to support you as a fan... "oh, he's just going through a phase. his NEXT album will be for the streets (ex. his first album)."

the tipping point came today, when i found out he's about to sign next... and cut the diss track from R.L. to 112 AND jagged edge.

why fifty? why?...

G-G-G-u-r-SO-NOT!!!

(but i AM impatiently waiting lloyd banks' new album)

will the real lloyd banks...

...is this him?...

... please stand up?

... or him?...

(i know, old joke... but it's still SOOO good!!)

what?...

what the hell's goin on with my blog?...
grr. i give up.

okay so it's working properly now. i swear yesterday the font size was "huge" and it wouldn't change back to "normal"... i kid you not, that's how they state font size.

"skit#2" a.k.a. "the story of my life!"

i'm not complaining, i'm just saying.
sometimes it feels this way cuz there are people out there who want to "live the life", and yet they make choices for the group without taking into consideration that they are just as broke as you are! it's great to dream like we're superstars, but who's gonna pay our way?... no, i don't see any takers...

We broke, broke broke phi broke
(We ain't got it)
Broke, broke, broke phi broke
(We ain't got it)
Don't spend no money
Ain't got no clothes
Ain't got no cars
Ain't got no hos
We broke, broke, broke phi broke
(We ain't got it)
Broke, broke, broke phi broke
(We ain't got it)
Got no money (got no money)
We got no clothes (got no clothes)
Ain't got no cars (got no cars)
Can't get no hos
We broke, broke, broke, broke, broke
Buncha niggas
Broke, broke, broke, broke, broke!

(-KANYE WEST)

you know what i hate?...

staring at an empty mix meister pro 5 playlist page.

i'm in dire need of a playlist. summer's almost here and i've got nothing.

i need fresh new songs...

you know you're old when...

so i have a friend who is going to be working promotions for pokemon's ten year anniversary. imagine all the "mm-hoy-hoys" that will be there! it'll be at a mall even!!! this is so exciting for someone NOT me.

i hope he dresses up like pikachu!

my coach is the bomb

darwin is my dragonboat coach. he doesn't drink alcohol, smoke, or do drugs. he can't dance very well (YET!) but he's always open to learn a new move. he has a great sense of humour and a keen sense of leadership that totally shows on and off the boat. and his wife is super cool.

i just felt like giving them a shout out.

svs : aka sexy vs sexy!! ;o)

this is how hot we looked on friday night! to see our actual dance routine, click here!

oh my ankles!

tuesday, i was cast as an "asian dancing extra" for the film rogue being shot here in vancouver. if you've ever been an extra in ANY film before, you know that the pay is weak, the p.a.'s treat you like cattle, and every time you're not in a scene, you're bored. but i must say that despite all that, i found it sort of exciting. we just had to be in a nightclub scene so really, it's not like it was too hard to get into character. and i guess it helped that i was there with a bunch of friends... made the scene more convincing. anyways, the only complaint i had was that i was dancing in a red dress with 3 inch heels on. don't get me wrong, wardrobe did a fabulous job (makeup almost made me look like a car model tho!), but for you all who know me, i'm not the "heels and dress" type, particularly when i'm going to a club. but lo and behold, if you happen to watch the film when it comes out, i'm the girl in the red dress at the club ;op

oh yes, how could i forget to mention the real stars? when jet li is walking through the club, he brushes by me (i'm about to have a shooter at the bar). the first time that happened, i was so surprised... but i totally could've just died a happy woman right there and then! jet li touched me!! ME!!! i am such a dork! and another time when jason statham enters the club, i'm exiting past him. he was so friendly. he even talked to me but all i could do was smile and nod. i've got a bad case of retarded, i know. but maybe mr. statham likes retards... yeah, right.

i wonder what my name would say in the credits?... "retarded asian dancing extra"

hahaha!

it sounds dorky but...

blogging is not at the top of my list of things i have to do.
(please refer to the february 24th, 2006 entry: "am i so bad?")

...

but since i'm here, i would like to ask anyone reading this if they know how to get a return flight out to brussels on the 7th of august to at least the 18th for less than $1700CAD. that's how much i'll have to scrounge up to get to dance with kp in belgium. i'll do my share of fundraising, but if i don't somehow get that cash by 30 days before the departure date, i'll be here all august, folks!

if you're free on april 7th...

woohoo! lookit me!! come out and watch me dance!! tell your friends!! then tell me, so i can hook you up with tickets ;o)

so yeah, this is basically the group of girls i've been dancing with every week for the last year or so. i am so proud that we dance well. seriously, we're good. absolutely NO "elaines" or "carltons" here. thanks lynn and lei... ;o)

now if you see me dance with kababayang pilipino, i'm definitely not up to par with that group. for real, that stuff is challenging to engrain into your system. i'm definitely the "elaine" of kp.

this one's for you. you know who you are.

(he really is quite intimidating.)

how can you have a bad morning/afternoon/evening after seeing good ol' chuck?.. his last name is " norris" and his first name is "chuck"!

spring break in full effect!

i had nothing planned for this week.
so far, this is what i've been up to in the last hour:
trying to make a ringtone for my phone.
msn-ing with my twin sis.
listening to my lil sis clean her room to rave music.
transcribing my dance routines onto paper.
thinkin bout my best friend.

am i so bad?

it's not that i'm typically lethargic or lazy. i just don't feel motivated to do anything anymore.
i think i'm just down.
lately i've caught myself saying "i need some time to myself... right after i finish..." a lot.
seriously, if god put me on this earth to accomplish things, at this rate, i'll never die.

things i wanna be thinking about:
- dancing and music.
- arnis and kung fu.
- dragon boat (can you believe i've been so busy that i missed TWO whole meetings already?!! i wonder if they're already deciding to cut me :o(.... noooo!).
- getting back into school.
- cleaning my room.
- blogging!

things that are preventing me to think about the previous list:
- work.
- relationships (with everyone around me).
- previous engagements that i can't get out of but i really want to.

although the second list is shorter, it does cover more area.

i think my emotions are best described by a certain comic strip character who never seems to have a good day. it goes something like this:

*ARRGH!!*

on the corner of georgia and howe

that bear is always there offering his fish! how can you say no?

don't you hate it when you feel sooo overwhelmed you're not even sure what you gotta get done?.. yeah, i'm not super overwhelmed, but i've got things to do and they just keep on piling up... i feel like i'm gonna forget something. i honestly can't see farther than this friday. maybe i'm tired. i went for acupuncture today and i think i'm still too relaxed from it all.

and here i am, just bloggin.

our birthday pics

yeah i know, it's about time. but they're here now... i don't wanna hear any complaints! ;o)

i would've taken pics of the rest of the food, but it was gone in a flash. mind you, our birthday is usually 1% for celebrating our age, 99% an excuse to get our friends together to eat all our favourite filipino food.

sabz and baxter

oooh, so cute!

our "nice pose"

our "silly pose"

the sisters

good times.

sometime in late november...

remember i was telling of the foggy weeks we had been having?.. yeah, this is a pic from my upstairs window. creepy!

if anyone asks, yes, he's mine.

this is baxter at almost 4 months. he's a sweetheart. i'd tell you his story, but it's a long one.

i'm a little girl... but i carry a big stick!!

this is me with my small kali class. my kuya louie (bottom left) is our guro. he was asked to participate in a new book called GUARDIANS OF THE LEGACY, which will be distributed internationally and launched this july at the 2006 FMA festival in the philippines. i'm so proud of him. ooh, it's all so exciting!

...

i was gonna post something yesterday. i didn't get a chance cuz i spent the day at the seattle premium outlets. when i got home i was already more than tired. and now i'm up and awake... and i forgot what i was gonna write. oooh, but at least i have something to write for my other blog.

check it out.

yay!

okay, so i've got pics from my weekend/week so i'll post them up when i get a bit less lazy. like later. i need a breather. i'm done with all my christmas shopping, baking, and wrapping... now all that's left is my dance performance tonight and i'll be all chill.

i swear if anyone needs a good cardio regimen, just take up dancing. any kind of dancing. it's more fun than pilates and you get just as great a workout. i kinda wish i could go back to ballet, but i can't seem to find my old dance company. oh well, i'll search. oooh, which reminds me... mike, i'm going to get back into kung fu now. well, i guess after christmas eve and new year's eve... sorry for the delay!!

i think i'll watch elf again today.

go shorty!

... yes, it's my birthday. and i partied like it was my birthday... on friday, and saturday (sorta) then i kinda recuperated on sunday, then today annie and i went out and renewed our licenses (they were due today!) and tried to get things for free... mind you, even tho the free things on your birthday didn't work to well (we got nothin), there's still denny's. apparently we can score a free meal! yeah i'll try after dance rehearsal.

and kuya, the pics of my party will be up later. i'm not finished partying yet!!!

finally!

it's the last day of school til january... and i'm so excited! it's annie and my bday party tonight and we'll be partying til the early morn. i hope i made enough food...

it's just barely 745 am right now so i'm going to get ready for work. i'm actually not going to work so that i can work... i'm going there to party it up with the kids. we have games and stuff til noon then we're outta there for the break! woohoo!

k, lots to do... i'll be writing more soon.

by the way, long division isn't so bad. just think: multiply, subtract, bring down. repeat as necessary. monsieur yap actually made up a song for it... yes, it's quite silly, but he's proud of it.

?

this morning is not a particularly good morning.

the first email i read was from a friend that is not going to come back to vancouver (from toronto) for the holidays. dammit. i think it's been like 2 years since i've seen him last. i guess i'll have to visit out there when the weather warms up to the positive side of the thermometer...

then that kid i usually tutor at 10am saturday mornings shows up with starbucks... but at 1050!!... seriously folks, i don't mind the attempted bribes, but she already did that last week. it's tired and the fact that she still doesn't practice her long division when i ask her to makes every saturday more and more repetative. her being late is at least a bonus then... that way, she only stays with me for 40 minutes of long division madness.

i also missed arnis. i better catch up this winter. lots of gym time for me :o)

HOWEVER...
i managed to send out the evite for annie and my birthday party. woohoo! that always feels good. i can't wait til the party! i'm gonna start my cooking prep this weekend.

and i'm going to do some serious christmas shopping with my buddies... i'm done with most of the major shopping... just getting things for the kids i tutor. maybe i'll give them homework for christmas!! hahaha i'm mean!

to top it off, it's a sunny day today.
this afternoon is definitely looking up :o)

it's that time of year again! *hip hip HOORAY!*

no, not the holiday season...

it's report card time!! *hip hip... BOO!*

due to the fact that i have to finish up my reportcards, my blogging (... and arnis, and kung fu, and working out... among other things!) has waned dramatically. and i had a couple neat-o pics of the foggy days too. i'll post them later i guess.

alright, enough procrastinating, back to work.

pea soup?

i once heard that saying "the fog is as thick as pea soup" came from england. now if i were british, i might say that of the past weekend. we've had fog here since saturday. and it isn't just as thick as pea soup. it's like everyone decided to cook rice all at the same time... this cloud of rice steam just hasn't let up! it's wednesday already!! maybe later i'll go out and take a picture of the street and hopefully that will aid any of the "visualisationally impaired"... ;op

i'm going to do my laundry now.

d.d. for life

it's 1013 right now.

i was at the royal (a hole in the wall club on granville street) last night.
by 2300 my friends all ranged from tipsy to drunk.
suprisingly, they played that jamiroquai song! (yes, i danced.)
we left by 2oo.
despite 4 barf stops, and numerous drunken arguements (among them... i was just laughing at them), i managed to get three of them home safe.
i got home at 4oo this morning.

i woke up at 915.
i expected to start tutoring math at 945 for 2 hours.
my student is not here.

i am tired.

nothin left for me to do but...

You know this boogie is for real.

I used to buy my faith in worship,
But then my chance to Heaven slipped.
I used to worry about the future
But then I throw my caution to the wind.
I had no reason to be care free
No no no, until I took a trip to the other side of town
Yeah yeah yeah, you know I heard that boogie rhythm
Hey- I had no choice but to get down down down down.

Dance, nothing left for me to do but dance,
Off these bad times I'm going through just dance
Got canned heat in my heels tonight baby

I feel the thunder see the lightning
I know this anger's heaven sent.
So I've got to hang out all my hang-ups
Because of the boogie I feel so hell bent
It's just an instant gut reaction, that I got
I know I never ever felt like this before,
I dont know what to do
But then thats nothing new,
Stuck between hell and high water
I need a cure to make it through.

Hey- dancing nothing left for me to do but dance
Off these bad times I'm going through just dance,
Hey got canned heat in my heels tonight baby
You know know know I'm gonna dance yeah
Off all the nasty things that people say.

Gonna dance, gonna dance my blues away tonight
Dance, come on got canned heat in my heels tonight
Canned heat in my heels tonight.


i got to teach music all day today. the usual music teacher is great, but i really like it that i get to take over when she gets sick. i'm not the type to adhere strictly to the lesson plan she leaves me, but today was good. we got to listen to a bit of reggae and some jamaican stories, and we got to learn a bit about jazz and ragtime and marches. then, of course, because i'm in charge, i play a bit of the "hidden beach recordings" to the kids if they're good. jazzed instrumentals of hiphop songs is so intriguing to them. they actually listen to the music, the instruments. it's really neat how music affects the kids.
the last time i had a chance, i pumped them up with the beatles "white album", then i asked them the songs they knew off of jay-z's "black album", then flipped it around by letting them listen to the "grey album"... that floored them. they couldn't believe that sort of mix could happen. so good times.

i am so happy. i think i will dance!

4 photos, 4 dollars, 4 minutes

this is how we look withOUT our makeup on.

faces only a mother could love. to think, we all fit in that tiny photo booth. and all this because we didn't bring a camera to dimsum!

MY APOLOGIES!

so i was wondering WHY nobody wanted to comment on my blog anymore. not even my sister!! then i looked around... yeah i clicked on that moderate comments YES button and there was no email address saved to it. hehe... silly me. so to clarify, i haven't been ignoring everyone's comments. thanks for them all. reading them all at once made it feel like it was my birthday and i got to open all my presents at once!! :o)

to the comments i say:
- dancing is awesome... and i strive to be awesome too. thanks for the support/props.
- the beatles are awesome!
- i will lend you my piano when i can figure how to fit it in the envelope.
- fighting with sticks is awesome. i'll stop holding back when you want your butt kicked (this is directed to my cousin).

and yes, i originally put the moderation thing on because of stupid blog comment spam. i don't need to know ways to: pleasure my man, pleasure my woman, get cheap prescription drugs online, lose weight, or make more money without leaving the comfort of my own home. and, come to think of it, some chick called rashguardgirl might even be a spammer in the guise of a blogger!!

i feel like elmer fudd. oooh, those pesky wabbits!

have a good day friends... :o)

the b-girl is strong in me

one day i will be able to pull sweet floor moves as such. one day.

i'm only sleeping

When I wake up early in the morning
Lift my head, I'm still yawning
When I'm in the middle of a dream
Stay in bed, float up stream (Float up stream)

Please, don't wake me,
No, don't shake me
Leave me where I am,
I'm only sleeping

Everybody seems to think I'm lazy
I don't mind, I think they're crazy
Running everywhere at such a speed
Til they find there's no need (There's no need)

Please, don't spoil my day,
I'm miles away
And after all
I'm only sleeping

Keeping an eye on the world going by my window
Taking my time

Lying there and staring at the ceiling
Waiting for a sleepy feeling...

Please, don't spoil my day,
I'm miles away
And after all
I'm only sleeping

Keeping an eye on the world going by my window
Taking my time

When I wake up early in the morning
Lift my head, I'm still yawning
When I'm in the middle of a dream
Stay in bed, float up stream (Float up stream)

Please, don't wake me,
No, don't shake me
Leave me where I am,
I'm only sleeping...

this song reminds me of when my sister and i were in university. we blasted this old beatles tape on saturday mornings. we always wondered why it was so bad that oasis was always biting the beatles' sound. we like that beatles sound (the later tracks, that is).

it's been a long day for me. too much work, too little rest. however, i am feeling a bit musical... despite it now being just past midnight, i think i'll tickle the ivories. maybe i can find some old oasis sheet music to play ;o)

i wish i had more time to:

play video games.
play the piano.
listen to and then mix music.
read books that I want to read.
practice my sweet b-girl moves.

i think i know what i want to be when i grow up: retired! ;op

halloween highlights

scary pumpkins... beetlejuice as a snake and the silhouette of the zombies from dawn of the dead.

mmm... candy!

yum... breakfast!

bwaaah haaa haaa haaaaaaaa!

procrastinating

that's what i'm doing right now. i've checked and replied to my email, i've checked who's been stalking me on friendster, i've updated my thinking is hard to do blog and now i'm updating this blog. as much as i'd like to be going out shopping or spending my hard-earned money in some way or another, i'm going to stay in today. what i should be doing is go to the bank to deposit $ and pay some bills, but instead, i think i might make a mix cd.

yes folks, i've acquired an acute case of laziness and i think it's contagious!!

argh!

ok, so i had a bad week.

it was only so bad cuz it started bad, then went totally good, then horribly bad, then waaay better, then better again jus a lil bit, then it went to suck, then it went to SO good, then it ended off with argh!!

it was like a roller coaster: i just wanted to get off! people that i hope are reading this know that they were not the reasons whatsoever for the "bad" in my week. you guys were totally the reasons this week was any good. i appreciate you... thank you.

HOWEVER, there is ONE person, who i know only reads my blog sometimes, who could really be one of the reasons why this week ended off the way it did. to YOU i say: thanks. thanks for making me realize the kind of person i DON'T want to be like. you were acting like a complete baby, and i expected a bit more maturity from you. call me when you grow up.

on that note... i'm off to bed.

craving

i need some music. it's like my ears are so hungry, they're starving. i'm almost finished with a mix cd (which is STILL in dire need of a title), and i'm hoping i'll be playing it in heavy rotation in my boom box... or in anyone's boom box for that matter. it's not that i doubt how good the cd will be... it's just that with music nowadays... well, i feel like it's been so iffy since after 2001. and i can't make a really good mix cd that i'm proud to give out unless i know that the music is the best there is at that point in time. there have been, and still are, the good artists, thank goodness for them. much like how i look at men, i'm more attracted to music with something intelligent to say instead of having just something to say. dig?

another season ended

yes my friends, the dragonboat season for rgl united has come to a close. i now can focus on stuff other than yelling at my friends for dragonboat. i can just yell at them for fun now! but seriously, i can't explain how much i enjoyed this season. not since my first year of dragonboating have i ever had such a blast. i think in this '04-'05 season my team only had about a handful of o.g.'s (original gangstas) but the newbies made the whole team fit together like tetris. props, you guys.

as for this past weekend, well, kelowna has always been a favorite festival of mine. and getting to meet and host albert's team from toronto was so cool. tempest is a comp team and you know what? i like that. i mean, after watching their first race, the only thing i could think of was "damn they're fast. i wanna race them!". of course people thought i was crazy to think united would even compare (we're rec), but just to be able to see how we fare up against them would be so neat. my dream came true in our second races of the day cuz we DID get to race them. man, it was cool... maybe even exhilerating... they beat the pants off of us. however, WE placed second. i thought that was quite an acheivement for us, especially compared to how we were in the beginning of the season. i know i'm just a caller, but i hope our team decides to be a bit more competitive next season. i would really enjoy it.

aside from festival stuff, things that highlighted the weekend:
- bonding with the girls ("hold my gold!" and "deuce deuces")
- buying fruits at the side of the road
- the gorgeous waterfront property we rented for the weekend
- costco dinner
- meeting and greeting tempest
- team naps under the sun
- hitting up the mission hill winery
- inter-team bonding: eating at the best chinese restaurant in kelowna (dragon inn)
- more inter-team bonding: clubbin at "gotcha"
- getting hyped for our last race by dancing the "team dance" in front of tempest
- seeing a wheelchair with rims (i wish i had my camera!)
- ice cream!
- keeping with tradition: a&w stop in merrit on the way back home

and after not being able to recuperate from the weekend, sleep will be my plan for today.

shout outs to my...

NEO!!
cuz you're my #1 blog fan, i'm sending this post straight out to you. i miss you too, man. and i can't wait to see you either!! and same goes for annie. when you gon come up to canadia and kick it ol' skool witcha homeys?.. we're waiting. :o)
there's a couple pics headed your way... and no, we're not nekkid.
*hugs*
mario and annie

sleep?

this past weekend was sleepless. the highlight was my 10 year highschool reunion on saturday night, then the "post highschool reunion" dimsum the next morning. and of course, the big cheez: the guy i had a crush on since he first walked into our 8th grade english class had said that he had a crush on me in highschool! i know, i felt SO 15 years old for a minute. but yeah, even though it was just a highschool thing that probably wouldn't get anywhere nowadays, it still made me smile/blush a lil. overall, the night was a success. and for all the grads that were too cool to come out, too bad for you. there'll never be another one like it!

bonne nuit?
i DID get my sleeping a bit back to normal tho... and last night i had a strange dream. it was all in french! i was speaking in french to french people in paris... so strange...

spontaneous in seattle!

i had a really good weekend last weekend. just kicked it with some good friends. i mean, things didn't work out like they were originally planned, but everything turned out even better. van and kiwi both decided to come and meet up with me in seattle where we took over ron's crib for the weekend. his place never looked better after we were through with it. now, there's at least some place to sit! i'm sure we'll be stopping by more often now that we know there's a blank canvas of an apartment out there for us to decorate. thanks ron ;o)
there were a lot of highlights: the friday grocery shoppin extravaganza, the saturday "let's get ron a chair or anything!" target shoppin madness, and the sunday outlet cruisin (they even have a "christian outlet store"!). and we managed to hit up a club and a fancy japanese restaurant and get a almost free keg dinner in there too! i'm really, really happy i decided to go. it was good times, no? ;o)

oh my achin head!

well, it doesn't ache so much any more, but after counting up the hours of sleep i had this weekend, i'm surprised i'm already back to normal! las vegas was hilarious. 4 days, 3 nights, and maybe 9 hours was spent sleeping. my girls are crazy (and there were 8 of us in all!). we ate 5 buffet meals in 3 days, we hit up a club (sometimes 2) every night, we shopped the primm valley outlets very well (we needed a cart to get all our bags to the van!), we all got tanned, and everyone each had at least one moment immortalized in time thanks to the digital cameras... not like i'll post THEM shots up!.. like they say, what happens in vegas... hahaha, yeah right! what happened in vegas was some good old fashioned retarded fun. i like the fact that the only times i've ever been to vegas was for a stagette... who's got next, girls?

for my fans

... haha, yeah, i'm still imagining things. check it out: my profile

what we all really need...

... is a *big hug*.

i needed one a couple weeks back and when i finally got it, i felt a lot better.
i know that it's not even a real hug, but with my little virtual hug, i hope all of you who need it feel at least a little bit better. i'm thinkin bout you.

did you brain your damage?!

i really don't know how to say this. guys can be amazingly smart. but likewise, they can be amazingly stupid. now i'm sure that the guys reading this are rolling their eyes and saying "oh here she goes AGAIN!" but hear me out: it has nothing to do with any guy that is reading my blog. for real. you guys (the very exclusive and select few of you that there are) are way above this one guy's mental range. so please read on.

let's call him RS. he's a photographer, he does shoots for certain sporting events, he's got a decent makeshift studio in the basement of his parents' "vancouver special" house, and he's working on his portfolio for his little side business. he also has a girlfriend (who is 7 years his major) and they've been in their relationship for about 3 years, sex with each other being a part of only the first 2 years. she has issues where she thinks she's turning to sex just to make herself feel better... she doesn't wanna be like that so about a year ago, instead of changing her outlook on sex as a way to express her love to her significant other, she decided that she just wouldn't do it at all til her and RS get married. she told him if he wants to do other chicks because she's not putting out, she's cool with that. yeah... what the hell?!! that relationship is SO not healthy... i mean come on. if you're not seeing eye to eye (especially with topics you might rate high on your priorities list), you should really figure things out... and if it's still not up to your standards, just break up with the person already! don't make your situation the excuse for your actions.
now that's RS's life all in a nutshell... and apparently that is the reason why he HAD to act the way he did with me. see, we were shooting in his studio for this thing (i can't specify this), and he felt that this meant that it'd be cool for him to cop a feel. très unprofessional. i, being the classy lady i am, told him that the photo shoot was over and politely refrained from wrecking all his cool photography equipment. he proceeded to tell me his sob story and i was so surprised at how stupid and selfish he was acting. like common sense wasn't an option?! as if i wouldn't notice a guy trying to get at me! but for real... is he insane?! this could be a really big deal and he could really get into some serious shit (i cuss because that's how serious it is!)... endanger his job, his business, his reputation (if it was any good to begin with)... all because he went all horndog on a model. that's pretty pathetic.

i'm gonna write a letter to the people he works for (that i know of) and let them know that "RS should be relieved of his duties because he's gotta find a way to get laid by his girlfriend. until then, it would be unwise to let him be in the same room alone with anyone (female for now, but you never know how desperate he'll get) if his penis is in charge. thank you for your time. sincerely..."

planet asia

no, this name has nothing to do with planets or asia for that matter. i have no idea why a rapper would name himself that. however i guess i should do a bit more of a background check on him to understand where he's coming from. what i DO know about him is that he's from south central california, and he is all for keeping the west coast in the "rap game". now you give me one west coast rapper who is not overly proud to admit to his west coast heritage. i feel that the "rap game" IS kinda vain like that. "shout outs", "hollas", "props"... it's always been like that.
but i digress...
i went to the planet asia and afu ra concert at sonar last thursday. it was actually supposed to headline with inspectah deck, but due to whatever reasons it might have been, he got held up at the airport in vancouver. i think he couldn't even make it to any of his other canadian shows. anyways, after planet asia's set, he ended up kickin back and sittin right beside where me and my friends were at. he was hilarious. to every girl that passed by him, he'd reach out and take her wrist to pull her up to him and get his mack on. it was funny, cuz it happened to a blonde girl, then an asian girl, then a brunette... i was so impressed at his confidence that i turned to my friend and said "dude! i wonder if i walk past him if he'll grab my arm too!"... see, i'm not saying that i wanted to get picked up by him. them girls looked like they wanted to go home with someone that night. i was rollin wit my homies so really, i didn't need anymore testosterone. i jus thought that it'd be funny to see if, lookin plain as i do, i'd make the "cut". so yeah, i showed my friend exactly how i'd do it, pretendin to walk past with my arm extended, as if i'd be expecting him to grab it... and while we were giggling, planet asia turned to me, looked me in the eye and said "i can hear what you're thinkin!"... i was busted for clownin on him!! it was so funny. then i went up to him and was laughin cuz he pulled me close so that the brunette wouldn't here him say "you wanna know what i'm doin? i'm jus bull shittin... that's honestly what i'm doin." he was a funny guy. and as my friend said, i'm lucky he wasn't all diva bout it.
and that's my story.

a good cause

boy, is it ever hard being on a dragon boat team. it's like you put in so much time and effort, and despite it being a fun athletic and social activity, we are almost always in the red... too bad fundraising is the only way to bring us back up to 0. it gets harder and harder to get a turn out for the "club nights" we host. do i ever wish that people who just wanna go out and have a good night of dancing would just come to me and say "wow! would i EVER love to go out dancing and at the same time support your team!"...
verbally works, but if you holler via the comment link, that works too...

thursday, june 30th
plush nightclub
12$

holler atcha girl... if you feelin' this yo

when will it end?!!

when i wake up monday mornings, i usually don't freak out that the week is gonna suck like most people. i only work 4 days a week so really, it's already 1/4 of my work week on its way out. so by the end of tuesday, i'm pretty happy cuz wednesday and thursday are a breeze. but this week is going SO slowly. i feel like even though it's the last week of school, it won't end! we're still finalizing reportcards. we're still testing kids on their math skills. we're still trying to get back all the library books the kids haven't returned yet. at least the weather's pickin up.

a shout out to my kuya gary

why does kuya always seem to have to put up all the "bad" photos?.. it's like he doesn't think the good ones are enough! anyways, as much as i'd love to tell you how much my kuya stinks, i won't. he's still a pretty nice guy. like this whole weekend that just passed, i thought he was gonna be a complete diva. not like he's gay, he just likes to be the "prince" when he's up here. i mean, my mom loves him so much that what ever he wants to eat, she'll cook it. chicken adobo, particularly. but yeah, he wasn't as bad as i thought he might be. and plus he let me take photos of his performance on saturday night. i love takin photos. it was a great opportunity for me... i've never shot more than 200 photos in a two hour time frame. that was pretty fun. so yeah, i guess kuya is cool cuz he lets me play with his toys.

small world

so, my cousin and his wife came up to visit this past weekend from san francisco because their dance group, likha, was performing with one of vancouver's filipino dance groups, kababayang pilipino. i must say i had a really good time meeting and hanging out with all of kuya's dance friends. they're a bunch of cool cats. so are the kp dancers... and i even knew a handful of them already! i guess that's what happens when you're filipino and live in vancouver. if you don't already know them, you will. so that wasn't so tripped out, cuz it was kinda expected. but what was tripped out was that one of the guys from likha actually knew one of my best friends... and they had even kicked it together at one point in time (to my understanding). but yeah, i guess it works the same for them: they're both from the bay area.
now the pressure's on for me to join kp. i know kuya wants me to join likha... but i think my commute would eventually end up taking its toll on me. ;op

argh!

so i was having a good chat last night with a friend who will remain nameless (now and forever) and despite our downs and ups, we still try to see through it all and embrace each other's differences... yeah who am i trying to fool? i try to embrace his differences and i STILL am the one with the short end of the stick. ANYHOW, i must say it was a really good talk. i really started to understand things about him. and i felt like he was starting to see things from my point of view. no yellin or anything. yeah it was a real kodak moment... too bad he ended up just forgetting what the hell we were talkin about. i swear, if you forget deep, meaningful conversations like that, get your head checked. chances are you're only remembering what you WANT to remember. i don't have time to build upon a friendship when all it ends up being is a figment someone's imagination. and this isn't jus me talkin. anyone who's had a good conversation and then the person you were talkin to says "i forgot everything we jus talked about" would feel this way too. don't waste your time, there's a lot more you can do with your life... like getting a cavity filled.

on the other hand...
i did have a really good conversation with another really good friend... and it turned out good. and it's funny cuz if i didn't decide to forward some silly "forward" to her, i don't know if i woulda had that conversation with her today. i must say, not only did i need it, after the retarded one i had with "forgetful jones" last night, but also cuz she and i can relate really well with our lives right now... i mean, both of us aren't in great situations at all, but at least we both see it in the same way. it's good to know that someone's there right beside you in the pile of mess, feeling just like you do, instead of being outside lookin in.

conclusion
boys don't listen. take it from me... they're nice to look at and fun to play with... but if you talk to them, somehow the words coming outta our mouths turns into that muffled trumpet sound that charlie brown and his peanuts gang hear coming from all the adults in the cartoon. so unless the guy you talk to likes brass instruments, just don't bother talkin to them.

boys

the big question is: what to do with them?
we can have several answers to this question but let's try to sum it up in just a few...

- we can love them
- we can leave them
- we can love them, THEN leave them (yeah, like leave them in our wake!)

i think that covers most answers in a fairly broad sense. if i'm missing any important parts, just holla in the comment box.

the topic of boys is currently pickin at my brain cuz... well, i've been out of it for a couple years now (at least). and now, situations arise... and while the "old me" woulda known that option 3 was the ONLY option (yeah, i was EVIL to guys), the "present me" is a totally soft boiled version of the "old me", where there are options 1 and 2 now in the mix. it was easier back when i didn't give a damn about guys' feelings. they always thought they could get me, but little did they know that i was a commitment-phobe! i guess that's what made it easy. now, i can totally picture commitment (not right away, but like eventually in a relationship), but nobody is lookin at the same picture as me. harsh!

what would jennifer aniston do?

so i read an article just last night from last weekend's globe and mail... it talked of how jennifer aniston probably doesn't like anything to do with mother's day (issues with her and her mom, not wanting to have children, brad...). anyways, the writer was saying how she should just get into an all out cat-fight with angelina jolie regarding the scandalousness of angelina and brad. the writer wrote that it'd probably do jennifer some good instead of her just moping around and withering away into the thickness of a pretzel (writer's words, not mines). at first i agreed. maybe letting angelina have it would be good... but then i thought about it. what good would that do? angelina oozes with sex appeal. she could get whoever she wants. when she's done with brad, she'll dump him, no doubt. she's way too independant to have a sensitive guy like him weighing her down (and don't even get me started on guys!). and she's sooo much younger. she has the time to find a more suitable mate. and who's to say that she won't get back (again) with billy bob, even for just a minute? i think jennifer is doing just fine. she's chillin like she should be... and so what if she's withering away? if you were to lose the one you love to some curvaceous, eye-catching, homewrecking ho, wouldn't you be even a little bit upset? and being upset throws your appetite off whack. and the options are that she'd either be a waif, or she'd get fat. from personal experience, food just doesn't have the same appeal when you eat it and you're single as opposed to when you've got someone (i am currently weighing in at 93 pounds... just barely!.. yeah it's rough.). i wonder if brad's ever gonna realize that he let a good thing go. i wonder what jennifer's doing to keep sane. i wish i could call her up and ask her if she wants to hang. anyways, not like i follow the hollywood gossip, but it's just my opinion.

SNOW DAY!!!

yes, i just wanted to rub this in... the first snowfall of the year in the city started today at about 7am and it has successfully closed our school for tomorrow and hopefully on monday too. to those who doubted me: the weather network never lies. now, if you don't mind, i'll be suiting up to make some snowmen.

talent

do you know how hard it is to find some really talented people? not hard at all. as was proven to me by dizz as he showed me this little home movie (complete with trailers and special features) that our friends from da pac had made. wow, they really impressed me. this wasn't your run-of-the-mill blair witch project hand-held garbage. it was well planned, executed and edited. and i'll never look at pandas the same ever again.

hmmm...

i wonder how long it'll take for me to get back into this blogging on a regular basis again? there's no better time than now to start... and just in time for the new year. well, i'll be hitting this one up a lot more now... it'll help me stay distracted from doing any real work at work. teaching is still fun, but man, the politics of my workplace is really getting to me. you wouldn't think it'd be so bad, but i can really feel it. gross. i won't think about it til work actually gets back in session. don't worry, you'll all get to hear it.
oh yes, i also decided to start up another blog so check it out if you want. http://www.remedialthinker.blogspot.com will be more of my attempt at "social commentary". yeah, wish that one some luck.
so that's all for now. maybe i'll wait a bit before telling anyone that i'm keeping up with these blogs... or maybe i'm just lazy to tell people. yeah, that's more likely.

i'm going back...
no, not to cali (but oh how i wish i was!), but to work... yep, school is back in session. at least this year, i know things are going to look waaaay more up than the previous ones. for example, i've got a regular bunch of kids to tutor. yay! i know it means extra money, but for real, i like these ones. i actually feel like i am contributing something to their lives that will mean something to them in the future. it's kind of a cool feeling.i think that's why i ultimately would like to be a teacher-y kind of person when i grow up. see, i'm not completely sold on becoming a teacher just yet. i know the ups and downs and yeah, the downs are still pretty sucky. i don't know if i could take them. but i wouldn't mind being like a school counsellor or something... yeah kinda like what buffy does, but minus the night job of killing vampires. that would be cool. we'll see.

well, i guess i'm just going to relax the rest of the long weekend away... maybe i'll practice speaking properly now, instead of mumbling and slanging everything i say. yeah, maybe not.

no more drama.. please!
so i'm trying to help out my godsister with her wedding plans... it's a bit tough cuz she's all the way out in sacramento and i'm waaay up here in vancouver. what makes it complicated is that up her is where her side of the family is, and down in cali is where her fiancé's side is. and as you can guess, both sides would prefer to have the wedding on their side of the border. hmmm. i wonder how many people go through this kind of problem? i know another couple who will encounter a similar dilemma (he's in san francisco and she's in toronto) but they're still in the really baby stages of the planning so they haven't even crossed that decision yet. anyways, for all o' y'all who are going to go through this kinda stuff, i, marion the aspiring wedding planner, have a suggestion: sit down with your fiancé(e) and ask each other what you two would like. don't take anyone else into consideration. it's your party and it is written nowhere that you have to do what everyone else tells you to do. if everyone around you is truely happy about your engagement and the fact that you will get married, then they'll do their best in supporting your decisions rather than trying to make it work to their advantage.
**are you listening char?.. ;o) don't worry, it'll be fine girl**

let's get married
since i'm on the topic... holy cow, how many people can get married in the span of 3 years?... annie and neil last year, joy and peter, andrew and karen, evanna and henry, my old classmate joanna and sabz' cousin, and little jennifer and her man will get married all this year, then next year is jo and jay, my kuya and bev, and char and leny... anyone else?.. dang. and yet, people still ask when i'll get married!.. well sorry, as you can see, i will be a lil bit busy for the next year or so. i'll wait til the wave of weddings dies down ;o)

besides i'm way too happy for everyone else right now. congratulations you crazy kids!!

A-B-C... easy as 1-2-3...
yeah so my sis and i are talkin bout getting back into school. i was almost convinced that i wanted to do nursing, but i think i'll just venture deaper in the realm of edumacation... annie on the other hand was the last person i'd ever picture taking nursing, and now she's talkin bout getting all her applications straight for the bcit and langara programs. funny. well, i guess 4 years in the "real world" is enough for us to see how it sucks. and it's easy to get stuck in a certain lifestyle... which could ultimately make everything SO suck. we just need to get ourselves more education to get better jobs (or higher pay for what we do!).
well, she's got it okay with a job that has benifits and regular hours... plus she got a good raise not too long ago that i thought she really deserved so that's not bad. but of course, her job falls under the "mediocre" category. she still does too much hard labour a day, and on top of that she still has to do a ton of paperwork. it kinda doesn't balance out enough. i have my cool, fun, laid-back teacher's aid job that i really love... but i don't have it full-time, and i have no benefits (yeah so my eyesight's deteriorating... what can i do?). and worst of all, i just want to have a job like this full-time, but the school just can't afford to give it to me, even tho they want to.
it's funny cuz if you were to relate life to the matrix philosophies, answering the question "what IS real?" would be easy... "real" is when you get outta school... cuz like the "real world" in the matrix, the "real world" for us is the same: it sucks unless you do something about it.

yay! it's over
so joy and peter are now happily married. finally! and everything went on without a hitch. you know i'm getting so good at this maid of honour thing that i just may rent out my services. doing it a few more times and i think sabby and my business just may take flight...
but enough about that... i can finally get back into my own life. wait. what IS my life about anyway? i've been so ear-deep in weddings and parties that i can't think about how it used to be before. well i'm hoping that it'll all get back to normal for just a little bit before char and leny get their own ball rolling... let alone all the others (yeah, liv and jam, i'm talkin to you two! ;op).

is it winter yet?
not like i'm rushing to get out of this gorgeous weather we're having, but i'm just dying to hibernate. i've been invited to 5 parties/get-togethers for this month so far and i can't even think about replying yet. i need to just unwind and relax. sabz and cin are headed to florida in the middle of the month til september (lucky girls!)... i think i need something like that too... but that involves little to no money. cuz yeah, i've got little to no money. hopefully the money owing will be rolling in soon. anyways, me being less busy now will really improve my blog updating ;o).

dang... when was the last time i was here?..

sorry for the lag in blogging. for the last 6 months (give or take) i've been really putting a lot of things on hold. my godsister is getting married on saturday and everything is busy, but everything is also coming into place. thank goodness. friends and family have been consistantly bombarding me with such temptations as parties and barbeques... and what kind of a person would i be if i denied their invitations?!...

may was a crazy month... char graduated from ubc, then we had a luau to celebrate... then she got engaged to leny, then she moved to cali. yeah, i call it the month of char.
june was a little less hectic, but every weekend had something planned... hoop it up, dragon boat, barbeques... it wasn't the most relaxed either.
july was just pure madness. first off, i think it rained all of twice this month. i don't want any right now, but man, the sun is doing more than fabutan has ever done for me! the first weekend it was cin's party... and j.p.'s too but suprisingly i didn't make it there this year :o(. and then there were so many things to do involving joy's wedding... dress fittings, finding shoes, giveaways to make, planning the flowers and the decorations... the list is still endless! so now we're at 3 days til the big day and i'm trying to make sure my butt will let me get into my dress... yeah, it's gorgeous when it's on (no doubt) but getting it on is the tricky part... oh crap! i still have to write a speech! i was stressed for last weekend (i threw the bridal shower on saturday... a hit as usual ;op) and now i'm stressing for this weekend... i still need to do my nails... aiya... too much to do! well, when i get married i'll be so experienced with weddings that mines will be a piece of cake.

alright this had better be enough of an update for you all cuz i gotta get things done... the work of the maid of honor is never done. so yeah, don't expect anything more in depth til after august 2nd!

bertuzzi, naslund... scores!
yeah the canucks made it past the st. louis blues... woohoo! hopefully minessota has an "off day" for the next 4 games...

darn french keyboard.. i can't find the greater than and less than signs... well, this page is about to get its annual makeover... stay tuned!!

bling bling
that was all i was thinking when i saw nelly's wrist. dizz and i were at the wild coyote tuesday night for the nelly concert afterparty... and yes we saw nelly. he was up on the mezannine level looking down on the dance floor, where dizz and i were. yes, he really sports the band-aid... for what reason? maybe it's a hideous zit that won't go away... haha like that hasn't been clowned on before... f-a,b-o,l-o,u-s was there too... yeah that's all i gotta say about him.
i guess one of the cooler parts of the evening was when a guy came up to me (the really good looking guy in the blue track suit who strolled in vip earlier) just to tell me how many famous people were up in there. he introduced me to a handful of local djs, and a couple djs from toronto... and i met soopafly from the beat! i know, it's just a radio station and all, but he IS the best dj on that station.

what the... i wish i knew how long it's been since i haven't had my comments thing up... maybe it's just this computer. the contrast is horribly dark so maybe i just can't see the link... hmmm. it couldn't have been that long...

stressed? me? never!
wow are things ever stressful around this time of year. no matter how much in advance people plan, they're still hurrying. i don't think this would be the "holiday season" unless people were busy. i'm having a tough time planning my staff christmas dinner, getting my Christmas presents all done (yeah, i'm being crafty again! this time with sabz' help :o) ), making my Christmas cards and writing them, and then planning annie and my birthday party, and then working on top of all that... wow, the next 3 weeks will be crazy.

when the last time...
... i took a ballet class? last night... but before that, it must've been about 9 years. yeah, i'm quite rusty (but i have to say, i don't have "jacked up" feet!).
... i made a mix tape? 5 years ago... give or take a few months. i just found a bunch of them a couple weeks ago. now i gotta find a tape player to listen to them!
... i saw my pirate friends? 5 months ago. hope nothing will stop them from coming back next month.
... i heard someone i knew is getting married? 5 days ago. yay evanna! it was just over 5 weeks ago that joy got engaged... yes, we're getting old.
... i wrote in this blog? half a month ago... dang. where does the time go?

who's bored?... i am! i am!

work it
yeah, i'm at work waiting impatiently for the bell to ring. the students are all at an assembly so for the last half hour or so i've been lucky enough to be able to slack off... besides, if i were there, i'd probably be thinking about what i'm thinking about now: my hallowe'en costume. i love that i work at an elementary school... it's way easier to get kids enthusiastic about holidays and special occasions when they're young (yes, the power to mold young innocent minds is intoxicating...)...
ooh there goes the bell...

i care for you...
ever felt all goofy when you're around someone in particular and there's no real reason why you should be feeling like that? it's like if you're in a situation where you'd normally be outgoing and extroverted but once this one person is added to the mix, you get all shy. well, i think i've found an explanation. it's a sign that you have to tell this person something (i.e. that you like them... or something like that... ;o) ). you have to tell them your feelings towards them (try saying something like "hey, i like you.") otherwise this "butterflies in your tummy" feeling won't leave. it's almost like a guilty conscience trying to get you to confess... except without the extreme possibility of sending yourself to hell if you don't. although regret could be pretty close (*hint hint*)...
heehee!

the light
i'm feeling all inspired and mushy... or maybe it's just my lungs reacting to all this medication... either way, this is just something off the top of my head reflecting on this one person that really means a lot to me.
we don't talk all the time, but when we call each other, it's like our last conversation never hung up. we barely hang out, but when we do, it's spent in short but condensed bursts throughout our relationship so far. we've got an inexplicable bond. when he was sick during the summer, all he did was think of me, and at that same moment in time, i had this overwhelming feeling to call him, and make him corn soup. now, i'm sick and i found i was thinking about him too... maybe it's the fact that whenever i hear the neptunes, i think of him (and the neptunes are just everywhere). maybe it's cuz both him and i have fucked up startacs. or maybe it's just cuz i know that whenever i'm down and really need to smile, or even just need a hug, i see his name show up on the call display. he's so sincere and sensitive (and not to mention talented!)... i'd say more about him, but even the best description of him would still be an understatement.

brown sugar
i remember once a friend asked me if i'd ever grow out of this "hip hop stage" i'm apparently in, and i was so confused by that question. i didn't understand it. i couldn't picture anything about my life so far that didn't or wouldn't involve hip hop. i don't admit knowing or being everything about it, but i know that i can't live without it. there are a lot of things that have influenced me in my life (parents among other people) but that's a given. it's just that there are a lot experiences that i've had that struck a chord in me that were always complimented with at least one element of the culture. when i think about it, it's actually kinda funny... but that's just cuz it's true.
and yes, brown sugar is a pretty sweet movie. good times, good times :o) .

puff... breathe and stop....
i knew i had been sick for the last 2 weeks, but i really didn't pay it too much attention. i usually get colds so i know how to take care of them. last monday i got sent home from work after lunch, and i didn't get to come back til yesterday. now that's what i call a really long weekend. yes it was leisurely, but i didn't go out at all other than to sonar on sunday night for their long weekend party (we just had our thanksgiving last weekend for all you non-canadians out there). and even then we left the club at 1am.
well, i went to the doctor yesterday and now i get to have an inhaler thing and some antibiotics for my lungs. i tell you now, it sucks. my lungs feel like mush! does that mean the drugs are working?.. :o(

oh baby
darn. i thought i had written in this thing a lot more recent than that last posting. oh well. the highlights of the last month would have to be the fact that my dragon boat team won a gold in kelowna (SOLID!), i got to watch that documentary on biggie and tupac at the vancouver international film festival showing of it (very insightful), i got to watch 2 pre-season canuck games (one of which was last night when the queen dropped the ceremonial puck... yeah, woohoo.), and i got a bunch of new music thanks to andrew. music is just SO the best thing ever. i've said this many times and i'll say it again: if music were a being, i'd marry it. although, one of the cooler things that happened to me is that i heard from my pirate friends last week. haven't heard their voices in at least 3 months... i hope they make it home for christmas. everyone out here misses you guys!

oh boy
last night i also watched crazy freaky movies that were being featured at the film festival... oh man, they were harsh messed up. and now i just realized that i left some clothes in the laundry and i have to throw them in the dryer... in the basement!! dammit i hate it when i get all scurred!!!