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!!!

things that make you go hmmm...
so i was watching that show beyond belief or whatever it's called... it's got star trek the next generation's "number one" as the host. well, the first story showed a girl house sitting and there was a creepy sound coming from the basement. even though she's scared out of her mind (it was a dark and stormy night), she took a knife with her to investigate the noise. all i gotta say is that is the dumbest thing i've ever heard of. i'd never go and investigate a noise...
THEN, as i was sitting here at the computer all alone in my house, i heard a noise. it sounded like someone trying to get in through our back door. it freaked me out. and without even thinking, i grabbed the cordless phone and investigated the noise. now, it ain't a dark and scary basement, but the house is pretty dark right now. it turned out to be noises from the neighbour's yard. nobody was trying to get in (*knock on wood*). i guess it's just in one's nature whether or not they'd go and investigate a noise. i'm REALLY not down for that, but i found myself doing it anyways... dammit. curiosity killed the cat, right?