Random Musings and Nicknacks

After years of trying various methods, I broke this habit by pitting my impatience against my laziness. I decoupled the action and the neurological reward by setting up a simple 30-second delay I had to wait through, in which I couldn’t do anything else, before any new page or chat client would load (and only allowed one to run at once). The urge to check all those sites magically vanished–and my ‘productive’ computer use was unaffected.

The above comic and quote is from one of my all-time favourite comics (I won’t even belittle it by saying web-comic – it’s above most print ones). The comic sums up my daily issue perfectly. Those of us with hyperactive attention spans (ooh shiny!) and jobs that require a computer and constant internet activity probably all run into the same (hey did you hear about Chris Hadfield being named King of Space)?
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There is a pretty good chance I am going to live a long life. My genetics say so – my grandmother is 91 years old, and the hospital staff say she looks really good for her age. My grandfather turned 93 a month ago, and in the last year had two major surgeries and was receiving chemotherapy – the doctors had decided even at that age he was strong and healthy enough for it. On his deathbed – literally – they said he looked really good for his age. They should have seen him a week ago when he was still living on his own.
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I started to compose this last night while sitting in a German bar in a hotel with a Russian name, in China while listening to a Fillipino girl band (live) singing Stayin’ Alive while also watching a Michael Buble video on the TV. So please excuse me if today’s article seems a bit weird … It’s certainly feeling surreal for me right now.
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Ling and I went to see the movie “Prometheus” when it was released (somewhere close to opening weekend). I enjoyed the movie, but my most vivid memory was actually one of the previews – it was purported to be “five minutes from Ang Lee’s upcoming movie ‘Life of Pi’”. I have a lot of respect for Ang Lee, especially the breadth of genres he works in – I don’t know how he does it.

The next 5 minutes were 5 of the bizzarrest minutes I have experienced in a theatre – while watching this boy, on a life raft with a tiger, being attacked by flying fish – for 5 minutes – running to one end (oh, tiger), back to the other (fish with pointy ends), back (oh, tiger), I remember thinking – there is some joke here I’m not getting. Maybe this is Monty Python buying 5 minutes of theatre time to pretend to be Ang Lee?

It definitely left an impression.

Today, the actual movie came out, and reading the reviews I think I get it a little bit more, and my interest is definitely piqued.

Sitting in the lunch room today, I mentioned I was curious to watch this movie. I immediately had two friends tell me I had to read the book first because it was excellent and unfilmable[1]

So tonight, bored, I bought the book and started reading. I figured I would just read a bit of the foreword and go to bed early – but I got hooked by the language.

I was so enthralled by one passage, that I had to read it to someone – Tim was there so I told him I had just started reading a book, and even the foreword was great. I read him the passage.

His response? “Oh, that sounds like Life of Pi – hey, have you read that? I think you’d really like it.” Chagrined, I admitted that was what I was reading.

So when everyone else knows about it, how have I managed to not even hear the name until now?
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[1] One of them, after looking at stills from the movie observed that he might have pulled it off – it was matching his mental image.

Psalms 126: 5 – 6

5 May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy!
6 He that goes forth weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

For school, our biology class once had to create a booklet to describe the characteristics of life. Due to complications, none of the students could actually gather at the same time to focus on the project. Because these illustrations were the first marks we would receive for the school year, I took it upon myself to finish it. So, using impeccable organization and time-management skills, I gathered work from each partner in crime.

As time passed by, the due date crept closer. With only three total days available, I brought together as much work from each student. I began to push and push the group, rejecting material, improving drawings, proofreading subtitles, and guiding partners. Soon the papers began to collect. And the project came to life. Before we knew it, we had received full marks for the booklet.

Often, I feel unmotivated. But for some reason, this instance at the beginning of the school year, I brought upon a new strength that I did not know I had. I felt empowered. I felt energized. I felt I could do anything. But the reason why this is the most important task I have completed was because I did not need someone else to tell me what I needed to do. I was my own guide, I led my own group to success. But most of all, I felt good.

The call came while I was on my way home. I pulled the bike to the side of the road, and answered it. It was my wife, Ling “They made a mess, this just isn’t going to work”, her voice sounded dead. I could guess what she was talking about – Our younger dog, Spirit, had been dealing with an upset tummy last night and had woken us up at 1 AM to run outside. After a whole day locked inside I was expecting a “gift” at the front door – but this was wrong, my wife sounded livid. “the dogs made a mess?” I confirmed – “yes”. I told her I would be home in 10 minutes and would help clean. She said OK and hung up.

Something was going on – when Spirit is sick she’s always good to make the mess on the tile at the front door – I can picture her standing there, whimpering, praying that somebody will open the door in time, until she just can’t hold on anymore. That kind of mess doesn’t lead to the voice I just heard.
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I took this phone using my iPhone camera last Friday morning. It was a glorious morning and I took the canada line to work that morning. I took this photo while the train passing the bridge.

The launch for the first week of September failed miserably and we can still feel the ripple effects until today.

It started with the labour-day lunch. Tim kindly offered to make us nachos for lunch and we were thrilled!! These days, he regularly makes nachos for himself but rarely offers his nachos to anyone. I didn’t know why he decided to be nice to us that day

Tim makes good nachos. He learned how to make nachos when he was about 10 and by now, he could close his eyes to make them.

I was washing dishes at the time and happened to see him stirring/breaking a two-pound block of ground beef. I casually commented: “hey Tim, half of that should be enough for us.” He replied: ” just cook all of it for now. I will use the half and save the rest for later”. It totally makes sense and very good planning, I thought.

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