Since Eric's not around, let's talk in Cantonese!

Eric came over this afternoon to do some more stuff to my computer. He noted that the inner temperature was 18-23 degrees C at one point, which he said wasn't fair since it used to be 69-71 degrees and he couldn't replicate it. I called Ivan, who answered his phone - since his parents had to be there early too, I figured that I'd just go with Eric as per the original plan. Jon knew because Ivan had left him a message. By the time we actually got going, it was raining pretty heavily. I told him a bit about my week, blogging, my supposedly being a chicken (he was HUNGRY!), and reading while driving. He wondered if people actually knew how to drive in the rain. (I gave him Karen's number instead so he could call her himself!) Of course, he blamed his lateness on me since it was MY computer he was attempting to fix! I didn't expect anything different, however.

At church, Michelle C. complained that she'd been out all day and hence hadn't had a chance to be on Facebook. She knows she's addicted, and told Andrew so. I jokingly squished Jonathan after some of his friends did, jokingly threatened to (get others to) sit on him, and told Raymond that I really didn't use my extra energy to abuse the teenagers, haha... although there WAS the time that Steph hip-checked Chris across a small area! (he'll give Terry's card to him next week - we also talked about Ray for a bit) Experienced some confusion as to whether we were to go upstairs or stay downstairs, and talked to Vivian / Ivan / Sam / Emily L. / Mary / Cindy / Sheena / others. Jonathan said that he was a helper, but I didn't believe him - Stanley jumped on that and said that my disbelief said something since normally I'd trust everyone! Said hi to Pastor John and his family (Karmie / Josiah / Hannah / Noah), little Amos, the kids Eric and Matthew, Olivia, and others. Cindy said it looked like my dad was having fun at his pool booth - definitely! I didn't want to go outside since it was blah even with tents galore, but went eventually - Sam, Jon, Margaret, Lucas, and Stanley were having a good time playing stuff as the LIVE BAND. (CALIFORNIA DREAMING, I WANNA BE SEDATED, etc.) Saw Charis and Esther with Mike, which was good. Saw Randal outside, and talked to him about a bunch of stuff - Eric came up to us and proceeded to talk like a cowboy. (Vivian was getting all sorts of cowboy pics earlier, and I liked Eric's shiny toy gun!) We had buns, Famous Amos cookies, and cider - yay for a saloon, haha. Had some noodles later, when Gwyneth and Evelyn actually talked to me a bit about snow ("throw snowballs in people's mouths!") - yay!

Randal had a recipe book of Chinese-style casseroles which he got from the "gift shop" in the balcony, and we spent some time looking at it together. He'd postponed his dinner with his parents till tomorrow, reiterated that I was an adult who could choose whether or not to spend two nights in a row at the townhouse of my own volition, said that he'd read a bit of the 1003 Ways to Stay Young book (which I sadly haven't had time to read yet), agreed that I was close to my family, shared his cookies with me, and watched the recycled slide show upstairs when we went to see what was going on. Waved / said hi to Hien, Adam, Karen I., Martin, Dawn, Eni, Karen Choo, Keiko, her friend Emi, and others. The past Japanese student experience helped me explain things slowly to the latter two in English - YAY! (they can be my replacement Cindy Yang, haha - gotta get numbers and stuff first, heh) After the slide show, I asked Nai Chiu to translate whatever Karen I. had just said about the evening's entertainment, so Eric and I went to check out the karaoke. Funny line from tonight, courtesy Ivan's mom: "Is there anyone here who doesn't understand Cantonese except Eric? Okay, since I see Eric is not around... *launches into Chinese description of what I assume is the karaoke night* " (Eric had gone to the kitchen to get some leftover cookie packages to see if he could sell them for real money instead of coupons - he sold eleven, and someone bought six! That's how it is at our church events, haha.) Jon, Michelle C., and I were in the same boat - as I bet others were. Poor white guy! Talked to Darren, Isabel, Vivian, Eric, Jon, and others - Jon's going downtown later to drink with a friend, so he assumed I was going with Eric, which was the case when we left half an hour or so later.

Talked to Eric about the rain, aspirin, monthly things, gum, brushing teeth, enjoying the carnival, pee, singing and my spoken answers, space brain chicken, and more. At home, I went for a bit of a nap after saying hi to Corey - I also answered an email from Steph which said that Harmony's mom wished to invite us over for dinner on Monday. (so THAT's the dinner which caused us to make jokes about weed and joints yesterday in the car!) When I got up, I saw that Talia and had tried to message me, but had gone offline. Corey then told me that he was going to shower now that I was back - thanks, dude, love you too! Steph then said that our "dinner" was actually lunch at the townhouse, so my Monday meals will be taken care of. Now Corey and I are talking about Linux, programs, and games - fun times!

Safeway flyers and Pizza Hut coupons are interesting wraps, my good friend...

Talked to Eric about a bunch of things on the way to church: friends, beeswax lip balm, "literally" abuse, license plates, traffic, literal balm / bomb, herds of wooden elephants, peacocks, energy drinks, cats, etc. At church, I talked to Grace and Karen for a bit - life's been okay, I guess. Talked to Alan for a bit about Tracy, news, and non-secrets... Korey is NOT a secret, haha! Randal gave me my late birthday present, AND he was wearing my fave jacket of his! He used a Safeway flyer / Pizza Hut coupons as secondary and tertiary layers of wrap for a notebook, hahaha - also gave me a card, in which he said that I'd always have a friend in him. So sweet! (and a book with 1003 ways to stay young - he DID say I was young at heart, which is true!) I thanked him for that just before I talked to Stanley about being 220 and throwing balloons at people on Facebook. Dylan didn't understand those applications, so Stanley said that he was getting OLD, haha. Saw Pastor John, but didn't have a chance to chat - maybe Sunday? Had brilliant hot chocolate, and missed Jeremy since he was on his way to Kelowna - guess I'll bring the mooncake back NEXT week then! Saw Dallas briefly, which was good. Said hi to Frances, Rich, Chung, Sheena, Maxine (aquariums!) and others.

Bible Study was pretty cool - talked about gender differences, men solving problems, women needing empathy, Calla and her ex having many of the same arguments over differences, surprises, washing the toys, Dylan needing a hazmat suit, Maxine, Megan wanting to play with a muddy toy, service projects, etc. Eric joked that we weren't studying a Bathroom Reader when I accidentally took one out of my knapsack while looking for my devotional. Cindy said that Steph wasn't feeling well, but she had flowers for her since my sister passed her physical on Tuesday. Oh sure, she gets sick AFTER the torture! Later, I talked to Dawn about her birthday plans and such before I talked to Randal about his new job (not going through Richmond, but taking the Alex Fraser) / Chilliwack / Kamloops / our Facebook pictures / Andy / Billy and Stella's place in White Rock. It was the longest conversation we've had in a few weeks, and I was grateful for that. Dylan told me about the Committee nomination stuff which I'd heard from Eric - "in person" works for that! Stanley made moves to kick everyone out, so we migrated upstairs and eventually outside. Talked to Cindy, Vanessa, Melia, Sam, Eric, Angus, Dallas, Isabel, Joey, and others about who could give Steph her flowers / Steph and the polar bears in Nunavut / Regina / training / Thanksgiving Carnival tomorrow / cowboys / being at church early / Dragon Ball. Citrus was only there to pick up his sister... "UNFORTUNATELY!" he joked.

Jon said that Nathan had given him his old phone, so he and Dallas figured out SIM card stuff on the way to the gas station and Dragon Ball. He called Ivan, who could give him a ride tomorrow to the Carnival (Tom Lee!). I requested that he call him again for me since I wasn't sure if I wanted to be at the church tomorrow at 2:30! He later did so, referring to me as his "ugly older sister" - he got a death threat for that one! I got Ivan's phone number, since I wasn't going to call him right when I got home. We talked about longboat (similar to Dragon Boat rowing festivals), Cordia / Joyce at Vanier, Thanksgiving plans / Ray, the dog photos, the irony of Dallas' bubble tea lid saying "SUGAR" when his order had none in it, flavors, new Dragon Ball cards, Jeremy, food and cost, Dallas' housemates avoiding him once they found out his real age (20 vs. 27?), red plum-longan, Mr. Dragon Ball doing noise control, ordering food at Dragon Ball, black sesame-avocado, and a bunch of other stuff. The clerk thought Jon and I were nuts for ordering what we did, haha. (when Eric ordered, she was like: "Thank goodness - a normal person!") Thank goodness Dragon Ball has a closing time since I was getting pretty tired! (bumped into John and Sonya, too...) On the way home, we dropped Dallas off at Broadway / Granville - I told him that I had his kimchi Tupperware, so I'd give them back at some point. We discussed shoes, tomorrow's plans, troubleshooting, a joint dinner with Harmony's family (not the weed!), kiwis and WHEE!, being mad (crazy), "cross-family" really meaning "inter-family" (maybe I'll get cross too: "MOM!" when she brings stuff up), and other stuff. Should call Ivan tomorrow at the appropriate time - now, I should get to bed!

Candy calling to vent, Randal's jacket, funny Craigslist ad

Candy called at 1 AM to vent about heartache and hurt. Maybe we should get together on US Thanksgiving weekend... she's already taking care of Sarah G., after all. Apparently, we'd get along well together.

On another note, I have a bunch of new friends on Facebook: Grace, Kieran, Rachel, J-Mak, Kenneth, Clement, Bryant, Rob, Vernon, Terry, Winnie, Tiffany, Jocelyn, Quan, and Dawn. I should really view more people's profiles, haha - and say hi to Hien on there, too. It's cool that Randal will try to wear a certain jacket more often just because I say I've always liked it, hehe - and now that he's working in Delta, we may see each other with greater frequency. Or maybe not - but it's good to know that my GREAT FRIEND is there! Speaking of him, here are the two funny Craigslist messages which Alan said were pretty funny. Randal wonders if the 25-year-old woman is for real:

Post:

What am I doing wrong?

Okay, I'm tired of beating around the bush. I'm a beautiful (spectacularly beautiful) 25-year-old girl. I'm articulate and classy.

I'm not from New York. I'm looking to get married to a guy who makes at least half a million a year. I know how that sounds, but keep in mind that a million a year is middle-class in New York City, so I don't think I'm overreaching at all.

Are there any guys who make 500K or more on this board? Any wives? Could you send me some tips? I dated a business man who makes average around 200-250. But that's where I seem to hit a roadblock. 250,000 won't get me to Central Park West. I know a woman in my yoga class who was married to an investment banker and lives in Tribeca, and she's not as pretty as I am, nor is she a great genius. So what is she doing right? How do I get to her level?


Here are my questions specifically:

- Where do you single rich men hang out? Give me specifics - bars, restaurants, gyms

- What are you looking for in a mate? Be honest, guys, you won't hurt my feelings

- Is there an age range I should be targeting (I'm 25)?

- Why are some of the women living lavish lifestyles on the Upper East Side so plain? I've seen really 'plain Jane' boring types who have nothing to offer married to incredibly wealthy guys. I've seen drop-dead gorgeous girls in singles bars in the East Village. What's the story there?

- Jobs I should look out for? Everyone knows - lawyer, investment banker, doctor. How much do those guys really make? And where do they hang out? Where do the hedge fund guys hang out?

- How you decide marriage vs. just a girlfriend? I am looking for MARRIAGE ONLY

Please hold your insults - I'm putting myself out there in an honest way. Most beautiful women are superficial; at least I'm being upfront about it. I wouldn't be searching for these kind of guys if I wasn't able to match them - in looks, culture, sophistication, and keeping a nice home and hearth.


it's NOT okay to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
PostingID: 432279810

--------------

THE ANSWER
Dear Pers-431649184:


I read your posting with great interest and have thought meaningfully about your dilemma. I offer the following analysis of your predicament.

Firstly, I'm not wasting your time. I qualify as a guy who fits your bill; that is, I make more than $500K per year. That said, here's how I see it.

Your offer, from the prospective of a guy like me, is plain and simply a crappy business deal. Here's why. Cutting through all the B.S., what you suggest is a simple trade: you bring your looks to the party and I bring my money. Fine, simple. But here's the rub: your looks will fade and my money will likely continue into perpetuity... in fact, it is very likely that my income increases, but it is an absolute certainty that you won't be getting any more beautiful!

So, in economic terms, you are a depreciating asset and I am an earning asset. Not only are you a depreciating asset, your depreciation accelerates! Let me explain, you're 25 now and will likely stay pretty hot for the next 5 years, but less so each year. Then the fade begins in earnest. By 35, we'd stick a fork in you!

So in Wall Street terms, we would call you a trading position, not a buy and hold... hence the rub... marriage. It doesn't make good business sense to "buy you" (which is what you're asking) so I'd rather lease. In case you think I'm being cruel, I would say the following. If my money were to go away, so would you; so when your beauty fades, I need an out. It's as simple as that. So a deal that makes sense is dating, not marriage.

Separately, I was taught early in my career about efficient markets. So, I wonder why a girl as "articulate, classy and spectacularly beautiful" as you has been unable to find your sugar daddy. I find it hard to believe that if you are as gorgeous as you say you are that the $500K hasn't found you, if not only for a tryout. By the way, you could always find a way to make your own money, and then we wouldn't need to have this difficult conversation.

With all that said, I must say you're going about it the right way. Classic "pump and dump." I hope this is helpful, and if you want to enter into some sort of lease, let me know.

Cheer for your red wine, brothers!

I'm tired, hungry (which should be remedied in a minute), and realize certain things. Oh, for strength! (edit, months later: STUPID KOREY!)

Got stuff in my email / on Facebook from Randal, E, Adam, Stanley, and Andrew. That should be cheering enough, but isn't. Fizzy water, red wine, fave jackets, balloon-throwing, Craigslist, cheering, and #1 stuff... all good, of course, but not quite enough right now. UGH.

Free kegs of beer for the masses on Facebook!

On Facebook, my sister gave me a free keg of beer. HAHAHA, why does that not surprise me? I also seem to have acquired a bunch of new friends: James S., Angus, Tina, Melia, Elaine S., Ben, Mandy, Brian, Sarah C., Andrea L., Jessica Lai, Anita T., Edwin, Ryan S., Pat, Margaret K., Chris T., Sam, Amy L., Gabriel, Jen, Mike K., Margaret L., Jenny Lee, Hannah N., Wesley, Dawn, Janette, Dorcas, Tracy, Mel, Silvester, Benedict, Erin, Christon, and Jessica Lam. Lots of people to keep up with - yay! (sorta...)

Also, someone wants to come over... YEAH RIGHT!

2007 David Fellowship birthday card

Finally getting around to inputting the text of the David Fellowship birthday card here. Was going to do it before, but all these things kept cropping up - so not good! :P


Eric: "Happy Birthday, Leslie! Thanks for putting up with me in those crazy car rides. I don't like my handwriting here, but I'm sure it is your fault."

Karen Lee: "Have a great birthday!"

Randal: "Happy Birthday, Leslie! I wish I had more room to write. I'll talk to you instead."

Kevin: "Happy Birthday, Leslie! Thanks for always being so thoughtful and positive. God Bless."

Steph: "Ho ho ho! Happy birthday as we sit in Fellowship signing cards behind each others' backs. LOVE, your sister!"

Vivian: "Have a marvelous 31st (!) birthday, Leslie!"

Raymond: "Happy Birthday, Leslie! Enjoy God's blessings!"

Martin: "Happy Birthday, Leslie! Thank you for your love and contributions to the church and Fellowship."

Dianne: "Happy Birthday, Leslie! Thank you for always being there with such thoughtful gifts and kind words. I hope you have a wonderful day! Love, Dianne."

Jeremy: "I hope you have a very special birthday. God bless you."

Calla: "HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Hope you have an enjoyable and blessed day."

Margaret: "Happy Birthday, Leslie!"

Connie: "Happy B-Day to the girl who remembers everyone's birthdays! Hope you have a great day! :)"

Chuck: "Hi, Leslie! Happy Birthday! I hope it is a fun and blessed day. Thanks for putting up with my teasing! It's been great being in the same small group. :)"

Karen and Ivan: "Love always!"

Cindy: "Happy Birthday! Thank you for your friendship and for always being so sweet! Keep smiling!"

Frances: "Leslie, Happy Birthday! Thanks for your great smile and always saying hello. I really appreciate and am encouraged by your love and care for the children in SS Toddlers class and in AWANA."

Andrea: "Dear Les, Behind all the teasing - you know I appreciate you much! I'm thankful for your friendship and am blessed by you in a very special way! Have an awesome birthday!"

Lesley: "I'm sorry. I'm so used to writing my name with an 'ey' that I accidentally wrote EY when it should have been IE. So very blessed to know you. Hope you'll have a great one. Love, Lesley."

Alan: "You are awesome!!"

Tea sets, narrow building, floor sweeping, Randal, Julie, and food pokes!

I really don't feel well or up for any social time today. Blah. (note: said smiley does not mean that I cut myself or want to do so!)


Here is the dream post I said I'd put up when I felt like it. I've had a few weird ones over the past week or so! These are just highlights, really.

DREAM 1

* getting together in this huge mall with Helen K. and her friend with multiple babies, who looked like those African children you used to see in TV ads (they had their names plus a pronunciation guide on their cute little T-shirts)

* Eric showed up and asked to play video games, so we let him into a room designed specifically for that purpose - then there were boobs in the games! o_O (he looked away)

* Phil wanted me and Helen to come upstairs with him, so we did - he had arranged a massage for our birthdays! He was a great-looking white guy, and he and Phil almost kissed!

* Vivian L. and I knew that we were being followed by people, and came upon five co-conspirators - they tried to bribe us with a gift of an ornate Chinese tea set complete with tea ceremony. We were also very indignant when a school secretary gave us a manila envelope with marching orders in it - just because the Genitorturers' Whorehouse was the last song played in Winamp didn't mean we were into corrupting juveniles! (note: I don't think they have a song with that title in real life, but I could be wrong)

* One of the babies had somehow been born and reached a few months of age during the course of the dream; he came upstairs and I piggybacked him. He seemed to like the red carpet on the stairs and floor!


DREAM 2

* my friends were lining up in knee-deep water outdoors (Lesley / Jeremy / Randal / a guy named "Dhanda"), in order to determine who was the closest one of all - it turned out Randal was first, with Jeremy coming a close second (later, it turned out that they were the ones FOR me!)

* I went with someone to an orange elevator, and found two old men inside - they didn't want to give it up, so we let them be

* managed to go to a lower level underground, where the "NG HIDEAWAY" could be accessed through a hatch which led to a pretty neat house: Uncle Stanley, Auntie Vonnie, Joshua, Caleb, and Susan greeted me / R / J and made us welcome


DREAM 3

* Danielle and others were eating dinner with me, and said that K was an uncouth member of society. He unwittingly proved their point by showing up to this semi-formal dinner in a wifebeater and shorts, and then exhibited VERY vulgar manners. Nobody was very impressed!

* there were birthday cards for me on the fridge, and a couple were from Chester Rutkowski and Arthur Johnson - others featured messy writing, sparkly glitter, and green dinosaurs!

(woke up from that dream thinking that even my subconscious knows stuff I refuse to accept yet...)


DREAM 4

* I was over at my mom's place, and she decided to make food for us - the only problem was that it was DETESTED FISH!

* to escape, I went upstairs a few times to use my sister's Firefox and check email (there were notifications from Candy and Nick saying that they'd given me chocolate / marshmallow / bacon pokes!)

* Dad decided to drive me somewhere, and he said that he was suing the owners / organizers of an open house near the Elephant Walk Pub and the narrowest building in town. They'd apparently offered candy to everyone there except him since he'd just come from exploring said pub and narrow building.


DREAM 5

* we were driving around with Julie S., looking for Richmond apartments since she got a new job here - that was a very long process looking at a zillion beige carpets / holes in the wall / generally weird accommodations!

* we passed by a tall Richmond office building, and decided to go to Workers' Compensation for some odd reason - they directed us to several local wonton mein restaurants where she could find work, so we went and viewed giant food displays there!

* that made us hungry, so we picked up Julie's mom and sister to have lunch somewhere: SO GOOD!


DREAM 6

* I had to sweep the floor for my mom; during this process, I found a dead mouse and also a flying mouse with a beak that implanted itself into my back. Of course, I screamed in pain!

* a biker with lots of tattoos went by, and he offered to help; my mom vetoed it with an excuse, and then later told me that he looked too greasy, and his fingers looked too fat to fit in an opening in my body (I was NOT impressed, and sneaked away to meet the biker, who did a great job of helping me)

* I saw lots of birth announcements and a large comics section in the newspaper he had: 12 kids in one family, the same storyline repeated across three comics, and dogs in the area - oh my!

Yay for Jeremy and Talia since they rock!

The highlight of my night was calling Jeremy to wish him a happy birthday. He thanked me, and I told him about how we realized that we'd forgotten to sing HAPPY BIRTHDAY to him and Christon last night. At least we both had a good time at dinner! Yes, he forgot his mooncake, but I can give it to him on Friday - that won't be a problem! That was a highlight, but so was Talia's understanding about stupid Korey!

A Wiki article paste reminds me of last night, when Nathan was listening to Miles Davis on his laptop while working on stuff. I told Jeremy that it reminded me of the time Eric copied and pasted the Wiki article on Miles Davis in an email when I asked who Myles was. He is Harmony's brother... Jon and Jeremy have played Ultimate with him a few times. Jer thought the story was funny, as did I.

You are Society / Glamor Barbie!
You are very wealthy and are subject to a life of privilege. You are all about glamming it up, all of the time.
'Which Barbie are You?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Haha, I wish. Then again, maybe not.

Being anti-social can be amusing!

Christon's house has literally THOUSANDS of trinkets because they stuff hundreds of things in all the rooms - Jon says that it's enough to keep a Chinese village employed in making them! His parents collect them, and they were away on a cruise. (his mom's in a wheelchair and so has a ramp at the front of the house) I told people how I had accidentally slapped Dylan in the face after the AGM; he commented that it had been years since he'd been slapped by a girl, and of course accepted my profuse apologies. I joked that he could get more of the treatment with my brother or me slapping him on both sides simultaneously, but he definitely wasn't up for that! Not that we'd deliberately or maliciously do so, of course - we LOVE Dylan, as quirky as he may be sometimes! Haha. Before dinner, Julie called her mom and said that she was with a bunch of church people including "two gwei loh... Ivan told me to call them that!" Haha, that was amusing. They were watching DANCING WITH THE STARS on MuchMusic, or maybe it was SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE. I was in the other room, so couldn't say for sure. Someone said that Darren's parents didn't want him to come home for Christmas because of the cost of the plane ticket from Ireland - sounds like what they'd say, all right! (they're... frugal, for want of a better word that isn't "cheap" :P)

It was certainly a very crowded table: Citrus, Christon, Jon, Eric, Jeremy, Isabel, Ivan (who didn't end up bringing his family after all), Mike, Julie, Nathan, and I had amusing discussions! Jeremy had wanted to look up the weight of an uncooked cup of rice - since I was on the Internet, that automatically means I'm the fount of all knowledge! Hahaha, that's a good one. (not actually what he said, but it was along those lines) I marveled that my email messages all fit on one screen now after deleting a bunch of spam and reading some others - it was at 76 when I started checking stuff on Saturday! Nathan jokingly decided that his future kids would be named Heroin, Cinnamon, LSD, Paprika, and other spice- and drug-related names. This made us all happy that we weren't his future kids or wife! We wondered if Isabel was of age now to drink since she hadn't been that time at Nathan's in June with the chicken and mondo salad: she said that she'd turned 19 in August, so we wouldn't have to worry about repercussions anymore. Jon asked if her parents knew she consumed alcohol; probably not! Then we wondered about first-year Ivan since we were drinking Pike Place Tender, Antares double Scotch ale, and Phillip's Accusation Ale. Mike asked who the oldest person in the room - that would be me, so he asked whether I was 20-something. I WISH, HAHA. Told him that I was 31, which surprised him - Jeremy turned to me and said that we'd just celebrated it. Oh, I know! Mike said that he'd heard the drinking age could be lowered to 16 if there was someone responsible with them - score for Ivan, who didn't drink our beer anyhow!

Someone brought up the term "manzer" and started using it in all sorts of places like Shakespeare, popular song lyrics, etc. Mike and Nathan were laughing way too hard to tell me what it meant, so I asked Jeremy. Nathan calmed down enough to tell me what they'd been discussing in Sunday School: whether Timothy was a b*stard or not. "Better not use that around a certain person!" Jon brought up the Booty Logo when I said that there was a kid in Sunday School class who drew three poops and a toilet on his worksheet of King David extending hospitality to Jonathan's son Mephibosheth and his family - SO NOT APPROPRIATE, and I'm not teaching the kids the Way of the Booty! Then he brought up sanitary napkins, which led to an extremely low point in the discussion when Nathan said something about hair and spouses. The females at the table were certainly grossed out, and didn't want the guys to know. They found out when Jon explained sanitary napkins to them: "I have two sisters and a mother, and they discuss this stuff rather openly!" I told Jeremy that at least we weren't discussing Erin's embarrassing stories, some of which have to do with stuff related to sanitary napkins!

We consumed one mooncake and a LOT of longan - Christon decided that he HAD to get a picture of Jeremy's very long peel when he held it close to his eye. Then someone suggested leaving the fruit on the peel as a sort of eyeball, and then having Ivan pretend to eat it - that led to a lot of laughs. Eric told me that they'd found something weird in Christon's pantry: a Tim Horton's box with one doughnut left... but the doughnut had a bite taken out of it! EW! Discussed composting: apparently, Christon missed a clearly-labeled compost bin in the UBC SUB which was two feet away from the garbage can. To be fair, this initiative is brand new, and is part of Sustainable UBC. We asked how his dad coped with the garbage strike - he gets up at 4-5 AM and dumps the family garbage at a nearby restaurant since they have private collectors for their trash. Hahaha, that sounds like our "dump your garbage across the street!" recommendation for Vivian and Karen! We nominated the guilty young ones to wash / rinse / dry the dishes: watching THAT was quite hilarious! Julie said the dishes came too fast, to which Jon said that obviously she's never washed dishes by hand at home before! Then she managed to not see the sponge, which was sitting right by a pile of dirty dishes! Christon tried to capture it on video, but decided it would take WAY TOO LONG! We said hi to Christon's brother Clement when he came in, and had to make room for him - it could be the most crowded that the kitchen's ever been! Discussed the cider which was made from an Internet recipe - Isabel commented that it smelled like Christmas, and Jon determined that it must be the cloves. Jeremy noticed cloves in the bottom of my cup when I filled it with some beer - I knew they were in there, but maybe it'll add to the flavor! Ivan decided to mix some carrot soup with the cider - he can be Jon's protégé! Luckily, nobody decided to combine the butter chicken with anything except rice and sauce! (three ladles going at once, oh my!)

Later, Ivan / Julie / Isabel / Mike / Citrus were playing around with Nintendo DS Lite games. I told Jon that the TETRIS one seemed to be counter-intuitive because the controls were all switched around! (pressing "up" to make your pieces go DOWN, etc.) Earlier, I'd been half-sitting on Citrus' DS Lite - oops. Jon loved how the room was full of people being anti-social: the young ones playing Nintendo, my reading a history Bathroom Reader, Nathan working on his laptop, Jeremy and Eric just sitting on the piano bench / the couch... we needed SOME downtime! Discussed devotions, other names for roadies (equipment manager / technical stage assistant / whatever else we came up with), MARIO games, human Tetris and Youtube videos, Tetris documentaries, Russians, Firefox windows disappearing on Linux a lot, differing times on the clocks in the room, Vancouver maps, beer money, and more. Definitely a good night! On the way home, the guys and I discussed plans for the week and the Thanksgiving carnival: cowboys and rides, here we come! Our family's Thanksgiving dinner is Monday, but I don't mind that. At home, I talked to Corey for a while - so amusing!

Got an email from Eric this morning about my chipset temperature: probably a good idea to turn the thing off overnight or if I'm out for the day. Wanted to know if Wednesday or Thursday would work better for me - I guess it is Wednesday by default. Man, my week will be busy-ish! I have new friends on Facebook, too: Dylan, Jennifer L., Candy B., Auntie Rebecca, Karen Law, Dave, Wayland, Eric, Karen Lew, Chris Lam, Caroline, Denise, Henry, Vania, Mike T., Peter, Joey, Anita T., Hien, Andrea, Adela, and Lucas. Yay! Off to cannibalize more people, hahaha. A post with a bunch of dream highlights should be coming up later, I guess. Gotta feed my new addiction... thanks, Darren. :P

Belly dancers are NOT making an appearance here - sorry, Dylan!

Blogging from Christon's - interesting laptop, but the apostrophes and such aren't the kind I like best, and some keys appear to be remapped or something. Must edit this post later on when I get home. Got some coffee into me before I left this morning for church, which was a good thing since I went to bed a little too late even for my self-control. Ah well... like Danielle said, it is something we all need to practice! Discussed POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE on the way to church: Gorilla Monsoon IS the best announcer ever, according to my sister. I told Jon that Jim Ross and some other guy I recognize are still doing commentary on RAW, since I got to see a few minutes of it while K was channel-surfing randomly a few times. We discussed History, IB, the Thanksgiving Carnival next week, Mom thinking that the God's Faithful Singers could have sung the Joan Osborne song ONE OF US (we were NOT asking Byron about THAT one!), and other such stuff. At church, I said hi to a bunch of people and sat by Angus and Kevin: I had to turn around to share various bits of amusement with Jeremy, but that was just fine! Said hi to Tony's dad, who was videotaping a bunch of people as Randal waved at me - I waved back, and made a mental note to talk to him later. Shared a Bible with Kevin and helped him find various passages - he grabbed a hymnbook, but I showed him where it said HYMNS OF LIFE on the front in English, haha. I was more amused than anything by that. Then Phil had a thought-provoking sermon about relationships, insecurity, forgiveness, and other stuff: when he said something about harmony and asked Jon to correct him if he was wrong in his illustration, a whole bunch of people laughed. He had to backtrack and say that he wasn't going THERE with the girlfriend thing, haha! Gave Citrus and Christon their birthday cards, and told Grace and others that I was now on Facebook.

Went downstairs to talk to Andrew and Randal - I know Andrew wanted to be first on my wall, but that wasn't to be! Told Randal that since he was free this week, I'd give him a call. Talked to Vania for a bit about Facebook and Darren, then went outside in the rain to catch what people were saying there. Jeremy said that he'd be at the dinner tonight, and also informed me that he wasn't feeling that much better - I just hope this isn't a lingering cold for him that lasts till the next one, since those are absolutely KILLER! Said hi to Ivan, Michelle, Daniel, Anita, Jeff, Vivian, Eric, Jon, and a bunch of other people before they all left early for Sunday School. Nobody wants to stand in the rain unless they absolutely have to, and I agree with Danielle on that point! I went inside early too, and discovered new toddlers in the Sunday School class, like little Ian! He seemed to like me, although of course Auntie May (his grandma) had to restrain him a few times when his aunt Frances was telling the kids a story. Rosenda has learned some Chinese too, in her time with the family - good thing! When the toddler class ended, I asked Hien where her brother David was - just behind me, playing checkers with Jonathan C. Chan and other boys his age. Gave HIM a birthday card too, and then headed upstairs to grab Grandma before going to Pho as previously arranged. The basement was semi-chaotic with the people eating sandwiches and such - it's a good idea before meeting days, for sure!

Grandma asked where Steph was, so I kinda lied and said she was at the restaurant already. Then she was insistent on grabbing an umbrella, but I didn't know which was hers and I wanted to get to Pho before the rush. I made her wear my hat for a 30-second walk since she is FUSSY about her hair. Good thing Jon was already at a table, so we pre-ordered for Steph while he tried something new. Apparently, the curry chicken noodles are pretty good, and made him full before he finished the dish - I must try some next week or whenever I go there next! (sandwiches are good for the summer, but not on a cruddy day like today!) We talked to Dylan, Jeremy, Eric, Christon, Calla, Lesley, Citrus, Danielle, and others since we were surprised that the restaurant was comparatively deserted! Dylan wanted us to have belly dancers at the Sunday dinner, so I relayed this to Jeremy - he offered to do a shimmy for him right there, but we weren't having any of that! Moroccan belly dancers and shiny things, oh my! Lesley just thought we'd had too much caffeine, but someone assured her that we were just being random. Nathan then bemoaned his guitar's G-string snapping when he was playing at service, which reminded me of an Awana meeting years ago where Sam turned around in mid-conversation: "I only heard the part about three-quarters of a G-string, guys!" Of course, we all know there is just one thing on SOME guys' minds... like another Awana meeting when we discussed a Chinese New Year fun fair involving rooster-blowing or duck-blowing. We had to tell the guys to get their minds out of the gutter... and yes, we discuss this stuff at church! I remember well the Pho discussions with Nathan about his Trinity advisor corrupting him, and Jen not knowing what 69 was in popular parlance! Dawn had told her not to look it up, hahaha.

I had just a couple sips of Jon's Vietnamese coffee since I didn't want a whole order with my lunch. The last time I did that, I stayed up till 3:45 AM when I had stuff to do relatively early the next day. NOT A GOOD IDEA, as I told Jeremy! Then I went to church to beat the crowd so I could sign in and get a ballot - they were in the process of setting up the table when I got in, so I had good timing! Went back to Pho to retrieve my stuff and watch Jeremy pay his bill while we discussed Linux and computers... Eric has Uncle Daniel's parts to assemble a new computer, and Citrus has sold his old laptop to Jon since he wants to trade up! The meeting was the shortest AGM ever since we finished before 3, and we made 139 people as our quorum before the singing was even over - that also has got to be some sort of record. A cellphone went off during the meeting, and I told Dianne about the time we were at John and Sophia's wedding when a phone went off during the VOWS - WORST TIMING EVER! When Uncle Patrick asked if there were any questions, a bunch of us were inwardly screaming NO! Thankfully, there were no questions, and Pastor John has been called to be our new English pastor... yay! Loitered a bit, bought a carnival ticket from Lesley, interacted with little Keenan and his dad Tim, gave Anita a birthday card (she is always amazed by my good memory!), and talked to Stanley and Jeremy about sedation (the Ramones' I WANNA BE SEDATED) and operations. Health problems, cooking, sloppy Joes, feeling drunk, recovery time, ingredients, speaking of the devil, excluding carbs, and other stuff made for exciting discussion - Lesley couldn't find her keys, so retraced her steps, and she finally found them in the church washroom!

Eric, Jon, and I went to Christon's - we were most amused by Nathan saying that Ivan would bring his whole family since his parents are out of town. I then thought that I should have brought three mooncakes instead of two, but there will be plenty of food anyhow. Thank goodness I knew that Natalie is allergic to peanuts when Eric was looking over a printout of the butter chicken recipe - I don't know if little Nathan is allergic to anything, however. Best to get almond butter, for sure. Isabel and Vania are or were here, and Sheena dropped by for a bit. I didn't want to bother Nathan since he was working on his laptop, so went on Christon's laptop downstairs when Jon was finished looking up baseball scores. I've just been busy juggling Facebook messages and wall stuff - just because my status is RETHINKING RELATIONSHIPS does not mean that I am doing that with my romantic one! I guess I'll get used to seeing Netspeak and such on my wall or in my messages since I know Michelle C., Adam, and Andrew all use it. *sigh* Also got a bunch of friends: Chalaine, Stanley, Michelle C., Adam, Maxine, Vanessa, Randal, Michelle W., Sabrina, Jasmine, Vivian S., Dianne, Ivan C., Ivan W., Megan, Phil, Esther C., Fidela, Justin L., Eunice, Kate, Darren, Teunis, Sean, Fabian, Ricky, Melissa, Jason L., Vivian L., Danielle, Eddie, Derek L., Joe Y., Kitty, and Nathan. All good people, whom I'm pleased to know!

Back with Linux!

Back now with a working Linux computer, thanks to Eric. He came over at 11:30, and spent a good few hours on the Linux computer / programming, as well as sending K some joke message along the lines of "I think we should break up since I'm going back to that HUNKY Randal." When I expressed concern that K wouldn't figure it out, he said that he would since he's smart and knew our plans for the afternoon. (and besides, I've never referred to Randal as "hunky" :P) Good thing he did! I will definitely add a post with some crazy dreams later on - believe me, these are some real doozies!

I have also joined Facebook, only because I believe in keeping my promises - especially to Darren, haha. So add me if you like! Andrew's moaned about not being the first to write on my wall, but only the second. Since I know how he can be, he probably wanted to beat everyone else to it! At least now I can keep in touch with various people - my sister describes it as "caving," and Jesse says that productivity will die. True, true... but I should stop cannibalizing people's friends lists for now, and get to bed!

"If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it's yours. If it doesn't, it never was." This saying has been much on my mind tonight.


Here's a quick (?) recap of the past few days:

TUESDAY NIGHT: LA FIN DU MONDE rocks as a beer - Jon even got Grandma to try some, whereupon she grimaced and did not look impressed... haha, so amusing! Talked to him and Nathan about mooncake legends, Harmony, Nathan bringing "a girl" next year (my parents didn't specify - Nate can bring his unrelated twin sister instead!), Korey, Auntie Grace, Dave, Sunday dinner at Christon's, etc. So good to joke around, haha. Also called Eric, who said that Korey had wanted him to make sure that my ringer was on. That wouldn't have worked, heh. I WAS SLEEPING! Eric thinks the Mid-Autumn Festival is about moon worship and fire dragon dances - I DON'T THINK SO! More like secret messages and such! He's crazy, but that's why I love him! Haha.


WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY: Do a lot of reading about true crime / stuff in Bathroom Readers. Call K since I want to talk to him - interesting discussion, for sure!


FRIDAY: Go to Fellowship and learn news about Randal's life that makes me sad for him. Jeremy also biked into a moving car which cut him off - he was thankful that there was already a shaped groove in the car's side, but we told him to go home and rest, especially since he was still sick! Isabel said that her group accidentally included a lot of chocolate in their food hamper (two things of chocolate and some Nutella) - oh well, the kids can't live on canned beans / powdered milk alone! Stanley's now a member of my Fellowship, and hangs out with Ray, which is funny since he's only 16! Raymond remembers that I have something for Terry to give to him, which is cool. Steph, Cindy, Ivan, and I are all eating dinner and bugging Karen Grace about not sitting with everyone else. Jon says that he knows he can count on me and Eric for Sunday dinner attendance at Christon's - of course!

Karen Choo gives me a birthday card in which she says some good things about K, Jeremy and I gripe about expiry dates coming up in the next two days on stuff we JUST bought, Steph and Jon discuss Karen's amusing typo ("0 grams of FAG in the apple cider recipe!"), Jen and I complain about excessive enthusiasm, we learn about the Thanksgiving Carnival, Citrus bemoans his status as a "multi-tool" when the girls go down to the States / Danielle's expensive shopaholic taste which she gets from her mom, and Mike and Sam try lifting up the heavy food hampers - NOT A GOOD IDEA, GUYS! Jen and Jeremy laugh when I say something about "actualizing our goal" since we were talking about the 40 Days answer key and how it sounds like something from DILBERT / those buzzword business seminars. Later, Jen opines that it's freezing outside - definitely fall weather now. Dylan thinks "milk chocolate" is "chocolate milk" when we're talking about Turtles chocolate, Jeremy and Ray joke about getting "common-law status" for their apartment (we're not in the United Church!), Cindy and I are sad about satellite kids, Dylan gets grossed out when Cindy talks about dirty toys, Jeremy says mud is FINE (but not on toys which haven't been washed for years!), and we talk about babysitting / resources for a while. The "different" woman Teresa talks to me about food and church and boyfriends - she also thinks Andrea uses the Bible to judge and criticize people. Nah, she's just passionate about her faith! On the way home, my sibs and Eric joke that I made Randal more subdued than usual - "See what you've done?!" Oh, shush.


SATURDAY: I call Henry back, who had called before I'd even left the church - we loitered till 11! He can't pick me up today, so I have to rely on Ada - not a huge problem! Eric comes over later and does a bunch of work on the computer, then jokes that my passwords aren't that secure anymore because he knows some of them: meh, it's all right since I trust him! I read him stuff from one of my Bathroom Readers, eat noodles before he eats his own lunch, marvel at the number of Yahoo email messages I have (17,833?!), try to understand programming, laugh over a glittery butt story, tell him about unrestrained giggling in Helena (Montana), and get screws / a screwdriver for him while looking for scissors / a nail clipper (which I find the day after I buy new ones), and get us both some water. We make a side trip to NCXI near Richmond Sushi in the rain as well. He leaves before Ada gets here, and I have fun at Awana. Ian tells me that I'm a "space brain chicken" and that he wants a monster with 1000 eyes / "infinity" legs / a lot of mouths to suck his / my brain because I'm a baby like his brother. Thanks, kid - love you too. Get home and start catching up on stuff - apparently, my mom's bought curry cubes / BBQ sauce / other cubes so she can teach me very basic cooking. When I get her on the phone later, she tells me all the typical "mom" stuff about saving money and suchlike - I know! :P

Talk to Corey on MSN, who wants to know if I'm using a "bash shell" - no idea. He gently poked fun at me because I thought Nair wouldn't work, and asked if I knew why Firefox used 100% of his CPU on his laptop - no, and I wish I knew why Firefox kept closing suddenly on here! (the Internet ceased working for a while, so I called Eric - who was still at the game - I turned off the computer, unplugged the BLACK thing from the modem, plugged it back in, and then turned things on again!) Tell a bunch of people via email that I'll bring mooncake to Sunday Dinner - I haven't really gotten to a bunch of email / comments yet, but I guess that's what the week will be for!

Your Score: 1 Season, but...

( 38 Costs, 50 Reception, and 46 Cult Appeal)

You made a smart play, marketing yourself to FOX as a one-season shot. Given your ease of production, they figured they had nothing to lose. Fortunately, the gambit paid off, and you managed to find an audience. You're not a ratings juggernaut by any means, but you made enough of a mark to get FOX interested in you again. You may not be able to get back for the long haul, but you've done a pretty good job at what you set out to do.

Link: The When Will FOX Cancel You? Test written by hashtable on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test