How can I miss you if you won't go away?

Bingos of the day so far:

INVERITY (78 points) - against Danny M.
BONEYARD (69 points) - against Danny M. [different game]
CRAPOLA (72 points) - against Pat K.
SULPHATE (71 points) - against Heidi T.
BLENDERS (64 points) - against Snooky K.
DUDGEON (96 points) - against Carrie D. [hooked off RACE]
WAILERS (90 points) - against Michael M. [hooked off PAD]

I played QI off Karla M.'s QI (making MIL in the process) - how quirky, haha! Also, Katie V. played FIX off my own FIX!


Michael M. added me on Facebook - sweet! Mom emailed me about Vivian coming next week for dinner... cool, since I haven't seen her in a while!

Interesting name of the day: Bannaua Brown, one of my Scrabble opponents. Makes me want to call her "Banana," which I'm sure she got all the time growing up if it's a real name and not an alias! Reminds me of the time I saw Nepewisk and Muin in the Georgia Straight once. I was going to ask the denizens of the baby names board to see whether those were legit, but I forgot. It's been AGES since I've been there!

Thanks for the call, dude! / MARIO glitches

Hm. Jeremy just called me to make sure the messages didn't get crossed as to what we were doing tonight. Some people thought we'd be meeting at the church, and Dylan / Johnny / whoever else thought we'd be meeting at Jer's place for dinner. He figures that I won't be there since he got me at home: too right! I'll see him on Sunday, anyhow. Back to trying to play various SUPER MARIO games on Nintendo, even though I suck! At least there's nobody around to SEE my suckitude, haha. (and I know that's not a word, but who cares? :P)

Edit at 2122: I seem to have stumbled upon a glitch (according to Corey) since a SUPER MARIO 1 game I'm playing has me at 115 lives in the first level. (it should have me at 5, and 99 at most in the game overall) I was at 120, but gained 2 thanks to 100x coins, and lost 5 thanks to falling into the void by bricks. Reminds me of when my sibs and I played SUPER MARIO 3 as a one-player game with someone mimicking the movements of the main player on the other controller. We noticed a LOT of weird stuff and glitches: green doughnuts, jumping REALLY high, etc. Hmm, very nice!


[21:12:45] Flami: I hate Super Mario 1
[21:12:58] Flami: can't get past 1-2, even if I do have 115 lives, haha
[21:14:32] Corey: Super Mario Bros. cuts you off at 99 lives...
[21:15:03] Corey: I think it might let you have more, but it won't show you more :P Unless you're using some weird version. Also, you suck.
[21:15:56] Flami: I have 115 lives... I lost 5 and gained 2 so far.
[21:16:14] Flami: good thing nobody's here to see how much I suck :P
[21:16:54] Corey: What are you playing it on that it shows 115 lives? I'm pretty sure Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo still only shows 99
[21:20:25] Flami: Eric dropped off his SNES and a few games on Sunday... I think I've stumbled onto a glitch, since this game has Mario 1-3, and the Lost Levels
[21:23:04] Corey: Okay, that's Mario All-Stars then. Maybe it shows more lives, but that still sounds wrong :P
[21:23:32] Corey: how can you not beat level 1-2? :P There's a warp zone at the end of that too if you jump over the pipe at the end instead of going in
[21:23:51] Corey: and how did you get 115 lives in the first level? :P
[21:24:40] Flami: I have NO idea :P I was expecting to get the normal 5 lives, and then it boosted me to 120 originally
[21:29:34] Corey: Well, if you want to get to the end fast, you can play 1-1, 1-2, warp to 4-1 at the end of 1-2, 4-2, warp to 8-1 near the start of 4-2, then you play up through 8-4 :P 8-4 is a bitch because it's a maze and I never remember the pattern you need to take to get through it. There's a couple other maze levels... you have to take the right path, or the level just keeps repeating
[21:33:38] Corey: Did you start a new game or use one that was already going? If you beat Mario 1, it restarts (and it's harder too)
[21:34:19] Flami: I think I used one that was already going... the Goombas at the 1-1 level were those little black shell things
[21:34:24] Corey: yep
[21:34:41] Corey: so you should start a new game instead since you suck :P
[21:35:13] Flami: COREY
[21:35:41] Corey: Also, why are you borrowing a SNES from someone when you could play every game ever on your computer? :P There's plenty of good USB game controllers you can use on a PC now for that stuff, plus there's even an adapter you can get that lets you use a real SNES controller on a PC
[21:45:24] Corey: plus if you do it that way, you can make the graphics higher resolution if you want, plus save and load games in any game whenever you want to, plus fast forward through stuff that takes too long
[21:46:33] Flami: haha, that sounds good
[21:47:02] Corey: so do that :P and yes, your computer can handle it
[21:48:07] Flami: yeah, but the browser crashes out a lot, and it still kinda restarts randomly
[21:50:20] Corey: and that's probably because of your 8 zillion tabs of Flash games...
[21:53:59] Flami: no... Eric thinks the motherboard might be fried
[21:58:10] Corey: if the motherboard was "fried," the computer wouldn't start
[22:15:06] Corey: yes :P I managed to get some sort of virus or spyware the other day... it blocked all anti-virus and spyware software and even blocked websites related to stuff like that, so you can't even look up how to fix it
[22:17:24] Flami: that is one sneaky virus!
[22:19:02] Corey: still not sure how I got that... but anyway, I somewhat know what I'm doing and that was kind of hard to get rid of :P you don't need stuff like that
[22:20:08] Flami: definitely not... right now, I'll see if I can jump better :P bye
[22:30:01] Corey: hold down the run button almost the whole time :P you'll jump a lot better
[22:30:48] Flami: well, I managed to get to the warp zone... I shouldn't have done that, since I now suspect I'll use up all my 113 lives on trying to get past the pink spiky things that the cloud is throwing down at the start of 4-1 :P
[22:36:02] Corey: yeah, that one is harder :P
[22:38:52] Flami: so what should I do for real?
[22:43:53] Corey: you can go to The Hun and look at stuff
[22:44:27] Flami: NO WAY.
[22:45:31] Corey: no way what?
[22:45:48] Flami: remember, you've tried directing me there before
[22:46:57] Corey: so?
[22:49:23] Flami: so now I'm going to go waste the rest of my 113 lives :P bye
[23:04:17] Flami: never mind... I died in 4-2 too many times, so now I'm watching Super Mario World Speed Run
[23:10:58] Corey: play Mario 3 instead then :P it has better control, and it's probably the best NES game there was
[23:12:59] Flami: I tried that before everything else... I had a GAME OVER on 1-4 or 1-5 :P The guys are way better at it than I am!


Super Mario World in 11 minutes
Super Mario World maximum score of almost a million points
Super Mario World bloopers
Super Mario Bros. Bloopers
Super Mario World Hacks

Mike Wu will be a common name, dang it!

Bingos of the last two days:

UTILIDOR (59 points) - against Josephine S.
ROBUSTLY (76 points) - against Vivianne L.


I got salmoned again yesterday after I got up at 6 AM. (went to bed early the previous night, since the rats were scaring me with their scurrying about!)

[06:42:21] JudiciousSalmon: Long time no see!
[06:42:41] AlenaBrolxFlami: Hey, I got botted. Nice!
[06:44:12] AlenaBrolxFlami: I am not who you think I am. Check out the missing hat on Wiki.

Oddly disappointing, but I hear you can request connections these days!


Had a good conversation with Candy this morning about her dog and the plastic thing around its head. It's for your own good! Talked about her friends who have passed away from cancer, boards, poems, Steve, and other things. Too bad she had a headache! I also found Joe Wu, Auntie Susan, and Alysia on Facebook - whoa! I'd heard that Joseph's wife Nancy had at least one kid... they have a son named Michael, and the name reminds me of Ellen's ex Mike. Mike Wu was a nice guy with three sisters, heh.

Yesterday, I spent some time reading the old Spoz humor - so nice to laugh! I also heard about the Canucks' Luc Bourdon... R.I.P. (motorcycle accident in New Brunswick!) Talked to my brother about durian, money, and Portland... the meeting will be a good time to sign cards, for sure! (depending on how long it lasts)


WRITER'S BLOCK: The One True Question...
Pirates or ninjas?

NINJAS! (I'm sure Tim R. would say "Pirates," though!)
View other answers.

Bees in the toilet?! RUN!

Went out today to run some errands - did a bunch of walking, which is good for me. At the Minoru track, I saw a guy who reminded me of Nick Krusek. When I was at Sears to get a new Jessica wallet, I heard Macy Gray's I Try - that reminded me of 2000 Fellowship camp, where I sang that song with Patrick. I remember printing out the lyrics for him, which he was appreciative of. Shortly after I got home, my manager called me - the plumber would come by, and he did indeed. Yay for the heat being fixed! (something about a zone valve motor, which only last three years or so) I know my brother and I were mystified on Monday night when K told me that Eric had turned off the breakers, haha! Oh well, it'll get colder here in a bit, so I should turn the heat back on when it gets to that point. Maybe the rats will finally leave! AIYA! Hester said that there was one mouse in HER suite... but it's on the second floor! She says she put a peanut or some small food item on the glue trap to get the mice to go there for DEATH! Well, we'll see what happens...

Just got a wrong number, which is fine. But when I suggested that the person had the wrong number, he said "No, I don't think so! I know my numbers, and I dialed the right one! Never mind." If I say you have the wrong number, then that's what has happened! Stinkin' jabronies!


WRITER'S BLOCK: Creepy Crawlies
Recount a remarkable incident involving insects.

There was a time years ago that bees got into the toilet at our old house. My sister first saw them in her washroom, and was very scared. She didn't like them much then, and I don't think much has changed! Finally, my dad had to torch the hive out of the tree in the front yard - Rachel saw this, and thought it was cool. We figured that the bees got in through the vents... but in the TOILET?! Ew.
View other answers.

PRESCHOOL GRADUATION CARDS?! SO WRONG! / Doritos

Bingos of the day so far:

TETRADIC (61 points) - against Korey
OVERGOAD (63 points) - against Karla M.


Went to Tsim Chai for lunch with my parents and grandma before going to Sears - after paying bills, they dropped me off at home. At least my mom understands that I want to go home after a couple of weeks of mostly being absent! Meanwhile, Dad wants me to forgive Grandma's obnoxiousness - heh, I know how she is! Later, I went to the store to get things like toilet paper and other stuff. (So what if I got two packages? IT WAS ON SALE!) Also purchased NEW Doritos Collisions chips - two flavors in one bag! Blue Cheese and Hot Wings, anyone? [saw a small bag of those at the 24-hour Shoppers with food... and got a big bag at Save-On!] I got a cart from the return-it depot near Save-On Foods, but discovered while trying to walk home that it was very wonky. How much is a quarter worth to you, I wonder? For me, it's worth NOT feeling like I'm fighting a recalcitrant child all the way home! I merely got a cart from the London Drugs, and it took me forever to get there since the old beat-up cart was in danger of tipping over every fifty feet or so. (it would normally take maybe five minutes or so TOPS from Save-On) At least I had been efficient earlier, and bought fruity gummi bears as snacks for Sunday's meeting to affirm Phil as a pastor!

While I was in the greeting cards aisle, I saw the ultimate travesty: PRESCHOOL GRADUATION CARDS! That isn't really an accomplishment! My sister was horrified when I told her later, haha. This led to a discussion with Corey about evil teachers, physics, orange juice, and more.

[19:12:40] Corey: Also, preschool is unfair and cruel. I got in trouble once in preschool when a kid spilled his orange juice on the table. My reaction was that there was already a mess, so it wouldn't matter if I said "whee!" and poured mine out on the table as well.
[19:13:12] Corey: I tried to use physics to explain to the teacher that it was all a big misunderstanding, and it was just an accident. But the evil teacher wouldn't listen, and I had to go sit by myself
[19:13:29] Corey: I told her I picked it up at the bottom, and it was too heavy, so the heavy top made it fall over.
[19:13:40] Flami: the hamsterette: that makes sense
[19:15:01] Corey: there was also a kid in preschool that would pull down his pants and underwear in the bathroom... at a urinal.

Kumquat liqueur and worry beads, anyone?

Bingos of the night so far:

ROUTEMAN (64 points) - against Michael M.
NERDIEST (59 points) - against Pat K.
URINATE (79 points) - against Vivianne L.
HEATEDLY (84 points) - against Dave H.
BAPTIZES (74 points)), DOWNTIME (67 points), MANDARIN (65 points) - against Emily N. in the same game [record: three bingos in one game!]
SAUTOIRS (64 points) - against Alice P.

I also played QIS off my own QI in another game with Dave H. - yay for quirkiness! Also played QAT off my QAT in a game with Leanne F. Melissa K. did a double QI on me when she placed MAIN off INNERS.


Parents are back from their European cruise! Got cheese from Holland, woven bookmarks from Greece and Turkey (two euros each!), cruise ship chocolate, orange dessert cake that was prepared especially for high-altitude consumption (oh my...), worry beads from Greece (so blue and pretty!), laurel / gardenia / lavender soaps, three bottles of wine, kumquat liqueur from Corfu, and some pictures. They didn't take as many as they'd have liked due to camera quality, but it's cool.

The date for Steph's dinner is Saturday, June 7 - works for me and most others! Emily's volunteered her house for a potluck... but she, Chrystal, and I have Awaner so we'll have to eat dinner a little later. That also works for me! Can't call them to see if I can get a ride since my mom's on the phone to Auntie Eva telling her about the cruise. Maybe later!

Mom later asked me if Grandma KNITTED anything. Due to her accent, I heard "did Grandma NEEDED stuff?" [her saying that would be entirely plausible!] So I said "No, she doesn't need anything since she's in bed." Then my dad said something uncomplimentary toward me, and said that my mom had really uttered "KNITTED." not my fault she has an accent! (but they WERE tired too, so I didn't want to get into an argument with them)

Let the kids be cute, Dylan!

Bingos of the day so far:

ECTOZOA (68 points) - against Shawnda D.
GEMOLOGY (94) points - against Steve L. [across two double-word scores]
GENTRICE (72 points) - against Pat K.


Dreamed that I took a big bag of ketchup chips from Alan and Tracy, then encountered cryogenically-frozen people with a leg growing out from in between their own legs. One found temporary love with a Japanese girl who had an arm / hand growing out from between her own legs - they were photographed in the newspaper, even. It was only temporary since the boy would revert back to being frozen at the end of five days or so. No idea why I had that dream!

Played ZEE off Danny M.'s ZEE - yay, quirkiness! (speaking of Q words, Raymond and I discussed those... particularly those with no U!) [we also discussed the "multiple games" glitch... Korey started four games with me, Vivianne started SEVEN, and Shawnda started four or five - no wonder I have 68 active games right now!]

Hey, Michelle C. added me to Facebook - cool stuff. Just saw a Royals blog, where I learned that a player called Yabuta has the nickname SHAKE. Hahaha... reminds me of this icon:


When my sibs and I went to church, we talked about our parents getting back soon - someone later defined it to me as "the last day of freedom" - SO TRUE! We joked that our parents could take the 424 / 98 / 401 (407) home from the airport, but figured that Dad definitely wouldn't like THAT idea, haha! (so much JET LAG!) Helped Grandma up a grassy incline to the sidewalk when we got a good parking space, while privately thinking that she should have gone ten feet distant where she wouldn't have to do that since it leveled out. Said hi to J-Mak, Belinda and her husband, Mei Lin, and a few others. Jeremy said they'd missed me on Friday - yup, I was away looking after Grandma! (I should have called him or someone else to let them know, but Eric eventually filled them in) Keenan touched his hat when he saw David's grandpa - Maxine told him that her son was showing him that he had a hat too! He did the same when I was saying hi to him later - he even said "Daddy" [referring to his dad Tim, who'd taken Joshua up to the front] and "Bye" to me, Cindy, and Danielle - so cute! (Danielle even modeled Joshua's hat, haha) Talked to Raymond about missional opportunities, and reflected that my being away on Friday was why I'd missed Cindy's being tired / cranky then - she'd referred to that in an email. (sermon was about sexuality!)

Said hi to Tony in the back parking lot, and confirmed that he was going to the Sunday Dinner... talked to Michelle about Phoenix, while she was putting gold shoes on baby Allison and "making" her hold an orange bag she had. Marveled at all the babies and toddlers - little Benjamin and Hannah were so cute, holding hands down the ramp and to the rocky area with Daddy Lee's assistance! Dylan saw this and moaned that it was TOO SOON! When I told my sister about it at lunch, she thinks that we should let the kids be cute - oh, for sure! Talked to Teresa when she affectionately greeted me with "Hey, you!" - talked about Ada, Henry, Awana, hanging out with the girls (her daughters), school, essays, and how Evelyn already thought that some boy was going to marry her. (she and her older sister Gwyneth are spunky / feisty, all right!)

I shared how my sister kissed Zachary Weavill on the first day of kindergarten (definitely at her birthday party!), and how she used to chase boys / guys around the church to kiss them! (Ted Lee, Ryan Loo, Kent and Vicson Leung...) Steph marveled at baby Allison's strong grip - Julie said that we should change her favorite color from green to blue, haha. (Jeff joked that he'll be retired by the time my sister joins the force!) At least she's been sleeping through the night now for a few months already! Gave Eric some stuff while he was lugging around a big FedEx box for the Food Bank, yay! Saw Fidela back, so that was good too!

After Sunday School (where Watson seems to be warming up to me...), I went to say hi to Quan / David / Bob / Heyman / Johnny. The guys liked the dill pickle chips I'd given them a couple weeks ago [or were being polite], and I gave some gum / candy to them and Ryan before leaving to go outside. Saw the usual assortment of people outside, where Jeremy told me that they'd been trying to come up with reasons why I hadn't been there on Friday: "Is she out of town? No... probably not. Jon's here, though... oh, she's looking after Grandma!" Amusing, as ever! Steph and I eventually went to lunch with Auntie Eva, her father, Auntie Paula, Pastor Eunice, and Grandma - the Ginseng Seafood House is GOOD! It's like the Congee Noodle House, and has huge chunks of chicken, shrimp, mushrooms, etc. - plus really flavorful food, too. Mom would like it, heh. Steph said she got an important phone call at 8 AM yesterday - which explains the notes I saw at her desk AND the email I got from Vanessa / Melia / Grace / Calla! It was Hon's birthday, too. :)

Went home for a bit after picking Jon up at Tom Lee, bantered with someone on the phone, and then went to Martin's while fielding phone calls from Dallas and Christon. (also picked up Dallas' stuff at my place - Super NES!) Picked up a lot of couscous at Banana Grove, and the guys and I consumed $6 worth of spicy curry / spicy Indian Masala chips while waiting for the main course. Talked about 24 (Season 6, Episode 2... Jeremy likes the way Chloe says FINE!), 60 Minutes, Revelations, Ted DiBiase (MONEY / becoming a Christian), Acer, wine, Scrabble, too-deep discussions for a Sunday night, spending time with your girlfriend, Dallas' supervisor in the lab / open valves / pouring small amounts of things down drains / the housing crisis / Scrabble groups / "what's the point of dating her if she's just going to leave you for Korea again?" / foreclosure.

Also discussed Ponzi schemes / 26-year bizarre legal situations / Angus Burgers and awkward dates (agree 100% with Jeremy) / Dallas' large weekly grocery shopping with his huge knapsack / video games / thesis work / Friday plans. Good times with Martin / Raymond / Tony / Christon / Jeremy / Jon / Dallas, indeed! Dropped Dallas off after having a mango-lychee BBT at Dragon Ball (Our common ingredient was lychee! HONEYDEW, MANGO PIECES, UNIQUENESS RULE!), then went home where I went straight to bed. (Jeremy and I were eating chips, but the bag was on the floor leaning on the couch - my brother's natural assumption was that we'd be eating the stuff from the table, haha! Martin prevented him from eating it, and Jeremy said that we weren't eating the potpourri!)


Grandma, on the breakfast my brother and I had this morning of leftover couscous salad: "You're not going to drink milk?! *points at couscous* Is that curry? It's yellow - the same color! Wait... it has to be rice!" Our Chinese vocabulary is not up to the task of explaining couscous, so we resort to "beans" - there's only one problem with that. (she's SEEN beans before!) She also makes a comment about papaya, and my brother's putting on deodorant before he leaves - our vocabularies aren't up to explaining THAT, either! :P

Grandma, on my getting Jon to help me with the toothpick box lid: "Why are you going to get married? Are you going to have kids, and then they can help you with things like this? Maybe you shouldn't get married then - cheh! Perhaps your husband might, but you'll get your kids to, and not your younger brother!" Hahaha!