"YAY, FLOWERS!" "I want to stomp on them to make them DEAD!"

Noticed that Myles had unfriended me on Facebook this afternoon, but no big deal. I got home at around 7, so no free Hey Ocean concerts at 8 for me! Oh well... maybe 9:30 with Bedouin Soundclash. (no Delhi to Dublin, heh) Henry picked me up and said he forgot something at home - after picking that up, we discussed the Olympics and traffic jams on the way to church. The Minoru torch stop was certainly crazy with the crowds, haha! We saw Sean and Conor in the elevator - Conor called me by name for the first time, and said that a loonie was "poo money." Sean clarified that, and I was reminded of how my sister used to call pennies "yellow money" when she was in preschool. Interacted with Annie, Victoria, Ian, Sean L., John (running around), Eric and Matthew (doing stuff with string), and more kids.

The kids did crafts today - tissue paper Valentine's Day flowers for the younger kids, and Chinese New Year lanterns made out of red envelopes for the older ones. I went upstairs to see what was going on, and Jordan asked what I was doing, haha. Conor was all "YAY! FLOWERS!" in keeping with his cheery personality. Chrystal and I saw a "Hooked on Jesus" thing that Golden had picked up from somewhere, heh. Discussed the Olympics and things like that - Emily told the kids about the athlete who'd died yesterday, too. I gave Ziploc bags with candy conversation hearts to Harrison / Amos (his mom Jennifer told him to hug me) / Rachel (her grandma waved in thanks) / Ian / Sean L. / Conor / Sean S. (who didn't want them, but TOO BAD!) - Isaac wanted some, but I don't have any more. Maybe when it's cheap on Monday, haha. (I told this to Ian and Sean too, heh) Isaac also told me that they were going to someone's house - YAY, haha. On the way home (picked up takeout), Ian and Sean played a game that (as far as I could tell) involved grenades / an arbitrary amount of HP (hit points) / bombs / underwear / exploding stomachs and ears.


Quotes of the day:

Jordan - "Look! The green pin and the green beanbag can be my Olympic torch with the flame! Is there a difference between liking someone and loving someone? (how cute!) I want to dig holes under the ocean, too!" (he told me why, but I forgot)

Sean S. - "I want to stomp on this flower so it can be DEAD! I have no Olympic spirit! I said STOP CANADA STOP!"

Sean L. - "Maybe I like purple! But I think I'll have red. Flowers are for girls!" (Henry, on this: "Of course I didn't teach Sean to say that flowers were for GIRLS!")

Candy Box Test

You Are Creative And Chaotic

You are all over the map, and you really don't try to get yourself on one path. You enjoy multitasking, and in fact, you feel like you think better when your mind is going in many directions. You always have to have your hands in something. It's impossible for you to stop creating. You are fun, lively, and even a bit outrageous. You like to push boundaries and find out what is possible.

The Candy Box Test

Blogthings: Quizzes and Tests and Memes, Oh My!

Jamaican ginger beer / Opening ceremonies / Torches / Head superimposition

Eric called me at 6:30 to say he was here - after scrambling to get some things ready, I went outside. I didn't mind stopping at Superstore to grab drinks and such; we talked about our weeks, Geoffrey, Dave, guilt-free showers, how everything was supposedly my fault, and more. Once we got to Superstore, we bought Jamaican-style ginger beer / sour cream in a bigger tub than he wished / lemon-lime pop. In the church parkade, Uncle Eugene told me not to slam the car door really hard, so Eric told him that it HAD to be slammed shut! We stopped by the kitchen so Eric could heat up his quesadillas - Kevin asked me to wheel a cart over, so I did. I ended up having to wheel it back since Cindy said they could carry things up the stairs instead of using energy for an elevator trip. I guess that works, but the elevator trip would have been faster! Jeremy Y. and some girl brought in a strawberry cake for later - YUMMY!

Since Eric wouldn't tell me who was upstairs already (other than Albert and Carmen), I asked Kevin - turns out Raymond was also there. (his group abandoned him) Oh well, I didn't mind pretending he didn't exist - Dave was there too, which was nice. Once we finally got upstairs to the lounge, Dylan was trying to get the CTV stream to work with the equipment inside. I said hi to Cindy, Deb, Pastor John, Winnie, and Vicky as well. We got our food (noodles, quesadillas, shawarmas, butter chicken, Chinese New Year desserts, and other things) - I had to sit down at a table and eat. Dave was across the room, and it SEEMED like he was looking at me some of the time. I dunno, man... too bad I couldn't have sat there since it seemed like the "guy" side of the room, and Raymond was beside Eric too. Oh well... plenty of time later, like on Sunday. (hehe)

Settled in to watch the rest of the opening ceremonies (Teresa came in later) - epic hair, Stephen Harper looking decidedly disinterested in the proceedings, the Georgian team wearing black armbands, k.d. lang (Dylan thought that was a MAN, haha!), the minute of silence for the Georgian luger, rollerblading, Jacques Rogge upping the French content of the ceremony by 100 percent, WAYNE GRETZKY being the final torchbearer in the RAIN, and more. (got home and read Nate's FB status updates to find that I'd missed Vancouver as Middle Earth - and whales!) Dave said that he might have something in a Port Moody bike shop... as long as he loves to cycle, this is probably good!

Dylan asked WHY we had Jamaican ginger beer - because I saw it in the store and decided on it, DUH! (haha) I was happy to view the opening ceremonies since it meant we didn't even have to talk as much, haha. Deb showed us some pictures of her colleague with the Olympic torch - she was surprised it weighed as much as it did, actually. We had some mango ice cream cake, and I learned that Vicky is allergic to mango! Cindy said that Eric was a healthy eater, and I told her exactly why that was. Went downstairs to verify Amy's whereabouts, and saw Chris back! YAY!

Stanley told us about a near-riot which may or may not have happened, and I asked Ivan where his girlfriend was. She was outside the fellowship hall talking to Jessica, so I went back upstairs to grab the cookies - she hugged me in thanks, and has just sent me a wall post saying I'm SO SWEET! (she didn't know there were such cookies!) I explained the cookie thing to one of her friends before I went back upstairs with a piece of strawberry cake - "there's no such thing as too much cake!" I should have just stayed downstairs (just as I should have originally brought the cookies downstairs) because there's no food waste allowed in the upstairs garbage cans. Suppose a tad more exercise is fine, though. :P

As usual, my social tolerance waned before the program officially ended - it might have had something to do with Dylan's promoting of the fundraiser and retreat, both of which I will have little to do with. I told Deb and Cindy (and Eric later) that I wasn't going to the retreat since I had Awana and Sunday School responsibilities. Sure, I could take that weekend off, but I'd really not prefer to! When asked, I said that I'd go to the free concerts - Deb and Dylan plan to go to Granville Island, since that's within walking distance too. Later, Dave said that I was certainly prolific in Facebook - he doesn't even know where I get half the posts from! Eric joked that I do three posts in three seconds - not even CLOSE with this computer, man!

Discussed Andrea, Shally, Richie, Joey, and others who might be working or volunteering at the event. Steph's not there, haha. Went downstairs to talk to Mike and other people for a bit. On the way home, Eric said that I could go to the retreat since there are probably subsidies available - I'm not going for the reasons described above, AND because Mr. Creep could be there, AND because I'd have to directly pay Raymond. NO THANKS! Then he said that he was interested in what I had to say about Dave - HA, I BET YOU ARE! It was an interesting ride home, haha... once I was there, I found some rain-appropriate stuff for the FREE Hey Ocean concert tomorrow if I go!


Trivia fact for Saturday, Feb. 13: Whose head was superimposed on a photo of actress Ann-Margret in a revealing gown for the cover of an 1989 issue of TV Guide? Oprah Winfrey's. The sexy photo appeared on TV Guide's August 26th cover. The unauthorized composite was discovered by Ann-Margret's fashion designer, who recognized the glittery gown from a 1979 publicity shot.

I'm not leaving Chrystal by herself, man! / Content Valentine

HA! My dad just emailed me to say that if I get my ride to drop me off at Chinese New Year Eve dinner (Timmy's Kitchen) tomorrow, it may be too late as Jon and Harmony have to do something at 9. He estimates I'll get there at 7; I don't even remember what time I got home last week, although we did leave early because of the kids... and they do have a dinner, too. Hmm. At least then I can also get out of dinner, because I'm not leaving Chrystal to do everything by herself at Awana if my parents leave at 4:30! And tonight, I go out - my dad seems to forget that, maybe. We'll see what happens...

I finally got around to researching a solution for that annoying "Warning: unresponsive script" error message in Firefox, too. YAY!

I just heard about the death of Georgian luge athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili on the radio. Phil supplied the name, and Martin said he was in shock after seeing that footage. :(
Picture 1
Picture 2
Graphic video... saw it on the news, too.

Edit three hours later: Eric called while I was in the shower; later, he termed it "a likely story." WHATEVER! He'd left me a Facebook wall post, asking if I'd done anything foolish like deciding to take the Canada Line today. OF COURSE NOT, BECAUSE I AM NOT THAT INSANE! He wondered whether I'd like to be at the potluck tonight - you bet! (Amy's Chewy Chips Ahoy have waited for more than a week now...) Says he'll be here at around 6:30 or 6:40, since he assumes I don't want to take public transportation now... not today, at any rate! Also decided not to go to dinner tomorrow, and there is no way I'm going to church hours early when I'd still be sleeping, just for a lunch. I can probably make the free concert tomorrow, depending!

You Are a Content Valentine

While you don't put all your hope in Valentine's Day, you do think of it as a holiday to spark some romance. You prefer a holiday that's romantic, cozy, and very intimate. You don't need your partner to pull out all the stops... just a few stops. The most important thing about Valentine's Day is who you spend it with. You could make a fast food dinner special. That's not to say you don't want to be wined and dined a little by your Valentine. You just aren't looking for a whirlwind trip or an expensive gift.

What Type of Valentine Are You?

Work is Hard. Time for Blogthings!

Hidden objects / Being thoughtful / Presidential rings containing hair

Called Auntie Ying just now, and brought up all the Valentine's Day candy I'd bought for the kids. She said that was so nice and thoughtful of me, heh... actually, she forgot about Valentine's Day what with the Olympics and Chinese New Year! Told me about Uncle Peter being back tomorrow, witnessing, making friends with her neighbors, Melia wanting to get Chrystal in touch with something called Mercy Ministries (so she wants help with the right words to say - this religious organization seeks to help those with disorders), and how she had told Auntie Susan Lee about this. Oh sure, just tell everyone you know about it because you want prayer! I dunno... I'll think about Melia's dilemma for sure, now that I know... but I won't say anything to Melia about it.

She asked about the sweatpants, so I said that I'd just gotten a clothing alteration place to do it. Worth the $22 to not get my mom involved, for sure! (who might do it, but I don't want to be beholden to her for yet another thing) I went over the Sunday School lesson with her, and she wants to teach the kids HOSANNA - should be doable, as it is a lively song! Finding hidden objects in a picture is fun, and I remember doing that in HIGHLIGHTS magazine when I was little!

I told her about seeing the Olympic flame, and about the nearby free Olympics concerts - should be all good! Then she asked how much I'd spent, so I gave her a figure which was maybe a little high, but then $23 should cover the candy and cards quite nicely. She was like "Hmm... okay... I'll give you the money." Sounds fine to me - and I've already done Easter (except maybe for cards), so that will certainly save some money in a few weeks. Called a sleeping Steph just now, too - she got my voicemail message about Esther, she isn't going for dinner on Saturday, she's working on Sunday, and I'll see her on Monday. Thank goodness all the cards are signed!


Trivia fact for Friday, Feb. 12: What U.S. president wore a ring that contained some of Abraham Lincoln's hair? Theodore Roosevelt, at his inauguration in 1905. The ring was given to him for the occasion by John Jay, his secretary of state. As a young man, Jay had served as one of Lincoln's personal secretaries. He paid $100 for six strands of hair removed during Lincoln's autopsy.

Agony in a website - weird facts and disturbing stories about urine and more! / Olympics

Agonys.com - weird, bizarre, strange, and disturbing facts, information, and stuff! (bacteria, germs, burping, breasts, spitting, farting, nipples, festivals, urine, vomiting, and way more!) Thanks, Chrissy! :D [argh4itchytasty]


Steph tried calling me, but I was busy typing something, so ignored it till later. Got no answer, so called Jon instead - he didn't know what she wanted, and figured Mom hadn't disowned me. I said that maybe it's because she didn't want to appear like a totally mean person in front of Harmony, haha. My group has a potluck, but I doubt it has a Mexican theme, since Cindy said to just bring whatever. Eric wants someone to bring a good laptop so he can watch streaming of the opening ceremonies - good luck with that, buddy!

Jon asked me why we'd changed the AGM date and now had a small group outing - I was in that meeting, so I should remember! I told him that it was because of the Olympics opening ceremonies being tomorrow, and he figured such... might not get a lot of people, haha. Guess I'll see him on Saturday if Mom ever lets us know which restaurant we're eating at for Chinese New Year Eve, heh.

Dream of Scott, Billie, Henry, gross worms, old princesses hanging, and more!

This thing just restarted! Thank goodness it didn't do that when I was in the middle of copying all the O-Zone shows for Kelli (neonrose5) to see!

Fri Feb 12th - Venice Queen - 10:15 @ Ozone
Sat Feb 13th - Matthew David - 3:15 @ Ozone
Sat Feb 13th - Hey Ocean - 8:00 @ Ozone
Sat Feb 13th - Bedouin Soundclash - 9:30 @ Ozone
Wed Feb 17th - Hawksley Workman - 9:30 @ Ozone
Thur Feb 18th - The Arkells - 8:30 @ Ozone
Thur Feb 18th - Our Lady Peace - 9:45 @ Ozone
Fri Feb 19th - DRUM! - 8:00 @ Ozone
Sat Feb 20th - Rally Car - 3:00 @ Ozone
Sat Feb 20th - Marianas Trench - 9:30 @ Ozone
Thur Feb 25th - Wintersleep - 9:30 @ Ozone
Fri Feb 26th - Tokyo Police Club - 9:45 @ Ozone
Sat Feb 27th - The Stills - 10:15 @ Ozone
Sun Feb 28th - Five Alarm Funk - 9:30 @ Ozone

The shows on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons conflict with my existing plans - as well as the Feb. 13 one, but I'll probably go to most of the other ones just because I can walk there. NO TRANSIT NEEDED - WHEE! SO EXCITED!

I dreamed that I was on my old street, and saw Scott M. in the icy Rosehill neighborhood. We said hi, and helped each other get around. My destination was the library, where I decided to use the computers. While I was drafting an email, I saw both Billie and Candace on Gmail chat - of course, we talked for a bit. After that, I went to the grocery store - I saw Henry, who requested my help in dealing with some (mandarin) oranges in a box with the usual green wrap around it. The oranges LOOKED okay, and I told him this. He told me to carefully hold one upside down; I saw a WORM coming out of it! Not just any worm, either - this one was all slimy, EWWWWW! No wonder the box had a label reading "HANDICAPPED WORMS" taped to the outside! Henry and I handled several more of the oranges before deciding this gig was NOT for us... the worms figured out how to get out of the box and onto the floor, too! It wasn't long before the floor was one gigantic sticky mess, but Henry and I managed to get out using other things we indiscriminately threw on the floor for cover... we didn't care about damage at that point!

After we got out of there, we were reading stories in magazines. Henry's featured one about a scandal in old-time police days, where someone made the officers (in top hats, and driving 1940s cars) feel very uncomfortable. Male officers routinely bunked with female officers, and nobody really thought a thing about it until this one person came along and made everyone want to disregard the rules of the department about relationships. Finally, an edict came down from on high saying that nobody could do ANYTHING about it on the job OR in their cars. Of course, nobody said anything about the bunking practices that went on - but that was cut off right there, JUST IN CASE.

My story featured an old, once-popular princess. She had long scraggly grey hair, and had been sentenced to death via hanging. Some people just wanted to let her die naturally (she was 72 after all), but the majority opinion was that she should hang because she might still encourage people to be subversive. So one day, she DID hang... complete with trapdoor to receive the body after it had been cut down.

While we were discussing these stories with each other, my mom offered us these HUGE onion rings the size of a soup bowl or dinner plate! We were amazed at how huge they were, so took one each. She assured us that there were even bigger ones - when we saw the pictures, we were gobsmacked! Those were truly MASSIVE creations! Then she offered us a regular old dinner plate with some artwork on it - apparently, my dad had scratched it just a little. He'd been taking it to us from the park on Knight / 33rd (Kensington?), and the car had been slightly bumped by traffic. The artwork still looked fantastic, though - historical people just playing and going about their business in a market! The dream ended when we were just looking at this plate and eating orange / lemon Jello with the onion rings.

Not sure why I had this dream, but I wouldn't be surprised if my subconscious is just NOW processing my real-life consumption of (regular-size) onion rings on Jan. 28 at Dairy Queen! (now I've found a new love for those things...) Scott M. did add me on Facebook on February 3, too. I usually pass Kensington Park while going to church, as well. I just saw Billie for her birthday party in early January, talked to Candace via Facebook just a few days ago, and see Henry every Saturday at Awana. Haven't been eating oranges (with or without worms) or Jello lately - and I don't think I've seen fantastic dinner plates with artwork on them recently, either... but I am almost always composing "emails" (really LJ entry drafts, as Semagic doesn't seem to save drafts anymore for some reason) in a Gmail tab!

You Have an Adventurous Heart

You believe that love is anything you make of it. Love can be a game, a gamble, or a commitment. You are brave about who you choose to love. You don't care if others don't understand your love, as long as you understand it. Your heart is free and wild. You never know where your heart will take you, but you're willing to follow it anywhere. Your love life is fun, unpredictable, and at times a bit heartbreaking. The adventure is worth the heartbreak, though!

What Kind of Heart Do You Have?

Blogthings: Learn Something Surprising About Yourself

Creative banking / Brandi / Nina / Black baby names / Rubber band salad

Did some creative banking in order to pay my Shaw bill earlier today. I'm definitely not going to spend any more money, unless it involves lunch with certain people, haha. Also, Brandi re-added me on Facebook, and Nina added me under a duplicate profile.

From ohnotheydidnt:

10 MOST POPULAR black baby names in the United States. The full list is set for release next week.

Some of the names are VERY surprising! Who knew they were so many black Madisons and Jaydens around?

Here is the list for girls:
1. Madison
2. Kayla
3. Makayla
4. Michelle
5. Nevaeh
6. Jada
7. Brianna
8. Chloe
9. Alyssa / Destiny
10. Gabrielle / Imani


And here is the list for boys:

1. Jayden
2. Joshua
3. Elijah
4. Jaden
5. Justin / Christian
6. Jeremiah
7. Isaiah
8. Jordan
9. Christopher / Michael (Tied)
10. Barack


Trivia fact for Thursday, Feb. 11: What is the main ingredient of the Chinese culinary delicacy known as rubber band salad? Dried jellyfish. (of course I knew this one, since I'm Chinese myself - eaten it many times, and it's GOOD!)

Dreams of Billie and Eric plotting on vitality / Lingerie / Dragon Dinosaurs

All I remember of my dream is that Billie and Eric M. were in it, and we were plotting to kill someone who had too much vitality. Actually, my sister was around too - she pointed out that our grandma had a LOT more vitality than we thought, but we didn't want to kill her anyway! Eventually, we killed our target, then celebrated with Grandma. What a crazy dream, haha.

You Are Sweet and Sensible

Your idea of romance is a weekend with no troubles or cares. You don't need much to be happy. You feel like almost any situation can be romantic. It's all about having the right attitude. Your ideal partner is down to earth, practical, and responsible. You want someone that you can rely on. For you, love almost always makes sense. You don't believe that love is irrational.

The Lingerie Test

Blogthings: Cheaper Than a Therapist

Trivia fact for Wednesday, Feb. 10: What did the Indianapolis Children's Museum name in honor of celebrated Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling? A 66-million-year-old, dragon-like dinosaur with a spiked, armor-plated head. The creature was named Dracorex hogwartsia when the skull of the dinosaur was unveiled at the museum in 2006. (Dracorex for "dragon king" in Latin, and hogwartsia for the Hogwarts School in the popular Harry Potter series)

Nefertiti, Norberta, Odalisa, and Ooana

Ugh. This thing just restarted AGAIN! Good thing I wasn't typing out a list of tags in the tags field!

This is from What Not to Name Your Baby by Joe Borgenicht.

N

Nafeteria: A place where you pick out various food items set forth in a long display. Oh, wait.

Natalie: You take the good, you take the bad. You take them both, and then you have the fattest girl at school.

Nauvoo: A town in Illinois unfriendly to religious pioneers.

Nebula: A grouping of distant stars, but also a big gassy area in the sky. Probably best avoided.

Nefertiti: An Egyptian queen who looked hot, was bald, and married her brother.

Nevada: A state best known for its sagebrush, gambling, and legal prostitution!

Nike: Greek goddess of victory. Also, inevitably... a brand of running shoe, golf ball, and overpriced clothing.

Norberta: By putting Norbert in the feminine form, it doesn't make it better. Not at all.


O

Octavia: The eighth of something. If she is your eighth child, you should stick with something simple like Jane or Ann, because you're going to forget them.

Odalisa: The ugly cousin of da Vinci's well-known subject.

Olive: A savory fruit of the genus Olea. It is common to place your fingertips inside the black ones, and to submerge the green ones in a mixture of gin and vermouth.

Olivia: One who wants to get active, or physical, most frequently while wearing Lycra or vinyl.

Ooana: Surely to be shortened to Ana, the only time she will hear her full name is at the height of her partners' pleasure.

Well, I actually DID see the Olympic torch tonight...

Corey convinced me to go out to view the flame, as it was sort of a once-in-a-lifetime type of deal. I figured that since I was going out anyway, I'd drop by IndigoSpirit and pick up a journal that I'd be satisfied with (no spirals!) - I got one with butterflies on it, and a thinner one which could serve as my "dream memory fragment" repository. Their selection of notebooks and journals is better than the one at Lougheed Mall, for sure! (and I thought I'd save time and money yesterday - *GRUMBLE*) Then I went to the O Zone, which was precisely where I thought it would be. I noted that the parking lot was covered with artificial turf which resembled a football field, haha. While waiting around for things to start, I saw plenty of families and people out with friends.

The SPIRIT MONTAGE was interesting (the human body / men overcoming disabilities!), and the Olympics mascots are so cute! Lots of people were wearing red cowboy hats, red 2010 mittens, CANADA clothing, and more. I thought I should have worn my own mittens - I'll keep that in mind for the OLP show, heh. An Aboriginal elder spoke about blessings and prayers, Coke and RBC did presentations (jugglers / painters), and the MC flubbed up on the name of our city - Day 103 of the torch relay, and he finally makes a mistake! (we aren't Surrey, where the torch was earlier in the day) There was a bhangra / Celtic / world music act, right before RICK HANSEN came with the torch to light the cauldron! He said some words, and then so did Alice from church since she's an MP (her command of English isn't fluent - you could tell); a LOT of people seemed to leave when the mayor came on, haha.

I decided to leave early to beat the immense crowds... it was pretty packed, so it was brutal chaos getting out of there! Some girl made a comment to me about my elbow - well, you gotta make room somehow! I definitely had to watch my footing, and took a long time to travel out of there, or so it seemed. At least I walked on Minoru across from the mall, and got the 407 since I felt I deserved it from standing around / walking a lot since 5:30! Got home at about 9:15, which was pretty good. Also did some cleaning, kinda. History, indeed...

Stabbing with scissors / Forceful kisses / Olympic torch plans ruined / Krypton

I had a couple of nightmares - one involved my brother trying to stab a bad person with scissors, but he didn't have a gun on him! This bad person kissed me forcefully - he had little marshmallows in his beard! The other one involved more actual altercations - YIKES!

So... I'd go out to view the Olympic torch, but my body has conspired against me. I'm NOT in a good mood right now - so will stay home. Thank goodness for the bank account, haha.

Trivia fact for Tuesday, Feb. 9: What does the name of the element krypton mean in Greek? "Hidden," from the Greek word kryptos. The element was given the name because of the difficulty its discoverers had in isolating it.

People Think You're Sometimes Happy

At times, you seem like a very happy person. Other times, you don't seem happy at all. Happiness is a bit complicated for you right now, and you may not always feel like you can be happy. Perhaps it's time for a big change in your life. You may need to work on finding relationships, hobbies, or a career that makes you happier. Be thankful for what you have, but don't be afraid to strive for something more. You have it in you!

Do People Think You're Happy?

Blogthings: We're Not Shrinks, But We Play Them On the Internet

Renee Walker is crazy and out of control since she stabbed Vladimir AND Jack!

We're at the UN, and President Taylor has actually done a good job by keeping the accord together! I'm as surprised as you are. I guess she needs to do more of her work off camera because, let's face it, her on-camera resumé is quite horrible. The British ambassador confronts her afterward and demands to know what's going on. Taylor tells him about the uranium, and swears him to secrecy. I'm sure he'll keep his word. British people have always been trustworthy on this show. You know, other than Stephen Saunders.

Jack has a gun on Vlad's henchman while the latter is driving back to the warehouse. Jack's phone rings, and Vlad's henchman actually has the gall to tell him "no phone calls." Jack, of course, is nonplussed. "Does this look like a situation where you get to make demands?" Say what you will about the writing on this show, but that line was awesome! Cole wants to follow, but Jack tells him no. Meanwhile, Arlo pulls up the photo of Jack playing backseat driver with Vlad's henchman, and his reaction is equally good. "Jack seems to have the situation under control." Two great lines in the first five minutes? It's not even my birthday!

Dana gets on the phone with Beavis and Butthead while Arlo continues to look quizzically at Dana. Or maybe he's looking at her with longing. Or maybe he's angry. Who knows? He doesn't have too many facial expressions, either. I can't wait to watch him and Freddie face off in a scene together. Jack takes off his glasses and has a word with Renee. He wants to pull her out, but she wants to stay put. He then puts his glasses back on, and suddenly Renee doesn't recognize him anymore. It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Jack Bauer! Vlad puts his hand on Renee's ass, and Jack looks like he's ready to re-enact what he did to Abu Fayed a couple of seasons ago.

Dana checks in on Tweedle-Dumb and Dumber and talks them through the break-in. They have trouble reading numbers, so they waste time breaking into the wrong locker. They finally get it right, and they find the cash. Being the geniuses they are, they fail to wear gloves, ensuring that their prints will be all over the crime scene. Kevin wants to leave, but his friend wants to stick around and take some more stuff. Even Kevin looks concerned, and I'm sure this is going to end well. Vlad calls around, and is extremely subtle with his inquiries. Subtle as in: "Hey, got any enriched uranium you'd like to sell me?" Being the gentleman he is, he orders Renee to cut some bread and some pieces of sausage for him, and the phallic imagery couldn't be more obvious.

Sergei calls a priest and asks him to bury his son. He wants it done, no questions asked, but the priest obviously has questions. Sergei should have just called that undertaker from The Godfather. He would have done it and gotten rid of those ugly-looking veins on the son's head. Sark is still upset about what happened, and obviously, they're foreshadowing Sark turning against his dad. Which, of course, means blah blah blah. Vlad finally reaches Sergei, and Sergei tells him that no one would be dealing with nuclear rods. Vlad, like an idiot, takes him at his word and is ready to give up. He wants to play around with Renee instead, and really, who can blame him? Sergei is upset that Vlad knows about the rods, and sends his guys to deal with it. Boy, Vlad's going to be really upset when he finds out Sergei lied to him!

President Hassan continues his Anakin-like turn to the dark side as he assures President Taylor of his honorable intentions, and then turns around and decides to arrest this General's wife and child in order to make him talk. I'm actually kind of digging evil-Hassan now. His assistant tries to bring him back from the brink of darkness; President Hassan seems to come to his senses, and even thanks him for being the voice of reason now that his wife is gone. Of course, this just means that once his assistant leaves the room, Hassan goes ahead and orders his other assistant to arrest the wife and kid and torture them for information. Welcome to the Dark Side, President Hassan. From now on, you will be known as Darth Hassan.

Ricky Bobby and his equally dim-witted accomplice (we'll call him Cale Naughton) are playing around in the evidence locker, and Cale pulls a gun on Ricky. Turns out it's a water gun, but Ricky was seriously sweating there. Of course, a patrolman shows up, and Ricky calls Dana to bail him out. The patrolman sees the mess in the locker, and goes to call it in. Cale, however, beats the crap out of the patrolman, and nearly turns on Ricky when he stops him. Ricky finally talks him down and they get out of the warehouse. Darth Hassan's assistant goes to see Hassan's daughter and tells on him. Sure enough, the stormtroopers show up and take him away. Hassan's daughter sticks up for him, to no avail. If anything, she probably just ensured the stormtroopers will come for her next.

Vlad strikes out on his last call, and he would be the worst telemarketer ever. "Oh, did I disturb you during dinner? I'm sorry. Won't happen again!" Renee isn't willing to take no for an answer, but Vlad just wants to play. Vlad's feelings are hurt when Renee tells him that she's just here for the deal, and he punches her in the face. Renee grabs the knife from when she was cutting the bread earlier (wasn't that convenient?), and stabs Vlad in the neck. She keeps stabbing him in the gut even after it's clear that Vlad is dead, and when Jack comes in to stop her, she turns and stabs Jack in the abdomen. She probably didn't recognize him with those glasses on. Anyway, Jack isn't bothered by the flesh wound, and throws the knife at Henchman #1 when he comes into the room, killing him. Jack then grabs a gun, starts shooting through the wall, and kills Henchman #2. I wonder how dangerous he would have been if he hadn't gotten stabbed.

Even though Jack has just been stabbed, he still runs over to Renee, who starts crying and collapses on the ground. He holds her while she cries, making us wonder who was the one that got stabbed. Bubba is on the phone with Jack, and wonders how Renee can go from having sex with Vlad to killing him. It was insensitive, but I have to admit, his delivery was pretty funny. Jack covers for her and says Renee was defending herself. Cole is on his way to the crime scene to rendezvous with Jack. Renee is upset because she could have killed Jack. Oh Renee, you are naive, aren't you? You could have had an Uzi and you wouldn't have killed Jack. They share a tender moment, and Renee feels hopeless because she has nothing and no one to hold onto. Jack tells her that she has him, and wipes away the tears from her eyes. Before they can commence with the making out, Jack hears a car pull up, and is surprised that CTU could get there so quickly. I mean, this is CTU we're talking about. They can't even order pizza correctly.

Sure enough, it's Sergei's men, and Jack decides to let them take him in the hopes they will lead him to the rods. Renee isn't happy about that, but Jack has her stay behind so that she can tell CTU what happened, and they can track him via satellite. Renee's sad because she knows they'll torture Jack, but Jack tells her it's the only way. Plus, he's Jack. Stab wounds are like paper cuts to him. Split screen time, and we see Renee breathing a sigh of relief inside the bathroom closet as the Russians leave without finding her, Ricky and Cale drinking and driving (real smart, guys), Darth Hassan looking over his plans for the Death Star, and Sergei looking pensive. Cole demonstrates his skills as field commander, and secures the crime scene without checking the bathroom. He's shocked when Renee comes out of the bathroom, and I'm shocked Cole has made it as far as he has. Then again, it's CTU, so I guess it's to be expected. Cole says no vehicles have left the warehouse, which confuses Renee. We find out that those cagey Russians leave through the sewers. So much for tracking Jack via satellite.

Veronica on Skytrain / Lougheed Mall Walmart / Deep-fried cheesecake / Notebook disappointment

This morning, I really didn't feel like getting out of bed when I heard my alarm... in fact, I stayed there for 20 minutes listening to the radio. Auntie Ying called me at 10:40 to see if I felt like going to Chinatown; not really. Going to Lougheed Mall was kinda uneventful - I just missed the 410 (dammit), so took the Canada Line instead. From Waterfront, I took the wrong Skytrain line (so confusing!), but did see Eric's mom Veronica. She was showing a couple of Olympics people around, and introduced me using my sister's name - of course, I had to correct her! Talked about Steph, my parents, and other things before I got off at Commercial to change trains. Then I could finally be free to think!

Turned out I was late, but it was fine by Auntie Ying! We checked out Coles (where I bought three notebooks, one with a unicorn) / Walmart (evil, I know - I did buy sweatpants) / Sears Outlet / the food court. Auntie Ying was up for buying me lunch, and I had to try some deep-fried cheesecake: it was creamy and not TOO sweet. Talked about Winnie N. and her parents, emotional difficulties, Chrystal being angry at her family / wasting a lot of food by binging and not eating proper meals, Auntie Susan / Karen Grace, Phil, Grace, Mike, Emily, Melia, not having FUN by celebrating anniversaries and such, her lack of computer knowledge, Buddhism, and more.

It's not like you can wave a magic wand over people, and they won't have disorders anymore! Discovered redrum had started, but thank goodness I was prepared! She talked so much that I was literally unable to finish a thought in my head - yikes! But I did learn that she is going to China in September to see her mom and sisters in her home village - should be interesting! After that, I thanked her for lunch - I tried on a coat which seemed as long as I was tall. Then she conveyed some appreciation for relieving her of her teaching stress, and praised me for the disciplinary methods I used with the kids - she likes how Rachel's grandma has a heart for the children, too.

Later, I went to Richmond Centre since I decided to bite the cost for the alterations, and I knew there would be an alteration shop near Sears. Stopped for a mango bubble tea at Tazza first. Went into Sears and Coast Mountain Sports, but they didn't have inexpensive jackets with fake fur on the hoods. It wasn't waterproof or water-resistant, according to a worker... okay, maybe I can stop being jealous now. Used the Sears dressing room to determine how long the Walmart pants really were - the workers don't bother you there, but I took in a random sweater just as camoflauge, haha. It's not like there are security video cameras recording EVERYTHING... probably? Besides, I go there ALL THE TIME, so it would NOT be a good thing to do illegal stuff in there.

Turned out the pants could be done by Saturday - maybe I'll pick it up on Monday or something. Went to Ardene, and bought two hats for $15 - lavender and yellow work for me! (I hate my current pink one because of the color, so threw it out when I got home) While walking to the Canada Line, Paula Bednjak recognized me - not hard to do. But she had an obvious fake tan, PINK lipstick, and had really changed since fifteen years ago! She says she's still friends with Ashley Garrison, who's waitressing somewhere... cool.

Got home and discovered that the binding on one of the notebooks REALLY sucks - it was a package deal, so I couldn't see it beforehand. Harmony's seems to be okay, though I'm not tearing the inside pages to find out! I'm keeping the unicorn one, and then maybe giving the one with the sucky binding to a little girl, who won't really care about that kind of thing. Going to the local Coles tomorrow to get a replacement for the fuzzy notebook - SO MUCH MONEY SPENT, OH MY! Mom did send us a reply back to what I said, but I'm not reading that - I think I just got disowned.... :(

You Are Somewhat Competitive

Like most people, you feel like a little healthy competition is good for you sometimes. You like to be motivated. And no matter whether you win or lose, you are a good sport. You take competition seriously, but not too seriously. You know that you have to compete to win, but sometimes you don't feel like competing - and that's okay. Just the fact that you are willing to compete puts you ahead of 99% of all people.

Are You Competitive?

Work is Hard. Time for Blogthings!

Family dinners galore / Yellow jerseys

Forgot to mention that I did get Ivan's home phone number today. He assured me that Amy would be at Fellowship on Friday, so I'll keep the Chewy Chips Ahoy till then. Jon's emailed everyone to say that he won't have to teach on Monday the 15th, so he and Harmony could be at the townhouse in the late afternoon. Sunday nights might not work for them, since they may want to take further swing dancing lessons - maybe March 24th would work, but they're fine with having a Sunday lunch too. As for Saturday, he and Harmony want to make an early Chinese New Year Eve dinner since the holiday is so important to Grandma. They have something to go to at 9, but can make a restaurant dinner at 6 or so. That means I'll be late since I also want to make it for dinner. Guess the free Our Lady Peace concert news can be "slipped into" this email as well - I kinda want to at least give the appearance of being courteous, haha. ;)

Mom and Dad don't need to know what I'm doing, so I just left it as "I have something to do on the night of the 18th" - ah, the perks of being an adult! Of course, they could still get all Asian about it - I hope there's minimal "fallout" from this, but knowing Mom, probably not. I'm going, and that's that. I'll look up more free events later!

Facebook quiz taken from Steve L:

Leslie took the "Which DC Comics hero are you?" quiz and the result is The Question. You're the Question! You're a detective who asks the questions no one else will ask. Armed only with your wits and a neat mask that makes it look like you don't have a face, you fight crime in a very film noir way. But because you used to work in the major crimes division of the Gotham City police department, you know what you're doing. You may not have chosen this life (you were chosen by the previous Question), but no matter how weird things get, you're a proven hero.

You Are Cheese

You are rich, distinct, and completely addicting. You make everything a little bit better. People love you - pretty much no matter what you do. No one can ever get enough of you. You are indulgent and over the top. You don't hold back or do anything halfway. You are a comforting and soothing person. You are accepting and you don't judge. People turn to you in times of need.

What Dairy Product Are You?

Blogthings: We Have a Quiz for Almost Everything

Trivia fact for Monday, Feb. 8: Why is yellow the color of the jersey awarded to the overall leader of the Tour de France bike race? It was the color of the pages of L'Auto, the newspaper that was the original sponsor of the three-week event in 1903.

PEACE / Joking "congratulations" / Crackers / Paper plane discipline / Angel Café

Thank goodness I could just be contemplative on the way over to church today, although my dad said the Olympic torch is coming to town on Tuesday - I'll look that up later. Got to church, and Phil was congratulating Auntie Eileen on something. Turns out Esther gave birth to a six-pound and four-ounce baby girl (no name yet) yesterday, so she and Wes are now parents - and Auntie Eileen is a grandmother again! Just left a phone message with my sister to let her know about that, too. Grace was amazed that Esther's labor was only four hours, so I said that Maxine's labor with Joshua had only been THREE - wow, indeed!

Said hi to Dave when he sat right in front of me - later, he joked that I was ignoring his hand during handshaking time. Hahaha, no... I was just saying hi to Dianne and Cindy! (and he has a good grip...) Talked to Vanessa for a bit about broadcasting school, programs, on-air prep, next week's potluck, and more. Gave a bag of random stuff to Jon and Harmony when they got there, and I think it contained newspapers and CD-Roms. When we "passed the peace" right before Communion, we just said "PEACE!" to Dave, haha. It works, since it seems like he's that type of guy! After service, I talked to Denise for a bit about sweatpants and things like that. A bunch of us jokingly congratulated Wesley on his "baby girl," haha. Went into the fellowship hall, and then talked to Adam / Andrew / Chrystal / Christon / Audrey (wedding planning) / Dave (laundry and Bible Study!) after giving a bunch of birthday cards and a pen to Jon and Harmony. Those covered Steph's birthday, Chantal's birthday, Grandma's birthday, and Chinese New Year. Auntie Ying wanted to see if we were on for tomorrow at Lougheed Mall, so 12:30 it is!

I narrowly avoided Mr. Creep as I got some much-needed coffee, and surveyed the snacks on offer: non-existent tzatziki on my side of the table, crackers, and salsa. Stopped to say hi to little Mattias and his mom Karen, and told him that I could use a cracker myself as I got one for him. Of course, he knows there's food inside the room by NOW! Later, he offered me some cracker that he had chewed up - no, thank you! Sure, it's softened up, but I'd rather have stuff that I'd done it to myself, if that makes any sense. Jon gave the cards and pen back to me, and then I said hi to little Allison, who was being looked after by Sarah Chau. Also said hi to Anita, who's certainly looking very pregnant - only about another month or so to go, if her sister giving birth yesterday is any indication!

Went upstairs after very tentatively figuring out lunch plans - Harrison, Amanda, Amos, and Conor were drawing. The boys then wanted to make paper planes and run around a lot, so we told them to put on their shoes because the floor could get slippery if you were only in socks! Had to discipline Harrison again since he crumpled Amos' paper plane (he agreed that he wouldn't feel very good if I did that to HIS plane!), and Amos was crying about it. During the story, Harrison was being really active, so Auntie Ying threatened to take him out. Maybe next week, she should actually do it! Amanda wanted to tell me a secret later, and it turns out that she wants me to come over. (just like Gwyneth when she was about six... how cute!) I was too braindead to say anything to that beyond whether she thought it would be fun (yes), but it was cool all the same. I signed Conor's Sunday School attendance paper for him, after reminding him about it - his little yellow top was so cool, haha.

After Sunday School, I went downstairs to discover that Dave had apparently left, and so had Mr. Creep - boo to one, and yay to the other! Harmony wanted to know if I wanted to come to lunch with her, Dave, Christon, Jen, Wesley, and Dianne - sure thing! Christon said that Dave was at his house, so he'd pick him up; it would look weird if I wanted to come along, so didn't. Talked to Julie C. and Hannah W. briefly about Brentwood Mall and Lougheed Mall - Hannah says Lougheed Mall is bigger than Brentwood, but still not HUGE. The Lougheed Mall website made it seem huge to me last night... Wal-Mart, London Drugs, Safeway, and MORE?! Guess I'll see tomorrow! I let my dad know about my lunch plans (he said Mom had left - I only saw her for two seconds in the sound room!), and then we went to Angel Café on Fraser / 43rd. In the car on the way over, we talked about farting / Vernon, Sarah Chin, Hannah Lee, Dorcas, Lucas, Pastor Fulton, FM, Pastor Glen / pride about smell / poo conversation / wastewater treatment plants in Sechelt. Dianne discovered that it was a cash-only place, much to her dismay.

We waited for people to FINALLY leave, as Dianne made the further discovery that there were no nearby bank machines. During lunch, we discussed lamb / curry / Malaysian rice / nasi goreng / sambal vegetables / hot pot (Dave can EAT!) / the Olympics / free stuff / next week's program (Dave and I literally talked behind Wesley's back about it) / a climbing gym / poop / a Dr. Allerdyce at Richmond General Hospital who wears a pink THONG and is kinda creepy / more stuff. Later, Harmony dropped me off in an Olympic Lane (we were only there for five seconds) near Oakridge - I wasted ten minutes there, finding out that Safeway / Hallmark Cards didn't have the kind of journals I was looking for. I figured that I'd check Richmond Centre for those unless the 407 was there outside Brighouse Station - since the driver actually waited for me, it was fine. I'll just do that tomorrow! When I got home, I took a three-hour nap since I desperately needed it! After waking up, I signed the aforementioned cards in case I forget later, heh.

Punches in the face / Pencil crayons and free Our Lady Peace / Professional boxers

Please, please - I beg of you - copy and paste this on your status if you know someone who needs a punch in the face. People who need a punch in the face affect the lives of many. There is still no known cure for someone who deserves a punch in the face, except a punch in the face, but we can raise awareness. Won't you help? Thank you for your time. I know SO MANY PEOPLE who this could relate to!

Forgot to mention that Hannah said she liked the pencil crayons I got her - good to know, as I replied. Got a message from Scott on Facebook, which said that it was good to hear from me, and that he'd had coffee with my brother a couple weeks ago. I'd heard about that, so wasn't surprised that he'd added me on Facebook, har har. Wanted to see if Jon had Ivan's home number, since his cell got stolen a while back - no luck there. Wish I had the directory for sure - I'll ask Ivan tomorrow. Luckily, Dad answered the phone - and I found a free Our Lady Peace concert at the O Zone on the 18th! Guess I should be there REALLY early, like 8? Maybe even before then... and I may just go to Walmart / Lougheed on Monday too.


Trivia fact for Sunday, Feb. 7: What professional boxer - the only man to fight both Rocky Marciano and Muhammad Ali - scored a record 141 knockouts during his 27-year career? Archie Moore, who won 194 of his 229 bouts, but lost to both Marciano and Ali.