Wasabi, soldiers, gyoza, microwaved instant noodles, and Taiwan Easter buns

High-scoring words of the evening so far:

SOLDIER (100 points; 5W, 2W; a good deficit-erasing word!), GYOZAS (105 points; 5W) - against Alice P.
WASABI (130 points) - against Tammy D. [5W, 2W]


Decided to nuke my spicy beef instant noodles in the microwave, and it seemed to work well - no splatter!

Wished Corey a happy Easter, and this is what I got:

[19:54:22] AlenaBrolxFlami: HAPPY EASTER over there.
[20:17:59] mrptptpt: I don't see any eggs
[20:18:27] AlenaBrolxFlami: don't tell me you're THAT far into the future that it is not Easter anymore :P
[20:22:12] mrptptpt: it's motherfuckin' Sunday morning, biatch
[20:24:01] mrptptpt: but I didn't get any Easter Eggs, no basket, nothin'
[20:24:02] mrptptpt: dag nabbit
[20:24:02] mrptptpt: I got a bao tzu, though... "bao" as in the steamer thing you like, but not the same thing :P a big bun thing
[20:26:32] AlenaBrolxFlami: I know what a bao is :P
[20:26:44] AlenaBrolxFlami: did they stuff anything inside it?
[20:27:11] mrptptpt: well, look at you, miss smartypants
[20:27:27] mrptptpt: there was meat of some sort in it... pork probably, and bamboo
[20:29:09] AlenaBrolxFlami: I haven't had bamboo in so long!
[20:31:06] mrptptpt: well, you would make a pretty crappy panda then
[20:33:31] mrptptpt: I saw pandas here, but I didn't see them eat bamboo :P but they eat that! so you're bad at being a panda
[20:33:53] AlenaBrolxFlami: I am not a panda

Tittie yolk! / Dream of showers, walls, change, and rowdiness / Cute cupcakes

High-scoring words of the afternoon so far:

YOLK (136 points) - against Tracey H. [5W, 2W, hook off OI to make OIL]
TITTIE (603 points) - against Carol G. [3W, two 5W] {a good deficit-erasing word!}


Had a dream where I was looking for someone who could NOT be found. I later found him in the shower in a wall, after a few days of searching. Then I was on the bus reading a NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine article about cats. These rowdy people got on the bus and didn't really pay the exact change in fare. Then the driver said that I had to pay something for them, even though I was on Part 5 of an epic trip, and didn't know them at all. Protest got me nowhere, so I dug out $2.03 from a pile of change and fun-size Skor bars. Wonder what THAT dream was supposed to mean!

You're Gorgeous Cute

People find you cute, but they also find you to be attractive and charming. You carry yourself well. You are well-spoken, and you always know what to say to smooth over a situation. You are clearly well-bred. At times, you can be a bit of a snob. You can't help it... you have a lot to be snobby about. You operate on a higher plane, and many people envy you for it. Your exclusivity just makes you more appealing.

The Cutesy Cupcake Test

Blogthings: Learn Something Surprising About Yourself

No Sunrise Service for me this year! / Almanacs

Eric picked me up at about 5:45, which was fine by me. Boy, it was intense wind and rain outside! Contrary to his delusion, I did NOT have a small head in my CANADA bag - it was a can of soup! He wondered if I were going to Sunrise Service, and I said I was because I thought he'd go. Turns out that his parents are driving, and so he'd make a decision tonight. Talked about Mr. Creep, and I said that my perfect line with the perfect delivery had seemed to do the trick - he wasn't talking to me anymore, which is what I wanted! Eric tried dissuading me about that, but I was pretty firm. Then he wondered whether the Good Friday service would be busy, since he didn't want to deprive an old lady of a parking spot, but he didn't want to park outside in the puddles either! I said that the old ladies had had their Good Friday service in the morning, and there should be plenty of space in the parkade. Turns out the parkade was closed, but the spaces next to it were probably okay!

Rang the doorbell, and Uncle Eugene let us in. I didn't mind being there early as long as I could read, and Christon figured that was the case. Dylan asked what book I was reading, so I told him. I said hi to Quan, who said that Hien was doing homework, and that Jon was at Pho - not surprised! Christon said that it would be a loud lively set for the most part, and this turned out to be true... gotta wake up the people who choose to attend Sunrise Service! Once I got to the sanctuary ahead of everyone else (sitting next to Jason M. - Mr. Creep was sitting near where I'd normally sit, but he moved), I found that we were doing something adapted from the Middle Ages named STATIONS OF THE CROSS. Images and readings, oh my! It wasn't as bad as I thought it might be, heh. Said hi to little Allison, who walked around a little. You can't expect a two-year-old to stay seated for the duration, after all. She looked cute!

After the service, I went out with everyone else to the foyer. Talked to Emily Lam, Harmony, Jeremy, Eric, Jen, Karmie, Isabel, Christon, Cindy, and some others: sleeping in, doing the Chinese Good Friday service as a family, taxes, wedding planning, Chuck, Sunrise Service, headaches, bundling up and being warm, being awake when you do your testimony, and more. Thank goodness the baptism for our congregation is during the regular service this time! When Eric asked if I were ready to go, I wanted to... he said that he'd had a headache, after all. On the way home, he made me scream a couple of times - darned teasing! Said stuff about butter, basil, tomatoes, noodles, ass, making lunch after service, Que Pasa chips, incest, "V Diana" on Youtube, traffic lights falling down because of the wind, and more. I told him to please call me on Sunday - no worrying about two hours of sleep for me! He acted surprised, and thought I was going to Sunrise Service. I said that I'd made a decision of my own, and would do what he did. It works for me... even though I saw Ivan tonight, I didn't ask him whether he'd replaced his cell phone yet!


Trivia fact for Saturday, Apr. 3: Benjamin Franklin published Poor Richard's Almanac. Who published Alfred's Poor Almanac? MAD magazine. Alfred, of course, was Alfred E. Neumann, the magazine's gap-toothed figurehead.

Dream of gigantic mall, fried chicken, chocolate, buses, Dad yelling, and Mom crumpling

Had a dream where the younger people and I were in a gigantic mall, with lots of sections. There was a London Drugs, a Superstore, a Wal-Mart, and plenty more stores. It was near an airport, and Sarah was one of the workers helping to replenish displays of chocolate. They came in large and small packages, in pink / silver / rose. To get everyone out of that particular section when it was full dark, an announcement was made that there was a great deal for fried chicken going on a few sections over. Of course, this took twenty minutes to get to, but everyone seemingly was willing to do so... and then eat outside on plastic chairs at thin-looking tables.

When it was the next afternoon, I got on the bus to go to the library before meeting Jon, Harmony, and Steph somewhere. I was surprised to see William and Margaret on the bus, and even more surprised that the bus had no bell pulls. It had buttons you could press, but we weren't sure which ones we could use in order to alert the driver (talking a lot on a his hands-free device) to stop at the next stop. Turned out William and Margaret wanted to go to the water (sea? ocean?), but the driver only went as far as the library, where he dropped us off in a roundabout near traffic. I told them that they could go across the street, since I'd tried going to the water from there before. They thanked me, and were off.

After that, I went to meet my family somewhere... we all went to a blue house where our parents were. Dad yelled at me because I forgot to take my shoes off once I was inside. "IN THIS HOUSE, WE TAKE OUR SHOES OFF INSIDE!" Then I told him to piss off because I'd forgotten about it. Steph then handed him a letter... Mom's face just CRUMPLED in disappointment when she'd read it, heh. Then the four of us just left, and the dream ended. Triggers: certain emails, books, and cravings! Eric just called to say that he'd pick me up at 5:30, although I could call Ivan to make things easier for me... I don't even know if he's home, and I have books (IF THERE BE THORNS) to catch up on. Besides, I can always go to Superstore for a while, although I run the risk of losing track of time. However, I'm not banking on it being open for long, since it IS a holiday and all. Eric was surprised when I told him that Ivan had apparently NOT replaced his cell phone yet, and it was stolen in November! Packed a can of soup just in case... I can always use the church microwave and bowls, heh.

Your Late Bedtime Says You're an Oddball

You like to do your own thing, even if you have to make sacrifices for your lifestyle. You are extremely creative and inspired. It's easy for you to lose time in your projects. You tend to live hard and not take as good of care of yourself as you should. Sleep often comes last for you, if it comes at all... and you're always hurting in the morning.

What Does Your Bedtime Say About You?

Blogthings: Take a Quiz. Annoy Your Friends.

IP addresses and Taiwan

High-scoring word of the late night:

VINCA (120 points) - against Deidre B. [5W, 2W] {a good deficit-erasing word!}


This is where Corey attempts to educate me about IP addresses:

[02:35:31] mrptptpt: I was GOING to do an image search, but Google keeps coming up in fucking Chinese, and I can't use it well... I really wish I could figure out how to permanently change it to always be English
[02:36:47] AlenaBrolxFlami: my mother has Google Translate or something on her computer
[02:39:48] mrptptpt: well, I've saved ENGLISH as my default choice in every language thing I can find, but "www.google.com" or just typing crap into Chrome to make it do a Google search straight from the URL bar thing brings up Chinese Google
[02:40:24] mrptptpt: I have to go to language settings and change it from there to do anything, and that gets rid of whatever I was already searching for too, so it makes it like 4 extra steps
[02:43:46] AlenaBrolxFlami: I take it you're using her computer?
[02:46:32] mrptptpt: nope
[02:46:34] mrptptpt: mine
[02:46:41] mrptptpt: it just knows I'm in Taiwan from my IP
[02:47:29] AlenaBrolxFlami: wow... your IP changed?!
[02:47:33] mrptptpt: well, I can type "google.us" and get regular google.com without it redirecting me to google.com.tw
[02:47:47] mrptptpt: huh? of course my IP changed, I'm on her internet connection
[02:48:28] mrptptpt: but google.us doesn't fix searches
[02:48:50] mrptptpt: those still come up in Chinese. I mean searches directly from the browser rather than typing google.us and searching from there
[02:53:44] AlenaBrolxFlami: okay, I'm not an IP expert!
[02:58:04] mrptptpt: your IP is something you get from your ISP. if you're on a laptop and use the internet at home, you'll have one IP... if you take it to school / work and use it there, you'll be on their internet connection, not yours, so you'll have an IP from their connection. if you go to another country, you'll almost definitely not be on your own connection anymore :P
[02:58:05] mrptptpt: your IP isn't related to YOUR computer at all. there's something called a MAC address which kind of is (tied to your network card, not your actual computer), but you can't see that over the internet, just internal networks
[03:03:05] AlenaBrolxFlami: do MAC addresses have anything to do with the MAC computers?
[03:03:16] mrptptpt: no
[03:05:26] mrptptpt: a MAC is like an IP, kind of, but it's an address just for your computer. it's used for networks, but not the internet. the internet has IP addresses instead, and they're not tied to your computer, you might get a different IP every time you connect to the internet, unless you paid extra for a static IP that doesn't change
[03:06:03] AlenaBrolxFlami: okay
[03:11:46] mrptptpt: sounds like we might go see Clash of the Titans tonight
[03:12:13] mrptptpt: I hope the new one still shows Perseus' mom totally naked running around on the beach with him as a kid :P probably not
[03:12:43] mrptptpt: I bet they get rid of the mechanical owl too, which might be good since that was kinda dumb
[03:18:21] AlenaBrolxFlami: WHAT?! I'm sure Jane will be totally thrilled to see that :P
[03:28:06] AlenaBrolxFlami: oh well, bedtime now... 3:30 AM. NOT that I was able to sleep at this time yesterday
[03:32:52] mrptptpt: she saw that already, we watched the original first :P (we didn't quite make it to the end, though... that movie is cool, but long and slow and we started it late)
[03:33:02] AlenaBrolxFlami: oh, okay
[03:33:18] mrptptpt: she didn't have much reaction :P

HORNS / No sweatpants / Roman

High-scoring words of the night:

TORII (120 points) - against Susan S. [4W, 5W] {a good deficit-erasing word!}
GRANDLY (340 points) - against George M. [4W, 5W] {a good deficit-erasing word!}


Steve L. (wrathchild) told me about Horns by Joe Hill: "It will rip your heart out in that case. Two scenes in particular. Look out for Ig and Merrin's breakup scene and, much later, Merrin's message to Ig. I'm still in pieces. FYI, Joe is Stephen King's eldest son. He writes rings around his old man!" After such a rousing recommendation, I simply HAD to put the book on hold at Brighouse! Also... R.I.P. sweatpants! (The glue from the glue trap was still on them, which I didn't find out till just now! Guess mine and Teunis' experiences are different!) Noticed that Nate's friend Michael unfriended me on Facebook, which is totally fine!


Trivia fact for Friday, Apr. 2: Who was the Roman emperor when Jesus Christ was crucified? Tiberius.

Timezones, Firefox annoyances, two good leads, and Formosa

Decided to talk to Corey tonight:

[19:19:20] Flami: I assume you're not really on, since you should be in bed or whatever :P
[19:22:12] Corey: it's 10 AM here :P
[19:22:20] Corey: you're the one that should be in bed, soon
[19:22:38] Corey: well, I guess it's only 7 for you. 8 at home for me
[19:23:51] Flami: haha, oops. I fail at timezones
[19:24:06] Flami: almost 7:30 PM
[19:24:16] Corey: for you, it's 3 hours ahead, then flip the AM to PM, or whatever
[19:24:33] Corey: and I'm in the future
[19:24:55] Corey: and Firefox is pissing me off
[19:25:34] Corey: it constantly uses 100% of my CPU now, and I can't do anything unless I close it with Task Manager, which is annoying since 90% of the time I'm trying to do something WITH Firefox
[19:26:42] Corey: Chrome works, but I have all my tabs and stuff all nice in Firefox, not Chrome
[19:34:11] Flami: well, I know enough to realize that you're in the future :P
[19:34:52] Flami: what are you doing that's different?


Then we switched to AIM:

[19:59:56] mrptptpt: are you there? MSN isn't working, and I sent a ton of messages explaining everything that's going on!!! stop making it quit working while I'm typing lots of stuff :P
[20:01:36] AlenaBrolxFlami: I just now got a whole bunch of windows which tell me that the connection to MSN has been lost, or something :P
[20:01:39] AlenaBrolxFlami: so what's going on?
[20:11:10] mrptptpt: Flami says (8:34 PM): what are you doing that's different?
Corey says (8:44 PM): looking for work :P
[20:11:16] mrptptpt: Corey says (8:45 PM): we're dealing directly with the owner of another school, though... so that one is promising. it's a little less money, but only half the working time (plus they can give me more classes too, which would make it pay more than the other crappy place)
[20:11:36] mrptptpt: Corey says (8:46 PM): Jane's neighbor was told about my situation, and called up her friend, who owns this other school... she heard about what happened to me at Well (the place I thought I was working at), and said "they sound crazy... send him over here, and we'll take care of him"
[20:11:46] mrptptpt: Corey says (8:47 PM): then this weekend, that same neighbor's daughter is going to set something up with the owner of another school.. she's teaching piano lessons to the owner's son this weekend, and thinks it shouldn't be a problem to at least get an interview through him
[20:11:54] mrptptpt: Corey says (8:48 PM): so without even looking myself yet really, I have a couple pretty good leads
[20:12:06] mrptptpt: Corey says (8:49 PM): there's also a school called Hess that apparently kind of sucks, but is a well-known place that hires newbies and won't cheat you or anything... they just kind of have some lousy policies (not paying you for any lesson planning / grading / etc. - teaching time only), so that'll be the next place to try
[20:12:31] mrptptpt: now properly receive those, please! :P
[20:24:58] AlenaBrolxFlami: well, that definitely sounds pretty good
[20:35:57] mrptptpt: the hours at this new place kind of suck, though... I have to teach until 9 PM, meaning I'll probably really be there until 10 PM or something, which means I'll never really see Jane other than weekends
[20:36:08] mrptptpt: but, it doesn't start until 4 PM, so that's easy enough
[20:36:48] mrptptpt: the other place wanted me until 6:30 PM, but it started at 8:30 AM
[20:37:04] mrptptpt: and this is barely less money, and I can probably add more hours to make it more money
[20:37:55] mrptptpt: apparently, this place pays in cash daily too... which is kind of weird, but sounds convenient, since I won't have a bank account until my ARC is done in a month or so (work visa)
[20:49:00] AlenaBrolxFlami: just stash the money away where nobody can get at it, I suppose :P
[20:55:33] mrptptpt: like a treasure box buried at a secret location in the middle of the mountains? marked by my GPS, so only I and someone foolish enough to follow me can get there?
[21:08:50] AlenaBrolxFlami: hahahaha.... I don't know
[21:12:26] mrptptpt: or I could like put it in a drawer here until I have a bank account, and then use that
[21:21:33] AlenaBrolxFlami: that would be more sensible, yes ;P
[21:22:29] mrptptpt: but not quite as exciting
[21:28:13] AlenaBrolxFlami: well, no...
[21:31:20] mrptptpt: I don't really know how to get to the remote mountains, though... so I guess I'll stick to the drawer thing or my wallet
[21:33:06] AlenaBrolxFlami: good plan... ARE there remote mountains there?
[21:33:33] mrptptpt: the whole island is mountains
[21:33:52] mrptptpt: it's kind of like Japan... everything is hills and mountains, and people live wherever there's actually flat enough land to build on
[21:34:26] AlenaBrolxFlami: NICE
[21:34:43] mrptptpt: and it's extra like Japan since until World War II, Japan ran this place, so it kind of was Japan, for a while :P
[21:35:04] AlenaBrolxFlami: :P
[21:36:37] mrptptpt: after messing with the US in WWII, while trying to kill everyone in China and generally the rest of Asia, they didn't have enough resources to keep control of Taiwan, and not too long after, Chang Kai Shek and others decided China was a bunch of mean commies and came here to make China: The Non-Communist Sequel!
[21:37:04] mrptptpt: so it's only really been Taiwan since like 1950-ish
[21:37:47] mrptptpt: and before the Japanese had the island, the Dutch had it. maybe you've heard of Formosa? This is Formosa :P they changed it to Taiwan, though
[21:43:29] AlenaBrolxFlami: I've heard of it
[21:50:00] mrptptpt: I've heard of it better than you, so ha!
[21:50:12] AlenaBrolxFlami: STOP.
[21:50:21] mrptptpt: stop what? :P
[21:50:31] AlenaBrolxFlami: stop being nuts
[21:50:43] mrptptpt: negatory
[21:52:32] AlenaBrolxFlami: FINE
[21:54:48] mrptptpt: I'm not crazy though, you're crazy
[21:55:57] AlenaBrolxFlami: says who?
[21:56:37] mrptptpt: says me, you wacko :P
[22:02:30] AlenaBrolxFlami: crazy man

Admiring her news, no Monique, and travelling

Bingo of the afternoon:

ADMIRING (168 points) - against Douglas N.

High-scoring words of the afternoon:

ADMIRING (168 points) - against Douglas N. [4W, 2W] {a good deficit-erasing word!}
HER (112 points) - against Sandra B. [two 4W]
NEWS (102 points) - against Ba P. [2W, 5W]


Noticed that Monique Spencer unfriended me from Facebook, but that's not a big deal.

You Should Travel by Sailboat

When you travel, you really prefer to carve your own path and do things your way. You want to go at your own pace and do as much yourself as possible. You despise group tours. You don't travel from a schedule or plan... you just go with your intuition. You believe that travel is more about the journey than the destination. And you'd like to sail away into the sunset!

How Should You Travel?

Blogthings: Cheaper Than a Therapist

Axes in the vomit stream, Vanilla Sun, Swiss Tiara, and April Fools

High-scoring words of the night so far:

SUCKER (224 points) - against Pearl R. [two 4W]
DJIN (140 points) - against Jan A. [5W, 2W]
ONYX (153 points) - against Ann V. [two 3W]
INCLIP (145 points) - against Rick A. [5W, 5L on C] {a good deficit-erasing word!}
AXES (122 points) - against Sherisse G. [5W, 2W] {a good deficit-erasing word!}
SAHIB (300 points) - against Gail P. [two 5W]
STREAM (113 points) - against Lynn B. [5W, 2W, hook off FAVE for a plural] {a good deficit-erasing word!}
CLEANERS (238 points) - against David H. [2W, two 3W]
VOMITS (165 points) - against Danielle G. [5W, hook off EYECUP for a plural]
MAYOS (126 points) - against Marie V. [two 3W]
COMPED (192 points; 3W, two 2W), BYTES (156 points; 3W, two 2W) - against Kate E.


Jasmine passed along these two weird names to me: Vanilla Sun and Swiss Tiara. They're real, since they involved registering at an institute of higher learning! My siblings and I once met a little boy named Swiss in the years gone by when we used to play in the park. I miss those days...

Trivia fact for Thursday, Apr. 1: What is April Fools' Day known as in France, where the annual prank-pulling day is believed to have originated? April Fish, or Poisson d'Avril, which is the phrase that French youngsters shout after taping paper fish (or pictures of a fish) onto the backs of their friends. The prank is linked to the old Julian calendar, when April was the start of the New Year, and coincided with the sun's leaving the zodiacal sign of Pisces, the fish constellation.

Deletion because of scores, "invigorating" shower gel, March 2010 BBT Tally

Note: In Ten Years, Your LiveJournal Friends Will Be...? Memegen, by homelessbrit

High-scoring word of the afternoon so far:

STAYER (110 points) - against Tracey H. [5W, 2W]


This thing restarted twice in three minutes, man! Had a dream where all I remember was piggyback rides in order to fly up in the air. Weird stuff! Once I got up, I deleted a few Wordscraper games because the existing scoring wasn't fair to me... that's one thing I don't like about random games, but my record is still better than on the standard board. Go figure!

Then I checked Facebook - I'd said that I was back from my invigorating walk, and Dave had this to say: ""Invigorating" sounds like you cameo-ed in men's shower gel commercial. Of course, you would be male, too, in the commercial." HAHAHAHAHAHA! That's NOT fair! I'm trying to drink something here, man! Then again, I once DID know a guy with the exact same name as me... that was a confusing couple of years at junior high!

You Are Flexible

During your downtime, you like to find something new to experience and to inspire you. You secretly wish that you could be a more knowledgeable person. There are a dozen things you'd like to get your PhD in. You get easily annoyed by the world and other people. You wish people would be more responsible and conscientious. You are inspired by high energy. Being around other creative, productive people really motivates you.

The Café Test

Blogthings: Quizzes and Tests and Memes, Oh My!

MONTHLY BUBBLE TEA TALLY, MARCH 2010 (2)

blueberry @ Tazza (Tuesday, March 2)
jackfruit @ Kat's Tea House (Friday, March 5)

You watched him on hidden cameras to say he doesn't smile enough?!

High-scoring words of the late night:

ATOMICS (1120 points) - against Marlene K. [5W, two 4W]
MUSIC (200 points) - against Jan A. [two 4W]


After I got back from my walk, Corey told me some CRAZY news:

[01:35:05] mrptptpt: I just went to 7-11 all by myself, like a big boy
[01:35:22] AlenaBrolxFlami: good timing - I just got back from a walk myself (1:35 AM here)
[01:35:41] mrptptpt: you're out walking at 1:30?
[01:36:15] AlenaBrolxFlami: I got this idea at 12:15 after I ate something, so yes...
[01:37:26] mrptptpt: well, I went out walking in a scary foreign land with no translator or map (well, I'm sort of creating a map as I go on my handy dandy walking GPS)
[01:37:35] mrptptpt: Jane's at work
[01:38:53] mrptptpt: she forced me to go pay for a parking ticket for her at 7-11 today. she wants me to be less shy, so she's trying to get me to talk to people, despite not speaking the same language as them.......
[01:40:32] AlenaBrolxFlami: you got a walking GPS? that sounds like it could be handy
[01:42:17] mrptptpt: yes. this way, I have a little arrow that tells me which direction Jane's house is wherever we are. it tells me where my house is, too... but to walk there, it's over 7000 miles!
[01:43:15] AlenaBrolxFlami: haha!
[01:43:18] mrptptpt: it's not a normal GPS with maps and stuff. it's like for hiking. you mark your campsite and go wander off wherever all day, and then you tell it you want to go back, and it shows you which direction to go. it also draws a line where you've been walking, if you want to retrace your path
[01:43:32] AlenaBrolxFlami: sounds practical
[01:44:02] mrptptpt: not really. it was $100, and I kinda thought I had a job to pay for that. apparently, this is not the case
[01:45:10] AlenaBrolxFlami: what?! I thought you had stuff lined up last time you went!
[01:47:02] mrptptpt: I DID....... but the school I had a job at is apparently full of a bunch of assholes or crazy people or something. they told me to leave at like 4 PM on the first day because I "don't smile enough," and my personality doesn't fit with the school.. oh, and we didn't REALLY hire you (despite giving me a job offer with the salary and benefits laid out, and them calling me repeatedly to make sure I was coming back) ... we just gave you a chance to see if we like you (oh, you mean the teaching demo I did, which you liked?)
[01:48:47] mrptptpt: maybe I shouldn't say "a bunch of assholes" ... the teachers all seemed fine, but apparently, the principal lady had it out for me for some unknown reason. she tried to get a teacher to get rid of me, but I made her come out and talk to me. she was a broken record, though... and wouldn't give me a straight answer about anything. then she just kind of left, and nobody came back to talk to me or whatever, so I had to call Jane (luckily, I brought her mom's cell phone, as mine doesn't get service over here) and get her to leave work to come get me
[01:49:52] AlenaBrolxFlami: what the hell? that's CRAZY! principal lady sounds like a bitch
[01:49:58] mrptptpt: while I was waiting for Jane, the principal lady came back to tell me to leave, since they don't want any parents or students to come and see me waiting in the lobby... I told her I was just waiting for my ride, and I'd be gone soon. then I think she went off to go get security or something, but Jane walked in right about then... and in Chinese, she didn't get much farther than me trying to get an answer out of her
[01:51:00] mrptptpt: so... I've spent like $2000 to come back here and work there for a year, and now I don't have an income here. I definitely didn't do anything wrong, because my whole day was watching other foreign teachers teach their classes
[01:51:08] mrptptpt: I didn't even have a chance to do anything wrong or right
[01:51:51] AlenaBrolxFlami: when did this happen?! and do your parents know?
[01:52:06] mrptptpt: Monday, the first day of work
[01:52:43] mrptptpt: everything seemed fine... but apparently, they were watching me on hidden cameras (seriously, one of the foreign teachers pointed it out to me when she had her back turned to it) ... and decided I don't smile enough
[01:54:02] mrptptpt: I actually made a point of smiling at everyone all day, and the few interactions I had with the kids had them all laughing and happy.. and after I was informed about the cameras, I did my best to look bright and alert while watching classes.. I'm still a bit jet-lagged and fall asleep pretty early, so I did plenty of yawning in some of the first classes.. still, I wasn't teaching anyone... I was just watching to see how things work
[01:54:23] mrptptpt: my parents said they're glad I'm not working for people like that, and to stick with it and find something else
[01:56:48] AlenaBrolxFlami: yeah, that's what I'd say too - you're there already... these people sound like they have some kind of issue
[01:57:28] AlenaBrolxFlami: what you did seems fine to me... smiling all day, and making the kids laugh and be happy? that would score points in my book if I were the evaluators
[02:13:04] mrptptpt: Firefox restarted, so I probably missed things
[02:13:31] mrptptpt: I have you open in Chrome now to hopefully avoid that.. Firefox barely works on my laptop these days
[02:21:59] AlenaBrolxFlami: *pastes last two messages*
[02:26:05] mrptptpt: well, I can start looking for other places. there's another one that apparently hires almost anyone, and is a chain school known to not screw people over... though people have a lot of complaints about the rules, and how they run things and stuff
[02:30:49] AlenaBrolxFlami: what sort of complaints do they have?
[02:34:58] mrptptpt: they try to not pay you for any office time preparing your lessons and grading and that kind of stuff, I think. it looks like all businesses here are kind of like that, though... they want to get you to work as many hours as humanly possible, and pay you for as few of those as they can get away with
[02:35:48] mrptptpt: and it's quantity over quality. if you do a job in one hour, perfectly, you won't be praised for your efficiency over the idiot that takes 5 hours... you'll be yelled at for being lazy for 4 hours
[02:36:48] mrptptpt: they warned me when I had a free period for lesson planning at Well (the evil school) to always look busy, because even though I didn't have to work for that time, they'd put me to work if I didn't look busy enough
[02:39:50] AlenaBrolxFlami: yikes... doesn't sound good, but also does sound kinda Asian
[02:41:15] mrptptpt: I think it's probably fairly Asian here, yes :P
[02:42:27] mrptptpt: oh, there was a foreign teacher from Vancouver there who almost immediately asked if I like hockey :P
[02:43:06] AlenaBrolxFlami: hahaha... so what did you say?
[02:48:32] mrptptpt: not really? :P then he asked if I follow the Avalanche, even though I just said I don't pay attention to hockey. I also hate typing "hockey" because I almost always type "hocket" and have to go back and fix it. I don't normally mix up t's and y's, so I don't know why that happens so much with "hockey" (did it AGAIN right there)
[02:52:42] AlenaBrolxFlami: I hate when that happens to me... usually happens when I'm really tired, or typing fast, like on Sunday afternoon after lunch (had 5 hours' sleep)
[02:56:06] mrptptpt: potato
[03:03:03] mrptptpt: dinner time here... Jane was SUPPOSED to be back about now, but she's not
[03:03:29] mrptptpt: so now I have to beat her up or something today
[03:07:33] AlenaBrolxFlami: that's terrible
[03:08:01] AlenaBrolxFlami: anyway... I need to go to bed, and the computer is bugging me about automatic updates, which it'll do in about 14 minutes anyway... so bye!

Wedding RSVP, lagoons, and elephant remains in a jar

High-scoring word of the night so far:

LAGOONS (142 points) - against Alice P. [two 4W, hook off EXIT for a plural] {a good deficit-erasing word!}


I finally put in an RSVP for Chuck and Andrea's wedding... I said I'd come to dinner, and work out the banquet transportation logistics later. Good thing they're inviting everyone to the ceremony and lunch, so I can probably get a ride to that with Eric. HE won't criticize my choice of clothing like my mother's been known to do! (witness Kelvin and Evelyn's wedding in 2002... OH MY GOD, I COMMITTED A FAUX PAS BY WEARING SNEAKERS, AND FORGETTING THE CARD!!!!!! *rolleyes* ) Also said I'd have salmon for the dinner, heh. I'm going to see if I have enough motivation for a walk now... yes, at this time! Just ate noodles, haha. (and sodium is ridiculous!)

Trivia fact for Wednesday, Mar. 31: Which remains of a famous animal are kept in a peanut butter jar at Tufts University? Jumbo the Elephant, of Barnum & Bailey circus fame. After Jumbo died in a train accident in 1885, showman P.T. Barnum had him stuffed. Barnum donated him to Tufts in 1889, where he became the university mascot. When fire destroyed the mammoth mascot in 1975, his ashes were put in a peanut butter jar. These remains were kept for good luck for the university's sports teams, which are known as the Jumbos.

Wailing about LONG loading time and stupid FB friend requests

High-scoring word of the evening so far:

WAIL (337 points) - against Carla E. [5W, 3W, 4L on W, hook off AVA to make LAVA]


I had some computer issues earlier in the evening... it would take FOREVER (two minutes!) to load a Wordscraper game, and would take about a minute to validate a word I'd made! An error message about how Windows had recovered from a serious error would also pop up, but I've figured out how to get rid of it. Also had to restart the system about five times before the loading time was somewhat acceptable, and not like it was in a barrel of molasses! Karen O'Reilly added me, but only because I pointed out that her Farmville thread on the Wordscraper discussion board was definitely misplaced. So annoying, and I ignored it!

Dream of darkness / Roman Name

I remember dreaming that it was dark outside my apartment, the electricity didn't work, and the door was somehow right against my bed! What does this recurring dream mean? Anyone?

I note that I'm submitting this post at 3:30 on 3/30 - what a quirky coincidence! YAY FOR THOSE! :D

Your Roman Name is Tiberia Genucius Cornicen

Veni, vidi, vici!

What's Your Roman Name?

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

Jibing decanters with the ten Biblical plagues

High-scoring word of the night so far:

JIBED (114 points) - against Linda B. [3W, 3L on J]

Bingo of the night so far:

DECANTERS (78 points) - against Hanna M. {a good deficit-erasing word!}


Trivia fact for Tuesday, Mar. 30: According to the Old Testament, what were the ten plagues visited upon the Egyptians when their pharaoh refused to free the Israeli slaves? As told in Exodus 7-12, the plagues were: the waters of Egypt turning into blood; frogs; lice; flies; cattle disease; boils; hail; locusts; darkness; and the slaying of the firstborn.

Evacuation and more conflict

THIS THING JUST RESTARTED! JACK BAUER is getting cancelled... I suppose it was inevitable, after eight seasons and recycled plots. Oh well, I guess I can go back to almost never watching TV, but I like watching stuff about true crime and psychics. Last week's episode of the psychic show was about a man with diabetes who had gone missing - he was found dead. On to the show recap!


Jack shrugs off this latest injury, and shows no signs of getting shot by snipers. No one can stop Jack. Except the network executives, of course. Chloe tracks down Samir, who is moving the rods via a yellow cab. Clearly, all the cab drivers in New York are terrorists. I guess that's not too far from the truth. Dana actually has the gall to feed information to Samir while she's at her station. That's right – CTU is so clueless that no one notices her doing this. Of course, Dana sabotages the satellite feed at the most opportune time, and CTU loses the cab. At least it didn't slip through another perimeter.

Bubba calls the President and – what do you know – there's Warden Norton! I was wondering what happened to him. Maybe he was too busy supervising a bunch of inmates building a highway or something. Bubba says he can no longer guarantee the safety of Manhattan, which is fine. We've been living under yellow alert since 2001. Weiss, the ultimate armchair quarterback, yells at Bubba and blames him for everything. He even brings up Species II, which just isn't right. President Taylor seems strangely calm, though. Turns out, she has the ultimate trump card. "Get me Jack Bauer." Taylor wants Jack to babysit for President Hassan, and supervise his evacuation to the air force base. Okay, so maybe this isn't part of her master plan to recover the nuclear rods. Jack tells Renee to go back to his apartment and put on the Barry White, but she refuses. I guess she's more of a Marvin Gaye gal. Tarin still looks conflicted about everything. Or maybe he's just missing Kayla. Poor guy. He hasn't gotten any loving in nearly three hours. A man can only take so much.

The First Couple of Torture arrive at the UN, and they plan President Hassan's evacuation. Jack meets with President Hassan, and tells him they're going to smuggle him out via a service tunnel to New Jersey. Then they have to crawl through three hundred yards worth of sewage pipes... that's the length of three football fields, whereupon they'll reach an even worse-smelling place. The cabinet is already planning retaliatory strikes against Kamistan. Good to see they have their priorities in order. Samir calls into the meeting and requests the anti-nuclear 80s hit The Future's so Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades. Samir threatens to turn a 40-block radius in Manhattan into a wasteland... in other words, it's going to become another Staten Island. Samir wants President Taylor to turn over Hassan, and Weiss looks somewhat intrigued. I'm guessing he's going to give them up, and sure enough, Weiss wants to go through with it. He and Warden Norton have an argument about moral authority and blah blah blah. Oh, and there's some bald general guy who wants to do it, too. I think he's the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Taylor actually makes a counterpoint by asking how can they be sure the terrorists won't set off the bomb anyway. Then she overplays her hand by giving some speech about how Americans are good at picking themselves off the mat. Somehow, I don't think the Japanese look at Hiroshima and Nagasaki as character builders. Dana asks for some info from Chloe, and Chloe looks suspicious. Then again, she always looks like that, doesn't she? And, another 24 staple – the insubordinate cabinet. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff corners Weiss and proposes a plan to turn over Hassan and make it look like the terrorists kidnapped him. The Chairman invokes the Nuremberg principle, and uses that to justify their proposed treason. Oh boy, here we go with the legal stuff. I'm sure we're only a few moments away from yet another invocation of the 25th Amendment.

Chloe sends the info to Dana. Bubba then decides to give a pep talk to the troops while emphasizing that time is running out. Maybe you should spend less time on the speeches, then. Dana sends the info to the terrorists, and Tarin is driving a van to the Upper West Side. Apparently, they're going to detonate the bomb there! I can't seem to turn away from this riveting political drama. Weiss breaks into Warden Norton's computer, and sees that Jack is involved. He looks worried, but the Chairman isn't concerned. That's his first mistake. Warden Norton comes in before they can finish downloading Hassan's evacuation route. He goes nose-to-nose with the Chairman, and his heart gives out. He tries to take his medicine, but the Chairman wants to let him die. This is what I hate about the show. They just drop these evil characters from out of thin air with no buildup. Plus, they did the same thing in Season 3 with Sherry Palmer and Alan Milliken.

The Chairman already has a team in place. Good to see that, when it comes to committing treason, the government can be quite efficient after all. Meanwhile, Jack is suspicious because Warden Norton tried to call him and didn't leave a message. Wonder what would have happened if Warden Norton had drunk-dialed him. The ambush team is lying in wait. Jack tries to call Warden Norton again, and he really needs to get a clue. He isn't interested in you, Jack! Weiss takes the call, tries to throw Jack off the trail, and does what he does best. He yells. A lot. I've worked for guys like Weiss. It's about as much fun as getting a rectal exam. From Edward Scissorhands.

Jack decides to turn around, but the ambush team starts firing anyway. Jack abandons the other security guards to accompany the Hassans back to the UN. He has his orders, after all. I don't see why he did that. All he had to do was send the others back with the Hassans, so that he could then pick off the snipers one-by-one. Kayla slows them down by spraining her ankle. Man, she is nothing but trouble, isn't she? Jack realizes they won't make it, so he sets off a smoke grenade. He and Renee then take out most of the snipers before one of them gets the drop on Jack. Hassan then saves his life, and Jack is really slipping this season. That's twice in two weeks. He better get his game back before 24: The Feature Film. Jack captures one of the snipers, and he sings like a canary. Jack is surprised he's American because, apparently, he didn't hear them shouting at each other earlier.

Jack refuses to turn Hassan over because he only takes orders from the President of the United States. You know, all of them other than Logan. Dana tries to talk Samir out of using the bomb because he seems like a reasonable man. That doesn't go well, and Samir tells Tarin to start the countdown and stay with the bomb to make sure it goes off. He tells him that his name will never be forgotten, and I'm sure that's reassuring to Tarin. He'll never get to experience the finer things in life. Like Kayla Hassan. Tarin begins the countdown, and he doesn't look too pleased. He needs to kill 15 minutes before the bomb explodes, so I was hoping he'd turn on the radio and we'd hear The Final Countdown. Sadly, the 24 writers don't share my comedic sensibilities. In related news, they're getting canceled, so there!

NO MORE PRINGLES CHIPS EVER! TOO MUCH SPILL RISK!

I AM NEVER BUYING PRINGLES CHIPS AGAIN. TOO MUCH SPILL RISK! Was happily eating some bacon-ranch chips when I made an involuntary motion toward the can... BOOM! It went over! Good thing I was able to move the couch somewhat (and move it back!) to clean up THIS spill (which was maybe 20 chips), but seriously. After what happened on Saturday night after the gig, I think the stacked cans of chips are too much for me! Scott's just commented to say that I'm gonna need a lot of willpower to quit Pringles chips ("once you pop, you just can't stop!"), but TRUST ME. There are other chip brands out there! I'm just sad that I wasted my money on these two flavors! It'll be BAGS of chips for me from now on! Think I'll eat some Ben and Jerry's ice cream instead... at least that won't be a waste of money, unless it turns out to be totally inedible or something.

Since I had to clean up the spill, my relatively new sweatpants caught on a couple of glue traps! It's similar to what happened when Teunis was over in September: his flowing pirate costume caught on a glue trap I'd hidden under the couch, which actually contained two dead mice. The trap that my sweatpants caught on DIDN'T contain any mice, thank goodness... I was already annoyed enough as it was. I assumed the glue was something I had to wash off, so perforce made up a load of laundry as I threw away everything else including the Pringles can. Then when I went to do the laundry, there was a family taking up the entire elevator with a Rona cart which presumably had heavy items. Would have been a minor annoyance otherwise... and of course, I can't find anything on Craigslist right now which meets my needs! UGH!

Crazy rain, guilt caused by yelling at a favorite kid (Conor), fire / earth / air

The keyboard works again in Firefox - YAY! From what I've read, it could be temporary, so I should beware! The rain out there is CRAZY, since I can actually see the puddle that the road has become... good thing I'm staying home! Edit an hour later: It seems to have cleared up, at least for now.

I also still feel guilty for yelling at little Conor yesterday; that was only because Auntie Ying was trying to cut the stickers in the workbooks when they could just be peeled off. I'm going to explain that to him on Sunday when I apologize, for sure! (he was also asking a lot of questions, even for him - I'm trying to get things DONE, my little friend!)

You Are Air

You are a quirky, flighty, and zany person. You change with the wind. You are highly creative and often inspired. You love to be spontaneous and hate restrictions. You have a yearning for travel and adventure. You want to have a wild and crazy life. You actually feel a bit more balanced when there is structure and stability in your life, but you avoid it.

Are You Earth, Fire, or Air?

Work is Hard. Time for Blogthings!

Dream of Vicky, Jeremy, and plastic shell clothing / Browser issues / Statehood

I heard INXS' Never Tear Us Apart on the radio just now... considering the circumstances under which I last heard the song, I'm surprised that I still like it! (Greyhound depot, waiting for Korey) Had to take a nap earlier, in part because I was making SO MANY typos since I was really tired! I had a dream that my dad, sister, and I were going around a cruise ship... they had stuff for sale, and the ship was connected to other ships in a network via a tunnel. There were plastic shells meant to be clothing... we saw Dawn, and invited her to join us. Her mom was on the phone to my dad, so they talked for a bit. I got the idea in my head that I simply had to meet Jeremy on another ship, so enlisted Vicky to go with me - we were about to find him when I woke up. Weird!

I know I talked to Jeremy today, and briefly saw Vicky... but those are about all the triggers I can think of. Would make more sense if the dream involved Dave or Eric in some way, haha. But the tunnel network WAS silver, much like what Eric tells me is the ventilation system in the parkade, which we were discussing on Friday. So maybe my subconscious is processing Friday night, where I talked to Vicky and Jeremy way more than I did today... but I still have no idea where Dawn, Dad, Auntie Betty, or the plastic shell clothing came from! (some of it was PINK - HORROR!)

When I got up, I discovered that my keyboard wouldn't work in Firefox for some reason. Being too lazy to research a billion Google answers, I instead switched to Google Chrome temporarily, even if typing in text fields is VERY slow. Although now Firefox won't even load, or takes a long time to do so ... I guess I have to research the problem!


Trivia fact for Monday, Mar. 29: How many years were there between the admission of the first and fiftieth states into the United States? Almost 172. Delaware achieved statehood on December 7, 1787; Hawaii, on August 21, 1959.

Not financially affordable, but knowledgeably affordable! THE REEF!

Eric picked me up a little later than I thought, but that was okay. We spent most of the ride over in silence, which was fine by me. I hate when people get chatty right when you're trying to get used to being awake, and I'm sure he does too. Talked briefly about his contention that everything is my fault - this because a bunch of consecutive traffic lights were red. Saw Jeremy on his bike, so that was cool - I discussed yesterday's concert briefly with Eric, as well. I expected Eric to just run across the street after we'd parked, and I was correct - oh well, the crosswalk is the good normal way for me since I do have a lot of heavy stuff! (I'm trying to downsize, but it's not happening yet...)

Once in the sanctuary, I said hi to Christon. He said that he was finally getting into the Bathroom Reader which I gave him for his birthday - lots of interesting stories, but some of them are really short. Chrystal had said that she didn't just read hers in the bathroom when I gave her one before she went to Korea a few years ago... Eric always bugs me about reading them in locations which are not the bathroom, haha. Decided to switch seats when I saw Dave sitting down - at least it wasn't as blatantly obvious as going across the huge room like I did a few weeks ago, and it got me further away from Raymond and Randal, haha. Asked him what sort of music he liked... I was expecting him to say "hip-hop," so I wasn't disappointed there. I was surprised when he said he occasionally listens to DEATH METAL, which I listen to a lot! (he brought up FUNK, which I'm cool with!) Jon, Harmony, and Steph noticed where I was sitting - of course, they all had to give me a LOOK, so I shook my head at them. (I could have given them the NG FIST, but decided not to - that would have been too obvious, haha) Saw Vicky just behind me, so I alerted Jeremy to her presence so he could give her the VISA pin.

After service, we asked Dave about his new job - a bike messenger for Kin's Farm market? Cool stuff! We had NO idea that they had franchises in Chilliwack and Maple Ridge! He opined that they needed more English-speaking staff as opposed to hiring just Asians, especially at the Oakridge location... I can understand that! He said hey to Josiah, and then was talking to an older lady whom I assumed was his mother - I dunno. I was disappointed to find out that there was no coffee, but said hi to Adam and Andrew. Talked about essays, term papers, school, summer, and more. Teased Hien about Kenny getting mushy on Facebook, and she said that she had some pain - yikes! Said hi to baby Mattias, who had been a distraction during service, heh. He pointed to my dried pita chip, so I gave it to him in full view of his mother - he just wanted the food, haha. Then he toddled around, probably just seeing legs as Dianne said - she tried saying hi to him, but was rejected in favor of the pita bread chip. Speaking of legs, Steph was telling Angus about her thick calves - they're like Melia's, he says. He also said that he and Melia were now a family for some reason, after they got married - I guess so...

Steph wanted to know what I was doing for lunch - at least she has sense, and doesn't automatically think I'd be going with the parents! I had no idea, so she asked others. She and Jon had planned to sing HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Harmony, along with teasing about her age: Jon called 35, Steph called 40, and I called 50. A bunch of people joined in with the singing, and I made sure to keep away from Mr. Creep... does he HAVE to be here?! Ugh. Jeremy told me that CAPRICA was the prequel to BATTLESTAR GALACTICA - now, I get it! Talked to Chrystal about sushi and the gig, then realized that I should probably get upstairs. Was distracted by Joshua, Keenan, and Allison for a couple of minutes... once I got upstairs to toddler Sunday School, I saw Ramen / Shira / Amanda / Amos / Conor / Harrison / Jason.

Talked about drawing, chairs, fruit, rainbows, Chinese characters, Chinese names, writing names upside-down, lollipops, paper airplanes, donkeys, palm branches, felts running out of ink, buckets on heads, keeping things from the class material, and more. Accidentally yelled at Conor because Auntie Ying was trying to cut the stickers out of the craft book - whoops. Auntie Ying says that she has family coming in next week, so won't be here... as long as I have caffeine and good enough sleep, I should be okay even with Sunrise Service! This means I don't have to call her on Thursday - all to the good, heh. After that, I went downstairs and was too spontaneous (MUST TELL ERIC!) in accepting Wes and Dave's lunch invitation... I thought Dave had LEFT, man! Jon and Harmony weren't coming because of the Dine-In for students. I realized my mistake as soon as we got out of the parkade, but didn't think Wes had Eric's number. Wes, Dave, and I talked about good restaurants, quantity over quality some of the time, Hawker's, Vera's Burger Shack, interesting signs, Richie, and more.

We got to Hawkers, and found that it was closed! When Christon, Randal, Cindy, and Dianne came up to us, we told them what was up... I also asked Christon to do me a favor and call Eric to let him know that I was with them. (I apologized personally to Eric after lunch, and he just accepted it without saying a word... the OPPOSITE of certain other people, who would just go on and on and harp about it for weeks on end!) He did, and informed us that Eric would be around later. We settled on THE REEF for lunch, since Dave said it was reasonably priced. His family goes there sometimes since they cook this kind of stuff at home - Jamaica, Trinidad, the Caribbean? All good! I was surprised when Dave asked me what sort of music I liked, although I guess it made sense because I had asked him that earlier! Had to tell him that I wasn't really a hip-hop kind of person (D'OH!), but I did like my death metal... and he figured I liked rock for some reason. (I dunno why!) Told him that if he liked jazz, he should come with us to the Jazz Festival in the summer... he seemed to be down with that idea!

We talked about "painted-on jeans," plantain chips, johnnycakes (Dave asks and it appears with raspberry!), etymology, the Indian wedding that Dianne went to yesterday, Cindy and Dianne's brother Tony, the hot sauce (I didn't find it that spicy - I guess Dave learns about me too!), Richie's farewell, henna, Grace, email addresses, the summer Caribbean festival, Wikipedia, (not) getting Dianne's original email about the farewell, naps, shouting in your sleep, Kevin / Dylan, Cindy's stomach issues, people who generally went out for lunch with us, taps on the shoulder, goat curry, roti, Dave's new job, social networking, and more. Cindy will do her social networking in person or over the phone, and Dave told me that he had done it for his friends and family - makes sense. Dave said that he loved my hat since it had buttons on it... I thanked him, even awkwardly. Told Cindy that Moore's was the suit shop (I understood her!), and educated Dianne and Wes on the proper pronunciation of "tortilla" - it's SPANISH!

It was a good time... Dave didn't seem to mind that I sat by him and his stuff. He joked that he was my peon - I was joking with that comment! And no, I wasn't giggling later because Eric was carrying almost all my stuff save the postcard from the restaurant! Dave also joked that I should order all the food and he'd eat it... hahaha, I don't know about that! On the way home, Eric was bugging me about DW - aiya! He also wondered if I'd encountered my mother today... no, thank goodness. Seems he had when he was coming out of the audio-visual room... oh yes, I almost forgot about her Powerpoint duties. Yes, I fail at slamming his door! He wondered what I'd have said about DW had I got his name in the box exercise... I don't know! Also, he observed that I seemed to like people who were into hip-hop these days... SO UNFORTUNATE, haha. We'll see.

Ex EVERYWHERE in a dream! / Kiss Flavor

High-scoring word of the morning:

DENSIFY (128 points) - against Linda B. [2W, 4W] {a good deficit-erasing word!}

Interesting rack of the morning: TOOLMENU, against Itamar R.


Had a weird dream when I could get to sleep - somehow, Korey was around, and we had to beware of his popping up anywhere. His black face even popped up in seemingly innocuous things like video games! Eric tried getting him to LEAVE, but it wasn't happening. Instead, my friends and I watched TV to try distracting ourselves. We were about to write some tips down when my alarm kicked in... thank goodness! Next week is going to be even worse, oh man.

You Are a Strawberry-Banana Flavored Kiss

You are a sweet and soft kisser who doesn't ever like to kiss and tell. You are a bit reserved. For you, kissing is something extremely private. In fact, just taking this quiz probably makes you blush! You try not to overthink kissing. It's different with every person, and you just go with your intuition. Kissing means a lot to you, and you do take it pretty seriously. You wouldn't kiss just anyone.

What Flavor Are Your Kisses?

Blogthings: Waste Time at Work!

I HATE SPILLS! / Wax is gross! / The Engine and The End / Bread and fish

FUCK! I JUST SPILLED MOST OF MY CHIPS ON THE FLOOR! Good job, what with all the mice around here! I managed to clean up most of the mess except for crumbs I can't see. Ugh! This computer restarted while I was out, too. I WISH I WERE NORMAL! And LJ just accused me of being a bot because I "hit" the system too many times - WTF?!

While I was talking to Vanessa H. (whom I thought was Vanessa C. for a bit - I'm losing it!), John called me to say they were five minutes away. Good thing I took ten minutes beforehand to make sure I had everything! As soon as I got in the car, Sean and Ian informed me that they had eaten a lot of popcorn - wow! At one point, Ian ordered his brother to sleep so they wouldn't look so tired when we got to church... how cute! Later, he wanted his brother to give the popcorn container to him, but I told Sean to give it to me because I was going to put something in it. When I gave it back to them, it had their Cadbury Micro Eggs inside... Ian asked me what it was, so I asked him what he thought it was. "Candy?" would be absolutely correct, young sir! He asked me if they could eat it now, so I said no. Ada reminded them to thank me, haha. Said that my brother had a concert (they don't understand "gig") tonight - when I said his name was Jon, Ian said that it was the same as his dad. Slightly different spelling, and it's short for Jonathan, but it works!

At church, I said hi to Chrystal and Golden before helping with their stuff. David M.'s sons didn't really want to go in, but they kinda had to. Gave Esther HER Cadbury Micro Eggs, which she liked. It was a quiet week, and we have another break next Saturday because of Easter weekend. Said hi to Sabrina, whose boyfriend Chris wanted to know whether I got his email - yes, I did! He wants to have VBS for two weeks if they get enough people, and will arrange rides if that's the only issue for me. Of course I'll continue to think about it! Rachel and Kirsten came downstairs for coloring sheets, and I asked Rachel if her birthday was coming up - yes, and she'll be seven. Kirsten said that her birthday was lucky because it's on Halloween... NICE! Steven wanted something from us; after he was gone, I told Chrystal that my sister remembered him and Hilary being her Awana kids a LONG time ago!

After Awana, I said hi to Sean S. and Conor, who wanted my dinner - no, you can't have it! While we were at the stage, I decided to tell them that my brother used to know someone who ate crayons and birthday candles. They had a great "EWWWW!" reaction, so I decided to do it twice more. "Would you like to eat crayons? What about the wax in candles?" Talked to their mom Pauline for a little bit, too. Sean said that he used the Internet - when I asked him what he used it for, he said he used it for explosions! Oh my! He also told me that they didn't like to waste money... that's good! Amanda and Hannah's mom then said she was going to get me an Olympic mascot keychain because she could - okay, sure! Later, Jordan and Matthew were wondering whether they were really fat... maybe a little chunky, but not FAT! Matthew said that he knew a Gr. 4 person who was 91 pounds (he's in Gr. 4), and that normal weight was 75 pounds or 80. Hmm! Told John and Ada that I didn't need a ride home, which was fine.

Dad wondered if Auntie Ruby had told me something; she had, so he said that I needed to tell Auntie Anita something about the account - got it! Later, I finished eating my fajita parts, and said bye to William and Mary. On my way out, Dad tried convincing me to leave my bag at church overnight if I wasn't going to use it. Trust me... it has my drink and a book in it, plus I'd have to put my Sunday School stuff in it when I get home, so I definitely need it! Chrystal was outside waiting for her parents to pick her up, so I told her what he'd said. Sure, Dad cares... but it can be annoying sometimes! It's like "Don't ask me any questions - I know what I'm doing!" Busing to Holy Trinity was pretty easy, and I was there even earlier than I thought since a sign outside the building said the gig was at 8 instead of 7:30. Told one of Jon's bandmates (lead singer) that I was there for the concert - took in a bit of their practice. Harmony wondered if she had to pay - the consensus was "no" because she was helping at the door, but of course I did since it's what you do. She said that she'd been to Peter and Holly's housewarming party - their new place is near her parents, by Thompson Community Centre. Saw Jeremy, who decided that he'd come out to the gig and then rush to do his homework tomorrow after church. Dilys was there too - we all sat in a pew together, in fact.

Discussed the chapel's intimate feel, Anglican churches, the church being old (they have pictures of the rector in 1899 - and a female one as well!), whether Vicky comes to church on Sundays (Jeremy has her VISA pin stored in his jacket!), other shows the band's done, and more. Turns out Jon and one of his bandmates (bassist) got married the same day, haha. The Engine and The End had an opening act consisting of a guy singing songs on guitar - letter themes and more, oh my. Heck, he even had a song based on Proverbs' personification of Wisdom! Jon and his band came on, and it was pretty good blues / gospel / rock stuff! There was a bunch of banter, and a recital of Taylor Mali's poem on the importance of proofreading. Later, Dilys and I agreed that we'd have to try hard NOT to say the actual words instead of the wrong ones! It was a good gig, and I hoped the band made enough to cover the rental space and a bit of profit. One song required the audience to get up and clap / hold hands - I guess it's more fun for the band that way, haha. After peeing (which WAS a necessity), Dilys and I left to take transit together. Chatted about looking for a new place, dogs, Holy Week, Sunrise Service, not eating McDonalds, her not noticing my limp before (no ankle sprain - but CP), peeing when you could (especially before a trip home - NO BUYING THINGS!), live music, the Weakerthans, and more. I got home before 11, which was pretty good... got Grace's Evite, too.


Trivia fact for Sunday, Mar. 28: According to the New Testament, how many people did Jesus feed with five loaves of bread and two fishes? Five thousand, as recorded in Mark 6:38-44.