Henry filling in gaps, lice, colon, and elegance

As soon as I got up, I took a shower to assert my bathroom supremacy. After that, I called Henry to see if he were able to make it this week: he's very sorry, but his sister Teresa started a new job on Saturdays. They've been trying to find a nanny to look after Gwyneth and Evelyn for the past couple of months, but so far the ads in the paper hasn't been working, so he's had to fill in the gap - totally understandable! I told him that I could call Ada, and I'd see him around sometime! Once I did call Ada, her husband John answered the phone; yes, they can pick me up!

Teunis told me that gaming was cancelled because some kid has lice - EW! Thank goodness, although he now wants to get together with Kaili (of course) and Jordan. Well, as long as that helps... certainly better than gaming, that's for sure! Kaili apparently always wants to break Alicia's brain with jokes abut her and Jordan dating, which will never happen as he never will date anyone. Called Steph to see what she was doing - she was at Master Hong's with the lards; that's HER deal, not mine! Cindy sent us an email with some TMI health problems and other stuff which I didn't need to know... thank goodness I wasn't eating at the time, haha!


Edit as of 2:42 - Ada's not feeling too well, so I guess I'm staying home again. Yay for a summer break that's extended by three weeks!

You Think Independence is Elegant

You are very determined, but for you, that doesn't mean playing by the rules. You believe that there is a lot to still be discovered in this world, and you're hoping to find some of it. You are an easygoing person who feels very comfortable about others. You are extremely independent. You know what's best for you and your life.

The Elegance Test

Blogthings: A Fine Line Between Insight and Stupidity

Feeling safe with Jeremy!

Chinese Eric buzzed me on MSN because he just saw the riot news on TV, and hopes I'm okay - thank goodness I am, although I was nowhere near downtown on Wednesday! Nice that he's concerned, though! Then white Eric said he'd pick me up early for the ultimately boring / annoying missions panel discussion with Auntie Catherine / Wai-Mui / Randal. We did discuss venting, Mr. Creep, gas, my being "drunk," no playoff beard, and more on the way there. Once upstairs after talking to Amanda and Lanie, I was much chagrined to discover that Mr. Creep was indeed there - but I sat next to Jeremy, so that made things better! He discussed the riot aftermath and plywood walls with Raymond, while I said nothing as per protocol. After the program was over (with FAR too much input from Mr. Creep), I asked Jeremy whether he was going to the retreat; thank goodness he isn't!

Talked to Pastor Tom and the "different" woman Teresa about accents, Spanish, Texan being its own language where they smush everything together (like "y'all" and "all y'all"), the Dutch / English / Swedish in him, my PEANUTS vest, Snoopy being his imaginary friend when he was four, and some other stuff. Told Cindy that Game 5 last week had been way more important than Fellowship, haha. We discussed the riot aftermath and how some of Cindy's and Vivian's students had reacted. Eric made the elevator beep because he was waiting for Christon and Vivian to decide whether they wanted to use it - RUDE! On the way home, we discussed my supposedly being physically close to Mr. Creep (but I felt safe with Jeremy!), privacy, census work, leadership surveys on Father's Day, brunch, lunch, sports, and more.

At home, I didn't believe Teunis when he said it took him two hours to get home - and no, he had no right to tell me to go away and leave him alone. When I saw Sabrina's status about congestion everywhere just after 7, I definitely believed THAT, and thus believed Teunis. We also discussed thinking in French, stress, gum (I'm good as long as you aren't snapping / popping it or chewing it with your mouth open - like NORMAL), eggs, milk, yogurt, Chapman's cappuccino frozen yogurt, communication, and forgetting about onions. Also talked about gaming night (as opposed to GAME NIGHT), chocolate-covered doughnuts, odd cravings, coping, his not being in the mood for the frosty reception he got last night (still totally earned!), lime meringue pie, sausage, hot chocolate, and more. Then I got online and talked to James for a while, which is always good.

These frosty receptions are piling up... / Michelle's baby shower (dream) / Disney rides

Of course, Teunis earned himself another frosty reception since he tried excusing himself for not calling to let me know where he was before he got home at 11 last night. To be fair, he did try leaving me an online message at 9:30 referencing Kaili, OF COURSE... I wasn't in the mood. I guess he doesn't know that I can be VERY determined, haha. I let the video game music run as it had during the course of the evening; at least I didn't change the volume, so it was consistent even with the door open, and the rock music kinda covered it up anyway! (I figured he'd sleep eventually, and I slept at 1 AM...)

When I went to bed, I had a crazy dream where Pastor Fulton was really young, and was carrying around a baby Vernon. This does NOT make sense time-wise, trust me! We were all very gentle with the baby, and then were planning what to do for Michelle and Rosenda's baby shower the next day. Steph went around in a colorful boat, and wondered if we could just go in on a huge group gift. Crazy stuff! Got up to a message from Mike B. about the Hyperbole and a Half "A LOT" link, which also said that I should stop burning stuff in the name of figure skating - HA HA HA.

You Are It's a Small World

You are genuinely interested in others. There's nothing more fascinating than people. You are animated and full of life. You are very spirited and easy to read. You are spontaneous and likely to change course midstream. You live unpredictably. To know you is to love you. You have an amazingly big heart.

What Disneyworld Ride Are You?

Work is Hard. Time for Blogthings!

Word Facts for June 11-17, 2011

Word origin for the weekend of June 11-12, 2011: cui bono - Someone's been murdered. Who's the prime beneficiary of the will? That's the line of reasoning a savvy detective of the Monk / Columbo school might follow. Cui bono? is the lawyer's tag for it, meaning (in Latin) "Who benefits?" It's a good experience to ask yourself whenever something unexpected happens. The company is cutting jobs. Who makes out well?

Word origin for June 13, 2011: cutty sark - The name of the clipper ship of yore, and of the whiskey named after it, is a mildly dirty joke. In Scots English, a "cutty sark" is a short-cut shirt, namely an undershirt or other undergarment. In Robert Burns' poem "Tam O'Shanter," a young woman is wearing a "cutty sark" meant for a little girl. This causes the hero to cry out, transported, "Weel done, Cutty-Sark!" The phrase became well-known in Britain, and then the ship and drink called "undershirt" came to be.

Word origin for June 14, 2011: finest hour - When someone acts with uncommon value or merit, it is customary to praise that action as his or her "finest hour." The term owes to Winston Churchill. He coined the phrase to refer to the heroic actions of the pilots of the Royal Air Force who drove back wave after wave of German attack planes during the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940.

Word origin for June 15, 2011: staycation - It's a terrible thing - at least to some minds - when an economic downturn means that a vacation has to be spent inside one's home watching TV or catching up on chores. Many homebodies, however, like nothing better than spending vacation time in the comfort of one's castle. The portmanteau word "staycation" was coined for the phenomena in 2003, but it did not come into wide use until the recession that began in late 2007.

Word origin for June 16, 2011: fanboy - A "fan" is a fanatic, or so the word's origin tells us, zealous in his or her devotion to a particular idol or activity. The addition of "boy" adds a sense of servility. The term first turns up in the computer hacker culture in the late 1990s to refer to devotees of particular operating systems ("Mac fanboy," "Linux fanboy"), and is now a fixture in youthful slang.

Word origin for June 17, 2011: devastate - The word "devastate" does not relate to vastness, but instead to an old Latin word, vastus, that underlies our word "waste." To "devastate" an enemy country, by that model, is to turn it into a wasteland. The word was rare in English until the nineteenth century, when the advent of modern mechanized warfare made it ever more useful.

Cleaning up after the rioters / Father's Day cards and doughnuts / Friends

I'm glad that there are sane people who want to help clean up after the riot! Also, my subconscious apparently thinks I should get my sister to buy a Father's Day card and a card for Dad's birthday while going around an elevator-filled department store with doughnuts. WTF?

Your Friends See You as Relaxed

You strive for harmony and peace. You want other people to be happy and healthy. You are very sentimental and nostalgic. You have sweet and tender feelings about the past. You take an undemanding approach to life. Every good thing that comes your way is a blessing. You are serene and satisfied with your life. You're content, but not complacent.

How Do Your Friends See You?

Blogthings: A Fine Line Between Insight and Stupidity

This 4-0 Stanley Cup Game 7 loss and the subsequent riot are embarrassing, man!

Eric called at 4 to say he was leaving - fair enough! We discussed the traffic, reading, chickens in jerseys, and more on the way to Jeremy's. It turned out to be a 4-0 loss (Panago pizza / Raymond / chips / hummus / Uncle Hansel fortuitously forgetting about Bible Study and sports as a replacement idol / Lesley), which really hurt - we did watch the Conn Smythe trophy being awarded to Tim Thomas, and then the Stanley Cup being awarded to the Bruins, plus various interviews and handshaking. Then Christon got the idea to check various sites to see what was being said - of course the VPD was on Twitter and other places! We got a CTV live stream of rioting, violence, people taking the blue fences down / tear gas / smoke / riot police / people taking pictures of the fires around downtown and the parkades / looting the Bay and Sears / injuries / people jumping up and down on police cars and trucks which were set on fire, and Porta-Potties.

Jeremy figured we could go up to the fourth-floor balcony to see the smoke issuing from downtown; at least it was just one area, and not all over the city like in 1994. Eric and I just listened to News 1130 on the way home; more of the same, and no sympathy for them! Teunis was up when I got in, but not for much longer - says he'll set his alarm for 6 AM. OUCH! Caught up with stuff and talked to James briefly, too.

Potato pancakes with celery, unopened gum NOT having a scent, and weirdos

When I got up, Teunis and I discussed refrying the hearty potato pancakes with celery, GAME 7, "hiding," Cat / Serena / Andrew / Dieter, stress / trauma / Aspergers / triggers / chemicals / Extra sugar-free gum, gum's scent even from unopened packages (er... there ISN'T any?!), supertasters, pain, money, the storage locker, new places, no therapy, and more. Looks to be a busy day for him, definitely! Fielded a hello from James, but of course I was away from the computer then! Oh well... I'll talk to him later, for sure!

You Are Cheerful

You are flexible and spontaneous. You're willing to change your plans on a moment's notice. You are approachable and genuinely nice. You are the friendly face in the room. You are a rule breaker. You don't pay attention to the rules, so you don't even know when you're breaking them. You are bright and capable. You are intelligent enough to master almost any subject.

The Weirdo Test

Blogthings: Free Quizzes for Everyone

Rona / Zellers / Eric's superstition better not come true for Game 7, man!

Teunis and I discussed guns, control, red bean soup, assumptions, violence, ICBC, communication, drugs in sports, sourdough pancakes, laws, and more prior to his leaving for an appointment. I tried calling Eric, but he wasn't home. When Teunis got back, I played a bunch of Tetris stuff just because I was in my room; he didn't like that, I guess! Shortly afterwards, we went to Zellers in Lansdowne and Rona for food bins / tubs / screws / vacuum belts - discussed $2 laundry detergent, police cars, intimidation, looking for new places, WOW, UBC, toilet paper, wireless routers, Weird Al, EVE ONLINE / Sony getting hacked, 4chan, mouse protection, disruptions, Russians, pricing being too expensive, awkwardness, habits, childhood conditioning, green beans, potato pancakes with corned beef, and more. It was a better outing than I thought, and he says everything will work out in the end, so that's good.

Got home to find that Mom wanted my presence at a Father's Day lunch held at Tsui Woo... *sigh* Then I saw that Eric had called me back, so I asked him about tomorrow at Jeremy's. I know his superstition comes into play when he says that every time he's watched the game with the same group of people, they end up losing, but eventually he said he'd go. Called Jeremy to inform him of this; yes, it's a good idea to order the pizza early since they'll likely be busy! Discovered that William C. had added me back on Facebook - haha, nice!

Zellers and hardware run, possibly / James and venting / Motivation

Teunis and I discussed weather, gum NOT filling your stomach, Fort St. John, knowing how to adapt to ice, Zellers boxes, screws at the hardware store, extreme solutions, Vim, Alex, Amber, sushi, rocks, complicated stuff, my bedroom door being unstable, airflow, happiness, abandonment, and more prior to my bedtime. For some reason, I think this reminds me of three years ago, but it's not the same! Seriously - one thing is that he doesn't BANISH me. He may be strange when it comes to other things, but at least it isn't that. *sigh* At least I got to talk to James this morning about a bunch of stuff like venting and basketball, so that's good.

You Are Motivated By Purpose

You are optimistic about the days and years to come. You think things are getting better and better. You are a visionary. You are a dreamer, but your dreams are less crazy than they seem. You may not show it easily, but you have a lot of compassion in your heart for others. You care about the world. You are philosophical and idealistic. You aren't willing to compromise on what's important.

What Motivates You?

Work is Hard. Time for Blogthings!

A 5-2 loss in Game 6 forces a Game 7 at home - WE CAN DO IT! / GUM IS GOOD

The beet green salad Jeremy made - it's kind of ironic that he had to get it from BOSTON.com, though! We also had borscht, bread, hummus, snacks, and more!

Kevin, Raymond, two of his Bible Study Fellowship friends (Simon and Wilson), Christon, Deb, and Dylan showed up at Jeremy's after I got there... and we got Nathan on Skype, too! (I talked to a bunch of people about the Canucks!) I went to Richmond Centre and Kingsgate Mall beforehand to get Crispers, Smart Food chips, Dove cucumber / green tea shampoo, and Dove conditioner (all on sale) - also returned a shampoo because I accidentally grabbed that instead of conditioner! I was civil to Raymond, and he answered a couple of my general questions, so at least that's good. The game turned out to be a 5-2 loss (but Henrik Sedin had one!), and we agreed that we wouldn't want to be downtown on Wednesday no matter what the result of Game 7 is!

Jeremy heard the police helicopters overhead, and went out on the balcony to report that downtown was pretty quiet after the 4-0 lead and pulling Luongo in favor of Cory Schneider after 3-0. We discussed the bad (shaved) ice and reffing, Mark Messier, the "12 past Luongo" thing, the Bruins fans razzing Luongo, Mason Raymond getting injured twenty seconds into the game and being sent to hospital, Teunis and his bogus percentages, Mike Gillis being REALLY red, CBC playing the same ad twice in a row, spicy Jamaican chips and ginger beer, ordering food for Wednesday, grass jelly drinks, police pouring out alcohol / the 4 PM liquor store closures, timeouts, the fighting, Dylan and Deb giving me a ride home, and more. Got home after discussing New York, baseball, summer, and more with Dylan and Deb, only to find Teunis going out. When he got back, we discussed gum / leaving / the past - yeah, I don't get it. At least Chinese Eric got on MSN to make the evening sweeter, haha. (also learned that Daniel and Michelle are expecting)

No hockey complaints, so Jeremy's it is! / Naming your kids with the same name / 1225 and 1559

Called Jeremy (who was out shopping for food at 10:20) to let him know that I was indeed going tonight, because I will BREAK SOMETHING if I have to hear one more complaint about how hockey coverage is stressful / disruptive / more along the same lines, haha. He says there are a bunch of Maybes, but Raymond / Kevin / Christon are definitely coming. As long as I show up in the afternoon after buying some chips, this should be fine! (Enoch may come, too) Also called Steph to see what was going on with her; things are okay with both of them, so that's good. Concessions when you live with someone, indeed so! When Teunis finally got up, we discussed fundraisers and Barack Obama / the Word of the Day / friending / unfriending / Sony / porn / rush-hour traffic / allergies / Chinese traditional family names / naming all your kids the same name.

The Oxford English Dictionary has the first citation for the word "friend" as a verb from the year 1225. In fact, 'to friend' has an older pedigree than 'to befriend' (1559). A similar pattern emerges for the undoing part, unfriend (1659) vs. unbefriend (1884).

Naps, another frosty reception, not caring, no complaints ever, and self-consciousness

Had a nap in the afternoon yesterday, which was much-needed. Turns out Steph is going to Rogers Arena with Dad for the viewing party, which is what she said when I called her - sigh. Teunis got home at 10:30, so of course that guaranteed him a frosty reception (dinner with his younger brother or not - SOME MEN never say stuff when they'll be late!), although I did thank him for setting up the shelves. Then he wondered what was up when I cut off the Rock 101 streaming to play a dramatic breakup Youtube video that Elaine posted (he thought it was bad?!) - hey, it was certainly funny!

I was actually enjoying the solitude, too! We talked about Jordan's gaming characters / reality vs. fantasy / Andrew / Teresa and her kids Caitlin and Roland being into MINECRAFT / the bitch Jasmine and her ex Dave / a certain misogynistic person named Mickey G that Krista used to know who REALLY hated women / Robin being loud (I don't care) / communication / weight-lifting before bedtime, heh. I'm probably going to go to Jeremy's for the hockey game, just so I don't have to hear complaining about hockey / the ranting / the "endless" coverage from someone who has NO IDEA how IMPORTANT this game or hockey in general is! No, I'm NOT letting him win - but I'd rather be with knowledgeable friends!

You Are Somewhat Self-Conscious

You look inward without being self-absorbed about it. You believe it's important to know yourself. You are positive, optimistic, and downright sanguine. You see the world through rose-colored glasses. You can dig deep. You are amazingly resourceful and resilient when you need to be. Like everyone else, you have your fair share of self-doubts. You try to rise above questioning yourself too much.

How Self-Conscious Are You?

Blogthings: A Fine Line Between Insight and Stupidity

Erin, Ben, Ketchikan keychains, Andrea, Cory, bugs, cards, and Chinese Eric

When Eric picked me up, I explained that I had to change shirts because it felt like an AC/DC kind of morning - I'm sure there's a devil on it, but I care not! We talked about Dave Wong, bullshit, signs, Colorado, venting, robots, Chinese Eric, men, the ACTUAL percentage of people interested in hockey (I KNEW IT WAS 65-70%!!!), grace in friendship, worship practice, being "late," emails, complicated stuff, being on the verge of telling people to get over some things, and more on the way to church. When we got there, I talked to Nina / Emily / Gerard about hockey / the TruthScripts (they'd beaten Mike K. to it!) / other things while trying hard NOT to look behind them since Mr. Creep was there! I got back to my seat and talked to Nathan W. briefly about his cold and morning ritual of coughing and sneezing - doesn't sound like fun! Said hi to Jeremy (while noticing Randal was in the other section of pews - also noticed Connie, Connor, Megan, and Winnie) and wondered what he was doing for the game tomorrow: homemade food sounds good, especially if he has the day off anyhow!

After service, I asked Eric what he was doing tomorrow - he's been invited to another party at Alistair's, so BOO to that! I let Jeremy know about that before leaving and saying hi to Grandma, who doesn't remember that I was indeed at lunch last week! I saw ERIN AND BEN in the fellowship hall (as well as her cousin Jason), so of COURSE had to talk to them! (Mexico, community centres, leaving on Saturday, and more) Of course, I spent time with the little kids and babies: Stanley was right when he said that the cool kids hung out at the bench, haha! Mattias tried getting his little brother Marcus to not put his hands in his mouth, even when Karen I. said that it was okay! Nicholas, Connor, and another kid were checking out the bugs on the concrete bench outside; Megan came over later to do the same thing, but had a bigger one. Cameron tripped while running, so cried for a bit. Cory just ran around with the rest of them, haha.

I talked to Chrystal, who said that they'd missed me yesterday; no doubt, but Henry couldn't make it, and the week before had been the hockey game! She's up for meeting next week, so we'll figure something out! Auntie May gave me a Ketchikan keychain because I liked reading - that was thoughtful, so I thanked her later. Andrea gave me a wedding thank-you card; of course we hugged goodbye! Finally saw Jon and Harmony (my parents had been looking for them earlier), so I at least got Jon to sign the cards while he was talking to Christon about Cindy's situation. By the time Sunday School started, the "different" woman Teresa asked us where she should sit - anywhere, we told her! I went upstairs to Toddler Sunday School after saying hi to Victor - Joyce, Cordia, Quan, and someone else waved to me, haha. Saw Jessie, Rachel's grandma, Alexis, Ada, two new kids named Naomi and Natalie, Ramen, Shira (I had to scold her for making a mess of the pencil crayons - she cried, but forgave me later), Esther, David, Evelyn, and Ashley there. Helped them with drawing, crackers, toys, watermelon, stickers, and more. Later, I said hi to Rachel and Jonathan.

Went downstairs, where Eric tapped me on the shoulder - I had to let out a scared noise when I saw that I was right next to Mr. Creep! I immediately hightailed it to the area below the stairs where I saw Ivan, Eric T., David Ho, and others. Luckily, I saw Harmony passing by - of course I got her to sign the cards too! Yes, I do realize they still have the engagement card! On the way home after I'd waved hi to Hien, Eric and I discussed his alternate plans / busing / census work / getting gas / "in person" / being friendly / time / Manny Malhotra / my sunglasses / PORTAL 2 / STARCRAFT / MORROWIND / ZELDA (the Windwaker?) / FINAL FANTASY / Friday / Missions panel not being "fish and chips." When I got home, I discovered that Teunis had indeed set up those wooden shelves as I'd requested - NICE! At least I don't have mice-eaten wood anymore! I also called Chinese Eric, but got his mom on the phone - he was sleeping because of the medicine. Also talked to her about his surgery last month, but that's fine - I wanted to know, after all.

Manny Ramirez, James, NON-RUSH, and my architectural style

After discussing smells and such with Teunis yesterday afternoon before he left, I called Henry to see whether he could make it to Awana, since it was then 3:45. He couldn't, which meant that I didn't have to rush myself earlier! UGH! I heard that Manny Ramirez retired from baseball rather than face a 100-game suspension for a positive drug test, too. (yes, I know this is old news...) Also talked to James on YM, which is always a treat!

Went to sleep and had that nightmare about Matt Good postcards, "Spike and Harmony," stacks of newspapers from a blond-haired woman in a white truck, and being on of three people shackled to my mom / two pastors in a grey conference room setting, "Insects mate in the walls, and of COURSE I'm the only person who knows it!" said Mom; then she saw a news story about a Swedish skier gone missing in the mountains, and prayed with everyone else except me and my fellow captives. YIKES!

Also, why in the hell isn't LJ working properly? Thank goodness for Semagic! Chinese Eric also sent me an offline "hello..." message at 2:35 AM. What in the heck are you doing up, man?! Haha, I'm sure I'll talk to him later, though!

You Are Baroque

You have a strong personality. You are who you are, and you're darn proud of it. You are quite guarded. You feel reluctant to reveal your true self to others. You think on a whole other plane. You see patterns and logic where others see chaos. You are comfortable with theories. Abstract ideas and concepts delight you.

Which Architectural Style Are You?

Blogthings: Quizzes and Tests and Memes, Oh My!