So my sister and I were in Toronto the past 4 days (she, the past 5). She had to go to the US Consulate to get her official working visa, so we decided to make a trip of it. And make a trip of it we did! We did a lot of the touristy stuff, but we also did a lot of the things most locals would do - free concerts, festivals, and such. Let’s see, here’s a log of our days:

Thursday:
We went to the Harbourfront Centre, did souvenir surveying (we still had money then, and didn’t realize how expensive a city Toronto was), and ate at one of the lake side restaurants. After dinner, we were told of a free dance and ballet show that night. So, we checked that out and watched for a little bit, of what we can see above other people’s heads. On the way back to the hotel, we didn’t have enough change, and we didn’t want to get tokens from the subway station (too many steps down and up), so we walked what felt like about 100 blocks to the hotel. 10 minutes after laying down, both of us were gone.

Friday:
We checked out Old Town and Buskerfest. We saw pretty funny street performers and split a yummy peameal sandwich. Those things are huge! Amazingly enough though, nobody was selling ice cream. At a festival! That’s got to be unheard of. Oh yeah, we also got a couple of scarves each - our only purchases in Toronto. After the festival, we went to the embassy to take care of my sister’s business, and then had dinner at the CN Tower. The food was expensive, but good, and because the restaurant was revolving (360 view of the city), it was well worth it. That night, we went back to the HarbourFront to go salsa dancing (free concert). We learned later that the salsa band was playing on Saturday. We did stay for a very lovely concert by Melanie Durrant. Although we knew none of her songs, we both thoroughly enjoyed her song, Housework. I can’t find lyrics of that song, so, you’ll have to take my word that it’s pretty funny.

Saturday:
We went to Casa Loma to do major touristy junk. After that, we got so tired out that we decided to go back to the hotel and take a nap. Now, normally, this would make me feel bad because I’d feel like I’m wasting time. But we’ve been incredible with making the most of our time there that it didn’t matter that we rested for a little while. So, after going to church, we headed back to the HarbourFront for the concert. It was cold and drizzling, but it was still loads of fun. At some point, everyone watching got up and started dancing. Fun times.

Best part of the trip was just bonding with my sister and goofing around. Finally, no more sad talk of failed relationships, just fun stories, attempts at picture-taking, and, talk of future adopted babies.

It’s been a while since my last update. So many good things have been going on in the past couple of weeks that I just haven’t been able to keep up with it. As TB said in his blog, I’ve got a life. Sweet.

There’s no way I can now write about everything, so I’m gonna do it bullet style, just so I don’t forget things.

- Last weekend, my mom arrived at NYC from the Philippines for her 2-month visit in the States. I came down for the weekend and we saw Mamma Mia. The whole weekend would’ve been nice, but it was so hot and NYC is always exhausting with the marathon walking amidst a constant throng of people. It was nice nonetheless and I got a whole new wardrobe from my mom - because she “can’t have both her daughters turn out as nuns”.
- Monday afternoon, Andy and I started with our afternoon bike rides. We went with my regular Wheelock to Ashuelot park trail and continued down the Keene bike trails all the way to the office complex. The highlight of the ride was getting money from a drive through ATM while we were on our bikes. I wish I had my camera then.

- Tuesday at lunch we played Frisbee. In the afternoon, the younguns in the controller team went up Mt. Monadnock with Glenn’s and Els’s friends. This was my 5th time, and I think that might’ve been my favorite trail so far too.

- Wednesday, Andy and I tried biking uphill, but it was too much to ask of our legs after Tuesday, but we went around the cemetery a few times at least. That night, we headed over to Kim’s surprise birthday party at their place. It was fun, everyone had a blast. We headed home around 11. Andy and I had carpooled, so we got back to my apartment parking lot and said good bye. I noticed my phone (which I left in the car) had 9 missed calls from TB. So after saying goodbye to Andy and seeing myself in the door, I called TB up, worried that something wrong might’ve happened, similar to when he had that accident in Connecticut. When I talked to him, he didn’t want to tell me what was wrong, so I got a bit upset at him. The next thing I know, he calls my apartment and asked me to open the door. He had been waiting outside for a little over an hour! So I greet him outside, help him get his things, scold him a little for not telling me, and let him in. This whole time, my neighbor was outside reading. So he saw me say goodbye to Andy and hello to TB. He must think I’m a big sk^nk. Sweet.

- Thursday, TB came out to meet me and my co-workers for lunch where he fit right in. In the afternoon, we went out to Kimball’s for a lobster roll and ice cream. That night, we went to McCue’s for Kim’s actual birthday celebration. It was a lot of fun and I had a few lucky shots. I think my team won in only 1 game.

- Friday, TB went down to Boston and he texted around 4:30 saying he was back in the apartment. I couldn’t get out of work until 5:30, so by the time I got home, I was already very tired. He had my keys, so I was locked out. I called 2x to let him know I was on my way and to open the door for me. No freaking answer. I had no way to go inside the apartment. Fortunately, there was someone coming out of the building, so I was able to come in. Then, lo and behold, there was Lyds at the door! Woo! Another surprise!!! I honestly thought I was going to faint. Too much excitement! That night we went to Andy’s and Andrew’s - the Polish sauna according to TB and Lyds. We had amazing food (pierogies, glumkies and coffee cake), heard the usual funnies from Glenn, and did some nerdy geek bashing (Monopoloy .COM he was asking for it).

- Saturday, we went to Lydia’s and Daisy’s for BBQ. Good salmon, veggies, udon salad, and popsicles. Mmm, yummy! Shortly after, we left Grandma Daisy who had to go to bed, and went to Pat’s Money Pit for the party. Nice house, goofy pictures, funny Greg. It was a good party.

- Sunday was spent on dimsum, frames shopping and driving back to NH. Oh, and Cranium, of course. Poor Lyds couldn’t join us. She was too tired and had to leave for NY. TB and I watched Napoleon Dynamite while eating pizza from Pizza Pi.

- Monday, TB left for VA badly missed.

And the end. This past weekend was good too, but this is long enough. I’ll post pictures up soon, I promise!

I am on a roll tonight. While I was in the shower, while I was playin the piano, while I was typing the previous posts, blog posts kept popping up in my head. I’m trying to keep up, but I’m not even going to come close. Sorry guys, you don’t have to read the last two - they’re mostly for me.

For this post, I was going to explain why I had censored my blog and put down one post soon after it was written. Sorry Lyds, your comment went down with it. I had written about how I felt used by two of my friends and how I hate righteous people (referring to one of my friends) who end up doing what they preach against. I was a little upset when I wrote that. And in my writing about them, I had become just the kind of people I hate. I had become self-righteous and judgemental. It gave me the shivers when I realized it. So naturally, I didn’t want to keep a record of it in my own freaking blog.

But now, I’m still struggling with keeping my mouth shut about it. So, here’s the deal, if you’re voluntarily doing something wrong, and you know you’re doing something wrong, and you want to keep it secret, don’t tell me because I have a very hard time keeping my mouth shut about those things. But I think that in this case, I’m just wanting someone else to understand where I’m coming from so that I’ll know that it was valid for me to feel upset about it. But since I realized that (last night), I haven’t brought it up at all. Oh well. I think I should be able to keep it up. What can I say, I’m still a work in progress. Lots of room for improvement. The next time I get self-righteous again, punch me in the face.

At lunch today, 2 of our boys were talking about marriage and relationships. It was funny to hear what they had to say, because the way they look at some things is so very different from the way I look at them. I was going to say “we look” for girls (hence the title), but I think I’m a little weird too, so I won’t generalize.

One of the things they were saying was how surprising the importance of your partner’s intelligence is as it affects the way they act, the way they converse, etc. It was as if they had realized that not too long ago, and they previously did not know it. Glenn even said that his ex-wife wasn’t very intelligent, which played a part in their marriage not working out I guess.

While they were talking, I was thinking that in contrast, intelligence is way up there in my priorities. The guy has to be more intelligent than me, or there would be no respect otherwise. You’d think it’s not that hard because I’m not that smart, but it is. Looks don’t matter as much, although attraction still does. In fact, if he’s good looking, that’s almost a turn-off. I’m not all that particular about my looks, so if he is, I know I’ll never be able to keep up. Whenever I try putting makeup on, I end up looking like a hooker. Bah, I’m talking about myself again. Back to the point…

So the differences in opinions were quite fascinating. I didn’t contribute to the conversation, but it was pretty interesting to listen to. I do agree with something Dave said though. Love is the only reason to get married. Of course, that came out of a just-married man.

I spent the afternoon doing my stuff, for me. It wasn’t the plan, and I was thinking of going out that night, but ended up by myself, at home, which actually turned out pretty well. No TV, mind you. That’s pretty impressive.

I’ll try to do this chronologically, to make more sense. This afternoon, I went out with the marketing people to celebrate the company’s new website. I was part of the celebration because I’m part of the photo on the home page. It’s been heavily edited so that it doesn’t even look like me, but at least I gave them a foundation with which to start. Anyway, I only knew 1/3 of the people there, so that filled up my quota for socializing. I usually have to force myself to be social, and to come out of my comfort zone, so if I attend parties like that and make an effort to converse, that’s an accomplishment for me. So that made me feel a little good about myself, so after I got back home, I went for a bike ride.

I did my usual route, but did a little exploring once I got to the half-way point at the Ashuelot river park. I tried going on the trail on the other side of the river because I saw someone on it while we were kayaking last Sunday. I had already tried that before, but was too nervous to continue because I still wasn’t very steady on my bike. Well, I think I’ve already improved quite a bit, because it didn’t seem hard at all this time. It was a bit narrow and had a nasty overgrowth. I got a small cut on my arm and leg that I will proudly show off tomorrow at work. I even saw a little wild rabbit - or at least that’s what it looked like. I was heading back on the usual trail, I did a little more exploring, and saw this little private open grassy space right next to the river. It was very picturesque. There are a few more trails that I haven’t tried yet, but I’ll wait for my future bike buddy before I try those. When I was near my apartment, I realized I wasn’t tired at all, so I kept biking around the cemetery, and up my street. By the time I stopped, I had been biking for 1.5 hours. Cool! I think I’m building up resistance. I should be near-ready to go on another bike ride with Mike M. Of course, that’s what I thought before too. I have to try Goose Pond again, just to make sure I’ve gotten even a little better.

When I got back to the apartment, I did a little catching up on my blog reading. I was feeling a bit dumb, and even got slightly disheartened at my mediocrity. But, after taking a shower, I decided to play my keyboards again. I had picked it up again after almost 2 years of not playing at all. In total since last week, I had probably practiced 3x - my old classical pieces as well as the few contemporary pieces I own. When I was playing, I was reminded of how personal it really is and how fulfilling it can be. I think that part of the reason why I don’t like playing in front of an audience is that I get too distracted with performing that I don’t get to express myself. There were quite a few times when I felt a pleasing ache right in my core when I did it just right and exactly the way I wanted it. For the past two years, I had only been getting that whenever I listen to Muse. Matthew Bellamy is a genius.

I didn’t want to be a jack of all trades when I was younger, but I think that’s what I’m turning out to be. I’m not really good at anything, but at least I can do a little of a lot of things. Now if only I can pick up my painting again. But I’m sure that’ll come in the winter. There’s no use forcing myself to do it.

I have to remind myself not to get frustrated right away. Everything takes time to learn, and I will, in my own pace, if I keep going at it. Last Tuesday, during frisbee, I caught my first jumping catch, with two other guys trying to get it. When I did get it, my boss actually said, (not verbatim, but something like), “Woah, how’d you catch that”? I can still remember the first few times I played frisbee and hiding behind Daisy when we were on offense, just so that nobody would make the mistake of throwing it to me. I’m nowhere near good, but I think it’s safe to say I’ve come a long way.

Patience is just not one of my virtues. But I’m working on it. It’ll take time.

I don’t know if that’s what you’d call it, but it was a fair that I went to, and it was definitely country. Think petting zoo (with goats, giraffes, llamas, and ponies), and hollywood racing pigs, and freak shows (world’s smallest woman and horse), and rides (with puke raining down). Needless to say, it was a lot of fun. I did miss the racing pigs though, and I was really, really looking forward to that. We got the $8 unlimited rides deal, which would’ve been sweet, had I not gotten dizzy after the 3rd ride. So, while on the ferris wheel, I almost threw up. I came oh, so very close. Yes, it was pathetic. I went to the fair with Andrew and Andy, Glenn and Lori, and a few of their other friends.

Yes, it was definitely country, but no, TB, I’m not turning into a hick just yet. My looks just don’t really translate to that. Besides, “I’m not listening to you, you’re stup*d”. [It's an inside joke, sorry guys, you had to be there, very funny.]

Oh yeah, going with the inside jokes, there’s an inside story I had about me almost-stalking. And TB went, “Did you google that person”? Not knowing the person’s name, I could not, but, I had been hearing so much about Andy’s blog from the people at work, so I thought, hey, I should google for that. And lo and behold, I found it. It wasn’t very hard. Too bad it’s not up to date. Check this out, TB, he made his own blogging software. Oh no, WordPress is apparently not good enough for this kid. So… I don’t know, he might’ve just beat you at geekiness. Of course, his blogger doesn’t support comments yet. Shameful. (That goes for you too, kf). Oh yeah, and he also wrote his own plugin for Gaim. Of course, we did PLAN on implementing a Mozilla feature, and that’s got to count for double. So… I’d say it’s a pretty close fight on that one.

Yay for geeks!!!

I’ll start with the good. I have a new friend here in Keene! (Yay to us, Lyds!) Here are his qualifications:
1. CS major
2. enjoys sarcasm
3. likes to eat
4. doesn’t have a lot of friends here in Keene
5. played Cranium with us last Sunday
… I can’t think of any more. Oh, he doesn’t have SMS, but he’s tried sending them online, so that’s good enough. He fits right in to the group! I love hanging out with fellow geeks who like to do stuff and who only party occasionally. (Lyds, I know you’re not an engineering major, but Daisy compensates for what you lack in geekiness.) I think I have more friends to hang out with here than I had in Boston! Most of everyone left after graduation. So Keene just seems to get better and better every day. Sweet. Of course, I am going to miss the Monday night exploratory dine outs (ala Steingarten) the Chows and Casey are planning on when they’re all in the Brookline/Allston area. They can do the experimenting and I can just get all the good stuff they find out about.

So, all’s good with the social life. Work life has taken a little dip though. It’s been a roller-coaster ride the past 2 months for me. It started with two teams working to get me into their teams, followed by me having to choose which one I prefer, finishing with both not being available to me anymore. Both had timing issues, which blows because I have nothing to do with it. So I’m back to square one. Oh well. I’ll just have to hope for a good review come October. I really can’t afford the increase in my rent, plus the unfactored car insurance (I paid for last year’s in full). I’m sure something will come up some time soon. I’ve always been lucky that way.

Lastly, if you feel the need to do something outdoorsy, and want to get that I-worked-out feeling, come up to Keene! Casey came up (again!), this time to go kayaking. I’m kidding, Casey, come up more often. I have that ache on my shoulders right now that feels so good when you stretch. *stretch* Aww yessss. Lyds, I’m still waiting for you to come up. I won’t hold my breath for you, Daisy, but next time you need to nurse a cut, you know who to call. TB, don’t worry, I won’t make you do outdoorsy stuff, but I’ll have to race you at the go-carts. Pat, and KF, I know you’ll make it here some time.*

*Note: That last paragraph was like a mass email. I’ve been a bit out of touch with the Chows, and I’m too lazy to start a group email, so I thought I’d do them both here. Weird for a post, but it works. There should be a better post coming up soon. Think pony-pulling and pig racing. Sweet.