This is cool

Why is ice slippery?

[Ganked off Metafilter]

Ass anchor

Ass to couch because of the Olympics again. Another funny name, not as fantastic as OHNO! but still good for a giggle: Finnish mens hockey goaltender, Antero Niittymaki. Except that on the back of his jersey (normally rumpled), NIITTYMAKI looks like NUTTYMAKI. Hah. Hah ha....

Hey, it's a slow reading week. Stuck at home with nothing but my homework & a toaster. You'd be bored too.

Liane -- [adjective]: Tastes like fried chicken 'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Olympic Names

Since my laptop is setup directly across the room from the TV, I'm finding it hard to resist having background Olympic commentary as I work; figure skating music is especially conductive to procrastination from my 499 project. But since the CBC is pretty much broadcasting Olympic coverage 24/7 on four different channels, I'm hearing a lot of names being repeated until they've become ingrained in my consciousness.

There are the pretty sounding ones:
Sylke Otto
Fu Tianyu
Anouk Leblanc-Boucher (looks awkward, but rolls off the tongue with Quebecois magic)


...the cute sounding ones:
Yang Yang
Jeff Buttle
Becky Scott
Daisuke Takahashi ("Daisuke daisuki!" Bwa I made a funny)
Joey Cheek

...and the frankly hilarious sounding ones:
Apolo Anton Ohno (Impossible to say Ohno without pronouncing it "Oh no". Or more accurately, "OH NOOO!!!!")

Hic! Kill me. Hic! Kill me.

There is no hell quite like having reoccuring hiccups for an entire day. They attack like ninja, they fade out without you noticing. Then leap back into existence with a vengeance,just when you realize they've gone away. I think my diaphragm is making a bid for freedom.

(Hic.)
(Hic.)
(Hic.)

A most excellent day

Had an unusually pleasant day today.

Booked an appointment to have my grad photos taken, mostly because my parents & grandmother wanted them, but also because in my last school photo, taken in OAC, I looked like a frantic monkey boy. Problematic because a) am a girl, b) am not a monkey and c) grandma keeps this embarrassingly horrific photo in her wallet. Am happy to occupy such an exalted position in her wallet & her hierarchy of the "goodness" of her grandchildren, but would like picture to at least look like myself. But they turned out okay, and the photographer was a nice old guy who chit-chatted very nicely and told about his (obselete) electrical systems knowledge.

Also, forced my hair into a manageable state for the pictures. It was shiny and swingy, so I felt pretty even if I looked like a troll. Watched an episode of Full House (k-drama); utterly silly plot setup, but it's amusing because the interaction between the two leads is so funny (plus they make lots of faces).

Stopped at Shopper's on the way back, bought nice discounted aloe-scented St. Ives hand cream. The smell of aloe gives me warm fuzzy feelings because I'd bought a small tube of it in Hong Kong last Christmas, which was the best trip ever. Also, got bag of Smartfood as fuel for working on my 499 project.

Went to class (CISC 466 - Algorithms II), learned about linear programming (which isn't really programming, and is less linear than a ball of tangled yarn). All was fine until prof announced he hadour marked tests to return, the test being the one that I thought I had bombed. Turns out I did much better than I had thought, so I pretty much bounced out of Nicol Hall. Huzzah for flukes!

Watched some Olympics when I got home, ate my Smartfood & remnant almonds from trip to Tara's, had some yummy leftover Beef Hutsput for lunch and a mug of tea. Had yummy veg stir-fry for dinner. Mmm...food IS heaven.

So in spite of vague worries about certain things, all in all, a very good day.

Josie Grossie

- 1 to 2 eggs, beaten
- bowl of rice-based sustenance (rice, udon, etc.)
- soy sauce

Heat frypan with some oil. Dump egg into rice/udon, mix that bitch. Fry the whole mess together until egg is cooked. Feel free to attack with spatula as it cooks. Add some soy sauce 'n' fry somemore. Turn off heat, scoop into cheerful duck-printed bowl (or stolen cafeteria bowl). Procure chopstix.

Eat something green and healthy to satisfy nutritional conscience.

Yum.

As promised

...daily post number two. Nothing to say, except a graphic illustration of my eggplant knees from two weeks ago:



It actually got much more colourful and pronounced in a few days, but much less painful. Pacman's mouth was the most ow-ey but was freakishly colourless for the entire healing period. Gleefully kept housemates posted on Pacman's condition by whipping out my knee at the slightest provocation.

Bento/Wnd: (wanders into kitchen)
Moi: (eating Skyflakes at table)
Housemate: (glance)
Yours truly: (snaps to attention) "Look look look! Look at my bruise! PURPLE! Looky!"
Digusted Housemate: (exclamation of revulsion)
...
Disgusted Housemate: (closer inspection)
Disgusted Housemate: (disbelieving fascination)
Me me me: (erupting with smugness)

They were understandably repulsed, but apparently just interested enough to inform others of Pacman's many shades:

Laurena: (newly arrived for a visit from Toronto, just walked in the door)
Me: "Heyo, how was your trip?"
L: "Not bad. How's the bruise?"
Me: (speechless at Pacman's fame)

...and now I can't believe I wrote about a bruised knee for ten minutes. But it really was quite remarkable.

Eeee! Kitties!

Derek Kirk Kim has started a new comic: Healing Hands, Part I.

Okay, so I'm trying to post daily for...the next month or so. Already forgot once (yesterday), so will post twice today to make up for it. Blogging credit. Like the accounting method of amortized analysis. Hick. Argh.

Olympic Fever

Every time this thing happens I get overly excited and can't wait for it to start. Even though I couldn't actually be more remote from the whole event (not even in Europe, don't ski, don't skate, don't wear skintight jumpsuits or sequined bits of flesh-coloured polyester), I'm eagerly anticipating the opening cermonies in Turin. Partly because I like the spectacle, partly to see what Team Canada is wearing, and partly because it's quite thrilling to see the international (sporting) community in a peaceful setting. One could argue that it's overly sentimental and expensive and look at Munich and Atlanta and can't you see that the whole world is shot to hell so it's all a sham...but I can't help but feel warm and fuzzy when the Olympic flame is lit. And it can't hurt to hope. So here's to a harmonious and amicable Winter Games.

Except in hockey, of course. And curling. Go and show the world what a poutine-laced diet and steady intake of maple-sugar candy can do!

Another issue is the gendering of the Turin mascots, Neve and Gliz. Why is Gliz so stocky? Why is Neve so curvy? Are they a couple? Is Gliz really such a blockhead? Gliz has the perfect build for a hockey player, but with such bulbous limbs and high centre of gravity, Neve would be virtually useless at any sport. And what will we do about their dental problems?

Shopping with Ah-poh



This is my grandmother.

She is 85 years old. She goes swimming on a regular basis and takes daily strolls for her constitution. She braves Canadian winter temperatures and the TTC subway system to walk about town. She knows Chinatown like the back of her hand. She does laundry like you wouldn't believe.

She survived orphanhood in Hainan and a childhood full of sorrow. She doesn't like to talk of her life before marriage.

She was married when she was 19. She had seven children; she has outlived two of them, as well as her husband. She has eight grandchildren and one great-grandson.

She has lived in China, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Toronto. She has visited England, Russia, Prague, Japan, South Korea and more. She doesn't speak English but she has ridden a camel.

She cooks like the devil, banters like a pro and likes to watch The Price is Right.

She's awesome.

Things I Like

...fuzzy hardcover books
...people watching on Princess Street
...sweet piano music
...the smiling efficiency of the Timmy's ladies at the JDUC
...portmanteau words (labradoodle, complastered)
...dinner
...sudden downpours & hot tea
...finishing projects
...goofing around with Bento & Wnd
...dai pai dong food

Ooo! Me mozzie bites!

Didn't mean to take a 2.5 month hiatus, but I swear to be more of a faithful blogger in the future. Summary of the past few months:

Christmas Break 2005: returned home to find that my parents had very thoughtfully turned the heat off before they left for Cuba four days earlier. Camped out for two days in the family room, rolled in blankets on the floor in front of the fireplace, watching DVD's of dubious legitimacy and eating scores of Doug muffins (fried egg, mayo, cheddar & a toasted english muffin), until the house warmed up. Knitted five scarves. Met up with Gen, Jen & Tiff in Etobicoke for dumpling dinner. Watched March of the Penguins four times in three weeks. Met cousin's new baby: a doughlike, sluggy baby -- very cute and bubbly.

BEWICS 2006 & eggplant knees: after the annual weird sports tournie, ended up with traditional stiff muscles & bruised knees after playing broomball for two days. Most of the damage was on my left knee, about 4 inches in diameter, with varying shades of yellow & purple & blue. Quite artistic in the beginning, but later morphed into a technicolour Pacman.

Long Way Round: Bento & I are now raging fans of this series (Charley Boorman & Ewan McGregor go round the world on motorcycles). Hilarious British-isms (mozzies = mosquitos), man-hugs, cultural revelations ("Mafia. Grosse mafia."), and pot holes the size of a swimming pools. Whee! Need to find the book now.

EatDrinkBreath Flash: starting this semester, have committed myself to learning how to use Macromedia Flash for my undergraduate project. I've been feeling like a computing lightweight because compared to some other possibly project topics (analysing Enron emails to detect deception, incredible biomedical applications, etc.) mine is fairly fluff. But it's truly challenging & interesting for me because I've never used it & it's a totally different programming paradigm (ooo erudite & shit). Plus my supervisor seems satisfied with what I've done so far, so there.

...I truly don't remember what else happened in that interval. Wuzzle.