winter holiday & 2007
for the first time in a very long time (ever?), my christmas holiday has involved more than just sitting around on my ass playing video games. granted, that's still been (and will be) a very big part of it, but i also had a great time with some friends.
i invited Adam, Anneka, Liz and Hingman to my family's house in Bridgenorth (just outside Peterborough) for a few days. we had a great time watching movies (~7 in total) and playing board games (risk & clue). there was some snow-related fun too. movies we watched: Stardust, LotR: Fellowship of the Ring, LotR: The Two Towers, Willy Wonka, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Fido, Howl's Moving Castle. I took some pictures, i'll put them up later.
i then followed hingman back to her parents' place in toronto where we celebrated the new year with Liz. by celebrated, i mean we sat around talking and just.. hung out. watched I Am Legend, too. it was my first time being away from my family for new year's eve, and by that i mean not being forced to go anywhere with them. it was liberating, relaxing, and much more enjoyable than those shitty banquet halls with crappy music playing so loud that you can't talk to the person next to you (like last year). i must say the start of this year is looking good.
i had to leave early the next morning since hingman's family had to go on a day trip. we left her place around 8:15 and got to the nearest subway entrance around 8:30. except it was closed. we assumed it would open at 9am and she dropped me off at the next nearest subway stop with some kind of enclosure above it (a small mall). in this small circular mall, there is a loblaws on the bottom floor and the balconies on all the floors look out on it. i stood on the ground floor (1 above loblaws) and stared in wonder at the well-lit still life below me. no people. just shelves and tables and baskets of food. the music i was listening to was very fitting, almost frighteningly so, and i stood there for 20 minutes just taking it in. then i had to poo, and off to the subway i went.
Downtown Toronto was a ghost town. 9:15am on a very snowy new years day. people have been up late and will not be getting up early, and the weather is shitty so even if they were up, why would they go downtown when all the stores are closed? there were 3 or 4 sets of footprints on the sidewalk other than mine, and i saw one car and two streetcars. and this is the corner of dundas and yonge, where the eaton center is. this place is normally crowded to shit. street performers, tourists, school kids. and it was dead. it was very reminiscent of the movie i watched last night. heh heh.
when my dad was pulling into our driveway after picking me up at the bus station, he didnt go fast enough - it's beyond me as to why - and the car got stuck. and not just on the driveway, oh no. he also managed to back into the snow bank. thankfully our neighbour noticed me pushing at the back of the car and drove over with his SUV and a sturdy rope. so after i cleared out all the snow under the car (we were literally stuck ON the bank. go dad), he pulled us out to the side.
so this has been an exciting first half of my winter break, perhaps my best ever from a social standpoint. plans worked out, people had fun, and new friends were made.
in retrospect, 2007 was a good year. overall, i mean. like any year, it had ups and downs, but it was far from monotonous (hell, i moved 3 times!). i dont think any other year has seen nearly this much social activity wanking peanut butter excitement or self-improvement from me.
happy new year. here's to hoping this one's better than the last, if not just as good. thank you to those who made it a pleasurable experience. ;D
oh. my boxing day purchases: God of War II ($30), BFG GeForce8 8800GT OC ($250), Archos 605 80gb touchscreen MP3 player ($270). I bought the latter two items online on the 24th at 10pm. it took them 3 days to ship them out (27th) and it isn't here yet because apparently canada post doesnt run over the new year, so i'm expecting them tomorrow. and that's half my "try it before you buy it!" time gone already. doh.
and now back to our regular programming: PS2 (God of War II kicks sooooo much ass), movies, and the generic doing of nothing. :D take care & drive safe if you have to drive at all!
i invited Adam, Anneka, Liz and Hingman to my family's house in Bridgenorth (just outside Peterborough) for a few days. we had a great time watching movies (~7 in total) and playing board games (risk & clue). there was some snow-related fun too. movies we watched: Stardust, LotR: Fellowship of the Ring, LotR: The Two Towers, Willy Wonka, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Fido, Howl's Moving Castle. I took some pictures, i'll put them up later.
i then followed hingman back to her parents' place in toronto where we celebrated the new year with Liz. by celebrated, i mean we sat around talking and just.. hung out. watched I Am Legend, too. it was my first time being away from my family for new year's eve, and by that i mean not being forced to go anywhere with them. it was liberating, relaxing, and much more enjoyable than those shitty banquet halls with crappy music playing so loud that you can't talk to the person next to you (like last year). i must say the start of this year is looking good.
i had to leave early the next morning since hingman's family had to go on a day trip. we left her place around 8:15 and got to the nearest subway entrance around 8:30. except it was closed. we assumed it would open at 9am and she dropped me off at the next nearest subway stop with some kind of enclosure above it (a small mall). in this small circular mall, there is a loblaws on the bottom floor and the balconies on all the floors look out on it. i stood on the ground floor (1 above loblaws) and stared in wonder at the well-lit still life below me. no people. just shelves and tables and baskets of food. the music i was listening to was very fitting, almost frighteningly so, and i stood there for 20 minutes just taking it in. then i had to poo, and off to the subway i went.
Downtown Toronto was a ghost town. 9:15am on a very snowy new years day. people have been up late and will not be getting up early, and the weather is shitty so even if they were up, why would they go downtown when all the stores are closed? there were 3 or 4 sets of footprints on the sidewalk other than mine, and i saw one car and two streetcars. and this is the corner of dundas and yonge, where the eaton center is. this place is normally crowded to shit. street performers, tourists, school kids. and it was dead. it was very reminiscent of the movie i watched last night. heh heh.
when my dad was pulling into our driveway after picking me up at the bus station, he didnt go fast enough - it's beyond me as to why - and the car got stuck. and not just on the driveway, oh no. he also managed to back into the snow bank. thankfully our neighbour noticed me pushing at the back of the car and drove over with his SUV and a sturdy rope. so after i cleared out all the snow under the car (we were literally stuck ON the bank. go dad), he pulled us out to the side.
so this has been an exciting first half of my winter break, perhaps my best ever from a social standpoint. plans worked out, people had fun, and new friends were made.
in retrospect, 2007 was a good year. overall, i mean. like any year, it had ups and downs, but it was far from monotonous (hell, i moved 3 times!). i dont think any other year has seen nearly this much social activity wanking peanut butter excitement or self-improvement from me.
happy new year. here's to hoping this one's better than the last, if not just as good. thank you to those who made it a pleasurable experience. ;D
oh. my boxing day purchases: God of War II ($30), BFG GeForce8 8800GT OC ($250), Archos 605 80gb touchscreen MP3 player ($270). I bought the latter two items online on the 24th at 10pm. it took them 3 days to ship them out (27th) and it isn't here yet because apparently canada post doesnt run over the new year, so i'm expecting them tomorrow. and that's half my "try it before you buy it!" time gone already. doh.
and now back to our regular programming: PS2 (God of War II kicks sooooo much ass), movies, and the generic doing of nothing. :D take care & drive safe if you have to drive at all!