wow

So it's been like 3 months since I posted on my blog, and it's been 6 months since I posted copy here at LJ. But I've made the jump. Today I sucked it up and purchased a year's worth of LJ. The circle is now complete, my life at Tripod is coming to an end.

Earlier this month I switched from Tripod to godaddy.com. Eventually godaddy.com will allow me to host everything related to mysite on one place (site, forum, blog, etc.) but right now I don't have the time to invest in redesigning my site to incorporate those features. So for now, I'll continue using LJ. But I can finally start getting video and picutres online. So expect way more of that in the months to come!

I'm also glad I was able to expand my blogs link list to LJ with the one year's plan I purchased. I also like how I could categorize them into friends, arts and politics topics.

Work goes okay. I'm enjoying it to a degree. But I'm at a crossroads. Do I make HR my career of choice? Or entertainment?

I have to make up my mind!

It's now or never!

But life took a jolt this week with my Mother being in the hospital and having a procedure done where they looked at her heart, and found some blockages. They were able to insert some stilts, which help expand the arteries that are blocked and help the blood flow again. My Mother was having bad angina like attacks - severe chest pains and ended up going to St. Paul's Hospital last week. I ended up being able to get the week off work to help her out, to visit her regularly and help her through that and to look after our two dogs here at home.

My Mother already had some major surgery to remove some blockages they found in the arteries in her neck, and so now this on top of that was a bit of a shock, because previous tests had revealed no blockage in the heart.

It's also scary because it's only been a year and a half since we lost Dad.

It's made me want to get myself in shape and get rid of the junk food we had in our house. Today, when my Mother had a follow-up with our family doctor, I was lucky to have been able to go in myself for an appointment for a checkup. I need to lose some weight. Tomorrow, I go in and get my bloodwork done.

I'm 216. Last October, when I last saw the doctor, I was 201. I should be at about 170-180 lbs. But I'm not. I'm out of shape. I eat too much junk food. I'm going to fix up my bike this weekend and get riding again. I'll rewatch SUPERSIZE ME so that I can remember why it's not good to eat McCrap.

I don't want to be my Mother in 30 years, having this kind of surgery done. I don't want to end up with diabetes. I want to be able to live to be 60, or 70 or even 80 (my Dad made it to 80).

I want to be healthy again!

Anyway, back to studying... and our dog is crying... time to take them walkies! ... and then some bedtime sleep would be nice!

- Steven

morning

Monday, April 10, 2006. 6:16 am.

I got up about an hour ago, no strike that, I was up on and off all night, I remember glancing at the clock at 3:16 am, thinking it was later and I remember being disappointed when I saw I still had two hours to go before I'd have to get up.

My alarms didn't work. Even my cell phone alarm, which is usually very loud and annoying, failed to go off. Luckily, my internal system is so wired that I was able to wake-up at the right time, to double check the time, to double check in my mind if I really wanted to get up, or if I simply wanted to sleep longer.

So no, I didn't sleep longer, not today. I did get out of bed, I checked the clocks, to see why they didn't go off, and then, I made my bed, slid on some underwear and a t-shirt before looking out the window for awhile, at the darkness outside, the fog that seemed to lie over Stanley Park, the sky that blurred the North Shore mountains.

I then proceeded to go into the kitchen to make tea. Well, I boiled the water at any rate. I still haven't gone back to make tea.

I opened the cage for our little puppy-dog, so she could get out and stretch her legs. She stretched her legs, but didn't move far from her bed. Too damn early to be up is the look she gave me. So I left her be, to get ready for the day.

So then, I proceeded to shower, starting by brushing my teeth. I did my teeth, gargled mouthwash, flossed and did my teeth again. Last night I used Crest Night Effects, this paste that you paint onto your teeth to help create a whiter smile. The stuff is incredibly difficult to paint onto your teeth.

I then showered, dried off, and trimmed my beard. I even shaved my throat, to make sure I look proper. I used deodorant and sprayed on some Stetson cologne, which is now bothering my allergies slightly.

Now, I'm sitting here writing my blog. My Mom comes to say goodbye, and wish me luck on my first day back to work. My Dog is getting anxious, scratching and crying at the door. I guess she's awake now, and wants to visit.

So I'll visit her, make some tea and eat some cereal. And then I'll head to work, travelling along the skytrain and out to Surrey.

Take care everyone,

- Steve

To recap...

17 out of my 24 (approx. 71%) Oscar predictions were right... too bad I didn't enter any Oscar pools, in the past I usually entered and won the Oscar pools at the building I live in... but I don't think they had one this year. 1. Best Supporting Actor - George Clooney 2. Best Achievement in Visual Effects - King Kong 3. Best Animated Feature - Wallace & Gromit 4. Best Achievement in Costume Design - Memoirs of a Geisha 5. Best Achievement in Makeup - Chronicles of Narnia 6. Best Supporting Actress - Rachel Weisz 7. Best Documentary Feature - Mach of the Penguins 8. Best Original Score - Brokeback Mountain 9. Best Achievement in Sound - KING KONG 10. Best Achievement in Sound Editing - KING KONG 11. Best Foreign Language Film - TSOTSI, South Africa 12. PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN is the BEST ACTOR 13. BEST ACTRESS - Reese Witherspoon for WALK THE LINE 14. Best Screenplay, Adapted - BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN 15. BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY - Crash 16. BEST DIRECT0R - ANG LEE =)

"...for the greatness of love itself."

17. BEST PICTURE - CRASH

Here's what I got wrong:

1. Best Short Film, Animated - I guessed ONE MAN BAND, the winner was THE MOON AND THE SON 2. Best Documentary, Short Subject - I guessed GOD SLEEPS IN RWANDA, and the winner was A NOTE OF TRIUMPH 3. Best Achievement in Art Direction - I guessed KING KONG (which got robbed!), and the winner was MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA

4. I didn't bother trying to predict the BEST SHORT FILM, LIVE ACTION (I shouldn't have tried predicting any of the short subjects actually, Roger Ebert didn't, I should have followed his lead), and the winner here was SIX SHOOTER.

5. Best Original Song - I guessed DOLLY PARTON's TRAVELLIN' THRU; and IT'S HARD OUT THERE FOR A PIMP by John Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard won. 6. Best Editing - I predicted CINDERALL MAN, and CRASH won. 7. BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY - I predicted A NEW WORLD would win, and MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA stole it.

And I had no idea that CHRIS PENN died last year. We lost so much talent last year.

Until next year,

- Steve