easy

 well, today was definitely a day.  the morning went as planned, although my doctor's appointment was a bit odd. my hand isn't healed, but it was feeling better this morning than it had in at least a week, of course. and i started telling her about my four months of post-covid snottiness, which i almost instantly regretted as it's no longer worth taking meds for. and i feel awkward now about going for a chest x-ray when i've explained to her that my chest is fine, and that i've been doing a fair amount of sport lately.

we then talked about gd's "career evaluation", which social security asked her to do, but which apparently isn't possible for anyone other than a social security representative to arrange.

the funny thing is that the meds she prescribed are mostly things i'm taking regularly for my allergies anyway.

i met my family on the way to the bus, and we took a bus down to the shuk where we met up with wp. we went to a coffee shop we're familiar with, and enjoyed a really nice hour before wp and i had to run off to our respective meetings.

i arrived ten minutes late for the "lecture", which was... ahem... eye opening. it was about the "hawk" method of training your eyes to perfect vision. which is a new take on the bates method. everything sounded pretty legitimate, but when i posted an update to let my teammates know what they'd missed i learned that the bates method has been thoroughly debunked as pseudoscience.

so that was a waste of a big chunk of my morning.

i returned home, making two awkward scenes on the bus regarding kids with their feet up (the first's feet weren't on the seats, which made telling the second whose were on the seats really uncomfortable).

breakfast, a meeting with a coworker, working hard until we all went out to take mr smear to his hebrew tutor. i worked at the coffee shop / bakery while my mom and gd talked, and then we picked mr smear up and returned home.

it was pretty hot by that stage.

the rest of the afternoon was quite a grind, but i was happy with the work once i'd pushed it. my body was all over the place, though, and by the time mr smear and i were heading out to the climbing wall i suddenly felt really bad and had to bail. so instead, the two of us watched most of battlefield earth before dinner.

i'm really glad he's enjoying it as much as i am. i'm also glad that so far there's only been one age-inappropriate moment - the psychlo with the long tongue - which i quickly explained away as "ugh, that's weird, it must be a psychlo thing". i know the movie cleaned up as 2001's "worst movie ever", but i've never really understood why. i mean, i agree that almost everything about it is ridiculous, but it's legitimately so much fun!

haters' gonna hate.

the evening was pleasant, and i've spent some time playing inscryption, and i'll probably try a little more disco elysium before i go to bed. it's a big relief that my mother's here for a number of reasons, two of which being that she's physically in less danger in tel aviv than in cape town and that she's actually able to get some rest (she works stupidly hard). it's helping me relax into my own sort of holiday, even if i'm still working.

it also helps that i'm enjoying my job.

arrival + double-time

 it doesn't feel like only a single day has passed since my last post. i played a little bit more disco elysium, then hit the hay. i woke up at 4am, left on time with a green tea in hand, reported a burst water pipe on the way to the train station, and arrived on time, but at a closed entrance.

so i missed my train, and had to walk all the way around. fortunately, the next train arrived at the airport at a reasonably close time, and i found my mom waiting comfortably.

i reloaded her transport card, and we hopped on the next train home. by the time we arrived - around 6am - the water pipe had been repaired, and gd was awake and ready to greet us with coffee. unfortunately, i'd forgotten to pick up non-barista oat milk yesterday, and it took a quick walk around to find something that looked alright, but that ended up being unpleasant :(

i took a "nap" - getting another hour and a half in - and woke up feeling pretty refreshed. mr smear was excited to wake up to his granny being home, so that was really cool :)

we all went to the mall together to sort out my mom's SIM card, then picked up some nice breads from our favorite bakery on the way home. i had a big breakfast / lunch, and around noon went to the office. when i left, mr smear was very enthusiastically engaged in a lego build that our cousin sent him for his birthday next month :)

the protests were just beginning, and they were already pretty loud.

the work day was pretty intense, but i finally left the office around 7.30pm feeling like i'd crushed it. not only did i get the stuff i've been working on code-complete, but i also helped out a couple of my coworkers along the way, and was pleased to be informed by my argumentative coworker (after we learned that the TODO that started the fight on thursday *did*, in fact, come back to bite us as i predicted) that once he'd had some time to give it some thought, he decided he didn't disagree with me after all :)

i had to walk home because everywhere between my office and my home was shut down for the protests.

we had a really nice dinner, and i've spent a good chunk of the evening doing not much. although i did just play a bit more inscryption, getting crushed in the first game (it's deeply disappointing when you believe you've built a deck with potential) but finally picking up a boon from the painting in the second.

now... to decide... whether to go to bed or not. we're up early tomorrow, after my early morning doctor's appointment we're heading downtown to spend some time with wp who's here for a few days.

post

 it's past midnight, i've spent the past... half hour?... trying to install python packages in order to run tests in order to go to bed having accomplished something work-wise.

...

okay, let me try that again. it's now just after 00.45, and i've spent the past three quarters of an hour coding to the point where i *think* my solution's code-complete and ready for testing. so now i'm going to finish this post and then go to bed.

saturday: the day was unproductive (as it should be), everyone had a chilled day and i played a fair amount of stellaris. i'm sure there's more but i can't recall much.

yesterday: i spent most of the day working on a portal for the mobile project, and was pretty successful. i also had a really interesting chat with someone who i met through a poetry performance, who pitched me an idea that i really, really hope moves forward.

today: gd's documents have arrived! it was a long day, the best parts of which were walking mr smear to and from school and taking him out for a bit in the evening, where we bumped into wp who was out for a jog.

hopefully tomorrow will be good.

i still haven't prepared myself for thursday night's leyning.

between the vulcans and dr who - part one

what i really need is one of those special grips to make all my muscles relax. and perhaps realign my spine? kthxbye.

---sunday:

the first news of the day was that wp is engaged, which doesn't evoke much in me simply because i've never met his fiancée; but i'm happy for him nonetheless.

it was a gorgeous, sunny morning and we went out to atwater market, which was fun until the wind came up. i couldn't find anything to eat there, though, even the sandwich place with a vegan employee couldn't produce anything that didn't have meat or cheese on it...

i was rather hungry by the time we got to midi 6, so much so that their off-menu vegan option that's usually too much for me was precisely the right amount. gd's ex rolled up (she was getting her hair cut) and we hit it off famously, but after lots of talking i needed a nap so that's what i did while gd did her thing. her ex is an anime freak, and her cut was modelled off a character she likes. i can't say i'm a huge fan of the style, but gd certainly captured the look!

one way to get gold in dragon coins is to watch ads, and i watched one for tales of honor. i haven't played enough yet to form a solid opinion, but the fact that it's such a huge game that can be played on a mobile is pretty damned impressive. and the concept is very battlestar galactica, which is just up my alley.

i almost, to use protoplasm's expression, saw my own arsehole as i helped gd take out the trash. i misjudged a concrete step and came scarily close to twisting my ankle. i'm very, very grateful to all the gods that that didn't happen.

we hit the supermarket and shopped until i almost dropped, then returned to my place to treat my suddenly bloated belly with beans. we watched an episode of canadian dragon's den, which was kinda interesting, then took a walk to the shell select to pick up something we'd forgotten earlier.

it was a fine walk and talk until i said something on our way back that was grossly misunderstood (granted, i knew as i was saying it that it wasn't the right way to say it) and that turned into a pretty major and decidedly unpleasant argument. once the main issue was resolved we then had to discuss how aggressive i'd been during the argument, so i got to feel like shit twice.

eventually we resolved everything, although finally closing the story would have to wait until the next morning. and then everything was awesome again.

---yesterday:

i slept well but had crazy, epic dreams that i totally forgot about when i got up. i'd have random flashes from them during the day but nothing i could grasp...

i still wasn't feeling 100%, but i was definitely better. the first note of the day was exciting: solar FREAKIN' roadways is an excellent video put together by a fellow supporter of the cause. you should watch it, if you haven't seen it, and then consider putting a little bit of your money into a shinier version of the future we're facing.

gd and i enjoyed a slow, chilled start to the day and then went down to godmother's, stopping at the florist on the way. the florist was so happy to see me with someone and so grateful for the little assistance gd gave him with a french customer that when we returned to pick up a plant she really liked he gave it to her for one dollar.

and that was after uncle hate indicated his approval, so we were on fire! the only awkward thing was that i have this habit of putting my hands together and bowing when i'm grateful, and i felt pretty foolish when i unthinkingly did that to an asian dude. but whatever.

rabbit and horseman had given me some pretty good ideas for a summer poetry slam series, and i figured out a way to make it marketable and charitable at the same time - i was quite pleased when everyone i spoke to agreed that it's a good plan.

godmother told me about a new place across the road from her that's recently opened, and we went to take a look. chimera: it's a game store / coffee shop, they have a great selection, great prices and a vegan-friendly menu. we'll be doing that, then :)

something from lunch was stuck between my teeth and aggravating me, and gd just happened to have floss in her bag. so i took it out and used it while we waited for the metro. that was a bit weird. but not as weird as the guy i saw once clipping his nails on the train.

i spoke to my mom when we got to gd's place; her car died and it's a decidedly inconvenient time for that. i mean, it's always an inconvenient time but this one is particularly uncomfortable :(
[at least the news from today seems relatively upbeat.]

i missioned to a park to sit and chill with newk'd and his girlfriend. we had a great time, but there was an incident when we parted that made me feel strange. i don't remember what inspired me to do it, and i think it was appreciated, but it nevertheless makes me uncomfortable that i always feel the urge to read poetry at people in inappropriate (to my mind) settings.

gd and i went on another interminable shopping mission, then returned to her place where she cooked up a storm while i absorbed myself in another case solved. the non-mission puzzles that you use to pay for real cases run out too quickly.

i introduced gd to how i met your mother and community: she seems to prefer the former. i find it most entertaining to watch these series again knowing what's coming.

[continued...]

post-parties

for the second morning in a row, cape town is blanketed in mist and the fog horn is sounding. i've always loved this, ever since i was little, it's like the world is wrapped in a cool blanket and we're all being sung a lullaby :)

---friday:

i woke up from dreams of adventure, vengeance and personal justice that made me ashamed. they involved my father, he had cronies, and although i felt that they deserved what they got i was not happy to be in any way involved.

we got up early, dressed nicely and went to the cemetery for the unveiling of my aunt's father's tombstone. it's really not a pleasant place to see loved ones for the first time in years... my other two aunts, uncle puberty and i visited my grandparents' graves, my late uncle's and my late great uncle's. it got emotional.

---i was introduced to a man i'd apparently met at kc's brother's barmitzvah in 2010, but i couldn't remember him at all. though he remembered me well, which made me uncomfortable as hell :(

we saw him again as he crossed to the other side of the cemetery (where my father's buried, we felt no need to visit that side), and my mother drove off with her sisters leaving me with her car.
i was still recovering from the festival - meaning i was feeling a little slow - and was focused on not getting lost on my way home, as i've never been familiar with that area; that doesn't excuse the fact that there was an old woman in the parking lot who'd been waiting for the man in question for half an hour and who was terrified to be waiting alone, and instead of staying with her (i had nothing better to do, really) i told her to rather wait in the shade of the buildings.
i was right in the sense that there are security guards there and less heat, but once i'd driven far enough to be unsure of my way back i became certain that i shouldn't have left and spent the whole drive home beating myself up about it. even if she had nothing to fear, she *thought* she had something to fear and i shouldn't have left her alone :(

---i spent the afternoon getting in touch with most of the people i'd met over new year's, applied for a job in the states with an old friend of biggles who i hope still remembers me from way back when, did some shopping and tried to post using a browser that keeps hanging. this computer is totally screwed! it took me too long to figure out that i should type things up using notepad if i want to retain my sanity...

we went to my aunt for drinks with her boyfriend, wp, tgtbt, their little brother, godmother and yang. the new boyfriend seems like a good guy, and he gave me some interesting advice when he heard about my immigration issues.

a simple misunderstanding had everyone thinking that wp was defending the assailants in the killing of a man holidaying with his family that had taken place at midnight on new year's - phrasing is everything :(

---from there we went to dinner with my brother; after all he's done i always feel uncomfortable about seeing him, but it really wasn't so bad. it's weird that although i no longer care much for him we still have a lot in common, and the table conversations were interesting. especially considering that i would have thought them wholly inappropriate in light of the rest of the family there, our uncle and cousins who are a bit on the square side and our cousins' teenage kid...

... that kid is freakishly wise and educated for his age. he's also a really good kid, and talking to him makes me proud!

...

the apartment - which freaked me out once upon a time when our father died and we saw it for the first time - still looks like a recreation of our home before my mother and i left it. the name on the apartment listing downstairs? it's my initial followed by our family name. wtf?!

---my mother was exhausted even though a couple of us were deeply engaged in a discussion about the magic of software development and the failings of industrialized education, so we cut that short and returned home.

where i began my suffering: ingrown hairs on my throat. i'd forgotten why i abhor shaving with a razor so much! it's been three days and the situation hasn't improved much, i'm now seriously considering laser hair removal. i was considering it before, to be fair, but because the last time i actually had to deal with this was so long ago it wasn't really a priority :P

---saturday:

i was too tired for anything, really, so i went to bed. i woke up to post, spoke to sq instead, then met with dirk diggler and we had breakfast at the new health food place. the quinoa porridge i ate for breakfast really wasn't bad, we had tons of stuff to talk about and i'm well impressed that he's got his shit together even if it's not in a way i would ever consider practical.

we shared a supremely uncomfortable moment talking about mistakes of the past and how they shape us. just thinking about it now, even, is pretty overwhelming...

...

i got into my car and found a cigarette butt on the floor - i couldn't figure out where that came from, and my hackles rose as i remembered the break in i had in 2000 before i left where the thieves had enough time to smoke while they worked. when i got out the car i found a cigarette box stuffed into the door handle, and understood that some asshole had simply stuffed the butt through the tiny gap i left for air circulation.

wtf?! why would somebody do that???

...

i went shopping for vegan food to toss on the braai. i started at woolworths: nothing. checkers: nothing, and the guy i asked for assistance looked at me like i was properly mad. i ran into some cousins, one of whom tried to explain to me how to make some vegan dish or other - not helpful - and then finally found myself at the spar.

win! they had a freezer fully stocked with fry's, which has a range of products that all taste pretty damn good!

the directions hyperviper sent me were really easy to follow and i soon arrived at his home in plattekloof. he's got himself a proper, middle-class home out there and i can't say i wasn't impressed :)
he told me that we'd be joined by a dutch friend of his, for some reason i thought he meant "dutchman" (a derogatory term for dutchman, which would have been funny coming from an afrikaner) but the guy and his wife are actually visiting from the netherlands. we all had a great afternoon, the food was good (even the skeptical carnivores tried the vegan sausages and were pleasantly surprised), we talked and laughed non-stop and chilled with our feet in the pool until it was time to go home.

stuck behind brackenfell and bellville cars all the way home, then failing to find parking anywhere near my mom's apartment because in addition to the minstrels locking up town the cape to rio race had just started: i was a little frustrated. i parked in a terrible spot just so that i could get the frozen goods home quickly, and fortunately when my mother returned someone had just left a space so she held it until i could bring the car around...

after dinner i crashed, and when i woke up a couple of hours later i decided that a trance party with yang was not on the cards for me. i joined my mother in watching jeff dunham's very special christmas special, posted a little and went to bed.

---yesterday:

t'was a day of nothing. i posted, i began reading david foster wallace - infinite jest (tgtbt's recommendation), had coffee with my mother and godmother when she came to visit, and went to my sister's for a braai with her ex-sisters-in-law, a couple of our cousins and my niece's in-laws.

i went with my nephew to pick up a couple of things from their local spar, and he wanted to take a plastic bag that we really didn't need. when i called him on it, he asked the cashier if she wouldn't mind taking me off his hands because he'd had enough... how very disrespectful!

the evening was excellent, swimming, eating way too much, talking non-stop and compulsively playing with the two insanely cute boxers.

now that i'm awake, we're off to paarl to visit my second mum. i've been looking forward to seeing her!

first world problems

it was a really difficult weekend to post. i was too busy! now i'm sitting here on a monday evening trying to wrap this up quickly so as to disturb scrapper as little as possible.

---thursday - the forgotten moments:

neck and back still hurting.

1dollarscan.com is a fantastic idea, but it's a little costly if you're not sending your book / documents to a local address. the pdf i'm looking forward to will ultimately have cost me around $30.

i should open a local branch! all i'd need is a p.o. box and a scanner. shit, there's a lot of things i'd like to do with my life. i need more of me.

---friday:

neck and back still hurting.

the massage therapist was in, and she *really* helped! i got up disoriented but with my neck and back feeling like jello. unfortunately, that sensation lasted all of five minutes before the muscles started tightening up again.

i gave my iphone a try, plugging it in to my macbook. charging! amazed and excited i was, until i realized that it wouldn't charge more than the thin red line meaning that it wasn't actually charging at all. being plugged in wasn't enough to turn it on and access the data...

friday was the end of a long two weeks stabilizing a build, and i joined the happy hour late but in a celebratory mood. we held it in the cafeteria which was more fun that going out, although i played terrible pool.

i made the boxing class on time, there's a cute new girl from ottawa and we were set to work together. turns out that in spite of her hesitation, she's been teaching kickboxing and she put me under a lot of pressure... i cannot express how satisfied i am with myself for keeping up with her pace, doing all the combinations correctly at high speed on autopilot ^_^

why is it that every time i'm paired with a girl we do impact training? she forgot to inform me that she had a belly piercing and i hit it a few times. hard. i was totally embarrassed afterwards :$

regardless, i was on an absolute high from the class when i left the gym and walked out into a beautiful, cool summer sunset.

orange is the new black is cute at first, but then it gets better :)

foufounes electriques. newk'd and jock invited me to join them for a night out. they were both pretty drunk by the time i arrived and i didn't know where to go. at first they sent me in the wrong direction, then i returned to sainte catherine and was told to go right. so i did, and i walked while on the phone with newk'd trying to figure out where he was in relation to me because he'd apparently been waiting outside for me and was walking to meet me. in the end we discovered that this was the case... he'd instructed me to turn right when i should have turned left, and actually unwittingly followed me at a distance for about twenty minutes before figuring out what was going on. wtf??!
drunk people.

anyway, i've been there a couple of times before with yang but until friday night i didn't realize that it's the very same club wp and i went to back in 2006! i felt a circle close. i also drank a lot. i was far from drunk, but i was certainly going to feel it in the morning.

while there, i was informed that my soul patch is unflattering so i've decided to drop it. on a completely different note, i walked in to the dancefloor just as rob zombie - dragula went on and i joined the crowd rocking out and growling along... the next song was marilyn manson - beautiful people which was followed by disturbed - down with the sickness and nirvana - smells like teen spirit. it took me back a good six or seven years and i thoroughly enjoyed myself even as i was already concerned that my throat was going to hurt the next day... which it did...

i said goodbye when i had just enough cash left for a taxi. the taxi took an inexplicably long route so i jumped out a couple of traffic lights early. overall i'd had a very good night indeed.

---saturday:

neck and back still hurting.

otherwise, i was feeling pretty good. i went to godmother's for lunch in the sun, then returned home feeling the previous night. i was offended by the guy on the escalator in front of me as i headed to walmart because he wiped his feet almost into my face - one asshole can ruin your whole day! (okay, i got over it fairly quickly)

i managed to get the last cheap-ish everlast headgear in stock and returned home for some more orange is the new black and a solid afternoon nap. i got up from a long, perfect moment lying in bed on a cloudy evening with the window fan's deep hum keeping me sleepy.

i love the window fan's white noise. i really do.

horseman came over for an overly long evening discussing investment theory, stats and math. some of what he had to say was intriguing, but i was tired and i wanted to be in top shape for sunday's sparring session.

---for a few days now facebook hasn't been working on my mac. i've established that it's not my internet connection and it's not facebook, but no matter what i do (restarting, etc.) i just can't see my feeds / pages properly. the hell?

---sunday:

neck and back still hurting.

tapout versus everlast: this and and this? it wasn't me, the problem is that everlast's mouthguards SUCK. the tapout instructions were easy to follow and even though i fit it skew the first time it handles reboiling and i just did it again. no problem!

my first sparring:
gloves? check.
mouth guard? check.
protective cup? check.
headgear? check.
shin pads? check.
commitment? ... check, but with reservations about how smart i was being.

1. my boxing defense is awful and i don't breathe correctly.
2. i eventually did start striking properly.
3. even though we were all being responsible, speed and accuracy make up for a lack of power. one particularly well-placed strike gave me my first insight into the accuracy of the expression "he rang my bell".
4. after an hour my arms were really, really sore.

in the end there was no blood to clean up and i have a very good idea of just how much i need to improve before getting in the ring again, so i consider the session a great success!

the guys were shocked that i weigh 90kg as a vegan. i evangelized for a short while and then returned home to do laundry. i would have done laundry if the gorram laundry room wasn't out of order! what a way to ruin my plans :(

i went out to the market to pick up clif builder bars, then returned home for a big nap, big shopping and some more orange is the new black. i finally completed my sketches for the first chapter of my comic! i'm really excited about how i managed to resolve an issue that was troubling me ^_^
then i clicked on xkcd's time post and checked out the easily accessible version before reading randall's explanation: shut up and take my money! i bought some merch in a gushing show of support because that man is one of the most committed and inventive artists and is totally deserving of the highest praise.

---i can't recall how long ago or why i was searching for this, but i found it: lewis black on water. he's rather clever.

---monday:

neck and back feeling a bit better.

it was early morning in august. the temperature was... 9 degrees. seriously. it was AWESOME. i was even a little chilly while waiting for the second airport bus (the first was full).

i had to wait a long while for scrapper to come out, he described the officials as "thorough". we had a quick bite to eat before taking a taxi home, i briefed him non-stop until we parted ways on the metro.

my jaw hurts from the sparring. the muscles more than anything!

first order of the day, arguing with the cto in a video-conference when i was the only person on screen, and couldn't facepalm or make the faces that everyone knew i wanted to. after eventually coming out on top and feeling guilty for pushing back hard when everyone was listening in, we closed the call and the guys in the room showered me with sympathy :P

aside from a lunch break with some time outside to enjoy the stunning weather and discuss dragons and terminators, it was a day filled with meetings. one of the meetings was for all the developers, and after being shocked by ceh's brattiness (which was commented on by the project manager too) we were treated to a long and very boring presentation. presentations need to be engaging, and they need to be managed properly. as it finished, i sent an email to the project manager to say "we should never do this again".

boy, was i surprised to see the email summary pop up on the screen in front of everyone! serious faux pas, the project manager was not amused and i was super embarrassed.

my eyesight's griefing me, but i suspect it's related to how tired i am. my brain still hasn't gotten used to two eyes focusing so differently... but i certainly wouldn't want to give up my right eye's near-sightedness. reading would be really tough otherwise.

i got home in time for muay thai but i really needed to do laundry. i showed scrapper the laundry system, i took him shopping, i had a short but desperately needed nap before dinner, made dinner, we played fluxx and then he went to bed while i wrote this post. it's now an hour and a half after i began and it's my turn to tuck in.

PHEW!

thursday, friday, new year - part ii

[... continued]

friday:

early class, catch-up for the italian.
inspiration: not just anime nights, but another bi-weekly as well for all the "must-see" movies.

---quoting the lecturer: "ten centuries - what is that? i don't know the math... a thousand years, more or less?"
good grief. which reminds me, i've been helping pg with a piece on language's influence on math skills. the studies that have been done regarding the japanese and korean children's advantage over the american and french are decidedly unreliable, as there is so much else different that it is impossible to determine the validity of the tests or their results.

i propose taking an american community at random and teaching half the kids to count regularly and the other half to count using a new system:
1 ... one
...
9 ... nine
10 ... ten
11 ... ten one
...
19 ... ten nine
20 ... two ten
21 ... two ten one
... etc.

if that's the only meaningful difference between the two groups then we would be able to see the difference accurately. also, according to the accepted results there's far less chance of the children who learn the "new" math being at all disadvantaged as opposed to paving the way for a more efficient english.

---on the way out i was asked by a political science student why my family doesn't move to israel if things are so bad. i told her about a bunch of "me first! me! mine!" people who miss the important stuff because they're only interested in what's "important" according to some vague pseudo-scientific standard.
"really? is that what you think of us?" she asked, shocked.

the truth is, there's so much good in this country and that's the stuff that foreigners and immigrants see and feel. it takes a long time to get past the horrible stuff to see the beauty within; time that not many people really want to invest. that results in non-israeli enclaves, some of which are becoming really influential. which means we're losing the good stuff in israeli culture to a bunch of people who have only learned from them the bad (see principles - there're a few more in the pipeline).

---on the bus home i was inspired by wilde. the picture of dorian gray begins as a collection of interesting truths. i'm sold :)

i was accompanied by comfortably numb while carrying dry-cleaning home in the sun post-drizzle. i was greeted by a small frog waving a "happy new year!" flag - pg's been playing with her mum's art supplies :)
[even more fantastic was what she didn't present me with: a GIR rides piggy only with GIR disguised as a fish! ^_^]

i don't recall at what point in the day my mum called me, but aside from new year's wishes and old year's summaries we discussed the fact that yin's in cape town for new year's with a friend of hers and they're not going with tgtbt and family to the festival. i don't care if they don't dig the music; not seeing such an extraordinary and incredible event when you get the chance???

ridiculous.

i've also been asked by my mum to remove the soul patch. i'm so glad pg's behind me on that too :)

---i went to meet up with someone on the north side of town who was supposed to be waiting for me. when i called him up he told me he'd stepped out and would be back in ten minutes. i took a walk down the road, stopping in at a number of residences to be disappointed that nobody was home, and received a call from him saying that he was stuck in traffic and he'd be back in another ten minutes. i grabbed a toasted hotdog and slowly walked back to the meeting place... about ten minutes later he drove past, looking for parking.

i've ranted about this before: it's about a lack of respect for other people's time. if i had known that the ten minutes didn't include finding parking i might've behaved differently, instead of spending all of that half an hour sitting on a low wall waiting.

i hate waiting.

---i walked home briskly, strapped on my blades and flew over to urchin's to meet her family and help out a bit with their new year's preparations. now that i've met her brother's palestinian girlfriend i can see why she has such a profound influence on him - she's gorgeous.

i amused myself no end with a small, unhinged cupboard door that i'd laid flat on the floor and imagined as being an entrance to an orthogonal world.

a little rain made my travels back home a bit slippery; the guy working the kiosk was straight out of clerks ("i wasn't even supposed to be here today!").

i skidded straight to pg's for a hot shower and a glass of rum. aside from an excellent dinner with her family (there were some awkward moments, and one downright unpleasant one but the food was amazing), we had a really lazy evening. our plans went from the street party and a desert party to going to bed early.

---saturday:

i think that was the most needed sleep i've had since i last wrote a sentence like this. and it was good. we had a slow morning that was only improved upon by seeing us making pancakes and following them up with another nap.

---a chat with pg reminded me of a really embarrassing story from my youth (so of course, i'll share it with you). i was a pretty slow kid, and there were a lot of words that i'd picked up gists of without being informed of their actual meaning. i knew that "rape" was a violent act but i didn't know it involved sex.

i once jokingly shouted at my mother "if you don't let me go i'm going to rape you!" (thinking it could easily replace "kill" without being as bad). awkward.
no less awkward than finding myself at school, responding to "what do you want to be when you grow up?" with "a rapist".

---i left to get to work on the flash project - i was *so* glad, after spending a bit of time double-checking everything, to discover that the problem was on the user's side. they hadn't read the instructions. after a bit of facebooking i took a walk to the hotel to meet a cousin, her son and her mother-in-law for a couple of hours of non-stop chatter. it was a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours and it's always nice to meet new and likable family members :)

pg and i had a good dinner at coffeeholic, then separated so that i could write this and do some readings for the morning. as is apparent, this all took longer than planned: although she did help me digitize a page or two from my travel journal. wp sent me a message this morning that reminded me that i promised to send it to him... three months ago. and i haven't gotten more than halfway through japan yet...

boy, is it late. i need to get some sleep!

...

oh, yeah! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! two-thousand-ten-one is going to be even better than its predecessor!

first spring: footnotes and links

[footnotes from previous post]

* the argument was political, but it was more of a meta-argument over the fact that the kid, surrounded almost exclusively by pro-palestinian propaganda, holds opinions yet couldn't be bothered to base them in personally verified fact. he basically talked a load of bollocks, and every time i pointed out a flaw - either logical or factual - he shrugged it off as "don't care".

but he cares enough to be a self-hating jew and extreme relativist. brilliant.

** there's a girl who's been at a lot of the parties i've been to in the last year, and i know she's friendly with a friend of mine, but we've never had any contact. at the party on friday, i noticed her smiling at me while i was blowing bubbles at the side of the dancefloor, and i smiled back - but i'm not sure if that counts as a connection.

she's not really my type, aesthetically speaking, but she seems a nice girl. i walked into the club on monday night, and saw her next to the speaker i always use to place my jacket. she was talking to someone, and i tried catching her eye in a non-obvious manner. that's probably a mistake - the non-obvious part, at least - and i got no response from her, not even a slight indication of recognition.

for the rest of the time i was there we danced close to each other, but without any communication between us whatsoever. that was just weird.

---
here are the links for the last couple of days:

sa news:

hiding the homeless for the world cup

so i'm not clued up with sports - this hermaphrodite business seems a bit rough.

visual:

here are some incredible photos of insects covered in dew

we have tested an proved the ability to genetically modify / correct adults - and away we go!

wp's girlfriend gave me her business card, and it's been sitting on my desk since i returned from sa. yesterday, while tidying up, i finally opened the link: she's amazing!

krispie kreams and earplugs

i woke up to coffee and good doughnuts this morning. wp and i got organized, and our aunt dropped us off at the metro.

the metro in montreal is pretty simple, and we arrived at our destination quite efficiently. we then strolled along to our grandstand - just after the hairpin turn - and were just in time for the end of the ferrari 360 race: HOT DAMN. simply beautiful!

we took a break, and then the grand prix began. we had a huge screen in front of us, so we could see all the action, and our view of the race IRL was excellent! good thing we'd brought earplugs... even with them, the sound of the engines is deafening. but SUCH a thrill ^_^

so yeah, it was an exciting race. and actually being in the crowd was AWESOME. i can still smell that gasoline / burnt rubber smell, and it's goooood.

the crowds trying to get into the metro afterwards were simply ridiculous. we eventually broke through, and made our way back to notre-dame-de-grâce. we slowly strolled past the shops on the way home, eventually getting our aunt a thank-you of an hour's massage at some place just down the road.

we came back home in time for supper, which was nice... said goodbye to wp, so i'll see him in sa in december. i've just taken my mom to where she's staying, and am about to shower (i'm super-smelly) and go to bed. tomorrow we're off to ottawa, then toronto for a couple of days. hopefully by the weekend i'll have had a response from that waitress from friday night, but considering the lack of a response during the last few hours, i don't think that's going to happen.

i can still hope, can't i? on a different note, my aunt has informed me that if i do decide to come here after the army, then she'd be only too happy to help me get on my feet: joy!

mostly woozy

wine in the morning, beer in the afternoon, wine at night. it's been one of those days...

we had a good breakfast, and then wp and i headed out. we stopped to play frisbee at the park, and were in time for a fun taekwondo demonstration - some of it not bad at all.

we then took a bus through to crescent street. we went through the museum of fine art for about half an hour - they have some incredible things there... i was a bit thrown by the digital prints, they really weren't on the list of things i'd expect to see.

we went through the crowds, sometimes stuck on some absolutely mind-blowing vehicles. pure art on four wheels, inside and out!

we went into a pub to watch argentina vs. mexico - it was a pretty good second-half / extra time, and the second goal was superb. even *i* enjoyed watching :P

we then walked around a bit, finding a not-bad comic book store, and then took the bus back.

got back, showered, and then zoomed off to the other side of montreal, to a nice greek restaurant for a great dinner. i've been back for a bit (watching ghost, how sad), and i'm not actually sure if we're going out or just chilling. i'm not concerned though - it's grand prix in the morning!!

magic!

before leaving for supper, wp and i did a quick shopping run - i discovered an army surplus store that sells all manner of amusing (and illegal) possible additions to my uniform. i'm going to have to get the under-shirts that say "govt issue" and "army", and the "us army" tags to replace my "idf" ones :P

we were taken last night to "millionaire's lane", the largest and most beautiful houses in the city. not quite as over-the-top as top road in cape town, but pretty damn close. and safer :P

dinner was extremely lavish, with all the trimmings, and a magician who performed to keep the kids happy... and later on the adults, too.

the food was incredible, and it was really nice to slide from conversation to conversation with all the different people and family members. i felt quite schmoozy ;)

one of my aunt's friends celebrated her birthday yesterday, so the magician performed a trick that impressed me even more than david blaine's street magic. it involved a lime, $100 bill, a deck of cards, and a pad of paper. i'm still in awe, as is everyone else who witnessed it!

afterwards, we went home, changed, and got a ride back to crescent street.

the cars, both those being driven around, and those on display, were AMAZING. unbelievable. stunning.

we decided to stay there this time, and ended up sitting at a bar, paying $12 for beer that last night cost 3. it's definitely grand prix time! after a few tries, wp managed to score us a seat on the balcony, with a good view of all the craziness, and a good view of the really foxy waitresses. our one was gorgeous - an hour or so later, i traded numbers with her... she's agreed to be my "tour guide". i'm hoping i'll be touring somewhere a little more personal than montreal ;)

we walked around a bit, chatted some more, then decided that it was time to call it a night, and taxied home. we snuck into the house around 2.45, and i just got woken up about an hour ago to go and walk about town. no complaints there!

more stuff in montreal

one of my cousins (wp - tgtbt's brother) rocked up around midnight, and we sat talking for an hour or two outside before going to bed.

we were woken up frighteningly early to shower and get dressed (jackets! they made us wear jackets in the middle of summer!), and then headed off with our italian uncle to the synagogue. the bar/bat mitvah was really nice, the kids did well and the breakfast afterwards was great.

aside from me accidentally locking myself outside when i went for a smoke. that was embarrassing.

we went back home, and then i napped for an hour or so. i was volunteered to take my young cousin and a friend of his to the pool, so i had a swim and chilled in the sun. i love watching little kids playing, but it makes me miserable when i think of how hard a time i'm having finding a girl i can settle down with so i can have children of my own.

awwww.

meanwhile...

my mother has been staying at some of our aunt and uncle's friends, and she returned there after the synagogue. someone had turned on the alarm (for which she didn't know the number), and both of her hosts were at work. when the security company called, they asked who she was and where she was from. flustered, she told them her name and that she's from africa.

well done, mum.

not suspecting anything, she went and had a shower. while showering, three police cruisers rocked up, and the police stormed the premises, wearing bullet-proof vests and weapons at the ready. my mom said she got out the shower, wrapped herself in a towel, and when she saw all the cops, all she could think of was not being shot wrapped in a towel.

fortunately, just then one of her hosts arrived at home, and managed to clear things up.

back to me...

got back home, relaxed a bit with the family, and then had a quick shower and got fancy again for the dinner / dance thing. it was actually quite nice, we did a bit of shmoozing, dancing, and lots of eating.

another cousin gave me and wp a ride down town. we started off cruising through the crowds, then decided to take some advice we'd been given, and headed off to the club area. that was a long walk.

after taking a wrong turn, and ending up in a seriously dodgy red-light district, we found our way and went into one of the clubs. the décor was styling (all anime), the girls were fine (albeit a tad young), the music was solid. i was uncomfortable with not smoking in the club, but then we discovered the roof, where cigarette smoke and crushes of people steamed into the sky. we sat for a bit, then decided to call it a night.

we were too late for the bus, so we went in a taxi with some girl who'd also been waiting, who stiffed us for the bill. not nice! we made it home alright, went to sleep around 3.30am.

this morning i woke up around 9-ish, sat with everyone as the kids went through the presents, and then we all went through to the old city to eat lunch and mill around. it was quite nice.

and i *do* like being the driver ;)

so now we're home, about to go missioning to sort things out before supper (very schmancy dinner tonight, too), and then it's party-time!!