25.2.03

[vancouver]
relax
after work, i headed up to cypress and went riding. i've always been pretty much a perfectionist, and that's why i've always why i've shyed away from team sports and gravitated more towards individual performance pursuits, like running, or hiking, etc. after two or three times down the mountain without falling, connecting my turns, i realized that i was feeling unsatisfied because i wasn't going fast enough, and i wasn't finessing my turns -- i realized that i actually had a frown on my face. i stopped, sat down on the snow, and said to myself "relax".

i took a deep breath of fresh air, removed my gloves, felt the snow, and enjoyed the solitude of just being there.

23.2.03

[vancouver]
handy tool
for you joggers/runners out there, this is a really cool tool that you can use to map out your routes.

19.2.03

[vancouver]
a tale of three cities
an interesting article taken from seattle times, discussing seattle's woes in contrast with portland, the american headquarters of the 'new urbanism' and vancouver, a "counterintuitive' city.

i have always been a proponent that cities should be made up of a number of self contained communities and neigbourhoods where people are able to live, work and play all within close proximity, encouraging the use of alternative forms of getting around. i'll be moving back into the city next month, and after living in the burbs (read surrey) for almost two years, i can not wait.

thanks bill for the link.

17.2.03

[surrey]
best actress
...finally got around to seeing monster's ball last night. halle berry's performance was truly remarkable -- honest and raw to the point of sometimes being difficult to watch -- truly deserving of the best actress nod at last year's oscar's.

14.2.03

[vancouver]
it should be everyday.
...everyday should be for lovers. the concept is alright i guess, but unfortunately, valentine's day has become a day for card, flower and chocolate companies. oh well...

don't get me wrong however -- as long as i can remember, i've never had a valentine, so maybe, if things were different i wouldn't be wearing black in protest as i am today. :)

13.2.03

[vancouver]
welcome lauryn isabel
nick and mel are the proud parents. truly a miracle.

12.2.03

[vancouver]
pleasantly surprised
saw chicago last night -- maybe i wasn't expecting that much, but i went to go see it because it did get nominated for 13 oscars. who knew that catherine zeta-jones could sing -- she was fantastic. but queen latifah for best supporting actress? hmmm....

11.2.03

[vancouver]
why i live in vancouver.
check this out. the number one reason why.

5.2.03

[vancouver]
new season.
check out the redesign, still a work in progress.

4.2.03

[surrey]
my week in t dot.
well, before i forget everything, i'll jot down a few of the events of my eventful week in toronto. all in all, it was a good trip, good to get away, even though it was in the dead of winter.

monday.
i left vancouver, and halfway through my 4 + 1/2 hour flight, i decided that i'm not really down with flying. i had a bit of a brush with celebrity as bradford and amanda of much music fame were on the same flight. dinah and deanna were good enough to pick me up from the airport. to test out how cold it really was, i waited for them outside, and then i realized that the scarf and the toque are not just fashion accessories in toronto.

tuesday.
met my good friend aimee from high school for lunch at queen mother on queen street. got all the gossip and caught up with everything. after, went and visited sheldon at his store on bloor street. i asked him the question -- why doesn't bloor rhyme with floor. anyways, it was really good to see him. took the subway back, freshened up, and then met sheldon for drinks and dinner at babylon, in the gay ghetto so to speak. shawn came by with his brother ryan, whom i finally got to meet(sort of like a little shawn, but very quiet). even though i think sheldon traumatized ryan with let's say an off colour comment, it was good for shawn and sheldon to finally meet. night ended up with sheldon and i at woody's, just like old times.

wednesday.
lazy day, woke up late and wandered all around younge street, yorkville, bloor -- the main streets of toronto. did a bit of shopping, and ended up watching a movie. was a pretty mellow me day. it's amazing that i was able to do it considering how cold it was (-10 degrees).

thursday.
shawn picked me up and we went for some vintage shopping in kensington market. shawn told me about the king of kensington, but i still don't know who he is. in toronto, a leather jacket just won't cut it, so on sheldon's advice, i picked up a fantastic shearling patchwork jacket. i was warm. met up at carl's place, and he made us dinner...sat and talked just like old times.

friday.
supposed to snowboarding, but maybe i had too much to drink the night before. had dinner with dinah, deanna and rowena (yes that's a tongue twister) in little italy (college and bathurst area). we all decided that customer service is lacking in toronto (we are all west coasters). had a banana split at just desserts to cap off the night.

saturday.
got up, made brunch, looked at dinah's old photo albums. made our way to the ROM, specifically to see their show featuring couture fashions from the 1950's. it's too bad that the closet wasn't too big, as the whole show took about twenty minutes to go through, and that's with reading the bios of dior and ballenciaga. however, the pieces were still fantastic. had thai for dinner, which seems to be quite popular in toronto, as pad thai seems to be served everywhere. carl called and sheldon and i hooked up with him at a bar on college called lava lounge. decidedly straight, it was weird how many women were hitting on sheldon. he looked great, as he was sporting, and you read it here first, a poncho. (i bought one the next day). it was a good night.

sunday.
hung over, sheldon and i decided to spend the afternoon shopping, our favourite pastime. went into a gay pub halfway during the day, which always reminds me of being in the castro in san fran. aimee took me up for dinner for some korean bbq -- good food, good conversation, and i convinced her to come out west so we can become roomates and live in kits (i've been wanting to live there lately). slept over at her place, after looking at her old pictures from high school and college.

monday.
aimee drove me to the airport, but only after we stopped at tim horton's as i picked her up a double double. she calls me a starbucks snob. torontonians love their timmy's and second cup, but i've always said, who wants the first one? :). i rocked the poncho on my way to the departure gate -- and, as the plane left the runway, i knew that the west had won.

[vancouver]
hollywood north
just saw the smoking man in the elevator. cool.