Jogging

Jogged 15.2km today, 95 minutes. Twice the distance of what I usually do. Very excited, and tired. Going to bed.

Go Go Gadget Plague!

Well I've been brutally sick for basically the last 2 weeks, and things are finally looking upwards. What did I have ? The next stage in viral evolution, combined with the epitome of bacterial disaster wrapped up into one. I'm sure I broke the world record for most sneezes in one day, and also the amount of time slept by someone 24 that is not hung over. I did manage the one day to go outside when I thought things were getting better, purchased a really nice chess set. It was 15 bucks, and I remember seeing the same one in those Sears Wishbook things, and various other catalogues/flyers for over 50 bucks when I was younger. Turns out it was a leftover from Christmas, and they wanted to get rid of it. If you're interested - it's all made out of glass, and one set of pieces is smoked glass. Also, this is not wine glass, the whole thing isn't a decoration. I'm not one of those people that buys random things that I never use just to put in a room that I never go in with lots of nice shit in it... a couple people I know have parents like that... what's the point? If I live somewhere, I want to utilize every room... not designate one of them as an unusable room, and throw some random crap in there to make it look like I'm way more well off than I am... this includes furniture, large globes, fancy chess sets, old books, and other belongings that people display but have no idea how to use or read.. Other than that.. not a whole hell of a lot has changed recently, I went through a slew of old computer games for nostalgia's sake, and stayed current with Big Bang Theory episodes. On the good note, I did get some green tea from China, delivered to me by a friend of mine that was in the city. It's a milder green tea, and it's not bad. By the way, if you buy Blueberry Green Tea from Tetley - be warned! The green tea tastes like normal bloody green tea, however, it SMELLS like blueberries. What a crock eh? I was expecting Blueberry taste! That's right.. I'm not asking someone to run to the Pacific for me, I just want to taste what the hell is advertised on the package! Especially for the price too.. jesus. In other news, with my abundance of sick/useless time, I caught up on some movies... here goes : From Paris With Love - not bad, very predictable, Travolta is not meant to be Bond. Twilight New Moon: Haha F that.. my sister's birthday was recently, and she put on that, and thankfully I was out of the room before the DVD menu popped up. After sitting through the worst hour of my life during the first one, I used some extrapolation techniquues from sciencce, and hypothesized that the 2nd load of crap can only be based on the crap from the first one, and therefore can't be any better. Game Over - Kasparov and the Machine - Documentary on a world champion chess player that lost to a computer built by IBM.. very good if you're into chess. Then again, if you needed that explained, and the title "Game Over" didn't say enough, then you probably shouldn't be playing Chess. Apparently the weather is nice out, and has been for a while but I haven't been out hardly at all.. exercise is a whole other matter... haven't done that either. Once I get back into being healthy thouhgh, things will resume. Alright, the kettle is boiled, and I have some green tea to drink.

Toronto - A windy but awesome time.

So I went to see my friends band Columbia play in downtown T.O. yesterday.. hopped on a bus, 3 hours later I was in the windy city of Toronto. I got a bit mixed up walking to the venue, but I got there using a different route, I don't believe it was any longer. One thing about the city - to those unfamiliar with it, like me, we end up spending way more than we have to on basic things, including using the washroom. That being said, I entered a 2nd cup because I knew they would have the facilities, and thought I'd just buy a medium hot chocolate and lounge around (the 2nd cup was across the street from the venue). However, I did not anticipate paying 3.20 for a medium hot chocolate.. in Dominican Republic I could have purchased a house! The band showed up, it was good to see my friend that I hadn't seen in years, and then I helped unload their gear to the venue, and setup. We lounged around for a while, and then they decided to eat around 9ish. I hadn't eaten since 1, so I was ready to start gnawing off the bar stools like a beaver. My friend and I searched for a while, passing edible, but not really satisfying looking restaurants, then landed a Mr. Sub. I wolfed down a 12" sub, then a band member decided to also eat at Subway, so they joined us... he got a sub..so I thought 'I need another one... '. I devoured that one also, and my hunger was satisfied. We headed back to the venue, waited some more, listened to the ending of the 1st band.. (Loud, wall of noise, inaudible lyrics, 500db too loud). The 2nd band came on, and they were more relaxed and did not do permanent damage to the eardrums. They were good, their music and lyrics were enjoyable. Then Columbia hit the stage, and was a hug success. You could tell they had been on the music scene for quite some time - the preparation, the blending of music & vocals, and the overall feel of the band set them apart from the rest. Furthermore, they did not pound my ears to a pulp. Everyone in the venue really took a liking to them, and it was a good show. We listened to the next band, the first couple songs were bearable, then they became another wall of noise.. I'm sorry but my definition of MUSIC does not include 5 people going 120% on their instruments with a vocalist screaming at the top of his lungs in every song... We decided to pack up during their set, and headed back to Bracebridge. And for those wondering if I gave money for gas - I did. I also bought a box of assorted donuts for everyone, and offered a round of coffee. They did an incredible job playing, and were very pleasant people to be around. Even the Sound Manager at the venue said they were really nice to talk to when he spoke with them, and said it was refreshing to have a polite band inside the venue that sounds professional and organized. There were 2 things weird about the venue though - 1) The venue had no posters up, no signs, nothing that was indicating there was 5 bands playing a show from Canadian Music Week... there was literally a piece of paper scribbled with black marker indicating there was a show, taped to the door. An eviction notice would have had more style. 2) According to Mapquest, the address is 349a college st.. however, should you go to 349.. you hit a clinic. Then beside it, there's a black door with stickers, nothing indicating it is the 'Neutral Lounge', in ANY way, it looks like the back door to an abandoned building that one could find an assortment of pizza boxers, hookers, and illegal arms. So I entered this mystery door, which led me down a flight of stairs to a poorly lit room, which turned out to be the venue... To get to the ACTUAL door, you have to go around to the end of the street, turn right, walk a block, then turn right again.. THERE you will find a small sign that says NEUTRAL. So strange... even if they put up a sign on their back door that said 'NEUTRAL LOUNGE ENTRANCE IS NOT HERE, OTHER SIDE OF BUILDING' it would have been a start. Kind of a weird place, judging by the posters on the walls, and decorations... it serves as a weekly goth hangout. It would explain the low lighting, overly-pale bartender, and black paint everywhere haha. On the way back, shorly after the Tim Hortons stop, we hit up a McDonalds, (certainly not by my choosing), and I was thirsty so I bit the proverbial bullet and decided a soft drink was the way to go.. As it turns out the cashier said the drink was on her.. and so I didn't pay for anything. It was really strange.. maybe a sign tempting me to go back to McDonalds from my years of not eating there? So with my free beverage, I headed back to Bracebridge, and got in just after 4pm.

Enter The Sun.

Play on Words of Enter The Dragon, one of my favourite movies. Back to basics though -

Went for copius amounts of snowshoeing over the last 8 days, which has been awesome, and enjoying the fact that winter's end is almost nigh. With the wonderful weather, I decided to take a jog yesterday, since it had been a while, and jogged 7km. An alright pace, I ended up back at my place after 45 minutes, so I would say that isn't too bad. Bracebridge is hilly, but I'm stubborn, so I don't let them get in the way. That 12 or 13 year asian old figure skater at the olympics yesterday during the figure skating session gave it his best, so me climbing up hills is minute. (Pronounced 'MY-newt', not to be confused with the measurement of time).
I made dinner last night, my biggest feat ever - cooking for a pile of people, creating a monstrous salad, frying fish all over the place, and making Whole Wheat pasta to go with it. Everything was a success, and the timing of the food worked yesterday! I've been eating healthy 99% of the time, minus my brothers birthday, where I indulged in a few slices of pizza and a coke. I figure, I am human, and I'm sure even the religious folk have to believe Jesus had some nasty thoughts, and the comic book fans know Superman used his X-ray vision to look past some garments every once in a while, and even the Jewish have to believe that the smell of Bacon frying is quite possibly the best thing in the world, whether or not they want to admit it. The good thing is, after that minor indulgence, I haven't actively sought out more pizza or coke. I have to go, I'm jogging to a friends house after I eat breakfast, and have some other things to do. Good-bye for now.

Good Day, been a while since I saw one of those.

Recipe for a good day.

• Workout this afternoon (feels great to workout)


• Blood Donation (My good deed for 56 days)


• Martial Arts - Sparring class (Just awesome)


• Whole wheat pasta /w feta for dinner (Simply irresistable)


• Avatar DVD RIP (42 inch TV + S-Video cable + laptop = Terrific)

I'll take Martial Arts & Blood Donation, without the cold please.

Ya, so in around 18 hours I am due to give blood at the clinic.. which I thoroughly enjoy doing. However, I have started getting a cold, and am not sure from what.. the weather has been mild, and I don't share toothbrushes with anyone... If all goes well tomorrow when I wake up, I'll give blood, and then attend a martial arts sparring class.. they always say to refrain from doing anything strenous after giving blood, but I figure I'm in good health (overall, not current), and I'm not 75, overweight, and sat in an office my entire life. We'll see how it goes, I'll know pretty fast when I get going in the class how far my body wants to go.
In other news, I made some more 'cereal', and it turned out pretty darn tasty this time around.. I lost the original recipe around a month ago, so I've been improvising ever since, with good results. This time I added some dried apricots after I cut them up, and it was a good change. The other day I felt like pasta, but knew I had to eat some fish also that night, so I combined the two, and felt like one of the Chef's on TV.. except in my TV segment I don't pre-measure anything in any glass bowls, or have other people do my work. I more/less dart around the kitchen like bees on crack trying to time everything to go off right, and not miss anything.. It was close when I couldn't find a cutting board to cut up the fish (as I logically thought I'm going to cut up this fish, so I need something to cut it on... ), however my Dad informed me that IT WAS FISH, and I should be able to pull it apart using a fork, with relative ease. So after accepting my Certificate of Common Sense, I continued preparing the meal. The result was good, the fish was done slightly before the pasta, (Whole Wheat), but not too quickly to be cold and vile. So the finished meal was Whole Wheat penne pasta /w tomato & mushroom sauce (go P.C. go!), with Talapia fish throughout. All in all, the 2 fillets worked well, and the pasta was a great amount too. I do need to invest in bigger bowls though, mine are too small for the amount I eat.
As far as exercising goes, things haven't been going wel with other stuff going on, on top of brutal snowshoeing weather and a random winter climate. February is my least favourite month.. Valentines Day I don't celebrate... it's a couples holiday, and is as over-commercialized as Xmas. Xmas does have the family get together, and great food, and good deals, so I can tolerate it over the shitty music.. but Valentines is just painful for us single people out there... You'd think by now I'd be used to it, considering I've been single chronically, but I don't know, it's just not a fun day. Part of me was thinking to get smashed, but I decided against it, although I did have a nice drink of Kahluha in Choc Soy Milk. Technically it's not milk, it's a 'Fortified Soy Beverage', but that's too long to type out, and it makes it sound like I have to cross enemy lines, weave my way through tall grass, and outsmart the bunkers in front of me before getting to my soy beverage to buy it. It's FORTIFIED, we'll need to bring in the artillery Colonel! Yesterday I decided to make the best of things, and searched for some comedy to cheer me up - I found Lewis black skits, and someone named Sarah Silverman to tide me over. Lewis black is great, Sarah Silverman I randomly found, and although her comedy is okay, it's very... I don't know... vulgar/offensive? I mean I don't get offended easily at all, but I could understand how other people might not enjoy it. The first skit I heard, I was thinking how she should burn slowly, but then I realized, if you take it for what it is - COMEDY, and look past all the strong vocabulary used, it's actually very funny - you just have to get in the right mood.
That's all for now,

Groceries - Pass. Debit Machine - Fail.

As you can gather, my trip to the grocery store went moderately well. I found some awesome deals on whole wheat pasta, chocolate soy milk, and bread. All in all it was pretty good, until I got to the checkout. I had everything rung through with a grand total of $26, but they informed me card did not work. Like a moron, I swiped 23069 extra times to make sure that I wasn't crazy, because I've never had a problem before with the card, and the swiping motion makes me feel like I'm accessing an account with much more money... kinda like "This swipe is connecting me to my offshore account in the Caymen Islands with a 7-figure balance" haha. Anyways, so I thought all of my deals, and arithmetic (I will compare deals notoriously and make sure I save an optimum amount whenever I enter a grocery store) was in vain. Then I remembered 'Wait a sec... this joint has an ATM doesn't it?' The checkout help which consisted of a teenager that was way too tall for their age, and a woman that had been there about 30 years longer than she had anticipated. Between the two of them, they didn't tell me there was an ATM 60ft from my location, they expected me to be like 'Oh, here's some cash'. I took the United States 'Pre-emptive strike' tactic, and broke the awkward silence with 'Ya, I don't carry cash, cya', before my ATM ephiphany. Then while returning from the ATM trek, some woman used the same line that I did... I was thankful she didn't have a monster truck worth of items to ring through, but the noteworthy piece of info is HER CARD DIDN'T WORK EITHER! There is the remote possibility of two cards both not working simultaneously. However, after she informed the clerk and his aid that the card was brand new, the logical train of thought would be play the 1-piece 'Blame Game' with the card reader! So all in all, I wasted 1.50 service charge on cash, when I went to the grocery store to save money.. However my savings were way more than 1.50, so I guess I can't complain.
I got home, and then realized the dog had urinated on the floor, which hasn't happened in 2 years, so I was very mystified. After consulting my sister on what product to use to clean up the mess, all was taken care of. However, I had water on the stove for pasta, and decided to make a salad to go with said pasta. But this cleaning delay led me to prepare my salad for consumption at the exact time that the pasta was done. It was a bit weird, but both were tasty.