january 2009
... but who really knows? This was actually an idea that I was chatting with a friend about before. I'm sure if scientists spent a little more time on food preservation technologies and less time on curing cancer, we'd have dehydrated melons in stores within four years. (I'm joking!)
I also somehow landed on last.fm's 80's radio channel and it's surprisingly passable. There was an article I read a couple months ago which measured the beat count in the top songs over the years and concluded that at the rate of increase we're going at, music is really going to suck by the time 2020 rolls around. It's pretty evident when listening to music from the 80's that our tastes have changed to accommodate this fast paced music. I'm still unsure whether that's a good thing or not.
Also finished a huge chunk of work this week -- something which had me wondering at some point whether I had bitten off more than I could chew. This is hopefully going to open up BumpTop to a lot more users which is pretty exciting.
I also somehow landed on last.fm's 80's radio channel and it's surprisingly passable. There was an article I read a couple months ago which measured the beat count in the top songs over the years and concluded that at the rate of increase we're going at, music is really going to suck by the time 2020 rolls around. It's pretty evident when listening to music from the 80's that our tastes have changed to accommodate this fast paced music. I'm still unsure whether that's a good thing or not.
Also finished a huge chunk of work this week -- something which had me wondering at some point whether I had bitten off more than I could chew. This is hopefully going to open up BumpTop to a lot more users which is pretty exciting.
Oh, what I would pay to get my hands on one of Apple's original 'Think Different' posters featuring Richard Feynman.
Anyways.
Sometimes, it's just nice to take a moment in this fast paced world and just enjoy the simple things in life. Whether it's just having some ice cream, or picking up a pencil and doodling just for the heck of it. For me, I woke up this morning and wondered, "when was the last time I took a bubble bath?"
Since I don't have any foaming soap or rubber duckies, I guess I'll just have to indulge in my own imagination for now.
Anyways.
Sometimes, it's just nice to take a moment in this fast paced world and just enjoy the simple things in life. Whether it's just having some ice cream, or picking up a pencil and doodling just for the heck of it. For me, I woke up this morning and wondered, "when was the last time I took a bubble bath?"
Since I don't have any foaming soap or rubber duckies, I guess I'll just have to indulge in my own imagination for now.
Frack me, why didn't anyone tell me about fabric softeners earlier?
I had this heavy, dark coloured dgp tshirt which had the texture of low grade (maybe 500 grit) sandpaper. Now it's practically wearable. Crazy!
(I know, what a gripping life I do lead. :P)
I had this heavy, dark coloured dgp tshirt which had the texture of low grade (maybe 500 grit) sandpaper. Now it's practically wearable. Crazy!
(I know, what a gripping life I do lead. :P)
Apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks that Windows Movie Maker is a terrible piece of software.
Apologies for the length!
Apologies for the length!
It totally slipped my mind earlier, but the Canada v. USA game on New Year's Eve was perhaps the most exciting game of hockey I've watched in ages.
Go Team Canada!
Go Team Canada!
So a year ends, and another begins. I am unfortunately still feeling a little under the weather, but had a chance to reflect on 2008 two days ago while riding idly on the bus, and in my own (incomprehensible) little way the last year for me can be summarized (slightly superficially) by the following blob of text:
started working at bumptop. back at the university. hung out with rhys. ate at big burrito. found a biking partner. first time on bike in 7 years. worked. worked harder. stayed overnight working. biked the ride-for-heart 50k. went to the rom. went to wonderland. played catch at kings circle. worked. slept. watched a ton of movies. wore shorts. volunteered at the humane society for a bit. fell into a slum. kinda depressed. biked to niagara falls in a single day. started new diet (the nutritional, not the weight-loss kind). started swimming. started cooking for serious. broke out the tablet and started drawing again. worked. bumptop moves out of the university and into downtown. slept. drew. swam. cooked. went to Vancouver and Seattle for thanksgiving. missed the TIFF yet agian. swam first of several 1500m's. went to a seedy little bar with someone -- saw some people doing coke off the bathroom urinals so I hightailed it out of there. worked. started talking to an interesting character. ghetto santa brings a present. played piano/keyboard for the first time in a decade. made my first youtube video hours before getting on the plane. went home for christmas. first time back in calgary in half a decade -- it's still very much the same. helped parents move. made some cold calls, got to sit down with a couple old friends and chat. helped parents move some more. got to walk around the old neighbourhood again (what memories!). came home. flying over toronto is still mesmerizing. played the piano. rode around on the bus for a bit on New Years Eve.
Whew.
And as usual, I have to make my resolutions (some would call them goals/predictions), not including those that carry over from last year (since my priorities changed a bit throughout the year). Recap: I _still_ want to learn to take more risks (variety is the spice of life), learn as much as I can about as many things as I can, and definitely work smarter and harder than ever before.
Otherwise, I'm going to try my darndest to make the following things a reality (in no particular order):
Here are some random photos I still had on my camera:
You want snow?! You got it!
Rainy on the ground...
... but snowy in the air. (I have no particular bias towards westjet in case anyone is wondering)
These signs are hilariously brutal -- I still like this one better though
Nice view of downtown Calgary
X's are surrounded!
I _finally_ expropriated my SNES from my parents. Yesssssss!
Long story short, me and my brother had the whole of two games for our SNES during our childhood (seriously), the Legend of Zelda and Super Mario World. We got so good at SMW that we did a speed run and beat the game in under 11 minutes (by going through Star World), and LoZ in under 11 hours (I believe). That was a long time ago though. Anyways, before leaving for university I bought a bunch of new games which included Secret of Mana (fun Squaresoft Rpg, can play with up to 4 players if you have a vtap and progressed far enough in the game), Star Fox (did you know the graphics were so intense they had to embed a Super FX chip in the cartridge to accelerate the 3d graphics?), Final Fantasy 3/6 (a classic), Side Pocket (the _only_ pool game worth playing on the SNES), and, believe it or not, a Japanese copy of DBZ: LotSS that an ebay seller was nice enough to pull from it's Super Famicom cartridge and insert into a playable North American cartridge! Did I also mention that I played through this game entirely in Japanese without knowing a spec of the language? (got by via trial an error). Luckily, I had also seen the TV series so I didn't exactly miss much of the storyline. Good times.
A trio of mice, for the trio of us youngin's
Last but not least, I also found a bunch of my old class photos from eon's ago (a time when Power Rangers, Pogs, and Math were 'in'). Guess which of the charming lads is your's truly?
So, Happy New Year! Muchas gracias to everyone who made this year as interesting as it was, and I hope everyone finds '09 to be even better than '08.
started working at bumptop. back at the university. hung out with rhys. ate at big burrito. found a biking partner. first time on bike in 7 years. worked. worked harder. stayed overnight working. biked the ride-for-heart 50k. went to the rom. went to wonderland. played catch at kings circle. worked. slept. watched a ton of movies. wore shorts. volunteered at the humane society for a bit. fell into a slum. kinda depressed. biked to niagara falls in a single day. started new diet (the nutritional, not the weight-loss kind). started swimming. started cooking for serious. broke out the tablet and started drawing again. worked. bumptop moves out of the university and into downtown. slept. drew. swam. cooked. went to Vancouver and Seattle for thanksgiving. missed the TIFF yet agian. swam first of several 1500m's. went to a seedy little bar with someone -- saw some people doing coke off the bathroom urinals so I hightailed it out of there. worked. started talking to an interesting character. ghetto santa brings a present. played piano/keyboard for the first time in a decade. made my first youtube video hours before getting on the plane. went home for christmas. first time back in calgary in half a decade -- it's still very much the same. helped parents move. made some cold calls, got to sit down with a couple old friends and chat. helped parents move some more. got to walk around the old neighbourhood again (what memories!). came home. flying over toronto is still mesmerizing. played the piano. rode around on the bus for a bit on New Years Eve.
Whew.
And as usual, I have to make my resolutions (some would call them goals/predictions), not including those that carry over from last year (since my priorities changed a bit throughout the year). Recap: I _still_ want to learn to take more risks (variety is the spice of life), learn as much as I can about as many things as I can, and definitely work smarter and harder than ever before.
Otherwise, I'm going to try my darndest to make the following things a reality (in no particular order):
- Get my driver's license _again_ so that I'm not constrained by the TTC system all the time (I relied on the TTC so much during university that I let my Alberta's drivers license expire). Despite what my parents think, it's probably not the safest choice for me to just renew my license since I haven't driven in such a long time. I'd rather just go through the whole thing again so I don't forget some crazy bylaw, accidentally run someone over, and get sued in 2009.
- Stick with the hobbies I already have (swimming, drawing, cooking, now the piano), just building on those. No point in diluting myself now.
- Get more and more of my ideas online. Did you know that I have several notebooks full of crazy ideas? Granted, not all of them are gems, but who knows -- they might spark something truly revolutionary in a basement 2000km away. Either that or someone will twist them for evil uses. In that case, I take no responsibility and can not be held liable for the potential destruction of the human race.
- Visit SE Asia. I recently watched an absolutely brilliant "documentary" on Vietnam (alright, it was Top Gear, happy? :P) and since I have to fly back to HK later this year anyways, I am going to see if I can make a stop there for a bit. Hopefully.
- Be less impulsive. It's easy to forget that people only indulge in your madness if they are equally mad as you are (if not more so). "Patience young padawan", as Obiwan would say.
Here are some random photos I still had on my camera:
You want snow?! You got it!Rainy on the ground...... but snowy in the air. (I have no particular bias towards westjet in case anyone is wondering)These signs are hilariously brutal -- I still like this one better though
Nice view of downtown CalgaryX's are surrounded!I _finally_ expropriated my SNES from my parents. Yesssssss!Long story short, me and my brother had the whole of two games for our SNES during our childhood (seriously), the Legend of Zelda and Super Mario World. We got so good at SMW that we did a speed run and beat the game in under 11 minutes (by going through Star World), and LoZ in under 11 hours (I believe). That was a long time ago though. Anyways, before leaving for university I bought a bunch of new games which included Secret of Mana (fun Squaresoft Rpg, can play with up to 4 players if you have a vtap and progressed far enough in the game), Star Fox (did you know the graphics were so intense they had to embed a Super FX chip in the cartridge to accelerate the 3d graphics?), Final Fantasy 3/6 (a classic), Side Pocket (the _only_ pool game worth playing on the SNES), and, believe it or not, a Japanese copy of DBZ: LotSS that an ebay seller was nice enough to pull from it's Super Famicom cartridge and insert into a playable North American cartridge! Did I also mention that I played through this game entirely in Japanese without knowing a spec of the language? (got by via trial an error). Luckily, I had also seen the TV series so I didn't exactly miss much of the storyline. Good times.A trio of mice, for the trio of us youngin'sLast but not least, I also found a bunch of my old class photos from eon's ago (a time when Power Rangers, Pogs, and Math were 'in'). Guess which of the charming lads is your's truly?So, Happy New Year! Muchas gracias to everyone who made this year as interesting as it was, and I hope everyone finds '09 to be even better than '08.