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shiver [15 Mar 2015|10:49pm] You know that shiver you get through your shoulder blades and down your back when you feel cold. Maybe you’ve just left the restaurant and you’re heading to the car, and after about fifteen paces it hits you… and you shiver. If it’s a lot colder out… like Ottawa, February cold… you felt it full on, the second you stepped out of the restaurant. If it’s any warmer… well, you don’t get cold. So there’s a “shiver sweet spot”. And it’s not just a winter thing. The cool night air in early July… shiver! Maybe you can relate, maybe not. Either way, it’s a real-thing in my universe. In point of fact, it’s sometimes a whole lot worse. Sometimes, … on very rare occasions, maybe when other variables in my state-of-being are lined up just so… Sometimes the shiver is a whole shit load different than … just a shiver. My arms lock up, my shoulders pin forward, and I… can't… breath. A wave of terror splashes over me. It’s a detached thing… there is no “thing” about which I am afraid. I’m not actually afraid. It’s just the raw sensation of fear. I know it for what it is the very moment it starts to happen. Knowing has no bearing on the situation. I have to freeze. I have to stop dead and wait for the shiver to move through me. It takes a few seconds. When it’s done with me… if I’m still half way to where I’m going… it seems to take a seat nearby waiting to come again. If I go back indoors, get just a little warmer, something… it stops and fades to black. In my head, I’ve been calling it a ‘panic attack’ since it first happened… about 12 years ago. (I remember it vividly). But I may very well be doing a disservice to people who suffer from actual panic attacks, so I hesitate to call it that in my outdoor voice. Never-the-less, I am not a fan. 1 shot|give

selfie [13 Mar 2014|04:40pm] as I read and read and read about "Selfies"... I quietly say to myself... "um... yeah, tell me again how selfies are a new thing." lol. :) 6 shots|give

Monday, February 17, 2014 [17 Feb 2014|04:12pm] Hiya. :) Today was one of those “oh look… LJ is still there” days. Oh how I miss the old days when LJ was pretty much a playground filled with my best friends. FB and all that other stuff is fine… but it’s just not the same. :) Quick update on life: I’m about to turn 52 and I’m in better health and shape today than I have ever been in the last 52 years. :D George is in college, in love, driving a car and working. Ed is in the middle of high-school, full of opinions, wants to work in the film industry, qualified for his karate black-belt test and then quit … because he’s just-that-awesome. And Suz, my darling wife, is looking and doing better today than at any other time in her life. The company I started a couple of years ago is doing great… profitable and busy. So in a nutshell? Life is grand. Alas (earwax)… there is always a fly somewhere trying to land in the soup-of-life. I go back under the knife in mid-March for another (this will be the fourth) hernia operation. My main hobby has been “Fitness” in all its glory for the last few years and having an operation on your gut… really screws with that. / In as much as you’re your here, They’re their there. // Never before has an “Olympics” been so effectively presented on the Web. I freaking love CBC.CA’s presentation. I can selectively watch full events any time I want. I have been soaking up all the extreme events with gusto. Some of the wipe-outs… have put my heart in my throat, but fortunately nobody has died … yet. /// It continues to confound me that my country will struggle over funding social programs that help the obviously-in-desperate-need citizens … yet can commit 35 billion dollars to buy fighter jets that will never EVER be used to defend this country. Do you have any idea what 35 billion dollars (let alone a fraction of it) would do to the state of education, homelessness, and health care in Canada? It’s freaking insane. The whole concept of military spending is so completely screwed up … that I fear nothing will ever be able to correct the problem. Ps. I will never get tired of loving recklessly, quickly and with all my heart. Friendship and the love that binds it… is the best part of this short life. Peace :) 22 shots|give

Talking about Bullying. [17 Oct 2012|04:02pm] Bullying used to be something you could point at. “Those kids are being mean to that kid.” It usually manifested in “mob psychology” with a couple of kids picking on a kid that was different and others joining in until it got out of hand. I remember – dramatic painful memory – this girl… Marlene, in grade 10, literally being chased by 20 kids down the hall… all calling her names and cornering her in a locker bay and just pounding her with insults. I was (always will be) a small guy… not tough… not feared. But I remember being enraged at this event and pushing through the kids to collect Marlene and shame the kids that were taunting her. Horrible as that was… it was still something you could “point at”. “Those kids… “ doing “those things” to “that person”. They all had to “own” what they were doing. Many adults today… pull images like this to mind when they hear “Bullying is an issue” and they try to evaluate the current government and social response to bullying with those parameters in mind. These adults… have no fucking clue. Bullying today … bears little if any resemblance to the bullying of yester-year. Marlene… could be rescued from the locker bay. She could go home with her best friend and lock herself in her room, cry and sleep and get up to watch tv and … start facing her tormentors again the next day. Harsh as that may have been… today Marlene has none of these options. Today, the twenty kids in the locker bay… is more like “several hundred nameless, faceless kids on social media” (let alone sick, whack-job adults that join in the fun because they are damaged, deranged shit heads that want to play “mean”). The taunting, insults and derision follows her through the halls of the school… into the library, the bathroom and … all the way home. Locking herself in her room is of no use … as phones and computers tweet away with over-the-top criticism across the landscape of her peer group and back-up on her blackberry until she dares to power it up again and then BOOM… out floods the ill conceived words of merciless immature kids who have not got enough life experience to really understand the harm they are doing. The answer to this problem… remains illusive. I want to quote McLuhan and point to the technology as culprits … but that is akin to throwing the baby out with the bathwater. The medium is NOT the message. Thicker skins may help… but what are we left with? Legislation is a fools pursuit. It’s against the law to drink and drive… need I say more? I don’t have answers… but I do know this: The generation that is currently tasking itself with worrying out solutions to this problem… is ill equipped for the job. They do not comprehend the depth of the problem or the implications of the issue. Our children are in an unconventional war zone with offensive tools at every turn and very little defensive assets. Again, I say that I do not have answers but I think there must be value in the following ideas: 1. Ask the kids … no matter how immature their perceptions, they know more about this issue than a stadium full of lawyers, politicians and clinical psychiatrists. 2. Look to the lack of defensive assets… we have rainbow-power fueling the call for safe zones for the LGBT community… and I think there’s a greater need for safe zones in general. 3. We have been far too intrigued by the open-source, crowd-sourced, multi-pathed anonymous nature of the internet. Everything that is wonderful about the internet will not go away if we spend more time building accountability. “Less anonymous” is better than “more anonymous”. If you are afraid to “own” what you do… then you know you are doing something mildly (or more) wrong. Young people do not understand this … only because they lack the human experience to understand the implications – but that is no reason to allow them to drown in anonymous behavior. If the youth of today had to “own” their words and actions… we would be better off. Remember that locker bay? Every one of the “taunters”… had a face and a name, and I think that is exactly why Marlene could grow through those hard times. Not so for Amanda Todd. ☹ 1 shot|give

Tuesday, Sept 25 [25 Sep 2012|04:35pm] Nascar: Proof positive that we have far too narrow a definition of prostitution. Not that there’s anything wrong with that… Lol /// The public school teachers union and the government have been going at it again around these parts. The government and the Union wait till the last frigging second before they get all pissy about the contract running out of time… then both sides start the “posture war” with grand pronouncements about what a drag each other is at the bargaining table… and then, when it looks like the teachers are going to go on strike, after their summer vacation, the government passes pre-emptive back-to-work legislation that has the net effect of … SCREWING UP KIDS SCHOOL YEARS. I fucking hate the way the Teachers Union and the Government refuse to play ball until they can turn the kids into their pawns. Teachers… are pretty much super heroes in my books. Their unions, on the other hand, can collectively (pun intended) jump off a tall cliff any ol’day of the week. The union says “spit” and the teachers have to say “how hard, and do you want a luggie?” because anything less gets you blacklisted. Result: all extra curricular activities are screwed over. And by “extra curricular” we mean… a lot more than coaching the damn football team. Lunch time help sessions, clubs and all manner of social activities… all in the pooper. If you don’t think all that stuff is important… you have no clue, and I can’t teach you. But the fact remains that High School is the last stage of baking the adolescents that will become the doctors, lawyers, tradespeople, politicians, etc. etc etc etc etc that will be running the world. We do the world a disservice – in the extreme – by ignoring their social development. I’ve lived through teacher strikes, work-to-rules, etc. and I am absolutely sick of this bullshit. I wish there was another way. We can afford to buy 35 billion dollars worth of fighter jets to protect other countries interests in far off lands and put our own sons and daughters in harms way … but we can’t afford to provide glue sticks to kids in grade 4. Dear Everyone: This is just wrong. // Homeland – because Claire Danes makes other actresses look like wanna-bes. Archer – because everybody should get to laugh this hard. :D / A friend at work has a new iPhone5. Up until I laid my hands on it… I was all thinking “I just want to upgrade to a 4s and I’ll be happy.” Yeah… well that’s over. ☺ Ps. Hi caranya. :D 5 shots|give

Friday, September 7 [07 Sep 2012|04:01pm] Life is full of win. ☺ It’s Friday… that means I’m pre-occupied with the weather and wondering if there will be dry concrete at the skatepark in the morning. Alas, (earwax) it does not look good in these parts for the weekend weather. Those pics above were from last weekend. :D Things are kinda non-stop in the land of me. I’m still all about going to the gym at lunch and trying to stay motivated to do the intense-interval cardio thing at night. Suzy and I finished the two-month “Insanity” program two weeks ago and I’m tell’en ya, I have never ever ever done anything that made me work that hard… laying on the floor in the tv room for 10 minutes wondering if I’ll ever be able to stand up again… We’re about to start it again, having tried a few other programs and just not liking them as much. :D /// Work is … great. No really. I started my company in January, spent some time getting things organized and became my own full time employee on March first (suzy is a part time employee doing the “books” and her-best-to-keep-me-organized. :D). Things have been going at top speed ever since. I’m still billing full time hours with a federal agency in Canada… and I just finished a contract in sunny West Virginia. I was doing a “tactical risk assessment” for the state gov “department of environmental protection” and it was an oversized package of awesome. As usual, I learned so much by doing that contract I almost feel like I should have been paying them… but, fortunately, they were paying me. // Both of my boys are in High School now. Geo is in his last year and Ed is in his first. I am in awe. I work hard at not spending an inordinate amount of time telling them how well I can remember holding them as wee babies. :D lol. They are definitely not wee babies any more. / As I watch the US head into their next election, I remain amazed that the actual problems facing Americans seem to be so much “back ground” noise, while the talking heads blather on about things with a vigor that I utterly and completely fail to comprehend. I would love to be all judgmental about the big R versus D thing but I don’t really care. What I care about is how long it will take before women across America mobilize, march into DC and freak’en lynch every last one of the bastards that are working so hard to take control of woman’s lives and bodies when they should be trying to build better health care, invest in job creation, and PILE money into education. I remember something about a “Million Man March” (but I truly couldn’t tell you anything about it besides the name)… and I’m hoping that someday soon there will be a Ten Million Woman March that overruns Washington and scares the absolute shit out of the powers that are so misguided. Ps. Hi :D I will always and forever love Lj and everything it stands for. Everything else is an “also ran”. Just say’en. :D 10 shots|give

Wednesday, April 4 [04 Apr 2012|05:14pm] Ola lj. :) Today was a good day. I’m sore all over… but that’s ok. My darl’en Zee is doing great. We found our way out of the confused darkness and we’re living the life. Seriously… if I could give the world a gift… I would figure out how to give away what ever it was we did to become so happy, passionate and comfortable together. My little boys… are not so little any more – and they’re great too. Ed (aka grasshopper) continues to go to three karate SLASH stick fight’en classes a week and he’s doing great in school. (go figure). Geo is pushing grade 11 to turn into grade 12 and then ohmyfreakinggod… but I try not to think about that. :) He’s doing great and imagining life as a computer programmer. Suz and I have pretty much turned “working out” into our primary hobby and pastime. ☺ In fact, I look back over my FB account and feel a bit silly when it starts to look like it’s just a “record of check-ins” at the gym. :D This means I’m at the gym with coworkers every day at lunch… following a five day track of weight-training… repeating for four weeks and then it’s switched for a new one. But it’s always “legs, arms, back, shoulders, abs”. Suz and I go to cardio sessions while Grasshopper has his stick’fight’en class… so that’s three nights a week… and we’ve got the “insanity 60 day workout” videos for getting a crazy intense workout at home. This all started from very reasonable plans… suz was into “training” as we got ready for a big family vacay on a cruise ship two years ago… and I’ve been trying to heal my damaged, broken body. Well suz is looking like a rock-star and I’m enjoying the first years of my adult life that are not “in pain” from all the damage I did when I was a kid. :D :D If you are into any of this “work out” stuff… don’t you just love how it feels on “arm day” when you get the shower and absently reach up to wash your hair… and you can barely get your arms up past shoulder height? LOL… la la la… I turned 50 this year… and fuck it. I’m just not feeling anything like what I imagined 50 to feel like. :D I still chase the admiral into the garage at night, dream of skateparks (and totally dig all the skateboarding I can bear over the summer) and I’ll be glad to stop all that and settle down… when I’m dead. TYVM. :) I cashed in all my chips this year with “employment” and decided to start my own company. This has worked out wonderfully. I’m not sure how well it would have worked out if I had done it years ago… but the time NOW was (is) definitely right. I’ve got lots and lots of work… contracts that will keep me busy for the next two years without even trying. (and I intend to “try”, so there will be loads more). And in those two years I will bank at least twice as much as I would have as an employee… so that equals “big fat raise” in my books. :D So bottom line: life is freaking great. Things go up and down… but there are wwwwway more great days than there are “average days” and I hardly ever have bad days. If I can keep this up for a few more years… well… anything is possible. /// We only have so many coins, I ought to be generous and caring, But not at the expense of your family. That is to say, I appreciate that Canada is part of a global community, But we’ve no business sorting out problems half a world away, When we have so many social and economic problems here… in the big-pink-blob.* *When I was 14 I visited a grade school class in Texas. The giant “school map” that hung at the front of the class displayed the details of the glorious 50 states. And Canada was an indistinct big pink blob with giant “Canada” letters through it at the top of the map. Meanwhile, my classmates and I back home in Ottawa were busy learning every state and state capital. Lol. // I will push myself to be stronger… to be better. I will hurt. Not because you think I should. I will do it because I can. … and I will be awesome. / If I told you that I missed you, You would only hear the words. If I had the chance to hold you, You would understand. Peace! (like a boss). :D 14 shots|give

Wednesday, February 1 [01 Feb 2012|11:34pm] Ola! :) Good times and fast times. Made a bit of a choice last month… I’d been having a very good time with my employer, But the company has been changing and not in a way I felt was good for my career. So suz and I decided to take matters into our own hands. We now work for Cortitto Ltd., Canada. Cortitto is he, as we are he, we are me, and we are all together! My very (very) simple company web page is here. :D As soon as I explained all this to my current clients (my fav clients, btw), they sorted out about two years worth of contracts and contract extensions, trying to make sure I didn’t get hired away. Bottom line: fireworks. My last day as an employee was yesterday. Now it’s all about building relationships for myself instead of someone else’s company… and continuing to build my brand. Oh, and my company… has a way better Group Medical Plan than the last company I worked for. 21 shots|give

old rules department... [08 Jan 2012|09:57pm] A little more from the … “The old rules don’t apply. Stop using them as excuses.” … file. It’s not that the 1% keep getting phenomenally richer… there has been an elite class getting indescribably rich for as long as there has been a western society. As long as there’s a market operating in the economy, there will always be some form of an elite class. No, the big deal is that we are no longer consuming information that has been fermented by big media. We can bitch about rich bastards now like never before in history. So when the giant mega-corps and banks were all facing a potential tits-up situation in the crashing economy, your governments used your money to bail those bad-boys out. Somehow it was perceived that we needed to preserve this old-world-order operated by and at the whim of these elite mega corps. And because they are so bad at operating in a socially-conscious, let alone “connected” media… we are screaming “I can see you” at these guys as their salaries and bonuses go insane. They’re already reminding us that they are market driven businesses operating in the private sector and they can do what ever the hell they want to do with their money (as long as the shareholders don’t lynch them). Example: Caterpillar plant lock-out. And this is true… this is no less true just because the government gave them a boat-load of your money to rescue their companies. Like a music executive, thinking he can keep making money in the cd business like he used to if he only sues enough pesky downloaders, the Automotive and Banking elite (for example) are continuing to behave like they have a business model that can survive the coming information apocalypse. We really should have let the car companies crumble. We’d long since have bounced back with some stumbling new model that would have been a grand first step into the coming new world order for “consumerism in a socially-conscious, globally connected economy”. (that would be a great book title). 1 shot|give

Thursday, January 5 [06 Jan 2012|12:06am] Hi. :) S’bin a while. Happy new year and all that good stuff. :D My resolution this year is to make a good “go” of my recent decision to start a company instead of working for one. Zee is going to be an employee. I haven’t told her yet, but I was thinking of using mostly-ridiculous titles for our roles in the new company (suz would be “Supreme Commander”, and “El Magnifico” for me. :D) Personally, I think these would look fracking awesome on proper business cards. Company name, btw, is “Cortitto Ltd.” :) Ps. I’m an employee of my current overlords until the end of January. Gave ‘em lots of notice and it appears to be a peaceful transition. It’s the 5th and so far the new year has brought me three migraine nights. a) thank the goddess for Maxalt 10 mg tabs of glory and b) I’m going with “I’m getting them out of the way…” My christmas prezzi this year was… that little helicopter. I can charge it from a battery pack, or I can charge it on my laptop usb port. I charge it on the port… always. :) This little guy is just totally totally totally fun. It’s one of those things that you constantly get “a little better at”… so there’s a cool kinda narcotic reward system built into playing with it… I mean… It’s a HELICOPTER and it FLIES AROUND IN THE HOUSE!!!! I’m not sure how it can get any better than this? Oh, and I’m not sure if I mentioned it before but I totally quit client #2. The gig was driving me nuts… and, AND, I’ve got a new gig with client #1 (the client I’m crazy about ) for three days a week and a second gig with client #1 (but in another directorate) for the other two days per week – all in the same building… a building that is about 20 minutes away from home… in traffic. La la la … :D /// Dear Everyone in America: If you freaking elect San-a-torium to office, you frigg’en deserve the insanity you will suffer at that whack-job’s hands. // After many months with my mac air, I absolutely continue to think it’s the greatest thing since toast. The only thing better would be the new mac air with the backlit keyboard and the thunderbolt port. This thing just so seriously rocks-it as a lap top (let alone as a “business laptop”) that I remain in awe. :D / Geo went snowboarding on Wednesday. He got out of the clinic with steri strips holding the cut on his face closed and x-rays were all done by about 3. Yup yup… k… see ya soon. :) 11 shots|give

Thursday, December 15 [16 Dec 2011|01:05am] Ola. ☺ Well I’ve been pretty quiet for a while… but I’ve been busy making some pretty big changes in the “life and times”. The next chapter of “la vida de Corto” has begun. While I just love my current employer… the company has changed course away from what would be beneficial to my career… so I considered changing companies. However, after changing a few times, I’ve decided it’s high time I stop depending on someone else to make my future bright. So I’ve asked the bosses to flip me from employee over to private contractor and started a new corp. (cortitto ltd.). I’ve already got two contracts to take me to April and another one lined up for the year following. This is a really really good thing. So… I’m a happy corto. Kinda freaked out… The first issue is getting health insurance sorted out… and that’s just about done. // “honour” is no defense for murder. / I’ve been working on “photo books”... I made my first one years ago as a “trip journal & picture book” for our family adventure to PEI. Did it on Lulu.com. I can still go there and edit it or order more. I’ve been duplicating the style of that one and making a new one for our adventure to Cape Cod in 2005. The “cover art” for that one is below. I’m going to do one for each of our family cruises too. :) See the little tiny thumb nail images on the cover? Each chapter starts with the relevant thumbs across the top of the chapter-page-one and then the full pics come at the end of each chapter (each day is a “chapter”). So, every thumb from every chapter is on the cover. :) :) 3 shots|give

Biteme oh'Catholic School. All you bring to the table is a cute skirt. [08 Dec 2011|01:40pm] Here’s why the Catholic School system in Ontario is whack… The Ontario government has been under constant pressure to establish a strategy to deal with the increasing frequency of “bullying” issues and the intensifying harm that bullying is having on our young people. There have been several suicides directly attributable to bullying issues, documented and undocumented incidents of violence and … generally speaking a “culture of cruelty” that needs to be brought into check. One of the government’s initiatives is to legislatively mandate that all Ontario schools allow (and assist) students to create clubs designed to foster a safe environment for students that feel persecuted. One suicide (this year) in a local high school was documented as directly linked to the reaction of the school and fellow students when a young man tried to establish a Gay/Straight Tolerant club. The legislation calls for action if – specifically “if” – a student or group of students ask for such a club. Now some organization with a name that sounds like “family values” or something is all up in arms. They represent the Catholic School board. Their mouth-piece is on the national news complaining about how this is going to devastate the Catholic School system. The argument from the Catholic Schools is that homosexuality is not supported by Catholic doctrine and that such a club would be an affront to the religion. The mouth-piece went on to shove his shoes in his mouth with things like… “Next thing you know the Muslim students will want a club.” (etc. etc. etc… he just kept going). See… there are not enough public school system high schools so anyone of any faith can attend a Catholic HS – they just have to take “religious studies”. So most of the “Catholics” in a Catholic HS are simply catholic-of-convenience students. The interviewer (CBC, btw) was cautious but obviously not buying it. She tried to stay focused on the issue that gay students feel unsafe in school… catholic or otherwise, etc. etc. etc. The rebuttal was all about “we need tougher laws that target bully’s and punish them.” So… ignoring the obvious avenues of ridicule that open up here with the idea that the religious organization proposes “punishment” as the most effective means to an end… I have to say… sadly… that I agree with the mouth-piece. The “catholic school” system is a school system that is based on teaching Christianity and focused on Catholicism. Catholicism deplores homosexuality, let alone women-in-general. They wrap Catholicism in an official curriculum that meets provincial guidelines and presto… total public funding for the whole shebang. I don’t know about the rest of the province… but in Ottawa and the surrounding communities, the Catholic High Schools are the biggest, newest and nicest. BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE - they are religious schools based on a religion. Lets forget about the history of Catholicism, the crusades, wars, persecution etc. The real issue is INTOLERANCE. And freedom of religion makes a law out of letting them be as intolerant as they want. “Oh my church is like a social club… a support organization… a charity.” “Catholicism… well, we only follow the bits of the bible that make sense…” blah blah blah… Face it. Stop lying to yourself and everyone around you. If you’re calling yourself catholic… (let alone tithing on a regular basis), you are lending your support to an intolerant organization. Therein lays the problem. The government wants to promote tolerance and support for all… but they (the government) support the Catholic School system which is diametrically opposed to those goals. Why we have two school systems (four, actually, because the secular and catholic schools have French equivalents) is totally whack!! I say do away with that shit and just have a freaking “school board” for the province. 4 shots|give

[02 Dec 2011|12:46am] I am going to be harassed by mailing lists for EVER... lol. I'm taking the bait on every contest that comes along... Life is way busy... but in a good way. :) client #2 is having a chaotic moment ... and it's kinda fun. Definitely not boring. client #1 is a whole bunch of work but ... you know, I just like going there. Good people to work with. both renewed contracts till March... la la la... Still getting a solid four gym days a week. Still working on both damn shoulders... but I think they're coming along. ... and we're getting ready to get all into the Christmas zone. :) / I'm enjoying the various "web publishing" book stes. Lots of cool. And the one "built in" to my Mac is pretty darn good too!!! :) / The Benalyn advert for their new cough syrup... "Extra Strength Mucous and phlegm" ... just sounds like their selling a bottle of mucous and phlegm. / A catholic high school in Ottawa is making news because their making a big deal out of enforcing a "dress code rule" that conveniently has "been on the books for years...". They're banning yoga pants unless you have a long, skirt length, shirt or sweaters. The girls are outraged (and I'm sure the boys are bummed!) and all full of p&v. ...haiku Lemon is out Boys are just so weak Blame the camel The thing is... its just more of the same. Another generation... and another example of the "grown ups" acting like muppets. When I was in HS it was a brand of pant called "Tribals". Sweet mercy... And the muppets came out with grand concerns that the proliferation of camels was just not acceptable. blah blah blah. tight versus lose fashion goes in cycles It just seems pointless to distract everyone from the business of being students and bully them around with a weeny attempt at stamping morality onto kids asses. It's just silly. / I am concerned about new legislation concerning "bullying". Any plan that ends with expelling a young teen... is a plan made by a mindless beaurocrat. But that's not even the real issue for me. The bigger challenge is way our whole vibe about bullying ... is getting perilously close to giving unreasonable powers to middle school, overworked, stressed teachers. I'm not at all saying teachers are going to become a bag full of nazis. I am saying that... numbers don't lie. Given unreasonable powers, reasonable people eventually abuse those powers. It freaking happens all the time. That's why we built systems of checks and balances... We'll know it's happened when we hear about kids getting expelled - let alone labelled!!! - for being... a kid in high school. And if you were pure and perfect in HS then you get to call me names but you're in the minority. ~ k... time for sleep. :D 5 shots|give

Friday, November 25 [26 Nov 2011|01:38am] Ed, suz and I watched the "Dawn Treader" (Narnia) tonight. For a remarkably strange and freaky story ... they managed to do a fine job with the movie. It wasn't the weirdest of the Narnia stories... The Silver Chair takes that cake. But from the earliest news of the new movie making cycle hitting Narnia... I've been wishing for The Magicians Nephew to make it to the big screen. That was a trippy story. :) Long week. :( Both client organizations are renewing contracts... Both have issues with their contracting staff. Actually working for free for one client, With an agreement to over-bill when the new contract is in place. Struggling through work with the other client in a high security location Without a valid pass... paperwork for one of my clearances was allowed to "lapse" when the contracts were being renewed. Seriously... being escorted all over the place... is enough to drive me completely bonkers. sigh. Adding to this some weirdness with the current overlords of the central base of the galactic core... It's been a long week. ... and I need to make a plan. :) Feeling really good about the gym stuff... Of course, my shoulder still freaking hates me. See... there's three individual problems spread around the shoulder zone. All three are improving... I'm really sticking to regular targeted muscle work. All good... but, never-the-less... righty hurts like a sonofabitch every night... when I wake up from it... at, like, 4. blarg! /// The Canadian Federal, Provincial and Municipal governments (as examples) provides ample opportunity for folks to protest. Every other day, all summer long, one group or another is marching around on Parliament Hill. The big ones hit the news cycle... Some spill onto the streets. Some are really loud and freaky. (remember when I went - sign in hand - to protest when Bush came to visit?) ... the thing is, All of the protests, are actually a very complicated bit of very careful manipulation. The documented posture of the government is that these valves need to be in place to blow off ... organized steam. They (the official "they") provide ample opportunity for these protests to go down, But you better believe that they go "down" according to a plan. And it's not the protesters plan. ... and it is here that we find one of the most important issues with the "occupy" movement. The Occupy protests were not following the plan. Official "responses" to the protests were moving targets of tolerance, rhetoric and aggression. There were exceptions... exceptional positions taken to allow the whole "valve" thing to work in the governments favour. But overall... it was a slow speed police chase towards the aggression vibe... the vibe that takes over when the government doesn't know what to do. My take away from the "occupy" stuff... is that protesters don't have any hope of making any kind of real difference through protest unless they step outside of the plan. // Range of news items showing the big fun folks have with Black Friday, Shootings, pepper spray, mayhem... Really? I mean... really? Way to represent. / I have got...HAVE GOT To stop passing out on the sofa after the 11 news. Suz works away on her laptop while the TV cycles local news, john stewart, Colbert, Conan... all of which I totally sleep through. But it's sleep I should be getting with the CPAP mask on. sigh. I expect to do better this week. ... and yes, I'm still working the Darth Vader bed time thing. My biggest issue is waking up with an itchy nose. You mess with the mask, after which it either fits poorly - aka: loud hissing leaks... - or you turn on the light and readjust to put the mask back on. So yeah... waking up with an itch = taking off the mask in a sleepy stupor and going back to sleep. But when I lay down to sleep with that thing on... it's freaking heaven. I fall asleep in about 10 seconds and get the best sleeps ever. (until the itchy-nose thing comes along. :D) K... see ya. :) 2 shots|give

Sorry driver-dudes, but you're not that special. [17 Nov 2011|07:37pm] The ongoing OC Transpo story in Ottawa continues to drive me nuts. The public transit system in Ottawa, we are often reminded, wins all these awards and never misses a chance to tell the public how much ridership has gone up as if people are deciding to ride the bus because it’s so wonderful. Meanwhile, the-public-as-witness displays a video of a driver swearing at, berating and generally bullying a “slightly” autistic teenager… we’re talking the “shut the f^&k up or I’ll ram my fist down your throat.” variety of abuse. There’s a flurry of incidents… some dumb-ass driver pulls over and bails on the passengers completely because some was asking why he was late… again. Another driver kicks everyone off in the middle of nowhere for some distracted reason. Blah blah blah… some of the 1,600 drivers suck balls. This is no surprise. What is surprising is the way the whole thing is playing out… From the abusive driver getting fired, to the union prez. on the TV complaining that the driver should have been given a desk job and anger management classes. That’s the prez. who failed to show up at the drivers hearing… the hearing where he got fired. And we have to endure two days of news coverage telling us that abusive-driver-dude lost his wife and father (or mother) to cancer in the last year… LIKE THAT MATTERS. OC Transpo does make a big deal out of their zero-tolerance policy towards passengers that act up in any way … from a pool of millions-of-passengers per year, there are sure to be a few problems. But this is the word of the driver bringing down the axe on anyone they get pissed off at – passes taken away, banned from using the bus, blah blah blah. If you work until you’re 55, chances are one or both of your parents will die. This is no excuse or get-out-of-jail-card for handing out abuse. I understand that management has to expect peaks and valleys in an employees performance over their career, but abuse is abuse is abuse. These are the same drivers that held the city hostage over the Christmas season a couple of years ago with a ridiculous, protracted, painful dead-of-winter bus strike. The bottom line … is freak’en easy. Bus drivers are not special. Their only claim to fame is a pain-in-the-ass union. Otherwise, they’re just “employees” and public-purse employees at that. Public employees that serve the public face-to-face absolutely should be held to an above average standard of behaviour… But even forgetting that… if any of the weird ass abusive behaviour that’s getting reported on where to happen in your job, how long before your ass hit pavement out front? 1 shot|give

Monday, November 14 [14 Nov 2011|11:44pm] Yeah, so... as expected, it was gorgeous today. 15 degrees and sunny. Dude!!! (I caused this by putting my snow tires on, on the weekend.) My weekend was all about doing job jar stuff and getting up early. Oh and movies. I watched Transformers - Dark of the moon, Battle for LA, and Source Code. Source Code is the big winner for catching my attention. Compelling cool concept sci-fi story. Transformers was totally average but fun in a transformers kind of way... but Battle for LA was also super. :D People gave me the expectation that B-4-LA was gonna suck, but It was a a gas... Cool aliens, alien invasion, big battles, compelling characters, the good guys win (sorta) and a chick with a machine gun... Can't argue with that... in my books. :D /// Bus driver dude that was yelling and swearing at the kid on his bus... nabbed on FB via a trusty phone-cam video... was fired. // Saw my sports-med doc for a follow-up after work. I'm getting there... and she wants me to keep on doing what I'm doing (work'en both shoulders in the gym and before bed with specific stretches and exercises). / Tried eating a pomegranate again... like that cactus pear, I guess I should google "how to" on this. I cut it in half (half still in the fridge - it was a huge, btw)... and I scooped out all the seedy squishy bits into a bowl. I smushed that for a bit with a spoon and was able to drink a whole bunch of super delicious juice... I tried just spoon-to-mouth with some of the squishy bits but I'm not sure if you swallow the hard bits... so there was "spitting" involved. Squishing and drinking was awesome. It has that strong juice flavour that I associate with Welches Grape juice... Not that the pom tasted like grape juice... just that it was that super strong flavour. :) Alrightee... ni ni... (off to bed in a few minutes). ~ Note: I'm really noticing a really good difference in my days when I manage to get to bed before 1. It used to not matter... alas (earwax)... I guess those days are behind me. :D :D :D 1 shot|give

Amazatron Mac and Cheese. [09 Nov 2011|03:28pm] Mac and Cheese. Keep it simple… Make it awesome. Pick your favourite pasta and cook 2 cups el dente! (so, not really cooked to soft, but a little “dente” lol) While the pasta is cooking… we make zee amazing cheezee sauce! 1 cup milk 1 heaping tablespoon of white flour. Whisk… Microwave on high for 30 seconds… Whisk… Microwave on high for 30 seconds… Whisk… Keep repeating this until you’re whisking a thick cream sauce… ~ add ¼ teaspoon of white pepper… or just shake a bunch of pepper into it… ☺ ~ dice a half an onion (tiny little bits-o-onion) and mix it into the sauce… ~ add a full cup of grated cheddar cheese (mild, sharp, old… what ever turns your cheese crank) ~ stir stir stir… Make a topping!!!! I use two small pita breads… split them, chop them into little ½ inch squares… and pan fry them with some canola oil and season salt (pick your fav) until their all crispy. Dry them on a paper towel… The pasta is done… drain it and dump it into a big round, deep baking dish… Pour the cheese sauce over it and stir it in… Cover it with the fried pita bits… Bake it all for 20-30 minutes at 350. And watch everyone smile when they dig in. ☺ give

[08 Nov 2011|02:08pm] The whole OC Bus Driver Yelling / Kid Grabs Video thing is a bit off-putting. The issue is NOT the driver yelling… which is an assault under every definition of the word and I’m really surprised that the guy hasn’t been charged yet. No… the really disturbing part of this story is the way people have lined up as if there are two sides to the issue. It started with the a radio Jock suggesting that it was somehow “wrong” for the kid who grabbed the video to put himself out there like that… and “why didn’t he try to help… instead of trying to ramp up his youtube hit count”. That – all by itself – really got my blood boiling. As someone who has ended up in the hospital with lifelong injuries from stepping into a situation thinking I was going to “help” I have to say it’s really very short sighted of anyone to suggest that Mr. Video should have done something different. By the sound of it, the Bus driver was in a mood to put someone off his bus for getting in his face… and when the Transpo Police show up … they DO NOT LISTEN to the bus riders… they listen to the bus driver. Mr. Video has prol’y done the victimized passenger from the video more good by capturing the video than he could possibly have done by getting himself thrown off a bus, let alone get a “fist in his face” (bus driver quote). The reference to Mr. Video’s “youtube hit count” is also very wrong headed and kinda pisses me off. The fact that it came from a journalist and again from a radio jock… is just really hypocritical. That way of thinking kind of invalidates the effort of journalists around the world in a single swipe. AND DO NOT start with “Mr. Video was a citizen not a journalist.” Because that is absolutely the sound you make while your head is stuck in the ground. The abuses of power, authority, opportunity and wealth that have been going on all our lives … are finally being pushed into the cold light of day. Every body with a cell phone, let alone a cellphone camera, is a potential witness to these excesses. We are no longer slaves to what ever the news media corporations decide we want to know about… we get to grab the news raw, real, live and full of f-bombs and put it out there for all to see. This is fabulous!!! There are plenty of examples of how an average joe with a camera made all the difference in the world to the way “Power” has to prove itself… and I’ll start with the Zapruder film of JFK getting shot and end with the video (a few years ago) of an Ottawa cop bashing some girls head in on the hood of a car. It is so old-school and pathetic to suggest that people capturing abuses of power with their cell phone cameras is a bad thing that it only makes you look like an idiot. And that brings me to todays news item… I wake up the CBC reporting that the union is bitching about Mr. Video breaking some law by shooting video on a bus. Apparently there is a “law” that you can’t use a camera on a bus unless it’s only for personal use. Again… the abusers get all busy trying to make the people that catch them look bad. Mr. Video shot video of an abusive man assaulting a younger, handicapped patron of a publically funded service… the fact that the abuser was a bus driver seems to have everyone trying to find someone to blame here except the damn bus driver. Mr. Video did the right thing by not getting involved and having his head caved in by an obviously angry authority figure who was already demonstrating his comfort with abusing his authority. It doesn’t matter if the driver was having a bad day… I don’t care if his whole family was killed the day before… He has no right what-so-ever to bring his anger to the execution of his job. If things are so bad… stay home and take one of your many union-won-sick-days-with-pay. The bottom line is that society has changed. Boom. It’s done. There’s no going back… Pandora can close the box, but everything is out of that bad box… and it’s not getting back in. The old rules no longer apply and people have got to stop using them as excuses. We all have cameras now… so go ahead and abuse your power, authority or position… we’ll capture that video and we’ll post it for all to see. Now it’s up to society to admit that this is a new world order and if we’re going to get anywhere… we have got to accept that it’s no longer ok to break the law just because a cop isn’t looking. … Because we’re looking. We’re looking and we’re taking video of your sorry ass committing that crime. And if the authorities don’t punish you… well, the next steps will be people deciding that they have to bring the punishments themselves, and that cant be a good thing. 1 shot|give

Friday, November 4 [04 Nov 2011|10:44pm] :) Things are nutty. Not grab-the-epi-pen nutty, I mean... bonkers. Both of my contracts are coming "due" and my clients are scrambling to renew or recontract or extent me.... Bosses hate losing a cut of my day-rate to middlemen, and both my gigs are through partners. So the pressure is on to get some organic gig under way and load up on some of that "US day rate" stuff. Not a bad thing... this "pressure". It's just part of the job... and the reason I get to do cool gigs for cool companies in cool locations. :) In the mean time... I'm really enjoying both of my contracts... Client #1 most of all, of course. :D Edward has been back at school for a couple of days now... He's doing much better, but still a bit weak... working off the cold is weaken'ed self caught. :( But ... better. I'm hoping this weekend will be a good chance to recoup. Oh and I've been doing very specific stretch and strength things - matched to each of the challenged muscles in my left and right shoulders. I've been doing it a lot. sigh. I believe it's less bad than it was... but I've afraid to say "better". Maybe soon. :) /// Reality, as a concept, (versus "what is real") Is pretty much just a shared dream. That is to say, in a very Matrix kind of way, Our real world is no different than a dream world, Except that we all share... this one. // I am loving the growing, and not distasteful, use of product placements in popular TV shows. I love it, because it means the industry is adjusting to me. Well, to downloaders. I've often feared for the fate of great tv shows yet to come, in a model that removes the all important, cash rich, commercials from the equation. It's great to see that things... are adjusting. :) / and then I let everything go open my eyes and see you every word, gesture, your eyes, eyebrows every... thing. it's called active listening It's a gift you should give away... Often. :) K... have a great weekend. :D :D 3 shots|give

Monday, November 1 [01 Nov 2011|11:26pm] Well Halloween was very nice... AND SIMPLE. :D Modest decorations ... fun painting little pumpkins and only ONE carved pumpkin. The "all sixty neighbourhood kids arrive at once" thing was grand (hay wagon pulls up, a mad dash, and then things go quiet for the rest of the night. :D) Ed was going to be this awesome green-plastic-soldier deal... (suz put it together and it's outstanding)... alas (earwax)... the little monkey was (is) sick-like-dog. Geo went out with his friends (16... getting close to the last stab at the free candy zone)... and he came home to give Ed his loot bag. :D :D :D) /// I was pretty impressed to read about the UNESCO decision to accept Palestine into their UN club. Well... actually I don't care about Palestine and their choices. The real fun is seeing the US and Israel twist and shout 'cuz somebody dares to not bow to their bully-vibe. suck it. // Actual news item on the local news ... was a warning to retailers to be on the lookout and report strange purchasing behaviours in this "harvest season". (Hence a recent tongue-in-cheek post in FB about "ask your dad to buy 20 boxes of little baggies for a school project"... no doubt the cashier at Wallmart is expected to note things like that... lol). :D Apparently there are quite a few "grow houses" in Ottawa. It really is too darn bad that Harry J. Anslinger screwed things up for everybody... / Hearing from ninneviane , hotblue and nosneros_h. really filled me with memories. :) 2 shots|give

Friday, October 28 [28 Oct 2011|09:45pm] ~ watching "blink" for the umpteenth time... background noise while I type a long overdue entry. :) Life has been clicking along something fierce. The most importance thing has been my little Ed. He's been through a rough go for the past month. Injury, infection, illness and finally a kick'en fever. All unrelated, but end to end regardless. :) He's finally on the mend, in fact he'll be back in school next week. yeah... it's been like that. All, however, is well. :) Never-the-less, taking care of him has been all consuming. Me and my nut games for shoulders have been having a go of things too. Lefty is eh... likely less than ideal as a result of all the compensating for the evil-right. So yeah... the right. Son-of-a-biatch-omg. Got xrays... got ultrasound... (finally... had to wait two weeks for that.) Then I got the call from Super Sport Doc (Frankovitch... she was the chief medical officer at the Vancouver olympics). "Want you to come in... " "Sure, love to... dying to hear what's what..." ps. The Billy Shipton part... always kinda makes me cry a bit. :) So the phone is all "we have a cancellation this morning..." And in a half hour, I'm at the docs. Seems I've NOT (and that is a very happy "not") got a tear... Alas (earwax) I do have a pretty frosted up subscapularis. It's one of the rotator cuff bits.. but a "deep bit". Under everything else. She gave me all my options and I opted for the depo medrol (cortisone) shot in the shoulder. Deep shot but not as painful as the one in the left AC a couple of months ago. That was yesterday. I'm really hoping it helps. I'll be backing that up with a new round of physio starting in a week... But no shoulder activity for a week. (so only cardio and abs at the gym) sigh. (all I want for christmas is my freak'en shoulders back please...) Well... a week long work-gig in California near a freak'en huge skate park would be nice too... la la la... Work is twelve kinds of awesome. Clients are great... Suzy is wonderful. My friends are treasures. I say that's a win all 'round. :D // My Geo turned 16 a few days ago. sixteen. ... six freak'ing teen. He's a good lad. Works hard at school. Earns money as kitchen help at a local restaurantSLASHtavern. Does his chores around the house... and actually communicates his feelings to us. Again... a win all 'round. :) He's been saving his money... lots of money. He has a goal.. well, had a goal... it's bought. He wants a kick ass laptop and to him... that means "game gear". So he's bought an Alienware M14x R4. Nice laptop. WWWWay overpriced... but it's his moola and he's keen. It'll be hear in a couple of weeks. / Riddle me this! How is it possible for the following two things to be true statements... and they are... true statements. 1. grade 11 boys in a normal suburban highschool actually say (out loud, for anyone to hear) "I'm afraid of gay people... I don't like 'em... I think they were dumb to decide to be gay." (sad sad sad... but true) 2. grade 11 boys in a normal suburban highschool have received 30 minutes TOTAL IN ALL 11 YEARS OF SCHOOL of sex education that only included the mechanics. At no point has an educator or health specialist stood before these students and told them that wearing a condom helps prevent the spread of STDs - let alone explained how STDs are actually transmitted. My young man knows this stuff well and true... from popular media, like TV, movies and the net... and those embarrassing conversations with parental units... BUT NOT FROM SCHOOL. That just pisses me off. ... k... time to go and have a short chat with the admiral. It's friday night after all and I've had a long week. 8 shots|give

Monday, October 17 [17 Oct 2011|11:02pm] Seven different kinds of Happy :) For the last six weeks I've been anticipating a costume party with our friends. Costume shopping... is a great deal of fun. We ended up in a kind of red/black vampire thing... suzy's costume is cute-as-all-get-out... mine was pretty much just a shirt that made me look fat and big cape... BUT the wig. :D :D Wigs are fun. Period. There were lots of wigs at the party. :) My facebook page has a whole album of pics from the party. :D :D Great costumes... really great friends. The thing is ... I underestimated my friends. They were planning an anniversary party for suz and I all along. :) They'd snagged a copy of a wedding picture... even working Geo to look for the wedding pics. :D And the bunch of them made this big plan. The costume part was a cover... and good cover. The costumes were great! :D :D :D Elvis officiated at a renewal of vows ceremony, We had to sign a lovely new marriage contract that has truly unmentionable content. (LOL... Jessy killing herself laughing in the kitchen while Elvis reads the vows...) Then came the cake. :D So beyond all the fun of a costume party... And the pleasure of finding out it was an anniversary party... I have been moved to a truly unique level of happiness, to know that Suzanne and I have such remarkable and thoughtful friends. It all makes me feel that... There is no kindness you give away That does not find it's way back to you. :) 6 shots|give

Vegas (baby) [10 Oct 2011|02:34am] Vegas Baby, It’s All About The Twenty. ☺ (lots of pictures on my facebook page... and a few videos on my Youtube channel. :D) Monday, October 3 So after planning every possible thing that there is to plan for the boys and their school week… by bedtime on Sunday night, we were ready. (and by “we” I totally mean Suzanne – she is “planner girl extraordinaire”) We were up at 4:00 … !!!!, left the house at 5:00… and checked in with Westjet at 6:00 – like good little travelers that follow rules. This got us on our early morning commuter flight to Toronto by 8:00. Our WestJet connector to Vegas leaves at 9:30… same airline… easy peasy right? Yeah, not right. We have to do that Pearson Shuffle – go collect your bags and pre-clear US customs with your bags because America does not like clearing customs … in America. Edna, the 80 year old lady with a walker that was moving the luggage from our Ottawa flight to the conveyor belt that brought the bags to us – up in going-to-america land – was just not moving very quickly. We were in a line-up to do the “hi, see our luggage is right here. Can we come to your country” thing with seventy five million other travellers at 9:15. 9:15!!!! We were mad mad mad dashing through TO airport to make our flight and we only made it by seconds. :( Never-the-less, by 9:45 we were on a plane heading to Vegas and …that’s a good thing. Sadly, that “mad dash” thing meant we had no chance to get any munchies for the flight. 4+ hours to Vegas and dude… I was hungry. We landed at 2 something… turned my iphone back out from airplane-mode and presto – it was 11:00 AM again. ☺ We cabbed to our hotel (Signature at MGM) and despite the advertised 3:00 check-in time, we were in our room before noon. Awesome room!!! Spa-tub, two showers, two toilets, three sinks, full (and I mean “full”) kitchen, living room, balcony, and a bedroom. We walked… we walked a lot today. We did an initial “omg” walk through MGM and found our way to Mandalay Bay for lunch. Suzy is the queen of online coupon finding. We had a huge late lunch … for about 15$ :D We ended up back at our hotel, then in a cab, to a CVS for quick groceries and back to shower and change for the night out. Now it’s important to note that we’re a couple of basket cases… very little sleep on Sunday night after a long weekend of “getting ready” so we were feeling the pain of no-sleep and lots of energy burn. That being said… we headed out for the night. We went and watched the awesomeness that is the fountains at Bellagio and then managed to check out the casinos at Caesars Place, Harras, Casino Royal, Venetian, and Paris. We were all about getting “players cards” and doing free stuff… dropped a few bucks in Paris and then… we crawled back to the hotel. It’s 11:57 local time right now… 3 AM by my internal clock… and we have a helicopter to catch first thing in the morning. :D We watched the fountains at the Bellagio… from Las Vegas Blvd. I’ve seen video, photographs, etc… but NOTHING compares to the reality of how awesome the fountain thing is. Just amazing. :D Ps. It freak’en rained today. A lot. The middle of a desert… and it rains. Lol. Tuesday, October 4, 2011 Ok, so see, I’m having some real trouble with my right arm – kind of a shoulder thing, but it’s radiating down through the muscles all the way to my wrist. It’s only a problem when I lie down. Bottom Line: I haven’t had more than 3 hours of consecutive sleep in at least a week… and last night was the worst. I was up twice to warm up the bean-bag (microwave “hot pack” thing)… took middle of the night advil and then again at around 5 AM with naproxen (or whatever it’s called – anti-inflammatory) and more advil. :( Not a good nights sleep… no matter how you slice it. Never-the-less… awesome kick-ass bed in an amazing hotel room, in a beautiful hotel in a city with a fun zone that has no rival… So I’m not complaining. :D We woke up with our alarm at 6:00, (made our breakfast in the kitchen) and we were in a stretch limo at 7:10. At 7:11, the limo driver turned around and returned to the hotel – we never got out of the parking lot. Why? Because BAD WEATHER cancelled all helicopter flights. Burn city! We rescheduled for tomorrow… the only spot they had was the “sun set canyon tour”. So we’ll be grand-canyon touring from 4:00-7:00 tomorrow night. That means our big-ass anniversary dinner at Bellagio is pushed to 9:00 pm. This kind of opened up our morning. Lol We went on another long walking tour… this time through the Planet Hollywood hotel and casino, then the Cosmopolitan and then Bellagio. So far… the most impressive location we’ve scoped out is the Cosmo. If we ever come back… I’m betting we’ll be staying at the Cosmo. :D We decided to burn some time taking public transit to the Premier Outlet Mall (north, btw) and bought some shoes at the Vans store. We looked around but our hearts were not really in it… I tried on some shirts, etc. but we decided to bail and back we came. Oh and we ate crappy food in the mall food court. And back we went on another long explore – We’ve logged at least a full marathon in walking distance so far. :D We spent more time in the Cosmo. This time it was “afternoon gambling” :) Suzy played slots – and we’re talking 10 – 20 bucks… and I dropped 100 on a craps table and it turned into 200 in a few minutes, so we cashed out and added the winnings to the “big bag of money” that we plan to lose. :D If you stick to the rules (only make the bets on the really good odds) you can have a lot of fun with craps. I consider all winnings to be fodder for more gambling. I brought money to “spend” in the casinos and … it will be spent. (dinner is next) zzzzzap into the future. So the next 72 hours were a blurrrrrr!! Lol We went to a great dinner at the Kahuna Club in Treasure Island. Truly… stuffed and it was all delicious. (Suzy discovered martinis. :D) We walked about the TI for a bit after dinner… marvelled at this display of a carved mammoth tusk, bought wickedly overpriced “on the strip pricing” coffees at Starbucks and went to Mystere (Cirque du Soleil show). Now… keeping in mind that we were up at stupid o’clock for the helicopter ride that was cancelled, that we walked a marathon over the day, ate a huge dinner… and drank random free drinks brought by pretty waitresses every time we lingered around a slot machine… well, lets go with sarcasm and say we were primed to sit through a dramatic Cirque show in a dark theater. :D :D Ok… I’m the one that kept nodding off… suzy made the whole show. It was outstanding… but only “outstanding in a cirque kinda way” way. I was ready to be a lot more impressed and perhaps would have been with Ka or O. Never-the-less, it was an amazing show. We stopped to watch the “Sirens of TI” show out front of the resort… big production good, cheesy-vegas-show-girl good too. However, it was freezing outside. So windy that they had had to delay the Siren’s show several times. :D We wandered through the Mirage and realized that thrice-revived-brain-eating-half-decayed-zombies had more life in them than we did… so we decided on a cab ride back to the hotel. Note: Each of the big resorts… has a unique smell. The Mirage is all about this floral scent that hits you as you walk through an arboretum to get into the place. (Another resort was vanilla, another was spicey, etc. etc….) Wednesday, October 6 Today is our 20th anniversary. This is the reason we’re here… in sunny – er, scratch that, - cloudy, blustery, cold – Las Vegas. :) We slept in till somewhere in mid-morning – had more cereal (that, toasted English muffins, and coffee tap out the extent to which the awesome kitchen was used.). Today was a forever day. One of those days that will always be with me. Long… crazy long and filled with the most bazar moments. :D We went on a long explore through the “city center mall”… which is just an excuse for a collection of unshoppable stores (Louis Vuitton, for example). But the place was gorgeous. This led us back to the Cosmo for more wandering around, drinking and watching suz play some slots. I stuck a fiver in a slot machine… picked max bet, max lines and presto… 126$ to add the “big bag…” :) The New York New York resort is quite strange. It just looks like a big toy, with a roller coaster sticking out at odd angles. It’s crazy massive inside. We took a turn on the roller coaster and we were both asking “what the hell are we thinking?” as it clacked up the rails. (and we waited for the front seat so we could shoot video – live on youtube. :D) We snacked on pizza at “new york pizza” and wandered back through jungle and got ready for the chopper. We dressed as warm as we could (we just didn’t bring clothes for freak’en cold weather). We met another couple in the limo that got married yesterday in their hotel room. Our limo got the airport (about 200 yards from the hotel – btw) and we joined a room full of people … all dividing their attention between a helicopter safety video and the rainy weather out the window. We were waiting for them to cancel again. ! They didn’t and 20 minutes later Suz, moi, and two other couples were hover’en and fly’en. The helicopter ride was trippy… and everything after that made me feel like I was in a live-action version of the road-runner. Oh, the Hoover Dam was totally Bugs Bunny. We were hoping to see the sunset over the desert on the flight back… but all we got was rain and clouds. So eh. The grand canyon trip had it’s draw backs but HANDS DOWN it was the coolest thing. It was (is) a totally once-in-a-lifetime thing. :D Oh and flying back into the city after dark… was a total trip. They toured us pass old-city and the strip (saw the Bellagio fountains going off from the sky. :D Next up was dress-up time. We got into our best duds and took a cab to the Bellagio to eat our anniversary dinner at “Olives”. Suzy fell in love with a drink called a “sling back”. We had a very nice photo taken in the restaurant (it’s getting framed and added to our stair-well gallery). We had a beautiful meal … and they brought us a very adorable truffle assortment on a “happy anniversary” plate. Dinner was at 9:00… So we were done with all that by about 11 … and it was time to dig into the “big bag”. :D We gambled on our “last night”. !! We worked at two different craps tables until about 3:00… and then I watched my lil’shark play blackjack till 4:30. There were many drinks… we won loads and loads of money (filling up the chip coral at the craps table) and then lost it all… and enjoyed every minute. Alas… (earwax) all good things not only come to those who wait… they also come to an end. We had to pack and be at the airport for 8AM. LOL!!! We cabbed it back to the hotel and never went to bed. We enjoyed every second of the trip… we made wonderful memories and really reminded ourselves how much fun it is to just let go of everything and roll with a good time. :D 1 shot|give

Wednesday, September 28 [28 Sep 2011|11:18pm] I'm on my second time through Californication. Middle of season 4... Rob Lowe is going all mental man. The real issue? Watching it again 'cuz Geo is watching the series. I know. I'm actually not chuffed. I think there's a lot bad shit out there that plays with kids heads. This isn't one of them. Work is stellar. Potential new client... well, actually a client now, but my involvement is the "potential" part. Big private sector fashion company... private sector is always trippy. (always!!) That would be a "client #3" thing... client #1 continues to be awesome, and client #2 ... is just weird. But it's all good. :D Saw my sports med doc (she was the chief medical officer to the canadian olympic team in Vancouver... I'm back to the hospital for more imaging of the shoulder. It's sucking hard core these days. :( The gym helps. Doc gave me rules to follow with work-outs and otherwise turned me loose on the gym. The work-outs... help keep me sane. // One week from tonight... I'll be in Vegas with Suzy, out to a fancy dinner, thinking about our trip to the Grand Canyon, and the Cirque show, celebrating our 20th anniversary. We rock. We really do. :) / Ate a cactus pear. Watched a youtube vid from a foody on how ... to eat a cactus pear. Seriously... an amazing piece of fruit. :) 11 shots|give

Cats, Explained [25 Sep 2011|09:44pm] Cats, Explained. Tad Williams describes a world – in his “Otherworld” novels – that is the essential, immersive, virtual reality that you plug into via various levels of tech. The best of the best are hooked up to nutrition systems, and submerged in negative-feed-back gelatine that adds physical sensory feedback to the VR experience. Now consider your dreams… regardless of how often you remember them, each of us can likely attest to the potential for a dream experience to “feel” very real at the time. That dream-state is also a heady example of an immersive virtual reality. The only real difference between a dream-state and a tech based VR experience is the ability to share that experience with other, real, people. So in the “Otherworld” vibe, it was all about groups interacting in the VR space. By it’s very nature, this VR space, or dream-state, is beyond reality. Physical laws, natural laws, social laws… are all out the window. It’s VR baby… you can do, you can be anything. Now about cats… We think of them as our passive, domestic pets. But is this really the case? I propose that what is really going on is that cats are actually only here… in our world for their sustenance. Their real existence is a pan-feline-shared dream-state. In their dream state they are superior beings, engaged in galactic-scale social struggles and science. Indeed, their real lives … are in the dream-state. Their wakeful, furry, cuddle selves are simply the most efficient manifestation that they (the dream-state superior beings) could come up with that would be easily maintained by a willing slave population – us. We keep them in good health, well fed and provide plenty of comfortable … sleeping spots. This, of course, explains why cats sleep all the freaking time. They’re busy in their VR saving the universe and inventing time travel, etc. 3 shots|give

Friday, September 23 [23 Sep 2011|11:46pm] ola. :) Well another Friday. That means I just finished another week of crazy. Strangely, client #2 (my Wednesday, Thursday) still seems to like me. The boss and his assist came into my office on Wednesday... sat down, all quiet like, looking off in all directions. I was totally sure they were there to uhh... set me free. Alas, no such a-thing happened. They gave me new deliverables, and again with the "show me when you're done.". lol... Client #1 continues to be the cats pyjamas. I look forward to work. A work day doesn't go by without getting some random hug action... (a very nice bonus in any job) Five for five with the gym this week... putting in two in the evening with Suz (I can't go at lunch from client #2's location). Lots of ab stuff and lots of cardio. I refuse to turn fifty and have anything less than an awesome tummy. :) My shoulder hates me something fierce... my right one. Lefty got the cortisone shot... righty was the original injury two years ago... aggravated in the skate park this summer. Back to the doc this week. /// It's scary to the folks that are in charge of the status quo, To have new ways of playing the games show up, Let alone when they are all forced to play. But old, unchanging games have alway ALWAYS been fertile ground for broken rules and abuse of power. A little change... wakes everybody up and makes the games new again. This is why I'm thinking the Palestinian bid at the UN... Is a good thing. Oh, and it's also shining a pretty bright light on how mental the relationship between the US and Israel is. // I'm looking forward to October. :D :D :D Suz and I are going to Las Vegas on October 3... for three days. This is our 20th anniversary prezzi to ourselves. We've earned this. :) When we get back... we'll be gearing up for a costume party at out friends house. Everybody's taking the costume part pretty serious like. :D It's going to be fun. / When I find myself wanting to be the best of myself I know I've chosen my friends well. ~ K... :) See ya 1 shot|give

Tuesday, September 20 [20 Sep 2011|09:39pm] Okidoki. See, last weekend we bought a boxee box. It's twenty seven different kinds of cool. It's tiny... Actually comes with the hdmi cable... (although it was a short one) It's one of those things that ... "just works". Plug it in, turn it on, and boom. You're on. However... All it's doing is providing an interface to all your dl'd content... on any computer in your house.... And a groove-station interface to hundreds and hundreds of shows divided up by the networks they run on. All of that stuff is web content you can access with any computer... but the boxee gives it's all to you in a nice clean package. If you're not the type to set up your PC with an HDMI port, and manage all your dl content, etc.... The boxee is a wicked cool solution. BUT you still end up dealing with the dumb ass ads that they run from the web site "full episode" zone, And face it... streaming an hour long show from a web site is an open door to frustration when the vid freezes, restarts, etc. etc. AND... if you run "hot spot shield" (google it) in Canada, you can get a another groove-station interface to that content through windows media centre. (Internet TV) (you get this by default in the States, but in the frozen north we need to use HSS to mask our IP location.) Bottom line: I'm returning the Boxee. We already have a PC running the TV, so the Boxee is redundant. We're all accustomed to using the pc for downloading etc. /// I continue to be forever dumbfounded by the vim and vigour that the US brings to the table when ever shit goes down in Israel. The angry squatters want to play with the big kids at the UN... And Uncle Sol and gang are just freak'en livid! Never mind that they're only actually "livid" because the UN thing is an act of defiance... And Uncle Sol does not like him any of that Chutzpah!! Otherwise... an actual thinking brain see's that the UN thing will be counter productive, blah blah blah blah none of us plays well with others blah blah blah! MEANWHILE... the US is covered in rippling tendons, flexing abs of camo awesome as they sally forth to sit on Uncle Sol's lap and play guess the body part. // Shoulder muscles... Stiff... sore... and still dead set against letting me get a good nights sleep. [ :: Cooking with Pooh! :: ] / Thank you, thank you, a million times thank you. ~ k... see ya. :D 7 shots|give

Friday, September 16 [16 Sep 2011|11:43pm] You know... I only just realized that a Big Brother and a Survivor have both started... (I guess BB's been going for a while now). What with the "on air" tv channels and life in download land... those shows have just totally left the radar. On the subject of TV... I had a convo with my BIL the other night and woke up the next day totally ready to unload Rogers as my ISP and load up on a new cable reseller (TekSavvy) My Rogers deal is called "Rogers Extreme" (second from the top in a long line of service levels) It's 69.99 per month with a 125 gig cap and some number of $s for additional gbs. AND we always had additional gb usage... like maybe 15$ per month worth.... There's performance levels that go along with "Extreme"... We had to get (Rent for 7 per month) a new fangled modem and blah blah blah... This was all last February... and when I got it, I talked them into a 30% discount - it all had to do with upping our service to (theoretically) get better service - because we'd been having issues. (mostly "issues" that were just me making my regular calls to Rogers to complain so they had records of my calls in case I ever needed leverage). The 30% came at a cost... it only lasts for 12 months and we had to agree to a 3 year term for the service. TekSavvy is offering 300 gigs per month for 42$ I have to buy a modem and pay a set up fee, but it totally works out to a better deal... WWWWWAY BETTER if you look at a balance sheet for the next two years of service. So I call Rogers to cancel... And they get all pissed off. They're charging me the full penalty charge... 320$!! And they tell me that I can avoid the whole fee if I can get someone to take over my contract. I thought that sounded like a good idea until I realized there was only four months of the discount left... grrrr... Now... that still leaves me way better off over two years, but I call them back anyways. I go on for a few minutes about how they broke the agreement by not providing the service they advertised and I'm all "check your records, there's a history of my calls...". So they finally dropped the penalty to 150$. I'll take that. :) So we're dopping them as our ISP. That's TV from Rogers dropped. Home phone to-be-dropped on October 30, and ISP dropped on October 14 (30 days notice required). All we have left with rogers is our cell phones. ALL OF THAT TO SAY... I'm looking at getting a Boxee Box! (Google that... it's wwwwwway freaking cool. and we're all getting kinda keen here in Casa de Corto. - getting it in October) ~ and that's why I need the 300 gig cap. :D // That's Serena Deng. She's 17. She was struck and killed crossing Eagleson Rd (main connector through the city I live in), running for a bus. It was her first day of university. She was a barista at the Starbucks that I go to every day after the gym. I'm pretty tight with the gang at 'bucks... lots of first name shout outs and always lots of hugs when they're on my side of the counter. It saddens me dramatically to learn that she was the casualty we had all heard about at the beginning of this week. The picture is at the wee table set up at Starbucks for folks to write their feelings on a card going to Serena's family. Rest in peace little tiny sugar. You are already missed. / Came home and hugged the boys today. ~ k, see ya. :) 5 shots|give

Tuesday, September 13 [13 Sep 2011|11:19pm] yeah... here we are, what? Tomorrows Wednesday already? (My second Monday). Right now... Life is frick'en grand. :D Gotta get myself out to see TTA and have her weave her magic on my shoulder... But otherwise... grand grand grand!! :) /// Ten years of occupation, death and destruction in Afghanistan And it's still all a giant pile of total crap. Imagine if we had just spent all that money on ... I don't know... lets say Haiti. // As you sort out the bills, consider your crummy parking space, or maybe muster your righteous self for the next confrontation with evil coworker... Stop and imagine ... just for a second, Living in a community of people that make their homes in a shanty town next to a gas pipeline. Imagine being so poor... so stupid... that a big ass leak in the pipelines draws everyone from town to wade through the pooling gas to collect some. ... "wade through the pooling gas...." And yes... it caught fire, blew up and burned up a community of Kenya's poorest. I mean... if you can read this, you have got it made in the shade in contrast to a majority of earths population. / A great deal about living well, Is found by living your life in the company of amazing people. And it matters if you get to hug them... and if they hug you back. :) ... k. see ya. :D give

Friday, September 9 [09 Sep 2011|10:42pm] Well this was a pretty good week. :) Got lots done with clients... Got to the gym every day... Hip is feeling pretty good, but my right shoulder, upper arm, still sucks big bad balls. The kids went back to school... (Geo is in grade 11, and Ed's in grade 8) I've been working away on some online tutorials, and messing around with adobe AE and a bunch of other stuff in the CS5 suite. It's like how other people play computer games... I just sit there and play with new software. lol. :) Oh... and I registered to be a minister of the Universal Life Church. There's some possibility here that I may be able to perform marriages. :) Life is long... /// I am seriously put off by the way all the NA car companies are once again running their campaigns to make everyone thing giant vehicles are normal and good thing. The saddest part is how easily the general public is swayed. :( // Local radio station is running a contest. "Win a Baby". no... really. It's getting quite a lot of attention. What they're actually doing is giving away about 35K worth of fertility treatments. It's pretty cool ... and the press it's getting is pretty interesting. / You give more than you know When you let yourself be loved. 7 shots|give

Tuesday, September 6 [06 Sep 2011|10:18pm] This sign is on the front of all the Esso Gas station gas pumps. I took the picture to ask the attendant what the sign meant. Apparently it means that there is video surveillance. Just say'en... really dumb sign. :) hiya. :) So... West49 is a clothes-for-the-cool-kids store with a shoe and skate shop in the back. They're awesome and they suck... pretty much at the same time. They're awesome 'cuz they have everything the kids want... from earphones to sox. They suck because THEY SUCK! Store brand jeans wear out in two months, prices are ridiculous and they never have the size we're looking for, unless we're there the day after a shipment arrives. la la la... Suz and the boys are there on Saturday afternoon stocking up on jeans for the boys for the school year. Ed actually picks a pair of jeans he really likes and along with the sale jeans, Suz agrees to get these "brand name" jeans. (RVCV). Oh and look... they have two price tags: The mfg's suggested retail price - right there on a tag, with the $ and everything... And then there's a West49 price tag... $20 more. Suz points it out to a sales person and asks to see the supervisor... Supervisor comes over and says "Oh that's a mistake" and RIPS OFF THE MSRP TAG. (omg omg omg omg omg if only I had been there... I would have FREAKED). Ed wants the jeans. Suz buys 'em. I call the Bayshore Shopping Centre West49 location today. I immediately state my full name and ask to speak to the manager. :) "That's me..." "Hi, what's your name?" "Leah..." ... and then I explain what happened. "Oh well that's not right... but I'm not sure I can do anything." "If you have the jeans, with both tags on them and your receipt..." "No, your staff removed the tag.. peeled off the perforated part with the price on it... " "Well yes... so you see my problem." "No... I don't. However, as you say, it's your problem." "May I please have your full name." "No." "what's that now?" "I don't give anyone my full name." "alrighty then... thank you for your time Leah". click google "West49 Head Office Phone Number" bingo. ring ring... And I explain it all to the head of customer relations. She actually said "oh my god" as she broke out laughing... And appologised for laughing... but said she just couldn't help herself.. "and her name was Leah?" "Yes." "Do you have a West49 All Access Pass? (store loyalty points card)." "yes" "How about if I put the 20$ on your AA Pass?" "Sure..." "And we'll draft up some correspondence for Leah." "Thanks" boom! ... and that's my story. 9 shots|give

Sunday, September 4 [04 Sep 2011|10:06pm] Hiya. :) Having a great last-long-weekend of the summer. I spent Saturday ... all day... outside messing around in our yards. It was great. :D The grass (and clover) is looking mighty good. And pay no attention to the weed farm that exists at the other end of the yard. My summer injury line up ... has taken quite toll on me. :( Both shoulders are still working on getting better. Righty is just a dull ache every time I lie down. So sleeping good-long-weekend-sleeps... is just not happening. :( The hip is good but it still needs the doc's sign-off on tuesday before I can get back on a skateboard. My Fall skate sessions will likely be mighty reserved. :D lol. I was wondering what I'd do if my bosses took back the Mac Air. My conclusion was that I'd buy another one. I can't imagine why I would use anything less. It's a laptop... it's supposed to be light. It's supposed to be convenient to pack, unpack, turn on and use. And I'm pretty impressed with the whole package... Installing software... removing software... I can't imagine how people have been putting up with the windows method. It's just awesome!!!! :) /// Big news last week about another "enforcer" from the NHL dying. This one took his own life. And ... I have several feelings about all of this. First of all, a suicide under 16 years of age, makes me want to cry, and want to blame parents for just-not-getting-it. A suicide over 16... means something is wrong in the world and people have to decide!!! Is what ever is "wrong in the world" important enough to you to give a care, or is the suicide just a cost you are willing to accept. In this case... it's major league hockey. My money is on people just not giving a shit and nothing is going to change. Facts are facts folks. The NHL is a vast enterprise rolling billions of dollars around in TV contracts, salaries, promotions and games... Games played with enforcers beating the shit out of each other for your enjoyment... pretty much like gladiators. And hockey fans are no better than screaming romans excited for the kill. So while all the big press was going on about the recent dead guy... All I could feel was the sting of the hypocrisy pouring out from everyone saying what a big tragedy it was. ~ and yes, I'm one of those folks that thinks things are messed up with modern major league sports. And to make my point... all I have to say is 100 million $ can buy Vick a bunch of really mean dogs. // This is in the "kitchen' at client #2's offices. It's one of those things with a cash box and price list. Take food... give money. Here's the thing... It's horrible coffee, potato chips, chocolate bars, skittles, coke, mountain dew (etc.). Client #2 is a government gig associated with the defence network Last year, I was working for a client that was also a government gig but part of the financial network. Their lunch room? An actual room... with a flat screen TV playing the 24hr news network A keurig coffee system (two, actually) making custom cups of coffee, tea, and hot chocolate A fridge filled with Everfresh fruit juices, V8s, carbonated water, and milk. A big basket of fresh fruit and a drawer with granola bars. No cash box and no price list... 'cuz it's all free. Bottom Line: it's more fun to work in the finance industry. :D / I want very much to get my hands on the songs that play over the end credits of True Blood episodes. Seriously. That is some seriously outstanding cover!! :) peace frog... blue sunday. 1 shot|give

Tuesday, August 30 [30 Aug 2011|09:46pm] Hiya. :D Hip is doing great... but I still need to talk to the doc on this coming Tuesday. (Its been two weeks since I was last "on deck") Work is great... Kids and Zee ... great! Gym? totally great!! Plans for our Vegas Anniversary vacation... great! :D We're still working out way through True Blood. We're on season 4 episode 6... :D It's a blast. and I do believe it makes me say fuck... a lot. and yes. I blame tv. :D Had to do a "conference call / on-line slide show" thing yesterday. At 5 pm actually... the clients were in sunny southern California, so... 2:00 PM for them. It went great... except for the part about halfway through when I "lost" the call connection. Meanwhile, I'm just blabbing away and a dead conference phone in a dark board room, clicking through my slides... sigh. Fortunately someone got ahold of me and let me know... lol Work... still fun. :) /// K... I have long since learned to question my attitudes towards fat people. I have a strong sense of humility about how I react to people and I believe I do a good job of being respectful and non-judgemental. Everybody has their own story and you can't paint a group of people based on their body type. That being said... When I go into McDeath's to grab my kid some fries after his karate class, and watch while this seriously obese man hands soft ice-cream cones to his two loud and fat little daughters after they packed away their nuggets, fries and cokes... I tend to get a little judgemental. I don't think it's very far from child abuse. // Riddle me this... The following four shots are copied from Google Earth. They are all of the same physical location... getting a little lower in altitude in each picture. This is a space that I drive through pretty much every day. As you can tell... I live in a rural part of western ottawa. The last image... is at street level... and it's a picture I took while driving home today. And every time I see that sign... I'm totally WTF. / Tomorrow night is August 31. My television and radio has been telling me that Canadian broadcasters will be making a big switch to digital on August 31. They've been warning me that unless I have a sat-dish or cable and a digital decoder, I'm hosed. Well... they mention that "if you use an antenna you MAY need a special converter." Which is dumb ass... We have a digital TV and an antenna and I'm darned excited to start getting EVEN MORE HD content over the air. HD OVER AIR in Canada is a big dumb secret perpetuated by the cable companies. :D :) Later. :D :D 1 shot|give

[25 Aug 2011|10:15am] Update: DiD (Deal is Done) ... carefreespirit is the new adoptive parent. :D (Original post) once upon a time... a remarkable women I met here in La La land, sent me a "pay it forward" gift... A "Nokia 770 Hand Held Internet Tablet". It was a stylus enabled touch screen wifi device that operates on a debian linux os. It's base apps were simple and kinda cool... I managed to get movie and tv show files converted to the video standard on it and used it on airplanes to watch media content. I could wifi with it for email, and browsing, etc. There is a healthy range of apps to be downloaded and installed ... coolest ones were terribly UNIX like things that let me play with the operating system. Unfortunately the Nokia 880 replaced the 770 in production with many advances, and the 770 became quite obscure. I HAVE THIS DEVICE IN PERFECT CONDITION, original packaging and all components. I even have 1 gig micro-SD card for it... IF YOU WANT IT... REPLY. We can hook up and I will send it to you. It's an awesome toy for a geek but I'd say Not User Friendly by contemporary standards. (but I did like the Majong game on it... :D) [ :: NOKIA 770 :: ] 6 shots|give

Wednesday, August 24 [24 Aug 2011|09:45pm] ~ Purrrrcy... likes to curl up in the hose. sick day. :( Got up, made lunch, ate breakee, showered and got sorted for work. Drove away... Before I got to the Queensway on-ramp I caved. I turned around, drove home, emailed and voice-mailed my clients, Then climbed back in bed. Hurts to swallow... :( Crashed without blinking till 1... Managed to make chicken noodle soup at some point. ~ a sick day that I didn't fill up trying to work from home... actually being sick in bed. sigh. /// Dear Schniders, Kraft, Canadian Tire, etc. etc. etc.... Just because you've been trading your stuff for our money for a long long time... It doesn't follow that you have some kind of claim to the concept of home, tradition, family, or community. Your salami is not responsible for my personal happiness. Just say'en... // Just get on your knees. Put your hands deep into your front pockets. ... thank you. :) give

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