Ken of '99

Ken of '99
Originally uploaded by theken.

I'm experimenting with flickr, an image hosting website. I think I might start using it for my blog instead of Hello.
 

OK, not the end of the journey

So it turns out that our big "end of the journey" was really more of a rest stop and everything's back on again. Man, I do NOT understand women. Especially this one beside me who's got a special place in my heart. (still) Yes, we're back together and I've learned a couple of important things.

1) When someone breaks up with you, you should probably wait a bit to see if it's a "for real" break-up or a disagreement that got a bit out of hand. (Ours was the second kind in case you've not figured it out yet!)

2) Maybe blogs shouldn't have all the details of relationships in them. It's just a bit too tricky having to deal with the subsequent e-mails etc. generated from a scare like we had today.

From now on, I won't be blogging much about our relationship. Don't assume one way or the other based on the lack of posts. It's just going to be an off-limits topic now.

So, the course of true love never runs smoothly or something like that and that certainly seems to be true here. Have a great weekend everyone!

A shorter journey than I expected

Well, the journey's over. Hanna broke up with me last night so that's the end of that. We had been together for almost two weeks but it's still a bit of a blow nonetheless. I was just starting to get my head around the idea of being in a relationship and now it's over.

I don't want to go into too much detail here for both our sakes. I felt I should mention it, though, since I said we'd got together in the first place and if I didn't mention this, everyone would assume we were still together. We are still friends, although things will probably be weird for a while.

God is good and he's bigger than all of this. I trust him with my heart and I know his will is going to be done. I'm still not convinced this is the end but I have to let it go and see what happens next.

Rain

You know, I think I must be weird or something. Maybe it's the Scottish in me. I'm not sure. I just enjoy the rain here in Toronto. It just started raining and I decided to go out for a wee run round the car park to enjoy it. It's still such a novely to me that the rain is warm over here, unlike the chilly rain in Scotland.

Now I'm a bit out of breath and slightly damper than before but I feel more ALIVE as well.

The journey has begun!

Yes, it's true. I have embarked on a journey of adventure, romance and joy which some would call dating and some, courtship.

On Sunday, I started a relationship with a wonderful, beautiful, talented, woman of God by the name of Hanna Wright. We've been friends for a couple of years but there's never been anything between us until we started to notice each other in a new way recently.

We're taking things slowly, of course, but it's very exciting to have this opportunity of a relationship with such an amazing girl. I'll try to get some photos of us up in the near future!

Banks wasting paper!

Grr, I hate my bank sometimes! I'm with the HSBC (no link, find them yourself if you really want to) and I've been getting annoyed with the statements they send me out each month. The statements themselves are fine, don't get me wrong. There are all kinds of facts and figures on there which would have been fairly relevant 2 weeks ago! My statement arrived today - the 23rd. The last transaction logged was on the 15th. It's completely irrelevant, obsolete etc. by now!

I finally decided I was going to call them up and get them to stop sending me statements. I was told that I have a statement savings account and that I would need to close that account and open a passbook savings account. Have you ever heard of anything so ridiculous? I want them to print less paper and send out less mail. Maybe it's just my t-shirt talking (I'm wearing my maketradefair t-shirt today)  but I just hate companies wasting resources and the environment. If I'm going to go to all the trouble of closing my existing account with them, I might as well open my new one somewhere better!

Now, contrast that with my British bank - smile.co.uk. They send me an e-mail once a month saying that my credit card statement is available on-line. If I want to see it, I can log in and see what activity there was this past month. If not, no harm done. They have all the data on file anyway so it wasn't much work for them to make it available to me.

(sigh) I love smile. Such a good bank. They're green and ethical. Both good things.

New love?

I'm going through a very strange transition here. I may well be leaving singleness behind and the prospect is somewhat daunting but exciting at the same time. The lady in question will remain annonymous just now but I will probably write more about her in future.

We're both feeling this is the right next step but we're spending this week praying about it to be sure we're doing what God wants. It might sound like Christian cheese but I really feel the decision to start a relationship shouldn't be taken lightly. When two people get romantically involved, there is a heart connection there that can have long-term consequences.

Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.
Proverbs 4:23

Favourite Sounds

I've noticed something interesting recently. People sometimes talk about their favourite sounds and I've noticed more and more how much I love the sound of the wind in the trees. I've discovered something pretty cool, though. It's not just a sound that I like but it's a sound that suddenly grabs my attention whenever I hear it. I might be thinking about something else, just walking along the road and then suddenly the wind picks up, rustling the leaves of a nearby tree. Immediately I think, "Hey, I can hear the wind in the trees - that's so cool!"
 
I think that's something that sets favourite sounds apart from other sounds that you might like.

We are climbing Jacob's ladder ladder...

I've been trying to build upper-body strength lately by climbing a ladder without using my legs. It's been a most entertaining endeavour for all who happen to pass by while I'm dangling there like an extra from a b-movie who's about to fall into some kind of nasty pit.
 
The challenge initially was to see how many rungs I could climb using only my arms. At first I could barely do one but now I can get all the way to the top, which is a 13-rung journey from my starting point. In fact, the last time I was able to get all the way to the top and then descend 7 rungs before having to give up.
 
I've been doing it "the easy way", though. I start with both hands on the same rung, pull up and then grab the next rung with my right hand. Then I transfer my left to the new rung and repeat the process. The challenge is to only use one hand per rung. That would be much harder.
 
Having said all that, my climbing skills are still minimal. It goes to show that it's not just about strength. Whenever I try to climb an overhang, I can only last about 5 minutes and then  my arms are knackered. I know it's a technique thing 'cos I've seen some pretty skinny girls shimmy up that wall like it's nothing and there's me with all my new found upper-body strength struggling 6 feet off the ground. (sigh) I'm sure I'll learn at some stage. However, it's still frustrating right now. I know you're meant to turn your hips and keep them close to the wall. It just doesn't seem to take any of the weight off my arms. I don't think I'm doing it right.

Don't put sunscreen on your own back

You know how they say you learn something new every day? Well, yesterday I learned what happens when you try to put sunscreen on your own back. I was at Wasaga Beach with some friends to celebrate Canada Day. I had even bought sunscreen on the way - a spray on kind rather than the conventional slimy lotion.

If you look closely at the picture, you will see that just above my waistline, I was almost able to cover all the way into the middle from both sides. Higher up, I managed to cover across the back of the shoulders. However, in between there is a definite pinkish tinge of Scotsman done "over easy".

I suppose next time I'll just have to ask someone else to do my back.

Glove Compartment

I was just thinking last night of how different the world must have been back when the automobile was invented. It just seems more civilised. Consider the fact that they even took consideration for where the driver would store their driving gloves when not using them.

I just looked at the expression "Glove Compartment" in a whole new way yesterday, wondering if anyone still keeps gloves in there or is it just license, registration and six-shooter these days? There must have been people who kept gloves there at one point to merit the name. Was that really its original purpose or did the glove compartment just get that name from people always leaving their gloves in there.

Why didn't Spiderman live in Kansas?

I was watching Spiderman II on Wednesday night and I thought of an amusing image of Spiderman living in Kansas. It's pretty convenient that all the crime he needs to stop occurs around tall buildings. I mean, he'd be kinda stuck if he was in the middle of a field somewhere and the crime was taking place three fields over. I suppose that means Superman has an advantage over Spiderman there.

Crazy Portugese Fans

As some of you may know, the Euro 2004 FOOTBALL tournament is drawing to a close right now. On Wednesday, Portugal beat The Netherlands in their semi-final. The first signs of this that I saw were a couple of cars driving around with Portugal flags sticking out the window as I went down Kipling Avenue to get to the subway. I was, as with every Wednesday, on my way to Joe Rockhead's for a spot of climbing action.

When I was on the subway I realised I was running late and I decided to get off at Dufferin to get the bus south to the climbing gym. Well, this turned out to be a very interesting stop as I now know Dufferin seems to be populated entirely by Portugese people, and football-crazy patriotic Portugese people at that. The bus was struggling through the crowds and it seemed every car driving past us was adorned with a plethora of Portugese pendants and the like. I couldn't believe it. There was cheering, honking of LOTS of horns and lots of happy faces. I wondered if they'd just won a war that I had missed.

I finally got to Rockhead's and climbed for a while before my buddy Gary arrived to take me to the movies where we were meeting up with friends to see Spiderman II. Sadly, the celebrations were not quite over yet for the Portugese contingent of Torontonians that were in our neighbourhood. We were stuck in pretty slow moving traffic for a while with more flags, more cheering, more cars, more dogs wrapped in Portugal flags, etc.

To make things more interesting, I started to yell "Yaaay! SCOTLAND!" out the window as we drove by people with Portugal flags. One guy responded with "F--- Scotland!" but I don't think he was especially angry, just so pro-Portugal that no other name would suffice at that point in time.

I'm going to be sure to avoid downtown Toronto on Sunday. Even if Portugal lose, I'm sure there are more than enough Greek fans to do the honours of clogging the roads if things go the other way. I think we've got every nationality under the sun here.

Oh, Canada.

Paintball Fun

I was at Paintball City last night with some friends from work. I had only done it once before and the last time was outdoors. That was back in the autumn of 2002 when I went to Wasaga Beach Paintball with the TACF Young Adults.

Although I had fun last night, I prefer playing outdoors. Wasaga Beach had lots of fields with plenty of variety whereas the Paintball City only had one venue.

That said, I really liked the attack/defend scenario. One team occupied a building and was not allowed to leave it until part-way through the game. The other team had to attack the building and eliminate the people inside. When we were attacking, I managed to get into the building and shoot a few people. Unfortunately I was then shot in the back, through a window by a teammate who was sniping from another building. He later told me that he saw movement and couldn't tell what colour the person was wearing. Of all the shots I took last night, that's the one that left a welt on my back.

All in all, though, it was great fun with everyone coming away with plenty of exciting stories to tell.

Combo without a drink?

I've found a really easy way to confuse the cashier at fast food restaurants. I wasn't even trying either. I'm not the sort to deliberately confuse these poor individuals, really I'm not.

No, I simply don't buy drinks any more. Since I got my nice, translucent-green Nalgene bottle (500ml capacity) I no longer have need of nasty fizzy teeth-destroying beverages. Instead, I fill up my bottle with the old-school option of water. (Pause for gasps of amazement.)

The problem is that most people don't know what to do if someone wants a combo without a drink. It's so easy to confuse them. When they say "What drink do you want with that?" just say "No drink, thanks." It's seriously that easy.

I've even been told that the items separately without the drink would cost the same as the combo with the drink so I usually don't save money. I need to start bartering for a free potato or something.

I just don't want to drink crappy stuff that kills you, even if it's dirt cheap.

I saw Osama!

At the weekend I bought the DVD of Osama, which I mentioned in an earlier post. I watched it on Saturday night with some friends. It was really interesting to see the country of Afghanistan and to hear their languages. I couldn't distinguish the words at all, it's really difficult for me to understand. That said, with time I'll be able to.

The film was good, although not as cheerful as I had hoped. I've watched too much Hollywood, I think.

New Work Permit! Woot!

Man, what a relief this is. I just got my new Work Permit yesterday. I'm now valid to stay here until July 11, 2005! My current permit was due to expire on July 11 this year. It's always interesting to see what's going to happen with something like that. I'd started to get a bit established here with an apartment and some furniture. It would be a bit tricky to just pack that all up and head home. Not to mention the relationships and everything that I've built up here.

Of course, I've only delayed it for another year. Maybe I should try to immigrate as a skilled worker. Then there's the whole thing about "landed" status. Hmm, must investigage.

Osama

I really want to see the movie Osama. It looks very interesting. I'm especially excited that all the language in the film is in Dari and Pashtu. That said, it remains to be seen if I'll be able to tell the difference between them. I want to buy this and watch it a million times so I can pick up some language from it.

It's also really encouraging to see films being made in Afghanistan now that people have a bit more freedom. I was reading an article that said when Siddiq Barmak, the director was looking for the girl to play the main part, he met Marina Golbahari (who plays Osama) begging in the street. He asked her "Do you want to be in my film?" and she answered, "What is this word 'film'?" She had never heard of a film.

Since the movie, she has been able to buy her parents a four-bedroom, mud home in the poorer part of Kabul, according to the Internet Movie Database.

Which (poem/country/os/city/whatever) are you?

OK, that's the last straw. I was just looking at dru's blog and I saw a link to which poem are you? (I've delibarate not made the name a hyperlink to the questionnaire in protest!)

I've now had an idea for an online questionnaire of my own. It's going to be called "Which retarded online questionnaire are you?"

One result could be "You are the 'Which American City Are You' questionnaire which is ill-thought out, quick to jump to conclusions about people and generally not very helpful."

HaloScan - I don't think we're right for each other.

Breaking up is always hard. Especially when I've got so many nice comments people posted in my blog using HaloScan, the commenting system that I'm now retiring in favour of BlogSpot's in-built commenting facilities.

If you've posted any comments on my blog in the past, I'm afraid they're not going to be shown any more. However, you can always comment on my new posts and make up for it! If fact, if you REALLY want to, you can always look through my archives and post comments on things I wrote months ago. Maybe I just need to move on... The old comments are gone but life goes on.