fill in the blank

apparently, the dishes were eager to seek revenge against me for the neglect i have inflicted upon them… or maybe the dishes now enjoy being dirty and want to remain in the sink.. either way.. upon the commencement of ‘the dish washing’… one brave glass was willing to take his, or maybe her, own life to cut open my hand… not a bad cut really.. but one that has forced me to halt the dish washing… moral of the story: _______________.

assorted circumstances

so it wasn’t that long ago when i elected to spontaneously jumped on a plane and fly to the opposite side of this fine country of ours… in fact, the last time it occurred was just two weeks ago (about 3 hours after my last post), and this somewhat short visit back to the homeland, was one just sufficient enough to make that weekend seem right…

now, this trip wasn’t a typical trip home for me, it was more like me taking a short road-trip to see a friend that had recently moved a few hours away and me crashing at his place for a few days.. and by that i mean, it was familiar to me but could not facilitate my old routine, or allow me to reoccupy my old bedroom, my old car, or anything else that i would normally do if i still lived there… so in basically.. it was like a real mini-vacation – where i was able to simply visit my family and a couple friends… now, i don’t think i am making this distinction with my ‘feeling’ overly clear…. but that’s the best i can do, in this *cough cough* sick state i am in… but i hope some of you may be able to relate. ohh, and i need to thank my mom, for funding this last-minute trip and for continuing to encourage the development of my irrational decision-making skills. thanks mom!

so that is what happened two weekends ago.. and last weekend was northern voice… which is canada’s blogging conference.. and this is the second year i have volunteered… it was pretty good, as relatively small local conferences go… but i found it somewhat difficult to get there first thing in the morning.. especially since my body now operates on a 7-day cycle.. and that means.. fridays and saturdays waking before 8am can be extremely painful… and well, i didn’t really mingle as much as i normal like to do at conferences, but i think that may have to do with me knowing too many people there and me not being kool enough to be proud of my little, non-revenue generating, non-educational, personal weblog…

now that the update is complete…. the question remains.. what to do this weekend? should i do my dishes (which i really really do need to do now)? should i go shopping? should i work on expanding my ever growing music library? should i make a detailed plan beforehand outlining every waking moment? or should i just roll with the punches?? and hope they beat me into a state that will excite and keep me coming back for more… i think i’ll go with the punches.. cheers!

an unclean dish

so, if you are wondering what happened to me doing that ever-exciting play-by-play of me doing my dishes… well.. lets just say, that event has suffered from an ‘unanticipated setback’… it seems that my self-induced ‘kept-it-tidy’ training program has failed… and i have fallen back in to my old ways… back to a time.. when i truly hated washing dishes…

now keep in mind, for the last year or so, i have more or less successfully kept on top of doing them.. usually cleaning them before i require the use of something that is already dirty. but lately, i just can’t gather enough energy and motivation to stand there, uncomfortably hunched over, while i struggle to wash the remains of food off my cheap ikea-brand tableware.

maybe if the sink was three inches higher or if i had a window or a motivational striper or something, it would be less of an unpleasant chore, but i doubt it. i just don’t think there is anything in this whole world that could make dish washing an enjoyable activity for me, especially if the joy of a clean kitchen isn’t enough to cut it.

have no fear

have no fear… velkr0.org is still here… i have just been somewhat preoccupied with other mundane activities that tend to fill up my leisure time just about as much as writing in this blog does… and to-boot i have had nothing interesting to write about.. until a few moments ago.. when i was scanning my rss reader.. and saw mark’s latest entry on his blog.. and well.. all i have to say is… this is for you man!!! and your link is now back on my site!!! ohh yeah.. and for crystal.. who was actually the first to complain back on the 25th… but who i had moderated out, since i deemed her comment to be off topic.. anyways.. crystal’s comment and mark’s link…is back.. and so am i… more to come later.. like an intense play-by-play of me doing my laundry.. or even my dishes… da da daummmm

licence to panic

Well, I did it… I finally stopped stalling and got me a BC driver’s licence.. And as a result, I have never been so nervous in my life… It feels like I have some how given up eight years of meticulous efforts of avoiding being fined for performing, even a single, traffic infraction or for needing to make an at-fault claim. I have worked hard and earned my status back in Ontario, and well, now that I have a BC licence, I fear my efforts will somehow become devalued.

It’s not that I am paranoid about any aspect of my actual licence or class… as I am confident that the provinces communicate these things somehow.. but rather the insurance ‘status’ that I may lose. Back in Ontario.. the insurance companies some how worked together and had a way of finding out everything about you.. but here in BC.. I don’t know if ICBC ‘talks’ to the other companies kuz they don’t need to here… since ICBC is the only auto insurance provider in this province…

Now, ICBC does say they will accept original letters from past insurance companies ensuring my claim-free status and perfect driving record.. but, this process allows for a margin of error beyond with what I am comfortable with… grrr.. can’t everything just be hooked up together!! eff! Can’t I simply have a record that I can not run from?!!? 😛

Yes, there are many more complications, such as me owning/insuring a car that lives in another province, and if I can continue to do this while holding a BC licence… etc.. but I guess Paula (the best insurance agent in the world) will answer these questions for me soon enough…

sounds suspiciously like vaporware

well folks.. i have a short-term goal to start doing some creative writing again, since i have suddenly developed a peculiar confidence that it will, somehow, be beneficial to me to massively release all these thoughts going on in my head into some cryptic form that, i assume, most will not actually be able to coherently decipher… (however, if you actually made it through that drag-on, and possibly fragmented, sentence… there is still hope) so don’t worry… be rest-assured, that i will be able to express my thoughts in a constructive means that, depending on your own interpretation, will be able to benefit you and me… as well as, save the planet, keep the conservatives out of power, and well, mend all the other ailments that plague us human beings.

jubilance courtesy of the week’s end

so this weekend was pretty damn good.. and overall i had a lot of fun.. so without delay.. here is a brief summary of this past weekend’s events…

friday.. dre, jason and aldwin came over for some drinks and then we headed out to the honey lounge (on cameron‘s suggestion, thanks cammy – good pick) and it was all good times… and good music.. and good company… there was in fact one person who highlighted the evening, and she was kool, cute and quite interesting to converse with.. too bad existing commitments all too commonly prevail…

saturday.. i then awoke.. with half my clothing still on.. (which is typical of a good nite) and with a burning urge to go wander around various commercial establishments… but then, for whatever reason, i was unable to determine that, ever needed, ‘trinket’ which typically helps to validate and justify a visit to a mall.. so i never went.. until.. dre messaged me with a similar desire to go shopping.. which i quickly agreed to… so then dre picked me up.. and we headed to the ‘burbs (coquitlam)… to purchase some miscellaneous products….

then later that evening.. we played some hold’em with a couple dudes (which dre/dre’s buddy knew), and linda… and i ended up losing my bankroll.. but whatever… it’s all about the enjoyment that derives from partaking in illegal activities (damn, persistent teenage angst)…

then today.. i slept in.. and once i awoke around 12:30, i immediately gravitated towards the telephone.. which i talked on for many hours.. it started with a brief talk with my pops… who had been worried about me, since i had not actually synchronously communicated with him (despite his many voicemails) since he had left bc a few weeks ago.. but then, most of my early afternoon morphed into being spent talking to allison.. who, it seemed i hadn’t talked to in forever..

once that enjoyable conversation came to an end… i cracked the red wine.. and started up the, now common, sunday nite msn conversations routine… (kuz everyone always seems to be online on sunday…) i first hit up the east coast.. where online volume peaks typically at 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM my time (8:00 PM – 11:00 PM EST)… then near 7:45 PM i received an invite out to dinner from mitch… so we went out for some grub.. chilled for a bit.. and then…. here i am… at the end of my weekend.. with a smile on.. as well as woxy.com which has seemed to love me unconditionally, as have i her.. since my hard drive crashed…. many cheers to you all and happy (now gone) weekend!

laconic update

well.. thus far in 2006, the hard drive in my 15″ powerbook died.. i’ve read a little, did some tv research… and ummm tomorrow is back to work…

top music picks

well folks.. here they are.. velkr0’s 2005 top music lists.. andrew was the first person to remind me of the need to prepare such lists.. a few weeks back.. and well.. here’s a link to his.. we followed a slightly different format, mainly kuz i find it extremely difficult to weigh the quality and significance of an album or track.. but anyways.. i gave it a shot.. so here are my ‘top’ 30 albums.. ‘best’ 10 albums and 10 most played tracks (by unique artists)… check them out.. if you have not already.. enjoy…

velkr0’s top 30 albums of 2005 (alphabetical order)

• American Analog Set – Set Free
• Architecture In Helsinki – In Case We Die
• Black Mountain – Black Mountain
• Bloc Party – Silent Alarm
• Blood On The Wall – Awesomer
• Boards Of Canada – The Campfire Headphase
• Boom Bip – Blue Eyed in the Red Room
• Bonnie “Prince” Billy & Matt Sweeney – Superwolf
• The Boy Least Likely To – The Best Party Ever
• The Books – Lost and Safe
• Broken Social Scene – Broken Social Scene
• Calla – Collisions
• Caribou – The Milk of Human Kindness
• The Fiery Furnaces – EP
• Four Tet – Everything Ecstatic
• Hood – Outside Closer
• Immaculate Machine – Ones and Zeroes
• LCD Soundsystem – LCD Soundsystem
• Mike Doughty – Haughty Melodic
• The National – Alligator
• Nine Inch Nails – With Teeth
• The Robot Ate Me – Carousel Waltz
• Say Hi to Your Mom – Ferocious Mopes
• Scout Niblett – Kidnapped by Neptune
• Sons And Daughters – The Repulsion Box
• Sleater-Kinney – The Woods
• Sufjan Stevens – Illinois
• Sybris – Sybris
• The Warlocks – Surgery
• Wolf Parade – Apologies To The Queen Mary

velkr0’s 10 most important albums of 2005 (alphabetical order)

• Bloc Party – Silent Alarm
• Boards Of Canada – The Campfire Headphase
• The Books – Lost and Safe
• Broken Social Scene – Broken Social Scene
• Calla – Collisions
• Caribou – The Milk of Human Kindness
• Four Tet – Everything Ecstatic
• Sufjan Stevens – Illinois
• The Robot Ate Me – Carousel Waltz
• Wolf Parade – Apologies To The Queen Mary

velkr0’s 10 most listened to tracks

1. Bloc Party – This Modern Love
2. Black Mountain – Faulty Times
3. Wolf Parade – Modern World
4. Team Sleep – Tomb of Liegia
5. Blood On The Wall – Reunite on Ice
6. Broken Social Scene – Our Faces Split the Coast in Half
7. Nine Inch Nails – Right Where it Belongs
8. LCD Soundsystem – Daft Punk Is Playing at My House
9. Sufjan Stevens – Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Il
10. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! – The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth

a sense of direction

with this calendar year near end, i am finding it necessary to outline some new goals targets of varying magnitude… and what’s easier and more fun than accomplishing this with some, unsorted and point-form, new years resolutions… and yes, be warned, many all of these can be tagged: cliché

– become more physically active
– consume less alcohol
– develop better eating habits
– improve posture
– expand knowledge-based skill-set
– increase positive cash-flow
– optimize work/life balance
– broaden social network
– advance professionally
– strengthen soul

now, one caveat… since all of these targets are pretty much qualitative aspirations which cannot be accurately measured… this list must be viewed as a mission statement for 2006, rather than a list of promised predetermined actions.