When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends.

—Japanese Proverb

Ever meet someone whose company was questionable at best, and think, “Why does this person hang out with these people?”

One may immediately think of the “friends” in question, people who prove to be stupid, superficial, unpleasant at best. Ultimately, however, the truth lies in the key person who keeps such company. The aphorisms have never been more true.

In the case of questionable company, the answer is attention. A person with a motley crew of friends, each one unlike the next, and each one consistent in their lack of social skills, is most likely a person who is after attention.

The reasons for this are as plentiful as they are varied. Some are only comfortable when they are around others. Others enjoy the feeling of being a person who knows everyone. And some are so subconsciously insecure as to need such company to believe they’re of some value. So, to understand the seemingly eclectic taste in people of the key person, one must look to his or her company.

And often that proves to be more revealing than anything else.

Bad week has come to a premature end, as of 4:50 pm today. Things somehow worked themselves out better than I could have imagined. The day was hell though; I was running on little sleep, little energy, little time, and little patience. Had to skip out on dinner and movie tonight, just because I feel so drained and need some down-time.

This break couldn’t have come at a better time. Tindersticks was tearing my fucking heart out this morning.

“crazy bitch still looks good!”
“dont look man”

One of the more interesting local landmarks is a panhandler who has his practice set up on the Mackenzie King Bridge. I started noticing him ever since I came to this city, every time I walked up the bridge to the Rideau Centre. I’ve seen him in stills in the university newspaper, or in passing while taking the bus along the transitway. Ever since winter started though, he’s been wearing a very blue, very “Toronto Maple Leafs” toque. I wonder if someone gave it to him, or whether he procured it himself, using the change given to him by his fellow citizens and Sens fans.

It’s a dangerous thing to be wearing such a high profile hat in this city. Especially when one is so easy to find.

Fuck bad day. This is going to be a bad fucking week. The only saving grace is that I can come home and hang out with Trolley every day.

Maybe I’m just in a bad mood because of lack of sleep. I can’t think straight, I can’t concentrate, I can’t remember things, I can’t do shit. Can’t get my fucking freezer moved. It’s raining and I just washed these pants. Remembered my drywall putty in my 16th floor room when I stepped outside on the cement. Couldn’t find pics for a post on the drool material over at Tristan. Where did my redhead of choice in the pin-striped suit go? Have to completely clean the old apartment after work. It’s time for some In Utero. I could really go for some super sweet, super creamy, real coffee right now.

It’s a hoodie day. An oversized BR hoodie day.

I hate cheap, selfish, inconsiderate people who piss me off so much that I can’t sleep and it causes my hate to build up again.

Never been so fucking fun.

Spent the weekend house sitting for my boss (on a trip to watch his daughter perform in New York) with Trolley, Nick, and two Eric’s. We spent most of the weekend hanging out, playing some Gamecube, watching movies on the 100″ projection screen, and making runs to Timmy Ho’s.

My boss and his family has three dogs, two cats, a few turtles, and some guinea pigs. One of the dogs, named Spike, is a tiny terrier but is like a little lightning bolt. He’s still a pup, but won’t be getting any bigger than he already is.

The two cats, Boots and Puffy, are well behaved and friendly.

I got the chance to hang out with Eric, the one who’s not Trolley’s brother. He can appreciate a glass of Appleton Estate as much as a copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, as much as a well designed computer game. And I mean really appreciate, as a person who almost completely understands what he likes, instead of the superficial tastes that so many have nowadays. I can light up with him, talk to him on an unbelievable number of levels, play games with him, or just hang out. He rarely speaks, but when he does his speech has weight, it has meaning with so much insight. I hope to hang out with him some more if he doesn’t go back home to Toronto. There should be more Eric’s in the world.

Well, it’s official; Dolly is approximately 25% overweight, with a mass of 12.6 pounds. The gut-poking and belly-teasing hasn’t been based on nothing. Sometimes I wish she could talk so that I could know whether she would rather live a life of gluttony and go out like Chris Farley sans the cocaine, or whether she would rather live healthily and restrain her eating. I always leave a dish of food out and it’s obvious that she doesn’t know how to control her eating habits. My decision will probably be to make sure that she’s a healthy weight, instead of spoiling her and letting her eat as much as she wants. That way there’s less chance of diabetes, heart disease, or other health complications down the road. I could start cutting back on the amount of food I give her, or start buying diet food, but for now I’ll just monitor her weight. 25% I can live with, but any more and I’ll have to take action. After all, I like having a kitty that has a bit of a paunch. I’ve come to identify the belly swaying walk with her now. And as Aaron says, “A fat cat is a happy cat.”

It’s been non-stop for the last two weeks. Exams, moving, vet appointments, unpacking, cleaning, errands, etc. I don’t think I’ve ever been this busy or sleep deprived. I’m so tired that I can barely stay awake on the bus rides home. I can’t even think long enough to come up with a decent entry, and writing and reading have fallen on my priority list. Hopefully I’ll be settled in by the weekend so that I can enjoy it, housesitting for my boss. Lost my bus pass this morning.

I’ve been brave enough to listen to The Postal Service lately, although my enjoyment is restricted to headphones on the bus. It’s still something that’s a little too personal to be listening through speakers, and for some reason, I’m not comfortable with others hearing the same songs that I do. It’s as if being able to hear the same trippy beats and soft voices gives other people the ability to experience the memories that the music brings to my mind; curves in a gentle face, car rides through the thick summer air, nervous fumblings on the couch, the scent of unfamiliar sheets.

They’re all good memories, nothing painful anymore, but it’s all something I’d like to keep to myself for just a little longer.

The moving is mostly finished, and all that’s left is a bunch of computers and monitors from Trolley’s and Wheaties’s old place, and a small freezer, suit, and food dish from mine. There’s still lots of unpacking to do; the 24-foot moving van we rented was actually too small, and some stuff had to be dropped off at the new place before the rest could be fit in. The small freezer is a bit of a worry, but hopefully we’ll be able to borrow my boss’s 4Runner and have Nick’s help to move it in on the weekend.

We ended up having nine people helping the three of us, twelve people moving in total, so things went fairly efficiently.

The exam I wrote today may possibly be the last one of my university career. I don’t plan on going back to school any time in the future. It was both the most and least satisfying exam I’ve ever written. I’m positive that I failed, so it’s sort of a sour note to end on, but I’m also ecstatic to be out of school. I approached my final computer science exam written last year with hesitation. The entire tech sector was suffering at the time, development jobs were already scarce, and I was about to be thrown into limbo. Now that I’m done, and nothing follows me home, I’ll have time to work on a few extra projects I haven’t finished yet. That also means that I can hang out with Aaron and Trolley more, or go home to visit Darren and John on the long weekends. As for Pat, I’ve learned to let him arrange the subsequent meeting because he’s always busier than I am.

Today, I left the exam two hours early, after throwing everything I knew on the page. I stepped out into the refreshing spring weather, when it’s between a brisk fall day and a summer night.

Just finished writing my economics exam. I found out last night that the exam was at 9:00 am instead of 2:00 pm. Usually, I make a last minute check of the schedule before I go to sleep the day before, so it was a shock. The last few hours before an exam are integral in my ability to pass, so my plan to study with Aaron basically fell through.

I have no idea how well I did though. Going in, I was thinking that it would be a sure fail, but I ended up confidently answering the majority of the questions. I only read through the material once, and didn’t do any review. If I do somehow end up passing this course, than either:

• I can remember 90% of what I understand or
• economics is a really easy program compared to comp sci, or
• first year courses are extremely simple after passing fourth year ones, or
• there was some sort of divine intervention

I’ve decided that just passing one of my courses will my satisfying. That way the term won’t be a complete waste.

I found an old receipt in my wallet while packing up and cleaning today. It was for a VCR I purchased two years ago for the parents of an ex-girlfriend. I got the extra two-year extended warranty, and even though we’ve long been broken up, I still kept the receipt just in case the parents ever decided to contact me if the VCR ever broke. The warranty expired this February though, so I can finally toss the receipt. I hope the VCR is still okay.