The weekend sky was aching orange with the charm of thick falling snow. It felt good to be so warm and in the midst of such cold, with the silence of such visual delight.

The Honest Lawyer on Saturday was good. I have never, ever, tasted better fries. They were dark, crispy, not too thick and not too thin, and salted perfectly. They were even presented well in a cone shaped wrapping in a metal holder, with two dips attached. The atmosphere there was well done, with unique lighting and well arranged tables. The only problem was the music, which was turned up so loud that people couldn’t speak to each other. By the end of the night, I had to take some Chinese herbal throat medicine so that I would still have my voice the next day. I had a better time at Trolley’s place beforehand, when we could actually talk to each other. At one point, the girls ordered a chocolate fondue for dessert, and left about half the pot full of chocolate dip.

Aaron, being the sugar addict that he is, started to drink from the fondue pot. I was left holding my brownie half-covered (which happened to be sweet enough already).

I can’t decide whether I should buy the strings tribute to Tool, Third Eye Open. I really have no idea what to expect, in terms of how good the music will be. I would more readily purchase it if I could walk down to a music store and find it, but it seems rare enough that even Record Runner doesn’t carry it. I also discovered Strung Out on OK Computer, which is a string tribute to my favourite Radiohead album, which I have to consider getting as well.

I also found a song called Les Feuilles Mortes, when sung in French, and Autumn Leaves when sung in English. The English lyrics are alright, but the French sounds much better. The first version I had was by Yves Montand, who sings it perfectly with a great pronunciation, but at the end of the song the audience tries to clap in unison with the beat and fails miserably, ruining the song completely. I was able to find a few other versions as well. The one by Diana Krall is a little too simple to enjoy. One by Edith Piaf is good, and she sings well in both languages, but her vibrato is too shrill. There’s a decent Nat King Cole version, but the old style and poor recording quality don’t bode well for it. There’s even a Miles Davis with John Coltrane version, but unfortunately, it’s missing the lyrics and recognizable melody. An odd version by Paul Mauriat is done with synth and cheezy instrumentals, and is possibly the worst one I’ve heard so far. A good modern one done by Cold Cut has a very electronic feel to it, but lacks the lyrical content that the others have. My favourite version so far is by Sarah Vaughan, where she’s able to sing the jazz babble with precision and grace, while displaying her gigantic vocal range. The first time I heard it, it blew my mind away. I might just end up cutting out the clapping of the audience in Yves Montand version if I can’t find a good one.

I figured out the four peasant build. I LUF IT.

I was exhausted yesterday. I worked almost all day on my graphics project, and Aaron came over to work on his Scheme assignment. I was able to talk to him for a few hours before starting the work. We caught Old School at the Coliseum near his place, but it was still a thirty minute walk in one direction. The movie was too predictable, but had some very well done scenes, such as Will Ferrell getting shot in the neck with a tranq dart. I thought some parts were almost insulting though, like a completely gratuitous camera shot of Elisha Cuthbert’s ass while she was laying on a bed. It’s not that I don’t find her behind to be a thing of beauty, it’s that it feels like the producers are adding shit like that in just to get more people in the audience. I guess it’s been happening for a while now; ever since Shannon Elizabeth bared her twins in American Pie, teen movies have been becoming more and more sleazy. I still enjoyed Old School though, and generally laughed my ass off.

Watching Old School allowed me to discover a decent song called Dust in the Wind by Kansas. I’ve also been downloading a lot of Canadian singer Holly Cole, who has a beautifully expressive, olive oil voice. I enjoy Bagdad Café in particular. I found two versions of the song, one live and one studio, which are good but with their own unique flaws. I prefer the live version because it has a simple piano and bass, instead of synth sounds in the studio version, but at one point she becomes obnoxiously loud, as if she was oversinging the notes, the way a trumpet would sound if the trumpeter was blaring. It makes her voice seem almost masculine, which is a big turn-off. The way she mixes her vibrato with her flaring is very seductive though. In the studio version, however, she seems to start off one line a little flat, before pushing her diaphragm to hit a note without going falsetto. It surprized me, since studio songs tend to be a little too perfect.

I finally put up my poster of Dominique Swain. Aaron helped me decide on the linen closet door, since the walls in my room are so big they dwarf my modestly sized poster. I haven’t put it up since second year because it didn’t seem to fit into the simpleness of my room.

I’m not especially happy with yesterdays entry, but I desperately felt like I had to get something down. It’s a little too trite for me to be satisfied.

I bought a bag of frozen carrots and pearl onions to try out the last time I went grocery shopping, since I’ve been trying to eat more vegetables. I found out today that I really don’t like pearl onions. They taste like what I imagine an onion would taste like after being soaked in water overnight. I tried to have the carrots only, but the bag is supposed to be a mélange of the two, and the taste of the onions ends up seeping into the taste of the carrots. I really enjoy having a bunch of onion slices sautéed before adding in a pork chop or whatnot to the frying pan, but pearl onions seem to be a different breed of onion.

I feel a bit better today, but not much. Rest is good for clearing my cache of emotions. Emotion is pain. Ground zero indeed.

I still had a great time last night though. There were 14 people at one point in my apartment yesterday. I didn’t get as much gaming in as I wanted, but I suppose the host is never the one with best time. I also sobered up before the night was half done, which was a little disappointing. We ended up ordering five pizzas, and an entire pizza was left over. Everyone kept telling me how much they liked Dolly, even the people who generally don’t like cats, except for Ian since he’s a hard-core cat hater. It was an amazing night which I’ll have to do again.

Yet another day of absolutely no work done. I have many things to do this week, which is worrying me, quite the flashback from last term. I’ll be meeting with Aaron and Nick early in the week to discuss our technological business venture. On Wednesday I’ll need to meet with my supervisor to discuss the progress of my honours project, but before that happens I’ll need to meet with my partner to discuss what we’ve learned. Then I have three mid-terms on Valentine’s day, none of which I’m prepared for. Hopefully I’ll be able to pull something off again like last term.

Sometimes I’ll find a song that I enjoy so much that I can put it on repeat without getting tired of it, although such songs are few and far between. Songs such as Anger Management by Lovage, 96 Quite Bitter Beings by CKY, or Acid Rain by Liquid Tension Experiment. I was lucky enough to discover a band called Nevermore recently, and one of their songs, The River Dragon has Come, is another song that just blows me away. The last time I found a song like this was last September, so I’m extremely pleased with my discovery.

I haven’t been able to get any reading done. I stayed over at Aaron’s the night before, and we spent the night playing Gamecube and XBox with his brother. We went shopping and saw Lord of the Rings when we woke up a few hours later.

My parents bought me a great cookbook for Christmas, so I’ll be attempting a few recipes. Unfortunately, I can only try a few of the recipes, since most of them serve four or more. Jamie Oliver always seemed sexy in a dorky sort of way, until I realized that it was his mastery in the kitchen, and the loss of his mullet.

I’ve realized that listening to The Gentle Waves fills me with a sort of contentment and happiness. Their music is not bittersweet or trite, and somehow calming and moving at the same time. I think I might end up keeping their songs simply because I don’t have anything quite like them.

I’ve been in such a strange, undefinable mood lately. It feels like I’m apathetic to everything, while the future seems hopeful. It’s probably just a mixture of everything that happened in the last term, the odd ups and dysthymic downs.

There’s something about good strong pressure in a shower nozzle. Without it, it seems like warmth is just coming over one’s body in some sort of diffuse, amorphous manner.

My last week has been busy. I spent almost every moment of my week at home doing something. I was tired a lot of the time, due to the sheer amount of stuff that I tried to get done.

Four of the days I hung out with John. I got him Metal Gear Solid 2 and Onimusha: Warlords 2 for Christmas. We watched Pumpkin and Adaptation. Pumpkin had some terrible aspects to it, such as acting, but also had some very poignant moments. I’m trying to get one of the scenes framed, but I doubt I’ll be able to get a high enough resolution to have the proper print quality. To me, the scene seems to speak of such an innocence, even in the face of foreseeable tragedy. It reminds me of the ignorance I have of people when I first meet them, that I have no idea what the person is like, good or bad. Adaptation was alright. I was expecting so much more from Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze, but I guess that even the master of originality can run out of ideas. Spike Jonze still did an amazing job though.

I stayed over at Darren’s for three days. We gamed and generally stayed up late. It was a lot of fun to be so tired. I saw Duets, which I felt had one really well developed relationship out of the three, which was a pity, since the entire movie was based on relationships. Everything just pulled together rather cheeply in the end. I also saw Dog Day Afternoon with him, starring Al Pacino. He did a powerful part, what many consider to be his best, but I still consider Scarface to be his most accomplished work.

I discovered a band called the Gentle Waves which have a frontwoman with an interesting singing style. I downloaded a few of their songs, since I was hooked on Falling From Grace, and it was reassuring to know that their songs don’t all sound the same like Mazzy Star when I discovered Fade Into You.

Over the entire week, I didn’t have the time to write a single entry. It was difficult because I felt like I had so much to say. Sometimes, something in a simple conversation will cause me to wonder, and I’ll need some time to think about what has been brought up.