[ Friday, November 29, 2002 | 1:18 p.m. ] "Damn my eyes, you're just another mirage!"

State of the Union II [ Thursday, November 28, 2002 | 2:33 p.m. ] "My life's pretty sketchy these days. I basically do four things: go to work, sleep, watch TV at Sean's, and play EverQuest." It’s been almost a month since I wrote those lines, with nary an update since (not counting the Insta-Blog, posted two minutes ago). While all sorts of things have happened during that time, the statement’s as true as when I wrote it. While I’m pretty much doing nothing, I’m also doing a whole lot of it. I’m back here because I’m not doing my work report, and I’m at work, so I can’t play EverQuest, which is what I normally do when I’m not doing my work report. Did I mention that I haven’t started my work report? It’s due in <flip, flip> fifteen days. Yes, boys and girls, two weeks and one day, and I haven’t solidly decided on my topic. And these people actually expect something decent from me, unlike last time around. No lame-ass user manuals, no sir—a real essay, with analysis aplenty. I was even given some very good suggestions, I’ve got lots to work with, but I just can’t do it. It’s the same old story. When I say I’ve got a procrastination problem, I’m not kidding around. In other news, Christmas is around the corner, and my lifestyle’s gone to pot. Yesterday, I bought myself a box of Hawaiian Punch candy canes. I may still buy more. And speaking of candy, I’ve been consuming quite a lot of it lately. I’m still working on the Halloween stash. Also on the unhealthy front, know what I had for dinner last night? An entire bag of Doritos. The big, 300-gram kind. I topped it off with a handful of miniature Reese’s cups. Sean had some casserole.. and most of the bag of mini-Reese’s. Mind you, we do eat healthier some of the time. In general, he’s not too bad. I’m about a hundred times more sketchy, but then that’s to be expected, since I pretty much define sketchy. As for that pent-up stuff I mentioned before, it’s mostly been released. I’ve been stating my opinions quite clearly now. Of course, I still have problems when I just don’t have an opinion; it must get tremendously annoying to ask me what I want for dinner every night, and for me never to have an answer. Overall, though, things are going pretty well. I’m very, very happy. Maybe it’s the whole first-love thing. I imagine it makes you pretty crazy. I’m also trying very hard to stop this from becoming the boyfriend-blog. I don’t want to be one of those chicks who sticks in "I love you so much,   <insert name of the current guy-who-changed-your-life here>  " every two or three sentences. Still, it’s hard not to talk about Sean, since I spend almost every free moment with him, so other than work and sleep there’s not much I do without him. (As Jacq can attest to, like when I blew off her and the gang the other night. Which reminds me, I never sent Adri a birthday greeting. Happy belated birthday, Ad-man.) This would really be the time for me to do that work report. There are fewer distractions here than at home, and it’s actually what I supposed to be doing now. However, I won’t. Even after I post this, there’s still some other stuff I want to do. There are plenty of things in addition to the report that I put off in favour of Sean or EverQuest. I think I'll continue looking at Canadian web hosting companies. By the way, if anyone knows a really good one (i.e. heavy on features, light on price), drop me a line. Ta-ta.

Blog-O-Matic [ Thursday, November 28, 2002 | 1:32 p.m. ] // Ter-Rat’s Insta-Blog v0.1c // ***************************************************************** if weekday then print "6:00 a.m. Wake up, lift face off laptop keyboard, and resume playing EverQuest, hoping that that I didn’t die when I fell asleep while waiting to zone." print "7:00 a.m. Tell myself I should stop playing EQ, then keep playing." print "7:30 a.m. Tear myself away from the compter, shower and get dressed." print "8:00 a.m. Get a ride to work with dad, after he’s scolded me for being late, and for not returning his calls the night before." print "8:45 a.m. Check Waterloo, Havergal and both Hotmail email accounts." print "9:00 a.m. Begin working." if Monday or Thursday then print "4:00 p.m. Go home." if Monday then print "5:00 p.m. Play EverQuest. Pause for dinner later, then resume." else print "7:00 p.m. Dinner with dad at our Swiss Chalet, where the wait staff know me by name." print "9:00 p.m. Play EverQuest." else print "4:00 p.m. Go to meet Sean at his work or the subway station." dice = random(0..1) if dice > 0.75 then print "6:00 p.m. Stop at Blockbuster to see what’s new." print "7:00 p.m. Eat take-out fast food, delivered pizza, or something Sean’s mother cooked in bed, while watching Friends." if Tuesday then print "8:00 p.m. Watch Buffy and Angel." else if Wednesday then print "9:00 p.m. Watch The West Wing and Law & Order." else print "8:00 p.m. Watch Firefly, The Hack, and The Shield." print "11:00 p.m. Get a ride home from Sean, get ready for bed, play EverQuest." print "2:00 a.m. Pass out during the ten-second loading-pause when moving between zones." else print "8:00 a.m. Wake up feeling rested and wonderful. Play EverQuest until Sean calls, then go over to his place." print "1:00 p.m. Maybe catch a movie, otherwise shop or lie around at Sean’s house." print "7:00 p.m. Eat take-out fast food, delivered pizza, or something Sean’s mother cooked in bed, wonder why Friends isn’t on." if Sunday then print "8:00 p.m. Watch the Simpsons." print "11:00 p.m. Get a ride home from Sean, get ready for bed, play EverQuest." if Saturday then print "4:00 a.m. Stop playing a go to sleep nice and early, so that I can get up and play some more in the morning." else print "2:00 a.m. Pass out during the ten-second loading-pause when moving between zones." // ***************************************************************** // Ed’s Note: I’ve been working on this for a while now, and the whole thing’s // kinda out of date. During that in-progress period I switched from Sympatico // DSL to Rogers as my ISP, Firefly was put on on hiatus (/cheer), Sean and I // started watching less TV, then he switched from cable to satellite with the // PVR receiver, drastically changing our viewing habbits, and--perhaps the most // significant change--as of a few days ago, Sean’s roleplaying night, formerly // on Mondays, and the reason I didn’t see him on Mondays, has been switched to // Thursdays, a.k.a. my dinner-with-dad night. This could change everything. // This could mean averaging six nights a week with Sean, one with my dad, and // none with my poor, neglected mother. Hmm. I’ve got to work on that.

The State of the Union I [ Monday, November 4, 2002 | 11:18 a.m. ] I have a lot of stuff pent up at the moment. I need to get things out. I probably won't post this, but I just need to clear my head. My life's pretty sketchy these days. I basically do four things: go to work, sleep, watch TV at Sean's, and play EverQuest. Sleep I enjoy, but I don't get enough of it. I almost never go to bed; I just pass out doing something else. Work I don't usually mind—it depends on what I'm doing and how much sleep I've had. The last couple of weeks (since I started playing EQ) haven't been too good for sleep, and now the project that we've been working on for the last month is winding down. That means no more coming in every morning and knowing what I have to do, but rather going around the office and begging for work. I don't like that. I want to be useful, and I don't want them to pay me to do nothing, but I feel like such an annoyance harassing people like that. It's like, "Please, take time out of your real work to make up something for me to do." Gah. As for Sean... I don't know. He makes me very happy most of the time, but I get weird. Like, he can ask me if I'm okay with something, and I'll just automatically say yes. So I'll end up doing things I don't really want to do, or he'll do things I don't want him to do, but I won't say anything, just sit there and get quiet and slightly mopey. To be continued...

[ Friday, November 1, 2002 | 11:30 a.m. ] I just happened to glance out the window here at work, and I saw... snow. Oodles and oodles of snow. This was probably in the weather forecast, but I don't really listen to those; I was so, *so* not expecting it. I'm completely in awe. Big, white, fluffy snow. Snow, man, SNOW! I can barely concentrate on work; I just want to go stand by the windows and stare out at it. They all have these venetian blinds, so the flakes flicker in and out of sight as they go past, which makes it look like they're sparkling. I should probably get back to work. (Though I am sort of in between tasks. I've got twenty minutes' worth of stuff to do right now, max. Once I'm done that... I don't know.) Oh, the weather outside is frightful, But the fire is so delightful, And since we've no place to go, Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!