I remember why so long ago I gave up on daily runs... Walking up and down stairs is quite the - for lack of better word - bitch.
Having said that, I do think that with perserverance, committment, dedication and hard work, I absolutely can become a regular long distance runner.
I'm making good on my word to work out. Seriously.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
It's been a while...
It's been a hectic week. Clearly.
Monday I went out to dinner at Fuji and to the movies to see Despicable Me. Fuji wasn't the best sushi, but it wasn't bad. Having said that though, I probably wouldn't actively choose to go there again.
Despicable Me was such a cute movie, I absolutely loved it. Better also because it was in 3D. A story about an evil villain who tries to steal the most lucrative thing yet, but ends up taking on fatherhood to 3 adorable orphaned girls.
Tuesday I went out to see Inception (I know, what a movie hound...) (6 and 7 out of 20 for #95 on my DayZero list). Inception was a fantastic movie.
I had been told by some others and from reading online that Inception was a very difficult to understand movie, with a very complex storyline. It worried me that I wouldn't be able to keep up with it and I would get lost in the movie, but it seemed pretty straight forward to me.
About a man who is incriminated in his wife's death and must flee his country and his children, Leonardo DiCaprio plays an extractor struggling to find his way back to his family. He takes on the final task of performing an inception rather than an extraction. The movie takes place on several dream levels, and by the end of it you're left in a stupor. Christopher Nolan is truly ingenious to write such fantastic movies. From Memento to the latest film, Inception, wow!
Thursday we had another music session. Going through some more new songs, I think we've garnered enough songs we want to work on, the problem now is to actually work on them.
Saturday Heather came in to town. We were supposed to go to Elora Gorge to go tubing and such today but no such luck with the weather. We went to St. Jacob's marketplace and to Elora and Fergus. We did a bunch of shopping, including in Guelph at the mall. We didn't get home until after 5 where we proceeded to prep dinner. Then we watched Angels and Demons before getting ready to head out to eBar. We met Luis, Ann & co. and Kendra out there. I ran into Derek and his wife and friends, and we had a good time on the sit down section of eBar. Never having been there before, it was nice to enjoy the sit down area. AND, I learned that there are actually extra bathrooms around the other side in eBar! The things you learn when you AREN'T on the dance floor =)
Sunday Heather Kendra and I went to brunch at EGGcetra. Afterward, Heather went back to Toronto and I headed to the mall to attempt to get a new cell phone. Failed attempt #1, but at least I have narrowed down the cell phones I'm looking at. In the afternoon, Kendra came over to chill and we ended up watching He's Just Not That Into You. Again. I know. Clearly a a chart topper for my choice films, I could watch that movie over and over again.
Interspersed throughout the week I haven't mentioned, is the immense amount of work that I had to do at work and Wednesday soccer. Busy busy busy!
Monday I went out to dinner at Fuji and to the movies to see Despicable Me. Fuji wasn't the best sushi, but it wasn't bad. Having said that though, I probably wouldn't actively choose to go there again.Despicable Me was such a cute movie, I absolutely loved it. Better also because it was in 3D. A story about an evil villain who tries to steal the most lucrative thing yet, but ends up taking on fatherhood to 3 adorable orphaned girls.
Tuesday I went out to see Inception (I know, what a movie hound...) (6 and 7 out of 20 for #95 on my DayZero list). Inception was a fantastic movie.
I had been told by some others and from reading online that Inception was a very difficult to understand movie, with a very complex storyline. It worried me that I wouldn't be able to keep up with it and I would get lost in the movie, but it seemed pretty straight forward to me.About a man who is incriminated in his wife's death and must flee his country and his children, Leonardo DiCaprio plays an extractor struggling to find his way back to his family. He takes on the final task of performing an inception rather than an extraction. The movie takes place on several dream levels, and by the end of it you're left in a stupor. Christopher Nolan is truly ingenious to write such fantastic movies. From Memento to the latest film, Inception, wow!
Thursday we had another music session. Going through some more new songs, I think we've garnered enough songs we want to work on, the problem now is to actually work on them.
Saturday Heather came in to town. We were supposed to go to Elora Gorge to go tubing and such today but no such luck with the weather. We went to St. Jacob's marketplace and to Elora and Fergus. We did a bunch of shopping, including in Guelph at the mall. We didn't get home until after 5 where we proceeded to prep dinner. Then we watched Angels and Demons before getting ready to head out to eBar. We met Luis, Ann & co. and Kendra out there. I ran into Derek and his wife and friends, and we had a good time on the sit down section of eBar. Never having been there before, it was nice to enjoy the sit down area. AND, I learned that there are actually extra bathrooms around the other side in eBar! The things you learn when you AREN'T on the dance floor =)
Sunday Heather Kendra and I went to brunch at EGGcetra. Afterward, Heather went back to Toronto and I headed to the mall to attempt to get a new cell phone. Failed attempt #1, but at least I have narrowed down the cell phones I'm looking at. In the afternoon, Kendra came over to chill and we ended up watching He's Just Not That Into You. Again. I know. Clearly a a chart topper for my choice films, I could watch that movie over and over again.
Interspersed throughout the week I haven't mentioned, is the immense amount of work that I had to do at work and Wednesday soccer. Busy busy busy!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Pool Part-ay!
Nothing exciting happened during the week. It was just filled with a ton of lab work, as I rush to get all my data in so I can make my poster for the August long weekend conference. That meant, Saturday in the lab. Luckily Luis was having a pool party at his house that evening, so it was incentive to get up early and get my work done so I can have a fun time later.
I finished in the lab by early afternoon and headed up to relax and eat before heading over. I had picked up biking lights a few days before, so I was set to bike in the dark. w00tw00t!
The pool party was fun. As usual, it was me surrounded by a large group of Spanish speaking folk. Good thing Kendra was coming later too, and Walter showed up as well. There was good food, good people, and a nice and cold pool.
Most people headed out downtown afterward, but I was in my swimsuit, had a backpack with me, and biked. With too many factors conspiring against me, I decided to just go home and sleep instead.
I finished in the lab by early afternoon and headed up to relax and eat before heading over. I had picked up biking lights a few days before, so I was set to bike in the dark. w00tw00t!
The pool party was fun. As usual, it was me surrounded by a large group of Spanish speaking folk. Good thing Kendra was coming later too, and Walter showed up as well. There was good food, good people, and a nice and cold pool.
Most people headed out downtown afterward, but I was in my swimsuit, had a backpack with me, and biked. With too many factors conspiring against me, I decided to just go home and sleep instead.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
TerraCotta Warriors
After returning from Ohio Thursday night, I repacked my bag that night to make the trip to Toronto Friday for the weekend. I had plans with Vernon and Clair for dinner and "night it up" on Friday night. One of Clair's friends - Steven - joined us for "night it up". Turns out, Steven used to work with my brother's friend Lawrence. He lived in Vancouver up until just recently, where he left his job and came to Toronto to upgrade some schooling. Funny how even though I'm 2000 miles from home, I still run into people who have common acquaintances... The world is definitely not small enough!
After "night it up", we went to Go for Tea to get some real food. I guess Steven must have been quite hungry. I eventually got back to my aunt's house. At 130am. Yikes! I slept in a little in the morning (aka. 9am), where I got up, got ready, and figured out plans with Winnie and Ray. Exciting! I was finally going to meet Eric!
I made my way by TTC to Spadina and Dundas where we were set to have dimsum lunch before heading to the ROM. Heather met us at the ROM for out 1pm entrance time to see the warriors. As I've already been to the ROM in 2008 and Heather last summer, we weren't particularly interested in re-visiting the regular exhibit. We headed straight for the TerraCottas.
The exhibit wasn't as big as I was lead to believe (only roughly 7 warriors and 3 horses), but it was impressive nonetheless. To see the warriors in real life up close like that and really gauge how large they are, the history that lead up to it, the manpower it took to build them, and the incredibly distinguishable and detailed characteristics of each. Most of the exhibit was smaller artifacts describing the history leading up to the tomb, and it was all pretty impressive.
After the ROM, we went to Greg's Ice Cream down the street, and I went to dinner. I left Sunday morning to head back to Guelph to catch the FIFA final with friends. A disappointing match, but a well deserved win for Spain. Congrats to the Spanish fans!
After "night it up", we went to Go for Tea to get some real food. I guess Steven must have been quite hungry. I eventually got back to my aunt's house. At 130am. Yikes! I slept in a little in the morning (aka. 9am), where I got up, got ready, and figured out plans with Winnie and Ray. Exciting! I was finally going to meet Eric!
I made my way by TTC to Spadina and Dundas where we were set to have dimsum lunch before heading to the ROM. Heather met us at the ROM for out 1pm entrance time to see the warriors. As I've already been to the ROM in 2008 and Heather last summer, we weren't particularly interested in re-visiting the regular exhibit. We headed straight for the TerraCottas.
The exhibit wasn't as big as I was lead to believe (only roughly 7 warriors and 3 horses), but it was impressive nonetheless. To see the warriors in real life up close like that and really gauge how large they are, the history that lead up to it, the manpower it took to build them, and the incredibly distinguishable and detailed characteristics of each. Most of the exhibit was smaller artifacts describing the history leading up to the tomb, and it was all pretty impressive.
After the ROM, we went to Greg's Ice Cream down the street, and I went to dinner. I left Sunday morning to head back to Guelph to catch the FIFA final with friends. A disappointing match, but a well deserved win for Spain. Congrats to the Spanish fans!
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Ohio State University
From Jul 6-8, a bunch of us grad students and some professors made the road trip down to Wooster Ohio to visit the agricultural department and facilities that are a part of the Ohio State University.
We rented 3 vans and plopped 18 people in them for the ~7 hour drive down. We made it in time for a late dinner, where we went to a pub type place and sat out on the patio. Dr. Clay Sneller, our host for the trip, joined us there and we had our dinner with drinks and talked. The TVs were playing highlights of the semi-final game earlier that occurred in the day, so we got our fill of soccer that way. After that, a few of us made the way down to the pool at the hotel and splashed around until about midnight. With an early morning start ahead of us, it was already quite late.
A full day's events at the university campus in Wooster surely did tire a few of us out. From 8 straight until 430, with the afternoon being spent in the 92F boiling heat and sun, we sure made a dent in the cooler in the back of the van.
We had some time in between that and dinner, so there was another gathering at the hotel pool. More people this time, and copious more amounts of beer. Thanks to Amy, I learned to dive and do handstands in the pool. Properly. W00t w00t!
Dinner was a catered event that should have happened at their arboretum, but because of the intense heat, it was moved into the main building instead. Afterward, we headed to Clay's house where he graciously hosted us in his backyard. There was homebrewed beer from one of the professors (too hop-py for my tastes).
Clay's house is a bit of a way's from campus, but was a stunning house. The backyard was huge, and I saw a ton of fireflies! Having never really seen them up close like that before, I was in awe at the number. A bunch of them even landed on my legs and arms while I was swinging away leisurely on the tree-swing. You can maybe make out the fireflies all lit up in the photo.
The trip was a ton of fun, and I learned a lot. About agriculture and how things operate in the MidWest, about my fellow grad student colleagues and professors, and about swimming!
We rented 3 vans and plopped 18 people in them for the ~7 hour drive down. We made it in time for a late dinner, where we went to a pub type place and sat out on the patio. Dr. Clay Sneller, our host for the trip, joined us there and we had our dinner with drinks and talked. The TVs were playing highlights of the semi-final game earlier that occurred in the day, so we got our fill of soccer that way. After that, a few of us made the way down to the pool at the hotel and splashed around until about midnight. With an early morning start ahead of us, it was already quite late.
A full day's events at the university campus in Wooster surely did tire a few of us out. From 8 straight until 430, with the afternoon being spent in the 92F boiling heat and sun, we sure made a dent in the cooler in the back of the van.
We had some time in between that and dinner, so there was another gathering at the hotel pool. More people this time, and copious more amounts of beer. Thanks to Amy, I learned to dive and do handstands in the pool. Properly. W00t w00t!
Dinner was a catered event that should have happened at their arboretum, but because of the intense heat, it was moved into the main building instead. Afterward, we headed to Clay's house where he graciously hosted us in his backyard. There was homebrewed beer from one of the professors (too hop-py for my tastes).
Clay's house is a bit of a way's from campus, but was a stunning house. The backyard was huge, and I saw a ton of fireflies! Having never really seen them up close like that before, I was in awe at the number. A bunch of them even landed on my legs and arms while I was swinging away leisurely on the tree-swing. You can maybe make out the fireflies all lit up in the photo.The trip was a ton of fun, and I learned a lot. About agriculture and how things operate in the MidWest, about my fellow grad student colleagues and professors, and about swimming!
Monday, July 05, 2010
Canada Day "Long" Weekend
So it was a long weekend for some, but obviously not for the university. We went to the beach on Canada Day, but it was back to work for us on Friday. I'm sure most people took it off to go away for the weekend, but I stuck it out and actually worked every single day this weekend.
I went in Friday and managed to get in 2 full assay runs. I wanted to use my time efficiently so I felt accomplished by the time I made it to Fawn's for her birthday. We sat around in their lovely backyard in the shade and had BBQ and chatted. It was a beautiful evening out but we all had to head home. I was planning a lengthy day in the lab the next, and Kendra was heading to Toronto.
Saturday was another full day with 2 assay runs (while watching FIFA of course!), before going home, catching up with people on skype, and then going to Ann's to head to eBar. A night out dancing is always fun, and it was great that Paco showed up as well! Despite a super creepy acquaintance, who shall remain unnamed, the night was a blast. Luis, Paco and I caught a cab home, which was much better than my typical route of walking the hour+ long walk home from downtown. I settled in nicely into bed, only to be roused awake at 8am the next morning. Why oh why do I plan a full day at the lab when I know I'll be absolutely exhausted!?!?!
I couldn't get in a full day at the lab because I ran out of sterilized water. I just barely managed one full run, but I was welcoming the thought of going home early with open arms. I watched some tv, weeded my garden, all before Kendra came over. Since we missed her at the fireworks on Canada Day, we haven't really talked, and there was much to catch up about... We got it all out in about an hour, before it was time to hit the sack.
That brings us to Monday, where I *tried* to sleep in before going in to school.
Off to Ohio tomorrow!
I went in Friday and managed to get in 2 full assay runs. I wanted to use my time efficiently so I felt accomplished by the time I made it to Fawn's for her birthday. We sat around in their lovely backyard in the shade and had BBQ and chatted. It was a beautiful evening out but we all had to head home. I was planning a lengthy day in the lab the next, and Kendra was heading to Toronto.
Saturday was another full day with 2 assay runs (while watching FIFA of course!), before going home, catching up with people on skype, and then going to Ann's to head to eBar. A night out dancing is always fun, and it was great that Paco showed up as well! Despite a super creepy acquaintance, who shall remain unnamed, the night was a blast. Luis, Paco and I caught a cab home, which was much better than my typical route of walking the hour+ long walk home from downtown. I settled in nicely into bed, only to be roused awake at 8am the next morning. Why oh why do I plan a full day at the lab when I know I'll be absolutely exhausted!?!?!
I couldn't get in a full day at the lab because I ran out of sterilized water. I just barely managed one full run, but I was welcoming the thought of going home early with open arms. I watched some tv, weeded my garden, all before Kendra came over. Since we missed her at the fireworks on Canada Day, we haven't really talked, and there was much to catch up about... We got it all out in about an hour, before it was time to hit the sack.
That brings us to Monday, where I *tried* to sleep in before going in to school.
Off to Ohio tomorrow!
Friday, July 02, 2010
Canada Day @ Grand Bend
We were lucky enough to be able to get out of Guelph for the day, and spend it at the beach. We went to Grand Bend, which is on Lake Huron (~2hours away) and it was absolutely gorgeous there. I've always heard that there are beautiful beaches in Ontario, but because I had yet to actually go to one, I couldn't attest to that statement.
The beaches are long but narrow, with a lot of wild grasses crowding out the beautiful white sand.
We spent the majority of the day at the Pinery, playing random sports and games and eating BBQ. We went for walks and talked, and lazed around in the sun soaking colour into our skin.
By early evening, we called it quits because we wanted to head into Grand Bend to grab some food before making the 2 hour drive back.
We got back to Guelph by 845, with plenty of time to make it to Riverside Park. We found prime parking in the Arby's parking lot across the street and made out way to the hill to grab a spot to see the fireworks. We were all in separate cars, so we ended up all in different parts of the park. Ann and Wilson found Jerlene, Luis and I where we caught the fireworks together. Heather's group ended up on the other side of the park and Kendra was still walking from her parking spot when the show started.
The fireworks were set of very close together, so I couldn't get a decent photo of all the fireworks at one time. This is about the best I could do, but I've got a good chunk of video for the show as well.
Happy Canada Day everyone!
The beaches are long but narrow, with a lot of wild grasses crowding out the beautiful white sand.
We spent the majority of the day at the Pinery, playing random sports and games and eating BBQ. We went for walks and talked, and lazed around in the sun soaking colour into our skin.
By early evening, we called it quits because we wanted to head into Grand Bend to grab some food before making the 2 hour drive back.
We got back to Guelph by 845, with plenty of time to make it to Riverside Park. We found prime parking in the Arby's parking lot across the street and made out way to the hill to grab a spot to see the fireworks. We were all in separate cars, so we ended up all in different parts of the park. Ann and Wilson found Jerlene, Luis and I where we caught the fireworks together. Heather's group ended up on the other side of the park and Kendra was still walking from her parking spot when the show started.
The fireworks were set of very close together, so I couldn't get a decent photo of all the fireworks at one time. This is about the best I could do, but I've got a good chunk of video for the show as well.Happy Canada Day everyone!
Thursday, July 01, 2010
Goodbye Paco!
Wednesday night was a little get-together at Ryan's for Francisco's impending departure. Paco's been here for a year now, as a visiting student from Colombia. We're all sad to see him go, so we gathered for one final night to celebrate him!There was food, music and dancing (of course!), like every other get-together. It's nice getting to know everyone better, and it's funny because they are noticing that I am showing up at all the events now, despite not have any Latin American or Spanish origin to myself.
The more the merrier, we got group photos of Paco with just the girls. And of course another (dirtier) photo of Paco with just the guys.
We'll miss you!
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