theMediaman.com

Not that I’m usually bothered by extreme cold, but I was able to excuse myself from going outside much this weekend citing a nasty four-day cold that started on Friday. Although I did put in a full day of work on Saturday, I tended to hibernate as much as possible.

Simone has the same cold as I do, but is about one day ahead in terms of symptoms. Although we spent Tuesday together, I’m confident that I actually caught this cold from a coworker in one of those “I’m hauwubby sick and stubbed up but I gawdda go inta worg or else the company will cowwapse” mental states. So now I spent what little of my weekend I had to myself, physically ill.

In at work on Saturday (in a genuine case of “the company will cowwapse” because of poor foresight) someone recommended Cold-FX pills to me. From what I read, it’s concentrated North American ginseng, or at least the chemical compound in ginseng that’s supposed to help your immune system. There are countless studies that support the use of Cold-FX (although most of the pages I find are from online pharmacy sites). Because it’s from a natural source, the chances of negative side effects (”side-FX?”) are very low.

Well, dig up a ginseng root and call me a rabbit. I just don’t trust any “natural remedy” that requires me to take NINE PILLS on the first day of treatment.

Besides, getting a cold is always time I use to get caught up on all the movies I’ve been wanting to watch. Right now I’m working my way through old VHS tapes of Saber Marionette J, partly because the storyline will be influencing my next script. There’s about 25 episodes and I have only just finished the ninth episode.

Well, the lieu day that I’ll get for working on Saturday will either be used at the Auto Show, or working through the other 16 episodes.

The details on my 30th birthday are finally available. If I haven’t emailed you about it, then ask. Think about it, if you read this journal, you’re probably invited! Don’t be shy, email me!

Last night I was surfing the Net for something to entertain me before ‘24′ came on. I wandered into Albino Black Sheep - a site I used to visit frequently (partly because of the Canadian Content) but stopped going to when updates became sparce.

Playing around on it, I found a funny animation called Bill Gates is a Little Teapot. Watch the animation, then come back to this page.

…

Once done, click on the link again and listen to the voice… IT’S FUCKING MINE! Well, not mine, but someone who sounds eerily like me. EERILY, I SAY!

Compounding the similar voice with the fact that the humour is very much like my own, I had a Twilight Zone/Outer Limits moment as I tried to remember if I had created the animation sometime in the past and forgotten about it. While I’m 100% certain I did not, there was a period where I doubted my own flawless memory (I say ‘flawless’ because I can’t remember anything I’ve forgotten… I’ll let you ponder that).

The author of the animation is goes by the alias, ’shutupdangit’ (unless he has very cruel parents). He has one other animation that, again, uses my voice and my sense of humour. WARNING - catchy tune… might get stuck in your head. My Raindeer Flies Sideways.

However, a Google of the alias returns some information about one person who goes by that name… and is 17 years old.

Makes me wonder if it’s possible to have concurrent “past lives”. Think about it. With the acceleration of population over the last few centuries, there are more people alive today than have ever been cummulatively in history. That means that that it’s impossible for EVERYONE to have had a past life (or at least, a human past life).

With Time-Space being what it is (including new theories on multidimensional time), and a fundamental lack of knowledge of the science behind past lives, isn’t it possible that one might have concurrent past lives? The same soul, living in the same time, but a different space?

…

…how the Hell did I get here from Bill Gates Is A Little Teapot?

So, yeah. As Simone posted, we’re moving in together at the start of June. There was a rather unfortunate spell of people responding with “am I the last to know”. It gave us the impression that far too many of our close friends and family feel low on the totum pole. Usually focussing on how this effects them, Simone and I started feeling bad about how this big of an emotional leap we were asking those around us to make.

We finally realized that, “HELL! This is about us, not them”. We did our best to position the news, the order of who we tell, and when, as much as possible. After that, if they still feel somehow upset, then that’s an emotional journey they have to make. I think we did a pretty damned good job of telling people our news.

As we expanded the news to a wider circle of friends, we found more who were willing to congratulate us without any strings attached. Later I would understand that this group didn’t have as much invested in how this would effect them directly. It was still nice to stop telling people the news on pins and needles, awaiting a backlash.

So, the plan is, stay where we’re living until the end of May. Compromising with our current roommates, this seems like the best time for everyone involved. June 1, if Paul’s going to Trent for September, he’ll be moving out there, while staying with family here in the city during the week (for work). Simone and I are looking at a few different places, but the mid-town location (near the Annex) just seems ideal for our lifestyle.

After meeting a lot of friendly people moving Simone’s sister, Sabrina, into a co-op on The Esplanade, we started looking for someplace like that. There’s a collection of nice-looking co-ops only a few blocks east of where Simone lives now.

One of the many difficulties I’m going to have moving downtown is that I’ll have to find an alternative to Rogers Videos. Currently, there aren’t many in Central Toronto. However, there are semi-underground alternatives. Nothing nearly as good as GenX in Waterloo, but I’m still looking. And the co-op is a very short walk to the Blockbuster. I may have to recind my boycott of that chain for my own convenience. Morality? fehh!

One great benefit to living downtown is that the TTC will take me right to the door of the office building I work in, even though I work in Markham. It’s a longer commute, and I have to cram on a bus-then-subway-then-subway-then-bus with several dozen familiar strangers, but it gives me an excuse to catch up on some reading, listen to music, watch videos…

…in other words, buy a PSP

There will also be a significant savings on gas. Because I’m usually up late, I can fill up for between 80 and 86 cents per litre. With gas prices continuing to go up, I’ll go from about $140/mo. just in gas, to about $90 for a TTC pass. Even with trips to visit family and friends on the weekend, my maintenance costs on the car will plummet…

…by about as much as I’ll need to buy a PSP