the blog of procrastination: 06/01/2004

June 28, 2004

go vote...

today is voting day. i encourage everyone to go out and vote. the decision that canadians make today will affect the rest of our lives.

posted by Ivan @ 11:41 AM

June 20, 2004

excerpt from banana boys...

so i just finished banana boys and i must admit it was pretty darn amusing and fun. i liked one particular excerpt from it so much that i decided i'd type it out. i'm sure every guy has experienced something similar (goodness knows i have).

here's the background: the guy is named Mike Chao. he's a masters student at UofT. his parents want him to go to med school, he knows he'll never make it, but is doing his masters just to make his parents happy, claiming he'll apply after his masters. (the story of many banana's lives i'm sure). he's a regular at a second cup where he's been spoting a cute chinese girl a lot recently. normally very very shy, he decides to be BOLD for ONCE in his life and go talk to her. here's the result:

“Excuse me.”
She turns with mild surprise on her lovely face.
“Do you have any HB leads I could buy off of you? My pencil just ran out.” (Of course, my personal stock of leads was buried safely, under the spare batteries in my knapsack.)
“As a matter of fact, I do” she says. Her voice is quite nice too. She reaches into her bag and roots around a little.
“Thanks, you’re a lifesaver.” I lean against the opposing chair. “So do you work around here? I’ve noticed you hanging out recently.”
“Yep…I work for an accounting firm.”(Root root, root root.) “I was recently transferred from Mississauga to the downtown office.”
“That’s very interesting, How do you like it?”
“Very much.” She flashed a smile, and I almost melted had I not held my resolve to be melt-free. “Here you go. Don’t worry about it,” she said, handing me a package of leads and deflecting the loonie I handed it to her, “I steal them from the office, anyway.” (Cue laughter.)
“Well, let me buy you a coffee at least,” I said trying to be engaging. (Seems like it’s working so far) “My name’s Mike…Mike Chao.”
“Donna Yuen.”
We shook hands. Her hand was remarkably cold - poor circulation. No ring on her finger, too, but I’d already noticed that. So I bought her another Amaretto Almond and I sat down, and we talked a little. She seemed bright, animated and not a little interesting. (Uh oh. Strike One: No woman this great is unattached…at least, no one I’ve ever run into. Waiting for the next pitch.)
“So Donna, what do you like about being downtown?”
“Oh, lots of things,” she said, taking a small sip from her steaming mug and leaving a lipstick mark on it. “I like the convenience, mostly. A lot of my friends are down here, too.” (Time out on that one…Strike Two: Nice women always refer to boyfriends as ‘a friend' first, so as to not hurt your feelings. Third base coach signals Proceed With Caution…)
“And what do you do, Mike?”
“I’m a grad student at UofT.”
“Oh yes? What in?”
“Neurochemistry.”
“You’re kidding!” (Insert overwhelming wave of anxiety here, Retreat dammit! Retreat!) “Do you know Todd Brudner?”
(Shit.) “Yes…in fact he’s my office mate.”
“Wow! He’s my boyfriend!”
(Silence.)
Steeeeeeeeeerike THREE!
YERR OUTTA HERE MIKEY! SEE YA!
I nod dispassionately. “You don’t say.”
“Yes! This is just so weird!” she squeals.

I give Donna my most engaging smile. Mister Nice Guy. Radiating the highest degree of benevolence. Bitch. “Yeah, what a coincidence!” I glance at my watch and fake shock. “Gracious! I’m late for a meeting with Prof Allenberg- I’m sure Todd has told you about how particular he is. I’ve really gotta go.”

“Sure, Mike” She smiled too. Such a lovely smile. “Maybe you, Todd and me can get together for lunch later, or coffee or something.”
(As if.) “I’d really like that Donna.”
“So would I.”
“Well Donna, it’s been a pleasure meeting you. See you again sometime?” (Not.)
“See you Mike.”

posted by Ivan @ 10:22 PM

June 17, 2004

bananas...

so i'm reading this book called banana boys, by terry woo, right now. admittedly, it's not very well written, nor is it deep or profound, and it doesn't any present any new and interesting ideas. i think i'm enjoying for one reason: i'm a banana boy myself. well, not really. on a scale of 0-100%, i'm about a 55-60% banana, not completely void of culture and language, but definately strongly influenced by western society.

the characters in the book (the bananas) often joke about how difficult it is for them to get girls. the white girls wanna date the white guys, the banana girls wanna date the white guys, the fob girls wanna date the fob guys. that leaves the banana boy... dateless. funny.... but also a little bit true.

posted by Ivan @ 4:17 PM

June 16, 2004

say NO to Jack Layton, Olivia Chow and the NDP...

i probably shouldn't start a politics war. but meh. whatever.

fact: Jack Layton and Olivia Chow (husband and wife NDP team) were both city councillors in Toronto.

fact: Jack Layton and Olivia Chow lived in subsidized housing in Toronto while they were both city councillors in Toronto and earning a combined $120 000.

fact: Jack Layton is a former University professor who exposed the subsidized housing system in Toronto

i'm generally pretty non-passionate about politics, but this election race is getting on my nerves. I'm disgusted with the fact that two well educated people, one of whom wants to be our next prime minister, so blantantly abused our subsidized housing system. it was YOUR tax dollars that paid for his house while he was sitting on his 120 grand a year.

don't even get me started on stephen harper. suffice to say, i'm supporting the liberals this time around.

posted by Ivan @ 10:37 PM

June 10, 2004

NHL AWARDS... COOL!!

after getting a gig to volunteer at the NHL awards (thanks herb!), i volunteered tonight as saw/met more NHL stars than i could ever imagine. here is a list of ppl i met:

alyn mccauley (that's right andrew!!), he came to me to ask for directions around the convention centre
john torterella, i got to shake his hand and congratulate him on the stanely cup win
kris draper, he said hi and asked how you're doing

here is a list of ppl i saw (these people were really close.... i was so tempted to ask for pictures...)
darryl sittler
jarome iginla
darryl sutter
paul coffey
zdeno chara (oh yeah katie!!)
scott niedemayer
martin brodeur
roberto luongo
ron wilson
trent hunter
chris pronger
bob gainey
guy lafleur
frank mahovolich
ryan smyth
john muckler
jaques martin
andrew raycroft
michael ryder
gary bettman
colie campbell
john ferguson jr. (and sr.)

media ppl i saw:
lori belanger
pierre maguire
ron maclean
scott morrison
hazel mae
darren dreger
james duthie
scott oake
glenn healy

that's all i can remember right now, but i think that's pretty close to everyone. cool eh?

on a final note, i cut my hair!! here it is:

posted by Ivan @ 11:50 PM

June 08, 2004

random stuff...

1) i have a strange affinity for girls who wear: a white tank top paired with a flowery patterned skirt that's cut right above the knee and a pair of tan coloured sandals. it just looks so classy and so good.

2) too bad for the flames. but congrats to them and their fans in calgary, it was a pretty spectacular run.

3) i'm seriously thinking about cutting my hair really really short (like buzzed). should i do it?

4) for all you people who don't work, come downtown and have lunch with me sometime!

posted by Ivan @ 10:10 PM

life is too busy...

i seriously need to slow down. i've had busy and hectic schedules before, but this is like none other. i'm catching a breather between the end of work and orientation for the NHL awards right now and i thought i'd update everyone on life.

i just realized that it's june, and i've hardly seen any of my friends, outside of prior commitments (hockey/softball). i haven't seen friends from school at all. which is horrible.

though i can't say that this summer so far hasn't been good, it has, but it hasn't been exactly what i wanted. so i'm going to start changing things. i'm counting on the fact that hockey and tutoring are going to end soon, so i'll have much more time to see people.

clubbing this friday, right steph? that should be fun! it'll be the kick-off of a new-summer-ivan that will be equally as busy, but busier with fun and less with commitments.