at home wondering where else you could be.
here is a massive update on what i've been doing with my bad self these days:
1. kegger.
it was a raging success. we had all the trappings of a teen movie styled keg party, down to the random frat boys i would approach and say, "i have no idea who the fuck you are, but thanks for coming!" self appointed keg pumpers, multiple "that guy"s, bar stars, water damage, four cop cars and all. one cruiser showed up around 1 a.m. asking us to keep the drunkards in the house after a complaint about public urination. on someone's lawn. jess and i, as the hostesses with the mostesses, managed to talk them out of busting up the party. they stayed parked outside our house though, obviously (and rightly so) expecting the worst. they barge in around 1 a.m., claiming people were throwing beer bottles at the car - no evidence of any glass shards when we investigated post-mess, so i call bullshit but too late! later we find out james pissed on the cruiser but i don't think they caught that. we made a bit of money so all in all, a success! i wanted the people out anyway by the time the cops showed up, so i'm glad it happened. pictures here! a sampling:
greg and the kegs o' doom.
jessica's demonstration of authentic highland dancing.
gregley.
sarah wasn't drunk in this photo. yet.
palmies, 1/2.
rock on? lame captions?
2. birthday.
my exit from teenhood was pretty uneventful. went to that grime night at the boat and got shut down twice, first by a dude who turned out to be both a manwhore and bisexual, the second a dashing young man in a gucci sweater named avery who struck up a conversation about my shemagh, but turned out to be thoroughly taken by a girlfriend. lame! the day of, i treated myself to a day off school by sleeping in til 2 p.m. (though mostly by necessity, since i had the fortune of being bitchslapped with a horrific cold). decided to haul ass out of the house to get lunch in the market and try to buy myself a birthday present. came up empty handed but ended up hanging with jason for a while. then i went home and did homework. happy 20th.
3. khaled abu toameh.
khaled abu toameh spoke a 30-someodd crowd of ryerson students and concerned jewish citizens of the greater toronto area. he's a muslim palestinian who holds israeli citizenship and writes for the jerusalem post, which is interesting enough of a contradiction in itself. he talked a lot about the ramifications of hamas' election victory, but unlike most media he didn't hate on it - instead saying that the jewish/israeli and international community had put this in their own hands by continuous oppression of the palestinians. my cursory notes reveal the following opinions:
4. kim bolan.
bolan is a reporter for the vancouver sun (of no affiliation to the tabloid media network we know here in toronto) who has been covering the air india bombing and its subsequent trial and inquiry for 20+ years. inspirational and very well spoken, she fended off about 6 sikh students who accused her of bias, blacklisting, racism and everything else under the sun (not to mention death threats, bullets shot at her house and verbal abuse during her reportage). again, check out her clippings too. a truly prolific journalist in a profession where daily production of writing is prolific in itself.
5. mike.
shit boiled over. got myself out of a bad situation i couldn't emotionally handle anyway. can't say i didn't know it was coming. like jon says, the thing about relationships and me is that i always find the ones that are tailor-made for disaster. that's pretty much all there is to that. toronto boys holler at me!
6. new york.
i have started the registration and enrollment process for a six-week photography course at parsons institute of design in new york. i've saved about $650 for the trip, which is practically a small miracle for someone with as few inhibitions as me. i'm starting to get really nervous/scared/excited about all of it. i have no idea where i'm living yet, nor do i know anyone in the city, but like hong kong last year, i see this as an opportunity to clear my head and add to my resume and portfolio. ny peeps holler at me!
1. kegger.
it was a raging success. we had all the trappings of a teen movie styled keg party, down to the random frat boys i would approach and say, "i have no idea who the fuck you are, but thanks for coming!" self appointed keg pumpers, multiple "that guy"s, bar stars, water damage, four cop cars and all. one cruiser showed up around 1 a.m. asking us to keep the drunkards in the house after a complaint about public urination. on someone's lawn. jess and i, as the hostesses with the mostesses, managed to talk them out of busting up the party. they stayed parked outside our house though, obviously (and rightly so) expecting the worst. they barge in around 1 a.m., claiming people were throwing beer bottles at the car - no evidence of any glass shards when we investigated post-mess, so i call bullshit but too late! later we find out james pissed on the cruiser but i don't think they caught that. we made a bit of money so all in all, a success! i wanted the people out anyway by the time the cops showed up, so i'm glad it happened. pictures here! a sampling:
greg and the kegs o' doom.
jessica's demonstration of authentic highland dancing.
gregley.
sarah wasn't drunk in this photo. yet.
palmies, 1/2.
rock on? lame captions?
2. birthday.
my exit from teenhood was pretty uneventful. went to that grime night at the boat and got shut down twice, first by a dude who turned out to be both a manwhore and bisexual, the second a dashing young man in a gucci sweater named avery who struck up a conversation about my shemagh, but turned out to be thoroughly taken by a girlfriend. lame! the day of, i treated myself to a day off school by sleeping in til 2 p.m. (though mostly by necessity, since i had the fortune of being bitchslapped with a horrific cold). decided to haul ass out of the house to get lunch in the market and try to buy myself a birthday present. came up empty handed but ended up hanging with jason for a while. then i went home and did homework. happy 20th.
3. khaled abu toameh.
khaled abu toameh spoke a 30-someodd crowd of ryerson students and concerned jewish citizens of the greater toronto area. he's a muslim palestinian who holds israeli citizenship and writes for the jerusalem post, which is interesting enough of a contradiction in itself. he talked a lot about the ramifications of hamas' election victory, but unlike most media he didn't hate on it - instead saying that the jewish/israeli and international community had put this in their own hands by continuous oppression of the palestinians. my cursory notes reveal the following opinions:
- international aid only benefits corruption, dictatorship of PLO, drives palestinians to parties like hamas out of frustration
- arafat knew discontent of his poeple would be turned onto israel during second intifada (and he exploited it)
- hamas knows they cannot rule alone so they will likely seek help of fatah
- good government, a long term ceasefire with israel, and social services are possible under the new government
- israel is prepared to divide jerusalem and create a two-state country
- toameh doesn't see a loss of support for kadima, post-sharon
- "hamas is not stupid enough to impose taliban rules"
- "the arab brotherhood . . . doesn't exist" - jordan and egypt have closed their borders to palestinians.
- "islam has been hijacked by extremists"
4. kim bolan.
bolan is a reporter for the vancouver sun (of no affiliation to the tabloid media network we know here in toronto) who has been covering the air india bombing and its subsequent trial and inquiry for 20+ years. inspirational and very well spoken, she fended off about 6 sikh students who accused her of bias, blacklisting, racism and everything else under the sun (not to mention death threats, bullets shot at her house and verbal abuse during her reportage). again, check out her clippings too. a truly prolific journalist in a profession where daily production of writing is prolific in itself.
5. mike.
shit boiled over. got myself out of a bad situation i couldn't emotionally handle anyway. can't say i didn't know it was coming. like jon says, the thing about relationships and me is that i always find the ones that are tailor-made for disaster. that's pretty much all there is to that. toronto boys holler at me!
6. new york.
i have started the registration and enrollment process for a six-week photography course at parsons institute of design in new york. i've saved about $650 for the trip, which is practically a small miracle for someone with as few inhibitions as me. i'm starting to get really nervous/scared/excited about all of it. i have no idea where i'm living yet, nor do i know anyone in the city, but like hong kong last year, i see this as an opportunity to clear my head and add to my resume and portfolio. ny peeps holler at me!