underwater

would it help to know i'm also watching CNN?

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:13:31 GMT

I bookmarked this a while ago, and every few weeks I rediscover it in my bookmarks and am horrified all over again. I've never actually forced myself to read past the title and intro, because really, how could it possibly live up to my expectations? Perhaps one of you can tell me...

U of T architecture porn, by toft_froggy

Architecture porn, as in literally, as in the pairing is Robarts/moose statue, and it's described by the author as "Possibly the first ever internet porn starring a library. With bukkake. In rhyming couplets."

o_0

The True Adventures of Tango Charlie

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:32:11 GMT

I keep having to restrain myself from writing entire rambling entries about the minutiae of air traffic control and my classmates' personal lives, but honestly there's nothing else going on for me right now, and so I stay silent, and boring.

SERIOUSLY GUYS, I have become the most boring person in the history of EVER. Unless you have a passion for The Laddering Technique, or Using Speed Control for In-trail Spacing, in which case I am FASCINATING.

Yesterday in class we reviewed the pythagorean theorem and I've started running for fun.

SEE?

For those who are interested, though, training is hard but awesome, and I'm loving it.

Also, my new hobby is pairing songs:

2 Hearts by Kylie Minogue is the new My Moon My Man by Feist. Discuss.

never has science looked more attractive

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:37:30 GMT

durdaana and I agree that this video is made even MORE awesome by who it was produced for:

Of course, Tim and Jason chose to focus on other aspects...

snowmit: I'd fuck neon
___blank___: neon is fucking hot
janeandsimple: haha
___blank___: where does one meet elements like that?
snowmit: man, fuck off, i called her first!
janeandsimple: there's an easy way to settle this...
janeandsimple: I'LL take her.
___blank___: what
___blank___: she isn't your type
janeandsimple: she isn't? news to me
___blank___: you're into inert chicks?
snowmit: she's noble

boys' club

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 23:45:07 GMT

My first day at ATC training began, after a short introduction by our trainer, with a brief quiz that nonetheless managed to have us all scared shitless that we'd chosen the wrong career path. I couldn't even answer half the questions at all... they sounded only vaguely familiar.

We spent a good forty-five minutes in collective fear before our "teacher" broke character, some other folks filed in, and we learned that we'd just been punked by the training class ahead of us, and hey, welcome!

Even the real instructors, once introduced, said "If anyone asks, we showed you org charts", and then spent the rest of the morning one-upping each other with stories from The Good Old Days of air traffic control.

My first day at ATC training ended with the other class taking us all out for drinks, marking what I'm pretty sure was the first occasion I've ever been tipsy at 2pm on a Monday.

So no, it's not going to be easy.

But it looks like it's going to be a lot of fun.

death cab for fall out disco

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 02:50:58 GMT

i'm not usually one for fan mixes, but i AM one for being introduced to cool new (to me) music, and some of the people on my flist have great taste. so, to celebrate my favourite show coming out of hiatus tonight- and jared padalecki saying that while dean might appreciate the zeppelin, sam's probably all about the emo college rock- i offer up a playlist, shamelessly stolen.

five supernatural songs from esorlehcar (and one that's thematically linked)

1. josh ritter - naked as a window
you know you're askin' too much
to be held and not touched
but somehow that's just what you do

2. the mountain goats - twin human highway flares
as we walked across the parking lot toward the motel office
we were walking with a benediction on us
light was everywhere, the building stood against the sky
like a monument to desperation two floors high
a mile and a half from the river
we went back to the car to get our overnight bags
sunset spilling through your earrings, all over your body
when we shut the motel door behind us, we knew we'd hit the motherlode
on the day that i forget you, i hope my heart explodes

3. james - five-o
will we grow together
will it be a lie
if it lasts forever, hope I'm the first to die

4. iron and wine - evening on the ground (lilith's song)
we were born to fuck each other
one way or another

5. joseph arthur - ashes everywhere
i'm afraid of what i might do
'cause there's no me
if there's no me and you

6. death cab for cutie - brothers on a hotel bed
you may tire of me
as our December sun is setting
because i'm not who i used to be

the word is on your lips (say the word)

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 03:15:25 GMT

a follow-up to i'm from barcelona in the category of "scandinavians make me happy", here are alphabeat:

lest you think strange things about my relationship with vegetables

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 17:03:06 GMT

this is old news, so it's possible that i am the last person in fandom to know about it, but...

the broccoli test
as explained by gwyn_r:

sherrold was the one who came up with the broccoli test idea when she was living in L.A. with a friend, C. As legend, and my mind filling in blanks, would tell it, Sandy and C were at the grocery store, on opposite ends of the produce section, and Sandy was trying to tell C to pick up some broccoli without shouting across the store at her. No amount of pantomiming and mouthing of the words could get the point across to C, and Sandy apparently told her (we were all in the midst of Professionals-mania then), "Doyle would have known Bodie wanted him to pick up some broccoli with just a raise of his eyebrow!" or something like that. Hence, Bodie and Doyle would have passed the broccoli test.

i spent more time than i will ever admit poring over the both the original multifandom and also the sam/dean explorations of the theme, but i love that it can also be used in real life.

lesbian telepathy is henceforth to be known as broccoli. just fyi.

Harry Potter, by gehayi:
Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger would NOT pass the broccoli test. Hermione has been asking Ron to get broccoli for years, but Ron has spent a lot of time thinking that Hermione isn't a broccoli person, or at least couldn't possibly want to eat broccoli with him. And the last time that she invited him the supermarket to get broccoli, he ended up picking up avocados in the produce aisle with a girl he'd never noticed before, and Hermione got mad and went all Hitchcock's The Birds on his broccoli-avoiding arse to remind him that the whole point of going to the supermarket in the first place was to GET THE VOLDEMORTING BROCCOLI.

Then, of course, there was the time that Ron got poisoned and was lying in the infirmary calling for broccoli and Hermione was standing right there WITH broccoli and she didn't realize that he wanted HER to give him the broccoli.

Supernatural, by jasmasson and esorlehcar:
Jas: I'm absolutely certain they'd pass the broccoli test, and I'm equally certain that Dean, while knowing exactly what Sam meant, would refuse to pick the broccoli up. But if he did, under puppy dog eyes duress, get vegetables, he'd get phallic shaped ones because, dude, when are courgettes not funny?
Eso: Heeeeee. I can totally see Sam gesturing for broccoli and Dean picking up twinkies and peanut M&Ms and beer while giving Sam a sarcastic thumbs up.

House and Sherlock, by dorothy1901:
I assume that Sherlock Holmes and Gregory House could easily deduce that someone wanted broccoli, or that the person should have wanted broccoli, or that the person had had broccoli forcibly removed leaving only bruises and scattered florets.

i have nothing to add

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 04:38:10 GMT

and no atheists in the trenches

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:13:40 GMT

i admit it, i checked everyone out when i got here, testing the waters for potential flirting partners who might help alleviate the boredom. it's a good thing i didn't end up being bored, too, because it didn't take me long that first day to realize that the pickings were slim.

but after three weeks of living elbow to elbow, and never even a minute alone, everyone starts looking more and more attractive every day.

and suddenly the comparison to prison seems a lot more sinister.

poster child for happiness

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 11:05:07 GMT

only a week to go in this voluntary confinement of mine, and my zen remains intact, thank god. the same can't be said for most of the others, though, especially the guys- written warnings are being given out left and right as tempers flare over the smallest thing. everyone skittish and bouncing off the walls, muscles taut and primed for a fight.

someone's decision yesterday to cue a church program on the big screen tv sparked a debate- immediate, loud and impassioned- among all those gathered in the room, and there's a reason behind the adage that you don't discuss religion or politics. eventually a nurse had to intervene, all "shh" and "it's okay" and "a difference of opinion is perfectly normal", which didn't make sense, like he was soothing a teenager after his first wet dream and not stamping out the beginnings of a holy war.

instead of stressed i lie here charmed

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 11:30:03 GMT

i don't know whether it's the drug, or the isolation, or just me being me, but for the last couple of days i just feel so raw, ripped wide open. feeling things, wanting to tell all the people i love that i love them.

i keep getting vivid sense memories: the coldhot rush of seratonin the last time i did E... the warm, scratchy softness of my ex-girlfriend's flannel pjs when i curled my arm around her in bed... pot lights in the floor of the after-hours, blinking in time to infected mushroom.

i wonder if i should declare it as a side effect?

"subject 36, do you have any new adverse events to report today?"
"yeah... bit of insomnia, minor headache, and sometimes i miss him so badly i want to throw up"

only, in a good way.

a whole new level of hibernation

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 00:51:29 GMT

okay, so as a lot of you know, i'm doing this 25-day medical study starting the 14th. yeah, that's right- 25 days locked up with my computer and 47 of my closest friends. or complete strangers. whatever.

the point is, it's a long time, and i'm going to be bored, so i'm putting a call out for tv on dvd! if you have any dvd collections (OR divx) that you wouldn't mind loaning out for three weeks, then let me know what you have. i'm looking for almost anything, but a couple of things in particular:

queer as folk (s1-s3 in particular)
doctor who
the wire

i already have supernatural, heroes, stargate sg-1, torchwood, gilmore girls, house, and firefly, so if you want to make suggestions based on what you think i might like, feel free :)

when i get out, it might be spring. how cool is that?

late at night when all the world is sleeping

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 07:28:02 GMT

i don't know what it is about late night walks home that make me completely loopy.

tonight, the increasingly familiar jaunt back from katylyn's found me ankle-deep in snow in queen's park, throwing snowballs at a tree before running away and giggling madly to myself.

i was in the middle of yelling "you can't get me!" when i noticed the park wasn't as deserted as it usually is, and no degree of crazy was enough for me to not immediately flush red with embarrassment.

i did manage a wave, though.

how we will run, how we will...

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:15:20 GMT

i definitely can't say that i dreamed of going into air traffic control when i was growing up.

it never occurred to me as a career- much in the same way that kids dream of being doctors or lawyers or architects, but never human resources managers or dental hygienists or aeronautics technicians. there are so many jobs you're just not aware of.

my introduction to the idea began one afternoon in my last year of high school, at a voluntary career counseling session. heck, i'd only wanted the opportunity to legitimately skip math class, but when the session yielded air traffic control as the most suitable to my aptitudes, i thought, "...what?" and looked into it.

having learned a lot more about the job, i had to agree that it seemed custom-fit for the tasks i enjoyed doing, and as an air cadet, i already had a passion for the general field. but the training program, run by navcan, had one of the most involved application processes i have ever seen in my life.

on january 15th, 2007, after two false starts when i was 19 and 22, i finally applied to take the first step in the application process- the aptitude test. there were 40 of us who sat the test at the same time, and we were told straight up that less than a third would go on to the next step- the interview- and still less, only three or four, would ever make it to being an air traffic controller.

i aced the test, i passed the interview, and today, january 28th, 2008, i received an offer of a place in a training program beginning in toronto in june.

i still have to make it through a very difficult two-year program before i can rightfully say i've succeeded, but there are nonetheless 378 days of tension slowly draining from my body.

dinner out and pushing tin this weekend- anyone fancy?

rusted root - send me on my way

mixtape monday: two thousand and great?

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 21:28:31 GMT

i'd planned on doing a top ten of 2007 thing, but most of the songs had been posted previously, so it seemed pointless. instead i offer up a playlist of songs dedicated to the memory of the last twelve months (may they rest in peace).

the year of living dangerously

damien rice - 9 crimes
stars - what the snowman learned about love
radiohead - weird fishes/arpeggi
placebo - running up that hill
the twilight sad - that summer, at home i had become the invisible boy
st. vincent - paris is burning
imogen heap - the walk
the knife - heartbeats
apparat - arcadia
lcd soundsystem - all my friends
doves - there goes the fear
feist - i feel it all
neverending white lights - always
kevin drew - frightening lives
the weakerthans - aside

but it's over now

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 06:50:04 GMT

01. hey all, just wanted to send a shout-out to everyone who attended our NYE party.
02. PSA: the following message was composed after three full days of listening to snow patrol.
03. for years i've been walking into second cup and buying a small soy chai latte without even glancing at the menu.
04. back from seeing radiant city, the documentary about modern suburban life.
05. me and jamie watched the first two seasons of queer as folk religiously, when they first aired
06. after nearly thirteen months in one apartment (a near record for me) i am once again on the move
07. in twenty-four years, i've missed only one canada day in the capital, and i wasn't about to let this year become a second
08. it was already four in the afternoon yesterday by the time i realized that my underwear was on SIDEWAYS.
09. tonight i sweet-talked bouncers at not one but two establishments into letting me in without ID, i saw hot girls shake there assets on-stage, i met new people, i had great nachos, i heard awesome music.
10. i'm not sure how i managed to go this long without being exposed to doctor who, but my god have i been doing a lot of catching up these last few weeks
11. i'm in medical testing for the weekend, and for some reason the net nanny won't let me look at my friends page.
12. me and track 12 were meant to be.

i knew them before they were cool

Thu, 27 Dec 2007 03:42:17 GMT

boxing day boredom cure from ishyface:

1 - Go to wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random wikipedia article title that you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to Random quotations:
http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to flickr and click on "explore the last seven days"
http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/
The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use photo shop or similar to mix it all up. Post it.

me and track 12 were meant to be

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 01:31:06 GMT

from ladykutenay

1. Go to the Wikipedia home page and click Random Article (on the side menu). That is your band's name.
2. Click random article again; that is your album name.
3. Click random article 15 more times; those are the tracks on your album.

Band: Sami District
Album: Kashideva II

Track Listing:

1. Orthocone
2. Marianopolis College
3. Revelations (video game)
4. Dave Bacuzzi
5. Giovanni D'Anzi
6. Setaka, Fukuoka
7. Panama Canal fence
8. Terry Kurtenbach
9. Lot 21, Prince Edward Island
10. Lofsongur
11. Jawaharlal Nehru University
12. Commission of Inquiry on the Situation of the French Language and Linguistic Rights in Quebec
13. Dental Midline
14. RoAF 57th Air Base
15. Reactive airway disease

on the curious insights of strangers

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 01:57:30 GMT

"you know," she said, "when you mentioned last week that you've lived here two years, i was surprised, because you don't seem very settled."

the conversation in question had occurred within the first twelve hours that we knew each other, and apart from that comment, contained no others relating to me and my adopted city. this stranger was either frighteningly observant or else it was a very random coincidence.

as i got off the streetcar, i had just enough time to respond: "i'm not."

let's play "plug your alma mater"

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 05:02:14 GMT

you guys were so helpful on the computer question (i'm taking everything into consideration and hopefully will have made up my mind by the time it comes to buy the darn thing), that i'm calling on you once more!

this is a question for all you canadian kids with university degrees:

where did you go to school, and what did you like and dislike about it? both the school and the city it's in, that is.

university guides have nothing on real people's opinions, and i'd like to hear them!

an open call for advice

Sat, 03 Nov 2007 23:49:23 GMT

i'm in medical testing for the weekend, and for some reason the net nanny won't let me look at my friends page. WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, PEOPLE?

anyway, medical testing = money = new computer, woo!

in three weeks i'll be buying myself a laptop. i've been leaning towards a macbook for a long time now, but i'm willing to be swayed, especially if it involves me paying less than $1500 for the same features.

i need the computer to:

download and watch movies
play simcity societies
play with photoshop

in other words, not a whole lot.

what i DO want, though, is something that can stay on a lot of the time, isn't too heavy, and that i can trust not to die on me within a year. i don't really expect to find a repeat of my miracle desktop (four years of abuse and still running solid!), but as close as possible would be nice.

so give me your recommendations! either specific systems or just general brands you trust. :)

DIES AND IS DEAD

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 06:34:56 GMT

this is for anyone who's ever owned a cat:

because you don't already think i'm strange enough

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 04:56:11 GMT

i was reminded of this list yesterday during a conversation with a friend who shares some similar passions, and i thought it would be fun (if embarrassing) to post it here, in chronological order, for those who understand:

otp evolution: 1996 - 2007

mulder/scully
mulder/krycek
mac/alex
daz/dan
jc/justin
starsky/hutch
bodie/doyle
sam/chris
matt/ben
bartleby/lokie
narrator/tyler
spike/xander
matt/trey
luke/han
legolas/aragorn
orlando/viggo
jack/will
johnny/orlando
harry/draco
will/chaucer
obi/ani
ewan/hayden
stewart/colbert
house/wilson
remus/sirius
jack/daniel
mckay/sheppard
jack/ianto
master/doctor

in the hopes of seeming slightly less pathetic, it's worth noting that in 1996 i was 13, and that my teenage years were full of spare time and boredom.

i'm also calling out anyone who has similarly cringe-inducing pairings behind them... come on, air your dirty laundry with me!

either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 04:35:20 GMT

i'm not sure how i managed to go this long without being exposed to doctor who, but my god have i been doing a lot of catching up these last few weeks. the series three finale had brought me a special kind of happiness with my new favourite character, and now i find myself twitching madly whenever a certain scissor sisters song comes on.

of course, being stuck at my parents' with a malfunctioning computer and no phone, i'm going a little mad anyway. such solitude after a long weekend of constant companionship does, as katylyn pointed out, require some adjustment.

if my mind ever TRULY snaps, though, i think i should like it to go like this [spoilers for DW 3x13]:

he's just such an excellent spokesperson for maniacal, gleeful evilness, don't you think?

scissor sisters - i can't decide

sounds about right

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 23:53:46 GMT

'What will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com