journal [archive]

September 18, 2003
.12:10 AM
Today I took the afternoon off work to go to the hospital to get my wisdom teeth checked out by an oral surgeon at the insistence of my dentist. It turns out that I have an impacted wisdom tooth on one side of my jaw. What this means is that the tooth is basically growing sideways into my other tooth. The surgeon noted that there doesn't appear to be much growth, but he recommended that I get the tooth out now rather than take a risk and hope that nothing goes wrong.

Here's a picture to describe my situation.


September 5, 2003
.12:37 PM
I left work early on wednesday so that I could fit in a quick game of tennis with E because as you know, the fall weather is starting to kick in and my tennis days are really numbered. I boarded the subway at 5pm and was immediately greeted by a packed subway. I managed to reluctantly squeeze my way inside the first train. Because there wasn't much room between me and the other commuters, my arm kept accidentally bumping into the bag of the lady standing just to the right of me. I thought nothing of it. People do that to me all the time, and given the lack of space in the car, this was expected. So everytime i accidentally hit/touched her bag, she would rearrange the position of her bag from behind her body to the front and undiscretely check to verify that none of the openings or zippers had been tampered with. All this with and a don't even think of pickpocketing me cuz i've got my eyes on your FOCKER look glance to boot. Truly the icing on the cake. Did I look ghetto? I dunno. I was sporting some flip flops, shorts, and a polo shirt. Not the look of someone working on bay street, but i don't think that was really the point.

But realistically, I guess you can never be too safe in toronto, at least according to my folks. I was given a talk from my parents at the beginning of my 3rd work term (3 years ago) when I landed a co-op placement in toronto. They told me about the evils and the sketchy individuals that roamed the metro. Watch your wallets at all times, they'd say. Pickpockets are everywhere. So for the duration of the 4 months, I was super paranoid riding the rocket. Always feeling up my ass to make sure that my wallet was still there. Was anything ever taken from me? After 4 months, I did loose something - the paranoia that was instilled in my brain. The subway wasn't something to fear. It's hardly something to embrace, but I think it fits in somewhere between fear and like.

In retrospect, this was overkill. I mean, sure pickpockets do exist in toronto, but in general, heads on public transit are pretty tame; as are most Canadians. We're too polite to talk to strangers let alone try to steal from them.

So what's the point of all this? Don't touch other people's bags, especially if you look ghetto. Oh and that Toronto isn't as big and bad as how smaller town Ontario communities perceive it.


September 2, 2003
.1:38 PM
With the arrival of a new season, it's time for the requisite blog entry. So today was back to school for a lot of kids, and I suddenly remembered why I love riding the ttc in the summer and not so much during the skool season. Aside from the occasional foul stench from a non-functioning air conditioner, riding the rocket in the summer is generally pretty pleasant. I have yet to be hit by a bullet. I'm still 0 for 0. I mean, on a given weekday morning at 8:30 - 9:00am, there are fewer heads on the buses and subways. Not that I'm claustrophobic by any means, but I like the feeling of sitting in a sparsely populated bus, subway train, etc. The feeling of anonymity, the feeling that nobody is watching you. It just feels like the better way.

So where did the summer go? It seemed really short this year. Maybe it was the mild weather. It didn't even hit me that september was now, until, well yesterday. It sort of crept up on me. Not that it matters much, because I'm done school and for the second straight year, I'm missing the back to school experience. Although I missed it much more last year, I still miss it this year. Where are all the frosh events?


September 1, 2003
.9:40 PM
I sort of knew what to expect at the CNE (aka the ex) before I went there. Growing up in London, we had our annual "Western Fair" which, strangely enough has nothing to do with UWO but rather, the location of London - the Mecca, if you will, of southwestern Ontario. I was never really impressed by the overpriced food, obnoxious carnies, or the "guy i almost died type" rides. So if I was already familiar with all this shit growing up in London, why did I decide to go and hit up the CNE? Perhaps it was the secret hope of experiencing a big city fair that could only be experienced in a big city like Toronto. I secretly wanted it to be better than the Western Fair but deep down inside, I knew what I was getting into. But hey, there's hope right?

The media is really good at promoting it as being one of the cultural highlights of toronto. Or the "event of the summer". Or the only way of enjoying your last long weekend of summer before returning to the drugery of school and work. This is your last thrill of the summer. It's your only thrill. So seize the day and go to the EX.

I looked at the giant entrance of the CNE. It sure looked grand from the outside. But I knew what awaited me on the inside. But for a second there, I wanted to believe that buying a ticket would bring me the artificial happiness on people's faces in the commercials. kids stuffing cotton candy into their mouths carelessly. families laughing it up. fathers holding the 10 stuffed toys they won=purchased for their kids. Although it was certainly crowded, I didn't see many people eating cotton candy with glee. Heck, I coudn't even finish half of my bag myself before becoming disgusted with it. Maybe it was the fact that my fingers were getting sticky. Or maybe it was the fact that cotton candy really isn't that good. But I digress... So, instead of a lot of happy smiles, I saw a lot of complaining about the prices of food. And I saw a man becoming frustrated at the wack a mole game, all because he could not come through and a prize for his gf/wife/etc.. Mix that with the sick smell of fast rides and one too many corn dogs and you have a recipe for a big city fair. Yummy.

So does the ex put the EX back in EXcitement? I don't know. It didn't really do a lot for me. But it certainly was a friendly reminder that YES you can still experience small-town carnie culture once a year in the tdot.



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