4am tea with il divo

Phil Leotardo: Who knows, who was Leonardo DaVinci?
Matty: Yeah, he wrote the DaVinci Code.
Mother: Another man wrote that, but it's a hideous, sacrilegious book.

The Sopranos, Episode 79

When I started writing here I initially didn't want anyone else to read it. Which was kind of stupid, I know, but I was just trying it out. Anyhow, over time you get less sensitive about, well, everything, including your crappy grammer, and you start paying attention to how many people visit. I recently added a clustermap to my page, which you may be looking at right now, and I'm jealous of people who have worldwide readership. Erin living in Colombia is helping me out, but every time I check now I hope to see another little red dot, which is ridiculous. It's like getting stickers in kindergarten. It's not like anyone who doesn't know me would want to read this.

Countdown 1 month (almost) till exams are done. This is the usual time during the semester when I come to terms with my situation and get over the whole denial thing. I will have to write exams. They will be hard. Which means some changes are happening around here. The lovable, easy to get along with Kyle is no more. The new version of myself, for which I've chosen the straight-forward, no-nonense name "New Kyle", is here for the time being. While Old Kyle had problems like "procrastinating" or "not studying on friday night", these will fortunately not be problems for New Kyle. While small sacrifices will have to be made like "friends" and "doing things I like", overall, the gains created by New Kyle system should outweigh any potential drawbacks.

Old Kyle had a good time this past week. Sopranos is on to finish up the final season and the episode was amazing. He really enjoyed his family practice placement doing obstetrical care in port coquitlam. Preganant women are (usually) so happy. He just started composting with worms and is really loving his new little pets. He even went to the symphony for the first time ever for only 10 bucks. Did you know that they don't use any amplification for the symphony? He thought the sound was incredible and thoroughly enjoyed watching the dude play the triangle. He wondered how one gets that job.

Unfortunately for New Kyle, Old Kyle booked a motorcycle safety course this weekend. For some reason the BC Safety Council doesn't buy this whole new me thing, and have been telling New Kyle that even though Old Kyle booked it, he will still have to attend the assigned dates or pay the transfer fee. That's cool though, New Kyle can handle it.

Oh. My dad bought a used Yamaha FZ6, which he is planning on using for the year or something and then maybe switching with me. I will pick up his old bike, a 98 Yamaha Virago (see below) when I go home in June. Woohoo.

hip nostalgia

I would rather wake up in the middle of nowhere than in any city on earth

-Steve McQueen

My time at home was great. I didn't realize it, but I really needed a break from the city. The new house is still in disarray, but pretty functional. Dad and I went looking at bikes, and I bought a pair of boots. We are making progress on that front, and I expect a purchase in the next week or so, but no more stupid details until we actually get one. We walked into the cabin to buck up the trees and spit a few logs. The lake was gorgeous and the water was lovely.

Trevor, Courtney, Lise and I rode our bikes to Stanley Park today. This week, I've been thinking about doing residency in Halifax or something, so I figure I should see a few things in this place before my life ends at the beginning of 3rd year. Unfortunately, the Sun Run was happening today, so the bike ride was bit erratic as we tried to dodge the 50,000 or so humans running around in a big circle. Since I've been a member of the athlete dense UBC medicine program, I've been getting pressure to run in various events. During exams, I run to distill my brain a bit, but otherwise maintain that I don't run in circles. I'm happy to run towards a ball or away from another person, but I don't do circles for circles sake. I have to admit though, there is some solidarity in a big public event like that. Closing down the city and screwing over motorists. I'm into that.

Anyhow, the park is pretty cool. I can see why people like it so much. I kind of hate aquariums and zoos in general, but we went to see the belugas and seals anyhow. It's nice to know the animals get well looked after, but on the other hand, it's sad to see them swimming laps in their relatively small tank. But who knows, maybe they like it. Zoo animals are really the downtown city dwellers of the animal kingdom. Except instead of choosing to spend copious amounts of money to live in a small cage (condo) and run small laps in a synthetic habitat (park), the animals get hand picked for the urban life. Is this how rural folk see urbanites? Selling their freedom for some good cambodian take-out and a tertiary care hospital?

Oh, a video link that Simon sent me. If you like longboarding, check it out. Kind of repetitive though, so no need to watch the duration. You should, however, hold out until they do the tandem tricks. I love longboarding because it's kind of like being in a band. You can wear whatever you want and the really good guys look the stupidest.

shout out out out

I don't mind chopping wood
and I don't care if the money's no good
-The Band, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

I should mention that I added a link to Trevor's website recently. Trevor (my housemate) is competing at a pretty high level in sailing. He's in Spain or somewhere at the worlds right now. If you want to give him money, please do so, especially if you happen to be a large multinational corporation. The more financial support he receives, the more he will be gone, and the more he is gone, the more I can drive his car around without him knowing. Anyhow, even if you don't want to give him money, you should check out the video on his site. The boat he races is called a 49er and it's pretty intense.

I'm going home for Easter tomorrow morning. My mom asked if I would be interested in coming home and after expressing some interest, I received my itinerary promptly. I haven't been home for easter since highschool probably, so I'm looking forward to it. We are meant to be going out to the lake to saw up some trees and turn them into firewood which should be satisfying. When your life is purely academic, it's nice to occasionally have the opportunity to see the concrete consequences of your labour. We just finished our spring ultimate season on sunday and I managed to injure my shoulder in an unsuccessful defensive dive attempt, so I'm hoping my arm will stay on as I'm swinging the axe this weekend. Also, my parent's new house is pretty done as far as I understand, so the time spent in Castlegar will be multimedia packed.

Courtney got her grandfather's car for the summer, so it looks like we will be quite mobile. Right now it looks like we will spend some time at the lake in June with maybe a kayak trip in there somewhere. I talked to my rural practice preceptor on monday and she seems really cool. She kept telling me to "prepare to have a good time", so I told her I would. She thought my motorcycle/ferry plan was a good one, so she must be cool.

Have a nice weekend.