I woke around 1:30 pm yesterday, to take a call from a friend who was having computer problems. Then I played some Baldur's Gate II -- ACTUALLY, I bought the Diablo 2 expansion set, but haven't installed it yet because I need 800 megs of space and I have less than 2 gigs so I want to get rid of programs. So by finishing BGII I can uninstall it and make room for D2exp. Did I tell you I cut my hair?

Haven't played counterstrike for a few days now, which is a bit of a record for me. It's mainly because swafo.com was down all weekend, but also because pops got his new tablet and has been busy working on his website stuff.

Anyway, I got up in the afternoon yesterday, fooled around on the computer for a few hours, and then I went rollerblading. I'm getting better, I think/hope. At least my lower back doesn't get sore anymore, which is good. My left skate is still sort of nagging me, as it continues to feel sorta crooked. Oh, you want to hear something weird? I got a letter in the mail last week. Small envelope with a small "Thank you" card inside. Who was it from? That salesgirl I bought my rollerblades from! Strangeness. Kendrick suggested he should buy something from them and see if gets a handwritten card too.

OKAY.. so now let's get to the cold which I was supposed to be writing about. After rollerblading, I worked out and took a shower. The bathroom was really humid, as I had the window open and the weather outside was uncomfortably hot and humid. Anyway, the point is is that I was really tired and I sweated a lot and I went to bed early (before midnight). I woke up several times in the night with a headache and an extremely sore throat -- everytime I swallowed it felt like swallowing glass shards.

So, for the first time in months I wake up at a reasonable hour, around 8:30 am or so, but am feeling so sick that I take some tylenol and sleep until noon. I'm feeling better now, and I think I'll be able to make it for tonight's karate class (kung-fu and jujutsu are tuesdays and thursdays). *rubs hands together* Looking forward to it!

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So yeah, hwan.com was down and out for a while. Apparently there was some kind of problem with getting my new IP (second change in about 2 years). Roger's tech support told me to keep my modem off for about 12 hours and that seemed to make the difference. Everything's back to normal.. ah, the free flow of information to and from my computer. AWESOME.

My cold went from annoying to disabling and I missed a day of work on Tuesday. Spent most of it in bed, sweating and floating in and out of consciousness. When I finally got out of bed, it was 6 o'clock, time for dinner, my first and only meal that day. I played (and finished) Baldur's Gate 2 -- holy cow I tore through a lot of adventure in those last two chapters. I didn't realize the Drow city made up a whole chapter.

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It looks like I picked up a cold at Angela's place over the weekend. Bleagh.

Got a call from my computer co-worker to say that they're still doing construction in the office, so I have yet another day off. Hmmm! Too bad I can't sleep in though, as I have a bone-density exam tomorrow at York Central.

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Ugh.. suffering from a cold, but it's not quite bad enough to keep me from coming to work. Well, maybe it is, but I was brought up to ignore such minor physical annoyances. And thus I now suffer. I am so tired and sneezy, oy. I'm pretty sure I got it the night I spent outside in kw, which is probably why I felt so out of sorts the next day. I even took a nice nap last night when I got home from work. It gave me this dream where I had hired a young boy to help me on a trek through some wilderness, and we had stopped at a village to buy some food. I distinctly remember watching a butcher chop up oxen legs, and then wrapping them inside a box that folded in an intricate manner. Actually this morning I had a really neat dream.. I was with a group of ambassadors in Iraq, and we were in a tall hotel building that could see as far as Iran, and we were watching a dust storm sweep across the desert.

Oh, and I made some minor improvements to the party.hwan.com page.

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Every year I find myself denying, nay, defying winter in March, and every year it knocks me over. A cold I suffer from presently, and with it memories of being bedridden and miserable. For I am miserable, quite upset. Not only is my body sore and tired and mostly uncooperative but my mind is also clouded and unable to think for enshrouded within a disagreeable fog it sits. After a day of sleep I find I cannot return to the land of slumber, so here I be, typing out vaguely coherent thoughts, wondering when I shall finally find rest? Saturday was the day I fought the law (of nature) and the law (of nature) won, me being both hatless and gloveless. The TTC, in its infinite wisdom, forced several delays and re-routings upon me. I suppose if I had any smarts I'd taken a cab but pigheadedness won out, a pyrrhic victory. I'd actually welcome a nice warm fire right now.

It's a wonder that a city could function after such a heavy dumping of snow.

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At least the weather is warming up. Oh, and yes, my cold has much improved since yesterday. Well, that is to say, my misery has moved from my mind to my throat. But one's mind is one's self, so I am nearly back to normal. Went for drinks after work (I only had soup and salad), talked of birthdays, social defenses (and lack thereof), No Country for Old Men (I now plan to read the book, as I am not convinced that his other weapon was a silenced shotgun), the bottled water industry (may it rot in the discarded plastic hell it hath made for itself), Control (and Ian Curtis' viewing of Stroszek the night before his suicide), emergency services (and good samaritans), Facebook apps (and the imaginary crazy money involved with them). Also, the waitress brought two unrequested drinks during our debates! Unrequested, yet we paid for them. Alas the drunkard's dilemma.

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Was feeling ill on Monday, worse yesterday, and ended up staying at home today. A cold! Or something like. Feeling awful, wretched. Riding through the bluster last night's winds was perhaps not the best of ideas. So today I got out of bed around 2, watched some Life on Mars, some Hikaru No Go, and a bit of Battlestar Galatica, season 3. I must say that Life on Mars is pretty damn excellent -- campy action, deliciously dark humor, a mystery lovingly, delicately revealed. Odd how these song-inspired shows can sometimes be so magical. I do enjoy the prospect of an actual ending, a culmination, a fruit at the end of 16 hours. Short, sweet, British!

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Is there nothing more disruptive yet appallingly belittled as the common cold? I speak of course as a current sufferer, and in fact have been suffering for nearly a week now. Seven days of coughing, sneezing and flipping between periods of chills and sweats; what a bother! But I do feel its end to be near, and thence to freedom! Freedom, yay, and more, for I shall be, as of January 29th, moving to the King East area of Toronto, known for its high end furniture stores, the St. Lawrence market and, uh, proximity to the Distillery district. I drove past my building Saturday to be met by the soul-crushing, jaw-dropping scene of a condo highrise being constructed across the street, perfectly set up to obstruct my view of the city's sunset. I do not condone senseless violence; which is why I entirely condone myself blasting that monstrosity to smithereens, weekly if need be. I haven't the technology, the skill, nor the materiel, but surely my cause is righteous.

Until that time, in between sniffs I have been packing and dismantling furniture. My place is more than usually unkempt. Not many hours until I move so this is definitely the time for upheaval.

Other news? I have been dating rather heavily. More than that I shan't elaborate, though I will say that my wallet has never been lighter.

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Miserable would adequately describe how I feel right now, for yet again I am trapped in the clutches of a cold, that awkward beast. I would really appreciate science figuring out a sure-fire way to lessen its symptoms for I could use some real relief right now. I have been taking Tylenol to reduce the fever but my liver (or something in that area) gave me some pains the other night so I'm avoiding it right now.

With this unforseen time at home I started watching The Big Bang Theory, which is growing on me, a light fare perfect for occupying my cold-numbed mind, distracting me temporarily from my ails. One particularly pleasing scene is where Sheldon admonishes Penny at the supermarket: "Well, there's some value in taking a multi-vitamin but the human body can only absorb so much. What you're buying here are the ingredients for very expensive urine." Whoo, take that pseudoscience!

I've also been reading Bobwhite Comics, webcomic about art students in Providence, Rhode Island. The drawings are pretty impeccable if you ask me, and the characters are mostly entertaining. And they get along, you know? Even though they have their hang-ups and are kind of losers they stick together and I enjoy their antics. Am I defending my feelings for this show? Could be the meds talking!

Well it looks like LOLCAT Crunch is slated not to do too well. Which is total bulldung. I mean, I do feel that the music choice is awful (it sounded a lot better on a laptop), but the editing is some million times better than the other entries. It just took far too long for the judges to accept our entry, which is crucial in a contest based on hits and popularity. Finally, should I be bothered that the winning video is so damned racist? I guess taking the "New Moon" angle would've been a savvier thing to do.

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How was your Easter weekend? I spent mine in the Muskoka area, enjoying a strangely quiet long weekend with good weather; nary a mosquito to be seen. Some rain but mostly mild, sometimes even hot, weather. The relative emptiness was due to the earliness of the season, as I'm told that people wait until May before making the drive up. As such the roads and towns were open to stress-free exploration; my favourite kind of roadtrip!

Along with those trip photos, I also posted the housewarming pictures, which, if you haven't been to my place yet, should give you a better idea of what my place looks like. The party itself went well enough -- lots of people showed up, but less than I'd accounted for. Certainly my fears of running out of food were unrealized. And I was disappointed that only two of my coworkers made an appearance. Anyway, thanks to y'all who showed up!

Oddly enough I thought that I'd have a lot to write about but, sitting here, faced with the actual task of typing it out, I find little enters my mind. Money? I've gotten used to its constant whine, like a background radiation I've accounted for in my calculations (although unlike the background radiation, its effect is noticeable). I did go through another blasted cold, for which I missed three days of work and thence emerged relatively well and fit, at least by my standards. Oh! I played and finished The Spirit Engine 2, an excellent side-scrolling RPG, programmed and designed entirely by one guy! The music and sound effects were done by another fellow, and they are also quite good. I am actually in the middle of replaying the game now with a different cast of characters -- the main storyline is the same but the conversations (and some quests) are different. In any case, the combat is fun enough to bring me back; very strategic, almost puzzle-like, with that winning combination of simple rules and complex behavior. Admittedly, it was its price (free) that first drew me towards it, but it's a nice, polished product with obviously many hours put into its quality.

Else? I tuned up my bike, as much as my limited tools and skills would let me. I noticed that my tires have some astonishing cuts in them, which means I can expect a flat or two not too long from now. Yargh.

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2010/08/03 Hwan I won't say that all is well (for I don't believe it to be so), but I am better. Thanks to all for asking!
2010/07/20 QYV Expected range for Creatinine for guys is 60 - 110 umol/L
2010/07/20 llamariffic Hmm, macrocytosis here as well, but to be honest I've had it since before I truly embarked on drinking as a proper hobby. Similarly, stopped drinking entirely, and it didn't go away. Just one of those things, I think.
2010/07/19 girl ack!! It's weird to think that I am now a parental unit. It was nice to see you hwan!
2010/05/21 Hwan I recall trying earplugs well back in my undergrad years, to mixed results. My sleep was troubled by feelings of claustrophobia. I also have a, perhaps unfounded, fear of not hearing the essential alarm in the mornings. However, I may give these another go, thanks.
2010/05/21 llamatron Have you tried sleeping with earplugs? My flat faces out onto a main road, so I've started using the standard foam plugs. It took a few nights to get used to them, but they make a big difference.
2010/05/21 girl The original swedish title: "Men who hate women". I'm not sure if it's the fault of the translation, but I never liked the reporter dude.
2001/03/07 Hwan Damn.. it seems Unweb has since died. http://www.gamegrene.com/node/183
2001/03/07 TY SHARDEL YOU CAN TRADE WITH THE UNIVERSE AND ENABLE SOCIAL NEEDS, OR PERHAPS POST WISH LISTS, HUG THE GLOBE LIKE A BIG OCTOPUS... TY
2010/03/24 Hwan I am amused by the John Irving comparison. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Irving#Recurring_themes