Sydney Day 21

Ok, it's been a few days since I"ve updated my blog so here goes. NOt much too exciting has happened in the last 10 days. I got sick and had a cold but I ended up buying these pills with zinc, echinechea and vitamin C and they seemed to have work. My cold only last 3 or 4 days and it wasn't so bad. I still went to work. I worked 4 days last week and I work another 4 days this week, starting with tonight. I ended up doing a lot of walking the last few days and I don't know how it stared but I got a really bad pain in my foot when I walk. I was worried I wouldn't be able to work but it's getting better and on top of that I informed my boss yesturday that I can't walk a lot and he said it was fine to still coem in and work. I can do a lot of stuff int eh back without needing to walk a lot.

Speaking of work, last saturday was a guy form work's birthday. We all went up after work to the bar above the restaurant. Since I learnt evryone I work with's name and most of the people in the bar were people i work with, it felt just like back home. AFter a week I Was in a bar and i knew almost evryone there! It's great to fel welcomed. THe peopl I work with are awesome! I actually can't wait to work tonight since with the crappy weather and my foot, I"ve been inside mostly all week.

ONe of the Korean guys I live with left and was replaced with a new one. THis new guys name is Tony. He sems really kool and I can't see any of us having a problem with him. BEsides he sems to leave early and come home late so I hardly seem him anyways. THe apartment is really clean now. We moved our food from one cupboard to another to avoid the cockroches and I even sealed up some cracks I found with tape. It seems to have worked. Apperntly our toster cuaght on fire and the landlord got us a brand spanking new one! It's great since the old one was rusted and dirty and this one is nice and clean.

THe only other thing I've ben doing is getting ready for halloween. IT's not celebrated here as much as it is in Canada and USA but I"m going ot be going on a all you can eat and drink boat cruise and it's promoting dress up. Those of you who know me well, know that I go crazy for halloween being I was the incredible hulk 2 years ago and a ghostbuster last year (winning best costume at a party!). This year I decided I"m going to go as a transformer! It's looking awesome. I made a head and a body straight out of cardboard and tape. I almost gave up but my roomate Otto came and gave me advice and saved me from using a really big and bulk box as a body for one that was much smaller and easier to move around in. HE's a great guy and we joked around all last night. If my costuem doesn't work out, I"m going to go as a "naked guy with a Corona box", but so far it's looking that i"ll be OPtimus Prime.

I Also started to see some of the things I Want to see while in the city'. I went to Hyde PArk to take more pictures and evn saw this GReat Synogogue. It was huge but invetwen 2 buildings so it semd out of place. I couldn't go inside but I got a nice picture of the outside.

I finally got my pics on a PC! But i forgot the password to my friend's FTP site (Dustin, please e-mail me that info!). Pictures in the next week I promise!

Sydney Day 11

The weather has gotten a bit better today but it's really humid now. The next few days there is a chance of thunder showers. Boo! On top of that I caught a cold. I'm feeling sluggish but I still want to go to work because I JUST started working there. I bought these 'all natural' pills that have echinechia, zinc and vitamin C and they seem to be helping.

So I am officially working at Jordan's, a seafood restaurant. All I do is bring food to tables. It's quite easy and a relaxed environment. It's a pretty high class restaurant though. I have a uniform and I need to shave before EVERY shift. I came in having not shaved for 2 days and the general manager (a real prick, I'm told), gave me a disposable razor and sent me to the back to shave. Since I did it dry, I ended up cutting myself all over the place, but for some reason, a little stuble looks a lot worse then a lot of blood. The people i work with are really fun and they go out for drinks sometimes after the shifts. We get a deal at te bar above, owned by the smae people and sometimes the nice manager, George, an American, gives us free drinks from the bar of the restaurant itself.

I decided against working at the sports bar because no one informed me it was a TRANCE CLUB at night! I worked 5 hours, didn't get paid and hated every minute of it. They told me that thre forst 3 hours was training and any extra time i work i get paid for. I worked from 11pm to 3am and when I asked for a break the manager sent me home saing i did well and will be on the hoster next week. i tols here no thanks and she never mentioned anything about how i would get my 2 hours work of pay. For the amount it wasn't worth it so I just left. Later on, I found out it was illegal to not pay me at all. According to the law, you work, you get paid. There is no "trainin" period. Oh well, I didn't like the place anyways.

I moved into the fully loaded apartment I mentioned. I know live 5 minutes away from my work so it's great. I like where I live. The people I live with are friendly and we really started to clean it up because som eof it has been let go and got quite dirty. I've also been cooking a lot and love it. No more KD. I've made pasta, tuna, chcken stir fry, hamburgers, and more.

Last night I went to see Shawn of The Dead. I loved it. It's funy and really graphic at the same time. It's not completely a comedy but seeing how the main characters discover that there are zombies walking the streets is Hilarious!

I've been inside in front of this computer for 2 hours now and if I spill over even a minute I'll have to pay for another full hour so keep posted and
I'm sure Ill have more to write about once I'm felling better and going out more.

Also, pictures soon I PROMISE!

Sydney Day 10

Weather wise the past few days have been crappy. It's been cold and rainy comparable to November weather in Montreal. I wanted to write a bit of an update but I'm getting kicked off for someone else tosuet eh PC. I'll update later.

Sydney Day 7 (Week 1)

Wow! It's already been 1 week! Time seems to be going slow since I've done so much already. Ysturday was a very productive day. I went job hunting again in the morning. I walked around an area called Darling Harbour (Think Old Port of Montreal) and handed CVs to every place I thought i could work at. A seafood restaurant called Jordan's was interested in me and will let me do a training shift tonight as a "foodie". Basically I bring food to tables. I'm officially a waiter's assisant's assistant. The restaurant is huge and has lots of positions so it seems like a good place for promotion if I work hard enough, that's what the manager told me. Plus the bartender is Canadian from Vancouver and he seemed like a nice guy. Aside from that, on th eotherside of the Harbour, a bar called One World sport, will try me out as a "glassie" (Australian's tend to like to add 'ie' to the end of every word). Basically I just have to pick up dirty beer glasses and check out the bathroom. I was told though, that they may train me on the bar on slow nights if all goes well so that's exciting. I'd be happy if I could work at both and gain experience in both regimes.

I also went to check out 2 apartments yesturday and 1 today. One of them has great potential. It's in a nice ares, VERY close to the Harbour (great if I get those jobs). The specks include a pool, sauna, gym, bbq on the roof, balcony, my own room to share with Stephanie, a full kitchen and a washer and dryer. All for a very inexpensive price for here. There is also a post office and supermarket nearby. I said I'd think about it but unless i find something better, which so far I havn't, I'll probably take it. Staphine really liked it too so I'll have to figure it out with her soon.

Last night I entered in a "stand up comedy contest". It was at a pub that never done it before. I was the only official guy interested in it. Everyone else just jumped on last second and had nothing funny to say. I on the other hand wrote stuff the night before and also had nothing funy to day. In fact I was horrible, but for being the worst one, I won a free t-shirt and 2 beers! Who say's it sucks to be a loser? I was also told i can give it another shot if i really want, so maybe i'll actually take some time and practice a bit and write some funny jokes before attempting it again.

The weather is starting to really warm up. yesturday was a record breaker of 38 degrees celcius. Highest for Sydney EVER.

Well I better get going, only a few hours till I have to got to work.

Sydney Day 6

Sunday I went to Manly beach with a few people. It was really nice and sunny that day. Wee had to take the ferry there. It was this HUGE boat! The beeach itself was beautiful. There are a lot of shops nearby. there was even a breakdancing show done by a couple of guys from the Bronx, New York. For lunch I had Shish Taouk in a pita (chicken pita), except here it's called Chicken Kebab and most places that sell it sell pizza as well. After the beach I headed to the hostel, extended my stay until thursday and then made dinner. I had pasta with tuna and a special cheese and garlic crean sauce. Mmm Mmmm! After dinner I did laundry for the first time! I didn't shrink anything btu wasted a few bucks. It casts 3$ for a wash and 3$ for a dry 9I know- expensive). So I washed my stuff, put them in the dryer, put in my money and leave. One hour later, I come back open it up and my clothes are sill wet! So I put in more money adn then realized there was a START button! In any case, I didn't shrink anything. I also had to changes rooms. At first I thought that I was getting kicked out because of a group that was coming in and they ran out of room in the hostel. However, in reality, I hadn't have read the notice properly and I was just asked to move rooms. My new room is SO much smaller but the people i share with are nice.

I also ended up buying a cell phone since I needed a number that people could contact me at. The plans here are great! It's only 70$ for the phone but a 30$ credit included. It's completely pay as you go here and it doesn't cost me a penny if you call me - only outgoing calls. And, if I call someone else who owns a phone by the same company, its also free!

Yesturday I started job hunting. At first I didn't havethe right clothes so I went out and bought a new belt, white buttoned shirt and a nice blue tie that matched my bag! I made 40 copies of my CV, made a few calls and then hit the streets. I got rid of about 10 CVs and had 2 interviews. An italian restaurant in the Rocks (think old Montreal) was considering hiring me for 5 nights a week. The pay didn't sound so good but he claims his place makes 1400$ in tips a night. I don't know how many ways thats split by, though, but if it's just amoung 3 or 4 guys, thats pretty good. If everyone gets a cut, including the janitor... thats's bad.

Today I extended my stay again in the hostel until monday morning. I had to go to a special certified course in order to obtian a piece of paper necessary for m to work in a restaurant. They are VERY strict here with alchol laws and sinc emany restaurants sell alcohol here, I"m required ot take the course. It'snot cheap though! It cost me 70$ I've spent so much money just to set my self up in order to MAKE money. It's like i"m going backwards! I also started apartment hunting and Stephanie, the canadian from the plane, has agreed to share a place with me since it's impossible to find a single roomed apartment for an afordable price. She's very nice and everything shoudl be fine, unless she snores!

I have an interview tomorrow and a meeting for an apartment on thrsday so I'm still pretty busy this week. Also I plan on job hunting again tomorrow afternoon. this is SO exciting!

Anyways I'm hungry so I'm off to make rice and chicken soup for super. I've become a real iron chef! (shakes head from right to left...)

Sydney Day 3

Last night I signed up at the hostel for this bus right to a bar for a disco party. It was free and I got 1 free drink and two 2 for 1 vouchers so that was enjoyable. I also met a bunch of cool people. I met 2 irish and 2 scottish guys and we just joked around last night and had fun together. I also saw a girl wearing a bright white t-shirt with red letters that said Canada, so I went up to her and asked "SO what part of Canada are you from?". To which she replied "Germany". She actually came to visit Montreal some tiem earlier and bought th eshirt as a souvernir. I still talked to her nonetheless because she was quite nice. Today I walked around with this Canadian, Stephanie, to Darling Harbour. it's basically a dock with a lot to do including a few museums and an aquarium. I have a free voucher to the aquarium and hope to use it sometime in the future. I went into a musem for free and on display they had a boat made out of beer cans! It was really kool. For some reason it made me thing of Sam. Afterwards, Stephanie, the 2 scotts from the night before and I went to Bondi beach. Very beautiful but unfortunatley windy and cold. Tomorrow, I'm heading down to another beach, Manly, with an Irish guy and some others who I met at the hostel and th eparty last night. I extended my stay at the hostel until next thurday. They squeezed me in since they are expecting a big group of americans soon. I have to check out of 1 room and then check back in into another. Today I had a "look at me I'm totally a tourist" moment. I was trying to find a restaurant and was looking in my guide book in the street wearing my Canada hat. Then these guys stopped and asked me if I needed help. I really didn't but then we started talking about the Darkness since I was wearing my Darkness t-shirt. For some reason it made me think of Sam, hehe.
I took this weekend off to have some fun but my cash flow is slowly disintegrating so come monday I'm going ot have to put an effort into finding a job.
Well, I got invited to go out to a pub tonight and thought I'd check it out for a little while, so I better get going.

Budman in Sydney

It's only been 2 days and so much has happened. I arrived in Sydney
yesturday morning at 6:30am. Te plane ride was long but I survived it.
I met someone on the plane who is also here with SWAP and is on the
smae floor as me at the youth hostel. We decided to ban together and
walk around for a few hours. I walked through the Royal Botanical
Gardens and saw real live bats in the trees. I also got to see the
Sydeny Opera house from afar and will hopefully go back another day
and get a closer look. After seeing the Sydney harbour bridge, I ended
heading to the IEP resource center. It's very nice here. All the staff
is very helpful and there is free internet which is how I am able to
this e-mail. At ngiht I actually went out to an organized 'pub meet'
at a bar called Australian Hotel and met a few people. I ended up
calling it a night at 10pm where one of the people i have to share the
room with was a woman working in the army stationed in Afghanistan. I
knew better than to talk about that and just spoke mostly about
Australia with her. This morning I got up and ended up back at the
resource center where I had an orientation. So far I've got my CV
fixed up and I'm most likely going to try and find a job as a waiter.
I have no idea where I would prefer to work but I was given areas I
should walk around to look for a job so I'll check them out. I'm also
tempted to try looking for jobs by the beaches. Apperently it's really
fun living there and I have to look into it but maybe it'll be cheaper
since it's about 20 minutes from downtown.
I also have to look for a place to live but until I have a job or a
better idea of my surroundings, I'm going to wait. I heard that if I
extend my stay at the youth hostel I am in for 1 week and say that I'm
with IEP, I'll get a discount rate for 120$ for the week (oppose to
the normal 210$) so I'm highly considering that since it's in the
middle of all the areas that I want to look for a job.
Tonight I decided I'm going out on an organized trip with the youth
hostel (it's free!) and then take it easy on the weekend (they suggest
we do so) and come monday morning, search hard for a job. They say if
I spend a good 2 hours every morning for a short while I'm bound to
find something fast.
Well I better go, my time on the computer is running short.

Vancouver (Cont'd)

After a well needed 11 hours of sleep I had a pretty big day ahead of me in the city of Vancouver. I spent the morning walking around this huge park called Stanley Park. I walked along Coal Harbour and I got to see the Lion's Gate Bridge, the younger sibling to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. By afternoon I met up with my cousin and we went for all you can eat sushi. Yum! Afterwards we went to sunset beach where we chilled and digested our lunch. It was pretty amazing being able to see the Pacific Ocean and say that in 2 days I'm going ot be seeing it from the OTHER side! Like Jim Morrison says, I'm going to "break on through to the other side"! After chiling, we rented "A Man on Fire" and ate pizza back at his place. I called it an early night since I was still tired from the time difference.
This morning I woke up and took a ferry over to Grandville Island. On the island I met up with a friend from McGill and ate lunch together and walked around this nice little area called Market Place. Afterwards, I ferried back 'home' and have just been resting, couting down the time for the big flight. In less then an hour I'll be on my way to the airport where I'll be flying for 6 and a half hours to Honolulu with an hour break and then the long haul of 10 hours to Sydney! I can't wait to get there, too bad there's this big thing in the middle called the Pacific Ocean that I have to cross in order to get there.
More updates to come and maybe even some pictures!

Chapter 1: Vancouver

The flight into Vancouver was about 5 and a half hours. it wasn't so bad actually. I ended up sitting next to some guy who just spoke with me most of the way. I slept for about 20 minutes so I'm pretty out of it right now. When I got off the plane, I picked up my bag and headed for the exit. Outside, my Cousin Richard was waiting for me in his old school pickup truck to which we drove down to his appartment downtown listening to Public Enemy! His apartment is SWEET. You can see Cole Harbour and the bay. The view is beautiful. He's right by Stanley Park which I'm hoping to check out in the 2 days that I am here. We just got back from some shopping and are about to fire up the barbecue! Man I'm starving!

The Adventure Begins!

So I'm actually going to do this! No chickening out now. It's 7am and I'm all ready to leave for the airport. I wasn't too sleepy last night and had about 4 hours of half decent sleep. Everything is packed and ready to go. Next stop: My dad's car. Then the airport and THEN Vancouver (for those who don't know, that's in British Colombia...). It's a 5 and a half hour plane ride. I have a bunch of stuff to do on the plane (draw, play with gimp, read, etc.) but I'm hoping I just fall asleep.
Well, my mom is calling me so that means one thing: time to go.

WOW!

Mini Post:
This weekend I was outside at an improv workshop. The workshop was a lot of fun and I even got a few laughs. Afterwars, when it was done, a group of about 10 people came running up to us and started all talking at once. All I gathered was they were from Concordia doing a scavenger hunt and then needed a picture of someone getting kissed or something. I don't know what got into me but I said I would do it. I thought they meant a kiss on the cheek but the next thing I know it some girls mouth is in mine and I got tongue flying everywhere! I though it was a funny moment that would make up a funny story until all of my friends started to bug me about it all night, hehe. Once person called it a rape kiss or kiss raped, can't remember which.
Well just goes to show what kind of adventures I have.

Labour Day weekend of Labour

During Labour Day weekend, a week after being in LA my dad and I drove down to Toronto to meet up with my mom and help her help my brother and his wife settle into their new apartment. Their new place is beautiful and HUGE! The drive down was fun because I got to do all the driving for the first time. I also got to choose the music because my dad slept most of the time. One we hit Toronto I was set because I got to listen to Toronto's The Edge 102.1, the equivalent of my favortie radio station, 99.9 The Buzz. Once I got to my brother's place, the inside was turned upside down. Everything that happened that weekend came from a typical comedy about moving into a new place. Apperently my brother installed all of these shelves with a oat rack attached to them in all the closets but when he put clothes on them, they just ripped off the walls. The I had to help him reinstall them better. once we were done this we installed a cabinet he made up himself with some more shelving. While holding the side, a shelf fell and landed on my head. I rushed to the kitchen and put an ice pack on my head. My brother didn't even ask if I was okay, he just yelled at me instead so I was pretty mad. My mood changed later on, though, when I found out my brother hid his money and his passport in the dishwasher (don't ask) so no one would steal it and a long comes my mom to try and test to see if the dishwasher works. Let's just say his money was wet. That made my weekend, hehe. The weekend was okay otherwise but it was a lot of work. At least I helped my brother out. Monday came and we ended back in Montreal.

California 3

I titled this post California 3 because I spent almost 3 hours last time writting California 2 but never finished it and I just discoevered its gone! So since I don't want to redo that here is the rest of my trip abbridged:
In LA I met up with my Aunt and Uncle and we were all in the same hotel - The McIntyre Building! Actually it was called Hollywood Brentwood Bel Air but it shared a resemblance to the medical building at McGill. The second day in LA my parents, my aunt and uncle and myself took a tour around the city. We went to Venice Beach where we saw the famous Muscle Beach gym and the famous basketball courts where White Men Can't Jump was filmed. We then toured by celebrity homes where I saw Leonardo Dicaprio!!!!!......s driveway. Then we saw some famous clubs like the Viper Room, owned by Johnny Depp, where River Phoenix OD'd. We drove on the highway where Speed was filmed and then reached the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I also got to see the Chinese Theatre, with all of the cement prints in front of it, as well as the famous Kodak Theatre where the Academy Awards are held. The last spot on the touir was a lookout spot to see the Hollywood sign. Apperently it was really just an advertisement for a real estate compagny called Hollywoodland but sometime in the 60's, a land slide happened and the LAND letters got destroyed. Now the sign is owned by the city and people donate money to keep the letters in top shape. Hugh Hefner pays money every year to make sure the H is ok.
The next day my parent, aunt and uncle and I did our own touring of Santa Monica Beach. We went along the famous pier and I got to see the beach. Afterwards we went to a really nice street called Third Promenade. It was a cobblestone street with all sorts of performers. I got to see an amazing breakdancing show, there was a belly dancer and even a guy trying to escape from a straight jacket.
Our final day in LA we had a family wedding, the reason we came to LA. It was a very nice affair.
If anyone is interested, all the pictures I took of my trip are found here:
San Fransicso Pics
Drive to San Luis Obispo Pics
Los Angeles Pics
I enjoyed the trip very much (except the plane ride, my head almost exploded on the way home!) but its good to be back home!

Budman in California

OK! Apollogies for taking so long to update my blog! I've been away and now I'm back... for a little while, hehe.

From August 22nd to August 29th I was on vacation with my parents. My mom's cousin's daughter, Tamar, was getting married. My parents and I have never met her but my mom's cousin and his wife came to my brother's wedding last year (if you're lost, don't worry so am I), so to return the favour we decided to go to this wedding. To make a vaction out of it, we flew to San Francisco first and stayed there for 3 days.

The first day we didnt do much but check into our hotel. The hotel itself was nice but the area we were in really stank, literally. There were homeless people all over the place, talking to themselves and asking for money for booze. The streets were dirty and cluttered with garbage. It looked like a zombie flick. At night we met up with my cousin Joshua (Tamar's brother) who happened to live in Berkeley where he goes to school.

The next day my parents and I decided to walk from our hotel to Fisherman's Wharf. On the way, we passed by Union Square (the equivalent to Times Square),went through China Town, where we found a jewish restaurant (huh?!?!) and saw some really interesting buildings. These included a building chaped like a pyramid, a tower of some kind, and the church where Marylin Monroe married Joe DiMagio!! WOH!!!! Okay it's not really THAT exciting...now THIS is exciting!!! Once at the Wharf (couldn't resist), we walked along Pier 39. At the pier there was this kool aquarium, where see lots of kool fish. It was really kool because we got to walk underneath the water on a moving sidewalk and see the fish from above and to the sides. Also on the pier was a Hard Rock Cafe and a restaurant called Bubba Gump (like from Forest Gump). Also on the pier was an area infested with sea lions. Boy they were smelly! After leaving the pier, along the wharf was a wax museum where in the front were two statues of Madonna and Britney Spears. It looks JUST LIKE THEM (Shaking head from left to right). And what kind of trip is it withought some Hooters? Once we were down seeing the wharf, we decided to go back to the hotel by cable car. They are the only city that still uses them in the world (I think). They work by having cables that run undergroung, like a ski lift and the car has a clamp that grips the cable to be pulled up the hill (that's also Alcatraz in the photo) or releases it to stop moving. That night we went back and ate at a restaurant called The Stinking Rose - A Garlic Restaurant. The food was great and EVERYTHING had garlic in it.

The next day, we met up with my cousin Joshua again and droe down to Sanoma Valley - The Wine Country. We stopped at a couple of wineries and had a few drinks. One of the wineries was HUGE!!!! After the wineries, we drove accross the Golden Gate Bridge and headed over to Stanford University. We drove in through Palm Drive. The campus is HUGE! You can fit McGill AND Concordia inside it. They even had a display of statues by the famous sculpter Rodin. It was there that I stumbled into... THE GATES OF HELL!!! Upon returning from hell, I came accross a giant church located in the middle of campus. It was a donation to Mr Stanford from Mrs. Stanford. It had this incredible painting on the front of it. Upon further inspection, it wasn't even a painting, but a mosaic! We finished the long day off with some cheesecake and then I somehow fell back in time.

The following morning we left San Fransisco and headed towards LA. We drove along the coast. It was beautiful. We stopped in Carmelle for lunch, which is the town that Clint Eastwood used to be mayor of. Finally we made it to our stopover destination St Luis Obispo where we stayed at a motel called The Sands. It was very nice there and they gave you 2 free movies to watch in your room. I picked X2 knowing my parents would LOVE IT!!! (once again, shaking head left and right...)

We got up bright and early, drove 4 more hours and ended up in LOS ANGELES!!! Where we stayed at the McItyre Building!!! Er... I mean the Holiday INN Brentwood Belair.. they look the same to me. Maybe because they're both round...

In LA we met up with my aunt and uncle who stayed at the same hotel as us. That night we all went to the dinner party for the couple to be. I twas nice to see family I never met or haven't seen in a long time.

Day two in LA, we took a bus tour around the city. We went all over:
The first stop on the tour was Venice Beach. There was this awesome Jim Morrison mural. Of course there is the beach itself, but on the beach is the famous Muscle Beach Gym.

Okay it's late and I'm tired! To satisfy those who wanted an update, I'm going to post this now and continue the rest. So tune in next time! Same Blog Time, Same Blog Place!

This won't promote viloence...No... Not at all.....

Mini Post: I just discovered this game called Def Jam - Fight for NY. It's so retarded! You get to pick your favorite rapper and kick the chit out of people in a fight. Choices I recognized were Busta Rhymes and Ludacris. It makes it lok like they are super human beings. I'm sure this won't be the start of a rappers war in New York... Nope... not at all...

Summer is Coming to an END!

Well, it's the end of August. School is starting soon. At least I'm no longer a student (Yay! no more studying!), but I'll still be working (boo! I have to be a grown up now!). I cleared out of the apartment already. Took down the decorations from the party I had in June. Emptied out all the left over food I bought. Took my clothes and belongings. Washed the blood off the walls. The place looks just like new. I got good use out of that apartment, especially the bed (wink wink, nudge nudge).

Thank you Andrew for giving me a chance to party hardy like a normal person who lives downtown! I finally got to experience downtown living!

Next up: Going to L.A. - I'll write all about it when I get back! Later!

Is Budman The New Mascot for Michelan?

I've been out of commision since wednesday. I got my wisdom teeth pulled out. Two of them were impacted (lying sideways under my gums) so the doctor had to drill at them to break them up and make it easier to remove. I wasn't given a general anastetic. Imstead, my dentist gave me a sedative to make me feel 'happy'. The whole thing went relly quick in my mind. It felt like 5 minutes to get the first 2 teeth out and I remember glancing at my watch and realizing an hour had passed. Then I remember the dentist telling me that I was a really good patient and I remember laughing a lot. Shortly after he said I was a good patient, he said maybe 5 or 6 times to open my mouth because I was starting to fall asleep. Finally, when it was done, my mom showed up and I was brought into a room and had to lie down. The dentist then explained what I have to do to my mouth now that the procedure was over. I don't remember a thing he told me, and apperently, acording ot my mom, I told her I felt like I was stoned. Luckily, I was given a card telling me what to do. I had to put ice on my face to reduce the swelling that would happen, drink 10 glasses of water a day and tince my mouth 10 times a day with salt water. I was also given antibiotics and pain killers. I havn't needed to take many of the pain killers but on the couple of occasions that I did, I totally passed out at one point subsequent to taking them. I havn't had much pain over the past few days and the swelling has gone down, but for fun I documented the progress of my face getting bloated. Since I'm skinney, it doesn't look that bad, and one of my friends told me that now I look "normal". I still like my face the way it was... I havn't done much since I've been home and off work except rest, watch a few movies on t.v. and play Leisure Suit Larry games! Remember those? They were a series of games where you are a dirty old man who gets lots of hot women. The game itself is an adventure/puzzle game where you walk around and have to click on things and find items in order to continue the story and reach the end. Thursday I need to see the dentist again and hopefully by then I'll be good as new and will start drinking again thursday night!

Hawaiin Party!

Firday Night I was at a Hawaiin House Party held at my friend Emily's appartment. It was a lot of fun. My plan was to go to an ice cream birthday party prior to this party but I wanted to make some leighs for the party and it took me such a ridiculously long time that I had no chance in going to both parties since they were at opposite ends of downtown. Once I did get there, my leighs were so tangled up I threw them away although I managed to salvage two of them and gave them to Glen and my friend Susan got to were them. They were just styrofoam animals I bought and tied to string. Also in the same pic, you can see how Glen went totally ALL OUT (!) and wore a skirt!.. I mean sarong... (still looks like a skirt to me...).There happened to be a bunch of people there from chemistry and others I didn't know. After a couple of hours, Joe had shown up and finally Sam and his buddy from Colorado who I remember being called Brown. That's when things started to get wild. At one point Sam decided to have a chugging contest with Ray. It was a tough battle, but Sam lost (and no he's not a midget, he was just all over the place). He was okay, though. He took the loss in a good spirit. The party started to die down until I busted out some Led Zepplin and a whole bunch of us were singing tunes until 3am. After listening to the album about twice over, it was time to go. Good times had by all! Especially Sam!

Josh and Norm Go to Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle

Last Wednesday I saw Harold and Kumar go to White Castle with my buddy Norm (and others) on Wednesday and it was HILARIOUS. It's your typical stoner movie with the plot being a simple trip turning into an adventure with crazy events happening one after another. I totally recommend it. Afterwards, Norm and I wanted to check out with kool sounding event at a place called Saphir. The ad said World's Worst Music/One Hit Wonders playing all night. So we went to check it out. The place was dead. There was some great old music I hadn't heard for a while, but none-the-less EMPTY! We played pool for a couple of hours and then left. Right above Saphir is this Hardcore Heavy Metal Biker Bar. I walked up there by accident when looing for Saphir and this girl all in black came to the door to welcome us and I just told her "I'm lost" and walked back down quickly before one of them could try sucking my blood or use me as a human sacrifice.

Bunny Ears

My buddy Norm just sent me this and it made me laugh. As quoted by him:

FEEL THE WRATH OF THE BUNNY EARS!!! MWUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!