I'm probably not the first person to say it, but racism has got to stop. I realize it's more than just wishing it away - a goal as ambitious as that requires action, and alot of it. And alot of sacrifices have to be made along the way. Unfortunately, not everyone will agree with what I think have to be sacrificed. But first, some first hand, racially based incidences I have encountered while visiting family overseas in Singapore.
One of my earliest memories of racial biases in my family occured circa 1996. I was sitting with my grandmother and aunt, and the topic of conversation was my brother's then girlfriend. My grandmother asked me if there was anyone I was interested in. At the time, it was Kristy Stefanucci, gorgeous girl I had a crush on in grade 5. They noted that it was a non-Chinese name and asked me if she was white, and I said yes. She proceeded to advise me to stay away from white people and that they were "nothing but trouble." Okay to be friends with, but not to get into relationships with. Yes, I understand that divorce rates tend to be higher in North America, but I personally attribute that to women having a less traditional mindset, and the more liberal culture in general. Not because white people are trouble. Especially since interracial relationships are rampant around where I grew up.
A more severe incident occured around 2001. I had lost some American money I kept in my wallet in case I ran out of the local currency and American dollars were gladly accepted at the time. My aunt asked if I had absent-mindedly handed it off to someone which downright enraged me since she was suggesting I was THAT stupid. So I told her she was paranoid and that would never happen. Unfortunately, said aunt took it as an attack on her, which shouldn't happen especially coming from her nephew. Later, she came over to my grandmother's house where I was staying and they both launched an attack on me, saying that since I lived in Canada, my rude behaviour could only be attributed to the negative impact of living in a predominantly white society which was responsible for instilling white values into me. The white friends I chose to hang out with had erased years of my Chinese culture and values.
Yes, I wanted to yell. I wanted to tell them how ignorant they were (ethnic minorities in Vancouver make up just under half of the population in Vancouver). I wanted to point out the "degeneration" (as they would call it) of youth in Asia as well. But yelling and showing more disrespect would only support their point. So I just raised my hands and said "I don't have to take this," and walked out of the room.
A conversation with one of my cousins turned into a heated debate. She told me that she wouldn't stand near a person of east Indian descent if she could help it cause statistically, they were the minority group most likely to pickpocket or rob someone. Another time, we went to Mustafa's, a 24-hour shopping mall ran and patronized mostly by East Indians. When we got home, she said she'd developed a rash and her brother said it was probably we'd be shopping at Mustafa's but yet, I was fine.
I would never consider my immediate family outright racist in values, but there are more discriminatory attitudes than I would like to admit. Living in a diverse community where I am considered the minority, I have been on both ends of racist treatment and no good has come out of either. Incidences like these have solidified my stance against racism - and culture, even - and discrimination of any kind.
In my opinion, even recognizing the skin colour, sex, religion of another is grounds for discrimination. In high school, there were Persian groups, Korean groups, for example. Sure, things were peaceful between the two groups but the fact that there were groups at all ripened the soil for discrimination to spring forth. And guess what, years later, it did. Stories of the groups clashing, gang fights at the school, all in the name of pride.
People will argue that recognizing and having pride in your ethnic background, your sex, your sexuality, etc is a good thing. I beg to differ. What this ends up doing is creating a "us and them" type of thinking. "I am white and proud of it." "I am Asian and proud of it." How hard is it to turn those statements around to say "I am this, therefore I am better than you." Hell, even among a single group of friends, it's not uncommon for one of them, if they are an ethnic minority, or a girl, or gay, to make a point of it. Superficial lines are drawn even within groups of friends. And it is along these lines that a friendship could potentially crumble should a disagreement occur.
I was having a conversation with my brother on Mother's Day, who told me that as a Chinese person, it bothered him that he didn't know much about what it meant to be Chinese. He felt that he should because ethnic identity is a part of who we are. On the other hand, I've spent a lifetime battling assumptions people make about me because of what I look like. Experience has taught me that ethnic identity only speaks for WHAT I am a male of Chinese descent. Who I am is made up of things that are under my control - the choices I make. If I saw a lady getting robbed by a thug, whether I choose to comfort the lady or pursue the thug is determined by the choices I make; in other words, WHO I am. I won't make that choice thinking "As a Chinese male, I would ..."
So to eradicate racism - or limit it at the very least, I suggest forgetting all about pride. This is what I meant by some sacrifices have to be made. Because we are human before we are American, European, African or Asian. An effort as to be made to recognize the humanity in people before we recognize cultural differences and skin colour.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Even slightly better ...
This week, I had planned on calling Charina back to see what she was able to find out from Amanda over at Black Box. I didn't want to call her right away to avoid sounding over-eager, so I decided to wait. Monday, I went out to Sui Sha Ya for all you can eat sushi with Rosemary. After dinner we went to Chapters - she had to return a book, and I had to wait for my bus to take me home, so I checked my schedule.
Sarah had taken me off the schedule. My last day of work at Chapters will be on May 23rd. I'm a little sad, abit nervous about moving on, but I guess we all have to do it sometime. And I'll forever be thankful for the support that the management over at Chapters has given me in my endeavors to start my career.
Oh, I also ran into Shelley who introduced me to her brother. I haven't seen her for a long time. She updated me on some of the people she still keeps in touch with from highschool. Apparently Matt's getting married to Nicole Wright, which is something I'd never have seen coming. I don't know if Shelley was joking, but she didn't look like it. Maybe she was misinformed? Whatever the case, we planned for coffee on Wednesday.
Tuesday I went for lunch with Naubert, Eric and Joseph. We went to Boston Pizza for pasta tuesdays and were supposed to meet at 3:30 but as I had expected, everyone showed up a little late. I organized the meeting just to see how the other character artists were moving on with their job search. Sofar all the environment artists who I associate with have gotten jobs. Character artist wise, nobody has gotten anything so I don't feel so alone in this. Also applied for more jobs at the EA website and notified Gord in hopes that he would get back to me but sofar that hasn't happened.
Wednesday I went to coffee with Shelley. Sat around at Starbucks for about 2 hours and just caught up on old times. She drove me home after, showed her around my house for abit. She hasn't been here since grade 10. It's been almost ten years.
Thusday was the day some magic happened. I phoned Amanda after talking with Charina just the day before, who said it would be a good idea to touch base with her and see what was going on at Black Box for me. I explained to her about the situation with Volt and she recommended to me that I apply with Volt and work the 400 hours they require before EA can hire me. She also said it didn't look likely that Black Box would have an opening for me within the next 400 working hours anyway. But I thought to hold off a little in case Gord could work some magic for me. After all, he managed to get Alan and Cody a position with EA already. But since he hasn't gotten back to me yet, my plan was to go see him in Saturday and talk with him in person. Until Blue Castle called.
Rachel surprised me with a call and told me that a position opened up at Blue Castle calling for a character artist for one of their sports titles. This is a junior character artist position that doesn't require any experience. Rachel said they were just looking for artistic talent and passion, both of which I believe I have, not to make too fine a point of it. We scheduled a phone interview for this Wednesday at 11:30 in the morning. Here's hoping everything will turn out well.
Sarah had taken me off the schedule. My last day of work at Chapters will be on May 23rd. I'm a little sad, abit nervous about moving on, but I guess we all have to do it sometime. And I'll forever be thankful for the support that the management over at Chapters has given me in my endeavors to start my career.
Oh, I also ran into Shelley who introduced me to her brother. I haven't seen her for a long time. She updated me on some of the people she still keeps in touch with from highschool. Apparently Matt's getting married to Nicole Wright, which is something I'd never have seen coming. I don't know if Shelley was joking, but she didn't look like it. Maybe she was misinformed? Whatever the case, we planned for coffee on Wednesday.
Tuesday I went for lunch with Naubert, Eric and Joseph. We went to Boston Pizza for pasta tuesdays and were supposed to meet at 3:30 but as I had expected, everyone showed up a little late. I organized the meeting just to see how the other character artists were moving on with their job search. Sofar all the environment artists who I associate with have gotten jobs. Character artist wise, nobody has gotten anything so I don't feel so alone in this. Also applied for more jobs at the EA website and notified Gord in hopes that he would get back to me but sofar that hasn't happened.
Wednesday I went to coffee with Shelley. Sat around at Starbucks for about 2 hours and just caught up on old times. She drove me home after, showed her around my house for abit. She hasn't been here since grade 10. It's been almost ten years.
Thusday was the day some magic happened. I phoned Amanda after talking with Charina just the day before, who said it would be a good idea to touch base with her and see what was going on at Black Box for me. I explained to her about the situation with Volt and she recommended to me that I apply with Volt and work the 400 hours they require before EA can hire me. She also said it didn't look likely that Black Box would have an opening for me within the next 400 working hours anyway. But I thought to hold off a little in case Gord could work some magic for me. After all, he managed to get Alan and Cody a position with EA already. But since he hasn't gotten back to me yet, my plan was to go see him in Saturday and talk with him in person. Until Blue Castle called.
Rachel surprised me with a call and told me that a position opened up at Blue Castle calling for a character artist for one of their sports titles. This is a junior character artist position that doesn't require any experience. Rachel said they were just looking for artistic talent and passion, both of which I believe I have, not to make too fine a point of it. We scheduled a phone interview for this Wednesday at 11:30 in the morning. Here's hoping everything will turn out well.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Things are looking SLIGHTLY better
I'm getting somewhat of a break. Things could be better, but I'm not complaining.
First and foremost, my visit to EA Black Box. I was invited by one of their talent sourcers who contacted me, saying someone I knew at EA gave her my contact information which was why she was extending the open house invite to me. I thought that was pretty cool but couldn't help wondering who it was exactly that forwarded my information to her. Turns out it was Gord, which is a pretty big surprise. I just thought he didn't think enough of me to seriously help me out. Then Cody goes off and tells me Gord is referring me and him to his EA buddies and all of a sudden I feel like a jackass for not keeping in touch with him since graduation.
I also applied to the User Interface position at EA Black Box. I'm not sure if I'll even land an interview and frankly I'm not surprised if I don't, which was why I asked Gord to help me out. He wrote back saying he'll forward my information and put in a good word for me so we'll see what happens with that. I appreciate the time he's taking to make sure we get jobs - never expected that out of him.
Oh right, the visit to EA Black Box! So after an afternoon spent arguing with Loi over why Final Fantasy VII sucked and why Final Fantasy VIII was cool, haha, I rushed to get ready cause Ian was gonna come get me at 2:45. The open house was downtown and started at 4. So we get down there about half an hour early, went to Blenz while waiting for the event to start and were one of the first people there. EA spares no expense at customizing the floors of the buildings they take up. The elevators had artwork from their various games painted all over them, fancy glowing lights, a view of downtown Vancouver and the seabus harbour. They checked us in, gave us stickers, led us to the lounge where there was FREE gourmet appetizers. Battered shrimp, sashimi on some kind of biscuit, mini scrambled egg-looking things with sour cream, vietnamese springs rolls, and FREE BEER. They had a PS3 in the corner with Rockband hooked up, 2 foosball tables, a pretty lax atmosphere overall.
The first guy who came over to talk to us was some kind of project manager on Need for Speed - everyone there who mingled with us was on the Need for Speed team. He gave me Amanda's card and I gave him mine. Talked to me and Ian abit about the company, his background, what it was like at EA, nice guy over all. Then we met ... her name slips me right now, but she was a producer. A software engineer from the UK, an Asian guy with a nasty cut on his lip - don't remember what he did, another producer, so many faces and names to remember, I'm likely forgetting one or two people as I write this.
Anyway the girl whose name still slips my mind - she took us and 8 other people on a tour around the offices. During the tour i heard someone call my name, turned around and it turned out to be Ken! He's working there as a designer which is pretty surprising but good. I always thought getting a job as a designer was hard. Maybe he just got lucky, who knows. Couldn't really talk much to him because the lady was still giving us a tour and I didn't want to talk over her.
We left at around 7:30, half an hour before the event was over. I met Amanda in person and she was already familiar with me, which was awesome. She told me Gord gave her my demo reel to look over and she would try to find a fit for me. Again, I've heard that before so I'm not expecting much. Upon leaving they invited us to choose what free game we wanted! By the time we got there, the only Xbox360 game left was skate and I already had it so I chose to go with a PC version of an earlier Need for Speed.
Ian drove me home after the event. I was kinda tipsay after two beers, haha (but hey, they were FREE!). After getting home, found out from Shiach that there was going to be a problem with getting EA to hire me if I signed the contract with Volt the next morning. Apparently if I were to sign that contract, EA, as a client of Volt, would not be able to hire be for 6 straight months. Had a discussion with the parents about that, and Shiach via msn at the same time. Dad said it was expected as Volt didn't want EA hiring people through them since Volt was the one doing all the hiring for their company in order to get the QA duties done for their client (EA). So if EA were to take Volt employees, Volt would have to find replacements which would take up more valuable time that could be spent QA testing for EA. I went to bed that night not knowing what to do. My best option was to buy as much time as I could with Volt.
The next morning I woke up earlier than originally planned so I had enough time to go down to AI and discuss with Charina what my options were. She said my situation was a sticky one and agreed that the best option for me would be to buy more time with Volt beore handing in the contract, so I decided that's what I'd do after the orientation later that day.
After heading out of career services, I still had an hour left to kill before I was due at EA headquarters, so decided to kill some time by having a smoke and then walking all the way from AI to EA. And even then I was about 20 minutes early, so I played Bantaumi and Space Invaders for a few minutes while killing time. At about 20 past 11, headed over to the security desk who told me to wait by the couches for Sanaz, who would be my orientation leader that day. The couches were filled with about 20-30 other people waiting for the same orientation. As we were heading into the conference room, I ran into Shan who I haven't seen since she dropped out of our GPW. After talking with her for the entire duration of our orientation, I still have little respect for her work ethic.
The orientation went longer than the hour it was expected to last, and it was spent filling out ALOT of paper work. At the end of the day, I didn't end up handing it in becuase I pulled Sanaz aside and told her about my situation with EA and how there was a chance they might be contacting me. Charina said she was going to contact Amanda Pugh, the sourcer at EA Black Box and see what was going on over there. Meanwhile, Sanaz suggested I wait until it was clearer what was going to happen between me and Black Box before handing in the signed contracts (upon signing the contracts, it would be slightly more difficult for EA to hire me, since I'd be with Volt at that point.) I was surprised with how accomodating Sanaz was but I guess this must happen with them all the time. Another guy was in the same boat as I was. Sanaz told me to take as much time as I needed, up to a month which was pretty generous. So I told her okay and I'll probaby give it 3 weeks maximum to hear back from Black Box. If not, I'll hand in my signed contract to Volt.
That's my situation at this point. I hope something comes out of it. I read my horoscope yesterday and it said good things would happen from Monday to Wednesday. I'm not the superstitious type but I'm hoping the horoscope is right this time for my sake.
First and foremost, my visit to EA Black Box. I was invited by one of their talent sourcers who contacted me, saying someone I knew at EA gave her my contact information which was why she was extending the open house invite to me. I thought that was pretty cool but couldn't help wondering who it was exactly that forwarded my information to her. Turns out it was Gord, which is a pretty big surprise. I just thought he didn't think enough of me to seriously help me out. Then Cody goes off and tells me Gord is referring me and him to his EA buddies and all of a sudden I feel like a jackass for not keeping in touch with him since graduation.
I also applied to the User Interface position at EA Black Box. I'm not sure if I'll even land an interview and frankly I'm not surprised if I don't, which was why I asked Gord to help me out. He wrote back saying he'll forward my information and put in a good word for me so we'll see what happens with that. I appreciate the time he's taking to make sure we get jobs - never expected that out of him.
Oh right, the visit to EA Black Box! So after an afternoon spent arguing with Loi over why Final Fantasy VII sucked and why Final Fantasy VIII was cool, haha, I rushed to get ready cause Ian was gonna come get me at 2:45. The open house was downtown and started at 4. So we get down there about half an hour early, went to Blenz while waiting for the event to start and were one of the first people there. EA spares no expense at customizing the floors of the buildings they take up. The elevators had artwork from their various games painted all over them, fancy glowing lights, a view of downtown Vancouver and the seabus harbour. They checked us in, gave us stickers, led us to the lounge where there was FREE gourmet appetizers. Battered shrimp, sashimi on some kind of biscuit, mini scrambled egg-looking things with sour cream, vietnamese springs rolls, and FREE BEER. They had a PS3 in the corner with Rockband hooked up, 2 foosball tables, a pretty lax atmosphere overall.
The first guy who came over to talk to us was some kind of project manager on Need for Speed - everyone there who mingled with us was on the Need for Speed team. He gave me Amanda's card and I gave him mine. Talked to me and Ian abit about the company, his background, what it was like at EA, nice guy over all. Then we met ... her name slips me right now, but she was a producer. A software engineer from the UK, an Asian guy with a nasty cut on his lip - don't remember what he did, another producer, so many faces and names to remember, I'm likely forgetting one or two people as I write this.
Anyway the girl whose name still slips my mind - she took us and 8 other people on a tour around the offices. During the tour i heard someone call my name, turned around and it turned out to be Ken! He's working there as a designer which is pretty surprising but good. I always thought getting a job as a designer was hard. Maybe he just got lucky, who knows. Couldn't really talk much to him because the lady was still giving us a tour and I didn't want to talk over her.
We left at around 7:30, half an hour before the event was over. I met Amanda in person and she was already familiar with me, which was awesome. She told me Gord gave her my demo reel to look over and she would try to find a fit for me. Again, I've heard that before so I'm not expecting much. Upon leaving they invited us to choose what free game we wanted! By the time we got there, the only Xbox360 game left was skate and I already had it so I chose to go with a PC version of an earlier Need for Speed.
Ian drove me home after the event. I was kinda tipsay after two beers, haha (but hey, they were FREE!). After getting home, found out from Shiach that there was going to be a problem with getting EA to hire me if I signed the contract with Volt the next morning. Apparently if I were to sign that contract, EA, as a client of Volt, would not be able to hire be for 6 straight months. Had a discussion with the parents about that, and Shiach via msn at the same time. Dad said it was expected as Volt didn't want EA hiring people through them since Volt was the one doing all the hiring for their company in order to get the QA duties done for their client (EA). So if EA were to take Volt employees, Volt would have to find replacements which would take up more valuable time that could be spent QA testing for EA. I went to bed that night not knowing what to do. My best option was to buy as much time as I could with Volt.
The next morning I woke up earlier than originally planned so I had enough time to go down to AI and discuss with Charina what my options were. She said my situation was a sticky one and agreed that the best option for me would be to buy more time with Volt beore handing in the contract, so I decided that's what I'd do after the orientation later that day.
After heading out of career services, I still had an hour left to kill before I was due at EA headquarters, so decided to kill some time by having a smoke and then walking all the way from AI to EA. And even then I was about 20 minutes early, so I played Bantaumi and Space Invaders for a few minutes while killing time. At about 20 past 11, headed over to the security desk who told me to wait by the couches for Sanaz, who would be my orientation leader that day. The couches were filled with about 20-30 other people waiting for the same orientation. As we were heading into the conference room, I ran into Shan who I haven't seen since she dropped out of our GPW. After talking with her for the entire duration of our orientation, I still have little respect for her work ethic.
The orientation went longer than the hour it was expected to last, and it was spent filling out ALOT of paper work. At the end of the day, I didn't end up handing it in becuase I pulled Sanaz aside and told her about my situation with EA and how there was a chance they might be contacting me. Charina said she was going to contact Amanda Pugh, the sourcer at EA Black Box and see what was going on over there. Meanwhile, Sanaz suggested I wait until it was clearer what was going to happen between me and Black Box before handing in the signed contracts (upon signing the contracts, it would be slightly more difficult for EA to hire me, since I'd be with Volt at that point.) I was surprised with how accomodating Sanaz was but I guess this must happen with them all the time. Another guy was in the same boat as I was. Sanaz told me to take as much time as I needed, up to a month which was pretty generous. So I told her okay and I'll probaby give it 3 weeks maximum to hear back from Black Box. If not, I'll hand in my signed contract to Volt.
That's my situation at this point. I hope something comes out of it. I read my horoscope yesterday and it said good things would happen from Monday to Wednesday. I'm not the superstitious type but I'm hoping the horoscope is right this time for my sake.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Trip to Victoria
I'm gonna stop writing about this depressing job search. Everytime I read my last post and about how sad I am that I haven't found aynthing yet, I think about where I am in the future and how I still haven't found anything. Well, enough of that. The search effort will continue, but I can't let it consume me.
So I just got back this afternoon from visiting Christine in Victoria. I still don't like that feeling of not knowing the area I happen to be in. And it's not like I was there long enough to familiarize myself with the place.
Christine shares her apartments with two roommates Sasha and Justina. I was a little apprehensive at first, consciously making sure I was on my best behaviour, trying hard to make a good first impression on myself. But I thought it'd be fine cause its just two people ... until I got introduced to Justina's boyfriend and mother. Overall, I'd have to say I didn't have as much fun as I did the first time I went to visit, but it was still pleasant nonetheless.
First thing we did when i got there was have lunch at McDonalds where I got a big extra with cheese meal. Rented a movie that night - Awake with Anakin from Star Wars and Jessica Alba. Looked up some places we might want to visit during my stay. Also went for dinner at the Fifeteen Fifties cafe. Nice quaint bar, like shark club with a bit more of an Irish pub feel to it and not nearly as expensive. Servings were huge so I ended up saving some for breakfast the next morning.
Day 2, went to the bug zoo and saw some freaking huge spiders and leaf insects and the biggest millipede I've ever seen. We used to kill millipedes back in Singapore with magnifying glasses, or cut them in half but those things were tiny compares to these giant African ones. Then we headed to the museum to see an Imax presenation of mummies. Only 45 minutes long, but very educational and informative. Managed to learn qute abit about how ancient egyptian mummies could hold the key to curing malaria ... while i wasn't busy picking popcorn off my shirt and eating it, haha. Hit the Noodle Box on the way back. This was interesting - imagine the Bread Garden but oriental style with varieties of asian noodles. They all came in takeout boxes that looked really small, but i was surprised with how much food they managed to stuff in there. Christine and I weren't able to finish our portions (but I managed to finish everything off when we got home later that night). Before going home, we stopped off at Chapters for me to pick up a book, then to the liquor store for some beverages of the alcoholic variety which we enjoyed later that night. Also got an opportunity sit down with Justina, Cheryl and Colin, get to know them a little better. Nice people.
The next day we didn't do much, except go see a movie. 21 - the counting cards movie. Very interesting, but nothing I'd go nuts over. The only effect it really had on me was the amount of money the main character was able to make in such short time which had me reeling in jealousy. Didn't sleep that night. Wanted to get the first bus out of there and be on the nine o'clock ferry home.
So I just got back this afternoon from visiting Christine in Victoria. I still don't like that feeling of not knowing the area I happen to be in. And it's not like I was there long enough to familiarize myself with the place.
Christine shares her apartments with two roommates Sasha and Justina. I was a little apprehensive at first, consciously making sure I was on my best behaviour, trying hard to make a good first impression on myself. But I thought it'd be fine cause its just two people ... until I got introduced to Justina's boyfriend and mother. Overall, I'd have to say I didn't have as much fun as I did the first time I went to visit, but it was still pleasant nonetheless.
First thing we did when i got there was have lunch at McDonalds where I got a big extra with cheese meal. Rented a movie that night - Awake with Anakin from Star Wars and Jessica Alba. Looked up some places we might want to visit during my stay. Also went for dinner at the Fifeteen Fifties cafe. Nice quaint bar, like shark club with a bit more of an Irish pub feel to it and not nearly as expensive. Servings were huge so I ended up saving some for breakfast the next morning.
Day 2, went to the bug zoo and saw some freaking huge spiders and leaf insects and the biggest millipede I've ever seen. We used to kill millipedes back in Singapore with magnifying glasses, or cut them in half but those things were tiny compares to these giant African ones. Then we headed to the museum to see an Imax presenation of mummies. Only 45 minutes long, but very educational and informative. Managed to learn qute abit about how ancient egyptian mummies could hold the key to curing malaria ... while i wasn't busy picking popcorn off my shirt and eating it, haha. Hit the Noodle Box on the way back. This was interesting - imagine the Bread Garden but oriental style with varieties of asian noodles. They all came in takeout boxes that looked really small, but i was surprised with how much food they managed to stuff in there. Christine and I weren't able to finish our portions (but I managed to finish everything off when we got home later that night). Before going home, we stopped off at Chapters for me to pick up a book, then to the liquor store for some beverages of the alcoholic variety which we enjoyed later that night. Also got an opportunity sit down with Justina, Cheryl and Colin, get to know them a little better. Nice people.
The next day we didn't do much, except go see a movie. 21 - the counting cards movie. Very interesting, but nothing I'd go nuts over. The only effect it really had on me was the amount of money the main character was able to make in such short time which had me reeling in jealousy. Didn't sleep that night. Wanted to get the first bus out of there and be on the nine o'clock ferry home.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Good things at work today
Three odd weeks into the search for the job that will kickstart my career and yet nothing. It's hard to keep your head up high without hearing back from all the companies you've applied to. It's hard not to get worried. That's why work at Chapters today was somewhat an uplifting experience.
Lisa called me into the office. "Josh to the manager's office please." Whenever people hear that, especially coming from the GM, we get worried, and this time I'm thinking what did I do wrong this time? I was with a customer at cash at the time so they had to wait till I finished up with her before going into the office, which I was dreading.
Anyway I get in and the first thing Lisa does is hand me an ithankyou card, thanking me for my trouble being the only CER on the floor for 3.5 hours AND helping Lorrie out on cash. Apparently today 2 people called in sick, leaving her alone on cash, and me alone on the floor. Fortunately I had Nicole and Monika to help me out on the floor even though they were technically shelvers.
After Lisa hands me the ithankyou, i notice her and patrick - even shannon - gathered around the computer and they're all looking at my website. Asking me questions about how i did the work, telling me how impressive it was. And I think after so long of doubting myself, struggling with all these new skills, struggling with people putting me down at school (or at least as they like to put it "critiquing") it feels good to be complimented. Feels good to know that I'm actually making progress, and on the whole, I don't really suck.
Even Paige, normally abraisive, blunt as a rock, truth-telling Paige told me she knew I was aware that I'm a good artist. And that she doesn't hand out compliments normally. And I know that. And I appreciate that.
Before, back in high school and just after, Christine and Andrew always used to tell me I was too proud. And they were right in some ways. I was the best artist I knew - the only artist, really. There was somewhat of a drive to get better, but nothing more intense than that. In my twisted little head, I was the best. And I was smug about it. Not overtly so, but I still was to an extent. I've managed to supress it. Sometimes, a little too well I think. But that's another rant altogether. I'm just happy that today happened.
It feels good to have people believe that I can do it.
Lisa called me into the office. "Josh to the manager's office please." Whenever people hear that, especially coming from the GM, we get worried, and this time I'm thinking what did I do wrong this time? I was with a customer at cash at the time so they had to wait till I finished up with her before going into the office, which I was dreading.
Anyway I get in and the first thing Lisa does is hand me an ithankyou card, thanking me for my trouble being the only CER on the floor for 3.5 hours AND helping Lorrie out on cash. Apparently today 2 people called in sick, leaving her alone on cash, and me alone on the floor. Fortunately I had Nicole and Monika to help me out on the floor even though they were technically shelvers.
After Lisa hands me the ithankyou, i notice her and patrick - even shannon - gathered around the computer and they're all looking at my website. Asking me questions about how i did the work, telling me how impressive it was. And I think after so long of doubting myself, struggling with all these new skills, struggling with people putting me down at school (or at least as they like to put it "critiquing") it feels good to be complimented. Feels good to know that I'm actually making progress, and on the whole, I don't really suck.
Even Paige, normally abraisive, blunt as a rock, truth-telling Paige told me she knew I was aware that I'm a good artist. And that she doesn't hand out compliments normally. And I know that. And I appreciate that.
Before, back in high school and just after, Christine and Andrew always used to tell me I was too proud. And they were right in some ways. I was the best artist I knew - the only artist, really. There was somewhat of a drive to get better, but nothing more intense than that. In my twisted little head, I was the best. And I was smug about it. Not overtly so, but I still was to an extent. I've managed to supress it. Sometimes, a little too well I think. But that's another rant altogether. I'm just happy that today happened.
It feels good to have people believe that I can do it.
Friday, April 11, 2008
April 10, 2008
This post is gonna be a short one, cause I stayed home all day today but some pretty noteworthy stuff happened.
Woke up at somethinng like 11 in the morning, found out Dad's sick with food poisoning. Probably the rice noodles he cooked for dinner last night but I had two helpings and was feeling fine. So he pretty much stayed home all day, watched golf, and slept. Went to the neighbours house for a massage too.
That's not the noteworthy stuff though. Going by Charina's email she just sent me yesterday, I planned to follow up on the companies I applied to. Big Sandwich told me if they hadn't contacted me by now, the situation was "mature". Aka "You're rejected." But the guy was friendly enough and told me to update my online portfolio and when I did, to keep them in the loop. Then I called Acronym Games, and some guy I was directed to sounded really shady. "Uh ... yeah, I'll go have a look at the resumes and uh ... see if they're a fit." So I just thanked him politely and hung up. Real shady. Action Pants forwarded me to a voicemail so I left my information and didn't hear back from them all day. I'll see if they call me next week.
And speaking of calling me next week, I followed up on the Bear Studios interview, spoke to Alex again (Rachel and Yuko both say he's a good friend of theirs), asked if they've made a decision. He says they've been really busy, which I expected, but to expect to hear from them next week. So I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for that one, but no sweat really if I don't get the job. I'm glad they even offered me an interview. Still, job is better than no job I guess.
Also talked to Trent in the morning. Poor guy can't find a job after being graduated for six months. I'm starting to get a little worried about him and if I get into be someone important enough to say who gets hired, I will definitely help out any friends I have in need of a job. Unfortunately right now, I'm in the same sinking boat.
So I went back to the Blue Castle website to see if they've updated their job openings and SURPRISE, they're hiring character artists for their "unannounced Action Title" aka Dead Rising II !!! Well rumors say its Dead Rising II but we'll see what happens. Anyway, this is the job I really want, the one I'm willing to pass up all other opportunities for and it came alot sooner than I thought.
I'm going all out on this one. This is the only job application I've actually prepared, and am giving it my all. In addition to submitting my resume, I put PDFs together, 1 for my 3D work and one for my drawings. I'm exhausting all my talents on this one - 3D characters, drawings, presented in a nice graphic design manner, and I'll probably even do one for my digital paintings, just to show the variety of work I'm capable of doing. I've also contacted Su and Jeremy to see if they're able to pull any strings for me and tomorrow, I'm seeing Charina to get all my assets prepared. I also plan on calling Rachel - or emailing her, haven't really decided yet - and letting her know I'm getting ready for this application and I don't want to screw up. I'm also thinking about emailing Rob and letting him know too.
This is a job to me. This is THE job, and knowing the kind of competition I'm bound to come up against, I need to use all my best 3D works, best drawings, best paintings, incorporate my best graphic design in presenting the pieces, utilize every single fucking contact I have that has a remote chance of putting in a good word for me. Hard work and the right attitude is good, but it won't be enough, not for this, not what this opportunity means to me. Rob, Rachel, Jeremy, Su. I'm sure they could do something to help. And at this point, I'm willing to accept any help they can throw my way. And I should contact Gord too. But I'm not as buddy buddy with him as Cody and Alan are, but I have a feeling he'd be willing to help me out. The only way I can sleep at night if I don't end up getting the job is if I know I did everything possible, and contacted everyone I could.
Also worked on some of the textures Mark sent my way. Created a tiling white sand texture today but he sent it back saying it needed some tweaking, and asked me to start working on a dark brown garden soil texture, which I have yet to start. Also, the company's paying today - I think - so I just sent him an email tallying my hours. Dunno if they'll be needing an invoice though. Hopefully I'll get the money in time to see Christine next weekend.
Yeah, that's about all that's happened to me today. Hoping for the best, as always.
Woke up at somethinng like 11 in the morning, found out Dad's sick with food poisoning. Probably the rice noodles he cooked for dinner last night but I had two helpings and was feeling fine. So he pretty much stayed home all day, watched golf, and slept. Went to the neighbours house for a massage too.
That's not the noteworthy stuff though. Going by Charina's email she just sent me yesterday, I planned to follow up on the companies I applied to. Big Sandwich told me if they hadn't contacted me by now, the situation was "mature". Aka "You're rejected." But the guy was friendly enough and told me to update my online portfolio and when I did, to keep them in the loop. Then I called Acronym Games, and some guy I was directed to sounded really shady. "Uh ... yeah, I'll go have a look at the resumes and uh ... see if they're a fit." So I just thanked him politely and hung up. Real shady. Action Pants forwarded me to a voicemail so I left my information and didn't hear back from them all day. I'll see if they call me next week.
And speaking of calling me next week, I followed up on the Bear Studios interview, spoke to Alex again (Rachel and Yuko both say he's a good friend of theirs), asked if they've made a decision. He says they've been really busy, which I expected, but to expect to hear from them next week. So I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for that one, but no sweat really if I don't get the job. I'm glad they even offered me an interview. Still, job is better than no job I guess.
Also talked to Trent in the morning. Poor guy can't find a job after being graduated for six months. I'm starting to get a little worried about him and if I get into be someone important enough to say who gets hired, I will definitely help out any friends I have in need of a job. Unfortunately right now, I'm in the same sinking boat.
So I went back to the Blue Castle website to see if they've updated their job openings and SURPRISE, they're hiring character artists for their "unannounced Action Title" aka Dead Rising II !!! Well rumors say its Dead Rising II but we'll see what happens. Anyway, this is the job I really want, the one I'm willing to pass up all other opportunities for and it came alot sooner than I thought.
I'm going all out on this one. This is the only job application I've actually prepared, and am giving it my all. In addition to submitting my resume, I put PDFs together, 1 for my 3D work and one for my drawings. I'm exhausting all my talents on this one - 3D characters, drawings, presented in a nice graphic design manner, and I'll probably even do one for my digital paintings, just to show the variety of work I'm capable of doing. I've also contacted Su and Jeremy to see if they're able to pull any strings for me and tomorrow, I'm seeing Charina to get all my assets prepared. I also plan on calling Rachel - or emailing her, haven't really decided yet - and letting her know I'm getting ready for this application and I don't want to screw up. I'm also thinking about emailing Rob and letting him know too.
This is a job to me. This is THE job, and knowing the kind of competition I'm bound to come up against, I need to use all my best 3D works, best drawings, best paintings, incorporate my best graphic design in presenting the pieces, utilize every single fucking contact I have that has a remote chance of putting in a good word for me. Hard work and the right attitude is good, but it won't be enough, not for this, not what this opportunity means to me. Rob, Rachel, Jeremy, Su. I'm sure they could do something to help. And at this point, I'm willing to accept any help they can throw my way. And I should contact Gord too. But I'm not as buddy buddy with him as Cody and Alan are, but I have a feeling he'd be willing to help me out. The only way I can sleep at night if I don't end up getting the job is if I know I did everything possible, and contacted everyone I could.
Also worked on some of the textures Mark sent my way. Created a tiling white sand texture today but he sent it back saying it needed some tweaking, and asked me to start working on a dark brown garden soil texture, which I have yet to start. Also, the company's paying today - I think - so I just sent him an email tallying my hours. Dunno if they'll be needing an invoice though. Hopefully I'll get the money in time to see Christine next weekend.
Yeah, that's about all that's happened to me today. Hoping for the best, as always.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Interview Day: April 4th, 2008
Yesterday didn't start out so great. I had planned to wake up at 9 in the morning but ended up waking at 7 instead. I guess I was nervous about the interview. So I decided to do something productive. I burned a DVD for the Alex Greenberg, the guy at Bear Studios who was going to interview me. And I created a reference list (that i conveniently forgot in to make in the first place), and PDF files of drawings and digital paintings and stuck it with the reel as "bonus material". Made the joke to Alex later in the interview but he didn't seem impressed at my attempt at humor - or maybe it was lost on him. Or maybe it was me trying too hard. Moving on ...
Managed to get dressed in a dress shirt, Harry Potter tie and those khaki pants i wore at Chapters for so long without washing, they were starting to get kinda gross. But i took them home to wash so by the time i had them on that morning, they were good as new, except maybe a little torn at the bottom.
Searched in the basement for a presentable bag or something and ended up finding one of those bags you keep your laptop in, which fit my folder nicely (the folder Andrew and Christine bought for me last Christmas).
Phoned up translink to get directions to the address. But the lady said I should get off at hastings and main for the most direct route. No way in hell I'm walking down hastings and main all nicely dressed for an interview. I'd be robbed out of everything i had on me! So I ended up taking a taxi instead because i wanted to allow time to get lost - which I almost did.
The driver dropped me off at the corner i was supposed to be at, but i thought he was heading down the wrong direction so i just told him to drop me off at that spot and i'd walk the rest of the way which he obliged. Turns out I started walking the wrong way - in the rain. Not knowing where the hell i was, I pretended to be a foreigner and asked which way north. I was supposed to turn right onto 6th Ave heading south on Main, haha.Found a cafe where I could grab some coffee, reconfirmed with the waitress which way north was, and decided to try seeing if i could find the office - and a spot for a quick cigarette.
Found Bear Studios but kept on walking, now confident I knew where it was, in search of a suitable place to smoke. The new BC smoking laws put into effect last monday says you're not allowed to smoke at least 6 meters from a doorway. Fine enough, but finding a place 6 meters from a doorway that's sheltered somewhat from the rain ... very difficult. Found a semi-covered spot (and by semi-covered, i mean I stood under a small roof overhang that was so high up, it didn't really matter it was directly over my head because the wind was blowing the rain at me). Spotted a sign that said CAFE so, desperate for a place to dry off, decided to give it a try. Yeah, walking by and looking through the windows, it looked like a small white trash dump, and I decided it'd be better to avoid altogether - especially dressed the way I was, which i hated. So I kept walking, disappointed, getting wetter and wetter because of hte rain, then i hit main street again and spotted science world. And wherever there was science world, there was the main street skytrain station. And wherever there was the main street skytrain station, there was STARBUCKS!! That was the starbucks we used to go to during my graphic design program. Doing the whole walk, down the same road really brought back memories.
Walked into starbucks and realized the only place to sit was a 4 person counter, of which like 2 chairs were already taken up and a third person, an old lady, was about to take a seat there. Deciding it'd be better to stand then get other people wet by sitting near them, I'd just go find somewhere else to smoke - i'm not a chainer, it'd had already been a good 45 ish minutes since my last one, and i was feeling bored, and a little cranky from the whether, the nice clothes (damn they were uncomfortable though) i was wearing. As I was putting cream and sugar in my coffee (tall mild in a grande, no peppermint syrup this time), i was standing beside a bunch of annoying construction workers - easily older then me, probably 30's-40's, the youngest was probably my age or a little younger - making fun of some lady with cottage cheese fat. I tried looking too, haha, but wasn't able to spot her. But seriously, a bunch of grown people old as them acting like fuckin teenagers. No wonder they ended up as laborers. I had to get out of there quick and found shleter from the rain at Main Street station. Walkin gup the stairs, i relized just how soaked my socks had become from the water leaking through my shoes. I had to suffer wet feet the rest of the day.
Leaning over the railing, i spotted a woman about afloor below smoking. SWEET, there was a smoking spot. And if it wasn't then hell, if she could do it there, so could I. I mentioned this to her as I came down to smoke too. And she said she didn't really care about the new smoking laws - we weren't anywhere new a doorway and there was a group of construction workers - probably the same lame ones at Starbucks, smoking right by a doorway. I had two smokes in a row right there. Waiting for abit, left at about 10 to 2 cause my interview was at 2:30 and i wanted to reach at about quarter past so i could get some time to dry off from the rain.
Went to Shell and bought some gum before going to the studio. Didn't want to walk in smelling like smokes. Took me alot less time to get to the studio than I thought - but it was still hell getting there, uphill most of the way. Or maybe not, but i like exaggerating cause it makes this boring post sound so much more exciting.
Arrived at Bear studios, rang the buzzer and it took a good few seconds for the receptionist to unlock the door. She was a nice lady, very casual atmosphere, she even called me "hun" as I was leaving after the interview. She let me use the washroom to dry off cause i didn't want to go into the interview soaking wet from the rain. SPent a good five minutes in the washroom drying myself off, sat down and read some billboard magazines for awhile while waiting for Alex Greenberg to meet me. Finally the receptionist - i forgot her name, came and got me, led me upstairs where I got to meet Alex.
Slavic guy, you can tell by the accent and the nose, or maybe I've just been hanging out with Andrew and Christine too much, lol. So we sat there and talked about modeling for awhile, showed me some samples of the company's work and what they do, talked about how they do things (no poly limit, multiple render passes, aka ANIMATION HOUSE). He asked if I was comfortable with doing everything he showed me and I said yes. To be honest I'm a little apprehensive about modeling shit THAT high poly but I'm willing to give it a go. On the bright side, I won't be having to bring any models into Z Brush.
So after the interview, headed straight to AI where I tried to convert the NDA for Wikiatlas Corp into PDF format. I mean if Mark Sherman wanted a PDF version back, couldn't he just email me a PDF in the first place? Geez. But instead of taking care of that right away, I got Yuko to give me a guest pass for the day, and talked to her for abit, then talked to Charina for abit, then headed off to the ETC to get the documents converted. And then i find out the I can't use photoshop or acrobat with the guest pass.
So i had to phone ryan starchuck, as him to gimme his password, which he did and I was finally able to do what i came to do in the south campus. Lame. Coming back to AI on the first week of school after I've graduated. Anyway, i was simultaneously talking to Shiach and Scharf online - telling Shiach to come to AI after work so I could pass off Loi's disc to him, and telling Mark to text Gurn and tell him to come pick me up since he works closeby and we were all going out to dinner tonight.
Alas, gurn wasn't by his computer and I had to bus down to Milestones, in my interview clothes to top it off. Gurn said to get there by 7 - 7:30 and I got there at 7. Knowing those fools, I knew they wouldn't show up striaght at 7 but i went in to take a look anyway. Not there, took a walk at the mall the Shark Club is located at, used the washroom, came back at lke 7:20, grabbed a smoke and took another walk around - still not there. Went back outside, and finally they show up but milestones was crowded and it'd be a half hour wait. Decided to go across the street to the shark club instead, while gurn drove and mark and alan went with him, james and I walked across the street, lol. We got there and found out shark club is closed for renovations so we decided to hit up Kingsway and see what was there.
Graeme called along the way, and we still hadn't decided where we were going yet until someone suggested we go to Sammy J's. Being out of town James asked what Sammy J's was. Me and gurn were like "peppers" at the same time, hahaha. "he's like thanks, way to clear it up." I guess you just had to have been there. Also talked about the science (or lack thereof) of Feng Shui and acupuncture.
So we get to Sammy J's, wait for a ridiculously long time for them to set a table for 6, and while we're waiting, graeme shows up. They finally seat us and we sit and drink, order some appetizers, discuss the meaning of tapas (i always thought it was a greek dish). ordered potato skins, bacon rolls, and chicken wings - 10% off each dish if you order three. Not a bad deal. We were still hungry after the appetizers so we ordered some entrees. While waiting for them to come, I went with Mark and Gurn to go pick up some smokes - they had smoked my last ones and ended up walking a million blocks and I'm a little drunk by this time.
Got back to Sammy J's and my food is waiting for me on the table, a little bit cold. What was my dish ... creole sauce and seafood linguine or something. Whatever, it was good, that's all I remember. Decided to talk rockband for abit, and gurn and james managed to arrange some kind of rockband event between the two of them. graeme left a little bit early, had to work on his art test, and the rest of us stayed behind for a little bit longer. After that, gurn drove us home. I was the first to be dropped off. One more smoke, back into the house, tipsy as hell, and passed right out.
What a day.
Managed to get dressed in a dress shirt, Harry Potter tie and those khaki pants i wore at Chapters for so long without washing, they were starting to get kinda gross. But i took them home to wash so by the time i had them on that morning, they were good as new, except maybe a little torn at the bottom.
Searched in the basement for a presentable bag or something and ended up finding one of those bags you keep your laptop in, which fit my folder nicely (the folder Andrew and Christine bought for me last Christmas).
Phoned up translink to get directions to the address. But the lady said I should get off at hastings and main for the most direct route. No way in hell I'm walking down hastings and main all nicely dressed for an interview. I'd be robbed out of everything i had on me! So I ended up taking a taxi instead because i wanted to allow time to get lost - which I almost did.
The driver dropped me off at the corner i was supposed to be at, but i thought he was heading down the wrong direction so i just told him to drop me off at that spot and i'd walk the rest of the way which he obliged. Turns out I started walking the wrong way - in the rain. Not knowing where the hell i was, I pretended to be a foreigner and asked which way north. I was supposed to turn right onto 6th Ave heading south on Main, haha.Found a cafe where I could grab some coffee, reconfirmed with the waitress which way north was, and decided to try seeing if i could find the office - and a spot for a quick cigarette.
Found Bear Studios but kept on walking, now confident I knew where it was, in search of a suitable place to smoke. The new BC smoking laws put into effect last monday says you're not allowed to smoke at least 6 meters from a doorway. Fine enough, but finding a place 6 meters from a doorway that's sheltered somewhat from the rain ... very difficult. Found a semi-covered spot (and by semi-covered, i mean I stood under a small roof overhang that was so high up, it didn't really matter it was directly over my head because the wind was blowing the rain at me). Spotted a sign that said CAFE so, desperate for a place to dry off, decided to give it a try. Yeah, walking by and looking through the windows, it looked like a small white trash dump, and I decided it'd be better to avoid altogether - especially dressed the way I was, which i hated. So I kept walking, disappointed, getting wetter and wetter because of hte rain, then i hit main street again and spotted science world. And wherever there was science world, there was the main street skytrain station. And wherever there was the main street skytrain station, there was STARBUCKS!! That was the starbucks we used to go to during my graphic design program. Doing the whole walk, down the same road really brought back memories.
Walked into starbucks and realized the only place to sit was a 4 person counter, of which like 2 chairs were already taken up and a third person, an old lady, was about to take a seat there. Deciding it'd be better to stand then get other people wet by sitting near them, I'd just go find somewhere else to smoke - i'm not a chainer, it'd had already been a good 45 ish minutes since my last one, and i was feeling bored, and a little cranky from the whether, the nice clothes (damn they were uncomfortable though) i was wearing. As I was putting cream and sugar in my coffee (tall mild in a grande, no peppermint syrup this time), i was standing beside a bunch of annoying construction workers - easily older then me, probably 30's-40's, the youngest was probably my age or a little younger - making fun of some lady with cottage cheese fat. I tried looking too, haha, but wasn't able to spot her. But seriously, a bunch of grown people old as them acting like fuckin teenagers. No wonder they ended up as laborers. I had to get out of there quick and found shleter from the rain at Main Street station. Walkin gup the stairs, i relized just how soaked my socks had become from the water leaking through my shoes. I had to suffer wet feet the rest of the day.
Leaning over the railing, i spotted a woman about afloor below smoking. SWEET, there was a smoking spot. And if it wasn't then hell, if she could do it there, so could I. I mentioned this to her as I came down to smoke too. And she said she didn't really care about the new smoking laws - we weren't anywhere new a doorway and there was a group of construction workers - probably the same lame ones at Starbucks, smoking right by a doorway. I had two smokes in a row right there. Waiting for abit, left at about 10 to 2 cause my interview was at 2:30 and i wanted to reach at about quarter past so i could get some time to dry off from the rain.
Went to Shell and bought some gum before going to the studio. Didn't want to walk in smelling like smokes. Took me alot less time to get to the studio than I thought - but it was still hell getting there, uphill most of the way. Or maybe not, but i like exaggerating cause it makes this boring post sound so much more exciting.
Arrived at Bear studios, rang the buzzer and it took a good few seconds for the receptionist to unlock the door. She was a nice lady, very casual atmosphere, she even called me "hun" as I was leaving after the interview. She let me use the washroom to dry off cause i didn't want to go into the interview soaking wet from the rain. SPent a good five minutes in the washroom drying myself off, sat down and read some billboard magazines for awhile while waiting for Alex Greenberg to meet me. Finally the receptionist - i forgot her name, came and got me, led me upstairs where I got to meet Alex.
Slavic guy, you can tell by the accent and the nose, or maybe I've just been hanging out with Andrew and Christine too much, lol. So we sat there and talked about modeling for awhile, showed me some samples of the company's work and what they do, talked about how they do things (no poly limit, multiple render passes, aka ANIMATION HOUSE). He asked if I was comfortable with doing everything he showed me and I said yes. To be honest I'm a little apprehensive about modeling shit THAT high poly but I'm willing to give it a go. On the bright side, I won't be having to bring any models into Z Brush.
So after the interview, headed straight to AI where I tried to convert the NDA for Wikiatlas Corp into PDF format. I mean if Mark Sherman wanted a PDF version back, couldn't he just email me a PDF in the first place? Geez. But instead of taking care of that right away, I got Yuko to give me a guest pass for the day, and talked to her for abit, then talked to Charina for abit, then headed off to the ETC to get the documents converted. And then i find out the I can't use photoshop or acrobat with the guest pass.
So i had to phone ryan starchuck, as him to gimme his password, which he did and I was finally able to do what i came to do in the south campus. Lame. Coming back to AI on the first week of school after I've graduated. Anyway, i was simultaneously talking to Shiach and Scharf online - telling Shiach to come to AI after work so I could pass off Loi's disc to him, and telling Mark to text Gurn and tell him to come pick me up since he works closeby and we were all going out to dinner tonight.
Alas, gurn wasn't by his computer and I had to bus down to Milestones, in my interview clothes to top it off. Gurn said to get there by 7 - 7:30 and I got there at 7. Knowing those fools, I knew they wouldn't show up striaght at 7 but i went in to take a look anyway. Not there, took a walk at the mall the Shark Club is located at, used the washroom, came back at lke 7:20, grabbed a smoke and took another walk around - still not there. Went back outside, and finally they show up but milestones was crowded and it'd be a half hour wait. Decided to go across the street to the shark club instead, while gurn drove and mark and alan went with him, james and I walked across the street, lol. We got there and found out shark club is closed for renovations so we decided to hit up Kingsway and see what was there.
Graeme called along the way, and we still hadn't decided where we were going yet until someone suggested we go to Sammy J's. Being out of town James asked what Sammy J's was. Me and gurn were like "peppers" at the same time, hahaha. "he's like thanks, way to clear it up." I guess you just had to have been there. Also talked about the science (or lack thereof) of Feng Shui and acupuncture.
So we get to Sammy J's, wait for a ridiculously long time for them to set a table for 6, and while we're waiting, graeme shows up. They finally seat us and we sit and drink, order some appetizers, discuss the meaning of tapas (i always thought it was a greek dish). ordered potato skins, bacon rolls, and chicken wings - 10% off each dish if you order three. Not a bad deal. We were still hungry after the appetizers so we ordered some entrees. While waiting for them to come, I went with Mark and Gurn to go pick up some smokes - they had smoked my last ones and ended up walking a million blocks and I'm a little drunk by this time.
Got back to Sammy J's and my food is waiting for me on the table, a little bit cold. What was my dish ... creole sauce and seafood linguine or something. Whatever, it was good, that's all I remember. Decided to talk rockband for abit, and gurn and james managed to arrange some kind of rockband event between the two of them. graeme left a little bit early, had to work on his art test, and the rest of us stayed behind for a little bit longer. After that, gurn drove us home. I was the first to be dropped off. One more smoke, back into the house, tipsy as hell, and passed right out.
What a day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)