A ver si podemos mantener el paso de estos golfeados de maple que estamos cocinando...

Monday, January 28, 2008

Finalement

Despues de meses de dejarlo pa'mañana, finalmente lo hice. Presente mi examen escrito (pasando de vaina) y pase mi examen practico. Finalmente tengo mi licencia de conducir. Ahora, cada vez que extranie la emocion de manejar un carro (nunca) o me pidan identificacion en un bar (desde hace como 15 que dejaron de hacerlo), podre sacar orgulloso mi licencia y decir 'soy alguien en ontario'.

Sacarse la licencia aqui es, a diferencia de algunos otros paises, todo un proceso. Hay que estudiarse un carajazo de seniales y reglas, multas, penalizaciones, y varios otros etceteras. Luego, hay que hacer el examen practico, donde te evaluan hasta como agarras el volante. Finalmente, y luego de hacerle creer al examinador que puedo manejar como un ciudadano responsable, me uni a la elite canadiense que posee una licencia de conducir. Y todo eso sin pasar por el sutilmente vergonzoso pero sobrepoblado grupo de quienes no pasaron el examen practico a la primera.

Por supuesto, tal hazaña habia que premiarla, por lo que me fui para una tienda de musica y me compre unos buenos audifonos. Hace tiempo queria darme este regalo, pero no habia conseguido la excusa. Finalmente puedo escuchar con buen detalle la riqueza que ciertos discos ofrecen (Mum, Peter Gabriel, Lali Puna, otros). Gracias a tener un apartamento bien silencioso y una esposa realmente comprensiva, me pude ahorrar los extra 100$+ que pagaria por comprar unos audifonos con cancelacion de ruido.

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After months of putting it up, I finally did it. I (barely) passed my written test, and took my practical exam. I finally have my driver's license. Now, every time I miss the thrill of driving (probably never) or I get Id'd at a bar (hasnt happened in 15 years), I can proudly show my license and say Im someone in Ontario.

After making the examiner believe that I can drive as a responsible citizen, I joined the canadian elite characterized by owning a driver's license. All that without joining the shameful but overpopulated group of those who did not pass the practical exam.

Of course, such an achievement had to be rewarded, so I went to a music store and bought a good set of headphones. Ive been wanting to give me that gift for some time, but I hadn't had an excuse. Finally, I can listen with more detail the richness that some CDs offer, such as Mum, Peter Gabriel and Lali Puna. Thanks to a quiet apartment and an understanding wife, I was able to save the extra 100$+ that I would have to pay for a pair of noise cancelling headphones.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

It's my bad memory's fault

... that I don't exercise more often. If I remembered clearly how good it feels once you're finished, how your muscles are relaxed and your mind clearer than ever, I would exercise everyday. If I remembered how the scale starts to go down (slowly, of course, very slowly), I would plan on exercising everyday. But as soon as I forget how good it is, I lower its priority on my list of things to plan. And then, at the last minute, Ill find something so important and urgent, that I can't go to the gym. Damn.

It's just like showering. Showering is healthy, it feels good, and it prevents us from scaring othes with ape-like scents. Still, lots of kids go through a phase of not wanting to go shower, cause they're doing something more important. Like playing. Or watching tv. Their mothers will ask them to go take a shower, and they'll slack off to the last minute, giving any excuse they can. Then, when they're finally in the bathroom, they realize they should not be doing this against their will, so they'll go through all sorts of tricks to make believe they did take a shower. Wet the hair on the sink, turn on the shower and read a comic for a few minutes, you all know these tricks. All this for the rightful defense of the two most important pillars of today's society: procrastrination and free will.

Not that I was one of those kids, of course, I just read that somewhere :)

But I am curious, though. If you were one of those kids, or heard of one, what other strategies are being used to trick mothers into thinking you did take that shower?

Not that I will use those when my wife asks me to shower, of course :D

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Es culpa de mi mala memoria

... que no ejercite mas a menudo. Si recordase con claridad cuan bien se siente luego de ejercitar, cuan relajados estan los musculos y cuan clara esta la mente, haria algun tipo de ejercicio cada dia. Si recordase como la balanza comienza a descender (lentamente, claro, muy lentamente), planificaria hacer ejercicio todos los dias. Pero tan pronto olvido cuan bueno es, le bajo la prioridad en la lista de cosas a planificar. Y luego, en el ultimo minuto, siempre encuentro algo tan importante y tan urgente que hacer, que termino faltando al gimnasio. Que vaina.

Es como ducharse. Darse una ducha es saludable, se siente bien, y evita que asustemos a los demas con olores dignos de un simio. Sin embargo, muchos niños pasan por una fase de no querer bañarse, por estar haciendo algo mas importante. Como jugar. O ver tv. Sus madres le pediran que se vayan a duchar, y ellos flojearan hasta el ultimo minuto, dando cualquier excusa que puedan. Luego, cuando finalmente los persuaden de entrar al baño, se daran cuenta de que no deberian hacer esto en contra de su voluntad, asi que haran cualquier tipo de trucos para hacer creer que en efecto se bañaron. Mojar el pelo en el lavamano, prender la ducha y leer un comic por unos minutos, etc. Ustedes saben los trucos. Todo esto por la defensa de los dos pilares mas importantes de la sociedad actual: procrastrinacion y libre albedrio.

No es que yo fuese uno de esos chamos, claro. Lo lei en alguna parte :)

Pero me da curiosidad. Si tu eras uno de esos chamos, o sabes de alguno, que otras estrategias se usan para hacer creer a una madre que tomaste una ducha?

No es que yo vaya a usar ninguno de esos trucos cuando mi esposa me pida que me duche, claro :D

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Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Happy Birthday Stephen

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/01/dayintech_0108

Friday, January 04, 2008

A quickie

Today, in absence of more time and patience, I'll do a quickie. A quickie post, that is. You figured that already, cause you're smart.

This quickie will be a swift report of our trip to Montreal for the new year.

Dec 29: We arrived to Montreal, met our couchsurfing host Liga, and after leaving our stuff and talking for a bit, we went out again. We met with my high school friend Veronica for lunch, it was nice to see her after all this time, and hear her stories about her journey to Canada. Another educated brain that leaves Venezuela seeking better life conditions. And how can I blame her, I'm one of those too.
At night, we went to a couchsurfer's place for dinner, he made this cool indian meal, while we watched a Bollywood movie (actually the first one I see from start to end). It is quite an experience to see so many people dancing and singing for three full hours.

Dec 30: We headed to the Bell Centre to watch Cirque du Soleil!!! It was breathtaking!! The spectacle was so beautiful, it reminded me of the magic a kid can feel when hearing a fairy story. I'm sure I'd pay again to see another of their shows.
After that, we visited Dominique and Pierre, who are spending these weeks taking care of Felix, their 6 weeks old son. We had a really great time, just talking over dinner and spending time with the baby. We ended up staying with them that night, cause we didn't really feel like going out in the nasty weather and they were nice enough to offer the couch :)

Dec 31: We had a failed attempt at ice skating; the indoor rink was very crowded and we had to pay to get in, so we decided we'd do something else. We walked around the old city with Koichi, and it was an interesting walk. Many places were closed, though, and we ended up eating some fries at a not-so-special place. At least there was some beer :)
Later, we headed to this famous Smoked Meat place with Liga. After walking in the cold wind for quite a few blocks, we arrived to find the place closed, which was a pity. Hungry and disappointed, we continued looking for some dinner, only to find virtually everything closed. Our new years eve dinner ended up being shawarma and tabule. Not very traditional, but at least it was cheap :D
After eating we met a large group of couchsurfiers at one of the guys' place, and shortly before midnight we all migrated to the Mainline Theater which had organized a party. We received the year there, and it was fun. Very different from the usual family gathering with venezuelan music, but fun nonetheless. After a couple hours of not-so-festive music which slowed us down to the point of reminding us we were well past our usual bedtime, we decided to call it a night (the party's theme was 50's beach, so it was the beach boys and the likes). We couldn't finish the night without trying some 2am poutine, of course, which i must say was great.

Jan 1 started with a New Year's Gongyo, a traditional gathering of SGI. Montreal has many members, and the meeting was a very energetic one. My french must be improving, because I was able to understand some of the phrases in the messages they read :). After that, we went for lunch with some members to a nearby indian restaurant, which was great.
Tired and ready for a nap, we had the great idea to go to a nearby theater to get some afternoon sleep. The idea of sleeping in a movie that charges 2$ per movie sounds so intelligent when you just ate something bigger than your stomach. So, after walking for 20 mins in the middle of a snow storm and not finding the theater, we decided maybe it was smarter to take the nap at our host's place. D'oh.
After a revitalizing hour of sleep, we went for dinner to Dominique and Pierre's, and this time Koichi came with us too. It was a nice evening, lots of cheese and wine and food and dessert :D

Jan 2nd was our return trip, but before that we decided to join some SGI youth members who were having a long chanting session. We stayed for about 1 1/2hrs, and then went for lunch. They say third time is the charm, but we were luckier than that and actually found Schwartz open at our second attempt (the smoked meat place). The sandwiches were great, and the coffee later was even better. It was time to catch our bus already, so we ran home to get our stuff.
The trip was quick but we did a lot, and we had a lot of fun. It felt nice to be back home though, knowing what a packed and interesting year awaits us.

Soooo, if you got this far, you are either family or you get paid for reading this blog. You will be surprised that there are no pictures of this trip, but we seem to be bothering less and less about taking pictures. It takes some of the joy of the moment, I must confess, so I wont complain much. I promise to take a few pictures next time something interesting happens around us.

Good year to all, us included, and Ill stop typing before I lose half of my audience. I don't think thats exactly possible, cause I can't lose one and a half readers.

Au revoir.

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