July 1, 2002

Happy Canada Day!

So I attended a party last night. More specifically, an engagement party for my friend Kevin and his fiancée Kim.

This was a lavish affair.

I suppose that it would be an understatement to say that Kim's parents have some money. When my mother saw the invitation, she mentioned that the place had some really nice, expensive houses. One of the richer areas of the city.

I got there and pulled up to the nicest house on the block, and was greeted by Kevin and Kim at the door.

It's a really nice place that Kim's parents have there, although not quite my style. I like houses to be liveable, and the entire main floor doesn't seem that way. Instead you've got collections of artwork and vases (Apparently her father's obsessed with collecting vases), with some really fancy looking and not too comfortable furniture.

Fortunately the basement is a lot more comfy.

But of course, I only knew 5 people there, two of which were the bride and groom to be, so I had to flex my talking to random strangers muscles a bit, which is always fun for someone as introverted as myself.

A quartet of musicians set up at the top of the stairs, a bunch of servers offering people wine, bellinis, crantinis, and various hors d'oeuvres imported from Montreal (Apparently you can't get good Kosher stuff in Calgary). It was the most posh event I had ever been to. I had a good time, and it was good to see Kevin again, since he'd been living in Los Angeles for the past two years, and they're moving to New York next year, which is even more out of the way.

Thankfully it started dying down about 11 PM, and I was able to spend an hour or so just catching up with him.

And, if you're curious, the wedding will be held exactly a year after the engagement party.

And on a side note, my friend Allisha arrives back from Europe today. I really should ask her out.

And as an update, I did, and she said no.

Looks like the confidence I was talking about a month ago paid off. I did well in the entrance exam for Oulu as expected, but today I found out I've also been accepted into the university of Jyväskylä. Actually, I seem to have made it into every school I applied for.

And now I have to choose between two universities. This wasn't something I had prepared for, and it's turning out to be a somewhat difficult task. While Jyväskylä is much closer to the southern parts of Finland where 99% of my Finnish friends live in, their school has a rather heavy emphasis on math and/or economics, both of which are far from being my favourite subjects. Furthermore, I've got a few friends in Oulu but know nobody in JKL. As cities they both seem to be fine, and I doubt the quality of teaching etc varies that much either.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not complaining. In fact my self confidence is at an all time high, knowing that I've successfully passed all those exams I studied so hard for. However, I'm bound to crash back to the ground head first after I exchange my high paying IT job for the stress-filled life of an economically challenged student. Sure, instant ramen seems delicious now...

At least I'll finally have a good enough excuse to move out of my parents' house.
My dad seemed very pleased at the news..

23:16

I guess I've made up my mind: in two months I'll be having my own northern exposure way up in Oulu. 3.5 extra hours in a train per direction isn't that bad, is it? Mom is naturally upset of my choice, because to her it means I won't be visiting my family as often. My dad is ecstatic knowing I'll be out of the house soon. And me? I'm stoked for being the first person (that I know of) in both of my parents' families to enter such a school. Who knows, perhaps I'll even graduate some day...

In reality, it is. Hang around long enough, you'll make some interesting friends, perhaps even meet a few folks from this online rag.

Hang around long enough, you'll find someone you admired is gone.

Sometimes it may be a wharfinger, who decided to do other things. Sometimes it's more permanent. Another member of our little community passed away, one gent named ephealy. Visit his homepage for additional information. Then take the time, if you haven't before, to go read some of his work.

Our "/me misses _____" lines are multiplying way too fast. Let's hope that this is the last one for a long while. Rest in peace, Evan.

Last night I bumped into my next-door neighbour Jenny.
She had been gardening all day, and I noticed she had pruned all of her rose bushes. (She has a lot of rose bushes). I said, "Hey, you pruned your roses"
and she said something like, "Yes, if I prune them all at the same time, they should all bloom at the same time".

I thought that made sense, and trying to keep the chit-chat going I asked, "So when will they bloom?"
and she replied "Melbourne Cup Day."

I was intrigued, as this was fairly specific information. So I said "Really? Can you really be sure about that?" And here's what she said - "I was listening to the radio one time, and the gardeners from Flemington Racecourse were on, and they said that if you prune your roses on July the 1st, they'll bloom on Melbourne Cup Day. So I tried it last year, and sure enough! They bloomed on the first Tuesday in November". Well, I was amazed. How do the roses know it's when it's Tuesday?

I knew I had to do it.

Anxiety!

Should I?

I did.

I sat down, calmed my racing aorta, and began to scribble a TriForce on my paper.

She knew what the TriForce was!

This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.