William

GTA = Good Times Always

Some of you asked if there was not a game I could play to occupy myself while Wm plays the GTA 4. The truth is, about two weeks before the game came out, I went through a brief Sims2 phase. Happens from time to time. It was stupid. I should have held off. It only lasts about 2 weeks. If I had only waited until GTA came out. I’m still playing, but it feels forced.

The majority of the time Wil plays, I am sitting in my corner of the couch either reading or watching him play. The story line of this game is actually very rich and intriguing. I get kinda caught up in that. And, it seems it’s more fun if I am there to watch, in fact, sometimes it seems necessary. I enjoy following the missions and seeing what unfolds as he completes each one. The game is gorgeous and I love seeing the new territories as he unlocks them. Also, I’m in charge of outfits. That’s a general rule for all video games. If there are outfit changes, I am in charge of picking them out.

But there is another approach to playing the game in which I don’t have much interest. We call it Going On A Rampage.

Me: Honey, what are you doing? Why did you shoot that guy in the face?

Wm: He pushed me. I have a rep to protect.

Me: But that was completely unnecessary. Oh now look what you’ve done, the police are here. You are going to have to lose your wanted level and you’ll be late for your date with Kate.

Wm: It’s no big deal, I’ll out run them in 2 seconds.

Me: You’d better call her and reschedule. She’s going to be mad.

Wm: It’s all good.

Me: Oh now look what you’ve done! Shooting at the police from your car is not helping. Kate is going to be so mad. Is it necessary to smash into every other car on the road?

Wm: Yes. Yes it is. Because we are GOING ON A RAMPAGE!!

Me: sigh.

I can see why it would be fun to Go On A Rampage if you were playing the game. I’m just saying it’s not as interesting to me to watch. That’s all.

The other day Wil handed the controller to me and told me to just “drive to Manny’s while I go the bathroom.”

I told him it was a bad idea. I don’t know what I was trying to do, maybe turn left, I don’t know how to work the controls for this game, but what I actually did was stick my gun out the window and start shooting. At cops. Naturally a chase ensued, and with my complete lack of GTA driving skill, I managed a head on collision so massive that it sent me flying out the windshield, over a wall and onto some docks. Nowhere near any cars to to steal, like I even knew how to do that in the first place. So I panicked and started running amuck, trying to get away from the police. Only I accidentally went into a “crouch” and could not get out of it. So I was actually Creeping Away from the cops. Will comes back just when I am being arrested. Because I was arrested and not killed in a shootout or something, Wil lost all the weapons he had been collecting up to that point.

I TOLD him it was a bad idea. Just drive to Manny’s indeed.

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Canada

Vs.

A few weeks ago I was buying some books at Chapters, using my WaMu MasterCard card. My wallet was open, on the counter, and the bookseller could see my driver’s license. He noticed I was from the states. Usually, when retailers notice this, they ask me if I am visiting. When I tell them I live here now, they ask me how I like it, etc. This guy asked me something completely different, and it rendered me speechless for a moment.

“So, do you like it better up here?”

Uhh… how to answer that politely. Because, let’s face, I am Canada’s house guest, and I don’t want to offend. And the truth is, no, I don’t.

To be fair, this is not a US vs. Canada issue. Or a Seattle vs. Vancouver issues. This is a Seattle vs. everywhere else on the planet issue. And no one has got a chance of beating it. Of all the places in the world, I love none so much as I love Seattle. I have never found another place that makes me feel like I am “home,” like Seattle. It fits me.

It just so happens I found someone I love more than I love Seattle. And so here I am. And it’s great. I do like it up here.

First of all, Seattle and Vancouver? Not that different. Or at least similar enough to suit me.

And living in a country that truly does consider all men created equal, allowing anyone to get married, not just the heterosexuals? AWESOME. Even though I am not looking to marry a woman anytime soon, I can’t help but feel that Canada is the enlightened one on this continent. (Really, U.S., it’s embarrassing, we have to start taking those “self evident” truths more seriously. In all manners of speaking.)

Thirdly, wheat thins taste better here*. They do, I don’t know why. They are crispier. Taste more baked than fried. Bring me a box of US Wheat Thins and we’ll have a taste test at my house. I will make you some cream cheese and Pickapeppa sauce dip, but you have to bring the Pickapeppa sauce, because I can’t find it here.

One of my favorite things? Skytrain. I WISH Seattle had something like the Skytrain.

I hear the beer is better here, which really does not matter to me, but I have to give it props for that. However, don’t get me started on the price of gas. No, don’t. Because I was listing off things I like about Canada.

So like it better? No. But I like it just fine.



*things really do taste different. Conversely, Double Stuff Oreos do not taste good. I’m sorry, the “stuff” is weird up here.

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Uncategorized

Boris says “HeeEEEyy.”

There is a spider that has been living in or around my desk for the last week. He’s very tiny. I do not think he could make the leap from my desk top, to my neck, which is why he still lives. When he’s on the curtain, I scoot away to the right, however. Just in case.

I have tried, numerous times, to scoop him up and take him outside. He has evaded me, thus far.

His name is Boris. Duh. All spiders are named Boris or Natasha. Thems the rules. I don’t makes them and I don’t breaks them.

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Uncategorized

Merry Widow

Well, there we were last night, with a surprising number of people. 98% of them male. I saw one GF type person leave with her BF, he was carrying a special edition box of GTA 4. She had the look of “chauffeur” about her. I imagine this was tat for some mall shopping companionship tit from the recent past. And I saw a mom type lady from far back towards the end of the line.

We pulled in at 11, and then walked over to the Timothy Horton’s for coffee. When we pulled in, there were two people sitting by the door. By 11:15, there were about 14, so Wil got in line. I stayed in the car until about 11:45. It’s a good thing he got in line, because by the time I joined him, it went around the building. It’s not that we wouldn’t get a copy. We were guaranteed a copy since I pre-ordered a special edition copy for his birthday weeks ago. (It was from the kittens) It was just a matter of how long we had to wait once the store opened. They were only letting 10 people in at a time. It’s a rather small store, that EB games.

Like I said, it was mostly guys in line. Boys… guys… men…. all shapes and sizes and ages, and all obsessed. I had no doubt the second Wil joined the line he would have someone to talk to. They were all buzzing with excitement. There was a dad type fellow who was there with a kid, no older than 8. (Didn’t that kid have to go to school this morning? That’s all I want to know. ) The kid apparently knew a couple of guys in line behind us, and spent most of the time back there, filling their heads with random facts.

“Did you know that Bill Gates is the richest man in the world, but Madonna’s kids are worth more.”

He also implied that he’d seen both American History X and Porky’s, to which both gentlemen professed some degree of distress. I have to admit, when he started talking about Porky’s, I might have gasped a little. This kid was young.

Apparently it was all too much for the boys in line, that last ten minutes. The Dad started utilizing the Kid to trick the EB lady in opening the door early. The kid was all over this task. He was begging, pleading, professing a wicked need to pee. But to no avail. Finally the kid slapped the door and shouted “You’re mean!” A collected gasp was heard through out the line. The dad sent him back to the two guys behind us, while everyone said “Whoa, dude… you took it too far.”

This is Canada after all.

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William

Overheard on the SkyTrain two days ago.

“Dude, it’s totally going to be 420 in twoOOOoooOOoo days.”

“Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh.”

Dude, we totally should have gotten married in April instead of July. Cuz then we’d be married on 420! Heh-heh-heh-heh. (distinctive pot smoker laugh) And like, for our first anniversary, we could have gotten each other rolling papers, right? Cuz the traditional first anniversary present is supposed to be paper or something. I think. I used to work at Hallmark, I should know this shit.

But we didn’t. So today we are only at the 9 month mark. Which means Wil has finally figured out we didn’t HAVE to get married. Sure pulled a fast on him, eh?

Since there is no such thing as a 9 month anniversary, I bought myself a present, a flash drive, which I had been wanting for a while. Had to have it. Had to.

Melettomain

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William

presents and steak

You know what I miss? Fridays. The way Fridays feel. The TGIF of them. I realize you have to work or go to school to get that feeling. Maybe it’s not worth it, if you can swing not doing either. But still, Fridays always felt great.

Today is Wil’s birthday. Yay! For his birthday I got him an iPod Nano, black. He wants to start running and it has some sort of jogging kit you can get. You put something in your Nike shoe… I’m not sure how it works, but he’s already got the Nikes. Plus, he wanted a small mp3 player for said running. I can’t think of a single reason why you’d want anything but one of the many flavors of iPod, especially as a mac user.

My mom and Bob bought him a Hunter S. Thompson for Sheriff of Aspen CO 1970 poster. AKA: The coolest poster in the world, according to

Wil. My goodness my mom knows him well.

The kittens pre-ordered the special edition of Grand Theft Auto 4 for him. He’s only been waiting like a year and half for it. I swear to god his head is going to explode, now that we are at the 10 days and counting point. In fact, while pre-ordering it, I found out that the EB Games is having a midnight release party. So we can actually pick it up on Monday night. Technically, it will be the 29th, but physically, we’ll still be feeling the 28th.

So yes, we will be sitting in the parking lot late Monday night, waiting to pick up his copy. Looking like a couple of huge gamer geeks. Actually, looking like one gamer geek and his wife who drove him there. Because she is so sweet. And intelligent. And kinda hot, too.

We are off to Pinky’s for a birthday steak dinner. Hooray for meat!

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