severe indulgencies

For the first time in years, I re-read my own blog.
80% - forgotten about
60% - caused me to say, “I wrote that?!”
30% - wished still resonated w/ me now…

I thought about making this new entry a deeply philosophical and profound life lesson on the new and wonderful events that happened in the day and life of Julie Cho… but then I realized how little has changed.

Anyway, being the optimist I am, I did think a lot about how the world is going to end. The destruction of the world is going to be caused by 2 very preventable and subtle sources: inconvenience and discomfort. Allow me to explain…

Inconvenience “forces” us to:

• Drive to places that are sometimes walking distances
• Not car pool
• Shop at ‘mega stores’, despite the economic hardship mega stores inflict on local small businesses
• Consume fast food
• Demand small individually packaged items
• Leave the lights on w/ no one in the room
• Buy imported groceries w/out consideration as to how much fuel was used to get it here
• Not fix leaking faucets, poorly insulated windows/frames, etc.
• Use a lot of ‘disposable’ things

Discomfort “forces” us to:

• Leave the water running while lathering in the shower to stay warm
• Sit in the TTC “Priority Seating” area with our eyes shut
• Turn the heat or air conditioner higher during peak days/hours
• Idle the car more
• Use more Styrofoam (Styrofoam is the cheapest “disposable” calorimeter)
• Require the use of plastic bags in grocery stores
• Continue smoking knowing the harm it causes

…these are among many other habits and subconscious defiances against our Earth we silly North Americans love to do. But alas, like my other theories, I could be utterly mistaken… after all; I am under the impression that global warming will quietly kill us all.

Oh, and what gets me even more is that here we are bending over backwards to make ourselves feel better about whatever the media/profit-driven society deems important (i.e. beauty, money, power, etc.)… In the long-run, what does it do? None of it is permanent and we’ll always want more. And then the feeling of simply having enough… fades away…

when it ends in 8

it's been almost a year since the last post. not much has been goin' on...
i'm a little greener, a little more girly, a little less flirty, and a little more responsible w/ money... considering OSAP is taking $1k/month for the next 2 years.

how have you changed? by 'you' i mean the world...
- it's bloody 15 degrees above zero in mid january... people, the world is melting, let's do something about it!! O_O
- there's already been 3 dead pedestrians who were hit by cars since the year started
- more than 5 fatal veh accidents due to drunk drivers
- more privatized healthcare in Canada (boo! go home privatized garbage!)
- homemade bombs going off all over the world
- Bush is still an idiot
- we have Family Day as a stat holiday
- the rich grows richer and the poor grow poorer... i guess that didn't change.

2007 was the year of changes - for me at least.
wonder how you and i will be when it ends in 8. hit me.

update

I just thought it'd be nice to update everyone on my life:

• I'm done my post-secondary education FOREVER (until I do my Masters)
• I will be unemployed as of May 1, 2007
• For the first time since grade 6, I'm single & not looking
• Going to hit up AIA (May 5-10) for some spiritual, mental and physical training
• Going on my first real vacation to Europe (May 13-June 1)
• Sister and Leanne (housemate) moved out
• Mother and I have a good thing going
• Men's group has been/will be going through some changes... we'll see how that goes
• Planning to play for Flying Tigers vball team this summer and we'll be going to San Fran for our final tournament (first week of Sept)
• I no longer have a gym membership
• I'm playing the piano 5 times the amount I used to play
• Looking forward to beach vball action every Saturday morning in the summer
• I have an urge to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity consistently within Toronto
• I like dragon fruit
• Facebook takes up a lot of my time... that'll change soon (hopefully)

So that's the big update on the Choanator. I'm not sure whether or not I'll be blogging on a regular basis, so until next time - have a good one!

BAG-O-POCKY

wow, it really has been ages since I last posted... but in any case, I will continue the story of Ling (for those of you who don't know; she's my mom) later - that is a promise. As for now, I feel inclined to list all the Pocky flavours I've tried and have boxes of (I had to take them down and I realized how long it has been since I've tried a new flavour).

Normal Pocky
- chocolate (new & old style boxes)
- black sesame
- soybean
- strawberry cream coated
- cheese cake
- men's chocolate
- coconut milk chocolate

Pocky Mousse
- chocolate
- cream coated
- green tea cream coated
- green flowery box kind (green tea again?)
- purple flowery box kind (??)
- custard fondu

Specialty Pocky
- winter pocky ("made of only the finest chocolate")
- almond crush, chocolate coated
- Pocky G
- Pocky G - berry
- 'Decorer' chocolate/strawberry
- 'Decorer' chocolate/banana

Little-Sized Boxes Pocky
- almond
- caramel
- yogurt

If anyone comes across some funky new flavours that aren't listed here, please buy it and I'll pay you back! ^__^
... you know, this is kinda sad... =P *ha ha* ~shrug~

this is my Ling, this is her story...

Joe stepped slowly towards the small field of delicate bushes where a large gathering of Chinese women plucked off tealeaves into their baskets. He squinted against the sun to look for the woman he traveled miles to see – the one he has yet to meet. His vision narrowed towards one of the younger women who gave quick glances into his direction.

“Is she the one?” he thought, as he walked towards her.

His shoulder-length hair, tight orange shirt and brown bellbottoms didn’t match the plain traditional Chinese villager outfits that were the popular choice on this side of the world. Although viewed as stylish in Canada, awkward looks from people at the airport and on his way to the country side told him fashion is outweighed by function here.

“What a funny-looking man,” Ling thought as she subtly watched the foreigner make his way towards her. Her braided hair gently wrapped around her neck as she quickly and carefully pulled off the small leaves. Long braids were typical on women who worked in the fields because if someone was bitten by the lethal tree snake, the long braids were quickly cut off and tied around the limb to stop the poison from circulating.

The calluses on her palms showed many years of hard labour despite her young age. At age 6 she was forced to baby-sit her brother all day, even while attending school. When he cried, made noise, or needed to be fed, she had to leave the class. Three years later, when her brother was old enough to start school on his own, her baby-sitting years continued with a new baby sister to take care of. Despite her lack of attendance in class, by the end of junior high, Ling was one of 14 students in a group of over 60 who qualified to go to high school in the city. Her hard work and late nights catching up with the rest of the class had finally paid off. Finally, she could have a proper education like her older sister... or so she thought.

Ling was the second daughter of the Gan family and therefore, predetermined to be unloved because of China’s demand for sons; especially since the first child was a girl, the hope for a son amplified for the second child. As a result, from birth, Ling had been pushed into the laborious role of a male without the love and respect that came with it. Hence, when the time came, her acceptance letter and her dream of having proper schooling were torn up by her mother, who already signed Ling up to raise an ox for their neighbour. This was a typical job for young teens that lived in poor families. The long, uneventful hours of tending to the beast gave families enough money to provide one more meal with meat per month.

After 2 time-consuming years of ox-watching, the 14-year-old went off to another village to churn tofu for another 2 years. The daily consumption of soy bean products made her skin radiant and smooth. When she returned home, she had developed into a beautiful and slim young lady. For the next few years, she worked part-time as an assistant to the town doctor and also began to work on the field gathering tealeaves.

Along with her attractiveness, everyone in her community knew she was hardworking and an obedient daughter; the characteristics of a good wife. So, when Ling’s grandfather was approached by an old family friend with news that his friend’s cousin was looking for a wife in China, Ling’s name sprung to mind.


To be continued...

oh brother...

You're going to have to excuse that last post; it was the work of my brother. I would delete it, but I think it's kinda funny and it allowed me to put a cheesy play-on-words title.

Anyway, my brother has way too much time on his hands. And I can’t believe you would “woot woot” that, Darren!! GAAHHHH! O_O

Hey Suckers!

I am a loser :) give me a *woot woot*!