Wish Lists

This weekend marked the final creation of gift registries for our upcoming wedding. Basically our registry criteria were: items we don’t currently own but need, items we currently own but are seriously poor quality, or items that we don’t own and may not really need but this is the only chance we get to put frivolous items on a wish list. Saturday’s additions to the registries came from Cookworks, and the one item that would make me the happiest to receive is a silly collapsable silicon colander. That’s right: while surrounded by espresso machines and knives from Germany, I spent a good five minutes playing with a colander. It’s basically a slight evolution from when my mother used to give me old margarine containers to play with in the bathtub. No rubber duckies or squirt guns for me — I got leftover plastic that used to contain spreadable oil product.

One consequence of working downtown, and taking the train to work every day, is that for two trips of forty minutes each I have nothing to do. I’ve never been able to read in a moving vehicle without getting ill, but I think I’m going to need to overcome that or else I’ll lose my mind looking out the windows every time. Sure, it’s fun to see the McBarge every day, but gazing at sulphur mills and blackberry bushes aren’t entertaining after the tenth time. So in time I’ll force myself to read while on the train.

On another totally unrelated note, here’s another photo from the Golden Globes. In it we see Mr. P. Diddy Puffy Combs checking out some very fine Golden Globes indeed. I can’t blame him.

The New is In

It’s Tuesday, and I just completed my second day of the New Job. It’s been over three years since I was the new guy at work, and it feels kind of strange. The people I’m working with all seem very friendly and welcoming, which is obviously a good sign. The development environment is a lot different than what I’ve worked in for the past three-plus years, and the importance of the user experience and interaction with software is primary, whereas with EA it was extremely low on the pyramid. I can already tell this difference is going to open a lot of learning to me, something I really think I needed (and wasn’t going to get at EA). There may not be the breadth of artistic directions but the technical and practical aspects of user interfaces, and the willingness to constantly improve it, is very cool. All this being said, I do miss the people I saw every day at EA. And I miss the gym. And the cranky coffee girl.

One of the offshoots of working downtown is taking the commuter train every day. It’s great not having to fight traffic, but it’s going to take a while for me to adjust to arriving at work at the same time I used to crawl out of bed. The flip side of that, of course, is getting home before 7pm.

A few days ago the lady friend and I went to see Mister Tony Lee play drums in his band, The New Black. Tony is by my account the finest drummer I’ve ever known. Unfortunately the lady and I were both tired and didn’t stay for the whole set (we also made the mistake of arriving way, way too early).

Here I am

Rock you like a hurricane.

The Wonders of Bread … and, uh, photos of women

Sometimes I eat bagels. Usually I’d get the most “healthy” ones I could find, some 100-grain whole wheat flax variety. On a recent visit to the supermarket there were only whole wheat bagels. Next to them were some square bagels made by the good folks at Wonder Bread. A quick comparison of nutritional information led to the discovery that the whole wheat ones had zero redeeming health benefits, and the Wonder brand bagels were actually better for me than the supposedly healthy ones. So I bought Wonder Bread bagels, and I love them. That’s almost like buying Twinkies instead of an eclair, but what can I say, they taste great and are less filling.

Last night was the Golden Globes. I’m a sucker for stupid acting award shows like this. Mostly I just like seeing the women dressed in fancy clothes, although I wouldn’t complain if I never saw Sarah Jessica Parker, Cameron Diaz, or Naomi Watts again for the rest of my life. As Mr. Horse said in Ren & Stimpy, no sir, I don’t like it. What do I like? Salma Hayek. Oh gosh. Oh wow. Jessica Biel too. Huzzah! What do I like about them? Well, if we’re talking looks (and we are) they look like they actually eat food now and then. Salma, an absolute sexpot, actually looks like a woman rather than a skeleton with flesh-toned saran wrap stretched over it. Ms. Biel, while still quite thin, has actual muscle tone and definition. She could be an underwear model one day and kick Sly Stallone’s ass the next.

For your consideration, here are photos of these fine women from last night’s boring awards show. Readers, please feel free to discuss who’s hot and who’s not in the movie world.

Quittin’ Time

That resolution to blog more often? Hmm … not off to a good start. It’s been far too long since I posted, and what makes this even more shameful is that there’s actual news to report.

First, in a little over a week I’ll be leaving my job at EA for another company. I’ve worked at EA for three years straight, and about five in total, so it’s going to be a little odd saying goodbye. Without going into too much detail, there were things that really disappointed me about working there, and the problems that I had with the structure just didn’t show any signs of improving. On the whole I wasn’t happy coming in to work every day. This is the first time I’ve formally quit a job (leaving K-Mart after 2 weeks doesn’t really count), which was kind of an odd experience, especially when I think I’m still on good terms with most of the folks I work with. Anyway, when an opportunity came along, I had to take it, so in a couple of weeks I’ll be employed at a company called Riptown. Their main client is Bodog.com, an online entertainment company (poker, music, TV, pay-per-view, scantily clad models). This also fulfills a long time goal of working in downtown Vancouver again, and no more commuting by car. Commuter rail here I come! Al Gore would be proud.

Last weekend the lady and I also started registering for wedding gifts. After about four hours of wandering around The Bay, we threw in the towel. It’s going to take a few more visits before we’re satisfied with what’s on our list. I think we went for a lot of luxurious items that might not be the best choice in the long term. An added bonus: we got a free pair of champagne flutes just for setting up a registry. Score! In related wedding news, we’ll have a one-page wedding site up soon. Just for info about when and where, with links to important stuff.

Garrettknights.com will likely get a makeover soon too. My old “friend” Jesus has told me that my site layout sucks, but then I only spent about an hour changing it when I set it up, so he can go suck an egg. Well, maybe he shouldn’t, because I’ll be getting a new Wordpress template uploaded soon. That’s how much I care about what The Jesus tells me.

Finally, the hunt for a big screen TV is back on. This time it will be the store I never visit, Visions, where EA employees are supposed to have a sizable discount on big ticket items. If the price is right, I may be coming home with a shiny new bit of kit. Since I’m never going to own an iPhone, I need to get my technology kicks in somewhere before I’m left in the dust.