The Friday Five for January 2nd, 2009

Happy New Year!

1. What is your biggest waste of time in your home?
Internets.
2. When at work, what is the activity that you find wastes the most time?
Meetings.
3. When getting busy with a date or significant other, what ritual could you do without?
Not having one?
4. What is the biggest waste of time on the Internet?
Checking the same sites over and over for updates or new messages.
5. What do you do at a restaurant to waste time when waiting for your meal?
Uh, i make use of the time, to read.

New Year's Eve i went over to a former student's place. A pile of former (and some current) students were invited. When i got there, i was the only one. As it turned out only showed, including Mo, Ryan M (the quiet one), Mark, Ken, Ryan C and Diane showed up. Then a bunch of Jackie's other friends, who were okay, but a group apart. I had a heated discussion with Mo about politics. Jackie didn't even cook the dumplings she has made. I usually go to my friend Lisa's sister's place - it's pretty domestic, but they usually have good food. I had planed to party-hop, but it took so long for things to get going at Jackie's. Meh, not the year-end party i'd been hoping for.

New Year's Day i had planned to spend locally, but ended up going to TO (if you can call Yonge & Sheppard Toronto). I had a decent lunch at Boston Pizza. The movie i saw was Waltz With Bashir, an animated movie from Israel. It begins with one man telling another about the horrible dreams he's had ever since he'd been part of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in the 1980s. This other man had no memories of having been in the war, and so the movie becomes his search for his memories, and essentially his role in the Sabra and Shatila massacre in 1982 (or, rather, in allowing the maasacre to happen). A pretty powerful, sad movie. The artwork was very stylized - the rotoscoping was a bit annoying occasionally. It ended with some live action footage.

Okay, another list for another year. At some point, should my list sink to nothingness, ha ha? Like Homer's list: "Feelin' fine!" There will always be ongoing things (exercise, etc), i guess, and places to visit.

Car & Travel Tasks
1. Arrange a vacation for Reading Week - i've booked it off!
2. Visit a winery in the winter.
3. Plan what to do in an ACCIDENT.
4. Learn how to use a CARWASH, so i'm not stuck doing it at home. Ideally some automatic thing.
5. TRAVEL somewhere during the summer (realistically): Ottawa, Montreal, Vancouver, and/or New York.
6. TRAVEL to San Diego SDCC?
7. TRAVEL somewhere (unrealistically): British Isles, France, Japan or Australia.
8. Try to be better organized before Christmas, arrange a trip to NY or Vegas.

Arts &c Tasks
9. Finish Halloween costume ASAP, well in advance of October - at least finish last one, proper hat, suspenders.
10-11. Possibly new cameras - (a) high-end one with interchangeable lenses, you can focus properly, (b) small one you can use in places like a club - i like my current one, which is good 90% of the time, but that 10% is frustrating.
12. Buy an ukiyo-e print.

Digital Tasks
13. Get stuff off those VHS tapes and into digital format.
14. Try to get data off the old PERCEPTION system.
15. Organize my data BACK UP system.
16. Do something with my personal LJ (not the madlycool one).
17. Create a digital version of my COMICS CATALOG.
18. Finish scanning all the photos I have, turn them into a DIGITAL ALBUM (replacing the old physical ones), with captions - an enormous job (one day....).
19. Change PASSWORDS for various email addresses and eBay, again. Should do it every year.
20. Will have to update VIN page, again.
21. Convert the name of any .JPG files to .jpg, standardize on my website and blog (annoyingly sometimes they're seen as identical, sometimes not).

Learning Tasks
22. Learn ILLUSTRATOR (not a priority).

Junk &c Tasks
23. Get rid of old VINYL albums.
24. Clean out shelves/closets/dressers of my stuff.
25. I'd like to find a place to RECYCLE worn clothing, stuff that's not useable, like old socks and such.
26. I think i need to do a major cull, of what COMICS i have, and what i'm buying.
27. Take COMICS downstairs.
28. L&R have some of my negatives - one day i'd like to get them back.
29. I think Matt has some of my letters from him - they're missing anyway.
30. Toss out old electronics.

Home & Financial Tasks
31. FIND A PLACE OF MY OWN.
32. Will have to think MORTGAGE.
33. Do a proper BUDGET - I used to have one when I made much less money.
34. Get a rice cooker (wait for when i move...).
35. Do something with my PC Points.
36. Do something with my Airmiles Points.

Fashion &c Tasks
37. Need SHOES and CLOTHES for exercising.
38. Get some new DRESS CLOTHES.
39. Need dressier SHOES.

Reading Tasks
40. Read the book on BRITISH LEGENDS i bought but let sit.
41. Read HITCHERHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY.
42. Read final HARRY POTTER book.
43. Read the TARTAN book I bought and is just sitting.
44. Read the COMICS I've let sit (Batman from the late 90s).
45. Read the COMICS I've let sit (Hellblazer from the late 90s).

Music Tasks
46. Get soundtrack of ON VA S'AIMER 2006.
47. Get soundtrack of J'AURAIS VOULU ETRE UN DANSEUR.

Movie Tasks (ha, this is 24 movies)
48. Rent or see THE MAD FOX 1962 by Tomu Uchida
49. Rent or see this Godard film: 1962 VIVRE SA VIE (TO LIVE ONE'S LIFE, MY LIFE TO LIVE)
50. Rent or see this Godard film: 1964 UNE FEMME MARIÉE, FRAGMENTS D'UN FILM TOURNÉ EN 1964 EN NOIR ET BLANC (A MARRIED WOMAN: FRAGMENTS OF A FILM SHOT IN 1964 IN BLACK AND WHITE)
51. Rent or see this Godard film: 1966 MADE IN U.S.A.
52. Rent or see this anime: WONDERFUL DAYS (SKY BLUE) (Korean)
53. Rent or see this anime: THE PLACE PROMISED IN OUR EARLY DAYS
54. Rent or see this anime: THE BOOK OF THE DEAD
55. Rent or see PERHAPS LOVE 2005 by Peter Chan.
56. Rent or see this Demy film: 1962 LA BAIE DES ANGES
57. Rent or see this Demy film: 1970 PEAU D'ÂNE (THE DONKEY SKIN OR THE MAGIC DONKEY)
58. Rent or see this Demy film: 1979 LADY OSCAR
59. Rent or see this John Hughes film: 1984 SIXTEEN CANDLES
60. Rent or see this John Hughes film: 1985 BREAKFAST CLUB
61. Rent or see this John Hughes film: 1985 WEIRD SCIENCE
62. Rent or see this John Hughes film: 1986 PRETTY IN PINK
    Rent or see (at least) 5 of these Kurosawa films:
63-67. 1943 SANSHIRO SUGATA (JUDO SAGA), 1944 THE MOST BEAUTIFUL, 1945 SANSHIRO SUGATA PART II (JUDO SAGA 2), 1946 NO REGRETS FOR OUR YOUTH, 1946 ONE WONDERFUL SUNDAY, 1948 DRUNKEN ANGEL, 1949 THE QUIET DUEL, 1955 RECORD OF A LIVING BEING (I LIVE IN FEAR), 1970 DODESUKADEN, 1975 DERSU UZALA, 1980 KAGEMUSHA, 1990 DREAMS, 1991 RHAPSODY IN AUGUST, 1993 MADADAYO (NOT YET), 1945 THE MEN WHO TREAD ON THE TIGER'S TAIL (tried to rent, but it was damaged)
[seen: STRAY DOG, SCANDAL, RASHOMON, IKIRU (TO LIVE), THE IDIOT, SEVEN SAMURAI, THRONE OF BLOOD (SPIDER WEB CASTLE), THE LOWER DEPTHS, THE HIDDEN FORTRESS, RED BEARD, HIGH AND LOW (HEAVEN AND HELL), THE BAD SLEEP WELL, YOJIMBO, SANJURO, RAN].
68. Rent or see LA FRANCE 2007.
69. Rent or see this Eddie Izzard dvd: CIRCLE.
70. Rent or see this Eddie Izzard dvd: SEXIE
71. Rent or see this Eddie Izzard dvd: LIVE AT THE AMBASSADOR

Shows
72. FRIENDS' CORPS NIGHT (tour): Wednesday, April 8, 2009.
73. BALLET working rehearsal: Feb 11, 2009.
74. BALLET Romeo & Juliet rehearsal: March 10, 2009.
75. BALLET working rehearsal: May 6, 2009.
76-81. See Bands in a Club at least 6 times.
82: CIRQUE DE SOLEIL NEW SHOW: Sep 5, 2009.

Health Ongoing
83. EAT BETTER - this would definitely be easier if I were on my own. Why don't i crave fruit? I need to eat more fruit and vegetables.
84. I still ought to FLOSS and use that weird little rubber thing every day.
85. Take my daily VITAMINS.
86. SLEEP! - seriously, i think it got to the point where i was so sleep deprived it was hurting my health.
87. Go swimming at least once a week during the summer.
88. Get a massage (having discovered how to do the physio, i think i'd like to get an occasional massage paid for through school).
89. LOSE WEIGHT - i've still got at least 50 lbs of unwanted fat. It looks awful, and is very unhealthy.
90. EXERCISE - it needs to be aerobic, and i still like the idea of yoga, tai chi and swimming. I just wish i had someone to do it with (at least three times each week).

Arts Ongoing
91. DRAWING - fill a sketchbook. (TRY AGAIN!)
92. PAINTING.
93. PRINT-MAKING.
94. More PHOTOGRAPHY.
95. LIFE DRAWING - hopefully there’ll be classes going on this term.
96. DRAWING - cartoony.
97. DRAWING - 100 people (that's at last 8 a month).

Home & Financial Ongoing
98. Stop WASTING my time online.
99. Regular SAVINGS (downpayment).
100. Regular SAVINGS (RSP).
101. CLEAN, dust and vacuum more regularly. I guess that means launder sheets more too.
102. Take the new comics DOWNSTAIRS regularly.