can you cheat on a blog?

so i'm a total nerd and started a myspace account. it was more for the reason of keeping track of some of the bands who have myspace accounts, than to start another blog. and honestly, it was probably moreso for city and colour, than any other band or musician. but it's pretty cool.

as the title poses, can you cheat on a blog? because it's like i'm cheating on this blog by having a myspace account on the side. but should i constrain myself to one blog? nah. variety is the spice of life, so they say.

now i just need to find more people/musicians/bands to add to my friends in myspace.

check it out: www.myspace.com/temporarytorontonian.

the homeless

there's an exponential amount of homeless people in toronto as compared to edmonton. just on the fact that there's more people in toronto would mean there's more homeless people, but also because i live in downtown toronto, i would run into more homeless people than when i was in edmonton.

which brings me to the point of this entry. what do i do when i pass a homeless person? do i give money to each person i pass? i'd have to keep a pocket of change at all times. and what do i do when i pass the same person every day? do i give them change every day? would they expect me to give them money every day, and the one day i don't, they'll hate me? there's always someone sitting by the church by my place, and someone sleeping in the bus shelter i walk by every day, and usually someone sleeping on a subway grate across the street from my office (actually, there's two, one across each street from my office).

do i offer them food? my roommate offered a granola bar to a homeless person one time, and he turned it down. does he only accept monetary donations?

my old roommate left this jacket in our hall closet, which i assume was her boyfriend's because it was an XL men's winter jacket. so we decided to give it to a homeless person at the beginning of the winter. now, everytime my roommate passes the guy she gave the jacket to, he smiles at her and points to the jacket. and i guess homeless people talk to each other because the guy who turned down the granola bar told my roommate he wanted a jacket too.

and then today when i was walking home, this guy came right up to me and asked me for money. i thought he was coming up to me to ask for directions, but he was just asking for money. i didn't have any money in my pockets, so i didn't really want to take out my wallet, and then pick out loose change to give him.

so i guess the moral of the story is that i will start keeping change in my pockets to give to the homeless, and probably those granola bars i have in my cupboards.

concert count

#10: Coldplay (22-Mar-06) - Air Canada Centre

i'm going to write this entry without reading my other entry of the coldplay concert i went to last august. i wonder how similar or different it will be considering it is the same tour, just another date 7 months later.

ok, so i can't even believe i doubted coldplay's ability to put on a good show. it was an incredible show. i'm running out of synonyms for amazing, but that's exactly what it was. never underestimate the amount of energy chris martin has, it's, for lack of a better word, amazing. cut me some slack, it's late.

because it was the same tour from when i saw them in august, the songs were basically the same. probably the same set list. they had a huge screen behind them, and a great light show. they even used the lights that go around the seats. you know, the ones that go crazy when a goal is scored during a hockey game.

they played all the great songs. one of which they released these balloons on the audience (which they did before). can you guess which song? (hint: it's the colour of the balloon). my favourite song is still the scientist, which was great.

they were also filming the show to put in their next live dvd. i hope it's just of this show and not a compilation of the entire tour. i can't wait for it to come out because i'm definitely buying it. i can rewatch it and say "i was there!" that's cool. chris martin had to change his shirt halfway through the show because he was sweating too much, and he said he didn't want the dvd to come out and his grandma say "love your music, but you're a sweaty bastard." something to that effect, i remember "sweaty" and "bastard." chris also said, "i know you weren't planning to be in a film and wished you had changed your hair or gotten a nose job, but we look like a bad version of the Bee Gees!" and i was reading on their website that they brought back the lasers for clocks for this tour, and it made me feel like i was in the video. i can't wait for this dvd to come out!

when they came in august, that was the first date of this tour, and it was also the day that plane skidded off the runway at pearson, but everyone survived. that night, chris martin changed one of the song lyrics to something like "give me a plane crash where everyone survives." during this show, the second time around in toronto, he mentioned that again. i thought it was cool that he remembered that. i was thinking "i was there too!"

this was also the first concert where i've had to go to the washroom during the show. i was terribly disappointed in myself because i don't want to miss anything. that's what happens when you drink 2 glasses of wine at dinner right before the show! at least i could hear everything in the washrooms.

some people might hAte colDplAy, but i still love theM. i will defend them to the end. and i totally remember how i started listening to them too. i read some newspaper article about them, when the edmonton journal used to have a whole page on music in the sunday entertainment section. and after reading the article, i went to A&B to buy their CD, and i even remember the cashier guy telling me it's a really good CD. and the rest is history.

if the rumours are true, and coldplay are taking a break for awhile, i'm certainly glad i got to see them again before they went on hiatus.

this show wraps up a great month of concerts.

concert count

#9: James Blunt (21-Mar-06) - Massey Hall

so i was a fan of james blunt before his show, to the extent of having his CD, liking his music, and wanting to go to his show. after seeing him live, my appreciation for his music has increased tenfold, at least.

i've never been one to feel like music affects me to the point of making me feel different or affecting me on an emotional level. don't get me wrong, i love music, but i just listen to it. but the city and colour show and this james blunt concert were totally different. when they were singing, i felt like i was going through what i would imagine they were feeling when they wrote the song. i don't even know if i can describe it, actually. i want to roll my eyes at myself for even thinking it because it sounds so lame.

for example, tonight, when james blunt was singing goodbye my lover. it felt like it was the first time i actually understood what the song meant to him by watching him sing it live. i've been to tonnes of concerts before, but i think i have seriously underestimated the power of live music.

he was feeling a little bit under the weather, and his voice was a little hoarse, but it still sounded amazing.

there were 4 girls in the row in front of us who made t-shirts that said "goodbye my lover" on the front and "hello james blunt" on the back. cute. but they were going insane during the whole show, and made it hard to see with them not able to sit still, and hard to hear when they were singing at the top of their lungs. i was scared one of them was so excited would accidently fall over the balcony or something.

and there was also another girl who made a sign that said "james blunt is what i want." i didn't know people still made signs for concerts. i felt like i was at a backstreet boys concert or something. i'm not knocking the backstreet boys, i went to one of their shows when i was in high school. but i didn't know james blunt would attract the same kind of fan behaviour. nevermind the fact it should read "who" and not "what." haha, i'm such a bitch for correcting the grammar.

tomorrow: coldplay. dallas and james set the bar pretty high, chris better bring his A game.

laundry day

i did my laundry on monday night, and the laundry room was packed! this is why my next place will have to have ensuite laundry, i don't like having to share with strangers or wait for machines. and the worse thing is...when people take your laundry out of the machine because they need to use it. i don't know if their hands are clean, what if something dropped on the floor? i almost want to rewash everything when someone touches my stuff. of all the times i've done laundry, it has only happened twice where someone took my stuff out of the machine, and i've only done it twice to someone else.

but there's certain rules i try to follow. for example, i will not take out someone's load if it has underwear in it. even though it's just washed, i don't want to touch someone else's underwear. and i also try to look for a guy's load because generally, they probably wouldn't care as much that someone else is touching their laundry, like a girl would.

and another reason i like to do laundry when it's not busy is because there's one dryer that's broken where you don't have to pay and it will keep going forever until you stop it. so you can put in two loads of wash in there, and let it dry for 2 hours for free.

just when i think i've figured out a good day and time to do my laundry, a busy day screws up my whole theory. i hate doing laundry, good thing i can go almost 3 weeks without having to do it again. another justification for me to buy more clothes.

how old am i?

i'm always curious how old people think i am. generally, i think the majority of people think i am younger, which is a good thing. i don't get mad when i still get asked for my ID.

but it's hard to get an unbiased guess because you'd always have a frame of reference. for example, if i asked someone at work, they'd know i'm new to the company, a recent graduate, etc. if i asked a new acquaintance, they'd know me from someone else, and that person becomes their frame of reference. even if i ask a random stranger on the street, they'd still have something to guess from. i might be dressed in a hoodie and jeans by my house, which is right beside the U of T campus, so they'd think i'm young. but if i'm in a suit and on bay st, they might think i'm older.

one time, someone at work asked me how old i was. i should have asked her how old she thought i was before i answered. after i told her i was 24, she said she thought i was around 26. not because i looked older, but because she thought i was mature and articulate, and the fact that i moved out here by myself for a job made her think i was older. that's a better answer than saying i look old.

when i went into the bank this past summer, the teller saw my age pop up on the screen, she asked if i was 23, and i said yes, in which she replied "whoa, i thought you were 15 or something." i thought she was being ridiculous.

and then yesterday, i met my aunt's sisters for the first time, and both of them thought i was younger. like way younger. one of them said i was 8 years older than what she thought i was! she said she thought i was around the same age as my two cousins, they just turned 15. maybe it was because i was hanging out with them watching harry potter, rather than the adults playing mah jong. i don't know if i look 8 years younger, but it's better than looking 8 years older.

here's to having asian genes.

just call me emerill

all this food talk on multiple blogs got me inspired to cook something different. to most people, what i made is not revolutionary in any sense of the word, but for me it was something new.

i bought some pasta sauce and mixed in some ingredients. the first time i did it, i put in ham, peas, and mushrooms. it was ok. but the second time, i put in ground beef, peas, and onions, and it was amazing! and this is coming from a person who didn't really like pasta until a year ago. i've never even made pasta until i moved to toronto.

reminds me of the time mom was in hong kong and dad made this huge pot of spaghetti, and a equally huge pot of sauce with ground beef, which subsequently became my lunch and/or dinner for a week.

see, the only problem, is that i cook for one. so what i made could probably last me 4-5 meals, and then i'll probably get sick of eating this for a month.

post more good food ideas people! next up, matt's ginger ale jello. mmmmm...yummy.

the CD will have to suffice

call me crazy, but i went to the city and colour show tonight to see if i could buy tickets from a scalper. it was the last of 4 shows he was doing in toronto, and i wanted to go again. there were people selling tickets the night i went to the show, but none tonight. there was a scalper looking to buy tickets though. i was talking to him because i figured if he could get tickets, he'd sell them to me first because i was nice to him. but he didn't find any either. i waited around for a bit, but then just gave up when dallas was starting his set. i'm a little disappointed, but at least i got to see another show, this would have just been bonus.

i've never done this for any musician before, and i'm sure there have been tonnes of shows i wanted to go to, but didn't have tickets. i love dallas green that much. enough to go to his show alone.

i'll catch him the next time he's in town.

concert count

#8: Bedouin Soundclash (04-Mar-06) - The Docks

bad picture, sorry.

i'm not a big fan of reggae music, but i wanted to check out bedouin anyways. it was a good show because it's happy music, but just not something i'd listen to regularly either. they had a DJ open for them, mike relm from san francisco. he was pretty cool too.

when we got there, we were going into the alcohol area (it was an all ages show), and the bouncer told us about the VIP area upstairs we could go to, so we went. it was good because we could see the stage much better and weren't squished with everyone on the main floor. then some other guy asked if we wanted some of his joint, i passed. say no to drugs, kids.

i almost feel bad for bedouin because i just saw city and colour and loved him, so it was hard for any concert to live up to that. would it be crazy to go to the last city and colour show tomorrow and see if i can get tickets from a scalper? i'm going to do it.

next up: james blunt in two weeks.

concert count

#7: city and colour (02-Mar-06) - Harbourfront Centre

i don't even know if i can write an entry about this concert because it was so good, there's no way my re-telling of the show will do it justice. but i'll try anyways.

dallas green is amazing. amazingly talented, amazingly humble, amazingly funny. amazing. if you haven't heard his solo stuff yet, i strongly encourage you to buy the CD. he goes by city and colour. dallas = city, green = colour. genius. it's just him and his acoustic guitar, and for the show, he had his younger cousin on the keyboards for a few songs. dallas is also the guitarist in the band alexisonfire.

seeing him perform the songs live was a whole new experience. i'm not usually someone who reads into lyrics very much, but having him tell a story about each song made me feel like i had a stronger connection with the music. my favourite song is 'comin' home' and he talked about how it was originally just a song about being on the road, but it just turned into a depressing song because of some stuff happening in his life, which if you listen to the song, it's about a girl breaking up with him.

since he's on an indie label, he didn't have roadies tuning his guitar for him, he had to do it himself, and after each song. so that gave him more time to talk to the crowd. he told us how whenever he tunes his guitar, he's looking down at it, and when he lifts his head, his glasses always hit the mike. and it did always happen, even though the first time was on purpose.

after someone yelled "i love you" he said "thank you. but you shouldn't. because you don't know me, and you should only love people you know." oh so smart.

the venue was great. a small theatre, that probably held 500 people all together. it was very small and intimate, and i was sitting in 8th row. but i think any seat would have been great, except the people sitting in the balcony behind the stage, i guess.

the dynamics between him and his cousin were hilarious. they joked around with each other all night, and it was great. there were also some other bands in the audience. one of them a british band named johnny truant, who alexisonfire toured with in europe, and were sitting beside me at the show! too bad i didn't know their music and couldn't say anything to them.

musicians usually thank the audience for coming to their shows, but sometimes it can be insincere. this was definitely not the case for dallas. he was incredibly humble and thanked the audience multiple times and at the end of the show, he thanked us again and said that music is the only thing he has ever thought he's been good at, so it meant alot to him that we were there to support him.

he's playing 4 shows in toronto, and i wish i was going to every single one of them.

his jeans were unnaturally tight for a guy. so tight that i could see the outline of his pockets and boxer briefs. i know someone who dresses like him, not on purpose to be like dallas though. the tight jeans, the old t-shirt, and the plaid shirt over top of it. his name starts with an 'm' and ends in 'arco.'

i love dallas green. i listen to music when i go to sleep, and right now, it's city and colour. i wish he could sing me to sleep every night, in person.

this city and colour show was so incredible, i don't think any of the other shows i'm going to this month will be even close to it. and this blog entry definitely does not do it justice.

burning down the house

i'm glad my roommates don't read my blog. i could have potentially caused a fire in our apartment twice this week.

the first time was when i came home and noticed my flat iron was left on for the whole day. i've done this a few times already, edmonton and toronto, and it's usually because i put it down to play with my hair, thinking i'll need to do some touch-ups, but i never do, and forget i left it on. thus, leaving it on the whole day. and for anyone who knows what the chi flat iron is, it gets super hot, it's not just some dinky revlon flat iron you get a walmart.

the second time was today when i came home and noticed i left my iron plugged in the whole day too. i was changing after work, and heard the click sound the iron makes when it's hot enough.

now i'm not sure if either of these things will cause fires if left on for an extended period of time, but i don't want to find out either.

time to get some insurance. although if they rule the fire was caused by negligence, the insurance company doesn't pay up, right?