Chinatown Horses

A couple weeks ago, on a bright Sunday afternoon, I decided to take a stroll around Kensington and Chinatown, as I so often do during the weekend. Sometimes, I walk around and look for good deals on things I want or need. Sometimes, tourists say hi and ask for directions. Secretly however, I'm actually doing what a lot of hopeless romantics do when they're bored: they wander the avenues and hope that their soulmate falls into their lap.

To be honest, I really don't expect this to happen. This is because I live in the big city and things like that don't happen in the big city. People are too conditioned not to pay too much attention to strangers in the street, which is a darn shame because I really think we can all learn so much everyday if we talk to someone new. But still I cling on to this false hope that never gets me anywhere. I know I should  try other methods to meet someone I can date and yet my mind holds on to this romanticism like a mad fool.

But I have tried other methods. After a friend of mine (Em., I'm looking at you!) suggested I sign up on Plenty of Fish, I reluctantly created an account and filled in the extensive personality tests (which were surprisingly accurate) and started my search on there.

Supposedly, the matchmaking system of PoF is crafted by "people with PhDs". And there are very interesting and attractive girls on there that I've been matched with based on how I answered my "chemistry" tests. The main problem I'm having - and this is pretty major - is that out of a total six messages I've sent to someone, I have received zero replies.

And these aren't "hi, how are you" messages; PoF says to send a detailed message, so I do.
And some of these people have indicated, based on their review of my profile, that they "want to meet me". But I send them a message, and I get no replies. How rude.

I honestly don't think my messages are too outlandish. In fact, I feel like they're probably better crafted than many other guys' "hey babe, u look hot".

I just want to let out a great big SIGH. Human relationships shouldn't be this difficult to create and maintain.

Before I leave you with this desperate blog post that will no doubt mull around in your head, here's something I bought in Chinatown. The key thing to note is that both images are of the same object. Neat!

Kazoo Anticipation Lipsync Enigma Dormant Overture United Graphite Hare Synchronicity Crank Opal Partridge Everlast

Late early late late early late

It's too late. It's way too late. Why am I up.
I should not be up.
I need to be solar; not lunar right now. I can be lunar during the winter. But I need to be solar during the summer.

The blue lights draw me in like a firefly.

I don't know why; I simply can't seem to do it on my own.
And no matter how I try, I keep falling back into the same cycle again.

Okay, maybe not the exact same cycle. It's always different. This time, I'm busy writing to people; and they write back! I get attention!

The red lights put me out like a match.

It's funny how much easier it is to open up when you're staring at a screen. I really do think robots would make good shrinks. They don't even need to be sentient; they just need to be human reflections.

Let's just see what's going through my head right now.
Well, I'm already kind of disappointed in myself for not being able to have a cogent flow of ideas in this post. Everything feels disjuncted. Here I am, talking about a personal issue and then I start talking robotics.

It's almost 4 am. I wonder if that has something to do with it. Maybe it's hard to be coherent when your body and mind are completely backwards; that is, completely opposite to what mother nature intends.
If I really wanted to be making the most of my summer, I'd be getting up at sunrise and going for a walk in the ravine every day.

But I know that's not going to happen. I have no reason to get up and go to the ravine. Careful, Gabriel, don't get too ageist now. Well, what I was going to say before I stopped myself is that only old people who are retired get up that early and go for walks in the ravine. And I've spent too much time around old people in random hospitals all around the country; there's never anyone just my age in the early morning. They always get up late and drink their coffee and rush to work because that's what young-er people are expected to do.

All I ever wanted was another crazy girl who's been through the same shit I've been through to hang out with me once in a while; and then maybe once in a short while.

But you can't ever find these people because, just like me, they stay hidden inside and only reveal themselves in the most rare of occasions.

Someday.

Kazoo Anticipation Lipsync Enigma Dormant Overture United Graphite Hare Synchronicity Crank Opal Partridge Everlast

You Know What Grinds My Gears? (YKWGMG)

Oh yes. It's time to rant. But this time, it won't be a single rant... No, no, this time it will be a LIST of rants. Rants about things; small things, big things, random things, things I dislike, thinks that annoy me; even things that don't even seem like I could rant about. This list is related to my earlier list of things that irritate me that I first published in 2009. Here goes.

• Okay. Screw people who decide it's okay to walk down a busy sidewalk and light up a cigarette. It's bad enough that the smoke smells toxic. It's even worse that you're putting other peoples lives at risk. I see no difference between this and drunk driving except for the fact that one is legal and the other isn't. And even still, most of these smokers are breaking the law - you need two meters between a building entrance and a lit cigarette if you really wanna be picky about it. I don't care if you smoke; but do it away from my lungs.
• I have a hard time getting along with people who hate on medicine that one would not find in a hospital. Just because you haven't heard of another kind of medicine (read: naturopathic) or seen hundreds of studies about it doesn't mean it doesn't work.
• Car commercials. Enough said.
• People who think their music genres are better than everyone else's.
• Everyone on Plenty of Fish (yes, I have an account).
• People who still troll people online past the age of 22.
• Sardines in rancid oil.
• Big agro/Big pharma/Big telecom (in order of dislike).
• People who complain to an excess about politicians and don't vote.
• People who constantly brag about the amount of drugs they've done/the amount of sexual encounters they've had.
• People who have nothing to say when you ask them: "what's up?".
• People who say "I hate hipsters" for no reason other than to have something to say.
• People who say "I am not a hipster".
• Stores that don't include tax on their price list. This is the majority of stores in Canada and it really irritates me that we have yet to switch to a more European system. Same goes with tips.
• Immigrants who, for reasons under their control, choose not to learn the native (i.e. official) language of the country they emigrate to.
• I get annoyed when people call me a "frenchie". If you're from Turkey, would you enjoy being called a turkie? Or if you're from Chile, would you enjoy being called a chili?
• Hypocrites who refuse to admit they're hypocrites despite overwhelming evidence.
• Ads and marketing that targets young children to get them to buy junk (food).
• Consumerism. This one is a big rant in and of itself.
• The Tumblr blogging platform. This one is a big rant in and of itself.
• Societal norms that dictate how you should dress. Yes, they are important, but I really don't see why wearing two socks that don't match would ever cause any serious problems in our society.
• People who are addicted to coffee and yet judge (in a negative way) people who use recreational drugs.
• People who don't realise that it's easy to ignore trouble when you're living in your bubble. Let 'em spill their guts 'cause one day they're gonna slip on 'em. (Credit goes to Paramore, of course).
• People who don't listen to my drunk stories
• When I can't find duct tape. I have bought endless meters of duct tape over the years and I still have trouble finding any lying around. I don't use all of it, so I have no idea where it goes.
• Science for the sake of "SCIENCE!". Progress for the sake of progress.
• People who love bacon and have to tell everyone how much they love it. We get it. It's tasty. So are countless other meats.
• Americans who come to Toronto and don't mimic the politeness they encounter here and take it for granted. (This one's debatable: it's hard to tell sometimes who's a native Torontonian and who's just visiting. Also, not every Canadian/Torontonian is polite.)
• People who appear to spend most of their waking life on their smartphones, especially on the streets. While not being nearly as damaging (unless they're driving) as the people who smoke cigarettes on the sidewalk, I still get annoyed when people lose track of personal space because they're so focused on their iPhones and they just become oblivious to their surroundings.
• Raccoons who think they own the place. Right now, they're probably in the grapevine in the backyard knocking down grapes that yours truly will have to pick up later.
• Atheists who need to tell the world about how there's no god or gods.
• Religious nuts who need to tell the world... well, you get the picture.
• People who simply refuse to acknowledge the destruction that GMOs/The Green Revolution has caused in areas other than the First world.

Okay, that's it for now! Gotta get some rest before my first astronomy midterm tomorrow evening! I might add more to this list later.

Kazoo Anticipation Lipsync Enigma Dormant Overture United Graphite Hare Synchronicity Crank Opal Partridge Everlast

Just write

No, this time it's not a FW post.
I'm finally myself... again. Well, for the second time.
The Lyra post a few posts back was completely true. The tears -were- streaming down my face. And yes, I'm aware that it is almost 3 am, so clearly I'm not fully living my potential.

That is, unless I actually wake up early tomorrow, bright and early, and with a purpose. But the full purpose takes a long time to achieve, I think.

I should write down my random musings a lot more on here. I fell prey to something many writers may fall prey to sometime in their writing career: writing not from the heart, but writing for an audience.
There's a very important difference between the two. The latter gets you the marks; the former gets you [your] soul.

The writer's soul? What is that? I don't know. And I have a hard time calling myself a writer because it is, after all, mostly a hobby. At times it has been a passion, but most of the time, I do it out of boredom.
That doesn't mean that I don't feel passionate about what I write; I absolutely do. It's just that people tend to twist words into their understanding and so I prefer to call it a hobby.

Okay. Next topic. Love.
Today, I met far too many people who say they don't believe in love. I'm not out to challenge that belief; it is theirs, after all, and far too many people challenge other peoples' beliefs just to make themselves feel good. That's not moral.

Did I just bust out morality? I guess I did.
You know, I always had the biggest trouble distinguishing between morality and ethics. I still can't do it off the top of my head; it almost seems like they're the same word sometimes. But I know there's a technical difference, so I'll leave that to the true academics to deal with.

As promised, I'm going to end this post with some multimedia. Here's a picture of something I had to eat a few days ago. I forget what it is. I guess I'll know when I upload the photo.

Oh right, it's a curry.

Peace out, my lovely, if unfaithful, readers.

Kazoo Anticipation Lipsync Enigma Dormant Overture United Graphite Hare Synchronicity Crank Opal Partridge Everlast