Do you think there's a cure for Dromomania?

So Sven came and went. We had a wicked time, go and see Diarious de Motocicleta (Motorcycle Diaries) you won't regret it. (Plus Gael García Bernal is so pretty!!!) I've always wanted to go to Peru, but frig, after watching that movie i want to go even more! I know it's not just me, but this week has been nuts eh? At least it's starting to calm down a bit, and i shouldn't really be complaining b/c us artsies get off really easily. I feel sorry for you guys who had to do mid-terms! I just had a crap load of papers, i remember Kellen once said during his first year of university he had so many term papers coming out of his arse he could feel the paper cuts >_<.

I think that the dromomania is settling in once again folks. Leave me alone. I know. It comes every three months, and it seems only when things get really hectic. But honestly i do think it's an incurable disease. *sigh* i guess that is my lot in life. Right now i want to go to Morrocco really badly, even when i was in Senegal i wanted to go to Morrocco. I think that's because the only person who was relatively close to my age was part Morrocan and part French, he had a lot to say about it, and also because i read that book "A Street in Marrakesh," that really was a clincher. Fricking books. If i didn't read them life would be so much simpler. I'd never want to travel anywhere ;). And i want to go to these places b/c the names are so exotic. How can you not want to go to a place named Dar Es Salam, Khartoum, Addis Ababa, Lagos...

Well flying away to some exotic locale is not the only way to cheer up the mid-semester blues. Shopping always does the trick, so perhaps i will go on a spree tomorrow. Getting my haircut is also fun, and something that needs to be done *cough* after the self-cut bangs affair of September. I've also suddenly been seized with the desire to clean my entire room up. Yeah. I can't explain it either. Then of course there's looking for some place to volunteer. We all know i only volunteer for self-serving purposes. Pfft, i wasn't at War Child for the kids, i was there b/c i was bored!

Speaking of War Child
The other day when Aiya and i were heading downtown we bumped into one of his acquaintances on the subway. He looked really familiar, and i recognized him from the NGO Fair from the spring, LOL where i manned the War Child booth and he even remembered that i was squeezed between the two Oxfam nuts. He's taken a year off from Med School and he's heading out to Latin America, i was burning with envy. Here's a conclusion i have come to, and a huge broad biased generalization. (Damn it i'm tired of being politically correct ;)) Have you noticed that people who are a lot like me, meaning love to travel, want to go into international development, listen to kick ass music (no bias at all) have somewhat of a sense of adventure (I AM adventurous. Stop laughing. It's called "calculated risk" remember!) the people who are like that tend to be gross dirty hippies. This guy was no exception. Yeah usually people like this tend to be white (esp. the U of T folk) but this guy, he was brown, and DISGUSTING. Stupid Aiya got off at PAPE station, so i was stuck with this yobo until i got to campus b/c we were going the same way. I have all the luck i know

Sorry, this post was pointless. My brain is totally fried. I'll give you guys something better next time. Hopefully i'll have some good pictures of Oliver's graduation (Monday's his last class!!!).

With your feet in the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Your head will collapse
But there's nothing in it
And you'll ask yourself

Where is my mind?
Where is my mind?
Where is my mind?

Way out in the water
See it swimmin'

I was swimmin' in the Carribean
Animals were hiding behind the rocks
Except the little fish
But they told me, he swears
Tryin' to talk to me to me to me

Where is my mind?
Where is my mind?
Where is my mind?

What the Helen of Troy is that?!

So have i mentioned to you about how flipping excited i am about tomorrow??? Sven is BAAACK!!!
*cue nostalgia*
The last time he graced us with his presence was what? Like two years ago? I shall proceed to reminisce on our past high school days. When i was the editor of the school newspaper (lol) and he was on Student Council. Remember the "office" we shared together? AKA the janitor's closet that was painted and had chairs in it. We froze in the winter and boiled in the summer. But it was all good. Thank God for the karaoke machine! Mrs. Smith used to always bust us for being way too loud. Our peels of laughter used to reverberate through the hallway while we listened to CHUM and made fun of such dignitaries as Spammie and the Conster Monster. I'll stop now.

Random sightings
I bumped into a crap load of people from church. You know that is ALWAYS fun. As usual my first instinct is to run away and hide, most of the time I'm really succesful. Yesterday i was late for a class and couldn't find a suitable place to hide.
Person from church (PFC): Oh my goodness i totally did not recognize you
Me: Oh hi PFC *smiles awkwardly*
PFC: It's your clothes!
*side note*
We don't even need to go there. You've all seen the hurting church wardrobe that only sees the light of day on Sundays. Meanwhile PFC is dressed totally the same way as they would be at any church gathering
Me: Yeah, well you know how it is on Sunday mornings, no time at all to get properly dressed. I just roll out of bed and throw something on
PFC: You look better on Sundays.
Me: Hey look at the time, I'm late for class (jerk face)
I don't even know what to say to that. I nearly died laughing though that's for sure. Ah, the church wardrobe. It's not even a real wardrobe. It's more like a uniform. Same thing every Sunday. There's no pleasing some people eh? Speaking of which, i'm in the market for some new t-shirts because Black t-shirt + white dog = disaster.

Quips
Aiya talking to me last night after getting back from his camping trip
Aiya: Are Louis Vuitton wallets really expensive?
Me: Uh. Yeah.
Aiya: How expensive?
Me: More than even you or I would ever spend on a wallet
Aiya: Oh. So then I guess that the Louis Vuitton duffle bag is totally out of the question.

Typical Sven
Sven: This one's for Yaweh!

Me meeting an old acquaintance
Her: So are you seeing anyone?
Me: No, I've got to much stuff going on.
Her: Really? So I guess you don't have much fun then?
Me: What do you mean I "don't have much fun?"
Her: How can you have fun if you're not seeing someone?
*side note*
When I want to have fun, I go and see a movie. Not freaking date someone.

Ammi and I last night
Me: Hey did you know that the Sri Lankan national anthem is in Tamil too?
Her: *rolls eyes* Uh. YEAH.
Me: I don't think I've ever heard it in Tamil
*side note*
WORST thing to have possibly said to a tone deaf woman who enjoys singing
Her: *singing* Sri Lanka..

And one from the vault
Ammi: Shauna can you eat spicy things? Like salt and pepper?

Sri Lanka matha, apa Sri Lanka namu namu namu namu matha, Sundara siri barini*

Last night I was watching CBC's "Greatest Canadian" special. They're out to find the greatest Canadian according to the regular population. It's really fascinating (no really, it is), last night they went through the top 50 nominees and some of the people that were on the list, were names I remember because they're considered "important" but that's about it. I was drawing a blank as to what their contributions were. There were the obvious ones, like Alexander Graham Bell. Sandford Fleming was on the list too, I had no clue who he was, the place where I had all my psych exams last year were in a building that had the same name, that's as far as my knowledge went on him though. Anyways, turns out he's the man who standardised time! Go figure eh?
(*sigh* remember Heritage Minutes? They're online now! You can WATCH them and relive the "Burnt Toast" moment as if you were still in grade 3! And you can learn more about Sandford Fleming too. It's win, win)

Internally Displaced
(- Feel free to skip this, I promise, it will make your eyes bleed and you will have sudden urges to stab yourself with small pointed objects. Trust me. I did.)
{This morning in my French class we had a laboratoire, and we had to listen to a thing about Mordecai Richler "L'héritage d'un grand écrivain." Yeah, who has time to think coherently on a Monday morning let alone in French. Anyways since Richler was a Jew who grew up in Montreal, he had this sense of duality. I think that's a trait that all "immigrant" kids feel. I'm not just a Canadian. And I'm not just a Sri Lankan. Canadians don't view me as a "real" Canadian, and Sri Lankans don't think I'm really Sri Lankan. It's almost as if I'm in limbo, living in a parallel "bizarro" world.** The best way to put it is that I sometimes feel like I'm an internally displaced person. I'm not the only one, and it's always interesting to meet other immigrant kids who feel the same way. I think we're the better for having those two distinct cultures and mindsets living in one body. At times yes, it's like a complex form of schizophrenia. But then again you can't have everything.

Sometimes I wonder where to draw the line. Our family isn't hardcore paked out, and I don't think it's b/c we "assimilated." Even back in the motherland we weren't hard core. The other day on my way home on the subway I was chatting to an acquaintance of mine who I went to Jr. High with. She's Sri Lankan too, but jebus, our families could be from two different planets. She was so surprised that we were not steeped in the whole arranged marriage culture. I told her that none of the people in my parents social circle had arranged marriages. I didn't think it was that much of a big deal. That whole issue of dealing with parents who are totally far out there (like hers) was never ever a problem with our parents. Even after they became Christians they're still really liberal minded, more liberally minded than some of the non-religious parents i know. I'm glad that my parents never forced us to go to Sinhala classes, one of the pluses of being a minority in a hugely Tamil Sri Lankan population. (Then again though they brought Piyo [my childhood nanny] to Canada to teach us Sinhala. We ended up teaching her English. What. She was a fast learner!) Sometimes i feel like a traitor because I can't speak it. When I went to Senegal i felt so guilty b/c I could speak French better than my own "mother tongue" (lol and my French SUCKS, Gina can back this up). I try to embrace as much of my "culture" as I can, but sometimes it feels so overwhelming. I don't try to run away from it like Salman Rushdie's Saladin Chamcha from The Satanic Verses or Michael Ondaatje's Anil Tissera from Anil's Ghost. (Both are amazing books! Go and read them.) I'm trying to juggle and walk in that middle ground all at the same time, where I can still listen to the music I like and wear the clothes that I like without being termed "white washed." Yeah we always joke around about how I am, but if I was more like my compatriots and listened to Hip Hop, R and B, dancehall, and wore clothes from Stitches, would I still be washed? Pfffft. (*shudder* i'm going cold just imagining that)}

Esto Perpetua
I like to see Sri Lankan people succeed and get recognition for their work. So what would that be? Me feeling patriotic or rooting for the underdog (like Greece at the EuroCup?) Who cares. I saw this article on the BBC and it made me happy. Home Truths For Sri Lankan Film. On the subject of Sri Lankans in general. I love Michael Ondaatje. Not only is he a Sri Lankan, but he also did some growing up here in Toronto. (Read some of his early poetry, there's a lot about the city in it.) He doesn't come across as someone who champions his roots, especially in interviews and stuff. But it's obvious that he is aware of them. (He wrote an entire book about it ;)) I wonder what he "does" to keep himself in check with Sri Lanka. He's burgher, so maybe he likes to berate people in Sinhala like my parents do (apparently it's the only way to successfully malign someone). I know for a that he doesn't take huge pride in his Alma Mater. He's an almunist of St. Thomas' College (if I had gone there, I wouldn't blame him from not participating, that many Sri Lankans in one place is just dangerous). Like Thathi and Aiya. Funny thing is I don't ever remember him showing up to the children's Christmas parties! He would have made a MUCH better Santa Clause than my bribed and humiliated brother. (Who was in the height of his rugby days, so he didn't even have the fat to pull it off unlike now.) And let's not forget that right of passage, the "Big Match" aka getting a chance to watch all our decrepit fathers take to the field for a game of cricket against their arch-rivals Royal College. If he came to that, the social secretary would probably have combusted. Good ol' Uncle Chicko. There is always hope that he might grace them with an appearance at the "Thomian Dance." LOL talk about trying to relive your youth. A bunch of past-their-prime old Sri Lankans getting together to relive their high school prom. It's hurting. Trust me. I'm glad that I left you with such a sweet mental image.

*First three lines of the Sri Lankan national anthem
Translation:
Mother Lanka - We salute thee!
Plenteous in prosperity, Thou,
Beautous in grace and love.
(Entire lyrics and translation)

**Remember that episode of Seinfeld with Bizarro Jerry? :)

*YIPEE*

SVEN IS BACK!!!!

This is My United States of Whatever

I watched the Presidential debate last night. 1.5 hours of my life that I will never get back. I was so bored and tempted to just turn it off and walk away, but I forced myself to sit through it. Oilver was out COLD. (The same thing happened to him during the DNC, he slept right through Al Sharpton's speech. Usually he's a pretty good judge, if something sucks he sleeps through it. Let me tell you, he's got KILLER taste in music, his only downfall, he enjoys Britney Spears.) Anyways. *yawn* I'm falling asleep just talking about last night. I wonder though if they found another bulge in the President's jacket.

God Squad
Am I the only one who felt really uncomfortable with all the Christian references last night? I don't know man, but the whole collision of Church and state, it doesn't sit all that well with me. While on the subject though, I've always wondered about this. George W. Bush claims very voiciferously that he's a Christian etc. What he stands for seems to be in direct contradiction. He is a proponent of the death penalty, but he's against abortion b/c it's taking away someone else's life. He wants America to be the global leader in spreading peace and justice, but his closest allies in the "War on Terror" happen to be vehmently against that. *cough* Saudia Arabia *cough* torturing people *cough* Let's not get started with Guantanamo. It just makes me sad the things that politicians do to further their own agendas in the guise of noble things like justice and peace when in actuality it's done in self interest.

It was like a tripod
Aiya and I talking about dogs on Thanksgiving day.
Aiya - I saw this gorgeous dog the other day. It was a Husky.
Me - Oh yeah?
Aiya - Yeah, you know the kind that has like those cool coloured eyes. But it only had three legs. So it was actually more like a tripod. But a really weird shaped tripod.
Me - I wonder how it pees
Aiya - Yeah i thought about that too. See it's right front leg is missing, so if it holds up it's back left leg to pee then it'll be able to balance without falling over.

I've been updating pretty frequently. Just watch though. It'll all go to crap pretty soon.

*Special thanks goes out to aiya, for getting that song stuck in my head at an early juncture this evening.

It's not brain surgery. It's a samosa

*Gobble*Gobble*Gobble*
What a Thanksgiving. It's been awhile since we've had sooo many people crammed into one house. *sigh* the Malvern days, Thanksgiving day lunch with all the family and adopted family = fun times. This year we had 26 people staying with us for our Church convention. It was NUTS. Abs' younger sister came from Montreal! That was definitely THE highlight of the weekend. Then of course our feuding Inuits, celebrity guests and droves of children. I'm not going to lie, it had the potential to turn into a billeting nightmare from hell but thank God it did not! Here's a rundown...

Gus??
Thathi took the day off on Thursday. We found ourselves in Malvern. We seemed to be drawn back to the ghetto almost instinctively. It's a phenomenon. I can't explain it. Somehow we ended up at No Frills of all places. No Frills AND Malvern. Now that's class. Can someone tell me when 'Steve and Brian's No Frills' became 'Gus' No Frills?!'
(Gus and his No Frills)

Inuit Smack Down
*YAY* Debs came on Friday. Luckily we were able to sneak back home after picking her up at the bus station before all the hordes of people came over. Tonite was the nite the fun started. We had a family of 9, they had 7 kids ranging from the ages of 11 months to 9. A bunch of people from Washington two guys from New York (the celebrities, the webmasters of a church-ish website called Blueradius) and the best guests ever. The Inuit ladies. Most of you have heard the story already so i won't bother retelling it to you. For those of you who haven't, here's a scintilating snippet from the end of one of their conversations "I'm not sleeping next to that piece of sh*t." Call me. I'll give you the details ;)
To the scholars who came home for Thanksgiving. I really wanted to call you on Friday night. Honest. I did. I was thinking about you guys all weekend. Guess it'll have to wait for December.

Ollie Got Served
Saturday was crazy. Especially Saturday afternoon. Finally Oliver got a taste of his own freaking medicine! David and Judith's 6 kids "played" with him in the afternoon for like 2 hours. He couldn't take it. You know how normally it doesn't matter WHAT you do to the loser he never gets tired. Now we know. Let him lose with 6 wild children for two hours and he'll be exhausted.
(David and Judith's Clan 'hiding' from Oliver l-r Elizabeth (6), Davey (4), Joey (8), Josh (9.5), Sarah (7), Mercy (3), missing: Caleb (11 months))
(As if they could remain on the ground like that, here they are again (same order))

I had Samosa duty on Saturday. I've come to the conclusion that i can never be in the service industry. People irritate me too much. It's really simple guys. You have two choices, a mild samosa, or a hot one. Pick one. For the love of God. Just pick one and keep walking. Thathi and I had clean up duty at the church. AKA Washing huge massive pots that you could cook children in, but without hot water or good sponges.
(The ladies making Tuna sandwiches l-r Debs, Aunty Lydia, Vindhiya and Pasha)

"Would you like stuffing with that?"
I had Turkey duty on Sunday. It was unpleasent. I was manning the stuffing. Sunday was the last day of the Convention. And i was kind of sad to see it end. I had a lot of fun this year. Mainly because the house was rammed with people and Debs came from Montreal. At the same time having so many people really did suck. Only because one of the (many) things that I look forward to about having strange people come and stay at our house is getting to know them. This was virtually impossible this year. But here are a few things our family managed to collectively glean from random conversations with our guests.

Sis Robin from Washington - Her son has a very uncommon name. They look African American mixed with something else. I don't want to butcher his name but it's really cool. Ammi asked her what it meant. Turns out his name is Polynesian for Charles, his father named him that b/c he himself is Polynesian!

Sis Susan half of the Inuit duo - Susan is the sweetest old lady EVER. She stayed with us one extra day so i got to spend a little time with her. She's 77 years old and man has she been through a LOT. In a nutshell: She was married to an Anglican priest who was sent to the North to establish a church. It took him an entire year to save up enough money to buy sled dogs to make the journey. She and her 12 children went along with him. Only 5 of her kids died, the other 7 died due to the severe weather conditions. Her husband also died early on, some lung ailment, but she continued on. Remember that "Transformations" video that Radford made us watch? The one with the world wide revivals on it? The Inuit community that they filmed, that's Susan's home! And the church that was there is the one that her husband built!
(Susan getting some loving from Oliver)

Sis Pia - She's an official translator! She gets hired by the CBC and stuff to do work from Inuktituk (sp?!) into English and vice versa.

Ben from Yonkers NY - Wants to go to Africa for a year. (Good choice btw ;))

Franklin from Yonkers NY - Was watching his carb intake. Refused an offer to have raisins picked out from his breakfast to lower the carb count. Pure madness.

Bro Andy from Washington DC - LOVED Oliver. But was also afraid of him. They'd play but Andy would get scared and jump away. And do the nervous laugh. The "i'm not scared, but i'm scared" laugh.

Here are some random pictures
Sparky, looking a lot like Anthony Hopkins in promotional posters for the Shining
Debs and Lou reunited again after leaving Vancouver
A present from Sarah on our Magnadoodle
Aiya and Sis Gail representin'...Punchy's just blurry :P

(Remember, if there's a name that doesn't look familiar to you check the brief lexicon :))
That's all for now!

It's, it's like a lava lamp!

OoOo lots of things to talk about!! I have been having lots of random fun.

But first
A lexicon of terms, for those who asked for clarification.
Ammi - Sinhalese, means mom
Thathi - Sinhalese, means dad
Aiya - Sinhalese, means older brother
Oliver - our Jack Russell Terrier
Punchy - Sinhalese for little, it's what we call my mom's younger sister
Ranjan Bappa - Punchy's husband
Vhindiya - My female cousin
Paul - My other female cousin
Bro/Sis - I go to a hardcore Pentecostal church, need i say more?
Alby, Copto, Genis/Gene/Tool, Labro etc - Friends from high school.
Thorn - University buddy

And now in no particular order a smattering of how i have been occupying myself

:) Slobo's Baby Shower - Baby Showers are fun. They're even more fun when they're for friends! Slobo's was great. The moment of the night had to have been the "Copto" revelation. Copto was demanding answers and no one could give him any! (Slobo holding up Genis' baby clothes!)

:) Meeting the Dutch hottie - Alby and I had loads of fun. Perhaps the best part of it all was watching Dirjk (the Dutch hottie) fold his massive 6 foot+ frame into ammi's tiny little Carolla. (l-r: Dutch cuties + Alby)

:P Going to the Blue Jays' Game - I hate baseball. I still had fun though. It all started off with a guy hitting on Alby, using the smooth pick up line of "Hi, were you at Spring Rolls on Sunday night? I saw you there, my name is Kelly" *extends creepy hand* Alby getting excited and hitting Sonic's hand and Sonic spilling Coke on her upper thigh. Labro "supposedly" getting asked for her phone number by Jays' starting pitcher 'Botista' none of us have a clue as to who the heck he is LOL. Being told we're not allowed to take pictures in the stadiuam b/c it's "distracting" to the players. Riight. So we took one anyway. (l-r: Sonic and Alby)

:) Shopping with Alby like it was 1999 - To make up for the lost summer Alby and i saw a tonne of movies after i finished work. The one that really sticks out the most though is the night we went to see Collateral (of course we had to assign real life characters, Alby was Jamie Foxx, and i was Tom Cruise i don't remember who was Jada Pinkett, but it was probably Genis as usual). We went shopping before the movie and came to this conclusion. It would be impossible for us to have a psychological disorder. We could never be anorexic b/c we don't have ANY self control...we must eat. And we can't be "cutters" either b/c neither of us would ever have the guts to cut ourselves :) Another more important conclusion. Shopping for jeans = robbing a chick of all self-esteem that they might have. Flipping jeans. The sad thing is. They really do. To make amends i bought a fetching purse for a fetching price.

:) Monet - So Thorn and i went to see the Impressionist exhibit that was going on at the AGO. Whistler, Monet, and Turner. Let me tell you. It kicked some serious arse. I had such a good time. We got our tickets for free b/c some lady didn't want to wait in the crazy long entrance line. I can't wait to go to Europe. I finally got a real taste of what it's like to see the work of artists that you admire up close. There was a certain thrill in looking at paintings that you're familiar with...seeing the individual brush strokes, looking at the signature and all the minute little details and knowing that you and a couple of hundred other people in the room are looking at a piece of history. *emo shudder.* This is also the day i cut my own bangs in the bathroom. They were getting too long! (Thorn at the crusty St. Patrick's Station hold up one of our FREE ticket stubs :))

:S People trying to be philosophical, when they shouldn't - I was on the subway and this was taped to the seat in front of me. I think the ridiculousness of it speaks for itself. I hope it's clear enough for you to read it. (Read me if you dare!)

:( It's, it's like a lava lamp! - I know low-rise, crotch dusting jeans are supposedly in style. I too hate wearing pants that are too high. BUT. Something about having your arse hang out of your pants everytime you bend over does not appeal to me either. PEOPLE. PLEASE. STOP. WITH. THE. OVER. EXPOSURE. So Thorn and I are walking on Bloor street b/c she wanted to go and check Aritzia out. Just ahead of us is a fat chick in low rise pants and a CROPPED vintage t-shirt two sizes too small. I'm not thin. I know that. But as i stated above, i don't wear those freaking ultra low rise pants. Her rolls were out for the entire world to see. There must have been a foot of exposure from the waist of her pants to the bottom of her shirt. I like to keep my rolls private. But really. They were mesmerizing. Thorn aptly pointed out that "it's, it's like a lava lamp."

More Recently
Fanners and I hit up H&M. I got a sweet men's hat :) After H&M we went to Old Navy. Where we tried on children's Halloween costumes. Fanners is freakishly small, and i have a freakishly small head and feet. We took these pictures in the mirror; hence the overall bad quality picture. I'm a mouse, and Fanner's is a fairy :P (l-r: Fanners et moi)

:D Olivier - He got a new collar. It's kind of like a muzzle. But not so evil and mean. He hates it as you can see here, here, and here lol. He started obedience school, and he's bad so he gets stuck with a "Gentle Leader" as it is called. For the Sri Lankan/Indians out there. When you were a kid did you ever use your dad's sarong/lungi as a swing? I used to do it ALL THE TIME. Oliver enjoys doing it too. Yeah, Thathi's wearing a Scotiabank t-shirt. (Thathi and Ollie at the kitchen table)

In other news
We might have 30 people staying with us for Thanksgiving weekend. Yeah it's that time of year again! Our church is having it's annual Thanksgiving Conference (which you are ALL most welcome to attend btw!! October 7-10) and they want to take advantage of all the space in our empty basement. We have 3.5 washrooms. Will this be a billeting nightmare(as in years past)? Or billeting fun time? Stay tuned to find out!