Mustache No More

It has been one full month with the mustache Movember goal is complete. Today is Ty's birthday and I gave him a call yesterday cause I didn't know what kind of schedule he was going to have tonight. Turns out he's hanging out with everyone. Which is good... kinda makes me wish I was hanging out with my friends on my birthday... I am going to have fun with Steph and she's having a little party so that should be fun, I just didn't realize how much I would be missing Andy, Paul and Ty plus their girls... Let alone how much I miss Jen. At least without the mustache I no longer LOOK old, now I only feel old.
Weather watch doesn't look good for friday now. I might see my first birthday without a snowfall. in 25 years, including the green christmas there was snow on my birthday, I guess that's what happens when you get too old.
Tyler and I had a quick lament about being old yesterday on the phone. and about families, and school and expectations on us compared to our parents who had already been married 5 years by the time they were 25. I can't wait for the year to be over, nothing is difficult this week and we can easily get everything done, I'm just going to "phone this week in."
My birthday is more important anyway...

Hungry?

Weather watch has a 40% chance of flurries on my birthday! I am hoping this is the case! not much time left until Christmas, probably doing the last of my shopping today, everyone may not be getting big things but I hope my family likes the weird things I have found in downtown Toronto! Not much else to report, might get the cellphone today, we'll see. I'll have to put pants on first I guess! hehe.

Sunday Morning Coming Down

Birthday winter weather watch! As of now light snow is the forecast for Dec 4th in Oakville, although it is almost 2 weeks away the weather will likely change... scratch that, it already has changed. Its showing mostly sunny but temps are definitely in the minus! Lets hope for a little birthday cheer and pray to Yukon Cornelius that it changes!

Classes go until the 18th, which means I have my final exam on snowflake day! :( so I hope we can postpone until Saturday for turkey tacos. I think I'm going to go on a photoing walk today, check out the area around the school for neat little creeks and streams which there are many of. I just hope the day it actually does snow I will be able to take some pictures. there are a lot of areas around here which have a beautiful quality about them which would be enhanced by a dusting of snow.

Newest word in the MACtionary

(Don't judge the quality, I'm still new at photoshop)

Used 3 times this week, twice in things I almost handed in to teachers...

Whateverthehell

pronounced with the emphasis on the "What" whateverthehell is an updated version of the old, "I'm still searching for a word" Andrew MacDonald standbys, whatchamacallit, whatchamahoosit, whatshisface and whatchacallit. In fact I use them so often that I seriously believe there are wiring difficulties in my brain, either the brain runs too fast and the cables can't handle the data or I'm slow and the cables can't handle the data, I'm hoping for the first one, too smart for my weak mortal body!

Sometimes I have an itch that only a liter of Pepsi can scratch, that was the case tonight.

Photo for Steve then off the grid

As soon as I'm done making this post I'm going off the grid. I'm going to unplug the internet then get to work on the homework I have for the week, as anyone who has listened to me speak would know, Left 4 Dead 2, Fight Club B-Ray and Star Trek come out tomorrow so I need to have no homework left to do. So today for the first time ever I'm going to complete my History essay before the hour before class! And I'm gonna do my newspaper thingy for Mary-Lynn and get a solid draft of my Health Promotion article done so that way I can just go to class, show Jody, edit and hand it in. I'm going to post my pictures from the Santa Claus parade tomorrow maybe. It was pretty good, but nothing can compare to the night parades in Sault Ste. Marie. The Toronto parade just seemed like a way to get people into the Eaton center. I don't think anyone out there had the Christmas spirit, really, I found it difficult to get into the mood with about 10,000 people bumping into me and throwing their garbage all over Yonge. My shoes stuck to the pavement and sidewalks like it was flypaper! (I posted an Aftermath picture on facebook)

Look its SANTA!

I'm wandering down to Toronto again today, this time to cover the Santa Claus parade for bonus marks. Cause I'm now that guy in the class. So on top of all the other crap I have to do this week I'm also going to write an article about the Parade. I hope Mom sees me on TV or something. I'm also going to finish scanning those images for Steph's book. I can't wait to see what main sponsor LEGO has to bring to the parade!!!!

Come out of the cold... for a coffee slushy?

Another update from Starbucks, this one finally live. Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha Frappucino or whatever the hell its called.
It has come to my attention that My next writing assignment for... Writing for Journalism is an opinion piece, I guess throwing a bone to all the students thus far that have had trouble keeping editorial bias out of their assignments. I don't know what to do it on... so many things bug me living in Toronto but I don't want it to turn into a rant by some smalltowner with a big vocab and clever one liners about the ills of the big city. Nor do I want to review anything particularly. I'll have to see what kind of perameters Jody gives us.
Left 4 Dead 2, Star Trek and Fight Club B-Ray come out tuesday so it will be hard to find a free minute to complete any of my assignments. So after the Santa Claus parade we're all business. Fights Tonight hinder a head start.
I know everyone just laughs at my newfound Starbucks fetish but man oh man, I could see spending my life in coffee bars writing. And once I start publishing people can say "and that is the chair where Andrew MacDonald sat to write Who Is Frisbee Calhoun? and people would stay out of my spot and would have to clear out when I came in with my computer to write. I imagine this would cost me dearly in terms of the amount of Iced Tea and Espresso I'd drink. But it would all be in the name of the craft. I'm VERY excited to see Steph's book published... Hopefully she'll sign mine! :P As soon as I get it I'll put up a couple photographs of the inside and the outside with the bitchin art by Andrew MacDonald and clever text by Stephanie MacDonald.

A is for Andrew

New profile picture, I guess people are really starting to dig the suspenders. Makes me look pro, someone said I looked very "journalistic" the other day when I had them on. I feel the photo bug. I think I'm going to go take some pictures this weekend to add to the other book I have on the go. And I'm going to dedicate some time this weekend to writing for red hoodie. I want to get that together soon. With Steph's book almost ready to hit the shelves it gives me renewed energy.

Christmas is coming

I
I did a quick Facebook and Twitter post about the redundancy of putting the same information in two places, so depending which you go to first the other is at least "technically" a RePost or a ReTweet. Aren't I clever?! Since Steph is probably the only one who follows both... she'll just think I'm an ass. Oh well.

II
OH! The picture! apparently, according to abc news, this is this year's must have children's toy. a robotic hamster, I suspect it travels around at high speed on its very small wheels sucking up all the kitchen's dust bunnies until the wheels don't work anymore and it gets slower and slower. But I guess that's a long way off and it's much more likely to die at the hands of Fido or Mr. Jingles, the family pet who thinks it's an animate object. But I've seen this toy before! It's as old as toys are I think.
I guess you set it up with some plastic accessories and marketing... of somekind and you have yourself a little cash cow (or hamster as the case may be) Another thing, is it a hamster because they thought thats what those little balls of computer animated fluff were in G-Force, or is it a grab for the funniest character in Bolt? Either way... its just a battery powered rebrand of a classic. Which isn't bad... but with the demand you should probably tell your kids Santa comes around Family Day if they have their heart set on this thing.

III
Steph and I share a youtube account, we have for a long time. Its easier to look at movies back and forth. but I can see now a downside to it... the recommended for you section is completely swamped with a single theme. Thats because last night we had an MSN linkspam conversation about Sesame Street videos... so when we watch videos from a single theme I'll watch 20, she'll watch 20 and all of a sudden we've watched 40 videos in half the time it would take to actually watch them.

IV
I hope I can convince someone to go with me, but this Sunday is the Santa Claus parade. I've always wanted to go to a major one. Now that I have the chance I'm saddling up for a sweet adventure into the heart of Torontonian yuletide spirit. hopefully it's better than their regular spirit... somewhere between a rabid badger and an irritable cheetah with mange.

Finally! a post that employs more than one paragraph!

People are what ruin Toronto, but today was good!

This is the cover of a record I found while cruising downtown. The guy was almost not going to sell it to me. He hadn't noticed it before, and said it had an awesome cover. We had a couple jokes back and forth and he gave it to me for $2 I also found myself a set of headphones downtown. the place I bought them from gave me a free shot of liquor for my purchase. So I have new awesome Nixon headphones and free liquor on queen west. I also bought a Madonna tee cause it was on megasale at Urban Outfitters. Sunday Morning on Yonge and Queen West might have been my best adventure through Toronto yet! Save for the time steph and I caught the fire, and the Print Kids & Co. trip.

History Day and the First Touch of Snow

Nearing the completion of my essay on Sault Ste. Marie I looked to the skylight and saw as those first slushy balls of winter fell from the sky. I have done well so far on my midterm exams and essays as I've gotten them back. I am still worried however for tomorrow's class and Andrew's exam. I don't know how I did on it and it frankly worries me. The schedule of the program, I found out, is one of the main reasons people drop. Because it you miss even a single class it can't be simply made up the next semester, these classes only run at one time of the year. Intimidating to be sure. I can't wait for the weekend. Hanging out with dad and Steph.

Back to the Grind... kinda

Starting school again the right way, a 55 minute class and 6 hours of movies. Not Quite Hollywood, about Aussie exploitation movies. Benjamin Button, cause I've never seen it. And Two-Lane Blacktop because I needed to watch a road movie. Steph and I are in the early stages now of planning our Trans Canada tour "Andrew & Steph v. Canada" I'm excited to have something to look foreward to.
I found out today that they are releasing Fight Club on B-Ray, at first I said, oh, well thats kinda cool, but I looked at the cover art, which read "10th Anniversary Edition" and got a good flash of old man feelings, so I have started an essay on 1999 in my life, the first time I saw Fight Club and since I haven't seen it in a good 5 years or so a screening and how it mirrors or doesn't mirror my life as I approach the age of the characters. Those movies I consider the best Apocalypse Now, Fight Club, Where Eagles Dare, No Country for Old Men, and 3:10 to Yuma I watch as seldom as possible, because I don't want to ever be bored with them. (note those films are not in order! I can never definitively give a number one film because I love so many different kinds of cinema!)