BNJMN

There's this one space near my house where I can hear if a bus is coming, but I can't see it. And when I hear a bus, I better be running, because to make it to the bus stop, I need to cross a fairly busy road. Yesterday, I was in just that predicament. And I ran. World record running. I could have bested a Jamaican sprinter. Granted, that sprinter is probably 73, had one too many rum and cokes, and is missing a toe due to an unfortunate fishing incident... but still, pretty fast. And the bus stopped! Good thing there is someone getting on at that stop, embarking on an adventure that very well might have changed his life. I zip across one side of the northbound lanes, which thanks to a light that just changed a couple hundred metres away, has zero traffic. As I reach the island, the southbound traffic in both lanes actually stop for me just so that I can make it to the bus. If Ottawa drivers get a bad rap, certainly the rap-givers never saw that sight! Just as I run right behin...

In between all the pain of recovering, drastically rearranged sleep schedule, and trying to stay comfortable, I have been able to update my website ( www.benjaminwood.net ). I had the idea over a year ago, what took so long was finding a reasonable design for the portfolio, as well as filling that portfolio. It's become very tricky to make a personal website these days. Thanks to all the features of Youtube, Myspace, Twitter, and Facebook - and to a lesser extent delicious, reddit, linkedin, and dozens of other sites - there isn't a whole lot to do yourself. I guess, the ultimate would be to combine all these social networks into a coherent, useful site. But I'm sure such a feature already exists. Part of this design was to change around this blog so that it fits better with the site as a whole. I did what I could, but I'm afraid any more changed would cause the template to explode! So, I'll see what I can end up adding to the site. I imagine, however, that 99% of a...

I attended one class this week - the first class of the semester, as it turned out. And it was a busy one. It's almost overwhelming how much work there will be to do before April rolls around. But once it does, the question becomes, what to do then? Fortunately, I have well over a hundred days to figure that one out. I did make a logo, though I had surgery on Tuesday. Talk about a strange experience... One minute you're playing with the heart rate monitor in the operating room, trying to lower your heart-rate, the next a man walks in and plays with the IV unit... and the next you're struggling to make out one of any of the several clocks that adorn the recovery room. And your throat is beyond dry. And it hurts to move. Then when you make it home, it's as if very little has even happened. "the pain's not too bad," you say, "it's been worse before!" And then you wake up the next day. Pain killers have been a good friend ever since. But not one ...

So the OC Transpo strike started a year ago. And looking back at it all, I still have these annoyed feelings about the fact that it happened, and they didn't really get anywhere, since the reason for it ending was originally on the table as a way to prevent it. And lately, I've been getting more and more annoyed with the service. I actually called and made a complaint about an issue, but that doesn't go far enough. Maybe I'll write them a letter old-person-style, stamps and all. That first day of the strike wasn't unlike today - blizzardy. It felt like the first true day of winter - just in time for the Christmas season too! And only 9 more days until I'm done school for the year. Then a bit longer. Then what? I do have some ideas, some of which (unfortunately) involve even more school. We'll see what grows to fruition. Speaking of school, here's a sequence I worked on with my teammates for one of our final projects: Dave, our model, is part of an ad cam...

What's that truck? Oh, it's making deliveries! Army of green bins, ready to Disembark! Green Bin Get! This is a story about how my garbage habbits got flip-turned upside down... Actually, I never did watch Fresh Prince a whole lot, though everyone I knew did. It's been a crazy couple of weeks for me, but I think I'm passed the worst. Three days ago, I would have disagreed with that, and had started getting myself mentally ready to hear news of a need for surgery. Now, however, I'm thinking I can bypass such a procedure. Hopefully. I'll have to wait until Monday to go and find out for sure. At the height of this ordeal, Halloween, I spent it in a half-inspired Mario costume, thanks to Club Nintendo's gift of an authentic-like Mario hat. And a slight remix of said costume...

The conference room at NewCap radio, home of Hot899 and LiVE885, have very comfy chairs.I was there yesterday with my fellow group work team for a school project. It was a wonderful experience... I secretly wanted to see the actual offices and recording areas, though, possibly to make funny faces at John Moran while he's on the air. Or, you know, not. I finally backed up my Disney photos to a dvd, so that I could finally delete them off my memory cards. I didn't want to risk losing them to technological snafus, even thought they are on two different hard drives. I did have a hard drive die on me, after all. But I bet losing all those pictures would give me a great reason to head back! Supposedly, Halloween is pretty fun 'round those parts, and then the next day, like magic, it's Christmas. The other pictures, above, are various ones from the summer. Yes, I finally had breakfast at Cora's! It was quite delicious, and so big that it was worth my while to take the rest...

Yesterday, I was at the mall when I was greeted by Mickey Mouse! I thought it was nice that Mickey was around the mall, especially since the store that replaced Disney had opened the day before. And that escalator that would take me there! It has been broken for a long time now. Just like The Bay with its broken door that doesn't open, Bayshore is kinda slow at fixing things. And then I eventually made it up and saw the new, open-for-business Ricki's. Walking in, I felt like it was familiar, but not. The pillars, now plain white, the ceiling, now way low, the wall bays now squarely recessed into space-maximizing walls... and a huge company logo where the projected screen once displayed Hannah Montana music videos and The Little mermaid singalongs. I'll have to go in and tell them to enjoy the scent of Subway bread and horrible fat vat smell when KFC cleans out their reserves. Oh, and that the place is haunted. And pictured above is a guy who was rapping beside me.