I passed the bar exam.

Relief!

I've been on vacation for 4 weeks now, and I have 3 more weeks to go. And I'm itching to go back to work already like you wouldn't believe.

Don't get me wrong, I love time off, but I'm happiest when I'm busy. I've gotten a lot of rest, I traveled, and now I don't know what on earth to do with myself anymore.

There's no doubt that in a few months I'll be whining about the 80-hour work week, but right now, it almost seems better than constant lounging. Or maybe I am...

I'm actually really good at things like this but when you have a bunch of pieces, it starts to wear thin. Case in point, just constructed a nightstand to find that the drawer only opens halfway. Now the question is, can I live with this defect or should I take the whole thing apart. Leaning toward the former.

Also, I don't really understand their home delivery policy. I bought a bunch of things that couldn't be transported, and then I stood in line for 2 HOURS in the home delivery...

Spent a couple of weeks in Hawaii and it was just magnificent. I "only" saw Oahu and Maui, so I would definitely like to return one day, specifically to visit Kauai. Hopefully life will take me out there at some point.

I am mostly glad to have made the decision to stay in Kailua, because I preferred it infinitely over Waikiki. We stayed in a ridiculously beautiful house a couple of minutes from Kailua Beach Park, and had a beautiful view of the ocean from out lanai. ...

Hawaii was gorgeous, as I thought it was. A couple of weeks of doing nothing and now it's back to Toronto...where I have another 4 weeks of vacation waiting in the wings, yaaay!

Because I have nothing better to do during my layover in San Fran than play around with my MacBook....

I flew from Toronto to San Fran, and then am waiting to fly on over to Honolulu. The flight from Toronto was irritating as fuck, since they had me move from my seat (which I chose by the way) no less than THREE times.

First, because a guy wanted to sit with his wife, so they asked if I would mind switching seats with him. They can't be apart for 5 hours? OK, fine,...

Sometimes if you're a member of this profession, you just have to have a sense of humor about these types...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1Qk6QPzuIc

I've been trying to choose a watch for a couple of months now and I finally bit the bullet and got this today:



Really pleased with the purchase too.

Now if only I could start understanding this boy/man problem I have, my life would be pretty sweet.

In exactly 4 weeks, I am off to Honolulu. Can't WAIT. Staying for 12 days, hoping to get sun, sleep, and snorkel a little and hike a little and just relax a lot.

Re the mole of evil: I have an appointment with somebody in Toronto (since I'm moving back there) next Monday, the 8th, so hopefully she will be able to put me in touch with a good surgeon then. Fingers crossed!

I also have to find a condo in TO else I'll be homeless come August 1.

I had to have a biopsy done last week on a suspicious mole. Today I had the stitches removed and got the pathology report.

The good news is that it's not malignant. The bad news is that it's the sort of mole that will likely become malignant so as a result I will now have to have a chunk of my thigh removed...roughly the size of a Canadian dollar coin. I am hoping to get it done in July since my contract begins on August 10 and I have a lot of vacation time before that.
...

UGH.

They took my GPS, then they clearly popped the trunk open to steal my golf clubs (fuck you!), 2 brand new DVD sets of S4&5 of The Wire...which really annoys me since I just got them on sale, and DVD sets of Planet Earth and The Blue Planet that belong to a friend and they were returned by somebody to me yesterday so I could return them to this guy.

The car isn't damaged, just a small indentation where they used that tool to get in through the window, but I...

I went to the Art Gallery of Ontario today - it was just re-opened since it was redesigned by Frank Gehry. It's actually quite spectacular (the inside more than the outside).

A couple of pics (they do NOT allow any photography and when I asked why, they said because it would violate copyright laws. Yeah, at least come up with a plausible legal reason...)

Really stunning wooden staircase that connects 3 floors.

...

2008 was the first year in I swear I don't know how many years that I didn't go away on a vacation. I got to spend the best part of the summer working in NYC and that did help ease the pain a little. I also went to Ottawa for a long weekend, but that doesn't count as a vacation to me, especially given the way it turned out (better not to talk about).

In 2007, I went to Cape Cod and the islands for a couple of weeks, and I also went to London, and the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Groningen,...

I'm moving to a new place in September, after I return from New York.

The yard will be enjoyed, that's for sure!

I spent eons researching hybrid bikes and I finally decided to go for it, against common sense and my bank account.

And then I had to take Simon (my old Civic) in to get his timing belt replaced, and the struts fixed and $600 later the dream of the bike evaporated.

Foiled again!