Report cards

Being a pack rat saved me a ton of trouble today. Who knew annoying habits could one day prove useful?
I needed a transcript and a course syllabus for a course I took at York, in order to get deferred standing on one of the courses I need to graduate. I had both at one point, but I had a feeling I threw out the syllabus, as it was completely useless and it seems like something I'd throw out. I was pretty bummed about it, considering I couldn't remember the course code, or the professor's name, so even if I did need to request a copy of the syllabus from York, I wouldn't know where to begin. I gave up hope on it, only to discover it when I was trying to look for a copy of my university transcript. I was overjoyed.
The problem is now I can't find my transcript. Life's a bitch like that.

While attempting to look for my transcript, though, I came across some old report cards. Here's an excerpt from my kindergarten report card:

New experiences are not the threat to him that they were earlier in the year. Sometimes Darren's mind does not seem to be on what he is doing and he can be quite forgetful when it comes to tidying up and taking things home.

My Grade 2 teacher wrote:

Attempts at establishing good, consistent work habits have proven inconsistent...Darren continues to have difficulties attending to the task at hand...I would like to see Darren develop more self pride in his work...Darren is a capable student who does not always work to his full potential because he spends too much time socializing with his peers.

My favorite, though, is my grade 1 report card:

Darren has displayed a keen interest in drawing ninja turtles this term. His pictures have been very detailed.

Sounds like I was more awesome as a kid than I am now.

Fuck what you heard; it's what you're hearing

I was going to write about how school's over and my thoughts on that, but I realized I don't really have any thoughts on it. Sergio requested I post this for everyone to hear, so that should be more interesting.

The Hood Internet - The XX Gon' Give It To Ya (DMX x The XX)byhoodinternet

And this is my contribution for a song.

I call them April Babies because they fools.

For the past two Sundays, as I'm walking to work, this rather chunky and disheveled looking guy in sunglasses has come up to me with well wishes. I think the first time, he said "Have a good year man!" and continued to walk. This past Sunday, he said "Have a good day, man!". I said "Thanks, you too!". I can't tell if he's secretly taking the piss or if he's slightly wacked out or maybe he's just a happy guy in general. I wonder if I'll see him this Sunday. Maybe I'll beat him to the punch and wish him a good day.

One of my classmates showed up to the exam today and for some reason, announced that he was going to "sit next to my good friend Darren". He has it in his head that I know my shit for some reason and I guess he wanted to cheat off me. Thankfully, he revealed that he wasn't going to cheat off me, but he was just going to sneak his notes in with his exam paper and use that to cheat (so I still have no idea why he wanted to sit right next to me, because I'm sure as hell not his "good friend"). It hardly comes as a surprise that he ended up getting caught halfway through the exam. What kills me is that he didn't get slapped with a zero; all the teacher did was take his paper and tell him "I should be asking you to leave right now". He was allowed to continue writing the exam.
So the moral of the story is: cheat all you fucking want, because apparently the teachers at Seneca are too spineless to enforce anything, let alone a supposed zero tolerance policy.

My dad bought a few bikes a few weeks ago and one night, Sergio and I decided to take them out for a spin around the block. We forgot just how much fun it could be to just go cruising around on a bike. So we decided that we should get our own bikes, since neither of us had one. So we each got a bike yesterday.
We both went riding around for a total of maybe 90 minutes yesterday; I haven't had that much exercise in almost a year. I'm hoping I put it to good use, considering the money I spent on it.
Oh, and the kicker? Sergio and I got identical bikes. No, we did not get matching outfits too and no, we didn't hold hands when we rode together. Also, in other non-gay news, my ass hurts. I was warned that riding lowrider bikes isn't too comfortable since it doesn't leave too much leg room to pedal, but that doesn't even bother me. The part that kills me is that the banana seat my bike comes with has zero cushioning, so I feel. Every. Bump. My conversation with Sergio today went something like:
"How's your ass?"
"It hurts!"
"Mine too"
Like there aren't enough gay jokes about Sergio and I, right?

I thought I heard every good song from the 80's, but I was wrong. No one told me about Chalk Circle.

Lights out

Memorable Quotes:
"Hey, is it degrading if I call someone 'my Chinese lamb'?"
-Sergio, who meant "someone" as in his wife, who isn't Chinese.

"I think if I had a dark skinned friend, I'd call him Lights Out"
-Sergio, after I told him giving people nicknames based on their ethnicity or skin color might not be wise.

"You're not gonna put that in your blog, are you?"
-Sergio, referring to his previous statements.

Stop laughing!

Okay, so enough people have been told about this, so I may as well let everyone else in on it.

When I was a kid (like, maybe 9 years old), my dad bought me a Wolverine action figure and from then on, I got into superheroes and comics. Upon seeing Magneto's name for the first time, I completely misread it. It's not like I was some illiterate dumbass, but for some reason, Magneto's name completely threw me off.
So how did I read it if I didn't read it as Magneto?

Mantango.

As embarrassed as I am about it, it seems to have brought a lot of people joy and laughter. Yeah, really. And in case anyone missed it on my Facebook, here's a sweet drawing Owen made.

Kinda like a big deal

I was busy trying to nap in the school cafeteria while my classmates were busy killing time or studying. One of them woke me up just to ask me what my GPA was. I duly told her what it was and asked why she was so interested.
"You're famous"
Unable to put together what my GPA and my apparent fame had anything to do with one another, I asked her to explain. Supposedly one of my teachers mentioned my name to the class of students, telling them that I'm smart. So one of the students asked the girl if she knew a Darren. I had to laugh; I'm certain there's a good number of people in my program that are doing far better than me. I'm not sure what it is about me that sticks out to my teachers.
Possibly my terrible posture and laughable facial hair.

My mom found a box in a drawer containing her old TTC student Metropasses and showed them to me. It was cute, seeing my mom as a teenager. She had pretty good style back then. I was going to ask what happened to that style, but didn't feel like getting smacked upside the head by her. My dad, on the other hand, wasn't so smart and made fun of her relatively large Chicken Little glasses. He got smacked upside the head.
So I guess the question of who I inherited my lack of smoothness with the opposite sex from is now answered.

Thanks to Pineapple Express, I feel sheepish for admitting I like Godspeed You! Black Emperor. I found out today that they're back to play a few shows, though, so fuck it; I'm excited again. I hope there's a Toronto date somewhere in there.

They told me the classics never go out of style...

I never got to own a copy physical copy of the album; even now, the album I have on my iPod is what I downloaded maybe 7 or 8 years ago. Sergio has a vinyl copy, but he refuses (pun not intended) to sell it to me. I only get to own his vinyl if he dies before I do (and vice versa with my records). So I'm pretty stoked that Epitaph is issuing a deluxe version of the album. It's one of the few albums I still listen to on a pretty regular basis and I still haven't gotten sick of it.

My Friday? It was Good.

It was great to see everyone today (you too, Sebastien Grainger); I've been too busy the past few months to really go out. It feels like it's been forever since I've actually been able to hang out with friends, take photos and just relax. I think I really needed it before the final push this month.

Hope your Good Friday was enjoyable too.