I don’t gravitate towards hot people for their good looks.

I only gravitate towards nice people with good vibes.

Most of the time, I don’t block someone online, even if they’ve upset me or vice versa. They’ve paid for their internet and maybe even a membership on the same platform as I’m on. I don’t want their experience to be incomplete—when someone blocks you, you lose access to a tiny bit of the internet.

Dear Apple Music & iTunes Store, I believe I’ve purchased these tracks, haven’t I? At the very least, you should have emailed me a copy before denying me access. I paid for them.

My first podcast episode. Short and melodic. Hope you’ll enjoy.

Transcript

Is there a way for these music streaming platforms to prevent what I call ‘namespace pollution’? This term refers to different artists sharing the same name and being grouped together on a single artist page, especially when they have common names like ‘Dizzy’ or ‘Natalie.’ It’s really frustrating because, despite having the same name, these artists often create music in completely different genres and even languages!

Highly recommend this album!

I’ve just launched a new set of websites: a homepage, a weblog, and a contact page. I’m a guy with a pretty eclectic mix of interests, and I definitely don’t want every aspect of my online presence tied to my full name or professional image. Therefore, I’m rebranding these sites with my nickname.

Job hunting can be tough, but if you play your cards right, you’ll have employers lining up for you… in one conversation 🤭 #ScamAlert

Whipped up these Eggs Benedict myself. They may not have turned out perfect, but I absolutely loved them.

New earworm!

Once I bought a frosted glass for $12 at IKEA. It was beautiful but a bit too big and didn’t have a handle. If I drank water from it before a meal I’d feel too full to eat. Just way too big. Weeks later I got an IKEA flyer and saw it’d been reduced to $7 and advertised as a vase.

Ergonomic chairs are arguably the worst investments. The best chairs are basic, sturdy, and possibly a little harsh on your bottom, encouraging you to stand up often instead of staying seated for hours.

Due to the current challenges in the Canadian job market, I’m contemplating using a pseudonym on my resume to increase my chances for an interview. I’m leaning towards “Jai Nutsdeep.”

In this day and age, loyalty generally translates into either feeling not motivated enough to cheat or being fortunate enough to avoid getting caught.

Contact me if you don’t really think so.

As of today, two orcas have resulted in the deaths of four human beings: a Canadian woman, an American woman, an American man, and a Spanish man.

Orca attacks are a First World problem.

Before I got my driver’s licence I used to practice parallel parking around my neighbourhood, parking my car in front of every house where there was already a parked vehicle as if I was another family member coming home from work. I even got out of my car and walked around (to check if I parked right). Thank goodness I did this in Canada. 🙏

Woman shot dead in New York state after friend pulled into wrong driveway https://t.co/OrW1dewEsZ

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) April 18, 2023

Went 70 in a 60 yet still annoyed those hoping for high 80s.

Welcome to London, Ontario, the home to edgy pilots on four wheels!

Did you know what made my day?

I was walking down the street and scrolling on my phone when I almost kicked a cobra chicken in the face. She was so nice a lady she didn’t even have a go at me!

What else?

I wrote the horrendous 3-hour CompSci 2212 final exam, which featured a 40-page booklet including 75 multiple-choice and 15 short-answer questions.

Now I have solid reasons to pop a bottle of champagne!

I had planned to rent a car in Victoria and drop it off in Vancouver the same day. With a Costco discount, that Budget rental, a Toyota Corolla, would have cost me $750 plus taxes.

Initially I didn’t opt for the ferries. I thought a rental for 12 hours or so would just cost 2x or 3x more than a ferry ticket. FYI, a one-way ferry ride is just less than $20.

Now I’m fixing to commence my ferrytale. ⛴️

For a whole day, I’ve been trying to find the right words to describe how saddened I am about the passing of Ryuichi Sakamoto. I listen to him on a monthly, if not weekly, basis. I share his music with all my close friends. I play his songs on my piano, albeit clumsily.

He was one of the few musicians in the world whose works literally touched my soul. His entire catalog of music has also been a great influence on many other musicians and the whole world. His influence will undoubtedly perdure, on many levels.

I’m sharing two videos here. One is from 1992, and the other 2022. We’ll remember this highly gifted crossover musician who once reshaped the soundscapes of Jazz, electronica, world music, and even hip-hop, before being recognized as an experimental and classical composer.

Rest in peace, Maestro.

Just learned from a YouTuber that one of my favourite singer-songwriters, Andrea Martin, passed away in 2021. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of her before, but her passing is to me as Kobe Bryant’s death was to a Lakers fan.

What makes me sadder is that her only album can’t be found on any music streaming platforms. Fortunately I bought a copy of her CD back in 2000 and will load it into my iCloud Music Library soon.

Her songwriting skills were amazing; her singing voice was underrated.

These two tracks are among my favourites on this album.

Lately I’ve been watching a YouTube channel on compiler design, which one of our compulsory courses this term is all about. The YouTuber is an assistant teacher at an Indian college. I hope she won’t become a professor, though, because even Ivy League professors can never explain stuff as clearly.

For someone born in the 1980s, I have to admit I had a little hard time distinguishing between Atlantic Starr and Midnight Star — probably because both are American bands, both have/had multiple members, both had R&B hits, both were formed in the exact year of 1976, and both have “Star(r)” in their names.

But is it really important to tell one “star” from another? As far as I know, many people outside of the Anglosphere still think Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley were the same person or mistake Marilyn Monroe for Madonna. (Beyoncé vs. Rihanna might be even more challenging for them.) On hearing the first eight bars of Billie Jean, however, they can sing and dance to it with total abandon.

So the answer is definitely a no. All we need to do is appreciate the beauty of these marvy works and feel grateful to those artists who ever committed themselves to perseveringly creating one marvel after another and pushing the edge of the envelope, even though we cannot exactly recall their stage or real names after decades.

Perhaps I’m among the guys on earth who have the least patience to wait. If your new service has hit the market but runs on an invite-only basis, you’ve lost my interest. I opted for Fastmail over HEY.com and felt happy. I ditched Clubhouse in the end and had zero enthusiasm for going back. Should I mention Dribbble, Pinterest, and Quora, where I do not have an account to date because they were once invite-only? Now Post finally gave me the nod, and I slammed the door on them there and then.

Have you ever realized that, when you’re washing a carrot and two black plums in a kitchen sink filled with water, you’re actually messing up a snowman at room temperature?