Over the past week and a bit I've ate so much that I've managed to hurt nearly all parts of my mouth: I scalded the front part of my tongue on some hot noodles; I burned the upper palate of my mouth while eating pizza at Dix's; and my throat hurts when I swallow.  With 2005 and more holiday meals just around the corner, I'm expecting more casualties. 

Speaking of casualties, I'm sure by now you've all heard about the earthquake-tsunami disaster that raged through Indonesia and its neighboring countries.  As I'm writing this, the death toll was 135,000.  Just to put this number into fathomable terms: 5,800 died in the 9/11 disaster; 58,000 American soldiers died in the Vietnam war; the City of Richmond has a population of 177,000.  The earthquake generated so much force that it shook the earth to its axis and slowed its rotation by 3-millionth of a second.  Indonesia's geographic location has permanently changed as underwater tectonic plates shifted 30 meters.  The waves generated by the tsunami were so powerful that it traveled from the epicentre in Indonesia to the African coast of Somalia -- almost 5,000 km away.  The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology reported that the tsunami waves traveled up to speeds of 700 km/h.  Unreal or just insane?  You decide.  It really boggles the mind just how much energy is required to move so much water so quickly.  While all this scientific analysis is intriguing, it does not hide the fact that half way around the world, apocalypse has become a reality for many. 

I guess this is not exactly the best way to end my last entry for 2004 but it really does put things into perspective.  It's like one of those waker-uppers that makes you appreciate being in a general state of wellbeing.  So no matter what kind of grief you've experienced this holiday season, ranging from not getting that 60GB iPod you wanted, to getting a 70% instead of 80% in Sociology, to being mouthed off by a driver with road rage, to quarreling with your siblings/parents, let's keep those in Asia in mind.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls: welcome to version 4 of the site formerly known as Erkx Says.  After almost 18 months, I figured a new look was in order.  It's not like there was anything wrong with the last look -- that one dimensional layout served me well because it was simple and very low maintenance.  But then the popularity of other one dimensional layouts like Xanga, Blogspot, MSN's newly released "Spaces" et al forced me to reconsider the meaning of individualism and take it to another level.

So after some inspiration, kablamo! -- the Scroll Bar Bimonthly makes its debut.  Where do I begin?  Well first of all, the good ol' Tagboard has been retired.  It's a shame in some ways, but at the end the Tagboard was impossible to incorporate without it being an eyesore.  "The Scroll Bar Bimonthly" does a better job of defining the site than "Erkx Says" and the site has been newly tagged as "simplicity that defines."  With a bit of imagination, it is easy to see how the tag and the intro hat/shoe graphic relates to the new design.  The Polaroids have been slightly tweaked to be closer to the real thing; it is now a true-to-scale representation of a Polaroid 600 film.  Legibility has been improved with greater spacing and higher colour contrast, while narrower margins simulate the effect of reading a newspaper.  I wanted to move away from the linear navigation style of the previous design, but still retain the whole idea of the scroll bar.  So two seamless frames now work in concert with each other to present content that tastefully compliment the overall look and feel of the site.

I would say that version 4 is more evolutionary than revolutionary.  But some might say otherwise.  The layout is nothing too profound; it gives me space to experiment with new things and gets rid of some excess inherent in the last version.  If you stare at it long enough, you'll see some carried-over features; the personality is the same, just in new clothing.  Like it?  Love it?  Hate it?  Holla back.

Friday, 17 December 2004, 12:47

In a blink of an eye, semester one has come and gone. Nutty. Who still remembers the balmy Vancouver weather of not-too-long-ago? Who still remembers cracking open textbooks for the first time and vowing not to fall behind in the readings? In all honesty, I would have to say this sem wasn't too bad. It ranks as "manageable" but I think the turning point came just after midterms when I started dozing off in class and everything started piling up exponentially. From then on, I think I lost focus and heart. The past two weeks has been crap. I would wake up with nothing else but studying on the agenda. It takes a lot of motivation to keep keepin' on because studying is such a pain. I think my motto for the coming semester should be "finish strong." I finished my last exam just a couple of hours ago but I'm feeling down about it. Finance is a biatch, for real. I guess I'm being a big baby in some ways -- I slacked off way too much in the last few days and spent way too much time on foolish things. Yeah, finish strong is the goal for 2005.

In other news, I will be heading off to Seattle/Bellingham for a day trip tomorrow. A good way to kick off the holidays I would say. Did anyone read the business section of The Sun today? There are predictions that the loonie will hit 90 cents to the greenback next year. I'm going to get some major gym time during the break too. I haven't worked out for two weeks and as Constance said: "I can feel my muscles melting!" Let's see, what else? Watching the Apprentice finale I taped last night, DVD/NBA nights at my crib, lots of R&R, hanging out and working on my new website. That's right. This soon-to-be-released layout is completely new along with several new tweaks. The design goal was aimed at clearing up clutter, so you can expect something clean and streamlined. I'm just about done, but I have a bunch of little details to take care of still. I would say this is my most anticipated release yet. Be prepared for a debut by Christmas Day. Think of it as my gift to you faithful followers of my chronicles. The picture above is close to the finished product and has been purposely distorted for your curiosity's pleasure.

It's been 6 weeks since I busted my phone and yes, it is excruciatingly horrible. I've received at least 5 texts that I'll never get to read and several missed calls including 3 during my morning exams on the 10th, 13th and today! Someone's pranking me, I know it. So anyways, for those of us who are done, it's time to party it up. For those who still have a few more, sock it to 'em and afterwards, party it up with us.