Ma mère et Sébastien

Ma mère et Sébastien
Originally uploaded by Acadieman.

Technically, not the best photo, but it does have a certain cuteness factor.

I'm in a weird mood today. still have a cold. The temperature is still outta wack. +1 this morning when i left for work, with freezing rain coming down. The world is outta wack. Start panicking.

Self Portrait

Self Portrait
Originally uploaded by Acadieman.

Here I am. This is me. 32 years old. Its starting to show I think. I'll have to use more of that Biotherm Age Fitness cream. I'll take all the help I can get ;)

Games

Games
Originally uploaded by Acadieman.

I am so Sick! *grumble* I dont know what it is this year but I seem to be catching colds one after the other. This is my 3rd one since October. *GRUMBLE* Oh well. There is one good thing about being sick, its the perfect excuse to stay home and play video games!! YAY!

Prize winning Photo

Colourful Thumbtaks 2
Originally uploaded by Acadieman.

I entered this photo on a contest in Flicker. And I won!! woo hoo :)



This shot is part of a series I am doing. I am taking all kinds of shots from objects that are around the office. You can see them all on my Flickr page.

West Island Sunset

Sunset in Kirkland
Originally uploaded by Acadieman.

I was walking through the parking lot at work to get to my car, and this caught my eye. How could it not. The sky was incredible. We rarely get such beautiful sunsets in Montreal. Or maybe I just have not been paying attention to them.


That's one thing I noticed since I got my new Camera, I actually pay attention to my environment. I look. I really look at what is around me, and I see it in a different way. I see lines, depth and colours in a way I completely ignored before. I almost feel like I am living in a heightened state, in which my senses have been awoken.

I must say, I quite like it.

Bonsai Part Deux

Bonsai 2
Originally uploaded by Acadieman.

Same tree different shot. In fact the two shots are so different, I am not sure which one I like the best.

Two Bonsais. One metaphore.

Black and White.

Yet, the same tree.

I promise. No more bonsai trees.

Bonsai

Bonsai 1
Originally uploaded by gabrielrobichaud.

What a cute little tree. This is one of my favorite plants from James' indoor garden. Beautifull plant.

Today is also Day 1 at work in the new year. Looking forward to more data problems, quality checks and automatition software. Wooo hooo. Quite the exciting world I live in! Oh yeah baby!

Since October, Mathua has been leaving comments on my blog. I thought Mathua was my friend Steve in NB. Oh my. Boy did I ever make the wrong assumption about that one.

Well Mathua, your identity eludes me no longer!! Honestly, I'm happy you are reading my blog. I won't talk about why publicly, but I really do appreciate the comments. I re-read them all last night. The one you left on "Pee-shy" makes a lot of sense now.

And I aggree 100% with what you are saying.

Life has a way of teaching you intereting lessons. Some are harder to learn than others, but those are the ones you need to learn the most.

New Year In Bloom

IMG_0638
Originally uploaded by gabrielrobichaud.

I had a really hard time picking the picture for the blog today. I took over 640 pictures in the past 24 hours. I really went nuts. I decided I was going to take the time to really get to know my camera. So don't be alarmed if you find a lot of freaky looking shots on flickr. Mind you, there are many many good ones.

Happy New Year.

View of Mount-Royal through my balcony door

View of Mount-Royal through my balcony door
Originally uploaded by gabrielrobichaud.

As part of my resolutions for 2007, I will be posting pictures on my blog, or at least trying to do so, every day. So plan on seeing many more photos on here.

This one i took this morning. I thought it was an interesting play with the shadows and the mountain. Waddaya think?

My Flicker Page

Ok, I dont know if you guys have heard about Flickr. But... in case you have not, or even if you have, you MUST check it out, or even better, check out my flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/acadieman/

TOP TEN WEBSITES OF 2006

Read the links carefully!!

1. A site called 'Who Represents'where you can find the name of theagent that represents a celebrity. Their domain name... waits for it...http://www.whorepresents.com

2. Experts Exchange, a knowledge base where programmers can exchangeadvice and views at http://www.expertsexchange.com/

3. Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island athttp://www.penisland.net/

4. Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at www.therapistfinder.com

5. Then of course, there's the Italian Power Generator company...http://www.powergenitalia.com/

6. And now, we have the Mole Station Native Nursery, based in New SouthWales: www.molestationnursery.com

7. If you're looking for computer software, there's always:http://www.ipanywhere.com/

8. Welcome to the First Cumming Methodist Church. Their website ishttp://www.cummingfirst.com/

9. Then, of course, there are these brainless art designers, and theirwacky website: http://www.speedofart.com/

10. Want to holiday in Lake Tahoe? Try their brochure website at http://gotahoe.com/

2006 GABRIELROBICHAUD.COM MERDE AWARD

As the year draws to a close, I decided I would compile my own list, for prosperity, of course. So without further ado, here are the nominees for the 2006 GABRIELROBICHAUD.COM MERDE Awards. Let me know in the comments section of this posting who you think is most deserving. I will post the winners later.

Top acchiever for Merde in Politics. The nominees are:

1. George W. Bush, American President. For that mess in the middle east.
2. Stephen Harper. Candian Prime Minister. George Bush Wanna be.
3. André Boiclaire. Leader of the Parti Québecois. I'm nominating him because he spends most of day full of merde.
4. Ken Dryden. Liberal Leadership Candidate. Really. Stick to hockey buddy.
5. Gilles Duceppe. We are a nation. Oh, no we are not. Oh yes we are. Oh wait, but you can't say that. Damn it!

Best Environmental Merde Meltdown The nominees are:

1. George W. Bush, American President. And I quote "Global warming! Those people up north should be happy its warmer in the winter!"
2. Stephen Harper. Candian Prime Minister. Environmental Plan... What plan?
3. Canada. The entire country. For destroying native canadians water supply and then doing nothing about it. Drink up the merde water. hmmm hmm
4. Canada. Again. Doing nothing about the environment, tearing up the Kyoto accord, and well, generally sucking about the envronment.

Special Merde Achievement in Music (And the competition is specially fierce in this one) The nominees are:

1. Kevin Federline
2. Britney Spears
3. Celine Dion
4. Avril Lavigne. (I just hate her, so she's on the list, she doesn't even know who David Bowie is. Idiot!
5. The entire cast and crew of Star Academie. These guys are something else. No talent.
6. The entire cast and crew of Canadian Idol and American Idol. Ditto.

Overachievement in Merde Sports. The nominees are:

1. Terrell Owens for spitting in the face of Atlanta cornerback DeAngelo Hall.
2. Zidane for that famous head butt at the World Cup.
3. Nate Robinson and J.R. Smith for starting a brawl during a basketball game. Morons.
   

Merdiest Consutruction in major infrastructures The nominees are:

1. Transport Quebec for its efforts, petitioning to have the song changed to "Laval Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling"
2. Transport Quebec its wonderful highway maintenance programme. Just take a ride on any highway in Québec. Garranteed to damage your car in less than 10km.
3. City of Montréal. The aqueduc and sewere system is 100 years old. Pipes are bursting, streets are caving in from the water damage. This resulted in a 3 month longordeal on my street, which was closed to traffic and had a huge 100 feet long, 20 feet wide 16 feet deep hole, filled with sewage water, in ftont of my building.Mayor Tremblay. Don`t be expecting my vote. THREE months to change a pipe. Really. Was the 3 week study really necessary? CHANGE THE PIPE!
4. My Landlord. Mr Englander, you have been turning off the water in the building, every friday from 8am to 5pm for the last 6 months. Do you really need to do so on saturday as well? I appreciate your effortsto maintain the building, but can i have just 1 weekend without having my water cut off!

Ok folks, there you have it. May the voting begin!

Pee Shy

Last night, I watched a very interesting episode of Degrassi, The Next Generation. This is, of course, a Canadian show, which addresses issues faced by everyday teenagers and Canadian youth. This latest episode pitted a wheelchair bound guy and his girlfriend against the grim reality that he would never have an erection. Of course, in true TV style, they determined that they could overcome this *ahem* shortcoming, by finding other ways to have sex.

This got me thinking long and hard about sex and what constitutes sex. Obviously, if there is some kind of penetration, vaginal, anal, oral, it is sex. But what if one of the two partners cannot achieve orgasm? Like in the case of our paraplegic friend: is he actually having sex? Or what if he cannot penetrate his partner? I suppose he could do lots of things to her/him but what about the reverse? Would he still be considered a virgin?

What if you don't actually touch someone else, but you achieve orgasm in the vicinity of others? Is that sex? This is a question that has been on my mind a lot recently. I keep running into someone I know, a dear friend of mine actually. The trouble is, I run into him in the most compromising situation! I have caught this person whacking off at urinals on 4 different occasions. Two occasions I managed to leave without him seeing me, and two others, we were forced into very unpleasant conversation while I was washing my hands trying desperately to erase the picture from my mind.

I will not go into a tirade about public sex right now. Some people are into it, that's their business. Whacking off at a urinal at the mall... It is a whole new level of perversion.

This got me thinking some more. What if this person had a partner? Would he be cheating on his spouse by jerking off with a bunch of people of at a urinal? (There were 4 of them going at it. An eye opening experience, to say the least!) There was no actually physical contact. So is it any different than watching porn or downloading some hot pics online? Or going to a nudie bar? But the line has to be drawn somewhere right?

So I asked my friend Charles (Not the guy at the urinal) if he would want to know if his partner was whacking off at urinals. And like me, he did not really know. He couldn't determine if that consisted cheating or not. I understand his indecision, but, the line needs to be drawn somewhere.

Now I want to address this whole, whacking off in public thing. I feel I have lived a relatively innocent life. But about 2 years ago, a friend of mine told me about a website: Cruising for sex dot com. This site is one of many that provides lists upon lists of areas to play in public, such as the situation I described above. I had no idea this was such a popular activity. Well, curiosity got the best of me, and I have to say, I checked out some known spots in Montreal, to see if this was true. And oh my gosh!

Montreal is full of perverts. Pick any men's washroom in this city, and if you sit around long enough, some pervert will walk in looking for action. Really, it's insane. This also explains why there are so many security cameras and security guards constantly flowing in out of public washrooms.

The moral of the story, is beware of the guy standing next to you at the urinals. If you think he's been standing there too long, odds are he's not peeing.

Fags in Hollywood. ITS ABOUT TIME!

When I was a teenager, I used to watch the show Doogie Howser M.D. At the end of each show, he would write in his journal, and this inspired my love of writing. Not only did he inspire my love or writting, Doogie Howser was the first television personality that awoke my feelings of lust for members of the male species. I had such a huge crush on him. Well, about 17 years later, I am still in lust with him... and who can blame me, he's a cutie!

Now here is the clincher. This morning, I found out he came out of the closet. I know it is silly, but this really made my day. Straight people have teen idols and heart throbs but how often can a gay teenager have a heart-throb only to find out that his heart-throb is gay too. WOW. I really appreciate the times we live in.

I know Neil Patrick Harris will most likely never read my blog, but I have a message for him in case he does : "THANK YOU! You brought a bit of normality to my very abnormal life. Congradulations. I am very happy for you!"

Now back to the 21st century. I have been following another TV Drama, this one is called Grey's Anatomy.

There is a character in that show called George O'maley played by TR Knight. Hubba Habba. Well, he is a fag too, and came out last week.

Congradulations are in order to him! And take a look, he's a McHotty!

Here I Go Again On My Own...

And here I go again on my own
Goin down the only road Ive ever known,
Like a drifter I was born to walk alone
cos I know what it means
To walk along the lonely street of dreams.


Ok... Time for a life updated blog. Haven't done one of those in a long long time. In case the previous quote from the infamous Whitesnake song (flashback from the 80s *wooooo scary*) wasn't obvious enough... My marital status has been revert back to its original state. SINGLE. AGAIN. FUCK. FUCK. FUCK. FUCK.

I am not sure what to make of it. But after a few months of sorta being single, but not really feeling it, it all came crashing down on me this week. And for that I have one thing to say to the man that made all this happen... Thanks... FOR NOTHING.

Another 4 years of my life, chasing a dream that will never happen. I think this time I have learned a lot. Well, I'm always learning something... But unlike Spanish, this lesson is going to require months of recuperation. The zombie like state that taken over my soul is hard to shake. Been there. Done that. Lets recap, shall-we?

Nick : Oh boy. This one was a doozie! Nick was the very first guy that captured my heart. I even remember the moment I realized that I had fallen in love with this handsome blond blue eyed prince from the west island. (puke) It lasted 7 months, and thanks to him, I saw a side of myself that was so ugly, I knew I would have to do some serious soul searching and self-improvement. But we were so young... It was doomed from the start. Although, I did gain something tremendous. A true friend. Still today, Nick and I are good friends. Not too mention that I am really blessed to have met his mother, a true jewel. Not even a MasterCard commercial can show he true value: Priceless!

Steeve: Now that was something. Just under 3 years. The first two were quite lovely. Then we moved into an apartment in NDG and it got UGLY. After we broke, we never spoke again. I see him once in a while, usually at the mall with the guy I think he's been seeing ever since. I was so fucked up after that relationship, it took me over a year to get my head in the right space again. In the end, I'm glad I met Steeve. Mostly because after we broke up, I became a different person. Although I did loose a fair bit of respect for humanity and became very jaded about gay relationships. I will forever remember the conversation I had with Mark after... Mark if you ever read this... THANK GOODNESS you took those 3 hours to talk to me that night. I wonder what Mark is up too... Have not seen him in years. I hope he's well.

The last one. And the way I feel right now, he will remain, the LAST one. I don't know. Is a gay relationship even possible? We were going on 4 years together. Personally, I would have been perfectly able and happy to turn those 4 years into a 'till death do us part commitment. But I guess I should have known better than to expect that kind of commitment from a gay relationship. I guess that's what it boils down too. My whole believe system is screwed up right now. I used to believe in love, I used to believe in the fact that two people could spend the rest of their lives together... But 3.5 years. I mean for Christ sake. If we can expect to live 84 years in Canada that's 3.5/84*100 = 4.1% of my life. Wow. If this was a financial investment, I wouldn't have even attempted it with such a low rate of return. So why on earth do I get involved with this relationship crap if I can get relatively close to the same return with ING Savings account or Canadian Savings Bond?

Would we waste time in bad investments like that? Well, I sure wouldn't. I have my investments in much safer vehicles such as Index Funds, Real Estate Funds, etc which are currently yielding over 11%. So... Applying the same math 11% of 84 years is 9.24 years. So... Looking at the rate of return of my 3 major relationships, I think it is safe to assume that I have been making bad investments when it comes to affairs of the heart.

When I read Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad last year, I learned that you must do you research before investing. That you must choose your investments wisely and that you will make bad investments. Its just a matter of figuring out whether or not you can afford these bad investments, then learn from them.

Well, since the main cost of these investments is time, and that already I have squandered 38.1% of my life, I can no longer afford to make bad romantic investments. Trust me, if there is another joint venture on the horizon, it will be the LAST one.

26.5 HOURS LEFT!!

I don't think I have waited for my vacation time with so much anticipation before. At least, I do not recall being so antsy over the fact that my vacation is looming over my head. Yes, its true, I am going to blow this joint in less than 27 hours. I am very excited. Actually, I'm elated. Yes, E-L-A-T-E-D!!

No, I'm not going any where extravagant. I might not go anywhere at all. But I am very excited at the prospect of doing NOTHING. I rather like the idea of sitting in my appartment watching TV or playing Poker. Actually, I do have some plans.

One of my major plans is that I want to get back into running semi-seriously. I used to be able to run 10k three times a week. Those days have disappeared and I have been thinking about starting that up again. So last weekend, I went to buy myself a new pair of runnning shoes, running shorts and I also revamped my swimming gear. I bought new racing googles, and training paddles. On my way out I ran into my good friend Ryan, no pun intended. He was also on his way to buying new running shoes. Talk about great minds thinking alike! Well, after each purchasing breand new running gear we made plans to go running after diner that day.

So around 5:30pm on Saturday, we pointed our shoes towards Mount Royal and began our first of , hopefully, many runs up the mountain. So including that day, we ahve gone twice, so we have stuck it through the worse part, which in my opinion, is the first couple of runs since you always feel a bit sore in the begining. I am posting our running schedule here incase you are wondering what our training is like:


10 week running program.
Goal : To run 30 minutes non stop.
Follow the program at your own pace. If you do not feel ready to go to the next stage, repeat the last week, as many times as necessary.

Week	Run	Walk	Reps
1	2	4	6
2	3	3	6
3	5	2.5	5
4	7	3	4
5	8	2	4
6	9	2	4
7	9	1	4
8	13	2	3
9	14	1	3
10	30	-	-

So as you can guess from the above table, each week increases the amount of time spent running. So for week 1, you run 2 minutes, then walk 4 minutes and you do this 6 times. Sounds easy enough... But if you are coming from a sedentary lifestyle, you will find this hard to follow. Ryan and I found this challenging the first time out, but the second time we thought it was pretty easy and added some jogging between the runs to make it a bit more of a callenge and to keep our heart rates up.

I want to acknowledge this website where I found this routine. Sorry folks, you'll have to be able to read French to understand it!

Marche pour la paix / Peace March

(English to follow)

Date : Dimanche le 6 août 2006
Heure : 1:00 pm
Lieu de rencontre : Parc Lafontaine

Le groupe «Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East» qui organise la manifestation est un organisme à but non lucratif qui prône la paix, la justice et la sécurité pour tous les habitants du Moyen Orient.

--------------------------------
Date: Sunday, August 6 2006
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Meeting Place: Parc Lafontaine

The march is organized by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) which is a non-profit organization made-up of Canadians of all backgrounds who believe in justice, peace and security for all people in the Middle East.

You Know You Grew Up In The 80's or Early 90's If:

1. You've ever ended a sentence with the word "SIKE".
   
2. You watched the Pound Puppies.
   
3. You can sing the rap to the "Fresh Prince of Belaire" and you can even do the "Carlton".
   
4. Girls wore biker shorts under their skirts and felt stylishly sexy.
   
5. You yearned to be a member of the Baby-sitters club and tried to start a club of your own.
   
6. You owned those lil' Strawberry Shortcake pals scented dolls.
   
7. You know that "WOAH " comes from Joey on Blossom.
   
8. You know what Parachute Pants look like and feel like.
   
9. If you ever watched "Fraggle Rock".
   
10. You had plastic streamers on your handle bars... and playing cards on your spokes for that incredible sound effect.
    
11. You can sing the entire theme song to "DuckTales " (Woo ooh!)
    
12. It was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday Morning to watch cartoons.
    
13. You wore a ponytail on the side of your head.
    
14. You saw the original "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" on the big screen...and still know the turtles names.
    
15. You made your mom buy one of those clips that would hold your shirt in a knot on the side.
    
16. You had big hair and you knew how to use it.
    
17. You played the game "MASH " (Mansion, Apartment, Shelter, House)
    
18. You wore a stonewashed Jordache jean jacket and were proud of it.
    
19. L.A. Gear....need I say more?
    
20. You wanted to change your name to "JEM ". (She's truly outrageous.)
    
21. You remember reading "Tales of a fourth grade nothing" and all the Ramona books.
    
22. You know the profound meaning of "WAX ON, WAX OFF"
    
23. You wanted to be a Goonie.
    
24. You ever wore fluorescent clothing.
    
25. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off and his cheeks shifted.
    
26. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf.
    
27. You took lunch boxes to school... and traded Garbage Pail kids in the schoolyard.
    
28. You remember the CRAZE, then the BANNING of slap bracelets.
    
29. You still get the urge to say "NOT " after every sentence.
    
30. You remember Hypercolor t-shirts.
    
31. Barbie and the Rockers was your favorite band.
    
32. You thought She-ra (Princess of Power!) and He-Man should hook up.
    
33. You thought your childhood friends would never leave because you exchanged handmade friendship bracelets.
    
34. You ever owned a pair of Jelly-Shoes.
    
35. After you saw Pee-Wee's Big Adventure you kept saying "I know you are, but what am I?"
    
36. You remember "I've fallen and I can't get up"
    
37. You remember going to the rink before there were inline skates.
    
38. You ever got seriously injured on a Slip and Slide.
    
39. You have ever played with a Skip-It.
    
40. You had or attended a birthday party at McDonalds.
    
41. You've gone through this nodding your head in agreement.
    
42. You remember Popples.
    
43. Your motto was "Don't worry, be happy."
    
44. You wore like, FOUR pairs of socks over tights with high top Reeboks.
    
45. You wore socks scrunched down and over your tight jeans.
    
46. You remember boom boxes... and walking around with one on your shoulder like you were all that.
    
47. You remember watching both "Gremlins " movies.
    
48. You know what it meant to say "Care Bear Stare!!"
    
49. You remember watching "Rainbow Bright" and "My Little Pony"
    
50. You thought Doogie Howser/Samantha Micelli was hot.
    
51. You remember Alf, the lil furry brown alien from Melmac.
    
52. You remember New Kids on the Block when they were cool... and don't even flinch when people refer to them as "NKOTB".
    
53. You knew all the characters names and their life stories on "Saved By The Bell," The ORIGINAL class.
    
54. You know all the words to Bon Jovi - SHOT THROUGH THE HEART.
    
55. You just sang those words to yourself.
    
56. You remember watching Magic vs Bird.
    
57. Homemade Levi shorts. (the shorter the better)
    
58. You remember when mullets were cool!
    
59. Frizzy hair was IN.
    
60. You still sing "We are the World"
    
61. You tight rolled your jeans.
    
62. You owned a banana clip.
    
63. You remember "Where's the Beef?"
    
64. You used to (and probably still do) say "What you talkin' bout Willis?"
    
65. You're still singing shot through the heart in your head, aren't you!!!
    

WANNA FREE LAPTOP?

JUST CLICK!!

I AM ACADIEN

Chu pas su mes stamps ou su le welfare,
Chu pas un pêcheu de coques,
Chu pas analphabet ni illettré.

Y'a pas de fromage su mes poutines, pi ma poutine et pas un président russe.
E'je vie pas dans une p'tite shack en bois.
E'je va pas au travail su la 20, su la 40 ou su la 401.
E'je prend le chemin du fond d'la Baie, le chemin d'la côte ou le vieux Shediac Road.

J'ai pas de besoin d'une bavette ou des outils compliqués pour manger mon houmard.
J'le rouve moi-meme, j'le mange avec du pain frais pi d'la coke!
J'écoute pas Patrick Bruel, Pierre Lalonde ni Nana Mouskouri.
La vrai musique, a lé faite par 1755, Bois-Joli, Zachari pi Daniel à Ola.

E'je shop pas aux Galleries de la Capitale, ni au Centre Eaton, mais à la Champlain Place pi su Home Hardware.

E'Je parle pas le québequois ou le français de France.
Chu trilingue, e'je parle le chiac, le francais pi l'anglais.

E'je dis Co-congue pas Co-cagne.

J'ai ma propre université pi mon propre drapeau.
Mes heros s'appellont Antonine, Ti-Louis pi Roméo.

Chu fier de ma langue, mon heritage pi ma culture.

Worriez pas vos brains même si on peut sortir le gars de l'Acadie, on sort pas l'Acadien du gars.

Le Grou Tyme c'est le 15 aout, pas le 24 juin ou le 14 juillet.
I am Canadian pi Acadien en même temps.
En Acadie la Sagouine a son propre pays, Bouctouche a sa propre dune et on a notre prope étoile.

Je m'appelle Gabriel à Roland à Aimé à Honoré à Hubert à Louis à Otho à Louis à Prudent à Étienne, pi I AM ACADIEN