It's becoming apparent that one of the challenges for me at Rotman will be simply finding enough hours in the day to get the most out of the program - to get the "full experience". Today for example, Bob Young, the Co-Founder and CEO of Red Hat, Inc. is in Rotman's Atrium for a guest appearance. The announcement says in part: "Bob will share his style of thinking and managing that helped him grow Red Hat into the world’s premier Open Source and Linux providers" (Rotman is continually lining up these fantasic speakers for us during lunch hours and early evenings)

Maybe not all my readers would find this all that fascinating, but I sure do. It's not really an opportunity that I've been exposed to before. People from Toronto's business community are paying $99 to come here and hear this guy speak, and I'm actually thinking to myself that I can't really afford the time, what with the resume round robin tomorrow and all the reading I need to do.

The point is I really can't afford not to attend. The trick seems to be finding a balance with the coursework, the clubs (I'm in the Rotman Finance Assn. and the Rotman Outreach community service group) the career-related activities and sleep. A balance that will let me make the most of my time here.

Part of the trick, I supposed, is just to have things organized. Like Henry Hill explained to Karen in Goodfellas "You know why these guys get caught? They're nigger stick-up men who fall asleep in the getaway car Karen. I'm not gonna get caught, because I've got things organized." So for now, I'm depending on my Microsoft Outlook to keep me organized - and wide awake in the MBA getaway car.

I'm absolutely buried with work right off the bat here. Absolutely brutal. It's now after midnight on a Tuesday morning, and I still have about 90 minutes of reading to do to be prepared for class tomorrow. There is literally not enough time to do it all.

So here a few things to take my mind away from the work:

My word of the day is "metrosexual". It describes an individual with whom you're already familiar. New York Times says he's a straight urban male who's willing, even eager, to embrace his feminine side. He's unafraid to be complimented on his clothing or mistaken for being gay. He stocks his medicine cabinet with prestige grooming products, maintains an impressive up-to-date wardrobe, and visits salons for a variety of men's esthetic services that include hairstyling, facials, manicures, and body hair removal.

I'm quite enjoying using this in casual conversations. Reminds me of someone I know who has recently taken to getting his hair streaked - you know who you are.

My cool site of the day (for the pop-culture inclined) is this, a fun movie and TV game. I was player number 13 to choose St. Elsewhere.

And finally, my song of the day - since I've just recently turned 33 - is thirty-three by Smashing Pumpkins. It's easy to forget, but this was one of the best albums of the 1990s. So next time you want to put yourself in one of those bad moods that feel so good, pull Mellon Collie and The Infinite Sadness out of your CD collection and crank it up.

Here's the lyrics to Thirty-Three:

Speak to me in a language I can hear
Humour me before I have to go
Deep in thought I forgive everyone
As the cluttered streets greet me once again

I know I can't be late, supper's waiting on the table
Tomorrow's just an excuse away
So I pull my collar up and face the cold, on my own

The earth laughs beneath my heavy feet
At the blasphemy in my old jangly walk
Steeple guide me to my heart and home
The sun is out and up and down again

I know I'll make it, love can last forever
Graceful swans of never topple to the earth
And you can make it last, forever you
You can make it last, forever you

And for a moment I lose myself
Wrapped up in the pleasures of the world
I've journeyed here and there and back again
But in the same old haunts I still find my friends
Mysteries not ready to reveal
Sympathies I'm ready to return

I'll make the effort, love can last forever
Graceful swans of never topple to the earth
Tomorrow's just an excuse
And you can make it last, forever you
You can make it last, forever you

Two items of note:

(1) Huge Congradulations going out to Jayman tonight on his new job with a Detroit widget conglomerate. His plans for world domination are apparently back on track. Be afraid.

(2) Cancel that order of Chicken de la Hoya. It will be Oscar over Sugar Shane Mosley in a tenth round KO this Saturday night. You heard it here first.

Tonight at TAML, in my continuing series of made-up interviews, I am pleased to welcome the City of Toronto to the blog.

Toronto: How’s it going eh?

DH: Just fine Toronto. Thanks for being here.

Toronto: My pleasure. Since you’re new to me I’m sure you have a lot of questions.

DH: Yeah, I think things will go a lot better if we get to know each other a little better.

Toronto: OK, you’re from where again?

DH: Vancouver. You know Vancouver right?

Toronto: Sure, I love Vancouver – what a beautiful place. I love people from Vancouver.

DH: Well they sure don’t like you.

Toronto: I know. What’s up with that? What did I ever do to Vancouver?

DH: Vancouver thinks you ignore her. She thinks you act like the centre of the Universe. She talks a lot about how much prettier she is than you. How you’re too cold and too humid and too stinky and too crowded and that the Leafs are just a bunch of goons.

Toronto: Sounds like she’s a little insecure to me. What does she care how I act or what I think? Look Don, I know she’s better looking than I am, but to be blunt, I am where the money is. If looks were everything, you wouldn’t have dumped her to come be with me. There has to be some reason 5 million people live here.

DH: That is blunt. Let’s change the subject. I don’t want to make this any more confrontational, but why is it there aren’t any parks in the UofT area?

Toronto: What are you talking aboot? There’s lots of parks.

DH: One square squirrel-riddled block of grass and trees with bums sleeping on all the benches is not a park. You got no parks, you got no mountains, the lake is not even fit to swim in.

Toronto: That’s it. I’m outta here. This interview is over. I’ve been through SARS, West Nile Virus, and the Blackout. I don’t have to sit here and listen to this.

DH: Damn, I got to take it easier on Toronto. Shouldn’t have gone on a rant like that, but I didn’t like her talking smack about Vanco. Somehow, we’ve got to learn to get along better. I’ve got to make this relationship work.

OK, tonight I'm going to set the inane commentary on the back burner and put the log back in this weblog. I was in Calgary for the Labour Day weekend. Keith was out there doing his travelling salesman thing and was good enough to set me up with a free hotel room. Leaving the city during a long weekend seems to be the thing to do here in Toronto - so I was off. Keith, Dwayne and I hit some select establishments in the Calgary area and made it up to Banff for some hiking and hoodoo watching. In our ongoing and lenghty discussions of popular culture Dwayne and I are unanimous in our praise for Beat the Geeks. The pop culture game show that cracks me so consistantly up. Dwayne was also adamant in his stance that Mariah Carey's cover of the old school Def Leppard song "Bringing on the Heartache" is a pathetic travesty. Good times. Unfortunately, I had to leave before the Labour Day Classic and the requisite tailgateing. Too bad, it sounds like it was a hell of a game.

The past three days I've been at Rotman's orientation for the new students at Camp Manitou, three hours north of Toronto. Kind of an MBA concentration camp. Actually, it was a fantastic experience. By tradition, it was organized by the second year MBAs, as a way for the first year class to get to know each other and pick the brains of some of the second years to get a better idea of what we're in for this year. The second years did a fantastic job setting it up. Amoung the activities were a trading game, a marketing game, a casino night, numberous cocktail hours and an 80s costume dance. The camp was beautiful, with basketball, volleyball, tennis and good lake swimming. Boozy bonfires went on until the wee hours.

I spent most of my free time on the basketball court reliving the glory days of West Van Highlander basketball. We had some intensely competitive games (everyone in this program seems to thrive on competition) but Nikki Doucet who happens to be the starting point guard on the Varsity Blues womens team took us all to school. Anyways, its a fantastic group and we're now all ready to dive in with the coursework.

PS: In an effort to serve you better, TAML now comes equiped with a commenting feature. Just click on the the comment link at the top of each post to leave a comment about that post, heckle me, or whatever. All the other readers will be able to view your post - lots of fun.

PPS: Thanks to everyone who sent out birthday shout-outs.