AaronLow's Xanga

Monday, April 03, 2006

Mon, 03 Apr 2006 23:07:51 GMT

Well, I guess it's over. Hard to believe, but I guess our differences were just too much. I still love you Sophie, and I wish you all the best in your life. Please keep in touch and remain a friend. Thanks for all the memories.

Thursday, January 06, 2005

Thu, 06 Jan 2005 04:45:55 GMT

Damn, it's not that cold here in Vancouver, but.....there isn't a single part of the country above zero! http://weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/canada_e.html

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Tue, 04 Jan 2005 05:39:56 GMT

So today was the funeral for my uncle, Fred. He's 23 years older than my dad and passed away from lung cancer, after 11 years of battling the effects of various strokes. Of all my aunts and uncles on my dad's side, I was closest to him. Given that my grandparents died when my dad was 13, Uncle Fred has been the rock of the family, the father figure. He was the first member of the Low family to emigrate to Canada from Fiji, and forgoed a university degree to finance the higher education of his sibblings. Every sibbling spent some time living at his chicken farm in Richmond. All his kids, Dick, Edmund, Tony and Louise are respected members of society, 3 of them, emergency physicians. More importantly, they are genuine human beings. They all have kids of their own now. I love you all. I didn't think I was that close to my extended family, but the service today made me think of all we've done together despite the age gaps. It also made me think about what I'd done with Uncle Fred. Seeing him laying in the coffin was very moving, very eerie, as I kept seeing him get out of it (maybe I was tired, maybe I still just couldn't believe it). I didn't think I'd get emotional at the funeral. When Aunt Wyn offerred me some kleenex prior to the service, I turned her down, thinking I wouldn't need them. However, despite my wildest dreams, I became teary eyed as it all sunk in. Seeing Dick break down as he gave his speech was so hard to watch. I've never seen any of my cousins cry before. Louise had to go comfort him. I sat beside Jennifer - she broke down - her family probably spent the most time living with Uncle Fred. The reality of the events really sunk in. Uncle Amson spoke about how when my grandmother died, my dad was 13 - he was really devastated by it. My dad rarely shows much sad emotion and when we went to my grandparents graves in Fiji, he didn't seem too sad or emotional. However, apparently, when his mom died (his dad had died the previous year), he was totally devastated, lost and hurting. I'd never thought of my dad like that - that brought tears to my eyes. Apparently of all the kids, my dad was the closest to my grandmother and was the only person home when she died. At the tender age of 13, he baptised my grandmother on her death bed. The previous year, the exact same scnenario had occurred, with my dad being with my grandfather when he died, and baptising him on his death bed. Talk about faith. Yesterday, the day before the funeral, Dick showed me a picture of Dad when he was about 12 or 13 - he was the sweetest, cutest, most innocent looking little boy I've ever seen. I've always known my dad as a super fit, super hard athlete, a black belt in karate and BC judo chmapion, and an extremely dangerous man to pick a fight with. I've never really thought of him as a little boy living in a tropical paradise. Eating mangos in his backyard tree all day, charging the papya tree on his bike. It's heart-breaking, thinking of what he went through. I've never really thought about my dad and his parents' deaths, but it must have been horribly trying for him, something I hope that others don't have to endure. After the service, we went back to Uncle Fred's house and looked at old pictures - There are exactly two pictures of my dad as a kid in our house, so I got to see many photos of him for the first time. Uncle Fred treated him as a son growing up, something else I had never really given much thought. To see Jen, Sonja, super skier Mike, and even Doug, the super hard fire-fighter and black belt in karate, crying, was so hard to take in. I honestly never thought I'd cry, but not all tears are bad. Throughout the ceremony, "Isa Lei" (Fijian song that I learned when I went to Fiji 13 years ago) was playing. It's such a beautiful song. Courtney put together the arrangement.
"Isa isa vulagi lassa dina
Nomu lako au na raraw kina
Cava beak ko a mai cavaka
Nomu lako au na sega ni lasa...."
Goodbye Unlce Fred and fare thee well. As Dad said, your spirit lives on in your kids and their beautiful grandchildren. One day we'll see you again. God has welcomed home a son, and ordained a new angel today.

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Tue, 26 Oct 2004 10:16:40 GMT

"Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell"

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Tue, 26 Oct 2004 06:09:19 GMT

Okay, this sucks, I seriously think I'm going to fail this exam. Je trouverai le mort en 5 heures. On the bright side, There's some awesome coffee that I just found in the pantry...I'll get up at 5 again. Bonne nuit.

Monday, October 25, 2004

Mon, 25 Oct 2004 19:42:10 GMT

I think I'll be in way over my head, come 8AM tomorrow morning. I can't get all these FRC's, RPA's, and DNA Pol's pooing out NTP's straight. Whatever, que sera sera eh? It's just going to be Erie, not knowing what I'm doing, even though I spent an eternity on this stuff yesterday.

Saturday, October 23, 2004

Sat, 23 Oct 2004 02:02:12 GMT

The sands of time may pass us by,
The crimson sun may swell and die.
Mountains stoop their lofty heads,
The seas run dry and leave their beds.

But some things stay forever green,
Thoughts of love, a golden beam.
A dream perhaps to pass me by,
This moment my heart soars to the sky.

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Wed, 20 Oct 2004 05:12:03 GMT

So another late night. Damn, I hate my Musc 52 prof. He's boring as hell. He's just a boring bugger who ought to do me a favour and find himself a nice cliff, preferably greater than 100metres in height. You know, I have no malicious intentions, I just want to test those kinematic equations from way back in Phys 26. Heck, we could study projectile motion, except I guess he'd have to jump out for that. We could even test the Coloum integral. He should be of sufficient displacement that the forces will be repulsive and destructive interference will arise, resulting in a non bonding triplet state. He's the most pompous guy who talks about nothing for hours on end! The most interesting stuff is when I talk to him after class. Sophie, veux-tu aller avec moi en jeudi? Ok, I'm blabbing, maybe I should get some ice cream, or perhaps slip into my vat of formaldehyde.

Monday, October 18, 2004

Mon, 18 Oct 2004 13:44:27 GMT

I hope that everyone had a great fall break. I know that mine was far and away the best one I've ever had.

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Wed, 13 Oct 2004 14:08:48 GMT

Ok, heading off to Washington DC in about two hours avec you know who...I hope it doesn't rain too much, but it'll be loads of fun. I'm sitting in my freezing chem 99 lab, 'cause my clothes are all soaked - yay! Anyways, everyone have a great fall break!