Hecticity

Bye Bye Blogging

2007-03-07T15:20:00.000-06:00

Well, if you haven't figured it out yet, I've pretty much become disenchanted with blogging. I don't post nor do I really even read anybody elses.

It won't hurt my feelings if you take me off you "blogs to watch" list...in fact, I'll surprised if you haven't already done that.

My New Favourite Show

2007-01-23T01:20:00.000-06:00

It's called The Mitchell and Webb Look.

I think I'm going to campaign CBC to replace Coronation Street with it.

Things I Never Thought I Would Do

2007-01-05T05:01:00.000-06:00

I just spent the last hour reading a play aloud with two other people...one in England and one in the US. We used a program called TeamSpeak to speak live with each other using our mics on our computers.

We're organizing another play reading tomorrow night.

It was fascinating.

Oh, and the play we read was The Importance of Being Earnest.

My First House Party

2006-11-25T01:40:00.000-06:00

I know, I grew up in Weyburn and went through university...how have I never gone to house party before?? Well, I just never have!

Went to my first one tonight. Basically all my employees and their friends. At Jin's house. Fuck he has a nice house for a student. Anyway, I drank damn near all my cherry whiskey (big bottle). Stuff doesn't even taste like alcohol. I can drink it all night!

Super fun time and I hope we do it again somewhere. Wish I could have gone earlier is all.

And yes, I'm just a little drunk. But I won't feel it in the morning.

Fine...

2006-11-22T16:17:00.000-06:00

I just felt like more girls needed to participate.

My list of male celebrities I'd like to fuck:

1. Shane West
2. Ryan from Season 1 of The Bachelorette
3. Ryan Reynolds
4. Prince Harry
5. Jimmy Fallon
6. Stephen Colbert
7. Mark McGrath
8. Raine Maida
9. Enrique Iglesias
10. Usher

But really, Shane West the most.

Oh, and I was surprised not to see Heather Graham on any of the guys' lists.

Brand Loyalty

2006-11-05T12:18:00.000-06:00

Brand Loyalty is when a consumer is loyal to one single brand and always buys it. This could be for different reasons: quality, advertising, peer pressure, etc.

Here are some of my brand loyalties:

Chips: Old Dutch and Doritos
Laundry Detergent: Tide
Body Wash: Dove
Shampoo: Pantene Pro-V

I'll post more in the comments as I think of them.

What are your brand loyalties?

HUGE NEWS!!

2006-10-31T22:19:00.000-06:00

OK, I have two things to report on.

First, the Calgary Stampeders have BANNED Gainer the Gopher from coming to the playoff game this weekend. They say that Calgary fans have been paid to be entertained by their mascot, Ralph the Dog, and that Gainer would distract. Totally ignoring the fact that most of their fans are from Saskatchewan. Dicks.

Second, Bob Barker is finally retiring from the Price is Right!!! That's right, he'll be 83 when he finishes next June. Man, he is soooo old. But he's great.

Anyway, just thought everyone needed to know this information.

All Sorts of Stuff

2006-10-27T21:20:00.000-06:00

Well, I convocate tomorrow, which means that my parents are coming, which means that I have to clean my house. I'm done one room, almost done my laundry, and have finished vaccuuming and mopping. Still need to do dishes, clean off my kitchen table, and tidy up in my living room. If I feel like it. It's not THAT messy.

I'm ridiculously tired, but I guess that's ok, as I have to be at convocation at a ridiculously early hour, so now I'll go to bed early, which should help.

Anyway, definitely not in a blogging mood lately, and I'm not really sure why.

Lastly, my contest. I hate to end the contest this way, but I didn't like any of the entries. Therefore, I am putting the contest on hiatus for a few months and will premiere it again in the new year and maybe the creative juices will be flowing more then. Sorry everyone!

Contest

2006-10-20T08:03:00.000-06:00

OK, so I kind of took a break from blogging, so never again mentioned my contest. SO, I'm extending the deadline to Sunday, as I am away from the weekend. I will name a winner Sunday night when I get back!!!

The gist of the contest is that you have to write an answering machine greeting for my answering machine. Please remember that my grandparents do sometimes phone me when I'm not home, so please watch the language. As well, the message must incorporate my name and phone number.

The winner will get a $20 gift certificate to a store of their choice.

Poor Neglected Blog

2006-10-15T23:41:00.000-06:00

Well, for some reason, I just haven't been in a blogging mood lately. But I'm sick of looking at Bin Laden Beard Guy every time I open my browser.

Went to the gym this weekend. I've been going to school here for 3 years, and this is the first time I've used the Fit Centre. I've used the PAC to go swimming, but never the fitness centre area. I was a bit intimidated. So, I got a friend to go with me and we went Saturday and Sunday. Did the bikes and another crazy machine. So, I got a good 40 minute workout each day. Plus, I'm going to keep going swimming most days. Figure I'll finally make use of my gym membership, because it really is a kick ass gym.

I have a SADD conference next weekend in Regina, so I'll be down there for a few days. I'm renting a car with a friend so that we are kind of on our own and can cruise around the city without paying for bus tickets or a taxi. I plan on renting a car over Christmas too, so we'll see how this goes and if all goes well then that's what I'll do. If something goes horribly wrong, then that's not what I'll do. Haha.

Anyway, I'm obviously still not in the mood to blog, as I'm just sitting here and not typing. Hopefully the mood will come back sometime soon. Don't know when though.

Bin Laden Beard

2006-10-04T17:00:00.000-06:00

Check out this guy. In the drama that was 9/11 he forgot to shave his beard. He then decided that he would not shave it until Bin Laden was found or killed.

That beard's getting pretty long.

Photo taken from CNN.com.

Criminal Rehabilitation

2006-09-30T21:15:00.000-06:00

I have a question for everyone. Do you believe in the rehabilitation of criminals?

From what I understand, the goal when someone is let out of prison is that they are rehabilitated and allowed to re-enter society. So, that's why we let prisoners vote, get university degrees, and more. But do you really believe in this? Do you really think it's possible for a criminal to be rehabilitated and turned into a "citizen of good standing."

And if this is what the government is shooting for, then they're contradicting themselves. Recently, the Saskatchewan Government announced that details about violent criminals and sex offenders will be made public. Well, if you let these people out of prison, then they should be fully rehabilitated, and so should be allowed to live as the rest of us do and not have their personal information available to the general public. If they are a threat, so much that the general public needs to know, then these people should be in prison. The government's argument is going to be that they let them out because they didn't feel that they were a threat...well then, they should be allowed to live a private life.

So, what is everyone's opinion on this topic, and on the topic of a violent criminal/sex offender registry?

I got this topic from this article.

For more political debate, check out Untitled. There's a great article from Pilot up there right now.

Already Off Topic

2006-09-29T21:25:00.000-06:00

So, I said I wanted to try to shift to having more political posts in the future, but I'm already straying from that. I just wanted to make a post about a TV show. Now, I know I watch a lot of reality TV and other "popular" shows, but this is a show that I think everyone will agree with me is GREAT.

Mr. Bean

I was watching it tonight. It's been a while since I've watched good old fashioned Mr. Bean, and it was sooo hilarious. Tonight's episode was him visiting a hotel. Hilarity from the start. Only Mr. Bean would bring a drill with him to a hotel so that he could hang his own pictures on the wall. And only Mr. Bean would then use that drill to drill a hole in the wall so he could have access to the next room's bathroom since his didn't have one.

A lot of comedy shows today are funny. But not many are "laugh out loud" funny. Mr. Bean is. And not many are just innocent comedy like this. Maybe TV needs to go back to the days of Mr. Bean and emulate it.

1 year, 200 posts

2006-09-24T19:53:00.000-06:00

Well, this is my 200th post on my 1st year anniversary. A lot has happened in that year. I graduated from University with a Bachelor of Commerce and accepted a job at the University of Saskatchewan with University Advancement.

History

This blog started after the death of an old blog, This Is Now. I was a bit down because I felt I was writing some very good articles, but was getting little to no feedback. I'm a controversial person and I want some debate. It's no fun to just write something and have nobody comment on it one way or another. So, after some rallying started by Pilot, I decided to start anew, this time on the Blogger site. My life was very hectic between school, volunteer, and work, so I began Hecticity.

I definitely was very stressed at the beginning of this blog. I was beginning what was arguably the hardest semester of my entire university career. My goal was to come out of that semester with a 75% average. Well, my average at the end was 75.00%. In addition to that, I was beginning what I would say was the most stressful 8 months of my time at Subway. By the end of those 8 months, I was working 40 hours a week and being totally unappreciated. I was very dissatisfied with my job. I had to give myself a pep talk every time I had to go to work, because I simply could not find the will to go back to that store day after day. I finally made the decision to quit at Subway and use my savings to support me over the summer until I found a job.

At the beginning, I definitely focused a lot on my personal life. Lots of articles where I just complained and whined. I have now focused most of those articles to another of my blogs that is not public. Other interests appeared, such as my obsession with Tai Shan, the new panda at the National Zoo, who is now 14 months old. And I introduced a new edition of Dirty Commies, the comic my friend Kurt draws.

I introduced a few recurring features, none of which are still around. One was Quotable Quotes and the other was Who's the Most Jedi? Not so much success on the former, but good interest and controversy on the second.

I hosted a very successful Election MSN Party in January during the Federal Election. We had up to 10 people at any one time with lots of different opinions. It seems that a lot of people who read my blog and participated are very liberal with a little l. I'm very conservative, with a little c. So, this made things very interesting.

In the latest few months, I've started to write a few more articles that actually raise issues and ask people for opinions. I have very controversial views and never back down from an issue if I have an opinion.

In January, I became part of the SaskBlogs aggregator, started by Lance. This has opened me up to a lot of other blogs. I went to a blog meet in Regina, but unfortunately something came up and I wasn't able to make the Saskatoon one. Through the aggregator, I've learned of great blogs like Catprints, Abandoned Stuff, John Murney, and others.

So, all in all, it's been a good year.

Future

I have a few plans for the blog in the coming year. I want to move more and more away from personal posts and direct those to my other blogs, of which I have a fair amount. I really enjoy the political posts and the discussion that comes from those. So, this blog will hopefully be a bit more directed towards that, although there will still be some fun posts.

Contest

I have a new contest for the blogging circle!! I bought an answering machine in January, and had a really serious greeting on it, as most of the people phoning and leaving messages were potential employers, as I was on a full-out job search this summer. So, now they don't phone me anymore, so I don't need a serious greeting. So, the contest is to write an answering machine greeting for me!!

I would prefer having no swears in the message, as my grandparents do occasionally phone me when I'm not home. And the message must incorporate my phone number and my name. Other than that, there are no other rules.

Entries are due on Friday, October 13, 2006 by midnight.

The winner will receive a $20 gift certificate to a store of their choice.

That's all. It's been a great year, and I'm starting off the new year with this new contest!! So, I hope to get a lot of entries.

Oh, and Nathan, you still owe me a prize!!!!!!!!!!!

It All Makes So Much Sense Now

2006-09-13T23:31:00.000-06:00

I know you've been wondering and I figured it out.

You know how Disney characters, especially young ones, never seem to do what they're told. I know why! It's because the person telling them what to do does it in SONG. Obviously, this doesn't work for Disney characters. I know it's proven that it works for Simpsons characters, but Disney shouldn't assume that it'll work for their characters. Here are some examples of lectures in song (and there are others, TRUST me):

I Can't Wait to be King - Lion King - Zazu telling Simba what to do
Under the Sea - The Little Mermaid - Sebastian telling Ariel to stay underwater
Out There - The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Frollo telling Quaimodo not to go outside
Give a Little Whistle - Pinocchio - Jiminy Cricket telling Pinocchio to take the "straight and narrow path"

It's just so OBVIOUS now. Maybe they should just try telling them instead of singing it to them. Obviously it's not getting the point across.

P.S. My next post will be the 200th and my 1st anniversary as a blog. And this weekend is the Saskatoon SaskBloggers get together, so go to SaskBlogs.ca if you want to go!!

Miscellaneous Update

2006-09-09T11:57:00.000-06:00

Sorry about the lack of posts lately. I'm trying to coincide my 200th post with my first anniversary of this blog. So, that means I'm trying to really space out my blogs.

Started my new job this week. It's going really well and is a really relaxed work environment. I have to hire 22 students in the next two weeks, so once they're all hired and I start supervising them, things should pick up and get a bit crazier. Thanxs to everyone who helped out during the long job search and gave me good wishes along the way and once I got a job!

I got my hair cut. I told myself it would be the first thing I would do once I got a job and so I got it done the day before I started. It's quite short, but not crazy short. I like it. I should save money on shampoo, as I have probably a third of the hair I used to.

It's quite obvious that school has started. Not only has the amount of people online on MSN almost doubled, Dave commented on my blog!! I don't know why, but when students get busy with school, they spend more time on MSN. And when they're home for the summer and away from their friends, they're never on MSN. It's messed up. Good luck to all the students this year. Especially John Murney who's taking an insane FOUR economics classes. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes!!!

It seems the Who's the Most Jedi?? competition is lagging in interest. So, I am officially closing down the contest. Here are the official results:

Nitro - Queen of all things Jedi!!!!
Binns - Prince
Pilot - Bishop who guides the royalty but is sometimes wrong
Mike - 3rd Cousin twice removed to the queen and prince - knows what he's talking about, but gets into things late because he's just some distant relative
Pilon - Royal Shoeshiner - he knows his stuff about Jedi from shining the shoes of the Queen and Prince, but doesn't know the exact intricacies because of his lesser station (it's LESS THAN 12)
Ian - Royal Jester - always ready to participate and give it a shot, but doesn't actually know the details of Jedi
Shock - Treasonous subject - Knew his stuff about Jedi but used it against the Royalty and was hung for treason, which is why he stopped answering the questions
Fudge - Local Merchant of the Queendom - tried answering a few questions, but realized that as a lowly merchant, he just couldn't compete with the royalty
Danny - Travelling Bard - was in town telling a story and knew the answer, so participated in one question. But then he had to continue travelling and telling his stories, so couldn't continue to compete
Sperran - Slave - escaped from his master. His master found him but told him that if he could answer one question in the Jedi contest, then he could go free. Let's just say he's back in slavery and got whipped.

So, congratulations to Nitro!! Binns would have been crowned king, but he missed answering the last question. Oh well. Too bad for him!

Anyway, my posts are going to be a bit spread out in the next little while. Very spread out actually because I am very close to 200, but still a few weeks away from 1 year. In the meantime, I'll be doing a bit of maintenance on my blog. I need to update my sidebar very much. I'll be updating my list of blogs I read to reflect what I actually read and I also want to add a links section for my favourite webpages on the world wide web. So, look for that in the next few weeks. And I suppose I'll plan some huge blog entry for my 200th post. Probably won't be as great as I want, but I'll give it a shot.

That's about it!

RIP Steve Irwin

2006-09-04T21:45:00.000-06:00

We all knew he was insane. And we all figured he'd die doing a TV show, but I think we all expected something a bit more spectacular to kill him...like a crocodile biting off his head. But a stingray did him in and I'm sure this is a huge loss to the conservation community, not to mention his family.

RIP Crocodile Hunter

The Choice

2006-09-01T23:53:00.000-06:00

Well, I picked the U of S job. It just pays more and I wouldn't have to move. I really didn't want to have to move in a hurry. It is a term position, but it was explained to me that this is just how the University budget system works, on a lot of term positions. I guess there's a bunch of people who've worked there for 6 years or longer on just multiple terms. So, that relieved my mind. And because my term is one year in length, I do get full benefits, including health, dental, and pension.

So, I'm just really glad the decision is made. I'm glad that I won't have any large upheaval where I have to move and adjust to a new job. I start on Wednesday and will quickly get into the swing of things.

And I am SO glad I don't have to write any more cover letters. I'd gotten pretty fucking good at them, but I was sick of doing it. And I was sick of travelling all over the province for interviews.

She Shoots...She SCORES!!!!!

2006-08-31T18:21:00.000-06:00

Just got a job offer today!!! I've been interviewing with the Leader Post. I had one interview, then was informed that I was one of three finalists. Then I was asked for a quick phone interview, which went well. After that, I was informed that I was one of only TWO finalists. So, they asked me if I could make one last trip into Regina, so I did that today. After meeting with them for about 30 minutes, we were done and they asked me to just wait for a moment while they discussed in the hallway. Diane came back in and offered me the job.

Now, I also have a pending offer from the U of S. I had a message from them on my machine today, so I'll have to phone them back in the morning. So, I asked the LP if I could give them an answer on Tuesday so that I could make a decision. Basically, I'm stuck and don't know which one to choose. I have to make a decision by Monday night, so I can phone my landlord and let her know whether I'm moving to Regina, or staying where I am. So, I'm going to give you guys the important details of each job, and you can give me your opinions on which one I should take. And don't worry, what you say I should go for won't be the deciding factor for me. But it might give me an idea as to where my thinking is leaning.

Job #1 - Leader Post - Home Delivery Administrator

Description from the advertisement - Reporting to the Service Manager, key responsibilities will include providing administartive support for the District Co-Ordinator team. This position also acts as support to the Director, Reader Sales and Service, as well as the Sales Manager by providing distribution analysis in the form of sales and expense reporting, numbers forecasting and handling corporate infromation requests. We are looking for a highly motivated, organized, and detail oriented individual who is capable of prioritizing a high volume of work in a fast-paced, demanding environment with changing priorities.

Specifics that could help make the decision: Full-time Permanent job; Good challenge that uses the skills I learned during my degree; Monday to Friday 9-5; little to no training available I'd have to be willing to ask lots of questions and figure stuff out on my own; Lots of opportunity to advance within the company

Job #2 - University of Saskatchewan - Annual Giving Co-ordinator

Description - Basically, I would be hiring 20 students who would be phoning a pool of about 50,000 alumni and I would be in charge of this campaign. I would be in charge of the staff and setting goals and ensuring that we are achieving the amounts we set out to achieve.

Specifics that could help make the decision: Full-Time Temporary (I think 8-10 months); In Saskatoon so I wouldn't have to move; On the job training; I'd be part of a union; Sunday to Thursday 1-9:30; I've done supervision before; I've always wanted to work on campus; Not sure if benefits would kick in

Oh, and I haven't actually gotten an offer from the U of S. I have to phone them in the morning, but I anticipate an offer.

Still Waiting

2006-08-28T13:23:00.000-06:00

I HATE waiting. Still haven't heard back from the U of S yet. I'm hoping to hear from them today or tomorrow at the latest. It sucks sitting at home waiting. I want to go do stuff, but don't want to leave my phone, so I'm sticking around here during business hours.

On another note, something else super exciting happened to me today. I received an invitation to join the Golden Key International Honour Society!!! Membership to this organization is by INVITATION ONLY. It is for people in the top 15% of their class and offers all sorts of perks. Scholarship opportunities, internships (which I wish I had known about sooner), post graduate benefits, conferences, etc.

I'm sooooo excited to join. It costs $90, but this is just a one-time fee and beyond that there is no annual fee to be a member. So, I'm going to join. But will probably wait until I get a job first, to make sure I can afford the $90. Haha.

So Close!!!!!!

2006-08-24T17:08:00.000-06:00

Well, I just got a phone call informing me that I am the candidate of choice for a job at the U of S. Basically, they'll be doing reference checks, which should take a couple of days and as long as all goes well, I'll get a job offer. So, no offer yet, but I don't foresee any problems with my references.

Anyway, let's just say if I don't get this job because of references, I'll be dropping right down into depression, and will probably speed it up by getting a job at some go-nowhere fast food place.

So, wish I had an answer now, but I guess I can wait!!!

Who's the Most Jedi?? Part 9

2006-08-20T22:03:00.000-06:00

3263827

Explain the significance of the above number.

In His Image

In who's image? Also, name the short story that is a sequel to this one two years later.

Comment Moderation is Active

Things Are Crazy

2006-08-20T21:58:00.000-06:00

Sorry about the lack of posts recently. Life has just gone insane. I had a real dry spell for interviews and now everyone wants to interview me!! I had three interviews last week and I have three booked for this coming week. As well as a fourth that's in the maybe stages, but I have to get ahold of someone. So, I'm in Prince Albert Monday morning, Saskatoon on Tuesday for a phone interview with someone from Kindersley, and in Regina on Wednesday. And I just got home from Weyburn!! It's all insanity.

So, I'm going to be running around quite a bit unless I happen to get a job tomorrow in which case I'll cancel the rest of the interviews. Haha.

Anyway, I won't have much time for blogging until later in the week, so as soon as I'm done with this post, I'm going to work on another installment of Who's the Most Jedi??? You guys can sit on that one for a few days.

OH MY GOD!!!

2006-08-16T16:41:00.000-06:00

They arrested someone for the JonBenet murder!!! It's been 10 years and they finally caught someone. I really never thought this would happen. It's just crazy!!

Now, on another topic as I don't have too much to say about JonBenet...I was in grade 6 at the time...didn't much care back then. Anyway...had my first interview of the week today. It went well but I don't expect to get the job. I didn't expect to get it walking in, but I went anyway. I just don't think I have the experience they're looking for. If there's ONE person who has a hint of insurance experience, they'll get it over me. Oh well. They said it'll be one to two weeks before they pick someone.

Good news though. The other day I phoned Joelle and was like "let's go to sev." In fact, it was last night. She had something to do, so I told her to phone me back when she was ready to go. I used the time while I was waiting to apply for a job with Enterprise Rent-a-Car. Well, today I got a phone call from them!! Whooo!! So at first, we arranged a phone interview for Friday, as this guy is located in Winnipeg. So, I was just totally pumped that it was my third interview of the week. Well, he phones back a little while later (like 10 minutes) and it turns out that the Saskatoon manager is free tomorrow, so he's like "can you have an interview then before your bus leaves?" (I'm headed home so I can get to my Friday interview) And I'm like "of course!!" And then it turns out there's a conference here for the company, so he's going to see if some of the bigwigs want to come to my interview. So yeah, now I have an interview at 10am tomorrow, and I still have the one on Friday with SaskEnergy. Anyway, I'm really excited. I think I have a good shot at this job and it might be a fairly immediate start.

And for those of you wondering. Yes, the slurpee was great too.

It's Not Going to Work

2006-08-16T10:01:00.000-06:00

So, scientists want to add three planets to our solar system. And they're even thinking of expelling Pluto from it.

Look, I'm not in elementary school any more. I no longer have anyone forcing me to memorize new planets. Don't change the solar system!!! I have the nine memorized and I still am not sure what order the first two are in. The rest I think I know. Anyway, the point is, right now I can name all nine, but if you add three more and possibly drop Pluto, I can't make any guarantees.

Stuff Happening

2006-08-15T20:23:00.000-06:00

Few things happening:

The SaskBlogs meet got postponed until September 23. Not sure if I can come. We'll have to see what happens with me and the whole "getting a job thing" between then and now.
As for the whole "getting a job thing" - I have two interviews this week. The first is in Saskatoon on Wednesday with Saskatchewan Blue Cross for an underwriter position and the second is in Regina on Friday with SaskEnergy for a Gradworks Internship position as a Communications Assistant. Oh, and I'm being interviewed by Stephen King for the SaskEnergy one. How exciting!!
Going to the football game on Saturday. I figure the Riders lost the last two games. They can't afford to lose a third game, so they'll probably win.
Going to be driving up to Regina from Weyburn a few times. I'm a nervous highway driver and haven't driven on the highway for close to 4 years. So, I'm nervous, the but at least the weather forecast is nice.
Heading to 7/11 for a Slurpee right away, so that will be great.

That's about all. I really need a job soon. I'm bored and need to get back into the swing of actually doing something.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

2006-08-13T13:03:00.000-06:00

I know you all thought he was nearing the end, but he's still kicking. And he will be back!!!

HAPPY 80TH FIDEL!!!!!

P.S. Yay Communism :)

I May Never Get It

2006-08-10T00:01:00.000-06:00

OK, Part III of this week's "Shanna Doesn't Get It" series. Today:
A Fold In Space

I called it that, as I'm not sure exactly what I'm going for. This concept was introduced to me in that same book, A Wrinkle in Time, as a tesseract, but after further investigation, I have found out that it may have been misrepresented and it is not a tesseract.

The concept is this:

If you need to get from one place to a next, you simply "fold" space to get to it quicker. Here's how it's presented...

OK, so let's say we have an ant that needs to cross a piece of string to get from point A to point B. In the normal world, the ant would simply walk across the piece of string, which would take some time. Like this!
Now, the idea is that to shorten this time, you simply take the edges of the string and bring them together. The ant then simply needs to walk across to get to point B. A lot less walking. Done like this!

Now, the idea is that you just "fold" space and bring the two points together to get rid of the travel time.

I just don't get this. In my mind, you must have some type of magical power to do this. However, when looking this up, it is said that what the author of the book was referring to as a "tesseract" relates more to a Wormhole, which is shown like this:

However, this seems more like something that is just there, not something you have to do. The wormhole is something you stumble upon...like a small path in a forest that creates a shortcut. In what I'm talking about, you would bring the end of the path you're on to yourself and just step onto the end...you wouldn't find a separate path.

So, maybe finding a shortcut is possible in space, like the wormhole, but I really don't see the capability to shorten a trip by bringing the end location to you and then returning it as something possible.

Unless you're magic.

I Still Don't Get It

2006-08-08T21:09:00.000-06:00

So, here's another thing that I just can't wrap my mind around.

Unlike time travel, I kind of think this might be possible...maybe is currently there, but I can't figure out how it would work. Here's the next topic in this small miniseries:

The Fifth Dimension

I have this book, called A Wrinkle In Time and it's a good book but introduces a few concepts that I've never been able to figure out. One is the concept of a 5th dimension. Here is how the book explains the fifth dimension:

OK, so the first dimension is a line, like this one....Now, to get the 2nd dimension, you simply square the line to get a square! Like this one...

Next, you square the square to get a cube, which is the third dimension, such as the one I have here...

Now, to get the fourth dimension, you simply square the cube, and to get the fifth dimension, you square whatever the hell it is you get for the fourth dimension.

This has always baffled me. Just thinking about living in a fifth dimension is beyond my brain capabilities. Now, I went on Wikipedia to see what it had to say about the fifth dimension and I found this handy picture:

I still don't get it. How could anything happen in a fifth dimension, much less a fourth dimension. For some reason, because this book discusses the 5th dimension, I don't even give a shit about the fourth dimension. Maybe I need to understand that before I can understand the fifth dimension. I'm not sure.

Wikipedia states:

"Whether or not the real universe in which we live is somehow five-dimensional is a topic that is debated and explored in several branches of physics, including astrophysics and particle physics."

This supports my supposition that the fifth dimension is not impossible, it's just not something the human brain can support right now. I think the human brain is constantly growing and we understand things better than we did eras ago. I figure hundreds of years from now, we'll begin learning about the fifth dimension in school and it won't be such a crazy obscure idea.

I just want to understand the fifth dimension. Is this like a parallel universe??? Is there another society living among us right now, just in a different dimension?? Or is this actually an impossibility that we're just trying to make a possibility??

I Just Don't Get It

2006-08-07T23:05:00.000-06:00

I consider myself a fairly intelligent person. I'm no genius, but when something is introduced to me, I can usually understand the concept fairly quickly. But still, there are some things that I just don't get. And I won't ever. Things that aren't real, but people wish were.

They say that nothing is impossible, but I disagree. There aren't many things that are impossible, but there are a few. Here's the first one:

Time Travel

This is impossible. I love to just sit and think about time travel and read books about time travel. And no matter how many ways I figure it, it just doesn't work. There's too many variables that would be changed by a single instance of time travel. And this is what makes it impossible. Obviously no one can travel through time, but if they could, it just wouldn't work. No matter what happened, the course of humanity would change. Say you travel back 100 years and make some offhand remark. This could result in some invention being invented 50 years too early. Which would entirely change the course of society. And let's say you travel forward in time. You find out something that happens in the future then when you come back to the present, you take steps to change it. Which completes annihilates that future you just visited. Even if the future was nothing special, you would just subconciously act differently due to your trip and this would change everything.

Time travel just doesn't work. Anything that can be brought up as to why it would work can be refuted.

All I've said about it is kinda confusing, but that's how time travel appears to me. When I think about it, I go off on all these tangents trying to justify it and make it work. But it doesn't and it can't. Time travel would kick ass, but it'll only happen in books and movies.

Computers

2006-08-06T15:43:00.000-06:00

So, I really want a new computer. And I've always said that next time I want a desktop. They're jsut so much easier to upgrade. But I've been thinking lately. I'd miss a lot of things about a laptop.

Having both an external mouse and the little pad mouse on the laptop
The smooth keyboard
Being able to easily tilt the screen based on the amount of light shining on it
How easy it is to move

I don't have the money to buy a new computer right now anyway. But I was just thinking.

Power Hungry

2006-08-04T23:44:00.000-06:00

I know what you're thinking, and yes, I am hungry for that kind of power, but the power I'm talking about now is electricity.

Had a good old-fashioned power outage tonight. I really can't remember the last time that's happened. I don't think I've had a power outage since I moved out on my own at the very least. I found out that I have 6 tea light candles, 1 scented candle, and 2 candles that would be good for a power outage but I have no way to stand them up. I also found out that tea lights give off a pathetic amount of light. My lighters give off more light than a tea candle. Oh, and I found out that I have five lighters. Must have come in a pack.

Anyway, having no power makes me realize how much I like electricity. I am never without light except when I'm actually sleeping. I always have a light on, even when I'm watching TV. I don't completely darken my place until I'm actually ready to go to sleep.

Oh, and it's really weird peeing in the dark. The bathroom seems fine in the light. But when it's dark and you can't see in the toilet, you just image all the things that could pop out of it...aliens, alligators, etc. At least, I imagine those things.

So, anyway, the power went off shortly after 9. I quickly found my one candle that's out and lit it. Then remembered that I have 2 tea lights in this thingy I got from my godparents, so I lit those too. Then I found the rest of my tea lights and lit them. Had my computer for a short while, but the battery sucks, so that didn't last very long.

I shaved my legs while the power was out. Made me appreciate what the pioneers went through to shave their legs. And then I thought, "Did the pioneers shave their legs??" Probably not. It's on my list of things to look up. "When did shaving of legs and armpits first begin?" So anyway, I'll have to do a spot check now just to make sure I didn't miss any large areas.

I have a wedding to go to in the morning, so I'm catching an 8am bus to Weyburn. Then I was like "what if the power doesn't come back on and my alarm clock doesn't go off?" So, I phoned my parents and they're going to phone me at 7am to wake me up just in case. The power's on now, but it's late and I don't want to wake them up phoning them to tell them not to wake me up.

Of course the night when the power goes off is the night when I'm really in a TV and computer mood. I wanted to watch movies all night then got sidetracked playing games on my computer. And when the power went out, I couldn't do any of that. Then I got the urge to play nintendo. Too bad for me.

I probably should have cleaned, but I didn't want to. Cleaning sucks. Which is obvious by the messy state of my house.

The power finally came back on and scared the shit out of me. Everything turning on at once. I almost fell off the couch.

Oh, if you're still waiting for me to make my point, as I'm sure we're past the 150 word mark, don't hold you're breath. This post doesn't have a point. It's just mindless jabbering. Not even ranting, just jabbering.

Anyway, I wanted to do a puzzle, but the thing I do my puzzles on is already covered with 2 puzzles that I've finished and I haven't moved them off it yet. And I'm not ready to disassemble them yet. You see, when I do a puzzle, I like to keep it together for a while to savour the accomplishment of finishing it.

I'm really wired. I've had most of a 2-litre of Diet Pepsi. Which is dumb as I have to be up early in the morning. Oh well. I've done it before and I'll do it again. I should add some cherry whiskey to that diet pepsi. That would really make the night interesting. But I won't.

Things that are green look blue in candlelight. I'm not sure why, but the closer you get it to the candle, the bluer it looks, even when it's green. It's odd.

Anyway, that's enough jabbering for me. I'll post again later this weekend after the wedding. Oh, it's one of my friends from junior high getting married. I probably won't stay too long, as I don't really hang out with anyone in that group anymore, but I'll stay for a while. At least the church and reception hall is close to the parent's house, so I can just walk home when I want to.

Well, that's all for now!!

Send me Voice Message

2006-08-04T16:49:00.000-06:00

I just signed up for this new service that allows people to send me audio messages!!

So, just click on the link on the sidebar or below and Send Me and Odeo!!!

A First for Me

2006-08-03T22:21:00.000-06:00

I don't like Frosted Mini Wheats. I don't like the sugar on them.

I think it's the first instance of my picking the healthier food over the one that is more unhealthy. I'd much rather have just plain Mini Wheats.

Role Models

2006-08-02T16:33:00.000-06:00

I feel that celebrities do have it hard, with their private life shown to the entire world. I think they shouild get their privacy. But the fact is, they don't. And since they don't, I do feel that celebrities have a duty to be good role models. So many people look up to them and emulate their actions.

I'm talking about this, because I'm disappointed by the actions of the people in the limelight lately. I'm talking about the various impaired driving incidents we keep hearing about. Let me list a few examples of offenders:

Mel Gibson
Chad Kroeger
Gordon Campbell (Premier of BC)
George Bush (in 1976, but it's still bad!!)

What do we have to do to get it through your heads people!?!?! I know when you kill someone because of your impaired driving, it'll get through your head. But I really hope you stop before that happens.

Yay Me!!

2006-08-01T21:03:00.000-06:00

Just went for a 2.4km walk!!

I normally walk to the river and follow the path along the top of the riverbank. This time, I did that, but also tried the path along the bottom of the riverbank. I'd seen people walking on this path, but in three years of living here, have never actually gone down there. It's a very nice path!! For most of it, you can forget you're in the middle of the city, as you're just surrounded by trees. There were some mysterious barrel thingys with wooden tops. Not sure what they're for, but I'm assuming that's where the city dumps it's toxic waste. I would have taken pictures of them, but I don't have a digital camera.

Did well earlier today too. I suck at grocery shoping. Once, I spent $7 on a tomato. Now, in my defense, I didn't even know tomatos COULD cost $7 each. So anyway, I still suck at grocery shopping. But I'm watching my cash outflow right now as I spent way too much for the first part of the summer. I had only $60 to grocery shop with and could only buy enough to fill my bookbag, as that is how I carry my groceries home. You may think I'm crazy, but I find it ridiculously easy to spend $60 and only get 2-3 bags of groceries. I had a list prepared today of what I needed and I also brought my calculator along, so I wouldn't get surprised at the till with a total over $60. I figured the calculator would stop me as I got closer to $60. So, I'm shopping and it's going quite well. I got everything on my list, in addition to one more thing. My total was around $39, but it was customer appreciation day. So, you either get 10x Air Miles or 10% off. I took the 10% off. So, my total was only $34. 73!!!! And $15 of that was just the meat I bought. So, I'm super happy that I still have $25 for groceries in the coming weeks. I shouldn't need to buy meat again for a while, so I'll just need to replenish my fruits, veggies, and milk really. Oh, and I bought a bread maker a while ago, so now I make all my own bread. I have to do it about every 3-4 days, but that's fine with me because then I always have bread that was made very recently!!

Today was a good day for me. I also cleaned the bathroom as that needed to be done. Hopefully tomorrow goes just as well!!

I have a confession to make...

2006-07-30T01:48:00.000-06:00

If I heard the Rolling Stones on the radio, I wouldn't know it was them. I don't know any of their songs.

And I know you guys are going to start listing off songs of theirs that I "must" know. And my answer to that is "OK, I know that song, but I didn't know the Rolling Stones sang it."

And I'm really not THAT excited that they're coming.

Oh, and while the Rolling Stones are in Regina, Gordon Lightfoot is going to be in Saskatoon. Hell yeah!!!!

I Want an Oompa Loompa

2006-07-27T22:40:00.000-06:00

The orange kind with green hair from the 1971 movie.

Something Relevant!

2006-07-27T16:29:00.000-06:00

OK, so it seems Saskboy and myself are both on the internet and bored. Well, I'm bored, I don't know if he is for sure. Anyway, we're both commenting on blogs, so I know we're both online.

Everyone should go check out Saskboy's blog on naming stadiums. As we all know, Taylor Field was recently re-named Mosaic Stadium. Now, the field is still called "Taylor Field", it's just the stadium surrounding it that got renamed. I have to agree with him that it's getting ridiculous. I happen to know that even the College of Commerce at the U of S is looking to go corporate. And the reason?? Peer pressure. All the other good business schools have a name. The "insert corporation name here" School of Business. As if the College of Commerce isn't already corporate. It has a brand new building, the PCS Centre, paid for by PotashCorp. Where will it stop??

I want everyone in the comments to re-name a building of any kind the most ridiculous corporate name you can think of. It could be a daycare, a sports arena, a church, anything! Let's show everyone just how far this can go. And why we should stop it now.

Another Interview

2006-07-27T13:34:00.000-06:00

Well, so much for staying in Saskatoon for more than a week. I have an interview on Monday in Regina with SCN. It's at 9:45am, so I'm heading home to Weyburn and will drive up from there on Monday. Correction, my sister is driving me up :) Yay!

Then my dad was like "we can give you a ride home Saturday after the Rider game" to which I said "Well then I'll just go to the Rider game!" So, I'm going then heading home with the parents.

Well, I'm finding that the SaskBlogs meet has definitely got more of us exploring each other's blogs a whole lot more. The Aggregator has so many blogs that I think a lot of us would sometimes click on one and read it, but we didn't religiously read them. Now that only about 10 of us went to the meet, I have a smaller selection to read, so everyone who went to the meet is now located in my bookmarks. So for everyone who didn't go to the meet, come to the next one and you'll meet lots of great people and will have some type of direction as to whose blogs to read!!

Anyway, after that paragraph, I've just been staring at my screen for about 5 minutes with nothing else to say. So, I'll cut it off here. But I'll probably be back later tonight with something actually relevant to say.

Negativity

2006-07-26T19:21:00.000-06:00

Negative people spread negativity. Everyone around them adopts the bad moods and frowns.

I'm finding lately that I have people being negative around me. My life is going well and I don't need anyone to drag me down.

So, I'm just going on my way and doing my best to ignore their negativity. There's no reason why I should let them ruin my day.

I encourage all of you to stop the flow of negativity the next time it comes your way!

Here Comes the Controversy

2006-07-25T18:39:00.000-06:00

OK, we all know I have some controversial views and I don't back down from them, so here's another one. And I really might get my ass kicked over this one. However, I do encourage you to try to change my mind.

So, one of the issues being discussed around the evacuation of Canadians from Lebanon is whether people who are just there visiting should get first priority to leave. What's being said is, "A Canadian passport is a Canadian passport regardless" and that people who live in Lebanon permanently but who have a Canadian passport should get equal priority. I think this is bullshit. I'm sorry, but the only reason they still have that passport is because we allow dual citizenship. My guess is that if we said "yeah, you can move to Lebanon, but you have to give up your Canadian citizenship" then most of those people would have dropped Canada. Well, screw those people! Why should my tax money pay to evacuate them out of a country they chose to live in?? Am I also expected to billet some of them when they come to Canada?? What are their plans when they get here, they don't even have anywhere to live!!

Now, I'm not saying that these people don't have the right to be evacuated. I think all the people who live in Lebanon (regardless of citizenship) should be allowed to leave and go to a refugee camp until the fighting is over. But I don't get why they should have to be shipped all the way to Canada on our bill. Are we expected to pay for them to come back too once the fighting is over??

Anyway, this is really my first reaction thoughts on the situation. As I said, if you disagree, it's now up to you to convince me why these people should get first dibs on the boats out of Lebanon and planes to Canada. I may not have all the facts, so go ahead and enlighten me of any I may be missing.

And please don't kick my ass for saying out loud what a lot of people are thinking on the inside.

Probably Should Blog

2006-07-25T00:02:00.000-06:00

Well, I figure I should blog.

First of all, the SaskBlogs meet went over well. In fact, I think we had way more than enough of everything. But that's ok. Better than missing something.

Thanx to everyone who wished me happy birthday! Now I just have to remember that I'm 21 now and not 20. I actually enjoyed being 20...it's weird being 21.

I have a job interview tomorrow with SaskEnergy. One of the people interviewing me went to school with my sister. They used to be friends but are now enemies. Hopefully this girl just remembers that I'm nothing like my sister. (OK, I am a bit Jeremy, but not in terms of working) I don't get people who are enemies with their old friends. I switch friends basically every time I switch schools, every 3-5 years. But I'm not enemies with my old friends. We're still friends, we just don't hang out or talk often. But the bridges aren't burned to the ground. I just don't get how you can spend so much time with someone and then just hate them. What happened to all the time you enjoyed with them??

I'm finally in Saskatoon for a little while. I'm hoping to be here for close to 2 weeks. I have to be back in Weyburn by the 5th of August, as an old friend of mine (who is not my enemy!!) is getting married.

Stupid Riders losing. They need to start playing more than the last 3 minutes of the game. And they need to stop putting so much pressure on the kicker to get everything perfect.

I borrowed the first season of Futurama from my sister. I'd say that I had seen about half of them, but half of them were new, which was great!

Anyway, the Daily Show is on now, then Colbert, and then I need to sleep because I have that interview tomorrow. Have a good day everyone!!

Points

2006-07-20T00:59:00.000-06:00

Society today collects points. I collect RBC Rewards, HBC Rewards, and Air Miles.

Now, with RBC Rewards, I have a chance of actually being able to redeem them for something. But the other two...I just don't collect enough to even really make it worth my while. I'm so far away from being able to redeem the points for an item that I started wondering what to do with these points. Should I just hold out forever?? Then the solution came to me. A lot of rewards programs have an option to donate your points to charity.

Tonight, I donated 10,000 HBC Reward Points to the Canadian Red Cross.

I actually went shopping today at an HBC store and I plan on donating those points too. They just haven't shown up on my account yet. But when they do, I'll donate them.

This is an easy way to make a small difference to a charity. We all feel as though we need to collect these points for some reason (at least us females do), so this is a good reason to collect them. I no longer feel as though I'm collecting them for no reason.

Now, this allows these charities to use HBC Rewards to redeem for items. Now, you may think...why do they need the cool stuff you can get through HBC rewards?? Well, here's what they can possibly do with those points:

Redeem for office furniture, so that administrative costs are lowered and funds are directed towards charity initiatives
Redeem for cool items that they can then use in a raffle. The prizes cost them nothing this way, and all revenues are turned into profit, which are used in various initiatives
Redeem for towels, which they can then use during rescue missions
Redeem for a blanket so that a child somewhere can go to bed warm

So if you have useless points, go see if you can donate them to a charity who needs them!!

Just a bunch of stuff

2006-07-19T14:19:00.000-06:00

So, I've been in Weyburn for most of July. I'm in Saskatoon this week and while I was gone, a sandbox was built in my backyard!!! It's very exciting. It sure is tempting to go play in it. And now my landlords are working on building a fence around the backyard. We're on a corner with a very busy street on one side. My landlords have two kids under the age of two, so I figured they'd eventually build a fence to keep the kids in. So, lots of exciting stuff happening in my backyard.

The Saskblogs meet is this Saturday! I'm actually getting excited. So, this better be good!! I'll be so disappointed if I get disappointed. Haha. Anyway, I'm going to make a cake and attempt to decorate it like the Saskatchewan flag. It will either look good or be a complete flop. In which case, I'll just mix all the icing together and it'll probably be gross looking...a mix of yellow, orange, and red food colouring icing. So, let's all hope I'm successful in my decorating. I've printed off a couple pictures of the different areas of the flag, so I can reference to them while I decorate.

I have a SADD meeting on Sunday. I just picked up a sweatshirt from the university that they donated for a door prize at our next conference. So, I will be bringing that to Regina to give to Tim. This is probably my last meeting for SADD and hopefully it will be short. I'll be heading back to Saskatoon after it once again to spent hopefully two weeks in Saskatoon before coming home to Weyburn for a friend's wedding.

Still looking for a job. I'm waiting to hear back from 2 jobs and I don't really have my hopes up for either of them. So, I'm more hoping to hear from someone who wants to interview me. That would be great.

Squeakers is coming to Saskatoon today. Our van needs ANOTHER new transmission. And for those of you who don't know the story...we got a new transmission a year ago on August 2, 2005. If we a get a new one here, it will be our FIFTH since then. Ridiculous, I know. Anyway, the transmission died in Saskatoon, so every time the van needs a new one, it has to come here. The upside is, after spending something like $1500 on a new one, the rest of these have been on warranty, so it's not costing us anything other than gas to get up here.

It's Taste of Saskatchewan this week!! About 30 restaurants set up in Kiwanis Park and offer small portions of their food. You buy tickets for $2 each and meals cost one or two tickets each. It's a good chance to sample food from a restaurant without shelling out $30 and finding out you don't like something. Last year they had deep-fried Mars bars...I was too chicken to try it. But if they have them again, I'll try one. So, if you're in Saskatoon anytime before the 23rd, check it out!!

Lastly...it's my birthday on Saturday!! Yay!!!

Quotable Quotes #8

2006-07-18T00:21:00.000-06:00

"Suddenly, and without warning, it became a real life game of Hungry, Hungry Hippos."
-Stephen Colbert

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

2006-07-15T01:23:00.000-06:00

Happy 25th Birthday Pilot!!!

I'm not on my home computer, so all my embarassing pictures of him are on there. Instead, you'll just have to settle for a picture of an actual pilot.

Are we going to invite him?

2006-07-12T18:48:00.000-06:00

It seems to me that Saskatchewan just inherited another blogger.

I was watching coverage of blogger Kyle McDonald, of One Red Paperclip fame, get his house in Kipling. So, now that he has the keys to the house, it would seem to me that he's officially a Saskatchewan Blogger.

So, is someone going to invite him to join the SaskBloggers group?? I would but I thought that maybe Lance should invite since he's the one who created the SaskBlogs Aggregator.

And then I thought we should at least be curteous and let him know about the SaskBlogs meet coming up. It's short notice so he probably can't come, but I figure we should at least invite him. But then I thought that maybe Saskboy or Stephen Glauser should invite him since it's their baby.

So, anyway, I'll invite him and all that if people want, but if the aforementioned people would rather do it or have already then that's fine. I just thought that if we invite him to the SaskBlogs meet, we should do it soon to give him some type of notice.

Oh, and comment moderation is still on. I want to give a full week for people to answer that Jedi question. So, comment away, it just won't show up until I get on my computer and approve it.

Who's The Most Jedi?? Part 8

2006-07-08T23:42:00.000-06:00

The band Liquid Tension Experiment has a song. The title of this song is the name of a Star Wars character. Answer these questions about that character:

Is this character married?
Name two other bands who have songs named after this character.
This character dies. Does this character die in a movie or in a book? What is this character doing when he/she dies?
How tall is this character?
Many fans were outraged when this character did not receive something. What did this character not receive?

Comment Moderation Enabled

He Got His House!!

2006-07-07T22:35:00.000-06:00

Kyle MacDonald had a Red Paperclip and decided that he'd rather have a house. So, a year ago he started trading. After 14 trades, he finally got his house!

It's located in Kipling, Saskatchewan!!! So, all us SaskBloggers know where this is!!!

The town traded the house for a part in a movie. They are going to auction off the movie part.

Check out the article here.

Check out his website here.

So Tired

2006-07-06T20:22:00.000-06:00

I'm extremely tired.

I had a job interview today with IT Services with the Government of Saskatchewan. It went well, so hopefully something comes of it.

I'm watching the Simpsons. It's one I haven't seen before. Fun stuff.

Anyway, I'm too tired to think of anything. Leave some funky comments.

Perceptions of Jesus

2006-07-01T20:44:00.000-06:00

Jesus is different for everyone. Everyone pictures him differently. Me, personally, I like this picture of Jesus.

My sister, this is what she thinks Jesus looks like.

RIP Moose (Eddie)

2006-06-29T22:45:00.000-06:00

1990-2006

I Wish

2006-06-29T22:42:00.000-06:00

I wish that in real life, everyone spontaneously broke out into choreographed song and dance.

It just looks like so much fun in the movies.

That's All Folks

2006-06-28T19:29:00.000-06:00

I just walked out of my last class.

I am no longer Shanna Pilon. I am now...

Shanna Pilon, B. Comm.

I Always Suspected

2006-06-26T18:35:00.000-06:00

Younger Brothers More Likely to be Gay

What's the #1 Way to Stay Healthy?

2006-06-26T18:25:00.000-06:00

Wash your hands often!

He's Giving It Away!!

2006-06-25T12:42:00.000-06:00

Billionaire Warren Buffett is giving his money away!!!

Now, I'm sure a lot of you don't know who the hell Warren Buffett is. The only reason I know him is because of my degree. Warren Buffett is like the investment guru. This guy has probably the most diversified portfolio in the world. He owns hundreds of stocks (by which I mean MILLIONS of shares) and this is how he mitigates his risk. He just owns stock in so many companies that if one goes belly up, he doesn't even feel it.

He's giving away 85% of his wealth...which let me remind you still leaves him with approximately $6.6 Billion. All the money is going to philanthropy. Five organizations are benefiting:

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - world health programs and US education
Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation - reproductive health, family planning pro choice, anti-nuclear weapons (I don't get how that one fits in, but there it is!)
Susan A. Buffett Foundation - education for children of low-income families
Howard G. Buffett Foundation - covers 42 countries, protection of wildlife habitats, clean drinking water, food relief, the plight of children, other humanitarian areas
NoVo Foundation - education, reverse environmental degradation, uphold human rights, improve understanding and respect among different cultures and ethnicities

I'm sure these organizations will enjoy splitting that $37.4 Billion. Each organization will begin receiving shares this year until all the money has been distributed. However, they also must follow certain criteria to continue receiving the money. I'm not going to bore you with how he's converting his shares, etc. You just won't know what the hell I'm talking about. Here's an example:

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have been allotted 10 million shares. They will receive 5% of this each year until the foundation has received all 10 million. So, in year 1, they get 500,000 shares. In year 2, they get 475,000 shares. Etc, etc.

This is a huge deal. So much is said about the split between the rich and the poor. And it's great to see someone finally giving away their money. Warren Buffett is a smart guy. He knows that he doesn't need this money. And he's raised his family to know how to make their own money. They don't need $40 Billion.

Kudos to you Mr. Buffett.

Miscellaneous

2006-06-24T12:43:00.000-06:00

So, I came home to a message on my answering machine on Friday. It was from Freedom 55. The hiring manager had read my Letter to the Editor and wanted me to phone him to discuss the opportunities at Freedom 55.

What the hell!!??? I spent like 4 months interviewing there last winter before finally deciding to quit because I didn't want the job anyway. Now, he wasn't the one interviewing me, as he moved into this position just this year. However, I did meet him during one of my interviews and spent some time talking to him. I know his sister from school and so some time was put aside for me to meet him.

I'm glad people are noticing my letter, but it kinda sucks that they don't remember who the fuck I am.

On other topics...I'm not sure if I mentioned, but I went for an interview with RBC last Monday. I was really expecting to hear back from them by the end of the week. Well, I didn't. So, I'm still sitting here wondering whether or not I'm getting the job. In the meantime, I have to CONTINUE applying for other jobs. So yeah, that sucks.

I spent yesterday giving tours for the Alumni reunion on campus. We had commerce students who graduated in 1956 and 1966. It was so much fun! We had such a great group and they were really enjoying themselves. It's so satisfying to bring someone into one of the old buildings, to convocation hall or the airplane room, and hear "Wow, this is why I came!" Makes it all worth it.

Anyway, I'll probably blog a bunch this weekend. I have a bunch of homework to do, including a take-home final. So, knowing me, I'll be procrastinating and blogging instead of doing my homework. Like I'm doing right now.

Published

2006-06-21T21:58:00.000-06:00

I got published today!! My letter appeared in today's edition of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. On page A10. It was condensed a bit, but I like what they've presented.

I was in class and my professor came up to me "Great Letter to the Editor!" and I was just like "OMG, it got in!!!" Then he totally announced it to the entire class.

So yeah, I'm glad some people will see my opinion and acknowledge the problem that exists.

It's a Miracle!

2006-06-21T11:35:00.000-06:00

Toby has been saved!!!!! If you don't know who Toby is, he's a little bunny rabbit. His owner found him cold and sick under his porch and nursed him back to health. However, if a certain amount of money wasn't raised, this owner was going to kill Toby and EAT him!! He was taking in donations to save Toby's life. Well, it seems the website Bored.com has saved Toby's life. The bunny shall live.

In the meanttime, another plight has come to my attention. You all remember Saved by the Bell? Yes, well then you also remember Screech!

Well, it seems Screech's house is being Foreclosed!!!!! Help Screech save his house by going here and buying a t-shirt!!!

World Refugee Day

2006-06-20T19:33:00.000-06:00

Today is World Refugee Day. I don't know much about it, I'm assuming it's just another one of those "awareness" days. But whatever the reason, it's here to remind us of some realities in the world.

I'm just going to talk about one particular problem in one particular third world country, because I learned about it in my 3rd World Politics course.

Did you know that tens of thousands of children walk hundreds of miles each night just to have a safe place to sleep? In Northern Uganda, the Lord's Resistance Army kidnaps children at night and forces them to become members of this rebel movement, which is active also in the Congo and the Congo. To ensure the safety of their children, their parents send them on a Midnight Walk to Gulu. Gulu is a city where the children can sleep safely on the floors of schools and churches.

So tonight, be thankful that you have a safe place to sleep and that your children have a safe place to sleep.

All it takes to help children in third world countries is pennies...literally pennies. So, the next time you see a little box in front of a till at a store, put your change in there. It may seem like that money does not help, but I assure you, it does.

"Motivation is everything. You can do the work of two people, but you can't be two people. Instead, you have to inspire the next guy down the line and get him to inspire his people. "

-Lee Iaccoca-

Extra! Extra!

2006-06-19T17:15:00.000-06:00

I got a phone call from the Leader Post today, to confirm that I wrote a Letter to the Editor before they ran it. So, unlike the Star Phoenix, it seems as though they are for sure going to run it. So, everyone down south, go buy a Leader Post and watch for my letter!

The Cracker Jack Saga

2006-06-18T22:41:00.000-06:00

Tonight, I bought some Cracker Jacks. I like popcorn, and I like other flavours of Cracker Jacks, so I got a bag of "The Original Cracker Jack." Here I am with my Cracker Jacks. Quite happy that I have them.

Now, another reason why I got this bag was because I was promised a SURPRISE INSIDE!!!!! Wow! A surprise!! Now, I no longer buy cereal that comes with prizes. I just don't eat those kinds anymore. So, the possible surprise was quite exciting. Now, unlike cereal, they don't tell you what the prize is going to be. You just have to open up the bag and find out!

Now, I open the bag and soon I see this little paper book.

So, I grab it. I open it, and what is it?? Well, the title proclaims, "Yo-Yo Spinners". I am instructed to:

Carefully pull out prize
Peel off stickers; stick on sides of yo-yo or anywhere else

Now, the first instruction makes me thing, "wow, there must be a yo-yo in here somewhere!" Because why would they instruct me to pull the prize out carefully unless it was still in that bag somewhere. I already pulled out the little book thing...it's too late to be careful about it!

So, of course I can't wait and I start digging around in the bag for my yo-yo. Now, if you don't know...Cracker Jacks are covered in Caramel. So, digging around in the bag makes my hand quite sticky. Quite sticky indeed.

Problem is, I'm not finding a prize anywhere. It's not there!! That little booklet WAS my prize! Some shitty stickers! These stickers aren't even big enough to stick on the side of any respectable yo-yo. Needless to say, I'm pissed.

Here's a picture of my prize. It's kinda fuzzy, but if you see the circle directly above my finger, that's the sticker I'm supposed to put on a yo-yo. It's this happy little cartoon dog. My yo-yo is way too badass for this tiny ass little dog sticker.

Now, I'm pissed about the prize when I suddenly realize something. The bag says "Caramel Coated Popcorn and Peanuts." I have not seen any peanuts. So, I'm like, "maybe they're not there." But I read the ingredients and it says that they should be there. Well, I keep eating...and let me tell you..."The Original" flavour Cracker Jacks are not very good. So, I'm eating my way through this gross popcorn...I'm almost at the bottom when I finally spot some peanuts. They're all at the very bottom of the bag!!! How crappy. The other, newer flavours of Cracker Jack have the popcorn and peanuts all stuck together, so there's no way you can eat one and not the other.

Anyway, the moral of the story is that I had a very disappointing night due to my Cracker Jacks. The packaging is all nostalgic. They show the original picture of "Sailor Jack and Bingo." Well, I figure they do that because Sailor Jack looks like this:

And Bingo, well, this is him:

Breaking News!

2006-06-16T12:51:00.000-06:00

I just got a call from the Star Phoenix. They just needed to confirm that I did indeed write a Letter to the Editor. They are "considering it for publication."

So, watch in your Star Phoenix papers!

I guess I'll have to start buying the paper.

Later that Night

2006-06-15T21:35:00.000-06:00

So, I applied for some jobs. I have more to apply for. But my ass hurts. So, I'll come back tomorrow and do some more applying.

Remember that letter I wrote about the job?? Well, I just sent it to:

CBC
Mike Duffy (CTV)
Jack Branswell (Global/Canada.com)
StarPhoenix
LeaderPost

And I'm not finished!

But as I said, my ass hurts, so I'll send out more tomorrow.

Why does my ass hurt?? Because I'm at school and these computer chairs just aren't as comfortable as my one at home.

Supposed to be Searching for Jobs

2006-06-15T19:16:00.000-06:00

But instead I'm just messing around on the internet.

So, big news!!! I made the Dean's List!!! That's like Honour Roll, but in university. It's my first time, and I'm about to graduate. So, I suppose it was really my last chance to get on. And I did! Hahahaha!! Whooo!

So, you all know I got denied a job in Prince Albert. Well, this trip actually cost me no money. I have one of these STC Youth Passes, so I just used that to take the bus. Didn't cost me anything extra to take one more trip. However, the Conexus reimbursed me my expenses...$123!!! Whooo!! I should do THIS for a living. Apply for jobs far away. Find a way to travel there with little to no cost...then get reimbursed a whole lot more money than I spent on getting there!

Got a call from RBC today regarding a job that I applied for yesterday (wow, they're quick!). Of course, everyone HAS to phone me on Tuesday and Thursday between 1 and 4...because I'm in class then. All the rest of the time, no one phones me! So, I just get all these messages on my machine. Anyway, the girl wasn't in when I phoned her back, so I'll be phoning her in the morning.

I am now here at school planning on applying for a bunch more jobs tonight. Haven't applied for the ones in the newspaper yet as I was gone last weekend. So, I suppose I'll have to do that tonight. I'm just so SICK of writing cover letters. And making them all different. It just takes so damn LONG!!!!!!! Arggghhh!!!

Anyway, I'd better get started.

Killer Parents

2006-06-12T22:37:00.000-06:00

Well, I can't believed I've lived so long. Because I just found out that my parents are MURDERERS!!!!!

Coming home to Saskatoon today, my mom hit a bird with the car and KILLED it!!! It was a little yellow bird. Smooshed forever.

And my dad...oh, him...he MURDERED two baby birds!! He found them in a nest and beat them to death!!!

Seriously, watch out Big Bird.

Blogging from Regina

2006-06-10T19:27:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm in Regina. It rained the entire way here. I'm at my friend Cassandra's house. We have a SADD meeting Sunday morning, so I'm crashing at her place tonight. We're probably heading out to see a movie later because we have nothing else to do.

Anyway, I have nothing much to say. Just wanted to blog from a different city.

I'm too tired to think of a title

2006-06-09T01:19:00.000-06:00

So, I'm definitely going to send out that letter. I'm going to tweak it a bit. Partially because I was super-pissed when I wrote it and I want to make sure that it all makes sense. Also, I'll change it dependent on who it's being sent to.

I'm going to keep a running tally somewhere on this webpage that says who I've sent it to. Any suggestions are welcome.

On another note...

E-mail is great and all, but I still LOVE getting mail. Just regular mail. Today I got TWO pieces of mail!! Yay!!

The first piece of mail was an invite to one of my old schoolfriend's wedding. This is my first friend to get married, so it's pretty cool!!

The second piece of mail was my official SaskParty Member Card. So, I'm officially now a card-carrying member of the Saskatchewan Party.

Job Woes

2006-06-07T18:32:00.000-06:00

Well, you all know I was interviewing in PA at Conexus. Didn't get the job. Not pissed about that, but pissed about something. I wasn't home to take the phone call, but received the message on my answering machine. I was told that I interviewed "extremely well" and I had an "awful lot" of the skills they wanted. However, because I expressed an interest in getting involved in politics, I was passed over for the job.

What kind of fucking bullshit is that!? Seriously. If they had said that they thought I was a bitch and they didn't want to work with me, I think I would have been less pissed than I am now. (Maybe) I just don't get why it's such a bad thing to be interested in politics and the workings of government.

I am supremely pissed, so much that I wrote a letter that I'm in the mood to send out to, oh, media outlets, politicians, etc. But I'm posting it here first. Because sometimes I'm in the mood to do something, but once I calm down, the next day I'm not quite so in the mood to do something. So, I'm posting it here. If you think it's a bad idea for me to send it out, let me know. Or if you think I should send it out, but change something in it, let me know that too.

Anyway, here it is. It pretty much expresses the majority of my opinions. (Which we all know can be controversial)

*************************************************************************

Dear _____________,

I recently had an interview with one of Saskatchewan’s major financial institutions. During this interview, I was asked about my long term goals. I stated that my long term goal is to get involved with the government. I mentioned that I did not want to be a politician, because I felt that I fit better on the bureaucracy side of the government. The next week, I came home to a message on my answering machine from this institution. I was told that I interviewed “extremely well” and that I had an “awful lot” of the skills they were looking for. However, I was not offered the job due to the fact that I showed an interest in politics.

One would think that these institutions would be happy to be the starting point of a young Canadian’s career. I’m about to graduate with a 4-year Bachelor of Commerce degree with a major in finance. I have little to no experience and am looking for a place where I can spend a few years learning about finance in a practical environment. I realize that saying my long term goal is in government makes it seem as if I’m not a long-term employee. But I did say that I was looking for stability and a place to settle for some time. For all they know, I might have ended up loving the job and never leaving the company. Also, what’s wrong with giving a young person a good view of a company from the inside? Even if I end up in government, at least I will have a working knowledge of that company, and will go to the government with a positive image of it. Now, I am coming out with a negative image of a company who does not support the interests of young Canadians.

This message went on to say that another branch of this institution would be opening up soon, in my area. If I were to “change my mind about the direction of my career” I was welcome to re-apply there. That’s a flat out insult! Why would they assume that I am suddenly going to stop liking politics and completely change my long term goals in life? This is who I am and that’s not going to change, especially for some close-minded institution.

I’m not upset about not being offered the job. I’m upset about the reason. If I had been told that I was too young, too inexperienced, or even that they just plain didn’t like me, that would have been fine. But to be told that I interviewed extremely well and that I have the skill set they are looking for, but because I have an interest in politics, I’m not welcome there is simply a slap in the face.

Here’s my question: When did it become a bad thing for young Canadians to show an interest in politics and the workings of their government?

Sincerely,

SMP

Unicorns with Dicks for Horns

2006-06-06T22:24:00.000-06:00

OK, so I just put up a new post all of 5 minutes ago. But then I ran across this. Check out this thread on the NG BBS:

Unicorns with Dicks for Horns

Tom Fulp himself has already put up 2 pictures. And Dan Paladin has made his contribution too!!!

Nintendo

2006-06-06T22:09:00.000-06:00

What do I do when my schedule slows down? I play Nintendo. Second year, February break, I had this awesome To Do list. I was going to get SOOOO much stuff done. What did I do? I beat Zelda for SuperNintendo.

So, right now, I'm working on Zelda: The Ocarina of Time. I finished a game I had started. Now, I'm trying to see how fast I can play the game and beat it. I've played for 2 hours and 46 minutes so far and I'm to the point where I just grabbed the Master Sword for the first time. I would estimate that at minimum 1 hour of that was just watching dumb movies. And listening to Navi.

The boss for this Zelda is ridiculously easy. I mean the boss at the very end. I beat it tonight. Now, I beat both Ganondorf AND Ganon and didn't even have to use a fairy. ME! Now, the fact is, for a girl, I kick ass at nintendo. But I still SUCK. How did I do all that without dying once!? The simple answer is that the boss is waaay too easy. Well, that and the fact that I've played this game from start to finish about 10 times. So I'm getting to be a pretty good expert at it.

Really though, what are my other options??

Mario Party 3 - fun, but slow paced. Takes forever and there's no real goal. You play one game and it doesn't really lead to anything.
Hexen - I don't think I've ever played this. It came with the thing when I bought it off the boy (we co-owned it, when I moved, I payed for his half of it)
Star Wars: Shadow Empire - I played this once and was sooooo motion sick
Pokemon Puzzle Party - I do like this game. It's the closest thing I have to Tetris on my 64. (By the way, that's what I have, a Nintendo 64) But anyway, I need to be in a tetris mood to play this one.
Goldeneye - arguably one of the best nintendo games ever. But in terms of the solo missions, I've gotten as far as I can with my skill level. Also, I'm not a huge fan of "shoot 'em ups" That's why I kick so much ass at the taxi missions on GTA. And this game is only truly the most fun when you're playing with someone else. Especially when you're playing it with THREE someone elses. And I have no one. I'm all alone.

So yeah, that's what I've spent my night doing so far. I'm taking a break now, but will probably get back to it. My laundry won't be done for another hour anyway.

Cleaning

2006-06-04T23:39:00.000-06:00

I just dusted my computer desk. Wow. Used up an entire Pledge cloth. And I didn't really move anything except my cords. Everything else (speakers, modem, etc.) I just dusted around. I only dust once every few months. Makes it seem like more of an accomplishment when I get rid of a really thick layer of dust.

I've also been slowly cleaning the rest of the place. Just as I watch TV, I clean. I need another bookshelf. I already have 2 large bookshelves and I'm pretty close to having every shelf on them full...and not only full, in double layers. I can't even see half my books because they're hidden by the other half!!

I thought about taking a webcam video of myself cleaning so that I could put it on the internet. But then I realized that no one would want to watch that. Not even me. How boring.

Haha, there's a pelican in PEI and they're all like "Ooooo, a pelican!" And I'm just like "it's a freakin' pelican people." We should send them some moose...they'd LOVE that.

Bit of a Disappointment

2006-06-03T23:12:00.000-06:00

Well, what a whirlwind trip to Prince Albert. I had an interview at the Conexus Credit Union there. Got on a bus at 9am. I had printed out a bunch of stuff about the company and took the time to read it on the way up. I also had my Comm 402 book which has some interview tips, so I read through all that.

Got to PA and found everything very quickly. Unfortunately I was wearing a full suit and it was 31 degrees outside. Very hot. Fortunately there was a mall across the street. So, that was a good air conditioned place to wait until my interview.

Got to the interview in time, not a problem. I was interviewed by a panel of 3 people...the HR manager, the Sales Manager, and the Head Teller. Basic interview. They wanted me to start by summarizing my work and education experience. Then just behavioral questions. My only problem was that they limited my time frame to the last 18 months for answers. Well, the only thing I've done in the last 18 months is Subway and school. And so many of my awesome experiences were in Cadets and during high school. So, I had trouble coming up with some examples. Otherwise, the interview went smoothly enough.

The disappointment came in the position. I went in not knowing the exact position they were hiring for. Turns out the position guarantees part-time for the summer. They "anticipate" full time hours, but can't guarantee. And there's a "chance" of getting a full-time permanent job in September. Well, I'm not sure I want to move to PA for a bunch of "possibilities."

I obviously wasn't offered the job on the spot or anything. I know there were other applicants. As well, the three would need to discuss. They said they would get back to me sometime next week. So, if I don't get the offer, I'm not going to be too disappointed. If I do get it, I'll have some thinking to do. My aunt and uncle said I could live with them for the summer because they won't be there most of the time. And their house is about 6 blocks from the Conexus. So, I would basically have to store just my desk and dresser and stuff for a couple months. And this might be my only chance to get into a financial institution such as this. And if I work on getting my Canadian Securities Course, that greatly ups my chance of getting a permanent position.

So, I've done what I can. Maybe I have nothing to worry about and won't get offered the job. I can't do anything but sit and wait.

In the meantime, I've been sending out other applications. I spent tonight on a computer at school and filled out some applications. I applied for a job in La Ronge which I actually really want. I hope I could at least get an interview. It's for an administrative assistant to the Deputy Minister of Northern Affairs. An awesome opportunity for me to get into the government. So, we'll wait and see what happens there.

In conclusion, I hate looking for jobs.

Interview

2006-06-01T16:29:00.000-06:00

So, I have one of my first big interviews tomorrow!!! I have to hop a bus to Prince Albert at 9am, have my interview at 1pm, and catch another bus home at 6pm. Fun times!! The interview is with the Conexus Credit Union there. My friend Holly's mom is the HR manager there, so that's who I am interviewing with. However, it may be a panel of people, I'm not entirely sure.

Wish me luck!!

Screen Names

2006-06-01T11:00:00.000-06:00

When I was in about grade 6 I believe, I needed a screen name for the internet. I was in the computer room of our house with my friend Michelle and we decided to find a name. We grabbed the dictionary, opened it to a random page and pointed at a word. Soulfood was the word. It's been my online alias ever since.

How did you all get your screen names?

(Jeremy, I want to know the story about Fluffy, not just Pilot)

SaskBlogs Get Together

2006-05-30T17:33:00.000-06:00

So, I had another post planned, but this got in the way. I just discovered some plans for a SaskBlogs Get Together for all the Saskatchewan bloggers. The tentative date is July 22 in Wascana Park in Regina. It's being organized by SaskBoy and Stephen Glauser.

Oh, and it just so happens, that's my birthday!! July 22!!

So, I decided to aid in spreading the word and am going to post their announcement here on Heciticity.

*************************************************

July 22, 2006 Saturday - Regina
We would start out at about 1pm with a barbecue in Wascana Park. Kids, and Everyone of course, will be welcome. After the barbecue we could head to the Rider game (if enough people express interest, Stephen might be able to line up some discounted tickets). After that we could all head out for supper, or do another BBQ and then head out to a pub for some drinks.

The option of a Saskatoon meet has also been discussed, but we would like to have one big meet as opposed to two large ones, but we’ll see what everyone has to say. Saskatoon dates that have been discussed include June 17 and August 19.

If most people would prefer a Saskatoon meet on July 22nd, we could possibly change it up.

*************************************************************

If you're interested, head to one of their blogs and leave a comment.

SaskBoy
Stephen Glauser

Wikipedia

2006-05-29T23:27:00.000-06:00

I'll say it. I LOVE WIKIPEDIA.

I can spend hours there. I read one article, and a word is linked to a page about it, so I click on that. Then, in that article, I find another thing to click on. Suddenly, I'm lost in the world of Wikipedia.

Any time I don't know something, I just go to Wikipedia. It never fails me. And I'm not the only one. I was recently chatting with some girls, one of which who was from India. When lacrosse was mentioned she says "What's lacrosse?" Then immediately, "never mind, I looked it up on Wikipedia." It's just great.

The only downside to it is that a lot of academic institutions don't consider it a suitable source. But I feel that will change soon enough.

I love Wikipedia.

Who's the Most Jedi?? Part 7

2006-05-26T16:27:00.000-06:00

Vul Tazaene

What species is he?
What is his former occupation?
Who is he searching for?
Where is he searching for (3)?
What is his home world?

Comment moderation is active.

The Hermits - "A Cubicle Will Do"

2006-05-24T23:09:00.000-06:00

So, I had class tonight, Commerce 402, Management Skills. Tonight we got put into groups and every evening we have class, we will spend some time with this group doing some small group activities.

The first day, we did a shortened version of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. This a survey you fill out that will say what your preferences are and will group you into 4 categories. You are either one of 2 types in each category:

Introvert/Extrovert
Sensing/Intuitive
Thinking/Feeling
Perceiving/Judging

So, we had done these and he grouped us with people like us, so that we could see what we were like. I am an ISTJ - Introvert, Sensing, Thinking, Judging. So was every single other person in my group. So, an entire group of introverts. Wow, there were a lot of silences. It would just lapse into quiet. The group in the room next to us must have been extroverts, because they were talking non-stop.

We had to choose a group name and we settled on The Hermits. We're introverts, we just want to sit in a cave and think. And our slogan is, "A Cubicle Will Do." As that's all we need in an office to work happily. Everyone in our group is either an accounting or finance major. We learned when we got back to the bigger group that another small group had the same occurence, with everyone being of the same major. Just goes to show how the same type of people gravitate towards the same type of job.

Anyway, I really like my group. We all just want to get stuff done and then move on. It's great. We don't talk a lot, true. But we have good group sense of humour and all get along.

Maybe this class won't be quite as shitty as I expected.

Question for Discussion

2006-05-23T16:53:00.000-06:00

"Everyone knows Rock 'n Roll reached perfection in 1974."
-Homer Simpson

Any comments??

Surfin' the Net

2006-05-21T19:43:00.000-06:00

Had a lazy day today. Didn't wake up until noon and didn't bother to shower until 2pm. Right now I'm just havin' fun surfin' the net. Here's some cool stuff I found:

The McDonald's Simulator - see what it's like in the life of a McDonald's worker
Dig a Hole - dig a hole from where you are and see where it comes out!! Mine comes out in the Indian Ocean. Midway between McDonald/Heard Islands and French Southern and Antarctic Lands. Just above Antarctica. Cool!!
E-mail Capsules - send an e-mail to yourself or someone else for them to get in the future...up to 100 years from now!! I sent one to one of you!!
Digital Charity - read people's pleas for money and donate to them online!! OR, if you need money you can try your hand at getting your own digital charity.
Eric Conveys an Emotion - request and emotion and Eric will convey it for you
Men Who Look Like Kenny Rogers - I think the title explains it all
Photo Retouching - see the before and after of a magazine cover
Amy's Diary - the diary of a 3rd grader

My Weekend so Far

2006-05-20T23:00:00.000-06:00

So, I went and saw the Da Vinci Code movie on Friday night. It was good. However, I have not read the book. SO, don't take my word on the whole "it was good" thing if you've read the book. You may hate it. I'm not too sure. I felt the story was a bit obvious. As well, I would have written a different ending.

Spent the day with the family today. It was my cousin Dustin's wedding. The parents and Michelle picked me up early and took me grocery shopping which was awesome. Then we went to campus and went to The Cove, our arcade. I got mom to play Dance Dance Revolution with me, which kicked some serious ass. Wish I had pictures. Man, that game is a workout. Then we went back to the hotel and me and Michelle sat in the hot tub for a bit before getting ready for the wedding. I thought the wedding and everything were good, but my parents disagree. Whatever.

Anyway, classes suck and it would take too long to type out exactly how they suck, so you'll just have to take my word on it.

And I'm still disappointed about that poop deck thing.

Poop Deck

2006-05-19T14:17:00.000-06:00

From the latin word puppis.

I really thought it would have a more interesting explanation.

I Can't Think of a Title

2006-05-14T23:12:00.000-06:00

I'm a shitty blogger when I'm in Weyburn. The juices just don't flow there.

But now I'm back in Saskatoon!!! So, here's a boring update on my life...

Just met my new roommate and she's great!! Really nice and soft spoken. She'll be good.

Start classes tomorrow. Turns out I have Comm 402. I hadn't even had a clue which class came first. I checked today, but just only realized that I didn't check what room it's in. Shit. I'll have to go do that. I bought my 401 book from a friend today, so that's taken care of. The 402 book is just like a reading package, so it should cost less than $20. Awesome. Both of my profs are sessionals and new, so I have no idea what to expect as I don't know anyone who's had them. Should be interesting. But it's only 6 weeks, so if it's not a good experience, it should be over quickly.

Other than that...nothing. I'm leading a boring life right now. I applied for a job in Regina as an Administrative Assistant at Concentra Financial and I'm really hoping it comes through. It sounds just perfect for me. So, I have my hopes up which probably isn't a good thing, but whatever. I'm allowed to be excited.

Anyway, that's about it!!

Vancouver

2006-05-09T19:54:00.000-06:00

Well, we made it here!! I survived the flight. Basically, I kept my eyes closed for each take-off. I figure flying is scary, but not quite as scary as some rides are at the amusement park. As long as my eyes are closed. I had a window seat, but gave it to Andrew and sat in the middle between him and my mom. I think Andrew likes to fly, he just stared out the window the whole time.

We had a tour of the boy's school and found him a house. But I'll let him blog about that.

Tomorrow we will hopefully go to the Aquarium and see a whale and some dolphins. I offered to buy mom a swim with the dolphins for mother's day, but she didn't quite like that idea.

Oh, and I got to talk on Speaker's Corner. I didn't have much to say. Just said that the 'Riders are going to kick some ass this season.

Anyway, I'll write a good blog about the trip once we get back. For now, here's a picture or two.

Who's the Most Jedi? Part 6

2006-05-04T13:35:00.000-06:00

Who was the Chief Model Maker for Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope?

Comment Moderation Active

United 93

2006-05-01T23:12:00.000-06:00

So, I just got back from watching United 93. I promise not to talk about anything directly related to the movie until later, and I'll make some space and give a spoiler alert, so that if you don't want to read it, you don't have to. I'm not sure it was wise for me to go see this when I'm going to take my first plane trip in less than two weeks, which I am very nervous about. But I did anyway.

First thing...if you get motion sick easily, don't go see this movie. It has a very unsteady camera througout and I had a very upset stomach when I left and I still have a headache.

What a great movie. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but the reviews were good, so, I figured my $10.75 was worth spending.

***Spoiler Alert***
I'm putting the rest of the post in white font, so if you want to read it, highlight it. If not then don't. I will be talking about scenes in the movie.

I was surprised at how much time was spent in the air control centres. I didn't even think of this facet of the entire day. It showed really the disbelief when they were told of a possible hijacking. The general response seemed to be "You're joking." Really, in 2001, who would have thought that a plane would be hijacked?? Obviously not the military or anyone who worked in air traffic control. If the movie is accurate, it seems that one control man figured it out and really had to argue to make people believe him. This raises a good point. Sure we train everyone on what to do if a certain occurence happens, but if everyone thinks you're joking or that it's a drill, what good is all that training?? Time should not be wasted having to "convince" one's superior that action needs to be taken.

I think what I expected in place of the many minutes spent in air traffic control was a bit more focus on the people of United 93. I expected that a few people would be focused on and it would show a bit of their life before the flight and show them saying good-bye to their family members. But what I realize now is that that is hollywood. When it's a fake story with fake poeple, you can do this. United 93 was real. These are real lives and it would be insulting to try and summarize them in 2 minutes. It would be equally insulting to only focus on some of the passengers, as if others weren't worth the time to put them on screen. What did happen was that everyone on the plane was afforded equal time and no one passenger was the "hero" of the movie. They worked together and were all in the same circumstances. One life was not better than the other and the movie really showed that these people were all heros.

Another facet which really surprised me was the portrayal of the hijackers themselves. The extreme nervousness with what they were about to do. Would they get through security?? Would they reach their target?? What if the passengers rebelled?? What was happening on the other planes?? Could they pull this off?? These questions were so evidently running through their heads. As was put in another review I read of this movie, they were not portrayed as "monsters". They were portrayed as human beings. People who were afraid of what was to come yet determined to do what they felt was right. I don't think the audience was meant to connect with them, but I felt that this aspect just made the movie much more believable. I think after 9/11 we tend to just think of them as things with no feelings and no fears and as invincible. But even from the start, showing one of the hijackers phoning home to say "I Love You" shows that they aren't some "cartoon monster". This really lent to the credibility of the film and just made it even better.

Finally, the part I liked the best was the end. The crash was not shown, but it was obvious. You go from yelling and screaming as the passengers overcome the pilot, to dead silence. And I mean dead silence. There was not a sound in the entire theatre from anyone in the audience. You just sit there watching a black screen and reflecting on what you just saw. Obviously, the words came on the screen about the crash, as happens in any documentary at the end. But I felt it was a great dramatic ending that really worked. There was not a sound in the theatre. Even walking out no one was talking. The first thing I heard was outside the theatre, someone commenting on the shakiness of the camera. As if we could not yet speak of what we just saw.

It really was a great film. I'd suggest watching it in theatre, as long as you can hold the food in your stomach. Watch it with the proper respect and I think it will only give you an even greater respect for the people who died on September 11, 2001. And it will make you think about yourself and which one of those people you would have been had you been on the plane. The teenage girl crying in a ball?? The man phoning his wife to tell her he loved her?? Or one of the ones who decided it was time to fight back?? Whichever one you are, it will give you a greater respect for your life.

United 93...go see it.

If you read my review and are commenting, please don't comment on the plot so that those who wish to see the movie won't have it ruined for them.

Puff the Magic Dragon

2006-04-30T20:36:00.000-06:00

What a great song.

New Blog

2006-04-30T00:37:00.001-06:00

So, I discovered a new blog that is HILARIOUS.

It's called El Guapo in DC and it's written by a guatemalan guy who's living in the US. I find his posts hilarious. Especially this one about Texas Hold 'Em. Turns out it orginated in Guatemala!!

So, go check out El Guapo in DC.

For the Ladies

2006-04-29T00:56:00.000-06:00

I don't think the guys will want to read this post. Especially those related to me. It's more a girl-thing. So, this is your warning...

So, I totally went shopping and spent like $140. But that's great, because I got 2 bras, 2 tees, and 1 other shirt. I expected to pay $140 just for the bras.

I totally bought a PURPLE bra. I've never bought anything but white and black before. But I LOVE my purple bra. It's great. Maybe I should go back and buy the matching undies.

I also got this awesome green t-shirt that like laces up at the front kinda. I just like it because I like the shade of green. It's really rich.

THEN, I bought this other kick ass outfit. It's like a white tank top (boring, I know). But the other shirt I got is just like a half-shirt. It has long sleeves and just kinda like ties in the front and is only long enough to go to like the middle of my back. So, you put on the white shirt, then put the blue one on over-top. It looks AWESOME. And I LOVE the shade of blue. I'm not sure if the blue looks good on me or not, but I don't care, because it's pretty.

OK, it's official...I'm becoming a girl.

UPDATE!!!

2006-04-26T11:27:00.000-06:00

You know when ideas are so good that they just might work?? Well, sometimes they don't. Example - my blog sing-along. What a failure. Oh well. I blame it on the first person to post. Yup, that's you boy.

So, just wrote my last final. I only have to write one more final ever to complete my Commerce degree. Then it's on to the dreaded job hunt. Although hopefully I'll have something lined up by then.

I'm seriously freaking out about flying to Vancouver. I think I'm going to go into full-blown panic mode once I get on the plane.

Not too much else to say. Just figured I should update.

Sing Along

2006-04-23T00:50:00.000-06:00

So, I had this crazy idea that just might work. So, I'm trying it with you guys!!

It's a Blog Sing-Along!!

It's easy. We're going to sing a song together, one line at a time. I'll start us off. Then, the first person to post "sings" the second line, then the second person to post "sings" the third line. And so on and so on. You can comment more than once, just not twice in a row. And I'm allowed to comment to help it along too.

I won't tell you the title of the song, but I'm going to start off with an easy one that everyone should know.

Here we go!!!

A long, long time ago, I can still remember how that music used to make me smile

Vancouver

2006-04-20T23:40:00.000-06:00

So, if you read Randomization, you've heard that I'm going to Vancouver in May. I'm sooooooo excited!!! I've never been further west than, oh, I don't know...Calgary or Edmonton...whichever is further west. And I have NEVER flown before. It's going to be an exciting trip, even though it is so quick.

I'm REALLY nervous about flying though. I'm scared of heights and even thinking about being that high up freaks the hell out of me. I've been getting advice from people:

Sit by the window to look out
Don't sit by the window if you're scared of heights - get an aisle seat
Sit at the front - it's more stable and the tail of the plane sways in the air
Don't bring a gun with you

Any other advice for a first-time flyer??????

Surprise

2006-04-17T21:21:00.000-06:00

That's what I felt when I read on Pilot's World about the disappointment in Harper's government. I've really been extremely impressed with Stephen Harper and his government. I think he is turning into a much better PM than I could ever have imagined. Now, I feel a lot of this has to do with his team of advisors, who I know to be shrewd political elites. However, I really think Harper himself is doing a great job. He's carrying himself well and is showing the international world how strong Canada is. His conservative government is really working very hard to achieve the Big 5 platform issues they ran on.

In terms of Kyoto, that thing's a piece of shit. There's a reason the US government didn't sign on and it's the reason we never should have signed on. We need goals that are attainable, and Kyoto is not that. Governments need to make their own regulations that cater to their specific issues. So, if we back out of the Kyoto Accord, I think it's a good thing.

On another related note, I am very glad that I didn't play "guess our tuition bill" with Finance Minister Andrew Thompson. The NDP government just put out their budget and it is AWESOME. There's only one major issue that I feel should have been addressed, and it can wait one more year. What Thompson and the NDP did do this year was cut the CCT in the exact same pattern as my government policy class proposed, as well as dropped the Corporate Income Tax Rate. It's high time this happened and it really puts a lot more confidence in my provincial government.

And while I'm on controversial, political issues, let's talk about the farmers. They want more money to save the family farms and subsidization. Well, I'm sorry, but I'm not subsidizing you forever. The "family farm" is a dying thing and it should NOT be revived. Grant Devine tried that and bankrupted the province!! The fact is, corporate farms are the wave of the future and that's where our funds should be directed. If you still want to farm, go do it for one of these guys. Sorry, but the price of wheat is never coming back up to the point of saving the little guys and I'm not wasting my money propping them up.

Bubbles

2006-04-16T21:32:00.000-06:00

Now that I'm grown up, I sometimes think that when I put bubble bath in my bath water, there's never as many bubbles as there were when I was little. But tonight I had a bubble bath and there were lots of bubbles! So, I'm happy. Now only if my bathtub was more than a foot wide.

I Quit!

2006-04-12T12:19:00.000-06:00

Yes, I walked into Subway this morning and gave my notice. I have definitely calmed down since my shitty day a week ago, and decided to give them 2 1/2 weeks notice. Partially because I just want that extra bit of cash. But yes, my last day there will be April 30, which is awesome! I'm really happy with my decision to quit and think it will only be good for me.

As for that last question, it is not a 2-mark question. You have to get both answers correct to get your mark. Therefore, if you answered just one and would like to take a stab at the second, I will allow that.

Just so you know, comment moderation is still on to allow for more people to answer the Jedi question, as I know some people haven't had a chance. So, go ahead and comment on this post or any other and when I see it in the moderation screen, I'll post it.

Oh, and you're all insane. Beaker is the cutest. Gonzo is ugly. Beaker is cute. Cuter than anything. Just look at this face!!!

Who's the Most Jedi?? Part 5

2006-04-11T20:23:00.000-06:00

What is this character's name and what species is it?

It's Official

2006-04-10T22:53:00.000-06:00

Beaker is hands down the cutest muppet there is.