I was just demonstrating to my little bro the miracle of widgets. In response he said (in his deep man voice), "Apple is forging boldly into the future." The little boy's got vision.
This morning I found a postcard from my aunt and uncle who are off on a worldy excursion. This postcard came from Paris (although it didn't have any postage so I'm curious as to how it arrived at my house). I was looking through the Lonely Guide (Europe on a Shoestring) that my chum picked up the book store the other day, and I've spent the morning thinking about all the marvelous sights that I would like to see in the world. I know that once I finish my degree I need to go on a trip. It's a necessity.
This morning I found a postcard from my aunt and uncle who are off on a worldy excursion. This postcard came from Paris (although it didn't have any postage so I'm curious as to how it arrived at my house). I was looking through the Lonely Guide (Europe on a Shoestring) that my chum picked up the book store the other day, and I've spent the morning thinking about all the marvelous sights that I would like to see in the world. I know that once I finish my degree I need to go on a trip. It's a necessity.
I've been orienting myself to the little white beast... The poor machine has received a few scuffs in its time and when it gets going the harddrive chugs along like the little engine that could. The screen can in no way compare to the blazing beauty of d'ell (or silver bullet if you prefer, that's what the name it came with), but the screen isn't that terrible for when I'm just browsing the internet with my laptop curled up on my lap like a gentle purring kitten. It's good to have this little trial period with another laptop. It gives me the opportunity to adjust to the loss of 1920x1200 resolution. I'm trying to decide when I eventually replace my other laptop if I'm going to go with a 12inch or a 15inch powerbook. The debate never ends in my mind. I'm always thinking about spending money that I don't have.
I feel like a real geek today, I'm here in my room with two laptops on my bed, one with a beautiful screen, the other with a beautiful operating system. But that's not why I feel like such a geek. I spent a couple hours today solving some internet issues at my house. During the spring cleaning purge some information was misplaced... some valuable information that say perhaps told us what digits were required to access wireless internet at my house. Seeing that I am now posting to my blog from my dashboard widget (really very cool, I'm very happy to get the chance to broaden my computer use horizons) using the wireless connection, one might say that the problem has been solved. Hurrah for me!
while I watch Catherine Zeta Jones' musical number on PVR I just thought I'd post a little something from the little present that was brought home for me today. Yes, that's right, I'm posting from a dashboard widget on my little white beast, my almost new ibook that I'll be using for work. W. is helping with my indoctrination into the world of apple.
My replacement keyboard arrived today. The entire story of why I needed a replacement keyboard in the first place is long and painful to tell (synopsis, cats are evil), as is the story of why I hadn't replaced it earlier (synposis, I was blinded by rage and my research was faulty)... but I now have a fully functional keyboard that enables me to once again use the enter key. I am simply jumping for joy. The enter key is a horrible key to lose functionality of.
In other news, if you're looking for Christmas present ideas here's one.
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood.
I'd prefer paperback, but it isn't released until March 2006.
In other news, if you're looking for Christmas present ideas here's one.
The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood.
I'd prefer paperback, but it isn't released until March 2006.
I found this meme on one of my blogs... thought I'd give it a bit of a whirl.
Leave your first memory of you and me together. It doesn’t matter if I know you a little or a lot, anything you remember! Next, post this in your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.
I'm quickly dozing off here but I thought I'd share with the world a couple of the things (stats mostly about blogs and such) that I discovered tonight.
From Feedburner:
Bloglines 3
NetNewsWire 3
A Java-based feed reader 1
FeedFetcher -Google 1
My Yahoo 1
Yahoo-Blogs 1
From Bloglines:
anyhow, that's my bit of useless information for the night. It was just nice to know that I have my blog and photostream have a little bit of an audience. It almost makes me forget the horrendous cough I have that rattles my bones.
bon nuit.
From Feedburner:
Bloglines 3
NetNewsWire 3
A Java-based feed reader 1
FeedFetcher -Google 1
My Yahoo 1
Yahoo-Blogs 1
From Bloglines:
- I have five people who subscribe to my flickr photostream within blogger (five people subscribe to w.'s photostream within bloglines, two for my sisters a. & f., ).
- and I knew about the 3 subscriptions within bloglines for my blog already through feedburner (w. also has three, my sister a. two)
anyhow, that's my bit of useless information for the night. It was just nice to know that I have my blog and photostream have a little bit of an audience. It almost makes me forget the horrendous cough I have that rattles my bones.
bon nuit.
One kind word can warm three winter months.
Japanese proverb
Japanese proverb
I have had a hideous cough for several days now. What was a minor nuissance in the beginning has rancidified into something quite unpleasant. It wakes me from my deepest sleep and disrupts the zen atmosphere of my family home.
In other news I returned to work today. As a general rule I tend to dislike "work" but I am very fond of my current job so I was very excited to return. I do wish that I only had to concentrate on work, rather than this filthy combination of school and work... but I have to be content with my current situation. My relative good humour must be on account of the newness of my job and the recent photo excursion to the lake. Taking photos, even ones with seemingly no point or purpose, brings a lot of joy to my life. And so do your kind words that I expect to continually flow in, warming the depths of my heart and the upcoming cold winter months.
In other news I returned to work today. As a general rule I tend to dislike "work" but I am very fond of my current job so I was very excited to return. I do wish that I only had to concentrate on work, rather than this filthy combination of school and work... but I have to be content with my current situation. My relative good humour must be on account of the newness of my job and the recent photo excursion to the lake. Taking photos, even ones with seemingly no point or purpose, brings a lot of joy to my life. And so do your kind words that I expect to continually flow in, warming the depths of my heart and the upcoming cold winter months.
while I wait for some things to finish downloading I just thought I'd mention how today I met a man who is building a castle in his yard. It was interesting to say the least. I didn't take any pictures because it was raining and I wasn't brave enough to take out my camera (but probably a more accurate reason was that it was cold out and I just didn't feel like it). In other news I also played cards tonight, something which is a rare occurrence in my world. Shockingly it was actually enjoyable, but due more to the company than anything else. I have/had a great aversion to cards because it was what the phc (prostie-hypo-christian: a new term I'm going to popularize) loser ex fam & friends used to want to do all the time. But I didn't enjoy their company and I think that's what really made my general lack of interest in cards turn into something a bit more violent. My indulgence tonight has in no way turned me into a card shark due mostly to my continued aversion for mental math. My indulgence tonight has also not rekindled my desire to sharpen my mathematical skills because being a little dumb sometimes helps to soften the blow of repeated loss (another reason why cards have never been in my repetoire, I am a poor poor player). Anyhow, all of my files have finished downloading so I'll conclude with these gems
Good night all (oh, and if you're looking for a good tv series, check out Weeds with Mary Louise Parker, it's fabulous).
- If you believe in yourself and you are passionate you can accomplish almost anything, including building your own castle.
- Peer pressure can make us do many things including playing cards
Good night all (oh, and if you're looking for a good tv series, check out Weeds with Mary Louise Parker, it's fabulous).
what is exciting in my world? well, I am happy to report that one of my photos made the interestingness stream on flickr. The stream features different photos each time the page reloads so I had to go and search out the photo after someone left a comment to tell me about it being deemed interesting (what that means I don't really know), and I found it here. It might not be so exciting for you all, but it was damn good news to me. Very nearly made my day.
I was reminded that sometimes I am a bit much sometimes. I burden others too much, but I know why I do it. Here's my explanation, my justification if you will.
Go in for a closer look here, the description on the photo is exactly the same as the text below.
call me verbose, it won't hurt me. Well maybe it might, because my need to expel information is my greatest weakness and I know it. I am far to reliant on others to help me bear the burden of my excess thoughts and observations. This isn't a recent discovery of mine... I've always been conscious on my need to deal with things through words.
Here, pulled from the archives, is an early example of how I dealt with my emotions through words. Many thanks to my darling mama who was wise enough to save this gem from my past.
One evening in May of 1989 there was an electrical storm in the little town of Fort St. John. I was six at the time, a bright young thing in grade one. Anyways, I remember being terrified of the lightning and thunder. But I needed to do something with my fear, so I sat at the dining room table and wrote out this charming public service announcement about the dangers of lightning. Now I was a little generic about how lightning could damage a person, but I obviously I felt threatened by it enough to warn others of their impending trial by lightning and thunder. I remember writing away furiously, shaking with each thunder clap, but feeling a little more powerful after reassuring myself that I knew how to stay safe during an electrical storm. I do the same thing nowadays... I talk or write myself through a situation that I'm afraid of or is bothering me. It can be a bit trying on those around me, but I hope they understand that I need to do it in order to keep sane.
It's so amusing to look back and read this little story written by my six year old self. I survived being afraid by channeling my fear into words, badly spelled words but I was only six and damage sounds like damej doesn't it?
Go in for a closer look here, the description on the photo is exactly the same as the text below.
call me verbose, it won't hurt me. Well maybe it might, because my need to expel information is my greatest weakness and I know it. I am far to reliant on others to help me bear the burden of my excess thoughts and observations. This isn't a recent discovery of mine... I've always been conscious on my need to deal with things through words.
Here, pulled from the archives, is an early example of how I dealt with my emotions through words. Many thanks to my darling mama who was wise enough to save this gem from my past.
One evening in May of 1989 there was an electrical storm in the little town of Fort St. John. I was six at the time, a bright young thing in grade one. Anyways, I remember being terrified of the lightning and thunder. But I needed to do something with my fear, so I sat at the dining room table and wrote out this charming public service announcement about the dangers of lightning. Now I was a little generic about how lightning could damage a person, but I obviously I felt threatened by it enough to warn others of their impending trial by lightning and thunder. I remember writing away furiously, shaking with each thunder clap, but feeling a little more powerful after reassuring myself that I knew how to stay safe during an electrical storm. I do the same thing nowadays... I talk or write myself through a situation that I'm afraid of or is bothering me. It can be a bit trying on those around me, but I hope they understand that I need to do it in order to keep sane.
It's so amusing to look back and read this little story written by my six year old self. I survived being afraid by channeling my fear into words, badly spelled words but I was only six and damage sounds like damej doesn't it?
hmmm... a few things to report on.
On the strike front, the BCTF's assets were frozen, which apparently means that they can't pay strike pay... but I haven't heard any news yet that the teachers are returning to work.
On the photography front, I took photos of my two brothers at the park across from my brother's house. The weather was very cooperative, it was sunny but still slightly chilly thanks to the brisk breeze that does not seem to go away. I'm pleased with the photos, I did a few edits to some of the shots I liked the best and posted them to a new photoset on flickr.
as far as the broken social scene is concerned (love that band name, it's brilliant), tonight I went to see this band from Kitchener and Waterloo area called The Miniatures. I liked them, I can't quite say that any of their songs were particularly memorable (I really only remember a Police cover that they performed), but it wasn't really a concert venue. First off, the pub/restaurant where they were performing was nearly empty... the stage has no stage lighting... the stage is tiny and barely fit the two performers... and people try to carry on conversations while the musicians are performing, which means that you are yelling at each other over the music. It's quite ridiculous actually. I liked to screw with people's minds and just mouth sentences at them because even if I were to yell they couldn't hear me.
so that's the story of my life until now. Enjoy and make sure to visit flickr and leave some choice words on some choice photos.
On the strike front, the BCTF's assets were frozen, which apparently means that they can't pay strike pay... but I haven't heard any news yet that the teachers are returning to work.
On the photography front, I took photos of my two brothers at the park across from my brother's house. The weather was very cooperative, it was sunny but still slightly chilly thanks to the brisk breeze that does not seem to go away. I'm pleased with the photos, I did a few edits to some of the shots I liked the best and posted them to a new photoset on flickr.
as far as the broken social scene is concerned (love that band name, it's brilliant), tonight I went to see this band from Kitchener and Waterloo area called The Miniatures. I liked them, I can't quite say that any of their songs were particularly memorable (I really only remember a Police cover that they performed), but it wasn't really a concert venue. First off, the pub/restaurant where they were performing was nearly empty... the stage has no stage lighting... the stage is tiny and barely fit the two performers... and people try to carry on conversations while the musicians are performing, which means that you are yelling at each other over the music. It's quite ridiculous actually. I liked to screw with people's minds and just mouth sentences at them because even if I were to yell they couldn't hear me.
so that's the story of my life until now. Enjoy and make sure to visit flickr and leave some choice words on some choice photos.
I have been trying out Google Reader recently, comparing it to Bloglines. Both are web based rss readers, which I like because both are free and when I was spending a lot of time switching from computer to computer at school, I always had access to my feeds. It's interesting to see the threat that Google Reader posed on bloglines, because following suit with google they have finally introduced keyboard shortcuts into Bloglines. Bloglines is nice because it pairs all related feeds together in a combined list view and you can navigate between individual articles in a list, but it doesn't update it's feeds nearly enough. Google does not have a combined view, but it updates feeds much quicker than bloglines. For the meantime I'm running both... which is easy enough to do thanks to the new keyboard shortcuts... and I'm watching to see how both Bloglines and Google Reader continue to compete.
I'm such a geek...
I'm such a geek...
I never chronicled my abba mania experience. I guess I forgot to, but I experiencing some minor fatigue earlier this evening I seem to have received a second wind so I will share a condensed version of my abba experience.
On Friday W. and I attended Abba Mania. It was a funny experience, I fit into the middle age demographic as the majority of "concert" attendees were either in their late 40s or older or below the age of 10. I sat next to an elderly gentleman and I thought it interesting how he was able to enjoy the abba experience as much as his two granddaughters who were rocking out to the more popular ABBA songs (such as those included on the ABBA gold cd). A couple of things ruined the "experience" for me however. First: the unprofessional carnie manager who for some reason didn't realize that he could go directly into the booth and didn't need to shout to the lighting technician through the window. Second: the lacklustre stage setup. The band was set up to close to the performers and seemed to be crowding them. I've had to perform complex group choreography numbers on that stage, it's not that small. Third (and most significant): the horrible lighting. The lighting technician must have had some kind of shaking disorder because he couldn't keep the spotlight still, the performers were lit horribly , and all of the lighting effects were straight out of a cheeseball catalogue.
I wasn't expecting a quality performance... but it was more horrible than expected. I'll cherish the memory forever.
the strike continues... unfortunately for all parties involved, for the longer the strike continues the situation for teachers seems to get worse. On Thursday the BCTF is expected back in court to receive the ruling of the fine for being found in contempt of court. It's a nasty situation... it really seems like there is no solution except to stop voting for parties who have leaders who lie. But we never seem to learn from our mistakes, how else could you explain how the Liberals were voted back in?
I'm helping out on the picket lines tomorrow, to hand out leaflets about my union's position of support for the BCTF. There is a lot of confusion surrounding the strike right now... I'm glad that the union is trying to alleviate some of the confusion. It gives me something to do in the morning anyhow. I'll feel wanted.
I'm helping out on the picket lines tomorrow, to hand out leaflets about my union's position of support for the BCTF. There is a lot of confusion surrounding the strike right now... I'm glad that the union is trying to alleviate some of the confusion. It gives me something to do in the morning anyhow. I'll feel wanted.
There are reasons to avoid movies that have romantic story lines. Mainly, they are depressing when you live and work in a place with seemingly no romantic prospects. I should just stick to gritty dramas that make me feel good about my life.
One thing I have to feel good about, one of my flickr contacts wrote me a testimonial. Another thing to feel good about, I am feeling more positive about having to be in town for a little while longer. The teachers are on strike so that has put my job on hold for a little bit, but I am hoping that a resolution can be reached soon that will be of benefit to the teachers (although I am a little doubtful of that right now) and we can all return to work. I really enjoy the new school where I've been working, and I might get to do some work with blogging and computers. It's all very exciting. It's nice to have a purpose.
On another positive note, W. and I ran into our model from several weeks back and I am happy to report that she was extremely pleased with all the edits we did for her, and she gave us some fabulous feedback. I've been editing photos like crazy from the last portrait session that I did with W., M. and A. (some examples seen above) and posting them to flickr.
in conclusion... despite the strike and the lack of romantic prospects things are good. Which is much more positive news than what I usually write about on my blog. Cisca the good news was for you.
In the age of dvd and special features I usually like to watch the trailer for the film I have just viewed just to compare how much the trailer might have given away about the plot, or how much the trailer misconstrued the plot. I find that the english trailers for foreign language films tend to present a very different story than the actual film. One such example is for the film Jet Lag, with Juliette Binoche and Jean Reno. It's a mildly amusing French romantic comedy, but not in the typical vein of the romantic fluff usually produced in North America. You really have to see the film in order to understand how the trailer completely misrepresents the story... it's quite ridiculous actually... Watch the trailer here. I was reminded about this phenomena of trailer misrepresentation a couple of days ago, when I came across a link about a contest winning [see trailer park] redux of The Shining trailer. The contest, Trailer Park (and I'm paraphrasing here) "is an editorial competition for AICE (Association of Indepent Creative Editors) assistant editors... their assisgment was to create a creative, compelling trailer from an existing feature film."
Here are links to a couple of the contest entries that people have come across online. They're all quite funny and worth the watch. I really admire the creativity and talent of some of these entries.
Here are links to a couple of the contest entries that people have come across online. They're all quite funny and worth the watch. I really admire the creativity and talent of some of these entries.
- The Shining (now a comedy... this one won)
- West Side Story (now a horror film a la 28 days later)
- Titanic (a horror)
- The Parent Trap (a lesbian coming of age story... this one came in 2nd place. To see it, go to Moondog, click on Paul Lacalandra’s name, and click on the image with “ordinary girls” written on it. )
heh... I came across this flash game where you can play a memory card game using tags from flickr. There's nothing really spectacular about it, but it's fun to play using tags that are unique to your photostream. Or you can search generic tags... but isn't it more fun to play a matching game of your own face?
On the eve of stage II of job action I'm pleased to announce that I now have more hours to work. Starting tomorrow I will be working as an Educational Assistant II. I'm absolutely thrilled. The hours work perfectly with my schedule... as I will have afternoons and evenings free for school, and I will be working 20 hours a week... which will allow me to pay for the remainder of my tuition and perhaps save a little more money for much needed camera and computer equipment (and yes, paying back the rest of my debtors who refuse to take my offers of an organ in lieu of cash). I will get to work with kids in Language Arts (spelling, grammar, and reading proficiency) and Mathematics. I will also get to work a little with computers as the kids are part of the Wireless Writing Program. Hurray, hurrah, I'm happy.
What a nice way to balance out my earlier bout of melancholy. It feels good to have more purpose.
ps. Season 3 of Arrested Development is absolutely stellar. I insist that people watch it, whatever way they can. Season 2 comes out on DVD on October 11th, make sure that you rent it with Season 1 so you can understand the story and appreciate the absolute brilliance of the writing. It has to be my favourite show on tv, and if we don't offer our support it might disappear. Also good to watch, Extras with Ricky Gervais (who apparently is going to be on Arrested Development this season). And that concludes my conspicious pop culture consumption suggestions for the afternoon.
What a nice way to balance out my earlier bout of melancholy. It feels good to have more purpose.
ps. Season 3 of Arrested Development is absolutely stellar. I insist that people watch it, whatever way they can. Season 2 comes out on DVD on October 11th, make sure that you rent it with Season 1 so you can understand the story and appreciate the absolute brilliance of the writing. It has to be my favourite show on tv, and if we don't offer our support it might disappear. Also good to watch, Extras with Ricky Gervais (who apparently is going to be on Arrested Development this season). And that concludes my conspicious pop culture consumption suggestions for the afternoon.
it's 6:18am and I can't sleep. I'm not usually up at this hour but thanks to my ridiculous tendencies to feel to deeply I'm agitated and unable to sleep. My eyes hurt, my head hurts, and my body is tired. In short, I feel like super junk.
and it seems that not even the cheesy tunes of the BeeGees help.
and it seems that not even the cheesy tunes of the BeeGees help.
