Wisdom

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
You’re out on your own, and you know what you know.
You are the one who’ll decide where to go.

This one life is yours. It is yours to be had.
You must find your way through the good and the bad.
So you see, you must see it through to the end.
Cause no one can know what is just 'round the bend.


Haven't written any creative type stuff in some time, so I thought I'd try my hand at something again, and here is what I came up with.

Until next time...

Semester One Recap

Well, as my first semester at UOIT draws to a close, I have learned a few very important lessons.

The first and most important thing that I have learned, is that you have to... HAVE TO take notes, regardless of whether or not the lecture notes are posted online. Writing down the stuff you are learning, allows you to learn it, rather than to be screwed when you are sitting in a midterm and realize that you are doomed.

The second thing is that you need to get sleep. This is also very important, as without sleep you are never going to be able to focus, as well as eating right. If you don't eat right, again you will not be able to concentrate on anything but the pain in your stomach.

Finally, the last lesson is to eat your meals at home if at all possible, meals at the university are really expensive, and add up quick. They drain your cash faster than you may think, and should be avoided if you are able to.

There is so much more that I could go on to say, but I do not see the point of turning this into one of my rants. So I shall close with this, Eat right, get some sleep, turn on some music and STUDY!

Until next time...

The World is Making Less Sense than Usual Today

Hello, faithful bloggers and blog readers, today I will be referencing something that would appear to have no sense whatsoever.

Now, I have never claimed that the world is a rational, logical, or sane place to reside, but usually there will be some sort of cosmic explanation behind the weird crap that is thrown in our collective way. I will point out now, that I have been known to engage in some highly random behaviour, which includes searching for some highly random stuff.

Due to its nature, I love Wikipedia, highly editable, easy to learn its format, and for the most part, credible. Today however I take issue with its search function. I am currently using Mozilla Firefox, just because of its search function and tabbed browsing, as well as its heightened security, and I typed into the search bar at the top of my page "The ironing is delicious".

This was a reference to a conversation my friend and I were having at the time, and mostly done randomly. I wondered if it would pull up something on the Simpsons, or possibly an entire topic, possibly devoted to some sort of internet meme.

It pulled up as its first link, Marshmallow Alpha-Bits.

...

Yeah. At this point, I'm imagining that all of you have either seen that, and done the search yourself, or have just sat there thinking 'What the hell?'. Trust me, the feeling is mutual. It makes no sense whatsoever.

Just in case you are in doubt, here is a link for you all. What the hell is Wikipedia thinking?

Well there you go, if that is not proof that the world gets stranger by the day, I'm not sure what is.

Until next time...

Happy Hallowe'en

It is that time of year again, time for candy and costumes, ghouls and goblins, witches and warlocks, and of course more candy.

I'm just not feeling it this year...

I mean don't get me wrong, I'm gonna celebrate it all of course from my doorstep handing out the treats, but to be perfectly honest, it just isn't feeling like Hallowe'en this year. I suppose it may have something to do with the fact that I am a little too young to go to Hallowe'en parties, but way too old to go trick or treating. It is a really sucky age range.

Next year I can do a little drinking.

In any case, Happy Hallowe'en all, and to those celebrating Samhain... Blessings of this sacred night be upon you and yours... and may the memory of those who lie beyond the veil fill your heart with gentle joy.

Until next time...

One Year Anniversary

Wow... Just wow...

I was looking at my front page and I realized, I have hit the year marker. It was last week on the twenty-fourth.

I have written some poems, a short story, some guides on how to do things, and I don't know how many rants over this past year, and I look back at it all, and I must say, while I have said some things I may not agree with now, I am proud of it.

So what is in the future?

Lots of stuff. I am currently writing "1001 Ways to be an Asshole", and if all goes well, I'll get to 1001 someday, I'm currently in the early 100's. Also up, are some thoughts on university, and the craziness of the system, though to be honest, I am impressed so far. Finally, maybe if you guys are lucky, you will see some more creative work.

So keep watching guys, there is more to be had.

Until next time...

Live From the Principal Awards

I am currently sitting, watching the so-called 'Principal Awards' at the elementary school that I currently volunteer at.

This is a joke.

I am not asking for the school to live up to an adult's standard of what consitutes something worth rewarding, but how about a logical estimation for a child's standard. These are not achievements for the most part, and certainly not something worth calling a school assembly for.

An actual award given... "For writing in her agenda real fast". That was how they said it too, real fast. Not really fast, or very quickly. Real fast.

Oh look my brother's friend is going up and is receiving an award for "reviewing his math test and learning from his mistakes." Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't that the point of school? Should an award not be given for somethign exceptional?

We are celebrating, not only mediocrity, but in fact, failure. There is a word for that... asinine.

Certificates celebrating making mistakes and learning from them, getting organized and making friends, MAYBE deserve a classroom award. To call an entire school assembly, seems wasteful to me.

Why are we celebrating achievements such as these, celebrating improved math skills at a time like this anyways. The class I was with, was in their math class when we got called down. It just seems ironic to me.

I guess it may be me, but I find this to be a little over the top. Why can the teacher not take a second out of their class, take the child of to the side and say something like "You have been doing a really good job lately, and I have noticed it. Keep up the good work."?

It seems to me, that it would feel more heartfelt, and a lot less patronizing.

Yet it all keeps going.

Until next time...

Welcome

A hearty hello as I report live from the world of Linux. Let me say this to you all... This operating system is horrible!

I hope that none of my computers ever have to have this on it again. I am currently running Linux from a program installed on my computer known as Fedora. This allows me to keep my sanity by keeping Windows, and not having to rely on Linux.

For those of you that do not know, Linux is an open source operating system. This means that you are able to program how your computer runs yourself. Sure this may sound good, but unless you are a programmer, you would be surprised at how very aggravating this can be. Imagine being able to disassemble your car. You would have your car's body, it's engine, disassembled out in front of the car. The battery, the cylinders, carburetor all lying out on your driveway.

This would look cool, I'm sure. Any person can take apart an engine, with the proper tools. This is what Linux is. This is also where you need a mechanic to put it all back together again. If one is lucky, or has an idea of what they are doing, they could get it back to how it was, but there is a potential to screw up, and you will have a difficult time doing so. You really need a mechanic to put it back together correctly.

You see though, it is not the idea of Linux to just take it apart and put it together unchanged... The idea is to improve upon it, and for that, you need to understand exactly how to use Linux's programming language.

Sure, Linux is more reliable, more stable, and free in most cases, but do you honestly feel like going through and design this thing to your own specifications? I think it would be prohibitively difficult.

Or not, and I'm just being lazy... One or the other, methinks.

Until next time...

Biology Lecture

Hello, I am now reporting from my biology lecture at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, located... in a giant tent.

They call it the university pavillion or UP1500 as it seems to be better known. Before class, I thought it was a portable-like structure just north of the library. I was annoyed enough about having to attend class in a portable, but this is simply ridiculous.

The tent I am currently sitting in looks from the outside like a giant igloo. From the inside, it is a concrete floor, with a small stage at the front for the professor. Above is a mess of metal beams, lights and an air conditioning system.

I would like to point out that this is completely unfair, as we are all paying a ridiculous amount of money. The university should build additional lecture halls, rather than spending our money laying down additional sod. There is an excellent spot just north of the UB building, where a permanent lecture building could be built, and this is just one solution.

My point is that it is ridiculous to stick students who are paying tens of thousands of dollars to go to school, in a tent outside. It is wrong, and it is robbing us of our right to proper resources, as we have paid for

This has been Robert Clark, reporting live, from UP1500.

Until next time...

Parking Hell

Well I had a hell of a day…

I am of the opinion that if you paid several hundred dollars for a parking pass that there should be parking spots available. Sadly this is not the case and I am forced to put up with the crap of the University of Ontario Institute of technology. For some asinine reason they have seen it fit to make parking free for the first week and in the meantime make the drivers who have paid good money to pay for their spots in advance, scrounge for parking spots while those who are lazy or procrastinate get their spots for free, ahead of those who have paid.

Now I can understand that the university cannot be responsible for me being able to find a parking spot every day, but the university should at least make sure that those were not paying, should not be getting parking spots. I had to look for a half hour in order to find a parking spot across the road next to the athletic center rather than right next to the university buildings as I paid for.

This is wrong. This is quite simply in my opinion breach of a contract. I paid over four hundred dollars in order to guarantee me a parking pass. Therefore every single student at the university should have to pay the exact amount.

It’s patently ridiculous. It really is…

On another note, this is my first post dictated using speech recognition software. It works!

Until next time...

Class the First

Well, my faithful readers, I now sit waiting for it all to begin. I have attended my orientation, I have my laptop, and I am now just waiting for my chemistry professor to open the door to my first class, so that I may start my learning. Wait, people are lining up, I shall return shortly. The doors have been opened!

...

Well, I return now, connected in the midst of all my classmates. Someone is setting up at the front, and is lowering a screen, so I assume that this is the professor of who we have all come to listen to, so I shall leave you all at this point. Enjoy all of your days, I hope I shall find this to be some sort of enriching experience. At the price we are all paying to be here, it damned well better be.

Until next time...

University has Come at Last

Well, my faithful readers, university is finally upon me. After years of waiting, nearly six months of erratic posting, and many, many weeks of anticipation, my post-secondary education experience is finally about to begin.

For those of you that do not already know, I will be attending the University of Ontario Institute of Technology this coming fall. I will be going there for their honours science program with concurrent education. I will be majoring in physics, and minoring in math. At the end of my five years in university, I will have a bachelor of education and an honours bachelor of science. I will be a high school teacher.

Preparations have begun to allow me to be ready for this experience. The university has issued me a laptop for the year, which I type upon now. It has come preloaded with all the programs that I will need for the year. In the next few days, I will begin my back-to-school shopping. Everything is shaping up for a great first year of university.

My course load is heavy, but it will all be worth it in the end.

Until next time...

Damn!

Damn, I did not win the forty-two million dollars! What insolent freak took my money? Give it back! I know what you did, you took my ticket, which was clearly the winner, and switched it with your own. I don't know how you did it, but I'm sure you did.

That's call theft buddy, and of forty-two million dollars. Give it back, or I will find you. I do not know how I will, but I will track you down, and I will find you, no matter what it takes.

I frankly think that it was someone at the service desk, or perhaps an inside job from the OLGC. I vow that I will not rest, until I either have my forty-two million dollars, or at least enough money to pay for my university tuition.

Again I say... DAMN!

Until next time...

Telemarketers

It's official, people are just not getting it. The other day, as I was sitting at home with my brothers, I was phoned by MasterCard. Allow me to explain to you the details of my telephone conversation with MasterCard.

As I said, I was called and asked if I would be interested in a MasterCard. I made a decision right there to be polite to this person, just to see if it would work on a telemarketer. I responded to this by saying "No, thank-you, I am happy with my Visa, and I do not want another card."

You would think that this would have let him know that I didn't really want the card, but no... He persisted.

"But have you heard about our new low interest rate?" Okay I thought, he thinks I'm just a tough sell, I can respect that. So I told him again that I did not want a MasterCard, and explained to him that I like my Visa because it is compatible with my bank, and that MasterCard is not.

So I continued to be polite, thinking that if I explained why I was happy with my Visa, he would back off.

Wrong.

"Oh, but our new low interest rate is only..." I interrupted him politely here, "Alright" I said. "I'm going to explain to you why that is no good for me." I proceeded to explain to him that I do not allow myself to be charged that interest, as I pay my credit card off online as soon as I can. I told him that I would actually be a bad cardholder for them as I would just cost them money.

Now. You would think that any reasonable person would stop now, but no, he continued. It was only my call waiting that allowed me to politely hang up on him.

This experience proved two things to me. One, that you can not be polite to telemarketers and expect results, and two, that there are more idiots in the world than natural selection should really be allowing.

Until next time...

Journey to the Centre of the Computer

It was a mistake that lead me to the centre of the computer, let me tell you my story... It all started when I offered to help my youngest brother in his trials with his music. I was to supplement his collection... It was then that I realized that it would not be as simple as I would have hoped.

It was a perilous trek, there were many wires to pull out carefully. It took much time to safely remove them to delve deeper into the realm of the digital. Once these were dealt with, it was simply a matter of moving the box to a safer location.

Now, in what may have been the most labour intensive part of the job, we removed the side panel from the box. This took careful turning of the keystone in order to access the inside of the digital fortress. After an ingenious solution pulled from my brother's trusty leather pocket pack, we were in.

As we slid of the metal coverstone, we were in awe at what we saw. It was like a different world. I cannot even begin to describe the wonders of what I saw, wires of all sorts leading everywhere. It was breathtaking. After several minutes of searching we found what we were looking for, and after a small faltering, we were on our way to fixing the problem.

We traced the problem back to its source, reinserting the wires where they should lead. It was at this that we slid the coverstone back into place, sealing it once more. We reconnected the wires and slid the box back into place, now working.

I am happy to inform you all that my brother now has the music he needed, and now he will have no future problems.

Until next time...

Boredom

Well faithful blog readers, while my life does seem to be a hotbed of activity lately, I just cant seem to get in the writing mood about it, so I shall write about the time I have been spending sitting in front of my computer screen.

As you may or may not know, I have recently all but stopped playing Puzzle Pirates. I have also broken out of my shell, something I have been trying to do for years. I have basically done all that I have set out to do.

Now the problem is that I have nothing to do on my computer other than chat with people, listen to music and play trivia on Afternet. What is a guy to do?

So, I now open it to you my readers. Post me the links to your blogs, your livejournals and your Spaces, be they yours or MSN's. I shall read to kill the boredom.

Until next time...

Workspace

I hath reclaimed my workspace. I have cleared out the crap from my dresser and have made room on my dresser for the game set my parents bought me for my birthday. Now I have room on my desk for space not only to work, but to write as well.

At long last, my desk is clean. I have been meaning to do this for months.

Huzzah, my creative spirit is free to flow freely onto the page.

Until next time...

Everything's Changing

Things are changing here. Things are going amazing.

I have new music to up my moods. This really helps when just sitting here at my computer.

I have a G2, so I can drive myself about.

Most importantly, I have been going out with my friends much more in the past three weeks.

As I said, things are going amazingly. Just thought I would let you all know.

Until next time...

LT3M

Well, I have never actually included an image on this blog, but I thought that this website deserved it. As I type I am listening to the electronic style of LT3M. It is an internet radio station that delves heavily into electronic music, one of my favourites being trance.

LT3M is short for less than three music, or <3 Music. I recently started listening to this station, and since then have grown to love the electronic style. I highly recommend it to all that read this.

In conclusion, I now like electronic music. It is amazing.

Until next time...

Leadership

Every group has a style of working... some of these group dynamics work well, and some do not. Many that fail, are those that lack a strong leadership. The single leader not working due to some reason, be that because they do not act, or because they act without asking the others, or for some other reason.

My question is this... Why is there a real need for a true single leader? Why is it that we cannot have a committee of equals, made up of the most qualified, that act for the rest of us. Canadian parliament works in a manner such as this, and if they were all independant, it would be exactly what I am talking about here. No one person having more power than anyone else... everyone's vote being worth the exact same.

I think the problem is that for all of this, it kind of goes back to Plato's idea of having a philosopher king, that would rule out of complete fairness and whose rule would be entirely devoted to making society better for the citizens. The problem there was that there were no philosopher kings available.

Well, we are still not in Kallipolis, so I do not know what to tell you on the large scale.

On the small scale, I suggest that maybe we can work together to make things better. If we all just stopped grabbing for power and looking out for ourselves, maybe we could see that there is a better solution for all if we just managed to agree.

Wow, I don't know where this came from...

Until next time...

Blogging Milestones

Something happened recently that is a true milestone for my blog. As of my most recent post about Trent University, I have hit one hundred posts.

In my last one hundred posts, I complained, I ranted and I generally got stuff off my chest. What lies in store for me in my next hundred posts? Only time will tell.

Until next time...

University of Ontario Institute of Technology

There is some news on the education front that I would like to share with you all. I have been accepted into the concurrent education program at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT). I will be majoring in physics and minoring in math.

I got accepted to teacher's college. I will be a high school math and science teacher. I had said I was going to go to Trent University, but now that I have been accepted to the concurrent program, I say forget them.

UOIT is perfect for me, other than the lack of social sciences. It is only fifteen minutes from my house, and I will still be staying on residence for my first year. The proximity will allow me to keep my job if I want, and the best part of all is that since I am doing both my bachelor of science and my bachelor of education at the same time, I will not have to apply to teacher's college when I graduate. I am already in.

All in all, this is going to be great.

Until next time...

Trent, Here I Come

I have accepted the offer of acceptance, I have applied for residence. I am as good as there.

It has been a few days since I posted, and this insanity with Trent and the Ontario University Application Centre (OUAC) has left me a little drained. That and I seem to have a cold.

It has been a fairly good last few days for me. I am Smart Serve certified, I've finished with university acceptances and such, and just generally I am feeling great.

Huzzah for everything.

Until next time...

Natural Light, it Burns...

I learned a very important lesson yesterday, the lesson having to do with the harshness of nature. The lesson was, wear some sunscreen when you will be outside for the better part of seven hours.

I now have first degree burns to my face, neck, hands and arms. To top this all off, I had to work with those burns last night, and I have to again in a few hours. I have taken an advil and used the sunburn first aid spray I bought and it still burns like hell. I do not know what I am going to do once those two things wear off.

Damn you, ultraviolet rays.

Until next time...

Stress

I am so stressed out lately... Between work and my co-op, I have not had a day off in weeks. The problem is that I am not just sitting down all day learning. I am actually doing work all day every day.

With university looming over the horizon as well, I have money woes to add on to my pile of stressors. What I need is a Saturday or a Sunday off, where I can just relax and get away from all the things in life that are stressing me out right now.

I think that what may do me some good is to go out with some friends. Maybe that would help relax me. Maybe just a coffee or something, or a night out. I have not had a night out with my friends in a good month and a half.

Anyways, I shall now bid you all farewell. Yours truly needs a bit of sleep, so that he might help children to learn tomorrow morning.

Until next time...

Expectations

Have you ever expected something to turn out a certain way, only to have your vision shattered when something unforseen occurs?

I think this is something we have all had to deal with at some point or another, and I think we all know by now that it can sometimes be hard to deal with, especially when you do not have a contingency plan. That is why it is always important to have a plan "B" in case something goes wrong.

What shocks me though, is when it is not unforseen events that change things, but the actions of those who you trust. That is when I have to take a step back and truly analyze the situation. If the people who I trust turn against me, and try to destroy what I have worked for, then how am I to continue as if nothing has happened.

What shocks me is when for no reason, I am shown hostility that I do not feel I deserve. When my job is made harder because stress and aggravation cause people to display an air of hostility that makes it harder to do what I am supposed to do.

It is annoying when my job is made harder by those who would harass me and deliberately make my job miserable. Who would create a hostile work environment. I do not deserve poor treatment just because of things I have no control over.

For those of you that read this and ask what in the world I am talking about, let me say this. It is not about any specific thing, but a large number of things that are going on in my life right now. I feel I am getting the short end of the stick, and quite frankly I am getting tired of it.

In conclusion, to the people I am talking about, and I believe you all know who you are. Leave me alone. Stop harassing me, it is just making all our lives harder than they need to be. Just back off.

Until next time...

Skype

So, this week I discovered something called Skype while reading Discover. For those of you who do not know, Skype is an internet telephone service. It uses the internet to place phone calls rather than using phone lines. As such, they do not charge to place phone calls between Skype users. It is completely free to download, and free to get started. The only time that you have to pay is when you call a non-Skype user.

See the thing is, that you can download it for any operating system, including certain kinds of PDAs. I suggest to everyone that you at least try it. It's free, and you can talk to anyone around the world for free.

It is very cool. Try it.

Until next time...

What I Want

What I want right now is very simple. I would like an environment where an argument that I have with my parents is not a one sided one. I would like to be afforded the consideration that you would give to an adult who is making a good point, and not to be told I am acting like a child.

It is very insulting.

I would like to not hear "I'm a terrible mother" come from my mother every time I make a point that in any way criticizes her. That is not a fair thing to be doing in an argument.

What I want is a level playing field... Right now it is tilted in favor of my parents.

If not that, I would at least like to see an argument run its course. I cannot see how interrupting it every few seconds helps the situation. It just ticks me off and throws off my train of thought. Then I start making points that are not as well thought out as they could be.

In conclusion, I want to be able to talk to people in general without there being a lot of fighting. I want to be able to have a calm rational discussion with my family. That is all I want.

Until next time...

Bursting my Bubble

Today at work I was serving a customer. The topic got around to being about university, and I casually mentioned that I would probably be looking for a new job once I went off to Trent. So I ring her through, I say have a nice day and I move on to the next customer.

A minute and a half later, the customer comes back to my till. She says to me, and I quote, "You are one of the nicest people I have ever met." She then goes on to tell me that the company she works for is hiring, and she gives me a slip of paper and says to call them.

The paper said No experience necessary, we will train, and it listed a number to call. I had planned on doing that, because in reality, I am currently in the process of looking for a new job.

Anyways, I get in the car about fifteen minutes later, my mother having come to pick me up from work. I tell her about what happened, and she takes a look at the slip of paper, and immediately determines that it must be a telemarketer. She goes on to take shots at telemarketers for the whole ride home. I continue to try to defend that she cant be sure that it is a telemarketing position, and I try to say that it would still be better than working where I am now.

Once I got home, I promptly crumpled it up and threw it out, feeling rather defeated. Then my mother starts yelling at me for the attitude I am now showing, like I am in the wrong. I had left work happy and in a great mood. Someone had paid me a compliment, I had a good day and someone seemed to want me to work for them. Apparently I am not supposed to feel good about that, and am supposed to be suspicious of anyone showing any interest in me as a potential employee.

I then had a guilt trip laid on me. I had words put in my mouth that I did not say, did not think, and do not believe. I had someone tell me that I think poorly of their abilities, which I did not think. All I said was that she did something mean, which I didn't appreciate. What really ticked me off though was that my feelings were made to seem invalid.I had just wanted to feel good.

Someone thought I would make a good employee. Sue me if I don't get a lot of compliments like that and took pride in this one....

Until next time...

Webcomic of the Week

Well, I'm back from my semi-hiatus, so I may revive this old relic... I may rename it in coming weeks, perhaps to something else. Maybe just a chance to see what I've been doing in the past week, or perhaps my personal book recommendation.

Regardless, this week my suggestion is that you all read TwoKinds. It is a good comic. It is almost midnight here and I woke up at 4 AM, so I am a bit too tired to explain it to you all. You can find the link here. I heartily recommend it to you all, for it is an excellent read, it is quite funny and it is at last off of its hiatus that it was on.

See, I'm not the only one that takes a break.

Until next time...

Comments Continued

I am getting my first non-spam comments from people I do not know. This means that my opinion is actually being heard by people. This is a great day for Muddled Mind, as it means that my opinion officially matters to others.

What is even better though, is that the commenter returned and made another comment. I subsequently visited their blog and realized that truly this person is not just out to spam.

I feel very good right now; my opinions, my beliefs and my daily complaints and ponderings are being heard, not just by members of my family, but by the whole world. Or at least one person with another blog.

In any case I feel good.

Until next time...

I Have Learned Something...

This Easter, I learned something very important. The lesson that I learned was simple... Do not go to sleep at 7:30 in the evening, when you have only been awake since about 10 in the morning. I woke up this morning at 3:45.

Now, since that is a full eight hours, I cannot get back to sleep. Now what am I supposed to do? It is 4:15 in the morning, there is nothing good on TV.

I will have to find some way to entertain myself for the next three or four hours while I wait for my family members to wake up... Damn.

Oh well... On a more positive note, I got Easter chocolate yesterday... Yep, a nice chocolate Bart Simpson. I love The Simpsons, I love chocolate. It was a great Easter after all...

Anyways, I will have to go put the chocolate in the fridge as it is losing its structural integrity, so a happy Easter Monday to all.

Until next time...

Weird Stuff

I'm fairly bored just sitting here, so I have an open question to anyone who cares to answer.

I have just been looking up at my bedroom ceiling and I was thinking... "What is up with the stucco?" I have no idea what this stuff is supposed to do, it doesnt seem to make sense. To me it just seems like a waste of material.

So if anyone has an answer to this, please tell me. I can't think of a possible reason for it.

See... this is the kind of useless crap that I think of. Had I written this post down beforehand, I can guarantee you it would have never made it to the internet. I may go watch the news, then I can at least gripe about some topical material.

Until next time...

A Question of Human Nature

My question today goes to why groups of friends cannot handle power.

Why is it that in a group of friends, who respect and like each other, power always ruins things?Why is it that the power can not be shared amongst the group of friends? Why must it always corrupt the group?

I am getting awfully sick of being the one person with no desire for power. This is not because I have a secret desire to take power, but because I am the one everyone else turns to talk to when they start fighting. I am tired of dealing with all the crap.

Why can friends not get along? Why can a hierarchical structure not exist without serious problems arising? I dont understand it, especially when we agreed upon the structure to begin with.

Oh well, I shall disinvolve myself with the crap.

Until next time...

My Latest Post

The post directly below this one sucks. This is my official opinion of that poem...

I posted it about 45 minutes before I had to work, and so was not too thrilled, considering the nice day it is.

I do feel that I do not my job, though it of course does not "fill me with depression" and I seem to have exaggerated quite a bit throughout it. So please do not take this poem as it is. I simply do not like my job. I don't find it to be quite as bad as I make it out to be.

As for the last few bits of it, the change that is coming is of course... University. So things will change quite soon

Until next time...

Time for Work

A time for work, the hated place
The location of my oppression.
It takes me from the things I like,
And leaves me with depression.

I hate thee work, I hate ye so.
I wish that thou wouldst die.
But you will not, and so I must
Continue to work and sigh.

The end is in sight, I must declare
The hated time shall end.
I shall move on, I must confess,
The time is just around the bend.

And so I wait
For this special time
When my life can start moving on.
I can move on up and take charge of my life,
Instead of being a pawn.


Until next time...

How to Cook Bacon and Eggs

You will need the following things...

3 eggs
1/2 cup of brick cheese
3 strips of bacon (ripped into non-identical chunks)
A small bit of margarine
2 slices of bread

1 frying pan
1 cheese grater
A wooden spoon
A toaster

So, put the bacon into the frying pan with the margarine... Cook until it is no longer frozen all the way through. While it is cooking, grate the cheese and beat the eggs.

Next pour one third of the cheese into the eggs, along with all the bacon. Leave the margarine in the pan. Beat the eggs, bacon and cheese together and pour it in the pan. Constantly stir.

As it is cooking, pop in some bread into the toaster. Add cheese as you stir the eggs. Continue stirring the whole time.

The eggs can be declared done when they are no longer liquid, and seem to hold their form... I have tried, and they will not easily turn golden brown, so do not try. A good indicator is just scoop the eggs out of the pan once they look ready after the toast pops up... If you do it right, that should happen at about the same time.

Put on a plate, butter the toast, cut the toast in half and enjoy... You now have my favorite breakfast all ready to eat.

Have fun...

Until next time...

My Return to the World of Blogging

Well, here I am, back to writing out my blog posts before I post them. I finally found that free time I was looking for, so here I am.

As I write this, I am sitting in a work room with a student who is writing a social studies test. I write not with my mechanical pencil, or in my notebook from my writing bag, but with a primary pencil and an exercise book I found in the adjoining room.

I have come to realize that I have missed writing my blog. My ability to let other people know what I have been thinking... And while I have posted a few times in the past month or so, they have all been spur of the moment posts, and even then they have been few and far between. Also I have missed writing my more creative posts, such as they are.

So here it is, my glorious return to blogging. I resolve to write more, and to actually post when I do. I resolve to get back to writing creatively, and I resolve to make time for my blog; to seek out the chances for writing that I need.

I have finally figured out what kind of free time I need... The free time I need, is time I should be spending working... ie. Accounting class or when I am supposed to be closely watching a student...

So there you have it... My pledge to return from my semi-hiatus. Let us see if I can keep my promise...

Until next time...

Those Romans were on to Something...

Carpe Diem... Sieze the day. Live every moment to its fullest, and never let time pass through your fingers, because it is precious and finite. Some day you will look back on your life, and wish you had done more, so don't waste it.

Dum Spiro, Spero... While I breathe I hope. I hope for the world with every breath. I hope that some day we may all be able to live together without the hate and intolerance that exists today. I hope that some day children will not have to go hungry. I hope there will someday be no need for guns.

Gutta cavat lapidem, non vi sed saepe cadendo... The drop hollows the stone, not by force but by falling on it often. What better message is there than this? That it is not brute force that gets the job done, but patience and persistance. That given enough time, and enough determination, that we can truly accomplish anything.

Malum est consilium quod mutari non potest... A plan that cannot be changed is bad. This just speaks to the need for flexibility in ones plans. Things will always come up to block your plans, and if you cannot roll with the punches, than you are doomed.

Diligentia maximum etiam mediocris ingeni subsidium... Diligence is a very great help even to a person of mediocre intelligence. Basically, if you are careful in what you do, even if you are a bit of a fool, then you will do well in life. If you think through your actions, then you will usually look intelligent, regardless of your intellect.

Dum inter homines sumus, colamus humanitatem... As long as we are among humans, let us be humane. So true, so very true... We could all do well to listen to that one.

Qui beneficium dedit, taceat; narret qui accepit... Let he who have given a favor be silent; may he who have accepted it speak of it. A good piece of advice. If you talk about the favors you have given, you look like you are throwing it in people's faces. If you talk about how someone did you a favor, you look good because you look grateful, and the other person looks good because they look kind. Everyone wins...

Qui statuit aliquid parte inaudita altera, aequum licet statuerit... One who passes sentence on something without having heard the other part is not just, even if the sentence is just. No matter what happens, you must always hear both sides of any story before you judge someone. Otherwise even if you are right, you still have not been fair, and therefore your judgement is invalid.

Tamdiu discendum est, quamdiu vivas... You live, you learn. You learn from the mistakes you make in your life as well as from the successes. Just accept that you will make those mistakes, and learn from them. To not learn from one's mistake is the biggest mistake one can make.

So in conclusion I say, Rident stolidi verba Latina... Fools laugh at the Latin language.

Until next time...

Trent

I have been accepted to Trent University. I have decided that if UOIT does not accept me, I shall be going there. So I shall have fun in Peterborough this coming year.

I shall be majoring in math likely, and minoring in history, so it will be fun.

Until next time...

University Acceptances

I have officially been accepted by the University of Nippissing. This was my first choice for universities, and I will never forget the feeling I got when I read the acceptance letter.

I'm going to university, and I feel great.

One step closer to my dream of being a teacher.

Until next time...

Elections Ontario

As boring as it was working in the federal election, I have signed up to work for Elections Ontario in the coming by-election. I shall be a poll clerk. Let the voting begin!

In all seriousness, I must have lost my mind to do this again. I know how boring it is, why am I putting myself through it. I could just pick up extra shifts at my job... Oh well.

I shall be there on March 30... crossing names off a list. How exciting. Expect another fascinating post, in the fashion of "Tales of Elections Canada"

Until next time...

Comment Spammers

It has been a nice four months I have had without comment spamming. I opened up to the world, I showed everyone what I was thinking, and I broke new ground in my creative writing. Ironically it was my "Where has my Inspiration Gone?" post that got not one, but two spam comments.

Now I am not one to go off the deep end at these people, the comments are easy enough to delete. It is what they were spamming that bugged me. It was the blatantly adult nature of the stuff they posted that offended me. Where in my blog do I make any kind of reference to that kind of stuff? Why pick my little corner of obscurity to spray your cyber-grafitti on?

The first spam comment was a seemingly innocuous one, it was the classic "Oh, I like your blog. I will bookmark it. Here is my blog". These don't bother me in the slightest. It is the second comment that bugged me... It was a list of links to all kind of extremely adult websites, of which I can only assume would have swamped your computer with all kinds of horrible spyware.

I will say this... These people need to go and get a clue. Go harass a forum of some sort, or troll some large chat room. The fact of the matter is that while you are good at being annoying, you are not being very efficient about it. My blog does not have a large readership so you are not actually getting very far with your spam.

I can not get over why my blog was targeted over some chat room or forum. I moderate my blog just as well as your average forum does, if not better. Why not harass them... you may actually get some hits. Also, and this more a statement to the second commenter; you may want to consider a less obvious approach. Perhaps trick people into going, rather than enticing idiots into clicking into an obvious trap. None of my readers are idiots... not a single one, other than you I suppose.

Anyways... In a way I guess I am grateful. You sparked a rant, which is not something I have had sparked in me for a few weeks now.

Until next time...

Camping

Oh, I have an idea! Let's go camping.

I suggest that the next time a friend invites you to go camping in the middle of march, when it is due to rain, that you call this person a moron and walk away.

March rain at three in the morning is freezing cold. The ground is hard and the fire won't warm up anything. You will get no sleep at all.

That is just my suggestion though.

Also, if you do end up going, do not let your friend talk you out of getting stuff to make smores. Smores are delicious, no matter what anyone says.

Until next time...

Where has my Inspiration Gone?

I don't know why I cannot seem to put anything together lately. I just haven't had the spark that I usually do.

I think it may have something to do with not being in normal classes. If this is the case, then I may have a creative spark on Wednesday when I go in for an in-school day.

I can only hope.

Until next time...

Sides of Ourselves

The way I figure it, there are at least three sides to every person.

One is the public face that we put up for everyone to see. This is the side of ourselves that we let everyone see; the part of ourselves that we are most comfortable showing to the world.

Next is the side of ourselves that we reveal only to those who know us well. We may reveal different things to different people, but it is all our choice as to what is revealed. As time passes we may let some things reach the public side of ourselves as we become more comfortable with them.

Lastly is our private side; the part of ourselves that we do not let anyone else see. These are the things about ourselves that we may be ashamed of, or they may be things we think others will disapprove of, or they may just be things we are not comfortable telling anyone about. In any case, as we grow to accept these things, or grow to trust those around us these things may be revealed to those we care about.

That is the way I see it. We have a public side, a more personal side, and a deeply personal side. It is each of our decisions as to what is revealed and when, but I will say this. Embrace your strangeness; your hopes, your beliefs, your dreams. Never deny who you truly are and remember: people are a lot more accepting than you give them credit for.

Until next time...

How to Lean Back in a Chair

I want to start off by saying that I do not think you should lean back in a chair. It is unsafe, and while I do lean back in them I do it of my own choice, knowing the risks involved. If you choose to lean back in a chair it is your choice and any injuries suffered while following of my instructions are not my fault... they are your own. This is my disclaimer and thanks to it, you cannot sue me... So there.

Start by finding a sturdy chair and a steady table.

Next, push back slightly, allowing your knees to clear the edge when you lean back.

Now, shifting your weight backwards, either push down and into the table with your hands, or with both feet flat on the ground press with your toes down and forward into the floor. With both cases Newton's third law will tip you backwards.

Now I suggest you either have a table that is bolted down or one that is heavy enough not to move. It is also beneficial to have a sturdy leg that you can put some weight on, because that just makes things easier. I can not stress how important it is to have a steady table, if you do not have one, do not lean back. This goes for your chair too, do not lean back in a wobby chair... You will just hurt yourself.

As you lean back rest your leg on the leg, or if the table will support your weight, then lean forward until your lower leg is supporting you on the edge of the table. It is important to keep one foot hooked around a leg to pull yourself forward quickly in the case of an emergency. Also, one should keep one's weight forward of their centre of gravity so that one does not fall backwards.

So you want to lean further back? Alright, shift your weight behind your centre of gravity and hold on to the table with your feet. Do not do this without a steady table AND a fair amount of experience in basic leaning.

How to get back down? If you are fully leaned back, then press your foot up and towards you to pull yourself back. Gently shift your weight forward to bring you back down at a reasonable pace. If you are just leaning on the table, just keep your weight forward, drop your knees and drop forward.

Now you may be asking: Robert, what if we don't have a table?

No problem... Just locate a wall, they are everywhere and you shouldn't have any problem finding one.

The procedure for leaning back is the same. Push off with your feet as I explained, and guide yourself back so that your chair sits on the wall. Next push your back flat against the wall so that you have control over the leaning. I advise against keeping the weight too much on the chair as this can be dangerous if you need to quickly get down.

If there is some sort of windowsill, then simply guide yourself gently onto the sill, leaving your back against the windowsill and not your chair. Windowsills are even easier to get off of than a normal wall, though the method is the same.

To get down, simply press your shoulders against the windowsill or wall and push hard. You then guide yourself back down to the ground.

To lean forward in a chair simply slide forward in a chair and shift your weight forward of your centre of gravity. This will tip the chair up. Be careful doing this, as you can easily go to far, causing the chair to shoot out behind your. This hurts and can cause in much embarassment.

So there you have it. A guide to leaning back in your chair. Good luck in all your chair leaning adventures.

Until next time...

Can't We All Just Get Along?

I ask this question to everyone. Why can we not just work together and not attack eachother? Why can we not help eachother, covering eachother where we may have problems? Why do we feel the need to nitpick, rather than to support one another?

I say to everyone, that we should help eachother, rather than make life more difficult. Don't cause problems if you don't have to. Why must we make things harder for eachother? We are all capable of making life easier for all of those around us, yet we don't. We force others to try and handle the problems that we should be able to take care of ourselves.

I am ticked off now... Screw trying to work it out calmly. I say let the screaming match begin. Fight it out all you want without care to the happiness of others. I will sit back and watch the carnage.

Let the games begin...

Until next time...

Webcomic of the Week

In this installment of Webcomic of the Week I will be showcasing the new webcomic Neko Madness. It is drawn by my brother Matthew Clark (Tom Clarkson), and is written by Neal Nearing. I will be doing things slightly different, as I have with me, the artist, Matthew Clark.

This will be the first interview to be on my blog, and I hope it goes well.

R: So what is this webcomic about?

M: Neko Madness is mainly about a group of fourteen year olds going into grade nine. The main plot of the story has nothing to do with school though. Let me explain to you some of the backstory. About fifty years ago cats started evolving, and developed human-like characteristics. At first, this new species was discriminated against, and were not considered to be 'sentient'.

R: So then what happened?

M: What happened then, was that the Nekos (what they called themselves) created their own government, and their own country. Humans eventually recognized the Nekos as being sentient, though they continued to experience intense discrimination. Some of the Nekos moved into human communities, though this was slow in coming.

R: And this is what lead up to the comic?

M: Yes. The comic starts about ten years after all of what I have described.

R: So do you have a plot all worked out?

M: Yes, I do have a main plot, it has a few holes in it at this point though, so the creative team is hard at work plugging those holes.

R: When do you expect the comic to fully start?

M: Within a month or two.

R: What can we expect to see in this comic?

M: War, humour, some romance and general insanity. They are cat people... what do you think?

R: What inspired you to start a webcomic?

M: Around September of last year, I started reading webcomics. From there, I started reading about ten others, and I eventually got the idea to start my own.

R: Where do you get your inspiration from?

M: I got a few of my ideas from the webcomic New World, drawn by Scott Clements and Robert Maupin. I like the character development that exists in that comic, as well as the variety of emotions that they can convey.

R: What is your favorite webcomic?

M: EGS... obviously. El Goonish Shive is quite simply the best webcomic that I read.

(The link for EGS can be found on the right hand side of the page for Blogspot viewers, and at the bottom for MSN Spaces viewers.)

R: Any closing thoughts?

M: Neko Madness is still in development. The art itself may change as the comic goes along, but this is to be expected with any new webcomic. Also, I hope you will all vote for Neko Madness at Top Webcomics; the link is on the front page of the site.

R: Thank-you for your time Matthew, and I hope that you do very well with your webcomic.

M: Thanks for having me Robert. Here is the link: Neko Madness.

R: And there you have it, my interview with Matthew Clark, artist of Neko Madness. I suggest to all of you that you read it once it gets going.

Until next time...

Tales of Elections Canada

As I wrote this, I sat at the Information Officer’s (IO) desk at my appointed polling station. Life there was not quite as boring as you might have though, but I will let you be the judge. So in the interest of keeping a record of my day, here is my story.

8:45 – Arrived at my polling station and began to set up.
8:55 – Found out that the Deputy Returning Officer (DRO) for one of the polling stations was missing. Much a-worrying was caused by this as the Central Poll Supervisor (CPS) ran out with the poll listing to go call her.
9:20 – My CPS returned with my poll list. As I write this, we still do not have enough listings for all the people that need it. The stations are now set up and I have determined how to correctly do my job.
9:25 – No sign of the missing DRO yet. People are arriving outside, and the Conservative scrutineers have arrived, and are setting up.
9:30 – The polls open. So officially begins my twelve hour day. I now help my first few voters and after a few early stumbles I get to understanding what I am doing.
9:43 – My first lost voter. He came to the wrong station, and with the help of my CPS we direct him to the correct place.
9:44 – After much explaining as to why we cannot help them, I notice that the poll with the missing DRO is running. The Poll Clerk (PC) is acting as the DRO and the Registration Officer (RO) is now acting as the PC.
9:50 – The official DRO replacement shows up. The RO and PC return to their normal duties.
9:53 – First major lull in voter traffic.
10:00 – The first lull ends. This occurs when the voters from the poll with the missing DRO that were originally sent to the riding headquarters return. They now vote, a little angry with us for the mix-up. Understandable.
10:07 – I start writing this journal.
10:15 – My first lost voters. He went to the wrong poll again, so we call headquarters to get him some help.
10:19 – I talk to a scrutineer that works for Flaherty and I ask him what happens if he wins, as he is the MPP for this riding. I am told if he wins, his MPP spot will be vacant and their will be a provincial by-election.
10:21 – I realize that if Judi Longfield doesn’t win, I will at least get more money by working for Elections Ontario at the by-election.
10:27 – Caught up with my journal. There may be gaps now in the journal. Oh well…
10:34 – I break into my skittles and my first ginger-ale. Stupid cold froze the skittles, so they are not as chewy as I would have liked. I found some tape to close them back up when I tired of them. So this is boring… sue me. It isn’t as bad as my parents made it out to be though.
10:41 – A guy comes in with a paper that is apparently his wife’s power of attorney. Apparently this is acceptable and he votes for his wife.
10:44 – I steal my CPS’s polling station map. This will allow me to help voters better, as is my job.
10:46 – I tell my CPS that I took it. She seems fine with this. I also discover that my skittles pack has 50 % of my recommended daily intake of vitamin C. Random.
11:13 – Broke into the first half of my pizza sub. I also finished my ginger-ale. Both were delicious, and I plan on eating the other half of the sub within the next twenty minutes.
11:51 – Had a conversation with the replacement DRO on the topic of the computer age. I realized that none of my friends are in this polling distract.
11:53 – Read a bit of The Silver Chair. I am still bored.
12:25 – Helped a guy in a wheelchair. I also finished my second ginger-ale.
12:45 – Started writing my Webcomic of the Week post.
1:08 – Finished writing Webcomic of the Week. I started on an apology letter. It is a bit slow right now.
1:21 – Finished apology letter and moved on to doodling.
1:25 – Someone is trying to vote more than once… Shame on him… He voted at an advance poll and is now trying to vote here. We are getting scammed.
1:54 – The boredom has fully set in. I am pacing around the polling station. I broke into my carrots a while back and have now moved back to my skittles. I am saddened though; no one thinks I should be working here. Everyone thinks I am too young… Oh well…
2:27 – I’m not allowed to discuss my political beliefs while I’m here. I’m supposed to be non-partisan. I wish I could say something to the people. I cannot though, even when I agree with them.
2:33 – I finished my Fruitopia. I only have 1 pop left. I must conserve it. Heh… I am rationing…
2:50 – Some nice woman came around with some tea. She then brought me some, just how I like it, and a cookie. I set up a table near mine for all the cups once people are done with them.
2:55 – Only the Conservatives seem to have sent us any scrutineers today. It is disappointing. I wanted to see more of my favorite parties, or any other party for that matter.
2:58 – Saw the first person I actually know. Kind of. I saw the father of someone I know from Sinclair. I hope to see more people that I know.
3:22 – I set my watch after finishing my tea. I now have a timer going. Only 6:07 left to vote. Hurry!
3:35 – Had a conversation with a PC on the safety of leaning back in my chair. I have finished all of my carrots and skittles.
3:54 – Listened to another person explain rejected ballots and spoiled ballots to a voter. My word this is boring…
4:04 – Started reading silver chair again. Ate a cookie my CPS gave me.
4:19 – One of the DROs gave me a candy. That was nice of her.
4:25 – Voter comes in, angry at the Conservatives. They were campaigning on Election Day, which I don’t think is allowed. I hope they get in trouble.
4:27 – Saw a friend from the wine store at my work. Got her name wrong the first time. Dang…
4:35 – Saw someone from school. He just turned eighteen, and was voting. Who says my generation doesn’t vote?
4:38 – Got my name added to the conservative complaint. I will get an e-mail with the results. Again, I hope for some kind of fine. It’s not like they don’t know better.
4:46 – The Conservatives get off. They can campaign today, as long as they are at least three hundred feet away from any polling station. One football field. Two things are wrong with that; the first is that three hundred feet is not nearly enough; they should not be able to campaign at all on Election Day. The second thing is, why is that measurement in feet? It should be measured as one hundred metres. Why is it in the imperial measurement system?
4:55 – Mom dropped in with Timothy. Brought me Swiss Chalet, and it is delicious. I’m making my CPS jealous. Got to love having a great Mom.
5:22 – Finished dinner. Absolutely delicious. The bag I left in the trash smells of Swiss Chalet sauce and is making the replacement DRO hungry. It was really good. Now I have a coke that my Mom brought me. I should be good until 9:30.
5:31 – Four hours to go. Then I will see election coverage until morning.
5:37 – A couple came into the polling station. They had their voter ID cards, and still managed to come to the wrong station. How do you manage to come to the wrong place, when your destination is printed on the card in your hand? It makes no sense.
5:45 – Another one… For crying out loud people… Look at your card!
6:00 – And yet again, I’m getting sick of this. This guy couldn’t even take simple directions.
6:08 – Oh I’m getting tired of this. Suffice it to say some people are freaking morons. Now I have someone from another city trying to vote.
6:10 – They let her vote here. She doesn’t live here but she can vote here because someone mailed her voter ID card to her daughter’s address. Some days the system disgusts me.
6:19 – Same situation again, though it is not worth arguing about when I already know the answer to my complaint. I am not bothering to write anymore about this… It is getting tiresome.
6:45 – That was a busy twenty minutes, I hope it stays this steady.
6:57 – Libertarian scrutineers showed up. My friend is the candidate for this riding, and it is about time he showed. Now for some of my friend’s brand of “right-wingedness”. Various amounts of that in store for Elections Canada.
7:45 – Liberal scrutineers finally show up.
8:00 – Libertarian scrutineers successfully remove Liberal scrutineers from the DRO tables.
8:13 – A lull, finally. I get to sit down.
8:30 – The replacement DROs transfer papers come in after twelve hours of waiting. He can now vote.
8:38 – Libertarian candidate invites me to a Conservative drinking party. I decline.
8:43 – Read through the guidelines for candidate’s representatives.
8:44 – Heard disgusting stories from Libertarian candidate.
8:46 – Dad shows up… No real reason, he is forty-five minutes early. It is nice to talk to someone for a few minutes though.
9:10 – Discussed plans with Libertarian candidate to take over our town council. Talk of jailing political enemies, building statues of ourselves and the shooting of pigeons attempting to crap on them. Would electrify statues to discourage the pigeons from roosting.
9:13 – I have noticed a decline in the quality of my performance since the Libertarian candidate arrived.
9:29 – I get invited to act as a Libertarian scrutineers after the polls close. I decline. I get ready to go home.
9:30 – The polls close and I go home.

So was my day, boring at times. Though not as bad as I was lead to believe.

Until next time…

Blog Content

When I started this blog I had no idea of what I was doing. I was going to use it as a vent for all of my frustrations, be they about my life or the world in general. In time the blog grew to be an expression of who I am; my feelings, my beliefs, my complaints and my hopes and dreams. I originally thought that I would post everything I wrote.

I have lost a few posts because I forgot to post them, or they lost their relevance in the time it took to post them. There were also a small number of posts that I actually lost the original copies of.

I think my first conscious decision not to post something came with a stream of consciousness piece I did a few months ago. It revealed a lot about me, but I was not comfortable showing some of the things that it showed to the world.

Lately there have been instances where I have been censoring myself. This may be to avoid my blog looking silly, or to keep certain things personal, or to not offend others. I have become acutely aware of the danger of offending others in the past few weeks.

I do not blog to offend others, but it seems that I have, especially some of those among my friends and family. For that, I am truly sorry. Anything that I have written was not meant to offend, but rather to vent. As such I will no longer be posting about my friends and family until they tell me it is alright to do so.

Due to this fact, I may be posting less often now. I will continue to write about politics, my blog in general, webcomics, some of my thoughts, and I will continue to post most of my creative work. I will however not be posting many of my rants, some of my complaints, and the tales of my life. This is not an attack on anyone, but it is rather my attempt to apologize to those that I have hurt with my posts, and to make up for them.

There are three people that I am not apologizing to in this post. They are the people featured in the posts: “Slander… It’s a Horrible Thing” and “Revenge upon the Child of Evil”. Those three people owe me an apology.

In conclusion, I am sorry. I sincerely apologize to all of those that I owe an apology to due to my rudeness and lack of consideration.

Until next time…

Snow

The snowflake dances up and down,
dancing in the wind.
It floats in place, and I blink
as the wind takes it out of sight again.

The sky is full of the dancing snowflakes,
my eyes move quickly, trying to follow them all.
I cannot see where each one goes,
they dance too fast, falling on the snow

The snow covers the ground like a blanket,
an even white layer, covering the earth.
I close my eyes and listen
to the silence that comes with it.

The falling snow dampens the normal noise,
the cars, the street, the loud conversation.
All that is left is the rustling of the trees
and the snow crunching beneath my feet.


Until next time...

Expect the Cold

I am getting sick of hearing people complain about the cold, especially when I turn around to find these people not even wearing a sweater. I just want to turn around to these people and shout “You are living in Canada; you should expect that it will be cold. Put on a coat!”

I like the cold, I like the snow, and I expect it in early February. I have been disappointed up until now by the lack of snow on the ground, and this snowfall is a welcome change in weather.

I like the snow a lot better than the rain, and I prefer the cold to the heat. It is easy to warm up, but hard to cool down. It is nice to see a layer of snow on the ground, but it is depressing to see nothing but rain falling on a cold and dreary landscape. The fact is, that I like winter.

My favorite season is the autumn. It is cold, it has a nice feel to it and it is not an overly wet season. My least favorite season, by far, is the spring. It is always raining, the snow is melting and it is generally an uncomfortable season.

My point is that I like winter and its related weather, and that people who constantly complain about the cold, should simply put on a sweater.

Until next time…

The Value of My Time

My question is… How much of my time must be wasted before I am declared educated?

I am not talking about boring classes or when I am not paying attention because the subject material does not interest me. I am talking about true wastes of time; things that are done just to give me some quantifiable mark, things that are given out as busywork to kill time during the period. I am talking about teachers who tell me the same useless anecdotes over and over, or give us post-its to colour on. This is a waste of my time.

I am referring to my Co-op class. They started the first day by having us write our name on a post-it note, along with a picture of our favorite hobby, our favorite place to visit, and the names of our favorite movie and song. We then ignored the post-its and never did anything with them. How very beneficial to my education that was.

This kind of thing continued throughout the next week and a half, be it in a letter addressed to future me, or a handy mind-map to show me how to properly get injured at my placement.

I feel that I have had perfectly good time out of my life wasted. I want it explained to me how my time was not wasted, how this time would not have been better spent at my placement. I want to know how the post-it note had educational value.

I want the time I spend in school to have some meaning.

Until next time…

An Unfit Parent

When I wrote this, I was sitting in my co-op class, one day after I saw what could be the most negligent thing that I had ever seen.


Yesterday at a local pet store I saw a man get out of his car and leave his one-year old in the car with a video on. He then proceeded to go into the store for fifteen minutes, leaving his child to ‘fend for himself’.

How negligent is that? Is that not a crime? What if something had happened to that child? He would have been charged with criminal negligence then.

People like that do not deserve kids, especially when there are so many who cannot have children, who would actually take care of their kids. Negligent people like that are dangers to their own children. I should have phoned the police and reported the guy.

To top it all off, when he came back out and my family confronted him; he acted innocently, thinking that he had not done a thing wrong. He thought that he had acted responsibility. He did not think that he had acted negligently.

This person simply sickens me… I hope that he gets what is coming to him.

Until next time…

Webcomic of the Week

Welcome to another installment of Webcomic of the Week. This week I will be going in a slightly different direction, and will be suggesting Lynn Johnston's For Better or For Worse to everyone. I realize that this is not a webcomic, but it is my favorite comic strip of all, even inching out El Goonish Shive, so I will bend the rules for it.

The thing about For Better or For Worse that sets it apart from every other comic I have ever read is the characters. They seem like real people, they grow over time and you can truly identify with them. The characters also age, which I find to be important, it makes them more real.

The comic is centred around the Pattersons, a family that lives in Milborough, Ontario, which is fictional community near Toronto. I had a short statement about all the main characters, but it did not do them justice, so I will direct you to the character page of Lynn's website for that. Read through if you want to get a quick look at the Patterson clan. Characters Guide

There is also a large number of secondary characters that also have backstories and personalities and grow over time. You can identify with some of these people as well, their lives, their stories and their choices that they have to make. The comic also deals with realistic problems, and is not afraid to deal with subjects that normally do not get dealt with in a syndicated comic strip, such as death of a character, extramarital affairs, aging characters and the challenges that creates, and in one recent example, someone trying to rape Elizabeth Patterson.

Like I said, it is an excellent comic that is full of real characters and issues, and you grow to like the characters and you can see where they are coming from. The comic has been going strong for over twenty-five years, and still shows no sign of stopping. You can read the past few years of comics at Lynn's official website, though I would suggest you go to your local library and read the old strips in book form to truly understand the characters. You will be glad you did.

So there you go, read the comic. You will not be disappointed.

Until next time...

A Light in a Dark Room

A light goes on in a darkened room,
a pool of light falls upon the floor.
One cannot be sure what lies outside the light,
the shadows concealing that which the light cant reach.

The light comes from a lone bulb, hanging from its cord.
It sways back and forth, pushed by an unknown force.
As the light moves the pool it casts moves too,
illuminating slightly, the shadows in the dark.

One can only catch quick glimpses
of the figures in the moving light.
One cannot be sure of what one sees,
at the edges of their vision, almost out of sight.

The unknown force that moves the bulb
chooses what will be seen by those who watch,
as the pool of light moves across the floor,
the lightbulb's swinging arc changing as it goes.

Most will be content to sit inside the light,
watching as a few small shadows are revealed.
The truth will be shown to those who go,
and venture into the void.

It will be those that search in the dark, that will truly see the light.



Until next time...

The Watcher

An outsider sits on the fringe of the room.
He is secluded, detached and alone.
He sits there waiting for some day, some distant day, when he will join the crowd.
He sits there waiting, as life passes him by.

The outsider sits, observing the crowd.
He wonders how to join in.
He sits, waiting for the perfect moment, his time to shine,
Not realizing that by time that moment comes, it will already be too late.

The crowds shuffle back and forth, they change over time.
The outsider has long since accepted the life he lives.
The solitary life, the life of idle distraction.
For now, this is just the way life is.

So the outsider continues to watch the crowds, they change over time.
He sits, waiting for when he will seize the day.
The world around him is not as hard as he thinks.
But he sits there waiting, as life passes him by.


Until next time...

Strategic Voting

The NDP and the Liberals are a lot closer in how they see the issues than either are with the Conservatives. This is a fact.

I believe in an alliance against the right wing. Let me explain to you why this works. I will use my riding as an example, but first I must explain some things. Every vote for a party that receives two percent of the national popular vote gives that party $1.75 a year for every year that the government lasts.

In my riding, the Conservatives won by somewhere between 800 and 1400 votes. The Liberals were a close second. The NDP were a very distant third getting a little less than 2500 votes (The Conservatives got 15000). If the NDP had withdrawn and told their voters to vote Liberal, then the Liberals would have won and the true will of the people would be heard.

The NDP get $17500 from my riding if the government lasts 4 years. In the long run, that is really not much. An extra Liberal seat could have changed the balance of power. This occurred in ridings across the country, and it of course works in reverse. The Liberals should support the NDP when it is a toss-up between the NDP and the Conservatives, like in the riding just to the west of me.

We could have the government we actually want.

It does not make any difference now though. Oh well...

Until next time...

Webcomic of the Week

In my third installment of "Webcomic of the Week", I will point out another of my favorite webcomics.

The Wotch is written by two people; Anne Onnymous and Robin Ericson. The authors of the webcomic have also chosen to name their main characters Robin and Anne. I will try to keep this simple by referring to the characters by their first names only, and the authors by their full names.

The wotch is centred around Anne. Anne is "The Wotch", which in essence, is a kind of very powerful witch. Anne has two main friends in her adventures, these people being Robin and Jason. Robin has a thing for Anne, and does his best in the continuing fight against evil, with a combination of magically imbued powers (by Anne) and his martial arts training. Jason is the redhead loving sarcastic one of the group. He is usually the first one to count on for pointing out what should have been obvious.

The three live in Tandy Gardens, and go to Tandy Gardens High School, where all sorts of funny and exciting stuff happens, whether that be a cursed genie, or a mythical virus. Tandy Gardens is a really strange place.

Before I finish, I also have to mention Scott. He is not a main or secondary character in The Wotch, but he is Canadian, so I felt I should mention him. Go Canada!

With the random ka-girling, the rampant magic, and the great Buffy the Vampire Slayer references, it is a hillarious comic that takes right from the Buffy Action-Comedy-Drama style. So read the wotch. It is funny, and the story will suck you right in.

Until next time...

Walls

I am trying to break down walls that have been in place since I have been in grade 3. I put them to protect myself from certain people who were hurting me, both emotionally and physically. Those walls gradually grew to block out the whole world. The problem is, as one of my friends pointed out, the walls we put up to protect us don't know the difference between happiness and sadness.

What makes the job harder is when people then yell at me about it.

I do not understand why people cannot seem to grasp the idea that it is hard. It is incredibly hard. The reason it is so hard, is that to break down these walls, I need the support of my friends and family, and to yell at me while I am trying to fix it, really doesn't count as support.

I want to be able to talk openly and honestly to people, and it doesn't help that every time I talk to people, they seem to change the rules. When I am in an argument, I should be able to talk at the same level as the people I am arguing with. I should be able to talk like an adult to them, as I am one.

These people do not seem to realize that as an adult, I should have some freedoms that I didn't before. I should be able to go out without getting the third degree. I should be able to put a lock on my door. I shouldn't be attacked every time people are angry about small messes.

These people, who know me better than anyone else, should also realize that I am prone to say stupid things. This is what I cannot seem to understand. They know I am impulsive, they know I can be an idiot, and they know this can happen on or off of my Ritalin. The Ritalin only helps my impulsive nature, it is not a cure-all drug.

For all of these reasons, and more, I say to these people. Lay off... I get it, I know I have some problems, and yelling at me about them is not helping me in the slightest. For the most part, they are things that I have to work out. I will figure out how to work them out, and I will work them out on my own schedule.

I have a lot of problems with my family. I will defend myself for no reason sometimes. This is a remnant from my days when all I knew from most people was ridicule and hurt. I learned a lot of defensive responses that have haunted me to this day. I am bad at distinguishing people making fun of me from them just kidding around, stop telling me to lighten up... I am trying.

That is my point here. I am trying to change. It will take a while, I will need to learn the rules of how to talk to people. I am trying to break down the walls that have "protected" me from the world. It might help if people didn't make me feel like I need to protect and defend myself.

Until next time...

Exams

I am pleased to say that I am now finished my exams for this semester. I just have one more in Chemistry next semester and that is it for me.

I cannot wait until it is all over and I can go to university.

A bonus for me is that I get 2 days off now while the rest of the exams finish up, so I am home until Wednesday, which is alright by me.

Until next time...

El Goonish Shive: The Book at Last

I have been after both volumes of EGS for about six months. Today, they came in the mail. They are entitled: El Goonish Shive: Read it or the Owl will Eat You, and El Goonish Shive: The piece that does not fit. Both volumes are filled to the brim with great strips.

The pictures of the books themselves are now posted on the MSN Spaces site, and for anyone who actually knows me (ie. in real life) feel free to ask to see them, I will be more than happy to lend them to you to read.

For those of you who are keeping track, I had to try Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Chapters, Indigo, World's Biggest Bookstore, Coles and Walmart before I got them right from the source, this being Keenspot.

One final note, Webcomic of the week is on hiatus until Monday... sorry for missing a week.

Until next time...

Skipping the Rocks

The rock sailed through the air, skipping as it hit the water. One... two... three... four... five... plop...

The boy picked up another rock, feeling the weight in his hands, and in a smooth motion cast it out into the water, the rock skipping as it went, one... two... three... four... five... six... plop.

The boy stood there and looked out at the water. How many more rocks were to be casted out, how many more must he throw.

He looked to where the rocks skipped, and the ripples that moved out from the centre, how the ripples came together from where it skipped

He looked forward to where the rocks sunk, no ripples came from these spots, they just sunk to the bottom, waiting to be washed up shore again.

The boy picked up a handful of rocks, and in a quick motion flung them down the beach. He watched as some hit the water and skipped tiny bits, leaving small ripples radiating outwards... He saw many more of those rocks never skip, but sink straight to the bottom, just sinking, waiting for a day when they would come back to shore, waiting for a day the boy would follow through.

The boy looked to the sand. He saw where many of the stones had left craters in the sand. He saw the impressions they left and how the sand had now buried them slightly.
He looked out upon the waters and saw the ripples continuing out from every spot a stone had skipped. He saw the earliest ripples now hitting the sand, taking a bit of it away, eroding back the line between the sand and the water. It was a slow process, but it was happening
The boy thought back to days when he stood on a small patch of sand, and the water stretched in all directions as far as the eye could see. There were few stones, for they were all skipping off to infinity. Now all that was behind him was a seemingly unscalable mountain, a sheer rock face, one that seemed as if it could last for all time. To his left and right there was only sand, with pebbles and rocks of different sizes strwn about. Only to the front of him was there water.

The mountain had raised up out of the sea some time ago, he did not remember how. At some point after that the sand then raced forward, leaving a desert, with just a small pond. For a long time the boy had thrown no tocks of stones or pebbles, the ripples had all but stopped.

It took a long time after the desert had taken over before the boy cast a pebble into the pond again. When he did, he saw the ripple go throughout the pond, and erode some of the sand. The boy had forgotten why he threw the stones. He slowly stood up to the barren desert, and began to again cast the stones into the pond.

The pond is now a sea again, the ripples pushed back the desert. Yet the mountain remains. Perhaps one day after all the stones are gone and are skipping off to infinity once again, maybe then, the mountain will sink back into the sea.

The boy thought back again. How had the mountain come to rise from the sea? How had the desert covered his world? The exact moment the mountain began to rise did not seem to come to the boys mind. What the boy could recall was a wave, higher than the sky itself roaring towards him, wiping out everything he had, the continuing off forever behind him.

That was it... the boy remembered everything. He has built that mountain from the stones that were on the sand. It had not risen out of the sea, as he had like to think, it was his own doing. Then without the stones, the water receded, leaving other stones.

The boy threw another stone into the water, watching skip once, twice, then sink. He had forgotten in his years in the desert how to skip the stones as far as he wanted.

The boy wondered if things could ever be how they used to. Regardless if they could or not, nothing is ever solved by doing nothing.

The boy walked up to the mountain and looked closely. He saw the individual stones that made up the mountain, and pried one out, then another, and so on, until he had a handful.

The boy walked back to the water, skipping the rocks, one by one, as far as he could, watching the ripples combining and strengthening. He went back for more rocks from the mountain.

The strange thing was, that as the boy continued to do this for some time, the ripples in the sea moved outward faster, and changed how the shoreline ran. As the mountain came down, the boy's world changed.

The mountain is still there today, though smaller now. The boy, now a man, continues his work. His methodical skipping of the rocks, they skip further and further now, the retrieval of rocks from the mountain, and back to skipping them. The cycle will continue until the mountain is gone and he can see what lies on the other side.



Until next time...

Blog Stuff Continued

I will get webcomic of the week up on the site either today or tomorrow. Tales from Elections Canada will take about a week, but I do have a short story for you all that I will be updating shortly.

Sorry all.

Until next time...

Blog Stuff

I will be doing Webcomic of the week tomorrow...

I will also present to you a special feature. Tales of Elections Canada... It is a journal of my day today at a polling station.

Until next time...

Conversations Continued...

How could I have said that?

I was told something that should have brought a "congratulations... good for you" and I instead told them their accomplishment was worthless... How would I go about apologizing for this one. I don't think I can. I think, personally, that I have lost a friend due to my own idiocy.

I hope that the person who this is directed at will forgive me eventually, but sadly that is rarely how my life turns out. I don't get to have good friends... I have a bunch that are as callous as I am, some who I haven't yet driven away... then the large number that I have driven away through either not paying attention, being a jerk, not being a good friend generally, or saying something really stupid... as is the case here.

If anyone who ever reads this has any ideas on how to deal with this... Please comment... I could use some help.

If the person who I have offended reads this... I am really sorry. I really don't know what else to do...


The text seems so cold here... doesnt it? You can't hear me. You have no idea what I'm feeling. I don't what I'm doing... posting this here... whether it is just my way of trying to get the feelings out, or whether it is some last ditch effort to talk this out.

The problem is, I have never been able to figure out how to solve these things... These kinds of problems just seem to spiral downwards. I hope... I don't know what I hope for... I just hope. While I breathe, I hope.

Dum Spiro, Spero...

Until next time...

My Stream of Consciousness

Can you wander the internet, in an endless haze... Unsure of where you are going... just hoping you end up somewhere with meaning? Have you ever found yourself just going into your bookmarks while you do... just looking for something... anything to do?

That pretty much is how I feel right now... I'm wandering back and forth, from blog to blog, from meaningless game, to webcomics that I don't care about right now...

I don't think I know what I'm doing lately. I've been in a haze for the past few days... I really need something to pull me out of it... I need to go out, do something... anything... I miss talking to people face to face... I have been taking the bus... so I haven't gotten the regular human contact that I never realized I had grown accustomed to... I never realized how much I need it... I miss it.

Now all my avenues of social contact are disappearing... I have been a fool, and I hurt a good friend... I cannot go out as I want, so there is another street closed... I have not seem some of my other friends in months, most since graduation... I hope they are doing well...

Damn, I sound depressed... maybe I am a little... I could really use a change of pace... I think school, combined with the stresses of my life right now, adding the fact that my family hasnt been out of the house together in a while... I think it is starting to get to me... I can't get drives to where I want to go right now...

I think I need a change... I'm not sure what to though.

Until next time...

Conversations

Have you ever been talking to someone and you said something stupid? Something hurtful and mean? Have you ever been in a situation where something came out horribly wrong? Or was taken the wrong way? Have you ever realized that you are a dumbass for ever even saying it?

I have.

I cannot talk on messenger the way I can in real life. In real life my sarcasm, and my constant jokes can be told from my voice. On messenger, all of this is filtered out, and I come off as a jackass. The problem is that I don't realize what I sound like until I read it back later... and obviously it is too late by then.

So to who this post is meant for. I am sorry. I really am sorry, I'm a jerk and I didn't mean it that way. I was trying to joke around, and it not only came out badly, it shouldn't have been said at all. I really hope you arent too mad... though I understand why you probably are.

Again, I'm really sorry...

Until next time...

Who am I?

I live my life according to what I value. I don't apologize for these values, nor will I be convinced to live my life according to someone elses values. I also will tell people what my values are. I will explain to them how I think life should be.

The problem is that I have two kinds of values. Those that I have personally, and those that I think society should be run by. These values will often clash, as they are often based on how a perfect world would be. For example: I don't like smoking, and on a personal level I support the smoking bans. I think they are a good idea generally, and for the most part I completely support them. On the other hand though, I think that there are businesses, such as bars, who should be able to allow their patrons to smoke if they so choose. There are a few other cases like this where my personal views clash with my societal views, but for the most part I try not to apply my values to how the country should be run.

As a result of these contradictions, and the fact that depending on the situation, I may argue either side of an argument, people often have a hard time knowing what I truly believe.

So the point is that noone really knows who I am or what I truly believe. The point is that noone really knows me.

For your average person, this doesn't bother me, and for almost everyone else I am still not too concerned. It is my family and close friends that I care about. These are the people who I should be honest with and be able to trust.

Even among my family there are things not known about me. Whether this be because of my fear of disapproval, my fear of my family being angry , or my fear of being backstabbed if I told someone, I still do have secrets. I feel bad for this, because I should be honest. I just wished I could, without fear of anger, being judged or made fun of.

So what has been brought to light by this post? By my count three things have. The first thing is that my personal beliefs are not necessarily reflected in what I do or say. The second is that I actually support both sides of some opposing issues, and finally, the fact that nobody really knows me completely, and that it is noone's fault but my own.

Don't take this the wrong way though. I am not depressed or overly saddened by these facts... They don't bug me too much. Also don't take this post to mean that I will change my ways, or that if asked about these kinds of things that I would lie. This post is just me recognizing the fact that this is how things are.

Or at least how I see things...

Until next time...

Comic of the Week

Welcome to the second installment of "Comic of the Week". This week's comic is El Goonish Shive, which is the best webcomic ever.

This comic is the best I have ever seen. It is funny, it is well drawn and it is well written. You all should read it, as it is also the comic that inspired Anne Onnymous to write The Wotch.

El Goonish Shive is the story of a group of friends and their life. Currently they are at Grace's birthday party, and everyone is getting transformed. Oh, did I forget to mention that? Yes, the story includes transformation into furry characters, transformation of gender, species, size, you name it Dan draws it.

The author of this webcomic is Dan Shive, a very talented artist who I have nothing but respect for.

Oh and by the way, my copy of EGS Volume 1 and 2 is on the way to my house. Hurrah!

Until next time...

My Blog

I am now posting this blog on MSN Spaces as well as here.

I am posting the same posts on both, and I will continue to do so for some time as it is no real trouble to do so. I like the posting style here, because I am used to it and the fact is that people know this address better. I post on MSN Spaces because it has easy photo uploads, I get lots of comments and my links are easier to put up.

So here we go into a new era of my blogging.

Visit the mirror at Muddled Mind.

Until next time...

I Have Voted... Will You?

I did my civic duty today and voted. I voted Liberal, I like their social policies, and the race in my riding is too close to justify voting for the NDP.

In my opinion it is the duty of every informed person to vote. Similarly, it is the duty of every non-informed person not to vote. If you don't know the issues or vote randomly, then your vote is cancelling out an informed one, and that is not good.

So on January 23, if you know the issues, head on down to your local polling station and cast your ballot for the candidate you agree with, and you think will do the best job. I already did, though my vote was a bit of a strategic vote. I might see you at the polls, I will be an information officer at one of my riding's polling stations.

So here is my realistic hope for this election: a Liberal minority, NDP being the official opposition (I know it wont happen), and if they cant be official opposition, for them to hold the balance of power.

Until next time...

The Trails Ahead

A path lay out before me
A path loops back behind
Which trail should I take?
I can't make up my mind.

The path ahead is foggy
The view is not quite clear
It could be good, it could be bad
The unknown gives me fear.

The looping path is sunny...
Easygoing and free of strife.
I would just end up back here though,
Later in my life.

I chose to take the simple path
I looped back round again
I chose the easier way to go,
Thinking I would gain.

I now approach the fork again,
My choice now is quite clear.
I shall tread new ground, and set new paths
I have nothing to fear.

I look down the now clear path
And see the trials ahead
I can face them now, I could have then
The dangers were in my head.

My fears stopped me, they held me back
This thought makes me irate
I set off running forward now,
This is going to be great...

Until next time...

Comic of the Week

This is a new feature in my blog... Every week on Monday I will plug a webcomic that I read. Eventually people will learn about me by reading what I like to read...

This week's webcomic is... Count your sheep

This comic is hilarious, it can be heartwarming and it is more than just cute and heartwarming... At times it can also be somewhat sad in it's own way... There are a good number of lessons that one can learn by reading it through.

Count Your Sheep features the life of Katie, her mother Laurie, and their imaginary friend Ship. I highly suggest this comic to all of you... It is a great read with a fairly large archive, so it should keep you occupied until next week.

Have a great time reading...

Until next time...