I think I've caught up enough in my classes and stuff to relax a bit. I've got an essay due later this week, but nothing else is really pressing. Yesterday I spend the afternoon with some friends, and this afternoon I'm heading down to TO to visit my mother. I haven't seen her for 8 months and she's down for a week to do training for work. I'll come back tomorrow and then do all my school work.
In the news we hear this weekend was a rather nasty attack on a helicopter in Iraq. The soldiers in the helicopter were apparently heading off duty. Yes, really bright, kill the guys that aren't going to be oppressing you for the next while anyway. Ugh.
The Episcopalian church in New Hampshire has chosen a openly gay man as bishop. I'm not really sure I see how that works. I had understood that bishops were expected to be held to higher moral standards, and were supposed to be married to their parteners. Gay marriage is still illegal in the US so he couldn't be married legally in the US. What's the deal?
Mike Harris has declared he's not interested in leading the new "right-wing" party. That's a relief. I was beginning to be afraid our next PM (after Martin) would actually do what he made campaign promises about. That would be just too freaky. On the provincial level, it's fine, but at federal level, that'ld freak me out.
Okay, so that didn't work. I did very little reading on the bus on the way to TO and
back as I'd planned. Then yesterday, I got distracted by a book that
a friend had lent me on Friday. Arrgh. I finished it about the time I'd been
hoping to finish my essay yesterday. Which would have left today to format it and proof it and print it
for handing it in tomorrow morning in class. Now I have a little under 3/4 of it written,
but in an incoherent fashion, with sentences that have to do with each other far away from each other. I've always hated writing essays. I usually end up
spending more time doing other things, like posting to weblogs and stuff. :)
Another week and another essay. I have another one due this coming Wednesday
(I think). This one is half again as long as the one due this past week was
supposed to be. I don't know how I'm going to do that, considering this one was at best
three quarters the required length. I've got a coupla books out of the library that are sorta
on topic, but I'm not sure that will give me 3000 words to write. After this essay is in, I'm essentially free except for finals
including a "take-home" final in Jewish Philosophy and Mysticism. I'm just so sure that'll end up being either a big essay or a bunch of shorter essays. Either way, it'll be nothing like an actual final.
In the world today, there's an eclipse tonight at 8pm EST. The weather seems to be in the mood for viewing it as well.
The US's borders may be opening to Canadian beef, despite the protests of Japan
and the beef producers of the US. Maybe the huge increase in beef prices
has started affecting people down there. I dunno.
The world economy seems to be picking up. New jobs in the Canada and the US means more
people buying goods, means more demand for stuff made in sweatshops round the world.
That leaves the question of whether those shoes that I'm going to buy today
are really helping anybody. Sure, my feet are feeling better, no longer
being bit in the tendon by the sharpish form at the back of the old shoes, but it means some kids in Pakistan or somewhere slaved over those
shoes at a wage where they might not have been able to buy them for themselves.
'Tis sad.
Well, I've been very busy this past week. I've also seemed to have gotten
some kind of cold that has been tightening up muscles and stuff. I've
been feeling less than 100%. This essay that I'm supposed to be working
on is most boring. I hate writing essays, and I've spent more time
playing tetris.
In the news: Paul Martin is our next PM (unless he dies or something first).
And the opposition is already calling on him to patch up relations with GWB.
I forgot to put it up Tuesday, but it was the day I celebrate my anniversary
on Tuesday. Years ago I had a dream that it was 18 Nov. and my wedding
day. Problem was that at the end of the dream my bride had apparently left
or died or something; so no wedding.
Yesterday I got back part of
a test in Hebrew. The prof as she was returning the tests said, "Don't worry
the grades will be marked on a curve." I immediately thought, "Oh please
don't curve mine." And she said, "Except Alan's" and place mine on my desk.
I had only one strike against me, and well, the rest of the class had
a lot more trouble. Personally, I can't fathom why. I'm not sure if
I have some kind of trick memory that I can do this work easily, or if
I worked hard enough last year that this is all easy now. I was honestly trying
not to rub my classmates noses in it that I wasn't having the trouble
they were. (I find obnoxious people who are boasting about marks
or constantly pointing out, even incidently, how much better they are
at something. I prefer not to be obnoxious.) She did it for me, and I'm
not too happy about it.
Finally, today, I finally got a driver's license. I can now drive a car in Ontario. It was very wierd driving without someone in the car beside me when I went to pick someone up.
In the news: Michael Jackson turned himself in to police. Makes
me glad it wasn't the real Michael Jackson who showed up at the Simpson's house
in that episode where Homer goes to the Insanitorium...
Last night I went out to try to get a car to rent for the weekend. Lowest price I could find was $70 for the weekend, and I'm not sure if that included all the taxes and insurances etc. 'Twas a little more than I wanted to spend to have a car for the weekend, so I decided against it and went Christmas shopping.
In the news: Our new premier in Ontario has already started breaking election promises. A number of friends pointed out to expect that. The conservatives seem to be the only ones to keep election promises, it's just that no one seems to want them to...
The federal conservative party is threatening to split again. There's a contingent that claims that allying with the Alliance is against the constitution of the party and is a broken promise on McKay's part. At the same time various people seem to think that the new united right party could win a minority in the House. I have my doubts. At least not without a big, well recognised and trusted name at the helm. Paul Martin has name recognition and people recognise that he was running finances for most of the last ten years. He's got what's needed. Trying to find someone with similar name recognition is going to be very, very hard. I suppose Ralph Klein might be able to fill those shoes...
I decided to take today off as a sick day. So I skipped my French and Latin
classes this morning. Hebrew had been cancelled anyway 'cause the prof
was out of town. This morning though, I was just feeling so bleh, that I thought
I'd take the day off so I don't get any worse.
In happier news: I went to see the Matrix Revolutions Saturday afternoon finally.
Only 2 weeks after it came out. While we were watching the trailers, my
apartment mate said, "That trailer was the best movie I've seen all year" with
regards to the Return of the King trailer. It looks to be pretty good.
Speaking of the Lord of the Rings, I saw the first half of the extended
edition of the Two Towers last night. It was nice how they added back a
few scenes from the books, though I'm not pleased that they put the scene
of the tree eating Merry and Pippin into Treebeard's forest. That just
messes things up. I'll probably have to wait until next weekend to see
the second half of that movie...
impossible to govern are the words that Ghali is reported to have
used to describe the world after Quebec seperates from Canada to Chretien
back in the mid 90s. (The National Post has the story.) Apparently, Ghali
thought that a whole lot of other nations would break up as well and create 30
additional nations that would all be trying to get their own way, and make things
difficult for the UN. EXCUSE ME? What happened to a peoples' right to determine
their own future. Or for that matter a nation's right not to have its interal
affairs interfered with? If a people cannot get their wishes known through peaceful means,
such as a referendum, they will eventually resort to less peaceful means, such as terrorism. Keeping Quebec in Canada
to make the UN Secretary General's job easier seems to me to be holding the problem tail end backwards.
Release.
by alan on Mon 3rd Nov 2003 6:18PM
I think I've caught up enough in my classes and stuff to relax a bit. I've got an essay due later this week, but nothing else is really pressing. Yesterday I spend the afternoon with some friends, and this afternoon I'm heading down to TO to visit my mother. I haven't seen her for 8 months and she's down for a week to do training for work. I'll come back tomorrow and then do all my school work.
In the news we hear this weekend was a rather nasty attack on a helicopter in Iraq. The soldiers in the helicopter were apparently heading off duty. Yes, really bright, kill the guys that aren't going to be oppressing you for the next while anyway. Ugh.
The Episcopalian church in New Hampshire has chosen a openly gay man as bishop. I'm not really sure I see how that works. I had understood that bishops were expected to be held to higher moral standards, and were supposed to be married to their parteners. Gay marriage is still illegal in the US so he couldn't be married legally in the US. What's the deal?
Mike Harris has declared he's not interested in leading the new "right-wing" party. That's a relief. I was beginning to be afraid our next PM (after Martin) would actually do what he made campaign promises about. That would be just too freaky. On the provincial level, it's fine, but at federal level, that'ld freak me out.
Trips
by alan on Thu 6th Nov 2003 3:46AM
Okay, so that didn't work. I did very little reading on the bus on the way to TO and back as I'd planned. Then yesterday, I got distracted by a book that a friend had lent me on Friday. Arrgh. I finished it about the time I'd been hoping to finish my essay yesterday. Which would have left today to format it and proof it and print it for handing it in tomorrow morning in class. Now I have a little under 3/4 of it written, but in an incoherent fashion, with sentences that have to do with each other far away from each other. I've always hated writing essays. I usually end up spending more time doing other things, like posting to weblogs and stuff. :)
Gargle, glup, gloop.
by alan on Sat 8th Nov 2003 8:27PM
Another week and another essay. I have another one due this coming Wednesday (I think). This one is half again as long as the one due this past week was supposed to be. I don't know how I'm going to do that, considering this one was at best three quarters the required length. I've got a coupla books out of the library that are sorta on topic, but I'm not sure that will give me 3000 words to write. After this essay is in, I'm essentially free except for finals including a "take-home" final in Jewish Philosophy and Mysticism. I'm just so sure that'll end up being either a big essay or a bunch of shorter essays. Either way, it'll be nothing like an actual final.
In the world today, there's an eclipse tonight at 8pm EST. The weather seems to be in the mood for viewing it as well.
The US's borders may be opening to Canadian beef, despite the protests of Japan and the beef producers of the US. Maybe the huge increase in beef prices has started affecting people down there. I dunno.
The world economy seems to be picking up. New jobs in the Canada and the US means more people buying goods, means more demand for stuff made in sweatshops round the world. That leaves the question of whether those shoes that I'm going to buy today are really helping anybody. Sure, my feet are feeling better, no longer being bit in the tendon by the sharpish form at the back of the old shoes, but it means some kids in Pakistan or somewhere slaved over those shoes at a wage where they might not have been able to buy them for themselves. 'Tis sad.
Wiped out!
by alan on Tue 18th Nov 2003 3:26AM
Well, I've been very busy this past week. I've also seemed to have gotten some kind of cold that has been tightening up muscles and stuff. I've been feeling less than 100%. This essay that I'm supposed to be working on is most boring. I hate writing essays, and I've spent more time playing tetris.
In the news: Paul Martin is our next PM (unless he dies or something first). And the opposition is already calling on him to patch up relations with GWB.
Things along.
by alan on Fri 21st Nov 2003 2:57AM
I forgot to put it up Tuesday, but it was the day I celebrate my anniversary on Tuesday. Years ago I had a dream that it was 18 Nov. and my wedding day. Problem was that at the end of the dream my bride had apparently left or died or something; so no wedding.
Yesterday I got back part of a test in Hebrew. The prof as she was returning the tests said, "Don't worry the grades will be marked on a curve." I immediately thought, "Oh please don't curve mine." And she said, "Except Alan's" and place mine on my desk. I had only one strike against me, and well, the rest of the class had a lot more trouble. Personally, I can't fathom why. I'm not sure if I have some kind of trick memory that I can do this work easily, or if I worked hard enough last year that this is all easy now. I was honestly trying not to rub my classmates noses in it that I wasn't having the trouble they were. (I find obnoxious people who are boasting about marks or constantly pointing out, even incidently, how much better they are at something. I prefer not to be obnoxious.) She did it for me, and I'm not too happy about it.
Finally, today, I finally got a driver's license. I can now drive a car in Ontario. It was very wierd driving without someone in the car beside me when I went to pick someone up.
In the news: Michael Jackson turned himself in to police. Makes me glad it wasn't the real Michael Jackson who showed up at the Simpson's house in that episode where Homer goes to the Insanitorium...
Boreman
by alan on Sat 22nd Nov 2003 5:35PM
Last night I went out to try to get a car to rent for the weekend. Lowest price I could find was $70 for the weekend, and I'm not sure if that included all the taxes and insurances etc. 'Twas a little more than I wanted to spend to have a car for the weekend, so I decided against it and went Christmas shopping.
In the news: Our new premier in Ontario has already started breaking election promises. A number of friends pointed out to expect that. The conservatives seem to be the only ones to keep election promises, it's just that no one seems to want them to...
The federal conservative party is threatening to split again. There's a contingent that claims that allying with the Alliance is against the constitution of the party and is a broken promise on McKay's part. At the same time various people seem to think that the new united right party could win a minority in the House. I have my doubts. At least not without a big, well recognised and trusted name at the helm. Paul Martin has name recognition and people recognise that he was running finances for most of the last ten years. He's got what's needed. Trying to find someone with similar name recognition is going to be very, very hard. I suppose Ralph Klein might be able to fill those shoes...
sick day.
by alan on Mon 24th Nov 2003 11:07PM
I decided to take today off as a sick day. So I skipped my French and Latin classes this morning. Hebrew had been cancelled anyway 'cause the prof was out of town. This morning though, I was just feeling so bleh, that I thought I'd take the day off so I don't get any worse.
In happier news: I went to see the Matrix Revolutions Saturday afternoon finally. Only 2 weeks after it came out. While we were watching the trailers, my apartment mate said, "That trailer was the best movie I've seen all year" with regards to the Return of the King trailer. It looks to be pretty good.
Speaking of the Lord of the Rings, I saw the first half of the extended edition of the Two Towers last night. It was nice how they added back a few scenes from the books, though I'm not pleased that they put the scene of the tree eating Merry and Pippin into Treebeard's forest. That just messes things up. I'll probably have to wait until next weekend to see the second half of that movie...
impossible to govern are the words that Ghali is reported to have used to describe the world after Quebec seperates from Canada to Chretien back in the mid 90s. (The National Post has the story.) Apparently, Ghali thought that a whole lot of other nations would break up as well and create 30 additional nations that would all be trying to get their own way, and make things difficult for the UN. EXCUSE ME? What happened to a peoples' right to determine their own future. Or for that matter a nation's right not to have its interal affairs interfered with? If a people cannot get their wishes known through peaceful means, such as a referendum, they will eventually resort to less peaceful means, such as terrorism. Keeping Quebec in Canada to make the UN Secretary General's job easier seems to me to be holding the problem tail end backwards.