Halloween Howls

Well, here it is, Halloween. All hallows eve. And yet, I have already had been to an excellent Halloween party. There was good times, good music, good friends, and good people. Not to mention the costumes. All were excellent!

After partying myself silly last night and careening back up the island to Nanaimo, I am now exceedingly tired. But it is my turn to make dinner. So I can't take the nap that my body SO desires.

I watched an incredibly bad movie this afternoon on TV. It was called "Amityville Doll House: Evil Never Dies." It is pretty loosely based on the Amityville Murders. However, the only connection was that there was a possessed doll house (an exact replica of the Amityville House) that caused them all this grief. Other than that, it was absolutely terrible. And yet, I watched the whole thing. Was does that have to say for our media-obessessed culture?

However, next on the movie roster is "Donny Darko." I haven't heard a lot about it, so I am looking forward to seeing it. I'll let you all know.

Finally, I have a pic to post for all of you. I can't take credit for its source. I got it off a blog that was linked from a blog that one my friends has on her blog. So rather than send you on a wild goose chase, here it is.

Gotta love it

Here it is, ladies and gentlemen...

The tres cheap music that I purchased. Yes, folks, I do listen to this music, and I enjoy it.

I have two examples for you:

Example One
Example Two

Each is about 2mb, so give it a moment.

And then, grab your bongos, shake those maracas, and get ready to move your booty. I guarantee that you won't be able to sit still. Those Seinfeld fans among you may recognize the first example...

Oprah, that was a bad show

So there I was, the self-confessed trekkie, lying on the couch dosing after watching some Star Trek. When I woke up, Star Trek had ended and been replaced by Oprah.

I watched the show for a little while, and it appeared to be one of those typical "scandal" shows. The husband had a terrible secret to hide from his wife, of 15 years, and it was an unbelievable secret. It turns out that the man's secret was that he was gay.

Oprah then proceeded to lambaste the man for cheating on his wife. But first, you need the background info.

He had known that he had gay tendencies when he got married to her at twenty years of age, but at the time was confused and thought that it was a passing thing that would get worked out of his system with time. However, he realized it wasn't.

He cheated on his wife, running a double life for 12 of the fifteen years that they were married. They also had two sons. He had five long-term relationships with men during his wedded years.

After this 'terrible' secret (which the wife had already known before coming on the show), Oprah began to lambaste the man for lying to his wife for fifteen years. Oprah didn't understand why he couldn't just tell his wife that he was gay before they had got married. Another specialist that had been brought in for the show explained that it wasn't that simple. To which Oprah responded, and I quote directly:

"I thought that things had been made easier for you people."

That line just about drove me through the ceiling. "you people!" What is made even more surprising is the fact that Oprah comes from a visible minority herself! "you people?!" Good Christ!

This show touched on some fairly touchy issues, including the large number of closeted gay men that are married. But what slayed me the most was that the point of the show was not to bring meaning or understanding the problems that this situation causes, for both sides of the couple. This show focussed more on what a terrible man this guy had been, keeping this secret from his wife for so long. However, it is completely unfair for anyone, even Oprah, to pass judgement on the situation, or the people involved, when then cannot possibly imagine what these people go through.

As someone who went through it myself, it is INCREDIBLY difficult to come out to friends and family, and it is even more difficult, perhaps inconceivably so, to even begin to comprehend the pain that a person goes through while coming to grips with their sexuality, which is largely still unacceptable in the eyes of society in general. It is not as simple as "just coming out." A person faces rejection from their family, friends, and ostracization. In some cases, violence is even a real threat.

I hope that what Oprah was trying to do was point out the fact the homosexuality is more acceptable now than it was even 10 - 15 years ago, and it just came out wrong. However, she should perhaps interview a few of "us people" for our experiences before using her show to cast jusdgement on ANYONE!

There, I think I vented myself for the time being.

Midterm marks are coming in...

I just got my first midterm mark back... (drumroll please)

I got an A Minus! YAY!!

It was my History Midterm, and I think that it bodes well for the future. I will start getting rest of my marks tomorrow. (can you hear me biting my nails?)

Bathroom logic

He asks a worthwhile questions about cleaning the bathroom

new jobs and new friends

I think it is most exciting to meet extraordinary people. I have met someone at school who fits that description to a 't.' I look forward to developing a friendship with her.

Also today, I applied fro a job, and it looks promising.

Yay! New things are great!

Friends and more...

I was reminded this weekend of a few things. Keep a clean room, live life to the fullest, and always wear clean underwear in case you get hit by a bus.

One of my closest friends called me on Thursday and announced that he was back in town (Victoria) and that we should get together. He lived out of town for about a year and a half, and I haven't seen him since January.

So I gave him a call, and asked him what he was doing in Victoria. Had he transferred? Holiday time? Did he get fired? Sadly, it was none of those options.

"No dude, I'm dying." Well, talk about being hit by the proverbial bus. I was astounded. I thought he was actually pulling my leg. But unfortunately, he wasn't.

My best friend is dying of liver failure. He had a liver transplant when he was five, and his body is rejecting the liver now, 16 years later. It is 95% dead. He is back on the Emergency Transplant List.

Now, he is on NINE pills just to stabilize his liver. He is constantly exhausted, and had to catch his breath after going upstairs in his house. He has the shakes, and he moves like an old man. Finally, he is jaundiced, which is a yellowing of the skin and the white of the eye, which is now bright yellow.

First and foremost, he is my friend, despite appearances. My goal now is to keep him comfortable with his situation, and to make sure he doesn't go insane. He is reluctant to go out.

Anyways, I'm gonna have to suck up my own emotions and be the supportive one now.

Keep him in your thoughts.

Midterms done!

That's it, they're finished, all of my midterms. Let the nail-biting begin!

I have no assignments due this week, which is really odd. In fact, my History class tomorrow is cancelled, so all I have to do is meet with my group, and then I am free until monday.

What an easy week! I think I will head to down Victoria early tomorrow and try and hook up with some people, and then I get to go out for beer on Friday with more friends!

YAY!!!

And I found some tres cheap music to listen to. I'll upload it as soon as I have a chance.

Cheers for now!

agh! midterm from hell

I feel like such a loser in English. I am f*cking good at English when I want to be. But this class just seems engineered to fail people, or at least severely demoralize them.

She gave us criteria, but then the exam contradicted the info she had handed out, so I dunno.

I'm sure I did fine, but get your act together lady! For god's sake!

GAHHH!!!!!!

Fall has arrived

After a scorching couple of days last week, fall has finally arrived. The rain is falling, and Ezzy (my car) is plastered in wet maple leaves from the tree across the street. Now that the leaves have mostly fallen, we have a broader view of the harbour, which is kinda cool. On of my favourite scenes is when I am sitting in our living room, and I happen to look up as the ferry sails past on its way to Duke Point. I don't know why, but I really like that.

I have an English midterm I need to study for tomorrow morning, but I don't feel much like studying today. On days like today I like to curl up with a good book, turn on the heat, and just read with some good music in the background. I even like listening to the electric radiators click on and off. But alas, I will have to settle for curling up with my poetry anthology (gag) and study literary terms. I hate that class.

You are probable wondering why/how my car got it's name. Well, I drive a Civic Hatchback, and it is light green/teal/aqua green, whatever you want to call it. My friend and I thought that it needed a name, and the colour reminded her of Esmerelda, so why not? So now my car has a name: Esmerelda, or Ezzy for short.

So anyways, off to go study!

Midterms and fastfood

I just wrote my first midterm this morning in History! Wow, I have a better idea of what to expect on the final now, that is for sure. I think I did pretty well, but the questions were must more diverse than I had expected, linking together a lot of concepts we had not linked in class. Definitely worth while doing though.

I just watched "Super-Size Me", and I was absolutely revolted. My roomates and I even threw awayt the coupons from McShits, A&W and DQ, we were so disgusted, especially efter looking at the nutritional information on McShit's website. But that put me in a dilemna; I needed a burger today, I was absolutely craving one. So I did a little research.

Of all of the fast food joints out there, McShits is the least healthy. Wendy's is actually less fattening if you use caloric content as a determiner. A combo meal at Wendy's with fries and a Coke contains pretty the same caloric content as an entire Big Mac.

So all you fast-food junkies out there can take heart in the fact that it is not all going to kill you. Don't take this as artistic license to go out and get fat, but it isn't all bad.

Cheers!

What day is it?

My brain is messed up right now. Since Monday was the stat for Thanksgiving, my head is all confused. Tomorrow is Thursday and I get to drive down the island for work on Friday! Where did this week go?

Thanksgiving was fantastic. My sister threw in an extra dish at the last minute, and it was so good but so rich! Imagine a slice of roasted yam, then goat's cheese, roasted garlic and onion, then repeat three more layers like this. They tasted like candy!

But now I am turkey-ed out. We bought a 12 pound bird, and it was WAY more than enough. We stripped the bird of all it's meat and made stock with the turkey bones, but now it is all in the fridge awaiting consumption. So much turkey, so little time.

Anyways, stay tuned for weekend posts. I must go and study. I have my first-ever midterm tomorrow morning.

Pray for me, everyone!

Things to be thankful for...

There are many things in life to be thankful for: life itself, the sun, the fact that we live in North America, hot and cold running water...

I know this chiefly, as all we have this morning is cold running water. It appears that the boiler for our entire building broke down last night. I would really like to get out of this body and into a clean one, but I cannot take a cold shower. Not only does cold water have an adverse effect on certain parts of the male anatomy, but once I get cold, it takes me a million years to warm up again. And during that time, I am the grouchiest, bitchiest person you have ever met. Really, try me one day, you'll see!

But anyways, I guess I can't complain too much, as at least the cold running water is clean and drinkable, and we have immeasurable electricity with which to heat it should the need arise. The strata management company is sending a plumber this morning, so hopefully it will all be fixed in time to make Thanksgiving dinner!

Tonight is the first-ever Thanksgiving that I haven't been at home for. My roomates and I are making our own turkey (which is under emergency-thaw in the kitchen sink. Seems one of my roomates didn't believe that the bird needed to come out of the freezer when I said it did. My source: chefs, at a World-class restaurant. His source: The lady who checks people's membership cards at the door to Costco. Who would you trust? But that's a whole other story.)

Anyways, first-ever Thanksgiving where Mom isn't making it all. But we have it all planned out: Turkey, sage stuffing, roast garlic mashed new potatoes, green beans, yams, and pumpkin pie with whippied cream for dessert. We also have a couple good bottles of wine. Looking forward to it all, although the prep may be interesting if we don't have hot water to clean up with!

Oh well, no matter where you are, or what you are eating tonight, remember to think of something to be truly thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's not your birthday because you're dead

More than a year ago, a lady slid off the road into a tree and died in a bad car accident.

Every day when I drive from work I have to drive past a shrine to her. It is dilapidated, water-logged and neglected. But somebody has dropped off a "Happy Birthday" balloon and refreshed the flowers.

It isn't her birthday, because she is dead. Don't get me wrong, it is terrible that she died, but it was more than a year ago. I don't understand the human compunction to memorialize our traffic accident victims with makeshift shrines on the side of the road.

I want to make something clear to everyone: If I die in a car accident, please don't erect a shrine to me on the side of the road. By all means, lay some flowers down, but don't build a shrine.

I have never lost anyone close to me in a traffic accident, so I guess I can't pretend to understand what these people go through. However, it is not safe to have these shrines, as motorists are distracted by them. And eventually, they become dilapidated and waterlogged.

Call me an ass, but that is just what I think.

Clean room, doubtful soul

I cleaned my little room in Nanaimo top to bottom this afternoon, and I have always found that when I clean, my mind races. Along those lines, I have a few things to say:

About the dude in my group in History that I wrote about, I totally misjudged him. We had our first presentation today, and it was better than excellent. I need a healthy dose of crow to eat.

To the people who moved in below me, it's great that you are learning to play the guitar, but please don't really crank the volume until you know more than three chords. Otherwise, I will be forced to counter your playing with repeated loud karaoke verses of "I Will Survive."

To my little brother, please stop taking 6:30am shifts on Fridays. It sucks to drive you out.

To all my good friends, thanks for being there for me. You always seem to be there whenever I need a ear to bend, or a shoulder to cry on, or a face to bitch at.

To my roommates, please stop making me feel stupid. It hurts. I will try to do the same for you.

There, I think I have cleared my slate for the time being. Expect another post tonight. I am Victoria-bound, and will probably be in a state by the end of the evening.

In the meantime,

Toodles!

Good grief!

My god is it foggy tonight! I stepped out of my apartment building, and my car was parked right in front of the building, about 15 feet from the door, and I could barely see it. The streetlamps can't even get through it.

It has been kinda disgusting all day here. Apparently the ash from Mt. St. Helens worked its way up here, which would explain the burning smell in the air and the fact that some fog banks were white (like normal fog) and some were gray (like ash).

We shall see what tomorrow brings!

Sometimes you just gotta shake it...

My, what a busy weekend! I'm exhausted, but I had a lot of fun.

My co-worker and friend Jen got married on Saturday, and the reception afterward was fantastic. I have haven't danced that much or had soo much fun in a long time. And I have the pictures to prove it. ;-)

I had dinner and a chat with hy good friend Sam, and got a pretty darned good essay written on short order with her assistance.

Finally, I did something really reckless today. I picked up a hitchhiker on my way to Nanaimo. I don't know why, he looked totally normal, and we had a perfectly respectable conversation. I probably won't ever do it again, but it was kinda a thrill in a bizarre way. I think I didn't feel threatened because he was about my age. I dunno.

Anyways, I shall try and stay on top of my posting this week, after letting all of you down last week. I know that everyone's world revolves around my blog.

In the words of my boss:

CIAO FOR NOW!