Finish your ciggy quickly
Because trouble is brewin’.
Too long we’ve ignored things.
Momma’s done playin’.
She gave us our chance
But all we did was waste it.
Now momma’s real mad.
She’s angry, throwing a fit.
She’s hangin’ us out to dry
Takin’ away what was ours.
You can deny it all you want
From your tall white towers,
But you can’t deny the truth.
Momma’s flipped and I’m glad.
She’s raging and crying.
Turns out the she isn’t just a fad.
As her gaunt children stare
We’ll bluster and reject.
Hide the evidence behind deceit
While everything gets wrecked.
We’ll give her bandaids while
The wounds underneath fester,
Say that it just needs time,
That things will get better.
Even as her limbs wither
And our hearts start the shrivel,
We’ll ignore the symptoms
Saying that it’s naught but drivel.
As we die with her they’ll rage
“She didn’t tell us, she didn’t say!”
They’ll get silence because
Momma we did slay.
Okay, if you need this one spelled out for you, it's about the environmental crisis. Below is a couple of explanations as to why I wrote what I did. Oh, and the rhyming pattern is ABCB. I was originally going to try to make this topic into a parody of "Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night" by Dylan Thomas, but then I realized that was a lot of rhyming and I got lazy.
Killin’ Momma
Finish your ciggy quickly
I originally wrote, "Chug that soda down quickly". I wanted to refer to the health/excess crisis that's going on. I figured "ciggy" would be better, because it's also something ridiculously unhealthy we do but it also contributes more directly to air pollution.
Because trouble is brewin’.
Too long we’ve ignored things.
Momma’s done playin’.
"Momma" refers to Mother Nature.
She gave us our chance
But all we did was waste it.
Now momma’s real mad.
She’s angry, throwing a fit.
She’s hangin’ us out to dry
Takin’ away what was ours.
The two lines above are meant to refer to global warming, how dry areas are drying further and how we're losing access to what we think of as human rights (e.g. less water, etc.)
You can deny it all you want
From your tall white towers,
Tall White Towers refers to politicians and others who deny the evidence of climate change.
But you can’t deny the truth.
Momma’s flipped and I’m glad.
She’s raging and crying.
This is a loose reference to forest fires and floods. I doubt anyone could catch that reference without me explaining it.
Turns out the she isn’t just a fad.
As her gaunt children stare
"Gaunt children" are a reference to the starving children who are being affected by the environmental crisis.
We’ll bluster and reject.
Hide the evidence behind deceit
While everything gets wrecked.
We’ll give her bandaids while
The wounds underneath fester,
The above two lines refer to the bandaid solutions that governments put into effect as a PR stunt rather than making long lasting changes. I was originally going to make a reference to "stop gaps," but I was worried that I wouldn't use the word in the right context. Plus "bandaids" seemed to fit with the tone of the speaker better.
Say that it just needs time,
That things will get better.
Even as her limbs wither
And our hearts start the shrivel,
The line above has two connotations. As the Earth dies (her limbs wither), we're also killing ourselves. But also, by ignoring the Earth's predicament in favour of our own wealth/convenience, we're killing our own souls ("our hearts start to shrivel").
We’ll ignore the symptoms
Saying that it’s naught but drivel.
And as we die with her they’ll rage
“She didn’t tell us, she didn’t say!”
They’ll get silence because
Momma we did slay.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Tiny aggravations
For the most part I have no problem navigating Montreal or doing things here. But once in awhile I do have issues with my new French speaking province.
The first main difficulty was when I finally received my computer at work. Let me start by griping about my French keyboard. I was so lost when I first received it. I spent my first week typing haltingly. I'd be typing along merrily but when it came to punctuation I'd be jerked to a stop. There's a lot more punctuation/accents in French, so there are extra keys (e.g. I have an "Alternate Character" button to the right of the space bar). These extra keys have displaced my normal punctuation keys. For example, the @ symbol can only be inserted via "Alt-char+2." My quotation punctuation is shift+2, question mark is shift+6, etc. And don't even get me on the # sign. That's one I still have to search for even after a month.
The new keyboard wouldn't have been so bad except that I had to learn now only where to find the new key placements, but I also had to learn how to type quickly with them. I'm not used to that Alt-char button. So I still have issues typing fast because I have to remove my whole right hand in order to reach down and hit it. I feel like I need to take some French keyboarding lessons. And now that I've gotten used to typing in French, it's a pain to go home and type on my English keyboard. I keep having to correct my grammar. I think I might just give up and change my keyboard settings to French.
Another computer issue I have is with the actual programs. I asked for the French operating system and French programs because I figured it would be good practice. Other than some confusion trying to figure out what certain links mean, I can navigate them with little to no confusion. The problem I have now is that all the keyboard short cuts that I know are no longer valid! E.g. I can no longer click ctrl+b to make something bold. Instead I have to hit ctrl+g, G standing for "gras." Do you think I can remember things like this? Nope.
I also have problems using Excel now because all my formulas have to be in French! I couldn't for the figure out why my "concatenate" formula wasn't working the one day (I had typed it out manually and the French error message didn't help at all). It wasn't until I went through the automatic formula creator did I realize that the "concatenate" formula didn't exist. Instead I had to use "concatener." Whoops.
Surfing the internet is also a veritable pain. Why? Because computers are too nosy and smart for their own good. Google detects that I'm using a French computer, so it returns French websites only. I have to rewrite my search to make it obvious that it's an English search, or I have to switch my google preferences to English. (The latter is a pain because it eventually resets to French again.) Other websites will also automatically log me into the French language portal. I'll then spend 5 minutes hunting out the American or English versions of the webpage.
Now, all of the irritations above pale in comparison to this final one. This is the cherry on the top of my grievances with Quebec. I'm no longer eligible for many contests. Every time I see an interesting contest online I see a message, "Residents of Quebec are ineligible for this contest." No more free stuff. No more free draws. Nothing. Quebec? I think I hate you.
The first main difficulty was when I finally received my computer at work. Let me start by griping about my French keyboard. I was so lost when I first received it. I spent my first week typing haltingly. I'd be typing along merrily but when it came to punctuation I'd be jerked to a stop. There's a lot more punctuation/accents in French, so there are extra keys (e.g. I have an "Alternate Character" button to the right of the space bar). These extra keys have displaced my normal punctuation keys. For example, the @ symbol can only be inserted via "Alt-char+2." My quotation punctuation is shift+2, question mark is shift+6, etc. And don't even get me on the # sign. That's one I still have to search for even after a month.
The new keyboard wouldn't have been so bad except that I had to learn now only where to find the new key placements, but I also had to learn how to type quickly with them. I'm not used to that Alt-char button. So I still have issues typing fast because I have to remove my whole right hand in order to reach down and hit it. I feel like I need to take some French keyboarding lessons. And now that I've gotten used to typing in French, it's a pain to go home and type on my English keyboard. I keep having to correct my grammar. I think I might just give up and change my keyboard settings to French.
Another computer issue I have is with the actual programs. I asked for the French operating system and French programs because I figured it would be good practice. Other than some confusion trying to figure out what certain links mean, I can navigate them with little to no confusion. The problem I have now is that all the keyboard short cuts that I know are no longer valid! E.g. I can no longer click ctrl+b to make something bold. Instead I have to hit ctrl+g, G standing for "gras." Do you think I can remember things like this? Nope.
I also have problems using Excel now because all my formulas have to be in French! I couldn't for the figure out why my "concatenate" formula wasn't working the one day (I had typed it out manually and the French error message didn't help at all). It wasn't until I went through the automatic formula creator did I realize that the "concatenate" formula didn't exist. Instead I had to use "concatener." Whoops.
Surfing the internet is also a veritable pain. Why? Because computers are too nosy and smart for their own good. Google detects that I'm using a French computer, so it returns French websites only. I have to rewrite my search to make it obvious that it's an English search, or I have to switch my google preferences to English. (The latter is a pain because it eventually resets to French again.) Other websites will also automatically log me into the French language portal. I'll then spend 5 minutes hunting out the American or English versions of the webpage.
Now, all of the irritations above pale in comparison to this final one. This is the cherry on the top of my grievances with Quebec. I'm no longer eligible for many contests. Every time I see an interesting contest online I see a message, "Residents of Quebec are ineligible for this contest." No more free stuff. No more free draws. Nothing. Quebec? I think I hate you.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
More zombies
As mentioned in my last post, I felt that that life needed more zombies in it. Well, I got my wish. On Sunday I went and saw the new "Zombieland" movie. I haven't laughed so hard in such a long time. I have to admit, the movie made me a bit queasy at the start because of the copious amounts of blood flying - err, oozing - around.
It wasn't uplifting, nor did it try to portray a realistic look at how humanity coped with a sudden surge of zombies. Nope. Instead it gave random rules on how to survive a zombie attack. Rule #1: Cardio.
Perhaps the sudden influx of zombie-ism in my life has begun to affect me. Of late I'm having a harder time than normal staying asleep at night. Note that I say that the difficulty is staying asleep. I have no (or little) problem falling asleep, but I wake up multiple times every night for no apparent reason.
My room is dark. My neighborhood is quiet. Sometimes I wake up hot. the next time I wake up freezing. Sometimes I wake up thirsty. And then I wake up 30 minutes before my alarm clock. I go to bed at roughly the same time each night and usually just read before I go to sleep. I don't drink coffee or any caffeinated beverages so I can't blame caffeine. Likewise I don't have anything high in sugar before bed, so I'm not suffering from a sugar rush.
All in all I'm quite mystified as to why I keep waking up. I also seem to go through cycles - some weeks I have no problems, other weeks I wake up at least once a night. It's quite infuriating. Normally I can handle waking up once a night. It's mainly the those cursed 30 minutes before the alarm are always such a pain. I don't get why I consistently wake up earlier. I understand that it might have happened when I first started work - you know, being paranoid of missing my alarm or something, but I actually have two alarms in my room (something I had to start doing in university, or I'd never make it to my classes on time). I have the one beside my bed, and then I have my cell phone set as an alarm clock on the other side of the room. That way I at least have to drag myself out of bed if I fail to answer the first.
Can anyone else offer suggestions on how I can go to sleep and STAY asleep? I'm really tired (pun unintended) of this jerking awake thing.
It wasn't uplifting, nor did it try to portray a realistic look at how humanity coped with a sudden surge of zombies. Nope. Instead it gave random rules on how to survive a zombie attack. Rule #1: Cardio.
Perhaps the sudden influx of zombie-ism in my life has begun to affect me. Of late I'm having a harder time than normal staying asleep at night. Note that I say that the difficulty is staying asleep. I have no (or little) problem falling asleep, but I wake up multiple times every night for no apparent reason.
My room is dark. My neighborhood is quiet. Sometimes I wake up hot. the next time I wake up freezing. Sometimes I wake up thirsty. And then I wake up 30 minutes before my alarm clock. I go to bed at roughly the same time each night and usually just read before I go to sleep. I don't drink coffee or any caffeinated beverages so I can't blame caffeine. Likewise I don't have anything high in sugar before bed, so I'm not suffering from a sugar rush.
All in all I'm quite mystified as to why I keep waking up. I also seem to go through cycles - some weeks I have no problems, other weeks I wake up at least once a night. It's quite infuriating. Normally I can handle waking up once a night. It's mainly the those cursed 30 minutes before the alarm are always such a pain. I don't get why I consistently wake up earlier. I understand that it might have happened when I first started work - you know, being paranoid of missing my alarm or something, but I actually have two alarms in my room (something I had to start doing in university, or I'd never make it to my classes on time). I have the one beside my bed, and then I have my cell phone set as an alarm clock on the other side of the room. That way I at least have to drag myself out of bed if I fail to answer the first.
Can anyone else offer suggestions on how I can go to sleep and STAY asleep? I'm really tired (pun unintended) of this jerking awake thing.
Friday, October 16, 2009
The world needs more zombies
I recently bought the book, "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" by Seth Grahame-Smith. It's a parody of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice." I heard a lot of people talking about and every time I went into the bookstore, the cover art called to me.
I haven't finished the book yet but I am absolutely enthralled with it so far. Mr Grahame-Smith had such a brilliant concept when he penned this novel. The novel is so similar to the original book that it's difficult to describe the differences. It has the exact same story, but with zombies! This means that it often has the exact same dialogue, but there are some expanded scenes or tweaks to the wording. The world in the book is the same as before, but now there are zombies running amuck and everyone reacts to them with varying degrees of politeness or terror.
Despite the changes he made to the original story, his own changes fit right into the Elizabethan dialogue and descriptions. Despite their willingness to disembowel a man for the sake of honour, Elizabeth and her sisters are exquisitely polite and mindful of their manners in other ways. The outré statements some characters make are funnier due to the naturalness of their saying it. E.g. When Elizabeth's aunt and uncle invite her on a summer trip on the countryside she breaks into raptures about how fun it will be to do some mountaintop sparring and bringing down bucks with nothing but an ankle dagger. It's such a mind-boggling concept that the character thinks nothing of.
I'm enjoying it so much that I already plan to get another similar book entitled "Sense and Sensibility and Seamonsters." I've never read Sense and Sensibility but I fully expect to like it as much as any other classic romance novel. Both Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Seamonsters have both signed movie deals. I can assure you that I'll be seeing them in theatres.
I haven't finished the book yet but I am absolutely enthralled with it so far. Mr Grahame-Smith had such a brilliant concept when he penned this novel. The novel is so similar to the original book that it's difficult to describe the differences. It has the exact same story, but with zombies! This means that it often has the exact same dialogue, but there are some expanded scenes or tweaks to the wording. The world in the book is the same as before, but now there are zombies running amuck and everyone reacts to them with varying degrees of politeness or terror.
Despite the changes he made to the original story, his own changes fit right into the Elizabethan dialogue and descriptions. Despite their willingness to disembowel a man for the sake of honour, Elizabeth and her sisters are exquisitely polite and mindful of their manners in other ways. The outré statements some characters make are funnier due to the naturalness of their saying it. E.g. When Elizabeth's aunt and uncle invite her on a summer trip on the countryside she breaks into raptures about how fun it will be to do some mountaintop sparring and bringing down bucks with nothing but an ankle dagger. It's such a mind-boggling concept that the character thinks nothing of.
I'm enjoying it so much that I already plan to get another similar book entitled "Sense and Sensibility and Seamonsters." I've never read Sense and Sensibility but I fully expect to like it as much as any other classic romance novel. Both Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Seamonsters have both signed movie deals. I can assure you that I'll be seeing them in theatres.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Happy Turkey Day!
I had a terrific long weekend! It was relaxing and fun all wrapped in one.
I started off Friday night by making alfredo sauce from scratch. I've only had alfredo a few times before (usually as part of the pre-packaged frozen Skillet Sensations dinners) but I was seized by the urge to make it. After a slight hiccup at the grocery store (I couldn't find the heavy cream needed for the sauce - instead I found English Cream, Whipping Cream, Table Cream, Cooking Cream, Coffee Cream... Every cream EXCEPT for Heavy Cream) I nabbed all my ingredients (and a bottle of wine) and went home.
The sauce turned out surprisingly well. I ended up using Cooking Cream (with 35% fat). I added a lot more garlic to the sauce than called for, and I also added salt and pepper because it was looking really bland. I'm glad I did. I fried up some veggies (carrots, zucchini and peas) to serve on top of my pasta and it was divine!
The next day I started the day off with a jog and just puttered around my apartment for the morning/afternoon. That evening I had agreed to go out for a Chinese buffet to celebrate Double-10 Day. Apparently it's Taiwan's National Day. I had a terrific time at the dinner - there were 4 other women and we had a ball chatting and stuffing ourselves. It was a nice change because since I moved to Montreal, I've been hanging around with mostly guys, so it was delightful getting a dose of estrogen. I was amazed at the one Chinese girl who joined us - she at SO MUCH! My stomach hurt just watching her. That being said, it was also a pleasure watching her - there's nothing more infuriating than going to a buffet and have someone just nibble here and there and making you feel self-conscious about eating. Well, this certainly was not the case for our group. We ate. And ate. And ate some more.
The next day I went to Old Montreal to go for a walking tour organized by one of the members of Meetin.org. It was really interesting! And it was just a nice change to go to Old Montreal and not look at the same buildings - we took some different routes than I normally take, and I got to learn both some modern and old history (including architectural laws from the 1900s on how to build "sky scrapers", and why old row houses were built the way they were.). The only problem with the walk was the bitter wind that was whistling around. I had to take off my big dangling earrings because they were flapping around in the wind so much. And my Chinese friend (the one I met last night and who decided to blow off a date in order to come to the walk instead) was freeeeezing. She only had a light jacket and no gloves. Yikes!
After the walk I signed up for a movie membership at Club Videotron and rented some films. The plan was to make some homemade cannelloni for dinner and indulge in some more wine. Well. Not only did I make cannelloni, but I also whipped up a caesar salad (with some homemade croutons!) and while I was baking the pasta, I also decided to whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. I was a veritable domestic goddess!
While enjoying the fruits of my labour I started watching the first of my movies. I rented "My Life in Ruins." It was a cute movie, not excellent, but amusing. It's a bit of a shame because the woman's first movie ("My Big Fat Greek Wedding") was so amazing. This one was full of clichés, stereotypes, and bad dialogue. It had so much potential but flopped. My favourite part of the movie was the portrayal of Canadians. :) We're such a cute nation!
Yesterday morning I forced myself to go for another jog again. I like my neighborhood jogs because I get to see all the side streets and learn the street names. Well, this time I learned to not try to jog on Cote St-Luc again. Ugh. Uphill. With no side streets to go down. Yup. Definitely avoiding that street again.
After cleaning myself up and having some lunch I forced myself to go out shopping. (It was nearly 1PM and I was rapidly losing incentive to go out.) I'm happy that I did go out though because I managed to buy 2 new pairs of pants (I recently admitted to myself that my last pair of black dress pants were too worn out to wear to work anymore). An even happier event was that I successfully got $50 back from a coat I bought last week! (I bought the jacket last week at regular price, but this week there was a 25% sale on it.) I then managed to postpone buying a cute pair of heeled boots I found and wandered around Walmart instead.
Now by yesterday evening all my incentive too cook deserted me, so I just had grilled cheese sandwiches and wine. I watched my second movie, "Fighting." It wasn't a bad movie, but again, the plot wasn't very well developed, the romance aspect was very poor, and you couldn't really sympathic with most of the characters. The only good thing about it was Channing Tatum. He's cute.
And thus ended my weekend. It was just really great and I enjoyed getting out and about!
I started off Friday night by making alfredo sauce from scratch. I've only had alfredo a few times before (usually as part of the pre-packaged frozen Skillet Sensations dinners) but I was seized by the urge to make it. After a slight hiccup at the grocery store (I couldn't find the heavy cream needed for the sauce - instead I found English Cream, Whipping Cream, Table Cream, Cooking Cream, Coffee Cream... Every cream EXCEPT for Heavy Cream) I nabbed all my ingredients (and a bottle of wine) and went home.
The sauce turned out surprisingly well. I ended up using Cooking Cream (with 35% fat). I added a lot more garlic to the sauce than called for, and I also added salt and pepper because it was looking really bland. I'm glad I did. I fried up some veggies (carrots, zucchini and peas) to serve on top of my pasta and it was divine!
The next day I started the day off with a jog and just puttered around my apartment for the morning/afternoon. That evening I had agreed to go out for a Chinese buffet to celebrate Double-10 Day. Apparently it's Taiwan's National Day. I had a terrific time at the dinner - there were 4 other women and we had a ball chatting and stuffing ourselves. It was a nice change because since I moved to Montreal, I've been hanging around with mostly guys, so it was delightful getting a dose of estrogen. I was amazed at the one Chinese girl who joined us - she at SO MUCH! My stomach hurt just watching her. That being said, it was also a pleasure watching her - there's nothing more infuriating than going to a buffet and have someone just nibble here and there and making you feel self-conscious about eating. Well, this certainly was not the case for our group. We ate. And ate. And ate some more.
The next day I went to Old Montreal to go for a walking tour organized by one of the members of Meetin.org. It was really interesting! And it was just a nice change to go to Old Montreal and not look at the same buildings - we took some different routes than I normally take, and I got to learn both some modern and old history (including architectural laws from the 1900s on how to build "sky scrapers", and why old row houses were built the way they were.). The only problem with the walk was the bitter wind that was whistling around. I had to take off my big dangling earrings because they were flapping around in the wind so much. And my Chinese friend (the one I met last night and who decided to blow off a date in order to come to the walk instead) was freeeeezing. She only had a light jacket and no gloves. Yikes!
After the walk I signed up for a movie membership at Club Videotron and rented some films. The plan was to make some homemade cannelloni for dinner and indulge in some more wine. Well. Not only did I make cannelloni, but I also whipped up a caesar salad (with some homemade croutons!) and while I was baking the pasta, I also decided to whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. I was a veritable domestic goddess!
While enjoying the fruits of my labour I started watching the first of my movies. I rented "My Life in Ruins." It was a cute movie, not excellent, but amusing. It's a bit of a shame because the woman's first movie ("My Big Fat Greek Wedding") was so amazing. This one was full of clichés, stereotypes, and bad dialogue. It had so much potential but flopped. My favourite part of the movie was the portrayal of Canadians. :) We're such a cute nation!
Yesterday morning I forced myself to go for another jog again. I like my neighborhood jogs because I get to see all the side streets and learn the street names. Well, this time I learned to not try to jog on Cote St-Luc again. Ugh. Uphill. With no side streets to go down. Yup. Definitely avoiding that street again.
After cleaning myself up and having some lunch I forced myself to go out shopping. (It was nearly 1PM and I was rapidly losing incentive to go out.) I'm happy that I did go out though because I managed to buy 2 new pairs of pants (I recently admitted to myself that my last pair of black dress pants were too worn out to wear to work anymore). An even happier event was that I successfully got $50 back from a coat I bought last week! (I bought the jacket last week at regular price, but this week there was a 25% sale on it.) I then managed to postpone buying a cute pair of heeled boots I found and wandered around Walmart instead.
Now by yesterday evening all my incentive too cook deserted me, so I just had grilled cheese sandwiches and wine. I watched my second movie, "Fighting." It wasn't a bad movie, but again, the plot wasn't very well developed, the romance aspect was very poor, and you couldn't really sympathic with most of the characters. The only good thing about it was Channing Tatum. He's cute.
And thus ended my weekend. It was just really great and I enjoyed getting out and about!
Monday, October 05, 2009
Yahoos asking questions
I've become addicted to Yahoo Answers (answers.yahoo.com). It's a great site - you can ask questions to the entire public about anything and people can answer back. The topics vary from books to cooking to relationship advice. The system operates on points (ask a question -5 points, answer a question +2 points, etc.).
Some questions are fun, some are lazy, some are strange, and some are just mind-boggling.
The lazy questions are most often posted by students who are essentially asking people to do their homework for them. I have to admit, I'm bothered by these kinds of questions. The kids are cheating, and people are helping them do it. I've answered a few questions where students have asked for help, but I've always tried to do it in a way that makes the kid think about the answer. So when I see students getting help from random strangers, it bugs me because they're not thinking for themselves.
The mind-boggling questions bother me in that the show how ignorant people can be. Often, I see these questions in the Pregnancy or medical categories of the site. It seems like there are so many teenagers asking "Gee, I did this and this in bed, could I have gotten pregnant?" When I read those I just want to slam my head on my desk. I get that the US promotes abstinence, but come on! Wikipedia can teach you about safe sex! Go! Educate yourselves! I also hate the questions where people list their symptoms and say, "What disease do I have?" I mean, would you trust a random stranger on the street to diagnose you? No? Then why would you trust a random stranger on the internet? It's just encouraging a whole generation of hypochondriacs.
Since the majority of the users are obviously American (with a dash of Europeans, Canucks, and Aussies) I'm dismayed by the lack of thought that goes into them. Is this an example of the general thought process of an American? Or is it just that all the stupid people are congregating in one area?
Despite all this ranting and raving I will continue to use and stalk the site. It is fun to find questions that ask, "In Canada, where do polar bears sit on the bus?" or "What's making you happy today?" It's also great to find cooking tips or suggestions on books to read. And in general, it's just fascinating to find out what's important to different people.
Some questions are fun, some are lazy, some are strange, and some are just mind-boggling.
The lazy questions are most often posted by students who are essentially asking people to do their homework for them. I have to admit, I'm bothered by these kinds of questions. The kids are cheating, and people are helping them do it. I've answered a few questions where students have asked for help, but I've always tried to do it in a way that makes the kid think about the answer. So when I see students getting help from random strangers, it bugs me because they're not thinking for themselves.
The mind-boggling questions bother me in that the show how ignorant people can be. Often, I see these questions in the Pregnancy or medical categories of the site. It seems like there are so many teenagers asking "Gee, I did this and this in bed, could I have gotten pregnant?" When I read those I just want to slam my head on my desk. I get that the US promotes abstinence, but come on! Wikipedia can teach you about safe sex! Go! Educate yourselves! I also hate the questions where people list their symptoms and say, "What disease do I have?" I mean, would you trust a random stranger on the street to diagnose you? No? Then why would you trust a random stranger on the internet? It's just encouraging a whole generation of hypochondriacs.
Since the majority of the users are obviously American (with a dash of Europeans, Canucks, and Aussies) I'm dismayed by the lack of thought that goes into them. Is this an example of the general thought process of an American? Or is it just that all the stupid people are congregating in one area?
Despite all this ranting and raving I will continue to use and stalk the site. It is fun to find questions that ask, "In Canada, where do polar bears sit on the bus?" or "What's making you happy today?" It's also great to find cooking tips or suggestions on books to read. And in general, it's just fascinating to find out what's important to different people.
Inter-generational B-Ball
After taking stock of yesterday's basketball games, I can't help but feel old. Kind of. Not really.
Thierry, Farid and I were playing basketball for about an hour when we suddenly decided to ask two kids who were on another court to join us. So the kids and I teamed up against Thierry and Farid. Despite being 3 vs. 2 we still got our butts kicked.
The kids left and then another group of kids who were probably 13 or 14ish came over and asked if they could play. (They were just hanging around the park, waiting for their football game to start.) Of course we said yes and then proceeded to get our butts kicked.
Now, to save my pride I should first mention that with the first 2 kids, I was paired up with 2 scrawny Asian kids. I mean, come on. Me with 2 short kids vs. Thierry and Farid who have long mutant arms and springs in their calves? Not a hope in hell. With the second group, I attribute our loss to the fact that we had been playing for an hour and a half while they were still fresh. And we later realized that they were subbing new players in randomly. So they were literally running circles around us.
I'd feel older but the kids were so immature that it's not so bad. But this is also the first time I've interacted with high school kids (my niece excepted) since well, high school! It wasn't until after the games were over that I realized just how much younger they probably were. And I think part of the difficulty of pegging down their age stemmed from their looks and behaviour.
One kid had his head shaved with little designs in the stubble. To me, I've always pictured that style as being older or belonging on a gang member of something (forgive my stereotyping). So seeing it on a kid (he also had a stud in one ear) was disconcerting. It was the same with the way they talked. They were cursing and swearing a streak on the court, razzing each other and us. It was funny to listen to, but it's certainly not how I remember talking when I was that age.
Their attitude was also funny. When they first asked to join we were trying to figure out how to even up the teams (since we only had 3 members on our team we needed to draft some of their friends but it was going to be an uneven number no matter what). I didn't catch the full remark but I overheard the one kid telling his friends, "... Well we can't kick the girl out!" I was taken aback by that. I haven't dealth with the whole school-yard "girls vs. boys" issues since the school yard! I was amused to realize that it was even an issue for them.
I did get my revenge later though when I surprised the one kid with some crazy defence skills of my own. Of course, keeping up and blocking him used up the last of my energy and left me gasping my way back and forth on the court.
Overall though it was a great day on the courts. I had a good workout. And it made me feel even better to later realize that I've lost 5 pounds without realizing it! Yay me!
Thierry, Farid and I were playing basketball for about an hour when we suddenly decided to ask two kids who were on another court to join us. So the kids and I teamed up against Thierry and Farid. Despite being 3 vs. 2 we still got our butts kicked.
The kids left and then another group of kids who were probably 13 or 14ish came over and asked if they could play. (They were just hanging around the park, waiting for their football game to start.) Of course we said yes and then proceeded to get our butts kicked.
Now, to save my pride I should first mention that with the first 2 kids, I was paired up with 2 scrawny Asian kids. I mean, come on. Me with 2 short kids vs. Thierry and Farid who have long mutant arms and springs in their calves? Not a hope in hell. With the second group, I attribute our loss to the fact that we had been playing for an hour and a half while they were still fresh. And we later realized that they were subbing new players in randomly. So they were literally running circles around us.
I'd feel older but the kids were so immature that it's not so bad. But this is also the first time I've interacted with high school kids (my niece excepted) since well, high school! It wasn't until after the games were over that I realized just how much younger they probably were. And I think part of the difficulty of pegging down their age stemmed from their looks and behaviour.
One kid had his head shaved with little designs in the stubble. To me, I've always pictured that style as being older or belonging on a gang member of something (forgive my stereotyping). So seeing it on a kid (he also had a stud in one ear) was disconcerting. It was the same with the way they talked. They were cursing and swearing a streak on the court, razzing each other and us. It was funny to listen to, but it's certainly not how I remember talking when I was that age.
Their attitude was also funny. When they first asked to join we were trying to figure out how to even up the teams (since we only had 3 members on our team we needed to draft some of their friends but it was going to be an uneven number no matter what). I didn't catch the full remark but I overheard the one kid telling his friends, "... Well we can't kick the girl out!" I was taken aback by that. I haven't dealth with the whole school-yard "girls vs. boys" issues since the school yard! I was amused to realize that it was even an issue for them.
I did get my revenge later though when I surprised the one kid with some crazy defence skills of my own. Of course, keeping up and blocking him used up the last of my energy and left me gasping my way back and forth on the court.
Overall though it was a great day on the courts. I had a good workout. And it made me feel even better to later realize that I've lost 5 pounds without realizing it! Yay me!
Friday, October 02, 2009
Donating blood
My family prides itself on being tough. We always joke about the wimps who can't stand seeing blood on TV. Our byline in the house was, "Suck it up!" If we weren't feeling well my mother would tell my sisters and I to either gargle with salt water, have a hot chocolate, or take a tylenol (those were her miracle cures; I could have had a broken leg and she'd tell me to gargle with salt water).
Well, I let the family down this week. You see, in our house it was a rule when you were 17 that you had to start donating blood. (Okay, so it wasn't strictly enforced - but we were strongly encouraged to donate when we could.) I've donated at least 7 times in the past. Unfortunately for me donating was a bit more of a pain because apparently I have tiny veins. The nurses always have trouble finding one, and then it takes me about twice as long to donate as other people just because it takes so long for the blood to flow. And to encourage faster blood flow, they give me something to squeeze and release, squeeze and release, etc. so by the end of my donation, my arm is aching where the needle is poking out.
Twice while I was in university I even had a bit of a fainting spell after donating. (I never actually fainted, but the room would start to brighten and/or darken and I'd have to lay back down for another 15 minutes. Usually these were caused by my own stupid fault for not eating properly or because it was really hot outside.
Well, I'll admit that I've been a slacker over the past year and a half. While in Ottawa and Owen Sound I just didn't think of donating, and then when I was in Toronto I was always too hungry after work to even contemplating donating (and from my fainting spells I learned not to try to donate without eating first). So when Héma-Quebec (the Quebec equivalent to the Canadian Blood Services) started an ad campaign promoting blood donation, I felt obligated to go.
So on Wednesday I trooped over to the local blood drive being held at the Université de Québec à Montréal and managed to wrangle my way through the registration process. (I like the Quebec system a bit better - maybe it was because the nurses had to slow down to speak in English, but it felt less rushed and more personable than in Ontario.) I was a bit nervous - it had been a long time since I last donated of course - I wasn't looking forward to the extended unpleasant ache that I mentioned before.
But the moment I sat down in the cot, my nervousness level jumped up. I tried to focus on the posters and other university decorations, but I also watched the nurse. She couldn't find my vein. She tried both arms and finally settled on the left because she could very faintly feel it. So she finally stuck the needle in... But there was no blood. Now, the moment the needle entered me, my uncomfortableness started ratcheting up again just from the memories of my other bad donation episodes. She didn't dig the needle around, she didn't twist or do anything, she just gently moved it in place, etc. I couldn't even feel it moving... But knowing that it was there was freaking me out.
Throughout it all she kept asking if I was okay, did I want to stop, etc. I kept reassuring her that I'd be okay once we got started. Well, five minutes later she still couldn't find the vein. She asked if I wanted to give up, or if I was willing to try the other arm (and she promised that she'd get another nurse to try instead of her). I told her that sure, she could try the other arm. However, in the few seconds that it took her to get the needle out, I could tell that the room was alternately becoming brighter and darker - oops, I recognize this feeling! I'm going to pass out! I hastily tell her that no, I can't donate today afterall. I guess I was whiter than I realized, because she didn't seem surprised when I backed out. (I suspect that I had turned white the moment I sat down - I was just too stubborn to admit how nervous I was!)
I ended up having to sit in a "recovery" cot for 5 minutes even though I didn't donate (it was their requirement). And after that, I was forced to go to the refreshment table, and sadly I'll admit that having juice and a granola bar did wonders to restore me to my senses. (The whole ordeal reminds me of when I got my nose pierced - you're so nervous that you have to go get a bite to eat to raise your blood sugar levels to fight the shock you kind of go into.)
So I feel like an utter wimp and failure because I started to pass out before I even donated blood! Granted, I did sit there for 5 minutes with the needle stuck in my arm, but still! Even just sitting here and typing this memory is making my left arm ache. I honestly don't know if I'll be able to donate blood again. I'd like to think that I'll make the effort, but I'm so nervous that I'll have an episode like this again. So we'll see what happens. I think I'll try donating again... But I might have to bring along some moral support next time - if only to distract me from what's going on. At least I can take comfort in knowing that I have donated in the past. That I have made more of a difference than someone who has never given blood.
Well, I let the family down this week. You see, in our house it was a rule when you were 17 that you had to start donating blood. (Okay, so it wasn't strictly enforced - but we were strongly encouraged to donate when we could.) I've donated at least 7 times in the past. Unfortunately for me donating was a bit more of a pain because apparently I have tiny veins. The nurses always have trouble finding one, and then it takes me about twice as long to donate as other people just because it takes so long for the blood to flow. And to encourage faster blood flow, they give me something to squeeze and release, squeeze and release, etc. so by the end of my donation, my arm is aching where the needle is poking out.
Twice while I was in university I even had a bit of a fainting spell after donating. (I never actually fainted, but the room would start to brighten and/or darken and I'd have to lay back down for another 15 minutes. Usually these were caused by my own stupid fault for not eating properly or because it was really hot outside.
Well, I'll admit that I've been a slacker over the past year and a half. While in Ottawa and Owen Sound I just didn't think of donating, and then when I was in Toronto I was always too hungry after work to even contemplating donating (and from my fainting spells I learned not to try to donate without eating first). So when Héma-Quebec (the Quebec equivalent to the Canadian Blood Services) started an ad campaign promoting blood donation, I felt obligated to go.
So on Wednesday I trooped over to the local blood drive being held at the Université de Québec à Montréal and managed to wrangle my way through the registration process. (I like the Quebec system a bit better - maybe it was because the nurses had to slow down to speak in English, but it felt less rushed and more personable than in Ontario.) I was a bit nervous - it had been a long time since I last donated of course - I wasn't looking forward to the extended unpleasant ache that I mentioned before.
But the moment I sat down in the cot, my nervousness level jumped up. I tried to focus on the posters and other university decorations, but I also watched the nurse. She couldn't find my vein. She tried both arms and finally settled on the left because she could very faintly feel it. So she finally stuck the needle in... But there was no blood. Now, the moment the needle entered me, my uncomfortableness started ratcheting up again just from the memories of my other bad donation episodes. She didn't dig the needle around, she didn't twist or do anything, she just gently moved it in place, etc. I couldn't even feel it moving... But knowing that it was there was freaking me out.
Throughout it all she kept asking if I was okay, did I want to stop, etc. I kept reassuring her that I'd be okay once we got started. Well, five minutes later she still couldn't find the vein. She asked if I wanted to give up, or if I was willing to try the other arm (and she promised that she'd get another nurse to try instead of her). I told her that sure, she could try the other arm. However, in the few seconds that it took her to get the needle out, I could tell that the room was alternately becoming brighter and darker - oops, I recognize this feeling! I'm going to pass out! I hastily tell her that no, I can't donate today afterall. I guess I was whiter than I realized, because she didn't seem surprised when I backed out. (I suspect that I had turned white the moment I sat down - I was just too stubborn to admit how nervous I was!)
I ended up having to sit in a "recovery" cot for 5 minutes even though I didn't donate (it was their requirement). And after that, I was forced to go to the refreshment table, and sadly I'll admit that having juice and a granola bar did wonders to restore me to my senses. (The whole ordeal reminds me of when I got my nose pierced - you're so nervous that you have to go get a bite to eat to raise your blood sugar levels to fight the shock you kind of go into.)
So I feel like an utter wimp and failure because I started to pass out before I even donated blood! Granted, I did sit there for 5 minutes with the needle stuck in my arm, but still! Even just sitting here and typing this memory is making my left arm ache. I honestly don't know if I'll be able to donate blood again. I'd like to think that I'll make the effort, but I'm so nervous that I'll have an episode like this again. So we'll see what happens. I think I'll try donating again... But I might have to bring along some moral support next time - if only to distract me from what's going on. At least I can take comfort in knowing that I have donated in the past. That I have made more of a difference than someone who has never given blood.
Breakfast of blah
Ugh. I've tried eating oatmeal before and never liked it. This week because of the cold, I was inspired to try it again. It was another uber-fail. How can people consume the stuff? The taste isn't bad, but the texture is grotesque! It's like eating runny eggs mixed with snot. Normally I find the taste also unappealing, but I mixed my bowl with a tablespoon of peanut butter and that alleviated its grossness, but not enough to finish the entire bowl. So dear readers, I ask you what you'd suggest as a way of trying to improve a bowl of oatmeal? Besides you know, erasing it from existence in the first place.
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