Urinal

Who was this person? The guy who thought...

"Man... I really need to go pee, but woah woah woah, not on that thing"
"Why not? it's a toilet?"
"No, too low down, I refuse to sit, I must stand when I pee"
"okay... well why don't you stand in front of the bowl here and pee then?"
"Absolutely not! What am I, an Animal? No, I must invent a way so that I may pee into a specially designed contraption that I may hang on a wall"
"Brilliant Idea! But, what will you call it? Twoilet?"
"A 'Urinal', I will encompass it's nature of both collecting Urine, and 'all' of it."
"Inspired, but I still don't understand whats wrong with using the toilet..."
"Thats becuase you are not as great a thinker as I"



And that, I am sure, is how it must have happened.

Cynical? Perhaps.

Wow! I'm still a failure at keeping up on the blog. I need to stop wasting my pondering on "Real Conversation" and start translating it into zeros and ones for the enjoyment of those wishing to read a blog! Well, it wouldn't so much be me who is translating it into zeros and ones, but rather the computer. I'm just translating it from mind-waves to movements of my fingers. Whereas then YOU, the reader, will translate these marks on the computer screen into mindwaves, and perhaps even sounds (if you read it out loud) and then! Furthermore! Anybody in the vicinity would translate those sounds into meaningful words which they could in turn use. The chain will go on forever, and you are a pivitol point in it's succession. Makes you feel important no?

However, speaking of importance, that is the subject that is on my mind at the moment. It's in regards to importance in the world, importance in the eyes of others and importance in you own mind. In another blog, maybe the next one, I'll explain in greater detail what I'm referring to, but my sister did this little test on me the other day called the "Cube in the desert" test. Now, i won't give away what it is, but it started to raise the question of importance to me, more specifically how important am I to myself, and where to other people stand on the same topic. Which then in turn (much like the chain of events above, see how I brought it full circle), made me think about peoples view of what makes them important in the world, like in regards to success or impact.

Now, there are so many questions in my mind that arise from that, and I realise that I want to keep this particular blog fairly short as I am (yet again) applying for citizenship in the procrasti-nation, (Lab exams). But in short, my somewhat sobering thought today is the question of is my generation (or maybe more specifically me) on the right track? I mean... maybe it's just the circles I run in... but.. hmm, how to I word it.
I have many dear friends who are like me. They have aspirations of success in particular fields, they have dreams, they have interests. These interests, dreams, aspirations I'm referring to are more specifically in the area of entertainment. (And this is where the doubts begin). I wonder if my generation, and myself entirely included, are deluded by success stories? I mean, Recently I bought "Cannibal! The Musical" which immidiatly became a favorite. This is an indipenantly made student film that began the careers of two men who rose to great "success". These men are Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park. Now in many regards, they are a perfect success story, they did something they loved, they worked hard at it and it payed off. This is an inspiration! "Just do it", do what you love, thats how those people succeeded! Then a little bit closer to home, well... quite a bit closer to home, we have "Secret and Whisper", a very successful band that has a very similar story, a bunch of guys doing something they love, doing it well, and their hard work paid off (as they just got back from playing in front of thousands in Japan). But... are stories such as this raising false hopes of success in my mind? In the minds of my friends? I have friends who are aspiring film makers... I also have friends who are aspiring musicians, all examples who are remarkably talented in my mind. But... there are thousands out there like them... are we deluded into thinking that we might somehow achieve our dreams? And if thats the case... (heres the kicker, controversial statement alert!) is it worth it even to have them?

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not grounded into ANY of these opinions. I write my blog in a free flowing train of thought manner... there was no outline beforehand haha, so those final few sentences were written as they came to my mind in the "logical progression" of what i'm thinking at this moment, but I just thought I'd write something that was on my mind. As I said, the "Cube" test brought MANY thoughts into my head, and they could never be fit into one blog (I would overload the blogger memory banks, the site would crash likely).
I will finish with one thought though... Whether or not I have motivation towards following my own dreams, or even have any sort of hope (depending on the day) of breaking past doubt and cynicism, I guess it comes down to enjoying life for what it is. Not worrying about the future, because that's not here yet, I'll worry about it when it's the present. I will of course, look forward to the future, but in my mind that is much different from worrying.

I'll leave you all with something that always makes my day

Flies

Flies piss me off, and I think I know why...  What it is, is the fact that they don't just fly around and buzz everywhere, but they never fly in a specific direction.  I watched a fly go around in circles, figure eights, up, down and around an area of 1/2 a foot before landing.  Why?? Whats so hard to figure out Fly?  Why do you have to buzz around everywhere in this maniac frenzy, and be so uncertain about something so simple as "Where you are going"

I don't know... I'm just in a ruined mood to be honest, and I'm taking it out on you fly... I apologise.  On a positive note, I do wish I could see through your eyes.. just for a second though, I wonder if it would just be the "TV screens" type view that cartoons will depict... or maybe it's this entirely new perception of the world on an entirely new metaphysical level that we couldn't even begin to understand.

A friend and I once heard a man say that flies were pure evil and a result of a fallen world becuase they fed off death which wouldn't have existed in Eden.  I disagree sir. Flies also eat poop.

On another note, they are everywhere, and can also be sort of pretty.  I've seen flies with a really nice green and purple shine on their surface that could put a peacock to shame.  Diamonds in the rough?


I think I'm just jealous of you fly.  You can slip away from it all... as a matter of fact, there is no "all" about it.  A Fly on the wall has no worries I guess.

Hakuna Matata Fly, 
Hakuna Matata.

Overdue

Well I suck.   Obviously this blog has been neglected, and thats no good...  I'm not quite sure the reasoning, it's not lack of inspiration thats for sure, as a matter of fact I'm constantly thinking "oh man, this (or that) would is totally what I'm going to write about in my next blog"...  But it doesn't seem to happen that way unfortunatly.  Believe me, i've had some awesome ideas, but unfortunatly they havn't taken shape yet in my mind well enough to pass for a decent blog post (not that this one is above par either...).
So, this one won't be thoughtful, or funny, or based on any specific topic, I just figured I'd give a quick update on my comings and goings.  For one, the biggest news in the past little while I guess is that I got a second Job, lifeguarding, and thats going well.... the only downside is my most regular shift is lessons on saturday mornings, after my graveyard shift (which is sometimes after my guarding shift).   This go go go schedule is sort of taking it's toll on me... I can feel it wearing me thin, BUT maybe thats just from these past 2 weeks of it, midterms and stuff too, just alot of stress in a short period of time.   Load aside, the job is good, the people are great and I'm sure most can agree... thats what makses a job worthwhile.
In other news...
Well, I dont' know if there is any other news.  For anyone who might glance at this blog who knows me from Perth, a friend of mine has gone down for oct dts which is kind of cool, worth mentioning for sure.   I don't know... maybe I'll just throw some "headlines" down to give this a bit more of a varied feeling... but overall I just wanted to write a new blog tonight, but didn't know what to write.
-Iron Man is the best Marvel superhero movie, followed quickly by the newest Hulk
- I'm becoming increasingly paranoid, probably as a result of worn-out'ness
- Heroes Season 3 has been tragically dissapointing so far
- I wish Mike was in town
- I really want to see "Role-Models", and I think it has potential to be funnier than "Superbad" thanks to the amazing Paul Rudd.

Oh! last night on my way home some idiot came just ripping around a relatively blind corner (just before Gates rd) in the oncoming (my) lane.  If I had been going a bit faster?  Yikes... I might not have been sitting here writing this post.  

Anyways, time for sleep.

Not for them to decide

The other day I had this scene pop into my head, and just the memory of it really moved me. I wouldn't be surprised if it came down to this speech as the deciding factor that makes "The Fellowship of the Ring" my favorite of the 'Rings' movies.
But that aside, Isn't it a really poignant speech? Touching on the the issue of mercy and pity, it really hits me in regards to when Gandalf says "Do not be be eager to deal out death and judgment, even the very wise cannot see all ends". How many times can we all testify to catching ourselves being exactly that... too eager to deal out judgment on others... the moral check in this speech is a powerful one I think... even when it comes from a wizard.

But the really hard hitting line is the one that defined the first film... and quickly became one of my favorite quotes of all time

"So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide, all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us"

Gandalf then goes on to say that there are other forces in this world besides the will of evil... and continues on about destiny to a certain extent.
"And that is an encouraging thought"

I don't know, I'm not going to dissect the whole dialogue because I'm sure it means different things to different people.... But I just wanted to share that movie moment with everyone again, because the theme and message behind it hits me pretty hard.

Cony Genocide?

For those of you who live in Kelowna, I'm sure you are well aware of this (apparently) life altering situation, in which threats are being made to authorities over the resolution.... It is a situation that so dearly struck chords and pulled the hearts of the public that any sort of related news continues to make the front page, and every development of the story keeps the people of Kelowna riveted to the news, constantly raising controversy due to, what some people see as, the sickest most brutal event that could ever be conceived...

I'm talking, of course, about rabbits.

Now for any readers unaware of the situation, it's quite simple. Kelowna's downtown area is full of Rabbits, and they run around everywhere, they eat plans, burrow in city lawns, and run around on the street. Cute, no? Nonetheless, they are considered a pest, and the City of Kelowna has decided to pay a particular business to cull the rabbits. This raised such an uproar from the public that more money was then spent to try to find particular humane ways to deal with them, such as relocations and such (with some people ridiculously suggested neutering the population so that they couldn't expand anymore... obviously not realizing the ridiculous cost and absurd difficulty of such an operation...) etc etc.

So thats the situation.... "why write about this Jon? What's struck a chord and/or irritated you enough you enough to bring this current event to our attention?". Well, dear reader, todays front page of the Daily Courier is why. Headline "Alert Security Guard halts attack on Rabbits". Now, the subject matter isn't what irritates me, stopping punk teens beating on animals is a good thing, no doubt about that. It's what is said by those interviewed.... and I believe it's the biggest problem with the whole culling controversy as well.

People keep referring to those things as "Bunnies". Thats it, and thats what gets me... you see, since this whole thing has come to attention, even facebook groups have started up "Save the Bunnies", not "save the rabbits" but "save the Bunnies". It's this immediate "cutesifying" (My word, feel free to use it) of these animals that all of a sudden makes it seem like a state sanctioned genocide to deal with their overpopulation problem. Whats worse, is that people have even begun to personify each "Bunny", giving everyone the impression that we are killing Peter Rabbit.... In the (entirely justifiable, don't get me wrong) article in todays paper, this was said...

"One of them threw [a spear like stick] and hit one of the bunnies. The Bunnies were all running - they didn't know which way to go"

... Now again, I don't want anyone to get the impression that I'm criticizing the article's subject matter.... But
"...they didn't know which way to go".... well of course..... I mean, someone was chasing them, so they ran, I'm sure we've all chased a wild animal before, be it a quail or a chipmunk.... and they run, out of instinct.... this quote shows the personification of these animals in the same sense as if we could interview the rabbit "Yes chuck.... I was so scared... I looked left and right, but they were all around me! My life flashed before my eyes, but boy am I glad that I'm safe"..

Now, I know this post makes it sound like I'm saying "Why do people care about the 'bunnies'" But I'm not, hurting animals malicously is obviously wrong, but what I notice in regards to these events is the term "bunny" makes them sympathetic creatures! I mean, we'll hire exterminators in a second to get rid of a rat infestation.... heck, we'll set mouse traps ourselves to kill off some mice... but when it comes to bunnies! oh no! not the Bunnies! Save the Bunnies... the Bunnies will be scared! The Bunnies deserve their homes....
Notice the sympathy you feel reading that? Bet you think I'm a jerk...

"Farmer Smith has finally saved his crops from this years infestation of Mice, Crows, Rabbits and Weasels"

"Farmer Jack has finally saved his crops from this years infestation of Mousies, Birds, Bunnies and other furry friends"

Wow....Farmer Jack is a cold hearted meanie... So does anyone see where I'm coming from?? This post wasn't very well structured, so I don't know if my point got across.... or if I have a bunch of angry readers thinking I condone rabbit beating.... bunny beating? But I just wanted to vent a little about my irritation with the personification and "Cutesifying" of the "scared bunnies"... just because of the term Bunny....
If there was a rat problem in Kelowna, and an exterminator came with poison gas to paralyze and kill all of them.... there still wouldn't be nearly as much commotion over it as there is now with the quick shooting (by high powered air rifles) of some of the "bunnies".
What's in a name?

A Milestone

It's been a while,
it's been too long


But finally I feel like I'm in the right mindset to write a blog. You see, I was waiting until I felt it was a right time.... this is a milestone after all. So I waited... and thats not to say that I didn't feel like I had some things to write about... I'm always filled with little things I could rant about... for example I could go on about something ridiculous like a movie on Pirates or Transforming robots... or I could write praise over particular movies about Jokers and Bats... but number 100 being entirely dedicated to that seemed.... well empty still.

However, I feel now I've reached the right point. Perhaps it's because my mind is in a place where I'm torn between happy and sad, or perhaps it's because there have been a few events in this past little while that to me are huge... or perhaps it's the music I'm listening to making me feel nostalgic or just ponderous... who knows... none the less, here's an update!

Well in the past few months I've been involved with Kelowna Actors Studio in their production of "Singin' in the Rain" which has been a blast, the shows ran all last month with closing night being just last night. Standing ovations almost every night, and the cast was amazing. It was a really funny experience... I don't know what it is but I wish I could watch myself and my own transformation when meeting new people. I remember when I first went to the rehearsals I was sheepish and shy for the most part, I didn't know who these people were, and I didn't know how to act. Now with the show done, I've realized that these people became some of my core friends for the most part as I spent most of my time this summer with them working towards this show. Now it's over, and I realize I probably won't see many of these people again for a year or more... and I'll miss that, I'll miss the familiarity that comes with memorized lines... haha, really I think I've ust become unfamiliar with living through a full week without my actions scripted out... yikes!
That being said, the bittersweet ending of the show does have the advantage of giving my some time back.... what I'll do with this time well who knows.... likely I'll do my best to spend time with those who I haven't been able to spend much time with this summer. (That being said, I'd like to publically thank Michelle for her patience and encouragement during the duration of the show, rehearsals through to "Hell week", through to closing night, thank you!).
But back to how I'll spend the free time? Well.... I'll no doubt be seeing The Dark Knight a few more times.... heh.

This past year.... what with school, plays, work, and all sorts of comings and goings.... boy, I must say I didn't expect the way it's all turned out. I feel while writing this blog, that 50 ago I would not have been able to predict the mindset, experience and emotions that this current incarnation of myself encompasses. That being said, would I consider myself a new person? haha the last few weeks have been filled with these sorts of questions for me... I mean, my physical make up is entirely different down to the molecular level, my experiences and memories have expanded and are different, what remains constant about "me"? My hair is even short now! haha Who could have predicted that. Boy, even my reflection through me off for a while there.

Enough Philosophy for this blog though, wasn't Heath Ledger remarkable in the Dark Knight? Wow, Iconic, and chilling. It really hits me with how much of a loss it is to lose such a talented actor. My favorite scene with the Joker is a tough one to pinpoint... I kind of wander back and forth between the entire collection of one liners which are just fantastically delivered... to moments that truly frightened me such as that execution video...

"he shows us we don't have to be afraid of scum like you"
"oh yes you do Bryan... yes you do. Look at me.... LOOK AT ME!"

Creepy.

In other news... The future is still uncertain, and boy oh boy do I let myself stress about it still. The shows were amazing to take my mind off of them, with those, plus WSI courses, plus work (oh glorious graveyard), plus volunteering hours and then my odd leisure pastimes haha such as swimming across the lake... well, my body reached an exhaustion point. I am well aware that there are many of you out there that are even busier than I was, and I do not envy you... I reached a point where waking up in the morning I wasn't sure my legs wouldn't buckle underneath me haha pfft, I'm a wimp.

I feel I should make a reference to my time in Australia in this blog... seeing as the majority of this milestone achievement was compiled during my time there. Well.... to speak to that "Jon" back then.... haha I don't know what to say... I think one of these days I'm going to read back through my blogs, and then perhaps my hard journal (which I haven't picked up in months... a year perhaps? woah) and try to put myself back in that place... what a trip will that be! To clearly remember the things that were current events for me back then, and then try to look forward towards todays current events. It'd be interesting I think, and so, I shall do it.

What do I look forward to from now though? Who knows... maybe if I get busy I can be writing my 200th come this time next year.... what will I be "looking back on"? hmm... well, I know I can look forward to this upcoming semester of required courses I want nothing more than to NOT take, bio, stats, geo? Fantastic... Also, I can look forward to my upcoming roles with the Studio... That will be fun, and hopefully a nice reunion with many of my Singin' in the Rain friends. I'm also looking forward to the fall at the moment.... not because I want summer to end, but earlier today (and at the moment for that matter) I was listening to a CD that I fell in love with last fall, and drinking tea, again, a fall thing for the most part. It took me back, and just filled me with an.... anticipation that this fall could be similar to that of this past one... all my hopes are that thats a good thing! (for those who may wonder, the CD is "The Shepard's Dog" by 'Iron and Wine').

So far this summer has been amazing.
So far this Year has been amazing.

But to end this Milestone blog, although the update itself wasn't anything too amazing, I would like to thank you. The reader. Many of you, or both of you, or just you singular haha have been following it for a while, some even since it's "debut" and for that I thank you so much. You've been a part of my life in that sense, as I narrate you through my comings and goings, and you deserve a pat on the back for having the patience to keep coming back. (Especially those with the patience to wait for, come back and read this 100 post haha). Although they won't read it, I'd also like to thank those who came to my blog during my time in Perth, some just once, some leaving comments, and some passing it on to my family that they had been following it. Hahah I hope someday I can once again lead a life that is exciting enough to draw such readers, but until that day I thank you for sticking with me.
Thank you.

Now I need to do something worthy of post 101.

- Jonathan Arkle

There could be something wrong with me

Why is it that if I ever buy Super Mario I can't for the life of me resist hitting every single little question mark block....
It's not that I want to.... and I can miss any coin my little mario runs by... but those blocks... what sort of hidden wonders could be inside? I'm not very good at the game so I'm almost always "little mario"... so naturally my hopes are constantly something like "Maybe it's a mushroom....or better a flower!! oh cruel fates! a coin! ONE coin" Sometimes I end up losing the flower or mushroom I DID have in my efforts to get to the block... why?
None the less... whether it's obsession, some sort of OCD, or just plain nerdiness.... I cannot resist the yellow question marked blocks.... I'll leave no block unchecked.

In other related news for things that If I were to do differently, people would view me as being normal.... Mike perhaps is the only person reading the blog aware that I've been doing this since I was much younger. I'm still strongly dedicated to always leaving Johnson Bentley pool by walking out the "in" door. This includes the process of me using my strong little fingers to obtain a "pressure grip" on the 1cm wide ridge of the doors window, then pull the "push one way only" foor towards me so that I can leave the same way I came in. This was a horrible little habit of mine when I was younger... it would torture me (when I was conscious of it) if I could not leave a building through the same doorway or window or whatever that I entered. It was a sense of completeness that I obtained from it. Perhaps not too dissimilar from the Mario Blocks.

No, scratch that, its' different, definitely weirder.

Last night Mike, Danny and I went to Kelly O's for some drinks and pacho's, and we got onto a conversation about riddles. Some were good, some were bad... some weren't even riddles (And almost all could be answered with "It was the smoke monster from Lost" so THAT'S the Dharma initiative....)... Now, as I started to write this I had intentions of asking YOU READER on of the riddles we couldn't figure out... But I can't remember the wording.. so I'm afraid I've led you to disappointment I'm sure... Then we moved onto Disney movies where it was agreed upon unanimously that any Disney cartoon pre-Tarzan was "classic", and Tarzan's saving grace was the Phil Collins soundtrack... anything after that? Pixar animation.... how disappointing.


This is my 99th Blog post.... Not my best... But my next one HAS to be good.... yikes Pressure

Snakes, I hate snakes

So, Indiana Jones you are back for another adventure.... and what do you have in store for us this time? We've seen you fight those Raiding Nazi's for the Lost Ark of the Covenant and it's unknowable majesty and power, we've seen you travel to Temples of doom, and even drink from the Holy Grail, wielding the power of immortality. What Henry Jones Jr. will you face in your new great adventure?

-- If you have not seen the movie, then for your sake I have written the following in black, just so you may be spared the spoilers.

So reader has been warned



ALIENS???? ARE YOU JOKING???

I mean... I understand, I'm a critique on movies, and lately it's been a rare occurrence for me to give a blockbuster a chance, (or any movie for that matter) But really.... Aliens????? At least it wasn't the ending itself... the "Alien" secret was pretty obvious right from the get-go despite a few of the characters saying at the end "Wait... space men!?". None the less.... not 10 minutes into the movie... the key factor is introduced.

The beginning seemed promising, the groundhog hill bit was a funny little homage to the old Indy flicks, and the soviets immediately storming the scene was true to the Indiana Jones movies we know and love. Then we saw "The Warehouse".

'YES! an homage to Raiders, thats awesome, I wonder if we'll see the Ark.. i hope so, that would be cool, wait maybe not, maybe it would be corny... Jon, Pay attention to the movie...'

Then I see it...
'Whats that? A giant 51 on the door? hmm... Area-51 I guess... thats appropriate, take away from that absurd alien reputation for Area-51 and give it a good solid "Government secret storage" thing.
Appropriate, good call...anyways, I wonder what they are looking for....

Magnetic... interesting.....in a crate... interesting... wait... whats that.... R...osw...ell... oh no... please no.... please don't do this Lucas.... Spielberg! STOP HIM!'

And that was it.... when that crate was opened, the movie had ventured into a new place that Indy writing had never dared to touch on before. No more religious relics, no more power of God, no more bull whip and Nazi's. Now we have Cate Blanchette as "Comrade Scully", looking for the crystal skully of space aliens as the movie continues to take Indy to locations and legends with SO MUCH POTENTIAL.... but such little satisfaction. But I guess what can we expect from this modern age of scientology... makes sense that Xenu is behind it all naturally.
You see.... Indiana Jones is an archaeologist, and now he's running after supernatural skulls that hold alien powers... He is no longer in the same sort of field that he was in previously, instead he is now playing the type of people that were "Predator Fodder" in the AVP movies as they looked for ancient Alien temples under ice and stuff. Except now it's in South America. Surely there could have been some other sort of legends they could have gone off of... especially when dealing with topics such as El Dorado, and Mayans.... but no... instead it's Indiana Jones and the psychic trans-dimensional crystal aliens. (Oh, I almost forgot the multitudes of scenes of cute furry animals... that didn't really add anything to the plot.... whats with the groundhogs and the soviet hating monkeys? anyways)


Even me... who has become infamous to some for being critical over the movies they love, making fun of little writing errors and silly concepts, am in awe of this movie. I mean, as a movie, I loved it. Indiana Jones himself is a legend no matter how old he is. As I said before, the homages to the old movies are great, you even get a glimpse of the Ark of the Covenant which was pretty cool. However my exasperation towards this movie can literally be summed up in the one word below


Aliens?

Pink Flowers

Yesterday during my long sit at the college studying... studying... studying... I took a short moment to peer out the window.

Where my study carole was situated right next to a window overlooking a row of flowers below me. It was then when I saw the most precious thing... I think it genuinely was the high point of my entire day. A little girl, skipping alongside her mom, with excited about the whole world around her, actually stopped to stick her nose deep inside this larger pink flower to take a good long smell. She then continued on.

Now, although I understand that there is a natural sense of cynicism and boring demeanor does seem to take on us as we grow up, I wish that I could see people my age doing that sort of thing. I think it's a loss of wonder over the world that we start to pick up... I know I have, for example I used to find a pile of logs in our yard fascinating as I grew up... my sister and I affectionately referred to it as "Grasshopper" because we conceived it to look like a massive grasshopper in our vibrant imaginations. I used to spend hours playing outside, and one of my favorite spots was a rock that I appropriately dubbed "Big Rock". One of my favorite sites to set up camp in my romps through the world. Nowadays, I know I've definitely become more consumed with matters of entertainment that other people have prepared for me, or worrying myself with the current events of friends or with preoccupying myself in front of a screen. I wish I could tap back into a sense of wonder, a sense of appreciation for the simple things. I used to, I do sometimes... but not as often as I need to.

Yesterday I walked past those flowers without thinking about smelling them... even in those few hours I had forgotten.

Today, someone had smashed them to bits.


Listening to: Joshua Radin

Proud citizen of the Procrasti Nation

Yikes.... Although this is the worst possible thing I could decide to do right now... I've been meaning to sign on and write a blog for weeks now and kept... well, not.

SO! Procrastination commencing, I'm currently "studying" for one of my upcoming exams, Philosophy fun fun, however the topics aren't particularly fascinating to write one, fun to discuss... but essays are never the top of my list for pastimes.

Thats boring... onto more exciting topics, yesterday after work I stopped the car at the top of my driveway to watch the neighbor dog hunt gophers.

Not very exciting either... I feel as if I am running out of things to talk about...that hardly seems possible though, maybe just exciting things to talk about, instead I'm wasting YOUR time talking about gopher hunting jack sparriers.

Actually... on the note of gophers however, my house has recently been surrounded by all sorts of animals, deer on the lawn, gophers in the ground, pheasants cruising about, robins hitting windows. Spring is here, despite the crazy weather we've been having in the last few days, it snowed on Saturday, and hailed on friday! Something isn't right there...
In other musings....
I don't think it's fair to clump finals into this big slot of time AFTER classes are finished. I mean.... there was this horrible false sense of cheer the other day when I walked out of my final class for the semester.... only to realize that I now have two weeks of "false" break time, where I can't ask prof's for clarification, and I have entire days to study left wholly to my own discipline (very weak discipline at times as you can see...). Then there is this looming sense of dread for each approaching exam... sure I can be calmed by some sort of procrastination or distraction, but that hardly helps. Oh well, I'm not the only one in this situation I know that.

What will be nice, is the reward following my final exam on the 29th, FOR on the 30th is a concert that I have been anticipating for the longest time. For the past.... maybe 4 years now I've been wanting to see this one band live, As I Lay Dying. Even before the days of facebook and even before Myspace, (in the age when everyones "personalized internet outreach to the world" was their MSN messenger profile), my profile showed my "personal website" to be a music video of this very band playing live. (The song "Forever" to be exact, much to some friends dismay who hated that style of music and were horrified to find that I somehow found it appealing).
Anyways, I have been waiting for that long to see this band play live, sure they had come to BC before, but I hadn't been able to make it to those shows, work or school or whatever the reason had been. Anyways... finally, the one BC tour that I would be able to make it to, they are not only coming at a VERY convenient time, BUT they are also coming to Kelowna. Huz. Zah.

Now granted... we jumped the gun a bit on this one and bought tickets for the Vancouver show before realizing they were coming to a venue 15 min drive away.... BUT that's all been solved now, and on the 30th I will indulge myself with a very late night, not worrying about any school the next day.. and definitely not worrying about any final exams....

On that note... back to worrying about final exams.

**PS. Oh! Vanessa... Apparently I need to ask permission to view your blog now... this is me, asking.

Leaping Years

I can't tell if a year is in fact a long time....

I mean, I feel so tempted to say "only a year" becuase it seems like that doesn't it? It was only a year ago that _________, insert whatever you were up to this time last year.

Now when talking about it, it doesn't feel like that long, however when I try to remember it, it seems like so much longer than that.    Tricky.

I mean, a year is only really a few months, and we count down months like no tommorow, this many till birthday, this many till christmas, this many till summer or this many until that new CD comes out, nothing right?  only 4 weeks in a month, only 12 months in a year... 56 weeks really isn't that much...

And then at the same time... I mean... a whole year!! one year.  I only have about 20 of them in my entire life experience... less!! So really... one year is a large chunk of my life! One year can't be a trivial thing like "12 months" seems, 365 days? we breeze through those 7 at a time!!  But it is... it's a whole year, and we only have had so many.... remember how they used to seem so much longer? 

And to think.... For example, I'm looking forward to 'The Dark Knight' coming out... that is 107 days away from now, thats a few months... 4ish to be exact... thats about 1/3rd of a year.... a year, which I've only ever had 19.5 of...  WHY am I counting down the days for this!??! Why am I not stressing out about every second lost.... every day passing until yet another year has passed.... What was I doing that time last year?  What will I be doing one year this time!  How much happens in a year?  We'd like to think alot.. but in the grand scheme of things not as much.

I don't know, a year?  Really? wow.

Most terrifying moment ever

So, driving home from school today there was this one straight stretch of road...

And coming towards me in the opposite lane was a silver van. Now, this van was going a moderate speed, as was I, when all of a sudden a little squirrel runs out onto the road! He runs across my lane into the oncoming lane, and then freezes, on no! there is a big silver something coming towards him! So with his horrified legs spread, tail up, stance, he freezes, then decides to run back across my lane to the ditch he had been in.
However, this was right when I was beside him, this little guy runs right in front of me... and dissapears due to the hood of my car...

I listen for the bump and look in my rear view window for the little guy, distraught.
No body, he lived. That was no doubt one of the most terrifying moments for that squirrel. I was fine personally, but poor squirrel!

Anyways, to answer the mysterious anonymous, after about 30 min past my position in the blog, two friends from college came into the store, and after making small talk I asked them if they could watch my stuff,

all was well. but it was still an excruciating extra 30 min on top of my original panic.

Written at 12:45, Friday Afternoon

I just told mike this dilemma...


I'm sitting in blenz writing an essay.

Now, I can't leave my laptop for obvious reasons, i'm in a public place
If i close my laptop i'll lose the internet which i need for my essay (Or worse yet, i'll lose my chair!)

I am DYING to go the washroom

Help... me....

Belltower.

Perspective amazes me.

F

I R Jon

I wear torn clothes becuase I feel strange getting new articles.

I like driving when the sun is low in the sky, even though it is hard to see. (It makes me feel like I'm driving Into nirvana, or Away from an nuclear explosion or something)

I like quoting movies and shows, and enjoy it when other people can quote them with me.

I love my Dog, and assume he loves me back when he makes eye contact

I'm not particularily funny or charming, but I might appear to be at first glance.

I recently started enjoying "Trailer Park Boys" quite a bit.

I also enjoy talking like the toy does in "Arby "N" The Chief" You can watch it on youtube if you so please.

I bought a new snowboard, and I like it alot, there is a semi interesting story behind my antics getting it. Ask me sometime.

I like Coffee, especially with dark chocolate on the side.

I like listening to movie soundtracks, instrumental. Particularly Jurassic Park and the Lord of the Rings.

I like Batman Begins

I am not who I expected I would be when I was little. If I were to talk to a young me, I would be asked why I'm not being a paleontologist.

I am irrationally concerned with health, at irrational times, and inconsistently.

I do not play video games often at all, however I do enjoy zelda and tetris.

I keep a Blog sometimes, and a written journal less frequently.

A Moose!

There is a Moose loose in my front yard!


It chased down the neighbors dog and trampled it! The thing ran away quick as can be after that.


Awesome.  Fun "After Graveyard" entertainment.

In General

This semester is going well.   Classes are fine, Philosophy is great, metaphysics is a stretch, macro economics is the academic "Suck", and the commute is fine if traffic isn't bad.

Speaking of, today on the drive home the sun was setting in everyone's eyes just low enough so that the sun blocker didn't do anything, so everyone was utilizing their hands, which made it look like a highway full of people "Zieg Heiling" in their cars.  Bathed in golden sunlight.


I'm doing alot less nowadays... I feel like a hermit, I kind of stay at home for the most part, and havn't been arranging to do anything with friends... even if i did, I have no decent ideas for "what to do".   I need regular distraction I think.

 I've already seen Cloverfield, that was my highlight of the month.  If anyone reads this who wasn't there with me haha, and you havn't seen it yet? Go, it's like Godzilla meets Blair witch, I loved it personally. So enjoy!

Any other exciting news I'll get back to blog later... figured it's been long enough, and people who only read the "first blog" (if anyone actually makes a habit of that...) has had their chance to see Paul Potts.

ps. I bought his CD, great!  Opera huzza!

Wow...

This makes me want to cry!

This is a feel good video for sure
What's great is the COMPLETE change of reaction in the judges, from when he first comes on, especially Simon.


haha it's incredible... absolutely beautiful

wow