Why Blog?!

Sunday, October 23rd 2006

It's been just over a month since I last updated, and I've recently asked myself, "Why Blog?"

Oh, I started blogging more than five years ago, in the summer of 2002. It was my first co-op term, I was living in Montreal, and a website helped connect me to all the new friends I'd made in first year. I like to think helped connect them to a cool new city, and maybe prepare them for new experiences later - many of them were working in Waterloo or their hometowns, and wouldn't visit far off lands until their third or fourth workterms.

My life changed. While I hadn't lost any wanderlust, I had stopped pursuing it. While my friends spent their fifth and sixth work terms living on the west coast*, I settled in, moved in with my girlfriend (now wife) and worked two terms not only in Waterloo, but on campus. I had certainly settled down.

So here I am, writing about my life at home. It's exciting, and I'm enjoying it. It's my life! But there aren't exciting props or scenery anymore. Typing my own weblogs in vi is a hassle (emacs would be moreso - don't start!), and the photos I've taken recently of camping, Battle of the Bards and Dig It have been so large that it's been a major effort just getting the event organizers the photos, let alone getting a gallery online.

I think I'm suffering blog burnout. Actually, it hit a few months ago, I'm sure. And I've hit a bit of burnout in my life, too. I'm happy, but I'm tired again. Not since the disastrous Adventures In Montreal 2 (Winter 2003) have I been so boring in my blogs.

However, I've been eating a lot more healthy, exercizing more, I've recently started taking vitamin D supplements, but my sleep habits have been so so. Maybe I should go to bed now. I look at the clock right now, and it's... well holy cow, it's 12:34am!

Most people don't know this, but it seems like every time I look at the clock, it's 12:34, either am or pm. Since it's just as frequently am, I take that as as sign that I haven't been getting enough sleep. I think it's a sign my biological clock has been set to 12 hours of something. But right now, I'm taking it as a sign that I *do* need more sleep. And I will be doing that now.

Good night. And if you read my blog, let me know. I'd be interested to see who's out there, reading what's left of my once popular site.

*Note, I spent my FOURTH term on the west coast, suckers ;)

A Whole Lotta Update!

Thursday, September 21st 2006

Here I am, wanting to relaunch my site with consistent updates, and I get sick the very next day. Monday - a holiday - was rough. I got all of two hours of sleep the night before, lying awake for at least six hours because of horribly, horribly congested sinuses. Thankfully, Nadia woke up and convinced me to take some Vikk's instead of simply blowing my nose, which wasn't helping.

Camping

I took Tuesday off work from sickness, and worked from home on Thursday. The only thing that really has me back in good health, now, is the camping trip this last weekend.

There's not much to say about the trip, but there's a lot to show! There aren't really any exciting stories of surprising events or bad weather, instead, it was an amazing trip that I'm pleased to go on. The weather was perfect, the company was excellent, and the food was possibly the best I've ever had while camping. From here on in, we're bringing fresh sausages from the farmers' market on every trip we go on!

September Top 10

A few months ago, Albert listed the top ten songs he'd heard recently on Pandora. I've been listening to Pandora for quite some time now, myself, and I'll agree, it delivers in its promise to hook you up with some great new songs you'd never heard before, but that are similar to what you already like. I can't fully think of a Top 10 right now, but let's see how far I can go. Some of these were songs by artists I'd never heard before (or never listened to) and some were new surprises by old favourites. In no particular order:

1. Don't Dream It's Over - Sixpence None the Richer
   A great cover of the original 80's song by Crowded House. Leigh Nash's voice is just beautiful (she almost certainly makes my Top 5 Female Vocals list) and lends a young freshness to the song.


2. Secret - Howie Day
   I'd never heard of Howie Day before, but this has been a great introduction. A great chorus with clever, mature verses and a great sound. I haven't heard any more Day on Pandora, and I haven't yet felt the urge to seek out more of him yet, but I think I will soon.


3. One Green Hill - Oysterband
   These guys are the new Great Big Sea to me (even though they've been around a while). They truly combine island folk music with modern rock, with fiddles and grunting electric guitars playing melody and countermelody to one another. Solid lyrics, an amazing atmosphere, and a grand selection. On top of One Green Hill, there's 20th of April and Another Quiet Night In England. Oh, that I could find these guys on iTunes... I'm going to have to start looking in stores.


4. Non-Toxic - SR-71
   Pretty standard bubble-punk-rock, ala Bowling For Soup, but what a great hook. I knew before the end of the second chorus - when I found myself singing along after having learned it all in the first chorus - that Nadia would love this. While she hasn't taken to it as quickly as I, she did start singing along just as soon. ;)


5. Raven - Dave Matthews Band
   I always kinda liked Dave Matthew's sound, but this song sold me, and I'm quickly falling for all of the tracks on Broken Stuff, their almost-unreleased raw album. Raven tells a good story, has some wonderful 'one liners', and great sound in the verses as well as the chorus. The saxophone(?) is way too Kenny G'ish for me, but I'm not letting that ruin this good song for me.


6. Green - Sister Hazel
   Green is simple fun with a great sound to the chorus. Predictable - so much that even when I'm not paying attention, I can *feel* the bridge coming up - but it's still a good song.
   By the way, does anyone else get Sister Hazel and Blues Traveler mixed up?


7. Whatever I Fear - Toad the Wet Sprocket
   I'm a huge Toad fan, but I've held back from buying Coil for a while. This song, however, gives me hope that it's a good album after all. This little more energetic than their other stuff, and the lyrics are about average for Toad, but it's the guitar that gets me in this song; the main chords add atmosphere, and the high-pitched whine is perfect Toad atmosphere.


8. Venus As A Boy - Bjork
   Along with One Day, this song has me looking at Bjork seriously for the first time. I don't know what draws me to this song, but I think I like her whole Debut album if what Pandora's shown me is any sign. Cool stuff.


9. American English - Idlewild
   Crooning, meandering, but perfect. I'm still not positive what the lyrics are about, but I like the song. The only reason I haven't yet bought this track from iTunes is I'm still wondering if I want the whole album.


10. Of All the Gin Joints in All the World - Fall Out Boy
    A friend of mine tried telling me about Fall Out Boy a year or so ago, but I wouldn't listen - I was all punked out, really. But when I heard this, I knew I had to have it.

A few Changes!

Sunday, September 3rd 2006

So, I'm toying around a bit with how the site looks and works. Very little should be noticeable to you (except for the new sidebar on the left) but the underlying php that drives this page is a bit different.

I've also been through several changes in my life since the last update! Some people have commented to me that I didn't write at all about my wedding on this webpage. Since my last update, in fact, I've gotten married, gotten my degree, and gotten a job, but I didn't write about any of these. Does that make them less important? Certainly not! Up there with buying a first house and having children, those make up arguably the five biggest events in someone's life. I didn't discuss them on my site because I was taking a break from the site.

Vive la Wii!

Thursday, April 28th 2006

Yesterday it was announced that the Nintendo Revolution (only a codename) is now called the Wii. I still want one, but now I'm going to have trouble purchasing one when I go in to the store. People at FutureShop can't pronounce Deus Ex, either (as I understand it, it sounds like "Day o' Sex" and not "Do Sex") - now how am I going to get my hands on a Wii? Not with a straight face, surely.

I've been saying it for years, and I hope this drives home my point - Nintendo has gone completely insane. Touch screen, wireless portable games. More control dials than we have thumbs. Now, multi-part, nunchuku-shaped controllers in the Revo- the Wii. But it's all good! I'm whole-heartedly enjoying the insanity and while most people have no clue what Nintendo's doing, I'm loving every moment.

And that's why I want their new system. Wii? Oui.

Hail to the Chef!

Thursday, April 6th 2006

Yeah, it's been a while since my last post. Between studying for exams, I'm baking a cake, and have some time to update the page. So what's been going on lately?

On Tuesday, I was elected President of FASS. To any FASSies reading this right now, thanks for your support. :) I've just come down off of directing this year's show and now I'll be running the committee for the next year. I'm looking forward to playing more of a role in FASS over the next two years.

Classes have also ended. I've got four exams (starting tomorrow). The fifth course doesn't have a final, and I already have my mark in it: 82% in Creative Writing. Not bad, given the marking style of this course.

Well, that's about it from me for now. Back to studying, and back to cake making. Nothing like a nice, chocolate cake to sweeten the sourness of exams.

These Holy Romans Are Crazy!

Thursday, March 16th 2006

Tonight, you get a history lesson. I've spent many hours catching up on European renaissance, and so I don't have anything exciting to talk about except for the Second Defenestration of Prague!

Yes, there have been two events worth of the title "The Defenestration of Prague". I refer to the second. In 1618, Protestant (Calvinist) Bohemians captured two officials sent by the Catholic Ferdinand II and threw them out of a palace window. They fell seventy feet, and survived!

The Catholics say the two were saved by angels.

The Protestants say the two landed in a pile of manure.

And such began the Thirty Years War.

Maybe a more exciting story from life later. In other news, tomorrow is the Battle of the Bards! Come see it! And next Wednesday is - aside from the due date of three of my essays - my birthday!

Open Your Windows!

Saturday, March 11th 2006

This false spring may only last a few days, so they say, but take advantage of the real weather nonetheless. A winter of closed windows and hastily opened and shut doors does no good for te air of any house. Open your windows wide (and put on a sweater) and breathe in the richness of the great outdoors.

In other news, the great outdoors sucks. Over the winter, some strange creature - perhaps a bug or perhaps a cute little rabbit - ravaged our backyard, leaving strange trails of dead grass only slightly less-impressive than crop circles. It sure didn't look that way going under the snow, but now that the white blanket of the lawn has cleared, the yard is a mess.

The Wedding Party!

Tuesday, March 7th 2006

Everything is slowly coming together. Coming together thanks to Nadia, slowly thanks to me. Today I collected the last member of my wedding party. It's weird - asking friends to join my wedding party has been about as nerve-wracking as the actual proposal itself. Maybe it's because of what I feel a wedding party should be.

I think of a wedding party as a collection of best friends and truly important people in someone's life. I wanted my party to include the friends I've had over the years, even if I haven't seen them lately, so I've even included a good friend from Burlington, even though it's been five years since we've seen each other with any regularity. So who gets into the wedding party is very important to me, second to Nadia, of course, which is what makes actually asking them such an important thing . :)

This week, Nadia and I are also examining the ceremony site, visiting the officiant, talking with the florist, and checking out the hall itself that we're likely going to use. All the while, projects and homework are looming closer and closer with each passing day. Is it March already? Is it a week into March already? Whoa... at least my birthday is coming up soon.

Hoodwinked!

Friday, March 3rd 2006

The campus bookstore has had a sale for the last few days; I grabbed some nice books. One of them was Underworld by Graham Hancock. I took a quick perusal for it, and it looked pretty interesting: it explores ruins off the coasts of various counties - India, Japan, Egypt - that might date back to the last ice age, because some of are under twenty or more metres of water. Looks like a neat read, and could be used as brain-fodder for my fictional setting of Quicksilver Skies (that will appear in the Projects section sooner or later). The intent of buying the book was to stimulate my imagination.

Still, a few hours after buying the book and reading the first chapter, I do a bit more research on Hancock and his series of books. It turns out many of his ideas have been discredited by "mainstream" archaeologists and he's considered a fringe- or pseudo-scientist in most circles. Even though I grabbed the book for fictional research instead of real research, I felt somewhat "taken", "tricked" into buying the book. Yes, yes, "don't read everything you believe in books!" But I somehow expected different when buying from the UW BookStore, and where the book is placed alongside other books on Greek and Roman history. Maybe those are equally "unacademic". If I were in a different mood right now, I'd probably launch into some preachings about "what is the truth" and "what sources can you trust, especially in today's media?", but I'll leave that for later, if ever. Just thought I'd focus on this book for a bit. In the end, this book which is supposed to theorize an ancient precursor civilization that no one has discovered yet, may at least give me the fantastic inspiration I wanted from it.

The Winter Blahs

Monday, February 27th 2006

I didn't have a very productive day today. It wasn't a bad day, just low-energy and unsatisfying.

I went to Nadia's usher training session this morning, and when I was done, I was actually excited about getting home and getting some good cleaning done. I wanted to shower and shave, and then I had a ton of dishes to do, a living room to clean, papers to sort, and a pile of recycling to take out. The recycling may not sound big, but this was a massive, week-long buildup of plastic and cardboard that filled our front landing.

Anyways, when I got home, it was a half hour later than I thought it should be, and my active day never really materialized. I sat in front of the computer for an hour, taking part in ultra-slow messaging with friends. It was great to catch up, but it's slow going. By the time I had to go off to campus, I was finished only one task I'd set for myself (I'd done an admittedly large pile of dishes).

Now that I'm going to bed, I am done the tasks I set for myself. The living room is clean, and the massive pile of recycling is slowly collapsing a snowbank out front. I've even shaved. But I feel like I've had a totally unproductive day. I wanted to do some creative fiction work, but the half-hours just bled by with nothing to show for it.

Now I know it's not just me. Looking at some of my friends' blogs, I can see the Winter Blahs are everywhere. An excellent example is Russ Wong's blog at scatterthought.com. The last four updates present a perfect de-evolution from post-FASS excitement to the same Winter Blahs I'm in right now. We see him slowly descend from "I've got rhythm! I've got my cats! I'm happy!" to "My cat is sick" to "I'm sick" and "I'm still sick."
Paul McIntyre Royston (ne Royston) is also in the Blahs.

So it seems that February is a pretty bad month all around. But the days are getting longer, and March is only two sleeps away. There's not much to do against the Blahs except survive them, and I'm close to putting them behind me for another year, at least. See you all in March.

Old Site Links

Thursday, February 9th 2006

Yeah, not much here yet.

I have an (old) journal here.
Check out my time in Portland, too.