Month: August 2010

The Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen albums you've heard that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall.

1. Celine Dion: Chante Plamondon (Luc Plamondon is awesome!)
2. The Beatles: Let it Be
3. Les Miserables: Original Cast Recording
4. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat: Original Cast Recording
5. Across the Universe: Soundtrack
6. Barrage: Barrage
7. Goo Goo Dolls: A Boy Named Goo
8. Savage Garden: Affirmation
9. Weird Al Yankovic: The Essential Weird Al Yankovic
10. Aerosmith: Pump
11. Cheap Trick: Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
12. Barenaked Ladies: Stunt
13. Leonard Cohen: The Best of Leonard Cohen
14. That '70s Show: Rockin'
15. The Ultimate Singer Songwriter

Yes these were thought of on the spot — many of these are songs that stick with me through thick and thin.

… even though it doesn't always work for me, I do like rules and order.

I firmly believe people should deal with the consequences of their actions. This isn't to say that I'm not forgiving, or that I don't believe in forgiveness, however I do believe that when people break rules, they should realize that there are consequences (whatever they may be) and they should be prepared to deal with them. People should know the rules — breaking rules because of choice, I find, is much more reasonable than claiming that you didn't know that they were there — to an extent of course: there are situations where it is unreasonable to expect one to follow the rules or to know about them (eg. EULA which are only presented after the item is already purchased and installed/opened etc.), or when a rule/etc. isn't self-evident. And yes, I do realize that common sense isn't common: people have different expectations based both on personal experiences and whatnot.

But, damn, I like rules. I like order. I like it when people keep their word — or at least honestly try. I like it when people do their very best. I like it when people have good honest explanations for their actions (good or bad). I realize I can't have this always. I realize that I'll never ALWAYS have my way. But when do I have to give up on people? When do I have to throw in the towel on my expectations for people to keep their word or hold up their end of a bargain (whatsoever it might be)? Are there any hard and fast rules?

Should there be?

Damn complexity of life sometimes. And yes, I'll admit to writing this while frustrated, but I think it's a better explanation of who I am than it is an explanation of the situation(s) that frustrate[s] me. *sighs*

… this would be my short review of The Music Man (1962), which I saw last night with Anick. I guess it was worth watching, as now I know where a song I've heard over the years came from, but it definitely wasn't a favorite film. Marion the Librarian was particularly un-intelligent/gullible (as much as her book-knowledge seemed to serve her well, and she did stand up for the inclusion of books in her library). I did find the dance number in the library pretty good, and I liked the library's staircase and book dumbwaiter. But really!

And just in time for the school year too! (because come September, the volumes of emails that will hit my inbox will increase quite a bit, whether I want it to or not).

This morning I woke up late — it is so dreary outside today! I find it is harder to get out of bed when my room isn't as bright in the mornings. It is a definite downside of living at ground level I guess. I really would love one of those alarm clocks that make the room brighter gradually at a certain hour — that alone would make waking up easier (particularly as the school year begins.

Yesterday I watched UHF for the very first time. Loved it! It was so very amusing! 🙂

… or in otherwords me making a recipe so simple that it couldn't possibly lose!

Yesterday afternoon, I spent a little while in the kitchen making spinach and feta stuffed mushroom caps. It was very tempting to eat them right when they came out of the oven but I was to bring them to the Kiwanis Club of South Edmonton's potluck BBQ instead. And that is indeed what I ended up doing. Upon arrival, Peter (one of the hosts) just gushed over how he loved mushrooms… and by the end of the night they were all gone.

Given the sheer volume of food that was available at the potluck (and I surely ate far too much of it), I was pleasantly surprised that they were all gone, to be honest: usually my cooking adventures don't succeed that marvelously at potlucks, particularly not potlucks where THAT much food was served!

The BBQ itself was rather delicious, there was great turn out — a good number of kids and adults (several generations present), and lots of good conversations. I rather liked the program of the evening as well. It was great to see so many awesome people present!

So I was encouraged to come to a yoga class by my friend Anna today. And while I'm a fan of yoga, not all the classes I've had the chance to attend have been pleasant in the past. This time, however we went to Lion's Breath Yoga, and I had a great time. Not only was the class perfect for my skill level, but my nerve injury didn't act up, the instructor was kind and welcoming and he had a great voice for the meditation/relaxation exercises. He was very calm and patient and the atmosphere was very welcoming.

I think I might buy a 10 class pass. It's relatively cost effective (particularly given that I'm a student and can get a student discount) and located a mere 12 blocks from my home. It'll be good to have another venue to exercise at — particularly since ballroom classes haven't fit into my busy schedule for quite a few years (I miss that too, actually, so if the timing of the fall schedule works, I might try to get back into ballroom dancing again, but we'll see). As you can tell, I'm focusing a bit more on improving the physical (as well as the mental) me. Balance is key!

… either that or I just haven't been as productive as I would have liked to be this summer. Probably a bit of both actually.

This week has been generally a good one. I have been exercising more, which feels good. Even when I'm collapsing on the floor with exhaustion, it feels pretty nice to be in an exercise routine of sorts. I hope to keep this up when school starts: I'm not focusing on doing any particular exercise each day, but rather on staying active and doing at least SOME exercise EVERY day. Some means the equivalent to 30 minutes on the Wii Fit Plus (which normally takes me about 45min+ to complete really).

Other good things about this week have included me being a generally happier person. Not sure why exactly, but my spirits have improved a bit — probably as it is less turbulent of a week.

And I've realized that I can actually do about 6 or so pushups before my nerve injury complains. This is a decent start, I think — I'm still not going to focus on that type of exercise much, but I wanna do some pushups, it's nice to know that the nerve injury won't act up on like the third one.

The above title is a great description for my day. I walked over 10 miles (well according to Google Maps) which means something like 16+ km. I was essentially running errands, but gosh did I travel some good distance!

Biggest accomplishment (other than walking, since that is self-evident) was buying the majority of my needed texts for the fall. I'm taking three classes: one on management (no reading list yet available), one on post-humanism, and one on graphic novels and comic books. So in otherwords I have a tonne of fun books on my reading lists, and went to buy them at: Greenwoods Bookshoppe, Happy Harbor vol. 1, Audrey's Books (unsuccessful at Audrey's), Chapters.ca, and Amazon.ca. No one place had it all and I had store credit at Greenwoods (a Groupon) and Chapters (gift cards and certificates) so I didn't spend too much — though it sure was a substantial amount. I still have at least one course pack to purchase.

I'm a bit tired and torn: I want to read some of these books! But I ought to get other things done too… so eventually I'll get to be reading… now I just gotta be patient and wait for my other books to arrive.

Uh… I would like to become more knowledgeable about technology. Why? Because I often find that while I do know more than the average person, I definitely do not know enough about that which matters both for my degrees and for potential other pursuits in the future. Honestly, there is so much more I could learn!

I don't want to live forever. I want to live a long and healthy life, acheive my goals and do well. But like in Johnathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, I don't think that living forever would be entirely a good thing.

So yeah, I'd much rather live long and healthy than to live forever. Forever is a rather long time, and. Marvin the Paranoid Android from Hitchhiker's Guide is another reason for not living forever… 🙂