Happy Valentine's Day

Hey all, I've decided to share a wallpaper specifically made for Valentine's Day. Please enjoy.

Say Whaaaaat?

You know, I was looking up posts on 'language school horror stories' (the reason being, well, y'know) and I must say, this is terrible...it's all about the people in the U.S.A. who fear that illegal immigrants are taking over their country. This is crazy:

"I'm all for learning a second language, but here in Texas we're probably in the beginning stages of seeing Spanish classes mandated for all children. Many of our European ancestors whose first language was not English still learned it after arriving in America. Why are we catering to and making exceptions for the (mostly illegal) Mexicans?"

Are you kidding me? Did you actually just write that??? Look, I know that I'm not aware of the local culture or anything, but have you considered the fact that technically the world does not revolve around Enlgish normally, it just does now because of the internet and high speed tech?? Geez.

I would be interested to know what my American friend Ginny thinks about this...(in fact, Ginny, when I'm in Toronto in a few weeks, I DEMAND that you tell me what this is, and why I can't understand) since she's really good at explaining American culture to me in so many different ways. =D

The rest of the thread is nuts, as well. It's all about how American culture is dying and illegal immigrants get more than registered citizens. I honestly don't understand it. Secondly, there's all this stuff about how peaceful demonstrations of white people are what's really needed to put everything back in its place. While I kinda understand, I still don't get it. Because, really, after the huge movement against racism in the 80s, and all those great songs, and even the show South Park with Chef being black, I still don't understand how this kind of racism exists.

Oh, and sleep post still matters people. Tell me what you think. Brennan needs a new sleep pattern.

OK, for real

Honestly, this is getting out of hand.

I can't sleep.

Can't anyone tell me some good methods to relax before going to bed? Seriously, I'll try anything. I sleep at whacko hours (usually when I don't want to, like 8-11pm and 1-3pm) and I lay in bed eyes wide open the rest of the time. Anything, I'll try anything.

Should I stand on my head before I sleep? Was there a memo somewhere that that's what people do now before bedtime? Or maybe I'm not doing enough zen meditation? Seriously, people what am I missing?

I'm doing alright with it, but seriously, I go to class and then I go home and sleep. This is crazy.

Something silly

Hey there,

Well, I FINALLY looked at the blog someone else made with videos for their university, and it's pretty alright.

http://pattyandeugene.blogspot.com/

I especially recommend episode 2, with the hair fairy. =D

The reason Ryan (who plays Eugene, and normally looks and acts a lot more normal) suggested this site to me is because 'Eugene' is supposedly from Saskatchewan, and therefore, lisps.

Very funny.

Typical

I was looking around for good Quebecker restaurants and student haunts on the internet, and I found this in relation to the Quebec carnival:

Christopher DeWolf says:
By the way, I’m not sure if growing up in Quebec City desensitizes you to this, but Bonhomme Carnaval really freaks me out. He looks like some sort of monster who feasts on human flesh but tries to disguise himself as an innocent habitant by wearing a floppy tuque and a ceinture fléchée.
Judging by that photo of the Bonhomme bread, though, it looks like someone uncovered his ploy and murdered the poor guy. What was the murder weapon? The Naya water, the candy sex toys or the frosted turds?

I laughed so hard at this. You really do have to see Bonhomme in person...he's certainly uh, well, odd. A picture so you can see...

I completely agree with the above blog commenter. Why DON'T more people think Bonhomme is scary? I was never afraid of clowns, but snowmen without pupils and a greek mask style smile?

I'm so WORRIED I'll be in crap.

Well, I have finally sent a letter to the director (female). So, hopefully she/my prof doesn't hate me, since I've talked with some of you about the problems I've had with my french course.

Here is the letter I wrote:

Bonjour XXXXX,

Je suis un étudiant dans le FLE (élémentaire), et je voudrais parler avec toi parce que les étudiants avancé dans cette niveau ont une problème avec la vitesse du cours du français, donc, après parler avec quelque les autres étudiants, je voudrais trouver une solution agréable pour nous. =)

S'il vous plaît m'écrire moi si vous pouvez trouver le temps pour moi.

Merci,

Brennan

(ENGLISH VERSION)


Hello XXXXX,

I am a student in the FLE (elementary level), and I would like to speak with you because the advanced students in this level have a problem with the speed of the course, therefore, after speaking with some other students, I would like to find a solution that is good for us.
Please write me if you can find the time for me.

Thanks,

Brennan


I just realized I made one mistake with it, though (stupid 'toi', geez) but other than that, it's alright? Do you think it sounded nice enough?? You think I don't sound like a terrible human being??? Oh crap, I hope I'm not stirring the pot. We'll have to see what happens, I guess. =/

I keep being told by people I speak really nice french, which is really disconcerting. I kinda hate that. =/ I want people to correct my terrible accent. REALLY. (Wait until Ralph comes here, and is like, "How is that french?" Sigh.

Well, today is phonetics, so that WILL happen, and I haven't slept because I've been up all night worrying, so I'll speak french with a bad accent, it's in the cards. I wish I wasn't up all night, but when you have really mixed feelings, it's hard to sleep. For me, anyways. And I have so much insomnia these days it's really not much of a change. So it's alright. =)

Anyways, it's all fun and games until you forget to buy a book for your course. Sigh. SIGH. Anyways, whatever. It happens. =) "It's the life," as my roomate Steve would say. Har har.

It's the life.

Death to Applied Ethics!

Honestly, if I hear one more person laud on about the values of applied ethics....

I don't know, but it probably won't be very ethical.

MSN Conversations with Dez that I love

Dez says:
i think i might have over loaded the sharing folder, so if you move things out of it onto your harddrive it might help things, maybe
Brennan says:
LOL!
Brennan says:
OH!
Brennan says:
SO IT WASN'T JUST ME
Brennan says:
IS THIS DEZ-ISM OR WHAT
Brennan says:
LOL
Dez says:
probably, i did just put 116 files into the sharing folder and it seems to be having a mild kinipshon (spl?) whilst trying to synchronize

Dez has added files to your sharing folder.

Brennan says:
Wow, that's a shnagel if I ever saw one
Brennan says:
I was just thinking, like, you know
Brennan says:
a song or two?
Brennan says:
As always, des is tres fort.
Brennan says:
=D
Brennan says:
like a punch in the eye
Brennan says:
=D
Dez says:
thanks i guess
Brennan says:
De rein.

WOW!

SCORE!

I FIGURED OUT A WORD TODAY!

I'm just so excited because I knew the word approximately without having to know the infinitive.

I can't tell you how exciting that is...but it's really, really exciting for me. It's a good leap feeling.

New Wallpaper!

Well, it's been a while, but I've finally made some new wallpaper. (Uh...for the desktop.) Anyways, My pen has (somewhat) started working again (no dropping it anymore, I guess) and so to commemorate this wonderful occasion, I decided I need 'Quebecian' wallpaper. It turned out alright, most of my problems I had come from the fact that the JPEG pixelated a bit, (to compensate, this is a huuuuuuge jpeg, just so you're aware) and the fact that my free corel software doesn't allow you to do basically ANYTHING with layers (I found this out in a rather unpleasant fashion once I was done the line art, and I nearly cried.) and since I don't feel like tweaking it much, (might break!) here it is...some winter wallpaper...because I couldn't find anything nicer on the internet to put on my desktop (have I told you that I'm nuts for desktop wallpaper?). Please comment if you like it, because a) I fear no one reads my blog these days b) I might make a few more c) I'm thinking of having a contest again. =D

Again, what should I be doing with my time??

You Are An INFP

The Idealist You are creative with a great imagination, living in your own inner world. Open minded and accepting, you strive for harmony in your important relationships. It takes a long time for people to get to know you. You are hesitant to let people get close. But once you care for someone, you do everything you can to help them grow and develop. In love, you tend to have high (and often unrealistic) standards. You are very sensitive. You tend to have intense feelings. At work, you need to do something that expresses your personal values. You would make an excellent writer, psychologist, or artist. How you see yourself: Unselfish, empathetic, and spiritual When other people don't get you, they see you as: Unrealistic, naive, and weak

What's Your Personality Type?

The Cloud and its Silver Line

You know, a lot of bad stuff has been happening to me lately, ie.:

-The french is driving me mad
-The french course is partially driving me mad (although not in the same way)
-My laptop doesn't recognize DVDs anymore, making all my DVDs I brought with me useless (Why did I have to buy that Pilates work-out DVD and bring it?? WHY??? AND I SO WANTED TO WATCH THE B-VERSION OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT IN FRENCH)
-My pen for my wacom tablet (the thing I use to make cartoons, easily and happily) has kicked the bucket, and I have no idea how to fix it (this doesn't mean I didn't consult the user manual. I did. It told me I broke my pen.) so therefore cartoons may be nil in the near future. This was a MAJOR outlet for me. A major outlet, now dead. Like Heath Ledger style dead.
-The french is driving me mad
-I recently got swabbed of some of my money (really, really don't want to talk about it, but it could have been a lot worse, so it's alright) trying to buy something online that wasn't legit, which means I'm a dummy, and now I'm in the process of filing a complaint for fraud
-I am having serious problems sleeping. I know I am normally crazy with my sleep schedule and I usually love it, but I'm not kidding you when I say I am exhausted most days, and I get into bed, and I lay there, with my hands crossed over my chest, like a mummy, or maybe a vampire, and lay there with my eyes wide open. I just lay there. Not thinking. Eyes wide open. Highly unnerving.
-My connection to internet, through a router, is very bad, and I often disconnect from the internet daily, and I am starting to think that I may be living without internet on a regular basis if I'm not careful. I pray everyday that there are no mild vibrations, tremors, minor earthquakes, or nearby impacting missles which may upset the hanging-by-the-thread connection I have to the 'world unreal' which is my only means of entertainment, minus conjugating verbs (thanks to my dead DVD player). These prayers are usually unanswered, and it's not the kind of thing I want to bother my landlady about on a regular basis (ie. more than once every two days.) I do look on the bright side here, though, and she is going to get a router that allows me to connect wireless. While I wasn't looking for this in a place when I first moved here, I am now, especially that I cannot have easy access to the router to fix any problems I might have.
-My shoes are slowly dying. Thank you Quebec winter, where it can be minus thirty plus wind, and yet there still manages to be a sufficient amount of slush for me to nearly slip and kill myself everyday when I cross a major intersection with lots of buses that never seem to stop on time, and angry Quebeckers who drive like they speak french--fast and without a lot of concern for the details. (like me, for example.)
-the french is slowly driving me mad.



This week has just been a PEAK for frustrating things for me...and normally I'm not so upset, but I swear, I'm turning into a rage-a-holic. Everything seems to spur me a little. I don't know where I would be without all the correspondence I've been receiving from various people in my family, friends, etc. Probably utilizing a lot more french swears (since they're all meaningless to me, anyways, except when my friend David in my class says "tabarnak" in class as an answer to the question "What word starts with 't', everyone?" Even I can feel the social context seething on that one, and he just does it to be funny. Great guy, that Dave.)

One thing (although there are a few other private things, but that's for those people) that really made my day was seeing all the pictures of my friend Jim's new baby. Normally I destest baby pictures, (I think just because I love children, but not babies...not sure why. Huh.) but, if anybody would be good parents, the kind of people to really love their kid, and not just have kids because they are kids, then it would be this married couple. I really was able to have a happy moment for someone else this week, even amongst my own daily going-ons. It is something that gives me pause, which is really good for me.


So, it's been a lot of lows, not a lot of highs, but you know, it's all alright. I have been stressing about lots of things, but in the big picture, it's not a big deal. At least there is happiness somewhere in the world, maybe a little far away from me, but it's somewhere, and it's real. And that makes me happiest of all, seeing other people happy. It sometimes reminds me about the big things in life, and what the big picture is, since my life is currenly a mosiac of little things, which currently are stringed together, a messy blanket of many things, all which have little meaning, but I have to give them some meaning....since it's my little mess of a life maintenant.

Anyways, I hope everybody else is well. I've finally picked up some stamps so I can send things to people now.

That makes me happy.

Being Canadian

You know, I was just reading over a variety of blog awards, and I managed to amuse myself for a variety of hours looking at several very different views on a variety of subject areas (especially one on Mother Theresa, which almost made me cry. I'm such a sentamentalist.) and it made me really think about something I'm always thinking about these days, namely my 'Canadian' identity.

Sometimes I feel like I'll be able to discover much better what it means to be Canadian in Quebec, because I'll get to peer into the minds of the French-Canadians, and kind of understand the central part of Canada a little better. (I'll never understand the GTA, but hey, that's just me.) I'm feeling really nostalgic about everything these days, and in my many reflections (most of them on french verbs, currently) I find that there are a couple of pieces of Canadian culture that really speak to me in a variety of media:

Book: Fifth Business
Song: Northwest Passage (One of my favourite songs)
Famous Canadian: (There's someone famous who's Canadian???)

Anyways, I find these days, all those things I was being taught about Canadian identity aren't really all that true. There's a real Canadian identity out there, somewhere. I don't think it's very unified, but I think that's more a blessing than a curse. Most importantly, I find that French-Canadians really are misunderstood, since I have yet to meet one (whether in the 'Oui' or 'Non' camp) that isn't absolutely friendly and genial.

Sometimes I feel like I will 'have it' once I have my Canadian identity.

E-mail?

Well this is interesting. While doing a french writing exercise, I had to stop for a minute and think about how to spell the french term for e-mail. (I usually use courrier electronique, I think.) I knew that the french had several different words for e-mail, and that the french people also used the word 'e-mail' a lot even though it's english, but I didn't know that they had banned the word e-mail back in 2003. Interesting. I'm sure no one will read the link (who does stuff like that?) but the most popular word in french according to the linguistics minstry is 'courriel,' which seems to be hotly disputed as to the fame of its usage. I think my favourite comment on the whole situation is made by, of all people, a French Canadian:

"Hmmm. For years I have been following this "defense" of the language by the french in France and Quebec.It is understandable that they would want this. As a native french-speaker, I take that to heart. But I do think at some point it goes to far. I am not sure this is one of them.I also think it is a sign of the reflectivity that the the French have for their language, that Americans do not have for theirs. I would not want us to have an "academy" like the French, although we did so many years ( notice how many American english words are decidely different than English every elsewhere, including Canada). But I do wish we would consider where our language is going in terms of usage, etmology, slang encroachment and grammar among many others- ( god, if I here another split infinitive, or "hot water heater" or "ATM machine" I will "allez postal".) "


I laughed so hard at that. Go split infinitives! Anyways, I think I'll start using the term courriel, maybe? It's simple to spell, which is basically all I need to know, and it's short for, as per usual some really long french phrase. More short words in french would make me happy. Seriously, and what's with everything being 'of' something? Honestly!

Je suis tres OCP

I found a really neat site on about.com with a lot of french MSN style slang. Awesome!

I now have to learn all this stuff...b1sur.

This is way too much fun.

My Life as a French Student

Well,


It's been three days since class started, and already things are a little strange. I am very frustrated right now because they put the people who are right on the edge of the intermediate group, maybe 10-45 class hours away (ie. people who can speak and use some forms of other tenses, albiet badly, and speak pretty much without a problem in present tense, people whom they call 'advanced beginner') in with the people who absolutely. cannot. speak. a single. not a single. word of french.

I would be lying to you if I said there weren't times in the last two days I wanted to put a gun to my head or even just scream. Ack. Thing is, there were many 'advanced speakers' in the class before, and they could speak a higher level, and make things easier (ie. harder). However, two of them just left this morning for the next level (one that I really liked) and only other two of them took a test to see if they can go up to the next level this afternoon. If they leave, I will literally have no one to talk to in french, at least for the first three to possibly five weeks. This will be like my grade nine nightmare of core french all over again. (Seriously, it was bad. VERY BAD. Tres-bad-avec-le-bleu-cheese-bad.)

So, to 'quell' the adolescent rage, and the feeling stupid, (As in, "I'm so stupid at french they put me with the people who can't speak any french, so I'm really bad at everything' feeling) I went to talk to my teacher because I thought, you know, maybe if I talked about it, I would feel better, and I did, a little. And, also, because I know that I was partially frustrated because I couldn't speak french at the level I wanted, I was probably just mad at myself, especially over the last few days of 'language shock.' The teacher and I talked, and I told her I was worried it was always going to be really slow in this course, and that I understood everything she said in class (which, in my opinion, is usually not great in a language course, and definitely a bad sign in beginner's class) and I think it was clear I was really sad I was over the whole thing.

Tres Bizzare, she then she asked me if 'I' could (not if I wanted to, but if I could just do it for herm if I had the time) to write the little mini test to see if I should be at a higher level. I was like, "what??" and I did it anyways, (I mean hey, if they're going to give me even more than what I want and make me work so hard I cry, I definitely won't complain since this is what I came here for.) and made up a bunch of endings for the past tense, and wrote a short compisition for her, but it was really bad, (seriously, I totally made up words, and I didn't know what to write most of the time) and I told her that it was too hard for me, and that made me feel better, so that's alright, and she said it wasn't a problem, and was really nice to me. I kinda feel like the bigger man because I swallowed my pride and admitted that.

I suppose I should be a little more forgiving and realistic, since everyone will catch up, I guess. But for me, it's not about waiting for people to catch up; my time is just as valuable as the people who paid for the course and are complete beginners. I just feel kinda sad because I feel like I did something wrong because I know too much french for where everyone else is starting and not enough french for where I want to be starting.

I think what my fear is, is that everyone else is of a slightly different mentality. There are people that want to learn french, and then there are people that want and need to learn french. And I really, really want to learn french. I want to learn so bad I could cry. But I don't want to have to do it all myself after sitting through days of "Bonjour, Comment tu t'appelle?" because there isn't anyone (minus the very nice Australian couple in the back of the class, maybe) who can even speak in a full phrase, by themselves. And it's been three days. I need french for myself, I really do, but I am not sure I am going to learn more in this course than I did in my two week course in Belgium, and if that happens, I'm going to be so sad. =( =( =(

I think I would be more ok if I could have some sort of realistic promise that we were going to cover more than the present tense in 15 weeks. I should suppose we are, but I'm worried how long it will take to get there, is all. Do you think my fear is in earnest, or maybe I'm just freaking out because it's the first couple days? Maybe there's something else I could do? I'll have to think about it.

Whew, well, it's been a long day, and one good thing about being here in Quebec are all the people I can speak french with, so maybe I should focus on that, and less on the classroom experience. I think I will rest a bit, kinda chill and have an early night. Tomorrow is a big day, student pictures.

First Impression of Quebec?

Please feel free to tell me about the mistakes I've made while writing french. I also tried to write this in a hurry. Be aware, it takes a long time to do 10-ish panels, so I think I did alright, all things considered.


First day of french was alright. I think I'll have a better impression tomorrow.

And yes, Willem, you are a super hero. As per usual. Especially in french-speakings places. =)

Learning French

Well, I met my land-lady today, and she is SUPER nice. I am very happy, and I met my other roommate, apparently only one other, which is a bit of a relief, to be honest, and he seems really nice, although Julian's accent is a little harder to understand than Steve's, although I think he de-Quebec'd it for me when he was talking in french to me for the 2nd time. (Because the first time I had to tell him I didn't understand a thing he said because of his accent...wow, tres poli, Brennan) so now that the 'logistical things' are taken care of, I can begin my foray into the super french, where I will cram before I go to the school, so that I can hopefully be placed in a higher class (although I highly doubt this will happen, I can still hope, eh?)

My land-lady speaks very easy french to me, making me VERY happy, and even if I don't understand a lot of what she says, I understand enough to give very small replies, which makes me feel less stupid. I will try doing a french-side blog, maybe, but first I have to figure out an easy way to write accents on my blog, since I have no idea as of yet, minus using a number pad with the ALT key, which is just too much memorization for me.

Mon Maison! =D

The sitting room. A total of four to five steps long, and three steps wide. Cute.





The long steps can be seen here. It's about four small steps for man to the wall, people.







My room, with packing to be done!




My room, with everything finished! Isn't it pretty? Don't you dig the bedspread?? I do, for 18.88 at Sears, I do. BABY.






My desk. It's nice, although the chair brings the phrase, 'spinal pain' to mind. Definitely not pleasant, no back support. I either will need to fix this, or buy a 'new' one at Village des Valuers. Probably going to be buying a chair. =)

OK, ok, 'mon chambre' instead of 'mon maison' might be a closer approximate, but it's small and somewhat nice, and the price was right (Yay for cheap). More importantly, my place is STACKED. To say 'tout inclus' about this place is definitely an understatment. You noticed that TV in the pictures? Yeah, well, somebody LEFT IT HERE. Along with their Playstation (?) Sega Genesis (???) and their DVD player (!). On top of that, in the closet, there are TONS of expensive things...dishware, a wok, what seems to be a fully functioning HP Printer, and other boxes unknown what they may contain. C'est bizzare!



Steve (my roommate, one of three) seems really nice, so hopefully the others are nice, when I meet them as well. I also haven't met my landlady yet, nor had to pay for this month's rent, so, I'd say, it's looking up! =D Steve tells me she is 'tres gentil' (he didn't know the word 'nice,' in English but because I'm a nice guy I told him.) so hopefully we get along well. ( I REALLY HOPE SO. Maybe I'll bake her some good Western Canadian baking??)

*Yawn* Well, I'm exhausted. Hope you all are well. Quebec is really nice so far, it feels really homey, despite the immense size of it.

In case anyone is not aware, I'm leaving for Quebec tomorrow to go study french intensively. I should be on the blogosphere within a day or two again, and constantly updating, since I think I'll have a lot more free time on my hands, now that I'm not working 8-5 sort of hours.

See you on the french side.

Typical

Well...

First of all, Happy New Year to everybody. So far, as with every New Year, I seem more tired this year. Strange, yet with a deja-vu-like quality.

Secondly, take a look at this. I have been becoming a major nerd lately because of my now 'new laptop needs' so it's becoming quite the struggle to choose what to buy. With things like that smashy awesome laptops coming out, it made me realize that laptops are becoming the feathered hats of the future. Just like 'coon-skinned caps' or tulips, lappys (as they are affectionally called) seem to be aimed more towards how they are designed rather than how they perform. (Although, thankfully, they are less about trendiness and asnd more about usability than, say, cell phones/mobiles). My guess is that in 10-15 years, laptop design will be much more important than laptop performance...

Since we're all eventually going to succumb to implanting computer chips in the side of our head/hands/ankles, etc. =)

HELP ME

I START WORK TOMORROW.

SOMEONE, please, ANYONE, save me from this terrible, terrible fate.


*WEEP*

Oh well. Tomorrow Ginny comes.

That makes me happy. =)

Breakfast

I had the flu recently and I have learned something:

That your co-workers do not expect you to bust your butt back to work when, really, you're just a potential threat. I could've easily taken off two days when I only took off one. If ONLY I had known that. *Weep*

Now, since I have been sick, I have given up eating cereal for breakfast, and I have rediscovered my long lost breakfast love, instant porridge. Low in fat, filling, and hot, it's the breakfast that feels good all the way through the cold morning. And you microwave it. Easy! =D

Typical

Canada
Canada is one of the largest consumers of trans fats in the world.[46] In November 2004, an opposition day motion seeking a ban similar to Denmark's was introduced by Jack Layton of the New Democratic Party, and passed through the House of Commons by an overwhelming 193-73 vote.[47]
Since December 2005, Health Canada has required that food labels list the amount of trans fat in the nutrition facts section for most foods. Products with less than 0.2 grams of trans fat per serving may be labeled as free of trans fats.[48] These labelling allowances are not widely known, but as an awareness of them develops, controversy over truthful labelling is growing. In Canada, trans fat quantities on labels include naturally occurring trans fats from animal sources.[49]
In June 2006, a task force co-chaired by Health Canada and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada recommended a limit of 5% trans fat (of total fat) in all products sold to consumers in Canada (2% for tub margarines and spreads).[19] The amount was selected such that "most of the industrially produced trans fats would be removed from the Canadian diet, and about half of the remaining trans fat intake would be of naturally occurring trans fats". This recommendation has been endorsed by the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association[50] and Food & Consumer Products of Canada has congratulated the task force on the report,[51] although it did not recommend delaying implementation to 2010 as they had previously advocated.[52]
Ten months after submitting their report the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and Toronto Public Health issued a plea to the government of Canada: "to act immediately on the task force's recommendations and to eliminate harmful trans fat from Canada's food supply."[53]
On June 20, 2007, the federal government announced its intention to regulate trans fats to the June 2006 standard unless the food industry voluntarily complied with these limits within two years.[54][55]


--Taken from Wikipedia, article on "Trans Fat"

Friday

I got another paycheck today.

I had no idea how good it feels to get a paycheck on a regular basis that is large, and that has less than 50% taxes taken off. (Yay Belgium.)

I also realized that I love working at a place where I make enough money that I can feed myself later in the year. That makes me happy just knowing that.

Gingerbread MADNESS

Elizabeth and Amada start to make a gingerbread nuclear reactor.

Brennan pretends he's a famous actres and lights a cigarette.

Elizabeth finishes making the base of the buildings.

Brennan makes a stick puppet that looks like a cross between his grandma and Elvis.

One of the buildings in finished.

Brennan manages to get icing over both his shirt and his muscle shirt. He contemplates licking his shirt.

Amanda works hard, very hard!

Brennan festively hand a gingerbread man from a tree.

Elizabeth, Codename Stewart, puts some finishing touches on one of the windows.

Official picture to commerate the funness of the day.

Something even, er, MORE special

You should check out this website. It has interactive games where you play a psychatrist for stuffed animals with psychological illnesses. It is BEYOND cute and funny. Totally check it, it's moving and an interesting comment on psychoanalysis. Scary. =)

Something Special

My first paycheck from a salary. Arrived on Friday.

Oh. I'm working full-time. I forgot to say. Eh heh.

Cleaning up

Well, I finally put away and dispersed all my Belgium stuff that I just had laying around.


...

It was HARD.

=/


I didn't realize how emotional it would make me, but I felt like I was going to be physically ill. I didn't think that all that 'junk' (and, believe me, it's a lot of junk, Ralph can attest to that, he watched me pack) would mean so much to me, but it did. Even just to put it in a box, outta sight and mind, was harder than I expected, and certainly not fun. It felt more like I was a string being ripped into tiny little threads, one piece at a time.

I guess I just didn't want to face the idea that I was never going back. I know I don't have to think about it that way, but it's a chapter finished, maybe, so I guess the past becomes the past and I have to move on. It's ok for me that I'm not in Belgium, but it's sad for me that Belgium will never be the same again, in the same way for me.

Remember

I just wanted to say that November 11th was Remembrance Day, and that's it's a very special day for me.

I hope everyone takes time to remember people who've died for a cause they believed in. Especially in the interest of their homeland.

Cartoon of September

Yes, yes, I've been meaning to put this up for ages. However, since it took so longer I decided to put it up in colour! Isn't that great! Of course, that means it took longer.


....


We'll have to see how we feel about this colouring business. Maybe it doesn't really make a difference. Maybe let me know. I have another cartoon I'm 1/4 finished, so maybe I'll put that up in the near future. I'm getting back into the swing of a 'routine' so it's making it easier to do these things again. Also, I have been dusting off my art skills, which I have left in the drawer for about, oh, 5 months, so I'm a little rusty. =/ Rats.

As for this cartoon, this is an event that may or may not have happened.

Augh

Hey guys, sorry, the cartoon will take longer than expected...I have ran into technical difficulties, but I'll update tomorrow, I think. Anyways, in other news, I just learned how to play Guitar Hero! Wow, I'm good at it! =D Anyways, more news later!

Art Stuff

I was currently being mezmerized by this. Man, this person can paint quite well, but I never realized how MANY drawing 5 minute tutorials there really are. Geez.

Cartoon should be up in a bit.

CUPE

Well, I have to say, I don't know what to say about this, but from what I can tell, no one really knows what is going on. The support workers of the U of S are striking, and no one seems to happy about it. There is a very interesting discussion that CUPE links to on the OffSound board on the Star Phoenix, the local newspaper, which gives a pretty good idea to how confused people are.

For those of you who don't want to read, here are the problems:

-The newspaper article written somewhat in favour of CUPE was badly, badly written. It basically made the union look bad because it mentioned the pay increases and talks about how much the President of the University gets, not how much the workers get.

-There is a lot of talk about performance reviews, and the fact that these performance reviews can't be challenged. This may be very, very bad for people who have disabilities, or for people with clear conflicts of interest with their managers, which is what always happens in a research environment. This links into the next issue, which is

-Employee shortage. The support staff say that they are looked down on because they ask for more employees or more wages, and never get them, and then everyone complains about how lazy the CUPE workers are.

-Of course, the next issue is that the public percieve (both students and private sector people) the CUPE workers as lazy, and that they don't deserve to strike for the wages they have, and how horribly inconvienced everyone is by this strike. My little brothers are angry that people are on strike, and they don't even know what it is about, but enjoy catcalling at everyone on strike as we drive by. Typical.

-There is also an issue that the person planning to put this in place, Barbara Daigle, was fired from the University of Calgary as VP of HR, and has decided to implent this issue of performance based pay increases (which are somewhere around 2% per year). This would, perhaps, be less of a problem if Daigle hadn't been fired, and most people see the U of S as picking up Albert's trash. Hm.

-Lastly, and probably most of the reason why there is a strike, is housing increases. Most of the employees do get paid alright (according to this) but definitely nowhere near the industry standard. This would probably be fine (since if you live in Saskatchewan you aren't here to make money anyway) except for the huge increase in housing costs for, well, everything. Perhaps the most telling thing about this strike from the housing angle is that most people are striking because they can't currently pay their rent, not their mortgage.


My thoughts, so far:

While I agree that some people complain about 'unskilled workers' and perhaps there is some truth to that, there also needs to something said for people who do it. Most people, probably myself included, are too much of snobs to clean toilets for a living. Given that these people who are support workers either get no respect, or rich kids who go to university have no idea these people even exist, they certainly deserve some credit. Considering that a Canadian campus is a havenly bubble of stupidity in regards to how the 'real world' works, this goes, I'd say, unilaterally for everyone in it. Most of this could probably be solved if the CUPE workers weren't already concerned that most of their jobs were on the line.

Second, I think the major issue that is also being raised is about employee benefits and consideration. There is a suddenly a housing crisis, and the university responds with some kind of performance review for the people who are probably paid the least in the university setting? (Minus sessional lecturers, of course, har har.) Clearly there was a bit of a misunderstanding from the HR point of view, which once again, can only point to the current VP of HR.

Well, there's a lot of nasty issues here, I just hope they get resolved soon.

Anyways, cartoon tomorrow or Wednesday.

Fall

Hey there guys and gals,


Well, I've been doing my own thing, which is why I have been away from the blogging lately. There is a cartoon coming soon, but it will have to wait because I'm pretty tired. Yawn. Lots of doing homework these days with my brothers which has been nice, and also difficult at times. Anyways, the weather here is beautiful for Saskatchewan, and only now is the weather changing. I forgot about all the leaves, especially all the leaves I have to rake! Anyways, it's nice being here. Hopefully a cartoon in a bit, I already know what it's going to be, I just have to make it. We'll see...lots to do before halfway through November. =/

Ok, later days!

WAY too cute

I hate linking sometimes, but Chris sent me this, and it's been a while since I've laughed out loud at stuff like this. =)

OH MY GOSH

Well, for once, it's NOT my fault I'm not updating. Blogger's photo thingy is down. It says it will be fixed eventually...hopefully this means eventually. I'll post something in the near future...eventually.

=)

For the people of academia

I thought this was really quite amusing, and a good reality check for the academically inclined. =)

Hope you're well, everybody. More news to follow soon.

Issues with Tissues?

My friend Liz sent me this link about children toilet training, anime style.

While I could see how most people would think this is funny, for me I thought this would be quite useful and helpful for parents.

I guess the real question is, does this mean that we find toilet training funny (when done in a strange yet inoffensive style) mean that a) it actually IS funny b) "potty humour" (no pun intended) is what is often found to be funny, no matter what the case or c) people are just so out of touch with children's issues that they would find this funny?

I am tempted to say c), since I don' t think the audience of Youtube mentality is anything greater than what a 15 year old can take in.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all those out in Canada land. Today is a Thanksgiving, a day where we eat lots of food. As you can see, this is a typical thanksgiving feast at our house. If there had been more people here, we would have cooked three turkeys instead of one. (I have no idea where we would have put them, but I digress.)









All I can say, is that I'm happy that my brother and his girlfriend came over (EARLY, if you can believe that) and that my grandmother on Al's side pictured above, came out. She's been really sick lately, and she has trouble understanding what you say sometimes, but she's still as sweet (and unwittingly cruel, when she doesn't realize what she's said is terribly mean, and yet funny at the same time, how very, very cruel) as she's always been. I'm really happy to see her, as she hasn't been in town for a while, and the visit was really nice. Once again, Brennan was in charge of 'family prayer' this year, and they keep getting shorter as the years go by (which makes me wonder whether I'm less thankful, less appreciative, or more sensitive to the heathen-esque quality of my family during 'family prayer') but it was a good one, and thankfully the meal this year did not involve crying, throwing of turkey legs, or screaming matches. (Somehow, they're sadly missed.) On the bright side, it's nice to know that my family is growing up, in some ways, or running out of good comebacks and snide remarks.

...


Either way, I won't say I'm not filled with joy by that fact.

=)

OK, more updates in the FUT-CHA. Cartoon eventually.

New Post? Not really.

So.

You know what I'm going to say.

...

I'm busy.

And I don't really have private space in my house where I can use my computer and not be disturbed. This SEVERELY hurts the blogging process. =P

Needless to say, I will announce when I get news. And I WILL cartoon soon. Um, relatively soon. Maybe. Um, a few weeks? Eh heh.

Sigh.

OK. Peace.

Thinking of Graduating?

My friend Chris in Calgary thought this would be more than a little funny to send to me. Har har, Chris...har har.

Home

Hey there,

I would just like everyone to know that I have finally made it back to Saskatoon, safe and, somewhat sound.


(My family is crazy.)


....


That aside, I have a lot of time on my hands (Brennan-esque-relatively-speaking) and I will try and keep posting regularly, now not for my friends and family in Canada, but for those in Belgium and otherwise. (How the table have turned.) I STILL haven't had time to check my e-mail either than lower the amount of spam I have or answer things extremely urgent, but I'll try and get on top of that this week. Heh.

I have been meaning to do a cartoon lately, so I'll see if I can't put something up in the next week and a bit.

Miss you guys in Belgium. You know who you are.

Flying back to Canada

Hey there,

Well, it's official...my thesis results are on Wednesday, I fly back on Thursday, get in at about 12:25pm, spend just less than a week in Calgary, and then I fly back to S'toon on Tuesday 18th of September. I arrive in Saskatoon at 10:19am Tuesday Sept 18th. I am really, really, really-really-really pensive about leaving.

Really.

And about how I did on my thesis, but I digress. Ack.

The Defence

It went alright. =)

Defend Me, Please

Really, this post is just for Kristin, but maybe the rest of you will enjoy what not to say at a thesis defence, mine which is friday at 11:00. I know that I laugh until I almost cry every time I read this, which is good because my stress level is really, really, really-really-really-really HIGH all of a sudden after reading half of my thesis and now deciding it's all crap and that there's no way I'll pass my defence or get a mark I want. I have been reading some web sites that give good tips for the defence, but still there is a large monster eating out my intestine, and thy name is vanity, the vanity that fears bad marks.

I am very, very worried; and I feel a bit sick.

And it's really, really late.

Big Changes

Well, I'm having my computer reformated by Ralph so I will update when that is finished. Typing from an azerty keyboard is a headache, so I'll update when my computer is alright. Other than that, everything is fine. =)