maverick's truth

Proof of our spontenaity!

2007-03-11T23:46:00.000-06:00

Proof of our spontenaity!

Me? Spontaneous?

2007-02-24T17:42:00.000-07:00

So...

Friday night, J comes home from work...

J: "Wanna go out for dinner?"
Me: "um... sure?"
J: "I won a gift certificate for East Side Mario's in the draw at work!"
Me: "Okay, sounds good. But isn't the only ESM's far away?"

Turns out that it was in the North East, not so bad. So we went, had food, had fun, and then wandered Sunridge mall for a bit. On the drive home, we decided it was kinda nice just being out, driving, so we thought we'd keep driving. So we drove around town a bit, got lost in a residential area, decided that "this isn't much fun, let's go out on the highway or something." So we stopped at home, got our coats and put on some more comfy clothes, and decided to go for a drive...

And ended up in Canmore. Yay for spontanaity, we decided to spend the night rather than driving all the way back, and then we went to Banff today, since J has never been (and I've only ever been for choir stuff, which doesn't really count.)

So yeah... day trip to Banff... and we got back here around 5:00.

I think I could get into this whole "spontananeous living" thing. Go out for dinner, end up in Banff!

Maybe.

Scrat is my hero...

2007-02-12T11:04:00.001-07:00

And this is why:

Warning: Extreme Randomness

2007-02-07T09:19:00.000-07:00

So anyways....

It's cold. Too cold. And snowy. The snow can leave, any time now. And the roads are icky. Made yesterday's trip to Costco interesting to say the least. Speaking of Costco, have I mentioned lately how much I love that Costco is 10 minutes away? I mean really... Triangle Buns at my disposal? It's like heaven.

Okay so maybe not so much. But Costco is supercool. Not to mention that on their website they have a sweet digital piano. Oh, and it's on a discount. If only I had money... and a place to put it. We have too much furniture. I'm sure I could find a place to put it. But hey, a girl can dream, can't she? I even went and looked at all the reviews, and it (apparently) has a beautiful action and feels "real", and sounds pretty good, too.

Oh well.

I should be reading Plato rather than dreaming about pianos anyways.

Brrr... I'm still cold.

And the semester begins...

2007-01-16T15:11:00.000-07:00

How is it that only one week into the semester, I already am feeling behind?

Four courses this go arounnd, so I'll do my typical pre-semester review...

Women in Western Religion: this course should be alright, the texts (novels) are interesting, the prof is fantabulous, but I just can't get excited about the material. Maybe that will change, but for now, I give it a cautious B+

Saints, Holy Men and Martyrs: again, fantabulous prof, and the material should be interesting, but what's sad is that the thing I'm most excited about for this course is that for my final project I'm going to be applying math to the study of religion. Yup, a definite geek. Let's give this class an A, though I'm tempted to give it an A-. Not sure yet.

Greek (Translating Plato's Apology and the New Testament): we're starting out with Plato, which isn't exactly my cup of tea, although it's not bad (yet!). I'm excited to get to the New Testament translation though, since... y'know.... religious studies is what I do? A- for this one.

Honors Thesis: it's time to write and defend this sucker, and I honestly couldn't want to do it less! :-) In all seriousness, I'll be glad when this project is over, if only because I've been working on it since last summer. It's just not captivating enough or something, I guess. I'm tempted to give this course a C- just out of spite, but I'll be generous and say that it's a B-.

So that's how my semester looks. Plus working and whatnot.

But... onto something that scores a definite A+++ in my books. One of the girls in my Women in Western course and I were talking about the Flames before class on Monday. Turns out she works for the team, and so gets tickets to games throughout the season. She can't go to the game this Friday, so she asked if I'd like her pair of tickets. Of course, who was I to refuse! So that will be fun, and a nice break.

Zoolights!

2006-12-19T23:12:00.000-07:00

Pictures of our visit to Zoolights can be found below. It was chilly, but well worth it. For some reason, the pictures seem to be out of order, but you'll get the idea, I'm sure!

Square Peg, Meet Round Hole

2006-12-09T11:23:00.000-07:00

So I've decided that I'm not going to apply for graduate school for this coming September. Not only is the deadline in less than a month -- I really don't think that I could give the proper attention to the application, to finding a supervisor or to finding opportunities for setting up the interdisciplinary program given everything else that I've got going on. Even besides that though, I think I need to take some time away from school.

The current plan is to re-evaluate my position before the 2008 SSHRC (ie. the equivalent of the NSERC) deadline, and make a decision at that point about whether grad school really is for me. I hope that a year away from school will help me to see whether this "square peg" really can fit into a "round hole." At this point, I can't be sure if it's burn-out talking, or if the academic world is just too "academic" for me. I hate being boxed into certain ways of thinking and certain ways of doing things, and it feels as though that's what the academic world is about. Then again, I know that even the thought of one more semester is daunting, and that if there were courses I could drop and still graduate, I would -- but there just simply aren't.

So that's where I stand. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a couple exams to study for...

Christmas Came Early

2006-11-23T10:59:00.000-07:00

Or, more to the point, it hasn't quite come yet, but as of Tuesday, it will have. We managed somehow (and I don't really know how we got so lucky) to get hockey tickets for the Flames vs. the Avalanche next Tuesday night. Thanks for the Christmas present, J!

Once Upon a Time

2006-11-02T07:35:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, I had decided that I was going to go to grad school in computer science and probably go on to get my PhD.

Then, I decided that computer science wasn't really for me, so I started an after degree in religious studies.

Then, I decided that I was going to go to grad school in religious studies and probably go on to get my PhD.

Then, I decided that research wasn't really for me, so I decided that I wouldn't go to grad school. (This was the beginning of September)

Then, I decided that I was getting tired of school and just needed a break before going to grad school. (This was a few weeks ago)

Then, I realized that if I took a break and got a job, I probably wouldn't go back to grad school. (This has been the past week)

Now?

Now I just don't know what to do.

ahem

2006-10-30T10:47:00.000-07:00

So my return to this blog was apparently short-lived. Oops. But see now, I have an excuse! (And not the usual excuse of midterms, though I've had those going on, too)... I've got a *new* blog that I've been writing. It's not so much a personal blog (as in what I did the past week,etc.), but rather it's a more scholarly blog. But you can go check it out for yourself @ sententia.net. See you there! (And I will continue to update this blog with personal goings on as I have time and incentive.)

Class Report Card

2006-09-19T12:45:00.000-06:00

I typically do a class report card at the beginning of each semester, so this will be no exception.

Film and Religion (Watching Film Religiously): A
Notes: I actually already finished this class (it was a blockweek course, which means it was all over in the week before school actually started for the semester), and it was really very good. After the first class, I wasn't 100% sold on it, but over the course of the week it certainly grew on me, and ended up being probably one of my favorite classes all time. And of course, the instructor was fab.

Judaism: A-
Notes: This class seems really interesting, and the instructor is very engaging. Only reason this one gets an A- rather than an A is that he seems to get sidetracked -- not that he gets off topic, but he just talks a lot about things that, while interesting, put us quite far behind. Four classes in, and we're just about 2 classes behind already. On the plus side, I've already decided what I want to do my paper on, so it's just a matter of doing the research and stuff now.

Greek: A- / A
Notes: I can't decide whether this is an A- class or an A class. The fact that it's Greek makes me hesitant to put it as a fullfledged A (because I really didn't enjoy Greek last year), but at the same time, the instructor is making it hard to give the class anything less than an A. It seems as though a change in instructors might make a world of difference, so here's hoping. :-)

That's basically it... except for my honors thesis, which is essentially exactly the same as what I was doing throughout the summer. All in all, it looks like it might be a good semester.

Newly Computered In Calgary

2006-09-14T13:59:00.000-06:00

Well, after confirming that the cost to repair my old laptop would surpass the price of a new one, I broke down and bought a new laptop today. I got news of a new scholarship, which I didn't expect, so that will help cover the cost. And hey, I got a free iPod out of the deal, so it's not all bad. I even got a discount on the system because I work at the bookstore, so anyways... I am newly computered, and now just need to decide what to do with the old one. I think I may try selling it on eBay for parts, but haven't fully decided yet. It's hard to decide to part with a machine that works great except for the fact that you can't charge the battery and it won't run off the AC. Then again, with all the problems I've had with my old machine, I've started to wonder if it's not been cursed. Maybe just getting the new machine is for the best ... or at least, it had better be. I've already spent the money.

Computerless in Calgary

2006-09-12T22:21:00.000-06:00

After much cajoling (hi Mom!), I'm back to my blog, at least for this post. I really don't have much of an excuse for my multi-month absence, but I suppose stress could have something to do with it -- as my mini-breakdown in the advisor's office today testifies. Today was one of those `straw that broke the camel's back' kinda of days. After all the headaches I had with my power adapter for my laptop around Christmas time, and finding out that I needed a new battery because of the recall, there is a new problem... one that unfortunately a new $100 power adapter or a free battery replacement can't fix...

On the weekend, I was carrying my laptop around in a laptop bag I've been using basically since I got it when disaster struck... the strap broke and my bag, laptop and all, crashed to the ground. Fearing the worst, I plugged it in and all seemed fine. There was no data loss, everything was functioning, and, although the power adapter needed to be finessed in order to get it to work, it really wasn't worse than it was before. Or so it seemed. Upon closer inspection, it seems as though the part of the computer into which the plug goes is bent, and since Sunday, the adapter has gone from charging the battery most of the time to not doing it at all. It seems like there's some internal damage to the power-in, as well. I looked into replacement parts, and they cost pretty much as much as a new computer. Tonight, I copied all of my stuff off of my computer onto J's, and now I have only about 1/2hr of battery life left. There's no way for me to charge my battery, and so things are not looking good. Somewhere, I'm going to have to find the money to buy a new one. Just what I needed.... On the plus side, the new models of the laptops have a different design for the power cords -- one which won't cause me to need to buy a new one every 4 months. I still haven't decided what machine to buy, and I guess I haven't even really resigned myself to buying one (I keep hoping to wake up and have it be back to normal), but it seems inevitable now.

So... anyone want a slightly-used and non-chargeable Powerbook G4?

I think I need some sleep... no "sleepless in Seattle" here...

Recipe Report #4b

2006-06-23T11:58:00.000-06:00

Ah ha! Finally caught up. Without further ado, this weeks new recipes:

Chicken Quesadillas: your basic quesadilla, but low fat, and using chickpeas instead of a guacamole. Bake these babies in the oven for 10 minutes and you have a quick and easy meal. I think we'll also pair this with a Caesar side -- another new recipe.

Caesar: I'm always a little dubious of home-made Caesar dressings, but I'm not opposed to just giving this a try. Custom-built croutons are also on the plan for this side salad.

Chicken Catchatori: tomato-saucy chickeny goodness. Bake it together with some seasonings

Possibilities:
Perogies: home-made perogies with a tomatoe sauce over the top. J is thrilled that I will finally try perogies "her way", and I'm just hungry for perogies. This one is our first choice possibility since we need to find pasta shells to stuff the perogie mix into.

Pineapple chicken: a sweet-n-sour chicken dish with rice and loads of veggies. I will, again, probably pass on the pineapple. We may end up having this even if we do have the perogies, since we have the ingredients anyways.

Hm... looks like a chicken week to me. Oh well, last week was a pork week, so it's time for some new meat!

On a sidenote, if you want any of these recipes, let J or I know and I can email you one to try.

"This has been your weekly recipe report. We now return you to your regularly scheduled activities. Thank you, and have a good day."

Great quote

2006-06-22T11:05:00.000-06:00

I'm researching for my term paper, and came across this quote. I don't know why it struck me, but I thought it was just an absolutely great quote... For those who think that studying early Christianity is all about reading texts and having your head in a book, consider this -- an example of the direction the academy is going:

Paul was a city person. The city breathes through his language. Jesus' parables of sowers and weeds, sharecroppers, and mud-roofed cottages call forth smells of manure and earth, and the Aramaic of the Palestinian villages often echoes in the Greek. When Paul constructs a metaphor of olive trees or gardens, on the other hand, the Greek is fluent and evokes schoolroom more than farm; he seems more at home with the clichés of Greek rhetoric, drawn from gymnasium, stadium, or workshop.

-- Wayne A. Meeks, "The First Urban Publishers: The Social World of the Apostle Paul," p. 9. Yale University Press (1983)

Recipe Report #3b & #4a

2006-06-22T10:13:00.000-06:00

Hm... so I thought that blogging weekly about what we've eaten and are eating would ensure some more regularity. Oops. That said, at least I only stopped blogging about it, and didn't stop eating altogether.

But back on track. We slowed down a bit on the new recipes since my last update, if only because it took us a while before we were able to get to the grocery store and stock up on everything. Here's a quick overview of what we've had since the last update.

Orange Chicken -- J: 4.5/5 B: 4/5
Description: Just like it sounds, chicken with an orange marinade. Nothing particularly unusual as far as ingredients go -- in fact, this is the first recipe we've done for which all the ingredients were already in the kitchen. Granted, our kitchen wasn't exactly equipped for cooking before these experiments (things like spices, worchestershire sauce, lemon and lime juice, and things like fresh onions and different varieties of peppers which aren't *unusual*, we just didn't generally stock them).
Comments: We served it over couscous, but in retrospect, rice would have been better. The ratings are for just the chicken, though. My qualm with this dish is how extremely sweet the sauce was; it was almost like an orange marmelade. However, one can always cut back on the sugar the next go-around.

Pork Chops -- J: 5/5 B: 5/5
Description: Marinate these pork chops overnight, then throw them on the grill for a sweet but tangy flavour. Served with Spanish Rice (see review below).
Comments: Fabulous marinate. And I mean, totally fab. This one does require planning ahead, since it requires at least 8 hours to sit in the marinade. But the end result is a great tasting meat.

Spanish Rice -- J: 4/5 B: 3/5
Description: Fairly normal spanish rice, which means it's got a kick. Oh... and in case you were wondering (not that you were, but...) -- we did find quick cooking brown rice. A definite relief, considering this is another brown-rice recipe.
Comments: Like I said, it's got a kick, and I guess it just wasn't my style. Not that there was anything wrong with the recipe, it just wasn't my "thing." If we added corn, the flavour might be just "weakened" enough.

Pork-u-Pine Kabobs -- J: 4.5/5 B: 3.5/5
Description: Grilled kabobs where the pork is marinated (the marinade has peach -- or apricot -- jam in it... who woulda thought?) before being skewered together with zucchini, red peppers and pineapple (for those who eat that kind of thing).
Comments: Obviously, I passed on the pineapple, and actually passed on most of the zucchini too -- just wasn't a good flavour for me, though J seemed to like it alright. We also had green peppers instead of red, which actually worked out fine. The peppers took the flavour of the marinade on really nicely (you baste them as they're grilling), and gave them a flavour that even this non-pepper fan could handle. For just the meat and the peppers, though, it wasn't worth it to me. I'd rather just use the marinade and forget the kabob-ing.

Potato Salad -- J: 1.5/5 B: 1/5
Description: A potato salad which uses a vinagrette dressing rather than a creamy one. Red potatoes and an oil + red-wine vinegar + seasonings make up the dressing. This one was a side to the kabobs (above).
Comments: The first recipe we've made that I just couldn't finish. Whether there was too much red wine vinegar, or whether I just don't like the flavour, I don't know. But I don't want to have it again. Oh well, you live, you learn.

Update on the new recipes forthcoming. [edit: wow, did I just say that? I didn't even notice at the time, but that's the exact same way I finished off the *last* report]

Recipe Report #3a

2006-06-11T21:31:00.000-06:00

Again, all ratings are out of 5. This post is only the reviews from last week; we haven't decided what we're trying this coming week yet.

Pizza Pasta -- J: 4.5 B: 4.5
Comments: the title of this one is a bit deceiving, since it's more like a baked spaghetti with pizza toppings (including veggies). It's still really good, though a bit less pasta would work well.

Shepherd's Pie -- J: 4.0 B: 4.0
Comments: The spinach definitely needed to be chopped up more finely than what we had, but overall, this had really nice flavour. It was a bit of a pain to bake in the toaster oven, and draining the fat off of the meat was a bit tricky, but the leaner the meat, the better the result. I also found the amount of meat to be a bit on the high side, but then again, I'm not really a meat eater.

Blueberry Pancakes -- J: 5.0 B: 5.0
Comments: Woot! Awesome pancakes, with a really nice banana creme sauce to boot. Secret ingredient in this one was cottage cheese in the batter, which helped keep it light. But really, blueberry buttermilk pancakes? Who can complain!
Guest Reviewer: Kevin: 4.0/5.0 -- 'only reason for it being a 4 is that it was really, really filling'. J and I agreed that it was filling, but thought that the banana creme sauce helped with that.

Orange-Lime Rice Salad: J: 4.5/5.0 B: 2.5/5.0
Comments: This one constitutes the first recipe that I really didn't like. The flavours just weren't working for me. The rice is a pain in the you-know-what, since it's long grain brown rice, and we couldn't find any quick cooking stuff. Dumb stuff. J liked the flavours, but didn't like the rice cooking time. The salmon that we had with it was really nice, though.

I'll post part b of this week's report once we've figured out what we're gonna have!

Recipe Report #2

2006-06-03T16:26:00.000-06:00

Alright, the first week of cooking and eating with the new recipes seems to have been an overall s-u-c-c-e-s-s. All ratings are out of 5.

Mandarin Salad -- J: 3.5 B: 3.5
Comments: the salad itself seemed was quite good, but the parsley's bitterness made for a not-so-great aftertaste. Less parsely and without waterchestnuts should bring this one up to a 4 or 4.5 at least.

Fettucine Alfredo -- J: 4.5 B: 5.0
Comments: J found this a touch dry, but I quite liked it. But you have to eat it when it's hot -- the sauce and peas loose their lustre as it cools down. The portion sizes were also a a nice surprise; we were able to eat a lot, without eating "bad."

Mixed-Up Meatballs -- J: 4.5 B: 4.5
Comments: what a surprise! I hate horseradish... and horseradish combined with raspberry jam sounded just bizarre. So bizarre, that we really only tried this because of how crazy it sounded. And yet, we both agreed it's worth having again -- we made lots of meatballs and froze them so we have 3 more meals worth before we have to splurge for the ground chicken again. The price of the ground chicken was really only problem we had with this recipe; we couldn't find ground turkey, and the ground chicken was tricky to find. All in all, though, a great surprise.

Not mentioned last week (but we tried them anyway) were some smoothies. We tried the Bikini Breezer (strawberry - banana - OJ) and a Peach one as well. Both are worth having again, though we're going to try adding some fresh strawberries to the first. This week, we'll be trying a third variety, which is a pistachio banana one.

The other new things this week are:

Orange-Lime Rice Salad: we're having this one as a side to some BBQ'd salmon. J's never had fish other than the canned junk, so this should be interesting for both of us. Cantalope, peppers and green onions fill out the salad. This is our "not sure about" recipe for the week.

Shepherd's Pie: the old classic with red potatoes, ground beef, and the twist is the addition of spinach.

Pizza Pasta: it's pizza on top of pasta. Strange but true!

And as a bonus, there's a recipe for buttermilk pancakes (with blueberries for those who eat them) and a banana-creme topping (with low-fat plain yogurt, cinnamon, banana, etc.) Kev's coming over to help us devour them... thus the "blueberries for those who eat them."

Recipe Report #1

2006-05-29T17:16:00.000-06:00

Since I got a new watch with all kinds of health-helping things (yeah, yeah, I know, you gotta actually do the walking to get the benefits), J and I figured the next step is to try some new recipes. We've actually been talking about trying some new things for a while, since we tend to either not cook, or cook stuff that takes a while -- no real middle ground. So, we went out and bought the Looney Spoons cookbook and are going to try to do 3 new recipes a week -- two which we think sound really good, and one "could be good" or "could be interesting" recipe. Each week, then, I'll post the three new recipes we're trying, and also a recap of how each was. It'll at least keep me posting, as well as keeping us trying new things!

Without further ado, here's the first three things we're planning on trying:

Mandarin Salad: a sort of combo pasta-lettuce salad, which has mandarins, water chestnuts, and a honey + yogurt + dry mustard + poppy seed dressing

Fettucine Alfredo: a standard garlic alfredo which uses light sour cream rather than whipping (or other) cream.

And this week's "could be interesting" one, "Mixed-Up Meatballs": meatballs (ground turkey) which is supposed to have raspberry jam, mustard and horseradish (I know, I know) as a sauce.

Wish us luck!

May Long Weekend

2006-05-22T10:42:00.000-06:00

"On my summer vacation, I did..." Oh wait. Wrong topic. First off, happy May Long to all you Canadians out there. Hopefully most of you are getting a day off from work, school, what-have-you. As for myself, I took Saturday off from coursework and reading, which means I don't get today off. This whole working six days a week thing has some advantages, but there are serious disadvantages too.

But, since I did have Saturday and Sunday off, I managed to give myself enough of a brain-break hopefully to make it through another six-day push. And, as you can see to the left, I now have a spiffy new watch to help me keep on time. My old watch kept having the strap breaking, and rather than spending $10-$20 on a new strap all the time, I should just get a new watch. This was a bit more expensive than what I was looking at spending initially, but it's really good quality -- better than the average buy-at-Walmart Timex ones. I picked it up at Mountain Equipment Co-op, so I got a good deal on it too and you can't complain with their warantee policy. Oh, and did I mention the watch also has a monitoring system for heart-rate, and speed and distance travelled? It's nice to have, since J and I have started walking / jogging 2 nights a week, so this lets me know how far we've gone, what the heart-rate is, and what not. Besides, it just looks cool.

So... I have a watch. What else is new? Not a whole heck of a lot. Kev moved up a week ago, and has been bunking here until he can move into his place at the beginning of June. I'm still doing my research and a course, but (and hold off from calling me crazy for a few moments, while I explain) I'm also working 3 full days a week at the Faculty of Medicine. But, while I'm there, I can do my coursework, and some research, so it basically doesn't add up to much more work for me at all. It means I can't sit on the comfy couch and do my research, but I guess that's alright.

Work is calling, and despite it being a holiday for most of y'all, some things can't wait.

Back in Action

2006-05-13T09:38:00.000-06:00

Alrighty.

I finished my last exam (well, paper) 2 weeks ago this past Friday.

Then, as most of you know (because you were there!) I presented a paper at a conference 2 weeks ago in Lethbridge. It was a good experience; lots of interesting papers, and I'm told my presentation went well, too.

Then I came home, took a couple of days off (woohoo... relaxation!). But then my body realized I was relaxing and it took that as its cue to go ahead and get sick.

And I do mean sick. Flat-in-bed-for-two-or-three-days sick. And I still have the remnants, a gosh-darned cough that has made doing much of anything pretty tough. Basically, what that means is I haven't talked to the people I was supposed to talk to, I haven't seen the people I was supposed to see, and while I have done work, I haven't done all the work I was going to, either.

Ah yes, work. Where would I be without you?

This summer, I think, will be a test of my self-discipline, as far as work goes. I've done it once before, doing an independent study and research all in the same summer. But that time, the research wasn't self-directed like this time is. It's a whole 'nother ballgame, doing research for myself as opposed to for someone else.

At this point, research has meant going to the library, and picking up books. Initially, I wondered if there would be enough books for me to get the preliminary information I need. Let's put it this way. In a library, there are rows of bookshelves, and within each shelf, there are sections, about 4 feet wide. I picked up 8-10 books from one section of one row in my first trip to the library. And that was in the area that I didn't think I'd find much (the architecture section). I still haven't ventured back, to visit the art / art history, archaeology and ... oh, the religious studies section yet. Oy.

On top of all those books (most of which I only need a portion, but still!), there's my independant study. Basically, I've worked it out that for the course alone I need to read (comprehend, take notes on, etc.) 75 pages of very dense material per day. On a good day, that's about 2 hours of reading for class work alone. And I read fast. But you can't blow through this stuff.

On top of all of that, one of my other goals for summer was to actually have a life. Still waiting to see how that figures into the plan. Sword-swinging class is still going on, weekly. I'm also still picking up the odd shift at the Faculty of Medicine -- they've had one of their full time people leave on short notice, so I'm filling in a bit over the next couple of weeks. The bookstore looks like a no-go. Oh, and Tay, if you see this, please tell your mom that I'll be in touch about the design work on Monday? *Whew* On the plus side, my independant study only lasts until the end of June, so I will be able to reclaim that time in about 6 weeks.

Wow. 6 weeks? Man, I gotta get to work...

Impermanence

2006-04-23T17:26:00.000-06:00

A very important concept in Buddhism is that of impermanence, being one of the Three Marks of Existence (for more information, check out the link). Impermanence is more than just a nice concept, though, as evidenced by the practice of creating Sand Mandalas. The mandalas themselves are absolutely incredible... check out some of the pictures for yourself. Go through all of the pages to see the construction from beginning to end, and the subsequent reminder of impermanence. The BBC has more information on the importance of the mandala's ritual creation and destruction.

Conference Details and Exams

2006-04-20T16:42:00.000-06:00

The conference schedule for the Lethbridge RELS conference is now available, as are the abstracts. For those of you too lazy to look it up...

I'm at 10:00am on Sunday, but the session I'm in begins at 8:30. My abstract, which I don't think I posted before, is as follows:

Carpocratian Practices, Doctrines -- and a Canonical Gospel?

With Morton Smith’s discovery of the Secret Gospel of Mark, the landscape of both Carpocratian and the Gospel of Mark scholarship was vastly altered. Found within a letter by Clement of Alexandria are details of two previously unknown, 'secret' passages in the Gospel of Mark. It is apparent from the Clement letter that the passages unique to the Secret Gospel of Mark were circulated within canonical Mark. Any group reading Secret Mark would therefore have also been reading the material found in Canonical Mark. To this end, the present paper proposes an investigation into the possible uses of the canonical Gospel of Mark in the development and justification of Carpocratian doctrine and practice. The actual doctrines and practices of the Carpocratians are themselves highly debated and must first be investigated, before examining the relevant passages from Canonical Mark. The presence of some doctrines not found in the Gospel of Mark, however, present a problem with the theory of a purely Markan source for Carpocratian teachings. Thus it will be argued that the Carpocratians, while possibly using the Gospel of Mark as a source for some of their doctrines, were likely not using the canonical Gospel of Mark alone.

So that's what I'm up to the last weekend of April, 8:00am-10:00pm Saturday and 8:30-12:30 on Sunday. We'll head back right away on Sunday afternoon.

Also, on an unrelated note, I finished both of my exams (Greek and Death and Afterlife) and both went really well, I think. Also got my unofficial Latin grade; A+ and my prof said, "Great work...you have a real talent for Latin, so I was pleased to see you hope to continue." All I have left is a final paper due a week from today... which I will start... um... tonight. Heh, heh, heh.

At work right now, so I should make sure everything's sounding alright; so I'll catch up with y'all later.

Argh

2006-04-06T15:42:00.000-06:00

An addendum to my previous post: you can find out more about the whole 'Gospel of Judas' saga by going here: http://www9.nationalgeographic.com/lostgospel/

But I have to vent. Their timeline page is terribly misleading. See, if you mouse over the timeline, by the order of the dots, it implies that Jesus died, then the gospels were written, and then Paul spread Christianity.

Argh. That's not what scholars believe to be true at all!

And if you look at the dates they specify, you can see that reflected.

Jesus died c. 30 AD
Gospels were written 65-95 AD (I have a bit of a problem with these dates, but let's go with them for a moment)
St. Paul expands the faith c. 68 AD (Again, some problems with this date)

Now, why would you list those things 1, 2, 3, when clearly, 68 AD comes before 90 AD?

The gospels were not (I emphasize *NOT*) written before Paul. No way. First of all, Paul's letters are typically dated 50-60 AD, not 68 AD. The Gospel of Mark is the earliest canonical gospel, and it's earliest date is 65 AD, though many scholars believe it was written in the 70s. And then there's Matthew and Luke, which were written at the *earliest* in 80 AD (scholars date them between 80-100 and 80-130, respectively). And finally, we get John, which was written at the *earliest* in 90 AD, and could have been as late as 120!

So... let's recap. The order according to National Geographic is Jesus, Gospels, Paul. The order according to scholars is Jesus, Paul, Gospels. And don't think it doesn't make a difference, because it makes all the difference in the world that our "eye-witness accounts" were written anywhere from 35 - 100 years after the death of Jesus. They weren't all written 35 years after Jesus' death, no matter what National Geographic implies. And yes, I realize that their timeline does say that the gospels were written between 65 - 95. But then why did they put a single dot for the time of the writing of the gospels (before Paul), rather than show the span of time? It's sloppy, and it implies a school of thought that scholars have been trying to overcome for years now. The gospels are not earlier than Paul, they are later.

Grumble, grumble, grumble.

In all fairness to the good folks at National Geographic, at least they got the order in the text-only version right.

And finally, for more on other Gospels and early Christian writings which didn't make the New Testament, check out Early Christian Writings, where you can read tonnes of stuff from the first three centuries of the Common Era.

Another Gospel

2006-04-06T15:29:00.000-06:00

I wouldn't be a good religious studies student if I didn't at least make mention of this:

'Gospel of Judas' Surfaces After 1,700 Years

And another link about the same...

Text Might Be Hidden 'Gospel of Judas'

My favorite quote from the article:

Elaine Pagels, a professor of religion at Princeton University, said, "The people who loved, circulated and wrote down these gospels did not think they were heretics."

More good news

2006-03-27T11:08:00.000-07:00

My paper has been accepted to the religious studies undergraduate conference in Lethbridge at the end of April.

Yay for more stuff to do in the next couple of months. If I can find the abstract I submitted, I'll post it here.

w00t!

2006-03-24T16:34:00.000-07:00

"On behalf of the Undergraduate Research Award Selection Committee, I am pleased to advise you that you have been selected as one of 58 recipients of these new Awards for summer 2006. We received a total of 186 applications from 12 different faculties: the fact that yours was one of the successful applications speaks to the strength of your proposal and of your sponsor’s support."
------------------------------

And here's my winning proposal....
------------------------------

Baptism was one of the most important rituals in early Christianity; however, much is still unknown about how baptism was actually practiced. Using primary texts, together with archaeological records, I will work towards reconstructing an actual baptism ritual in the 3rd and 4th centuries CE.

Using archaeological evidence, I will study the physical layout and artwork found in pre-Constantinian house churches – and their baptisteries in particular – in order to determine how the rituals could have functioned within the physical environs. Studying the extensive documentation of Dura Europos, the oldest known house church, will allow me to understand these environs. The frescos and artwork found at this site, as well as other contemporary sources, will allow for a detailed analysis of the interaction between the ritual participants and the ritual places.

Framing the discussion in terms of ritual studies will allow me to examine primary sources by early Christian authors for evidence of how baptismal rites would have actually been performed. This will involve careful readings of the texts, in order to distinguish between the idealistic representations of the rituals described by the authors and the actual lived religiosity of early Christians.

When this study is complete, I will have compiled the information necessary to digitally recreate the early Christian baptism ritual in an interactive environment. I intend to create a simplified digital model of my findings, which will visually paraphrase my findings. This model will serve as the foundation for the more comprehensive and detailed three-dimensional environment which I will build for my undergraduate thesis. Building a simplified model will also allow me to begin an investigation into the use of technology as the basis of a methodology for the study of religion.

------------------------------

This summer, I intend to research early Christian baptism rituals, in preparation for my undergraduate thesis. My thesis will be an interdisciplinary project, incorporating ritual studies, art, architecture and early Christian beliefs and practices. I will create an interactive 3D environment on computer through which a researcher could experience an early Christian baptism. Determining actual ritual behavior from textual rituals, as well as how such descriptions fit into the archaeological record, requires a great deal of preliminary research, which I intend to complete this summer. Working with primary texts and archaeological resources, I will attain the necessary academic foundation for a digital recreation, as well as compiling the results of my research for submission to a number of undergraduate essay competitions. This summer's research will not only help prepare me for my undergraduate thesis, but also for a master's program in which I will investigate ways of using technology in the study of religion. I hold a BSc (Great Distinction) in Computer Science, and, combined with courses I have taken in early Christian studies, I believe I can contribute a great deal to the development of a methodology for integrating the study of religion with technology. The research I will perform this summer will help prepare me by building upon my already strong foundation in both computer science and early Christian studies.

Dark and Moody

2006-03-16T13:15:00.000-07:00

I like this new look, though I must admit I didn't create it ... But it's nicely understated, I think. I've also changed the sidebar a bit; the "About", "Last Posts" and "Archives" are the same as they were, but I've added some new sections as well.

"My Del.icio.us Tags" -- these are the categories of website that I've bookmarked using the social bookmarking website del.icio.us If you want to find out, say, what sites I've bookmarked that have to do with Latin, the Latin link would give you the list. The size and orange-ness of the link references how many sites I have bookmarked in a particular category (bigger and more orange means more sites bookmarked).

"Recent Bookmarks" -- the most recent 10 pages that I've bookmarked, for reference, later reading, or just because.

"Wishlist" -- this is the top items from the wishlist linked to by the TTIW button at the top of the page.

I'll also point out a new blog that I've started (no, not the one I mentioned a while ago -- that one is still in the works, but probably won't start until summer): http://www.3pointgame.blogspot.com ... Here's a snippet from the opening post:

The NHL has what can only be considered an odd way of assigning points for games... in some games, 3 points are distributed between the two teams. In other games, only 2 points are distributed. With the playoff races heating up, many people are wondering how those 3-point games are affecting the standings -- and more importantly, how it affects who is in and out of the playoffs.

Every day, I will post updated standings, showing how the standings would look if the points were distributed differently. I'll show the rankings sorted by points under the current system, and under two additional systems:

PTS - NO OTL: 2 points for a win (regulation, overtime or shootout), 0 points for a loss (regulation, overtime or shootout)
PTS - 3PTS: 3 points for a regulation win, 2 points for an overtime or shootout win, 1 point for an overtime or shootout loss, and 0 points for a regulation loss

Alright... back to the grind. But hey, two posts in a week! That's gotta be some sort of record, doesn't it?

Suffice it to Say....

2006-03-11T11:54:00.000-07:00

Well, suffice it to say, I'm no longer hobbled, nor am I in the first week of classes.

Yes, I realize it's been that long since I updated. I wish I could say that I was terribly busy every minute of every day, and so I have a justification for not updating, but... alas, 'twas not the case.

So what have I been up to, then, if not slaving away at all hours of the night and day?
Well, same as always, of course. Work, sleep, eat, school, sword-swinging, repeat. Not necessarily in that order.

This past week did feature a bit more excitement: went to the Flames game on Tuesday v. Nashville .... great seats, free (well, airmiles), right on the red line (and I do mean right on) at about the height we were at last time. Now if only they had won....

Then yesterday, the religious studies undergraduate student club visited a Franciscan Monestary, and afterwards, we went to one of the prof's houses for food and hanging out. Good times were had by all.

And, I'll close off with the long-promised updated review of my classes (all are out of a possible 5-stars)

Death and Afterlife: *
Daoism: ***
Methodologies: ***
Latin: ****+1/2
Greek: ***

Oh, and just so y'all know, I am aware that it is no longer Christmas... I just haven't got around to changing the design yet.

Injury Report

2006-01-09T14:33:00.000-07:00

This will just be a short note, while I kill the last few minutes before heading back to class. That's right, folks. School is back in session -- but as I've had only two classes thusfar, I can't really give any feedback on anything yet. Watch this space later in the week for more on that front.

I did have a much longer post to put up here, but unfortunately, my browser crashed before I had a chance to post. So you won't get all the wordy goodness, but this should suffice. The big news is, of course, the reason for the title: I'm hobbled... You see, it's not sword swinging that causes injuries, but the basketball that takes place beforehand. We were playing basketball, and I got run over by a truck. Or, more appropriately, a guy who is probably 6'4" and ... well, heavy. Quite heavy. So we collided, and my knee lost the battle. I ended up having it planted beneath me as I twisted, and now I have a lovely black-and-blue-and-hurting knee. I can walk on it, but end up needing it wrapped most of the time since it's prone to slipping a bit at this point. Ow.

Other than that, there is not much to report. I got all my grades finally, and got A's in each, except Daoism, which featured an A+. Can't complain about that one at all. I hope to be able to pick up my Early Christianity paper later this week, as well.

But, since getting back from Lethbridge, there's not much to report. I worked all week last week, and am back to school this week. Oh, and I also built the gingerbread house (see the pics) ... take that, Sebastian. Anyways, that's about all I have to say, and all the time I have to say it. Dumb knee takes me twice as long to get anywhere.

Oh, and in the next week or two, I will be launching a new blog. Now that I've told you that, I can close off, and you all will just have to wait with baited breath for more info.

The "S" Word

2005-12-26T22:10:00.000-07:00

So I was going through the Flames forum during the Flames-'Nucks game, and found this great quote from Cyber BRat regarding the never-to-be-spoken-before-the-game-is-done-word "shutout":

Its written in the Bible under Kipprintheans 3:16

"Thou shalt not speak the word that is not to be spoken, before a gameth concludeds. Or thall shall cast the flawlessness to the depths of Haydes fire."

"Wrapping" Up

2005-12-22T11:15:00.000-07:00

Well, the Christmas gifts are wrapped and ... well, they were under the tree. Now they're in Kev's car, ready for the journey down tomorrow. J is going down today, so I basically have the house to myself until tomorrow morning... what to do, what to do!

But let's back up a bit... say... back to Monday?

Monday: finished 20 page paper on the Carpocratian uses of the Gospel of Mark. Longest paper I've ever done, so that was a sense of accomplishment. Crammed madly for Greek exam. And I do mean madly. Put up the rest of the Christmas decorations.

Tuesday: Wrote Greek exam in the morning. Cleaned, cooked and generally prepped for 'shindig' in the evening. Wrapped presents, toured university with Kev, played Killer Bunnies.

Ah yes, Killer Bunnies. The first point of deviation from this timeline. Killer Bunnies is a wonderfully terrible card game; I will bring it down with me tomorrow. But until then, check out the link: http://killerbunnies.com/game/

Continuing with Tuesday: had dinner: Pasta Carbonara, Caesar Salad, Applesauce, Corn, Farmer Sausage, Fruit Punch (or pop, or a cooler, or water, or... there was no shortage of drinks). After dinner, there was far too much food, which meant that we didn't have room for dessert *quite* yet. So it was over to the couch to watch Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Great movie; much funnier than I thought it would be. Movie time was also goodie time... chocolates, chips and dip, etc. Way too much of that, too... tho J and I have managed to "clean up" quite a bit of it since then. Dessert was also had... Death By Chocolate. Woohoo. Also homemade Hot Apple Cider. Oh, and we watched an episode of "The Pretender", since Tay hadn't seen it for years. Mom, you and I used to watch that show together, as I recall. J has the entire first two seasons on DVD, so I'll bring the first season down, and we can watch it if you're interested. After that, tho no one wanted to admit it, we were all fairly tired, so the next major activity was ... Bed Time! So much for our thoughts that this would end up being a late night. Oh well.

On to Wednesday, where not much of note happened... started reading the book that I've been waiting to read for like ... 2 or 3 weeks: The Golden Compass by Pullman, the first book of the series "His Dark Materials." I picked it up on the recommendation of I-don't-even-remember-who, but haven't had a chance to read it because of exams. So far, so good. I might have to get the other 2 books of the trilogy. Other than that, I played a computer game or two, listened to the sorry excuse for a Flames' game on the radio, and generally lazed around. First chance I've had to do that in a while. Oh, also played the 3rd installment of the Lord of the Rings Strategy Board Game (J's Christmas present from me), and the bonus game included in it. Not bad, but not as good as the first two. The "Fellowship" one was by far the best of the three. We also watched Madagascar (I really wasn't all that impressed, to be honest) and Mr. and Mrs. Smith again (while setting up the game -- it takes a while to punch out all of the game board pieces!)

As for today, the only real events so far have been finding out that I got an A in Greek (I was a bit worried), and more of the same from yesterday. J is packing at the moment, so I'm helping where I can, and I'll do my own packing later today. I also uploaded some pictures so you can see our Christmas decorations.

That's it for now. Going to... oh, I don't know. Relax. Read. Something.

Valete!

It's Beginning to Smell A Lot Like ...

2005-12-16T13:55:00.000-07:00

I took a break from paper writing this morning, and decided to get some stuff together for the Christmas "shindig" (as Taybird called it) that we're having on Tuesday. Make some home-made cider, which makes everything just *smell* Christmas-y, and also baked something for our secret dessert. Nope, no hints here!

In other news...

It has been a while since I last posted, but in my defence, I've been actually quite busy. Doing finals, writing term papers, working, and who knows what else. I've written 2 of 3 finals already (the last one is on Tuesday), one paper is handed in (10 pages on Daoist cosomology) and am about half done my 20 page one that is due on Monday. I do, however, already have one mark back: an A in Latin, which is about what I figured, but I was still a tad nervous about. Not nearly so nervous as I am about Greek (on Tuesday), however. That will be likely quite nasty, as I haven't really done any in a couple of weeks. So as soon as I get about 5 more pages of this paper, it's time to start studying that one in earnest. Other than that, there really isn't much to report. I finished Christmas shopping earlier this last week, and now just have to wrap everything up... figuratively and literally.

Kev, when are you coming up? Check your email, darnit, and answer my questions! :D Just kidding... well, sorta.

Alright, paper land here I come.

del.icio.us

2005-11-29T18:36:00.000-07:00

This post is a placeholder for the del.icio.us button that I've put on the side of the page. For those of you that don't know, del.icio.us is a collection of websites I've bookmarked (most of them are for school) so I can find them even if I'm not on my own computer. Anyways, del.icio.us tagroll follows.

Don't Second Guess

2005-11-24T12:59:00.000-07:00

Note to self: when writing a midterm, don't second guess yourself.

Maybe this time, that "note to self" will stick. I've told myself that little tidbit who-knows-how-many times, and yet, what did I do in my midterm today, if it wasn't to second guess myself, and end up changing a right answer to a wrong one.

Fortunately, my self-second-guessing has cost me too badly yet; my Arky midterm was a 22/25 (a little low for what I wanted), my Early Christianity quiz was a 42/45 (a little better than I expected), and my Daoism was quite a pleasant surprise, coming in at a 31/30 (no typo there, I got more than 100%).

Next up, a presentation next week in my Early Christianity class (next Wednesday), and then it's on to final papers and final exams. December, here we come.

Merry Christmas?

2005-11-20T15:54:00.000-07:00

I figured it was time for a new design; something a little less "spring flowers" and a little more "Christmas lights". 'Tis the season, you know. Of course, for all of you people that use Internet Explorer (which you shouldn't), it won't look right, but I've given up trying to fix a page for a broken browser. Anyways, since J "refuses to let me" ...put up any Christmas-y stuff around the apartment (including playing Christmas music) until December 1, I figured my blog is my own, and so it was time for a change ;-) Just kidding, J.

I've also started building a Christmas list. There's a link to it on the left of this page (the one that says "wishlist"). Basically, it's populated with a lot of books at the moment, because I can't think of much else. But at least it's something.

Speaking of Christmas shopping, I started doing mine the other day. But no telling as to what I bought!

I did buy myself an early Christmas present -- well, okay, not really a Christmas present, more like a study aid. ΑΡΕΙΟΣ ΠΟΤΗΡ (AREIOS POTER: kai he tou philosophou lithos = "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" in Ancient Greek!).

Alright, I have to go write a paper now.

Up this week: write one paper, start another. Greek midterm. Daoism presentation. I think that's it. So far.

Colored Bubbles (I'm Back!)

2005-11-17T17:08:00.000-07:00

I'm still alive.

And I'm actually quite amazed by that fact.

This past week was a mess of midterms, tests, and other nastinesses, most of which are behind me for now. Just once quiz tomorrow, and that's it -- and I can't prepare for it.

Anyways, I don't really have much to report, so I will leave you with a link to the coolest thing I've seen in a long time. Seriously. Check it out. Read all the pages (yes, all 11)... it's a really interesting read.

The 11-Year Quest to Create Disappearing Colored Bubbles
Chemical burns, ruined clothes, 11 years, half a million dollars—it's not easy to improve the world's most popular toy. Yet the success of one inventor's quest to dye a simple soap bubble may change the way the world uses color

Read the rest at Popular Science

Now THIS is Interesting

2005-10-19T20:50:00.000-06:00

I've been poking around, looking at graduate school options at various Canadian universities. I went to a talk on Tuesday discussing grad school at the U of C, and apparently, an area of research (small, but there) is what the speaker referred to as "electronic publishing" -- or, how-to-use-computers-in-the-humanities. Now *that* peaked my interest... computer science-ish-ness melded with religious studies? I could maybe go for that... But it's not really formal at the U of C, and there's not really anyone in the religious studies department who is involved in that area. However! This is something I DID find.

The University of Alberta (yes, that's Edmonton, for those of you who are keeping score... if I were to pursue this program, I'd have hit most of the province's population centres) has a program called the MA in Humanities Computing.

From their website:

The interdisciplinary program in Humanities Computing offers a balanced examination of both the theoretical and practical issues that define Humanities Computing by focusing on two dimensions of study. The first is critical thinking about how computing is enabling and transforming humanities research and teaching methodologies. The second is the acquisition of technical knowledge through hands-on experience with methods, technologies, and principles underlying the creation, delivery, and analysis of both complex electronic text documents and non-textual data and images.

The Master of Arts in Humanities Computing is offered in conjunction with existing graduate programs in Arts. Students admitted into the program will have areas of specialization in existing graduate programs.

One of which programs is Religious Studies. That's right. A master's degree that is about using computers to study religion. Now, it *is* only a Master's program. However (I quote again from the U of A site)

Through its emphasis on graduate-level study in one of the participating humanities departments, the program also prepares students for the option of continuing graduate work at the Ph.D. level in their field of specialization.

At the very least, it's worth looking into.

On another note, did you know that hiccups are diaphragmatic malfunctions? And that probably the best way to deal with them is to hold your breath?

Exam Sched: Yuck!

2005-10-19T11:29:00.000-06:00

I got my final exam schedule... the first two exams are fine, but the last one ... Well, here's my schedule:

Dec 12: Archaeology Exam
Dec 13: Latin Final
Dec 20: Greek Final

I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing... the exam on the 20th is at 8am. It means I have to get up early -- way too early -- but it means that we can come down for Christmas that same day, possibly. It would have been nicer to be done sooner, though!

Who Woulda Thought?

2005-10-14T15:12:00.000-06:00

Now this is something I would not have anticipated... CTV.ca is reporting a story with the headline "Old ideas up in smoke, pot might help the brain" The story says that the researchers believe marijuana may help with anxiety and depression, by helping the brain to grow.

Just wait until this argument is brought up to various law-makers... "We know we've been telling you that you need to spend more money on education, but we'd actually be happy if you'd legalize pot ... at least for medicinal and educational purposes!"

Yeah. That'll be the day.

Got Bit by the PBk Power Bug

2005-10-14T10:08:00.000-06:00

I got bit by the PowerBook power adapter failure bug. I tried to plug in my laptop to charge the battery, and ...

nothing. No power, no connection, no charging. Apparently the adapters are prone to failure... a short search online shows many people's adapters shorting out, sparking, catching on fire... Fortunately, mine "just" stopped. But I did have to buy a replacement one, at a price tag of $120. I didn't get an official Apple branded one (the MicroStore didn't have any of those in stock), but an approved 3rd party one, which includes an airplane jack, and a car (cigarette lighter) jack. But oy. I didn't need to spend that kind of money.

Hodge-Podge

2005-10-03T20:45:00.000-06:00

I can't win.

This work situation is... well, I don't know what it is.

It's a contract to do what really, honestly amounts to menial grunt work. And it's a fixed rate per hour ($15, which is at the very bottom of market value, if not below), and probably won't take all that long. So it really doesn't look like it will be helping my financial situation.

The only thing I can hope is that maybe they're using this to test me out, and if I do a decent job, relatively quickly (not like it's hard!), maybe they'll have more work for me? I just don't know what to try anymore. Do I need to start looking for a *4th* job? This is getting rediculous.

In other news, I seem to be doing well so far in all my classes this semester. And yes, I was concerned. Latin reading is getting better... once you figure out *how* Caesar writes, it actually makes sense. 100% on my translation quiz this past week. Greek is not getting any harder, but the volume of stuff is really starting to accumulate. Fortunately, it's still all review for me -- I don't know how those people who are doing this as their first exposure to Greek could possibly keep up. I'm having a hard enough time keeping up with the vocabulary. Arky (Ancient Civ) is hard to tell, since we haven't *done* anything yet, as is the case with my Daoism class. I have a meeting with the instructor tomorrow to discuss paper topics for said Daoism class, so hopefully that will give me a bit of an idea of what's going on. And finally, the Gospel of Mark quiz, in which I have, on occasion, been feeling slightly out of my league. She really is teaching it significantly like a grad course, and considering this is my ... what ...7th? 8th? course in religious studies, it's a bit intimidating. But I *did* get 37/40 on my quiz that we just had, which means I'm holding my own. I also managed to figure out (what I think will be) a really cool topic for my term paper ... one I'm actually excited enough about to start looking into researching it now. We'll see how long that lasts.

Let's see... 1..2..3..4..5. Yup, that's all my classes. And I've already discussed work, so that pretty much sums up my life at the moment. Oh, well, and sword-swinging. But there's not much to report there. So I guess I should go learn some Greek words. And try to *not* think about work.

I saw "it" this morning

2005-10-03T10:17:00.000-06:00

You know, "it". That white stuff that floats around in the air before settling on the ground and either disappearing, or covering the ground. I would call "it" by name, except that "it" might take that as an invitation. And we certainly don't want to invite "it", not this early. Nevertheless, "it" is here. Welcome to October.

More later, once I have a bit more time. The next update should have a work-situation update, as well.

Go Flames Go

2005-09-17T10:15:00.000-06:00

Tickets went on sale, so I purchased J's birthday present early (well, okay, I admit. It's a present to me, too. And yes, she already knows about it, so I'm not ruining any surprise). Two tickets to see the Flames play the Avalanche on Nov. 12th. Yes, I know it's the long weekend, and going to the game means I won't be going home. I actually wanted to get seats to the game on the 5th, but the "cheap seats" seemed to be sold out, so the game on the 12th was the next best thing. Given that it's a long weekend also gives me time to do homework, even with going to the game.

So anyways... I got tickets to a Flames game, and that is a Good Thing.

Back to Square One

2005-09-16T20:50:00.000-06:00

One problem with being a full time student and having a part time job is finding the time to work said part time job. Case in point. 3 hours a week at the hospital for about 8 weeks. And 3 hours a week is the whopping total I can work at the bookstore.

How exactly does that pay the bills? It doesn't. It doesn't even cover a quarter of them.

It's been a long day.

Class Ratings

2005-09-15T14:42:00.000-06:00

Just a quick note to give my impressions on my classes, after (just about) a full week...

Greek I: 3/5, if only because so far, it's entirely boring, and entirely a review
Latin III: 3.5 / 5, for the reason that my Latin vocabulary seems to have vanished
Adv Origins of Christianity: 5/5, a seminar-style discussion based class. It's gonna be good
East Asian Religious Traditions (Daoism): 4/5, so far so good. Not as good as the other, but good.
Ancient Civilization: 2/5 but this may go up when we actually start *doing* something in class!

More on each of these later, but I have lots of Latin vocab to learn. And lots of other readings, as well.

Testing, one... two... testing...

2005-09-09T19:25:00.000-06:00

*tap* *tap* *tap*

"Is this thing on?"

I am writing this from .... (drumroll please) ... my laptop. In the townhouse.

We have internet!

After dozens of phone calls and two visits from Telus technicians, things are now working. As it turns out, we were the recipients of a very strange problem. When the order was originally submitted to Telus, it had the wrong address on it. This was the problem whose resolution resulted in my first inaccurate "we're back" message. Anyways, somehow, this wrong address got stuck in Telus' system such that even after the address was corrected, the old (wrong) information was still hanging out in cyberspace somewhere. Only today, after two months of waiting, did Telus finally find out that this was the problem. But all is now resolved, and we are officially....

Back

On-

Line

And.... we're back!

2005-08-23T10:31:00.000-06:00

Or, at least, we will be on Thursday. Just got an email from our ISP saying that things should be activated on the 25th. Here's hoping that this time, it actually works out that way. I'm at work at the moment (coffee break), so I don't have a lot of time for chatting, but that, at least, is good news. Should see most of you this weekend when I come down.

Update

2005-07-21T12:45:00.000-06:00

Should be back fully online tomorrow ... supposedly.

Ack!

2005-07-14T15:43:00.000-06:00

So ... I'm moving.

No really. I'm moving.

As in Saturday.

J calls and says "So, my dad got a truck."
"Good, when"

"Saturday"
"Uh.... okay....."

It's a good thing that I packed all last weekend and was basically ready to go "anytime". So yes. Saturday.

On the plus side, we have lots of help. J's roommates are all going to help, and she's got some people from the barn as well as some relatives on hand if need be. So that's covered. Utilities, etc. were all moved over when we took possession July 1. I've put in a request for the phone, internet, etc. to be moved over (we're keeping my number), but have yet to find out if they will be able to make the transition on such short notice. Basically, if you can't get a hold of me Saturday (or later) and need to, keep trying, because eventually, the phone will be at the right place. Until then J and I will both have our cell phones on and ready at all times, so if there's emergencies, just use those. For that matter, I'm not sure how much I will be around even on Friday, since we are going to spend most of the day moving boxes, etc. so that there's only the big stuff left for Saturday. Hopefully. So, as of tomorrow... if you need me, email me. Or call my cell. Tonight will be last minute (not quite frantic but close) packing of dishes and the like, and then "let the good times roll".

Oy.

It's gonna be a crazy weekend.

On a completely unrelated side-note, starting next Tuesday, I will be starting a 6 week course in the Western Martial Arts discipline of the German Long Sword (basically, a course in medieval swordsmanship). I'm looking forward to it; should be fun. But it also means you can't get a hold of me Tuesday nights, either! ;-)

Finally, I was able to register in another class for the winter semester. "Research Methodologies in Religious Studies". Sounds exciting, no?

Woohoo!

2005-07-13T10:39:00.000-06:00

The official press release:

12:32 PM EDT, 07/13/2005
NHL, NHLPA reach agreement in principle on new CBA

NEW YORK/TORONTO (July 13, 2005) - The National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players' Association have reached an agreement in principle on the terms of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Details of the new Agreement will not be made available publicly pending the formal ratification process by the NHLPA Members and the NHL Board of Governors.

It is anticipated that the ratification process will be completed next week, at which time the parties will be prepared to discuss the details of the Agreement and plans for next season. No further comment will be made until then.

What Book Are You?

2005-07-10T00:10:00.001-06:00

I generally hate online quizzes, but this one is actually pretty fun. http://bluepyramid.org/ia/1q.htm Answer 6 questions, and find out which of the following books you are...

The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
A People's History of the United States (Howard Zinn)
The Guns of August (Barbara Tuchman)
Roots (Alex Haley)
Moby Dick (Herman Melville)
The Two Towers (J.R.R. Tolkien)
The Fellowship of the Ring (J.R.R. Tolkien)
The Return of the King (J.R.R. Tolkien)
Ulysses (James Joyce)
The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
David Copperfield (Charles Dickens)
Great Expectations (Charles Dickens)
Confessions (Augustine)
The Sound and the Fury (William Faulkner)
The Dictionary (Merriam-Webster)
Les Miserables (Victor Hugo)
A Theory of Justice (John Rawls)
Anarchy, State, and Utopia (Robert Nozick)
Godel, Escher, Bach (Douglas Hofstadter)
Compassion Fatigue (Susan Moeller)
Dune (Frank Herbert)
Stranger in a Strange Land (Robert Heinlein)
Jurassic Park (Michael Crichton)
Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card)
The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
Lolita (Vladimir Nabokov)
Love in the Time of Cholera (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
Watership Down (Richard Adams)
A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison)
Inherit the Wind (Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee)
"Master Harold"... and the Boys (Athol Fugard)
Waiting for Godot (Samuel Beckett)
Hamlet (William Shakespeare)
The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
Mother Night (Kurt Vonnegut)
Cat's Cradle (Kurt Vonnegut)
Animal Farm (George Orwell)
Pale Fire (Vladimir Nabokov)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Ken Kesey)
Mrs. Dalloway (Virginia Woolf)
The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
I, Robot (Isaac Asimov)
Siddhartha (Hermann Hesse)
Prufrock and Other Observations (T.S. Eliot)
Loosely Based (Storey Clayton)
Babar the King (Jean de Brunhoff)
The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)
Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
The Giver (Lois Lowry)
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C.S. Lewis)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain)
Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury)
1984 (George Orwell)
The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood)
Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
Cry, the Beloved Country (Alan Paton)
Night (Elie Wiesel)
The Things They Carried (Tim O'Brien)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)

I am "The Catcher in the Rye" which, according to the site means...

"You are surrounded by phonies, and boy are you sick of them! In an ongoing struggle to search for a land without phonies, you end up running away from everything, from school to consequences. In this process, you reveal that many people in your life have suffered torments and all you really want to do is catch them as they fall. Perhaps using a baseball mitt. Your biggest fans are infamous psychotics."

Whatever.

Marks and more

2005-07-08T09:44:00.000-06:00

Got my marks for the spring semester. A+ in Eastern Religions and A in Nature of Religion. Personally, I thought for sure it'd be the other way around. Keep in mind that an A in this department falls in the 90-95% range and an A+ in the 96-100% range. So even an A isn't too bad... but like I said, I thought for sure it'd be the other way around.

In related news, I've registered for another course for the coming year; this one in the Winter semester: "Introduction to Judaism". Now, this is only a placeholder course for now, in case I can't get into anything else. Just being able to register in it was a bit lucky, though. It has been full for weeks, but I checked one day and there was one seat available. Someone must have dropped the course, and I managed to catch that one spot. So things are *finally* coming together.

And finally, it's officially here. First day of the Calgary Stampede. <sarcasm> Yahoo </sarcasm>.

Latin Practice

2005-06-28T19:34:00.000-06:00

As I will be taking more Latin in September, I need to start reading some Latin again, so as to remind myself of alllll that stuff I learned last Fall and Winter. But I don't really want to struggle through Cicero or Caesar on my own, so I decided to read something a little lighter.

Enter "Winnie ille Pu".

That's right, Winnie the Pooh in Latin. It's gonna be great. I found an online version of the text, but here's an image from the print version (click to enlarge):

I hadn't realized!

2005-06-28T13:33:00.000-06:00

The Real Group has a new CD out!

I didn't know this; why didn't anyone tell me?

I had been watching their website for updates for some time now, and hadn't realized that if you go to http://realgroup.se you get their *old* site, but if you go to http://www.realgroup.se you get their *new* site. And here I was starting to wonder if they were ever going to put anything out again!

Anyways, the new album is called "In the Middle of Life" and you can find more information about it (including song lyrics) here: http://www.realgroup.se/page/3

Goodbye, Tigger. Goodbye, Piglet.

2005-06-27T09:44:00.000-06:00

Original Story

Two renowned actors who voiced roles in "Winnie the Pooh" on television and in film have died.

Paul Winchell, who voiced Tigger, died Friday at 82. John Fiedler, the voice of Piglet, died Saturday. Fiedler was 80.

The Day God Came on the Radio

2005-06-26T23:23:00.000-06:00

This is a story -- a parable, if you will -- of why it's imporant to study other people's religions. More exactly, it's an example of what could happen if you don't try to understand other people's religious traditions. Names of people, places, gods and goddesses have been changed to avoid reader's-bias. At the end, I'll tell you the basis for the story. Now, remember, in order to get the full impact of the story, you have to realize that for the people who believe in this religion, this story is as true as, say, the Genesis account is to a Jew or Christian. Let's call the people who's religion this is the "Islanders" for lack of a better pseudonym.

In the beginning, a god and a goddess were looking out over the world, which was enveloped in water... The god threw down his spear from heaven, and created the first land-mass. He and his wife (the goddess) descended to the earth and made all kinds of creatures and beings, but something went wrong. When the goddess was creating fire, she got badly burnt, and ended up dying. She descended to the underworld, a place of impurity, because her burns had disfigured and damaged her body so badly. The god got lonely, and searched everywhere for his wife. Finally, he found her in the underworld, but she sent him away, lest he become impure because he had been in the underworld. So the god returned to earth and purified himself by jumping in the ocean. When he jumped in the ocean, he created all kinds of other creatures and gods, including the Sun (a god). The Sun had a son, who married a human being, and together they had another son, who was fully divine and fully human, who became the first king of the Islanders.

Every king of the Islanders descended from this son, and was also fully god and fully human. The king, because he was divine, was never heard from or seen in public. When he went outside, he was covered up, and when he had something to say, he had an aide say it for him. In order to preserve their religion from outside influences, the Islanders made their religion the official religion of their nation. The king would often go to the temple and ask his ancestor, the Sun, for advice and wisdom. The nation's schools all taught the special nature of their people, and the divinity of their king, and everyone in the nation knew that their king was a god.

This was the Islander's life for many thousands of years: their king was god, and they were created specially by the gods on the island where the god's spear had landed. Then, one day, the Islanders got into a great war with the other inhabitants of the world. Eventually, after many years of fighting for their country and their king (god) the Islanders were defeated. On the first day of the New Year after their defeat in war, something happened that had not happened before.

God got on the radio.

The king, who was not seen or heard from before, got on national radio and said to all of the Islanders:

"We stand by the people and We wish always to share with them in their moments of joys and sorrows. The ties between Us and Our people have always stood upon mutual trust and affection. They do not depend upon mere legends and myths.
They are not predicated on the false conception that the Emperor is divine, and that the Japanese people are superior to other races and fated to rule the world."

And the Emperor of Japan, Hirohito, renounced his divinity, and destroyed thousands of years of Japanese history, tradition and culture in doing so. God got on the radio and said that he was not God, that the creation account sacred to the Japanese was not true, and that they should not depend on "mere legends and myths."

The question begs to be asked, "Why would he do this?"

Maybe we should ask, "What does this have to do with why we should learn about other people's religions?"

Most of the readers of my blog live in Canada, though there may be some in the United States, or other "Allied" nations from the Second World War.

Your country -- my country -- made the Japanese give up what they had always known to be true: the divinity of their Emperor. Because the leaders of the allied nations did not understand the Japanese religion.

What if Hitler had won the war, and had said to the Pope, "You must tell the world that you are not in the line of Peter, and you do not speak for or on the behalf of God."

What if Saddam Hussein won against the Americans in the first Gulf War and told the Christian leaders "You must disavow Christ's divinity or we will not accept your surrender?"

What if? What if they told the Americans that they must give up free speech, because they just didn't think that it was important? Or that the Civil War must not be taught in school because they thought that politics shouldn't be in education?

What if?

Below, I've included the memo, sent to the Japanese (to the Emperor, really), outlining a condition of the Japanese surrender: The Directive for the Disestablishment of State Shinto. Don't get thrown off by the label "State Shinto" -- it is not a mixing of "church and state". It is not putting religion into government, where it doesn't belong. State Shinto is where we find the creation account that the Japanese people had believed for thousands of years. It's the religion that, according to Japanese scriptures, has the Emperor as the divine head of the Japanese people. The same Emperor who was forced to go on the radio and say that his own divinity was a myth.

Directive for the Disestablishment of State Shinto

Orders from the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers to the Japanese Government

15 December 1945

MEMORANDUM FOR:             Imperial Japanese Government
THROUGH:                            Central Liaison Office, Tokyo
SUBJECT:                              Abolition of Governmental Sponsorship, Support, Perpetuation, Control, and Dissemination of State Shinto

            1. In order to free the Japanese people from direct or indirect compulsion to believe or profess to believe in a religion or cult officially designated by the state, and

            In order to lift from the Japanese people the burden of compulsory financial support of an ideology which has contributed to their war guilt, defeat, suffering, privation, and present deplorable condition, and

            In order to prevent recurrence of the perversion of Shinto theory and beliefs into militaristic and ultra-nationalistic propaganda designed to delude the Japanese people and lead them into wars of aggression, and

            In order to assist the Japanese people in a rededication of their national life to building a new Japan based upon ideals of perpetual peace and democracy,

         It is hereby directed that:

            a. The sponsorship, support, perpetuation, control, and dissemination of Shinto by the Japanese national, prefectual, and local governments, or by public officials, subordinates, and employees acting in their official capacity are prohibited and will cease immediately.

            b. All financial support from public funds and all official affiliation with Shinto and Shinto shrines are prohibited and will cease immediately.

            c. All propagation and dissemination of militaristic and ultra-nationistic ideology in Shinto doctrines, practices, rites, ceremonies, or observances, as well as in the doctrines, practices, rites, ceremonies and observances of any other religion, faith, sect, creed, or philosophy, are prohibited and will cease immediately.

           d.   The Religious Functions Order relating to the Grand Shrine of Ise and the Religious Functions Order relating to State and other Shrines will be annulled.

           e.   The Shrine Board of the Ministry of Home Affairs will be abolished, and its present functions, duties, and administrative obligations will not be assumed by any other governmental or tax-supported agency.

           f.   All public educational institutions whose primary function is either the investigation and dissemination of Shinto or the training of a Shinto priesthood will be abolished and their physical properties diverted to other uses. Their present functions, duties, and administrative obligations will not be assumed by any other governmental or tax-supported agency.

           g. Private educational institutions for the investigation and dissemination of Shinto and for the training of priesthood for Shinto will be permitted and will operate with the same privileges and be subject to the same controls and restrictions as any other private educational institution having no affiliation with the government; in no case, however, will they receive support from public funds, and in no case will they propagate and disseminate militaristic and ultra-nationalistic ideology.

           h. The dissemination of Shinto doctrines in any form and by any means in any educational institution supported wholly or in part by public funds is prohibited and will cease immediately.

             1) All teachers' manuals and text-books now in use in any educational institution
                 supported wholly or in part by public funds will be censored, and all Shinto
                 doctrine will be deleted. No teachers' manual or text-book which is published
                 in the future for use in such institutions will contain any Shinto doctrine.

             2) No visits to Shinto shrines and no rites, practices, or ceremonies associated
                 with Shinto will be conducted or sponsored by any educational institution
                 supported wholly or in part by public funds.

            i. Circulation by the government of "The Fundamental Principles of the National Structure", "The Way of the Subject", and all similar official volumes, commentaries, interpretations, or instructions on Shinto is prohibited.

            j. The use in official writings of the terms "Greater East Asia War", "The Whole World under One Roof", and all other terms whose connotation in Japanese is inextricably connected with State Shinto, militarism, and ultra-nationalism is prohibited and will cease immediately.


           k. God-shelves (kamidana) and all other physical symbols of State Shinto in any office, school institution, organization, or structure supported wholly or in part by public funds are prohibited and will be removed immediately.

            l. No official, subordinate, employee, student, citizen, or resident of Japan will be discriminated against because of his failure to profess and believe in or participate in any practice, rite, ceremony, or observance of State Shinto or of any other religion.

           m. No official of the national, prefectural, or local government, acting in his public capacity, will visit any shrine to report his assumption of office, to report on conditions of government, or to participate as a representative of government in any ceremony or observance.

       2. a. The purpose of this directive is to separate religion from the state to prevent misuse of religion for political ends, and to put all religions, faiths, and creeds upon exactly the same legal basis, entitled to precisely the same opportunities and protection. It forbids affiliation with the government and the propagation and dissemination of militaristic and ultra-nationalistic ideology not only to Shinto but to the followers of all religions, faiths, sects, creeds, or philosophies.

           b. The provisions of this directive will apply with equal force to all rites, practices, ceremonies, observances, beliefs, teachings, mythology, legends, philosophy, shrines, and physical symbols associated with Shinto.

           c. The term State Shinto within the meaning of this directive will refer to that branch of Shinto which by official acts of the Japanese Government has been differentiated from the religion of Shrine Shinto and has been classified as a non-religious national cult commonly known as State Shinto or National Shinto.

           d. The term Shrine Shinto will refer to that branch of Shinto which by popular belief, legal commentary, and the official acts of the Japanese Government has been recognized to be a religion.

           e.   Pursuant to the terms of Article I of the Basic Directive on "Removal of Restrictions on Political, Civil, and Religious Liberties" issued on 4 October 1945 by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in which the Japanese people were assured complete religious freedom,

            (1) Shrine Shinto will enjoy the same protection as any other religion.
            (2) Shrine Shinto, after having been divorced from the state and divested of its
                  militaristic and ultra-nationalistic elements, will be recognized as a religion if
                  its adherents so desire and will be granted the same protection as any other
                  religion in so far as it may in fact be the philosophy or religion of Japanese
                  individuals.

           f. Militaristic and ultra-nationalistic ideology, as used in this directive, embraces those teachings, beliefs, and theories, which advocate or justify a mission on the part of Japan to extend its rule over other nations and peoples by reason of:

          (1) The doctrine that the Emperor of Japan is superior to the heads of other states
                  because of ancestry, descent, or special origin.
            (2) The doctrine that the people of Japan are superior to the people of other lands
                  because of ancestry, descent, or special origin.
            (3) The doctrine that the islands of Japan are superior to other lands because of
                  divine or special origin.
            (4) Any other doctrine which tends to delude the Japanese people into embarking
                  upon wars of aggression or to glorify the use of force as an instrument for the
                  settlement of disputes with other people.

      3. The Imperial Japanese Government will submit a comprehensive report to this Headquarters not later than 15 March 1946 describing in detail all action taken to comply with all provisions of this directive.

      4. All officials, subordinates and employees of the Japanese national prefectural, and local governments, all teachers and education officials and all citizens and residents of Japan will be held personally accountable for compliance with the spirit as well as the letter of all provisions of this directive.

For the Supreme Commander:

    [Signed] H. W. Allen
      Colonel, A.G.D.,
    Asst. Adjutant General

That is why we need to learn about other people's religions. So we don't destroy them through our ignorance.

I'm not a Movie Reviewer

2005-06-25T10:57:00.000-06:00

Going to see movies in theaters is expensive.

That being said, I went to see Star Wars (Ep. 3) yesterday. I was told that it's one of those movies that you "have to see in theaters", but I'm not so sure. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad movie, but I don't know if the big-screen is worth it. Maybe at a second-run place, but I'm not sure. It is definately an action flick, though; much more than the previous 2 -- maybe even all of the previous five -- have been. I guess the action made up for the corny dialog, though it *is* surprising how much less corny dialog says when said with a British accent. I can't imagine how bad it would have been if most of the actors had a more American accent. There were some humorous parts -- at least I found them funny -- but overall, the movie was too much action and not enough struggle for me. Not that I'm a film director, or even close, but it just felt like the dark side seemed too evil from the outset, which detracted from Anakin's struggle. In the end, the movie didn't have enough of the struggle in it, and what it did have seemed significantly cheapened. But still, it was nice to get out and go see a movie; something I haven't done for a long time (I can't remember the last movie I went to see in theaters).

But enough movie reviewing. I worked 9 hours yesterday... actually closer to 9.5, once all was said and done. I have exams all day Monday, work Tuesday night (tech support) and then Wednesday and Thursday at the bookstore. No work on Friday, since it's Canada Day. And then I start my new class right away the next week... Tuesday, I believe. No rest for the weary (or something like that), I guess.

The advisor did end up putting me into the "Death and Afterlife" course that begins in January, so now it's a matter of watching the timetable in hopes that people will drop one or more of the courses I still want to take. There's no real urgency yet, though, since most of the problematic courses are in January. There's only one course I'm still waiting to hear on for September, and that's the one that I may or may not have to take. So we'll see.

Anyways, exams on Monday means studying today and Sunday. Back to it.

Course Update

2005-06-21T18:51:00.000-06:00

Well, I did get in to meet with the advisor today. Getting into courses isn't easy; I have to wait to see if I can get into some courses on overload, but I at least know what I'm going to do. Summer semester (July and August) I'll be studying Mahayana Buddhism. Then in September, I'm registered in 4 courses, and am waiting approval for one more. I will be taking "Advanced Origins of Christianity", "Latin III", "Ancient Greek I" and "Advanced Indian Buddhism" for sure, and am waiting on a research methodologies course. Then again, because I write so well, the advisor said that if I can't get in on overload, I may be able to just not do that course -- though it's a required course, she says it could be worked that I don't have to take it in order to graduate. So that's fall, but winter (starting in January) is where things get interesting. Most everything is full, or at the same time as something else. Here's what I'm taking for sure: "Intermediate Readings in Latin", "Ancient Greek II" and ... that's all I'm registered in, at the moment. But the advisor (I think) is going to register me in a course on "Death and the Afterlife", and I'm waiting on notice of whether or not I can get in another two courses on overload. The three options I've requested are "Greek and Roman Religion", "Magic and cult in the Roman Empire" and "Research Methodologies". Research methodologies is another required course, and it'd be best if I could take it this year. You will, of course, note that there is no Hebrew on that list. Classical Hebrew was being taught at the same time as my Latin readings course, so I am taking Latin. Hebrew may be offered next summer, so I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Anyways, that's the way courses are looking at the moment. We'll see what happens when I get things finally and completely sorted.

Two New Things

2005-06-20T23:16:00.000-06:00

A) Admitted to UofC (tentatively), which means I can register for courses now. I might go see the advisor tomorrow to get registered; it depends if our schedules work out.

B) I'm typing this message on my brand-new Apple G4 Powerbook. I am a happy person. It is in immaculate condition; you can't even tell that it's used. So yeah, I'm quite glad I bought it, though I am now kinda wondering if there's a point to my having both my desktop and my mac... Kev, you might yet get your wish. I'm not going to decide for a while yet, but I do like what I'm seeing so far. That and someone in the building has an open wireless connection, so I'm feeling truly portable... no wires (except the power cable to charge the battery). It's a very nice machine; I was worried / nervous a bit earlier today, before getting it, but having it in such good condition and... well, it's a PowerBook! makes me really happy with the purchase.

Anyways, I'm going to keep playing with my new tech-toy for a bit. Goodnight, blog-land.

Apartment Pics

2005-06-19T19:22:00.000-06:00

J and I signed the lease this afternoon. It's such a good deal, and such a great townhouse. Here are some pictures that the landlady sent us.

http://photobucket.com/albums/v301/maverickstruth/apartment/

Click on each photo for an enlargement. Of note, the size of the room seen in the picture with the dining table, fireplace and balcony is about twice as large (it has a lot of open area to the right of the shot).

Hm... I don't know if that makes sense. Let me try to explain with some layout diagrams...

Symbols: D=door; SU=stairs up; SL=stairs landing; SD= stairs down; C=closet; W=window; F=fireplace; LR = laundry room; BR = bathroom; | and - = walls


Ground level:

----------
| SUSLSU |
| SU  SU |
| SU  SU |
| SU    C|
|       C|
--DDDD----

Main living level (one above ground)

------------------------
| SDSLSU| L  |         |
| SD  SU|    D kitchen |
| SD  SU|    |         |
| SD  SU|----|         |
|                      |
|                      |
|            |         |
|                      |
|                     F|
|                    FF|
--WWWW---------DDDDD----
              |balc.|
              -------

Bedroom level (2 above ground)
I'm not 100% sure about the layout on this one.

------------------------
| SDSLSU| BR |CCCCCCCCC|
| SD  SU|    |         |
| SD  SU|C   |   bdrm  |
|     SU|--D-|    #2   |
|C           D         |
|---D--------|--WWWWW--|
|C           D         |
|C           |---------|
|C  bedroom  |
|C     #1    |
|C           |
------WWWW----

Snapshots of Wetness

2005-06-19T00:34:00.000-06:00

"Pursuant to Section 21 of the Disaster Services Act (R.S.A. 2000 ch. D-13) and Section 4 of The City of Calgary Bylaw 25M2002, a state of local emergency has been declared in the City of Calgary effective 6:20 p.m., 2005 June 18."

"The average rainfall for June is 79.8 mm, said Brad Shannon, Environment Canada meteorologist, but Calgary has already had 165 mm this month alone." [preliminary measurements at YYC now put this over 200 -- Alberta Environment, 18-Jun-2005 21:09 MST]

"The last time the month of June was this soggy was in 1902, when 224 mm of rain fell."

"Elbow River below Glenmore Dam; Water Height in metres
2005-06-16 20:30:00 1.831
2005-06-18 20:30:00 3.012"

"The excessive rainfall also forced the evacuation of the hamlet of Priddis west of Calgary and surrounding areas after the Loon Lake Dam was breached."

"Water began cresting over the Glenmore Dam along the Elbow River in the city's south end late Saturday night."

"At least 2,000 residents and campers in the city have been ordered to seek higher ground. Some people had to be airlifted from flood ravaged parts of the city using emergency helicopters."

"This is mandatory and it's mandatory because of public safety."

"The normal flow rate in one area is 80 cubic meters per second, the mayor said, but 'we are anticipating by midnight a flow rate of 400 cubic meters per second.'"

"[R]ising water washed out bike paths and swirled around lilac trees in areas in the shadow of the downtown skyscrapers and signature Calgary Tower."

"Motorists are advised to avoid several areas of the city where roads have been closed as a result of high water conditions.

Sections of Memorial Drive at Centre Street
Bannister Road under Macleod Trail
Access to westbound Glenmore Trail from Glendeer Circle
Elbow Drive, south of Sifton Boulevard S.W.
25 Avenue S.W., west of Macleod Trail to 1 Street S.W.
4 Street S.W. bridge over Elbow River, south of 25 Avenue
S.W."

"The Calgary Zoo has an emergency evacuation plan in place. Selected animals at the zoo have already been evacuated..."

"[I]n Sundre ... about 800 people were forced to leave for higher ground as the Red Deer River rose.

Even the emergency operations centre is being moved....

"Our biggest concern now is exit out of [Sundre],' Mayor Roy Cummings said. Two of four exits from the town northwest of Calgary are impassable, and 'if we lose those (other) exits, we won't have a place to go, or to get out.'"

"Near Okotoks, just south of Calgary, about 50 campers who ignored an earlier request to leave had to be airlifted out by helicopter when rains made a moat out of their escape routes."

"In Okotoks itself, residents tried to save their businesses as a river of water ran down main street."

"In Cochrane, the RCMP said traffic has delayed crews moving sandbags, causing more flooding."

"[T]he Trans Canada Highway remains closed with almost two metres of rain covering parts."

"We now know how this valley has been carved out - by the power of the river."

The World's Best Drink

2005-06-18T21:10:00.000-06:00

Well, maybe not the world's *best* drink, but I'm a fan of my new OJ recipe.

1 can concentrated Orange Juice
2 cans water
1 can milk

Anyways, the apartment we saw today looks very nice, and I think that's the one we're leaning towards. More as it happens ;)

Out of Customs.

2005-06-17T14:20:00.000-06:00

Canada Post agrees that at 11:25 last night, my laptop was released from customs. Now it's just got to get here.

There's a slight change to the "agenda" I posted yesterday; the app't we were supposed to go see this evening, we are now going to see tomorrow morning. Not a big deal. I think we may drive by it regardless.

By the way, in case you haven't heard, my transcript finally arrived up here, so now they're processing my documents to see if I can be admitted. In the next two weeks, hopefully, I should be admitted and be able to (finally!) register for courses. Theoretically.

Oh, and it looks like hockey might be "back" with a deal announced by the end of the month. Of course, we've all heard *that* before.

Anyways, my lunch break is nearly over, so I should head back to work. *yawn* long day.

Out of Customs?

2005-06-17T08:35:00.000-06:00

USPS says that it cleared customs at 5:53 pm on June 16, 2005. According to Canada Post, however, 5:53 is when "Item arrived at the Canada Post sortation plant and is now enroute to Customs", and at 11:57, "Item accepted and entered into sortation plant" at Richmond, BC. So... maybe Monday?

Bits and Pieces

2005-06-16T22:03:00.000-06:00

So let's recap my last couple of weeks, shall we? Starting a week ago last Saturday...

Sat: worked 8 hours, 8.30-4.30
Sun: worked 8 hours, 8.30-4.30
Mon: training @ new job (9-5)
Tue: school all day, including a quiz
Wed: work @ new job (9-4)
Thur: school all day, including a quiz
Fri: work 9 hour conference, 7.30-4.30
Sat: wedding and dinner with family
Sun: wrote a paper
Mon: continued writing and revising paper
Tue: school all day, handed in paper, had a presentation worth 15%
Wed: work @ new job (9-5), looked at a condo for renting come August
Thur (today): school all day, including an exam (25%, on Buddhism), looked at a townhouse for renting come August
Fri (tomorrow): work @ new job (9-5), looking at a townhouse for renting come August
Sat: a day off!

So it's been a busy two weeks. But I get a day off on Saturday... only one more day. I hope I can make it... cuz I need to fight off this sore throat that's coming. But yeah... that's basically all my news. Saw a really nice condo yesterday, but it'll be too small (darn big ole computer desk). Then today was an awesome townhouse: 3 bdrm (one would be used as an office), 1 bath (bedrooms and bath upstairs), kitchen, living room area, laundry w/ storage, a wood-burning fireplace, dishwasher (yay!) and fenced-in patio. The area it's in is beautifully landscaped, with mature trees all over. Really nice and quiet, and just on the edge of the University Research Park (which features a duck pond!). It's about a 10 min walk to campus and 5 to the train, as well as about 5 mins to shopping and groceries. The landlady seems extremely nice, and would be a really good landlord, and she said that we'd be free to paint, etc. to our hearts content, to give it a personal touch (we'd have to check the colors, etc. first, but if they approved, they'd reimburse us for the paint).

Tomorrow we go to see another one in the same complex, but from the pictures I've seen, it looks more modern and whatnot. It is a bit cheaper, and supposedly has only 2 bdrms, but the same # of sqft, so there should be desk space, etc. The plan is to go see it tomorrow evening, assuming that works for the current tenents.

I really like the area these townhouses are in, and I'd love to live there. Just the atmosphere of the place... J and I spent about 1/2 an hour, just wandering around thru the complexes, listening to the birds in the trees. There's pathways everywhere, and a nice mix of open spaces thrown in. Including a nice space for throwing a ball around :-)

On an unrelated note, Canada Post sucks. On Monday, according to USPS (United States Postal Service), my laptop had entered foreign (Canadian) customs. However, according to Canada Post's parcel tracking...
2005/06/13 11:21 VANCOUVER, BC Item has entered Canada from International location
2005/06/15 10:51 VANCOUVER, BC International item has been sent to Canadian Customs for processing
2005/06/16 17:53 Item arrived at the Canada Post sortation plant and is now enroute to Customs

as of today it hasn't even reached customs yet! It wasn't even dispatched to customs until today!! *Sigh* this is just agonizing.

Laptop is...

2005-06-15T17:54:00.000-06:00

Stuck in customs. The joy of Canada customs.

Digital Imagery

2005-06-13T17:20:00.000-06:00

The first "published" pictures from my digital camera... scaled down about 80%, taken through glass and during rain, this is four pictures hand-stitched together to make a panoramic. Looks pretty good to me. Click for larger version.

Woohoo

2005-06-13T15:55:00.000-06:00

My laptop is in Vancouver. It's shipping priority, so should be here tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest... :)

I need more words for...

2005-06-12T15:15:00.000-06:00

"discusses"

I'm writing a book review for my take-home exam, and so far, it seems like every sentence, I have the author "discussing" something or other. Time to pull out the good old thesaurus... or in this case, go to thesaurus.com

As a side note, while I was procrastinating this morning, I added a "progress bar" to the left hand side of the blog. The idea is to keep track of how far along I am on my projects, so as to (perhaps) keep myself honest, as well as give me incentive to update the blog more often. Here's hoping.

On the DaVinci Code

2005-06-08T19:10:00.000-06:00

Okay, let me start by saying I haven't read The DaVinci Code. But then again, I don't really have any desire to read it. And this article by Bart Ehrman explains why... Here are some exerpts

Dan Brown begins [The DaVinci Code] by laying out what he calls historical facts, and he includes the statement that all descriptions of art, architecture, sacred rituals, and documents are factual. The difficulty I had reading through "The Da Vinci Code" with that in mind was that most of the descriptions of ancient documents, in fact, are not factual—they’re part of his fiction. But people reading the book aren't equipped to separate the fact from the fiction.

Some of the big [discrepancies]: It's not true that before Constantine, Christians understood Jesus to be human but not divine. That's absolutely false. Most people thought Jesus was divine centuries before Constantine. Second, it's not true that Constantine decided which books to include in the New Testament; he had nothing to do with it. And the Council of Nicea didn't have anything to do with which books to include in the New Testament. It was called to resolve the issue of how to understand Jesus' divinity.

[The novel's character] Teabing says that the council was called because Constantine wanted to declare Jesus divine, and that's what the council was about, deciding whether Jesus is divine or not. And that he used the council as a way of deciding which books would be included in the New Testament, and they just included the books that called Jesus divine and excluded all the others. That's wrong on every point.

There are several gigantic points that have to do with Jesus' marriage to Mary Magdalene. Maybe the first thing to say is that it's absolutely false that as [the character] Robert Langdon says, it would have been highly unusual for Jesus not to be married because Jewish men were always married. That's false... We know Jewish men from the first century who remained single and celibate. What's most interesting is that the ones we know about are ones with a worldview that's very similar to the worldview ascribed to Jesus in the Gospels—which is an apocalyptic worldview. We know about Jews from Jesus' time from the Dead Sea Scrolls.

And by the way, Dan Brown indicates some of these lost gospels were included among the Dead Sea Scrolls. That's absolutely false... [H]e indicates the Dead Sea Scrolls contain some of the earliest records of Jesus, and that's false. The Dead Sea Scrolls don't say anything about Jesus. There are two completely different collections that have nothing in common with each other. The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in 1947 in Judea, west of the Dead Sea in what was then Jordan, what is now Israel.

The Nag Hammadi Codexes were discovered a year and a half earlier in Egypt about partway down the Nile, not far from Luxor. The Nag Hammadi documents are Christian Gnostic documents; the Dead Sea Scrolls are Jewish documents that have nothing Christian in them. So the Dead Sea Scrolls tell us about a Jewish community living at the same time as Jesus and in about the same place, and what is striking about these Dead Sea Scrolls is that the community that produced them consisted of single, celibate men.

[T]he Gospel of Mary is misportrayed in "The Da Vinci Code." What Dan Brown has his character say is that Jesus entrusted the church to Mary, based on the Gospel of Mary. But in fact, the Gospel of Mary doesn't say that at all. The Gospel of Mary is about Jesus appearing to Mary after the resurrection and giving her a revelation, and there's a debate among the disciples about whether Jesus would actually reveal something this important to a woman.

The Gnostics understood that these revelations could be given to women, and that there wasn't to be a kind of apostolic hierarchy in which you have men who are making all the decisions and were in charge—that everybody had access to the spirit of God. And that the church hierarchy that was beginning to form was, in fact, misguided.

There are a couple of other things I should point out as interesting mistakes in "The Da Vinci Code." One howler occurs when Teabing is trying to convince Sophie Neveu that Jesus' spouse was Mary Magdalene, and proof for this is one place in the Gospel of Philip where Mary is described as his companion. And Teabing points out that the Aramaic word for "companion" actually means spouse. Now, the problem with this is that the Gospel of Philip wasn't written in Aramaic. (Laughs)

It's written in Coptic. And the word that's used there is a Greek word which, in fact, does not mean spouse—it means companion! And there’s another passage from the Gospel of Philip that Dan Brown quotes, but he doesn't realize there's a problem with the text—which is, like many manuscripts from antiquity that have been discovered, it has holes in places where it got worn out. So we're missing some of the words. There's a passage Brown quotes which says, “Jesus loved Mary and he frequently kissed her on the ___ People often assume the word is “mouth” but we don't know what the word was.

Huh

2005-06-04T17:00:00.000-06:00

Guess I've officially graduated, huh? Strange, doesn't feel any different. And it's not like I even have any urgent need to take the "Degree to be awarded Spring 2005" off of my resume. Oh well, what's done is done. :-)

Oh, and if any of you are curious about this website that I designed (the one I mentioned a few days ago), you can check out the part that's done at: http://www.hockeychatter.com

Work Hours

2005-06-03T10:16:00.000-06:00

Wow... from no work to lots all in a couple of days.

I'm sure most of you know by now that I got another job, working in the bookstore on campus. My job isn't all *that* exciting -- mostly just scanning and cleaning up documents to go into the coursepacks, but hey! It's a job. And it's also union, so it pays quite well. And I start training at 9am on Monday morning. I also work all day Saturday and Sunday (some 17 hours over 2 days), and am scheduled for all day next Friday. I probably will also train for the new job on Wednesday, so things will be busy.

I also am finishing up the last bits of that website I wrote about recently, and have two quizzes next week on Buddhism.

So busy, yes. But it's all good....

Opportunities

2005-05-30T12:10:00.000-06:00

I think I've mentioned to some of you that in order to get business as a webdesigner, you have to get yourself known, and spread via word-of-mouth... and that's where I've been having trouble. I've been considering doing some volunteer work on some simple sites, just to get my name out there, and I think I may have hit a really good one. I can't give details yet, but suffice it to say, I will be doing the design for a site that gets a lot -- a LOT -- of traffic and is on its way up -- way, way up. I wish I could tell y'all how way up.

Yes, it's volunteer. But I'm okay with that. The site itself is not a source of revenue for its owner; it require ads to stay afloat, so it's not that I'm being taken advantage of in any way. It also doesn't look like it will take a terrible amount of work to get the site up to snuff. But the big thing is that this is already a big site, and will grow into being even bigger in probably the near future. It's incredible exposure, because there will be a prominent "Designed By" link at the bottom of each page. If people want their pages designed, they'll know where to come.

I'm excited. But I can't start working on it yet; tomorrow, maybe. Definately Wednesday. But first I have an exam on Hinduism to study for.

Design World

2005-05-29T23:44:00.000-06:00

I haven't posted many new designs lately, although I have done several. I don't have the time to post them all here, though, since some of them would take a bit of work to get into the proper format. For now, though, I have one new design to showcase: Electric (as always, click for enlargement)

I also redesigned my homepage, so it's at http://www.groundupweb.ca

Wierd Homework

2005-05-28T00:18:00.000-06:00

So this weekend, I actually had a homework assignment, and it was kind of a strange one. The assignment was two parts:

Part A: Go to the mall
Part B: Figure out why we were supposed to go to the mall

Anyways, so tonight I did my "homework" and went to the mall... and I gotta say, the reason he wanted us to go must have been that he wanted us to be poorer when I came out than when I went in. But I got good deals, and some nice spring/summer t-shirts, which I quite desperately needed. Sales are wonderful things. Two shirts were $15 (ie. $7.50 each) and at another place, I found another shirt... this one was $10. As well, I got a pair of jeans which were something like 50% off, and since I needed jeans, that was a good thing.

And theeeennnnn... I had the bestest ice cream in the whole world. Have I told y'all about this before? Bear with me if I had. Homemade ice cream, no preservatives, available in a bazillion flavours. You pick your flavor, and then choose a "mix-in" or two (which can be fresh fruit, or candy, or nuts, etc.) which is mixed into your ice cream before the whole shebang is put into a waffle cone that they also make by hand several times a day (well, technically, with a waffle machine, but you get the idea). For example, this time, I had a raspberry icecream cone with triple-berry mix (raspberries, blackberries and blueberries). J had mango ice cream with peaches and strawberries. Soooooooo good. Last time we went, it was peach ice cream w/ strawberries for me and fudge ice cream w/ skor bits and strawberries for J. My new favorite ice cream place by far. They even had a "birthday cake" ice cream flavor, and I swear it tasted just like the angel food cake icing that we always make. So many creative flavors, and so little time to sample them all. And did I mention they let you take free samples of as many flavors as you want?

Anyways that was our shopping excursion. Oh, we also visited ToysRUs and picked up a game that J has been eyeing for ... well... everytime we go into the place. It's a Lord of the Rings Strategy Board Game, but it is SO cool. We played it this evening, and it is a totally unique game concept. The game board itself is actually build out of puzzle pieces as you need them. Rather than playing a particular character, everyone plays every character, and tries to get as many points as possible. It's more complicated than that to explain, but surprisingly not that complicated to play. And the really cool thing is that the game we got was the Fellowship of the Ring game, but there are also games for The Two Towers and Return of the King, and since all the game boards are built out of "puzzle pieces", they all connect together. To give you an idea of the scope of this game, it took the two of us about 1.5 hours to play the single game we had, and once all of the board was put together, it took up my entire kitchen table. Now imagine it being three times that... it'd be like an epic-game. And J wants to get 'em all... not that I blame her. It's a really neat game/concept.

So that was the result of my wierd homework assignment. Tomorrow is a different kind of shopping... grocery shopping. Ooooooooo. So thrilling.

The One-Day Paper

2005-05-25T12:26:00.000-06:00

Well, it's time for my first paper of the Spring semester (that's like Summer Session I for you Lethbridge folk). And I have a grand total of one day in which to do it. Well, technically it was more like a day and a half, since I got it yesterday morning. But given that I was in class all afternoon, and in the evening, *had* to take an hour out to watch American Idol (Go Bo!), I've been left with basically one day to write it. Fortunately it's only three or four pages long; in about an hour, I've been able to collect all my thoughts / research and have written about one third to a half of it. So I should be done in plenty of time, and still have time to watch Idol tonight (Go Bo!). The paper itself is on Charles Leland's 1899 study of Italian witchcraft, entitled Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches. I, of course, decided to do what is probably supposed to be the more difficult question of the three from which we had to choose. It actually is quite interesting, but rather than talking about it here, I'd probably be better served to actually just write it in the paper. Maybe tomorrow when I'm done, I'll put more details. I also have another quiz tomorrow (had one yesterday, too), so it's going to be a busy day. So time to get back to it.

Resonance

2005-05-20T21:22:00.000-06:00

As I sit, there's a slight breeze rustling through the leaves of the trees on its way in through my window. The sky is barely light, the street lights have just come on, and yet I can still hear birds conversing with one another. I've just lit my three triangular oil candles, which are sitting on top of a mirror that reflects the light back up through glass and oil. At the moment, I'm listening the sweeping melodic theme of Smetana's Moldau, and next on my playlist will be the cheerful melody of La Primavera, Allegro from Le Quattro Stagioni -- Spring, from Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. Right now, though, I'm just enjoying the resonance of the Vltava's moody waters.

So that's my evening, how about yours?

More Marks

2005-05-08T17:47:00.000-06:00

The rest of my marks are in, and I got an A+ in Latin and an A+ in my religious studies course. Other than that, not much to report. Worked on Friday and will work again on Tuesday (but Tuesday is only about three hours worth). I also have been invited to attend a conference (held at the University here) on Second Temple Judaism. It's a two day conference; unfortunately, because of my class schedule, I will only be able to attend one day. I'm going to attend the one day that I can though; it's never too early to start getting into the conference scene for your field of choice. In exchange for attending, I may be asked to help with set-up, etc. (rather than pay the registration fee). Definately a good opportunity, I think, and it sounds interesting, too.

It All Costs $$

2005-05-04T13:52:00.000-06:00

Today's big event was an excursion out to the campus bookstore, where I was separated from just over 100 of my hard earned dollars. None of the books I bought were particularly expensive, but there were four of them, only one of which was available used. But they are all required books for my two courses that start in May. I guess I shouldn't be complaining, as when I was in Computer Science, I'd be paying $100-$150 per course. It's surprising how quickly what used to seem like a bargain turns into looking pricey. But my money has departed from me, and I'm officially ready for the next semester... only a week to go. Scary.

On a side note, got my first set of marks in for the Winter session... "A" in CPSC, which is about what I expected, though I was a bit nervous. Still waiting on the other two.

Still Looking

2005-05-03T13:26:00.000-06:00

Just a quick note to let y'all know I've applied for yet another job. This one is on campus, which would be really, really good, working customer service at the bookstore. If I hear more, I will, of course, post more "as it happens".

Sproing

2005-04-28T20:04:00.000-06:00

Bouncy carpet! The new carpet is all in now, tho everything is still everywhere -- J and I are going to move the stuff either this evening or tomorrow. So I *finally* have had some time truly off, without having to worry about exams, carpets, or any other such. Well, except for one minor thing ... *sigh* Humidity and photos isn't a good thing. I had a stack of about 100 pictures -- including some of my favorites -- that because of the humidity got all stuck together. I was able to steam most of them apart (electric kettle to the rescue!), but some of them didn't make out so well. In fact, most of the pictures have some minor damage on them, though not all that noticable unless you are looking for it. So my new carpet is now covered in photos which are drying out. What a mess. If any of the really good ones are ruined, at least I have the negatives, but we'll see. I think the good ones are still okay. Before that, though, I actually took some time to relax ... found some paints and painted myself a picture. I actually quite like how it turned out. Other than that, not much to report.

Getting Fed Up

2005-04-26T14:13:00.000-06:00

I am getting extraordinarly fed up with the entire system here where I'm living. If you'll recall, way back when this whole mess started, they told me that they would work with me to find a time for the carpet replacement that would work for me. Fast forward to this past weekend, when I received a note slid under my door saying that the contractor would measure on Friday (I got this either late Saturday or maybe even Sunday) for the replacement which would be done by this Wednesday. No contractor had come on Friday, however, so I wasn't sure what was going on -- at the very least, I figured they were a couple of days behind. Since the office is closed over the weekends, I had to wait until this week to find out what was going on. With my exam yesterday, I spent my time studying and didn't get in touch with the office; I figured I'd wait until today (Tuesday) to figure out what's going on. Fast forward again to this morning when I was awakened (again!) by a knock at the door. The contractor, wanting to measure. *Grumble* Keep in mind I still had not heard a word from anyone about what was going on, or when, and certainly had not been consulted on finding a time that would work for me. As the contractor was leaving he said, "Okay, well we'll see you tomorrow." I managed to recover from my shock quickly enough to call out after him, "When?" "Sometime in the afternoon, probably." So apparently, the carpet replacement is happening tomorrow... at least, that's what the contractor told me. Someone want to let me know why I haven't heard anything from the people who run this joint?!? It's just a good thing that I don't have an exam on Wed, and that I'm not working.

What a headache. Going to take some ibuprofen now...

Dances a Jig

2005-04-25T22:18:00.000-06:00

... except I don't know how to do a jig. On TV, it always just looks like a lot of jumping and bouncing around. Regardless, I *feel* like doing a jig or something, because my exams (okay, singular: exam) are (is) over. And without any pulling of hair, etc. Actually, it was fairly straight-forward. The translation, which was the part I was most worried about, fell out relatively smoothly, and everything else was exactly what I expected.

Now, for the next few days, it's all about relaxation... and if anyone tries to ask me anything difficult, I have my response all planned out...

Depending on the question, either "Non sequitor" (It doesn't follow) or "Non sequor" (I don't follow) ... probably the latter.

New Look

2005-04-20T22:44:00.000-06:00

Spring is here, and so is a new look for the blog. Definitely more springy, I think.

More work...

2005-04-20T15:06:00.000-06:00

Still haven't heard anything from the apartment people yet about when the carpet will be replaced... *sigh*. Why do I get the feeling this might take a while? On the plus side, I have picked up another shift at work... May 6, for 8-ish hours. At least I'm starting to get some hours; it definately helps the whole bill-payment-thing.

Hm... time for a lunch break, then maybe more Latin studying. Should be back in my apartment to stay tonight... barring unforseen circumstances, of course.

Scheduling Nightmare

2005-04-18T13:09:00.000-06:00

Word to the wise: don't try to do an after-degree in a department that is relatively small, and only offers one section of a given course in a year -- if that often.

How does it work that no matter what you're trying to take, it's always scheduled at the same time as something else you were going to take? Case in point: next year, I either take Greek (which I need, to get into grad school), or I take the research courses (which I should take this coming year, so that I can get an honors degree, which also is used for grad school admission). Not that I'll decide that now... I am going to wait until I'm actually admitted (ie. until my transcript gets here, in like June), and then it's off to meet with the undergrad advisor. Again. *Sigh*. They just can't make it easy.

In other news, I have another shift at work in May (the 18th). Only 4 hours, but every bit helps. Still waiting to hear on that other job I applied for, but nothing yet. Okay, I'm going to do some Latin....

What a Day

2005-04-17T16:45:00.000-06:00

Oy. What a day. At about 10:30 this morning, there's a knock on the door... the laundry room next door has flooded. Seven hours, my living room has been dismantled, moving the computer desk to where the couch used to be, and the couch is now wedged into the storage room. The TV, table, and my bedroom dresser have also been moved from their places, onto drier floors. For those of you that have been to my apartment, the laundry room, as you will recall, is on the other side of the wall where my TV was. The water soaked pretty well to the middle of the room, all the way along the outside wall, into by bedroom by about 2 feet, and all along the dining room walls. Outside, in the hallway, the entire hall was flooded, across to the apartment on the other side, and it reached around to my front door, and came in under the door a bit, too. Needless to say, it's a total mess. It *is* clean water, but that's about all the good news. I called J to come and help me move my stuff, and when we were moving my desk, I was in my sandals, and the water was literally over my sandals, onto my feet. I tried putting a towel in the corner by where my bookshelves were, to try to stop the water from running into the bedroom, and by the time I got back from Tim Hortons (had to use the bathroom -- they had to cut the water), the towel was so soaked, it was dripping. So much for that. Apparently, it wasn't bad enough that the laundry room flooded, but when they were trying to fix whatever it was, they needed to flush the lines, and it didn't work so well. So when they tried turning the water back on, things started backing up through the pipes -- so much so that I later learned that they were very lucky that the pipes didn't burst into the underground parking lot... that's how much pressure there was. Anyways, so I'm staying over at J's for the next couple of days at least, because tonight they are going to be running fans/heaters to try to dry everything up, and then the carpet is going to be completely replaced (not just the underlay, but the entire carpet). That and if I were to stay there, I'd have nowhere to sit... no computer, no TV, can't even really get to my bookshelf, and besides, my bed is under piles of stuff moved from everywhere. So it's been quite the day... honestly, it seems like the day just kinda "wasn't there". But none of my stuff has been damaged, and everything should be fixed up in the next couple of days... we're hoping.

It flies!

2005-04-12T15:59:00.000-06:00

Well, maybe not literally, but my computer sure runs a whole lot faster these days. I got my RAM upgrade... I've now trippled my memory from a lowly 256 to 768MB. Doesn't seem to make that much of a difference on linux, but I booted into Windows just to see and it's "smokin'"! And why exactly did I boot into Windows, you might ask? Well, as a end-of-semester present to myself, I picked up a copy of Roller Coaster Tycoon at Winners. Actually, it's Roller Coaster Tycoon I and II, and all the expansion packs, and it was less than $15. Can't beat that.

Speaking of end of the semester, I can't believe it's basically here already. My Friday classes have been cancelled (the profs are too smart to try to hold class on the last day of classes!), and I may or may not have class on Thursday. That means that I have at least 3 classes left, and at most 4. Tomorrow involves handing in my Religious Studies term paper, reviewing Latin, and writing my last exam in my computer science class (exam, quiz, whatever you want to call it). My term paper is done, minus putting in and formatting all the footnotes and some last-minute editing, and I think it's pretty good. At the very least, I found it very interesting, both to research and to write. If any of you want to read it, let me know, and I will email you a copy to read (since it looks like I will not be coming back down until probably May some time).

Well, finishing touches on that paper, and then study for my CS test tomorrow. I found a good website that goes over everything in detail, and explains it all very well, so I think I'll peruse that for a while.

... 2 days and counting ...

More hours

2005-03-31T14:25:00.000-07:00

I got another few hours at work, this time in April. So April 23, I'll be working basically a nine-hour day for something-or-other (probably a conference). Every little bit helps, and actually, since I make a good amount per hour, working even one day is helpful. That does mean I'm not sure if I'll be coming back down in April, but since I have an exam on the 25th, it's probably for the best.

Okay, just about done my paper. Back to it.

Pretty Picture

2005-03-29T17:19:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a while since I posted, but given that I was back home over the weekend, I think it's understandable, if not acceptable.

Remember that assignment I was working on for ever and ever and it just wouldn't seem to work, until I finally got it to work at the last minute? I got it back, and got 100%... but I'm still not convinced that all the frustration was totally worth it.

Now, it's on to my last programming assignment -- probably the last one ever -- which is the project I was mentioning before. And it works relatively well, so far! A week to go, and I've just about got it done. It draws pretty pictures (okay just lines) on a monitor, in different colors at different distances, all dependant on button pushes. Now, all that's left is to make it change colors automatically in a "color sweep" pattern, and then write up the documentation. Even with some papers, etc. also due this week, I think I should be able to get it done in time for the "hand-in-early-bonus". That's what I'm shooting for, at least.

In other news, I have another shift at work... in May. Which is a long time from now. But I guess I'll just keep hoiping that something will open up.

Alright, back to my programming. So far, so good....

Dumb Project

2005-03-22T10:35:00.000-07:00

So remember that Computer Science project I was mentioning last time? Well, before class yesterday, a couple of us were talking about it, and the prof comes in and hears what we're saying, and says "Yeah, but that's exactly how I don't want you to do it!". I say "Well, that's how our TA has been telling us to do it all along." To which the prof says "Hm... I guess I'd better talk with him."

It's a good thing we were talking about it and he happened to overhear -- otherwise, we would all have started doing this project the exact opposite way of how we were supposed to. *Sigh* I didn't like that TA much to begin with, and this certainly isn't going to change my mind.

In the same vein, I got my quiz back from that class, and did about as well as I had expected (85%, which is a bit lower than normal, but I'm not concerned). I made some really dumb mistakes which cost me 4 or 5% more, but when it's only worth 20% of my overall grade, all that means is that I would have lost 1 less percent overall. Whoop-dee-do. The last quiz is going to be a piece of cake, because the material is all repeated from high school physics, and this project looks to be not *too* bad. But we'll see...

Back to my religious studies research...

It's a Waiting Game

2005-03-21T11:19:00.000-07:00

How is it that Easter is this week? Easter doesn't belong one week after St. Patrick's day... it belongs smack dab in the middle of exams where it provides a nice break from studying. Now, it's just smack dab in the middle of when all my papers and projects are starting to be due. Oh well.

Still no word on my new (web design) job, but they did say I'd hear Tuesday or Wednesday, so I guess I just have to wait 48 hours or so.

Other than that, I've ventured into the world of eBay and have *finally* bought myself another stick of memory for my computer. I bought this computer with the intention of upgrading the RAM right away. Now -- what, 3 years later? -- I've finally got around to purchasing the upgrade. It should be here end of the week, or early next week at the latest (hard to say with the holiday in the middle). I did get a good deal on it, though... about $60 rather than $160. And the seller is reputable, so it's all good. I'm also deliberating getting a laptop. I will seriously look into it if I get this other job, because it would be extremely convenient to not have to run back home every time I wanted to do some work (either work-work or homework). If the job pays well enough, I'm thinking I might see if I can't get a Mac -- depending on the deal, it'd be really nice to get a PowerBook, but that depends what I can find, and for how much. But I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Nothing much else to report. Started doing research for my term paper, which I think I will have more than enough information for. Again. *Sigh*. And I need to start my computer science project, but it's another project where I'm not sure quite *how* to start. I will be very, very glad when that class is over. Hm... I think we get our quizzes from that class back tonight, too. Have to see how that went -- I think I did well, but am a bit nervous, since it was really long, and kind of a strange test. At least the last bit of material we're doing (and therefore the last quiz) will be straight-forward (all stuff I did in high school physics, which was actually quite interesting). It's just this darn project that's got me worried. I'm going to start in earnest on it tomorrow.

Okay, well, back to Latin, and I'll try to not be waiting for the phone to ring *too* much.

mmmm.... chocolate

2005-03-13T14:48:00.000-07:00

I just made brownies... mmmm... Yes, I'm avoiding studying for my CompSci exam tomorrow... but really, how can you study for a programming exam? I'm sure I'll figure something out.

As I think I've now told all of you, my other job interview (for a p/t web design job) went, I think, really well. I really, really, really, really, really (etc.) hope I get the job, because it sounds so perfect for me. It's one of those things where I almost think it sounds too good to be true, but I know that it's not. So here's hoping.

In other job related news, I have a shift this Thursday... starting at 7:30 AM ... yuck! I am most definately NOT looking forward to that. At all. In fact, my looking-forward-to threshold is in the negative territory.

Other than that, this week I am going to start working on my religious studies term paper. First up is doing the research, and this week, my goal is to get the research done for the questions "why does Origen think it is important for the soul to have self-knowledge?" and "according to Origen, is the soul corporeal or incorporeal?" These are probably two of the easiest questions to answer, so it'll be a nice way to ease myself into it.

The rest of the week will consist of the usual assortment of Latin quizzes (only one this week, I think), and maybe going to an NLL (National Lacrosse League) game on Friday. And a week from then, it's Easter time already ... oy. Time is going by way too fast.

Update on Program Change

2005-03-09T11:03:00.000-07:00

I just got back from the Registrar's Office and have officially changed my program (ie. the one I applied to for Fall) to be a pure Religious Studies (Honors) degree, rather than what I was planning before. It will work out better in the long run, both in terms of future education (read: masters and beyond) and work in the research world. Teaching opportunities (once I have a masters/doctoral) will also be far more open to me, my undergrad advisor assures me.

So not only did I change my program but I registered for summer courses. At the moment, I'm registered in 4 courses (that's two each session of summer), but since I'm not a visiting student, I can change that at any time if I want!

The first two I will definately do: they are the last two introductory courses I will need; one in eastern religions and one on the nature of religion. Since they're first year courses, my advisor assures me that it'll be a walk in the park for me. The other two I will take at least one of; one is on Buddhism and one is on different religions' perspectives on death and the afterlife, which sounds very cool. The reason I'm going to take summer courses is that it will definately make my second degree work-load easier and lighter. And since it's only two courses at a time, it means I still will have plenty of time for work and maybe, on occasion, some fun. ;-)

Well, I have to do some Latin, so that's it for now.

I win!

2005-03-08T02:47:00.000-07:00

Ha. Assignment done. After four restarts of various pieces over many hours and many days, I now have a program that multiplies. Please, hold your applause. Kev, no comments from you -- it's not C, or C++. But regardless... I don't want to do that ever again. So if anyone ever wants anything multiplied... my calculator-ish-brain is closed.

And now... a new, novel concept.

Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

I'm Singin' in the....

2005-03-07T20:59:00.000-07:00

Hail.

It started hailing when I was about 5 minutes away from the school, on my way to school.

Little hail, but still.

Ow.

Religious Studies it is...

2005-03-07T19:02:00.000-07:00

So I met with the undergraduate advisor for Religious Studies (who happens to be my religious studies prof) about my program, as I said I was going to in my last post. First of all, I got 100% on that outline I handed in... woohoo! Then, I talked with her for about 1/2 hour, and she and I are both convinced that a straight religious studies degree is definately the way to go for me, for a number of reasons. I won't list them all here, because I'm working on a deadline for assignment that's due tomorrow. Maybe after that.

Oh, and it looks like I might be working on the 18th... I have a lab during the day, but I'm 99% sure it's nothing I can't miss (I will double check with the prof first tho). I figure if I get this out of the way (it's a bit of training) then I can start working evenings and weekends. If I don't, then I wait. So assuming all is good with the prof, all should be "go" on the 18th. Is that when Mary's conference is, Mom? I can't remember...

Anyways. Assignmenting.

News Update

2005-03-05T16:00:00.000-07:00

We interrupt your day for this breaking news...

I have not fallen off the face of the earth. I have not even fallen off my bike, which is remarkable since I have not done much bike riding in the past... well... several years.

Since I last updated, I've been home and back, handed in a major assignment and got a midterm back, had work training, and have started looking for supplementary income (again), have gone grocery shopping to get all the things I forgot at home or forgot that I needed from home (orange juice, anyone? At least it was on sale), saw a girl I haven't seen since first year university and set up a meeting with advising to figure out what exactly I'm going to for my next year(s) of university, have gone out for lunch with relatives and ... not really any parallels to that one.

But let's start from the beginning, shall we?

Home and back: most of you know all about that one, since you all were there! Fixed a couple computers, watched some TV, and managed to actually get the dog to come when I called him -- at least he wasn't ignoring me this time.

Major assignment handed in: the annotated bibliography and somewhat outline for my religious studies term paper, which means now all that's left to do is do is the actual research and the writing. And the final take home paper, which we got our topic for this week, too.
Midterm back in Latin: Ohhhhh I kicked myself. I didn't read the question entirely properly and lost 6 marks (which was only like 2% but still) and then wrote "reflexive" when I meant "relative". Ah well. 95.6% isn't anything to be complaining about.

Had work training: ie. a tour of the facilities. I also handed in my first time sheet. Now the only question is... when will I work again? The guy (who I assume is my supervisor?) said that they want me to work an event with one of the full time staff during a day sometime, but that as of yet, there was nothing in March that would work into my schedule. So what, I don't work until April?!? I'm not terribly happy about that, and so I...

Started looking for supplementary income: But since I'm already juggling two schedules and don't really want to try juggling a third, I'm trying to find work that I can do a bit more casually. For me, that means emailing all the webdesign companies I can find that are hiring and hope that someone "bites". As of yet, no such luck. *sigh* frustrating.

Grocery shopping: not much to tell here, except that yes, I went grocery shopping. And yet my fridge still looks empty. But that's evened out in the fact that my freezer is so packed full. I believe that is evidence that I really am a student.

Picked up things I forgot: yes, I know I didn't take the spaghetti sauce out of the deep freeze. And I didn't take any of those margerine things either. And I needed OJ but forgot. But that's okay; I picked up one of the big 3kg things of margerine for pretty cheap and that should last me at least 'til I come down again ;-). And OJ was on sale. And spaghetti sauce I have that jar of the store bought stuff, which actually isn't all that bad!

Girl I haven't seen since first year: that about explains it all. I took first year computer science with her, and then she moved up to Calgary. She apparently stuck with computer science and is graduating in April before going on to grad school. That makes 3 people that I know of that were in my first computer science class that are actually graduating with a CS degree. Including myself.

Plans for coming university: *sigh* So Hebrew, which I need for my after-degree, isn't going to be offered in Fall. Or it might be, but off campus or as an independant study. Either way, I'm not optimistic. And apparently there's only one other student in the entire university in the major that I'm planning on going into. So who knows if/when it will be offered again, and if the program will even continue to exist. I will, of course, still be able to manage to do this program (assuming Hebrew is offered in the near future), but it will be an absolute pain in the behind. So I'm going to talk to the undergrad advisor for religious studies (who happens to be my religious studies prof) about "what to do" on Monday. I do have some options, but am not sure where they will lead me. But that's why she's called an "advisor".

Lunch with relatives: Thursday was lunch with 2 aunts, 2 cousins and... what do you call a cousin's son? Hm... Anyways, we actually had lunch at a food court, and while often there is nothing really good at food courts, I had a really, really good salad. It was from Arby's and it was called Martha's Vineyard or something like that. Lettuce, "grape" tomatoes (which no, I did not eat), apple chunks, craisins, shredded cheese, sliced almonds and chicken with a raspberry vinaigrette. Highly recommended. As for the relatives part of lunch with relatives, I got to see the new baby (very cute) and heard lots of wedding talk. And then rushed back to school to make it to class on time.

That's about all I have to report. This weekend consists of doing an assignment for next Tuesday, and maybe some reading/research for my term paper. And I should do some Latin. Maybe.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled "programming"

Dryyyyyyyyyyy

2005-02-22T14:49:00.000-07:00

Anyone know where you can get a good -- but relatively inexpensive -- humidifier?

Before I moved up here, I'd never really had problems with a bloody nose, etc.

Now, every morning I wake up, and ... well, you get the idea.

It's way too dry in here.

Alright, after that brief interlude... I'm going back to my reading for my paper.

maverick's truth

Proof of our spontenaity!

Me? Spontaneous?

Scrat is my hero...

Warning: Extreme Randomness

And the semester begins...

Zoolights!

Square Peg, Meet Round Hole

Christmas Came Early

Once Upon a Time

*ahem*

Class Report Card

Newly Computered In Calgary

Computerless in Calgary

Recipe Report #4b

Great quote

Recipe Report #3b & #4a

Recipe Report #3a

Recipe Report #2

Recipe Report #1

May Long Weekend

Back in Action

Impermanence

Conference Details and Exams

Argh

Another Gospel

More good news

w00t!

Dark and Moody

Suffice it to Say....

Injury Report

The "S" Word

"Wrapping" Up

It's Beginning to Smell A Lot Like ...

del.icio.us

Don't Second Guess

Merry Christmas?

Colored Bubbles (I'm Back!)

Now *THIS* is Interesting

Exam Sched: Yuck!

Who Woulda Thought?

Got Bit by the PBk Power Bug

Hodge-Podge

I saw "it" this morning

Go Flames Go

Back to Square One

Class Ratings

Testing, one... two... testing...

And.... we're back!

Update

Ack!

Woohoo!

What Book Are You?

Marks and more

Latin Practice

I hadn't realized!

Goodbye, Tigger. Goodbye, Piglet.

The Day God Came on the Radio

I'm not a Movie Reviewer

Course Update

Two New Things

Apartment Pics

Snapshots of Wetness

The World's Best Drink

Out of Customs.

Out of Customs?

Bits and Pieces

Laptop is...

Digital Imagery

Woohoo

I need more words for...

On the DaVinci Code

Huh

Work Hours

Opportunities

Design World

Wierd Homework

The One-Day Paper

Resonance

More Marks

ahem

Now THIS is Interesting

Sproing

Dances a Jig