Bookface strikes again!

I've ran through a few blogs and found that people are still blogging. It's been a while since I had last posted. I think it'll be a while before I post something of substance.

Here's a little "to-do" list that outline my intentions for the upcomming posts:


1. California Trip pictures and summary

2. Some random video (to quote the Cook from Cantebury Tales "I don't know yet")

3. Narrative of the life of a shoe.

4. A book about cashews.

5. Make a hat.

6. End Construction on Yale Rd.

7. End worldwide dutch rubs.

9. Find out where Eight went.

10. Shorten "to do" list to only include things that are possible and that I actually intend to do.



So, that's it.
I've been doing a lot of stuff at the university/college I now go to (UCFV). Mostly theatre... actually it's all theatre.

Here's a shameless plug for the play I'll be in this semester:



CANTERBURY TALES : The Pilgrimage of Geoffrey Chaucer
(adapted and translated by John Moffatt)

It'll be playing this November in the Chilliwack campus of UCFV.

For more info check this out. http://www.ucfv.ca/theatre/Theatre_Season.htm

Facebook... or Bookface... I prefer Bookface

Hm... I just typed out a post and then tried to add a picture then what I wrote disappeared...

Oh well, to make a long blog short - Our car PASSED Air Care!

Now we can actually insure our car and keep it (hopefully it lasts another year).

And we are moving to our new apartment next week. Though it's been not so bad living in my parent's basement (they've been really good about giving us some space and privacy), it will still be REALLY nice to move in to our own place and unpack stuff we haven't been able to use in these last three and 1/2 months.

Facebook isn't really living up to all the hype that surrounded it when I first tried it. People were saying you'd get addicted to it... I don't know what they're talking about. It's just a fad that's growing old methinks. Then some new online fun-factory will come along... I think it'll be called Blogface.

Still going back...

Yup, it's been a while since I've been actively blogging or reading blogs. But I did a blog run today (t'was good to hear about people having interesting summers with all the bugs and camping going on).
One great thing that just happened recently is that Kristine got a job with the Fraser Valley Regional Library. She was really wanting to get it, so a few days after a grueling interview, she got an on-call position.
As for myself, I was trying to find some job that I haven't worked in before. So I did not want a grocery store job or any retail. Working at a farm or greenhouse would have been okay. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go back to that call-in centre again, but I applied online and got an interview the next day. Well, I'm back doing tech support at the call-in centre. Once again, I feel like I'm going backwards. It's an interesting learning experience though. Instead of supporting desktop computers, I will be supporting notebooks (previously called 'laptops' - it was changed by some guy who burned his lap with one - guy who couldn't feel his legs, goes outside on a hot day with his 'laptop' on his bare legs, falls asleep = smells like burning, lawsuit follows [I knew that there was some kind of lawsuit that got the name change to occur, but I didn't hear that story until a few days ago]). I've just started training there this week, so I've been hearing a few interesting stories. Likely to hear more. People that call these places can be really weird.
Other than that, we went babysitting (our niece and nephew) and I got the stomach flu later (or something like it - lasted a day and a half). Saw Spiderman 3 - that was good (better than I thought it would be anyways.
Anywho, that 's about it - summer has yet to get more interesting.

Turning Back the Clock

Yeah, I know we had to literally turn back our clocks an hour when we got home, but what I'm really talking about is the feeling that wafts over this venture.

As you may have read from the wife's blog, we're back home and looking for work. What she did not mention yet was that our car not only made it back to Chilliwack from Calgary, but it is sitting at . . .

(this was taken a few days ago, and "Johnny Whitelips" - as the car is often called - is doing fine)

The only downsides to the car now are the driver's side door - which cannot open from the outside - and the peeling paint - which has been there since we got it (plus there's a significant area on the hood that we still have to paint - or will never bother to).

Anywho, about turning back the clock, this has been a strange past few days. Currenlty, we are living in my parent's basement until we can find a place and the jobs to pay for it. The odd thing about that is, that I sometimes think as if I have always lived here. To illustrate, I have gone up to my old room in order to get some papers (which would have been up there had my desk stayed up there - it is in the garage). I have done this a couple times now. It is just too easy not to think about it and to assume that everything is now the way it was when I lived here. To a lesser extent, going back to UCFV (University College of the Fraser Valley) is somewhat odd, since I had attended that institution before going to CBC/AUC/NUC. It's going to be strange to be back where I started before going to Regina and Calgary. It's not that I want things to be the same as they were. In fact, I'd rather things not be as they were. I mean, somethings stay the same, but often not what we'd expect.

Well, that's about enough blogging for now. It's time to see what everyone else is up to.

Nearly Done, Nearly Packed, Nearly Home

That's about it.
Heading back to BC on the 30th -- no more Calgary for a long time!

It's really great to be done.
As of now, I am waiting for my wife to get out of her very last exam. She has her last exam on the last possible time slot for them! Crazy.

Well, now she's done. WHEW!

Anywho, no more slow school computers! Yay!
Although ours is getting slow... we've been putting it through a lot of paper writing lately.
It's unhappy.

Well that's done - I'm outta here

Just a quick thought . . .

A friend was talking about doughnuts.

I wonder why they call it a DOUGHnut?
It doesn't really resemble a nut.
Maybe it's a specific kind of nut... that grows on Dough-trees.
Maybe that's where the name Doughtry came from.
Are they the ones who make doughnuts? Doughnut mongers? Dough-tree harvesters?
Why else would you name someone Doughtry?
Are the people named Doughtry doomed to be associated with weight gain?
I don't know any Doughtrys so I assume if they are connected somehow with doughnuts then they'd either have really good metabolisms or be really large.

OK, OK, I know doughnuts (like monies) do not grow on trees.
But it's a fun thought.
Kind of like how you hope you can get a root beer tree by pouring some root beer in a hole in the ground.
I once managed to grow an apple tree in my parent's garden after throwing out an apple core.
They didn't know how it got there, but there it was - I think they still have it too.

Anywho, back to work . . .

Ah, Procrastination

Instead of doing research all night, I thought I'd do a blog run.
Then I thought this blog could use a few extras.
So I changed some stuff and added a little animation at the bottom.
Next I'll try to figure out how to get video on here...

Fifteen pages a week . . .

. . . that's what I have to look forward to.

It's not that bad, when I think about it that way, but, most likely, it will not work out exactly as I have planned it. Then again, I'm hoping for the better option.

Anywho, everything else is going good. The car is okay; I had a migrane last night, but that's gone now; Vancouver beat Colorado 3-0; Calgary beat Minnesota 1-0 (I don't usually like Calgary, as you may know, but Minnesota getting beat makes things look a bit better for Vancouver); I'm getting new ideas for writing and art - oh, wait a minute!

That last bit of good news also comes as a bit of bittersweet news to me, since I have nearly 50 pages of work to do (sure it's good stuff I'm working on, stuff I'm interested in, but it's also work and labourous). Yes, I still feel slightly repressed. I'm hoping that this summer will be a creative explosion.

So, that's about it. Now for my regular blog tour . . .

Quoth the Scrivener "I prefer not to"

Anyone ever read Bartleby the Scrivener?
It's a good short story.
Mostly about a guy who just does his job and when he is asked to do anything else, anything else other than copying large volumes of legal writ, he simply answers with "I prefer not to."
Now, that's what I feel like doing.
Not the copying part.
I find that part rather dull.
Maybe I'd enjoy being a copyist if I was copying poetry in some artistic fashion, but laws and legalese don't appeal to me as much.
The point is, I have about 53 pages of work to do. I prefer not to.

Well, I would rather finish it all and enjoy it, but I just can't wait till I'm DONE!

I'd almost feel like saying I prefer not to go to certain classes . . .
but I like all my classes.

Now I'm approaching a two week period (starting this coming Monday) where I have no assignments due. It's like the silence before the storm. It's like looking out from a very large cliff. I know that's pretty dramatic (I tend to lean that way), but this is more than just a crunch time. This is the end of my degree.

Anywho, to end on a better note, I look forward to Spring.
Then I hope to compose many poems that reflect on my experience here.
I've been dabbling with Spenserian verse (the Spenser that wrote The Faerie Queen) I hope to write a sonnet or two using that form . . .
. . . maybe some of you English Literature savvy persons can give me some tips.
So, that's about it from me. Just waisting time waiting for Kristine to finish writing her exam.

Here's some nonsense Limericks!


"Please, Politely buy my Pizza Pie!
Ponder Plenty no more. Please try!"
"No", I said
With a mouth full of bread,
"And stop sPitting in my eye!"

(hmm... yes, I am bored, so I'll write another)

Things weren't working my way
So I got a job out on the highway.
Hid in a ditch,
Stole from the rich,
And all I got was a bumper.

The last limerick did not keep rhyme.
Maybe this one will rhyme this time.
Okay my friend,
Now we near the end.
Nah, I prefer not to.

Loaf Pans!

We're going to be without loaf pans for a month!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AAAAHH!!!

*shrug*

Did I ever really use those loaf pans? What are they anyways? Oh, the wife just told me.

Okay. No more nacho casserole.

I can live with that.

Anywho, if you've read my wife's blog lately, you'll find out that I've finished all my presentations for this semester. I am happy to be here. Now graduation seems a lot closer - even though I have something like 50 pages of papers left to do, but I have two weeks coming up where there's nothing to do (meaning I have a lot of time to procrastin- I mean work).

Oh yeah, I guess I should do something about that presentation I was going to summarize on here.

Well, here's my answer in picture form (the rest is kind of long and laboursome - besides I'm not sure if you'd want to see the whole video - maybe the first five minutes, but not the whole thing).

La fin

Here's a post for March...

I am quite exhausted.

There's been so much schoolwork lately that I've been racing to get done. I feel like a used SOS pad. Or maybe just a damp washcloth. Either way, I'm feeling like Bilbo...

"I'm wanting to see mountains again, mountains Gandalf!
And then find somewhere quiet where I can finish my book."

I'm not sure if that's only from the movie or the movie and the book, but it's a great quote that I've often thought of while I'm in the lonely flatlands that are the praries of Canada (that's a much nicer way of saying - I don't like it here, don't like Calgary, I want to move on!).
Yes, I want to see mountains again and I would like a place to finish my book... or books.
It doesn't have to be somewhere quiet though. I miss family...

...and family is NOT quiet.

I guess it has more to do with the fact that I'm ready to move on. It's soo close to graduation (or at least it feels like it should be).
BUT there's a lot of work ahead. When will it end? This is a testing time. The kind of period where my trust in God is challenged. I hope I can get through this without going too crazy.

Speaking of crazy, I did that "What is English" presentation last thursday. It was a good experience to get that done. Well, I gotta go get coffee. It's going to be a long night.
I'll prepare something a little more in depth concerning my presentation later.

I'm presenting tomorrow!!!

Yes, three exclamation points where one would have been enough.
Other than emphasis, I wonder why people do that...
Lately, I've been really interested in the subjects of parody and film. That is mostly due to my presentation that I have been working on for the past few weeks.

Since we got our digital camera, we haven't had time to make movies like I wanted to. I was thinking of doing some stop-motion animation. I've got the plasticine-like stuff (it's not called that, I forget what it's called - I'm currently at the school and don't have access to my stash at home at this point).

However, my first endeavour to make a film is being realized in this presentation. Some of you might get to see it. I don't think I can put much of it on here because it requires me to do some 'live' acting in association with the film.

Anyways, I have found my answer for "What is English?"

I'll let you know what it is by the next post (ha ha, ah the suspense - I still have to do some filming on it tonight, so I'm in suspense too... yikes).

Still haven't presented...

It's been a busy and stress crazy time. Yes, I might even say we've been a bit "tizzy."
So far it's been our car, 'Johnny Whitelips', not feeling too well (though it's been fixed), stress at Kristine's work because of the car troubles, a few papers making some late nights for me, and I have to delay my presentation on "What is English?" once more.

Overall, however, it's not all that bad. Papers have been worse before and so has the car.

I guess the biggest thing right now is Kristine's work situation (she's feeling really bad about being late because our car wouldn't start this morning and she had to skip a few days when we were getting it fixed). Well, at least it's Valentine's Day. . .

. . .hmm, no that doesn't fix much.

Funny thing is, I had class while she was at work and she has a class now this evening, so not much time to spend with each other. We did, however, got to spend time together this morning, but not a whole lot because we slept in. The sleeping in part comes as a result of last night's trying to get a paper done (I think I butchered it, but we'll see how that goes).

Anywho, I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going to go about presenting my answer to "What is English?" As there was no comments/snide remarks on the previous post, my question still stands unanswered. Maybe it's too complex a question to answer. . .
oh well, I'll try to summarize how the presentation goes in the next post or two.

Oh yeah, and Happy Valentine's Day.


. . .


I HAVE BEEN UNCLED THRICE!

"I speak very good EEnglisssh. I leaarned it from a booook."

Here's the big month for doing schoolwork. Literature, literature and more literature.

Now is the time to DELVE into those books which -up to now- I have been neglecting to read.

My first major feat will be to answer the question: "What is English?"

This question is so ambiguous and so nebulous, but I have been given the simple guideline that it must match up to my own personality and what the prof knows of me.
"To thine own self be true" (Polonius, Hamlet) and all that nonsense.
Needless to say, (though I will say it for the sake of illustration) I am quite perplexed.
I am constantly occupied with the thought of this question.
So, I would ask, whoever does wish to make a remark to this, what is English to you?

It doesn't have to be anything especially philisophical. Just lend me some initial reactions. I already have my own, of course, but I am curious what everyone else thinks.
Here are some extra questions to give you extra stuff to think about.
What is English as an area of study? What does that study need? What does it do?
What is English as a language? How does it affect culture?
What is English as in literature? What are we to glean from reading?
What is your experience with English? How does reading, listening, or even speaking or writing affect you?

So there it is. I may post my own thoughts about it later (the questions I have asked may give you some idea where I am heading already).
Till next time,
I eat, I read, and read some more.

Posting, for Posting Sake

Literature for literature's sake or art for art's sake or knowledge for knowledge's sake...

In my mind, not one of those approaches has a leg to stand on.
There's always something else to consider.

With 'knowledge for knowledge's sake', you cannot avoid using the knowledge. It can never be purely knowledge for the sake of knowing something. If it were knowledge for pure knowing, then we'd be file cabinets - Locked file cabinets. If you know something, you'll want to think about it or tell some other sentient being. If you think about it and/or tell someone, you are using that knowledge. Whether it's for self reflection or to show someone you know this useless fact, it's always knowledge for the sake of using it to add to someone's life.

There, that's my thought for today. Now I must write a paper about it.

Hey! Old Post! Why not?

So, here's an old post that I decided to recycle and put on this blog. It's from "Holy Crap! Who is Running this Army?" (click on the "who is running this webpage?" to see it). That site was my first experience in Blogging. Though the whole thing kinda fell through and I was the only one posting stuff... Well, here's one of my better posts:

Pillow talk... (no! not THAT kind of pillow talk!)

Friday, September 08, 2006

Ever try to talk to someone when they're asleep?A roomate? Spouse? A parrot maybe?

Here's an actual conversation between a married couple (I'll try to find more as these stories become available):

(Awake spouse: A ; Sleeping spouse: S)

A: "I can't sleep... I've tried counting sheep... I counted 117."

S: "That's a lot of dragonflies."

A: "No, sheep."

S: "They look like dragonflies but they are really small."

A: "What? Sheep?"

S: "No. People."

Some great entertainment you can get from talking to a sleeping person, I guess.Try it out.Either on siblings, parents, friend, spouse, or even your pet parrot...he's a red-capped parrot and his name is Jerky.

Okay, so there's the old post. As some of you may know, the awake spouse was me and (obviously) the sleeping one was my wife.

The picture of Jerky is just a random parrot picture I found through Google.

Hmm... yeah, this is like a post that has bonus features...

"It Starts" - Timone states the obvious in a Snes Game

Well, it finally happened. The first day of the last semester in my degree. It feels like it shouldn't be there. Like it was a dream of some sort...

hmm... maybe it was, maybe I'll wake up and find out I'll have another couple years before I'm done. Nah! I'd love to be done and say farewell to Calgary. I say it's time to move on.
So, on one hand, I'd really like to see my degree done and I want it over as fast as possible. On the other hand, I'd like time to just slow down a little this semester so I finish well.

Which brings me to thinking: What does the phrase "with flying colours" mean?
I known for most of my life that it has something to do with finishing well, but since when are air-savvy pigments conducive to doing well?
Here's some ideas I had about it...

There's this option:

(left) A gag reflex or spitting illustration from Ren & Stimpy

(right) I just liked this picture.


or the lighter side of "flying colours":

(left) Yakko Wakko and Dot from Animaniacs. They'd probably fit in a parade (possibly Calgary Stampede?).

(right) This is just a funny picture of Brain. "Brain, not Brian"

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

--

Anywho, this post is a day late. The first half I wrote after my first day of classes and this half I'm writing after my first week. Currently, I'm in what's called "syllabus shock." For those of you not in college, this type of shock is where you get a couple pieces of paper (the syllabus - upon which is written the outline and requirements for the course) and they either make you REALLY nervous or scare you enough so you want to run out of the building and dive into the river. Fortunately, I'm just a little nervous. In other words, I have a large amount of work to do for this semester.

Well, it's only a short symptom of school, this "syllabus shock", so it'll be over soon and I'll be only thinking about Literature...

So for the next few posts that I type up, I will most likely have references to poems, books, or just Milton.

I'm sitting on a camping chair...

Yup, that's the way it's been for a long time - as far as our seating arrangements have been for our computers. Yes, camping chairs.

I'm not complaining about it - in fact, I like these chairs. The thing is, this reminds me of the temporariness of our lives thus far (the wife and I). While we've been living in Calgary, it's always been with the feeling that it's only temporary here and we expect to be out of here soon, so why bother doing anything of permanent value? (yup, long sentance)

Yeah, this is a depressing topic to begin the new year, but this has been on my mind since we got back from our short holiday and Christmas festivities in BC (not to mention the colds we had - those were fun). Being everything is so temporary, it's hard to relax and work on good ol' pastimes or "put down roots" as the familiar phrase goes. However, I am glad that we have got ourselves into a small group through our church (we've made some good friends there). What will be really weird is going back to BC after we graduate this April. I hope that temporary feeling will fade quickly after, so we can actually settle down in a home somewhere... (now let's hope the real estate costs will go down a little...)

Anywho, to not end on a depressing note...