Good to see you, old friend.

Dear Blog,

I know I’ve been neglecting you, but I’ve been involved in a passionate romance with my good pal, School. I’m going to be honest though, School doesn’t love me like you do, so I’m probably going to use him at least until December, then dump his ass and forever return to the loving embrace of the arms you don’t actually possess…since you’re a blog. But for now, I need you to do me a favour and remind me of what I need to talk to you about eventually:

(1) Ontario Driver’s License – Why in the future I shouldn’t take a driving course to attain my G2 without first predicting that the DriveTest union would go on strike so that I may avoid the strike appropriately. My lack of psychic ability has entered me into a seemingly infinite loop into the big bad world of exam rescheduling.

(2) Cartoon Strip (Project I) – I’ve begun a new project back in September where I’ve created mounds and mounds of incredibly cheap cartoons, with equally tacky jokes. I look forward to expanding these and sharing them across the internet in January. Disclaimer: if you are not a science nerd, you will likely not appreciate them. Well, come to think of it, if you are a science nerd, you’ll probably still wonder what I was smoking while creating these.

(3) Unknown (Project II) – Another project, eh? This one was started in late June, but I haven’t quite been able to focus on this one much. For now it’ll be known to you as ‘unknown’–at least until I can figure whether to continue pursuing it. I mostly likely will, since it’s based on something I strongly believe in. Wish me luck finding time to continue it.

(4) LHIA – Oh god, do I even have to talk to you about this, Blog? Blatant example of my a lack of dedication to you. But I’m not someone who just gives up, so since I’ve started this LHIA series, I most certainly will finish it. And then, knowing me, I will of course start a new series of blog posts in 2010 where I’ll this time stick to the goal.

*dusts off hands and walks away from this mess*

Much Love,
Loo

Bird Watch List

This is going to sound extremely nerdy, and I’m perfectly content with that (because nerds are awesome), but since Spring 2008 I’ve been a closeted birder. As part of my last few days of summer before school hits, I’ve decided to do some ‘Spring’ cleaning in a completely inappropriate season. This includes lots and lots of organization. I’ve decided to transfer my bird list from paper to computer, and now to post it here to forever engrave it into the interwebz so that if my computer one day blows up, I’ll know where I can find it. Let’s hope WordPress.com doesn’t blow up either.

So here’s my current life list of birds that I’ve seen since Spring 2008 (I’ve seen others in my lifetime, I was just never able to identify them at the time, so I may as well just start afresh). Let the geekery begin:

LHIA: Human Life II (Death Penalty)

It can be confusing how in many instances those that label themselves pro-life in terms of abortion also manage to support the death of criminals in the form of capital punishment. Furthermore, it seems strange to declare that it’s okay to kill an ‘innocent preborn’ but when it comes to a criminal who’s committed vicious acts, it is not. Then of course there are the other positions inbetween, but we won’t go there simply because they don’t seem as conflicting. That being said, I don’t think any of the positions contradict eachother because they are two unique issues and should be treated as such. At some points we may encounter contradiction, but these stem from the individual expressions of opinion, not the stances themselves.

LHIA: Human Life I (Abortion)

Along with the concept of God, I’ve always struggled with this issue, but both of those issues walk down the same road (mind you, once you acknowledge God, everything walks down the same road with religion–this feels rather limiting). So this would be the first time I’ve ever bothered to write down and extract some sort of position about this particular subject. I must admit that it’s been a very tough process–mostly because of how delicate a subject it is and how easily people can be offended while discussing it. Despite my long, drawn-out reflections about abortion, there have been several things I’ve long been adamant about:

LHIA: What is Love? (baby don’t hurt me)

Alright, alright. You got me again. God, stop catching me in such grisly acts. I missed the Sunday deadline on my self-established project…what is it…5 times, 6 times? Oh dear, too many to count. The first miss was a fairly good excuse…very busy week, I figured I could catch up the next week. The second miss was a very sore miss, completely unnecessary. And by the third miss, I had already gotten into such a deep mess that I couldn’t get out. It’s so easy to lose control once you’ve made one slip, this I’ve learned. But, I’m back and ready to punch these blogs in the face, one day at a time. If all goes according to plan, my blog will feel mentally raped by the putrid filth I inject into it. Cheers. =D

What? Pft, who wants to serve themself? Yh rgt.

Today The other day (I apparently fail at blogging on the same day ) I headed off to IKEA, surprisingly after a long hiatus. IKEA is one of those stores that used to be a great place to shop but has slowly, through foul decomposition and pure, ghastly rotting of rot, lost part of that greatness. These days they’ve resorted to selling AS-IS (broken/displayed products) for more than their original price. Say, would you rather pay $5.99 for tea saucer & cup set of 6, or $2.99 for a single cup and saucer that has been on display (or perhaps you’d like to opt for the third option–buying neither…really those things won’t hold nearly enough tea). Being the deviant I am, I am so very tempted to stand in AS-IS for a day just shouting at customers, informing them that they’re being ripped off, particularly ripped off for damaged goods, which in my opinion is the lowest of lows.

I remember the days when stores would actually put on their little facade and pretend to care about their customers. Now it seems they can no longer afford the illusion. Recall those days when Zellers used to give out free milk and cookies to kids every time their parents came to the store. Hell, parents didn’t even have to buy anything to have their child’s face shoved with sugary sugary goodness. Perhaps we’ve evolved into a society where people have attempted to exploit the goodness of others, or perhaps corporations are just becoming cheap mothers. Maybe a little bit of both? If not the first, most certainly the last. Here’s how I know:

On said trip to IKEA I was shocked to enter, noting that they had converted most cashier stations into self-serve checkouts and only one cashier was open at the time. I mean, great, woohoo for technology, but…at the same time, that’s a loss in jobs in an already hurting economy. I saw the same things happening at Home Depot two weeks ago: more self-serve, less jobs. Now, perhaps it’s wrong for me to just assume that there are less jobs–do I really know if employees aren’t just working elsewhere in the store? No, but I doubt it. Here’s to make another assumption: the purpose of these machines is to save money for the company. In no way do these grotesque hunks of metal help the customer (unless the customer is antisocial). Rather, I’ve seen many customers struggle with them. So I think I’m safe to assume they’re money-hungry. But what smart company isn’t? Unfortunately smart in corporate eyes isn’t always great in others. However, through decline in greatness and all, if there is one thing that IKEA has done right, it’s the fact they’ve kept their hot dogs at the same price…ooo and the meatballs…mmm, the lingonberry juice…swedish cookies *drools* —wait, what? I haven’t, nope, never said anything bad about IKEA in this blog. Nope, what *drools* are you talking about? not a clue *drools* about what you’re saying.ddal.,,,,,g/d.agfd.///////

When Michael Jackson’s Death Marks Life

For someone who was never really a fan of Michael Jackson, rarely listened to his music, and only recently downloaded “Billy Jean” after hearing someone play a nice cover of it, my heart sure feels heavy with the burdens that come with death.

LHIA: Moral Relativity

No universal morals exist. Nothing is absolutely right or wrong. At the same time, everyone has values and therefore everyone lives up to their own relative moral code.

LHIA: Iraq (Faux Blog)

I was just about to write how busy my week’s been, somehow justifying why I am not actually going to blog much today, but then I figured, I probably should try to cut excuses from my life as much as possible. While my week has been busy, I had plenty of opportunities to stick to my goal. Lucky for me I never specified in the LHIA rulebook how extensive my blogs had to be. Muhahaha. Although I do feel the guilt, because it’s not what I had intended it to be in the unwritten rules.

Discontent

I feel sick of use, when I’m not the one feeling the brunt of the abuse. When he omits, I am disgusted. Yet when he commits I feel guilty for persecuting his actions. My emotions all too often depend on others when I should really be standing firm. Am I in the wrong for being critical of him or am I seeing the light and unveiling the hurtful truth that he himself has tried to keep hidden?

At times I feel like I can read people like I would if I had picked up their diary. But through mere actions, I extract information, pulling against a fierce resistance. This man that I know is sad as he witnesses the power he once had deflated before him. He tries to regain this power in the most maladaptive way: by pushing others down and climbing on top. It’s almost as though he feeds off of others demise, but I know this isn’t true—he is a good person deep down. But perhaps we all have a negative aspect to our personalities that will ensure that two individuals cannot be compatible. Or perhaps life changes us in a way for the worse and we don’t realize the hurt that we cause as a result. I don’t want this to happen to me. Yet sometimes I feel I pick up his negative behaviours and use them against him. I don’t want that negativity to escape to anyone beyond him—this would be detrimental to my own well-being. I want to confine it to a box, lock it, and discard it in the nearest ocean.

Among the many problems that arise, this man’s a hypocrite—but aren’t we all? Is he more hypocritical than most or am I just finding problems because I’m in search for problems? Do I desire a confrontation? In part, yes. As stated, I’m worn. I try to trust him but lies surface. Lies with no purpose other than to hurt the person I care the most about. Somehow he doesn’t realize that those lies affect more than just one person. And so this is why I become so involved and have knocked on the doors I never should have knocked. I have knocked, entered, but don’t have the power to go further. Hopefully that time will come, but I fear that when it does, it’ll permanently isolate me from this miserable man. Strange I’d say that, ain’t it?