New Year's Post

Alright, before I get on to anything else, I should get out of the way that I've been drinking. This isn't too bad. Last year, I was drinking more days than I wasn't around the holiday season, mostly, I think, because it was the first year that I was legal and everyone wanted to see me get legally drunk. This year the novelty is over, and thus, this is only the second holiday drunk post.

I tried to get a picture of the Blue Moon of 1009/10, but I only got snowflakes, and the snowflakes would reflect light off them, making them seem like they were the moon... got a bunch of images, which I may end up uploading, but not tonight.

Yesterday, someone from my brother's forum introduced his own eblogger, and I introduced my own in kind. I watched him and he watched me back. I was supposed to get my game face on, which I'm not sure if I did or not.

I finally got my eBlogger avatar working, though, thanks to him. For some reason, the option to edit my avatar came up only when I decided to follow his blog.

Yesterday, I went into my inbox in my gmail and looked up "job application" to get an old resume so that I could copy/paste something into my more modern resume for formatting purposes, and it gave me "1-20 out of hundreds and hundreds". That's right. Even the Google Gmail archives admit I've sent hundreds and hundreds of job applications. What's even more depressing is that I made a conservative effort to apply at more places in-person than online, which means that, even with hundreds and hundreds of online applications, 've done more than twice that in-total.

And just so you guys know, I updated this blog more often than I didn't, even this month, when it was the most difficult.

Anyway, see you all around! I'm about done for tonight.

ReStore, Comic

I went and volunteered at the ReStore today. They take your application more seriously there than they do at the Food Bank. They toured me around, made sure I knew WHMIS, made sure I was wearing steel-toed boots, knew where all the safety equipment was, and had me take a safety quiz. At the Food Bank, you just fill out a simple application form and have you sign in and out, which they also do at the ReStore.

At first, the tasks there seemed sort of disorganized. I was just supposed to find items with green stickers on them and transport them to the front of the store, and it wasn't long before I ran out of things to do. But after a bit, the store manager came out and introduced himself to me, and had me help him out setting up a kitchen and constructing a table. I liked that guy. He was a really thorough talker. He already knew my name when he introduced himself, he asked if I liked being called "Gryphon" or "Gryph", wanted to know how I'd heard about them, wanted to know about why I was volunteering and what types of things I was interested in, told me what types of people volunteer there, how many hours in total they'd gotten from people last year, told me about the various places in the store, and told me why and how they were used.

By the end of the day he told me that what I could get out of volunteering there was, they could give me a reference if I needed a job, and also, every year they grow by about 30% and every paid employee they had working there that day started out as a volunteer.

As far as tasks go, it looks like there's room for expansion. They operate power tools there, which they're willing to teach me how to use, they go on a weekly trip to Toronto, which I could get in on, there's computer and retail work to be done, and the next project they're undertaking takes place near where I live, and I could get in on that, too.

If I wind up moving out of Guelph, it's a bit disappointing it took me this long to realize this place

The Food Bank and the ReStore are kind of the go-to places in terms of volunteering here in Guelph. I learned that from my employment counselor at Welfare a week or two ago.

I'm a bit nervous, though, because when I was working, some guy said to me "Excuse me, I'm looking for a big guy."

Well, I'm used to hearing this. I'm 6'4" and 285 pounds, and when people say this, usually they need some kind of large object moved, so I was like "Alright, what can I do for you?". He responded, "No! I'm looking for a big, big guy!". One of the regulars asked if he could help, and the guy said, again, that he was looking for a big guy. The regular said "You mean the big, big guy?", the customer said yes, and the regular replied "He's in a meeting."

So apparently there's some guy who dwarfs me working in this place. That's never happened before!

I managed to update my comic again today. One more strip and I'm done my first story arc. I plan on doing that on the first day of the new year.

Anyone who uses deviantART should know the site has a tendency to make it impossible to click the deviation in the upper right corner of your gallery. And that it also has a tendency to reorganize your gallery randomly, and to make certain deviations disappear and reappear. These things make it troublesome to write a continuing story arc, so I've been putting in links to the separate strips in the comments section, with each page numbered so the story can be read in order.

After I finish this arc, I'm going to use the folder function to separate it from the other comics. I've still got a number of shorts before I run out of material on this computer.

If I wind up leaving Guelph, I get to take my laptop and the old scanner, so I'll be able to keep updating.

There's going to be a blue moon on the New Year. That means the second full moon in a month. If it isn't cloudy tomorrow, I'd like to take a picture of it. This feels like a good way to end the decade.

Time Management, New Millenium

Today I went to 2ndchance and finally got my employment reference letters. I tried to go yesterday, but they were closed. Their holiday hours are weird. One of my counselors was at the front desk, and I talked to him about all my time management issues, balancing Katimavik, this new potential employment contract, and the writing course, plus what to do about the Katimavik forms that still need to be filled out. He basically told me all the stuff I thought I already ought to do, but it still gave me a lot more confidence in how to handle these things.

Hey, if I wind up moving away for this employment opportunity, Mom and Duncan say they'll read my blog! Yay!

Also, I went and tried to find the Habitat for Humanity Restore and couldn't. I tried to do this yesterday, too. I want to volunteer there, is the reason, and I want to do it before the end of 2009, so I can put it down as "2009 - 2010" on my resume as the length of time I've been there. I also just want to fit one last thing in before the end of the decade.

But I did find it eventually today. I've been in the Restore before, which is why it was so baffling when I couldn't find it in my two sweeps of the neighborhood yesterday. I did another two sweeps today, and looked it up online, and it confirmed that the place I thought it should be was where it was.

But I pulled up the map they offered and found it contradicted their directions. So I went to the place on the map, and found it. It was too late to volunteer, though. Oh well, I've got two more days.

The writing course thing turned out not to be so bad. I can take a four week course, earn a certificate, and then leave for Katimavik, if I get in. I'm going to see if I can get whatever else might be included in the scholarship postponed.

Sooo... it looks like the employment section of my resume did better in 2008 than it did in 2009. That's a bummer. At least my education, certifications, and volunteer sections were better.

So... this decade, the 00's, is winding to a close (depending on how you read that, it rhymed). It ranged year 10 to year 20 for me. I dunno if that comprises your "day". You know, as in, "In my day, everything was better" or if your twenties also get to be your day. I sure hope so, because they're calling the 00's the "noughties", which is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. It's one letter off from "naughties", pronounced the same, and the differentiating letter looks nearly identical to the one it's replacing. Also, "nought" means "nothing", right? "00", in this case, doesn't mean nothing! It was as much a decade as the last one was! I'll take twenty through thirty as my day, thank you. I can't accept such a stupidly-named decade as my day.

Short Post

The Internet connection has been working perfectly today, so I managed to upload some pictures of this year's Christmas tree to my images blog. Duncan took the pictures. They were all taken before Christmas, but I couldn't upload them until now. Here's the link: http://gryphonsgallery.blogspot.com/

I also managed to update my comic during this time of good connection.

The multi-purpose festivity lights I mentioned in a blog post previously have been taken down. I guess they really were for both Halloween and Christmas. Next time, they should try to pass them off as New Year's lights, too.

That's about... it for today. Sorry.

Christmas Loot

Sorry I didn't update yesterday. I know I should be making up for lost time, but I had a project that I thought I'd need done the next day, and it took me six straight hours to complete, so the sun was rising by the time I was finished, and I'd kind of lost my ambition to post by that time.

Anyway, let's go over my Christmas loot.

I got some suspenders. Somebody told me that my... pants required suspension, and asked me if I'd consider wearing suspenders. I guess this recent problem comes from my weight loss. Wearing suspenders is a concept that's a few generations old, but I said that I would. I didn't think anyone took me seriously, but I guess someone did, because I got some, and I've been wearing them all yesterday and today. Yes, I'm aware that a belt is also used for pants-suspension, but I think these suspenders are a riot! I thought I was past the adolescent stage of wanting to look strange.

I got a brandy snifter. You know, so that I can look like a supervillain. So far, I've just drunk beer and eggnog (with whipped cream on top) out of it, but I still looked pretty evil, so that's cool.

I got some loungewear, too. Chilling in loungewear with suspenders and a brandy snifter feels cooler than you'd think.

I got a bunch of videogames, as per family tradition. You probably don't care for my witty observations regarding these titles, so I'll just list them:

Pokemon Platinum
Pokemon Battle Revolution
Dokapon Journey
Harvest Moon: Animal Parade
Shonen Jump Naruto Shippuden Clash of Ninja Revolution III (just rolls right off the tongue, eh?)

Duncan got some games, too. I still haven't beaten all my birthday games, and I don't think I've beaten all my last Christams's. I can only beat, like, two games per year! Well, that's not true. This blog has been up for like, a quarter of a year, and I've got three games in my review blog. But any large undertaking of a game will take me like six months. I guess only two of the above titles are meant as long-standing games with an endgoal: Pokemon Platinum and Animal Parade. Pokemon Battle Revolution is more an additive to Pokemon titles, Dokapon Journey is more like a board game, and that... large title is a standard fighter. Play around a bit in Pokemon Battle Revolution, play a game of Dokapon Journey, and unlock the characters in Clash of Ninja and I'll have three more reviews to do.

Pokemon Battle Revolution and Animal Parade were combo gifts to both me and Duncan.

I got a giant cactus and a cute little baby cactus.

I also got a Pokemon wall hanging. I've... never put up a poster or anything like that in my room, and this thing is... noticeable. I've decided to share it with the rest of the family. It's historic, though! Because one of the most reputable video game and electronics stores sold it to Mom when it's been on display in their store for many years. I don't think they would have sold it to just anyone, either. So now, any Guelphite within ten years of me will recognize this wall hanging, and it's origins.

And I'm not ashamed of the content of the wall hanging. Pokemon is my childhood! And it's the childhood of nearly everyone of my generation! But still... I don't want it to be the main focus of my room, so... I can share.

That's about that. I could talk about what me and Duncan got Mom, or this other project that will be enacted in the spirit of Christmas, but... I don't feel like that's any of your business. Some good stuff, though. We put in some effort this year.

CHRISTMAS EVE

It's Christmas Eve and I've been DOO-RINKING! (Drinking). However, I do not so easily forget my obligations, so here I goooo!!!

When I was a child, I'd notice the adults never got as much presents as the children, and I'd wonder when people would stop showering me with gifts. Turns out, it's not at year 20!!! Actually, I came up with a theory for that. You see, if two people with similar levels of wealth give each other gifts, if they measure worth in a gift by level of expensiveness, you've got a competition going. The person who gives the more expensive gift will feel like they are more generous, and the one that gives the less expensive one will feel cheap. But ironically, the person who gives more will feel better than the one who gives less, so the act of giving becomes selfish. And if both give an equal amount, then it's like, why not just buy something for yourself? I mean, basically, you dispensed of a certain amount of money, and you got an item that is not as suited to your liking as possible with that amount of money, because only you know your own desires best.

Sooo.... it's best, in the circumstance of relative equals, to give an item that is focused on meaning, rather than finances.

So, when is it appropriate to give wealthy items?

It is appropriate to give it to people who don't have wealth. That means POOR PEOPLE! And who is poor? CHILDREN! Who else? US!

So it's not because kids are kids that they get nice presents. It's because poor people get presents, and they're poor. And we're poor.

Explains why Mom has so many presents under the tree this year.

I have recently been notified of a POTENTIAL EMPLOYMENT OFFER! Which would cause my life RADICAL CHANGE! And I must make a decision POST-HASTE! Until I better have this situation under better understanding, I will not blog about it. It's just... got so many variables in regard to the privacy policy, that I would be better off waiting until I was in a more sophisticated state of mind to deal with how I was going to communicate this. I shall update in the future, though.

Anyway, turns out, there will not be enough time left, once I get my forms filled out, that I would be able to send in my Katimavik forms by the time of my appointment. Well, it will be within the application processing range, which means it may, and it may not be too late. Also, if I take this employment opportunity, I won't be in Guelph, and then, is she still my family doctor?

Overdo Post

Sorry I haven't been on for a while. I've been trying to get on, but everything's been jerking me around lately, including me trying to get our home Internet running again. Most of this post was written a day or two back, but I've quickly gone over and edited it to be more time-appropriate. Please forgive me if I didn't catch everything. Where any significant portion of text needed to be added, I've put in “BREAKING NEWS!” in front of it.

Oh, hey, so you guys are probably worried about Mom, right? I told you guys about the Hep C and forgot to follow it up! Well, Mom's going to get treatment. She's got Type 1 Hepatitus C, which is the most common and easiest to treat. It's got a 51% cure rate for people who get treatment. There are three ways that this disease could go, if left untreated. One way is that it sets in after ten years, another is in thirty, and another takes so long, you'll never get symptoms, because old age will take you first. She doesn't have the ten year one, which means if this disease is going to become serious, she'll have to lose two coin flips. 50% chance the treatment doesn't work, and 50% it's the type that will effect her in her lifespan. They generally don't give treatment to people who don't have any symptoms, but since Mom has slightly elevated liver enzymes, they're going to treat her.

Some things I forgot to say about karate that were noteworthy. Firstly, emotional pain is still greater than physical pain. I figure if I can go through all this hardcore physical stuff and still come out all emotional, I'll have proven it's not unmacho to have feelings.

Also, while my rival did progress to yellow belt last month, and I didn't until this one, he hasn't got a stripe yet, which means we're both stripeless yellows. He progresses a lot faster than me, so I never had delusions that I'd be able to keep up with him forever, but I thought I could keep up until yellow belt, since, you know, I've been at this almost exactly twice as long as him. So, the question is, even if I didn't get my yellow before or at the same time as him, does it count as having kept up with him until yellow belt, if we both are yellow belts without stripes at the same time? I'm writing the rules, so I say yes, yes it does.

The new kata I'm learning for my belt is fun. My brother correctly noted that it's a series of superhero poses. Also, it's even more dance-like than my white belt kata. I could totally hit the dance floor with moves like these.

Another observation I made during grading, that I forgot to mention was, the guy at the highest level who was being graded had to do an advanced kata that was just a series of simple defensive positions. So why was it an advanced kata? Because the head sensei is allowed to beat the crap out of you while you do it, and you've got to finish it! The head sensei went up and punched him in the stomach repeatedly, kicked his legs, shoved him around, put him in pressure holds.

Duncan randomly told me today that I looked tough, and like I could take a punch to the stomach without reacting, so I told him to go ahead. I screamed and doubled over. Not tough enough yet, it seems.

Hey, did you know that the erogenous zone for each horoscope sign is also the part of the body that is best controlled by them? So that means I'm supposed to have good control of my stomach. I had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but the next day, in karate, we were taught grabs and counter-grabs, and the counter-grab for one of them was a BELLY BOUNCE! And nobody could get past ferocious gut! So, as far as I can tell, although I haven't exactly experimented, my erogenous zone is most definitely not my stomach, but I do have good control over it.

Mom went to see our family doctor two days ago, and asked her about my Katimavik forms. Remember how I did that follow-up call, which was a follow-up of my follow-up visit? And she said they'd get them to me in a week, and that was two weeks ago? Well, turns out, now she needs to know my weight, height and blood pressure, and I'm going to have to go in and get checked. The forms said I should get a meeting with my doctor ASAP, because it could potentially take weeks to get an appointment. Took me the standard three weeks for the appointment. I followed up a couple weeks after that, and then again a couple weeks after that, and again a couple weeks after that. That's like, two months, and I still don't have them.

BREAKING NEWS! Just went to get those things checked and they set up an appointment... for January 28th. If they get my forms to me that day, it will have been 14 weeks since I started making this attempt.

Regarding another thing that has taken far too long... We finally got our desktop back. It broke, took a couple months to fix, we got it back and it wasn't fixed, so we had to take it back again. It's been broken longer than it's been usable. Broken longer than this blog has been active. I remember like, my second blog post was about one week from it being fixed the first time. And this blog has over eighty posts, which means it's been AT LEAST eighty days. Now we have it back, but our Internet's busted.

BREAKING NEWS! We got our Internet up-and-running but the connection's as bad as it was before it shut down completely. Now we're thinking it's the modem that's causing it, whatever that means.

Karate, Seven Deadly Sins

I know I haven't been on in three days. What happened was, the thing we were trying to make our Internet connection better, totally killed the connection entirely, and it's hard to angle time at the library. This is only the second time using my laptop at the library. Today, I went to the space I used before to get the connection, but this time it didn't work. So I found another spot with a better connection, and it didn't work. So I tried it three times in the place with the better connection, and it randomly went through on the third. And the connection's working perfectly.

So... I guess the biggest thing to happen in the last few days is I got my yellow belt. It was surprisingly hardcore. The head sensei put on a militant attitude I hadn't seen in him before. Half the test was skill, half was endurance. We were all judged by a panel of six blackbelts who watched you and took notes. What kind of notes they were taking, I've no idea, because, weirdly enough, you can't fail grading. If they don't think you're ready, they won't give you your black stripe.

Endurance was mainly a series of stress positions. You know, like the legal torture techniques they use for interrogation purposes in the US? (Maybe Canada, too. I don't really know). And they didn't like, alternate positions that stress different parts of the body. All the ones that would kill your legs they put in a row, and all the ones that would kill your arms they put in a row, to intensify the pain. "Put your mind somewhere else. Your body is capable of more than you think. It's all in your mind. Just don't think of the excruciating pain in your legs", Thanks, Sensei, that's like telling me not to think of a zebra. What's the first thing I think of? "How are you feeling?" "Good sir!" "I can't hear you!" "GOOD SIR!" "Who feels like more pushups?" "Me, sir!". To think I was calling my friends fools for joining the military, and this is what I'm doing instead. "Get up and do that again, like you're being graded for a belt, or something!"

During wall-sits, I got a chunk of wall with a picture right above my head, meaning that I had to do the sit proper, because if I gave myself a bit of slack and pushed myself up a bit, I would hit the picture frame. During wall-sits, the amount your legs shake is a pretty good measurement of how much pain you're in, and my legs were shaking so bad I actually shook the drywall, and it made the picture above my head bounce hard enough that the sound of the frame vibrating against the wall alerted the blackbelts.

We were almost all adults, it was the last grading of the year, and most of the people grading were higher-ups, with me the only white belt, so they decided to make this one extra-intense.

Annoyingly enough, I've enhanced more in physical ability than in skill. I actually have visible biceps now. I'd better watch out, because I'm already the writing douchebag. I don't want to be the musclehead douchebag, too. People who are good at artistic pursuits are intelligent in the only way that can be proven tangibly, but without actually benefiting anyone. Also, believing that one has earned their right to exist simply by existing, because their inner self is so beautiful, makes for quite the potent douchebag. Musclehead douchebags are the most intimidating and imposing of douchebags. Combining these two features, I might just make for the most annoying person in the world!

Louise wants to celebrate me getting my yellow belt. And she seems to think it's something impressive to talk about. To be honest, it embarrasses me. I feel like a little kid, getting in on something like this, and with my family so impoverished, I feel out of place, and yeah, I worry about a person my size studying the art of physical combat seeming kind of thuggish. This is why I cram the karate stuff at the bottom of every blog post that I mention it in, and why I try to avoid putting it in the title of my entries, if I can help it. Also, yellow's not really a belt to celebrate. Black might be. Like, on my birthday, it's a celebration of every accomplishment I've made since birth, and a celebration of every accomplishment I will make in the future, so that's worth something, maybe. I guess any excuse to celebrate is a good one, and we're not talking about a party or anything. She and her family is just going to treat me and mine to dinner.

I got a certificate for my yellow belt, though, and I love getting certificates!

Hey, of the Seven Deadly Sins, I think my biggest faults are Pride and Envy (I'm not Roman Catholic, but the Seven Deadly Sins are fun). Lust and Gluttony could probably do me in. Wrath... under the right circumstances, but I feel my Wrath evaporating over time, and it hasn't really been an issue in the past too much. Greed and Sloth... Nope! Sloth used to be an issue, but I am now the least Slothful person I know. It is my biggest shift. Greed has never been an issue.

So I've conquered two or three of those sins... I know saying Pride and Envy are my biggest seems a contradiction, but I actually feel they are compatible. Supposedly, Pride is the worst of the Sins. It's the one that stops you from repenting your sins, and it's what Satan himself was sent to Hell for.

I've been told that I don't have Pride, because I don't try to put people down through my accomplishments, and I don't try to absorb more attention than is my share. But I dunno... This blog is all about me trying to get people to listen on a daily basis to me rant about my fairly normal emotional development and daily activities. Sounds like I want more than my share of attention.

However, my critical nature is an indication that I return the scrutinizing gaze that I seek out in others. So it's like, I'm trying to earn my right to be Prideful, or something.

Library, Job Counseling, Coffee & Coat Again, Astrology

Alright, so I'm at the library, using regular library time. I had to go to employment counseling with Mom, on request by Welfare, so I didn't have my laptop, and I'm supposed to be going over to Louise's, but I decided to be crazy and wild and go to the library without permission, so I here I am! It's alright, though, because my appointment was supposed to be at 11:00, but I wound up taking it with Mom, so I got off hugely early. My appointment should still be rolling as we speak. So Louise won't be surprised, but if Mom gets there before me, she'll get all weird and concerned, so I can't do too thorough of a post.

Counseling went well. We got a really nice counselor, and the workload set out by Welfare as far as job searching requirements go, is literally not a third as bad as people were making it out. In fact, you could say less than a sixth, as far as the whole family is concerned. And less than a ninth of what the worst-case scenario could have been.

Duncan's gotten all contrary and has started taking his coffee milk no sugar again, since he heard what I said about people who take their coffee that way.

This coat just seems weirder and weirder by the day. Not only does it have zipperless pockets and an inside pocket that goes nowhere, but every single time I've tried to put it on, I've put it on inside-out, first. At first I though I was just being clumsy, but it's happened too many times to be simple coincidence. I don't usually put my coat on inside out. I'm being manipulated somehow, by the coat.

My blog still shows up on Google, but you almost never get the unfortunate post anymore. I've seen it show up in a variety of ways... It can link to the most recent post, or it can link to the one I dropped my name on, or it can have either the main page on top, the name-drop indented, or the name-drop on top, the main page indented. Only rarely does the other one crop up. I'm on a winning streak.

I did an astrology compatibility chart for Virgos, and it turns out we're only compatible with five out of twelve sun signs... And then you've got to subtract the Chinese year-based signs as well...

I like my book, because it doesn't pull any punches. Other places try to sugarcoat a bad matching, by saying that the relationship will "face challenges" or some wishy-washy thing, and then say what they can work on. This one just says "NO! Virgo and Aries NEVER work! GIVE UP NOW!"

And of the ones I'm compatible with... Well, Capricorn and Scorpio will try to dominate me, so that's a no-go... And Taurus and Virgo are boring, so... nah (I do realize I just insulted myself, you're not clever for noticing that). That leaves only Cancer.

Ah, yes, Cancer. How pleasant it would be to live my life with Cancer. I must try catch Cancer. Having Cancer would be awesome.

(Those were puns, relating the astrological sign to the disease. I had to do it because I let Gaiman off easy yesterday).

My ex was not only the least compatible Western astrological sign to mine least compatible Chinese sign, as well.

Got my Green stripe. That's six stripes and I'm ready to grade and see if I can advance a belt rank tomorrow.

This is all of an update I can muster right now.

Gaiman, Coat, Technology, This Blog

I received an unfortunate bit of news recently. As it turns out, a fairly well-known, current author by the name of Neil Gaiman, takes his coffee black with sugar, like I do. Despite having written some of my favourite books, and being a seemingly good person all-round, I just hate this guy. I hate his FACE! Check it out:



Ohhhh, y'know what word describes a face like that? Backpfeifengesicht. Screw you, spellcheck, that's totally a word. It's German for "a face that needs a fist", and that's totally what kind of face that guy has. Moreso than I have ever previously seen.

It might be theorized that I feel this way because I hate every other one of my favourite authors for legitimate reasons, and he's not giving me one. But I dunno. I really hate that face.

Posting that image reminds me... We have Paintshop Pro over here, but we use Microsoft Paint for manipulating images. Microsoft Paint is THE WORST tool available for that task. My brother is really, really, really good at that kind of thing, and for the longest time complained about having to use such primitive technology for his work. Once we got Paintshop Pro, I attempted to use it, failed, and asked him to teach me. He shirked my request. I decided to wait until one of his projects required him to manipulate some images, because I knew he couldn't resist new technology, and once he got the knowledge himself, he'd be ready to teach me. But guess what? He just decided to keep on using MS Paint. So I'm still using it, too. Too bad, since I could probably increase the quality of my comics if I knew how to use Paintshop Pro.

Looks like our desktop is fixed. Now we only have to pick it up. It looks like we've also found the source of our unstable connection, and that's going to be fixed this week, too. HOORAY!

My new coat is weird. It doesn't have any zippers on the pockets, and it has a zipper on one side of the inside, which opens into the coat itself. Not into like, an inner pocket or anything, but right into the inner mechanics. It's really random.

For some reason, my avatar for this blog is only showing up in my profile. If you look at me in a "watcher" list, it just shows the default silhouette.

I read over my comments recently, and I'm going to publicly state, for the second time, something regarding someone I know is reading this blog. It will probably aggravate my first cousin once removed, David, to know that I haven't been reading his consistent comments, for a very long time. But you see, it is only because of his sage wisdom that I haven't. When I first started writing this blog, I was so nervous about it being public, and it was Dave that told me to write for myself, not others, and to pretend nobody was reading. So that's what I did, until I became comfortable enough in my skin to face whatever anyone thought of me. So I have faced those thoughts, and... Dave's my only consistent commenter. Those are some pretty nice comments, though, Dave!

I've had a few people email me about the blog, I've had it referenced in casual conversation by people who I didn't know read, and my family has been told by others that they read me. It doesn't happen often, but it's just enough to make me wish I had a hit counter.

Pre-Christmas Goods, Coffee

I guess I'll go over the Christmas spoils we got due to the generosity of the family member and her church that I spoke of previously. There were two items in particular that will be very useful to me. One is a winter coat. Up until now I'd just been using my Spring jacket, and it's become the thick of winter, so while I'm confident I could have braved any storm with what I had, at least this coat will make everyone stop bugging at me. The other item is a printer that is also a scanner and a photocopier. It's big and cool and everything I always wanted in one of those. It's even proved useful a grand total of two times since last Friday. I think it's only black-and-white, but that's fine by me. Now that I have a laptop and this printer-scanner-photocopier, I've got my set of ideal technology. If we could connect to the Internet, I'd be complete.

My family doctor didn't get back to me about the Katimavik forms. I'm a little on-edge now...

Not having Internet has put the publication of my comic on the skids real bad. I'm averaging two updates per month. Since my goal was once every two days, this is really bad. It's especially bad since I've already got a huge stock of content on my computer, and I just need to upload it. Hopefully, since I've got my library access, that will help me out. I'd really like to update more regularly, since I figure that if I update often enough, I'll elevate from “deadbeat” to “starving artist”.

I forgot to mention my self-analysis for my taking coffee black with sugar. See, it's because while I appear really dark and bitter, I'm...
...
...
...Really sweet on the inside!

My brother was aiming to take his coffee with milk but no sugar, I guess for the irony factor, but it didn't stick. You can't devote yourself to taking your coffee a certain way based on someone else's preference, even if it is to subvert it. It's gotta come from a deep and personal space within you! Until I was 19 and finally beginning to truly discover myself, I was just taking it double-double (that's milk and sugar to all you non-Canadians). Besides, what would taking your coffee milk with no sugar even mean? That you looked lighthearted and easygoing on the outside, but were really bitter on the inside? Who drinks it that way? Psychopaths, that's who! (No offence to all the psychopaths reading this)

Hmmm.... Let's think about what kind of people take what kind of coffee...

Milk no sugar: Psychopaths
Black no sugar: People who lie to themselves
Milk and sugar: Conformists
Black with sugar: People who believe actions speak louder than words, and who will act on kindness alone, with no expectation of reward

Alright, so I'm glad that's settled and agreed on. I recently found out that my grandmother takes her coffee black with honey. She reads this blog and took note of my own preference. I figure it's alright to say her preference on this blog without violating my privacy policy, as I deemed it was alright to state my father's, but since this is the first time I'm speaking about a person who is capable of viewing and defending her right to privacy, we'll see if my judgement has been sound.

Anyway, I figure she gets to join my coffee preference team, since I counted Dad's artificial sweetener.

I tried my coffee black with honey yesterday, and the honey worked to sweeten it as well as sugar would have, and I could taste a slight difference in taste, but I couldn't decide if I preferred it or not.

Alright, gotta go. I know this is kind of short but I only had this much of a post prepared in OpenOffice and didn't really believe I'd have the opportunity to post tonight.

Quick Post

Alright, gonna make this quick because Granddad's coming over, so I don't have time to go to the library, because the library closes early on Saturdays. The connection here is up, but it's sketchy, and I don't know how hard it might die at any second.

That person left so I was capable of uploading an image onto this blog as my avatar. I stole it, but you know what they say: You gotta steal other people's works. When I become famous, Gryphon Girl can thank me for making her image the most famous image of a Gryphon (although it's like, the third hit on Google Images, so...)

Looks like they do monitor your activity at the library, more so than if you use a regular terminal, but it also appears they have to do it manually. Maybe they can do it through their computers with a regular computer, so you don't notice? But there was a guy who works for the library pacing around us, looking at out stuff. He saw me resizing the image of a tophat.

Dad came over yesterday. We ate Swiss Chalet. Did you know that Swiss Chalet is one of only a few major companies that is exclusively Canadian? Isn't that a little weird? Shouldn't Swiss Chalet be exclusively Swiss, if anything?

Anyway, I love that place. So delicious.

Got my yellow stripe. Can't fail green next week, so I'm basically eligible for grading for upping my belt rank next week.

This is good enough of a blog post. Don't have the nerve to keep pushing it.

Free Library Wi-Fi Access Success!

Well, I've connected to the Internet inside the library with my laptop. I couldn't do it yesterday, because for some reason, the Internet was working. I still wanted to come and try to figure things out, but Mom and Duncan were so starved for Internet, I just let them have full go with it all day (I'm allowed to say I "let" them, because it's my laptop, in case you forgot). They don't have library cards so they can't use the regular Internet library terminals, like I've been.

It was difficult to get on, and I'm not sure how I did it. First it couldn't connect to any wireless connection because the setting had been turned off. It gave me instructions on how to turn it on, but I couldn't find the switch. So I tugged and fussed at the hardrive randomly for awhile, and then the wireless connection setting was turned on. But then the library signal was too weak, so I had to move around the library with my laptop like a dowsing rod.

Anyway, I've been getting alot done, but now a few people have sat near me. One in particular is bothering me. When people are nearby, I only have the nerve to stay on text-based sites and to huddle over the laptop to obscure my script. I know the library people technically have full access to everywhere I go, but c'mon, they don't really bother checking in on people. I've seen one person caught using someone else's library card, as the library card he was using was registered under a person with an obviously female name, whereas he obviously wasn't, but that's the extent of information I've seen library staff go over. And even if the staff did go over my stuff, they're not the type of person I resent seeing what I'm doing. I've got a list of qualities in a person that would make me want to be more private around them. And the person nearest has three major ones. She's a student, she's of my generation, and she's female. Maybe I shouldn't have said that, and I'll be extra sure she doesn't sneak a peek at my screen, but under my current circumstances, I don't think it's completely unreasonable for me to feel this way.

The fact that she's a student and of my generation makes me jealous, because it reminds me of what I should be doing with my life, which in turn makes me feel guilty. The fact that she's female and of my generation creates a feeling of incompetence that doesn't need further explanation.

I'm rambling because I want to look busy, like I'm not just doing nothing because she's there, but I'm secretly just buying time and hoping she goes away.

Anyway, Winter has finally arrived. Two days ago, it was still Fall, basically. Previously, we'd had two light dustings of snow that had melted before mid-morning. But now the city's fully and permanently carpeted.

I enjoy Winter in the way that only a person who doesn't have to shovel snow can enjoy it. I'm usually fine until the last month or so, but on that last month, I'm usually pretty worn out. I'm thinking maybe I'll be okay this year, because I'm taking Vitamin D supplements. I'd heard that the reason so many people have Vitamin D deficiency around here is because it has to do with living in a Northern climate. I'm thinking maybe the reason I get hit with the Winter humdrums so bad before the last month is through is because of Vitamin D deficiency. And in that case, I might have corrected the issue. Maybe this will be the best Winter ever!

Now, if you're all "People of your generation get Vitamin D deficiency because of your stagnant lifestyle, which takes away access to the sun" (most people who read this blog appear to be a generation or two over me) I'll agree with you in part, but I know many people of generations over me who make sure they get the right amount of sun, and who also have the deficiency. My family doctor's nurse says she's never seen anyone who isn't deficient in Vitamin D without taking supplements. And that thing I said about Northern climates, I didn't get directly from a medical professional, but I did get it from someone I trust to do the research, who says he got it from a medical professional. By the way, I so totally get enough sun...

Sorry, I'm a bit sensitive about the B12 and Vitamin D deficiencies. There are areas where I'd expect to be deficient, but after doing the research on these specific ones, I was surprised to find that they were caused by deficiencies in areas where I thought I was doing alright.

I was wrong about identifying my dojo's legend. That's not who this guy is, and I think my original analysis was correct. He's got "sensei" status and is not a native of our dojo. Those are the two facts that I've collected.

I was manipulating avatars for my various Internet aliases. I've got a number of them, but I hate dealing with images. I would have gotten one up here, but this person is sitting near me...

I ought to get some images of Winter, since I got Fall ones. Our camera's still not working, I think. Jeez, life is a lot of maintenance with very little payback.

I've spent too much time blogging... I'm going to go do something else that appears vaguely professional and is text-based.

Feeling Down

I'm feeling down, and not in the usual fatalistic, philosophical way. I just feel really blue. These past few days I've been really bored. That doesn't happen often. Before these past few days, the last time I was bored was about seven months ago. I remember it because it was so unusual. I think I even said at the time that I was feeling bored for the first time in my life. It's just an emotion I;m usually immune to, and while it's mostly good, it's also a disadvantage, because boredom is an instinctive emotion that spurs people into action when their lives are too stagnant. I have to concentrate on self discipline more as a result of my usual inability to feel bored.

I was thinking today, if I could have anything, or do anything, what I would do with my life to make myself happy? I pulled a blank. I think I wouldn't have such financial difficulties, just because with such grand power, I'm not going to inflict troubles on myself, but I don't think that'd be the key to happiness. I don't know what I want in life, not even generally...

Library, Insects, Christmas, Karate

Yesterday, I went to the library to try out the free Wi-Fi. I forgot to turn the volume off, though, and when I turned on the computer, it blasted the startup noise at max volume! I reflexively shut it off, and then, not knowing how to manipulate the volume without turning it on, had to come to terms with the fact that I wasn't going to turn it back on and blast the startup noise through the library again. I wound up using express Internet because I didn't want to bear the shame of going to the regular terminals while also having a laptop, so I didn't have enough time to update this blog. I'll go back and try this again, turning the volume off before leaving the apartment.

Jeez, a few days back, Mom caught me having fished out a fruitfly that was drowning, and drying it's wings with my breath. She's never going to live it down. Duncan says that I've taken the saying, "Wouldn't hurt a fly" to new extremes. Apparently both of them feel that fruitflies are less relatable than cockroaches.

We put up our Christmas tree. We use a plastic one, as apartment buildings don't like you to have real ones.

We just recently learned we're going to receive some Christmas gifts, too, from a family member and her church. And some other people also want to give us gifts. We're really feeling the love this year, for some reason.

In other news, my karate rival went up to yellow belt last month. It's awkward, since I've been at this twice as long as him. Also, I think I saw the other two yellow belts when they were on the two week free trial, although I can't confirm it because they graduated from child to adult classes relatively recently, so while we've been in the same school, they've been taking different classes. Anyway, it's evident I'm the slowest learner of all the people I've seen start out, so I'm feeling a little discouraged. I'll be grading for yellow belt next week, however.

I met the legend of my dojo. Actually, it turns out that I'd met him before, and hadn't realized who he was. Everyone's always talking about this guy who grew up training with the head sensei from my dojo, who, with the one exception of our head sensei, only gives about 10% even against the blackbelts during sparring and grappling. I guess he does seem the type. When I first saw him, I thought he was the head sensei of that other dojo that's done training with us before, so I guess that means he carries himself with the authority of a head sensei. It wasn't too illogical of a conclusion to come to, though, as that was the day that the other dojo was supposed to train with us, and he was both unfamiliar and a blackbelt. So my conclusion may have been informational, rather than a matter of presence. He complains about his age, and about being out of shape, like most of the other people, and he doesn't brag about his strength. Everyone else brags about his strength.

Flu Shots, Library, Forms, Forum

Today I got the H1N1 and regular flu shots with Mom and a family friend over at the University of Guelph. The H1N1 is known to be painful to take, and to keep hurting for awhile afterward. It didn't bother me at all, before or after. Neither did the other one, but that one made me bleed. Worse than I ever have from a shot, and because the person who gave it to me didn't put a cotton ball and some tape on it, like everyone else got, the blood put a pretty mean stain on my shirt.

That's probably the worst effect I've ever had from a shot, although I'm always paranoid enough about it. You know how they always want patients to stick around for a set amount of time after getting the shot, just to see if there's any adverse effects? Well, I always want to stick around longer than the required amount. One time, the person I was sitting next to fainted. And one time, when I was in middle school, I had to wade over the bodies of my peers to get to the nurse. Everyone who was on the smaller side had passed out. I remember seeing my friend's unconscious body behind a pane of glass while I waited in line.

Other than the paranoia of the shot, I'm also never fond of going to the U of G, although it's only for a petty reason. I was rejected by the school, so I always feel dirty. It's also where we get counseling, and while our counselors are a bit older than me, they're still of my generation. I always feel awkward talking about the stagnancy of my life, and my past failures to get into school, when I'm talking to people who just graduated from a school that rejected me.

Otherwise, today I got my second letter of recommendation on paper. I also talked to the person Information at the library on Internet access with a laptop. Turns out, I do indeed get unlimited free time, and I don't even need a library card. This means thata couple years back, when I had thought I'd hacked into their system with a PSP and was surprised to find that I still had to agree to the terms of use, I actually wasn't breaking any of their rules.

Although, the fact that she specified that I didn't need a library card right off the bat like she did implies that she didn't know that I had one. I've been frequenting that library for several years now, and I certainly know her! *Pouts*

Some guy asked me if the express computers had Internet access. I said they did, but that they only gave you 15 minutes, instead of 45 like the others, and you know what he did? Turned around and asked Information the same question! Right in front of me, and right after I'd given him a very straightforward and confident answer! Why'd he ask me if he wasn't going to accept my response?

I called my family doctor to check in on my Katimavik forms, because our phone mailbox had spiked, filled up, disallowed incoming messages, and had refused one from our doctor. I was concerned that it was about my forms, and wasn't confident that they would call twice about something like that. I got her nurse, she contacted my doctor, and my doctor said that while they weren't quite done, she'd have them completed by the end of the week. That works pretty well for me. I just needed them this month or the next, and that would be only because I'm paranoid, but I'm a lot more confident now that I've got a date that I can expect them by.

My brother's got an online friend from Russia. He says that in his country, Santa doesn't have a sleigh or reindeer... He just walks everywhere... And he doesn't have elves to make the presents... He makes them himself... And he doesn't go down chimneys... He walks through the front door... And you he doesn't live in secrecy... And you don't leave him milk and cookies... Apparently he's admittedly a bit of an alcoholic, so you give him a beer... Also, his name isn't Santa. It's Grandpa Frost.

I dunno. I like the mysticism and grandeur of Santa Clause, but this Grandpa Frost guy sounds pretty cool, too.

Oh, and today I was bestowed the honour of writing a story chapter for my brother's forum. My brother has a forum, you see, and for a while now I've been frequenting it. It's actually pretty well-established. It's been up for over a year and it's going strong. They have an interactive story that all the members contribute to, and this is going to be my debut.

Late Post

This is a late post, not an early one, as I'll update later today.

I've been making a conservative effort not to say the word “b**ch”. No, not “birch”. The word that technically means female dog, but is more commonly used as a derogatory term against females at large.

It has been my observation that the use of this word causes a negative reaction in at least a large minority of womankind, and even creates a lasting bad impression of the speaker of said word, regardless of context. The word has branched out as a term that can be applied to men, inanimate objects, situations, and even abstract concepts, but no matter what it's concentrated at, I have noticed that it isn't uncommon for a woman to quickly develop a cold demeanour toward someone who uses the term for any reason.

I guess it's fair. You wouldn't use the N-word even casually. At least, I wouldn't. I can't even say it on the first try, even if I'm totally alone. I can't even type it. I can't even type part of it, then use asterisks to cover a few letters, obscuring it like I did with b**ch.

I guess that's kind of juvenile of me. I should have full mastery of my tongue at my age, and there should be no words forbidden to me, but nonetheless... I'm going to consciously forbid more.

On the other hand, nobody seems to care about using the word “dick” or “prick” (no sensorship at all) as derogatory, even though those are male-specific insults. I suppose we haven't suffered enough discrimination yet. I know I don't care if someone uses such a word as an insult.

I think it's best, even if you're really mad, to stick to words that don't refer to any category of person. If you call someone a b**ch, you're saying they're bad in a particularly female way. You want to keep the feud between the two of you. It's more personal that way, anyway.

Like, for instance, I wouldn't even call my ex a b**ch. I'd rather call her the purest form of evil I've ever seen materialized in human flesh.

I like f*ck and sh*t (only asterisk'd 'cause I'm still not positive on the rules of this blog) because they only mean natural life processes we all go through.

But that makes me wonder... why does a swear word even need a meaning? I mean, they're all used for everything. They don't need to mean anything outside of general negativity.

An apartment in the building next door has these lights put up... They're yellow and blue. They were up before Halloween, and at the time I thought they might be Halloween lights, because the yellow might pass for orange, and the blue might pass for black. But they never took them down, and now I'm thinking they might be a shrewd way of managing multi-purpose festivity lights, since the Christmas craze starts up before the Halloween one ends. Put up those lights at the beginning of the Halloween hype and you're good until after Christmas. Sweet.

According to my astrology, my relationships will never go as smooth as I'd like, and I'm attracted to what also disturbs me. So true.

Also, check out me and my ex's relationship astrology:

“Highly physical Leo takes it as a personal affront if Virgo doesn't match it;s leonine ardor. Virgo's passive and reserved nature frustrates Leo and leads to quarrels. Virgo isn't quick to hand out praise, and Leo lives on nothing but. Leo is a spend-thrift, Virgo is careful with pennies. They're both very independent, but Leo expresses this in a temperamental way, while Virgo is very private. Virgo will simply not be dominated by tyrannical Leo, and always has its guard up. This affair has a shorter life than a mayfly.”

So true (mayflies live over three years, right?). Anyway, there's more true stuff on her under Leo relationships in general, and Leo women, basically talking about how she's a horrible human being, and how she is evil and fails hard. The only relationship that is given no hope with Virgo is Leo.

Anyway, Virgo's not exactly a wiz at relationships, either. There's a reason our symbol is the virgin. I'd like to put a positive spin on this, but let's face it, I just pulled a loser, relationship-wise. The most I can hope for is meeting endgame inside a relationship, but I can't expect to make it there in comfort.

Something they got wrong though is, they say my erogenous zone is my stomach. Really? My stomach? Is anyone's erogenous zone their stomach?

The book says, though, that the consolation for those who have to deal with my critical nature is that it is proof that I really care about them. That's good news for Mom and Duncan. And everyone and everything.

Hey, do you guys remember me pondering on what I'd first run out of, in regard to my candycane reindeer? The options were...
1)Candycanes
2)Pipecleaners
3)Beads
4)Googly eyes
5)Noses
6)Glue
7)Space in my container

The answer was 7, space in my container, but I found a new one in a Maxwell House coffee container. The next thing I ran out of was 1, candycanes.

Sleep Study, Ornament, Letters of Recommendation

Sorry I haven't updated in two days. The Internet's been off, and for this or that reason, I haven't found myself near the library.

Well, I didn't manage to make the sleep study. It turns out that the lab is in Waterloo. I hadn't thought this might be the case, because they have the same area code as us, and because the learning difficulty reevaluation place was specified as being located in another city, whereas this wasn't. I didn't learn about this until pretty late, and they want 48 hours notice for cancellations. I'm not wholly sure I had 48 hours when I made the appointment. Anyway, they're fining us $100 for the missed appointment.

I managed to blow another $20... These people from, I dunno, I think it was DARE or something... which is an organization to help people avoid involvement with gangs and drugs and stuff... managed to get me to buy a Christmas ornament, wherein the money I paid would be put toward their organization. I'm a real sucker... Everyone else blew straight past them...

Haha, when I saw their table set up inside Value Village, I could tell they were a charity organization, and I kinda tried to dash around the corner before they could beckon for me, but the woman kind of shouted after me, like "Hey you, come here!" and I kinda responded to that...

...Not my proudest moment. Anyway, y'know, first they don't tell you they're selling anything... They just want a moment of your time to hear about their charity... And then they don't straight-up try to sell you anything... And by then you feel guilty for wasting their time that they could have put toward attempting other sales... Haha, the woman who took the lead was pretty pro, though. She narrowed down who I'd be shopping for, and then she went onto her recommended product, which she explained every feature of, which situations each feature would be useful for, why the product should be appealing, and then told me that it had been marked down to almost half price.

It's a good organization, and what I got turned out to be pretty nice and went over well with my family. It was probably a pretty good decision, and the person who managed the sale was good at what she did, so she kind of deserved her victory.

Nonetheless, I can't help but feel that my decision was based on the skill of that saleswoman, and my own weakness. So that's a little disappointing.

Nonetheless, after I bought it, I ran into them a few more times and they were very enthusiastic to engage in conversation with me, and attempted no further sale. I felt quite appreciated, and as if I had genuinely done a good thing.

And they looked like rookies. The lead girl had talent, but they were all young, and the two guys she was with were attempting sales while she spoke with me, and they weren't doing so well. It was these two that mainly showed their appreciation afterward.

Anyway, what I got is a basic ornament... A statue of Santa and a sentient teddy bear dressing a Christmas tree. It has lights on it, which can flash, and can be accompanied by music if desired. The music has eight Christmas songs, and sounds like a music box.

Anyway, I blew $120 from my impoverished family in one day.

We also had counseling that day. It went well, but something... unfortunate was said, and I can't quite live it down, and nobody in my family is interested in pursuing the topic, and I can't go around talking to others about what was said in a private session...

Granddad and Oma came over today. They were visiting friends in Guelph. Oma is my step-grandmother. "Oma" is the Dutch term for "Grandmother", and I refer to her as such in respect to her heritage.

They bought me shoes, socks, and gloves, and then we went out to eat at a restaurant. So it was quite a nice visit.

I also now have two of my three letters of recommendation. I really like them. I'm debating the ethics of posting them to this blog. Since they are letters meant to be read by a wide and unknown variety of people, I don't think they'd be considered unsafe to be turned public, but on the other hand, I did say I wanted them for education and employment purposes... and you guys aren't that. Sooooo.... I'd still be kinda breaking my word... But I think I'm the only person that would think so hard on it...

I'll let that sit for now, until I get my third letter, at least. Maybe if I didn't reveal their identities?

Mom and crew missed ANOTHER week! They have two weeks left. They're done, unless they step it up within the next week, in my opinion. I think the potential amount they could have sold has been cut down at this point. We're in the thick of Christmas shopping, now. I think they can still ride the tail of this wave and hit another boom before it's over, but they've missed a good chunk of what this season has to offer.

Tired Post

I hardly slept last night, and I'm forcing myself to stay up until 10:00 PM tonight, to put my sleeping schedule back on track. I want to be able to sleep for the sleep study. I'm very tired right now.

Today we got a new TV. Well, it's a hand-me-down from Louise. It's the same basic model as the one we have now, but smaller. Mom and Duncan insist it's picture is sooo much better, but I'm not sure. Our old TV is 15 years old and likely my favourite piece of machinery in this home... Mom and Duncan think it's on it's last legs.

This new TV's pretty cute, but I just don't have the history with it that I do with our old one. I don't care if our old one's screen is dark, chipped and has lines constantly running down it. It's seen me grow into what I am now.

We don't have cable. We just use television for videogames and old VCR tapes, oh, and sometimes, for taping videogames.

That reminds me, DVDs are a huge step backward in technology.... Can't fastforward or rewind properly... Can you tape on them? Don't think so... Can you pause? Don't think so...

Hmmmm.... OH! I made a huuuuuuuge goof today. Remember how I was going to enter a contest to win a scholarship for a travel-volunteer program (not Katimavik), and remember how I said that I wanted to have it done by the end of the month, just as a personal goal, not because I needed to? Well, I did need to. Yesterday was the deadline. I had like, five days to get it done, but I messed up my time perception.

This is the first year that I've paid attention to the months of the year. Before this year, if you had asked me what month it was, I probably wouldn't have been able to ask you, and if you said a month and asked me if it was a warm or cold month, I wouldn't be able to answer you that, either. Now I've got like.... 11? months down, or at least, I've got a better understanding than before.

Also, remember how I said I wouldn't get my yellow belt this month? I meant last month. I hadn't realized that the months had changed, and I didn't even show up for grading...

This is what happens when you let your guard down! I must correct myself!

Five cups of coffee today... And large cups... More like drinking jars....

At Louise's, I took down the gazebo. I put that gazebo up as my very first assignment there. Mom accurately guessed that this would be a reminder to me of the passing of time, and depress me.

Duncan did a batch of candycane reindeer. I did some math and found out the maximum I could make off of this is $16. Ugh...

Business, Wikipedia, MMO, MSN, Food, Dojo

It turns out that Mom and co aren't going to do the mall thing. They've got good reasons for not doing it, but I'm still disappointed. They're doing so well, and they've put so much effort into their Christmas line, but they're running out of time. I finished all three batches of candycane reindeer, but now they want Duncan to put beads at the end of each antler point. That'd be six beads per reindeer. Each deer is going to cost $1.25. I'll get 50 cents per sale, and Duncan will get the same. I didn't have to pay for any of the materials. There's no way Louise can make a profit on 25 cents per reindeer, especially since she paid for the materials.

No matter how great a deal this is for me, though, percentage-wise, even if I sell all of them, it's not going to add up to much...

Mom did make a Christmas line sale the other day, though.

Hey, check out this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipe-tan

This is Wikipe-tan's Wikipedia page. Wikipe-tan is the moe-anthropomorphised symbol of Wikipedia, and it's main method of advertising in Korea. Moe (pronounced “moh-ay”) basically means “cute girl” in Japanese. Many companies and abstract concepts have been converted to cute girl form, for some reason.

Anyway, I have never seen a less professional Wikipedia page. 43 official images. 13 pieces of fanart. 6 cosplays. 32 derivative images. 9 cropped images. 3 additional images. That's 106 images total. Is this an article or a gallery?!

And as for content... Alright, we've got a Nekomimi. “Nekomimi” means “catgirl” in Japanese, and is widely acknowledged as the primary focus for a specific fetish. But there's nothing inherently sexual about it, so we'll let that go...

Alright, now we have “gothic-lolita Wikipe-tan”. Alright, “lolita” is a term that literally means a “sexually attractive underage woman”, and we can't exactly say that she's only a little underage, like, a naturally underdeveloped 17-year-old, since we're treated to “adult Wikipe-tan in a bikini”, and we're kind of forced to acknowledge the difference between the two.

And what's with these weird image titles? "Hello mah baby, hello mah honey, hello mah ragtime-tan". What's up with the intentional misspelling? Is this Wikipedia or lolcats?

The term “cosplay” is a meshing of the words “costume” and “roleplay”, too, and is only used in English-speaking languages. The combination of Japanese language with English terms that correspond to English-speaking people's association with Japanese culture, and the inclusion of so many secular fetishes leads me to the conclusion that whoever wrote this was one extremely creepy nerd.

But there's no way this could be just some weird guy who updated the page, as Wikipe-tan is too highly recognized by Wikipedia for it to slip past the radar.

H-hey! Don't look at me so weirdly, wondering why I know so much about this topic! You're a hypocrite for thinking knowledge and interest directly relate with one another, as you now have all the knowledge that I just shared. I could accuse you of the same thing, now!

But while we're talking about creepy, pathetic geek behaviour, I should say that I got in 3 hours and 15 minutes of my MMO over the past three and a half weeks. I didn't bother to clock it in because my connection's so bad it doesn't pose any kind of threat to draw me in. I have other recreational activities which have taken more of my time.

Also, remember that girl I talked to for two hours on Omegle, and whose MSN and email I got? Well, we can thank my poor connection for disallowing me to use MSN. Despite saying that I wasn't taking things any further, I still contacted her and she requested that I not call her by the name she uses for English-speaking nations, but rather, by the name she was given at birth, and requested I give her a name of equal significance.

So... let's hope my connection doesn't improve.

My ex (and I only learned about this through a Facebook status update, which gets piped straight through to my inbox, not because of any contact or special effort I put into learning about her) talked to a guy from China on Omegle who preached the virtues of his nation and put the charm on her. This girl I've talked to's birth nation is China. I'm wondering if maybe these people are propaganda spreaders, hired by the Chinese government or something.

Did I say that, just a while back, we ate top sirloin steak? I think that's the first time in my life, and yes, this corresponds with my explanation for quality of food improving with poverty. We also got Kenyan black tea, brewed all authentically in Kenya, and brought back by hand to us from a person vacationing there. The steak was good, the tea was anticlimactic.

We got us some “half-caf” coffee. It sounds cool, but when you think about it, why not just put half the amount of coffee into the filter, if you want half the caffeine... I guess if you did that, it would weaken the flavouring of the coffee as well as the caffeine, but this way you good all the flavour as well as half the caffeine? Maybe...

I don't think I'll make yellow belt this month. I think my rival will surpass me. Too bad.

Our dojo is being shared on Wednesdays with another school. I'm not fond of this arrangement, to be honest. It's too crowded. But at least it's interesting to see the product of another dojo.

Dad Visit, Errands

Dad came over yesterday. I only got online very briefly, and very late at night, the night before last, when I got an email from my aunt asking if I wanted to meet up with him the next day, which is now yesterday. It was such short notice that I'd already made plans to do some errands, so I dragged him along for them.

I tend to go over social interactions very briefly on this blog, because of not knowing what people will want publicized, but I don't feel I'm out of line for noting that Dad takes his coffee the way I do. That is, black with sugar. He's only the third person I've met who takes it that way, and that includes myself.

Turns out the reason I've got energy now is because of the B12 supplements, not the exercise. And I get enough of the food sources that carry B12 that my body must simply be deficient in processing it.

Wait. I have a... flaw? Impossible!

I picked up my letter of recommendation from 2ndchance. I was hoping one of my counselors would be there, as Dad was around, and I could introduce them, but they weren't. Oh well, at least the woman at front desk remembered my name for the first time.

It just occurred to me that it might be a good idea to get letters of recommendation for regular job applications. Beforehand, when someone told me to do that, I thought it was stupid to ask for a letter for each application... It's not anyone's job to be pumping out letters for me in mass. But only now am I realizing that I could get one letter from each contact, and photocopy them. ARG! It's painful to be so stupid. I've been job searching for a year-and-a-half (that hurts so much to say) and that's the first time that idea has occurred to me.

I got checked for Hep C... Woman who did it was really pro. Not only did it not hurt, I don't think I felt the needle. I've been being tested for things since this woman was just starting out, and while she was always at the higher end in terms of skills, she has become a true master in the time I've known her.

I notice things like that about people. That's not good. I used to have a lot of anxiety, and people would tell me that people care first and foremost about themselves, and can't be bothered to put in the effort of judging you. But the thing is, I am constantly judging people. I'm the type of person that anxiety would be appropriate around. And that's not so great.

I called the sleep lab to book an appointment. I'm going in on Thursday and staying overnight. They're going to hook a bunch of electrodes up to monitor me while I sleep. Creepy.

Yesterday, I shaved in the morning, and then later in the day someone noted I had a 5:00 shadow, and they were right. Huh.

I feel like I haven't had to clip my nails in a really long time. What's the deal with that?

I was a pansy last post for waffling around. Of course there are things to say! There always are. I was just caught off-guard.

I got spammed in the comments of this blog by a person named... I think it was michelewalker. I accidentally clicked on her stupid link and it put me to some "have sex chat with me" place with lots of Asian characters. I hope that didn't give me a ton of viruses, and it was just spam. The link was a series of dots, and each dot was a separate link, although I clicked only one. I know those spammers that send a broken link are trying to get to the top of Google, but this was essentially the opposite of that. This was an unbroken link that was disguised.

Not Much

Unfortunately, the Internet came back up. I was having a good time getting away with just messing around and not doing anything without it being public knowledge, but that couldn't last forever.

Uh... Granddad came over yesterday.... I think I posted yesterday... but I didn't know he was going to make it, since our phone and Internet were down, and we hadn't been able to contact him. I emailed him at the library, but he didn't get it. Mom got a new phone card (we only have a cell phone, which we use like a landline), and called him while I mwas away.

Ah, there we go. I made some text appear.

I was planning on meeting an old teammember from W2W who moved away, but her cell phone wasn't working, and I had no other method of contacting her, given the circumstances.

I went three days with virtually no sleep. Really bad insomnia.

Mom and Louise plan to get a table in one of the main downtown malls for two weeks. Did I already say this...? Six hours a day, six days a week.

And because the Internet's working, I can copy/paste something from my email into a word processor... The prerequisites for the essay for International Youth Challenge, and work toward completing that tomorrow or the day after. The Internet's still really sketchy, so whatever I can get offline is good.

Did I already say that one of my letters of recommendation is ready for pick-up?

...I wasn't prepared to blog today...

Library Post

Alright, gotta do this speed-style. Our Internet is out, probably due to construction, and you guys are getting the dregs of my library time. Sorry. I forgot that I have a laptop, and can probably get unlimited free Internet access here. Gonna have to check into that. Can't do it today, though, at any rate, since I have something else I need to do.

Missed out on a good post yesterday. I didn't have anything to say, and I'd wasted my filler info, so I had to improvise. Really liked that post, but it'll never get posted now.

All the heat-reflectors were installed yesterday. I can't believe they actually managed it. I know I don't usually talk like this on this blog, but I must say, just because it was such a peculiar observation, that all the heat reflector installers were BEAUTIFUL! Our apartment was worked by three young women, and when I use the word beautiful, I'm not just using a gentleman's phrase for "sexy" or "cute" or "good-looking for a mechanic". I mean they all had an aura to knock a guy dead, the likes of which I've seen only a handful of times in my lifetime. I had to keep telling myself "The Large Hadron Collider is going to blow us all up any second, we all die, so everything is pointless, and the pain of decreptitude will take everything away from me before I die, if I survive the LHC" over and over in my head to retain sanity. I guess the requirements for becoming a heater-mechanic is the ability to make my heart fall into my stomach.

They unplugged my alarm clock, though, so I had to reset it. That was a drag.

I gotta get an avatar for this blog. I;ve been posting for a significant portion of a year and don't have a representative image.

Half a minute left, gotta go!

Eviction Evasion, Doctor, Keeping Score, Supplements

Well, yesterday was judgement day in terms of eviction. We're still living here. I don't know how much I want to talk about it. We were rescued, which I'm grateful for, but people get weird about financial stuff, and I'm never sure where the line is. Somebody might not want to take credit for coming through for us. Might feel taken advantage of. I hope not, but I'm never sure.

I'm disappointed in us. The extra five days didn't help us at all. We just didn't make it in time. If we didn't get the five days, it would have saved us five headaches, that's all.

It was hard to reach the Super that day, because our building is still under heavy construction. The entire first floor, where his apartment is, was blocked off entirely. I wound up having to call him and ask him how I could reach him. He said to just walk onto the first floor through the far stairwell. When I walked out that way, I saw that his apartment wasn't actually blocked off. Safety tape was put over the area that connects his apartment to the rest of the floor, but I hadn't realized that, because from the view from the stairwell, you can't see the tape, and because the elevator and front door both say that the first floor is blocked off, and because I'd seen that section used as a construction site twice before, I hadn't realized that it was still accessible. You have to walk onto that space to see that you're allowed to, essentially.

Oh, by the way, nobody's come to put in heat reflectors yet. They only have one day to do the entire building, since the notice said they'd be coming sometime this week, and they haven't even started.

I went to my family doctor yesterday, too, for my cough and for my secret agenda. You know how, last Thursday, they said to call Monday, and I'd probably get in on the spot, which I did, and was schedule this last Wednesday? And remember how I said that I'd shirked going to the after-hours clinic, despite the fact that I'd be seen the day I went in, because I wanted to see my family doctor?

Well, it turns out that, my getting in on the spot for calling early and with a cough took three times longer than expected, and it turns out my appointment was scheduled during the after-hours clinic.

So basically, it took six days to go to the after-hours clinic. At least it's better than the three weeks it'd take for a regular visit.

I got my medication, and also, she gave me some paperwork to get a chest X-ray. She says she doesn't think there's anything wrong, but it's just to be safe. I don't want to go through the hassle. Everytime I do anything, the person in charge wants me to do more things, in which those people want me to do more things. I'd say I wouldn't bother, but it was her thoroughness that caught Mom's Hep C... I gotta go in tomorrow and be checked for that, myself, and I guess I'll go ahead and get an X-ray...

At least I found out the score on my Katimavik papers. She hasn't completed them yet, but when she does, she'll call me up and it will be passed to the front desk, where I can pick it up.

And that reminds me that my third prospective Katimavik reference agreed. Now I just need to collect them, and I'll have that angle of this application done.

I want to have my essay for that other volunteer program completed by the end of the month, just as a personal goal. I'll do it over the weekend.

I haven't heard from my ex on my webcomic storyarcs request for return, even though I know she's read the request. I think that, if I sent her another message, she'd consider that me “losing”, and she would respond. I found out, also, that she has a tidy little pile of my stuff, including some fairly expensive items. But even if my second message was just to say that she should also send back those other things, she'd still consider it a loss on my part, so I don't think I will...

Of course, my caring about perception of myself, is, in and of itself, a loss...

But her neglect to answer my message is not an act she would go about for your average person, meaning that she still perceives me as a special case. So that's a loss on her end...

...But we've been broken up for ten months now, so I guess I'll just let this lie. If I let everything go, it's not too bad a loss...

So the Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D supplements haven't really helped as much as I thought they would for my specific complaint of dislocation. I have had an incredible amount of energy, as of late, though... I recently complained (not on this blog) that, with the exception of young children, nobody has an adequate amount of energy. Seniors blame their age, workers blame work, parents blame child-rearing, students blame school, and slothful people blame their laziness. Everyone thinks they're a special case, but in reality, everyone is tired, all the time, after they hit adolescence.

Except, right now, I'm simply coursing with more energy than I can handle! YAHOOOOOOO!!!!!

I don't know if it's the supplements or the exercise, and I know this euphoria can't last for long, so I'd better enjoy it while I can. It's part of a human's natural state of being to be tired, I think.

Hey, have you guys noticed that I'm a loser? A twenty-year-old male, single, unemployed, out of school and living with his Mom. Ugh... When I read over this blog, I can't easily tell that I'm a no-lifer. Not unless I purposely add the points together. I manage to come up with things worth saying (in my opinion), or I make things that aren't worth saying sound like they're worthy, but really, I'm a complete and total loser. And now that you realize that, you won't read this blog anymore *sob

Cleaning, Welfare, Letter, Review

Well, today sucked. You guys know that our eviction notice is this Wednesday, right? Yeah, well, last night I was up literally all night cleaning my room because people are going to be installing heat reflectors. I know I said I wouldn't, but I did. So when morning came, I was exhausted, and decided to just rest my eyes, which turned into a deep slumber that put me out for a whole day. This is going to throw my sleep schedule off. Anyway, Mom was supposed to go to Welfare with our eviction notice, but she forgot. If I'd managed to stay awake, I could've leaned on her about it and it would've been done, but it didn't. This could really have been the fatal mistake. And it seems pointless to clean a room to prepare for heat reflector installation when I won't be around long to enjoy the cleanness or the... heat reflection.

Otherwise, I sent out another message asking for a letter of recommendation...

Oh yeah, and last night, I wrote a review for New Super Mario Bros. Wii: http://gryphonsreviews.blogspot.com/2009/11/videogame-new-super-mario-brothers-wii.html

That probably doesn't interest any of you, but I did write an incredibly creepy analysis of Mario and Princess Peach's relationship, which might be entertaining just for the creep factor.

I might as well post it here, because if I post it in my reviews, nobody will read it (it's okay, I'm not mad).

...Okay, just read it over, and I'm not posting that on the main blog.

Candycane Reindeer, Construction, Missed Email

Turns out my Coca-Cola can candycane reindeer holder has Christmas decals on it. I forgot that it did, and I hadn't noticed until today. That's pretty cool, since the other jar I was given also has Christmas decals. I'm more than halfway through my reindeer now. I thought I was going to run out of noses first, but it look like I'll either run out of space in my container, or I'm going to run out of candycanes.

Didn't mention it yesterday, but Mom and crew didn't go to the Farmer's Market again. Third week. They were pulling in ascending profits for four weeks, and then they decide to stop as the Christmas season, and with it, it's economic boom, came rolling in. They need to get out there and sell some of my candycane reindeer before the LHC blows me up.

Today we got a notice that they're going to be modifying our heaters. Meaning, they're going to come all the way into our apartments. We're supposed to move everything four feet away from the heaters. That got me worried that I'd actually have to clean my room, but turns out, I don't keep much near my heater. I'm just going to have to move a bunch of books and papers scattered around my floor.

ARG! ARGARGARG! I got an email from a girl I took W2W with saying that she was going to be coming to Guelph this weekend, and that she'd like to get together, but it was moved into my spam filter for some reason, so I didn't see it until it was too late!!!

Our Internet's on the fritz again.

Candycane Reindeers, Can Collection, Futureshop, LHC

I don't feel like talking today... I tried writing up a review of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, but I'm so irritable right now, I decided partway through that I wasn't giving it a proper chance.

I made some candycane reindeer... The second batch of candycanes I got were a size larger than the original, so I couldn't put them in the jar I was given... so I decided to use an old piggybank-type-thing shaped like a Coca-Cola can that I got for Christmas back when I was collecting cans...

I used to collect cans... Like, soda pop and beer cans... I had over 300 different types... I thought I was getting somewhere, but then I Googled "can collection" and found a guy with over 10 000 different cans, and a series of web rings for people trading cans to broaden their collection... There was a guy who needed to use a warehouse to keep them all in... It disheartened me, and my will to collect was lost... Eventually I boxed them all, and then they didn't make the move to this apartment, over a year ago...

....
....

....Also, Futureshop called today to say they have some kind of options they'd like to talk to Mom about, but we missed them so they only left a message.

Did you know the Large Hadron Collider is up and working again? You know, the thing that can destroy the Earth in like, four different ways, and which they plan to keep up for three years, but which couldn't last three days last time they tried, and we all barely lived? Yeah, they've got it up and running. The only reason this is being allowed is because no one feels the reality of the consequence. Nobody understood the reality of the A-bomb until one was dropped. But this time, there will be no one to remember. There will be no one to learn.

Welfare, Writing Course

Well, the Welfare meeting could have gone worse, but not much worse. We got all our paperwork in, I think. They'll give us some money, but we have to find a way to get more. And we can't be positive that we'll get the money in time.

Eh... Well, turns out my W2W counselor's travel-volunteer program requires and application including either an essay, a video, or a series of photos. Can't upload videos or images, so... essay.

That writing program that I was getting a scholarship for but was postponed will be coming up around Katimavik. I could have done a month, gotten a certificate, then headed out before, but now the classes are longer, so I can't. Too bad, because it looks like it'll actually work out, now, since the classes have been opened up and advertised for the general public, and specific teachers have been assigned to these classes.

First it was a singular class that lasted six months. Then it was six classes that lasted a month each. Because of the change, I was offered all the classes. But now the individual classes have moved up in length, but the number is the same, so I don't know what a scholarship would entail.

So I'll have to check this out, and I might have to propose a postponement on my end...

I got my referrals for a sleep specialist and to be tested for learning disabilities today.

Eh... I don't feel like writing tonight... Well, not about this stuff. I have something ELSE that I would like to get off my chest, but... I don't think I'll be discussing it here, so I'm just going to stop writing and go make some candycane reindeer.

Construction, Medical Clinic, References, Shakespeare

Well, it was difficult getting outside today. There was a sign saying not to use the stairs in front of my apartment, then the first floor button in the elevator was disabled, and there was a sign asking to exit via the further stairwell and through the back door, and then when I got to the back door, there was a sign saying not to use that door, either. So I thought I was holed up. But then some workers came by and explained that the back door was usable.

I went to the medical clinic to make an appointment the old-fashioned way. Screw all those people who are worried about me!
...
...Okay, that felt really bad to say, but basically, that's the only logic I had going for that action. Anyway, the woman said to just call early, and they'd put me through that day. She said she was all full-up for today, and tomorrow she was off, and then it's the weekend, so that puts it off until Monday.

Interesting, usually it takes two weeks to get an appointment. I guess the less urgent the reason, the faster they'll see you. No, I get it. It's because a cough is so minor, it wouldn't take up much time. Still...

Anyway, I know how to manipulate the medical clinic, and I'll surely waste more time than they think, because of my alternate agenda.

My W2W counselor said he'd give me a letter of recommendation, and just wants to know who to address it to, and what they'd like to be informed about. So that's cool. I'm going to contact an old teacher from high school, the one who kind of got me into the most likely to change the world group, and who knows my full situation and, after a year out of high school, volunteered to be a reference for me, job-wise.

So... that would be three letters, and that would be everyone who offered to be a reference without me asking. Also, these are people who, in total, will have known me as an employee, student, and volunteer. This may counter the difficulties my doctor is putting me through, with my psychiatrist's notes, which say that I suffer from a "perpetual out-of-body condition".

I didn't get around to making the reindeer candycane crafts because I was wanting to make a joke referencing that Shakespeare play, The Taming of the Shrew. I wanted that quote where the two guys are making a wager on whether or not a peasant woman could become a lady.

Unfortunately, the play was a bunch of crazy jabber that I couldn't connect with what I thought the play was about, so I couldn't feel out if I was "hot or cold" in regard to what was going on.

Turns out, it's a play about, and I can't find the exact quote, but essentially, a guy who forces some woman to be obedient to him through a series of mental torments.

That's... really... kinky.

I had thought the play was about a woman of the serving class rising through the ranks and showing she had the stuff of a noble woman. Something about how finances don't mean much when it comes to what's inside a person, or something like that. Oh well, I was wrong. It's a comedy about male supremacy.

Anyway, when I eventually found the quote, it contained about a million people and was weird. So I had to make up my own joke from scratch, without Shakespeare's help.

Yeah, I don't really like Shakespeare. I don't know why everyone makes such a huge deal about him. In high school, they make a section of every English class devoted to him. He wasn't even an author! He was a playwrite! Shouldn't his teachings be geared more toward drama classes, or something?

I don't dislike Shakespeare or anything. I just think he's overrated. I've read Hamlet, Macbeth, Midsummer Night's Dream and Twelfth Night (four plays and four English classes), and I just don't really see the appeal.

I've got the Entire Works of Shakespeare, though. Hard back, and all old-style. Got it at Value Village with the Entire Works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Putting those on my shelf, next to the entire works of Aristotle and Plato, and Gandhi's memoirs. AKA, the stuff I'd like people to assume I've read on seeing, but which I'm never going to get around to.

Welfare, Construction, Karate

Did I tell you guys that a while ago, I found my old SIN card? Yeah, I did. It was with my cheques. I don't write too many cheques, for obvious reasons, so it took me a while to find it. This goes way back when I started this blog, if you can remember, and I posted about getting it replaced. It's a relief that it isn't floating around. As I said before, that's up there with my least-favourite things of mine I'd like to think are hanging around in public.

Anyway, Welfare and Mom finally connected, and we've got a meeting on Friday. That leaves us with five days before eviction to pick up some money and maybe find another source, in case it doesn't field the whole thing.

It's interesting talking to these various people over the phone, because they don't give their names, but you begin to distinguish them based on the sound of their voice, and then judge them as individuals, even though all you've got to identify them by is a voice.

I predicted it would take over a week before we could go through the application process, and that was the Monday before last, so I guess I was right. It actually took a bit longer than I expected...

They're ripping everything out in our building right now. Everything. The ceiling, the walls, people's doors. They're completely reconstructing the building. This has been going on for awhile now, but I never thought to blog about it. It's difficult to get in and out now, because everywhere is a construction site, and they don't seem comfortable around tenants. But there's no option, since I'm not going to stay holed up in the apartment for working hours every day. Today they painted and reconstructed our door. They had to come partway into the apartment, and our door had to be left open. It was okay, though, because they brought their socializing attitude today, and were actually very polite and courteous.

The walls used to be white, and the doors green, but now the doors will be black, and the walls brown. Really... dark.

And we just got a rent increase. I don't know if the two things are related.

Nobody talks about the recession anymore. People complain about the economy, but it seems people are finally resigning themselves to accepting that this is the norm. People will complain about it, but they aren't naming it after a specific anomaly now. Good. I'm sick of people trying to get my hopes up.

Hey, I don't know if this is stupid or not, but... shouldn't post-secondary education be free? I mean, we consider education a right, and medical care a right, and with Welfare and the Food Bank, we kind of consider food and shelter a right. But if the theory behind everyone being educated is that the leaders of the various facets of our society are judged by talent and effort, rather than birth right, that kind of gets stoppered when you have to pay for post-secondary.

Now, I'm probably being a moron. I don't know the full situation too well, but it was a passing, bitter thought, and I thought I might share it.

I'm going to work on some reindeer candycane crafts for Hooked on Beads (Mom's business) tonight. When I explained this assignment to one of my old W2W counselors, he said that that sounded like one of those sweatshop jobs, and when he asked me how much they paid me, I had to say nothing. Sooo... that's a bit of a negative look on it.

Oh, and today he sent me an email to another "youth" (quote-marks because their definition goes all the way to thirty) travel-volunteer program. They're giving out twenty scholarships to celebrate twenty successful years for the organization. It's interesting that he's found one, just like my old high school's Guidance counselor found me one. People really do give more if you can offer a direction.

At least he had a better understanding of my financial situation, though. My Guidance Counselor seemed to have forgotten the reason she specifically offered to pay for my university application. She also didn't remember I had learning disabilities. Well, maybe that means my shame has been forgotten.

Anyway, so since this W2W counselor contacted me, it makes it convenient for me to request a letter of recommendation, since he can sometimes be difficult to catch, and he's just opened the lines of communication.

In karate today, I accidentally socked someone in the face. Luckily for me, it was right after my sensei had finished giving a speech on forgiveness.

Turns out, if you get to a certain belt level, they'll teach you how to fight with a bo staff, and once you've mastered that, they'll teach you how to fight with... nunchucks, knives, short swords, katanas, glaves and battle axes!

Also, the small dojo is open to you for practice between weapon classes and regular classes after you get you become a bo student. Also, they teach kickboxing there. And I think there's a belt system for both weapons and kickboxing, so theoretically, I could wind out with three blackbelts.

Another interesting fact I recently learned is that, even though my dojo has many instructors, it only has two senseis. Apparently, no matter how tough you are, or even if you're a teacher, that title doesn't come automatically. People who teach but aren't sensei are called "sempei", so they still have status. I don't know how you achieve sensei status. I've been calling all the blackbelts "sensei" and nobody's corrected me. I admit, I was wondering if they all were full-fledged senseis, but I figured it was better to risk complimenting someone, calling them by a higher rank, then to risk insulting them, calling them by a lower.

If I might turn your attention to a certain hypocrisy in my blog posts, you'll notice that I've been speaking of being almost out of food and shelter, and then moving on to my experience for a paid service. This, indeed, is quite the hypocrisy, and I don't know if I've blogged about it yet. And I don't want to.