Yeah, so apparently I can't just ride the bus peacefully anymore. After I had to break up that fight, the very next time I had to bus to placement, the emergency exit window next to me broke open. I was just sitting there, and suddenly, I had no window.
We had the Human Library the other day. It started out a bit slow but really picked up at around noon. Lots of people wanted to speak to people in groups this year, instead of one-on-one. I got to go to it, since a member of WALES was being a Human Book. I had that dual-position thing going on, though, since I'm a Respect Intern and also a WALES worker.
Friday, January 30, 2015
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Bus Incident
In my letter to myself, the younger Gryphon had the audacity to call me old! Stupid kid doesn't realize that I'm only one fifth my total lifespan older than him! And he signs "Love, Young Gryphon". I'm still Young Gryphon! He asks me if the future is as bad as he imagines. Comforting to say that if I could write him back, I'd say that things are a lot better than he feared and that the five years ahead of him would be the best years of his life.
I was riding the bus to placement a couple days ago, and this older woman told this younger man to take his backpack off the seat next to him so that someone could sit down, since the bus was full and people were having to stand in the aisle. Fair enough, but she took it further and started calling him rude, ignorant, selfish etc. And she appeared to have been holding onto it for awhile, because she started talking about how this is something he does everyday. He started saying that she shouldn't talk about him because she doesn't even know him, and that she could have just asked. Then she said something about his mother, and he started shouting about how she shouldn't bring his mother into it. Then he suddenly jumped out of his seat and charged at her. Faster than I could think, I jumped between the two of them and he hit me.
He just sort of stared at me, looking scared. I tried to assure him that things were going to be okay but he needed to calm down. The woman started shouting about how she was going to throw him in jail. The bus stopped. He ran away crying. The bus filed out like nothing had happened.
I was riding the bus to placement a couple days ago, and this older woman told this younger man to take his backpack off the seat next to him so that someone could sit down, since the bus was full and people were having to stand in the aisle. Fair enough, but she took it further and started calling him rude, ignorant, selfish etc. And she appeared to have been holding onto it for awhile, because she started talking about how this is something he does everyday. He started saying that she shouldn't talk about him because she doesn't even know him, and that she could have just asked. Then she said something about his mother, and he started shouting about how she shouldn't bring his mother into it. Then he suddenly jumped out of his seat and charged at her. Faster than I could think, I jumped between the two of them and he hit me.
He just sort of stared at me, looking scared. I tried to assure him that things were going to be okay but he needed to calm down. The woman started shouting about how she was going to throw him in jail. The bus stopped. He ran away crying. The bus filed out like nothing had happened.
Monday, January 26, 2015
School Fundraiser
For one of my school projects we have to do a fundraiser. One of the gimmicks that my group is doing is that, if enough money is raised, I will have to shave my beard!!! Five year dedication to this thing, can't imagine myself without it. I'm growing it out as long as possible before the event, to boost motivation. I'm not even allowed to trim!
I just got a letter from myself from when I completed Ways2Work five years ago. I don't even remember writing it!! I'm steeling myself to look at it. Grrr... So nervous!
Just did the first Respect Meet of 2015. The theme was Human Library! I'm facilitating another one tomorrow.
Jut ordered a phone case for my smart phone. If I'm gonna have a decent phone, I'm going to treat it right!
I just got a letter from myself from when I completed Ways2Work five years ago. I don't even remember writing it!! I'm steeling myself to look at it. Grrr... So nervous!
Just did the first Respect Meet of 2015. The theme was Human Library! I'm facilitating another one tomorrow.
Jut ordered a phone case for my smart phone. If I'm gonna have a decent phone, I'm going to treat it right!
Saturday, January 24, 2015
Bri's Anniversary of Passing
Last Sunday I finally met my other new roommate. We had lived in the same house for two weeks, and even on the same floor, but we hadn't met each other. We rode on the bus together, side-by-side, all the way from one of the main terminals, then walked together back to the house without speaking a word to each other. It was only when he walked into the driveway with me that I was like "...Do you live here?"
Today I fired up the bundle buggy for the first time. I bought myself a little cart to do grocery shopping with, but I'd been too nervous to put it to use for a while. I remember my mother using a bundle buggy when I was young, and I didn't want to give off a "single mom" vibe in the grocery.
It was good, though. Very logical move for someone without a car. But I wound up spending over $100 on groceries. Usually I try not to break $50, which lasts me a week. But I was just able to carry so much, I couldn't stop. Such is the allure of the bundle buggy.
This past day was the anniversary of my friend Bri's passing. I got a bottle of wine for the celebration before the memorial. I wanted to get something a scratch above the value-brand wines I usually pick from. The wine lady asked me if I needed help. I declined, because I didn't want my ignorance of wine to be exploited. Then because I kept looking for awhile and she was watching me look, I didn't want to choose something typical of my socio-economic class after I had presented myself as being discerning in my wine choice. So I bought probably the swankiest wine I've ever purchased.
Made some taco dip for the potluck. When I was leaving the house, one of my roommates noted my choice of wine and taco dip for such a solemn occasion as being a bit unusual. Well, I'm not going to bring sad food to a potluck. I don't even know what sad food is.
Both the wine and taco dip were very well-received.
We floated lanterns into the sky in memory of Bri. My lantern was one of two that wouldn't fly. I tried to float it off a bridge but it fell onto the river beneath and rolled across the ice until it disappeared in the distance. The other one that failed to fly lit on fire and turned to ash on the bridge.
Today I fired up the bundle buggy for the first time. I bought myself a little cart to do grocery shopping with, but I'd been too nervous to put it to use for a while. I remember my mother using a bundle buggy when I was young, and I didn't want to give off a "single mom" vibe in the grocery.
It was good, though. Very logical move for someone without a car. But I wound up spending over $100 on groceries. Usually I try not to break $50, which lasts me a week. But I was just able to carry so much, I couldn't stop. Such is the allure of the bundle buggy.
This past day was the anniversary of my friend Bri's passing. I got a bottle of wine for the celebration before the memorial. I wanted to get something a scratch above the value-brand wines I usually pick from. The wine lady asked me if I needed help. I declined, because I didn't want my ignorance of wine to be exploited. Then because I kept looking for awhile and she was watching me look, I didn't want to choose something typical of my socio-economic class after I had presented myself as being discerning in my wine choice. So I bought probably the swankiest wine I've ever purchased.
Made some taco dip for the potluck. When I was leaving the house, one of my roommates noted my choice of wine and taco dip for such a solemn occasion as being a bit unusual. Well, I'm not going to bring sad food to a potluck. I don't even know what sad food is.
Both the wine and taco dip were very well-received.
We floated lanterns into the sky in memory of Bri. My lantern was one of two that wouldn't fly. I tried to float it off a bridge but it fell onto the river beneath and rolled across the ice until it disappeared in the distance. The other one that failed to fly lit on fire and turned to ash on the bridge.
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Bus Race
Last weekend I visited my cousin in London (Ontario). I haven't been to London since I was a young child. It's a place that's always on the peripheral of my mind. At the Greyhound bus terminal in Kitchener, there are three stops. One for Toronto, one for Guelph, and one for London. Kitchener is connected to Waterloo and Cambridge, so they each shape their identity by how they contrast each other, with Guelph close enough to always be coming up as a detached fourth element that defines itself as being separated from the Tri-City. London is about as far away as Toronto, but less well-known, as it doesn't have the same big-city presence. I also know fewer people in London than each of the other cities. So while I've always been aware of it as one of the six cities that I have immediately accessible to me, I haven't afforded it much thought.
Seemed nice. Didn't have enough time to get a thorough feel for the place. I mean, all of the cities have their commonalities because of geography. It was maybe the most well-balanced of the six, since it didn't seem to have any weird rivalries and was a pretty decent size. I'm leaving myself open to some kind of dark undercurrent that I may have missed.
A member of WALES will be participating in the Human Library this year. The training session was last night. Because I live across the street from the school, I opted to meet the WALES Book at the bus stop and show her to the classroom.
She didn't get off the bus I expected. There are two Conestoga stops and I wondered if she'd gotten off the earlier one. So I walked to the other bus stop, and right as I arrived at it, I saw a bus go by with her on it. I don't know why, but my first instinct was to beat the bus to the Conestoga terminal. My adrenalin kicked into gear and I sprinted after the bus.
I almost managed it. It eventually got speed on me when I was about two-thirds the distance. When the WALES Book got off the bus and started walking toward me (she had seen me at the previous stop and watched my heroic dash) I hit the wall and fell to heavy panting. She almost had to support me as I limped into the training session with her.
The icebreaker for Human Library training was Human Bingo, where squares on a Bingo Board gave descriptors of people and you walk around getting people to sign their name as they apply. One of the squares said "Likes to run" and so of course the Human Books made me sign that one because of my recent bus chase.
We had a mini Human Library where the books rotated around and took turns asking each other questions. Because there was an odd number of people in the room, I got to be a Human Book! It was awesome! I even got to be in a Human Library team photo. I tried to duck out since I wasn't really there as a worker or volunteer, but since I'm a member of the team that is running the event, and because I'm a placement student with WALES and responsible for connecting the agency to the event, and since a large number of Human Books are Respect volunteers, I was just connected enough that I got in the photo.
A lot of my friends are Human Books and are volunteering based on topics that I haven't spoken with them about at length. It was a real eye-opener for me to be able to talk to them in a format like that.
Seemed nice. Didn't have enough time to get a thorough feel for the place. I mean, all of the cities have their commonalities because of geography. It was maybe the most well-balanced of the six, since it didn't seem to have any weird rivalries and was a pretty decent size. I'm leaving myself open to some kind of dark undercurrent that I may have missed.
A member of WALES will be participating in the Human Library this year. The training session was last night. Because I live across the street from the school, I opted to meet the WALES Book at the bus stop and show her to the classroom.
She didn't get off the bus I expected. There are two Conestoga stops and I wondered if she'd gotten off the earlier one. So I walked to the other bus stop, and right as I arrived at it, I saw a bus go by with her on it. I don't know why, but my first instinct was to beat the bus to the Conestoga terminal. My adrenalin kicked into gear and I sprinted after the bus.
I almost managed it. It eventually got speed on me when I was about two-thirds the distance. When the WALES Book got off the bus and started walking toward me (she had seen me at the previous stop and watched my heroic dash) I hit the wall and fell to heavy panting. She almost had to support me as I limped into the training session with her.
The icebreaker for Human Library training was Human Bingo, where squares on a Bingo Board gave descriptors of people and you walk around getting people to sign their name as they apply. One of the squares said "Likes to run" and so of course the Human Books made me sign that one because of my recent bus chase.
We had a mini Human Library where the books rotated around and took turns asking each other questions. Because there was an odd number of people in the room, I got to be a Human Book! It was awesome! I even got to be in a Human Library team photo. I tried to duck out since I wasn't really there as a worker or volunteer, but since I'm a member of the team that is running the event, and because I'm a placement student with WALES and responsible for connecting the agency to the event, and since a large number of Human Books are Respect volunteers, I was just connected enough that I got in the photo.
A lot of my friends are Human Books and are volunteering based on topics that I haven't spoken with them about at length. It was a real eye-opener for me to be able to talk to them in a format like that.
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Human Library Coming Up
Got to meet the new family I should be doing Direct Support for! Looks really promising! I'm kind of a fool, though. Now I'll have two jobs while I'm still in school, and this is after I should have learned my lesson last semester when things got rough. But I figure networking is pretty important at this point, since graduation is on the horizon.
I decided not to make any drastic dietary changes based on that library cookbook with the ADD diet. Got a surprising amount of reception telling me to disregard that.
This past week has been the Get Involved Fair, run through the Respect Campaign, but I haven't been able to get involved with it at all because of my schedule.
We have the Human Library coming up, the Respect Campaign's most recognized event. It has people from different walks of life act as "Human Books" who get rented out for fifteen minutes at a time by students, and the students are allowed to ask any questions they want. For example, we've Human Books speak on their experience as being LGBTQ, being learning disabled, developmentally disabled, having eating disorders, addictions, having been a child soldier etc. Really interesting stuff. We've even had a few pseudo-celebrities come in for the event in the past.
I decided not to make any drastic dietary changes based on that library cookbook with the ADD diet. Got a surprising amount of reception telling me to disregard that.
This past week has been the Get Involved Fair, run through the Respect Campaign, but I haven't been able to get involved with it at all because of my schedule.
We have the Human Library coming up, the Respect Campaign's most recognized event. It has people from different walks of life act as "Human Books" who get rented out for fifteen minutes at a time by students, and the students are allowed to ask any questions they want. For example, we've Human Books speak on their experience as being LGBTQ, being learning disabled, developmentally disabled, having eating disorders, addictions, having been a child soldier etc. Really interesting stuff. We've even had a few pseudo-celebrities come in for the event in the past.
Sunday, January 11, 2015
An Old Rival
Hey, so you remember how me and a friend both went for a job at Secondchance last summer and neither of us got it? A mysterious woman took it from both of us and ever since I've been trying to imagine what kind of incredible person would be capable of besting both me and my friend.
I met her!!! And not only that, she was in front of us the whole time!!! It just kind of randomly came up in conversation. She was was like, "I worked for Secondchance over the summer" and I was just like "...Doing what?"
I got offered a contract with Extend-a-Family for individual support work again. Hopefully it comes to something this time.
I was doing some research on specifics for dietary needs of people with developmental disabilities. When I was looking at diet as it relates to autism, I found a cookbook for people with autism and ADD/ADHD.
Wellllll.... I have ADD and ADHD. It says I need to cut gluten, casein, and soy. The recipes are very meat and potatoes heavy. I wouldn't be allowed to have pretty much any dairy product. Isn't dairy one of the five food groups? I don't trust this.
I met her!!! And not only that, she was in front of us the whole time!!! It just kind of randomly came up in conversation. She was was like, "I worked for Secondchance over the summer" and I was just like "...Doing what?"
I got offered a contract with Extend-a-Family for individual support work again. Hopefully it comes to something this time.
I was doing some research on specifics for dietary needs of people with developmental disabilities. When I was looking at diet as it relates to autism, I found a cookbook for people with autism and ADD/ADHD.
Wellllll.... I have ADD and ADHD. It says I need to cut gluten, casein, and soy. The recipes are very meat and potatoes heavy. I wouldn't be allowed to have pretty much any dairy product. Isn't dairy one of the five food groups? I don't trust this.
Monday, January 5, 2015
Reacquaintance
Orientation Day went well. I had half-forgotten that it was what I did on my first day of college. It was fun being an Orientation Leader, since I'd had Orientation Leaders on my first day, and remembered them.
Guess who I met?! An old friend from when I did karate! He was a blackbelt and an instructor but had to wear a special belt that indicated his young age. I got to watch him age into his full blackbelt. He was a son of one of the main senseis. Now he's a first year Conestoga student!
One of the volunteers walked by and I asked her to guess who would win in a fight. Since I'm much bigger than him it was supposed to be a surprise that it's him since he's the blackbelt. But she was just like "Him" and pointed to the karate guy. She proceded to talk on how sweet I am. I'm like, "Not in front of Senpei!" He tried to save me by saying that I'm a good guy but ferocious in combat. She said she couldn't see it.
Siiiiiiigh part of me wants to go back to being a warrior. Two and a half years in the social services has made me soft... reacquaintance
Guess who I met?! An old friend from when I did karate! He was a blackbelt and an instructor but had to wear a special belt that indicated his young age. I got to watch him age into his full blackbelt. He was a son of one of the main senseis. Now he's a first year Conestoga student!
One of the volunteers walked by and I asked her to guess who would win in a fight. Since I'm much bigger than him it was supposed to be a surprise that it's him since he's the blackbelt. But she was just like "Him" and pointed to the karate guy. She proceded to talk on how sweet I am. I'm like, "Not in front of Senpei!" He tried to save me by saying that I'm a good guy but ferocious in combat. She said she couldn't see it.
Siiiiiiigh part of me wants to go back to being a warrior. Two and a half years in the social services has made me soft... reacquaintance
Sunday, January 4, 2015
Orientation Day
Back in student housing. Got two new roommates after having lost three. Only met one of them, though.
I start school on Tuesday, not Monday, since Monday is Orientation Day for students beginning in the winter semester. But I still had to be here for Monday because I work for the school and am helping to facilitate Orientation Day. Then I have a day of placement on Tuesday, then classes start on Wednesday.
Today I tried to check my texts and wound up calling a friend. The phone shuts off when it dials, so it wouldn't let me power it on to hang up the phone. It wasn't making noise either. Eventually I ask the (seemingly dead) phone if my friend is there, and I hear "Yeah. I'm wondering what's going on."
Happened again later today, but I managed to cancel. Think I understand now. It randomly added all my Google+ friends to my Contacts, and now I have a bunch of people double-listed, though. Can't handle this thing.
Last night I had a dream that I was listening to someone sing in Italian. I turned to the person next to me and asked her if she thought the person was actually singing Italian or just speaking gibberish and passing it off as Italian.
I woke up and realized that the person in my dream couldn't have been singing in Italian because I don't know Italian and I can't dream about what I don't know. I thought it was pretty funny that I had enough self-awareness to call out the singer while in my dream state.
I start school on Tuesday, not Monday, since Monday is Orientation Day for students beginning in the winter semester. But I still had to be here for Monday because I work for the school and am helping to facilitate Orientation Day. Then I have a day of placement on Tuesday, then classes start on Wednesday.
Today I tried to check my texts and wound up calling a friend. The phone shuts off when it dials, so it wouldn't let me power it on to hang up the phone. It wasn't making noise either. Eventually I ask the (seemingly dead) phone if my friend is there, and I hear "Yeah. I'm wondering what's going on."
Happened again later today, but I managed to cancel. Think I understand now. It randomly added all my Google+ friends to my Contacts, and now I have a bunch of people double-listed, though. Can't handle this thing.
Last night I had a dream that I was listening to someone sing in Italian. I turned to the person next to me and asked her if she thought the person was actually singing Italian or just speaking gibberish and passing it off as Italian.
I woke up and realized that the person in my dream couldn't have been singing in Italian because I don't know Italian and I can't dream about what I don't know. I thought it was pretty funny that I had enough self-awareness to call out the singer while in my dream state.
Saturday, January 3, 2015
2015
The New Year has come and gone. I celebrated at my old friend from high school's place, that I mentioned in one of the December posts. Earlier in the day, me, my mother and my brother met up with my grandparents and one of our cousins for lunch.
It's pretty easy to set New Years Resolutions for 2015... I've got to graduate college and get a job! Crazy to think I'm ending the starting stages of life and stepping out into a career path (hopefully).
I finally figured out what was wrong with my smart phone... After going through two customer service people, I brought it to one of those stands in the mall, and after playing with it for a bit, they were able to figure out that it was just stuck in airplane mode. It still took three of them to figure it out, though.
When they were looking it over, they complimented my pone's camera, and I realized that they were likely going through my photo gallery. Along with a few test photos of my room and some pics of a neighborhood Christmas sign were a number of sarcastic selfies, done in the likes of which I have become used to seeing done by my (majority female) peers. I knew that trying to explain the situation would just come across as denial, so I put on my most stoic, non-apologetic look and gritted my teeth through their compliments toward my phone and camera. Then I slipped away quickly, pretending my embarrassment stemmed from the airplane mode thing.
It's pretty easy to set New Years Resolutions for 2015... I've got to graduate college and get a job! Crazy to think I'm ending the starting stages of life and stepping out into a career path (hopefully).
I finally figured out what was wrong with my smart phone... After going through two customer service people, I brought it to one of those stands in the mall, and after playing with it for a bit, they were able to figure out that it was just stuck in airplane mode. It still took three of them to figure it out, though.
When they were looking it over, they complimented my pone's camera, and I realized that they were likely going through my photo gallery. Along with a few test photos of my room and some pics of a neighborhood Christmas sign were a number of sarcastic selfies, done in the likes of which I have become used to seeing done by my (majority female) peers. I knew that trying to explain the situation would just come across as denial, so I put on my most stoic, non-apologetic look and gritted my teeth through their compliments toward my phone and camera. Then I slipped away quickly, pretending my embarrassment stemmed from the airplane mode thing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)