Recently, I learned that J.K. Rowling, the creator of Harry Potter, has a website, called pottermore.com. As well as being a hub for information concerning everything applicable to the Wizarding World, it also includes a Sorting Hat test that will place you into one of the four Hogwarts student houses, as well as determine your Patronus, your wand, and your Ilvermorning house (North American equivalent of Hogwarts).
I would not say that I am a Harry Potter superfan. However, the format of the book series being publicized on a year-by-year basis synced up perfectly with my own growth. I was eleven when the first book was published, starring Harry Potter at age eleven. When Harry was twelve, I was twelve, when he was thirteen, I was thirteen etc. I literally grew up with him.
I became aware of this website when I started noticing people being proud of belonging to Hogwarts houses as if it were fact. Also, that they were proud of belonging to houses other than Gryffindor, which is where nearly all the main characters from the series are from. There were even people repping Slytherin, which was home to most of the series antagonists.
Very exciting. And best of all, J.K. Rowling invented the test, so it is canon!
As I am "Gryphon", a frequent nickname that many people come up with for me is "Gryffindor". Despite this, I thought I might fall into reliable Hufflepuff or intellectual Ravenclaw.
Wrong. Turns out I live up to my name, and proud to say I canonically belong to the House of Heroes itself, Gryffindor!
However, my patronus, that being a spell that takes the shape of an animal that represents everything good within you, is an adder. I'm a Gryffindor, but my patronus is a snake, the symbol of rival house Slytherin!
Even though Harry Potter's patronus is a stag, he did have an affinity for snakes, being able to speak to them intuitively using parseltongue. That, paired with the fact that the Sorting Hat seriously considered him as a candidate for Slytherin, gave him a good deal of insecurity.
As my age syncs up so well with his, and having been sorted as Gryffindor but also having an affinity for snakes, makes me feel like I am literally Harry Potter.
My wand is 13 inches, pinewood, with dragon heartstring core, and supple flexibility. This means that I am flexible and adaptable, have a long lifespan, prefer nonverbal magic, and am a bit of a loner. I also have the potential to turn to the Dark Arts.
I'm also from the Ivermorning House Thunderbird. But since we have yet to see the inside of Ilvermorning, I don't particularly care. It was desribed on the website as the "House for adventurers". Kind of sounded like a North American equivalent of Gryffindor.
I've since been trying to convince people to take the test. So far, the only person I've convinced is my mother. Turns out, she is also Gryffindor, with a Newfoundland dog as a patronus. Her wand is twelve and a half inches, made of cherrywood with a dragon heartstring core and slightly yielding flexibility.
Jealous of her wand. Cherrywood is considered to have "strange power" and known as the most prestigious in Japan. It is considered intensely dangerous when paired with a dragon heartstring core, which she has, and must only be wielded by the most talented spellcasters.
I thought mine was cool, but Mom's got a legit prodigious, concerning wand.
My brother opted not to take the test for now. He is currently preferring to be a Muggle.
By the way, this is the post that ties me with last year's number. If I make one more post before the New Year, I beat last year and will have kept my resolution for 2018.
Sunday, November 25, 2018
Friday, November 16, 2018
Legal Purchase of Cannabis
Not too long ago, I made a post about the legalization of cannabis in Canada. While I stated that I was in favour of legalization, I also spoke to what I perceive as a toxic weed culture that has been an aspect of our community for some time.
Well, to prove that I am actually in favour of legalization and responsible use, as opposed to being in favour simply because it allows easier public criticism, I have now legally purchased three different strains of cannabis.
I am now recorded as Gryphon Sibbald, Registered Social Service Worker, as someone who has purchased cannabis for recreational purposes from the Canadian government. I have a bank statement that says I have made a purchase from the Ontario Cannabis Store. I have received confirmation emails from the Canadian government regarding my purchase.
In my previous post, I said that I wasn't "super informed on the technicalities" of legalization. I am now super informed on the technicalities.
The only place in Ontario that you can purchase from is the Ontario Cannabis Store. Currently, you can only order online: https://ocs.ca/
You have to be 19 years of age or older to consume.
You cannot consume in public areas.
You can legally own up to 30 grams at a time.
You cannot drive or operate heavy machinery while under the influence.
It is legal for four cannabis plants to be grown per residential unit.
Cannabis is a little different from alcohol in that, while alcoholic beverages come with different flavours and levels of strength, the overall effect is the same. With cannabis, there are two different kinds of high; one, a "head high" which many people feel improves productivity and socialization, and the other, a "body high", which increases relaxation. Generally, the "head high" comes through a strain called "Sativa" and includes high levels of THC, while the "body high" is more prevalent with a strain called "Indica" and contains stronger CBD.
The OCS sells three types: Sativa, Indica, and Hybrid. I decided to purchase one of each strain, with one THC dominant, one CBD dominant, and one balanced.
Strangely, despite Indica being stated as a CBD dominant strain, there was not a single product in their Indica line that had stronger CBD than THC. However, in their Sativa and Hybrid sections, they did have CBD dominant products.
And despite CBD being advertised as the relaxation factor, all of the heavy THC dominant Indica strains were described as being a more relaxing body high, as if they were CBD dominant.
In the end I settled on Dreamweaver, a THC dominant Indica, Harmonic, an evenly balanced Sativa, and Ace Valley CBD, a CBD dominant Hybrid.
Seeing the names for these brands is hilarious. You've got "Cold Creek Kush", "Ghost Train Haze", "Shishkaberry", "God Bud", "Tangerine Dream" etc. Their entire advertising campaign is based on black market branding.
Canada Post made a choice time to go on strike, right when legalization occurred. This set me back, but I have received my cannabis!
Once I have consumed each strain, I will make a review post on them.
Well, to prove that I am actually in favour of legalization and responsible use, as opposed to being in favour simply because it allows easier public criticism, I have now legally purchased three different strains of cannabis.
I am now recorded as Gryphon Sibbald, Registered Social Service Worker, as someone who has purchased cannabis for recreational purposes from the Canadian government. I have a bank statement that says I have made a purchase from the Ontario Cannabis Store. I have received confirmation emails from the Canadian government regarding my purchase.
In my previous post, I said that I wasn't "super informed on the technicalities" of legalization. I am now super informed on the technicalities.
The only place in Ontario that you can purchase from is the Ontario Cannabis Store. Currently, you can only order online: https://ocs.ca/
You have to be 19 years of age or older to consume.
You cannot consume in public areas.
You can legally own up to 30 grams at a time.
You cannot drive or operate heavy machinery while under the influence.
It is legal for four cannabis plants to be grown per residential unit.
Cannabis is a little different from alcohol in that, while alcoholic beverages come with different flavours and levels of strength, the overall effect is the same. With cannabis, there are two different kinds of high; one, a "head high" which many people feel improves productivity and socialization, and the other, a "body high", which increases relaxation. Generally, the "head high" comes through a strain called "Sativa" and includes high levels of THC, while the "body high" is more prevalent with a strain called "Indica" and contains stronger CBD.
The OCS sells three types: Sativa, Indica, and Hybrid. I decided to purchase one of each strain, with one THC dominant, one CBD dominant, and one balanced.
Strangely, despite Indica being stated as a CBD dominant strain, there was not a single product in their Indica line that had stronger CBD than THC. However, in their Sativa and Hybrid sections, they did have CBD dominant products.
And despite CBD being advertised as the relaxation factor, all of the heavy THC dominant Indica strains were described as being a more relaxing body high, as if they were CBD dominant.
In the end I settled on Dreamweaver, a THC dominant Indica, Harmonic, an evenly balanced Sativa, and Ace Valley CBD, a CBD dominant Hybrid.
Seeing the names for these brands is hilarious. You've got "Cold Creek Kush", "Ghost Train Haze", "Shishkaberry", "God Bud", "Tangerine Dream" etc. Their entire advertising campaign is based on black market branding.
Canada Post made a choice time to go on strike, right when legalization occurred. This set me back, but I have received my cannabis!
Once I have consumed each strain, I will make a review post on them.
Sunday, November 11, 2018
Family Friend Passing
I recently learned that a close friend of the family passed away. Long time readers might remember me blogging about my family being in a partnership with another family in a small entrepreneurial jewellery making business. We had a stall at the weekly farmer's market in Guelph and a kiosk at Old Quebec Street Mall during the Christmas season.
Before all that, though, I met her when I took up a light landscaping job after finishing Ways2Work, which slightly predates this blog. This basically means I became her gardener. I don't want to get too into it, but at the time we met, I was really unsocialized and lacking in life experience. It hadn't been long since graduating high school and finding myself without any sense of direction, as well as breaking up with my first girlfriend, so we met when I was at an all time low. It wouldn't take long after we met that my life would explode, getting into Katimavik, then my first full-time employment, then Canada World Youth, then college, then employment inside my field. So she really got to see the full spectrum of my life. She was always good for a pep talk and able to give me sound life advice based on her wisdom and experience, and I greatly valued her insights.
After working for her for a bit, she got to meet my brother and mother, and became good friends with both of them. This was also during a time that was relatively difficult for the both of them. We're all doing much better now.
From there, she and my mother hatched the jewellery making business idea, who kind of spearheaded it while me, my brother, and her partner were all involved as well.
She was like an honourary grandmother to the family, and I really did love her.
She had had a number of close calls with death. Even when I met her, she was contemplating her mortality. All things considered, we were lucky that she lived as long as she did. I got to speak with her shortly before she passed and she seemed healthy. It even caused me to pause and think that it had been a long time since she had had a medical scare.
That being said, her life had become more and more restrictive in the eight years that I knew her, and people close to her felt that it was her time to go.
I feel like I've experienced a lot of death in the past few years. I never really got to experience loss of a loved one as a child, so I feel like I didn't get to normalize the concept, or at least see it as natural. But my mother pointed out that at this time in our lives, I've experienced more loss overall than she has.
Back in high school, at the age of sixteen, a close friend of mine died by suicide. In college, a friend died of a rare neurological disease at the age of eighteen. This year, two people that I've worked with continually over the past four years passed, ages 28 and 46. Young deaths.
I'm sure that's not a huge list compared with some others, but each of those carries some weight. At least with this more recent passing, it more closely resembled old age and natural causes. Feels a bit less unfair, and even if I didn't get to say goodbye, our final conversation was sweet.
Before all that, though, I met her when I took up a light landscaping job after finishing Ways2Work, which slightly predates this blog. This basically means I became her gardener. I don't want to get too into it, but at the time we met, I was really unsocialized and lacking in life experience. It hadn't been long since graduating high school and finding myself without any sense of direction, as well as breaking up with my first girlfriend, so we met when I was at an all time low. It wouldn't take long after we met that my life would explode, getting into Katimavik, then my first full-time employment, then Canada World Youth, then college, then employment inside my field. So she really got to see the full spectrum of my life. She was always good for a pep talk and able to give me sound life advice based on her wisdom and experience, and I greatly valued her insights.
After working for her for a bit, she got to meet my brother and mother, and became good friends with both of them. This was also during a time that was relatively difficult for the both of them. We're all doing much better now.
From there, she and my mother hatched the jewellery making business idea, who kind of spearheaded it while me, my brother, and her partner were all involved as well.
She was like an honourary grandmother to the family, and I really did love her.
She had had a number of close calls with death. Even when I met her, she was contemplating her mortality. All things considered, we were lucky that she lived as long as she did. I got to speak with her shortly before she passed and she seemed healthy. It even caused me to pause and think that it had been a long time since she had had a medical scare.
That being said, her life had become more and more restrictive in the eight years that I knew her, and people close to her felt that it was her time to go.
I feel like I've experienced a lot of death in the past few years. I never really got to experience loss of a loved one as a child, so I feel like I didn't get to normalize the concept, or at least see it as natural. But my mother pointed out that at this time in our lives, I've experienced more loss overall than she has.
Back in high school, at the age of sixteen, a close friend of mine died by suicide. In college, a friend died of a rare neurological disease at the age of eighteen. This year, two people that I've worked with continually over the past four years passed, ages 28 and 46. Young deaths.
I'm sure that's not a huge list compared with some others, but each of those carries some weight. At least with this more recent passing, it more closely resembled old age and natural causes. Feels a bit less unfair, and even if I didn't get to say goodbye, our final conversation was sweet.
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