-Today was another beautiful day in Montreal. Though the morning was on the chilly side, it was quite comfortable by sundown. It was nice enough that I was able to ride both my bike and my unicycle. Hopefully this type of weather will keep up throughout the week.
-As mentioned above, I was able to crack out my unicycle for the first time this year. Most of my riding was done at McGill. A few days ago I found a good, out of the way spot that allows me to practice without torment (at least so far). I keep wondering why I haven’t seen more unicycles around McGill.
-This afternoon I had the pleasure of heading out on an errand for a friend. She is interested in be buying two mohair shawls for her before my return to Newfoundland. To make it to the store I rode my bike, which is no longer a peggle bike. Without too much trouble I found the store as well as the desired items. The staff was friendly and helpful. Early next week I will have to go back and pick the goods up.
On my way to my final destination I stopped at La Vielle Europe, a cool store on St. Laurent, and picked up some discount herbal tea.
-For dinner tonight I cooked myself a huge batch of sausage soup. I don’t know why I can’ cook reasonable amounts of food for myself.
-When I went to Tim Horton’s today I did not receive a Roll Up the Rim cup, meaning that my record for the year of 3/33 will stand. This is a disappointing record as I am below the advertised win rate, though I must admit it is pretty lose.
-I have to work tomorrow night and Saturday night. Tomorrow night is a swing night in the ballroom, though I don’t exactly know what that entails. On Saturday night there is some kind of private party.
-Over the past few days I have been eating a huge quantity of raw vegetables, typically in the form of leaf free salads.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
A Few Quick Notes 84
-Another beautiful day in Montreal. While it has cooled off this evening, it is still a nice clear night. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to crack out my unicycle. Hopefully this will happen tomorrow.
-My facial hair is now completely gone. No mustache, and not even the soul patch. It is a little strange to see my unblemished face again. Now I only need a hair cut and I will be back to my good old self.
Many females that I know will likely be pleased with this development. While I did have the mustache I seemed to notice a very strong gender divide regarding whether or not mustaches were facial enhancements or not.
-My Roll Up the Rim record is now 3/33, nothing to smile about. As they are quickly running out of supplies I don’t know how many more chances I will have to win big and cover my expenses for next year.
-Tonight I made some humus. It seems that I put a fair bit of garlic in and maybe not enough lemon. Next time I will have to try and rectify this problem.
-So far tonight I have read three articles about library services for part-time students. One of these articles was about students in Nigeria, another about students in Northern Ireland, and the last about students in Ontario. Amazingly, between 1977 and 2006 the needs of part-time students in regards to library services don’t seem to have changed all that much.
-My facial hair is now completely gone. No mustache, and not even the soul patch. It is a little strange to see my unblemished face again. Now I only need a hair cut and I will be back to my good old self.
Many females that I know will likely be pleased with this development. While I did have the mustache I seemed to notice a very strong gender divide regarding whether or not mustaches were facial enhancements or not.
-My Roll Up the Rim record is now 3/33, nothing to smile about. As they are quickly running out of supplies I don’t know how many more chances I will have to win big and cover my expenses for next year.
-Tonight I made some humus. It seems that I put a fair bit of garlic in and maybe not enough lemon. Next time I will have to try and rectify this problem.
-So far tonight I have read three articles about library services for part-time students. One of these articles was about students in Nigeria, another about students in Northern Ireland, and the last about students in Ontario. Amazingly, between 1977 and 2006 the needs of part-time students in regards to library services don’t seem to have changed all that much.
Monday, March 26, 2007
A Few Quick Notes 83
-Today has been another cool, grey spring day. Though today has been damp, it fortunately has not been all that rainy. By Wednesday it seems that we might be in for some sun.
Yesterday turned out to be a beautiful day, much nicer than I had expected.
-For a few hours yesterday afternoon about 10 of my classmates and I curled. Though I have more experience than anyone else that played it would have been hard to tell by my record. I was completely unable to read the ice and also felt as though I was thrown off by the slip-on slider that I was using. The good thing is that everyone seemed to have fun. Maybe for next year I will have my own equipment.
-It seems that the annual Roll Up the Rim contest is just about over. It looks that I might finish the year with a 3/31 record. My longest winning streak was 2, which occurred on Saturday and Sunday.
-Today is election day in Quebec. Only yesterday I received my first election literature. Throughout the entire campaign no one has come by our building to drop off materials. While many of us are non-Quebecers, I think that this is unacceptable.
For the first time in Quebec history election day means no classes. I don’t exactly know why this policy has been implemented as people all over the world are able to vote and teach or go to school. Strangely, while McGill classes have been cancelled today all other services are being offered as normal.
-My friendly neighbourhood pigeons have been back almost every day for the past few days. The construction project on their favourite part of the neighbouring roof doesn’t seem to be bothering them all that much.
-I finally made it to Fairmont Bagels yesterday. It was as good as I had been lead to believe. I managed to eat four of the six that I purchased by the time I returned home.
Yesterday turned out to be a beautiful day, much nicer than I had expected.
-For a few hours yesterday afternoon about 10 of my classmates and I curled. Though I have more experience than anyone else that played it would have been hard to tell by my record. I was completely unable to read the ice and also felt as though I was thrown off by the slip-on slider that I was using. The good thing is that everyone seemed to have fun. Maybe for next year I will have my own equipment.
-It seems that the annual Roll Up the Rim contest is just about over. It looks that I might finish the year with a 3/31 record. My longest winning streak was 2, which occurred on Saturday and Sunday.
-Today is election day in Quebec. Only yesterday I received my first election literature. Throughout the entire campaign no one has come by our building to drop off materials. While many of us are non-Quebecers, I think that this is unacceptable.
For the first time in Quebec history election day means no classes. I don’t exactly know why this policy has been implemented as people all over the world are able to vote and teach or go to school. Strangely, while McGill classes have been cancelled today all other services are being offered as normal.
-My friendly neighbourhood pigeons have been back almost every day for the past few days. The construction project on their favourite part of the neighbouring roof doesn’t seem to be bothering them all that much.
-I finally made it to Fairmont Bagels yesterday. It was as good as I had been lead to believe. I managed to eat four of the six that I purchased by the time I returned home.
More shopping this past weekend
I make my post titles in honour of Games of No Chance (GONC) and More Games of No Chance (GONC2), books edited by my supervisor, R.J. Nowakowski. The third book in the series will be Games of No Chance 3, although another student, Paul Ottaway, and myself thought it should have been More Games of No Chance 2.
Back to my story, at 4:30 on Saturday I jaunted across the road and down the street to the second closest haircutter's, the first being where I had my last scarecut, I mean haircut. They are open until 5, but I they asked me if I would like to book an appointment for Monday. I did, and I'll get back to this later.
Saturday evening came around and I decided it was time to do some buying at Ikea.ca. My main purchases were a desk and dressers. I tried to buy the stuff online, but I was getting an error saying that my postal code didn't match my city on my billing address. I figured the computer didn't like St. John's as a city because of its punctuation, but I didn't want to submit the 'wrong' billing address and not have my payment processed. I called them up and made my order instead. My shipment is expected in 7-11 business days (from Sat).
On Sunday, Rebecca and I only hit up Lawtons and Sobeys. Lawtons had a good deal whereby a free movie ticket was earned with the purchase of 3 Dove products (excluding soap and travel sizes). Rebecca uses Dove products, but if someone wanted to they could buy 3 of the cheapest Dove deodorants (thrown them away) and 'save' money over buying a full-price admission at some theatres.
I had also planned to make an online order from Staples on Sunday. However, the products I had liked at Staples weren't on the website, and I didn't have the product numbers (I had falsely ass-u-me-d that it would be no trouble to find them online). Rebecca then remember that she had wanted to pick up a chalk holder at Staples and had forgotten. As her hands react to chalk and she is giving a chalk-n-talk (that's just a talk using a chalkboard) on Tuesday I decided I would make the run over this morning before my haircut. So this morning came and I went to Staples. I planned my bus trips out quite nicely, and I managed to go from the chair I'm in now, to Staples, and back in less than an hour. My trip was quite sucessful. I have a chair and cabinet coming on Friday, and chalk holders (normally a steep $7.99 per each) were available in 2-for-1 packs, so I got one as well (which I had wanted).
I then went to get my hair cut in the bottom of Doug Wyatt's building, at Splitt Ends (clever name). While I was getting my hair cut the phone rang and the woman cutting my hair, Melissa, went to answer it. When she came back she told another woman there than it was her husband on the phone and he was going to the doctor's to get an AIDS test, which was for some reason necessary to go to Cuba (Melissa's husband works for the Department of National Defence). Melissa said he'd better pass, to which the woman responded that Melissa's should have made sure he would pass such a test before she got married. Burn. Melissa said they mostly get student business. I figure this is why she looked so surprised when I gave her a tip. My beard got the boot when I got home. I would almost definitely get IDed buying alcohol right now if I were wearing shorts. As it is, I think it's a toss-up.
Back to my story, at 4:30 on Saturday I jaunted across the road and down the street to the second closest haircutter's, the first being where I had my last scarecut, I mean haircut. They are open until 5, but I they asked me if I would like to book an appointment for Monday. I did, and I'll get back to this later.
Saturday evening came around and I decided it was time to do some buying at Ikea.ca. My main purchases were a desk and dressers. I tried to buy the stuff online, but I was getting an error saying that my postal code didn't match my city on my billing address. I figured the computer didn't like St. John's as a city because of its punctuation, but I didn't want to submit the 'wrong' billing address and not have my payment processed. I called them up and made my order instead. My shipment is expected in 7-11 business days (from Sat).
On Sunday, Rebecca and I only hit up Lawtons and Sobeys. Lawtons had a good deal whereby a free movie ticket was earned with the purchase of 3 Dove products (excluding soap and travel sizes). Rebecca uses Dove products, but if someone wanted to they could buy 3 of the cheapest Dove deodorants (thrown them away) and 'save' money over buying a full-price admission at some theatres.
I had also planned to make an online order from Staples on Sunday. However, the products I had liked at Staples weren't on the website, and I didn't have the product numbers (I had falsely ass-u-me-d that it would be no trouble to find them online). Rebecca then remember that she had wanted to pick up a chalk holder at Staples and had forgotten. As her hands react to chalk and she is giving a chalk-n-talk (that's just a talk using a chalkboard) on Tuesday I decided I would make the run over this morning before my haircut. So this morning came and I went to Staples. I planned my bus trips out quite nicely, and I managed to go from the chair I'm in now, to Staples, and back in less than an hour. My trip was quite sucessful. I have a chair and cabinet coming on Friday, and chalk holders (normally a steep $7.99 per each) were available in 2-for-1 packs, so I got one as well (which I had wanted).
I then went to get my hair cut in the bottom of Doug Wyatt's building, at Splitt Ends (clever name). While I was getting my hair cut the phone rang and the woman cutting my hair, Melissa, went to answer it. When she came back she told another woman there than it was her husband on the phone and he was going to the doctor's to get an AIDS test, which was for some reason necessary to go to Cuba (Melissa's husband works for the Department of National Defence). Melissa said he'd better pass, to which the woman responded that Melissa's should have made sure he would pass such a test before she got married. Burn. Melissa said they mostly get student business. I figure this is why she looked so surprised when I gave her a tip. My beard got the boot when I got home. I would almost definitely get IDed buying alcohol right now if I were wearing shorts. As it is, I think it's a toss-up.
Shopping this past weekend
This might be stretching it a little, but the consumerism for the weekend started with the arrival of my package from amazon.ca. I bought two cds and four books.
On Friday night I went grocery shopping. I visited Sobeys and Atlantic Superstore. Nothing much to report there, I seem to mostly have bought lots of fruit.
Shoppers Drug Mart had a big sale on Saturday. They also had a deal where by if you bought $50 worth of stuff you got 20x the Optimum points for your purchase. Rebecca decided to stock up and go for it and I went with her. In the end Rebecca collected about 15,000 points, which when added to her previous 15,000 (worth $25) gives her 30,000 (worth $55), which is how their non-linear scale works. One could argue that Rebecca got about 40% off. Rebecca and I also went to Staples on Saturday. We shopped for a desk chair for me, with the intent of ordering online later, and bought some smaller stuff. The smaller stuff include pads of lined paper (which I now use instead of loose leaf) and glue sticks. The glue sticks were for a cut-and-paste newspaper contest in which I am participating. I have to find a 'puzzle piece' in the newspaper every day for 7 weeks and assemble 7 little puzzles and say what the picture is of in each for a chance to win $10,000. It's probably a waste of my time because I don't know Nova Scotia well enough to tell what the things are, but the good news is that the glue sticks rang in for $0.74 when I thought I was paying $1.49 (that's right, 50% off AND they rounded in my favour). Similarly, I bought a 3-pack of red pens (with bonus pencil) for $0.98, when I thought I was going to pay $1.97. The original price was $3.24.
More shopping stories later, I have to go buy a haircut.
On Friday night I went grocery shopping. I visited Sobeys and Atlantic Superstore. Nothing much to report there, I seem to mostly have bought lots of fruit.
Shoppers Drug Mart had a big sale on Saturday. They also had a deal where by if you bought $50 worth of stuff you got 20x the Optimum points for your purchase. Rebecca decided to stock up and go for it and I went with her. In the end Rebecca collected about 15,000 points, which when added to her previous 15,000 (worth $25) gives her 30,000 (worth $55), which is how their non-linear scale works. One could argue that Rebecca got about 40% off. Rebecca and I also went to Staples on Saturday. We shopped for a desk chair for me, with the intent of ordering online later, and bought some smaller stuff. The smaller stuff include pads of lined paper (which I now use instead of loose leaf) and glue sticks. The glue sticks were for a cut-and-paste newspaper contest in which I am participating. I have to find a 'puzzle piece' in the newspaper every day for 7 weeks and assemble 7 little puzzles and say what the picture is of in each for a chance to win $10,000. It's probably a waste of my time because I don't know Nova Scotia well enough to tell what the things are, but the good news is that the glue sticks rang in for $0.74 when I thought I was paying $1.49 (that's right, 50% off AND they rounded in my favour). Similarly, I bought a 3-pack of red pens (with bonus pencil) for $0.98, when I thought I was going to pay $1.97. The original price was $3.24.
More shopping stories later, I have to go buy a haircut.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Detroit Metro Aiport Tram Video
This is a clip of a tram in the Detroit Metro Airport. My uncle decided to develop upon the theme of train's entering stations/ approaching platforms that I first developed with my wildly popular clip of a train entering the Mont Royal Metro station.
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Saturday, March 24, 2007
A Few Quick Notes 82
-My dreams of unicycle riding this week are fading quickly. Just moments ago I got up from reading and looked out my window to find that it is snowing a quick pace. While it is likely that there won’t be too much snow and that it won’t last, it still manages to screw things up for this evening. Other than that, it has been a reasonable day with the temperature just a few degrees above freezing.
-With a change in strategy I have now managed to get my Roll Up the Rim record to 2/28. This morning, instead of going to the McGill Tim Horton’s, I went to the shop on the corner of University and Sherbrooke.
-I hope to make some butterscotch pinwheels later this evening. It seems that I haven’t made these in a few months, which is unfortunate as they are quite tasty.
-The ‘Mustache and Cleavage Party’ at Hot Squad Headquarters (Nicole’s apartment) was a success. It was amazing to see how many guys grew rather impressive mustaches for this event. I had expected only a handful of actual mustaches, but was surprised to see that most guys had genuine facial hair. With all the mustache action I can’t say I even noticed the cleavage, and whether or not there was much.
-Tomorrow about 12 library students, including myself, will be going curling for a few hours. It seems that I will be skipping one of the team. It should be fun.
-I think I should go and eat some more of lettuce free salad.
-With a change in strategy I have now managed to get my Roll Up the Rim record to 2/28. This morning, instead of going to the McGill Tim Horton’s, I went to the shop on the corner of University and Sherbrooke.
-I hope to make some butterscotch pinwheels later this evening. It seems that I haven’t made these in a few months, which is unfortunate as they are quite tasty.
-The ‘Mustache and Cleavage Party’ at Hot Squad Headquarters (Nicole’s apartment) was a success. It was amazing to see how many guys grew rather impressive mustaches for this event. I had expected only a handful of actual mustaches, but was surprised to see that most guys had genuine facial hair. With all the mustache action I can’t say I even noticed the cleavage, and whether or not there was much.
-Tomorrow about 12 library students, including myself, will be going curling for a few hours. It seems that I will be skipping one of the team. It should be fun.
-I think I should go and eat some more of lettuce free salad.
Friday, March 23, 2007
A Few Quick Notes 81
-Today has been a pretty nice spring day here in Montreal. While there is still plenty of snow on the ground things are generally pretty pleasant. The only problem seems to be that there is some run-off accumulation at some corners. I am hoping that it will stay like this so that either tomorrow or Sunday I will be able to take my unicycle out for a quick ride.
-I am now 1/27 on Roll Up the Rim. It seems that I might want to try changing the location of my purchases, especially on the weekend as I don’t really enjoy the Saturday and Sunday staff as much as the weekday staff.
-On Sunday afternoon about 12 of us will be curling for a few hours. It seems that I will be one of the most experienced curlers there. It seems that I will be responsible for giving people a bit of an introduction before we start (it seems this way because I volunteered to do this). The kink in the game is that we will be playing with three teams, kin-ball style. I am looking forward to skipping my foursome to victory, though I am not sure that I can afford to buy drinks for two losing teams.
-Tonight is the night, the mustache and cleavage party. For the past month or so I have had my mustache in anticipation of this event. The only problem is that during this month I have grown attached to my mustache. I might have to keep it for beyond tomorrow.
-Back to work tonight, another chance to keep people in clean glassware.
-Today I made a pretty big lettuce and leaf free salad. My salad contained chopped carrots, chopped celery, and chopped red onion. As I don’t eat vinegar, my salad dressing was comprised of lemon juice and olive oil with a few herbs and spices. With two corned beef sandwiches this turned into a very satisfying lunch.
-The pigeons keep coming back to the roof across from me. This really impresses me as there is a pretty intensive construction project ongoing. We will have to see what happens in the future though as their favoured brick structure is no longer available.
-I am now 1/27 on Roll Up the Rim. It seems that I might want to try changing the location of my purchases, especially on the weekend as I don’t really enjoy the Saturday and Sunday staff as much as the weekday staff.
-On Sunday afternoon about 12 of us will be curling for a few hours. It seems that I will be one of the most experienced curlers there. It seems that I will be responsible for giving people a bit of an introduction before we start (it seems this way because I volunteered to do this). The kink in the game is that we will be playing with three teams, kin-ball style. I am looking forward to skipping my foursome to victory, though I am not sure that I can afford to buy drinks for two losing teams.
-Tonight is the night, the mustache and cleavage party. For the past month or so I have had my mustache in anticipation of this event. The only problem is that during this month I have grown attached to my mustache. I might have to keep it for beyond tomorrow.
-Back to work tonight, another chance to keep people in clean glassware.
-Today I made a pretty big lettuce and leaf free salad. My salad contained chopped carrots, chopped celery, and chopped red onion. As I don’t eat vinegar, my salad dressing was comprised of lemon juice and olive oil with a few herbs and spices. With two corned beef sandwiches this turned into a very satisfying lunch.
-The pigeons keep coming back to the roof across from me. This really impresses me as there is a pretty intensive construction project ongoing. We will have to see what happens in the future though as their favoured brick structure is no longer available.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Free Books
As I have mentioned before, occasionally at McGill one will find a free book box near the Redpath Library. This tends to be one of the highlights of my day. I have found all kinds of good stuff there.
One of the things about this box that I like in particular is that I am willing to pick up all kinds of things that under normal circumstances I would not consider buying. I have picked up some John LeCarre spy novels, some J. D. Salinger, some Dickens, among many other things.
Yesterday, I was pleased to find an Oprah Book Club selection and a copy of The Merchant of Venice on my way to class. As I was returning from class I came across the weekly Wednesday jackpot, several full bins of free books.
After just a few minutes of searching through these bins I came across a book whose title and cover page I thought that I recognized from an episode of Wonder Years. The book in question is Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex – But Were Afraid To Ask (EYAWTKASBWATA) by David Reuben.
Once I returned home after class I started to flip through EYAWTKASBWATA, as I too have questions that I am afraid to ask. I immediately surprised to find some of the chapters titled as they were. It seems that “Frigidity,” “Male Homosexuality,” and “September Sex” are chapter titles that I wouldn’t expect to find in a book published today.
More importantly, the content was something that I didn’t really expect to find. Most importantly, this guy has never heard of Viagra. His entire “Impotence” chapter needs to be re-written. Another chapter in need of a major re-evaluation is the one on “Male Homosexuality.” In this case there are too many problems to point out here. I would only recommend reading it as a historical document representing the mood of the 1960’s and certainly not as an information source. If one is gay this book would make one more afraid to ask than before.
Hopefully the quality of today’s other two finds will be higher.
One of the things about this box that I like in particular is that I am willing to pick up all kinds of things that under normal circumstances I would not consider buying. I have picked up some John LeCarre spy novels, some J. D. Salinger, some Dickens, among many other things.
Yesterday, I was pleased to find an Oprah Book Club selection and a copy of The Merchant of Venice on my way to class. As I was returning from class I came across the weekly Wednesday jackpot, several full bins of free books.
After just a few minutes of searching through these bins I came across a book whose title and cover page I thought that I recognized from an episode of Wonder Years. The book in question is Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex – But Were Afraid To Ask (EYAWTKASBWATA) by David Reuben.
Once I returned home after class I started to flip through EYAWTKASBWATA, as I too have questions that I am afraid to ask. I immediately surprised to find some of the chapters titled as they were. It seems that “Frigidity,” “Male Homosexuality,” and “September Sex” are chapter titles that I wouldn’t expect to find in a book published today.
More importantly, the content was something that I didn’t really expect to find. Most importantly, this guy has never heard of Viagra. His entire “Impotence” chapter needs to be re-written. Another chapter in need of a major re-evaluation is the one on “Male Homosexuality.” In this case there are too many problems to point out here. I would only recommend reading it as a historical document representing the mood of the 1960’s and certainly not as an information source. If one is gay this book would make one more afraid to ask than before.
Hopefully the quality of today’s other two finds will be higher.
A Few Quick Notes 80
-Today wasn’t all that bad, though it wasn’t that great either. It became unpleasant this evening once black ice started to form on the sidewalks and streets. Hopefully I won’t have to deal with this on my walk to school tomorrow morning.
-I am now 1/25 on Roll Up the Rim. Clearly I am doing something wrong as the normal distribution rate is 1/9.
-I had to spend several hours in the library this evening. My goal was to find materials related to youth computer game playing in libraries. In many ways I was pleasantly surprised at how much I found. Previous searches have been much less successful. Part of my success must be attributed to using the thesaurus properly, something that I learned how to do in a recent class.
The unfortunate side of things is that many of the articles that I found are not available at McGill. Inter-library loan (ILL) requests had to be filed.
The ILL process at McGill was not fun. I was quite tempted to just forget about it. They have some kind of online system that brings together users from Bishop’s, Concordia, and McGill. The downside of the system is that you can’t search by journal title, you don’t get a request form that is specifically designed for the type of work that you would like, and it assumes that the user has more knowledge than is likely.
-Earlier today I booked my flight to St. John’s. I will be heading back on the evening of the 19th, and arriving early in the morning of the 20th. If the flight is on time I will even have enough time for a quick trip down to George Street for a few rounds.
-I have to work tomorrow and Friday. Between these two shifts I need to do a serious amount of schoolwork.
-I made another batch of cornbread today. It seems that I am really hitting it hard.
It is kind of funny that I made cornbread today because I was too lazy to go back to the store. I wonder if most people would have the opposite experience?
-I am now 1/25 on Roll Up the Rim. Clearly I am doing something wrong as the normal distribution rate is 1/9.
-I had to spend several hours in the library this evening. My goal was to find materials related to youth computer game playing in libraries. In many ways I was pleasantly surprised at how much I found. Previous searches have been much less successful. Part of my success must be attributed to using the thesaurus properly, something that I learned how to do in a recent class.
The unfortunate side of things is that many of the articles that I found are not available at McGill. Inter-library loan (ILL) requests had to be filed.
The ILL process at McGill was not fun. I was quite tempted to just forget about it. They have some kind of online system that brings together users from Bishop’s, Concordia, and McGill. The downside of the system is that you can’t search by journal title, you don’t get a request form that is specifically designed for the type of work that you would like, and it assumes that the user has more knowledge than is likely.
-Earlier today I booked my flight to St. John’s. I will be heading back on the evening of the 19th, and arriving early in the morning of the 20th. If the flight is on time I will even have enough time for a quick trip down to George Street for a few rounds.
-I have to work tomorrow and Friday. Between these two shifts I need to do a serious amount of schoolwork.
-I made another batch of cornbread today. It seems that I am really hitting it hard.
It is kind of funny that I made cornbread today because I was too lazy to go back to the store. I wonder if most people would have the opposite experience?
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
A Few Quick Notes 79
-Today was another beautiful winter’s day in Montreal. The temperature as reported by Environment Canada seemed to be a little lower than it actually felt. It seems that Nithum’s prediction was really quite early.
-I am now 1/24 in Roll Up the Rim to Win attempts. This is a horrible record. I just can’t figure out what I am doing wrong. It seems that all kinds of people get two or three wins right off the bat.
-Earlier tonight when I was talking to my mother on the phone she passed a piece of information that she acquired from Shawyer. It turns out that an anagram for my name, Cameron, is ‘Romance.” This was pretty good news as far as I was concerned.
-The election in Quebec is less than a week away and I have not yet received a single flyer or knock on my door. I know that I can’t vote, but I still want to at least pretend to campaign in the Ghetto. Also, I would take the opportunity to try and learn a few things about Quebec politics.
-Yesterday before class I made some cornbread. Today while doing my laundry I made some hummus.
-This looks as though it is going to be a rough project season. It has been building up slowly and will crescendo in a few weeks. Hopefully I will be able to make it through without too many problems. One of these assignments is due tomorrow afternoon.
-I have to work on both Thursday and Friday of this week. After work on Friday I will be attending a “Mustache and Cleavage” party, hence the mustache.
As the mustache has been endearing itself to me I am not sure if it will go on March 24 as originally planned. Maybe it will have to stay around for at least a few more days.
-Over the past few days I watched the third season of a reality TV show called ‘Beauty and the Geek.’ This show was surprisingly watchable and disturbing.
-I am now 1/24 in Roll Up the Rim to Win attempts. This is a horrible record. I just can’t figure out what I am doing wrong. It seems that all kinds of people get two or three wins right off the bat.
-Earlier tonight when I was talking to my mother on the phone she passed a piece of information that she acquired from Shawyer. It turns out that an anagram for my name, Cameron, is ‘Romance.” This was pretty good news as far as I was concerned.
-The election in Quebec is less than a week away and I have not yet received a single flyer or knock on my door. I know that I can’t vote, but I still want to at least pretend to campaign in the Ghetto. Also, I would take the opportunity to try and learn a few things about Quebec politics.
-Yesterday before class I made some cornbread. Today while doing my laundry I made some hummus.
-This looks as though it is going to be a rough project season. It has been building up slowly and will crescendo in a few weeks. Hopefully I will be able to make it through without too many problems. One of these assignments is due tomorrow afternoon.
-I have to work on both Thursday and Friday of this week. After work on Friday I will be attending a “Mustache and Cleavage” party, hence the mustache.
As the mustache has been endearing itself to me I am not sure if it will go on March 24 as originally planned. Maybe it will have to stay around for at least a few more days.
-Over the past few days I watched the third season of a reality TV show called ‘Beauty and the Geek.’ This show was surprisingly watchable and disturbing.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
A Few Quick Notes 78
-These past few days have been pretty winter-like. On Friday night we had a pretty reasonable batch of blowing snow, something that held over until yesterday. While today was it bit warmer, it was still definitely winter, with plenty of slush as evidence.
-Celery dropped in price from $2.99 to $1.29 at Lobos. This is great news for me as I eat celery more than just about any other vegetable, maybe even potatoes. I was beginning to wonder if I would have to cut back because of the high prices. Because of this great news I doubled my purchase, I am now the proud owner of two bunches of celery (well, one and a half).
-How about a Vokuhila to go with my Oliba?
Or in more standard English, how about a mullet to go with mustache?
My friend Thomas passed these two terms on to me from Germany. Both of them are derived from the longer and fuller form of the terms. This is key information, if you ever go into a barber shop remember to say ‘nein’ if you hear ‘vokuhila.’
-The Thomson House St. Paddy’s Day Party was a success in my eyes. As far as I can tell the main negative part of the evening was the Francophone/Anglophone fuelled bar fight. Fortunately this wasn’t a big fight and was interrupted quickly.
-Over the past few days I have started to listen to “When We Was Boys” by a Crowd of Bold Sharemen. This seems to be a song in support of Newfoundland nationalism, lamenting Newfoundland’s perceived loss of independence and reliance on Government.
-For the past few months I have had battery problems with my digital camera. In late summer, I purchased some very expensive disposable batteries for my camera. These batteries lasted until January of this year. Since then I have been using a mish-mash of disposable and rechargeable batteries, none of which have been very satisfactory.
It seems that the disposable batteries that I purchased yesterday came pre-depleted, while the rechargeable batteries that I have don’t last much longer.
This is annoying because it limits the functionality of my digital camera. For instance, it was of no use in documenting my celebration of St. Paddy’s day yesterday. I guess there are two solutions, either buy expensive disposable batteries or buy expensive rechargeable batteries. It is unfortunate that both of these solutions mean spending money.
-Celery dropped in price from $2.99 to $1.29 at Lobos. This is great news for me as I eat celery more than just about any other vegetable, maybe even potatoes. I was beginning to wonder if I would have to cut back because of the high prices. Because of this great news I doubled my purchase, I am now the proud owner of two bunches of celery (well, one and a half).
-How about a Vokuhila to go with my Oliba?
Or in more standard English, how about a mullet to go with mustache?
My friend Thomas passed these two terms on to me from Germany. Both of them are derived from the longer and fuller form of the terms. This is key information, if you ever go into a barber shop remember to say ‘nein’ if you hear ‘vokuhila.’
-The Thomson House St. Paddy’s Day Party was a success in my eyes. As far as I can tell the main negative part of the evening was the Francophone/Anglophone fuelled bar fight. Fortunately this wasn’t a big fight and was interrupted quickly.
-Over the past few days I have started to listen to “When We Was Boys” by a Crowd of Bold Sharemen. This seems to be a song in support of Newfoundland nationalism, lamenting Newfoundland’s perceived loss of independence and reliance on Government.
-For the past few months I have had battery problems with my digital camera. In late summer, I purchased some very expensive disposable batteries for my camera. These batteries lasted until January of this year. Since then I have been using a mish-mash of disposable and rechargeable batteries, none of which have been very satisfactory.
It seems that the disposable batteries that I purchased yesterday came pre-depleted, while the rechargeable batteries that I have don’t last much longer.
This is annoying because it limits the functionality of my digital camera. For instance, it was of no use in documenting my celebration of St. Paddy’s day yesterday. I guess there are two solutions, either buy expensive disposable batteries or buy expensive rechargeable batteries. It is unfortunate that both of these solutions mean spending money.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
A Few Quick Notes 77
-Today was a beautiful day in Montreal. Things started off a little overcast if I recall correctly, but had brightened up by the time I left school. Though while things were getting brighter they were also getting cooler. It is now a few degrees below zero for what seems like the first time in days. My hands are actually not functioning correctly because of the low temperatures.
-I am now 1/18 at Tim Hortons. What is it with my playing style that is just not working. Maybe a more aggressive strategy is called for.
-A big project is due tomorrow. While I don’t really like it, I think one major edit more and I will call it a day. Or maybe an edit with some content based additions. I really need to make sure that I have been consistent (meaning covered the same content in my tables as in my prose).
-I have been eating a pretty fair number of vegetables in the last few days. It seems that during this upswing my meat consumption has really dropped off. To rectify the situation I think that I should go prepare myself the chicken breast that I have in my fridge.
-I am now 1/18 at Tim Hortons. What is it with my playing style that is just not working. Maybe a more aggressive strategy is called for.
-A big project is due tomorrow. While I don’t really like it, I think one major edit more and I will call it a day. Or maybe an edit with some content based additions. I really need to make sure that I have been consistent (meaning covered the same content in my tables as in my prose).
-I have been eating a pretty fair number of vegetables in the last few days. It seems that during this upswing my meat consumption has really dropped off. To rectify the situation I think that I should go prepare myself the chicken breast that I have in my fridge.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Delinquent blogging
I've been waaaay too slack with my posting. Tomorrow would be a month since my last post. As I'm out of practice, and I'm supposed to be somewhere else in 12 minutes, I'll make this quick.
I had an excellent trip and I made it back safely, three weeks ago today. In the past couple days especially, I've been spending much less time on my computer. I had be trying to spend less time surfing the web, but that lead to more game playing, especially cribbage. Most importantly I haven't been spending much time at all on facebook, which I'm pleased with, but it also means I haven't posted any pictures recently.
In terms of real news in my life, I've been accepted into the PhD programme here. I've also been offered funding from the department, which isn't as much as I'd like necessarily, but it's enough to live off of. I should hear from NSERC by the end of March.
Academically, as opposed to paperwork in academia, I should really get cracking on thesis research. However, I've been cluing up some work from the summer and David Pike (from MUN) and I should be submitting a paper soon.
I'm off to trivia at the Grad House now. Dal had a referendum recently about some issues that concerned the Grad House. The referendum didn't pass and it may be that the GH is only around for another year. The president, Tom Traves, had threatened to knock it down (and not replace it) if the referendum didn't pass.
I had an excellent trip and I made it back safely, three weeks ago today. In the past couple days especially, I've been spending much less time on my computer. I had be trying to spend less time surfing the web, but that lead to more game playing, especially cribbage. Most importantly I haven't been spending much time at all on facebook, which I'm pleased with, but it also means I haven't posted any pictures recently.
In terms of real news in my life, I've been accepted into the PhD programme here. I've also been offered funding from the department, which isn't as much as I'd like necessarily, but it's enough to live off of. I should hear from NSERC by the end of March.
Academically, as opposed to paperwork in academia, I should really get cracking on thesis research. However, I've been cluing up some work from the summer and David Pike (from MUN) and I should be submitting a paper soon.
I'm off to trivia at the Grad House now. Dal had a referendum recently about some issues that concerned the Grad House. The referendum didn't pass and it may be that the GH is only around for another year. The president, Tom Traves, had threatened to knock it down (and not replace it) if the referendum didn't pass.
A Few Quick Notes 76
-Today was another relatively warm day in Montreal. According to the Environment Canada 24 hour trends graph, we were above freezing all day.
If things continue like this we will be out of snow in no time. The problem is that it does not looks as though things will continue like this, snow is being forecast for the end of the week.
-My losing streak at Tim Horton’s ended today. I am now an impressive 1/16. The good thing is that I won a coffee, which I will re-invest in a new losing streak.
-My mustache is doing well. You may recall that it is a horseshoe mustache and a soul patch. Talk about classy.
Amazingly, the longer it stays the more I appreciate it. As far as I am concerned it is a serious step up from the beard in terms of looks, but a serious step back in terms of maintenance.
-I have too much boring work to do.
-It looks as though I will be going back to St. John’s for the summer. If anyone knows of any high paying part-time evening and weekend jobs please let me know, I will be looking to supplement my income. Another goal for the summer is to do some reading (though this will not happen to the same degree that I would like it to).
-Boring work has really helped my dedication to blogging.
-I should make some more cornbread, the batch I made yesterday is gone already.
If things continue like this we will be out of snow in no time. The problem is that it does not looks as though things will continue like this, snow is being forecast for the end of the week.
-My losing streak at Tim Horton’s ended today. I am now an impressive 1/16. The good thing is that I won a coffee, which I will re-invest in a new losing streak.
-My mustache is doing well. You may recall that it is a horseshoe mustache and a soul patch. Talk about classy.
Amazingly, the longer it stays the more I appreciate it. As far as I am concerned it is a serious step up from the beard in terms of looks, but a serious step back in terms of maintenance.
-I have too much boring work to do.
-It looks as though I will be going back to St. John’s for the summer. If anyone knows of any high paying part-time evening and weekend jobs please let me know, I will be looking to supplement my income. Another goal for the summer is to do some reading (though this will not happen to the same degree that I would like it to).
-Boring work has really helped my dedication to blogging.
-I should make some more cornbread, the batch I made yesterday is gone already.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
1st Annual Library Olympics
While in class yesterday I realized that GSLIS needs some kind of organized library sporting event. My initial desire was to have this take place at the end of the term, though it now seems that there isn’t enough time between now and then.
My new idea is that this can serve as part of the orientation process next September. Teams could be comprised of first and second year students. If we get really adventurous would can invite teams from libraries around Montreal, and maybe even from the University de Montreal library school. I guess I have to be careful to make sure that this doesn’t get out of hand or too complicated in the first year.
Possible events:
Book truck races – take a loaded book truck through a course without losing any books. This can be done either individually or in the style of a relay. The other main question seems to be whether or not it should be done head to head, or against the clock.
Shelving races – each competitor would be given a pile of books and have to order them correctly on a shelf as quickly as possible. I am not sure if this would be timed, or whether it would have to be done in a certain period of time.
Head to head ready reference – two people would be seated a computers, each with an data projector. A judge would read a ready-reference question and the two competitors would have to try to find the correct answer as quickly as possible.
Story telling – competitor would have to read/present a story to the audience. The judging panel, comprised of children, would determine the winner.
Costume (Traditional or Theme) – Just before the awards ceremony there would be a costume competition. People could either enter the traditional librarian group or the themed side of the contest. In the traditional category competitors would be judged on such things as tightness of bun, thickness of glasses, and comfort level of shoes. The themed category would be a little more open, basically as long as it could be in some way linked to books or libraries. An example that was suggested today that would fit this category would be “book worm.”
Speed Cataloging – Competitors would be given something to catalogue as quickly as possible. An experienced cataloger would then judge it.
Shushing – competitors would be given situation and then have to provide the appropriate ‘shush.’ An example might be that a patron is on a cell phone in a silent area, or two children are talking.
Suggested events that may never get off the ground:
Book burning – reduce your book to ashes the in the shortest period of time. The concerns regarding this one are rather obvious; one knows that librarians can’t be trusted with matches.
Pimp out your book truck – mainly because we have a shortage of book trucks and this may take too long. If you are interested in seeing a pimped out book truck then check out the latest issue of Unabashed Librarian.
Suggestions for further events are welcomed, particularly if they are archive or knowledge management themed. Also, suggestions for scoring and competition structure are also welcomed.
My new idea is that this can serve as part of the orientation process next September. Teams could be comprised of first and second year students. If we get really adventurous would can invite teams from libraries around Montreal, and maybe even from the University de Montreal library school. I guess I have to be careful to make sure that this doesn’t get out of hand or too complicated in the first year.
Possible events:
Book truck races – take a loaded book truck through a course without losing any books. This can be done either individually or in the style of a relay. The other main question seems to be whether or not it should be done head to head, or against the clock.
Shelving races – each competitor would be given a pile of books and have to order them correctly on a shelf as quickly as possible. I am not sure if this would be timed, or whether it would have to be done in a certain period of time.
Head to head ready reference – two people would be seated a computers, each with an data projector. A judge would read a ready-reference question and the two competitors would have to try to find the correct answer as quickly as possible.
Story telling – competitor would have to read/present a story to the audience. The judging panel, comprised of children, would determine the winner.
Costume (Traditional or Theme) – Just before the awards ceremony there would be a costume competition. People could either enter the traditional librarian group or the themed side of the contest. In the traditional category competitors would be judged on such things as tightness of bun, thickness of glasses, and comfort level of shoes. The themed category would be a little more open, basically as long as it could be in some way linked to books or libraries. An example that was suggested today that would fit this category would be “book worm.”
Speed Cataloging – Competitors would be given something to catalogue as quickly as possible. An experienced cataloger would then judge it.
Shushing – competitors would be given situation and then have to provide the appropriate ‘shush.’ An example might be that a patron is on a cell phone in a silent area, or two children are talking.
Suggested events that may never get off the ground:
Book burning – reduce your book to ashes the in the shortest period of time. The concerns regarding this one are rather obvious; one knows that librarians can’t be trusted with matches.
Pimp out your book truck – mainly because we have a shortage of book trucks and this may take too long. If you are interested in seeing a pimped out book truck then check out the latest issue of Unabashed Librarian.
Suggestions for further events are welcomed, particularly if they are archive or knowledge management themed. Also, suggestions for scoring and competition structure are also welcomed.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Name that ‘stache
For a few days I have been wondering what type of moustache I am currently sporting. Several co-workers have referred to it as a “dirty Sanchez,” a name with which I am not enamored.
The problem is that I hadn’t been able to come up with a better name. It isn’t a handlebar moustache, I didn’t think it was a Fu Manchu, and after that my list of names ran out.
After a bit of quick research I was able to determine that it is a horseshoe mustache, with elements of a Fu Manchu creeping in. In addition to the Horseshoe I also have a soul patch under my lower lip.
The current schedule would indicate that both of these will be gone as of about March 24, 2007. If anything comes back it will likely be a full-ish beard.
The problem is that I hadn’t been able to come up with a better name. It isn’t a handlebar moustache, I didn’t think it was a Fu Manchu, and after that my list of names ran out.
After a bit of quick research I was able to determine that it is a horseshoe mustache, with elements of a Fu Manchu creeping in. In addition to the Horseshoe I also have a soul patch under my lower lip.
The current schedule would indicate that both of these will be gone as of about March 24, 2007. If anything comes back it will likely be a full-ish beard.
A Few Quick Notes 75
-Another beautiful day in Montreal. It seems that this weather is very quickly eating away at the snow reserves. If this keeps up we won’t have all that much snow left in a few days. Some rain would really speed the process up, though also make it much more unpleasant.
-As I didn’t manage to go out for a walk last night I hope to be able take one tonight.
-I am really looking forward to being able to get back on my unicycle. Hopefully I will be able to find a good patch of pavement around my apartment. Unfortunately, I didn’t really come up with a good spot this fall. Maybe I can try and find one tonight on my walk.
-My “Roll Up The Rim” losing streak continues. As I am now beating the odds I am thinking that I should try to start setting goals for myself. My first goal will be to get to 18 straight losses.
Three to go.
-During a discussion after class a classmate reminded me that I make cornbread. It was nice to have this pointed out to me as I had forgotten to make it in a good number of weeks.
Shortly after returning home from class and consuming dinner I went to work on a quick batch of cornbread. It is now cooling in the kitchen. Hopefully I will have a few pieces as I work tonight.
-Apparently McGill will not be having classes on March 26, 2007 because it is election day. Unless this is law it seems like a bit of an overreaction on the part of the university. I can’t believe that they actually need to cancel an entire day of classes because of an election. My experience with voting in Canada would suggest that it is not all that involved a process, one needs to operate a pencil for about 2 seconds.
-This morning as I was preparing for class I was listening to CBC as normal. At one point Bartleman, the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, was being interviewed by Ms. Rogers on Sounds Like Canada. One of the first things I recall hearing Bartleman say was about how all Canadians think about Muskoka as summer hangout for movie stars.
This immediately struck me as an overstatement. While I have heard of Muskoka, I certainly would not have associated Muskoka with summer recreation and movie stars. This seems to be another assumption that is based on the belief that “Canada” = “Ontario.” Sadly, this is an assumption that exists all to frequently among people from Ontario (though I should be clear that this is not common among all people from Ontario).
-As I didn’t manage to go out for a walk last night I hope to be able take one tonight.
-I am really looking forward to being able to get back on my unicycle. Hopefully I will be able to find a good patch of pavement around my apartment. Unfortunately, I didn’t really come up with a good spot this fall. Maybe I can try and find one tonight on my walk.
-My “Roll Up The Rim” losing streak continues. As I am now beating the odds I am thinking that I should try to start setting goals for myself. My first goal will be to get to 18 straight losses.
Three to go.
-During a discussion after class a classmate reminded me that I make cornbread. It was nice to have this pointed out to me as I had forgotten to make it in a good number of weeks.
Shortly after returning home from class and consuming dinner I went to work on a quick batch of cornbread. It is now cooling in the kitchen. Hopefully I will have a few pieces as I work tonight.
-Apparently McGill will not be having classes on March 26, 2007 because it is election day. Unless this is law it seems like a bit of an overreaction on the part of the university. I can’t believe that they actually need to cancel an entire day of classes because of an election. My experience with voting in Canada would suggest that it is not all that involved a process, one needs to operate a pencil for about 2 seconds.
-This morning as I was preparing for class I was listening to CBC as normal. At one point Bartleman, the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, was being interviewed by Ms. Rogers on Sounds Like Canada. One of the first things I recall hearing Bartleman say was about how all Canadians think about Muskoka as summer hangout for movie stars.
This immediately struck me as an overstatement. While I have heard of Muskoka, I certainly would not have associated Muskoka with summer recreation and movie stars. This seems to be another assumption that is based on the belief that “Canada” = “Ontario.” Sadly, this is an assumption that exists all to frequently among people from Ontario (though I should be clear that this is not common among all people from Ontario).
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Brier Results
It appears that this has been one of the most disappointing weekends in the history of Newfoundland curling. On Saturday Ms. Devereaux’s team lost in an extra end at the World Junior Curling Championship. On Sunday Mr. Gushue’s team lost in the Brier final.
Mr. Gushue’s team gave up three in the ninth to trail by four. This was a gap that his team wasn’t able to overcome.
Mr. Gushue’s team gave up three in the ninth to trail by four. This was a gap that his team wasn’t able to overcome.
A Few Quick Notes 74
-Today was a beautiful day in Montreal. As has been the case for the past 48 hours or so, the weather was a few degrees above zero. On top of this the sun has been out, and because of daylight savings time is still up. If I didn’t have so much work to do I would like to take a walk.
-“Do you self-identify with, or have ancestry as an Aboriginal person (status or non-status Indian, Métis or Inuit)?” was a questions that I faced on a survey supported by McGill today. This seems to be taking political correctness to a nonsensical extreme. What do they mean by “self-identify with”?
-A classmate of mine attended a “Newfoundland Party” last night. Apparently she met someone from Newfoundland that knows me and reads this esteemed publication. The unfortunate thing is that based on the information that I have been given I can’t quite figure out who this could be. There may be some connection to the law school, but I don’t know exactly what that is.
-My Tim Horton’s losing streak continues. Maybe this means that I am going to win something big?
-I have a big project due tomorrow. Fortunately, over the past few days my partner and I have made a fair bit of progress. We are just tidying things up at this point.
-Neil has not posted in a long time, nearing a month. I know that grad school can take a fair bit out of someone but I also know that he must have the occasional few minutes free, during which he could jot down a quick post.
-Back to school tomorrow after a nice weekend of work and sleep.
-My dinner is currently in the oven. I will be having “Chicken and Rice,” a family favourite that is basically rice, chicken pieces (in this case two breasts), celery, and cream of mushroom soup. All of these ingredients, along with a few added for additional flavour, are baked together until the chicken and rice are done. This dish should be served warm with vegetables.
-“Do you self-identify with, or have ancestry as an Aboriginal person (status or non-status Indian, Métis or Inuit)?” was a questions that I faced on a survey supported by McGill today. This seems to be taking political correctness to a nonsensical extreme. What do they mean by “self-identify with”?
-A classmate of mine attended a “Newfoundland Party” last night. Apparently she met someone from Newfoundland that knows me and reads this esteemed publication. The unfortunate thing is that based on the information that I have been given I can’t quite figure out who this could be. There may be some connection to the law school, but I don’t know exactly what that is.
-My Tim Horton’s losing streak continues. Maybe this means that I am going to win something big?
-I have a big project due tomorrow. Fortunately, over the past few days my partner and I have made a fair bit of progress. We are just tidying things up at this point.
-Neil has not posted in a long time, nearing a month. I know that grad school can take a fair bit out of someone but I also know that he must have the occasional few minutes free, during which he could jot down a quick post.
-Back to school tomorrow after a nice weekend of work and sleep.
-My dinner is currently in the oven. I will be having “Chicken and Rice,” a family favourite that is basically rice, chicken pieces (in this case two breasts), celery, and cream of mushroom soup. All of these ingredients, along with a few added for additional flavour, are baked together until the chicken and rice are done. This dish should be served warm with vegetables.
A Few Quick Notes 73
-Today was quite warm and slushy. The temperature seems to have risen quickly early this morning.
This quick change has made a mess of the large amount of ice that was starting to accumulate on the sidewalks and street corners. This problem is the greatest just up the street form me as we seem to have had a water mane break. This caused a huge amount of ice build up, which is now slush.
-It seems that Ms. Devereaux’s team lost in extra ends at the World Junior Curling Championships. They were up two going into the tenth only to give up a steal of two. They then gave up a steal of 1 in the eleventh for the loss. I was thinking they had it locked up when I saw the score after nine.
-Mr. Gushue plays tomorrow. A win by Newfoundland would be only second Brier win for Newfoundland. The first came 1976.
-As I received my tips last night and had some cash in hand I went grocery shopping today. Some of my first purchases were herbal tea. In total I ended up purchasing three flavours, two of them new to me. At Eden I purchased some Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger (my favourite) and some Stash Mango Passionfruit. At Lobos I purchased some Traditional Medicinals Organic Rose Hips herbal tea. So far I am not all that impressed with either the rose hip or mango/passionfruit.
My total is now nine flavours of herbal tea in my apartment and two in my locker at school for a total of eleven.
Most of my other purchases were either sale items or cheap produce, including a carton of fresh raspberries for a dollar.
-Today was a busy day at library school. All kinds of people, including myself, were in the lounge working on group projects. Hopefully my collection development project is nearing a completion point.
-My “Roll Up The Rim” losing streak has been extended by another loss. Maybe I will keep it going tomorrow.
This quick change has made a mess of the large amount of ice that was starting to accumulate on the sidewalks and street corners. This problem is the greatest just up the street form me as we seem to have had a water mane break. This caused a huge amount of ice build up, which is now slush.
-It seems that Ms. Devereaux’s team lost in extra ends at the World Junior Curling Championships. They were up two going into the tenth only to give up a steal of two. They then gave up a steal of 1 in the eleventh for the loss. I was thinking they had it locked up when I saw the score after nine.
-Mr. Gushue plays tomorrow. A win by Newfoundland would be only second Brier win for Newfoundland. The first came 1976.
-As I received my tips last night and had some cash in hand I went grocery shopping today. Some of my first purchases were herbal tea. In total I ended up purchasing three flavours, two of them new to me. At Eden I purchased some Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger (my favourite) and some Stash Mango Passionfruit. At Lobos I purchased some Traditional Medicinals Organic Rose Hips herbal tea. So far I am not all that impressed with either the rose hip or mango/passionfruit.
My total is now nine flavours of herbal tea in my apartment and two in my locker at school for a total of eleven.
Most of my other purchases were either sale items or cheap produce, including a carton of fresh raspberries for a dollar.
-Today was a busy day at library school. All kinds of people, including myself, were in the lounge working on group projects. Hopefully my collection development project is nearing a completion point.
-My “Roll Up The Rim” losing streak has been extended by another loss. Maybe I will keep it going tomorrow.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Losing Streak
I am now 0-12 on this season's "Roll up the Rim" contest. Maybe I need to switch up my technique, so far I have been ordering the same thing each day. The problem with changing my order is that there isn't anything else that I would really want to order.
I guess I will keep at it with the extra-large black coffees, eventually I should manage to win something, if only a muffin.
I guess I will keep at it with the extra-large black coffees, eventually I should manage to win something, if only a muffin.
Curling
It looks as though Mr. Gushue finished second in the Brier round-robin, guaranteeing him a place in the finals. Earlier in the week things weren't looking that good, I believe at one point his record was 1 - 3. Fortunately, he was able to turn things around and go on a 7 game winning streak to finish the round.
His first play-off game will be tonight with the finals on Sunday.
A Newfoundland team is also competing at the World Junior's. It looks as though Deveraux's team has made the playoffs in that competition also.
It is an odd experience to see people against whom I used to curl at the top of the game. One dosen't expect this sort of things from Newfoundland based sports teams. I guess the St. John's Curling Club after school program has some results to show for its efforts.
His first play-off game will be tonight with the finals on Sunday.
A Newfoundland team is also competing at the World Junior's. It looks as though Deveraux's team has made the playoffs in that competition also.
It is an odd experience to see people against whom I used to curl at the top of the game. One dosen't expect this sort of things from Newfoundland based sports teams. I guess the St. John's Curling Club after school program has some results to show for its efforts.
A Few Quick Notes 72
-Today is another chilly day in Montreal. At the moment it is almost -20, though with little to no wind.
According to the current Environment Canada forecast we should see above zero temperatures on Saturday and Sunday. Maybe this is the end of Winter that Nithum predicted a few days ago.
-My “Roll Up The Rim” losing streaks keeps going. I am currently 0 for 11 with no sign of things turning around. I guess “Roll Up The Rim” isn’t really targeted at me anyway, I buy the same amount of coffee each day no matter what the promotion is.
-Tefko Saracevic, a big name in the library and information studies field, will be giving a talk at McGill today. It is my intention to attend.
-Tonight is another work night at Thomson House. I think that there might be some event going on tonight, but I don’t know what that would be.
According to the current Environment Canada forecast we should see above zero temperatures on Saturday and Sunday. Maybe this is the end of Winter that Nithum predicted a few days ago.
-My “Roll Up The Rim” losing streaks keeps going. I am currently 0 for 11 with no sign of things turning around. I guess “Roll Up The Rim” isn’t really targeted at me anyway, I buy the same amount of coffee each day no matter what the promotion is.
-Tefko Saracevic, a big name in the library and information studies field, will be giving a talk at McGill today. It is my intention to attend.
-Tonight is another work night at Thomson House. I think that there might be some event going on tonight, but I don’t know what that would be.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
A Few Quick Notes 71
-Another pretty nice winter’s day in Montreal. I guess it was well below zero, though there wasn’t anything too intense to deal with. It seems that within a few days we may actually be in for some above zero temperatures.
-I had another full day today. The day started with laundry, not one of my favourite tasks. From laundry I headed on to class. From class I went to the lounge to work on a project with a partner for about four hours. From the group work I went to St. Laurent to buy some sinus medication and stop by my bank. Then it was back home, where I had some food and am back to work (though at a less intense pace).
-It has finally come to my attention that I am really in need of a haircut. While I don’t really mind long hair I don’t think that it is for me. The one very nice thing about long hair is that I don’t have to do that much and I don’t have to keep on top of getting haircuts. I guess it might end up going in time for summer employment. The downside of this would be that I will have not really experienced long hair in the way that I had hoped to because it still isn’t really all that long.
-Though we are in the midst of an election in Quebec I haven’t heard that much about it. My studies and napping have been keeping me away from my normal newspaper habit, something I am only indulging in on the weekends these days. Hopefully I will get a bit of a sense of how things will go before the actual election. Maybe I will even be as bold as to make some ill-informed predictions.
-My herbal tea consumption rate is as high as ever. I think that I must have used 5 or 6 bags yesterday, most of them after 10:00 PM.
-I had another full day today. The day started with laundry, not one of my favourite tasks. From laundry I headed on to class. From class I went to the lounge to work on a project with a partner for about four hours. From the group work I went to St. Laurent to buy some sinus medication and stop by my bank. Then it was back home, where I had some food and am back to work (though at a less intense pace).
-It has finally come to my attention that I am really in need of a haircut. While I don’t really mind long hair I don’t think that it is for me. The one very nice thing about long hair is that I don’t have to do that much and I don’t have to keep on top of getting haircuts. I guess it might end up going in time for summer employment. The downside of this would be that I will have not really experienced long hair in the way that I had hoped to because it still isn’t really all that long.
-Though we are in the midst of an election in Quebec I haven’t heard that much about it. My studies and napping have been keeping me away from my normal newspaper habit, something I am only indulging in on the weekends these days. Hopefully I will get a bit of a sense of how things will go before the actual election. Maybe I will even be as bold as to make some ill-informed predictions.
-My herbal tea consumption rate is as high as ever. I think that I must have used 5 or 6 bags yesterday, most of them after 10:00 PM.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
A Few Quick Notes 70
-Another chilly day in Montreal. Apparently, with wind chill, it is down to almost -40. While this is the official story I am not sure that it is correct, at least where I live. It was certainly cold on my walk to school today, but not as cold as it has been at other points this year.
-As of today I have had my mustache for a week. While I don’t really think that it is much of an improvement over the beard, it does get more laughs. In fact, frequently when I look at myself in the mirror, say when I am brushing my teeth, I start to laugh. It is nice to bring a smile to people’s faces.
Another nice thing about the mustache over the beard is that I seem to be scaring people a little less. It seems that many people on subway platforms felt a little uncomfortable around a tall, unshaven, scraggily haired, shorts wearing guy. As I don’t consider myself to be a scary person I didn’t really enjoy getting this reaction.
-I have been suffering from a slight cold-type ailment for a few days now. While I have been taking some cold medication I finally switched to a sinus medication and it seems to have eliminated my sinus pain. Part of the problem is that it took me a while to identify the problem as a sinus problem. Even if I don’t get better at least I will be medicated correctly.
-I should get back to work. I have to head back to school this afternoon to work on a collection development policy project. Maybe when I get back I will try to tackle my case study.
-As of today I have had my mustache for a week. While I don’t really think that it is much of an improvement over the beard, it does get more laughs. In fact, frequently when I look at myself in the mirror, say when I am brushing my teeth, I start to laugh. It is nice to bring a smile to people’s faces.
Another nice thing about the mustache over the beard is that I seem to be scaring people a little less. It seems that many people on subway platforms felt a little uncomfortable around a tall, unshaven, scraggily haired, shorts wearing guy. As I don’t consider myself to be a scary person I didn’t really enjoy getting this reaction.
-I have been suffering from a slight cold-type ailment for a few days now. While I have been taking some cold medication I finally switched to a sinus medication and it seems to have eliminated my sinus pain. Part of the problem is that it took me a while to identify the problem as a sinus problem. Even if I don’t get better at least I will be medicated correctly.
-I should get back to work. I have to head back to school this afternoon to work on a collection development policy project. Maybe when I get back I will try to tackle my case study.
Monday, March 05, 2007
A Few Quick Notes 69
-Another winter’s day in Montreal. Though it wasn’t all that cold during the better part of the day, the temperature has now started to drop. According to Environment Canada it is supposed to go as low as -24 with a windchill of -38. I am hoping that it will have warmed up a little by the time I have to head out for class at 8:40. This development also calls into question Nithum’s prediction that winter was on its way out and that spring was here.
-Next week will be a pretty brutal week for assignments. I have two due on Monday (for a total of 65% of the course mark), one due on Wednesday, and one due on Friday. The only one that I am looking forward to writing is the one for Wednesday.
-In preparing for Wednesday’s assignment I have had to read a few articles about the nature of bibliography. I seem to have fallen into the typical trap, just viewing bibliography as a listing of books. It seems that there is so much more to the field, and that this is actually seem in a derogatory way by some bibliographers.
One of the more complex areas of study is called critical or analytical bibliography. Much of the work in this field has to do with analyzing printing techniques and styles to determine the order in which various editions were printed, and by whom. Even though this sounds pretty impressive I don’t think it is for me, I think I will stick with enumerative bibliography, or the listing of books (of course by books I mean a wide range of textual materials).
-I need to do some laundry.
-Several days ago it came to my attention that Gmail has launched a new service. It seems that now one can access other email accounts in one’s Gmail account. Just this weekend I managed to have Gmail import my McGill email account. This has been quite nice, and was easy to set up. The only downside is that there seems to be a delay between the time the message is received by McGill and the time it becomes available in Gmail. A message that I received a few minutes ago seemed to have been delayed for about 47 minutes.
-For the past few days I seem to have had some kind of cold. It seems that many people in that I know in Montreal are currently suffering from a similar illness. The strange thing is that it seems to have remained stagnant for the past few days, not really getting very bad, but also not really getting any better.
-Next week will be a pretty brutal week for assignments. I have two due on Monday (for a total of 65% of the course mark), one due on Wednesday, and one due on Friday. The only one that I am looking forward to writing is the one for Wednesday.
-In preparing for Wednesday’s assignment I have had to read a few articles about the nature of bibliography. I seem to have fallen into the typical trap, just viewing bibliography as a listing of books. It seems that there is so much more to the field, and that this is actually seem in a derogatory way by some bibliographers.
One of the more complex areas of study is called critical or analytical bibliography. Much of the work in this field has to do with analyzing printing techniques and styles to determine the order in which various editions were printed, and by whom. Even though this sounds pretty impressive I don’t think it is for me, I think I will stick with enumerative bibliography, or the listing of books (of course by books I mean a wide range of textual materials).
-I need to do some laundry.
-Several days ago it came to my attention that Gmail has launched a new service. It seems that now one can access other email accounts in one’s Gmail account. Just this weekend I managed to have Gmail import my McGill email account. This has been quite nice, and was easy to set up. The only downside is that there seems to be a delay between the time the message is received by McGill and the time it becomes available in Gmail. A message that I received a few minutes ago seemed to have been delayed for about 47 minutes.
-For the past few days I seem to have had some kind of cold. It seems that many people in that I know in Montreal are currently suffering from a similar illness. The strange thing is that it seems to have remained stagnant for the past few days, not really getting very bad, but also not really getting any better.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Nuit Blanche
As some of you may know, tonight is Nuit Blanche, an all night party in Montreal. Instead of this being a traditional drunkfest, there is a surprising emphasis on family fun. One of the main elements of this evening seems to be that all kinds of museums will be free and open all night, or at least until 3:00 or 4:00. The event finally comes to an end at about 5:00 AM when a giant, free omelet is served to all of those individuals still on their feet.
My celebration (if that is the proper term) of Nuit Blanche started at Nicole’s apartment. She and her roommates had a few people over for some pre-outing food and camaraderie. Though we didn’t make it to the 8:15 flashlight tour of the Redpath Library we did make it to the kitchen utensil music at the Musee d’art Contemporainne.
The next general area was the Vieux Port. It seemed to me that the Vieux Port may have been the hub of the evening’s activities. Several concerts were taking place, as well as many other activities (including a 120 meter ice slide).
As I am feeling a little under the weather, I didn’t stay for the Silent Disco, gospel concert, or omelet. On my way home I ran into another classmate as she was making her way down to the excitement. Her suggestion was that I head to the Spectrum for the free blues show.
While I didn’t make it to the Spectrum I did head home with the intention of preparing myself some food. As I began the preparation process I turned on my radio to find that the show at the Spectrum was being broadcast live on CBC. So far I have been pretty impressed with the content, too bad I wasn’t up for a free concert.
My celebration (if that is the proper term) of Nuit Blanche started at Nicole’s apartment. She and her roommates had a few people over for some pre-outing food and camaraderie. Though we didn’t make it to the 8:15 flashlight tour of the Redpath Library we did make it to the kitchen utensil music at the Musee d’art Contemporainne.
The next general area was the Vieux Port. It seemed to me that the Vieux Port may have been the hub of the evening’s activities. Several concerts were taking place, as well as many other activities (including a 120 meter ice slide).
As I am feeling a little under the weather, I didn’t stay for the Silent Disco, gospel concert, or omelet. On my way home I ran into another classmate as she was making her way down to the excitement. Her suggestion was that I head to the Spectrum for the free blues show.
While I didn’t make it to the Spectrum I did head home with the intention of preparing myself some food. As I began the preparation process I turned on my radio to find that the show at the Spectrum was being broadcast live on CBC. So far I have been pretty impressed with the content, too bad I wasn’t up for a free concert.
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