Just some breathing room.

As Grindy so kindly reminded me this evening, while we were watching a tough win for Ottawa at his place, I have been neglecting my blog for a week. Really, it's all a matter of priorities. During blogfest, my priority was to try and pull off a full 28 days of blogging. I met success, and so I was able to move on. In fact, I met success, plus a day. This past week my priorities were spending time with TheWife™, watching hockey, working, and sleeping. I also dabbled a little bit into Space Colony, and continued on with my ChinesePod studies. As such, the blog suffered. The blog came close be being an absolute ZERO priority for me in March. It's a nice thing to have waiting for me, but with the current schedule, it's far removed from the number one slot.

It was good to see Isabel again, after four years. If you don't remember, Isabel was my former roommate in Nanning. She was passing through Toronto on her way to BC to plant trees for three months in the middle of nowhere. Strange how things seem to pick up where they left off. As a roommate, she pretty decent. Wasn't uptight about anything, and wasn't a slob. Makes for a good living arrangements. We actually spent some time in Chinatown, and ate dinner at a local authentic eatery.. delish. I guess when you go through life events of this magnitude with someone, you become like extended family for life.

Just killing time.

I've decided to move my 38Gigs of mp3s from my external drive to my local drive. I'm still waiting. It's taking quite a while, really. I went through all my RSS feeds and even commented on a forum and yet I still find time to write this blog entry.
It's scary to think that a 30gig iPod wouldn't be sufficient for me MP3 needs.

I played Space Colony a little more last night. Well, actually, I think you could say quite a bit more. It's been a long time since a game completely killed my time senses. I got so involved that the world around me wasn't really there anymore. That kind of freaks me out.

As you can see, I've reworked the layout a little bit to compensate for ChinesePod's recent version change and how it effected posting their lessons other people's blogs. It went from a fairly unobtrusive oversized button to something the size of YouTube movie. That kind of annoyed me, but I guess we'll all have to deal.
Speaking of ChinesePod's recent version change (to V3).. I have to say that I've learned to rather like it-- or at the very least I like where it's headed. They've introduced a bunch of new tools for their premium subscribers (such as myself) that will allow for lesson scheduling, status of your lessons, as well as an awesome upgrade to the personalized vocabulary lists. Trying to figure out some of these new features, as well as trying to compensate for what it did with my old lesson lists was a bit of a challenge. I'm managed to work my way around them and have things set up the way I want them.

I thought I'd actually take the day off considering I just finished my blogfest but.. well.. you know. So I guess this makes 29.

And so it ends. (28 of 28)

28 Days later, and I still haven't been attacked by zombies. Despite what you might think, this completely sucks. I want to flex my zombie stomping skillz. I digress.

So it appears that my 28 days hasn't gone out with more than just being personally rewarding. If you didn't scope the comments from yesterday, a one Cassidy Summers, left his thoughts. Knowing that a complete stranger is regularly reading your blog does give you a certain warm and fuzzy feeling inside. A warm fuzzy I had completely forgotten about. I feel like I may be emasculating myself. I'll stop now.

What can $5 buy you? In Canada, it can buy you a few things. 4 Medium Coffee's from Tim Horton's. Maybe a Whopper Combo from Burger King. Some fresh veggies. So there are a lot of things you can do with $5. I'll get more to the point. Today, for $5, I made my first re-entry into the PC game market with a title called Space Colony. With a 4.5 rating from GamePro and a review line of "if you liked the Sims, you'll love Space Colony," I figured it was worth the bet. And so far, I think I'm winning.
You see, I was actually inspired by Grindy's purchase of Freedom Force Vs. The Third Reich. Having the ability to install Microshaft Winblows on my Mac, I figured I might as well make use of it.. so back to cheap PC gaming it is. So far the game is pretty good. Not too hard yet, although when I dived in head first I got way confused.
Now that I'm slowly making my way into the game, its a lot more manageable.
I must make sure this doesn't cause me to lose sight of my Language goals.

So, this wraps up my first blogfest. Perhaps I'll do another in a few months-- after summer is only a memory. And don't worry, I'll continue to blog. I might even try to keep it almost daily. The best way to keep the juices flowing is to keep writing, after all.

DaXiong Vs. Lakeshore (27 of 28)

I lost. You know I did. No one ever wins against traffic.
The City of Toronto misinformed it's citizens and visitors. The Gardener Expressway wasn't supposed to be closed until this evening, you lousy bunch of liars. As such, I spent an entire hour on Lakeshore Boulevard, and let me tell you, it wasn't pretty. It blows my mind how the City of Toronto was once considering doing away with the Gardener. It wrecks havoc on the city's traffic. It simply cannot be done, unless there's a ready alternative to go to.

It's hard to believe that I only have one post left for my blogfest. It means that a month has nearly passed buy, and all I have to show for it is (or what will be) twenty-eight posts on my blog. Has it done anything for my hits? Absolutely not. I'll be able to make a more accurate assessment in a couple of days. Like I said though, it looks pretty bleak. It's okay though, as this was more of test of my own ability to blog consistently (bad). Most importantly though, is that I didn't burn myself out.

One more thing. I just finished watching Curse of the Golden Flower, and other than it being filled with eye candy (in the forms of colour and every woman breasts looking like they're going to pop out of their garments), it really wasn't that good. Disappointing giving the cast. Proof again that a cast does not a movie make.

I need a bib (26 of 28)

I woke up this morning to find a gob of drool stuck in the corner of my mouth. You know you're old when...

As sad and depressed as this makes me, I think I've grown out of Nine Inch Nails. I was giving the album a short walk-through, but nothing caught my attention. Nothing made me think "hey, this is a great album." Maybe I'm just not in the right mindset to truly enjoy the album, but it's also my thinking that I never will be.
I downloaded the initial single "Survivalism" on March 13, and although it wasn't bad, it didn't grab my attention. Trent Reznor was a staple when I was in high school and college. It would appear that I have mellowed out considerably. What has happened to me? Arghhh!! I used to cool. Not really.

No comment. (25 of 28)

When the Lion King made it's way as a musical, I could understand the reason behind it's success. The movie was a musical after all. Easily adaptable with fancy costumes. It worked.
Later, with the success of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, something strange happened. Someone thought it would be a great idea to turn that into a musical as well. Mistake. It bombed. I originally thinking something along the lines of "what the hell is wrong with those people."
In the latest news, Spiderman is now going to join the ranks of musical. WTF? Sure, I enjoy Michael Bublé's rendition of the Spiderman theme song, but that doesn't mean that a musical would work. As a matter of fact, I believe that it won't. I think this surpasses the stupidity behind the Lord of the Rings musical. Come on, people. Think about how ridiculous this idea sounds. This just proves that we're running out of good ideas for entertainment.

It finally came back. (24 of 28)

The Sun. Yes. It's finally here.
Quick factoid. The average amount of actual sunshine at this point in the month of April is somewhere near the 130 hour figure. This year, try 33. Have you been kind of moody lately? I think you now may know why.

I worked from home today. A bolt wasn't tightened, and my belt came off almost as soon as I hit the 401. I lost power, and the engine temperature went through the roof. Amends were made on the part of my mechanic, as well as fixing some extra stuff that needed to be done with no charge. I bare no grudge against him. Honest mistake. So after working from home for two days, it's back to the office tomorrow with a very quiet sounding car.

The reason why I actually have a moment to type this is because someone else, namely Grindy, is having more than his share of car difficulties. His clutch blew up. Poor guy. He just can't win when it comes to automobiles.

A message to the Ottawa Senators. You must win tonight. If you play a game on Sunday, I will not be able to watch it from the comfort of my home or someone else's. I will be at work. This will not due. So you must win. Do it.. for me.

**UPDATE**

They heard my pleas. They wanted me to not miss a game. I feel loved.

Another Day at Home. (23 of 28)

I worked from home today. It was awesome. Funnily enough, I believe I'm more productive at home than I am while at work. I seem to get a lot more done without even trying. Going to work is just too distracting I guess.

No need to discuss hockey today. We all know how it's going to end. If you think it's with a Sens loss, you're sadly discombobulated.

I don't talk about television very much, if at all really. I might mention a show here and there, but I really don't get into it. I'm not going to get into it now either. I will discuss, however, the joys of watching television in high definition.
I downloaded last night's episode of House, as I was more interested in the hockey game. How strange it was to see it in 16:9 on a high definition screen (ie my computer). I can understand why people have spent countless millions on these new high def televisions.. televisions I will not buy until I have to. That what friends are for. So now the question to me is, do I watch House on Tuesdays, or do I download it the following day and enjoy it in a better quality. Quite the conundrum.

Time to rebuild. (22 of 28)

I'm not going to knock those who scrapbook. I think bloggers are scrapbooking in their own way. Especially when the start adding photos and other various media.

Today I decided to rebuild my .mac account. I really haven't done much with it since I came back from China, although I think much has happened. More photos were taken. Overall, I believe this to be a worthwhile project.
Also influencing this decision is the inclusion of iWeb that came with my shiny new iMac. It would be a shame not to utilize all this wonderful software that came with this machine. Time to put on my game face.
So I've re-collected most of my photos since 2002 and will likely begin work on my new photo collection during the week.. or the weekend. It's kind of hard with the Sens in the playoffs.

Segue.

Sens played like shit tonight. However, due to a fluky goal at the beginning of the game, that gave them enough to get their win and lead the series 3 -1 with their 2-1 victory tonight over the Pens. I can't take too many victories like this though. Don't know if my heart can take it.
A truth was revealed however. My wife must be suited up and watching the game for a victory to emerge. The only game Ottawa lost was when she decided not to watch the entire thing. Yes, the entire life of the Sens '07 playoffs lies with TheWife™. Now accepting donations.

Last.Fm does it again (21 of 28)

When Section-9.ca was still operational, both TheRoss and I had a listing on our respective blogs for Last.Fm that showed what we had most recently listened to. Since we mutually decided to close it's doors, my Last.Fm account has remained pretty dormant. Despite my lack of usage, AudioScrobbler has continued running on my computers since that time. AudioScrobbler is what told Last.Fm what we were actually listening to.
Today I was curious, so after months of not clicking my over I finally made my way there. What I found was something new (for Last.Fm) which was also very welcomed by my part. It's result you can see above you. In the vain of MySpace, Last.Fm has gone one up and created a "radio" channel that you can embed into your blog. Instead of just one song, you can listen to many a track from right here. What's better is that it's absolutely free. Free is good. I'm curious how Last.Fm actually makes money, but at the same time, I don't really care. I'll just abuse it's service while it's there.

In completely unrelated news, I added Super Mario Bros. to my virtual console on my Wii. I remember that game being somewhat difficult the last time I played it. It seems so much easier now. I still like it though. It's so nostalgic. I'm going to look into other, more recent titles. By more recent, I mean N64 recent. StarFox 64 and Zelda: Orcana of Time are on that researching list. The Virtual Console really was a great idea on Nintendo's part.

One more week to go in the Blogfest. Damn, how time does fly.

They have the thirst (20 of 28)

There isn't a much better way to celebrate a birthday in April, then with a solid playoff victory. TheRoss is indeed the lucky birthday boy. I, am for the first time in a long time, am impressed with the grit and determination of a one Daniel Alfredsson. I've never seen him play his heart out before. Giving hits, taking hits, and scoring during the playoffs is certainly unusual for this team Captain. I think he finally realized that if he didn't step up this year, his days would be numbered. Also important to note is that Ottawa is blocking shots. Another sign of grit and determination. I love it. Playoff hockey really is the best hockey.
My eyes are burning. I believe I may have to step away from the computer, shortly. It's been a long week with too many early mornings and staying up later than I should. I'l be sleeping in tomorrow, and by sleeping in I mean anything past seven in the morning. I haven't been up this late since Wednesday, and I can feel it. How depressing. Bah well, only one more week of this and then I can stay up a little later again.
Let's see if I can stay awake long enough for The Apprentice.

Shh. He's sleeping. (19 of 28)

Grindy is passed out on my futon. My blogging rival sleeps as I blog away. How interesting.

So the Sens lost this afternoon. Wasn't a shocker. Quite the opposite really. I had a feeling they'd lose this one given the slaughter that was their first game. This time the Pens had something to prove. It was a close nail biting game. We'll get him tomorrow in Pittsburgh.

I had an odd feeling today driving to work. I determined that I miss being surrounded by mountains. How? Driving to work, there were clouds off into the distance, covering the horizon but up above there was nothing but clear sky. With the morning twilight, it appeared as though there were clouds in the distance, and I had the surreal feeling of familiarity of that type of scenery. There's something mystical about mountains that I grew to really enjoy when I was away from home. Now that I'm away from them, I miss them. méi bàn fă(没办法). Nothing you can do.

Ode de Traffic (18 of 28)

Tarnished by the automobile, people
Race up and down the lanes with no regard or
Attention to those around them.
F**K you I yell at them as I
Flip that trucker the bird.
Is it a wonder I come home grumpy when I get
Cut off no less than six times a day?

Stop and go. Stop and go. Going from the right lane into the merging lane to simple get a few cars further ahead in traffic--this is something else I see daily on the Gardiner. I know this is useless ranting. You've all seen it before, I'm sure. It just confounds me how people don't seem to care that this only compounds the problem instead of helping it.
Other things are annoying me, too. I won't get into it. I gotta learn how to rant in Chinese.

I don't know what's worse. (17 of 28)

I am completely bagged.. but for a good cause. The cause of watching the Crosby kids getting slapped around the Ottawa Senators. What a sweet, sweet sight that was. Woah. Too much brain power used to come up with the Crosby kids.

Does anyone still have Easter chocolate left? I have yet to polish it off. Slow and steady wins the race.

Nintendo released the full version of Opera 9 for the Wii, and it is much, much improved. I'd like to see it support more internet goodies for video. As it stands, I still can't watch CTV internet Video on Demand. Strangely enough, I can watch Global. Not sure what the differences are in their database of codecs and what you can find in a normal computer system, but it does limit it. Aside from that though, it's not a bad internet browser if you feel like being lazy on the couch.

Okay. Brain foggy. Must stop thinking now.

It begins tonight (16 of 28)

The question for the cup truly begins today. With my West Side team not in the playoffs this year, my only hope lies within Ottawa. Analysts are saying that the odds are in Ottawa's favour, but I believe it's going to be a tough fight. I think it's going to come down to goaltending. The Pens owned us in the shoot-out, but now that it's playoff time the shoot out doesn't matter. I hate the shoot-out anyway. Rayzor has the edge statistically this year, but it's playoff time. Stats on longer matter. It's gonna be an edge of your seat ride folks--don't kid yourselves.

Apparently winter still has one last gasp in 'em. Possibility of 15 - 20cm of snow. On April 11-12. Global warming my ass. Segue.
Something that's been on my mind as of late are the ideas of climate change and global warming. I don't know what to believe anymore. It's like the ongoing arguments about butter vs. margarine or the argument of coffee being good or bad for you.
In the corner to my left, you have Al Gore preaching about an aquatic Armageddon. On our right, we have the nay-sayers that say the amount of climate change we've seen over the past 50 years is completely natural and within norms. Who do be believe? Should I drink coffee, or shouldn't I? Is that margarine on my bread going to kill me? Unfortunately the debate isn't like a clear cut law. Neither side lie about the facts, they just interpret them differently. Science isn't perfect.

Technorati Tags: Hockey, NHL, Ottawa, Pittsburg, Playoffs, Climate Change

w00t! More Camp! (15 of 28)

Continuing on with the other part of V3's theme, I've added a bit more camp to the background. Yes, the repeating background image has made it's way to LRP. Before you start complaining, think about the alternative. I actually toyed with the idea of the stationary background. You know the one I'm talking about; the one where the text scrolls but the background doesn't. That just f**ks me up. I couldn't look at that everyday. I just couldn't.
One thing I didn't consider-- is this scaring away anybody? If it is, bah well. S'all good.

If you haven't already joined the Facebook group I'm an Ottawa Senators Fan, get on the ball. NO WAGON JUMPERS. There's no in-between. Got it? Good.

One of the things I enjoy about my iMac, is that it's still semi-portable. You can't throw it into a bag and go anywhere with it, but to move to other locations within the household isn't that big of a deal. As such, I'm actually sitting at the kitchen table with a view of my backyard. It still ain't pretty outside, but at least the snow is pretty much gone. Besides, I'm sure I could use the daylight. Don't want to become a basement hermit.

In preparation for m HSK stuff to come in, I'm going to make an effort today to begin studying and writing the Simplified Chinese characters-- like learning Mandarin wasn't already difficult enough! It's all good though, because it appears that I've fully committed myself to learning it. It's just a shame that it's taken me so long to do it.

Technorati Tags: Chinese, HSK, iMac, Mandarin, Learning

I did it. (14 of 28)

Point of note - this marks the halfway mark of my blogfest. Number 14! Wowza.

So I've taken the plunge. I've ordered an HSK kit, which I now know means Hànyǔ Shuǐpíng Kǎoshì (汉语水平考试).
A couple of interesting points to note about HSK test preparation. One, you'll be hard pressed to find anything related to the HSK at any of Canada's high profile online bookstores. Amazon.ca and Chapters.Inidgo had SQUAT. I found this rather disappointing, as I'm all for ordering from within Canada. Strangely enough, Amazon.com did carry HSK books but only in a limited selection.
Second point to note is that this was my second ever eBay purchase, although it wasn't an auction purchase, but an eBay store purchase. More interesting is that this purchase will be coming from Shanghai, China. The kit itself was something like $8CAD. It's actually costing me more to ship than it is to buy.
The negative part of all this is mainly the amount of time I'll be waiting before it gets here--likely 2-3 weeks. Then I will be knee deep in Chinese study..right in the middle of the playoffs. Can't wait to begin my mandarin cursing at the bad officiating!

Sens play on Wednesday. Remember to wear your jerseys!

Technorati Tags: Chinese, HSK

It's that time again. (13 of 28)

I've very thankful for my weekends. I know I deserve them. I definitely know I want them. Finally, it is mine once again.

Leafs are out. Hurrah! I thought New Jersey might decide to just let the Islanders win just to knock the leafs out.. but then it goes to a shoot-out. Who knew?

I'm grasping at straws tonight. I really am.
I'm thinking about studying to take the HSK. I can't remember what the acronym stands for, although I can tell you what it actually is. The HSK is basically a test that determines your level of Chinese ability. It's this test that you need to pass in order to study at a Chinese university. I don't want to study at a Chinese university, I just think it would be a very interesting thing to have under my belt. I figure I've been studying Chinese pretty much daily anyway, why not take it a step further.
We'll see what happens.

Now that it's weekend time, expect something a little more blog-wise.

Technorati Tags: Chinese, My LIfe, Weekend

Why have Children (12 of 28)

There are a lot of people around me having children. These kinds of life changing events seem to come in large batches, I've noticed. For a period of time, people are all graduating/landing their first career job. Then everyone is getting engaged, followed by the obvious marriage, and then finally it's children. I seem to be surrounded in that cloud for the moment.
While I was giving birth to something a little more nasty in the bathroom, I started to ponder the reasons of why people have children. Of course there's the whole need to propagate the human race sort of reason. We've been doing it for a long time, and I don't see that ending anytime soon. Then I couldn't help but wonder if we do it because having children is something that is expected of us. In a way, it's a type of brainwashing.
From the time we're very young, we're instilled with the notions of the previously mentioned life steps that we must go through. Girls have their dolls, and the boys have their manly toys (building tools, cars, war toys, etc). We play house. That's right, we become Jr. Families. Then in 15 - 25 years we take all that practice and apply it, just like we're supposed to. Life carries on.
We are lead to believe that getting married and having children will bring joy to our lives. And for some, I believe joy is brought to their lives with the induction of the little ones into their now grown up families. On the other hand, there are parents who shouldn't have been parents to begin with, and don't give their offspring the proper attention and direction they need. The cause of this.. usually "the accident" followed by the guilt of not wanting to abort. The whole propagation process fills all areas of the spectrum.

Myself, I don't know if I'll have children. No hard commitments have been made by TheWife™ and I either way. I don't want to have children because "we're running out of time." If we have children, I want to make sure it's for the right reasons, namely that it is something we want to take the full responsibility of doing, and not because it's expected. Then again, me taking this stance is probably something that isn't unanticipated.

Technorati Tags: Life Steps, Children, My LIfe, Pregnancy

What is there to say? (11 of 28)

So while the rest of y'all is at home enjoying your dull Good Friday, I'll be at work. Rest assured, I will be working at work as well. We've lost a good 16 man hours this week as one of my colleagues is taking an extended long weekend (started yesterday). Yay. More work for me. As if last weekend wasn't enough. Aīyōu. This week shouldn't be as bad as last week, regardless, I'm expecting the worst of the worse.
Once again, since I find myself either working, driving, winding down, or getting ready for work, I don't have much time for my own thoughts to surface; particularly when writing. So short and sweet it is. Number 11 is history.

Technorati Tags: blogging, work

A couple of changes. (10 of 28)

Look up. Wa-a-a-a-a-y up. Yeah, different title spread. Is this significant? In theory, yes. To help aid me in my acquisition of Mand-Chinese language, I thought it may be beneficial to incorporate my learning into an already existing hobby. I might use this space to help remember new vocabulary I've learned, meanwhile also introducing you into some of the things I'm doing. I haven't completely settled on how I'm going to do this yet. I also know that I'm not the best at follow through. Hopefully I can make this all work out, which would also continue to give me fervour to keep blogging.
So now that I've given you all the heads up, I best prepare for work. I thought I'd be a little different this time and post BEFORE work instead of scrambling to do so afterward.

ZaiTian

Technorati Tags: blogging, Mandarin, Chinese

Social Networking FEVER!! (9 of 28)

So yeah, I like facebook. A lot. I check back with it several times a day. It might be a fancy. It might be ongoing. We will see.
Over the past four or so years, I've been flooded with email requests to join others in multiple social networking websites. Since I've been bitten and infected with Facebook, my defences finally came down and I started investigating these requests and taking them a little more seriously. So seriously, in fact, that I signed up for two of them. I thought I'd give you a brief overview of what I found.

Hi-5 - Slow. Oh lord is it slow. Slower than MySpace. Thankfully, it appears to be easier to navigate. Like Myspace, it offers you the ability to put a favourite song on your profile page. The issue with this is that it's very difficult to to actually do. I tried. I failed. Granted, I didn't spend to long trying to figure it out because frankly, I didn't care.
Like other social networking sites, you can upload videos and photos etc. for others to see. You can also let it scan your address book in hotmail to find other users already using their service, but it stops there.
All and all, I didn't like it. I will likely never use this account... ever!

Tagged - This one is evil in its entirety. The setup process seemed fairly simple. Put in your vital stats and a password...and then you have to sift through 263 free gift offers to complete the process. Not only that, the system is just ugly. There also wasn't an easy way to look for a bunch of people.
Tagged sucks. Don't use it.

I have yet to develop a taste for MySpace. I find that it's still clunky and unintuitive. It's also kind of juvenile, which makes it good for the under 20 crowd. I'm on it, but I don't really use it.

So there you have it. Facebook wins, hands down. Join us.

Technorati Tags: Facebook, Hi5, Review, Tagged

Ugh (8 of 28)

I saw the bright light today, as I faced my own death trying to bike up that hill. Yes friends, it kicked my ass. My legs aren't killing me yet, but they will later. This, I already know.
A while back I bought the first season of Babylon 5. Yes, I'm fully aware that this was an über geek show. In a way it was very much like Dr. Who; great story line and horrible acting. The story itself was set to be a five year story, that almost didn't make five years. The ended up wrapping up most of the story by the end of season four... just in case.
I didn't end up getting into the series until near the end of first season, as I thought it was a cheap rip-off of Deep Space Nine. My ignorance was replaced with the knowledge that Babylon was pitched to Paramount before the concept of DS9 had been even thought of. As it turns out, DS9 was a high budget Babylon 5. I digress. Since I got into the show so late, I missed out on some of the back stories that lead into the epic scale battles which came later in the series.
Despite the acting and bad special effects (which were improved on later), the first season of B5 is actually a pretty great thing, considering the amount of money they didn't have. I'll undoubtedly pick up the rest of the season, especially given the price-tag for 950 minutes of entertainment. If you like true Sci-Fi and never got involved in B5, I'd suggest that you make up for your past transgressions and pick it up.

Technorati Tags: Babylon 5, Review, Season 1

Are we lonely? (7 of 28)

I don't know if I'm a product of Douglas Coupland novels, or whether I just happen to sing the same songs that he writes about.
Currently on the table is Shampoo Planet, which came after his first breakthrough novel (and still my favourite), Generation X. I'm not going to review it. I'm just letting you know the ingredients of my brain stew. The second ingredient would be none other than the Strange Birds disc (see day 2). These two prime ingredients are what's writing this post for me.
As a people, we are constantly trying to achieve intimacy and closeness with someone. We make friends, lovers, life and/or marriage partners, etc. Yet somehow I sometimes think that despite these people in our lives, we are ultimately still quite the lonely people. That's an issue with free will. We can do anything we choose to do (consequences and all), we make our own decisions, we have our own thoughts, we lead our own lives. But having this free will and individuality also isolates us from a collective form of being. We are cut off from the feelings and thoughts of others, unless they are willing to share. Even then, you have the barrier of communication which can cause loss of meaning or half-truths.
We can keep people close to us, and we can share our thoughts and ideas. Although this may be enough for most of us, I don't think we can truly be 100% connected to anyone else. That's what makes us human. That's what makes us individuals. Is there something greater than what we are living? Something where we are never alone? To that, I have no answer. I have no recollection of ever being there.

Technorati Tags: Lonliness, Philosophy, thoughts

It's my weekend, not yours.

While the rest of you are going back to work, I'll be chillaxin' at home with a beer in one hand, and a Wii-mote in another. It's been a stressful work week, and I'm glad it's over. It definitely a challenge this week, and I got through it. I have no beefs with it, I just hope I don't have to do it too often.

Now that it's all said and done, I can say I'm still tired. Oh, am I tired. The problem with working these kinds of shifts is that the blog fodder gets reduced to a pretty sharp minimum. I wanna have tons to say, but obviously it's hard to come up with. I think it'd pretty much be a cop-out to start talking about the daily traffic, or hockey, or even music. Sure these are all topics that everyone has an opinion on, but that also makes it way too easy. Given that I have the next three days off, I'm going to make it my mission to blog about something at least mildly though provoking. I remember a time when I would try and stir up some controversy by evoking peoples comments in regards to religion. Once again, that's become way to easy. Instead I'm going to aim for something that requires a little more thought and may even go against the grain. I may even piss people off. One thing that you must remember though; this is my blog and thus what I say here is right.

Technorati Tags: Blogging, My life, Weekend