Efficiency

Here is a post for all of you. Thanks for the resounding response to the last post and by resounding I mean I think that there were 7 different people who commented which inspired me to continue to keep on writing on here.

Today as I was taking a shower (don't get any dirty ideas kids) I realized that even though I cut my hair to really short a few weeks ago already I am still in the routine of taking far too much shampoo. And it just drives me crazy. Today I easily took enough shampoo for three hair washings worth, and this was not the first time. Imagine I have done this three times that is like nine showers worth. I just decreased the life of my current shampoo bottle by a week. This is probably something we all do all the time, but only I have the time to think about something as useless as that. But imagine this with anything else that you have, every time that you have food in the house that you let go bad. Just imagine if either you ate it before it went bad or if you didn't buy the food at all how much you could be saving.

I know everyone isn't as frugal as I am about these things, but really just think about it and be thankful that you have enough to make leftovers and let things go bad without even using. Especially around Christmas right now when I am sure everybody received something they will never use, or even never wanted and doesn't need. Let's all just be thankful for what we have.

That is what I have to leave with you all on this last day of 2010. I look forward to sharing more with all of you in 2011. Happy New Years to everyone.

Reading

So I decided I would share a new revelation that I had the other day. I know you are probably thinking that I never blog so why does it matter that I am posting something. Well I am hoping to blog a bit more often with the main intention of hopefully becoming a better writer one day. Now on to the main point.

I came to the conclusion today that an important asset in life is acquiring knowledge. No I am not talking about knowing every article on Perez Hilton's blog on the latest celebrity gossip, I'm talking about just knowing about important things, really anything for that matter. If this is true the best way to acquire knowledge is to read, so my new goal is to read... a lot. I think it is important to know things and be able to reference important events and such. So other then of course your standard history books which I will read a lot because of school I have also made it priority to also read any other book that has been deemed popular or important in the past say I dunno 500 years. Yes that is a lot of books. It just seems like the right thing to do. Anyways all the books that I am reading or have received lately are for different interests just so that I can have a vast array of knowledge when I am done. Here is a list of books that I am planning to or have read recently:

The Prince - Machiavelli

Hipster Christianity - Brett McCracken

Animal Farm - George Orwell

Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

Divine Comedy - Dante

The Chronicles of Narnia

1984 - George Orwell

And the list goes on to of course continue to read the bible more and really any other book that I may find anywhere. I just think that is important to know about things and it seems that all books even fiction have some sort of message within them somewhere that is wisdom the other has to be passed on to someone.

Now is where I incorporate you, the reader, to give your input. Perhaps you have a book that you would like to recommend. Although my list is long of books to read I hope that eventually I will be able to get to them all.

Politics

Trying to be more regular on this blogging thing to attract a following. So just a quick post here. Not a short story like the last one.

Today in politics we were talking about the prostitution case in Ontario. I'm sure most of you have heard about it. If not look it up. But anyways in our class the topic came up about the government possibly legalizing prostitution to make it more safe or something and because if it was legal it would take away the thrill of doing something illegal so it wouldn't be as prominent. And what I heard was the government wants to make money off of prostitution.

I would just like to state that I think it would be incredibly embarrassing for our country if the government sold it's soul to make money from the prostitution of women.

Deprivation of Knowledge

Hey everyone. So I'm not sure how regular this will become but maybe I will actually start blogging again more regularly, but who knows. Lately I have just had tons of thoughts on everything. Maybe it's because of school or maybe I'm just older and wiser and have more things to think about through life. So here goes.

I can't help but realize since I have been back in school how I feel so like I have been deprived of knowledge. Almost everything I learn about and read in school I wonder why no body has ever told me anything about this before. Now maybe it is just because of the courses I am taking in history, but I can't help but feel that everything in history is so important.

There are a few classes in particular that this is coming up. One is very vague I suppose you could say, but the class is called Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust and after every single class I walk out and wonder why on earth can I not even remember the holocaust being even vaguely mentioned in high school. I feel like the topic is somehow systematically eliminated from the material as if it is a dark spot in human history that need not be mentioned. People leave these embarrassing events in human history out of conversation because they are scared or uncomfortable talking about them, but really these are the moments that we need to be talking about the most.

That is the small topic.

It seems that all my other courses overlap in some sense all dealing with European History and Western Civilization. So far my favorite topic on all of this has been the Reformation. And in all my readings I have so far been most interested by John Calvin. Every time that I read about him I can not help but feel incredibly inadequate in my knowledge of really almost everything and the Bible especially.

I heard a quote one time and I can't remember who told me or who said this originally but it said. "The biggest problem with the church is that it teaches people what to think and not how to think." And John Calvin is especially critical of the Anabaptists (Mennonites fit in this) in their lack of intellect. So in this I am trying to become more intellectual I suppose and actually think about things, the topic that I have been most fascinated in is this whole predestination and idea of God's elect. All my life all I have ever been taught in church is the idea of free will to choose what we want and John Calvin essentially blows this idea out of the water saying us having free will to choose limits God's power to choose and be just. Regardless of everything my main point is that why in all my life was I just always told this idea predestination or really any other doctrinal quarrel was wrong without anyone even telling me what the other side thought or said on the topic. Really for that matter never even saying what my side ever thought or said on the topic other then that they disagree. Why do people limit the information that they give to you? Why are people so scared of giving both sides of the argument to people?

Anyways I feel like I am just ranting and going nowhere with this. However I do have a final point and thought of why I think about this. In regards to myself I am hoping to one day be a teacher, and I don't want to systematically leave out information that might cause people to think of something differently then I do. I think that teachers and professors have the most important job of passing down knowledge to the next generation, however if we only pass on our ideas that isn't moving us closer to anything, it's moving us closer to all being machines who don't know how to think for ourselves.

The Night Before

So I doubt anyone still reads this thing. And really if you don't read it I couldn't blame you. My updates have been few and far between. But tomorrow is Marathon Day, the moment I have been waiting for, for a very long time. And I think it would be excellent if all my friends came. This is obviously not the best way to reach all my friends but if you somehow stumble upon this post before Sunday morning you should come to the U of M at around 10:45 or so to watch me finish the marathon. So should be good times, come out and watch me cross an achievement of my bucket list.

Things that make you go hmmm...

Here are some things that really make me interested in what people are thinking sometimes. Here are some great situations I hope you can enjoy with me and see the ridiculousness of the situation.

1. When people are at the gym who have clearly planned to match their entire outfit. Example, today at the gym I saw some guy wearing; Nike Shoes, Nike Shorts, Nike Shirt, Nike Watch, Nike Socks and to top it off a Nike iPod holder. Girls often do this but it's more acceptable because it is almost expected.

2. People who you see at the gym everyday wearing the exact same outfit everyday. I have seen several people who always wear the exact same sweats and shirt everyday. There are two options to make this acceptable, A) You wash your clothes every day. B) You own several of the same shirts. Actually make that one, if you own several of the exact same name brand shirts it's super lame

3. To continue with the gym theme here, people who don't actually work out but look at themselves in the mirror. I thought this was something that only people my age did, but I have witnessed several people my parents age who just flex in the mirror for about an hour and then leave. These people can also be seen leaning on different machines and also texting. I witnessed a young man the other day flexing in front of the mirror just asking girls to stop and feel his arm. And You just know that guy is super cool.

4. This is one thing I will never understand. Wearing Ed Hardy. Really thats worse then wearing TapOut stuff.

Anyways but these people are still probably cooler then me, who just turns on the TV in front of me to make it look like I'm not creeping on people. Also my headphones are rarely on so I can listen in on people. Just kidding... But not really. Sometimes. Partially. On occassion.

Keeping Pace

No this is not about my marathon training although this rainy weather is really holding me back. I was hoping to go for a really long run, like half marathon length either today or tomorrow. But unfortunately this rain is keeping indoors to the gym and running on a treadmill that long hurts my knees. Oh well next day of good weather I suppose.

The main point of this blog is just to prove that I am putting in an effort to blog regularly, and today I tried to fulfill a promise of posting the MTV Cribs video but as soon as I started pulling in the video my really horrible free windows movie maker would shut down. So I don't have it. Now you can help me by giving me a better video maker to use.

Also I have lots of time to think at work while I am cleaning or doing other tasks and these are some of my thoughts lately.

1. What do Hydro workers do?

2. Suppose these two statements are true.

"It's the thought that counts"

"Actions Speak Louder then Words"

A little contradictory isn't it. I mean a thought is hardly even a word which doesn't speak as loud as an action. So clearly the first statement is fault and the thought does not count.

3. Really what on earth do Hydro workers do? They make city workers look like they are working hard.

So Chew On That!

Training

So this might come as a shock to a lot of you but I have actually been training for the marathon, because I am actually going to run it. I started with a 7.1 mile run, and decided if I could do that with no training at all I was in good enough shape to start training this late.

Run 1: 3.3 Miles - 25 Minutes

Run 2: 7.1 Miles - 1 Hour 19 Seconds

Run 3: 3.1 Miles - 28 Minutes

Run 4: Sprint Training for 30 Minutes

Run 5: 3.1 Miles - 25 Minutes

Run 6: 6.2 Miles - 54 Minutes

Not to bad I think, plus there has still been your typical physical activity that I partake in such as soccer practices, floor hockey and biking as normal transportation as much as possible. Anyways today was the last run and it was great because I just knew I could keep going for sure so it felt pretty great. I have also been stretching much more and drinking a ton more water. So far I feel it's gone pretty well. Hopefully going to go for a 14 or 15 mile run this Friday or Saturday.

Also this past weekend I was in Minneapolis with my boys Manny and Andrew going to see our married friend Tom. And there was a going away party in the biggest house I have ever seen/ been invited into in my entire life. There will be a video coming soon, since naturally we decided to video tape as much of the house as possible MTV Cribs style.

Marathon

So I have not updated in over three weeks now. But I promise this will change now that exams are over. Not that I was writing exams before when I was never blogging. But let me just give a little update.

Went to Vancouver. Great Wedding. Saw old Friends. Rode the Skytrain. Saw the torch. Studied. Wrote Exams. Sat on a Patio. Worked. Played Soccer.

That one word stuff seemed like a good idea until I got started. Anyways the main purpose of this is for those who have not heard yet, I have decided to run the marathon this year! Started with a little 7.1 mile run to see how the ol' body felt and overall not to bad. Have been biking to most places and also taking several shorter runs since then. All feels good other then the right calf muscle is a bit tight. But I am fairly committed.

Anyways thats all I have to say. Also went to limelight on Saturday, and easily in the top three nights of my life. So fun! I don't know why I'm going to school I could for sure just be a the leader of a rap group like Run DMC or something.

What a Weekend

So this past week has been not the greatest week ever, you know with school winding down and the start of the spring working season things can really add up and get really busy. But there has been more stuff going on on-top of this and it all added up this weekend and I am just done with it.

A little while ago I realized that my dishwasher had stopped working, it was a little upsetting but I figured I can make this work, my roommate is out of town but his dad is an appliance repair guy so he can fix it when he gets back. Then a few days later I realize that the stove and oven are not working, this is starting to get a little bit strange, quite a coincidence that it would all happen at once like that. And you know even at this point I wasn't overly upset because I figured it would be fixed eventually.

Then I am cleaning some things and I was moving some mail around that was for the Landlords and I find a notice that was not in an envelope... Turns out or hydro was being limited because the bills were not being payed by our landlords. Now this really upset me, when it was just a coincidence and I figured it would just need to be a wire or something fixed then it was fine, but there was a limit on our electricity for something that was agreed was the landlords responsibility to pay. Anyways it just all added up and was way too much for one weekend, and I have been relatively upset about it since. Especially when it turned out this evening that my dryer was not working either. So I am currently living with no stove, oven, dishwasher or dryer. Looks like I will be microwaving a lot more often.

Well Vancouver on Sunday, so at least I have that to look forward to.

Keys

Something I wrote during my class today on what happened to me this morning. And my thoughts on the issue.

So today I drove to school so I could drive to a volleyball tournament later on in the day. When I got to school I went to pull the keys out of the ignition and they were stuck. Not to fret (this has happened before) I just went to start the car again because the key usually pulls out the second time. And when I go to turn the key, it does not even turn. So my key is now stuck in my car and it won't turn. Luckily my car is old enough that it actually has a different key for the door, and another key for the ignition, so I lock the door and hope that when I get back at the end of the day the car will just work. Now I am currently thinking that the only thing that could make this situation better is if I get back to my car and I see a ticket on my car. And I open it to read "I was going to give you a ticket but looks like your in enough trouble already."

I got back to my car and there was no ticket, and I got my car to start. Although now when I open the door my car always beeps as if the key is always in the ignition. It's not, but w/e the joy of the 91' Ford Escort.

2012

So I have never seen the movie 2012, and really I am not all that interested in the subject of the world ending in 2012. But the other day some guy at work told me he had seen the movie and started asking me what I thought about it. I let him down nicely and told him I think it's a load of garbage. Really I just don't know that much about the whole 2012 thing other then the Mayan calendar ends so that means that the world is obviously ending then.

Anyways this guy at work then proceeded to tell me all about these random facts about the first civilizations of the world and all this stuff that scientists discovered, and about how it has been scientifically proven that the world will actually end in 2012. Basically just a load of BS.

But this got me thinking about the end of the world. And really when the world ends weather it is in 2012 or not, does it really matter? I mean most people believe that the world is going to come to an end one day. Weather you think it's because of an earthquake, hurricane, tornado, the earth flipping upside down and us all dying. Heck I dunno. Or if you think it ends when Jesus comes back, the point is people think it's going to end no matter what you believe. But really are you going to change your life dramatically because you think it is going to happen on one day or another. Hopefully people are just given'r with life weather they think the world is ending tomorrow or in three years from now. Thats all I'm saying.

Relief

So I just finished my exam and I am now killing some time before I head over to work on a group project. And I just want to say that you know how you get that feeling of relief after you finish an exam, or after something is done that you did not want to deal with. Well I have that right now and it feels great, not just because I am done but also because that was probably one of the best exams that I have ever written, and I am so proud of myself. I feel like I spent my time wisely this past week studying my face off and that it wasn't a big waste. And I just wanted to share with you that it feels great, and I feel better then relieved.

Stayed tuned for next week when I find out that I still didn't pass.

Killing Time

So these past two stories have taken me a little bit longer then I wanted to post on here, but I still need to post these two situations that happened to me in the past week.

1. Last Sunday at church at Riverwood I was sitting there listening to the sermon and the pastor starts talking about how one of the prophets was supposed to love a prostitute. And he starts saying how this prophet would love her and she would go off and keep sleeping with other guys and come back expecting the same love from him. Then the guy next to me who I had never met leans over and says "Sounds like most women." Then everyone who was around me that heard this was suddenly looking around thinking, did that really just happen? It was awesome.

2. So lately my car has been doing this thing where the driver side door doesn't unlock very often or at all for that matter. So I have to open the passenger side door and reach across and unlock the driver side and then walk around. So the other day I am at superstore and the lady in the car next to me is parked way to close but I still need to get in from the passenger side, and luckily for me the lady parked next to me was wanting to get in her car at the same time, so we have this awkward moment where I unlock the driver side door and then walk back around the car. And she gave me just the dirtiest look ever as if I just wasted like 15 seconds of her life. But after that look guess whose car alarm went off and couldn't turn it off? I will give you a hint: My 91 Ford Escort does not have a car alarm. Ya thats right her car alarm went off and she couldn't turn it off, I for sure got the last laugh in that one!

F*&%'N MOVE IT!

So a few weeks ago I was driving along down Henderson Highway, just minding my own business. I was in no rush at all just on my way home from work. I am nicely positioned in the central lane listening to some music, when suddenly out of nowhere I hear this blaring of the horn. I look up to see no the light ahead of me isn't green so I am not being motioned to go. But I keep on looking around to see what is going on as it is clearly a very violent and loud horn. Then when I look to the curb lane I see some lady coming just racing down the lane, but has time to lean over the wheel and yell at me using both hands! Ya she yelled with her hands. And I still to this day have no idea why she yelled at me or what I did. I looked around after and I was nicely in the centre of my lane. Anyways this happened probably almost a month ago now and not a day goes by when I don't wonder what I did to make that lady so upset. If you know please inform me.

Also lately at University it seems there are more and more people wearing their sunglasses inside. And I know a thing or two about being cool in university and you don't wear your sunglasses inside. So please take them off. It's polite and it's not uncool. See what I did there. . .

Not Average

So my past few posts have been about how my life is average but this next post is going to be about how I took a fairly average situation and made it awesome.

So a bunch of my friends and I were out at the Kings Head for a friends birthday, and we are upstairs just enjoying some fairly subpar music. Actually the music was quite horrible the band members ranged in age from about 15 - 70 I'm pretty sure, although I guess he must have been 18 but could have fooled me. Regardless this music is going on and our group is hanging out and listening maybe even pulling off some sweet kickdancing moves here and there when suddenly we notice this couple at the bar just given'r. Making out and he is feeling her up and everything, right at the bar out in the open.

So I say to my friend, "I bet you could grab that guys ass and he would not even notice." We all laugh and he doesn't do it. Finally we are about to leave and I have to find out if I made a true statement, would buddy notice? So we are leaving and I go in for the back rub moving down to the squeeze and pat of the rear end of this stranger. I keep walking not looking back to find out. But I hear from a friend it turns out that he did notice. And he apparently proceeded to eye me down the whole walk to the stairs waiting for me to turn back, but I did not.

Anyways that's how I made a seemingly normal situation awesome!

Habit

So it has come to my attention that all people generally like things to be the same even the smallest things we feel more comfortable if nothing out of the ordinary happens. And as for myself I like to think that I thrive on those awkward moments where things don't go as planned and you can tell the other person is uncomfortable but unfortunately there are still some very small things that can just throw me off my game. See excerpt from my diary (phone) from earlier today entitled late.

Late

Today my business class got out a little bit early so I took sometime in the hall to sit on my computer and then I proceeded to go to my next class just a tad bit later then usual. And because I was there late (not late for class, just later then usual I need to enforce) I could not sit in my usual seat, in fact I can not even sit in a seat near where I sit. I failed at the only goal I had while going to class today. I can just not concentrate in class right now on the far side of the room it is way to far away from the fire escapes.

That is all, I really should be a writer for my life is average, because every time after I read this stuff I realize that no one would ever care about any of this.

Dear Diary

So today at school I started taking notes on things that happen. Mostly just as an excuse to show off my iPhone but none the less I took some notes in there and I would like to share them with you. There are three shorts exerts today and hopefully I will continue to take note of these events to share with you.

1. So we are learning about human resources in business class. And about four slides and 15 minutes into the presentation the prof has shortened Human Resource to HR. And as soon as this happens some guy in the back lifts his hand and says, "I am not sure if I am missing something but what does HR stand for?"

2. So today in class I finally realize the most amazing thing ever. My profs name is Mr. Rodgers. And I immediately imagine this very large prof of mine wearing a different cardigan every day. Wow that would be amazing. I also just realized this is probably the perfect story for "My Life is Average"

3. Today in business class again the same guy who asked what HR stood for managed to make another unintelligent comment. We are taking notes from a slide show and there are usually little exerts from the text put in the slides. Eventually a full slide comes up straight out of the text book with page number and everything. Right away Mr. Rodgers (haha) says "This is in the text you don't need to write this down." And right away buddy asks "Can you zoom in so I can write this down?" Yup the zoom is in your text book big guy.

So this is what I thought of during school today, hope you enjoyed.