It's Etcetera, Not Exsedra!

Twice in the past week I've received e-mails from clients who misspelled the same word. "Don't pannick" and "Everyone must be in a panick" were the two spellings of 'panic' that I saw. This is one of those instances where you realize that there are far too many people in the world who don't read anymore. They know words, they've heard them, but they have no idea how to write them. Wookiee was saying that it works the other way around too; people read words that they use all the time, but don't realize what they're reading. He used the example of 'epitome', a word that so many people read but never connect to their speech. Regardless, if you don't even have the capacity to run a spell check on your correspondence...would sterilization be considered too extreme?

One Year

Today is the one year anniversary of my first post. I've been enjoying myself immensely with this blog and I have to thank Wookiee for finally convincing me to do it. Now I'm going to go pick up a heavily caffeinated morning beverage. Have a great moment of existence, and thanks for reading!

Both, You Say?

My mom just got back from a business trip in Portland and brought with her two chocolate bars for my brother and I. One was Extra Dark Chocolate, the other was Extra Dark Chocolate with Macadamia Nuts and Cranberries, and we were supposed to decide who got which one. I was very stoned and said, "Hey, wanna split them both and share so we both get both?" I think my cover is blown.

The Luck Of The Spage

Last week I was spending an evening chillaxing with Wookiee. We went out, smoked some bowls, picked up pizza and crazy bread, then settled in at my place. We were watching Green Day's Bullet In A Bible DVD and when Jesus of Suburbia came on Wookiee made an off-hand comment about how popular that song still is. I indicated that I had no awareness of such a thing, so he explained that the song is always on the radio and that he had even seen the video for it on Muchmusic. I was surprised to hear this because it is such a long song. I asked if it wasn't the nine minute long song and Wookiee wasn't sure, only that it was indeed a long one. After a few seconds I said, "Isn't it like, nine minutes and eight seconds long?" The number had just jumped into my head, how could I possibly know the length of the song right down to the second? So I checked my playlist, and lo and behold, the length was listed as 9:08. I was pretty impressed by that, but it was about to get stranger.

Later on the same night, we were watching some t.v. when I noticed my receipt from the pizza we had bought before getting to my place. The total for my food came to $9.08. Speechless, I showed the receipt to Wookiee, whose eyes widened in spooked agreement to it's coincidence. The 908 conversation had apparently started much earlier than we had originally thought.

Coincidently, two days earlier my aunt finally came through with a request I had placed months ago; to get me a copy of the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) book of games. This little booklet tells you about all the different BCLC games you can play and in it I read about a game called Pick 1-2-3. This game draws three numbers daily and if you match them, you win a prize proportionate to the amount you bet. After the numbers 9, 0, and 8 came up twice I had a feeling I should play them in Pick 1-2-3. I had only just learned of the games' existence so Wookiee and I re-read the BCLC booklet to figure out how to play the game. After we had finally deciphered the method, I firmly decided to purchase a ticket when I got to work in the morning.

When I got to the office I went to the BCLC website to see if there were any last minute instructions I could find on how to 'order' the ticket without sounding like a total knob. Immediately I noticed that something was not right. The last set of winning numbers listed was from February, and I wasn't finding any instruction on how to play the game. After a few more minutes of research I discovered the answer to the anomalies. The game, it would seem, no longer existed.

Crestfallen.

So you see, with my kind of luck, even the fated numbers lead only to disappointment.

Doing Unto Others

People in the service industry get treated like shit. Every single fucking day. Not by everyone, not by a long-shot, but by a significant proportion of the population. My current job has been the first I've ever held that didn't involve the dreaded customer. As I've mentioned before, my job contract ends at the end of May and can't be extended any longer. I'm not sure what I'll do for work at that point, but it drives me to depression thinking about having to work in customer service again. I think I'd rather live in a box than smile and thank assholes for their disgusting behaviour. WaiterRant posted the link to an excellent article in USA Today about how CEOs in corporate america do notice these bad acts and care about them. That's one miniscule victory for all decent people in the world. It's not much, but I'll take it.

04.20.06 @ 4:20

Happy 420 Day!

Overheard In The Office

Yesterday, on my way out the door to the elevator hallway, I passed by two co-workers who were in mid-conversation. All I heard as I went by them was Clara saying, "I don't control him, the monkey controls me."

Okay.

Letter to Wookiee #4

Happy Birthday!

Octopus Joints

The post title does not refer to a new style of marijuana cigarette. I can't believe I just used the term 'marijuana cigarette'. Anyway, researchers at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem have discovered that octopi can stiffen their arms at different points in order to make temporary joints to feed themselves (article). It's very cool; the octopus does it by sending waves of muscle contractions towards each other, and when they hit, a joint is formed.

It must be so amazing to be a person who discovers this kind of stuff about the world. My last great workplace discovery was that contrary to what was originally thought, Corporate Express does indeed sell flag pens. Move over, I'm about to save the world.

It Just Keeps Getting Better

Just spoke with a friend of mine from Minnesota that I've been out of touch with since the winter tour. It looks like I get to chill with him this summer at SPAC, Alpine Valley, and Gorge. Plus Halifax Steve will be joining for Gorge as well. I wonder who else will be onboard by the time the concerts roll around? It's shaping up to be an even better summer than I had originally predicted. Job or no job, I'm beginning to think I won't give a damn. If I'm still unemployed in September, I'll probably catch a ride with Brian (Minnesota) down to Shoreline in California too. There are ways for me to earn my keep.

Botany 101

Wookiee, upon seeing a potted plant by my window, exclaimed, "Holy! Is that a spider plant that’s gone nuts?"

To which I asked, "What’s a spider plant and how does it go nuts? If you explain to me those two things, then I can tell you."

Wookiee laughed and replied, "So in other words, if I knew myself, then you could tell me the answer."

Back To Sesame Street For Me

I don't know what I was doing; writing something, entering figures into a form, something like that. I asked Wookiee how to spell a word then couldn't remember what he said. So I needed to ask him which letter came next, but what I asked was, "What's the alphabet?"

Roi Math

This one is for the dmb fans. I pulled it off someone's post in a dmb forum.

good roi = good show
bad roi = bad show
X + roi = X + show
Roi = Show

Random Lyric #2

'Cause it's a good day for paying your bills;
And it's a good day for curing your ills,
So take a deep breath and throw away your pills;
'Cause it's a good day from morning 'til night.

-Peggy Lee, It's A Good Day

It's Official

I'm beyond broke. As of a minute ago, all of my flights, car rentals, and accommodations for DMB were booked through to the end of September. I will be lucky enough to see at least two shows every month from June to September. Will I be lucky enough to land a job to pay for it all? I have no idea. But at least I can start paying it off now. Ah, those blessed & evil credit cards, what kind of life would I have without them? Pros and cons abound. Now that those trip bookings are out of the way, this is my last bastion of procrastination before I break into the textbooks. One Archaeology presentation, two final exams, and three other social commitments before I finally hit the two week break between terms. Trust me, I'm not complaining in earnest. I'm too damn lucky for that.

Maverick & Scientology

Apparently if you have enough money to pay for the highest levels of alien secrets at the Scientology temple you can buy agelessness. This picture was taken of Tom Cruise (or Thomas Mapother IV) on the set of Mission Impossible 3 last year.He looks like he could walk over to another set and do re-shoots for Top Gun.

Cuba: The Cemeteries

This first set of pictures is from the Cementerio Santa Ifigenia on the edge of Santiago de Cuba. This is where Compay Segundo, of the Buena Vista Social Club, was buried in 2003 with full military honours in recognition of his achievements during the revolution. Santiago de Cuba was where the M-26-7 movement first gathered power and broke free, so there are many revolutionaries entombed here including Frank Pais, a popular former school teacher who was assassinated on the Batista's orders. Jose Marti's mausoleum is also located here. He founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party in 1892, and that was only one small achievement in his impressive life. It was in front of his tomb that I watched the changing of the guard ceremony to the sound of revolutionary marching music. It was such a brilliantly sunny day when I visited that most of my pictures appear a little washed out, and I was so dehydrated by the time I found the place that some of the pictures are obviously taken with a shaky hand and others are not even level. So here's a few that did turn out.





This second set is from the five square kilometre Necropolis de Colon in Havana. Located in Vedado, it's one of the largest cemeteries in the Americas. It was designed in 1868 to have space for well over a hundred years' worth of corpses and has a grid of streets throughout it. The most famous tomb there is that of Amelia Goyri de la Hoz and her child (Located at Calle 1 e/ F y G - which means on 1 Street between F and G Streets). She was a Havanan society woman who died during childbirth on May 3, 1901. Her baby survived her by a few minutes and was buried with her at her feet. The next year, during a routine exhumation, she was supposedly found cradling the baby in her arms. She was soon dubbed La Milagrosa (The Miracle Worker) and came to represent the power of a mother's love, working even beyond the grave. Not long after she was attributed with universal healing powers, and to this day, believers line up to engage in a ritual with strict etiquette in order to have their wishes granted. While I was there, I saw couples, individuals, families, and children all take their turn to ask La Milagrosa for help. The first two pictures are of some of those moments.

A Summer Prediction

It's going to kick ass. No bones. I just found out about 30 seconds ago that The Warehouse confirmed all 13 of my ticket requests for this summer. This means that I will be going to 13 Dave Matthews Band shows in: Toronto, ON, Darien Lake, NY, Saratoga Springs, NY (x2), East Troy, WI (x2), Charlottesville, VA (x2), Gorge, WA (x3), and New York, NY (x2). Bringing my total show viewings up to 43. Sure, I'll be out of a job in a month, but I'll be racking up the debt traversing the land and riding a giant wave of musical joy. I'm also taking a wicked Psych class this summer term and found out that a friend of mine is taking it too. I wonder who will join me in my travelling escapades this time? Regardless, I predict lots of laughs, sun, riding, and good times. So in this tiny moment between term paper deadlines and final exams, I'm going to tune it all out and bask in the glow of the glorious months to come.

Stay Away From These Sailors

One of my co-workers from finance was up here the other week telling my boss and I about a 30ft sailboat his friend just bought. My boss is a professional sailor, she and her team race weekly and have been successful enough this season to be invited to a prestigious race in Antigua. She was horrified by what we were being told about this new sailboat. Rafal was explaining that he and his friend knew absolutely nothing about sailing but were planning to just learn on the fly. By themselves. In the Pacific Ocean. This is from two people who among other things, didn't even realize that there was more that one type of sail on these boats. My boss, frightened for their safety and that of everyone who uses the waterways, immediately offered a discounted membership to the sailing club she and her friends were forming for beginner sailors. This was declined because apparently Rafal's friend is too broke to pay the few hundred dollars for the membership - but not too broke to buy a 30ft sailboat. So my boss then offered up her sailing crew for a quick one day training session to cover some basics at no cost. This was also declined because I guess they just want to figure it out for themselves. My boss, out of options, reminded him that sailing isn't exactly something you can just teach yourself, and that it's not the safest sport around, especially done their way. Rafal, not encouragingly, replied, "Don't worry, we'll have a motor boat to ram us back [to shore] if anything happens."