Things that made me laugh today

Let me preface this blog post by saying that I am from Edmonton (Canadian Prairies) and I moved to Toronto (eastern Canada) in my youth. I return to Edmonton frequently, and I have often been confused as to why communication is sometimes a problem. I think I am beginning to understand and I find it amusing, because if you can't laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at?

The noun bluff (and the adjective bluffy) in reference to an aspen and willow grove typically surrounding a slough, appears to be unknown outside the Canadian prairies, whereas the eastern Canadian and international use of the term in reference to a low cliff or abutment, is largely unknown in western Canada and causes some puzzlement to newly arrived westerners in Ontario.

In Saskatchewan, the term "bunny hug" refers to a hooded sweatshirt.

Chauch: A slang term generally referring to young men who work out and attempt to dress well but are ultimately, not classy. (In 1970s Ontario, "chauch" meant attractive young women, normally heard in the expression "Nice chauch". The word was both singular and plural.)

Wikipedia, accessed Feb 18, 2008

Crap! These are only a few examples of how the language these two regions use could be potentially confusing and offensive to eachother! I.e.; the ontario man says to a beautiful woman: you are one nice looking chauch - I would love to give you a bunny hug over that bluff. Translation: "you are the least classy girl I've ever seen - I'd like to give you a sweatshirt in that grove of trees!"

HAHA!

Selfish people

Don't you hate selfish people?

The ones I am talking about aren't necessarily the ones who like to have a lot of things and do not give to charity. That is selfish, but only in one way. That the kind of self that can come from years of having nothing and I understand it. Many people in the world think only about money and possessions because it is the world we have created and it isn't exactly character defining.

The kind of selfish I really hate is more subtle. It is when a person talks about themselves for hours and never stops to ask how anyone around them is doing. When that same person can't figure out why no-one likes them. For example, if a day goes by and no-one talks to a selfish person, they might figure it is because they must have done something to deserve this treatment and pout because no-one wants to be their friend.

It is that type of person I want to smack. Wake up! The world doesn't revolve around you. Perhaps you should say hello to someone and ask them how their day is going. Selfish people expect everyone to be their friend and come to them to massage their egos, lick their fancies and tickle their nipples. I think these people don't understand how disrespectful they are to people around them and overall how toxic their personalities are.

I made a decision a few weeks ago, after a couple of my "friends" did something completely self centered and selfish, that I have no need for these type of people in my life. I know that when I was young I was like this - when I was an adolescent I treated people like shit. I realized it, though, and I couldn't keep any friends very close to me. I was oversensitive and thought that everything was about me. I wanted everyone to listen to me all of the time and paid very little time and attention to my friend's needs. I was also very focused on my relationships with men. I would ditch a friend in a millisecond, regardless of the situation, if I thought I might be able to land a man.

Women out there - you don't need to behave like this. Be good to the people around you, be good to yourselves, and a good man will respect you for it. You will find yourself surrounded by good people and happy. There is no reason to think about only yourself - although there is a good argument for making sure you come first. Be sure you don't let yourself get walked over by people without being a selfish bitch.

Ahhhh. Rant over.

Pin up of the week - Volume 2, week 7

Miss July, Alice Denham, Playboy, 1956

Rant: what is the difference between crap and crap?

What is the difference between:

Luck and playing the odds?

Happiness and a smile?

Intelligence and common sense?

The fat cat and the cool cat?

You and me?

Them and us?

Pleasure and Pain?

Some of these are such cliches I want to kick my own self for asking, but sometimes I really wonder ... how fair apart are different realities? Is perspective the only thing that keeps everyone apart, or are difference fundamental. Is it important these differences exist so that humans continue to progress? Or is it the same now as it always was? Are we just animals that create waste and continually pat ourselves on the back for coming up with more "clever" ways to do so? Is is better to be so self absorbed that one gets ahead of another? Or is it better to be a successful team player that looses their identity and ability to take credit? I keep asking myself questions like these as I move forward writing a thesis that seems like a pile of crap on top of other peoples' crap - is it all my crap? Should I take credit for it all? Who's crap is it anyways? Do I want to keep doing crap like this? Maybe I can fade into society as a craptastic purveyor of all things crappy. No-one will notice my crap blending into all the other crap out there!

Argggh!!!!

Long time no speak

Hi guys,

Sorry. I have been away because I had browser problems, which compounded into internet security problems, and vista problems and now I am just swamped with too much stuff. I am moving in twelve days. I finished a presentation today for my lab - in the nick of time. Actually, I could have done with another half hour beforehand to clean things up a bit and make sure I was a little more timely.

What I can say is that life moves forward, with or without you and when you don't keep up with it or stop to notice, sometimes the things in life that you actually want to do just don't get done. I have two list of priorities - one in order of the things I have to do, and the other in order of what I would prefer to do. Somewhere in the middle of those two lists I try to strike a compromise of how to run my life so that I am happy and well-balanced. I apologize to myself for letting things fall by the wayside, occasionally. Most importantly, I should just learn to never have lists that are so long that I have to make any compromises!

On that note, when I get settled into my new home, I will be making some choices about what stays and what goes. Within months of moving I will be letting go of many of the things from my Peteroborough life (Graduate Student Association Duties, teaching, lab work) and I will be accepting new challenges (Thesis defense, job hunting, house hunting, helping build a community learning center) and I will need to let go - will it be my blog, my art, going out dancing and shopping? Right now I can't predict the future. I can only see the many lists of stuff that tug at the minutes of my life.

Infrastructure

Word of the week and likely to stay on the minds of all Canadians for at least the remainder of the quarter:

Infrastructure