Boiler Room

Why is there such an emphasis on grades? The pressure to get the highest grades and do well? Does that mean you learned more than everyone else? When "university" was conceived in Paris and Bologna the teachers taught and the students learned. The professors got paid if they were good at what they did, and pelted with rotten objects if their performance was sub-standard. People paid to learn, not write assignments for grades which would decide your fate in the future world of employment. How much do we actually learn at university? A lot, but not through tests or papers, through being there! Grades don't say you have learned all you needed to learn. Much of the learning you achieve comes from your interaction with your profs, your classmates, and being in class. Maybe there needs to be some change in the way we approach post secondary education. Like having classes that award you marks for every day that you attend. If you are present in every class and participate, you get 100%. Participation could be worth 40% and attendance 60%. Unfortunately our society has grown to be very competition oriented. "If you're not first, you're last!" Maybe it's time to start another form of post secondary education. One that focuses on attending and learning for the sake of learning to make better human beings. Unfortunately we live in a society of hunt or be hunted. Survival of the fittest. Writing papers and tests teach me what? They teach me how to cram, or make stuff up to get a good grade. What did I learn from doing that? How to do things quickly, under pressure. Did I learn anything about the material I was studying? Not really. It goes in and out so quickly, there's not much time for storage. Maybe I'll start my own school. Hmmmmmmm, I wonder if it could be credible in this dog eat dog world of win or die? Well we may find out, and we not, depends how much I learn about running a school.


Remember: "I may know everything, but I can't give you all the answers!"

The Rocketeer

I want a jet pack! That way I can fly to Kingston whenever I want.
Or winning the lottery should suffice. Then I'd be flying there all the time, albeit on the airplanes.
School has started.
I have no job.
I have no money.
I'm ill.
BLAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It was always odd to me to have someone sleep in my bed.
Now it's odd to not. "I've grown accustomed to her face!" Well to all of her actually.
Hey hear the one about the nazi pope? Criticizing Canada eh?
So we allow pro-choice, and gay marriage. At least we don't sell indulgences! Wait evangelists do that, and it's legal. Hmmmmmm......I'm confused.
What's with the Afghani war eh? It's dragging on too much. Lets get all our troops out, and end it the way we did WWII....DA BOMB!
Why do we need to buy books which cost, for example, $20, when we only use one article from it, which could be photocopied for $4. Hmmmmm.....I smell conspiracy. Fuck copyright laws, it's not like I'm selling it. I'm not rebroadcasting without the express written consent of Major League Baseball and the Toronto Blue Jays Baseball club!
Hey they're forging transcripts for student visas for foreigners! Lets deport them back to their own country! Or we could just sneak them into the US where they could work as slaves like mexicans do.
I hope anyone reading this knows that I'm kidding, except for the Major League Baseball thing. I'd never retransmit one of those broadcasts. You know the rules, don't tug on Superman's cape, don't piss into the wind, don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger, and don't fuck with Major League Baseball!

Remember: "I may know everything, but I can't give you all the answers!"

Les Miserables

On my own. Pretending she's beside me.
Well it's the end of the summer.
School starts next week.
My true love is gone for 4 months.
I've never been much for teary goodbyes, but I probably lost a gallon of water and salt yesterday morning.
I'm going to miss her so much.
Strength must overcome the tears and hope must prevail.
In the beginning, 4 months seems like forever, but I'm sure it will speed by once I delve into work and school. I hope so anyway.
She needs to do the same. At least now I know there is an angel looking out for her on her journey. It's funny how things work out. Something that may have happened 7 years ago, factors into the equation now. Well if you believe in that sort of thing I guess. Maybe it was all meant to happen. If that is the case then I know it works for the best. :) It makes me think, sometimes too much, and it makes me smile.

I love you my Dah-ling!

Remember: "I may know everything, but I can't give you all the answers!"

Any Given Sunday

The summer is beginning to wrap up. BOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My ball team is in the shithouse. BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm still unemployed. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Alanna is going away soon.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I only have 6 more courses to graduate. BOOOO....I mean YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This summer has changed my life forever.
FOR THE BETTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm now headed down a path that sees me with a wonderful future.
I'm in love, and engaged to the most wonderful woman.
I got to get back into acting.
I escaped the clutches of the hotel.
I'm only 6 classes away from ending my life at UPEI.
My softball team is still in the shitter, but anything can happen on any given sunday! Fall Ball is coming up soon, and that's going to be a truer test of skills, both at ball, and drinking. "My drinking team has a softball problem!" Ain't that a great motto!?
Life is on the up and up!

That being said, I still am struggling through some issues.
1. I still don't have a job!
2. I'm totally unprepared to go back to classes!
3. My ball team doesn't get along, and will look very different next year if it even exists.
4. Most important of all, my sweetheart is going away to school. I won't see her for 4 months.
This is the best course of action for both of us. She needs to finish her degree, and I need to finish mine. We both need time to focus on school, and there will be plenty of time for us afterward. This is, however, going to be a tough 4 months. I think we can do it; I KNOW we can do it.

As for softball, I've pretty well given up on our "team" for the summer. We have too many weak links. I hope to patch those links for Fall Ball and take a good run. The Lesser Known Saints will rise again!

As we all know, on any given sunday a team can win.

Remember: "I may know everything, but I can't give you all the answers."

Four Weddings and a Funeral

Well the title needs 3 less weddings and less one funeral. That's right. It's been over a month since my last post, and well I'm ENGAGED! I never thought I'd be so lucky to find someone like her. She makes me so happy, and she loves me, as I love her, more and more each day. It might be time to leave the faerie dust behind Peter Pan. It's looking like it's time to grow up. But that's the natural course of life I suppose. Growing up. Some people never do. But as we get older we feel the need to couple up and make commitments. I never thought about the kids rhyme we used to tease each other with. Remember: "Nick and Alanna up in a tree (well in our case it was under a tree) K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Alanna with the baby carriage!" LOL! Well we are in love, and we are going to get married, not for a couple of years, but it is still going to happen. Then in a few more years, I suppose the baby carriage will be on the way. As a kid these ideas are meant to poke fun at one another. As an adult, it's something totally incredible. It makes me smile so much, and smiling is important! I'd like to note again that the baby carriage won't be coming any time soon. We're enjoying being fiance(e)s! And in a couple of years we'll enjoy being newly weds and partners. Somewhere down the road, we shall enjoy being parents :)!
Love Life is fabulous!

Remember: "I may know everything, but I can't give you all the answers!"

Shakespeare in Love

There's a void in all of us that requires filling. For some it is the call of work. To others it is the call of God. To most it is the call of love in the form of companionship. It is the void in our lives that changes us from normal people to happy people. A higher calling. I have heard that calling and have realized the great void in my heart has been filled. I am in love. Sometimes the void gets filled temporarily out of convenience, but this time the void is being sealed up tight. Lightning has struck. Twitterpation is in the air. For those who don't recognize the term twitterpation, watch BAMBI. So happiness is definitely abound.

In other news I have completed reading "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown. This story, and not the DaVinci Code would have made a better movie. I hope they do this one right, because the book is an excellent work of contemporary literature. It reads like a movie, which I think is what literature has been shaped like in the recent past. It's a money making story, and very creative. It is of course a work of fiction, but the historical references make it much more exciting. I'm not an avid reader of anything, which makes this book a really good read. Trust me, if I can sit down and read this book, it has to be fascinating.

The official opening of the 25th season of the Victoria Playhouse was last Saturday (June 24th). The show is going very well, and unfortunately only has 3 weeks left to it. I may not miss the show, but I will miss the schedule and the paycheck.

So no philosophical inquiries this time. No epiphanies of epic proportions, other than the fact my void is filled. Life goes on.

Remember: "I may know everything, but I can't give you all the answers!"

Serendipity

Decisions, decisions! I was going to leave the hotel earlier than I did. Now that I'm done, I am so fortunate I stayed two extra weeks. The reason:

When two lovers meet in Mayfair, so the legends tell,
Songbirds sing; winter turns to spring.
Every winding street in Mayfair falls beneath the spell.
I know such enchantment can be, 'cos it happened one evening to me:

That certain night, the night we met,
There was magic abroad in the air,
There were angels dining at the Ritz,
And a nightingale sang in Berkeley Square.

I may be right, I may be wrong,
But I'm perfectly willing to swear
That when you turned and smiled at me
A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square.

The moon that lingered over London town,
Poor puzzled moon, he wore a frown.
How could he know we two were so in love?
The whole darn world seemed upside down

The streets of town were paved with stars;
It was such a romantic affair.
And, as we kissed and said 'goodnight',
A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square

When dawn came stealing up all gold and blue
To interrupt our rendezvous,
I still remember how you smiled and said,
"Was that a dream or was it true?"

Our homeward step was just as light
As the tap-dancing feet of Astaire
And, like an echo far away,
A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square

I know 'cos I was there,
That night in Berkeley Square.

Yep, that pretty well sums it up. I have never been this happy. It's amazing. Something I thought I would never feel again.

"I may know everything, but I can't give you all the answers."