Quote of the Day

I am now making the November 29th "Quote of the Day" a permanent post.... make sure to check out the link!

"So, spontaneous combustion is just a Blue Angel gone bad?" -Ian Wilson

Pictures make posting fun! 

Yes, I have it... the ransom is yet to be announced...

Funny Things I Have Observed Today

Well, as of right now, I am sitting at school procrastinating getting my lab report done. Halfway done the statistics of it all and going crazy... After a bazillion t-tests and a million Chi-square test just to see if my results are statistically significant (most of which are not), I am ready to post about the real world. Well, as real as it gets while going to college. Let's start with this morning. I wake up and decide to have a shower (well, decisions aren't really made immediately after waking up. Mostly it's closer to... want. warm. shower. And somehow your body moves itself so as to obey this urge. After the shower is when actual decision making processes are accomplished.) And no, this is not a post about my shower. That would be inappropriate for a child-safe site. But a certain part of this shower I found amusing (geez, this really does sound as if it's heading towards x-rated, but I swear it's not!!). And that's the part where I turn on the hot water and turn on the cold for the bath, but the water is too hot to actually pull the thing that makes the shower run yet. So, while my foot is underneath the water, testing the temperature, I turn the cold tap slightly to make the water less hot. But it doesn't work, so I turn it a bit more... Still not working.... A bit more.... A bit more....A bit more.... I do this about six or seven times, at which point I realize that my foot is burning and I've been turning the tap the wrong way. Yes, after just waking up, I should realize that I still qualify as comatose for the next ten minutes or so. Good to remember. Then I got ready, rode my bike to school, went to class, same old same old. After that I went to ETLC to work on the lab report that I am procrastinating from doing as we speak. In ETLC I run into my old friend Josh from D.C., and we're sitting down talking for a bit, and we start talking about how funny it is that last year there was hardly anybody from DC going to U of A (~3 people we knew) and this year there's closer to ten or fifteen. So we start listing off the people, when we hear a voice behind us saying "Hey, I'm from Dawson Creek too, and that last person was my brother!!" Slightly amusing but mostly boring interlude. For the record, it was Shalynne (sp?) Sevier and her brother is my good (but slightly dorky) friend Steve. And then Josh goes to his lab and I'm working on my lab report. Then Ian surprises me (in the middle of my "hard" concentration), and tells me he's going to go shave his head, so I have to go see that. By the way, his hair was a bright shade of pink at this point in time, which you can see on his website (leave a comment, then he will be happy for my directing traffic to his site, and not grumpy for me covering his potential future post!) . I also got to help shave it (yes, they actually let me hold an electrical razor, mind you, they would obviously not know about my mention of electric razor use in the "facial hair removing" post, but Ian did and he still let me use it on him) and that was quite a bit of fun. He didn't let us keep the little pink poof in front though. Too sad. He also raised $150 for cancer research, so hurrah! for him. And I also accidently stole the yellow "Livestrong" Bracelet he got out of it (which I'm sure he'll get back eventually). And here are more pictures of strange engineering students dying their hair pink for a good cause. Well, now I think I've done enough procrastination. I need to actually do some work now or else I'll ground myself this weekend and I wouldn't want that. Right. That sounded completely sane and normal. I think I'll stop here. And last but not least: Happy Birthday Megan!!! Hope You're Having a Blast!!!

Land Before Time

Random trivia found here: the girl that played Ducky was actually murdered by her father before the original movie was released.

Things I Have Learned

Hey hey hey!

Going to follow someone else's template and go over some of the things I've learned the past three days. Got my xrays done on Monday, found out that the broken piece in my finger is most likely not gonna fuse to the bone after all.It just gets to float around in there all alone.... like Nemo without his dad, Bambi without his mother, or like Littlefoot and Petrie from the Land Before Time (okay, I think I should stop with the analogies while I'm ahead). So, the joint will most likely be swollen for at least the next six months and after maybe about a year, I can probably regain most of the mobility. Darnit. Lesson learned: Think hard about what you're getting yourself into before you fracture your joints. 'Specially if you're really fond of a particular joint... say... one typically used when writing... that would be a good joint to watch out for (NTL#1 = New Thing Learned #1). Yup. Next, I took a two-step class with my roomate yesterday, it was an absolute blast (I almost want to do it again, it was so much fun). So now I can finally two-step and do TWO spins (count them: one, two! Left and right!) with confidence and precision. (NTL#2). Or at least I will after I practice it a bit more. But it's lots of fun. Hopefully now I won’t crush so many poor toes. Oh, and on Monday I went to a movie premier, it was "Finding Neverland" and it was really good but really sad. And today I learned that hot chocolate works miracles with 6 year old girls (NTL #3). Then I went to West Ed with Nisha after and bought a shirt and a birthday present for my wonderful friend Megan. Had OPA! again, learned I have a slight addiction to greek salad (NTL #4). Also learned that bus drivers really all have their own individual preference for how you load your bike... I mean, there's only two racks, right? How hard can it be? but no, they all like it loaded differently (NTL #5). And now I'm going to bed. Because I tend to stay awake in class if I sleep before. And that's something I learned a long time ago but I guess it hasn't sunk in because I still haven't acted on that important knowledge. Final thought: I update quotes of the day and hero of the day daily (hence the name, eh?) So feel free to check them out and comment away if you like a particular one. Righto, well, nighto (<--Yes, after a while, most of my friends can tell when I'm starting to get tired, this is an important clue).

Our night out at Ori's in Camrose! From left to right, Hez, me, Beth, Tanis, Lauren, and Jess

Long Weekend

Wow, all right, time to just go over my crazy jam packed weekend.
Wednesday: Last class at 12pm. Went home, packed like mad, tried to make it out the door by 1:10 to catch a bus to the greyhound station. Just as I close the door to my house, bus leaves stop right in front of my house. Walk 20 some blocks with heavy bags and pillow to greyhound station. Very tired. Get on greyhound with 5 minutes to spare. Make it to Camrose by about 4 pm or so.
Haha, at this point I have to explain, I planned this stop in my weekend earlier in the week with my friend Beth, and we decided to keep it a secret from our other friend, Heather (aka Hez) so I could surprise her (Beth and Heather are both old friends from DC, btw). So I go find Tanis and Beth in their room in Augustana (roomates) and we take off to Heather's room and give her a good shock. An excellent start to an excellent visit!!
Then we have supper (ooooh, how I feel for poor dorm students that are forced to eat caf food every day, unless they have an adequate supply of miniwheats), and I learn how to play some non-alcoholic drinking games. Augustana is a dry campus, after all. So there's no way that trace amounts of ethanol managed to make it into everyone else's glasses... such a thing would never happen on a college campus, of all places. Then we go out to party it up at one of the clubs (Ori's).. and I'm not gonna say much there except yes, it was the most fun I've ever had at a club that I can remember. Kudos to the Camrose college boys for being a few notches above what I've found here at U of A, and good dancers to boot!....
We went western (check out the pics.. themes are commonplace, at least for my friends!!) so my theory is it might have had something to do with the magical cowboy hat. I think it has some special powers. Right, so we get in mebbe 3:30 am or so...
Next day I spend getting the grand tour of Camrose and Augustana, and then I go out with Hez and friends (yes, again!!!... till about 3:30 am... again!!!). Then I miss my 7 am bus heading for Calgary, so I leave at 2:30 pm instead, make it into Calgary at about 8:30 pm. Got lost in Calgary for a while (yes, I really can read a map!!) but eventually take two buses and two C-trains and many a long walk (once again, with heavy bags and pillow!!) and make it to my cousin's house (they were at a special ceremony at U of C). I then spend about half an hour trying to figure out how to close the garage door. Yes, that made me feel intelligent indeed. Make it into bed somewhere around midnight... around when my cousins make it home.
Next, we leave early the next morning for Medicine Hat, where I spend a fantastic 2 days hanging out with my cousins and aunt and uncle. Saw The Polar Express in theatres, I can highly recommend it, especially to watch it in theatres because it's so incredibly realistic... there's the rollercoaster-like part that had me sucking in my breath and pulling my knees up. Also, I think that Tom Hanks plays several characters in the movie, I should check that out. Anyways, I head back to Calgary Sunday night, stay overnight and get up early to catch a bus back to Edmonton... except here's the fun part. I go to Red Arrow at 6 am for their 6:30 express departure, but it's booked up and the next bus won't leave until 8 am, and it's a really slow one. I want to make it to Edmonton before 11 am or even noon so I won't miss my class, and I know that greyhound has a 7 am departure that I can make. So I walk (once again, those damned heavy bags) mebbe 25 or so blocks to the greyhound station and make it there at about 6:35 am, only to be told that the 7 am departure was moved to 6:30 am, and the next departure is at 9am and arrives at 12:30 pm in Edmonton (This I find out right after buying my ticket). Right. So, that is me taking deep breaths. Anger management, Jeanine. Take it easy. In and out, in and out.
So I stay in the restaurant at the bus depot and do a bunch of homework, so it wasn't all for naught. Take the 9 am departure and watch Swimfan which surprised me, it was actually really good. The second movie was A Cinderella Story (I've already seen it, yes, I guess I'm a bit of a dork but I love it). So I missed my class but was in a pretty good mood. Get off the bus in Edmonton and try to motor over to the bus stop to get home, but as soon as I reach the intersection across from the bus stop the bus goes by and I miss it. Somehow, the irony of this fails me. Okay, so that's my weekend story. Now I have wasted an hour of your time that you just realized, too late, you'll never have back. Too bad for you. My profile does warn everyone, however, that I am evil. You just chose not to listen.

Watch out, it's SWAT on the move!!!! 

Here's the girls another night. Do you notice the themes??? 

Random

Okay, I need to post something, anything!! to get out of this long dry spell. The Dawson Creek post was just a diversion. Right, so some random thoughts and stories:

-Yesterday my front tire on my bicycle was slashed while I was volunteering at an elementary school downtown. Had to fix that. I was unhappy.

-This weekend I had the most fun I've had going out with friends that I can ever remember. I was happy. Will post happy picture.

-I tried some Greek food at OPA! in West Ed before I left for the weekend. My old favourite restaurant in Edmonton, the Symposium on Whyte, closed this year, leaving me sadly greek foodless. OPA! is almost as good (Thanks goes out to Ian for spreading the word). Now I am happy. Late newsbreak: should be a new OPA! on Whyte Ave near Gateway Blvd. Now I am even more happy.

-Last night, I complained to Nisha that liking boys makes no sense, and is a waste of valuable time and energy. I then asked her why she wastes time on liking boys, since it is obvious we share the same dilemma. Her explanation was that opposites attract. Girls are normal, and boys are weird, so therefore, we like weird people. I found such a simple explanation to such a difficult question quite amusing. Well, that was a boring story but it really was funny at the time. Had to be there. I was pretty happy.

-On Tuesday night I stayed up late catching up on some assignments I should have done before my awesome weekend. Got about 4 hours sleep. Went to school Wednesday. Learned I completed wrong assignment. Stayed up late Wednesday night attempting to complete real assignment. Got about 4 hours sleep. Woke up early this morning, did some more volunteer work close to school before class... but I forgot my bike lock at home. Had to ride home to get bike lock. Ten minutes late for class and really tired. I was unhappy.

-While staying late today working on yet MORE assignments, a cleaning lady came into the computer lab, and when I asked her if it was okay if I stayed, she replied in French "It's okay, just make sure to make sure you throw your leftover papers in the garbage. " And I understood her perfectly, and was able to reply back. She didn't know much English, but she was surprised I knew French and we ended up talking for a good fifteen minutes in French. That made me really proud of myself, especially when I honestly thought I had lost everything I learned this year. So I was happy.

P.S. I will post soon about my weekend adventure. Stay tuned!

P.P.S. Look closely at the site... I've made some minor adjustments!!! Feel free to oooo!! and ahhhh!! or even applaud...yes, I feel special that I am learning basic html.

Dawson Creek

Okay, it has officially been 9 days since I posted anything last, and to break this long dry spell, I have to break out a post about good old Dawson Creek. This, I am doing for my wonderful roomate Nisha who has requested a post on it since I showed her the frightening Dawson Creek video (<- Yes, that's it there, it takes a while to finish downloading but it's well worth it if you really are bored and want to feel like you're dying of cancer or counting down the hours, minutes, and seconds until you get off work, like Nisha is probably doing). There are also other videos on life and commerce in Dawson Creek if you decide the first one didn't torture you enough. Actually, I really do like Dawson Creek because my friends are there, or at least a few are left. The rollerblading paths through the parks are really awesome, and there's nothing like being less than a ten minute drive to get to any part of the city. Unlike an hour and a half long bus ride to get from, say, Capilano or Clareview in Edmonton to West Ed. Ahhh... torture... unless that bus really has something amusing on it or you feel safe enough to fall asleep. I think Dawson Creek might have two city buses... I also really like having the Credit Union in Dawson Creek. I miss the savings account with a good rate and free debit transactions, and being able to deposit a cheque and having access to the money a few seconds later. I mean, where else are they that nice to you? But there are some downfalls to Dawson Creek. Such as... there really isn't a whole lot to do. If you're like Ian or Jamie, you could probably go drive a tractor for entertainment (just kidding guys, you know I love u). We do have a single movie theatre, hopefully when the multiplex comes in that will make it a bit more fun. I'm not really a fan of the Wal-mart, maybe because I was gone when it was built and it still feels like it doesn't belong there. I have to say that summer and spring are the best times in Dawson Creek because the freedom of being able to take off and walk/rollerblade almost anywhere with some friends are some of the greatest times I've ever had. Also, Dawson Creek has lots of grocery stores and restaurants. My personal favourites are Extra foods, Safeway, Hug-A-Mug, Smitties, Subway, the Diner and Deli, Boston Pizza, Mr. Mikes, Tim Horton's.. and there's a few more. Mostly because that's where my friends and I have wreaked havoc upon innocent members of the community... ahhh... random facts.... And here's a City Map. In my dream, I was going south down 8th Street, which is the main street in Dawson Creek. Well, that, and Alaska Ave. Which reminds me, Dawson Creek might be most famous for having the name most like the TV show, but its second claim to fame is that it is the start of the Alaska Highway, the longest highway in the world. I think. Well, that's what all the U.S. tourists come to see in the summer. And my all time favourite thing about Dawson Creek is that I can go outside at night and see stars. Lots of them. Not just satellites like here in Edmonton *sigh*. Seeing the eclipse this year would have been so much better in my backyard in DC. Well, I think I've said enough, please, anybody else who knows DC, what do you like most about it? Also, as a final thought: A big happy sweet sixteenth birthday to the Dude back in Dawson Creek! Hope you have a blast!