Persistent Illumination

I found out today that I am one of ten recipients for this year's Federation of Students leadership awards. Hoo yah!

My fellow winners this year include campus personality Arda Ocal (my nominee), EWB-UW president Sonya Konzak, Crew kingpin Enam Rabbani. There's a big formal dinner on Sunday at Fed Hall for us and the councillors, I look forward to some serious food fights.

Everything else is well. My last assignment has been handed in, it's Becky Wroe's birthday today, I'm almost up to a daily yoga practice. I handed in my registration for the Innovate entrepreneurship camp later in April (and for all those who may be asking, yes, I do indeed have a plan forming in my head for what I will be doing next with my life). The annual Misprint is online, so that's it for Imprint save the staff lunch...

Ah yes, tomorrow will be fun. Morning is mine, followed by the Imprint lunch at Ali Baba's, an OEA meeting at Bomber (4:30ish) and then the Arts Grad Ball at the Waterloo Inn.

My own little adventures here. Can anyone blame me, then, if I like school so much?

Yesterday, Matt Austin dropped by the Imprint office, handed me a box and said "Here you go, enjoy." The box smelled rather odd. My initial response was "This had better not be Brandon Sweet's head..."

Opening the box I discovered a LIVE lobster, on ice, with a pretty red ribbon tied around it. Apparently Mr. Austin had used the lobster for a presentation he ded earlier in the day, but would not have time to cook it that night.

Now, I had night class, so I also had to decline the offer of lobster. There were no takers among Imprinters for "Pinchie" (as we came to call him), until our own news editor Bianca came along. She agreed to whip it up into a bisque (an idea later scrapped in preference for a chowder) and have a few people over to enjoy the meal.

Meanwhile...

Not one but two of the Access Van's workers needed shifts covered all of a sudden that night. Long story short, I took the shifts and hence was getting paid.

Meanwhile...

Driving home one of the OPD's clients, I learned that my Thursday am psych class had been cancelled. My Monday and Tuesday night classes for the coming week had also previously been cancelled. The Thursday am class was then going to be my last class, ever. Its cancellation meant that last night's Business Ethics class was suddenly my *LAST CLASS EVER.*

And in that class, I got me a date to the Arts Grad Ball, but that's a story for another time.

The class was a final exam review, so it ended quite early. Just in time, in fact, for me to make it to Bianca's for lobster. Since I was still on the OPD payroll - the shift needed to be covered until 10:30m - I was getting paid to enjoy some really yummy food.

Yes indeed, what a better way to celebrate the end of my undergraduate career than to get paid to eat fresh lobster. Life does work in mysterious ways.

----

Also: added to my list of celebrations for the week has been some free food courtesy of EWB on Thursday night at the Bomber; one last OEA meeting on Friday afternoon between the Imprint staff lunch and the Arts Grad Ball; the Arts Grad Ball ....

Also, an earlier conversation meant that I might have quite easily found myself a place to live this summer. Tom Levesque, Christine Loureiro and Megan Elston will all be living in this house - I just may take it! It's about time that I lived with people I know...

Now, off to finish one last little paper, attend my last tutorial and then PARTY UNTIL THE COWS COME HOME. And by party until the cows come home, I mean get paid to drive the access van tonight and concurrently do yoga with some friends. Who says I haven't changed in the last few years?

Looking ahead to the week, I realize that it's going to be a formidable one.

First, it will be my last full week of classes as an undergraduate student. Wow. (Last night, I added the words "... in the faculty of arts" to this statement, to which I was shot perhaps the dirtiest looks ever. OK, OK, people, I get it ... it's time to move on...)

And what a week it will turn out to be. A few things that will be happening this week:
- Imprint's final edition for the term comes out April 1, in which will be my last ever Professional Student as a full-time undergrad
- Imprint staff lunch on Friday! Ali Baba's, be there or be square!
- while on the subject of Imprint, let's go for the hat-trick: I am eligible for my first honoraria in almost two years. :)
- WPIRG referendum, with results hopefully released on Wednesday
- Feds leadership awards (fingers crossed for both myself and those whom I helped to nominate)
- Gala party at Bianca's , April 2
- again with ESQ: April 2 will be an all-day thing for me and the kids
- **APRIL FOOL'S DAY!!!** watch out, man! I'm coming for you!

Thanks to everyone who came by last night to help start the weekend off properly. My head is still pounding.

There is simply nothing better to wake up to than Vivaldi's "Four Seasons." A host of violins gently welcoming you into the sunshine of your day... who could want for more? I almost wish there were words to join in chorus with. Almost.

I decided against church yesterday, though I am a bit sad at missing the Good Friday service. That day's service is more markedly different than many other masses, at least at my church. A more sombre mood - deep crimson decorations, moments of silence at 3:00pm, mournful songs - can be found on Good Friday as compared to other days throughout the year. The mass is also traditionally longer - up to three hours (moreso, even, if your mom leads the church choir and has to practice beforehand).

Still, I think that I will attend Easter mass tomorrow. It is more celebratory, in contrast to Good Friday's service - brighter music, the crimson hues have been replaced with royal purples. Plus, my church always took time to honour the children on Easter Sunday. It would be interesting to see if this tradition has been maintained.

Many things happening...

Sitting around in the SLC yesterday, a friend approached me and said, "Hey, Andrew! I think I should let you know, there are a lot of people saying really mean things about you today. Why is everyone mad at you?"

"Well," says I, with a knowing grin but an inner sigh, "I think I have an idea..."

Indeed, it seems that I may be the tribute of a whole host of letters to the editor next week, some supporting and some refuting. There may be a factual incorrection that I have to address next week - I was supposedly misinformed on one point - but otherwise I do stand by my words. I have yet to hear any real arguments against my statements, though I welcome attempts.

Anyways, yoga classes are down to one-on-one sessions. No news yet on whether or not Elaine will receive a Distinguished Teaching Award. Apparently, the YES team has been disqualified from the WPIRG referendum. I have pineapple left in my fridge, so breakfast looks like it will be fun.

As a result of reactions to my column, I was having an interesting conversation recently on all the ways my name has been maligned over the years. I wonder if there is still time to do something about this.

Now, all I have to do is decide what to do with my Easter weekend. I may go to church later today. I'm actually kind of sorry that I missed Holy Thursday mass last night - that was always one of my favourites. The washing of the feet is one of my most-liked parts of the Christian gospels. Still, I had an obligation to teach yoga last night, at the same time as the mass. I am surprised that I still find it hard to explain, as I had to at one point yesterday, that "I celebrate my spirituality in different ways." My Christian roots, I have learned, run deeper within me than I once imagined - often for the better.

Unlesss they've been hiding under a rock in the Peter Russell rock garden, UW students know that the fate of the WPIRG is about to be decided in a referendum.

Or ... is it?

I don't think that it will be. In fact, I think that despite the outcome of the referendum, the situation will be almost the same in about six months from now. Consider the possible alternatives:

There is a binding "NO" vote:

The "Save WPIRG" effort will evaporate almost overnight, and the WPIRG will simmer down to its usual pre-David Suzuki level of activity. It has been noted by those who the WPIRG has approached in recent weeks that the question of "If the NO side wins, what will you do to avoid future referenda?" is one that has not been answered very well. Not much will be happening publicly. Thus, we will see the return of the older, less publicly visible WPIRG, only to be challenged again by a new wave of young Conservatives in about two years' time.

There is a binding "YES" vote:

The WPIRG will lose its $4.75 per-term funding, essentially tightening the noose on its current incarnation. The office will close. The WPIRG will move out of the SLC. Some groups will rise up to fill the social justice vacuum on campus - indeed, some already seem to have started. The recent proliferation of Feds clubs, especially those clubs concerned with helping the less fortunate, will likely play a key role in this transformation. The new "Dark Phoenix" WPIRG will be run by the Clubs and Services Director, muhahahaha....

Ahem. Aaaanyways....

However, the WPIRG has solid roots in the community. Also, they have always been driven more by passion than by practicality in the past. Someday, someone somewhere will figure out that the real WPIRG can exist (at least temporarily) without its student fee. It will rise like a Phoenix out of the ashes, supported by student sweat and fueled by such funding as many other not-for-profits use (consider the +$100K that WPIRG-splinter CACAQ secured from the Ontario Trillium Foundation). This new WPIRG will be held more closely accountable to those it is funded by. The WPIRG moves back onto campus and, driven by memories of past funding, will attempt to reclaim their fees. Then, like clockwork, a wave of young Conservatives will rise to the challenge, attempting to prevent their securing a student fee. Campus will be covered in posters, and future debate will return.

However, I accept that I may be incorrect about the last part of this prediction. If the YES vote succeeds, then the new incarnation of WPIRG may decide that it never, ever wants to move back to the UW campus. Why should it? Cheap rent and a student fee is good, but cheap rent and no student fee isn't as strong of an incentive, espcially with the biennial attempts at kicking them off of campus.

What's happening ...

Settling the last of my academia - final 10% papers, have made all my last presentations, working on final group papers to be handed in.

Otherwise, still enjoying the lazy lifestlye of the Arts student to its fullest. Had lunch with Paul Lehmann today, talked about involvement in the Liberal party. It was also Paul's birthday (though I did not know that at the time) so if you see him and know him and haven't yet, then wish him happy birthday.

Hmmm....

uwstudent.org will survive, it seems, for a few months at least...

Ryan Chen-Wing is getting an honourary membership to the Federation of Students at their AGM next month...

I have now put the web edition of Imprint up almost single-handedly for two weeks now...

No great highs, no great lows. Oh, wait, I can talk about the WPIRG thing. Let's do that.

The UW Shop's Photo Contest is down to a final three. If you know me, then you likely also know the two young gentlemen featured lounging in picture #3. I highly recommend that you take the time to go online and vote for their submission.

http://www.uwshop.uwaterloo.ca/photo-vote.html

Sigh. Ideas, anyone?

"We are writing to inform you that we recently ended all listings for
seller (withheld) on eBay.  The seller's privileges to trade on eBay have
been temporarily suspended while we investigate this matter further.
(The current account status can be viewed next to the user ID of the
seller on the eBay site.).

Our records indicate that you were a participating bidder or buyer in
this seller's listing.  You will need to use your own personal judgment
in deciding whether to complete this transaction.

As described in our User Agreement, eBay is only a venue, and we cannot
guarantee that sellers will complete transactions nor can we guarantee
the delivery or quality of bought items.  As a basic principle, a buyer
should know with whom he or she is dealing before sending a payment to
a seller.

Depending on the circumstances, you might decide to delay payment to a
seller until completely confident that the transaction will be
completed safely. If you decide to delay payment but already paid by personal
cheque, you may wish to contact your bank to discuss whether it would be
possible to stop payment on the cheque.  If you paid with a credit
card, you may wish to contact your credit card company's security
department to discuss this payment, many companies provide protection in
certain circumstances.  If you paid by money order, you may want to contact
that money order company for information on how to stop payment.

Please note that the ending of the listings for this seller is a
precautionary measure.  The grounds for this suspension may be the result of
a mistake or misunderstanding.

Customer Support (Trust and Safety Department)"

There are few people in my life who have been as under-appreciated (by me) as my own brother, Phil. Whether he knows it or not, he's the one who most made my university life bearable during my years at UW. He's the one who kicked butt on his SAT scores so many years ago, and in doing so encouraged me to step up to the post-secondary academic plate. It is he who opened the doorway to the Brothel, and in doing so changed my perspective on brilliant students forever.

It is with no small excitement, then, that I announce that my brother will soon be going on to grad school. Yes, my own little brother has recently been accepted to the University of Alberta's Department of Linguistics for a MSc program.

Now, he's not there yet - his acceptance is contidional on his successfully completion of a summer school program by the Linguistics Society of America at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Oh, darn, summer school at one of the most prestigious technical institutes in the world. Summer in wonderful, international, cosmopolitan Cambridge, Massachusetts. You suck, Phil.

His girlfriend must also be happy - a Victoria, BC native (I believe) but currently doing post-grad work at UA as well.

And, of course, I guess this means that a) I now have to step up to the plate and head towards further education, and b) Phil will get the "I did it first, again" bragging rights. If you want to e-mail him congratulations, I recommend pcdilts ^at^ uwaterloo ^dot^ ca.

Way to go, Phil! Hope you have a great time in Cambridge and Calgary!

So, I learned today that I will not be the valedictorian of my Arts graduating class. It will be someone else (whose name I can't recall). The talk-off today was fantastic, and fantastically nerve-wracking. Some very good speeches, and some really not bad speeches. I personally really liked the speech of one James "Guido" Calantonio, but even he didn't win. Yes, it was judged by speech communication professors - so really, it was all about the presentation of the speech, and nothing else.

If you're interested in the speech I gave, it is recorded as a comment under this post. Remember: a speech is written to be presented vocally - it may look a little confusing on paper, but repetitions (for example) are great speech writing tools to help emphasize a point.

Business class was fun tonight. Since my group completed their duties as of last week (when we won our debate, hurrah!), all we had to do this week was judge another team. Whether or not businesses should be obliged to make drugs available to the impoverished in the countries where they are tested. If by 'available' you mean 'distributed for free,' then the answer is an emphatic *NO*! But then, I digress, this post is about Marat/Sade...

Being that the group I had to judge went first, I was able to skip out at about 45 minutes into the 3 hr class. Passing by the Modern Languages building, I see a crowd. Inquisitive, as there's never a crowd late at night unless there's a play, I stumble upon the Arts Alumni night for the University of Waterloo. Not those who already alumni, mind you, but those who are about to become alumni this year - ME! - and hence the play was free! What a nice surprice! So, it was good, very convincing characters and great set design.

By the way, I am now coming off my fast and as such will be consuming food soon. If you see me, buy me food and I will be very appreciative!

Yes, it's dated news, but tomorrow's approach reminds me that my business ethics group won our in-class debate last week. We debated against (ie, that it was unethical for) businesses *requiring* customers to buy goods in bundles (ie, cases of pop or getting a cell phone with your land line). Honestly, it was a pretty easy side to take, ethically speaking, but we still outclassed the other group by ensuring that we referred back to the required readings on ethics in our arguments. And, oh yes, during the rebuttals there were a fair number of arguments....

And, of course, we all shook hands afterwards. It was very educational.

As I sit here writing my column for the week, I have just found out that one of my fellow treeplanters from Brinkman has been elected as the VP Finance and Operations for the student Management Society at McGill . Her name is Sharlene Quintal and she's one of the planters I got along with best last year. I remember her commenting that she would likely not be coming back planting in '05 because she needed to find work that she could put on her resume. Well, it appears that she has done so!

Eariler, I commented on how this year's treeplanting experience seemed to be quite different from that of my first year. First year was full of the traditional heavy pot-smoking philosophy majors that one would expect to find planting. This year, there seemed to be a really high number of business and commerce students from top Canadian Universities - McGill, Queen's, Western and the like. (Oh, and two sketchbags from Waterloo, but that's just a techie school, we don't worry about them). It was both a great contrast and a great lesson to see all these great business kids down and dirty each week - covered in mud, fending off blackflies, partying hard but remaining some of the most healthy people this side of the forty-ninth parallel line.

Challenging stereotypes has been to me one of the most healthy things I have done in my own professional life, and it was actually quite heartening to see that a little part of my interest in business spilled over into my planting world last year. Indeed, continually challenging perceptions of the world is a mark of a successful learning organization, one of the things I will surely write about soon.

Congratulations again to Sharlene! She has noted that "since I got elected, things have definitely picked up the pace for me!" Best of luck in your executive role, Shar, and if you ever head back to the block for a summer be sure to be in touch.

As I sit here on a lazy Saturday afternoon - hey, I'm doing laundry! - I find that the day has become all about planning ahead.

First, I've been holding back on giving out the best news of all - I got a job for the summer! I'll be a team leader at UW's Engineering Science Quest this summer. These kids are brilliant, innovative, creative - it's going to be a privilege to be around them for four months. I'll be a leader at the 'ExXtreme 0' camp, the more in-depth experience for kids entering grades 5-7 (approximately 10-12 yrs old). Click here for a glimpse of what my week will likely look like. Liquid nitrogen ice cream, playing with legos - now we're talking! Oh, and it pays well - more than twice any other camp job.

So yes, this means no tree planting for me this summer. Yes, not only would it have been wicked fun to go planting, but I would have made the same amount of money in two months that I would have at ESQ in four. But, Brinkman has been wavering on whether or not I would have been able to be a crew boss this summer, so ... their loss. And this means that I'll get to sleep in my own bed, hang out in the city and yes, attend my own convocation.

Ah, convocation. I'm on Thursday, June 16 and my brother Phil is on Saturday, June 18. We have already agreed to hold one massive party together on Saturday the 18, so mark it in your calendars. All his friends, all my friends - we've both been students since '99 (he took a year in Japan and I got involved on campus) so this has been a long time coming for both of us. It's going to be at my house, wherever I end up living, and we might make it quite large-scale (maybe even get The Crew to help out). Not sure on how large it's going to be yet, but don't make any plans that night!

Also this weekend is preparing the valedictorian address for my 'talk-off' on Thursday. No more than five minutes each, and I'm up against nine people. If you're interested in helping me to edit/add content to my speech, be sure to drop me a line ASAP.

Also, I've been offered a deal on the upcoming entrepreneurship boot camp, so if I can afford that then I shall be spending April 25-28 immersed in an entrepreneurial environment.

Now, off to my lazy day. It's going to be a big week this week - valedictorian talk-off, learning the ESQ ropes at their March Break camp, being able to eat by Friday night - so I'm going to get back to being lazy ASAP. I'm a bit sad that I'm going to be missing the Excalibur tournament later this week, but I stepped down from the team earlier this semester (thanks, OSAP) so that's out. Nothing like getting my fellow students an expenses-paid trip to Montreal and then backing down - you're welcome!

First the twins, now the fan mail! It's shaping up to be a great week!

Apparently, someone in planning likes my writing to the point that he felt the need to write a Letter to the Editor about it. At first I thought it was going to be a sarcastic snipe - the writer comes from planning, the same program that previous complainant Beth Brown is in - but it appears to be a genuine compliment. "Good job, Andrew — keep up the good work."

Admittedly, I did know that I was getting fan mail earlier this week - as early as Tuesday night - from peeking at the Imprint production sheets. But hey, I got fan mail! wOOt!

Editor's note: my blog has been updated with the week's events. Check below.

Yup, tonight I bought the Theis twins ... for charity of course. The Psych Society was raising money for UNICEF and they invited a broad cross section of involved students from UW to come out to the Bomber and auction their booty. Eng Soc president Karim Lallani, Feds VP Internal (and pres elect) John Andersen, ASU pres Howie Bender, Campus personality Arda Ocal and who can forget the unforgettable Heramb Ramachandran - all these people and more came out to sell their bods for charity. All in all, the night raised over $750 - especially if you count Matt Jermyn's matching offer of $65 for his bid.

Yes, yours truly once again sold his booty for a good cause - this time, I went for about $60 to a group of fine young women. Then, bouyed by the excitement (and partially by the stupidity brought on by my fast) I turned around and bought the Theis twins. Steph I know - both psych majors - but her twin Stacie I've never met. Sigh. When will I learn?

The deal of the auction was that each auctionee had to provide a list of five things that they had to do. My buyers chose the personal yoga lesson I offered. The Theis twins' offers consisted of:

1. cook you dinner then play Twister with them
   
2. be your slaves for a night at Bomber
   
3. something
   
4. something
   
5. anything else you might suggest, within reason

Any suggestions on which I should choose?

Hehehe, twins ... hehehehe....

Dean W has just finished teaching me an HTML lesson on something called CuteHTML. It was quite good - apparently, I know more about the basics of HTML than I thought, but it was still great to get the in-depth information from him. I have also been briefly introduced to the mysteries of JavaScript, something I hope to learn more about once I'm a bit more well-versed in the arts of HTML.

He's also graciously lent me a book called the "HTML 4.0 Sourcebook" which I can peruse at will. Something to do with my time, I guess, now that eating is out for the next five days and I have no more debates to prepare for. I guess there are those things called "school" and "work" but, ah, fugghet about it.

I visited Margie in the hospital today - she was not well. Oh yes, she was sick and pale and incoherent, but she did manage to crack a few jokes at my expense so I knew she was going to be OK. I stayed around for about an hour and a half, fending off the grumpy nurses, and then went back to school.

I saw her later (about 6:30pm) when her parents had stopped by UW to pick up her car (which had been left at St. Jerome's overnight). Margie was in the car, looking much brighter and laughing, though still weak. Not sure what's wrong with her yet, but we're all glad to hear she was doing OK.

Imprint had gotten together a get-well kangaroo and card, very thoughtful of them, very sweet. If you know here, you should send here an e-mail or other get-well-soon greeting. Her e-mail is mgmansell &at& gmail &dot& com. I make a point about taking time to have good intentions for others here.

Margie, we all hope that you get better really soon. Take it easy, OK!

For those who may be reading this, I am told that Margie Mansell was shipped to Grand River hospital in a big hurry this morning. Apparently, she fainted, hit her head (?) and went into a seizure. No confirmation on any of this, but I will be heading down soon to visit her at Grand River Hospital. I will add more when I find out what is going on.

Today is international women's day. I was the womyn's centre guest yoga instructor for those five people who chose to show up to learn. I taught in the MPR, which means I am getting soft on my previous scruples about locations for a proper yoga lesson. Not a good sign, methinks, but the girls who came out seemed to have a good time.

The rest of the day, I was quite tired from my fast. I seem to remember something else had happened, but if I remember I will post it.

I recently had an interesting conversation with someone about her wanting to form an army of "cripples." I was relating my joke with Womyn's Centre coordinator Meagan Dilworth about her forming a Dyke Army - "Hey, Meagan, how's the dyke army going?" "Well, Andrew, it's more like a dyke militia" - to this third person, and she admitted that she had been wanting to start a cripple army for quite some time. It's that word, it makes me wince - cripple. Such a crude word to be used when referring to actual human beings, or so I always think.

The interesting part was that it the person who wanted to start the cripple army is bound to a wheelchair for life. More interesting is that I have actually heard that word used frequently, but only by those handicapped for life. I'm not going to speculate on the whys or wherefores, but merely say that I always find this little dynamic to be very interesting.

The big news of today was that I got to go see the Russell Peters show at Fed Hall, thanks to some speedily arranged piggybacking on Jeff Henry's guest list. After the expected hour wait, there was another half an hour wait, and then hilarity ensued.

Starting the night off were Mariano and Arda Ocal from The Crew. The MC's of the evening, I thought they were simply going to introduce the night's acts. But no! Instead they put on a bit of a comedy act of their own, which I have to admit is the funniest thing I have ever heard not from professional comedians. If either of these guys decide to give up the marketing gig, they should go into comedy. "People tell you that the Dana Porter's sinking. It's not from the weight of the books - it's from all those people pounding it into the ground!!" Oh, SOOO funny Arda and Mariano!

The next comedian was some 40 year old guy from Vancouver named Rick Funk or something. He was mildly funny, but not as funny as Arda and Mariano.

Next game a guy from Jamaica (or so he said) but who had been living in greater TO for quite some time. I will now be able to say, before I die, that I saw a black man dressed in full African garb dancing like a Bollywood star to Bollywood music. Easily a highlight of my week.

Then, of course, came Peters himself. He proved his worth by providing a lot of on-the-spot material, ripping into the members of the crowd who intentionally or unintentionally stood out. The guy who laughed like a dolphin, the two white kids with Afros in the front row, even Raymond Lai all got a bit of razing. He spent a bit too much time on those trying to bootleg his show, but he still pulled off some really funny jokes. It was a satisfying night.

Well, well, well. Who knew that Imprint could draw 27 people to a social event? Much like the fall term's staff lunch, last night's Barleyworks trip was one crowded event. We're getting too big for ourselves - perhaps the next term's administration will have to focus on accommodating growth more than anything else?

Seating foibles aside, it was a great night. I didn't bother trying to network with everyone, but I did a few good games of NTN in. Top score in the bar for my first two games! Actually, Imprint dominated the bar for most of the night - the top three were usually us students. Lauren Fox, Margie, Ian, Sarah A and her friend, Tim M, and more - we all had some fun. Even Dan Micak got in to win a round, and Simon gave me some help near the end of the night. We should have an NTN night, proper, sometime. Bianca, Lauren, Simon, Tex, Dan - this means you! Also the Sarah/Ian team, you guys did well!

Cheers also to Meagan Dilworth for coming out and getting nicely toasted with us. Nothing like the Womyn's Centre co-ordinator and Imprint staff sitting down to let bygones be bygones.

Another shout goes out to those who came to Fat Tuesday at Andrew's house - especially those who brought extra food and beer: David, Sabrina and Sonya - I hope you all had fun. Family Guy, Crown Royal and plenty of conversation - only in my diverse social scene will we talk about development problems in Haiti, potentially founding a second UW campus newspaper and how people find my siblings attractive all in one night.

And now I'm on my fast. For those of you who read this - and I'm learning that there are more of you than I think - you're welcome to follow along at andrewsfast here on Blogger. Why you would want to, I don't know, but then why do people read each other's blogs in the first place? Is it becuase we can't as easily fulfill our secret desires of looking in each other's underwear drawers?

Spring is upon us - a time for renewal, for new life, for growth. What better way to lead up to this than one last inward trip, taking some time to really clean myself from the inside out?

Yes, in a day or two I will be starting on the Master Cleanser fast pioneered by Stanley Burroughs. Ten days and no food, with an additional three days of very light food (read: orange juice) to ease the transition back into the world of eating.

For the most part, the complete instructions to this fast can be found in the link above. I've done this fast twice before, but not since I started university. The only digression is that I take three rather than five days to get back to eating regularly. On day three I can eat vegetable soup/salads/fruit salads, and on day four I'm back to my old habits.

Ideally, one is supposed to use this to change one's eating habits for the better. The first time I did it, I quit my two year, pack-and-a-half-a-day-of-John-Players-Special smoking habit. I did still smoke a bit after the fast, but only very little and I quit for real soon afterwards.

I'd like to say that the fast gives time for a little introversion. Really, though, I find that it has more to do with learning about how you interact with your environment. After about day three - the day the food cravings usually stop - your willpower starts to grow and you begin to realize just how many parts of society are centred around the securing, preparing and consuming of food.

I hope to start tomorrow (Sunday) but are still some perishables in my house from yesterday's grocery shop. So, come on over for food tonight, if you're in the neighbourhood. It's going to be my own personal Fat Tuesday!

Having dinner with a friend last night at my place, it came up in conversation that she is Jewish. I didn't know this about her, and for whatever reason it became a subject of discussion over dinner.

Then, unexpectedly, nearly every person I know who is Jewish in Waterloo came by to my house. (No, I'm not naming names.) Apparently they had been let out from a Shabbat dinner at the JSA house around the corner, and decided that my place was close and convenient. A boisterous invasion, but a welcome one. They proceeded to rent the Hebrew Hammer which I highly recommend to anyone who wants a bit of laughter in their life. It's a Jewish spin-off of Shaft (the 2000 version, I believe) but it is absolutely hilarious. If you've seen neither, watch Shaft first and then Hammer - you'll be in for a great time.

It was a great night. I was going to attempt to reclaim my house a bit more - now that I actually have the spare time to be living in it - and this was a great move towards that point. If you're reading this, you're welcome to come by for dinner tonight around 6:30 - just ring the doorbell downstairs. I've got food to get rid of before my fast.

If you don't have Skype yet, you should get it. No noticeable strings attached - no pop-ups, no hidden fees - and 95% of the time the quality is really good.

A great way to cut down on the long distance phone bills if you have loved ones elsewhere.

Owwww ... more yoga than I'm used to, combined with a messed cirdadian system. Me hurt.

Today was good. Missed personnel psych class but handed in my assignment. Access van was frantic, but it got taken care of.

Got my five signatures, plus a bunch of supporting signatures - FOC, Feds executive, my undergrad psych advisor, Imprint's president-elect, many society executive - as well. Noted that the 'talk off' is on St. Patrick's Day - to drink before or after, that is the question.

OEA meeting also went quite well. Tom, Meagan, Ryan C-W, Sarah Lewis, John, Becky, Rick, Andrew K, Jen D, Paul for a moment, Margie, Darren and likely more as well. 'Twas a good time!

Yoga was exhausting, but now apparently I'm getting carted off to the Jane Bond with Sonya Konzak and eng friends. Who knoweth where the night may take us?

Many things happening. In reverse order...

This Friday's Professional Student will feature the headline "Report cards, icebergs and believing your own propaganda." The quirky headline betrays the work - it's actually one of the more thorough pieces that I've written, I think. I'm quite proud of it.

Somehow I manage to tie the Globe and Mail's recent university report card, UW's notional tuition increases, CECS and the Titanic disaster all into one tidy little package. Stay tuned!
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Tomorrow is the international Engineers Without Borders Day. They started the tradition a few years ago, apparently, which will be continued at UW this year with the chance to whack a guy wearing a sumo suit with a foam bat. They guy in the sumo suit - our lovable Chow - will be wearing a sign that says "world hunger." So, for a few bucks, you can take a whack at world hunger! Now, that's knee-slapping funny! Be in the SLC tomorrow!
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I'm hunting around for five graduating Artsies to sign a nomination form for my Valedictorian bid. Apparently, today (March 3) is the deadline, and they only have one application so far! If you know any graduating Artsies, please send them my way ASAP!

I should be OK getting my foot into that door - an open letter of reference from Dean Kerton sure won't hurt. Still, there is a pretty tough speech component - judged by a Speech Writing teacher - that will take place. It's called a 'talk off' and will take place on March 17 in AL 124. (I picture a Zoolander-style 'walk-off.' I hope David Bowie shows up to judge.) Anyways, I'd like to have a cheering section, so if you can, let me know if you'd care to come out and support me!
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At midnight tonight, there was already an 18-person line-up outside of the Feds office, waiting for tomorrow's 9am release of 200 tickets for the second Russell Peters show. They are fully equipped with couches, food and a few poker sets, waiting to spend the entire night in anticipation. Apparently the person first in line was there at 7pm! I haven't seen that sort of nocturnal dedication since Orientation Week.
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And, tonight I taught yoga for "East C" in REV - my friend being a don on that floor. It was pretty good, but a few factors - mostly beginners, poor choice of music, many interruptions - caused it to be in my opinion one of the worst classes I've taught yet. Still, I had a great time, and I was told that it was one of the best classes that my friend had ever taken, which is the nicest thing that I've been told this week.

OK, that's enough for now. By no means is that all that's happening. Like me maybe going to entrepreneurship boot camp in April. Life is so full of stuff! Why!?!?!? Ah who cares, it's fun. Over-extenders anonymous tomorrow - Bomber at 4:00pm!

Group debates tonight in my Business Ethics class. A bunch of rookies on my team, but we still held our own. We had to debate the 'pro' side in an advertising debate, on the topic "Is it ethical for advertising to exclusively present best-case scenario situations, e.g. weight loss advertising?"

More than merely a debate, we had to focus the discussion on the issues studied in class: in this case utilitarianism, Kantian ethics, autonomy and virtue ethics all found a place on our stage. We did quite well - we clearly managed to sway the class' opinion, with many comments in the open session supporting our presented points or attacking our competitors.

Still, the student-run jury panel sided with the 'con' side, as they felt that that side justified their points better. I don't blame them. Interesting to note that, were this an election, we would have 'won' in swaying the majority though not the specialists. And that's all I have to say about that.

Still, it was a good night, especially considering my recent plea for more in-class debates. Constructive, educational, fun - who could want more?

Next week: my group gets the 'con' side of a debate about profit. Should be sufficiently difficult!

... by Turning Inwards

Balance, man. Balance.