Persistent Illumination

Spent most of my day cleaning, doing laundry and reading a book by Lama Surya Das. Needless to say, it's been a great day. I just love life.

As Tevye says,

"If I were rich, I'd have the time that I lack
To sit in the synagogue and pray.
And maybe have a seat by the Eastern wall.
And I'd discuss the holy books with the learned men, several hours every day.
That would be the sweetest thing of all."

I've always wanted to live a rich man's life. I greatly enjoy the fact that most of the best parts of such a life, I can actually enjoy without being rich at all.

More thoughts to follow.

"The briefing was hastily arranged after Brown received word that a secure Web site containing the discovery was hacked and the hacker threatened to release the information."

Think that computer hackers can't control the media? Think again. Remember, we're talking about the discovery of a new planet in our solar system. Not exactly small-time news.

Imprint staff lunch went quite well yesterday, even considering that somebody got nicely toasted on only a very few drinks. My joke staff award was "phantom of the web," a tribute to my assistance with their online site earlier this semester. Also good was the $100 in Via Rail tickets that I snagged, still from our ad exchange of so long ago.

I do have to admit that my experience at Salute was much better this time around. The service had improved 100%, the food was teriffic and I stayed away from the undersized-overpriced apps. The jovial Imprint crowd also helped - it was a smaller staff lunch, at about 30 people, but the attendance of some of my favourite Imprinters helped to make things just right.

I started with the house salad, which had lots of dark greens and no overwhelming flavours - just how I like a good salad. Entree was "Fusili Fungi," excellently prepared though they did try to pass off rotini as fusili. For dessert, strawberries in sambuca, which I really quite liked.

Choices to wet the palate included a drink from a shared bottle of California zinfandel (an actual red wine, not the bright pink, fruity wine that most associate with the name), Glenfiddich on the rocks (in concert with Tex and Neal, of course) and Amy convinced me to down a shot of Tequila with her (her first) just before we ducked out for the group picture.

The rest of the night was a bit of a write-off: Amy went to have a nap to sleep off her buzz, and I joined her. We then snuck upstairs to make chocolate chip cookies, happily a bit more quiet than the crowd that ended up partying it up at Darren's the entire night.

Ramy pulled her aside and said, "Lynda, I got offered a job that pays $70,000 a year. I can't turn it down, and I have to start next week. I'm quitting..."

As Lynda was growing distressed, the rest of us pulled out the chocolate cake that had been prepared for her surprise, as well as the massive good-bye card that had garnered many lengthy well-wishes from ESQ's many leaders.

Indeed, she was surprised. She almost smacked Ramy when she realized his ruse, but she was relieved. Bonney said a few words, and leaders filtered by to wish her well. Later, I gave her a hug and said, "Thank you for being a great boss." Her response was "Thank you for doing a good job."

We will all miss her, and we do wish her well in her future endeavours. See you at the banquet, Lynda!

Before I forget...

Earlier this week, I saw a girl wearing a baby T. Not so unusual, you might say?

On the front of the T, it said "Shrodinger's cat is dead."

On the back of the T, it said "Shrodinger's cat is not dead."

She was cute*, too. Eat your heart out, mathies.





*boyfriend disclaimer: of course, by no means was she as cute as my own Amy. Amy is way cuter. Period. Please don't kill me, Amy.

Well, well, well ... my second movie date, in less than a week! After work, Amy and I ducked out to dinner at the new Zen Garden vegetarian restaurant on King Street (she's glad I talked her into it), jumping off to the Galaxy just in time to catch the Fantastic Four. The result? Well, the movie was not so fantastic ... I'd rather call it the "Predictably Average Four" ... but the company, of course, was not to be missed. ;) Why else do you think I was inspired to go on two movie dates in less than a week? Eh, numbum?

I need a place to live.

But that's about it, because I had a day off today and took care of almost everything else. Got my haircut, then I went and retrieved my suit from Aussie's which was supposed to have been ready for June convocation. That's right, *JUNE* convocation, more than a month ago. Needless to say, I did not pay for my dry cleaning.

Put some money in the bank - savings are going well! - and brought Amy some breakfast. Heard "Andrew, isn't it your day off?" no fewer than five times while walking to bring her breakfast. We really have taken over campus. Speaking of which, I did manage to pick up a recent copy of mathNEWS to note my own honourable mention.

Then I parked myself at Imprint and did some work on a newsletter for ESQ. Pretty much hung out all day, promoted ESQ, caught up with some Imprinters. Cranked my last "professional student" column out in about an hour (thank you, arts degree), and since I've already done my swan song this one is not personal at all. Ducked out of the office just as Mark Johnson was getting an earful from a native Londoner, and hung out with Amy for awhile.

Accepted a job at Shad Valley for the fall, and then went grocery shopping. I think I'll do my grocery bill bit again, see if anything has changed. Now I sit catching up on my blog, wondering where I am to live.

Don't get me wrong - I know where I want to live. In the same neighbourhood I live in now, but in a nice new place (think: air conditioning, heating, no flies, no scary hidden closets everywhere). Problem? I don't want to have to put up with messy and/or inconsiderate students anymore, and decent bachelor pads are tough to come by in this neighbourhood.

Help?

Milk and dairy
7.8%: Milk, 1% skim
22%: Brie, double cream

Bread and grains
5%: Bagels, multigrain
7.8%: Tortilla chips
2%: Corn chips
5%: Triscuits
4.8%: Vegetable thins

Fruits and veggies
5.8%: strawberries
5%: Pears
6.1%: Nectarines
4.6%: OJ/Pineapple Juice
4%: Peppers, red bell
2.5%: Lettuce, romaine
2.9%: Carrots
1.5%: Onion, red
0.2%: Garlic, bulb

Meats and alternatives
Whoops.

Other
2%: Margarine
7.8%: Choco chips

Again not a cheap grocery shop, and it looks like I missed a category. Let us not forget the golden rule of grocery shopping: never on an empty stomach! We should add the addendum: never with a weakness for your girlfriend's preference for brie! Man that stuff gets expensive. Still, my last grocery shop lasted quite awhile - almost 3 weeks! - so that's good on the old wallet

Same thing we do every night, Pinky, try and take over the world!! ...I mean ... go on a date with Amy ...

Yes indeedy world, though I admit to finding it a bit scary to have a bona fide girlfriend once again (believe you me, I have spent much more of my developed life without girlfriend than with, so I can be more comfortable without) but now I have to admit that I have truly an amazing one.

She took me on our first official movie date tonight. First "official" means not counting watching The Perfect Man with her and her little sis, in order to have Andrew meet the younger sibling. No, little sis seems nice enough, but the movie itself is one I would rather soon forget.

Instead, tonight we went to watch The Island which actually turned out to be quite interesting, despite what the critics say. I think it was well made, very Jerry Bruckheimer-esque (indeed it was made by one of his proteges) and captivating. The best part, of course, was the little woman under my arm who continually needed protection during the scary parts, oh Amy don't worry I will come rescue you prince Andrew that I am.

No, I will repay her in kind, for I have some very special surprises for her as we have some semblance of anniversaries coming up. No matter how much she tortures me, too, I swear they will remain surprises. I do have to say it was nice going to a movie with a girl who counts fresh fruit as movie snacks, fhough, not to forget one who made me home-made pizza as the pre-movie dinner.

I also have to say, Neal you are a dirty man for your comments as we left to head out on our date. "Well, I'm sure that you two can think of some way to occupy yourselves..." Really, Neal. In the presence of a lady. Tsk tsk!

Volunteering at Hillside is a fantastic experience.

Much credit goes to Greg Hines, my coordinator and mathie friend. He is a great person to work for - cares for the volunteers, always on top of the game.

Also fun was the fact that I was on the welcome committee. I think I said "welcome to Hillside" about 1000 times this weekend, but I did mix it up a bit. Much better than dishwashing, garbage cleanup, parking cars in a field for 12 hours, you get the drift. I loved my jorb.

Free food for volunteers is nice. So are free snacks and drinks, 7am - 11pm. So is free camping right on the island.

Being a crew chief was nice, too. Responsibility. Got to wear a rainbow clown wig at some points, carry a walkie-talkie at others. Heck, I even got to drive a golf cart, man that is fun, so addictive! Best part? Amy came by to hang out with a crew chief, keep him company on the causeway, oh Amy it was fun to cut through Hillside with you!

It was hot. It was sunny. I went swimming in the bathwater better known as Guelph Lake on Saturday at sunrise. I had to stay under tents all day to avoid nasty sunburn.

Then I woke up on Sunday, and it was cloudy. Then it rained. I've never been at a Hillside that it has not rained. Still, all in all it was not too bad, and stopped shortly

In retrospect, it would have better been called the "Hillside Blues Festival."

Not that you would EVER hear me complain about that.

It was a fantastic festival, the most amazing musical potluck ever. They pack three or four acts on different stages simultaneously, so it is impossible to literally enjoy every show. Between that scheduling and my welcome crew duties, I still did manage to catch some great music.

The most ear-catching bit to me this weekend was Les Batinses from Quebec. I was napping over near the lake, and heard both music and crowd and was encouraged to come on over. They were ripping into a fantastic celtic piece that Ashley MacIsaac once covered, much to the delight to the hundreds of concertgoers dancing in the crowds. One of the few makes-you-get-up-and-dance players that actually made people get up and dance.

Speaking of headliners, though, I do have to applaud The Arcade Fire for their true rock enthusiasm for the few songs I saw. I heard most of their act from across the causeway, and was less than impressed. When I showed up, though, was right when they said "OK, let's give them what they want, let's play the f*@$#! hits.." to which they embarked upon a truly impassioned performance. Not that I recognized any of the tunes, but there you go.

There was a medley between the Be Good Tanyas, Po' Girl, and some other folk. It was dubbed as a Gospel get-together on Sunday morning, but really ended up being more bluesy. Truly wonderful.

Stumbled upon Ridley Bent later that afternoon. Just by chance. A fantastic lyricist. Kind of like, hip hop freestyle meets the blues. An akward description but a great reality.

I'd like to say that's all I heard, but that would be a lie. But Hillside is not about previews and reviews. It is about having an experience. I will go back next year, and it will be different, and it will be good. That's the nature of the beast.

You could call it confidence, but really it was a casual thing.

Life is getting better, directly proportional to my level of health. The fire in my head has dwindled down to a small flame, I have a bit of a chest cold but I can tell that it is on its way out, and the Primary camp room in my head has stopped their boisterous activities and now all seem to be playing "graveyard" instead.

Great day at work today - scouting out a job internally, parents' night went quite well, my kids were great for the most part this week. In fact, I find it surprising that when I tell my kids something twice, I do not have to say it a third time ... which is more than I can say for some of my housemates lately.

Both Amy and I got next Friday afternoon off to come to the Imprint staff lunch at Salute, which though is perhaps not my favourite choice of restaurant, still should be a fun time. Amy and I are also in the midst of planning a surprise party for our (retiring) boss later that day, so July 29 should be quite interesting.

Also, I got offered a job today, which seems quite exciting and involves considerable travel. (This, by the way is what the confidence/casual reference above is referring to, not what you all think, minds out of the gutter kiddies.) More on that as it progresses.

Tomorrow? I head off to the Hillside festival for the weekend, where I will serve as the Crew Chief for the Welcome Committee.

MIT's weblog survey. In research methods class, we used to take surveys and statistics that were clearly biased and dissect them scientifically. This survey is a nice example - an online survey, word of which is spread online, about online matters. Do you think that there will be a higher percentage of respondents who will indicate that they participate in online matters? Blog more frequently? E-mail more frequently? Many of those who would answer that they do not e-mail frequently (if ever) will likely never even hear of this survey.

When you finish the survey, they encourage you to put a link similar to the one above on your blog and say that "The larger our sample is, the better chance we have of being unbiased."

(Editor's note: I feel quite sure that my little brother, currently taking summer classes at MIT, would have some smart remark about how my criticisms are unfounded. I have one thing to say to him: suck it up, sissypants.)

Recent conversations have indicated that many of you actually read my blog. Not quite sure why - I refrain from most political (read: interesting) subjects on the blog, and really it's just a journal of my own activities because I have a short memory for such things. Fun comments of late include:

"Andrew! Sorry about the two periods!"

"I never thought you'd be the type to fall so fast" (referring to repeated mentions of one certain ESQ co-worker named Amy)

Yeah, it's good, I hope you're all vicariously enjoying my life. I warn you, though, it is about to become unpleasant, stupid cold...

Last night was quite good, despite my growing illness. Christine Loureiro's birthday celebrations, first at my house and then at Barleyworks. Happy 23, C Lo. Quite amusing conversation, a great crowd. Thanks Jeff for your entertaining stories on catching crabs in Cuba and Christine for her stories on catching crabs in PEI. I had to duck out early that night, because well, I have to work early in the morning and wasn't feeling better.

Oh yes, I am sick. Perhaps it is because of our ill-fated "camping trip" this last weekend (3 of the 5 of us got sick), but my guess is really that my passion for science has gotten the better of me. Oh yes, my very own body has become a living science experiment, titled "How the human immune system deals with the bacteria, viruses and illnesses of more than 300 children per week." I'm sure that I've been exposed to at least a few dozen harmful bacterium that I am just not used to.

Hence, I took the afternoon and spent it in bed ... I am rarely ill, and it is quite unpleasant for me. My head feels like it is on fire. I will be going back to bed soon.

Also, Club Med called about a job interview. Maybe I will finally pursue my dreams of being a cabana boy in the Carribean...

End of heat wave: good.

Buckets of rain: good. (For fish and farmers. Heck, let's face it, for romantics as well).

Ending heat wave with buckets of rain on the one weekend I have plans to go camping: bad.

Ah well. So much for the ESQ camping trip. At least we got one good night out of it. And I now know the most beautiful, private spot at the Guelph Lake Conservation Area. Good things to know.

(Amy also asked me to update, noting that I spent the better part of Friday evening taking care of her after she had a few too many visits to "The Captain," and later taking care of her as her cold, perhaps the onset of strep throat, hit the next day. Her fever topped out at 101.2C, but happily it broke by later last night. She's feeling much better today. She said thanks. I say, you're welcome.)

1. No matter how old you are, you still need to go outside and play every once in awhile.

2. Everything in life is better when you have a good buddy to eat lunch with.

3. My suspicions have been confirmed: I do love working with genius children. Never, ever constrain their talents.

4. There is never enough ice cream to go around, though too much jello can give you a tummy ache.

5. A classroom full of 10 year olds unleashed to learn Photoshop can be a beautiful, wonderful, dangerous thing. Pictures to follow!

6. Speaking of dangerous things, this marks one week since I've had my BlackBerry. First day of camp: 140 messages (sent and received). Second day: just over 100. Wednesday: about 80. Today: about 70.

7. Work-related politics can be interesting things when your major stakeholders are (very perceptive) 10 year old children ... and their (very protective) parents.

8. ArgusLab is da bomb. I strongly recommend this piece of freeware as toys for adults as well as children.

9. Listen to your calling. You never know what sort of opportunities may present themselves. Major life changing events happening so far at camp: 1, with another potentially rearing on the horizon.

10. No better place to spend a heat wave than an air conditioned computer lab. It strikes me as blessed that I have such a fortunate job this year, while last year's cool weather was "miserable" for everyone else but for my planting schedule it was perfect. Mother nature and I, we do enjoy each other deeply.

Amy is beautiful. No, no, you all can see her, yes she's physically attractive, but man I tell you that this woman is BEAUTIFUL. She has nice full lips, beautiful shining eyes, she carries herself with such grace, and moreso she has that thing that just makes a person beautiful, which is a true and deep loving respect for all people. For example, she loves little kids in a way that people could learn a lot from, and she has such grace in the way she treats everyone. Not to mention that she's healthy, has an excellent figure, and more energy than I can handle after a full day of work with kids. She's a great cook, a dedicated masseuse, a caring friend and man she can build a really large papier-mache volcano like it's nobody's business.

Oh yes, world, you are lucky to have someone as fantastic as the Ms. Amy in it. I certainly am lucky to share this corner of the world with her.

(Yes, she sits right here as I write this, turning crimson with embarassment. Which is nice, because her camp shirt is crimson, so it's a nice match. And no, I'm not going to tell you how I know that she has nice full lips...)

Leave it to me to enjoy the hottest day of the year (39C on the humidex) by eating spicy fajitas for dinner and following up this heated feat by baking brownies. The fajitas I have Amy to thank for, she's such a wonderful cook I barely noticed the heat in the heat. I would hire her, if I had the money. Heating up the kitchen for brownies was my doing though, mmmm, brownies...

Man I am so tired, first day of camp today. What can I say? Why am I still up at midnight? A few things went unexpectedly, which was expected. Nothing serious, though, and 95% of our programming survived. I do have to cut down on the ammount of use that I'm getting out of my BlackBerry, though: over 130 messages today alone! Hooray first day?

Speaking of communication, I've looked at my post below and decided to go the way of the Knuth. Too much e-mail, have I, so it's time to change. My Imprint account will now forward to my Yahoo! account, as will my uwaterloo.ca account. My ESQmail already goes to my BlackBerry, so that's one more down. Now I just have to figure out how to get my gmail and MSN accounts to go to the Yahoo Mail account, and I'll be down to three accounts for the time being: one work, one personal, one Impact conference.

I think that's all I have to report. The weekend was great, but tiring: rock climbing (my first in many years) with Amy, followed by a great relaxation session in the park. Dinner with the single and western Canada-bound Penny Michelle, pints with Dan at Barleyworks, Afrofest with Shelly Nixon in the stinking downtown Toronto heat on Sunday. You know, this heat is actually starting to hurt me, paradox that it's too hot to do yoga in and therefore preventatively help my body.

One thing I want to record, it did blow my mind. Shelly and I figured out that she and I have known each other for just over two years. We met just around the time I had *started* volunteering at UW. Man, I've packed a lot of living into two years.

My head is swimming and there are so many things to do. I wonder if they will all get done.

 

Yes, that's right. I kicked its butt. All players are on the "expert" level, the highest level possible through the game. This means that only one other player got to earn one point before I completely shut them down. (Each player starts with 2 points.)

I guess that's about as high as I can go on this game. Time to start playing with real people, I guess.

My player name has been smudged out for ... uh ... confidentiality reasons.

Not that computer games consume my life. I was only 12 once. Today, it's rock climbing, yoga, picnic with Amy in the park :) then we're going to see some movie at the Princess about inspiring teachers helping kids in the wake of the 9/11 disaster. Let's call it our second date, here's hoping that I have a chance to redeem myself in the face of the last disaster. ;) Well, she wants me to say it's really our third date, but we didn't make last night's outing of ice cream and a walk uptown an official "date."

Then it's dinner with Penny Michelle, and some drinks with Dan et al.

Because even though I'm grown up now, I'm sure that my mom worries about me. This is to let her know that I am eating OK.

It's my grocery list from today, in percentages of the total bill. Mom used to feed her kids using the Food Guide, so let's use those guidelines (even though they've changed a bit since I was a kid). Let's see how well I do.

Fruits and vegetables
5.7%: Ida Red apples (4lb bag)
7.4%: Pineapple (whole, fresh)
3.7%: Broccoli, fresh (2 heads)
1.3%: White onion, fresh (1)
2.1%: Sun-dried tomatoes, from the deli (6)
2.4%: Carrots (2Lb bag)
2.8%: Lettuce, romaine (head)
3.7%: Mushrooms, white button (1 pkg)
3.9%: Bell peppers, red (1)

Dairy products
7.3%: Milk, 1% skim (4L)
11.7%: Cheese, marble cheddar (lots)
8.7%: Cheese, feta (goat cheese)
11.7% Cheese, double-cream brie (200g)

Grain products
3.3%: Tri-Colour pasta, farfalle (bowties)
2.8%: Tri-Colour pasta, rotini (spirals)
4.8%: Bagels, whole wheat sesame seed (6)

Meat and alternatives
3.7%: Tofu, medium firm (1 pkg)

Other
9.2%: Olive oil (400ml)
1.7%: Margarine (small tub)

So? Not bad. I could use a bit more in the way of protein (meat and alternatives) but there's always Mr. P. Butter who I am quite well acquainted with.

My dariy products expenditures are a bit higher than normal - I don't usually have to get more cheddar, milk and brie all in the same go, and I've never bought feta before. Toss in the new bottle of olive oil and the pineapple, and this actually turned out to be a more expensive grocery shop than most (about 40% higher than normal). These groceries will last about a week and a half.

So, today I got my first ever BlackBerry. Thank you, RIM. What ever will you think of next?

With the new toy, of course, comes a new e-mail address. I wonder how many this makes. Let's count together, shall we?

1. Yahoo! Mail account - my first ever account, good and golden
2. Hotmail account - for MSN only, somebody signed me up for it
3. uwaterloo.ca account - free to all students. once artsmail.uwaterloo.ca, now it's alumni.uwaterloo.ca (free e-mail forwarding for life!)
4. gmail account - jumped right on that bandwagon. I'm starting to use it now. No spam yet!
5. Another gmail account - for one of my little projects
6. Yet another gmail account - for another one of my little projects
7. Imprint squirrelmail account - so, at over 3000 messages, I've maxxed this one out, completely broke it. Can't even access old messages!
8. ESQ squirrelmail account -
9. BlackBerry address - for my fellow ESQuires to get ahold of me any time, day or night!
10. My Impact conference team account. Got this one today, too, thank you Joseph Fung.

OK, so that's the list I can get, I'm sure there are more (my apologies to those I don't respond to!). This of course does not include any sort of e-mail forwarding, alternate addresses (ie, when I once received president@imprint, adilts@imprint, board@imprint, etc, etc all to the same address) or the like.

Now, the real question is, am I *more* connected now, or *less* connected? Is it, as Aldous Huxley once quipped, "technological progress has merely provided us with more efficient means for going backwards?"

Would it be better to follow the footsteps of famed computer scientist Donald Knuth, who has not had an e-mail address since January 1, 1990?

"I'd used email since about 1975," said Knuth, "and it seems to me that 15 years of email is plenty for one lifetime."

Well, I haven't had a BlackBerry for 15 years. I like my toys ... for now ...

It went well. Really well. And by that, I mean it was nothing short of completely disastrous on my part, but that I had a date with one classy lady tonight. I'm quite *fortunate* to have asked her out.

Guess who has the lead story on today's Daily Bulletin?

Hehehe. Looks pretty good - it wasn't over-edited, and I like submitting a photo whenever possible. The editing for the most part was painless (thank you Chris Redmond), though "It's Quest time of year again" definitely aren't my words.

Yee-haw!

Now ESQ has accepted me (unsolicited, I might add) as their freelance PR person. I'm going to try and get us some press elsewhere, locally and nationally. They'll have their *twenty thousandth* camper this year! So cool! (Wish I would have known that when I wrote the original piece!)

And NO, I still will be working as a Team Leader this summer. Two jobs, one organization, I like it!

I promised pictures, right? Hehe. This is one reason I love ESQ. Kids simply have so few qualms about caring for each other. We "grown-ups" could learn so much from them.  

The Edison team makes Liquid N2O Ice Cream, much to the delight of onlookers. 

I GOT A DATE!!!!

That's the late-breaking news. So much for a day of disappointing.

Yes, for all of you people who think that Amy is my girlfriend, she's not. I guess you just can't call anybody a kindred spirit anymore without everyone assuming a bit too much. (Yes, Mom, you're on that list! Guilty as charged!)

That being said, though, there is a small list of things that Amy makes me feel like:

1. She convinces me to do yoga more and more, even in this overwhelming heat. So yes, she's good for me inside and out. You could say that she does make me want to be a better person, which can be tough for an old pitbull like me.

2. One of her big teachings is how to approach everything with gentleness and respect, and she's definitely been a good influence in that respect. She's a genuinely good-hearted person (dare I say, a kindred spirit to many of the people I've known over the years? Hehehe) and it's nice to be around her.

3&4. She's a great friend. There's more that goes here, but only Amy knows what these are. I'm not going to put them online, but I'm going to caution you blog readers once again about assuming too much. You know who you are, and what you assume. So cut it out.

5. Though I'm her friend now, I would like to be more than her friend.

So, on that note, we're going to go out on a date (a *date* date! Woo-hoo!) tomorrow night. I'm taking her to the SCRUBS' Connoisseur and Cheese night at the University Club. Apparently, they're bringing in a professor to talk about tasting wine as part of the 'connoisseur' section of the evening (I say "part of" because when they say "connoisseur and cheese" they really mean "wine and cheese" they're just not allowed to mention alcohol) so it should be a good time.

Afterwards, I have something special planned for the evening for the both of us, but it's another SFA so I'm not allowed to tell.

So, no she's not my girlfriend, but WOOOO-HOOOO!!!!! This has just turned out to be the best vacation yet, better than potential trips to MIT or to Mexico or wherever...

And yet, you people wonder why I don't just leave Waterloo. You should meet her, you'd understand. Though I do sometimes wonder what my other true love will think of her...

That having been said, I've cautioned her that she shouldn't make this easy on me. Not that she should play ridiculously hard to get, but that if I'm going to keep taking her out on *real* dates (Like the one I have with her! Tomorrow! Hooray!) I want to have to earn it. And I will.

Pictures to follow.

My day today went something like this:

Slept in. I'm on vacation, darn it. But on my current schedule, it still means that I was out of bed by 10am. Ah, well. I suppose that's healthy for me.

Found out that my eBay account was hacked sometime yesterday, so I had to spend considerable time with on-line tech support convincing them that a) I was who I was and b) I did not buy a bunch of stuff.

As that issue was wrapping up, I found out that my ex-girlfriend is dating some other guy. Has been, for two weeks. Not that I didn't see it coming, but oh my, life just keeps getting better.

Retrieved my keys from Amy at lunch, then put my room decorations back up. They had fallen down.

My day got better after that. I got some ice cream from the x-stream zero bees, and then went for a quick tour of UW's theatre of the arts (with the Primary B's, of course). "Amy, look! You're in another picture!" Hehehe. OK, it's undeniable that she cheers me up.

Then I met with Ryan McCartney and got intro'd to the Industry Marketing team for this year's Impact Conference. Then I met Amy, hung out and offered massage therapy, and now I have discovered that ye olde Bomber is not open on Tuesday evenings, either. Thus, I sit at Imprint, preparing goods to send to the far away Meagan Dilworth in a care package. (It's coming, Meagan!)

Tomorrow are a few more SFA's, and hopefully LolaJean and I will take care of a few camp things. Thursday I will do NOTHING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. At some point this vacation I will meet with Shelly Nixon, Martha Lenio and perhaps Alexandra Kuperman. I will have beer on the Bomber patio, apply for a job at Shad, and work on my entrepreneurial ventures.

No, seriously, folks. I need to quit. Again. I need to back down. I tried to get out, but they keep dragging me back in. I need to walk away. I need to pay more attention to the girl in my life, who is meaning increasingly more to me each day. I need not to trade today for tomorrow. Dean at one point counted 27 things that I have done for or on the UW campus. Dean, I think I have now crossed the 30 mark. Less than 1/5 of those have been paid gigs. I need to get my priorities into something that, well, pays a bit more of the rent. Or at least *genuinely* promises to do so in the relatively near future.

Sorry, world. I love you all, but I'm being stretched too thin these days. Anybody know how I can make some money in my spare time?

Later (July 5) update: NO THIS DOES NOT MEAN I AM QUITTING MY JOB!!! I love my job, my "where else in the world would you rather be?" job. My fun times job. Heck it's my week off, and I've already been there both days, returning again tomorrow. I just wanted to vent some steam because I've been volunteering a bit much, but oh well now I'm on the Industry Marketing team for Impact. Gotta do what you love, you know.

Thanks to a musical master of a few hundred years ago, I was able to teach Amy some introductory piano tonight. I could not have thought of a better way to spend my national holiday. She doesn't keep a diary, but I will remember letting her find the piano, and having fun learning. I tried some simple stuff, and then she whips out the theme song from a popular yet unnamed Disney movie. Like I was a chump for trying to teach her piano. She swears that she knows little more, but ah well we'll have fun together.

This one's courtesy of my dad, who says he especially is concerned with #6. It's Science magazine's list of top 25 questions that will want answers over the next quarter-century.

Me likes. I've dropped by ESQ three times today, to peek over a few shoulders and even help out with something.

The DECA workshops went well, mostly I just drew on my orientation leader experience to have some fun with icebreakers. DECA in Ontario does not involve *any* paid positions (so I was told), but rather it's all volunteer-driven, mostly teacher-run. Talk about your dedicated teachers! In the USA, reportedly, there are some paid positions, but from government funding rather than from profitable ventures.

Too bad, really. You'd think that, with all those minds directed towards business, they'd brag of a beneficial spin-off or two. Though I guess at real solid reasons that this has not happened, perhaps I will find out soon.

Happy Fourth of July, all my American peers. Rick Theis was sure to wish me the day - he remembered my citizenship, of course!

One of my favourite songs used to be Otis Redding's "Try a Little Tenderness." A beautiful, soulful song, Redding pleads a case for the hard-working, deeply-loving women of the world, encouraging men everywhere that "when she gets weary ... try a little tenderness."

Even the song itself is beautiful, starting slowly and then *hop* *hop* Otis slowly picks it up, moves it up, takes it higher, makes it more, until at the end he is really leaning into it, giving it his all.

But have you ever listened to the words? I mean, have you really looked at what Redding says? A bit anti-climactic, if you ask me:

Ooh she may be weary
And them young girls they do get weary
Wearing that same old shaggy dress
But when they get weary
[You gotta] try a little tenderness

You know she's waiting, just anticipating
The thing that she'll never, never, possess,no,no
But while [all the time] she's without it
Go to her and try just a little bit of tenderness

Oh,but its one thing
It might be a bit sentimental yeah, yeah
She has - her grieves and care
But the soft words [they] are spoken so gentle
Yeah, but, oh, that makes it, makes it easier to bear, yeah

You wont regret it
No no, them young girls they dont forget it
[Cause] Love is their whole, whole happiness Yes, yes, yeah

And its all so easy, come on and try
Try a little Tenderness, Yeah Try
Just keep on trying

You've got to love her, squeeze her
Don't tease her Make love [Get to her], hold her tight
Just, just try a little tenderness
Thats all you gotta do, youve gotta hold her tight

One more time, you`ve got to love her
hold her Don't tease her
Never leave her, make love to her
Hold her, man

Try a little tenderness
[Just one time] God have mercy now

All you`ve gotta do, Love her
You've gotta hold her, Don't squeeze her
Never leave her You gotta now,now,now

Watch it, tell everybody
Try, Try a little tenderness

You gotta make love
Don't tease her
Never leave her
Rub her down
Smooth her, soothe her
Move her
Love her
Rub her
Gotta gotta, sock it to her
Try some tenderness

Oh yeah
Tenderness
Little tendernes
Gotta, lord you gotta hold her
Squeeze her Never leave her

Today I spent most of the day at UW volunteering for the DECA Student Summit, a business leadership conference for Ontario's high school youth. A wide range of community stakeholders came out for registration day, from UW's Talking Hands Club to UW recruitment reps to local TV station CKCO. That last one was a bit of a surprise - apparently nobody told our organizers that they had called CKCO! Just one of the joys of being part of a multi-level organization, I suppose. Dealing with multi-level communication.

It's interesting getting to know DECA, which as far as I understand is quite widespread throughout the province's schools. It's university level counterpart is DEX, UW's branch once having been headed by my old friend Stephanie Beach. I know a little bit about them, but this is my learning opportunity. It will be my own personal high point in the next day or two, learning about the larger organization. Otherwise, it's a lot of fun stuff - elevator pitch competitions, Amazing Race-style business contests, lots of team building and networking opportunities.

But, the nicest surprise of all came today when Amy just showed up unexpectedly. Quite beautiful in her red "Italian" dress, she managed to surprise me *just* as I was able to leave. We couldn't have planned it better if we had tried. Good thing I put all those signs up all over the place this morning, for students headed to the conference. :)

We walked around in the park and talked, about life and movie scripts and stalkers. It is a beautiful day outside today, and her company is the perfect end to a great (or, well, *any*) day. I don't think I'll ever forget the vision of her climbing the tree, barefoot, playful, trying her hardest not to fall right in the water.

In return, I have planned a number of surprises for her later in the week. Muhahaha. Ha. I just hope she brings her super powers, that will be even more fun.

"No rain! No rain! No rain!"

Do you suppose that if we all think real hard, we can change the weather, man?

Looks like there might be a bit slower Canada Day celebrations in Waterloo this year...