[Insert pretentious name here]

Finally!

2006-08-12T00:04:00.000-03:00

The time has come...in 4 hours I will be off to Ask and Imagine for a week (or so) filled with excitement, self discovery, and other such exciting things.

I won't lie, one of the biggest reasons I'm looking forward to this is because I get to see Rushy again :) But, this doesn't come without sacrifice, as because of some freakish planning, I miss Charlie's visit to PEI.

Anyhoo, I'm off to bed.

Education

2006-08-06T01:10:00.000-03:00

This may seem familiar if you read Nick's blog, as I am mostly just expanding on what he said and adding a few original words here and there :)

Education...what is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of that word? Most likely it is something along the lines of, "School, university, classroom" etc, and, for the most part, I would agree with you. But, this year has been a year for a different kind of education, for my whole family. This might turn into a bit of a tribute to my parents, but stick with me :)

Throughout this whole year, people have been in and out of our house, with exchange students and friends from all over the world; Thailand, France, Austria, you name it, and they were here (or soon coming). My brother and I have also been in and out with exchanges and such, and my parents have been with us the whole way, most importantly emotionally and spiritually, but also financially :) This summer, my parents haven't had the chance to relax with the house to themselves at all, and it isn't about to end. It has been an incredibly stressful and busy year for them, but they are still right by my side.

I guess what I'm trying to say here, is...Thank you Mom and Dad...for everything. And I know that when I look back on my education in my youth, it won't be the high school classroom education that sticks out, it will be these moments. *

So...No matter how annoying and frustrating your parents may get, remember: they are always there for you. And finally, IMHO, life education is immesurably more valuable than that of the classroom.

*(see acov.nfiniti.org for original copy of this phrase)

Mmmmmm...Game Day: Vintage

2006-08-03T13:37:00.000-03:00

Game Days have become a bit of a tradition here. Myself and a bunch of other friends, some of whom I hang out with a lot, and others hardly at all, are interested in...you guessed it. Video games. Because of this, we decided one day to head down to the local LAN "café", Adrenalan, and play around. Needless to say, we had a lot of fun, and now, it has almost become a tradition. We haven't had a Game Day yet this summer, so I called up Nick Kennedy and we planned one for today. The problem is though, no one else can do it. So, we decided to wait until some other day to go to Adrenalan, and in the meantime, have a Game Day: Vintage, chez moi.

I recently set up a mini-network between this computer and a poopy old Windows NT computer from Dad's office so me and FX could play some Command and Conquer: Tiberian Sun. It turns out Nick has a huge collection of pre-millenium games, such as Warcraft II, the original Command and Conquer, and Starcraft, just to name a few. Geeky? Hell yes.

So...I'm curious...who else does this kind of thing appeal to?

Ask and Imagine

2006-07-31T01:48:00.000-03:00

Man....It's not possible to describe how pumped I am for Ask and Imagine in less than two weeks. I don't think I've ever been so excited for something. Not only am I going to be able to see one of my closest friends in the world for the first time in almost a year, I am hopefully going to have the most spiritual and knowledge-expanding experience of my young life. Through some freakishly unlucky planning last year, I was forced to back out of A&I at the last second last year, though this year, nothing can stop me from going.

Now that I look back on last year, I am actually glad I am going this year and not last year. It makes it that much more special that I will get to see Rushan again, and I have had the chance to (kind of) get to know and work with (a little) the coordinator of A&I, Judy Steers. AND, hopefully I am a little more mature and grown up and I will be able to appreciate and more fully understand what is going on. (Although with people like Judy and Rushan running the show, good luck understanding anything! :D)

In other news, I have taken my goal to become Batman to the next level; I wore my Batman mask on a 20 minute walk to MacDonald's with some friends today. Needless to say, the feedback was...interesting, varying from people pointing and laughing to people singing the Batman song with me :)

Batman Returns!

2006-07-30T00:55:00.000-03:00

"The stars awaken a certain reverence, because though always present, they are inaccessible." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

That thought has been bothering me lately. Not the fact that the stars are inaccessible, (which they aren't) but the fact that I won't live to see Ralph Waldo Emerson proved wrong. Lately I have been thinking about it, and I although I still regret being born in the 20th century, it is for different reasons now than for before. Before I always wanted to live in the medieval era or before, but now, I want to see technology! I want to see mankind explore Mars! I want to see mankind live on another planet! But no, I have to live in an era where we are still struggling to cure cancer, still struggling to figure out how the laws of gravity and physics work! I mean come on, dark matter....are we still at a spot where we have to make stuff up to explain things that don't make sense? It's like saying "I swung my bat at the baseball but it missed, therefore something must have pushed it away!"

Ok, maybe not the best comparison, but it's the best I can do at 2 AM, and you get my drift, right?

P.S. I just decided that I want to be Batman, and I am returning to my dusty old blog, hence the slightly random name.

P.P.S. There are moments when one feels free from one's own identification with human limitations and inadequacies. At such moments one imagines that one stands on some spot of a small planet, gazing in amazement at the cold yet profoundly moving beauty of the eternal, the unfathomable; life and death flow into one, and there is neither evolution nor destiny; only Being. - Albert Einstein

Nice quote, no?

SOOOO MUCH WORK!

2006-05-03T20:56:00.000-03:00

I think I announced the re-opening of this blog a bit too early...I am busier than I ever have been in... well forever! I have soooooooooooooooooooooo much work to do, and even with me doing a solid at least 2 hours a night catching up, I am still only about 75% done. Hopefully I will be able to get some work done this weekend, though even that is not sure, as I have the band trip. Then, after that, I might be able to go on the big band trip to New York! All if I get my poopload of work done... And it is certainly slow going with me going to every freaking band practice going on in the school not even counting the extra ones every lunch time, trying to find time to hang out with friends I haven't seen for 3 months, getting my catch-up work done AND keeping up with regular class work.

So, sorry for breaking my promise for posts so early, but this time I have a real excuse. Hopefully once I get back from the band trip(s) I will have time to post and something to post about!!

Update your links!

2006-04-30T00:55:00.000-03:00

Update your links people! Teh Wil is back, and more cynical than ever after 3 months of Frenchness.

Be prepared for disappointment after disappointment as you check my blog faithfully while I reward you with a post a month!

Kidding, but hopefully I will post more often this time around. Only one way to find out...and that is to try! I am planning to change the address as I really don't like my current one, so some of you might need to change your links. Anyhoo, good to be back in Canada, had a great time in France and most of you know the details. I am settling back into life on the island and the work pile is slowly dwindling so I am allowed a little computer time.

Welcome back to [Insert Pretentious Name Here] everyone.

Anglican Young People On-line

2006-01-19T15:40:00.000-04:00

Well, last year I became involved in a program called "Anglican Young People On-line", which is basically a group that hooks up young anglicans around the country through the internet. I have been invited to be on the "consulting team" for the design of a website for this program, but the problem is, it seems we have a need for a new name. Here is a bit of information on why the original name was chosen:

"At the first visioning meeting last year, Anglican Young People On-line was
suggested and adopted as a 'working title'. I liked that it didn't say
"youth" as a number of people who will be using this site (the 21 plus
crowd) may consider themselves 'young' but might not think of themselves as
'youth'. Also, it says it's an online resource - right in the title."

Now my question for you, is what should we call it now? If you have any ideas/suggestions I, on behalf of the 'consulting team' would be enormously grateful.

We are insignificant

2006-01-16T08:27:00.000-04:00

Last night while reading "A Short History of Nearly Everything" I realized just how puny and insignificant we, humans, really are compared to the universe. It really is quite a blow to man's ego to think, hey, maybe this is only one of countless universes, that eventually our universe will collapse in on itself and the whole "Big Bang" cycle will start again, erasing all memory that we ever existed. It is interesting just to sit back, and try to imagine the universe. Could you do it? No. You can't. :) The human mind is incapable of even imagining the vastness of our solar system. Did you know that all our little posters that go up in classrooms of our solar system aren't even close to scale? Did you know, that even if you shrink Jupiter, the biggest planet in our solar system, down to the size of the dot on this "i", and Pluto the size of a molecule, Pluto would still be 35 feet away were a picture drawn to scale? "A Short History of Nearly Everything" is an amazing book. I am hardly 50 pages into it, and already it has motivated me sufficiently to post ;) It is incredibly easy to read, gives lots of numbers, but in a very interesting way. Such as this: Did you know that there are something along the lines of 10 billion trillion planets in our universe? Now imagine this: If you were randomly inserted into our universe, the chances that you would land close to or on a planet is less that one in 10³³. (thats a 1 followed by 33 zeros, in case you aren't familiar with scientific notation)

So with that number specifically, I realized that:

1. We really are quite puny and insignificant, and that no matter how badly George Bush screws up today, there is always next universe.

and 2. "A Short History of Nearly Everything", by "Bill Bryson" is a really good book.

Success

2006-01-15T14:50:00.000-04:00

Last night I started in on a book by Deepak Chopra called "The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A Practical Guide to the Fulfillment of Your Dreams". I must say, I'm a bit sceptical, but I'll wait until I finish the book to judge it :) Now on to the point of my post...Reading the book got me started thinking, what is success? Is it being successful in the business world? Is it making lots of money, having an awesome car and a million dollar house, having a hot wife, or is it being famous and admired? Or maybe for those less material, success is having deep and meaningful relationships with the ones you care about, or saving the world, I don't know. But I have the feeling that success is simply being happy. (I mean this kind of happiness) Which of course leads us back to the whole conversation on happiness, which I won't get into again ;) In that post, I kind of left it at the fact that I'm happy, I don't know why, or how, but I am and that's all that matters. Well, now it does matter! My curiosity has been aroused, and now I am on a quest to find out what makes me, and people in general, happy. (In case you didn't go to either of the links above, I am talking about happiness as "an attitude and a way of seeing the world rather than a warm, fuzzy feeling" as Rushan so aptly put it!)

And so the quest for the meaning and source of happiness and success begins! In the meantime, what do you consider success to be and what makes you happy, and if you are feeling adventurous, why?

Pandora

2006-01-06T18:24:00.000-04:00

I recently found a really cool site, Pandora. It is an interesting site where you type the name of a song or artist that you like, and for no charge, it will search it's seemingly very large database of songs for artists that are similar to the one you searched, or songs that are similar to one that you searched. It then creates a "radio" station that you can click on later to return to a previous search.

It is called: The Music Genome Project.

It really is quite neat. I searched "One Night in Bankok" by "Murray Head" and it is now feeding me songs based on "electronica influences, a subtle use of vocal harmonies, mild rythmic syncopation, minor key tonality, and prominent use of synth."

I also searched "Coldplay" and it gave me songs based on "basic rock song structures, mild rythmic syncopation, mixed acoustic and electric instrumentation, a vocal-centric aesthetic and a minor key tonality."

If you plan on joining and live in Canada, you may want to use a US postal code, because apparently it is illegal in Canada :P

EDIT: Apparently their library contains approximately 300,000 songs from over 10,000 artists. And it's not illegal in Canada, they just don't have anaudio streaming license for Canada.

Oh, the arrogance...

2005-12-12T18:27:00.000-04:00

http://www.evangelical.us/is-christianity-true.html

Found on the site above:

*Salvation does not depend on saying a prayer. God already knows what has happened.

That sounds funny to me...

I guess I'm not the only one...

2005-12-12T18:17:00.000-04:00

I guess I'm not the only one who has questions about Christianity...I have had a couple hits lately from the following searches:

what makes christianity so good (Google)

what makes christianity the right religion? (MSN)

why is christianity so narrow minded? (Google)

why makes christianity the only true religion (MSN)

pretentious religions (Google)

It's good to know that I'm not the only one out there :D

Happiness

2005-12-11T13:51:00.000-04:00

I went to church this morning (Holy Redeemer :P) and I found the first minute of the Homily pretty interesting, though a bit contradictory to what was preached last week. Last week's homily was about how we should devote our lives to doing what God wants, to avoiding sin and fulfilling God's wishes. This week's was about the fact that God wants us to be happy. Now for some, fulfilling God's wishes may be the path to happiness, but I am going to make a bit of a generalization here, but most of us (myself included) don't find a sin-free life either happy, or easy.

But anyway...

I really do agree with today's homily...I think that if I live a happy life, then I will have accomplished everything I could ever ask for. All I really want in life is to be happy. For me, being happy isn't having good marks, being kind to everyone I meet, playing video games 24/7, having no responsibilities, no nagging parents ( ;) ), making lots of money, or any of that stuff. I simply see those as ways to temporarily being happy. Sooner or later, it just won't be enough. True happiness is something that comes from the inside. The "official" meaning of happiness (according to dictionary.com) is "Characterized by good luck; fortunate." I find that a meaning for being temporarily happy, and not truly happy. For me, being truly happy would to be content with yourself. To be able to sit back, look upon your life so far and to be able to say, "I'm doing all right. Sure I'm not perfect, and I sure can improve here, and here, but I'm doing OK." And I do think I'm doing OK. I'm definetly not perfect, and I am trying to improve, but at least I'm happy. Other people may say, "Well you aren't very good at this! How can you be happy, if you aren't good at this, or don't look like this?" And really, I don't know. But I am happy, and I guess that's really all that counts, isn't it?

Christmas

2005-12-06T20:53:00.000-04:00

Each year, when Christmas is approaching, I start to reflect on the disgusting consumerism of this most holy of holidays. Sure it's nice to give people extravagant presents, but deep down, what do most of us like more than giving? You guessed it...getting. Some of you more self-actualized people out there may like giving more, but speaking for the adolescent population, I think it is safe to say that the first thing that most teens think of when someone says "Christmas" is the mounds of presents just waiting for them under the tree. I admit it, as disgusting as it may be, I probably get just as excited as the next kid when I come down the stairs on Christmas day. I think this is going to be one of the best Christmas's for me. I mean, come on, how often do you get a 3 month trip to France for Christmas. :D

But even more tacky then the disgusting greed at Christmas time are the putrid decorations that people put up! I mean, come on people! Christmas lights are nice when used in good taste, but most people don't even use common sense when they put up decorations, let alone good taste. Especially those icicle lights. Come on, they don't even look anything like icicles! They look like a string of bulbs broken and hanging down at regular intervals.

But who doesn't like Christmas, be it for the real meaning or the greed?

-Binary...It's digitalicious!!
0100100100100000011010000110010101100001011100100111010000100000011000100111
0101011100100110111001101001011011100110011100100000010011010110011100101110

Guilt...

2005-12-06T20:18:00.000-04:00

...is not a nice feeling, and not one I am used to feeling. Normally I tend to avoid such destructive feelings of guilt, worry, and (occasionally) anger, but this time is was different. It has been almost 2 weeks since last I posted, and according to my calculations, that means I owe Rushan a total of 4 posts! That's a hefty amount! I have also been feeling a little guilty because I haven't really been keeping contact with some people that are very important to me, namely my dearest brother Nick. We are long over-due for a chat Nick, we should set up a time for either a good MSN chat or a phone call. It seems that whenever Mom and Dad call you I am away...Oh and BTW Nick...We are playing The Chicken, After Hours and God Bless The Child for the Christmas concert with the Sr. Jazz. Not bad, eh? ;)

As I mentioned earlier in the post, I deal with my emotions in a relativly effective way. The way I do it, is if I am feeling angry, sad, worried, guilty, or any kind of irregular or destructive emotion, I take 1 minute, and I sit down, close my eyes and kind of look at my thoughts without, or with as little emotion as possible. As soon as I do this, I see how small a deal whatever is causing these emotions is. Strangely enough, if you seperate your mind from your emotions for an extended period of time (5-10 minutes maybe?) it is a very relaxing and refreshing experience.

How do you deal with stressful emotions?

-Binary...It's digitalicious!!
0100100100100000011010000110010101100001011100100111010000100000011000100111
0101011100100110111001101001011011100110011100100000010011010110011100101110

You know you are on the computer too much when...

2005-11-25T18:19:00.000-04:00

...there is a huge worn out spot on the desk where your mouse is.

Chemistry

2005-11-23T15:33:00.000-04:00

So today I was sitting in class doing a science test, when an interesting question came to mind. I had finished our chemistry test on the periodic table, elements, ionic compounds and all that fun stuff about 45 minutes early and I was a bit bored. So I started thinking. If elements are the smallest particles possible, then what is inbetween them? The first answer that comes to mind is air, but that doesn't make sense at all, because air is made up of elements. So there is my question: What is in between elements?

I really like chemistry...I find it very interesting to think that what I am studying is what EVERYTHING is made of. It's hard to explain exactly what I like about chemistry, but once I start looking at it, studying it, I seem to "lose" myself in it...I don't really know what I'm trying to say, but I just find it incredible for some reason. And something I always seem to question when I am thinking about chemistry...Who says that elements are the smallest things? And who says that the elements that we are familiar with aren't just compounds of even smaller elements that we don't have the technology to see? I mean, 2500 years ago, Empedocles (was it him?) said that there were four elements; fire, water, earth and air. Now, that theory is proven very wrong. And why, in 2500 years, won't our theory of there being 104 elements be proven wrong?

Arg, the arrogance of the human race bothers me sometimes!

But on another subject, my dad picked up a book for me that will help me prepare for my SATs. That's right, I am taking my goal of going to Philips Exeter seriously, much to the shock of many, I'm sure :D

P.S. Got your postcard today Rushan...expect and email relativly soon :)

Stuff...

2005-11-19T16:58:00.000-04:00

Thanks for the reminder Nick....The deadline isn't passed yet though.

Well today was the craft fair. For those of you who don't know what the craft fair is, it's a fundraiser for the Colonel Gray band in which local crafts-people buy tables which are set up around the school and sell their, well, crafts :p We (the band) also make and sell fudge, which, for me, was the high point :) It went pretty well as far as I saw. I played in a trombone quartet for a couple hours which went decently well considering the fact that we had 4 songs.

I don't really have much to write about, except that I am pumped for the new Harry Potter movie which came out on friday. I heard that it is awesome, except for the fact that they left out a bunch of stuff that was in the books, but what can you expect...It was a fairly long book. Just look at the trailor for it on that website...It gave me shivers the first time I saw it :D

I think thats all for now, just a quick update. Sorry, no deep and meaningful posts about life today. Maybe tomorrow :D

What makes Christianity so special?

2005-11-16T20:32:00.000-04:00

Of all the religions that are, that have been, and will be, what makes Christianity so special? There have been thousands, maybe even millions of different religions since the first human thought about where we came from, and who is to say that those countless thousands are wrong, and to say that Christianity, or Judaism, or Buddhism, or Hinduism, or anything is right and all others are wrong? Did "God" come to someone and tell them that He indeed exists and to observe any other religion is a sin? If I were to say that my God is my goldfish and that he tells me what to do, what makes that any more wrong, or even more crazy than our views on God? I know that some might say something along the lines of "Each religion is a different way of interpreting God" but this isn't really directed at them. It is directed at the religious followers who, even subconsiously, think that their religion is better than someone elses. This is directed at all the people who attend church each Sunday without even thinking about what they are chanting over and over, week after week, year after year. I am talking about even kids my age, who talk about religion and God as if they are "professionals" on the subject, and talk about God like there is no way he isn't a man sitting up in the clouds on his golden throne judging every move we make, and sending us to hell if we make the wrong one. How can you be so simpleminded as to sit there through the same routine week after week without simply wondering, "Why?" or "What?" or "How?" instead of sitting there and absorbing these things like mindless lumps?

In no way do I judge people who believe these things, and far be it from my right to do so. I simply judge the people who believe these things because they can't think for themselves.

It is these traits, after all, the traits to question, that brought us to where we are today. Without the ability to question, there would be no progress, without curiosity, no drive to discover new things. Basically what I am saying is that youth should be taught to think for themselves, not just do what they are told, they should be taught to be leaders not followers. And that religion, in general is very arrogant.

P.S. I have changed my template as you may have noticed. I was getting tired of the old one and I just realized it really didn't work in Internet Explorer. To see the comments, put your mouse over the number next to the title.
P.P.S I just realized that I have to find/make a header that fits :(
P.P.P.S The last one didn't work too well...here's a new one!

Subjects of Inquisition 1-2.

2005-11-13T22:40:00.000-04:00

3rd Edition :(

Thanks to Rushan for finding "Feels So Good" by Chuck Mangione...I have been craving this song like mad for days...I'm not sure why though. As you may already know from reading the post before this, I promised anyone who found it and sent it to me that I would post at least once every 3 days for 2 months. So here is the first one!

Tonight I went to a jazz performance...I forget who they were but it was a quintet with trombone lead and a guest performance by some bass player from Australia. They were pretty good, but normally I am not totally enthralled but musical performances (McGill big band being one exception) and I use them to do a little thinking. Tonight was no different. Tonight the subject of inquisition in Will's head was whether we are a individual as we think, and how we aren't really as special as we might like to think :P

So, as I was thinking over some of the different conversations I have had over the past few weeks a couple stood out to me. For example, the morning when we saw FX off at the airport we went to Smitty's for breakfast. One of the main topics of conversation there was comparing roles of the "newbies" to the "oldies" in the youth group. I didn't really think much of it then, but now that I think back on it, I like to think that everyone is an individual, but when you start comparing people, you really start to see how similar they are. Now, I know, that isn't a very good example, but here are some more...When Rushan came to PEI from the other side of the world, he very quickly met up with someone (Nick) who was almost (personality-wise) his twin. Honestly, what are the chances of not only them being similar, but them meeting? Another example is our youth group's trip to BC. Almost everyone there had an almost perfect equivalent. My "twin" played the trombone, liked jazz, liked fantasy books, loved british comedy, and who knows what else.

I don't really know what I'm getting at here, other than a bit of proof concerning my next subject of inquisition: We aren't as special as we think.

I don't think we (as individuals) are as special as we would like to think. Sure, everyone is good at something, but there is always going to be someone who is better. It really is depressing to think about. Let's put it this way; you devote your whole life to discovering the cure for cancer, and just as you are starting to come close, someone else finds a cure first. They have all the glory, all the money, the fame and your life's work is put down the drain because someone else is better than you. Let's put it another way; you are a musician and you spend your whole life practising every day, putting every bit of your effort into it and at the end of the day, at the end of your life, you have accomplished next to nothing because there are always people that are better than you.

I know this is a very negative outlook, and I might delve into the more positive side of it, but I have to go to "bed".

I think I'm going to cry...

2005-11-11T22:48:00.000-04:00

I have been searching all night for the song "Feels so Good" by Chuck Mangione but I can't find a single un-corrupted version of it. I have been craving this song for the past couple days, but I can't find it anywhere. All I can find is like a 15 second clip which just makes me want it more! If any of you (Nick, Rushan) have it or can find it, I will love you forever and I will post at least once every 3 days for 2 months I SWEAR!!! :'(

I don't know why you bother...

2005-11-02T21:47:00.000-04:00

AND I DON'T KNOW WHY I DO!!!! I JUST MADE A HUGE LONG POST ABOUT MOTIVATION AND MOM WENT AND @#!*$% IT UP BY CLEARING THE CACHE!! ARG!!!!!!!

It's not your fault mom...you asked my permission to do it first. It's my fault. Excuse me while I break something over my head.

INTERMISSION

Now where was I... Right.

My name is Will, and I am lazy as hell.

I don't know why you bother to visit my blog. I am still cleaning the cobwebs from my face from the rarely-traveled path to posting on my blog. Seriously I just can't get motivated to to it. No matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to do it. Motivation is, and I think always will be, my biggest problem in life. I start something, and after seeing some results decide that I am bored with that and have gotten everything I can from it and move on. I think I might have ADD. Take, for example, my book. Started it fine, and haven't touched it in months. And also, take my blog in general. It started fine, I had a post 2-3 times a week. Now, if you look at my archives you will see a steady increase in the time between each post and it has now grown to a now massive number of as much as 2 weeks. It really is quite pathetic.

My math teacher this year, Mr. Cutcliffe, who happens to be one of my favorite teachers ever, explained perfectly what I have never been able to put into words in parent teacher interviews. He told me parents that while I am maintaining a very good average, I have to ability to do much better if I decided to check my work and go through it carefully. (I find this INCREDIBLY boring so I don't bother) He also said that it seems like I am happy with where I am, so it probably won't happen until I am not. There is the root of the problem. On the outside, I say that I am not happy with a 90% average, and will try to improve on it, but deep down I have it so deeply engraved in my mind that 90% is amazing that I am perfectly content to settle for 90% when 95% is within my grasp. I realize that if I want any kind of good scholarship, I will need to improve on that, but I just can't seem to get motivated! It is very frustrating. I will really need to work on that if I plan to attend Philips Exeter Academy with a full scholarship :) I am thinking about applying there, and if I get any type of major scholarship, to seriously consider attending for at least a college/university prep year. It would be so neat to live down there...and besides I would be living in the same place as Rushan again! :D I wonder how he would react to me following him around the continent. He'll probably move back to NZ ;)

I am really hoping that this trip to France will be a chance for "Motivated Will" (if he exists) to make a surprise entry. I have made a bet with FX that in the 3 months I am in France I will have a better school average than him. This will be a very difficult, if not impossible challenge thanks to a second language, a much tougher school system and competing against a very intelligent guy. But we'll see how it turns out :) I really hope that MW will make an entry soon...I will also need him if I am planning on entering the Music Festival and doing well (My goal is provincials...once again a lofty goal, all things considered) with only 2 weeks between my returning from France and the competition itself. But we'll see.

I am now nearing my 1000th hit. To all you people who continue to visit my blog more than I even think about it, thank you for taking an interest in my life, even when I can't.

Kinda cool...

2005-10-26T16:03:00.000-03:00

You fit in with:
Humanism

Your ideals mostly resemble that of a Humanist. Although you do not have a lot of faith, you are devoted to making this world better, in the short time that you have to live. Humanists do not generally believe in an afterlife, and therefore, are committed to making the world a better place for themselves and future generations.

20% scientific.
100% reason-oriented.

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

I thought that this was kind of cool...

WTF??

2005-10-16T21:57:00.000-03:00

Ok...So I was looking on my hit counter information, and I saw that someone had some upon my site through a search engine, which is normal because that happens sometimes. But what really caught my eye was that fact that someone found it while searching for "Blind River". I immediatly thought, where did I ever mention Blind River in my blog?? So I repeated the search, and sure enough, there it was, mentionned in Chapter 1 of "The Sound of Silence". Now, I really don't remember putting this in my book, so I went back and looked in my notebook where I originally wrote Chapter 1. Surprisingly, in the line that now says "There was a note from his mother, saying 'Have fun in Blind River!' " I had written "There was a note from his mother, saying 'Have fun in Camp Okonowga!' ". (Camp Okonowga is where most of the book takes place BTW).

By this time, I was quite intrigued, so I decided to some research into Blind River. It turns out that Blind River is indeed in Ontario, Canada, in a place where it is more than possible for my book to take place in. I really don't know where this came from...Maybe I put it in while typing it on the computer for added realism or something, but I really don't have any recollection of doing that.

Then again, I'm not really that well know for my memory :D

I really suck don't I?

2005-10-13T21:58:00.000-03:00

It has been way too long since I have posted! It seems to be getting harder and harder to post and even email people with every day that passes. Well, my getting motivated to post isn't really aided by the (seeming) monotony of my life. It seems every year I get into school, liking it, and then about a month into the school year, I start to get tired of going through the same motions every day. Some people might say that every day is different and exciting, and you just have to try to see that, but, Rushan...IT ISN'T WORKING! ;)

As some of you may know, I am soon to be faced with a tough decision. It is not a black or white decision, but it is still one that will drastically change my relationship with either one person, or many. It isn't really something that I can talk about on such a public place, but I will give you a hint, while at the same time updating my life with some pictures.

So here is the hint. Who is not in any of these pictures?

Some random pictures...try not to be too scared at some of them :D

(Some *cough*all*cough* of these pictures have been pirated off various sites)

I am horrible...

2005-10-03T22:17:00.000-03:00

It seems I have forgotten my blog. I really need to get back into the swing of posting again, or I might lose my attentive audience :)

A lot of things have been going on lately. Most recently, we had our youth group retreat, which was Rushan's last one with SPY as we know it. It was a good experience, very different from past retreats, the notable difference being the lack of some "stronger" personalities. It was fun, and a great way to say goodbye to Rushan. I wish I could say it was relaxing, but the truth is that I was incredibly tired the whole weekend and I have no idea why. The youth group presented Rushan with some parting gifts, and he presented us with a beautiful parting service and reflection/sermon. It was overall a great weekend, although I wish a couple more people could have been there.

Well, I have just been told I am very tired, so I have to go to bed now. I will leave you with some pictures of the weekend past.

Apparently someone is going to explode, so I will post more pictures later.

Random

2005-09-27T21:00:00.000-03:00

Wow, I really need to start posting again, as my fan club calls. I am starting to fall back into my lazy trend again. (Be warned, this will be a very boring post, merely a filler until I finish something else)

Well, Sunday was Rushan's last Sunday as Director of Youth Ministries here on PEI. I attended the church service, (which is not something I do very often) and it really was quite nice. Everything went quite nicely, and Rushan and I played relativly well. School has been going well, which is good. I really need to find some way to motivate myself to make good study habits! I don't study at all, and I get mostly good marks (90's) so I don't feel the need to study. I know that even if I don't need to study this year, I will probably need to next year and probably until I am finished of university, but this doesn't seem to be enough to motivate me...maybe I need a tutor :) But things have been going well recently. Nothing of note (except something I will post on later) but the retreat this weekend. I have yet to tempt any of my friends to come to our youth group retreats. This one promises to be a good one though, as it is Rushan's last, and I made a trip to New Brunswick for fireworks :D

I'm not really in a writing mood right now, so you will probably hear more from me later.

EDIT: I just realized that I have been saying that for a while, but this time I promise!!

What has been going on...

2005-09-19T15:44:00.000-03:00

It has been a while since I have posted, so I guess I should let you guys know what has been going on. I have been having a great time at school. High school is so much better than junior high its not even funny. It's great. While I do have some good news, I also have some less good news. First, the good news. I guess I am in senior jazz, because I went to the first rehearsal, and it went fine, the music isn't too hard. I am playing 4 trombone for most of the songs though....we'll see what I can do about that :) Now the not-so-good news, which really isn't all that bad, is that I am not producer of the newspaper. I am, a columnist though. (I should probably write my article...:) ) Some grade 11 guy stole my spot. I even asked for it first! ;) Plus I had to explain to him how to use OpenOffice and how to edit the newspaper template. People these days... :D

I have started to play my trombone again, after a big summer break, and it is starting to feel good again. I am still not where I was for the music festival, and may not be for a while, but I will get there soon hopefully. I wonder if I will be able to take my trombone to France with me. I really hope I can, because if I can't, I won't be able to play in the music festival which is shortly after I get back.

Not really much else to say at the moment, will probably post more later.

Untitled

2005-09-13T17:37:00.000-03:00

Original name, isn't it? I couldn't really think of anything else to name it though...

I just realized I posted something the day before school, but nothing since then. Well I guess I had better write something about school. High school is A LOT better than junior high. Some people told me that I would hate the 75 minute classes, but I am actually finding that they go by pretty quickly. Except for French, but more on that later. For the first time ever, it seems that I am actually enjoying Math. It is the class that I most look forward to in the day, even before band/gym. I'm not sure what the difference this year is, but I really like my teacher, Mr. Cutcliffe. It's not like he has some awesome way of teaching math, he is just a really nice guy. I am also sitting next to a friend who is good at math so we have math races in class :P (Sounds nerdy, I know...Well it is!) Other than that though, we are doing exponents again. I thought we had squeezed everything possible out of it in grade nine, but I guess not. Oh well, we are having a test on them on Friday, so at least I know we are almost done! Science class isn't too bad, we have a teacher who teaches directly out of the book (and I mean directly!) so that is kind of boring, but at least we get to do interesting stuff this year in science. And then there was French. The most boring subject on the planet. I thought that maybe because I have my favorite teacher from grade 7 that it might be alright, but all 1 hour and 15 minutes of the class seem to be dragged on forever. Today we did imperfect verbs. (which we did last year as well) I felt like killing myself. It's horrible.

On a brighter note, I talked to Mr. Jabbour (Roger) about me joining senior jazz as he has a space open for trombone and he said he would consider it, which is a lot better than the "No" I expected. I still don't think he will let me as I will be missing a LARGE chunk of playing time, including a couple jazz fesivals while I am in France.

I guess that's all for now!

The Sound of Silence: Chapter 3

2005-09-09T22:23:00.000-03:00

Chapter 3

Marcel stood there in the pitch-black forest paralysed with fear. Completely and utterly alone, he had nothing but his own thoughts and fears to fill his head.
Marcel had never been in a situation like this before. He had always been relatively independent, but he had always been able to rely on someone to help his if he needed it, someone to support him if he couldn't do it himself. But just then, when he realized that for the first time in his life he was really alone, he experienced true loneliness and fear. And it was at that moment when he realized how lucky he was to have a mother that loved him as deeply as his did and a friend that would always be there for him. He suddenly remembered how he had treated his mother's worries with such a flippant attitude. He realized that he had left with hardly a proper goodbye, and how much that would have hurt his mother. He, for the first time, thought of someone else before himself, and realized that his mother had only wanted some re-assurance that she wouldn't lose him like she did his father.
He thought about his fight with Edwin, and realized that Edwin's cruel remark was probably just his way of coping with the stress of being without his parents and being in such a new place. Marcel knew that Edwin didn't deal with new situations as well as he did. "If only I had thought of this earlier!" mumbled Marcel aloud, knowing that he had over-reacted to Edwin's joke.

As Marcel thought these thoughts and many more, his feeling of loneliness grew and grew until it felt like it was going to engulf every fibre of his being. It was at the moment when guilt about leaving his mother joined the already raging storm of emotions in Marcel's head that he collapsed into a painful heap on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably, overcome by every emotion he had ever experienced and more. He lay this way for countless hours, crushed and emotionally drained, wounded and on the verge of despair, because of nothing but the sound of silence.

Marcel woke up that morning feeling surprisingly refreshed. Last night's emotional breakdown had helped him calm down and put everything in perspective and look at the bigger picture. Which was, of course, that he was completely lost with no rescue in sight. No matter how emotionally and physically refreshing the previous night's breakdown had been, there was no way to avoid the sinking feeling of complete and utter hopelessness that accompanies being lost. Marcel shook his head, trying to focus on his situation. It seemed that the only thing his mother had neglected to pack for him was what he needed most. A compass. He knew that if he went generally south, he would hit civilization soon enough. Marcel looked up at the sun, hoping to see where the sun was rising. He winced, and jerked his head towards the ground after making the mistake of looking directly into the sun. He obviously couldn't look at the sun for an accurate estimate, so he would have to find another way of finding the direction. Marcel racked his brain for a couple of minutes when he finally thought to look in the scout guide. He opened up the book and looked up the section so aptly called "Lost". According to the book, moss will always grow on the northern side of the tree. "That's simple enough," Marcel thought to himself. He stood up and brushed the forest debris from his pants, walking around the tree his was just leaning against. "That's funny!" Marcel said aloud as he saw that there was moss growing on all sides of the trunk. Slightly put out, Marcel moved on to the next tree to see if they were all like that. To his relief, this tree only had moss growing on one side. Just as the feeling of hope was returning to him, another tree caught his eye, and with a sinking feeling realized that although this tree only had moss growing on one side, it was a different side than the first tree. Marcel heaved a deep sigh, realizing that he didn't have much of a chance of finding the direction. Less than two days ago, Marcel had been desperate to get away from home, get some freedom and now he would give anything to be home.

--------

Marcel sat on the prickly forest floor for what seemed like days trying to figure out what to do. The realization that he had to keep moving came with a sudden thirst and hunger that gnawed at his stomach. He had to find something to eat or drink soon or he wouldn't be able to keep moving for much longer. Although he remembered the scout's number one rule about getting lost was to stay put, he really needed to find something to eat. He reluctantly got up from his uncomfortable seat and began to gather his scattered belongings. As he began his trek for food and water, Marcel looked at his surrounding and assessed the difficulty of finding food. There seemed to be plenty of wildlife around, tons of rabbits, squirrels, and he even saw a couple of deer. If he could find some way of trapping the smaller animals, he would have no trouble getting food. This is all hypothetical thoughts, Marcel told himself. He would be found before he knew it. He had to be. He wondered if anyone had started looking for him yet. The thought that he might be going further away from any rescue efforts made him freeze in his tracks. He shook his head, knowing the decision was made.

After about an hour of hiking through the incredibly humid forest and being eaten by mosquitos, there were no thoughts left in his head save those about water. His whole body burned with the need for water. He could feel the energy draining from himself, so he pushed himself even harder determined to cover as much ground as possible before nightfall.

Marcel woke the next morning, not even remembering when, or how he fell asleep. The only thing on his mind, that could be on his mind was the fact that if he didn't find water soon, he wouldn't have the energy to continue his search. He clambered to his feet, slightly re-energized but still sore from the previous day's trek. He picked his way through the fallen branches and roots, continuing his marathon in search for water. He hardly noticed the mosquitos anymore, and the areas where his skin was exposed was so covered with bites that there wasn't much more that the mosquitos could do to him. As he stood up from his third break in 30 minutes, absentmindedly brushing away the from his face, Marcel's ears caught the sound they had been waiting for for days. He sprinted towards the sound with a child-like enthusiasm, but what he saw was not what he had expected. What he saw made his knees weak, not with relief, but with fear. He was realizing that life outside a book was much, much different.

School Tomorrow :(

2005-09-05T10:55:00.000-03:00

So my first day of school starts tomorrow. I will be starting high school at Colonel Gray or "the gray". Now the response I normally get after saying I'm not looking forward to school is something along the lines of "You are starting a new school though! It will be exciting!". I really don't like school though. I find it boring and repetitive and I haven't had a good experience with school since grade 6 when I had a teacher who taught things that I was interested in and actually challenged me to think instead of mindlessly repeating the same math problems. Since then, I have been given no reason to enjoy school, other than the social aspect of course. Maybe this year, since I have a bit more choice in subject (I say a bit more because I still have very little) I will like the subjects I pick. Actually, probably not because I will miss most of the second semester, where all of my chosen subjects are. Now there is something to look forward to. I rarely look forward to things with much enthusiasm, but spending three months in France is something that I am really looking forward to. FX, the person who I will be staying with in France and is staying with me now, is a really nice guy, which is good because I will be spending another 5 months with him :D We have more in common than I originally might have thought from the information I received about him. The courses I will be taking for the first semester are Math, Science, French and Band/Gym. I am not quite worried, I am...let's say "interested" at how I will handle the relativly hard course load. I guess I have been taking Math and Science at the same time for the past nine years, but who knows...maybe high school will be hard ;)

I spoke with a dear friend with whom I hadn't spoken with for a while this morning. It was good to hear from her. She seems to be doing fairly well as she heads towards summer break (??) although she is a little homesick. That is to be expected though, and it is all part of the rotary experience. I know she'll forget about us all soon enough ;)

As I am re-reading my post, I am realizing that I write in a style that must be very difficult for the average person to read. I write as I am thinking, and I can think a lot faster than I can type, so I tend to start something, finish it in my head then move on to something else, realize I didn't finish it on the computer so go back to it. It makes for very jumpy reading. Wow. That was confusing too. Maybe it would be best if I don't write what is in my head.

*Sigh* I confuse myself sometimes...

Please understand me...

2005-08-31T21:02:00.000-03:00

This is a bit of a copy off Rushan's blog, but in case you are wondering what it is, it is taken from Please Understand Me: Character and Temperament Types. It kind of goes along with my post on masks.

"If I do not want what you want, please try not to tell me that my want is wrong.

Or if I believe other than you, at least pause before you correct my view.

Or if my emotion is less than yours, or more, given the same circumstances, try not to ask me to feel more strongly or weakly.

Or yet if I act, or fail to act, in the manner of your design for action, let me be.

I do not for the moment at least, ask you to understand me. That will come only when you are willing to give up changing me into a copy of you.

I may be your spouse, your parent, your offspring, your friend, or your colleague. If you allow me any of my own wants, emotions, beliefs or actions, then you open yourself, so that some day these ways of mine might not seem so wrong, and might finally appear to you as right - for me. To put up with me is the first step to understanding me. Not that you embrace my ways as right for you, but that you are no longer irritated or disappointed with me for my seeming waywardness. And in understanding me you might come to prize my differences from you, and far from seeking to change me, preserve and even nurture those differences.

Finale...
What has been said? Well, everybody's different and everybody's OK in their style as is. Let's face it; most of us are strangers to each other. I have my desires, you have yours. You keep yours and I'll keep mine because what each of us wants is good. What's more, you have your talent and I have mine and I can admire you for yours. I hope you will reciprocate.

It is simply not true that you and I go through the same stages to become mature. Maybe you had an identity crisis or two, but I didn't, and it's not because I'm immature or fixated at some stage, passage or season of my life. I'm just not into identity, never have been, never will be. I've other fish to fry.

Well, stranger, there isn't any way you can really understand me, but if you stop trying to change me to look like you, you might come to appreciate me. I'll settle for that. How about you?"

Strange taste in books....

2005-08-31T00:28:00.000-03:00

In this episode of looking in Will's head, we will see how Will's thoughts progress. Enjoy!

BTW...Masks= Changes of personality.

I have a very strange taste in books...While most of my peers remain uninterested in books, I not only love to read books, I have a very strange taste in books, absolutely loving things such as fantasy, sci-fi and even books about religion and spirituality! Not many people my age that I can think of have that eclectic a taste in books! This also brings me to the topic of my not maturing. (in some ways) I have always loved computer games such as Star Wars, or a good FPS, and I still love it just as much, if not more. I know people who used to like these things but have grown out of them, and I can't help but feel that I should have too! It's almost like I get a guilty feeling whenever I start a game. (Rushan! Could that be it?) I dunno...

Which brings me to my next point...Since my interests don't really seem to reflect most of my friend's interests (which, sadly enough, tend to be hockey :( ) I have to wear masks almost all the time.

I know what you are thinking, but don't worry. I don't pretend to like hockey :D

Hopefully I will meet some new people to hang out with in Colonel Gray...

I am not proud of the amount of masks I feel I am forced to wear. It seems that when I first meet someone I make a mask that will best go with their personality and then I am stuck with that! There are always the certain few that I don't have to wear a mask around, Rushan, Ben, Reese to name a few, and for this I am eternally grateful. These are the people that mean the most to me, the people that can accept me for who I am. There are some things I would like to say, but I don't think are appropriate for a public blog. Luckily I have Rushan to vent to. Typing all of that that I had to erase took all my creative juices and now I have nothing to show for it...Oh well. I'm done for now.

Interesting how talking about books can lead you the deepest darkest depths of your soul, so deep that they are not meant for public view :D (I am just trying to make you curious ;) )

The simple things

2005-08-29T23:53:00.000-03:00

Once again, sorry for not posting for so long. I don't really know who I am apologizing to when I say that....probably myself. Oh well. I have still been really busy.

I don't really know how to say it, but, lately I have been paying more attention the the small details of everything. I have been almost slowing down, absorbing things more. It is a weird way of putting it, but it's almost like I am taking everything there is to get from something before finishing with it, where as before, I would only absorb half of what is there before moving on the the next thing. For example, I have actually been listening to music, listening to the chords, even (attempting) to play some, if I am feeling adventurous. I have been taking time alone to think, rather than default to the computer or TV. (Although I do that sometimes too!) Now this is going to sound really weird, but even things like playing baseball is different. When I am playing catch with someone, there is some strange satisfaction from the feeling of catching the ball in just the right place in the glove. It's kind of difficult to explain. Again, for example, I was sailing tonight, and there was almost no wind. Normally in this type of situation I would have been bored out my mind, but instead, I took advantage of the situation and used the (relative) quiet time to think over some things.

Wow...it took almost an hour for that relativly short post...

I'm so...I dunno

2005-08-24T22:40:00.000-03:00

ARG. Sorry for not posting for so long. I have been really busy with showing FX around and stuff, but I guess that's not really a good excuse. I haven't been writing my book recently either. It's just that....well I have been dealing with stuff lately and I have been kind of pre-occupied...Not stuff that I am ready to share with the general public. Not right now, and maybe not ever. Anyhoo...I am going to write something now...not really in the mood, but I'm sure I'll think of something.

P.S. The "stuff" I've been dealing with lately has nothing to do with FX, in case you were wondering :)

Francois-Xavier is here!

2005-08-21T10:58:00.000-03:00

So, Francois Xavier, or FX, arrived yesterday. We have a lot more in common than I thought we would, and his english is also quite good. He speaks quite well but sometimes has to search for words (which is normal) and we have to repeat ourselves often, but his english is really quite good. He seems very nice and has some interest in computer games (Total War series) and it seems that we are getting along well (so far :D ) Hopefully things will continue this way :)

Sorry for the short post, more on the way later.

Happy b-day!

2005-08-19T00:00:00.000-03:00

Happy birthday Willy! It is my birthday! I am now officially 15 years old, and apparently I am now old enough to get a job! Hoorah! (Rumor is that no one will hire someone under the age of 15) Well just a quick update on the big new in my life:

My b-day! (of course)

Mom and Dad's 21st anniversary (one day before my b-day)

F-X arriving tommorow (hopefully he settles in nice and quick)

Hopefully I will be receiving a birthday call tommorow morning! (You know who you are...;) )

Oh update: I have been too busy relaxing lately to write, so that is the reason all my avid readers have seen much lately :) I will be back at it soon.

Wow...a political post on Will's blog?!?!?!

2005-08-16T00:03:00.000-03:00

I don't like the American government. American citizens, are for the most part, nice people, but their government are such frelling mivonks! Seriously, they are such thoddos! :D

Anyways, if you are wondering why I am suddenly dissing the US government, have you heard about the softwood lumber dispute between Canada and the US? Basically what the deal is, is that the USA have been taxing Canadian lumber going into the US and the two countries have been fighting over whether this is legal or not. Well a recent NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) ruling states that this is indeed illegal, and demands that the United States re-pay Canada the 4.1 billion dollars they have lost because of illegal taxing. Now, when I first heard this news, I thought, good, Canada has finally taken the US down a peg. But no, I was wrong. It turns out that the US, being the arrogant Frelniks they are, have decided to completely ignore the NAFTA ruling and continue to tax Canada illegally. ARG, this made my blood boil when I first heard it. It still does!! I know that the US would have made Canada respect this ruling if it went their way! That is typical American behaviour, prosecute a country for breaking the rules, then when rules are set against them, just break them like they were nothing! God damn, they should invade themselves! I mean, they have invaded countries just because they think they have WMD when they themselves have thousands more than anyone else!

ARG!

Hopefully Canada will retaliate by enforcing litigations or trade sanctions. One can only hope.

/random and probably very confusing to read rant

More random thoughts...

2005-08-15T22:13:00.000-03:00

Well, first off I will apologize for not posting for so long. I have a couple things on the go, but I am not yet sure whether I will post them or not as they are on a more personal level. And I have become re-addicted to a computer game. (surprise, surprise!) Speaking of addiction, it happens to me too easily, especially with computer games. I find a new game, am obsessed with it for 1-2 months, play it non-stop, then grow bored with it and stop playing. I am trying to moniter my usage of this game so this doesn't happen yet again, but as you can probably guess, it isn't working out too well. :D

Francois-Xavier (F-X or FOXY HAHAHA) arrives on Saturday. In case you didn't already know FOXY (teehee) is my twin for the Canada-France exchange I am involved in. He will be here for approx. 3 months, until November. I leave for Meylan, France, which is just outside of Grenoble in Febuary until March. Now this Febuary-March thing is kind of bothering me. Especially choosing whether I should have my French class first or second semester. Here are the pros and cons of taking French first or second semester. :D (I guess you can just figure out the second semester pros and cons as they will just be first semester ones switched :D)

First Semester Pros:

Improves my french skills so I will have less trouble adjusting to the language while in France.

First Semester Cons: Takes away an easy class in a semester where I will be missing 3 months of classes. (Classes in France do not count.)

It may come down to a coin toss :D.

Nick finally left for Austria on his rotary exchange, and also finally escaped the British Airways strike in which he was caught in. He has since arrived at his new home/castle (which is bigger than he thought...more on that later!) and has left for his German language camp. We have not heard from him since London. (Again, another surprise :D) We all miss you already Nick! For example, I turned on the TV, and there was "Dave the Barbarian" but I just as quickly turned it off, because it's just not the same without someone to laugh with.

So Nick's castle. It appears that it is huge, and that his family also owns a mountain, on which is the ruins from the first castle! The chapel is still intact from the first church! (I'm so jealous!!!!! :()

Thus ends the random thoughts.

P.S. Birthday in t-minus 4 days!!!!!!

Mid-Year's Resolutions

2005-08-12T07:44:00.000-03:00

I know I am a little late in posting this, but....oh well.

1. Daily exercise. This is Number 1 because exercise is an extremely important part of life and I haven't really been doing much as of late. And my guns won't stay this sculpted without some effort ;)

2. Put more effort into school. I have never really tried at school and have always gotten OK grades, but it's time that I put my full potential to the test, and see what I am really capable of.

3. Practice my trombone more. Something else that I have been putting a half-assed effort into.

4. Put as much effort as possible into improving my french skills. If I am to have a successful time in France, I at least need to know how to speak french properly!

5. Keep in touch! Specifically with this person, this person and this person.

6. Be more motivated in everything I do. Specifically everything I just mentioned, but I need to be more motivated in everything! Not sure how I will do that, but I may just need to force myself through the pain.

7. Try to be as welcoming to Francois-Xavier as possible. Pretty much self explanatory. :)

8. Update my blog! Of course! How could I have forgotten that??

That's all for now, but this list is likely to be updated throughout the year.

Money

2005-08-12T00:23:00.000-03:00

Money+Youth+Parents=Annoyance.

Although I have plenty of money in my bank account, my parents act like it is theirs. They never let me spend it and they say they are going to open a savings account (or something like that) for me, but they never get around to it! GAR! So I have come to a shocking decision. I will get a job. Or at least try to :) Sobeys might be a good place to work....but maybe I'm too young.....I'll have to talk to Paul.....I will pretty much work anywhere that doesn't involve a full-time toilet cleaning job or serving food though. Any ideas on a part time job anyone? :D

Sorry for the randomness.....

"All suffering comes from desire or attachment"

2005-08-08T05:56:00.000-03:00

I was reading Reese's blog for the first time since I got back from BC (more on that later) and I came across this quote: "All suffering comes from desire or attachment". I find this quote slightly ridiculous. Although it may be true, if you were to live by this, as I guess at least one person does, what would be the point of life?!?!? Tell me this: if you had absolutely no desire in your life, why would you do anything? Everything you do is driven by desire, be it yours or someone else's. Try to imagine what life would be like without desire! If you had no desires, you wouldn't bother to even make an effort at school, relationships, even life!

Now attachments. For me attachments mean relationships, and relationships mean love. And what would life be without love?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Without relationships, life would be nothing. Everything that you learn (in my opinion) you learn from relationships. Even though relationships can sometimes mean pain and sadness, what you reap from these relationships is worth the pain and suffering by a million times. I will use Rushan as an example. I have known Rushan for almost 3 years and in that short time, I have grown to know and love him. He has taught me more about life and spirituality than any one else and more about other things than any teacher possibly could have. Unfortunatly, Rushan is moving to New Hampshire in October. While I am very sad that he is leaving, I wouldn't trade my time with him for anything. Everything I have learned and experienced with and because of Rushan is worth more than all the pain in the world. Heck even just having someone to talk to at 3 AM is worth it!

For this reason, and many more, I think this "philosophy" is a load of bull used by someone as an excuse for wasting their whole life and is now bitter about it and is trying to force their cynical views on life on other people :D

New template....again

2005-07-28T01:47:00.000-03:00

So I made a new template, this time by editing my current one though. I think it looks alright, though a little amateur as this is my first time creating one. I still need to change the blue on the sidebar, but I can't figure out how....I also need a new text color. Any ideas?

And I still have that huge space that the sidebar makes in my posts...anyone know how to fix that?

The Sound of Silence: Chapter 2

2005-07-27T01:08:00.000-03:00

It was one of the younger kids who first pointed out the decrepit state of the camp. Very loudly. It was during the leader's speech after everyone had gathered that he shouted out, "This place looks like a giant porta-pottie!"
The sad thing was, it was true. The camp was made up of old log cabins forming a circle, with the odd bathroom thrown in here and there. Then, in the middle of all this, was the centerpiece of this work of art: the mess hall. The hall was exactly that. A mess. It was made mostly of the same half rotten wood that the cabins were made of, and was roughly the same shape too, except enlarged about 10 times. Inside the mess hall were picnic tables set up in a circle around a dirty old buffet table, almost exactly the layout of the outside.
"They really need an interior decorator in here!" was Marcel's first thought. "Good thing we are spending most of our time here camping and hiking!" he exclaimed out loud to Edwin.
"I agree. I don't think we will even need to spend a night in these disgusting buildings. From the little I caught of Leader Meyers' speech, the older group will be leaving just after we eat!" said Edwin, the nerves obvious in his shaky voice.

They would be going into the forest surrounding the camp for two trips of three days at a time. During these trips, the older scouts would be split up into five small groups, and taken on five different paths which meet up about 1 days hike into the woods. From there, the scouts would be taken on small trips just to learn about the local wildlife and plants.
As luck would have it, Marcel and Edwin were put in the same group. Of course, the boys were pleased to have been grouped together. By placing themselves at the back of the group, they could escape the boring lectures of Meyers' lectures and talk without getting in trouble.
"Our group is horrible!" complained Marcel jokingly. "I probably would have went back on the bus if you weren't here."
"I'm just pissed that we got Meyers. He's so boring! I heard that some of the other leaders are letting them build their own campfires. Meyer still won't let us make them, and we have been able to make our own since we were, like, 8!" said Edwin, joining in the complaining, even though he was glad that Meyers was their leader.
"I heard we get to build our own lean-to's tonight though! I read all the books I could find on them. I'll bet that I get mine set up first!" Marcel said eagerly.
Soon enough, Marcel and Edwin couldn't talk and were forced to listen to Leader Meyers, not because he told them too, but because the hike was becoming too intense! They had to keep their eyes on the ground to keep from tripping over roots, but at the same time, they had to keep their eyes up to look out for overhanging branches. The path, which was growing more and more thin as time went on, was also on a slight upward tilt.
"If I keep this up much longer, I'll be as skinny as you!" Marcel exclaimed, poking fun at Edwin's lean stature.
Edwin paused, looking Marcel up and down, "From the looks of you, it might help!" Edwin said, immediately sorry for his crude remark as he was aware of Marcel's self-consciousness towards his weight.
Marcel let out a quick breath that sounded like a can of pop opening and walked briskly to the front of the now single file line. He engaged Meyers in a conversation about the conservation of the southern flying squirrel in Ontario's deciduous forests, keeping his eyes fixed on the path ahead and determinably not looking back at Edwin. Edwin sighed and swatted a mosquito, knowing that it would be best to give him time to cool down, having dealt with Marcel's temper many times before.

Before too much longer, they arrived at their designated camp area and Meyers started them off on a competition to see who could build the best lean-to in the 30 minute time frame. They weren't given any instructions except "You can use whatever materiels you can find, as long as they don't belong to someone else." So they set off to build a lean-to with nothing but their minds and their own two hands, with the prize of an ice-cold coke in mind, heaven in the 33°C temperature.
After the given 30 minutes, all the scouts were standing proudly beside their completed lean-to's with the exception of Marcel. He had spent so much time trying to make his lean-to perfect that he ran out of time before he could finish it. To top it all off, he forgot to use spruce branches for the ground cover, instead used pine boughs, in which the needles are too long and too sharp for comfortable sleeping. Edwin's lean-to, to Marcel's disgust, was as close to perfect as it is possible to be in 30 minutes. His ropes were made of perfectly woven long grass found nearby, his knots mad of perfect figure-eight loops, his cross bar almost exactly the right height...Everything was good. Good enough for him to win the competition, much to Marcel's disappointment.

That night after the campfire, when everyone was asleep, Marcel was still fuming about him losing the competition to Edwin, so he decided to go for a walk. He had always found that a quiet walk helped him calm down and put things in perspective, and that was exactly what he needed to do then. He started to leave his now completed lean-to (which he noted with much satisfaction, was better than Edwin's) when he though about bringing his backpack. He finally decided to, as he had made enough mistakes that day, and wasn't planning on making another!
He picked his was across the pitch-black campsite, avoiding the ashes of the long extinguished campfire and made his way down the path, now able to see relatively well in the bright moonlight. He thought about how immature he had acted that day, starting with storming off from Edwin. Although it wasn't fair for him to make fun of him like that, he could have worked it out with him in a more adult matter. As he thought this, he came to the conclusion that he would apologize to Edwin that morning. About 20 minutes into his walk, Marcel suddenly came to a halt when he realized he was no longer on the path. He searched first calmly, the increasingly frantically when he couldn't find it. After about 15 minutes of running around aimlessly, he stopped and the buzzing of millions of mosquitos filled his head. A sinking feeling completed it's journey to his toes.

He was lost.

The piano?

2005-07-26T02:47:00.000-03:00

Well, as you may or may not know, way back in the day when Charlie lived on PEI, he taught me how to play the piano. Needless to say, I wasn't the best student ;) I dug my heels in when it came to practicing.(As I do with everything)

Again, needless to say, the lessons stopped as quickly as they started :D But tonight, I decided to set up the old keyboard and tickle the plastic ivories. Well, I can't say it was easy, but it wasn't as bad as I expected, and I seem to have gotten a couple songs from level 1 under my belt. (Such #1 hits such as: A Cuckoo in the Woods, Cradle Song and...well...you get the idea :D)

No real reason for posting this, just found it interesting how once I am stopped being forced to do something, I actually take an interest in it. Maybe if I take next year off of school, I'll become interested in it...I wonder what Mom would think of that one :D

The Sound of Silence: Chapter 1

2005-07-25T20:52:00.000-03:00

Well: here it is. The long awaited "book". It will probably be a little boring, but it is only the first chapter, so stick with me! ...please ;)

It was Marcel's first boy scout's hike, and his mother was worried sick about him. She was running around the house, getting everything he would need, from a fully equipped first aid kit, to insect repellant, to SPF 50 sun screen. Marcel was a 14 year old slightly over-weight boy who lived in Toronto with his single mother, Jo-anne. Marcel was very slightly immature, though not in a bad way. He was very dedicated to everything he did, and he always listened to his mother, he just sometimes didn't act his age.
Marcel, the opposite of his mother, was a mirror of calm. He knew he was prepared for anything, even if he got lost. He had spent the last 2 weeks reading and re-reading the scout manual, and he knew exactly what to do, in every situation. None of this re-assured his mother though. He was leaving for seven days, and the longest time he had been without his mother was overnight at a friend's house.
Even though Marcel was the "perfect child", always doing everything on time, never disobeying his mother, she had her hands full. When Marcel was two years old, his father died of cancer, and ever since then Marcel's mother had had trouble supporting the small family of two, both financially and emotionally.
She stood there in her apron with the smell of fresh cookies wafting down the hall of their cramped two bedroom apartment gripping Marcel's shoulders with tears in her eyes, "You be careful! And have fun too, but most importantly stay with the group and...."
"I know Mom, I know," interrupted Marcel, "Stay with the group and listen to the leader. You've only told me, like, 20 times," Marcel said impatiently. "Bye Mom. See you next week!" Marcel said cheerfully.
"I love you," she whispered at Marcel's back as he ran down the steps, into the rain and down the street to where the bus was waiting for him.

Waving a last goodbye to his mother, Marcel finished the sprint through the rain and jumped into the bus. He immediately sought out his best friend, Edwin Adams who was saving him a seat. Marcel threw his kitbag on top of Edwin and threw himself into the seat blabbering about the trip before he finished sitting.
"Shut up already, Marc!" complained Edwin playfully, who had listened to Marc brag about how good a woodsman he was all week.
"You're just jealous!" joked Marc. "The only thing I'm looking forward to on this 6 hour bus ride is getting to go over the woodsman's manual a couple more times. I almost have it all memorized." bragged Marc.
"When will we ever use any of that stuff? We will be with the group and leader the whole time! We will never need to know what plants you can eat and stuff like that. It's a waste of time!" said Edwin, proceeding to take out his Game Boy, place his tongue determinably between his teeth and start to play "Sonic the Hedgehog."
About halfway through the trip, when Marcel had re-read the scout manual two more times, he got bored, so he started to rummage through his kitbag looking for food. He pulled out the first aid kit, and underneath that was his lunch. As he opened his lunch bag, he noticed something he hadn't put there. There, underneath his tuna sandwich, was a big, sleek silver Swiss army knife, with the white flag on a red background on the top. There was a note from his mother, saying "Have fun in Blind River!"
"Ed look at this!" Marcel shouted.
"Marc, stop shouting! People are staring." Edwin whispered.
"Look at the Swiss army knife my Mom got me!" Marcel whispered excitedly. "It has 10 parts! This will really come in handy in the woods."
"That's awesome!" whispered Edwin. "It even has a key-chain so you can put it on your belt. How much further to the camp do you think now anyway?"
"Probably no more than two hours... I hope. This bus ride is really boring" complained Marcel. "Did you know that sitting in public buses for prolonged periods of time can cause arthritis in your lower vertebrae? I read it in a book," Marcel commented dryly, tired of sitting in the bus.
"Mmmmmmm...." mumbled Edwin, already too engrossed in his Game Boy to pay attention to what Marcel was saying.
"Wow! The forests here are really varied! You can't even see two of the same kinds of trees together! We must be really close. The manual says the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence forests are the most varied in Ontario, and that's where we are going. It also has the most wildlife." said Marcel, rattling off some facts that he had memorized from the scout manual and other books he had studied.
"Mmmmmmm..." replied Edwin, still absorbed by his Game Boy.
Suddenly a dry, monotonous voice crackled over the bus speakers: "We will be arriving at Camp Okonowga in five minutes, so if you could start to pick up your garbage and baggage, it would be greatly appreciated."
"Well, I guess it's almost time!" Marcel exclaimed excitedly. Looking at Edwin, he noticed he looked a little pale, and slightly nauseous. "Are you O.K. Ed?" asked Marcel.
"It's just that...I don't know. I have never been away from home, and I guess I'm a little nervous," explained Edwin. He sighed. "I guess I'm regretting not preparing like you did."
"Ah, come on Ed! I'm sure I studied for nothing. Besides, it's like you said: When will I ever use all of this useless knowledge? You'll be fine!" Marcel exclaimed.

Coming soon...

2005-07-23T12:12:00.000-03:00

Sorry for not posting for a while...I've been pretty busy.

So you may not see more posts for a dayu or two more, because I am working on something big. Seriously though, I started to write a book, and I may be posting bits of it on the blog. So you might see some of it later :D

BTW this post is just to let the pessimists (Nick) know that I haven't lost interest yet. Give me another week at least!

Oh and Maryse: if you are reading this, sorry I couldn't make it to the airport :( I miss you already ;)

The Bible...

2005-07-20T20:52:00.000-03:00

...is not trustworthy. I find it strange that a lot of Christians practically base their all of their beliefs on a book made up of stories thousands of years old, and that were passed down by word of mouth only for hundreds of years. Just think about how much the story would get distorted with each telling! Poetic licence being so popular and all. Some people take the bible so literally, it literally makes me sick. Not only would the bible have been distored over the millenia, but a lot of the ideals in the bible are thousands of years old! It makes me so angry when people say being gay is wrong because is says so in the bible. A lot of things in the bible are wrong and outdated, and I believe this is one of them! For example; in Leviticus 1:19 it says that burning bulls on the altar creates a pleasing scent for the Lord. Leviticus 19:27 also forbids getting the hair around your temples cut. It goes on to say it is good to own slaves, that eating shellfish is an abomination and enen that you can't plant two different crops in the same field! Keep in mind that Leviticus is where you will find the bible saying that homosexuality is a sin.

While these things may have been acceptable, oh, maybe two thousand years ago, they most certainly are not today, and I would like to meet the people that think they are. If these things have changed, why can't things like homosexuality change? For once, Canada is leading the way in something with our recent legalization of gay and lesbian marriages.

I believe that a lack of youth in religion can be attributed to the fact that the church is (a lot of the time) unwilling to change, too in love with tradition. A lot of people I know feel this way, and I think the church could benefit with some fresh ideas.

Better Rushan? ;)

I found a quote that goes well with this post:

Truth, in matters of religion, is simply the opinion that has survived.

Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)

My favorite websites

2005-07-20T02:08:00.000-03:00

I'm really bored and I have nothing to do, so I guess I will copy Nick and make a top 5 (because I won't be able to think of 10)

So here goes nothing :)

5. Blogger. The root of all evil :) Seriously though, blogger.com is a really good place for blogs and more than 10 million people have blogs, so you know it's either a fad, or it's a good website. ;)

4. BBSpot. Ever since Charlie showed me this website, I have been hooked! The articles on this website are hilarious! Specifically this one and this one.

3. Google. This is perhaps the most useful tool on the net. Especially for annoying forums noobs.

2. Maddox. This man is perhaps the most hilarious person you will ever read on the net. I can't even describe how funny he is. All I can say is: READ!

1. Of course...MY WEBSITE! (Until I lose interest in it of course) It has been a constant source of entertainment for the past 24 hours, and hopefully it will continue to be.

Any websites I missed? (Besides other people's blogs :)

New template

2005-07-19T20:43:00.000-03:00

I have been shopping around for a new template, and when I saw this one I had to have it.

Let me know what you think!

Will

Harry Potter

2005-07-19T05:03:00.000-03:00

Wow....I have so much to write about. Maybe I should save some topics so I don't run out. Or not.

So I followed along with the trend and bought the new Harry Potter book. I must say, I am quite impressed. J.K. Rowling really outdid herself with this book. Not only is it funny (I'm sitting here listening to my brother laughing away as he reads it) it is well written and very hard to put down. I finished it in 8 hours. Something I liked about this book is that Rowling at least started to start to wrap up the story. A lot of writers with long series (cough Robert Jordan cough) just dig themselves deeper and deeper with each book. While I can't see the Harry Potter series being finished in one (or even two) more books, you get al least the feeling that the plot is moving along. While I would love to read many more Harry Potter books, if you stretch the story too far, it gets tired.(cough Terry Goodkind cough)

I won't give any spoilers out but I would highly recommend Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Plus it's 20% off at Indigo.

Perfect Pitch

2005-07-19T02:57:00.000-03:00

I was reading a Guitar One magazine not too long ago (5 minutes) and I came across an interesting article/ad. Now, before I go any further, I will have to explain that music is a big part of my life, and (hopefully) always will be. I play the trombone and guitar and I love all brass instruments. I also hate all reed instruments.

Continuing on with my story.

I was reading a Guitar One magazine and I came across an interesting ad. It was an ear training "super course" called (obviously) The Perfect Pitch Ear Training Super Course. It claims that within 40 days, you will experience a dramatic advancement in your ear, your playing and singing and your enjoyment of music, or your money back. GUARANTEED!

Perfect pitch is a very interesting prospect for all musicians, and I was really intrigued by this. Of course, it is probably all a huge scam, but it would be interesting to try out.

www.perfectpitch.com

Let me know what you think.

Oh ya, I almost forgot to mention this:

Its $139.99.

Finally!

2005-07-19T02:13:00.000-03:00

I have finally created a blog. I have finally bent down to all the peer pressure and made a blog. I guess I have nothing to lose, so why not? As someone already told me, I will update it for about a week, then forget about it.(I have the attention span of a mosquito)

I guess I hope that this will be a place for me to vent my feelings into, as opposed to bottling them up. It's also a place where I will be able to keep in touch with everyone while I'm in France. (WOOOOOOOO!)

I guess that's it for now!