Seventy-eight, Estrogen

I have some great friends, there's no denying that. But I realize that over the years I've slowly had an increase in the number of friends who are women in my life. This is all good and fun until one weekend when you realize that two of your guy friends are out of town and two of your girl friends are coming into town (one of them bringing another friend--also a female).

[pause]

I have come to realize that talk of dresses, hairstyles, shoes, & make-up interest me none-at-all. Maybe if somehow they changed who I was or what I was capable of accomplishing, I might take heed, but since to me they are all cosmetic, outer changes, they don't add up to much for me. I'm glad that they were able to bond and that they felt special that I was there to enjoy the evening with them. But a part of me wishes that I'd gracefully stepped out and gone off to shoot or hack things.

On the plus side, I met someone new and got to see "I Am Legend."

Seventy-seven, Seven!

Tonight I helped my classmates throw a silent charity auction. I put down two bids; both were for seven bucks and my bid number was seventy-seven. Coincidence? I think not! (Actually, I did sneak out the registration card for number 77 and fill it out for me beforehand [evil cackling]) In the end I won two tickets to the Science Centre! HUZZAH! I'm excited! It's been ages since I went there (March 2000) Probably I've built it up to be more than it actually is but I can't deny that science centres entrance me. Last time I was there they had an erosion table with running water and sand that was mold-able. I think I bored dad by staying at that one location for most of the time we were there :) What can you say, I was a tiny 17!

By the way, the fact that I'm posting means I survived the cooking of the potatoes mentioned last entry. Yeah...they weren't good. I didn't get them properly cooked through and through but the seasoning was decent. Small steps, right?

Happy January 11th everyone!

Seventy-six, Flames Git Higher!

I start practicing tomorrow. No, not actual medicine, chemistry. Aka cooking. I've cooked Indian items probably a total of 10 times in my life. I just need practice to ingrain it. I'll start simple either with potatoes or cauliflower. I'll just cook the vegetable so I can concentrate fully on it rather than worry about it and bhakri. Hopefully after a couple months of making one vegetable or another (overall, they all have the same set of steps for preparation), I can handle more than one thing in the kitchen (be prepared to run when that date comes Roommate!). My safety record is immaculate so no worries. =P

If you happen to see a column of smoke, pray it wasn't the apartment because by golly, my head will be rolling from all the angry people! On the upside, we might get new windows!

Seventy-five, Bagpipes

Something about pre-thunderstorm conditions (heavy wind, the scent of coming rain, the warm humidity brushing past your cheeks) and a song done with bagpipes just makes me smile. if you're wondering, go to this Orb page where if I have my server up, you can listen to it.

Seventy-four, Observation

"oaf" looks similar to and sounds a lot like "oeuf"

Seventy-three, Our Bonds which Art in Soul

What is the process of forming a friend? Obviously there's no quantitative formula, just many subjective ones. Is it the constant going out to places? Or just enjoying the same activities? Or does it require working together? Constantly talking to each other? I think it's a little bit of it all and most importantly, just being in close contact with someone. There is a flaw to my thinking though. Namely the Beatnik, the Engineer and the Alaskan. None of them are physically close to me or in regular contact these days yet they are very close friends. I've spent ~15 years with the Beatnik and the Engineer. And a couple years with the Alaskan. It blows my mind that I work to talk to and hear from them regularly when I can't even remember to call home once a week.

Why?

Seventy-two, And They're Off!

Apparently the process towards next November's election day began this past week with the start of the "primaries." I'll admit that until "The West Wing" came along, I had practically no idea how the guys that showed up on the presidential ballots got there. And then I grew a small interest in that show because of the Beatnik's mom. The public library began carrying "The West Wing" DVDs and I got hooked. That's where my education on our nations political system came from. I realize something thinking back over Jed Bartlett's campaigns and the final campaign between Jimmy Smit and Alan Alda's characters and comparing them to this year's election: We don't have the same information input from the real candidates that we did for "The West Wing" candidates. I don't mean positions on health-care, education, or the workforce but rather the kind of person that the candidates are and if we feel they can accomplish what they claim.

It's one thing to know a person based on positions and plans for their execution; it's another to get to know someone as the person they are and get a feel for how they will work with the hundreds of different people they will have to get along with. I'm not saying to make it a popularity contest and vote for the one who gets their face shown the most (as I believe presidential elections are right now) . I'm saying to talk to the people who ask for your vote. Get to know them like you know your friends. And then come to a decision about how he/she will interact with other people. Because a job in politics boils down to just that--interacting with other people. And it doesn't matter how many plans a candidate makes up or how much money they have; without the charisma and force to convince other politicians to see his or her way, nothing will happen.

Now if only there weren't three hundred million people in this country for each candidate to become good friends with...

Seventy-one, The Cold Creepeth

It's neat how anyone can talk about weather (unless it's someone who has lived their entire life inside a building with no windows). Even if there are things on your mind that are worth talking about, weather, more often than not, is what comes up in conversation. Speaking of weather, I'm so glad it finally got cold. The big cold front that came through central USA was just what this winter was lacking so far.

Seventy, Memories of Two Weeks

• A three and three quarter year-old bundle of joy
• A two and a half year-old bundle of joy who stood and repeated "mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, mama, mama..." in an endearing way (to those who were not the mama)
• A ten month-old ninja with a gorgeous smile
• Passing my courses from last semester
  
• A tie stain removed
• Shelling out five hundred for a standardized exam this upcoming spring
  
• Santa who was 3 feet tall
• The Cat in the Hat and Curious George Gets a Medal
• Witness to two marriages
• Green Light, Red Light
• Late-night reading and gaming
• Star Power! during "Stardust"
• Singing at Midnight Christmas Mass
• Super Nintendo games
• Tucker, the solo flier
• "300" Bust
  
• Fudge
• A tiara
  
• Caroling and dropping a lantern off of a rake
• A bean bag
• A gorgeous ornamental gift
• Balloon architecture
• Last minute shopping with my best friends and choosing your gifts during this time--this year it was humorous, next year it will be sad, and after that it will be Tradition!
• Remembering the people I missed time to time
• "The Golden Compass"
• Dust...the type cleaned out of a computer, not from the above-mentioned movies
  
• The cake is a lie
• Epic Loot and a farmer swallowing his gun because his chicken/duck laid eggs
  
• Meeting up at a bar with personality with some long unseen friends
  
• Pani-Puri
• Cleaning snot a lot
• Using my fountain pen for the first time (including filling it with ink!)
• Sentence/Drawing Telephone
  
• Eight people and pots and pans shouting their heads off on the back deck at midnight
• 66
• Getting to play with a neat digital camera and recording an important event
  
• Nutcrackers
• Tribal drums at the aquarium
• Wishing far-off people Happy New Years

Sixty-nine, Two Thousand and Eight

My mind is blank, as it should be at the start of 2008.