Categories
Academic Miscellaneous

#011: Of essays and elections

Currently listening to: “Ho Ma Jolie” – Les Trois Accords

So as of yesterday, I’ve completed my first Arts One essay.
A wave of apprehension (furry green sock-wearing, nail-biting, grapefruit juice-spilling, etc) is taking over as I await next week’s tutorial and the necessity of reading said essay aloud.

Now that we’ve got that proclamation out of the way, presenting…CANADIAN ELECTION COMMENTS AVEC MARY.
[Disclaimer: The subsequent expressed views are the expressed opinion of this writer, and do not represent the views of the University of British Columbia.]

Firstly, the Conservative-Liberal competition has taken a turn towards the extremely childish. Mostly on the Conservative side. After all the hoopla surrounding notaleader.ca, I decided to take a look and form my own opinion about it. (Goodness knows the media’s been all over it; it’s time I actually read through it…) Now I’m neither a Liberal nor a Conservative, so with a most neutral perspective, I approached with caution, and found a shambles of a website dedicated to the sole purpose of personally attacking Stéphane Dion. No, not attacks on Liberal principles or campaign platforms, but rather, a full-blown attack on his competence. Complete with little Flash animations, pop-ups and such. Now forgive me if I’m wrong, but all this slanderous back-biting seems terribly immature. The initial (and well, current) purpose may have been to waylay the Liberals, but the fact that they have stooped to such an extent to distract from the focus point simply reflects doubly poorly on the Tories.

Secondly, statements like the following are not useful when I’m deciding who to vote for.
“The Bloc talks a lot about child care. But what can they actually do other than talk? With the BLOC, we can’t achieve anything.” – The Conservative Party, on childcare
On the other hand, the NDP doesn’t even mention the Bloc, or the Green Party.

Thirdly, despite the fact that the Bloc Québécois serves absolutely no purpose for 70% of the country, they do have some of the more entertaining and creative campaign ads- including a singalong and a music video. (The songs from the 2005 election were better, though.)

Fourthly, may I just point out how much I love the layout and design of the Green Party website.

Fifthly, I intend on attending as many political rallies as possible (the schedule seems rather unrelenting at the moment), just to get a better first-hand view of everything up close and personal, rather than simply from the papers/news/websites. It shall be interesting, to say the least.

Now that I’ve rambled quite enough, I’ll be off.
Ta for now.

Categories
Academic Careers / Work Student Life

#009: Short update!

Currently listening to: “There’s A Fine, Fine Line” – Avenue Q

BUSY LIKE A BUSY THING ON BUSY DAY!

1. The Arts One essay, while seemingly straightforward and unassuming, has proven to be absolutely rubbish to write. Comparing the gods in the Iliad and Ramayana is absolutely riveting stuff. Of course, it is (only) the first (of many more to come), and I trust the process will get less painful as time progresses.

2. Work has been absolutely insane; oh, the stories I could tell of strange women adamantly refusing to leave the store after closing time, elderly men in the music section hovering for two hours, and teenagers barging in to use the facilities with one minute to closing…

3. Dreadfully tired. Must keep writing (see point 1).

4. Clubs/societies-wise, I’ve been to a couple of Ubyssey meetings, and I must say I’m really enjoying the casual but work-y atmosphere. I’ve my first Culture piece published in this issue, which is really quite exciting. In other news, the highlight of my week is definitely Le Club Francais, but what else is new?

5. Recommend me good music! It shall keep me going like the little train that did! (I like musical theatre, disco pop, Euro-house, tragic ballads, classical, Quebecois, and………I trust your taste.)

In the words of Spring Awakening,
Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah!

Cheers,
M.

Categories
Academic Miscellaneous Student Life

#007: Of classes, clubs and Canada

Currently listening to: “Schadenfraude” – Avenue Q

I really ought to write a coherent entry once in a while; here’s my requisite sane entry of the week.
(Translation: This is not just random crack. OR IS IT?!?)

Courses:
Classes are going splendidly; I have just realized that I haven’t actually mentioned the courses I’m taking on this blog. So I shall. Arts One is a real lark; finishing the Iliad gave me a real rush of satisfaction. I’ve never been one much for epic poetry (as any of my friends will attest to my violent protestations against Paradise Lost, but that is A Story For Another Time). The first lecture has proven to be a mind-boggling madhouse; following the prof’s train of thought is absolutely ridiculous and dare I say, brilliant. It’s like watching the cogs in a watch turn, but in Every Imaginable Direction while shooting fireworks and water and – well, it’s just all over the place, but so insanely fascinating to listen to. Oh, and the note-taking bit goes well too- if your definition of “well” includes large, loopy scrawls diagonally across lined paper. Psychology 100 goes equally marvellously; I shall soon be better equipped to mess with your minds even more. I’m certain you await that with great enthusiasm; I do too. Finally, French 122 is absolutely nothing like I expected it to be. I was not expecting to be conjugating verbs in the Present Tense, or the Infinitif. I’m certain there are people who are enjoying it more than I do; I shall not destroy their little beam of sunlight – I’ll merely hide in a box in the corner and mutter to myself in a schizophrenic manner. No, I jest: I’m looking forward to Fr 123. How’s that?

Clubs and Other Such:
I’m really excited to join clubs and societies. The prospect of meeting people equally enthused about the French language thrills me, ergo, Le Club Français! I attended the first meeting today, and it was absolutely brilliant: I’ve missed hearing French on a constant basis SO MUCH, and I’m sure I could ramble on about this for ages…so I won’t. (But you all ought to come and check it out, because it is so wicked. BuchanantowerseventhflooronWednesday!!) I’ve also been to a Ubyssey meeting: more excitement on that front! I look forward to more mad writing; I’ll keep you all updated on that.

Other things I’ve been considering include: STAND, Journalists for Human Rights, Engineers Without Borders (and yes, you don’t have to be an engineer), and other random things I’m certain my friends have signed me up for during Imagine Day without my explicit consent…cough…random high school alumni groups…cough.

In other news, vis-a-vis Canadian politics, here‘s a newspaper clipping from Monday’s edition of The Province which I scanned; it’s actually really funny.

Anyhow, I shall prance off now; I am terribly tempted to sing along to the Avenue Q cast recording. OKAY, I’M DONE. Over and out.

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