Greetings fellow nomads,
It certainly has been a while since I have been able to type anything of substance anywhere. Things have been rather busy for me the month or so since my last post. In an effort to get caught up here is a rough list of what I’ve been up to.
July 5: Fly from Shanghai to Toronto. I slept maybe 2 hours on the 14 hour flight, it left at around 5pm in Shanghai and landed at around 7pm in Toronto on the same day. Time zones are a killer. Last year I did a journal post on a 14 hour flight, if you are interested in understanding the joy of that experience give err a read.
July 6 – 12: Slept at very odd times throughout the days. Visited family and friends. Good times had by all.
July 13: Flew to New York City to visit Elvina. It is simply an astonishing place. I honestly can’t recommend New York City enough to anyone out there. I thought that I would be indifferent to it as I have been to other major modern cities, but I noticed something special about it. After some reflection I realized that New York is special because it is the big modern city that all others try to emulate and pay tribute to, with varying degrees of success. Highlights of the trip included The Ellis Island Immigration Museum, Central Park, Times Square, and The Statue of Liberty. I thought that the latter would be cheesy, but it was simply breathtaking. Here are a few sample pics which will get uploaded to The Book and Flickr soon enough.
July 17: Return home with Elvina for a few days. Family related business ensued.
July 28: After saying goodbye to many of my family members and friends (including a jaunt up to my camp for a few day visit) I head back to the Orient. While three weeks sounded like a long time in the planning, it certainly was not in practice. I feel like I hardly saw anyone at all in my travels. My utmost apologies to the many of my friends that I missed.
July 29: Land in Shanghai after yet another 14 hour flight where I slept very little. Spend the evening in Shanghai and try to sleep on a couch, fail drastically.
July 30: Hop on a plane headed towards Xining, in Qinghai province. As the plane begins to board the rain begins to fall with a great deal of vigour. An announcement comes on that says that the plane is delayed for two hours on the runway. I eventually fall asleep despite all of the very loud chatter. Four hours later we take off.
Now I am spending the next few weeks traveling around a bit more of China. I am going to be in Qinghai, Gansu, and Sichuan provinces over the next few weeks spending my time at monastaries, pand reserves, and eating some very spicey food. Needless to say, I am excited for it.
My first full day in Xining was yesterday and I went to Ta’er Si, a nearby Tibetan Monastery. While it was full of loud, obnoxious tour groups who routinely took pictures in areas they were not supposed to, and were very loud in quiet parts, it was still very beautiful. I could not help but think that they were there to test my resolve as I struggled for enlightenment. Here are a few snaps.
Expect more to come in the near(ish) future.
Safe journeys,
G
Well it has come to be that time once again. Yet again I am ready to take the summer off of blogging. Although, I suppose I don’t have a lot to take a holiday from here lately.
On Sunday I return to Canada for an all too brief time back in my country of birth. I will be there for just over three weeks (with a quick but exciting sojourn to New York City) before coming back to the Far East, where I’ll be traveling for a while before getting ready for my sophomore year in the Middle Kingdom.
This year has been simply fantastic for me. It certainly had some ups and some downs, but all in all China gave me more good days than bad days, and what more can you really ask for than that? Well great friends, fantastic students, career challenges, and new and exciting experiences sure don’t hurt.
So China, I’ll miss you. Canada, I can’t wait to see you, and New York, I can’t wait to meet you!!!
I’m coming home!!!!
In my tradition, I’ll leave you with some musak to keep you company over the next little while…
Kanye West featuring Chris Martin – Homecoming
Leonard Cohen – First We Take Manhattan
Until next time,
G
My apologies for not being the best, and certainly not the most diverse blogger of late. But it turns out that running a second blog, posting for another one, the Great Firewall of China, and you know, real life, are rather large drains on a person.
Another reason for my detachment from this bit of space has been my newest distraction, a wonderful website called Wolfram Alpha. This website if part of a very ambitious project to make the sum of human knowledge immediately computable. Sort of like Wikipedia for the math geek, which makes it very clearly in my territory.
This site has dozens of features, all you have to do is type in any of their many types of inputs, including (but certainly not limited to) measurements, musical notes, geography, colours, anagrams, dietary reference, and of course good old fashion mathematical functions.
After putting in some different inputs I learned the following things about myself:
-My height, 5′10″, is approximately equal to 0.97 fathoms, the length of DNA strands of the human genome, and the distance that light can travel in 5.9 nanoseconds.
-My birthday, December 30, 1982, is day number 2 455 334 on the Julian Calendar, it had 9 hours and 18 minutes of daylight in New York, and is 9643 days ago…I know, I don’t look a day over 8000, but that’s besides the point.
- Currently AIG has a stock value of $1.70 while Freddie Mac has one of $0.79. In the past five years they have had a return of -97.64% and -98.64%, respectively. Economic, what now?
- Swine Flu has 12 107 cases with 87 deaths worldwide
-My first name is ranked 502nd in the United States, with most people who share my name in their 40s and 50s, also there are an estimated 93 538 people who share the name in the US. Making my name 1 out of 2502. Not quite making me the 1 in a million that I had hoped.
-My last name, by contrast, would be ranked 191st if used as a first name, with 267 546 people in the US expected to have that as a first name. That’s right my last name is almost three times more common as a first name than my own first name. Can’t say that I’m the slightest bit surprised by that fact.
- In world rankings, Canada is ranked 2nd in land mass, 36th in population, 224th in population density, 136th in population growth, 8th in life expentancy, 23rd in median age, 9th in GDP, and the top three languages are English, French, and Plautdietsch. I have no idea what that third one is.
-Toronto (the closest major city to my hometown) and Suzhou (where I’m living now) are 11 460 km apart, with Toronto having an elevation of 85m higher.
-The title of this blog, is sadly not a recognized word, when I entered glen_______ into the crossword feature, I got no recognizable words.
- When asked “How many roads must a man walk down before you can call him a man?”, it said “The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind (according to Bob Dylan)”. Hard to argue with that one.
- However, it does not know the answer to “How do they get the caramel in the Caramilk bar?” or “Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?”. I guess the developers need to word on that one.
While they need to get to work on answering those last two questions, there is still a lot of fun to be had, and a lot of useless junk to learn. Go ahead and give it a try!
Until next time,
G
After the wild success of the “25 Random Things” on Facebook, it seemed destined that music geeks around the world would find something to combat this meme. Thankfully, there was indeed something to come out. I was tagged of this one the Book, and decided that it would be better served as a blog post as well. Feel free to copy this idea (since I clearly did) and post it yourself, and if you are writing this on Facebook, please tag 20 (or so) people who you would like to know about their musical tastes.
The rules for this are simple, find 20 albums that mean the most to you and tell us why. These do not need to be in any particular order, and in no means should represent your thoughts on the 20 “best” albums, just ones that have a special meaning to you in some way, shape or form.
Sounds simple right? Well I thought it was going to be a simple exercise, but then I started writing, and I had a hard time stopping. It amazed me how much my history of musical tastes, is so interrelated to my own personal history, not only serving as a backdrop, but occasionally as a major player, developing a story of its own….enjoy!!!
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1. Arcade Fire — Funeral
I’ll always remember the moment that I acquired this album. I had just got off a bus stop when I noticed someone drop something. Desiring to be the good Samaritan, I rushed through the crowd to pick it up and return it, however, by the time that I fought my way over to what they had dropped, the very person had boarded the very bus that I just got off from and the doors closed, leaving me with a CD in my hand. After processing the events, I went home, and curiously put it into my stereo, and everything changed.
Alright, so I made that all up. My story of how I cam across the most meaningful piece of art is far less romantic than that, and to be honest, is a little bit sad.
Like most of my musical moments of my University days, they traced back to one man, Ryan McNutt. See McNutt (whose blog I have linked to on multiple occasions), is far more of a music geek than I have ever been, and has provided me with countless suggestions and insights into music at different points in time.
It was late in 2004, and I was discussing some record or another that should be the album of the year, and he interjected and told me that his pick was by a Montreal band called “The Arcade Fire”. I nodded and said that I would check it out. The next day, I went out and downloaded a few of their songs, and to be honest, I was not all that impressed. I thought that they were good, but far from great, and I paid them little attention for months.
Then one day, while I was more or less dissatisfied with my life, “Rebellion (Lies)” came on my iTunes shuffle, and I heard something different. Something resonated with me that wasn’t there before. I can’t place my finger on it, but it just sounded…better.
The next time I found myself in a record store, I knew that I needed to buy this album. While I had heard most of the songs on it before, I had yet to hear it that way before, and in that particular context. I was amazed at the symmetry of the album, and how beautifully all of the songs were put together (in particular “Haiti” and “Rebellion (Lies)”). I was spell bound at the art work on the cardboard case. I studied the lyrics and extracted meanings upon meanings.
My lack of income and fast internet connection had turned me into a downloader for most of my University days. I had forgotten the beauty in an album, the story it tells from it’s opening song, down to its aesthetics. Thankfully, along came Funeral and reminded me that an album really is more than a collection of songs, it can be something so much more.
While I could go on and on about my love for this album, I suppose that I have committed to talking about 19 others…
2. Nirvana — Unplugged in New York
Back in the mid-90s these new things called “CDs” came out. Apparently they were much more convenient and durable than tapes. Needless to say, my younger sister and I wanted them, badly. But we had quite the problem, no CD player. We asked Santa for one, but nothing came. We saw how great they were at friends house, and longer for one of our own, when finally our mother gave in and bought one for our house.
Since we obviously needed to expand our collection, my mother signed us up for one of those stupid record clubs that the internet has thankfully killed. For those of you who don’t remember, there were these companies that gave out deals were you could buy 12 CDs for 1 cent each, if you bought several other CDs for a vastly inflated price. It sounds like a good deal and all, but to be honest, the choices of CDs simply weren’t any good.
My mother told me that I could pick out as many of them from the list as I wanted, and I did not really liked any of them, so I ignored it. I am sure now that if I looked back I would find all sorts of hidden gems and CDs that I would absolutely adore, but that simply was not the case when I was 12.
I wanted what all pre-teens want more than anything, acceptance from their peers. I was always looking for some bands on this master list that I had heard of, and finally I noticed one that was not The Backstreet Boys. I was a little bit too young and dorky to get into Nirvana when it mattered, but I knew that I had heard a few of their songs on the radio and I did like them, so I jumped when I saw Unplugged in New York.
I discovered a host of other great CDs (including several other by Nirvana), and this one became largely forgotten. However, when I entered a more adult phase of my musical life I rediscovered how beautiful this live album is. When I listen to it now, I am amazed that my 12 year old self could appreciate something as mellow, raw, and nostalgic as this album, but somehow I did. I’d like to think that it was other reasons than just wanting to fit in, but that may be a little hard to say now.
3. Cake — Fashion Nugget
There are many advantages to having an older sibling, but one of the most tangible is an earlier parent free access to a car. Of course, one of the other advantages to this is that you get to listen to their much older (and usually better) musical tastes while they are driving.
While my older sister, has introduced me to a great deal of excellent bands (and I’d like to think that I have repaid her in recent years) one of the ones that really sticks out to me is Cake. They are a band that is not so big, so I can not really assume that I would have found them on my own, and certainly not so early. Either way, this would quickly become the sound track for car rides with my two sisters, and very much remains a band with a strong familial connection for me (and presumably the other two as well). Special mention to “Stickshifts and Safetybelts”, THE definitive road-tripping song.
4. Everclear — So Much for the Afterglow
Another album that has a special place in our family to me. The major exception being that my older sister and I arrived at this one independently of one another, and to no surprise, we both loved it.
The songs of a broken family held a special resonance with me at a particularly challenging time in my teenage life. The song “I Will Buy You a New Life” was particularly poignant for me in my summer before I was about to move to Nova Scotia, and start a new life of my own. Whenever I hear this CD I am taken to a bit of a hard place, but am relieved to know that I made it out fine enough.
5. Eminem — The Slim Shady LP
6. Eminem — The Marshall Mathers LP
Eminem’s major label debut was another musical gift from my older sister, as she had heard it just before it really broke through. I fell in love with his witty and relevant lyrics, violence and anger aside. It is worth noting that this was shortly after I moved to Nova Scotia, and I remember being mocked for my choice in “scary death music”, but that just led to me listening to this amazing album on my own.
Of course, after a year and a bit, “The Real Slim Shady” became a huge single, and helped propel everyone to rush to the store and go for The Marshall Mathers LP.
Needless to say, I was able to listen to that one in whatever company I wanted.
7. Matthew Good Band — Beautiful Midnight
Not all of my musical energies were being devoted to angry but intelligent rap at the time. There was still a rock starved side to my soul that was drowning in the sea of Brittney-pop that was the late 90s/early 00s.
Thankfully, I found an outlet with this aptly titled, beautiful album.
I think that this is legitimately one of the best put together albums I have ever heard. The track listing here is near perfect. Instead of just going with the traditional track number, each song was given an hour of the night, and each song matched the mood of that particular time. My favourite of course being “Let’s Get it On” for midnight.
8. New Radicals — Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too
I have a bit of a strange story to acquiring this album (and a real one). See when the single “You Get What You Give” came out in 1999, I was not particularly impressed with it. I mean, it was catchy, but I just didn’t seem to get it. My younger sister when out and bought the CD, and seemed to listen primarily to the single, which quickly reached one hit wonder status. I did not think too much about it and moved on.
Fast forward a few years, and I was dragged to some god-awful movie with Mandi Moore (A Walk To Remember maybe? I really don’t remember, someone please help me out with this one) and it used the song “Someday We’ll Know” from this CD, which I instantly recognized from the CD. Somehow, when I heard it in that theatre, I got it.
That summer when I went home, I borrowed it from my sister and listened to the CD front to back a number of times, and fell in love with it. From the stellar opening “Mother We Just Can’t Get Enough” to the depressing “Crying Like a Church on a Monday” finisher, this CD has it all. It chronicles an amazing romantic journey with highs, lows, twists and turns.
Thankfully she let me keep the album from then on, and I can fully appreciate it all the time.
9. Hawksley Workman — Lover/Fighter
Like a lot of Canadians, I grew to like both “Striptease” and “Jealous of Your Cigarette” by Hawksley Workman, mostly for their perverted connotations. I decided to purchase Lover/Fighter on a bit of a whim, and have never lived to regret it. Like the last few albums I have listed, this is amazingly put together as the character in the songs alternates between a lover and a fighter from song to song. Also, this started my backwards journey of Mr. Workman, which has led to some of my absolute favourite and personal of songs on my playlists.
10. Green Day — American Idiot
11. Franz Ferdinand — Franz Ferdinand
12. The Killers — Hot Fuss
From the fall of 2004 to the spring of 2005, I worked as a Recruitment Officer for Acadia University. One of my major responsibilities was to drive around to different high schools all over the Maritime Provinces. Needless to say, this involved a lot of time alone in a car, so a good CD collection was an absolute must. I bought (and made) several CDs over the course of that year, but these three stand out as the best purchases to soundtrack the open road. Whenever I listen to any of these now, I am taken back to stunning East coast scenery and some deep and personal thoughts.
13. Arctic Monkeys — Whatever People Say, That’s What I’m Not
After a year working for “The Man”, I moved to Scotland for a year. While there I got to experience a bunch of excellent British bands the way they were meant to be experienced, fervently. However, the biggest explosion came in January of 2006, when The Arctic Monkeys released their debut album. Records were shattered, people were amazed, and great musicians earned their place in the spotlight. Not only is this a fantastic album, but it really helped me understand that depth and scope for the British passion for great music.
14. Broken Social Scene — You Forgot It In People
15. Wilco — Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
These two fantastic albums came into my life a little late, but were still incredibly appreciated. For a variety of reasons, these two would soundtrack any late night lesson planning or marking I was doing in either Teacher’s College or during my first year of teaching. If you ever need any music to play while you are questioning your career motivations, these two albums get my highest recommendation.
16. Sufjan Stevens — Seven Swans
While I will fully acknowledge that either the Michigan or Illinois albums are far superior to this Sufjan release, this one still holds a very special place in my heart. I first got into this album at a point that seems like a life time ago. I was really falling for this very special girl, who shall remain nameless for a variety of reasons. I would often play this very mellow and reflective album when I was alone and thinking about her. Now her and I did not work out, for another variety of reasons, but this album and I worked out just fine. Whenever her and I were together we would often listen to different music, so I never formed a direct connection between her and this album, instead these tracks became connected with the feeling of love to me. Whenever I listen to these songs (especially “The Dress Looks Nice on You” and “To Be Alone With You”) I can’t help but feel like I am falling in love again, even if it is just with the gentle melodies.
17. Sigur Ros — ( )
Last year, I was in a state of flux, starting a new career, with a very busy and demanding schedule. As a result, I had difficulties fully slowing down at the end of the day, and I would find myself tossing and turning for hours at a time before falling asleep. Thankfully, this album came along to help me. The volumes that are spoken in this album are simply astounding, despite the absence of any real language. The album seems like it was designed for someone to fall asleep to, as it starts out a little restless, but eventually clams down, only to softly stir later on.
18. Stars — Nightsongs
19. Kanye West — Graduation
Before I start let me get two important things out of the way: Firstly, I realize that this is an incredibly bizarre album pairing, and secondly, I am also fully aware that both of these albums pale in comparison to some of the other works by the band and artist. Last year, while living in Oakville (the suburbs of Toronto) I got to become something that I had never really been before, a semi-regular concert goer. I went to as many concerts as I could, and thoroughly enjoyed them all, however two really stand out to me, Stars in November, and Kanye West in May. Both shows were fantastic, but the most memorable moments of each show came when they played songs from the albums listed above, “On Peak Hill” and “Flashing Lights” respectively. So whenever I hear any songs of either album, I am taken back to some special moments experiencing music the way it is supposed to, in the ringing of the ears and shaking of the chest.
20. Arcade Fire — Neon Bible
It ends how it begins.
After having such a fantastic experience with their debut album, I had lofty ambitions for their follow up, and I was not at all disappointed. When I first heard this album I was simply amazed. More than Funeral I felt that this album was made for me. “Ocean of Noise” described my previous relationship, “My Body is a Cage” described the one I was in at the time, and I feared that my future would be written in the “Neon Bible”. I listened to this album almost obsessively, even sneaking to my computer to hear it during my lunch breaks at school, and every time I found something else that was somehow, someway connected to my life at the time.
Had they written it just for me?
Obviously, I can only assume that they did not, but it felt like it at the time, and looking back I feel it still. While Funeral reunited my love for music, and reminded me of what it was capable of, Neon Bible took it a whole different level for me, and made it personal. It reminded me that music can mean a different thing to everyone in this world, and that is what makes it so special, the fact that you can genuinely feel like an artist is making something for you.
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So there we have it, a lot longer than I anticipated, but done none the less. Hopefully you’ll share your lists too, fair is fair after all!!!
Until next time,
G
Well hello there everyone, it’s official, I’m back in business!!! Welcome one and all to the season premiere of Getting Glenergized, coming to you live and direct from the People’s Republic of China!
For my first post of the season, I decided to do a live log of my Trans-Pacific Flight, since well I was pretty darned bored. Here is the journey of my flight, taking place on August 20-21st….enjoy!!!
Current Time: 1:26PM EDT
Current Mood: Excited
Current Soundtrack: The Arcade Fire – Keep the Car Running
The captain has turned off the seat belt light, and I have moved my way back to a free row, where I now sit. I’m bunking in seat 40D for the next 14 hours or so of my life. The take off was smooth, but is now a little bit bumpy, I can’t help but feel that is some sort of an omen.
I have spent the last several days, if not months, preparing for this trip. I got my passport renewed, my visa sorted out, said all of my goodbyes, and now here I am way thirty thousand feet above the country I have called home for most of my life, and there is no turning back. Since I left my school back in June, I have been saying goodbye, and quite frankly, I am a little sick of it. While it has been nice to bid everyone farewell, and given me a great deal of closure, this time has been long overdo.
Every goodbye, from my friends to my students to my parents, carries with it a certain amount of emotion, and dare I say, a hint of regret. Did I say all that I need to? Did I do everything with this person that I wanted to? How much of my time did I waste that I could have spent with this person? In the end, it doesn’t matter, because what’s done is done, and nothing can be changed. There are all sorts of people that I will miss greatly over the next year or two (or more?) but such is life, especially the life of a nomad like me.
Anyway, I am going to be off to find some way to entertain myself for the next little while, I’ll be back to post whenever that bores me.
Current Time: 2:37PM EDT
Current Mood: Schemy
Current Soundtrack: Wolf Parade – Grounds For Divorce
After playing a bit of Civilization III, I decided to watch an episode of “Kenny vs. Spenny” on the enRoute TV, and it got me thinking. Why don’t I have horrifying challenges with friends of mine? I think that I am equal parts diabolical Kenny and neurotic Spenny. It would be pretty hilarious. Anyone out there in the blogosphere want to engage in some sort of maniacal and humiliating challenge? The possibilities have endless hilarious outcomes.
Alright time to go, off to scheme.
Current Time: 3:35PM EDT
Current Mood: Accomplished
Current Soundtrack: Tegan and Sara – Call it Off
I played a bit more Civizilation and I got a pretty easy (and dare I say) impressive Domination Victory as the Persians. I am pretty proud of myself for that one, so I think that I’m going to either erect a statue to my greatness, or maybe just start a new game soon enough.
Sadly, all of the windows are closed, and the on screen map is not working, so I really have no idea where the heck I am, but I would guess that I am probably leaving Ontario shortly (if I haven’t already) which actually means that I have crossed the first of the 11 time zones that I will pass today. For simplicities sake, I’ll keep writing in Eastern (Toronto) time, no point in trying to wrap my head around that one, although it could be kind of funny, especially when daylight savings are taken into account of it all. What a crazy world we live in.
I have the entire three rows to myself, and I have yet to try putting my feet up, as I have left my computer bag on the middle seat next to me, I guess I want to make it as comfortable as possible when I try to lie down and have a nap, which may just be soon.
I just took a second to peruse the movie choice, and I think that I am going to give 21 a try. Partly because I heard it’s awesome, partly because it’s about math geeks like me, and partly because Troy says one of the guys reminds him of me, I want to see how right he is.
Current Time: 5:51PM EDT
Current Mood: Enthusiastic
Current Soundtrack: Rebelution – Safe and Sound
21 kicks ass, make a point to watch it. Also of note, it has one of the greatest soundtracks for any movie I have seen in a while, from Peter Bjorn & John to LCD Soundsystem to the sweet Rolling Stones remix at the end, it was a tour de rock.
For the record, the main character is a touch Glenish, but not quite as much as Troy let me believe. Mostly because I don’t think that I could land a gal as gorgeous as he did. (Note to the Future: If a significant other of mine is reading this somewhere down the line, I was clearly wrong on that one)
Still not really sure where I am, but I think that I am somewhere over the Pacific Ocean right now, and lord only knows what time zone it is, it is probably best not to ask such questions for it will only make me feel small. A lot of people are sleeping on the plane right now, and I’m not really sure if I should try or not, I feel tired, but only because it is dark in here, and there isn’t much else to do. However, Shanghai is waking up now, so I feel a certain sense of energy and enthusiasm at this point. I think that I will celebrate by making a second case for world domination.
Current Time: 6:54PM EDT
Current Mood: Reflective
Current Soundtrack: Jeremy Fisher – Left Behind
“You’re always dreaming so far ahead, I feel a little left behind. We’ll never find each other my love in the same place, at the same time“
That’s a quote from the above mentioned song. It seems appropriate considering how far away I’m going and for how long.
Here’s hoping those lyrics ring true for someone special out there.
Current Time: 7:47PM
Current Mood: Confused
Current Soundtrack: Hawksley Workman – Jealous of Your Cigarette
I think that it’s dinner time, or maybe it’s breakfast. I’m not really certain. Either way, they are serving me food, so I guess it is time to eat.
Note to Future Travellers: Request a special meal on the plane, you’ll get served way before anyone else. Score another point for veganism, take that omnis.
I noticed that I have a chance to watch Batman Begins. While I have seen it before, I think that I will love it even more now that I have seen Dark Knight three times, in theatres. For the record, I would like to nominate that film for an Academy Award for Best Movie EVER MADE.
Maybe I’ll try and get some sleep soon, although Batman gets me really excited so it may be a bit of a challenge, ahh well, I shall do my best.
Current Time: 10:09PM EDT
Current Mood: Inspired
Current Soundtrack: Neil Young – Keep on Rocking in the Free World (Live Acoustic)
Three simple words: Batman Kicks Ass
I forgot how fantastic the first installment in the Nolan Reboot actually is. Granted it isn’t half the movie that Dark Knight, but I don’t think that much really is.
A few hours ago, I wanted to have humiliation contests with my friends, now I want to be come a ninja and fight crime. I guess I should start putting “Impressionable” as my mood from here on out. I chose this song to listen to because of that desire to help out, and also for cheeringly ironic reasons, considering my destination.
Watching Batman, and listening to Neil, I can’t help but wonder exactly what I can do to make the world a better, more just place. I chose to become a teacher to be a guiding light, and good influence on others, and I like to think that I have the power to accomplish that, but I wonder, is it enough? The world is a massive place, full of some very bad people, surely a good person such as myself can do something to help, can’t I? I guess I have to figure out some way to save the world. As I re-read that last sentence I can’t help but wonder, maybe that is the meaning of life and everyone’s grand purpose, saving the world from itself.
Or maybe my purpose now is to try and get some sleep, only five hours left to go.
Current Time: 12:00AM EDT
Current Mood: Restless
Current Soundtrack: Sigur Ros – Starlafur
I’ve been on this plane just short of 11 hours and have yet to get a wink of sleep…uggh.
I really have nobody to blame for this at all, the other passengers have been reasonably quiet and I have three seats all to myself. I guess I’m just anxious. Perhaps I should title this blog post “Confessions of a Travelling Insomniac”, or maybe not, that is kind of lame.
When I look at the time, it occurs to me that it is now August 21. However, I crossed the international date line awhile ago, so it has been the 21st for quite some time. Damn time zones, so hard to wrap your head around.
Well, hopefully this is the last post I make until I arrive at my pad in Suzhou. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
Current Time: 1:57AM EDT
Current Mood: Exhausted
Current Soundtrack: The Killers – Read My Mind
I got about an hour and a half of sleep, and I think that will probably be it.
I was woken up a little while ago for breakfast, or lunch, or maybe it was a midnight snack, I really don’t know anymore. Ugh, tomorrow is going to be rough. Or rather, today is going to be rough. Either way, I’m pretty damn excited about it.
Descending time will start soon, the computer should get packed up soon. China, here I come!
Current Day: August 24, 2008
Current Time: 4:05AM EDT
Current Mood: Serendipitous
Current Soundtrack: Children playing
I’m here now in Suzhou, as I have been since I finished the above post, and all is well. My apartment is fantastic, my colleagues are wonderful, and everything looks like it is going to work out just fine.
I will post back with new information soon as things start to settle down. If any of you out there are worried about me, please stop. All is well.
Until next time,
G
So it’s been a very, very, long time since I’ve last done one of these. I thought that I was going to retire this feature to be honest, but I came along this excellent little survey, reflecting the Presidential Candidates, and I must say I was pretty shocked with my own personal results.
91% Chris Dodd
90% John Edwards
90% Barack Obama
85% Mike Gravel
85% Hillary Clinton
84% Dennis Kucinich
84% Joe Biden
76% Bill Richardson
41% Rudy Giuliani
29% John McCain
25% Tom Tancredo
22% Mike Huckabee
21% Mitt Romney
18% Ron Paul
12% Fred Thompson
2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz
So I always knew that I was a Liberal thinker, but I didn’t think that the contrasts would be this obvious. The 8 Democratic nominees top the survey, with the 7 Republicans sitting at the bottom.
I don’t know too much about Chris Dodd, since he isn’t one of the front-runners, but I guess I should look more into him. Also, at a tie with 90% each, I’m not surprised that I really want to see an Obama-Edwards ticket. So I guess this site did a not bad job of pegging me. Although, I’m pretty shocked that I have even 22% in common with Mike Huckabee *shudder*.
This may be the retirement of this feature, unless something else earth shattering comes along (hello, Canadian Party Leader likeness tests, anywhere?). So I hope that you’ve enjoyed these posts while they’ve been there. Next time, I’ll turn to something a little less personal.
Until next time,
G
First off, I’d like to apologize for not posting this on Friday, I was a wee bit busy and went to my Dad’s place, which is still in the stone ages and free of internet access.
I remember August 31, 1997 really well. The whole week, hell summer, was a period of intense turmoil for me. My mother, sister and I were in the process of moving from Ontario to Nova Scotia, and I was quite torn on the whole thing. I was looking forward to making a fresh start but nervous to leave my friends and the remainder of my family behind. Anyway, to make an insanely long story short, I decided at the last minute to move in with my dad and stay in Trenton and my flight back to Ontario was scheduled for August 31, 1997.
The night before I was busy packing and was quite anxious about the day ahead of me so I stayed up late playing on the old 486 that I had in my bedroom at the time and listening to the local Truro Radio Station when a news bulletin came on. I don’t remember the exact wording, but it told me that Princess Diana, Dodi Al-Fayed, their bodyguard and the driver had been involved in a car accident which had killed the driver and left Diana and Dodi in critical condition. I was concerned for a moment, but ultimately indifferent, I was 14 years old and these were people I had never met after all. I eventually went to bed getting ready for the long emotional day I was about to face.
I wake up earlyish on my fateful day and as I just finish brushing my teeth and reach to turn the water on I hear a knock on the door. It was my mother, looking visibly shaken, told me that Princess Diana had died. To be honest, I thought that she was emotional since I was leaving, but in retrospect I think that it wasn’t only my impending departure that had left her shocked.
After an emotional day, I leave for Toronto to be greeted by my dad and grandparents. After unloaded my stuff and complaining about the airline food, we head out to the car. I was shocked to see my dad talk to a complete stranger about how sad the events surrounding Diana were. I mean, talking to a stranger about another strangers business. It appeared so very odd.
Like everyone else, I was shocked at the events that followed, Buckingham Palace littered with flowers, intense US media coverage, the Queen staying in Scotland, the public backlash, the State Funeral, the Queen’s eventual tribute, the traditionally stoic Brits bursting into tears, and of course a hit Elton John single. And like everyone else, I proceeded to allow these events to slip from my conscious and get replaced with my more immediate, tangible concerns.
Fast forward to April 2007. I was teaching in China, and the first lesson that I had to do was on British Politics and Culture. I had to watch the second half of the movie The Queen (which by the way is HIGHLY recommended) and then lead a discussion on it. Now I had never seen this movie before, and for those of you that haven’t, it chronicles the Queen’s tumultuous few days between Diana’s death and funeral. It focuses mainly on the public backlash that she receives and how she responds to the situation. I found it especially powerful because it mixes in a variety of news clips from the time to add an intense sense of realism to the movie.
Due to my schedule, I had to repeat the lesson 6 times, each time I watched the movie I got more and more involved. I shook my head in disbelief every time I saw all of the flowers at Buckingham Palace and I was touched by the powerful words of Earl Spencer as he eulogized his sister. As I discussed the video with my classes I was amazed at how my perception of the events had transformed over a decade.
For some reason I missed Princess Diana, I wanted her to still be around, I wanted her to make a difference. I wondered what cause she would be fighting for right now. I imagined what would have happened if she had spoken out against the War in Iraq – would the Brits have even gone if she said no? How much awareness could she raise for Global Warming? What about AIDS? She did a ton of work for AIDS victims in her lifetime, how much more work could she have done in a decade?
Fast forward a little bit more to last Friday, the 10 year mark. I sit alone at my dad’s place watching the news, and CBC does a special retrospective on Diana which I watch in amazement. I am amazed by all of Diana’s achievements but ultimately I become amazed at myself. I was in awe of what I was doing, something that I hadn’t done a decade before or 4 months previous when I was discussing it. I sat there and I cried.
Now I don’t know if I was crying for a life lost, or for two motherless children, or for a better world, or maybe I was crying because I was reminded of my own personal situation.
It doesn’t really matter why I cried, but the point is that I did cry, and after a decade of holding those thoughts in let me tell you, it felt good.
Until next time,
G
I am going to take a bit of a break from the wrasslin‘ posts for a minute and post about something I talked about a while ago, My Ides of March.
On March 27, 2006, I left Scotland. Give a click right here if you want to read the general story of that one.
I don’t really have as much to add as I did for my last Ides of March entry since it is not nearly so long ago or as influential. But I just wanted to make a quick recognition as to the day and that I am thinking about it.
As I think about it, it really blows my mind as to how different these past 365 years have been for me as a result of my departure.
For starters, I would not have had the summer I did at Kodiak. I may not have gone at all or I may have gone for the second session alone. That would have robbed me of the best, most educational summer I have ever had in my life. I grew so much, I met so many people, I had the best time ever.
Second of all, my year at Nipissing would have been vastly different. Chances are I wouldn’t have been so in to my section and all of the friends that I made. Therefore I am sure that my year has been so much better than it otherwise would have been.
Right now, my future is really up in the air for next year. Where to go, what to be? Stay local, go international? Stick to teaching, think about something else? I have no idea right now, but suffice to say my plans have been getting a wee bit more focused over the past couple of months, due to some wonderfully unforeseen developments. I’ll keep you informed on that one blogees.
Anyway, I’m sorry that this is such a lame blog entry, first of all I’m typing this up in class, second of all I am rather exhausted and drained with school/life at the moment. Plus, I seem to only be able to be thinking about wrestling of late…
Until next time,
G
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