Furious Linus

Easter Sunday

2010-04-04T16:21:00.000-07:00

This first part is going to sound like a lot of bs, so you have been warned if you read on. Basically I have been wondering why it seems as if things get harder to do as we get older. The amount of time it takes between being assigned a task - be it study for classes, errands, or just essential daily duties - and accomplishing that task seems to increase with age. I can only base what I am thinking of course on myself, so bear this in mind for my example. When I was younger - say any time between middle school and late grade 11 - I would almost always do my homework when I got home. It didn't matter that something was on television - although I will admit that this was the time that the programming on YTV was slowly going into decline and began to not be worth watching - or that I had just trekked all the way back home from school in some sort of extreme weather condition. I just did my work. Then I would practice my music and have the rest of the night to myself. What's important for this is that this rigorous schedule was setup and maintained by myself. My parents didn't constantly remind me that I should do some work or practice I just did it myself. It is what got me to where I was in music and to continue to try in school.

My driving force appeared to disintegrate at the end of Grade 11. I have no logical reasoning for it; when I think of that point only flimsy reasons can be brought forth. However at this point I stopped trying as hard to do the homework, stopped practicing as much, and just started to coast - well at least coasting relative to how I was working before. It didn't have much of an effect on the overall results of the year. What it did have an effect on was how I continued to interact and accomplish tasks from that point on.

I never have thought myself as a flaky person until I started coasting. It was odd, certain parts of my life that should've been a priority were instead put on the backburner and in some instances were even abandoned without reason. It continued into the rest of high school and basically made the rest of high school into luck as I never would study enough or do the amount of work that I used to put into everything. Anyway, these sorts of vague actions continued even up to now. Of course by the end of first year university I realized exactly what was going on and started to try to put a stop to it, but remnants linger and continue to gum up the works; I am currently supposed to be studying but I decided that I should reflect on this issue instead.

It's rather odd when I think about it. It's just odd that it sort of develops and sticks around. I also find it odd that despite someone having the intention and desire to do something it does not necessarily translate into the action being completed to the degree sought after.
/bs

Alright, so today is Easter Sunday. It is a rather odd Easter for me as it is the first Easter that I have not been home for. A combination of work and studying had me decide that it would be better for me to stay in Montreal. It's odd though as this is the most lowkey Easter has been at home as well. My sister is in Calgary still and my dad has to adjudicate for a music festival this weekend. My mom sort of has the place all to herself. Despite us thinking she might feel a little lonely she seems to have just made it into one of the most productive weekends I have heard of in a while.

Back into the focus of Easter though. It's weird how few Easter traditions I can keep out here. What made some of the traditions special was that they were at home. We haven't painted eggs in years at home because we started to have a buildup, but we still put them out every year. If I were home there probably would've still been Easter baskets and some other Easter fare around. I was still able to grab fish and chips on Friday (usually our preferred good friday dinner) and eat the chocolate my mom sent me today, but it obviously isn't the same.

Anyway, back to studying I go as getting some information in my brain would be fantastic tonight.

Yo Derrick

2010-03-15T21:46:00.001-07:00

Hey, you happy now?

Montreal

2009-09-03T08:15:00.001-07:00

It has been a while since I last posted, but life is busy and when the internet that magically appears becomes sporadic you have to prioritize where you post.

So, I went camping. I definitely had a fun time and allowed for some sleep deprivation to cause me to be cranky. Also, I can't make chewy french toast, those eggs need to be fully cooked - even if they are to be burnt. Despite working as a lifeguard all summer - and working over a month and a half by that point - the trip was the first time I went swimming all summer long. It felt great to be back in the water. Although I realized all my swimming endurance had gone into nothingness by that point.

Memorable event mentions:
-Austin almost pegging people at the island a good deal into the lake while golfing.
-Austin trying to miss people with his golfing and in fact almost hitting them again with pachinkoesque hijinks.
-Breathing fire.
-Alvin the drinking warden.

Camping didn't end after returning from the campsite as I ended up living at Kevin's for about two weeks. I believe in about 3 weeks time I slept at Kevin's 12/14 days and was there pretty much there in some capacity every single day. As a result I now have an obscene amount of characters spread across 5 profiles in Castle Crashers and have become addicted to quaffing. If you ever encounter me online, we will need to quaff prior to actually playing Castle Crashers.

Softball has come and gone this year. I am glad that I was there until the last day at least of post season. Without softball this summer really would've only been work and videogames on xbox live. However with softball I got to meet a bunch of new people and get a lot closer with some I had met before. I think Wendy was accurate when she blogged that the team was essentially, "family away from family." With everyone supporting one another and growing together in their softball abilities it definitely felt like that. I am already experiencing softball withdrawal.

Now to the present. I moved in to my apartment about 5 days ago. I am wondering about sound problems when it comes to playing stuff like Rock Band - mostly drum noise issues. The walls are rather thin so if my neighbours put on their television I can hear clearly what is on. At the moment I am thinking about trying to dampen the sound coming from the one wall with ghetto egg cartons and a heavy curtain. Although these things cost money, and I am a cheap student who wishes to not spend any money. It is definitely an interesting experience being here. I thought that cooking would be far more difficult than it has been and that still not having a microwave would cause me to be without any edible food. In all honesty though I haven't even missed my microwave.

Bell installed my internet last night and so far I am much happier with their service in comparison to a few years ago. As of right now the equipment actually work the way it is supposed to. We'll see if that changes. Up to this point I have been using an unprotected wifi in my building. The first few days were actually pretty good on the network. However about a day or two ago it started giving me sporadic service. I thought it was possible the person was just cutting my connection off but if they knew about privacy issues then they would've password protected their network. Personally I think their downloads skyrocketed a couple of days ago and I was just cut out of the bandwidth because of it.

School is well on its way and essentially it is the same routine. I'm pretty lucky in my schedule as most days I end class by 2 pm. Other days I don't I have labs and those are engaging enough to counteract it. I've noticed people aren't too social when it comes to being in lectures. In high school we always had breaks during the class where we were supposed to do work, and naturally in this time we would socialize with everyone else. However the only breaks in the class are before and after the lecture. People are way too busy to socialize at these points so it just makes meeting more people difficult. Something I have noticed this past week.

For a game of World Domination RISK shows only two sides

2009-07-11T22:05:00.000-07:00

Look at the box from the 2000-era edition. It looks as if there are only the French and English.

I've been questioning something recently that has always stuck out to me in different outlets. Be it through video, the written word, or even video games I have always been bombarded with the idea that everyone needs to stand out from the pack. That we need to overcome our inner doubts and fears and not let ourselves conform to the world around us. Never second guess and always act as life is a learning experience. Do you think that these were first written or spoken by people who merely believed that this would be an ideal way to live, and pushed it out to others? I can think off of the top of my head many people who try to live by at least a few of these beliefs and I can only assume they are better off for it - I haven't heard any complaints from them yet. This thought isn't really going anywhere, I just am curious about how it all started.

?

I've been "working"

2009-07-08T15:52:00.000-07:00

I work as a lifeguard. At my current pool my duties include sitting, reading, and then picking up a copy of metro and reading it in its entirety. After that I do the sudoku and the crossword puzzle until I am off work. Did I mention I get paid money to do this?

This is a second-hand account dream from Derrick:

I went swimming and found that the pool was empty. I realized I had forgotten the water in my car so I went and opened the door. I picked up a gun and put in back into the car. When I closed the car D looked at me and shouted, "You just locked the keys in the car!," referring of course to the gun. Then this old guy came up and hugged us both, showing off his diverse collection of keys. He proceeded to say, "Don't worry guys, I have keys for all of us."

It reminds me somewhat of this:

I need a nap.

Pride Parade

2009-06-28T20:15:00.000-07:00

So today was the pride parade. I went to see it with a few friends and have to say I had a pretty good time. I haven't been to the parade before but I did have knowledge prior to what to expect. A bit of a rundown on the proceedings: it was raining when we first made our way to the parade route. However after a few minutes the rain subsided and it warmed up to a point of hot. We got off at Wellesley station only to find the entire area packed. However, I have decided that Torontonians are lazy as only one block to the north you could get pretty close to the street no problem. My advice to parade goers, never settle for just outside of the station, go north. As with all good parades I had condoms and beads thrown at me. Stylish beads of course, none of those crappy imitation ones.

About the parade itself, where there was partying it was rocking. However it wasn't packed with enough partying to my liking. A lot of important organizations were marching and definitely spreading some cheer and p

ride, but despite their efforts the real entertainment for me often was found within the party floats. These giant trucks blasting music often gave the best surprise of entertainment. Some had people just dancing, some crossdressing and dancing, and of course one was of men in leather with one guy flashing a bunch of people with his leather flap around his waist. There wasn't enough of these party floats. By the end of the parade I felt as if it should've just been getting started with music and such only to find it had just ended. Maybe my idea of what the parade is supposed to embody is a little off what was intended though. Personally I thought the parade was a culminating event for the week's pride proceedings and was overall a big celebration and party. However some may also argue that it also is a medium to get some important issues out there and into people's minds. In any case, it was still a fun event to behold.

After the party floats of today I am looking forward to Caribbana. I was working at Caribana last year for a survey firm but I was able to witness a large part of the festivities. The best part of that weekend was definitel

y the parade. That parade is definitely a giant party. Essentially there is nonstop music and dancing in the parade for a good 2-3 hours. Lots of pirates, lots of cultural clothing, lots of fun. Check it out.

Want to close off with commenting on the death of Billy Mays. It is rather odd that a person famous for some infomercials for cleaning products would actually impact me in some way, but I think I've been entertained enough by the guy for the last few years that it is sad to see him go. I wonder if they will get a new guy to be the face for oxyclean. Billy was the guy in charge of the operation, but maybe his legacy will live on.

Here's a picture off of lolcatz. I found it funny.

2009-06-24T22:10:00.000-07:00

I saw Year One yesterday, it was good for a great many laughs but not a great movie overall. Otherwise I have been working, eventful eh?

Working

2009-06-21T17:51:00.000-07:00

I had work yesterday but it was essentially a day off where I got paid to sit in a shed while rain poured down. Today I actually had to watch people, however the majority of my time was spent sitting and reading. I wonder then why I am still tired from the work for today?

Also, I've found out that this summer I'll be watching as North Toronto CI is newly built in front of my eyes.

It Begins

2009-06-20T21:03:00.000-07:00

Yo, I'm Alex. Every so often I get sidetracked by something on the internet that involves posting, discussion, or whatnot. This is one of those times. However, I guess what makes this a more likely endeavour to succeed is that I don't have to rely on forum goers to keep a thought of mine written on the internet going. It always appears to happen where you go online and get involved in either a community or become a fan of something, then wanting to get into it further. Personally I am into a lot of things that are either technology or internet based so the easiest way to get further into most of these things is to discuss it in forums dedicated for said topic. I don't know if you have ever gone into a forum, but it is a completely different way of communication. The basic format I've encountered with technology or gaming forums is usually
-generic topic
-someone says something actually decent about generic topic
-a "your mother" or witty response made by someone based on the previous post
-smartass response from a person taking the topic too seriously
-a lawl post, lolcatz post, or someone trying to bring back the snowy owl that scowls.
-and repeat after 2nd point.

Spectating this cycle usually can be entertaining. However it seems that if you break the cycle at all and -hopefully- give a good point you end up with flaming or sheer shunning. Usually it's the reason why I lose all interest in forums. That and there are only so many "Answer the question above and ask a new question," threads I can handle. Also, my lack of interest in conveying speech in text may help as well.

Tangent aside, this blog is titled Furious Linus. I felt that it would be a good starting point to really describe why I called it as such. Linus is my cat - for those wondering, I never use "What's your pet's name?" as my secret question. Linus used to be a nice, docile, and very friendly cat who would hardly ever bite or scratch you. It was a pretty good scenario considering he was a pretty big and muscular cat. One day, we sent Linus into the vet to get a blood test. He came back traumatized. Apparently he did not want the vet to take his blood so instead of simply tranquilizing him they held him down. After that he went through about a year of not liking people touching him - especially his stomach - and always giving you the evil eye. This ongoing anger gave Linus the nickname Furious Linus. There was a while where people were afraid to be around Linus, especially when he decided you were interesting to him. He would sniff you and possibly pur and butt you with his head, only to bite and scratch if you tried to scritch -yes it is a word - his ear or rub his stomach. I soon got used to his fury and he seemed indifferent to me as we both made the downstairs our domain - myself for the television and himself for the comfortable sofa top as his bed. Slowly Linus got used to me again and then became a lot more docile overall. It's usually safe to pick him up and to give him attention. If he's had enough though Furious Linus comes out.

Last part of this innaugural posting: I began my job today. The pool I was working for today had me cleaning it up for a while. It rained the entire time I was there so I was sent home early for the day. Less pay, but less work all the same. A very large change of pace from the pool I was at last year. The kids there were very lively. Despite some of them being really large thorns in your foot they at least gave some spice to the day. I think I'll finish my 1000 page book in the next 2 days working though.