Why I Love/Hate College

So basically I'm in an English Lit. Degree, but it's called "Humanities" here in Canada. That's cool, I mean for the most part humanity wrote English literature , although, I'm almost entirely sure that Francis Bacon was some sort of alien...anyway, on to greater heights!

I have a class this semester on one of my favorite Catholic authors of the 20th century, Gilbert Keith Chesterton. In this class, we have, for the most part, endeavored to have an atmosphere of openness, respect, and overall intellectualism. It's been great, every class has been better than the rest. We've developed a community that goes above and beyond most any other groups that I've been in. We're even getting T-shirts. (I know, it's like Star Trek, but for books.)

Anyway, on to the hate part is this. The prof. wanted us to have a great deal of freedom, and so instead of giving us a final paper and a final exam, he decided to give us a paper. A very large paper. Which isn't so bad either; I like writing, and I take pride in my work. The problem is, he gave us an insane amount of freedom on what to write about. His entire instructions ran basically like this: Write a paper related to Chesterton, his writing, or his life.

So now I have a mind full of possibilities, and no particular way to sort them out.

Damn college...I can't wait until I'm a mindless peon.

carmeninethiopia.blogspot.com

Alright, my 2.5 readers, I have an announcement.

Actually, I should clarify that, I think. I know of two people who read my blog on a regular basis, but I also have a theory about the government reading blogs to keep track of people. It's probably crap, but I hold on to it anyway. There might be a future post about that on a night when I've slept little and had far too much coffee. But I digress.

My announcement, is that my significant other is leaving me. No, not that way, she's just going on a little trip. To Africa. For two months. Lucky little...

So, I'm having this inane conundrum with the whole thing.

First of all, I'm quite angry that she's leaving, especially because she's leaving before Christmas. But that really couldn't be helped at all. For some reason, they don't have daily flights from Calgary to Addis Ababa. Who'da thunk?

Secondly, I'm incredibly jealous. I have to live in a small town on the prairies while she gets to visit an exotic place filled with centuries of tradition. She also gets to be warm. That pretty much just doesn't happen around here until about May.

Thirdly, I'm gonna miss her like crazy. I hate being away from her, and we're pretty much confined to e-mail conversations.

But enough about me. Her blog is the title for this one, and is far more informative than I could ever be.

And just in case your religion prohibits you from reading blog post titles, here it is again: http://carmeninethiopia.blogspot.com

It'll also be in my quicklinks for anyone who is here enough to care.

Peace!

Addictions and Such

I've recently quit smoking. And by recently, I mean a few days ago. It sucks, I would really like to smoke if someone gave me the chance. But it's bad for me, and I know that if I'm gonna live longer, and save a TON of cash (I live in Canada, its like $10 for 25 cigarretes here), I need to quit.

All of this is fine, except for the fact that now I'm addicted to everything else. I'm told it's called transference, or something like that, but really, it's annoying.

I mean, today, I'm addicted to Cup 'o' Soup. How freaking stupid is that?!?

Yesterday it was water. Water for the love of Pete!!!

Honestly, it's almost too much for a guy to handle, although I suppose it could work to my advantage...

I could be a good person addict. I could become feverishly dependant on being a good samaritan to everybody I meet.

I'm a genious.

Where's my Cup 'o' Soup...

That One Thing

In my travels on STR, I've found a lot of funny stuff, some really messed up stuff, and one really annoying thing. One of my fellow posters, named wraith (http://twilightcorner.blogspot.com/) is being copied by at least one, if not two other people.

It's freaking annoying, and one of them does an OK job, so it's not like just a glance will suffice to tell the difference. If anyone out there in webland even considers copying another person, I have one message for you: May the fleas of one hundred thousand camels invade your bedsheets this very night.

I'm not joking, it's stupid and childish. Don't do it.

Does MS Office = OpenOffice?

So I'm in process of ridding myself of any and all Microsoft Windows producs and switching to Ubuntu, but I just have one question.

Can my MS Office files be opened in OpenOffice? Do I need to change the format?

I'd like to know before to do the big switcheroo, otherwise I might be kinda pissy for the next few days.

Here we are.

OK, so this is the first post on the new blog. Actually this is the first post of any blog to date...

So a little about me:

I'm an English major in a small liberal arts college in the flattest part of Saskatchewan. When the wind blows from the south, all you can smell is cow. I hate small towns, they are possibly the worst invention mankind has invented to date. This one is the worst I've ever been in. There's only one store, it's a gas station, and it doesn't sell cigarettes. That's why I hate this town.

On the other hand. I love the professors here, and it's quiet enough that I never have trouble reading. So I suppose it's not that bad.

I really enjoy a good debate. If anyone wants to take part in an intelligent debate, please let me know. If anyone would like to take part in a one sided debate with some red-necked bigots, go over to STR (www.shelleytherepublican.com) and join the rest of us normal people in our fight against stupidity.

I'll try to write a new post once or twice a day, although during exam week and whatnot there might be a few gaps.

Peace!