On Tuesday of this past week, I went with Parkview to Saltfleet High School to the HWDSB Special Olympics. Best.Day.Ever.!...
.... Minus the cold and wind, of course. It may not have been so bad if I had actually watched the weather on the news and dressed properly for it. Oh, wait... I DID! Dear Weather People around the world: STOP LYING TO US! WE'RE ON TO YOU! None else on earth gets paid to lie to the viewing public on a daily basis! Anyway, it was the only disappointment about the day.
So the events the students participated in were not your typical olympic sports. They competed in events such as tossing a basketball into garbage two meters away, they kicked soccer balls into nets, shot hockey pucks into nets, completed obstacle courses, and ended the day with a series of 100m dash races.
They were so happy that, day , and I was so proud of them. Their behaviour was out of this world (haha, an accomplishment in and of itself!), and their participation was commendable. Everyone who participated in each event got a different coloured ribbon, and some of them wore these ribbons pinned on their shirts as proud as if they were real olympic medals (and this is what I mean when I speak of the satisfaction and happiness you can derive from such simple things in life).
Awesome day!
Finally,
RIP Ford Escort. I loved you, even though I also hated you. I will miss your perpetually semi-deflated tires, your lack of musicality (i.e. cd player OR cassette player... just commercial-filled radio), your rusty sides, your winter frozen breaks, the way you always fish-tailed when there was even just a dusting of snow on the ground. I will miss how I could only open the doors from the drivers side, and how I often drove into snow banks because of your weightlessness. Most of all, I will miss how you made me the geekiest friend when it was my turn to drive places (you know, because you were the wagon version and all). Enjoy that big highway in the sky :-(.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Sometimes, thinking of a blog title can be hard. This one shall remain titleless
I have accomplished quite a lot lately, and felt it should be documented:
1.) I successfully taught a 16 year old boy who has multiple challenges (non-verbal autism, obsessive compulsive disorder, vision loss, learning disability....) how to count by 2's! He is working on math exercises involving money, and yesterday was the big fat toonie. It took a while, but he did it! After which his reward was a high five and a walk with me to the baking class to see what was available for taste-testing!
2.) I FINALLY learned how to do a front roll/ somersault into the pool at the YMCA today! Robert, an 11 year old boy who also has autism managed to teach me (and in a way that still allows me to keep my nerd status and hold my nose). I feel most liberated, and as if I can do anything. Who knew all it would take is a somersault (that most 3 year olds can do)?
3.) I sent my resume into the HWDSB. Holy big step Batman! Wanna know how long my cover letter took to compose? Oh, about as long as it takes me to write a 10-page essay. See, the problem is I am very wordy. I think everything is important and I have tremendous difficulty cutting things down. I had 4 people read it and provide me with feedback, and FINALLY I felt confident enough with it and just got it out of my hair. So now I have to wait. I'm not sure which is worse, the stress of perfecting the cover letter and resume, or the "will I be called?/ when are they going to call me" anxious wait? I'm doing pretty good at keeping distracted though, which I've surprised myself with.
4.) I donated blood last Tuesday. Ok, well I almost passed out donating blood last Tuesday, and didn't quite fill the bag, but the nurse said it was enough to be considered a unit (that's all I cared about). I'm not sure what happened... my iron was deemed satisfactory, no problems with blood pressure.... But about 10 minutes in I got really hot and started seeing spots. I guess the colour all drained from my face and the nurses rushed over, took the needle out, laid me back and started asking if I knew my name and where I was. At any rate, I was told to wait about 8 months before trying again, and to get medical clearance before trying that (I donated twice in high school, but lots has happened in between high school [grade 12] and now, and so the situation may have been the product of that. Blech).
5.) I was nominated for a college medal! The president of Mohawk awards these medals at convocation, and I believe it's one of the highest awards the college distributes, which is really cool. The medals are in three levels: bronze, silver, gold, with each level possessing a very specific list of criteria. And even if you meet the criteria, it's not a guarantee you will win; all Human Services students who are graduating will be in the same lump sum category that I am in, so we'll see. At any rate, my program coordinator nominated me because over the last year I have done quite a lot (which I won't list because it is boring).
6.) I signed up to attend seminars for the Literacy Forum! I realize that only I would get excited about something like this, but really... I'm looking forward to it.
7.) I FINALLY cooked the rice ALL THE WAY THROUGH! So apparently brown rice is different to cook than white rice. It's grainy'er or something. I got a steamer for Christmas and have honestly been trying to perfect making brown rice in it since January. Last Sunday, I did it! 50minutes seems to be the magic number (for my steamer, at least). I enjoyed the softness, as opposed to a certian crunch :).
8.) Alex in grade 2 at St. Mary's say's I'm a "good person inside" because I plan on playing soccer for Sports Club this Friday, and because he thinks I'm funny when I talk to him. Friday is "Clubs Day" at Virtual Y, and my club is "Sports Club". Soccer is the heart and soul of the students there (it's a very Portugese and Italian population in that area), and it makes for a pretty intense match! But although Alex seemingly thinks the best of me right now, he might change his mind when I tell him he cannot play his music with swear words for his talent show dance :S.
Uhhh... yep, that's it.
Sorry this wasn't more interesting/ entertaining.
1.) I successfully taught a 16 year old boy who has multiple challenges (non-verbal autism, obsessive compulsive disorder, vision loss, learning disability....) how to count by 2's! He is working on math exercises involving money, and yesterday was the big fat toonie. It took a while, but he did it! After which his reward was a high five and a walk with me to the baking class to see what was available for taste-testing!
2.) I FINALLY learned how to do a front roll/ somersault into the pool at the YMCA today! Robert, an 11 year old boy who also has autism managed to teach me (and in a way that still allows me to keep my nerd status and hold my nose). I feel most liberated, and as if I can do anything. Who knew all it would take is a somersault (that most 3 year olds can do)?
3.) I sent my resume into the HWDSB. Holy big step Batman! Wanna know how long my cover letter took to compose? Oh, about as long as it takes me to write a 10-page essay. See, the problem is I am very wordy. I think everything is important and I have tremendous difficulty cutting things down. I had 4 people read it and provide me with feedback, and FINALLY I felt confident enough with it and just got it out of my hair. So now I have to wait. I'm not sure which is worse, the stress of perfecting the cover letter and resume, or the "will I be called?/ when are they going to call me" anxious wait? I'm doing pretty good at keeping distracted though, which I've surprised myself with.
4.) I donated blood last Tuesday. Ok, well I almost passed out donating blood last Tuesday, and didn't quite fill the bag, but the nurse said it was enough to be considered a unit (that's all I cared about). I'm not sure what happened... my iron was deemed satisfactory, no problems with blood pressure.... But about 10 minutes in I got really hot and started seeing spots. I guess the colour all drained from my face and the nurses rushed over, took the needle out, laid me back and started asking if I knew my name and where I was. At any rate, I was told to wait about 8 months before trying again, and to get medical clearance before trying that (I donated twice in high school, but lots has happened in between high school [grade 12] and now, and so the situation may have been the product of that. Blech).
5.) I was nominated for a college medal! The president of Mohawk awards these medals at convocation, and I believe it's one of the highest awards the college distributes, which is really cool. The medals are in three levels: bronze, silver, gold, with each level possessing a very specific list of criteria. And even if you meet the criteria, it's not a guarantee you will win; all Human Services students who are graduating will be in the same lump sum category that I am in, so we'll see. At any rate, my program coordinator nominated me because over the last year I have done quite a lot (which I won't list because it is boring).
6.) I signed up to attend seminars for the Literacy Forum! I realize that only I would get excited about something like this, but really... I'm looking forward to it.
7.) I FINALLY cooked the rice ALL THE WAY THROUGH! So apparently brown rice is different to cook than white rice. It's grainy'er or something. I got a steamer for Christmas and have honestly been trying to perfect making brown rice in it since January. Last Sunday, I did it! 50minutes seems to be the magic number (for my steamer, at least). I enjoyed the softness, as opposed to a certian crunch :).
8.) Alex in grade 2 at St. Mary's say's I'm a "good person inside" because I plan on playing soccer for Sports Club this Friday, and because he thinks I'm funny when I talk to him. Friday is "Clubs Day" at Virtual Y, and my club is "Sports Club". Soccer is the heart and soul of the students there (it's a very Portugese and Italian population in that area), and it makes for a pretty intense match! But although Alex seemingly thinks the best of me right now, he might change his mind when I tell him he cannot play his music with swear words for his talent show dance :S.
Uhhh... yep, that's it.
Sorry this wasn't more interesting/ entertaining.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Beauty from Above
I came up with the best plan for fireworks watching.
My sister and I took a post-supper walk on the Rail Trail close to the time of dusk, and the plan was to look out over the city and watch the fireworks from all over.
It turned out to be A-MAZING! We could see all the way to the west end of the city towards Dundas, and all the way east towards Winona (we were amazed at how far we could see!). It was so cool to see all the fireworks going off in various locations all at the same time. It was interesting to consider that while each set of fire works (be they from a single household or a whole street or whatever) was so individual to only the people present at that particular site, for my sister and I to witness all those individual acts as one humungus spectacle was awesome! Unfortunately my pictures did not turn out (I haven't quite gotten to know my camera and all it's powers that well, but I will for Canada Day's display). Anyway, it was a perfect way to see fireworks, and I highly recommend this viewing method to everyone :). Just bring a blanket for warmth!
As a side note: Before the fireworks commenced, we thought we'd try the second set of stairs at Kenilworth which go up to Mountian Brow (and now might be a good time to tell you about my fear of heights....). Appearances can be deceiving from the bottom of that series of steps, and I thought I'd be ok. Not so much. I maybe be a big baby, but I don't care.... I will never go up or down that set of stairs until the vegetation grows up more and distracts climbers from the height! No, I'm not kidding.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Adventures in Public Transit, Episode 1: Mr. Asshat and the SUV
"Selfishness is the greatest curse of the human race."
-William E. Gladstone
So I leave Parkview at 2:15 this afternoon in order to get to St. Mary's Elementary school for 2:45. A half an hour is plenty of time to travel such a short distance, since St. Mary's is just a couple blocks north of Copps Coliseum and I was already half way there (Parkview is directly across from Ivor Wynne Stadium). My bus comes, I find a seat, and I start to read my book for entertainment for the next short while.
Only I don't get to read too much. About 10 minutes in to my trip, the bus comes to a very sudden, screeching stop. It appeared that there was a man in an SUV parked in an area designated "NO PARKING"/ "NO STOPPING", because it was designed only for the entrance and exit of busses. For whatever reason, the man in the SUV... Let's call him Mr. Asshat... sees the bus and hears it's horn and decides to put his vehicle in reverse and places himself in a position that disallows the bus to move into it's own stopping area. Now the bus and Mr. Asshat's vehicle are maybe half an arm's length apart, and neither one of them intend on moving. Mr. Asshat flails his arms and frantically motions them forward telling Mr. Busdriver to pull up. Mr. Busdriver replies (to only himself and the few people huddled around his drivers seat... did I mention the bus was packed? It was...) "Well I can't now MISTER! I'll scratch your BMW and you'll sue my ass!".
So neither side intends on giving in. Proof: Mr. Asshat half opens his door (because it cannot possibly open all the way), and dangles one leg out, BUT he pulls out his phone and starts doing whatever he was doing on it (it looked like he was doing nothing). Mr. Busdriver just sits there... and sits... and sits. Time check: 2:35. I HAVE 10 MINUTES TO GET TO WORK, SOMEONE MOVE. NOOOOOOOWWWWWW!
Mrs. Passenger calls out: "Can I just get out here, I have to be somewhere in like 5 minutes?" Mr. Busdriver: "No. If you fall off the bus onto the street, it will be all my fault". Mrs. Passenger sits back down, cursing the whole situation. Mr. Asshat continues to live up to his name and is just sitting there, door open, but no longer on his cellphone. Now he's just pretending to look for things in his car.
Sitting, sitting, sitting.......
Mr. Teenage-Passenger: "Dude, do you want me to call the police?". Mr. Busdriver: "Naw, man, I'm calling my supervisor" (Good call Mr. Busdriver. When in a civil dispute, always call your HSR supervisor, who is located up the escarpment far down Upper James where it turns into Hwy. 6. He'll be there in a JIFFY ;). In the mean time, the police station is just around the corner. BUT WHO AM I??).
The "People of the Bus" (go up and down.... no, wait.....) begin to grow more and more angry, more and more impatient. Some thought it would be a fantastic idea to pound on the windows and scream as loud as they could to grab Mr. Asshat's attention. It worked wonders.... Mr. Asshat continued to be a dick and sat there, now not on his phone, now not even pretending to rummage through the items in his car... he was just sitting there looking forward.
Mr. Wanting-Togetoff says: "HEY EVERYBODY... LET'S JUST STARE AT HIM AND STICK OUR TONGUES OUT!!". Oh! That would really show him!! Ready? 1....2....3.....
Obviously it did absolutely nothing (Note: We didn't actually project the communal stare, but, if we did, I think it would have been comparable to the Care Bear Stare).
Sitting, sitting, sitting. It is now 2:45 (cue anxiety).
Mrs. Extremely-Angry somehow finds a piece of paper and magic marker (note to self: always carry stationary incase of accidents and freak bus incidences), and writes in bold black marker: MOVE YOUR CAR! WE ARE HERE BECAUSE OF YOU!!! She then proceeds to pound on the windows and yell: "HEY! HEEEYYYYY!! LOOK AT ME! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!", to which Mr. Asshat continues to look forward, completely unphased and without hint that he is at all considering moving.
It is now 2:55.
Sitting, sitting, sitting.....
FINALLY, through whatever grace of whoever in the sky, MR. ASSHAT DRIVES AWAY! Just like that! As if none of this ever happened. He turned on his car, check his blindspot (Yeah.. there's still a bus full of angry people there ;),and drove away. So basically, he just held an entire bus of people hostage for the last 20 minutes because he was a JERK!
Now, I realize he was clearly a king of some sort, since he was in a BMW SUV of his own, and not one of the lowley "peasants" riding the bus. HOWEVER, even the peasants have to go places. And there were more "peasants" than there were of him, and I feel, if we had actually done the Bus People Communal Stare, he would have shit his Armani pants!
It seems to me that the majority of people these days run on a schedule that functions only for themselves, serving only their own needs, and makes little to no room for the consideration that, Oh! maybe someone else has something to do to. I am guilty of this at times, no doubt. And so, I do not excuse myself from this observation. After this instance, however, I think I am going to consider more seriously how my actions affect the lives of others. But I am one person, and there are SO many people I have observed who find it quite comfortable and just fine to reamain in their selfish ways. How is the world ever going to even begin to move to a better place (i.e. harmony among it's people and between people and the earth's riches) if we never let go of our ego's?
-William E. Gladstone
So I leave Parkview at 2:15 this afternoon in order to get to St. Mary's Elementary school for 2:45. A half an hour is plenty of time to travel such a short distance, since St. Mary's is just a couple blocks north of Copps Coliseum and I was already half way there (Parkview is directly across from Ivor Wynne Stadium). My bus comes, I find a seat, and I start to read my book for entertainment for the next short while.
Only I don't get to read too much. About 10 minutes in to my trip, the bus comes to a very sudden, screeching stop. It appeared that there was a man in an SUV parked in an area designated "NO PARKING"/ "NO STOPPING", because it was designed only for the entrance and exit of busses. For whatever reason, the man in the SUV... Let's call him Mr. Asshat... sees the bus and hears it's horn and decides to put his vehicle in reverse and places himself in a position that disallows the bus to move into it's own stopping area. Now the bus and Mr. Asshat's vehicle are maybe half an arm's length apart, and neither one of them intend on moving. Mr. Asshat flails his arms and frantically motions them forward telling Mr. Busdriver to pull up. Mr. Busdriver replies (to only himself and the few people huddled around his drivers seat... did I mention the bus was packed? It was...) "Well I can't now MISTER! I'll scratch your BMW and you'll sue my ass!".
So neither side intends on giving in. Proof: Mr. Asshat half opens his door (because it cannot possibly open all the way), and dangles one leg out, BUT he pulls out his phone and starts doing whatever he was doing on it (it looked like he was doing nothing). Mr. Busdriver just sits there... and sits... and sits. Time check: 2:35. I HAVE 10 MINUTES TO GET TO WORK, SOMEONE MOVE. NOOOOOOOWWWWWW!
Mrs. Passenger calls out: "Can I just get out here, I have to be somewhere in like 5 minutes?" Mr. Busdriver: "No. If you fall off the bus onto the street, it will be all my fault". Mrs. Passenger sits back down, cursing the whole situation. Mr. Asshat continues to live up to his name and is just sitting there, door open, but no longer on his cellphone. Now he's just pretending to look for things in his car.
Sitting, sitting, sitting.......
Mr. Teenage-Passenger: "Dude, do you want me to call the police?". Mr. Busdriver: "Naw, man, I'm calling my supervisor" (Good call Mr. Busdriver. When in a civil dispute, always call your HSR supervisor, who is located up the escarpment far down Upper James where it turns into Hwy. 6. He'll be there in a JIFFY ;). In the mean time, the police station is just around the corner. BUT WHO AM I??).
The "People of the Bus" (go up and down.... no, wait.....) begin to grow more and more angry, more and more impatient. Some thought it would be a fantastic idea to pound on the windows and scream as loud as they could to grab Mr. Asshat's attention. It worked wonders.... Mr. Asshat continued to be a dick and sat there, now not on his phone, now not even pretending to rummage through the items in his car... he was just sitting there looking forward.
Mr. Wanting-Togetoff says: "HEY EVERYBODY... LET'S JUST STARE AT HIM AND STICK OUR TONGUES OUT!!". Oh! That would really show him!! Ready? 1....2....3.....
Obviously it did absolutely nothing (Note: We didn't actually project the communal stare, but, if we did, I think it would have been comparable to the Care Bear Stare).
Sitting, sitting, sitting. It is now 2:45 (cue anxiety).
Mrs. Extremely-Angry somehow finds a piece of paper and magic marker (note to self: always carry stationary incase of accidents and freak bus incidences), and writes in bold black marker: MOVE YOUR CAR! WE ARE HERE BECAUSE OF YOU!!! She then proceeds to pound on the windows and yell: "HEY! HEEEYYYYY!! LOOK AT ME! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!", to which Mr. Asshat continues to look forward, completely unphased and without hint that he is at all considering moving.
It is now 2:55.
Sitting, sitting, sitting.....
FINALLY, through whatever grace of whoever in the sky, MR. ASSHAT DRIVES AWAY! Just like that! As if none of this ever happened. He turned on his car, check his blindspot (Yeah.. there's still a bus full of angry people there ;),and drove away. So basically, he just held an entire bus of people hostage for the last 20 minutes because he was a JERK!
Now, I realize he was clearly a king of some sort, since he was in a BMW SUV of his own, and not one of the lowley "peasants" riding the bus. HOWEVER, even the peasants have to go places. And there were more "peasants" than there were of him, and I feel, if we had actually done the Bus People Communal Stare, he would have shit his Armani pants!
It seems to me that the majority of people these days run on a schedule that functions only for themselves, serving only their own needs, and makes little to no room for the consideration that, Oh! maybe someone else has something to do to. I am guilty of this at times, no doubt. And so, I do not excuse myself from this observation. After this instance, however, I think I am going to consider more seriously how my actions affect the lives of others. But I am one person, and there are SO many people I have observed who find it quite comfortable and just fine to reamain in their selfish ways. How is the world ever going to even begin to move to a better place (i.e. harmony among it's people and between people and the earth's riches) if we never let go of our ego's?
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Lost in Cyber Space
My deleted "controversial" rant is lost forever it seems :(.
I could write another replacement rant-o-controversy, but I fear it will lack that initial passion I expressed so strongly in the original. Why did I delete it, WHY?? I was told it was offensive by my sister, which, in retrospect, is very silly! I am offended by other people on a regular basis! Isn't it my turn?! My blog had SEVERAL Wikipedia links/references AND actual bible quotes! I even used the word "hullabaoo"... I NEVER get to use that word! I mean, it was some essay. AND, it was just MY opinion! That's all anything you will read, hear, or be taught really is... the (sometimes heavily) biased thoughts or opinions of the individual who presents them! (reference: discussion with B.M. earlier this evening [sorry, it's not on wiki yet :P]). People need exposure to a variety of thoughts and ideas in order to determine for themselves what they actually believe, which assists them in developing opinions for themselves. After thinking and talking about it, I am a bit disappointed with myself for deleting it.
I could write another replacement rant-o-controversy, but I fear it will lack that initial passion I expressed so strongly in the original. Why did I delete it, WHY?? I was told it was offensive by my sister, which, in retrospect, is very silly! I am offended by other people on a regular basis! Isn't it my turn?! My blog had SEVERAL Wikipedia links/references AND actual bible quotes! I even used the word "hullabaoo"... I NEVER get to use that word! I mean, it was some essay. AND, it was just MY opinion! That's all anything you will read, hear, or be taught really is... the (sometimes heavily) biased thoughts or opinions of the individual who presents them! (reference: discussion with B.M. earlier this evening [sorry, it's not on wiki yet :P]). People need exposure to a variety of thoughts and ideas in order to determine for themselves what they actually believe, which assists them in developing opinions for themselves. After thinking and talking about it, I am a bit disappointed with myself for deleting it.
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