Sir +
Bro, you can buy surplus shit from the CITY OF CALGARY?
This is in the “Court Seizures” section, OH MY GOD
Hahahaha, where the hell does half of this stuff come from? A whole subsection is titled “Helicopter Parts.”
Like…what?
WHERE DID THE KAYAK COME FROM
Edit: IT’S A SIGNED KENNY G SAXOPHONE WHY IN THE HELL IS THIS IN A SURPLUS SALE IN CALGARY???
I love this so much.
The Bridge to TeraTEETHia
(That’s a fucking horrible blog post title, sorry)
So when I had all that dental work done back in 2020 and they sawed off the outer part of that tooth and told me I needed to get the rest of it removed and a bridge put in its place, I asked them about the timeline of when that all should be done.
They said to do it within a year.
That was June (July?) 2020.
So clearly that didn’t happen, and that’s mainly because of all the COVID nonsense. Every time a wave died down, I wanted to wait a few weeks to make sure cases were SUPER LOW before going back into a place where I knew I couldn’t (for obvious reasons) wear a mask.
But each time I’d wait a little bit too long and another wave would start back up.
Now there’s omicron, and there’s no way in hell I’m going to the dentist during the omicron wave party that’s happening up here.
I don’t know what the point of mentioning that on here is, apart from maybe using it as a reminder to myself once I get these posted in, oh, late 2022 (optimistic date).
TEETH!
Nummers
Enthusiasm is so important in teaching. That’s one reason why I really like this explanation of why the square root of two is irrational.
I also like how he explains the proofs. They’re simple, but they’re so simple that I think it’s easy to overlook them and their importance.
Yay irrational numbers!
Well, hell.
(Have I posted this article before? I don’t think I have, but if I have, apologies for posting it again.)
So there’s still a lot of debate and research going on about this, but it looks like there may be evidence to suggest that repeated cold exposure may do more harm than good – that is, it does not promote acclimation to the cold but rather damage to the extremities.
In this article, a study is discussed in which individuals who tend to have more cold exposure in their histories tend to also have colder extremities (toes, specifically) than people with less cold exposure in their histories. There are a lot of confounding variables to this, as you may suspect, but the author of the article cites several other studies that suggest repeated cold exposure may worsen blood circulation in the fingers and toes in the long run.
Such a thing would certainly explain why I seem so much more sensitive to cold now than I ever used to be. It doesn’t take long for my fingers to feel like absolute death if I’m out even in, say, 40 degree weather.
It’s an issue.
It’s a painful issue.
Anyway.
Edit from mid-2023: HAHAHA it’s so much worse now!
Book Review: Howards End (Forster)
Have I read this before: Nope! This is a newer addition to the book list.
Review: After I finish a book, I always like to look up reviews on Goodreads because I like to see what other people thought of it. In this case, there were a lot of reviews that mentioned the book was way too “England specific” and required you to be able to place yourself in a very specific time period in a very specific place and that being unable to do so detracted from the story. I disagree. My disagreement comes in part from the fact that like 70% of the books on my list are set in [insert someplace in England] and focus on [insert anachronistic English Society issue that most modern readers will never have to deal with] and so I’m kind of used to that. This book, however, feels quite universal in terms of the issues it tackles. Family vs. family, poverty vs. wealth, class vs. class, etc. It doesn’t have to be set where it’s set to be relatable. I enjoyed it for that.
Rating: 5/10
Absolut BRRRR
It was hella cold out today, but I still went running because I’m an IDIOT. And now this is my body temp:
Mild hypothermia is my specialty.
Hey CNN?
Why on earth would I want to live an additional 13 years? Why would anyone want to, given how quickly we’re destroying everything around us?
A Book Survey!
I think I’ve done this one before…but maybe not.
Either way, let’s do it now.
1. Do you prefer hardcover, paperback, or Kindle…and why?
I love my Kindle. I never thought I’d be the e-reader type, but OH MY GOD it makes it so much easier to a) access books and b) read them while on the treadmill. What more could I want?
2. If I were to own a book shop I would call it …
Probably something boring. I’d probably just stock classics, ‘cause that’s my jam and I’d like other people who are like me to have a place to just browse the types of books they like. So something involving classics?
3. My favorite quote from a book (mention the title) is …
From Potok’s The Chosen:
“Human beings do not live forever, Reuven. We live less than the time it takes to blink an eye, if we measure our lives against eternity. So it may be asked what value is there to a human life. There is so much pain in the world. What does it mean to have to suffer so much if our lives are nothing more than the blink of an eye? … I learned a long time ago, Reuven, that a blink of an eye in itself is nothing. But the eye that blinks, that is something. A span of life is nothing. But the man who lives that span, he is something. He can fill that tiny span with meaning, so its quality is immeasurable though its quantity may be insignificant.”
4. The author (alive or dead) I would love to have lunch with would be …
I’d love to meet Nabokov. He seems like such a brilliant human being.
5. If I was going to a deserted island and could only bring one book, except for the SAS survival guide, it would be …
The Caine Mutiny. I could re-read that every day and still love it.
6. I would love someone to invent a bookish gadget that …
Would instantly translate any non-English phrases. Obviously one could do that by Googling or otherwise, but some books (I’m looking at you, Lolita) have non-English phrases all over the place; having something that would very quickly and easily translate them (and do so appropriately and accurately) would be great for us unilingual losers.
7. The smell of an old book reminds me of …
The fact that I CANNOT SMELL
8. If I could be the lead character in a book (mention the title), it would be …
Phileas Fogg, yo (Around the World in Eighty Days)
9. The most over-rated book of all time is…
To Kill a Mockingbird. I cannot stand that book!
10. I hate it when a book…
Has a bad ending. By that I mean an ending that just lets you down. I want to feel like the book has been building towards something important. Something that will stick with me. If I don’t get that, it makes the whole experience of reading the book a hollow one.
!
I love this kind of stuff. I doubt that anyone who reads this garbage blog is interested enough in this to watch the vid, but it’s fascinating to me.
Also, I’ve never seen integration by parts done the way he does it. Cool!
This is my new favorite xkcd.
This is like peak humor to me. I love it.
That is all.
Book Review: The Glass Menagerie (Williams)
Have I read this before: I don’t think so.
Review: I liked Streetcar better of the two Williams plays I’ve read, but this wasn’t bad. Like his contemporaries, I think he does a good job of portraying that “trapped” feeling, regardless of where it arises from.
Favorite Part: Laura’s temporary happiness when dancing with Jim, even after the glass unicorn is broken.
Rating: 5/10
Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SEAN!
What type of cheese do you borrow from Utah? Provo-loan!
I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this on here before, but I hate the negativity around aging. Like, I get it that youth is pushed as the standard in practically every medium out there, but at the same time…why should we hate something that’s constantly happening to every single one of us?
Anyway, I was thinking today that one of the really cool things about getting older is just how much stuff you’ve experienced and how many memories you have. You don’t even have to experience big, life-changing or world-changing events…the longer you live, the more you experience, the more memories you have.
I remember things many of my students were too young to remember or things that they weren’t even alive for. That’s really quite cool when you think about it.
And think of all the memories you have that you can’t immediately access. I love when a memory of something that I’ve completely forgotten I’ve experienced gets triggered by something random and a little section of my past is remembered. Isn’t that the coolest experience?
Anyway.
The ‘Book
I am abstaining from Facebook for a while because OH MY GOD there is still high school-level drama between like five of my friends and I don’t want to just mute them because they’re half the reason I check Facebook anymore anyway.
People need to learn to not post their entire lives on Facebook (says the blogger).
UGH.
Explore Disaster!
Apparently “this data is shared in order for individuals (Calgarians and visitors), businesses, and organizations to understand and prepare for potential disaster risks in the city.”
All cities should have something like this publicly available, really. It’s super interesting and informative. Also:
A nice little summary. I’m surprised the risk for critical infrastructure failure/disruption isn’t higher in the winter than the summer. I guess we’re more prepared for winter. Or maybe this is based heavily on last summer’s heat dome when our power grid was about to fail due to all the electricity used for cooling.
All You Have To Do Is Stream? ?? ?? ? ?
YES. Yes yes yes.
So there’s a YouTuber that I used to watch fairly regularly who would always vlog herself at various stores (Walmart, Target, other big-box stores in the southeast US). She got a lot of criticism for many of the things she did, but one thing that seemed to particularly irk people was the fact that she bought DVDs.
No, they weren’t irked at how many she bought.
No, they weren’t irked at what type of movies/shows she bought.
They were just irked that she “still bought DVDs” in a time when you can stream pretty much anything you’d want to watch.
And in one sense, they’re right. You can stream pretty much anything nowadays.
But in another sense, this argument is actually quite stupid, because streaming services can, without notice, remove ANYTHING from their platforms, rendering you unable to watch [insert favorite show] or [insert favorite movie] AT ANY TIME.
Like…are we all just blind to how ridiculous that is? We pay for, say, Netflix, but we don’t own anything on it. So if [insert show here] is the whole reason you’re using Netflix and they suddenly remove it, what was the point of giving Netflix all of that money? It’s like renting instead of buying.
Which I guess some people are cool with.
But if I have a piece of media that I really like, I’m going to make damn sure I have my own physical (or downloadable/saveable digital) copy of it so that no streaming service can take it away from me.
This happened with Hulu and Chicago Hope. Hulu was the ONLY PLACE you could watch Chicago Hope, so I used to watch it religiously. Then, one day, they just removed it.
It hasn’t been back since and you CANNOT find it anywhere else.
This happens constantly on Netflix, too. You get invested in a show/movie and then suddenly you can’t watch it anymore because you just paid for the streaming, not the item itself. You don’t own it. It’s not yours.
Isn’t that…frustrating?
That’s why I don’t use streaming services for my music. If there’s a song I like, I’m not leaving my ability to listen to said song whenever/wherever up to chance. I’m getting a physical (digital) copy OF MY OWN. Spotify can eat dicks; I want to own my songs, not my ability to stream what it makes available to me.
UGH.
Sorry, that Tumblr post just stated basically all my same opinions about streaming services that no one else seems to take issue with.
UGH AGAIN.
Book Review: A Farewell to Arms (Hemingway)
Have I read this before: Yes! I dig Hemingway.
Review: I think it’s easy to forget that Hemingway served as an ambulance driver in WWI and actually got pretty seriously wounded in…1918 I want to say? I think of all his novels, this is the one that is most clearly based on his own experiences (yes, even more so than The Sun Also Rises in my opinion). You can really feel how personal it is all throughout the story.
Favorite Part: I really like how much of the book is focused on the non-fighting/non-battle parts of war. It emphasizes how “regular life” continues on even during a World War and how young men and women deal with trying to just live their lives despite the war taking place and disrupting everything.
Rating: 7/10
Book Review: A Death in the Family (Agee)
Have I read this before: Yes! I don’t remember exactly when, but I have memories of reading it at the Lewiston Airport.
Review: This book stayed with me after the first time I read it (even though I can’t remember when that was, haha), but I’m not sure exactly why. I think it might be due to how well Agee portrays grief. It affects all the characters differently – as affects different people differently in real life – but regardless of how they react, the reactions are incredibly genuine and deep.
Edit: okay, apparently this was quite autobiographical. I believe it.
Favorite Part: I liked the increasing tension between the rest of the family and Andrew, whose anti-religious attitude kept getting brought up in various contexts.
Rating: 5/10
Burfday
One year closer to death, awwwwwwwwwwwwww yeah!
Also, I had a migraine tonight, because HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YOU LOSER
That’s all. Screw all of this.
DRAFT!
I finally have a COMPLETED first draft of my story. It’s been mostly done for months, but now it’s finally 100% complete from beginning to end.
It’s a lot longer than I thought it’d end up being (202,389 words, which is 318 pages of 12 point, single-spaced, Times New Roman), but I know I’ll be cutting a lot of it as I edit it.
Still though, this is the longest thing I’ve ever written and is by FAR the longest thing I’ve ever written that is one complete coherent story.
Now I’ve got to make it, you know, good.
The Colbert Questionnaire
Because I don’t remember the last time I did a survey and that’s UNACCEPTABLE!
Best sandwich?
From Subway: tuna on white bread with cheese, mayo, and olives. Fight me, it’s REALLY good.
What’s one thing you own that you really should throw out?
HA. A lot of things. Probably my super beat-up coat that I bought several years ago from the Superstore. But y’all will have to pry that coat from my cold, dead, hands, because I LOVE it.
What is the scariest animal?
Man! Or anything that can eat you alive. That’s horrifying.
Apples or oranges?
Apples. By far. Oranges are ass.
Have you ever asked someone for their autograph?
I…don’t think so?
What do you think happens when we die?
The universe reabsorbs us and parts of us become other things.
Favorite action movie?
Is Sunshine an action movie? If not, then Armageddon.
Favorite smell?
I FAIL! I FAIL A THOUSAND TIMES!!
Least favorite smell?
OH GOD I KEEP FAILING
Exercise: worth it?
It’s about the only thing that keeps me from jumping into traffic, so…maybe.
Flat or sparkling?
Flat.
Most used app on your phone?
Either Tiktok or Twitter.
You get one song to listen to for the rest of your life: what is it?
Call on Me by Eric Prydz.
What number am I thinking of?
Twelve.
Describe the rest of your life in 5 words?
Climate change, no future, despair.
UNDER MY UMBRELLA ELLA ELLA AY AY AY
So I just crash-slept in my chair and had the most vivid dream. I was an old lady walking around a big mall while carrying this super fancy cane. There were a bunch of other old ladies scattered about in the mall and every once and a while one of them would ask, “that’s a beautiful cane, can I see it?” And I would dramatically lift it up, press a button on the cane’s handle, and it would open to reveal this STUNNING umbrella covered in jewels and fancy fabrics. The opening of said umbrella would be accompanied by a dramatic wind that would make the fabric flutter and the jewels jingle. I would get a new cane/umbrella after each showing so that every old lady got to see a different umbrella opening.
It was…weird. And kinda cool.
Bi-Monthly Pepper Pictures
Because you know you want them.
Watching me opening packs in OOTP.
She is Pepper Towel.
Lounging.
More lounging.
Tub time (please ignore how gross our bathtub is).
YAY!
Eigenblogger 