My two cents on the leadership debate

As a trained spin doctor, I'm always fascinated by how politicians "spin" their positions during an election. That's probably one of the reasons I watch the leadership debate every election...

Here's my view of how tonight's English leadership debate went:

• I don't agree with the media pundits...Harper did a terrible job. He rarely answered questions that were directed at him by his opponents (especially Duceppe's questions). I found him inscere and completely untrustworthy. He did reinforce one of my thoughts about him though...he creeps the hell out of me.
• Elizabeth May did an excellent job...I'm very happy that she was allowed to participate, and I definitely look forward to hearing more from her. I hope that the Green party gets some seats in the upcoming government.
• Even though he represents a seperatist view, I've always liked Gilles Duceppe. I know that his interests soley reside with Quebec, but I think he's a strong leader. He just happens to lead the wrong party.
• I think that even with his English handicap, Dion did better than most people will end up giving him credit for. If I was forced to choose between him and Harper, I'd definitely vote for him.
• Jack layton kicked some serious ass tonight. My support for him has only grown as a result of watching tonight's debate. The NDP's definitely got my vote.

Go NDP!

The square root of 3

I fell in love with this poem the moment I heard it spoken in the latest Harold and Kumar movie...enjoy!

I’m sure that I will always be
A lonely number like root three

The three is all that’s good and right,
Why must my three keep out of sight

Beneath the vicious square root sign,
I wish instead I were a nine

For nine could thwart this evil trick,
with just some quick arithmetic

I know I’ll never see the sun,
as 1.7321

Such is my reality,
a sad irrationality

When hark! What is this I see,
Another square root of a three

As quietly co-waltzing by,
Together now we multiply

To form a number we prefer,
Rejoicing as an integer

We break free from our mortal bonds
With the wave of magic wands

Our square root signs become unglued
Your love for me has been renewed

Microsoft vs GM

For all of us who feel only the deepest love and affection for the way computers have enhanced our lives, read on.

At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated,'If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon.'

In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release stating: If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics:

1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash.........Twice a day.

2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.

3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.

4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.

5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but would run on only five percent of the roads.

6.. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single 'This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation' warning light.I love the next one!!!

7. The airbag system would ask 'Are you sure?' before deploying.

8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.

9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.

10. You'd have to press the 'Start' button to turn the engine off.

Updated Faves

I've been very fortunate recently to have fallen in love with all sorts of new music...While my list is no where near complete, I thought I'd update my list of fav songs here ...stay tuned for more entries.

The birthday curse continues

Every year something crappy happens around the time of my birthday. I have no idea why this is the case, but I've felt cursed for as long as I can remember.

• When I was a kid, report cards always came out around my birthday. I was a good student, but I always felt pressure to do better, like somehow my marks weren't good enough.
• When I was in university, I was either studying for, or writing, mid-terms the week of my birthday.
• One year I attended my grandmother's funeral on my birthday.
• There's always a winter storm the weekend of my birthday party or major celebration.
• Last year, I was in a car accident shortly before my birthday and was in excrutiating pain for months.

It appears as though this year will be no exception. A massive storm is moving in to Ottawa, and it's so bad that it's cancelled my father's plans to come visit me. This is going to be the first year that I won't have celebrated my birthday with him. And due to circumstances out of our control, I probably won't be able to see him until the end of April. This sucks!

I'm really starting to hate holidays...

Things that make me happy

1. Kick-ass new music
2. This season of Lost...OMG is it ever good...
3. My weekly date with friends to play boardgames
4. Awesome roommates
5. Tasty gluten-free food
6. My job (how many people can say that?)
7. My closest friends
8. My cats
9. My ever expanding movie collection
10. Sunshine

All the things left undiscovered

I've recently found myself in one of those dreaded no win situations...you know, the kind where no matter what decision you make something bad will happen. Of course, it's also one of those situations where something very good could also come out of it, depending on how things play out. I've literally been losing sleep trying to figure out how to deal with the situation, and the other individual involved is just as torn as I am, albeit for different reasons.

So if I seem a tad out of it this week, please forgive me. The lack of sleep coupled with my need to work this out will most likely keep me distracted for a few days yet.

And please don't ask for details...unfortunately this is one of those situations that I need to go through on my own. Well that and the circumstance requires that I protect the innocent. ;)

Lessons learned

Here's a list of the some of the lessons I learned in 2007....

1. The support of your friends can make all the difference in the world.
2. I'm not as pacifistic as I thought I was.
3. Past relationships should stay just there...in the past.
4. Some people will never change, no matter how much you hope they will.
5. Sometimes you have to let go, even though you don't want to. I miss you Mowgli!
6. I prefer it when life is unpredictable.
7. I love hosting parties.
8. I love being a manager. Who would have predicted that?
9. I have developed a real distain for Calgary.
10. Some people are horribly mean and incensitive.
11. Reiki is a beautiful thing.